4,129 research outputs found

    The NASA/OAST telerobot testbed architecture

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    Through a phased development such as a laboratory-based research testbed, the NASA/OAST Telerobot Testbed provides an environment for system test and demonstration of the technology which will usefully complement, significantly enhance, or even replace manned space activities. By integrating advanced sensing, robotic manipulation and intelligent control under human-interactive supervision, the Testbed will ultimately demonstrate execution of a variety of generic tasks suggestive of space assembly, maintenance, repair, and telescience. The Testbed system features a hierarchical layered control structure compatible with the incorporation of evolving technologies as they become available. The Testbed system is physically implemented in a computing architecture which allows for ease of integration of these technologies while preserving the flexibility for test of a variety of man-machine modes. The development currently in progress on the functional and implementation architectures of the NASA/OAST Testbed and capabilities planned for the coming years are presented

    Unattended network operations technology assessment study. Technical support for defining advanced satellite systems concepts

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    The results are summarized of an unattended network operations technology assessment study for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). The scope of the work included: (1) identified possible enhancements due to the proposed Mars communications network; (2) identified network operations on Mars; (3) performed a technology assessment of possible supporting technologies based on current and future approaches to network operations; and (4) developed a plan for the testing and development of these technologies. The most important results obtained are as follows: (1) addition of a third Mars Relay Satellite (MRS) and MRS cross link capabilities will enhance the network's fault tolerance capabilities through improved connectivity; (2) network functions can be divided into the six basic ISO network functional groups; (3) distributed artificial intelligence technologies will augment more traditional network management technologies to form the technological infrastructure of a virtually unattended network; and (4) a great effort is required to bring the current network technology levels for manned space communications up to the level needed for an automated fault tolerance Mars communications network

    Autonomous Swarm Navigation

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    Robotic swarm systems attract increasing attention in a wide variety of applications, where a multitude of self-organized robotic entities collectively accomplish sensing or exploration tasks. Compared to a single robot, a swarm system offers advantages in terms of exploration speed, robustness against single point of failures, and collective observations of spatio-temporal processes. Autonomous swarm navigation, including swarm self-localization, the localization of external sources, and swarm control, is essential for the success of an autonomous swarm application. However, as a newly emerging technology, a thorough study of autonomous swarm navigation is still missing. In this thesis, we systematically study swarm navigation systems, particularly emphasizing on their collective performance. The general theory of swarm navigation as well as an in-depth study on a specific swarm navigation system proposed for future Mars exploration missions are covered. Concerning swarm localization, a decentralized algorithm is proposed, which achieves a near-optimal performance with low complexity for a dense swarm network. Regarding swarm control, a position-aware swarm control concept is proposed. The swarm is aware of not only the position estimates and the estimation uncertainties of itself and the sources, but also the potential motions to enrich position information. As a result, the swarm actively adapts its formation to improve localization performance, without losing track of other objectives, such as goal approaching and collision avoidance. The autonomous swarm navigation concept described in this thesis is verified for a specific Mars swarm exploration system. More importantly, this concept is generally adaptable to an extensive range of swarm applications

    An Acoustic Network Navigation System

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    This work describes a system for acousticā€based navigation that relies on the addition of localization services to underwater networks. The localization capability has been added on top of an existing network, without imposing constraints on its structure/operation. The approach is based on the inclusion of timing information within acoustic messages through which it is possible to know the time of an acoustic transmission in relation to its reception. Exploiting such information at the network application level makes it possible to create an interrogation scheme similar to that of a long baseline. The advantage is that the nodes/autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) themselves become the transponders of a network baseline, and hence there is no need for dedicated instrumentation. The paper reports at sea results obtained from the COLLABā€“NGAS14 experimental campaign. During the sea trial, the approach was implemented within an operational network in different configurations to support the navigation of the two Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation Ocean Explorer (CMRE OEX) vehicles. The obtained results demonstrate that it is possible to support AUV navigation without constraining the network design and with a minimum communication overhead. Alternative solutions (e.g., synchronized clocks or twoā€wayā€travelā€time interrogations) might provide higher precision or accuracy, but they come at the cost of impacting on the network design and/or on the interrogation strategies. Results are discussed, and the performance achieved at sea demonstrates the viability to use the system in real, largeā€scale operations involving multiple AUVs. These results represent a step toward locationā€aware underwater networks that are able to provide node localization as a service

    Wireless sensor systems in indoor situation modeling II (WISM II)

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    Wide-Area Time-Synchronized Closed-Loop Control of Power Systems And Decentralized Active Distribution Networks

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    The rapidly expanding power system grid infrastructure and the need to reduce the occurrence of major blackouts and prevention or hardening of systems against cyber-attacks, have led to increased interest in the improved resilience of the electrical grid. Distributed and decentralized control have been widely applied to computer science research. However, for power system applications, the real-time application of decentralized and distributed control algorithms introduce several challenges. In this dissertation, new algorithms and methods for decentralized control, protection and energy management of Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC) and the Active Distribution Network (ADN) are developed to improve the resiliency of the power system. To evaluate the findings of this dissertation, a laboratory-scale integrated Wide WAMPAC and ADN control platform was designed and implemented. The developed platform consists of phasor measurement units (PMU), intelligent electronic devices (IED) and programmable logic controllers (PLC). On top of the designed hardware control platform, a multi-agent cyber-physical interoperability viii framework was developed for real-time verification of the developed decentralized and distributed algorithms using local wireless and Internet-based cloud communication. A novel real-time multiagent system interoperability testbed was developed to enable utility independent private microgrids standardized interoperability framework and define behavioral models for expandability and plug-and-play operation. The state-of-theart power system multiagent framework is improved by providing specific attributes and a deliberative behavior modeling capability. The proposed multi-agent framework is validated in a laboratory based testbed involving developed intelligent electronic device prototypes and actual microgrid setups. Experimental results are demonstrated for both decentralized and distributed control approaches. A new adaptive real-time protection and remedial action scheme (RAS) method using agent-based distributed communication was developed for autonomous hybrid AC/DC microgrids to increase resiliency and continuous operability after fault conditions. Unlike the conventional consecutive time delay-based overcurrent protection schemes, the developed technique defines a selectivity mechanism considering the RAS of the microgrid after fault instant based on feeder characteristics and the location of the IEDs. The experimental results showed a significant improvement in terms of resiliency of microgrids through protection using agent-based distributed communication

