E-LETTER on Systems, Control, and Signal Processing

ISSUE No. 121, September 1, 1998



      E-LETTER on Systems, Control, and Signal Processing
                 ISSUE No. 121,  September 1, 1998


E-mail:    eletter-request@win.tue.nl

Editors:   Anton A. Stoorvogel
           Dept. of Mathematics & Computing Science
           Eindhoven University of Technology
           P.O. Box 513
           5600 MB Eindhoven
           the Netherlands
           Fax     +31 40 246 5995

           Siep Weiland
           Dept. of Electrical Engineering
           Eindhoven University of Technology
           P.O. Box 513
           5600 MB Eindhoven
           the Netherlands
           Fax     +31 40 243 4582


Contents


1.      Editorial

2.      Personals

3.      General announcements
        3.1  Nordic process control award
        3.2  New version of web-based Matlab tutorials
        3.3  Call for nominations SIAG/OPT

4.      Positions
        4.1  Postdoctoral position in robotic surgery, BCM and Rice university
        4.2  Faculty position systems-control engr., Case Western Reserve Univ.
        4.3  Call for fellowship applications ERNSI
        4.4  Graduate assistant, Massey University
        4.5  Position dynamics, aerospace systems & control, Univ. of Minnesota
        4.6  Research assistant, Control theory Lab., Dresden Univ.

5.      Books
        5.1  "Generalized characteristics of 1st order pde's", Melikyan
        5.2  "Variable structure and Lyapunov control," Zinober
        5.3  "Deadline scheduling for real time systems," Stankovich, cs.

6.      Journals
        6.1 TOC LAA, Vol.280:2-3, 281:1-3
        6.2 TOC Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol.335B:7
        6.3 TOC IJC, Vol.70:6, 71:2
        6.4 TOC Intl. J. of Intelligent Real-Time Automation, Vol.11:1

7.      Conferences
        7.1  CFP Colloquium fractional differential systems, Paris
        7.2  CFP Conf. on recent advances in mechatronics, Istanbul
        7.3  Information 37th IEEE CDC, Tampa
        7.4  Travel support for students attending CDC
        7.5  Tutorial workshop on Hybrid systems in conjunction with CDC
        7.6  CFP ACC 1999, San Diego
        7.7  CFP IEEE Real-time systems symposium, Madrid
        7.8  CFP Workshop new directinos in control engineering education
        7.9  CFP Workshop on hybrid systems and AI
        7.10 CFP Symposium on aerospace/defense sensing, Orlando
        7.11 CFP Workshop on performance characterization
        7.12 CFP 1st NICONET workshop, Valencia
        7.13 CFP Workshop on iterative learning control, Tampa


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              *              Editorial                 *
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              *              Personals                 *
              *                                        *
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*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Geir E. Dullerud

As of 21 August my new contact information is:

Geir E. Dullerud, Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Illinois, MC-244
1206 W. Green Street
Urbana, IL 61801

telephone:  217-265-5078
fax:        217-244-6534
e-mail:  dullerud@uiuc.edu

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Chun-Yi Su

ADDRESS CHANGE

Effective 1 August 1998 my coordinates are:

Chun-Yi Su
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., #H549-9
Montreal, Quebec
Canada, H3G 1M8

Phone: (514)848-3168
Fax    (514)848-3175
Email:  cysu@me.concordia.ca

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Carlos E. de Souza

                          ADDRESS CHANGE

Please note my new address:

Prof. Carlos E. de Souza
Department of Systems and Control
Lab. Nacional de Computacao Cientifica - LNCC
Av. Getulio Vargas, 333
25651-070 Petropolis - RJ
Brazil

Tel.:  (55) (24) 233 6012
Fax:   (55) (24) 231 5595
Email: csouza@nismail.lncc.br

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: J.Shinar

During my sabbatical leave (starting July 1, 1998) I can be reached from
Sept. 8, 1998 - Febr. 10, 1999 at

Department of Aeronautical Engineering
Building J07
University of Sydney
NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA
Phone : (61-2) 9351 2338
Fax : (61-2) 9351 4841

I'll have my own e-mail: 
(it will be active only during my presence)

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Bassam Bamieh

I have joined  the Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering
at the University of California at Santa Barbara. As of this August, my contact
information will be:

Bassam Bamieh
Dept. of Mechanical & Environmental Eng.
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Tel:   (805)-893-4490
e-mail:  bamieh@engineering.ucsb.edu
http://www.me.ucsb.edu/~bamieh



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              *                                        *
              *        General announcements           *
              *                                        *
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*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Sigurd Skogestad, Trondheim, Norway

           Shinskey receives third Nordic Process Control Award

The Nordic Process Control Award is awarded for lasting
and significant contributions to the field of process control.
The third recipeient of this award is F. Greg Shinskey, retired Fellow
of the Foxboro Componany, and well known for his many books and
publications on practical process control.

The award was presented to Mr. Shinskey on 24 August 1998 during the
8th Nordic Process Control Workshop, held at Skeviks Gard by the sea
close to Stockholm. The title of his award lecture was "Process
control: A multidisiplinary technology".

The two previous recipients of this prestigious award are Howard H. Rosenbrock
(1995) and Karl Johan Astrom (1997). The award, consisting of a travel
grant and a diploma, is awarded by the Nordic Working Group on Process
Control. For more information on the working group, see:
http://www.chembio.ntnu.no/users/skoge/npc.html

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: William C. Messner 

                       NEW VERSION OF WEB-BASED TUTORIALS

                   Controls Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink:
                              A Web-Based Approach

                               William C. Messner
                              Associate Professor
                      Department of Mechanical Engineering
                           Carnegie Mellon University
                            Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

                                 Dawn Tilbury
                              Assistant Professor
                      Department of Mechanical Engineering
                             and Applied Mechanics
                            University of Michigan
                            Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2110

                       CD-ROM with Soft Cover User Guide
                                 Copyright 1999
                             Addison-Wesley-Longman
                               ISBN 0-201-36194-9
                               http://www.awl.com

Controls Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink is a new version of the highly
successful University of Michigan/Carnegie Mellon University Controls
Tutorials for MATLAB on the WWW.  The tutorials have been completely
updated for MATLAB 5 and expanded to cover Simulink.

Controls Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink is designed to help students
learn how to use MATLAB and Simulink for the analysis and design of
automatic control systems. Thereare nine tutorials which cover the basics
of MATLAB and Simulink, the most common classical control design
techniques, modern control design, and digital control.

        o MATLAB Basics
        o MATLAB Modeling
        o PID Control
        o Root Locus
        o Frequency Response
        o State Space
        o Digital Control
        o Simulink Basics
        o Simulink Modeling

There are also seven physical system examples which are followed for each
tutorial (except the basic tutorials) for a total of 49 worked example
problems.  These are

        o Cruise Control
        o Motor Speed
        o Motor Shaft Position
        o Bus Active Suspension
        o Inverted Pendulum
        o Aircraft Pitch
        o Ball and Beam

Controls Tutorials for MATLAB and Simulink provides information when and
where it is needed -- at the computer.  The user follow along with these
tutorials by running MATLAB/Simulink in one window and the tutorials in
another.  The user can run the MATLAB programs by copying and pasting
between windows; the Simulink models are executed by downloading the model
files.   Students can immediately see the result of an actual MATLAB
computation,
compare it to the tutorial, and experiment with commands and parameters.
Students thus grasp key concepts and design techniques in a "learn by
seeing
and doing" manner.  By using the hypertext markup language, the tutorials
are highly interconnected, which allows a student to take any of several
possible paths through the tutorials, depending on ability, interest, and
available
time.  The tutorials are helpful as an on-line reference while doing
homework assignments or for reviewing concepts before exams.

