Eye-tracking for clinical decision support: A method to capture automatically what physicians are viewing in the EMR.

PubMed

King, Andrew J; Hochheiser, Harry; Visweswaran, Shyam; Clermont, Gilles; Cooper, Gregory F

2017-01-01

Eye-tracking is a valuable research tool that is used in laboratory and limited field environments. We take steps toward developing methods that enable widespread adoption of eye-tracking and its real-time application in clinical decision support. Eye-tracking will enhance awareness and enable intelligent views, more precise alerts, and other forms of decision support in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). We evaluated a low-cost eye-tracking device and found the device's accuracy to be non-inferior to a more expensive device. We also developed and evaluated an automatic method for mapping eye-tracking data to interface elements in the EMR (e.g., a displayed laboratory test value). Mapping was 88% accurate across the six participants in our experiment. Finally, we piloted the use of the low-cost device and the automatic mapping method to label training data for a Learning EMR (LEMR) which is a system that highlights the EMR elements a physician is predicted to use.

Eye-tracking for clinical decision support: A method to capture automatically what physicians are viewing in the EMR

PubMed Central

King, Andrew J.; Hochheiser, Harry; Visweswaran, Shyam; Clermont, Gilles; Cooper, Gregory F.

2017-01-01

Eye-tracking is a valuable research tool that is used in laboratory and limited field environments. We take steps toward developing methods that enable widespread adoption of eye-tracking and its real-time application in clinical decision support. Eye-tracking will enhance awareness and enable intelligent views, more precise alerts, and other forms of decision support in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). We evaluated a low-cost eye-tracking device and found the device’s accuracy to be non-inferior to a more expensive device. We also developed and evaluated an automatic method for mapping eye-tracking data to interface elements in the EMR (e.g., a displayed laboratory test value). Mapping was 88% accurate across the six participants in our experiment. Finally, we piloted the use of the low-cost device and the automatic mapping method to label training data for a Learning EMR (LEMR) which is a system that highlights the EMR elements a physician is predicted to use. PMID:28815151

Application of an automatic cloud tracking technique to Meteosat water vapor and infrared observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Endlich, R. M.; Wolf, D. E.

1980-01-01

The automatic cloud tracking system was applied to METEOSAT 6.7 micrometers water vapor measurements to learn whether the system can track the motions of water vapor patterns. Data for the midlatitudes, subtropics, and tropics were selected from a sequence of METEOSAT pictures for 25 April 1978. Trackable features in the water vapor patterns were identified using a clustering technique and the features were tracked by two different methods. In flat (low contrast) water vapor fields, the automatic motion computations were not reliable, but in areas where the water vapor fields contained small scale structure (such as in the vicinity of active weather phenomena) the computations were successful. Cloud motions were computed using METEOSAT infrared observations (including tropical convective systems and midlatitude jet stream cirrus).

Mining Software Usage with the Automatic Library Tracking Database (ALTD)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hadri, Bilel; Fahey, Mark R

2013-01-01

Tracking software usage is important for HPC centers, computer vendors, code developers and funding agencies to provide more efficient and targeted software support, and to forecast needs and guide HPC software effort towards the Exascale era. However, accurately tracking software usage on HPC systems has been a challenging task. In this paper, we present a tool called Automatic Library Tracking Database (ALTD) that has been developed and put in production on several Cray systems. The ALTD infrastructure prototype automatically and transparently stores information about libraries linked into an application at compilation time and also the executables launched in a batchmore » job. We will illustrate the usage of libraries, compilers and third party software applications on a system managed by the National Institute for Computational Sciences.« less

Automatic detection, tracking and sensor integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trunk, G. V.

1988-06-01

This report surveys the state of the art of automatic detection, tracking, and sensor integration. In the area of detection, various noncoherent integrators such as the moving window integrator, feedback integrator, two-pole filter, binary integrator, and batch processor are discussed. Next, the three techniques for controlling false alarms, adapting thresholds, nonparametric detectors, and clutter maps are presented. In the area of tracking, a general outline is given of a track-while-scan system, and then a discussion is presented of the file system, contact-entry logic, coordinate systems, tracking filters, maneuver-following logic, tracking initiating, track-drop logic, and correlation procedures. Finally, in the area of multisensor integration the problems of colocated-radar integration, multisite-radar integration, radar-IFF integration, and radar-DF bearing strobe integration are treated.

Flight-test of the glide-slope track and flare-control laws for an automatic landing system for a powered-lift STOL airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, D. M.; Hardy, G. H.; Warner, D. N., Jr.

1983-01-01

An automatic landing system was developed for the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Airplane to establish the feasibility and examine the operating characteristics of a powered-lift STOL transport flying a steep, microwave landing system (MLS) glide slope to automatically land on a STOL port. The flight test results address the longitudinal aspects of automatic powered lift STOL airplane operation including glide slope tracking on the backside of the power curve, flare, and touchdown. Three different autoland control laws were evaluated to demonstrate the tradeoff between control complexity and the resulting performance. The flight test and simulation methodology used in developing conventional jet transport systems was applied to the powered-lift STOL airplane. The results obtained suggest that an automatic landing system for a powered-lift STOL airplane operating into an MLS-equipped STOL port is feasible. However, the airplane must be provided with a means of rapidly regulation lift to satisfactorily provide the glide slope tracking and control of touchdown sink rate needed for automatic landings.

Application of the SRI cloud-tracking technique to rapid-scan GOES observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolf, D. E.; Endlich, R. M.

1980-01-01

An automatic cloud tracking system was applied to multilayer clouds associated with severe storms. The method was tested using rapid scan observations of Hurricane Eloise obtained by the GOES satellite on 22 September 1975. Cloud tracking was performed using clustering based either on visible or infrared data. The clusters were tracked using two different techniques. The data of 4 km and 8 km resolution of the automatic system yielded comparable in accuracy and coverage to those obtained by NASA analysts using the Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System.

Automatic tracking of arbitrarily shaped implanted markers in kilovoltage projection images: A feasibility study

PubMed Central

Regmi, Rajesh; Lovelock, D. Michael; Hunt, Margie; Zhang, Pengpeng; Pham, Hai; Xiong, Jianping; Yorke, Ellen D.; Goodman, Karyn A.; Rimner, Andreas; Mostafavi, Hassan; Mageras, Gig S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: Certain types of commonly used fiducial markers take on irregular shapes upon implantation in soft tissue. This poses a challenge for methods that assume a predefined shape of markers when automatically tracking such markers in kilovoltage (kV) radiographs. The authors have developed a method of automatically tracking regularly and irregularly shaped markers using kV projection images and assessed its potential for detecting intrafractional target motion during rotational treatment. Methods: Template-based matching used a normalized cross-correlation with simplex minimization. Templates were created from computed tomography (CT) images for phantom studies and from end-expiration breath-hold planning CT for patient studies. The kV images were processed using a Sobel filter to enhance marker visibility. To correct for changes in intermarker relative positions between simulation and treatment that can introduce errors in automatic matching, marker offsets in three dimensions were manually determined from an approximately orthogonal pair of kV images. Two studies in anthropomorphic phantom were carried out, one using a gold cylindrical marker representing regular shape, another using a Visicoil marker representing irregular shape. Automatic matching of templates to cone beam CT (CBCT) projection images was performed to known marker positions in phantom. In patient data, automatic matching was compared to manual matching as an approximate ground truth. Positional discrepancy between automatic and manual matching of less than 2 mm was assumed as the criterion for successful tracking. Tracking success rates were examined in kV projection images from 22 CBCT scans of four pancreas, six gastroesophageal junction, and one lung cancer patients. Each patient had at least one irregularly shaped radiopaque marker implanted in or near the tumor. In addition, automatic tracking was tested in intrafraction kV images of three lung cancer patients with irregularly shaped markers during 11 volumetric modulated arc treatments. Purpose-built software developed at our institution was used to create marker templates and track the markers embedded in kV images. Results: Phantom studies showed mean ± standard deviation measurement uncertainty of automatic registration to be 0.14 ± 0.07 mm and 0.17 ± 0.08 mm for Visicoil and gold cylindrical markers, respectively. The mean success rate of automatic tracking with CBCT projections (11 frames per second, fps) of pancreas, gastroesophageal junction, and lung cancer patients was 100%, 99.1% (range 98%–100%), and 100%, respectively. With intrafraction images (approx. 0.2 fps) of lung cancer patients, the success rate was 98.2% (range 97%–100%), and 94.3% (range 93%–97%) using templates from 1.25 mm and 2.5 mm slice spacing CT scans, respectively. Correction of intermarker relative position was found to improve the success rate in two out of eight patients analyzed. Conclusions: The proposed method can track arbitrary marker shapes in kV images using templates generated from a breath-hold CT acquired at simulation. The studies indicate its feasibility for tracking tumor motion during rotational treatment. Investigation of the causes of misregistration suggests that its rate of incidence can be reduced with higher frequency of image acquisition, templates made from smaller CT slice spacing, and correction of changes in intermarker relative positions when they occur. PMID:24989384

Automatic tracking of arbitrarily shaped implanted markers in kilovoltage projection images: A feasibility study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Regmi, Rajesh; Lovelock, D. Michael; Hunt, Margie

Purpose: Certain types of commonly used fiducial markers take on irregular shapes upon implantation in soft tissue. This poses a challenge for methods that assume a predefined shape of markers when automatically tracking such markers in kilovoltage (kV) radiographs. The authors have developed a method of automatically tracking regularly and irregularly shaped markers using kV projection images and assessed its potential for detecting intrafractional target motion during rotational treatment. Methods: Template-based matching used a normalized cross-correlation with simplex minimization. Templates were created from computed tomography (CT) images for phantom studies and from end-expiration breath-hold planning CT for patient studies. Themore » kV images were processed using a Sobel filter to enhance marker visibility. To correct for changes in intermarker relative positions between simulation and treatment that can introduce errors in automatic matching, marker offsets in three dimensions were manually determined from an approximately orthogonal pair of kV images. Two studies in anthropomorphic phantom were carried out, one using a gold cylindrical marker representing regular shape, another using a Visicoil marker representing irregular shape. Automatic matching of templates to cone beam CT (CBCT) projection images was performed to known marker positions in phantom. In patient data, automatic matching was compared to manual matching as an approximate ground truth. Positional discrepancy between automatic and manual matching of less than 2 mm was assumed as the criterion for successful tracking. Tracking success rates were examined in kV projection images from 22 CBCT scans of four pancreas, six gastroesophageal junction, and one lung cancer patients. Each patient had at least one irregularly shaped radiopaque marker implanted in or near the tumor. In addition, automatic tracking was tested in intrafraction kV images of three lung cancer patients with irregularly shaped markers during 11 volumetric modulated arc treatments. Purpose-built software developed at our institution was used to create marker templates and track the markers embedded in kV images. Results: Phantom studies showed mean ± standard deviation measurement uncertainty of automatic registration to be 0.14 ± 0.07 mm and 0.17 ± 0.08 mm for Visicoil and gold cylindrical markers, respectively. The mean success rate of automatic tracking with CBCT projections (11 frames per second, fps) of pancreas, gastroesophageal junction, and lung cancer patients was 100%, 99.1% (range 98%–100%), and 100%, respectively. With intrafraction images (approx. 0.2 fps) of lung cancer patients, the success rate was 98.2% (range 97%–100%), and 94.3% (range 93%–97%) using templates from 1.25 mm and 2.5 mm slice spacing CT scans, respectively. Correction of intermarker relative position was found to improve the success rate in two out of eight patients analyzed. Conclusions: The proposed method can track arbitrary marker shapes in kV images using templates generated from a breath-hold CT acquired at simulation. The studies indicate its feasibility for tracking tumor motion during rotational treatment. Investigation of the causes of misregistration suggests that its rate of incidence can be reduced with higher frequency of image acquisition, templates made from smaller CT slice spacing, and correction of changes in intermarker relative positions when they occur.« less

Automatic methods of the processing of data from track detectors on the basis of the PAVICOM facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aleksandrov, A. B.; Goncharova, L. A.; Davydov, D. A.; Publichenko, P. A.; Roganova, T. M.; Polukhina, N. G.; Feinberg, E. L.

2007-02-01

New automatic methods essentially simplify and increase the rate of the processing of data from track detectors. This provides a possibility of processing large data arrays and considerably improves their statistical significance. This fact predetermines the development of new experiments which plan to use large-volume targets, large-area emulsion, and solid-state track detectors [1]. In this regard, the problem of training qualified physicists who are capable of operating modern automatic equipment is very important. Annually, about ten Moscow students master the new methods, working at the Lebedev Physical Institute at the PAVICOM facility [2 4]. Most students specializing in high-energy physics are only given an idea of archaic manual methods of the processing of data from track detectors. In 2005, on the basis of the PAVICOM facility and the physicstraining course of Moscow State University, a new training work was prepared. This work is devoted to the determination of the energy of neutrons passing through a nuclear emulsion. It provides the possibility of acquiring basic practical skills of the processing of data from track detectors using automatic equipment and can be included in the educational process of students of any physical faculty. Those who have mastered the methods of automatic data processing in a simple and pictorial example of track detectors will be able to apply their knowledge in various fields of science and technique. Formulation of training works for pregraduate and graduate students is a new additional aspect of application of the PAVICOM facility described earlier in [4].

An evolutionary computation based algorithm for calculating solar differential rotation by automatic tracking of coronal bright points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shahamatnia, Ehsan; Dorotovič, Ivan; Fonseca, Jose M.; Ribeiro, Rita A.

2016-03-01

Developing specialized software tools is essential to support studies of solar activity evolution. With new space missions such as Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), solar images are being produced in unprecedented volumes. To capitalize on that huge data availability, the scientific community needs a new generation of software tools for automatic and efficient data processing. In this paper a prototype of a modular framework for solar feature detection, characterization, and tracking is presented. To develop an efficient system capable of automatic solar feature tracking and measuring, a hybrid approach combining specialized image processing, evolutionary optimization, and soft computing algorithms is being followed. The specialized hybrid algorithm for tracking solar features allows automatic feature tracking while gathering characterization details about the tracked features. The hybrid algorithm takes advantages of the snake model, a specialized image processing algorithm widely used in applications such as boundary delineation, image segmentation, and object tracking. Further, it exploits the flexibility and efficiency of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), a stochastic population based optimization algorithm. PSO has been used successfully in a wide range of applications including combinatorial optimization, control, clustering, robotics, scheduling, and image processing and video analysis applications. The proposed tool, denoted PSO-Snake model, was already successfully tested in other works for tracking sunspots and coronal bright points. In this work, we discuss the application of the PSO-Snake algorithm for calculating the sidereal rotational angular velocity of the solar corona. To validate the results we compare them with published manual results performed by an expert.

Auto-tracking system for human lumbar motion analysis.

PubMed

Sui, Fuge; Zhang, Da; Lam, Shing Chun Benny; Zhao, Lifeng; Wang, Dongjun; Bi, Zhenggang; Hu, Yong

2011-01-01

Previous lumbar motion analyses suggest the usefulness of quantitatively characterizing spine motion. However, the application of such measurements is still limited by the lack of user-friendly automatic spine motion analysis systems. This paper describes an automatic analysis system to measure lumbar spine disorders that consists of a spine motion guidance device, an X-ray imaging modality to acquire digitized video fluoroscopy (DVF) sequences and an automated tracking module with a graphical user interface (GUI). DVF sequences of the lumbar spine are recorded during flexion-extension under a guidance device. The automatic tracking software utilizing a particle filter locates the vertebra-of-interest in every frame of the sequence, and the tracking result is displayed on the GUI. Kinematic parameters are also extracted from the tracking results for motion analysis. We observed that, in a bone model test, the maximum fiducial error was 3.7%, and the maximum repeatability error in translation and rotation was 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively. In our simulated DVF sequence study, the automatic tracking was not successful when the noise intensity was greater than 0.50. In a noisy situation, the maximal difference was 1.3 mm in translation and 1° in the rotation angle. The errors were calculated in translation (fiducial error: 2.4%, repeatability error: 0.5%) and in the rotation angle (fiducial error: 1.0%, repeatability error: 0.7%). However, the automatic tracking software could successfully track simulated sequences contaminated by noise at a density ≤ 0.5 with very high accuracy, providing good reliability and robustness. A clinical trial with 10 healthy subjects and 2 lumbar spondylolisthesis patients were enrolled in this study. The measurement with auto-tacking of DVF provided some information not seen in the conventional X-ray. The results proposed the potential use of the proposed system for clinical applications.

Robust output tracking control of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao; Lu, Geng; Zhong, Yisheng

2014-11-01

In this paper, robust output tracking control problem of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing in high seas is investigated. The motion of the helicopter is required to synchronise with that of an oscillating platform, e.g. the deck of a vessel subject to wave-induced motions. A robust linear time-invariant output feedback controller consisting of a nominal controller and a robust compensator is designed. The robust compensator is introduced to restrain the influences of parametric uncertainties, nonlinearities and external disturbances. It is shown that robust stability and robust tracking property can be achieved simultaneously. Experimental results on the laboratory helicopter for automatic landing demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed control approach.

Automatic feature-based grouping during multiple object tracking.

PubMed

Erlikhman, Gennady; Keane, Brian P; Mettler, Everett; Horowitz, Todd S; Kellman, Philip J

2013-12-01

Contour interpolation automatically binds targets with distractors to impair multiple object tracking (Keane, Mettler, Tsoi, & Kellman, 2011). Is interpolation special in this regard or can other features produce the same effect? To address this question, we examined the influence of eight features on tracking: color, contrast polarity, orientation, size, shape, depth, interpolation, and a combination (shape, color, size). In each case, subjects tracked 4 of 8 objects that began as undifferentiated shapes, changed features as motion began (to enable grouping), and returned to their undifferentiated states before halting. We found that intertarget grouping improved performance for all feature types except orientation and interpolation (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2). Most importantly, target-distractor grouping impaired performance for color, size, shape, combination, and interpolation. The impairments were, at times, large (>15% decrement in accuracy) and occurred relative to a homogeneous condition in which all objects had the same features at each moment of a trial (Experiment 2), and relative to a "diversity" condition in which targets and distractors had different features at each moment (Experiment 3). We conclude that feature-based grouping occurs for a variety of features besides interpolation, even when irrelevant to task instructions and contrary to the task demands, suggesting that interpolation is not unique in promoting automatic grouping in tracking tasks. Our results also imply that various kinds of features are encoded automatically and in parallel during tracking.

Automatic Spatio-Temporal Flow Velocity Measurement in Small Rivers Using Thermal Image Sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, D.; Eltner, A.; Sardemann, H.; Maas, H.-G.

2018-05-01

An automatic spatio-temporal flow velocity measurement approach, using an uncooled thermal camera, is proposed in this paper. The basic principle of the method is to track visible thermal features at the water surface in thermal camera image sequences. Radiometric and geometric calibrations are firstly implemented to remove vignetting effects in thermal imagery and to get the interior orientation parameters of the camera. An object-based unsupervised classification approach is then applied to detect the interest regions for data referencing and thermal feature tracking. Subsequently, GCPs are extracted to orient the river image sequences and local hot points are identified as tracking features. Afterwards, accurate dense tracking outputs are obtained using pyramidal Lucas-Kanade method. To validate the accuracy potential of the method, measurements obtained from thermal feature tracking are compared with reference measurements taken by a propeller gauge. Results show a great potential of automatic flow velocity measurement in small rivers using imagery from a thermal camera.

An automatic, stagnation point based algorithm for the delineation of Wellhead Protection Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tosco, Tiziana; Sethi, Rajandrea; di Molfetta, Antonio

2008-07-01

Time-related capture areas are usually delineated using the backward particle tracking method, releasing circles of equally spaced particles around each well. In this way, an accurate delineation often requires both a very high number of particles and a manual capture zone encirclement. The aim of this work was to propose an Automatic Protection Area (APA) delineation algorithm, which can be coupled with any model of flow and particle tracking. The computational time is here reduced, thanks to the use of a limited number of nonequally spaced particles. The particle starting positions are determined coupling forward particle tracking from the stagnation point, and backward particle tracking from the pumping well. The pathlines are postprocessed for a completely automatic delineation of closed perimeters of time-related capture zones. The APA algorithm was tested for a two-dimensional geometry, in homogeneous and nonhomogeneous aquifers, steady state flow conditions, single and multiple wells. Results show that the APA algorithm is robust and able to automatically and accurately reconstruct protection areas with a very small number of particles, also in complex scenarios.

Automatic electronic fish tracking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osborne, P. W.; Hoffman, E.; Merriner, J. V.; Richards, C. E.; Lovelady, R. W.

1976-01-01

A newly developed electronic fish tracking system to automatically monitor the movements and migratory habits of fish is reported. The system is aimed particularly at studies of effects on fish life of industrial facilities which use rivers or lakes to dump their effluents. Location of fish is acquired by means of acoustic links from the fish to underwater Listening Stations, and by radio links which relay tracking information to a shore-based Data Base. Fish over 4 inches long may be tracked over a 5 x 5 mile area. The electronic fish tracking system provides the marine scientist with electronics which permit studies that were not practical in the past and which are cost-effective compared to manual methods.

Intelligent vision guide for automatic ventilation grommet insertion into the tympanic membrane.

PubMed

Gao, Wenchao; Tan, Kok Kiong; Liang, Wenyu; Gan, Chee Wee; Lim, Hsueh Yee

2016-03-01

Otitis media with effusion is a worldwide ear disease. The current treatment is to surgically insert a ventilation grommet into the tympanic membrane. A robotic device allowing automatic grommet insertion has been designed in a previous study; however, the part of the membrane where the malleus bone is attached to the inner surface is to be avoided during the insertion process. This paper proposes a synergy of optical flow technique and a gradient vector flow active contours algorithm to achieve an online tracking of the malleus under endoscopic vision, to guide the working channel to move efficiently during the surgery. The proposed method shows a more stable and accurate tracking performance than the current tracking methods in preclinical tests. With satisfactory tracking results, vision guidance of a suitable insertion spot can be provided to the device to perform the surgery in an automatic way. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design of efficient and simple interface testing equipment for opto-electric tracking system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Qiong; Deng, Chao; Tian, Jing; Mao, Yao

2016-10-01

Interface testing for opto-electric tracking system is one important work to assure system running performance, aiming to verify the design result of every electronic interface matching the communication protocols or not, by different levels. Opto-electric tracking system nowadays is more complicated, composed of many functional units. Usually, interface testing is executed between units manufactured completely, highly depending on unit design and manufacture progress as well as relative people. As a result, it always takes days or weeks, inefficiently. To solve the problem, this paper promotes an efficient and simple interface testing equipment for opto-electric tracking system, consisting of optional interface circuit card, processor and test program. The hardware cards provide matched hardware interface(s), easily offered from hardware engineer. Automatic code generation technique is imported, providing adaption to new communication protocols. Automatic acquiring items, automatic constructing code architecture and automatic encoding are used to form a new program quickly with adaption. After simple steps, a standard customized new interface testing equipment with matching test program and interface(s) is ready for a waiting-test system in minutes. The efficient and simple interface testing equipment for opto-electric tracking system has worked for many opto-electric tracking system to test entire or part interfaces, reducing test time from days to hours, greatly improving test efficiency, with high software quality and stability, without manual coding. Used as a common tool, the efficient and simple interface testing equipment for opto-electric tracking system promoted by this paper has changed traditional interface testing method and created much higher efficiency.

Electro-optic tracking R&D for defense surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutherland, Stuart; Woodruff, Chris J.

1995-09-01

Two aspects of work on automatic target detection and tracking for electro-optic (EO) surveillance are described. Firstly, a detection and tracking algorithm test-bed developed by DSTO and running on a PC under Windows NT is being used to assess candidate algorithms for unresolved and minimally resolved target detection. The structure of this test-bed is described and examples are given of its user interfaces and outputs. Secondly, a development by Australian industry under a Defence-funded contract, of a reconfigurable generic track processor (GTP) is outlined. The GTP will include reconfigurable image processing stages and target tracking algorithms. It will be used to demonstrate to the Australian Defence Force automatic detection and tracking capabilities, and to serve as a hardware base for real time algorithm refinement.

Performance of automatic scanning microscope for nuclear emulsion experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Güler, A. Murat; Altınok, Özgür

2015-12-01

The impressive improvements in scanning technology and methods let nuclear emulsion to be used as a target in recent large experiments. We report the performance of an automatic scanning microscope for nuclear emulsion experiments. After successful calibration and alignment of the system, we have reached 99% tracking efficiency for the minimum ionizing tracks that penetrating through the emulsions films. The automatic scanning system is successfully used for the scanning of emulsion films in the OPERA experiment and plan to use for the next generation of nuclear emulsion experiments.

Performance of automatic scanning microscope for nuclear emulsion experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Güler, A. Murat, E-mail: mguler@newton.physics.metu.edu.tr; Altınok, Özgür; Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155

The impressive improvements in scanning technology and methods let nuclear emulsion to be used as a target in recent large experiments. We report the performance of an automatic scanning microscope for nuclear emulsion experiments. After successful calibration and alignment of the system, we have reached 99% tracking efficiency for the minimum ionizing tracks that penetrating through the emulsions films. The automatic scanning system is successfully used for the scanning of emulsion films in the OPERA experiment and plan to use for the next generation of nuclear emulsion experiments.

Automatic tracking of red blood cells in micro channels using OpenCV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues, Vânia; Rodrigues, Pedro J.; Pereira, Ana I.; Lima, Rui

2013-10-01

The present study aims to developan automatic method able to track red blood cells (RBCs) trajectories flowing through a microchannel using the Open Source Computer Vision (OpenCV). The developed method is based on optical flux calculation assisted by the maximization of the template-matching product. The experimental results show a good functional performance of this method.

A new fast scanning system for the measurement of large angle tracks in nuclear emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandrov, A.; Buonaura, A.; Consiglio, L.; D'Ambrosio, N.; De Lellis, G.; Di Crescenzo, A.; Di Marco, N.; Galati, G.; Lauria, A.; Montesi, M. C.; Pupilli, F.; Shchedrina, T.; Tioukov, V.; Vladymyrov, M.

2015-11-01

Nuclear emulsions have been widely used in particle physics to identify new particles through the observation of their decays thanks to their unique spatial resolution. Nevertheless, before the advent of automatic scanning systems, the emulsion analysis was very demanding in terms of well trained manpower. Due to this reason, they were gradually replaced by electronic detectors, until the '90s, when automatic microscopes started to be developed in Japan and in Europe. Automatic scanning was essential to conceive large scale emulsion-based neutrino experiments like CHORUS, DONUT and OPERA. Standard scanning systems have been initially designed to recognize tracks within a limited angular acceptance (θ lesssim 30°) where θ is the track angle with respect to a line perpendicular to the emulsion plane. In this paper we describe the implementation of a novel fast automatic scanning system aimed at extending the track recognition to the full angular range and improving the present scanning speed. Indeed, nuclear emulsions do not have any intrinsic limit to detect particle direction. Such improvement opens new perspectives to use nuclear emulsions in several fields in addition to large scale neutrino experiments, like muon radiography, medical applications and dark matter directional detection.

Automatic three-dimensional tracking of particles with high-numerical-aperture digital lensless holographic microscopy.

PubMed

Restrepo, John F; Garcia-Sucerquia, Jorge

2012-02-15

We present an automatic procedure for 3D tracking of micrometer-sized particles with high-NA digital lensless holographic microscopy. The method uses a two-feature approach to search for the best focal planes and to distinguish particles from artifacts or other elements on the reconstructed stream of the holograms. A set of reconstructed images is axially projected onto a single image. From the projected image, the centers of mass of all the reconstructed elements are identified. Starting from the centers of mass, the morphology of the profile of the maximum intensity along the reconstruction direction allows for the distinguishing of particles from others elements. The method is tested with modeled holograms and applied to automatically track micrometer-sized bubbles in a sample of 4 mm3 of soda.

DiTour 3.1

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pelaia II, Thomas A.

2015-06-30

There is a need for software that allows a tour guide to present different tracks of slides and then return to the default slide show automatically upon completion. A mobile solution is needed for trade shows. DiTour is an iPad/iPhone app that pulls presentation content from a website, stores it on the device and presents it on a connected display. A tour guide can select a track to present and it will automatically return to the default track after a timeout. It offers a mobile solution which is ideal for trade shows.

Automatic detection of recoil-proton tracks and background rejection criteria in liquid scintillator-micro-capillary-array fast neutron spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mor, Ilan; Vartsky, David; Dangendorf, Volker; Tittelmeier, Kai.; Weierganz, Mathias; Goldberg, Mark Benjamin; Bar, Doron; Brandis, Michal

2018-06-01

We describe an analysis procedure for automatic unambiguous detection of fast-neutron-induced recoil proton tracks in a micro-capillary array filled with organic liquid scintillator. The detector is viewed by an intensified CCD camera. This imaging neutron detector possesses the capability to perform high position-resolution (few tens of μm), energy-dispersive transmission-imaging using ns-pulsed beams. However, when operated with CW or DC beams, it also features medium-quality spectroscopic capabilities for incident neutrons in the energy range 2-20 MeV. In addition to the recoil proton events which display a continuous extended track structure, the raw images exhibit complex ion-tracks from nuclear interactions of fast-neutrons in the scintillator, capillaries quartz-matrix and CCD. Moreover, as expected, one also observes a multitude of isolated scintillation spots of varying intensity (henceforth denoted "blobs") that originate from several different sources, such as: fragmented proton tracks, gamma-rays, heavy-ion reactions as well as events and noise that occur in the image-intensifier and CCD. In order to identify the continuous-track recoil proton events and distinguish them from all these background events, a rapid, computerized and automatic track-recognition-procedure was developed. Based on an appropriately weighted analysis of track parameters such as: length, width, area and overall light intensity, the method is capable of distinguishing a single continuous-track recoil proton from typically surrounding several thousands of background events that are found in each CCD frame.

Dynamix: dynamic visualization by automatic selection of informative tracks from hundreds of genomic datasets.

PubMed

Monfort, Matthias; Furlong, Eileen E M; Girardot, Charles

2017-07-15

Visualization of genomic data is fundamental for gaining insights into genome function. Yet, co-visualization of a large number of datasets remains a challenge in all popular genome browsers and the development of new visualization methods is needed to improve the usability and user experience of genome browsers. We present Dynamix, a JBrowse plugin that enables the parallel inspection of hundreds of genomic datasets. Dynamix takes advantage of a priori knowledge to automatically display data tracks with signal within a genomic region of interest. As the user navigates through the genome, Dynamix automatically updates data tracks and limits all manual operations otherwise needed to adjust the data visible on screen. Dynamix also introduces a new carousel view that optimizes screen utilization by enabling users to independently scroll through groups of tracks. Dynamix is hosted at http://furlonglab.embl.de/Dynamix . charles.girardot@embl.de. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

[Study on a wireless energy transmission system for the noninvasive examination micro system inside alimentary tracts].

PubMed

He, Xiu; Yan, Guo-Zheng; Wang, Fu-Min

2008-01-01

A wireless energy transmission system for the MEMS system inside alimentary tracts is reported here in the paper. It consists of an automatic frequency tracking circuit of phase lock loop and phase shift PWM control circuit. Experimental results show that the energy transmission system is capable of automatic frequency-tracking and transmission power-adjusting and has stable received energy.

In-laboratory development of an automatic track counting system for solid state nuclear track detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uzun, Sefa Kemal; Demiröz, Işık; Ulus, İzzet

2017-01-01

In this study, an automatic track counting system was developed for solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD). Firstly the specifications of required hardware components were determined, and accordingly the CCD camera, microscope and stage motor table was supplied and integrated. The system was completed by developing parametric software with VB.Net language. Finally a set of test intended for radon activity concentration measurement was applied. According to the test results, the system was enabled for routine radon measurement. Whether the parameters of system are adjusted for another SSNTD application, it could be used for other fields of SSNTD like neutron dosimetry or heavy charged particle detection.

Evaluation of the fidelity of feature descriptor-based specimen tracking for automatic NDE data integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radkowski, Rafael; Holland, Stephen; Grandin, Robert

2018-04-01

This research addresses inspection location tracking in the field of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) using a computer vision technique to determine the position and orientation of typical NDE equipment in a test setup. The objective is the tracking accuracy for typical NDE equipment to facilitate automatic NDE data integration. Since the employed tracking technique relies on surface curvatures of an object of interest, the accuracy can be only experimentally determined. We work with flash-thermography and conducted an experiment in which we tracked a specimen and a thermography flash hood, measured the spatial relation between both, and used the relation as input to map thermography data onto a 3D model of the specimen. The results indicate an appropriate accuracy, however, unveiled calibration challenges.

Combining Space-Based and In-Situ Measurements to Track Flooding in Thailand

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Steve; Doubleday, Joshua; Mclaren, David; Tran, Daniel; Tanpipat, Veerachai; Chitradon, Royal; Boonya-aaroonnet, Surajate; Thanapakpawin, Porranee; Khunboa, Chatchai; Leelapatra, Watis;

A practical approach to tramway track condition monitoring: vertical track defects detection and identification using time-frequency processing technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bocz, Péter; Vinkó, Ákos; Posgay, Zoltán

2018-03-01

This paper presents an automatic method for detecting vertical track irregularities on tramway operation using acceleration measurements on trams. For monitoring of tramway tracks, an unconventional measurement setup is developed, which records the data of 3-axes wireless accelerometers mounted on wheel discs. Accelerations are processed to obtain the vertical track irregularities to determine whether the track needs to be repaired. The automatic detection algorithm is based on time-frequency distribution analysis and determines the defect locations. Admissible limits (thresholds) are given for detecting moderate and severe defects using statistical analysis. The method was validated on frequented tram lines in Budapest and accurately detected severe defects with a hit rate of 100%, with no false alarms. The methodology is also sensitive to moderate and small rail surface defects at the low operational speed.

Precision Targeting With a Tracking Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

automatic high- resolution mosaic generation, and automatic blink detection and tracking re-lock were also tested. The system has the potential to become an...structures can lead to earlier detection of retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). Combined...optics systems sense perturbations in the detected wave-front and apply corrections to an optical element that flatten the wave-front and allow near

Automatic vasculature identification in coronary angiograms by adaptive geometrical tracking.

PubMed

Xiao, Ruoxiu; Yang, Jian; Goyal, Mahima; Liu, Yue; Wang, Yongtian

2013-01-01

As the uneven distribution of contrast agents and the perspective projection principle of X-ray, the vasculatures in angiographic image are with low contrast and are generally superposed with other organic tissues; therefore, it is very difficult to identify the vasculature and quantitatively estimate the blood flow directly from angiographic images. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic algorithm named adaptive geometrical vessel tracking (AGVT) for coronary artery identification in X-ray angiograms. Initially, the ridge enhancement (RE) image is obtained utilizing multiscale Hessian information. Then, automatic initialization procedures including seed points detection, and initial directions determination are performed on the RE image. The extracted ridge points can be adjusted to the geometrical centerline points adaptively through diameter estimation. Bifurcations are identified by discriminating connecting relationship of the tracked ridge points. Finally, all the tracked centerlines are merged and smoothed by classifying the connecting components on the vascular structures. Synthetic angiographic images and clinical angiograms are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm is compared with other two vascular tracking techniques in terms of the efficiency and accuracy, which demonstrate successful applications of the proposed segmentation and extraction scheme in vasculature identification.

Automatic bone detection and soft tissue aware ultrasound-CT registration for computer-aided orthopedic surgery.

PubMed

Wein, Wolfgang; Karamalis, Athanasios; Baumgartner, Adrian; Navab, Nassir

2015-06-01

The transfer of preoperative CT data into the tracking system coordinates within an operating room is of high interest for computer-aided orthopedic surgery. In this work, we introduce a solution for intra-operative ultrasound-CT registration of bones. We have developed methods for fully automatic real-time bone detection in ultrasound images and global automatic registration to CT. The bone detection algorithm uses a novel bone-specific feature descriptor and was thoroughly evaluated on both in-vivo and ex-vivo data. A global optimization strategy aligns the bone surface, followed by a soft tissue aware intensity-based registration to provide higher local registration accuracy. We evaluated the system on femur, tibia and fibula anatomy in a cadaver study with human legs, where magnetically tracked bone markers were implanted to yield ground truth information. An overall median system error of 3.7 mm was achieved on 11 datasets. Global and fully automatic registration of bones aquired with ultrasound to CT is feasible, with bone detection and tracking operating in real time for immediate feedback to the surgeon.

Automatic Temporal Tracking of Supra-Glacial Lakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Y.; Lv, Q.; Gallaher, D. W.; Fanning, D.

2010-12-01

During the recent years, supra-glacial lakes in Greenland have attracted extensive global attention as they potentially play an important role in glacier movement, sea level rise, and climate change. Previous works focused on classification methods and individual cloud-free satellite images, which have limited capabilities in terms of tracking changes of lakes over time. The challenges of tracking supra-glacial lakes automatically include (1) massive amount of satellite images with diverse qualities and frequent cloud coverage, and (2) diversity and dynamics of large number of supra-glacial lakes on the Greenland ice sheet. In this study, we develop an innovative method to automatically track supra-glacial lakes temporally using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) time-series data. The method works for both cloudy and cloud-free data and is unsupervised, i.e., no manual identification is required. After selecting the highest-quality image within each time interval, our method automatically detects supra-glacial lakes in individual images, using adaptive thresholding to handle diverse image qualities. We then track lakes across time series of images as lakes appear, change in size, and disappear. Using multi-year MODIS data during melting season, we demonstrate that this new method can detect and track supra-glacial lakes in both space and time with 95% accuracy. Attached figure shows an example of the current result. Detailed analysis of the temporal variation of detected lakes will be presented. (a) One of our experimental data. The Investigated region is centered at Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier in west Greenland. (b) Enlarged view of part of ice sheet. It is partially cloudy and with supra-glacial lakes on it. Lakes are shown as dark spots. (c) Current result. Red spots are detected lakes.

Precision CW laser automatic tracking system investigated

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, K. T.; Lucy, R. F.; Mcgann, E. J.; Peters, C. J.

1966-01-01

Precision laser tracker capable of tracking a low acceleration target to an accuracy of about 20 microradians rms is being constructed and tested. This laser tracking has the advantage of discriminating against other optical sources and the capability of simultaneously measuring range.

Automatically detect and track infrared small targets with kernel Fukunaga-Koontz transform and Kalman prediction.

PubMed

Liu, Ruiming; Liu, Erqi; Yang, Jie; Zeng, Yong; Wang, Fanglin; Cao, Yuan

2007-11-01

Fukunaga-Koontz transform (FKT), stemming from principal component analysis (PCA), is used in many pattern recognition and image-processing fields. It cannot capture the higher-order statistical property of natural images, so its detection performance is not satisfying. PCA has been extended into kernel PCA in order to capture the higher-order statistics. However, thus far there have been no researchers who have definitely proposed kernel FKT (KFKT) and researched its detection performance. For accurately detecting potential small targets from infrared images, we first extend FKT into KFKT to capture the higher-order statistical properties of images. Then a framework based on Kalman prediction and KFKT, which can automatically detect and track small targets, is developed. Results of experiments show that KFKT outperforms FKT and the proposed framework is competent to automatically detect and track infrared point targets.

Automatically detect and track infrared small targets with kernel Fukunaga-Koontz transform and Kalman prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ruiming; Liu, Erqi; Yang, Jie; Zeng, Yong; Wang, Fanglin; Cao, Yuan

2007-11-01

Fukunaga-Koontz transform (FKT), stemming from principal component analysis (PCA), is used in many pattern recognition and image-processing fields. It cannot capture the higher-order statistical property of natural images, so its detection performance is not satisfying. PCA has been extended into kernel PCA in order to capture the higher-order statistics. However, thus far there have been no researchers who have definitely proposed kernel FKT (KFKT) and researched its detection performance. For accurately detecting potential small targets from infrared images, we first extend FKT into KFKT to capture the higher-order statistical properties of images. Then a framework based on Kalman prediction and KFKT, which can automatically detect and track small targets, is developed. Results of experiments show that KFKT outperforms FKT and the proposed framework is competent to automatically detect and track infrared point targets.

Advances in Eye Tracking in Infancy Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oakes, Lisa M.

2012-01-01

In 2004, McMurray and Aslin edited for "Infancy" a special section on eye tracking. The articles in that special issue revealed the enormous promise of automatic eye tracking with young infants and demonstrated that eye-tracking procedures can provide significant insight into the emergence of cognitive, social, and emotional processing in infancy.…

Implantable acoustic-beacon automatic fish-tracking system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayhue, R. J.; Lovelady, R. W.; Ferguson, R. L.; Richards, C. E.

1977-01-01

A portable automatic fish tracking system was developed for monitoring the two dimensional movements of small fish within fixed areas of estuarine waters and lakes. By using the miniature pinger previously developed for this application, prototype tests of the system were conducted in the York River near the Virginia Institute of Marine Science with two underwater listening stations. Results from these tests showed that the tracking system could position the miniature pinger signals to within + or - 2.5 deg and + or - 135 m at ranges up to 2.5 km. The pingers were implanted in small fish and were successfully tracked at comparable ranges. No changes in either fish behavior or pinger performance were observed as a result of the implantation. Based on results from these prototype tests, it is concluded that the now commercially available system provides an effective approach to underwater tracking of small fish within a fixed area of interest.

An Analysis of Serial Number Tracking Automatic Identification Technology as Used in Naval Aviation Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csorba, Robert

2002-09-01

The Government Accounting Office found that the Navy, between 1996 and 1998, lost 3 billion in materiel in-transit. This thesis explores the benefits and cost of automatic identification and serial number tracking technologies under consideration by the Naval Supply Systems Command and the Naval Air Systems Command. Detailed cost-savings estimates are made for each aircraft type in the Navy inventory. Project and item managers of repairable components using Serial Number Tracking were surveyed as to the value of this system. It concludes that two thirds of the in-transit losses can be avoided with implementation of effective information technology-based logistics and maintenance tracking systems. Recommendations are made for specific steps and components of such an implementation. Suggestions are made for further research.

Human image tracking technique applied to remote collaborative environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagashima, Yoshio; Suzuki, Gen

1993-10-01

To support various kinds of collaborations over long distances by using visual telecommunication, it is necessary to transmit visual information related to the participants and topical materials. When people collaborate in the same workspace, they use visual cues such as facial expressions and eye movement. The realization of coexistence in a collaborative workspace requires the support of these visual cues. Therefore, it is important that the facial images be large enough to be useful. During collaborations, especially dynamic collaborative activities such as equipment operation or lectures, the participants often move within the workspace. When the people move frequently or over a wide area, the necessity for automatic human tracking increases. Using the movement area of the human being or the resolution of the extracted area, we have developed a memory tracking method and a camera tracking method for automatic human tracking. Experimental results using a real-time tracking system show that the extracted area fairly moves according to the movement of the human head.

High-Speed Automatic Microscopy for Real Time Tracks Reconstruction in Nuclear Emulsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Ambrosio, N.

2006-06-01

The Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus (OPERA) experiment will use a massive nuclear emulsion detector to search for /spl nu//sub /spl mu///spl rarr//spl nu//sub /spl tau// oscillation by identifying /spl tau/ leptons through the direct detection of their decay topology. The feasibility of experiments using a large mass emulsion detector is linked to the impressive progress under way in the development of automatic emulsion analysis. A new generation of scanning systems requires the development of fast automatic microscopes for emulsion scanning and image analysis to reconstruct tracks of elementary particles. The paper presents the European Scanning System (ESS) developed in the framework of OPERA collaboration.

Thermally grown oxide and diffusions for automatic processing of integrated circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, B. W.

1979-01-01

A totally automated facility for semiconductor oxidation and diffusion was developed using a state-of-the-art diffusion furnace and high temperature grown oxides. Major innovations include: (1) a process controller specifically for semiconductor processing; (2) an automatic loading system to accept wafers from an air track, insert them into a quartz carrier and then place the carrier on a paddle for insertion into the furnace; (3) automatic unloading of the wafers back onto the air track, and (4) boron diffusion using diborane with plus or minus 5 percent uniformity. Processes demonstrated include Wet and dry oxidation for general use and for gate oxide, boron diffusion, phosphorous diffusion, and sintering.

Evaluation of an image-based tracking workflow with Kalman filtering for automatic image plane alignment in interventional MRI.

PubMed

Neumann, M; Cuvillon, L; Breton, E; de Matheli, M

2013-01-01

Recently, a workflow for magnetic resonance (MR) image plane alignment based on tracking in real-time MR images was introduced. The workflow is based on a tracking device composed of 2 resonant micro-coils and a passive marker, and allows for tracking of the passive marker in clinical real-time images and automatic (re-)initialization using the microcoils. As the Kalman filter has proven its benefit as an estimator and predictor, it is well suited for use in tracking applications. In this paper, a Kalman filter is integrated in the previously developed workflow in order to predict position and orientation of the tracking device. Measurement noise covariances of the Kalman filter are dynamically changed in order to take into account that, according to the image plane orientation, only a subset of the 3D pose components is available. The improved tracking performance of the Kalman extended workflow could be quantified in simulation results. Also, a first experiment in the MRI scanner was performed but without quantitative results yet.

Color image processing and object tracking workstation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimek, Robert B.; Paulick, Michael J.

1992-01-01

A system is described for automatic and semiautomatic tracking of objects on film or video tape which was developed to meet the needs of the microgravity combustion and fluid science experiments at NASA Lewis. The system consists of individual hardware parts working under computer control to achieve a high degree of automation. The most important hardware parts include 16 mm film projector, a lens system, a video camera, an S-VHS tapedeck, a frame grabber, and some storage and output devices. Both the projector and tapedeck have a computer interface enabling remote control. Tracking software was developed to control the overall operation. In the automatic mode, the main tracking program controls the projector or the tapedeck frame incrementation, grabs a frame, processes it, locates the edge of the objects being tracked, and stores the coordinates in a file. This process is performed repeatedly until the last frame is reached. Three representative applications are described. These applications represent typical uses and include tracking the propagation of a flame front, tracking the movement of a liquid-gas interface with extremely poor visibility, and characterizing a diffusion flame according to color and shape.

Real-time automatic registration in optical surgical navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Qinyong; Yang, Rongqian; Cai, Ken; Si, Xuan; Chen, Xiuwen; Wu, Xiaoming

2016-05-01

An image-guided surgical navigation system requires the improvement of the patient-to-image registration time to enhance the convenience of the registration procedure. A critical step in achieving this aim is performing a fully automatic patient-to-image registration. This study reports on a design of custom fiducial markers and the performance of a real-time automatic patient-to-image registration method using these markers on the basis of an optical tracking system for rigid anatomy. The custom fiducial markers are designed to be automatically localized in both patient and image spaces. An automatic localization method is performed by registering a point cloud sampled from the three dimensional (3D) pedestal model surface of a fiducial marker to each pedestal of fiducial markers searched in image space. A head phantom is constructed to estimate the performance of the real-time automatic registration method under four fiducial configurations. The head phantom experimental results demonstrate that the real-time automatic registration method is more convenient, rapid, and accurate than the manual method. The time required for each registration is approximately 0.1 s. The automatic localization method precisely localizes the fiducial markers in image space. The averaged target registration error for the four configurations is approximately 0.7 mm. The automatic registration performance is independent of the positions relative to the tracking system and the movement of the patient during the operation.

An integrated model-driven method for in-treatment upper airway motion tracking using cine MRI in head and neck radiation therapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Hua, E-mail: huli@radonc.wustl.edu; Chen, Hsin

Purpose: For the first time, MRI-guided radiation therapy systems can acquire cine images to dynamically monitor in-treatment internal organ motion. However, the complex head and neck (H&N) structures and low-contrast/resolution of on-board cine MRI images make automatic motion tracking a very challenging task. In this study, the authors proposed an integrated model-driven method to automatically track the in-treatment motion of the H&N upper airway, a complex and highly deformable region wherein internal motion often occurs in an either voluntary or involuntary manner, from cine MRI images for the analysis of H&N motion patterns. Methods: Considering the complex H&N structures andmore » ensuring automatic and robust upper airway motion tracking, the authors firstly built a set of linked statistical shapes (including face, face-jaw, and face-jaw-palate) using principal component analysis from clinically approved contours delineated on a set of training data. The linked statistical shapes integrate explicit landmarks and implicit shape representation. Then, a hierarchical model-fitting algorithm was developed to align the linked shapes on the first image frame of a to-be-tracked cine sequence and to localize the upper airway region. Finally, a multifeature level set contour propagation scheme was performed to identify the upper airway shape change, frame-by-frame, on the entire image sequence. The multifeature fitting energy, including the information of intensity variations, edge saliency, curve geometry, and temporal shape continuity, was minimized to capture the details of moving airway boundaries. Sagittal cine MR image sequences acquired from three H&N cancer patients were utilized to demonstrate the performance of the proposed motion tracking method. Results: The tracking accuracy was validated by comparing the results to the average of two manual delineations in 50 randomly selected cine image frames from each patient. The resulting average dice similarity coefficient (93.28%  ±  1.46%) and margin error (0.49  ±  0.12 mm) showed good agreement between the automatic and manual results. The comparison with three other deformable model-based segmentation methods illustrated the superior shape tracking performance of the proposed method. Large interpatient variations of swallowing frequency, swallowing duration, and upper airway cross-sectional area were observed from the testing cine image sequences. Conclusions: The proposed motion tracking method can provide accurate upper airway motion tracking results, and enable automatic and quantitative identification and analysis of in-treatment H&N upper airway motion. By integrating explicit and implicit linked-shape representations within a hierarchical model-fitting process, the proposed tracking method can process complex H&N structures and low-contrast/resolution cine MRI images. Future research will focus on the improvement of method reliability, patient motion pattern analysis for providing more information on patient-specific prediction of structure displacements, and motion effects on dosimetry for better H&N motion management in radiation therapy.« less

An integrated model-driven method for in-treatment upper airway motion tracking using cine MRI in head and neck radiation therapy.

PubMed

Li, Hua; Chen, Hsin-Chen; Dolly, Steven; Li, Harold; Fischer-Valuck, Benjamin; Victoria, James; Dempsey, James; Ruan, Su; Anastasio, Mark; Mazur, Thomas; Gach, Michael; Kashani, Rojano; Green, Olga; Rodriguez, Vivian; Gay, Hiram; Thorstad, Wade; Mutic, Sasa

2016-08-01

For the first time, MRI-guided radiation therapy systems can acquire cine images to dynamically monitor in-treatment internal organ motion. However, the complex head and neck (H&N) structures and low-contrast/resolution of on-board cine MRI images make automatic motion tracking a very challenging task. In this study, the authors proposed an integrated model-driven method to automatically track the in-treatment motion of the H&N upper airway, a complex and highly deformable region wherein internal motion often occurs in an either voluntary or involuntary manner, from cine MRI images for the analysis of H&N motion patterns. Considering the complex H&N structures and ensuring automatic and robust upper airway motion tracking, the authors firstly built a set of linked statistical shapes (including face, face-jaw, and face-jaw-palate) using principal component analysis from clinically approved contours delineated on a set of training data. The linked statistical shapes integrate explicit landmarks and implicit shape representation. Then, a hierarchical model-fitting algorithm was developed to align the linked shapes on the first image frame of a to-be-tracked cine sequence and to localize the upper airway region. Finally, a multifeature level set contour propagation scheme was performed to identify the upper airway shape change, frame-by-frame, on the entire image sequence. The multifeature fitting energy, including the information of intensity variations, edge saliency, curve geometry, and temporal shape continuity, was minimized to capture the details of moving airway boundaries. Sagittal cine MR image sequences acquired from three H&N cancer patients were utilized to demonstrate the performance of the proposed motion tracking method. The tracking accuracy was validated by comparing the results to the average of two manual delineations in 50 randomly selected cine image frames from each patient. The resulting average dice similarity coefficient (93.28%  ±  1.46%) and margin error (0.49  ±  0.12 mm) showed good agreement between the automatic and manual results. The comparison with three other deformable model-based segmentation methods illustrated the superior shape tracking performance of the proposed method. Large interpatient variations of swallowing frequency, swallowing duration, and upper airway cross-sectional area were observed from the testing cine image sequences. The proposed motion tracking method can provide accurate upper airway motion tracking results, and enable automatic and quantitative identification and analysis of in-treatment H&N upper airway motion. By integrating explicit and implicit linked-shape representations within a hierarchical model-fitting process, the proposed tracking method can process complex H&N structures and low-contrast/resolution cine MRI images. Future research will focus on the improvement of method reliability, patient motion pattern analysis for providing more information on patient-specific prediction of structure displacements, and motion effects on dosimetry for better H&N motion management in radiation therapy.

49 CFR 236.201 - Track-circuit control of signals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Automatic Block Signal Systems Standards § 236.201 Track-circuit control of signals. The control circuits for home... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Track-circuit control of signals. 236.201 Section...

49 CFR 236.201 - Track-circuit control of signals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Automatic Block Signal Systems Standards § 236.201 Track-circuit control of signals. The control circuits for home... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Track-circuit control of signals. 236.201 Section...

The TREC Interactive Track: An Annotated Bibliography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Over, Paul

2001-01-01

Discussion of the study of interactive information retrieval (IR) at the Text Retrieval Conferences (TREC) focuses on summaries of the Interactive Track at each conference. Describes evolution of the track, which has changed from comparing human-machine systems with fully automatic systems to comparing interactive systems that focus on the search…

Long-Term Tracking of a Specific Vehicle Using Airborne Optical Camera Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurz, F.; Rosenbaum, D.; Runge, H.; Cerra, D.; Mattyus, G.; Reinartz, P.

2016-06-01

In this paper we present two low cost, airborne sensor systems capable of long-term vehicle tracking. Based on the properties of the sensors, a method for automatic real-time, long-term tracking of individual vehicles is presented. This combines the detection and tracking of the vehicle in low frame rate image sequences and applies the lagged Cell Transmission Model (CTM) to handle longer tracking outages occurring in complex traffic situations, e.g. tunnels. The CTM model uses the traffic conditions in the proximities of the target vehicle and estimates its motion to predict the position where it reappears. The method is validated on an airborne image sequence acquired from a helicopter. Several reference vehicles are tracked within a range of 500m in a complex urban traffic situation. An artificial tracking outage of 240m is simulated, which is handled by the CTM. For this, all the vehicles in the close proximity are automatically detected and tracked to estimate the basic density-flow relations of the CTM model. Finally, the real and simulated trajectories of the reference vehicles in the outage are compared showing good correspondence also in congested traffic situations.

49 CFR 236.204 - Track signaled for movements in both directions, requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... THE INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Automatic Block Signal Systems Standards § 236.204 Track signaled for movements in both...

49 CFR 236.204 - Track signaled for movements in both directions, requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... THE INSTALLATION, INSPECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPAIR OF SIGNAL AND TRAIN CONTROL SYSTEMS, DEVICES, AND APPLIANCES Automatic Block Signal Systems Standards § 236.204 Track signaled for movements in both...

Whole-heart magnetic resonance coronary angiography with multiple breath-holds and automatic breathing-level tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhara, Shigehide; Ninomiya, Ayako; Okada, Tomohisa; Kanao, Shotaro; Kamae, Toshikazu; Togashi, Kaori

2010-05-01

Whole-heart (WH) magnetic resonance coronary angiography (MRCA) studies are usually performed during free breathing while monitoring the position of the diaphragm with real-time motion correction. However, this results in a long scan time and the patient's breathing pattern may change, causing the study to be aborted. Alternatively, WH MRCA can be performed with multiple breath-holds (mBH). However, one problem in the mBH method is that patients cannot hold their breath at the same position every time, leading to image degradation. We have developed a new WH MRCA imaging method that employs both the mBH method and automatic breathing-level tracking to permit automatic tracking of the changes in breathing or breath-hold levels. Evaluation of its effects on WH MRCA image quality showed that this method can provide high-quality images within a shorter scan time. This proposed method is expected to be very useful in clinical WH MRCA studies.

Object Occlusion Detection Using Automatic Camera Calibration for a Wide-Area Video Surveillance System

PubMed Central

Jung, Jaehoon; Yoon, Inhye; Paik, Joonki

2016-01-01

This paper presents an object occlusion detection algorithm using object depth information that is estimated by automatic camera calibration. The object occlusion problem is a major factor to degrade the performance of object tracking and recognition. To detect an object occlusion, the proposed algorithm consists of three steps: (i) automatic camera calibration using both moving objects and a background structure; (ii) object depth estimation; and (iii) detection of occluded regions. The proposed algorithm estimates the depth of the object without extra sensors but with a generic red, green and blue (RGB) camera. As a result, the proposed algorithm can be applied to improve the performance of object tracking and object recognition algorithms for video surveillance systems. PMID:27347978

Tracking fuzzy borders using geodesic curves with application to liver segmentation on planning CT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yuan, Yading, E-mail: yading.yuan@mssm.edu; Chao, Ming; Sheu, Ren-Dih

Purpose: This work aims to develop a robust and efficient method to track the fuzzy borders between liver and the abutted organs where automatic liver segmentation usually suffers, and to investigate its applications in automatic liver segmentation on noncontrast-enhanced planning computed tomography (CT) images. Methods: In order to track the fuzzy liver–chestwall and liver–heart borders where oversegmentation is often found, a starting point and an ending point were first identified on the coronal view images; the fuzzy border was then determined as a geodesic curve constructed by minimizing the gradient-weighted path length between these two points near the fuzzy border.more » The minimization of path length was numerically solved by fast-marching method. The resultant fuzzy borders were incorporated into the authors’ automatic segmentation scheme, in which the liver was initially estimated by a patient-specific adaptive thresholding and then refined by a geodesic active contour model. By using planning CT images of 15 liver patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy, the liver contours extracted by the proposed computerized scheme were compared with those manually delineated by a radiation oncologist. Results: The proposed automatic liver segmentation method yielded an average Dice similarity coefficient of 0.930 ± 0.015, whereas it was 0.912 ± 0.020 if the fuzzy border tracking was not used. The application of fuzzy border tracking was found to significantly improve the segmentation performance. The mean liver volume obtained by the proposed method was 1727 cm{sup 3}, whereas it was 1719 cm{sup 3} for manual-outlined volumes. The computer-generated liver volumes achieved excellent agreement with manual-outlined volumes with correlation coefficient of 0.98. Conclusions: The proposed method was shown to provide accurate segmentation for liver in the planning CT images where contrast agent is not applied. The authors’ results also clearly demonstrated that the application of tracking the fuzzy borders could significantly reduce contour leakage during active contour evolution.« less

Second sound tracking system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jihee; Ihas, Gary G.; Ekdahl, Dan

2017-10-01

It is common that a physical system resonates at a particular frequency, whose frequency depends on physical parameters which may change in time. Often, one would like to automatically track this signal as the frequency changes, measuring, for example, its amplitude. In scientific research, one would also like to utilize the standard methods, such as lock-in amplifiers, to improve the signal to noise ratio. We present a complete He ii second sound system that uses positive feedback to generate a sinusoidal signal of constant amplitude via automatic gain control. This signal is used to produce temperature/entropy waves (second sound) in superfluid helium-4 (He ii). A lock-in amplifier limits the oscillation to a desirable frequency and demodulates the received sound signal. Using this tracking system, a second sound signal probed turbulent decay in He ii. We present results showing that the tracking system is more reliable than those of a conventional fixed frequency method; there is less correlation with temperature (frequency) fluctuation when the tracking system is used.

A model for tracking concentration of chemical compounds within a tank of an automatic film processor.

PubMed

Sobol, Wlad T

2002-01-01

A simple kinetic model that describes the time evolution of the chemical concentration of an arbitrary compound within the tank of an automatic film processor is presented. It provides insights into the kinetics of chemistry concentration inside the processor's tank; the results facilitate the tasks of processor tuning and quality control (QC). The model has successfully been used in several troubleshooting sessions of low-volume mammography processors for which maintaining consistent QC tracking was difficult due to fluctuations of bromide levels in the developer tank.

Shape and texture fused recognition of flying targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovács, Levente; Utasi, Ákos; Kovács, Andrea; Szirányi, Tamás

2011-06-01

This paper presents visual detection and recognition of flying targets (e.g. planes, missiles) based on automatically extracted shape and object texture information, for application areas like alerting, recognition and tracking. Targets are extracted based on robust background modeling and a novel contour extraction approach, and object recognition is done by comparisons to shape and texture based query results on a previously gathered real life object dataset. Application areas involve passive defense scenarios, including automatic object detection and tracking with cheap commodity hardware components (CPU, camera and GPS).

FlyCap: Markerless Motion Capture Using Multiple Autonomous Flying Cameras.

PubMed

Xu, Lan; Liu, Yebin; Cheng, Wei; Guo, Kaiwen; Zhou, Guyue; Dai, Qionghai; Fang, Lu

2017-07-18

Aiming at automatic, convenient and non-instrusive motion capture, this paper presents a new generation markerless motion capture technique, the FlyCap system, to capture surface motions of moving characters using multiple autonomous flying cameras (autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs) each integrated with an RGBD video camera). During data capture, three cooperative flying cameras automatically track and follow the moving target who performs large-scale motions in a wide space. We propose a novel non-rigid surface registration method to track and fuse the depth of the three flying cameras for surface motion tracking of the moving target, and simultaneously calculate the pose of each flying camera. We leverage the using of visual-odometry information provided by the UAV platform, and formulate the surface tracking problem in a non-linear objective function that can be linearized and effectively minimized through a Gaussian-Newton method. Quantitative and qualitative experimental results demonstrate the plausible surface and motion reconstruction results.

Design concepts and performance of NASA X-band transponder (DST) for deep space spacecraft applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, Narayan R.; Perret, Jonathan D.; Kermode, Arthur W.

1991-01-01

The design concepts and measured performance characteristics of an X band (7162 MHz/8415 MHz) breadboard deep space transponder (DST) for future spacecraft applications, with the first use scheduled for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) and Cassini missions in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The DST consists of a double conversion, superheterodyne, automatic phase tracking receiver, and an X band (8415 MHz) exciter to drive redundant downlink power amplifiers. The receiver acquires and coherently phase tracks the modulated or unmodulated X band (7162 MHz) uplink carrier signal. The exciter phase modulates the X band (8415 MHz) downlink signal with composite telemetry and ranging signals. The receiver measured tracking threshold, automatic gain control static phase error, and phase jitter characteristics of the breadboard DST are in good agreement with the expected performance. The measured results show a receiver tracking threshold of -158 dBm and a dynamic signal range of 88 dB.

An X-band spacecraft transponder for deep space applications - Design concepts and breadboard performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, Narayan R.; Perret, Jonathan D.; Kermode, Arthur W.

1992-01-01

The design concepts and measured performance characteristics are summarized of an X band (7162 MHz/8415 MHz) breadboard deep space transponder (DSP) for future spacecraft applications, with the first use scheduled for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) and Cassini missions in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The DST consists of a double conversion, superheterodyne, automatic phase tracking receiver, and an X band (8415 MHz) exciter to drive redundant downlink power amplifiers. The receiver acquires and coherently phase tracks the modulated or unmodulated X band (7162 MHz) uplink carrier signal. The exciter phase modulates the band (8415 MHz) downlink signal with composite telemetry and ranging signals. The receiver measured tracking threshold, automatic gain control, static phase error, and phase jitter characteristics of the breadboard DST are in good agreement with the expected performance. The measured results show a receiver tracking threshold of -158 dBm and a dynamic signal range of 88 dB.

Automated Planning for a Deep Space Communications Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estlin, Tara; Fisher, Forest; Mutz, Darren; Chien, Steve

1999-01-01

This paper describes the application of Artificial Intelligence planning techniques to the problem of antenna track plan generation for a NASA Deep Space Communications Station. Me described system enables an antenna communications station to automatically respond to a set of tracking goals by correctly configuring the appropriate hardware and software to provide the requested communication services. To perform this task, the Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN) has been applied to automatically produce antenna trucking plans that are tailored to support a set of input goals. In this paper, we describe the antenna automation problem, the ASPEN planning and scheduling system, how ASPEN is used to generate antenna track plans, the results of several technology demonstrations, and future work utilizing dynamic planning technology.

Airborne tracking sunphotometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsumoto, Tak; Russell, Philip; Mina, Cesar; Van Ark, William; Banta, Victor

1987-01-01

An airborne tracking sunphotometer, mounted on the outside top surface of an aircaft has been developed to provide unresricted viewing of the sun. This instrument will substantially increase the data that scientists can gather for atmospheric studies. The instrument has six wavelength channels and an automatic data gathering system. The instrument's optical features, tracking capability, mechanical features, and data gathering system are described.

Encoding of Others' Beliefs without Overt Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Adam S.; German, Tamsin C.

2009-01-01

Under what conditions do people automatically encode and track the mental states of others? A recent investigation showed that when subjects are instructed to track the location of an object but are not instructed to track a belief about that location in a non-verbal false-belief task, they respond more slowly to questions about an agent's belief,…

All-automatic swimmer tracking system based on an optimized scaled composite JTC technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benarab, D.; Napoléon, T.; Alfalou, A.; Verney, A.; Hellard, P.

2016-04-01

In this paper, an all-automatic optimized JTC based swimmer tracking system is proposed and evaluated on real video database outcome from national and international swimming competitions (French National Championship, Limoges 2015, FINA World Championships, Barcelona 2013 and Kazan 2015). First, we proposed to calibrate the swimming pool using the DLT algorithm (Direct Linear Transformation). DLT calculates the homography matrix given a sufficient set of correspondence points between pixels and metric coordinates: i.e. DLT takes into account the dimensions of the swimming pool and the type of the swim. Once the swimming pool is calibrated, we extract the lane. Then we apply a motion detection approach to detect globally the swimmer in this lane. Next, we apply our optimized Scaled Composite JTC which consists of creating an adapted input plane that contains the predicted region and the head reference image. This latter is generated using a composite filter of fin images chosen from the database. The dimension of this reference will be scaled according to the ratio between the head's dimension and the width of the swimming lane. Finally, applying the proposed approach improves the performances of our previous tracking method by adding a detection module in order to achieve an all-automatic swimmer tracking system.

Utilizing automatic identification tracking systems to compile operational field and structure data : [research summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-05-01

Thefederallymandatedmaterialsclearanceprocessrequiresstatetransportation : agenciestosubjectallconstructionfieldsamplestoqualitycontrol/assurancetestingin : ordertopassstandardizedstateinspections....

Automatic neutron dosimetry system based on fluorescent nuclear track detector technology.

PubMed

Akselrod, M S; Fomenko, V V; Bartz, J A; Haslett, T L

2014-10-01

For the first time, the authors are describing an automatic fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) reader for neutron dosimetry. FNTD is a luminescent integrating type of detector made of aluminium oxide crystals that does not require electronics or batteries during irradiation. Non-destructive optical readout of the detector is performed using a confocal laser scanning fluorescence imaging with near-diffraction limited resolution. The fully automatic table-top reader allows one to load up to 216 detectors on a tray, read their engraved IDs using a CCD camera and optical character recognition, scan and process simultaneously two types of images in fluorescent and reflected laser light contrast to eliminate false-positive tracks related to surface and volume crystal imperfections. The FNTD dosimetry system allows one to measure neutron doses from 0.1 mSv to 20 Sv and covers neutron energies from thermal to 20 MeV. The reader is characterised by a robust, compact optical design, fast data processing electronics and user-friendly software. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Miniature sonar fish tag

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lovelady, R. W.; Ferguson, R. L.

1975-01-01

Self-powered sonar device may be implanted in body of fish. It transmits signal that can be detected with portable tracking gear or by automatic detection-and-tracking system. Operating life of over 4000 hours may be expected. Device itself may be used almost indefinitely.

Precision controllability of the YF-17 airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sisk, T. R.; Mataeny, N. W.

1980-01-01

A flying qualities evaluation conducted on the YF-17 airplane permitted assessment of its precision controllability in the transonic flight regime over the allowable angle of attack range. The precision controllability (tailchase tracking) study was conducted in constant-g and windup turn tracking maneuvers with the command augmentation system (CAS) on, automatic maneuver flaps, and the caged pipper gunsight depressed 70 mils. This study showed that the YF-17 airplane tracks essentially as well at 7 g's to 8 g's as earlier fighters did at 4 g's to 5 g's before they encountered wing rock. The pilots considered the YF-17 airplane one of the best tracking airplanes they had flown. Wing rock at the higher angles of attack degraded tracking precision, and lack of control harmony made precision controllability more difficult. The revised automatic maneuver flap schedule incorporated in the airplane at the time of the tests did not appear to be optimum. The largest tracking errors and greatest pilot workload occurred at high normal load factors at low angles of attack. The pilots reported that the high-g maneuvers caused some tunnel vision and that they found it difficult to think clearly after repeated maneuvers.

An analysis of automatic human detection and tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demuth, Philipe R.; Cosmo, Daniel L.; Ciarelli, Patrick M.

2015-12-01

This paper presents an automatic method to detect and follow people on video streams. This method uses two techniques to determine the initial position of the person at the beginning of the video file: one based on optical flow and the other one based on Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG). After defining the initial bounding box, tracking is done using four different trackers: Median Flow tracker, TLD tracker, Mean Shift tracker and a modified version of the Mean Shift tracker using HSV color space. The results of the methods presented in this paper are then compared at the end of the paper.

Hybrid three-dimensional and support vector machine approach for automatic vehicle tracking and classification using a single camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kachach, Redouane; Cañas, José María

2016-05-01

Using video in traffic monitoring is one of the most active research domains in the computer vision community. TrafficMonitor, a system that employs a hybrid approach for automatic vehicle tracking and classification on highways using a simple stationary calibrated camera, is presented. The proposed system consists of three modules: vehicle detection, vehicle tracking, and vehicle classification. Moving vehicles are detected by an enhanced Gaussian mixture model background estimation algorithm. The design includes a technique to resolve the occlusion problem by using a combination of two-dimensional proximity tracking algorithm and the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi feature tracking algorithm. The last module classifies the shapes identified into five vehicle categories: motorcycle, car, van, bus, and truck by using three-dimensional templates and an algorithm based on histogram of oriented gradients and the support vector machine classifier. Several experiments have been performed using both real and simulated traffic in order to validate the system. The experiments were conducted on GRAM-RTM dataset and a proper real video dataset which is made publicly available as part of this work.

Tracking colliding cells in vivo microscopy.

PubMed

Nguyen, Nhat H; Keller, Steven; Norris, Eric; Huynh, Toan T; Clemens, Mark G; Shin, Min C

2011-08-01

Leukocyte motion represents an important component in the innate immune response to infection. Intravital microscopy is a powerful tool as it enables in vivo imaging of leukocyte motion. Under inflammatory conditions, leukocytes may exhibit various motion behaviors, such as flowing, rolling, and adhering. With many leukocytes moving at a wide range of speeds, collisions occur. These collisions result in abrupt changes in the motion and appearance of leukocytes. Manual analysis is tedious, error prone,time consuming, and could introduce technician-related bias. Automatic tracking is also challenging due to the noise inherent in in vivo images and abrupt changes in motion and appearance due to collision. This paper presents a method to automatically track multiple cells undergoing collisions by modeling the appearance and motion for each collision state and testing collision hypotheses of possible transitions between states. The tracking results are demonstrated using in vivo intravital microscopy image sequences.We demonstrate that 1)71% of colliding cells are correctly tracked; (2) the improvement of the proposed method is enhanced when the duration of collision increases; and (3) given good detection results, the proposed method can correctly track 88% of colliding cells. The method minimizes the tracking failures under collisions and, therefore, allows more robust analysis in the study of leukocyte behaviors responding to inflammatory conditions.

Automatic Rail Extraction and Celarance Check with a Point Cloud Captured by Mls in a Railway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niina, Y.; Honma, R.; Honma, Y.; Kondo, K.; Tsuji, K.; Hiramatsu, T.; Oketani, E.

2018-05-01

Recently, MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning) has been successfully used in a road maintenance. In this paper, we present the application of MLS for the inspection of clearance along railway tracks of West Japan Railway Company. Point clouds around the track are captured by MLS mounted on a bogie and rail position can be determined by matching the shape of the ideal rail head with respect to the point cloud by ICP algorithm. A clearance check is executed automatically with virtual clearance model laid along the extracted rail. As a result of evaluation, the accuracy of extracting rail positions is less than 3 mm. With respect to the automatic clearance check, the objects inside the clearance and the ones related to a contact line is successfully detected by visual confirmation.

Well-Being Tracking via Smartphone-Measured Activity and Sleep: Cohort Study

PubMed Central

Feygin, Sidney; Dembo, Aluma; Aguilera, Adrian; Recht, Benjamin

2017-01-01

Background Automatically tracking mental well-being could facilitate personalization of treatments for mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder. Smartphones present a novel and ubiquitous opportunity to track individuals’ behavior and may be useful for inferring and automatically monitoring mental well-being. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which activity and sleep tracking with a smartphone can be used for monitoring individuals’ mental well-being. Methods A cohort of 106 individuals was recruited to install an app on their smartphone that would track their well-being with daily surveys and track their behavior with activity inferences from their phone’s accelerometer data. Of the participants recruited, 53 had sufficient data to infer activity and sleep measures. For this subset of individuals, we related measures of activity and sleep to the individuals’ well-being and used these measures to predict their well-being. Results We found that smartphone-measured approximations for daily physical activity were positively correlated with both mood (P=.004) and perceived energy level (P<.001). Sleep duration was positively correlated with mood (P=.02) but not energy. Our measure for sleep disturbance was not found to be significantly related to either mood or energy, which could imply too much noise in the measurement. Models predicting the well-being measures from the activity and sleep measures were found to be significantly better than naive baselines (P<.01), despite modest overall improvements. Conclusions Measures of activity and sleep inferred from smartphone activity were strongly related to and somewhat predictive of participants’ well-being. Whereas the improvement over naive models was modest, it reaffirms the importance of considering physical activity and sleep for predicting mood and for making automatic mood monitoring a reality. PMID:28982643

Ultrasound assessment of fascial connectivity in the lower limb during maximal cervical flexion: technical aspects and practical application of automatic tracking.

PubMed

Cruz-Montecinos, Carlos; Cerda, Mauricio; Sanzana-Cuche, Rodolfo; Martín-Martín, Jaime; Cuesta-Vargas, Antonio

2016-01-01

The fascia provides and transmits forces for connective tissues, thereby regulating human posture and movement. One way to assess the myofascial interaction is a fascia ultrasound recording. Ultrasound can follow fascial displacement either manually or automatically through two-dimensional (2D) method. One possible method is the iterated Lucas-Kanade Pyramid (LKP) algorithm, which is based on automatic pixel tracking during passive movements in 2D fascial displacement assessments. Until now, the accumulated error over time has not been considered, even though it could be crucial for detecting fascial displacement in low amplitude movements. The aim of this study was to assess displacement of the medial gastrocnemius fascia during cervical spine flexion in a kyphotic posture with the knees extended and ankles at 90°. The ultrasound transducer was placed on the extreme dominant belly of the medial gastrocnemius. Displacement was calculated from nine automatically selected tracking points. To determine cervical flexion, an established 2D marker protocol was implemented. Offline pressure sensors were used to synchronize the 2D kinematic data from cervical flexion and deep fascia displacement of the medial gastrocnemius. Fifteen participants performed the cervical flexion task. The basal tracking error was 0.0211 mm. In 66 % of the subjects, a proximal fascial tissue displacement of the fascia above the basal error (0.076 mm ± 0.006 mm) was measured. Fascia displacement onset during cervical spine flexion was detected over 70 % of the cycle; however, only when detected for more than 80 % of the cycle was displacement considered statistically significant as compared to the first 10 % of the cycle (ANOVA, p < 0.05). By using an automated tracking method, the present analyses suggest statistically significant displacement of deep fascia. Further studies are needed to corroborate and fully understand the mechanisms associated with these results.

Terminal area automatic navigation, guidance and control research using the Microwave Landing System (MLS). Part 5: Design and development of a Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) for steep final approach using modern control techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1983-01-01

The design and development of a 3-D Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) for the Terminal Configured Vehicle (TCV) Research Aircraft, a B-737-100 is described. The system was designed using sampled data Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LOG) methods, resulting in a direct digital design with a modern control structure which consists of a Kalman filter followed by a control gain matrix, all operating at 10 Hz. DIALS uses Microwave Landing System (MLS) position, body-mounted accelerometers, as well as on-board sensors usually available on commercial aircraft, but does not use inertial platforms. The phases of the final approach considered are the localizer and glideslope capture which may be performed simultaneously, localizer and steep glideslope track or hold, crab/decrab and flare to touchdown. DIALS captures, tracks and flares from steep glideslopes ranging from 2.5 deg to 5.5 deg, selected prior to glideslope capture. Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System is the first modern control design automatic landing system successfully flight tested. The results of an initial nonlinear simulation are presented here.

Automatic detection and notification of "wrong patient-wrong location'' errors in the operating room.

PubMed

Sandberg, Warren S; Häkkinen, Matti; Egan, Marie; Curran, Paige K; Fairbrother, Pamela; Choquette, Ken; Daily, Bethany; Sarkka, Jukka-Pekka; Rattner, David

2005-09-01

When procedures and processes to assure patient location based on human performance do not work as expected, patients are brought incrementally closer to a possible "wrong patient-wrong procedure'' error. We developed a system for automated patient location monitoring and management. Real-time data from an active infrared/radio frequency identification tracking system provides patient location data that are robust and can be compared with an "expected process'' model to automatically flag wrong-location events as soon as they occur. The system also generates messages that are automatically sent to process managers via the hospital paging system, thus creating an active alerting function to annunciate errors. We deployed the system to detect and annunciate "patient-in-wrong-OR'' events. The system detected all "wrong-operating room (OR)'' events, and all "wrong-OR'' locations were correctly assigned within 0.50+/-0.28 minutes (mean+/-SD). This corresponded to the measured latency of the tracking system. All wrong-OR events were correctly annunciated via the paging function. This experiment demonstrates that current technology can automatically collect sufficient data to remotely monitor patient flow through a hospital, provide decision support based on predefined rules, and automatically notify stakeholders of errors.

Unification of automatic target tracking and automatic target recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schachter, Bruce J.

2014-06-01

The subject being addressed is how an automatic target tracker (ATT) and an automatic target recognizer (ATR) can be fused together so tightly and so well that their distinctiveness becomes lost in the merger. This has historically not been the case outside of biology and a few academic papers. The biological model of ATT∪ATR arises from dynamic patterns of activity distributed across many neural circuits and structures (including retina). The information that the brain receives from the eyes is "old news" at the time that it receives it. The eyes and brain forecast a tracked object's future position, rather than relying on received retinal position. Anticipation of the next moment - building up a consistent perception - is accomplished under difficult conditions: motion (eyes, head, body, scene background, target) and processing limitations (neural noise, delays, eye jitter, distractions). Not only does the human vision system surmount these problems, but it has innate mechanisms to exploit motion in support of target detection and classification. Biological vision doesn't normally operate on snapshots. Feature extraction, detection and recognition are spatiotemporal. When vision is viewed as a spatiotemporal process, target detection, recognition, tracking, event detection and activity recognition, do not seem as distinct as they are in current ATT and ATR designs. They appear as similar mechanism taking place at varying time scales. A framework is provided for unifying ATT and ATR.

Phase fluctuation spectra: New radio science information to become available in the DSN tracking system Mark III-77

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berman, A. L.

1977-01-01

An algorithm was developed for the continuous and automatic computation of Doppler noise concurrently at four sample rate intervals, evenly spanning three orders of magnitude. Average temporal Doppler phase fluctuation spectra will be routinely available in the DSN tracking system Mark III-77 and require little additional processing. The basic (noise) data will be extracted from the archival tracking data file (ATDF) of the tracking data management system.

Calibration-free gaze tracking for automatic measurement of visual acuity in human infants.

PubMed

Xiong, Chunshui; Huang, Lei; Liu, Changping

2014-01-01

Most existing vision-based methods for gaze tracking need a tedious calibration process. In this process, subjects are required to fixate on a specific point or several specific points in space. However, it is hard to cooperate, especially for children and human infants. In this paper, a new calibration-free gaze tracking system and method is presented for automatic measurement of visual acuity in human infants. As far as I know, it is the first time to apply the vision-based gaze tracking in the measurement of visual acuity. Firstly, a polynomial of pupil center-cornea reflections (PCCR) vector is presented to be used as the gaze feature. Then, Gaussian mixture models (GMM) is employed for gaze behavior classification, which is trained offline using labeled data from subjects with healthy eyes. Experimental results on several subjects show that the proposed method is accurate, robust and sufficient for the application of measurement of visual acuity in human infants.

Design concepts and performance of NASA X-band (7162 MHz/8415 MHz) transponder for deep-space spacecraft applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mysoor, N. R.; Perret, J. D.; Kermode, A. W.

1991-01-01

The design concepts and measured performance characteristics are summarized of an X band (7162 MHz/8415 MHz) breadboard deep space transponder (DSP) for future spacecraft applications, with the first use scheduled for the Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) and Cassini missions in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The DST consists of a double conversion, superheterodyne, automatic phase tracking receiver, and an X band (8415 MHz) exciter to drive redundant downlink power amplifiers. The receiver acquires and coherently phase tracks the modulated or unmodulated X band (7162 MHz) uplink carrier signal. The exciter phase modulates the X band (8415 MHz) downlink signal with composite telemetry and ranging signals. The receiver measured tracking threshold, automatic gain control, static phase error, and phase jitter characteristics of the breadboard DST are in good agreement with the expected performance. The measured results show a receiver tracking threshold of -158 dBm and a dynamic signal range of 88 dB.

SolTrack: an automatic video processing software for in situ interface tracking.

PubMed

Griesser, S; Pierer, R; Reid, M; Dippenaar, R

2012-10-01

High-Resolution in situ observation of solidification experiments has become a powerful technique to improve the fundamental understanding of solidification processes of metals and alloys. In the present study, high-temperature laser-scanning confocal microscopy (HTLSCM) was utilized to observe and capture in situ solidification and phase transformations of alloys for subsequent post processing and analysis. Until now, this analysis has been very time consuming as frame-by-frame manual evaluation of propagating interfaces was used to determine the interface velocities. SolTrack has been developed using the commercial software package MATLAB and is designed to automatically detect, locate and track propagating interfaces during solidification and phase transformations as well as to calculate interfacial velocities. Different solidification phenomena have been recorded to demonstrate a wider spectrum of applications of this software. A validation, through comparison with manual evaluation, is included where the accuracy is shown to be very high. © 2012 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2012 Royal Microscopical Society.

A flight-test and simulation evaluation of the longitudinal final approach and landing performance of an automatic system for a light wing loading STOL aircraft equipped with wing spoilers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, S. C.; Hardy, G. H.; Hindson, W. S.

1984-01-01

As part of a comprehensive flight-test investigation of short takeoff and landing (STOL) operating systems for the terminal systems for the terminal area, an automatic landing system has been developed and evaluated for a light wing-loading turboprop-powered aircraft. An advanced digital avionics system performed display, navigation, guidance, and control functions for the test aircraft. Control signals were generated in order to command powered actuators for all conventional controls and for a set of symmetrically driven wing spoilers. This report describes effects of the spoiler control on longitudinal autoland (automatic landing) performance. Flight-test results, with and without spoiler control, are presented and compared with available (basically, conventional takeoff and landing) performance criteria. These comparisons are augmented by results from a comprehensive simulation of the controlled aircraft that included representations of the microwave landing system navigation errors that were encountered in flight as well as expected variations in atmospheric turbulence and wind shear. Flight-test results show that the addition of spoiler control improves the touchdown performance of the automatic landing system. Spoilers improve longitudinal touchdown and landing pitch-attitude performance, particularly in tailwind conditions. Furthermore, simulation results indicate that performance would probably be satisfactory for a wider range of atmospheric disturbances than those encountered in flight. Flight results also indicate that the addition of spoiler control during the final approach does not result in any measurable change in glidepath track performance, and results in a very small deterioration in airspeed tracking. This difference contrasts with simulations results, which indicate some improvement in glidepath tracking and no appreciable change in airspeed tracking. The modeling problem in the simulation that contributed to this discrepancy with flight was not resolved.

3D Tracking of Mating Events in Wild Swarms of the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

PubMed Central

Butail, Sachit; Manoukis, Nicholas; Diallo, Moussa; Yaro, Alpha S.; Dao, Adama; Traoré, Sekou F.; Ribeiro, José M.; Lehmann, Tovi; Paley, Derek A.

2013-01-01

We describe an automated tracking system that allows us to reconstruct the 3D kinematics of individual mosquitoes in swarms of Anopheles gambiae. The inputs to the tracking system are video streams recorded from a stereo camera system. The tracker uses a two-pass procedure to automatically localize and track mosquitoes within the swarm. A human-in-the-loop step verifies the estimates and connects broken tracks. The tracker performance is illustrated using footage of mating events filmed in Mali in August 2010. PMID:22254411

Multi-Sensor Information Integration and Automatic Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

also produced a real-time implementation of the tracking and anomalous behavior detection system that runs on real- world data – either using real-time...surveillance and airborne IED detection . 15. SUBJECT TERMS Multi-hypothesis tracking , particle filters, anomalous behavior detection , Bayesian...analyst to support decision making with large data sets. A key feature of the real-time tracking and behavior detection system developed is that the

Nearly automatic motion capture system for tracking octopus arm movements in 3D space.

PubMed

Zelman, Ido; Galun, Meirav; Akselrod-Ballin, Ayelet; Yekutieli, Yoram; Hochner, Binyamin; Flash, Tamar

2009-08-30

Tracking animal movements in 3D space is an essential part of many biomechanical studies. The most popular technique for human motion capture uses markers placed on the skin which are tracked by a dedicated system. However, this technique may be inadequate for tracking animal movements, especially when it is impossible to attach markers to the animal's body either because of its size or shape or because of the environment in which the animal performs its movements. Attaching markers to an animal's body may also alter its behavior. Here we present a nearly automatic markerless motion capture system that overcomes these problems and successfully tracks octopus arm movements in 3D space. The system is based on three successive tracking and processing stages. The first stage uses a recently presented segmentation algorithm to detect the movement in a pair of video sequences recorded by two calibrated cameras. In the second stage, the results of the first stage are processed to produce 2D skeletal representations of the moving arm. Finally, the 2D skeletons are used to reconstruct the octopus arm movement as a sequence of 3D curves varying in time. Motion tracking, segmentation and reconstruction are especially difficult problems in the case of octopus arm movements because of the deformable, non-rigid structure of the octopus arm and the underwater environment in which it moves. Our successful results suggest that the motion-tracking system presented here may be used for tracking other elongated objects.

Vector Pursuit Path Tracking for Autonomous Ground Vehicles

DTIC Science & Technology

2000-08-01

vi INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1...other geometric path-tracking techniques. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION An autonomous vehicle is one that is capable of automatic navigation. It is...Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground Vehicles ( JAUGS ) working group meeting held at the University of Florida. 5 Figure 1.5: Autonomous

Real-time automatic fiducial marker tracking in low contrast cine-MV images

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Wei-Yang; Lin, Shu-Fang; Yang, Sheng-Chang

2013-01-15

Purpose: To develop a real-time automatic method for tracking implanted radiographic markers in low-contrast cine-MV patient images used in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Methods: Intrafraction motion tracking using radiotherapy beam-line MV images have gained some attention recently in IGRT because no additional imaging dose is introduced. However, MV images have much lower contrast than kV images, therefore a robust and automatic algorithm for marker detection in MV images is a prerequisite. Previous marker detection methods are all based on template matching or its derivatives. Template matching needs to match object shape that changes significantly for different implantation and projection angle.more » While these methods require a large number of templates to cover various situations, they are often forced to use a smaller number of templates to reduce the computation load because their methods all require exhaustive search in the region of interest. The authors solve this problem by synergetic use of modern but well-tested computer vision and artificial intelligence techniques; specifically the authors detect implanted markers utilizing discriminant analysis for initialization and use mean-shift feature space analysis for sequential tracking. This novel approach avoids exhaustive search by exploiting the temporal correlation between consecutive frames and makes it possible to perform more sophisticated detection at the beginning to improve the accuracy, followed by ultrafast sequential tracking after the initialization. The method was evaluated and validated using 1149 cine-MV images from two prostate IGRT patients and compared with manual marker detection results from six researchers. The average of the manual detection results is considered as the ground truth for comparisons. Results: The average root-mean-square errors of our real-time automatic tracking method from the ground truth are 1.9 and 2.1 pixels for the two patients (0.26 mm/pixel). The standard deviations of the results from the 6 researchers are 2.3 and 2.6 pixels. The proposed framework takes about 128 ms to detect four markers in the first MV images and about 23 ms to track these markers in each of the subsequent images. Conclusions: The unified framework for tracking of multiple markers presented here can achieve marker detection accuracy similar to manual detection even in low-contrast cine-MV images. It can cope with shape deformations of fiducial markers at different gantry angles. The fast processing speed reduces the image processing portion of the system latency, therefore can improve the performance of real-time motion compensation.« less

Fuel-conservative guidance system for powered-lift aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, H.; Mclean, J. D.

1979-01-01

A concept for automatic terminal area guidance, comprising two modes of operation, was developed and evaluated in flight tests. In the predictive mode, fuel efficient approach trajectories are synthesized in fast time. In the tracking mode, the synthesized trajectories are reconstructed and tracked automatically. An energy rate performance model derived from the lift, drag, and propulsion system characteristics of the aircraft is used in the synthesis algorithm. The method optimizes the trajectory for the initial aircraft position and wind and temperature profiles encountered during each landing approach. The design theory and the results of simulations and flight tests using the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft are described.

Development of an optimal automatic control law and filter algorithm for steep glideslope capture and glideslope tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1976-01-01

A digital automatic control law to capture a steep glideslope and track the glideslope to a specified altitude is developed for the longitudinal/vertical dynamics of a CTOL aircraft using modern estimation and control techniques. The control law uses a constant gain Kalman filter to process guidance information from the microwave landing system, and acceleration from body mounted accelerometer data. The filter outputs navigation data and wind velocity estimates which are used in controlling the aircraft. Results from a digital simulation of the aircraft dynamics and the control law are presented for various wind conditions.

A VidEo-Based Intelligent Recognition and Decision System for the Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery.

PubMed

Tian, Shu; Yin, Xu-Cheng; Wang, Zhi-Bin; Zhou, Fang; Hao, Hong-Wei

2015-01-01

The phacoemulsification surgery is one of the most advanced surgeries to treat cataract. However, the conventional surgeries are always with low automatic level of operation and over reliance on the ability of surgeons. Alternatively, one imaginative scene is to use video processing and pattern recognition technologies to automatically detect the cataract grade and intelligently control the release of the ultrasonic energy while operating. Unlike cataract grading in the diagnosis system with static images, complicated background, unexpected noise, and varied information are always introduced in dynamic videos of the surgery. Here we develop a Video-Based Intelligent Recognitionand Decision (VeBIRD) system, which breaks new ground by providing a generic framework for automatically tracking the operation process and classifying the cataract grade in microscope videos of the phacoemulsification cataract surgery. VeBIRD comprises a robust eye (iris) detector with randomized Hough transform to precisely locate the eye in the noise background, an effective probe tracker with Tracking-Learning-Detection to thereafter track the operation probe in the dynamic process, and an intelligent decider with discriminative learning to finally recognize the cataract grade in the complicated video. Experiments with a variety of real microscope videos of phacoemulsification verify VeBIRD's effectiveness.

A VidEo-Based Intelligent Recognition and Decision System for the Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery

PubMed Central

Yin, Xu-Cheng; Wang, Zhi-Bin; Zhou, Fang; Hao, Hong-Wei

2015-01-01

The phacoemulsification surgery is one of the most advanced surgeries to treat cataract. However, the conventional surgeries are always with low automatic level of operation and over reliance on the ability of surgeons. Alternatively, one imaginative scene is to use video processing and pattern recognition technologies to automatically detect the cataract grade and intelligently control the release of the ultrasonic energy while operating. Unlike cataract grading in the diagnosis system with static images, complicated background, unexpected noise, and varied information are always introduced in dynamic videos of the surgery. Here we develop a Video-Based Intelligent Recognitionand Decision (VeBIRD) system, which breaks new ground by providing a generic framework for automatically tracking the operation process and classifying the cataract grade in microscope videos of the phacoemulsification cataract surgery. VeBIRD comprises a robust eye (iris) detector with randomized Hough transform to precisely locate the eye in the noise background, an effective probe tracker with Tracking-Learning-Detection to thereafter track the operation probe in the dynamic process, and an intelligent decider with discriminative learning to finally recognize the cataract grade in the complicated video. Experiments with a variety of real microscope videos of phacoemulsification verify VeBIRD's effectiveness. PMID:26693249

The Nagoya cosmic-ray muon spectrometer 3, part 3: Automatic film scanning equipment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shibata, S.; Kamiya, Y.; Iijima, K.; Iida, S.

1985-01-01

In the regular operation of the Nagoya cosmic-ray muon spectrometer, about 2000 events per day will be recorded on the photographic film. To derive the track locations from such a huge number of photographs with high accuracy in a short time, an automatic film scanning device has been developed.

Wireless tracking of cotton modules Part II: automatic machine identification and system testing

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Mapping the harvest location of cotton modules is essential to practical understanding and utilization of spatial-variability information in fiber quality. A wireless module-tracking system was recently developed, but automation of the system is required before it will find practical use on the far...

Microcomputer aided tracking (MCAT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mays, A. B.; Cross, D. C.; Walters, J. L.

1983-07-01

The goal of the MCAT project was to investigate the effectiveness of operator initiated tracks followed by automatic tracking. Adding this capability to a display was intended to relieve operator overload and fatigue which results when the operator is limited to grease pencil tracking. MCAT combines several microprocessors and a microcomputer-driven PPI(Plan Position Indications) with graphics capability. The operator is required to make the initial detection and MCAT then performs automatic detection and tracking in a limited area centered around the detection. This approach was chosen because it is far less costly than a full-up auto detect and track approach. MCAT is intended for use in a non-NTDS (Naval Tactical Data System) environment where operator aids are minimal at best. There are approximately 200 non-NTDS ships in today's Navy. Each of these ships has a combat information center (CIC) which includes numerous PPIs typically SPA-25s, SPA-66s, SPA-50s) and various manual means (e.g., air summary plotboards, NC-2 plotters) of producing summary plots and performing calculations (e.g., maneuvering board paper) pertinent to tracks in progress. The operator's duties are time-consuming and there are many things that could be done via computer control and graphics displays that the non-NTDS operate must now do manually. Because there is much manual information handling, accumulation of data is slow and there is a large probability of error.

Multi-modal imaging, model-based tracking, and mixed reality visualisation for orthopaedic surgery

PubMed Central

Fuerst, Bernhard; Tateno, Keisuke; Johnson, Alex; Fotouhi, Javad; Osgood, Greg; Tombari, Federico; Navab, Nassir

2017-01-01

Orthopaedic surgeons are still following the decades old workflow of using dozens of two-dimensional fluoroscopic images to drill through complex 3D structures, e.g. pelvis. This Letter presents a mixed reality support system, which incorporates multi-modal data fusion and model-based surgical tool tracking for creating a mixed reality environment supporting screw placement in orthopaedic surgery. A red–green–blue–depth camera is rigidly attached to a mobile C-arm and is calibrated to the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging space via iterative closest point algorithm. This allows real-time automatic fusion of reconstructed surface and/or 3D point clouds and synthetic fluoroscopic images obtained through CBCT imaging. An adapted 3D model-based tracking algorithm with automatic tool segmentation allows for tracking of the surgical tools occluded by hand. This proposed interactive 3D mixed reality environment provides an intuitive understanding of the surgical site and supports surgeons in quickly localising the entry point and orienting the surgical tool during screw placement. The authors validate the augmentation by measuring target registration error and also evaluate the tracking accuracy in the presence of partial occlusion. PMID:29184659

Application of TrackEye in equine locomotion research.

PubMed

Drevemo, S; Roepstorff, L; Kallings, P; Johnston, C J

1993-01-01

TrackEye is an analysis system, which is applicable for equine biokinematic studies. It covers the whole process from digitizing of images, automatic target tracking and analysis. Key components in the system are an image work station for processing of video images and a high-resolution film-to-video scanner for 16-mm film. A recording module controls the input device and handles the capture of image sequences into a videodisc system, and a tracking module is able to follow reference markers automatically. The system offers a flexible analysis including calculations of markers displacements, distances and joint angles, velocities and accelerations. TrackEye was used to study effects of phenylbutazone on the fetlock and carpal joint angle movements in a horse with a mild lameness caused by osteo-arthritis in the fetlock joint of a forelimb. Significant differences, most evident before treatment, were observed in the minimum fetlock and carpal joint angles when contralateral limbs were compared (p < 0.001). The minimum fetlock angle and the minimum carpal joint angle were significantly greater in the lame limb before treatment compared to those 6, 37 and 49 h after the last treatment (p < 0.001).

Tracking scanning laser ophthalmoscope (TSLO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammer, Daniel X.; Ferguson, R. Daniel; Magill, John C.; White, Michael A.; Elsner, Ann E.; Webb, Robert H.

2003-07-01

The effectiveness of image stabilization with a retinal tracker in a multi-function, compact scanning laser ophthalmoscope (TSLO) was demonstrated in initial human subject tests. The retinal tracking system uses a confocal reflectometer with a closed loop optical servo system to lock onto features in the fundus. The system is modular to allow configuration for many research and clinical applications, including hyperspectral imaging, multifocal electroretinography (MFERG), perimetry, quantification of macular and photo-pigmentation, imaging of neovascularization and other subretinal structures (drusen, hyper-, and hypo-pigmentation), and endogenous fluorescence imaging. Optical hardware features include dual wavelength imaging and detection, integrated monochromator, higher-order motion control, and a stimulus source. The system software consists of a real-time feedback control algorithm and a user interface. Software enhancements include automatic bias correction, asymmetric feature tracking, image averaging, automatic track re-lock, and acquisition and logging of uncompressed images and video files. Normal adult subjects were tested without mydriasis to optimize the tracking instrumentation and to characterize imaging performance. The retinal tracking system achieves a bandwidth of greater than 1 kHz, which permits tracking at rates that greatly exceed the maximum rate of motion of the human eye. The TSLO stabilized images in all test subjects during ordinary saccades up to 500 deg/sec with an inter-frame accuracy better than 0.05 deg. Feature lock was maintained for minutes despite subject eye blinking. Successful frame averaging allowed image acquisition with decreased noise in low-light applications. The retinal tracking system significantly enhances the imaging capabilities of the scanning laser ophthalmoscope.

Automatic lesion tracking for a PET/CT based computer aided cancer therapy monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Opfer, Roland; Brenner, Winfried; Carlsen, Ingwer; Renisch, Steffen; Sabczynski, Jörg; Wiemker, Rafael

2008-03-01

Response assessment of cancer therapy is a crucial component towards a more effective and patient individualized cancer therapy. Integrated PET/CT systems provide the opportunity to combine morphologic with functional information. However, dealing simultaneously with several PET/CT scans poses a serious workflow problem. It can be a difficult and tedious task to extract response criteria based upon an integrated analysis of PET and CT images and to track these criteria over time. In order to improve the workflow for serial analysis of PET/CT scans we introduce in this paper a fast lesion tracking algorithm. We combine a global multi-resolution rigid registration algorithm with a local block matching and a local region growing algorithm. Whenever the user clicks on a lesion in the base-line PET scan the course of standardized uptake values (SUV) is automatically identified and shown to the user as a graph plot. We have validated our method by a data collection from 7 patients. Each patient underwent two or three PET/CT scans during the course of a cancer therapy. An experienced nuclear medicine physician manually measured the courses of the maximum SUVs for altogether 18 lesions. As a result we obtained that the automatic detection of the corresponding lesions resulted in SUV measurements which are nearly identical to the manually measured SUVs. Between 38 measured maximum SUVs derived from manual and automatic detected lesions we observed a correlation of 0.9994 and a average error of 0.4 SUV units.

Validation of a computerized technique for automatically tracking and measuring the inferior vena cava in ultrasound imagery.

PubMed

Bellows, Spencer; Smith, Jordan; Mcguire, Peter; Smith, Andrew

2014-01-01

Accurate resuscitation of the critically-ill patient using intravenous fluids and blood products is a challenging, time sensitive task. Ultrasound of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a non-invasive technique currently used to guide fluid administration, though multiple factors such as variable image quality, time, and operator skill challenge mainstream acceptance. This study represents a first attempt to develop and validate an algorithm capable of automatically tracking and measuring the IVC compared to human operators across a diverse range of image quality. Minimal tracking failures and high levels of agreement between manual and algorithm measurements were demonstrated on good quality videos. Addressing problems such as gaps in the vessel wall and intra-lumen speckle should result in improved performance in average and poor quality videos. Semi-automated measurement of the IVC for the purposes of non-invasive estimation of circulating blood volume poses challenges however is feasible.

Automatic PSO-Based Deformable Structures Markerless Tracking in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djaghloul, Haroun; Batouche, Mohammed; Jessel, Jean-Pierre

An automatic and markerless tracking method of deformable structures (digestive organs) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy intervention that uses the (PSO) behavour and the preoperative a priori knowledge is presented. The associated shape to the global best particles of the population determines a coarse representation of the targeted organ (the gallbladder) in monocular laparoscopic colored images. The swarm behavour is directed by a new fitness function to be optimized to improve the detection and tracking performance. The function is defined by a linear combination of two terms, namely, the human a priori knowledge term (H) and the particle's density term (D). Under the limits of standard (PSO) characteristics, experimental results on both synthetic and real data show the effectiveness and robustness of our method. Indeed, it outperforms existing methods without need of explicit initialization (such as active contours, deformable models and Gradient Vector Flow) on accuracy and convergence rate.

A photodiode based on PbS nanocrystallites for FYTRONIX solar panel automatic tracking controller

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wageh, S.; Farooq, W. A.; Tataroğlu, A.; Dere, A.; Al-Sehemi, Abdullah G.; Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed A.; Yakuphanoglu, F.

2017-12-01

The structural, optical and photoelectrical properties of the fabricated Al/PbS/p-Si/Al photodiode based on PbS nanocrystallites were investigated. The PbS nanocrystallites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-VIS-NIR, Infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The XRD diffraction peaks show that the prepared PbS nanostructure is in high crystalline state. Various electrical parameters of the prepared photodiode were analyzed from the electrical characteristics based on I-V and C-V-G. The photodiode has a high rectification ratio of 5.85×104 at dark and ±4 V. Moreover, The photocurrent results indicate a strong photovoltaic behavior. The frequency dependence of capacitance and conductance characteristics was attributed to depletion region behavior of the photodiode. The diode was used to control solar panel power automatic tracking controller in dual axis. The fabricated photodiode works as a photosensor to control Solar tracking systems.

Advances in image compression and automatic target recognition; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Mar. 30, 31, 1989

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tescher, Andrew G. (Editor)

1989-01-01

Various papers on image compression and automatic target recognition are presented. Individual topics addressed include: target cluster detection in cluttered SAR imagery, model-based target recognition using laser radar imagery, Smart Sensor front-end processor for feature extraction of images, object attitude estimation and tracking from a single video sensor, symmetry detection in human vision, analysis of high resolution aerial images for object detection, obscured object recognition for an ATR application, neural networks for adaptive shape tracking, statistical mechanics and pattern recognition, detection of cylinders in aerial range images, moving object tracking using local windows, new transform method for image data compression, quad-tree product vector quantization of images, predictive trellis encoding of imagery, reduced generalized chain code for contour description, compact architecture for a real-time vision system, use of human visibility functions in segmentation coding, color texture analysis and synthesis using Gibbs random fields.

User-assisted video segmentation system for visual communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhengping; Chen, Chun

2002-01-01

Video segmentation plays an important role for efficient storage and transmission in visual communication. In this paper, we introduce a novel video segmentation system using point tracking and contour formation techniques. Inspired by the results from the study of the human visual system, we intend to solve the video segmentation problem into three separate phases: user-assisted feature points selection, feature points' automatic tracking, and contour formation. This splitting relieves the computer of ill-posed automatic segmentation problems, and allows a higher level of flexibility of the method. First, the precise feature points can be found using a combination of user assistance and an eigenvalue-based adjustment. Second, the feature points in the remaining frames are obtained using motion estimation and point refinement. At last, contour formation is used to extract the object, and plus a point insertion process to provide the feature points for next frame's tracking.

Remote Safety Monitoring for Elderly Persons Based on Omni-Vision Analysis

PubMed Central

Xiang, Yun; Tang, Yi-ping; Ma, Bao-qing; Yan, Hang-chen; Jiang, Jun; Tian, Xu-yuan

2015-01-01

Remote monitoring service for elderly persons is important as the aged populations in most developed countries continue growing. To monitor the safety and health of the elderly population, we propose a novel omni-directional vision sensor based system, which can detect and track object motion, recognize human posture, and analyze human behavior automatically. In this work, we have made the following contributions: (1) we develop a remote safety monitoring system which can provide real-time and automatic health care for the elderly persons and (2) we design a novel motion history or energy images based algorithm for motion object tracking. Our system can accurately and efficiently collect, analyze, and transfer elderly activity information and provide health care in real-time. Experimental results show that our technique can improve the data analysis efficiency by 58.5% for object tracking. Moreover, for the human posture recognition application, the success rate can reach 98.6% on average. PMID:25978761

Visual perception system and method for a humanoid robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelian, Suhas E. (Inventor); Linn, Douglas Martin (Inventor); Wampler, II, Charles W. (Inventor); Bridgwater, Lyndon (Inventor); Wells, James W. (Inventor); Mc Kay, Neil David (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A robotic system includes a humanoid robot with robotic joints each moveable using an actuator(s), and a distributed controller for controlling the movement of each of the robotic joints. The controller includes a visual perception module (VPM) for visually identifying and tracking an object in the field of view of the robot under threshold lighting conditions. The VPM includes optical devices for collecting an image of the object, a positional extraction device, and a host machine having an algorithm for processing the image and positional information. The algorithm visually identifies and tracks the object, and automatically adapts an exposure time of the optical devices to prevent feature data loss of the image under the threshold lighting conditions. A method of identifying and tracking the object includes collecting the image, extracting positional information of the object, and automatically adapting the exposure time to thereby prevent feature data loss of the image.

MEASURING PROJECTOR

DOEpatents

Franck, J.V.; Broadhead, P.S.; Skiff, E.W.

1959-07-14

A semiautomatic measuring projector particularly adapted for measurement of the coordinates of photographic images of particle tracks as prcduced in a bubble or cloud chamber is presented. A viewing screen aids the operator in selecting a particle track for measurement. After approximate manual alignment, an image scanning system coupled to a servo control provides automatic exact alignment of a track image with a reference point. The apparatus can follow along a track with a continuous motion while recording coordinate data at various selected points along the track. The coordinate data is recorded on punched cards for subsequent computer calculation of particle trajectory, momentum, etc.

Automatic cloud tracking applied to GOES and Meteosat observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Endlich, R. M.; Wolf, D. E.

1981-01-01

An improved automatic processing method for the tracking of cloud motions as revealed by satellite imagery is presented and applications of the method to GOES observations of Hurricane Eloise and Meteosat water vapor and infrared data are presented. The method is shown to involve steps of picture smoothing, target selection and the calculation of cloud motion vectors by the matching of a group at a given time with its best likeness at a later time, or by a cross-correlation computation. Cloud motion computations can be made in as many as four separate layers simultaneously. For data of 4 and 8 km resolution in the eye of Hurricane Eloise, the automatic system is found to provide results comparable in accuracy and coverage to those obtained by NASA analysts using the Atmospheric and Oceanographic Information Processing System, with results obtained by the pattern recognition and cross correlation computations differing by only fractions of a pixel. For Meteosat water vapor data from the tropics and midlatitudes, the automatic motion computations are found to be reliable only in areas where the water vapor fields contained small-scale structure, although excellent results are obtained using Meteosat IR data in the same regions. The automatic method thus appears to be competitive in accuracy and coverage with motion determination by human analysts.

Maritime over the Horizon Sensor Integration: High Frequency Surface-Wave-Radar and Automatic Identification System Data Integration Algorithm.

PubMed

Nikolic, Dejan; Stojkovic, Nikola; Lekic, Nikola

2018-04-09

To obtain the complete operational picture of the maritime situation in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which lies over the horizon (OTH) requires the integration of data obtained from various sensors. These sensors include: high frequency surface-wave-radar (HFSWR), satellite automatic identification system (SAIS) and land automatic identification system (LAIS). The algorithm proposed in this paper utilizes radar tracks obtained from the network of HFSWRs, which are already processed by a multi-target tracking algorithm and associates SAIS and LAIS data to the corresponding radar tracks, thus forming an integrated data pair. During the integration process, all HFSWR targets in the vicinity of AIS data are evaluated and the one which has the highest matching factor is used for data association. On the other hand, if there is multiple AIS data in the vicinity of a single HFSWR track, the algorithm still makes only one data pair which consists of AIS and HFSWR data with the highest mutual matching factor. During the design and testing, special attention is given to the latency of AIS data, which could be very high in the EEZs of developing countries. The algorithm is designed, implemented and tested in a real working environment. The testing environment is located in the Gulf of Guinea and includes a network of HFSWRs consisting of two HFSWRs, several coastal sites with LAIS receivers and SAIS data provided by provider of SAIS data.

Wireless tracking of cotton modules. Part I: Automatic message triggering

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The ability to map profit across a cotton field would enable producers to see where money is being made or lost on their farms and to implement precise field management practices to ensure the highest return possible on each portion of a field. To this end, a wireless module-tracking system was rec...

Phantom study and accuracy evaluation of an image-to-world registration approach used with electro-magnetic tracking system for neurosurgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Senhu; Sarment, David

2015-12-01

Minimally invasive neurosurgery needs intraoperative imaging updates and high efficient image guide system to facilitate the procedure. An automatic image guided system utilized with a compact and mobile intraoperative CT imager was introduced in this work. A tracking frame that can be easily attached onto the commercially available skull clamp was designed. With known geometry of fiducial and tracking sensor arranged on this rigid frame that was fabricated through high precision 3D printing, not only was an accurate, fully automatic registration method developed in a simple and less-costly approach, but also it helped in estimating the errors from fiducial localization in image space through image processing, and in patient space through the calibration of tracking frame. Our phantom study shows the fiducial registration error as 0.348+/-0.028mm, comparing the manual registration error as 1.976+/-0.778mm. The system in this study provided a robust and accurate image-to-patient registration without interruption of routine surgical workflow and any user interactions involved through the neurosurgery.

Detecting cell division of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from bright-field microscopy images with hidden conditional random fields.

PubMed

Ong, Lee-Ling S; Xinghua Zhang; Kundukad, Binu; Dauwels, Justin; Doyle, Patrick; Asada, H Harry

2016-08-01

An approach to automatically detect bacteria division with temporal models is presented. To understand how bacteria migrate and proliferate to form complex multicellular behaviours such as biofilms, it is desirable to track individual bacteria and detect cell division events. Unlike eukaryotic cells, prokaryotic cells such as bacteria lack distinctive features, causing bacteria division difficult to detect in a single image frame. Furthermore, bacteria may detach, migrate close to other bacteria and may orientate themselves at an angle to the horizontal plane. Our system trains a hidden conditional random field (HCRF) model from tracked and aligned bacteria division sequences. The HCRF model classifies a set of image frames as division or otherwise. The performance of our HCRF model is compared with a Hidden Markov Model (HMM). The results show that a HCRF classifier outperforms a HMM classifier. From 2D bright field microscopy data, it is a challenge to separate individual bacteria and associate observations to tracks. Automatic detection of sequences with bacteria division will improve tracking accuracy.

Image-based tracking: a new emerging standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonisse, Jim; Randall, Scott

2012-06-01

Automated moving object detection and tracking are increasingly viewed as solutions to the enormous data volumes resulting from emerging wide-area persistent surveillance systems. In a previous paper we described a Motion Imagery Standards Board (MISB) initiative to help address this problem: the specification of a micro-architecture for the automatic extraction of motion indicators and tracks. This paper reports on the development of an extended specification of the plug-and-play tracking micro-architecture, on its status as an emerging standard across DoD, the Intelligence Community, and NATO.

Graph-based geometric-iconic guide-wire tracking.

PubMed

Honnorat, Nicolas; Vaillant, Régis; Paragios, Nikos

2011-01-01

In this paper we introduce a novel hybrid graph-based approach for Guide-wire tracking. The image support is captured by steerable filters and improved through tensor voting. Then, a graphical model is considered that represents guide-wire extraction/tracking through a B-spline control-point model. Points with strong geometric interest (landmarks) are automatically determined and anchored to such a representation. Tracking is then performed through discrete MRFs that optimize the spatio-temporal positions of the control points while establishing landmark temporal correspondences. Promising results demonstrate the potentials of our method.

Fuel-conservative guidance system for powered-lift aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, H.; Mclean, J. D.

1979-01-01

A concept for automatic terminal-area guidance, comprising two modes of operation, has been developed and evaluated in flight tests. In the first or predictive mode, fuel-efficient approach trajectories are synthesized in fast time. In the second or tracking mode, the synthesized trajectories are reconstructed and tracked automatically. An energy rate performance model derived from the lift, drag, and propulsion-system characteristics of the aircraft is used in the synthesis algorithm. The method optimizes the trajectory for the initial aircraft position and wind and temperature profiles encountered during each landing approach. The paper describes the design theory and discusses the results of simulations and flight tests using the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft.

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI Using Particle Filters

PubMed Central

Dalca, Adrian; Danagoulian, Giovanna; Kikinis, Ron; Schmidt, Ehud; Golland, Polina

2011-01-01

Automatic segmentation of spinal nerve bundles that originate within the dural sac and exit the spinal canal is important for diagnosis and surgical planning. The variability in intensity, contrast, shape and direction of nerves seen in high resolution myelographic MR images makes segmentation a challenging task. In this paper, we present an automatic tracking method for nerve segmentation based on particle filters. We develop a novel approach to particle representation and dynamics, based on Bézier splines. Moreover, we introduce a robust image likelihood model that enables delineation of nerve bundles and ganglia from the surrounding anatomical structures. We demonstrate accurate and fast nerve tracking and compare it to expert manual segmentation. PMID:22003741

Segmentation of nerve bundles and ganglia in spine MRI using particle filters.

PubMed

Dalca, Adrian; Danagoulian, Giovanna; Kikinis, Ron; Schmidt, Ehud; Golland, Polina

2011-01-01

Automatic segmentation of spinal nerve bundles that originate within the dural sac and exit the spinal canal is important for diagnosis and surgical planning. The variability in intensity, contrast, shape and direction of nerves seen in high resolution myelographic MR images makes segmentation a challenging task. In this paper, we present an automatic tracking method for nerve segmentation based on particle filters. We develop a novel approach to particle representation and dynamics, based on Bézier splines. Moreover, we introduce a robust image likelihood model that enables delineation of nerve bundles and ganglia from the surrounding anatomical structures. We demonstrate accurate and fast nerve tracking and compare it to expert manual segmentation.

Well-Being Tracking via Smartphone-Measured Activity and Sleep: Cohort Study.

PubMed

DeMasi, Orianna; Feygin, Sidney; Dembo, Aluma; Aguilera, Adrian; Recht, Benjamin

2017-10-05

Automatically tracking mental well-being could facilitate personalization of treatments for mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder. Smartphones present a novel and ubiquitous opportunity to track individuals' behavior and may be useful for inferring and automatically monitoring mental well-being. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which activity and sleep tracking with a smartphone can be used for monitoring individuals' mental well-being. A cohort of 106 individuals was recruited to install an app on their smartphone that would track their well-being with daily surveys and track their behavior with activity inferences from their phone's accelerometer data. Of the participants recruited, 53 had sufficient data to infer activity and sleep measures. For this subset of individuals, we related measures of activity and sleep to the individuals' well-being and used these measures to predict their well-being. We found that smartphone-measured approximations for daily physical activity were positively correlated with both mood (P=.004) and perceived energy level (P<.001). Sleep duration was positively correlated with mood (P=.02) but not energy. Our measure for sleep disturbance was not found to be significantly related to either mood or energy, which could imply too much noise in the measurement. Models predicting the well-being measures from the activity and sleep measures were found to be significantly better than naive baselines (P<.01), despite modest overall improvements. Measures of activity and sleep inferred from smartphone activity were strongly related to and somewhat predictive of participants' well-being. Whereas the improvement over naive models was modest, it reaffirms the importance of considering physical activity and sleep for predicting mood and for making automatic mood monitoring a reality. ©Orianna DeMasi, Sidney Feygin, Aluma Dembo, Adrian Aguilera, Benjamin Recht. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 05.10.2017.

Combining Stereo SECCHI COR2 and HI1 Images for Automatic CME Front Edge Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirnosov, Vladimir; Chang, Lin-Ching; Pulkkinen, Antti

2016-01-01

COR2 coronagraph images are the most commonly used data for coronal mass ejection (CME) analysis among the various types of data provided by the STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) SECCHI (Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation) suite of instruments. The field of view (FOV) in COR2 images covers 215 solar radii (Rs) that allow for tracking the front edge of a CME in its initial stage to forecast the lead-time of a CME and its chances of reaching the Earth. However, estimating the lead-time of a CME using COR2 images gives a larger lead-time, which may be associated with greater uncertainty. To reduce this uncertainty, CME front edge tracking should be continued beyond the FOV of COR2 images. Therefore, heliospheric imager (HI1) data that covers 1590 Rs FOV must be included. In this paper, we propose a novel automatic method that takes both COR2 and HI1 images into account and combine the results to track the front edges of a CME continuously. The method consists of two modules: pre-processing and tracking. The pre-processing module produces a set of segmented images, which contain the signature of a CME, for both COR2 and HI1 separately. In addition, the HI1 images are resized and padded, so that the center of the Sun is the central coordinate of the resized HI1 images. The resulting COR2 andHI1 image set is then fed into the tracking module to estimate the position angle (PA) and track the front edge of a CME. The detected front edge is then used to produce a height-time profile that is used to estimate the speed of a CME. The method was validated using 15 CME events observed in the period from January 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for CME front edge tracking in both COR2 and HI1 images. Using this method, the CME front edge can now be tracked automatically and continuously in a much larger range, i.e., from 2 to 90 Rs, for the first time. These improvement scan greatly help in making the quantitative CME analysis more accurate and have the potential to assist in space weather forecasting.

BioCreative V track 4: a shared task for the extraction of causal network information using the Biological Expression Language.

PubMed

Rinaldi, Fabio; Ellendorff, Tilia Renate; Madan, Sumit; Clematide, Simon; van der Lek, Adrian; Mevissen, Theo; Fluck, Juliane

2016-01-01

Automatic extraction of biological network information is one of the most desired and most complex tasks in biological and medical text mining. Track 4 at BioCreative V attempts to approach this complexity using fragments of large-scale manually curated biological networks, represented in Biological Expression Language (BEL), as training and test data. BEL is an advanced knowledge representation format which has been designed to be both human readable and machine processable. The specific goal of track 4 was to evaluate text mining systems capable of automatically constructing BEL statements from given evidence text, and of retrieving evidence text for given BEL statements. Given the complexity of the task, we designed an evaluation methodology which gives credit to partially correct statements. We identified various levels of information expressed by BEL statements, such as entities, functions, relations, and introduced an evaluation framework which rewards systems capable of delivering useful BEL fragments at each of these levels. The aim of this evaluation method is to help identify the characteristics of the systems which, if combined, would be most useful for achieving the overall goal of automatically constructing causal biological networks from text. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Automatic detection of suspicious behavior of pickpockets with track-based features in a shopping mall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouma, Henri; Baan, Jan; Burghouts, Gertjan J.; Eendebak, Pieter T.; van Huis, Jasper R.; Dijk, Judith; van Rest, Jeroen H. C.

2014-10-01

Proactive detection of incidents is required to decrease the cost of security incidents. This paper focusses on the automatic early detection of suspicious behavior of pickpockets with track-based features in a crowded shopping mall. Our method consists of several steps: pedestrian tracking, feature computation and pickpocket recognition. This is challenging because the environment is crowded, people move freely through areas which cannot be covered by a single camera, because the actual snatch is a subtle action, and because collaboration is complex social behavior. We carried out an experiment with more than 20 validated pickpocket incidents. We used a top-down approach to translate expert knowledge in features and rules, and a bottom-up approach to learn discriminating patterns with a classifier. The classifier was used to separate the pickpockets from normal passers-by who are shopping in the mall. We performed a cross validation to train and evaluate our system. In this paper, we describe our method, identify the most valuable features, and analyze the results that were obtained in the experiment. We estimate the quality of these features and the performance of automatic detection of (collaborating) pickpockets. The results show that many of the pickpockets can be detected at a low false alarm rate.

J-Adaptive estimation with estimated noise statistics. [for orbit determination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jazwinski, A. H.; Hipkins, C.

1975-01-01

The J-Adaptive estimator described by Jazwinski and Hipkins (1972) is extended to include the simultaneous estimation of the statistics of the unmodeled system accelerations. With the aid of simulations it is demonstrated that the J-Adaptive estimator with estimated noise statistics can automatically estimate satellite orbits to an accuracy comparable with the data noise levels, when excellent, continuous tracking coverage is available. Such tracking coverage will be available from satellite-to-satellite tracking.

Intelligent surgical laser system configuration and software implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsueh, Chi-Fu T.; Bille, Josef F.

1992-06-01

An intelligent surgical laser system, which can help the ophthalmologist to achieve higher precision and control during their procedures, has been developed by ISL as model CLS 4001. In addition to the laser and laser delivery system, the system is also equipped with a vision system (IPU), robotics motion control (MCU), and a tracking closed loop system (ETS) that tracks the eye in three dimensions (X, Y and Z). The initial patient setup is computer controlled with guidance from the vision system. The tracking system is automatically engaged when the target is in position. A multi-level tracking system is developed by integrating our vision and tracking systems which have been able to maintain our laser beam precisely on target. The capabilities of the automatic eye setup and the tracking in three dimensions provides for improved accuracy and measurement repeatability. The system is operated through the Surgical Control Unit (SCU). The SCU communicates with the IPU and the MCU through both ethernet and RS232. Various scanning pattern (i.e., line, curve, circle, spiral, etc.) can be selected with given parameters. When a warning is activated, a voice message is played that will normally require a panel touch acknowledgement. The reliability of the system is ensured in three levels: (1) hardware, (2) software real time monitoring, and (3) user. The system is currently under clinical validation.

Arterial tree tracking from anatomical landmarks in magnetic resonance angiography scans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neil, Alison; Beveridge, Erin; Houston, Graeme; McCormick, Lynne; Poole, Ian

2014-03-01

This paper reports on arterial tree tracking in fourteen Contrast Enhanced MRA volumetric scans, given the positions of a predefined set of vascular landmarks, by using the A* algorithm to find the optimal path for each vessel based on voxel intensity and a learnt vascular probability atlas. The algorithm is intended for use in conjunction with an automatic landmark detection step, to enable fully automatic arterial tree tracking. The scan is filtered to give two further images using the top-hat transform with 4mm and 8mm cubic structuring elements. Vessels are then tracked independently on the scan in which the vessel of interest is best enhanced, as determined from knowledge of typical vessel diameter and surrounding structures. A vascular probability atlas modelling expected vessel location and orientation is constructed by non-rigidly registering the training scans to the test scan using a 3D thin plate spline to match landmark correspondences, and employing kernel density estimation with the ground truth center line points to form a probability density distribution. Threshold estimation by histogram analysis is used to segment background from vessel intensities. The A* algorithm is run using a linear cost function constructed from the threshold and the vascular atlas prior. Tracking results are presented for all major arteries excluding those in the upper limbs. An improvement was observed when tracking was informed by contextual information, with particular benefit for peripheral vessels.

Measuring the lesion load of multiple sclerosis patients within the corticospinal tract

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Jan; Hanken, Katrin; Koceva, Jasna; Hildebrandt, Helmut; Hahn, Horst K.

2015-03-01

In this paper we present a framework for reliable determination of the lesion load within the corticospinal tract (CST) of multiple sclerosis patients. The basis constitutes a probabilistic fiber tracking approach which checks possible parameter intervals on the fly using an anatomical brain atlas. By exploiting the range of those intervals, the algorithm is able to resolve fiber crossings and to determine the CST in its full entity although it can use a simple diffusion tensor model. Another advantage is its short running time, tracking the CST takes less than a minute. For segmenting the lesions we developed a semi-automatic approach. First, a trained classifier is applied to multimodal MRI data (T1/FLAIR) where the spectrum of lesions has been determined in advance by a clustering algorithm. This leads to an automatic detection of the lesions which can be manually corrected afterwards using a threshold-based approach. For evaluation we scanned 46 MS patients and 16 healthy controls. Fiber tracking has been performed using our novel fiber tracking and a standard defection based algorithm. Regression analysis of the old and new version of the algorithm showed a highly significant superiority of the new algorithm for disease duration. Additionally, a low correlation between old and new approach supports the observation that standard DTI fiber tracking is not always able to track and quantify the CST reliably.

Vertical-Control Subsystem for Automatic Coal Mining

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffiths, W. R.; Smirlock, M.; Aplin, J.; Fish, R. B.; Fish, D.

1984-01-01

Guidance and control system automatically positions cutting drums of double-ended longwall shearer so they follow coal seam. System determines location of upper interface between coal and shale and continuously adjusts cutting-drum positions, upward or downward, to track undulating interface. Objective to keep cutting edges as close as practicable to interface and thus extract as much coal as possible from seam.

Method of center localization for objects containing concentric arcs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsova, Elena G.; Shvets, Evgeny A.; Nikolaev, Dmitry P.

2015-02-01

This paper proposes a method for automatic center location of objects containing concentric arcs. The method utilizes structure tensor analysis and voting scheme optimized with Fast Hough Transform. Two applications of the proposed method are considered: (i) wheel tracking in video-based system for automatic vehicle classification and (ii) tree growth rings analysis on a tree cross cut image.

Functional relationships among monitoring performance: Subjective report of thought process and compromising states of awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freeman, Frederick

1995-01-01

A biocybernetic system for use in adaptive automation was evaluated using EEG indices based on the beta, alpha, and theta bandwidths. Subjects performed a compensatory tracking task while their EEG was recorded and one of three engagement indices was derived: beta/(alpha + theta), beta/alpha, or 1/alpha. The task was switched between manual and automatic modes as a function of the subjects' level of engagement and whether they were under a positive or negative feedback condition. It was hypothesized that negative feedback would produce more switches between manual and automatic modes, and that the beta/(alpha + theta) index would produce the strongest effect. The results confirmed these hypotheses. There were no systematic changes in these effects over three 16-minute trials. Tracking performance was found to be better under negative feedback. An analysis of the different EEG bands under positive and negative feedback in manual and automatic modes found more beta power in the positive feedback/manual condition and less in the positive feedback/automatic condition. The opposite effect was observed for alpha and theta power. The implications of biocybernetic systems for adaptive automation are discussed.

Pyroclast Tracking Velocimetry: A particle tracking velocimetry-based tool for the study of Strombolian explosive eruptions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaudin, Damien; Moroni, Monica; Taddeucci, Jacopo; Scarlato, Piergiorgio; Shindler, Luca

2014-07-01

Image-based techniques enable high-resolution observation of the pyroclasts ejected during Strombolian explosions and drawing inferences on the dynamics of volcanic activity. However, data extraction from high-resolution videos is time consuming and operator dependent, while automatic analysis is often challenging due to the highly variable quality of images collected in the field. Here we present a new set of algorithms to automatically analyze image sequences of explosive eruptions: the pyroclast tracking velocimetry (PyTV) toolbox. First, a significant preprocessing is used to remove the image background and to detect the pyroclasts. Then, pyroclast tracking is achieved with a new particle tracking velocimetry algorithm, featuring an original predictor of velocity based on the optical flow equation. Finally, postprocessing corrects the systematic errors of measurements. Four high-speed videos of Strombolian explosions from Yasur and Stromboli volcanoes, representing various observation conditions, have been used to test the efficiency of the PyTV against manual analysis. In all cases, >106 pyroclasts have been successfully detected and tracked by PyTV, with a precision of 1 m/s for the velocity and 20% for the size of the pyroclast. On each video, more than 1000 tracks are several meters long, enabling us to study pyroclast properties and trajectories. Compared to manual tracking, 3 to 100 times more pyroclasts are analyzed. PyTV, by providing time-constrained information, links physical properties and motion of individual pyroclasts. It is a powerful tool for the study of explosive volcanic activity, as well as an ideal complement for other geological and geophysical volcano observation systems.

High precision dual-axis tracking solar wireless charging system based on the four quadrant photoelectric sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhilong; Wang, Biao; Tong, Weichao

2015-08-01

This paper designs a solar automatic tracking wireless charging system based on the four quadrant photoelectric sensor. The system track the sun's rays automatically in real time to received the maximum energy and wireless charging to the load through electromagnetic coupling. Four quadrant photoelectric sensor responsive to the solar spectrum, the system could get the current azimuth and elevation angle of the light by calculating the solar energy incident on the sensor profile. System driver the solar panels by the biaxial movement mechanism to rotate and tilt movement until the battery plate and light perpendicular to each other. Maximize the use of solar energy, and does not require external power supply to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Solar energy can be collected for portable devices and load wireless charging by close electromagnetic field coupling. Experimental data show that: Four quadrant photoelectric sensor more sensitive to light angle measurement. when track positioning solar light, Azimuth deviation is less than 0.8°, Elevation angle deviation is less than 0.6°. Use efficiency of a conventional solar cell is only 10% -20%.The system uses a Four quadrant dual-axis tracking to raise the utilization rate of 25% -35%.Wireless charging electromagnetic coupling efficiency reached 60%.

An automatic method to detect and track the glottal gap from high speed videoendoscopic images.

PubMed

Andrade-Miranda, Gustavo; Godino-Llorente, Juan I; Moro-Velázquez, Laureano; Gómez-García, Jorge Andrés

2015-10-29

The image-based analysis of the vocal folds vibration plays an important role in the diagnosis of voice disorders. The analysis is based not only on the direct observation of the video sequences, but also in an objective characterization of the phonation process by means of features extracted from the recorded images. However, such analysis is based on a previous accurate identification of the glottal gap, which is the most challenging step for a further automatic assessment of the vocal folds vibration. In this work, a complete framework to automatically segment and track the glottal area (or glottal gap) is proposed. The algorithm identifies a region of interest that is adapted along time, and combine active contours and watershed transform for the final delineation of the glottis and also an automatic procedure for synthesize different videokymograms is proposed. Thanks to the ROI implementation, our technique is robust to the camera shifting and also the objective test proved the effectiveness and performance of the approach in the most challenging scenarios that it is when exist an inappropriate closure of the vocal folds. The novelties of the proposed algorithm relies on the used of temporal information for identify an adaptive ROI and the use of watershed merging combined with active contours for the glottis delimitation. Additionally, an automatic procedure for synthesize multiline VKG by the identification of the glottal main axis is developed.

Hybrid tracking and control system for computer-aided retinal surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferguson, R. D.; Wright, Cameron H. G.; Rylander, Henry G., III; Welch, Ashley J.; Barrett, Steven F.

1996-05-01

We describe initial experimental results of a new hybrid digital and analog design for retinal tracking and laser beam control. Initial results demonstrate tracking rates which exceed the equivalent of 50 degrees per second in the eye, with automatic lesion pattern creation and robust loss of lock detection. Robotically assisted laser surgery to treat conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and retinal tears can now be realized under clinical conditions with requisite safety using standard video hardware and inexpensive optical components.

Query Expansion for Noisy Legal Documents

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

9] G. Salton (ed). The SMART retrieval system experiments in automatic document processing. 1971. [10] H. Schutze and J . Pedersen. A cooccurrence...Language Modeling and Information Retrieval. http://www.lemurproject.org. [2] J . Baron, D. Lewis, and D. Oard. TREC 2006 legal track overview. In...Retrieval, 1993. [8] J . Rocchio. Relevance feedback in information retrieval. In The SMART retrieval system experiments in automatic document processing, 1971

AFETR Instrumentation Handbook

DTIC Science & Technology

1971-09-01

of time. From this, vehicle velocity and acceleration can be computed. LOCATION Three Askanias are mobile and may be located at selected universal...Being mobile , these cinetheodolites may be placed for optimum launch coverage. Preprogrammed focusing is provided for automatic focus from 2000 and 8000...console trailer. IR (lead sulfide sensor ) Automatic Tracking System with 1 to 20 miles range. Elevation range: -10 deg to +90 deg Azimuth range: 350

Tracking multiple surgical instruments in a near-infrared optical system.

PubMed

Cai, Ken; Yang, Rongqian; Lin, Qinyong; Wang, Zhigang

2016-12-01

Surgical navigation systems can assist doctors in performing more precise and more efficient surgical procedures to avoid various accidents. The near-infrared optical system (NOS) is an important component of surgical navigation systems. However, several surgical instruments are used during surgery, and effectively tracking all of them is challenging. A stereo matching algorithm using two intersecting lines and surgical instrument codes is proposed in this paper. In our NOS, the markers on the surgical instruments can be captured by two near-infrared cameras. After automatically searching and extracting their subpixel coordinates in the left and right images, the coordinates of the real and pseudo markers are determined by the two intersecting lines. Finally, the pseudo markers are removed to achieve accurate stereo matching by summing the codes for the distances between a specific marker with the other two markers on the surgical instrument. Experimental results show that the markers on the different surgical instruments can be automatically and accurately recognized. The NOS can accurately track multiple surgical instruments.

Control Method for Video Guidance Sensor System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A method is provided for controlling operations in a video guidance sensor system wherein images of laser output signals transmitted by the system and returned from a target are captured and processed by the system to produce data used in tracking of the target. Six modes of operation are provided as follows: (i) a reset mode; (ii) a diagnostic mode; (iii) a standby mode; (iv) an acquisition mode; (v) a tracking mode; and (vi) a spot mode wherein captured images of returned laser signals are processed to produce data for all spots found in the image. The method provides for automatic transition to the standby mode from the reset mode after integrity checks are performed and from the diagnostic mode to the reset mode after diagnostic operations are commands is permitted only when the system is in the carried out. Further, acceptance of reset and diagnostic standby mode. The method also provides for automatic transition from the acquisition mode to the tracking mode when an acceptable target is found.

Control method for video guidance sensor system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T. (Inventor); Book, Michael L. (Inventor); Bryan, Thomas C. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A method is provided for controlling operations in a video guidance sensor system wherein images of laser output signals transmitted by the system and returned from a target are captured and processed by the system to produce data used in tracking of the target. Six modes of operation are provided as follows: (i) a reset mode; (ii) a diagnostic mode; (iii) a standby mode; (iv) an acquisition mode; (v) a tracking mode; and (vi) a spot mode wherein captured images of returned laser signals are processed to produce data for all spots found in the image. The method provides for automatic transition to the standby mode from the reset mode after integrity checks are performed and from the diagnostic mode to the reset mode after diagnostic operations are carried out. Further, acceptance of reset and diagnostic commands is permitted only when the system is in the standby mode. The method also provides for automatic transition from the acquisition mode to the tracking mode when an acceptable target is found.

Automatic respiration tracking for radiotherapy using optical 3D camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tuotuo; Geng, Jason; Li, Shidong

2013-03-01

Rapid optical three-dimensional (O3D) imaging systems provide accurate digitized 3D surface data in real-time, with no patient contact nor radiation. The accurate 3D surface images offer crucial information in image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) treatments for accurate patient repositioning and respiration management. However, applications of O3D imaging techniques to image-guided radiotherapy have been clinically challenged by body deformation, pathological and anatomical variations among individual patients, extremely high dimensionality of the 3D surface data, and irregular respiration motion. In existing clinical radiation therapy (RT) procedures target displacements are caused by (1) inter-fractional anatomy changes due to weight, swell, food/water intake; (2) intra-fractional variations from anatomy changes within any treatment session due to voluntary/involuntary physiologic processes (e.g. respiration, muscle relaxation); (3) patient setup misalignment in daily reposition due to user errors; and (4) changes of marker or positioning device, etc. Presently, viable solution is lacking for in-vivo tracking of target motion and anatomy changes during the beam-on time without exposing patient with additional ionized radiation or high magnet field. Current O3D-guided radiotherapy systems relay on selected points or areas in the 3D surface to track surface motion. The configuration of the marks or areas may change with time that makes it inconsistent in quantifying and interpreting the respiration patterns. To meet the challenge of performing real-time respiration tracking using O3D imaging technology in IGRT, we propose a new approach to automatic respiration motion analysis based on linear dimensionality reduction technique based on PCA (principle component analysis). Optical 3D image sequence is decomposed with principle component analysis into a limited number of independent (orthogonal) motion patterns (a low dimension eigen-space span by eigen-vectors). New images can be accurately represented as weighted summation of those eigen-vectors, which can be easily discriminated with a trained classifier. We developed algorithms, software and integrated with an O3D imaging system to perform the respiration tracking automatically. The resulting respiration tracking system requires no human intervene during it tracking operation. Experimental results show that our approach to respiration tracking is more accurate and robust than the methods using manual selected markers, even in the presence of incomplete imaging data.

A software solution for recording circadian oscillator features in time-lapse live cell microscopy.

PubMed

Sage, Daniel; Unser, Michael; Salmon, Patrick; Dibner, Charna

2010-07-06

Fluorescent and bioluminescent time-lapse microscopy approaches have been successfully used to investigate molecular mechanisms underlying the mammalian circadian oscillator at the single cell level. However, most of the available software and common methods based on intensity-threshold segmentation and frame-to-frame tracking are not applicable in these experiments. This is due to cell movement and dramatic changes in the fluorescent/bioluminescent reporter protein during the circadian cycle, with the lowest expression level very close to the background intensity. At present, the standard approach to analyze data sets obtained from time lapse microscopy is either manual tracking or application of generic image-processing software/dedicated tracking software. To our knowledge, these existing software solutions for manual and automatic tracking have strong limitations in tracking individual cells if their plane shifts. In an attempt to improve existing methodology of time-lapse tracking of a large number of moving cells, we have developed a semi-automatic software package. It extracts the trajectory of the cells by tracking theirs displacements, makes the delineation of cell nucleus or whole cell, and finally yields measurements of various features, like reporter protein expression level or cell displacement. As an example, we present here single cell circadian pattern and motility analysis of NIH3T3 mouse fibroblasts expressing a fluorescent circadian reporter protein. Using Circadian Gene Express plugin, we performed fast and nonbiased analysis of large fluorescent time lapse microscopy datasets. Our software solution, Circadian Gene Express (CGE), is easy to use and allows precise and semi-automatic tracking of moving cells over longer period of time. In spite of significant circadian variations in protein expression with extremely low expression levels at the valley phase, CGE allows accurate and efficient recording of large number of cell parameters, including level of reporter protein expression, velocity, direction of movement, and others. CGE proves to be useful for the analysis of widefield fluorescent microscopy datasets, as well as for bioluminescence imaging. Moreover, it might be easily adaptable for confocal image analysis by manually choosing one of the focal planes of each z-stack of the various time points of a time series. CGE is a Java plugin for ImageJ; it is freely available at: http://bigwww.epfl.ch/sage/soft/circadian/.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Guided versus Surrogate-Based Motion Tracking in Liver Radiation Therapy: A Prospective Comparative Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paganelli, Chiara, E-mail: chiara.paganelli@polimi.it; Seregni, Matteo; Fattori, Giovanni

Purpose: This study applied automatic feature detection on cine–magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) liver images in order to provide a prospective comparison between MRI-guided and surrogate-based tracking methods for motion-compensated liver radiation therapy. Methods and Materials: In a population of 30 subjects (5 volunteers plus 25 patients), 2 oblique sagittal slices were acquired across the liver at high temporal resolution. An algorithm based on scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) was used to extract and track multiple features throughout the image sequence. The position of abdominal markers was also measured directly from the image series, and the internal motion of each featuremore » was quantified through multiparametric analysis. Surrogate-based tumor tracking with a state-of-the-art external/internal correlation model was simulated. The geometrical tracking error was measured, and its correlation with external motion parameters was also investigated. Finally, the potential gain in tracking accuracy relying on MRI guidance was quantified as a function of the maximum allowed tracking error. Results: An average of 45 features was extracted for each subject across the whole liver. The multi-parametric motion analysis reported relevant inter- and intrasubject variability, highlighting the value of patient-specific and spatially-distributed measurements. Surrogate-based tracking errors (relative to the motion amplitude) were were in the range 7% to 23% (1.02-3.57mm) and were significantly influenced by external motion parameters. The gain of MRI guidance compared to surrogate-based motion tracking was larger than 30% in 50% of the subjects when considering a 1.5-mm tracking error tolerance. Conclusions: Automatic feature detection applied to cine-MRI allows detailed liver motion description to be obtained. Such information was used to quantify the performance of surrogate-based tracking methods and to provide a prospective comparison with respect to MRI-guided radiation therapy, which could support the definition of patient-specific optimal treatment strategies.« less

A long-term tropical mesoscale convective systems dataset based on a novel objective automatic tracking algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xiaomeng; Hu, Chenqi; Huang, Xing; Chu, Yang; Tseng, Yu-heng; Zhang, Guang Jun; Lin, Yanluan

2018-01-01

Mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are important components of tropical weather systems and the climate system. Long-term data of MCS are of great significance in weather and climate research. Using long-term (1985-2008) global satellite infrared (IR) data, we developed a novel objective automatic tracking algorithm, which combines a Kalman filter (KF) with the conventional area-overlapping method, to generate a comprehensive MCS dataset. The new algorithm can effectively track small and fast-moving MCSs and thus obtain more realistic and complete tracking results than previous studies. A few examples are provided to illustrate the potential application of the dataset with a focus on the diurnal variations of MCSs over land and ocean regions. We find that the MCSs occurring over land tend to initiate in the afternoon with greater intensity, but the oceanic MCSs are more likely to initiate in the early morning with weaker intensity. A double peak in the maximum spatial coverage is noted over the western Pacific, especially over the southwestern Pacific during the austral summer. Oceanic MCSs also persist for approximately 1 h longer than their continental counterparts.

