Mengchu Zhou – författare

Video has rich information including meta-data, visual, audio, spatial and temporal data which can be analysed to extract a variety of low and high-level features to build predictive computational models using machine-learning algorithms to discover interesting patterns, concepts, relations, and associations. This book includes a review of essential topics and discussion of emerging methods and potential applications of video data mining and analytics. It integrates areas like intelligent systems, data mining and knowledge discovery, big data analytics, machine learning, neural network, and deep learning with focus on multimodality video analytics and recent advances in research/applications.Features: Provides up-to-date coverage of the state-of-the-art techniques in intelligent video analytics. Explores important applications that require techniques from both artificial intelligence and computer vision. Describes multimodality video analytics for different applications. Examines issues related to multimodality data fusion and highlights research challenges. Integrates various techniques from video processing, data mining and machine learning which has many emerging indoors and outdoors applications of smart cameras in smart environments, smart homes, and smart cities.This book aims at researchers, professionals and graduate students in image processing, video analytics, computer science and engineering, signal processing, machine learning, and electrical engineering.

Video has rich information including meta-data, visual, audio, spatial and temporal data which can be analysed to extract a variety of low and high-level features to build predictive computational models using machine-learning algorithms to discover interesting patterns, concepts, relations, and associations. This book includes a review of essential topics and discussion of emerging methods and potential applications of video data mining and analytics. It integrates areas like intelligent systems, data mining and knowledge discovery, big data analytics, machine learning, neural network, and deep learning with focus on multimodality video analytics and recent advances in research/applications.Features: Provides up-to-date coverage of the state-of-the-art techniques in intelligent video analytics. Explores important applications that require techniques from both artificial intelligence and computer vision. Describes multimodality video analytics for different applications. Examines issues related to multimodality data fusion and highlights research challenges. Integrates various techniques from video processing, data mining and machine learning which has many emerging indoors and outdoors applications of smart cameras in smart environments, smart homes, and smart cities.This book aims at researchers, professionals and graduate students in image processing, video analytics, computer science and engineering, signal processing, machine learning, and electrical engineering.

"Petri Net Synthesis for Discrete Event Control of Manufacturing Systems" develops two essential resource-sharing concepts: parallel and sequential mutual exclusions and theoretical results in Petri synthesis. A parallel mutual exclusion (PME) is defined to model a resource shared by independent distributed processes, and a sequential mutual exclusion is a sequential composition of PMEs, modeling a resource shared by sequentially-related processes. A hybrid synthesis methodology for Petri net models and controllers is proposed using top-down, modular, and bottom-up design ideas and the mutual exclusion theory. An aggregate Petri net model is refined by replacing places and/or transitions with basic design modules which are mathematically and graphically described. Petri net design methods are presented for such buffers as automatic storage and retrieval systems. Using the proposed method syntesized both a Petri net structure and feasible initial markings, guaranteeing that resulting Petri nets have desirable system properties such as freedom from deadlock and cyclic behaviour. A Petri net controller is extended to error recovery for automated manufacturing systems.The theory can guarantee that the desired system properties achieved by the original design will be preserved when the controller is augmented to deal with an error in the prescribed methods. Control code has been directly generated from Petri net definitions. The algorithm and implementation details are given for a flexible manufacturing system. Using the approach presented in "Petri Net Synthesis for Discrete Event Control of Manufacturing Systems", engineers and research workers can develop their own discrete event control applications and experiments.

Over the past two decades, research in the theory of Petri nets and the development of graphical tools has yielded a powerful methodology. The contributions in this book present both the theoretical development of Petri nets and industrial applications in areas such as discrete-event control design, scheduling, performance evaluation and deadlock avoidance. There are also comparative studies of Petri nets and other approaches. A primary theme of the book is to provide a unified approach to the applications of Petri nets in flexible and agile automation and, in that regard, a common notation and terminology is used. The book also allows readers to evaluate the benefits and applicability of state-of-the-art Petri-net methods and apply CAD tools to problems of interest.

Focuses on how to use web service computing and service-based workflow technologies to develop timely, effective workflows for both business and scientific fieldsUtilizing web computing and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Business and Scientific Workflows: A Web Service–Oriented Approach focuses on how to design, analyze, and deploy web service–based workflows for both business and scientific applications in many areas of healthcare and biomedicine. It also discusses and presents the recent research and development results.This informative reference features application scenarios that include healthcare and biomedical applications, such as personalized healthcare processing, DNA sequence data processing, and electrocardiogram wave analysis, and presents: Updated research and development results on the composition technologies of web services for ever-sophisticated service requirements from various users and communitiesFundamental methods such as Petri nets and social network analysis to advance the theory and applications of workflow design and web service compositionPractical and real applications of the developed theory and methods for such platforms as personalized healthcare and Biomedical Informatics GridsThe authors' efforts on advancing service composition methods for both business and scientific software systems, with theoretical and empirical contributionsWith workflow-driven service composition and reuse being a hot topic in both academia and industry, this book is ideal for researchers, engineers, scientists, professionals, and students who work on service computing, software engineering, business and scientific workflow management, the internet, and management information systems (MIS).

Various systems science and engineering disciplines are covered and challenging new research issues in these disciplines are revealed. They will be extremely valuable for the readers to search for some new research directions and problems. Chapters are contributed by world-renowned systems engineersChapters include discussions and conclusionsReaders can grasp each event holistically without having professional expertise in the field

Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Learn more about energy efficiency in traditional and advanced manufacturing settings with this leading and authoritative resource Sustainable Manufacturing Systems: An Energy Perspective delivers a comprehensive analysis of energy efficiency in sustainable manufacturing. The book presents manufacturing modeling methods and energy efficiency evaluation and improvement methods for different manufacturing systems. It allows industry professionals to understand the methodologies and techniques being embraced around the world that lead to advanced energy management. The book offers readers a comprehensive and systematic theoretical foundation for novel manufacturing system modeling, analysis, and control. It concludes with a summary of the insights and applications contained within and a discussion of future research issues that have yet to be grappled with. Sustainable Manufacturing Systems answers the questions that energy customers, managers, decision makers, and researchers have been asking about sustainable manufacturing. The book’s release coincides with recent and profound advances in smart grid applications and will serve as a practical tool to assist industrial engineers in furthering the green revolution. Readers will also benefit from: A thorough introduction to energy efficiency in manufacturing systems, including the current state of research and research methodologiesAn exploration of the development of manufacturing methodologies, including mathematical modeling for manufacturing systems and energy efficiency characterization in manufacturing systemsAn analysis of the applications of various methodologies, including electricity demand response for manufacturing systems and energy control and optimization for manufacturing systems utilizing combined heat and power systemsA discussion of energy efficiency in advanced manufacturing systems, like stereolithography additive manufacturing and cellulosic biofuel manufacturing systemsPerfect for researchers, undergraduate students, and graduate students in engineering disciplines, especially for those majoring in industrial, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineering, Sustainable Manufacturing Systems will also earn a place in the libraries of management and business students interested in manufacturing system cost performance and energy management.

Presents strategies with reachability graph analysis for optimizing resource allocation systemsSupervisory Control and Scheduling of Resource Allocation Systems offers an important guide to Petri net (PN) models and methods for supervisory control and system scheduling of resource allocation systems (RASs). Resource allocation systems are common in automated manufacturing systems, project management systems, cloud data centers, and software engineering systems. The authors—two experts on the topic—present a definition, techniques, models, and state-of-the art applications of supervisory control and scheduling problems.The book introduces the basic concepts and research background on resource allocation systems and Petri nets. The authors then focus on the deadlock-free supervisor synthesis for RASs using Petri nets. The book also investigates the heuristic scheduling of RASs based on timed Petri nets. Conclusions and open problems are provided in the last section of the book. This important book: Includes multiple methods for supervisory control and scheduling with reachability graphs, and provides illustrative examplesReveals how to accelerate the supervisory controller design and system scheduling of RASs based on PN reachability graphs, with optimal or near-optimal resultsHighlights both solution quality and computational speed in RAS deadlock handling and system schedulingWritten for researchers, engineers, scientists, and professionals in system planning and control, engineering, operation, and management, Supervisory Control and Scheduling of Resource Allocation Systems provides an essential guide to the supervisory control and scheduling of resource allocation systems (RASs) using Petri net reachability graphs, which allow for multiple resource acquisitions and flexible routings.

