#### Sample records for autonomous observing strategies

1. Actions, Observations, and Decision-Making: Biologically Inspired Strategies for Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Pisanich, Greg; Ippolito, Corey; Plice, Laura; Young, Larry A.; Lau, Benton

2003-01-01

This paper details the development and demonstration of an autonomous aerial vehicle embodying search and find mission planning and execution srrategies inspired by foraging behaviors found in biology. It begins by describing key characteristics required by an aeria! explorer to support science and planetary exploration goals, and illustrates these through a hypothetical mission profile. It next outlines a conceptual bio- inspired search and find autonomy architecture that implements observations, decisions, and actions through an "ecology" of producer, consumer, and decomposer agents. Moving from concepts to development activities, it then presents the results of mission representative UAV aerial surveys at a Mars analog site. It next describes hardware and software enhancements made to a commercial small fixed-wing UAV system, which inc!nde a ncw dpvelopnent architecture that also provides hardware in the loop simulation capability. After presenting the results of simulated and actual flights of bioinspired flight algorithms, it concludes with a discussion of future development to include an expansion of system capabilities and field science support.

2. Autonomous vehicle development for vertical submarine observation

OpenAIRE

Gomáriz Castro, Spartacus; Prat Tasias, Jordi; Arbós, Alejandro; Viñolo Monzoncillo, Carlos; Pallares, Oriol

2009-01-01

This work proposes the development of an ocean observation vehicle. This vehicle, a hybrid between Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV) moves on the surface of the sea and makes vertical immersions to obtain the profiles of a water column according to a pre-established plan. Its design provides lower production cost and higher efficiency. GPS navigation allows the platform to move along the surface of the water while a radio-modem provid...

3. A Diversified Investment Strategy Using Autonomous Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Rui Pedro; Belo, Orlando

In a previously published article, we presented an architecture for implementing agents with the ability to trade autonomously in the Forex market. At the core of this architecture is an ensemble of classification and regression models that is used to predict the direction of the price of a currency pair. In this paper, we will describe a diversified investment strategy consisting of five agents which were implemented using that architecture. By simulating trades with 18 months of out-of-sample data, we will demonstrate that data mining models can produce profitable predictions, and that the trading risk can be diminished through investment diversification.

4. Path planning strategies for autonomous ground vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Kevin Kent

Several key issues involved with the planning and executing of optimally generated paths for autonomous vehicles are addressed. Two new path planning algorithms are developed, and examined, which effectively minimize replanning as unmapped hazards are encountered. The individual algorithms are compared via extensive simulation. The search strategy results are implemented and tested using the University of Colorado's autonomous vehicle test-bed, RoboCar, and results show the advantages of solving the single-destination all-paths problem for autonomous vehicle path planning. Both path planners implement a graph search methodology incorporating dynamic programming that solves the single-destination shortest-paths problem. Algorithm 1, termed DP for dynamic programming, searches a state space where each state represents a potential vehicle location in a breadth-first fashion expanding from the goal to all potential start locations in the state space. Algorithm 2, termed DP*, couples the heuristic search power of the well-known A* search procedure (Nilsson-80) with the dynamic programming principle applied to graph searching to efficiently make use of overlapping subproblems. DP* is the primary research contribution of the work contained within this thesis. The advantage of solving the single-destination shortest-paths problem is that the entire terrain map is solved in terms of reaching a specified goal. Therefore, if the robot is diverted from the pre-planned path, an alternative path is already computed. The search algorithms are extended to include a probabilistic approach using empirical loss functions to incorporate terrain map uncertainties into the path considering terrain planning process. The results show the importance of considering terrain uncertainty. If the map representation ignores uncertainty by marking any area with less than perfect confidence as unpassable or assigns it the worst case rating, then the paths are longer than intuitively necessary. A

5. Evolutionary strategy for achieving autonomous navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Gage, Douglas W.

1999-01-01

An approach is presented for the evolutionary development of supervised autonomous navigation capabilities for small 'backpackable' ground robots, in the context of a DARPA- sponsored program to provide robotic support to small units of dismounted warfighters. This development approach relies on the implementation of a baseline visual serving navigation capability, including tools to support operator oversight and override, which is then enhanced with semantically referenced commands and a mission scripting structure. As current and future machine perception techniques are able to automatically designate visual serving goal points, this approach should provide a natural evolutionary pathway to higher levels of autonomous operation and reduced requirements for operator intervention.

6. Coordinating an Autonomous Earth-Observing Sensorweb

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwood, Robert; Cichy, Benjamin; Tran, Daniel; Chien, Steve; Rabideau, Gregg; Davies, Ashley; Castano, Rebecca; frye, Stuart; Mandl, Dan; Shulman, Seth; Grosvenor, Sandy

2006-01-01

A system of software has been developed to coordinate the operation of an autonomous Earth-observing sensorweb. Sensorwebs are collections of sensor units scattered over large regions to gather data on spatial and temporal patterns of physical, chemical, or biological phenomena in those regions. Each sensor unit is a node in a data-gathering/ data-communication network that spans a region of interest. In this case, the region is the entire Earth, and the sensorweb includes multiple terrestrial and spaceborne sensor units. In addition to acquiring data for scientific study, the sensorweb is required to give timely notice of volcanic eruptions, floods, and other hazardous natural events. In keeping with the inherently modular nature of the sensory, communication, and data-processing hardware, the software features a flexible, modular architecture that facilitates expansion of the network, customization of conditions that trigger alarms of hazardous natural events, and customization of responses to alarms. The soft8 NASA Tech Briefs, July 2006 ware facilitates access to multiple sources of data on an event of scientific interest, enables coordinated use of multiple sensors in rapid reaction to detection of an event, and facilitates the tracking of spacecraft operations, including tracking of the acquisition, processing, and downlinking of requested data.

7. Designing Bidding Strategies for Autonomous Trading Agents

OpenAIRE

He, Minghua

2004-01-01

Increasingly many systems are being conceptualised, designed and implemented as marketplaces in which autonomous software entities (agents) trade services. These services can be commodities in e-commerce applications or data and knowledge services in information economies. In such systems, dynamic pricing through some form of negotiation or auction protocol is becoming the norm for many goods and customers. Thus, negotiation capabilities for software agents are a central concern. Specifically...

8. A design strategy for autonomous systems

Science.gov (United States)

Forster, Pete

1989-01-01

Some solutions to crucial issues regarding the competent performance of an autonomously operating robot are identified; namely, that of handling multiple and variable data sources containing overlapping information and maintaining coherent operation while responding adequately to changes in the environment. Support for the ideas developed for the construction of such behavior are extracted from speculations in the study of cognitive psychology, an understanding of the behavior of controlled mechanisms, and the development of behavior-based robots in a few robot research laboratories. The validity of these ideas is supported by some simple simulation experiments in the field of mobile robot navigation and guidance.

9. Autonomous Observations in Antarctica with AMICA

CERN Document Server

Di Rico, Gianluca; Dolci, Mauro; Straniero, Oscar; Valentini, Angelo; Valentini, Gaetano; Di Cianno, Amico; Giuliani, Croce; Magrin, Demetrio; Bonoli, Carlotta; Bortoletto, Favio; D'Alessandro, Maurizio; Corcione, Leonardo; Riva, Alberto

2010-01-01

The Antarctic Multiband Infrared Camera (AMICA) is a double channel camera operating in the 2-28 micron infrared domain (KLMNQ bands) that will allow to characterize and exploit the exceptional advantages for Astronomy, expected from Dome C in Antarctica. The development of the camera control system is at its final stage. After the investigation of appropriate solutions against the critical environment, a reliable instrumentation has been developed. It is currently being integrated and tested to ensure the correct execution of automatic operations. Once it will be mounted on the International Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope (IRAIT), AMICA and its equipment will contribute to the accomplishment of a fully autonomous observatory.

10. Autonomous Active and Reactive Power Distribution Strategy in Islanded Microgrids

OpenAIRE

Wu, Dan; Tang, Fen; Guerrero, Josep M.; Vasquez, Juan Carlos; Chen, Guoliang; Sun, Libing

2014-01-01

This paper proposes an autonomous active and reactive power distribution strategy that can be applied directly on current control mode (CCM) inverters, being compatible as well with conventional droop-controlled voltage control mode (VCM) converters. In a microgrid, since renewable energy sources (RES) units regulate different active power, the proposed reactive power distribution is adaptively controlled according to the active power distribution among energy storage systems (ESS) and RES un...

11. Autonomous Active and Reactive Power Distribution Strategy in Islanded Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Dan; Tang, Fen; Guerrero, Josep M.;

2014-01-01

This paper proposes an autonomous active and reactive power distribution strategy that can be applied directly on current control mode (CCM) inverters, being compatible as well with conventional droop-controlled voltage control mode (VCM) converters. In a microgrid, since renewable energy sources...... (RES) units regulate different active power, the proposed reactive power distribution is adaptively controlled according to the active power distribution among energy storage systems (ESS) and RES units. The virtual impedance is implemented in order to improve the reactive power sharing in a...... distributed way. Real-time hardware-in-the-loop results are presented to verify the proposed control strategy....

12. Navigation strategies for multiple autonomous mobile robots moving in formation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, P. K. C.

1991-01-01

The problem of deriving navigation strategies for a fleet of autonomous mobile robots moving in formation is considered. Here, each robot is represented by a particle with a spherical effective spatial domain and a specified cone of visibility. The global motion of each robot in the world space is described by the equations of motion of the robot's center of mass. First, methods for formation generation are discussed. Then, simple navigation strategies for robots moving in formation are derived. A sufficient condition for the stability of a desired formation pattern for a fleet of robots each equipped with the navigation strategy based on nearest neighbor tracking is developed. The dynamic behavior of robot fleets consisting of three or more robots moving in formation in a plane is studied by means of computer simulation.

13. Study on autonomous satellite navigation from SHAR observations

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2007-01-01

This paper uses two navigation schemes to prove the potential of a novel autonomous orbit determination with stellar horizon atmospheric refraction measurements. Scheme one needs a single processor and uses an extended Kalman filter. The second scheme needs two parallel processors. One processor uses a batched leastsquare initial state estimator and a high-precision dynamic state propagator. The other processor uses a real-time orbit predictor. Simulations have been executed respectively for three types (low/medial/high) of satellite orbits on which various numbers of stars. Are observed. The results show both schemes can autonomously determine the orbits with a considerable performance. The second Scheme in general performs a little better than the first scheme.

14. The Interaction of Motivation, Self-Regulatory Strategies, and Autonomous Learning Behavior in Different Learner Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Kormos, Judit; Csizér, Kata

2014-01-01

Autonomous learning and effective self-regulatory strategies are increasingly important in foreign language learning; without these, students might not be able to exploit learning opportunities outside language classrooms. This study investigated the influence of motivational factors and self-regulatory strategies on autonomous learning behavior.…

15. Design of an Autonomous Polarized Raman Lidar for Arctic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Stillwell, R. A.; Neely, R. R., III; O'Neill, M.; Thayer, J. P.; Hayman, M. M.

2014-12-01

A dearth of high-spatial and temporal resolution measurements of atmospheric state variables in the Arctic directly inhibits scientific understanding of radiative and precipitation impacts on the changing surface environment. More reliable and frequent measurements are needed to better understand Arctic weather processes and constrain model predictions. To partially address the lack of Artic observations, a new autonomous Raman lidar system, which will measure through the troposphere water vapor mixing ratio, temperature, extinction, and cloud phase profiles, is under development for deployment to Summit Camp, Greenland (72° 36'N, 38° 25'W, 3250m). This high-altitude Arctic field site has co-located ancillary equipment such as a Doppler millimeter cloud radar, microwave radiometers, depolarization lidars, ceiliometer, an infrared interferometer and twice-daily radiosondes which are part of the Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric State and Precipitation at Summit (ICECAPS) project and the Arctic Observing Network (AON). The current suite of instruments allows for a near comprehensive picture of the atmospheric state above Summit but increased spatial and temporal resolution of water vapor and temperature are needed to reveal detailed microphysical information. In this presentation, a system description will be provided with an emphasis on the features necessary for autonomous, full diurnal operation, and how the new system will help fill the observation gap within the already existing sensor suite.

16. Autonomous observations of the ocean biological carbon pump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bishop, James K.B.

2009-03-01

Prediction of the substantial biologically mediated carbon flows in a rapidly changing and acidifying ocean requires model simulations informed by observations of key carbon cycle processes on the appropriate space and time scales. From 2000 to 2004, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) supported the development of the first low-cost fully-autonomous ocean profiling Carbon Explorers that demonstrated that year-round real-time observations of particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration and sedimentation could be achieved in the world's ocean. NOPP also initiated the development of a sensor for particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) suitable for operational deployment across all oceanographic platforms. As a result, PIC profile characterization that once required shipboard sample collection and shipboard or shore based laboratory analysis, is now possible to full ocean depth in real time using a 0.2W sensor operating at 24 Hz. NOPP developments further spawned US DOE support to develop the Carbon Flux Explorer, a free-vehicle capable of following hourly variations of particulate inorganic and organic carbon sedimentation from near surface to kilometer depths for seasons to years and capable of relaying contemporaneous observations via satellite. We have demonstrated the feasibility of real time - low cost carbon observations which are of fundamental value to carbon prediction and when further developed, will lead to a fully enhanced global carbon observatory capable of real time assessment of the ocean carbon sink, a needed constraint for assessment of carbon management policies on a global scale.

17. Sewage outfall plume dispersion observations with an autonomous underwater vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, P; Cunha, S R; Neves, M V; Pereira, F L; Quintaneiro, I

2005-01-01

This work represents one of the first successful applications of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) for interdisciplinary coastal research. A monitoring mission to study the shape and estimate the initial dilution of the S. Jacinto sewage outfall plume using an AUV was performed on July 2002. An efficient sampling strategy enabling greater improvements in spatial and temporal range of detection demonstrated that the sewage effluent plume can be clearly traced using naturally occurring tracers in the wastewater. The outfall plume was found at the surface highly influenced by the weak stratification and low currents. Dilution varying with distance downstream was estimated from the plume rise over the outfall diffuser until a nearly constant value of 130:1, 60 m from the diffuser, indicating the near field end. Our results demonstrate that AUVs can provide high-quality measurements of physical properties of effluent plumes in a very effective manner and valuable considerations about the initial mixing processes under real oceanic conditions can be further investigated. PMID:16477997

18. A Dynamic Manipulation Strategy for an Intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

OpenAIRE

Ridolfi, Alessandro; Conti, Roberto; Costanzi, Riccardo; Fanelli, Francesco; Meli, Enrico

2015-01-01

This paper presents the modelling and the control architecture of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Intervention (I-AUV). Autonomous underwater manipulation with free-floating base is still an open topic of research, far from reaching an industrial product. Dynamic manipulation tasks, where relevant vehicle velocities are required during manipulation, over an additional challenge. In this paper, the accurate modelling of an I-AUV is described, not neglecting the interaction wit...

19. Cooperative Autonomous Observation of Volcanic Environments with sUAS

Science.gov (United States)

Ravela, S.

2015-12-01

The Cooperative Autonomous Observing System Project (CAOS) at the MIT Earth Signals and Systems Group has developed methodology and systems for dynamically mapping coherent fluids such as plumes using small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS). In the CAOS approach, two classes of sUAS, one remote the other in-situ, implement a dynamic data-driven mapping system by closing the loop between Modeling, Estimation, Sampling, Planning and Control (MESPAC). The continually gathered measurements are assimilated to produce maps/analyses which also guide the sUAS network to adaptively resample the environment. Rather than scan the volume in fixed Eulerian or Lagrangian flight plans, the adaptive nature of the sampling process enables objectives for efficiency and resilience to be incorporated. Modeling includes realtime prediction using two types of reduced models, one based on nowcasting remote observations of plume tracer using scale-cascaded alignment, and another based on dynamically-deformable EOF/POD developed for coherent structures. Ensemble-based Information-theoretic machine learning approaches are used for the highly non-linear/non-Gaussian state/parameter estimation, and for planning. Control of the sUAS is based on model reference control coupled with hierarchical PID. MESPAC is implemented in part on a SkyCandy platform, and implements an airborne mesh that provides instantaneous situational awareness and redundant communication to an operating fleet. SkyCandy is deployed on Itzamna Aero's I9X/W UAS with low-cost sensors, and is currently being used to study the Popocatepetl volcano. Results suggest that operational communities can deploy low-cost sUAS to systematically monitor whilst optimizing for efficiency/maximizing resilience. The CAOS methodology is applicable to many other environments where coherent structures are present in the background. More information can be found at caos.mit.edu.

20. Autonomous navigation strategy for robot swarms using local communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fredy Hernán Martínez Sarmiento

2014-01-01

1. An Autonomous Observation and Control System Based on EPICS and RTS2 for Antarctic Telescopes

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Guang-Yu; Tang, Peng-Yi; Jia, Ming-Hao; Chen, Jie; Dong, Shu-Cheng; Jiang, Fengxin; Wu, Wen-Qing; Liu, Jia-Jing; Zhang, Hong-Fei

2015-01-01

For an unattended telescopes in Antarctic, the remote operation, autonomous observation and control are essential. An EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) and RTS2(Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version) based autonomous observation and control system with remoted operation is introduced in this paper. EPICS is a set of Open Source software tools, libraries and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments while RTS2 is an open source environment for control of a fully autonomous observatory. Using the advantage of EPICS and RTS2 respectively, a combined integrated software framework for autonomous observation and control is established that use RTS2 to fulfill the function of astronomical observation and use EPICS to fulfill the device control of telescope. A command and status interface for EPICS and RTS2 is designed to make the EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) components integrate to RTS2 dire...

2. An autonomous observation and control system based on EPICS and RTS2 for Antarctic telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guang-yu; Wang, Jian; Tang, Peng-yi; Jia, Ming-hao; Chen, Jie; Dong, Shu-cheng; Jiang, Fengxin; Wu, Wen-qing; Liu, Jia-jing; Zhang, Hong-fei

2016-01-01

For unattended telescopes in Antarctic, the remote operation, autonomous observation and control are essential. An EPICS-(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) and RTS2-(Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version) based autonomous observation and control system with remoted operation is introduced in this paper. EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments while RTS2 is an open source environment for control of a fully autonomous observatory. Using the advantage of EPICS and RTS2, respectively, a combined integrated software framework for autonomous observation and control is established that use RTS2 to fulfil the function of astronomical observation and use EPICS to fulfil the device control of telescope. A command and status interface for EPICS and RTS2 is designed to make the EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) components integrate to RTS2 directly. For the specification and requirement of control system of telescope in Antarctic, core components named Executor and Auto-focus for autonomous observation is designed and implemented with remote operation user interface based on browser-server mode. The whole system including the telescope is tested in Lijiang Observatory in Yunnan Province for practical observation to complete the autonomous observation and control, including telescope control, camera control, dome control, weather information acquisition with the local and remote operation.

3. Autonomous space systems control incorporating automated maneuvers strategies in the presence of parameters uncertainties.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazinan, A H; Shakhesi, S

2016-05-01

The research attempts to deal with the autonomous space systems incorporating new automated maneuvers strategies in the presence of parameters uncertainties. The main subject behind the investigation is to realize the high-resolution small amplitude orbital maneuvers via the first control strategy. And subsequently to realize the large amplitude orbital maneuvers via the second control strategy, as well. There is a trajectory optimization to provide the three-axis referenced commends for the aforementioned overactuated autonomous space system to be able to transfer from the initial orbit to its final ones, in finite burn, as long as the uncertainties of key parameters of the system such as the thrust vector, the center of the gravity, the moments of the inertia and so on are taken into real consideration. The strategies performances are finally considered through a series of experiments and a number of benchmarks to be tangibly verified. PMID:26895709

4. HUMS: An Autonomous Moving Strategy for Mobile Sinks in Data-Gathering Sensor Networks

OpenAIRE

Yanzhong Bi; Limin Sun; Jian Ma; Na Li; Canfeng Chen; Imran Ali Khan

2007-01-01

Sink mobility has attracted much research interest in recent years because it can improve network performance such as energy efficiency and throughput. An energy-unconscious moving strategy is potentially harmful to the balance of the energy consumption among sensor nodes so as to aggravate the hotspot problem of sensor networks. In this paper, we propose an autonomous moving strategy for the mobile sinks in data-gathering applications. In our solution, a mobile sink approaches the nodes with...

5. Autonomous Learning and Metacognitive Strategies Essentials in ESP Class

Science.gov (United States)

Ajideh, Parviz

2009-01-01

The reform in teaching and curriculum involves not only in the teaching content, but more so in teachers' methodology, the students' learning strategies and the changed relationship between students and teachers in the classroom setting. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that what is needed for ESP is a different orientation to English study…

6. Testing Mars Exploration Rover-inspired operational strategies for semi-autonomous rovers on the moon II: The GeoHeuristic operational Strategies Test in Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Yingst, R. A.; Cohen, B. A.; Hynek, B.; Schmidt, M. E.; Schrader, C.; Rodriguez, A.

2014-06-01

We used MER-derived semi-autonomous rover science operations strategies to determine best practices suitable for remote semi-autonomous lunar rover geology. Two field teams studied two glacial moraines as analogs for potential ice-bearing lunar regolith. At each site a Rover Team commanded a human rover to execute observations based on common MER sequences; the resulting data were used to identify and characterize targets of interest. A Tiger Team followed the Rover Team using traditional terrestrial field methods, and the results of the two teams were compared. Narrowly defined goals that can be addressed using cm-scale or coarser resolution may be met sufficiently by the operational strategies adapted from MER survey mode. When reconnaissance is the primary goal, the strategies tested are necessary but not sufficient. Further, there may be a set of optimal observations for such narrowly defined, hypothesis-driven science goals, such that collecting further data would result in diminishing returns. We confirm results of previous tests that indicated systematic observations might improve efficiency during strategic planning, and improve science output during data analysis. This strategy does not markedly improve the rate at which a science team can ingest data to feed back into tactical decision-making. Other methods should be tested to separate the strategic and tactical processes, and to build in time for data analysis.

7. Cooperative Autonomous Observation of Coherent Atmospheric Structures using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ravela, S.

2014-12-01

Mapping the structure of localized atmospheric phenomena, from sea breeze and shallow cumuli to thunderstorms and hurricanes, is of scientific interest. Low-cost small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) open the possibility for autonomous "instruments" to map important small-scale phenomena (kilometers, hours) and serve as a testbed for for much larger scales. Localized phenomena viewed as coherent structures interacting with their large-scale environment are difficult to map. As simple simulations show, naive Eulerian or Lagrangian strategies can fail in mapping localized phenomena. Model-based techniques are needed. Meteorological targeting, where supplementary UAS measurements additionally constrain numerical models is promising, but may require many primary measurements to be successful. We propose a new, data-driven, field-operable, cooperative autonomous observing system (CAOS) framework. A remote observer (on a UAS) tracks tracers to identify an apparent motion model over short timescales. Motion-based predictions seed MCMC flight plans for other UAS to gather in-situ data, which is fused with the remote measurements to produce maps. The tracking and mapping cycles repeat, and maps can be assimilated into numerical models for longer term forecasting. CAOS has been applied to study small scale emissions. At Popocatepetl, in collaboration with CENAPRED and IPN, it is being applied map the plume using remote IR/UV UAS and in-situ SO2 sensing, with additional plans for water vapor, the electric field and ash. The combination of sUAS with autonomy appears to be highly promising methodology for environmental mapping. For more information, please visit http://caos.mit.edu

8. Innovative hazard detection and avoidance strategy for autonomous safe planetary landing

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Xiuqiang; Li, Shuang; Tao, Ting

2016-09-01

Autonomous hazard detection and avoidance (AHDA) is one of the key technologies for future safe planetary landing missions. In this paper, we address the latest progress on planetary autonomous hazard detection and avoidance technologies. First, the innovative autonomous relay hazard detection and avoidance strategy adopted in Chang'e-3 lunar soft landing mission and its flight results are reported in detail. Second, two new conceptual candidate schemes of hazard detection and avoidance are presented based on the Chang'e-3 AHDA system and the latest developing technologies for the future planetary missions, and some preliminary testing results are also given. Finally, the related supporting technologies for the two candidate schemes above are analyzed.

9. Synchronizing Strategies under Partial Observability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Kim Guldstrand; Laursen, Simon; Srba, Jiri

2014-01-01

been intensively studied for systems that do not provide any information about their configurations. In order to capture more general scenarios, we extend the existing theory of synchronizing words to synchronizing strategies, and study the synchronization, short-synchronization and subset...

10. Continuous Symmetries and Observability Properties in Autonomous Navigation

OpenAIRE

Martinelli, Agostino

2010-01-01

This paper considers the problem of state estimation from a theoretical perspective. In particular, the investigation regards problems where the information provided by the sensor data is not sufficient to carry out the state estimation (i.e. the state is not observable). For these systems it is introduced the concept of continuous symmetry. Detecting the continuous symmetries of a given system has a very practical importance. It allows us to detect an observable state whose components are no...

11. An Autonomous, Low Cost Platform for Seafloor Geodetic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ericksen, T.; Foster, J. H.; Bingham, B. S.; Oshiro, J.

2015-12-01

The Pacific GPS Facility and the Field Robotics Laboratory at the University of Hawaii have developed an approach to significantly reduce the costs of accurately measuring short-term vertical motions of the seafloor and maintaining a continuous long-term record of seafloor pressure. Traditional ship-based methods of acquiring these measurements are often prohibitively expensive. Our goal has been to reduce the primary barrier preventing us from acquiring the observations we need to understand geodetic processes, and the hazards they present, at subduction zones, submarine volcanoes, and subsea landslides. To this end, we have designed a payload package for the University of Hawaii Wave Glider which incorporates an acoustic telemetry package, a dual frequency geodetic-grade Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, meteorological sensors, processing computer, and cellular communications. The Wave Glider is able to interrogate high accuracy pressure sensors on the seafloor to maintain a near-continuous stream of ocean bottom pressure and temperature data. The Wave Glider also functions as an integral part of the seafloor geodetic observing system, recording accurate sea surface elevations and barometric pressure; direct measurements of two of the primary sources of seafloor pressure change. The seafloor geodetic monument seats a sensor capable of recording pressure, temperature, and sound velocity for a deployment duration of over 5 years with an acoustic modem for communications, and an integral acoustic release for recovery and replacement of batteries. The design of the geodetic monument allows for precise repositioning of the sensor to extend the pressure record beyond a single 5+ year deployment, and includes the capability to install a mobile pressure recorder for calibration of the linear drift of the continuous pressure sensor. We will present the results of our field tests and an assessment of our ability to determine cm-scale vertical seafloor motions by

12. An Autonomous, Low Cost Platform for Seafloor Geodetic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ericksen, T.; Foster, J. H.; Bingham, B. S.; Oshiro, J.

2014-12-01

The Pacific GPS Facility and the Field Robotics Laboratory at the University of Hawaii have developed an approach to significantly reduce costs below ship based methods of accurately measuring short-term vertical motions of the seafloor and maintaining a continuous long-term record of seafloor pressure. Our goal has been to reduce the primary barrier preventing us from acquiring the observations we need to understand geodetic processes, and the hazards they present, at subduction zones, submarine volcanoes, and subsea landslides. To this end, we have designed a payload package for one of the University of Hawaii Wave Gliders which incorporates an acoustic telemetry package, a dual frequency geodetic-grade Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, meteorological sensors, processing computer, and cellular communications. The Wave Glider will interrogate high accuracy pressure sensors on the seafloor to maintain a near-continuous stream of pressure and temperature data. The seafloor geodetic monument seats a sensor capable of recording pressure, temperature, and sound velocity for a deployment duration of over 5 years with an acoustic modem for communications, and an integral acoustic release for recovery and replacement of batteries. The design of the geodetic monument allows for precise repositioning of the sensor to extend the pressure record beyond a single 5+ year deployment, and includes the capability to install a mobile pressure recorder for calibration of the linear drift of the continuous pressure sensor. We will present the design of the Wave Glider payload and seafloor geodetic monument, as well as a discussion of nearshore and offshore field tests and operational procedures. An assessment of our ability to determine cm-scale vertical seafloor motions will be made by integrating the seafloor pressure measurements recovered during field testing with independent measurements of sea surface pressure and sea surface height made by the sea surface payload.

13. HUMS: An Autonomous Moving Strategy for Mobile Sinks in Data-Gathering Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanzhong Bi

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Sink mobility has attracted much research interest in recent years because it can improve network performance such as energy efficiency and throughput. An energy-unconscious moving strategy is potentially harmful to the balance of the energy consumption among sensor nodes so as to aggravate the hotspot problem of sensor networks. In this paper, we propose an autonomous moving strategy for the mobile sinks in data-gathering applications. In our solution, a mobile sink approaches the nodes with high residual energy to force them to forward data for other nodes and tries to avoid passing by the nodes with low energy. We performed simulation experiments to compare our solution with other three data-gathering schemes. The simulation results show that our strategy cannot only extend network lifetime notably but also provides scalability and topology adaptability.

14. A Multirobot Path-Planning Strategy for Autonomous Wilderness Search and Rescue.

Science.gov (United States)

Macwan, Ashish; Vilela, Julio; Nejat, Goldie; Benhabib, Beno

2015-09-01

This paper presents a novel strategy for the on-line planning of optimal motion-paths for a team of autonomous ground robots engaged in wilderness search and rescue (WiSAR). The proposed strategy, which forms part of an overall multirobot coordination (MRC) methodology, addresses the dynamic nature of WiSAR by: 1) planning initial, time-optimal, and piecewise polynomial paths for all robots; 2) implementing and regularly evaluating the optimality of the paths through a set of checks that gauge feasibility of path-completion within the available time; and 3) replanning paths, on-line, whenever deemed necessary. The fundamental principle of maintaining the optimal deployment of the robots throughout the search guides the MRC methodology. The proposed path-planning strategy is illustrated through a simulated realistic WiSAR example, and compared to an alternative, nonprobabilistic approach. PMID:25376050

15. Analysis on the Strategies for the Autonomous Development of English Teachers in High Schools

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHOU Yan

2015-01-01

The professional development of English teachers in high schools is not only a hot focus of teachers ’education, but al⁃so an important turning point in the students’ English learning. English teachers are constantly improving their own personal quality and teaching effect under their autonomous development model and goal. It is necessary for English teachers in high schools to rethink and change their own teaching methods, transform the educational ideas, and make educational methods inno⁃vative. Meanwhile, they are required to continuously improve their own teaching practice ability. Thus, development and innova⁃tion can be unceasingly sought by them in the process of thinking, criticizing, and denying. In addition, the autonomous factors restricting the continuous professional development must be changed. In this paper, the strategies for the autonomous develop⁃ment of English teachers in high schools are discussed according to the requirements for the professional development so as to pro⁃duce profound significance to the sustainable development of the teachers.

16. All Sky Survey Mission Observing Scenario Strategy

CERN Document Server

Spangelo, Sara C; Unwin, Stephen C; Bock, Jamie J

2014-01-01

This paper develops a general observing strategy for missions performing all-sky surveys, where a single spacecraft maps the celestial sphere subject to realistic constraints. The strategy is flexible such that targeted observations and variable coverage requirements can be achieved. This paper focuses on missions operating in Low Earth Orbit, where the thermal and stray-light constraints due to the Sun, Earth, and Moon result in interacting and dynamic constraints. The approach is applicable to broader mission classes, such as those that operate in different orbits or that survey the Earth. First, the instrument and spacecraft configuration is optimized to enable visibility of the targeted observations throughout the year. Second, a constraint-based high-level strategy is presented for scheduling throughout the year subject to a simplified subset of the constraints. Third, a heuristic-based scheduling algorithm is developed to assign the all-sky observations over short planning horizons. The constraint-based...

17. Strategy application, observability, and the choice combinator.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winter, Victor Lono (University of Nebraska at Omaha)

2004-03-01

In many strategic systems, the choice combinator provides a powerful mechanism for controlling the application of rules and strategies to terms. The ability of the choice combinator to exercise control over rewriting is based on the premise that the success and failure of strategy application can be observed. In this paper we present a higher-order strategic framework with the ability to dynamically construct strategies containing the choice combinator. To this framework, a combinator called hide is introduced that prevents the successful application of a strategy from being observed by the choice combinator. We then explore the impact of this new combinator on a real-world problem involving a restricted implementation of the Java Virtual Machine.

18. Open University and Distance Education Coordination: Strategies Used to Consolidate Distance Education at the National Autonomous University of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Berruecos, Citlalli

2004-01-01

This case study describes three main strategies used from March 2002 to November 2003 at the Open University and Distance Education Coordination (CUAED) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to consolidate distance education at the University. The author explains how, in just 18 months, these three main strategies enabled the UNAM…

19. Coordination of Multiple Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Using Strategies Based on the Schooling Behaviour of Fish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan McColgan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (BAUVs are Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs that employ similar propulsion and steering principles as real fish. While the real life applicability of these vehicles has yet to be fully investigated, laboratory investigations have demonstrated that at low speeds, the propulsive mechanism of these vehicles is more efficient when compared with propeller based AUVs. Furthermore, these vehicles have also demonstrated superior manoeuvrability characteristics when compared with conventional AUVs and Underwater Glider Systems (UGSs. Further performance benefits can be achieved through coordination of multiple BAUVs swimming in formation. In this study, the coordination strategy is based on the schooling behaviour of fish, which is a decentralized approach that allows multiple AUVs to be self-organizing. Such a strategy can be effectively utilized for large spatiotemporal data collection for oceanic monitoring and surveillance purposes. A validated mathematical model of the BAUV developed at the University of Glasgow, RoboSalmon, is used to represent the agents within a school formation. The performance of the coordination algorithm is assessed through simulation where system identification techniques are employed to improve simulation run time while ensuring accuracy is maintained. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of implementing coordination algorithms based on the behavioural mechanisms of fish to allow a group of BAUVs to be considered self-organizing.

20. An integrated design and fabrication strategy for entirely soft, autonomous robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehner, Michael; Truby, Ryan L; Fitzgerald, Daniel J; Mosadegh, Bobak; Whitesides, George M; Lewis, Jennifer A; Wood, Robert J

2016-08-25

Soft robots possess many attributes that are difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with conventional robots composed of rigid materials. Yet, despite recent advances, soft robots must still be tethered to hard robotic control systems and power sources. New strategies for creating completely soft robots, including soft analogues of these crucial components, are needed to realize their full potential. Here we report the untethered operation of a robot composed solely of soft materials. The robot is controlled with microfluidic logic that autonomously regulates fluid flow and, hence, catalytic decomposition of an on-board monopropellant fuel supply. Gas generated from the fuel decomposition inflates fluidic networks downstream of the reaction sites, resulting in actuation. The body and microfluidic logic of the robot are fabricated using moulding and soft lithography, respectively, and the pneumatic actuator networks, on-board fuel reservoirs and catalytic reaction chambers needed for movement are patterned within the body via a multi-material, embedded 3D printing technique. The fluidic and elastomeric architectures required for function span several orders of magnitude from the microscale to the macroscale. Our integrated design and rapid fabrication approach enables the programmable assembly of multiple materials within this architecture, laying the foundation for completely soft, autonomous robots. PMID:27558065

1. Optimization of an Autonomous Car Controller using a Self-Adaptive Evolutionary Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tae Seong Kim

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Autonomous cars control the steering wheel, acceleration and the brake pedal, the gears and the clutch using sensory information from multiple sources. Like a human driver, it understands the current situation on the roads from the live streaming of sensory values. The decision‐making module often suffers from the limited range of sensors and complexity due to the large number of sensors and actuators. Because it is tedious and difficult to design the controller manually from trial‐and‐error, it is desirable to use intelligent optimization algorithms. In this work, we propose optimizing the parameters of an autonomous car controller using self‐ adaptive evolutionary strategies (SAESs which co‐evolve solutions and mutation steps for each parameter. We also describe how the most generalized parameter set can be retrieved from the process of optimization. Open‐source car racing simulation software (TORCS is used to test the goodness of the proposed methods on 6 different tracks. Experimental results show that the SAES is competitive with the manual design of authors and a simple ES.

2. Earth Observations: Experiences from Various Communication Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Lilja Bye, Bente

2015-04-01

With Earth observations and the Group of Earth Observations as the common thread, a variety of communication strategies have been applied showcasing the use of Earth observations in geosciences such as climate change, natural hazards, hydrology and more. Based on the experiences from these communication strategies, using communication channels ranging from popular articles in established media, video production, event-based material and social media, lessons have been learned both with respect to the need of capacity, skills, networks, and resources. In general it is not difficult to mobilize geoscientists willing to spend some time on outreach activities. Time for preparing and training is however scarce among scientists. In addition, resources to cover the various aspects of professional science outreach is far from abundant. Among the challenges is the connection between the scientific networks and media channels. Social media competence and capacity are also issues that needs to be addressed more explicitly and efficiently. An overview of the experiences from several types of outreach activities will be given along with some input on possible steps towards improved communication strategies. Steady development of science communication strategies continuously integrating trainging of scientists in use of new outreach tools such as web technology and social innovations for more efficient use of limited resources will remain an issue for the scientific community.

3. Earth observation Water Cycle Multi-Mission Observation Strategy (WACMOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Su

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Observing and monitoring the different components of the global water cycle and their dynamics are essential steps to understand the climate of the Earth, forecast the weather, predict natural disasters like floods and droughts, and improve water resources management. Earth observation technology is a unique tool to provide a global understanding of many of the essential variables governing the water cycle and monitor their evolution over time from global to basin scales. In the coming years an increasing number of Earth observation missions will provide an unprecedented capacity to quantify several of these variables on a routine basis. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA, in collaboration with the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP, launched the Water Cycle Multi-Mission Observation Strategy (WACMOS project in 2009. The project aims at developing and validating a novel set of geo-information products relevant to the water cycle covering the following thematic areas: evapotranspiration, soil moisture, cloud characterization and water vapour. The generation of these products is based on a number of innovative techniques and methods aiming at exploiting the synergies of different types of Earth observation data available today to the science community. This paper provides an overview of the major findings of the project with the ultimate goal of demonstrating the potential of innovative multi-mission based strategies to improve current observations by maximizing the synergistic use of the different types of information provided by the currently available observation systems.

4. The strategy of ecosystem construction in Huanren Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wu Nansheng; Chen Jiancheng; Zhai Mingpu

2006-01-01

The common topic the mankind faces in the 21st century is to strengthen the ecosystem construction and support the ecological security.It is also the needs of establishing socialist harmonious society in China. It is an arduous systemaatic project in ethnic group regions of China to realize the economic and social sustainable development, promote the harmony between man and nature and realize the coordination among the economic development, population, natural resources and environment. To develop ecosystem construction and the green industry well is the basic path to realize the above goals. Huanren Manchu Autonomous County in Liaoning Province is abundant in forests, especially local products, medicinal materials, tourism resources, water resources and culture resources. In order to develop its ecosystem construction, the strategies should be focused on enhancing protection consciousness, brand consciousness, science and technology consciousness and market consciousness. The ultimate purpose is to create the top-ranking ecosystem environment, industry system, policy system and district civilization.

5. Automatic Control Strategy Development for the Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle for LFR Autonomous Load Following

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton cycle is a promising advanced alternative to the Rankine saturated steam cycle and ideal gas Brayton cycle for the energy converters of specific reactor concepts belonging to the U.S. Department of Energy Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative. A new plant dynamics analysis computer code has been developed for simulation of the S-CO2 Brayton cycle coupled to an autonomous Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor (LFR). The plant dynamics code was used to develop an automatic control strategy for the whole plant in response to changes in the demand from the electrical grid. The specific features of the S-CO2 Brayton cycle that result in limitations on the control range and speed of specific control mechanisms are discussed. Calculations of whole-plant responses to plant operational transients involving step and continuous changes in grid demand are demonstrated. (authors)

6. Autonomous, high-resolution observations of particle flux in the oligotrophic ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. L. Estapa

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Observational gaps limit our understanding of particle flux attenuation through the upper mesopelagic because available measurements (sediment traps and radiochemical tracers have limited temporal resolution, are labor-intensive, and require ship support. Here, we conceptually evaluate an autonomous, optical proxy-based method for high-resolution observations of particle flux. We present four continuous records of particle flux collected with autonomous profiling floats in the western Sargasso Sea and the subtropical North Pacific, as well as one shorter record of depth-resolved particle flux near the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS and Oceanic Flux Program (OFP sites. These observations illustrate strong variability in particle flux over very short (~1-day timescales, but at longer timescales they reflect patterns of variability previously recorded during sediment trap time series. While particle flux attenuation at BATS/OFP agreed with the canonical power-law model when observations were averaged over a month, flux attenuation was highly variable on timescales of 1–3 days. Particle fluxes at different depths were decoupled from one another and from particle concentrations and chlorophyll fluorescence in the immediately overlying surface water, consistent with horizontal advection of settling particles. We finally present an approach for calibrating this optical proxy in units of carbon flux, discuss in detail the related, inherent physical and optical assumptions, and look forward toward the requirements for the quantitative application of this method in highly time-resolved studies of particle export and flux attenuation.

7. Autonomous, high-resolution observations of particle flux in the oligotrophic ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. L. Estapa

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Observational gaps limit our understanding of particle flux attenuation through the upper mesopelagic because available measurements (sediment traps and radiochemical tracers have limited temporal resolution, are labor-intensive, and require ship support. Here, we conceptually evaluate an autonomous, optical proxy-based method for high-resolution observations of particle flux. We present four continuous records of particle flux collected with autonomous, profiling floats in the western Sargasso Sea and the subtropical North Pacific, as well as one shorter record of depth-resolved particle flux near the Bermuda Atlantic Timeseries Study (BATS and Oceanic Flux Program (OFP sites. These observations illustrate strong variability in particle flux over very short (~1 day timescales, but at longer timescales they reflect patterns of variability previously recorded during sediment trap timeseries. While particle flux attenuation at BATS/OFP agreed with the canonical power-law model when observations were averaged over a month, flux attenuation was highly variable on timescales of 1–3 days. Particle fluxes at different depths were decoupled from one another and from particle concentrations and chlorophyll fluorescence in the immediately-overlying surface water, consistent with horizontal advection of settling particles. We finally present an approach for calibrating this optical proxy in units of carbon flux, discuss in detail the related, inherent physical and optical assumptions, and look forward toward the requirements for the quantitative application of this method in highly time-resolved studies of particle export and flux attenuation.

8. Strategy for NEO follow-up observations

Science.gov (United States)

Tichy, Milos; Honkova, Michaela; Ticha, Jana; Kocer, Michal

2015-03-01

The Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) belong to the most important small bodies in the solar system, having the capability of close approaches to the Earth and even possibility to collide with the Earth. In fact, it is impossible to calculate reliable orbit of an object from a single night observations. Therefore it is necessary to extend astrometry dataset by early follow-up astrometry. Follow-up observations of the newly discovered NEO candidate should be done over an arc of several hours after the discovery and should be repeated over several following nights. The basic service used for planning of the follow-up observations is the NEO Confirmation Page (NEOCP) maintained by the Minor Planet Center of the IAU. This service provides on-line tool for calculating geocentric and topocentic ephemerides and sky-plane uncertainty maps of these objects at the specific date and time. Uncertainty map is one of the most important information used for planning of follow-up observation strategy for given time, indicating also the estimated distance of the newly discovered object and including possibility of the impact. Moreover, observatories dealing with NEO follow-up regularly have prepared their special tools and systems for follow-up work. The system and strategy for the NEO follow-up observation used at the Klet Observatory are described here. Methods and techniques used at the Klet NEO follow-up CCD astrometric programme, using 1.06-m and 0.57-m telescopes, are also discussed.

9. Implementation of Sliding Mode Observer Based Reconfiguration in an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Mitchell

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the implementation of a Sliding Mode Observer (SMO based Reconfiguration algorithm to deal with sensor faults within the context of navigation controllers for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV. In this paper the reconfigurability aspects are considered for the heading controller. Simulation responses are used to illustrate that the Sliding Mode Observer is able to give state information to the controller when there is a fault in the AUV’s sensor package. Comparisons are made between the Sliding Mode Controller with and without reconfigurability for a number of different sensor failures, e.g. bias errors in or the complete loss of the heading data, and the robustness of the Sliding Mode Observer is investigated through the introduction of disturbances into the system.

10. Dynamic Decision-making in Continuous Partially Observable Domains: A Novel Method and its Application for Autonomous Driving

OpenAIRE

Brechtel, Sebastian

2015-01-01

Decision-making is a crucial challenge on the way to fully autonomous systems. In real world tasks, assessing the consequences of decisions is aggravated by two factors: uncertainty and the continuous nature of the environment. In this work, we develop a general method for solving continuous partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) that combines learning and planning. We apply it to autonomous driving in urban scenarios with hidden objects and cooperative driver interactions.

11. The Autonomous Development Strategies of Micro and Small Entrepreneurs Through Coorporate Social Responsibility in Bogor District of West Java

OpenAIRE

Faizal Maad; Sumardjo Sumardjo; Amiruddin Saleh; Pudji Muljono

2014-01-01

The objective  of this  reseach were to: (1) analyze the level of autonomous of mikro and small entreprise (SMEs) entrepreneurs are empowered through Coorporate Social Responsibility (CSR); (2) analyze the dominant factors that influence autonomous of MSEs entrepreneurs  are empowered through CSR;  and (3) formulate an appropriate  a strategy  in developing autonomy of MSEs entrepreneurs through CSR. The reseach  was conduct  in the village built two companies running CSR in Bogor district in...

12. Linking glacially modified waters to catchment-scale subglacial discharge using autonomous underwater vehicle observations

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Laura A.; Straneo, Fiamma; Das, Sarah B.; Plueddemann, Albert J.; Kukulya, Amy L.; Morlighem, Mathieu

2016-02-01

Measurements of near-ice (autonomous underwater vehicle as close as 150 m from the ice-ocean interface of the Saqqarliup sermia-Sarqardleq Fjord system, West Greenland, with modeled and observed subglacial discharge locations and magnitudes. We find evidence of two main types of subsurface glacially modified water (GMW) with distinct properties and locations. The two GMW locations also align with modeled runoff discharged at separate locations along the grounded margin corresponding with two prominent subcatchments beneath Saqqarliup sermia. Thus, near-ice observations and subglacial discharge routing indicate that runoff from this glacier occurs primarily at two discrete locations and gives rise to two distinct glacially modified waters. Furthermore, we show that the location with the largest subglacial discharge is associated with the lighter, fresher glacially modified water mass. This is qualitatively consistent with results from an idealized plume model.

13. Bottomonium Mesons and Strategies for Their Observation

CERN Document Server

Godfrey, Stephen

2015-01-01

The B-factories and Large Hadron Collider experiments have demonstrated the ability to observe and measure the properties of bottomonium mesons. In order to discover missing states it is useful to know their properties to develop a successful search strategy. To this end we calculate the masses and decay properties of excited bottomonium states. We use the relativized quark model to calculate the masses and wavefunctions which are used to calculate the decay properties. The open bottom decay widths are calculated using the $^3P_0$ model. We also summarize results for radiative transitions, annihilation decays, hadronic transitions and production cross sections which are used to develop strategies to find these states. We find that the $b\\bar{b}$ system has a rich spectroscopy that we expect to be substantially extended by the LHC and $e^+e^-$ experiments in the near future. Some of the most promising possibilities at the LHC are observing the $\\chi_{b(1,2)}(3P)$, $\\chi_{b(1,2)}(4P)$ and $\\eta_b(3S)$ states in...

14. The Autonomous Development Strategies of Micro and Small Entrepreneurs Through Coorporate Social Responsibility in Bogor District of West Java

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The objective  of this  reseach were to: (1 analyze the level of autonomous of mikro and small entreprise (SMEs entrepreneurs are empowered through Coorporate Social Responsibility (CSR; (2 analyze the dominant factors that influence autonomous of MSEs entrepreneurs  are empowered through CSR;  and (3 formulate an appropriate  a strategy  in developing autonomy of MSEs entrepreneurs through CSR. The reseach  was conduct  in the village built two companies running CSR in Bogor district involved 212  (SMEs entrepreneurs which determined from population (450 SMEs entrepreneurs by Solvin formula with level of error 5 % and drawn by cluster random sampling. Data collection was conducted from July to November 2013, and consisted  the primary and secondary data. Data analysis was simulated by using structural equation model (SEM . The results showed that the degree  of autonomous MSEs entrepreneurs is low, its core was 36.89 out of 100.00. There are three strategies that must be done to develop of  autonomous MSEs entrepreneurs through  CSR, such as; (a an increase the empowerment sustainable of MSEs entrepereneurs (b improve the quality of  the environment  supporting MSEs and (c an increase in intensity of  empowerment for MSEs entrepreneurs.

15. A study on the observation system for autonomous, distributed and cooperative function in a future type nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The concept of advanced future plants are discussed by five research institutes; Ship Research Institute, Electrotechnical Laboratory, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (Cross-over group). And, an autonomous plant is identified as a future type plant. In this future type plant, there are many agents that consist plant sub-systems or plant components and have artificial intelligence. They are distributed in plant and have autonomous functions, and cooperate each other to establish total plant function. Even if the plant has autonomous function, human operators have to always watch the plant state. Therefore, the needs of the observation system for autonomous, distributed, and cooperative functions are strongly required. The present paper has presented a new idea about the observation system, and developed fundamental functions for this observation system, that is, plant function model, auto-classification of plant states, three dimensional graphical display, expression of robot group's activity. Also, autonomous plant simulator has been developed for this research activity. Finally, the effectiveness of this observation system has been evaluated by experiments of operator's reaction to this system. (author)

16. Assembly of an Experimental Quad-Rotor Type UAV for Testing a Novel Autonomous Flight Control Strategy

OpenAIRE

2013-01-01

In this research a prototype experimental Quad-rotor type UAV have been assembled using low cost components easily available in the Indian market. The quad-copter is used for testing a novel autonomous flight control strategy developed using embedded system. In order to enable a mini-UAV to perform target acquisition, localization and continuous surveillance in real world environment one must develop a technology which may be a combination of aircraft engineering, control systems, and wireles...

17. Autonomous agents in bargaining games : an evolutionary investigation of fundamentals, strategies, and business applications

OpenAIRE

Gerding, EH

2004-01-01

Bargaining is becoming increasingly important due to developments within the field of electronic commerce, especially the development of autonomous software agents. Software agents are programs which, given instructions from a user, are capable of autonomously and intelligently realise a given task. By means of such agents, the bargaining process can be automated, allowing products and services together with related conditions, such as warranty and delivery time, to be flexible and tuned to t...

18. Simultaneous observations of aerosols, clouds, and radiometric fluxes using light-weight autonomous UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, G.; Ramanathan, V.; Corrigan, C.; Ramana, M.; Nguyen, H.

2006-12-01

The Maldives Air Campaign (MAC) demonstrated a novel application of stacked autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) for atmospheric science research; see abstract by Ramanathan et al. in this session. Simultaneous observations from three AUAVs of aerosols, clouds and radiometric fluxes provide insight into aerosol-cloud interactions and subsequent effects on cloud radiative properties. Ground-based measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) also quantify the cloud-nucleating ability of the boundary layer aerosols. During the experiment, long-range transport of aerosols from the Arabian Peninsula and India was observed and its impact of cloud physical and radiometric properties has been detected. To accomplish this campaign, aerosol, cloud, radiometric instruments, and an integrated data acquisition system have been miniaturized with a total payload weight and power less than 5 kg and 50 W, respectively. The AUAV payloads are mission-specific and outfitted to perform a defined set of measurements depending on the scientific goals. These measurements include aerosol concentration, aerosol size distribution, aerosol absorption, cloud drop concentration and size distribution, solar radiation fluxes (visible and broadband), atmospheric turbulence, temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. The data collected during the MAC campaign has been validated using standard calibration routines in conjunction with comparisons to ground- based instruments in both laboratory and in situ (in aircraft) settings. All instruments have been thoroughly tested and calibrated prior to deployment.

19. Towards autonomic computing in machine vision applications: techniques and strategies for in-line 3D reconstruction in harsh industrial environments

Science.gov (United States)

Molleda, Julio; Usamentiaga, Rubén; García, Daniel F.; Bulnes, Francisco G.

2011-03-01

Nowadays machine vision applications require skilled users to configure, tune, and maintain. Because such users are scarce, the robustness and reliability of applications are usually significantly affected. Autonomic computing offers a set of principles such as self-monitoring, self-regulation, and self-repair which can be used to partially overcome those problems. Systems which include self-monitoring observe their internal states, and extract features about them. Systems with self-regulation are capable of regulating their internal parameters to provide the best quality of service depending on the operational conditions and environment. Finally, self-repairing systems are able to detect anomalous working behavior and to provide strategies to deal with such conditions. Machine vision applications are the perfect field to apply autonomic computing techniques. This type of application has strong constraints on reliability and robustness, especially when working in industrial environments, and must provide accurate results even under changing conditions such as luminance, or noise. In order to exploit the autonomic approach of a machine vision application, we believe the architecture of the system must be designed using a set of orthogonal modules. In this paper, we describe how autonomic computing techniques can be applied to machine vision systems, using as an example a real application: 3D reconstruction in harsh industrial environments based on laser range finding. The application is based on modules with different responsibilities at three layers: image acquisition and processing (low level), monitoring (middle level) and supervision (high level). High level modules supervise the execution of low-level modules. Based on the information gathered by mid-level modules, they regulate low-level modules in order to optimize the global quality of service, and tune the module parameters based on operational conditions and on the environment. Regulation actions involve

20. A statistical method for correcting salinity observations from autonomous profiling floats: An ARGO perspective

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Durand, F.; Reverdin, G.

The Profiling Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer (PALACE) float is used to implement the Array for Real-Time Geostrophic Oceanography (ARGO). This study presents a statistical approach to correct salinity measurement errors of an ARGO...

1. Real-Time Observations of Optical Properties of Arctic Sea Ice with an Autonomous System

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, C.; Gerland, S.; Nicolaus, M.; Granskog, M. A.; Hudson, S. R.; Perovich, D. K.; Karlsen, T. I.; Fossan, K.

