Towards a portable smart spatial exploration system for environment perception

International audienc

SARMENTI: Smart multisensor embedded and secure system for soil nutrient and gaseous emission monitoring

Demand for sustainably produced food is driving current strategies for intensification of the agricultural sector worldwide. To meet these challenges farmers will need to adopt a whole-farm approach to resource efficiency. They will increase their productivity with a better application of knowledge per hectare. Optimising soil fertility will enable farmers to maximise their productivity and profitability with higher grass and crop yield and quality

INSPEX: design and integration of a portable/wearable smart spatial exploration system

The INSPEX H2020 project main objective is to integrate automotive-equivalent spatial exploration and obstacle detection functionalities into a portable/wearable multi-sensor, miniaturised, low power device. The INSPEX system will detect and localise in real-time static and mobile obstacles under various environmental conditions in 3D. Potential applications range from safer human navigation in reduced visibility, small robot/drone obstacle avoidance systems to navigation for the visually/mobility impaired, this latter being the primary use-case considered in the project

INSPEX: Make environment perception available as a portable system

Obstacle avoidance systems for autonomous vehicles combine multiple sensing technologies (i.e. LiDAR, Radar, Ultrasound and Visual) to detect different types of obstacles across the full range of lighting and weather conditions. Sensor data are fused with vehicle orientation (obtained for instance from an Inertial Measurement Unit and/or compass) and navigation subsystems. Power hungry, they require powerful computational capability, which limits their use to high-end vehicles and robots

Evidence for a role of sphingosine-1 phosphate in cardiovascular remodelling in Fabry disease

AIMS: A hallmark of Fabry disease is the concomitant development of left-ventricular hypertrophy and arterial intima-media thickening, the pathogenesis of which is thought to be related to the presence of a plasmatic circulating growth-promoting factor. We therefore characterized the plasma of patients with Fabry disease in order to identify this factor. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using a classical biochemical strategy, we isolated and identified sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P) as a proliferative factor present in the plasma of patients with Fabry disease. Plasma S1P levels were significantly higher in 17 patients with Fabry disease compared with 17 healthy controls (225 +/- 40 vs. 164 +/- 17 ng/mL; P = 0.005). There was a positive correlation between plasma S1P levels and both common carotid artery intima-media thickness and left-ventricular mass index (r(2) = 0.47; P = 0.006 and r(2) = 0.53; P = 0.0007, respectively). In an experimental model, mice treated with S1P developed cardiovascular remodelling similar to that observed in patients with Fabry disease. CONCLUSION: Sphingosine-1 phosphate participates in cardiovascular remodelling in Fabry disease. Our findings have implications for the treatment of cardiovascular involvement in Fabry disease

Multiphysic Modeling of a Hybrid Propulsion System for a Racecar Application

A hybrid propulsion system has been designed for an optional use in the Formula S2000, based on supercapacitive energy storage coupled to an ICE engine via a Synchronous PM machine. Because of the high level specification of the weight penalty in competition, the system has been modelled and designed from different aspects of the solicitation of the used elements. After the choice of the system concept and a first evaluation of the needed performance of the electromechanical machine and converter, the electric power constraint of the supercapacitive storage elements under given energy efficiency conditions has been evaluated, as well as the thermal conditions of use

Pre-adaptations and the evolution of pollination by sexual deception: Cope's rule of specialization revisited.

Pollination by sexual deception is arguably one of the most unusual liaisons linking plants and insects, and perhaps the most illustrative example of extreme floral specialization in angiosperms. While considerable progress has been made in understanding the floral traits involved in sexual deception, less is known about how this remarkable mimicry system might have arisen, the role of pre-adaptations in promoting its evolution and its extent as a pollination mechanism outside the few groups of plants (primarily orchids) where it has been described to date. In the Euro-Mediterranean region, pollination by sexual deception is traditionally considered to be the hallmark of the orchid genus Ophrys. Here, we introduce two new cases outside of Ophrys, in plant groups dominated by generalized, shelter-mimicking species. On the basis of phylogenetic reconstructions of ancestral pollination strategies, we provide evidence for independent and bidirectional evolutionary transitions between generalized (shelter mimicry) and specialized (sexual deception) pollination strategies in three groups of flowering plants, and suggest that pseudocopulation has evolved from pre-adaptations (floral colours, shapes and odour bouquets) that selectively attract male pollinators through shelter mimicry. These findings, along with comparative analyses of floral traits (colours and scents), shed light on particular phenotypic changes that might have fuelled the parallel evolution of these extraordinary pollination strategies. Collectively, our results provide the first substantive insights into how pollination sexual deception might have evolved in the Euro-Mediterranean region, and demonstrate that even the most extreme cases of pollinator specialization can reverse to more generalized interactions, breaking 'Cope's rule of specialization'.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe