The design of a cooperative adaptive cruise-control (CACC) system and its practical validation are presented. Focusing on the feasibility of implementation, a decentralized controller design with a limited communication structure is proposed (in this case, a wireless communication link with the nearest preceding vehicle only). A necessary and sufficient frequency-domain condition for string stability is derived, taking into account heterogeneous traffic, i.e., vehicles with possibly different characteristics. For a velocity-dependent intervehicle spacing policy, it is shown that the wireless communication link enables driving at small intervehicle distances, whereas string stability is guaranteed. For a constant velocity-independent intervehicle spacing, string stability cannot be guaranteed. To validate the theoretical results, experiments are performed with two CACC-equipped vehicles. Implementation of the CACC system, the string-stability characteristics of the practical setup, and experimental results are discussed, indicating the advantages of the design over standard adaptive-cruise-control functionality.

In this paper we describe the hitherto unravelled facts on the interactions of a cold atmospheric plasma with living cells and tissues. A specially designed source, plasma needle, is a low-power discharge, which operates under the threshold of tissue damage. When applied properly, the needle does not cause fatal cell injury which would result in cell death (necrosis). Instead, it allows precise and localized cell removal by means of the so-called cell detachment. In addition, plasma can be used for bacterial disinfection. Because of mild treatment conditions, plasma disinfection can be performed in vivo, e.g. on wounds and dental cavities. Presently, one strives to obtain a better control of the operating device. Therefore, plasma has been characterized using a variety of diagnostics, and a smart system has been designed for the positioning of the device with respect to the treated surface. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

The highest control layer of a (hybrid) vehicular drive train is termed the Energy Management Strategy (EMS). In this paper an overview of different control methods is given and a new rule-based EMS is introduced, based on the combination of Rule-Based and Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategies (RB-ECMS). The RB-ECMS uses only one decision variable and requires no tuning of many threshold control values and parameters. This decision variable represents the maximum propulsion power of the secondary power source (i.e. electric machine/battery) during pure electric driving. The RB-ECMS is compared with the strategy based on Dynamic Programming (DP), which is inherently optimal for a given cycle. The RB-ECMS proposed in this paper requires significantly less computation time with a similar result to DP (within 1% accuracy).