Efficient Embedded Hardware Architecture for Stabilised Tracking Sighting System of Armoured Fighting Vehicles

A line-of-sight stabilised sighting system, capable of target tracking and video stabilisation is a prime requirement of any armoured fighting tank vehicle for military surveillance and weapon firing. Typically, such sighting systems have three prime electro-optical sensors i.e. day camera for viewing in day conditions, thermal camera for night viewing and eye-safe laser range finder for obtaining the target range. For laser guided missile firing, additional laser target designator may be a part of sighting system. This sighting system provides necessary parameters for the fire control computer to compute ballistic offsets to fire conventional ammunition or fire missile. System demands simultaneous interactions with electro-optical sensors, servo sensors, actuators, multi-function display for man-machine interface, fire control computer, logic controller and other sub-systems of tank. Therefore, a complex embedded electronics hardware is needed to respond in real time for such system. An efficient electronics embedded hardware architecture is presented here for the development of this type of sighting system. This hardware has been developed around SHARC 21369 processor and FPGA. A performance evaluation scheme is also presented for this sighting system based on the developed hardware

The causal effects of baldrige excellence framework and lean in the Malaysian electrical and electronics manufacturing industry

The aim of this research is to construct a comprehensive performance measurement model using the 2019-2020 Baldrige excellence framework criteria that examines the Malaysian Electrical and Electronics (E&E) industry. The criteria in this framework are leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, analysis and knowledge management (MAKM), workforce, operations and results. The previous study in the context of Business Excellence (BE) was focused more on aspects of quality management, organisational context, company performance but it often excluded the deployment of continuous improvement tools. Based on the research gaps, this research would like to assert the potency of the leadership of Baldrige setting as a driver that contributes positively to the Lean practice and BE elements of the company. The present study also integrating the Lean practices with Baldrige excellence framework to predict operations and the results of company performance. This integration may bridge the literature gap whereby the past studies have been conducted Lean, BE and operational performance individually. BE outcomes were achieved in both financial and non-financial performance metrics and the BE Models, Leadership theory and Lean model also guided the theoretical framework. The study also employed stratified random sampling from four sub-sectors of the E&E industry. A total of 156 respondents responded to the survey questionnaire from 488 companies that were sampled. This equates to a 32.0% response rate. The collected data were analysed using SPSS 23.0 and SmartPLS 3.3.2. The analysis found significant and positive relationships between strategy, operations and Lean practices on the achievement of BE. The results of this study promoted a better understanding of the BE in the E&E industry and its implications for activities concerning Lean practices, thus contributing to a wider body of knowledge. The survey instrument which combining Lean and BE was validated in this research can be reused in the other manufacturing sector studies on the initiatives deployment to predict business performance. Therefore, it contributes to the methodology perspective. The findings v of the research can become a reference, which can help the company focus on the right things in promoting excellence in their organisation and then pursuing BE Awards. Practical adoption of leadership and Lean practices may improve infrastructural decision areas of manufacturing strategy and the outcomes of this study may also be beneficial to policy makers of the Malaysian government and agencies such as Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). The scope of this study was limited because it was restricted to the Malaysia’s E&E industry only. As a suggestion, future research could be conducted by involving other industries

Dangerous Inspection & Versatile Exploration Robot (DIVER): Tracking, Monitoring and Assisting Human Divers in Commercial, Environmental and Military Applications

The Dangerous Inspection & Versatile Exploration Robot (DIVER) is an underwater remotely operated vehicle designed to assist, track and monitor professional scuba divers in commercial, research and military applications. Integration of custom and commercially available components allowed for hardware development of the ROV. Software development allowed for the integration of OpenTLD tracking algorithm and manual user controls for full autonomous or tele-operational missions. DIVER provides constant communication for the improvement of mission organization and professional diver safety

A Comprehensive Mapping and Real-World Evaluation of Multi-Object Tracking on Automated Vehicles

Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) is a field critical to Automated Vehicle (AV) perception systems. However, it is large, complex, spans research fields, and lacks resources for integration with real sensors and implementation on AVs. Factors such those make it difficult for new researchers and practitioners to enter the field. This thesis presents two main contributions: 1) a comprehensive mapping for the field of Multi-Object Trackers (MOTs) with a specific focus towards Automated Vehicles (AVs) and 2) a real-world evaluation of an MOT developed and tuned using COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) software toolsets. The first contribution aims to give a comprehensive overview of MOTs and various MOT subfields for AVs that have not been presented as wholistically in other papers. The second contribution aims to illustrate some of the benefits of using a COTS MOT toolset and some of the difficulties associated with using real-world data. This MOT performed accurate state estimation of a target vehicle through the tracking and fusion of data from a radar and vision sensor using a Central-Level Track Processing approach and a Global Nearest Neighbors assignment algorithm. It had an 0.44 m positional Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) over a 40 m approach test. It is the authors\u27 hope that this work provides an overview of the MOT field that will help new researchers and practitioners enter the field. Additionally, the author hopes that the evaluation section illustrates some difficulties of using real-world data and provides a good pathway for developing and deploying MOTs from software toolsets to Automated Vehicles

