A Fallen Person Detector with a Privacy-Preserving Edge-AI Camera

As the population ages, Ambient-Assisted Living (AAL) environments are increasingly used to support older individuals’ safety and autonomy. In this study, we propose a low-cost, privacy-preserving sensor system integrated with mobile robots to enhance fall detection in AAL environments. We utilized the Luxonis OAKD Edge-AI camera mounted on a mobile robot to detect fallen individuals. The system was trained using YOLOv6 network on the E-FPDS dataset and optimized with a knowledge distillation approach onto the more compact YOLOv5 network, which was deployed on the camera. We evaluated the system’s performance using a custom dataset captured with a robot-mounted camera. We achieved a precision of 96.52%, a recall of 95.10%, and a recognition rate of 15 frames per second. The proposed system enhances the safety and autonomy of older individuals by enabling the rapid detection and response to falls.This work has been part supported by the visuAAL project on Privacy-Aware and Acceptable Video-Based Technologies and Services for Active and Assisted Living (https://www.visuaal-itn.eu/) funded by the EU H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 861091. The project has also been part supported by the SFI Future Innovator Award SFI/21/FIP/DO/9955 project Smart Hangar

Context-Aware Shared Control of a Robot Mobility Aid for the Elderly Blind

This paper describes the use of a Bayesian network to provide context-aware shared control of a robot mobility aid for the frail blind. The robot mobility aid, PAM-AID, is a “smart walker” that aims to assist the frail and elderly blind to walk safely indoors. The Bayesian network combines user input with high-level information derived from the sensors to provide a context-aware estimate of the user’s current navigation goals. This context-aware action selection mechanism facilitates the use of a very simple, low bandwidth user interface, which is critical for the elderly user group. The PAM-AID systems have been evaluated through a series of field trails involving over 30 potential users

User involvement in the design and evaluation of a smart mobility aid

This paper describes the design and evaluation of an innovative smart mobility aid for the frail visually impaired. The Personal Adaptive Mobility AID (PAM-AID) was developed to address the difficulties in personal mobility of the frail and elderly visually impaired. The paper provides an overview of the PAM-AID research at Trinity College and describes the evolutionary nature of the design process. Because there were no existing systems to guide its development, a series of proto-types was constructed and they were regularly evaluated in the field. This approach views potential users as vital contributing members of the design team and led to rapid and hopefully useful improvements in the design

Lights, camera, action: Microbiology laboratory teaching in the spotlight

[EN] Broadening of access to higher education, leading to increasing class sizes, presents particular challenges in teaching specialised, laboratory-based subjects such as Microbiology. The Republic of Ireland has seen a 20% increase in undergraduate student numbers in the past ten years, with this trend set to continue in the near future. To complement traditional learning approaches, we have designed, produced and trialled a comprehensive suite of teaching videos that demonstrate common techniques taught in our Microbiology degree programme. The 42 videos, each of 4-9 minutes duration, were filmed in-house using a professional film maker. Videos were designed for viewing before linked laboratory sessions to increase student engagement, assist learners with little prior technical experience to process core concepts, and improve the quality of hands-on practical training in the laboratory. Student reaction to a pilot release was exceptionally positive, underlining the videos’ effectiveness for visual learners and the added value of the content due to its bespoke nature. The complete video collection will be amalgamated into our B.Sc. programme in 2019-20. The initiative is expected to enhance students’ experience in hands-on laboratory sessions, promote active learning by blending video into traditional teaching programmes, and support reflective study through their availability.The NUI Galway Student Project Fund is thanked for financial support.Lacey, K.; Wall, JG. (2019). Lights, camera, action: Microbiology laboratory teaching in the spotlight. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 939-946. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9429OCS93994

