Improving crane safety by agent-based dynamic motion planning using UWB real-time location system

The safe operation of cranes requires not only the experience of the operator, but also sufficient and appropriate support in real time. Due to the dynamic nature of construction sites, unexpected changes in the site layout may create new obstacles for the crane that can result in collisions and accidents. Limited research has been done on efficient re-planning for cranes with near real-time environment updating while considering communications between construction crews. To improve the safety of mobile crane operations and to provide more awareness on site, the present research proposes a near real-time monitoring and motion planning approach to improve crane safety on construction sites using an ultra wideband (UWB) real-time location system (RTLS) technology. In addition, an agent system framework is proposed to guide crane operators for safe crane operations by enhancing environment awareness and by providing intelligent re-planning. Location data are collected from tags attached to cranes and are processed by the agent system to identify the poses of dynamic objects, which is used to generate a new motion plan to guide the crane movement and thus to avoid potential collision. A motion planning algorithm, RRT-Con-Con-Mod, is proposed to efficiently generate safe and smooth paths for crane motions, mainly for the boom movement, while taking into account the engineering constraints and the path quality. A dynamic motion planning algorithm, DRRT-Con-Con-Mod, is proposed to ensure safety during the execution phase by quickly re-planning and avoiding collisions. In addition, an anytime algorithm is proposed to search for better solutions during a given time period by improving the path smoothness and by reducing the path execution time. The proposed algorithms are compared with other motion planning and re-planning algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithms can quickly find a safe and smooth motion plan. Several tests of a UWB system have been applied in the laboratory and in indoor and outdoor environments to investigate the requirements of applying UWB on construction sites, that is, requirements including accuracy, visibility, scalability, and real-time. To satisfy these requirements, the configuration of the UWB system has been analyzed in detail to decide the sensors’ and tags’ locations and numbers based on heuristic rules. These tests show a good potential for using UWB tracking technology in construction sites by processing and organizing location data into useful information for near real-time environment updating. Furthermore, the framework of an agent system is proposed to integrate the proposed methodologies of motion planning and near real-time tracking. Different agents are created to represent the equipment, to coordinate tasks, and to update the site information. The functions of these agents include exchanging information, deciding priorities, etc. The current research will benefit the construction industry by providing more awareness of dynamic construction site conditions, a safer and more efficient work site, and more reliable decision support based on good communications

An investigation into the utility of wearable sensor derived biofeedback on the motor control of the lumbar spine

Lower back pain (LBP) is a disability that affects a large proportion of the population and treatment for this has been shifting towards a more individualized, patient-centered approach. There has been a recent uptake in the utilization and implementation of wearable sensors that can administer biofeedback in various industrial, clinical, and performance-based settings. The overall aim of this Master’s thesis was to investigate how wearable sensors can be used in a sensorimotor (re)training approach, including how sensory biofeedback from wearable sensors can be used to improve measures of spinal motor control and proprioception. Two complementary research studies were completed to address this overall aim. As a systematic review, Study #1 focused on addressing the lack of consensus surrounding wearable sensor derived biofeedback and spine motor control. The results of this review suggest that haptic/vibrotactile feedback is the most common and that it is administered in an instantaneous real-time manner within most experimental paradigms. Further, study #1 identified clear gaps within the research literature. Specifically, future research would benefit from more clarity regarding study design, and movement instructions, and explicit definitions of biofeedback parameters to enhance reproducibility. The aim of Study #2 was to assess the acute effects of wearable sensor-derived auditory biofeedback on gross lumbar proprioception. To assess this, participants completed a target repositioning protocol, followed by a training period where they were provided with auditory feedback for two of four targets based on a percentage of their lumbar ROM. Results suggest that mid-range targets benefitted most from the acute auditory feedback training. Further, individuals with poorer repositioning abilities in the pre-training assessment showed the greatest improvements from the auditory feedback training. This suggests that auditory biofeedback training may be an effective tool to improve proprioception in those with proprioceptive deficits. Collectively these complimentary research studies will improve the understanding surrounding the ecological utility of wearable sensor derived biofeedback in industrial, clinical, and performance settings to enhance to sensorimotor control of the lumbar region

飛行ロボットにおける人間・ロボットインタラクションの実現に向けて : ユーザー同伴モデルとセンシングインターフェース

学位の種別: 課程博士審査委員会委員 : （主査）東京大学准教授 矢入 健久, 東京大学教授 堀 浩一, 東京大学教授 岩崎 晃, 東京大学教授 土屋 武司, 東京理科大学教授 溝口 博University of Tokyo(東京大学

