Distributed machining control and monitoring using smart sensors/actuators

The study of smart sensors and actuators led, during the past few years, to the development of facilities which improve traditional sensors and actuators in a necessary way to automate production systems. In an other context, many studies are carried out aiming at defining a decisional structure for production activity control and the increasing need of reactivity leads to the autonomization of decisional levels close to the operational system. We suggest in this paper to study the natural convergence between these two approaches and we propose an integration architecture dealing with machine tool and machining control that enables the exploitation of distributed smart sensors and actuators in the decisional system

A physiological Plant Growth Simulation Engine Based on Accurate Radiant Energy Transfer

We present a new model for plant growth simulation, taking into account the eco-physiological processes driving plant development with unprecedented fidelity. The growth model, based on a physiological analysis, essentially simulates the internal function of the plant, and has been validated against measured biological data with excellent results. We show how to account for the influence of light through photosynthesis, and thereby incorporate the effects of a given plant's immediate environment on its architecture, shape and size. Since biological matter is controlled by water transpiration and received radiant enery, the model requires efficient and accurate simulation of radiant energy exchanges. We describe a complete lighting simulation system tailored for the difficult case of plants, by adapting state-of-the-art techniques such as hierarchical instanciation for radiosity and general BRDF modeling. Our results show that (a) our lighting simulation system efficiently provides the required information at the desired level of accuracy, and (b) the plant growth model is extremely well calibrated against real plants and (c) the combined system can simulate many interesting growth situations with direct feedback from the environment on the plant's characteristics. Applications range from landscape simulation to agronomical and agricultural studies, and to the design of virtual plants responding to their environment

Fast Calculation of Soft Shadow Textures Using Convolution

International audienceThe calculation of detailed shadows remains one of the most difficult challenges in computer graphics, especially in the case of extended (linear or area) light sources. This paper introduces a new tool for the calculation of shadows cast by extended light sources. Exact shadows are computed in some constrained configurations by using a convolution technique, yielding a fast and accurate solution. Approximate shadows can be computed for general configurations by applying the convolution to a representative “ideal” configuration. We analyze the various sources of approximation in the process and derive a hierarchical, error driven algorithm for fast shadow calculation in arbitrary configurations using a hierarchy of object clusters. The convolution is performed on images rendered in an offscreen buffer and produces a shadow map used as a texture to modulate the unoccluded illumination. Light sources can have any 3D shape as well as arbitrary emission characteristics, while shadow maps can be applied to groups of objects at once. The method can be employed in a hierarchical radiosity system, or directly as a shadowing technique. We demonstrate results for various scenes, showing that soft shadows can be generated at interactive rates for dynamics environments

Linkage analysis of high myopia susceptibility locus in 26 families

Purpose: We conducted a linkage analysis in high myopia families to replicate suggestive results from chromosome 7q36 using a model of autosomal dominant inheritance and genetic heterogeneity. We also performed a genome-wide scan to identify novel loci. Methods: Twenty-six families, with at least two high-myopic subjects (ie. refractive value in the less affected eye of -5 diopters) in each family, were included. Phenotypic examination included standard autorefractometry, ultrasonographic eye length measurement, and clinical confirmation of the non-syndromic character of the refractive disorder. Nine families were collected de novo including 136 available members of whom 34 were highly myopic subjects. Twenty new subjects were added in 5 of the 17 remaining families. A total of 233 subjects were submitted to a genome scan using ABI linkage mapping set LMSv2-MD-10, additional markers in all regions where preliminary LOD scores were greater than 1.5 were used. Multipoint parametric and non-parametric analyses were conducted with the software packages Genehunter 2.0 and Merlin 1.0.1. Two autosomal recessive, two autosomal dominant, and four autosomal additive models were used in the parametric linkage analyses. Results: No linkage was found using the subset of nine newly collected families. Study of the entire population of 26 families with a parametric model did not yield a significant LOD score (>3), even for the previously suggestive locus on 7q36. A non-parametric model demonstrated significant linkage to chromosome 7p15 in the entire population (Z-NPL=4.07, p=0.00002). The interval is 7.81 centiMorgans (cM) between markers D7S2458 and D7S2515. Conclusions: The significant interval reported here needs confirmation in other cohorts. Among possible susceptibility genes in the interval, certain candidates are likely to be involved in eye growth and development

Types d'orbites et dynamique minimale pour les applicationes continues de graphes

We define the type of a periodic orbit of a graph map. We consider the class of ‘train-track’ representatives, that is, those graph maps which minimize the topological entropy of the topological representatives of a given free group endomorphism. We prove that each type of periodic orbit realized by an efficient representative is also realised by any representative of the same free group endomorphism. Moreover, the number of periodic orbits of a given type is minimized by the efficient representatives

Centre de recherches sur les mondes américains

François-Xavier Guerra, professeur à l’Université de Paris-ICarmen Salazar-Soler, chargée de recherche au CNRSJean-Michel Sallman, professeur à l’Université de Paris-X L’Euro-Amérique : un espace culturel commun Le séminaire de l’UMR 8565, qui a eu lieu pour la troisième année consécutive autour de la question des « circulations » - des personnes (1998-1999) et des choses (1999-2000) - a réuni en 2000-2001 une trentaine de personnes à chacune de ses sept séances. Organisé par François-Xavier ..

Accurate Detection of Symmetries in 3D Shapes

International audienceWe propose an automatic method for finding symmetries of 3D shapes, i.e. isometric transforms which leave a shape globally unchanged. These symmetries are deterministically found through the use of an intermediate quantity: the generalized even moments. By examining their extrema and spherical harmonic coefficients we recover the parameters of the symmetries of the shape. The computation for large composite models is made efficient by using this information in an incremental algorithm capable of recovering the symmetries of a whole shape using the symmetries of its sub-parts. Applications of this work range from coherent re-meshing of geometry with respect to the symmetries of a shape, to geometric compression, intelligent mesh editing and automatic instantiation

Inverse Identification of the Ductile Failure Law for Ti6Al4V Based on Orthogonal Cutting Experimental Outcomes

Despite the prevalence of machining, tools and cutting conditions are often chosen based on empirical databases, which are hard to be made, and they are only valid in the range of conditions tested to develop it. Predictive numerical models have thus emerged as a promising approach. To function correctly, they require accurate data related to appropriate material properties (e.g., constitutive models, ductile failure law). Nevertheless, material characterization is usually carried out through thermomechanical tests, under conditions far different from those encountered in machining. In addition, segmented chips observed when cutting titanium alloys make it a challenge to develop an accurate model. At low cutting speeds, chip segmentation is assumed to be due to lack of ductility of the material. In this work, orthogonal cutting tests of Ti6Al4V alloy were carried out, varying the uncut chip thickness from 0.2 to 0.4 mm and the cutting speed from 2.5 to 7.5 m/min. The temperature in the shear zone was measured through infrared measurements with high resolution. It was observed experimentally, and in the FEM, that chip segmentation causes oscillations in the workpiece temperature, chip thickness and cutting forces. Moreover, workpiece temperature and cutting force signals were observed to be in counterphase, which was predicted by the ductile failure model. Oscillation frequency was employed in order to improve the ductile failure law by using inverse simulation, reducing the prediction error of segmentation frequency from more than 100% to an average error lower than 10%