Invariant Set Distributed Explicit Reference Governors for Provably Safe On-Board Control of Nano-Quadrotor Swarms.

This article provides a theory for provably safe and computationally efficient distributed constrained control, and describes an application to a swarm of nano-quadrotors with limited on-board hardware and subject to multiple state and input constraints. We provide a formal extension of the explicit reference governor framework to address the case of distributed systems. The efficacy, robustness, and scalability of the proposed theory is demonstrated by an extensive experimental validation campaign and a comparative simulation study on single and multiple nano-quadrotors. The control strategy is implemented in real-time on-board palm-sized unmanned erial vehicles, and achieves safe swarm coordination without relying on any offline trajectory computations.

Modeling and simulation of the impact behavior of soft polymeric-foam-based back protectors for winter sports.

OBJECTIVES: Winter sports are high-energy outdoor activities involving high velocities and acrobatic maneuvers, thus raising safety concerns. Specific studies on the impact mechanics of back protectors are very limited. In this study analytical and numerical models are developed to rationalize results of impact experiments and propose new design procedures for this kind of equipment. DESIGN: Different soft-shell solutions currently available on the market are compared. In particular, the role of dynamic material constitutive properties and of environmental temperature (which affects mainly material stiffness) on energy absorption capability are evaluated. METHODS: Starting from dynamic mechanical-thermal characterization of the closed-cell polymeric foams constituting the protectors, we exploited analytical modeling and Finite Element Method simulations to interpret experimental data from drop weight impact test and to characterize protectors at different temperatures and after multiple impacts. RESULTS: The temperature and frequency dependent properties of these materials characterize their impact behavior. Modeling results are in good agreement with impact tests. Results demonstrate how ergonomic soft-shell solution provides an advantage with respect to traditional hard-shell in terms of impact protection. Moreover, it can maintain nearly unaltered its protective properties after multiple impacts on the same point. CONCLUSIONS: The coupled analytical-simulation approach here presented could be extensively used to predict the impact behavior of such equipment, starting from material characterization, allowing to save costs and time for physical prototyping and tests for design and optimization.

P-doping mechanisms in catalyst-free gallium arsenide nanowires.

Doped catalyst-free GaAs nanowires have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy with the gallium-assisted method. The spatial dependence of the dopant concentration and resistivity have been measured by Raman spectroscopy and four point electrical measurements. Along with theoretical considerations, the doping mechanisms have been revealed. Two competing mechanisms have been revealed: dopant incorporation from the side facets and from the gallium droplet. In the latter incorporation path, doping compensation seems to play an important role in the effective dopant concentration. Hole concentrations of at least 2.4 x 10(18) cm(-3) have been achieved, which to our knowledge is the largest p doping range obtained up to date. This work opens the avenue for the use of doped GaAs nanowires in advanced applications and in mesoscopic physics experiments.