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1 – 10 of 66Hui Xiong, Xiuzhi Shi, JinZhen Liu, Yimei Chen and Jiaxing Wang
The formation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm plays a critical role in numerous applications, such as unmanned agriculture, environmental monitoring and cooperative…
Abstract
Purpose
The formation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm plays a critical role in numerous applications, such as unmanned agriculture, environmental monitoring and cooperative fencing. Meanwhile, the self-organized swarm model exhibits excellent performance in amorphous formation flight, and its collective motion pattern displays great potential in dense obstacle avoidance. The paper aims to realize the formation maintenance of UAVs while combining the advantage of the self-organized swarm model in avoiding dense obstacles. Thereby enhancing the flexibility, adaptability and safety of UAV swarms in dense and unpredictable scenarios.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a self-organized formation (SOF) swarm model with a constrained coordination mechanism is proposed. A global information-based formation rule is designed to flexibly maintain the formation. A constraint coordination mechanism is designed to resolve the problem of constraint conflicts between formation rules and self-organized behavior rules. The model introduces a new obstacle avoidance rule to prevent deadlocks. Extensive experiments including simulations, real flights and comparative experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the model.
Findings
The simulation results show that SOF swarm enables the formation elastically to dense obstacles. Compared to the Vasarhelyi model, swarm performance metrics are improved. For example, the task completion time of SOF swarm is reduced by 16%, 28% and 39% across the three obstacle densities, and the order of SOF swarm is improved by 4%, 13% and 18%, respectively. The proposed model is also validated with a swarm of seven quadcopters that can successfully navigate and maintain formation in a real-world indoor environment with dense obstacles. Video at: https://youtu.be/V8hYgOHxWls.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed formation rule is based on global information construction, which presents challenges in terms of communication overhead in distributed systems.
Originality/value
An SOF swarm model is proposed, which achieves formation maintenance by incorporating formation rule and constraint coordination mechanism and improves obstacle avoidance performance by introducing a new obstacle avoidance rule. After real UAVs verification, the model is feasible for practical deployment and provides a new solution to the formation flight and formation maintenance problems encountered in dense environments.
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Zheng Liu, Jin Wang, Qijin Chen and Guodong Lu
To enhance the pleasure experience of clothes shopping online, finding satisfactory clothing and similar clothing recommendations to customers should be available and accurate…
Abstract
Purpose
To enhance the pleasure experience of clothes shopping online, finding satisfactory clothing and similar clothing recommendations to customers should be available and accurate. The purpose of this paper is to present a method for automatically computing the similarity between two apparels and giving an effective recommendation.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a tabular layout of article characteristics the authors built a clothing information model to describe clothing. The clothing attributes are classified according to excavating features of the model. After the proposal of the computation algorithm for various attributes, an efficient similarity computation method is developed to obtain similar clothes with the given cloth. To prevent error and information omission during the computation, the analytic hierarchy process method and entropy method are adopted by the integrated weights as a control.
Findings
Clothing is a non‐rigid product which has a lot of crossover and complicated attributes and features. This paper found a tabular layout of article characteristics can explain the clothing clearly. Through experiments the authors found the weight of attributes to have a great influence on similar results during the similarity computation.
Originality/value
This paper presents a new way to describe clothing information, and present the algorithm for attributes computation.
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Yu Jie, Wang Xinlong and Ji Jiaxing
The purpose of this paper is to improve the tracking performance of the carrier phase lock loop (PLL) in the strapdown inertial navigation system/global positioning system…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the tracking performance of the carrier phase lock loop (PLL) in the strapdown inertial navigation system/global positioning system (SINS/GPS) integrated system with an innovative scheme of ultra‐tight integration.
Design/methodology/approach
First, providing the Doppler frequency for PLL using SINS velocity could enlarge the loop equivalent bandwidth and reduce the dynamic effect on the carrier loop. Meanwhile, lowering the filter bandwidth could increase the immunity to noise. Second, the relationships between the PLL and SINS errors have been analyzed, and then the PLL error model is established to eliminate the correlation between the pseudo‐range‐rate error and SINS velocity error. Third, the carrier frequency is regulated to improve the tracking accuracy, according to the error estimations of Kalman filter.
Findings
The innovative ultra‐tightly integrated system could not only enhance the anti‐jamming capability and the dynamic tracking performance of the tracking loops, but also improve the pseudo‐range‐rate measurements accuracy for the integrated filter.
