Vector Summer 2013

Vector is the student engineering magazine on campus. Published by the Student Engineering Council, Vector is completely written, managed, and designed by students for students. With issues dating back to 1971, the magazine has a long-standing tradition of serving as the voice for engineering students at The University of Texas at Austin. The Vector staff publishes two issues per semester. For more information regarding the Vector magazine, please contact us at vector@ sec.engr.utexas.edu.Cockrell School of EngineeringCockrell School of Engineerin

A Model that Predicts the Material Recognition Performance of Thermal Tactile Sensing

Tactile sensing can enable a robot to infer properties of its surroundings, such as the material of an object. Heat transfer based sensing can be used for material recognition due to differences in the thermal properties of materials. While data-driven methods have shown promise for this recognition problem, many factors can influence performance, including sensor noise, the initial temperatures of the sensor and the object, the thermal effusivities of the materials, and the duration of contact. We present a physics-based mathematical model that predicts material recognition performance given these factors. Our model uses semi-infinite solids and a statistical method to calculate an F1 score for the binary material recognition. We evaluated our method using simulated contact with 69 materials and data collected by a real robot with 12 materials. Our model predicted the material recognition performance of support vector machine (SVM) with 96% accuracy for the simulated data, with 92% accuracy for real-world data with constant initial sensor temperatures, and with 91% accuracy for real-world data with varied initial sensor temperatures. Using our model, we also provide insight into the roles of various factors on recognition performance, such as the temperature difference between the sensor and the object. Overall, our results suggest that our model could be used to help design better thermal sensors for robots and enable robots to use them more effectively.Comment: This article is currently under review for possible publicatio

Neuro-electronic technology in medicine and beyond

This dissertation looks at the technology and social issues involved with interfacing electronics directly to the human nervous system, in particular the methods for both reading and stimulating nerves. The development and use of cochlea implants is discussed, and is compared with recent developments in artificial vision. The final sections consider a future for non-medicinal applications of neuro-electronic technology. Social attitudes towards use for both medicinal and non-medicinal purposes are discussed, and the viability of use in the latter case assessed

GHOST: Building blocks for high performance sparse linear algebra on heterogeneous systems

While many of the architectural details of future exascale-class high performance computer systems are still a matter of intense research, there appears to be a general consensus that they will be strongly heterogeneous, featuring "standard" as well as "accelerated" resources. Today, such resources are available as multicore processors, graphics processing units (GPUs), and other accelerators such as the Intel Xeon Phi. Any software infrastructure that claims usefulness for such environments must be able to meet their inherent challenges: massive multi-level parallelism, topology, asynchronicity, and abstraction. The "General, Hybrid, and Optimized Sparse Toolkit" (GHOST) is a collection of building blocks that targets algorithms dealing with sparse matrix representations on current and future large-scale systems. It implements the "MPI+X" paradigm, has a pure C interface, and provides hybrid-parallel numerical kernels, intelligent resource management, and truly heterogeneous parallelism for multicore CPUs, Nvidia GPUs, and the Intel Xeon Phi. We describe the details of its design with respect to the challenges posed by modern heterogeneous supercomputers and recent algorithmic developments. Implementation details which are indispensable for achieving high efficiency are pointed out and their necessity is justified by performance measurements or predictions based on performance models. The library code and several applications are available as open source. We also provide instructions on how to make use of GHOST in existing software packages, together with a case study which demonstrates the applicability and performance of GHOST as a component within a larger software stack.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure

Olfactory-based augmented reality support for industrial maintenance

Augmented reality (AR) applications have opened innovative ways for performance improvement in the IoT industry. It can enhance user perception of the real-world by providing valuable information about an industrial environment and provide visual virtual information onto a head-mounted device (HMD). Such information is important for maintainers to quickly detect abnormalities, reduces nugatory routines and facilitate preventive maintenance.Since odors are made up of volatile compounds at low concentration, they can be used for olfactory-based identification.The prototype comprises of three modules: an electronic nose, a database and an AR application integrated with Microsoft HoloLens. After diagnosing an odor, the results are then sent wirelessly through a local network to the HMD worn by the user. To validate the technology, four odors have been used, including engine oil, sun lotion, medical alcohol and perfume, to record behaviors and demonstrate the repeatability of the process. The presented technology incorporates sampling methods, cleaning processes and statistical analysis that can be further scrutinized to allow correct smell identification

