466 research outputs found
Power-law distribution of long-term experimental data in swarm robotics
No full textBio-inspired aggregation is one of the most fundamental behaviours that has been studied in swarm robotic for more than two decades. Biology revealed that the environmental characteristics are very important factors in aggregation of social insects and other animals. In this paper, we study the effects of different environmental factors such as size and texture of aggregation cues using real robots. In addition, we propose a mathematical model to predict the behaviour of the aggregation during an experiment
Fiducial marker-based multiple camera localisation system
Get PDFV této práci je představen multikamerový lokalizační systém založený na referenčních značkách společně s upraveným algoritmem pro detekci černobílých kruhových referenčních značek. Představený lokalizační systém vychází z jednokamerového systému pro detekci referečních značek v reálném čase s určením jejich pozice a orientace v 3D prostoru a rozpoznatelným variabilním kódováním identifikátorů. Tento multikamerový lokalizační systém postavený na levných a široce dostupných webových kamerách představuje masově dostupný lokalizační systém jako alternativu k aktuálně dostupným high-end systémům se specializovaným hardwarem a zdlouhavým nasazením. Za účelem posouzení výkonu je lokalizační systém testován proti původní jednokamerové metodě široce používané v oblasti mobilní a rojové robotiky. Vytvořili jsme simulovaná testovací prostředí umožňující dynamicky měnitelné simulované scénáře a také jsme shromáždili datovou sadu zachycující nasazení systému pro sledování pozice mobilního robotu při autonomní navigaci v exteriérech. Pro lepší správu testů byl připraven automatický evaluační a simulační nástroj.In this thesis, the multi-camera localisation system based on fiducial markers is presented together with a modified algorithm to detect black-and-white circular fiducials. The introduced localisation system originates from the real-time single-camera fiducial marker system with an estimation of the position and orientation in the 3D space and a distinguishable encoded variable identification. This multi-camera localisation system built on cheap and widely available web cameras represents a publicly available and open localisation system as an alternative to the currently available expensive, closed systems using high-end cameras and specialised hardware requiring tedious deployment. In order to assess the performance, the localisation system is tested against the single-camera original method widely used in the fields of mobile and swarm robotics. We created simulated testing environments allowing dynamically changeable simulated scenarios, and we also collected a real-world dataset of an application on the mobile robot external localisation. An automatic evaluation and simulation framework was introduced to make the testing process more manageable
Fiducial Marker Detection for Vision-Based Mobile Robot Localisation
Get PDFTato práce představuje metody pro rozpoznávání referenčních značek vhodné pro externí a palubní lokalizaci založenou na obraze, a rovněž zavádí nový systém pro lokalizaci značek. Nově popsaná referenční značka je schopná určení plných 6 stupňů volnosti, unikátní identifikace a zpracování v reálném čase. Tento typ dostupných značek spolu s běžnou kamerou cílí k přijetí robotickou komunitou jako náhrada za současné drahé lokalizační systémy. V práci také porovnáváme představenou značku s nejpopulárnějšími současnými značkami z hlediska jejich kvality určení pozice a orientace. Jelikož kvalita metod závisí na schopnosti přesně určit pozici, orientaci a ID, navrhli jsme kritéria pro testování chyby jak pozice, tak i orientace založená na reálných aplikací v oborech mobilní a rojové robotiky. Za tímto účelem jsme vyvinuli umělé prostředí založené na simulaci s třemi různými scénáři společně se systémem automatického testování a vyhodnocení. Abychom získali povědomí, jak se metody chovají v reálných podmínkách, otestovali jsme je rovněž na datasetu s robotickým rojem.This thesis presents fiducial markers suitable for vision-based external and ego-localisation, as well as it introduces a new fiducial marker localisation system. The newly described marker is capable of the full 6 degrees of freedom estimation, unique identification and real-time evaluation. This kind of low-cost markers combined with an off-the-shelf camera aims to be accepted by the robotic community as a substitution of the current high-end expensive localisation systems. In the thesis, we also compare the fiducial marker with the most popular state-of-the-art methods in terms of pose estimation quality. As the quality of the methods depends on the ability to determine the pose and ID precisely, we proposed a set of criteria for testing both the position and orientation error based on real-world applications in fields of mobile and swarm robotics. For this purpose, an artificial simulation-based environment with three different scenarios was developed together with an automated testing and evaluation framework. To obtain knowledge about how the methods behave under real-world conditions, we also tested them on a swarm dataset
Heart sound musical transcription technique using multi-level preparation
Get PDFMusical transcription of heart sound is a new idea to provide a textual biomedical database. Textual database allows applying several indexing and searching techniques in order to monitor patient behavior for a long duration. MIDI commands produce a semi-structural musical file format which enables to apply various applications. Main objective of this paper is the extraction of fundamental frequency of the given heart sound which is recorded with an electrical stethoscope. Based on extracted fundamental frequencies, the logarithmical relationship of pitch numbers will be estimated. Generally the captured heart sound includes several types of noises such as other organs sound and ambient voice. Hence, filtering of the heart sound is indispensable. Thus, three levels of preparation techniques which are wavelet transform, frequency limitation, and amplitude reconstruction will be applied on the heart sound sequentially. The results of the performed experiments show the accuracy of approximately 93% ±2. The statistical analyses illustrated that each level of the preparation, significantly improved the accuracy of the transcription (p < 0.005). © 2010 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l
Biohybrid Entities for Environmental Monitoring
No full textIn the wake of climate change and water quality crisis, it is crucial to find novel ways to extensively monitor the environment and to detect ecological changes early. Biomonitoring has been found to be an effective way of observing the aggregate effect of environmental fluctuations. In this paper, we outline the development of biohybrids which will autonomously observe simple organisms (microorganisms, algae, mussels etc.) and draw conclusions about the state of the water body. These biohybrids will be used for continuous environmental monitoring and to detect sudden (anthropologically or ecologically catastrophic) events at an early stage. Our biohybrids are being developed within the framework of project Robocoenosis, where the operational area planned are Austrian lakes. Additionally, we discuss the possible use of various species found in these waters and strategies for biomonitoring. We present early prototypes of devices that are being developed for monitoring of organisms