The Second International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Message from the Conference Co-Chairs B. Han and S. Falan …………………………....….……………. 5 II. Message from the Transactions Editor H. Lee …...………..………….......………….……….………….... 7 III. Referred Papers A. Emerging Health Information Technology and Applications The Role of Mobile Technology in Enhancing the Use of Personal Health Records Mohamed Abouzahra and Joseph Tan………………….……………. 9 Mobile Health Information Technology and Patient Care: Methods, Themes, and Research Gaps Bahae Samhan, Majid Dadgar, and K. D. Joshi…………..…. 18 A Balanced Perspective to Perioperative Process Management Jim Ryan, Barbara Doster, Sandra Daily, and Carmen Lewis…..….…………… 30 The Impact of Big Data on the Healthcare Information Systems Kuo Lane Chen and Huei Lee………….…………… 43 B. Health Care Communication, Literacy, and Patient Care Quality Digital Illness Narratives: A New Form of Health Communication Jofen Han and Jo Wiley…..….……..…. 47 Relationships, Caring, and Near Misses: Michael’s Story Sharie Falan and Bernard Han……………….…..…. 53 What is Your Informatics Skills Level? -- The Reliability of an Informatics Competency Measurement Tool Xiaomeng Sun and Sharie Falan.….….….….….….…. 61 C. Health Information Standardization and Interoperability Standardization Needs for Effective Interoperability Marilyn Skrocki…………………….…….………….… 76 Data Interoperability and Information Security in Healthcare Reid Berryman, Nathan Yost, Nicholas Dunn, and Christopher Edwards.…. 84 Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) Shared Services vs. the HIE Shared Services in Other States Devon O’Toole, Sean O’Toole, and Logan Steely…..……….…… 94 D. Health information Security and Regulation A Threat Table Based Approach to Telemedicine Security John C. Pendergrass, Karen Heart, C. Ranganathan, and V.N. Venkatakrishnan …. 104 Managing Government Regulatory Requirements for Security and Privacy Using Existing Standard Models Gregory Schymik and Dan Shoemaker…….…….….….… 112 Challenges of Mobile Healthcare Application Security Alan Rea………………………….……………. 118 E. Healthcare Management and Administration Analytical Methods for Planning and Scheduling Daily Work in Inpatient Care Settings: Opportunities for Research and Practice Laila Cure….….……………..….….….….… 121 Predictive Modeling in Post-reform Marketplace Wu-Chyuan Gau, Andrew France, Maria E. Moutinho, Carl D. Smith, and Morgan C. Wang…………...…. 131 A Study on Generic Prescription Substitution Policy as a Cost Containment Approach for Michigan’s Medicaid System Khandaker Nayeemul Islam…….…...……...………………….… 140 F. Health Information Technology Quality Assessment and Medical Service Delivery Theoretical, Methodological and Practical Challenges in Designing Formative Evaluations of Personal eHealth Tools Michael S. Dohan and Joseph Tan……………….……. 150 The Principles of Good Health Care in the U.S. in the 2010s Andrew Targowski…………………….……. 161 Health Information Technology in American Medicine: A Historical Perspective Kenneth A. Fisher………………….……. 171 G. Health Information Technology and Medical Practice Monitoring and Assisting Maternity-Infant Care in Rural Areas (MAMICare) Juan C. Lavariega, Gustavo Córdova, Lorena G Gómez, Alfonso Avila….… 175 An Empirical Study of Home Healthcare Robots Adoption Using the UTUAT Model Ahmad Alaiad, Lina Zhou, and Gunes Koru.…………………….….………. 185 HDQM2: Healthcare Data Quality Maturity Model Javier Mauricio Pinto-Valverde, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Guardado, Lorena Gomez-Martinez, Martha Corrales-Estrada, and Juan Carlos Lavariega-Jarquín.… 199 IV. A List of Reviewers …………………………..…….………………………208 V. WMU – IT Forum 2014 Call for Papers …..…….…………………20

