Mobile robot localization: integrating measurements from atime-of-flight laser

This paper presents an algorithm for environment mapping by integrating scans from a time-of-flight laser and odometer readings from a mobile robot. The range weighted Hough transform (RWHT) is used as a robust method to extract lines from the range data. The resulting peaks in the RWHT are used as feature coordinates when these lines/walls are used as landmarks during navigation. The associations between observations over the time sequence are made in a systematic way using a decision directed classifier. Natural geometrical landmarks are described in the robot frame together with a covariance matrix representing the spatial uncertainty. The map is thus built up incrementally as the robot moves. If the map is given in advance, the robot can find its location and navigate relative to this a priori given map. Experimental results are presented for a mobile robot with a scanning range measuring laser having 2-cm resolution. The algorithm was also used for an autonomous plastering robot on a construction site. The sensor fusion algorithm makes few erroneous associations     

Repetitively pulsed Nd-glass slab lasers

The possibility of obtaining high laser output energies at a 1.32-μm wavelength using thin LiNdLa phosphate glass slabs with a high Nd³⁺ concentration is discussed. In the experiments, 3×14×125-mm slabs were prepared from LiNdLa phosphate glass with a Nd-concentration of 1.2×10²¹ cm^-3. The facets of the slabs were not antireflection-coated. They were tested in a silver-coated quartz tube reflector of 25-mm diameter and pumped by 450-μs pulses from a flash lamp with a 120-mm arc length. In this construction the light, which passes through the slab, returns to it after reflection from the tube surface. Most of the radiation falls on the wider side of the slab at large angles of incidence, thus maximizing its path inside the slab. The quartz reflector was water cooled. The 150-mm laser resonator was formed by two flat mirrors. At 1.32-μm lasing wavelength an output mirror of r=95% reflectivity was used with less than 10% reflectivity at 1.32 μm     

The performance of depressed-cladding single-mode fibers withdifferent b/a ratios

Depressed-cladding single-mode fibers with a first cladding-to-core ratio (b/a) ranging from seven to one and relative refractive-index differences of the core from 0.25 to 0.35% and of the cladding from 0 to -0.2% are investigated experimentally with respect to the LP₁₁ mode cutoff properties, the mode-field diameter, the dispersion, and the bending attenuation. Numerical calculations based on actual profile parameters of the bend loss and the mode-field diameter agree well with experiment. It is demonstrated that low attenuation and bend losses independent of b/a can be obtained if the cutoff wavelength is kept constant by adjusting the core radius, the core index or the index of the first cladding     

Bestimmung der Abtragungsraten von Zirconium,Tantal und der Legierung Tantal-40Niob in fluoridhaltiger azeotroper Salpetersäure mit Hilfe der Radiotracer-Methode

The radiotracer technique as a means to investigate the corrosion of zirconium, tantalum, and a Ta-40Nb alloy in fluoride containing azeotropic nitric acid Zirconium and tantalum as well as the tantalum 40% niobium alloy are of considerable technical importance due to their high corrosion resistance against numerous corrosive media. With respect to corrosion testing in analytically pure azeotropic nitric acid in the temperature range between 20 and 121°C, corrosion rates were determined for zirconium: 7 · 10^?6 to 5 · 10^?4 mm/y, for tantalum: 10^?8 to 4 · 10^?6 mm/y, and for the Ta-40Nb alloy: 2 · 10^?7 to 8 · 10^?6 mm/y [1]. These corrosion rates will be markedly increased by adding small amounts of fluorides or by fluoride impurities. The radiotracer method after neutron activation was applied to determine the corrosion rates in azeotropic fluoride containing nitric acid. Even minute additions of fluorides strongly affect the corrosion resistance of zirconium. In the range between 0.15 and 10 ppm F^? and at a temperature of 108°C, corrosion rates between 5.3 · 10^?3 and 3.1 mm/y were measured. It was impossible to establish a limit for the fluoride concentration, below which the corrosion rate of zirconium will not be adversely influenced. The corrosion rates of tantalum and the Ta-40Nb alloy are considerably increasing above a fluoride concentration of 10 ppm. The highest corrosion rates measured were between 8.4 · 10^?3 mm/y at 50°C/280 ppm F^? and 1.4 · 10^?2 mm/y at 110°C/320 ppm F^?. Within the range of this investigation, the corrosion resistance of tantalum was higher than that of the Ta-40Nb alloy by one order of magnitude. The corrosion resistance of zirconium and tantalum was not influenced by any treatment of the samples before testing.     

A multiple-switch high-voltage DC-DC converter

Series connection of power devices has evolved into a mature technique and is widely applied in HV DC power systems. Static and dynamic voltage balance is ensured by shunting individual devices with dissipative snubbers. The snubber losses become pronounced for increased operating frequencies and adversely affect power density. Capacitive snubbers do not exhibit these disadvantages, but they require a zero-voltage switching mode. Super-resonant power converters facilitate the principle of zero-voltage switching. A high-voltage DC-DC power converter with multiple series-connected devices is proposed. It allows the application of nondissipating snubbers to assist the voltage sharing between the multiple series-connected devices and lowers turnoff losses. Simulation results obtained with a circuit simulator are validated in an experimental power converter operating with two series-connected devices. The behavior of the series connection is examined for MOSFETs and IGBTs by both experimental work with a 2 kW prototype and computer simulation. Applications can be found in traction and heavy industry, where the soft-switching power converter is directly powered from a high-voltage source     

Software-Defined Radio Prospects for Multistandard Mobile Phones

A multitude of existing and evolving cell phone standards, coupled with the need to react quickly to market requirements, is radically changing the system architect's task.Two alternative approaches to classic ASIC-centered and DSP-assisted designs have emerged: reconfigurable architectures and DSP-centered and accelerator-assisted architectures.     

Mixed-Cation Oxide Powders via Resin Intermediates Derived from a Water-Soluble Polymer

Submicrometer powders of complex oxides were prepared via resin intermediates based on a starch type of organic precursor. A commercially available water-soluble starch derivative was (for the first time) used as the organic base for solution synthesis of ceramic powders. Calcination of the charred, fluffy, amorphous resins at a temperature below 600°C for 4 h yielded perovskite powders of Sr-doped LaMnO₃ and Sr-doped La(Fe,Co)O₃. Sr-doped LaCrO₃ needed to be calcined above 750°C to ensure phase purity and to remove organic residue. Due to the low cost of starch derivatives, the process has the potential of being more economical than the commonly used Pechini's type process, which utilizes citric acid and ethylene glycol.