Motion Reference Image JPEG2000 : Road surveillance Application with wireless device

WOS:000232176403013International audienceThis paper deals with a new codec based on the JPEG 2000 standard that will use a market hardware codec in order to build a road surveillance device. The developed coder consists in 4 processing steps, namely construction of a reference image, foreground extraction (ROI mask), encoding with JPEG 2000 and transmission through a wireless device. A …rst order recursive …lter is used to build a reference image that corresponds to the background image and the updated reference image is computed according to a mixture of Gaussians model. The system builds a reference image and transmits it towards a decoder through the GSM network. After the initialization phase, the reference image is updated automatically according to a Gaussian mixture model, and when the ROI can be considered as null, a piece of the updated background image is sent. We perform motion detection in order to extract a binary mask. The motion mask gives the region of interest for the system. The current image and the motion mask are coded using the ROI option of JPEG 2000 codec with a very low bit rate and transmitted towards the decoder. The complete scheme is implemented and it reaches the expected performances. We also showed how the local background image is built and updated at each frame. We presented the strategy in order to update smoothly the remote background image. The implementation runs at 5-8 frames per second on a 1.8 GHz AMD processor for 320x240 color images

Dynamic Background Segmentation for Remote Reference Image Updating within Motion Detection JPEG2000

International audienceWe present in this paper a new system based on Motion JPEG2000 intended for road surveillance application. The system uses a reference image and consists in 4 processing steps, namely initialization phase where the first reference image is built, reference estimation, motion segmentation (foreground extraction, ROI mask), and JPEG2000 coding. A first order recursive filter is used to build a reference image that corresponds to the background image. The obtained background is sent to the decoder once for all. The reference image at the coder side is estimated according to a Gaussian mixture model. The remote reference image is updated when specific conditions are met. The updating remote reference is triggered according to the states of mobile objects in the scene (no, few or lot of mobiles). The motion detection given by classical background subtraction technique is performed in order to extract a binary mask. The motion mask gives the region of interest of the system. The JPEG2000 image coded with a ROI option is sent towards the decoder. The decoder receives, decodes the image and builds the implicit binary ROI mask. Then, the decoder builds the displayed image using the reference image, the current image and the mask

Impact and compression after impact experimental study of a composite laminate with a cork thermal shield

The aim of this paper is to present an experimental study of impact and compression after impact (CAI) tests performed on composite laminate covered with a cork thermal shield (TS) intended for launchers fairing. Drop weight impact tests have been performed on composite laminate sheets with and without TS in order to study its effect on the impact damage. The results show the TS is a good mechanical protection towards impact as well as a good impact revealing material. Nevertheless, totally different damage morphology is obtained during the impact test with or without TS, and in particular at high impact energy, the delaminated area is larger with TS. Afterwards, CAI tests have been performed in order to evaluate the TS effect on the residual strength. The TS appears to increase the residual strength for a same impact energy, but at the same time, it presents a decrease in residual strength before observing delamination. In fact, during the impact tests with TS, invisible fibres’ breakages appear before delamination damage contrary to the impacts on the unshielded sheets

Factors affecting response of dogs to obedience instruction: a field and experimental study

Communication is an essential component of the translation of learning theory into the practical control of the behaviour of dogs. A handler sends a signal (e.g. a command), to which their dog responds. This response is dependent on the dog’s perception of the signal rather than the intention of the sender. Previous research has shown that a dog’s response can be influenced by specific changes in the verbal and non-verbal qualities of signals (i.e. the commands) used, but there has been little scientific evaluation of what happens in practice. Therefore in a first study, 56 dog handlers were videotaped giving their dogs a “sit” command and the significance of verbal and non-verbal factors on response was analyzed. Two factors were associated with a significant decrease in obedience: the dog’s attention to its handler and the handler giving additional verbal information preceding the actual verbal command. Based on these results, a second more controlled study was run with 12 dogs that were trained to a new (“uff”, i.e. jumping onto a raised surface) and a known (“sit”, “down” or “paw”) command. Once trained to predefined criteria, dogs were tested for their responsiveness with each of three additional types of verbal information preceding the command: the dog’s name, the dog’s name followed by a pause of 2 seconds and a “novel word”, i.e. a word with no established relationships in this context (“Banane”). The results suggest that the addition of the novel word significantly reduced response to both the known (p = 0.014) and the new (p = 0.014) commands. The name plus a pause preceding the command significantly reduced the response to the new command (p = 0.043), but not the known one. The use of the name before the command without a pause had no significant effect on performance. The dogs’ ability to generalize learned commands from the training context to a new context was tested by going through the same procedure in an unfamiliar environment. There was a significant reduction in correct responses only to the new command independent of the preceding verbal information (name (p = 0.028), name plus pause (p = 0.022) and novel word (p = 0.011)). This suggests that dogs may have more difficulties generalizing a less well-established command than an already known command

