This paper presents a case for adopting agent-based modeling (ABM) as a framework for representing the complex interactions that occur within the context of urban infrastructure management. A generic ABM is proposed with four key agents namely; assets, users, operators and politicians. For each agent a set of generic attributes, actions and behaviors are defined. A detailed behavioral model is adapted from the service quality domain to represent customer perceptions and actions related to infrastructure level of service. An illustrative example of 20 assets and 50 user agents is simulated to

Thermal insulators have a crucial role in reducing the operational building energy. They are commonly fabricated from petrochemical materials that mostly cause negative environmental impacts. This study aims to develop banana leaves-polystyrene composites (BL-PS) as a sustainable and low-cost thermal insulator. The BL powder was mixed with PS in different weight ratios (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40). Thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA, and DSC were carried out on BL and BL-PS composites that were prepared with 10 wt.% of PS powder (BL-PS1) and 30 wt.% of PS

This paper represents modeling and control of an agricultural service skid steering mobile robot for the purposes of grass cutting using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller and Fuzzy Logic techniques and feedback signals from sensors as IMU, encoders, and Machine Vision. The paper deals with the system modeling into two methods: The first is using Fuzzy modeling as a modeling tool for complex nonlinear system, the second is using MATLAB software system Identification Tool. The study Uses PID, Fuzzy logic controller and fuzzy self-tuning of PID controller to control the path

This study aims to produce starch bioplastic pellets from food waste such as potato peels. Measuring the ease of flow of the melt is crucial for producing these pellets. The melt flow index (MFI) is measured in this study to evaluate the consistency of the produced pellets and determine the extent of degradation of the plastic because of molding. This study investigates the effect of adding different fillers to the starch matrix on reducing the MFI value. The fillers used in this work are nano chitosan, nano potato peel, and micro cellulose fillers. The fillers were used with different

Soft pneumatic actuators grasping tasks is one of the essential rules in robot manipulation methods. The grasping forces can be adapted to handle delicate and hard objects without leaving any damages on the object surfaces. This paper investigates the influence of the inclination angle of the soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) on its gripping force at its end tip. A range of inclination angles for SPA is analyzed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to estimate the gripping force at the end tip regarding SPA inner faces pressure. FEA study is conducted based on Hyperelastic material modeling

In this paper a novel strategy for the position control and trajectory tracking of robotic manipulators is proposed. This strategy consists of an independent two degree of freedom PID controller for a two links robotic arm. Due to the capability of two degree of freedom PID controllers to deal with disturbances, each link is controlled independently considering that the disturbance does not affect the system performance due to the robustness of the closed loop system. Then, a fuzzy type-2 centralized compensator is implemented to drive the orientation variables with the desired trajectory in

Committing robotics with artificial intelligence becomes mandatory collaboration with distinct environments. Omnidirectional Wheeled (Omni-WD) mobile robots are one of the robots that interact with humans in various circumstances, where it is important to function effectively and accurately. In this paper, the distinction of a 3WD-Omni model and control using machine vision is demonstrated. The use of fractional order (FO) calculus has been stated to increase the degrees of freedom of the controller over the integer ones. Hybridization of FO control and metaheuristics optimization is reported

This paper introduces some generalized fundamentals for fractional-order RL β C α circuits as well as a gradient-based optimization technique in the frequency domain. One of the main advantages of the fractional-order design is that it increases the flexibility and degrees of freedom by means of the fractional parameters, which provide new fundamentals and can be used for better interpretation or best fit matching with experimental results. An analysis of the real and imaginary components, the magnitude and phase responses, and the sensitivity must be performed to obtain an optimal design

Nonlinear dynamical systems with chaotic attractors have many engineering applications such as dynamical models or pseudo-random number generators. Discovering systems with hidden attractors has recently received considerable attention because they can lead to unexpected responses to perturbations. In this chapter, several recent examples of hidden attractors, which are classified into several categories from two different viewpoints, are reviewed. From the viewpoint of the equilibrium type, they are classified into systems with no equilibria, with a line of equilibrium points, and with one

Magnetic Levitation System is one of practical examples which faces some nonlinearities behavior. Such systems require special types of controller parameters consideration for accurate results. In this paper, the process of tuning is to determine the system poles and getting them away from the instability region using state feedback (SF) controller methodology. The resulted controllable system parameters are estimated using LQR controller. Since the desired goal is to minimize vital parameters in the system behavior like the steady state error, settling time, raising time of the system and