Developing a vision-based auto-recharging system for mobile robots

This article describes a vision-based auto-recharging system that guides a mobile robot moving toward a docking station. The system contains a docking station and a mobile robot. The docking station contains a docking structure, a control device, a charger, a safety detection device, and a wireless RF interface. The mobile robot contains a power detection module (voltage and current), an auto-switch, a wireless RF interface, a controller, and a camera. The controller of the power detection module is a Holtek chip. The docking structure is designed with one active degree of freedom and two passive degrees of freedom. For image processing, the mobile robot uses a webcam to capture a real-time image. The image signal is transmitted to the controller of the mobile robot via a USB interface. We use an Otsu algorithm to calculate the distance and orientation of the docking station from the mobile robot. In the experiment, the proposed algorithm guided the mobile robot to the docking station.     

A formal approach to negotiating agents development

This paper presents a formal and executable approach to capture the behaviour of parties involved in a negotiation. A party is modeled as a negotiating agent composed of a communication module, a control module, a reasoning module, and a knowledge base. The control module is expressed as a statechart, and the reasoning module as a defeasible logic program. A strategy specification therefore consists of a statechart, a set of defeasible rules, and a set of initial facts. Such a specification can be dynamically plugged into an agent shell incorporating a statechart interpreter and a defeasible logic inference engine, in order to yield an agent capable of participating in a given type of negotiations. The choice of statecharts and defeasible logic with respect to other formalisms is justified against a set of desirable criteria, and their suitability is illustrated through concrete examples of bidding and multi-lateral bargaining scenarios.     

Panoramic appearance-based recognition of video contents using matching graphs

This paper proposes a general scheme for recognizing the contents of a video using a set of panoramas recorded in a database. In essence, a panorama inherently records the appearances of an omni-directional scene from its central point to arbitrary viewing directions and, thus, can serve as a compact representation of an environment. In particular, this paper emphasizes the use of a sequence of successive frames in a video taken with a video camera, instead of a single frame, for visual recognition. The associated recognition task is formulated as a shortest-path searching problem, and a dynamic-programming technique is used to solve it. Experimental results show that our method can effectively recognize a video.     

A vertical and floor line-based monocular SLAM system for corridor environments

In this paper, we propose a vertical and floor line-based monocular simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) system which utilizes vertical lines, floor lines, and vanishing points as sensory input to perform robust SLAM in corridor environments. By combining three map feature types, our design can help a robot to perform accurate pose estimation, repeatable loop closure, and to construct a more expressive environmental map. As a primitive element of a geometric structure, a line segment has one additional dimension compared to a point feature, thereby allowing the use of line segments to easily represent a geometric structure using a smaller number of features. This system presents map features on a 2D ground space: the vertical line as a projection point, the floor line as the original line, and the vanishing point as a directional vector. Although the vertical line, floor line, and vanishing point use different parameterization and initialization methods, their measurement models are integrated into a unified extended Kalman filter (EKF) framework. Experimental results show that our system can be deployed in a structured indoor environment as a suitable SLAM solution.     

An experimental remote handling system

An experimental robotic remote handling system is described which has been constructed in order to investigate various engineering problems in advanced remote handling such as the man-machine interface, system control and communication. The device consists of a mobile and a control station. The mobile station comprises an electrical manipulator having seven degrees of freedom, a TV camera, a control sub-computer, a servo-control unit, radio transmitters and receivers, batteries, etc., which are mounted on a crawler-type vehicle. The control station is equipped with the master arm of the manipulator, radio transmitters and receivers, a TV monitor, a main control computer and its peripheral devices, etc. The manipulator can be operated in either a master-slave, a playback or a programmed control mode with the assistance of control computers. Communication between the mobile and the control stations is made using optical fibres or a radio link.     

关于一种网格运行时结构的若干注记

进程是传统计算机系统的一个核心概念，自1960年出现以来一直沿用至今，进程的一个主要目的是为主体提供一种运行时结构，在操作系统和处理器硬件支持下，代表主体访问和使用各种资源，与传统的单机和并行机计算平台相比，网格计算机中进程所对应的概念面临新的挑战，包括网格资源繁杂、自主控制的条件下的单一系统映像和资源的共享与协同、与特定操作系统的松耦合、时间和空间的流动性、更高级的交互性，提出一种称为网程(grip)的运行时结构，试图解决上述问题，网程运行在网格操作系统之上，代表网格主体，访问和使用网格资源。     

Stochastic colored Petri net models of flexible manufacturing systems: Material handling systems and machining

This paper presents an overview of SCPN theory, a set of three generic SCPN submodels, a behavior-preserving methodology for combining those submodels into a larger model, and a combined model. The three submodels include a machine with failures, repairs, and limited I/O buffers, and two types of conveyor submodels—a simple conveyor segment and a conveyor segment at a machine.     

