Generic singular configurations of linkages

We study the topological and differentiable singularities of the configuration space C(\Gamma) of a mechanical linkage \Gamma in d-dimensional Euclidean space, defining an inductive sufficient condition to determine when a configuration is singular. We show that this condition holds for generic singularities, provide a mechanical interpretation, and give an example of a type of mechanism for which this criterion identifies all singularities

The configuration space of an arachnoid mechanism

ABSTRACT. The configuration spaces of arachnoid mechanisms are analyzed in this paper. These mechanisms consist of k branches each of which has an arbitrary number of links and a fixed initial point, while all branches end at one common end-point. It is shown that generically, the configuration spaces of such mechanisms are manifolds, and the conditions for the exceptional cases are determined. The configuration space of planar arachnoid mechanisms having k branches, each with two links is analyzed for both the non-singular and the singular cases

Flexible-Robotic Reflector for Aerospace Applications

Existing dish based antennas tend to have geometric morphologic distortion in the surface due to drastic thermal changes common in the space environment. In this paper we present a new concept for a dynamic antenna specially designed for communication satellites. The suggested flexible-robotic antenna is based on a dual-reflector structure, where the subreflector has a complex surface shaping robotic mechanism allowing it to fix most of the morphologic errors in the main reflector. We have implemented a set of searching algorithms allowing the hyper redundant robotic subreflector to adapt its surface to the morphologic distortions in the main reflector. The suggested new antenna was constructed and tested in an RF room in which it was able to fix the loss caused by distortion in the main reflector to the original gain in less than an hour

Accurate 3D Mapping Algorithm for Flexible Antennas

This work addresses the problem of performing an accurate 3D mapping of a flexible antenna surface. Consider a high-gain satellite flexible antenna; even a submillimeter change in the antenna surface may lead to a considerable loss in the antenna gain. Using a robotic subreflector, such changes can be compensated for. Yet, in order to perform such tuning, an accurate 3D mapping of the main antenna is required. This paper presents a general method for performing an accurate 3D mapping of marked surfaces such as satellite dish antennas. Motivated by the novel technology for nanosatellites with flexible high-gain antennas, we propose a new accurate mapping framework which requires a small-sized monocamera and known patterns on the antenna surface. The experimental result shows that the presented mapping method can detect changes up to 0.1-millimeter accuracy, while the camera is located 1 meter away from the dish, allowing an RF antenna optimization for Ka and Ku frequencies. Such optimization process can improve the gain of the flexible antennas and allow an adaptive beam shaping. The presented method is currently being implemented on a nanosatellite which is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2018

Topological and Kinematic Singularities for a Class of Parallel Mechanisms

We study singularities for a parallel mechanism with a planar moving platform in ℝ(=2,3), with joints which are universal, spherical (spatial case), or rotational (planar case). For such mechanisms, we give a necessary condition for a topological singularity to occur, and describe the corresponding kinematic singularity. An example is provided

Evaluating Indoor Positioning Systems in a Shopping Mall: The Lessons Learned From the IPIN 2018 Competition

The Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN) conference holds an annual competition in which indoor localization systems from different research groups worldwide are evaluated empirically. The objective of this competition is to establish a systematic evaluation methodology with rigorous metrics both for real-time (on-site) and post-processing (off-site) situations, in a realistic environment unfamiliar to the prototype developers. For the IPIN 2018 conference, this competition was held on September 22nd, 2018, in Atlantis, a large shopping mall in Nantes (France). Four competition tracks (two on-site and two off-site) were designed. They consisted of several 1 km routes traversing several floors of the mall. Along these paths, 180 points were topographically surveyed with a 10 cm accuracy, to serve as ground truth landmarks, combining theodolite measurements, differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and 3D scanner systems. 34 teams effectively competed. The accuracy score corresponds to the third quartile (75 th percentile) of an error metric that combines the horizontal positioning error and the floor detection. The best results for the on-site tracks showed an accuracy score of 11.70 m (Track 1) and 5.50 m (Track 2), while the best results for the off-site tracks showed an accuracy score of 0.90 m (Track 3) and 1.30 m (Track 4). These results showed that it is possible to obtain high accuracy indoor positioning solutions in large, realistic environments using wearable light-weight sensors without deploying any beacon. This paper describes the organization work of the tracks, analyzes the methodology used to quantify the results, reviews the lessons learned from the competition and discusses its future

Evaluating indoor positioning systems in a shopping mall : the lessons learned from the IPIN 2018 competition

The Indoor Positioning and Indoor Navigation (IPIN) conference holds an annual competition in which indoor localization systems from different research groups worldwide are evaluated empirically. The objective of this competition is to establish a systematic evaluation methodology with rigorous metrics both for real-time (on-site) and post-processing (off-site) situations, in a realistic environment unfamiliar to the prototype developers. For the IPIN 2018 conference, this competition was held on September 22nd, 2018, in Atlantis, a large shopping mall in Nantes (France). Four competition tracks (two on-site and two off-site) were designed. They consisted of several 1 km routes traversing several floors of the mall. Along these paths, 180 points were topographically surveyed with a 10 cm accuracy, to serve as ground truth landmarks, combining theodolite measurements, differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and 3D scanner systems. 34 teams effectively competed. The accuracy score corresponds to the third quartile (75th percentile) of an error metric that combines the horizontal positioning error and the floor detection. The best results for the on-site tracks showed an accuracy score of 11.70 m (Track 1) and 5.50 m (Track 2), while the best results for the off-site tracks showed an accuracy score of 0.90 m (Track 3) and 1.30 m (Track 4). These results showed that it is possible to obtain high accuracy indoor positioning solutions in large, realistic environments using wearable light-weight sensors without deploying any beacon. This paper describes the organization work of the tracks, analyzes the methodology used to quantify the results, reviews the lessons learned from the competition and discusses its future