An Export Architecture for a Multimedia Authoring Environment

In this paper, we propose an export architecture that provides a clear separation of authoring services from publication services. We illustrate this architecture with the LimSee3 authoring tool and several standard publication formats: Timesheets, SMIL, and XHTML

Planning and Real Time Control of a Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery System

This paper introduces the planning and control software of a teleoperating robotic system for minimally invasive surgery. It addresses the problem of how to organize a complex system with 41 degrees of freedom including robot setup planning, force feedback control and nullspace handling with three robotic arms. The planning software is separated into sequentially executed planning and registration procedures. An optimal setup is first planned in virtual reality and then adapted to variations in the operating room. The real time control system is composed of hierarchical layers. The design is flexible and expandable without losing performance. Structure, functionality and implementation of planning and control are described. The robotic system provides the surgeon with an intuitive hand-eye-coordination and force feedback in teleoperation for both hands

Control strategy for cooperating disparate manipulators

To manipulate large payloads typical of space construction, the concept of a small arm mounted on the end of a large arm is introduced. The main purposes of such a configuration are to increase the structural stiffness of the robot by bracing against or locking to a stationary frame, and to maintain a firm position constraint between the robot's base and workpieces by grasping them. Possible topologies for a combination of disparate large and small arms are discussed, and kinematics, dynamics, controls, and coordination of the two arms, especially when they brace at the tip of the small arm, are developed. The feasibility and improvement in performance are verified, not only with analytical work and simulation results but also with experiments on the existing arrangement Robotic Arm Large and Flexible and Small Articulated Manipulator

Principles for increased resilience in critical networked infrastructures

We propose a framework for deploying stronger, intelligent resilience mechanisms in mission-critical ATM networks over and above that offered by physical n-fold redundancy. We compare the challenges facing power and data network resilience and discuss disruptive threats to real-world operations. Using recorded live data from an ATM data network we argue our proposed architecture with deployable, distributed on-demand anomaly detection and monitoring modules provides enhanced fail-secure versus current fail-safe resilience

A 17 degree of freedom anthropomorphic manipulator

A 17 axis anthropomorphic manipulator, providing coordinated control of two seven degree of freedom arms mounted on a three degree of freedom torso-waist assembly, is presented. This massively redundant telerobot, designated the Robotics Research K/B-2017 Dexterous Manipulator, employs a modular mechanism design with joint-mounted actuators based on brushless motors and harmonic drive gear reducers. Direct joint torque control at the servo level causes these high-output joint drives to behave like direct-drive actuators, facilitating the implementation of an effective impedance control scheme. The redundant, but conservative motion control system models the manipulator as a spring-loaded linkage with viscous damping and rotary inertia at each joint. This approach allows for real time, sensor-driven control of manipulator pose using a hierarchy of competing rules, or objective functions, to avoid unplanned collisions with objects in the workplace, to produce energy-efficient, graceful motion, to increase leverage, to control effective impedance at the tool or to favor overloaded joints

Distributed data fusion algorithms for inertial network systems

New approaches to the development of data fusion algorithms for inertial network systems are described. The aim of this development is to increase the accuracy of estimates of inertial state vectors in all the network nodes, including the navigation states, and also to improve the fault tolerance of inertial network systems. An analysis of distributed inertial sensing models is presented and new distributed data fusion algorithms are developed for inertial network systems. The distributed data fusion algorithm comprises two steps: inertial measurement fusion and state fusion. The inertial measurement fusion allows each node to assimilate all the inertial measurements from an inertial network system, which can improve the performance of inertial sensor failure detection and isolation algorithms by providing more information. The state fusion further increases the accuracy and enhances the integrity of the local inertial states and navigation state estimates. The simulation results show that the two-step fusion procedure overcomes the disadvantages of traditional inertial sensor alignment procedures. The slave inertial nodes can be accurately aligned to the master node

Tubulins in C. elegans

The C. elegans tubulin family is composed of nine α-, six β-, and one γ-tubulin. Tubulins are highly conserved, functioning as α-β heterodimers that assemble into microtubules. These cylindrical and ubiquitous components of the cytoskeleton are critical for nearly all cellular and developmental processes. C. elegans has provided a model for the study of microtubules in multiple settings including separation of chromosomes, cellular polarity, and neuronal sensation. Tubulins and microtubules interact with a long list of other cellular proteins that regulate tubulin homeostasis, modify microtubule dynamics, and control incorporation into or disassociation of higher-order cellular structures such as spindles or ciliary axonemes. A collection of enzymes modifies tubulins, often at the variable carboxyl-terminal tail, adding another layer of regulation to microtubule structure and function. Genetic and cytological studies in C. elegans have revealed roles for tubulin and its associated proteins in numerous contexts from embryogenesis to adult behavior

System engineering approach applied to Galileo system

Developing a localization system, with more precise performances than GPS that guarantees Europe autonomy is a complex challenge that ESA and a large number of European economical actors of space industry were decided to meet. To design and manage such a huge system would have been impossible without applying System Engineering best practices, thanks to fundamental activities, multidisciplinary teams and dedicated tools. This paper gives an overview of the System Engineering approach applied to design and develop Galileo, the European Satellite Radio-Navigation System. Galileo system scope is so wide that we have decided to focus on some particular steps of the System Engineering processes that are: Requirements Engineering and Architec-ture. All along this paper, examples are given to illustrate the additional difficulties that have made Systems Engineering more and more complex

Benchmarking Particle Filter Algorithms for Efficient Velodyne-Based Vehicle Localization

Keeping a vehicle well-localized within a prebuilt-map is at the core of any autonomous vehicle navigation system. In this work, we show that both standard SIR sampling and rejection-based optimal sampling are suitable for efficient (10 to 20 ms) real-time pose tracking without feature detection that is using raw point clouds from a 3D LiDAR. Motivated by the large amount of information captured by these sensors, we perform a systematic statistical analysis of how many points are actually required to reach an optimal ratio between efficiency and positioning accuracy. Furthermore, initialization from adverse conditions, e.g., poor GPS signal in urban canyons, we also identify the optimal particle filter settings required to ensure convergence. Our findings include that a decimation factor between 100 and 200 on incoming point clouds provides a large savings in computational cost with a negligible loss in localization accuracy for a VLP-16 scanner. Furthermore, an initial density of ∼2 particles/m 2 is required to achieve 100% convergence success for large-scale (∼100,000 m 2 ), outdoor global localization without any additional hint from GPS or magnetic field sensors. All implementations have been released as open-source software