1,525 research outputs found
V-Proportion: a method based on the Voronoi diagram to study spatial relations in neuronal mosaics of the retina
The visual system plays a predominant role in the human perception. Although all components of the eye are important to perceive visual information, the retina is a fundamental part of the visual system. In this work we study the spatial relations between neuronal mosaics in the retina. These relations have shown its importance to investigate possible constraints or connectivities between different spatially colocalized populations of neurons, and to explain how visual information spreads along the layers before being sent to the brain. We introduce the V-Proportion, a method based on the Voronoi diagram to study possible spatial interactions between two neuronal mosaics. Results in simulations as well as in real data demonstrate the effectiveness of this method to detect spatial relations between neurons in different layers
Cluster-based reduced-order modelling of a mixing layer
We propose a novel cluster-based reduced-order modelling (CROM) strategy of
unsteady flows. CROM combines the cluster analysis pioneered in Gunzburger's
group (Burkardt et al. 2006) and and transition matrix models introduced in
fluid dynamics in Eckhardt's group (Schneider et al. 2007). CROM constitutes a
potential alternative to POD models and generalises the Ulam-Galerkin method
classically used in dynamical systems to determine a finite-rank approximation
of the Perron-Frobenius operator. The proposed strategy processes a
time-resolved sequence of flow snapshots in two steps. First, the snapshot data
are clustered into a small number of representative states, called centroids,
in the state space. These centroids partition the state space in complementary
non-overlapping regions (centroidal Voronoi cells). Departing from the standard
algorithm, the probabilities of the clusters are determined, and the states are
sorted by analysis of the transition matrix. Secondly, the transitions between
the states are dynamically modelled using a Markov process. Physical mechanisms
are then distilled by a refined analysis of the Markov process, e.g. using
finite-time Lyapunov exponent and entropic methods. This CROM framework is
applied to the Lorenz attractor (as illustrative example), to velocity fields
of the spatially evolving incompressible mixing layer and the three-dimensional
turbulent wake of a bluff body. For these examples, CROM is shown to identify
non-trivial quasi-attractors and transition processes in an unsupervised
manner. CROM has numerous potential applications for the systematic
identification of physical mechanisms of complex dynamics, for comparison of
flow evolution models, for the identification of precursors to desirable and
undesirable events, and for flow control applications exploiting nonlinear
actuation dynamics.Comment: 48 pages, 30 figures. Revised version with additional material.
Accepted for publication in Journal of Fluid Mechanic
Vision-Based Localization Algorithm Based on Landmark Matching, Triangulation, Reconstruction, and Comparison
Many generic position-estimation algorithms are vulnerable to ambiguity introduced by nonunique landmarks. Also, the available high-dimensional image data is not fully used when these techniques are extended to vision-based localization. This paper presents the landmark matching, triangulation, reconstruction, and comparison (LTRC) global localization algorithm, which is reasonably immune to ambiguous landmark matches. It extracts natural landmarks for the (rough) matching stage before generating the list of possible position estimates through triangulation. Reconstruction and comparison then rank the possible estimates. The LTRC algorithm has been implemented using an interpreted language, onto a robot equipped with a panoramic vision system. Empirical data shows remarkable improvement in accuracy when compared with the established random sample consensus method. LTRC is also robust against inaccurate map data
Coordination of Mobile Mules via Facility Location Strategies
In this paper, we study the problem of wireless sensor network (WSN)
maintenance using mobile entities called mules. The mules are deployed in the
area of the WSN in such a way that would minimize the time it takes them to
reach a failed sensor and fix it. The mules must constantly optimize their
collective deployment to account for occupied mules. The objective is to define
the optimal deployment and task allocation strategy for the mules, so that the
sensors' downtime and the mules' traveling distance are minimized. Our
solutions are inspired by research in the field of computational geometry and
the design of our algorithms is based on state of the art approximation
algorithms for the classical problem of facility location. Our empirical
results demonstrate how cooperation enhances the team's performance, and
indicate that a combination of k-Median based deployment with closest-available
task allocation provides the best results in terms of minimizing the sensors'
downtime but is inefficient in terms of the mules' travel distance. A
k-Centroid based deployment produces good results in both criteria.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, conferenc
Robust Environmental Mapping by Mobile Sensor Networks
Constructing a spatial map of environmental parameters is a crucial step to
preventing hazardous chemical leakages, forest fires, or while estimating a
spatially distributed physical quantities such as terrain elevation. Although
prior methods can do such mapping tasks efficiently via dispatching a group of
autonomous agents, they are unable to ensure satisfactory convergence to the
underlying ground truth distribution in a decentralized manner when any of the
agents fail. Since the types of agents utilized to perform such mapping are
typically inexpensive and prone to failure, this results in poor overall
mapping performance in real-world applications, which can in certain cases
endanger human safety. This paper presents a Bayesian approach for robust
spatial mapping of environmental parameters by deploying a group of mobile
robots capable of ad-hoc communication equipped with short-range sensors in the
presence of hardware failures. Our approach first utilizes a variant of the
Voronoi diagram to partition the region to be mapped into disjoint regions that
are each associated with at least one robot. These robots are then deployed in
a decentralized manner to maximize the likelihood that at least one robot
detects every target in their associated region despite a non-zero probability
of failure. A suite of simulation results is presented to demonstrate the
effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method when compared to existing
techniques.Comment: accepted to icra 201
Voronoi-based space partitioning for coordinated multi-robot exploration
Recent multi-robot exploration algorithms usually rely on occupancy grids as their core world representation. However, those grids are not appropriate for environments that are very large or whose boundaries are not well delimited from the beginning of the exploration. In contrast, polygonal representations do not have such limitations. Previously, the authors have proposed a new exploration algorithm based on partitioning unknown space into as many regions as available robots by applying K-Means clustering to an occupancy grid representation, and have shown that this approach leads to higher robot dispersion than other approaches, which is potentially beneficial for quick coverage of wide areas. In this paper, the original K-Means clustering applied over grid cells, which is the most expensive stage of the aforementioned exploration algorithm, is substituted for a Voronoi-based partitioning algorithm applied to polygons. The computational cost of the exploration algorithm is thus significantly reduced for large maps. An empirical evaluation and comparison of both partitioning approaches is presented.This work is partially supported by the Government of Spain under MCYT DPI2004-07993-C03-03. Ling Wu is supported by a FPI scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science
Autonomous deployment for load balancing k-surface coverage in sensor networks
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