The tutorials are available on CD-ROM with a softcover user's guide.  The
CD-ROM may be bundled with one of several popular controls texts, or used on
its own.  Site licenses are also available.  For information contact
Addison Wesley Longman at http://www.awl.com or 2725 Sand Hill Road, Menlo
Park, CA 94025, Phone 650.854.0300, Fax 650.853.2591.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Allison Bogardo

                              Call for Nominations

                    SIAM Activity Group on Optimization Prize

     The SIAM Activity Group on Optimization Prize (SIAG/OPT) will be
     awarded at the Sixth SIAM Conference on Optimization to be held
     in Atlanta, May 10-12, 1999.

     The prize is awarded to the author(s) of the most outstanding
     paper, as determined by the prize committee, on a topic in
     optimization published in English in a peer-reviewed journal.

     Eligibility

     Candidate papers must be published in English in a peer-reviewed
     journal bearing a publication date within the period January 1,
     1995 to December 31, 1998.  The paper must contain significant
     research contributions to the field of optimization, as commonly
     defined in the mathematical literature, with direct or potential
     applications.

     Description of the Award

     The award will consist of a plaque and a certificate.  The chair
     of the prize committee will notify the recipient(s) of the award
     in advance of the award date.  An invitation will be extended to
     the recipient(s) to attend the award ceremony to receive the award
     and to present the paper. At least one of the awardees is expected
     to attend the ceremony and present the winning paper.

     Nominations

     Nominations, which should consist of a copy of the paper and a
     cover letter, must be received in the SIAM Office by JANUARY 15,
     1999.  Please send nominations to:


               SIAG/OPT Prize Selection Committee c/o
               c/o Allison Bogardo
               SIAM
               3600 University City Science Center
               Philadelphia, PA 19104-2688
               Fax: 215-386-7999
               Telephone: 215-382-9800, Ext. 302
               E-mail: bogardo@siam.org


     Members of the selection committee are John Birge (University of
     Michigan), Roger Fletcher (University of Dundee), Jan Karel
     Lenstra (Technical University of Eindhoven), Stephen M. Robinson
     (University of Wisconsin), and Stephen J. Wright, chair (Argonne
     National Laboratory).


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              *              Positions                 *
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*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Fathi Ghorbel (ghorbel@rice.edu)

Postdoctoral Position in Robotic Surgery, BCM and Rice University

The Department of Urology at Baylor College of Medicine
and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University
are seeking a postdoctoral fellow with a Ph.D. degree in
Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related
areas, interested in the engineering science of surgery.
The fellow will undergo an extensive orientation to surgery
and the operating room environment and will be responsible
for identifying novel approaches to surgery, and for designing
and building novel surgery tools.  Potential projects include
robotic surgery, telemedicine and minimally invasive surgery.
The successful candidate should be capable of carrying an
independent research program. Preferences will be granted
to those candidates having a strong background in most of
the following areas: kinematics, dynamics, controls,
mechanical/electrical design and fabrication, mechatronics,
data acquisition and computer control. Applications with a
Curriculum Vitae, and the names of three referees should
be sent to

Peter G. Schulam, M.D., Ph.D.
Scott Department of Urology
6560 Fannin, Suite 2100
Houston, Texas  77030
USA
e-mail: pschulam@bcm.tmc.edu
Tel: (713) 798-5196
Fax: (713) 798-5553

or

Fathi Ghorbel, Ph.D.
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Rice University
6100 Main Street - MS 321
Houston, Texas 77005-1892
USA
e-mail :ghorbel@rice.edu
Tel: (713) 527-8750 (after tone)  3738
Fax: (713) 285-5423

Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University are Equal
Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employers.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Kenneth A. Loparo (kal4@po.cwru.edu)

      Faculty Position in Systems and Control Engineering
      Electrical, Systems, Computer Engineering and Science Department
      Case School of Engineering
      Case Western Reserve University

        The Case School of Engineering is seeking candidates for a faculty
position at the assistant professor level (tenure track) in the Systems and
Control Engineering Program of the Department of Electrical, Systems,
Computer Engineering and Science. Qualified candidates should have an
earned Ph.D, or equivalent, in engineering or a related field with
specialization in any of the following sub-areas: dynamic systems, control,
signal processing, optimization, decision theory or, systems analysis.
Commitment to excellence in research and teaching is a must. Salary will be
commensurate with experience.

        The school is committed to substantial expansion of the department
beyond the present 27 faculty. The department serves over 200 graduate
students
and 400 undergraduate majors. All of the engineering degrees are ABET
accredited.

        Applications, including curriculum vitae and the names of at least four
references, should be sent to:

        Professor Kenneth A. Loparo
        Chair, Search Committee
        Olin Bldg. Room 705
        Case Western Reserve University
        10900 Euclid Avenue
        Cleveland, OH 44106-7070

        CWRU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and
minorities are encouraged to apply.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Jan van Schuppen (J.H.van.Schuppen@cwi.nl)

          CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS
                   issued by the
     European Research Network System Identification (ERNSI)


Applications are invited for fellowships at the post-doctoral and at
the Ph.D. student level with the research teams of ERNSI.
The positions are financially supported by the European Commission
through the EU TMR Project System Identification (ERB FMRX CT98 0206).

Note that nationality restrictions apply, only nationals
of European Union States and of the affiliated states Iceland,
Israel, Liechtenstein, and Norway qualify for these positions.
This is a repeated announcement.

Please show this call to potential applicants and post it at your
institute. A version of the complete call is available on the web
at the address
http://www.cwi.nl/cwi/departments/PNA2/callfships.html

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Clive Marsh

Vacancy for Graduate Assistant
Institute of Technology and Engineering
Massey University
Palmerston North
New Zealand.


An opportunity has arisen for a candidate to undertake a higher degree in
the field of Advanced Control as a Graduate Assistant in Institute of
Technology and Engineering.  The position attracts a salary of
approximately $19 K + enrolment fees for a higher degree.  The position is
currently available for 1 year and is renewable for up to 3 years.  The
appointee will be required to fulfil a light teaching load not exceeding
360 hours per academic year.

The Systems Modelling and Control programme is active in areas of control
theory including robust control and in process modelling and process
control.  This Graduate assistantship offers an opportunity to undertake
well funded fundamental research but an 'applied' project is also possible.
 For further details please contact: Dr Clive Marsh, e-mail
C.Marsh@massey.ac.nz, Voice: 06 350 4074, Fax: 06 350 5604.

Applicants are expected to have a good upper second or first class first
degree in Engineering or Applied Mathematics/Physics or Technology and
should forward their C.V. to the above address.

Dr. Clive Marsh
Lecturer in Control Systems
Institute of Technology and Engineering
College of Sciences
Massey University
Palmerston North
Aotearoa New Zealand
Ph: DDI ++64 (0)6 350 4074
Fax:    ++64 (0)6 350 5604

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Gary J. Balas, balas@aem.umn.edu


                AEROSPACE ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS
                      UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

    Faculty Position in Dynamics, Aerospace Systems and Control

   The  Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics seeks  to
fill  a tenure-track faculty position at the assistant or associate
professor  level  in dynamics, aerospace systems and  control.  The
intent  is  to  hire  at  the assistant professor  rank.   However,
exceptional candidates with several years of research and  teaching
experience  may  be  considered for  appointment  at  the  rank  of
untenured  or tenured associate professor. Applications are invited
in  all areas and particularly in areas that complement the current
research  activities within the department and that bridge  current
and emerging fields.
       Research  activities  in  dynamics  and  controls  presently
emphasize  robust  control  and  optimization.   Areas  of  current
interest  include feedback control as applied to aircraft, missiles
and  structures, air traffic management, optimal trajectories,  and
the use of smart materials in control.
   The  department  has available a large variety  of  experimental
and  computational facilities.  The department has close ties  with
the  Control Science and Dynamical Systems Center and the Institute
for Mathematics and its Applications and has a strong participation
in  the  Army  High Performance Computing Research Center  and  the
Minnesota  Supercomputer  Institute,  which  have  state-of-the-art
computational resources.
   Information  about  the  department, its  faculty,  and  current
research  programs may be obtained by writing to the address  given
below and is also available at:
                      http://www.aem.umn.edu/
   Applicants  must  have  an earned doctorate  in  an  appropriate
field  by  the date of appointment; experience beyond the doctorate
degree is desirable.  The successful candidate will participate  in
all  aspects of the department's mission, including teaching at the
undergraduate and graduate levels, supervision of undergraduate and
graduate  students, service responsibilities, and will be  expected
to develop an independent, externally-funded research program.
   Applicants  should  send  a  letter  of  application,   detailed
resume, and the names of three references to:
 Dynamics, Aerospace Systems  and Controls Search Committee(IT639)
         Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics
                      University of Minnesota
                         107 Akerman Hall
                      110 Union Street S. E.
                      Minneapolis,  MN  55455
   Application  Deadline:  The  initial screening  of  applications
will begin on November  30,  1998;  applications will be  accepted
until  the position is filled.
   The  University  of  Minnesota is an equal opportunity  employer
and  educator  and specifically invites and encourages applications
from women and minorities.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Joachim Rudolph