Automated multi-day tracking of marked mice for the analysis of social behaviour.

PubMed

Ohayon, Shay; Avni, Ofer; Taylor, Adam L; Perona, Pietro; Roian Egnor, S E

2013-09-30

A quantitative description of animal social behaviour is informative for behavioural biologists and clinicians developing drugs to treat social disorders. Social interaction in a group of animals has been difficult to measure because behaviour develops over long periods of time and requires tedious manual scoring, which is subjective and often non-reproducible. Computer-vision systems with the ability to measure complex social behaviour automatically would have a transformative impact on biology. Here, we present a method for tracking group-housed mice individually as they freely interact over multiple days. Each mouse is bleach-marked with a unique fur pattern. The patterns are automatically learned by the tracking software and used to infer identities. Trajectories are analysed to measure behaviour as it develops over days, beyond the range of acute experiments. We demonstrate how our system may be used to study the development of place preferences, associations and social relationships by tracking four mice continuously for five days. Our system enables accurate and reproducible characterisation of wild-type mouse social behaviour and paves the way for high-throughput long-term observation of the effects of genetic, pharmacological and environmental manipulations. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated personalized feedback for physical activity and dietary behavior change with mobile phones: a randomized controlled trial on adults.

PubMed

Rabbi, Mashfiqui; Pfammatter, Angela; Zhang, Mi; Spring, Bonnie; Choudhury, Tanzeem

2015-05-14

A dramatic rise in health-tracking apps for mobile phones has occurred recently. Rich user interfaces make manual logging of users' behaviors easier and more pleasant, and sensors make tracking effortless. To date, however, feedback technologies have been limited to providing overall statistics, attractive visualization of tracked data, or simple tailoring based on age, gender, and overall calorie or activity information. There are a lack of systems that can perform automated translation of behavioral data into specific actionable suggestions that promote healthier lifestyle without any human involvement. MyBehavior, a mobile phone app, was designed to process tracked physical activity and eating behavior data in order to provide personalized, actionable, low-effort suggestions that are contextualized to the user's environment and previous behavior. This study investigated the technical feasibility of implementing an automated feedback system, the impact of the suggestions on user physical activity and eating behavior, and user perceptions of the automatically generated suggestions. MyBehavior was designed to (1) use a combination of automatic and manual logging to track physical activity (eg, walking, running, gym), user location, and food, (2) automatically analyze activity and food logs to identify frequent and nonfrequent behaviors, and (3) use a standard machine-learning, decision-making algorithm, called multi-armed bandit (MAB), to generate personalized suggestions that ask users to either continue, avoid, or make small changes to existing behaviors to help users reach behavioral goals. We enrolled 17 participants, all motivated to self-monitor and improve their fitness, in a pilot study of MyBehavior. In a randomized two-group trial, investigators randomly assigned participants to receive either MyBehavior's personalized suggestions (n=9) or nonpersonalized suggestions (n=8), created by professionals, from a mobile phone app over 3 weeks. Daily activity level and dietary intake was monitored from logged data. At the end of the study, an in-person survey was conducted that asked users to subjectively rate their intention to follow MyBehavior suggestions. In qualitative daily diary, interview, and survey data, users reported MyBehavior suggestions to be highly actionable and stated that they intended to follow the suggestions. MyBehavior users walked significantly more than the control group over the 3 weeks of the study (P=.05). Although some MyBehavior users chose lower-calorie foods, the between-group difference was not significant (P=.15). In a poststudy survey, users rated MyBehavior's personalized suggestions more positively than the nonpersonalized, generic suggestions created by professionals (P<.001). MyBehavior is a simple-to-use mobile phone app with preliminary evidence of efficacy. To the best of our knowledge, MyBehavior represents the first attempt to create personalized, contextualized, actionable suggestions automatically from self-tracked information (ie, manual food logging and automatic tracking of activity). Lessons learned about the difficulty of manual logging and usability concerns, as well as future directions, are discussed. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02359981; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02359981 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6YCeoN8nv).

Intelligent and automatic in vivo detection and quantification of transplanted cells in MRI.

PubMed

Afridi, Muhammad Jamal; Ross, Arun; Liu, Xiaoming; Bennewitz, Margaret F; Shuboni, Dorela D; Shapiro, Erik M

2017-11-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based cell tracking has emerged as a useful tool for identifying the location of transplanted cells, and even their migration. Magnetically labeled cells appear as dark contrast in T2*-weighted MRI, with sensitivities of individual cells. One key hurdle to the widespread use of MRI-based cell tracking is the inability to determine the number of transplanted cells based on this contrast feature. In the case of single cell detection, manual enumeration of spots in three-dimensional (3D) MRI in principle is possible; however, it is a tedious and time-consuming task that is prone to subjectivity and inaccuracy on a large scale. This research presents the first comprehensive study on how a computer-based intelligent, automatic, and accurate cell quantification approach can be designed for spot detection in MRI scans. Magnetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were transplanted into rats using an intracardiac injection, accomplishing single cell seeding in the brain. T2*-weighted MRI of these rat brains were performed where labeled MSCs appeared as spots. Using machine learning and computer vision paradigms, approaches were designed to systematically explore the possibility of automatic detection of these spots in MRI. Experiments were validated against known in vitro scenarios. Using the proposed deep convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture, an in vivo accuracy up to 97.3% and in vitro accuracy of up to 99.8% was achieved for automated spot detection in MRI data. The proposed approach for automatic quantification of MRI-based cell tracking will facilitate the use of MRI in large-scale cell therapy studies. Magn Reson Med 78:1991-2002, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

System Identification and Automatic Mass Balancing of Ground-Based Three-Axis Spacecraft Simulator

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

commanded torque to move away from these singularity points. The introduction of this error may not degrade the performance for large slew angle ...trajectory has been generated and quaternion feedback control has been implemented for reference trajectory tracking. The testbed was reasonably well...System Identification and Automatic Mass Balancing of Ground-Based Three-Axis Spacecraft Simulator Jae-Jun Kim∗ and Brij N. Agrawal † Department of

Integrating different tracking systems in football: multiple camera semi-automatic system, local position measurement and GPS technologies.

PubMed

Buchheit, Martin; Allen, Adam; Poon, Tsz Kit; Modonutti, Mattia; Gregson, Warren; Di Salvo, Valter

2014-12-01

Abstract During the past decade substantial development of computer-aided tracking technology has occurred. Therefore, we aimed to provide calibration equations to allow the interchangeability of different tracking technologies used in soccer. Eighty-two highly trained soccer players (U14-U17) were monitored during training and one match. Player activity was collected simultaneously with a semi-automatic multiple-camera (Prozone), local position measurement (LPM) technology (Inmotio) and two global positioning systems (GPSports and VX). Data were analysed with respect to three different field dimensions (small, <30 m 2 to full-pitch, match). Variables provided by the systems were compared, and calibration equations (linear regression models) between each system were calculated for each field dimension. Most metrics differed between the 4 systems with the magnitude of the differences dependant on both pitch size and the variable of interest. Trivial-to-small between-system differences in total distance were noted. However, high-intensity running distance (>14.4 km · h -1 ) was slightly-to-moderately greater when tracked with Prozone, and accelerations, small-to-very largely greater with LPM. For most of the equations, the typical error of the estimate was of a moderate magnitude. Interchangeability of the different tracking systems is possible with the provided equations, but care is required given their moderate typical error of the estimate.

Interactive segmentation of tongue contours in ultrasound video sequences using quality maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghrenassia, Sarah; Ménard, Lucie; Laporte, Catherine

2014-03-01

Ultrasound (US) imaging is an effective and non invasive way of studying the tongue motions involved in normal and pathological speech, and the results of US studies are of interest for the development of new strategies in speech therapy. State-of-the-art tongue shape analysis techniques based on US images depend on semi-automated tongue segmentation and tracking techniques. Recent work has mostly focused on improving the accuracy of the tracking techniques themselves. However, occasional errors remain inevitable, regardless of the technique used, and the tongue tracking process must thus be supervised by a speech scientist who will correct these errors manually or semi-automatically. This paper proposes an interactive framework to facilitate this process. In this framework, the user is guided towards potentially problematic portions of the US image sequence by a segmentation quality map that is based on the normalized energy of an active contour model and automatically produced during tracking. When a problematic segmentation is identified, corrections to the segmented contour can be made on one image and propagated both forward and backward in the problematic subsequence, thereby improving the user experience. The interactive tools were tested in combination with two different tracking algorithms. Preliminary results illustrate the potential of the proposed framework, suggesting that the proposed framework generally improves user interaction time, with little change in segmentation repeatability.

Video-assisted segmentation of speech and audio track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandit, Medha; Yusoff, Yusseri; Kittler, Josef; Christmas, William J.; Chilton, E. H. S.

1999-08-01

Video database research is commonly concerned with the storage and retrieval of visual information invovling sequence segmentation, shot representation and video clip retrieval. In multimedia applications, video sequences are usually accompanied by a sound track. The sound track contains potential cues to aid shot segmentation such as different speakers, background music, singing and distinctive sounds. These different acoustic categories can be modeled to allow for an effective database retrieval. In this paper, we address the problem of automatic segmentation of audio track of multimedia material. This audio based segmentation can be combined with video scene shot detection in order to achieve partitioning of the multimedia material into semantically significant segments.

Note: Application of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors for quality assurance of mixed oxide fuel pellets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kodaira, S., E-mail: koda@nirs.go.jp; Kurano, M.; Hosogane, T.

A CR-39 plastic nuclear track detector was used for quality assurance of mixed oxide fuel pellets for next-generation nuclear power plants. Plutonium (Pu) spot sizes and concentrations in the pellets are significant parameters for safe use in the plants. We developed an automatic Pu detection system based on dense α-radiation tracks in the CR-39 detectors. This system would greatly improve image processing time and measurement accuracy, and will be a powerful tool for rapid pellet quality assurance screening.

Computer-aided target tracking in motion analysis studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdick, Dominic C.; Marcuse, M. L.; Mislan, J. D.

1990-08-01

Motion analysis studies require the precise tracking of reference objects in sequential scenes. In a typical situation, events of interest are captured at high frame rates using special cameras, and selected objects or targets are tracked on a frame by frame basis to provide necessary data for motion reconstruction. Tracking is usually done using manual methods which are slow and prone to error. A computer based image analysis system has been developed that performs tracking automatically. The objective of this work was to eliminate the bottleneck due to manual methods in high volume tracking applications such as the analysis of crash test films for the automotive industry. The system has proven to be successful in tracking standard fiducial targets and other objects in crash test scenes. Over 95 percent of target positions which could be located using manual methods can be tracked by the system, with a significant improvement in throughput over manual methods. Future work will focus on the tracking of clusters of targets and on tracking deformable objects such as airbags.

A tool to automatically analyze electromagnetic tracking data from high dose rate brachytherapy of breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Götz, Th I; Lahmer, G; Strnad, V; Bert, Ch; Hensel, B; Tomé, A M; Lang, E W

2017-01-01

During High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR-BT) the spatial position of the radiation source inside catheters implanted into a female breast is determined via electromagnetic tracking (EMT). Dwell positions and dwell times of the radiation source are established, relative to the patient's anatomy, from an initial X-ray-CT-image. During the irradiation treatment, catheter displacements can occur due to patient movements. The current study develops an automatic analysis tool of EMT data sets recorded with a solenoid sensor to assure concordance of the source movement with the treatment plan. The tool combines machine learning techniques such as multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and particle filter (PF) to precisely detect and quantify any mismatch between the treatment plan and actual EMT measurements. We demonstrate that movement artifacts as well as technical signal distortions can be removed automatically and reliably, resulting in artifact-free reconstructed signals. This is a prerequisite for a highly accurate determination of any deviations of dwell positions from the treatment plan.

Automatic Calibration Method for Driver’s Head Orientation in Natural Driving Environment

PubMed Central

Fu, Xianping; Guan, Xiao; Peli, Eli; Liu, Hongbo; Luo, Gang

2013-01-01

Gaze tracking is crucial for studying driver’s attention, detecting fatigue, and improving driver assistance systems, but it is difficult in natural driving environments due to nonuniform and highly variable illumination and large head movements. Traditional calibrations that require subjects to follow calibrators are very cumbersome to be implemented in daily driving situations. A new automatic calibration method, based on a single camera for determining the head orientation and which utilizes the side mirrors, the rear-view mirror, the instrument board, and different zones in the windshield as calibration points, is presented in this paper. Supported by a self-learning algorithm, the system tracks the head and categorizes the head pose in 12 gaze zones based on facial features. The particle filter is used to estimate the head pose to obtain an accurate gaze zone by updating the calibration parameters. Experimental results show that, after several hours of driving, the automatic calibration method without driver’s corporation can achieve the same accuracy as a manual calibration method. The mean error of estimated eye gazes was less than 5°in day and night driving. PMID:24639620

A Study on the Deriving Requirements of ARGO Operation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Yoon-Kyung; Rew, Dong-Young; Lim, Hyung-Chul; Park, In-Kwan; Yim, Hong-Suh; Jo, Jung Hyun; Park, Jong-Uk

2009-12-01

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has been developing one mobile and one stationary SLR system since 2008 named as ARGO-M and ARGO-F, respectively. KASI finished the step of deriving the system requirements of ARGO. The requirements include definitions and scopes of various software and hardware components which are necessary for developing the ARGO-M operation system. And the requirements define function, performance, and interface requirements. The operation system consisting of ARGO-M site, ARGO-F site, and Remote Operation Center (ROC) inside KASI is designed for remote access and the automatic tracking and control system which are the main operation concept of ARGO system. To accomplish remote operation, we are considering remote access to ARGO-F and ARGO-M from ROC. The mobile-phone service allows us to access the ARGO-F remotely and to control the system in an emergency. To implement fully automatic tracking and control function in ARGO-F, we have investigated and described the requirements about the automatic aircraft detection system and the various meteorological sensors. This paper addresses the requirements of ARGO Operation System.

A tool to automatically analyze electromagnetic tracking data from high dose rate brachytherapy of breast cancer patients

PubMed Central

Lahmer, G.; Strnad, V.; Bert, Ch.; Hensel, B.; Tomé, A. M.; Lang, E. W.

2017-01-01

During High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR-BT) the spatial position of the radiation source inside catheters implanted into a female breast is determined via electromagnetic tracking (EMT). Dwell positions and dwell times of the radiation source are established, relative to the patient’s anatomy, from an initial X-ray-CT-image. During the irradiation treatment, catheter displacements can occur due to patient movements. The current study develops an automatic analysis tool of EMT data sets recorded with a solenoid sensor to assure concordance of the source movement with the treatment plan. The tool combines machine learning techniques such as multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and particle filter (PF) to precisely detect and quantify any mismatch between the treatment plan and actual EMT measurements. We demonstrate that movement artifacts as well as technical signal distortions can be removed automatically and reliably, resulting in artifact-free reconstructed signals. This is a prerequisite for a highly accurate determination of any deviations of dwell positions from the treatment plan. PMID:28934238

Automatic localization of the da Vinci surgical instrument tips in 3-D transrectal ultrasound.

PubMed

Mohareri, Omid; Ramezani, Mahdi; Adebar, Troy K; Abolmaesumi, Purang; Salcudean, Septimiu E

2013-09-01

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) using the da Vinci surgical system is the current state-of-the-art treatment option for clinically confined prostate cancer. Given the limited field of view of the surgical site in RALRP, several groups have proposed the integration of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging in the surgical workflow to assist with accurate resection of the prostate and the sparing of the neurovascular bundles (NVBs). We previously introduced a robotic TRUS manipulator and a method for automatically tracking da Vinci surgical instruments with the TRUS imaging plane, in order to facilitate the integration of intraoperative TRUS in RALRP. Rapid and automatic registration of the kinematic frames of the da Vinci surgical system and the robotic TRUS probe manipulator is a critical component of the instrument tracking system. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic registration technique based on automatic 3-D TRUS localization of robot instrument tips pressed against the air-tissue boundary anterior to the prostate. The detection approach uses a multiscale filtering technique to identify and localize surgical instrument tips in the TRUS volume, and could also be used to detect other surface fiducials in 3-D ultrasound. Experiments have been performed using a tissue phantom and two ex vivo tissue samples to show the feasibility of the proposed methods. Also, an initial in vivo evaluation of the system has been carried out on a live anaesthetized dog with a da Vinci Si surgical system and a target registration error (defined as the root mean square distance of corresponding points after registration) of 2.68 mm has been achieved. Results show this method's accuracy and consistency for automatic registration of TRUS images to the da Vinci surgical system.

A Cost Estimation Analysis of U.S. Navy Ship Fuel-Savings Techniques and Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

readings to the boiler operator. The PLC will provide constant automatic trimming of the excess oxygen based upon real time SGA readings. An SCD...the author): The Aegis Combat System is controlled by an advanced, automatic detect-and-track, multi-function three-dimensional passive...subsequently offloaded. An Online Wash System would reduce these maintenance costs and improve fuel efficiency of these engines by keeping the engines

University of Glasgow at TREC 2008: Experiments in Blog, Enterprise, and Relevance Feedback Tracks with Terrier

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

improves our TREC 2007 dictionary -based approach by automatically building an internal opinion dictionary from the collection itself. We measure the opin...detecting opinionated documents. The first approach improves our TREC 2007 dictionary -based approach by automat- ically building an internal opinion... dictionary from the collection itself. The second approach is based on the OpinionFinder tool, which identifies subjective sentences in text. In particular

Autonomous antenna tracking system for mobile symphonie ground stations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ernsberger, K.; Lorch, G.; Waffenschmidt, E.

1982-01-01

The implementation of a satellite tracking and antenna control system is described. Due to the loss of inclination control for the symphonie satellites, it became necessary to equip the parabolic antennas of the mobile Symphonie ground station with tracking facilities. For the relatively low required tracking accuracy of 0.5 dB, a low cost, step track system was selected. The step track system developed for this purpose and tested over a long period of time in 7 ground stations is based on a search step method with subsequent parabola interpolation. As compared with the real search step method, the system has the advantage of a higher pointing angle resolution, and thus a higher tracking accuracy. When the pilot signal has been switched off for a long period of time, as for instance after the eclipse, the antenna is repointed towards the satellite by an automatically initiated spiral search scan. The function and design of the tracking system are detailed, while easy handling and tracking results.

Multi-Sensor Information Integration and Automatic Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-27

distributions for target tracks and class which are utilized by an active learning cueing management framework to optimally task the appropriate sensor...modality to cued regions of interest. Moreover, this active learning approach also facilitates analyst cueing to help resolve track ambiguities in complex...scenes. We intend to leverage SIG’s active learning with analyst cueing under future efforts with ONR and other DoD agencies. Obtaining long- term

Multi-Sensor Information Integration and Automatic Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-08-27

distributions for target tracks and class which are utilized by an active learning cueing management framework to optimally task the appropriate sensor modality...to cued regions of interest. Moreover, this active learning approach also facilitates analyst cueing to help resolve track ambiguities in complex...scenes. We intend to leverage SIG’s active learning with analyst cueing under future efforts with ONR and other DoD agencies. Obtaining long- term

Velocities along Byrd Glacier, East Antarctica, derived from Automatic Feature Tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stearns, L. A.; Hamilton, G. S.

2003-12-01

Automatic feature tracking techniques are applied to recently acquired ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) imagery in order to determine the velocity field of Byrd Glacier, East Antarctica. The software IMCORR tracks the displacement of surface features (crevasses, drift mounds) in time sequential images, to produce the velocity field. Due to its high resolution, ASTER imagery is ideally suited for detecting small features changes. The produced result is a dense array of velocity vectors, which allows more thorough characterization of glacier dynamics. Byrd Glacier drains approximately 20.5 km3 of ice into the Ross Ice Shelf every year. Previous studies have determined ice velocities for Byrd Glacier by using photogrammetry, field measurements and manual feature tracking. The most recent velocity data is from 1986 and, as evident in the West Antarctic ice streams, substantial changes in velocity can occur on decadal time scales. The application of ASTER-based velocities fills this time lapse, and increased temporal resolution allows for a more complete analysis of Byrd Glacier. The ASTER-derived ice velocities are used in updating mass balance and force budget calculations to assess the stability of Byrd Glacier. Ice thickness information from BEDMAP, surface slopes from the OSUDEM and a compilation of accumulation rates are used to complete the calculations.

Simultaneous Detection and Tracking of Pedestrian from Panoramic Laser Scanning Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Wen; Vallet, Bruno; Schindler, Konrad; Paparoditis, Nicolas

2016-06-01

Pedestrian traffic flow estimation is essential for public place design and construction planning. Traditional data collection by human investigation is tedious, inefficient and expensive. Panoramic laser scanners, e.g. Velodyne HDL-64E, which scan surroundings repetitively at a high frequency, have been increasingly used for 3D object tracking. In this paper, a simultaneous detection and tracking (SDAT) method is proposed for precise and automatic pedestrian trajectory recovery. First, the dynamic environment is detected using two different methods, Nearest-point and Max-distance. Then, all the points on moving objects are transferred into a space-time (x, y, t) coordinate system. The pedestrian detection and tracking amounts to assign the points belonging to pedestrians into continuous trajectories in space-time. We formulate the point assignment task as an energy function which incorporates the point evidence, trajectory number, pedestrian shape and motion. A low energy trajectory will well explain the point observations, and have plausible trajectory trend and length. The method inherently filters out points from other moving objects and false detections. The energy function is solved by a two-step optimization process: tracklet detection in a short temporal window; and global tracklet association through the whole time span. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can automatically recover the pedestrians trajectories with accurate positions and low false detections and mismatches.

Development of a DC propulsion system for an electric vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelledes, W. L.

1984-01-01

The suitability of the Eaton automatically shifted mechanical transaxle concept for use in a near-term dc powered electric vehicle is evaluated. A prototype dc propulsion system for a passenger electric vehicle was designed, fabricated, tested, installed in a modified Mercury Lynx vehicle and track tested at the contractor's site. The system consisted of a two-axis, three-speed, automatically-shifted mechanical transaxle, 15.2 Kw rated, separately excited traction motor, and a transistorized motor controller with a single chopper providing limited armature current below motor base speed and full range field control above base speed at up to twice rated motor current. The controller utilized a microprocessor to perform motor and vehicle speed monitoring and shift sequencing by means of solenoids applying hydraulic pressure to the transaxle clutches. Bench dynamometer and track testing was performed. Track testing showed best system efficiency for steady-state cruising speeds of 65-80 Km/Hz (40-50 mph). Test results include acceleration, steady speed and SAE J227A/D cycle energy consumption, braking tests and coast down to characterize the vehicle road load.

A Kalman-Filter-Based Common Algorithm Approach for Object Detection in Surgery Scene to Assist Surgeon's Situation Awareness in Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Although the use of the surgical robot is rapidly expanding for various medical treatments, there still exist safety issues and concerns about robot-assisted surgeries due to limited vision through a laparoscope, which may cause compromised situation awareness and surgical errors requiring rapid emergency conversion to open surgery. To assist surgeon's situation awareness and preventive emergency response, this study proposes situation information guidance through a vision-based common algorithm architecture for automatic detection and tracking of intraoperative hemorrhage and surgical instruments. The proposed common architecture comprises the location of the object of interest using feature texture, morphological information, and the tracking of the object based on Kalman filter for robustness with reduced error. The average recall and precision of the instrument detection in four prostate surgery videos were 96% and 86%, and the accuracy of the hemorrhage detection in two prostate surgery videos was 98%. Results demonstrate the robustness of the automatic intraoperative object detection and tracking which can be used to enhance the surgeon's preventive state recognition during robot-assisted surgery. PMID:29854366

Flight demonstrations of curved, descending approaches and automatic landings using time referenced scanning beam guidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, W. F. (Compiler)

1978-01-01

The Terminal Configured Vehicle (TCV) program operates a Boeing 737 modified to include a second cockpit and a large amount of experimental navigation, guidance and control equipment for research on advanced avionics systems. Demonstration flights to include curved approaches and automatic landings were tracked by a phototheodolite system. For 50 approaches during the demonstration flights, the following results were obtained: the navigation system, using TRSB guidance, delivered the aircraft onto the 3 nautical mile final approach leg with an average overshoot of 25 feet past centerline, subjet to a 2-sigma dispersion of 90 feet. Lateral tracking data showed a mean error of 4.6 feet left of centerline at the category 1 decision height (200 feet) and 2.7 feet left of centerline at the category 2 decision height (100 feet). These values were subject to a sigma dispersion of about 10 feet. Finally, the glidepath tracking errors were 2.5 feet and 3.0 feet high at the category 1 and 2 decision heights, respectively, with a 2 sigma value of 6 feet.

Robust multiple cue fusion-based high-speed and nonrigid object tracking algorithm for short track speed skating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chenguang; Cheng, Heng-Da; Zhang, Yingtao; Wang, Yuxuan; Xian, Min

2016-01-01

This paper presents a methodology for tracking multiple skaters in short track speed skating competitions. Nonrigid skaters move at high speed with severe occlusions happening frequently among them. The camera is panned quickly in order to capture the skaters in a large and dynamic scene. To automatically track the skaters and precisely output their trajectories becomes a challenging task in object tracking. We employ the global rink information to compensate camera motion and obtain the global spatial information of skaters, utilize random forest to fuse multiple cues and predict the blob of each skater, and finally apply a silhouette- and edge-based template-matching and blob-evolving method to labelling pixels to a skater. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method are verified through thorough experiments.

NLM at TREC 2012 Medical Records Track

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

automatic runs are not significantly above the medians. As in 2011, we conclude that the existing search engines are mature enough to support cohort selection tasks, and the quality of the queries could be

Multitarget mixture reduction algorithm with incorporated target existence recursions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ristic, Branko; Arulampalam, Sanjeev

2000-07-01

The paper derives a deferred logic data association algorithm based on the mixture reduction approach originally due to Salmond [SPIE vol.1305, 1990]. The novelty of the proposed algorithm provides the recursive formulae for both data association and target existence (confidence) estimation, thus allowing automatic track initiation and termination. T he track initiation performance of the proposed filter is investigated by computer simulations. It is observed that at moderately high levels of clutter density the proposed filter initiates tracks more reliably than its corresponding PDA filter. An extension of the proposed filter to the multi-target case is also presented. In addition, the paper compares the track maintenance performance of the MR algorithm with an MHT implementation.

Automatic Extraction of JPF Options and Documentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luks, Wojciech; Tkachuk, Oksana; Buschnell, David

2011-01-01

Documenting existing Java PathFinder (JPF) projects or developing new extensions is a challenging task. JPF provides a platform for creating new extensions and relies on key-value properties for their configuration. Keeping track of all possible options and extension mechanisms in JPF can be difficult. This paper presents jpf-autodoc-options, a tool that automatically extracts JPF projects options and other documentation-related information, which can greatly help both JPF users and developers of JPF extensions.

Unit Reference Sheet (URS) Cost Methodology.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-01

LAUNCHER MONORAIL GUIDED MISSILE: W/E (NIKE-HERCULES) L45740 LAUNCHER TUBULAR GUIDED MISSILE: (TOW) L45757 LAUNCHER ZERO LENGTH GUIDED MISSILE: (IMP-HAWK...L76762 LOADER TRANSPORTER GUIDED MISSILE: W/E (HAWK) M57503 MOBILE TARGET TRACKING SYSTEM: USED TO SUPPORT MQM 34 ( FIRE BEE) M57549 MOBILITY KIT GUIDED...HIGH RATE THREE BARREL W/E J96479 GUN AUTOMATIC 20 MILLIMETER: GAS OPERATED MANUAL OR ELECT FIRED J96481 GUN AUTOMATIC 20 MILLIMETER: ELECTRIC J96694 GUN

LIMSI @ 2014 Clinical Decision Support Track

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-11-01

MeSH and BoW runs) was based on the automatic generation of disease hypotheses for which we used data from OrphaNet [4] and the Disease Symptom Knowledge...with the MeSH terms of the top 5 disease hypotheses generated for the case reports. Compared to the other participants we achieved low scores...clinical question types. Query expansion (for both MeSH and BoW runs) was based on the automatic generation of disease hypotheses for which we used data

Automatic left-atrial segmentation from cardiac 3D ultrasound: a dual-chamber model-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almeida, Nuno; Sarvari, Sebastian I.; Orderud, Fredrik; Gérard, Olivier; D'hooge, Jan; Samset, Eigil

2016-04-01

In this paper, we present an automatic solution for segmentation and quantification of the left atrium (LA) from 3D cardiac ultrasound. A model-based framework is applied, making use of (deformable) active surfaces to model the endocardial surfaces of cardiac chambers, allowing incorporation of a priori anatomical information in a simple fashion. A dual-chamber model (LA and left ventricle) is used to detect and track the atrio-ventricular (AV) plane, without any user input. Both chambers are represented by parametric surfaces and a Kalman filter is used to fit the model to the position of the endocardial walls detected in the image, providing accurate detection and tracking during the whole cardiac cycle. This framework was tested in 20 transthoracic cardiac ultrasound volumetric recordings of healthy volunteers, and evaluated using manual traces of a clinical expert as a reference. The 3D meshes obtained with the automatic method were close to the reference contours at all cardiac phases (mean distance of 0.03+/-0.6 mm). The AV plane was detected with an accuracy of -0.6+/-1.0 mm. The LA volumes assessed automatically were also in agreement with the reference (mean +/-1.96 SD): 0.4+/-5.3 ml, 2.1+/-12.6 ml, and 1.5+/-7.8 ml at end-diastolic, end-systolic and pre-atrial-contraction frames, respectively. This study shows that the proposed method can be used for automatic volumetric assessment of the LA, considerably reducing the analysis time and effort when compared to manual analysis.

Automated tracking, segmentation and trajectory classification of pelvic organs on dynamic MRI.

PubMed

Nekooeimehr, Iman; Lai-Yuen, Susana; Bao, Paul; Weitzenfeld, Alfredo; Hart, Stuart

2016-08-01

Pelvic organ prolapse is a major health problem in women where pelvic floor organs (bladder, uterus, small bowel, and rectum) fall from their normal position and bulge into the vagina. Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DMRI) is presently used to analyze the organs' movements from rest to maximum strain providing complementary support for diagnosis. However, there is currently no automated or quantitative approach to measure the movement of the pelvic organs and their correlation with the severity of prolapse. In this paper, a two-stage method is presented to automatically track and segment pelvic organs on DMRI followed by a multiple-object trajectory classification method to improve the diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse. Organs are first tracked using particle filters and K-means clustering with prior information. Then, they are segmented using the convex hull of the cluster of particles. Finally, the trajectories of the pelvic organs are modeled using a new Coupled Switched Hidden Markov Model (CSHMM) to classify the severity of pelvic organ prolapse. The tracking and segmentation results are validated using Dice Similarity Index (DSI) whereas the classification results are compared with two manual clinical measurements. Results demonstrate that the presented method is able to automatically track and segment pelvic organs with a DSI above 82% for 26 out of 46 cases and DSI above 75% for all 46 tested cases. The accuracy of the trajectory classification model is also better than current manual measurements.

Automated target recognition and tracking using an optical pattern recognition neural network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chao, Tien-Hsin

1991-01-01

The on-going development of an automatic target recognition and tracking system at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is presented. This system is an optical pattern recognition neural network (OPRNN) that is an integration of an innovative optical parallel processor and a feature extraction based neural net training algorithm. The parallel optical processor provides high speed and vast parallelism as well as full shift invariance. The neural network algorithm enables simultaneous discrimination of multiple noisy targets in spite of their scales, rotations, perspectives, and various deformations. This fully developed OPRNN system can be effectively utilized for the automated spacecraft recognition and tracking that will lead to success in the Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) of the unmanned Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CTV). One of the most powerful optical parallel processors for automatic target recognition is the multichannel correlator. With the inherent advantages of parallel processing capability and shift invariance, multiple objects can be simultaneously recognized and tracked using this multichannel correlator. This target tracking capability can be greatly enhanced by utilizing a powerful feature extraction based neural network training algorithm such as the neocognitron. The OPRNN, currently under investigation at JPL, is constructed with an optical multichannel correlator where holographic filters have been prepared using the neocognitron training algorithm. The computation speed of the neocognitron-type OPRNN is up to 10(exp 14) analog connections/sec that enabling the OPRNN to outperform its state-of-the-art electronics counterpart by at least two orders of magnitude.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chao, M; Yuan, Y; Lo, Y

Purpose: To develop a novel strategy to extract the lung tumor motion from cone beam CT (CBCT) projections by an active contour model with interpolated respiration learned from diaphragm motion. Methods: Tumor tracking on CBCT projections was accomplished with the templates derived from planning CT (pCT). There are three major steps in the proposed algorithm: 1) The pCT was modified to form two CT sets: a tumor removed pCT and a tumor only pCT, the respective digitally reconstructed radiographs DRRtr and DRRto following the same geometry of the CBCT projections were generated correspondingly. 2) The DRRtr was rigidly registered withmore » the CBCT projections on the frame-by-frame basis. Difference images between CBCT projections and the registered DRRtr were generated where the tumor visibility was appreciably enhanced. 3) An active contour method was applied to track the tumor motion on the tumor enhanced projections with DRRto as templates to initialize the tumor tracking while the respiratory motion was compensated for by interpolating the diaphragm motion estimated by our novel constrained linear regression approach. CBCT and pCT from five patients undergoing stereotactic body radiotherapy were included in addition to scans from a Quasar phantom programmed with known motion. Manual tumor tracking was performed on CBCT projections and was compared to the automatic tracking to evaluate the algorithm accuracy. Results: The phantom study showed that the error between the automatic tracking and the ground truth was within 0.2mm. For the patients the discrepancy between the calculation and the manual tracking was between 1.4 and 2.2 mm depending on the location and shape of the lung tumor. Similar patterns were observed in the frequency domain. Conclusion: The new algorithm demonstrated the feasibility to track the lung tumor from noisy CBCT projections, providing a potential solution to better motion management for lung radiation therapy.« less

Multimodal Translation System Using Texture-Mapped Lip-Sync Images for Video Mail and Automatic Dubbing Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morishima, Shigeo; Nakamura, Satoshi

2004-12-01

We introduce a multimodal English-to-Japanese and Japanese-to-English translation system that also translates the speaker's speech motion by synchronizing it to the translated speech. This system also introduces both a face synthesis technique that can generate any viseme lip shape and a face tracking technique that can estimate the original position and rotation of a speaker's face in an image sequence. To retain the speaker's facial expression, we substitute only the speech organ's image with the synthesized one, which is made by a 3D wire-frame model that is adaptable to any speaker. Our approach provides translated image synthesis with an extremely small database. The tracking motion of the face from a video image is performed by template matching. In this system, the translation and rotation of the face are detected by using a 3D personal face model whose texture is captured from a video frame. We also propose a method to customize the personal face model by using our GUI tool. By combining these techniques and the translated voice synthesis technique, an automatic multimodal translation can be achieved that is suitable for video mail or automatic dubbing systems into other languages.

A new user-assisted segmentation and tracking technique for an object-based video editing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Hong Y.; Hong, Sung-Hoon; Lee, Mike M.; Choi, Jae-Gark

2004-03-01

This paper presents a semi-automatic segmentation method which can be used to generate video object plane (VOP) for object based coding scheme and multimedia authoring environment. Semi-automatic segmentation can be considered as a user-assisted segmentation technique. A user can initially mark objects of interest around the object boundaries and then the user-guided and selected objects are continuously separated from the unselected areas through time evolution in the image sequences. The proposed segmentation method consists of two processing steps: partially manual intra-frame segmentation and fully automatic inter-frame segmentation. The intra-frame segmentation incorporates user-assistance to define the meaningful complete visual object of interest to be segmentation and decides precise object boundary. The inter-frame segmentation involves boundary and region tracking to obtain temporal coherence of moving object based on the object boundary information of previous frame. The proposed method shows stable efficient results that could be suitable for many digital video applications such as multimedia contents authoring, content based coding and indexing. Based on these results, we have developed objects based video editing system with several convenient editing functions.

A flight-test evaluation of a go-around control system for a twin engine powered-lift STOL airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Watson, D. M.; Hardy, G. H.

1983-01-01

An automatic go-around control system was evaluated on the Augmentor Wing Jet Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Research Airplane (AWJSRA) as part of a study of an automatic landing system for a powered-lift STOL airplane. The results of the evaluation indicate that the go-around control system can successfully transition the airplane to a climb configuration from any initiation point during the glide-slope track or the flare maneuver prior to touchdown.

Research on Generating Method of Embedded Software Test Document Based on Dynamic Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, MingCheng; Wu, XiangHu; Tao, YongChao; Liu, Ying

2018-03-01

This paper provides a dynamic model-based test document generation method for embedded software that provides automatic generation of two documents: test requirements specification documentation and configuration item test documentation. This method enables dynamic test requirements to be implemented in dynamic models, enabling dynamic test demand tracking to be easily generated; able to automatically generate standardized, standardized test requirements and test documentation, improved document-related content inconsistency and lack of integrity And other issues, improve the efficiency.

Theoretical Analysis of the Longitudinal Behavior of an Automatically Controlled Supersonic Interceptor During the Attack Phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gates, Ordway B., Jr.; Woodling, C. H.

1959-01-01

Theoretical analysis of the longitudinal behavior of an automatically controlled supersonic interceptor during the attack phase against a nonmaneuvering target is presented. Control of the interceptor's flight path is obtained by use of a pitch rate command system. Topics lift, and pitching moment, effects of initial tracking errors, discussion of normal acceleration limited, limitations of control surface rate and deflection, and effects of neglecting forward velocity changes of interceptor during attack phase.

Vision-Based Finger Detection, Tracking, and Event Identification Techniques for Multi-Touch Sensing and Display Systems

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Liang, Wen-Yew; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Hsieh, Tung-Ju; Lee, Da-Cheng; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Chang, Yang-Lang

2011-01-01

This study presents efficient vision-based finger detection, tracking, and event identification techniques and a low-cost hardware framework for multi-touch sensing and display applications. The proposed approach uses a fast bright-blob segmentation process based on automatic multilevel histogram thresholding to extract the pixels of touch blobs obtained from scattered infrared lights captured by a video camera. The advantage of this automatic multilevel thresholding approach is its robustness and adaptability when dealing with various ambient lighting conditions and spurious infrared noises. To extract the connected components of these touch blobs, a connected-component analysis procedure is applied to the bright pixels acquired by the previous stage. After extracting the touch blobs from each of the captured image frames, a blob tracking and event recognition process analyzes the spatial and temporal information of these touch blobs from consecutive frames to determine the possible touch events and actions performed by users. This process also refines the detection results and corrects for errors and occlusions caused by noise and errors during the blob extraction process. The proposed blob tracking and touch event recognition process includes two phases. First, the phase of blob tracking associates the motion correspondence of blobs in succeeding frames by analyzing their spatial and temporal features. The touch event recognition process can identify meaningful touch events based on the motion information of touch blobs, such as finger moving, rotating, pressing, hovering, and clicking actions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed vision-based finger detection, tracking, and event identification system is feasible and effective for multi-touch sensing applications in various operational environments and conditions. PMID:22163990

Measurement of left ventricular torsion using block-matching-based speckle tracking for two-dimensional echocardiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Feng-Rong; Wang, Xiao-Jing; Wu, Qiang; Yao, Gui-Hua; Zhang, Yun

2013-01-01

Left ventricular (LV) torsion is a sensitive and global index of LV systolic and diastolic function, but how to noninvasively measure it is challenging. Two-dimensional echocardiography and the block-matching based speckle tracking method were used to measure LV torsion. Main advantages of the proposed method over the previous ones are summarized as follows: (1) The method is automatic, except for manually selecting some endocardium points on the end-diastolic frame in initialization step. (2) The diamond search strategy is applied, with a spatial smoothness constraint introduced into the sum of absolute differences matching criterion; and the reference frame during the search is determined adaptively. (3) The method is capable of removing abnormal measurement data automatically. The proposed method was validated against that using Doppler tissue imaging and some preliminary clinical experimental studies were presented to illustrate clinical values of the proposed method.

A Ground-Based Near Infrared Camera Array System for UAV Auto-Landing in GPS-Denied Environment.

PubMed

Yang, Tao; Li, Guangpo; Li, Jing; Zhang, Yanning; Zhang, Xiaoqiang; Zhang, Zhuoyue; Li, Zhi

2016-08-30

This paper proposes a novel infrared camera array guidance system with capability to track and provide real time position and speed of a fixed-wing Unmanned air vehicle (UAV) during a landing process. The system mainly include three novel parts: (1) Infrared camera array and near infrared laser lamp based cooperative long range optical imaging module; (2) Large scale outdoor camera array calibration module; and (3) Laser marker detection and 3D tracking module. Extensive automatic landing experiments with fixed-wing flight demonstrate that our infrared camera array system has the unique ability to guide the UAV landing safely and accurately in real time. Moreover, the measurement and control distance of our system is more than 1000 m. The experimental results also demonstrate that our system can be used for UAV automatic accurate landing in Global Position System (GPS)-denied environments.

Visual speech influences speech perception immediately but not automatically.

PubMed

Mitterer, Holger; Reinisch, Eva

2017-02-01

Two experiments examined the time course of the use of auditory and visual speech cues to spoken word recognition using an eye-tracking paradigm. Results of the first experiment showed that the use of visual speech cues from lipreading is reduced if concurrently presented pictures require a division of attentional resources. This reduction was evident even when listeners' eye gaze was on the speaker rather than the (static) pictures. Experiment 2 used a deictic hand gesture to foster attention to the speaker. At the same time, the visual processing load was reduced by keeping the visual display constant over a fixed number of successive trials. Under these conditions, the visual speech cues from lipreading were used. Moreover, the eye-tracking data indicated that visual information was used immediately and even earlier than auditory information. In combination, these data indicate that visual speech cues are not used automatically, but if they are used, they are used immediately.

Cleaning Robot for Solar Panels in Solar Power Station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, Lu-Bin; Shen, Cheng-Wei; Bian, Huai-Qiang; Wang, Yan

2016-05-01

The dust particles on solar panel surface have been a serious problem for the photovoltaic industry, a new monorail-tracked robot used for automatic cleaning of solar panel is presented in this paper. To meet the requirement of comprehensive and stable cleaning of PV array, the monorail-tracked pattern of robot is introduced based on the monorail structure technique. The running and striding mechanism are designed for mobility of robot on the solar panels. According to the carrying capacity and water circulation mechanism, a type of self-cleaning device with filtering system is developed. Combined with the computer software and communications technology, the control system is built in this robot, which can realize the functions of autonomous operation, positioning and monitoring. The application of this developed cleaning robot can actualize the Industrialization of automatic cleaning for PV components and have wide market prospect.

Variable area light reflecting assembly

DOEpatents

Howard, T.C.

1986-12-23

Device is described for tracking daylight and projecting it into a building. The device tracks the sun and automatically adjusts both the orientation and area of the reflecting surface. The device may be mounted in either a wall or roof of a building. Additionally, multiple devices may be employed in a light shaft in a building, providing daylight to several different floors. The preferred embodiment employs a thin reflective film as the reflecting device. One edge of the reflective film is fixed, and the opposite end is attached to a spring-loaded take-up roller. As the sun moves across the sky, the take-up roller automatically adjusts the angle and surface area of the film. Additionally, louvers may be mounted at the light entrance to the device to reflect incoming daylight in an angle perpendicular to the device to provide maximum reflective capability when daylight enters the device at non-perpendicular angles. 9 figs.

Variable area light reflecting assembly

DOEpatents

Howard, Thomas C.

1986-01-01

Device for tracking daylight and projecting it into a building. The device tracks the sun and automatically adjusts both the orientation and area of the reflecting surface. The device may be mounted in either a wall or roof of a building. Additionally, multiple devices may be employed in a light shaft in a building, providing daylight to several different floors. The preferred embodiment employs a thin reflective film as the reflecting device. One edge of the reflective film is fixed, and the opposite end is attached to a spring-loaded take-up roller. As the sun moves across the sky, the take-up roller automatically adjusts the angle and surface area of the film. Additionally, louvers may be mounted at the light entrance to the device to reflect incoming daylight in an angle perpendicular to the device to provide maximum reflective capability when daylight enters the device at non-perpendicular angles.

A comparative study of automatic image segmentation algorithms for target tracking in MR-IGRT.

PubMed

Feng, Yuan; Kawrakow, Iwan; Olsen, Jeff; Parikh, Parag J; Noel, Camille; Wooten, Omar; Du, Dongsu; Mutic, Sasa; Hu, Yanle

2016-03-08

On-board magnetic resonance (MR) image guidance during radiation therapy offers the potential for more accurate treatment delivery. To utilize the real-time image information, a crucial prerequisite is the ability to successfully segment and track regions of interest (ROI). The purpose of this work is to evaluate the performance of different segmentation algorithms using motion images (4 frames per second) acquired using a MR image-guided radiotherapy (MR-IGRT) system. Manual con-tours of the kidney, bladder, duodenum, and a liver tumor by an experienced radiation oncologist were used as the ground truth for performance evaluation. Besides the manual segmentation, images were automatically segmented using thresholding, fuzzy k-means (FKM), k-harmonic means (KHM), and reaction-diffusion level set evolution (RD-LSE) algorithms, as well as the tissue tracking algorithm provided by the ViewRay treatment planning and delivery system (VR-TPDS). The performance of the five algorithms was evaluated quantitatively by comparing with the manual segmentation using the Dice coefficient and target registration error (TRE) measured as the distance between the centroid of the manual ROI and the centroid of the automatically segmented ROI. All methods were able to successfully segment the bladder and the kidney, but only FKM, KHM, and VR-TPDS were able to segment the liver tumor and the duodenum. The performance of the thresholding, FKM, KHM, and RD-LSE algorithms degraded as the local image contrast decreased, whereas the performance of the VP-TPDS method was nearly independent of local image contrast due to the reference registration algorithm. For segmenting high-contrast images (i.e., kidney), the thresholding method provided the best speed (< 1 ms) with a satisfying accuracy (Dice = 0.95). When the image contrast was low, the VR-TPDS method had the best automatic contour. Results suggest an image quality determination procedure before segmentation and a combination of different methods for optimal segmentation with the on-board MR-IGRT system.

