Wheelchair robot navigation in different weather conditions using deep learning and evolved neural controller

Author(s):  
K.M. Ibrahim Khalilullah ◽  
Shunsuke Ota ◽  
Toshiyuki Yasuda ◽  
Mitsuru Jindai

Purpose Wheelchair robot navigation in different weather conditions using single camera is still a challenging task. The purpose of this study is to develop an autonomous wheelchair robot navigation method in different weather conditions, with single camera vision to assist physically disabled people. Design/methodology/approach A road detection method, called dimensionality reduction deep belief neural network (DRDBNN), is proposed for drivable road detection. Due to the dimensionality reduction ability of the DRDBNN, it detects the drivable road area in a short time for controlling the robot in real-time. A feed-forward neural network is used to control the robot for the boundary following navigation using evolved neural controller (ENC). The robot detects road junction area and navigates throughout the road, except in road junction, using calibrated camera and ENC. In road junction, it takes turning decision using Google Maps data, thus reaching the final destination. Findings The developed method is tested on a wheelchair robot in real environments. Navigation in real environments indicates that the wheelchair robot moves safely from source to destination by following road boundary. The navigation performance in different weather conditions of the developed method has been demonstrated by the experiments. Originality/value The wheelchair robot can navigate in different weather conditions. The detection process is faster than that of the previous DBNN method. The proposed ENC uses only distance information from the detected road area and controls the robot for boundary following navigation. In addition, it uses Google Maps data for taking turning decision and navigation in road junctions.

Author(s):  
K.M. Ibrahim Khalilullah ◽  
Shunsuke Ota ◽  
Toshiyuki Yasuda ◽  
Mitsuru Jindai

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a cost-effective autonomous wheelchair robot navigation method that assists the aging population. Design/methodology/approach Navigation in outdoor environments is still a challenging task for an autonomous mobile robot because of the highly unstructured and different characteristics of outdoor environments. This study examines a complete vision guided real-time approach for robot navigation in urban roads based on drivable road area detection by using deep learning. During navigation, the camera takes a snapshot of the road, and the captured image is then converted into an illuminant invariant image. Subsequently, a deep belief neural network considers this image as an input. It extracts additional discriminative abstract features by using general purpose learning procedure for detection. During obstacle avoidance, the robot measures the distance from the obstacle position by using estimated parameters of the calibrated camera, and it performs navigation by avoiding obstacles. Findings The developed method is implemented on a wheelchair robot, and it is verified by navigating the wheelchair robot on different types of urban curve roads. Navigation in real environments indicates that the wheelchair robot can move safely from one place to another. The navigation performance of the developed method and a comparison with laser range finder (LRF)-based methods were demonstrated through experiments. Originality/value This study develops a cost-effective navigation method by using a single camera. Additionally, it utilizes the advantages of deep learning techniques for robust classification of the drivable road area. It performs better in terms of navigation when compared to LRF-based methods in LRF-denied environments.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3030
Author(s):  
Simon Liebermann ◽  
Jung-Sup Um ◽  
YoungSeok Hwang ◽  
Stephan Schlüter

Due to the globally increasing share of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, precise forecasts for weather data are becoming more and more important. To compute such forecasts numerous authors apply neural networks (NN), whereby models became ever more complex recently. Using solar irradiation as an example, we verify if this additional complexity is required in terms of forecasting precision. Different NN models, namely the long-short term (LSTM) neural network, a convolutional neural network (CNN), and combinations of both are benchmarked against each other. The naive forecast is included as a baseline. Various locations across Europe are tested to analyze the models’ performance under different climate conditions. Forecasts up to 24 h in advance are generated and compared using different goodness of fit (GoF) measures. Besides, errors are analyzed in the time domain. As expected, the error of all models increases with rising forecasting horizon. Over all test stations it shows that combining an LSTM network with a CNN yields the best performance. However, regarding the chosen GoF measures, differences to the alternative approaches are fairly small. The hybrid model’s advantage lies not in the improved GoF but in its versatility: contrary to an LSTM or a CNN, it produces good results under all tested weather conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 997-1011
Author(s):  
Ning Li ◽  
Parthasarathy R. ◽  
Harshila H. Padwal

Purpose Smart mobility is a major guideline in the development of Smart Cities’ transport systems and management. The issue of transition into green, secure and sustainable transport modes, such as using bicycles, should be implemented in this case, along with the subjectivism of management. Design/methodology/approach The proposed technology reflects the Smart Bicycle vehicle model, which tracks cyclists and weather conditions and turns to electric motors in critical circumstances. Findings This reduces the physical load and battery consumption of cyclists which affects the Smart Cities’ ecology positively. Originality/value In Smart Vehicle Bicycle Communication Transport, the vehicle movement optimization technique is used for traffic scenarios to analyze traffic signaling systems that give better results in variable and dense traffic conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Goel ◽  
Narinder Pal Singh

