Search for: All records

The rigid body attitude stabilization problem with constrained control inputs has been studied by many researchers. However, if perfect eigen-axis rotation in rest to-rest maneuvers is also desirable, the control design problem becomes more challenging and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has not yet been addressed. In this letter, an anti-windup compensation approach to this problem is developed. A nonlinear dynamic inversion control is used to obtain satisfactory unconstrained performance and this is supplemented by an anti-windup compensator when constraints are encountered. The compensator provides global L2 performance under reasonable conditions. A highlight of the approach is that the anti-windup compensator can have a nonlinear structure, giving flexibility in the choice of its parameters. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme as well as the performance improvement achieved using a compensator with state-dependent parameters. 

In this paper, an anti-windup compensation scheme is proposed for the manual mode of a rigid body attitude control system to make the angular velocity dynamics globally asymptotically stable despite actuator saturation. The addressed anti-windup design problem is challenging since the nominal control law includes a nonlinear dynamic inversion element to cancel the nonlinearity in the angular velocity dynamics. The stability of the compensated closed-loop system is proved via the Lyapunov stability criterion appropriately. Moreover, the superiority of the compensated system versus the uncompensated one is demonstrated by simulation. 

Abstract Background Physical seed dormancy is an important trait in legume domestication. Although seed dormancy is beneficial in wild ecosystems, it is generally considered to be an undesirable trait in crops due to reduction in yield and / or quality. The physiological mechanism and underlying genetic factor(s) of seed dormancy is largely unknown in several legume species. Here we employed an integrative approach to understand the mechanisms controlling physical seed dormancy in common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Results Using an innovative CT scan imaging system, we were able to track water movements inside the seed coat. We found that water uptake initiates from the bean seed lens. Using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) we further identified several micro-cracks on the lens surface of non-dormant bean genotypes. Bulked segregant analysis (BSA) was conducted on a bi-parental RIL (recombinant inbred line) population, segregating for seed dormancy. This analysis revealed that the seed water uptake is associated with a single major QTL on Pv03. The QTL region was fine-mapped to a 118 Kb interval possessing 11 genes. Coding sequence analysis of candidate genes revealed a 5-bp insertion in an ortholog of pectin acetylesterase 8 that causes a frame shift, loss-of-function mutation in non-dormant genotype. Gene expression analysis of the candidate genes in the seed coat of contrasting genotypes indicated 21-fold lower expression of pectin acetylesterase 8 in non-dormant genotype. An analysis of mutational polymorphism was conducted among wild and domesticated beans. Although all the wild beans possessed the functional allele of pectin acetylesterase 8 , the majority (77%) of domesticated beans had the non-functional allele suggesting that this variant was under strong selection pressure through domestication. Conclusions In this study, we identified the physiological mechanism of physical seed dormancy and have identified a candidate allele causing variation in this trait. Our findings suggest that a 5-bp insertion in an ortholog of pectin acetylesterase 8 is likely a major causative mutation underlying the loss of seed dormancy during domestication. Although the results of current study provide strong evidences for the role of pectin acetylesterase 8 in seed dormancy, further confirmations seem necessary by employing transgenic approaches.