Nulling-type tilt control in tilting railway vehicles, i.e. Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO) control using non-precedent sensor information for lateral acceleration and tilt angle, suffers from performance limitations due to the system's non-minimum phase characteristics . Advanced control strategies for tilting railway vehicles. UKACC international conference on control, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. 6p., ISBN: 0-85296-240-1.]. From an engineering point of view, this is due to the suspension's dynamic interactions and the sensor information used for feedback control. This paper revisits SISO PID-based nulling-type tilt control design (hereby referred to as 'economical tilt control') and rigorously studies its design via optimization to improve system performance. The strong coupling between the roll and lateral dynamic modes of the vehicle body is shown and the performance limitations using conventional control highlighted. PID controllers are designed to illustrate different levels of tilt performance regarding the deterministic (curving acceleration response) and stochastic (ride quality) with the latter being a bounded constraint. With novel contribution to use of PID control in the tilt control application with rational transfer functions, particular emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of the tilt dynamics within the design framework via detailed simulation results. ARTICLE HISTORY

This paper delivers findings on advanced PID studies for tilt control. Single-input-single-output Nulling-type tilt control in tilting railway vehicles offers simplicity however suffers from dynamic performance limitations due to the non-minimum phase zeros (NMPZ). From a practical aspect this is due to the suspension dynamic interactions (given the strong coupling between roll and lateral vehicle dynamic modes) and the sensor measurement used for feedback control. We explore the extent of efficiency of simple PID-based nulling-type tilt control via optimization and loop shaping (the latter benefiting from fractional order filtering) to improve deterministic/stochastic tilt system performance trade off. Controllers are designed to illustrate different levels of tilt performance regarding the deterministic (curving acceleration response) and stochastic (ride quality) criteria. Results illustrated via simulation runs

Engineering systems are frequently abstracted to models with discontinuous behaviour (such as a switch or contact), and a hybrid model is one which contains continuous and discontinuous behaviours. Bond graphs are an established physical modelling method, but there are several methods for constructing switched or 'hybrid' bond graphs, developed for either qualitative 'structural' analysis or efficient numerical simulation of engineering systems. This article proposes a general hybrid bond graph suitable for both. The controlled junction is adopted as an intuitive way of modelling a discontinuity in the model structure. This element gives rise to 'dynamic causality' that is facilitated by a new bond graph notation. From this model, the junction structure and state equations are derived and compared to those obtained by existing methods. The proposed model includes all possible modes of operation and can be represented by a single set of equations. The controlled junctions manifest as Boolean variables in the matrices of coefficients. The method is more compact and intuitive than existing methods and dispenses with the need to derive various modes of operation from a given reference representation. Hence, a method has been developed, which can reach common usage and form a platform for further study.

Bond graph software can simulate bond graph models without the user needing to manually derive equations. This offers the power to model larger and more complex systems than in the past. Multibond graphs (those with vector bonds) offer a compact model which further eases handling multibody systems. Although multibond graphs can be simulated successfully, the use of vector bonds can present difficulties. In addition, most qualitative, bond graph–based exploitation relies on the use of scalar bonds. This article discusses the main methods for simulating bond graphs of multibody systems, using a graphical software platform. The transformation between models with vector and scalar bonds is presented. The methods are then compared with respect to both time and accuracy, through simulation of two benchmark models. This article is a tutorial on the existing methods for simulating three-dimensional rigid and holonomic multibody systems using bond graphs and discusses the difficulties encountered. It then proposes and adapts methods for simulating this type of system directly from its bond graph within a software package. The value of this study is in giving practical guidance to modellers, so that they can implement the adapted method in software.

Myoelectric prosthetic arms have primarily focused on adults, despite evidence showing the benefits of early adoption. This work presents SIMPA, a low-cost 3D-printed prosthetic arm with soft grippers. The arm has been designed using CAD and 3D-scanning, and manufactured using predominantly 3D-printing techniques. A voluntary opening control system utilizing an armband-based sEMG has been developed concurrently. Grasp tests have resulted in an average effectiveness of 87%, with objects in excess of 400g being securely grasped. The results highlight the effectiveness of soft grippers as an end device in prosthetics, as well as the viability of toddler scale myoelectric devices.