Process control and machine learning: rule-based incrementalcontrol

In this paper, we discuss a rule-based incremental control program which has been used for controlling a laser cutting robot and in simulation for driving a car on a track, for a car parking manoeuvre, or for parking a truck with one trailer. The core of the paper concerns a learning program, Candide, which learns to control a process without a priori knowledge about the process, by observing random initial evolutions of the process and acquiring a qualitative model. Monotonous or derivative relationships between inputs and outputs are recognized, and then a rule-based incremental controller Is deduced from this model     

On the controllability of systems with a time-varying delay†

This paper is concerned with the controllability of a system with a time-varying delay. The system to be considered here is described by a linear differential-difference equation of a retarded type, where a time-varying delay is a certain class of a time-varying function. First, the concepts of controllability for linear differential-difference systems with a constant delay, introduced by Weiss (1987), are developed to the system with a time-varying delay. Second, necessary and sufficient conditions for controllability are obtained. Finally, the controllability of a stationary system with a constant delay is treated, including the results of Chyung and Lee (1966).     

PSoC-based embedded design and quartz tuning fork for low-temperature measurement system design

This article describes a commercial quartz tuning fork (QTF), 8 mm in height by 3 mm in diameter, holding a two-terminal electronic component with a nominal frequency of 32.768 kHz and 12.5 pF typical load capacitance packed in a vacuum-sealed metal container, which has been used as a sensor for low-temperature measurement with good sensitivity, repeatability, and reliability. An embedded readout design with the support of a programmable system on-chip (PSoC) and virtual instrument control program, which uses a personal computer as an input/output device, provides online data acquisition of the QTF frequency data, which will in turn provide the measurement of the low-temperature bath in which the QTF is immersed. The embedded PSoC readout captures the varying frequency signals from the QTF as a response to the measurement temperature, processes it, and sends the frequency value to a personal computer, where LabVIEW, a graphical language ("G" language), displays the data in a graphical format. The QTFs for low temperature (300 K to 77 K) are well studied, whereas a sensor using a PSoC embedded design as a readout is a novel design implementation.     

Detection of a brain aneurysm and a way to search for a brain aneurysm aimed at the development of a system to simulate an operation

In this article, a system is proposed for a simulated operation which would help a trainee surgeon to perform a medical operation to ensure that a cerebral aneurysm does not burst. The physician will have acquired empirical medical technologies from operations in traditional clinical teaching. However, there is a problem with safety and the burden to the patient. Therefore, recently a new training approach for a simulated medical operation using virtual reality has been explored. With the aim of developing a simulated system for a medical operation for a cerebral aneurysm, we considered the necessary functions such as detecting the brain aneurysm that is the target of the operation, and searching for a suitable blood vessel to make a plan for the operation.     

Bayesian recognition of local 3-d shape by approximating image intensity functions with quadric polynomials

The recognition in image data of viewed patches of spheres, cylinders, and planes in the 3-D world is discussed as a first step to complex object recognition or complex object location and orientation estimation. Accordingly, an image is partitioned into small square windows, each of which is a view of a piece of a sphere, or of a cylinder, or of a plane. Windows are processed in parallel for recognition of content. New concepts and techniques include approximations of the image within a window by 2-D quadric polynomials where each approximation is constrained by one of the hypotheses that the 3-D surface shape seen is either planar, cylindrical, or spherical; a recognizer based upon these approximations to determine whether the object patch viewed is a piece of a sphere, or a piece of a cylinder, or a piece of a plane; lowpass filtering of the image by the approximation. The shape recognition is computationally simple, and for large windows is approximately Bayesian minimum-probability-of-error recognition. These classifications are useful for many purposes. One such purpose is to enable a following processor to use an appropriate estimator to estimate shape, and orientation and location parameters for the 3-D surface seen within a window.     

A superscalar simulation employing poisson distributed stalls

This paper presents a statistical approach to estimating the performance of a superscalar processor. Traditional trace-driven simulators can take a large amount time to conduct a performance evaluation of a machine, especially as the number of instructions increases. The result of this type of simulation is typically tied to the particular trace that was run. Elements such as dependencies, delays, and stalls are all a direct result of the particular trace being run, and can differ from trace to trace. This paper describes a model designed to separate simulation results from a specific trace. Rather than running a trace-driven simulation, a statistical model is employed, more specifically a Poisson distribution, to predict how these types of delay affects performance. Through the use of this statistical model, a performance evaluation can be conducted using a general code model, with specific stall rates, rather than a particular code trace. This model allows simulations to quickly run tens of millions of instructions and evaluate the performance of a particular micro-architecture while at the same time, allowing the flexibility to change the structure of the architecture.     

