Enhancing Coherency of Specification Documents from Automotive Industry

A specification describes how a system should behave. If a specification is incorrect or wrongly implemented, then the resulting system will contain errors that can lead to catastrophic states especially in sensitive systems like the one embedded in cars. This paper presents a method to construct a formal model from a specification written in natural language. This implies that the specification is sufficiently accurate to be incorporated in a model so as to find the inconsistencies in this specification. Sufficiently means that the error rate is down 2%. The error counting method is discussed in the paper. A definition of specification consistency is thus given in this paper. The method used to construct the model is automatic and points out to the user the inconsistencies of the specification. Moreover once the model is constructed, the general test plan reflecting the specification is produced. This test plan will ensure that the system that implements the specification meets the requirements

Documentation of the demonstration that transfers user movements from the Kinect sensor to the Acroban robot

This document describes a demonstration that uses a Kinect sensor to copy the position of a user to the Acroban Robot. The Kinect sensor is a sensor able to build a 3-D representation of the user. It was developed by Microsoft for its video game system XBox 360. The Acroban Robot is a lightweight robot used for experimenting on human-robot interface and robot learning inside the FLOWERS team. The demonstration described by this document is able to reproduce in real-time the movement of the user on the robot. This document describe how to run the demonstration, how to adapt it to different versions of the robot and how it works internally.Ce document décrit une démonstration utilisant le capteur Kinect pour recopier la position de l'utilisateur sur le robot Acroban. Le capteur Kinect est un capteur capable de reconstruire une représentation 3-D de l'utilisateur. Il a été développé par Microsoft pour son système de jeux vidéo XBox 360. Le robot Acroban est un robot léger utilisé pour expérimenter sur les interfaces homme-robot et l'apprentissage des robots dans l'équipe-projet FLOWERS. La démonstration décrite par ce document est capable de reproduire en temps réel les mouvements de l'utilisateur sur le robot. Ce document décrit comment lancer la démonstration, comment l'adapter aux différentes versions du robot et comment elle fonctionne

Increasing Data Resilience of Mobile Devices with a Collaborative Backup Service

Whoever has had his cell phone stolen knows how frustrating it is to be unable to get his contact list back. To avoid data loss when losing or destroying a mobile device like a PDA or a cell phone, data is usually backed-up to a fixed station. However, in the time between the last backup and the failure, important data can have been produced and then lost. To handle this issue, we propose a transparent collaborative backup system. Indeed, by saving data on other mobile devices between two connections to a global infrastructure, we can resist to such scenarios. In this paper, after a general description of such a system, we present a way to replicate data on mobile devices to attain a prerequired resilience for the backup

Increasing Data Resilience of Mobile Devices with a Collaborative Backup Service

Whoever has had his cell phone stolen knows how frustrating it is to be unable to get his contact list back. To avoid data loss when losing or destroying a mobile device like a PDA or a cell phone, data is usually backed-up to a fixed station. However, in the time between the last backup and the failure, important data can have been produced and then lost. To handle this issue, we propose a transparent collaborative backup system. Indeed, by saving data on other mobile devices between two connections to a global infrastructure, we can resist to such scenarios. In this paper, after a general description of such a system, we present a way to replicate data on mobile devices to attain a prerequired resilience for the backup

Runtime function instrumentation with EZTrace

International audienceHigh-performance computing relies more and more on complex hardware: multiple computers, multi-processor computer, multi-core processing unit, multiple general purpose graphical processing units... To efficiently exploit the power of current computing architectures, modern applications rely on a high level of parallelism. To analyze and optimize these applications, tracking the software behavior with minimum impact on the software is necessary to extract time consumption of code sections as well as resource usage (e.g., network messages). In this paper, we present a method for instrumenting functions in a binary application. This method permits to collect data at the entry and the exit of a function, allowing to analyze the execution of an application. We implemented this mechanism in \eztrace and the evaluation shows a significant improvement compared to other tools for instrumentation

Projet Collège+ : validation d’un assistant numérique pour l’inclusion scolaire de collégiens porteurs d’autisme

