10 research outputs found

    An interactive speech training system with virtual reality articulation for Mandarin-speaking hearing impaired children

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    The present project involved the development of a novel interactive speech training system based on virtual reality articulation and examination of the efficacy of the system for hearing impaired (HI) children. Twenty meaningful Mandarin words were presented to the HI children via a 3-D talking head during articulation training. Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA) and graphic transform technology were used to depict movements of various articulators. In addition, speech corpuses were organized in listening and speaking training modules of the system to help improve language skills of the HI children. Accuracy of virtual reality articulatory movement was evaluated through a series of experiments. Finally, a pilot test was performed to train two HI children using the system. Preliminary results showed improvement in speech production by the HI children, and the system was recognized as acceptable and interesting for children. It can be concluded that the training system is effective and valid in articulation training for HI children. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

    Efficient Generation of Parallel Spin-images Using Dynamic Loop Scheduling

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    High performance computing (HPC) systems underwent a significant increase in their processing capabilities. Modern HPC systems combine large numbers of homogeneous and heterogeneous computing resources. Scalability is, therefore, an essential aspect of scientific applications to efficiently exploit the massive parallelism of modern HPC systems. This work introduces an efficient version of the parallel spin-image algorithm (PSIA), called EPSIA. The PSIA is a parallel version of the spin-image algorithm (SIA). The (P)SIA is used in various domains, such as 3D object recognition, categorization, and 3D face recognition. EPSIA refers to the extended version of the PSIA that integrates various well-known dynamic loop scheduling (DLS) techniques. The present work: (1) Proposes EPSIA, a novel flexible version of PSIA; (2) Showcases the benefits of applying DLS techniques for optimizing the performance of the PSIA; (3) Assesses the performance of the proposed EPSIA by conducting several scalability experiments. The performance results are promising and show that using well-known DLS techniques, the performance of the EPSIA outperforms the performance of the PSIA by a factor of 1.2 and 2 for homogeneous and heterogeneous computing resources, respectively

    Method of Quantitative Analysis for Multirobot Cooperative Hunting Behaviors

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    The kinematic behavior of mobile robots can be represented as functions of time. During the operation of a multirobot system, the orbit of a special robot is recorded. The embedding dimension and the delay time are chosen based on the correlation integral method. A chaotic attractor equivalent to the original system is reconstructed in phase space. The multirobot system can be adequately described based on the phase space information, and the dynamic system states can be forecast based on this information. The eigenvalues of the attractor are calculated including the maximum Lyapunov exponent and correlation dimension. The robot collective behavior is described and analyzed quantitatively based on the eigenvalues. The critical factor that affects the interaction of robots is investigated based on quantified parameters. Our analysis results can be used to improve the understanding of robot interaction mechanisms

    Universal access system based on microcontroller

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    This article deals with proposal of universal access system which would utilize the standard input-output ports ofmicrocontroller. The whole proposal is based upon the ATmega64 processor, which makes the access system universal and very flexible. The main problem of this proposal is the USB communication decoding and creation of custom USB driver for TouchaTag reader.This article deals with proposal of universal access system which would utilize the standard input-output ports ofmicrocontroller. The whole proposal is based upon the ATmega64 processor, which makes the access system universal and very flexible. The main problem of this proposal is the USB communication decoding and creation of custom USB driver for TouchaTag reader

    Intelligent Drilling and Coring Technologies for Unmanned Interplanetary Exploration

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    The robotic technology, especially the intelligent robotics that can autonomously conduct numerous dangerous and uncertain tasks, has been widely applied to planetary explorations. Similar to terrestrial mining, before landing on planets or building planetary constructions, a drilling and coring activity should be first conducted to investigate the in-situ geological information. Given the technical advantages of unmanned robotics, utilizing an autonomous drill tool to acquire the planetary soil sample may be the most reliable and cost-effective solution. However, due to several unique challenges existed in unmanned drilling and coring activities, such as long-distance time delay, uncertain drilling formations, limited sensor resources, etc., it is indeed necessary to conduct researches to improve system’s adaptability to the complicated geological formations. Taking drill tool’s power consumption and soil’s coring morphology into account, this chapter proposed a drilling and coring characteristics online monitoring method to investigate suitable drilling parameters for different formations. Meanwhile, by applying pattern recognition techniques to classify different types of potential soil or rocks, a drillability classification model is built accurately to identify the current drilling formation. By combining suitable drilling parameters with the recognized drillability levels, a closed-loop drilling strategy is established finally, which can be applied to future interplanetary exploration

    SoC estimation for lithium-ion batteries : review and future challenges

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    ABSTRACT: Energy storage emerged as a top concern for the modern cities, and the choice of the lithium-ion chemistry battery technology as an effective solution for storage applications proved to be a highly efficient option. State of charge (SoC) represents the available battery capacity and is one of the most important states that need to be monitored to optimize the performance and extend the lifetime of batteries. This review summarizes the methods for SoC estimation for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). The SoC estimation methods are presented focusing on the description of the techniques and the elaboration of their weaknesses for the use in on-line battery management systems (BMS) applications. SoC estimation is a challenging task hindered by considerable changes in battery characteristics over its lifetime due to aging and to the distinct nonlinear behavior. This has led scholars to propose different methods that clearly raised the challenge of establishing a relationship between the accuracy and robustness of the methods, and their low complexity to be implemented. This paper publishes an exhaustive review of the works presented during the last five years, where the tendency of the estimation techniques has been oriented toward a mixture of probabilistic techniques and some artificial intelligence

    Survey on modelling and techniques for friction estimation in automotive brakes

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    The increased use of disc brakes in passenger cars has led the research world to focus on the prediction of brake performance and wear under different working conditions. A proper model of the brake linings’ coefficient of friction (BLCF) is important to monitor the brake operation and increase the performance of control systems such as ABS, TC and ESP by supplying an accurate estimate of the brake torque. The literature of the last decades is replete with semi-empirical and analytical friction models whose derivation comes from significant research that has been conducted into the direction of friction modelling of pin-disc couplings. On the contrary, just a few models have been developed and used for the prediction of the automotive BLCF without obtaining satisfactory results. The present work aims at collecting the current state of art of the estimation techniques for the BLCF, with special attention to the models for automotive brakes. Moreover, the work proposes a classification of the several existing approaches and discusses the relative pro and cons. Finally, based on evidence of the limitations of the model-based approach and the potentialities of the neural networks, the authors propose a new state observer for BLCF estimation as a promising solution among the supporting tools of the control engineering

    Applications of Power Electronics:Volume 2

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    Advances in Computational Intelligence Applications in the Mining Industry

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    This book captures advancements in the applications of computational intelligence (artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.) to problems in the mineral and mining industries. The papers present the state of the art in four broad categories: mine operations, mine planning, mine safety, and advances in the sciences, primarily in image processing applications. Authors in the book include both researchers and industry practitioners
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