    Third International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation for Space 1994

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    The Third International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation for Space (i-SAIRAS 94), held October 18-20, 1994, in Pasadena, California, was jointly sponsored by NASA, ESA, and Japan's National Space Development Agency, and was hosted by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology. i-SAIRAS 94 featured presentations covering a variety of technical and programmatic topics, ranging from underlying basic technology to specific applications of artificial intelligence and robotics to space missions. i-SAIRAS 94 featured a special workshop on planning and scheduling and provided scientists, engineers, and managers with the opportunity to exchange theoretical ideas, practical results, and program plans in such areas as space mission control, space vehicle processing, data analysis, autonomous spacecraft, space robots and rovers, satellite servicing, and intelligent instruments

    Recolha de dados em veƭculos conectados para aplicaƧƵes de seguranƧa rodoviƔria

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    The increasing growth of the automobile industry and the need of overusing personal vehicles amplifies problems directly related to road safety, such as the degradation of the quality of the roads, the increase in volume of the automobile flow, and through the addition of dangerous weather events caused by climate change. To alleviate these emerging problems, intelligent cooperative communication systems (C-ITS) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions emerge, allowing the overcome of human and local sensory systems limitations through the collection and distribution of relevant data in connected vehicles, which is fundamental in finding solutions that transform the concept of Smart Cities into reality. This dissertation implements an intra- and inter-vehicle sensory data collection system, starting with the acquisition of relevant data present on the CAN bus, collected through the vehicleā€™s OBD-II port and external sensors. Use is made of short-range communications such as Bluetooth-Low-Energy (BLE), Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) in conjunction with long-range cellular communications (LTE/5G). Data access endpoints are provided through an API and a MQTT broker. At last, logging methods are developed to allow conscious debugging of these systems, as well as to evaluate timing restrictions. The results of the experimental tests carried out reveal the usefulness of the acquired data, which allows the realization of detailed longitudinal analyzes of dangerous roads, as well as notifying, in near real-time, adverse road conditions to drivers. Therefore, the data collection system developed reveals itself as a potentially valuable tool for providing useful information both to competent authorities and to the common population, as a method to improve road safety.O constante crescimento da indĆŗstria automĆ³vel e a necessidade do sobreuso do veĆ­culo pessoal amplificam problemas diretamente relacionados com a seguranƧa rodoviĆ”ria, tais como a degradaĆ§Ć£o da qualidade das estradas, o aumento do volume de fluxo automĆ³vel e o acrĆ©scimo de eventos metereolĆ³gicos perigosos causados pelas alteraƧƵes climĆ”ticas. Como forma de atenuar estes problemas emergentes, surgem os sistemas inteligentes de comunicaĆ§Ć£o cooperativos (C-ITS) e de internet das coisas (IoT), que permitem ultrapassar limitaƧƵes humanas e de sistemas sensoriais locais atravĆ©s da recolha e distribuiĆ§Ć£o de dados em veĆ­culos conectados, algo fundamental para encontrar soluƧƵes que transformem o conceito de Smart City em realidade. A presente dissertaĆ§Ć£o implementa um sistema de recolha de dados sensoriais intra- e inter-veĆ­culares, comeƧando pela aquisiĆ§Ć£o de dados relavantes presentes no barramento CAN, coletados atravĆ©s da porta OBD-II do veĆ­culo e de sensores externos. Ɖ feito uso de comunicaƧƵes de curto alcance tais como Bluetooth-Low-Energy (BLE), VeĆ­culo-a-VeĆ­culo (V2V), e VeĆ­culo-a-Infrastrutura (V2I) em conjunto com comunicaƧƵes celulares de longo alcance (LTE/5G). SĆ£o fornecido endpoints de acesso aos dados atravĆ©s duma API e de um broker MQTT. Por fim mĆ©todos de logging sĆ£o desenvolvidos para permitir depuraĆ§Ć£o consciente destes sistemas e avaliĆ§Ć£o de requisitos temporais. Os resultados dos testes experimentais efetuados revelam a utilidade forte que os dados adquiridos contĆ©m, por permitirem a realizaĆ§Ć£o de anĆ”lises longitudinais detalhadas a estradas de perigo, assim como para fornecimento, em quase tempo-real, de condiƧƵes adversas da estrada a condutores. Deste modo, o sistema de recolha de dados desenvolvido revela-se como ferramenta potencialmente valiosa para o fornecimento de informaĆ§Ć£o Ćŗtil tanto a autoridades competentes como Ć  populaĆ§Ć£o comum, como meio de melhoria da seguranƧa rodoviĆ”ria.Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemĆ”tic
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