An automatic analyzer of solid state nuclear track detectors using an optic RAM as image sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staderini, Enrico Maria; Castellano, Alfredo

1986-02-01

An optic RAM is a conventional digital random access read/write dynamic memory device featuring a quartz windowed package and memory cells regularly ordered on the chip. Such a device is used as an image sensor because each cell retains data stored in it for a time depending on the intensity of the light incident on the cell itself. The authors have developed a system which uses an optic RAM to acquire and digitize images from electrochemically etched CR39 solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTD) in the track count rate up to 5000 cm -2. On the digital image so obtained, a microprocessor, with appropriate software, performs image analysis, filtering, tracks counting and evaluation.

Effects of maneuver dynamics on drag polars of the X-29A forward-swept-wing aircraft with automatic wing camber control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hicks, John W.; Moulton, Bryan J.

1988-01-01

The camber control loop of the X-29A FSW aircraft was designed to furnish the optimum L/D for trimmed, stabilized flight. A marked difference was noted between automatic wing camber control loop behavior in dynamic maneuvers and in stabilized flight conditions, which in turn affected subsonic aerodynamic performance. The degree of drag level increase was a direct function of maneuver rate. Attention is given to the aircraft flight drag polar effects of maneuver dynamics in light of wing camber control loop schedule. The effect of changing camber scheduling to better track the optimum automatic camber control L/D schedule is discussed.

Eye watch system for home use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aggarwal, Kashish; Dagar, Nidhi; Sethi, Shikha; Tiwari, Shobhit; Kumar, Arun

2011-12-01

We have designed a security system using MATLAB. The system uses the optimum components and is very useful in tracking visitors to our homes, offices and other meeting places. The system works in two modes: Automatic Mode & Manual Mode. In the Automatic Mode, the snapshot of the person standing outside is taken with the help of a webcam and it is then compared with the set of predefined pictures in the database and if matched, the door is opened automatically. In the Manual Mode, the live preview is sent to the laptop screen and is recorded according to user's commands. The door is opened, and then date, time and recording is saved in the database.

Development of a digital guidance and control law for steep approach automatic landings using modern control techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1979-01-01

The development of a digital automatic control law for a small jet transport to perform a steep final approach in automatic landings is reported along with the development of a steady-state Kalman filter used to provide smooth estimates to the control law. The control law performs the functions of localizer and glides capture, localizer and glideslope track, decrab, and place. The control law uses the microwave landing system position data, and aircraft body-mounted accelerators, attitude and attitude rate information. The results obtained from a digital simulation of the aircraft dynamics, wind conditions, and sensor noises using the control law and filter developed are described.

Learning to segment mouse embryo cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

León, Juan; Pardo, Alejandro; Arbeláez, Pablo

2017-11-01

Recent advances in microscopy enable the capture of temporal sequences during cell development stages. However, the study of such sequences is a complex task and time consuming task. In this paper we propose an automatic strategy to adders the problem of semantic and instance segmentation of mouse embryos using NYU's Mouse Embryo Tracking Database. We obtain our instance proposals as refined predictions from the generalized hough transform, using prior knowledge of the embryo's locations and their current cell stage. We use two main approaches to learn the priors: Hand crafted features and automatic learned features. Our strategy increases the baseline jaccard index from 0.12 up to 0.24 using hand crafted features and 0.28 by using automatic learned ones.

Research on regional intrusion prevention and control system based on target tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yanfei; Wang, Jieling; Jiang, Ke; He, Yanhui; Wu, Zhilin

2017-08-01

In view of the fact that China’s border is very long and the border prevention and control measures are single, we designed a regional intrusion prevention and control system which based on target-tracking. The system consists of four parts: solar panel, radar, electro-optical equipment, unmanned aerial vehicle and intelligent tracking platform. The solar panel provides independent power for the entire system. The radar detects the target in real time and realizes the high precision positioning of suspicious targets, then through the linkage of electro-optical equipment, it can achieve full-time automatic precise tracking of targets. When the target appears within the range of detection, the drone will be launched to continue the tracking. The system is mainly to realize the full time, full coverage, whole process integration and active realtime control of the border area.

Magneto-optic tracking of a flexible laparoscopic ultrasound transducer for laparoscope augmentation.

PubMed

Feuerstein, Marco; Reichl, Tobias; Vogel, Jakob; Schneider, Armin; Feussner, Hubertus; Navabi, Nassir

2007-01-01

In abdominal surgery, a laparoscopic ultrasound transducer is commonly used to detect lesions such as metastases. The determination and visualization of position and orientation of its flexible tip in relation to the patient or other surgical instruments can be of much help to (novice) surgeons utilizing the transducer intraoperatively. This difficult subject has recently been paid attention to by the scientific community . Electromagnetic tracking systems can be applied to track the flexible tip. However, the magnetic field can be distorted by ferromagnetic material. This paper presents a new method based on optical tracking of the laparoscope and magneto-optic tracking of the transducer, which is able to automatically detect field distortions. This is used for a smooth augmentation of the B-scan images of the transducer directly on the camera images in real time.

NucliTrack: an integrated nuclei tracking application.

PubMed

Cooper, Sam; Barr, Alexis R; Glen, Robert; Bakal, Chris

2017-10-15

Live imaging studies give unparalleled insight into dynamic single cell behaviours and fate decisions. However, the challenge of reliably tracking single cells over long periods of time limits both the throughput and ease with which such studies can be performed. Here, we present NucliTrack, a cross platform solution for automatically segmenting, tracking and extracting features from fluorescently labelled nuclei. NucliTrack performs similarly to other state-of-the-art cell tracking algorithms, but NucliTrack's interactive, graphical interface makes it significantly more user friendly. NucliTrack is available as a free, cross platform application and open source Python package. Installation details and documentation are at: http://nuclitrack.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ A video guide can be viewed online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6e0D9F-qSU Source code is available through Github: https://github.com/samocooper/nuclitrack. A Matlab toolbox is also available at: https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/61479-samocooper-nuclitrack-matlab. sam@socooper.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

CNIPA, FUB and University of Rome Tor Vergata at TREC 2008 Legal Track

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-01

We have only taken part in the automatic ad hoc task of the TREC Legal track 2008, and focused on the following issues: 1. Indexing. The CDIP test...Document Information Processing ( CDIP ) test collection is based on a snapshot of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) sub-collection of the...unclassified b. ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18 The CDIP collection

Two-Dimensional Stochastic Projections for Tight Integration of Optical and Inertial Sensors for Navigation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

Intelligent Robots and Systems, vol- ume 1, pp. 123–128, September 2002. [2] R. G. Brown and P. Y. Hwang . Introduction to Ran- dom Signals and Applied... Kalman Filter-based) method for calculat- ing a trajectory by tracking features at an unknown location on the Earth’s surface, provided the topography...Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and an automatic target tracking algorithm. In the following section, the integration architecture is presented, which in

Results of the Second U.S. Manned Orbital Space Flight

DTIC Science & Technology

1962-05-24

accomplish 11F voice transmission to the range of approximately 250 miles. Both the ground were unsuccessful. Thc reason for the SARAH beacon and UHF...exposures taken 0 .iquid o 0 0 of the horizon. The .11IT photographic study Front view Front view is discussed, and a sample plhotograplh is shown...beyond from each tracking station automatically in the meaningful limits of horizon-to-horizon the core storage of the computers. Two IBM track. The

The 14th Annual Conference on Manual Control. [digital simulation of human operator dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Human operator dynamics during actual manual control or while monitoring the automatic control systems involved in air-to-air tracking, automobile driving, the operator of undersea vehicles, and remote handling are examined. Optimal control models and the use of mathematical theory in representing man behavior in complex man machine system tasks are discussed with emphasis on eye/head tracking and scanning; perception and attention allocation; decision making; and motion simulation and effects.

Automatic control of the NMB level in general anaesthesia with a switching total system mass control strategy.

PubMed

Teixeira, Miguel; Mendonça, Teresa; Rocha, Paula; Rabiço, Rui

2014-12-01

This paper presents a model based switching control strategy to drive the neuromuscular blockade (NMB) level of patients undergoing general anesthesia to a predefined reference. A single-input single-output Wiener system with only two parameters is used to model the effect of two different muscle relaxants, atracurium and rocuronium, and a switching controller is designed based on a bank of total system mass control laws. Each of such laws is tuned for an individual model from a bank chosen to represent the behavior of the whole population. The control law to be applied at each instant corresponds to the model whose NMB response is closer to the patient's response. Moreover a scheme to improve the reference tracking quality based on the analysis of the patient's response, as well as, a comparison between the switching strategy and the Extended Kalman Kilter (EKF) technique are presented. The results are illustrated by means of several simulations, where switching shows to provide good results, both in theory and in practice, with a desirable reference tracking. The reference tracking improvement technique is able to produce a better reference tracking. Also, this technique showed a better performance than the (EKF). Based on these results, the switching control strategy with a bank of total system mass control laws proved to be robust enough to be used as an automatic control system for the NMB level.

[Design of Adjustable Magnetic Field Generating Device in the Capsule Endoscope Tracking System].

PubMed

Ruan, Chao; Guo, Xudong; Yang, Fei

2015-08-01

The capsule endoscope swallowed from the mouth into the digestive system can capture the images of important gastrointestinal tract regions. It can compensate for the blind spot of traditional endoscopic techniques. It enables inspection of the digestive system without discomfort or need for sedation. However, currently available clinical capsule endoscope has some limitations such as the diagnostic information being not able to correspond to the orientation in the body, since the doctor is unable to control the capsule motion and orientation. To solve the problem, it is significant to track the position and orientation of the capsule in the human body. This study presents an AC excitation wireless tracking method in the capsule endoscope, and the sensor embedded in the capsule can measure the magnetic field generated by excitation coil. And then the position and orientation of the capsule can be obtained by solving a magnetic field inverse problem. Since the magnetic field decays with distance dramatically, the dynamic range of the received signal spans three orders of magnitude, we designed an adjustable alternating magnetic field generating device. The device can adjust the strength of the alternating magnetic field automatically through the feedback signal from the sensor. The prototype experiment showed that the adjustable magnetic field generating device was feasible. It could realize the automatic adjustment of the magnetic field strength successfully, and improve the tracking accuracy.

Linking quality indicators to clinical trials: an automated approach

PubMed Central

Coiera, Enrico; Choong, Miew Keen; Tsafnat, Guy; Hibbert, Peter; Runciman, William B.

2017-01-01

Abstract Objective Quality improvement of health care requires robust measurable indicators to track performance. However identifying which indicators are supported by strong clinical evidence, typically from clinical trials, is often laborious. This study tests a novel method for automatically linking indicators to clinical trial registrations. Design A set of 522 quality of care indicators for 22 common conditions drawn from the CareTrack study were automatically mapped to outcome measures reported in 13 971 trials from ClinicalTrials.gov. Intervention Text mining methods extracted phrases mentioning indicators and outcome phrases, and these were compared using the Levenshtein edit distance ratio to measure similarity. Main Outcome Measure Number of care indicators that mapped to outcome measures in clinical trials. Results While only 13% of the 522 CareTrack indicators were thought to have Level I or II evidence behind them, 353 (68%) could be directly linked to randomized controlled trials. Within these 522, 50 of 70 (71%) Level I and II evidence-based indicators, and 268 of 370 (72%) Level V (consensus-based) indicators could be linked to evidence. Of the indicators known to have evidence behind them, only 5.7% (4 of 70) were mentioned in the trial reports but were missed by our method. Conclusions We automatically linked indicators to clinical trial registrations with high precision. Whilst the majority of quality indicators studied could be directly linked to research evidence, a small portion could not and these require closer scrutiny. It is feasible to support the process of indicator development using automated methods to identify research evidence. PMID:28651340

Tracking of multiple targets using online learning for reference model adaptation.

PubMed

Pernkopf, Franz

2008-12-01

Recently, much work has been done in multiple object tracking on the one hand and on reference model adaptation for a single-object tracker on the other side. In this paper, we do both tracking of multiple objects (faces of people) in a meeting scenario and online learning to incrementally update the models of the tracked objects to account for appearance changes during tracking. Additionally, we automatically initialize and terminate tracking of individual objects based on low-level features, i.e., face color, face size, and object movement. Many methods unlike our approach assume that the target region has been initialized by hand in the first frame. For tracking, a particle filter is incorporated to propagate sample distributions over time. We discuss the close relationship between our implemented tracker based on particle filters and genetic algorithms. Numerous experiments on meeting data demonstrate the capabilities of our tracking approach. Additionally, we provide an empirical verification of the reference model learning during tracking of indoor and outdoor scenes which supports a more robust tracking. Therefore, we report the average of the standard deviation of the trajectories over numerous tracking runs depending on the learning rate.

Automatic multiple zebrafish larvae tracking in unconstrained microscopic video conditions.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoying; Cheng, Eva; Burnett, Ian S; Huang, Yushi; Wlodkowic, Donald

2017-12-14

The accurate tracking of zebrafish larvae movement is fundamental to research in many biomedical, pharmaceutical, and behavioral science applications. However, the locomotive characteristics of zebrafish larvae are significantly different from adult zebrafish, where existing adult zebrafish tracking systems cannot reliably track zebrafish larvae. Further, the far smaller size differentiation between larvae and the container render the detection of water impurities inevitable, which further affects the tracking of zebrafish larvae or require very strict video imaging conditions that typically result in unreliable tracking results for realistic experimental conditions. This paper investigates the adaptation of advanced computer vision segmentation techniques and multiple object tracking algorithms to develop an accurate, efficient and reliable multiple zebrafish larvae tracking system. The proposed system has been tested on a set of single and multiple adult and larvae zebrafish videos in a wide variety of (complex) video conditions, including shadowing, labels, water bubbles and background artifacts. Compared with existing state-of-the-art and commercial multiple organism tracking systems, the proposed system improves the tracking accuracy by up to 31.57% in unconstrained video imaging conditions. To facilitate the evaluation on zebrafish segmentation and tracking research, a dataset with annotated ground truth is also presented. The software is also publicly accessible.

The internal model: A study of the relative contribution of proprioception and visual information to failure detection in dynamic systems. [sensitivity of operators versus monitors to failures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kessel, C.; Wickens, C. D.

1978-01-01

The development of the internal model as it pertains to the detection of step changes in the order of control dynamics is investigated for two modes of participation: whether the subjects are actively controlling those dynamics or are monitoring an autopilot controlling them. A transfer of training design was used to evaluate the relative contribution of proprioception and visual information to the overall accuracy of the internal model. Sixteen subjects either tracked or monitored the system dynamics as a 2-dimensional pursuit display under single task conditions and concurrently with a sub-critical tracking task at two difficulty levels. Detection performance was faster and more accurate in the manual as opposed to the autopilot mode. The concurrent tracking task produced a decrement in detection performance for all conditions though this was more marked for the manual mode. The development of an internal model in the manual mode transferred positively to the automatic mode producing enhanced detection performance. There was no transfer from the internal model developed in the automatic mode to the manual mode.

Crystal Identification in Dual-Layer-Offset DOI-PET Detectors Using Stratified Peak Tracking Based on SVD and Mean-Shift Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Qingyang; Dai, Tiantian; Ma, Tianyu; Liu, Yaqiang; Gu, Yu

2016-10-01

An Anger-logic based pixelated PET detector block requires a crystal position map (CPM) to assign the position of each detected event to a most probable crystal index. Accurate assignments are crucial to PET imaging performance. In this paper, we present a novel automatic approach to generate the CPMs for dual-layer offset (DLO) PET detectors using a stratified peak tracking method. In which, the top and bottom layers are distinguished by their intensity difference and the peaks of the top and bottom layers are tracked based on a singular value decomposition (SVD) and mean-shift algorithm in succession. The CPM is created by classifying each pixel to its nearest peak and assigning the pixel with the crystal index of that peak. A Matlab-based graphical user interface program was developed including the automatic algorithm and a manual interaction procedure. The algorithm was tested for three DLO PET detector blocks. Results show that the proposed method exhibits good performance as well as robustness for all the three blocks. Compared to the existing methods, our approach can directly distinguish the layer and crystal indices using the information of intensity and offset grid pattern.

Flight test results for the Digital Integrated Automatic Landing Systems (DIALS): A modern control full-state feedback design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hueschen, R. M.

1984-01-01

The Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS) is discussed. The DIALS is a modern control theory design performing all the maneuver modes associated with current autoland systems: localizer capture and track, glideslope capture and track, decrab, and flare. The DIALS is an integrated full-state feedback system which was designed using direct-digital methods. The DIALS uses standard aircraft sensors and the digital Microwave Landing System (MLS) signals as measurements. It consists of separately designed longitudinal and lateral channels although some cross-coupling variables are fed between channels for improved state estimates and trajectory commands. The DIALS was implemented within the 16-bit fixed-point flight computers of the ATOPS research aircraft, a small twin jet commercial transport outfitted with a second research cockpit and a fly-by-wire system. The DIALS became the first modern control theory design to be successfully flight tested on a commercial-type aircraft. Flight tests were conducted in late 1981 using a wide coverage MLS on Runway 22 at Wallops Flight Center. All the modes were exercised including the capture and track of steep glidescopes up to 5 degrees.

Prescription and over-the-counter medications tool kit.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-04-01

Automatic vehicle location (AVL) is a computer-based vehicle tracking system. For transit, the actual real-time position of each vehicle is measured and its location is relayed to a control center. Actual position determination and relay techniques v...

Assessing Wide Area Multilateration and ADS-B as alternative surveillance technology

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-09-26

The Helicopter In-Flight Tracking System (HITS) program evaluated both Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) as alternative surveillance technologies for both the terminal and en route domains in t...

Changed processing of visual sexual stimuli under GnRH-therapy--a single case study in pedophilia using eye tracking and fMRI.

PubMed

Jordan, Kirsten; Fromberger, Peter; Laubinger, Helge; Dechent, Peter; Müller, Jürgen L

2014-05-17

Antiandrogen therapy (ADT) has been used for 30 years to treat pedophilic patients. The aim of the treatment is a reduction in sexual drive and, in consequence, a reduced risk of recidivism. Yet the therapeutic success of antiandrogens is uncertain especially regarding recidivism. Meta-analyses and reviews report only moderate and often mutually inconsistent effects. Based on the case of a 47 year old exclusively pedophilic forensic inpatient, we examined the effectiveness of a new eye tracking method and a new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-design in regard to the evaluation of ADT in pedophiles. We analyzed the potential of these methods in exploring the impact of ADT on automatic and controlled attentional processes in pedophiles. Eye tracking and fMRI measures were conducted before the initial ADT as well as four months after the onset of ADT. The patient simultaneously viewed an image of a child and an image of an adult while eye movements were measured. During the fMRI-measure the same stimuli were presented subliminally. Eye movements demonstrated that controlled attentional processes change under ADT, whereas automatic processes remained mostly unchanged. We assume that these results reflect either the increased ability of the patient to control his eye movements while viewing prepubertal stimuli or his better ability to manipulate his answer in a socially desirable manner. Unchanged automatic attentional processes could reflect the stable pedophilic preference of the patient. Using fMRI, the subliminal presentation of sexually relevant stimuli led to changed activation patterns under the influence of ADT in occipital and parietal brain regions, the hippocampus, and also in the orbitofrontal cortex. We suggest that even at an unconscious level ADT can lead to changed processing of sexually relevant stimuli, reflecting changes of cognitive and perceptive automatic processes. We are convinced that our experimental designs using eye tracking and fMRI could prospectively add additional and valuable information in the evaluation of ADT in paraphilic patients and sex offenders. But with respect to the limited significance of this single case study, these first results are preliminary and further studies have to be conducted with healthy subjects and patients.

Changed processing of visual sexual stimuli under GnRH-therapy – a single case study in pedophilia using eye tracking and fMRI

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Antiandrogen therapy (ADT) has been used for 30 years to treat pedophilic patients. The aim of the treatment is a reduction in sexual drive and, in consequence, a reduced risk of recidivism. Yet the therapeutic success of antiandrogens is uncertain especially regarding recidivism. Meta-analyses and reviews report only moderate and often mutually inconsistent effects. Case presentation Based on the case of a 47 year old exclusively pedophilic forensic inpatient, we examined the effectiveness of a new eye tracking method and a new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-design in regard to the evaluation of ADT in pedophiles. We analyzed the potential of these methods in exploring the impact of ADT on automatic and controlled attentional processes in pedophiles. Eye tracking and fMRI measures were conducted before the initial ADT as well as four months after the onset of ADT. The patient simultaneously viewed an image of a child and an image of an adult while eye movements were measured. During the fMRI-measure the same stimuli were presented subliminally. Eye movements demonstrated that controlled attentional processes change under ADT, whereas automatic processes remained mostly unchanged. We assume that these results reflect either the increased ability of the patient to control his eye movements while viewing prepubertal stimuli or his better ability to manipulate his answer in a socially desirable manner. Unchanged automatic attentional processes could reflect the stable pedophilic preference of the patient. Using fMRI, the subliminal presentation of sexually relevant stimuli led to changed activation patterns under the influence of ADT in occipital and parietal brain regions, the hippocampus, and also in the orbitofrontal cortex. We suggest that even at an unconscious level ADT can lead to changed processing of sexually relevant stimuli, reflecting changes of cognitive and perceptive automatic processes. Conclusion We are convinced that our experimental designs using eye tracking and fMRI could prospectively add additional and valuable information in the evaluation of ADT in paraphilic patients and sex offenders. But with respect to the limited significance of this single case study, these first results are preliminary and further studies have to be conducted with healthy subjects and patients. PMID:24885644

Oil Spill Detection and Tracking Using Lipschitz Regularity and Multiscale Techniques in Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajadi, O. A.; Meyer, F. J.

2014-12-01

Automatic oil spill detection and tracking from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images is a difficult task, due in large part to the inhomogeneous properties of the sea surface, the high level of speckle inherent in SAR data, the complexity and the highly non-Gaussian nature of amplitude information, and the low temporal sampling that is often achieved with SAR systems. This research presents a promising new oil spill detection and tracking method that is based on time series of SAR images. Through the combination of a number of advanced image processing techniques, the develop approach is able to mitigate some of these previously mentioned limitations of SAR-based oil-spill detection and enables fully automatic spill detection and tracking across a wide range of spatial scales. The method combines an initial automatic texture analysis with a consecutive change detection approach based on multi-scale image decomposition. The first step of the approach, a texture transformation of the original SAR images, is performed in order to normalize the ocean background and enhance the contrast between oil-covered and oil-free ocean surfaces. The Lipschitz regularity (LR), a local texture parameter, is used here due to its proven ability to normalize the reflectivity properties of ocean water and maximize the visibly of oil in water. To calculate LR, the images are decomposed using two-dimensional continuous wavelet transform (2D-CWT), and transformed into Holder space to measure LR. After texture transformation, the now normalized images are inserted into our multi-temporal change detection algorithm. The multi-temporal change detection approach is a two-step procedure including (1) data enhancement and filtering and (2) multi-scale automatic change detection. The performance of the developed approach is demonstrated by an application to oil spill areas in the Gulf of Mexico. In this example, areas affected by oil spills were identified from a series of ALOS PALSAR images acquired in 2010. The comparison showed exceptional performance of our method. This method can be applied to emergency management and decision support systems with a need for real-time data, and it shows great potential for rapid data analysis in other areas, including volcano detection, flood boundaries, forest health, and wildfires.

MEMS tracking mirror system for a bidirectional free-space optical link.

PubMed

Jeon, Sungho; Toshiyoshi, Hiroshi

2017-08-20

We report on a bidirectional free-space optical system that is capable of automatic connection and tracking of an optical link between two nodes. A piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) optical scanner is used to steer a laser beam of two wavelengths superposed to visually present a communication zone, to search for the position of the remote node by means of the retro-reflector optics, and to transmit the data between the nodes. A feedback system is developed to control the MEMS scanner to dynamically establish the optical link within a 10-ms transition time and to keep track of the moving node.

Fast left ventricle tracking in CMR images using localized anatomical affine optical flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Queirós, Sandro; Vilaça, João. L.; Morais, Pedro; Fonseca, Jaime C.; D'hooge, Jan; Barbosa, Daniel

2015-03-01

In daily cardiology practice, assessment of left ventricular (LV) global function using non-invasive imaging remains central for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Despite the different methodologies currently accessible for LV segmentation in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images, a fast and complete LV delineation is still limitedly available for routine use. In this study, a localized anatomically constrained affine optical flow method is proposed for fast and automatic LV tracking throughout the full cardiac cycle in short-axis CMR images. Starting from an automatically delineated LV in the end-diastolic frame, the endocardial and epicardial boundaries are propagated by estimating the motion between adjacent cardiac phases using optical flow. In order to reduce the computational burden, the motion is only estimated in an anatomical region of interest around the tracked boundaries and subsequently integrated into a local affine motion model. Such localized estimation enables to capture complex motion patterns, while still being spatially consistent. The method was validated on 45 CMR datasets taken from the 2009 MICCAI LV segmentation challenge. The proposed approach proved to be robust and efficient, with an average distance error of 2.1 mm and a correlation with reference ejection fraction of 0.98 (1.9 +/- 4.5%). Moreover, it showed to be fast, taking 5 seconds for the tracking of a full 4D dataset (30 ms per image). Overall, a novel fast, robust and accurate LV tracking methodology was proposed, enabling accurate assessment of relevant global function cardiac indices, such as volumes and ejection fraction

Separating Automatic and Intentional Inhibitory Mechanisms of Attention in Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

PubMed Central

Roberts, Walter; Fillmore, Mark T.; Milich, Richard

2011-01-01

Researchers in the cognitive sciences recognize a fundamental distinction between automatic and intentional mechanisms of inhibitory control. The use of eye-tracking tasks to assess selective attention has led to a better understanding of this distinction in specific populations such as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined automatic and intentional inhibitory control mechanisms in adults with ADHD using a saccadic interference (SI) task and a delayed ocular response (DOR) task. Thirty adults with ADHD were compared to 27 comparison adults on measures of inhibitory control. The DOR task showed that adults with ADHD were less able than comparison adults to inhibit a reflexive saccade towards the sudden appearance of a stimulus in the periphery. However, SI task performance showed that the ADHD group did not differ significantly from the comparison group on a measure of automatic inhibitory control. These findings suggest a dissociation between automatic and intentional inhibitory deficits in adults with ADHD. PMID:21058752

Image-guided automatic triggering of a fractional CO2 laser in aesthetic procedures.

PubMed

Wilczyński, Sławomir; Koprowski, Robert; Wiernek, Barbara K; Błońska-Fajfrowska, Barbara

2016-09-01

Laser procedures in dermatology and aesthetic medicine are associated with the need for manual laser triggering. This leads to pulse overlapping and side effects. Automatic laser triggering based on image analysis can provide a secure fit to each successive doses of radiation. A fractional CO2 laser was used in the study. 500 images of the human skin of healthy subjects were acquired. Automatic triggering was initiated by an application together with a camera which tracks and analyses the skin in visible light. The tracking algorithm uses the methods of image analysis to overlap images. After locating the characteristic points in analysed adjacent areas, the correspondence of graphs is found. The point coordinates derived from the images are the vertices of graphs with respect to which isomorphism is sought. When the correspondence of graphs is found, it is possible to overlap the neighbouring parts of the image. The proposed method of laser triggering owing to the automatic image fitting method allows for 100% repeatability. To meet this requirement, there must be at least 13 graph vertices obtained from the image. For this number of vertices, the time of analysis of a single image is less than 0.5s. The proposed method, applied in practice, may help reduce the number of side effects during dermatological laser procedures resulting from laser pulse overlapping. In addition, it reduces treatment time and enables to propose new techniques of treatment through controlled, precise laser pulse overlapping. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic acquisition of motion trajectories: tracking hockey players

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okuma, Kenji; Little, James J.; Lowe, David

2003-12-01

Computer systems that have the capability of analyzing complex and dynamic scenes play an essential role in video annotation. Scenes can be complex in such a way that there are many cluttered objects with different colors, shapes and sizes, and can be dynamic with multiple interacting moving objects and a constantly changing background. In reality, there are many scenes that are complex, dynamic, and challenging enough for computers to describe. These scenes include games of sports, air traffic, car traffic, street intersections, and cloud transformations. Our research is about the challenge of inventing a descriptive computer system that analyzes scenes of hockey games where multiple moving players interact with each other on a constantly moving background due to camera motions. Ultimately, such a computer system should be able to acquire reliable data by extracting the players" motion as their trajectories, querying them by analyzing the descriptive information of data, and predict the motions of some hockey players based on the result of the query. Among these three major aspects of the system, we primarily focus on visual information of the scenes, that is, how to automatically acquire motion trajectories of hockey players from video. More accurately, we automatically analyze the hockey scenes by estimating parameters (i.e., pan, tilt, and zoom) of the broadcast cameras, tracking hockey players in those scenes, and constructing a visual description of the data by displaying trajectories of those players. Many technical problems in vision such as fast and unpredictable players' motions and rapid camera motions make our challenge worth tackling. To the best of our knowledge, there have not been any automatic video annotation systems for hockey developed in the past. Although there are many obstacles to overcome, our efforts and accomplishments would hopefully establish the infrastructure of the automatic hockey annotation system and become a milestone for research in automatic video annotation in this domain.

Automatically Detect and Track Multiple Fish Swimming in Shallow Water with Frequent Occlusion

PubMed Central

Qian, Zhi-Ming; Cheng, Xi En; Chen, Yan Qiu

2014-01-01

Due to its universality, swarm behavior in nature attracts much attention of scientists from many fields. Fish schools are examples of biological communities that demonstrate swarm behavior. The detection and tracking of fish in a school are of important significance for the quantitative research on swarm behavior. However, different from other biological communities, there are three problems in the detection and tracking of fish school, that is, variable appearances, complex motion and frequent occlusion. To solve these problems, we propose an effective method of fish detection and tracking. In this method, first, the fish head region is positioned through extremum detection and ellipse fitting; second, The Kalman filtering and feature matching are used to track the target in complex motion; finally, according to the feature information obtained by the detection and tracking, the tracking problems caused by frequent occlusion are processed through trajectory linking. We apply this method to track swimming fish school of different densities. The experimental results show that the proposed method is both accurate and reliable. PMID:25207811

NucliTrack: an integrated nuclei tracking application

PubMed Central

Cooper, Sam; Barr, Alexis R.; Glen, Robert; Bakal, Chris

2017-01-01

Abstract Summary Live imaging studies give unparalleled insight into dynamic single cell behaviours and fate decisions. However, the challenge of reliably tracking single cells over long periods of time limits both the throughput and ease with which such studies can be performed. Here, we present NucliTrack, a cross platform solution for automatically segmenting, tracking and extracting features from fluorescently labelled nuclei. NucliTrack performs similarly to other state-of-the-art cell tracking algorithms, but NucliTrack’s interactive, graphical interface makes it significantly more user friendly. Availability and implementation NucliTrack is available as a free, cross platform application and open source Python package. Installation details and documentation are at: http://nuclitrack.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ A video guide can be viewed online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6e0D9F-qSU Source code is available through Github: https://github.com/samocooper/nuclitrack. A Matlab toolbox is also available at: https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/61479-samocooper-nuclitrack-matlab. Contact sam@socooper.com Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:28637183

Solar Electric System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

Heat Pipe Technology, Inc. undertook the development of a PV system that could bring solar electricity to the individual home at reasonable cost. His system employs high efficiency PV modules plus a set of polished reflectors that concentrate the solar energy and enhance the output of the modules. Dinh incorporated a sun tracking system derived from space tracking technology. It automatically follows the sun throughout the day and turns the modules so that they get maximum exposure to the solar radiation, further enhancing the system efficiency.

Vigilante: Ultrafast Smart Sensor for Target Recognition and Precision Tracking in a Simulated CMD Scenario

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uldomkesmalee, Suraphol; Suddarth, Steven C.

1997-01-01

VIGILANTE is an ultrafast smart sensor testbed for generic Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) applications with a series of capability demonstration focussed on cruise missile defense (CMD). VIGILANTE's sensor/processor architecture is based on next-generation UV/visible/IR sensors and a tera-operations per second sugar-cube processor, as well as supporting airborne vehicle. Excellent results of efficient ATR methodologies that use an eigenvectors/neural network combination and feature-based precision tracking have been demonstrated in the laboratory environment.

Data-Base Software For Tracking Technological Developments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aliberti, James A.; Wright, Simon; Monteith, Steve K.

1996-01-01

Technology Tracking System (TechTracS) computer program developed for use in storing and retrieving information on technology and related patent information developed under auspices of NASA Headquarters and NASA's field centers. Contents of data base include multiple scanned still images and quick-time movies as well as text. TechTracS includes word-processing, report-editing, chart-and-graph-editing, and search-editing subprograms. Extensive keyword searching capabilities enable rapid location of technologies, innovators, and companies. System performs routine functions automatically and serves multiple users.

Beam’s-eye-view imaging during non-coplanar lung SBRT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yip, Stephen S. F., E-mail: syip@lroc.harvard.edu; Rottmann, Joerg; Berbeco, Ross I.

Purpose: Beam’s-eye-view (BEV) imaging with an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) can be performed during lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to monitor the tumor location in real-time. Image quality for each patient and treatment field depends on several factors including the patient anatomy and the gantry and couch angles. The authors investigated the angular dependence of automatic tumor localization during non-coplanar lung SBRT delivery. Methods: All images were acquired at a frame rate of 12 Hz with an amorphous silicon EPID. A previously validated markerless lung tumor localization algorithm was employed with manual localization as the reference. From tenmore » SBRT patients, 12 987 image frames of 123 image sequences acquired at 48 different gantry–couch rotations were analyzed. δ was defined by the position difference of the automatic and manual localization. Results: Regardless of the couch angle, the best tracking performance was found in image sequences with a gantry angle within 20° of 250° (δ = 1.40 mm). Image sequences acquired with gantry angles of 150°, 210°, and 350° also led to good tracking performances with δ = 1.77–2.00 mm. Overall, the couch angle was not correlated with the tracking results. Among all the gantry–couch combinations, image sequences acquired at (θ = 30°, ϕ = 330°), (θ = 210°, ϕ = 10°), and (θ = 250°, ϕ = 30°) led to the best tracking results with δ = 1.19–1.82 mm. The worst performing combinations were (θ = 90° and 230°, ϕ = 10°) and (θ = 270°, ϕ = 30°) with δ > 3.5 mm. However, 35% (17/48) of the gantry–couch rotations demonstrated substantial variability in tracking performances between patients. For example, the field angle (θ = 70°, ϕ = 10°) was acquired for five patients. While the tracking errors were ≤1.98 mm for three patients, poor performance was found for the other two patients with δ ≥ 2.18 mm, leading to average tracking error of 2.70 mm. Only one image sequence was acquired for all other gantry–couch rotations (δ = 1.18–10.29 mm). Conclusions: Non-coplanar beams with gantry–couch rotation of (θ = 30°, ϕ = 330°), (θ = 210°, ϕ = 10°), and (θ = 250°, ϕ = 30°) have the highest accuracy for BEV lung tumor localization. Additionally, gantry angles of 150°, 210°, 250°, and 350° also offer good tracking performance. The beam geometries (θ = 90° and 230°, ϕ = 10°) and (θ = 270°, ϕ = 30°) are associated with substantial automatic localization errors. Overall, lung tumor visibility and tracking performance were patient dependent for a substantial number of the gantry–couch angle combinations studied.« less

Tracking Algorithm of Multiple Pedestrians Based on Particle Filters in Video Sequences

PubMed Central

Liu, Yun; Wang, Chuanxu; Zhang, Shujun; Cui, Xuehong

2016-01-01

Pedestrian tracking is a critical problem in the field of computer vision. Particle filters have been proven to be very useful in pedestrian tracking for nonlinear and non-Gaussian estimation problems. However, pedestrian tracking in complex environment is still facing many problems due to changes of pedestrian postures and scale, moving background, mutual occlusion, and presence of pedestrian. To surmount these difficulties, this paper presents tracking algorithm of multiple pedestrians based on particle filters in video sequences. The algorithm acquires confidence value of the object and the background through extracting a priori knowledge thus to achieve multipedestrian detection; it adopts color and texture features into particle filter to get better observation results and then automatically adjusts weight value of each feature according to current tracking environment. During the process of tracking, the algorithm processes severe occlusion condition to prevent drift and loss phenomena caused by object occlusion and associates detection results with particle state to propose discriminated method for object disappearance and emergence thus to achieve robust tracking of multiple pedestrians. Experimental verification and analysis in video sequences demonstrate that proposed algorithm improves the tracking performance and has better tracking results. PMID:27847514

Real Time 3D Facial Movement Tracking Using a Monocular Camera

PubMed Central

Dong, Yanchao; Wang, Yanming; Yue, Jiguang; Hu, Zhencheng

2016-01-01

The paper proposes a robust framework for 3D facial movement tracking in real time using a monocular camera. It is designed to estimate the 3D face pose and local facial animation such as eyelid movement and mouth movement. The framework firstly utilizes the Discriminative Shape Regression method to locate the facial feature points on the 2D image and fuses the 2D data with a 3D face model using Extended Kalman Filter to yield 3D facial movement information. An alternating optimizing strategy is adopted to fit to different persons automatically. Experiments show that the proposed framework could track the 3D facial movement across various poses and illumination conditions. Given the real face scale the framework could track the eyelid with an error of 1 mm and mouth with an error of 2 mm. The tracking result is reliable for expression analysis or mental state inference. PMID:27463714

Real Time 3D Facial Movement Tracking Using a Monocular Camera.

PubMed

Dong, Yanchao; Wang, Yanming; Yue, Jiguang; Hu, Zhencheng

2016-07-25

The paper proposes a robust framework for 3D facial movement tracking in real time using a monocular camera. It is designed to estimate the 3D face pose and local facial animation such as eyelid movement and mouth movement. The framework firstly utilizes the Discriminative Shape Regression method to locate the facial feature points on the 2D image and fuses the 2D data with a 3D face model using Extended Kalman Filter to yield 3D facial movement information. An alternating optimizing strategy is adopted to fit to different persons automatically. Experiments show that the proposed framework could track the 3D facial movement across various poses and illumination conditions. Given the real face scale the framework could track the eyelid with an error of 1 mm and mouth with an error of 2 mm. The tracking result is reliable for expression analysis or mental state inference.

STABILITY OF THE NEUTRON DOSE DETERMINATION ALGORITHM FOR PERSONAL NEUTRON DOSEMETERS AT DIFFERENT RADON GAS EXPOSURES.

PubMed

Mayer, Sabine; Boschung, Markus; Butterweck, Gernot; Assenmacher, Frank; Hohmann, Eike

2016-09-01

Since 2008 the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) has been using a microscope-based automatic scanning system for assessing personal neutron doses with a dosemeter based on PADC. This scanning system, known as TASLImage, includes a comprehensive characterisation of tracks. The distributions of several specific track characteristics such as size, shape and optical density are compared with a reference set to discriminate tracks of alpha particles and non-track background. Due to the dosemeter design at PSI, it is anticipated that radon should not significantly contribute to the creation of additional tracks in the PADC detector. The present study tests the stability of the neutron dose determination algorithm of the personal neutron dosemeter system in operation at PSI at different radon gas exposures. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Adaptive learning compressive tracking based on Markov location prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xingyu; Fu, Dongmei; Yang, Tao; Shi, Yanan

2017-03-01

Object tracking is an interdisciplinary research topic in image processing, pattern recognition, and computer vision which has theoretical and practical application value in video surveillance, virtual reality, and automatic navigation. Compressive tracking (CT) has many advantages, such as efficiency and accuracy. However, when there are object occlusion, abrupt motion and blur, similar objects, and scale changing, the CT has the problem of tracking drift. We propose the Markov object location prediction to get the initial position of the object. Then CT is used to locate the object accurately, and the classifier parameter adaptive updating strategy is given based on the confidence map. At the same time according to the object location, extract the scale features, which is able to deal with object scale variations effectively. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better tracking accuracy and robustness than current advanced algorithms and achieves real-time performance.

Label free cell-tracking and division detection based on 2D time-lapse images for lineage analysis of early embryo development.

PubMed

Cicconet, Marcelo; Gutwein, Michelle; Gunsalus, Kristin C; Geiger, Davi

2014-08-01

In this paper we report a database and a series of techniques related to the problem of tracking cells, and detecting their divisions, in time-lapse movies of mammalian embryos. Our contributions are (1) a method for counting embryos in a well, and cropping each individual embryo across frames, to create individual movies for cell tracking; (2) a semi-automated method for cell tracking that works up to the 8-cell stage, along with a software implementation available to the public (this software was used to build the reported database); (3) an algorithm for automatic tracking up to the 4-cell stage, based on histograms of mirror symmetry coefficients captured using wavelets; (4) a cell-tracking database containing 100 annotated examples of mammalian embryos up to the 8-cell stage; and (5) statistical analysis of various timing distributions obtained from those examples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Real-time multiple objects tracking on Raspberry-Pi-based smart embedded camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dziri, Aziz; Duranton, Marc; Chapuis, Roland

2016-07-01

Multiple-object tracking constitutes a major step in several computer vision applications, such as surveillance, advanced driver assistance systems, and automatic traffic monitoring. Because of the number of cameras used to cover a large area, these applications are constrained by the cost of each node, the power consumption, the robustness of the tracking, the processing time, and the ease of deployment of the system. To meet these challenges, the use of low-power and low-cost embedded vision platforms to achieve reliable tracking becomes essential in networks of cameras. We propose a tracking pipeline that is designed for fixed smart cameras and which can handle occlusions between objects. We show that the proposed pipeline reaches real-time processing on a low-cost embedded smart camera composed of a Raspberry-Pi board and a RaspiCam camera. The tracking quality and the processing speed obtained with the proposed pipeline are evaluated on publicly available datasets and compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

Automatic segmentation and centroid detection of skin sensors for lung interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Kongkuo; Xu, Sheng; Xue, Zhong; Wong, Stephen T.

2012-02-01

Electromagnetic (EM) tracking has been recognized as a valuable tool for locating the interventional devices in procedures such as lung and liver biopsy or ablation. The advantage of this technology is its real-time connection to the 3D volumetric roadmap, i.e. CT, of a patient's anatomy while the intervention is performed. EM-based guidance requires tracking of the tip of the interventional device, transforming the location of the device onto pre-operative CT images, and superimposing the device in the 3D images to assist physicians to complete the procedure more effectively. A key requirement of this data integration is to find automatically the mapping between EM and CT coordinate systems. Thus, skin fiducial sensors are attached to patients before acquiring the pre-operative CTs. Then, those sensors can be recognized in both CT and EM coordinate systems and used calculate the transformation matrix. In this paper, to enable the EM-based navigation workflow and reduce procedural preparation time, an automatic fiducial detection method is proposed to obtain the centroids of the sensors from the pre-operative CT. The approach has been applied to 13 rabbit datasets derived from an animal study and eight human images from an observation study. The numerical results show that it is a reliable and efficient method for use in EM-guided application.

Automatic optimization of well locations in a North Sea fractured chalk reservoir using a front tracking reservoir simulator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rian, D.T.; Hage, A.

1994-12-31

A numerical simulator is often used as a reservoir management tool. One of its main purposes is to aid in the evaluation of number of wells, well locations and start time for wells. Traditionally, the optimization of a field development is done by a manual trial and error process. In this paper, an example of an automated technique is given. The core in the automization process is the reservoir simulator Frontline. Frontline is based on front tracking techniques, which makes it fast and accurate compared to traditional finite difference simulators. Due to its CPU-efficiency the simulator has been coupled withmore » an optimization module, which enables automatic optimization of location of wells, number of wells and start-up times. The simulator was used as an alternative method in the evaluation of waterflooding in a North Sea fractured chalk reservoir. Since Frontline, in principle, is 2D, Buckley-Leverett pseudo functions were used to represent the 3rd dimension. The area full field simulation model was run with up to 25 wells for 20 years in less than one minute of Vax 9000 CPU-time. The automatic Frontline evaluation indicated that a peripheral waterflood could double incremental recovery compared to a central pattern drive.« less

Computer Applications in Teaching and Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halley, Fred S.; And Others

Some examples of the usage of computers in teaching and learning are examination generation, automatic exam grading, student tracking, problem generation, computational examination generators, program packages, simulation, and programing skills for problem solving. These applications are non-trivial and do fulfill the basic assumptions necessary…

Towards Automated Three-Dimensional Tracking of Nephrons through Stacked Histological Image Sets

PubMed Central

Bhikha, Charita; Andreasen, Arne; Christensen, Erik I.; Letts, Robyn F. R.; Pantanowitz, Adam; Rubin, David M.; Thomsen, Jesper S.; Zhai, Xiao-Yue

2015-01-01

An automated approach for tracking individual nephrons through three-dimensional histological image sets of mouse and rat kidneys is presented. In a previous study, the available images were tracked manually through the image sets in order to explore renal microarchitecture. The purpose of the current research is to reduce the time and effort required to manually trace nephrons by creating an automated, intelligent system as a standard tool for such datasets. The algorithm is robust enough to isolate closely packed nephrons and track their convoluted paths despite a number of nonideal, interfering conditions such as local image distortions, artefacts, and interstitial tissue interference. The system comprises image preprocessing, feature extraction, and a custom graph-based tracking algorithm, which is validated by a rule base and a machine learning algorithm. A study of a selection of automatically tracked nephrons, when compared with manual tracking, yields a 95% tracking accuracy for structures in the cortex, while those in the medulla have lower accuracy due to narrower diameter and higher density. Limited manual intervention is introduced to improve tracking, enabling full nephron paths to be obtained with an average of 17 manual corrections per mouse nephron and 58 manual corrections per rat nephron. PMID:26170896

Towards Automated Three-Dimensional Tracking of Nephrons through Stacked Histological Image Sets.

