Filtered Pose Graph for Efficient Kinect Pose Reconstruction

Being marker-free and calibration free, Microsoft Kinect is nowadays widely used in many motion-based applications, such as user training for complex industrial tasks and ergonomics pose evaluation. The major problem of Kinect is the placement requirement to obtain accurate poses, as well as its weakness against occlusions. To improve the robustness of Kinect in interactive motion-based applications, real-time data driven pose reconstruction has been proposed. The idea is to utilize a database of accurately captured human poses as a prior to optimize the Kinect recognized ones, in order to estimate the true poses performed by the user. The key research problem is to identify the most relevant poses in the database for accurate and efficient reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a new pose reconstruction method based on modelling the pose database with a structure called Filtered Pose Graph, which indicates the intrinsic correspondence between poses. Such a graph not only speeds up the database poses selection process, but also improves the relevance of the selected poses for higher quality reconstruction. We apply the proposed method in a challenging environment of industrial context that involves sub-optimal Kinect placement and a large amount of occlusion. Experimental results show that our real-time system reconstructs Kinect poses more accurately than existing methods

Méthode de prédétermination des caractéristiques électromagnétiques de machines á bobinage global à commutation de flux. Application à un actionneur linéaire

This paper presents a predetermination method of Permanent Magnet (P.M.) multicellular flux switching machines. The non-linear characteristic of the ferromagnetic material is integrated in this method which combines analytical and numerical calculus. This study permits to make a fast parametrical analysis to define optimal parameters of a flux switching cell such as magnetic shear stress and flux concentration factor as function of magnetomotive force. The demagnetisation limit is introduced by a finite element calculus applied. The comparison of the theoritical results and experimental one gives a good correlation.
Cet article présente une méthode de prédétermination des caractéristiques de machines multicellulaires (bobinage global) à commutation de flux (aimants permanents) en tenant compte de la non linéarité des matériaux ferromagnétiques. Cette méthode allie le calcul numérique par éléments finis et le calcul analytique. Cette étude nous a permis, d'une part, d'effectuer une analyse paramétrique intrinsèque et, d'autre part, de définir les paramètres optimaux de la cellule à commutation de flux. La notion de désaimantation est introduite en calculant le champ démagnétisant dans l'aimant. Les calculs effectués, dans le cas d'un actionneur linéaire à cômmutation de flux, montrent une bonne corrélation avec les essais directs

Comparative study of the methane production based on the chemical composition of Mangifera Indica and Manihot Utilissima leaves

Leaves of Mangifera Indica (MI, mango leaves) and Manihot Utilissima (MU, cassava leaves) are available in tropical regions and are the most accessible vegetal wastes of Kinshasa, capital of Democratic Republic of Congo. These wastes are not suitably managed and are not rationally valorized. They are abandoned in full air, on the soil and in the rivers. They thus pollute environment. By contrast, they can be recuperated and treated in order to produce methane (energy source), organic fertilizer and clean up the environment simultaneously. The main objective of this study was to investigate methane production from MI and MU leaves by BMP tests at 30°C. The yields achieved from the anaerobic digestion of up to 61.3 g raw matter in 1 l medium were 0.001 l/g and 0.100 l CH4/g volatile solids of MI and MU leaves, respectively. The yield of MU leaves was in the range mentioned in the literature for other leaves because of a poor presence of bioactive substrates, and low C/N ratio. This methane yield corresponded to 7% of calorific power of wood. By contrast, the methane yield from MI leaves was almost nil suggesting some metabolism inhibition because of their rich composition in carbon and bioactive substrates. Whereas classical acidogenesis and acetogenesis were recorded. Therefore, methane production from the sole MI leaves seems unfavorable by comparison to MU leaves at the ambient temperature in tropical regions. Their solid and liquid residues obtained after anaerobic digestion would be efficient fertilizers. However, the methane productivity of both leaves could be improved by anaerobic co-digestion.Thèse : Etude de la biodégradation anaérobie des feuilles de Mangifera Indica (manguier) et Manihot Utilissima (manioc