2012-12-01

The recent drastic changes in the Arctic sea ice cover have altered the interaction of solar radiation and sea ice. To improve our understanding of this interaction, a Spectral Radiation Buoy (SRB) for measuring sea ice optical properties was developed, based on a system used during the last International Polar Year at the drift of "Tara" across the Arctic Ocean. A first version of the SRB was deployed on drifting ice in the high Arctic in April 2012. It includes three Satlantic spectral radiometers (two in air, one under ice), covering the wavelength range from 347 nm to 804 nm with 3.3 nm spectral resolution, a bio-shutter to protect the under-ice radiometer, a data logger to handle and store collected data, and an Iridium satellite modem to transfer data in real-time. The under-ice radiometer is mounted on an adjustable under-ice arm, and the other instruments are mounted on a triangular frame frozen into the ice. The SRB measures simultaneously, autonomously and continuously the spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, as well as under-ice irradiance, water temperature and water pressure every hour. So far, between mid April and early August 2012, the system has drifted about 600 km, from the starting position near the North Pole towards the Fram Strait. The data collected during this deployment, so far, already demonstrate that this system is suitable for autonomous and long-term observations over and under sea ice in harsh conditions. Along with the SRB, commercially available Ice Mass Balance buoys (IMB) were deployed on the same ice floe. In the vicinity of the site, manned baseline measurements of snow and sea ice physical properties have been carried out during the SRB deployment. The combined datasets allow description of the evolution of the ice floe during seasonal melt. With snow melt, the spectral surface albedo decreased and the transmittance through the snow and ice increased after mid-April, especially when melt ponds started to

2. Subsurface observations of white shark Carcharodon carcharias predatory behaviour using an autonomous underwater vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Skomal, G B; Hoyos-Padilla, E M; Kukulya, A; Stokey, R

2015-12-01

In this study, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was used to test this technology as a viable tool for directly observing the behaviour of marine animals and to investigate the behaviour, habitat use and feeding ecology of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias near Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico. During the period 31 October to 7 November 2013, six AUV missions were conducted to track one male and three female C. carcharias, ranging in estimated total length (LT ) from 3·9 to 5·7 m, off the north-east coast of Guadalupe Island. In doing so, the AUV generated over 13 h of behavioural data for C. carcharias at depths down to 90 m. The sharks remained in the area for the duration of each mission and moved through broad depth and temperature ranges from the surface to 163·8 m depth (mean ± S.D. = 112·5 ± 40·3 m) and 7·9-27·1° C (mean ± S.D. = 12·7 ± 2·9° C), respectively. Video footage and AUV sensor data revealed that two of the C. carcharias being tracked and eight other C. carcharias in the area approached (n = 17), bumped (n = 4) and bit (n = 9) the AUV during these tracks. This study demonstrated that an AUV can be used to effectively track and observe the behaviour of a large pelagic animal, C. carcharias. In doing so, the first observations of subsurface predatory behaviour were generated for this species. At its current state of development, this technology clearly offers a new and innovative tool for tracking the fine-scale behaviour of marine animals. PMID:26709209

3. Autonomous ocean observations beneath Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf, West Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

Dutrieux, P.; Jenkins, A.; Jacobs, S.; Heywood, K. J.

2015-12-01

Warm circumpolar deep water reaching 3.5ºC above the in situ freezing point pervasively fills a network of glacially carved troughs in the Amundsen sea, West Antarctica, and melts and thins neighbouring ice shelves, including Pine Island glacier Ice Shelf (PIIS). Hydrographic, current, and microstructure observations obtained in austral summer 2009 and 2014 by an autonomous underwater vehicle beneath the PIIS are used here to detail the complex ice-ocean interaction and resulting ocean circulation. The theoretical schematic of deeply incoming warm and saline water melting the grounding line and generating a buoyant plume upwelling along the ice draft is generally consistent with observations. The cavity beneath PIIS is clearly divided in two by a seabed ridge, constraining the oceanic circulation and water masses distribution. On the seaward side of the ridge, a thick warm deep water layer circulates cyclonically and is overlaid by a thin meltwater layer. Only intermediate depth waters are allowed to overflow from the ridge top into the inner cavity, where a much thinner warm water layer is now overlaid by a thicker meltwater layer. At the ice/ocean interface, melt induced freshening is forcing an upwelling which in turn injects cyclonic vorticity and participates in creating a vigorous cyclonic recirculation in the inner cavity. The top of the ridge, where warm waters overflow in the inner cavity, is a dynamical boundary characterized by northward along-ridge currents up to 0.2 m/s and enhanced shear, thermal gradient, and mixing. Observations at two points at the ice interface indicate that the ocean remains stratified within 2 meters of the ice.

4. Present Conditions and Strategies of Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection in Sichuan Ethnic Autonomous Areas

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

CHEN Yunxia

2013-01-01

The intangible cultural heritage of ethnic minorities is the most typical cultural re-source with ethnic characteristics . Its scientific protection and effective usage can not only help to transmit and develop the intangible cultural herit-age of ethnic minorities , but also can transform the ethnic minorities ’ cultural resources into advanta-geous resources , thus, promoting economic devel-opment in ethnic minority autonomous areas .For a long time, the ethnic minority autonomous areas have paid considerable attention to the protection of ethnic intangible cultural heritage ; explored vari-ous effective protective measures; and built up an effective model for protecting ethnic intangible cul-tural heritage guaranteed by the ethnic autonomous law.

5. Vision Autonomous Relative Positioning and Orientating Algorithm for Distributed Micro/Nanosatellite Earth Observation System Based on Dual Quaternion

OpenAIRE

Kezhao Li

2010-01-01

It is a valid way to analyze the space object real-time movement by using distributed satellite earth observation system, which can provide the stereographic image through the collaboration of the satellites. That relative position and pose estimation is one of the key technologies for distributed micro/nanosatellite earth observation system (DMSEOS). In this paper, on the basis of the attitude dynamics of spacecrafts and the theory of machine vision, an autonomous positioning and orientatin...

6. A new control strategy with saturation effect compensation for an autonomous induction generator driven by wide speed range turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Research highlights: → A novel control strategy for autonomous induction generators with variable rotor speed. → Generator excitation achieved using a current controlled voltage source inverter. → Machine optimized use with stability and saturation effect compensation. → Both saturation and cross-saturation effects discussed upon generator modeling. → Efficient excitation and continuous load voltage control in a wide rotor speed range. -- Abstract: This paper presents a variable speed autonomous squirrel cage generator excited by a current-controlled voltage source inverter to be used in stand-alone micro-hydro power plants. The paper proposes a system control strategy aiming to properly excite the machine as well as to achieve the load voltage control. A feed-forward control sets the appropriate generator flux by taking into account the actual speed and the desired load voltage. A load voltage control loop is used to adjust the generated active power in order to sustain the load voltage at a reference value. The control system is based on a rotor flux oriented vector control technique which takes into account the machine saturation effect. The proposed control strategy and the adopted system models were validated both by numerical simulation and by experimental results obtained from a laboratory prototype. Results covering the prototype start-up, as well as its steady-state and dynamical behavior are presented.

7. A new control strategy with saturation effect compensation for an autonomous induction generator driven by wide speed range turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Margato, Elmano, E-mail: efmargato@isel.ipl.p [Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, DEEA, Av. Cons. Emidio Navarro 1, 1950-062 Lisboa (Portugal); Centro de Electrotecnia e Electronica Industrial, Av. Cons. Emidio Navarro 1, 1950-062 Lisboa (Portugal); Center for Inovation in Electrical and Energy Engineering, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Faria, Jose, E-mail: josefaria@netvisao.p [Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, DEEA, Av. Cons. Emidio Navarro 1, 1950-062 Lisboa (Portugal); Centro de Electrotecnia e Electronica Industrial, Av. Cons. Emidio Navarro 1, 1950-062 Lisboa (Portugal); Resende, M.J., E-mail: mresende@ist.utl.p [Center for Inovation in Electrical and Energy Engineering, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Instituto Superior Tecnico, DEEC, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Palma, Joao, E-mail: jpalma@lnec.p [Centro de Electrotecnia e Electronica Industrial, Av. Cons. Emidio Navarro 1, 1950-062 Lisboa (Portugal); Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil, LNEC, Av. Brasil 101, 1700-066 (Portugal)

2011-05-15

Research highlights: {yields} A novel control strategy for autonomous induction generators with variable rotor speed. {yields} Generator excitation achieved using a current controlled voltage source inverter. {yields} Machine optimized use with stability and saturation effect compensation. {yields} Both saturation and cross-saturation effects discussed upon generator modeling. {yields} Efficient excitation and continuous load voltage control in a wide rotor speed range. -- Abstract: This paper presents a variable speed autonomous squirrel cage generator excited by a current-controlled voltage source inverter to be used in stand-alone micro-hydro power plants. The paper proposes a system control strategy aiming to properly excite the machine as well as to achieve the load voltage control. A feed-forward control sets the appropriate generator flux by taking into account the actual speed and the desired load voltage. A load voltage control loop is used to adjust the generated active power in order to sustain the load voltage at a reference value. The control system is based on a rotor flux oriented vector control technique which takes into account the machine saturation effect. The proposed control strategy and the adopted system models were validated both by numerical simulation and by experimental results obtained from a laboratory prototype. Results covering the prototype start-up, as well as its steady-state and dynamical behavior are presented.

8. Reasoning about Strategies under Partial Observability and Fairness Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Busard

2013-03-01

Full Text Available A number of extensions exist for Alternating-time Temporal Logic; some of these mix strategies and partial observability but, to the best of our knowledge, no work provides a unified framework for strategies, partial observability and fairness constraints. In this paper we propose ATLK^F_po, a logic mixing strategies under partial observability and epistemic properties of agents in a system with fairness constraints on states, and we provide a model checking algorithm for it.

9. Earth observation Water Cycle Multi-Mission Observation Strategy (WACMOS)

OpenAIRE

Su, Z.; Dorigo, W; D. Fernández-Prieto; Van Helvoirt, M; K. Hungershoefer; Jeu, R.; Parinussa, R.; Timmermans, J; R. Roebeling; Schröder, M.; Schulz, J.; Van Der Tol, C.; P. Stammes; Wagner, W.; Wang, L.

2010-01-01

Observing and monitoring the different components of the global water cycle and their dynamics are essential steps to understand the climate of the Earth, forecast the weather, predict natural disasters like floods and droughts, and improve water resources management. Earth observation technology is a unique tool to provide a global understanding of many of the essential variables governing the water cycle and monitor their evolution over time from global to basin scales. In the coming years ...

10. A Class of Nonlinear Unknown Input Observer for Fault Diagnosis: Application to Fault Tolerant Control of an Autonomous Spacecraft

OpenAIRE

Fonod, Robert; Henry, David; Charbonnel, Catherine; Bornschlegl, Eric

2014-01-01

In this paper, the problem of Nonlinear Unknown Input Observer (NUIO) based Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) scheme design for a class of nonlinear Lipschitz systems is studied. The proposed FDI method is applied to detect, isolate and accommodate thruster faults of an autonomous spacecraft involved in the rendezvous phase of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. Considered fault scenarios represent fully closed thruster and thruster efficiency loss. The FDI scheme consists of a bank of NU...

11. A Control Strategy for an Autonomous Robotic Vacuum Cleaner for Solar Panels

OpenAIRE

Aravind, G; Gautham, Vasan; Kumar, T. S. B Gowtham; Naresh, Balaji

2014-01-01

Accumulation of dust on the surface of solar panels reduces the amount of radiation reaching it. This leads to loss in generated electric power and formation of hotspots which would permanently damage the solar panel. This project aims at developing an autonomous vacuum cleaning method which can be used on a regular basis to maximize the lifetime and efficiency of a solar panel. This system is implemented using two subsystems namely a Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and a Docking Station. The Robotic ...

12. Optimization of an Autonomous Car Controller using a Self-Adaptive Evolutionary Strategy

OpenAIRE

Tae Seong Kim; Joong Chae Na; Kyung Joong Kim

2012-01-01

Autonomous cars control the steering wheel, acceleration and the brake pedal, the gears and the clutch using sensory information from multiple sources. Like a human driver, it understands the current situation on the roads from the live streaming of sensory values. The decision‐making module often suffers from the limited range of sensors and complexity due to the large number of sensors and actuators. Because it is tedious and difficult to design the controller manually from trial‐and‐error,...

13. Mission concept for the remote sensing of the cryosphere using autonomous aerial observation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Roland W.; Hilliard, Larry

2004-12-01

Improving the understanding of the Cryosphere and its impact on global hydrology is an important element of NASA"s Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). A Cold Land Processes Working Group (CLPWG) was formed by the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program to identify important science objectives necessary to address ESE priorities. These measurement objectives included Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), snow wetness, and freeze/thaw status of underlying soil. The spatial resolution requirement identified by the CLPWG was 100 m to 5000 m. Microwave sensors are well suited to measure these and other properties of interests to the study of the terrestrial cryosphere. It is well known that the EM properties of snow and soil at microwave frequencies are a strong function of the phase of water, i.e. ice/water. Further, both active and passive microwave sensors have demonstrated sensitivity to important properties of snowpack including, depth, density, wetness, crystal size, ice crust layer structure, and surface roughness. These sensors are also sensitive to the underlying soil state (frozen or thawed). Multiple microwave measurements including both active and passive sensors will likely be required to invert the effects of various snowpack characteristics, vegetation, and underlying soil properties to provide the desired characterization of the surface and meet the science needs required by the ESE. A major technology driver with respect to fully meeting these measurement needs is the 100 to 5000 m spatial resolution requirement. Meeting the threshold requirement of 5000 m at microwave frequencies from Low Earth Orbit is a technology challenge. The emerging capabilities of unmanned aircraft and particularly the system perspective of the Autonomous Aerial Observation Systems (AAOS) may provide high-fidelity/high-resolution measurements on regional scales or larger that could greatly improve our measurement capability. This paper explores a vehicle/sensor concept that could augment

14. A comprehensive data qa/qc strategy for data from autonomous point sensors: design, implementation and examples

Science.gov (United States)

Versteeg, R. J.

2007-12-01

There is an exponential increase in the use of autonomous point sensors (sensors which collect and transmit data without any human intervention) across all of geosciences. Point sensors include both physical and chemical sensors. Such data is typically stored in relational databases, from which data is subsequently polled for a range of different purposes. One of the fundamental challenges for end users is to assess the confidence in specific measurements. Historically (when sensor owners, sensor installers, data managers and data users were associated with one research group or institution) there might have been an intuitive (if poorly quantifiable) feel for such confidence. However, in the current environment these roles are often filled by people who are geographically separated and in different organizations. In addition, while historically such data was subject to semi manual review, this is becoming less and less practical. Finally, there is more and more a desire to use data in near real time. Consequently, challenges exist on how to automate all aspects of data qa/qc and validation for autonomous sensors. Data validation can result either in a confidence range and/or a Boolean indicator (good/bad data). We have developed and implemented a comprehensive, multi level data validation strategy. This strategy progresses from analysis of the most recent data received from a sensor (typically one to hundreds of measurements) to an analysis of the recent data in the context of the historic data received from the sensor, to an analysis of data received by other sensors (which compares trends and patterns), to a simple model based analysis. The outcome of this analysis (which is performed as soon as new data arrives) results in a quality indicator which is made available to the user with the data. In this talk I will provide examples of this approach for a number of currently operating monitoring networks as well as a discussion on how to easily implement this

15. Autonomous observations of solar energy partitioning in first-year sea ice in the Arctic Basin

OpenAIRE

Wang, Caixin; Granskog, Mats A.; Gerland, Sebastian; Hudson, Stephen R.; Perovich, Donald K.; Nicolaus, Marcel; Ivan Karlsen, Tor; Fossan, Kristen; Bratrein, Marius

2014-01-01

A Spectral Radiation Buoy (SRB) was developed to autonomously measure the spectral incident, reflected, and transmitted spectral solar radiation (350-800 nm) above and below sea ice. The SRB was deployed on drifting first-year sea ice near the North Pole in mid-April 2012, together with velocity and ice mass balance buoys. The buoys drifted southward and reached Fram Strait after approximately 7 months, covering a complete melt season. At the SRB site, snowmelt started on 10 June, and had com...

16. Strategies for Promoting Autonomous Reading Motivation: A Multiple Case Study Research in Primary Education

Science.gov (United States)

De Naeghel, Jessie; Van Keer, Hilde; Vanderlinde, Ruben

2014-01-01

It is important to reveal strategies which foster students' reading motivation in order to break through the declining trend in reading motivation throughout children's educational careers. Consequently, the present study advances an underexposed field in reading motivation research by studying and identifying the strategies of teachers excellent…

17. Observational Strategies of CMB Temperature and Polarization Interferometry Experiments

OpenAIRE

Park, Chan-Gyung; Ng, Kin-Wang; Park, Changbom; Liu, Guo-Chin; Umetsu, Keiichi

2002-01-01

We have simulated the interferometric observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization fluctuations. We have constructed data pipelines from the time-ordered raw visibility samples to the CMB power spectra which utilize the methods of data compression, maximum likelihood analysis, and optimal subspace filtering. They are customized for three observational strategies, such as the single pointing, the mosaicking, and the drift-scanning. For each strategy, derive...

18. Simulation of autonomous observing with a ground-based telescope: the LSST experience

Science.gov (United States)

Ridgway, Stephen; Cook, Kem; Miller, Michelle; Petry, Catherine; Chandrasekharan, Srinivasan; Saha, Abhijit; Allsman, Robyn; Axelrod, Timothy; Claver, Charles; Delgado, Francisco; Ivezic, Zeljko; Jones, R. Lynne; Krughoff, Simon; Pierfederici, Francesco; Pinto, Phillip

2010-07-01

A survey program with multiple science goals will be driven by multiple technical requirements. On a ground-based telescope, the variability of conditions introduces yet greater complexity. For a program that must be largely autonomous with minimal dwell time for efficiency it may be quite difficult to foresee the achievable performance. Furthermore, scheduling will likely involve self-referential constraints and appropriate optimization tools may not be available. The LSST project faces these issues, and has designed and implemented an approach to performance analysis in its Operations Simulator and associated post-processing packages. The Simulator has allowed the project to present detailed performance predictions with a strong basis from the engineering design and measured site conditions. At present, the Simulator is in regular use for engineering studies and science evaluation, and planning is underway for evolution to an operations scheduling tool. We will describe the LSST experience, emphasizing the objectives, the accomplishments and the lessons learned.

19. New technical observation strategies with e-control (new name: e-RemoteCtrl)

Science.gov (United States)

Neidhardt, A.; Ettl, M.; Rottmann, H.; Plötz, C.; Mühlbauer, M.; Hase, H.; Alef, W.; Sobarzo, S.; Herrera, C.; Beaudoin, C.; Himwich, E.

2011-07-01

New remote control technologies for VLBI observations offers the possibilities of remote observations. This means that an operator has not to be on location of the telescope all the time (remote observation). This also allows to control more than one telescope by one operator(shared observation). At Wettzell also completely unattended observations have been done especially for the weekend sessions for over 2 years now. The development goal is to simplify operational workflows in combination with general control structures. These new observation control strategies are not limited to VLBI. They can also be applied to other geodetic space techniques such as SLR which are necessary to realize the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). The demand for continuous and reliable observations requires to ease inconvenient night and weekend shifts. Remote controlled and autonomous observations will become more important in the future. The state-of-the-art software for control and monitoring is publicly available for testing and further developments. The most recent release integrates several new and comfortable features to support the daily work of an operator.

20. A Current Limiting Strategy to Improve Fault Ride-Through of Inverter Interfaced Autonomous Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2016-01-01

With high penetration of distributed energy resources (DER), fault management strategy is of great importance for the distribution network operation. The objective of this paper is to propose a current and voltage limiting strategy to enhance fault ride-through (FRT) capability of inverter......-based islanded microgrids (MGs) in which the effects of inverter control system and inverter topology (four/three-wire) are considered. A threephase voltage-sourced inverter (VSI) with multi-loop control system implemented in synchronous, stationary, and natural reference frames is employed in this study for...

1. Control strategy design for car autonomous navigation using adaptive dynamic programming%基于自适应动态规划算法的小车自主导航控制策略设计

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

方啸; 郑德忠

2014-01-01

小车自主导航系统是路径规划领域研究的难点问题。本文利用自适应动态规划算法对小车自主寻路、避障的控制策略进行了设计。介绍了仿真过程中小车检测环境状态量的方法，提出了小车通过连续型奖励/惩罚信号自主学习寻路、避障的控制策略，并结合虚拟现实技术创建了不同路径和不同障碍物状态的仿真环境。通过不同路径状态的仿真实验，验证了自适应动态规划算法在解决小车自主导航避障控制策略问题上的可靠性和稳定性。%The car autonomous navigation system has been a hot topic in path planning. This paper focuses on control strategy design for car autonomous navigation with obstacles avoidance by using adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) approach. First, the method for car observing the environment in simulation process is introduced. Second, a continuous reward/punishmen signal for car autonomous learning the control strategy is proposed. Third, the different simulation environment with different obstacles' states are established by virtual reality (VR) technology. The simulation results show that the ADP approach provides the suitable reliability and stability for control strategy design on autonomous navigation problem.

2. Approaching Complexity through Planful Play: Kindergarten Children's Strategies in Constructing an Autonomous Robot's Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, S. T.; Mioduser, D.

2010-01-01

This study investigates how young children master, construct and understand intelligent rule-based robot behaviors, focusing on their strategies in gradually meeting the tasks' complexity. The wider aim is to provide a comprehensive map of the kinds of transitions and learning that take place in constructing simple emergent behaviors, particularly…

3. Regional Economic Development Strategy in Preparation for the Establishment of a New Autonomous Region in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Lepi Ali Firmansyah; Endriatmo Soetarto; Nunung Kusnadi

2014-01-01

In general, the purpose of this study is to analyze the economic potential readiness in South Cianjur Development Region and formulate economic development strategies in an effort to achieve independence in the execution of development. The method of analysis used in this study are the analysis of Location Quotient, analysis of Limpitan Sejajar system, analysis of Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE Matrix) and External Factor Evaluation Matrix analysis (EFE matrix), analysis of matrix Str...

4. Observational Strategies of CMB Temperature and Polarization Interferometry Experiments

CERN Document Server

Park, C G; Park, C; Liu, G C; Umetsu, K; Park, Chan-Gyung; Ng, Kin-Wang; Park, Changbom; Liu, Guo-Chin; Umetsu, Keiichi

2003-01-01

We have simulated the interferometric observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization fluctuations for the forthcoming AMiBA experiment. We have constructed data pipelines from the time-ordered raw visibility samples to the CMB power spectra which utilize the methods of data compression, maximum likelihood analysis, and optimal subspace filtering. They are customized for three observational strategies, such as the single pointing, the mosaicking, and the drift-scanning. For each strategy, derived are the optimal strategy parameters that yield band power estimates with minimum uncertainty. The results are general and can be applied to any close-packed array on a single platform. We have also studied the effects of rotation of the array platform on the band power correlation by simulating the CBI single pointing observation. It is found that the band power anti-correlations can be reduced by rotating the platform and thus densely sampling the visibility plane. This enables us t...

5. Regional Economic Development Strategy in Preparation for the Establishment of a New Autonomous Region in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lepi Ali Firmansyah

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In general, the purpose of this study is to analyze the economic potential readiness in South Cianjur Development Region and formulate economic development strategies in an effort to achieve independence in the execution of development. The method of analysis used in this study are the analysis of Location Quotient, analysis of Limpitan Sejajar system, analysis of Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE Matrix and External Factor Evaluation Matrix analysis (EFE matrix, analysis of matrix Strength-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT, and analysis of Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM. The analysis showed that South Cianjur has potential, especially on: (1 agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forestry sector; (2 the mining and quarrying sector; and (3 the tourism sector. Based on IFE- EFE matrix analysis and SWOT analysis, South Cianjur district has priority strategy that uses internal strength to take advantage of external opportunities (S-O strategies. Selected strategic priorities are: (1 the development of agriculture by ecotourism, ecotourism and community forestry pattern; (2 the development of agroindustry; and (3 select and promote the spesific commodity to provide value-added (GDP and PAD.

6. Meta cognitive strategies and college English autonomous learning%元认知策略与高职公共英语自主学习

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

席加蕾

2014-01-01

在高职公共英语教学过程中，我们发现学生的自主学习能力普遍较弱，培养高职生的自主学习能力既能提高学生在校期间的英语成绩，也将有利于学生日后的继续学习。元认知策略对于提升学生的自主学习能力意义重大。本文从教师、学生和环境三方面入手，提出了运用元认知策略，提高学生自主学习能力的具体措施。%In the teaching process, we found that students' autonomous learning ability is generally weak, cultivate students' autonomous learning ability can not only improve the students' English achievement, but also help students continue to learn in the future. Metacognitive strategy is important to enhance their ability of autonomous learning. In this paper, from three aspects of teachers, students and environment, to propose the use of metacognitive strategies, specific measures to improve the students' autonomous learning ability.

7. Assembly of an Experimental Quad-Rotor Type UAV for Testing a Novel Autonomous Flight Control Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahida Khatoon

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this research a prototype experimental Quad-rotor type UAV have been assembled using low cost components easily available in the Indian market. The quad-copter is used for testing a novel autonomous flight control strategy developed using embedded system. In order to enable a mini-UAV to perform target acquisition, localization and continuous surveillance in real world environment one must develop a technology which may be a combination of aircraft engineering, control systems, and wireless communication. The major limiting factors in developing the capabilities of small low cost UAVs are connectivity, computational processing power and lack of resource integration. To overcome these limitations in this research we have tried to assemble an experimental quad-rotor prototype UAV capable of being remotely controlled in the range of 20 meter, which is specifically designed as an economical, moderately functional, small airborne platform intended to meet the requirement for fast-response to time-critical events in many small private sectors or government agencies. The experimental prototype quad-copter has been successfully implemented and tested for 15 minutes smooth flight time.

8. Understanding Electrochemistry Concepts Using the Predict-Observe-Explain Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Karamustafaoglu, Sevilay; Mamlok-Naaman, Rachel

2015-01-01

The current study deals with freshman students who study at the Department of Science at the Faculty of Education. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of teaching electrochemistry concepts using Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy. The study was quasi-experimental design using 20 students each in the experimental group (EG) and…

9. Sensor Web Dynamic Measurement Techniques and Adaptive Observing Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Talabac, Stephen J.

2004-01-01

Sensor Web observing systems may have the potential to significantly improve our ability to monitor, understand, and predict the evolution of rapidly evolving, transient, or variable environmental features and events. This improvement will come about by integrating novel data collection techniques, new or improved instruments, emerging communications technologies and protocols, sensor mark-up languages, and interoperable planning and scheduling systems. In contrast to today's observing systems, "event-driven" sensor webs will synthesize real- or near-real time measurements and information from other platforms and then react by reconfiguring the platforms and instruments to invoke new measurement modes and adaptive observation strategies. Similarly, "model-driven" sensor webs will utilize environmental prediction models to initiate targeted sensor measurements or to use a new observing strategy. The sensor web concept contrasts with today's data collection techniques and observing system operations concepts where independent measurements are made by remote sensing and in situ platforms that do not share, and therefore cannot act upon, potentially useful complementary sensor measurement data and platform state information. This presentation describes NASA's view of event-driven and model-driven Sensor Webs and highlights several research and development activities at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

10. Tropical cyclone turbulent mixing as observed by autonomous oceanic profilers with the high repetition rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Changes in the ocean mixed layer caused by passage of two consecutive typhoons in the Western Pacific are presented. Ocean profiles were measured by a unique Argo float sampling the upper ocean in high repetition cycle with a period of about one day. It is shown that the typhoon passage coincides with cooling of the mixed layer and variations of its salinity. Independent data from satellite measurements of surface winds were used to set-up an and idealized numerical simulation of mixed layer evolution. Results, compared to Argo profiles, confirm known effect that cooling is a result of increased entrainment from the thermocline due to enhancement of turbulence in the upper ocean by the wind stress. Observed pattern of salinity changes in the mixed layer suggest important role of typhoon precipitation. Fast changes of the mixed layer in course of typhoon passage show that fast profiling (at least once a day) is crucial to study response of the upper ocean to tropical cyclone.

11. An autonomous drifting buoy system for long term pCO2 observation

Science.gov (United States)

Nakano, Y.; Fujiki, T.; Wakita, M.; Azetsu-Scott, K.; Watanabe, S.

2009-04-01

Many studies have been carried out around the world to understand what happens to carbon dioxide (CO2) once it is emitted into the atmosphere, and how it relates to long-term climate change. However, the sea surface pCO2 observations on volunteer observation ships and research vessels concentrated in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. To assess the spatial and temporal variations of surface pCO2 in the global ocean, new automated pCO2 sensor which can be used in platform systems such as buoys or moorings is strongly desired. We have been developing the small drifting buoy system (diameter 250-340 mm, length 470 mm, weight 15 kg) for pCO2 measurement, with the support of the Japan EOS Promotion Program (JEPP), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The objective is to provide simplified, automated measurements of pCO2 over all the world's oceans, an essential factor in understanding how the ocean responds to climate change. The measurement principle for the pCO2 sensor is based on spectrophotometry (e.g. Lefèvre et al., 1993; Degrandpre et al., 1995). The CO2 in the surrounding seawater equilibrates with the indicator solution across the gas permeable membranes. The equilibration process causes a change of pH in the indicator solution, which results in the change of optical absorbance. The pCO2 is calculated from the optical absorbance of the pH indicator solution equilibrated with CO2 in seawater through a gas permeable membrane. In our analytical system, we used an amorphous fluoropolymer tubing form of AF-2400 by DuPontTM for the gas permeable membrane due to its high gas permeability coefficients. The measurement system of the sensor consisted mainly of a LED light source, optical fibers, a CCD detector, and a downsized PC. The measured data were transmitted to the laboratory by satellite communication (Argos system). In the laboratory experiment, we obtained a high response time (less than 2 minutes) and a precision

12. Metacognitive Strategy and Students' Autonomous Competence in English Reading%元认知策略与大学英语阅读自主学习

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张爽

2014-01-01

当前元认知策略已经成为英语阅读教学的重点，它对学生的认知能力与认知过程起到了调控与监测的作用。所以，把元认知策略与大学英语阅读教学相结合，培养学习者自主阅读的能力已成为一种趋势。%This paper explores the metacognitive strategies and their close relation with students' autonomous competence in col-lege English reading. And it explains how teachers foster students’autonomous reading competence in English reading through four aspects:enhancing metacognitive awareness;planning;self-monitoring reading process and evaluating.

13. Vagus nerve stimulation: state of the art of stimulation and recording strategies to address autonomic function neuromodulation

Science.gov (United States)

Guiraud, David; Andreu, David; Bonnet, Stéphane; Carrault, Guy; Couderc, Pascal; Hagège, Albert; Henry, Christine; Hernandez, Alfredo; Karam, Nicole; Le Rolle, Virginie; Mabo, Philippe; Maciejasz, Paweł; Malbert, Charles-Henri; Marijon, Eloi; Maubert, Sandrine; Picq, Chloé; Rossel, Olivier; Bonnet, Jean-Luc

2016-08-01

Objective. Neural signals along the vagus nerve (VN) drive many somatic and autonomic functions. The clinical interest of VN stimulation (VNS) is thus potentially huge and has already been demonstrated in epilepsy. However, side effects are often elicited, in addition to the targeted neuromodulation. Approach. This review examines the state of the art of VNS applied to two emerging modulations of autonomic function: heart failure and obesity, especially morbid obesity. Main results. We report that VNS may benefit from improved stimulation delivery using very advanced technologies. However, most of the results from fundamental animal studies still need to be demonstrated in humans.

14. Agent, autonomous

OpenAIRE

Luciani, Annie

2007-01-01

The expression autonomous agents, widely used in virtual reality, computer graphics, artificial intelligence and artificial life, corresponds to the simulation of autonomous creatures, virtual (i.e. totally computed by a program), or embodied in a physical envelope, as done in autonomous robots.

15. Mathematical strategies for filtering complex systems: Regularly spaced sparse observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Real time filtering of noisy turbulent signals through sparse observations on a regularly spaced mesh is a notoriously difficult and important prototype filtering problem. Simpler off-line test criteria are proposed here as guidelines for filter performance for these stiff multi-scale filtering problems in the context of linear stochastic partial differential equations with turbulent solutions. Filtering turbulent solutions of the stochastically forced dissipative advection equation through sparse observations is developed as a stringent test bed for filter performance with sparse regular observations. The standard ensemble transform Kalman filter (ETKF) has poor skill on the test bed and even suffers from filter divergence, surprisingly, at observable times with resonant mean forcing and a decaying energy spectrum in the partially observed signal. Systematic alternative filtering strategies are developed here including the Fourier Domain Kalman Filter (FDKF) and various reduced filters called Strongly Damped Approximate Filter (SDAF), Variance Strongly Damped Approximate Filter (VSDAF), and Reduced Fourier Domain Kalman Filter (RFDKF) which operate only on the primary Fourier modes associated with the sparse observation mesh while nevertheless, incorporating into the approximate filter various features of the interaction with the remaining modes. It is shown below that these much cheaper alternative filters have significant skill on the test bed of turbulent solutions which exceeds ETKF and in various regimes often exceeds FDKF, provided that the approximate filters are guided by the off-line test criteria. The skill of the various approximate filters depends on the energy spectrum of the turbulent signal and the observation time relative to the decorrelation time of the turbulence at a given spatial scale in a precise fashion elucidated here

16. A Study on Sport Majors’ Autonomous Learning Strategies%对体育类大学生英语自主学习策略的研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

魏惠琳; 牟烁

2013-01-01

“自主学习”是与传统的“接受学习”相对立的一种学习方式，指的是学生通过独立的分析、探索、实践等方法来实现其学习目标。近年来，对自主学习策略的研究已经引起学界的广泛关注，然而作为对于体育类大学生这一特殊群体的相关研究却比较贫乏，而他们恰恰存在英语基础差，自主学习能力缺失等问题。本研究选取80名体育类学生作为研究对象，通过问卷调查及访谈的形式，考察其在元认知策略、社会策略以及情感策略方面的自主学习的状况及对相关策略的认知程度。并在此基础上，进一步分析体育类大学生对这三种自主学习策略的认同度对其英语习得效果的影响，并对英语教学提出一系列的建议。%“Autonomous learning” is a different study mode compared with the traditional “receptive learning”,and it refers to the analysis,investigation and practice processes by the students independently to achieve their study goals.In recent years,the study of autonomous learning has aroused broad interests from the academic field. However,the sport majors, as a special group are not given enough concerns by researchers. Thus the present research investigated 80 Sport major sophomores as subjects through questionnaires and interviews.The research aims to study current situation of autonomous learning of sport majors and their agreement degrees on meta-cognitive strategies,social strategies and emotional strategies,and also the relationship between autonomous learning and their learning achievements,and then put forward suggestions for English teaching.

17. Short-term displacement of Planktothrix rubescens (cyanobacteria) in a pre-alpine lake observed using an autonomous sampling platform

OpenAIRE

Garneau, Marie-Ève; Posch, Thomas; Hitz, Gregory; Pomerleau, François; Pradalier, Cédric; Siegwart, Roland,; Pernthaler, Jakob

2013-01-01

Short-term changes in temporal and spatial distributions of the toxic cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens in Lake Zurich were investigated using high-resolution data sets acquired with an autonomous surface vessel (ASV). Data profiles were recorded with a multi-parameter probe while the ASV navigated along 1.5 km toward a waypoint located on the other side of the lake by using a global positioning system. We deployed the ASV seven times on five consecutive days during the stratification per...

18. Intelligent Observation Strategies for Geosynchronous Remote Sensing for Natural Hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Moe, Karen; Cappleare, Patrice; Frye, Stuart; LeMoigne, Jacqueline; Mandl, Daniel; Flatley, Thomas; Geist, Alessandro

2015-01-01

Geosynchronous satellites offer a unique perspective for monitoring environmental factors important to understanding natural hazards and supporting the disasters management life cycle, namely forecast, detection, response, recovery and mitigation. In the NASA decadal survey for Earth science, the GEO-CAPE mission was proposed to address coastal and air pollution events in geosynchronous orbit, complementing similar initiatives in Asia by the South Koreans and by ESA in Europe, thereby covering the northern hemisphere. In addition to analyzing the challenges of identifying instrument capabilities to meet the science requirements, and the implications of hosting the instrument payloads on commercial geosynchronous satellites, the GEO-CAPE mission design team conducted a short study to explore strategies to optimize the science return for the coastal imaging instrument. The study focused on intelligent scheduling strategies that took into account cloud avoidance techniques as well as onboard processing methods to reduce the data storage and transmission loads. This paper expands the findings of that study to address the use of intelligent scheduling techniques and near-real time data product acquisition of both the coastal water and air pollution events. The topics include the use of onboard processing to refine and execute schedules, to detect cloud contamination in observations, and to reduce data handling operations. Analysis of state of the art flight computing capabilities will be presented, along with an assessment of cloud detection algorithms and their performance characteristics. Tools developed to illustrate operational concepts will be described, including their applicability to environmental monitoring domains with an eye to the future. In the geostationary configuration, the payload becomes a networked thing with enough connectivity to exchange data seamlessly with users. This allows the full field of view to be sensed at very high rate under the control

19. Intelligent Observation Strategies for Geosynchronous Remote Sensing for Natural Hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Moe, K.; Cappelaere, P. G.; Frye, S. W.; LeMoigne, J.; Mandl, D.; Flatley, T.; Geist, A.

2015-12-01

Geosynchronous satellites offer a unique perspective for monitoring environmental factors important to understanding natural hazards and supporting the disasters management life cycle, namely forecast, detection, response, recovery and mitigation. In the NASA decadal survey for Earth science, the GEO-CAPE mission was proposed to address coastal and air pollution events in geosynchronous orbit, complementing similar initiatives in Asia by the South Koreans and by ESA in Europe, thereby covering the northern hemisphere. In addition to analyzing the challenges of identifying instrument capabilities to meet the science requirements, and the implications of hosting the instrument payloads on commercial geosynchronous satellites, the GEO-CAPE mission design team conducted a short study to explore strategies to optimize the science return for the coastal imaging instrument. The study focused on intelligent scheduling strategies that took into account cloud avoidance techniques as well as onboard processing methods to reduce the data storage and transmission loads. This paper expands the findings of that study to address the use of intelligent scheduling techniques and near-real time data product acquisition of both the coastal water and air pollution events. The topics include the use of onboard processing to refine and execute schedules, to detect cloud contamination in observations, and to reduce data handling operations. Analysis of state of the art flight computing capabilities will be presented, along with an assessment of cloud detection algorithms and their performance characteristics. Tools developed to illustrate operational concepts will be described, including their applicability to environmental monitoring domains with an eye to the future. In the geostationary configuration, the payload becomes a networked "thing" with enough connectivity to exchange data seamlessly with users. This allows the full field of view to be sensed at very high rate under the

20. A Case Study of the Characteristics of an Autonomous Learner:Take an Adult English Learner for Example

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陈洁坊

2013-01-01

This study based on researcher’s adult oral English teaching experience, takes an adult English learner as a case study to explore the characteristics of an autonomous English learner. From analysis of data (observation and teaching diary), this study elaborates three common characteristics of an autonomous learner: (1) Firstly, an autonomous learner has a high motivation; (2) Secondly,an autonomous learner is good at trying different learning strategies, especially metacognitive strategy to manage learn-ing proceeding. (3) Lastly, an autonomous learner readily takes charge of their own learning by making plan and reflecting on it. Meanwhile, this study presents teacher’s role as a facilitator and consultor and some factors that need taking into consideration, of-fering a precious experience for future’s fostering of autonomous English learners.

1. Jam avoidance with autonomous systems

OpenAIRE

Tordeux, Antoine; Lassarre, Sylvain

2015-01-01

Many car-following models are developed for jam avoidance in highways. Two mechanisms are used to improve the stability: feedback control with autonomous models and increasing of the interaction within cooperative ones. In this paper, we compare the linear autonomous and collective optimal velocity (OV) models. We observe that the stability is significantly increased by adding predecessors in interaction with collective models. Yet autonomous and collective approaches are close when the speed...

2. Implement PPET Strategy and Develop Ecotourism of Minority Areas in Western China——Take Xinlong County of GanziTibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province as An Example

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

XiaGuitan

2005-01-01

To help the poor and to develop tourism are two mportant problems in poverty-stricken area. Howeve,they were isotated for years. The PPET strategy was put forward in this paper based on PPT. The Feasibility and the realistic meaning of the strategy in developing the ecotourism, overcoming poverty, and achieving prosperity of minority areas in western China are analyzed by taking Xinlong county of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Stchuan Province as an example.

3. Validation strategy for satellite observations of tropospheric reactive gases

OpenAIRE

Andreas Richter; Mark Weber; Burrows, John P.; Jean-Christopher Lambert; Anne van Gijsel

2014-01-01

Over the last twodecades, satellite observations of tropospheric composition have becomepossible using nadir viewing spectrometers operating in the UV, visible, nearinfrared, and thermal infrared spectral range. [...

4. An Observation Tool for EFL Reading Comprehension Teaching Strategies

OpenAIRE

Smit, Nienke; Bot, Kees de; van de Grift, Wim; Jansen, Ellen

2014-01-01

The present study addresses the validation process of an observation tool for measuring the range of processes in which a teacher is involved when helping secondary school EFL learners comprehend reading input and when facilitating meaningful language output. The observation tool will be used in a professional development programme for scaffolding EFL reading comprehension in secondary schools.

5. Jam avoidance with autonomous systems

CERN Document Server

Tordeux, Antoine

2016-01-01

Many car-following models are developed for jam avoidance in highways. Two mechanisms are used to improve the stability: feedback control with autonomous models and increasing of the interaction within cooperative ones. In this paper, we compare the linear autonomous and collective optimal velocity (OV) models. We observe that the stability is significantly increased by adding predecessors in interaction with collective models. Yet autonomous and collective approaches are close when the speed difference term is taking into account. Within the linear OV models tested, the autonomous models including speed difference are sufficient to maximise the stability.

6. A Distributed Control Strategy for Coordination of an Autonomous LVDC Microgrid Based on Power-Line Signalling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dragicevic, Tomislav; Guerrero, Josep M.; Vasquez, Juan Carlos

2014-01-01

number of sources using power-line signaling (PLS), a distributed control strategy in which the units inject sinusoidal signals of specific frequency into the common bus in order to communicate with each other. The control structure that allows the application of this method is revealed and the optimal...

7. A Simple Autonomous Current-Sharing Control Strategy for Fast Dynamic Response of Parallel Inverters in Islanded Microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guan, Yajuan; Vasquez, Juan Carlos; Guerrero, Josep M.

2014-01-01

This paper proposed a novel control strategy based on a virtual resistance and a phase locked loop for parallel three-phase inverters. The proposed controller can overcome the drawbacks of the conventional droop control such as slow transient response, complex design, and limited stability margins...

8. Optimal strategies of radial velocity observations in planet search surveys

CERN Document Server

Baluev, Roman V

2008-01-01

Applications of the theory of optimal design of experiments to radial velocity planet search surveys are considered. Different optimality criteria are discussed, basing on the Fisher, Shannon, and Kullback-Leibler informations. Algorithms of optimal scheduling of RV observations for two important practical problems are considered. The first problem is finding the time for future observations to yield the maximum improvement of the precision of exoplanetary orbital parameters and masses. The second problem is finding the most favourable time for distinguishing alternative orbital fits (the scheduling of discriminating observations). These methods of optimal planning are demonstrated to be potentially efficient for multi-planet extrasolar systems, in particular for resonant ones. In these cases, the optimal dates of observations are often concentrated in quite narrow time segments.

9. Optimal strategies of radial velocity observations in planet search surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Baluev, Roman V.

2008-09-01

Applications of the theory of optimal design of experiments to radial velocity (RV) planet search surveys are considered. Different optimality criteria are discussed, basing on the Fisher, Shannon and Kullback-Leibler informations. Algorithms of optimal scheduling of RV observations for two important practical problems are considered. The first problem is finding the time for future observations to yield the maximum improvement of the precision of exoplanetary orbital parameters and masses. The second problem is finding the most favourable time for distinguishing alternative orbital fits (the scheduling of discriminating observations). These methods of optimal planning are demonstrated to be potentially efficient for multiplanet extrasolar systems, in particular for resonant ones. In these cases, the optimal dates of observations are often concentrated in quite narrow time segments.

10. Optimal strategies of radial velocity observations in planet search surveys

OpenAIRE

Baluev, Roman V.

2008-01-01

Applications of the theory of optimal design of experiments to radial velocity planet search surveys are considered. Different optimality criteria are discussed, basing on the Fisher, Shannon, and Kullback-Leibler informations. Algorithms of optimal scheduling of RV observations for two important practical problems are considered. The first problem is finding the time for future observations to yield the maximum improvement of the precision of exoplanetary orbital parameters and masses. The s...

11. LES ARM Symbiotic Simulation and Observation (LASSO) Implementation Strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gustafson Jr., WI [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Vogelmann, AM [Brookhaven National Laboratory

2015-09-01

This document illustrates the design of the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) ARM Symbiotic Simulation and Observation (LASSO) workflow to provide a routine, high-resolution modeling capability to augment the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s high-density observations. LASSO will create a powerful new capability for furthering ARM’s mission to advance understanding of cloud, radiation, aerosol, and land-surface processes. The combined observational and modeling elements will enable a new level of scientific inquiry by connecting processes and context to observations and providing needed statistics for details that cannot be measured. The result will be improved process understanding that facilitates concomitant improvements in climate model parameterizations. The initial LASSO implementation will be for ARM’s Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma and will focus on shallow convection, which is poorly simulated by climate models due in part to clouds’ typically small spatial scale compared to model grid spacing, and because the convection involves complicated interactions of microphysical and boundary layer processes.

12. Autonomous single camera exploration

OpenAIRE

Vidal-Calleja, Teresa A.; Sanfeliu, Alberto; Andrade-Cetto, J.

2006-01-01

In this paper we present an active exploration strategy for a mobile robot navigating in 3D. The aim is to control a moving robot that autonomously builds a visual feature map while at the same time optimises its localisation in this map. The technique chooses the most appropriate commands maximising the information gain between prior states and measurements, while performing 6DOF bearing only SLAM at video rate. Maximising the mutual information helps the vehicle avoid ill-conditioned measur...

13. Towards a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Water Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Lawford, R. G.; Koike, T.; Cripe, D.; Ochiai, O.

2012-12-01

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is developing a strategy to guide its water-related activities for the next decade. An international writing team is currently developing a draft strategy for use in discussions with the broader water community. It is anticipated that the strategy will be finalized and presented at the next GEO Summit of Ministers in November 2013. This presentation summarizes the direction, content and status of the GEOSS water strategy. During the past decade GEO water activities were guided by a report that served as the foundation for the Water theme in the Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership. Since that report was published a number of developments have taken place, making it necessary to update the strategy underlying GEO water-related efforts. Among other factors, this strategy is considering a renewed commitment to Sustainable Development and the green economy, the maturation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems concept, and the emergence of new satellite missions, new sensors and new mobile information systems. In addition to identifying the impact of these trends on water observation plans and systems, the new strategy will highlight the potential linkages of water with other sectors such as agriculture, health, biodiversity, energy and climate. This presentation will also summarize the objectives and key elements of the new strategy, and possible approaches for implementing the strategy.

14. Analysis on the Status of Farmers,Agriculture and Countryside,and Development Strategies and Measures in Tibet Autonomous Region

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHONG Xianghao; LI Xiangmei; PENG Chuanzhong

2004-01-01

Coordinated and sustainable development of farmers, agriculture and countryside (FAC) is key to realize the national objective of comprehensively developed well-off society. Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet,outstanding achievements have been made in FAC work. However, compared with East and Middle China, there still exists a big gap. The farmers' net income per capita in 2001 was 1,404 yuan, 962 yuan lower than the nation's average. In late 9o's the farmers' income growth slowed down. Agricultural industrialization is at low level, technologies play a small role in agricultural development, rural infrastructure is weak, the rural grass root organization is much underdeveloped, and construction of towns is behind the other regions of China. Based on the problems of FAC development there, this paper proposes FAC development strategies and measures for accelerating rural development in Tibet.

15. Modeling boolean decision rules applied to multiple-observer decision strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Maguire, W

1996-01-01

A model that derives multiple-observer decision strategy ROC curves for boolean decision rules applied to binary decisions of two or three observers is presented. It is assumed that covert decision variables consistent with ROC models of observer performance underlie decisions and that readers' decision criteria are in a fixed relationship. The specific parameters of individual ROC curves and the correlational structure that describes interobserver agreement have dramatic effects upon the relative benefits to be derived from different boolean strategies. A common strategy employed in clinical practice, in which the overall decision is positive if any observer makes a positive decision, is most effective when the readers are of similar ability, when they adopt similar decision criteria, when interreader agreement is greater for negative than for positive cases, and when the individual ROC slope is observer decision strategies can be evaluated using the model equations. A bootstrap method for testing model-associated hypotheses is described. PMID:8717599

16. Factors Associated with South Korean Early Childhood Educators' Observed Behavior Support Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yeon Ha; Stormont, Melissa

2012-01-01

This study was an exploratory study of 34 South Korean early childhood educators' strategies for addressing behavior problems in natural settings. Factors related to teachers' strategy implementation were also explored. Four specific teacher behaviors were observed: precorrection, behavioral-specific praise, redirection, and reprimand/punishment.…

17. Autonomic Dysregulation in Multiple Sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pintér, Alexandra; Cseh, Domonkos; Sárközi, Adrienn; Illigens, Ben M; Siepmann, Timo

2015-01-01

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressive central neurological disease characterized by inflammation and demyelination. In patients with MS, dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system may present with various clinical symptoms including sweating abnormalities, urinary dysfunction, orthostatic dysregulation, gastrointestinal symptoms, and sexual dysfunction. These autonomic disturbances reduce the quality of life of affected patients and constitute a clinical challenge to the physician due to variability of clinical presentation and inconsistent data on diagnosis and treatment. Early diagnosis and initiation of individualized interdisciplinary and multimodal strategies is beneficial in the management of autonomic dysfunction in MS. This review summarizes the current literature on the most prevalent aspects of autonomic dysfunction in MS and provides reference to underlying pathophysiological mechanisms as well as means of diagnosis and treatment. PMID:26213927

18. Optimal strategies for observation of active galactic nuclei variability with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes

CERN Document Server

Giomi, Matteo; Maier, Gernot

2016-01-01

Variable emission is one of the defining characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGN). While providing precious information on the nature and physics of the sources, variability is often challenging to observe with time- and field-of-view-limited astronomical observatories such as Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). In this work, we address two questions relevant for the observation of sources characterized by AGN-like variability: what is the most time-efficient way to detect such sources, and what is the observational bias that can be introduced by the choice of the observing strategy when conducting blind surveys of the sky. Different observing strategies are evaluated using simulated light curves and realistic instrument response functions of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a future gamma-ray observatory. We show that strategies that makes use of very small observing windows, spread over large periods of time, allows for a faster detection of the source, and are less influenced by the...

19. Autonomous Search

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

Decades of innovations in combinatorial problem solving have produced better and more complex algorithms. These new methods are better since they can solve larger problems and address new application domains. They are also more complex which means that they are hard to reproduce and often harder to fine-tune to the peculiarities of a given problem. This last point has created a paradox where efficient tools are out of reach of practitioners. Autonomous search (AS) represents a new research field defined to precisely address the above challenge. Its major strength and originality consist in the

20. Pure Autonomic Failure

Science.gov (United States)

... Drugs GARD Information Navigator FAQs About Rare Diseases Pure autonomic failure Title Other Names: Bradbury Eggleston syndrome; ... Categories: Nervous System Diseases ; RDCRN Summary Summary Listen Pure autonomic failure is characterized by generalized autonomic failure ...

1. Optimal strategies for observation of active galactic nuclei variability with Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Giomi, Matteo; Gerard, Lucie; Maier, Gernot

2016-07-01

Variable emission is one of the defining characteristic of active galactic nuclei (AGN). While providing precious information on the nature and physics of the sources, variability is often challenging to observe with time- and field-of-view-limited astronomical observatories such as Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs). In this work, we address two questions relevant for the observation of sources characterized by AGN-like variability: what is the most time-efficient way to detect such sources, and what is the observational bias that can be introduced by the choice of the observing strategy when conducting blind surveys of the sky. Different observing strategies are evaluated using simulated light curves and realistic instrument response functions of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), a future gamma-ray observatory. We show that strategies that makes use of very small observing windows, spread over large periods of time, allows for a faster detection of the source, and are less influenced by the variability properties of the sources, as compared to strategies that concentrate the observing time in a small number of large observing windows. Although derived using CTA as an example, our conclusions are conceptually valid for any IACTs facility, and in general, to all observatories with small field of view and limited duty cycle.

2. Observing Online Instruction: A Formative Practice toward Awareness and Readiness in Online Instructional Design Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Widdall, Christine L.

2012-01-01

This qualitative research project used a multiple case study methodology, in connection with observational learning to explore to what degree prospective online secondary teachers achieved an awareness of instructional design strategies as they concurrently observed online instruction in two unique online courses: one with student-centered…

3. The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy Strategies Scale

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Bryce D.; Weisz, John R.

2010-01-01

Most everyday child and adolescent psychotherapy does not follow manuals that document the procedures. Consequently, usual clinical care has remained poorly understood and rarely studied. The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy-Strategies scale (TPOCS-S) is an observational measure of youth psychotherapy procedures…

4. Study on the Cultivation of Foreign Language Autonomous Learning Ability of College Students from the Perspective of Metacognitive Strategies%元认知策略下的大学生外语自主学习能力研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

刘莉莉

2011-01-01

随着大学外语课程改革的不断深入,自主学习能力的培养及教学实践研究备受关注。以元认知策略为视角,对国内外相关研究进行述评,探究元认知策略对大学生外语自主学习能力的影响,并在实验结果基础上提出教育建议。从认知结构和认知过程出发,分析教与学的心理动因,激发学生的潜质,强化学生外语自主学习能力的培养,优化教学结构。为丰富一线教师的教育研究进行有益的探讨,为外语自主学习的教学理论提供实证性研究。%With the development of college English curriculum reform,the cultivation of their autonomous learning ability and teaching research attract much attention.Reviewing foreign and domestic studies on metacognitive strategies,this paper analyzes teaching and learning psychological motivation from the perspective of metacognitive strategies,with the emphasis on the cognitive structure and cognitive process of students as well as the cultivation of students foreign language autonomous learning ability,stimulating students＇ potential,and strengthening the cultivation of their autonomous learning ability,thereby optimizing the teaching structure which put forward education suggestions based on experiment results.The paper helps to enrich the teachers＇ educational research and to provide empirical research for foreign language teaching theory in autonomous learning cultivation.

