Adaptive Indoor Pedestrian Tracking Using Foot-Mounted Miniature Inertial Sensor

This dissertation introduces a positioning system for measuring and tracking the momentary location of a pedestrian, regardless of the environmental variations. This report proposed a 6-DOF (degrees of freedom) foot-mounted miniature inertial sensor for indoor localization which has been tested with simulated and real-world data. To estimate the orientation, velocity and position of a pedestrian we describe and implement a Kalman filter (KF) based framework, a zero-velocity updates (ZUPTs) methodology, as well as, a zero-velocity (ZV) detection algorithm. The novel approach presented in this dissertation uses the interactive multiple model (IMM) filter in order to determine the exact state of pedestrian with changing dynamics. This work evaluates the performance of the proposed method in two different ways: At first a vehicle traveling in a straight line is simulated using commonly used kinematic motion models in the area of tracking (constant velocity (CV), constant acceleration (CA) and coordinated turn (CT) models) which demonstrates accurate state estimation of targets with changing dynamics is achieved through the use of multiple model filter models. We conclude by proposing an interactive multiple model estimator based adaptive indoor pedestrian tracking system for handling dynamic motion which can incorporate different motion types (walking, running, sprinting and ladder climbing) whose threshold is determined individually and IMM adjusts itself adaptively to correct the change in motion models. Results indicate that the overall IMM performance will at all times be similar to the best individual filter model within the IMM

Mixed Reality for Manufacturing Execution Systems

A quarta revolução industrial, também conhecida como Indústria 4.0, marca o início de uma nova era onde novos avanços tecnológicos são incluídos e integrados em processos industriais com o intuito de os tornarem mais eficientes. A introdução de sistemas Cyber-Physical, Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, entre outros, permite a implementação de uma fábrica inteligente, onde todos os sistemas comunicam e interagem de uma forma autónoma e assíncrona, resultando num processo de tomada de decisão descentralizada. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)¸ são sistemas que permitem, entre muitas funcionalidades, a gestão e execução de processos de manufatura e do chão de fábrica, com o objetivo de manter um alto desempenho num ambiente complexo e com mudanças constantes. Com esta nova revolução industrial, surgiu a necessidade de os repensar e reestruturar, de modo a que contemplem e sejam compatíveis com as novas tecnologias, de modo a que possam oferecer uma abordagem de tomada de decisão descentralizada. Atualmente, a Critical Manufacturing desenvolve e oferece um sistema MES que está adaptado às necessidades da Indústria 4.0 através da implementação de tecnologias avançadas. Porém, estes avanços tecnológicos originam uma alta quantidade de dados que nem sempre são transformados em conhecimento. O uso de sistemas inteligentes e interoperáveis na Indústria 4.0 não implica que os operadores e outros trabalhadores sejam substituídos. Pelo contrário, estes terão ainda mais responsabilidades e uma maior complexidade nas suas tarefas diárias, exigindo que sejam altamente flexíveis e adaptáveis. Contudo, ainda que se conformem com este tipo de ambiente, a complexidade acrescida resulta numa diminuição de produtividade. A Realidade Mista é um conceito onde o mundo real é combinado com conteúdo virtual que, ao contrário do que acontece na Realidade Aumentada, está ligado e conectado com a realidade, implicando que variações num extremo provoquem alterações no outro. Esta mistura é visualmente exibida através de dispositivos de apresentação, proporcionando ao utilizar uma perceção aumentada do seu meio envolvente e oferecendo funcionalidades através da interação com o conteúdo virtual. O uso deste conceito na Indústria 4.0 abre uma nova porta na interação entre humanos e máquinas e suporte ao operador. Contudo, verifica-se uma falta de investigação e estudo nesta área, onde utilizações e casos de uso básicos ainda não estão explorados. Esta dissertação propõe uma solução onde a realidade mista é usada e integrada no sistema MES da Critical Manufacturing, tirando partido das suas tecnologias e dos dados gerados por outros sistemas e tecnologias de forma a oferecer uma nova abordagem de interação com os objetos físicos presentes no chão de fábrica. Oobjetivo principal é o de diminuir a complexidade das tarefas diárias dos operadores e dos engenheiros, contribuindo para a preservação do alto desempenho dos processos de manufatura e aumento da produtividade. A intenção desta solução é de servir como uma prova de conceito, revelando o potencial da introdução da realidade mista em sistemas MES e no contexto da Indústria 4.0.The fourth industrial revolution, also referred to as Industry 4.0, outlines the beginning of a new era where new technological advancements are put together to make industrial processes more efficient. The introduction of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud computing, and other concepts, drives what is referred to as a “smart factory” in which the different systems are able to autonomously communicate and interact, resulting in a decentralized decision-making process. With this revolution, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) need to be rationalized and restructured, contemplating the introduction of these advancements and being able to offer a decentralized approach to manufacturing processes. Currently, Critical Manufacturing develops and delivers a MES that is adapted to the requirements of the Industry 4.0. However, the amount of data generated by these technologies is not always transformed into knowledge for the customer. The use of intelligent and interoperable systems in the Industry 4.0 does not mean that human workers are being replaced. On the contrary, shop-floor operators and engineers are beginning to perceive an increased complexity in their daily tasks, requiring them to be highly flexible and adaptable in a hard-working environment. Nevertheless, this increased complexity results in a decrease in the overall productivity. Mixed Reality (MR) allows to blend the real world with digital content that is connected to it, resulting in a mixed environment that isfurther presented to the user in the same display device. The usage of this technology in the Industry 4.0 opens a new door to human-machine interaction and operator support. However, this topic is still very under-researched and basic use cases are still unexplored. This dissertation proposes a solution where mixed reality is used and integrated with Critical Manufacturing’s Industry 4.0-ready MES, taking advantage of its technologies and data flowing in the system in order to ease the shop-floor engineer daily tasks. The main intention of this subject is to serve as a proof of concept, revealing the potential of the inclusion of mixed reality in a manufacturing execution system in the context of the Industry 4.0