Failure mechanisms and reliability of the Al-chip-metallization during power cycling

Cet article étudie les mécanismes de rupture et la fiabilité de la couche de métallisation d'une puce électronique d'un nouveau module de puissance, remplaçant les fils de connexion par un clip en cuivre. A la fois des tests de cycles actifs de puissance et des simulations thermomécaniques par éléments finis ont été réalisés. Cette étude utilise les simulations numériques pour analyser en détail les déformations plastiques et la propagation de fissures dans la métallisation de la puce sous différents cycles actifs de puissance. Les modèles de durée de vie sont ensuite déduits en corrélant la durée de vie des modules obtenue par expérimentation avec les déformations plastiques et les critères de propagations de fissures calculés correspondants

Outcomes of MADMAX the European network on composites for transport applications

Within the European Union, road transport is responsible for about 20% of all CO2 emissions. To reduce these gas emissions, the European Union is introducing stringent standards defining the acceptable limits for exhaust emission of new vehicles sold in EU member states. Thus, transport industries have to develop lightweight vehicles maintaining quality and safety in order to comply with these stringent gas emission regulations. Composites are offering the possibility to build lightweight structures with an important capacity of energy absorption, but they are still relatively new material. Their mechanical behavior is not fully understood and mastered, and manufacturing processes remain principally manual work and simulations as well as monitoring systems have to be adapted for composites. As composites appear to be promising materials for transport sectors, the European Commission supported the MADMAX project (Advanced material Textiles for Reinforced Structures for Complex Lightweight Applications) which contributes to the development of a European ?Know-How? platform and database for excellence in high performing fibers and resins, textile reinforcing structures and sensor monitoring composite structures, fostering the transfer of scientific results to civil transport markets and especially to SME's. The objective of the MADMAX project was to organize a cluster of private and academic laboratories supported by key manufacturers from transport sectors and to investigate the possibility of benchmarking specific composites. The main outcomes of this project will be presented. Raw materials, textile reinforcement structures, characterization methods, modelling methods for manufacturing processes and service life simulations, manufacturing processes, joining techniques, and structural health monitoring of composites were the issues covered by the project

Couleur et ROI: Deux Options de JPEG2000. Investigations et Simulateur MATLAB

National audiencePour une application de télésurveillance reposant sur la transmissionà très bas débit d'images acquises par une caméra fixe, nous présentons deux innovations concernant deux fonctionnalités de JPEG2000 : le choix d'une trans-formée couleur non-linéaire pour améliorer le rendu cou-leurà très fort taux de compression, et l'extraction auto-matique de la ROI par détection de mouvement. Mots clefs compression, transformée couleur, région d'intérêt, détection de mouvement, JasPer, Matlab

Making smart meters smarter the smart way

We report first results from a large scale randomized control trial of different forms of energy consumption feedback facilitated by smart meters and smart phone feedback apps. Nearly 40,000 customers of a large energy retailer in the UK were exposed to either very basic feedback apps - i.e. simply giving consumers access to monthly energy consumption - or more advanced feedback involving peer group comparisons as well as dis-aggregation of total electricity consumption. We find that more advanced feedback can lead to an average consumption reduction of nearly 4% (Intent to Treat). Taking into account that a large number of customers never sign in to any feedback apps suggests that the reduction effect among customers that do sign in is up to 12%. The smart meter installation was implemented by different installation firms across our sample and we find the reduction effect only for one customers of one installer who displays higher capabilities along a number of metrics. This could suggest that achieving energy preservation objectives does not only depend on the technology involved but also on the capabilities and skills of firms installing those technologies. In the UK, smart meters are by default installed with In Home Displays (IHD) that provide real time feedback on energy use. Some of the customers in our sample did not receive an IHD and we explore if this had any impact on the consumption reduction effect described above. Customers with (and without) IHD comprise a self-selected sample so we have to be careful in drawing causal conclusions. However, we do not find any evidence that any energy reducing effect is contingent on IHDs

Impacts of COVID-19 on the Energy System

This Briefing Paper explores the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the UK’s energy sector over the course of the first government-mandated national lockdown that began on 23 March 2020. Research from several aspects of the Integrated Development of Low-carbon Energy Systems (IDLES) programme at Imperial College London is presented in one overarching paper. The main aim is to determine what lessons can be learnt from that lockdown period, given the unique set of challenges it presented in our daily lives and the changes it brought about in energy demand, supply, and use. Valuable insights are gained into how working-from-home policies, electric vehicles, and low-carbon grids can be implemented, incentivised, and managed effectively