5. Earth observation space programmes, SAFISY activities, strategies of international organisations, legal aspects. Volume 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This volume is separated in four sessions. First part is on earth observation space programmes (international earth observation projects and international collaboration, the ERS-1, SPOT and PRIRODA programmes, the first ESA earth observation polar platform and its payload, the future earth observation remote sensing techniques and concepts). The second part is on SAFISY activities (ISY programmes, education and applications, demonstrations and outreach projects). The third part is on programme and strategies of international organisations with respect to earth observation from space. The fourth part is on legal aspects of the use of satellite remote sensing data in Europe. (A.B.). refs., figs., tabs

6. College English Students’ Autonomous Learning Motivation and Cultivation Model Research

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王艳荣; 李娥

2015-01-01

Studying the autonomous learning motivation and excitation model can stimulate intrinsic motivation of foreign language learners,develop students self-management strategy evaluation are very necessary.The purpose of this paper is to give students the skills of listening and speaking for their autonomous learning.Then study the cultivation and motivation of college English students autonomous learning,hoping to make students to learn autonomous learning and stimulate their motivation fully.

7. Strategy Research on Promoting Undergraduates ’ Autonomic Learning in Ubiquitous Learning Environments%泛在学习环境下促进大学生自主学习的策略研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

牛丽; 殷凡

2015-01-01

With regard to the fact that undergraduates encounter prominent problems such as insufficient willpower in learning,lack of autonomic learning appraisal systems and effective assistance and guidance,etc during their autonomic learning process in ubiquitous learning environments ,this paper put forward a learning promotion strategy which applies to ubiquitous learning environments. This strategy assists undergraduates in overcoming the adverse factors that they encounter in ubiquitous learning environments in terms of learning resource organization , teacher role transition,autonomic learning appraisal,etc. Finally, this strategy will help undergraduates significantly boost their learning efficiency and enthusiasm by establishing specific learning objectives and developing favorable learning habits.%文章针对泛在学习环境下大学生自主学习遇到的学习意志力不足、缺乏自主学习评价系统和有效的帮助与引导等突出问题，提出了泛在学习环境中的促学策略，该策略从学习资源组织、教师角色转变以及自主学习评价等方面帮助大学生克服泛在学习环境下的不利因素，树立明确的学习目标，培养良好的自学习惯，使得学习效率和主动性得到明显提高。

8. Implications for the Americas of a new Water Strategy for the Group on Earth Observations (GEO)

Science.gov (United States)

Lawford, R. G.; Koike, T.; Cripe, D.; Ochiai, O.

2013-05-01

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) are working with the Integrated Global Water Cycle Observation (IGWCO) Community of Practice (CoP) to develop a new GEO Water Strategy. This strategy will guide the development of GEO water-related activities in the post-2015 period. In addition to addressing the needs for new sensors and better data for water cycle and water quality variables, the strategy deals with issues such as data exchange, integrated data products, early warning systems for hydrometeorological hazards and interoperability and interrogation of water information systems. Two areas receiving special attention include "user needs and user engagement", and "capacity building" at both individual and institutional levels. This talk outlines the scientific needs that are being addressed by the strategy both in terms of the technologies being developed and the support to research activities aimed at better water management practices. The perspectives of scientists and water managers are being obtained through regional consultations. This presentation is intended to introduce the strategy and its proposals regarding the management of data, data products and information systems at the global and international levels. Feedback is being solicited from scientists and water managers throughout the Americas regarding the applicability of these ideas to the region of Latin America.

9. Using an autonomous passive acoustic observational system to monitor the environmental impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on deep-diving marine mammals

Science.gov (United States)

Sidorovskaia, N.; Ackleh, A.; Ma, B.; Tiemann, C.; Ioup, J. W.; Ioup, G. E.

2012-12-01

The Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center (LADC) is a consortium of scientists from four universities and the U.S. Navy, which performs acoustic measurements and analysis in littoral waters. For the present work, six passive autonomous broadband acoustic sensors were deployed by LADC in the vicinity of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill site in the Northern Gulf of Mexico in fall 2010. The objective of the project is to assess long-term impact of the spill on the deep-diving residential population of marine mammals, particularly, sperm and beaked whales. Collected data were processed to detect, extract, and count acoustic signals produced by different types of marine mammals. As a next step, a statistical model which uses acoustic inputs was developed to estimate residential populations of different types of marine mammals at different distances from the spill site. The estimates were compared to population estimates from years prior to the spill, using pre-spill collected data in the area by LADC from 2001, 2002, and 2007. The results indicate different responses from sperm and beaked whales in the first months following the spill. A recently published article by our research group (Ackleh et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131, 2306-2314) provides a comparison of 2007 and 2010 estimates showing a decrease in acoustic activity and abundance of sperm whales at the 9-mile distant site, whereas acoustic activity and abundance at the 25-mile distant site has clearly increased. This may indicate that some sperm whales have relocated farther away from the spill subject to food source availability. The beaked whale population appears to return to 2007 numbers after the spill even at the closest 9-mile distant site. Several acoustically observed changes in the animals' habitat associated with the spill, such as anthropogenic noise level, prey presence, etc., can be connected with the observed population trends. Preliminary results for interpreting observed population trends will

10. Observational Iinearization and tracking objective excitation control strategy based on phasor measurement unit

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

QIU Xiaoyan; LI Xingyuan; WANG Xiaoyan

2007-01-01

To improve the transient stability ofmultimachine power systems,observational linearization and tracking objective excitation control laws were derived from the phasor measurement unit (PMU),observational linearization,and tracking objective control theory based on synchronized coordinates and reference generator coordinates.The control strategies utilized real-time state variables obtained by PMU to linearize the state equations of the system,and then the linear optimal control strategy was used to design excitation controllers.The inaccuracy of the local linearization method and the complexity of the system models designed in the exact linearization method for nonlinear systems were avoided.Therefore,the control strategies were applied in real time.Simulation results show that the proposed method can improve the transient stability of power systems more efficiently than nonlinear optimal excitation control.

11. An update on THORPEX-related research in data assimilation and observing strategies

OpenAIRE

Rabier, F.; Gauthier, P.; Cardinali, C.; R. Langland; Tsyrulnikov, M.; Lorenc, A.; Steinle, P.; R. Gelaro; Koizumi, K

2008-01-01

The international programme "THORPEX: a World Weather Research Programme" provides a framework in which to tackle the challenge of improving the forecast skill of high-impact weather through international collaboration between academic institutions, operational forecast centres, and users of forecast products. The objectives of the THORPEX Data Assimilation and Observation Strategy Working Group (DAOS-WG) are two-fold. The primary goal is to assess the impact of observations and var...

12. Nature's Autonomous Oscillators

Science.gov (United States)

Mayr, H. G.; Yee, J.-H.; Mayr, M.; Schnetzler, R.

2012-01-01

Nonlinearity is required to produce autonomous oscillations without external time dependent source, and an example is the pendulum clock. The escapement mechanism of the clock imparts an impulse for each swing direction, which keeps the pendulum oscillating at the resonance frequency. Among nature's observed autonomous oscillators, examples are the quasi-biennial oscillation and bimonthly oscillation of the Earth atmosphere, and the 22-year solar oscillation. The oscillations have been simulated in numerical models without external time dependent source, and in Section 2 we summarize the results. Specifically, we shall discuss the nonlinearities that are involved in generating the oscillations, and the processes that produce the periodicities. In biology, insects have flight muscles, which function autonomously with wing frequencies that far exceed the animals' neural capacity; Stretch-activation of muscle contraction is the mechanism that produces the high frequency oscillation of insect flight, discussed in Section 3. The same mechanism is also invoked to explain the functioning of the cardiac muscle. In Section 4, we present a tutorial review of the cardio-vascular system, heart anatomy, and muscle cell physiology, leading up to Starling's Law of the Heart, which supports our notion that the human heart is also a nonlinear oscillator. In Section 5, we offer a broad perspective of the tenuous links between the fluid dynamical oscillators and the human heart physiology.

13. Learning the Rules: Observation and Imitation of a Sorting Strategy by 36-Month-Old Children

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, Rebecca A.; Jaswal, Vikram K.; Meltzoff, Andrew N.

2010-01-01

Two experiments were used to investigate the scope of imitation by testing whether 36-month-olds can learn to produce a categorization strategy through observation. After witnessing an adult sort a set of objects by a visible property (their color; Experiment 1) or a nonvisible property (the particular sounds produced when the objects were shaken;…

14. VIII. The observational strategy: What are the issues; What must be done?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canavan, G.H.

1997-03-01

Throughout its development, the observational strategy of the Earth Observing System (EOS) and its precursor programs has been consistent with that of the Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) to detect and quantify climate change, document natural climate variability, understand variation and change, determine the causes and impacts of stratospheric ozone depletion, determine the impact of change on ecosystems and mitigate them. Space based observation can contribute significantly to each of these objectives, although its contribution will have to be carefully integrated with aircraft, in situ, international and other contributions and carefully transitioned to long-term operational observations to achieve its maximum potential impact. The interaction between space ad in situ can be in calibration, in interpretation, or in suggesting ways to make important new measurements from space. In atmospheric chemistry is largely involves calibration and global surveys. In ecosystems it involves calibration of EOS and improved sensors. In seasonal to interannual change it involves the testing and calibration of new sensors. In decadal to century change it requires the invention of new sensors. These roles are complementary and reinforcing. Taking full advantage of the synergisms and tradeoffs between space- and ground-based measurements is a potential vehicle for major savings in what is effectively a constant resource program. This paper presents a discussion of the principles guiding the space-based observational strategy, and the interplay between spaced-based and in situ measurements. The paper then discusses international issues, how they might be addressed, and integrated space-based observational strategy.

15. Autonomous Landing on Moving Platforms

KAUST Repository

Mendoza Chavez, Gilberto

2016-08-01

This thesis investigates autonomous landing of a micro air vehicle (MAV) on a nonstationary ground platform. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and micro air vehicles (MAVs) are becoming every day more ubiquitous. Nonetheless, many applications still require specialized human pilots or supervisors. Current research is focusing on augmenting the scope of tasks that these vehicles are able to accomplish autonomously. Precise autonomous landing on moving platforms is essential for self-deployment and recovery of MAVs, but it remains a challenging task for both autonomous and piloted vehicles. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a widely used and effective scheme to control constrained systems. One of its variants, output-feedback tube-based MPC, ensures robust stability for systems with bounded disturbances under system state reconstruction. This thesis proposes a MAV control strategy based on this variant of MPC to perform rapid and precise autonomous landing on moving targets whose nominal (uncommitted) trajectory and velocity are slowly varying. The proposed approach is demonstrated on an experimental setup.

16. Elements of a new Global Water Strategy for the Group on Earth Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lawford, Richard; Koike, Toshio; Ochiai, Osamu; Cripe, Douglas

2013-04-01

In order to address the need to review the scope and direction of GEO activities related to water and to provide guidance for the post-2015 GEO planning, the Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO) Community of Practice and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) are working together to develop a strategy for GEO water activities over the next decade. This presentation will review the elements of the strategy which include topics as comprehensive as user needs and engagement, water cycle observational systems, assessment of water quality, data issues, interoperability and integration of water information systems and capacity building. Impediments in the flow of information and technological capabilities from the providers of new technologies, innovations and data products to the end users will be explored in terms of the nature of these impediments and how they can be overcome. To be successful in GEO's framework of volunteerism, the water strategy should build on activities that are on-going in related programmes at the international and national levels. In addition, implementation of the strategy will need to be supported through new initiatives and policies that promote greater integration. Suggestions for achieving these goals will be outlined at the end of the talk.

17. Analyzing the Autonomous Learning of University English Listening under Meta-cognition Strategies%浅析元认知策略下的大学英语听力自主学习

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

蒋慧萍

2014-01-01

Listening has been one of the problems for English learning students. Because of the limit of curriculum and time, only the classroom teaching can not meet the learning needs of students in listening. Meta-cognitive strategies can help learners to effectively plan, monitor and adjust their learning process and the effect. Therefore, guide students to use meta-cognitive strategies in listening autonomous learning, can not only improve the students'English listening level, but also their autonomous learning ability.%听力一直是在英语学习中困扰学生的问题之一。由于受到课程设置、学时等限制，单靠课堂教学无法满足学生的听力学习需求。元认知策略可以帮助学习者有效地计划、监控和调整自己的学习过程和效果。引导学生在听力自主学习中运用元认知策略，不仅能提高学生的英语听力水平，同时也能提高学生的自主学习能力。

18. 网络自主学习听说成绩与学习策略的相关性研究%The Correlation Study of Listening and Speaking Performances with Students’ Learning Strategies in Internet Autonomous Learning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王宾香

2013-01-01

笔者探讨了高职院校学生自主学习听说成绩与学习策略的相关性。研究结果发现，高分组和低分组自主学习听说成绩具有明显的统计学显著性差异。造成这些差异的主要因素是学习策略的使用。高分组的学习者能更好地使用元认知策略，安排规划好自主学习，在学习过程中善于使用不同的学习策略完成不同的学习任务。自主听说过程中记忆策略、认知策略和补偿策略对学习者的听力帮助大，记忆策略和补偿策略对学习者的口语帮助大。%The study aims to explore how students’ learning strategies are correlated with the autono‐mous learning in vocational colleges .The results show that the listening and speaking scores of higher achievers were significantly different from that of lower achievers .The differences lie in different uses of learning strategies by learners .The higher achievers make fuller use of metacognitive strategies and better arrange their learning activities . The higher achievers also manage different tasks by means of various learning strategies .The study further shows that memory strategies ,cognitive strategies and compensa‐tion strategies play more important roles in autonomous listening tasks whereas the speaking tasks benefit more from memory strategies and compensation strategies .

19. Observing Strategies for the NICI Campaign to Directly Image Extrasolar Planets

CERN Document Server

Biller, Beth; Wahhaj, Zahed; Hartung, Markus; Liu, Michael; Close, Laird M; Chun, Mark R; Ftaclas, Christ; Toomey, Douglas W; Hayward, Thomas

2008-01-01

We discuss observing strategy for the Near Infrared Coronagraphic Imager (NICI) on the 8-m Gemini South telescope. NICI combines a number of techniques to attenuate starlight and suppress superspeckles: 1) coronagraphic imaging, 2) dual channel imaging for Spectral Differential Imaging (SDI) and 3) operation in a fixed Cassegrain rotator mode for Angular Differential Imaging (ADI). NICI will be used both in service mode and for a dedicated 50 night planet search campaign. While all of these techniques have been used individually in large planet-finding surveys, this is the first time ADI and SDI will be used with a coronagraph in a large survey. Thus, novel observing strategies are necessary to conduct a viable planet search campaign.

20. Autonomic Nervous System Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Your autonomic nervous system is the part of your nervous system that controls involuntary actions, such as the beating of your heart ... breathing and swallowing Erectile dysfunction in men Autonomic nervous system disorders can occur alone or as the result ...

1. Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy

Science.gov (United States)

... Accessed 9/2/2015. Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy Summary. Dysautonomia International . http://www.dysautonomiainternational.org/page.php?ID= ... page Basic Information In Depth Information Basic Information Dysautonomia International offers an information page on Autoimmune autonomic ...

2. Trends in observable passive solar design strategies for existing homes in the U.S

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Passive design strategies are among the most cost-effective methods to reduce energy consumption in buildings. However, the prevalence of these strategies in existing U.S. homes is not well understood. To help address this issue, this research evaluated a nationally-representative sample of 1000 existing homes distributed geographically across the U.S. Using satellite images, each building was evaluated for three passive design strategies: orientation, roof color, and level of shading. Several statistically significant regional trends were identified. For example, existing homes in the High Plains, Ohio Valley, Northwest, and Southern regions show a statistically significant trend towards orientation in the East–West direction, an effective passive design strategy. Less intuitively, in terms of what would seem to be optimal passive design, buildings in the High Plains and Ohio Valley generally have lighter roof colors than buildings in the warmer Southwest region. At the national level, no statistically significant trends were found towards the passive design strategies evaluated. These trends give us no reason to believe they were a major consideration in the design of existing homes. Policy measures and education may be required to take advantage of the opportunity for cost-effective energy savings through more widespread passive solar design. - Highlights: ► GoogleMaps to examine implementation of cost-effective, observable passive solar strategies in U.S. houses. ► No national trends toward passive solar design in U.S.—a missed opportunity. ► Some regional passive solar trends in U.S. for house orientation, roof color

3. Autonomous control of multi-fingered hand

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JIANG Li; LIU Hong

2006-01-01

This paper describes a novel autonomous control strategy of multi-fingered hand based on a modular control system of dexterous manipulation. A simple proportional-integral-derivative(PID) position control with friction compensation, which requires few friction parameters, is used to realize accurate and smooth trajectory tracking in pregrasp phase. In grasp and manipulation phases, an event-driven switcher is adopted to determine the switching between unconstrained position control and constrained torque control, and an improved explicit integral force control strategy is implemented to realize simultaneously stable contact transition and accurate force tracking. Experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed autonomous control strategy of multi-fingered hand.

4. Autonomous Gaussian Decomposition

CERN Document Server

Lindner, Robert R; Murray, Claire E; Stanimirović, Snežana; Babler, Brian L; Heiles, Carl; Hennebelle, Patrick; Goss, W M; Dickey, John

2014-01-01

We present a new algorithm, named Autonomous Gaussian Decomposition (AGD), for automatically decomposing spectra into Gaussian components. AGD uses derivative spectroscopy and machine learning to provide optimized guesses for the number of Gaussian components in the data, and also their locations, widths, and amplitudes. We test AGD and find that it produces results comparable to human-derived solutions on 21cm absorption spectra from the 21cm SPectral line Observations of Neutral Gas with the EVLA (21-SPONGE) survey. We use AGD with Monte Carlo methods to derive the HI line completeness as a function of peak optical depth and velocity width for the 21-SPONGE data, and also show that the results of AGD are stable against varying observational noise intensity. The autonomy and computational efficiency of the method over traditional manual Gaussian fits allow for truly unbiased comparisons between observations and simulations, and for the ability to scale up and interpret the very large data volumes from the up...

5. Operations on Rigid Formations of Autonomous Agents

OpenAIRE

Eren, Tolga; Anderson, Brian D. O.; Morse, A. Stephen; Whiteley, Walter; Belhumeur, Peter N.

2003-01-01

This paper is concerned with the maintenance of rigid formations of mobile autonomous agents. A key element in all future multi-agent systems will be the role of sensor and communication networks as an integral part of coordination. Network topologies are critically important for autonomous systems involving mobile underwater, ground and air vehicles and for sensor networks. This paper focuses on developing techniques and strategies for the analysis and design of sensor a...

6. Dissolved inorganic carbon, pH, temperature, salinity and other variables collected from time series and surface observations using Moored Autonomous Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (MADIC) System, Sunburst SAMI2 pH sensor, and other instruments from Kewalo Buoy near the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii from 2013-10-31 to 2014-06-15 (NCEI Accession 0132048)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — To expand the number of tools available for autonomous carbonate system observations, we have developed a robust surface ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)...

7. New challenges for the maintenance strategies on large astronomical facilities at remote observing sites

Science.gov (United States)

Silber, Armin

2012-09-01

The Change from a reacting to a proactive maintenance concept represents for large Observatories at remote operational sites a new challenge, considering the increasing numbers of complex subsystems. Conventional operational maintenance models will not cover all the requirements, will lead to more down time and the operational cost cannot be reduced. For the successful astronomical observation with large telescope facilities new strategies have to be applied. In this contribution we will demonstrate on the example of the 78 Cryogenic Sub-systems of ALMA how a proactive maintenance strategy help to increase the efficiency, to reduce the operational cost and the required staff resources. With respect to the growing number of complex subsystems on future telescope facilities the operational staff needs proper diagnostic and monitoring tools to allow a precise prediction respectively synchronization of the service activities. This leads away from a pure scheduling of preventive maintenance and enables a longer availability of the subsystems as tendencies and performance are monitored and controlled. Having this strategy considered during the developing phase of future large astronomical facilities allows the optimization of the required Infrastructure, a proper definition of the LRU1 strategy and to which level maintenance can be cost efficient on site.

8. Observational Strategies of Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature and Polarization Interferometry Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Chan-Gyung; Ng, Kin-Wang; Park, Changbom; Liu, Guo-Chin; Umetsu, Keiichi

2003-05-01

We have simulated the interferometric observation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization fluctuations. We have constructed data pipelines from the time-ordered raw visibility samples to the CMB power spectra that utilize the methods of data compression, maximum likelihood analysis, and optimal subspace filtering. They are customized for three observational strategies: the single pointing, the mosaicking, and the drift-scanning. For each strategy, derived are the optimal strategy parameters that yield band power estimates with minimum uncertainty. The results are general and can be applied to any close-packed array on a single platform such as the CBI and the forthcoming AMiBA experiments. We have also studied the effect of rotation of the array platform on the band power correlation by simulating the CBI single-pointing observation. It is found that the band power anticorrelations can be reduced by rotating the platform and thus densely sampling the visibility plane. This enables us to increase the resolution of the power spectrum in the l-space down to the limit of the sampling theorem (Δl=226~π/θ), which is narrower by a factor of about sqrt(2) than the resolution limit (Δl~300) used in the recent CBI single-pointing observation. The validity of this idea is demonstrated for a two-element interferometer that samples visibilities uniformly in the uv-annulus. From the fact that the visibilities are the Fourier modes of the CMB field convolved with the beam, a fast unbiased estimator (FUE) of the CMB power spectra is developed and tested. It is shown that the FUE gives results very close to those from the quadratic estimator method without requiring large computer resources even though uncertainties in the results increase.

9. The Gars Programme And The Integrated Global Observing Strategy For Geohazards

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, S.; Paganini, M.; Missotten, R.; Palazzo, F.

UNESCO and the IUGS have funded the Geological Applications of Remote Sensing Programme (GARS) since 1984. Its aim is to assess the value and utility of remotely sensed data for geoscience, whilst at the same time building capacity in developing countries. It has run projects in Africa on geological mapping, in Latin America on landslide hazards and in Asia on volcanic hazards. It is a main sponsor of the Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS) for Geohazards. The societal impact of geological and related geophysical hazards is enormous. Every year volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides and subsidence claim thousands of lives, injure thousands more, devastate homes and destroy livelihoods. Damaged infrastructure and insurance premiums increase these costs. As population increases, more people live in hazardous areas and the impact grows. The World Summit on Sustainable Development recognised that systematic, joint international observations under initiatives like the Integrated Global Observing Strategy form the basis for an integrated approach to hazard mitigation and preparedness. In this context, the IGOS Partners developed this geohazards theme. Its goal is to integrate disparate, multidisciplinary, applied research into global, operational systems by filling gaps in organisation, observation and knowledge. It has four strategic objectives; building global capacity to mitigate geohazards; improving mapping, monitoring and forecasting, based on satellite and ground-based observations; increasing preparedness, using integrated geohazards information products and improved geohazards models; and promoting global take-up of local best practice in geohazards management. Gaps remain between what is known and the knowledge required to answer citizen's questions, what is observed and what must be observed to provide the necessary information for hazard mitigation and current data integration and the integration needed to make useful geohazard information products. An

10. A preliminary study on destriping techniques of PLANCK/LFI measurements versus observational strategy

CERN Document Server

Burigana, C; Mandolesi, N; Danse, L; Maino, D; Bersanelli, M; Maltoni, M

1999-01-01

We present here the basic issues of our simulations of PLANCK/LFI observations focussing on the study of the stripes generated by the 1/f noise, including realistic estimates of the 1/f knee frequency, based on the Seiffert et al. (1997) study of the properties of the PLANCK/LFI radiometers. The destriping method presented in the report on the PLANCK PHASE A study has been implemented to be applied to different scanning strategies with the freedom of choosing more or less stringent crossing conditions. Numerical methods for saving the amount of required RAM in the solution of the destriping linear system are presented. We provide preliminary results of the efficiency of this destriping technique for different scanning strategies. We focus here on methodological aspects and remind the reader to the Maino et al. (1999) paper (astro-ph/9906010) for further analyses and a more complete discussion.

11. An update on THORPEX-related research in data assimilation and observing strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Rabier

2008-02-01

Full Text Available The international programme "THORPEX: a World Weather Research Programme" provides a framework in which to tackle the challenge of improving the forecast skill of high-impact weather through international collaboration between academic institutions, operational forecast centres, and users of forecast products. The objectives of the THORPEX Data Assimilation and Observation Strategy Working Group (DAOS-WG are two-fold. The primary goal is to assess the impact of observations and various targeting methods to provide guidance for observation campaigns and for the configuration of the Global Observing System. The secondary goal is to setup an optimal framework for data assimilation, including aspects such as targeted observations, satellite data, background error covariances and quality control. The Atlantic THORPEX Regional campaign, ATReC, in 2003, has been very successful technically and has provided valuable datasets to test targeting issues. Various data impact experiments have been performed, showing a small but very slightly positive impact of targeted observations. Projects of the DAOS-WG include working on the AMMA field experiment, in the context of IPY and to prepare the future THORPEX-PARC field campaign in the Pacific by comparing sensitivity of the forecasts to observations between several groups.

12. An update on THORPEX-related research in data assimilation and observing strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Rabier, F.; Gauthier, P.; Cardinali, C.; Langland, R.; Tsyrulnikov, M.; Lorenc, A.; Steinle, P.; Gelaro, R.; Koizumi, K.

2008-02-01

The international programme "THORPEX: a World Weather Research Programme" provides a framework in which to tackle the challenge of improving the forecast skill of high-impact weather through international collaboration between academic institutions, operational forecast centres, and users of forecast products. The objectives of the THORPEX Data Assimilation and Observation Strategy Working Group (DAOS-WG) are two-fold. The primary goal is to assess the impact of observations and various targeting methods to provide guidance for observation campaigns and for the configuration of the Global Observing System. The secondary goal is to setup an optimal framework for data assimilation, including aspects such as targeted observations, satellite data, background error covariances and quality control. The Atlantic THORPEX Regional campaign, ATReC, in 2003, has been very successful technically and has provided valuable datasets to test targeting issues. Various data impact experiments have been performed, showing a small but very slightly positive impact of targeted observations. Projects of the DAOS-WG include working on the AMMA field experiment, in the context of IPY and to prepare the future THORPEX-PARC field campaign in the Pacific by comparing sensitivity of the forecasts to observations between several groups.

13. The Australia Telescope 20GHz Survey: Hardware, Observing Strategy, and Scanning Survey Catalog

CERN Document Server

Hancock, Paul J; Kesteven, Michael J; Ekers, Ronald D; Sadler, Elaine M; Murphy, Tara; Massardi, Marcella; Ricci, Roberto; Calabretta, Mark; de Zotti, Gianfranco; Edwards, Philip G; Ekers, Jennifer A; Jackson, Carole A; Leach, Mark; Phillips, Chris; Sault, Robert J; Staveley-Smith, Lister; Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Walker, Mark A; Wilson, Warwick E

2011-01-01

The Australia Telescope 20GHz (AT20G) survey is a large area (2{\\pi} sr), sensitive (40mJy), high frequency (20GHz) survey of the southern sky. The survey was conducted in two parts: an initial fast scanning survey, and a series of more accurate follow-up observations. The follow-up survey catalog has been presented by Murphy et al. 2010. In this paper we discuss the hardware setup and scanning survey strategy as well as the production of the scanning survey catalog.

14. Empirical Study of Fostering Autonomous Reading Ability through Metacognitive Strategy Training%通过元认知策略培训培养大学生自主阅读能力的实证研究

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

胡晓静

2011-01-01

通过实验组学生课堂上接受元认知策略培训,课后自主选择阅读材料练习学过的策略并撰写阅读日记来探讨元认知策略培训及阅读日记对培养学生自主阅读能力的作用。研究结果表明：实验组和控制组学生在阅读自主性方面存在显著差异,实验组学生表现出更强的阅读自主性,元认知策略培训和阅读日记在提高实验组学生阅读自主性方面起了积极作用。%This paper aims to explore whether the metacognitive strategy training has significant effect on fostering autonomy readers and specify to what extent the training will promote learner autonomy in reading.Besides the in-class training of metacognitive strategies,subjects in the experimental group are required to keep reading journals every week.Both quantitative and qualitative data show that the training of metacognitive strategies and reading journals make positive impact on cultivating autonomous readers.

15. Observing Strategy for the SDSS-IV/MaNGA IFU Galaxy Survey

CERN Document Server

Law, David R; Bershady, Matthew A; Bundy, Kevin; Cherinka, Brian; Drory, Niv; MacDonald, Nicholas; Sanchez-Gallego, Jose R; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Blanton, Michael R; Klaene, Mark; Moran, Sean M; Sanchez, Sebastian F; Zhang, Kai

2015-01-01

MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory) is an integral-field spectroscopic survey of 10,000 nearby galaxies that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). MaNGA's 17 pluggable optical fiber-bundle integral field units (IFUs) are deployed across a 3 deg field, they yield spectral coverage 3600-10,300 Ang at a typical resolution R ~ 2000, and sample the sky with 2" diameter fiber apertures with a total bundle fill factor of 56%. Observing over such a large field and range of wavelengths is particularly challenging for obtaining uniform and integral spatial coverage and resolution at all wavelengths and across each entire fiber array. Data quality is affected by the IFU construction technique, chromatic and field differential refraction, the adopted dithering strategy, and many other effects. We use numerical simulations to constrain the hardware design and observing strategy for the survey with the aim of ensuring consistent data quality that ...

16. Cultivation of Autonomous Learning Ability of Students Learning College English

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yang Ruping; Qiu Shifeng

2014-01-01

As the mode of college English teaching is gradually transformed from the teacher-centered into the student-centered teaching mode, the cultivation of college English autonomous learning ability has become increasingly important. This paper, starting from the theory of autonomous learning, makes an analysis of current situation of college English teaching and points out the necessity of this ability-cultivation for English learning. In the end, it puts forward several strategies of cultivating the ability of college English autonomous learning.

17. Parents anticipating misbehaviour: an observational study of strategies parents use to prevent conflict with behaviour problem children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, F E; Sonuga-Barke, E J; Sayal, K

1999-11-01

Research on the role of parenting styles in the development of disruptive behaviour problems has focused primarily on how parents handle conflict once it has occurred. This home observational study examined strategies used by 52 mothers to prevent conflict with 3-year-olds. It was predicted that mothers of children with behaviour problems would use fewer "positive" strategies to resolve conflict, and would use reactive rather than pre-emptive strategies. Results showed frequency of positive strategies did not differ between the groups. Mothers of children with behaviour problems were less likely to use pre-emptive, and more likely to use reactive, strategies. Further analysis showed child conduct problems, rather than other characteristics, best discriminated pre-emptive from reactive strategy users. Follow-up of a subsample found that reactive strategies at age 3 predicted age 5 behaviour problems, even after controlling for age 3 behaviour problems. PMID:10604397

18. The CEOS Global Observation Strategy for Disaster Risk Management: An Enterprise Architect's View

Science.gov (United States)

Moe, K.; Evans, J. D.; Frye, S.

2013-12-01

The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS), on behalf of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), is defining an enterprise architecture (known as GA.4.D) for the use of satellite observations in international disaster management. This architecture defines the scope and structure of the disaster management enterprise (based on disaster types and phases); its processes (expressed via use cases / system functions); and its core values (in particular, free and open data sharing via standard interfaces). The architecture also details how a disaster management enterprise describes, obtains, and handles earth observations and data products for decision-support; and how it draws on distributed computational services for streamlined operational capability. We have begun to apply this architecture to a new CEOS initiative, the Global Observation Strategy for Disaster Risk Management (DRM). CEOS is defining this Strategy based on the outcomes of three pilot projects focused on seismic hazards, volcanoes, and floods. These pilots offer a unique opportunity to characterize and assess the impacts (benefits / costs) of the GA.4.D architecture in practice. In particular, the DRM Floods Pilot is applying satellite-based optical and radar data to flood mitigation, warning, and response, including monitoring and modeling at regional to global scales. It is focused on serving user needs and building local institutional / technical capacity in the Caribbean, Southern Africa, and Southeast Asia. In the context of these CEOS DRM Pilots, we are characterizing where and how the GA.4D architecture helps participants to: - Understand the scope and nature of hazard events quickly and accurately - Assure timely delivery of observations into analysis, modeling, and decision-making - Streamline user access to products - Lower barriers to entry for users or suppliers - Streamline or focus field operations in

19. Observing Strategy for the SDSS-IV/MaNGA IFU Galaxy Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Law, David R.; Yan, Renbin; Bershady, Matthew A.; Bundy, Kevin; Cherinka, Brian; Drory, Niv; MacDonald, Nicholas; Sánchez-Gallego, José R.; Wake, David A.; Weijmans, Anne-Marie; Blanton, Michael R.; Klaene, Mark A.; Moran, Sean M.; Sanchez, Sebastian F.; Zhang, Kai

2015-07-01

Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) is an integral-field spectroscopic survey that is one of three core programs in the fourth-generation Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV). MaNGA’s 17 pluggable optical fiber-bundle integral field units (IFUs) will observe a sample of 10,000 nearby galaxies distributed throughout the SDSS imaging footprint (focusing particularly on the North Galactic Cap). In each pointing these IFUs are deployed across a 3° field; they yield spectral coverage 3600-10300 Å at a typical resolution R ˜ 2000, and sample the sky with 2″ diameter fiber apertures with a total bundle fill factor of 56%. Observing over such a large field and range of wavelengths is particularly challenging for obtaining uniform and integral spatial coverage and resolution at all wavelengths and across each entire fiber array. Data quality is affected by the IFU construction technique, chromatic and field differential refraction, the adopted dithering strategy, and many other effects. We use numerical simulations to constrain the hardware design and observing strategy for the survey with the aim of ensuring consistent data quality that meets the survey science requirements while permitting maximum observational flexibility. We find that MaNGA science goals are best achieved with IFUs composed of a regular hexagonal grid of optical fibers with rms displacement of 5 μm or less from their nominal packing position; this goal is met by the MaNGA hardware, which achieves 3 μm rms fiber placement. We further show that MaNGA observations are best obtained in sets of three 15 minute exposures dithered along the vertices of a 1.44 arcsec equilateral triangle; these sets form the minimum observational unit, and are repeated as needed to achieve a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 5 Å-1 per fiber in the r-band continuum at a surface brightness of 23 AB arcsec-2. In order to ensure uniform coverage and delivered image quality, we require that the

20. Implement PPET Strategy and Develop Ecotourism of Minority Areas in Western China-Take Xinlong County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province as An Example%实施PPET战略，发展西部民族地区生态旅游

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

夏桂兰

2005-01-01

To help the poor and to develop tourism are two mportant problems in poverty-stricken areas. However,they were isola ted for years. The PPET strategy was put forward in this paper based on PPT. The feasibility and the realistic meaning of the strategy in developing the ecotourism, overcoming poverty, and achieving prosperity of minority areas in western China are analyzed by taking Xinlong county of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province as an example.

1. Observing Strategies Used by Children When Selecting Books to Browse, Read or Borrow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahranah A. Raqi

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper described 1. the investigation undertaken to trace the strategies used by children in selecting books to borrow, use or browse in two children’s public libraries, and 2. map the information seeking patterns adopted by the selected children. The sample comprised 43 children who used the Bayan Budiman Children’s Library, Petaling Jaya and the Kuala Lumpur Children’s Library. The children were randomly chosen, aged between 7 and 12 and comprised those who entered the library with the observed behaviour of selecting books to browse, use or borrow. Two stages were used to collect data; 1. observing the children’s behavior as they enter the library to the point when they pick up a book to browse, read or borrow for fifteen to twenty minutes and 2. interviewing those selected with a semi-structure questionnaire. Belkin, et al’s (1993 information search strategy (ISS dimensions were used to transcribe children’s browsing and selecting behavior. Based on the observations and interviews respondent’s behaviour was mapped to illustrate the children’s choosing process. The findings indicated that 1. browsing was the most popular method used when choosing a book combined with various strategies such as looking for a book by an author or series, finding a book by subjects, visually or physically scanning and recognizing the physical composition of the book; 2. children based their selection on the storyline, illustrations, cover designs and typography of the books; and 3. the searching behaviour is likely to be non-linear in nature. The majority of the children faced no problems in choosing or locating a book as most are regular visitors. A few indicated being overwhelmed by the library’s large collection or, face initial confusion before they started to browse and interact with resources. Children used visual cues rather from textual information when searching for books, inferring that children libraries need to be supported with

2. Multimessenger signals of long-term core-collapse supernova simulations: synergetic observation strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Ko; Horiuchi, Shunsaku; Tanaka, Masaomi; Hayama, Kazuhiro; Takiwaki, Tomoya; Kotake, Kei

2016-09-01

The next Galactic supernova is expected to bring great opportunities for the direct detection of gravitational waves (GW), full flavour neutrinos, and multiwavelength photons. To maximize the science return from such a rare event, it is essential to have established classes of possible situations and preparations for appropriate observations. To this end, we use a long-term numerical simulation of the core-collapse supernova (CCSN) of a 17 M⊙ red supergiant progenitor to self-consistently model the multimessenger signals expected in GW, neutrino, and electromagnetic messengers. This supernova model takes into account the formation and evolution of a protoneutron star, neutrino-matter interaction, and neutrino transport, all within a two-dimensional shock hydrodynamics simulation. With this, we separately discuss three situations: (i) a CCSN at the Galactic Center, (ii) an extremely nearby CCSN within hundreds of parsecs, and (iii) a CCSN in nearby galaxies within several Mpc. These distance regimes necessitate different strategies for synergistic observations. In a Galactic CCSN, neutrinos provide strategic timing and pointing information. We explore how these in turn deliver an improvement in the sensitivity of GW analyses and help to guarantee observations of early electromagnetic signals. To facilitate the detection of multimessenger signals of CCSNe in extremely nearby and extragalactic distances, we compile a list of nearby red supergiant candidates and a list of nearby galaxies with their expected CCSN rates. By exploring the sequential multimessenger signals of a nearby CCSN, we discuss preparations for maximizing successful studies of such an unprecedented stirring event.

3. Multi-Messenger Studies with AMANDA/IceCube: Observations and Strategies

CERN Document Server

Bernardini, E; Ackermann, M; Ahrens, J; Atlee, D W; Bahcall, J N; Bai, X; Baret, B; Bartelt, M; Bay, R; Barwick, S W; Becka, T; Becker, K H; Becker, J K; Berghaus, P; Berley, D; Bertrand, D; Besson, D Z; Blaufuss, E; Boersma, D J; Bohm, C; Boser, S; Botner, O; Bouchta, A; Braun, J; Burgess, C; Burgess, T; Carithers, W; Castermans, T; Chinowsky, W; Chirkin, D; Clem, J; Conrad, J; Cooley, J; Cowen, D F; D'Agostino, M V; Davour, A; Day, C T; De Clercq, C; Desiati, P; De Young, T R; Dreyer, J; Duvoort, M R; Edwards, W R; Ehrlich, R; Ekstrom, P; Ellsworth, R W; Evenson, P A; Fazely, A R; Feser, T; Filimonov, K; Gaisser, T K; Gallagher, J; Ganugapati, R; Geenen, H; Gerhardt, L; Greene, M G; Grullon, S; Goldschmidt, A; Goodman, J; Gross, A; Gunasingha, R M; Hallgren, A; Halzen, F; Hanson, K; Hardtke, D; Hardtke, R; Harenberg, T; Hart, J E; Hauschildt, T; Hays, D; Heise, J; Helbing, K; Hellwig, M; Herquet, P; Hill, G C; Hodges, J; Hoffman, K D; Hoshina, K; Hubert, D; Hughey, B; Hulth, P O; Hultqvist, K; Hundertmark, S; Ishihara, A; Jacobsen, J; Japaridze, G S; Jones, A; Joseph, J M; Kampert, K H; Karle, A; Kawai, H; Kelley, J L; Kestel, M; Kitamura, N; Klein, S R; Klepser, S; Kohnen, G; Kolanoski, H; Köpke, L; Krasberg, M; Kühn, K; Landsman, H; Lang, R; Leich, H; Liubarsky, I; Lundberg, J; Leuthold, M; Madsen, J; Marciniewski, P; Mase, K; Matis, H S; McCauley, T; McParland, C P; Meli, A; Messarius, T; Mészáros, P; Minor, R H; Miocinovic, P; Miyamoto, H; Mokhtarani, A; Montaruli, T; Morey, A; Morse, R; Movit, S M; Munich, K; Nahnhauer, R; Nam, J W; Niessen, P; Nygren, D R; Ogelman, H; Olbrechts, P; Olivas, A; Patton, S; Peña-Garay, C; Perez de los Heros, C; Pieloth, D; Pohl, A C; Porrata, R; Pretz, J; Price, P B; Przybylski, G T; Rawlins, K; Razzaque, S; Reinghaus, F; Resconi, E; Rhode, W; Ribordy, M; Richter, S; Rizzo, A; Robbins, S; Rott, C; Rutledge, D; Sander, H G; Schlenstedt, S; Schneider, D; Schwarz, R; Seckel, D; Seo, S H; Silvestri, A; Smith, A J; Solarz, M; Song, C; Sopher, J E; Spiczak, G M; Spiering, C; Stamatikos, M; Stanev, T; Steffen, P; Stezelberger, T; Stokstad, R G; Stoufer, M; Stoyanov, S; Sulanke, K H; Sullivan, G W; Sumner, T J; Taboada, I; Tarasova, O; Tepe, A; Thollander, L; Tilav, S; Toale, P A; Turcan, D; van Eijndhoven, N; Vandenbroucke, J; Voigt, B; Wagner, W; Walck, C; Waldmann, H; Walter, M; Wang, Y R; Wendt, C; Wiebusch, C; Wikström, G; Williams, D; Wischnewski, R; Wissing, H; Woschnagg, K; Xu, X; Yoshida, S; Yodh, G; Bernardini, Elisa

2005-01-01

Four years of AMANDA-II data have been searched for neutrinos from point sources. No statistically significant excess of events has been detected, neither integrated in the years 2000 to 2003, nor in the searches for occasional signals. An interesting coincidence of neutrinos with gamma-ray flares emerges when inspecting the time of the events detected from the direction of the Blazar 1ES1959+650. The exceptional character of the gamma-ray observation provides a strong motivation for consolidating similar search strategies with AMANDA and its successor IceCube, as well as for multidisciplinary investigations of this and other gamma-ray sources. We report the outcomes of the most recent survey of the northern sky to search for neutrino point sources with AMANDA-II. We also discuss possible viable collaborations between the gamma-ray and the high energy neutrino observatories.

4. High resolution monitoring of marine protists based on an observation strategy integrating automated on board ship filtration and molecular analyses

OpenAIRE

Metfies, Katja; Schroeder, Friedhelm; Hessel, Johanna; Wollschlaeger, Jochen; Micheller, Sebastian; Wolf, Christian; Kilias, Estelle; Sprong, Pim; Neuhaus, Stefan; Frickenhaus, Stephan; Petersen, Wilhelm

2016-01-01

Information on recent photosynthetic biomass distribution and biogeography with adequate temporal and spatial resolution is urgently needed to better understand consequences of environmental change for marine ecosystems. Here we introduce and review a molecular-based observation strategy for high resolution assessment of marine protists in space and time. The observation strategy is the result of extensive technology developments, adaptations and evaluations which are documented in a number o...

5. Building up Autonomy through Reading Strategies (Formación en autonomía a través de estrategias de lectura)

Science.gov (United States)

Izquierdo Castillo, Alexander; Jiménez Bonilla, Sonia

2014-01-01

This article reports on an action research project conducted with six ninth grade students in a rural public school in Colombia. The purpose of the study was to determine how the implementation of three reading strategies (skimming, scanning, and making predictions), when reading topics selected by learners, helps them to improve their reading…

6. A novel space-based observation strategy for GEO objects based on daily pointing adjustment of multi-sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Yun-peng; Li, Ke-bo; Xu, Wei; Chen, Lei; Huang, Jian-yu

2016-08-01

Space-based visible (SBV) program has been proved to be with a large advantage to observe geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) objects. With the development of SBV observation started from 1996, many strategies have come out for the purpose of observing GEO objects more efficiently. However it is a big challenge to visit all the GEO objects in a relatively short time because of the distribution characteristics of GEO belt and limited field of view (FOV) of sensor. And it's also difficult to keep a high coverage of the GEO belt every day in a whole year. In this paper, a space-based observation strategy for GEO objects is designed based on the characteristics of the GEO belt. The mathematical formula of GEO belt is deduced and the evolvement of GEO objects is illustrated. There are basically two kinds of orientation strategies for most observation satellites, i.e., earth-oriented and inertia-directional. Influences of both strategies to their own observation regions are analyzed and compared with each other. A passive optical instrument with daily attitude-adjusting strategies is proposed to increase the daily coverage rate of GEO objects in a whole year. Furthermore, in order to observe more GEO objects in a relatively short time, the strategy of a satellite with multi-sensors is proposed. The installation parameters between different sensors are optimized, more than 98% of GEO satellites can be observed every day and almost all the GEO satellites can be observed every two days with 3 sensors (FOV: 6° × 6°) on the satellite under the strategy of daily pointing adjustment in a whole year.

7. Autonomic neuropathy in diabetes mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alberto eVerrotti

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN is a serious and common complication of diabetes, often overlooked and misdiagnosed. It is a systemic-wide disorder that may be asymptomatic in the early stages. The most studied and clinically important form of DAN is cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN defined as the impairment of autonomic control of the cardiovascular system in patients with diabetes after exclusion of other causes. The reported prevalence of DAN varies widely depending on inconsistent definition, different diagnostic method, different patient cohorts studied. The pathogenesis is still unclear and probably multifactorial. Once DAN becomes clinically evident, no form of therapy has been identified which can effectively stop or reverse it. Prevention strategies are based on strict glycemic control with intensive insulin treatment, multifactorial intervention and lifestyle modification including control of hypertension, dyslipidemia, stop smoking, weight loss and adequate physical exercise. The present review summarizes the latest knowledge regarding clinical presentation, epidemiology, pathogenesis and management of DAN, with some mention to childhood and adolescent population.

8. Trigeminal autonomic cephalgias

OpenAIRE

Benoliel, Rafael

2012-01-01

1. Trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TACs) are headaches/facial pains classified together based on:a suspected common pathophysiology involving the trigeminovascular system, the trigeminoparasympathetic reflex and centres controlling circadian rhythms;a similar clinical presentation of trigeminal pain, and autonomic activation.

9. Testing for autonomic neuropathy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hilsted, J

1984-01-01

disease, and may be nonspecific. A number of recently developed quantifiable and reproducible autonomic nerve function tests are reviewed, with emphasis on the physiological basis of the tests and on practical applicability. Finally, diagnostic criteria, based on autonomic nerve function tests, are...

10. Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunctions and sleep disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Calandra-Buonaura, Giovanna; Provini, Federica; Guaraldi, Pietro; Plazzi, Giuseppe; Cortelli, Pietro

2016-04-01

Animal and human studies have shown that disorders of the autonomic nervous system may influence sleep physiology. Conversely, sleep disorders may be associated with autonomic dysfunctions. The current review describes the clinical presentation, supposed pathogenetic mechanisms and the diagnostic and prognostic implications of impaired cardiovascular autonomic control in sleep disorders. This dysfunction may result from a common pathogenetic mechanism affecting both autonomic cardiovascular control and sleep, as in fatal familial insomnia, or it may be mainly caused by the sleep disorder, as observed in obstructive sleep apnoea. For other sleep disorders, like primary insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy type 1 and rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder, the causal link with the autonomic dysfunction and its possible impact on health remains unsettled. Given its clinical implications, most of the data available suggest that a systematic assessment of the association between sleep disorders and impaired autonomic control of the cardiovascular system is warranted. Understanding the mechanism of this association may also yield insights into the interaction between the autonomic nervous system and sleep. PMID:26146026

11. Coronagraph Focal-Plane Phase Masks Based on Photonic Crystal Technology: Recent Progress and Observational Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, Naoshi; Nishikawa, Jun; Sakamoto, Moritsugu; Ise, Akitoshi; Oka, Kazuhiko; Baba, Naoshi; Murakami, Hiroshi; Tamura, Motohide; Traub, Wesley A.; Mawet, Dimitri; Moody, Dwight C.; Kern, Brian D.; Trauger, John T.; Serabyn, Eugene; Hamaguchi, Shoki; Oshiyama, Fumika

2012-01-01

12. Autonomous Gaussian Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Lindner, Robert R.; Vera-Ciro, Carlos; Murray, Claire E.; Stanimirović, Snežana; Babler, Brian; Heiles, Carl; Hennebelle, Patrick; Goss, W. M.; Dickey, John

2015-04-01

We present a new algorithm, named Autonomous Gaussian Decomposition (AGD), for automatically decomposing spectra into Gaussian components. AGD uses derivative spectroscopy and machine learning to provide optimized guesses for the number of Gaussian components in the data, and also their locations, widths, and amplitudes. We test AGD and find that it produces results comparable to human-derived solutions on 21 cm absorption spectra from the 21 cm SPectral line Observations of Neutral Gas with the EVLA (21-SPONGE) survey. We use AGD with Monte Carlo methods to derive the H i line completeness as a function of peak optical depth and velocity width for the 21-SPONGE data, and also show that the results of AGD are stable against varying observational noise intensity. The autonomy and computational efficiency of the method over traditional manual Gaussian fits allow for truly unbiased comparisons between observations and simulations, and for the ability to scale up and interpret the very large data volumes from the upcoming Square Kilometer Array and pathfinder telescopes.

13. Observational Strategy of ACROSS towards the Time-evolving Natures in the Lithosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Kumazawa, M.; Fujii, N.; Kasahara, J.

2005-12-01

ACROSS (Accurately Controlled, Routinely Operated Signal System) is aiming at the detection of very small changes in physical states in the lithosphere, particularly for the focal region of the anticipated huge earthquakes as demanded socially. Our technical challenge is to device an ideal methodology to enable us to acquire the ideal observation data towards the real understanding of the EarthOs interiors even under the inherent noise and physical limitations. We need light to illuminate the dark EarthOs interiors, eyes to observe them and a brain to interpret the result: The light should be designed well to be really coherent, the eyes with high fidelity should be accurately synchronized to the light transmission and the brain should be smart enough to evolve by itself. In order for the whole system to be robust against noise, we have to devise all that can be done. In addition, a significant demand is imposed onto us; non-destructiveness against our environment. The recent progress of technology makes it possible what was impossible several years, so that we try to find out the ideal way to go. We have spent about 10 years for developmental works, which started a moment before the disastrous Kobe earthquake of 1995. Now we believe that the background theory has been known in addition to some of the basic technology elements, whereas the user-friendly hardware and other auxiliary tools including practical theory and software have not been acquired yet. The examples of the field observation have started to accumulate for demonstration as reported by companion papers. The data acquired by ACROSS in seismology is not seismogram but tensor transfer function (Green function) in frequency domain. The data carry substantially new information with high quality and rigorous estimate of reliability. The availability of ACROSS would change the strategy for underground study in the coming years. We would like to call for your attention and discussion to the next way to go

14. A Novel Lithium Ion Battery Autonomous Strategy Improvement Based on SVM-DTC for Urban Electric Vehicle under Several Speeds Tests

OpenAIRE

Nasri Abdelfatah; Gasbaoui Brahim

2011-01-01

One of the main challenges in the modern commercialized electric vehicle (EV) is the battery management system. In this paper a novel strategy of EV power management is presented based on direct torque space vector modulation. We used the battery state of charge (SOC) which is the percent of residual capacity by nominal capacity. The proper estimation of SOC of Lithium-ion battery provides an energy management system in EV. The proposed controller provides a good torque control and speed stab...

15. My Understanding on Cultivation of Autonomous Learning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张金玉

2007-01-01

Autonomous learning has been popular in western education system for some time, this article aims to analyze the connotation and the necessity of cultivating learner autonomy, and then offer some strategies about the cultivation of learner autonomy from a chinese perspective.

16. A Novel Lithium Ion Battery Autonomous Strategy Improvement Based on SVM-DTC for Urban Electric Vehicle under Several Speeds Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasri Abdelfatah

2011-12-01

Full Text Available One of the main challenges in the modern commercialized electric vehicle (EV is the battery management system. In this paper a novel strategy of EV power management is presented based on direct torque space vector modulation. We used the battery state of charge (SOC which is the percent of residual capacity by nominal capacity. The proper estimation of SOC of Lithium-ion battery provides an energy management system in EV. The proposed controller provides a good torque control and speed stability improvement.

17. Strategy of autonomous visual serving control for space robots%空间机器人自主视觉伺服控制策略

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张国亮

2012-01-01

针对传统的空间机器人遥操作控制方法受时延影响严重的问题,基于最新研制的4自由度空间机器人,提出一种基于多目相机的自主复合控制策略.该策略包含了眼在手和眼到手2种相机配置结构,每个相机均具有独立的位姿计算能力,前者保证了伺服控制的精度以及操作的灵活性,后者能够在观察到全局视景的情况下做出伺服控制.为满足机器人视觉实时控制的需求,对视觉处理算法进行了特别考虑.首先,设计了基于多边形形状拟合的特征识别方法,提出曲线矢量数据贪婪算法来处理图像遍历拟合过程中计算密集的问题;其次,结合特征识别结果和模型目标的空间信息,提出基于弱透视模型的单目位姿估算及优化算法;最后,依据所提策略在实验室环境中完成了自主导航及捕获任务,验证了在较低层次进行这种复合控制的可行性和有效性.%As time delay will affect the control of teleopration for traditional space robots,a multi-camera hybrid visual serving control method was present based on the newest developed 4DOF space robot.The hybrid scheme consists of an eye-in-hand camera and eye-to-hand camera configuration and each camera has the capability of determining pose of target independently.The first one guarantees good accuracy and the ability to explore the workspace;the second one ensures a panoramic sight of the workspace.Suitable vision process algorithm was studied to realize the real-time visual serving control.Firstly,based on polygonal fitting method,the object feature recognition was designed.Furthermore,a greedy algorithm based on curve vector was proposed to reduce the calculation time of Traversal fitting.Secondly,by integrating feature recognition and modular object,monocular pose estimation and optimization algorithm were studied.Finally,an experiment of autonomous navigation and grasp verified the feasibility and effectiveness of proposed

18. 网络多媒体环境下高校学生英语自主学习的资源和策略研究%The Resources and Strategies on College Students' English Autonomous Learning in the Online Multi-media Environment

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

蒋乡慧; 蒋道凤

2015-01-01

This paper explores the ways to combine the online multi-media resources and environment with English auton-omous learning theories in order to provide supporting strategies on developing student's comprehensive language ability of autonomous learning in college English teaching and learning. These strategies help to solve the problems on the Disjointed Phenomenon of self-learning process and resources and the problems on the Personalized Customization of English auton-omous learning and contribute to exploring and organizing the online resources on the English autonomous learning%本文探索如何利用网络多媒体环境与资源,使其与自主学习理论相结合,为大学英语教学中学生自主学习培养自身综合语言能力提供策略支持.这些策略有助于解决自主学习的学习环节与资源的脱节现象和个性化定制问题,并帮助开拓梳理英语自主学习的网络化资源.

19. Preparing for the WFIRST Microlensing Survey: Simulations, Requirements, Survey Strategies, and Precursor Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudi, Bernard

-fidelity estimates of the science yield of bound planets, free floating planets, and potentially habitable planets. Goal 3: We will perform trade studies to determine the effect of different mission architectures on the yield, and optimization studies to determine the effect of different survey strategies on the yield within a given mission architecture. These studies will include considerations of the field location, number of fields and cadences, and filter properties and filter cadence choices. Goal 4: We will determine the precision with which the parameters of the detected planetary systems can be determined using all available constraints, and in particular provide the survey strategies and instrument requirements to enable the measurement host star masses and distances. Goal 5: We will determine the hardware, software, and calibration requirements needed to achieve our primary science goals. Goal 6: We will identify and carry out (where possible) precursor observations needed to inform our survey strategy and data reduction methodologies, verify our science output, and maximize the WFIRST scientific return. Goal 7: Where applicable, we will begin development of data reduction and analysis tools, and work with members of the WFIRST Science Centers to ensure that these tools are applicable to microlensing. We will issue data challenges, both to verify our methodologies, but also to draw people to the microlensing field.

20. LEO AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION BASED ON IMAGE MOTION

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DUANFang; LIUJian-ye; YUFeng

2005-01-01

A method of LEO autonomous navigation is presented based on the nonlinear satellite velocity relative to the earth. The velocity is detected by a high-speed camera, with the attitude information detected by a star sensor. Compared with traditional autonomous navigation by landmark identification, the satellite velocity relarive to the earth is obtained by correlativity analysis of images. It does not need to recognize ground objects or views. Since it is not necessary to pre-store the database of ground marks, lots of memory space can be saved.The state and observation equations are constructed, and the filtering is processed by the Kalman filter. Simulation results show that the system has high autonomous navigation precision in LEO autonomous navigation.

1. Observing microscopic structures of a relativistic object using a time-stretch strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Roussel, E.; Evain, C.; Le Parquier, M.; Szwaj, C.; Bielawski, S.; Manceron, L.; Brubach, J.-B.; Tordeux, M.-A.; Ricaud, J.-P.; Cassinari, L.; Labat, M.; Couprie, M.-E.; Roy, P.

2015-05-01

Emission of light by a single electron moving on a curved trajectory (synchrotron radiation) is one of the most well-known fundamental radiation phenomena. However experimental situations are more complex as they involve many electrons, each being exposed to the radiation of its neighbors. This interaction has dramatic consequences, one of the most spectacular being the spontaneous formation of spatial structures inside electrons bunches. This fundamental effect is actively studied as it represents one of the most fundamental limitations in electron accelerators, and at the same time a source of intense terahertz radiation (Coherent Synchrotron Radiation, or CSR). Here we demonstrate the possibility to directly observe the electron bunch microstructures with subpicosecond resolution, in a storage ring accelerator. The principle is to monitor the terahertz pulses emitted by the structures, using a strategy from photonics, time-stretch, consisting in slowing-down the phenomena before recording. This opens the way to unpreceeded possibilities for analyzing and mastering new generation high power coherent synchrotron sources.

2. Autonomous linear lossless systems

OpenAIRE

Rao, Shodhan; Rapisarda, Paolo

2008-01-01

We define a lossless autonomous system as one having a quadratic differential form associated with it called an energy function, which is positive and which is conserved. We define an oscillatory system as one which has all its trajectories bounded on the entire time axis. In this paper, we show that an autonomous system is lossless if and only if it is oscillatory. Next we discuss a few properties of energy functions of autonomous lossless systems and a suitable way of splitting a given ener...

3. Autonomous surveillance for biosecurity.

Science.gov (United States)

Jurdak, Raja; Elfes, Alberto; Kusy, Branislav; Tews, Ashley; Hu, Wen; Hernandez, Emili; Kottege, Navinda; Sikka, Pavan

2015-04-01

The global movement of people and goods has increased the risk of biosecurity threats and their potential to incur large economic, social, and environmental costs. Conventional manual biosecurity surveillance methods are limited by their scalability in space and time. This article focuses on autonomous surveillance systems, comprising sensor networks, robots, and intelligent algorithms, and their applicability to biosecurity threats. We discuss the spatial and temporal attributes of autonomous surveillance technologies and map them to three broad categories of biosecurity threat: (i) vector-borne diseases; (ii) plant pests; and (iii) aquatic pests. Our discussion reveals a broad range of opportunities to serve biosecurity needs through autonomous surveillance. PMID:25744760

4. College English Students’Autonomous Learning Motivation and Cultivation Model Research

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王艳荣; 李娥

2015-01-01

Studying the autonomous learning motivation and excitation model can stimulate intrinsic motivation of foreign language learners,develop students self-management strategy evaluation are very necessary.The purpose of this paper is to give students the skills of listening and speaking for their autonomous learning.Then study the cultivation and motivation of college English students autonomous learning,hoping to make students to learn autonomous learning and stimulate their motivation fully.

5. An observational study of the effectiveness of practice guideline implementation strategies examined according to physicians' cognitive styles

OpenAIRE

Kowalski Christine P; Lowery Julie C; Wyszewianski Leon; Green Lee A; Krein Sarah L

2007-01-01

Abstract Background Reviews of guideline implementation recommend matching strategies to the specific setting, but provide little specific guidance about how to do so. We hypothesized that the highest level of guideline-concordant care would be achieved where implementation strategies fit well with physicians' cognitive styles. Methods We conducted an observational study of the implementation of guidelines for hypertension management among patients with diabetes at 43 Veterans' Health Adminis...

6. AUTONOMOUS DRIVEN CAR

OpenAIRE

Meeshika Arora

2013-01-01

In order to achieve autonomous operation of a vehiclein urban situations with unpredictable traffic, several real timesystems must interoperate, including environment perceptionplanning and control. In addition a robust vehicle platform withappropriate sensors, computational hardware, networking andsoftware infrastructure is essential.

7. Highly Autonomous Systems Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, R.; Rasmussen, R.; Man, G.; Patel, K.

1998-01-01

It is our aim by launching a series of workshops on the topic of highly autonomous systems to reach out to the larger community interested in technology development for remotely deployed systems, particularly those for exploration.

8. Engineering Autonomous Driving Software

OpenAIRE

Berger, Christian; Rumpe, Bernhard

2014-01-01

A larger number of people with heterogeneous knowledge and skills running a project together needs an adaptable, target, and skill-specific engineering process. This especially holds for a project to develop a highly innovative, autonomously driving vehicle to participate in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. In this contribution, we present essential elements of a software and systems engineering process to develop a so-called artificial intelligence capable of driving autonomously in complex u...

9. Autonomous Star Tracker Algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Betto, Maurizio; Jørgensen, John Leif; Kilsgaard, Søren;

1998-01-01

Proposal, in response to an ESA R.f.P., to design algorithms for autonomous star tracker operations.The proposal also included the development of a star tracker breadboard to test the algorithms performances.......Proposal, in response to an ESA R.f.P., to design algorithms for autonomous star tracker operations.The proposal also included the development of a star tracker breadboard to test the algorithms performances....

10. Development of a control system for an autonomous underwater vehicle

OpenAIRE

Masmitjà Rusiñol, Ivan; Masmitja Rusinyol, Gerard; González Agudelo, Julián; Shariat Panahi, Shahram; Gomáriz Castro, Spartacus

2010-01-01

This work proposes the development of a control system for an autonomous underwater vehicle dedicated to the observation of the oceans. The vehicle, a hybrid between Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV), moves on the surface of the sea and makes vertical immersions to obtain profiles of a water column, according to a pre-established plan. The displacement of the vehicle on the surface allows the navigation through GPS and telemetr...

11. Toward an Autonomous Telescope Network: the TBT Scheduler

Science.gov (United States)

Racero, E.; Ibarra, A.; Ocaña, F.; de Lis, S. B.; Ponz, J. D.; Castillo, M.; Sánchez-Portal, M.

2015-09-01

Within the ESA SSA program, it is foreseen to deploy several robotic telescopes to provide surveillance and tracking services for hazardous objects. The TBT project will procure a validation platform for an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario, consisting of two telescopes located in Spain and Australia, to collect representative test data for precursor SSA services. In this context, the planning and scheduling of the night consists of two software modules, the TBT Scheduler, that will allow the manual and autonomous planning of the night, and the control of the real-time response of the system, done by the RTS2 internal scheduler. The TBT Scheduler allocates tasks for both telescopes without human intervention. Every night it takes all the inputs needed and prepares the schedule following some predefined rules. The main purpose of the scheduler is the distribution of the time for follow-up of recently discovered targets and surveys. The TBT Scheduler considers the overall performance of the system, and combine follow-up with a priori survey strategies for both kind of objects. The strategy is defined according to the expected combined performance for both systems the upcoming night (weather, sky brightness, object accessibility and priority). Therefore, TBT Scheduler defines the global approach for the network and relies on the RTS2 internal scheduler for the final detailed distribution of tasks at each sensor.

12. Subsurface seeding of surface harmful algal blooms observed through the integration of autonomous gliders, moored environmental sample processors, and satellite remote sensing in southern California

KAUST Repository

Seegers, Bridget N.

2015-04-01

An observational study was performed in the central Southern California Bight in Spring 2010 to understand the relationship between seasonal spring phytoplankton blooms and coastal processes that included nutrient input from upwelling, wastewater effluent plumes, and other processes. Multi-month Webb Slocum glider deployments combined with MBARI environmental sample processors (ESPs), weekly pier sampling, and ocean color data provided a multidimensional characterization of the development and evolution of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Results from the glider and ESP observations demonstrated that blooms of toxic Pseudo-nitzschia sp. can develop offshore and subsurface prior to their manifestation in the surface layer and/or near the coast. A significant outbreak and surface manifestation of the blooms coincided with periods of upwelling, or other processes that caused shallowing of the pycnocline and subsurface chlorophyll maximum. Our results indicate that subsurface populations can be an important source for “seeding” surface Pseudo-nitzschia HAB events in southern California.

13. Architecture of autonomous systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dikshit, Piyush; Guimaraes, Katia; Ramamurthy, Maya; Agrawala, Ashok; Larsen, Ronald L.

1989-01-01

Automation of Space Station functions and activities, particularly those involving robotic capabilities with interactive or supervisory human control, is a complex, multi-disciplinary systems design problem. A wide variety of applications using autonomous control can be found in the literature, but none of them seem to address the problem in general. All of them are designed with a specific application in mind. In this report, an abstract model is described which unifies the key concepts underlying the design of automated systems such as those studied by the aerospace contractors. The model has been kept as general as possible. The attempt is to capture all the key components of autonomous systems. With a little effort, it should be possible to map the functions of any specific autonomous system application to the model presented here.

14. Exercise and autonomic function.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, R L; Bloomfield, D M; Rosenwinkel, E T

2000-03-01

The complex interplay between the dichotomous subdivisions of the autonomic nervous system establishes and maintains a delicately tuned homeostasis in spite of an ever-changing environment. Aerobic exercise training can increase activity of the parasympathetic nervous system and decrease sympathetic activity. Conversely, it is well-documented that cardiac disease is often characterized by attenuated parasympathetic activity and heightened sympathetic tone. A correlation between autonomic disequilibrium and disease has led to the hypothesis that exercise training, as a therapy that restores the autonomic nervous system towards normal function, may be associated with, and possibly responsible for, outcome improvements in various populations. This is merely one of the many benefits that is conferred by chronic exercise training and reviewed in this issue. PMID:10758814

15. Quo vadis integrated testing strategies? Experiences and observations from the work floor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gabbert, S.G.M.; Benighaus, C.

2012-01-01

Integrated testing strategies (ITSs) have received much attention as promising tools for more resource-efficient hazard and risk assessment of chemicals and for reducing animal use in toxicological testing. The usage of ITSs crucially depends on their acceptance and application by various stakeholde

16. Teaching Classroom Videorecording Analysis to Graduate Students: Strategies for Observation and Improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Cahalan, James M.

2013-01-01

Videorecording analysis can help improve the teaching of college literature and other subjects. Here, I concentrate on specific analytical strategies that I have been teaching my graduate students since 1994, and I cite my students (including their graphical charts) to illustrate what important lessons they have learned through careful study of…

17. 自主移动机器人中基于强化学习的噪声消解策略%Noise Resolution Strategy Based on Reinforcement Learning in Autonomous Mobile Robot System

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

任燚; 陈宗海

2005-01-01

基于行为的自主移动机器人在获取外界信息时不可避免地会引入噪声,给其系统性能造成一定的影响.提出了一种基于过程奖赏和优先扫除(PS-process)的强化学习算法作为噪声消解策略.针对典型的觅食任务,以计算机仿真为手段.并与其它四种算法--基于结果奖赏和优先扫除(PS-result)、基于过程奖赏和Q学习(Q-process)、基于结果奖赏和Q学习(Q-result)和基于手工编程策略(Hand) 进行比较.研究结果表明比起其它四种算法,本文所提出的基于过程奖赏和优先扫除的强化学习算法能有效降低噪声的影响,提高了系统整体性能.%Noise is always induced for behavior-based autonomous mobile robot when the environmental information is obtained,which affects its system performance.A reinforcement learning algorithm (PS-process) based on process reward and prioritized sweeping is presented as noise resolution strategy.A typical forage task with computational simulation is adopted.Comparisons of other four strategies,such as PS-result based on result reward and prioritized sweeping,Q-process based on process reward and Q-learning,Q-result based on result reward and Q-learning,and Hand based on hand code,are carried out.The comparison results show that the algorithm based on process reward and prioritized sweeping presented can resolve effectively noise and improve the system performance,comparing to other four algorithms.

18. Overview of the Autonomic Nervous System

Science.gov (United States)

... reversible or progressive. Anatomy of the autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system is the part of ... they connect with. Function of the autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system controls internal body processes ...

19. Clarifying Observed Relationships Between Protective Behavioral Strategies and Alcohol Outcomes: The Importance of Response Options

OpenAIRE

Braitman, Abby L.; Henson, James M.; Carey, Kate B.

2014-01-01

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS), or harm-reduction behaviors that can potentially reduce alcohol consumption or associated problems, have been assessed in varied ways throughout the literature. Existing scales vary in focus (i.e., broad vs. narrow), and importantly, in response options (i.e., absolute frequency vs. contingent frequency). Absolute frequency conflates PBS use with number of drinking occasions, resulting in inconsistencies in the relationship between PBS use and alcohol o...

20. 基于微信的大学英语自主学习师生参与策略研究%Research on the Participation Strategy of Teachers and Students in College English Autonomous Learning Based on WeChat

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

马莹

2015-01-01

研究分析了当下高校大学英语教与学的普遍现状，探讨在微信平台上开展师生参与的移动自主学习策略，并指出通过师师合作、师生互动、生生交流三个层面的参与确保大学英语移动自主学习效果。%This paper analyzes the general situation of college English teaching and learning in current col-leges and universities, and attempts to provide a participation strategy of teachers and students in the process of college English autonomous learning based on WeChat. It points out that effective autonomous learning can be achieved through teachers' cooperation, teacher-student interaction as well as students' communication.

1. Autonomous control of a locomotion vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A path planner and an execution system are proposed for autonomous vehicle control. The planner creates a near shortest path avoiding obstacles that are represented by combinations of circles and line segments on a two dimensional map. For realizing real time execution, path search procedures employ a heuristic pruning strategies in selecting a node to expand and in generating successor nodes. Nodes are selected for expansion in order, according to a cost assigned to each node. The cost is mainly evaluated by approximating a path length from the initial node to the goal node. In order to expand a node and to generate successor nodes, a specific search procedure is activated that finds positions avoiding obstacles in the direction of the goal, and creates successor nodes corresponding to the positions. The execution system, utilizing an ultrasonic range finder equipped to the vehicle performs a plan repair against unknown obstacles when echoes from the obstacles are observed. The plan repair is conducted by a map edition and replanning in such a way that new circles representing the echoes are added to the map. Obstacle avoidance tests with a vehicle controlled by microprocessors demonstrate the utility of heuristics just outlined. (author)

2. Heart rate variability as important approach for assessment autonomic modulation

OpenAIRE

Maycon Jr Ferreira; Angelina Zanesco

2016-01-01

Abstract Alterations in the heart rate recovery and heart rate variability have been associated with greater risk of mortality and early prognosis of cardiac diseases. Thus, strategies for assessing autonomic nervous system and its modulation to the heart are crucial for preventing cardiovascular events in healthy subjects as well as in cardiac patients. In this review, an update of studies examining heart rate variability (HRV) and its use as indicator of cardiac autonomic modulation will be...

3. Experimental Autonomous Vehicle Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ravn, Ole; Andersen, Nils Axel

1998-01-01

The paper describes the requirements for and a prototype configuration of a software architecture for control of an experimental autonomous vehicle. The test bed nature of the system is emphasised in the choice of architecture making re-configurability, data logging and extendability simple. The...

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosten, van Daan C.; Nijenhuis, Lucas F.J.; Bakkers, André W.P.; Vervoort, Wiek A.

1996-01-01

This paper describes a part of the development of an adaptive autonomous machine that is able to move in an unknown world extract knowledge out of the perceived data, has the possibility to reason, and finally has the capability to exchange experiences and knowledge with other agents. The agent is n

5. Autonomous Security Patrol System

OpenAIRE

Erramouspe, Jake

2010-01-01

This project provides an efficient and cost-effective solution to building security and active monitoring. The security is monitored and controlled by autonomous patrol robots. Any indication of a security breach will result in an immediate alarm and activation of the robot group to subdue and tranquilize the intruder.

6. Effects of observational learning on students' use of and attitude towards reading and learning strategies

OpenAIRE

Kniep, J.; Janssen, T.

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for instance writing, reading and creative art work. By observing models at work, students may develop strategic knowledge and they may also change their conception of what the modeled skill involves. The question in this study is which instructional approach is more effective for students’ processes of text studying: learning by observation or learning by practicing? We designed an intervention tha...

7. Integrating Observations and Knowledges for Earthquake Precursors Studies. Preliminary results and strategy of PRE-EARTHQUAKES FP7 Project

Science.gov (United States)

Tramutoli, V.; Inan, S.; Jakowski, N.; Pulinets, S. A.; Romanov, A.; Filizzola, C.; Shagimuratov, I.; Pergola, N.; Genzano, N.; Alparslan, E.; Wilken, V.; Tsybulia, K.; Romanov, A.; Paciello, R.; Zakharenkova, I.; Lisi, M.; Borrries, C.; Trusov, S.; Coviello, I.; PRE-EARTHQUAKES Team

2011-12-01

From the combined use of different observations/parameters, from the refinement of data analysis methods and the development of suitable physical models, we are expecting major progresses in the research on earthquake's preparatory phases. More than from the use of a single parameter approach, reduced false alarm rates and improved reliability and precision (in the space-time domain) of predictions, are expected from a multi-parameter observational, multi-disciplinary, research, strategy. Less than one year after its start, PRE-EARTHQUAKES FP7 Project already demonstrated its capability to commit together independent expertise and different observation capabilities in order: a) to substantially improve our knowledge of preparatory phases of earthquakes and their possible precursors; b) to promote a worldwide Earthquake Observation System (EQuOS) as a dedicated component of GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems); c) to develop and offer to the international scientific community an integration platform where independent observations and new data analysis methodologies devoted to the research on/of earthquake precursors can be collected and cross-validated. In this paper results achieved so far, in particular on the earthquakes selected as test cases occurred in recent years in Italy (M6.3 Abruzzo April 2009), Sakhalin (M6,2, Nevelsk, August 2007) and Turkey (M6,1, Elazig March 2010) will be presented emphasizing the significant added values guaranteed by a multi-parameter, multi-disciplinary strategy.

8. Software Architecture for Autonomous Spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Jimmy S.

1997-01-01

The thesis objective is to design an autonomous spacecraft architecture to perform both deliberative and reactive behaviors. The Autonomous Small Planet In-Situ Reaction to Events (ASPIRE) project uses the architecture to integrate several autonomous technologies for a comet orbiter mission.

9. 促进大学生自主学习能力的策略研究%Research on the Strategies of Promoting the Autonomous Learning Ability of College Students

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

卫玮; 李中杰

2012-01-01

In recent years, more and more educators began to pay attention to the importance of the autonomous learning in the students＇ self development. How to cultivate and improve the students＇ autonomous learning ability has become an urgent problem. Stimulating their inner learning motivation, perfecting their autonomous learning system, improving their autonomous learning evaluation system can provide effective ways and methods for promoting the autonomous learning ability of college students.%近年来,自主学习在学生自我发展中的重要性被大家所关注,如何培养和提高大学生的自主学习能力也已经成为需要迫切解决的问题。激发大学生内在学习动机,完善大学生自主学习制度,健全大学生自主学习评价体制等策略为促进大学生自主学习能力提供了有效的方法和途径。

10. Autonomous Robot Navigation based on Visual Landmarks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Livatino, Salvatore

2005-01-01

autonomous navigation and self-localization using automatically selected landmarks. The thesis investigates autonomous robot navigation and proposes a new method which benefits from the potential of the visual sensor to provide accuracy and reliability to the navigation process while relying on naturally...... update of the estimated robot position while the robot is moving. In order to make the system autonomous, both acquisition and observation of landmarks have to be carried out automatically. The thesis consequently proposes a method for learning and navigation of a working environment and it explores......The use of landmarks for robot navigation is a popular alternative to having a geometrical model of the environment through which to navigate and monitor self-localization. If the landmarks are defined as special visual structures already in the environment then we have the possibility of fully...

11. Effects of observational learning on students' use of and attitude towards reading and learning strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Kniep; T. Janssen

2014-01-01

Previous research has shown that observation can be effective for learning in various domains, for instance writing, reading and creative art work. By observing models at work, students may develop strategic knowledge and they may also change their conception of what the modeled skill involves. The

12. An observational study of the effectiveness of practice guideline implementation strategies examined according to physicians' cognitive styles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kowalski Christine P

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reviews of guideline implementation recommend matching strategies to the specific setting, but provide little specific guidance about how to do so. We hypothesized that the highest level of guideline-concordant care would be achieved where implementation strategies fit well with physicians' cognitive styles. Methods We conducted an observational study of the implementation of guidelines for hypertension management among patients with diabetes at 43 Veterans' Health Administration medical center primary care clinics. Clinic leaders provided information about all implementation strategies employed at their sites. Guidelines implementation strategies were classified as education, motivation/incentive, or barrier reduction using a pre-specified system. Physician's cognitive styles were measured on three scales: evidence vs. experience as the basis of knowledge, sensitivity to pragmatic concerns, and conformity to local practices. Doctors' decisions were designated guideline-concordant if the patient's blood pressure was within goal range, or if the blood pressure was out of range and a dose change or medication change was initiated, or if the patient was already using medications from three classes. Results The final sample included 163 physicians and 1,174 patients. All of the participating sites used one or more educational approaches to implement the guidelines. Over 90% of the sites also provided group or individual feedback on physician performance on the guidelines, and over 75% implemented some type of reminder system. A minority of sites used monetary incentives, penalties, or barrier reduction. The only type of intervention that was associated with increased guideline-concordant care in a logistic model was barrier reduction (p Conclusion Guidelines implementation strategies that were designed to reduce physician time pressure and task complexity were the only ones that improved performance. Education may have been

13. 能量受限的多自主移动机器人围捕策略研究%A capture strategy for energy limited multi autonomous mobile robots

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

梁家海; 黄雪燕

2013-01-01

Basing on the performance characteristics of real robots , this paper researches movement of energy limited multi autonomous mobile robots .Propose a capture strategy when energy limited .First, it establish capture ring for target robot using virtual points .Then build a model to evaluate composite in-dicator of distance and their own energy .Choose the optimization capture robot to move to target with higher speed .Other robots move with energy conservation .The obstacle -avoidance problem is im-proved .The simulation results show that multi energy limited robots can better accomplish capture tasks by reasonable distribution of energy .%　　从真实机器人的性能特点出发研究能量受限的自主移动机器人的运动规律，提出一种基于能量受限状态下的自主移动机器人的围捕策略，该策略首先建立由虚拟围捕点组成的目标机器人的围捕圈，然后建立模型评价围捕机器人到目标机器人的距离和自身能量的综合指标，选择该指标最优的围捕机器人，让该机器人总以高于目标机器人的速度及以目标机器人的当前运动方向的围捕点为目标运动，其他机器人采用节能的方式向各自的围捕点运动，同时改进了机器人的避障策略；最后对该策略进行仿真，仿真结果表明：多个能量受限的机器人利用总能量的优势，通过对围捕机器人的能量合理的分配能较好地完成对目标机器人的围捕任务。

14. A Proposed Strategy for the U.S. to Develop and Maintain a Mainstream Capability Suite ("Warehouse") for Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking in Low Earth Orbit and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnakumar, Kalmanje S.; Stillwater, Ryan A.; Babula, Maria; Moreau, Michael C.; Riedel, J. Ed; Mrozinski, Richard B.; Bradley, Arthur; Bryan, Thomas C.

2012-01-01

The ability of space assets to rendezvous and dock/capture/berth is a fundamental enabler for numerous classes of NASA fs missions, and is therefore an essential capability for the future of NASA. Mission classes include: ISS crew rotation, crewed exploration beyond low-Earth-orbit (LEO), on-orbit assembly, ISS cargo supply, crewed satellite servicing, robotic satellite servicing / debris mitigation, robotic sample return, and robotic small body (e.g. near-Earth object, NEO) proximity operations. For a variety of reasons to be described, NASA programs requiring Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking/Capture/Berthing (AR&D) capabilities are currently spending an order-of-magnitude more than necessary and taking twice as long as necessary to achieve their AR&D capability, "reinventing the wheel" for each program, and have fallen behind all of our foreign counterparts in AR&D technology (especially autonomy) in the process. To ensure future missions' reliability and crew safety (when applicable), to achieve the noted cost and schedule savings by eliminate costs of continually "reinventing the wheel ", the NASA AR&D Community of Practice (CoP) recommends NASA develop an AR&D Warehouse, detailed herein, which does not exist today. The term "warehouse" is used herein to refer to a toolbox or capability suite that has pre-integrated selectable supply-chain hardware and reusable software components that are considered ready-to-fly, low-risk, reliable, versatile, scalable, cost-effective, architecture and destination independent, that can be confidently utilized operationally on human spaceflight and robotic vehicles over a variety of mission classes and design reference missions, especially beyond LEO. The CoP also believes that it is imperative that NASA coordinate and integrate all current and proposed technology development activities into a cohesive cross-Agency strategy to produce and utilize this AR&D warehouse. An initial estimate indicates that if NASA

15. Autonomous Aerial Ice Observation for Ice Defense

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joakim Haugen

2014-10-01

Full Text Available One of the tasks in ice defense is to gather information about the surrounding ice environment using various sensor platforms. In this manuscript we identify two monitoring tasks known in literature, namely dynamic coverage and target tracking, and motivate how these tasks are relevant in ice defense using RPAS. An optimization-based path planning concept is outlined for solving these tasks. A path planner for the target tracking problem is elaborated in more detail and a hybrid experiment, which consists of both a real fixed-wing aircraft and simulated objects, is included to show the applicability of the proposed framework.

16. Latest Sea-Operations in the Macaronesian region with Unmanned Autonomous Marine Gliding Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Barrera, Carlos; Lorenzo, Alvaro; Viera, Josue; Morales, Tania; Vega, Daura; Rueda, Maria Jose; Llinas, Octavio

2013-04-01

Current advances on key marine technology fields provide nowadays a broad range of autonomous unmanned platforms addressed for an efficient and cost-effective ocean observation, with a suitable level of success in terms of endurance, reliability and useful gathered information. In this context, a multidisciplinary family of unmanned autonomous vehicles addressed to monitor both coastal and open-ocean areas plays a relevant role. During the last month, some of the newest unmanned gliding vehicle technologies have been tested within the context of the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN) in varied operational scenarios aiming different technical and scientific purposes, all of them joined in direct partnership with the company provider and other R&D institutions in some cases. Among others, representative examples in this way are the missions under the name Challenger One, Vulcano and SB02 through surface and underwater gliding vehicles, performed mostly in the surrounding subtropical waters of the ESTOC site observatory in the Canary Islands archipelago. The main gathered operational and scientific results from these missions are presented in this work as a sign of new ocean observing technologies within the framework of the Macaronesian Marine and Maritime Observation Strategy (R3M) and linked with the current European rules programs and projects in this field. Keywords: autonomous vehicle, gliders, R3M, ocean observatory, monitoring, marine robotics, ESTOC,

17. Mobile Autonomous Humanoid Assistant

Science.gov (United States)

Diftler, M. A.; Ambrose, R. O.; Tyree, K. S.; Goza, S. M.; Huber, E. L.

2004-01-01

A mobile autonomous humanoid robot is assisting human co-workers at the Johnson Space Center with tool handling tasks. This robot combines the upper body of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robonaut system with a Segway(TradeMark) Robotic Mobility Platform yielding a dexterous, maneuverable humanoid perfect for aiding human co-workers in a range of environments. This system uses stereo vision to locate human team mates and tools and a navigation system that uses laser range and vision data to follow humans while avoiding obstacles. Tactile sensors provide information to grasping algorithms for efficient tool exchanges. The autonomous architecture utilizes these pre-programmed skills to form human assistant behaviors. The initial behavior demonstrates a robust capability to assist a human by acquiring a tool from a remotely located individual and then following the human in a cluttered environment with the tool for future use.

18. The Asian Dust and Aerosol Lidar Observation Network (AD-NET): Strategy and Progress

Science.gov (United States)

Nishizawa, Tomoaki; Sugimoto, Nobuo; Matsui, Ichiro; Shimizu, Atsushi; Higurashi, Akiko; Jin, Yoshitaka

2016-06-01

We have operated a ground-based lidar network AD-Net using dual wavelength (532, 1064nm) depolarization Mie lidar continuously and observed movement of Asian dust and air pollution aerosols in East Asia since 2001. This lidar network observation contributed to understanding of the occurrence and transport mechanisms of Asian dust, validation of chemical transport models, data assimilation and epidemiologic studies. To better understand the optical and microphysical properties, externally and internally mixing states, and the movements of Asian dust and airpollution aerosols, we go forward with introducing a multi-wavelength Raman lidar to the AD-Net and developing a multi-wavelength technique of HSRL in order to evaluate optical concentrations of more aerosol components. We will use this evolving AD-Net for validation of Earth-CARE satellite observation and data assimilation to evaluate emissions of air pollution and dust aerosols in East Asia. We go forward with deploying an in-situ instrument polarization optical particle counter (POPC), which can measure size distributions and non-sphericity of aerosols, to several main AD-Net sites and conducting simultaneous observation of POPC and lidar to clarify internally mixed state of Asian dust and air pollution aerosols transported from the Asian continent to Japan.

19. Autonomous Underwater Vehicle control

OpenAIRE

Vidal Morató, Jordi; Gomáriz Castro, Spartacus; Manuel Lázaro, Antonio

2005-01-01

In this paper the system control design stages for an autonomous underwater vehicle are presented. The vehicle must be able to sail on sea surface, following a path without losing its route and once a position is reached, a dive following a perpendicular path to the surface is carried out. A two level system control are proposed. The primary level will control the navigation of the vehicle where a linear controllers are proposed. Whereas in secondary level guidance system, collision system, s...

20. The autonomous acoustic buoy

OpenAIRE

Pellicer, Francisco; Reitsma, Robert; Agüera, Joaquín; Marinas, Alexandra

2013-01-01

The Acoustic Buoy is a project between the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB) and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). In areas that the human activities produce high noise levels, such as oil exploration or construction, there is a need to monitor the environment for the presence of cetaceans. Another need is for fishing, to prevent endangered species from being killed. This can be done with an Autonomous Acoustic Buoy (AAB). Mooring or anchoring at to the seaflo...

1. Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems

OpenAIRE

Jitendra R. Raol; Ajith Gopal

2010-01-01

Mobile intelligent autonomous systems (MIAS) is a fast emerging research area. Although it can be regarded as a general R&D area, it is mainly directed towards robotics. Several important subtopics within MIAS research are:(i) perception and reasoning, (ii) mobility and navigation,(iii) haptics and teleoperation, (iv) image fusion/computervision, (v) modelling of manipulators, (vi) hardware/software architectures for planning and behaviour learning leadingto robotic architecture, (vii) ve...

2. Observing the Interstellar Neutral He Gas Flow with a Variable IBEX Pointing Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, T.; Moebius, E.; Bzowski, M.; Fuselier, S. A.; Heirtzler, D.; Kubiak, M. A.; Kucharek, H.; Lee, M. A.; McComas, D. J.; Schwadron, N.; Wurz, P.

2015-12-01

The Interstellar Neutral (ISN) gas flow can be observed at Earth's orbit due to the motion of the solar system relative to the surrounding interstellar gas. Since He is minimally influenced by ionization and charge exchange, the ISN He flow provides a sample of the pristine interstellar environment. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has observed the ISN gas flow over the past 7 years from a highly elliptical orbit around the Earth. IBEX is a Sun-pointing spinning spacecraft with energetic neutral atom (ENA) detectors observing perpendicular to the spacecraft spin axis. Due to the Earth's orbital motion around the Sun, it is necessary for IBEX to perform spin axis pointing maneuvers every few days to maintain a sunward pointed spin axis. The IBEX operations team has successfully pointed the spin axis in a variety of latitude orientations during the mission, including in the ecliptic during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, about 5 degrees below the ecliptic during the 2014 season, and recently about 5 degrees above the ecliptic during the 2015 season, as well as optimizing observations with the spin axis pointed along the Earth-Sun line. These observations include a growing number of measurements near the perihelion of the interstellar atom trajectories, which allow for an improved determination of the ISN He bulk flow longitude at Earth orbit. Combining these bulk flow measurements with an analytical model (Lee et al. 2012 ApJS, 198, 10) based upon orbital mechanics improves the knowledge of the narrow ISN parameter tube, obtained with IBEX, which couples the interstellar inflow longitude, latitude, speed, and temperature.

3. Based on the TOWS Analysis Method for County Tourism Strategy Research in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau——A Case Study of Tu Minority Autonomous County in Qinghai Province%基于TOWS分析法的青藏高原县域旅游发展战略新设想——以青海省互助土族自治县为例

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

黄芸玛

2015-01-01

本文选取具有代表性的青海互助土族自治县为研究对象,运用TOWS分析法、非结构性观察及集体访谈,对互助土族自治县旅游发展的优势、劣势、机遇和威胁进行了综合分析,再将分析的结果构造出TOWS矩阵,并从TOWS矩阵中得出了四类发展战略:SO战略、WO战略、ST战略和WT战略,指出互助县域旅游发展的战略即:比较优势战略;依托旅游中心地战略;原生态战略;县域旅游目的地战略;环境战略,研究结果对青藏高原县域旅游发展具有现实指导意义.%It is few studies for county tourism Strategy of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau through review literature. This article selects the Tu Minority Autonomous County in Qinghai Province as case study and it used the TOWS analysis,unstructured observation and the group interview to analyze its tourism strengths,weaknesses,opportu-nities and threats and then builded TOWS matrix. The four types of tourism strategy was obtained from the TOWS matrix.It is the strategy of comparative advantage ;relying on the tourism distributing center ;original strategy ;the county as tourism destination ;environmentally friendly.The results will provide reference for the other county's tourism development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

4. Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are a group of primary headache disorders characterised by lateralized symptoms: prominent headache and ipsilateral cranial autonomic features, such as conjunctival injection, lacrimation and rhinorrhea. The TACs are: cluster headache (CH), paroxysmal hemicrania (PH), short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT)/short-lasting neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial autonomic features (SUNA) and hemicrania continua (HC). Their diagnostic criteria are outlined in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition-beta (ICHD-IIIb). These conditions are distinguished by their attack duration and frequency, as well as response to treatment. HC is continuous and by definition responsive to indomethacin. The main differential when considering this headache is chronic migraine. Other TACs are remarkable for their short duration and must be distinguished from other short-lasting painful conditions, such as trigeminal neuralgia and primary stabbing headache. Cluster headache is characterised by exquisitely painful attacks that occur in discrete episodes lasting 15-180 min a few times a day. In comparison, PH occurs more frequently and is of shorter duration, and like HC is responsive to indomethacin. SUNCT/SUNA is the shortest duration and highest frequency TAC; attacks can occur over a hundred times every day. PMID:24888770

5. Impact of Different Data Assimilation Strategies for SMOS Observations on Flood Forecasting Accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Pauwels, V. R. N.; Verhoest, N.; Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; van Den Berg, M. J.; Al-Bitar, A.; Merlin, O.; Kumar Tomer, S.; Cabot, F.; Kerr, Y. H.; Pan, M.; Wood, E. F.; Drusch, M.; Hendricks Franssen, H. J.; Vereecken, H.; De Lannoy, G. J. M.; Dumedah, G.; Walker, J. P.

2014-12-01

During the last decade, significant efforts have been directed towards establishing and improving flood forecasting systems for large river basins. Examples include the European Flood Alert System, and the Bureau of Meteorology Flood Warning Systems in Australia. A number of attempts have also been made to increase the accuracy of the forecasted flood volumes from these systems. One attractive way in which this can be achieved is to use remotely sensed surface soil moisture contents to constrain the hydrologic model predictions. Satellite missions such as SMOS can provide very useful information on the wetness conditions of these basins, which in many cases is an important initial condition for discharge generation. Assimilation of these satellite data is thus a logical way to proceed. We will present results from two different assimilation strategies for the Murray-Darling basin in Australia using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. Firstly, the SMOS soil moisture data are assimilated into the hydrologic model at their original spatial resolution. As the spatial resolution of the remote sensing data (25 km) is coarser than the spatial resolution of the model (10 km), a multiscale data assimilation algorithm needs to be implemented. Secondly, the SMOS data are downscaled to the model resolution, prior to their assimilation. In this presentation, the impact of the assimilation of both products on the accuracy of the forecasted flood volumes is assessed.

6. Successful strategies for high participation in three regional healthcare surveys: an observational study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elkins Kristen R

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Regional healthcare facility surveys to quantitatively assess nosocomial infection rates are important for confirming standardized data collection and assessing health outcomes in the era of mandatory reporting. This is particularly important for the assessment of infection control policies and healthcare associated infection rates among hospitals. However, the success of such surveys depends upon high participation and representativeness of respondents. Methods This descriptive paper provides methodologies that may have contributed to high participation in a series of administrative, infection control, and microbiology laboratory surveys of all 31 hospitals in a large southern California county. We also report 85% (N = 72 countywide participation in an administrative survey among nursing homes in this same area. Results Using in-person recruitment, 48% of hospitals and nursing homes were recruited within one quarter, with 75% recruited within three quarters. Conclusions Potentially useful strategies for successful recruitment included in-person recruitment, partnership with the local public health department, assurance of anonymity when presenting survey results, and provision of staff labor for the completion of detailed survey tables on the rates of healthcare associated pathogens. Data collection assistance was provided for three-fourths of surveys. High compliance quantitative regional surveys require substantial recruitment time and study staff support for high participation.

7. A strategy for merging objective estimates of global daily precipitation from gauge observations, satellite estimates, and numerical predictions

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Suping; Wu, Tongwen; Luo, Yong; Deng, Xueliang; Shi, Xueli; Wang, Zaizhi; Liu, Xiangwen; Huang, Jianbin

2016-07-01

This paper describes a strategy for merging daily precipitation information from gauge observations, satellite estimates (SEs), and numerical predictions at the global scale. The strategy is designed to remove systemic bias and random error from each individual daily precipitation source to produce a better gridded global daily precipitation product through three steps. First, a cumulative distribution function matching procedure is performed to remove systemic bias over gauge-located land areas. Then, the overall biases in SEs and model predictions (MPs) over ocean areas are corrected using a rescaled strategy based on monthly precipitation. Third, an optimal interpolation (OI)-based merging scheme (referred as the HL-OI scheme) is used to combine unbiased gauge observations, SEs, and MPs to reduce random error from each source and to produce a gauge—satellite-model merged daily precipitation analysis, called BMEP-d (Beijing Climate Center Merged Estimation of Precipitation with daily resolution), with complete global coverage. The BMEP-d data from a four-year period (2011-14) demonstrate the ability of the merging strategy to provide global daily precipitation of substantially improved quality. Benefiting from the advantages of the HL-OI scheme for quantitative error estimates, the better source data can obtain more weights during the merging processes. The BMEP-d data exhibit higher consistency with satellite and gauge source data at middle and low latitudes, and with model source data at high latitudes. Overall, independent validations against GPCP-1DD (GPCP one-degree daily) show that the consistencies between BMEP-d and GPCP-1DD are higher than those of each source dataset in terms of spatial pattern, temporal variability, probability distribution, and statistical precipitation events.

8. THE FREQUENT USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES/METHODS AMONG TEACHERS ACCORDING TO THE TEACHER CANDIDATES OBSERVATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to show the frequent use of teaching stratergies/methods amongteachers which has been observed by teacher candidates currently undergoing their own field/area teaching program.This study undertakes the general research model and the tools used to obtain the necessary data are personalinformation form and a questionaire. “Teachers frequent use of teaching methods/stratergies” to obtain necessarydata a 4 likert scale type of questionaire has been used. The scale developed on behalf of the researcher involves 35teaching methods/stratergies.The data obtained through 71 quetionaires where evaluated from 4 (always and 1(none as points and has been evaluated through the SPSS package program. In addition, the resultsof the data havebeen analysed through the following techniques: percentage (%, average (X and standard deviation (SS.According to the observations made by the teacher candidates the following teaching methods/stratergies wereundertaken by the teachers according to thier teaching field: lecturing, question-answer method were always used,homework, practice in the classroom, problem solving, showing and practicing methods were frequently used,project work, anaylsing example situations, debates, similarity, computer based education, observing privatetutorials, eduational games, cooperative learning, brainstroming, field trips and reflecting/miroring situations,group/team work, experiment, role play, micro-learning technique, statement, speech,meeting, display, drama,conference, formal debates, sempozium, seminar, panel, umbrella technique, forum and opposite panel

9. Strategies for Observing Self-excitation in the Madison Dynamo Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, N. Z.; Kaplan, E. J.; Kendrick, R. D.; Nornberg, M. D.; Rahbarnia, K.; Rasmus, A. M.; Forest, C. B.; Spence, E. J.

2010-11-01

In the Madison Dynamo Experiment(MDE) two counter-rotating impellers drive a turbulent flow of liquid sodium in a one meter-diameter sphere. One of the goals of the experiment is to observe the spontaneous generation of magnetic field. Initial runs of the MDE saw intermittent bursts of a transverse dipole field similar to the induced field predicted by laminar kinematics, but no sustained self-excited field was observed. This poster will present recent results from the MDE after an equatorial baffle was installed to stabilize the position of the shear layer between the two counterrotating hemispheres and to help in the reduction of of large-scale turbulence and the motors were run up to maximum power. Required motor power indicates that the baffle has decreased the amount of turbulence in the flow. When run up to full power still no self-excited dynamo was observed, but there was significant amplification of the transverse dipole field with extended decay rates indicating we may be approaching the dynamo threshold. Future modifications to the experiment will also be presented exploring a subcritical dynamo transition by supplying a sufficiently strong magnetic field and the addition of poloidal baffles to optimize the helicity of the mean flow. This work is supported by the NSF/DOE partnership in plasma physics.

10. Autonomous rough terrain navigation - Lessons learned

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, David P.

1991-01-01

Because of light-time delays, a planetary rover located on Mars or beyond will probably need to be able to navigate autonomously, in order to do significant exploration. Recent work at JPL has explored several different autonomous navigation strategies. This work includes highly deliberative methods that require large amounts of computation and internal storage but yield very planful behavior to more reactive systems that require less resources but whose behavior is more difficult to model. This paper briefly presents these methods, the results from experiments both in simulation and in the field, and some conclusions on the value of different approaches, and their possible impact on the structure of the robot and the mission architecture.

11. Autonomous Target Ranging Techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Peter Siegbjørn; Jørgensen, John Leif; Denver, Troelz;

2003-01-01

determination two ranging strategies are presented. One is an improved laser ranger with an effective range with non-cooperative targets of at least 10,000 km, demonstrated in ground tests. The accuracy of the laser ranging will be approximately 1 m. The laser ranger may furthermore be used for trajectory...... determination of nano-gravity probes, which will perform direct mass measurements of selected targets. The other is triangulation from two spacecraft. For this method it is important to distinguish between detection and tracking range, which will be different for Bering since different instruments are used for......For the deep space asteroid mission, Bering, the main goal is the detection and tracking of near Earth objects (NEOs) and asteroids. One of the key science instruments is the 0.3-m telescope used for imaging and tracking of the detected asteroidal objects. For efficient use of the observation time...

12. Strategies for Observing Self-excitation in the Madison Dynamo Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, N. Z.; Forest, C. B.; Kaplan, E. J.; Kendrick, R. D.; Rasmus, A. M.

2009-11-01

In the Madison Dynamo Experiment two counter-rotating impellers drive a turbulent flow of liquid sodium in a one meter-diameter sphere. One of the goals of the experiment is to observe the spontaneous generation of magnetic field. Initial runs of the Madison Dynamo Experiment saw intermittent bursts of a transverse dipole field similar to the induced field predicted by laminar kinematics, but no sustained self-excited field was observed. Recent numerical simulations have shown that turbulent fluctuations strongly increase the critical magnetic Reynolds number required for self-excitation, beyond the design parameters of the experiment. Three different techniques for accessing dynamos are currently being implemented on the experiment. First, the addition of an equatorial and poloidal baffles to the experiment will help in the reduction of large-scale turbulence and optimization of the helicity of the mean flow. Second, freely rotating segments of a symmetric airfoil will be added to the internal probe tubes to reduce vibration that prevented operation at full speed. Third, the externally applied field will be strengthened to explore a sub-critical dynamo transition that has recently been discovered using numerical simulations.

13. Autonomous Infrastructure for Observatory Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Seaman, R.

This is an era of rapid change from ancient human-mediated modes of astronomical practice to a vision of ever larger time domain surveys, ever bigger "big data", to increasing numbers of robotic telescopes and astronomical automation on every mountaintop. Over the past decades, facets of a new autonomous astronomical toolkit have been prototyped and deployed in support of numerous space missions. Remote and queue observing modes have gained significant market share on the ground. Archives and data-mining are becoming ubiquitous; astroinformatic techniques and virtual observatory standards and protocols are areas of active development. Astronomers and engineers, planetary and solar scientists, and researchers from communities as diverse as particle physics and exobiology are collaborating on a vast range of "multi-messenger" science. What then is missing?

14. Strategies for Human Tumor Virus Discoveries: From Microscopic Observation to Digital Transcriptome Subtraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirvish, Ezra D; Shuda, Masahiro

2016-01-01

Over 20% of human cancers worldwide are associated with infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Various methods have been used to identify human tumor viruses, including electron microscopic observations of viral particles, immunologic screening, cDNA library screening, nucleic acid hybridization, consensus PCR, viral DNA array chip, and representational difference analysis. With the Human Genome Project, a large amount of genetic information from humans and other organisms has accumulated over the last decade. Utilizing the available genetic databases, Feng et al. (2007) developed digital transcriptome subtraction (DTS), an in silico method to sequentially subtract human sequences from tissue or cellular transcriptome, and discovered Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) from Merkel cell carcinoma. Here, we review the background and methods underlying the human tumor virus discoveries and explain how DTS was developed and used for the discovery of MCV. PMID:27242703

15. Multi-messenger signals of long-term core-collapse supernova simulations : synergetic observation strategies

CERN Document Server

Nakamura, Ko; Tanaka, Masaomi; Hayama, Kazuhiro; Takiwaki, Tomoya; Kotake, Kei

2016-01-01

The next Galactic supernova is expected to bring great opportunities for the direct detection of gravitational waves (GW), full flavor neutrinos, and multi-wavelength photons. To maximize the science return from such a rare event, it is essential to have established classes of possible situations and preparations for appropriate observations. To this end, we use a long-term numerical simulation of the core-collapse supernova (CCSN) of a 17 solar-mass red supergiant progenitor to self-consistently model the multi-messenger signals expected in GW, neutrino, and electromagnetic messengers. This supernova model takes into account the formation and evolution of a protoneutron star, neutrino-matter interaction, and neutrino transport, all within a two-dimensional shock hydrodynamics simulation. With this, we separately discuss three situations: (i) a CCSN at the Galactic Center, (ii) an extremely nearby CCSN within hundreds of parsecs, and (iii) a CCSN in nearby galaxies within several Mpc. These distance regimes n...

16. The development of teleological versus mentalizing observational learning strategies in infancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gergely, György

2003-01-01

The author introduces the concept of mentalization as a central interpretative mechanism of social reality testing. It is argued that developmentally the emergence of this mentalizing capacity to interpret other people's actions in terms of their causal intentional mind states (such as beliefs, desires, intentions, and emotions) is preceded by an earlier, nonmentalistic, teleological action interpretational system that represents others' actions in terms of their concrete and visible outcomes. Then the early psychosocial determinants of the developmental unfolding of our mentalizing capacity are considered from the points of view of attachment theory and developmental psychopathology. It is argued that, in severely dysfunctional (neglecting, abusive, and/or dissociative) caregiving environments, the development of mentalization becomes inhibited and results in a predominantly teleological, nonmentalistic interpretation of intimate attachment relationships that is a core feature of certain developmental psychopathologies such as borderline personality disorder. The normal developmental shift from a teleological to a mentalistic mode of action interpretation is illustrated in terms of recently discovered qualitative changes in imitative and observational learning styles during infancy. It is hypothesized that these changes are related to the infant's developing capacity to interpret the communicative-referential behavioral cues that frame the caregiver's infant-directed actions as signaling a cooperative and benevolent mentalistic attitude toward the baby. In closing, it is proposed that the hypothesized role of severely dysfunctional attachment environments in inhibiting the establishment of mentalization skills could be directly tested in early development in the domain of observational learning. It is predicted that differential patterns of "teleological emulation" versus "mentalistic imitative learning" will be found in infants raised in severely dysfunctional

17. Chemical Specification of Autonomic Systems

OpenAIRE

2004-01-01

Autonomic computing provides a vision of information systems allowing self-management of many predefined properties. Such systems take care of their own behavior and of their interactions with other components without any external intervention. One of the major challenges concerns the expression of properties and constraints of autonomic systems. We believe that the {\\em chemical programming paradigm} (represented here by the Gamma formalism) is well-suited to the specification of autonomic s...

18. Catecholamines and diabetic autonomic neuropathy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hilsted, J

1995-01-01

plasma catecholamine measurements is not due to changes in the clearance of catecholamines in diabetic autonomic neuropathy. The physiological responses to infused adrenaline and to noradrenaline are enhanced, for noradrenaline mainly cardiovascular responses. Adrenoceptors (alpha and beta adrenoceptors......In diabetic patients with autonomic neuropathy plasma noradrenaline concentration, used as an index of sympathetic nervous activity, is low. This decrease is, however, only found in patients with a long duration of diabetes with clinically severe autonomic neuropathy. This apparent insensitivity of...

19. Innovative observing strategy and orbit determination for Low Earth Orbit Space Debris

CERN Document Server

Milani, Andrea; Dimare, Linda; Rossi, Alessandro; Bernardi, Fabrizio

2011-01-01

We present the results of a large scale simulation, reproducing the behavior of a data center for the build-up and maintenance of a complete catalog of space debris in the upper part of the low Earth orbits region (LEO). The purpose is to determine the performances of a network of advanced optical sensors, through the use of the newest orbit determination algorithms developed by the Department of Mathematics of Pisa (DM). Such a network has been proposed to ESA in the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) framework by Carlo Gavazzi Space SpA (CGS), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), DM, and Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione (ISTI-CNR). The conclusion is that it is possible to use a network of optical sensors to build up a catalog containing more than 98% of the objects with perigee height between 1100 and 2000 km, which would be observable by a reference radar system selected as comparison. It is also possible to maintain such a catalog within the accuracy requirements motivated by collisi...

20. Innovative observing strategy and orbit determination for Low Earth Orbit space debris

Science.gov (United States)

Milani, A.; Farnocchia, D.; Dimare, L.; Rossi, A.; Bernardi, F.

2012-03-01

We present the results of a large scale simulation, reproducing the behavior of a data center for the build-up and maintenance of a complete catalog of space debris in the upper part of the Low Earth Orbits (LEOs) region. The purpose is to determine the performances of a network of advanced optical sensors, through the use of the newest correlation and orbit determination algorithms. This network is foreseen for implementation in a Space Situational Awareness system, such as the future European one. The conclusion is that it is possible to use a network of optical sensors to build up a catalog containing more than 98% of the objects with perigee height between 1100 and 2000 km, which would be observable by a reference radar system selected as comparison. It is also possible to maintain such a catalog within the accuracy requirements motivated by collision avoidance, and to detect catastrophic fragmentation events. The obtained results depend upon specific assumptions on the sensor and on the software technologies.

1. Optimized Herschel/PACS photometer observing and data reduction strategies for moving solar system targets

CERN Document Server

Cs., Kiss; E., Vilenius; A., Pál; P., Santos-Sanz; E., Lellouch; G., Marton; E., Verebélyi; N., Szalai; P., Hartogh; J., Stansberry; F., Henry; A, Delsanti

2013-01-01

The "TNOs are Cool!: A survey of the trans-Neptunian region" is a Herschel Open Time Key Program that aims to characterize planetary bodies at the outskirts of the Solar System using PACS and SPIRE data, mostly taken as scan-maps. In this paper we summarize our PACS data reduction scheme that uses a modified version of the standard pipeline for basic data reduction, optimized for faint, moving targets. Due to the low flux density of our targets the observations are confusion noise limited or at least often affected by bright nearby background sources at 100 and 160\\,$\\mu$m. To overcome these problems we developed techniques to characterize and eliminate the background at the positions of our targets and a background matching technique to compensate for pointing errors. We derive a variety of maps as science data products that are used depending on the source flux and background levels and the scientific purpose. Our techniques are also applicable to a wealth of other Herschel solar system photometric observat...

