Perception‐aware autonomous mast motion planning for planetary exploration rovers

Highly accurate real‐time localization is of fundamental importance for the safety and efficiency of planetary rovers exploring the surface of Mars. Mars rover operations rely on vision‐based systems to avoid hazards as well as plan safe routes. However, vision‐based systems operate on the assumption that sufficient visual texture is visible in the scene. This poses a challenge for vision‐based navigation on Mars where regions lacking visual texture are prevalent. To overcome this, we make use of the ability of the rover to actively steer the visual sensor to improve fault tolerance and maximize the perception performance. This paper answers the question of where and when to look by presenting a method for predicting the sensor trajectory that maximizes the localization performance of the rover. This is accomplished by an online assessment of possible trajectories using synthetic, future camera views created from previous observations of the scene. The proposed trajectories are quantified and chosen based on the expected localization performance. In this study, we validate the proposed method in field experiments at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Mars Yard. Furthermore, multiple performance metrics are identified and evaluated for reducing the overall runtime of the algorithm. We show how actively steering the perception system increases the localization accuracy compared with traditional fixed‐sensor configurations.     

Expression of three UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide GalNAc N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases in adenocarcinoma cell lines

The levels of mRNA expression of three UDP-N-acetyl-alpha-D-galactosamine:polypeptide GalNAc N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases (GalNAc-transferases) were quantified for human adenocarcinoma cell lines from pancreas, colon, stomach, and breast. Two of the GalNAc-transferases, GalNAc-T1 and GalNAc-T2, were expressed constitutively and at low levels in most or all cell lines examined. A third GalNAc-transferase, GalNAc-T3, was differentially expressed. Well-differentiated adenocarcinoma cell lines expressed high levels and moderately differentiated cell lines expressed lower levels of GalNAc-T3. Cell lines classified as poorly differentiated failed to express GalNAc-T3 mRNA at levels that could be detected by Northern blot analysis. Differential expression of the GalNAc-T3 protein was confirmed in these cell lines by Western blotting. We propose that glycosylation in tumor cell lines may be regulated in part by differential expression of GalNAc-transferases, and we suggest that GalNAc-T3 gene expression may be a molecular indicator of differentiated adenocarcinoma.     

Diagnosis of childhood BK virus cystitis by electron microscopy and PCR

A case of BK virus cystitis in a 5 year old boy is reported. This patient, who was not immunocompromised, had had acute cystitis for two weeks. Many intracytoplasmic inclusions were observed in urinary sediment smears stained by the Papanicolaou method. Electron microscopic examination showed virus particles, presumed to be human polyomavirus, in the nuclei of the degenerated urothelial cells. A DNA sequence of the BK virus was detected in 200-300 urothelial cells in Papanicolaou stained smears by the polymerase chain reaction. BK virus is an unusual cause of symptomatic cystitis in a healthy child.     

A wide-bandwidth low-noise InGaAsP-InAlAs superlattice avalanchephotodiode with a flip-chip structure for wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55μm

The authors reports the fabrication of a flip-chip InGaAsP-InAlAs superlattice avalanche photodiode using gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The incident light reaches the InGaAs photoabsorption layer through the InP substrate and an InGaAsP-InAlAs superlattice multiplication region which are transparent for wavelengths of 1.55 and 1.3 μm. The light reflection by the electrode enables the absorption layer to be as thin as 0.8 μm without significantly reducing the quantum efficiency. A maximum bandwidth of 17 GHz was obtained at a low multiplication factor because the transit time through the absorption layer is reduced     

Characteristics of the Arc Voltage of a High‐Current Air Arc in a Sealed Chamber

The effect of the arc voltage on various factors of design and control was investigated for high currents in order to develop design guidelines for circuit breakers. In this study, the dependence on such factors, namely, the current, arc length, electrode surface area, and internal pressure of the arc voltage, was evaluated quantitatively. As a result of the evaluations, it was estimated that the arc voltage near the electrode surface rises linearly with the arc current and the power ?0.8 of the surface area, and that the voltage in the arc column rises as the 0.3 power of the pressure increase. We confirmed the validity of the estimated voltage characteristics by comparison with the generated voltage in an actual arc‐extinction chamber. The characteristics of the estimated voltage can provide effective guidelines for the design of arc extinguishing chambers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 186(1): 34–42, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.22487     

Demonstration of 80-km-Long SMF Transmission on Time-Spread Wavelength-Hopping-Type OCDM With Dispersion Compensators

We demonstrate the novel dispersion compensation for time-spread/wavelength-hop (TS-WH) optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM). The single-mode-fiber transmission, up to 80 km long, on TS-WH OCDM was achieved by a combination of the dispersion-compensated decoder and the multichannel-type dispersion-slope compensator.     

