Marek Długosz

The application of fractional-order models for thermal process modelling inside buildings:

This article presents one of the applications of fractional-order models in modelling the dynamics of air temperature changes in residential spaces. The characteristics of these models include the order of the derivative which is a real number and, in more general cases, a complex number. These models are a further generalization of the traditional dynamic model but, thanks to the fact that derivatives are not real numbers, they can be used to model dynamics of much more complex physical phenomena. This article undertakes to identify the parameters of the fractional-order model which models the dynamics of air temperature changes inside buildings. Measurement data which were registered during experiment were used in the identification process.

The Minimum Energy Building Temperature Control

One of the most important factors of users comfort inside building is air temperature. From the other side one of the most biggest position in home budget is price for heat. Mutually exclusive indices are the cause that the control of temperature task using the smallest amount of energy as it is possible is very difficult. In this paper is presented simple model of temperature changes inside building base on lumped capacity method. Using this method finally obtains mathematical model of temperature changes which model is equivalent in structure to electrical RC- network. The model is composed of linear differential equations. Based on this mathematical model the simple algorithm controlling of temperature inside room is proposed. In this article are also included numerical simulations of the proposed solutions.

Aggregation of state variables in an RC model

The paper presents a method for reducing the order of the thermal dynamics model of a building or room, obtained by application of a lumped parameter method. The reduced model has the same dynamic characteristics as the primary model, while additionally it is an observable one. The described model order reduction method involves the identification and aggregation of non-distinguishable state variables. The paper presents a sample calculation confirming the validity of the deliberations. The proposed reduction method of state variables can be used with other dynamic systems provided that the assumptions concerning the structures of the system matrices are fulfilled. Practical application : The use of simplified but accurate mathematical models of the dynamics of heat in buildings enables the efficient design of high-performance control systems, e.g. the stabilisation of air temperature in the building. Simplified mathematical models also require less computing power and can be implemented in embedded control systems. This gives the ability to design, for example, distributed systems of predictive control, which requires mathematical models of controlled processes.

Review of tracking and object detection systems for advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving applications with focus on vulnerable road users sensing

The paper presents review of key aspects associated with object detection and tracking algorithms in sensing systems for automotive applications covering active safety, advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems. The role of discussed systems is to establish location and monitor relative movement of objects and environment with main focus on identification of vulnerable road users. The object detection algorithms allow to classify and differentiate both static and dynamic objects in the vehicle’s surrounding. The analysis will be focused on selection of most suitable platform for development of optimized and safe vulnerable road user detection system.

Stability Analysis of a Series of Cars Driving in Adaptive Cruise Control Mode

The paper analysis the stability property of a series of cars following each other and functioning in adaptive cruise control mode. The adaptive cruise control mode controls the acceleration and deceleration of the car in order to maintain a set speed or to avoid a crash. Such series of cars can be mathematically represented by an equivalent system consisting of a set of masses, springs and dampers. Using this representation, the dynamic behaviour of the cars in a chain can be described by a matrix-vector differential equation of second-order. The paper analyses this model and formulates stability conditions.

Improving the Success Rate of Student Software Projects through Developing Effort Estimation Practices

Software projects have become an integral part of undergraduate and graduate engineering programs at technical universities. This trend in engineering education is driven by the increasingly usage of computer technology in almost every aspect of daily life. Based on the teaching experience in the last few years, it has been found out, that a surprising number of software related projects conducted by students at technical universities had been delivered late. Such situations usually stand for lower rating for the project, retest, or even prevent being promoted to the next study level. The result of the analysis has shown that lack of effort estimation or inaccurate estimation can be considered as the main reasons preventing successful and on-time project completion. In the paper, a course is proposed that covers required topics for understanding effort estimation concept. The majority of the course is based on the case studies of software engineering practices. The course is completed by a teacher guide to manage student software projects.

A Formal Approach for the Verification of Control Systems in Autonomous Driving Applications

Control systems in autonomous vehicles can be considered as distributed embedded software systems where independent microprocessor systems communicate together using different communication protocols. Typical autonomous driving functionality is then realised by several microprocessors communicating with each other. Quality assurance and safety standards combined with increasing complexity and reliability demands make the development of such systems challenging. In order to assure the required quality and compliance with safety standards, a formal and methodical approach for testing and verification is required. The paper presents a proposal of such approach for verification and testing of control systems in the automotive applications covering active safety, advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems. The main focus of this approach is black-box testing and includes test design, implementation and execution.