APPLICATION OF AERIAL OBSERVATION DRONE FOR TESTING MORTAR PROJECTILES ON THE RANGE

2018 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 91-96
Author(s):  
Maciej Miszczak ◽  
Piotr Ruliński ◽  
Bohdan Zarzycki

The paper dwells on application of a vertical take-off/landing aerial observation drone that is equipped with a video camera to localise on testing range places of falling for experimental 120 mm inert mortar projectiles having head percussion fuse and filled with a black powder charge. The drone was flying at the height of 50-80 m and filming with the rate of 25 pictures per second when observing an area of predicted projectiles falls. A typical sequence of pictures taken by the drone camera and showing the terminal fragment of projectile trajectory with effects of hitting into the ground is presented. The falling sites of all (ten) fired projectiles were identified. Application of the drone for the range tests has also enhanced the level of their safety and allowed the monitoring of a fire threat.

Author(s):  
Stephen R. Bolsover

The field of intracellular ion concentration measurement expanded greatly in the 1980's due primarily to the development by Roger Tsien of ratiometric fluorescence dyes. These dyes have many applications, and in particular they make possible to image ion concentrations: to produce maps of the ion concentration within living cells. Ion imagers comprise a fluorescence microscope, an imaging light detector such as a video camera, and a computer system to process the fluorescence signal and display the map of ion concentration.Ion imaging can be used for two distinct purposes. In the first, the imager looks at a field of cells, measuring the mean ion concentration in each cell of the many in the field of view. One can then, for instance, challenge the cells with an agonist and examine the response of each individual cell. Ion imagers are not necessary for this sort of experiment: one can instead use a system that measures the mean ion concentration in a just one cell at any one time. However, they are very much more convenient.


Author(s):  
Rudolf Oldenbourg

The recent renaissance of the light microsope is fueled in part by technological advances in components on the periphery of the microscope, such as the laser as illumination source, electronic image recording (video), computer assisted image analysis and the biochemistry of fluorescent dyes for labeling specimens. After great progress in these peripheral parts, it seems timely to examine the optics itself and ask how progress in the periphery facilitates the use of new optical components and of new optical designs inside the microscope. Some results of this fruitful reflection are presented in this symposium.We have considered the polarized light microscope, and developed a design that replaces the traditional compensator, typically a birefringent crystal plate, with a precision universal compensator made of two liquid crystal variable retarders. A video camera and digital image processing system provide fast measurements of specimen anisotropy (retardance magnitude and azimuth) at ALL POINTS of the image forming the field of view. The images document fine structural and molecular organization within a thin optical section of the specimen.


Author(s):  
John F. Mansfield ◽  
Douglas C. Crawford

A method has been developed that allows on-line measurement of the thickness of crystalline materials in the analytical electron microscope. Two-beam convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) patterns are digitized from a JEOL 2000FX electron microscope into an Apple Macintosh II microcomputer via a Gatan #673 CCD Video Camera and an Imaging Systems Technology Video 1000 frame-capture board. It is necessary to know the lattice parameters of the sample since measurements are made of the spacing of the diffraction discs in order to calibrate the pattern. The sample thickness is calculated from measurements of the spacings of the fringes that are seen in the diffraction discs. This technique was pioneered by Kelly et al, who used the two-beam dynamic theory of MacGillavry relate the deviation parameter (Si) of the ith fringe from the exact Bragg condition to the specimen thickness (t) with the equation:Where ξg, is the extinction distance for that reflection and ni is an integer.


Author(s):  
Kent McDonald ◽  
David Mastronarde ◽  
Rubai Ding ◽  
Eileen O'Toole ◽  
J. Richard McIntosh

Mammalian spindles are generally large and may contain over a thousand microtubules (MTs). For this reason they are difficult to reconstruct in three dimensions and many researchers have chosen to study the smaller and simpler spindles of lower eukaryotes. Nevertheless, the mammalian spindle is used for many experimental studies and it would be useful to know its detailed structure.We have been using serial cross sections and computer reconstruction methods to analyze MT distributions in mitotic spindles of PtK cells, a mammalian tissue culture line. Images from EM negatives are digtized on a light box by a Dage MTI video camera containing a black and white Saticon tube. The signal is digitized by a Parallax 1280 graphics device in a MicroVax III computer. Microtubules are digitized at a magnification such that each is 10-12 pixels in diameter.


