A Neuro-Symbolic Approach for Enhanced Human Motion Prediction

Reasoning on the context of human beings is crucial for many real-world applications especially for those deploying autonomous systems (e.g. robots). In this paper, we present a new approach for context reasoning to further advance the field of human motion prediction. We therefore propose a neuro-symbolic approach for human motion prediction (NeuroSyM), which weights differently the interactions in the neighbourhood by leveraging an intuitive technique for spatial representation called Qualitative Trajectory Calculus (QTC). The proposed approach is experimentally tested on medium and long term time horizons using two architectures from the state of art, one of which is a baseline for human motion prediction and the other is a baseline for generic multivariate time-series prediction. Six datasets of challenging crowded scenarios, collected from both fixed and mobile cameras, were used for testing. Experimental results show that the NeuroSyM approach outperforms in most cases the baseline architectures in terms of prediction accuracy

Representation of business processes at multiple levels of abstraction (strategic, tactical and operational) during the requirements elicitation stage of a software project, and the measurement of their functional size with ISO 19761

This thesis aims at helping software engineers and business analysts to better model business processes when those models are meant to be used: for software requirements specification, and for functional size measurement purposes. The research goal of this thesis is to contribute to the representation of business processes for its use during the requirements elicitation stage of a software project. To achieve this goal, two research objectives are clearly defined: 1. To propose a novel modeling approach that generates business process models intended to be used in a software requirements elicitation activity. The modeling approach should not significantly increase the complexity of the modeling notations used to represent the business processes; and it must allow the active participation of the various stakeholders involved in a typical software project in order to represent, in a consistent and structured way, their needs and constraints. 2. To develop a procedure to measure the functional size of a software application from the business process models representing it. This measurement procedure should be compatible with the COSMIC ISO 19761 standard; and it should be able to be used independently of the modeling notation used to represent the business process. To achieve the first objective, this thesis proposes a novel modeling approach (coined BPM+) that models business processes at three levels of abstraction: strategic, tactical and operational. An a priori version of BPM+ was designed based on the findings of the literature review. This a priori version was iteratively refined through a pilot case study in industry, a series of ontological analyses, and a survey of experts. As a result, a reviewed version of BPM+ was proposed. The reviewed version was evaluated through a second case study in industry. Therefore, the design of BPM+ has been based on a triangulation of evidences obtained from various sources. To achieve the second objective, the measurement procedure was developed from an analytical comparison between the specifications of COSMIC and those of the modeling notations selected for this research (i.e. BPMN and Qualigram). This analytical comparison helped to define a set of modeling guidelines for the business application software domain. The comparison also allowed defining a set of mapping rules between the modeling notations’ constructs and the COSMIC concepts. In addition, the modeling guidelines were adapted for their application to the real-time software domain. The measurement procedure was evaluated by comparing its measurement results to those obtained in COSMIC reference case studies. The research results demonstrate that: 1. BPM+ allows generating business process models that represent in a consistent and structured way the needs of various stakeholders. 2. Qualigram notation is better suited to BPM+’s design. In addition, Qualigram notation is preferred to be used for non-IT stakeholders, while BPMN is preferred for IT stakeholders. 3. The measurement procedure was successfully applied using two different notations: Qualigram and BPMN, and in two different software domains: the business application domain and the real-time domain. 4. The accuracy of the measurement procedure is in conformity with all the rules of the ISO 19761 standard

Pré-processamento de dados de trajetórias para mineração de dados e análise de similaridade

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Sistemas de Informação.O crescimento do uso de dispositivos móveis com sensores GPS possibilitou o aumento da coleta e disponibilidade de dados do movimento de indivíduos como um novo tipo de dado, chamado de trajetória. Sobre esse tipo de dado foram propostas diversas técnicas de mineração para encontrar padrões no movimento de indivíduos. Entretanto, vários fatores durante a coleta podem afetar diretamente a estrutura e qualidade dos dados para tarefas de mineração e análise de similaridade, implicando diretamente em seu resultado. Por exemplo: i) dois indivíduos, realizando movimentos idênticos, geram trajetórias distintas quando seus aparelhos GPS estão configurados com diferentes intervalos de registro; ii) interferência no sinal do GPS causada por grandes obstáculos, como prédios e montanhas, geram ruídos e/ou gaps ao longo da trajetória; iii) trajetórias coletadas continuamente por um longo período não permitem identificar onde o indivíduo iniciou ou terminou determinado percurso. Por causa desses fatores, ocorridos ao longo da coleta, é necessário realizar um pré-processamento nos dados das trajetórias para garantir sua estrutura e qualidade através da aplicação de técnicas de organização e limpeza de trajetórias brutas, de acordo com critérios relevantes para o domínio de aplicação. Essas técnicas podem compactar a trajetória, reduzindo o número de pontos onde o indivíduo ficou parado, eliminar ruídos ou segmentar e selecionar trechos relevantes da trajetória. Como por exemplo, selecionar trechos de trajetórias entre duas regiões importantes da cidade em uma aplicação para análise de mobilidade. Desta forma este trabalho identifica e reúne métodos para organização, limpeza e pré-processamento de trajetórias brutas, de modo a melhorar a qualidade e estrutura dos dados para permitir a aplicação de diferentes técnicas de mineração e análise de similaridade em trajetórias. Tais métodos serão reunidos em um sistema que permitirá a manipulação de bases de trajetórias brutas. Esse sistema será utilizado para organizar bases públicas de trajetórias brutas, comumente utilizadas na literatura em um estudo de caso. Por fim, técnicas de análise de similaridade em trajetórias serão aplicadas para comparar as bases organizadas e pré-processadas em relação com as bases de trajetórias originais, avaliando a variação do resultado