A detection method of intersections for determining overlapping using active vision

Sometimes, the presence of objects difficult the observation of other neighboring objects. This is because part of the surface of an object occludes partially the surface of another, increasing the complexitiy in the recognition process. Therefore, the information which is acquired from scene to describe the objects is often incomplete and depends a great deal on the view point of the observation. Thus, when any real scene is observed, the regions and the boundaries which delimit and dissociate objects from others are not perceived easily. In this paper, a method to discern objects from others, delimiting where the surface of each object begins and finishes is presented. Really, here, we look for detecting the overlapping and occlusion zones of two or more objects which interact among each other in a same scene. This is very useful, on the one hand, to distinguish some objects from others when the features like texture colour and geometric form are not sufficient to separate them with a segmentation process. On the other hand, it is also important to identify occluded zones without a previous knowledge of the type of objects which are wished to recognize. The proposed approach is based on the detection of occluded zones by means of structured light patterns projected on the object surfaces in a scene. These light patterns determine certain discontinuities of the beam projections when they hit against the surfaces becoming deformed themselves. So that, such discontinuities are taken like zones of boundary of occlusion candidate regions

Detection of partial occlusions of assembled components to simplify the disassembly tasks

An automatic disassembly cell requires of a computer vision system for recognition and localization of the products and each of theirs components. The detection of occlusions adds more information to the knowledge base to identify components and products, and generate a trustworthy and precise relational model (generic graph of hierarchic relations among the different components that make up the product). In this paper, a method to detect partial occlusions in assembled components is presented. This method is based on the fusion of regions and edges information, and it offers a certain degree of simplification for the recognition and modelled of the disassembly tasks, of the set of components which compose the product. The proposed approach to detect regions is a hybrid approach between RGB and HSV spaces. The bi-dimensional histogram V/S is employed for the selection of the appropriate thresholds which serve as an aid to diminish the influence of the highlights and shadows in images. The goal of this paper is to present an approach for the detection of occlusions in assembled components from a combination of HSV and RGB spaces, a bi-dimensional histogram and an edge detector.This work was funded by the following Spanish MCYT project “DESAURO: Desensamblado Automático Selectivo para Reciclado mediante Robots Cooperativos y Sistema Multisensorial” (MCYT (DPI2002-02103)

Motion planning of a climbing parallel robot

This paper proposes a novel application of the Stewart–Gough parallel platform as a climbing robot and its kinematics control to climb through long structures describing unknown spatial trajectories, such as palm trunks, tubes, etc. First, the description and design of the climbing parallel robot is presented. Second, the inverse and forward kinematics analysis of a mobile six-degrees-of-freedom parallel robot is described, based on spatial constraint formulation. Finally, the gait pattern and the climbing strategy of the parallel robot is described. The information from this research is being used in an actual climbing parallel robot design at Miguel Hernández University of Elche (Alicante), Spain.This paper was recommended for publication by Associate Editor M. Shoham and Editor I. Walker upon evaluation of the reviewers’ comments. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture under Project 1FD1997-1338

Job-shop scheduling applied to computer vision

This paper presents a method for minimizing the total elapsed time spent by n tasks running on m differents processors working in parallel. The developed algorithm not only minimizes the total elapsed time but also reduces the idle time and waiting time of in-process tasks. This condition is very important in some applications of computer vision in which the time to finish the total process is particularly critical -quality control in industrial inspection, real-time computer vision, guided robots, .... The scheduling algorithm is based on the use of two matrices, obtained from the precedence relationships between tasks, and the data obtained from the two matrixes. The developed scheduling algorithm has been tested in one application of quality control using computer vision. The results obtained have been satisfactory in the application of different image processing algorithms

Vergence control system for stereo depth recovery

This paper describes a vergence control algorithm for a 3D stereo recovery system. This work has been developed within framework of the project ROBTET. This project has the purpose of designing a Teleoperated Robotic System for live power lines maintenance. The tasks involved suppose the automatic calculation of path for standard tasks, collision detection to avoid electrical shocks, force feedback and accurate visual data, and the generation of collision free real paths. To accomplish these tasks the system needs an exact model of the environment that is acquired through an active stereoscopic head. A cooperative algorithm using vergence and stereo correlation is shown. The proposed system is carried out through an algorithm based on the phase correlation, trying to keep the vergence on the interest object. The sharp vergence changes produced by the variation of the interest objects are controlled through an estimation of the depth distance generated by a stereo correspondence system. In some elements of the scene, those aligned with the epipolar plane, large errors in the depth estimation as well as in the phase correlation, are produced. To minimize these errors a laser lighting system is used to help fixation, assuring an adequate vergence and depth extraction .The work presented in this paper has been supported by electric utility IBERDROLA, S.A. under project PIE No. 132.198