Originality/value
This paper provides further study on the method of enhancing the carrier‐tracking performance and improving the integration mode in the ultra‐tightly integrated system based on the software‐defined GPS receiver.
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Wang Xinlong, Ji Jiaxing and Li Yafeng
Troposphere delay is one of the important error sources in global positioning system (GPS) positioning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the accuracy and adaptability of…
Abstract
Purpose
Troposphere delay is one of the important error sources in global positioning system (GPS) positioning. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the accuracy and adaptability of GPS troposphere error correction models, and to provide theoretic foundation for model selection in GPS accurate positioning.
Design/methodology/approach
The principle of troposphere delay error effecting on GPS signals is theoretically analyzed. The model peculiarity and modeling method of the four common troposphere delay correction models: Hopfield, Saastamoinen, Black, and Egnos models are discussed detailedly. With the measurement data from Crustal Dynamics Data Information System of the technical support institution for GPS, the accuracy and applicability of the four models are quantificationally studied.
Findings
For a low elevation, Hopfield, Saastamoinen, and Black models show great agreement with each other, and have quite high precision. In the zenith direction, the maximal troposphere delay error of three models are all less than 1 dm, but Black and Hopfield models have higher precision than Saastamoinen model. Black model can be regarded as the improved form of Hopfield model: for a high elevation, precision of two models are close, while for a low elevation, Black model shows to be more effective than Hopfield model. The precision of Egnos model is quite lower than that of Black, Hopfield, and Saastamoinen models. However, Egnos model can be a better choice when it is difficult to obtain real‐time meteorological data in certain application environment.
Originality/value
This paper makes thorough research on GPS troposphere delay error correction models. The conclusions are presented for selecting troposphere delay models, which are useful for practical engineering application.
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Xiwei Wang, Mengqing Yang, Jiaxing Li and Nanaxue Wang
The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors of the mobile library users’ attitude and behavioral intention from the perspective of information ecology. The research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors of the mobile library users’ attitude and behavioral intention from the perspective of information ecology. The research results could serve as a reference for the improvement of the mobile library services.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was constructed of the mobile library users’ attitude and behavioral intention with three external variables, namely, information quality, information environment and information technology, abstracted from the theory of information ecology. The influences of the three ecological factors were explored with empirical research and structural equation model.
Findings
Results showed that information quality, information environment and information technology had positive and significant effects on users’ attitude, among which the influence coefficient of information environment was the largest. Information technology and users’ attitude had positive and significant effects on the behavioral intention of users. This new theoretical perspective for research on the users’ mobile library behavior might have a positive role in promoting the development of mobile libraries.
Practical implications
This study suggests that the mobile library can improve the service mode in three aspects, namely, information quality, information environment and information technology to enhance the intention to use.
Originality/value
A theoretical model of the mobile library users’ behavioral intention is constructed from the perspective of information ecology. It can not only provide solid theoretical guidance for research on mobile libraries but also broaden the application of information ecology theory.
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Haixia Zhang, Yuan Xue and Shanyuan Wang
Spandex fibers have superior stretch and elastic recovery ability, which is why clothes containing spandex fibers fit well and are comfortable. The most common methods of…
Abstract
Spandex fibers have superior stretch and elastic recovery ability, which is why clothes containing spandex fibers fit well and are comfortable. The most common methods of producing elastic yarns are core-spun on a modified ring frame and hollow spindle technique. Rotor spinning has many advantages over ring spinning and has been adopted worldwide. In this paper, a method of producing the cotton/spandex composite yarns on a modified open-end rotor spinning is introduced. By changing the draft ratio and linear density of spandex filaments, different kinds of cotton/spandex composite yarns are produced on a modified rotor spinning frame, and their appearance and properties are tested and analyzed at the same time. The results show that the spandex draft ratio has great influence on the appearance and properties of rotor spun cotton/spandex composite yarns. The linear density of spandex filaments also has influence on the properties of composite yarns.
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Xinchao Zhang, Huanxia Zhang, Danni Pan, Wen Wu, Hui Ma, Jianda Cao and Jia Xu
This paper aims to determine whether application of graphene layers to cuprammonium filaments affords the latter with excellent mechanical properties and improves their electrical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine whether application of graphene layers to cuprammonium filaments affords the latter with excellent mechanical properties and improves their electrical properties. At the same time, a circuit model was established to explore the conductive mechanism of the filament. The actual model is used to verify the correctness of the model.