                     Research Assistant Position
                     Inst. f. Regelungs- und Steuerungstheorie
                     (Control Theory Lab.)
                     Electrical Engineering Dptmt.
                     Dresden University of Technology, Germany

In a research project on the boundary control of distributed parameter
systems funded by the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft" a research position
is open at the Control Theory Laboratory of TU Dresden. For those applicants
without a PhD the position offers the possibility to prepare the PhD equivalent
Dr.-Ing. degree.

Interested applicants should not hesitate to contact:
Dr. J. Rudolph, rudolph@erss11.et.tu-dresden.de


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              *                Books                   *
              *                                        *
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*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: A.A.Melikyan

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

title:     GENERALIZED CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST ORDER PDEs:
           Applications in Optimal Control and Differential Games.

author:    A.A.Melikyan
publisher: Birkhauser, Boston, 1998.
           ISBN -  0-8176-3984-5.

The classical method of characteristics (MC) is a powerful tool for solving
nonlinear first order PDEs arising in Control Theory and Mathematical Physics.
The nonsmoothness of the generalized (e.g.,viscosity) solution and/or of the
Hamiltonian (left hand side function of the PDE) is often referred as an
obstacle for the implementation of the MC. This book is mainly about how one
can overcome this obstacle using the same notion of characteristics suitably
modified. A new notion of singular characteristics (SC) is suggested, which
together with the classical (regular) ones form generalized characteristics.
SC describe singular lines, surfaces and manifolds of a nonsmooth solution
(to first or second order PDEs), which carry an essential information on the
corresponding control or physical problem, phenomenon. Some applications in
Optimal Control, Differential Games and Mathematical Physics (including
second order PDEs) are demonstrated, which clearly do not embrace all
possible applications of the method of singular characteristics (MSC).

The book is addressed to the specialists in Control Theory and Applied
Mathematics who are interested to implement the MSC to various problems
involving PDEs with nonsmooth (or discontinuous) solutions. A number of
exercises for each chapter  makes it useful for the students and teachers
specializing in Optimal Control, Differential Games, nonlinear PDEs.


*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by:   Alan Zinober   (a.zinober@sheffield.ac.uk)

       VARIABLE STRUCTURE AND LYAPUNOV CONTROL

                  ed. Alan Zinober

         published by Springer-Verlag in 1994

 Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences 193


The above book on Sliding Mode Control is out of print.  Springer-Verlag
have given permission to the editor to produce additional copies to meet
the demand.  If you wish to obtain a copy of this popular text on
sliding mode control, please contact Alan Zinober for further details
(a.zinober@sheffield.ac.uk).  The cost including postage and packing
will be UKP 30.  [The price of the original soft cover edition was
UKP 42.]


The chapter titles are:

An Introduction to Sliding Mode Variable Structure Control
An Algebraic Approach to Sliding Mode Control
Robust Tracking with a Sliding Mode
Sliding Surface Design in the Frequency Domain
Sliding Mode Control in Discrete-Time and Difference Systems
Digital Variable Structure Control with Pseudo-Sliding Modes
Robust Observer-Controller Design for Linear Systems
Robust Stability Analysis and Controller Design with
  Quadratic Lyapunov Functions
Universal Controllers: Nonlinear Feedback and Adaptation
Lyapunov Stabilization of a Class of Uncertain Affine Control Systems
The Role of Morse-Lyapunov Functions in the Design of Nonlinear Global
  Feedback Dynamics
Generalized Sliding Modes for Manifold Control of Distributed Parameter
  Systems
Polytopic Coverings and Robust Stability Analysis of Linear Systems
Model-Following VSC Using an Input-Output Approach
Combined Adaptive and Variable Structure Control
Variable Structure Control of Nonlinear Systems: Experimental Case
  Studies
Applications of VSC in Motion Control Systems
VSC Synthesis of Industrial Robots


Summary:

The book covers a wide range of up-to-date sliding mode Variable
Structure Control (VSC) and Lyapunov Control research and design
techniques, for the robust control of uncertain systems. In direct
contrast to most adaptive controllers these deterministic controllers
employ  fixed nonlinear feedback control functions, which operate
effectively over a specified magnitude range of system parameter
variations and disturbances. For a certain matched class of nonlinear
and time-varying parameter variations, and disturbances, complete
invariance to system uncertainty can be achieved. The book consists of
seventeen chapters covering topics which discuss, amongst many other
aspects, the theoretical and practical design of controllers for
uncertain multivariable systems, novel algebraic approaches for sliding
mode control, observer-control systems, discrete-time control and the
stabilizing VSC of uncertain infinite-dimensional systems. The main
areas of application of the deterministic control of uncertain systems
include electric motor drives, robotics, flight and space systems,
automotive engine control and magnetic levitation, power electronics and
chemical processes; some of these are described in the book. This book
should be of great interest to control engineers, advanced undergraduate
and graduate control students, and applied mathematicians.

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Contributed by: Ellie Kerrissey 


KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE PUBLICATION OF

DEADLINE SCHEDULING FOR REAL-TIME SYSTEMS
EDF and Related Algorithms
by John A. Stankovic, Marco Spuri, Krithi Ramamritham and Georgio C.
Buttazzo

This book presents a significant body of knowledge on EDF scheduling for
real-time systems.  The book primarily presents the algorithms and
associated analysis, but guidelines, rules and implementation considerations
are also discussed, especially for the more complicated situations where
mathematical analysis is difficult.

DEADLINE SCHEDULING FOR REAL-TIME SYSTEMS, EDF and Related Algorithms should
be of interest to researchers, real-time system designers, and instructors
and students, either as a focussed course on deadline based scheduling for
real-time systems, or, more likely, as part of a more general course on
real-time computing.  The book serves as an invaluable reference in this
fast-moving field.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.  INTRODUCTION
2.  TERMINOLOGY AND ASSUMPTIONS
3.  FUNDAMENTALS OF EDF SCHEDULING
4.  RESPONSE TIMES UNDER EDF SCHEDULING
5.  PLANNING-BASED SCHEDULING
6.  EDF SCHEDULING FOR SHARED RESOURCES
7.  PRECEDENCE CONSTRAINTS AND SHARED RESOURCES
8.  APERIODIC TASK SCHEDULING
9.  DISTRIBUTED SCHEDULING - PART 1
10.  DISTRIBUTED SCHEDULING - PART II
11.  SUMMARY AND OPEN QUESTIONS

DEADLINE SCHEDULING FOR REAL-TIME SYSTEMS:  EDF AND RELATED ALGORITHMS
should be
of interest to researchers, real-time system designers, and instructors and
students, either as a focused course on deadline based scheduling for
real-time systems, or more likely as part of a more general course on
real-time computing.

