Honda Research Institute Europe Gmbh

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Markus Olhofer

Bernhard Sendhoff

Toyotaka Sonoda

Toshiyuki Arima

Stefan Menzel

Yoshihiro Yamaguchi

Satoshi Kawarada

Giles Endicott

Hideaki Shimamura

Yuki Matsui

Yaochu Jin

Sebastian Schmitt

Martina Hasenjaeger

Heinz-Adolf Schreiber

Lars Graning

Tatsuya Okabe

Nikola Aulig

Edgar K&ouml;rner

Lars Gräning

A system and method are provided for setting parameters in an autonomous working device. The autonomous working device can be controlled based on a plurality of parameters. For each of a plurality of different working environments a set of sensor values is generated. The plurality of sets is partitioned into categories, each category corresponding to a prototypical working environment. The parameters for each category are optimized to find an optimized parameter set for each prototypical working environment. For an individual working environment, an individual set of sensor values that the sensors of the autonomous working device produce is generated. Based at least on the individual set of sensor values, the prototypical working environment showing highest similarity to the individual environment is determined, and the parameters in the autonomous working device are set according to the optimized parameter set corresponding to the determined prototypical working environment.

Method for setting parameters in an autonomous working device and an autonomous working device

In one aspect, a computer-assisted method for the optimization of the design of physical bodies, such as land, air and sea vehicles and robots and/or parts thereof, is provided comprising the steps of: representing the design to be optimized as a mesh, generating update signals to optimize the mesh representation, applying an optimization algorithm until a stop criterion has been reached, and outputting a signal representing the optimized design.

Optimizing the design of physical structures/objects

A suction surface of a blade forming a blade row of an axial compressor includes a concave region having a negative curvature at a leading edge part, and a flat region having substantially zero curvature continued rearwardly of the concave region, so that multiple compression waves are generated, enabling moderation of magnitude of a 1st passage shock to reduce pressure loss and suppress boundary layer separation on the suction surface. Providing a concave region having a negative curvature in a frontal part on a pressure surface of the blade suppresses an increase in the airflow velocity in the frontal part, thus weakening a 2nd passage shock generated on the pressure surface to enable reduction of pressure loss. The concave region of the pressure surface may be extended from a position having a chord length of no greater than 10% to a position having at least 20%.

Airfoil geometry of blade for axial compressor

A computer-implemented method of analyzing data representing the optimization of real-world designs of physical entities according to at least one criterion. Different modifications of the design are generated by a cyclic optimization algorithm. The design data is represented by unstructured triangular surface meshes. A displacement measure representing local differences between two design modifications of the different modifications is calculated. Performance difference between the two design modifications is calculated. The performance difference is represented by at least one criterion. Sensitivity information representing correlation between the displacement measure and the performance differences is outputted.

Aerodynamic design optimization using information extracted from analysis of unstructured surface meshes

A vane for an axial-flow compressor has a pressure surface generating positive pressure and a suction surface generating negative pressure, and both are located on one side of the chord line. The pressure surface includes a bulging portion, having a maximum curvature of 1.5 or more between a chordal position of 70% and 95%, in a central section of the vane's span. This configuration increases the flow velocity around the bulging portion of the pressure surface to locally decrease the static pressure. By flow continuity the flow velocity on the suction surface that faces the pressure surface is decreased, and thus locally the static pressure on the suction surface is increased. Secondary flow from the pressure surface with positive pressure to the suction surface with negative pressure from the hub region, is suppressed due to the locally increased static pressure on the suction surface.

Vane profile for axial-flow compressor

In a transonic region with a Reynolds number not more than a critical Reynolds number, a flow velocity distribution on an extrados of an airfoil has a single supersonic maximum value within a range of up to 6% from a leading edge on a chord, or a shape factor has a maximum value in a region of 6 to 15% from the leading edge on the chord, the value being nearly constant in a region of 30 to 60% and gradually can increase up to 2.5 in a region downstream of 60% of chord. A pressure loss in a low Reynolds number region can be drastically reduced, while conventionally keeping low the pressure loss in a high Reynolds number region. Moreover, this pressure-loss reduction effect in the low Reynolds number region is exerted even if an inflow angle is changed in a wide range.

Airfoil for axial-flow compressor capable of lowering loss in low Reynolds number region

An improved method for optimizing a design, based on direct manipulations of the object points of a design. In addition, the number and modifications of control points is kept as minimal as possible while the targeted movement of object points is realized and the automatic adaptation and generation of a set of control points for deformations which allows the movement of object points to desired positions. One aspect of the invention is to generate the transformation function f which is optimized to be able to realize desired changes of object parameters by means of control point variations. This optimization can be realized in a way that the mapping between the original coordinate system of the design and the spline coordinate system is not changed, so that no additional 'freezing' process (the generation of the mapping between the coordinate systems) is necessary.

Evolutionary direct manipulation of free form deformation representations for design optimization

A method for modifying an object design using a computer comprises the steps of: selecting a first sub-design of the object design comprising a first free form deformation geometry and a first free deformation control volume that is variable and adaptive; choosing a second sub-design comprising a second free form deformation geometry; and replacing the first geometry with the second geometry.

