scholarly journals Improving Motion Safety and Efficiency of Intelligent Autonomous Swarm of Drones

Drones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Amin Majd ◽  
Mohammad Loni ◽  
Golnaz Sahebi ◽  
Masoud Daneshtalab
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Mission Planning ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
Intelligent Monitoring ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Formal Requirements ◽  
Swarm Mission

Interest is growing in the use of autonomous swarms of drones in various mission-physical applications such as surveillance, intelligent monitoring, and rescue operations. Swarm systems should fulfill safety and efficiency constraints in order to guarantee dependable operations. To maximize motion safety, we should design the swarm system in such a way that drones do not collide with each other and/or other objects in the operating environment. On other hand, to ensure that the drones have sufficient resources to complete the required task reliably, we should also achieve efficiency while implementing the mission, by minimizing the travelling distance of the drones. In this paper, we propose a novel integrated approach that maximizes motion safety and efficiency while planning and controlling the operation of the swarm of drones. To achieve this goal, we propose a novel parallel evolutionary-based swarm mission planning algorithm. The evolutionary computing allows us to plan and optimize the routes of the drones at the run-time to maximize safety while minimizing travelling distance as the efficiency objective. In order to fulfill the defined constraints efficiently, our solution promotes a holistic approach that considers the whole design process from the definition of formal requirements through the software development. The results of benchmarking demonstrate that our approach improves the route efficiency by up to 10% route efficiency without any crashes in controlling swarms compared to state-of-the-art solutions.

Defining and assessing walkability: a concept for an integrated approach using surveys, biosensors and geospatial analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Dörrzapf ◽  
Anna Kovács-Győri ◽  
Bernd Resch ◽  
Peter Zeile
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Measurement Methods ◽  
Transport Mode ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Spatial Environment ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Valuable Complement ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractWalking as a transport mode is still often underrepresented in the overall transport system. Consequently, pedestrian mobility is usually not recorded statistically in the same manner as it is performed for motorised traffic which leads to an underestimation of its importance and positive effects on people and cities. However, the integration of walkability assessments is potentially a valuable complement in urban planning processes through considering important quantitative and qualitative aspects of walking in cities. Recent literature shows a variety of approaches involving discrepancies in the definition of walkability, the factors which contribute to it, and methods of assessing them. This paper provides a new understanding of the concept of walkability in the European context. Our approach relies on the extension of methodological competence in transportation, spatial planning and geography by linking new measurement methods for evaluating walkability. We propose an integrated approach to assessing walkability in a comprehensive methodology that combines existing qualitative and GIS-based methods with biosensor technologies and thus captures the perceptions and emotions of pedestrians. This results in an increased plausibility and relevance of the results of walkability analysis by considering the spatial environment and its effect on people.

Icon(icity) and causality: On the role of indexical semiotic modes in development of Byzantine art

2017 ◽  
pp. 711-726
Author(s):  
Todor Mitrovic
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Cultural Patterns ◽  
Byzantine Art ◽  
Semiotic Model ◽  
Iconic Images ◽  
Specific Object ◽  
Byzantine Church ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Indexical Sign

Determined by its biblical origins, the birth of specifically Christian visual culture had to be given through overcoming the inevitable resistance of early church towards images. In order to find its stable place on late antique cultural scene, early byzantine art, thus, had to rely on support of religious and cultural patterns remote of magisterial artistic trends. Among those, contemporary theory recognizes as especially important: 1) cult of relics and 2) sealing practices. Crossing the possibility of theoretical definition of unique semiotic model standing behind those two cultural- religious practices with the fact that after iconoclasm byzantine art will be systematically distanced from both of them, this research attempts to explore the relation between iconophile theory and byzantine artistic production from a yet unexplored interpretative position. Hypothesis that category of indexical sign, as it is proposed by contemporary semiotics (based on Peircean legacy), can be used for extraction of this unique semiotic model is used here as a specific methodological tool for re-approach to both - 1) the pre-iconoclastic need for accentuating the indexical aspects of iconic images and 2) the mystery of post-iconoclastic radical distancing towards such a semiotic need. On the basis of such an integrated approach it is possible not only to search for more precise explanation of co-relations between artistic practices and contemporaneous (iconophile) theory, but to explain curious historical delay in application of this theoretic knowledge in artistic and liturgical realms, together with a late outburst of iconoclastic behaviour provoked by this very delay. Namely, one of the most prominent incarnations of pre-iconoclastic need for ?indexicalisation? of iconic medium, the mysterious Mandylion from Edessa, had very curious role in historical development of post-iconoclastic plastic arts in Byzantium. This specific object was miraculously and undividedly uniting both key indexical aspects of pre-iconoclastic cognitive settings in one icon - causally connected with the archetypehimself. However, exactly this kind of synthetic, relic-seal-image status turned out to be the specific semiotic stumbling stone in the process of application of iconophile theory in liturgical arts. This is why in XI century byzantine church decided to refrain Mandylion from public life for good and lock it in court chapel, under the protection of the emperor himself. As one of the most curious theological decisions of medieval Christianity, this extraordinary semiotic conversion was, actually, the final step in application of the most advanced achievements of the late iconophile theory, which was, at the same time, the first step in development of artistic system relaxed from the pressure of need for legalistic, causal validation of pictorial language.

