Sistema de entrenamiento para navegación a vela ligera de alto rendimiento basado en dispositivos multisensoriales de bajo costo (categorías olímpicas, veleros de 1 o 2 tripulantes)

El trabajo tiene por objeto el Desarrollo de un Sistema de Entrenamiento para Navegación a Vela Ligera de Alto Rendimiento basado en Dispositivos Multisensoriales de Bajo Costo (categorías olímpicas, veleros de 1 o 2 tripulantes) de la escuela de Vela Ligera de la Provincia de Misiones. En una primera etapa se determinará con los entrenadores los datos a ser censados de cada embarcación, de cada competidor y de los puntos de control. Se evaluarán las mejores técnicas para la obtención de las mediciones como así también las técnicas para su almacenamiento, transmisión, análisis y presentación en un tablero de control que permita realizar el seguimiento de cada competidor o de la flota en tiempo real o hacer un análisis posterior para discutir con los competidores las técnicas y estrategias empleadas. Esta información de apoyo permitirá a los entrenadores realizar prácticas personalizadas en busca de un desempeño de alto rendimiento competitivo.Eje: Arquitectura, Redes y Sistemas Operativos.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

GPS precise positioning using multisensor data fusion for vehicular communication

Ph. D. Thesis.The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a widely used timing, navigation and positioning system. However, its performance can be signifi- cantly degraded by the effects of the various sources of noises due to a highly dynamic multipath environment, signal blockage or attenuation due to ionospheric perturbation. Therefore, the aim of this research is to enhance the GPS signal acquisition and tracking ability to mitigate these effects. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide continuous and consistent positioning information under GPS-denied environments with assistance from multi-sensor data fusion techniques. In this thesis, a novel GPS signal acquisition approach for very dense multipath environments, using a low cost innovative dual polarization patch antenna attached to GPS receiver, is implemented. This reduces the acquisition processing time significantly compared to the conventional serial searching approach. Furthermore, it successfully acquires extra satellites in a dense multipath environment. Furthermore, the GPS signal carrier tracking loop has been considered as one of the most important links in order to demodulate the navigation data frame. An innovative carrier tracking loop is also proposed that comprises two approaches, namely, the adaptive Kalman filter and the adaptive unscented Kalman filter, dynamically integrated with a third order phased locked loop respectively. The proposed two-carrier tracking loops are compared against the conventional carrier tracking loop and the results prove that the proposed approach is more robust and accurate. The carrier tracking performance employing this novel approach is improved, especially in highly dynamic and low CNR environments. Finally, in order to integrate GPS and the sensors, GPS, IMU (inertial measurement unit) and LiDAR are combined for data fusion. A novel line feature extraction and mapping algorithm was designed for LiDAR navigation with a low complexity that resulted in faster feature extraction. This was followed by an innovative integration scheme that combined GPS, IMU and LiDAR, which resulted in continuous, precise positioning data for vehicular communication, even when GPS signals are not available, in a harsh multipath environment

Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research, 1986

The research conducted under the NASA/FAA sponsored Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research is summarized. The Joint University Program is a coordinated set of three grants sponsored by NASA and the FAA, one each with the Mass. Inst. of Tech., Ohio Univ., and Princeton Univ. Completed works, status reports, and bibliographies are presented for research topics, which include computer science, guidance and control theory and practice, aircraft performance, flight dynamics, and applied experimental psychology. An overview of activities is presented

Design and Development of Sensor Integrated Robotic Hand

Most of the automated systems using robots as agents do use few sensors according to the need. However, there are situations where the tasks carried out by the end-effector, or for that matter by the robot hand needs multiple sensors. The hand, to make the best use of these sensors, and behave autonomously, requires a set of appropriate types of sensors which could be integrated in proper manners. The present research work aims at developing a sensor integrated robot hand that can collect information related to the assigned tasks, assimilate there correctly and then do task action as appropriate. The process of development involves selection of sensors of right types and of right specification, locating then at proper places in the hand, checking their functionality individually and calibrating them for the envisaged process. Since the sensors need to be integrated so that they perform in the desired manner collectively, an integration platform is created using NI PXIe-1082. A set of algorithm is developed for achieving the integrated model. The entire process is first modelled and simulated off line for possible modification in order to ensure that all the sensors do contribute towards the autonomy of the hand for desired activity. This work also involves design of a two-fingered gripper. The design is made in such a way that it is capable of carrying out the desired tasks and can accommodate all the sensors within its fold. The developed sensor integrated hand has been put to work and its performance test has been carried out. This hand can be very useful for part assembly work in industries for any shape of part with a limit on the size of the part in mind. The broad aim is to design, model simulate and develop an advanced robotic hand. Sensors for pick up contacts pressure, force, torque, position, surface profile shape using suitable sensing elements in a robot hand are to be introduced. The hand is a complex structure with large number of degrees of freedom and has multiple sensing capabilities apart from the associated sensing assistance from other organs. The present work is envisaged to add multiple sensors to a two-fingered robotic hand having motion capabilities and constraints similar to the human hand. There has been a good amount of research and development in this field during the last two decades a lot remains to be explored and achieved. The objective of the proposed work is to design, simulate and develop a sensor integrated robotic hand. Its potential applications can be proposed for industrial environments and in healthcare field. The industrial applications include electronic assembly tasks, lighter inspection tasks, etc. Application in healthcare could be in the areas of rehabilitation and assistive techniques. The work also aims to establish the requirement of the robotic hand for the target application areas, to identify the suitable kinds and model of sensors that can be integrated on hand control system. Functioning of motors in the robotic hand and integration of appropriate sensors for the desired motion is explained for the control of the various elements of the hand. Additional sensors, capable of collecting external information and information about the object for manipulation is explored. Processes are designed using various software and hardware tools such as mathematical computation MATLAB, OpenCV library and LabVIEW 2013 DAQ system as applicable, validated theoretically and finally implemented to develop an intelligent robotic hand. The multiple smart sensors are installed on a standard six degree-of-freedom industrial robot KAWASAKI RS06L articulated manipulator, with the two-finger pneumatic SHUNK robotic hand or designed prototype and robot control programs are integrated in such a manner that allows easy application of grasping in an industrial pick-and-place operation where the characteristics of the object can vary or are unknown. The effectiveness of the actual recommended structure is usually proven simply by experiments using calibration involving sensors and manipulator. The dissertation concludes with a summary of the contribution and the scope of further work

Context-based Information Fusion: A survey and discussion

This survey aims to provide a comprehensive status of recent and current research on context-based Information Fusion (IF) systems, tracing back the roots of the original thinking behind the development of the concept of \u201ccontext\u201d. It shows how its fortune in the distributed computing world eventually permeated in the world of IF, discussing the current strategies and techniques, and hinting possible future trends. IF processes can represent context at different levels (structural and physical constraints of the scenario, a priori known operational rules between entities and environment, dynamic relationships modelled to interpret the system output, etc.). In addition to the survey, several novel context exploitation dynamics and architectural aspects peculiar to the fusion domain are presented and discussed

A framework for context-aware sensor fusion

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorSensor fusion is a mature but very active research field, included in the more general discipline of information fusion. It studies how to combine data coming from different sensors, in such way that the resulting information is better in some sense –more complete, accurate or stable– than any of the original sources used individually. Context is defined as everything that constraints or affects the process of solving a problem, without being part of the problem or the solution itself. Over the last years, the scientific community has shown a remarkable interest in the potential of exploiting this context information for building smarter systems that can make a better use of the available information. Traditional sensor fusion systems are based in fixed processing schemes over a predefined set of sensors, where both the employed algorithms and domain are assumed to remain unchanged over time. Nowadays, affordable mobile and embedded systems have a high sensory, computational and communication capabilities, making them a perfect base for building sensor fusion applications. This fact represents an opportunity to explore fusion system that are bigger and more complex, but pose the challenge of offering optimal performance under changing and unexpected circumstances. This thesis proposes a framework supporting the creation of sensor fusion systems with self-adaptive capabilities, where context information plays a crucial role. These two aspects have never been integrated in a common approach for solving the sensor fusion problem before. The proposal includes a preliminary theoretical analysis of both problem aspects, the design of a generic architecture capable for hosting any type of centralized sensor fusion application, and a description of the process to be followed for applying the architecture in order to solve a sensor fusion problem. The experimental section shows how to apply this thesis’ proposal, step by step, for creating a context-aware sensor fusion system with self-adaptive capabilities. This process is illustrated for two different domains: a maritime/coastal surveillance application, and ground vehicle navigation in urban environment. Obtained results demonstrate the viability and validity of the implemented prototypes, as well as the benefit of including context information to enhance sensor fusion processes.La fusión de sensores es un campo de investigación maduro pero no por ello menos activo, que se engloba dentro de la disciplina más amplia de la fusión de información. Su papel consiste en mezclar información de dispositivos sensores para proporcionar un resultado que mejora en algún aspecto –completitud, precisión, estabilidad– al que se puede obtener de las diversas fuentes por separado. Definimos contexto como todo aquello que restringe o afecta el proceso de resolución de un problema, sin ser parte del problema o de su solución. En los últimos años, la comunidad científica ha demostrado un gran interés en el potencial que ofrece el contexto para construir sistemas más inteligentes, capaces de hacer un mejor uso de la información disponible. Por otro lado, el desarrollo de sistemas de fusión de sensores ha respondido tradicionalmente a esquemas de procesado poco flexibles sobre un conjunto prefijado de sensores, donde los algoritmos y el dominio de problema permanecen inalterados con el paso del tiempo. En la actualidad, el abaratamiento de dispositivos móviles y embebidos con gran capacidad sensorial, de comunicación y de procesado plantea nuevas oportunidades. La comunidad científica comienza a explorar la creación de sistemas con mayor grado de complejidad y autonomía, que sean capaces de adaptarse a circunstancias inesperadas y ofrecer un rendimiento óptimo en cada caso. En esta tesis se propone un framework que permite crear sistemas de fusión de sensores con capacidad de auto-adaptación, donde la información contextual juega un papel fundamental. Hasta la fecha, ambos aspectos no han sido integrados en un enfoque conjunto. La propuesta incluye un análisis teórico de ambos aspectos del problema, el diseño de una arquitectura genérica capaz de dar cabida a cualquier aplicación de fusión de sensores centralizada, y la descripción del proceso a seguir para aplicar dicha arquitectura a cualquier problema de fusión de sensores. En la sección experimental se demuestra cómo aplicar nuestra propuesta, paso por paso, para crear un sistema de fusión de sensores adaptable y sensible al contexto. Este proceso de diseño se ilustra sobre dos problemas pertenecientes a dominios tan distintos como la vigilancia costera y la navegación de vehículos en entornos urbanos. El análisis de resultados incluye experimentos concretos que demuestran la validez de los prototipos implementados, así como el beneficio de usar información contextual para mejorar los procesos de fusión de sensores.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología InformáticaPresidente: Javier Bajo Pérez.- Secretario: Antonio Berlanga de Jesús.- Vocal: Lauro Snidar

