scholarly journals Autonomous Deployment of Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Devices Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: The Flying Hydrophone

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 6064
Author(s):  
Daniel Babatunde ◽  
Simon Pomeroy ◽  
Paul Lepper ◽  
Ben Clark ◽  
Rebecca Walker
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Fourier Transforms ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Automatic Data ◽  
Underwater Acoustic ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
And Control

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly becoming a popular tool in the observation and study of marine mammals. However, the potential capabilities of these vehicles regarding autonomous operations are not being fully exploited for passive underwater acoustic monitoring in marine mammal research. This article presents results from the development of a UAV system equipped with an underwater acoustic recorder aimed at assisting with the monitoring of harbour porpoises in Special Areas of Conservation in the United Kingdom. The UAV is capable of autonomous navigation, persistent landing, take-off and automatic data acquisition at specified waypoints. The system architecture that enables autonomous UAV flight including waypoint planning and control is described. A bespoke lightweight underwater acoustic recorder (named the PorpDAQ) capable of transmitting the results of fast Fourier transforms (FFT) applied to incoming signals from a hydrophone was also designed. The system’s operation is successfully validated with a combination of outdoor experiments and indoor simulations demonstrating different UAVs capable of autonomously navigating and landing at specific waypoints while recording data in an indoor tank. Results from the recorder suggest that lightweight, relatively low-cost systems can be used in place of heavier more expensive alternatives.

Design and Analysis of a Multimodal Grasper Having Shape Conformity and Within-Hand Manipulation With Adjustable Contact Forces

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nagamanikandan Govindan ◽  
Asokan Thondiyath
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Active Surface ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
Contact Forces ◽  
Geometrical Shape ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Control Scheme ◽  
And Control ◽  
Compact Mechanism

Abstract This paper presents the design, analysis, and testing of a novel multimodal grasper having the capabilities of shape conformation, within-hand manipulation, and a built-in compact mechanism to vary the forces at the contact surface. The proposed grasper has two important qualities: versatility and less complexity. The former refers to the ability to grasp a range of objects having different geometrical shape, size, and payload and perform in-hand manipulations such as rolling and sliding, and the latter refers to the uncomplicated design, and ease of planning and control strategies. Increasing the number of functions performed by the grasper to adapt to a variety of tasks in structured and unstructured environments without increasing the mechanical complexity is the main interest of this research. The proposed grasper consists of two hybrid jaws having a rigid inner structure encompassed by a flexible, active gripping surface. The flexibility of the active surface has been exploited to achieve shape conformation, and the same has been utilized with a compact mechanism, introduced in the jaws, to vary the contact forces while grasping and manipulating an object. Simple and scalable structure, compactness, low cost, and simple control scheme are the main features of the proposed design. Detailed kinematic and static analysis are presented to show the capability of the grasper to adjust and estimate the contact forces without using a force sensor. Experiments are conducted on the fabricated prototype to validate the different modes of operation and to evaluate the advantages of the proposed concept.

scholarly journals Reaching to inhibit a prepotent response: A wearable 3-axis accelerometer kinematic analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254514
Author(s):  
Alessia Angeli ◽  
Irene Valori ◽  
Teresa Farroni ◽  
Gustavo Marfia
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Dominant Response ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Kinematic Measures ◽  
And Control ◽  
Selection Of

The present work explores the distinctive contribution of motor planning and control to human reaching movements. In particular, the movements were triggered by the selection of a prepotent response (Dominant) or, instead, by the inhibition of the prepotent response, which required the selection of an alternative one (Non-dominant). To this end, we adapted a Go/No-Go task to investigate both the dominant and non-dominant movements of a cohort of 19 adults, utilizing kinematic measures to discriminate between the planning and control components of the two actions. In this experiment, a low-cost, easy to use, 3-axis wrist-worn accelerometer was put to good use to obtain raw acceleration data and to compute and break down its velocity components. The values obtained with this task indicate that with the inhibition of a prepotent response, the selection and execution of the alternative one yields both a longer reaction time and movement duration. Moreover, the peak velocity occurred later in time in the non-dominant response with respect to the dominant response, revealing that participants tended to indulge more in motor planning than in adjusting their movement along the way. Finally, comparing such results to the findings obtained by other means in the literature, we discuss the feasibility of an accelerometer-based analysis to disentangle distinctive cognitive mechanisms of human movements.

Improved production planning and control via low-cost prototype solutions

2002 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
T B Dawes ◽  
N J Boughton
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Management Information Systems ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Order Book ◽  
Management Information ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Reactive Management ◽  
And Control

This paper describes prototype management information systems used to support the transformation of a job-orientated manufacturer into a preferred supplier to the Aerospace Industry. As a jobbing manufacturer the company excelled at reactive management, responding rapidly to short lead-time demands. This approach, however, was inappropriate for the increasingly competitive production of steady state orders (‘runners’) and spare parts orders (‘repeaters’). As a result, the company experienced falling delivery performances and increasing work-in-progress, inventory levels and overtime requirements. Furthermore, there was only a modest understanding of customer requirements due to the poor visibility of the order book. There was also little awareness of internal and supplier capabilities, and the planning and control systems were non-existent, relying heavily on senior management expertise. The company, however, was reluctant to invest in new management information systems, aware of the risk of expensive systems unsuited to the company requirements. Instead, prototype solutions were developed using low-cost and readily available software, which provided the stability and visibility that the company required and formed the basis of a more long-term understanding of planning and control requirements. This paper describes the iterative prototype developments to support the new company infrastructure and quantifies the benefits that were achieved through their introduction.