Evaluating Semi-Analytic Halo Merging Histories

We evaluate the accuracy of semi-analytic merger-trees by comparing them with the merging histories of dark-matter halos in N-body simulations, focusing on the joint distribution of the number of progenitors and their masses. We first confirm that the halo mass function as predicted directly by the Press-Schechter (PS) model deviates from the simulations by up to 50% depending on the mass scale and redshift, while the means of the projected distributions of progenitor number and mass for a halo of a given mass are more accurately predicted by the Extended PS model. We then use the full merger trees to study the joint distribution as a function of redshift and parent-halo mass. We find that while the deviation of the mean quantities due to the inaccuracy of the Extended PS model partly propagates into the higher moments of the distribution, the merger-tree procedure does not introduce a significant additional source of error. In particular, certain properties of the merging history such as the mass ratio of the progenitors and the total accretion rate are reproduced quite accurately for galaxy sized halos (\sim 10^{12}\msun), and less so for larger masses. We conclude that although there could be $\sim 50$ deviations in the absolute numbers and masses of progenitors and in the higher order moment of these distributions, the relative properties of progenitors for a given halo are reproduced fairly well by the merger trees. They can thus provide a useful framework for modelling galaxy formation once the above-mentioned limitations are taken into account.Comment: 10 pages including 9 figures, submitted to MNRA

The forest of merger history trees associated with the formation of dark matter halos

We describe a simple efficient algorithm that allows one to construct Monte-Carlo realizations of merger histories of dark matter halos. The algorithm is motivated by the excursion set model (Bond et al. 1991) for the conditional and unconditional halo mass functions. The forest of trees constructed using this algorithm depends on the underlying power spectrum. For Poisson or white-noise initial power-spectra, the forest has exactly the same properties as the ensemble of trees described by Sheth (1996) and Sheth & Pitman (1997). In this case, many ensemble averaged higher order statistics of the tree distribution can be computed analytically. For Gaussian initial conditions with more general power-spectra, mean properties of the ensemble closely resemble the mean properties expected from the excursion set approach. Various statistical quantities associated with the trees constructed using our algorithm are in good agreement with what is measured in numerical simulations of hierarchical gravitational clustering.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to MNRA

The application of robotics to a mobility aid for the elderly blind

In this paper we describe a novel application of mobile robot technology to the construction of a mobility for the frail blind. The robot mobility aid discussed in this paper physically supports the person walking behind it and provides obstacle avoidance to ensure safer travel. As in all Assistive Technology projects, a clear understanding of the user's needs is vital and we summarise the main user requirements for our device. We then describe the mechanical design, the user interface, the software and hardware architectures of our robot. We describe the results of evaluations carried out by both mobility experts and users and finally we outline our plans for further development

Psychomotor learning theory informing the design and evaluation of an interactive augmented reality hand hygiene training app for healthcare workers

Hand hygiene is critical for infection control, but studies report poor transfer from training to practice. Hand hygiene training in hospitals typically involves one classroom session per year, but psychomotor skills require repetition and feedback for retention. We describe the design and independent evaluation of a mobile interactive augmented reality training tool for the World Health Organisation (WHO) hand hygiene technique. The design was based on a detailed analysis of the underlying educational theory relating to psychomotor skills learning. During the evaluation forty-seven subjects used AR hand hygiene training over 4 weeks. Hand hygiene proficiency was assessed at weekly intervals, both electronically and via human inspection. Thirty eight participants (81%) reached proficiency after 24.3 (SD=17.8) two-minute practice sessions. The study demonstrated that interactive mobile applications could empower learners to develop hand hygiene skills independently. Healthcare organizations could improve hand hygiene quality by using self-directed skills-based training combined with regular ward-based assessments

Technology supporting infection prevention and control training in Africa

Infection Control Network Africa (ICAN) is the largest infection prevention and control (IPC) organisation in Africa. It provides IPC education programs and actively supports IPC implementation to reduce healthcare-associated infections(HAIs), such as COVID-19, Ebola, etc. Good quality clinical hand hygiene is the foundation of IPC. Still, it is challenging to teach as it involves a new psychomotor skill and develops new hand hygiene habits appropriate to the clinical setting. In 2019 ICANTrain-The-Trainer (TTT) program began using the SureWashtechnology platform to support both in-person education and the cascade of training to other staff in the facility. This paper describes the need, the technology platform, program rollout before and during the COVID-19 outbreak, the impact and the lessons learned. We conclude by providing some observations on the future use of technology for infection control trainin

Industrial inspection using Gaussian functions in a colour space

This paper presents an original method of modelling the colour distributions of images using 2D Gaussian functions and its application to flaw detection in industrial inspection. 2D Gaussian functions are used to model the colours that appear in the non-flawed images in an unsupervised manner. Pixels under test are compared to the colour distribution from training images. 140 images have been tested and the results are given. This method has a wide range of applications for detecting colour separable objects in images. It also has great potential in industrial inspection due to its speed, accuracy and unsupervised training