Wave Measurements Using Ship Mounted Sensors as part of the One Ocean Expedition

This thesis examines the design and post-processing aspects of wave measurements from ship mounted sensors. The wave measurements exhibit accuracy comparable to wave measuring drifters while offering enhanced spatial coverage and durability. The ship mounted approach is suitable for real-time broadcasting during research expeditions and conventional shipping routes, as well as for the validation of satellite observations and wave models. The system presented here was deployed on the Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl during a 22-month circumnavigation of the globe as part of the One Ocean Expedition. The wave measurement system utilizes downward facing altimeter probes to capture sea surface elevation, while ship motion is compensated by inertial motion units. The post- processing of the measurements developed by Knoblauch, 2022 has been corrected, updated, and refined. With the software update, the significant wave height measurements exhibit a root mean square deviation of 0.36m and a correlation coefficient of 0.96 compared to satellite altimetry. Compared to a third-generation wave model, the root mean squared deviation is 0.53m, and the correlation coefficient is 0.93. The system overestimates the highest waves, particularly during a major winter storm. Regarding peak period measurements, satisfactory results are obtained when waves oppose the sensor and ship speeds remain below 3m/s or when the ship is stationary. Under these circumstances, the root mean squared deviation ranges from 1.76s to 2.04s, while the correlation coefficients range from 0.77 to 0.80, compared to the wave model. However, as ship speeds increase, the quality of peak period measurements deteriorates precipitously, regardless of Doppler shift corrections. The challenges associated with the Doppler shift are suggested to be improved by complementing directional wave- and current measurements from a navigation X-band ship radar.Masteroppgave i meteorologi og oseanografiGEOF399MAMN-GEO

A Low-Cost System for Quick Measurements on Noise Barriers in Situ

This paper describes the development of a low-cost device for measuring the acoustic intrinsic characteristics of noise barriers. The system is based on the Teensy 4.1 microcontroller combined with a few other components. The measurements are carried out using a vertical linear microphone antenna housing 6 microphones and a lightweight loudspeaker, wireless connected to the main unit. Both the main system unit and the amplified loudspeaker are powered from normal 5 V USB battery packs, which are easily rechargeable and interchangeable. The system measures 6 impulse responses using an MLS signal and performs a series of calculations and frequency analyses to characterize the device under test, following a simplified version of the European standards EN 1793-5 and EN 1793-6 (commonly referred to as the ’Adrienne method’). One measurement takes few minutes, obtaining results comparable to those obtained with the Adrienne method, which requires a more complicated and heavy measuring equipment and is much more expensive and time consuming

Research and Technology Objectives and Plans Summary (RTOPS)

A compilation of the summary portion of each of the Research and Technology Operating Plans (RTOP) used for management review and control of research currently in progress throughout NASA is presented along with citations and abstracts of the RTOPs. Four indexes are included: (1) subject; (2) technical monitor; (3) responsible NASA organization; and (4) RTOP number

Mechatronic Systems

Mechatronics, the synergistic blend of mechanics, electronics, and computer science, has evolved over the past twenty five years, leading to a novel stage of engineering design. By integrating the best design practices with the most advanced technologies, mechatronics aims at realizing high-quality products, guaranteeing at the same time a substantial reduction of time and costs of manufacturing. Mechatronic systems are manifold and range from machine components, motion generators, and power producing machines to more complex devices, such as robotic systems and transportation vehicles. With its twenty chapters, which collect contributions from many researchers worldwide, this book provides an excellent survey of recent work in the field of mechatronics with applications in various fields, like robotics, medical and assistive technology, human-machine interaction, unmanned vehicles, manufacturing, and education. We would like to thank all the authors who have invested a great deal of time to write such interesting chapters, which we are sure will be valuable to the readers. Chapters 1 to 6 deal with applications of mechatronics for the development of robotic systems. Medical and assistive technologies and human-machine interaction systems are the topic of chapters 7 to 13.Chapters 14 and 15 concern mechatronic systems for autonomous vehicles. Chapters 16-19 deal with mechatronics in manufacturing contexts. Chapter 20 concludes the book, describing a method for the installation of mechatronics education in schools