Path Planning and Control for Autonomous Navigation of Single and Multiple Magnetic Mobile Microrobots

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagar Chowdhury ◽  
Wuming Jing ◽  
Peter Jaron ◽  
David J. Cappelleri
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Autonomous Navigation ◽  
Electromagnetic Coil ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Control Frequency ◽  
Electromagnetic Coils ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Optimization Routine ◽  
Local Magnetic Fields ◽  
And Control

In this paper, we have developed an approach for autonomous navigation of single and multiple microrobots under the influence of magnetic fields generated by electromagnetic coils. Our approach consists of three steps. First, we have developed a heuristics based planning algorithm for generating collision-free trajectories for the microrobots that are suitable to be executed by the available magnetic field. Second, we have modeled the dynamics of the microrobots to develop a controller for determining the forces that need to be generated for the navigation of the robots along the trajectories at a suitable control frequency. Finally, an optimization routine is developed to determine the input currents to the electromagnetic coils that can generate the required forces for the navigation of the robots at the controller frequency. We have validated our approach by simulating two electromagnetic coil systems. The first system has four electromagnetic coils designed for actuating a single microrobot. The second system has an array of sixty-four magnetic microcoils designed for generating local magnetic fields suitable for simultaneous independent actuation of multiple microrobots.

scholarly journals APLICAÇÃO DA FERRAMENTA DE AVALIAÇÃO DA IMPLEMENTAÇÃO DA CONSTRUÇÃO ENXUTA EM TRÊS EMPRESAS CONSTRUTORAS GOIANAS

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Tatiana Gondim do Amaral ◽  
Lucas Barros de Paiva ◽  
Rafael Figueiredo de Paula ◽  
Rodrigo Fernandes Nobre
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Lean Construction ◽  
Production Planning And Control ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
And Control

RESUMO: As práticas da construção enxuta vêm sendo difundidas de forma progressiva na indústria da construção civil e, com isso, surge a indispensabilidade de mecanismos que permitam a avaliação de sua implementação. As empresas podem aplicar os princípios da Lean Constuction possibilitando os meios para uma melhoria contínua de seus resultados em termos de prazos, custos e demanda ao cliente. O objetivo do trabalho é aplicar a ferramenta de avaliação da implementação da Construção Enxuta (LCAT) em três empresas construtoras goianas. A pesquisa é classificada como quantitativa e qualitativa, aplicada e de caráter exploratório. A partir da análise dos dados referentes à média de todas as quatro categorias (Gestão da Qualidade, Gestão da Cadeia de Suprimentos, Planejamento e Controle da Produção e Gestão de Projetos), as empresas B e C apresentaram percentuais próximos entre si, correspondendo a 61% e 62%, respectivamente. Esses resultados foram superiores ao da empresa A, equivalendo a 53%. A principal contribuição da pesquisa constituiu em evidenciar as práticas para a implementação da Lean Construction nas empresas pesquisadas e despertar a estas indicações de ferramentas que podem ser facilmente implementadas a um baixo custo.   ABSTRACT: The practices of lean construction have been progressively diffused in the civil construction industry, and with this, comes up the indispensability of mechanisms that allow the evaluation of their implementation. Companies can apply the principles of Lean Constuction by enabling them to continuously improve their results in terms of deadlines, costs and customer demand. The objective of this work is to apply the Lean Construction Assessment Tool (LCAT) in three construction companies in Goiás. The research is classified as quantitative and qualitative, applied and exploratory. Based on the analysis of the data for the average of all four categories (Quality Management, Supply Chain Management, Production Planning and Control and Project Management), companies B and C had close percentages, corresponding to 61 % And 62%, respectively. These results were superior to that of company A, equivalent to 53%. The main contribution of the research was to highlight the practices for the implementation of Lean Construction in the companies surveyed and to awaken to these indications of tools that can be easily implemented at a low cost.

scholarly journals McCann and others v. The United Kingdom and positive obligations pertaining to the planning and control of the operations of law enforcement in line with article 2 of the ECHR

2021 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 665-699
Author(s):  
Darija Martinov
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control

Positive obligations are obligations of the Member States of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to take active steps to protect the rights guaranteed by this Convention. When it comes to the protection of the right to life, as one of the basic human rights, the case of McCann and Others v. the United Kingdom set a precedent and established new obligations for States party to the Convention when it comes to planning and conducting law enforcement operations. The manner in which these obligations were established, their scope and content, as well as the comments from jurisprudence and practitioners on this innovative judgment, are the subject of the analysis of this paper.

A planning and control system for an intensive farm enterprise: pig production

1974 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
M J Blackie ◽  
F M Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Analysis ◽  
Skeleton Model ◽  
Pig Production ◽  
Planning And Control ◽  
Business Analysis ◽  
Analysis System ◽  
And Control

The modern farm firm has a requirement for an effective business analysis system which integrates planning, budgeting and business control. The authors have developed such a system for intensive pig production. The basis of the system is a “skeleton” model which can be “coupled” with data from individual production units to provide a rapid analysis of the business at relatively low cost.

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