scholarly journals A 3D Vision Cone Based Method for Collision Free Navigation of a Quadcopter UAV among Moving Obstacles

Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Zhenxing Ming ◽  
Hailong Huang

In the near future, it’s expected that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will become ubiquitous surrogates for human-crewed vehicles in the field of border patrol, package delivery, etc. Therefore, many three-dimensional (3D) navigation algorithms based on different techniques, e.g., model predictive control (MPC)-based, navigation potential field-based, sliding mode control-based, and reinforcement learning-based, have been extensively studied in recent years to help achieve collision-free navigation. The vast majority of the 3D navigation algorithms perform well when obstacles are sparsely spaced, but fail when facing crowd-spaced obstacles, which causes a potential threat to UAV operations. In this paper, a 3D vision cone-based reactive navigation algorithm is proposed to enable small quadcopter UAVs to seek a path through crowd-spaced 3D obstacles to the destination without collisions. The proposed algorithm is simulated in MATLAB with different 3D obstacles settings to demonstrate its feasibility and compared with the other two existing 3D navigation algorithms to exhibit its superiority. Furthermore, a modified version of the proposed algorithm is also introduced and compared with the initially proposed algorithm to lay the foundation for future work.

Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Taha Elmokadem ◽  
Andrey V. Savkin

Abstract Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become essential tools for exploring, mapping and inspection of unknown three-dimensional (3D) tunnel-like environments which is a very challenging problem. A computationally light navigation algorithm is developed in this paper for quadrotor UAVs to autonomously guide the vehicle through such environments. It uses sensors observations to safely guide the UAV along the tunnel axis while avoiding collisions with its walls. The approach is evaluated using several computer simulations with realistic sensing models and practical implementation with a quadrotor UAV. The proposed method is also applicable to other UAV types and autonomous underwater vehicles.


Author(s):  
Cuong Truong Ngoc ◽  
Xiao Xu ◽  
Hwan-Seong Kim ◽  
Duy Anh Nguyen ◽  
Sam-Sang You

This paper deals with three-dimensional (3D) model of competitive Lotka-Volterra equation to investigate nonlinear dynamics and control strategy of container terminal throughput and capacity. Dynamical behaviors are intensely explored by using eigenvalue evaluation, bifurcation analysis, and time-series data. The dynamical analysis is to show the stability with bifurcation of the competition and collaboration of multiple container terminals in the maritime transportation. Based on the chaotic analysis, the sliding mode control theory has been utilized for optimization of port operations under disruptions. Extensive numerical simulations have been conducted to validate the efficacy and reliability of the presented control algorithms. Particularly, the closed-loop system has been assessed through chaotic suppression and synchronization strategies for port management. Finally, the presented fundamental techniques can be utilized to provide managerial insights and solutions on efficient seaport operations that allow more timely and cost-effective decision making for port authorities in such a highly competitive environment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Xin Wan ◽  
Ximing Liu ◽  
Jichen Miao ◽  
Peng Cong ◽  
Yuai Zhang ◽  
...  

Pebble dynamics is important for the safe operation of pebble-bed high temperature gas-cooled reactors and is a complicated problem of great concern. To investigate it more authentically, a computed tomography pebble flow detecting (CT-PFD) system has been constructed, in which a three-dimensional model is simulated according to the ratio of 1 : 5 with the core of HTR-PM. A multislice helical CT is utilized to acquire the reconstructed cross-sectional images of simulated pebbles, among which special tracer pebbles are designed to indicate pebble flow. Tracer pebbles can be recognized from many other background pebbles because of their heavy kernels that can be resolved in CT images. The detecting principle and design parameters of the system were demonstrated by a verification experiment on an existing CT system in this paper. Algorithms to automatically locate the three-dimensional coordinates of tracer pebbles and to rebuild the trajectory of each tracer pebble were presented and verified. The proposed pebble-detecting and tracking technique described in this paper will be implemented in the near future.


Author(s):  
Fei Ma ◽  
Yunjie Wu ◽  
Siqi Wang ◽  
Xiaofei Yang ◽  
Yueyang Hua

This paper presents an adaptive fixed-time guidance law for the three-dimensional interception guidance problem with impact angle constraints and control input saturation against a maneuvering target. First, a coupled guidance model formulated by the relative motion equation is established. On this basis, a fixed-time disturbance observer is employed to estimate the lumped disturbances. With the help of this estimation technique, the adaptive fixed-time sliding mode guidance law is designed to accomplish accurate interception. The stability of the closed-loop guidance system is proven by the Lyapunov method. Simulation results of different scenarios are executed to validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed guidance law.


Author(s):  
Sam E. Calisch ◽  
Neil A. Gershenfeld

Honeycomb sandwich panels are widely used for high performance parts subject to bending loads, but their manufacturing costs remain high. In particular, for parts with non-flat, non-uniform geometry, honeycombs must be machined or thermoformed with great care and expense. The ability to produce shaped honeycombs would allow sandwich panels to replace monolithic parts in a number of high performance, space-constrained applications, while also providing new areas of research for structural optimization, distributed sensing and actuation, and on-site production of infrastructure. Previous work has shown methods of directly producing shaped honeycombs by cutting and folding flat sheets of material. This research extends these methods by demonstrating work towards a continuous process for the cutting and folding steps of this process. An algorithm for producing a manufacturable cut-and-fold pattern from a three-dimensional volume is designed, and a machine for automatically performing the required cutting and parallel folding is proposed and prototyped. The accuracy of the creases placed by this machine is characterized and the impact of creasing order is demonstrated. Finally, a prototype part is produced and future work is sketched towards full process automation.