Petri nets are widely used in modeling, analysis, and control of discrete event systems arising from manufacturing, transportation, computer and communication networks, and web service systems. However, Petri net models for practical systems can be very large, making it difficult to apply such models to real-life problems.System Modeling and Control with Resource-Oriented Petri Nets introduces a new resource-oriented Petri net (ROPN) model that was developed by the authors. Not only does it successfully reduce model size, but it also offers improvements that facilitate effective modeling, analysis, and control of automated and reconfigurable manufacturing systems. Presenting the latest research in this novel approach, this cutting-edge volume provides proven theories and methodologies for implementing cost and time-saving improvements to contemporary manufacturing systems. It provides effective tools for deadlock avoidance—deadlock-free routing and deadlock-free scheduling. The authors supply simple and complex industrial manufacturing system examples to illustrate time-tested concepts, theories, and approaches for solving real-life application problems. Written in a clear and concise manner, the text covers applications to automated and reconfigurable manufacturing systems, automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems, semiconductor manufacturing systems, and flexible assembly systems. Explaining complex concepts in a manner that is easy to understand, the authors provide the understanding and tools needed for more effective modeling, analysis, performance evaluation, control, and scheduling of engineering processes that will lead to more flexible and efficient manufacturing systems.

Comprehensive guide on learning automata, introducing two variants to accelerate convergence and computational update speed Learning Automata and Their Applications to Intelligent Systems provides a comprehensive guide on learning automata from the perspective of principles, algorithms, improvement directions, and applications. The text introduces two variants to accelerate the convergence speed and computational update speed, respectively; these two examples demonstrate how to design new learning automata for a specific field from the aspect of algorithm design to give full play to the advantage of learning automata. As noisy optimization problems exist widely in various intelligent systems, this book elaborates on how to employ learning automata to solve noisy optimization problems from the perspective of algorithm design and application. The existing and most representative applications of learning automata include classification, clustering, game, knapsack, network, optimization, ranking, and scheduling. They are well-discussed. Future research directions to promote an intelligent system are suggested. Written by two highly qualified academics with significant experience in the field, Learning Automata and Their Applications to Intelligent Systems covers such topics as: Mathematical analysis of the behavior of learning automata, along with suitable learning algorithmsTwo application-oriented learning automata: one to discover and track spatiotemporal event patterns, and the other to solve stochastic searching on a lineDemonstrations of two pioneering variants of Optimal Computing Budge Allocation (OCBA) methods and how to combine learning automata with ordinal optimizationHow to achieve significantly faster convergence and higher accuracy than classical pursuit schemes via lower computational complexity of updating the state probabilityA timely text in a rapidly developing field, Learning Automata and Their Applications to Intelligent Systems is an essential resource for researchers in machine learning, engineering, operation, and management. The book is also highly suitable for graduate level courses on machine learning, soft computing, reinforcement learning and stochastic optimization.

Comprehensive overview of recent research advancements in scheduling approaches for cloud edge computing systems Intelligent Scheduling of Tasks for Cloud-Edge-Device Computing Systems offers an in-depth collection of advanced task scheduling algorithms designed specifically for diverse cloud-edge-device computing systems. After an introductory overview, a series of intelligent scheduling approaches are presented, each specifically designed for a particular scenario within cloud-edge-device computing systems. The book then summarizes the authors’ research findings in recent years, delving into topics including resource management, latency and real-time requirements, load balancing, priority constraints, algorithm design, and performance evaluation. The book enables readers to achieve efficient allocation of computing, storage, and network resources to optimize resource utilization. Real-world applications of scheduling technologies in smart cities and traffic management, industrial automation and smart factories, and healthcare monitoring systems are given in a separate chapter. Additional topics include: Workload-aware scheduling of real-time independent tasks, covering how to schedule jobs in a single or multiple serversMixed real-time task scheduling in automotive systems with vehicle networks, covering hybrid schedule design, offline task management, and online job assignmentScheduling with real-time constraint, covering task placement adjustment strategy, start time adjustment, and backwards schedule adjustmentEnergy-efficient scheduling without real-time constraint, covering energy consumption-optimal task placement plans as well as partition schedulingIntelligent Scheduling of Tasks for Cloud-Edge-Device Computing Systems is an essential resource for researchers and practitioners in the field of IoT seeking to understand specific challenges and requirements associated with task scheduling in cloud-edge-device computing systems.