Characterisation of optically driven microstructures for manipulating single DNA molecules under a fluorescence microscope

Optical tweezers are powerful tools for manipulating single DNA molecules using fluorescence microscopy, particularly in nanotechnology‐based DNA analysis. We previously proposed a manipulation technique using microstructures driven by optical tweezers that allows the handling of single giant DNA molecules of millimetre length that cannot be manipulated by conventional techniques. To further develop this technique, the authors characterised the microstructures quantitatively from the view point of fabrication and efficiency of DNA manipulation under a fluorescence microscope. The success rate and precision of the fabrications were evaluated. The results indicate that the microstructures are obtained in an aqueous solution with a precision ∼50 nm at concentrations in the order of 10⁶ particles/ml. The visibility of these microstructures under a fluorescence microscope was also characterised, along with the elucidation of the fabrication parameters needed to fine tune visibility. Manipulating yeast chromosomal DNA molecules with the microstructures illustrated the relationship between the efficiency of manipulation and the geometrical shape of the microstructure. This report provides the guidelines for designing microstructures used in single DNA molecule analysis based on on‐site DNA manipulation, and is expected to broaden the applications of this technique in the future.Inspec keywords: DNA, molecular biophysics, fluorescence, optical microscopy, radiation pressure, biological techniquesOther keywords: optically driven microstructures, single DNA molecule analysis, fluorescence microscopy, optical tweezers, nanotechnology‐based DNA analysis, manipulation technique, aqueous solution, fine tune visibility, yeast chromosomal DNA molecules, geometrical shape, on‐site DNA manipulation     

Multi agent architecture for dynamic incremental process planning in the flexible manufacturing system

Due to rapid changes of markets and pressures of competitions, industries are adopting their production ways to support diversity of customer’s needs and increase of new product developments. This paper deals with development of an agent-based architecture of dynamic systems for process planning in the manufacturing systems. In consideration of alternative manufacturing processes and machine tools, the process plans and the schedules of the manufacturing resources are generated incrementally and dynamically. A previously proposed negotiation protocol is customized and improved to generate suitable process plans for the target products real-timely and dynamically, based on the alternative manufacturing processes. The alternative manufacturing processes are presented by the process plan networks and the suitable process plans are searched and generated to cope with both the dynamic status and disturbances of the manufacturing systems. We initiatively combine the heuristic search algorithms of the process plan networks with the negotiation protocols, in order to generate suitable process plans.     

Study on sustainable redevelopment of a densely built-up area in Tokyo by introducing a distributed local energy supply system

“Distributed local energy systems” had been expected to rationalize the supply of energy to built-up areas, but until now very little research has been performed to estimate the effect of their application to actual cities. In this research, therefore, a future vision for the year 2030 in the Sancha Area (SANCHA VISION 2030), a typical densely built-up area in Tokyo, has been elaborated including a simulation to estimate benefits from the application of distributed energy systems in terms of reduced energy consumption and CO₂ emissions as well as mitigation of the heat-island phenomenon. As a result, it was demonstrated that a “distributed local energy system”, which provides a district with both electrical power and heat through an integrated distribution system, may contribute to a considerable improvement in energy efficiency for those areas. In addition, it may also provide other benefits, including enhancement of living amenity and urban security in times of emergency.     

Nano-structural Modification of Amorphous Carbon Thin Films by Low-energy Electron Beam Irradiation

CARBON-BASED MATERIALS have been regardedas one of the most important materials in nano-technology.Not only nanotubes and fullerenes but alsoa new form of carbon incorporating distinct graphiticconfigurations in amorphous carbon networks hasrecently attracted extensive interests in order toaccomplish high performances by combining diversephysical properties which arise from carbon structuresfl,2].In particular,the establishment of functionallyhybridized carbon systems with a thin film f…