Modeling Crowd Mobility and Communication in Wireless Networks

This dissertation presents contributions to the fields of mobility modeling, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with mobile sinks, and opportunistic communication in theme parks. The two main directions of our contributions are human mobility models and strategies for the mobile sink positioning and communication in wireless networks. The first direction of the dissertation is related to human mobility modeling. Modeling the movement of human subjects is important to improve the performance of wireless networks with human participants and the validation of such networks through simulations. The movements in areas such as theme parks follow specific patterns that are not taken into consideration by the general purpose mobility models. We develop two types of mobility models of theme park visitors. The first model represents the typical movement of visitors as they are visiting various attractions and landmarks of the park. The second model represents the movement of the visitors as they aim to evacuate the park after a natural or man-made disaster. The second direction focuses on the movement patterns of mobile sinks and their communication in responding to various events and incidents within the theme park. When an event occurs, the system needs to determine which mobile sink will respond to the event and its trajectory. The overall objective is to optimize the event coverage by minimizing the time needed for the chosen mobile sink to reach the incident area. We extend this work by considering the positioning problem of mobile sinks and preservation of the connected topology. We propose a new variant of p-center problem for optimal placement and communication of the mobile sinks. We provide a solution to this problem through collaborative event coverage of the WSNs with mobile sinks. Finally, we develop a network model with opportunistic communication for tracking the evacuation of theme park visitors during disasters. This model involves people with smartphones that store and carry messages. The mobile sinks are responsible for communicating with the smartphones and reaching out to the regions of the emergent events

Modeling Learner Mood In Realtime Through Biosensors For Intelligent Tutoring Improvements

Computer-based instructors, just like their human counterparts, should monitor the emotional and cognitive states of their students in order to adapt instructional technique. Doing so requires a model of student state to be available at run time, but this has historically been difficult. Because people are different, generalized models have not been able to be validated. As a person’s cognitive and affective state vary over time of day and seasonally, individualized models have had differing difficulties. The simultaneous creation and execution of an individualized model, in real time, represents the last option for modeling such cognitive and affective states. This dissertation presents and evaluates four differing techniques for the creation of cognitive and affective models that are created on-line and in real time for each individual user as alternatives to generalized models. Each of these techniques involves making predictions and modifications to the model in real time, addressing the real time datastream problems of infinite length, detection of new concepts, and responding to how concepts change over time. Additionally, with the knowledge that a user is physically present, this work investigates the contribution that the occasional direct user query can add to the overall quality of such models. The research described in this dissertation finds that the creation of a reasonable quality affective model is possible with an infinitesimal amount of time and without “ground truth” knowledge of the user, which is shown across three different emotional states. Creation of a cognitive model in the same fashion, however, was not possible via direct AI modeling, even with all of the “ground truth” information available, which is shown across four different cognitive states

Law in the present future : approaching the legal imaginary of smart cities with science (and) fiction

This doctoral research concerns smart cities, describing digital solutions and social issues related to their innovative technologies, adopted models, and major projects around the world. The many perspectives mentioned in it were identified by online tools used for the textual analysis of two databases that were built from relevant publications on the main subject by authors coming from media and academia. Expected legal elements emerged from the applied process, such as privacy, security, transparency, participation, accountability, and governance. A general review was produced on the information available about the public policies of Big Data in the two municipal cases of Rio de Janeiro and Montréal, and their regulation in the Brazilian and Canadian contexts. The combined approaches from science and literature were explored to reflect on the normative concerns represented by the global challenges and local risks brought by urban surveillance, climate change, and other neoliberal conditions. Cyberpunk Science Fiction reveals itself useful for engaging with the shared problems that need to be faced in the present time, all involving democracy. The results achieved reveal that this work was, in fact, about the complex network of practices and senses between (post)modern law and the imaginary of the future.Cette recherche doctorale centrée sur les villes intelligentes met en évidence les solutions numériques et les questionnements sociétaux qui ont trait aux technologies innovantes, ainsi qu’aux principaux modèles et projets développés autour d’elles à travers le monde. Des perspectives multiples en lien avec ces développements ont été identifiées à l’aide d’outils en ligne qui ont permis l’analyse textuelle de deux bases de données comprenant des publications scientifiques et des écrits médiatiques. De ce processus analytique ont émergé des éléments juridiques relatifs aux questions de vie privée, de sécurité, de transparence, de participation, d’imputabilité et de gouvernance. De plus, à partir de ces informations a été réalisée une revue des politiques publiques relatives aux mégadonnées dans les villes de Rio de Janeiro et de Montréal, ainsi que des réglementations nationales du Canada et du Brésil en lien avec ce sujet. Finalement, à travers l’exploration d’écrits scientifiques et fictionnels de la littérature, les principaux enjeux normatifs soulevés localement et mondialement par la surveillance urbaine, les changements climatiques et les politiques néolibérales ont pu être mis à jour. Le courant cyberpunk de la science-fiction s’est avéré particulièrement utile pour révéler les principaux problèmes politiques, en lien avec la préservation de la démocratie, auxquelles sont confrontées nos sociétés présentement. Les résultats de la recherche démontrent finalement la présence d’un réseau de pratiques et de significations entre le droit (post)moderne et les représentations imaginaires du futur