A multimodal language to communicate with life-supporting robots through a touch screen and a speech interface

This article proposes a multimodal language to communicate with life-supporting robots through a touch screen and a speech interface. The language is designed for untrained users who need support in their daily lives from cost-effective robots. In this language, the users can combine spoken and pointing messages in an interactive manner in order to convey their intentions to the robots. Spoken messages include verb and noun phrases which describe intentions. Pointing messages are given when the user’s finger touches a camera image, a picture containing a robot body, or a button on a touch screen at hand which convey a location in their environment, a direction, a body part of the robot, a cue, a reply to a query, or other information to help the robot. This work presents the philosophy and structure of the language.     

Logical foundations of multilevel databases

In this paper, we propose a formal model for multilevel databases. This model aims at being a generic model, that is it can be interpreted for any kind of database (relational, object-oriented …). Our model has three layers. The first layer corresponds to a model for a non-protected database. The second layer corresponds to a model for a multilevel database. In this second layer, we propose a list of theorems that must be respected in order to build a secure multilevel database. We also propose a new solution to manage cover stories without using the ambiguous technique of polyinstantiation. The third layer corresponds to a model for a MultiView database, that is, a database that provides at each security level a consistent view of the multilevel database. Finally, as an illustration, we interpret our 3-layer model in the case of an object-oriented database.     

A disruption recovery plan in a three-stage production-inventory system

This paper proposes a recovery plan for managing disruptions in a three-stage production-inventory system under a mixed production environment. First, a mathematical model is developed to deal with a disruption at any stage while maximizing total profit during the recovery-time window. The model is solved after the occurrence of a disruption event, with changed data used to generate a revised plan. We also propose a new and efficient heuristic for solving the developed mathematical model. Second, multiple disruptions are considered, where a new disruption may or may not affect the recovery plans of earlier disruptions. The heuristic, developed for a single disruption, is extended to deal with a series of disruptions so that it can be implemented for disruption recovery on a real-time basis. We compare the heuristic solutions with those obtained by a standard search algorithm for a set of randomly generated disruption test problems, and that show the consistent performance of our developed heuristic with lower computational times. Finally, some numerical examples and a real-world case study are presented to demonstrate the benefits and usefulness of our proposed approach.     

An Interactive Designing System with Virtual Sculpting and Virtual Woodcut Printing

In this paper, we propose an interactive designing method and a system based on it to create 3D objects and 2D images. This system consists of two subsystems for virtual sculpting to create a 3D shape and virtual printing to produce a picture with a printing block. In the virtual sculpting subsystem, a user can form solid objects with curved surfaces as if sculpting them. The user operates virtual chisels, and can remove or attach arbitrary shapes of ellipsoids or cubes from or to the workpiece. A 3D object generated by virtual sculpting looks like a real wooden sculpture. If using a board as a workpiece, a user can generate a virtual printing block. In the virtual printing subsystem, a user can synthesize a woodcut printing image from the virtual printing block mentioned above, a virtual paper sheet, and a printing brush. The user can synthesize a realistic woodcut print with a procedure similar to the actual woodcut printing.     

On method statics and dynamics

We view a method as having a static and a dynamic part. The former is concerned with the structure of methods whereas the latter relates to the way in which this structure can be used to build products. Starting with the generic view of a method, the instantiation technique has been used to define a decision-oriented metamodel which, in turn, can be instantiated to yield a representation of a method. These three layers form a comprehensive three-layered architecture for a method representation system. Each layer is composed of its statics and dynamics. The resulting method notation has been used as a basis for building a CASE tool, called Guide, and a CAME tool, called MERU.     

DiaSuite: A tool suite to develop Sense/Compute/Control applications

We present DiaSuite, a tool suite that uses a software design approach to drive the development process. DiaSuite focuses on a specific domain, namely Sense/Compute/Control (SCC) applications. It comprises a domain-specific design language, a compiler producing a Java programming framework, a 2D-renderer to simulate an application, and a deployment framework. We have validated our tool suite on a variety of concrete applications in areas including telecommunications, building automation, robotics and avionics.     

A proposal of bargaining solution for cooperative contract in a supply chain

As a problem in supply chain management, the decision problem of terms and conditions of a contract between a supplier and a retailer is recognized commonly. The concept of cooperative bargaining between a supplier and a retailer is the key concepts to resolve this problem in the supply chain. Then, the bargaining evaluation function by Nash in the game theory exists as a tool to obtain the solution by cooperation bargaining. The Nash bargaining solution is derived under the premise that a power balance between a supplier and a retailer is equal. However, the situation where the power balance between a supplier and a retailer in actual bargaining is not equal is supposed frequently. For the purpose of reflecting the power balance in obtaining the bargaining solution, the concept of a general bargaining solution was proposed and then the general bargaining evaluation function for obtaining the general bargaining solution was devised. However, in the case of adopting the general bargaining evaluation function as a bargaining tool, some problems are included. In this article, we address the problems in the general bargaining solution. Then, we propose a new concept of bargaining process to obtain a solution under considering the existence of power balance between a supplier and a retailer.