In this article the new method of discrete control systems design for nonlinear plants with differentiable nonlinearities is suggested. The increasing demands on the quality of control processes and the widespread use of computer technology provide ample opportunities for the design and implementation of digital control systems. However, discrete models of control plants are needed to solve this problem. In the case of linear plants, such models are created on the basis of z-transformation, Euler or Tustin formulas. In the case of nonlinear plants, these transformations are not applicable, so a large number of approximate discretization methods have been developed to date. Euler and Runge-Kutt transformations are used for these purposes most often, but they lead to satisfactory results only with very small period of discretization. In the case of automatic control systems, this requires the use of digital automation tools with very high speed, which is often economically impractical. Methods of discretization with a long period were most often developed on the basis of decomposition into series of the right-hand sides of the differential equations, transformed on Euler. Here, firstly, the problem of selecting the number of the series members, which to be retained arises, and secondly, already in the third or fourth order of the plant, the calculating ratios turn out to be extremely complex. The discretization method suggested below differs in that it is not the equations of nonlinear plants in the Cauchy form that are discretized, but the corresponding quasilinear model. In this case, a modified trapezoid method is used, and the discretization purpose is not the most accurate approximation of the original equations of the plant, but the stability of a closed nonlinear control system with rather big period. This system is designed using the algebraic polynomial-matrix method for designing of the nonlinear control systems. As a result, a hybrid nonlinear system with fairly simple algebraic calculation expressions is formed. The suggested approach makes it possible to create the control systems for nonlinear controlled plants using conventional computational automation tools.

The article solves the problem of operative selection of the redundant onboard equipment complex components configuration of the suitable in the current operating conditionаs in the interests of ensuring high fault tolerance of the complex, as well as achieving other operational and technical characteristics. The basis of the redundancy management system of the complex consists of configuration supervisors — as program subjects according to the number of its competitive configurations of heterogeneous and nonuniform equipment worked out in advance. The choice of the preferred configuration is proposed to be carried out by performing multi-level arbitration, which includes two phases of paired arbitration of computers and paired arbitration of configuration. It is proposed to include the means of both types of arbitration in each configuration supervisor, which ensures its self-sufficiency when participating in a competitive selection. The second part of the article is devoted to the computer’s arbitration for the implementation of redundancy management functions. The approach is applicable to a computing environment with many comparable computing devices and contains 2 phases. In the first phase, a preliminary selection of a competing pair of computers — as applicants for the implementation of redundancy management functions in them is carried out. In the break between the phases, the pair computers implement the procedures for pair arbitration of configurations given in the first part of the article. In the second phase, the final choice of the -computer is made, in which the supervisor who won the arbitration will be implemented. In order to achieve the maximum possible centralization of selection procedures and, as a consequence, the exclusion of " bottlenecks" in terms of reliability of places, additionally proposed: the organization of secure data exchange between computers based on distributed registry technology; the procedure of paired arbitration of computers, consisting in mutual cross-validation of dominant supervisors of a pre-allocated pair by comparing preference matrices, including information parcels of arbitration objects. A methodological example that demonstrates the features of the system functioning in the conditions of computers degradation is given. The proposed approach can be used to solve the problems of reconfiguration control of heterogeneous computing facilities of technical objects on-board equipment complexes.

The paper considers the problem of virtual sensor design for nonlinear dynamic systems with non-smooth nonlinearities described by continuous-time models for faulty physical sensor replacement. The main purpose of virtual sensors is generating the estimates of the unmeasured components of the considered system to provide additional information for effective control and fault diagnosis. Besides, virtual sensors can be used for faulty physical sensor replacement. The methods of virtual sensor design for solving this problem differ from standard procedure since information from faulty physical sensor does not use to design the virtual sensor replacing this sensor. It is assumed that to solve the problem, the system is equipped by diagnostic system allowing detecting faulty sensor. For every such a sensor, the virtual sensor generating estimate replacing the faulty sensor is designed. To solve the problem, so-called logic-dynamic approach is used which does not guarantee optimal solution but uses only methods of linear algebra to solve the problem for systems with non-smooth nonlinearities. This approach contains three steps. Initially, the nonlinear term is removed from system and linear model is designed. Then, a possibility to estimate the faulty sensor and to insert in the model the transformed nonlinear term is checked. Finally, stability of sensor is provided. The virtual sensor can be designed in identification canonical form or Jordan canonical form. The advantage of the first form is a standard procedure of the virtual sensor design while Jordan form allows obtaining simpler solution. The relations allowing designing the virtual sensor as in identification canonical as Jordan canonical form are derived.

To fulfill the practical needs of modern robotics, it is necessary to develop approaches for grasping unknown objects, since in the real world the robot faces a large variety of them. Approaches that imply the availability of complete information about the objects of the working area (3D model, weight and size characteristics) are not practical and can only be used in controlled conditions, such as working on a conveyor with standard details. Therefore, the scientific community and a number of industries are interested in research methods that increase the robot’s ability to adapt to new, unfamiliar conditions. This article presents main problems and research directions in the field of visual scene perception and grasping unknown objects by a manipulative robot. We discuss the differences in existing approaches according to various criteria, as well as advantages and disadvantages of existing solutions. The article may be useful to get acquainted with the subject area.

The authors consider the urgent task of developing bionic robots, in particular robots on four legs. Their advantages are the ability to move on uneven terrain, to perform reconnaissance, rescue and other dangerous work, where they could replace humans. A review of the existing best-known and most functional bionic four-legged robots is given, with descriptions of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as peculiarities of their movement and use. The main problems in the development of such devices and their control systems are highlighted. The article provides information on the research and development of an interactive bionic robot of the felid class, whose skeletal structure control implementation is deeply explored. The features of hardware and software implementation of the robot are considered, and schematic and real images of the construction are presented. The application of a microcomputer device with a neural processing unit to solve the problem of machine vision is highlighted. The results of testing machine vision using the Yolo3 neural network in streaming video mode are presented. The average accuracy of the open face recognition as a result of the tests was 95 %. For different degrees of occlusion, the average score was 80 %, and occlusion variants in which the neural network was unable to recognize faces were also identified. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed robot and the possibility of its application in human life, including the solution of various practical tasks.

A new approach to the processing of satellite navigation measurements for high-precision positioning of moving objects moving along a priori (program) trajectories is considered. Existing methods of processing satellite information using the least squares method or its various modifications provide the required positioning accuracy mainly only for stationary objects. At the same time, to assess the state of highly dynamic objects, taking into account the noise of satellite measure- ments, it is very effective to use modern methods of stochastic filtering theory, taking into account both the unevenness of the movement of a transport object and errors in the processing of measurements. The considered approach is based on the use of these methods of nonlinear stochastic filtering. It is proposed to increase the accuracy of positioning a moving object using electronic maps. The use of a digital path model makes it possible to approximate with a given accuracy the a priori (program) trajectory of a moving object with a set of trajectory intervals — orthodromies. These intervals allow you to establish an analytical dependence on the navigation parameters, which ensures high positioning accuracy and a significant reduction in computational costs. The integration of information from electronic maps and stochastic filtering algorithms for dynamic processing of satellite measurements made it possible to significantly reduce computational costs when estimating the current coordinates of a moving object and at the same time significantly improve positioning accuracy compared to traditional methods of processing satellite messages.