Visual Tracking with Object Center Displacement and CenterNet

Modern artificial intelligence systems have revolutionized approaches to scientific and technological challenges in a variety of fields, thus remarkable improvements in the quality of state-of-the-art computer vision and other techniques are observed; object tracking in video frames is a vital field of research that provides information about objects and their trajectories. This paper presents an object tracking method basing on optical flow generated between frames and a ConvNet method. Initially, optical center displacement is employed to detect possible the bounding box center of the tracked object. Then, CenterNet is used for object position correction. Given the initial set of points (i.e., bounding box) in first frame, the tracker tries to follow the motion of center of these points by looking at its direction of change in calculated optical flow with next frame, a correction mechanism takes place and waits for motions that surpass a correction threshold to launch position corrections.

Position Estimation of Vehicle Based on Magnetic Marker: Time-Division Position Correction

During the automatic driving of a vehicle, the vehicle’s positional information is important for vehicle driving control. If fixed-point land markers such as magnetic markers are used, the vehicle’s current position error can be calculated only when a marker is detected while driving, and this error can be used to correct the estimation position. Therefore, correction information is used irregularly and intermittently according to the installation intervals of the magnetic markers and the driving speed. If the detected errors are corrected all at once using the position correction method, discontinuity of the position information can occur. This problem causes instability in the vehicle’s route guidance control because the position error fluctuates as the vehicle’s speed increases. We devised a time-division position correction method that calculates the error using the absolute position of the magnetic marker, which is estimated when the magnetic marker is detected, along with the absolute position information from the magnetic marker database. Instead of correcting the error at once when the position and heading errors are corrected, the correction is performed by dividing the errors multiple times until the next magnetic marker is detected. This prevents sudden discontinuity of the vehicle position information, and the calculated correction amount is used without loss to obtain stable and continuous position information. We conducted driving tests to compare the performances of the proposed algorithm and conventional methods. We compared the continuity of the position information and the mean error and confirmed the superiority of the proposed method in terms of these aspects.

A multi-patient analysis of the center of rotation trajectories using finite element models of the human mandible

Studying different types of tooth movements can help us to better understand the force systems used for tooth position correction in orthodontic treatments. This study considers a more realistic force system in tooth movement modeling across different patients and investigates the effect of the couple force direction on the position of the center of rotation (CRot). The finite-element (FE) models of human mandibles from three patients are used to investigate the position of the CRots for different patients’ teeth in 3D space. The CRot is considered a single point in a 3D coordinate system and is obtained by choosing the closest point on the axis of rotation to the center of resistance (CRes). A force system, consisting of a constant load and a couple (pair of forces), is applied to each tooth, and the corresponding CRot trajectories are examined across different patients. To perform a consistent inter-patient analysis, different patients’ teeth are registered to the corresponding reference teeth using an affine transformation. The selected directions and applied points of force on the reference teeth are then transformed into the registered teeth domains. The effect of the direction of the couple on the location of the CRot is also studied by rotating the couples about the three principal axes of a patient’s premolar. Our results indicate that similar patterns can be obtained for the CRot positions of different patients and teeth if the same load conditions are used. Moreover, equally rotating the direction of the couple about the three principal axes results in different patterns for the CRot positions, especially in labiolingual direction. The CRot trajectories follow similar patterns in the corresponding teeth, but any changes in the direction of the force and couple cause misalignment of the CRot trajectories, seen as rotations about the long axis of the tooth.

Accurate Refraction Correction—Assisted Bathymetric Inversion Using ICESat-2 and Multispectral Data

Shallow-water depth information is essential for ship navigation and fishery farming. However, the accurate acquisition of shallow-water depth has been a challenge for marine mapping. Combining Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) bathymetry data with multispectral data, satellite-derived bathymetry is a promising solution through which to obtain bathymetric information quickly and accurately. This study proposes a photon refraction correction method considering sea-surface undulations to address errors in the underwater photons obtained by the ICESat-2. First, the instantaneous sea surface and beam emission angle are integrated to determine the sea-surface incidence angle. Next, the distance of photon propagation in water is determined using sea-surface undulation and Snell’s law. Finally, position correction is performed through geometric relationships. The corrected photons were combined with the multispectral data for bathymetric inversion, and a bathymetric map of the Yongle Atoll area was obtained. A bathymetric chart was created using the corrected photons and the multispectral data in the Yongle Atoll. Comparing the results of different refraction correction methods with the data measured shows that the refraction correction method proposed in this paper can effectively correct bathymetry errors: the root mean square error is 1.48 m and the R2 is 0.86.

