Geometric fusion for a hand-held 3D sensor

Abstract. This article presents a geometric fusion algorithm developed for the reconstruction of 3D surface models from hand-held sensor data. Hand-held systems allow full 3D movement of the sensor to capture the shape of complex objects. Techniques previously developed for reconstruction from conventional 2.5D range image data cannot be applied to hand-held sensor data. A geometric fusion algorithm is introduced to integrate the measured 3D points from a hand-held sensor into a single continuous surface. The new geometric fusion algorithm is based on the normal-volume representation of a triangle, which enables incremental transformation of an arbitrary mesh into an implicit volumetric field function. This system is demonstrated for reconstruction of surface models from both hand-held sensor data and conventional 2.5D range images. Received: 30 August 1999 / Accepted: 21 January 2000     

Analyzing and visualizing multiagent rewards in dynamic and stochastic domains

The ability to analyze the effectiveness of agent reward structures is critical to the successful design of multiagent learning algorithms. Though final system performance is the best indicator of the suitability of a given reward structure, it is often preferable to analyze the reward properties that lead to good system behavior (i.e., properties promoting coordination among the agents and providing agents with strong signal to noise ratios). This step is particularly helpful in continuous, dynamic, stochastic domains ill-suited to simple table backup schemes commonly used in TD(λ)/Q-learning where the effectiveness of the reward structure is difficult to distinguish from the effectiveness of the chosen learning algorithm. In this paper, we present a new reward evaluation method that provides a visualization of the tradeoff between the level of coordination among the agents and the difficulty of the learning problem each agent faces. This method is independent of the learning algorithm and is only a function of the problem domain and the agents’ reward structure. We use this reward property visualization method to determine an effective reward without performing extensive simulations. We then test this method in both a static and a dynamic multi-rover learning domain where the agents have continuous state spaces and take noisy actions (e.g., the agents’ movement decisions are not always carried out properly). Our results show that in the more difficult dynamic domain, the reward efficiency visualization method provides a two order of magnitude speedup in selecting good rewards, compared to running a full simulation. In addition, this method facilitates the design and analysis of new rewards tailored to the observational limitations of the domain, providing rewards that combine the best properties of traditional rewards.     

Supporting ordering and consistency in a distributed Event Heap for Ubiquitous Computing

The Stanford Event Heap has been shown to provide appropriate support for constructing interactive workspace applications. Given this success it is natural to consider the Event Heap as a platform to support other classes of Ubiquitous Computing applications. In this paper we argue that the distributed, spontaneous nature of these applications places additional demands on the Event Heap that require extensions to both the engineering and API. Suitable extensions are described and their use to support a typical Ubicomp application is discussed.

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Pulsed laser technique application to liquid and gaseous flows and the scattering power of seed materials

Mie scattering computations have been performed for light scattered by small particles from a pulsed sheet of laser illumination and collected and imaged by a camera lens. From these computations the smallest particles that can be photographed in various fluid measurement situations, including air and water, have been determined in terms of system parameters such as laser power, light sheet geometry, f/No., and photographic film properties. The particle scattering requirements of the individual particle image mode and the speckle mode are compared.     

An Initial Inventory and Indexation of Groundwater Mega-Depletion Cases

The state of groundwater systems worldwide is presently not well defined, and in particular there is little context for agencies responsible for managing water resources to evaluate occurrences of groundwater depletion against other cases globally. In this study, an initial inventory of groundwater depletion problems is compiled and ranked to identify the world’s most critical cases, i.e. situations of groundwater mega-depletion. The ranking is based on an indexed approach that considers overdraft, drawdown and subsidence, plus the importance of the resources in terms of population-dependency and rates of extraction. The five most highly ranked depleted aquifers of the world include the shallow aquifers of the Hai River Plain (China), the Altiplano region (Spain), the Mexico Basin (Mexico), the Huang River basin (China) and the California Central Valley (USA). An abridged account of modelling to assess drawdown is described for the Hai River Plain, revealing that despite recharge in the order of 13,000 GL/yr, an overdraft of about 8,000 GL/yr is occurring to support the vast population of the region. This has led to up to 100 m of drawdown in places and reports of subsidence of several metres. The Hai River situation demonstrates that falling water levels may not act to alleviate pumping stresses; a symptom of unchecked extraction and an exemplary illustration of the tragedy of the commons. The causal factors leading to mega-depletion are varying across the globe and each mega-depletion case contains unique elements, although population appears to be an important factor.     

Improving metastable impact electron spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy signals by means of a modified time-of-flight separation

The separation of ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES) is usually performed by a time-of-flight (ToF) separation using pre-set ToF for both types of signal. In this work, we present a new, improved ex situ signal separation method for the separation of MIES and UPS for every single measurement. Signal separation issues due to changes of system parameters can be overcome by changing the ToF separation and therefore allowing for the application of a wider range of measuring conditions. The method also enables to identify and achieve separation of the two signals without any time consuming calibration and the use of any special material for the calibration. Furthermore, changes made to the discharge source are described that enable to operate an existing MIES/UPS source over a broader range of conditions. This allows for tuning of the yield of UV photons and metastable rare gas atoms leading to an improved signal to noise ratio. First results of this improved setup are well in agreement with spectra reported in literature and show increased resolution and higher signal intensities for both MIE and UP spectra compared to the previous, non-optimized setup.     

Electrical Substations for Pipeline Pump and Compressor Stations

The paper goes systematically through the problem of load selection, negotiating load supply details with the electric utility, electrical supply contract completion, and the design specification, construction, and maintenance of electrical substation facilities as applied to pipeline pump and compressor station. The ``simple' type of substation is discussed, although component specifications and selection normally are the same regardless of substation complexity. An up-to-date list of applicable United States and Canadian Standards as well as a detailed list of required tests to be carried out on individual components are included in the Appendix.     

Effect of nitrogen and vanadium on austenite grain growth kinetics of a low alloy steel

Austenite grain growth kinetics in a steel containing 0.4% C, 1.8% Cr with different nitrogen contents (in the range 0.0038–0.0412%) and a micralloying addition of 0.078% V were investigated. The investigations were carried out in an austenitising temperature range of 840–1200 °C for 30 min. The results of investigations showed that N promotes the grain growth of austenite. The microalloying addition of vanadium protects the austenite grain growth because of carbonitride V(C,N) precipitation and the grain boundary pinning effect of undissolved particles of V(C,N). Using a thermodynamic model, the carbonitride V(C,N) content, undissolved at the austenitising temperature was calculated. At temperatures when a coarsening and dissolution of carbonitride occurs, the austenite grains start to growth. The effect of nitrogen on the type of chord length distribution of austenite grains was analysed.     

Large-scale mapping of boreal forest in SIBERIA using ERS tandem coherence and JERS backscatter data

Siberia's boreal forests represent an economically and ecologically precious resource, a significant part of which is not monitored on a regular basis. Synthetic aperture radars (SARs), with their sensitivity to forest biomass, offer mapping capabilities that could provide valuable up-to-date information, for example about fire damage or logging activity. The European Commission SIBERIA project had the aim of mapping an area of approximately 1 million km² in Siberia using SAR data from two satellite sources: the tandem mission of the European Remote Sensing Satellites ERS-1/2 and the Japanese Earth Resource Satellite JERS-1. Mosaics of ERS tandem interferometric coherence and JERS backscattering coefficient show the wealth of information contained in these data but they also show large differences in radar response between neighbouring images. To create one homogeneous forest map, adaptive methods which are able to account for brightness changes due to environmental effects were required. In this paper an adaptive empirical model to determine growing stock volume classes using the ERS tandem coherence and the JERS backscatter data is described. For growing stock volume classes up to 80 m³/ha, accuracies of over 80% are achieved for over a hundred ERS frames at a spatial resolution of 50 m.     

An experimental study on the role of 3D sound in augmented reality environment

Investigation of augmented reality (AR) environments has become a popular research topic for engineers, computer and cognitive scientists. Although application oriented studies focused on audio AR environments have been published, little work has been done to vigorously study and evaluate the important research questions of the effectiveness of three-dimensional (3D) sound in the AR context, and to what extent the addition of 3D sound would contribute to the AR experience.

Thus, we have developed two AR environments and performed vigorous experiments with human subjects to study the effects of 3D sound in the AR context. The study concerns two scenarios. In the first scenario, one participant must use vision only and vision with 3D sound to judge the relative depth of augmented virtual objects. In the second scenario, two participants must cooperate to perform a joint task in a game-based AR environment.

Hence, the goals of this study are (1) to access the impact of 3D sound on depth perception in a single-camera AR environment, (2) to study the impact of 3D sound on task performance and the feeling of ‘human presence and collaboration’, (3) to better understand the role of 3D sound in human–computer and human–human interactions, (4) to investigate if gender can affect the impact of 3D sound in AR environments. The outcomes of this research can have a useful impact on the development of audio AR systems, which provide more immersive, realistic and entertaining experiences by introducing 3D sound. Our results suggest that 3D sound in AR environment significantly improves the accuracy of depth judgment and improves task performance. Our results also suggest that 3D sound contributes significantly to the feeling of human presence and collaboration and helps the subjects to ‘identify spatial objects’.