Learning Autonomous Grasping Strategies for a Care Robot: A Machine Learning approach

Autonomous grasping is a key requisite for the autonomy of robots.<br/>However, grasping of unknown objects in domestic environments is difficult due to the presence of unpredictability and clutter.<br/>In this paper, a novel algorithm capable of finding an unobstructed grasping pose on unknown regular object shapes in cluttered environments is...

Autonomous Coverage Path Planning For AUVs Considering Location Uncertainty

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are unmanned vehicles that operate underwater. These vehicles can be used for various operations, including scanning the ocean floor in order to search for objects. In such operations, the AUV navigates close to the ocean floor, using its sonar systems to map this ocean floor. Before an AUV is launched on a...

Force Estimation for Offshore Heavy Lifting Equipment

One of the phases of the installation of Offshore Wind Turbines is the installation of the foundation for the turbine. Herein, a monopile is one of the most frequently used foundation-types. This monopile is a high steel cylinder, over 60 meters high, which supports the wind turbine to the seabed. Currently, monopiles are lifted with large boom...

Probabilistic Motion Planning in Uncertain and Dynamic Environments

Autonomous driving is one of the popular and advanced research fields aiming to reduce the mortality rate and improve the welfare and efficiency of commuters' lives. As one of the important research branches of self-driving cars, this thesis focuses on the motion planning problems in dynamic and uncertain environments. The challenge of motion...

Improved Fast Inverse Nonlinear Fourier Transform for Multi-solitons: A Discrete Darboux Based Approach

The relation between the input of an ideal optical single-mode fiber and the corresponding fiber output constitutes a nonlinear system that can be described using the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. This nonlinear system has the interesting property that it can be solved analytically using nonlinear Fourier transforms. To utilize this property,...

Closed-Loop Calibration of the Interaction Matrix for New Generation Adaptive Optics Systems: A Least Cost Identification Approach

Recently, with the switch to the new generation adaptive optics systems like the VLT and ELT an important identification problem emerged. These telescopes are so-called integrated systems, which means that open-loop calibration of the interaction matrix is not possible anymore. The first and foremost reason for this is that the new generation of...

Identification of Probe of an Atomic Force Microscope Using Curve Fitting

<br/>In recent years the Tapping Mode-Atomic Force Microscope (TM-AFM) has become one of the most important tools for imaging on the nanometer scale. In comparison with other contemporary technologies, the AFMs have been able to obtain atomic resolution both in high vacuum and liquid environments thus affirming their supremacy. The AFM can be...

Robust Model Predictive Control with Aperiodic Actuation: Employing a Decentralized Triggering Mechanism

In this thesis, a control design problem, in which communication between different elements of the control system takes place through a shared (possibly wireless) channel, is considered. With the implementation of the proposed approach, the use of limited resources such as network bandwidth and battery life may be reduced.<br/><br/>The proposal...

Estimation of ship translations by fusing multiple IMUs: For the Ampelmann system

Accessibility of offshore structures is strongly affected by local weather and wave conditions. During rough wave climates, vessel motions prevent people to be transferred safely from and to an offshore structure. To increase accessibility, Ampelmann developed a motion compensating gangway system. The system uses a 6 DoF motion sensor to measure...

Abstraction of Hybrid Systems: With an application in railway management

Disturbances are an important factor in the performance of complex large scale systems. These complex large scale systems can be modeled by a broad class of hybrid dynamical systems. The current practice of controlling such processes is one way, from the scheduling level to the control level. The performance of these complex systems can be...

Model Predictive Control Architecture Comparison for a Power Scheduling Electric Vehicle Aggregator

Energy flexibility is the ability to change power production or consumption over time. It is required for a power system to function properly, to balance supply and demand. Currently, the largest providers of energy flexibility in the Netherlands can be found on the supply side and consist mainly out of fossil fueled power plants. As these are...

Skirt Decomposition Method for the Identification of Linear Time-Varying Human Joint Admittance

Human joint admittance changes with numerous factors constituting the operational point. For large changes of the operational point, joint admittance can be identified using Linear Time-Varying methods on torque and angular<br/>position signals measured on human joints. Out of the available methods, the Skirt Decomposition method was selected...