Author(s):  
Rudolf Oldenbourg

The polarized light microscope has the unique potential to measure submicroscopic molecular arrangements dynamically and non-destructively in living cells and other specimens. With the traditional pol-scope, however, single images display only those anisotropic structures that have a limited range of orientations with respect to the polarization axes of the microscope. Furthermore, rapid measurements are restricted to a single image point or single area that exhibits uniform birefringence or other form of optical anisotropy, while measurements comparing several image points take an inordinately long time.We are developing a new kind of polarized light microscope which combines speed and high resolution in its measurement of the specimen anisotropy, irrespective of its orientation. The design of the new pol-scope is based on the traditional polarized light microscope with two essential modifications: circular polarizers replace linear polarizers and two electro-optical modulators replace the traditional compensator. A video camera and computer assisted image analysis provide measurements of specimen anisotropy in rapid succession for all points of the image comprising the field of view.


Author(s):  
F.A. Ponce ◽  
H. Hikashi

The determination of the atomic positions from HRTEM micrographs is only possible if the optical parameters are known to a certain accuracy, and reliable through-focus series are available to match the experimental images with calculated images of possible atomic models. The main limitation in interpreting images at the atomic level is the knowledge of the optical parameters such as beam alignment, astigmatism correction and defocus value. Under ordinary conditions, the uncertainty in these values is sufficiently large to prevent the accurate determination of the atomic positions. Therefore, in order to achieve the resolution power of the microscope (under 0.2nm) it is necessary to take extraordinary measures. The use of on line computers has been proposed [e.g.: 2-5] and used with certain amount of success.We have built a system that can perform operations in the range of one frame stored and analyzed per second. A schematic diagram of the system is shown in figure 1. A JEOL 4000EX microscope equipped with an external computer interface is directly linked to a SUN-3 computer. All electrical parameters in the microscope can be changed via this interface by the use of a set of commands. The image is received from a video camera. A commercial image processor improves the signal-to-noise ratio by recursively averaging with a time constant, usually set at 0.25 sec. The computer software is based on a multi-window system and is entirely mouse-driven. All operations can be performed by clicking the mouse on the appropiate windows and buttons. This capability leads to extreme friendliness, ease of operation, and high operator speeds. Image analysis can be done in various ways. Here, we have measured the image contrast and used it to optimize certain parameters. The system is designed to have instant access to: (a) x- and y- alignment coils, (b) x- and y- astigmatism correction coils, and (c) objective lens current. The algorithm is shown in figure 2. Figure 3 shows an example taken from a thin CdTe crystal. The image contrast is displayed for changing objective lens current (defocus value). The display is calibrated in angstroms. Images are stored on the disk and are accessible by clicking the data points in the graph. Some of the frame-store images are displayed in Fig. 4.


Author(s):  
Richard Mcintosh ◽  
David Mastronarde ◽  
Kent McDonald ◽  
Rubai Ding

Microtubules (MTs) are cytoplasmic polymers whose dynamics have an influence on cell shape and motility. MTs influence cell behavior both through their growth and disassembly and through the binding of enzymes to their surfaces. In either case, the positions of the MTs change over time as cells grow and develop. We are working on methods to determine where MTs are at different times during either the cell cycle or a morphogenetic event, using thin and thick sections for electron microscopy and computer graphics to model MT distributions.One approach is to track MTs through serial thin sections cut transverse to the MT axis. This work uses a video camera to digitize electron micrographs of cross sections through a MT system and create image files in computer memory. These are aligned and corrected for relative distortions by using the positions of 8 - 10 MTs on adjacent sections to define a general linear transformation that will align and warp adjacent images to an optimum fit. Two hundred MT images are then used to calculate an “average MT”, and this is cross-correlated with each micrograph in the serial set to locate points likely to correspond to MT centers. This set of points is refined through a discriminate analysis that explores each cross correlogram in the neighborhood of every point with a high correlation score.


Author(s):  
José I. Latorre ◽  
María T. Soto-Sanfiel

We reflect on the typical sequence of complex emotions associated with the process of scientific discovery. It is proposed that the same sequence is found to underlie many forms of media entertainment, albeit substantially scaled down. Hence, a distinct theory of intellectual entertainment is put forward. The seemingly timeless presence of multiple forms of intellectual entertainment finds its roots in a positive moral approval of the self of itself.


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