PubMed

Bhikha, Charita; Andreasen, Arne; Christensen, Erik I; Letts, Robyn F R; Pantanowitz, Adam; Rubin, David M; Thomsen, Jesper S; Zhai, Xiao-Yue

2015-01-01

An automated approach for tracking individual nephrons through three-dimensional histological image sets of mouse and rat kidneys is presented. In a previous study, the available images were tracked manually through the image sets in order to explore renal microarchitecture. The purpose of the current research is to reduce the time and effort required to manually trace nephrons by creating an automated, intelligent system as a standard tool for such datasets. The algorithm is robust enough to isolate closely packed nephrons and track their convoluted paths despite a number of nonideal, interfering conditions such as local image distortions, artefacts, and interstitial tissue interference. The system comprises image preprocessing, feature extraction, and a custom graph-based tracking algorithm, which is validated by a rule base and a machine learning algorithm. A study of a selection of automatically tracked nephrons, when compared with manual tracking, yields a 95% tracking accuracy for structures in the cortex, while those in the medulla have lower accuracy due to narrower diameter and higher density. Limited manual intervention is introduced to improve tracking, enabling full nephron paths to be obtained with an average of 17 manual corrections per mouse nephron and 58 manual corrections per rat nephron.

A Track Initiation Method for the Underwater Target Tracking Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Dong-dong; Lin, Yang; Zhang, Yao

2018-04-01

A novel efficient track initiation method is proposed for the harsh underwater target tracking environment (heavy clutter and large measurement errors): track splitting, evaluating, pruning and merging method (TSEPM). Track initiation demands that the method should determine the existence and initial state of a target quickly and correctly. Heavy clutter and large measurement errors certainly pose additional difficulties and challenges, which deteriorate and complicate the track initiation in the harsh underwater target tracking environment. There are three primary shortcomings for the current track initiation methods to initialize a target: (a) they cannot eliminate the turbulences of clutter effectively; (b) there may be a high false alarm probability and low detection probability of a track; (c) they cannot estimate the initial state for a new confirmed track correctly. Based on the multiple hypotheses tracking principle and modified logic-based track initiation method, in order to increase the detection probability of a track, track splitting creates a large number of tracks which include the true track originated from the target. And in order to decrease the false alarm probability, based on the evaluation mechanism, track pruning and track merging are proposed to reduce the false tracks. TSEPM method can deal with the track initiation problems derived from heavy clutter and large measurement errors, determine the target's existence and estimate its initial state with the least squares method. What's more, our method is fully automatic and does not require any kind manual input for initializing and tuning any parameter. Simulation results indicate that our new method improves significantly the performance of the track initiation in the harsh underwater target tracking environment.

Anomaly detection driven active learning for identifying suspicious tracks and events in WAMI video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, David J.; Natraj, Aditya; Hockenbury, Ryler; Dunn, Katherine; Sheffler, Michael; Sullivan, Kevin

2012-06-01

We describe a comprehensive system for learning to identify suspicious vehicle tracks from wide-area motion (WAMI) video. First, since the road network for the scene of interest is assumed unknown, agglomerative hierarchical clustering is applied to all spatial vehicle measurements, resulting in spatial cells that largely capture individual road segments. Next, for each track, both at the cell (speed, acceleration, azimuth) and track (range, total distance, duration) levels, extreme value feature statistics are both computed and aggregated, to form summary (p-value based) anomaly statistics for each track. Here, to fairly evaluate tracks that travel across different numbers of spatial cells, for each cell-level feature type, a single (most extreme) statistic is chosen, over all cells traveled. Finally, a novel active learning paradigm, applied to a (logistic regression) track classifier, is invoked to learn to distinguish suspicious from merely anomalous tracks, starting from anomaly-ranked track prioritization, with ground-truth labeling by a human operator. This system has been applied to WAMI video data (ARGUS), with the tracks automatically extracted by a system developed in-house at Toyon Research Corporation. Our system gives promising preliminary results in highly ranking as suspicious aerial vehicles, dismounts, and traffic violators, and in learning which features are most indicative of suspicious tracks.

Single-Molecule Encoders for Tracking Motor Proteins on DNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipman, Everett A.

2012-02-01

Devices such as inkjet printers and disk drives track position and velocity using optical encoders, which produce periodic signals precisely synchronized with linear or rotational motion. We have implemented this technique at the nanometer scale by labeling DNA with regularly spaced fluorescent dyes. The resulting molecular encoders can be used in several ways for high-resolution continuous tracking of individual motor proteins. These measurements do not require mechanical coupling to macroscopic instrumentation, are automatically calibrated by the underlying structure of DNA, and depend on signal periodicity rather than absolute level. I will describe the synthesis of single-molecule encoders, data from and modeling of experiments on a helicase and a DNA polymerase, and some ideas for future work.

Track reconstruction in the emulsion-lead target of the OPERA experiment using the ESS microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrabito, L.; Bozza, C.; Buontempo, S.; Consiglio, L.; Cozzi, M.; D'Ambrosio, N.; DeLellis, G.; DeSerio, M.; Di Capua, F.; Di Ferdinando, D.; Di Marco, N.; Ereditato, A.; Esposito, L. S.; Fini, R. A.; Giacomelli, G.; Giorgini, M.; Grella, G.; Ieva, M.; Janicsko Csathy, J.; Juget, F.; Kreslo, I.; Laktineh, I.; Manai, K.; Mandrioli, G.; Marotta, A.; Migliozzi, P.; Monacelli, P.; Moser, U.; Muciaccia, M. T.; Pastore, A.; Patrizii, L.; Petukhov, Y.; Pistillo, C.; Pozzato, M.; Romano, G.; Rosa, G.; Russo, A.; Savvinov, N.; Schembri, A.; Scotto Lavina, L.; Simone, S.; Sioli, M.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Strolin, P.; Tioukov, V.; Waelchli, T.

2007-05-01

The OPERA experiment, designed to conclusively prove the existence of νμ→ντ oscillations in the atmospheric sector, makes use of a massive lead-nuclear emulsion target to observe the appearance of ντ's in the CNGS νμ beam. The location and analysis of the neutrino interactions in quasi real-time required the development of fast computer-controlled microscopes able to reconstruct particle tracks with sub-micron precision and high efficiency at a speed of ~20 cm2/h. This paper describes the performance in particle track reconstruction of the European Scanning System, a novel automatic microscope for the measurement of emulsion films developed for OPERA.

Convolutional Deep Belief Networks for Single-Cell/Object Tracking in Computational Biology and Computer Vision.

PubMed

Zhong, Bineng; Pan, Shengnan; Zhang, Hongbo; Wang, Tian; Du, Jixiang; Chen, Duansheng; Cao, Liujuan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose deep architecture to dynamically learn the most discriminative features from data for both single-cell and object tracking in computational biology and computer vision. Firstly, the discriminative features are automatically learned via a convolutional deep belief network (CDBN). Secondly, we design a simple yet effective method to transfer features learned from CDBNs on the source tasks for generic purpose to the object tracking tasks using only limited amount of training data. Finally, to alleviate the tracker drifting problem caused by model updating, we jointly consider three different types of positive samples. Extensive experiments validate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Convolutional Deep Belief Networks for Single-Cell/Object Tracking in Computational Biology and Computer Vision

PubMed Central

Pan, Shengnan; Zhang, Hongbo; Wang, Tian; Du, Jixiang; Chen, Duansheng; Cao, Liujuan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose deep architecture to dynamically learn the most discriminative features from data for both single-cell and object tracking in computational biology and computer vision. Firstly, the discriminative features are automatically learned via a convolutional deep belief network (CDBN). Secondly, we design a simple yet effective method to transfer features learned from CDBNs on the source tasks for generic purpose to the object tracking tasks using only limited amount of training data. Finally, to alleviate the tracker drifting problem caused by model updating, we jointly consider three different types of positive samples. Extensive experiments validate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:27847827

Automatic Intra-Operative Stitching of Non-Overlapping Cone-Beam CT Acquisitions

PubMed Central

Fotouhi, Javad; Fuerst, Bernhard; Unberath, Mathias; Reichenstein, Stefan; Lee, Sing Chun; Johnson, Alex A.; Osgood, Greg M.; Armand, Mehran; Navab, Nassir

2018-01-01

Purpose Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) is one of the primary imaging modalities in radiation therapy, dentistry, and orthopedic interventions. While CBCT provides crucial intraoperative information, it is bounded by a limited imaging volume, resulting in reduced effectiveness. This paper introduces an approach allowing real-time intraoperative stitching of overlapping and non-overlapping CBCT volumes to enable 3D measurements on large anatomical structures. Methods A CBCT-capable mobile C-arm is augmented with a Red-Green-Blue-Depth (RGBD) camera. An off-line co-calibration of the two imaging modalities results in co-registered video, infrared, and X-ray views of the surgical scene. Then, automatic stitching of multiple small, non-overlapping CBCT volumes is possible by recovering the relative motion of the C-arm with respect to the patient based on the camera observations. We propose three methods to recover the relative pose: RGB-based tracking of visual markers that are placed near the surgical site, RGBD-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) of the surgical scene which incorporates both color and depth information for pose estimation, and surface tracking of the patient using only depth data provided by the RGBD sensor. Results On an animal cadaver, we show stitching errors as low as 0.33 mm, 0.91 mm, and 1.72mm when the visual marker, RGBD SLAM, and surface data are used for tracking, respectively. Conclusions The proposed method overcomes one of the major limitations of CBCT C-arm systems by integrating vision-based tracking and expanding the imaging volume without any intraoperative use of calibration grids or external tracking systems. We believe this solution to be most appropriate for 3D intraoperative verification of several orthopedic procedures. PMID:29569728

Quantitative semi-automated analysis of morphogenesis with single-cell resolution in complex embryos.

PubMed

Giurumescu, Claudiu A; Kang, Sukryool; Planchon, Thomas A; Betzig, Eric; Bloomekatz, Joshua; Yelon, Deborah; Cosman, Pamela; Chisholm, Andrew D

2012-11-01

A quantitative understanding of tissue morphogenesis requires description of the movements of individual cells in space and over time. In transparent embryos, such as C. elegans, fluorescently labeled nuclei can be imaged in three-dimensional time-lapse (4D) movies and automatically tracked through early cleavage divisions up to ~350 nuclei. A similar analysis of later stages of C. elegans development has been challenging owing to the increased error rates of automated tracking of large numbers of densely packed nuclei. We present Nucleitracker4D, a freely available software solution for tracking nuclei in complex embryos that integrates automated tracking of nuclei in local searches with manual curation. Using these methods, we have been able to track >99% of all nuclei generated in the C. elegans embryo. Our analysis reveals that ventral enclosure of the epidermis is accompanied by complex coordinated migration of the neuronal substrate. We can efficiently track large numbers of migrating nuclei in 4D movies of zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis, suggesting that this approach is generally useful in situations in which the number, packing or dynamics of nuclei present challenges for automated tracking.

Electromagnetic tracking of flexible robotic catheters enables "assisted navigation" and brings automation to endovascular navigation in an in vitro study.

PubMed

Schwein, Adeline; Kramer, Benjamin; Chinnadurai, Ponraj; Virmani, Neha; Walker, Sean; O'Malley, Marcia; Lumsden, Alan B; Bismuth, Jean

2018-04-01

Combining three-dimensional (3D) catheter control with electromagnetic (EM) tracking-based navigation significantly reduced fluoroscopy time and improved robotic catheter movement quality in a previous in vitro pilot study. The aim of this study was to expound on previous results and to expand the value of EM tracking with a novel feature, assistednavigation, allowing automatic catheter orientation and semiautomatic vessel cannulation. Eighteen users navigated a robotic catheter in an aortic aneurysm phantom using an EM guidewire and a modified 9F robotic catheter with EM sensors at the tip of both leader and sheath. All users cannulated two targets, the left renal artery and posterior gate, using four visualization modes: (1) Standard fluoroscopy (control). (2) 2D biplane fluoroscopy showing real-time virtual catheter localization and orientation from EM tracking. (3) 2D biplane fluoroscopy with novel EM assisted navigation allowing the user to define the target vessel. The robotic catheter orients itself automatically toward the target; the user then only needs to advance the guidewire following this predefined optimized path to catheterize the vessel. Then, while advancing the catheter over the wire, the assisted navigation automatically modifies catheter bending and rotation in order to ensure smooth progression, avoiding loss of wire access. (4) Virtual 3D representation of the phantom showing real-time virtual catheter localization and orientation. Standard fluoroscopy was always available; cannulation and fluoroscopy times were noted for every mode and target cannulation. Quality of catheter movement was assessed by measuring the number of submovements of the catheter using the 3D coordinates of the EM sensors. A t-test was used to compare the standard fluoroscopy mode against EM tracking modes. EM tracking significantly reduced the mean fluoroscopy time (P < .001) and the number of submovements (P < .02) for both cannulation tasks. For the posterior gate, mean cannulation time was also significantly reduced when using EM tracking (P < .001). The use of novel EM assisted navigation feature (mode 3) showed further reduced cannulation time for the posterior gate (P = .002) and improved quality of catheter movement for the left renal artery cannulation (P = .021). These results confirmed the findings of a prior study that highlighted the value of combining 3D robotic catheter control and 3D navigation to improve safety and efficiency of endovascular procedures. The novel EM assisted navigation feature augments the robotic master/slave concept with automated catheter orientation toward the target and shows promising results in reducing procedure time and improving catheter motion quality. Copyright © 2017 Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hard Facts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Richard

1998-01-01

Discusses the selection of floor-care equipment so that the equipment's features and performance attributes can match their intended purposes. Offers tips such as buying only composite-material buckets and wringers, choosing cleaning machines with good maintenance track records, and buying automatic scrubbers that can operate in both large and…

Automatic trajectory measurement of large numbers of crowded objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hui; Liu, Ye; Chen, Yan Qiu

2013-06-01

Complex motion patterns of natural systems, such as fish schools, bird flocks, and cell groups, have attracted great attention from scientists for years. Trajectory measurement of individuals is vital for quantitative and high-throughput study of their collective behaviors. However, such data are rare mainly due to the challenges of detection and tracking of large numbers of objects with similar visual features and frequent occlusions. We present an automatic and effective framework to measure trajectories of large numbers of crowded oval-shaped objects, such as fish and cells. We first use a novel dual ellipse locator to detect the coarse position of each individual and then propose a variance minimization active contour method to obtain the optimal segmentation results. For tracking, cost matrix of assignment between consecutive frames is trainable via a random forest classifier with many spatial, texture, and shape features. The optimal trajectories are found for the whole image sequence by solving two linear assignment problems. We evaluate the proposed method on many challenging data sets.

A system for learning statistical motion patterns.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Xiao, Xuejuan; Fu, Zhouyu; Xie, Dan; Tan, Tieniu; Maybank, Steve

2006-09-01

Analysis of motion patterns is an effective approach for anomaly detection and behavior prediction. Current approaches for the analysis of motion patterns depend on known scenes, where objects move in predefined ways. It is highly desirable to automatically construct object motion patterns which reflect the knowledge of the scene. In this paper, we present a system for automatically learning motion patterns for anomaly detection and behavior prediction based on a proposed algorithm for robustly tracking multiple objects. In the tracking algorithm, foreground pixels are clustered using a fast accurate fuzzy K-means algorithm. Growing and prediction of the cluster centroids of foreground pixels ensure that each cluster centroid is associated with a moving object in the scene. In the algorithm for learning motion patterns, trajectories are clustered hierarchically using spatial and temporal information and then each motion pattern is represented with a chain of Gaussian distributions. Based on the learned statistical motion patterns, statistical methods are used to detect anomalies and predict behaviors. Our system is tested using image sequences acquired, respectively, from a crowded real traffic scene and a model traffic scene. Experimental results show the robustness of the tracking algorithm, the efficiency of the algorithm for learning motion patterns, and the encouraging performance of algorithms for anomaly detection and behavior prediction.

Synthetic depth data creation for sensor setup planning and evaluation of multi-camera multi-person trackers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pattke, Marco; Martin, Manuel; Voit, Michael

2017-05-01

Tracking people with cameras in public areas is common today. However with an increasing number of cameras it becomes harder and harder to view the data manually. Especially in safety critical areas automatic image exploitation could help to solve this problem. Setting up such a system can however be difficult because of its increased complexity. Sensor placement is critical to ensure that people are detected and tracked reliably. We try to solve this problem using a simulation framework that is able to simulate different camera setups in the desired environment including animated characters. We combine this framework with our self developed distributed and scalable system for people tracking to test its effectiveness and can show the results of the tracking system in real time in the simulated environment.

Magnetic levitation and its application for education devices based on YBCO bulk superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, W. M.; Chao, X. X.; Guo, F. X.; Li, J. W.; Chen, S. L.

2013-10-01

A small superconducting maglev propeller system, a small spacecraft model suspending and moving around a terrestrial globe, several small maglev vehicle models and a magnetic circuit converter have been designed and constructed. The track was paved by NdFeB magnets, the arrangement of the magnets made us easy to get a uniform distribution of magnetic field along the length direction of the track and a high magnetic field gradient in the lateral direction. When the YBCO bulks mounted inside the vehicle models or spacecraft model was field cooled to LN2 temperature at a certain distance away from the track, they could be automatically floating over and moving along the track without any obvious friction. The models can be used as experimental or demonstration devices for the magnetic levitation applications.

Development of an algorithm to model an aircraft equipped with a generic CDTI display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Driscoll, W. C.; Houck, J. A.

1986-01-01

A model of human pilot performance of a tracking task using a generic Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) display is developed from experimental data. The tracking task is to use CDTI in tracking a leading aircraft at a nominal separation of three nautical miles over a prescribed trajectory in space. The analysis of the data resulting from a factorial design of experiments reveals that the tracking task performance depends on the pilot and his experience at performing the task. Performance was not strongly affected by the type of control system used (velocity vector control wheel steering versus 3D automatic flight path guidance and control). The model that is developed and verified results in state trajectories whose difference from the experimental state trajectories is small compared to the variation due to the pilot and experience factors.

LabVIEW application for motion tracking using USB camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rob, R.; Tirian, G. O.; Panoiu, M.

2017-05-01

The technical state of the contact line and also the additional equipment in electric rail transport is very important for realizing the repairing and maintenance of the contact line. During its functioning, the pantograph motion must stay in standard limits. Present paper proposes a LabVIEW application which is able to track in real time the motion of a laboratory pantograph and also to acquire the tracking images. An USB webcam connected to a computer acquires the desired images. The laboratory pantograph contains an automatic system which simulates the real motion. The tracking parameters are the horizontally motion (zigzag) and the vertically motion which can be studied in separate diagrams. The LabVIEW application requires appropriate tool-kits for vision development. Therefore the paper describes the subroutines that are especially programmed for real-time image acquisition and also for data processing.

Automatic Detection and Positioning of Ground Control Points Using TerraSAR-X Multiaspect Acquisitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montazeri, Sina; Gisinger, Christoph; Eineder, Michael; Zhu, Xiao xiang

2018-05-01

Geodetic stereo Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is capable of absolute three-dimensional localization of natural Persistent Scatterer (PS)s which allows for Ground Control Point (GCP) generation using only SAR data. The prerequisite for the method to achieve high precision results is the correct detection of common scatterers in SAR images acquired from different viewing geometries. In this contribution, we describe three strategies for automatic detection of identical targets in SAR images of urban areas taken from different orbit tracks. Moreover, a complete work-flow for automatic generation of large number of GCPs using SAR data is presented and its applicability is shown by exploiting TerraSAR-X (TS-X) high resolution spotlight images over the city of Oulu, Finland and a test site in Berlin, Germany.

Design and implementation of a general and automatic test platform base on NI PXI system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Long

2018-05-01

Aiming at some difficulties of test equipment such as the short product life, poor generality and high development cost, a general and automatic test platform base on NI PXI system is designed in this paper, which is able to meet most test requirements of circuit boards. The test platform is devided into 5 layers, every layer is introduced in detail except for the "Equipment Under Test" layer. An output board of a track-side equipment, which is an important part of high speed train control system, is taken as an example to make the functional circuit test by the test platform. The results show that the test platform is easy to realize add-on functions development, automatic test, wide compatibility and strong generality.

Argo: enabling the development of bespoke workflows and services for disease annotation.

PubMed

Batista-Navarro, Riza; Carter, Jacob; Ananiadou, Sophia

2016-01-01

Argo (http://argo.nactem.ac.uk) is a generic text mining workbench that can cater to a variety of use cases, including the semi-automatic annotation of literature. It enables its technical users to build their own customised text mining solutions by providing a wide array of interoperable and configurable elementary components that can be seamlessly integrated into processing workflows. With Argo's graphical annotation interface, domain experts can then make use of the workflows' automatically generated output to curate information of interest.With the continuously rising need to understand the aetiology of diseases as well as the demand for their informed diagnosis and personalised treatment, the curation of disease-relevant information from medical and clinical documents has become an indispensable scientific activity. In the Fifth BioCreative Challenge Evaluation Workshop (BioCreative V), there was substantial interest in the mining of literature for disease-relevant information. Apart from a panel discussion focussed on disease annotations, the chemical-disease relations (CDR) track was also organised to foster the sharing and advancement of disease annotation tools and resources.This article presents the application of Argo's capabilities to the literature-based annotation of diseases. As part of our participation in BioCreative V's User Interactive Track (IAT), we demonstrated and evaluated Argo's suitability to the semi-automatic curation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) phenotypes. Furthermore, the workbench facilitated the development of some of the CDR track's top-performing web services for normalising disease mentions against the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database. In this work, we highlight Argo's support for developing various types of bespoke workflows ranging from ones which enabled us to easily incorporate information from various databases, to those which train and apply machine learning-based concept recognition models, through to user-interactive ones which allow human curators to manually provide their corrections to automatically generated annotations. Our participation in the BioCreative V challenges shows Argo's potential as an enabling technology for curating disease and phenotypic information from literature.Database URL: http://argo.nactem.ac.uk. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

A comparative study of automatic image segmentation algorithms for target tracking in MR-IGRT.

PubMed

Feng, Yuan; Kawrakow, Iwan; Olsen, Jeff; Parikh, Parag J; Noel, Camille; Wooten, Omar; Du, Dongsu; Mutic, Sasa; Hu, Yanle

2016-03-01

On-board magnetic resonance (MR) image guidance during radiation therapy offers the potential for more accurate treatment delivery. To utilize the real-time image information, a crucial prerequisite is the ability to successfully segment and track regions of interest (ROI). The purpose of this work is to evaluate the performance of different segmentation algorithms using motion images (4 frames per second) acquired using a MR image-guided radiotherapy (MR-IGRT) system. Manual contours of the kidney, bladder, duodenum, and a liver tumor by an experienced radiation oncologist were used as the ground truth for performance evaluation. Besides the manual segmentation, images were automatically segmented using thresholding, fuzzy k-means (FKM), k-harmonic means (KHM), and reaction-diffusion level set evolution (RD-LSE) algorithms, as well as the tissue tracking algorithm provided by the ViewRay treatment planning and delivery system (VR-TPDS). The performance of the five algorithms was evaluated quantitatively by comparing with the manual segmentation using the Dice coefficient and target registration error (TRE) measured as the distance between the centroid of the manual ROI and the centroid of the automatically segmented ROI. All methods were able to successfully segment the bladder and the kidney, but only FKM, KHM, and VR-TPDS were able to segment the liver tumor and the duodenum. The performance of the thresholding, FKM, KHM, and RD-LSE algorithms degraded as the local image contrast decreased, whereas the performance of the VP-TPDS method was nearly independent of local image contrast due to the reference registration algorithm. For segmenting high-contrast images (i.e., kidney), the thresholding method provided the best speed (<1 ms) with a satisfying accuracy (Dice=0.95). When the image contrast was low, the VR-TPDS method had the best automatic contour. Results suggest an image quality determination procedure before segmentation and a combination of different methods for optimal segmentation with the on-board MR-IGRT system. PACS number(s): 87.57.nm, 87.57.N-, 87.61.Tg. © 2016 The Authors.

A comparative study of automatic image segmentation algorithms for target tracking in MR‐IGRT

PubMed Central

Feng, Yuan; Kawrakow, Iwan; Olsen, Jeff; Parikh, Parag J.; Noel, Camille; Wooten, Omar; Du, Dongsu; Mutic, Sasa

2016-01-01

On‐board magnetic resonance (MR) image guidance during radiation therapy offers the potential for more accurate treatment delivery. To utilize the real‐time image information, a crucial prerequisite is the ability to successfully segment and track regions of interest (ROI). The purpose of this work is to evaluate the performance of different segmentation algorithms using motion images (4 frames per second) acquired using a MR image‐guided radiotherapy (MR‐IGRT) system. Manual contours of the kidney, bladder, duodenum, and a liver tumor by an experienced radiation oncologist were used as the ground truth for performance evaluation. Besides the manual segmentation, images were automatically segmented using thresholding, fuzzy k‐means (FKM), k‐harmonic means (KHM), and reaction‐diffusion level set evolution (RD‐LSE) algorithms, as well as the tissue tracking algorithm provided by the ViewRay treatment planning and delivery system (VR‐TPDS). The performance of the five algorithms was evaluated quantitatively by comparing with the manual segmentation using the Dice coefficient and target registration error (TRE) measured as the distance between the centroid of the manual ROI and the centroid of the automatically segmented ROI. All methods were able to successfully segment the bladder and the kidney, but only FKM, KHM, and VR‐TPDS were able to segment the liver tumor and the duodenum. The performance of the thresholding, FKM, KHM, and RD‐LSE algorithms degraded as the local image contrast decreased, whereas the performance of the VP‐TPDS method was nearly independent of local image contrast due to the reference registration algorithm. For segmenting high‐contrast images (i.e., kidney), the thresholding method provided the best speed (<1 ms) with a satisfying accuracy (Dice=0.95). When the image contrast was low, the VR‐TPDS method had the best automatic contour. Results suggest an image quality determination procedure before segmentation and a combination of different methods for optimal segmentation with the on‐board MR‐IGRT system. PACS number(s): 87.57.nm, 87.57.N‐, 87.61.Tg

Hierarchically Structured Non-Intrusive Sign Language Recognition. Chapter 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zieren, Jorg; Zieren, Jorg; Kraiss, Karl-Friedrich

2007-01-01

This work presents a hierarchically structured approach at the nonintrusive recognition of sign language from a monocular frontal view. Robustness is achieved through sophisticated localization and tracking methods, including a combined EM/CAMSHIFT overlap resolution procedure and the parallel pursuit of multiple hypotheses about hands position and movement. This allows handling of ambiguities and automatically corrects tracking errors. A biomechanical skeleton model and dynamic motion prediction using Kalman filters represents high level knowledge. Classification is performed by Hidden Markov Models. 152 signs from German sign language were recognized with an accuracy of 97.6%.

Smart sensors II; Proceedings of the Seminar, San Diego, CA, July 31, August 1, 1980

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbe, D. F.

1980-01-01

Topics discussed include technology for smart sensors, smart sensors for tracking and surveillance, and techniques and algorithms for smart sensors. Papers are presented on the application of very large scale integrated circuits to smart sensors, imaging charge-coupled devices for deep-space surveillance, ultra-precise star tracking using charge coupled devices, and automatic target identification of blurred images with super-resolution features. Attention is also given to smart sensors for terminal homing, algorithms for estimating image position, and the computational efficiency of multiple image registration algorithms.

Self-paced model learning for robust visual tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wenhui; Gu, Jason; Ma, Xin; Li, Yibin

2017-01-01

In visual tracking, learning a robust and efficient appearance model is a challenging task. Model learning determines both the strategy and the frequency of model updating, which contains many details that could affect the tracking results. Self-paced learning (SPL) has recently been attracting considerable interest in the fields of machine learning and computer vision. SPL is inspired by the learning principle underlying the cognitive process of humans, whose learning process is generally from easier samples to more complex aspects of a task. We propose a tracking method that integrates the learning paradigm of SPL into visual tracking, so reliable samples can be automatically selected for model learning. In contrast to many existing model learning strategies in visual tracking, we discover the missing link between sample selection and model learning, which are combined into a single objective function in our approach. Sample weights and model parameters can be learned by minimizing this single objective function. Additionally, to solve the real-valued learning weight of samples, an error-tolerant self-paced function that considers the characteristics of visual tracking is proposed. We demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our tracker on a recent tracking benchmark data set with 50 video sequences.

Electronic Timekeeping: North Dakota State University Improves Payroll Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vetter, Ronald J.; And Others

1993-01-01

North Dakota State University has adopted automated timekeeping to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of payroll processing. The microcomputer-based system accurately records and computes employee time, tracks labor distribution, accommodates complex labor policies and company pay practices, provides automatic data processing and reporting,…

The Design of the Automatic Control System of the Gripping-Belt Speed in Long-Rootstalk Traditional Chinese Herbal Harvester

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jinxia; Wang, Junfa; Yu, Yonghong

This article aims to design a kind of gripping-belt speed automatic tracking system of traditional Chinese herbal harvester by AT89C52 single-chip micro computer as a core combined with fuzzy PID control algorithm. The system can adjust the gripping-belt speed in accordance with the variation of the machine's operation, so there is a perfect matching between the machine operation speed and the gripping-belt speed. The harvesting performance of the machine can be improved greatly. System design includes hardware and software.

Automatic control system of high precision welding of workpieces in mechanical engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, I. N.; Zvezdin, V. V.; Israfilov, I. H.; Portnov, S. M.

2014-12-01

In this paper, based on the conducted patent research, the system of laser welding control with different geometry of weld and shapes of parts is developed. The method of monitoring the position of the spot of laser radiation in relation to the curved weld is worked out; it is based on the tracking the edges of the welded parts by low-power laser radiation reflected from the surface of the parts. It allows to make the positioning of the focus of laser radiation in relation to the juncture of the welded parts automatically.

Airborne tracking sunphotometer apparatus and system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsumoto, Yutaka (Inventor); Mina, Cesar (Inventor); Russell, Philip B. (Inventor); Vanark, William B. (Inventor)

1987-01-01

An airborne tracking Sun photometer apparatus has a rotatable dome. An azimuth drive motor is connected to rotate the dome. The dome has an equatorial slot. A cylindrical housing is pivotally mounted inside the dome at the equatorial slot. A photometer is mounted in the housing to move in the equatorial slot as the housing pivots. The photometer has an end facing from the slot with an optical flat transparent window. An elevation drive motor is connected to pivot the cylindrical housing. The rotatable dome is mounted in the bulkhead of an aircraft to extend from the interior of the aircraft. A Sun sensor causes the photometer to track the Sun automatically. Alternatively, the photometer may be oriented manually or by computer.

A Portable Ultrasonic Nondestructive Inspection System for Metal Matrix Composite Track Shoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mi, Bao; Zhao, Xiaoliang; Qian, Tao; Stevenson, Mark; Kwan, Chiman; Owens, Steven E.; Royer, Roger L.; Tittmann, Bernhard R.; Raju, Basavaraju B.

2007-03-01

Cast aluminum track shoes reinforced with metal matrix composite (MMC) inserts at heavy loading areas such as center splines and sprocket windows are light in weight, and can resist high temperature and wear. Various defects such as disbonds at the insert-substrate interface, cracks and porosity in the MMC layer, etc. can be introduced during the manufacturing process and/or in service. This paper presents a portable ultrasonic system to automatically inspect tank track shoes for disbond. Ultrasonic pulse/echo inspection has shown good reliability for disbond detection. A prototype sensor array fixture has been designed and fabricated to prove the feasibility. Good agreements between the sensor fixture results and ultrasonic C-scan images were obtained.

Deployment/retraction ground testing of a large flexible solar array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chung, D. T.

1982-01-01

The simulated zero-gravity ground testing of the flexible fold-up solar array consisting of eighty-four full-size panels (.368 m x .4 m each) is addressed. Automatic, hands-off extension, retraction, and lockup operations are included. Three methods of ground testing were investigated: (1) vertical testing; (2) horizontal testing, using an overhead water trough to support the panels; and (3) horizontal testing, using an overhead track in conjunction with a counterweight system to support the panels. Method 3 was selected as baseline. The wing/assembly vertical support structure, the five-tier overhead track, and the mast-element support track comprise the test structure. The flexible solar array wing assembly was successfully extended and retracted numerous times under simulated zero-gravity conditions.

Robot tracking system improvements and visual calibration of orbiter position for radiator inspection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tonkay, Gregory

1990-01-01

The following separate topics are addressed: (1) improving a robotic tracking system; and (2) providing insights into orbiter position calibration for radiator inspection. The objective of the tracking system project was to provide the capability to track moving targets more accurately by adjusting parameters in the control system and implementing a predictive algorithm. A computer model was developed to emulate the tracking system. Using this model as a test bed, a self-tuning algorithm was developed to tune the system gains. The model yielded important findings concerning factors that affect the gains. The self-tuning algorithms will provide the concepts to write a program to automatically tune the gains in the real system. The section concerning orbiter position calibration provides a comparison to previous work that had been performed for plant growth. It provided the conceptualized routines required to visually determine the orbiter position and orientation. Furthermore, it identified the types of information which are required to flow between the robot controller and the vision system.

Single and Multiple Object Tracking Using a Multi-Feature Joint Sparse Representation.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Li, Wei; Zhang, Xiaoqin; Maybank, Stephen

2015-04-01

In this paper, we propose a tracking algorithm based on a multi-feature joint sparse representation. The templates for the sparse representation can include pixel values, textures, and edges. In the multi-feature joint optimization, noise or occlusion is dealt with using a set of trivial templates. A sparse weight constraint is introduced to dynamically select the relevant templates from the full set of templates. A variance ratio measure is adopted to adaptively adjust the weights of different features. The multi-feature template set is updated adaptively. We further propose an algorithm for tracking multi-objects with occlusion handling based on the multi-feature joint sparse reconstruction. The observation model based on sparse reconstruction automatically focuses on the visible parts of an occluded object by using the information in the trivial templates. The multi-object tracking is simplified into a joint Bayesian inference. The experimental results show the superiority of our algorithm over several state-of-the-art tracking algorithms.

Automatic colonic lesion detection and tracking in endoscopic videos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wenjing; Gustafsson, Ulf; A-Rahim, Yoursif

2011-03-01

The biology of colorectal cancer offers an opportunity for both early detection and prevention. Compared with other imaging modalities, optical colonoscopy is the procedure of choice for simultaneous detection and removal of colonic polyps. Computer assisted screening makes it possible to assist physicians and potentially improve the accuracy of the diagnostic decision during the exam. This paper presents an unsupervised method to detect and track colonic lesions in endoscopic videos. The aim of the lesion screening and tracking is to facilitate detection of polyps and abnormal mucosa in real time as the physician is performing the procedure. For colonic lesion detection, the conventional marker controlled watershed based segmentation is used to segment the colonic lesions, followed by an adaptive ellipse fitting strategy to further validate the shape. For colonic lesion tracking, a mean shift tracker with background modeling is used to track the target region from the detection phase. The approach has been tested on colonoscopy videos acquired during regular colonoscopic procedures and demonstrated promising results.

Automatic Tracking Algorithm in Coaxial Near-Infrared Laser Ablation Endoscope for Fetus Surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Yan; Yamanaka, Noriaki; Masamune, Ken

2014-07-01

This article reports a stable vessel object tracking method for the treatment of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome based on our previous 2 DOF endoscope. During the treatment of laser coagulation, it is necessary to focus on the exact position of the target object, however it moves by the mother's respiratory motion and still remains a challenge to obtain and track the position precisely. In this article, an algorithm which uses features from accelerated segment test (FAST) to extract the features and optical flow as the object tracking method, is proposed to deal with above problem. Further, we experimentally simulate the movement due to the mother's respiration, and the results of position errors and similarity verify the effectiveness of the proposed tracking algorithm for laser ablation endoscopy in-vitro and under water considering two influential factors. At average, the errors are about 10 pixels and the similarity over 0.92 are obtained in the experiments.

The PKI collector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, M. P.

1982-07-01

The design and manufacturing of a solar thermal collector is discussed. The collector has three primary subsystems: concentrator, receiver/fluid loop, and controls. Identical curved reflective columns are utilized in a faceted Fresnel design to support 864 one foot square flat inexpensive second-surface, silvered glass mirrors. The columns are ganged together and rotated through their centers of gravity to provide elevation tracking. The concentrator is supported by a lightweight spaceframe structure which distributes all wind and gravity loads to the base supports. The base of the structure is a track which rotates on wheels mounted on concrete piers. A parallel tube steel heat exchanger is mounted at the concentrator focal area in a well insulated, galvanized steel housing. Two rows of vertical close-packed, staggered tubes connect a mud header and a steam header. Automatic two axis tracking and operational control is provided with a microprocessor based package. Concentrator-mounted shadowbands are the basis for active tracking. A software program provides azimuthal tracking during cloudy periods.

The PKI collector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rice, M. P.

1982-01-01

The design and manufacturing of a solar thermal collector is discussed. The collector has three primary subsystems: concentrator, receiver/fluid loop, and controls. Identical curved reflective columns are utilized in a faceted Fresnel design to support 864 one foot square flat inexpensive second-surface, silvered glass mirrors. The columns are ganged together and rotated through their centers of gravity to provide elevation tracking. The concentrator is supported by a lightweight spaceframe structure which distributes all wind and gravity loads to the base supports. The base of the structure is a track which rotates on wheels mounted on concrete piers. A parallel tube steel heat exchanger is mounted at the concentrator focal area in a well insulated, galvanized steel housing. Two rows of vertical close-packed, staggered tubes connect a mud header and a steam header. Automatic two axis tracking and operational control is provided with a microprocessor based package. Concentrator-mounted shadowbands are the basis for active tracking. A software program provides azimuthal tracking during cloudy periods.

Assessment of Automated Analyses of Cell Migration on Flat and Nanostructured Surfaces

PubMed Central

Grădinaru, Cristian; Łopacińska, Joanna M.; Huth, Johannes; Kestler, Hans A.; Flyvbjerg, Henrik; Mølhave, Kristian

2012-01-01

Motility studies of cells often rely on computer software that analyzes time-lapse recorded movies and establishes cell trajectories fully automatically. This raises the question of reproducibility of results, since different programs could yield significantly different results of such automated analysis. The fact that the segmentation routines of such programs are often challenged by nanostructured surfaces makes the question more pertinent. Here we illustrate how it is possible to track cells on bright field microscopy images with image analysis routines implemented in an open-source cell tracking program, PACT (Program for Automated Cell Tracking). We compare the automated motility analysis of three cell tracking programs, PACT, Autozell, and TLA, using the same movies as input for all three programs. We find that different programs track overlapping, but different subsets of cells due to different segmentation methods. Unfortunately, population averages based on such different cell populations, differ significantly in some cases. Thus, results obtained with one software package are not necessarily reproducible by other software. PMID:24688640

NREL Transportation Project to Reduce Fuel Usage

Science.gov Websites

and communication software was developed by NREL researchers to display a vehicle's location automatically and transmit a map of the its location over the Internet. After developing the communication vehicle location and communication technology to track and direct vehicle fleet movements," said the

Semi-Automatic Assembly of Learning Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verbert, K.; Ochoa, X.; Derntl, M.; Wolpers, M.; Pardo, A.; Duval, E.

2012-01-01

Technology Enhanced Learning is a research field that has matured considerably over the last decade. Many technical solutions to support design, authoring and use of learning activities and resources have been developed. The first datasets that reflect the tracking of actual use of these tools in real-life settings are beginning to become…

49 CFR 236.526 - Roadway element not functioning properly.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Roadway element not functioning properly. 236.526... element not functioning properly. When a roadway element except track circuit of automatic train stop... roadway element shall be caused manually to display its most restrictive aspect until such element has...

49 CFR 236.526 - Roadway element not functioning properly.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Roadway element not functioning properly. 236.526... element not functioning properly. When a roadway element except track circuit of automatic train stop... roadway element shall be caused manually to display its most restrictive aspect until such element has...

49 CFR 236.526 - Roadway element not functioning properly.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Roadway element not functioning properly. 236.526... element not functioning properly. When a roadway element except track circuit of automatic train stop... roadway element shall be caused manually to display its most restrictive aspect until such element has...

Teaching Statistics with Minitab II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, T. A., Jr.; And Others

Minitab is a statistical computing system which uses simple language, produces clear output, and keeps track of bookkeeping automatically. Error checking with English diagnostics and inclusion of several default options help to facilitate use of the system by students. Minitab II is an improved and expanded version of the original Minitab which…

Automatic Welding Control Using a State Variable Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-06-01

A-A10 610 NAVEAL POSTGRADUATE SCH4O.M CEAY CA0/ 13/ SAUTOMATIC WELDING CONTROL USING A STATE VARIABLE MODEL.W()JUN 79 W V "my UNCLASSIFIED...taverse Drive Unit // Jbint Path /Fixed Track 34 (servomotor positioning). Additional controls of heave (vertical), roll (angular rotation about the

33 CFR 169.235 - What exemptions are there from reporting?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEMS Transmission of Long Range Identification and Tracking Information § 169.235 What exemptions are there from reporting? A ship is exempt from this subpart if it is— (a) Fitted with an operating automatic identification system (AIS), under 33 CFR...

33 CFR 169.235 - What exemptions are there from reporting?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEMS Transmission of Long Range Identification and Tracking Information § 169.235 What exemptions are there from reporting? A ship is exempt from this subpart if it is— (a) Fitted with an operating automatic identification system (AIS), under 33 CFR...

33 CFR 169.235 - What exemptions are there from reporting?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEMS Transmission of Long Range Identification and Tracking Information § 169.235 What exemptions are there from reporting? A ship is exempt from this subpart if it is— (a) Fitted with an operating automatic identification system (AIS), under 33 CFR...

33 CFR 169.235 - What exemptions are there from reporting?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... SECURITY (CONTINUED) PORTS AND WATERWAYS SAFETY SHIP REPORTING SYSTEMS Transmission of Long Range Identification and Tracking Information § 169.235 What exemptions are there from reporting? A ship is exempt from this subpart if it is— (a) Fitted with an operating automatic identification system (AIS), under 33 CFR...

The 512-channel correlator controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brokl, S. S.

1976-01-01

A high-speed correlator for radio and radar observations was developed and a controller was designed so that the correlator could run automatically without computer intervention. The correlator controller assumes the role of bus master and keeps track of data and properly interrupts the computer at the end of the observation.

49 CFR 236.14 - Spring switch signal protection; requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Spring switch signal protection; requirements. 236... Rules and Instructions: All Systems General § 236.14 Spring switch signal protection; requirements. (a... track signaled for movements in only one direction through a spring switch in automatic block signal...

49 CFR 236.14 - Spring switch signal protection; requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Spring switch signal protection; requirements. 236... Rules and Instructions: All Systems General § 236.14 Spring switch signal protection; requirements. (a... track signaled for movements in only one direction through a spring switch in automatic block signal...

49 CFR 236.14 - Spring switch signal protection; requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Spring switch signal protection; requirements. 236... Rules and Instructions: All Systems General § 236.14 Spring switch signal protection; requirements. (a... track signaled for movements in only one direction through a spring switch in automatic block signal...

49 CFR 236.14 - Spring switch signal protection; requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Spring switch signal protection; requirements. 236... Rules and Instructions: All Systems General § 236.14 Spring switch signal protection; requirements. (a... track signaled for movements in only one direction through a spring switch in automatic block signal...

49 CFR 236.14 - Spring switch signal protection; requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Spring switch signal protection; requirements. 236... Rules and Instructions: All Systems General § 236.14 Spring switch signal protection; requirements. (a... track signaled for movements in only one direction through a spring switch in automatic block signal...

Digital accumulators in phase and frequency tracking loops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinedi, Sami; Statman, Joseph I.

1990-01-01

Results on the effects of digital accumulators in phase and frequency tracking loops are presented. Digital accumulators or summers are used extensively in digital signal processing to perform averaging or to reduce processing rates to acceptable levels. For tracking the Doppler of high-dynamic targets at low carrier-to-noise ratios, it is shown through simulation and experiment that digital accumulators can contribute an additional loss in operating threshold. This loss was not considered in any previous study and needs to be accounted for in performance prediction analysis. Simulation and measurement results are used to characterize the loss due to the digital summers for three different tracking loops: a digital phase-locked loop, a cross-product automatic frequency tracking loop, and an extended Kalman filter. The tracking algorithms are compared with respect to their frequency error performance and their ability to maintain lock during severe maneuvers at various carrier-to-noise ratios. It is shown that failure to account for the effect of accumulators can result in an inaccurate performance prediction, the extent of which depends highly on the algorithm used.

Optimized swimmer tracking system based on a novel multi-related-targets approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benarab, D.; Napoléon, T.; Alfalou, A.; Verney, A.; Hellard, P.

2017-02-01

Robust tracking is a crucial step in automatic swimmer evaluation from video sequences. We designed a robust swimmer tracking system using a new multi-related-targets approach. The main idea is to consider the swimmer as a bloc of connected subtargets that advance at the same speed. If one of the subtargets is partially or totally occluded, it can be localized by knowing the position of the others. In this paper, we first introduce the two-dimensional direct linear transformation technique that we used to calibrate the videos. Then, we present the classical tracking approach based on dynamic fusion. Next, we highlight the main contribution of our work, which is the multi-related-targets tracking approach. This approach, the classical head-only approach and the ground truth are then compared, through testing on a database of high-level swimmers in training, national and international competitions (French National Championships, Limoges 2015, and World Championships, Kazan 2015). Tracking percentage and the accuracy of the instantaneous speed are evaluated and the findings show that our new appraoach is significantly more accurate than the classical approach.

Significantly improved precision of cell migration analysis in time-lapse video microscopy through use of a fully automated tracking system

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Cell motility is a critical parameter in many physiological as well as pathophysiological processes. In time-lapse video microscopy, manual cell tracking remains the most common method of analyzing migratory behavior of cell populations. In addition to being labor-intensive, this method is susceptible to user-dependent errors regarding the selection of "representative" subsets of cells and manual determination of precise cell positions. Results We have quantitatively analyzed these error sources, demonstrating that manual cell tracking of pancreatic cancer cells lead to mis-calculation of migration rates of up to 410%. In order to provide for objective measurements of cell migration rates, we have employed multi-target tracking technologies commonly used in radar applications to develop fully automated cell identification and tracking system suitable for high throughput screening of video sequences of unstained living cells. Conclusion We demonstrate that our automatic multi target tracking system identifies cell objects, follows individual cells and computes migration rates with high precision, clearly outperforming manual procedures. PMID:20377897

Automation of peak-tracking analysis of stepwise perturbed NMR spectra.

PubMed

Banelli, Tommaso; Vuano, Marco; Fogolari, Federico; Fusiello, Andrea; Esposito, Gennaro; Corazza, Alessandra

2017-02-01

We describe a new algorithmic approach able to automatically pick and track the NMR resonances of a large number of 2D NMR spectra acquired during a stepwise variation of a physical parameter. The method has been named Trace in Track (TINT), referring to the idea that a gaussian decomposition traces peaks within the tracks recognised through 3D mathematical morphology. It is capable of determining the evolution of the chemical shifts, intensity and linewidths of each tracked peak.The performances obtained in term of track reconstruction and correct assignment on realistic synthetic spectra were high above 90% when a noise level similar to that of experimental data were considered. TINT was applied successfully to several protein systems during a temperature ramp in isotope exchange experiments. A comparison with a state-of-the-art algorithm showed promising results for great numbers of spectra and low signal to noise ratios, when the graduality of the perturbation is appropriate. TINT can be applied to different kinds of high throughput chemical shift mapping experiments, with quasi-continuous variations, in which a quantitative automated recognition is crucial.

