Mirrored Light Field Video Camera Adapter

This paper proposes the design of a custom mirror-based light field camera adapter that is cheap, simple in construction, and accessible. Mirrors of different shape and orientation reflect the scene into an upwards-facing camera to create an array of virtual cameras with overlapping field of view at specified depths, and deliver video frame rate light fields. We describe the design, construction, decoding and calibration processes of our mirror-based light field camera adapter in preparation for an open-source release to benefit the robotic vision community.Comment: tech report, v0.5, 15 pages, 6 figure

Three years of experience with the STELLA robotic observatory

Since May 2006, the two STELLA robotic telescopes at the Izana observatory in Tenerife, Spain, delivered an almost uninterrupted stream of scientific data. To achieve such a high level of autonomous operation, the replacement of all troubleshooting skills of a regular observer in software was required. Care must be taken on error handling issues and on robustness of the algorithms used. In the current paper, we summarize the approaches we followed in the STELLA observatory

Master Hand Technology For The HMI Using Hand Gesture And Colour Detection

Master Hand Technology uses different hand gestures and colors to give various commands for the Human-Machine(here Computer) Interfacing. Gestures recognition deals with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithm. Gestures made by users with the help of a color band and/or body pose , in two or three dimensions , get translated by software/image processing into predefined commands .The computer then acts according to the command. There have been a lot work already developed in this field either by extracting hand gesture only or extracting hand with the help of color segmentation. In this project, both hand gesture extraction and color detection used for better, faster, robust, accurate and real-time applications. Red, Green, Blue colors are most efficiently detected if RGB color space used. Using HSV color space, it can be extended to any no of colors. For hand gesture detection, the default background is captured and stored for further processing. Comparing the new captured image with background image and doing necessary extraction and filtering, hand portion can be extracted. Then applying different mathematical algorithms different hand gestures detected. All this work done using MATLAB software. By interfacing a portion of Master hand or/and color to mouse of a Computer, the computer can be controlled same as the mouse. And then many virtual (Augmented reality) or PC based application can be developed (e.g. Calculator, Paint). It does not matter whether the system is within your reach or not; but a camera that is linked with the system must have to be near-by . Showing different gestures by your Master-Hand , the computer can be controlled remotely. If the camera can be set-up online, then the computer can be controlled even from a very far place online

Equipment Development for Automatic Anthropometric Measurements

An automated procedure for measuring and recording the anthropometric active angles is presented. The small portable system consists of a microprocessor controlled video data acquisition system which measures single plane active angles using television video techniques and provides the measured data on sponsored-specified preformatted data sheets. This system, using only a single video camera, observes the end limits of the movement of a pair of separated lamps and calculates the vector angle between the extreme positions

Design of the communication, power management and interchangeable sensor payload system for an inspection-class robotic platform

With the "golden day" being the first 24 hours after an urban disaster, after which the survival rate of victims decreases dramatically, there is a requirement for a low-cost first-response robotic platform. UCT robotics is developing a platform to fulfil this requirement, with the Scarab (Figure 0-1) - a low-cost, man-packable, throwable inspection-class robotic platform with interchangeable payloads. The system was designed to create a 1:1 human-to-robot ratio which improves the efficiency of rescue operations. Once the operator has reached the inspection void, the Scarab is thrown in where the sensor stimulus from the inspection environment is communicated, via wireless communications, from the payload back to the operator station. The interchangeable payload allows the sensor configuration to be tailored to the needs of the disaster, while reducing the cost of the platform. The design of the battery and battery management system, communications and interchangeable sensor payload for this platform are described in this report

Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 study

Mariner Venus/Mercury 1973 flyby mission and description of spacecraft and subsystem

Can You Hear Me Now? : Evaluation of an Online Wireless Technology to Provide Real-Time Feedback to Special Education Teachers-In-Training

In this study, the authors examine whether an advanced online technology can be used to give teacher trainees real-time feedback on their use of research-based classroom practices. Participants include 15 teachers enrolled in a field-based graduate special education teacher preparation program. Data include video-recorded teacher observations and written reflections by teachers about their experiences. Quantitative results indicate that the advanced online bug-in-ear technology is a practical and efficient way to provide immediate feedback to increase teachers‘ rate of praise statements and their use of proven effective instructional practices and that these improvements are accompanied by increases in students‘ on-task behavior. Overall, trainees view the advanced online technology as a powerful tool for improving the teaching and learning process but report the need for patience and perseverance in both the teachers and the supervisor, as well as teachers‘ need for constant reassurance

Implementation of Open Source applications “Serious Game” for rehabilitation

Serious Games and Virtual Reality (VR) are present nowadays as an alternative to traditional rehabilitation therapies. This project describes the workflow to develop videogames for health monitoring as well as a source of entertainment for physiotherapy patients, primarily patients that suffer hemiparesis caused by a neurological disease like a stroke. We propose the last version of Microsoft Kinect sensors as low cost game controller and the software Unity to develop Open Source Rehabilitation Serious Games. These Serious Games try to imitate physiotherapy sessions performed in movement recovery therapies, reducing the waiting list of patients together with time and costs to hospitals. The premise is that the gameplay makes patients execute upper body exercises alongside equilibrium training, meanwhile they are monitored extracting useful data and results for the physicians.Ingeniería Biomédic