208,228 research outputs found
Optimal sampling paths for autonomous vehicles in uncertain ocean flows
Despite an extensive history of oceanic observation, researchers have only begun to build a complete picture of oceanic currents. Sparsity of instrumentation has created the need to maximize the information extracted from every source of data in building this picture. Within the last few decades, autonomous vehicles, or AVs, have been employed as tools to aid in this research initiative. Unmanned and self-propelled, AVs are capable of spending weeks, if not months, exploring and monitoring the oceans. However, the quality of data acquired by these vehicles is highly dependent on the paths along which they collect their observational data. The focus of this research is to find optimal sampling paths for autonomous vehicles, with the goal of building the most accurate estimate of a velocity field in the shortest time possible.
The two main numerical tools employed in this work are the level set method for time-optimal path planning, and the Kalman filter for state estimation and uncertainty quantification. Specifically, the uncertainty associated with the velocity field is defined as the trace of the covariance matrix corresponding to the Kalman filter equations. The novelty in this work is the covariance tracking algorithm, which evolves this covariance matrix along the time-optimal trajectories defined by the level set method, and determines the path expected to minimize the uncertainty corresponding to the flow field by the end of deployment. While finding optimal sampling paths using this method is straightforward for the single-vehicle problem, it becomes increasingly difficult as the number of AVs grows. As such, an iterative procedure is presented here for multi-vehicle problems, which in simple cases can be proven to find controls that collectively minimizes the expected uncertainty, assuming that such a minimum exists.
This work demonstrates the utility of combining methods from optimal control theory and estimation theory for learning uncertain fields using fleets of autonomous vehicles. Additionally, it shows that by optimizing over long-duration, continuous trajectories, superior results can be obtained when compared to ad hoc approaches such as a gradient-following control. This is demonstrated for both single-vehicle and multi-vehicle problems, and for static and evolving flow models
Human Motion Trajectory Prediction: A Survey
With growing numbers of intelligent autonomous systems in human environments,
the ability of such systems to perceive, understand and anticipate human
behavior becomes increasingly important. Specifically, predicting future
positions of dynamic agents and planning considering such predictions are key
tasks for self-driving vehicles, service robots and advanced surveillance
systems. This paper provides a survey of human motion trajectory prediction. We
review, analyze and structure a large selection of work from different
communities and propose a taxonomy that categorizes existing methods based on
the motion modeling approach and level of contextual information used. We
provide an overview of the existing datasets and performance metrics. We
discuss limitations of the state of the art and outline directions for further
research.Comment: Submitted to the International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR),
37 page
A General Spatio-Temporal Clustering-Based Non-local Formulation for Multiscale Modeling of Compartmentalized Reservoirs
Representing the reservoir as a network of discrete compartments with
neighbor and non-neighbor connections is a fast, yet accurate method for
analyzing oil and gas reservoirs. Automatic and rapid detection of coarse-scale
compartments with distinct static and dynamic properties is an integral part of
such high-level reservoir analysis. In this work, we present a hybrid framework
specific to reservoir analysis for an automatic detection of clusters in space
using spatial and temporal field data, coupled with a physics-based multiscale
modeling approach. In this work a novel hybrid approach is presented in which
we couple a physics-based non-local modeling framework with data-driven
clustering techniques to provide a fast and accurate multiscale modeling of
compartmentalized reservoirs. This research also adds to the literature by
presenting a comprehensive work on spatio-temporal clustering for reservoir
studies applications that well considers the clustering complexities, the
intrinsic sparse and noisy nature of the data, and the interpretability of the
outcome.
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Spatio-Temporal
Clustering; Physics-Based Data-Driven Formulation; Multiscale Modelin
Optimal trajectory generation in ocean flows
In this paper it is shown that Lagrangian Coherent
Structures (LCS) are useful in determining near optimal
trajectories for autonomous underwater gliders in a dynamic
ocean environment. This opens the opportunity for optimal
path planning of autonomous underwater vehicles by studying
the global flow geometry via dynamical systems methods. Optimal
glider paths were computed for a 2-dimensional kinematic
model of an end-point glider problem. Numerical solutions to
the optimal control problem were obtained using Nonlinear
Trajectory Generation (NTG) software. The resulting solution
is compared to corresponding results on LCS obtained using
the Direct Lyapunov Exponent method. The velocity data
used for these computations was obtained from measurements
taken in August, 2000, by HF-Radar stations located around
Monterey Bay, CA
Last planner and critical chain in construction management: comparative analysis
This paper endeavours to compare the Last Planner System of production control and the Critical Chain production management method. This comparison is carried out in the context of construction management. The original prescription and the evolution of the practice are examined regarding both approaches, and the similarities and differences are noted. Based on these considerations, gaps in the two approaches are identified and the potential of a synthesis of them is explored
A Rotating-Grid Upwind Fast Sweeping Scheme for a Class of Hamilton-Jacobi Equations
We present a fast sweeping method for a class of Hamilton-Jacobi equations
that arise from time-independent problems in optimal control theory. The basic
method in two dimensions uses a four point stencil and is extremely simple to
implement. We test our basic method against Eikonal equations in different
norms, and then suggest a general method for rotating the grid and using
additional approximations to the derivatives in different directions in order
to more accurately capture characteristic flow. We display the utility of our
method by applying it to relevant problems from engineering
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