High speed research system study. Advanced flight deck configuration effects

In mid-1991 NASA contracted with industry to study the high-speed civil transport (HSCT) flight deck challenges and assess the benefits, prior to initiating their High Speed Research Program (HSRP) Phase 2 efforts, then scheduled for FY-93. The results of this nine-month effort are presented, and a number of the most significant findings for the specified advanced concepts are highlighted: (1) a no nose-droop configuration; (2) a far forward cockpit location; and (3) advanced crew monitoring and control of complex systems. The results indicate that the no nose-droop configuration is critically dependent upon the design and development of a safe, reliable, and certifiable Synthetic Vision System (SVS). The droop-nose configuration would cause significant weight, performance, and cost penalties. The far forward cockpit location, with the conventional side-by-side seating provides little economic advantage; however, a configuration with a tandem seating arrangement provides a substantial increase in either additional payload (i.e., passengers) or potential downsizing of the vehicle with resulting increases in performance efficiencies and associated reductions in emissions. Without a droop nose, forward external visibility is negated and takeoff/landing guidance and control must rely on the use of the SVS. The technologies enabling such capabilities, which de facto provides for Category 3 all-weather operations on every flight independent of weather, represent a dramatic benefits multiplier in a 2005 global ATM network: both in terms of enhanced economic viability and environmental acceptability

Sound Texture Feedback for a Projected Extended Hand Interface

Sato Y., Iwai D., Sato K.. Sound Texture Feedback for a Projected Extended Hand Interface. IEEE Access 12, 27673 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3367601.The ExtendedHand interface projects a computer graphics (CG) hand that synchronizes with a user's physical hand movements onto a real environment, visually extending the user's reach. This paper focuses on enhancing the user's tactile perception of an object through cross-modal phenomena by providing a sound texture (auditory information that matches the object) when the CG hand touches it. Here, ExtendedHand enables users to touch objects beyond their physical reach, an experience that cannot be achieved with their physical body. In such situations, the appropriateness of adjusting sound pressure based on physical laws according to distance for users is unclear. Additionally, we have empirical knowledge that the speed at which we touch objects with our hands results in different sounds. Within ExtendedHand, since the movement of the user's physical hand is amplified and reflected in the CG hand's movement, the physical hand's speed does not match the CG hand's speed. This raises the question of whether sound texture feedback should align with the visual information of the CG hand or the proprioceptive sensory information of the physical hand. In this paper, we conducted two user studies to explore appropriate sound texture feedback for the projected CG hand. The results indicate that when the CG hand touches objects at various distances, the sound pressure should follow the same sound pressure attenuation as observed in physical phenomena. Additionally, the results suggest that despite swift tracing actions with the CG hand, users perceive sounds produced at a slower pace to be more suitable

Efficacy of Multisensory Technology in Post-Stroke Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Systematic Review

Post-stroke, in addition to sensorimotor signs and symptoms, could lead to cognitive deficits. Theories of embodiment stress the role of sensorimotor system and multisensory integration in sustaining high-order cognitive domains. Despite conventional post-stroke cognitive rehabilitation being effective, innovative technologies could overcome some limitations of standard interventions and exploit bodily information during cognitive rehabilitation. This systematic review aims to investigate whether ‘multisensory technologies’ compared to usual care treatment can be a viable alternative for cognitive rehabilitation. By applying PRISMA guidelines, we extracted data and assessed the bias of 10 studies that met the required criteria. We found that multisensory technologies were at least comparable to standard treatment but particularly effective for attention, spatial cognition, global cognition, and memory. Multisensory technologies consisted principally of virtual reality alone or combined with a motion tracking system. Multisensory technologies without motion tracking were more effective than standard procedures, whereas those with motion tracking showed balanced results for the two treatments. Limitations of the included studies regarded the population (e.g., no study on acute stroke), assessment (e.g., lack of multimodal/multisensory pre-post evaluation), and methodology (e.g., sample size, blinding bias). Recent advancements in technological development and metaverse open new opportunities to design embodied rehabilitative programs