Development of autonomous miniature mobile robot for swarm applications
Get PDFBiological swarm is a fascinating behavior of nature that has been successfully
applied to solve human problems especially for robotics application. The high
economical cost and large area required to execute swarm robotics scenarios does not
permit experimentation with real robots. Modeling and simulation of mass numbers
of these robots are extremely complex and often inaccurate. This research describes
the design decision and presents the development of an autonomous miniature mobile
robot called AMiR, for swarm robotics research and education. Two criteria for
designing a swarm platform are the feasibility of mobile robot as an autonomous
system and the amenability of inter-robots behavior in swarm applications. In
the design phase, suitable components based on three main principles which are
functional ability, low-cost, and local modules were selected. Several common
platforms were studied and AMiR prototype was designed. The large number of
robots in these systems allows designing of an individual AMiR unit with simple
perception and mobile abilities. Hence a large number of robots can be easily and
economically feasible to be replicated (around 310 MYR per unit). AMiR has been
designed as a complete platform with supporting software development tools for
robotics education and researches. Inter-robot communication is a significant issue
in swarm applications. Short range infrared communication was selected to transmit
robot’s messages. Two different modulation which are amplitude and frequency shift
keying techniques were implemented on AMiR and features of each technique were
discussed. Additional modules are mounted on top of main board to implement
several behaviors inspired from nature. Three different swarm scenarios based on
collective behaviors were performed and effective parameters in each behavior were
discussed. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of using this robot to
implement swarm robotic applications
Real-time segmentation of heart sound pattern with amplitude reconstruction
Get PDFThis paper presents a new idea for real-time segmentation of heart sound using amplitude reconstruction. Biomedical signal processing usually uses recorded information as the inputs. Real-time processing systems are challenging fields of engineering including biomedical signal processing. Segmentation of heart sound means that, system receives an audio stream and it separates the given signal into cycles that includes heart sound pulses, first and second heart sound. For implementing real-time heart sound segmentation, a fast method with low complexity is required. In the proposed system, the heart sound is filtered on frequency domain, and then it is processed on amplitude domain to extract the cycles. Although this technique is implemented without any complex calculation such as Furrier or wavelet transforms, the absorbed results showed its feasibility as a real-time segmentation method
A EMOTION-FOCUSSED TREATMENT FOR DECREASING CONJUGAL STRESS- A RANDOMIZED REPRESENTATIVE SINGLE-SITE CONTROLLED STUDY
No full textObjective:
Marital life is closely related to physical, social, and mental well-being. The aim of this study was to determine the reduction in chronic marital life stress among exposed subjects through the emotion re-focus approach.
Methods:
The individuals meeting our inclusion criteria were screened with the help of Stockholm Marital Stress Scale. The cognitive assessment was also made with the help of an Abbreviated Mental Test. The subjects were assigned a random number in a double-blind and independent manner, and half of them were provided eight therapeutic sessions lasting 90 minutes for eight weeks. The remaining ones were provided identical service after the entire data collection. All analyses were carried-out in 99.0% confidence interval, 0.01% type-I error and 1.0% type-II error.
Results:
A total of 138 subjects with marital life stress were allocated to both testing and control group. Both groups did not differ in social, statistical, and clinical variables. The between-group mean stress score did not differ statistically at baseline (p=0.1), but did differ at the culmination (p<0.001). For control group, the mean stress score changed from 2.8, 99%CI 2.7-2.9 to 2.7, 99%CI 2.6-2.8, p=0.1 between pre-post assessment. For testing group, the mean stress score changed from 2.9, 99%CI 2.8-3.0 to 2.4, 99%CI 2.3-2.5, p<0.001 (diff=17.2%, ES=1.40, R2=0.32) between pre-post assessment. The within-group improvement in stress score among subjects from their own baseline was 0-3.8% among control group and 1.9-30.6% in testing group. The sample power was 99.1%.
Conclusions:
Within our strengths and limitations, we may conclude that emotion re-focus may help to overcome chronic conjugal life distress with 0.1% false positive error.
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A real-time note transcription technique using static and dynamic window sizes
No full textThis paper presents a real-time signal processing technique using a hardware interface based on the microcontroller to process audio music signals to standard MIDI data. A technique for transcribing music signals by extracting note parameters is described. Two different approaches using static and dynamic window sizes to convert the voice samples for real-time processing without complex calculations are proposed. The transcribed data generated shows the feasibility of using microcontrollers for real-time MIDI generation hardware interface
Development of a miniature robot for swarm robotic application
Get PDFBiological swarm is a fascinating behavior of nature that has been successfully applied to solve human problem especially for robotics application. The high economical cost and large area required to execute swarm robotics scenarios does not permit experimentation with real robot. Model and simulation of the mass number of these robots are extremely complex and often inaccurate. This paper describes the design decision and presents the development of an autonomous miniature mobile-robot (AMiR) for swarm robotics research and education. The large number of robot in these systems allows designing an individual AMiR unit with simple perception and mobile abilities. Hence a large number of robots can be easily and economically feasible to be replicated. AMiR has been designed as a complete platform with supporting software development tools for robotics education and researches in the Department of Computer and Communication Systems Engineering, UPM. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of using this robot to implement swarm robotic application
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