Design and testing of a position adaptation system for KUKA robots using photoelectric sensors

This thesis presents the development and analysis of a position monitoring and adaptation system to be used in conjunction with a KUKA KR16-2 articulated robot using components readily available in most manufacturing settings. This system could be beneficial in the manufacturing sector in areas such as polymer welding and spray painting. In the former it could be used to maintain an effective distance between a welding end effector laying molten plastic and the surface area of the parts being welded, or in the case of the latter the system would be useful in painting objects of unknown shape or objects with unknown variations in the surface level. In the case of spray painting if you spray to close to an object you will get an inconsistent amount of paint applied to an area. This system would maintain the programmed distance between the robot system and target object. Typically, systems that achieve this level of control rely on expensive sensors such as force torque sensors. This research proposes to take the first step in trying to address the technical problems by introducing a novel way of adapting to a target surface deformation using comparably low cost photoelectric diffuse sensors. The key outcomes of this thesis can be found in the form of a software package to interface the photo-electric sensors to the KUKA robot system. This system is operated by a custom-built algorithm which is capable of dynamically calculating robot movements based off the sensor input. Additionally, an optimum system setup is developed with different configurations of sensor mounting and speeds of robot operation discussed and tested. The viability of the photo-electric diffuses sensors used in this application is also considered with further works suggested. Finally, a secondary application is developed for recording and analysing KUKA robot movements for use in other research activities

Development of a handheld fiber-optic probe-based raman imaging instrumentation: raman chemlighter

Raman systems based on handheld fiber-optic probes offer advantages in terms of smaller sizes and easier access to the measurement sites, which are favorable for biomedical and clinical applications in the complex environment. However, there are several common drawbacks of applying probes for many applications: (1) The fixed working distance requires the user to maintain a certain working distance to acquire higher Raman signals; (2) The single-point-measurement ability restricts realizing a mapping or scanning procedure; (3) Lack of real-time data processing and a straightforward co-registering method to link the Raman information with the respective measurement position. The thesis proposed and experimentally demonstrated various approaches to overcome these drawbacks. A handheld fiber-optic Raman probe with an autofocus unit was presented to overcome the problem arising from using fixed-focus lenses, by using a liquid lens as the objective lens, which allows dynamical adjustment of the focal length of the probe. An implementation of a computer vision-based positional tracking to co-register the regular Raman spectroscopic measurements with the spatial location enables fast recording of a Raman image from a large tissue sample by combining positional tracking of the laser spot through brightfield images. The visualization of the Raman image has been extended to augmented and mixed reality and combined with a 3D reconstruction method and projector-based visualization to offer an intuitive and easily understandable way of presenting the Raman image. All these advances are substantial and highly beneficial to further drive the clinical translation of Raman spectroscopy as potential image-guided instrumentation

1st Symposium of Applied Science for Young Researchers: proceedings

SASYR, the rst Symposium of Applied Science for Young Researchers, welcomes works from young researchers (master students) covering any aspect of all the scienti c areas of the three research centres ADiT-lab (IPVC, Instituto Polit ecnico de Viana do Castelo), 2Ai (IPCA, Instituto Polit ecnico do C avado e do Ave) and CeDRI (IPB, Instituto Polit ecnico de Bragan ca). The main objective of SASYR is to provide a friendly and relaxed environment for young researchers to present their work, to discuss recent results and to develop new ideas. In this way, it will provide an opportunity to the ADiT-lab, 2Ai and CeDRI research communities to gather synergies and indicate possible paths for future joint work. We invite you to join SASYR on 7 July and to share your research!info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio