Enhancement of the Sensory Capabilities of Mobile Robots through Artificial Olfaction

La presente tesis abarca varios aspectos del olfato artificial u olfato robótico, la capacidad de percibir información sobre la composición del aire que rodea a un sistema automático. En primer lugar, se desarrolla una nariz electrónica, un instrumento que combina sensores de gas de bajas prestaciones con un algoritmo de clasificación para medir e identificar gases. Aunque esta tecnología ya existía previamente, se aplica un nuevo enfoque que busca reducir las dimensiones y consumo para poder instalarlas en robots móviles, a la vez que se aumenta el número de gases detectables mediante un diseño modular. Posteriormente, se estudia la estrategia óptima para encontrar fugas de gas con un robot equipado con este tipo de narices electrónicas. Para ello se llevan a cabos varios experimentos basados en teleoperación para entender como afectan los sensores del robot al éxito de la tarea, de lo cual se deriva finalmente un algoritmo para generar con robots autónomos mapas de gas de un entorno dado, el cual se inspira en el comportamiento humano, a saber, maximizar la información conocida sobre el entorno. La principal virtud de este método, además de realizar una exploración óptima del entorno, es su capacidad para funcionar en entornos muy complejos y sujetos a corrientes de vientos mediante un nuevo método que también se presenta en esta tesis. Finalmente, se presentan dos casos de aplicación en los que se identifica de forma automática con una nariz electrónica la calidad subjetiva del aire en entornos urbanos

Gas Source Localization Strategies for Teleoperated Mobile Robots. An Experimental Analysis

Gas source localization (GSL) is one of the most important and direct applications of a gas sensitive mobile robot, and consists in searching for one or multiple volatile emission sources with a mobile robot that has improved sensing capabilities (i.e. olfaction, wind flow, etc.). This work adresses GSL by employing a teleoperated mobile robot, and focuses on which search strategy is the most suitable for this teleoperated approach. Four different search strategies, namely chemotaxis, anemotaxis, gas-mapping, and visual-aided search, are analyzed and evaluated according to a set of proposed indicators (e.g. accuracy, efficiency, success rate, etc.) to determine the most suitable one for a human-teleoperated mobile robot. Experimental validation is carried out employing a large dataset composed of over 150 trials where volunteer operators had to locate a gas-leak in a virtual environment under various and realistic environmental conditions (i.e. different wind flow patterns and gas source locations). We report different findings, from which we highlight that, against intuition, visual-aided search is not always the best strategy, but depends on the environmental conditions and the operator’s ability to understand how gas distributes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

English Language Learning through Physical and Social Environment Interaction at Adolfo Kolping School

A través de una serie de clases piloto, este proyecto de investigación tuvo como objetivo introducir la enseñanza didáctica del idioma inglés en estudiantes de primaria a través del compromiso con el entorno físico y social proporcionado por la escuela. Tuvo como fin examinar hábitos, actitudes, experiencias y eventos, el enfoque de investigación se construyó mediante la aplicación de encuestas, cuestionarios, conocimientos y observaciones del proceso de enseñanza. Se recopiló alguna información. Se desarrollaron clases piloto con 22 alumnos de quinto grado de la Escuela Técnica Adolfo Kolping, con el objetivo de poner en práctica métodos de enseñanza que desarrollarán determinadas habilidades en los alumnos y promoverán la interacción con el entorno escolar a través de la experimentación con el mundo real, en el que para la realización del estudio se han utilizado todo tipo de elementos de la escuela.Through a series of pilot classes, this research project aimed to introduce didactic teaching of the English language in elementary school students through engagement with the physical and social environment provided by the school. In order to examine habits, attitudes, experiences and events, the research approach was built through the application of surveys, questionnaires, knowledge and observations of the teaching process. Some information was collected. Pilot classes were developed with 22 students from the fifth grade of Adolfo Kolping Technical School, with the aim of putting into practice teaching methods that will develop certain skills in students and promote interaction with the school environment through experimentation with the real world, in which all kinds of elements of the school have been used to carry out the study

Integrating Olfaction in a Robotic Telepresence Loop

In this work we propose enhancing a typical robotic telepresence architecture by considering olfactory and wind flow information in addition to the common audio and video channels. The objective is to expand the range of applications where robotics telepresence can be applied, including those related to the detection of volatile chemical substances (e.g. land-mine detection, explosive deactivation, operations in noxious environments, etc.). Concretely, we analyze how the sense of smell can be integrated in the telepresence loop, covering the digitization of the gases and wind flow present in the remote environment, the transmission through the communication network, and their display at the user location. Experiments under different environmental conditions are presented to validate the proposed telepresence system when localizing a gas emission leak at the remote environment.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A Robotic Experiment Toward Understanding Human Gas-Source Localization Strategies

This paper describes an experiment for gas-source localization with a human-teleoperated mobile robot devised to gather data on how humans search for odor-sources. To that end, more than 150 repetitions of the search process are recorded for 69 test subjects, under 4 sensor configurations (including electronic nose, anemometer and video camera) and 4 scenarios (i.e. with different wind-flow conditions and gas-source position). The experiment has been carried out with a ROS-based simulator that allows driving the robot while recording data of interest (e.g. driving commands, robot localization, sensor measurements, groundtruth, etc.) for further analyzing the human process of gas-source searching, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to generate realistic and repeatable test conditions. The manuscript describes the different environmental parameters and sensor combinations of the experiment, and explains the methodology under which it was executed. The obtained dataset is publicly available at http://mapir.isa.uma.es/mapirwebsite/index.php/253-gsl-dataset.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Urban monitoring of unpleasant odors with a handheld electronic nose

This work describes a real application of artificial olfaction where a handheld electronic nose was used as a validation tool for a chemical spillage in a southern town in Spain. The objective was to check if the palliative and precautionary measurements taken by the authorities were working effectively, removing the elevated values of phenol that were detected in a wide area of the municipality of Coria del R´ıo (Spain). To this end, a gas distribution map of the affected neighborhoods was built with a portable electronic nose taking into consideration the likely presence of other volatile chemicals in the area. For the latter, we trained a volatile chemical classifier with a dataset of typical urban smells that we wanted to remove from the results (e.g. traffic emissions, garbage, fresh-air), as well as with a specific air-born phenol dataset. Results demonstrated that the palliative measures were in general satisfactory, but some hot-spots were located where the intensity of phenol-like smell was still higher than desired. Advice was given to the local authorities to doublecheck these locations with analytical gas-monitoring equipment.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Proyecto de Excelencia de la Junta de Andalucía TEP2012-53

An Electronic Architecture for Multipurpose Artificial Noses

This paper deals with the design of an electronic device aimed at the detection and characterization of volatile chemical substances, that is, an electronic nose (e-nose). We pursue the development of a versatile, multipurpose e-nose that can be employed for a wide variety of applications, can integrate heterogeneous sensing technologies, and can offer a mechanism to be customized for different requirements. To that end, we contribute with a fully configurable and decentralized e-nose architecture based on self-contained and intelligent sensor boards (i.e., modules). This design allows for the integration not only of heterogeneous gas sensor technologies, like MOX and AEC sensors, but also of other components, such as GPS or Bluetooth, for a total of up to 127 individual modules. We describe an implementation of a fully operative prototype as an illustrative example of its potential for sensor networks, mobile robotics, and wearable technologies, each using different combinations of sensors

Análisis de las capacidades físicas y coordinativas en estudiantes de primer semestre de la profesional en deporte de la UMB

