Autonomous real-time surveillance system with distributed IP cameras

An autonomous Internet Protocol (IP) camera based object tracking and behaviour identification system, capable of running in real-time on an embedded system with limited memory and processing power is presented in this paper. The main contribution of this work is the integration of processor intensive image processing algorithms on an embedded platform capable of running at real-time for monitoring the behaviour of pedestrians. The Algorithm Based Object Recognition and Tracking (ABORAT) system architecture presented here was developed on an Intel PXA270-based development board clocked at 520 MHz. The platform was connected to a commercial stationary IP-based camera in a remote monitoring station for intelligent image processing. The system is capable of detecting moving objects and their shadows in a complex environment with varying lighting intensity and moving foliage. Objects moving close to each other are also detected to extract their trajectories which are then fed into an unsupervised neural network for autonomous classification. The novel intelligent video system presented is also capable of performing simple analytic functions such as tracking and generating alerts when objects enter/leave regions or cross tripwires superimposed on live video by the operator

Controlling a remotely located Robot using Hand Gestures in real time: A DSP implementation

Telepresence is a necessity for present time as we can't reach everywhere and also it is useful in saving human life at dangerous places. A robot, which could be controlled from a distant location, can solve these problems. This could be via communication waves or networking methods. Also controlling should be in real time and smooth so that it can actuate on every minor signal in an effective way. This paper discusses a method to control a robot over the network from a distant location. The robot was controlled by hand gestures which were captured by the live camera. A DSP board TMS320DM642EVM was used to implement image pre-processing and fastening the whole system. PCA was used for gesture classification and robot actuation was done according to predefined procedures. Classification information was sent over the network in the experiment. This method is robust and could be used to control any kind of robot over distance

A 64mW DNN-based Visual Navigation Engine for Autonomous Nano-Drones

Fully-autonomous miniaturized robots (e.g., drones), with artificial intelligence (AI) based visual navigation capabilities are extremely challenging drivers of Internet-of-Things edge intelligence capabilities. Visual navigation based on AI approaches, such as deep neural networks (DNNs) are becoming pervasive for standard-size drones, but are considered out of reach for nanodrones with size of a few cm${}^\mathrm{2}$. In this work, we present the first (to the best of our knowledge) demonstration of a navigation engine for autonomous nano-drones capable of closed-loop end-to-end DNN-based visual navigation. To achieve this goal we developed a complete methodology for parallel execution of complex DNNs directly on-bard of resource-constrained milliwatt-scale nodes. Our system is based on GAP8, a novel parallel ultra-low-power computing platform, and a 27 g commercial, open-source CrazyFlie 2.0 nano-quadrotor. As part of our general methodology we discuss the software mapping techniques that enable the state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network presented in [1] to be fully executed on-board within a strict 6 fps real-time constraint with no compromise in terms of flight results, while all processing is done with only 64 mW on average. Our navigation engine is flexible and can be used to span a wide performance range: at its peak performance corner it achieves 18 fps while still consuming on average just 3.5% of the power envelope of the deployed nano-aircraft.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables, 2 listings, accepted for publication in the IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IEEE IOTJ

An IoT Endpoint System-on-Chip for Secure and Energy-Efficient Near-Sensor Analytics

Near-sensor data analytics is a promising direction for IoT endpoints, as it minimizes energy spent on communication and reduces network load - but it also poses security concerns, as valuable data is stored or sent over the network at various stages of the analytics pipeline. Using encryption to protect sensitive data at the boundary of the on-chip analytics engine is a way to address data security issues. To cope with the combined workload of analytics and encryption in a tight power envelope, we propose Fulmine, a System-on-Chip based on a tightly-coupled multi-core cluster augmented with specialized blocks for compute-intensive data processing and encryption functions, supporting software programmability for regular computing tasks. The Fulmine SoC, fabricated in 65nm technology, consumes less than 20mW on average at 0.8V achieving an efficiency of up to 70pJ/B in encryption, 50pJ/px in convolution, or up to 25MIPS/mW in software. As a strong argument for real-life flexible application of our platform, we show experimental results for three secure analytics use cases: secure autonomous aerial surveillance with a state-of-the-art deep CNN consuming 3.16pJ per equivalent RISC op; local CNN-based face detection with secured remote recognition in 5.74pJ/op; and seizure detection with encrypted data collection from EEG within 12.7pJ/op.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication to the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems - I: Regular Paper

A dual-mode Ultra-Wideband wireless platform for remote patient monitoring systems

The combination of two factors demands the need to find a solution that guarantees the well-being of the people suffering from chronic diseases. On the one hand, the increase of the life expectancy leads to an older world's population. On the other hand, the aged are more likely to suffer from chronic diseases and/or injuries. This thesis deals with the design of an Ultra-Wideband-based node of a Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) network. This node must be able to measure, collect and transmit some medical parameters of a patient. Existing RPM networks use two different hardware platforms: one for measuring and another one for transmitting. This leads to high cost and high power consumption. Since a RPM network is typically composed by hundreds or thousands of nodes, a new platform with lower cost and power consumption is vital to make such a system work. This thesis explores the viability to achieve the dual-mode operation: Radar Mode (RM) to obtain a certain parameter and Data Transmission Mode (DTM) to send it to another node. A platform using Impulse-Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) has been proposed to accomplish this goal. The simulations done verified its feasibility. Moreover, the physical experiments carried out validated the transmitter. Nevertheless, due to time and hardware limitations, the receiver has not been experimentally validated yet