1998     288 pages     ISBN 0-7923-8269-2     $79.00

Order your copy today!
Phone customer service at (781) 871-6600.  Orders by FAX to (781)871-6528
Please visit our on-line catalogue for ordering, or for information about
all our publications:  http://www.wkap.nl


              ******************************************
              *                                        *
              *               Journals                 *
              *                                        *
              ******************************************

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Hans Schneider

          Contents of LAA volumes, 280-2,3, 281


Journal: Linear Algebra and Its Applications
ISSN   : 0024-3795
Volume : 280
Issue  : 2-3
Date   : 04-Sep-1998


pp 87-96
A characterization and representation of the generalized inverse at(2)s and
its applications
YIMIN Wei

pp 97-108
On the connectedness of numerical range of matrix polynomials
J Maroulas

pp 109-127
Notes on D-optimal designs
MG Neubauer

pp 129-162
Krylov subspace methods for eigenvalues with special properties and their
analysis for normal matrices
A Sidi

pp 163-172
A Cauchy-Khinchin matrix inequality
ER Van Dam

pp 173-187
Comparison of two norms of matrices
J Dazord

pp 189-197
Long division for Laurent series matrices and the optimal assignment
problem
KAS Abdel-Ghaffar

pp 199-216
Error bounds on the power method for determining the largest eigenvalue of
a symmetric, positive definite matrix\
J Friedman

pp 217-227
Trace class multipliers and spectral variation of normal matrices
SW Drury

pp 229-240
A generalization of the inertia theorem for quadratic matrix polynomials
B Bilir, C Chicone

pp 241-244
Estimating the operator exponential
K Veselic

pp 245-251
Eigenstructure of distance matrices with an equal distance subset
A Mom

pp 253-266
Linear rank and corank preserving maps on B(H) and an application
to^*-Semigroup isomorphisms of operator ideals
M Gyory, P Semrl

pp 267-287
Pertubation theory for the Eckart-Young-Mirsky theorem and the constrained
total least squares problem
M Wei

pp 289-332
The spectrum of a Hermitian matrix sum
J Day, W So

pp 333-334
Author index to Volume 280

pp 335-336
>From the Editor-in-Chief

pp 341-354
Author Index to Volumes 261--280

    --------------------------------------------------------
Journal: Linear Algebra and Its Applications
ISSN   : 0024-3795
Volume : 281
Issue  : 1-3
Date   : 08-Sep-1998


pp 1-10
How symmetric can a function be?
DC Van Leijenhorst

pp 11-24
Further results on convergence of asynchronous linear iterations
Y Su, A Bhaya

pp 25-31
Rigid relations in GL_2F
L Vaserstein

pp 33-41
A Schur complement inequality for certain P-matrices
TL Markham, RL Smith

pp 43-58
When to call a linear system nonnegative
JW Nieuwenhuis

pp 59-85
Numerical ranges and Poncelet curves
B Mirman

pp 87-96
On Nekrasov matrices
W Li

pp 97-103
Approximating the inverse of a symmetric positive definite matrix
G Simons

pp 105-135
Simultaneous reduction to triangular forms after extension within zeroes
H Bart

pp 137-170
On several types of resolvent matrices of non-degenerative marcial
caratheodory problems
B Fritzsche, B Kirstein

pp 171-225
Overlapping block-balanced canonical forms for various classes of linear
systems
B Hanzon

pp 227-246
Real hamiltonian logarithm of a symplectic matrix
L Dieci

pp 247-257
On the solution of the extended linear complementarity problem
R Andreani, JM Martinez

pp 259-263
An upper bound for the permanent of a nonnegative matrix
SG Hwang, TS Michael

pp 265-292
Optimal trigonometric preconditioners for(nonsymmetric toeplitz systems)
D Potts, G Steidl

pp 293-309
Solving interval linear systems with linear programming techniques.
O Beaumont

pp 311-322
Bounds for determinants of matrices associated with classes of arithmetical
functions
HONG Shaofang

pp 323-324
Author index to Volume 281

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Tricia Manning 

Journal of The Franklin Institute
Volume 335B, Issue 7, September 1998

pp 1171-1175
Random deletion model and Rainville's generating function for the Laguerre
polynomials
PA Lee

pp 1177-1184
A novel nonlinear filter using layered neural networks
M Muneyasu, T Maeda, T Yakao, T Hinamoto

pp 1185-1193
A realization of 2-D adaptive filters using affine projection algorithm
M Muneyasu, H Yagi, T Hinamoto

pp 1195-1205
Kalman estimation with Brownian disturbances
ED Aved'Yan, S Bittanti, YZ Tsypkin

pp 1207-1213
On initial jumps for singular systems in connection with LQ optimal control
WQ Liu, WY Yan, KL Teo, V Sreeram

pp 1215-1230
Stationarization of stochastic sequences with wide-sense stationary
increments or jumps by discrete wavelet transforms
YL Su, BF Wu

pp 1231-1247
Elastic plate in gas flow: reducing from anisotropy to orthotropy
SD Klyachko

pp 1249-1262
Robust stability analysis of time-delay systems using parameter-plane and
parameter-space methods
GL Chao, JW Perng, KW Han

pp 1263-1270
Energy and mass-dimensional characteristics of LC filters
AA Al-Noman

pp 1271-1281
Estimation of the practical stability region of a class of robust
controllers with input constraint
ST Peng, CK Chen

pp 1283-1297
Generation of current conveyor based lowpass filters from a passive RLC
filter
AM Soliman

pp 1299-1325
Disturbance rejection with simultaneous linear exact model matching for a
class of nonlinear systems
AS Tsirikos, PN Paraskevopoulos

pp 1327-1338
Entropy of Markovian processes application to image entropy in computer
vision
G Jumarie

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: null@tandf.co.uk

Taylor & Francis Table of Contents Service
6 August, 1998


International Journal of Control
Volume:- 70  Issue:- 6

Publication Date (Expected):  23/07/98

Contents:-

Title: Prediction, filtering, smoothing and deconvolution in a discrete
H(infinity) setting:  a game theory approach
Authors:  H. Kim, A. A. Jalali, C. S. Sims.
Pages 841-857.

Title: Robustness of a spectral assignment method applied to the system of a
flexible beam
Authors:  S. G. Tzafestas, M. P. Tzamtzi.
Pages 859-872.

Title: Robust disturbance attenuation with stability for a class of
uncertain singularly perturgbed systems
Authors:  P. Shi, S.P. Shue, R. K. Agarwal.
Pages 873-891.

Title: On adaptive robust backstepping control schemes suitable for PM
synchronous motors
Authors:  J.X. Xu, T.H. Lee, Q.W. Jia, M. Wang.
Pages 893-920.

Title: Dynamical robust adaptive tracking for uncertain nonlinear systems
Authors:  T. A-Ali, F. L-Lagarrigue.
Pages 921-939.

Title: H infinity control for systems with jumps
Authors:  A. Ichikawa.
Pages 941-964.

Title: Hierarchical H infinity/H2 optimal control:  2-block problem
Authors:  R. Davies, G. D. Halikias.
Pages 965-1017.

   -------------------------------------------------------------
International Journal of Control
Volume:- 71  Issue:- 2

Publication Date (Expected):  28/08/98

Contents:-

Title: Academician Yakov Zalmanovich Tsypkin
Authors:  C. Bissell.
Pages 191-193.

Title: Chain scattering approach to H infinity control for time-varying systems
Authors:  P. H. Lee, H. Kimura, Y. C.  Soh.
Pages 195-218.

Title: Robust H infinity control in the presence of stochastic uncertainty
Authors:  V. A. Ugrinovskii.
Pages 219-237.

Title: Nonlinear generalised predictive control (NLGPC) applied to muscle
relaxant anaesthesia
Authors:  M. Mahfouf.
Pages 239-257.

Title: Adaptive stabilization of delay differential systems with unknown
uncertainty bounds
Authors:  S. G. Foda, M. S. Mahmoud.
Pages 259-275.

Title: On a hardy space appproach to the analysis of spectral factors
Authors:  P. A. Fuhrmann, A. Gombani.
Pages 277-357.