Sabemos que cada ser humano posee un conjunto de capacidades físicas las cuales son los elementos esenciales para poseer lo que llamamos y conocemos como condición física, la diferencia es que varía en cada individuo dependiendo de la calidad y el desarrollo de sus capacidades físicas. Estas se desarrollan y perfeccionan a lo largo de la vida de cada sujeto por medio de actividades físicas, deportes, y juegos deportivos y/o lúdicos ya que involucran movimiento y exigen el uso de cada una de estas aptitudes para ser realizadas de la mejor manera posible. Las personas encargadas de que estas capacidades se desarrollen desde la primera etapa de nuestra vida son los profesionales en educación física, los cuales tuvieron una preparación idónea para lograr transmitir sus conocimientos y experiencias en el área de la motricidad humana

Monitoring tar spot disease in corn at different canopy and temporal levels using aerial multispectral imaging and machine learning

IntroductionTar spot is a high-profile disease, causing various degrees of yield losses on corn (Zea mays L.) in several countries throughout the Americas. Disease symptoms usually appear at the lower canopy in corn fields with a history of tar spot infection, making it difficult to monitor the disease with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) because of occlusion.MethodsUAS-based multispectral imaging and machine learning were used to monitor tar spot at different canopy and temporal levels and extract epidemiological parameters from multiple treatments. Disease severity was assessed visually at three canopy levels within micro-plots, while aerial images were gathered by UASs equipped with multispectral cameras. Both disease severity and multispectral images were collected from five to eleven time points each year for two years. Image-based features, such as single-band reflectance, vegetation indices (VIs), and their statistics, were extracted from ortho-mosaic images and used as inputs for machine learning to develop disease quantification models.Results and discussionThe developed models showed encouraging performance in estimating disease severity at different canopy levels in both years (coefficient of determination up to 0.93 and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient up to 0.97). Epidemiological parameters, including initial disease severity or y0 and area under the disease progress curve, were modeled using data derived from multispectral imaging. In addition, results illustrated that digital phenotyping technologies could be used to monitor the onset of tar spot when disease severity is relatively low (< 1%) and evaluate the efficacy of disease management tactics under micro-plot conditions. Further studies are required to apply and validate our methods to large corn fields

Balancing selection is common in the extended MHC region but most alleles with opposite risk profile for autoimmune diseases are neutrally evolving

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several susceptibility genetic variants for autoimmune diseases have been identified. A subset of these polymorphisms displays an opposite risk profile in different autoimmune conditions. This observation open interesting questions on the evolutionary forces shaping the frequency of these alleles in human populations.</p> <p>We aimed at testing the hypothesis whereby balancing selection has shaped the frequency of opposite risk alleles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Since balancing selection signatures are expected to extend over short genomic portions, we focused our analyses on 11 regions carrying putative functional polymorphisms that may represent the disease variants (and the selection targets). No exceptional nucleotide diversity was observed for <it>ZSCAN23</it>, <it>HLA-DMB</it>, <it>VARS2</it>, <it>PTPN22</it>, <it>BAT3</it>, <it>C6orf47</it>, and <it>IL10</it>; summary statistics were consistent with evolutionary neutrality for these gene regions. Conversely, <it>CDSN/PSORS1C1</it>, <it>TRIM10/TRIM40</it>, <it>BTNL2</it>, and <it>TAP2 </it>showed extremely high nucleotide diversity and most tests rejected neutrality, suggesting the action of balancing selection. For <it>TAP2 </it>and <it>BTNL2 </it>these signatures are not secondary to linkage disequilibrium with HLA class II genes. Nonetheless, with the exception of variants in <it>TRIM40 </it>and <it>CDSN</it>, our data suggest that opposite risk SNPs are not selection targets but rather have accumulated as neutral variants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Data herein indicate that balancing selection is common within the extended MHC region and involves several non-HLA loci. Yet, the evolutionary history of most SNPs with an opposite effect for autoimmune diseases is consistent with evolutionary neutrality. We suggest that variants with an opposite effect on autoimmune diseases should not be considered a distinct class of disease alleles from the evolutionary perspective and, in a few cases, the opposite effect on distinct diseases may derive from complex haplotype structures in regions with high genetic diversity.</p