960 research outputs found
Toward forest dynamics’ systematic knowledge: concept study of a multi-sensor visually tracked rover including a new insect radar for high-accuracy robotic monitoring
Forest dynamics research is crucial in understanding the global carbon cycle and supporting various scales of forest decision-making, management, and conservation. Recent advancements in robotics and computing can be leveraged to address the need for systematic forest monitoring. We propose a common autonomous sensor box platform that enables seamless data integration from multiple sensors synchronized using a time stamp–based mechanism. The platform is designed to be open-source–oriented, ensuring interoperability and interchangeability of components. The sensor box, designed for stationary measurements, and the rover, designed for mobile mapping, are two applications of the proposed platform. The compact autonomous sensor box has a low-range radar that enables high-detail surveillance of nocturnal insects and small species. It can be extended to monitor other aspects, such as vegetation, tree phenology, and forest floor conditions. The multi-sensor visually tracked rover concept also enhances forest monitoring capabilities by enabling complex phenology monitoring. The rover has multiple sensors, including cameras, lidar, radar, and thermal sensors. These sensors operate autonomously and collect data using time stamps, ensuring synchronized data acquisition. The rover concept introduces a novel approach for achieving centimeter-accuracy data management in undercanopy forest conditions. It utilizes a prism attached to the rover, which an oriented robotic total station automatically tracks. This enables precise positioning of the rover and accurate data collection. A dense control network is deployed to ensure an accurate coordinate transfer from reference points to the rover. The demonstrated sample data highlight the effectiveness and high potential of the proposed solutions for systematic forest dynamics monitoring. These solutions offer a comprehensive approach to capturing and analyzing forest data, supporting research and management efforts in understanding and conserving forest ecosystems
Systemic Circular Economy Solutions for Fiber Reinforced Composites
This open access book provides an overview of the work undertaken within the FiberEUse project, which developed solutions enhancing the profitability of composite recycling and reuse in value-added products, with a cross-sectorial approach. Glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymers, or composites, are increasingly used as structural materials in many manufacturing sectors like transport, constructions and energy due to their better lightweight and corrosion resistance compared to metals. However, composite recycling is still a challenge since no significant added value in the recycling and reprocessing of composites is demonstrated. FiberEUse developed innovative solutions and business models towards sustainable Circular Economy solutions for post-use composite-made products. Three strategies are presented, namely mechanical recycling of short fibers, thermal recycling of long fibers and modular car parts design for sustainable disassembly and remanufacturing. The validation of the FiberEUse approach within eight industrial demonstrators shows the potentials towards new Circular Economy value-chains for composite materials
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Review of substitutive assistive tools and technologies for people with visual impairments: recent advancements and prospects
YesThe development of many tools and technologies for people with visual impairment has become a major priority in the
field of assistive technology research. However, many of these technology advancements have limitations in terms of the
human aspects of the user experience (e.g., usability, learnability, and time to user adaptation) as well as difficulties in
translating research prototypes into production. Also, there was no clear distinction between the assistive aids of adults
and children, as well as between “partial impairment” and “total blindness”. As a result of these limitations, the produced
aids have not gained much popularity and the intended users are still hesitant to utilise them. This paper presents a comprehensive review of substitutive interventions that aid in adapting to vision loss, centred on laboratory research studies
to assess user-system interaction and system validation. Depending on the primary cueing feedback signal offered to the
user, these technology aids are categorized as visual, haptics, or auditory-based aids. The context of use, cueing feedback
signals, and participation of visually impaired people in the evaluation are all considered while discussing these aids.
Based on the findings, a set of recommendations is suggested to assist the scientific community in addressing persisting
challenges and restrictions faced by both the totally blind and partially sighted people
Autonomisten metsäkoneiden koneaistijärjestelmät
A prerequisite for increasing the autonomy of forest machinery is to provide robots with digital situational awareness, including a representation of the surrounding environment and the robot's own state in it. Therefore, this article-based dissertation proposes perception systems for autonomous or semi-autonomous forest machinery as a summary of seven publications. The work consists of several perception methods using machine vision, lidar, inertial sensors, and positioning sensors. The sensors are used together by means of probabilistic sensor fusion. Semi-autonomy is interpreted as a useful intermediary step, situated between current mechanized solutions and full autonomy, to assist the operator.