Title: A discrete norm bounded linear time-varying control problem on the
finite horizon
Authors:  M. R. Tucker, D.  J. Walker.
Pages 359-390.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Clarence de Silva, Regional Editor, North America

Journal: International Journal of Intelligent Real-Time Automation
         (Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence)

Journal Code   : 975
Volume issue   : 11/1
Year           : 1998
Publication Date: 06-MAY-98

                        Contents

pp. 5-5
Preface: Special Issue on Intelligent Electronic Systems
CW De Silva, LC Jain

pp. 7-23
Fuzzy-logic-based reinforcement learning of admittance control for automated
robotic manufacturing
SM Prabhu, DP Garg

pp. 25-40
An object-oriented approach to an information and decision support system for
railway traffic control
M Missikoff

pp. 41-47
A comparison between single and combined backpropagation neural networks in the
prediction of turnover
T Tchaban, JP Griffin, MJ Taylor

pp. 49-53
An intelligent dynamic reconstruction filter for audio signal reconstruction
using neural networks
HL Najafi, DW Moses, CH Hustig, J Kinne

pp. 55-66
Inverse kinematic neuro-control of robotic systems
NA Deshpande, MM Gupta

pp. 67-76
Dynamic embedding for genetic VLSI circuit partitioning
BR Moon, CK Kim

pp. 77-85
A security system based on human iris identification using wavelet transform
WW Boles

pp. 87-96
Aspects of controlling a multifingered gripper
TH Doersam, TH Fischer

pp. 97-118
Knowledge-based supervisory control system of a fish processing workcell; Part
I: System development
CW De Silva, N Wickramarachchi

pp. 119-134
Knowledge-based supervisory control system of a fish processing workcell; Part
II: Implementation and evaluation
CW De Silva

pp. 135-148
A scheduling algorithm for time-constrained model-based diagnosis
M Chantler, A Aldea

pp. 149-159
An integrated approach to representing and accessing design rationale
PWH Chung, R Goodwin

Note: SAMPLE COPIES
Receive a free sample copy by sending an e-mail to
freesamples@elsevier.co.uk stating your name, address and the journal
title and quoting the reference AU731X.


              ******************************************
              *                                        *
              *              Conferences               *
              *                                        *
              ******************************************

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: D. Matignon 


                        Colloquium on

    FRACTIONAL DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEMS: Models, Methods and Applications

                Paris, France, December 3-4, 1998.

 WEB PAGE: http://www.enst.fr/colloques/fds-98.html


 YOU CAN FIND ALL INFORMATION (PRELIMINARY PROGRAM, REGISTRATION,
 ACCOMODATION etc) on the afore mentioned web site.

 The language of the conference will be French; nevertheless the
 proceedings will be published in English by ESAIM:PROCEEDINGS.

 This colloquium will be held from Thursday 3rd to Friday 4th
 December 1998, at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des
 Telecommunications in Paris, France.

 The objective of this workshop is to bring together specialists in the
 field of fractional differential systems, to present the state of the
 art and to discuss new trends and mutual impacts of their research on
 the topic. Junior people are encouraged to attend and participate in
 the conference.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Okyay Kaynak


                        FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

2nd International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechatronics-ICRAM'99
                May 24-26, 1999, Istanbul, TURKEY

Organized by:
   UNESCO Chair on Mechatronics, Bogazici University
   Mechatronics Research and Application Center, Bogazici University

Topics: The scope of the conference will cover but be not limited to:
   * Mechatronics design
   * Embedded real-time systems
   * Distributed systems
   * Micro mechatronics
   * Vision and sensors
   * Motion control
   * Robots and mobile machines
   * Hardware/software co-design
   * Vibration and control
   * Intelligent manufacturing systems
   * Computational intelligence in mechatronics
   * Education and training in mechatronics

Paper submission: Two types of papers are solicited:
   * Long papers (to be published in a book)
   * Regular papers (to be published in a proceedings volume

Both types will be peer-reviewed. However, the review procedure
of the long papers will be more intensive and be on the basis of a full
paper submission as these contributions will be published by
Springer-Verlag as an edited book under the title; Recent Advances in
Mechatronics. It will be available during the conference. For paper
submission format (12 pages maximum) please visit URL
http://mecha.ee.boun.edu.tr/icram99.html or contact the General Chair or
the Program Co-Chairs.

Regular papers will be reviewed on the basis of a 700-1000 word
extended summary, and, on acceptance, full papers will be published in a
proceedings volume (6 pages maximum, IEEE 2 column format).

Papers or extended summaries are to be submitted in 4 copies to
one of the following addresses:

North and South America
   Dr. Sabri Tosunoglu
   Dept. of Mechanical Engng.
   Florida International University
   Miami, FL 33199, USA
   Fax: +1-305-348-1932
   tosun@fiu.edu

Asia-Pacific
   Dr. Marcelo H. Ang Jr.
   Faculty of Engineering,
   National Univ. of Singapore,
   Singapore 119260
   Fax: +65-872 3229
   mpeangh@leonis.nus.edu.sg

Europe, Africa and Middle East
   Dr. Okyay Kaynak
   Bogazici University,
   Bebek, 80815 Istanbul, TURKEY
   Tel:+90-212-287 2475, Fax:+90-212-2872465
   kaynak@boun.edu.tr

Submission deadlines:
   Long papers (for book) : 15 November 1998 (full papers)
   Regular papers : 15 December 1998 (extended summaries)

Post conference tour:
   A special post conference tour to Cappodocia area of Turkey is being
   planned

Further Information
   For further information either contact
   icram99@boun.edu.tr
or visit the conference homepage at:
   http://mecha.ee.boun.edu.tr/icram99.html

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: David A. Schoenwald (schoenwaldda@ornl.gov)

                37th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control

                Hyatt Regency Westshore, Tampa, Florida, USA
                            December 16-18, 1998

                       http://www.lit.net/ieee/cdc98

INVITATION

On behalf of the IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS) in
cooperation with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM),
the Program and Operating Committees invite you to participate in the
thirty-seventh IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC).
The CDC will be held December 16-18, 1998 at the Hyatt Regency Westshore,
Tampa, Florida, with tutorial workshops preceding the conference
on Monday and Tuesday, December 14-15 and after the conference
on Saturday, December 19.  For more information on the conference, please
visit the conference web site:

http://www.lit.net/ieee/cdc98

The conference registration form and hotel reservation form are
available at the CDC'98 web site. The deadline for advance
registration is November 9, 1998.  Hotel reservation requests received
after November 23, 1998 will be accepted subject to availability.
Please make your reservations early.


*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: bodson@ee.utah.edu (Marc Bodson)

  TRAVEL SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING THE 37TH IEEE CDC, TAMPA, FLORIDA

With the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF-USA),
the operating committee of the 1998 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control
anticipates the availability of travel funds for students enrolled
in US universities. These funds will partially cover the costs of travel
for students attending the conference.
The criteria and procedure for applying for the travel funds will appear
shortly on the 1998 CDC web page (http://www.lit.net/ieee/cdc98).
For further details, please check the web page, or contact:

Professor Marc Bodson
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
bodson@ee.utah.edu
Tel.: (801) 581 8590
Fax:  (801) 581 5281


*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: George J. Pappas


                37th IEEE CONFERENCE ON DECISION AND CONTROL
                              TAMPA, FLORIDA
         TUTORIAL WORKSHOP NUMBER 4.  (TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1998)

               HYBRID SYSTEMS: MODELING, ANALYSIS, AND CONTROL

  Organizers:   John Lygeros, George J. Pappas, and Shankar Sastry
                Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
                University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
                lygeros,gpappas,sastry@eecs.berkeley.edu

  SYNOPSIS:

  Hybrid systems involve interaction of discrete event systems with
  differential equations; they are used to model large scale systems
  typically arising in multi-agent, concurrent applications such as
  transportation, robotics, manufacturing, and real-time software or hardware
  verification. This workshop presents an overview of the theory of hybrid
  systems; in particular, modeling formalisms, analysis techniques, and
  control synthesis methodologies as well as applications.

  This workshop reviews a wide range of techniques that have been used for
  controlling hybrid systems.  It is addressed primarily to control
  engineers, but a balance is preserved between control and computer science
  approaches.

