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This book was first published in 2007. In recent years network science has become a dynamic and promising discipline; here it is extended to explore social and historical phenomena. While we experience social interactions every day, there is little quantitative knowledge on them. Instead we are often tempted to resort to fanciful explanations to explain social trends. Exogenous and endogenous interactions are often the key to understanding social phenomena and unravelling historical mysteries. This book begins by explaining how it is possible to bridge the gap between physics and sociology by exploring how network theory can apply to both. It then examines the macro- and micro-interactions in societies. The chapters are largely self-contained, allowing readers easily to access and understand the sections of most interest. This multi-disciplinary book will be fascinating to all physicists who have an interest in the human sciences and it will provide an alternative perspective to graduate students and researchers in sociology and econophysics.

System theory. --- Science --- Social networks. --- Suicide --- Théorie des systèmes --- Sciences --- Réseaux sociaux --- Philosophy. --- Social aspects. --- Philosophie --- Théorie des systèmes --- Réseaux sociaux --- Killing oneself --- Self-killing --- Death --- Right to die --- Networking, Social --- Networks, Social --- Social networking --- Social support systems --- Support systems, Social --- Interpersonal relations --- Cliques (Sociology) --- Microblogs --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science --- Systems, Theory of --- Systems science --- Causes --- Philosophy

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Because the theoretical part of the book is based on the calculus of variations, the exposition is very transparent and requires mostly a trivial mathematical background. In the case of open-loop optimal control, this leads to Pontryagin’s Minimum Principle and, in the case of closed-loop optimal control, to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman theory which exploits the principle of optimality. Many optimal control problems are solved completely in the body of the text. Furthermore, all of the exercise problems which appear at the ends of the chapters are sketched in the appendix. The book also covers some material that is not usually found in optimal control text books, namely, optimal control problems with non-scalar-valued performance criteria (with applications to optimal filtering) and Lukes’ method of approximatively-optimal control design. Furthermore, a short introduction to differential game theory is given. This leads to the Nash-Pontryagin Minimax Principle and to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Nash theory. The reason for including this topic lies in the important connection between the differential game theory and the H-control theory for the design of robust controllers.

Engineering. --- System theory. --- Computational intelligence. --- Control engineering. --- Robotics. --- Mechatronics. --- Control. --- Computational Intelligence. --- Systems Theory, Control. --- Control, Robotics, Mechatronics. --- Mechanical engineering --- Microelectronics --- Microelectromechanical systems --- Automation --- Machine theory --- Control engineering --- Control equipment --- Control theory --- Engineering instruments --- Programmable controllers --- Intelligence, Computational --- Artificial intelligence --- Soft computing --- Systems, Theory of --- Systems science --- Science --- Construction --- Industrial arts --- Technology --- Philosophy --- Control theory. --- Machine theory. --- Abstract automata --- Abstract machines --- Automata --- Mathematical machine theory --- Algorithms --- Logic, Symbolic and mathematical --- Recursive functions --- Robotics --- Dynamics --- Control and Systems Theory. --- Systems theory.

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Thepastthree decadeshaveseenrapiddevelopmentin the areaofmodelpred- tive control with respect to both theoretical and application aspects. Over these 30 years, model predictive control for linear systems has been widely applied, especially in the area of process control. However, today’s applications often require driving the process over a wide region and close to the boundaries of - erability, while satisfying constraints and achieving near-optimal performance. Consequently, the application of linear control methods does not always lead to satisfactory performance, and here nonlinear methods must be employed. This is one of the reasons why nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) has - joyed signi?cant attention over the past years,with a number of recent advances on both the theoretical and application frontier. Additionally, the widespread availability and steadily increasing power of today’s computers, as well as the development of specially tailored numerical solution methods for NMPC, bring thepracticalapplicabilityofNMPCwithinreachevenforveryfastsystems.This has led to a series of new, exciting developments, along with new challenges in the area of NMPC.

Predictive control --- Nonlinear control theory --- Commande non linéaire --- Congresses. --- Congrès --- Mechanical Engineering - General --- Mechanical Engineering --- Engineering & Applied Sciences --- Model based predictive control --- Model predictive control --- Engineering. --- System theory. --- Control engineering. --- Robotics. --- Mechatronics. --- Control, Robotics, Mechatronics. --- Systems Theory, Control. --- Automatic control --- Systems, Theory of --- Systems science --- Science --- Philosophy --- Systems theory. --- Mechanical engineering --- Microelectronics --- Microelectromechanical systems --- Automation --- Machine theory --- Control engineering --- Control equipment --- Control theory --- Engineering instruments --- Programmable controllers

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Time delay systems --- Systèmes à retard --- Automatic control. --- Time delay systems. --- Automatic control --- Mechanical Engineering --- Engineering & Applied Sciences --- Mechanical Engineering - General --- Time delay control --- Time delay control systems --- Time delay controllers --- Time-delayed systems --- Control engineering --- Control equipment --- Engineering. --- System theory. --- Control engineering. --- Robotics. --- Mechatronics. --- Control, Robotics, Mechatronics. --- Systems Theory, Control. --- Feedback control systems --- Process control --- Control theory --- Engineering instruments --- Automation --- Programmable controllers --- Systems theory. --- Systems, Theory of --- Systems science --- Science --- Philosophy --- Mechanical engineering --- Microelectronics --- Microelectromechanical systems --- Machine theory

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Robotic welding systems have been used in different types of manufacturing. They can provide several benefits in welding applications. The most prominent advantages of robotic welding are precision and productivity. Another benefit is that labor costs can be reduced. Robotic welding also reduces risk by moving the human welder/operator away from hazardous fumes and molten metal close to the welding arc. The robotic welding system usually involves measuring and identifying the component to be welded, we- ing it in position, controlling the welding parameters and documenting the produced welds. However, traditional robotic welding systems rely heavily upon human interv- tion. It does not seem that the traditional robotic welding techniques by themselves can cope well with uncertainties in the welding surroundings and conditions, e. g. variation of weld pool dynamics, fluxion, solid, weld torch, and etc. On the other hand, the advent of intelligent techniques provides us with a powerful tool for solving demanding re- world problems with uncertain and unpredictable environments. Therefore, it is intere- ing to gather current trends and to provide a high quality forum for engineers and researchers working in the filed of intelligent techniques for robotic welding systems. This volume brings together a broad range of invited and contributed papers that describe recent progress in this field.

Welding --- Robots, Industrial --- Robots --- Robots industriels --- Automation --- Congresses --- Control systems --- Congrès --- Systèmes de commande --- Industrial & Management Engineering --- Mechanical Engineering --- Engineering & Applied Sciences --- Engineering. --- System theory. --- Control engineering. --- Robotics. --- Mechatronics. --- Control, Robotics, Mechatronics. --- Systems Theory, Control. --- Forging --- Manufacturing processes --- Metal-work --- Sealing (Technology) --- Systems theory. --- Systems, Theory of --- Systems science --- Science --- Philosophy --- Mechanical engineering --- Microelectronics --- Microelectromechanical systems --- Machine theory --- Control engineering --- Control equipment --- Control theory --- Engineering instruments --- Programmable controllers