ADAPTIVE IMAGE ENHANCEMENT MODEL FOR THE ROBOT VISION SYSTEM

Robotics is one of the important trends in the current development of science and technology. Most modern robots and drones have their own vision system, including a video camera, which they use to take digital photos and video streams. These data are used to analyze the situation in the robot's camera field of view, as well as to determine a real-time robot's behavior algorithm. In this regard, the novelty of the paper is special polynomial mathematical model and method for adaptive gradational correction of a digital image. The proposed model and method make it possible to independently adjust to brightness scales and image formats and optimally perform gradational image correction in various lighting conditions. Thus, ensuring the efficiency of the entire subsequent cycle of image analysis in the robot's vision system. In addition, the paper presents the results of numerous experiments of such gradational correction for images of various classes, as well as conditions of reduced and increased levels of illumination of the field of view objects. Conclusions and recommendations are given regarding the practical application of the proposed model and method

The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2005-2006

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2005-2006 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This Annual Report is intended to serve as a synopsis of the Boston University Photonics Center’s wide-ranging activities for the period from July 2005 through June 2006, corresponding to the University’s fiscal year. It is my hope that the document is reflective of the Center’s core values in innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and that it projects our shared vision, and our dedication to excellence in this exciting field. For further information, you may visit our new website at www.bu.edu/photonics. Though only recently appointed as Director, my involvement in Center activities dates back to the Center’s formation more than ten years ago. In the early years, I worked with a team of faculty and staff colleagues to design and construct the shared laboratories that now provide every Center member extraordinary capabilities for fabrication and testing of advanced photonic devices and systems. I helped launch the business incubator by forming a company around an idea that emerged from my research laboratory. While that company failed to realize its vision of transforming the compact disc industry, it did help us form a unique vision for our program of academically engaged business acceleration. I co-developed a course in optical microsystems for telecommunications that I taught to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the new M.S. degree program in Photonics offered through the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. And since the Center’s inception, I have contributed to its scholarly mission through my work in optical microsystem design and precision manufacturing at the Center’s core Precision Engineering Research Laboratory. Recently, I had the opportunity to lead the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Committee on Photonics, charged with broadening the Center’s mission to better integrate academic and educational programs with its more established programs for business incubation and prototype development. [TRUNCATED

Small business innovation research. Abstracts of completed 1987 phase 1 projects

Non-proprietary summaries of Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects supported by NASA in the 1987 program year are given. Work in the areas of aeronautical propulsion, aerodynamics, acoustics, aircraft systems, materials and structures, teleoperators and robotics, computer sciences, information systems, spacecraft systems, spacecraft power supplies, spacecraft propulsion, bioastronautics, satellite communication, and space processing are covered

Research and technology

As the NASA center responsible for assembly, checkout, servicing, launch, recovery, and operational support of Space Transportation System elements and payloads, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is placing increasing emphasis on KSC's research and technology program. In addition to strengthening those areas of engineering and operations technology that contribute to safer, more efficient, and more economical execution of the current mission, the technological tools needed to execute KSC's mission relative to future programs are being developed. The Engineering Development Directorate encompasses most of the laboratories and other KSC resources that are key elements of research and technology program implementation and is responsible for implementation of the majority of the projects in this KSC 1990 annual report. Projects under the following topics are covered: (1) materials science; (2) hazardous emissions and contamination monitoring; (3) biosciences; (4) autonomous systems; (5) communications and control; (6) meteorology; (7) technology utilization; and (8) mechanics, structures, and cryogenics

The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Applied Sciences

This book is focused on the works presented at the 2nd International Electronic Conference on Applied Sciences, organized by Applied Sciences from 15 to 31 October 2021 on the MDPI Sciforum platform. Two decades have passed since the start of the 21st century. The development of sciences and technologies is growing ever faster today than in the previous century. The field of science is expanding, and the structure of science is becoming ever richer. Because of this expansion and fine structure growth, researchers may lose themselves in the deep forest of the ever-increasing frontiers and sub-fields being created. This international conference on the Applied Sciences was started to help scientists conduct their own research into the growth of these frontiers by breaking down barriers and connecting the many sub-fields to cut through this vast forest. These functions will allow researchers to see these frontiers and their surrounding (or quite distant) fields and sub-fields, and give them the opportunity to incubate and develop their knowledge even further with the aid of this multi-dimensional network