2. The use of zeolites in countermeasure strategy: predicted versus observed effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Among the possible remedial actions to reduce the soil-to-plant transfer of radiocaesium and radiostrontium, the addition of clay minerals or zeolites aims at increasing permanently the radionuclide fraction adsorbed on the solid phase, thus lowering the radionuclide solution level available for root uptake. The traditional procedure to test the effectiveness of such amendments is rather empirical: the amendments are applied to the soil and the effect is expressed in terms of the change of the transfer factor, defined as the ratio of Bq per kilogram plant and soil. This procedure yields no insight in the processes responsible for the observed effect and does not allow predictions for other scenarios. Based on the knowledge that soil-to-plant transfer essentially depends on soil type, the use of soil amendments was investigated by quantitatively addressing the physico-chemical parameters which govern solid/liquid partitioning of radionuclides in soils and soil amendments. It is shown that this approach allows to identify the potential soil/amendment combinations to estimate the effects to be expected

3. A New Design Strategy for Observing Lithium Oxide Growth-Evolution Interactions Using Geometric Catalyst Positioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryu, Won-Hee; Gittleson, Forrest S; Li, Jinyang; Tong, Xiao; Taylor, André D

2016-08-10

Understanding the catalyzed formation and evolution of lithium-oxide products in Li-O2 batteries is central to the development of next-generation energy storage technology. Catalytic sites, while effective in lowering reaction barriers, often become deactivated when placed on the surface of an oxygen electrode due to passivation by solid products. Here we investigate a mechanism for alleviating catalyst deactivation by dispersing Pd catalytic sites away from the oxygen electrode surface in a well-structured anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) porous membrane interlayer. We observe the cross-sectional product growth and evolution in Li-O2 cells by characterizing products that grow from the electrode surface. Morphological and structural details of the products in both catalyzed and uncatalyzed cells are investigated independently from the influence of the oxygen electrode. We find that the geometric decoration of catalysts far from the conductive electrode surface significantly improves the reaction reversibility by chemically facilitating the oxidation reaction through local coordination with PdO surfaces. The influence of the catalyst position on product composition is further verified by ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy in addition to morphological studies. PMID:27326464

4. The use of zeolites in countermeasure strategy: predicted versus observed effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valcke, E.; Van Hees, M.; Cremers, A.

1996-09-18

Among the possible remedial actions to reduce the soil-to-plant transfer of radiocaesium and radiostrontium, the addition of clay minerals or zeolites aims at increasing permanently the radionuclide fraction adsorbed on the solid phase, thus lowering the radionuclide solution level available for root uptake. The traditional procedure to test the effectiveness of such amendments is rather empirical: the amendments are applied to the soil and the effect is expressed in terms of the change of the transfer factor, defined as the ratio of Bq per kilogram plant and soil. This procedure yields no insight in the processes responsible for the observed effect and does not allow predictions for other scenarios. Based on the knowledge that soil-to-plant transfer essentially depends on soil type, the use of soil amendments was investigated by quantitatively addressing the physico-chemical parameters which govern solid/liquid partitioning of radionuclides in soils and soil amendments. It is shown that this approach allows to identify the potential soil/amendment combinations to estimate the effects to be expected.

5. Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — FUNCTION: Provides an environment for developing and evaluating intelligent software for both actual and simulated autonomous vehicles. Laboratory computers provide...

6. Collaborating with Autonomous Agents

Science.gov (United States)

Trujillo, Anna C.; Cross, Charles D.; Fan, Henry; Hempley, Lucas E.; Motter, Mark A.; Neilan, James H.; Qualls, Garry D.; Rothhaar, Paul M.; Tran, Loc D.; Allen, B. Danette

2015-01-01

With the anticipated increase of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) entering into the National Airspace System, it is highly likely that vehicle operators will be teaming with fleets of small autonomous vehicles. The small vehicles may consist of sUAS, which are 55 pounds or less that typically will y at altitudes 400 feet and below, and small ground vehicles typically operating in buildings or defined small campuses. Typically, the vehicle operators are not concerned with manual control of the vehicle; instead they are concerned with the overall mission. In order for this vision of high-level mission operators working with fleets of vehicles to come to fruition, many human factors related challenges must be investigated and solved. First, the interface between the human operator and the autonomous agent must be at a level that the operator needs and the agents can understand. This paper details the natural language human factors e orts that NASA Langley's Autonomy Incubator is focusing on. In particular these e orts focus on allowing the operator to interact with the system using speech and gestures rather than a mouse and keyboard. With this ability of the system to understand both speech and gestures, operators not familiar with the vehicle dynamics will be able to easily plan, initiate, and change missions using a language familiar to them rather than having to learn and converse in the vehicle's language. This will foster better teaming between the operator and the autonomous agent which will help lower workload, increase situation awareness, and improve performance of the system as a whole.

7. Autonomous packaging robot

OpenAIRE

Vo, Van Thanh

2010-01-01

The objective of the autonomous packaging robot application is to replace manual product packaging in food industry with a fully automatic robot. The objective is achieved by using the combination of machine vision, central computer, sensors, microcontroller and a typical ABB robot. The method is to equip the robot with different sensors: camera as “eyes” of robot, distance sensor and microcontroller as “sense of touch” of the robot, central computer as “brain” of the robot. Because the ro...

8. Autonomous component carrier selection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia, Luis Guilherme Uzeda; Pedersen, Klaus; Mogensen, Preben

2009-01-01

in local areas, basing our study case on LTE-Advanced. We present extensive network simulation results to demonstrate that a simple and robust interference management scheme, called autonomous component carrier selection allows each cell to select the most attractive frequency configuration; improving...... management and efficient system operation. Due to the expected large number of user-deployed cells, centralized network planning becomes unpractical and new scalable alternatives must be sought. In this article, we propose a fully distributed and scalable solution to the interference management problem...

9. Autonomous mobile robot teams

Science.gov (United States)

Agah, Arvin; Bekey, George A.

1994-01-01

This paper describes autonomous mobile robot teams performing tasks in unstructured environments. The behavior and the intelligence of the group is distributed, and the system does not include a central command base or leader. The novel concept of the Tropism-Based Cognitive Architecture is introduced, which is used by the robots in order to produce behavior transforming their sensory information to proper action. The results of a number of simulation experiments are presented. These experiments include worlds where the robot teams must locate, decompose, and gather objects, and defend themselves against hostile predators, while navigating around stationary and mobile obstacles.

10. Advanced stellar compass - Onboard autonomous orbit determination, preliminary performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Betto, Maurizio; Jørgensen, John Leif; Jørgensen, Peter Siegbjørn;

2004-01-01

of this instrument, the authors have devised a method to determine the orbit of a spacecraft autonomously, onboard, and without a priori knowledge of any kind. The solution is robust and fast. This paper presents the preliminary performance obtained during the ground testing in August 2002 at the Mauna Kea...... Observatories. The main goals were: (1) to assess the robustness of the method in solving autonomously, onboard, the position lost-in-space problem; (2) to assess the preliminary accuracy achievable with a single planet and a single observation; (3) to verify the autonomous navigation (AutoNav) module could...

11. Field Geologic Observation and Sample Collection Strategies for Planetary Surface Exploration: Insights from the 2010 Desert RATS Geologist Crewmembers

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtado, Jose M., Jr.; Young, Kelsey; Bleacher, Jacob E.; Garry, W. Brent; Rice, James W., Jr.

2012-01-01

Observation is the primary role of all field geologists, and geologic observations put into an evolving conceptual context will be the most important data stream that will be relayed to Earth during a planetary exploration mission. Sample collection is also an important planetary field activity, and its success is closely tied to the quality of contextual observations. To test protocols for doing effective planetary geologic field- work, the Desert RATS(Research and Technology Studies) project deployed two prototype rovers for two weeks of simulated exploratory traverses in the San Francisco volcanic field of northern Arizona. The authors of this paper represent the geologist crew members who participated in the 2010 field test.We document the procedures adopted for Desert RATS 2010 and report on our experiences regarding these protocols. Careful consideration must be made of various issues that impact the interplay between field geologic observations and sample collection, including time management; strategies relatedtoduplicationofsamplesandobservations;logisticalconstraintson the volume and mass of samples and the volume/transfer of data collected; and paradigms for evaluation of mission success. We find that the 2010 field protocols brought to light important aspects of each of these issues, and we recommend best practices and modifications to training and operational protocols to address them. Underlying our recommendations is the recognition that the capacity of the crew to flexibly execute their activities is paramount. Careful design of mission parameters, especially field geologic protocols, is critical for enabling the crews to successfully meet their science objectives.

12. Towards autonomous vehicular clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Olariu

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The dawn of the 21st century has seen a growing interest in vehicular networking and its myriad potential applications. The initial view of practitioners and researchers was that radio-equipped vehicles could keep the drivers informed about potential safety risks and increase their awareness of road conditions. The view then expanded to include access to the Internet and associated services. This position paper proposes and promotes a novel and more comprehensive vision namely, that advances in vehicular networks, embedded devices and cloud computing will enable the formation of autonomous clouds of vehicular computing, communication, sensing, power and physical resources. Hence, we coin the term, autonomous vehicular clouds (AVCs. A key feature distinguishing AVCs from conventional cloud computing is that mobile AVC resources can be pooled dynamically to serve authorized users and to enable autonomy in real-time service sharing and management on terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic pathways or theaters of operations. In addition to general-purpose AVCs, we also envision the emergence of specialized AVCs such as mobile analytics laboratories. Furthermore, we envision that the integration of AVCs with ubiquitous smart infrastructures including intelligent transportation systems, smart cities and smart electric power grids will have an enormous societal impact enabling ubiquitous utility cyber-physical services at the right place, right time and with right-sized resources.

13. Nemesis Autonomous Test System

Science.gov (United States)

Barltrop, Kevin J.; Lee, Cin-Young; Horvath, Gregory A,; Clement, Bradley J.

2012-01-01

A generalized framework has been developed for systems validation that can be applied to both traditional and autonomous systems. The framework consists of an automated test case generation and execution system called Nemesis that rapidly and thoroughly identifies flaws or vulnerabilities within a system. By applying genetic optimization and goal-seeking algorithms on the test equipment side, a "war game" is conducted between a system and its complementary nemesis. The end result of the war games is a collection of scenarios that reveals any undesirable behaviors of the system under test. The software provides a reusable framework to evolve test scenarios using genetic algorithms using an operation model of the system under test. It can automatically generate and execute test cases that reveal flaws in behaviorally complex systems. Genetic algorithms focus the exploration of tests on the set of test cases that most effectively reveals the flaws and vulnerabilities of the system under test. It leverages advances in state- and model-based engineering, which are essential in defining the behavior of autonomous systems. It also uses goal networks to describe test scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelova, Anelia; Howard, Andrew; Matthies, Larry; Tang, Benyang; Turmon, Michael; Mjolsness, Eric

2005-01-01

Robotic ground vehicles for outdoor applications have achieved some remarkable successes, notably in autonomous highway following (Dickmanns, 1987), planetary exploration (1), and off-road navigation on Earth (1). Nevertheless, major challenges remain to enable reliable, high-speed, autonomous navigation in a wide variety of complex, off-road terrain. 3-D perception of terrain geometry with imaging range sensors is the mainstay of off-road driving systems. However, the stopping distance at high speed exceeds the effective lookahead distance of existing range sensors. Prospects for extending the range of 3-D sensors is strongly limited by sensor physics, eye safety of lasers, and related issues. Range sensor limitations also allow vehicles to enter large cul-de-sacs even at low speed, leading to long detours. Moreover, sensing only terrain geometry fails to reveal mechanical properties of terrain that are critical to assessing its traversability, such as potential for slippage, sinkage, and the degree of compliance of potential obstacles. Rovers in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission have got stuck in sand dunes and experienced significant downhill slippage in the vicinity of large rock hazards. Earth-based off-road robots today have very limited ability to discriminate traversable vegetation from non-traversable vegetation or rough ground. It is impossible today to preprogram a system with knowledge of these properties for all types of terrain and weather conditions that might be encountered.

15. Expanded Perspectives on Autonomous Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Oxford, Rebecca L.

2015-01-01

This paper explores two general perspectives on autonomous learners: psychological and sociocultural. These perspectives introduce a range of theoretically grounded facets of autonomous learners, facets such as the self-regulated learner, the emotionally intelligent learner, the self-determined learner, the mediated learner, the socioculturally…

16. Unscented Kalman Filter for Autonomous Warship Attitude Determination

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

FU Jian-guo; WANG Xiao-tong; JIN Lian-gan; MA Ye

2005-01-01

To address a problem of autonomous attitude determination algorithm using gravitational field and geomagnetic field observation, a new recursive optimization autonomous attitude estimation algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is based on unscented Kalman filter(UKF), and can synchronously provide the attitude rate information. The simulated results show that the measurement precision of the method could be increased by 2 times compared to that of the common methods.

17. Specifying Safety Monitors for Autonomous Systems using Model-checking

OpenAIRE

Machin, Mathilde; Dufossé, Fanny; Blanquart, Jean-Paul; Guiochet, Jérémie; Powell, David; Waeselynck, Hélène

2014-01-01

International audience Autonomous systems operating in the vicinity of humans are critical in that they potentially harm humans. As the complexity of autonomous system software makes the zero-fault objective hardly at- tainable, we adopt a fault-tolerance approach. We consider a separate safety channel, called a monitor, that is able to partially observe the sys- tem and to trigger safety-ensuring actuations. A systematic process for specifying a safety monitor is presented. Hazards are fo...

18. Motor/autonomic stress responses in a competitive piano performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshie, Michiko; Kudo, Kazutoshi; Ohtsuki, Tatsuyuki

2009-07-01

The present study examined the effects of psychological stress on performance quality, autonomic responses, and upper extremity muscle activity in skilled pianists through comparisons between stressful (competition) and nonstressful (rehearsal) conditions. We observed increased levels of subjective anxiety, autonomic arousal, and electromyographic activity in the competition condition, which could contribute to the impairment of performance quality. The results provide important practical implications for enhancing performance quality as well as preventing playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in musicians. PMID:19673810

19. Role of Training and Detraining on Inflammatory and Metabolic Profile in Infarcted Rats: Influences of Cardiovascular Autonomic Nervous System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Rodrigues

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of exercise training (ET, 50–70% of VO2 max, 5 days/week and detraining (DT on inflammatory and metabolic profile after myocardial infarction (MI in rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into control (C, n=8, sedentary infarcted (SI, n=9, trained infarcted (TI,  n=10; 3 months of ET, and detrained infarcted (DI, n=11; 2 months of ET + 1 month of DT. After ET and DT protocols, ventricular function and inflammation, cardiovascular autonomic modulation (spectral analysis, and adipose tissue inflammation and lipolytic pathway were evaluated. ET after MI improved cardiac and vascular autonomic modulation, and these benefits were correlated with reduced inflammatory cytokines on the heart and adipose tissue. These positive changes were sustained even after 1 month of detraining. No expressive changes were observed in oxidative stress and lipolytic pathway in experimental groups. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that the autonomic improvement promoted by ET, and maintained even after the detraining period, was associated with reduced inflammatory profile in the left ventricle and adipose tissue of rats subjected to MI. These data encourage enhancing cardiovascular autonomic function as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of inflammatory process triggered by MI.

20. An Optimal PR Control Strategy with Load Current Observer for a Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaobo Dou

2015-07-01

1. Evolutionary Autonomous Health Monitoring System (EAHMS) Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — For supporting NASA's Robotics, Tele-Robotics and Autonomous Systems Roadmap, we are proposing the "Evolutionary Autonomous Health Monitoring System" (EAHMS) for...

2. Coordinated control of networked vehicles: An autonomous underwater system

OpenAIRE

Pereira, FL; de Sousa, JB

2004-01-01

The specification and design of coordinated control strategies for networked vehicle systems are discussed. The discussion is illustrated with an example of the coordinated operation of two teams of autonomous underwater vehicles collecting data to find the local minimum of a given oceanographic scalar field.

3. Not Deep Learning but Autonomous Learning of Open Innovation for Sustainable Artificial Intelligence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JinHyo Joseph Yun

2016-08-01

Full Text Available What do we need for sustainable artificial intelligence that is not harmful but beneficial human life? This paper builds up the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning from the human’s cognitive learning process and firms’ open innovation process. It conceptually establishes a direct and autonomous learning interaction model. The key factor of this model is that the process to respond to entries from external environments through interactions between autonomous learning and direct learning as well as to rearrange internal knowledge is incessant. When autonomous learning happens, the units of knowledge determinations that arise from indirect learning are separated. They induce not only broad autonomous learning made through the horizontal combinations that surpass the combinations that occurred in direct learning but also in-depth autonomous learning made through vertical combinations that appear so that new knowledge is added. The core of the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning is the variability of the boundary between proven knowledge and hypothetical knowledge, limitations in knowledge accumulation, as well as complementarity and conflict between direct and autonomous learning. Therefore, these should be considered when introducing the interaction model between direct and autonomous learning into navigations, cleaning robots, search engines, etc. In addition, we should consider the relationship between direct learning and autonomous learning when building up open innovation strategies and policies.

4. Autonomous Flying Controls Testbed

Science.gov (United States)

Motter, Mark A.

2005-01-01

The Flying Controls Testbed (FLiC) is a relatively small and inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicle developed specifically to test highly experimental flight control approaches. The most recent version of the FLiC is configured with 16 independent aileron segments, supports the implementation of C-coded experimental controllers, and is capable of fully autonomous flight from takeoff roll to landing, including flight test maneuvers. The test vehicle is basically a modified Army target drone, AN/FQM-117B, developed as part of a collaboration between the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD) at Fort Eustis,Virginia and NASA Langley Research Center. Several vehicles have been constructed and collectively have flown over 600 successful test flights.

5. Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jitendra R. Raol

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile intelligent autonomous systems (MIAS is a fast emerging research area. Although it can be regarded as a general R&D area, it is mainly directed towards robotics. Several important subtopics within MIAS research are:(i perception and reasoning, (ii mobility and navigation,(iii haptics and teleoperation, (iv image fusion/computervision, (v modelling of manipulators, (vi hardware/software architectures for planning and behaviour learning leadingto robotic architecture, (vii vehicle-robot path and motionplanning/control, (viii human-machine interfaces for interaction between humans and robots, and (ix application of artificial neural networks (ANNs, fuzzy logic/systems (FLS,probabilistic/approximate reasoning (PAR, Bayesian networks(BN and genetic algorithms (GA to the above-mentioned problems. Also, multi-sensor data fusion (MSDF playsvery crucial role at many levels of the data fusion process:(i kinematic fusion (position/bearing tracking, (ii imagefusion (for scene recognition, (iii information fusion (forbuilding world models, and (iv decision fusion (for tracking,control actions. The MIAS as a technology is useful for automation of complex tasks, surveillance in a hazardousand hostile environment, human-assistance in very difficultmanual works, medical robotics, hospital systems, autodiagnosticsystems, and many other related civil and military systems. Also, other important research areas for MIAScomprise sensor/actuator modelling, failure management/reconfiguration, scene understanding, knowledge representation, learning and decision-making. Examples ofdynamic systems considered within the MIAS would be:autonomous systems (unmanned ground vehicles, unmannedaerial vehicles, micro/mini air vehicles, and autonomousunder water vehicles, mobile/fixed robotic systems, dexterousmanipulator robots, mining robots, surveillance systems,and networked/multi-robot systems, to name a few.Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(1, pp.3-4,

6. Biologically inspired autonomous agent navigation using an integrated polarization analyzing CMOS image sensor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarkaer, M.; San Segundo Bello, D.; Van Hoof, C.; Theuwissen, A.

2010-01-01

The navigational strategies of insects using skylight polarization are interesting for applications in autonomous agent navigation because they rely on very little information for navigation. A polarization navigation sensor using the Stokes parameters to determine the orientation is presented. The

7. Cybersecurity for aerospace autonomous systems

Science.gov (United States)

Straub, Jeremy

2015-05-01

High profile breaches have occurred across numerous information systems. One area where attacks are particularly problematic is autonomous control systems. This paper considers the aerospace information system, focusing on elements that interact with autonomous control systems (e.g., onboard UAVs). It discusses the trust placed in the autonomous systems and supporting systems (e.g., navigational aids) and how this trust can be validated. Approaches to remotely detect the UAV compromise, without relying on the onboard software (on a potentially compromised system) as part of the process are discussed. How different levels of autonomy (task-based, goal-based, mission-based) impact this remote characterization is considered.

8. A minimal order observer based frequency control strategy for an integrated wind-battery-diesel power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wind energy is a fluctuating resource which can diverge quickly and causes the frequency deviation. To overcome this problem, the current paper deals with a frequency control scheme for a small power system by a coordinated control strategy of a wind turbine generator (WTG) and a battery energy storage system (BESS). The small power system composes of a wind turbine, a battery storage and a diesel generator. A minimal order observer is utilized as a disturbance observer to estimate the load of the power system. The load deviations are considered in a frequency domain. The low frequency component is reduced by the pitch angle control system of the WTG, while the high frequency component is reduced by the charge/discharge of the BESS, respectively. The output power command of the BESS is determined according to the state of charge, the high frequency component of the frequency deviation and the load variation. The proposed method is compared with the conventional method in different cases. By using the proposed method, the capacity of the battery is decreased by the charge/discharge of the BESS in long term. To enhance the control performance, the generalized predictive control (GPC) method is introduced to the pitch angle control system of the WTG. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by the numerical simulations. -- Highlights: ► A coordinated control method for a WTG and a BESS in the small power system. ► To achieve this objective, a minimal order observer is utilized. ► The output power command of the WTG is based on the wind speed and the estimated frequency deviations. ► The output power the WTG is controlled by the GPC based robust pitch angle control system. ► The output power command of the BESS is determined by the state of charge and the estimated frequency deviations.

9. Measuring Treatment Differentiation for Implementation Research: The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy Revised Strategies Scale

Science.gov (United States)

McLeod, Bryce D.; Smith, Meghan M.; Southam-Gerow, Michael A.; Weisz, John R.; Kendall, Philip C.

2014-01-01

Observational measures to assess implementation integrity (the extent to which components of an evidence-based treatment are delivered as intended) are needed. We evaluated the reliability of the scores and the validity of the score interpretations for the Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies scale (TPOCS-RS; McLeod, 2010) and assessed the potential of the TPOCS-RS to assess treatment differentiation, a component of implementation integrity. The TPOCS-RS includes five theory-based subscales (Cognitive, Behavioral, Psychodynamic, Client-Centered, Family). Using the TPOCS-RS, coders independently rated 954 sessions conducted with 89 children (M age = 10.56, SD = 2.00; aged 7–15 years; 65.20% Caucasian) diagnosed with a primary anxiety disorder who received different treatments (manual-based vs. non-manualized) across settings (research vs. practice). Coders produced reliable ratings at the item level (M ICC = .76, SD = .18). Analyses support the construct validity of the Cognitive and Behavioral subscale scores and, to a lesser extent, the Psychodynamic, Family, and Client-Centered subscale scores. Correlations among the TPOCS-RS subscale scores and between the TPOCS-RS subscale scores and observational ratings of the alliance and client involvement were moderate suggesting independence of the subscale scores. Moreover, the TPOCS-RS showed promise for assessing implementation integrity as the TPOCS-RS subscale scores, as hypothesized, discriminated between manual-guided treatment delivered across research and practice settings and non-manualized usual care. The findings support the potential of the TPOCS-RS Cognitive and Behavioral subscales to assess treatment differentiation in implementation research. Results for the remaining subscales are promising, although further research is needed. PMID:25346995

10. Framework for Autonomous Optimization Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Phoenix Integration and MIT propose to create a novel autonomous optimization tool and application programming interface (API). The API will demonstrate the ability...

11. Compact Autonomous Hemispheric Vision System

Science.gov (United States)

Pingree, Paula J.; Cunningham, Thomas J.; Werne, Thomas A.; Eastwood, Michael L.; Walch, Marc J.; Staehle, Robert L.

2012-01-01

Solar System Exploration camera implementations to date have involved either single cameras with wide field-of-view (FOV) and consequently coarser spatial resolution, cameras on a movable mast, or single cameras necessitating rotation of the host vehicle to afford visibility outside a relatively narrow FOV. These cameras require detailed commanding from the ground or separate onboard computers to operate properly, and are incapable of making decisions based on image content that control pointing and downlink strategy. For color, a filter wheel having selectable positions was often added, which added moving parts, size, mass, power, and reduced reliability. A system was developed based on a general-purpose miniature visible-light camera using advanced CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) imager technology. The baseline camera has a 92 FOV and six cameras are arranged in an angled-up carousel fashion, with FOV overlaps such that the system has a 360 FOV (azimuth). A seventh camera, also with a FOV of 92 , is installed normal to the plane of the other 6 cameras giving the system a > 90 FOV in elevation and completing the hemispheric vision system. A central unit houses the common electronics box (CEB) controlling the system (power conversion, data processing, memory, and control software). Stereo is achieved by adding a second system on a baseline, and color is achieved by stacking two more systems (for a total of three, each system equipped with its own filter.) Two connectors on the bottom of the CEB provide a connection to a carrier (rover, spacecraft, balloon, etc.) for telemetry, commands, and power. This system has no moving parts. The system's onboard software (SW) supports autonomous operations such as pattern recognition and tracking.

12. Mapping planetary caves with an autonomous, heterogeneous robot team

Science.gov (United States)

Husain, Ammar; Jones, Heather; Kannan, Balajee; Wong, Uland; Pimentel, Tiago; Tang, Sarah; Daftry, Shreyansh; Huber, Steven; Whittaker, William L.

Caves on other planetary bodies offer sheltered habitat for future human explorers and numerous clues to a planet's past for scientists. While recent orbital imagery provides exciting new details about cave entrances on the Moon and Mars, the interiors of these caves are still unknown and not observable from orbit. Multi-robot teams offer unique solutions for exploration and modeling subsurface voids during precursor missions. Robot teams that are diverse in terms of size, mobility, sensing, and capability can provide great advantages, but this diversity, coupled with inherently distinct low-level behavior architectures, makes coordination a challenge. This paper presents a framework that consists of an autonomous frontier and capability-based task generator, a distributed market-based strategy for coordinating and allocating tasks to the different team members, and a communication paradigm for seamless interaction between the different robots in the system. Robots have different sensors, (in the representative robot team used for testing: 2D mapping sensors, 3D modeling sensors, or no exteroceptive sensors), and varying levels of mobility. Tasks are generated to explore, model, and take science samples. Based on an individual robot's capability and associated cost for executing a generated task, a robot is autonomously selected for task execution. The robots create coarse online maps and store collected data for high resolution offline modeling. The coordination approach has been field tested at a mock cave site with highly-unstructured natural terrain, as well as an outdoor patio area. Initial results are promising for applicability of the proposed multi-robot framework to exploration and modeling of planetary caves.

13. Physics Simulation Software for Autonomous Propellant Loading and Gas House Autonomous System Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

1. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is developing a mobile launching system with autonomous propellant loading capabilities for liquid-fueled rockets. An autonomous system will be responsible for monitoring and controlling the storage, loading and transferring of cryogenic propellants. The Physics Simulation Software will reproduce the sensor data seen during the delivery of cryogenic fluids including valve positions, pressures, temperatures and flow rates. The simulator will provide insight into the functionality of the propellant systems and demonstrate the effects of potential faults. This will provide verification of the communications protocols and the autonomous system control. 2. The High Pressure Gas Facility (HPGF) stores and distributes hydrogen, nitrogen, helium and high pressure air. The hydrogen and nitrogen are stored in cryogenic liquid state. The cryogenic fluids pose several hazards to operators and the storage and transfer equipment. Constant monitoring of pressures, temperatures and flow rates are required in order to maintain the safety of personnel and equipment during the handling and storage of these commodities. The Gas House Autonomous System Monitoring software will be responsible for constantly observing and recording sensor data, identifying and predicting faults and relaying hazard and operational information to the operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Jeremy David

2014-01-01

As light time delays increase, the number of such situations in which crew autonomy is the best way to conduct the mission is expected to increase. However, there are significant open questions regarding which functions to allocate to ground and crew as the time delays increase. In situations where the ideal solution is to allocate responsibility to the crew and the vehicle, a second question arises: should the activity be the responsibility of the crew or an automated vehicle function? More specifically, we must answer the following questions: What aspects of mission operation responsibilities (Plan, Train, Fly) should be allocated to ground based or vehicle based planning, monitoring, and control in the presence of significant light-time delay between the vehicle and the Earth?How should the allocated ground based planning, monitoring, and control be distributed across the flight control team and ground system automation? How should the allocated vehicle based planning, monitoring, and control be distributed between the flight crew and onboard system automation?When during the mission should responsibility shift from flight control team to crew or from crew to vehicle, and what should the process of shifting responsibility be as the mission progresses? NASA is developing a roadmap of capabilities for Autonomous Mission Operations for human spaceflight. This presentation will describe the current state of development of this roadmap, with specific attention to in-space inspection tasks that crews might perform with minimum assistance from the ground.

15. Semantic Web Meets Autonomic Ubicomp

OpenAIRE

Belecheanu, R A; Jawaheer, G; Hoskins, A.; McCann, J; Payne, T.

2004-01-01

The placement of autonomic systems’ management functionality into a ubiquitous computing environment is a difficult task due to the lack of systems’ resources and the need for ‘intelligence’ to ensure that the system is selfhealing/ organising or configuring. For such systems to adapt to changes to their current environment they need to be able to (re) configure the workflow of their services. In this paper, we propose the ANS, an autonomic middleware for ubicomp devices. We briefly describe ...

16. Design of Autonomous Gel Actuators

OpenAIRE

Shuji Hashimoto; Shingo Maeda; Yusuke Hara; Satoshi Nakamaru

2011-01-01

In this paper, we introduce autonomous gel actuators driven by chemical energy. The polymer gels prepared here have cyclic chemical reaction networks. With a cyclic reaction, the polymer gels generate periodical motion. The periodic motion of the gel is produced by the chemical energy of the oscillatory Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. We have succeeded in making synthetic polymer gel move autonomously like a living organism. This experimental fact represents the great possibility of the c...

17. Design of Autonomous Gel Actuators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuji Hashimoto

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce autonomous gel actuators driven by chemical energy. The polymer gels prepared here have cyclic chemical reaction networks. With a cyclic reaction, the polymer gels generate periodical motion. The periodic motion of the gel is produced by the chemical energy of the oscillatory Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ reaction. We have succeeded in making synthetic polymer gel move autonomously like a living organism. This experimental fact represents the great possibility of the chemical robot.

18. Build Autonomic Agents with ABLE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

吴吉义

2007-01-01

The IBM Agent Building and Learning Environment(ABLE) provides a lightweight Java~(TM) agent frame- work,a comprehensive JavaBeansTM library of intelligent software components,a set of development and test tools, and an agent platform.After the introduction to ABLE,classes and interfaces in the ABLE agent framework were put forward.At last an autonomic agent that is an ABLE-based architecture for incrementally building autonomic systems was discussed.

19. Autonomous vertical profiler data management

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Afzulpurkar, S.; Navelkar, G.S.; Desa, E.S.; Madhan, R.; Dabholkar, N.; Prabhudesai, S.P.; Mascarenhas, A.A.M.Q.

and reduced data �� Ease in operation and one man deployable 2 Fig.1. Autonomous Vertical Profiler Table 1. Autonomous Vertical Profiler Specifications 2. Communication Communication with the AVP is through the satellite modem... Aluminum alloy, Acetal nose & tail cones Propulsion Single DC thruster Electronics 8051 and ARM7 microcontroller based Communication Radio modem (2.4 GHz) & Satellite Transmission (Iridium) GUI Labview based Energy Source Lithium Ion Polymer batteries...

20. A prospective study of ocular toxicity in patients receiving ethambutol as a part of directly observed treatment strategy therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pragati Garg

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: India is among the largest countries to implement the revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP. This program provides intermittent regimens to the patients, where the doses of isoniazid and ethambutol are more as compared to the daily regimen, which is a cause of concern, particularly with regard to the ocular toxicity of ethambutol. The present study was undertaken to explore the ocular toxicity in the patients registered under the program. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective single center cohort study of 64 patients of categories I and II, coming to the RNTCP-Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS center at a tertiary care referral hospital. The detailed history, best corrected visual acuity, fundus examination, and color vision test were carried out in all patients at the start of treatment and then at the first and second month of treatment. Results: Loss in visual acuity from the baseline was noted at the second month follow up in 12 (9.4% eyes (P = 0.001, visual field defects were seen in eight (6.3% eyes (P = 0.0412, and optic disc abnormalities were observed in six (4.7% (P = 0.013 eyes. Color vision abnormalities were noted in 16 (12.6% eyes (P = 0.003, four eyes showed impairment in red-green color perception, and the others showed impairment in blue-yellow color perception as well. Patients with ocular symptoms were advised to stop ethambutol and they showed improvement in visual acuity after follow up of one to two months. The overall outcome of treatment was not affected by discontinuation of ethambutol in these patients. Conclusion: Ethambutol when taken according to program could cause ocular toxicity. The early recognition of ocular symptoms is important to prevent unnecessary delay in diagnosis and probable irreversible visual loss.

1. A novel autonomous self-assembly distributed swarm flying robot

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Wei Hongxing; Li Ning; Liu Miao; Tan Jindong

2013-01-01

Swarm intelligence embodied by many species such as ants and bees has inspired scholars in swarm robotic researches.This paper presents a novel autonomous self-assembly distributed swarm flying robot-DSFR,which can drive on the ground,autonomously accomplish self-assembly and then fly in the air coordinately.Mechanical and electrical designs ofa DSFR module,as well as the kinematics and dynamics analysis,are specifically investigated.Meanwhile,this paper brings forward a generalized adjacency matrix to describe configurations of DSFR structures.Also,the distributed flight control model is established for vertical taking-off and horizontal hovering,which can be applied to control of DSFR systems with arbitrary configurations.Finally,some experiments are carried out to testify and validate the DSFR design,the autonomous self-assembly strategy and the distributed flight control laws.

2. Flocking algorithm for autonomous flying robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Virágh, Csaba; Vásárhelyi, Gábor; Tarcai, Norbert; Szörényi, Tamás; Somorjai, Gergő; Nepusz, Tamás; Vicsek, Tamás

2014-06-01

Animal swarms displaying a variety of typical flocking patterns would not exist without the underlying safe, optimal and stable dynamics of the individuals. The emergence of these universal patterns can be efficiently reconstructed with agent-based models. If we want to reproduce these patterns with artificial systems, such as autonomous aerial robots, agent-based models can also be used in their control algorithms. However, finding the proper algorithms and thus understanding the essential characteristics of the emergent collective behaviour requires thorough and realistic modeling of the robot and also the environment. In this paper, we first present an abstract mathematical model of an autonomous flying robot. The model takes into account several realistic features, such as time delay and locality of communication, inaccuracy of the on-board sensors and inertial effects. We present two decentralized control algorithms. One is based on a simple self-propelled flocking model of animal collective motion, the other is a collective target tracking algorithm. Both algorithms contain a viscous friction-like term, which aligns the velocities of neighbouring agents parallel to each other. We show that this term can be essential for reducing the inherent instabilities of such a noisy and delayed realistic system. We discuss simulation results on the stability of the control algorithms, and perform real experiments to show the applicability of the algorithms on a group of autonomous quadcopters. In our case, bio-inspiration works in two ways. On the one hand, the whole idea of trying to build and control a swarm of robots comes from the observation that birds tend to flock to optimize their behaviour as a group. On the other hand, by using a realistic simulation framework and studying the group behaviour of autonomous robots we can learn about the major factors influencing the flight of bird flocks. PMID:24852272

3. Using a Two-Stage Propensity Score Matching Strategy and Multilevel Modeling to Estimate Treatment Effects in a Multisite Observational Study

OpenAIRE

Rickles, Jordan

2012-01-01

In this study I present, demonstrate, and test a method that extends the Stuart and Rubin (2008) multiple control group matching strategy to a multisite setting. Three primary phases define the proposed method: (1) a design phase, in which one uses a two-stage matching strategy to construct treatment and control groups that are well balanced along both unit- and site-level key pretreatment covariates; (2) an adjustment phase, in which the observed outcomes for non-local control group matches ...

4. Evaluation of autonomic functions in subclinical hypothyroid and hypothyroid patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarti S Mahajan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Autonomic dysfunction may contribute to cardiovascular morbidity in subclinical hypothyroid patients. It is controversial whether the abnormality exists in sympathetic or the parasympathetic function. It is also not known whether the severity of autonomic dysfunction is related to the degree of thyroid deficiency. Design of Study: Prospective case control. Materials and Methods: Autonomic functions based on heart rate (HR and blood pressure (BP responses to various maneuvers were evaluated and scored in twenty two subclinical hypothyroid patients, 30-50 years and compared with twenty hypothyroid patients. Biochemical estimation of TSH, fT 3 , fT 4 , TPO antibody was done. Result: Sympathetic function abnormalities were seen in 82% subclinical hypothyroid patients and 85%hypothyroid patients when one test was abnormal. Parasympathetic dysfunction was also recorded in eight patients in both groups. When two abnormal tests were used as the selection criteria sympathetic function abnormality was observed in about 41% subclinical hypothyroid and 65% hypothyroid patients. There were no intergroup differences in autonomic functions, score and TPO levels. The TSH levels were not related to type or degree of autonomic dysfunction. Systolic BP in both groups and diastolic BP in hypothyroid patients were higher with lower thyroxine levels but the patients were normotensive. Conclusion: Autonomic dysfunction of comparable degree was seen in subclinical hypothyroid and hypothyroid patients. Sympathetic function abnormality was more common although decreased parasympathetic function reactivity was also present. These abnormalities were unrelated to TSH levels.

5. Understanding and improving mitigation strategies for reducing catchment scale nutrient loads using high resolution observations and uncertainty analysis approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, A.; Lloyd, C.; Freer, J. E.; Johnes, P.; Stirling, M.

2012-12-01

One of the biggest challenges in catchment water quality management is tackling the problem of reducing water pollution from agriculture whilst ensuring food security nationally. Improvements to catchment management plans are needed if we are to enhance biodiversity and maintain good ecological status in freshwater ecosystems, while producing enough food to support a growing global population. In order to plan for a more sustainable and secure future, research needs to quantify the uncertainties and understand the complexities in the source-mobilisation-delivery-impact continuum of pollution and nutrients at all scales. In the UK the Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC) project has been set up to improve water quality specifically from diffuse pollution from agriculture by enhanced high resolution monitoring and targeted mitigation experiments. The DTC project aims to detect shifts in the baseline trend of the most ecologically-significant pollutants resulting from targeted on-farm measures at field to farm scales and assessing their effects on ecosystem function. The DTC programme involves three catchments across the UK that are indicative of three different typologies and land uses. This paper will focus on the Hampshire Avon DTC, where a total of 12 parameters are monitored by bank-side stations at two sampling sites, including flow, turbidity, phosphate and nitrate concentrations at 30 min resolution. This monitoring is supported by daily resolution sampling at 5 other sites and storm sampling at all locations. Part of the DTC project aims to understand how observations of water quality within river systems at different temporal resolutions and types of monitoring strategies enable us to understand and detect changes over and above the natural variability. Baseline monitoring is currently underway and early results show that high-resolution data is essential at this sub-catchment scale to understand important process dynamics. This is critical if we are to design

6. On the design of neuro-controllers for individual and social learning behaviour in autonomous robots: an evolutionary approach

Science.gov (United States)

Pini, Giovanni; Tuci, Elio

2008-06-01

In biology/psychology, the capability of natural organisms to learn from the observation/interaction with conspecifics is referred to as social learning. Roboticists have recently developed an interest in social learning, since it might represent an effective strategy to enhance the adaptivity of a team of autonomous robots. In this study, we show that a methodological approach based on artifcial neural networks shaped by evolutionary computation techniques can be successfully employed to synthesise the individual and social learning mechanisms for robots required to learn a desired action (i.e. phototaxis or antiphototaxis).

7. New Interview and Observation Measures of the Broader Autism Phenotype: Description of Strategy and Reliability Findings for the Interview Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Parr, Jeremy R; De Jonge, Maretha V; Wallace, Simon; Pickles, Andrew; Rutter, Michael L; Le Couteur, Ann S; van Engeland, Herman; Wittemeyer, Kerstin; McConachie, Helen; Roge, Bernadette; Mantoulan, Carine; Pedersen, Lennart; Isager, Torben; Poustka, Fritz; Bolte, Sven; Bolton, Patrick; Weisblatt, Emma; Green, Jonathan; Papanikolaou, Katerina; Baird, Gillian; Bailey, Anthony J

2015-01-01

Clinical genetic studies confirm the broader autism phenotype (BAP) in some relatives of individuals with autism, but there are few standardized assessment measures. We developed three BAP measures (informant interview, self-report interview, and impression of interviewee observational scale) and describe the development strategy and findings from the interviews. International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium data were collected from families containing at least two individuals with autism. Comparison of the informant and self-report interviews was restricted to samples in which the interviews were undertaken by different researchers from that site (251 UK informants, 119 from the Netherlands). Researchers produced vignettes that were rated blind by others. Retest reliability was assessed in 45 participants. Agreement between live scoring and vignette ratings was very high. Retest stability for the interviews was high. Factor analysis indicated a first factor comprising social-communication items and rigidity (but not other repetitive domain items), and a second factor comprised mainly of reading and spelling impairments. Whole scale Cronbach's alphas were high for both interviews. The correlation between interviews for factor 1 was moderate (adult items 0.50; childhood items 0.43); Kappa values for between-interview agreement on individual items were mainly low. The correlations between individual items and total score were moderate. The inclusion of several factor 2 items lowered the overall Cronbach's alpha for the total set. Both interview measures showed good reliability and substantial stability over time, but the findings were better for factor 1 than factor 2. We recommend factor 1 scores be used for characterising the BAP. Autism Res 2015, 8: 522–533. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:25959701

8. Developing Autonomic Properties for Distributed Pattern-Recognition Systems with ASSL: A Distributed MARF Case Study

CERN Document Server

Vassev, Emil

2011-01-01

In this paper, we discuss our research towards developing special properties that introduce autonomic behavior in pattern-recognition systems. In our approach we use ASSL (Autonomic System Specification Language) to formally develop such properties for DMARF (Distributed Modular Audio Recognition Framework). These properties enhance DMARF with an autonomic middleware that manages the four stages of the framework's pattern-recognition pipeline. DMARF is a biologically inspired system employing pattern recognition, signal processing, and natural language processing helping us process audio, textual, or imagery data needed by a variety of scientific applications, e.g., biometric applications. In that context, the notion go autonomic DMARF (ADMARF) can be employed by autonomous and robotic systems that theoretically require less-to-none human intervention other than data collection for pattern analysis and observing the results. In this article, we explain the ASSL specification models for the autonomic propertie...

9. Turning a remotely controllable observatory into a fully autonomous system

Science.gov (United States)

Swindell, Scott; Johnson, Chris; Gabor, Paul; Zareba, Grzegorz; Kubánek, Petr; Prouza, Michael

2014-08-01

We describe a complex process needed to turn an existing, old, operational observatory - The Steward Observatory's 61" Kuiper Telescope - into a fully autonomous system, which observers without an observer. For this purpose, we employed RTS2,1 an open sourced, Linux based observatory control system, together with other open sourced programs and tools (GNU compilers, Python language for scripting, JQuery UI for Web user interface). This presentation provides a guide with time estimates needed for a newcomers to the field to handle such challenging tasks, as fully autonomous observatory operations.

10. Sensing, Control, and System Integration for Autonomous Vehicles: A Series of Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Özgüner, Ümit; Redmill, Keith

One of the important examples of mechatronic systems can be found in autonomous ground vehicles. Autonomous ground vehicles provide a series of challenges in sensing, control and system integration. In this paper we consider off-road autonomous vehicles, automated highway systems and urban autonomous driving and indicate the unifying aspects. We specifically consider our own experience during the last twelve years in various demonstrations and challenges in attempting to identify unifying themes. Such unifying themes can be observed in basic hierarchies, hybrid system control approaches and sensor fusion techniques.

11. Integrated Motion Planning and Autonomous Control Technology for Autonomous ISR Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — SSCI and MIT propose to design, implement and test a comprehensive Integrated Mission Planning & Autonomous Control Technology (IMPACT) for Autonomous ISR...

12. Lead toxicity promotes autonomic dysfunction with increased chemoreceptor sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Geraldes, Vera; Carvalho, Mafalda; Goncalves-Rosa, Nataniel; Tavares, Cristiano; Laranjo, Sérgio; Rocha, Isabel

2016-05-01

Mortality and morbidity by toxic metals is an important issue of occupational health. Lead is an ubiquitous heavy metal in our environment despite having no physiological role in biological systems. Being an homeostatic controller is expected that the autonomic nervous system would show a degree of impairment in lead toxicity. In fact, sympathoexcitation associated to high blood pressure and tachypnea has been described together with baroreflex dysfunction. However, the mechanisms underlying the autonomic dysfunction and the interplay between baro- and chemoreflex are not yet fully clarified. The angiotensinogenic PVN-NTS axis (paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus - nucleus tractus solitarius axis) is a particularly important neuronal pathway that could be responsible for the autonomic dysfunction and the cardiorespiratory impairment in lead toxicity. Within the current work, we addressed in vivo, baro- and chemoreceptor reflex behaviour, before and after central angiotensin inhibition, in order to better understand the cardiorespiratory autonomic mechanisms underlying the toxic effects of long-term lead exposure. For that, arterial pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, sympathetic and parasympathetic activity and baro- and chemoreceptor reflex profiles of anaesthetized young adult rats exposed to lead, from foetal period to adulthood, were evaluated. Results showed increased chemosensitivity together with baroreceptor reflex impairment, sympathetic over-excitation, hypertension and tachypnea. Chemosensitivity and sympathetic overexcitation were reversed towards normality values by NTS treatment with A-779, an angiotensin (1-7) antagonist. No parasympathetic changes were observed before and after A-799 treatment. In conclusion, angiotensin (1-7) at NTS level is involved in the autonomic dysfunction observed in lead toxicity. The increased sensitivity of chemoreceptor reflex expresses the clear impairment of autonomic outflow to the cardiovascular and

13. Autonomic control of the eye

Science.gov (United States)

McDougal, David H.; Gamlin, Paul D.

2016-01-01

The autonomic nervous system influences numerous ocular functions. It does this by way of parasympathetic innervation from postganglionic fibers that originate from neurons in the ciliary and pterygopalatine ganglia, and by way of sympathetic innervation from postganglionic fibers that originate from neurons in the superior cervical ganglion. Ciliary ganglion neurons project to the ciliary body and the sphincter pupillae muscle of the iris to control ocular accommodation and pupil constriction, respectively. Superior cervical ganglion neurons project to the dilator pupillae muscle of the iris to control pupil dilation. Ocular blood flow is controlled both via direct autonomic influences on the vasculature of the optic nerve, choroid, ciliary body, and iris, as well as via indirect influences on retinal blood flow. In mammals, this vasculature is innervated by vasodilatory fibers from the pterygopalatine ganglion, and by vasoconstrictive fibers from the superior cervical ganglion. Intraocular pressure is regulated primarily through the balance of aqueous humor formation and outflow. Autonomic regulation of ciliary body blood vessels and the ciliary epithelium is an important determinant of aqueous humor formation; autonomic regulation of the trabecular meshwork and episcleral blood vessels is an important determinant of aqueous humor outflow. These tissues are all innervated by fibers from the pterygopalatine and superior cervical ganglia. In addition to these classical autonomic pathways, trigeminal sensory fibers exert local, intrinsic influences on many of these regions of the eye, as well as on some neurons within the ciliary and pterygopalatine ganglia. PMID:25589275

14. The Influence of Autonomous Learning Training on College Students ’ Listening Proficiency

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LI Jun

2014-01-01

Recently it is a focus to orientate students towards effective autonomous learning within the field of foreign language education at home and abroad. It aims to prove the effectiveness of autonomous learning training in stimulating students ’aware-ness of autonomous learning and improving the application of learning strategies, so as to promote their listening proficiency. Along with a training, a questionnaire, listening proficiency tests, through analyzing the data collected from the questionnaires and the tests, it reveals the experimental class’s listening proficiency is apparently better than that of the control class. 80% stu-dents with different listening levels from the experimental class achieve progress to some degree. Autonomous learning training enables students to promote their listening proficiency as well as the awareness of autonomous learning.

15. Vestibular influences on autonomic cardiovascular control in humans

Science.gov (United States)

Biaggioni, I.; Costa, F.; Kaufmann, H.; Robertson, D. (Principal Investigator)

1998-01-01

There is substantial evidence that anatomical connections exist between vestibular and autonomic nuclei. Animal studies have shown functional interactions between the vestibular and autonomic systems. The nature of these interactions, however, is complex and has not been fully defined. Vestibular stimulation has been consistently found to reduce blood pressure in animals. Given the potential interaction between vestibular and autonomic pathways this finding could be explained by a reduction in sympathetic activity. However, rather than sympathetic inhibition, vestibular stimulation has consistently been shown to increase sympathetic outflow in cardiac and splanchnic vascular beds in most experimental models. Several clinical observations suggest that a link between vestibular and autonomic systems may also exist in humans. However, direct evidence for vestibular/autonomic interactions in humans is sparse. Motion sickness has been found to induce forearm vasodilation and reduce baroreflex gain, and head down neck flexion induces transient forearm and calf vasoconstriction. On the other hand, studies using optokinetic stimulation have found either very small, variable, or inconsistent changes in heart rate and blood pressure, despite substantial symptoms of motion sickness. Furthermore, caloric stimulation severe enough to produce nystagmus, dizziness, and nausea had no effect on sympathetic nerve activity measured directly with microneurography. No effect was observed on heart rate, blood pressure, or plasma norepinephrine. Several factors may explain the apparent discordance of these results, but more research is needed before we can define the potential importance of vestibular input to cardiovascular regulation and orthostatic tolerance in humans.

16. Autonomous underwater riser inspection tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Camerini, Claudio; Marnet, Robson [Petrobras SA, (Brazil); Freitas, Miguel; Von der Weid, Jean Pierre [CPTI/PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil); Artigas Lander, Ricardo [EngeMOVI, Curitiba, (Brazil)

2010-07-01

The detection of damage on the riser is a serious concern for pipeline companies. Visual examinations by remotely operated vehicle (ROV) are presently carried out to detect the defects but this process has limitations and is expensive. This paper presents the development of a new tool to ensure autonomous underwater riser inspection (AURI) that uses the riser itself for guidance. The AURI, which is autonomous in terms of control and power supply, is equipped with several cameras that perform a complete visual inspection of the riser with 100 % coverage of the external surface of the riser. The paper presents the detailed characteristics of the first AURI prototype, describes its launching procedure and provides the preliminary test results from pool testing. The results showed that the AURI is a viable system for autonomous riser inspection. Offshore tests on riser pipelines are scheduled to be performed shortly.

17. Autonomic Function in Neurodegenerative Diseases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Gertrud Laura; Jennum, Poul Jørgen

2013-01-01

involving brain stem areas, which is consistent with the Braak hypothesis. In the narcolepsy patients, it was shown that a reduced HRR to arousals was primarily predicted by hypocretin deficiency in both rapid-eye-movement (REM) and non-REM sleep, independent of cataplexy and other factors. The results......, which includes the cardiac centre and controls autonomic functions, and therefore autonomic dysfunction may be experienced early in the disease course. Sleep disturbances are also common non-motor complications of PD, and therefore PD patients undergo polysomnography at the Danish Center for Sleep...... narcolepsy patients on autonomic function and on the sleep transition rate. The results showed an attenuated heart rate response (HRR) in PD patients compared to controls and early PD (iRBD patients). Also iRBD patients had an attenuated HRR compared to control subjects, and the method to measure the HRR may...

18. Exploratory Research on the Effect of Autonomous Learners to Team Learning within Healthcare Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Patricia R.; Chalofsky, Neal

2005-01-01

How does individual learning impact team learning? Through an exploratory case study, data was collected from questionnaires, documentation review, observations, and interviews. Three themes emerged describing how an autonomous learner affected team learning. The results indicated that the autonomous learner influenced team learning through…

19. Discerning non-autonomous dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clemson, Philip T.; Stefanovska, Aneta, E-mail: aneta@lancaster.ac.uk

2014-09-30

Structure and function go hand in hand. However, while a complex structure can be relatively safely broken down into the minutest parts, and technology is now delving into nanoscales, the function of complex systems requires a completely different approach. Here the complexity clearly arises from nonlinear interactions, which prevents us from obtaining a realistic description of a system by dissecting it into its structural component parts. At best, the result of such investigations does not substantially add to our understanding or at worst it can even be misleading. Not surprisingly, the dynamics of complex systems, facilitated by increasing computational efficiency, is now readily tackled in the case of measured time series. Moreover, time series can now be collected in practically every branch of science and in any structural scale—from protein dynamics in a living cell to data collected in astrophysics or even via social networks. In searching for deterministic patterns in such data we are limited by the fact that no complex system in the real world is autonomous. Hence, as an alternative to the stochastic approach that is predominantly applied to data from inherently non-autonomous complex systems, theory and methods specifically tailored to non-autonomous systems are needed. Indeed, in the last decade we have faced a huge advance in mathematical methods, including the introduction of pullback attractors, as well as time series methods that cope with the most important characteristic of non-autonomous systems—their time-dependent behaviour. Here we review current methods for the analysis of non-autonomous dynamics including those for extracting properties of interactions and the direction of couplings. We illustrate each method by applying it to three sets of systems typical for chaotic, stochastic and non-autonomous behaviour. For the chaotic class we select the Lorenz system, for the stochastic the noise-forced Duffing system and for the non-autonomous

20. Autonomous Home Automated Hexapod Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on design and implementation of six legged robot that is capable of monitoring and performing house hold works independently. The Autonomous Home Automated Hexapod is developed with three AT89C52 microcontrollers which functions as brain of the robot to which all operating functions of each module are chronologically programmed in it. The legs of the robot were developed with 2 servo motors to provide two degree for each leg. Several additional sensors like TSOP1738 (IR, RF transmitter andreceiver, DS1307 (Real Time Clock have been embedded into robot in modular form to make it work autonomously.

1. Progress towards autonomous, intelligent systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Henry; Heer, Ewald

1987-01-01

An aggressive program has been initiated to develop, integrate, and implement autonomous systems technologies starting with today's expert systems and evolving to autonomous, intelligent systems by the end of the 1990s. This program includes core technology developments and demonstration projects for technology evaluation and validation. This paper discusses key operational frameworks in the content of systems autonomy applications and then identifies major technological challenges, primarily in artificial intelligence areas. Program content and progress made towards critical technologies and demonstrations that have been initiated to achieve the required future capabilities in the year 2000 era are discussed.

