Nonvisible Satellite Estimation Algorithm for Improved UAV Navigation in Mountainous Regions

This paper presents a very simple and computationally efficient algorithm for the calculation of the occlusion points of a scene, observed from a given point of view. This algorithm is used to calculate, in any point of a control volume, the number of visible satellites and the Dilution Of Precision (DOP). Knowledge of these information is extremely important to reject measurements of non-visible satellites and for the reconstruction of a fictitious Digital Elevation Map (DEM), that envelops all the regions characterized by a number of visible satellites lower than a given threshold. This DEM evolves in time according to the platform motion and satellite dynamics. Because of this time dependency, the Digital Morphing Map (DMM) has been defined. When the DMM is available, it can be used by the path planning algorithm to optimise the platform trajectory in order to avoid regions where the number of visible satellites is dramatically reduced, the DOP value is very high and the risk to receive corrupted measurement is large. In this paper also presents the concept of a Safety Bubble Obstacle Avoidance (SBOA) system. This technique takes advantage from the numerical properties of the covariance matrix defined in the Kalman filtering process. A space and time safety bubble is defined according to the DOP value and is used to automatically determine a minimum fly distance from the surrounding obstacles

VEHÍCULO AÉREO NO TRIPULADO EMPLEANDO HARDWARE RASPBERRY PI 3 PARA APLICACIÓN EN MONITOREO REMOTO (UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE USING RASPBERRY PI 3 HARDWARE FOR REMOTE MONITORING APPLICATION)

En los últimos años, el área de investigación de la Robótica Móvil ha sido el centro de atención de varias investigaciones, productos y prototipos debido a los beneficios prácticos que esta línea de investigación brinda a la vida cotidiana de los seres humanos. Nuevos productos y prototipos de la Robótica Móvil que generan asombro al mundo surgen todos los días, desde robots móviles con la habilidad para asistir a ubicar a una persona en un edificio derrumbado hasta robots que asisten a los astronautas en la estación espacial internacional (Dı́az Cantos, 2015). El objetivo de este trabajo es la elaboración de una herramienta que sea auxiliar en labores de monitoreo remoto en áreas cuya extensión sea mayor a las capacidades de desplazamiento humanas, o peligrosas para el mismo. En este trabajo se compone por las siguientes etapas: en la introducción, se describe brevemente la evolución y clasificación de los vehículos aéreos no tripulados mencionando la necesidad resuelta por este proyecto, las posibles aplicaciones de los VANT y metodología que se siguió con los nuevos componentes empleados en la implementación del VANT. En el apartado de los métodos y materiales se mencionan los pasos correspondientes en el diseño empleando el ordenador de placa reducida Raspberry Pi 3 model B como controladora de vuelo, de video e interfaz, junto con los sensores que realizan el monitoreo de las variables del entorno de operación del VANT. Tales variables son: temperatura, presión barométrica, humedad, orientación (basado en los ángulos de navegación roll, pitch y yaw), la posición relativa (mediante el uso de un acelerómetro) y una cámara para capturar el video. En la sección de los resultados y discusión se aborda el impacto causado por el trabajo; la razón del porque la tarjeta Raspberry Pi 3 model B no es recomendada para ser utilizada como controladora de vuelo, transmisión de video y alojamiento de la interfaz gráfica, ya que sus recursos son insuficientes para tener un adecuado control del VANT.Palabra(s) Clave: VANT, Control, Raspberry Pi, Monitoreo remoto, Interfaz. AbstractOn last years, the investigation area of the mobile robotics has been the center of attention for several investigations, products, and prototypes due to the practical benefits that this investigation line provides to the daily life and the human beings. New products and prototypes of the mobile robotics that awesome the world are created every day; from mobile robots with the ability to locate a person in a collapsed building to robots that assist astronauts in the International Space Station. This work's objective is the elaboration of an auxiliary tool in remote monitoring tasks in areas in which extension are superior to the human displacement capabilities or dangerous for the human being. This work is composed by the next stages: Introduction briefly describes the evolution and classification of the unmanned aerial vehicles doing mention in the necessity solved by this project; also the UAV possibles applications and the followed methodology with the new components used in the UAV implementation. In the Methods and materials section is mentioned the corresponding steps in the design using the reduced plate computer Raspberry Pi 3 model B as a flight controller, video controller, and user interface; which is implemented with a set of sensors that make a monitoring of the environment variables that intervene in the operation of the UAV such as temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, orientation (by the navigation angles roll, pitch, yaw), relative position (using an accelerometer) and a camera for capturing video. In the Results and Discussion sections, we approach to the impact caused by this work; the reason of why the computer Raspberry Pi 3 model B is not recommended for been used as a flight controller, video transmitter and graphic interface host, due to its resources are insufficient for having an adequate control for the UAV.Key word(s): VANT, Raspberry Pi, remote monitoring, interface, Control

