Aggregating multiple body sensors for analysis in sports

Real time monitoring of the wellness of sportspersons, during their sporting activity and training, is important in order to maximise performance during the sporting event itself and during training, as well as being important for the health of the sportsperson overall. We have combined a suite of common, off-the-shelf sensors with specialist body sensing technology we are developing ourselves and constructed a software system for recording, analysing and presenting sensed data gathered from a single player during a sporting activity, a football match. We gather readings for heart rate, galvanic skin response, motion, heat flux, respiration, and location (GPS) using on-body sensors, while simultaneously tracking player activity using a combination of a playercam video and pitch-wide video recording. We have aggregated all this sensed data into a single overview of player performance and activity which can be reviewed, post-event. We are currently working on integrating other non-invasive methods for real-time on-body monitoring of sweat electrolytes and pH via a textile-based sweat sampling and analysis platform. Our work is heading in two directions; firstly from post-event data aggregation to real-time monitoring, and secondly, to convert raw sensor readings into performance indicators that are meaningful to practitioners in the field

The Hierarchic treatment of marine ecological information from spatial networks of benthic platforms

Measuring biodiversity simultaneously in different locations, at different temporal scales, and over wide spatial scales is of strategic importance for the improvement of our understanding of the functioning of marine ecosystems and for the conservation of their biodiversity. Monitoring networks of cabled observatories, along with other docked autonomous systems (e.g., Remotely Operated Vehicles [ROVs], Autonomous Underwater Vehicles [AUVs], and crawlers), are being conceived and established at a spatial scale capable of tracking energy fluxes across benthic and pelagic compartments, as well as across geographic ecotones. At the same time, optoacoustic imaging is sustaining an unprecedented expansion in marine ecological monitoring, enabling the acquisition of new biological and environmental data at an appropriate spatiotemporal scale. At this stage, one of the main problems for an effective application of these technologies is the processing, storage, and treatment of the acquired complex ecological information. Here, we provide a conceptual overview on the technological developments in the multiparametric generation, storage, and automated hierarchic treatment of biological and environmental information required to capture the spatiotemporal complexity of a marine ecosystem. In doing so, we present a pipeline of ecological data acquisition and processing in different steps and prone to automation. We also give an example of population biomass, community richness and biodiversity data computation (as indicators for ecosystem functionality) with an Internet Operated Vehicle (a mobile crawler). Finally, we discuss the software requirements for that automated data processing at the level of cyber-infrastructures with sensor calibration and control, data banking, and ingestion into large data portals.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Putting two water transport models to the test under wet and dry conditions

In order to improve fruit quality and quantity, accurate monitoring of the water status is necessary. The water status can be continuously predicted by using a mechanistic water transport and storage model (e.g. Steppe et al., 2006; 2008). This model typically links measurements of sap flow rate (SF) and stem diameter variations (D) to simulate stem water potential (Ψstem), which is recognised as one of the best indicators for evaluating plant water status. Despite good model performance under sufficient water availability, the model fails under dry conditions. However, a proper simulation of water transport under drought is essential for many applications. For example, grapevines are often subjected to some level of drought stress during the growing season in order to improve the quality of the grapes. Therefore, we aim at adjusting the existing model to improve its performance in simulating water transport during drought conditions. First, a dynamic function describing changes in hydraulic xylem resistance is used to replace the former constant parameter, and represents the resistances encountered in the soil, root and stem (RX). Second, also the former constant radial flow resistance between xylem and storage tissues has been replaced by an equation (RS). For the first time, equations for RX and RS instead of parameters were used in the model, and simulations were compared to the original ones. Both models functioned well under wet conditions, but where the original model failed under dry events, the adapted model could still accurately simulate D and Ψstem under these conditions. The adapted model is thus capable of describing the grapevine’s hydraulic response to both wet and (severe) drought conditions and seems very promising within the context of an automatic plant-based system for water status monitoring

Advanced instrumentation concepts for environmental control subsystems

Design, evaluation and demonstration of advanced instrumentation concepts for improving performance of manned spacecraft environmental control and life support systems were successfully completed. Concepts to aid maintenance following fault detection and isolation were defined. A computer-guided fault correction instruction program was developed and demonstrated in a packaged unit which also contains the operator/system interface

Some aspects of robotics calibration, design and control

The main objective is to introduce techniques in the areas of testing and calibration, design, and control of robotic systems. A statistical technique is described that analyzes a robot's performance and provides quantitative three-dimensional evaluation of its repeatability, accuracy, and linearity. Based on this analysis, a corrective action should be taken to compensate for any existing errors and enhance the robot's overall accuracy and performance. A comparison between robotics simulation software packages that were commercially available (SILMA, IGRIP) and that of Kennedy Space Center (ROBSIM) is also included. These computer codes simulate the kinematics and dynamics patterns of various robot arm geometries to help the design engineer in sizing and building the robot manipulator and control system. A brief discussion on an adaptive control algorithm is provided

Generic Techniques for the Calibration of Robots with Application of the 3-D Fixtures and Statistical Technique on the PUMA 500 and ARID Robots

A relatively simple, inexpensive, and generic technique that could be used in both laboratories and some operation site environments is introduced at the Robotics Applications and Development Laboratory (RADL) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In addition, this report gives a detailed explanation of the set up procedure, data collection, and analysis using this new technique that was developed at the State University of New York at Farmingdale. The technique was used to evaluate the repeatability, accuracy, and overshoot of the Unimate Industrial Robot, PUMA 500. The data were statistically analyzed to provide an insight into the performance of the systems and components of the robot. Also, the same technique was used to check the forward kinematics against the inverse kinematics of RADL's PUMA robot. Recommendations were made for RADL to use this technique for laboratory calibration of the currently existing robots such as the ASEA, high speed controller, Automated Radiator Inspection Device (ARID) etc. Also, recommendations were made to develop and establish other calibration techniques that will be more suitable for site calibration environment and robot certification

An Automated System for Chromosome Analysis

The design, construction, and testing of a complete system to produce karyotypes and chromosome measurement data from human blood samples, and to provide a basis for statistical analysis of quantitative chromosome measurement data are described