Avances en el desarrollo de un robot trepador de estructuras cilíndricas

En este artículo se presentan los avances alcanzados en la realización de un segundo prototipo para el diseño de un robot trepador sobre estructuras cilíndricas alargadas. Se ha realizado un nuevo diseño que posibilita un control más robusto de la estructura mecánica así como una mejor y adecuada maniobrabilidad. Asimismo se presenta el algoritmo utilizado para el control de trayectorias en tiempo real basado en la medida estimada del centro de la estructura cilíndrica por la que asciende el robot mediante el empleo de unos sensores de ultrasonidos en cada una de las bases del robot.El trabajo presentado en este artículo se ha realizado gracias a la financiación aportada por el Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior e Investigación Científica) para el desarrollo del proyecto de investigación ‘Robot Trepador para mantenimiento de palmerales y de estructuras cilíndricas alargadas’ 1FD1997-1338

Overview and future trends of control education

Control education is a mature area in which many professors and researchers have worked hard to face the challenge of providing a versatile education with a strong scientific base. All this without losing sight of the needs of the industry; adapting the contents, methodologies, and tools to the continuous social and technological changes of our time. This article presents a reflection on the role of automatic control in today's society, a review of the traditional objectives of control education through seminal work in the area, and finally a review of the main current trends

Localización de robots móviles con 4 GDL mediante visión omnidireccional

[Resumen] La localización de robots, junto a la creación de mapas y planificación, es una tarea fundamental que permite la navegación autónoma de estos dispositivos en un entorno desconocido. En este trabajo se presenta un método para calcular la transformación entre dos poses del robot que se desplaza en un entorno en el que pueden darse cambios en la altura. Estos robots están provistos de un sistema omnidireccional que les permite obtener puntos característicos del entorno. A partir de estos puntos, aplicamos el método que se describe en este trabajo, para obtener la localización del robot salvo un factor de escala sin tener conocimiento previo de la escena.Generalitat Valenciana; AICO/2015/021https://doi.org/10.17979/spudc.978849749808

Impact of oestrus synchronization devices on ewes vaginal microbiota and artificial insemination outcome

Introduction: The low pregnancy rate by artificial insemination in sheep represents a fundamental challenge for breeding programs. In this species, oestrus synchronization is carried out by manipulating hormonal regimens through the insertion of progestogen intravaginal devices. This reproductive strategy may alter the vaginal microbiota affecting the artificial insemination outcome. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the vaginal microbiome of 94 vaginal swabs collected from 47 ewes with alternative treatments applied to the progesterone-releasing intravaginal devices (probiotic, maltodextrin, antibiotic and control), in two sample periods (before placing and after removing the devices). To our knowledge, this is the first study using nanopore-based metagenome sequencing for vaginal microbiome characterization in livestock. Results: Our results revealed a significant lower abundance of the genera Oenococcus (Firmicutes) and Neisseria (Proteobacteria) in pregnant compared to non-pregnant ewes. We also detected a significant lower abundance of Campylobacter in the group of samples treated with the probiotic. Discussion: Although the use of probiotics represents a promising practice to improve insemination results, the election of the suitable species and concentration requires further investigation. In addition, the use of progestogen in the synchronization devices seemed to increase the alpha-diversity and decrease the abundance of harmful microorganisms belonging to Gammaproteobacteria and Fusobacteriia classes, suggesting a beneficial effect of their use.This work was funded by INIA-GENOVIS (grant CON19-043-MGA), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain (grant RTI-2018-096487-R-C33), and also has received financial support from Fondos FEDER.artificial inseminationfertilitynanoporeovinereproductionvaginal microbiotametagenomemicrobiomePublishe

Infections after spine instrumentation: effectiveness of short antibiotic treatment in a large multicentre cohort

REIPI (Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Disease)/GEIO–SEIMC (Group for the Study of Osteoarticular Infections – Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology).[Background and objectives] Available information about infection after spine instrumentation (IASI) and its management are scarce. We aimed to analyse DAIR (debridement, antibiotics and implant retention) prognosis and evaluate effectiveness of short antibiotic courses on early forms.[Methods] Multicentre retrospective study of patients with IASI managed surgically (January 2010–December 2016). Risk factors for failure were analysed by multivariate Cox regression and differences between short and long antibiotic treatment were evaluated with a propensity score-matched analysis.[Results] Of the 411 IASI cases, 300 (73%) presented in the first month after surgery, 48 in the second month, 22 in the third and 41 thereafter. Infections within the first 2 months (early cases) occurred mainly to older patients, with local inflammatory signs and predominance of Enterobacteriaceae, unlike those in the later periods. When managed with DAIR, prognosis of early cases was better than later ones (failure rate 10.4% versus 26.1%, respectively; P = 0.02). Risk factors for DAIR failure in early cases were female sex, Charlson Score, large fusions (>6 levels) and polymicrobial infections (adjusted HRs of 2.4, 1.3, 2.6 and 2.26, respectively). Propensity score matching proved shorter courses of antibiotics (4–6 weeks) as effective as longer courses (failure rates 11.4% and 10.5%, respectively; P = 0.870).[Conclusions] IASIs within the first 2 months could be managed effectively with DAIR and shorter antibiotic courses. Clinicians should be cautious when faced with patients with comorbidities, large fusions and/or polymicrobial infections.E.B. was supported with a grant of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III – Ministry of Science and Innovation (FI 16/00397). This research was carried out as part of our routine work.Peer reviewe