NASA SBIR abstracts of 1990 phase 1 projects

The research objectives of the 280 projects placed under contract in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1990 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 program are described. The basic document consists of edited, non-proprietary abstracts of the winning proposals submitted by small businesses in response to NASA's 1990 SBIR Phase 1 Program Solicitation. 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 280, in order of its appearance in the body of the report. The document also includes Appendixes to provide additional information about the SBIR program and permit cross-reference in the 1990 Phase 1 projects by company name, location by state, principal investigator, NASA field center responsible for management of each project, and NASA contract number

Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995)

The files on this record represent the various databases that originally composed the CD-ROM issue of "Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding" database, which is now part of the Dudley Knox Library's Abstracts and Selected Full Text Documents on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995) Collection. (See Calhoun record https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/57364 for further information on this collection and the bibliography). Due to issues of technological obsolescence preventing current and future audiences from accessing the bibliography, DKL exported and converted into the three files on this record the various databases contained in the CD-ROM. The contents of these files are: 1) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_xls.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.xls: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format; RDFA_Glossary.xls: Glossary of terms, in Excel 97-2003 Workbookformat; RDFA_Biographies.xls: Biographies of leading figures, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format]; 2) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_csv.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.TXT: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in CSV format; RDFA_Glossary.TXT: Glossary of terms, in CSV format; RDFA_Biographies.TXT: Biographies of leading figures, in CSV format]; 3) RDFA_CompleteBibliography.pdf: A human readable display of the bibliographic data, as a means of double-checking any possible deviations due to conversion

EVOLUTION OF THE SUBCONTINENTAL LITHOSPHERE DURING MESOZOIC TETHYAN RIFTING: CONSTRAINTS FROM THE EXTERNAL LIGURIAN MANTLE SECTION (NORTHERN APENNINE, ITALY)

Our study is focussed on mantle bodies from the External Ligurian ophiolites, within the Monte Gavi and Monte Sant'Agostino areas. Here, two distinct pyroxenite-bearing mantle sections were recognized, mainly based on their plagioclase-facies evolution. The Monte Gavi mantle section is nearly undeformed and records reactive melt infiltration under plagioclase-facies conditions. This process involved both peridotites (clinopyroxene-poor lherzolites) and enclosed spinel pyroxenite layers, and occurred at 0.7–0.8 GPa. In the Monte Gavi peridotites and pyroxenites, the spinel-facies clinopyroxene was replaced by Ca-rich plagioclase and new orthopyroxene, typically associated with secondary clinopyroxene. The reactive melt migration caused increase of TiO2 contents in relict clinopyroxene and spinel, with the latter also recording a Cr2O3 increase. In the Monte Gavi peridotites and pyroxenites, geothermometers based on slowly diffusing elements (REE and Y) record high temperature conditions (1200-1250 °C) related to the melt infiltration event, followed by subsolidus cooling until ca. 900°C. The Monte Sant'Agostino mantle section is characterized by widespread ductile shearing with no evidence of melt infiltration. The deformation recorded by the Monte Sant'Agostino peridotites (clinopyroxene-rich lherzolites) occurred at 750–800 °C and 0.3–0.6 GPa, leading to protomylonitic to ultramylonitic textures with extreme grain size reduction (10–50 μm). Compared to the peridotites, the enclosed pyroxenite layers gave higher temperature-pressure estimates for the plagioclase-facies re-equilibration (870–930 °C and 0.8–0.9 GPa). We propose that the earlier plagioclase crystallization in the pyroxenites enhanced strain localization and formation of mylonite shear zones in the entire mantle section. We subdivide the subcontinental mantle section from the External Ligurian ophiolites into three distinct domains, developed in response to the rifting evolution that ultimately formed a Middle Jurassic ocean-continent transition: (1) a spinel tectonite domain, characterized by subsolidus static formation of plagioclase, i.e. the Suvero mantle section (Hidas et al., 2020), (2) a plagioclase mylonite domain experiencing melt-absent deformation and (3) a nearly undeformed domain that underwent reactive melt infiltration under plagioclase-facies conditions, exemplified by the the Monte Sant'Agostino and the Monte Gavi mantle sections, respectively. We relate mantle domains (1) and (2) to a rifting-driven uplift in the late Triassic accommodated by large-scale shear zones consisting of anhydrous plagioclase mylonites. Hidas K., Borghini G., Tommasi A., Zanetti A. & Rampone E. 2021. Interplay between melt infiltration and deformation in the deep lithospheric mantle (External Liguride ophiolite, North Italy). Lithos 380-381, 105855

Impact of geogenic degassing on C-isotopic composition of dissolved carbon in karst systems of Greece