2. Discerning non-autonomous dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Structure and function go hand in hand. However, while a complex structure can be relatively safely broken down into the minutest parts, and technology is now delving into nanoscales, the function of complex systems requires a completely different approach. Here the complexity clearly arises from nonlinear interactions, which prevents us from obtaining a realistic description of a system by dissecting it into its structural component parts. At best, the result of such investigations does not substantially add to our understanding or at worst it can even be misleading. Not surprisingly, the dynamics of complex systems, facilitated by increasing computational efficiency, is now readily tackled in the case of measured time series. Moreover, time series can now be collected in practically every branch of science and in any structural scale—from protein dynamics in a living cell to data collected in astrophysics or even via social networks. In searching for deterministic patterns in such data we are limited by the fact that no complex system in the real world is autonomous. Hence, as an alternative to the stochastic approach that is predominantly applied to data from inherently non-autonomous complex systems, theory and methods specifically tailored to non-autonomous systems are needed. Indeed, in the last decade we have faced a huge advance in mathematical methods, including the introduction of pullback attractors, as well as time series methods that cope with the most important characteristic of non-autonomous systems—their time-dependent behaviour. Here we review current methods for the analysis of non-autonomous dynamics including those for extracting properties of interactions and the direction of couplings. We illustrate each method by applying it to three sets of systems typical for chaotic, stochastic and non-autonomous behaviour. For the chaotic class we select the Lorenz system, for the stochastic the noise-forced Duffing system and for the non-autonomous

3. Gas House Autonomous System Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Luke; Edsall, Ashley

2015-01-01

Gas House Autonomous System Monitoring (GHASM) will employ Integrated System Health Monitoring (ISHM) of cryogenic fluids in the High Pressure Gas Facility at Stennis Space Center. The preliminary focus of development incorporates the passive monitoring and eventual commanding of the Nitrogen System. ISHM offers generic system awareness, adept at using concepts rather than specific error cases. As an enabler for autonomy, ISHM provides capabilities inclusive of anomaly detection, diagnosis, and abnormality prediction. Advancing ISHM and Autonomous Operation functional capabilities enhances quality of data, optimizes safety, improves cost effectiveness, and has direct benefits to a wide spectrum of aerospace applications.

4. Intelligent, autonomous systems in space

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, H.; Heer, E.

1988-01-01

The Space Station is expected to be equipped with intelligent, autonomous capabilities; to achieve and incorporate these capabilities, the required technologies need to be identitifed, developed and validated within realistic application scenarios. The critical technologies for the development of intelligent, autonomous systems are discussed in the context of a generalized functional architecture. The present state of this technology implies that it be introduced and applied in an evolutionary process which must start during the Space Station design phase. An approach is proposed to accomplish design information acquisition and management for knowledge-base development.

5. Contingency Software in Autonomous Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lutz, Robyn; Patterson-Hine, Ann

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the development of contingency software for autonomous systems. Autonomous vehicles currently have a limited capacity to diagnose and mitigate failures. There is a need to be able to handle a broader range of contingencies. The goals of the project are: 1. Speed up diagnosis and mitigation of anomalous situations.2.Automatically handle contingencies, not just failures.3.Enable projects to select a degree of autonomy consistent with their needs and to incrementally introduce more autonomy.4.Augment on-board fault protection with verified contingency scripts

6. Reactive navigational controller for autonomous mobile robots

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Scott

1993-12-01

Autonomous mobile robots must respond to external challenges and threats in real time. One way to satisfy this requirement is to use a fast low level intelligence to react to local environment changes. A fast reactive controller has been implemented which performs the task of real time local navigation by integrating primitive elements of perception, planning, and control. Competing achievement and constraint behaviors are used to allow abstract qualitative specification of navigation goals. An interface is provided to allow a higher level deliberative intelligence with a more global perspective to set local goals for the reactive controller. The reactive controller's simplistic strategies may not always succeed, so a means to monitor and redirect the reactive controller is provided.

7. Autonomic nervous dysfunction in hamsters infected with West Nile virus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Wang

Full Text Available Clinical studies and case reports clearly document that West Nile virus (WNV can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI complications. Other functions controlled by the autonomic nervous system may also be directly affected by WNV, such as bladder and cardiac functions. To investigate how WNV can cause autonomic dysfunctions, we focused on the cardiac and GI dysfunctions of rodents infected with WNV. Infected hamsters had distension of the stomach and intestines at day 9 after viral challenge. GI motility was detected by a dye retention assay; phenol red dye was retained more in the stomachs of infected hamsters as compared to sham-infected hamsters. The amplitudes of electromygraphs (EMGs of intestinal muscles were significantly reduced. Myenteric neurons that innervate the intestines, in addition to neurons in the brain stem, were identified to be infected with WNV. These data suggest that infected neurons controlling autonomic function were the cause of GI dysfunction in WNV-infected hamsters. Using radiotelemetry to record electrocardiograms and to measure heart rate variability (HRV, a well-accepted readout for autonomic function, we determined that HRV and autonomic function were suppressed in WNV-infected hamsters. Cardiac histopathology was observed at day 9 only in the right atrium, which was coincident with WNV staining. A subset of WNV infected cells was identified among cells with hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated potassium channel 4 (HCN4 as a marker for cells in the sinoatrial (SA and atrioventricular (AV nodes. The unique contribution of this study is the discovery that WNV infection of hamsters can lead to autonomic dysfunction as determined by reduced HRV and reduced EMG amplitudes of the GI tract. These data may model autonomic dysfunction of the human West Nile neurological disease.

8. Network Protection Codes: Providing Self-healing in Autonomic Networks Using Network Coding

CERN Document Server

Aly, Salah A

2008-01-01

Protecting against link failures in autonomic communication networks is essential to increase robustness, accessibility, and reliability of data transmission. Recently, network coding has been proposed as a solution to provide agile and cost efficient network self-healing and self-protection against link failures, which does not require data rerouting, or packet retransmission. To achieve this, separate paths have to be provisioned to carry encoded packets, hence requiring either the addition of extra links, or reserving some of the resources for this purpose. In this paper we introduce autonomic self-healing and self-protection network strategies based on network coding and reduced capacity, a technique known as \\emph{network protection codes} (NPC). In these strategies, an autonomic communication is able to provide self-protection and self-recovery from various network failures affecting network operations. The techniques improve services and enhance reliability of autonomic communication. In this case port...

9. A Robust Compositional Architecture for Autonomous Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Brat, Guillaume; Deney, Ewen; Farrell, Kimberley; Giannakopoulos, Dimitra; Jonsson, Ari; Frank, Jeremy; Bobby, Mark; Carpenter, Todd; Estlin, Tara

2006-01-01

Space exploration applications can benefit greatly from autonomous systems. Great distances, limited communications and high costs make direct operations impossible while mandating operations reliability and efficiency beyond what traditional commanding can provide. Autonomous systems can improve reliability and enhance spacecraft capability significantly. However, there is reluctance to utilizing autonomous systems. In part this is due to general hesitation about new technologies, but a more tangible concern is that of reliability of predictability of autonomous software. In this paper, we describe ongoing work aimed at increasing robustness and predictability of autonomous software, with the ultimate goal of building trust in such systems. The work combines state-of-the-art technologies and capabilities in autonomous systems with advanced validation and synthesis techniques. The focus of this paper is on the autonomous system architecture that has been defined, and on how it enables the application of validation techniques for resulting autonomous systems.

10. Autonomic Modulation by Electrical Stimulation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System: An Emerging Intervention for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Bo; Lu, Zhibing; He, Wenbo; Huang, Bing; Jiang, Hong

2016-06-01

The cardiac autonomic nervous system has been known to play an important role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. Autonomic modulation by electrical stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which increases the parasympathetic activity and suppresses the sympathetic activity, is emerging as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Here, we review the recent literature on autonomic modulation by electrical stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, including vagus nerve stimulation, transcutaneous auricular vagal stimulation, spinal cord stimulation, and ganglionated plexi stimulation, in the treatment of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular arrhythmias. PMID:26914959

11. Aquatic flight inspired propulsion for autonomous underwater vehicles

OpenAIRE

Man, S.

2015-01-01

Modern Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology has a number of limitations and one of these is vehicle manoeuvrability. Conventional flight style AUVs generally have turning circle diameters of five or more vehicle lengths, but most marine animals can turn in under one body length. This shows there is merit in looking at marine animals for inspiration to improve the manoeuvrability of AUVs. Aquatic flight propulsion is one marine animal propulsion strategy that was identified early in ...

12. An analysis of the Joint Strike Fighter autonomic logistics system

OpenAIRE

Tsoutis, Anastasios.

2006-01-01

Traditionally in the Navy/Marine Corps, in an effort to be proactive and prevent failures, maintenance and inspections are performed at fixed intervals independent of aircraft status. The current preventive maintenance strategy services and replaces certain components on a predetermined schedule. Additionally, the current Navy/Marine Corps aircraft repair process is reactive. When failures occur, the logistics system - maintenance and supply - respond. The Joint Strike Fighter Autonomic L...

13. Design of and Decentralized Path Planning for Platoons of Miniature Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Sylvester, Caleb Allen

2004-01-01

Many successful control schemes for land-based or air-based groups, or platoons, of autonomous vehicles cannot be implemented in underwater applications because of their dependence upon high-bandwidth communication. In current strategies for controlling groups of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), platoon size remains limited by communication bandwidth requirements. So, there is great need for advances in low-bandwidth control techniques for arbitrarily large platoons of AUVs. This t...

14. Effective Method for Autonomous Simultaneous Localization and Map Building in Unknown Indoor Environments

OpenAIRE

Ip, Y.L.; Rad, A.B.; Wong, Y. K.

2007-01-01

In this chapter, a new autonomous exploration strategy for mobile robot was presented and extensively tested via simulation and experimental trials. The essential mechanisms used included a HFFS reactive navigation scheme, EAFC map extraction algorithm, SLAM process, an open space evaluation system cooperating with probability theory and Bayesian update rule and a novel navigation point generation system. The proposed autonomous exploration algorithm is a version of combination of a robust re...

15. Hazard Map for Autonomous Navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riis, Troels

This dissertation describes the work performed in the area of using image analysis in the process of landing a spacecraft autonomously and safely on the surface of the Moon. This is suggested to be done using a Hazard Map. The correspondence problem between several Hazard Maps are investigated...

16. The Bering Autonomous Target Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, John Leif; Denver, Troelz; Betto, Maurizio;

2003-01-01

telescopes. The method has proven robust in operation and is well suited for use onboard spacecraft. As development target for the method and the associated instrumentation the asteroid research mission Bering has been used. Onboard a spacecraft, the autonomous detection is centered around the fully...

17. Computing architecture for autonomous microgrids

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsmith, Steven Y.

2015-09-29

A computing architecture that facilitates autonomously controlling operations of a microgrid is described herein. A microgrid network includes numerous computing devices that execute intelligent agents, each of which is assigned to a particular entity (load, source, storage device, or switch) in the microgrid. The intelligent agents can execute in accordance with predefined protocols to collectively perform computations that facilitate uninterrupted control of the .

18. Autonomous systems for plant protection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griepentrog, Hans W.; Ruckelshausen, Arno; Jørgensen, Rasmus Nyholm;

2010-01-01

autonomous operations related to crop protection probably commercially available in the near future. Scouting and monitoring together with the efficient application of chemicals or mechanical treatments are operations which can be successful automated. Drawbacks are that current systems are lacking robust...

19. Autonomous Duffing-Holmes Type Chaotic Oscillator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tamaševičius, A.; Bumelienė, S.; Kirvaitis, R.; Mykolaitis, G.; Tamaševičiūtė, E.; Lindberg, Erik

2009-01-01

We have designed and built a novel Duffing type autonomous 3rd-order chaotic oscillator. In comparison with the common non-autonomous DuffingHolmes type oscillator the autonomous circuit has an internal positive feedback loop instead of an external periodic drive source. In addition, it is...

20. Indoor Autonomous Airship Control and Navigation System

OpenAIRE

Fedorenko Roman; Krukhmalev Victor

2016-01-01

The paper presents an automatic control system for autonomous airship. The system is designed to organize autonomous flight of the mini-airship performing flight mission defined from ground control station. Structure, hardware and software implementation of indoor autonomous airship and its navigation and control system as well as experiment results are described.

1. Indoor Autonomous Airship Control and Navigation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fedorenko Roman

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents an automatic control system for autonomous airship. The system is designed to organize autonomous flight of the mini-airship performing flight mission defined from ground control station. Structure, hardware and software implementation of indoor autonomous airship and its navigation and control system as well as experiment results are described.

2. Vision Analysis System for Autonomous Landing of Micro Drone

OpenAIRE

Skoczylas Marcin

2014-01-01

This article describes a concept of an autonomous landing system of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). This type of device is equipped with the functionality of FPV observation (First Person View) and radio broadcasting of video or image data. The problem is performance of a system of autonomous drone landing in an area with dimensions of 1m × 1m, based on CCD camera coupled with an image transmission system connected to a base station. Captured images are scanned and landing marker is detected. ...

3. Gyrosonics a Novel Stimulant for Autonomic Nervous System

CERN Document Server

Ghatak, S K; Choudhuri, R; Banerjee, S

2009-01-01

Gyrosonics refers to novel audio binaural stimulus that produces rotational perceptions of sound movement in head at a particular predetermined frequency. Therapeutic effect observed with this is considered to be associated with modification of arousal of autonomic nervous system. The heart rate variability (HRV), non-invasive measure of autonomic nervous system, has been measured for group of 30 subjects for pre- and post- gyrosonic installation. The time- and frequency- domain analysis of HRV results show overall decrease in sympathetic response and increase in para- sympathetic response due to listening of gyro sonics.

4. Continuous Microfluidic Self-Assembly of Hybrid Janus-Like Vesicular Motors: Autonomous Propulsion and Controlled Release.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Liu, Yijing; He, Jie; Hourwitz, Matthew J; Yang, Yunlong; Fourkas, John T; Han, Xiaojun; Nie, Zhihong

2015-08-01

A microfluidic strategy is developed for the continuous fabrication of hybrid Janus vesicular motors that uniquely combine the capability of autonomous propulsion and externally controlled delivery of encapsulated payload. PMID:25925707

5. Autonomic evaluation of hepatitis C virus infected patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Mattos Coutinho

2013-08-01

Full Text Available There are few studies reporting the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV infection and disautonomia. We have evaluated the autonomic cardiovascular function in 12 patients with sensory small-fiber polyneuropathy infected by HCV. The mean age was 49±13 years old. The mean infection time was 9.6 years in six (50% patients. Thermal and pinprick hypoesthesia was observed in distal legs in all patients. Autonomic symptoms were referred by eight (66.7% patients. Among patients with abnormal autonomic cardiovascular test, five (41.7% showed abnormal results in two or more tests. Valsalva maneuver was abnormal in seven (58.3% patients. We can consider that there is an association of both parasympathetic and sympathetic efferent cardiovascular dysfunction in this group of patients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nesrin HARK SÖYLEMEZ

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to determine the perceptions of graduate students about autonomous learning skills. Sample of the research is made of 37 graduate students studying in 2013-2014 academic year, fall semester. Qualitative research method is used in this research. Open ended question form is used as data collection tool in the research. Descriptive analysis technique is used in order to analyze the data obtained from the research. Data are presented by taking the questions in the form into consideration. On the other hand, direct quotations are included in order to reflect the views of graduate students. According to the findings obtained in the research; graduate students have autonomous learning skills. Besides that, most of the students said that they can reach sources and materials that they need, which is one of the autonomous learning characteristics, they determine their goals by taking learning requirements into consideration, use note-taking strategy often and evaluate their learning by making practices. One other important finding obtained from the research is that according to most of the students, the researches that they make during graduate education process make significant contributions to autonomous learning skills.

7. Autonomic computing enabled cooperative networked design

CERN Document Server

Wodczak, Michal

2014-01-01

This book introduces the concept of autonomic computing driven cooperative networked system design from an architectural perspective. As such it leverages and capitalises on the relevant advancements in both the realms of autonomic computing and networking by welding them closely together. In particular, a multi-faceted Autonomic Cooperative System Architectural Model is defined which incorporates the notion of Autonomic Cooperative Behaviour being orchestrated by the Autonomic Cooperative Networking Protocol of a cross-layer nature. The overall proposed solution not only advocates for the inc

Science.gov (United States)

Wehner, Walter S., Jr.

2013-01-01

Working on the ACLO (Autonomous Cryogenics Loading Operations) project I have had the opportunity to add functionality to the physics simulation software known as KATE (Knowledgebase Autonomous Test Engineer), create a new application allowing WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) creation of KATE schematic files and begin a preliminary design and implementation of a new subsystem that will provide vision services on the IHM (Integrated Health Management) bus. The functionality I added to KATE over the past few months includes a dynamic visual representation of the fluid height in a pipe based on number of gallons of fluid in the pipe and implementing the IHM bus connection within KATE. I also fixed a broken feature in the system called the Browser Display, implemented many bug fixes and made changes to the GUI (Graphical User Interface).

9. Maximizing Mission Science Return Through use of Spacecraft Autonomy: Active Volcanism and the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, S.; Davies, A. G.; Sherwood, R.; ASE Science Team

2005-08-01

Deep-space missions have been unable to react to dynamic events as encounter observation sequences are planned well in advance. In the case of planet, asteroid and comet fly-bys, the limited resources available are allocated to individual instruments long beforehand. However, for monitoring or mapping mission phases, alternative strategies and technologies are now available. Now, onboard data processing allows greater spacecraft and instrument flexibility, affording the ability to react rapidly to dynamic events, and increasing the science content of returned data. Such new technology has already been successfully demonstrated in the form of the New Millennium Program Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE). In 2004 ASE successfully demonstrated advanced autonomous science data acquisition, processing, and product downlink prioritization, as well as autonomous fault detection and spacecraft command and control. ASE is software onboard the EO-1 spacecraft, in Earth-orbit. ASE controlled the Hyperion instrument, a hyperspectral imager with 220 wavelengths from 0.4 to 2.5 μm and 30 m/pixel spatial resolution. ASE demonstrated that spacecraft autonomy will be advantageous to future missions by making the best use of limited downlink, e.g., by increasing science content per byte of returned data, and by avoiding the return of null (no-change/no feature) datasets. and by overcoming communication delays through decision-making onboard enabling fast reaction to dynamic events. We envision this flight-proven science-driven spacecraft command-and-control technology being used on a wide range of missions to search for and monitor dynamic events, such as active, high-temperature volcanism on Earth and Io, and cryovolcanism on Triton and possibly other icy satellites. Acknowledgements: Part of this work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA. We thank the EO-1 Flight Management Team and Chris Stevens and Art

10. Mobile autonomous robot for radiological surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The robotics development group at the Savannah River Laboratory (SRL) is developing a mobile autonomous robot that performs radiological surveys of potentially contaminated floors. The robot is called SIMON, which stands for Semi-Intelligent Mobile Observing Navigator. Certain areas of SRL are classified as radiologically controlled areas (RCAs). In an RCA, radioactive materials are frequently handled by workers, and thus, the potential for contamination is ever present. Current methods used for floor radiological surveying includes labor-intensive manual scanning or random smearing of certain floor locations. An autonomous robot such as SIMON performs the surveying task in a much more efficient manner and will track down contamination before it is contacted by humans. SIMON scans floors at a speed of 1 in./s and stops and alarms upon encountering contamination. Its environment is well defined, consisting of smooth building floors with wide corridors. The kind of contaminations that SIMON is capable of detecting are alpha and beta-gamma. The contamination levels of interest are low to moderate

11. Quantifying Emergent Behavior of Autonomous Robots

Science.gov (United States)

Martius, Georg; Olbrich, Eckehard

2015-10-01

Quantifying behaviors of robots which were generated autonomously from task-independent objective functions is an important prerequisite for objective comparisons of algorithms and movements of animals. The temporal sequence of such a behavior can be considered as a time series and hence complexity measures developed for time series are natural candidates for its quantification. The predictive information and the excess entropy are such complexity measures. They measure the amount of information the past contains about the future and thus quantify the nonrandom structure in the temporal sequence. However, when using these measures for systems with continuous states one has to deal with the fact that their values will depend on the resolution with which the systems states are observed. For deterministic systems both measures will diverge with increasing resolution. We therefore propose a new decomposition of the excess entropy in resolution dependent and resolution independent parts and discuss how they depend on the dimensionality of the dynamics, correlations and the noise level. For the practical estimation we propose to use estimates based on the correlation integral instead of the direct estimation of the mutual information using the algorithm by Kraskov et al. (2004) which is based on next neighbor statistics because the latter allows less control of the scale dependencies. Using our algorithm we are able to show how autonomous learning generates behavior of increasing complexity with increasing learning duration.

12. Quantifying Emergent Behavior of Autonomous Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georg Martius

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Quantifying behaviors of robots which were generated autonomously from task-independent objective functions is an important prerequisite for objective comparisons of algorithms and movements of animals. The temporal sequence of such a behavior can be considered as a time series and hence complexity measures developed for time series are natural candidates for its quantification. The predictive information and the excess entropy are such complexity measures. They measure the amount of information the past contains about the future and thus quantify the nonrandom structure in the temporal sequence. However, when using these measures for systems with continuous states one has to deal with the fact that their values will depend on the resolution with which the systems states are observed. For deterministic systems both measures will diverge with increasing resolution. We therefore propose a new decomposition of the excess entropy in resolution dependent and resolution independent parts and discuss how they depend on the dimensionality of the dynamics, correlations and the noise level. For the practical estimation we propose to use estimates based on the correlation integral instead of the direct estimation of the mutual information based on next neighbor statistics because the latter allows less control of the scale dependencies. Using our algorithm we are able to show how autonomous learning generates behavior of increasing complexity with increasing learning duration.

13. Autonomous Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Based on Chaotic Bionics Theory

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xiao-lei Yu; Yong-rong Sun; Jian-ye Liu; Bing-wen Chen

2009-01-01

In this paper a new reactive mechanism based on perception-action bionics for multi-sensory integration applied to Un-manned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) navigation is proposed. The strategy is inspired by the olfactory bulb neural activity observed in rabbits subject to external stimuli. The new UAV navigation technique exploits the use of a muitiscroil chaotic system which i sable to be controlled in real-time towards less complex orbits, like periodic orbits or equilibrium points, considered as perceptive orbits. These are subject to real-time modifications on the basis of environment changes acquired through a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensory system. The mathematical details of the approach are given including simulation results in a virtual en-vironment. The results demonstrate the capability of autonomous navigation for UAV based on chaotic bionics theory in com-plex spatial environments.

14. Development of autonomous operation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To enhance operation reliability of nuclear plants by removing human factors, study on an autonomous operation system has been carried out to substitute artificial intelligence (AI) for plant operators and, in addition, traditional controllers used in existing plants. For construction of the AI system, structurization of knowledge on the basis of the principles such as physical laws, function and structure of relevant objects and generalization of problem solving process are intended. A hierarchical distributed cooperative system configuration in employed because it is superior from the viewpoint of dynamical reorganization of system functions. This configuration is realized by an object-oriented multi-agent system. Construction of a prototype system was planned and the conceptual design was made for FBR plant in order to evaluate applicability of AI to the autonomous operation and to have a prospect for the realization of the system. The prototype system executes diagnosis, state evaluation, operation and control for the main plant subsystems. (author)

15. An Autonomously Reciprocating Transmembrane Nanoactuator.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Matthew A; Cockroft, Scott L

2016-01-22

Biological molecular machines operate far from equilibrium by coupling chemical potential to repeated cycles of dissipative nanomechanical motion. This principle has been exploited in supramolecular systems that exhibit true machine behavior in solution and on surfaces. However, designed membrane-spanning assemblies developed to date have been limited to simple switches or stochastic shuttles, and true machine behavior has remained elusive. Herein, we present a transmembrane nanoactuator that turns over chemical fuel to drive autonomous reciprocating (back-and-forth) nanomechanical motion. Ratcheted reciprocating motion of a DNA/PEG copolymer threaded through a single α-hemolysin pore was induced by a combination of DNA strand displacement processes and enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Ion-current recordings revealed saw-tooth patterns, indicating that the assemblies operated in autonomous, asymmetric cycles of conformational change at rates of up to one cycle per minute. PMID:26661295

16. Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in diabetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spallone, Vincenza; Ziegler, Dan; Freeman, Roy;

2011-01-01

Cardiovascular Autonomic Neuropathy (CAN) Subcommittee of Toronto Consensus Panel on Diabetic Neuropathy worked to update CAN guidelines, with regard to epidemiology, clinical impact, diagnosis, usefulness of CAN testing, and management. CAN is the impairment of cardiovascular autonomic control...... in the setting of diabetes after exclusion of other causes. The prevalence of confirmed CAN is around 20%, and increases up to 65% with age and diabetes duration. Established risk factors for CAN are glycaemic control in type 1 and a combination of hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and glycaemic control...... in type 2 diabetes. CAN is a risk marker of mortality and cardiovascular morbidity, and possibly a progression promoter of diabetic nephropathy. Criteria for CAN diagnosis and staging are: 1. one abnormal cardio-vagal test identifies possible or early CAN; 2. at least two abnormal cardio-vagal tests...

17. Treatment of gastrointestinal autonomic neuropathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Törnblom, Hans

2016-03-01

The symptoms caused by gastrointestinal autonomic neuropathy in diabetes mellitus is important to highlight since it affects a large proportion of people with diabetes, regardless of whether this is type 1 or type 2. Gastroparesis and general signs of bowel dysfunction, such as constipation, diarrhoea and abdominal pain are most often encountered and involve both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options. This mini-review summarises a presentation given at the 'Diagnosis and treatment of autonomic diabetic neuropathy in the gut' symposium at the 2015 annual meeting of the EASD. It is accompanied by another mini-review on a topic from this symposium (by Azpiroz and Malagelada, DOI: 10.1007/s00125-015-3831-1 ) and a commentary by the Session Chair, Péter Kempler (DOI: 10.1007/s00125-015-3826-y ). PMID:26634570

18. Advancing Autonomous Structural Health Monitoring

OpenAIRE

Grisso, Benjamin Luke

2007-01-01

The focus of this dissertation is aimed at advancing autonomous structural health monitoring. All the research is based on developing the impedance method for monitoring structural health. The impedance technique utilizes piezoelectric patches to interrogate structures of interested with high frequency excitations. These patches are bonded directly to the structure, so information about the health of the structure can be seen in the electrical impedance of the piezoelectric patch. However, tr...

19. Insurance for autonomous underwater vehicles

OpenAIRE

Griffiths, G; N Bose; Ferguson, J.; Blidberg, D.R.

2007-01-01

The background and practice of insurance for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are examined. Key topics include: relationships between clients, brokers and underwriters; contract wording to provide appropriate coverage; and actions to take when an incident occurs. Factors that affect cost of insurance are discussed, including level of autonomy, team experience and operating environment. Four case studies from industry and academia illustrate how AUV insurance has worked in practice. The p...

20. Autonomous gliding entry guidance with

OpenAIRE

Guo Jie; Wu Xuzhong; Tang Shengjing

2015-01-01

This paper presents a novel three-dimensional autonomous entry guidance for relatively high lift-to-drag ratio vehicles satisfying geographic constraints and other path constraints. The guidance is composed of onboard trajectory planning and robust trajectory tracking. For trajectory planning, a longitudinal sub-planner is introduced to generate a feasible drag-versus-energy profile by using the interpolation between upper boundary and lower boundary of entry corridor to get the desired traje...

1. Robotic perception for autonomous navigation

OpenAIRE

Furlan,

2014-01-01

This thesis presents the research work the author carried on during his PhD on the topic of robotic perception for autonomous navigation. In particular, the efforts focus on the Self-Localization, Scene Understanding and Object Detection and Tracking problems, proposing for each of these three topics one or more approaches that present an improvement over the state-of-the-art. In some cases the proposed approaches mutually exploit the generated information to improve the quality of the final ...

2. Prototype design for autonomous vehicle

OpenAIRE

2015-01-01

This thesis describes the mechanical design of a prototype vehicle developed for a company located in California. The project was based on an earlier vehicle located at KTH, Transport Labs, and investigated if the existing concept for the vehicle would work as a concept for an autonomous prototype, with focus on component layout and increased forces. The design of the vehicle is based on a concept with a carbon fiber bottom plate, two separate suspension modules with electric hub motors and s...

3. Design of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

OpenAIRE

2011-01-01

There are concerns about the impact that global warming will have on our environment, and which will inevitably result in expanding deserts and rising water levels. While a lot of underwater vehicles are utilized, AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) were considered and chosen, as the most suitable tool for conduction survey concerning these global environmental problems. AUVs can comprehensive survey because the vehicle does not have to be connected to the support vessel by tether cable. Whe...

4. Autonomous Behavior of Computational Agents

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vaculín, Roman; Neruda, Roman

Wien : Springer-Verlag, 2005 - (Ribiero, B.; Albrecht, R.; Dobnikar, A.; Pearson, D.; Steele, N.), s. 514-517 ISBN 3-211-24934-6. [ICANNGA'2005 /7./. Coimbra (PT), 21.03.2005-23.03.2005] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET100300419 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : computational agents * autonomous behavior * reasoning Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

5. Autonomic function testing aboard the ISS using “PNEUMOCARD”

Science.gov (United States)

Baevsky, R. M.; Funtova, I. I.; Diedrich, A.; Chernikova, A. G.; Drescher, J.; Baranov, V. M.; Tank, J.

2009-10-01

Investigations of blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV) during long term space flights on board the "ISS" have shown characteristic changes of autonomic cardiovascular control. Therefore, alterations of the autonomic nervous system occurring during spaceflight may be responsible for in- and post-flight disturbances. The device "Pneumocard" was developed to further investigate autonomic cardiovascular and respiratory function aboard the ISS. The hard-software diagnostic complex "Pneumocard" was used during in-flight experiment aboard ISS for autonomic function testing. ECG, photoplethysmography, respiration, transthoracic bioimpedance and seismocardiography were assessed in one male cosmonaut (flight lengths six month). Recordings were made prior to the flight, late during flight, and post-flight during spontaneous respiration and controlled respiration at different rates. HR remained stable during flight. The values were comparable to supine measurements on earth. Respiratory frequency and blood pressure decreased during flight. Post flight HR and BP values increased compared to in-flight data exceeding pre-flight values. Cardiac time intervals did not change dramatically during flight. Pulse wave transit time decreased during flight. The maximum of the first time derivative of the impedance cardiogram, which is highly correlated with stroke volume was not reduced in-flight. Our results demonstrate that autonomic function testing aboard the ISS using "Pneumocard" is feasible and generates data of good quality. Despite the decrease in BP, pulse wave transit time was found reduced in space as shown earlier. However, cardiac output did not decrease profoundly in the investigated cosmonaut. Autonomic testing during space flight detects individual changes in cardiovascular control and may add important information to standard medical control. The recent plans to support a flight to Mars, makes these kinds of observations all the more relevant

6. Frequency of GP communication addressing the patient's resources and coping strategies in medical interviews: a video-based observational study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finset Arnstein

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is increasing focus on patient-centred communicative approaches in medical consultations, but few studies have shown the extent to which patients' positive coping strategies and psychological assets are addressed by general practitioners (GPs on a regular day at the office. This study measures the frequency of GPs' use of questions and comments addressing their patients' coping strategies or resources. Methods Twenty-four GPs were video-recorded in 145 consultations. The consultations were coded using a modified version of the Roter Interaction Analysis System. In this study, we also developed four additional coding categories based on cognitive therapy and solution-focused therapy: attribution, resources, coping, and solution-focused techniques. The reliability between coders was established, a factor analysis was applied to test the relationship between the communication categories, and a tentative validating exercise was performed by reversed coding. Results Cohen's kappa was 0.52 between coders. Only 2% of the utterances could be categorized as resource or coping oriented. Six GPs contributed 59% of these utterances. The factor analysis identified two factors, one task oriented and one patient oriented. Conclusion The frequency of communication about coping and resources was very low. Communication skills training for GPs in this field is required. Further validating studies of this kind of measurement tool are warranted.

7. Semi autonomous mine detection system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Douglas Few; Roelof Versteeg; Herman Herman

2010-04-01

CMMAD is a risk reduction effort for the AMDS program. As part of CMMAD, multiple instances of semi autonomous robotic mine detection systems were created. Each instance consists of a robotic vehicle equipped with sensors required for navigation and marking, a countermine sensors and a number of integrated software packages which provide for real time processing of the countermine sensor data as well as integrated control of the robotic vehicle, the sensor actuator and the sensor. These systems were used to investigate critical interest functions (CIF) related to countermine robotic systems. To address the autonomy CIF, the INL developed RIK was extended to allow for interaction with a mine sensor processing code (MSPC). In limited field testing this system performed well in detecting, marking and avoiding both AT and AP mines. Based on the results of the CMMAD investigation we conclude that autonomous robotic mine detection is feasible. In addition, CMMAD contributed critical technical advances with regard to sensing, data processing and sensor manipulation, which will advance the performance of future fieldable systems. As a result, no substantial technical barriers exist which preclude – from an autonomous robotic perspective – the rapid development and deployment of fieldable systems.

8. Dynamic formation control for autonomous underwater vehicles

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

燕雪峰; 古锋; 宋琛; 胡晓琳; 潘毅

2014-01-01

Path planning and formation structure forming are two of the most important problems for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to collaborate with each other. In this work, a dynamic formation model was proposed, in which several algorithms were developed for the complex underwater environment. Dimension changeable particle swarm algorithm was used to find an optimized path by dynamically adjusting the number and the distribution of the path nodes. Position relationship based obstacle avoidance algorithm was designed to detour along the edges of obstacles. Virtual potential point based formation-keeping algorithm was employed by incorporating dynamic strategies which were decided by the current states of the formation. The virtual potential point was used to keep the formation structure when the AUV or the formation was deviated. Simulation results show that an optimal path can be dynamically planned with fewer path nodes and smaller fitness, even with a concave obstacle. It has been also proven that different formation-keeping strategies can be adaptively selected and the formation can change its structure in a narrow area and restore back after passing the obstacle.

9. CARMA observations of massive Planck-discovered cluster candidates at z>0.5 associated with WISE overdensities: strategy, observations and validation

CERN Document Server

Rodriguez-Gonzalvez, Carmen; Chary, Ranga Ram

2014-01-01

We present 1-2 arcmin spatial resolution CARMA-8 31-GHz observations towards 19 unconfirmed Planck cluster candidates, selected to have significant galaxy overdensities from the WISE early data release and thought to be at z>1 from the WISE colors of the putative brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find a Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) detection in the CARMA-8 data towards 9 candidate clusters, where one detection is considered tentative. For each cluster candidate we present CARMA-8 maps, a study of their radio-source environment and we assess the reliability of the SZ detection. The CARMA SZ detections appear to be SZ-bright, with the mean, primary-beam-corrected peak flux density of the decrement being -2.9mJy/beam with a standard deviation of 0.8, and are typically offset from the Planck position by approximately 80 arcsec. Using archival imaging data in the vicinity of the CARMA SZ centroids, we present evidence that one cluster matches Abell 586-a known z~0.2 cluster; four candidate clusters are likely to have 0...

10. Design and Implementation of an Autonomous Robot Soccer System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ching-Chang Wong

2013-05-01

Full Text Available A design and implementation method of a robot soccer system with three vision‐based autonomous robots is proposed in this paper. A hierarchical architecture with four independent layers: (a information layer, (b strategy layer, (c tactics layer, and (d execution layer, is proposed to construct a flexible and robust vision‐based autonomous robot soccer system efficiently. Five mechanisms, including (a a two‐dimensional neck mechanism, (b dribbling mechanism, (c shooting mechanism, (d aiming mechanism, and (e flexible movement mechanism, are proposed to mean the robot with multiple functions can win the game. A method based on data obtained from a compass and a vision sensor is proposed to determine the location of the robot on the field. In the strategy design, a hierarchical architecture of decision based on the finite‐state transition mechanism for the field players and the goalkeeper is proposed to solve varied situations in the robot soccer game. Three vision‐based robots are implemented and some real competition results in the FIRA Cup are presented to illustrate the validity and feasibility of the proposed method in autonomous robot soccer system design.

11. Guidance in Reading Strategies: A First Step Towards Autonomous Learning in a Semi-Distance Education Program Guía en estrategias de lectura: un primer paso hacia el aprendizaje autónomo en un programa de educación semi-presencial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertha Ramos Holguín

2009-04-01

12. An efficient phased mission reliability analysis for autonomous vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Remenyte-Prescott, R., E-mail: R.Remenyte-Prescott@nottingham.ac.u [Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Andrews, J.D. [Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD (United Kingdom); Chung, P.W.H. [Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

2010-03-15

Autonomous systems are becoming more commonly used, especially in hazardous situations. Such systems are expected to make their own decisions about future actions when some capabilities degrade due to failures of their subsystems. Such decisions are made without human input, therefore they need to be well-informed in a short time when the situation is analysed and future consequences of the failure are estimated. The future planning of the mission should take account of the likelihood of mission failure. The reliability analysis for autonomous systems can be performed using the methodologies developed for phased mission analysis, where the causes of failure for each phase in the mission can be expressed by fault trees. Unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) are of a particular interest in the aeronautical industry, where it is a long term ambition to operate them routinely in civil airspace. Safety is the main requirement for the UAV operation and the calculation of failure probability of each phase and the overall mission is the topic of this paper. When components or subsystems fail or environmental conditions throughout the mission change, these changes can affect the future mission. The new proposed methodology takes into account the available diagnostics data and is used to predict future capabilities of the UAV in real time. Since this methodology is based on the efficient BDD method, the quickly provided advice can be used in making decisions. When failures occur appropriate actions are required in order to preserve safety of the autonomous vehicle. The overall decision making strategy for autonomous vehicles is explained in this paper. Some limitations of the methodology are discussed and further improvements are presented based on experimental results.

13. An efficient phased mission reliability analysis for autonomous vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Autonomous systems are becoming more commonly used, especially in hazardous situations. Such systems are expected to make their own decisions about future actions when some capabilities degrade due to failures of their subsystems. Such decisions are made without human input, therefore they need to be well-informed in a short time when the situation is analysed and future consequences of the failure are estimated. The future planning of the mission should take account of the likelihood of mission failure. The reliability analysis for autonomous systems can be performed using the methodologies developed for phased mission analysis, where the causes of failure for each phase in the mission can be expressed by fault trees. Unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs) are of a particular interest in the aeronautical industry, where it is a long term ambition to operate them routinely in civil airspace. Safety is the main requirement for the UAV operation and the calculation of failure probability of each phase and the overall mission is the topic of this paper. When components or subsystems fail or environmental conditions throughout the mission change, these changes can affect the future mission. The new proposed methodology takes into account the available diagnostics data and is used to predict future capabilities of the UAV in real time. Since this methodology is based on the efficient BDD method, the quickly provided advice can be used in making decisions. When failures occur appropriate actions are required in order to preserve safety of the autonomous vehicle. The overall decision making strategy for autonomous vehicles is explained in this paper. Some limitations of the methodology are discussed and further improvements are presented based on experimental results.

14. Strategies to Make Ramadan Fasting Safer in Type 2 Diabetics: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Observational Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Shaun Wen Huey; Lee, Jun Yang; Tan, Christina San San; Wong, Chee Piau

2016-01-01

Ramadan is the holy month for Muslims whereby they fast from predawn to after sunset and is observed by all healthy Muslim adults as well as a large population of type 2 diabetic Muslims.To determine the comparative effectiveness of various strategies that have been used for type 2 diabetic Muslim who fast during Ramadan.A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies (RCT) as well as observational studies for patients with type 2 diabetes who fasted during Ramadan was conducted. Eight databases were searched from January 1980 through October 2015 for relevant studies. Two reviewers independently screened and assessed study for eligibility, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted relevant data. A network meta-analysis for each outcome was fitted separately, combining direct and indirect evidence for each comparison.Twenty-nine studies, 16 RCTs and 13 observational studies each met the inclusion criteria. The most common strategy used was drug changes during the Ramadan period, which found that the use of DPP-4 (Dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor -4) inhibitors were associated with a reduction in incidence of experiencing hypoglycemia during Ramadan in both RCTs (pooled relative risk: 0.56; 95% confidence interval: 0.44-0.72) as well as in observational studies (pooled relative risk: 0.27; 0.09-0.75). Ramadan-focused education was shown to be beneficial in reducing hypoglycemia in observational studies but not RCTs (0.25 versus 1.00). Network meta-analyses suggest that incretin mimetics can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia by nearly 1.5 times.The newer antidiabetic agents appear to lower the risk of hypoglycemia and improved glycemic control when compared with sulfonylureas. Ramadan-focused education shows to be a promising strategy but more rigorous examination from RCTs are required. PMID:26765440

15. Integrating Terrain Maps Into a Reactive Navigation Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Ayanna; Werger, Barry; Seraji, Homayoun

2006-01-01

An improved method of processing information for autonomous navigation of a robotic vehicle across rough terrain involves the integration of terrain maps into a reactive navigation strategy. Somewhat more precisely, the method involves the incorporation, into navigation logic, of data equivalent to regional traversability maps. The terrain characteristic is mapped using a fuzzy-logic representation of the difficulty of traversing the terrain. The method is robust in that it integrates a global path-planning strategy with sensor-based regional and local navigation strategies to ensure a high probability of success in reaching a destination and avoiding obstacles along the way. The sensor-based strategies use cameras aboard the vehicle to observe the regional terrain, defined as the area of the terrain that covers the immediate vicinity near the vehicle to a specified distance a few meters away.

16. Pilot In Command: A Feasibility Assessment of Autonomous Flight Management Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Wing, David J.; Ballin, Mark G.; Krishnamurthy, Karthik

2004-01-01

Several years of NASA research have produced the air traffic management operational concept of Autonomous Flight Management with high potential for operational feasibility, significant system and user benefits, and safety. Among the chief potential benefits are demand-adaptive or scalable capacity, user flexibility and autonomy that may finally enable truly successful business strategies, and compatibility with current-day operations such that the implementation rate can be driven from within the user community. A concept summary of Autonomous Flight Management is provided, including a description of how these operations would integrate in shared airspace with existing ground-controlled flight operations. The mechanisms enabling the primary benefits are discussed, and key findings of a feasibility assessment of airborne autonomous operations are summarized. Concept characteristics that impact safety are presented, and the potential for initially implementing Autonomous Flight Management is discussed.

17. Autonomous aerial vehicles : guidance, control, signal and image processing platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The use of unmanned systems is gaining momentum in civil applications after successful use by the armed forces around the globe. Autonomous aerial vehicles are important for providing assistance in monitoring highways, power grid lines, borders, and surveillance of critical infrastructures. It is envisioned that cargo shipping will be completely handled by UAVs by the 2025. Civil use of unmanned autonomous systems brings serious challenges. The need for cost effectiveness, reliability, operation simplicity, safety, and cooperation with human and with other agents are among these challenges. Aerial vehicles operating in the civilian aerospace is the ultimate goal which requires these systems to achieve the reliability of manned aircraft while maintaining their cost effectiveness. In this presentation the development of an autonomous fixed and rotary wing aerial vehicle will be discussed. The architecture of the system from the mission requirements to low level auto pilot control laws will be discussed. Trajectory tracking and path following guidance and control algorithms commonly used and their implementation using of the shelf low cost components will be presented. Autonomous takeo? landing is a key feature that was implemented onboard the vehicle to complete its degree of autonomy. This is implemented based on accurate air-data system designed and fused with sonar measurements, INS/GPS measurements, and vector field method guidance laws. The outcomes of the proposed research is that the AUS-UAV platform named MAZARI is capable of autonomous takeoff and landing based on a pre scheduled flight path using way point navigation and sensor fusion of the inertial navigation system (INS) and global positioning system (GPS). Several technologies need to be mastered when developing a UAV. The navigation task and the need to fuse sensory information to estimate the location of the vehicle is critical to successful autonomous vehicle. Currently extended Kalman filtering is

18. Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations: KSC Autonomous Test Engineer

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

The KSC Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) program has a long history at KSC. Now a part of the Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations (ACLO) mission, this software system has been sporadically developed over the past 20+ years. Originally designed to provide health and status monitoring for a simple water-based fluid system, it was proven to be a capable autonomous test engineer for determining sources of failure in. the system, As part.of a new goal to provide this same anomaly-detection capability for a complicated cryogenic fluid system, software engineers, physicists, interns and KATE experts are working to upgrade the software capabilities and graphical user interface. Much progress was made during this effort to improve KATE. A display ofthe entire cryogenic system's graph, with nodes for components and edges for their connections, was added to the KATE software. A searching functionality was added to the new graph display, so that users could easily center their screen on specific components. The GUI was also modified so that it displayed information relevant to the new project goals. In addition, work began on adding new pneumatic and electronic subsystems into the KATE knowledgebase, so that it could provide health and status monitoring for those systems. Finally, many fixes for bugs, memory leaks, and memory errors were implemented and the system was moved into a state in which it could be presented to stakeholders. Overall, the KATE system was improved and necessary additional features were added so that a presentation of the program and its functionality in the next few months would be a success.

19. Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations: Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

The Knowledge-Based Autonomous Test Engineer (KATE) program has a long history at KSC. Now a part of the Autonomous Cryogenic Load Operations (ACLO) mission, this software system has been sporadically developed over the past 20 years. Originally designed to provide health and status monitoring for a simple water-based fluid system, it was proven to be a capable autonomous test engineer for determining sources of failure in the system. As part of a new goal to provide this same anomaly-detection capability for a complicated cryogenic fluid system, software engineers, physicists, interns and KATE experts are working to upgrade the software capabilities and graphical user interface. Much progress was made during this effort to improve KATE. A display of the entire cryogenic system's graph, with nodes for components and edges for their connections, was added to the KATE software. A searching functionality was added to the new graph display, so that users could easily center their screen on specific components. The GUI was also modified so that it displayed information relevant to the new project goals. In addition, work began on adding new pneumatic and electronic subsystems into the KATE knowledge base, so that it could provide health and status monitoring for those systems. Finally, many fixes for bugs, memory leaks, and memory errors were implemented and the system was moved into a state in which it could be presented to stakeholders. Overall, the KATE system was improved and necessary additional features were added so that a presentation of the program and its functionality in the next few months would be a success.

20. HIGH-EFFICIENCY AUTONOMOUS LASER ADAPTIVE OPTICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

As new large-scale astronomical surveys greatly increase the number of objects targeted and discoveries made, the requirement for efficient follow-up observations is crucial. Adaptive optics imaging, which compensates for the image-blurring effects of Earth's turbulent atmosphere, is essential for these surveys, but the scarcity, complexity and high demand of current systems limit their availability for following up large numbers of targets. To address this need, we have engineered and implemented Robo-AO, a fully autonomous laser adaptive optics and imaging system that routinely images over 200 objects per night with an acuity 10 times sharper at visible wavelengths than typically possible from the ground. By greatly improving the angular resolution, sensitivity, and efficiency of 1-3 m class telescopes, we have eliminated a major obstacle in the follow-up of the discoveries from current and future large astronomical surveys

1. High-efficiency Autonomous Laser Adaptive Optics

CERN Document Server

Baranec, Christoph; Law, Nicholas M; Ramaprakash, A N; Tendulkar, Shriharsh; Hogstrom, Kristina; Bui, Khanh; Burse, Mahesh; Chordia, Pravin; Das, Hillol; Dekany, Richard; Kulkarni, Shrinivas; Punnadi, Sujit

2014-01-01

As new large-scale astronomical surveys greatly increase the number of objects targeted and discoveries made, the requirement for efficient follow-up observations is crucial. Adaptive optics imaging, which compensates for the image-blurring effects of Earth's turbulent atmosphere, is essential for these surveys, but the scarcity, complexity and high demand of current systems limits their availability for following up large numbers of targets. To address this need, we have engineered and implemented Robo-AO, a fully autonomous laser adaptive optics and imaging system that routinely images over 200 objects per night with an acuity 10 times sharper at visible wavelengths than typically possible from the ground. By greatly improving the angular resolution, sensitivity, and efficiency of 1-3 m class telescopes, we have eliminated a major obstacle in the follow-up of the discoveries from current and future large astronomical surveys.

2. New Interview and Observation Measures of the Broader Autism Phenotype : Description of Strategy and Reliability Findings for the Interview Measures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Parr, Jeremy R.; De Jonge, Maretha V.; Wallace, Simon; Pickles, Andrew; Rutter, Michael L.; Le Couteur, Ann S.; van Engeland, Herman; Wittemeyer, Kerstin; Mcconachie, Helen; Roge, Bernadette; Mantoulan, Carine; Pedersen, Lennart; Isager, Torben; Poustka, Fritz; Bolte, Sven; Bolton, Patrick; Weisblatt, Emma; Green, Jonathan; Papanikolaou, Katerina; Baird, Gillian; Bailey, Anthony J.

2015-01-01

Clinical genetic studies confirm the broader autism phenotype (BAP) in some relatives of individuals with autism, but there are few standardized assessment measures. We developed three BAP measures (informant interview, self-report interview, and impression of interviewee observational scale) and de

3. Intergrated snow, soil and water-balance measurement strategy for multi-scale environmental observations in mountain areas

Science.gov (United States)

The building of multiscale environmental observatory networks is a critical step in addressing the woefully inadequate observational infrastructure and understanding of mountain water balances. These networks will support science questions that need estimates of water reservoirs and fluxes at the po...

4. Autonomic Management for Multi-agent Systems

OpenAIRE

Nadir kamal Salih; G. K. Viju; Mohamed, Abdelmotalib A.

2011-01-01

Autonomic computing is a computing system that can manage itself by self-configuration, self-healing, self-optimizing and self-protection. Researchers have been emphasizing the strong role that multi agent systems can play progressively towards the design and implementation of complex autonomic systems. The important of autonomic computing is to create computing systems capable of managing themselves to a far greater extent than they do today. With the nature of autonomy, reactivity, socialit...

5. Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumor of the stomach

OpenAIRE

Meshikhes, Abdul-Wahed N.; Al-Garni, Ayed A.; Sami A Al-Momen; Al-Nahawi, Mamdouh; Abu Subaih, Jawad

2014-01-01

Patient: Female, 32 Final Diagnosis: Gastrintestinal Autonomic Nerve Tumor (GANT) Symptoms: anemia • anorexia • fatigue • fever • hearburn • nausea • weight loss Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Gastroenterology and Hepatology Objective: Rare disease Background: Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumors (GANT) are extremely rare tumors that are related to gastrointestinal autonomic nervous plexuses. They are distinguished from stromal tumors by their unique ultrastructural feature...

6. Test and Evaluation of Autonomous Ground Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Yang Sun; Guangming Xiong; Weilong Song; Jianwei Gong; Huiyan Chen

2014-01-01

A preestablished test and evaluation system will benefit the development of autonomous ground vehicles. This paper proposes a design method for a scientific and comprehensive test and evaluation system for autonomous ground vehicles competitions. It can better guide and regulate the development of China’s autonomous ground vehicles. The test and evaluation system includes the test contents, the test environment, the test methods, and the evaluation methods. Using a hierarchical design approac...

7. Obstacle Detection and Avoidance Autonomous Car

OpenAIRE

K.Vasavi; M.V.S.Praveen

2014-01-01

Driving models are needed by many researchers to improve traffic safety and to advance autonomous vehicle design. To be most useful, a driving model must state specifically what information is needed and how it is processed. So we developed an “Obstacle Avoidance and Detection Autonomous Car” based on sensor application. The essential part of this autonomous car is that it drives taking the energy from solar panel. This paper explains the method of interfacing the solar panel, relay circuit b...

8. Tele/Autonomous Robot For Nuclear Facilities

Science.gov (United States)

Backes, Paul G.; Tso, Kam S.

1994-01-01

Fail-safe tele/autonomous robotic system makes it unnecessary for human technicians to enter nuclear-fuel-reprocessing facilities and other high-radiation or otherwise hazardous industrial environments. Used to carry out experiments as exchanging equipment modules, turning bolts, cleaning surfaces, and grappling turning objects by use of mixture of autonomous actions and teleoperation with either single arm or two cooperating arms. System capable of fully autonomous operation, teleoperation or shared control.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrecut, M.; Ali, M. K.

This paper describes a new self-adapting control algorithm for reactive autonomous agents. The architecture of the autonomous agents integrates the reactive behavior with reinforcement learning. We show how these components perform on-line adaptation of the autonomous agents to various complex navigation situations by constructing an internal model of the environment. Also, a discussion on cooperation and coordination of teams of agents is presented.

10. Autonomous vehicle control systems for safe crossroads

OpenAIRE

Alonso Ruiz, Javier; Milanés Montero, Vicente; Pérez, Joshué; Onieva Caracuel, Enrique; González Fernández-Vallejo, Carlos; Pedro Lucio, María Teresa de

2011-01-01

This article presents a cooperative manoeuvre among three dual mode cars – vehicles equipped with sensors and actuators, and that can be driven either manually or autonomously. One vehicle is driven autonomously and the other two are driven manually. The main objective is to test two decision algorithms for priority conflict resolution at intersections so that a vehicle autonomously driven can take their own decision about crossing an intersection mingling with manually driven cars without th...

11. First proof of concept of remote attendance for future observation strategies between Wettzell (Germany) and Concepción (Chile)

OpenAIRE

Ettl, Martin; Neidhardt, Alexander; Plötz, C.; Mühlbauer, M.; Dassing, R; Hase, H.; Sobarzo, S; Herrera, C. (Concepción); OÑate, E.; Zaror, P

2010-01-01

Current VLBI observations are controlled and attended locally at the radio telescopes on the basis of pre-scheduled session files. Operations have to deal with system specific station commands and individual setup procedures. Neither the scheduler nor the correlator nor the data-analyst gets real-time feedback about system parameters during a session. Changes in schedules after the start of a session by remote are impossible or at least quite difficult. For future scientific approaches, a mor...

12. Information for Successful Interaction with Autonomous Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Malin, Jane T.; Johnson, Kathy A.

2003-01-01

Interaction in heterogeneous mission operations teams is not well matched to classical models of coordination with autonomous systems. We describe methods of loose coordination and information management in mission operations. We describe an information agent and information management tool suite for managing information from many sources, including autonomous agents. We present an integrated model of levels of complexity of agent and human behavior, which shows types of information processing and points of potential error in agent activities. We discuss the types of information needed for diagnosing problems and planning interactions with an autonomous system. We discuss types of coordination for which designs are needed for autonomous system functions.

13. Autonomic dysfunction in primary sleep disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Miglis, Mitchell G

2016-03-01

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in the coordination of many important physiologic functions during sleep. Many patients with untreated sleep disorders will describe symptoms of autonomic impairment, and a majority of patients with autonomic impairment have some form of sleep disorder. This article will explore possible explanations for this connection, as well as review the current literature on autonomic impairment in common primary sleep disorders including obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. PMID:27198946

14. Design of a Miniature Autonomous Surveillance Robot

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG Chang-e; HUANG Qiang; HUANG Yuan-can

2009-01-01

The small size of miniature robots poses great challenges for the mechanical and deetrieal design and the implementation of autonomous capabilities.In this paper,the mechanical and electrical design for a twowheeled cylindrical miniature autonomous robot ("BMS-1",BIT MicroScout-1) is presented and some autonomous capabilities are implemented by multiple sensors and some arithmetic models.Several experimental results show that BMS-1 is useful for surveillance in confined spaces and suitable for large-scale surveillance due to some autonomous capabilities.

