Kinematically Redundant Octahedral Motion Platform for Virtual Reality Simulations

We propose a novel design of a parallel manipulator of Stewart Gough type for virtual reality application of single individuals; i.e. an omni-directional treadmill is mounted on the motion platform in order to improve VR immersion by giving feedback to the human body. For this purpose we modify the well-known octahedral manipulator in a way that it has one degree of kinematical redundancy; namely an equiform reconfigurability of the base. The instantaneous kinematics and singularities of this mechanism are studied, where especially "unavoidable singularities" are characterized. These are poses of the motion platform, which can only be realized by singular configurations of the mechanism despite its kinematic redundancy.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Enlèvement de la matière organique dans les filtres CAB

Cet article présente les résultats d'une étude sur le traitement par filtration sur charbon actif biologique (CAB), utilisé en usine de production d'eau potable en second étage de filtration, en aval d'une étape d'ozonation. L'objectif principal de cette étude était de caractériser la matière organique bioéliminée au cours de la filtration sur charbon actif afin d'obtenir une meilleure compréhension de l'abattement du carbone organique dissous (COD) et de la demande en chlore par ce procédé. Le carbone organique dissous biodégradable (CODB) éliminé au cours de ce traitement peut être corrélé à l'abattement de la demande en chlore et ce CODB présente une réactivité au chlore supérieure à celle du carbone organique réfractaire.Le couplage de techniques d'ultrafiltration au suivi des différentes fractions en cours d'incubation en batch pendant 35 jours avec un inoculum de bactéries indigènes libres, permet de préciser la nature des molécules susceptibles d'être bioéliminées et d'appréhender leur impact sur la demande en chlore de l'eau issue du traitement biologique. La nature de la matière organique présente dans l'eau en amont des filtres varie considérablement au cours de l'année; ainsi, en été, une augmentation importante de la fraction de molécules de haute masse molaire (> 10000 daltons) est observée. La filtration biologique n'affecte pas de manière significative la répartition des différentes tailles de molécules et de petites molécules ( 10 000 daltons) is the least bioeliminable and the fraction in the low molecular weight ( 10 000 daltons), without any carbon elimination during incubation, suggests that these molecules undergo important structural changes under the action of biological treatment

Perturbations of the local gravity field due to mass distribution on precise measuring instruments: a numerical method applied to a cold atom gravimeter

We present a numerical method, based on a FEM simulation, for the determination of the gravitational field generated by massive objects, whatever geometry and space mass density they have. The method was applied for the determination of the self gravity effect of an absolute cold atom gravimeter which aims at a relative uncertainty of 10-9. The deduced bias, calculated with a perturbative treatment, is finally presented. The perturbation reaches (1.3 \pm 0.1) \times 10-9 of the Earth's gravitational field.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Comparison between two mobile absolute gravimeters: optical versus atomic interferometers

We report a comparison between two absolute gravimeters: the LNE-SYRTE cold atoms gravimeter and FG5#220 of Leibniz Universit\"at of Hannover. They rely on different principles of operation: atomic and optical interferometry. Both are movable which enabled them to participated to the last International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG'09) at BIPM. Immediately after, their bilateral comparison took place in the LNE watt balance laboratory and showed an agreement of 4.3 +/- 6.4 {\mu}Gal

Pose, posture, formation and contortion in kinematic systems

The concepts of pose, posture, formation and contortion are defined for serial, parallel and hybrid kinematic systems. Workspace and jointspace structure is examined in terms of these concepts. The inter-relationships of pose, posture, formation and contortion are explored for a range of robot workspace and jointspace types

Rotation symmetry axes and the quality index in a 3D octahedral parallel robot manipulator system

The geometry of a 3D octahedral parallel robot manipulator system is specified in terms of two rigid octahedral structures (the fixed and moving platforms) and six actuation legs. The symmetry of the system is exploited to determine the behaviour of (a new version of) the quality index for various motions. The main results are presented graphically

The electric double layer has a life of its own

Using molecular dynamics simulations with recently developed importance sampling methods, we show that the differential capacitance of a model ionic liquid based double-layer capacitor exhibits an anomalous dependence on the applied electrical potential. Such behavior is qualitatively incompatible with standard mean-field theories of the electrical double layer, but is consistent with observations made in experiment. The anomalous response results from structural changes induced in the interfacial region of the ionic liquid as it develops a charge density to screen the charge induced on the electrode surface. These structural changes are strongly influenced by the out-of-plane layering of the electrolyte and are multifaceted, including an abrupt local ordering of the ions adsorbed in the plane of the electrode surface, reorientation of molecular ions, and the spontaneous exchange of ions between different layers of the electrolyte close to the electrode surface. The local ordering exhibits signatures of a first-order phase transition, which would indicate a singular charge-density transition in a macroscopic limit

SAR image segmentation with GMMs

This paper proposes a new approach for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image segmentation. Segmenting SAR images can be challenging because of the blurry edges and the high speckle. The segmentation proposed is based on a machine learning technique. Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) were already used to segment images in the visual field and are here adapted to work with single channel SAR images. The segmentation suggested is designed to be a first step towards feature and model based classification. The recall rate is the most important as the goal is to retain most target's features. A high recall rate of 88%, higher than for other segmentation methods on the Moving and Stationary Target Acquisition and Recognition (MSTAR) dataset, was obtained. The next classification stage is thus not affected by a lack of information while its computation load drops. With this method, the inclusion of disruptive features in models of targets is limited, providing computationally lighter models and a speed up in further classification as the narrower segmented areas foster convergence of models and provide refined features to compare. This segmentation method is hence an asset to template, feature and model based classification methods. Besides this method, a comparison between variants of the GMMs segmentation and a classical segmentation is provided

Revestimientos aplicables sobre soportes de yeso

Because of its water sensibility the main technical problem of gypsum plaster, for using in external walls, is constituted by its protection against external solicitations. After recall of requirements (water tighness in respect of rain water, protection against mechanical actions,...) and of principal basic data (characteristics of supports, climatical and economical data), a list of already used solutions in Europe and Developing countries is made, followed by an inventory of various possible solutions and of the means used in order to verity the workability of these solutions. In conclusion, the point is doing upon solutions which are emerging.Conocida la sensibilidad al agua del yeso, en el caso de su utilización en muros exteriores, el problema de su protección frente a las solicitaciones es el más importante. Después de recordar las exigencias (función de impermeabilización, protección de las acciones mecánicas...) y de los principales datos de partida (características de los soportes, datos climáticos y económicos), se aborda un repertorio de soluciones ya experimentadas hasta hoy en Europa y en algunos países en vías de desarrollo, seguido de un inventario de diferentes posibles soluciones y de los medios de que se dispone para comprobar la aptitud al empleo. El punto final se refiere a las soluciones que se estudian en la actualidad

Workspace Analysis of a 4 Cable-Driven Spatial Parallel Robot

International audienceThis paper presents the static equilibrium workspace of an under-constrained cable-driven robot with four cables taking into account the forces and the moments due to the forces acting on the moving platform. The problem is formulated as a non-linear optimization problem with maintaining static equilibrium as the objective function. The simulations are done using MATLAB. The maximum force on the cables and tilting angle of the platform are used to define the feasible static equilibrium workspace and the results obtained are used to finalize the design of the collaborative cable-driven robot to be installed in existing production lines for the agile handling of parts in a manufacturing industry