Author(s):  
Tsung-Chih Lin ◽  
Yu-Chen Lin ◽  
Majid Moradi Zirkohi ◽  
Hsi-Chun Huang

In this paper, a novel direct adaptive fuzzy moving sliding mode proportional integral (PI) tracking control of a three-dimensional (3D) overhead crane which is modeled by five highly nonlinear second-order ordinary differential equations is proposed. The fast and robust position regulation and antiswing control can be achieved based on the proposed approach. Due to universal approximation theorem, fuzzy control provides nonlinear controller, i.e., fuzzy logic controllers, to perform the unknown nonlinear control actions. Simultaneously, in order to achieve fast and robust regulation and to enhance robustness in the presence of disturbance and parameter variations, moving sliding mode control (SMC) is introduced to tradeoff between reaching phase and sliding phase. Hence, the sliding surface is moved by changing the magnitude of the slope by adaptive law and varying the intercept by tuning algorithm. Simulations performed using a scaled 3D mathematical model of the crane confirm that the proposed control scheme can keep the horizontal position of the payload invariable and suppress the swing of the payload effectively during the hoisting or lowing process.


Author(s):  
Feihu Zhao ◽  
Yi Xiong ◽  
Keita Ito ◽  
Bert van Rietbergen ◽  
Sandra Hofmann

Mechanobiology research is for understanding the role of mechanics in cell physiology and pathology. It will have implications for studying bone physiology and pathology and to guide the strategy for regenerating both the structural and functional features of bone. Mechanobiological studies in vitro apply a dynamic micro-mechanical environment to cells via bioreactors. Porous scaffolds are commonly used for housing the cells in a three-dimensional (3D) culturing environment. Such scaffolds usually have different pore geometries (e.g. with different pore shapes, pore dimensions and porosities). These pore geometries can affect the internal micro-mechanical environment that the cells experience when loaded in the bioreactor. Therefore, to adjust the applied micro-mechanical environment on cells, researchers can tune either the applied load and/or the design of the scaffold pore geometries. This review will provide information on how the micro-mechanical environment (e.g. fluid-induced wall shear stress and mechanical strain) is affected by various scaffold pore geometries within different bioreactors. It shall allow researchers to estimate/quantify the micro-mechanical environment according to the already known pore geometry information, or to find a suitable pore geometry according to the desirable micro-mechanical environment to be applied. Finally, as future work, artificial intelligent – assisted techniques, which can achieve an automatic design of solid porous scaffold geometry for tuning/optimising the micro-mechanical environment are suggested.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-352
Author(s):  
Ajahati Mukti

Every object has its characteristic shape, appearance and responses to physical interactions. Computer graphics center on those three components of an object to bring them onto the computer display. With the rapid development of three dimensional (3D) printing technology, the accuracy of the focused object’s geometry was put forward. Point-based graphing is a way to taking the role in rendering the huge 3D sampled data. Based on the digital geometry processing of point-sampled model, various algorithms were reviewed, and some related key techniques were compared with the potential perspective of the future work in this area was also presented.


10.2196/21105 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e21105
Author(s):  
Arpita Mallikarjuna Kappattanavar ◽  
Nico Steckhan ◽  
Jan Philipp Sachs ◽  
Harry Freitas da Cruz ◽  
Erwin Böttinger ◽  
...  

Background A majority of employees in the industrial world spend most of their working time in a seated position. Monitoring sitting postures can provide insights into the underlying causes of occupational discomforts such as low back pain. Objective This study focuses on the technologies and algorithms used to classify sitting postures on a chair with respect to spine and limb movements. Methods A total of three electronic literature databases were surveyed to identify studies classifying sitting postures in adults. Quality appraisal was performed to extract critical details and assess biases in the shortlisted papers. Results A total of 14 papers were shortlisted from 952 papers obtained after a systematic search. The majority of the studies used pressure sensors to measure sitting postures, whereas neural networks were the most frequently used approaches for classification tasks in this context. Only 2 studies were performed in a free-living environment. Most studies presented ethical and methodological shortcomings. Moreover, the findings indicate that the strategic placement of sensors can lead to better performance and lower costs. Conclusions The included studies differed in various aspects of design and analysis. The majority of studies were rated as medium quality according to our assessment. Our study suggests that future work for posture classification can benefit from using inertial measurement unit sensors, since they make it possible to differentiate among spine movements and similar postures, considering transitional movements between postures, and using three-dimensional cameras to annotate the data for ground truth. Finally, comparing such studies is challenging, as there are no standard definitions of sitting postures that could be used for classification. In addition, this study identifies five basic sitting postures along with different combinations of limb and spine movements to help guide future research efforts.


2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 1834
Author(s):  
E. Profitis ◽  
D. Kapatos ◽  
E. Chatzitheodoridis ◽  
D. Xirouchakis ◽  
C. Loupasakis

Geometrical parameters of natural and crushed aggregates such as grain length, perimeter, area, etc., underline the shape and flakiness indices definition. The latter indices have a measurable effect on the mechanical properties of aggregates–binder mixtures, e.g. concrete, mortar, bituminous mixtures. In this work, digital methods were developed with the mathematical software Matlab, by applying a statistical method called k-means clustering for the exact separation between background and aggregates to compute the aforementioned properties. The overall code can be applied in real time by analysing quickly a large volume of data with accuracy and significant cost reduction. Currently, only the two dimensions of the grains could be measured. Future work will focus on full three-dimensional measurements by comparing paired images taken from different angles but also aggregate segmentation in case of touching particles.


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