15. A necessary and sufficient condition for transforming autonomous systems into linear autonomous Birkhoffian systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The problem of transforming autonomous systems into Birkhoffian systems is studied. A reasonable form of linear autonomous Birkhoff equations is given. By combining them with the undetermined tensor method, a necessary and sufficient condition for an autonomous system to have a representation in terms of linear autonomous Birkhoff equations is obtained. The methods of constructing Birkhoffian dynamical functions are given. Two examples are given to illustrate the application of the results. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

16. Autonomic Function in Neurodegenerative Diseases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Gertrud Laura; Jennum, Poul Jørgen

2013-01-01

and REM sleep control, indicating that the disorder may serve as a human model for the sleep-wake and REM sleep flip-flop switches. The increased frequency of transitions may cause increased sympathetic activity during sleep and thereby increased heart rate, or the increased heart rate could be caused...... confirm that hypocretin deficiency affects the autonomic nervous system of patients with narcolepsy and that the hypocretin system is important for proper heart rate modulation at rest.Furthermore, it was shown that hypocretin deficiency and cataplexy are associated with signs of destabilized sleep-wake...

17. Autonomous sensor manager agents (ASMA)

Science.gov (United States)

2004-04-01

Autonomous sensor manager agents are presented as an algorithm to perform sensor management within a multisensor fusion network. The design of the hybrid ant system/particle swarm agents is described in detail with some insight into their performance. Although the algorithm is designed for the general sensor management problem, a simulation example involving 2 radar systems is presented. Algorithmic parameters are determined by the size of the region covered by the sensor network, the number of sensors, and the number of parameters to be selected. With straight forward modifications, this algorithm can be adapted for most sensor management problems.

18. Konstruktion av en autonom vindstation

OpenAIRE

2015-01-01

Construction of an autonomous wind station was a project with the goal of creating a product that could collect wind data from a sensor and then transfer this data to a server wirelessly over the GSM network. The device would be powered by batteries and solar cells and function fully without requiring external power supply. This required that a small computer was constructed and programmed to store and send data at predetermined cycle times and programming of a server that received the sent d...

19. BART: The Czech Autonomous Observatory

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Nekola, Martin; Hudec, René; Jelínek, M.; Kubánek, P.; Štrobl, Jan; Polášek, Cyril

2010-01-01

Roč. 2010, Spec. Is. (2010), 103986/1-103986/5. ISSN 1687-7969. [Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories. Málaga, 18.05.2009-21.05.2009] R&D Projects: GA ČR GA205/08/1207 Grant ostatní: ESA(XE) ESA-PECS project No. 98023; Spanish Ministry of Education and Science(ES) AP2003-1407 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10030501 Keywords : robotic telescope * BART * gamma ray bursts Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aa/2010/103986.html

20. Knowledge acquisition for autonomous systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Henry; Heer, Ewald

1988-01-01

Knowledge-based capabilities for autonomous aerospace systems, such as the NASA Space Station, must encompass conflict-resolution functions comparable to those of human operators, with all elements of the system working toward system goals in a concurrent, asynchronous-but-coordinated fashion. Knowledge extracted from a design database will support robotic systems by furnishing geometric, structural, and causal descriptions required for repair, disassembly, and assembly. The factual knowledge for these databases will be obtained from a master database through a technical management information system, and it will in many cases have to be augmented by domain-specific heuristic knowledge acquired from domain experts.

1. Topological entropy of autonomous flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badii, R. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)

1997-06-01

When studying fluid dynamics, especially in a turbulent regime, it is crucial to estimate the number of active degrees of freedom or of localized structures in the system. The topological entropy quantifies the exponential growth of the number of distinct orbits in a dynamical system as a function of their length, in the infinite spatial resolution limit. Here, I illustrate a novel method for its evaluation, which extends beyond maps and is applicable to any system, including autonomous flows: these are characterized by lack of a definite absolute time scale for the orbit lengths. (author) 8 refs.

2. The Autonomous Pathogen Detection System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dzenitis, J M; Makarewicz, A J

2009-01-13

We developed, tested, and now operate a civilian biological defense capability that continuously monitors the air for biological threat agents. The Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) collects, prepares, reads, analyzes, and reports results of multiplexed immunoassays and multiplexed PCR assays using Luminex{copyright} xMAP technology and flow cytometer. The mission we conduct is particularly demanding: continuous monitoring, multiple threat agents, high sensitivity, challenging environments, and ultimately extremely low false positive rates. Here, we introduce the mission requirements and metrics, show the system engineering and analysis framework, and describe the progress to date including early development and current status.

3. Autonomous Real Time Requirements Tracing

Science.gov (United States)

Plattsmier, George; Stetson, Howard

2014-01-01

One of the more challenging aspects of software development is the ability to verify and validate the functional software requirements dictated by the Software Requirements Specification (SRS) and the Software Detail Design (SDD). Insuring the software has achieved the intended requirements is the responsibility of the Software Quality team and the Software Test team. The utilization of Timeliner-TLX(sup TM) Auto- Procedures for relocating ground operations positions to ISS automated on-board operations has begun the transition that would be required for manned deep space missions with minimal crew requirements. This transition also moves the auto-procedures from the procedure realm into the flight software arena and as such the operational requirements and testing will be more structured and rigorous. The autoprocedures would be required to meet NASA software standards as specified in the Software Safety Standard (NASASTD- 8719), the Software Engineering Requirements (NPR 7150), the Software Assurance Standard (NASA-STD-8739) and also the Human Rating Requirements (NPR-8705). The Autonomous Fluid Transfer System (AFTS) test-bed utilizes the Timeliner-TLX(sup TM) Language for development of autonomous command and control software. The Timeliner-TLX(sup TM) system has the unique feature of providing the current line of the statement in execution during real-time execution of the software. The feature of execution line number internal reporting unlocks the capability of monitoring the execution autonomously by use of a companion Timeliner-TLX(sup TM) sequence as the line number reporting is embedded inside the Timeliner-TLX(sup TM) execution engine. This negates I/O processing of this type data as the line number status of executing sequences is built-in as a function reference. This paper will outline the design and capabilities of the AFTS Autonomous Requirements Tracker, which traces and logs SRS requirements as they are being met during real-time execution of the

4. Fuzzy control of autonomous robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An autonomous robot which can move and find its own route to a destination by means of fuzzy control is under development. An AI technique is utilized to determine the route to a destination from geographical information gathered through an ITV camera mounted on the robot. Information on robot location is also gained through an ITV camera, and, by applying fuzzy inference operation, the robot's movement is controlled. This paper describes the methods that are used for finding a route and controlling movement. Effectiveness of the proposed methods has been confirmed through actual robot movement tests and through computer simulations. (author)

5. Autonomous Dome for Robotic Telescope

CERN Document Server

Kumar, Akash; Ganesh, Shashikiran

2016-01-01

Physical Research Laboratory operates a 50cm robotic observatory at Mount Abu. This Automated Telescope for Variability Studies (ATVS) makes use of Remote Telescope System 2 (RTS2) for autonomous operations. The observatory uses a 3.5m dome from Sirius Observatories. We have developed electronics using Arduino electronic circuit boards with home grown logic and software to control the dome operations. We are in the process of completing the drivers to link our Arduino based dome controller with RTS2. This document is a short description of the various phases of the development and their integration to achieve the required objective.

6. Use of biomarker S100B for traumatic brain damage in the emergency department may change observation strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen-Schwartz, Jacob; Bouchelouche, Pierre Nourdine

2014-01-01

INTRODUCTION: The revised Scandinavian Neurotrauma Committee (SNC) guidelines on management of patients with head trauma include an option for measurement of S100B in peripheral blood with 100% sensitivity for neurosurgical intervention. A medical technology assessment was conducted to evaluate any...... impact of using S100B on the use of computed tomographies (CT) of the brain and admission for observation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients referred for assessment of head injury over a period of 1.5 months had their blood sampled for measurement of S100B in serum. Results were not available to the...

7. A method of autonomous orbit determination for satellite using star sensor

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

MA; Jianbo; XU; Jin

2005-01-01

In this paper a method of autonomous orbit determination using star sensor is studied. By building relatively consummate dynamical models which simulate attitude motion of satellite and observation from satellite to background stars, the simulant computation of this method is executed, and it is shown that the method of autonomous orbit determination is feasible. Academic and calculation analyses have been done for the relation between the direction of star sensor with respect to satellite-body coordinate system and the accuracy of autonomous orbit determination.

8. How to Develop College Students' Autonomous English Learning Skills--Take Reading Course in Joint-Program in HCFT as an Example

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jihui

2010-01-01

The studies on autonomous learning based on the theories of constructivism and the advantages of technology propose valuable ideas for modern teaching theories and practices. In this paper, we put forward ways and methods in developing learner awareness, learning strategies and habits of autonomous learning in Henan College of Finance and Taxation…

9. Plant Watering Autonomous Mobile Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hema Nagaraja

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Now days, due to busy routine life, people forget to water their plants. In this paper, we present a completely autonomous and a cost-effective system for watering indoor potted plants placed on an even surface. The system comprises of a mobile robot and a temperature-humidity sensing module. The system is fully adaptive to any environment and takes into account the watering needs of the plants using the temperature-humidity sensing module. The paper describes the hardware architecture of the fully automated watering system, which uses wireless communication to communicate between the mobile robot and the sensing module. This gardening robot is completely portable and is equipped with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID module, a microcontroller, an on-board water reservoir and an attached water pump. It is capable of sensing the watering needs of the plants, locating them and finally watering them autonomously without any human intervention. Mobilization of the robot to the potted plant is achieved by using a predefined path. For identification, an RFID tag is attached to each potted plant. The paper also discusses the detailed implementation of the system supported with complete circuitry. Finally, the paper concludes with system performance including the analysis of the water carrying capacity and time requirements to water a set of plants.

10. Multi-agent autonomous system

Science.gov (United States)

Fink, Wolfgang (Inventor); Dohm, James (Inventor); Tarbell, Mark A. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A multi-agent autonomous system for exploration of hazardous or inaccessible locations. The multi-agent autonomous system includes simple surface-based agents or craft controlled by an airborne tracking and command system. The airborne tracking and command system includes an instrument suite used to image an operational area and any craft deployed within the operational area. The image data is used to identify the craft, targets for exploration, and obstacles in the operational area. The tracking and command system determines paths for the surface-based craft using the identified targets and obstacles and commands the craft using simple movement commands to move through the operational area to the targets while avoiding the obstacles. Each craft includes its own instrument suite to collect information about the operational area that is transmitted back to the tracking and command system. The tracking and command system may be further coupled to a satellite system to provide additional image information about the operational area and provide operational and location commands to the tracking and command system.

11. Autonomous Robotic Inspection in Tunnels

Science.gov (United States)

Protopapadakis, E.; Stentoumis, C.; Doulamis, N.; Doulamis, A.; Loupos, K.; Makantasis, K.; Kopsiaftis, G.; Amditis, A.

2016-06-01

In this paper, an automatic robotic inspector for tunnel assessment is presented. The proposed platform is able to autonomously navigate within the civil infrastructures, grab stereo images and process/analyse them, in order to identify defect types. At first, there is the crack detection via deep learning approaches. Then, a detailed 3D model of the cracked area is created, utilizing photogrammetric methods. Finally, a laser profiling of the tunnel's lining, for a narrow region close to detected crack is performed; allowing for the deduction of potential deformations. The robotic platform consists of an autonomous mobile vehicle; a crane arm, guided by the computer vision-based crack detector, carrying ultrasound sensors, the stereo cameras and the laser scanner. Visual inspection is based on convolutional neural networks, which support the creation of high-level discriminative features for complex non-linear pattern classification. Then, real-time 3D information is accurately calculated and the crack position and orientation is passed to the robotic platform. The entire system has been evaluated in railway and road tunnels, i.e. in Egnatia Highway and London underground infrastructure.

12. Structured control for autonomous robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

To operate in rich, dynamic environments, autonomous robots must be able to effectively utilize and coordinate their limited physical and occupational resources. As complexity increases, it becomes necessary to impose explicit constraints on the control of planning, perception, and action to ensure that unwanted interactions between behaviors do not occur. This paper advocates developing complex robot systems by layering reactive behaviors onto deliberative components. In this structured control approach, the deliberative components handle normal situations and the reactive behaviors, which are explicitly constrained as to when and how they are activated, handle exceptional situations. The Task Control Architecture (TCA) has been developed to support this approach. TCA provides an integrated set of control constructs useful for implementing deliberative and reactive behaviors. The control constructs facilitate modular and evolutionary system development: they are used to integrate and coordinate planning, perception, and execution, and to incrementally improve the efficiency and robustness of the robot systems. To date, TCA has been used in implementing a half-dozen mobile robot systems, including an autonomous six-legged rover and indoor mobile manipulator

13. Search and Classification Using Multiple Autonomous Vehicles Decision-Making and Sensor Management

CERN Document Server

Wang, Yue

2012-01-01

Search and Classification Using Multiple Autonomous Vehicles provides a comprehensive study of decision-making strategies for domain search and object classification using multiple autonomous vehicles (MAV) under both deterministic and probabilistic frameworks. It serves as a first discussion of the problem of effective resource allocation using MAV with sensing limitations, i.e., for search and classification missions over large-scale domains, or when there are far more objects to be found and classified than there are autonomous vehicles available. Under such scenarios, search and classification compete for limited sensing resources. This is because search requires vehicle mobility while classification restricts the vehicles to the vicinity of any objects found. The authors develop decision-making strategies to choose between these competing tasks and vehicle-motion-control laws to achieve the proposed management scheme. Deterministic Lyapunov-based, probabilistic Bayesian-based, and risk-based decision-mak...

14. Does the availability of positron emission tomography modify diagnostic strategies for solitary pulmonary nodules? An observational study in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Previous studies showed that at the individual level, positron emission tomography (PET) has some benefits for patients and physicians in terms of cancer management and staging. We aimed to describe the benefits of (PET) in the management of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) in a population level, in terms of the number of diagnostic and invasive tests performed, time to diagnosis and factors determining PET utilization. In an observational study, we examined reports of computed tomography (CT) performed and mentioning 'spherical lesion', 'nodule' or synonymous terms. We found 11,515 reports in a before-PET period, 2002–2003, and 20,075 in an after-PET period, 2004–2005. Patients were followed through their physician, who was responsible for diagnostic management. We had complete data for 112 patients (73.7%) with new cases of SPN in the before-PET period and 250 (81.4%) in the after-PET period. Patients did not differ in mean age (64.9 vs. 64.8 years). The before-PET patients underwent a mean of 4 tests as compared with 3 tests for the after-PET patients (p = 0.08). Patients in the before-PET period had to wait 41.4 days, on average, before receiving a diagnosis as compared with 24.0 days, on average, for patients in the after-PET period who did not undergo PET (p < 0.001). In the after-PET period, 11% of patients underwent PET during the diagnostic process. A spiculated nodule was more likely to determine prescription for PET (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that patients in both periods underwent fewer tests when PET was prescribed by general practitioners (p < 0.001) and if the nodule was not spiculated (p < 0.001). The proportion of unnecessary invasive approaches prescribed (47% vs. 49%) did not differ between the groups. In our study, 1 year after the availability of PET, the technology was not the first choice for diagnostic management of SPN. Even though we observed a tendency for reduced number of tests and mean time to

15. Autonomous Optimization of Targeted Stimulation of Neuronal Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sreedhar S.; Wülfing, Jan; Okujeni, Samora; Boedecker, Joschka; Riedmiller, Martin

2016-01-01

Driven by clinical needs and progress in neurotechnology, targeted interaction with neuronal networks is of increasing importance. Yet, the dynamics of interaction between intrinsic ongoing activity in neuronal networks and their response to stimulation is unknown. Nonetheless, electrical stimulation of the brain is increasingly explored as a therapeutic strategy and as a means to artificially inject information into neural circuits. Strategies using regular or event-triggered fixed stimuli discount the influence of ongoing neuronal activity on the stimulation outcome and are therefore not optimal to induce specific responses reliably. Yet, without suitable mechanistic models, it is hardly possible to optimize such interactions, in particular when desired response features are network-dependent and are initially unknown. In this proof-of-principle study, we present an experimental paradigm using reinforcement-learning (RL) to optimize stimulus settings autonomously and evaluate the learned control strategy using phenomenological models. We asked how to (1) capture the interaction of ongoing network activity, electrical stimulation and evoked responses in a quantifiable ‘state’ to formulate a well-posed control problem, (2) find the optimal state for stimulation, and (3) evaluate the quality of the solution found. Electrical stimulation of generic neuronal networks grown from rat cortical tissue in vitro evoked bursts of action potentials (responses). We show that the dynamic interplay of their magnitudes and the probability to be intercepted by spontaneous events defines a trade-off scenario with a network-specific unique optimal latency maximizing stimulus efficacy. An RL controller was set to find this optimum autonomously. Across networks, stimulation efficacy increased in 90% of the sessions after learning and learned latencies strongly agreed with those predicted from open-loop experiments. Our results show that autonomous techniques can exploit

16. Autonomous Optimization of Targeted Stimulation of Neuronal Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sreedhar S; Wülfing, Jan; Okujeni, Samora; Boedecker, Joschka; Riedmiller, Martin; Egert, Ulrich

2016-08-01

Driven by clinical needs and progress in neurotechnology, targeted interaction with neuronal networks is of increasing importance. Yet, the dynamics of interaction between intrinsic ongoing activity in neuronal networks and their response to stimulation is unknown. Nonetheless, electrical stimulation of the brain is increasingly explored as a therapeutic strategy and as a means to artificially inject information into neural circuits. Strategies using regular or event-triggered fixed stimuli discount the influence of ongoing neuronal activity on the stimulation outcome and are therefore not optimal to induce specific responses reliably. Yet, without suitable mechanistic models, it is hardly possible to optimize such interactions, in particular when desired response features are network-dependent and are initially unknown. In this proof-of-principle study, we present an experimental paradigm using reinforcement-learning (RL) to optimize stimulus settings autonomously and evaluate the learned control strategy using phenomenological models. We asked how to (1) capture the interaction of ongoing network activity, electrical stimulation and evoked responses in a quantifiable 'state' to formulate a well-posed control problem, (2) find the optimal state for stimulation, and (3) evaluate the quality of the solution found. Electrical stimulation of generic neuronal networks grown from rat cortical tissue in vitro evoked bursts of action potentials (responses). We show that the dynamic interplay of their magnitudes and the probability to be intercepted by spontaneous events defines a trade-off scenario with a network-specific unique optimal latency maximizing stimulus efficacy. An RL controller was set to find this optimum autonomously. Across networks, stimulation efficacy increased in 90% of the sessions after learning and learned latencies strongly agreed with those predicted from open-loop experiments. Our results show that autonomous techniques can exploit quantitative

17. Cardiac autonomic functions in children with familial Mediterranean fever.

Science.gov (United States)

Şahin, Murat; Kır, Mustafa; Makay, Balahan; Keskinoğlu, Pembe; Bora, Elçin; Ünsal, Erbil; Ünal, Nurettin

2016-05-01

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common inherited autoinflammatory disease in the world. The long-term effects of subclinical inflammation in FMF are not well recognized. Some studies have suggested that FMF is associated with cardiac autonomic dysfunction in adult FMF patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the cardiac autonomic functions in pediatric FMF patients by using several autonomic tests. Thirty-five patients with FMF and 35 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Demographic data, disease-specific data, and orthostatic symptoms were recorded. In all participants, 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG), 24 h ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, transthoracic echocardiography, treadmill exercise test, and head upright tilt-table (HUTT) test were performed. The heart rate recovery (HRR) indices of the two groups were similar. Also, chronotropic response was similar in both groups. The time-domain parameters of heart rate variability (HRV) were similar in both groups, except mean RR (p = 0.024). Frequencies of ventricular and supraventricular ectopic stimuli were similar in both groups. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in average QT and average corrected QT interval length, average QT interval dispersion, and average QT corrected dispersion. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the ratio of clinical dysautonomic reactions on HUTT. However, we observed a significantly higher rate of dysautonomic reactions on HUTT in patients with exertional leg pain than that in patients without (p = 0.013). When the fractal dimension of time curves were compared, FMF patients exhibited significantly lower diastolic blood pressure parameters than controls in response to HUTT. Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in children with FMF is not prominent. Particularly, patients with exertional leg pain are more prone to have dysautonomic features

18. Load Sharing of Wind Based Microgrid in Autonomous Operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aarti Gupta

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Autonomous wind energy conversion systems sharing a common load consist of a number of voltage source converters operating in parallel. A suitable control system should ensure desired load sharing among these as a number of these sources operating in parallel are required to meet the load demand and load excursions should not lead to instability of the system. In absence of the grid there is no reference angle for synchronization. Hence, a control scheme for parallel-connected three-phase converters incorporating the desirable features needs to be developed in order to exploit the renewable energy sources, which are intermittent in nature as effectively as possible in case of an autonomous microgrid. A simple and effective droop control strategy without the use of conventional αβ technique incorporating only dq components has been proposed for load sharing among wind energy conversion systems connected by back to back voltage source converters in autonomous operation. The need for communication link should also be avoided, hence reducing the system cost. The system is modelled using Matlab and the control is authenticated by simulation results.

19. An Autonomous Adaptive Scheduling Agent for Period Searching

CERN Document Server

Saunders, Eric S; Allan, Alasdair

2008-01-01

We describe the design and implementation of an autonomous adaptive software agent that addresses the practical problem of observing undersampled, periodic, time-varying phenomena using a network of HTN-compliant robotic telescopes. The algorithm governing the behaviour of the agent uses an optimal geometric sampling technique to cover the period range of interest, but additionally implements proactive behaviour that maximises the optimality of the dataset in the face of an uncertain and changing operating environment.

20. Autonomous Control of Space Reactor Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belle R. Upadhyaya; K. Zhao; S.R.P. Perillo; Xiaojia Xu; M.G. Na

2007-11-30

Autonomous and semi-autonomous control is a key element of space reactor design in order to meet the mission requirements of safety, reliability, survivability, and life expectancy. Interrestrial nuclear power plants, human operators are avilable to perform intelligent control functions that are necessary for both normal and abnormal operational conditions.

1. Intelligent autonomous systems 12. Vol. 2. Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sukhan [Sungkyunkwan Univ., Gyeonggi-Do (Korea, Republic of). College of Information and Communication Engineering; Yoon, Kwang-Joon [Konkuk Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Hyungsuck [Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Jangmyung (eds.) [Pusan National Univ. (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Electronics Engineering

2013-02-01

Recent research in Intelligent and Autonomous Systems. Volume 2 of the proceedings of the 12th International Conference IAS-12, held June 26-29, 2012, jeju Island, Korea. Written by leading experts in the field. Intelligent autonomous systems are emerged as a key enabler for the creation of a new paradigm of services to humankind, as seen by the recent advancement of autonomous cars licensed for driving in our streets, of unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles carrying out hazardous tasks on-site, and of space robots engaged in scientific as well as operational missions, to list only a few. This book aims at serving the researchers and practitioners in related fields with a timely dissemination of the recent progress on intelligent autonomous systems, based on a collection of papers presented at the 12th International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems, held in Jeju, Korea, June 26-29, 2012. With the theme of ''Intelligence and Autonomy for the Service to Humankind, the conference has covered such diverse areas as autonomous ground, aerial, and underwater vehicles, intelligent transportation systems, personal/domestic service robots, professional service robots for surgery/rehabilitation, rescue/security and space applications, and intelligent autonomous systems for manufacturing and healthcare. This volume 2 includes contributions devoted to Service Robotics and Human-Robot Interaction and Autonomous Multi-Agent Systems and Life Engineering.

2. Autonomic Nervous System and Immune System Interactions

OpenAIRE

Kenney, MJ; Ganta, CK

2014-01-01

The present review assesses the current state of literature defining integrative autonomic-immune physiological processing, focusing on studies that have employed electrophysiological, pharmacological, molecular biological and central nervous system experimental approaches. Central autonomic neural networks are informed of peripheral immune status via numerous communicating pathways, including neural and non-neural. Cytokines and other immune factors affect the level of activity and responsiv...

3. Autonomous Control of Space Reactor Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Autonomous and semi-autonomous control is a key element of space reactor design in order to meet the mission requirements of safety, reliability, survivability, and life expectancy. Interrestrial nuclear power plants, human operators are available to perform intelligent control functions that are necessary for both normal and abnormal operational conditions

4. A Practical Approach to Autonomic Dysfunction in Patients with Headache.

Science.gov (United States)

Ailani, Jessica

2016-05-01

The presence of autonomic symptoms can make the diagnosis of headache challenging. While commonly seen with the trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, autonomic dysfunction can also be present in patients with migraine, or with a variety of secondary headaches. The pathophysiology of cranial autonomic symptoms in headache is based between the trigeminal system and the hypothalamus. This article will review the pathophysiology and presence of autonomic dysfunction in headache and will provide techniques to help in headache diagnosis in patients with autonomic dysfunction. PMID:27021770

5. Real Time Strategy Language

OpenAIRE

Hayes, Roy; Beling, Peter; Scherer, William

2014-01-01

Real Time Strategy (RTS) games provide complex domain to test the latest artificial intelligence (AI) research. In much of the literature, AI systems have been limited to playing one game. Although, this specialization has resulted in stronger AI gaming systems it does not address the key concerns of AI researcher. AI researchers seek the development of AI agents that can autonomously interpret learn, and apply new knowledge. To achieve human level performance, current AI systems rely on game...

6. Cardiac autonomic function in patients with diabetes improves with practice of comprehensive yogic breathing program

OpenAIRE

Jyotsna, Viveka P.; Smita Ambekar; Rajiv Singla; Ansumali Joshi; Anju Dhawan; Neeta Kumar; Deepak, K. K.; Sreenivas, V.

2013-01-01

Background: The aim of this study was to observe the effect comprehensive yogic breathing (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga [SKY] and Pranayam) had on cardiac autonomic functions in patients with diabetes. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective randomized controlled intervention trial. Cardiac autonomic functions were assessed in 64 diabetics. Patients were randomized into two groups, one group receiving standard therapy for diabetes and the other group receiving standard therapy for diabetes and c...

7. Mutant Huntingtin promotes autonomous microglia activation via myeloid lineage-determining factors

OpenAIRE

Crotti, A.; Benner, C; Kerman, B; Gosselin, D; Lagier-Tourenne, C; Zuccato, C.; Cattaneo, E; Gage, F. H.; Cleveland, D W; Glass, C.K.

2014-01-01

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by an extended polyglutamine repeat in the N-terminus of the Huntingtin protein (HTT). Reactive microglia and elevated cytokine levels are observed in the brains of HD patients, but the extent to which neuroinflammation results from extrinsic or cell-autonomous mechanisms within microglia is unknown. Using genome-wide approaches, we show that expression of mutant Huntingtin (mHTT) in microglia promotes cell-autonomous pro-...

8. Active Disturbance Rejection Fuzzy Controller for Roll Stabilization of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle under Wave Disturbance

OpenAIRE

Lin-Lin Wang; Hong-Jian Wang; Li-Xin Pan; Jun-Xi Guo

2015-01-01

Considering the case of autonomous underwater vehicle navigating with low speed near water surface, a new method for designing of roll motion controller is proposed in order to restrain wave disturbance effectively and improve roll stabilizing performance under different sea conditions. Active disturbance rejection fuzzy control is applied, which is based on nonlinear motion model of autonomous underwater vehicle and the principle of zero-speed fin stabilizer. Extended state observer is used...

9. Anti-synchronization for a class of multi-dimensional autonomous and non-autonomous chaotic systems on the basis of the sliding mode with noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

This paper focuses on anti-synchronization for a class of chaotic systems with noise on the basis of the sliding mode control strategy. In order to achieve this target, a proportional integral surface is proposed to simplify the task of assigning the performance of the error system in sliding motion. We use fewer control items but realize a globally and exponentially asymptotical anti-synchronization. Furthermore, three typical examples are presented: a three-dimensional (3D) autonomous chaotic system, a 4D autonomous chaotic system and a 5D non-autonomous chaotic system. Finally, simulation results are demonstrated for multi-dimensional chaotic systems to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. (paper)

10. Autonomic Management for Multi-agent Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Autonomic computing is a computing system that can manage itself by self-configuration, self-healing, self-optimizing and self-protection. Researchers have been emphasizing the strong role that multi agent systems can play progressively towards the design and implementation of complex autonomic systems. The important of autonomic computing is to create computing systems capable of managing themselves to a far greater extent than they do today. With the nature of autonomy, reactivity, sociality and pro-activity, software agents are promising to make autonomic computing system a reality. This paper mixed multi-agent system with autonomic feature that completely hides its complexity from users/services. Mentioned Java Application Development Framework (JADE as platform example of this environment, could applied to web services as front end to users. With multi agent support it also provides adaptability, intelligence, collaboration, goal oriented interactions, flexibility, mobility and persistence in software systems.

11. Autonomic Management for Multi-agent Systems

CERN Document Server

Salih, Nadir K; Viju, PG K; Mohamed, Abdelmotalib A

2011-01-01

Autonomic computing is a computing system that can manage itself by self-configuration, self-healing, self-optimizing and self-protection. Researchers have been emphasizing the strong role that multi agent systems can play progressively towards the design and implementation of complex autonomic systems. The important of autonomic computing is to create computing systems capable of managing themselves to a far greater extent than they do today. With the nature of autonomy, reactivity, sociality and pro-activity, software agents are promising to make autonomic computing system a reality. This paper mixed multi-agent system with autonomic feature that completely hides its complexity from users/services. Mentioned Java Application Development Framework as platform example of this environment, could applied to web services as front end to users. With multi agent support it also provides adaptability, intelligence, collaboration, goal oriented interactions, flexibility, mobility and persistence in software systems

12. Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in the diabetic patients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Eugenia Niño Mantilla

2007-11-01

Full Text Available the dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system is a serious problem in diabetic patients. The cardiovacular autonomic neuropathy is the most important autonomic dysfuntion for it´s implication in the increasesof the mortality rate in diabetis patients. tis ethiopatogenesis is the result of a multifactorial process caused by chronic hyperglycemia, ending up in damage of the autonomic fibers thet innervate the heart and blood vessels, leading to dysfuntional hearth rate control and abnormal vascular dynamics. the associated clinical manifestations include orthotatic hypotension, excecise intolerance, intraoperative cardiovascular liability and silent myocardial ischemia. Being important its recognition, quantitative test to evaluate the cardiovascular funtion, to value its evolution and the effects of the treatment ahould be done, being the most used, the hearth rate response to standing test, and teh valsalva maneuver. the handling of this entity is done improving control of glucose blood levels its the most effective way to prevent the cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy in the diabetic patients.

13. A study of cardiovascular autonomic function in normal pregnancy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sumana Panja

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the physiological responses to noninvasive cardiovascular autonomic function tests in normal pregnancy and compare them with non- pregnant controls. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised of 90 apparently healthy, pregnant women divided equally into three groups based on their period of gestation and 30 otherwise healthy, non-pregnant women as controls. The standard autonomic function tests based on cardiovascular reflexes, including heart rate response tests and blood pressure response tests were performed. Result: It was observed that variability of mean between and within all the population groups and controls was significantly different. Multiple comparison analysis revealed a significantly lower Deep Breathing Difference in pregnant subjects, significant difference in Valsalva Ratio in third trimester group, a significantly lower Postural Tachycardia Index only during last trimester and a significantly higher fall in systolic blood pressure on standing only during 1st trimester. A significantly lower alteration in diastolic blood pressure during isometric handgrip in later trimesters and a significant increase in overall cardiovascular autonomic score between and within all groups were also observed. Conclusion: The observations serve to corroborate that the cardiovascular indices in pregnant women are significantly altered in comparison to non-pregnant women, thus highlighting the importance of cardiovascular monitoring during pregnancy. The study also helped to reaffirm the efficacy of simple cardiovascular reflex tests in research on pregnancy physiology.

14. An Approach to Making Students Autonomous Readers of the English Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perdomo C María Elena

2001-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to point out the need to make students autonomous readers through the development of thinking skills such as the ability to classify, compare, deduce, induce and synthesise and reading strategies (prediction, global understanding of a text, inferences, and deduction of meaning through vocabulary.

15. Analysis of a Simulated Optical GSO Survey Observation for the Effective Maintenance of the Catalogued Satellites and the Orbit Determination Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jin; Jo, Jung Hyun; Yim, Hong-Suh; Choi, Young-Jun; Son, Ju-Young; Park, Sun-youp; Bae, Young-Ho; Roh, Dong-Goo; Cho, Sungki

2015-09-01

A strategy is needed for a regional survey of geosynchronous orbits (GSOs) to monitor known space objects and detect uncataloged space objects. On the basis of the Inter-Agency Debris Committee's recommendation regarding the protected region of geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), target satellites with perigee and apogee of GEO ˜ 200 km and various inclinations are selected for analysis. The status of the GSO region was analyzed using the satellite distribution based on the orbital characteristics in publicly available two-line element data. Natural perturbation effects cause inactive satellites to drift to two stable longitudinal points. Active satellites usually maintain the designed positions as a result of regular or irregular maneuver operations against their natural drift. To analyze the detection rate of a single optical telescope, 152 out of 412 active satellites and 135 out of 288 inactive satellites in the GSO region were selected on the basis of their visibility at the observation site in Daejeon, Korea. By using various vertical view ranges and various numbers of observations of the GSO region, the detection efficiencies were analyzed for a single night, and the numbers of follow-up observations were determined. The orbital estimation accuracies were also checked using the arc length and number of observed data points to maintain the GSO satellite catalog.

16. Autonomous navigation system and method

Science.gov (United States)

Bruemmer, David J. [Idaho Falls, ID; Few, Douglas A. [Idaho Falls, ID

2009-09-08

A robot platform includes perceptors, locomotors, and a system controller, which executes instructions for autonomously navigating a robot. The instructions repeat, on each iteration through an event timing loop, the acts of defining an event horizon based on the robot's current velocity, detecting a range to obstacles around the robot, testing for an event horizon intrusion by determining if any range to the obstacles is within the event horizon, and adjusting rotational and translational velocity of the robot accordingly. If the event horizon intrusion occurs, rotational velocity is modified by a proportion of the current rotational velocity reduced by a proportion of the range to the nearest obstacle and translational velocity is modified by a proportion of the range to the nearest obstacle. If no event horizon intrusion occurs, translational velocity is set as a ratio of a speed factor relative to a maximum speed.

17. Autonomous Spacecraft Navigation With Pulsars

CERN Document Server

Becker, Werner; Jessner, Axel

2013-01-01

An external reference system suitable for deep space navigation can be defined by fast spinning and strongly magnetized neutron stars, called pulsars. Their beamed periodic signals have timing stabilities comparable to atomic clocks and provide characteristic temporal signatures that can be used as natural navigation beacons, quite similar to the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board a spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at a reference location, the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously and with high accuracy everywhere in the solar system and beyond. The unique properties of pulsars make clear already today that such a navigation system will have its application in future astronautics. In this paper we describe the basic principle of spacecraft navigation using pulsars and report on the current development status of this novel technology.

18. Sleep in trigeminal autonomic cephalagias

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barløse, Mads; Lund, Nunu; Jensen, Rigmor Højland

2014-01-01

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sleep and cluster headache (CH) are believed to be interconnected but the precise relation to the other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) is uncertain and complex. A better understanding of these relations may eventually lead to a clarification of the underlying mechanisms...... and eventually to more effective therapeutic regimens. This review aims to evaluate the existing literature on the subject of TACs and sleep. An association between episodic CH and distinct macrostructural sleep phases, especially the relation to rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, has been described in...... some older studies but could not be confirmed in other, more recent studies. Investigations into the microstructure of sleep in these patients are lacking. Only a few case reports exist on the relation between sleep and other TACs. SUMMARY: Recent studies do not find an association between CH and REM...

19. Digital autonomous terminal access communications

Science.gov (United States)

Novacki, S.

1987-01-01

A significant problem for the Bus Monitor Unit is to identify the source of a given transmission. This problem arises from the fact that the label which identifies the source of the transmission as it is put into the bus is intercepted by the Digital Autonomous Terminal Access Communications (DATAC) terminal and removed from the transmission. Thus, a given subsystem will see only data associated with a label and never the identifying label itself. The Bus Monitor must identify the source of the transmission so as to be able to provide some type of error identification/location in the event that some problem with the data transmission occurs. Steps taken to alleviate this problem by modifications to the DATAC terminal are discussed.

20. An Autonomous Flight Safety System

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, James B.; Lanzi, Raymond J.

2007-01-01

The Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) being developed by NASA s Goddard Space Flight Center s Wallops Flight Facility and Kennedy Space Center has completed two successful developmental flights and is preparing for a third. AFSS has been demonstrated to be a viable architecture for implementation of a completely vehicle based system capable of protecting life and property in event of an errant vehicle by terminating the flight or initiating other actions. It is capable of replacing current human-in-the-loop systems or acting in parallel with them. AFSS is configured prior to flight in accordance with a specific rule set agreed upon by the range safety authority and the user to protect the public and assure mission success. This paper discusses the motivation for the project, describes the method of development, and presents an overview of the evolving architecture and the current status.

1. Testbed for an autonomous system

Science.gov (United States)

Dikshit, Piyush; Guimaraes, Katia; Ramamurthy, Maya; Agrawala, Ashok K.; Larsen, Ronald L.

1989-01-01

In previous works we have defined a general architectural model for autonomous systems, which can easily be mapped to describe the functions of any automated system (SDAG-86-01), and we illustrated that model by applying it to the thermal management system of a space station (SDAG-87-01). In this note, we will further develop that application and design the detail of the implementation of such a model. First we present the environment of our application by describing the thermal management problem and an abstraction, which was called TESTBED, that includes a specific function for each module in the architecture, and the nature of the interfaces between each pair of blocks.

2. Design of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2011-03-01

Full Text Available There are concerns about the impact that global warming will have on our environment, and which will inevitably result in expanding deserts and rising water levels. While a lot of underwater vehicles are utilized, AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle were considered and chosen, as the most suitable tool for conduction survey concerning these global environmental problems. AUVs can comprehensive survey because the vehicle does not have to be connected to the support vessel by tether cable. When such underwater vehicles are made, it is necessary to consider about the following things. 1 Seawater and Water Pressure Environment, 2 Sink, 3 There are no Gas or Battery Charge Stations, 4 Global Positioning System cannot use, 5 Radio waves cannot use. In the paper, outline of above and how deal about it are explained.

3. Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hvilshøj, Mads; Bøgh, Simon; Nielsen, Oluf Skov;

2012-01-01

; sustainability, configuration, adaptation, autonomy, positioning, manipulation and grasping, robot-robot interaction, human-robot interaction, process quality, dependability, and physical properties. Findings - The concise yet comprehensive review provides both researchers (academia) and practitioners (industry......Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the interdisciplinary research field Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM), with an emphasis on physical implementations and applications. Design/methodology/approach - Following an introduction to AIMM, this paper...... investigates the missing links and gaps between the research and developments efforts and the real-world application requirements, in order to bring the AIMM technology from laboratories to manufacturing environments. The investigation is based on 12 general application requirements for robotics...

4. APDS: Autonomous Pathogen Detection System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langlois, R G; Brown, S; Burris, L; Colston, B; Jones, L; Makarewicz, T; Mariella, R; Masquelier, D; McBride, M; Milanovich, F; Masarabadi, S; Venkateswaran, K; Marshall, G; Olson, D; Wolcott, D

2002-02-14

An early warning system to counter bioterrorism, the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS) continuously monitors the environment for the presence of biological pathogens (e.g., anthrax) and once detected, it sounds an alarm much like a smoke detector warns of a fire. Long before September 11, 2001, this system was being developed to protect domestic venues and events including performing arts centers, mass transit systems, major sporting and entertainment events, and other high profile situations in which the public is at risk of becoming a target of bioterrorist attacks. Customizing off-the-shelf components and developing new components, a multidisciplinary team developed APDS, a stand-alone system for rapid, continuous monitoring of multiple airborne biological threat agents in the environment. The completely automated APDS samples the air, prepares fluid samples in-line, and performs two orthogonal tests: immunoassay and nucleic acid detection. When compared to competing technologies, APDS is unprecedented in terms of flexibility and system performance.

5. Wireless autonomous device data transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Sammel, Jr., David W. (Inventor); Cain, James T. (Inventor); Mickle, Marlin H. (Inventor); Mi, Minhong (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A method of communicating information from a wireless autonomous device (WAD) to a base station. The WAD has a data element having a predetermined profile having a total number of sequenced possible data element combinations. The method includes receiving at the WAD an RF profile transmitted by the base station that includes a triggering portion having a number of pulses, wherein the number is at least equal to the total number of possible data element combinations. The method further includes keeping a count of received pulses and wirelessly transmitting a piece of data, preferably one bit, to the base station when the count reaches a value equal to the stored data element's particular number in the sequence. Finally, the method includes receiving the piece of data at the base station and using the receipt thereof to determine which of the possible data element combinations the stored data element is.

6. Feasibility of Turing-Style Tests for Autonomous Aerial Vehicle "Intelligence"

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Larry A.

2007-01-01

A new approach is suggested to define and evaluate key metrics as to autonomous aerial vehicle performance. This approach entails the conceptual definition of a "Turing Test" for UAVs. Such a "UAV Turing test" would be conducted by means of mission simulations and/or tailored flight demonstrations of vehicles under the guidance of their autonomous system software. These autonomous vehicle mission simulations and flight demonstrations would also have to be benchmarked against missions "flown" with pilots/human-operators in the loop. In turn, scoring criteria for such testing could be based upon both quantitative mission success metrics (unique to each mission) and by turning to analog "handling quality" metrics similar to the well-known Cooper-Harper pilot ratings used for manned aircraft. Autonomous aerial vehicles would be considered to have successfully passed this "UAV Turing Test" if the aggregate mission success metrics and handling qualities for the autonomous aerial vehicle matched or exceeded the equivalent metrics for missions conducted with pilots/human-operators in the loop. Alternatively, an independent, knowledgeable observer could provide the "UAV Turing Test" ratings of whether a vehicle is autonomous or "piloted." This observer ideally would, in the more sophisticated mission simulations, also have the enhanced capability of being able to override the scripted mission scenario and instigate failure modes and change of flight profile/plans. If a majority of mission tasks are rated as "piloted" by the observer, when in reality the vehicle/simulation is fully- or semi- autonomously controlled, then the vehicle/simulation "passes" the "UAV Turing Test." In this regards, this second "UAV Turing Test" approach is more consistent with Turing s original "imitation game" proposal. The overall feasibility, and important considerations and limitations, of such an approach for judging/evaluating autonomous aerial vehicle "intelligence" will be discussed from a

7. Integrated Control Strategies Supporting Autonomous Functionalities in Mobile Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brandon Sights

2006-10-01

Full Text Available High-level intelligence allows a mobile robot to create and interpret complex world models, but without a precise control system, the accuracy of the world model and the robot's ability to interact with its surroundings are greatly diminished. This problem is amplified when the environment is hostile, such as in a battlefield situation where an error in movement or a slow response may lead to destruction of the robot. As the presence of robots on the battlefield continues to escalate and the trend toward relieving the human of the low-level control burden advances, the ability to combine the functionalities of several critical control systems on a single platform becomes imperative.

8. Intelligent agents: adaptation of autonomous bimodal microsystems

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Patrice; Terry, Theodore B.

2014-03-01

Autonomous bimodal microsystems exhibiting survivability behaviors and characteristics are able to adapt dynamically in any given environment. Equipped with a background blending exoskeleton it will have the capability to stealthily detect and observe a self-chosen viewing area while exercising some measurable form of selfpreservation by either flying or crawling away from a potential adversary. The robotic agent in this capacity activates a walk-fly algorithm, which uses a built in multi-sensor processing and navigation subsystem or algorithm for visual guidance and best walk-fly path trajectory to evade capture or annihilation. The research detailed in this paper describes the theoretical walk-fly algorithm, which broadens the scope of spatial and temporal learning, locomotion, and navigational performances based on optical flow signals necessary for flight dynamics and walking stabilities. By observing a fly's travel and avoidance behaviors; and, understanding the reverse bioengineering research efforts of others, we were able to conceptualize an algorithm, which works in conjunction with decisionmaking functions, sensory processing, and sensorimotor integration. Our findings suggest that this highly complex decentralized algorithm promotes inflight or terrain travel mobile stability which is highly suitable for nonaggressive micro platforms supporting search and rescue (SAR), and chemical and explosive detection (CED) purposes; a necessity in turbulent, non-violent structured or unstructured environments.

9. Current challenges in autonomous vehicle development

Science.gov (United States)

Connelly, J.; Hong, W. S.; Mahoney, R. B., Jr.; Sparrow, D. A.

2006-05-01

The field of autonomous vehicles is a rapidly growing one, with significant interest from both government and industry sectors. Autonomous vehicles represent the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, combining decision-making with real-time control. Autonomous vehicles are desired for use in search and rescue, urban reconnaissance, mine detonation, supply convoys, and more. The general adage is to use robots for anything dull, dirty, dangerous or dumb. While a great deal of research has been done on autonomous systems, there are only a handful of fielded examples incorporating machine autonomy beyond the level of teleoperation, especially in outdoor/complex environments. In an attempt to assess and understand the current state of the art in autonomous vehicle development, a few areas where unsolved problems remain became clear. This paper outlines those areas and provides suggestions for the focus of science and technology research. The first step in evaluating the current state of autonomous vehicle development was to develop a definition of autonomy. A number of autonomy level classification systems were reviewed. The resulting working definitions and classification schemes used by the authors are summarized in the opening sections of the paper. The remainder of the report discusses current approaches and challenges in decision-making and real-time control for autonomous vehicles. Suggested research focus areas for near-, mid-, and long-term development are also presented.

10. A Test-Bed Configuration: Toward an Autonomous System

Science.gov (United States)

Ocaña, F.; Castillo, M.; Uranga, E.; Ponz, J. D.; TBT Consortium

2015-09-01

In the context of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program of ESA, it is foreseen to deploy several large robotic telescopes in remote locations to provide surveillance and tracking services for man-made as well as natural near-Earth objects (NEOs). The present project, termed Telescope Test Bed (TBT) is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme, and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario, consisting of two telescopes located in Spain and Australia, to collect representative test data for precursor NEO services. In order to fulfill all the security requirements for the TBT project, the use of a autonomous emergency system (AES) is foreseen to monitor the control system. The AES will monitor remotely the health of the observing system and the internal and external environment. It will incorporate both autonomous and interactive actuators to force the protection of the system (i.e., emergency dome close out).

11. Autonomous Spacecraft Navigation Based on Pulsar Timing Information

CERN Document Server

Bernhardt, Mike Georg; Prinz, Tobias; Breithuth, Ferdinand Maximilian; Walter, Ulrich

2011-01-01

We discuss the possibility of an autonomous navigation system for spacecraft that is based on pulsar timing data. Pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars that are observable as variable celestial sources of electromagnetic radiation. Their periodic signals have timing stabilities comparable to atomic clocks and provide characteristic temporal signatures that can be used as natural navigation beacons, quite similar to the use of GPS satellites for navigation on Earth. By comparing pulse arrival times measured on-board the spacecraft with predicted pulse arrivals at some reference location, the spacecraft position can be determined autonomously with accuracies on the order of 5 kilometres. For a spacecraft at a distance of 10 astronomical units from Earth (e.g., Earth-Saturn), this means an improvement by a factor of 8 compared to conventional methods. Therefore this new technology is an alternative to standard navigation based on radio tracking by ground stations, without the disadvantages of uncertainty in...

12. Autonomous Traffic Control System Using Agent Based Technology

CERN Document Server

M, Venkatesh; V, Srinivas

2011-01-01

The way of analyzing, designing and building of real-time projects has been changed due to the rapid growth of internet, mobile technologies and intelligent applications. Most of these applications are intelligent, tiny and distributed components called as agent. Agent works like it takes the input from numerous real-time sources and gives back the real-time response. In this paper how these agents can be implemented in vehicle traffic management especially in large cities and identifying various challenges when there is a rapid growth of population and vehicles. In this paper our proposal gives a solution for using autonomous or agent based technology. These autonomous or intelligent agents have the capability to observe, act and learn from their past experience. This system uses the knowledge flow of precedent signal or data to identify the incoming flow of forthcoming signal. Our architecture involves the video analysis and exploration using some Intelligence learning algorithm to estimate and identify the...

13. Autonomous orbit determination for the probe around small body

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

黄翔宇; 崔祜涛; 崔平远; 栾恩杰

2004-01-01

The algorithm of autonomous orbit determination for the probe around small body is studied. In the algorithm,first, the observed images of the body are compared with its pre-computed model of the body to obtain the location of the limb features of the body in the inertial coordinate. Second, the information of the images and features in utilized to ob-, tain the position of the probe using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The position is then input to an extended Kalman filter which determines the real time orbit of the probe. Finally, considering the effective of the irregular small body shape perturbation and the small body model parameter error on the orbit determination precise, the procedure of autonomous orbit determination is validated using digital simulation.

14. Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM) - Maturation, Exploitation and Implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bøgh, Simon

2012-01-01

a state-of-the-art review, it is observed that implementations of mobile manipulators in industry have been limited although the needs for flexible automation are present. The second topic is “Identifying skills for AIMM robots” and is dedicated to defining a unifying terminology for task...... for AIMM robots. Firstly an application-based analysis is conducted, to identify skills in the logistic domain, based on real-world experiments at the industrial partner. Secondly an analysis based on standard operating procedures (SOPs) is conducted.......The overall topic of this PhD thesis is Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulation (AIMM) - maturation, exploitation and implementation. The thesis addresses two topics. The first topic is “From research to industry” and the challenges this holds. The Autonomous Industrial Mobile Manipulator (AIMM...

15. Vision Analysis System for Autonomous Landing of Micro Drone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skoczylas Marcin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes a concept of an autonomous landing system of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This type of device is equipped with the functionality of FPV observation (First Person View and radio broadcasting of video or image data. The problem is performance of a system of autonomous drone landing in an area with dimensions of 1m × 1m, based on CCD camera coupled with an image transmission system connected to a base station. Captured images are scanned and landing marker is detected. For this purpose, image features detectors (such as SIFT, SURF or BRISK are utilized to create a database of keypoints of the landing marker and in a new image keypoints are found using the same feature detector. In this paper results of a framework that allows detection of defined marker for the purpose of drone landing field positioning will be presented.

16. Autonomous underwater pipeline monitoring navigation system

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Byrel; Mahmoudian, Nina; Meadows, Guy

2014-06-01

This paper details the development of an autonomous motion-control and navigation algorithm for an underwater autonomous vehicle, the Ocean Server IVER3, to track long linear features such as underwater pipelines. As part of this work, the Nonlinear and Autonomous Systems Laboratory (NAS Lab) developed an algorithm that utilizes inputs from the vehicles state of the art sensor package, which includes digital imaging, digital 3-D Sidescan Sonar, and Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers. The resulting algorithms should tolerate real-world waterway with episodic strong currents, low visibility, high sediment content, and a variety of small and large vessel traffic.

17. Autonomous Demand Response for Primary Frequency Regulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donnelly, Matt; Trudnowski, Daniel J.; Mattix, S.; Dagle, Jeffery E.

2012-02-28

The research documented within this report examines the use of autonomous demand response to provide primary frequency response in an interconnected power grid. The work builds on previous studies in several key areas: it uses a large realistic model (i.e., the interconnection of the western United States and Canada); it establishes a set of metrics that can be used to assess the effectiveness of autonomous demand response; and it independently adjusts various parameters associated with using autonomous demand response to assess effectiveness and to examine possible threats or vulnerabilities associated with the technology.

18. Autonomous Bicycle: The First Self Balanced Ride

OpenAIRE

2011-01-01

The idea of an autonomous bicycle originates from Jens G. Balchen who wanted to make an unmanned autonomous bicycle. The idea was picked up by Amund Skavhaug who extended the idea with the concept of using an inverted pendulum to simulate a leaning rider. The previous attempts to develop a bicycle capable of performing an autonomous ride has so far all ended in failure. The main reason for the Department of Engineering Cybernetics is to develop such a bicycle is for use in recruitment and mot...

19. Characteristics Studies on Uyghur Place Names in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

柯庆梅

2015-01-01

Because of its peculiar language environment with multi ethnicities and the One Belt and One Road initiative, the stud-ies of place names in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture attract many linguists'interests. This paper focuses on characteristics stud-ies of Uyghur place names in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture based on Universal Principles of Tendencies proposed by the Polish linguist Witold Manczak. Through careful and thorough study, this paper found that because of different traditional lifestyles and different political strategies through different historical periods, as urban people, the Uyghur place names highlighted the Uyghur people's great contributions to artificial constructions.

20. Development of a Commercially Viable, Modular Autonomous Robotic Systems for Converting any Vehicle to Autonomous Control

Science.gov (United States)

Parish, David W.; Grabbe, Robert D.; Marzwell, Neville I.

1994-01-01

A Modular Autonomous Robotic System (MARS), consisting of a modular autonomous vehicle control system that can be retrofit on to any vehicle to convert it to autonomous control and support a modular payload for multiple applications is being developed. The MARS design is scalable, reconfigurable, and cost effective due to the use of modern open system architecture design methodologies, including serial control bus technology to simplify system wiring and enhance scalability. The design is augmented with modular, object oriented (C++) software implementing a hierarchy of five levels of control including teleoperated, continuous guidepath following, periodic guidepath following, absolute position autonomous navigation, and relative position autonomous navigation. The present effort is focused on producing a system that is commercially viable for routine autonomous patrolling of known, semistructured environments, like environmental monitoring of chemical and petroleum refineries, exterior physical security and surveillance, perimeter patrolling, and intrafacility transport applications.