LASER Tech Briefs, September 1993

This edition of LASER Tech briefs contains a feature on photonics. The other topics include: Electronic Components and Circuits. Electronic Systems, Physical Sciences, Materials, Computer Programs, Mechanics, Machinery, Fabrication Technology, Mathematics and Information Sciences, Life Sciences and books and reports

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2006-2007

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2006-2007 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This annual report summarizes activities of the BUPC over the period of July, 2006 through June, 2007, corresponding to the University’s fiscal year. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in research, education, technology development, and commercialization. This reporting period included a milestone, as BUPC completed its tenth year of operation in its landmark building in the heart of the University’s Charles River Campus. Faculty research activity reached an all time high when evaluated by the usual metrics of external funding, scholarly publications, honors and awards. The Center’s educational programs were bolstered by two summer programs hosting more than 40 undergraduate interns, and by the launch of a competitive graduate fellowship program sponsoring ten BUPC graduate fellowships. In technology development, the prototype RedOwl sniper detection system pioneered by Center faculty, staff, and industry partners was fieldtested by the US Department of Defense, and has been handed off to industry partners for further pre-commercial development. Three new defense/security prototypes were developed by BUPC to address critical national defense needs in the past year and 13 faculty development projects were supported in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory to fill the technology pipeline for our future defense-related prototyping efforts. The Center’s business incubator had a transformative year. After revising its core mission and operational strategy in the summer of 2006, the incubator generated significant demand for the intellectual environment, facilities, and expertise available to participating companies. New companies attracted by this revised value proposition now occupy all available space

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1991 phase 1 projects

The objectives of 301 projects placed under contract by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are described. These projects were selected competitively from among proposals submitted to NASA in response to the 1991 SBIR Program Solicitation. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses. The abstracts are presented under the 15 technical topics within which Phase 1 proposals were solicited. Each project was assigned a sequential identifying number from 001 to 301, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference of the 1991 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA Field Center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number are included

Aerosol properties derived from ground-based Fourier transform spectra within the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is particularly relevant for climate studies due to its ability to provide information on both fine absorption structures (i.e. trace gases) and broadband continuum signatures (i.e. aerosols or water continuum) across the entire infrared (IR) domain. In this context, this study assesses the capability of the portable and compact EM27/SUN spectrometer, used within the research infrastructure COCCON (COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network), to retrieve spectral aerosol properties from low-resolution FTIR solar absorption spectra (0.5 cm−1). The study focuses on the retrieval of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and its spectral dependence in the 873–2314 nm spectral range from COCCON measurements at the subtropical high-mountain Izaña Observatory (IZO, Tenerife, Spain), which were coincidentally carried out with standard sun photometry within the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) in the 3-year period from December 2019 to September 2022. The co-located AERONET–COCCON database was used to cross-validate these two independent techniques in the common spectral range (870–1640 nm), demonstrating an excellent agreement at the near-coincident spectral bands (mean AOD differences limited to 0.005, standard deviations up to 0.021 and Pearson regression coefficients up to 0.97). This indicates that the low-resolution COCCON instruments are suitable for detecting the aerosol broadband signal contained in the IR spectra in addition to the retrieval of precise trace gas concentrations, provided a robust calibration procedure (Langley-based or absolute calibration procedures) is used to compensate for the optical degradation of the external system (∼ 0.72 % per month). The study also assesses the capability of the EM27/SUN to simultaneously infer aerosols and trace gases and relate their common emission sources in two case study events: a volcanic plume from the La Palma eruption in 2021 and a nearby forest fire in Tenerife in 2022. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential of the portable low-resolution COCCON instruments to enhance the multi-parameter capability of the FTIR technique for atmospheric monitoring.</p