Wireless communication, identification and sensing technologies enabling integrated logistics: a study in the harbor environment

In the last decade, integrated logistics has become an important challenge in the development of wireless communication, identification and sensing technology, due to the growing complexity of logistics processes and the increasing demand for adapting systems to new requirements. The advancement of wireless technology provides a wide range of options for the maritime container terminals. Electronic devices employed in container terminals reduce the manual effort, facilitating timely information flow and enhancing control and quality of service and decision made. In this paper, we examine the technology that can be used to support integration in harbor's logistics. In the literature, most systems have been developed to address specific needs of particular harbors, but a systematic study is missing. The purpose is to provide an overview to the reader about which technology of integrated logistics can be implemented and what remains to be addressed in the future

Marine Vessel Inspection as a Novel Field for Service Robotics: A Contribution to Systems, Control Methods and Semantic Perception Algorithms.

This cumulative thesis introduces a novel field for service robotics: the inspection of marine vessels using mobile inspection robots. In this thesis, three scientific contributions are provided and experimentally verified in the field of marine inspection, but are not limited to this type of application. The inspection scenario is merely a golden thread to combine the cumulative scientific results presented in this thesis. The first contribution is an adaptive, proprioceptive control approach for hybrid leg-wheel robots, such as the robot ASGUARD described in this thesis. The robot is able to deal with rough terrain and stairs, due to the control concept introduced in this thesis. The proposed system is a suitable platform to move inside the cargo holds of bulk carriers and to deliver visual data from inside the hold. Additionally, the proposed system also has stair climbing abilities, allowing the system to move between different decks. The robot adapts its gait pattern dynamically based on proprioceptive data received from the joint motors and based on the pitch and tilt angle of the robot's body during locomotion. The second major contribution of the thesis is an independent ship inspection system, consisting of a magnetic wall climbing robot for bulkhead inspection, a particle filter based localization method, and a spatial content management system (SCMS) for spatial inspection data representation and organization. The system described in this work was evaluated in several laboratory experiments and field trials on two different marine vessels in close collaboration with ship surveyors. The third scientific contribution of the thesis is a novel approach to structural classification using semantic perception approaches. By these methods, a structured environment can be semantically annotated, based on the spatial relationships between spatial entities and spatial features. This method was verified in the domain of indoor perception (logistics and household environment), for soil sample classification, and for the classification of the structural parts of a marine vessel. The proposed method allows the description of the structural parts of a cargo hold in order to localize the inspection robot or any detected damage. The algorithms proposed in this thesis are based on unorganized 3D point clouds, generated by a LIDAR within a ship's cargo hold. Two different semantic perception methods are proposed in this thesis. One approach is based on probabilistic constraint networks; the second approach is based on Fuzzy Description Logic and spatial reasoning using a spatial ontology about the environment

Virtual Reality

At present, the virtual reality has impact on information organization and management and even changes design principle of information systems, which will make it adapt to application requirements. The book aims to provide a broader perspective of virtual reality on development and application. First part of the book is named as "virtual reality visualization and vision" and includes new developments in virtual reality visualization of 3D scenarios, virtual reality and vision, high fidelity immersive virtual reality included tracking, rendering and display subsystems. The second part named as "virtual reality in robot technology" brings forth applications of virtual reality in remote rehabilitation robot-based rehabilitation evaluation method and multi-legged robot adaptive walking in unstructured terrains. The third part, named as "industrial and construction applications" is about the product design, space industry, building information modeling, construction and maintenance by virtual reality, and so on. And the last part, which is named as "culture and life of human" describes applications of culture life and multimedia-technology

Development and Evaluation of a Human-Robot Interface for an Autonomous All-Terrain Transportation Vehicle in order to Localize, Track and Follow a Human.

Full solutions for automatic transportation vehicles in unstructured environments are restricted to military applications, although possible mission scenarios exist for civil and space applications. In this thesis, a user-friendly, human-robot interface is implemented for an all-terrain electric vehicle. The interface allows the vehicle to follow a moving user autonomously by combining 3D LIDAR measurements with intensity images. The method detects clusters within the LIDAR scan that match the human appearance and resolves potential ambiguities based on image tracking results. The interface can be controlled using different input devices. A detailed evaluation compares the input devices, analyzes the implemented algorithms, and validates the overall system behavior outdoor under real-world conditions. The developed system is able to follow its user as long as he is completely visible