scholarly journals Protocol Deviations: A Holistic Approach from Defining to Reporting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Galuchie ◽  
Catherine Stewart ◽  
Frank Meloni
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Rapid Identification ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Protocol Deviation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Investigational Agents ◽  
Or Organization ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Consistent Application

AbstractImproving interpretation of existing guidelines and management of protocol deviation processes could increase process efficiencies and help reduce noise to support rapid identification of important protocol deviations. Towards this end, TransCelerate identified key principles to build upon and clarify the definition of a protocol deviation and developed a holistic approach to protocol deviation management. The approaches are flexible to suit a variety of indications, study designs, and investigational agents while also supporting consistent application within a study, program or organization.

Systematic Literature Review on Smart Mobility: A Framework for Future “Quantitative” Developments

2021 ◽  
pp. 088541222199424
Author(s):  
Mauro Francini ◽  
Lucia Chieffallo ◽  
Annunziata Palermo ◽  
Maria Francesca Viapiana
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Broader Impacts ◽  
Research Goal ◽  
Smart Mobility ◽  
Definition Of

This work aims to reorganize theoretical and empirical research on smart mobility through the systematic literature review approach. The research goal is to reach an extended and shared definition of smart mobility using the cluster analysis. The article provides a summary of the state of the art that can have broader impacts in determining new angles for approaching research. In particular, the results will be a reference for future quantitative developments for the authors who are working on the construction of a territorial measurement model of the smartness degree, helping them in identifying performance indicators consistent with the definition proposed.

Robust Environmental Sensing Using UAVs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ahmed Boubrima ◽  
Edward W. Knightly
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Gas Sensors ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Mission Planning ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Compound Pollution ◽  
Planning Algorithm

In this article, we first investigate the quality of aerial air pollution measurements and characterize the main error sources of drone-mounted gas sensors. To that end, we build ASTRO+, an aerial-ground pollution monitoring platform, and use it to collect a comprehensive dataset of both aerial and reference air pollution measurements. We show that the dynamic airflow caused by drones affects temperature and humidity levels of the ambient air, which then affect the measurement quality of gas sensors. Then, in the second part of this article, we leverage the effects of weather conditions on pollution measurements’ quality in order to design an unmanned aerial vehicle mission planning algorithm that adapts the trajectory of the drones while taking into account the quality of aerial measurements. We evaluate our mission planning approach based on a Volatile Organic Compound pollution dataset and show a high-performance improvement that is maintained even when pollution dynamics are high.

Separation or Synthesis: A Holistic Approach to Therapeutics

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 279-283
Author(s):  
Kathi J. Kemper
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
The Public ◽  
Specialized Health Care ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Spiritual Healers

Over the past 50 years, health care has grown more complex and specialized. Health-care institutions now are staffed with an array of specialist physicians, social workers, psychologists, therapists, and nutritionists as well as general practitioners and nurses. The types of providers outside of the hospital are even more numerous and diverse: physicians; nurses; nurse practitioners; chiropractors; counselors; acupuncturists; herbalists; spiritual healers; and purveyors of nutritional supplements, aromatherapy, crystals, and more. Intent on distinguishing their "products," providers focus on differences, polarizing into distinct camps such as "mainstream or traditional" versus "alternative or unconventional." Although these dichotomies are simple, they also can mislead. The definition of "alternative" is very dependent on the definition "mainstream"; acupuncture may be an alternative in one setting, but it clearly is traditional within Asian communities. Therapies that once were considered unconventional, such as hypnosis and meditation, have moved into many mainstream medical settings. (See Sugarman article "Hypnosis: Teaching Children Self-regulation" in the January 1996 issue of Pediatrics in Review.) The public wants health care that is low-cost, safe, effective, and personalized. Practitioners of "natural" therapies often are viewed as more humanistic and less technological than busy physicians. According to one study, in 1990, alternative medical therapies were used by nearly one third of Americans.1

