A collision detection algorithm for telerobotic arms

The telerobotic manipulator's collision detection algorithm is described. Its applied structural model of the world environment and template representation of objects is evaluated. Functional issues that are required for the manipulator to operate in a more complex and realistic environment are discussed

Highly efficient computer oriented octree data structure and neighbors search in 3D GIS spatial

Three Dimensional (3D) have given new perspective in various field such as urban planning, hydrology, infrastructure modeling, geology etc due to its capability of handling real world object in more realistic manners, rather than two-dimensional (2D) approach. However, implementation of 3D spatial analysis in the real world has proven difficult due to the complexity of algorithm, computational power and time consuming. Existing GIS system enables 2D and two-and-a-half dimensional (2.5D) spatial datasets, but less capable of supporting 3D data structures. Recent development in Octree see more effort to improve weakness of octree in finding neighbor node by using various address encoding scheme with specific rule to eliminate the need of tree traversal. This paper proposed a new method to speed up neighbor searching and eliminating the needs of complex operation to extract spatial information from octree by preserving 3D spatial information directly from Octree data structure. This new method able to achieve O(1) complexity and utilizing Bit Manipulation Instruction 2 (BMI2) to speedup address encoding, extraction and voxel search 700% compared with generic implementation

Model-Based Penetration Path Calculations for the Diagnosis of Multiple Trauma

In order to enhance TraumAID, a system that provides decision support in the initial definitive management of multiple trauma, TSARR (TraumAID System for Anatomical Representation and Reasoning) has been designed to address the need for greater depth in TraumAID\u27s understanding of anatomical reasoning. TSARR provides a framework for representing a three-dimensional model of relevant parts of the body; utilizing this model, TSARR is able to calculate three-dimensional representations of paths of injury, generated from wound locations input to the system. Using these paths, the system hypothesizes which anatomical structures in the patient might have been injured due to their location along a possible path of an injury. In the future, TraumAID will be able to utilize this information to focus its attention more accurately on specific areas of the body that have sustained injury. This work has been done in conjunction with the TraumAID project being conducted by Professor Bonnie Webber of the University of Pennsylvania and by Dr. John R. Clarke, MD, of the Medical College of Pennsylvania

Segmentation of Unstructured Datasets

Datasets generated by computer simulations and experiments in Computational Fluid Dynamics tend to be extremely large and complex. It is difficult to visualize these datasets using standard techniques like Volume Rendering and Ray Casting. Object Segmentation provides a technique to extract and quantify regions of interest within these massive datasets. This thesis explores basic algorithms to extract coherent amorphous regions from two-dimensional and three-dimensional scalar unstructured grids. The techniques are applied to datasets from Computational Fluid Dynamics and from Finite Element Analysis

A Scalable Safety Critical Control Framework for Nonlinear Systems

There are two main approaches to safety-critical control. The first one relies on computation of control invariant sets and is presented in the first part of this work. The second approach draws from the topic of optimal control and relies on the ability to realize Model-Predictive-Controllers online to guarantee the safety of a system. In the second approach, safety is ensured at a planning stage by solving the control problem subject for some explicitly defined constraints on the state and control input. Both approaches have distinct advantages but also major drawbacks that hinder their practical effectiveness, namely scalability for the first one and computational complexity for the second. We therefore present an approach that draws from the advantages of both approaches to deliver efficient and scalable methods of ensuring safety for nonlinear dynamical systems. In particular, we show that identifying a backup control law that stabilizes the system is in fact sufficient to exploit some of the set-invariance conditions presented in the first part of this work. Indeed, one only needs to be able to numerically integrate the closed-loop dynamics of the system over a finite horizon under this backup law to compute all the information necessary for evaluating the regulation map and enforcing safety. The effect of relaxing the stabilization requirements of the backup law is also studied, and weaker but more practical safety guarantees are brought forward. We then explore the relationship between the optimality of the backup law and how conservative the resulting safety filter is. Finally, methods of selecting a safe input with varying levels of trade-off between conservatism and computational complexity are proposed and illustrated on multiple robotic systems, namely: a two-wheeled inverted pendulum (Segway), an industrial manipulator, a quadrotor, and a lower body exoskeleton

Matrixfreie voxelbasierte Finite-Elemente-Methode für Materialien mit komplizierter Mikrostruktur