Petri nets are widely used in modeling, analysis, and control of discrete event systems arising from manufacturing, transportation, computer and communication networks, and web service systems. However, Petri net models for practical systems can be very large, making it difficult to apply such models to real-life problems.System Modeling and Control with Resource-Oriented Petri Nets introduces a new resource-oriented Petri net (ROPN) model that was developed by the authors. Not only does it successfully reduce model size, but it also offers improvements that facilitate effective modeling, analysis, and control of automated and reconfigurable manufacturing systems. Presenting the latest research in this novel approach, this cutting-edge volume provides proven theories and methodologies for implementing cost and time-saving improvements to contemporary manufacturing systems. It provides effective tools for deadlock avoidance—deadlock-free routing and deadlock-free scheduling. The authors supply simple and complex industrial manufacturing system examples to illustrate time-tested concepts, theories, and approaches for solving real-life application problems. Written in a clear and concise manner, the text covers applications to automated and reconfigurable manufacturing systems, automated guided vehicle (AGV) systems, semiconductor manufacturing systems, and flexible assembly systems. Explaining complex concepts in a manner that is easy to understand, the authors provide the understanding and tools needed for more effective modeling, analysis, performance evaluation, control, and scheduling of engineering processes that will lead to more flexible and efficient manufacturing systems.

Over the past two decades, research in the theory of Petri nets and the development of graphical tools has yielded a powerful methodology. The contributions in Petri Nets in Flexible and Agile Automation present theoretical development of Petri nets as well as in industrial applications to areas such as discrete- event control design, scheduling, performance evaluation and deadlock avoidance. These contributions also include comparative studies of Petri nets and other approaches. A primary theme of this book is to provide a unified approach to the applications of Petri nets in flexible and agile automation and, in that regard, a common notation and terminology is used. The book also allows readers to evaluate the benefits and applicability of state-of-the-art Petri net methods and apply CAD tools to problems of interest. Petri Nets in Flexible and Agile Automation is not only an essential reference for researchers, it is also a very useful tool for engineers, analysts and managers who are responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the next generation of manufacturing systems.

Petri Net Synthesis for Discrete Event Control of Manufacturing Systems develops two essential resource-sharing concepts: parallel and sequential mutual exclusions and theoretical results in Petri synthesis. A parallel mutual exclusion (PME) is defined to model a resource shared by independent distributed processes, and a sequential mutual exclusion is a sequential composition of PMEs, modeling a resource shared by sequentially-related processes. A hybrid synthesis methodology for Petri net models and controllers is proposed using top-down, modular, and bottom-up design ideas and the mutual exclusion theory. An aggregate Petri net model is refined by replacing places and /or transitions with basic design modules which are mathematically and graphically described. Petri net design methods are presented for such buffers as automatic storage and retrieval systems. Using the proposed method synthesizes both Petri net structure and feasible initial markings, guaranteeing that resulting Petri nets have desirable system properties such as freedom from deadlock and cyclic behavior. A Petri net controller is extended to error recovery for automated manufacturing systems. The theory can guarantee that the desired system properties achieved by the original design will be preserved when the controller is augmented to deal with an error in the prescribed methods. Control code has been directly generated from Petri net definitions. The algorithm and implementation details are given for a flexible manufacturing system. Using the approach presented in Petri Net Synthesis for Discrete Event Control of Manufacturing Systems, engineers and research workers can develop their own discrete event control applications and experiments.

Discrete-event dynamic systems (DEDs) permeate our world, being of great importance in modern manufacturing processes, transportation and various forms of computer and communications networking.“Modeling and Control of Discrete-event Dynamic Systems” begins with the mathematical basics required for the study of DEDs and moves on to present various tools used in their modeling and control. Among the instruments explained are many forms of Petri net, the sequential function chart, state charts, formal languages and max-plus algebra. Industrial examples illustrate the concepts and methods discussed. Using them, readers will be able to understand DEDs quickly and to master the control methods to analyze and improve the performance of their systems.Final-year undergraduates and graduates embarking on further courses in control, manufacturing and process engineering, computer studies or operations research will find this text an invaluable aid in learning about the control of this important class of systems.

