12,396 research outputs found
Performance Evaluation of Mobile U-Navigation based on GPS/WLAN Hybridization
This paper present our mobile u-navigation system. This approach utilizes
hybridization of wireless local area network and Global Positioning System
internal sensor which to receive signal strength from access point and the same
time retrieve Global Navigation System Satellite signal. This positioning
information will be switched based on type of environment in order to ensure
the ubiquity of positioning system. Finally we present our results to
illustrate the performance of the localization system for an indoor/ outdoor
environment set-up.Comment: Journal of Convergence Information Technology(JCIT
Towards Early Mobility Independence: An Intelligent Paediatric Wheelchair with Case Studies
Standard powered wheelchairs are still heavily dependent on the cognitive capabilities of users. Unfortunately, this excludes disabled users who lack the required problem-solving and spatial skills, particularly young children. For these children to be denied powered mobility is a crucial set-back; exploration is important for their cognitive, emotional and psychosocial development. In this paper, we present a safer paediatric wheelchair: the Assistive Robot Transport for Youngsters (ARTY). The fundamental goal of this research is to provide a key-enabling technology to young children who would otherwise be unable to navigate independently in their environment. In addition to the technical details of our smart wheelchair, we present user-trials with able-bodied individuals as well as one 5-year-old child with special needs. ARTY promises to provide young children with early access to the path towards mobility independence
Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people
This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of
elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly
people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new
applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses
the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and
users for which service robots are and are not suitable
Characterizing Power Consumption of Dual-Frequency GNSS of a Smartphone
Location service is one of the most widely used features on a smartphone.
More and more apps are built based on location services. As such, demand for
accurate positioning is ever higher. Mobile brand Xiaomi has introduced Mi 8,
the world's first smartphone equipped with a dual-frequency GNSS chipset which
is claimed to provide up to decimeter-level positioning accuracy. Such
unprecedentedly high location accuracy brought excitement to industry and
academia for navigation research and development of emerging apps. On the other
hand, there is a significant knowledge gap on the energy efficiency of
smartphones equipped with a dual-frequency GNSS chipset. In this paper, we
bridge this knowledge gap by performing an empirical study on power consumption
of a dual-frequency GNSS phone. To the best our knowledge, this is the first
experimental study that characterizes the power consumption of a smartphone
equipped with a dual-frequency GNSS chipset and compares the energy efficiency
with a single-frequency GNSS phone. We demonstrate that a smartphone with a
dual-frequency GNSS chipset consumes 37% more power on average outdoors, and
28% more power indoors, in comparison with a singe-frequency GNSS phone.Comment: Published in IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM
Smart Geographic object: Toward a new understanding of GIS Technology in Ubiquitous Computing
One of the fundamental aspects of ubiquitous computing is the instrumentation
of the real world by smart devices. This instrumentation constitutes an
opportunity to rethink the interactions between human beings and their
environment on the one hand, and between the components of this environment on
the other. In this paper we discuss what this understanding of ubiquitous
computing can bring to geographic science and particularly to GIS technology.
Our main idea is the instrumentation of the geographic environment through the
instrumentation of geographic objects composing it. And then investigate how
this instrumentation can meet the current limitations of GIS technology, and
offers a new stage of rapprochement between the earth and its abstraction. As
result, the current research work proposes a new concept we named Smart
Geographic Object SGO. The latter is a convergence point between the smart
objects and geographic objects, two concepts appertaining respectively to
Collaborative Control for a Robotic Wheelchair: Evaluation of Performance, Attention, and Workload
Powered wheelchair users often struggle to drive safely and effectively and in more critical cases can only get around when accompanied by an assistant. To address these issues, we propose a collaborative control mechanism that assists the user as and when they require help. The system uses a multiple–hypotheses method to predict the driver’s intentions and if necessary, adjusts the control signals to achieve the desired goal safely. The main emphasis of this paper is on a comprehensive evaluation, where we not only look at the system performance, but, perhaps more importantly, we characterise the user performance, in an experiment that combines eye–tracking with a secondary task. Without assistance, participants experienced multiple collisions whilst driving around the predefined route. Conversely, when they were assisted by the collaborative controller, not only did they drive more safely, but they were able to pay less attention to their driving, resulting in a reduced cognitive workload. We discuss the importance of these results and their implications for other applications of shared control, such as brain–machine interfaces, where it could be used to compensate for both the low frequency and the low resolution of the user input
Learning-Based Adaptation for Personalized Mobility Assistance
Mobility assistance is of key importance for people with disabilities to remain autonomous in their preferred environments. In severe cases, assistance can be provided by robotized wheelchairs that can perform complex maneuvers and/or correct the user’s commands. User’s acceptance is of key importance, as some users do not like their commands to be modified. This work presents a solution to improve acceptance. It consists of making the robot learn how the user drives so corrections will not be so noticeable to the user. Case Based Reasoning (CBR) is used to acquire a user’s driving model reactive level. Experiments with volunteers at Fondazione Santa Lucia (FSL) have proven that, indeed, this customized approach at assistance increases acceptance by the user.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (MEC), Project TEC2011-29106-C02-01. The authors would like to thank Santa Lucia Hospedale and all volunteers for their kind cooperation and Sauer Medica for providing the power wheelchair
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