Basic models of human-centrist, polyspiral, sustainable development of Ukraine

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Valery Borzunov
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
External Control ◽  
Developed Country ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
Definition Of

Subject of study. A set of relations that are formed in the process of determining models of sustainable development of Ukraine and the principles of designing the economy of the future. Purpose of the article: research of the main directions of sustainable development of Ukraine and the formation of principles of strategy. Research methodology. Scientific novelty of the work, the theoretical and methodological basis of the research is the system of both general scientific and special methods of scientific knowledge, the fundamental provisions of modern economic theory and practice. The proposed methodology of a system-integrated approach to the formation of basic models of man-centered, multispiral, sustainable development of Ukraine. As integrity in the organic unity of the prevailing prerequisites for the formation of the principles of strategizing. Scientific novelty lies in the definition of models for sustainable development of Ukraine and the principles of designing the economy of the future. Results of the work – the applied use of scientific results of improved approaches for the development and implementation of a strategy for human- centered, polyspiral, sustainable development is proposed. Conclusions. For 30 years of independence, Ukraine has turned from an industrially developed country into a backward and poorest country in Europe with an economy of lagging growth, the status of a «buffer zone» of geopolitical conflict on its territory and external control. To maintain sovereignty, ensure the country's competitiveness in the context of the transition to new technological paradigms and the quality of life of the population, at least at the average level for the EU countries, Ukraine needs to change course, develop and implement the «Strategy of human-centrist, multi-spiral, sustainable development».

scholarly journals A GA-SA Hybrid Planning Algorithm Combined with Improved Clustering for LEO Observation Satellite Missions

Algorithms ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Xiangyu Long ◽  
Shufan Wu ◽  
Xiaofeng Wu ◽  
Yixin Huang ◽  
Zhongcheng Mu
Keyword(s):  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Simulated Annealing Algorithm ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Theory Model ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Mission Planning ◽  
Experimental Simulation ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Fitness Value ◽  
Planning Algorithm

This paper presents a space mission planning tool, which was developed for LEO (Low Earth Orbit) observation satellites. The tool is focused on a two-phase planning strategy with clustering preprocessing and mission planning, where an improved clustering algorithm is applied, and a hybrid algorithm that combines the genetic algorithm with the simulated annealing algorithm (GA–SA) is given and discussed. Experimental simulation studies demonstrate that the GA–SA algorithm with the improved clique partition algorithm based on the graph theory model exhibits higher fitness value and better optimization performance and reliability than the GA or SA algorithms alone.

scholarly journals IPOMDP-Net: A Deep Neural Network for Partially Observable Multi-Agent Planning Using Interactive POMDPs

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 6062-6069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanlin Han ◽  
Piotr Gmytrasiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Neural Computing ◽  
Neural Network Architecture ◽  
Markov Decision ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
Partially Observable ◽  
Multi Agent Planning

This paper introduces the IPOMDP-net, a neural network architecture for multi-agent planning under partial observability. It embeds an interactive partially observable Markov decision process (I-POMDP) model and a QMDP planning algorithm that solves the model in a neural network architecture. The IPOMDP-net is fully differentiable and allows for end-to-end training. In the learning phase, we train an IPOMDP-net on various fixed and randomly generated environments in a reinforcement learning setting, assuming observable reinforcements and unknown (randomly initialized) model functions. In the planning phase, we test the trained network on new, unseen variants of the environments under the planning setting, using the trained model to plan without reinforcements. Empirical results show that our model-based IPOMDP-net outperforms the other state-of-the-art modelfree network and generalizes better to larger, unseen environments. Our approach provides a general neural computing architecture for multi-agent planning using I-POMDPs. It suggests that, in a multi-agent setting, having a model of other agents benefits our decision-making, resulting in a policy of higher quality and better generalizability.

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