The Earth C-cycle is complex, where endogenic and exogenic sources are interconnected, operating in a multiple spatial and temporal scale (Lee et al., 2019). Non-volcanic CO2 degassing from active tectonic structures is one of the less defined components of this cycle (Frondini et al., 2019). Carbon mass-balance (Chiodini et al., 2000) is a useful tool to quantify the geogenic carbon output from regional karst hydrosystems. This approach has been demonstrated for central Italy and may be valid also for Greece, due to the similar geodynamic settings. Deep degassing in Greece has been ascertained mainly at hydrothermal and volcanic areas, but the impact of geogenic CO2 released by active tectonic areas has not yet been quantified. The main aim of this research is to investigate the possible deep degassing through the big karst aquifers of Greece. Since 2016, 156 karst springs were sampled along most of the Greek territory. To discriminate the sources of carbon, the analysis of the isotopic composition of carbon was carried out. δ13CTDIC values vary from -16.61 to -0.91‰ and can be subdivided into two groups characterized by (a) low δ13CTDIC, and (b) intermediate to high δ13CTDIC with a threshold value of -6.55‰. The composition of the first group can be related to the mixing of organic-derived CO2 and the dissolution of marine carbonates. Springs of the second group, mostly located close to Quaternary volcanic areas, are linked to possible carbon input from deep sources

Impact of Etna’s volcanic emission on major ions and trace elements composition of the atmospheric deposition

Mt. Etna, on the eastern coast of Sicily (Italy), is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and it is widely recognized as a big source of volcanic gases (e.g., CO2 and SO2), halogens, and a lot of trace elements, to the atmosphere in the Mediterranean region. Especially during eruptive periods, Etna’s emissions can be dispersed over long distances and cover wide areas. A group of trace elements has been recently brought to attention for their possible environmental and human health impacts, the Technology-critical elements. The current knowledge about their geochemical cycles is still scarce, nevertheless, recent studies (Brugnone et al., 2020) evidenced a contribution from the volcanic activity for some of them (Te, Tl, and REE). In 2021, in the framework of the research project “Pianeta Dinamico”, by INGV, a network of 10 bulk collectors was implemented to collect, monthly, atmospheric deposition samples. Four of these collectors are located on the flanks of Mt. Etna, other two are in the urban area of Catania and three are in the industrial area of Priolo, all most of the time downwind of the main craters. The last one, close to Cesarò (Nebrodi Regional Park), represents the regional background. The research aims to produce a database on major ions and trace element compositions of the bulk deposition and here we report the values of the main physical-chemical parameters and the deposition fluxes of major ions and trace elements from the first year of research. The pH ranged from 3.1 to 7.7, with a mean value of 5.6, in samples from the Etna area, while it ranged between 5.2 and 7.6, with a mean value of 6.4, in samples from the other study areas. The EC showed values ranging from 5 to 1032 μS cm-1, with a mean value of 65 μS cm-1. The most abundant ions were Cl- and SO42- for anions, Na+ and Ca+ for cations, whose mean deposition fluxes, considering all sampling sites, were 16.6, 6.8, 8.4, and 6.0 mg m-2 d, respectively. The highest deposition fluxes of volcanic refractory elements, such as Al, Fe, and Ti, were measured in the Etna’s sites, with mean values of 948, 464, and 34.3 μg m-2 d-1, respectively, higher than those detected in the other sampling sites, further away from the volcanic source (26.2, 12.4, 0.5 μg m-2 d-1, respectively). The same trend was also observed for volatile elements of prevailing volcanic origin, such as Tl (0.49 μg m-2 d-1), Te (0.07 μg m-2 d-1), As (0.95 μg m-2 d-1), Se (1.92 μg m-2 d-1), and Cd (0.39 μg m-2 d-1). Our preliminary results show that, close to a volcanic area, volcanic emissions must be considered among the major contributors of ions and trace elements to the atmosphere. Their deposition may significantly impact the pedosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere and directly or indirectly human health

Intelligent Circuits and Systems

ICICS-2020 is the third conference initiated by the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Lovely Professional University that explored recent innovations of researchers working for the development of smart and green technologies in the fields of Energy, Electronics, Communications, Computers, and Control. ICICS provides innovators to identify new opportunities for the social and economic benefits of society.　 This conference bridges the gap between academics and R&D institutions, social visionaries, and experts from all strata of society to present their ongoing research activities and foster research relations between them. It provides opportunities for the exchange of new ideas, applications, and experiences in the field of smart technologies and finding global partners for future collaboration. The ICICS-2020 was conducted in two broad categories, Intelligent Circuits & Intelligent Systems and Emerging Technologies in Electrical Engineering

Design and Management of Manufacturing Systems

Although the design and management of manufacturing systems have been explored in the literature for many years now, they still remain topical problems in the current scientific research. The changing market trends, globalization, the constant pressure to reduce production costs, and technical and technological progress make it necessary to search for new manufacturing methods and ways of organizing them, and to modify manufacturing system design paradigms. This book presents current research in different areas connected with the design and management of manufacturing systems and covers such subject areas as: methods supporting the design of manufacturing systems, methods of improving maintenance processes in companies, the design and improvement of manufacturing processes, the control of production processes in modern manufacturing systems production methods and techniques used in modern manufacturing systems and environmental aspects of production and their impact on the design and management of manufacturing systems. The wide range of research findings reported in this book confirms that the design of manufacturing systems is a complex problem and that the achievement of goals set for modern manufacturing systems requires interdisciplinary knowledge and the simultaneous design of the product, process and system, as well as the knowledge of modern manufacturing and organizational methods and techniques