Deadlock problems in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) have received more and more attention in the last two decades. Petri nets are one of the more promising mathematical tools for tackling deadlocks in various resource allocation systems. In a system modeled with Petri nets, siphons are tied to the occurrence of deadlock states as a structural object. The book systematically introduces the novel theory of siphons, traps, and elementary siphons of Petri nets as well as the deadlock control strategies for FMS developed from it. Deadlock prevention methods are examined comparatively. The many FMS examples presented to demonstrate the concepts and results of this book range from the simple to the complex. Importantly, to inspire and motive the reader's interest in further research, a number of interesting and open problems in this area are proposed at the end of each chapter. Deadlock Resolution in Automated Manufacturing Systems is directed to control, computer, electrical, mechanical, and industrial engineers, researchers and scientists.It will be useful for designers in the automation and control disciplines in industry and academia who need to develop the control methods, tools and software to improve the performance of automated flexible manufacturing systems.

Deadlock problems in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) have received more and more attention in the last two decades. Petri nets are one of the more promising mathematical tools for tackling deadlocks in various resource allocation systems. In a system modeled with Petri nets, siphons are tied to the occurrence of deadlock states as a structural object. The book systematically introduces the novel theory of siphons, traps, and elementary siphons of Petri nets as well as the deadlock control strategies for FMS developed from it. Deadlock prevention methods are examined comparatively. The many FMS examples presented to demonstrate the concepts and results of this book range from the simple to the complex. Importantly, to inspire and motive the reader’s interest in further research, a number of interesting and open problems in this area are proposed at the end of each chapter.

This book focuses on both theoretical and practical aspects of the “Device-Edge-Cloud continuum”, a development approach aimed at the seamless provision of next-generation cyber-physical services through the dynamic orchestration of heterogeneous computing resources, located at different distances to the user and featured by different peculiarities (high responsiveness, high computing power, etc.). The book specifically explores recent advances in paradigms, architectures, models, and applications for the “Device-Edge-Cloud continuum”, which raises many 'in-the-small' and 'in-the-large' issues involving device programming, system architectures and methods for the development of IoT ecosystem. In this direction, the contributions presented in the book propose original solutions and aim at relevant domains spanning from healthcare to industry, agriculture and transportation.

This book focuses on both theoretical and practical aspects of the “Device-Edge-Cloud continuum”, a development approach aimed at the seamless provision of next-generation cyber-physical services through the dynamic orchestration of heterogeneous computing resources, located at different distances to the user and featured by different peculiarities (high responsiveness, high computing power, etc.). The book specifically explores recent advances in paradigms, architectures, models, and applications for the “Device-Edge-Cloud continuum”, which raises many 'in-the-small' and 'in-the-large' issues involving device programming, system architectures and methods for the development of IoT ecosystem. In this direction, the contributions presented in the book propose original solutions and aim at relevant domains spanning from healthcare to industry, agriculture and transportation.

This book focuses on the challenges and solutions for scheduling tasks in distributed cloud and edge computing systems, with a particular emphasis on predicting workload and resources and optimizing performance and resource utilization through innovative algorithms and methodologies. The book provides an in-depth exploration of theoretical and practical aspects across seven comprehensive parts. The book first introduces the key concepts of cloud computing, edge computing, and their convergence in distributed cloud-edge systems. The authors then lay the groundwork for understanding workload prediction, energy management, and integrating cloud-edge infrastructures with large artificial intelligence (AI) models.  The book then presents a detailed examination of workload and resource prediction techniques. Next, task scheduling is explored with a focus on energy efficiency and performance in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite-terrestrial edge networks, etc. The book also delves into integrating large-scale AI models within cloud-edge systems and introduces innovative practices of new infrastructure in cloud-edge systems. Finally, real-world applications of distributed cloud-edge systems are discussed across various domains. This book provides valuable resources for researchers, engineers, and professionals seeking to advance their knowledge of distributed cloud and edge computing systems and their applications in emerging areas.

One critical barrier leading to successful implementation of flexible manufacturing and related automated systems is the ever-increasing complexity of their modeling, analysis, simulation, and control. Research and development over the last three decades has provided new theory and graphical tools based on Petri nets and related concepts for the design of such systems. The purpose of this book is to introduce a set of Petri-net-based tools and methods to address a variety of problems associated with the design and implementation of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), with several implementation examples.There are three ways this book will directly benefit readers. First, the book will allow engineers and managers who are responsible for the design and implementation of modern manufacturing systems to evaluate Petri nets for applications in their work. Second, it will provide sufficient breadth and depth to allow development of Petri-net-based industrial applications. Third, it will allow the basic Petri net material to be taught to industrial practitioners, students, and academic researchers much more efficiently. This will foster further research and applications of Petri nets in aiding the successful implementation of advanced manufacturing systems.