  The session topics are divided into: modeling, analysis, control, and
  applications.  Analysis techniques range from extensions of Lyapunov
  techniques to computer-aided verification; the unique models on which these
  techniques are based are also covered.  Special emphasis is placed on
  computational tools for analysis, simulation, and control code generation
  as well as computational issues, such as reliability of simulation and
  complexity. Techniques for approaching biological and signal processing
  systems are also discussed.

  A number of control techniques that have been proposed for synthesizing
  controllers for hybrid systems are presented, and special emphasis is
  placed on control of multi-agent systems and hierarchical systems. The
  workshop concludes with applications, including transportation,
  manufacturing, and robotics. The final session serves to highlight new
  challenges for research in this area.

  For registration information please visit the CDC'98 web site

                http://www.lit.net/ieee/cdc98/

        or contact any of the workshop organizers by e-mail

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by Pradeep Misra (p.misra@ieee.org)

                 1999 American Control Conference
                          June 2-4, 1999
              Hyatt Regency San Diego, California, USA

                          CALL FOR PAPERS

 >>>NEWS FLASH: ELECTRONIC MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION AND EXTENDED DEADLINES<<<

The American Automatic Control Council (AACC) will hold the eighteenth
American Control Conference (ACC) Wednesday through Friday, June 2-4, 1999
at the Hyatt Regency San Diego, on the San Diego Bay, California, USA.

Submissions will be classified as either "contributed" or "invited" and as
either "regular" or "short." When an individual paper is submitted for
consideration, it is "contributed." "Invited" papers are specifically
solicited by an organizer of a specific session. "Regular" papers are
allotted five pages in the Proceedings and are to be a complete description
of finished work. "Short" papers are allotted two pages in the proceedings
and are to be an exposition of a novel idea or preliminary results.

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED PAPERS

Contributed papers must be accompanied by a Manuscript Submission Form
(MSF), which will be used for reviewer selection and session assignment.
Papers received without a completed MSF will not be processed. Submit five
copies of regular papers and an MSF to a Society Review Chair. Submit five
copies of short papers and an MSF to the Program Vice-Chair for Contributed
Papers. The deadline for receipt of the manuscripts is September 15, 1998.

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF CONTRIBUTED PAPERS

Electronic submission of manuscripts is possible. THE USE OF ELECTRONIC MANUSCRIPT
SUBMISSION IS STRICTLY **VOLUNTARY**.
Please visit the electronic submission web site for more information at the
following URL:
      http://mail.eng.lsu.edu/~css.ceb/

CALL FOR INVITED SESSIONS

The 1999 ACC solicits proposals for Invited Sessions (coherent sessions
organized about a specific theme with invited participant authors).  Papers
in each invited session should present a cohesive and comprehensive focus
on a topic relevant to the conference. For precise guidelines, the organizers
of the invited sessions should download the instructions and forms.

INDUSTRY AND APPLICATIONS

The AACC is particularly interested in enhancing the applications and
industry related perspective of the ACCs. Accordingly, there will be
Tutorial sessions with detailed introduction of an industrially-proven, but
still relatively new technique followed by several short presentations from
industrial participants, revealing applications, benefits, and perspectives
on its use. For more information on Tutorial sessions, please contact the
Vice Chair, Industry and Applications. The deadline for submission of
Tutorial Sessions is September 15, 1998.

POSTER SESSIONS/PAPERS

As a new feature in 1999, poster sessions will be formed to accommodate
papers whose presentation will be in the poster format (see below) instead
of traditional lecture format.  All submissions will go through the
same review process and will be allocated the same amount of space in the
conference proceedings. All invited poster session proposals should follow
the submission guidelines for invited sessions described earlier.

STUDENT BEST PAPER COMPETITION

The 1999 ACC is pleased to announce plans for a Student Best Paper
Competition. To be eligible for the competition, the primary, first-listed
author and presenter of "regular contributed papers" must be a student at
the time of submission. Up to five finalists based on their written papers
will be awarded limited travel grants to the Conference. The finalists are
required to present their results at the conference to be eligible for the
Student Best Paper Award. For the competition, five additional copies of
the paper along with a cover letter from the advisor (certifying
eligibility) should be sent to the Program Chair by September 15, 1998.

1999 ACC WORKSHOPS

The Operating Committee intends to arrange tutorial workshops to be held in
conjunction with the 1999 ACC. Suggestions and proposals are solicited for
appropriate subjects. Potential organizers should contact the Workshops
Chair by September 15, 1998.

PAPER ACCEPTANCE

Authors will be notified and author's kits will be distributed by mid
January 1999. The deadline for camera-ready mats or electronic format for
the Proceedings is March 1, 1999.

SCHEDULE SUMMARY

September 15, 1998:
 Deadline for submission of Invited Session Proposals to Vice-Chair,
           Invited Sessions.
 Deadline for submission of Contributed Regular Papers to the
           appropriate Society Review Chair.
 Deadline for submission of Contributed Short Papers to Vice-Chair,
           Contributed Papers.
 Deadline for nominations for Student Best Paper Award to the Program Chair.
 Submission of Workshop Proposals to the Workshops Chair.
 Submission of Tutorial Session Proposals to the Vice-Chair, Industry &
           Applications.
Mid January, 1999: Author notification and author's kits distribution.

March 1, 1999: Deadline for final manuscript submission (camera ready mats

FURTHER INFORMATION

To receive further information, view the 1999 ACC homepage on
http://www.marquette.edu/acc1999/ or the AACC homepage on
http://web.ece.nwu.edu/~ahaddad/aacc/ or contact the members of the
Operating Committee.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Rich Gerber

                        CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

              The 19th IEEE Real-Time Systems Symposium
                            Madrid, Spain
                          December 2-4, 1998


                      SCOPE OF THE CONFERENCE

RTSS '98 will bring together a wide body of researchers and
developers, to advance the science and practice of real-time
computing. The RTSS program includes many aspects of real-time and
embedded systems, including modeling and design methods, operating
systems, scheduling algorithms, databases, file systems, networks and
communications, programming languages, formal methods, architecture,
middleware and APIs, instrumentation, fault tolerance, software
engineering, performance analysis, embedded systems,
signal-processing, multimedia applications, process control, tool
support - and a lot more.

In 1998, RTSS received a record number of submitted papers. There were
182 papers in all, 80 more than last year, 50 more than any RTSS ever
held. Of these, 45 were chosen to appear on the program, which follows
below.

                   INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION AND DEMOS

RTSS '98 will include an industrial exhibition in a centrally located
space, for vendors to demonstrate state-of-the-art systems, development
tools and applications; where RTSS attendees can engage in technical
discussions with product engineers and developers; and where company
representatives meet (and potentially recruit) young researchers
specializing in real-time and embedded systems. To reserve space for the
exhibition, please contact the RTSS '98 Industrial Chair, Dr. Gerhard Fohler
at (gerhard.fohler@mdh.se).

                      WORK-IN-PROGRESS SESSIONS

As in previous years, RTSS '98 is soliciting contributions to a special
Work-In-Progress (WIP) track, featuring short presentations on new work in
real-time systems and applications. The purpose of this session is to
provide researchers with an opportunity to discuss new and evolving ideas,
and gather feedback from the real-time community at large. All accepted
papers to the RTSS'98 WIP sessions will be presented at the conference, in
short 10-minute talks. Papers will be published in a special RTSS'98 WIP
proceedings, to be distributed to all RTSS'98 conference participants, and
then made available on the WWW, via the IEEE-CS TC-RTS Home Page.

