3,507 research outputs found
Flexible Supervised Autonomy for Exploration in Subterranean Environments
While the capabilities of autonomous systems have been steadily improving in
recent years, these systems still struggle to rapidly explore previously
unknown environments without the aid of GPS-assisted navigation. The DARPA
Subterranean (SubT) Challenge aimed to fast track the development of autonomous
exploration systems by evaluating their performance in real-world underground
search-and-rescue scenarios. Subterranean environments present a plethora of
challenges for robotic systems, such as limited communications, complex
topology, visually-degraded sensing, and harsh terrain. The presented solution
enables long-term autonomy with minimal human supervision by combining a
powerful and independent single-agent autonomy stack, with higher level mission
management operating over a flexible mesh network. The autonomy suite deployed
on quadruped and wheeled robots was fully independent, freeing the human
supervision to loosely supervise the mission and make high-impact strategic
decisions. We also discuss lessons learned from fielding our system at the SubT
Final Event, relating to vehicle versatility, system adaptability, and
re-configurable communications.Comment: Field Robotics special issue: DARPA Subterranean Challenge,
Advancement and Lessons Learned from the Final
Leading Undergraduate Students to Big Data Generation
People are facing a flood of data today. Data are being collected at
unprecedented scale in many areas, such as networking, image processing,
virtualization, scientific computation, and algorithms. The huge data nowadays
are called Big Data. Big data is an all encompassing term for any collection of
data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process them using
traditional data processing applications. In this article, the authors present
a unique way which uses network simulator and tools of image processing to
train students abilities to learn, analyze, manipulate, and apply Big Data.
Thus they develop students handson abilities on Big Data and their critical
thinking abilities. The authors used novel image based rendering algorithm with
user intervention to generate realistic 3D virtual world. The learning outcomes
are significant
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Integration of unidirectional technologies into wireless back-haul architecture
This thesis was submitted for the degree of Docter of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Back-haul infrastructures of today's wireless operators must support the triple-play services demanded by the market or regulatory bodies. To cope with increasing capacity demand, the EU FP7 project CARMEN has developed a cost-effective heterogeneous
multi-radio wireless back-haul architecture, which may also leverage the native multicast
capabilities of broadcast technologies such as DVB-T to off-load high-bandwidth broadcast
content delivery. However, the integration of such unidirectional technologies into a packet-switched architecture requires careful considerations. The contribution of this thesis is the investigation, design and evaluation of protocols and mechanisms facilitating the integration of such unidirectional technologies into the wireless
back-haul architecture so that they can be configured and utilized by the spectrum and
capacity optimization modules. This integration mainly concerns the control plane and, in particular, the aspects related to resource and capability descriptions, neighborhood, link and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) Label-Switched Path (LSP) monitoring, unicast and multicast LSP signalling as well as topology forming and maintenance. During the course of this study we have analyzed the problem space, proposed solutions to the resulting research questions and evaluated our approach. Our results show that the now Unidirectional Technology (UDT)-aware architecture can readily consider
Unidirectional Technologies (UDTs) to distribute, for example, broadcast content
Situated Technologies
Architecture's privileged position as the technology of space-making is challenged by the current proliferation of a wide range of mobile, embedded, networked and distributed media, communication and information systems. Our interactions with (and through) these location-based, context-aware and otherwise ”situated” technologies are beginning to alter the way we perceive, navigate and socialize within the built environment. Prompting a reconfiguration of material boundaries, organizational adjacencies, and public/private relations, these technologies (and the ways in which we engage them) have significant implications for how we conceive, design and experience space. In this paper, we identify three vectors for architectural research that explore the spatial opportunities presented by what we call Situated Technologies. Working across the overlapping boundaries of media, architecture and computing, this research attempts to articulate how architects might play a critical role in shaping evolving techno-social spaces increasingly governed by both material and immaterial processes. As exploratory research, it aims less to propose solutions to known problems than to arrive at precise questions that help us better identify and structure new problems for architecture presented by recent developments in ubiquitous/ pervasive computing
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