Markerless human motion tracking using hierarchical multi-swarm cooperative particle swarm optimization.

PubMed

Saini, Sanjay; Zakaria, Nordin; Rambli, Dayang Rohaya Awang; Sulaiman, Suziah

2015-01-01

The high-dimensional search space involved in markerless full-body articulated human motion tracking from multiple-views video sequences has led to a number of solutions based on metaheuristics, the most recent form of which is Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). However, the classical PSO suffers from premature convergence and it is trapped easily into local optima, significantly affecting the tracking accuracy. To overcome these drawbacks, we have developed a method for the problem based on Hierarchical Multi-Swarm Cooperative Particle Swarm Optimization (H-MCPSO). The tracking problem is formulated as a non-linear 34-dimensional function optimization problem where the fitness function quantifies the difference between the observed image and a projection of the model configuration. Both the silhouette and edge likelihoods are used in the fitness function. Experiments using Brown and HumanEva-II dataset demonstrated that H-MCPSO performance is better than two leading alternative approaches-Annealed Particle Filter (APF) and Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO). Further, the proposed tracking method is capable of automatic initialization and self-recovery from temporary tracking failures. Comprehensive experimental results are presented to support the claims.

Cloud Detection from Satellite Imagery: A Comparison of Expert-Generated and Automatically-Generated Decision Trees

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiffman, Smadar

2004-01-01

Automated cloud detection and tracking is an important step in assessing global climate change via remote sensing. Cloud masks, which indicate whether individual pixels depict clouds, are included in many of the data products that are based on data acquired on- board earth satellites. Many cloud-mask algorithms have the form of decision trees, which employ sequential tests that scientists designed based on empirical astrophysics studies and astrophysics simulations. Limitations of existing cloud masks restrict our ability to accurately track changes in cloud patterns over time. In this study we explored the potential benefits of automatically-learned decision trees for detecting clouds from images acquired using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument on board the NOAA-14 weather satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We constructed three decision trees for a sample of 8km-daily AVHRR data from 2000 using a decision-tree learning procedure provided within MATLAB(R), and compared the accuracy of the decision trees to the accuracy of the cloud mask. We used ground observations collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Clouds and the Earth s Radiant Energy Systems S COOL project as the gold standard. For the sample data, the accuracy of automatically learned decision trees was greater than the accuracy of the cloud masks included in the AVHRR data product.

Millimeter wave radar system on a rotating platform for combined search and track functionality with SAR imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aulenbacher, Uwe; Rech, Klaus; Sedlmeier, Johannes; Pratisto, Hans; Wellig, Peter

2014-10-01

Ground based millimeter wave radar sensors offer the potential for a weather-independent automatic ground surveillance at day and night, e.g. for camp protection applications. The basic principle and the experimental verification of a radar system concept is described, which by means of an extreme off-axis positioning of the antenna(s) combines azimuthal mechanical beam steering with the formation of a circular-arc shaped synthetic aperture (SA). In automatic ground surveillance the function of search and detection of moving ground targets is performed by means of the conventional mechanical scan mode. The rotated antenna structure designed as a small array with two or more RX antenna elements with simultaneous receiver chains allows to instantaneous track multiple moving targets (monopulse principle). The simultaneously operated SAR mode yields areal images of the distribution of stationary scatterers. For ground surveillance application this SAR mode is best suited for identifying possible threats by means of change detection. The feasibility of this concept was tested by means of an experimental radar system comprising of a 94 GHz (W band) FM-CW module with 1 GHz bandwidth and two RX antennas with parallel receiver channels, placed off-axis at a rotating platform. SAR mode and search/track mode were tested during an outdoor measurement campaign. The scenery of two persons walking along a road and partially through forest served as test for the capability to track multiple moving targets. For SAR mode verification an image of the area composed of roads, grassland, woodland and several man-made objects was reconstructed from the measured data.

Smart Cruise Control: UAV sensor operator intent estimation and its application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Hui; Butler, Darren; Kumar, Rakesh

2006-05-01

Due to their long endurance, superior mobility and the low risk posed to the pilot and sensor operator, UAVs have become the preferred platform for persistent ISR missions. However, currently most UAV based ISR missions are conducted through manual operation. Event the simplest tasks, such as vehicle tracking, route reconnaissance and site monitoring, need the sensor operator's undivided attention and constant adjustment of the sensor control. The lack of autonomous behaviour greatly limits of the effectiveness and the capability of UAV-based ISR, especially the use of a large number of UAVs simultaneously. Although fully autonomous UAV based ISR system is desirable, it is still a distant dream due to the complexity and diversity of combat and ISR missions. In this paper, we propose a Smart Cruise Control system that can learn UAV sensor operator's intent and use it to complete tasks automatically, such as route reconnaissance and site monitoring. Using an operator attention model, the proposed system can estimate the operator's intent from how they control the sensor (e.g. camera) and the content of the imagery that is acquired. Therefore, for example, from initially manually controlling the UAV sensor to follow a road, the system can learn not only the preferred operation, "tracking", but also the road appearance, "what to track" in real-time. Then, the learnt models of both road and the desired operation can be used to complete the task automatically. We have demonstrated the Smart Cruise Control system using real UAV videos where roads need to be tracked and buildings need to be monitored.

SeeCoast: persistent surveillance and automated scene understanding for ports and coastal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodes, Bradley J.; Bomberger, Neil A.; Freyman, Todd M.; Kreamer, William; Kirschner, Linda; L'Italien, Adam C.; Mungovan, Wendy; Stauffer, Chris; Stolzar, Lauren; Waxman, Allen M.; Seibert, Michael

2007-04-01

SeeCoast is a prototype US Coast Guard port and coastal area surveillance system that aims to reduce operator workload while maintaining optimal domain awareness by shifting their focus from having to detect events to being able to analyze and act upon the knowledge derived from automatically detected anomalous activities. The automated scene understanding capability provided by the baseline SeeCoast system (as currently installed at the Joint Harbor Operations Center at Hampton Roads, VA) results from the integration of several components. Machine vision technology processes the real-time video streams provided by USCG cameras to generate vessel track and classification (based on vessel length) information. A multi-INT fusion component generates a single, coherent track picture by combining information available from the video processor with that from surface surveillance radars and AIS reports. Based on this track picture, vessel activity is analyzed by SeeCoast to detect user-defined unsafe, illegal, and threatening vessel activities using a rule-based pattern recognizer and to detect anomalous vessel activities on the basis of automatically learned behavior normalcy models. Operators can optionally guide the learning system in the form of examples and counter-examples of activities of interest, and refine the performance of the learning system by confirming alerts or indicating examples of false alarms. The fused track picture also provides a basis for automated control and tasking of cameras to detect vessels in motion. Real-time visualization combining the products of all SeeCoast components in a common operating picture is provided by a thin web-based client.

A robust and non-obtrusive automatic event tracking system for operating room management to improve patient care.

PubMed

Huang, Albert Y; Joerger, Guillaume; Salmon, Remi; Dunkin, Brian; Sherman, Vadim; Bass, Barbara L; Garbey, Marc

2016-08-01

Optimization of OR management is a complex problem as each OR has different procedures throughout the day inevitably resulting in scheduling delays, variations in time durations and overall suboptimal performance. There exists a need for a system that automatically tracks procedural progress in real time in the OR. This would allow for efficient monitoring of operating room states and target sources of inefficiency and points of improvement. We placed three wireless sensors (floor-mounted pressure sensor, ventilator-mounted bellows motion sensor and ambient light detector, and a general room motion detector) in two ORs at our institution and tracked cases 24 h a day for over 4 months. We collected data on 238 total cases (107 laparoscopic cases). A total of 176 turnover times were also captured, and we found that the average turnover time between cases was 35 min while the institutional goal was 30 min. Deeper examination showed that 38 % of laparoscopic cases had some aspect of suboptimal activity with the time between extubation and patient exiting the OR being the biggest contributor (16 %). Our automated system allows for robust, wireless real-time OR monitoring as well as data collection and retrospective data analyses. We plan to continue expanding our system and to project the data in real time for all OR personnel to see. At the same time, we plan on adding key pieces of technology such as RFID and other radio-frequency systems to track patients and physicians to further increase efficiency and patient safety.

Precision targeting with a tracking adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammer, Daniel X.; Ferguson, R. Daniel; Bigelow, Chad E.; Iftimia, Nicusor V.; Ustun, Teoman E.; Noojin, Gary D.; Stolarski, David J.; Hodnett, Harvey M.; Imholte, Michelle L.; Kumru, Semih S.; McCall, Michelle N.; Toth, Cynthia A.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.

2006-02-01

Precise targeting of retinal structures including retinal pigment epithelial cells, feeder vessels, ganglion cells, photoreceptors, and other cells important for light transduction may enable earlier disease intervention with laser therapies and advanced methods for vision studies. A novel imaging system based upon scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (SLO) with adaptive optics (AO) and active image stabilization was designed, developed, and tested in humans and animals. An additional port allows delivery of aberration-corrected therapeutic/stimulus laser sources. The system design includes simultaneous presentation of non-AO, wide-field (~40 deg) and AO, high-magnification (1-2 deg) retinal scans easily positioned anywhere on the retina in a drag-and-drop manner. The AO optical design achieves an error of <0.45 waves (at 800 nm) over +/-6 deg on the retina. A MEMS-based deformable mirror (Boston Micromachines Inc.) is used for wave-front correction. The third generation retinal tracking system achieves a bandwidth of greater than 1 kHz allowing acquisition of stabilized AO images with an accuracy of ~10 μm. Normal adult human volunteers and animals with previously-placed lesions (cynomolgus monkeys) were tested to optimize the tracking instrumentation and to characterize AO imaging performance. Ultrafast laser pulses were delivered to monkeys to characterize the ability to precisely place lesions and stimulus beams. Other advanced features such as real-time image averaging, automatic highresolution mosaic generation, and automatic blink detection and tracking re-lock were also tested. The system has the potential to become an important tool to clinicians and researchers for early detection and treatment of retinal diseases.

The Statistical Loop Analyzer (SLA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindsey, W. C.

1985-01-01

The statistical loop analyzer (SLA) is designed to automatically measure the acquisition, tracking and frequency stability performance characteristics of symbol synchronizers, code synchronizers, carrier tracking loops, and coherent transponders. Automated phase lock and system level tests can also be made using the SLA. Standard baseband, carrier and spread spectrum modulation techniques can be accomodated. Through the SLA's phase error jitter and cycle slip measurements the acquisition and tracking thresholds of the unit under test are determined; any false phase and frequency lock events are statistically analyzed and reported in the SLA output in probabilistic terms. Automated signal drop out tests can be performed in order to trouble shoot algorithms and evaluate the reacquisition statistics of the unit under test. Cycle slip rates and cycle slip probabilities can be measured using the SLA. These measurements, combined with bit error probability measurements, are all that are needed to fully characterize the acquisition and tracking performance of a digital communication system.

Analysis system of submicron particle tracks in the fine-grained nuclear emulsion by a combination of hard x-ray and optical microscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naka, T., E-mail: naka@flab.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp; Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, Aichi 464-8602; Asada, T.

Analyses of nuclear emulsion detectors that can detect and identify charged particles or radiation as tracks have typically utilized optical microscope systems because the targets have lengths from several μm to more than 1000 μm. For recent new nuclear emulsion detectors that can detect tracks of submicron length or less, the current readout systems are insufficient due to their poor resolution. In this study, we developed a new system and method using an optical microscope system for rough candidate selection and the hard X-ray microscope system at SPring-8 for high-precision analysis with a resolution of better than 70 nm resolution.more » Furthermore, we demonstrated the analysis of submicron-length tracks with a matching efficiency of more than 99% and position accuracy of better than 5 μm. This system is now running semi-automatically.« less

Investigation on microfluidic particles manipulation by holographic 3D tracking strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cacace, Teresa; Paturzo, Melania; Memmolo, Pasquale; Vassalli, Massimo; Fraldi, Massimiliano; Mensitieri, Giuseppe; Ferraro, Pietro

2017-06-01

We demonstrate a 3D holographic tracking method to investigate particles motion in a microfluidic channel while unperturbed while inducing their migration through microfluidic manipulation. Digital holography (DH) in microscopy is a full-field, label-free imaging technique able to provide quantitative phase-contrast. The employed 3D tracking method is articulated in steps. First, the displacements along the optical axis are assessed by numerical refocusing criteria. In particular, an automatic refocusing method to recover the particles axial position is implemented employing a contrast-based refocusing criterion. Then, the transverse position of the in-focus object is evaluated through quantitative phase map segmentation methods and centroid-based 2D tracking strategy. The introduction of DH is thus suggested as a powerful approach for control of particles and biological samples manipulation, as well as a possible aid to precise design and implementation of advanced lab-on-chip microfluidic devices.

Adaptive DFT-based Interferometer Fringe Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Edward; Pedretti, Ettore; Bregman, Jesse; Mah, Robert W.; Traub, Wesley A.

2004-01-01

An automatic interferometer fringe tracking system has been developed, implemented, and tested at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA) observatory at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona. The system can minimize the optical path differences (OPDs) for all three baselines of the Michelson stellar interferometer at IOTA. Based on sliding window discrete Fourier transform (DFT) calculations that were optimized for computational efficiency and robustness to atmospheric disturbances, the algorithm has also been tested extensively on off-line data. Implemented in ANSI C on the 266 MHz PowerPC processor running the VxWorks real-time operating system, the algorithm runs in approximately 2.0 milliseconds per scan (including all three interferograms), using the science camera and piezo scanners to measure and correct the OPDs. The adaptive DFT-based tracking algorithm should be applicable to other systems where there is a need to detect or track a signal with an approximately constant-frequency carrier pulse.

Towards parsimony in habit measurement: Testing the convergent and predictive validity of an automaticity subscale of the Self-Report Habit Index

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The twelve-item Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) is the most popular measure of energy-balance related habits. This measure characterises habit by automatic activation, behavioural frequency, and relevance to self-identity. Previous empirical research suggests that the SRHI may be abbreviated with no losses in reliability or predictive utility. Drawing on recent theorising suggesting that automaticity is the ‘active ingredient’ of habit-behaviour relationships, we tested whether an automaticity-specific SRHI subscale could capture habit-based behaviour patterns in self-report data. Methods A content validity task was undertaken to identify a subset of automaticity indicators within the SRHI. The reliability, convergent validity and predictive validity of the automaticity item subset was subsequently tested in secondary analyses of all previous SRHI applications, identified via systematic review, and in primary analyses of four raw datasets relating to energy‐balance relevant behaviours (inactive travel, active travel, snacking, and alcohol consumption). Results A four-item automaticity subscale (the ‘Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index’; ‘SRBAI’) was found to be reliable and sensitive to two hypothesised effects of habit on behaviour: a habit-behaviour correlation, and a moderating effect of habit on the intention-behaviour relationship. Conclusion The SRBAI offers a parsimonious measure that adequately captures habitual behaviour patterns. The SRBAI may be of particular utility in predicting future behaviour and in studies tracking habit formation or disruption. PMID:22935297

Control of the TSU 2-m automatic telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eaton, Joel A.; Williamson, Michael H.

2004-09-01

Tennessee State University is operating a 2-m automatic telescope for high-dispersion spectroscopy. The alt-azimuth telescope is fiber-coupled to a conventional echelle spectrograph with two resolutions (R=30,000 and 70,000). We control this instrument with four computers running linux and communicating over ethernet through the UDP protocol. A computer physically located on the telescope handles the acquisition and tracking of stars. We avoid the need for real-time programming in this application by periodically latching the positions of the axes in a commercial motion controller and the time in a GPS receiver. A second (spectrograph) computer sets up the spectrograph and runs its CCD, a third (roof) computer controls the roll-off roof and front flap of the telescope enclosure, and the fourth (executive) computer makes decisions about which stars to observe and when to close the observatory for bad weather. The only human intervention in the telescope's operation involves changing the observing program, copying data back to TSU, and running quality-control checks on the data. It has been running reliably in this completely automatic, unattended mode for more than a year with all day-to-day adminsitration carried out over the Internet. To support automatic operation, we have written a number of useful tools to predict and analyze what the telescope does. These include a simulator that predicts roughly how the telescope will operate on a given night, a quality-control program to parse logfiles from the telescope and identify problems, and a rescheduling program that calculates new priorities to keep the frequency of observation for the various stars roughly as desired. We have also set up a database to keep track of the tens of thousands of spectra we expect to get each year.

Object Tracking Using Adaptive Covariance Descriptor and Clustering-Based Model Updating for Visual Surveillance

PubMed Central

Qin, Lei; Snoussi, Hichem; Abdallah, Fahed

2014-01-01

We propose a novel approach for tracking an arbitrary object in video sequences for visual surveillance. The first contribution of this work is an automatic feature extraction method that is able to extract compact discriminative features from a feature pool before computing the region covariance descriptor. As the feature extraction method is adaptive to a specific object of interest, we refer to the region covariance descriptor computed using the extracted features as the adaptive covariance descriptor. The second contribution is to propose a weakly supervised method for updating the object appearance model during tracking. The method performs a mean-shift clustering procedure among the tracking result samples accumulated during a period of time and selects a group of reliable samples for updating the object appearance model. As such, the object appearance model is kept up-to-date and is prevented from contamination even in case of tracking mistakes. We conducted comparing experiments on real-world video sequences, which confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. The tracking system that integrates the adaptive covariance descriptor and the clustering-based model updating method accomplished stable object tracking on challenging video sequences. PMID:24865883

Quantitative semi-automated analysis of morphogenesis with single-cell resolution in complex embryos

PubMed Central

Giurumescu, Claudiu A.; Kang, Sukryool; Planchon, Thomas A.; Betzig, Eric; Bloomekatz, Joshua; Yelon, Deborah; Cosman, Pamela; Chisholm, Andrew D.

2012-01-01

A quantitative understanding of tissue morphogenesis requires description of the movements of individual cells in space and over time. In transparent embryos, such as C. elegans, fluorescently labeled nuclei can be imaged in three-dimensional time-lapse (4D) movies and automatically tracked through early cleavage divisions up to ~350 nuclei. A similar analysis of later stages of C. elegans development has been challenging owing to the increased error rates of automated tracking of large numbers of densely packed nuclei. We present Nucleitracker4D, a freely available software solution for tracking nuclei in complex embryos that integrates automated tracking of nuclei in local searches with manual curation. Using these methods, we have been able to track >99% of all nuclei generated in the C. elegans embryo. Our analysis reveals that ventral enclosure of the epidermis is accompanied by complex coordinated migration of the neuronal substrate. We can efficiently track large numbers of migrating nuclei in 4D movies of zebrafish cardiac morphogenesis, suggesting that this approach is generally useful in situations in which the number, packing or dynamics of nuclei present challenges for automated tracking. PMID:23052905

Does flexibility in perceptual organization compete with automatic grouping?

PubMed

van Assche, Mitsouko; Gos, Pierre; Giersch, Anne

2012-02-06

Segregated objects can be sought simultaneously, i.e., mentally "re-grouped." Although the mechanisms underlying such "re-grouping" clearly differ from automatic grouping, it is unclear whether or not the end products of "re-grouping" and automatic grouping are the same. If they are, they would have similar impact on visual organization but would be in conflict. We compared the consequences of grouping and re-grouping on the performance cost induced by stimuli presented across hemifields. Two identical and contiguous target figures had to be identified within a display of circles and squares alternating around a fixation point. Eye tracking was used to check central fixation. The target pair could be located in the same or separate hemifields. A large cost of presenting targets across hemifields was observed. Grouping by connectedness yielded two types of target pair, connected and unconnected. Subjects prioritized unconnected pairs efficiently when prompted to do so, suggesting "re-grouping." However, unlike automatic grouping, this did not affect the cost of across-hemifield presentation. The suggestion is that re-grouping yields different outputs to automatic grouping, such that a fresh representation resulting from re-grouping complements the one resulting from automatic grouping but does not replace it. This is one step toward understanding how our mental exploration of the world ties in and coexists with ongoing perception.

Research into automatic recognition of joints in human symmetrical movements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Yifang; Li, Zhiyu

2008-03-01

High speed photography is a major means of collecting data from human body movement. It enables the automatic identification of joints, which brings great significance to the research, treatment and recovery of injuries, the analysis to the diagnosis of sport techniques and the ergonomics. According to the features that when the adjacent joints of human body are in planetary motion, their distance remains the same, and according to the human body joint movement laws (such as the territory of the articular anatomy and the kinematic features), a new approach is introduced to process the image thresholding of joints filmed by the high speed camera, to automatically identify the joints and to automatically trace the joint points (by labeling markers at the joints). Based upon the closure of marking points, automatic identification can be achieved through thresholding treatment. Due to the screening frequency and the laws of human segment movement, when the marking points have been initialized, their automatic tracking can be achieved with the progressive sequential images.Then the testing results, the data from three-dimensional force platform and the characteristics that human body segment will only rotate around the closer ending segment when the segment has no boding force and only valid to the conservative force all tell that after being analyzed kinematically, the approach is approved to be valid.

Feature tracking for automated volume of interest stabilization on 4D-OCT images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laves, Max-Heinrich; Schoob, Andreas; Kahrs, Lüder A.; Pfeiffer, Tom; Huber, Robert; Ortmaier, Tobias

2017-03-01

A common representation of volumetric medical image data is the triplanar view (TV), in which the surgeon manually selects slices showing the anatomical structure of interest. In addition to common medical imaging such as MRI or computed tomography, recent advances in the field of optical coherence tomography (OCT) have enabled live processing and volumetric rendering of four-dimensional images of the human body. Due to the region of interest undergoing motion, it is challenging for the surgeon to simultaneously keep track of an object by continuously adjusting the TV to desired slices. To select these slices in subsequent frames automatically, it is necessary to track movements of the volume of interest (VOI). This has not been addressed with respect to 4DOCT images yet. Therefore, this paper evaluates motion tracking by applying state-of-the-art tracking schemes on maximum intensity projections (MIP) of 4D-OCT images. Estimated VOI location is used to conveniently show corresponding slices and to improve the MIPs by calculating thin-slab MIPs. Tracking performances are evaluated on an in-vivo sequence of human skin, captured at 26 volumes per second. Among investigated tracking schemes, our recently presented tracking scheme for soft tissue motion provides highest accuracy with an error of under 2.2 voxels for the first 80 volumes. Object tracking on 4D-OCT images enables its use for sub-epithelial tracking of microvessels for image-guidance.

A two-stage approach for fully automatic segmentation of venous vascular structures in liver CT images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaftan, Jens N.; Tek, Hüseyin; Aach, Til

2009-02-01

The segmentation of the hepatic vascular tree in computed tomography (CT) images is important for many applications such as surgical planning of oncological resections and living liver donations. In surgical planning, vessel segmentation is often used as basis to support the surgeon in the decision about the location of the cut to be performed and the extent of the liver to be removed, respectively. We present a novel approach to hepatic vessel segmentation that can be divided into two stages. First, we detect and delineate the core vessel components efficiently with a high specificity. Second, smaller vessel branches are segmented by a robust vessel tracking technique based on a medialness filter response, which starts from the terminal points of the previously segmented vessels. Specifically, in the first phase major vessels are segmented using the globally optimal graphcuts algorithm in combination with foreground and background seed detection, while the computationally more demanding tracking approach needs to be applied only locally in areas of smaller vessels within the second stage. The method has been evaluated on contrast-enhanced liver CT scans from clinical routine showing promising results. In addition to the fully-automatic instance of this method, the vessel tracking technique can also be used to easily add missing branches/sub-trees to an already existing segmentation result by adding single seed-points.

New progress of ranging technology at Wuhan Satellite Laser Ranging Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xia, Zhiz-Hong; Ye, Wen-Wei; Cai, Qing-Fu

1993-01-01

A satellite laser ranging system with an accuracy of the level of centimeter has been successfully developed at the Institute of Seismology, State Seismological Bureau with the cooperation of the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science. With significant improvements on the base of the second generation SLR system developed in 1985, ranging accuracy of the new system has been upgraded from 15 cm to 3-4 cm. Measuring range has also been expanded, so that the ETALON satellite with an orbit height of 20,000 km launched by the former U.S.S.R. can now be tracked. Compared with the 2nd generation SLR system, the newly developed system has the following improvements. A Q modulated laser is replaced by a mode-locked YAG laser. The new device has a pulse width of 150 ps and a repetition rate of 1-4 pps. A quick response photomultiplier has been adopted as the receiver for echo; for example, the adoption of the MCP tube has obviously reduced the jitter error of the transit time and has improved the ranging accuracy. The whole system is controlled by an IBM PC/XT Computer to guide automatic tracking and measurement. It can carry out these functions for satellite orbit calculation, real-time tracking and adjusting, data acquisition and the preprocessed of observing data, etc. The automatization level and reliability of the observation have obviously improved.

Reliable motion detection of small targets in video with low signal-to-clutter ratios

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nichols, S.A.; Naylor, R.B.

1995-07-01

Studies show that vigilance decreases rapidly after several minutes when human operators are required to search live video for infrequent intrusion detections. Therefore, there is a need for systems which can automatically detect targets in live video and reserve the operator`s attention for assessment only. Thus far, automated systems have not simultaneously provided adequate detection sensitivity, false alarm suppression, and ease of setup when used in external, unconstrained environments. This unsatisfactory performance can be exacerbated by poor video imagery with low contrast, high noise, dynamic clutter, image misregistration, and/or the presence of small, slow, or erratically moving targets. This papermore » describes a highly adaptive video motion detection and tracking algorithm which has been developed as part of Sandia`s Advanced Exterior Sensor (AES) program. The AES is a wide-area detection and assessment system for use in unconstrained exterior security applications. The AES detection and tracking algorithm provides good performance under stressing data and environmental conditions. Features of the algorithm include: reliable detection with negligible false alarm rate of variable velocity targets having low signal-to-clutter ratios; reliable tracking of targets that exhibit motion that is non-inertial, i.e., varies in direction and velocity; automatic adaptation to both infrared and visible imagery with variable quality; and suppression of false alarms caused by sensor flaws and/or cutouts.« less

Estimating Ocean Currents from Automatic Identification System Based Ship Drift Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakub, Thomas D.

Ship drift is a technique that has been used over the last century and a half to estimate ocean currents. Several of the shortcomings of the ship drift technique include obtaining the data from multiple ships, the time delay in getting those ship positions to a data center for processing and the limited resolution based on the amount of time between position measurements. These shortcomings can be overcome through the use of the Automatic Identification System (AIS). AIS enables more precise ocean current estimates, the option of finer resolution and more timely estimates. In this work, a demonstration of the use of AIS to compute ocean currents is performed. A corresponding error and sensitivity analysis is performed to help identify under which conditions errors will be smaller. A case study in San Francisco Bay with constant AIS message updates was compared against high frequency radar and demonstrated ocean current magnitude residuals of 19 cm/s for ship tracks in a high signal to noise environment. These ship tracks were only minutes long compared to the normally 12 to 24 hour ship tracks. The Gulf of Mexico case study demonstrated the ability to estimate ocean currents over longer baselines and identified the dependency of the estimates on the accuracy of time measurements. Ultimately, AIS measurements when combined with ship drift can provide another method of estimating ocean currents, particularly when other measurements techniques are not available.

Automated night/day standoff detection, tracking, and identification of personnel for installation protection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemoff, Brian E.; Martin, Robert B.; Sluch, Mikhail; Kafka, Kristopher M.; McCormick, William; Ice, Robert

2013-06-01

The capability to positively and covertly identify people at a safe distance, 24-hours per day, could provide a valuable advantage in protecting installations, both domestically and in an asymmetric warfare environment. This capability would enable installation security officers to identify known bad actors from a safe distance, even if they are approaching under cover of darkness. We will describe an active-SWIR imaging system being developed to automatically detect, track, and identify people at long range using computer face recognition. The system illuminates the target with an eye-safe and invisible SWIR laser beam, to provide consistent high-resolution imagery night and day. SWIR facial imagery produced by the system is matched against a watch-list of mug shots using computer face recognition algorithms. The current system relies on an operator to point the camera and to review and interpret the face recognition results. Automation software is being developed that will allow the system to be cued to a location by an external system, automatically detect a person, track the person as they move, zoom in on the face, select good facial images, and process the face recognition results, producing alarms and sharing data with other systems when people are detected and identified. Progress on the automation of this system will be presented along with experimental night-time face recognition results at distance.

Design of a fuel-efficient guidance system for a STOL aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclean, J. D.; Erzberger, H.

1981-01-01

In the predictive mode, the system synthesizes a horizontal path from an initial aircraft position and heading to a desired final position and heading and then synthesizes a fuel-efficient speed-altitude profile along the path. In the track mode, the synthesized trajectory is reconstructed and tracked automatically. An analytical basis for the design of the system is presented and a description of the airborne computer implementation is given. A detailed discussion of the software, which should be helpful to those who use the actual software developed for these tests, is also provided.

Using Multiple Space Assests with In-Situ Measurements to Track Flooding in Thailand

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Steve; Doubleday, Joshua; Mclaren, David; Tran, Daniel; Khunboa, Chatchai; Leelapatra, Watis; Pergamon, Vichain; Tanpipat, Veerachai; Chitradon, Royal; Boonya-aroonnet, Surajate;

Effects of Vocabulary Size on Online Lexical Processing by Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Law, Franzo, II; Edwards, Jan R.

2015-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary size and the speed and accuracy of lexical processing in preschoolers between the ages of 30 and 46 months using an automatic eye tracking task based on the looking-while-listening paradigm (Fernald, Zangl, Portillo, & Marchman, 2008) and mispronunciation paradigm…

Examining Focused L2 Practice: From in Vitro to in Vivo

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornillie, Frederik; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Van den Branden, Kris; Desmet, Piet

2017-01-01

Behaviour-tracking technology has been used for decades in SLA research on focused practice with an eye toward elucidating the nature of L2 automatization (e.g. DeKeyser, 1997; Robinson, 1997). This involves longitudinally capturing learners' judgments or linguistic production along with their response times in order to investigate how specific…

CMOS Active-Pixel Image Sensor With Intensity-Driven Readout

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Langenbacher, Harry T.; Fossum, Eric R.; Kemeny, Sabrina

1996-01-01

Proposed complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) integrated-circuit image sensor automatically provides readouts from pixels in order of decreasing illumination intensity. Sensor operated in integration mode. Particularly useful in number of image-sensing tasks, including diffractive laser range-finding, three-dimensional imaging, event-driven readout of sparse sensor arrays, and star tracking.

Development and Implementation of a Web-based Evaluation System for an Internal Medicine Residency Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Mark E.; Watson, Kathleen; Paul, Jeevan; Miller, Wesley; Harris, Ilene; Valdivia, Tomas D.

2001-01-01

Describes the development and implementation of a World Wide Web-based electronic evaluation system for the internal medicine residency program at the University of Minnesota. Features include automatic entry of evaluations by faculty or students into a database, compliance tracking, reminders, extensive reporting capabilities, automatic…

Alternative Delivery Systems for the Computer-Aided Instruction Study Management System (CAISMS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nievergelt, Jurg; And Others

The Computer-Assisted Instruction Study Management System (CAISMS) was developed and implemented on the PLATO system to monitor and guide student study of text materials. It administers assignments, gives quizzes, and automatically keeps track of a student's progress. This report describes CAISMS and several hypothetical implementations of CAISMS…

75 FR 21377 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-23

... transfer these ``non-tracked'' dividend equivalent payments from a borrower to a lender without removing a... asked OCC to process dividend equivalent payments that are not covered by DTC's automatic dividend... Service. In October 2009, OCC amended its rules so that dividend equivalent payments are principally...

Evaluation of Decision Trees for Cloud Detection from AVHRR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiffman, Smadar; Nemani, Ramakrishna

2005-01-01

Automated cloud detection and tracking is an important step in assessing changes in radiation budgets associated with global climate change via remote sensing. Data products based on satellite imagery are available to the scientific community for studying trends in the Earth's atmosphere. The data products include pixel-based cloud masks that assign cloud-cover classifications to pixels. Many cloud-mask algorithms have the form of decision trees. The decision trees employ sequential tests that scientists designed based on empirical astrophysics studies and simulations. Limitations of existing cloud masks restrict our ability to accurately track changes in cloud patterns over time. In a previous study we compared automatically learned decision trees to cloud masks included in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data products from the year 2000. In this paper we report the replication of the study for five-year data, and for a gold standard based on surface observations performed by scientists at weather stations in the British Islands. For our sample data, the accuracy of automatically learned decision trees was greater than the accuracy of the cloud masks p < 0.001.

Operational Improvements From the Automatic Dependant Surveillance Broadcast In-Trail Procedure in the Pacific Organized Track System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chartrand, Ryan C.; Jones, Kenneth M.; Allen, Bonnie D.

2012-01-01

The Federal Aviation Administration's Surveillance and Broadcast Services Program has supported implementation of the Automatic Dependant Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) In-Trail Procedure (ITP) on commercial revenue flights. ADS-B ITP is intended to be used in non-radar airspace that is employing procedural separation. Through the use of onboard tools, pilots are able to make a new type of altitude change request to an Air Traffic Service Provider (ATSP). The FAA, in partnership with United Airlines, is conducting flight trials of the ITP in revenue service in the Pacific. To support the expansion of flight trials to the rest of the US managed Pacific Airspace Region, a computerized batch study was conducted to investigate the operational impacts and potential benefits that can be gained through the use of the ITP in the Pacific Organized Track System (PACOTS). This study, which simulated the Oakland managed portion of the PACOTS, suggests that potential benefits in the PACOTS are significant with a considerable increase in time spent at optimum altitude and associated fuel savings.

Automatic detection of the macula in retinal fundus images using seeded mode tracking approach.

PubMed

Wong, Damon W K; Liu, Jiang; Tan, Ngan-Meng; Yin, Fengshou; Cheng, Xiangang; Cheng, Ching-Yu; Cheung, Gemmy C M; Wong, Tien Yin

2012-01-01

The macula is the part of the eye responsible for central high acuity vision. Detection of the macula is an important task in retinal image processing as a landmark for subsequent disease assessment, such as for age-related macula degeneration. In this paper, we have presented an approach to automatically determine the macula centre in retinal fundus images. First contextual information on the image is combined with a statistical model to obtain an approximate macula region of interest localization. Subsequently, we propose the use of a seeded mode tracking technique to locate the macula centre. The proposed approach is tested on a large dataset composed of 482 normal images and 162 glaucoma images from the ORIGA database and an additional 96 AMD images. The results show a ROI detection of 97.5%, and 90.5% correct detection of the macula within 1/3DD from a manual reference, which outperforms other current methods. The results are promising for the use of the proposed approach to locate the macula for the detection of macula diseases from retinal images.

An Automatic Multi-Target Independent Analysis Framework for Non-Planar Infrared-Visible Registration.

PubMed

Sun, Xinglong; Xu, Tingfa; Zhang, Jizhou; Zhao, Zishu; Li, Yuankun

2017-07-26

In this paper, we propose a novel automatic multi-target registration framework for non-planar infrared-visible videos. Previous approaches usually analyzed multiple targets together and then estimated a global homography for the whole scene, however, these cannot achieve precise multi-target registration when the scenes are non-planar. Our framework is devoted to solving the problem using feature matching and multi-target tracking. The key idea is to analyze and register each target independently. We present a fast and robust feature matching strategy, where only the features on the corresponding foreground pairs are matched. Besides, new reservoirs based on the Gaussian criterion are created for all targets, and a multi-target tracking method is adopted to determine the relationships between the reservoirs and foreground blobs. With the matches in the corresponding reservoir, the homography of each target is computed according to its moving state. We tested our framework on both public near-planar and non-planar datasets. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms the state-of-the-art global registration method and the manual global registration matrix in all tested datasets.

Application of variable structure system theory to aircraft flight control. [AV-8A and the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calise, A. J.; Kadushin, I.; Kramer, F.

1981-01-01

The current status of research on the application of variable structure system (VSS) theory to design aircraft flight control systems is summarized. Two aircraft types are currently being investigated: the Augmentor Wing Jet STOL Research Aircraft (AWJSRA), and AV-8A Harrier. The AWJSRA design considers automatic control of longitudinal dynamics during the landing phase. The main task for the AWJSRA is to design an automatic landing system that captures and tracks a localizer beam. The control task for the AV-8A is to track velocity commands in a hovering flight configuration. Much effort was devoted to developing computer programs that are needed to carry out VSS design in a multivariable frame work, and in becoming familiar with the dynamics and control problems associated with the aircraft types under investigation. Numerous VSS design schemes were explored, particularly for the AWJSRA. The approaches that appear best suited for these aircraft types are presented. Examples are given of the numerical results currently being generated.

Second-order sliding mode controller with model reference adaptation for automatic train operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganesan, M.; Ezhilarasi, D.; Benni, Jijo

2017-11-01

In this paper, a new approach to model reference based adaptive second-order sliding mode control together with adaptive state feedback is presented to control the longitudinal dynamic motion of a high speed train for automatic train operation with the objective of minimal jerk travel by the passengers. The nonlinear dynamic model for the longitudinal motion of the train comprises of a locomotive and coach subsystems is constructed using multiple point-mass model by considering the forces acting on the vehicle. An adaptation scheme using Lyapunov criterion is derived to tune the controller gains by considering a linear, stable reference model that ensures the stability of the system in closed loop. The effectiveness of the controller tracking performance is tested under uncertain passenger load, coupler-draft gear parameters, propulsion resistance coefficients variations and environmental disturbances due to side wind and wet rail conditions. The results demonstrate improved tracking performance of the proposed control scheme with a least jerk under maximum parameter uncertainties when compared to constant gain second-order sliding mode control.

Three-dimensional automated nanoparticle tracking using Mie scattering in an optical microscope.

PubMed

Gineste, J-M; Macko, P; Patterson, E A; Whelan, M P

2011-08-01

The forward scattering of light in a conventional inverted optical microscope by nanoparticles ranging in diameter from 10 to 50nm has been used to automatically and quantitatively identify and track their location in three-dimensions with a temporal resolution of 200ms. The standard deviation of the location of nominally stationary 50-nm-diameter nanoparticles was found to be about 50nm along the light path and about 5nm in the plane perpendicular to the light path. The method is based on oscillating the microscope objective along the light path using a piezo actuator and acquiring images with the condenser aperture closed to a minimum to enhance the effects of diffraction. Data processing in the time and spatial domains allowed the location of particles to be obtained automatically so that the technique has potential applications both in the processing of nanoparticles and in their use in a variety of fields including nanobiotechnology, pharmaceuticals and food processing where a simple optical microscope maybe preferred for a variety of reasons. © 2011 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2011 Royal Microscopical Society.

Nonlinear automatic landing control of unmanned aerial vehicles on moving platforms via a 3D laser radar

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hervas, Jaime Rubio; Tang, Hui; Reyhanoglu, Mahmut

2014-12-10

This paper presents a motion tracking and control system for automatically landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an oscillating platform using Laser Radar (LADAR) observations. The system itself is assumed to be mounted on a ship deck. A full nonlinear mathematical model is first introduced for the UAV. The ship motion is characterized by a Fourier transform based method which includes a realistic characterization of the sea waves. LADAR observation models are introduced and an algorithm to process those observations for yielding the relative state between the vessel and the UAV is presented, from which the UAV's state relative tomore » an inertial frame can be obtained and used for feedback purposes. A sliding mode control algorithm is derived for tracking a landing trajectory defined by a set of desired waypoints. An extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to account for process and observation noises in the design of a state estimator. The effectiveness of the control algorithm is illustrated through a simulation example.« less

Clustering analysis of moving target signatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martone, Anthony; Ranney, Kenneth; Innocenti, Roberto

2010-04-01

Previously, we developed a moving target indication (MTI) processing approach to detect and track slow-moving targets inside buildings, which successfully detected moving targets (MTs) from data collected by a low-frequency, ultra-wideband radar. Our MTI algorithms include change detection, automatic target detection (ATD), clustering, and tracking. The MTI algorithms can be implemented in a real-time or near-real-time system; however, a person-in-the-loop is needed to select input parameters for the clustering algorithm. Specifically, the number of clusters to input into the cluster algorithm is unknown and requires manual selection. A critical need exists to automate all aspects of the MTI processing formulation. In this paper, we investigate two techniques that automatically determine the number of clusters: the adaptive knee-point (KP) algorithm and the recursive pixel finding (RPF) algorithm. The KP algorithm is based on a well-known heuristic approach for determining the number of clusters. The RPF algorithm is analogous to the image processing, pixel labeling procedure. Both algorithms are used to analyze the false alarm and detection rates of three operational scenarios of personnel walking inside wood and cinderblock buildings.

Cerebral palsy characterization by estimating ocular motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, Jully; Atehortúa, Angélica; Moncayo, Ricardo; Romero, Eduardo

2017-11-01

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a large group of motion and posture disorders caused during the fetal or infant brain development. Sensorial impairment is commonly found in children with CP, i.e., between 40-75 percent presents some form of vision problems or disabilities. An automatic characterization of the cerebral palsy is herein presented by estimating the ocular motion during a gaze pursuing task. Specifically, After automatically detecting the eye location, an optical flow algorithm tracks the eye motion following a pre-established visual assignment. Subsequently, the optical flow trajectories are characterized in the velocity-acceleration phase plane. Differences are quantified in a small set of patients between four to ten years.

Configuration management and automatic control of an augmentor wing aircraft with vectored thrust

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cicolani, L. S.; Sridhar, B.; Meyer, G.

1979-01-01

An advanced structure for automatic flight control logic for powered-lift aircraft operating in terminal areas is under investigation at Ames Research Center. This structure is based on acceleration control; acceleration commands are constructed as the sum of acceleration on the reference trajectory and a corrective feedback acceleration to regulate path tracking errors. The central element of the structure, termed a Trimmap, uses a model of the aircraft aerodynamic and engine forces to calculate the control settings required to generate the acceleration commands. This report describes the design criteria for the Trimmap and derives a Trimmap for Ames experimental augmentor wing jet STOL research aircraft.

An inexpensive programmable illumination microscope with active feedback.

PubMed

Tompkins, Nathan; Fraden, Seth

2016-02-01

We have developed a programmable illumination system capable of tracking and illuminating numerous objects simultaneously using only low-cost and reused optical components. The active feedback control software allows for a closed-loop system that tracks and perturbs objects of interest automatically. Our system uses a static stage where the objects of interest are tracked computationally as they move across the field of view allowing for a large number of simultaneous experiments. An algorithmically determined illumination pattern can be applied anywhere in the field of view with simultaneous imaging and perturbation using different colors of light to enable spatially and temporally structured illumination. Our system consists of a consumer projector, camera, 35-mm camera lens, and a small number of other optical and scaffolding components. The entire apparatus can be assembled for under $4,000.

Dynamic Shape Capture of Free-Swimming Aquatic Life using Multi-view Stereo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daily, David

2017-11-01

The reconstruction and tracking of swimming fish in the past has either been restricted to flumes, small volumes, or sparse point tracking in large tanks. The purpose of this research is to use an array of cameras to automatically track 50-100 points on the surface of a fish using the multi-view stereo computer vision technique. The method is non-invasive thus allowing the fish to swim freely in a large volume and to perform more advanced maneuvers such as rolling, darting, stopping, and reversing which have not been studied. The techniques for obtaining and processing the 3D kinematics and maneuvers of tuna, sharks, stingrays, and other species will be presented and compared. The National Aquarium and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and.

Tracking of Cells with a Compact Microscope Imaging System with Intelligent Controls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDowell, Mark (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A Microscope Imaging System (CMIS) with intelligent controls is disclosed that provides techniques for scanning, identifying, detecting and tracking microscopic changes in selected characteristics or features of various surfaces including, but not limited to, cells, spheres, and manufactured products subject to difficult-to-see imperfections. The practice of the present invention provides applications that include colloidal hard spheres experiments, biological cell detection for patch clamping, cell movement and tracking, as well as defect identification in products, such as semiconductor devices, where surface damage can be significant, but difficult to detect. The CMIS system is a machine vision system, which combines intelligent image processing with remote control capabilities and provides the ability to autofocus on a microscope sample, automatically scan an image, and perform machine vision analysis on multiple samples simultaneously

Tracking of cells with a compact microscope imaging system with intelligent controls

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McDowell, Mark (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A Microscope Imaging System (CMIS) with intelligent controls is disclosed that provides techniques for scanning, identifying, detecting and tracking microscopic changes in selected characteristics or features of various surfaces including, but not limited to, cells, spheres, and manufactured products subject to difficult-to-see imperfections. The practice of the present invention provides applications that include colloidal hard spheres experiments, biological cell detection for patch clamping, cell movement and tracking, as well as defect identification in products, such as semiconductor devices, where surface damage can be significant, but difficult to detect. The CMIS system is a machine vision system, which combines intelligent image processing with remote control capabilities and provides the ability to auto-focus on a microscope sample, automatically scan an image, and perform machine vision analysis on multiple samples simultaneously.

Method and system for controlling the position of a beam of light

DOEpatents

Steinkraus, Jr., Robert F.; Johnson, Gary W [Livermore, CA; Ruggiero, Anthony J [Livermore, CA

2011-08-09

An method and system for laser beam tracking and pointing is based on a conventional position sensing detector (PSD) or quadrant cell but with the use of amplitude-modulated light. A combination of logarithmic automatic gain control, filtering, and synchronous detection offers high angular precision with exceptional dynamic range and sensitivity, while maintaining wide bandwidth. Use of modulated light enables the tracking of multiple beams simultaneously through the use of different modulation frequencies. It also makes the system resistant to interfering light sources such as ambient light. Beam pointing is accomplished by feeding back errors in the measured beam position to a beam steering element, such as a steering mirror. Closed-loop tracking performance is superior to existing methods, especially under conditions of atmospheric scintillation.

A real-time optical tracking and measurement processing system for flying targets.

PubMed

Guo, Pengyu; Ding, Shaowen; Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Xiaohu

2014-01-01

Optical tracking and measurement for flying targets is unlike the close range photography under a controllable observation environment, which brings extreme conditions like diverse target changes as a result of high maneuver ability and long cruising range. This paper first designed and realized a distributed image interpretation and measurement processing system to achieve resource centralized management, multisite simultaneous interpretation and adaptive estimation algorithm selection; then proposed a real-time interpretation method which contains automatic foreground detection, online target tracking, multiple features location, and human guidance. An experiment is carried out at performance and efficiency evaluation of the method by semisynthetic video. The system can be used in the field of aerospace tests like target analysis including dynamic parameter, transient states, and optical physics characteristics, with security control.

Atrioventricular junction (AVJ) motion tracking: a software tool with ITK/VTK/Qt.

