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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become the focus of current research because of their practicability in various scenarios. However, current local path planning methods often result in trajectories with numerous sharp or inflection points, which are not ideal for smooth UAV flight. This paper introduces a UAV path planning approach based on distance gradients. The key improvements include generating collision-free paths using collision information from initial trajectories and obstacles. Then, collision-free paths are subsequently optimized using distance gradient information. Additionally, a trajectory time adjustment method is proposed to ensure the feasibility and safety of the trajectory while prioritizing smoothness. The Limited-memory BFGS algorithm is employed to efficiently solve optimal local paths, with the ability to quickly restart the trajectory optimization program. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in the Robot Operating System simulation environment, demonstrating its ability to meet trajectory planning requirements for UAVs in complex unknown environments with high dynamics. Moreover, it surpasses traditional UAV trajectory planning methods in terms of solution speed, trajectory length, and data volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a fault region identification method for the active distribution network (ADN) with limited PMU. First, PMU configuration and region division strategies are proposed based on the network topology. Next, the difference in three-phase current variations between the normal and fault regions of the ADN is analyzed. A multi-dimensional state monitoring matrix is built using the measured current data. The spectral norm ratio coefficient is constructed based on the 2-norm to lower the complexity of the multi-dimensional state monitoring matrix and quantify the difference in state changes before and after the fault occurs in each region. Then, the fault region is identified by combining each region's spectral norm ratio coefficient and the change of the current phase. Finally, an IEEE 33-node simulation model is created to simulate faults under different working conditions. According to the simulation results, the suggested approach is less impacted by fault type, neutral point grounding mode, and transition resistance. Furthermore, even if the communication does not match the rigorous synchronization requirements, the proposed method can still complete the fault identification of the distribution network correctly and has high robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a simulation technique for optimizing a hydrogen integration network. By applying this technique, the minimum fresh hydrogen consumption can be determined. Quantitative relationship between sources and sinks streams were studied to get the flow rates of coupled source and sink, hydrogen consumption and hydrogen concentration in each stream. The introduced technique was applied on twelve sources and twelve sinks with any purity of hydrogen concentration. The hydrogen integration network was designed through two steps, the first step considers applying the data given in the LINGO program, while the second step considers using the LINGO results in the introduced excel program to obtain the retrofitted hydrogen integration network. The proposed technique was applied on several case studies to achieve the minimum consumption of fresh hydrogen for the obtained hydrogen integrated networks. The introduced model for simulation and retrofitting of mass exchange networks is easy to understand and the results showed that this model is more efficient for fertilizer, petrochemical and refinery plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a simulation technique for optimizing a hydrogen integration network. By applying this technique, the minimum fresh hydrogen consumption can be determined. Quantitative relationship between sources and sinks streams were studied to get the flow rates of coupled source and sink, hydrogen consumption and hydrogen concentration in each stream. The introduced technique was applied on twelve sources and twelve sinks with any purity of hydrogen concentration. The hydrogen integration network was designed through two steps, the first step considers applying the data given in the LINGO program, while the second step considers using the LINGO results in the introduced excel program to obtain the retrofitted hydrogen integration network. The proposed technique was applied on several case studies to achieve the minimum consumption of fresh hydrogen for the obtained hydrogen integrated networks. The introduced model for simulation and retrofitting of mass exchange networks is easy to understand and the results showed that this model is more efficient for fertilizer, petrochemical and refinery plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape connectivity, the extent to which a landscape facilitates the flow of ecological processes such as organism movement, has grown to become a central focus of applied ecology and conservation science. Several computational algorithms have been developed to understand and map connectivity, and many studies have validated their predictions using empirical data. Yet at present, there is no published comparative analysis which uses a comprehensive simulation framework to measure the accuracy and performance of the dominant methods in connectivity modelling. Given the widespread usage of such models in spatial ecology and conservation science, a thorough evaluation of their predictive abilities using simulation techniques is essential for guiding their appropriate and effective application across different contexts. In this paper, we address this by using the individual-based movement model Pathwalker to simulate different connectivity scenarios generated from a wide range of possible movement behaviours and spatial complexities. With this simulated data, we test the predictive abilities of three major connectivity models: factorial least-cost paths, resistant kernels, and Circuitscape. Our study shows the latter two of these three models to consistently perform most accurately in nearly all cases, with their abilities varying substantially in different contexts. For the majority of conservation applications, we infer