International audienceLe projet propose un outil d'assistance à l'inclusion scolaire permettant d'organiser et de soutenir les activités pédagogiques et communicationnelles d'élèves autistes en milieu ordinaire (i.e., collège). Cette assistance s'articule autour d'une tablette numérique. Celle-ci sera utilisable par les élèves et leurs aidants (enseignants, auxiliaires de vie scolaire, éducateurs, rééducateurs, etc.) dans leur travail d'accompagnement des élèves autistes. Les tablettes numériques de nouvelle génération, munies d'un écran tactile, du réseau sans fil et de camera, représentent un support très prometteur pour une assistance multifonctions de la personne en situation de handicap et à un cout raisonnable. La versatilité de ces tablettes permet une utilisation adaptée aux capacités de l'utilisateur. Dans ce projet, la tablette s'appuiera sur un catalogue ouvert d'applications gratuites, destinées aux élèvesavec désordres du spectre de l'autisme : ralenti vidéo, communication augmentée, gestion des routines scolaires, gestion du temps, aide-mémoire, enregistrement contextuel, gestion des émotions, scenarios d'interaction sociale, etc

Mécanismes de prise de points de reprise opportunistes pour robots mobiles autonomes

Les systèmes informatiques connaissent des défaillances qui entraînent des pertes de données. Les systèmes robotiques collaboratifs, opérant de manière autonome, sont très sensibles à ces défaillances. L'usage de mécanismes de sauvegarde est alors utile. Les mécanismes de communication opportuniste reposent sur les technologies de communication sans-fil courte portée pour permettre des interactions entre deux calculateurs mobiles lorsque leur proximité physique le permet. Pour pallier l'absence d'une couverte réseau permanente, nous proposons un système de sauvegarde basé sur les communications opportunistes pour réduire les coûts des défaillances au sein d'une flotte de robots mobiles autonomes.Failures of mobile computing devices can lead to severe data loss. Collaborative robotic systems, designed to work in total autonomy, are sensitive to these failures. Usual methods relying on remote backup can no longer be used in a context of high mobility. Short-range communication media can be used to overcome data failure through opportunistic communications for data backup. When two devices enter their respective communication range, they can initiate an ephemeral data exchange. To overcome the lack of global network coverage in those system, we propose a backup system based on opportunistic communications to reduce the costs induced by failures inside a swarm of autonomous mobile robots.RENNES1-BU Sciences Philo (352382102) / SudocRENNES-INRIA Rennes Irisa (352382340) / SudocSudocFranceF

Experience with Model-Based User-Centered Risk Assessment for Service Robots

International audienceSafety is now a major concern in many computer-based systems and more particularly for autonomous systems such as service robots in physical contact with humans. The traditional approach to analyze the safety of such systems is to use risk assessment methods based on models of system structure, or system behavior. Unfortunately, such models are hard to produce for autonomous systems. We propose an approach based on the standardized risk assessment process which is applied during the initial phases of the development process. We first use the common Unified Modeling Language (UML) and a preliminary application domain hazard analysis without considering any robotic device. Then, during the specification phase, a risk assessment of the robotic system is carried out. It consists in modeling tasks in UML, identifying hazardous situations (including human errors), and estimating associated risks. We base this analysis on an adaptation of the guideword-based collaborative method HAZOP (HAZard OPerability) applied to UML models. The process has been successfully applied to the development of an assistive robot providing assistance for standing up, sitting down and walking, and health-state monitoring. Results in terms of integrability, usability, validity and applicability of the method are really encouraging. Majors benefits are a good management of the level of abstraction (and thus combinatory explosion is controlled), an easy communication between different stakeholders using basic UML diagrams, and a structured safety documentation required for certification

Experience with a Model-based Safety Analysis Process for Autonomous Service Robot

International audienceSafety is a major concern for autonomous systems that physically interact with humans, such as service robots. However, modeling dynamics of such systems is hard so classical safety analysis methods need to be adapted. In this paper, we propose an approach based on a combination of well-known safety analysis techniques. We propose to describe scenarios of use with the common Unified Modeling Language. Risk analysis is then performed using a Preliminary Hazard Analysis, an adaptation of the HAZOP method and the classical Fault Tree Analysis. This paper explains the overal process and illustrates it through the exemple of the MIRAS projects which aims to develop a robotic strolling assistant that will help disabled persons to stand, sit and walk