In this work, the perception of the robot's self is achieved through estimation of its orientation and position in the world, the posture of its crane, and the pose of the attached tool. The view around the forest machine is produced with a rotating lidar, which provides approximately equal-density 3D measurements in all directions. Furthermore, a machine vision camera is used for detecting young trees among other vegetation, and sensor fusion of an actuated lidar and machine vision camera is utilized for detection and classification of tree species. In addition, in an operator-controlled semi-autonomous system, the operator requires a functional view of the data around the robot. To achieve this, the thesis proposes the use of an augmented reality interface, which requires measuring the pose of the operator's head-mounted display in the forest machine cabin. Here, this work adopts a sensor fusion solution for a head-mounted camera and inertial sensors.
In order to increase the level of automation and productivity of forest machines, the work focuses on scientifically novel solutions that are also adaptable for industrial use in forest machinery. Therefore, all the proposed perception methods seek to address a real existing problem within current forest machinery. All the proposed solutions are implemented in a prototype forest machine and field tested in a forest. The proposed methods include posture measurement of a forestry crane, positioning of a freely hanging forestry crane attachment, attitude estimation of an all-terrain vehicle, positioning a head mounted camera in a forest machine cabin, detection of young trees for point cleaning, classification of tree species, and measurement of surrounding tree stems and the ground surface underneath.Metsäkoneiden autonomia-asteen kasvattaminen edellyttää, että robotilla on digitaalinen tilannetieto sekä ympäristöstä että robotin omasta toiminnasta. Tämän saavuttamiseksi työssä on kehitetty autonomisen tai puoliautonomisen metsäkoneen koneaistijärjestelmiä, jotka hyödyntävät konenäkö-, laserkeilaus- ja inertia-antureita sekä paikannusantureita. Työ liittää yhteen seitsemässä artikkelissa toteutetut havainnointimenetelmät, joissa useiden anturien mittauksia yhdistetään sensorifuusiomenetelmillä. Työssä puoliautonomialla tarkoitetaan hyödyllisiä kuljettajaa avustavia välivaiheita nykyisten mekanisoitujen ratkaisujen ja täyden autonomian välillä.
Työssä esitettävissä autonomisen metsäkoneen koneaistijärjestelmissä koneen omaa toimintaa havainnoidaan estimoimalla koneen asentoa ja sijaintia, nosturin asentoa sekä siihen liitetyn työkalun asentoa suhteessa ympäristöön. Yleisnäkymä metsäkoneen ympärille toteutetaan pyörivällä laserkeilaimella, joka tuottaa lähes vakiotiheyksisiä 3D-mittauksia jokasuuntaisesti koneen ympäristöstä. Nuoret puut tunnistetaan muun kasvillisuuden joukosta käyttäen konenäkökameraa. Lisäksi puiden tunnistamisessa ja puulajien luokittelussa käytetään konenäkökameraa ja laserkeilainta yhdessä sensorifuusioratkaisun avulla. Lisäksi kuljettajan ohjaamassa puoliautonomisessa järjestelmässä kuljettaja tarvitsee toimivan tavan ymmärtää koneen tuottaman mallin ympäristöstä. Työssä tämä ehdotetaan toteutettavaksi lisätyn todellisuuden käyttöliittymän avulla, joka edellyttää metsäkoneen ohjaamossa istuvan kuljettajan lisätyn todellisuuden lasien paikan ja asennon mittaamista. Työssä se toteutetaan kypärään asennetun kameran ja inertia-anturien sensorifuusiona.