Free style deformation

An improved optimization of a design, based on direct manipulations of the object points of a design where the number and modifications of control points is kept as minimal as possible while the targeted movement of object points is realized.

Evolutionary design optimization using extended direct manipulation of free form deformations

Techniques are provided for representation of designs using a basic design which is then modified by a transformation function. In free form deformation techniques the transformation function is defined by a spline function which transforms the space in which the design is defined into a second space where the new modified design is defined. During the design process the parameters of the spline function determine the parameters of the transformation function. While using Evolution Strategies, parameters of the spline function also determine the parameters the optimization algorithm works in. In order to adapt the transformation function optimally to the given problem and the necessary modification a mutation operator is proposed which allows introduction and deletion of control points. Instead of the standard mutation operator in evolution strategies this mutation operator works on the representation of the problem/design.

Evolutionary optimization and free form deformation

The underlying invention generally relates to the field of Estimation of Distribution Algorithm, especially to optimization problems, including single-objective optimization and Multi-Objective Optimization. The proposed method for optimization comprises six steps. In a first step it provides an initial population or a data set with a plurality of members respectively represented by parameter sets. Then one or a plurality of fitness functions are applied to evaluate the quality of the members of the population. In a third step offspring of the population is generated by means of a stochastic model using information from all members of the population. One or a plurality of fitness functions are applied to evaluate the quality of the offspring with respect to the underlying problem of the optimization. In a fifth step offspring is selected. Lastly the method goes back to the third step until the quality reaches a threshold value.

System and method for estimation of a distribution algorithm

The present invention relates to a optimization method based on an evolution strategy according to which a model/structure/shape/design to be optimized is described by parameter sets comprising object parameters. The object parameters are mutated to create offsprings of the parameter set. The quality of the offsprings is evaluated. The parameter set furthermore comprises at least one strategy parameter representing the step-size of the mutation (f.e. the variance of the normal distribution) of associated object parameters. The number of object parameters as well as the number of associated strategy parameters can be adapted during the optimization process. The value of newly inserted strategy parameters can be estimated based on the information of correlated object parameters.

Strategy parameter adaptation in evolution strategies

In a high turning airfoil capable of being suitably applied to each of blades constituting a blade row of an axial flow-type compressor, both of an intrados generating a positive pressure and an extrados generating a negative pressure exist on one side of a chord line, and the curvature of the extrados made non-dimensional by a chord length has a maximum value between a position corresponding to 10% of the chord length and a position corresponding to 35% of the chord length, and a minimum value in the rear of the position of the maximum value and between a position corresponding to 30% of the chord length and a position corresponding to 50% of the chord length. Preferably, a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the curvature is equal to or larger than 0.5, and a turning angle is equal to or larger than 40&deg;. With this airfoil, the total pressure loss coefficient is decreased more than that in an airfoil according to a comparative example in the entire Reynolds number region including medium and high Reynolds number regions and particularly, is decreased remarkably more than that in the airfoil according to the comparative example in a region of low Reynolds number equal to or smaller than 130,000. This is considered because a laminar flow separation region on the extrados of the airfoil is small in the low Reynolds number region, and a phenomenon of reverse flow within bubbles in the laminar flow separation region is weakened.

Advanced high turning compressor airfoils

A blade for an axial-flow turbine includes an intrados producing a positive pressure between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and an extrados producing a negative pressure. The intrados is formed at its rear portion with a flat surface portion connected to the trailing edge, and the extrados has a curved surface portion formed at least at a portion corresponding to the flat surface portion. The trailing edge of the turbine blade is pointed at its end. The angle of intersection between the intrados and the extrados at the trailing edge is a right angle or an acute angle. Thus, it is possible to inhibit the flowing of a gas from the intrados at the trailing edge toward the extrados and to decrease the degree of curvature of the extrados at the trailing edge portion to reduce the flow speed, thereby minimizing a shock wave generated at the trailing edge portion to reduce the pressure loss and enhance the performance of the turbine.

Turbine blade airfoil and turbine blade for axial-flow turbine

A turbine blade for an axial-flow turbine includes an intrados generating a positive pressure, and an extrados generating a negative pressure, wherein the intrados and the extrados are provided between a leading edge and a trailing edge. An inflection point is provided between a concave portion on an upstream side and a convex portion on a downstream side in a region extending from a position of 80% on the intrados to a rear throat, and the length of a normal line drawn downwards from the intrados of one of the turbine blades to an extrados of the other turbine blade has at least one maximum value in a region extending from a front throat of the one turbine blade to a rear throat. Thus, it is possible to disperse a shock wave generated from the intrados at the trailing edge to prevent the generation of a strong shock wave, thereby reducing the pressure loss caused by the shock wave. In addition, a speed-reducing area can be formed on the extrados generating the negative pressure to promote the transition from a laminar flow boundary layer to a turbulent flow boundary layer, thereby preventing the separation of the boundary layer caused by the interference with a shock wave to reduce the pressure loss.

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Seligenstadt, Germany

Markus Olhofer