Modern image detection techniques such as micro computer tomography (μCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provide us with high resolution images of the microstructure of materials in a non-invasive and convenient way. They form the basis for the geometrical models of high-resolution analysis, so called image-based analysis. However especially in 3D, discretizations of these models reach easily the size of 100 Mill. degrees of freedoms and require extensive hardware resources in terms of main memory and computing power to solve the numerical model. Consequently, the focus of this work is to combine and adapt numerical solution methods to reduce the memory demand first and then the computation time and therewith enable an execution of the image-based analysis on modern computer desktops. Hence, the numerical model is a straightforward grid discretization of the voxel-based (pixels with a third dimension) geometry which omits the boundary detection algorithms and allows reduced storage of the finite element data structure and a matrix-free solution algorithm. This in turn reduce the effort of almost all applied grid-based solution techniques and results in memory efficient and numerically stable algorithms for the microstructural models. Two variants of the matrix-free algorithm are presented. The efficient iterative solution method of conjugate gradients is used with matrix-free applicable preconditioners such as the Jacobi and the especially suited multigrid method. The jagged material boundaries of the voxel-based mesh are smoothed through embedded boundary elements which contain different material information at the integration point and are integrated sub-cell wise though without additional boundary detection. The efficiency of the matrix-free methods can be retained.Moderne bildgebende Verfahren wie Mikro-Computertomographie (μCT), Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) und Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (SEM) liefern nicht-invasiv hochauflösende Bilder der Mikrostruktur von Materialien. Sie bilden die Grundlage der geometrischen Modelle der hochauflösenden bildbasierten Analysis. Allerdings erreichen vor allem in 3D die Diskretisierungen dieser Modelle leicht die Größe von 100 Mill. Freiheitsgraden und erfordern umfangreiche Hardware-Ressourcen in Bezug auf Hauptspeicher und Rechenleistung, um das numerische Modell zu lösen. Der Fokus dieser Arbeit liegt daher darin, numerische Lösungsmethoden zu kombinieren und anzupassen, um den Speicherplatzbedarf und die Rechenzeit zu reduzieren und damit eine Ausführung der bildbasierten Analyse auf modernen Computer-Desktops zu ermöglichen. Daher ist als numerisches Modell eine einfache Gitterdiskretisierung der voxelbasierten (Pixel mit der Tiefe als dritten Dimension) Geometrie gewählt, die die Oberflächenerstellung weglässt und eine reduzierte Speicherung der finiten Elementen und einen matrixfreien Lösungsalgorithmus ermöglicht. Dies wiederum verringert den Aufwand von fast allen angewandten gitterbasierten Lösungsverfahren und führt zu Speichereffizienz und numerisch stabilen Algorithmen für die Mikrostrukturmodelle. Es werden zwei Varianten der Anpassung der matrixfreien Lösung präsentiert, die Element-für-Element Methode und eine Knoten-Kanten-Variante. Die Methode der konjugierten Gradienten in Kombination mit dem Mehrgitterverfahren als sehr effizienten Vorkonditionierer wird für den matrixfreien Lösungsalgorithmus adaptiert. Der stufige Verlauf der Materialgrenzen durch die voxelbasierte Diskretisierung wird durch Elemente geglättet, die am Integrationspunkt unterschiedliche Materialinformationen enthalten und über Teilzellen integriert werden (embedded boundary elements). Die Effizienz der matrixfreien Verfahren bleibt erhalten

IsSuP : sistema para calculo e visualização de superficies isopotenciais

Orientador: Claudio Leonardo Lucchesi, Leo Pini MagalhãesDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: A visualização e a simulação de processos fisicos e o modelamento de fenômenos naturais vêm ocupando um espaço cada vez maior na ciência de computação. Abordagens recentes, que provêem soluções para essas aplicações são geralmente agrupadas sob o termo modelamento baseado em sistemas fisicos. Neste trabalho, é descrita uma aplicação de sistemas de partículas para o modelamento de superficies isopotenciais 3D geradas por cargas elétricas, através do Método Multipólos Rápido (MMR). O método sugere uma abordagem para acelerar a velocidade do cálculo das interaçôes entre as partículas para uma classe específica de problemas, onde as interações são definidas usando funções Para representar o espaço que contém as partículas elétricas é usada a estrutura de dados octree. As relações de vizinhança na octree ocupam um importante papel no MMR. O sistema resultante IsSuP - Isopotential Surfaces using Particles, um sistema flexível para a avaliação e o modelamento das superfícies isopotenciais 3D, é descrito. Para visualizar as superfícies é utilizada a biblioteca V3DTOOLS para visualização e processamento de volumes do sistema khoros. Resultados numéricos e imagens são apresentadasAbstract: The visualization and simulation of physical processes and the modelling of natural phenomena is playing an increasing role in computer science. Recent approaches, which provide solutions for these applications, are generally referenced under the term physically based modelling. Ao application of particle systems for modelling 3D isopotential surfaces generated by electrical charges using the Fast Multipole Method (FMM) is described. This method suggests an approach to accelerate the evaluation speed of the interactions among the particles for a specific cIass of problems, where the interactions are defined using potential functions. The octree is used to represent the space which contains the electrical charges. The neighborhood relation in the octree plays an important role in the FMM algoritlun. The resulting system, Is,SuP - Isopotential Surfaces using Particles, a t1exible system for the evaluation and modeUing 3D isopotential surfaces generated by means of electrical charges, is presented. The V3DTOOLS Toolbox for Volume Visualization and Processing for the Khoros System is used to visualize the surfaces. Numerical results and images are shownMestradoMestre em Ciência da Computaçã

A Scalable Safety Critical Control Framework for Nonlinear Systems

There are two main approaches to safety-critical control. The first one relies on computation of control invariant sets and is presented in the first part of this work. The second approach draws from the topic of optimal control and relies on the ability to realize Model-Predictive-Controllers online to guarantee the safety of a system. In the second approach, safety is ensured at a planning stage by solving the control problem subject for some explicitly defined constraints on the state and control input. Both approaches have distinct advantages but also major drawbacks that hinder their practical effectiveness, namely scalability for the first one and computational complexity for the second. We therefore present an approach that draws from the advantages of both approaches to deliver efficient and scalable methods of ensuring safety for nonlinear dynamical systems. In particular, we show that identifying a backup control law that stabilizes the system is in fact sufficient to exploit some of the set-invariance conditions presented in the first part of this work. Indeed, one only needs to be able to numerically integrate the closed-loop dynamics of the system over a finite horizon under this backup law to compute all the information necessary for evaluating the regulation map and enforcing safety. The effect of relaxing the stabilization requirements of the backup law is also studied, and weaker but more practical safety guarantees are brought forward. We then explore the relationship between the optimality of the backup law and how conservative the resulting safety filter is. Finally, methods of selecting a safe input with varying levels of trade-off between conservatism and computational complexity are proposed and illustrated on multiple robotic systems, namely: a two-wheeled inverted pendulum (Segway), an industrial manipulator, a quadrotor, and a lower body exoskeleton