Vision and navigation for the Carnegie-Mellon Navlab

A distributed architecture articulated around the CODGER (communication database with geometric reasoning) knowledge database is described for a mobile robot system that includes both perception and navigation tools. Results are described for vision and navigation tests using a mobile testbed that integrates perception and navigation capabilities that are based on two types of vision algorithms: color vision for road following, and 3-D vision for obstacle detection and avoidance. The perception modules are integrated into a system that allows the vehicle to drive continuously in an actual outdoor environment. The resulting system is able to navigate continuously on roads while avoiding obstacles     

VARIATIONS IN ALFALFA JUICE SOLUTE CONCENTRATIONS AS WATER IS EVAPORATED

Alfalfa juice was extracted from plants during the graving phases of the first and second crops. The alfalfa juice was dried and solute concentrations were measured periodically during the process using freezing point depression (FPD) as an indicator. Solute/solvent weight ratios were calculated from the freezing point depression of fresh unconcentrated 'uice extracted from both firsc and second crops. At the time of harvest, tie FPD was a function of this ratio. The first and second crops behaved distinctively different during the drying process, with the second having a larger soluce concentration and a greater FPD at a given moisture content. The appearance of preci itate during the drying process and the general1 large FPD makes this materiay a questionable product for drying vitg low temperature processes.     

Response of dairy cows to high doses of a sustained-release bovine somatotropin administered during two lactations. 2. Health and reproduction.

Eighty-two lactating Holstein cows in their first, second, or third lactation received either one, three, or five concurrent i.m. injections of a unit dose (.6 g) of zinc methionyl bST (sometribove) or five doses of the vehicle. Injections were given at 14-d intervals from 60 +/- 3 d postpartum until the end of lactation or necropsy. Thirty-eight animals were continued on treatment for a 2nd yr. Sometribove did not affect the incidence of ketosis, milk fever, tetany, or pneumonia. Digestive disorders, primarily cows going off feed, were increased by bST during yr 1 only. The incidence of lameness was increased by bST in some time frames because of an increase in the 3.0-g bST group. Lameness was not associated with treatment-specific histopathologic changes or with abnormalities in cartilage or bone. Reproductive health generally was unaffected by treatment, but delayed conception and increased incidence of abortion were noted. Incidence of cystic ovaries was unaffected by bST. Pregnancy rates were decreased during the 100-d breeding interval of yr 1 but not during the 215-d interval of yr 2. The incidence of clinical mastitis was increased by bST, primarily at the 3.0-g dose. During the 2-yr study, 0, 3, 3, and 2 cows died or became moribund on 0, .6, 1.8, and 3.0 g of bST, respectively. Health issues identified for further evaluation included lameness and clinical mastitis for the 3.0-g group and early removal from the herd and decreased reproductive performance for all bST groups. Bovine somatotropin caused no treatment-specific toxic effects in dairy cows even at 3.0 g every 14 d.     

Representing dimensions, tolerances, and features in MCAE systems

A method is presented for explicitly representing dimensions, tolerances, and geometric features in solid models. The method combines CSG and boundary representations in a graph structure called an object graph. Dimensions are represented by a relative position operator. The method can automatically translate changes in dimensional values into corresponding changes in geometry and topology. The representation provides an important foundation for higher-level application programs to automate tolerance analysis and synthesis. The implementation of a prototype interactive polyhedral modeler based on this representation is presented     

Adhesive Dispensing Process Analysis: Steady-State Dispensing of One-Component Adhesives

The process of dispensing one-component heat-cure adhesives was investigated in order to understand current application processes and to guide new process development. Typical one-component adhesives exhibit non-Newtonian rheological behavior, and hence Newtonian fluid mechanics does not adequately describe the dispensing process. In the present study, the adhesives were modeled as Bingham fluids possessing a yield stress and a steady state viscosity. The model of the dispensing apparatus includes four major flow sections connected in a serial configuration. The fluid mechanics equations derived for Bingham fluids in the individual flow sections were solved by numerical methods in order to understand the interrelationships between the material variables (e.g. yield stress, viscosity, temperature dependencies) and process variables (e.g. pressure, flow geometry, temperature, output). The concept of the model is generic and the details of the model can be modified for any forced-flow adhesive application process.

The adhesive flow properties significantly influence the process output. Dispensing temperature, among the process variables, has the strongest effect on process output. A ± 1.0·C perturbation in the dispensing temperature can cause as much as a 14% variation in the bead size for the range of adhesives studied. Differences in flow characteristics result in differences in processability and non-linear temperature/pressure sensitivity. The non-linear sensitivity can be eliminated by operating the dispensing process isothermally. Finally, the process limits for one-component adhesives, which are susceptible to chemical instability induced by viscous heating during processing, are defined and discussed in terms of a modified Brinkman number that takes into account viscous dissipation, heat conduction and convection, and chemical stability of the material during processing.     

Kinetics and characteristics of bovine neutrophil alkaline phosphatase during acute Escherichia coli mastitis.

Alkaline phosphatase activity of isolated bovine blood neutrophils was investigated before and during experimentally induced Escherichia coli mastitis. Activities markedly increased 1 wk after infection in neutrophils of cows suffering from moderate or from severe disease. Elevated neutrophil alkaline phosphatase activity did not correlate with a specific stage of maturating postmitotic neutrophils appearing in circulation during mastitis. Neutrophil alkaline phosphatase from healthy cows before infection and from mastitic cows was characterized by means of thermostability, specific inhibitor patterns, slab gel electrophoresis, and kinetic parameter analysis. The leukocyte enzyme from healthy and mastitic cows displayed very similar characteristics, suggesting that the increase in activity during mastitis is most probably related to the enhanced expression of the normal alkaline phosphatase enzyme.     

Effect of Annealing on the Surface Microstructure of Y-Ba-Cu-O Superconducting Ceramics

Precusors to the YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ material were prepared by both the oxalate precipitation method and conventional ceramic processing. Second-phase grains were observed to develop on the exposed fracture surface during annealing at 500° to 600°C in an ambient atmosphere. The second-phase grains were identified to be BaCO₃ using EDX and XRD. The liquid phase, which was formed because of local chemical inhomogeneity in the Y-Ba-Cu-O system, contributed to the formation of second-phase grains as a source of Ba.     

Application of polyuronides for removing heavy metals from vegetable oils. III. Application of alginic acid, pectic and pectinic acids for demetalization of hydrogenated sunflower oil.

Laboratory experiments have been carried out for the removal of heavy metals from hydrogenated vegetable oils using hydrated polyuronides (degree of swelling from 4 to 12.8 ml/g) such as alginic acid, pectic and pectinic acids. The effect of the type of polyuronide, degree of esterification and oil treatment on the degree of demetalization has been studied. It has been shown that with increase in the degree of esterification of the polyuronide the efficiency of demetalization decreases. The second and third treatment of the hydrogenated oil with pectinic acid resulted in a high degree of heavy metal removal. The possibility of efficient demetalization of hydrogenated oils by treatment with water solutions of pectinic acids has also been demonstrated. The degree of metal ion removal increases with decreasing concentration of pectinic acids in the water solution.