Jotta metsäkoneiden automatisaatiotasoa ja tuottavuutta voidaan lisätä, työssä keskitytään uusiin tieteellisiin ratkaisuihin, jotka soveltuvat teolliseen käyttöön metsäkoneissa. Kaikki esitetyt koneaistijärjestelmät pyrkivät vastaamaan todelliseen olemassa olevaan tarpeeseen nykyisten metsäkoneiden käytössä. Siksi kaikki menetelmät on implementoitu prototyyppimetsäkoneisiin ja tulokset on testattu metsäympäristössä. Työssä esitetyt menetelmät mahdollistavat metsäkoneen nosturin, vapaasti riippuvan työkalun ja ajoneuvon asennon estimoinnin, lisätyn todellisuuden lasien asennon mittaamisen metsäkoneen ohjaamossa, nuorten puiden havaitsemisen reikäperkauksessa, ympäröivien puiden puulajien tunnistuksen, sekä puun runkojen ja maanpinnan mittauksen
Assessing the performance of a handheld laser scanning system for individual tree mapping—A mixed forests showcase in Spain
Producción CientíficaThe use of mobile laser scanning to survey forest ecosystems is a promising, scalable technology to describe the 3D structure of forests at a high resolution. We use a structurally complex, mixed-species Mediterranean forest to test the performance of a mobile Handheld Laser Scanning (HLS) system to estimate tree attributes within a forest patch in central Spain. We describe the different stages of the HLS approach: field position, ground data collection, scanning path design, point cloud processing, alignment between detected trees and measured reference trees, and finally, the assessment of main tree structural attributes diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height considering species and tree size as control factors. We surveyed 418 reference trees to account for omission and commission error rates over a 1 ha plot divided into 16 sections and scanned using two different scanning paths. The HLS-based approach reached a high of 88 and 92% tree detection rate for the best combination of scanning path and point cloud processing modes for the HLS system. The root mean squared errors for DBH estimates varied between species: errors for Pinus pinaster were below 2 cm for Scan 02. Quercus pyrenaica, and Alnus glutinosa showed higher error rates. We observed good agreement between ALS and HLS estimates for tree height, highlighting differences to field measurements. Despite the complexity of the mixed forest area surveyed, our results show that HLS is highly efficient at detecting tree locations, estimating DBH, and supporting tree height measurements as confirmed with airborne laser data used for validation. This study is one of the first HLS-based studies conducted in the Mediterranean mixed forest region, where variability in tree allometries and spacing and the presence of natural regeneration pose challenges for the HLS approach. HLS is a feasible, time-efficient, scalable technology for tree mapping in mixed forests with potential to support forest monitoring programmes such as national forest inventories lacking three-dimensional, remote sensing data to support field measurements.European Union’s Horizon 2020 and Innovation Program Marie Skłodowska-Curie - (Grant 956355)Junta de Castilla y León y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) - (projects “CLU‑2019‑01 and CL‑EI‑2021‑05—iuFOR Institute Unit of Excellence”)Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), project Interreg COMFOR‑SUDOE - (grant SOE4/P1/E1012
optimización da planificación de adquisición de datos LIDAR cara ó modelado 3D de interiores
The main objective of this doctoral thesis is the design, validation and implementation of methodologies that allow the geometric and topological modelling of navigable spaces, whether inside buildings or urban environments, to be integrated into three-dimensional geographic information systems (GIS-3D).
The input data of this work will consist mainly of point clouds (which can be classified) acquired by LiDAR systems both indoors and outdoors. In addition, the use of BIM infrastructure models and cadastral maps is proposed depending on their availability.
Point clouds provide a large amount of environmental information with high accuracy compared to data offered by other acquisition technologies. However, the lack of data structure and volume requires a great deal of processing effort. For this reason, the first step is to structure the data by dividing the input cloud into simpler entities that facilitate subsequent processes. For this first division, the physical elements present in the cloud will be considered, since they can be walls in the case of interior environments or kerbs in the case of exteriors.
In order to generate navigation routes adapted to different mobile agents, the next objective will try to establish a semantic subdivision of space according to the functionalities of space. In the case of internal environments, it is possible to use BIM models to evaluate the results and the use of cadastral maps that support the division of the urban environment.
Once the navigable space is divided, the design of topologically coherent navigation networks will be parameterized both geometrically and topologically. For this purpose, several spatial discretization techniques, such as 3D tessellations, will be studied to facilitate the establishment of topological relationships, adjacency, connectivity and inclusion between subspaces.
Based on the geometric characterization and the topological relations established in the previous phase, the creation of three-dimensional navigation networks with multimodal support will be addressed and different levels of detail will be considered according to the mobility specifications of each agent and its purpose.