Purpose Artificial neural network (ANN) is a powerful technique to forecast the time series data such as the stock market. Therefore, this study aims to predict the Indian stock market closing price using ANNs. Design/methodology/approach The input variables identified from the literature are some macroeconomic variables and a global stock market factor. The study uses an ANN with Scaled Conjugate Gradient Algorithm (SCG) to forecast the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex. Findings The empirical findings reveal that the ANN model is able to achieve 93% accuracy in predicting the BSE Sensex closing prices. Moreover, the results indicate that the Morgan Stanley Capital International world index is the most important variable and the index of industrial production is the least important in predicting Sensex. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study have implications for the investors of all categories such as foreign institutional investors, domestic institutional investors and investment houses. Originality/value The novelty of this study lies in the fact that there are hardly any studies that use ANN to forecast the Indian stock market using macroeconomic indicators.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijat Arun Abhyankar ◽  
Harish Kumar Singla

Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare the predictive performance of the hedonic multivariate regression model with the probabilistic neural network (PNN)-based general regression neural network (GRNN) model of housing prices in “Pune-India.” Design/methodology/approach Data on 211 properties across “Pune city-India” is collected. The price per square feet is considered as a dependent variable whereas distances from important landmarks such as railway station, fort, university, airport, hospital, temple, parks, solid waste site and stadium are considered as independent variables along with a dummy for amenities. The data is analyzed using a hedonic type multivariate regression model and GRNN. The GRNN divides the entire data set into two sets, namely, training set and testing set and establishes a functional relationship between the dependent and target variables based on the probability density function of the training data (Alomair and Garrouch, 2016). Findings While comparing the performance of the hedonic multivariate regression model and PNN-based GRNN, the study finds that the output variable (i.e. price) has been accurately predicted by the GRNN model. All the 42 observations of the testing set are correctly classified giving an accuracy rate of 100%. According to Cortez (2015), a value close to 100% indicates that the model can correctly classify the test data set. Further, the root mean square error (RMSE) value for the final testing for the GRNN model is 0.089 compared to 0.146 for the hedonic multivariate regression model. A lesser value of RMSE indicates that the model contains smaller errors and is a better fit. Therefore, it is concluded that GRNN is a better model to predict the housing price functions. The distance from the solid waste site has the highest degree of variable senstivity impact on the housing prices (22.59%) followed by distance from university (17.78%) and fort (17.73%). Research limitations/implications The study being a “case” is restricted to a particular geographic location hence, the findings of the study cannot be generalized. Further, as the objective of the study is restricted to just to compare the predictive performance of two models, it is felt appropriate to restrict the scope of work by focusing only on “location specific hedonic factors,” as determinants of housing prices. Practical implications The study opens up a new dimension for scholars working in the field of housing prices/valuation. Authors do not rule out the use of traditional statistical techniques such as ordinary least square regression but strongly recommend that it is high time scholars use advanced statistical methods to develop the domain. The application of GRNN, artificial intelligence or other techniques such as auto regressive integrated moving average and vector auto regression modeling helps analyze the data in a much more sophisticated manner and help come up with more robust and conclusive evidence. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, it is the first case study that compares the predictive performance of the hedonic multivariate regression model with the PNN-based GRNN model for housing prices in India.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ashagrie Tegegne ◽  
Daniel Kitaw Azene ◽  
Eshetie Berhan Atanaw

PurposeThis study aims to design a multivariate control chart that improves the applicability of the traditional Hotelling T2 chart. This new type of multivariate control chart displays sufficient information about the states and relationships of the variables in the production process. It is used to make better quality control decisions during the production process.Design/methodology/approachMultivariate data are collected at an equal time interval and are represented by nodes of the graph. The edges connecting the nodes represent the sequence of operation. Each node is plotted on the control chart based on their Hotelling T2 statistical distance. The changing behavior of each pair of input and output nodes is studied by the neural network. A case study from the cement industry is conducted to validate the control chart.FindingsThe finding of this paper is that the points and lines in the classic Hotelling T2 chart are effectively substituted by nodes and edges of the graph respectively. Nodes and edges have dimension and color and represent several attributes. As a result, this control chart displays much more information than the traditional Hotelling T2 control chart. The pattern of the plot represents whether the process is normal or not. The effect of the sequence of operation is visible in the control chart. The frequency of the happening of nodes is recognized by the size of nodes. The decision to change the product feature is assisted by finding the shortest path between nodes. Moreover, consecutive nodes have different behaviors, and that behavior change is recognized by neural network.Originality/valueModifying the classical Hotelling T2 control chart by integrating with the concept of graph theory and neural network is new of its kind.


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