Adaptive Machining Scheme for Multi-Hole Part with Multi-Position Accuracy Requirements

The machining of multi-hole parts often has complex correlated position accuracy requirements. When some position accuracies do not meet the requirements, several hole axes need to be adjusted. Previous methods usually correct all deviated axes to their theoretical locations. However, the correction workload is too large and inefficient. This paper proposes an efficient and adaptive hole position correction model for multi-hole part. First, the method establishes the topological relationship of the holes and faces on the part according to the position accuracy requirements of the multi-hole part. Then, the goal is to minimize the number of holes that need to be corrected. In this model, the parallelism of holes, perpendicularity, and other constraints are considered. The simulation and experimental results show that the use of this model can effectively reduce the number of holes that need to be corrected during the compensation of the position error between holes. It improves the efficiency in the subsequent compensation process significantly.

How often should dead-reckoned animal movement paths be corrected for drift?

Background Understanding what animals do in time and space is important for a range of ecological questions, however accurate estimates of how animals use space is challenging. Within the use of animal-attached tags, radio telemetry (including the Global Positioning System, ‘GPS’) is typically used to verify an animal’s location periodically. Straight lines are typically drawn between these ‘Verified Positions’ (‘VPs’) so the interpolation of space-use is limited by the temporal and spatial resolution of the system’s measurement. As such, parameters such as route-taken and distance travelled can be poorly represented when using VP systems alone. Dead-reckoning has been suggested as a technique to improve the accuracy and resolution of reconstructed movement paths, whilst maximising battery life of VP systems. This typically involves deriving travel vectors from motion sensor systems and periodically correcting path dimensions for drift with simultaneously deployed VP systems. How often paths should be corrected for drift, however, has remained unclear. Methods and results Here, we review the utility of dead-reckoning across four contrasting model species using different forms of locomotion (the African lion Panthera leo, the red-tailed tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda, the Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus, and the imperial cormorant Leucocarbo atriceps). Simulations were performed to examine the extent of dead-reckoning error, relative to VPs, as a function of Verified Position correction (VP correction) rate and the effect of this on estimates of distance moved. Dead-reckoning error was greatest for animals travelling within air and water. We demonstrate how sources of measurement error can arise within VP-corrected dead-reckoned tracks and propose advancements to this procedure to maximise dead-reckoning accuracy. Conclusions We review the utility of VP-corrected dead-reckoning according to movement type and consider a range of ecological questions that would benefit from dead-reckoning, primarily concerning animal–barrier interactions and foraging strategies.

Hard X-ray ptychography at Taiwan Photon Source at 11–20 nm spatial resolution

X-ray ptychography, a technique based on scanning and processing of coherent diffraction patterns, is a non-destructive imaging technique with a high spatial resolution far beyond the focused beam size. Earlier demonstrations of hard X-ray ptychography at Taiwan Photon Source (TPS) using an in-house program successfully recorded the ptychographic diffraction patterns from a gold-made Siemens star as a test sample and retrieved the finest inner features of 25 nm. Ptychography was performed at two beamlines with different focusing optics: a pair of Kirkpatrick–Baez mirrors and a pair of nested Montel mirrors, for which the beam sizes on the focal planes were 3 µm and 200 nm and the photon energies were from 5.1 keV to 9 keV. The retrieved spatial resolutions are 20 nm to 11 nm determined by the 10–90% line-cut method and half-bit threshold of Fourier shell correlation. This article describes the experimental conditions and compensation methods, including position correction, mixture state-of-probe, and probe extension methods, of the aforementioned experiments. The discussions will highlight the criteria of ptychographic experiments at TPS as well as the opportunity to characterize beamlines by measuring factors such as the drift or instability of beams or stages and the coherence of beams. Besides, probe functions, the full complex fields illuminated on samples, can be recovered simultaneously using ptychography. Theoretically, the wavefield at any arbitrary position can be estimated from one recovered probe function undergoing wave-propagating. The verification of probe-propagating has been carried out by comparing the probe functions obtained by ptychography and undergoing wave-propagating located at 0, 500 and 1000 µm relative to the focal plane.

Position correction in dust storm forecasting using LOTOS-EUROS v2.1: grid-distorted data assimilation v1.0

When calibrating simulations of dust clouds, both the intensity and the position are important. Intensity errors arise mainly from uncertain emission and sedimentation strengths, while position errors are attributed either to imperfect emission timing or to uncertainties in the transport. Though many studies have been conducted on the calibration or correction of dust simulations, most of these focus on intensity solely and leave the position errors mainly unchanged. In this paper, a grid-distorted data assimilation, which consists of an image-morphing method and an ensemble-based variational assimilation, is designed for realigning a simulated dust plume to correct the position error. This newly developed grid-distorted data assimilation has been applied to a dust storm event in May 2017 over East Asia. Results have been compared for three configurations: a traditional assimilation configuration that focuses solely on intensity correction, a grid-distorted data assimilation that focuses on position correction only and the hybrid assimilation that combines these two. For the evaluated case, the position misfit in the simulations is shown to be dominant in the results. The traditional emission inversion only slightly improves the dust simulation, while the grid-distorted data assimilation effectively improves the dust simulation and forecasting. The hybrid assimilation that corrects both position and intensity of the dust load provides the best initial condition for forecasting of dust concentrations.