Technology assessment of advanced automation for space missions

Six general classes of technology requirements derived during the mission definition phase of the study were identified as having maximum importance and urgency, including autonomous world model based information systems, learning and hypothesis formation, natural language and other man-machine communication, space manufacturing, teleoperators and robot systems, and computer science and technology

Multi-Factor Authentication: A Survey

Today, digitalization decisively penetrates all the sides of the modern society. One of the key enablers to maintain this process secure is authentication. It covers many different areas of a hyper-connected world, including online payments, communications, access right management, etc. This work sheds light on the evolution of authentication systems towards Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) starting from Single-Factor Authentication (SFA) and through Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Particularly, MFA is expected to be utilized for human-to-everything interactions by enabling fast, user-friendly, and reliable authentication when accessing a service. This paper surveys the already available and emerging sensors (factor providers) that allow for authenticating a user with the system directly or by involving the cloud. The corresponding challenges from the user as well as the service provider perspective are also reviewed. The MFA system based on reversed Lagrange polynomial within Shamir’s Secret Sharing (SSS) scheme is further proposed to enable more flexible authentication. This solution covers the cases of authenticating the user even if some of the factors are mismatched or absent. Our framework allows for qualifying the missing factors by authenticating the user without disclosing sensitive biometric data to the verification entity. Finally, a vision of the future trends in MFA is discussed.Peer reviewe

Generic object classification for autonomous robots

Un dels principals problemes de la interacció dels robots autònoms és el coneixement de l'escena. El reconeixement és fonamental per a solucionar aquest problema i permetre als robots interactuar en un escenari no controlat. En aquest document presentem una aplicació pràctica de la captura d'objectes, de la normalització i de la classificació de senyals triangulars i circulars. El sistema s'introdueix en el robot Aibo de Sony per a millorar-ne la interacció. La metodologia presentada s'ha comprobat en simulacions i problemes de categorització reals, com ara la classificació de senyals de trànsit, amb resultats molt prometedors.Uno de los principales problemas de la interacción de los robots autónomos es el conocimiento de la escena. El reconocimiento es fundamental para solventar este problema y permitir a los robots interactuar en un escenario no controlado. En este documento, presentamos una aplicación práctica de captura del objeto, normalización y clasificación de señales triangulares y circulares. El sistema es introducido en el robot Aibo de Sony para mejorar el comportamiento de la interacción del robot. La metodología presentada ha sido testeada en simulaciones y problemas de categorización reales, como es la clasificación de señales de tráfico, con resultados muy prometedores.One of the main problems of autonomous robots interaction is the scene knowledge. Recognition is concerned to deal with this problem and to allow robots to interact in uncontrolled environments. In this paper, we present a practical application for object fitting, normalization and classification of triangular and circular signs. The system is introduced in the Aibo robot of Sony to increase the robot interaction behaviour. The presented methodology has been tested in real simulations and categorization problems, as the traffic signs classification, with very promising results.Nota: Aquest document conté originàriament altre material i/o programari només consultable a la Biblioteca de Ciència i Tecnologia

Automated tactile sensing for object recognition and localization

Thesis (Sc. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1986.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERINGBibliography: leaves 115-119.by John Lewis Schneiter.Sc.D

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 324)

This bibliography lists 200 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during May, 1989. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

A reconfigurable tactile display based on polymer MEMS technology

This research focuses on the development of polymer microfabrication technologies for the realization of two major components of a pneumatic tactile display: a microactuator array and a complementary microvalve (control) array. The concept, fabrication, and characterization of a kinematically-stabilized polymeric microbubble actuator (¡°endoskeletal microbubble actuator¡±) were presented. A systematic design and modeling procedure was carried out to generate an optimized geometry of the corrugated diaphragm to satisfy membrane deflection, force, and stability requirements set forth by the tactile display goals. A refreshable Braille cell as a tactile display prototype has been developed based on a 2x3 endoskeletal microbubble array and an array of commercial valves. The prototype can provide both a static display (which meets the displacement and force requirement of a Braille display) and vibratory tactile sensations. Along with the above capabilities, the device was designed to meet the criteria of lightness and compactness to permit portable operation. The design is scalable with respect to the number of tactile actuators while still being simple to fabricate. In order to further reduce the size and cost of the tactile display, a microvalve array can be integrated into the tactile display system to control the pneumatic fluid that actuates the microbubble actuator. A piezoelectrically-driven and hydraulically-amplified polymer microvalve has been designed, fabricated, and tested. An incompressible elastomer was used as a solid hydraulic medium to convert the small axial displacement of a piezoelectric actuator into a large valve head stroke while maintaining a large blocking force. The function of the microvalve as an on-off switch for a pneumatic microbubble tactile actuator was demonstrated. To further reduce the cost of the microvalve, a laterally-stacked multilayer PZT actuator has been fabricated using diced PZT multilayer, high aspect ratio SU-8 photolithography, and molding of electrically conductive polymer composite electrodes.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Allen,Mark; Committee Member: Bucknall,David; Committee Member: Book,Wayne; Committee Member: Griffin,Anselm; Committee Member: Yao,Donggan

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

MEG Upgrade Proposal

We propose the continuation of the MEG experiment to search for the charged lepton flavour violating decay (cLFV) \mu \to e \gamma, based on an upgrade of the experiment, which aims for a sensitivity enhancement of one order of magnitude compared to the final MEG result, down to the $6 \times 10^{-14}$ level. The key features of this new MEG upgrade are an increased rate capability of all detectors to enable running at the intensity frontier and improved energy, angular and timing resolutions, for both the positron and photon arms of the detector. On the positron-side a new low-mass, single volume, high granularity tracker is envisaged, in combination with a new highly segmented, fast timing counter array, to track positron from a thinner stopping target. The photon-arm, with the largest liquid xenon (LXe) detector in the world, totalling 900 l, will also be improved by increasing the granularity at the incident face, by replacing the current photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) with a larger number of smaller photosensors and optimizing the photosensor layout also on the lateral faces. A new DAQ scheme involving the implementation of a new combined readout board capable of integrating the diverse functions of digitization, trigger capability and splitter functionality into one condensed unit, is also under development. We describe here the status of the MEG experiment, the scientific merits of the upgrade and the experimental methods we plan to use.Comment: A. M. Baldini and T. Mori Spokespersons. Research proposal submitted to the Paul Scherrer Institute Research Committee for Particle Physics at the Ring Cyclotron. 131 Page

Beat Browser

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-53).Beat Browser is a music browsing environment that delivers immediate audio feedback while browsing arbitrarily large music collections. The goal of Beat Browser is to give users a sense of exploring "live" and continuous audio while rapidly moving between sources by mouse. It appears their entire universe of music is playing all the time, whether they're there listening or not. Beat Browser's Universal Time Base architecture keeps a central clock running that manages the playback position of every piece of music launclied, orchestrating this perceptual illusion.by Jefferey D. Goldenson.S.M