Finally, the possibility of integrating the networks generated in a GIS-3D visualization system will be considered. For the correct visualization, the level of detail can be adjusted according to geometry and semantics. Aspects such as the type of user or transport, mobility, rights of access to spaces, etc. They must be considered at all times.El objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral es el diseño, la validación y la implementación de metodologías que permitan el modelado geométrico y topológico de espacios navegables, ya sea de interiores de edificios o entornos urbanos, para integrarse en sistemas de información geográfica tridimensional (SIG). -3D).
Los datos de partida de este trabajo consistirán principalmente en nubes de puntos (que pueden estar clasificados) adquiridas por sistemas LiDAR tanto en interiores como en exteriores. Además, se propone el uso de modelos BIM de infraestructuras y mapas catastrales en función de su disponibilidad.
Las nubes de puntos proporcionan una gran cantidad de información del entorno con gran precisión con respecto a los datos ofrecidos por otras tecnologías de adquisición. Sin embargo, la falta de estructura de datos y su volumen requiere un gran esfuerzo de procesamiento. Por este motivo, el primer paso que se debe realizar consiste en estructurar los datos dividiendo la nube de entrada en entidades más simples que facilitan los procesos posteriores. Para esta primera división se considerarán los elementos físicos presentes en la nube, ya que pueden ser paredes en el caso de entornos interiores o bordillos en el caso de los exteriores.
Con el propósito de generar rutas de navegación adaptadas a diferentes agentes móviles, el próximo objetivo intentará establecer una subdivisión semántica del espacio de acuerdo con las funcionalidades del espacio. En el caso de entornos internos, es posible utilizar modelos BIM para evaluar los resultados y el uso de mapas catastrales que sirven de apoyo en la división del entorno urbano.
Una vez que se divide el espacio navegable, se parametrizará tanto geométrica como topológicamente al diseño de redes de navegación topológicamente coherentes. Para este propósito, se estudiarán varias técnicas de discretización espacial, como las teselaciones 3D, para facilitar el establecimiento de relaciones topológicas, la adyacencia, la conectividad y la inclusión entre subespacios.
A partir de la caracterización geométrica y las relaciones topológicas establecidas en la fase anterior, se abordará la creación de redes de navegación tridimensionales con soporte multimodal y se considerarán diversos niveles de detalle según las especificaciones de movilidad de cada agente y su propósito.
Finalmente, se contemplará la posibilidad de integrar las redes generadas en un sistema de visualización tridimensional 3D SIG 3D. Para la correcta visualización, el nivel de detalle se puede ajustar en función de la geometría y la semántica. Aspectos como el tipo de usuario o transporte, movilidad, derechos de acceso a espacios, etc. Deben ser considerados en todo momento.O obxectivo principal desta tese doutoral é o deseño, validación e implementación de metodoloxías que permitan o modelado xeométrico e topolóxico de espazos navegables, ben sexa de interiores de edificios ou de entornos urbanos, ca fin de seren integrados en Sistemas de Información Xeográfica tridimensionais (SIX-3D).
Os datos de partida deste traballo constarán principalmente de nubes de puntos (que poden estar clasificadas) adquiridas por sistemas LiDAR tanto en interiores como en exteriores. Ademáis plantease o uso de modelos BIM de infraestruturas e mapas catastrais dependendo da súa dispoñibilidade.
As nubes de puntos proporcionan unha gran cantidade de información do entorno cunha gran precisión respecto os datos que ofrecen outras tecnoloxías de adquisición. Sen embargo, a falta de estrutura dos datos e a seu volume esixe un amplo esforzo de procesado. Por este motivo o primeiro paso a levar a cabo consiste nunha estruturación dos datos mediante a división da nube de entrada en entidades máis sinxelas que faciliten os procesos posteriores. Para esta primeira división consideraranse elementos físicos presentes na nube como poden ser paredes no caso de entornos interiores ou bordillos no caso de exteriores.
Coa finalidade de xerar rutas de navegación adaptadas a distintos axentes móbiles, o seguinte obxectivo tratará de establecer unha subdivisión semántica do espazo de acordo as funcionalidades do espazo. No caso de entornos interiores plantease a posibilidade de empregar modelos BIM para avaliar os resultados e o uso de mapas catastrais que sirvan de apoio na división do entorno urbano.