Design/methodology/approach
The cuprammonium filaments were desizing, the graphene oxide layer-by-layer sizing and reduction integration process by a continuous sizing machine. The electrical properties of mono- and multifilaments in the static condition, as well as the dynamic–mechanical properties of multifilaments, were analysed, and the related conductive mechanism of the filaments was deduced.
Findings
Cuprammonium filaments coated with graphene layers showed good electrical conductivity, and their volume resistance decreased to 4.35 O·cm with increasing number of graphene coats. The X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis results showed that the graphene layer treatment changed the crystallinity of the copperammonia filaments and improved the thermal stability of the filaments. In the dynamic case, filament resistance was calculated using the equivalent resistance model, and the fitting difference observed was small. This result confirmed the high fit of this circuit model.
Originality/value
Up to the knowledge from literature review, there are no reports on theoretical research on the relation between the electro-mechanical property and structure of conductive filaments.
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Xiwei Wang, Jiaxing Li, Mengqing Yang, Yong Chen and Xiaobo Xu
The purpose of this paper is to construct an information ecology factor-TAM model to explore how information, people, and information environment impact mobile library users’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to construct an information ecology factor-TAM model to explore how information, people, and information environment impact mobile library users’ behavioral intention.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study based on an information ecology factor-TAM model.
Findings
The results of model test indicate that information, people, and information environment affect users’ behavioral intention to use mobile library in the information ecology environment. This paper provides a new theoretical perspective to understand users’ behavior of mobile library. It also provides practical guidelines to promote the usage of mobile library.
Originality/value
Internet of Things makes digital library one important channel for people to obtain information. Mobile internet makes it possible to access a variety of information anytime and anywhere. With the rapid grow of the number of mobile internet users, the usage of mobile library does not grow correspondingly. This paper explores the reasons.
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Pengcheng Cao, Xi Chen, Hongjing Dong and Ying Dai
The purpose of this paper is to obtain a theoretical model to analyze the effective modulus of cement paste in early age, including the setting and hardening periods, which has a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to obtain a theoretical model to analyze the effective modulus of cement paste in early age, including the setting and hardening periods, which has a great impact on mechanical properties of concrete structure.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a power law approximation, a generalized mixture rule is used to construct the relationship between the effective modulus and hydration degree. In addition, a new model of the dependence of the Poisson's ratio on the hydration degree and water cement ratio is proposed for cement paste in early age.
Findings
The effective Young's modulus, storage shear modulus and Poisson's ratio of cement pastes with different water cement ratios and hydration degrees are studied by the presented model. The model can be applied to simulate the behavior of early-age cement paste at both the setting and the hardening periods. Compared with the experimental results, the correctness of the model is validated.
Originality/value
This work presents a mathematical model that can effectively estimate the effective Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio in the hardening period, and the storage shear modulus in the setting period of cement pastes.
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Xiangkai Zhang, Renxin Wang, Wenping Cao, Guochang Liu, Haoyu Tan, Haoxuan Li, Jiaxing Wu, Guojun Zhang and Wendong Zhang
Human-induced marine environmental noise, such as commercial shipping and seismic exploration, is concentrated in the low-frequency range. Meanwhile, low-frequency sound signals…
Abstract
Purpose
Human-induced marine environmental noise, such as commercial shipping and seismic exploration, is concentrated in the low-frequency range. Meanwhile, low-frequency sound signals can achieve long-distance propagation in water. To meet the requirements of long-distance underwater detection and communication, this paper aims to propose an micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) flexible conformal hydrophone for low-frequency underwater acoustic signals. The substrate of the proposed hydrophone is polyimide, with silicon as the piezoresistive unit.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a MEMS heterojunction integration process for preparing flexible conformal hydrophones. In addition, sensors prepared based on this process are non-contact flexible sensors that can detect weak signals or small deformations.
Findings
The experimental results indicate that making devices with this process cannot only achieve heterogeneous integration of silicon film, metal wire and polyimide, but also allow for customized positions of the silicon film as needed. The success rate of silicon film transfer printing is over 95%. When a stress of 1 Pa is applied on the x-axis or y-axis, the maximum stress on Si as a pie-zoresistive material is above, and the average stress on the Si film is around.
Originality/value
The flexible conformal vector hydrophone prepared by heterogeneous integration technology provides ideas for underwater acoustic communication and signal acquisition of biomimetic flexible robotic fish.
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