resistant kernels to be the most appropriate model, except for when the movement is strongly directed towards a known location. We conclude this paper with a review and interdisciplinary discussion of the current limitations and possible future developments of connectivity modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyrolysis oil fraction is highly attractive for pyrolysis products. A simulated flowsheet model of a waste tire pyrolysis process is presented in this paper. A kinetic rate-based reaction model and equilibrium separation model are created in the Aspen Plus simulation package. The simulation model is effectively proven against experimental data of literature at temperatures of 400, 450, 500, 600 and 700 °C. Also, the developed model was employed to investigate the impact of temperature on the pyrolysis procedure and demonstrated that there is an optimum temperature for chain fractions. The optimum temperature to have the highest amount of limonene (as a precious chemical product of waste tire pyrolysis process) was found 500 °C. The findings indicated that the pyrolysis process is ecologically benign, although there is still space for development. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to see how altering the heating fuel in the process would affect the non-condensable gases produced in the process. Reactors and distillation columns in the Aspen Plus® simulation model was developed to assess the technical functioning of the process (e.g., upgrading the waste tires into limonene). Furthermore, this work focuses on the optimization of the operating and structure parameters of the distillation columns in the product separation unit. The PR-BM, as well as NRTL property models, were applied in the simulation model. The calculation of non-conventional components in the model was determined using HCOALGEN and DCOALIGT property models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual design of contemporary high-frequency structures is typically followed by a careful tuning of their parameters, predominantly the geometry ones. The process aims at improving the relevant performance figures, and may be quite expensive. The reason is that conventional design methods, e.g., based on analytical or equivalent network models, often only yield rough initial designs. This is especially the case for miniaturized components featuring considerable electromagnetic (EM) cross couplings, or antenna systems with non-negligible radiator coupling (e.g., MIMO, closely-spaced arrays). For reliability reasons, parametric optimization is carried out using EM simulation tools, which is a time-consuming task. In many cases, designer needs to resort to a global search, especially when handling several objectives and constraints is necessary, or the high-frequency structure under design is overly complex. Combination of both aforementioned factors makes it no longer possible to rely on engineering insight, even to detect a promising region of the design space. Unfortunately, nature-inspired algorithms, commonly employed for solving these tasks typically exhibit significant computational expenditures. This paper proposes a simple yet efficient method for globalized search using a response feature approach and inverse regression surrogates. Owing to less nonlinear dependence of the feature point coordinates on the system variables (as compared to the original responses, e.g., S-parameter frequency characteristics), our methodology permits a rapid identification of the most appropriate regions of the parametric space, and further design tuning by means of local routines. At the same time, the overall optimization cost is comparable to the cost of local procedures. The proposed approach is validated using several high-frequency structures (a dual-band antenna, a microstrip coupler, an impedance matching transformer) optimized under different design scenarios. Global search capability and computational efficiency are demonstrated through comprehensive comparisons with multiple-start local search, as well as particle swarm optimizer, a representative nature-inspired algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a bilateral haptic virtual surgery simulation system under a hybrid controller was studied. An analogue controller realized by a field programmable analogue array (FPAA) was paralleled in the operator robot side, which reduced the impact of controller discretisation on the system. A system stability conditions under hybrid control with multiple-operators were deduced. The stability analysis indicates that the addition of analogue derivative term widens the range of haptic controls gains that satisfy the multiple-users' stability conditions. Finally, the human's performance of a stiffness discrimination task was studied in an independently developed minimally invasive surgical (MIS) platform. The experiment results show that, human operators under the hybrid controller achieve the highest task success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long short-term memory (LSTM) models provide high predictive performance through their ability to recognize longer sequences of time series data. More recently, bidirectional deep learning models (BiLSTM) have extended the LSTM capabilities by training the input data twice in forward and backward directions. In this paper, BiLSTM short term traffic forecasting models have been developed and evaluated using data from a calibrated micro-simulation model for a congested freeway in Melbourne, Australia. The simulation model was extensively calibrated and validated to a high degree of accuracy using field data collected from 55 detectors on the freeway. The base year simulation model was then used to generate loop detector data including speed, flow and occupancy which were used to develop and compare a number of LSTM models for short-term traffic prediction up to 60 min into the future. The modelling results showed that BiLSTM outperformed other predictive models for multiple prediction horizons for base year conditions. The simulation model was then adapted for future year scenarios where the traffic demand was increased by 25–100 percent to reflect potential future increases in traffic demands. The results showed superior performance of BiLSTM for multiple prediction horizons for all traffic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]