Unha vez divido o espazo navigable parametrizarase tanto xeométricamente como topolóxicamene de cara ao deseño de redes de navegación topolóxicamente coherentes. Para este fin estudaranse varias técnicas de discretización de espazos como como son as teselacións 3D co obxectivo de facilitar establecer relacións topolóxicas, de adxacencia, conectividade e inclusión entre subespazos.
A partir da caracterización xeométrica e das relación topolóxicas establecidas na fase previa abordarase a creación de redes de navegación tridimensionais con soporte multi-modal e considerando varios niveis de detalle de acordo as especificacións de mobilidade de cada axente e a súa finalidade.
Finalmente comtemplarase a posibilidade de integrar as redes xeradas nun sistema SIX 3D visualización tridimensional. Para a correcta visualización o nivel de detalle poderá axustarse en base a xeometría e a semántica. Aspectos como o tipo de usuario ou transporte, mobilidade, dereitos de acceso a espazos, etc. deberán ser considerados en todo momento
Behavioural ecology of the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) and conservation tool development in a semi-wild sanctuary
Conservation translocations are becoming an increasingly necessary tool to stem the decline of threatened species globally. The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a nationally threatened species in Australia. While bilby translocations are expected to contribute to the species’ persistence, the scarcity of information on their behaviour and ecology prevents informed-management. By intensively studying a population of bilbies both prior to, and following reintroduction, and subsequent reinforcements to a fenced sanctuary, I aimed to (1) advance knowledge of bilby behaviour and examine behaviours potentially relevant to fitness (i.e. survival and breeding success), (2) improve ecological knowledge of bilbies within understudied (temperate) climates, and (3) use this knowledge to suggest and develop effective tools for their conservation.
Chapter 1 describes the current state of research in applied conservation research, and how increased behavioural data could help address some of the current knowledge gaps for bilby conservation. In Chapter 2, I examined patterns in bilby resource selection, finding that selection changed between seasons and years due to the environmental conditions and resources available. I also found that resource requirements are likely to be behavioural-state dependent and sex-specific. In Chapter 3, I constructed social networks to examine nocturnal proximity of bilbies and concurrent burrow sharing and found that associations were non-random. Expanding on this, in Chapter 4, I found that burrow sharing was likely to help describe breeding strategies, as males strongly avoided other males, and mixed-sex dyads exhibited kin-avoidance when mate choice was more limited. In Chapter 5, I developed a test to screen personality traits in bilbies, finding links between male response to handling and relative breeding success post-release. Lastly, in Chapter 6, I described a method to collect detailed movement data on the bilby, and discussed some of the practical and animal welfare constraints for its application.
My thesis provides new insights into the behavioural ecology of the bilby with potential implications for future management of the species. With further translocations necessary for long-term persistence of the bilby, this research is highly relevant to current and future management of this ecologically important species, with potential applications to other similarly at-risk species
Automated Structural-level Alignment of Multi-view TLS and ALS Point Clouds in Forestry
Access to highly detailed models of heterogeneous forests from the near
surface to above the tree canopy at varying scales is of increasing demand as
it enables more advanced computational tools for analysis, planning, and
ecosystem management. LiDAR sensors available through different scanning
platforms including terrestrial, mobile and aerial have become established as
one of the primary technologies for forest mapping due to their inherited
capability to collect direct, precise and rapid 3D information of a scene.
However, their scalability to large forest areas is highly dependent upon use
of effective and efficient methods of co-registration of multiple scan sources.
Surprisingly, work in forestry in GPS denied areas has mostly resorted to
methods of co-registration that use reference based targets (e.g., reflective,
marked trees), a process far from scalable in practice. In this work, we
propose an effective, targetless and fully automatic method based on an
incremental co-registration strategy matching and grouping points according to
levels of structural complexity. Empirical evidence shows the method's
effectiveness in aligning both TLS-to-TLS and TLS-to-ALS scans under a variety
of ecosystem conditions including pre/post fire treatment effects, of interest
to forest inventory surveyors
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