Detecção de novidade para sistemas de sonar passivo

Sound is a mechanical wave that propagates over great distances in the oceans and it can, therefore, be used for vessel detection and classification in underwater environments, which are basic sonar system tasks. The development of such systems is directly linked to the country defense, especially, in countries with continental dimensions, such as Brazil. Recently, the Brazilian Navy defined underwater acoustics as a strategic priority area. Passive sonar systems can be installed to monitor the Brazilian coast in a stealthy and efficient way. In addition, these are used in military submarines for different applications. As in this operating environment, each ship has a unique acoustic signature, and ships whose data have not been acquired can be observed, it is necessary to develop a novelty detector operating in conjunction with the contact classifiers implemented in Brazilian Navy systems. Because classification systems operate competing for computing resources with novelty detectors, they can impact in classification efficiency. The number of classes in this environment is very large, and because of this, specific performance indices were created to evaluate the developed model efficiency. In addition, different data compressors were developed to access relevant ship information of, among them can be cited PCD, kPCA, NLPCA and SAE. The novelty detection development was based on the operating environment of the Brazilian Navy and since it can have its operating conditions changed over time, a stationarity monitoring system based on higher order statistics was proposed. Both the novelty detector and the stationarity monitoring system were developed with experimental data provided by the Brazilian Navy.O som é uma onda mecânica que se propaga por grandes distâncias nos oceanos e, por essa razão, pode ser utilizado para a detecção e classificação de contatos em meios submarinos, tarefas básicas de um sistema sonar. O desenvolvimento de tais sistemas está diretamente ligado a defesa de um país com dimensões continentais, como o Brasil. Recentemente, a Marinha do Brasil definiu como prioridade estratégica a área de acústica submarina. Sistemas de sonar passivo podem ser instalados para monitorar a costa brasileira de maneira furtiva e eficiente. Ademais, estes são utilizados em submarinos militares para diferentes aplicações. Como neste ambiente de operação, cada navio possui uma assinatura acústica única, e navios cujos dados não foram adquiridos podem ser observados, faz-se necessário o desenvolvimento de um detector de novidade operando em conjunto com os classificadores de contatos implementados em sistemas da Marinha do Brasil. Como os classificadores operam competindo por recursos computacionais com os detectores de novidade, estes podem impactar na eficiência de classificação. A quantidade de classes, neste ambiente, ´e muito grande e, devido a isso, índices de desempenho específicos foram criados para avaliar a eficiência dos modelos desenvolvidos. Além disso, diferentes extratores de informação foram desenvolvidos para acessar informações relevantes dos navios em questão, dentre eles podem ser citados PCD, kPCA, NLPCA e SAE. O desenvolvimento deste modelo de detecção foi baseado no ambiente de operação da Marinha do Brasil e, como este pode ter suas condições operativas alteradas ao longo do tempo, um sistema de monitoramento da estacionaridade baseado em estatística de ordem superior foi proposto. Tanto o detector de novidade quanto o sistema de monitoramento de estacionaridade foram desenvolvidos com dados experimentais disponibilizados pela Marinha do Brasil

Amplitude and phase sonar calibration and the use of target phase for enhanced acoustic target characterisation

This thesis investigates the incorporation of target phase into sonar signal processing, for enhanced information in the context of acoustical oceanography. A sonar system phase calibration method, which includes both the amplitude and phase response is proposed. The technique is an extension of the widespread standard-target sonar calibration method, based on the use of metallic spheres as standard targets. Frequency domain data processing is used, with target phase measured as a phase angle difference between two frequency components. This approach minimizes the impact of range uncertainties in the calibration process. Calibration accuracy is examined by comparison to theoretical full-wave modal solutions. The system complex response is obtained for an operating frequency of 50 to 150 kHz, and sources of ambiguity are examined. The calibrated broadband sonar system is then used to study the complex scattering of objects important for the modelling of marine organism echoes, such as elastic spheres, fluid-filled shells, cylinders and prolate spheroids. Underlying echo formation mechanisms and their interaction are explored. Phase-sensitive sonar systems could be important for the acquisition of increased levels of information, crucial for the development of automated species identification. Studies of sonar system phase calibration and complex scattering from fundamental shapes are necessary in order to incorporate this type of fully-coherent processing into scientific acoustic instruments

Computational intelligence approaches to robotics, automation, and control [Volume guest editors]

No abstract available

Ultra-high-speed imaging of bubbles interacting with cells and tissue

Ultrasound contrast microbubbles are exploited in molecular imaging, where bubbles are directed to target cells and where their high-scattering cross section to ultrasound allows for the detection of pathologies at a molecular level. In therapeutic applications vibrating bubbles close to cells may alter the permeability of cell membranes, and these systems are therefore highly interesting for drug and gene delivery applications using ultrasound. In a more extreme regime bubbles are driven through shock waves to sonoporate or kill cells through intense stresses or jets following inertial bubble collapse. Here, we elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms using the 25-Mfps camera Brandaris128, resolving the bubble dynamics and its interactions with cells. We quantify acoustic microstreaming around oscillating bubbles close to rigid walls and evaluate the shear stresses on nonadherent cells. In a study on the fluid dynamical interaction of cavitation bubbles with adherent cells, we find that the nonspherical collapse of bubbles is responsible for cell detachment. We also visualized the dynamics of vibrating microbubbles in contact with endothelial cells followed by fluorescent imaging of the transport of propidium iodide, used as a membrane integrity probe, into these cells showing a direct correlation between cell deformation and cell membrane permeability

Sensor-based Collision Avoidance System for the Walking Machine ALDURO

This work presents a sensor system develop for the robot ALDURO (Antropomorphically Legged and Wheeled Duisburg Robot), in order to allow it to detect and avoid obstacles when moving in unstructured terrains. The robot is a large-scale hydraulically driven 4-legged walking-machine, developed at the Duisburg-Essen University, with 16 degrees of freedom at each leg and will be steered by an operator sitting in a cab on the robot body. The Cartesian operator instructions are processed by a control computer, which converts them into appropriate autonomous leg movements, what makes necessary that the robot automatically recognizes the obstacles (rock, trunks, holes, etc.) on its way, locates and avoids them. A system based on ultra-sound sensors was developed to carry this task on, but there are intrinsic problems with such sensors, concerning to their poor angular precision. To overcome that, a fuzzy model of the used ultra-sound sensor, based on the characteristics of the real one, was developed to include the uncertainties about the measures. A posterior fuzzy inference builds from the measured data a map of the robot’s surroundings, to be used as input to the navigation system. This whole sensor system was implemented at a test stand, where a real size leg of the robot is fully functional. The sensors are assembled in an I2C net, which uses a micro-controller as interface to the main controller (a personal computer). That enables to relieve the main controller of some data processing, which is carried by the microcontroller on. The sensor system was tested together with the fuzzy data inference, and different arrangements to the sensors and settings of the inference system were tried, in order to achieve a satisfactory result

Organic Bioelectronics Development in Italy: A Review

In recent years, studies concerning Organic Bioelectronics have had a constant growth due to the interest in disciplines such as medicine, biology and food safety in connecting the digital world with the biological one. Specific interests can be found in organic neuromorphic devices and organic transistor sensors, which are rapidly growing due to their low cost, high sensitivity and biocompatibility. This trend is evident in the literature produced in Italy, which is full of breakthrough papers concerning organic transistors-based sensors and organic neuromorphic devices. Therefore, this review focuses on analyzing the Italian production in this field, its trend and possible future evolutions