Submissions to RTSS'98 WIP should describe original, on-going work, and
should be limited to 2,000 words. Authors should email papers to the
RTSS'98 WIP Chair:

    Steve Goddard
    Dept of Computer Science and Engineering     Email: goddard@cse.unl.edu
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln               Phone: +1-402-472-9968
    Lincoln, NE  68588-0115 USA                  Fax: +1-402-472-7767


The deadline for submissions is October 23, 1998. Notification of
acceptance will be sent out on November 2, 1998. For more information,
please contact RTSS'98 WIP Chair or check the RTSS'98 WIP Home Page at:
http://www.cse.unl.edu/rtss98wip


                  WORKSHOP ON PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

RTSS '98 is co-hosting the IEEE Workshop on Programming Languages for
Real-Time Industrial Applications, to take place on December 1 - the day
preceding the conference. If you're interested please consult the Workshop
home page: http://www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/~mueller/plrtia98


            PRELIMINARY REGISTRATION

Registration forms will available shortly; however, for early
information please the RTSS98 Registration Chair, Ms. Linda Buss, at
ljbuss@win.bright.net.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.**
Contributed by: Mark W. Spong 

           NSF Workshop on New Directions in Control Engineering Education
                   October 2-3, 1998
                   Location: Auditorium-B02
                   Computer and Systems Research Laboratory
                   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
                   1308 W. Main Street
                   Urbana, IL 61801

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together leaders from industry
and leaders in engineering education to identify the future needs in
control education that will be necessitated by rapid advancements in
control technology. These advances are occuring at an ever increasing
pace in sensor and actuator technology, microprocessor technology, and
software, as well as in theory and in computer aided design methods.
The expected outcome of the workshop will be a set of recommendations
to help NSF determine new initiatives that might be created to best
stimulate useful changes in control engineering education.

For complete information see the workshop website at
http://robot0.ge.uiuc.edu/~spong/workshop

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Contributed by: Howard Wong-Toi (howard@cadence.com)

                     Hybrid Systems and AI:
   Modeling, Analysis and Control of Discrete + Continuous Systems


                           part of the

       1999 AAAI SPRING SYMPOSIUM SERIES ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
                       March 22 -- 24, 1999
                        Stanford University
                       Stanford, California

Sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)
http://www.aaai.org


DESCRIPTION
The use of digital computers to control continuous, dynamic processes
has led to the development of hybrid (discrete + continuous) systems.
The hybrid systems community is a cross-disciplinary community that
combines modeling and analysis techniques for studying discrete event
systems, with techniques from continuous systems and control theory.
Hybrid behavior is generally described as intervals of piecewise
continuous behaviors interspersed with discrete transitions.  Each
interval of continuous behavior represents a so-called mode of system
operation; mode transitions represent discrete behaviors.  Examples of
hybrid systems include robots, air traffic control systems, chemical
plants, autonomous spacecraft control, smart buildings and automated
multi-vehicle highway systems.

The growing field of hybrid systems has seen a great deal of activity
over the last few years often focusing on synthesis, verification and
stability analysis of controllers for hybrid systems.  Interestingly,
a number of the problems addressed by this community are shared by AI
researchers studying robotics, planning, simulation, verification,
execution monitoring, decision analysis, reasoning about action,
diagnosis, modeling and analysis of physical systems, and perception.
This workshop aims to bring together these different communities to
explore opportunities for exploiting AI representation and reasoning
techniques for hybrid system modeling and analysis, and for
integrating techniques from hybrid systems into current AI research.

To accommodate the diverse background of the workshop participants, we
plan to design the workshop in a manner that will facilitate interaction
and discourse among the participants. The format will include:
     - invited talks by researchers including Tom Henzinger,
       Alan Mackworth, Shankar Sastry, and Brian Williams
     - theme-based presentations followed by facilitated discussion;
     - panel sessions to discuss common problems;
     - opportunity for post-workshop online discussion of ongoing issues.

We invite submissions in a broad range of areas related to modeling,
analysis and control of hybrid systems.  Topics include but are not
limited to:
  - knowledge representation techniques for modeling hybrid systems;
  - reasoning and analysis techniques for hybrid systems;
  - control of hybrid systems;
  - models of offline vs. online computation;
  - verification and validation of hybrid systems.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Potential participants should submit a short paper describing work in
progress, completed work, positions, comparisons, testbeds, tutorials,
discussion topics or potential panels.  For details see
http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/springsymp99/.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES
    October 30      Abstracts are due.
    November 13     Acceptance/rejection notices mailed out.
    Jan 29, 1999    Camera-ready papers, A/V requests due.
    February 5      Invited participants registration deadline
    February 26     Final (open) registration deadline
    March 22-24     Spring Symposium Series, Stanford University

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Contributed by: Alberto Broggi 


                              CALL FOR PAPERS
  SPIE's 13th Annual International Symposium on Aerospace/Defense Sensing,
                          Simulation and Controls

                              5-9 April 1999
          Marriott's Orlando World Center Resort and Convention Center
                          Orlando, Florida USA


      ENHANCED AND SYNTHETIC VISION 1999 (or03)

      The focus of this conference is "situation awareness", for guidance,
      control, and navigation of air, land, sea, and other vehicles,
      typically under poor visibility, such as in adverse-weather
      conditions or at night. Also of interest are situation-awareness
      displays and related human factors (for manned vehicles) and
      automatic scene understanding (for unmanned vehicles).

      The term "Enhanced Vision (EV)" is now generally used when situation
      awareness is primarily achieved through the use of imaging sensors,
      such as Low-Light-Level CCD, FLIR, MMW radar, PMMW camera, etc.
      "Synthetic Vision (SV)" (although originally used in aviation to
      refer to what is now called EV) currently designates
      situation-awareness systems that create a synthetic/graphical view
      of the environment using database information and position/attitude
      information (INS, GPS, etc). Future systems will probably consist of
      a mix of EV and SV.

      For aviation applications, papers are sought on all aspects of EV
      and SV, including imaging sensors, 2D/3D/4D displays,
      image-processing, computer-vision, databases, human factors, etc.
      Also sought are papers describing the use of GPS for the creation of
      "tunnels in the sky" for all phases of flight. Papers on other
      applications of GPS for aviation applications, particularly for
      landing and approach, are also sought, whether or not an EV/SV
      connection presently exist.

      For automotive applications, papers are sought in the area of
      "enhanced driving", where human vision is enhanced primarily through
      inexpensive EV sensors and displays. Papers are also sought on all
      aspects of autonomous driving (primarily on roads), whether in good
      or bad visibility, including road/lane following, obstacle
      avoidance, etc. (To preserve the focus of the conference, papers on
      indoor robotics are not sollicited.)

      Papers on novel applications of EV/SV are also welcome, such as for
      rescue, surveillance, firefighting and military operations through
      smoke and obscurants.
      (Below, SV refers both to SV and EV.)

      Aviation Applications:

         * Past and current programs (e.g., ALG, APALS, AWARD, VERSATILE);
           lessons learned
         * Airlines and pilots' needs for, and views of, SVSs
         * Economics of SVs
         * SVS for manual and hands-off landing
         * Error budgets for SVS-based autoland
         * SVS sensors: LLL CCD, FLIR, MMW radar, PMMW camera, etc
         * Sensors' capabilities in haze, fog, rain, and snow
         * Characterization of airport surfaces at MMW and low grazing
           angles
         * Enhancement, geometric transformations, and feature extraction
           for SVS imagery
         * Fusion of SVS images and/or features
         * SVS displays (e.g., HUDs and HMDs)
         * Electronic windows in windowless cockpits
         * Line-drawing and photo-realistic displays
         * 3D/4D Flight guidance displays (e.g., "tunnel in the sky")
         * Matching of airport/runway/taxiway features
         * Extraction of vehicle dynamics from image sequences (runway,
           carrier deck)
         * Use of SVS measurements in flight management systems and
           autopilots
         * Fully-autonomous, computer-vision-based approach and landing
         * Approach/landing trajectory measurements by computer vision
         * Simulation of weather conditions and SVSs in flight simulators
         * Human factors for SVSs, HUDs, HMDs
         * SV for helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft (including wire
           detection)
         * SV for landing on aircraft/helicopter carriers
         * SV for hypersonic transports, e.g., in High Speed Research
           (HSR) program
         * SV for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs)
         * SV for runway and taxiway following, obstacle detection (e.g.,
           runway incursions)
         * Terrain following and "Nap-Of-Earth (NOE)" operations
         * Night vision, including "color night vision"
         * Detection of dangerous weather (microbursts, windshears, etc)
         * Other vision-based Enhanced Situation Awareness Systems (ESAS)
         * SVS databases (terrain, obstacles, navigation aids, airports);
           acquisition, generation, verification, certification, formats,
           real-time aspects
         * All applications of GPS to aviation, with emphasis on approach,
           landing and "tunnels in the sky".
         * SV/GPS synergism

      * Automotive Applications:

         * Equivalent of above topics for land vehicles
         * "Enhanced driving" in poor visibility and at night
         * Evaluation and integration of HUDs and HMDs
         * Special headlights
         * Vision-based guidance of unmanned vehicles
         * Road/lane following, lane changing, obstacle
           detection/avoidance
         * Description of research vehicles and major demonstrations
         * Analysis of real-time constraints for vehicle driving
         * Vehicle navigation in unknown outdoor environments
         * Integration of specialized hardware on vehicles
         * Legal aspects.


