A method for single image restoration based on the principal ergodic

We present a method to extract from a single image both object and point spread function using low contrast features of an extended field of view. Invoking the principal ergodic on stochastic turbulent phenomena, we show that the aberration parameters, characteristics of the earth's turbulence, can be recovered from multiple features within an isoplanatic patch. The ensemble statistics is replacing the spatial statistics of a single realization to derive an equivalent modulation transfer function and to apply usual deconvolution techniques such as Richardson-Lucy algorithms. The reliability of this postprocessing treatment has been tested on synthetic data, on solar granulation observations performed at La Lunette Jean Rosch du Pic du Midi, and during the event of the Venus transit at La Tour Solaire de Meudon.     

Particle size characterisation of in-flow milling products by video image analysis using global features

The objective of this work was to characterise the particle size of milling products by image analysis. Four classes of milling products were obtained by varying the roll gap of the second break roll of the mill. Images were acquired by using an in-flow imaging system implemented in the mill, and 1300 images were recorded for each class. Three methods of image analysis were investigated: morphological opening, constant grey level run lengths and grey level spatial interdependences. Discriminant analyses were applied to the data extracted from the images by the three methods in order to identify each class of milling product. More than 77% of the samples were correctly assigned to their group, both for the calibration and validation sets. The best results were obtained by applying morphological openings or by computing parameters from the co-occurrence matrices. The number of correct classifications rose to 81% of samples with only three variables selected for the opening curves and to 83% with three co-occurrence parameters. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

Improving realism of a surgery simulator: linear anisotropic elasticity,complex interactions and force extrapolation

In this article, we describe the latest developments of the minimally invasive hepatic surgery simulator prototype developed at INRIA. The goal of this simulator is to provide a realistic training test bed to perform laparoscopic procedures. Therefore, its main functionality is to simulate the action of virtual laparoscopic surgical instruments for deforming and cutting tridimensional anatomical models. Throughout this paper, we present the general features of this simulator including the implementation of several biomechanical models and the integration of two force‐feedback devices in the simulation platform. More precisely, we describe three new important developments that improve the overall realism of our simulator. First, we have developed biomechanical models, based on linear elasticity and finite element theory, that include the notion of anisotropic deformation. Indeed, we have generalized the linear elastic behaviour of anatomical models to ‘transversally isotropic’ materials, i.e. materials having a different behaviour in a given direction. We have also added to the volumetric model an external elastic membrane representing the ‘liver capsule’, a rather stiff skin surrounding the liver, which creates a kind of ‘surface anisotropy’. Second, we have developed new contact models between surgical instruments and soft tissue models. For instance, after detecting a contact with an instrument, we define specific boundary constraints on deformable models to represent various forms of interactions with a surgical tool, such as sliding, gripping, cutting or burning. In addition, we compute the reaction forces that should be felt by the user manipulating the force‐feedback devices. The last improvement is related to the problem of haptic rendering. Currently, we are able to achieve a simulation frequency of 25 Hz (visual real time) with anatomical models of complex geometry and behaviour. But to achieve a good haptic feedback requires a frequency update of applied forces typically above 300 Hz (haptic real time). Thus, we propose a force extrapolation algorithm in order to reach haptic real time. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Architecture of a morphological malware detector

Most of malware detectors are based on syntactic signatures that identify known malicious programs. Up to now this architecture has been sufficiently efficient to overcome most of malware attacks. Nevertheless, the complexity of malicious codes still increase. As a result the time required to reverse engineer malicious programs and to forge new signatures is increasingly longer. This study proposes an efficient construction of a morphological malware detector, that is a detector which associates syntactic and semantic analysis. It aims at facilitating the task of malware analysts providing some abstraction on the signature representation which is based on control flow graphs. We build an efficient signature matching engine over tree automata techniques. Moreover we describe a generic graph rewriting engine in order to deal with classic mutations techniques. Finally, we provide a preliminary evaluation of the strategy detection carrying out experiments on a malware collection.     

Hybrid atomistic�Ccontinuum simulations of fluid flows involving interfaces

In this work, we use an hybrid atomistic–continuum (HAC) simulation method to study transient and steady isothermal flows of Lennard-Jones fluids near interfaces. Our hybrid method is based on a domain decomposition algorithm. The flow domain is composed of two overlapping regions: an atomistic region described by molecular dynamics, and a continuum region described by a finite volume discretization of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. To show the interest of such an hybrid method to compute flows near fluid/solid interface, we first applied our hybrid scheme to the classical Couette flow, where the moving wall is modelled at the atomistic scale. In addition, we also studied an oscillatory shear flow. Then, to compute flows near fluid/fluid interface, we applied our method to a two-phase Couette flow (liquid/gas), where the interface is modelled at the molecular scale. We show that hybrid results can sometimes differ from those provided by analytical solutions deduced from continuum mechanics equations combined with usual boundary/interface relations. For the Couette and oscillatory shear flows, a good agreement is found between hybrid simulations and macroscopic analytical solutions, however, we noticed that the fluid in contact with the wall can be more entailed than what expected. For the liquid/gas Couette flow, the hybrid simulation exhibits an unexpected jump of the velocity in the interfacial region, corresponding to a partial slip between the two fluid phases. Those interesting results highlight the interest of using an HAC method to deal with systems for which surfaces/interfaces effects are important.     

Navigation Scheme with Priority-Based Scheduling of Mobile Agents: Application to AGV-Based Flexible Manufacturing System

This paper proposes a new navigation approach for mobile agents in AGV (Autonomous Guided Vehicles)-based flexible manufacturing system. The navigation scheme combines a scheduled motion planner and a priority-based negotiation. The scheduled motion planner ensures the product transportation while choosing the appropriate resource among several. The priority policy is designed using a negotiation process to solve conflicts when agents navigate close to each other or towards the same resource. Some simulations are provided in order to show the pertinence of the proposed scheme as well as its feasibility when the number of mobile agents increases. They highlight the cooperation scheme, the appropriate selection of the resource during the navigation as well as the flexibility of the proposed approach.     

A rough-cut capacity planning model with overlapping

In the early phases of projects, capacity planning is performed to assess the feasibility of the project in terms of delivery date, resource usage and cost. This tactical approach relies on an aggregated representation of tasks in work packages. At this level, aggressive project duration objectives are achieved by adopting work package overlapping policies that affect both workload and resource usage. In this article, we propose a mixed-time MILP model for project capacity planning with different possibilities for overlapping levels between work packages. In the model, the planning time horizon is divided into time buckets used to evaluate resource usage, while starting and ending times for work packages are continuous. The model was tested on a benchmark of 5 sets of 450 theoretical instances each. More than half of the tested instances were solved to optimality within 500 s. Results also show that, while overlapping is more beneficial for accelerating project delivery times, it can still have a positive impact on project cost by allowing a better distribution of workload. Finally, overlapping options seem to have less influence on the performance of the model than project slack or number of work packages.