Rolling and swaying motion estimation for a mobile robot by using omnidirectional optical flows

Described here is a method for estimating rolling and swaying motions of a mobile robot using optical flow. We have proposed an image sensor with a hyperboloidal mirror for the vision-based navigation of a mobile robot. Its name is HyperOmni Vision. The radial component of optical flow in HyperOmni Vision has a periodic characteristic. The circumferential component of optical flow has a symmetric characteristic. The proposed method makes use of these characteristic to estimate robustly the rolling and swaying motion of the mobile robot. Correspondence to: Y. Yagi e-mail: y-yagi@sys.es.osaka-u.ac.jp     

Real-Time Omnidirectional Image Sensors

Conventional T.V. cameras are limited in their field of view. A real-time omnidirectional camera which can acquire an omnidirectional (360 degrees) field of view at video rate and which could be applied in a variety of fields, such as autonomous navigation, telepresence, virtual reality and remote monitoring, is presented. We have developed three different types of omnidirectional image sensors, and two different types of multiple-image sensing systems which consist of an omnidirectional image sensor and binocular vision. In this paper, we describe the outlines and fundamental optics of our developed sensors and show examples of applications for robot navigation.     

A decentralized control system for stabilizing multimachine power systems

A decentralized control system is studied for stabilizing multimachine power systems. A longitudinal power system with three areas, each having one machine, is considered in this study. A decentralized control design method is proposed, which is based on the optimal regulator theory. First a centralized control system is designed without any consideration on whether state variables are all available or not. Second a pseudo-decentralized control system is designed by omitting control gains corresponding to state variables which give hardly any effects on the power system stability. It is found that only one variable of phase angle of each machine is absolutely necessary for the pseudo-decentralized control system. This leads to an idea based on power system engineering, that is to say, new variables of tieline power flow are introduced in the decentralized control system design to substitute for the phase angle of each machine. Thus a decentralized control system for power system stability can be designed using the new variables of tieline power flow. It is demonstrated from simulation studies that the decentralized control system improves even longitudinal power system stability as well as the centralized control system.     

Endoscopic lithotomy of common bile duct stones with sublingual nitroglycerin and guidewire

OBJECTIVE: In 21 patients, our objective was the endoscopic removal of common bile duct stones by sphincter dilation with the application of sublingual nitroglycerin. METHODS: Nitroglycerin 0.3-0.6 mg was needed for proper dilation of the orifice and for successful cannulation of the Dormia basket into the bile duct. Cannulation of the Dormia basket was simplified by placing the guidewire in the common bile duct beforehand. Because of possible stone impaction, a mechanical lithotriptor was applied smoothly in two patients. RESULTS: Complete stone removal was successful in 18 of the 21 (86%) patients. One patient who developed a mild form of acute pancreatitis recovered in a few days by conservative management with drip infusion of protease inhibitor. Blood pressure dropped transiently in a patient receiving nitroglycerin, but the general condition of the patient was stable. CONCLUSIONS: This procedure was found to be safe, easy, and effective in extracting common bile duct stones.     

The species fitness method for the evolution of cooperative behavior in a group task

This paper considers the evolution of cooperative behaviors as the interaction among agents using a genetic algorithm to improve the performance of the task in a group (group performance). Previous research often usedthe group fitness method, which evaluates group performance for the evolution of multiple groups in parallel. However, this entails large simulation costs and the evolution speed is slow.The individual fitness method that evaluates theindividual performance of the task entails a smaller simulation cost. However, it can not improve the group performance since each agent behaves selfishly. To optimize the group performance, it is important to include bothcompetition andsharing. Therefore, this paper presentsthe species fitness method, which shares the individual performances of agents belonging to the same species in a group that all have the same chromosomes. We show comparative experiments on these three methods on the evolutionary simulation of a foraging task in a group. To test the interaction among the agents, four kinds of species are evolved which show their communication ability by demonstrating whether the agent can send or receive the signal for food. Experimental results show that evaluating the species variance fitness leads the agents into reciprocative actions. This work was presented, in part, at the Third International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 19–21, 1998     

Automatic analysis of moving images

Cine film and videotape are used to record a variety of natural processes in biology, medicine, meteorology, etc. This paper describes a system which detects and tracks moving objects from these records to obtain meaningful measures of their movements, such as linear and angular velocities. Features of the system are as follows. 1) In order to detect moving objects that are usually blurred, temporal differences of gray values (differences between consecutive frames) are used to separate moving objects from stationary objects, in addition to spatial differences of gray values. 2) The results of previous frames are used to guide feature extraction process of the next frame so that efficient processing of moving pictures which consists of a large number of frames is possible. 3) Uncertain parts in the current frame, such as occluded objects, are deduced using information of previous frames. 4) Misinterpreted or unknown parts in previous frames are reanalyzed using the results of later frames where those parts could be found.     

Reactive Visual Navigation Based on Omnidirectional Sensing – Path Following and Collision Avoidance

Described here is a visual navigation method for navigating a mobile robot along a man-made route such as a corridor or a street. We have proposed an image sensor, named HyperOmni Vision, with a hyperboloidal mirror for vision-based navigation of the mobile robot. This sensing system can acquire an omnidirectional view around the robot in real time. In the case of the man-made route, road boundaries between the ground plane and wall appear as a close-looped curve in the image. By making use of this optical characteristic, the robot can avoid obstacles and move along the corridor by tracking the close-looped curve with an active contour model. Experiments that have been done in a real environment are described.     

Face detection from color images using a fuzzy pattern matchingmethod

This paper describes a new method to detect faces in color images based on the fuzzy theory. We make two fuzzy models to describe the skin color and hair color, respectively. In these models, we use a perceptually uniform color space to describe the color information to increase the accuracy and stableness. We use the two models to extract the skin color regions and the hair color regions, and then comparing them with the prebuilt head-shape models by using a fuzzy theory based pattern-matching method to detect face candidates