                      Abstract Submissions Information

   Abstract Due Date: 7 September 1998  Manuscript Due Date: 8 March 1999
       *On-Site Abstract Due Date:        *On-Site Manuscript Due Date:
              24 August 1998                     11 January 1999


   To receive a complete Call for Papers via postal mail, or to request an
  Advance Technical Program for any of these conferences (when available),
 please contact SPIE. Phone: +1 360/676-3290. Fax: +1 360/647-1445. E-mail:
                               OR99@spie.org

                         For further information:
                       http://www.spie.org/info/or
         http://www.spie.org/web/meetings/calls/or99/confs/or03.html

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Contributed by:  Alberto Broggi 

                              CALL FOR PAPERS:

                             ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON
         PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISATION AND BENCHMARKING OF VISION SYSTEMS


Immediately preceeding 1st International Conference on Vision Systems
(ICVS) 12 January 1999, at Las Parmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
Spain. http://mozart.dis.ulpgc.es/ICVS/

SCOPE
We are now at the stage where complex vision systems are being constructed
from the component technologies. This poses a new set of research questions
to obtain a better understanding the impact that the performance of a
part has on the performance of the overall as well as overall system
behaviour. The workshop is an opportunity to present recent work in this
new area with a focus on characterisation of the performance. Valid
topics include systems analysis, algorithm comparisions, performance
metrics, benchmarks, frameworks, testbeds, tools, test sets and databases.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:
Full paper of up to 20 pages (11 point, double spaced, including figures)
to be submitted electronically to alien@essex.ac.uk with subject line
ICVS workshop submission. For postal submission see website.

Further information:   http://peipa.essex.ac.uk/conf/icvs-workshop/

TIMETABLE:

20 Sept 1998    Deadline for submission
 1 Nov  1998    Notifcation of acceptance
 1 Dec  1998    Final manuscripts due
12 Jan  1999    Workshop

Proceedings will be prepared and distributed to all participants
Cost: 100 ecu per delegate

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Contributed by: A.J.W. van den Boom 

The First NICONET WORKSHOP on NUMERICAL SOFTWARE IN CONTROL ENGINEERING
Friday, December 4, 1998
Universidad Politecnica de Valencia.

First Announcement and Call for Posters

This workshop organized by the European Numerics in Control thematic Network
(NICONET) aims to bring together engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists
and practitioners from industry and academia dealing with numerical software in
systems and control and their implementation and use in industrial practice.

Recent advances will be discussed about the use of numerical software libraries
specially designed for solving systems and control engineering problems in a
numerically reliable and efficient way. The current status of the freeware SLICOT
library will be extensively discussed, as well as its future, comprising parallel
versions and practically oriented benchmarks. Especially for large-scale, computer-
intensive control problems and real-time applications, SLICOT could be a good tool
for performance improvement.

Chairpersons: Vicente Hernandez (local organizer) and Sabine Van Huffel (project
coordinator).

Workshop Objectives:
- To promote the advantages of using the numerical software library SLICOT in control
  engineering and industrial problems.
- To investigate the current interest of users in numerical software tools.
- To present the future of SLICOT (parallel computing, real benchmarks, new
  application areas, .....)
- To get feedback on good candidate areas (those with high cost, large problem sizes,
  real-time constraints, ....) for applying SLICOT.
- To demonstrate the feasibility of using SLICOT in industrial applications.

Workshop Program:
1. Plenary session:
    - "Numerical Problems in Nonlinear Control Systems" by Prof. Pedro Albertos (
      Universidad Politecnica de Valencia).
    - "Numerical Problems in Industrial Control Systems" by Prof. Ton Backx (Aspen
      Tech and Eindhoven University of Technology).
    - "Performance and Applicability of the SLICOT Library" by Dr. Ad van den Boom
      (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Dr. Vasile Sima (Research Institute for
      Informatics, Bucharest).

2. Demo and poster session:
    on new developments and performance presentations of control software in
    engineering practice and industrial applications and comparisons between SLICOT
    and other tools.

3. A seminar:
    on the use of the SLICOT library for designing algorithms for Control Problems.

4. A panel discussion:
    on the importance and needs of numerics in control software in industry.

The preliminary, as well as the final program, will be announced on the NICONET
website http://www.win.tue.nl/wgs/niconet.html.
Participants of the workshop receive:
   - A free copy of the last version of the SLICOT Software Library.
   - Documentation on SLICOT and NICONET.
   - Subscription to electronic bulletins and information lists.

Authors are invited to submit two copies of a one page abstract to the workshop
secretariat for review. Address and e-mail should be provided if possible. Authors
of accepted contributions will be asked to prepare a poster of their presentation.

Author's Schedule:
- Submission of one page abstract: October 15, 1998
- Notification of acceptance as poster presentation: October 30, 1998

Registration Information:
- Please register your attendance to the workshop at the address below before
  November 15, 1998.
- The attendance to the workshop, the documentation and the software is free.

To the attention of Prof. Vicente Hernandez at the workshop secretariat
- By Fax: 34-96-3877359
- By Mail: Departamento de Sistemas Informaticos y Computacion,
           Universidad Politecnica de Valencia
           Camino de Vera s/n,
           Valencia 46071
           SPAIN
- By Phone:34-96-3877356
- By WWW: http://www-copa.dsic.upv.es/niconet/wshopSLICOT/register.html
- By e-mail: vhernand@dsic.upv.es

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Contributed by: Kevin L. Moore (moorek@ece.usu.edu)

ITERATIVE LEARNING CONTROL WORKSHOP AND ROUNDTABLE
SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT

A workshop and roundtable on the subject of iterative learning control (ILC) will be held

on Monday and Tuesday, December 14-15, immediately preceding, and in the same venue as,
the IEEE CDC in Tampa, FL.

At the workshop leading researchers from around the world with established or developing
interests in ILC will meet together in an unhurried, relaxed  atmosphere to (1) discuss
the state-of-the-art in ILC and (2) look ahead to future developments and extensions. The

intention of the meeting is not to simply have a series of papers presented on the topic
of ILC, but also to assess the field and define the main facts as they are understood
today. An informal proceedings containing extended summaries of the papers and copies of
all presentation graphics will be made available to the participants after the meeting.
Selected papers will be chosen for inclusion in a planned Special Issue on Iterative
Learning Control of the International Journal of Control (these papers must go through
the normal review process).

Anyone interested in iterative learning control is encouraged to consider coming to the
CDC a couple of days early to meet with us to discuss ILC. Participation is not limited
to presenters. Note that a nominal registration fee will be charged for participation in
the workshop to cover expenses only (audio-visual equipment, copies of  proceedings,
etc.). For more information, questions, or comments, please contact:

Kevin L. Moore
Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Eng., UMC 4120
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-4120
Phone: (435)797-2924, Fax: (435)797-3054
email: moorek@ece.usu.edu

Also, see the ILC homepage, build and maintained by Yangquan Chen, at
http://ilc.ee.nus.edu.sg/

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