1. Autonomic and sensory nerve dysfunction in primary biliary cirrhosis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Katalin Keresztes; Ildikó Istenes; Aniko Folhoffer; Peter L Lakatos; Andrea Horvath; Timea Csak; Peter Varga; Peter Kempler; Ferenc Szalay

2004-01-01

AIM: Cardiovascular autonomic and peripheral sensory neuropathy is a known complication of chronic alcoholic and non-alcoholic liver diseases. We aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors for peripheral sensory nerve and autonomic dysfunction using sensitive methods in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).METHODS: Twenty-four AMA M2 positive female patients with clinical, biochemical and histological evidence of PBC and 20 age matched healthy female subjects were studied.Five standard cardiovascular reflex tests and 24-h heart rate variability (HRV) analysis were performed to define autonomic function. Peripheral sensory nerve function on median and peroneal nerves was characterized by current perception threshold (CPT), measured by a neuroselective diagnostic stimulator (Neurotron, Baltimore, MD).RESULTS: Fourteen of 24 patients (58%) had at least one abnormal cardiovascular reflex test and thirteen (54%)had peripheral sensory neuropathy. Lower heart rate response to deep breathing (P = 0.001), standing (P = 0.03)and Valsalva manoeuvre (P = 0.01), and more profound decrease of blood pressure after standing (P = 0.03) was found in PBC patients than in controls. As a novel finding we proved that both time domain and frequency domain parameters of 24-h HRV were significantly reduced in PBC patients compared to controls. Each patient had at least one abnormal parameter of HRV. Lower CPT values indicated hyperaesthesia as a characteristic feature at peroneal nerve testing at three frequencies (2000 Hz: P = 0.005;250 Hz: P = 0.002; 5 Hz: P = 0.004) in PBC compared to controls. Correlation of autonomic dysfunction with the severity and duration of the disease was observed. Lower total power of HRV correlated with lower CPT values at median nerve testing at 250 Hz (P = 0.0001) and at 5 Hz (P = 0.002), as well as with those at peroneal nerve testing at 2000 Hz (P = 0.01).CONCLUSION: Autonomic and sensory nerve dysfunctions are frequent in PBC. Twenty

2. A Distributed Hunting Approach for Multiple Autonomous Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiqiang Cao

2013-04-01

Full Text Available A novel distributed hunting approach for multiple autonomous robots in unstructured mode‐free environments, which is based on effective sectors and local sensing, is proposed in this paper. The visual information, encoder and sonar data are integrated in the robot’s local frame, and the effective sector is introduced. The hunting task is modelled as three states: search state, round‐obstacle state, and hunting state, and the corresponding switching conditions and control strategies are given. A form of cooperation will emerge where the robots interact only locally with each other. The evader, whose motion is a priori unknown to the robots, adopts an escape strategy to avoid being captured. The approach is scalable and may cope with problems of communication and wheel slippage. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified through experiments with a team of wheeled robots.

3. Fuzzy Adaptive Control for Trajectory Tracking of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Nakhkoob

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the problem of the position and attitude tracking of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV in the horizontal plane, under the presence of ocean current disturbances is discussed. The effect of the gradual variation of the parameters is taken into account. The effectiveness of the adaptive controller is compared with a feedback linearization method and fuzzy gain control approach. The proposed strategy has been tested through simulations. Also, the performance of the propos-ed method is compared with other strategies given in some other studies. The boundedness and asymptotic converge-nce properties of the control algorithm and its semi-global stability are analytically proven using Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat’s lemma.

4. Autonomic Dysfunction in Patients with Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen-Dahm, Christina; Waldemar, Gunhild; Staehelin Jensen, Troels;

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Autonomic function has received little attention in Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD pathology has an impact on brain regions which are important for central autonomic control, but it is unclear if AD is associated with disturbance of autonomic function. OBJECTIVE: To investigate autonomic...

5. A Primer on Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Design

Science.gov (United States)

Coppejans, Hugo H. G.; Myburgh, Herman C.

2015-01-01

There is a large amount of research currently being done on autonomous micro-aerial vehicles (MAV), such as quadrotor helicopters or quadcopters. The ability to create a working autonomous MAV depends mainly on integrating a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) solution with the rest of the system. This paper provides an introduction for creating an autonomous MAV for enclosed environments, aimed at students and professionals alike. The standard autonomous system and MAV automation are discussed, while we focus on the core concepts of SLAM systems and trajectory planning algorithms. The advantages and disadvantages of using remote processing are evaluated, and recommendations are made regarding the viability of on-board processing. Recommendations are made regarding best practices to serve as a guideline for aspirant MAV designers. PMID:26633410

6. A Primer on Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo H. G. Coppejans

2015-12-01

Full Text Available There is a large amount of research currently being done on autonomous micro-aerial vehicles (MAV, such as quadrotor helicopters or quadcopters. The ability to create a working autonomous MAV depends mainly on integrating a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM solution with the rest of the system. This paper provides an introduction for creating an autonomous MAV for enclosed environments, aimed at students and professionals alike. The standard autonomous system and MAV automation are discussed, while we focus on the core concepts of SLAM systems and trajectory planning algorithms. The advantages and disadvantages of using remote processing are evaluated, and recommendations are made regarding the viability of on-board processing. Recommendations are made regarding best practices to serve as a guideline for aspirant MAV designers.

7. A Primer on Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Design.

Science.gov (United States)

Coppejans, Hugo H G; Myburgh, Herman C

2015-01-01

There is a large amount of research currently being done on autonomous micro-aerial vehicles (MAV), such as quadrotor helicopters or quadcopters. The ability to create a working autonomous MAV depends mainly on integrating a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) solution with the rest of the system. This paper provides an introduction for creating an autonomous MAV for enclosed environments, aimed at students and professionals alike. The standard autonomous system and MAV automation are discussed, while we focus on the core concepts of SLAM systems and trajectory planning algorithms. The advantages and disadvantages of using remote processing are evaluated, and recommendations are made regarding the viability of on-board processing. Recommendations are made regarding best practices to serve as a guideline for aspirant MAV designers. PMID:26633410

8. Autonomic html interface generator for web applications

CERN Document Server

Bassil, Youssef; 10.5121/ijwest.2012.3104

2012-01-01

Recent advances in computing systems have led to a new digital era in which every area of life is nearly interrelated with information technology. However, with the trend towards large-scale IT systems, a new challenge has emerged. The complexity of IT systems is becoming an obstacle that hampers the manageability, operability, and maintainability of modern computing infrastructures. Autonomic computing popped up to provide an answer to these ever-growing pitfalls. Fundamentally, autonomic systems are self-configuring, self-healing, self-optimizing, and self-protecting; hence, they can automate all complex IT processes without human intervention. This paper proposes an autonomic HTML web-interface generator based on XML Schema and Style Sheet specifications for self-configuring graphical user interfaces of web applications. The goal of this autonomic generator is to automate the process of customizing GUI web-interfaces according to the ever-changing business rules, policies, and operating environment with th...

9. An introduction to autonomous control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Antsaklis, Panos J.; Passino, Kevin M.; Wang, S. J.

1991-01-01

The functions, characteristics, and benefits of autonomous control are outlined. An autonomous control functional architecture for future space vehicles that incorporates the concepts and characteristics described is presented. The controller is hierarchical, with an execution level (the lowest level), coordination level (middle level), and management and organization level (highest level). The general characteristics of the overall architecture, including those of the three levels, are explained, and an example to illustrate their functions is given. Mathematical models for autonomous systems, including 'logical' discrete event system models, are discussed. An approach to the quantitative, systematic modeling, analysis, and design of autonomous controllers is also discussed. It is a hybrid approach since it uses conventional analysis techniques based on difference and differential equations and new techniques for the analysis of the systems described with a symbolic formalism such as finite automata. Some recent results from the areas of planning and expert systems, machine learning, artificial neural networks, and the area restructurable controls are briefly outlined.

10. AGATE: Autonomous Go and Touch Exploration Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The innovation (AGATE, for Autonomous Go And Touch Exploration) will enable single-sol "go and touch" instrument placement from distances of up to five meters for...

11. Autonomic symptoms in idiopathic REM behavior disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ferini-Strambi, Luigi; Oertel, Wolfgang; Dauvilliers, Yves;

2014-01-01

Patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) are at very high risk of developing neurodegenerative synucleinopathies, which are disorders with prominent autonomic dysfunction. Several studies have documented autonomic dysfunction in iRBD, but large-scale assessment of autonomic...... symptoms has never been systematically performed. Patients with polysomnography-confirmed iRBD (318 cases) and controls (137 healthy volunteers and 181 sleep center controls with sleep diagnoses other than RBD) were recruited from 13 neurological centers in 10 countries from 2008 to 2011. A validated scale...... to study the disorders of the autonomic nervous system in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, the SCOPA-AUT, was administered to all the patients and controls. The SCOPA-AUT consists of 25 items assessing the following domains: gastrointestinal, urinary, cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, pupillomotor...

12. Autonomic Closure for Large Eddy Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

King, Ryan; Hamlington, Peter; Dahm, Werner J. A.

2015-11-01

A new autonomic subgrid-scale closure has been developed for large eddy simulation (LES). The approach poses a supervised learning problem that captures nonlinear, nonlocal, and nonequilibrium turbulence effects without specifying a predefined turbulence model. By solving a regularized optimization problem on test filter scale quantities, the autonomic approach identifies a nonparametric function that represents the best local relation between subgrid stresses and resolved state variables. The optimized function is then applied at the grid scale to determine unknown LES subgrid stresses by invoking scale similarity in the inertial range. A priori tests of the autonomic approach on homogeneous isotropic turbulence show that the new approach is amenable to powerful optimization and machine learning methods and is successful for a wide range of filter scales in the inertial range. In these a priori tests, the autonomic closure substantially improves upon the dynamic Smagorinsky model in capturing the instantaneous, statistical, and energy transfer properties of the subgrid stress field.

13. Rover: Autonomous concepts for Mars exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Baiget, A.; Castets, B.; Chochon, H.; Hayard, M.; Lamarre, H.; Lamothe, A.

1993-01-01

The development of a mobile, autonomous vehicle that will be launched towards an unknown planet is considered. The rover significant constraints are: Ariane 5 compatibility, Earth/Mars transfer capability, 1000 km autonomous moving in Mars environment, on board localization, and maximum science capability. Two different types of subsystem were considered: classical subsystems (mechanical and mechanisms, thermal, telecommunications, power, onboard data processing) and robotics subsystem, (perception/navigation, autonomous displacement generation, autonomous localization). The needs of each subsystem were studied in terms of energy and data handling capability, in order to choose an on board architecture which best use the available capability, by means of specialized parts. A compromise must always be done between every subsystem in order to obtain the real need with respect to the goal, for example: between perception/navigation and the motion capability. A compromise must also be found between mechanical assembly and calibration need, which is a real problem.

14. Autonomous intelligent cruise control system

Science.gov (United States)

Baret, Marc; Bomer, Thierry T.; Calesse, C.; Dudych, L.; L'Hoist, P.

1995-01-01

Autonomous intelligent cruise control (AICC) systems are not only controlling vehicles' speed but acting on the throttle and eventually on the brakes they could automatically maintain the relative speed and distance between two vehicles in the same lane. And more than just for comfort it appears that these new systems should improve the safety on highways. By applying a technique issued from the space research carried out by MATRA, a sensor based on a charge coupled device (CCD) was designed to acquire the reflected light on standard-mounted car reflectors of pulsed laser diodes emission. The CCD is working in a unique mode called flash during transfer (FDT) which allows identification of target patterns in severe optical environments. It provides high accuracy for distance and angular position of targets. The absence of moving mechanical parts ensures high reliability for this sensor. The large field of view and the high measurement rate give a global situation assessment and a short reaction time. Then, tracking and filtering algorithms have been developed in order to select the target, on which the equipped vehicle determines its safety distance and speed, taking into account its maneuvering and the behaviors of other vehicles.

15. Autonomic Findings in Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Norcliffe-Kaufmann, Lucy; Kaufmann, Horacio; Martinez, Jose; Katz, Stuart D; Tully, Lisa; Reynolds, Harmony R

2016-01-15

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC) often occurs after emotional or physical stress. Norepinephrine levels are unusually high in the acute phase, suggesting a hyperadrenergic mechanism. Comparatively little is known about parasympathetic function in patients with TC. We sought to characterize autonomic function at rest and in response to physical and emotional stimuli in 10 women with a confirmed history of TC and 10 age-matched healthy women. Sympathetic and parasympathetic activity was assessed at rest and during baroreflex stimulation (Valsalva maneuver and tilt testing), cognitive stimulation (Stroop test), and emotional stimulation (event recall, patients). Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and measurement of brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation were also performed. TC women (tested an average of 37 months after the event) had excessive pressor responses to cognitive stress (Stroop test: p emotional arousal (recall of TC event: p = 0.03 vs baseline). Pressor responses to hemodynamic stimuli were also amplified (Valsalva overshoot: p <0.05) and prolonged (duration: p <0.01) in the TC women compared with controls. Plasma catecholamine levels did not differ between TC women and controls. Indexes of parasympathetic (vagal) modulation of heart rate induced by respiration and cardiovagal baroreflex gain were significantly decreased in the TC women versus controls. In conclusion, even long after the initial episode, women with previous episode of TC have excessive sympathetic responsiveness and reduced parasympathetic modulation of heart rate. Impaired baroreflex control may therefore play a role in TC. PMID:26743349

16. Mechanical Autonomous Stochastic Heat Engine

Science.gov (United States)

Serra-Garcia, Marc; Foehr, André; Molerón, Miguel; Lydon, Joseph; Chong, Christopher; Daraio, Chiara

2016-07-01

Stochastic heat engines are devices that generate work from random thermal motion using a small number of highly fluctuating degrees of freedom. Proposals for such devices have existed for more than a century and include the Maxwell demon and the Feynman ratchet. Only recently have they been demonstrated experimentally, using, e.g., thermal cycles implemented in optical traps. However, recent experimental demonstrations of classical stochastic heat engines are nonautonomous, since they require an external control system that prescribes a heating and cooling cycle and consume more energy than they produce. We present a heat engine consisting of three coupled mechanical resonators (two ribbons and a cantilever) subject to a stochastic drive. The engine uses geometric nonlinearities in the resonating ribbons to autonomously convert a random excitation into a low-entropy, nonpassive oscillation of the cantilever. The engine presents the anomalous heat transport property of negative thermal conductivity, consisting in the ability to passively transfer energy from a cold reservoir to a hot reservoir.

17. Semi-Autonomous Vehicle Project

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Christopher

2016-01-01

The primary objective this summer is "evaluating standards for wireless architecture for the internet of things". The Internet of Things is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity which enables these objects to collect and exchange data and make decisions based on said data. This was accomplished by creating a semi-autonomous vehicle that takes advantage of multiple sensors, cameras, and onboard computers and combined them with a mesh network which enabled communication across large distances with little to no interruption. The mesh network took advantage of what is known as DTN - Disruption Tolerant Networking which according to NASA is the new communications protocol that is "the first step towards interplanetary internet." The use of DTN comes from the fact that it will store information if an interruption in communications is detected and even forward that information via other relays within range so that the data is not lost. This translates well into the project because as the car moves further away from whatever is sending it commands (in this case a joystick), the information can still be forwarded to the car with little to no loss of information thanks to the mesh nodes around the driving area.

18. Autonomous gliding entry guidance with

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Jie

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel three-dimensional autonomous entry guidance for relatively high lift-to-drag ratio vehicles satisfying geographic constraints and other path constraints. The guidance is composed of onboard trajectory planning and robust trajectory tracking. For trajectory planning, a longitudinal sub-planner is introduced to generate a feasible drag-versus-energy profile by using the interpolation between upper boundary and lower boundary of entry corridor to get the desired trajectory length. The associated magnitude of the bank angle can be specified by drag profile, while the sign of bank angle is determined by lateral sub-planner. Two-reverse mode is utilized to satisfy waypoint constraints and dynamic heading error corridor is utilized to satisfy no-fly zone constraints. The longitudinal and lateral sub-planners are iteratively employed until all of the path constraints are satisfied. For trajectory tracking, a novel tracking law based on the active disturbance rejection control is introduced. Finally, adaptability tests and Monte Carlo simulations of the entry guidance approach are performed. Results show that the proposed entry guidance approach can adapt to different entry missions and is able to make the vehicle reach the prescribed target point precisely in spite of geographic constraints.

19. Autonomic dysregulation in headache patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gass, Jason J; Glaros, Alan G

2013-12-01

To analyze autonomic nervous system activity in headache subjects, measurements of heart rate variability (HRV), skin temperature, skin conductance, and respiration were compared to a matched control group. HRV data were recorded in time and frequency domains. Subjects also completed self-report questionnaires assessing psychological distress, fatigue, and sleep dysfunction. Twenty-one headache and nineteen control subjects participated. In the time domain, the number of consecutive R-to-R intervals that varied by more than 50 ms and the standard deviation of the normalized R-to-R intervals, both indices of parasympathetic nervous system activity, were significantly lower in the headache group than the control group. Groups did not differ statistically on HRV measures in the frequency domain. Self-report measures showed significantly increased somatization, hostility, anxiety, symptom distress, fatigue, and sleep problems in the headache group. The results suggest headache subjects have increased sympathetic nervous system activity and decreased parasympathetic activity compared to non-headache control subjects. Headaches subjects also showed greater emotional distress, fatigue, and sleep problems. The results indicate an association between headaches and cardiovascular functioning suggestive of sympathetic nervous system activation in this sample of mixed migraine and tension-type headache sufferers. PMID:23912525

20. Autonomous Systems Developments and Trends

CERN Document Server

Kyamaky, Kyandoghere; Kacprzyk, Janusz

2012-01-01

The Workshops on Autonomous Systems emanated from a gathering with the doctoral students of just three chairs at Fernuniversität in Hagen, which we organise twice per year for a number of years now. Their purpose is to discuss on-going research and to create a community spirit. Furthermore, they serve as a means of structuring the students' research processes. The workshop has grown and matured in several respects. The doctoral students presenting their work do not come from a single university anymore, but from three. Besides them and their supervisors, also other scientists became interested in the event and contribute to its programme. Following the model of Advanced Study Institutes, they are available on the premises for relaxed, informal discussions outside the formal sessions. Finally, with the co-sponsorship of Gesellschaft für Informatik, the German Computer Society, and this surprisingly comprehensive volume of contributions published by Springer-Verlag the workshop turned into a visible scientifi...

1. Environmental data collection using autonomous Wave Gliders

OpenAIRE

Hermsdorfer, Kathryn M.

2014-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited The Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARC), also known as Wave Glider, is an autonomous ocean vehicle powered by wave motion. This slow-moving platform makes long-term deployments and environmental data collection feasible, especially in data sparse regions or hazardous environments. The standard SHARC hosts a meteorological station (Airmar PB200) that samples air pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind direction at 1.12 m. ...

2. A middleware architecture for autonomic software deployment

OpenAIRE

Matougui, Mohamed El Amine; LERICHE, Sébastien

2012-01-01

International audience Autonomic software deployment in open networked environments such as mobile and ad hoc networks is an open issue. Some solutions to software deployment exist; but, they are usable only within static topologies of devices. We propose a middleware architecture providing a constraint-based language guiding the deployment process at a high level and an autonomous agent-based system for establishing and maintaining a software deployment according to a deployment plan. Con...

3. Tele-robotic/autonomous control using controlshell

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilhelmsen, K.C.; Hurd, R.L.; Couture, S.

1996-12-10

A tele-robotic and autonomous controller architecture for waste handling and sorting has been developed which uses tele-robotics, autonomous grasping and image processing. As a starting point, prior work from LLNL and ORNL was restructured and ported to a special real-time development environment. Significant improvements in collision avoidance, force compliance, and shared control aspects were then developed. Several orders of magnitude improvement were made in some areas to meet the speed and robustness requirements of the application.

4. Decentralized Coordination of Autonomous Vehicles at intersections

OpenAIRE

Makarem, Laleh; Gillet, Denis

2011-01-01

In this paper, the decentralized coordination of point-mass autonomous vehicles at intersections using navigation functions is considered. As main contribution, the inertia of the vehicles is taken into account to enable on-board energy optimization for crossing. In such a way, heavier vehicles that need more energy and time for acceleration or breaking are given an indirect priority at intersections. The proposed decentralized coordination scheme of autonomous vehicles at intersection is com...

5. Omnidirectional Stereo Vision for Autonomous Vehicles

OpenAIRE

Schönbein, Miriam

2014-01-01

Environment perception with cameras is an important requirement for many applications for autonomous vehicles and robots. This work presents a stereoscopic omnidirectional camera system for autonomous vehicles which resolves the problem of a limited field of view and provides a 360° panoramic view of the environment. We present a new projection model for these cameras and show that the camera setup overcomes major drawbacks of traditional perspective cameras in many applications.

6. Autonomous navigation and sign detector learning

OpenAIRE

Ellis, Liam; Pugeault, Nicolas; Öfjäll, Kristoffer; Hedborg, Johan; Bowden, Richard; Felsberg, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper presents an autonomous robotic system that incorporates novel Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Data Mining algorithms in order to learn to navigate and discover important visual entities. This is achieved within a Learning from Demonstration (LfD) framework, where policies are derived from example state-to-action mappings. For autonomous navigation, a mapping is learnt from holistic image features (GIST) onto control parameters using Random Forest regression. Additionally, vis...

7. Autonomous Path Following Using Convolutional Networks

OpenAIRE

Schmiterlöw, Maria

2012-01-01

Autonomous vehicles have many application possibilities within many different fields like rescue missions, exploring foreign environments or unmanned vehicles etc. For such system to navigate in a safe manner, high requirements of reliability and security must be fulfilled. This master's thesis explores the possibility to use the machine learning algorithm convolutional network on a robotic platform for autonomous path following. The only input to predict the steering signal is a monochromati...

8. Visual navigation for an autonomous mobile vehicle

OpenAIRE

Peterson, Kevin Robert

1992-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Image understanding for a mobile robotic vehicle is an important and complex task for ensuring safe navigation and extended autonomous operations. The goal of this work is to implement a working vision-based navigation control mechanism within a known environment onboard the autonomous mobile vehicle Yamabico-II. Although installing a working hardware system was not accomplished, the image processing, model description, pattern match...

9. Control of the MARES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

OpenAIRE

Bruno Ferreira; Miguel Pinto; Anibal Matos; Nuno Cruz

2009-01-01

This paper focuses the control problem of a nonholonomic autonomous underwater vehicle, moving in the tridimensional space. The dynamic of a body in submarine environments is strongly nonlinear. This implies that classical linear controllers are often inadequate whereby Lyapunov theory is here considered. Methods based in this theory are promising tools to design controllers and are applied to the case of MARES, a small-sized autonomous underwater vehicle. Several controllers based only on Ly...

10. TRIDENT: A Framework for Autonomous Underwater Intervention

OpenAIRE

Sanz Valero, Pedro José; Ridao, Pere; Oliver, Gabriel; Melchiorri, Claudio; Casalino, Giuseppe; Silvestre, Carlos; Petillot, Yvan; Turetta, Alessio

2011-01-01

TRIDENT is a STREP project recently approved by the European Commission whose proposal was submitted to the ICT call 4 of the 7th Framework Program. The project proposes a new methodology for multipurpose underwater intervention tasks. To that end, a cooperative team formed with an Autonomous Surface Craft and an Intervention Autonomous Underwater Vehicle will be used. The proposed methodology splits the mission in two stages mainly devoted to survey and intervention tasks, res...

11. An autonomous vision-based mobile robot

Science.gov (United States)

Baumgartner, Eric Thomas

This dissertation describes estimation and control methods for use in the development of an autonomous mobile robot for structured environments. The navigation of the mobile robot is based on precise estimates of the position and orientation of the robot within its environment. The extended Kalman filter algorithm is used to combine information from the robot's drive wheels with periodic observations of small, wall-mounted, visual cues to produce the precise position and orientation estimates. The visual cues are reliably detected by at least one video camera mounted on the mobile robot. Typical position estimates are accurate to within one inch. A path tracking algorithm is also developed to follow desired reference paths which are taught by a human operator. Because of the time-independence of the tracking algorithm, the speed that the vehicle travels along the reference path is specified independent from the tracking algorithm. The estimation and control methods have been applied successfully to two experimental vehicle systems. Finally, an analysis of the linearized closed-loop control system is performed to study the behavior and the stability of the system as a function of various control parameters.

12. AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER HYBRID VEHICLE FOR OCEAN SURVEILLANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KIRUBAKARAN.S,

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Coastal areas are among the most vulnerable of all regions to global climate change. Projected impacts from global warming include rising sea levels, intensification of tropical cyclones, larger storm surges, increasing sea-surface temperatures, and – as the oceans absorb more of the carbon dioxide human activities emit to theatmosphere – growing acidification of surface waters. With an estimated 50 per cent of the world’s population now living within 60km of the coast and 60 per cent of cities with population over 5 million located within 100 km of the coast, the Potential impacts of climate change on coastal development and infrastructure is considerable. On-going development has manifested in the form of urban centers, tourist resorts, ports and Industrial areas. The rising sea levels and larger storm surges caused by climate change Threaten to compound such risks. In order to understand the Ocean systems, continuous time series Observation is essential and development of innovative Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV with suite of sensors would be very useful.

13. The Autonomous Glycosylation of Large DNA Viruses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Piacente

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Glycosylation of surface molecules is a key feature of several eukaryotic viruses, which use the host endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi apparatus to add carbohydrates to their nascent glycoproteins. In recent years, a newly discovered group of eukaryotic viruses, belonging to the Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Virus (NCLDV group, was shown to have several features that are typical of cellular organisms, including the presence of components of the glycosylation machinery. Starting from initial observations with the chlorovirus PBCV-1, enzymes for glycan biosynthesis have been later identified in other viruses; in particular in members of the Mimiviridae family. They include both the glycosyltransferases and other carbohydrate-modifying enzymes and the pathways for the biosynthesis of the rare monosaccharides that are found in the viral glycan structures. These findings, together with genome analysis of the newly-identified giant DNA viruses, indicate that the presence of glycogenes is widespread in several NCLDV families. The identification of autonomous viral glycosylation machinery leads to many questions about the origin of these pathways, the mechanisms of glycan production, and eventually their function in the viral replication cycle. The scope of this review is to highlight some of the recent results that have been obtained on the glycosylation systems of the large DNA viruses, with a special focus on the enzymes involved in nucleotide-sugar production.

14. The Autonomous Glycosylation of Large DNA Viruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Piacente, Francesco; Gaglianone, Matteo; Laugieri, Maria Elena; Tonetti, Michela G

2015-01-01

Glycosylation of surface molecules is a key feature of several eukaryotic viruses, which use the host endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi apparatus to add carbohydrates to their nascent glycoproteins. In recent years, a newly discovered group of eukaryotic viruses, belonging to the Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Virus (NCLDV) group, was shown to have several features that are typical of cellular organisms, including the presence of components of the glycosylation machinery. Starting from initial observations with the chlorovirus PBCV-1, enzymes for glycan biosynthesis have been later identified in other viruses; in particular in members of the Mimiviridae family. They include both the glycosyltransferases and other carbohydrate-modifying enzymes and the pathways for the biosynthesis of the rare monosaccharides that are found in the viral glycan structures. These findings, together with genome analysis of the newly-identified giant DNA viruses, indicate that the presence of glycogenes is widespread in several NCLDV families. The identification of autonomous viral glycosylation machinery leads to many questions about the origin of these pathways, the mechanisms of glycan production, and eventually their function in the viral replication cycle. The scope of this review is to highlight some of the recent results that have been obtained on the glycosylation systems of the large DNA viruses, with a special focus on the enzymes involved in nucleotide-sugar production. PMID:26690138

15. The Emerging Infrastructure of Autonomous Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Seaman, R.; Allan, A.; Axelrod, T.; Cook, K.; White, R.; Williams, R.

2007-10-01

Advances in the understanding of cosmic processes demand that sky transient events be confronted with statistical techniques honed on static phenomena. Time domain data sets require vast surveys such as LSST {http://www.lsst.org/lsst_home.shtml} and Pan-STARRS {http://www.pan-starrs.ifa.hawaii.edu}. A new autonomous infrastructure must close the loop from the scheduling of survey observations, through data archiving and pipeline processing, to the publication of transient event alerts and automated follow-up, and to the easy analysis of resulting data. The IVOA VOEvent {http://voevent.org} working group leads efforts to characterize sky transient alerts published through VOEventNet {http://voeventnet.org}. The Heterogeneous Telescope Networks (HTN {http://www.telescope-networks.org}) consortium are observatories and robotic telescope projects seeking interoperability with a long-term goal of creating an e-market for telescope time. Two projects relying on VOEvent and HTN are eSTAR {http://www.estar.org.uk} and the Thinking Telescope {http://www.thinkingtelescopes.lanl.gov} Project.

16. Towards Autonomous Operation of Robonaut 2

Science.gov (United States)

Badger, Julia M.; Hart, Stephen W.; Yamokoski, J. D.

2011-01-01

The Robonaut 2 (R2) platform, as shown in Figure 1, was designed through a collaboration between NASA and General Motors to be a capable robotic assistant with the dexterity similar to a suited astronaut [1]. An R2 robot was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2011 and, in doing so, became the first humanoid robot in space. Its capabilities are presently being tested and expanded to increase its usefulness to the crew. Current work on R2 includes the addition of a mobility platform to allow the robot to complete tasks (such as cleaning, maintenance, or simple construction activities) both inside and outside of the ISS. To support these new activities, R2's software architecture is being developed to provide efficient ways of programming robust and autonomous behavior. In particular, a multi-tiered software architecture is proposed that combines principles of low-level feedback control with higher-level planners that accomplish behavioral goals at the task level given the run-time context, user constraints, the health of the system, and so on. The proposed architecture is shown in Figure 2. At the lowest-level, the resource level, there exists the various sensory and motor signals available to the system. The sensory signals for a robot such as R2 include multiple channels of force/torque data, joint or Cartesian positions calculated through the robot's proprioception, and signals derived from objects observable by its cameras.

17. Autonomous Aerobraking Development Software: Phase 2 Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Cianciolo, Alicia D.; Maddock, Robert W.; Prince, Jill L.; Bowes, Angela; Powell, Richard W.; White, Joseph P.; Tolson, Robert; O'Shaughnessy, Daniel; Carrelli, David

2013-01-01

NASA has used aerobraking at Mars and Venus to reduce the fuel required to deliver a spacecraft into a desired orbit compared to an all-propulsive solution. Although aerobraking reduces the propellant, it does so at the expense of mission duration, large staff, and DSN coverage. These factors make aerobraking a significant cost element in the mission design. By moving on-board the current ground-based tasks of ephemeris determination, atmospheric density estimation, and maneuver sizing and execution, a flight project would realize significant cost savings. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) sponsored Phase 1 and 2 of the Autonomous Aerobraking Development Software (AADS) study, which demonstrated the initial feasibility of moving these current ground-based functions to the spacecraft. This paper highlights key state-of-the-art advancements made in the Phase 2 effort to verify that the AADS algorithms are accurate, robust and ready to be considered for application on future missions that utilize aerobraking. The advancements discussed herein include both model updates and simulation and benchmark testing. Rigorous testing using observed flight atmospheres, operational environments and statistical analysis characterized the AADS operability in a perturbed environment.

18. Diabetic gastroparesis in association with autonomic neuropathy and microvasculopathy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KoÃ§kar MC

2002-10-01

Full Text Available Gastroparesis is a frequent and sometimes life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus. Autonomic neuropathy seems to be one of the most important mechanisms underlying this entity, together with the other probable pathologies. The present study was performed in order to identify an alternative to gastric scintigraphy as a screening test. The gastric emptying times of 60 subjects (Group 1: 20 insulin-dependent patients, Group 2: 20 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients, and Group 3: 20 healthy volunteers were monitored by gastric scintigraphy. Perception thresholds for cold, heat, and vibration were tested by a quantitative sensory test, and QTc dispersions were calculated from standard electrocardiography recordings. In addition, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c and urine beta2-microglobulin and microalbumin concentrations were determined for the patient groups. Funduscopic examination was performed by an independent ophthalmologist. Gastroparesis was determined in both patient groups, regardless of fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c concentrations. A strong correlation was observed between nephropathy, retinopathy, and cardiac autonomic denervation (QTc and gastroparesis. In conclusion, retinal and renal microvasculopathy parameters and cardiac autonomic function tests may be useful for screening diabetic patients for gastroparesis.

19. Autonomous Navigation of Small Uavs Based on Vehicle Dynamic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Khaghani, M.; Skaloud, J.

2016-03-01

This paper presents a novel approach to autonomous navigation for small UAVs, in which the vehicle dynamic model (VDM) serves as the main process model within the navigation filter. The proposed method significantly increases the accuracy and reliability of autonomous navigation, especially for small UAVs with low-cost IMUs on-board. This is achieved with no extra sensor added to the conventional INS/GNSS setup. This improvement is of special interest in case of GNSS outages, where inertial coasting drifts very quickly. In the proposed architecture, the solution to VDM equations provides the estimate of position, velocity, and attitude, which is updated within the navigation filter based on available observations, such as IMU data or GNSS measurements. The VDM is also fed with the control input to the UAV, which is available within the control/autopilot system. The filter is capable of estimating wind velocity and dynamic model parameters, in addition to navigation states and IMU sensor errors. Monte Carlo simulations reveal major improvements in navigation accuracy compared to conventional INS/GNSS navigation system during the autonomous phase, when satellite signals are not available due to physical obstruction or electromagnetic interference for example. In case of GNSS outages of a few minutes, position and attitude accuracy experiences improvements of orders of magnitude compared to inertial coasting. It means that during such scenario, the position-velocity-attitude (PVA) determination is sufficiently accurate to navigate the UAV to a home position without any signal that depends on vehicle environment.

20. Advancing Autonomous Operations for Deep Space Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Haddock, Angie T.; Stetson, Howard K.

2014-01-01

Starting in Jan 2012, the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Autonomous Mission Operations (AMO) Project began to investigate the ability to create and execute "single button" crew initiated autonomous activities [1]. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) designed and built a fluid transfer hardware test-bed to use as a sub-system target for the investigations of intelligent procedures that would command and control a fluid transfer test-bed, would perform self-monitoring during fluid transfers, detect anomalies and faults, isolate the fault and recover the procedures function that was being executed, all without operator intervention. In addition to the development of intelligent procedures, the team is also exploring various methods for autonomous activity execution where a planned timeline of activities are executed autonomously and also the initial analysis of crew procedure development. This paper will detail the development of intelligent procedures for the NASA MSFC Autonomous Fluid Transfer System (AFTS) as well as the autonomous plan execution capabilities being investigated. Manned deep space missions, with extreme communication delays with Earth based assets, presents significant challenges for what the on-board procedure content will encompass as well as the planned execution of the procedures.

1. Autonomous control systems - Architecture and fundamental issues

Science.gov (United States)

Antsaklis, P. J.; Passino, K. M.; Wang, S. J.

1988-01-01

A hierarchical functional autonomous controller architecture is introduced. In particular, the architecture for the control of future space vehicles is described in detail; it is designed to ensure the autonomous operation of the control system and it allows interaction with the pilot and crew/ground station, and the systems on board the autonomous vehicle. The fundamental issues in autonomous control system modeling and analysis are discussed. It is proposed to utilize a hybrid approach to modeling and analysis of autonomous systems. This will incorporate conventional control methods based on differential equations and techniques for the analysis of systems described with a symbolic formalism. In this way, the theory of conventional control can be fully utilized. It is stressed that autonomy is the design requirement and intelligent control methods appear at present, to offer some of the necessary tools to achieve autonomy. A conventional approach may evolve and replace some or all of the `intelligent' functions. It is shown that in addition to conventional controllers, the autonomous control system incorporates planning, learning, and FDI (fault detection and identification).

2. Autonomous Agents Coordination: Action Languages meet CLP(FD) and Linda

CERN Document Server

Dovier, Agostino; Pontelli, Enrico

2011-01-01

The paper presents a knowledge representation formalism, in the form of a high-level Action Description Language for multi-agent systems, where autonomous agents reason and act in a shared environment. Agents are autonomously pursuing individual goals, but are capable of interacting through a shared knowledge repository. In their interactions through shared portions of the world, the agents deal with problems of synchronization and concurrency; the action language allows the description of strategies to ensure a consistent global execution of the agents' autonomously derived plans. A distributed planning problem is formalized by providing the declarative specifications of the portion of the problem pertaining a single agent. Each of these specifications is executable by a stand-alone CLP-based planner. The coordination among agents exploits a Linda infrastructure. The proposal is validated in a prototype implementation developed in SICStus Prolog. To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP).

3. The role of the autonomic nervous system in Tourette Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jack eHawksley

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Tourette Syndrome (TS is a neurodevelopmental disorder, consisting of multiple involuntary movements (motor tics and one or more vocal (phonic tics. It affects up to one percent of children worldwide, of whom about one third continue to experience symptoms into adulthood. The central neural mechanisms of tic generation are not clearly understood, however recent neuroimaging investigations suggest impaired cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical activity during motor control. In the current manuscript, we will tackle the relatively under-investigated role of the peripheral autonomic nervous system, and its central influences, on tic activity. There is emerging evidence that both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity influences tic expression. Pharmacological treatments which act on sympathetic tone are often helpful: for example, Clonidine (an alpha-2 adrenoreceptor agonist is often used as first choice medication for treating TS in children due to its good tolerability profile and potential usefulness for co-morbid attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder. Clonidine suppresses sympathetic activity, reducing the triggering of motor tics. A general elevation of sympathetic tone is reported in patients with TS compared to healthy people, however this observation may reflect transient responses coupled to tic activity. Thus the presence of autonomic impairments in patients with TS remains unclear. Effect of autonomic afferent input to cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit will be discussed schematically. We additionally review how TS is affected by modulation of central autonomic control through biofeedback and Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS. Biofeedback training can enable a patient to gain voluntary control over covert physiological responses by making these responses explicit. Electrodermal biofeedback training to elicit a reduction in sympathetic tone has a demonstrated association with reduced tic frequency. VNS, achieved through an

4. Autonomous satellite constellation orbit determination using the star sensor and inter-satellite links data

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2010-01-01

A method of autonomous orbit determination for a satellite constellation using a star sensor combined with inter satellite links(ISLs) is studied.Two types of simulated observation data,Three-Satellite Constellation ISLs and background stellar observations by a CCD star sensor,are first produced.Based on these data,an observation equation is built for the constellation joint autonomous orbit determination,in which the simulations are run.The accuracy of this method with different orbital determination models are analyzed and compared with regard to the effect of potential measurement errors.The results show that autonomous satellite constellation orbit determination using star sensor measurement and ISLs data is feasible.Finally,this paper arrives at several conclusions which contribute to extending this method to a more general satellite constellation.

5. A STUDY OF CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN ASTHMATIC PATIENTS AND DETERMINE ITS CORRELATION WITH SEVERITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virendra

2014-01-01

Full Text Available CONTEXT Bronchial asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways affecting people of all ages. It is manifested physiologically by a wide spread narrowing of the air passages , which may be relieved spontaneously or as a result of therapy and clinically by paroxysms of dyspnea , cough and wheezing. Airways are richly innervated by autonomic nervous system which plays a part in the control and their secretion. They regulate many aspects of airw ays’ physiology such as smooth muscle , mucus secretions , blood flow , micro vascular permeability and the migration and release of inflammatory cells. These effects are due to the release of neurotransmitters from autonomic nerves. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present work was undertaken in 50 cases of bronchial asthma attending medical OPD and indoor and they were randomly selected without any bias of age and sex. Criteria for grading of severity of asthma were determined by clinical & Peak expiratory Flow Rat e [PEFR]. A complete general and systemic examination was carried out and they were specifically examined in detail for signs of autonomic dysfunction employing the standard “Ewing - Clarke” battery of five tests for cardiovascular autonomic functions. Three tests were used for parasympathetic function - 1.Heart rate response to Valsalva maneuver 2. Heart rate variation during deep breathing 3. Immediate Heart rate response to standing . And two tests were used for sympathetic function - 1. Blood pressure respon se to standing 2.Blood pressure response to sustained handgrip . OBSERVATIONS: In the present study , 32 patients (64% were tested positive for autonomic dysfunction out of 50 cases. Maximum number of cases 17(94.44% out of 18 with autonomic dysfunction had severe asthma. 15(46.87% out of 32 cases with autonomic dysfunction had mild - moderate asthma. Thus there was an increase in autonomic dysfunction with increased severity of asthma (p<0.001 highly significant. CONCLUSION

6. Improved autonomous star identification algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Li-Yan; Xu, Lu-Ping; Zhang, Hua; Sun, Jing-Rong

2015-06-01

The log-polar transform (LPT) is introduced into the star identification because of its rotation invariance. An improved autonomous star identification algorithm is proposed in this paper to avoid the circular shift of the feature vector and to reduce the time consumed in the star identification algorithm using LPT. In the proposed algorithm, the star pattern of the same navigation star remains unchanged when the stellar image is rotated, which makes it able to reduce the star identification time. The logarithmic values of the plane distances between the navigation and its neighbor stars are adopted to structure the feature vector of the navigation star, which enhances the robustness of star identification. In addition, some efforts are made to make it able to find the identification result with fewer comparisons, instead of searching the whole feature database. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively accelerate the star identification. Moreover, the recognition rate and robustness by the proposed algorithm are better than those by the LPT algorithm and the modified grid algorithm. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61172138 and 61401340), the Open Research Fund of the Academy of Satellite Application, China (Grant No. 2014_CXJJ-DH_12), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant Nos. JB141303 and 201413B), the Natural Science Basic Research Plan in Shaanxi Province, China (Grant No. 2013JQ8040), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20130203120004), and the Xi’an Science and Technology Plan, China (Grant. No CXY1350(4)).

7. Autonomous and autonomic systems with applications to NASA intelligent spacecraft operations and exploration systems

CERN Document Server

Truszkowski, Walt; Rouff, Christopher; Karlin, Jay; Rash, James; Hinchey, Michael; Sterritt, Roy

2009-01-01

This book provides an in-depth discussion of autonomous and autonomic systems, their interdependencies, differences and similarities. Current and pending issues in these evermore increasingly important subjects are highlighted and discussed. Concepts, ideas and experiences are explored in relation to real-life NASA systems in spacecraft control and in the exploration domain.

8. Supervised autonomous robotic soft tissue surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Shademan, Azad; Decker, Ryan S; Opfermann, Justin D; Leonard, Simon; Krieger, Axel; Kim, Peter C W

2016-05-01

The current paradigm of robot-assisted surgeries (RASs) depends entirely on an individual surgeon's manual capability. Autonomous robotic surgery-removing the surgeon's hands-promises enhanced efficacy, safety, and improved access to optimized surgical techniques. Surgeries involving soft tissue have not been performed autonomously because of technological limitations, including lack of vision systems that can distinguish and track the target tissues in dynamic surgical environments and lack of intelligent algorithms that can execute complex surgical tasks. We demonstrate in vivo supervised autonomous soft tissue surgery in an open surgical setting, enabled by a plenoptic three-dimensional and near-infrared fluorescent (NIRF) imaging system and an autonomous suturing algorithm. Inspired by the best human surgical practices, a computer program generates a plan to complete complex surgical tasks on deformable soft tissue, such as suturing and intestinal anastomosis. We compared metrics of anastomosis-including the consistency of suturing informed by the average suture spacing, the pressure at which the anastomosis leaked, the number of mistakes that required removing the needle from the tissue, completion time, and lumen reduction in intestinal anastomoses-between our supervised autonomous system, manual laparoscopic surgery, and clinically used RAS approaches. Despite dynamic scene changes and tissue movement during surgery, we demonstrate that the outcome of supervised autonomous procedures is superior to surgery performed by expert surgeons and RAS techniques in ex vivo porcine tissues and in living pigs. These results demonstrate the potential for autonomous robots to improve the efficacy, consistency, functional outcome, and accessibility of surgical techniques. PMID:27147588

9. Future-oriented maintenance strategy based on automated processes is finding its way into large astronomical facilities at remote observing sites

Science.gov (United States)

Silber, Armin; Gonzalez, Christian; Pino, Francisco; Escarate, Patricio; Gairing, Stefan

2014-08-01

With expanding sizes and increasing complexity of large astronomical observatories on remote observing sites, the call for an efficient and recourses saving maintenance concept becomes louder. The increasing number of subsystems on telescopes and instruments forces large observatories, like in industries, to rethink conventional maintenance strategies for reaching this demanding goal. The implementation of full-, or semi-automatic processes for standard service activities can help to keep the number of operating staff on an efficient level and to reduce significantly the consumption of valuable consumables or equipment. In this contribution we will demonstrate on the example of the 80 Cryogenic subsystems of the ALMA Front End instrument, how an implemented automatic service process increases the availability of spare parts and Line Replaceable Units. Furthermore how valuable staff recourses can be freed from continuous repetitive maintenance activities, to allow focusing more on system diagnostic tasks, troubleshooting and the interchanging of line replaceable units. The required service activities are decoupled from the day-to-day work, eliminating dependencies on workload peaks or logistic constrains. The automatic refurbishing processes running in parallel to the operational tasks with constant quality and without compromising the performance of the serviced system components. Consequentially that results in an efficiency increase, less down time and keeps the observing schedule on track. Automatic service processes in combination with proactive maintenance concepts are providing the necessary flexibility for the complex operational work structures of large observatories. The gained planning flexibility is allowing an optimization of operational procedures and sequences by considering the required cost efficiency.

10. Facilitating Preschoolers' Scientific Knowledge Construction via Computer Games Regarding Light and Shadow: The Effect of the Prediction-Observation-Explanation (POE) Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Chung-Yuan; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Liang, Jyh-Chong

2011-10-01

Educational researchers have suggested that computer games have a profound influence on students' motivation, knowledge construction, and learning performance, but little empirical research has targeted preschoolers. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of implementing a computer game that integrates the prediction-observation-explanation (POE) strategy (White and Gunstone in Probing understanding. Routledge, New York, 1992) on facilitating preschoolers' acquisition of scientific concepts regarding light and shadow. The children's alternative conceptions were explored as well. Fifty participants were randomly assigned into either an experimental group that played a computer game integrating the POE model or a control group that played a non-POE computer game. By assessing the students' conceptual understanding through interviews, this study revealed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the concepts regarding "shadow formation in daylight" and "shadow orientation." However, children in both groups, after playing the games, still expressed some alternative conceptions such as "Shadows always appear behind a person" and "Shadows should be on the same side as the sun."

11. An autonomous orbit determination method for MEO and LEO satellite

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hui; Wang, Jin; Yu, Guobin; Zhong, Jie; Lin, Ling

2014-09-01

A reliable and secure navigation system and assured autonomous capability of satellite are in high demand in case of emergencies in space. This paper introduces a novel autonomous orbit determination method for Middle-Earth-Orbit and Low-Earth-Orbit (MEO and LEO) satellite by observing space objects whose orbits are known. Generally, the geodetic satellites, such as LAGEOS and ETALONS, can be selected as the space objects here. The precision CCD camera on tracking gimbal can make a series of photos of the objects and surrounding stars when MEO and LEO satellite encounters the space objects. Then the information processor processes images and attains sightings and angular observations of space objects. Several clusters of such angular observations are incorporated into a batch least squares filter to obtain an orbit determination solution. This paper describes basic principle and builds integrated mathematical model. The accuracy of this method is analyzed by means of computer simulation. Then a simulant experiment system is built, and the experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this method. The experimental results show that this method can attain the accuracy of 150 meters with angular observations of 1 arcsecond system error.

12. Autonomous Learning and Improving Communicative Competence

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

李宝红; 孙晓黎

2013-01-01

Nowadays, English as a world language becomes more and more important. Consequently, English learning becomes more and more popular. As we know, an important object for English learners is to improve their communicative competence. So autonomous learning is a good way to improve communicative competence. In this paper, two terms, autonomous learning and communicative competence, and their relationship will be introduced from the perspective of English learning. Autonomous learning is self-managed learning, which is contrary to passive learning and mechanical learning, according to intrinsic property of language learning. Communicative competence is a concept introduced by Dell Hymes and is discussed and refined by many oth⁃er linguists. According to Hymes, communicative competence is the ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of language in order to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom. Communi⁃cative competence includes 4 aspects: Possibility, feasibility, appropriateness and performance. Improving communicative compe⁃tence is the result of autonomous learning, autonomous learning is the motivation of improving communicative competence. English, of course, is a bridge connecting China to the world, and fostering students’communicative competence through auton⁃omous learning is the vital element of improving English learning in China.

13. Chess Pure Strategies are Probably Chaotic

OpenAIRE

M. Chaves

1998-01-01

It is odd that chess grandmasters often disagree in their analysis of positions, sometimes even of simple ones, and that a grandmaster can hold his own against an powerful analytic machine such as Deep Blue. The fact that there must exist pure winning strategies for chess is used to construct a control strategy function. It is then shown that chess strategy is equivalent to an autonomous system of differential equations, and conjectured that the system is chaotic. If true the conjecture would...

14. Paroxysmal Autonomic Instability with Dystonia after Pneumococcal Meningoencephalitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of bacterial meningitis, frequently resulting in severe neurological impairment. A seven-month-old child presenting with Streptococcus pneumoniae meningoencephalitis developed right basal ganglia and hypothalamic infarctions. Daily episodes of agitation, hypertension, tachycardia, diaphoresis, hyperthermia, and decerebrate posturing were observed. The diagnosis of paroxysmal autonomic instability with dystonia was established. The patient responded to clonidine, baclofen, and benzodiazepines. Although this entity has been reported in association with traumatic brain injury, and as a sequel to some nervous system infections, this is the first case, to our knowledge, associated with pneumococcal meningoencephalitis.

15. Development of A Deep Ocean Electric Autonomous Manipulator

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

XIAO Zhi-hu; XU Guo-hua; PENG Fu-yuan; TANG Guo-yuan; SHEN Xiong; YANG Bo

2011-01-01

This paper describes an underwater 3500 m electric manipulator(named Huahai-4E,stands for four functions deep ocean electric manipulator in China),which has been developed at underwater manipulation technology lab in Huazhong University of Science and Technology(HUST)for a test bed of studying of deep ocean manipulation technologies.The manipulator features modular integration joints, and layered architecture control system.The oil-filled,pressure-compensated joint is compactly designed and integrated of a permanent magnet(PM)brushless motor,a drive circuit,a harmonic gear and an angular feedback potentiometer.The underwater control system is based on a network and consisted of three embedded PC/104 computers which are used for servo control,task plan and target sensor respectively.They communicate through User Datagram Protocol(UDP)multicast communication in Vxworks OS.A supervisor PC with a virtual 3D GUI is fiber linked to underwater control system.Furthermore,the manipulator is equipped with a sensor system including a unique ultra-sonic probe array and an underwater camera.Autonomous grasp strategy based multi-sensor is studied.The results of watertight test in 40 MPa,joint's efficiency test and autonomous grasp experiments in tank are also presented.

16. Motor execution detection based on autonomic nervous system responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Triggered assistance has been shown to be a successful robotic strategy for provoking motor plasticity, probably because it requires neurologic patients’ active participation to initiate a movement involving their impaired limb. Triggered assistance, however, requires sufficient residual motor control to activate the trigger and, thus, is not applicable to individuals with severe neurologic injuries. In these situations, brain and body–computer interfaces have emerged as promising solutions to control robotic devices. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of a body–machine interface to detect motion execution only monitoring the autonomic nervous system (ANS) response. Four physiological signals were measured (blood pressure, breathing rate, skin conductance response and heart rate) during an isometric pinching task and used to train a classifier based on hidden Markov models. We performed an experiment with six healthy subjects to test the effectiveness of the classifier to detect rest and active pinching periods. The results showed that the movement execution can be accurately classified based only on peripheral autonomic signals, with an accuracy level of 84.5%, sensitivity of 83.8% and specificity of 85.2%. These results are encouraging to perform further research on the use of the ANS response in body–machine interfaces. (paper)

17. Development of a deep ocean electric autonomous manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Zhi-Hu; Xu, Guo-Hua; Peng, Fu-Yuan; Tang, Guo-Yuan; Shen, Xiong; Yang, Bo

2011-03-01

This paper describes an underwater 3500 m electric manipulator (named Huahai-4E, stands for four functions deep ocean electric manipulator in China), which has been developed at underwater manipulation technology lab in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) for a test bed of studying of deep ocean manipulation technologies. The manipulator features modular integration joints, and layered architecture control system. The oil-filled, pressure-compensated joint is compactly designed and integrated of a permanent magnet (PM) brushless motor, a drive circuit, a harmonic gear and an angular feedback potentiometer. The underwater control system is based on a network and consisted of three embedded PC/104 computers which are used for servo control, task plan and target sensor respectively. They communicate through User Datagram Protocol (UDP) multicast communication in Vxworks OS. A supervisor PC with a virtual 3D GUI is fiber linked to underwater control system. Furthermore, the manipulator is equipped with a sensor system including a unique ultra-sonic probe array and an underwater camera. Autonomous grasp strategy based multi-sensor is studied. The results of watertight test in 40 MPa, joint's efficiency test and autonomous grasp experiments in tank are also presented.

18. Using a genetic, observational study as a strategy to estimate the potential cost-effectiveness of pharmacological CCR5 blockade in dialysis patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Muntinghe, Friso L. H.; Vegter, Stefan; Verduijn, Marion; Boeschoten, Elisabeth W.; Dekker, Friedo W.; Navis, Gerjan; Postma, Maarten

2011-01-01

Background and objective Randomized clinical trials are expensive and time consuming. Therefore, strategies are needed to prioritise tracks for drug development. Genetic association studies may provide such a strategy by considering the differences between genotypes as a proxy for a natural, lifelon

19. Autonomous driving technical, legal and social aspects

CERN Document Server

Gerdes, J; Lenz, Barbara; Winner, Hermann

2016-01-01

This book takes a look at fully automated, autonomous vehicles and discusses many open questions: How can autonomous vehicles be integrated into the current transportation system with diverse users and human drivers? Where do automated vehicles fall under current legal frameworks? What risks are associated with automation and how will society respond to these risks? How will the marketplace react to automated vehicles and what changes may be necessary for companies? Experts from Germany and the United States define key societal, engineering, and mobility issues related to the automation of vehicles. They discuss the decisions programmers of automated vehicles must make to enable vehicles to perceive their environment, interact with other road users, and choose actions that may have ethical consequences. The authors further identify expectations and concerns that will form the basis for individual and societal acceptance of autonomous driving. While the safety benefits of such vehicles are tremendous, the auth...

20. Blood pressure regulation in diabetic autonomic neuropathy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hilsted, J

1985-01-01

Defective blood pressure responses to standing, exercise and epinephrine infusions have been demonstrated in diabetic patients with autonomic neuropathy. The circulatory mechanisms underlying blood pressure responses to exercise and standing up in these patients are well characterized: In both...... which may contribute to exercise hypotension in these patients. During hypoglycemia, blood pressure regulation seems intact in patients with autonomic neuropathy. This is probably due to release of substantial amounts of catecholamines during these experiments. During epinephrine infusions a substantial...... blood pressure fall ensues in patients with autonomic neuropathy, probably due to excessive muscular vasodilation. It is unresolved why blood pressure regulation is intact during hypoglycemia and severely impaired--at similar catecholamine concentrations--during epinephrine infusions....
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