PubMed

Pengdong Xiao; Shuang Leng; Xiaodan Zhao; Hua Zou; Ru San Tan; Wong, Philip; Liang Zhong

2016-08-01

The quantitative measurement of the Atrioventricular Junction (AVJ) motion is an important index for ventricular functions of one cardiac cycle including systole and diastole. In this paper, a software tool that can conduct AVJ motion tracking from cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) images is presented by using Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK), The Visualization Toolkit (VTK) and Qt. The software tool is written in C++ by using Visual Studio Community 2013 integrated development environment (IDE) containing both an editor and a Microsoft complier. The software package has been successfully implemented. From the software engineering practice, it is concluded that ITK, VTK, and Qt are very handy software systems to implement automatic image analysis functions for CMR images such as quantitative measure of motion by visual tracking.

A Real-Time Optical Tracking and Measurement Processing System for Flying Targets

PubMed Central

Guo, Pengyu; Ding, Shaowen; Zhang, Hongliang; Zhang, Xiaohu

2014-01-01

Optical tracking and measurement for flying targets is unlike the close range photography under a controllable observation environment, which brings extreme conditions like diverse target changes as a result of high maneuver ability and long cruising range. This paper first designed and realized a distributed image interpretation and measurement processing system to achieve resource centralized management, multisite simultaneous interpretation and adaptive estimation algorithm selection; then proposed a real-time interpretation method which contains automatic foreground detection, online target tracking, multiple features location, and human guidance. An experiment is carried out at performance and efficiency evaluation of the method by semisynthetic video. The system can be used in the field of aerospace tests like target analysis including dynamic parameter, transient states, and optical physics characteristics, with security control. PMID:24987748

Multi-object tracking of human spermatozoa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sørensen, Lauge; Østergaard, Jakob; Johansen, Peter; de Bruijne, Marleen

2008-03-01

We propose a system for tracking of human spermatozoa in phase-contrast microscopy image sequences. One of the main aims of a computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) system is to automatically assess sperm quality based on spermatozoa motility variables. In our case, the problem of assessing sperm quality is cast as a multi-object tracking problem, where the objects being tracked are the spermatozoa. The system combines a particle filter and Kalman filters for robust motion estimation of the spermatozoa tracks. Further, the combinatorial aspect of assigning observations to labels in the particle filter is formulated as a linear assignment problem solved using the Hungarian algorithm on a rectangular cost matrix, making the algorithm capable of handling missing or spurious observations. The costs are calculated using hidden Markov models that express the plausibility of an observation being the next position in the track history of the particle labels. Observations are extracted using a scale-space blob detector utilizing the fact that the spermatozoa appear as bright blobs in a phase-contrast microscope. The output of the system is the complete motion track of each of the spermatozoa. Based on these tracks, different CASA motility variables can be computed, for example curvilinear velocity or straight-line velocity. The performance of the system is tested on three different phase-contrast image sequences of varying complexity, both by visual inspection of the estimated spermatozoa tracks and by measuring the mean squared error (MSE) between the estimated spermatozoa tracks and manually annotated tracks, showing good agreement.

Dictionary learning-based spatiotemporal regularization for 3D dense speckle tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Allen; Zontak, Maria; Parajuli, Nripesh; Stendahl, John C.; Boutagy, Nabil; Eberle, Melissa; O'Donnell, Matthew; Sinusas, Albert J.; Duncan, James S.

2017-03-01

Speckle tracking is a common method for non-rigid tissue motion analysis in 3D echocardiography, where unique texture patterns are tracked through the cardiac cycle. However, poor tracking often occurs due to inherent ultrasound issues, such as image artifacts and speckle decorrelation; thus regularization is required. Various methods, such as optical flow, elastic registration, and block matching techniques have been proposed to track speckle motion. Such methods typically apply spatial and temporal regularization in a separate manner. In this paper, we propose a joint spatiotemporal regularization method based on an adaptive dictionary representation of the dense 3D+time Lagrangian motion field. Sparse dictionaries have good signal adaptive and noise-reduction properties; however, they are prone to quantization errors. Our method takes advantage of the desirable noise suppression, while avoiding the undesirable quantization error. The idea is to enforce regularization only on the poorly tracked trajectories. Specifically, our method 1.) builds data-driven 4-dimensional dictionary of Lagrangian displacements using sparse learning, 2.) automatically identifies poorly tracked trajectories (outliers) based on sparse reconstruction errors, and 3.) performs sparse reconstruction of the outliers only. Our approach can be applied on dense Lagrangian motion fields calculated by any method. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on a baseline block matching speckle tracking and evaluate performance of the proposed algorithm using tracking and strain accuracy analysis.

Evaluation of a video-based head motion tracking system for dedicated brain PET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anishchenko, S.; Beylin, D.; Stepanov, P.; Stepanov, A.; Weinberg, I. N.; Schaeffer, S.; Zavarzin, V.; Shaposhnikov, D.; Smith, M. F.

2015-03-01

Unintentional head motion during Positron Emission Tomography (PET) data acquisition can degrade PET image quality and lead to artifacts. Poor patient compliance, head tremor, and coughing are examples of movement sources. Head motion due to patient non-compliance can be an issue with the rise of amyloid brain PET in dementia patients. To preserve PET image resolution and quantitative accuracy, head motion can be tracked and corrected in the image reconstruction algorithm. While fiducial markers can be used, a contactless approach is preferable. A video-based head motion tracking system for a dedicated portable brain PET scanner was developed. Four wide-angle cameras organized in two stereo pairs are used for capturing video of the patient's head during the PET data acquisition. Facial points are automatically tracked and used to determine the six degree of freedom head pose as a function of time. The presented work evaluated the newly designed tracking system using a head phantom and a moving American College of Radiology (ACR) phantom. The mean video-tracking error was 0.99±0.90 mm relative to the magnetic tracking device used as ground truth. Qualitative evaluation with the ACR phantom shows the advantage of the motion tracking application. The developed system is able to perform tracking with accuracy close to millimeter and can help to preserve resolution of brain PET images in presence of movements.

Automatic limb identification and sleeping parameters assessment for pressure ulcer prevention.

PubMed

Baran Pouyan, Maziyar; Birjandtalab, Javad; Nourani, Mehrdad; Matthew Pompeo, M D

2016-08-01

Pressure ulcers (PUs) are common among vulnerable patients such as elderly, bedridden and diabetic. PUs are very painful for patients and costly for hospitals and nursing homes. Assessment of sleeping parameters on at-risk limbs is critical for ulcer prevention. An effective assessment depends on automatic identification and tracking of at-risk limbs. An accurate limb identification can be used to analyze the pressure distribution and assess risk for each limb. In this paper, we propose a graph-based clustering approach to extract the body limbs from the pressure data collected by a commercial pressure map system. A robust signature-based technique is employed to automatically label each limb. Finally, an assessment technique is applied to evaluate the experienced stress by each limb over time. The experimental results indicate high performance and more than 94% average accuracy of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precision digital control systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vyskub, V. G.; Rozov, B. S.; Savelev, V. I.

This book is concerned with the characteristics of digital control systems of great accuracy. A classification of such systems is considered along with aspects of stabilization, programmable control applications, digital tracking systems and servomechanisms, and precision systems for the control of a scanning laser beam. Other topics explored are related to systems of proportional control, linear devices and methods for increasing precision, approaches for further decreasing the response time in the case of high-speed operation, possibilities for the implementation of a logical control law, and methods for the study of precision digital control systems. A description is presented of precision automatic control systems which make use of electronic computers, taking into account the existing possibilities for an employment of computers in automatic control systems, approaches and studies required for including a computer in such control systems, and an analysis of the structure of automatic control systems with computers. Attention is also given to functional blocks in the considered systems.

Automatic Train Operation Using Autonomic Prediction of Train Runs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asuka, Masashi; Kataoka, Kenji; Komaya, Kiyotoshi; Nishida, Syogo

In this paper, we present an automatic train control method adaptable to disturbed train traffic conditions. The proposed method presumes transmission of detected time of a home track clearance to trains approaching to the station by employing equipment of Digital ATC (Automatic Train Control). Using the information, each train controls its acceleration by the method that consists of two approaches. First, by setting a designated restricted speed, the train controls its running time to arrive at the next station in accordance with predicted delay. Second, the train predicts the time at which it will reach the current braking pattern generated by Digital ATC, along with the time when the braking pattern transits ahead. By comparing them, the train correctly chooses the coasting drive mode in advance to avoid deceleration due to the current braking pattern. We evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed method regarding driving conditions, energy consumption and reduction of delays by simulation.

Toward automating Hammersmith pulled-to-sit examination of infants using feature point based video object tracking.

PubMed

Dogra, Debi P; Majumdar, Arun K; Sural, Shamik; Mukherjee, Jayanta; Mukherjee, Suchandra; Singh, Arun

2012-01-01

Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) is a set of tests used for grading neurological development of infants on a scale of 0 to 3. These tests help in assessing neurophysiological development of babies, especially preterm infants who are born before (the fetus reaches) the gestational age of 36 weeks. Such tests are often conducted in the follow-up clinics of hospitals for grading infants with suspected disabilities. Assessment based on HINE depends on the expertise of the physicians involved in conducting the examinations. It has been noted that some of these tests, especially pulled-to-sit and lateral tilting, are difficult to assess solely based on visual observation. For example, during the pulled-to-sit examination, the examiner needs to observe the relative movement of the head with respect to torso while pulling the infant by holding wrists. The examiner may find it difficult to follow the head movement from the coronal view. Video object tracking based automatic or semi-automatic analysis can be helpful in this case. In this paper, we present a video based method to automate the analysis of pulled-to-sit examination. In this context, a dynamic programming and node pruning based efficient video object tracking algorithm has been proposed. Pulled-to-sit event detection is handled by the proposed tracking algorithm that uses a 2-D geometric model of the scene. The algorithm has been tested with normal as well as marker based videos of the examination recorded at the neuro-development clinic of the SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India. It is found that the proposed algorithm is capable of estimating the pulled-to-sit score with sensitivity (80%-92%) and specificity (89%-96%).

SacLab: A toolbox for saccade analysis to increase usability of eye tracking systems in clinical ophthalmology practice.

PubMed

Cercenelli, Laura; Tiberi, Guido; Corazza, Ivan; Giannaccare, Giuseppe; Fresina, Michela; Marcelli, Emanuela

2017-01-01

Many open source software packages have been recently developed to expand the usability of eye tracking systems to study oculomotor behavior, but none of these is specifically designed to encompass all the main functions required for creating eye tracking tests and for providing the automatic analysis of saccadic eye movements. The aim of this study is to introduce SacLab, an intuitive, freely-available MATLAB toolbox based on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that we have developed to increase the usability of the ViewPoint EyeTracker (Arrington Research, Scottsdale, AZ, USA) in clinical ophthalmology practice. SacLab consists of four processing modules that enable the user to easily create visual stimuli tests (Test Designer), record saccadic eye movements (Data Recorder), analyze the recorded data to automatically extract saccadic parameters of clinical interest (Data Analyzer) and provide an aggregate analysis from multiple eye movements recordings (Saccade Analyzer), without requiring any programming effort by the user. A demo application of SacLab to carry out eye tracking tests for the analysis of horizontal saccades was reported. We tested the usability of SacLab toolbox with three ophthalmologists who had no programming experience; the ophthalmologists were briefly trained in the use of SacLab GUIs and were asked to perform the demo application. The toolbox gained an enthusiastic feedback from all the clinicians in terms of intuitiveness, ease of use and flexibility. Test creation and data processing were accomplished in 52±21s and 46±19s, respectively, using the SacLab GUIs. SacLab may represent a useful tool to ease the application of the ViewPoint EyeTracker system in clinical routine in ophthalmology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fully automatic control of paraplegic FES pedaling using higher-order sliding mode and fuzzy logic control.

PubMed

Farhoud, Aidin; Erfanian, Abbas

2014-05-01

In this paper, a fully automatic robust control strategy is proposed for control of paraplegic pedaling using functional electrical stimulation (FES). The method is based on higher-order sliding mode (HOSM) control and fuzzy logic control. In FES, the strength of muscle contraction can be altered either by varying the pulse width (PW) or by the pulse amplitude (PA) of the stimulation signal. The proposed control strategy regulates simultaneously both PA and PW (i.e., PA/PW modulation). A HOSM controller is designed for regulating the PW and a fuzzy logic controller for the PA. The proposed control scheme is free-model and does not require any offline training phase and subject-specific information. Simulation studies on a virtual patient and experiments on three paraplegic subjects demonstrate good tracking performance and robustness of the proposed control strategy against muscle fatigue and external disturbances during FES-induced pedaling. The results of simulation studies show that the power and cadence tracking errors are 5.4% and 4.8%, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed controller can improve pedaling system efficacy and increase the endurance of FES pedaling. The average of power tracking error over three paraplegic subjects is 7.4±1.4% using PA/PW modulation, while the tracking error is 10.2±1.2% when PW modulation is used. The subjects could pedal for 15 min with about 4.1% power loss at the end of experiment using proposed control strategy, while the power loss is 14.3% using PW modulation. The controller could adjust the stimulation intensity to compensate the muscle fatigue during long period of FES pedaling.

Development of automatic pre-tracking system for fillet weld based on laser trigonometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Xiaoqin; Yu, Fusheng

2005-01-01

In this paper, an automatic fillet weld pre-tracking system for welding the work piece of lorry back boards with several bend in haul automobile is developed basing on laser trigonometry. The optical measuring head based on laser-PSD trigonometry is used as position sensor. It is placed in front of the traveling direction of welding wire to get the distances from welding wire to the two side boards of the welding lines, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld respectively. A chip of AT89S52 is used as the micro controller in this system. The AC servomotors, ball-screws and straight guide rails constitute the sliding table to take welding wire move. The laser-PSD sensors pass through the vertical board, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld when welding wire moves and then get the distance. The laser-PSD sensors output the analog signals. After A/D conversion, the digital signal is input into AT89S52 and calculated. Then the information of the position and lateral deviation of the welding wire when welding a certain position are gotten to control welding wires. So the weld pre-tracking for welding the work piece with long distance and large bend in haul automobile is realized. The position information is input into EEPROM to be saved for short time after handled by AT89S52. The information is as the welding position information as well as the speed adjusting data of the welding wire when it welds the several bend of the work piece. The practice indicates that this system has high pre-tracking precision, good anti-disturb ability, excellent reliability, easy operating ability and good adaptability to the field of production.

The ship-borne infrared searching and tracking system based on the inertial platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yan; Zhang, Haibo

2011-08-01

As a result of the radar system got interferenced or in the state of half silent ,it can cause the guided precision drop badly In the modern electronic warfare, therefore it can lead to the equipment depended on electronic guidance cannot strike the incoming goals exactly. It will need to rely on optoelectronic devices to make up for its shortcomings, but when interference is in the process of radar leading ,especially the electro-optical equipment is influenced by the roll, pitch and yaw rotation ,it can affect the target appear outside of the field of optoelectronic devices for a long time, so the infrared optoelectronic equipment can not exert the superiority, and also it cannot get across weapon-control system "reverse bring" missile against incoming goals. So the conventional ship-borne infrared system unable to track the target of incoming quickly , the ability of optoelectronic rivalry declines heavily.Here we provide a brand new controlling algorithm for the semi-automatic searching and infrared tracking based on inertial navigation platform. Now it is applying well in our XX infrared optoelectronic searching and tracking system. The algorithm is mainly divided into two steps: The artificial mode turns into auto-searching when the deviation of guide exceeds the current scene under the course of leading for radar.When the threshold value of the image picked-up is satisfied by the contrast of the target in the searching scene, the speed computed by using the CA model Least Square Method feeds back to the speed loop. And then combine the infrared information to accomplish the closed-loop control of the infrared optoelectronic system tracking. The algorithm is verified via experiment. Target capturing distance is 22.3 kilometers on the great lead deviation by using the algorithm. But without using the algorithm the capturing distance declines 12 kilometers. The algorithm advances the ability of infrared optoelectronic rivalry and declines the target capturing time by using semi-automatic searching and reliable capturing-tracking, when the lead deviation of the radar is great.

GPS tracking data of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls breeding at the southern North Sea coast.

PubMed

Stienen, Eric W M; Desmet, Peter; Aelterman, Bart; Courtens, Wouter; Feys, Simon; Vanermen, Nicolas; Verstraete, Hilbran; de Walle, Marc Van; Deneudt, Klaas; Hernandez, Francisco; Houthoofdt, Robin; Vanhoorne, Bart; Bouten, Willem; Buijs, Roland-Jan; Kavelaars, Marwa M; Müller, Wendt; Herman, David; Matheve, Hans; Sotillo, Alejandro; Lens, Luc

2016-01-01

In this data paper, Bird tracking - GPS tracking of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls breeding at the southern North Sea coast is described, a species occurrence dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). The dataset (version 5.5) contains close to 2.5 million occurrences, recorded by 101 GPS trackers mounted on 75 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 26 Herring Gulls breeding at the Belgian and Dutch coast. The trackers were developed by the University of Amsterdam Bird Tracking System (UvA-BiTS, http://www.uva-bits.nl). These automatically record and transmit bird movements, which allows us and others to study their habitat use and migration behaviour in great detail. Our bird tracking network is operational since 2013. It is funded for LifeWatch by the Hercules Foundation and maintained in collaboration with UvA-BiTS and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). The recorded data are periodically released in bulk as open data (http://dataset.inbo.be/bird-tracking-gull-occurrences), and are also accessible through CartoDB and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Efficient physics-based tracking of heart surface motion for beating heart surgery robotic systems.

PubMed

Bogatyrenko, Evgeniya; Pompey, Pascal; Hanebeck, Uwe D

2011-05-01

Tracking of beating heart motion in a robotic surgery system is required for complex cardiovascular interventions. A heart surface motion tracking method is developed, including a stochastic physics-based heart surface model and an efficient reconstruction algorithm. The algorithm uses the constraints provided by the model that exploits the physical characteristics of the heart. The main advantage of the model is that it is more realistic than most standard heart models. Additionally, no explicit matching between the measurements and the model is required. The application of meshless methods significantly reduces the complexity of physics-based tracking. Based on the stochastic physical model of the heart surface, this approach considers the motion of the intervention area and is robust to occlusions and reflections. The tracking algorithm is evaluated in simulations and experiments on an artificial heart. Providing higher accuracy than the standard model-based methods, it successfully copes with occlusions and provides high performance even when all measurements are not available. Combining the physical and stochastic description of the heart surface motion ensures physically correct and accurate prediction. Automatic initialization of the physics-based cardiac motion tracking enables system evaluation in a clinical environment.

A Supporting Platform for Semi-Automatic Hyoid Bone Tracking and Parameter Extraction from Videofluoroscopic Images for the Diagnosis of Dysphagia Patients.

PubMed

Lee, Jun Chang; Nam, Kyoung Won; Jang, Dong Pyo; Paik, Nam Jong; Ryu, Ju Seok; Kim, In Young

2017-04-01

Conventional kinematic analysis of videofluoroscopic (VF) swallowing image, most popular for dysphagia diagnosis, requires time-consuming and repetitive manual extraction of diagnostic information from multiple images representing one swallowing period, which results in a heavy work load for clinicians and excessive hospital visits for patients to receive counseling and prescriptions. In this study, a software platform was developed that can assist in the VF diagnosis of dysphagia by automatically extracting a two-dimensional moving trajectory of the hyoid bone as well as 11 temporal and kinematic parameters. Fifty VF swallowing videos containing both non-mandible-overlapped and mandible-overlapped cases from eight patients with dysphagia of various etiologies and 19 videos from ten healthy controls were utilized for performance verification. Percent errors of hyoid bone tracking were 1.7 ± 2.1% for non-overlapped images and 4.2 ± 4.8% for overlapped images. Correlation coefficients between manually extracted and automatically extracted moving trajectories of the hyoid bone were 0.986 ± 0.017 (X-axis) and 0.992 ± 0.006 (Y-axis) for non-overlapped images, and 0.988 ± 0.009 (X-axis) and 0.991 ± 0.006 (Y-axis) for overlapped images. Based on the experimental results, we believe that the proposed platform has the potential to improve the satisfaction of both clinicians and patients with dysphagia.

Robust Arm and Hand Tracking by Unsupervised Context Learning

PubMed Central

Spruyt, Vincent; Ledda, Alessandro; Philips, Wilfried

2014-01-01

Hand tracking in video is an increasingly popular research field due to the rise of novel human-computer interaction methods. However, robust and real-time hand tracking in unconstrained environments remains a challenging task due to the high number of degrees of freedom and the non-rigid character of the human hand. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised method to automatically learn the context in which a hand is embedded. This context includes the arm and any other object that coherently moves along with the hand. We introduce two novel methods to incorporate this context information into a probabilistic tracking framework, and introduce a simple yet effective solution to estimate the position of the arm. Finally, we show that our method greatly increases robustness against occlusion and cluttered background, without degrading tracking performance if no contextual information is available. The proposed real-time algorithm is shown to outperform the current state-of-the-art by evaluating it on three publicly available video datasets. Furthermore, a novel dataset is created and made publicly available for the research community. PMID:25004155

Accurately tracking single-cell movement trajectories in microfluidic cell sorting devices.

PubMed

Jeong, Jenny; Frohberg, Nicholas J; Zhou, Enlu; Sulchek, Todd; Qiu, Peng

2018-01-01

Microfluidics are routinely used to study cellular properties, including the efficient quantification of single-cell biomechanics and label-free cell sorting based on the biomechanical properties, such as elasticity, viscosity, stiffness, and adhesion. Both quantification and sorting applications require optimal design of the microfluidic devices and mathematical modeling of the interactions between cells, fluid, and the channel of the device. As a first step toward building such a mathematical model, we collected video recordings of cells moving through a ridged microfluidic channel designed to compress and redirect cells according to cell biomechanics. We developed an efficient algorithm that automatically and accurately tracked the cell trajectories in the recordings. We tested the algorithm on recordings of cells with different stiffness, and showed the correlation between cell stiffness and the tracked trajectories. Moreover, the tracking algorithm successfully picked up subtle differences of cell motion when passing through consecutive ridges. The algorithm for accurately tracking cell trajectories paves the way for future efforts of modeling the flow, forces, and dynamics of cell properties in microfluidics applications.

Tracking Virus Particles in Fluorescence Microscopy Images Using Multi-Scale Detection and Multi-Frame Association.

PubMed

Jaiswal, Astha; Godinez, William J; Eils, Roland; Lehmann, Maik Jorg; Rohr, Karl

2015-11-01

Automatic fluorescent particle tracking is an essential task to study the dynamics of a large number of biological structures at a sub-cellular level. We have developed a probabilistic particle tracking approach based on multi-scale detection and two-step multi-frame association. The multi-scale detection scheme allows coping with particles in close proximity. For finding associations, we have developed a two-step multi-frame algorithm, which is based on a temporally semiglobal formulation as well as spatially local and global optimization. In the first step, reliable associations are determined for each particle individually in local neighborhoods. In the second step, the global spatial information over multiple frames is exploited jointly to determine optimal associations. The multi-scale detection scheme and the multi-frame association finding algorithm have been combined with a probabilistic tracking approach based on the Kalman filter. We have successfully applied our probabilistic tracking approach to synthetic as well as real microscopy image sequences of virus particles and quantified the performance. We found that the proposed approach outperforms previous approaches.

Switching sliding mode force tracking control of piezoelectric-hydraulic pump-based friction element actuation systems for automotive transmissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Gi-Woo; Wang, K. W.

2009-08-01

In this study, a nonlinear sliding-mode controller is designed for force tracking of a piezoelectric-hydraulic pump (PHP)-based actuation system, which is developed to replace the current electro-hydraulic actuation systems for automatic transmission (AT) friction elements, such as band brakes or clutches. By utilizing the PHP, one can eliminate the various hydraulic components (oil pump, regulating valve and control valve) in current ATs and achieve a simpler configuration with more efficient operation. With the derived governing equation of motion of the PHP-based actuation system integrated with the friction element (band brake), a switching control law is synthesized based on the sliding-mode theory. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed control law, its force tracking performance for the engagement of a friction element during an AT 1\\to 2 up-shift is examined experimentally. It is shown that one can successfully track the desired force trajectory for AT shift control with small tracking error. This study demonstrates the potential of the PHP as a new controllable actuation system for AT friction elements.

A semi-automatic annotation tool for cooking video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianco, Simone; Ciocca, Gianluigi; Napoletano, Paolo; Schettini, Raimondo; Margherita, Roberto; Marini, Gianluca; Gianforme, Giorgio; Pantaleo, Giuseppe

2013-03-01

In order to create a cooking assistant application to guide the users in the preparation of the dishes relevant to their profile diets and food preferences, it is necessary to accurately annotate the video recipes, identifying and tracking the foods of the cook. These videos present particular annotation challenges such as frequent occlusions, food appearance changes, etc. Manually annotate the videos is a time-consuming, tedious and error-prone task. Fully automatic tools that integrate computer vision algorithms to extract and identify the elements of interest are not error free, and false positive and false negative detections need to be corrected in a post-processing stage. We present an interactive, semi-automatic tool for the annotation of cooking videos that integrates computer vision techniques under the supervision of the user. The annotation accuracy is increased with respect to completely automatic tools and the human effort is reduced with respect to completely manual ones. The performance and usability of the proposed tool are evaluated on the basis of the time and effort required to annotate the same video sequences.

Automatic Whistler Detector and Analyzer system: Implementation of the analyzer algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lichtenberger, JáNos; Ferencz, Csaba; Hamar, Daniel; Steinbach, Peter; Rodger, Craig J.; Clilverd, Mark A.; Collier, Andrew B.

2010-12-01

The full potential of whistlers for monitoring plasmaspheric electron density variations has not yet been realized. The primary reason is the vast human effort required for the analysis of whistler traces. Recently, the first part of a complete whistler analysis procedure was successfully automated, i.e., the automatic detection of whistler traces from the raw broadband VLF signal was achieved. This study describes a new algorithm developed to determine plasmaspheric electron density measurements from whistler traces, based on a Virtual (Whistler) Trace Transformation, using a 2-D fast Fourier transform transformation. This algorithm can be automated and can thus form the final step to complete an Automatic Whistler Detector and Analyzer (AWDA) system. In this second AWDA paper, the practical implementation of the Automatic Whistler Analyzer (AWA) algorithm is discussed and a feasible solution is presented. The practical implementation of the algorithm is able to track the variations of plasmasphere in quasi real time on a PC cluster with 100 CPU cores. The electron densities obtained by the AWA method can be used in investigations such as plasmasphere dynamics, ionosphere-plasmasphere coupling, or in space weather models.

Markov random field based automatic image alignment for electron tomography.

PubMed

Amat, Fernando; Moussavi, Farshid; Comolli, Luis R; Elidan, Gal; Downing, Kenneth H; Horowitz, Mark

2008-03-01

We present a method for automatic full-precision alignment of the images in a tomographic tilt series. Full-precision automatic alignment of cryo electron microscopy images has remained a difficult challenge to date, due to the limited electron dose and low image contrast. These facts lead to poor signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the images, which causes automatic feature trackers to generate errors, even with high contrast gold particles as fiducial features. To enable fully automatic alignment for full-precision reconstructions, we frame the problem probabilistically as finding the most likely particle tracks given a set of noisy images, using contextual information to make the solution more robust to the noise in each image. To solve this maximum likelihood problem, we use Markov Random Fields (MRF) to establish the correspondence of features in alignment and robust optimization for projection model estimation. The resulting algorithm, called Robust Alignment and Projection Estimation for Tomographic Reconstruction, or RAPTOR, has not needed any manual intervention for the difficult datasets we have tried, and has provided sub-pixel alignment that is as good as the manual approach by an expert user. We are able to automatically map complete and partial marker trajectories and thus obtain highly accurate image alignment. Our method has been applied to challenging cryo electron tomographic datasets with low SNR from intact bacterial cells, as well as several plastic section and X-ray datasets.

All eyes on relevance: strategic allocation of attention as a result of feature-based task demands in multiple object tracking.

PubMed

Brockhoff, Alisa; Huff, Markus

2016-10-01

Multiple object tracking (MOT) plays a fundamental role in processing and interpreting dynamic environments. Regarding the type of information utilized by the observer, recent studies reported evidence for the use of object features in an automatic, low- level manner. By introducing a novel paradigm that allowed us to combine tracking with a noninterfering top-down task, we tested whether a voluntary component can regulate the deployment of attention to task-relevant features in a selective manner. In four experiments we found conclusive evidence for a task-driven selection mechanism that guides attention during tracking: The observers were able to ignore or prioritize distinct objects. They marked the distinct (cued) object (target/distractor) more or less often than other objects of the same type (targets /distractors)-but only when they had received an identification task that required them to actively process object features (cues) during tracking. These effects are discussed with regard to existing theoretical approaches to attentive tracking, gaze-cue usability as well as attentional readiness, a term that originally stems from research on attention capture and visual search. Our findings indicate that existing theories of MOT need to be adjusted to allow for flexible top-down, voluntary processing during tracking.

Learning the Creative Potential of Students by Mining a Word Association Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivares-Rodríguez, Cristian; Guenaga, Mariluz

2015-01-01

Creativity is a relevant skill for human beings in order to overcome complex problems and reach novel solutions based on unexpected associations of concepts. Thus, the education of creativity becomes relevant, but there are not tools to automatically track the creative potential of learners over time. This work provides a novel set of behavioural…

Evaluating wood failure in plywood shear by optical image analysis

Treesearch

Charles W. McMillin

1984-01-01

This exploratory study evaulates the potential of using an automatic image analysis method to measure percent wood failure in plywood shear specimens. The results suggest that this method my be as accurate as the visual method in tracking long-term gluebond quality. With further refinement, the method could lead to automated equipment replacing the subjective visual...

A Comparison of Educational Statistics and Data Mining Approaches to Identify Characteristics That Impact Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, L. Dee; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Samal, Ashok; Kupzyk, Kevin; Nugent, Gwen

2015-01-01

Learning objects (LOs) are important online resources for both learners and instructors and usage for LOs is growing. Automatic LO tracking collects large amounts of metadata about individual students as well as data aggregated across courses, learning objects, and other demographic characteristics (e.g. gender). The challenge becomes identifying…

Frequency-Accommodating Manchester Decoder

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vasquez, Mario J.

1988-01-01

No adjustment necessary to cover a 10:1 frequency range. Decoding circuit converts biphase-level pulse-code modulation to nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ)-level pulse-code modulation plus clock signal. Circuit accommodates input data rate of 50 to 500 kb/s. Tracks gradual changes in rate automatically, eliminating need for extra circuits and manual switching to adjust to different rates.

WE-G-BRD-04: BEST IN PHYSICS (JOINT IMAGING-THERAPY): An Integrated Model-Based Intrafractional Organ Motion Tracking Approach with Dynamic MRI in Head and Neck Radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, H; Dolly, S; Anastasio, M

Purpose: In-treatment dynamic cine images, provided by the first commercially available MRI-guided radiotherapy system, allow physicians to observe intrafractional motion of head and neck (H&N) internal structures. Nevertheless, high anatomical complexity and relatively poor cine image contrast/resolution have complicated automatic intrafractional motion evaluation. We proposed an integrated model-based approach to automatically delineate and analyze moving structures from on-board cine images. Methods: The H&N upper airway, a complex and highly deformable region wherein severe internal motion often occurs, was selected as the target-to-be-tracked. To reliably capture its motion, a hierarchical structure model containing three statistical shapes (face, face-jaw, and face-jaw-palate) wasmore » first built from a set of manually delineated shapes using principal component analysis. An integrated model-fitting algorithm was then employed to align the statistical shapes to the first to-be-detected cine frame, and multi-feature level-set contour propagation was performed to identify the airway shape change in the remaining frames. Ninety sagittal cine MR image sets, acquired from three H&N cancer patients, were utilized to demonstrate this approach. Results: The tracking accuracy was validated by comparing the results to the average of two manual delineations in 20 randomly selected images from each patient. The resulting dice similarity coefficient (93.28+/−1.46 %) and margin error (0.49+/−0.12 mm) showed good agreement with the manual results. Intrafractional displacements of anterior, posterior, inferior, and superior airway boundaries were observed, with values of 2.62+/−2.92, 1.78+/−1.43, 3.51+/−3.99, and 0.68+/−0.89 mm, respectively. The H&N airway motion was found to vary across directions, fractions, and patients, and highly correlated with patients’ respiratory frequency. Conclusion: We proposed the integrated computational approach, which for the first time allows to automatically identify the H&N upper airway and quantify in-treatment H&N internal motion in real-time. This approach can be applied to track other structures’ motion, and provide guidance on patient-specific prediction of intra-/inter-fractional structure displacements.« less

Evaluation of an image-based tracking workflow using a passive marker and resonant micro-coil fiducials for automatic image plane alignment in interventional MRI.

PubMed

Neumann, M; Breton, E; Cuvillon, L; Pan, L; Lorenz, C H; de Mathelin, M

2012-01-01

In this paper, an original workflow is presented for MR image plane alignment based on tracking in real-time MR images. A test device consisting of two resonant micro-coils and a passive marker is proposed for detection using image-based algorithms. Micro-coils allow for automated initialization of the object detection in dedicated low flip angle projection images; then the passive marker is tracked in clinical real-time MR images, with alternation between two oblique orthogonal image planes along the test device axis; in case the passive marker is lost in real-time images, the workflow is reinitialized. The proposed workflow was designed to minimize dedicated acquisition time to a single dedicated acquisition in the ideal case (no reinitialization required). First experiments have shown promising results for test-device tracking precision, with a mean position error of 0.79 mm and a mean orientation error of 0.24°.

A general algorithm for peak-tracking in multi-dimensional NMR experiments.

PubMed

Ravel, P; Kister, G; Malliavin, T E; Delsuc, M A

2007-04-01

We present an algorithmic method allowing automatic tracking of NMR peaks in a series of spectra. It consists in a two phase analysis. The first phase is a local modeling of the peak displacement between two consecutive experiments using distance matrices. Then, from the coefficients of these matrices, a value graph containing the a priori set of possible paths used by these peaks is generated. On this set, the minimization under constraint of the target function by a heuristic approach provides a solution to the peak-tracking problem. This approach has been named GAPT, standing for General Algorithm for NMR Peak Tracking. It has been validated in numerous simulations resembling those encountered in NMR spectroscopy. We show the robustness and limits of the method for situations with many peak-picking errors, and presenting a high local density of peaks. It is then applied to the case of a temperature study of the NMR spectrum of the Lipid Transfer Protein (LTP).

Aircraft tracking and logging for commercial airports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wren, Lee; Dwyer, David; Thornton, John; Bonsor, Nigel

2002-07-01

Airport congestion is becoming a major problem, with many airports stretched to capacity. Monitoring of airport traffic is becoming of increased importance as airport operators try to maximize their efficiency whilst maintaining a high safety standard. This paper describes a fully automatic electro-optic tracking system, designed to track aircraft whilst on, or near, the runway. The system uses a single camera and several surveyed landmarks to predict the 3D location of the aircraft. Two modes of operation are available: take off and landing, with aircraft statistics recorded for each. Aircraft are tracked until they are clear of the runway, either airborne or having turned off onto a taxiway. Statistics and video imagery are recorded for each aircraft movement, detailing the time interval between landings or take offs, the time taken to clear the runway as well as for landing aircraft, details of approach speed, glide slope, point of touch-down and which exit taxiway was used. This information can be analyzed to monitor efficiency and to highlight violations in any safety regulations.

Matching Real and Synthetic Panoramic Images Using a Variant of Geometric Hashing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li-Chee-Ming, J.; Armenakis, C.

2017-05-01

This work demonstrates an approach to automatically initialize a visual model-based tracker, and recover from lost tracking, without prior camera pose information. These approaches are commonly referred to as tracking-by-detection. Previous tracking-by-detection techniques used either fiducials (i.e. landmarks or markers) or the object's texture. The main contribution of this work is the development of a tracking-by-detection algorithm that is based solely on natural geometric features. A variant of geometric hashing, a model-to-image registration algorithm, is proposed that searches for a matching panoramic image from a database of synthetic panoramic images captured in a 3D virtual environment. The approach identifies corresponding features between the matched panoramic images. The corresponding features are to be used in a photogrammetric space resection to estimate the camera pose. The experiments apply this algorithm to initialize a model-based tracker in an indoor environment using the 3D CAD model of the building.

Quantifying the tracking capability of space-based AIS systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skauen, Andreas Nordmo

2016-01-01

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) has operated three Automatic Identification System (AIS) receivers in space. Two are on dedicated nano-satellites, AISSat-1 and AISSat-2. The third, the NORAIS Receiver, was installed on the International Space Station. A general method for calculating the upper bound on the tracking capability of a space-based AIS system has been developed and the results from the algorithm applied to AISSat-1 and the NORAIS Receiver individually. In addition, a constellation of AISSat-1 and AISSat-2 is presented. The tracking capability is defined as the probability of re-detecting ships as they move around the globe and is explained to represent and upper bound on a space-based AIS system performance. AISSat-1 and AISSat-2 operates on the nominal AIS1 and AIS2 channels, while the NORAIS Receiver data used are from operations on the dedicated space AIS channels, AIS3 and AIS4. The improved tracking capability of operations on the space AIS channels is presented.

Comparison of Three Wind Measuring Systems for Flight Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Teets, Edward H., Jr.; Harvey, Philip O.

2000-01-01

A preliminary field test of the accuracy of wind velocity measurements obtained using global positioning system-tracked rawinsonde balloons has been performed. Wind comparisons have been conducted using global positioning system (GPS) and radio automatic theodolite sounder (RATS) rawinsondes and a high-precision range instrumentation radar-tracked reflector. Wind velocity differences between the GPS rawinsondes and the radar were significantly less than between the RATS rawinsondes and the radar. These limited test results indicate a root-mean-square wind velocity difference from 4.98 kn (2.56 m/sec) for the radar and RATS to 1.09 kn (0.56 m/sec) for the radar and GPS. Differences are influenced by user reporting requirements, data processing techniques, and the inherent tracking accuracies of the system. This brief field test indicates that the GPS sounding system tracking data are more precise than the RATS system. When high-resolution wind data are needed, use of GPS rawinsonde systems can reduce the burden on range radar operations.

The effects of practice on tracking and subjective workload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hancock, P. A.; Robinson, M. A.; Chu, A. L.; Hansen, D. R.; Vercruyssen, M.

1989-01-01

Six college-age male subjects performed one hundred, two-minute trials on a second-order tracking task. After each trial, subjects estimated perceived workload using both the NASA TLX and SWAT workload assessment procedures. Results confirmed an expected performance improvement on the tracking task which followed traditional learning curves within the performance of each individual. Perceived workload also decreased for both scales across trials. While performance variability significantly decreased across trials, workload variability remained constant. One month later, the same subjects returned to complete the second experiment in the sequence which was a retention replication of the first experiment. Results replicated those for the first experiment except that both performance error and workload were at reduced overall levels. Results in general affirm a parallel workload reduction with performance improvement, an observation consistent with a resource-based view of automaticity.

An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Automatic Left Ventricular Border Detection in 2-D Echocardiography

PubMed Central

Buchan, Iris; Covvey, H. Dominic; Rakowski, Harry

1985-01-01

A program has been developed for left ventricular (LV) border tracking on ultrasound images. For each frame, forty border points at equally-spaced angles around the LV center are found gradually during three passes. Pass 1 uses adaptive thresholding to find the most obvious border points. Pass 2 then uses an artificial intelligence technique of finding possible border path segments, associating a score with each, and, from paths with superior scores, obtaining more of the border points. Pass 3 closes any remaining gaps by interpolation. The program tracks the LV border quite well in spite of dropout and interference from intracardiac structures, except during end-systole. Multi-level passes provide a very useful structure for border tracking, with increasingly slow but more sophisticated algorithms possible at higher levels for use when earlier passes recognise failure.

An inexpensive programmable illumination microscope with active feedback

PubMed Central

Tompkins, Nathan; Fraden, Seth

2016-01-01

We have developed a programmable illumination system capable of tracking and illuminating numerous objects simultaneously using only low-cost and reused optical components. The active feedback control software allows for a closed-loop system that tracks and perturbs objects of interest automatically. Our system uses a static stage where the objects of interest are tracked computationally as they move across the field of view allowing for a large number of simultaneous experiments. An algorithmically determined illumination pattern can be applied anywhere in the field of view with simultaneous imaging and perturbation using different colors of light to enable spatially and temporally structured illumination. Our system consists of a consumer projector, camera, 35-mm camera lens, and a small number of other optical and scaffolding components. The entire apparatus can be assembled for under $4,000. PMID:27642182

The design and development of a solar tracking unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, I. W.; Miller, J. B.

1984-01-01

The solar tracking unit was developed to support the Laser Heterodyne Spectrometer (LHS) airborne instrument, but has application to a general class of airborne solar occultation research instruments. The unit consists of a mirror mounted on two gimbals, one of which is hollow. The mirror reflects a 7.6 cm (3.0 in.) diameter beam of sunlight through the hollow gimbal into the research instrument optical axis. A portion of the reflected sunlight is directed into a tracking telescope which uses a four quadrant silicon detector to produce the servo error signals. The colinearity of the tracker output beam and the research instrument optical axis is maintained to better than + or - 1 arc-minute. The unit is microcomputer controlled and is capable of stand alone operation, including automatic Sun acquisition or operation under the control of the research instrument.

Automated Track Recognition and Event Reconstruction in Nuclear Emulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deines-Jones, P.; Cherry, M. L.; Dabrowska, A.; Holynski, R.; Jones, W. V.; Kolganova, E. D.; Kudzia, D.; Nilsen, B. S.; Olszewski, A.; Pozharova, E. A.;

Non-iterative double-frame 2D/3D particle tracking velocimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, Thomas; Hain, Rainer; Kähler, Christian J.

2017-09-01

In recent years, the detection of individual particle images and their tracking over time to determine the local flow velocity has become quite popular for planar and volumetric measurements. Particle tracking velocimetry has strong advantages compared to the statistical analysis of an ensemble of particle images by means of cross-correlation approaches, such as particle image velocimetry. Tracking individual particles does not suffer from spatial averaging and therefore bias errors can be avoided. Furthermore, the spatial resolution can be increased up to the sub-pixel level for mean fields. A maximization of the spatial resolution for instantaneous measurements requires high seeding concentrations. However, it is still challenging to track particles at high seeding concentrations, if no time series is available. Tracking methods used under these conditions are typically very complex iterative algorithms, which require expert knowledge due to the large number of adjustable parameters. To overcome these drawbacks, a new non-iterative tracking approach is introduced in this letter, which automatically analyzes the motion of the neighboring particles without requiring to specify any parameters, except for the displacement limits. This makes the algorithm very user friendly and also offers unexperienced users to use and implement particle tracking. In addition, the algorithm enables measurements of high speed flows using standard double-pulse equipment and estimates the flow velocity reliably even at large particle image densities.

Real-Time Charging Strategies for an Electric Vehicle Aggregator to Provide Ancillary Services

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wenzel, George; Negrete-Pincetic, Matias; Olivares, Daniel E.

Real-time charging strategies, in the context of vehicle to grid (V2G) technology, are needed to enable the use of electric vehicle (EV) fleets batteries to provide ancillary services (AS). Here, we develop tools to manage charging and discharging in a fleet to track an Automatic Generation Control (AGC) signal when aggregated. We also propose a real-time controller that considers bidirectional charging efficiency and extend it to study the effect of looking ahead when implementing Model Predictive Control (MPC). Simulations show that the controller improves tracking error as compared with benchmark scheduling algorithms, as well as regulation capacity and battery cycling.

Hyper-track selector nuclear emulsion readout system aimed at scanning an area of one thousand square meters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimoto, Masahiro; Nakano, Toshiyuki; Komatani, Ryosuke; Kawahara, Hiroaki

2017-10-01

Automatic nuclear emulsion readout systems have seen remarkable progress since the original idea was developed almost 40 years ago. After the success of its full application to a large-scale neutrino experiment, OPERA, a much faster readout system, the hyper-track selector (HTS), has been developed. HTS, which has an extremely wide-field objective lens, reached a scanning speed of 4700 cm^2/h, which is nearly 100 times faster than the previous system and therefore strongly promotes many new experimental projects. We will describe the concept, specifications, system structure, and achieved performance in this paper.

Real-Time Charging Strategies for an Electric Vehicle Aggregator to Provide Ancillary Services

DOE PAGES

Wenzel, George; Negrete-Pincetic, Matias; Olivares, Daniel E.; ...

2017-03-13

Real-time charging strategies, in the context of vehicle to grid (V2G) technology, are needed to enable the use of electric vehicle (EV) fleets batteries to provide ancillary services (AS). Here, we develop tools to manage charging and discharging in a fleet to track an Automatic Generation Control (AGC) signal when aggregated. We also propose a real-time controller that considers bidirectional charging efficiency and extend it to study the effect of looking ahead when implementing Model Predictive Control (MPC). Simulations show that the controller improves tracking error as compared with benchmark scheduling algorithms, as well as regulation capacity and battery cycling.

A 2000 ton crawler/transporter for operation in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trask, W.H.; Trask, J.L.; Crane, T.

1986-01-01

Recently designed and fabricated in Kennewick, Washington, a pair of 2000 ton capacity crawler/transporters has been used in moving refinery modules to permanent installations on Alaska's North Slope. Vehicle design features include four corner chain-driven, track driving sprockets (tumblers), resilient track roller suspensions, elevating load platform (hereinafter ''bolsters''), dynamic braking, diesel/torque converter power, automatic lubrication and electro-pneumatic controls. Four independent power units provide 1400 horse-power per crawler and over two million pounds of drawbar pull at converter stall. Weighing 300 tons, the pin-connected crawler dissembles for highway transport into loads of under 95,000 pounds.

JEFX 10 demonstration of Cooperative Hunter Killer UAS and upstream data fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Funk, Brian K.; Castelli, Jonathan C.; Watkins, Adam S.; McCubbin, Christopher B.; Marshall, Steven J.; Barton, Jeffrey D.; Newman, Andrew J.; Peterson, Cammy K.; DeSena, Jonathan T.; Dutrow, Daniel A.; Rodriguez, Pedro A.

2011-05-01

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory deployed and demonstrated a prototype Cooperative Hunter Killer (CHK) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) capability and a prototype Upstream Data Fusion (UDF) capability as participants in the Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2010 in April 2010. The CHK capability was deployed at the Nevada Test and Training Range to prosecute a convoy protection operational thread. It used mission-level autonomy (MLA) software applied to a networked swarm of three Raven hunter UAS and a Procerus Miracle surrogate killer UAS, all equipped with full motion video (FMV). The MLA software provides the capability for the hunter-killer swarm to autonomously search an area or road network, divide the search area, deconflict flight paths, and maintain line of sight communications with mobile ground stations. It also provides an interface for an operator to designate a threat and initiate automatic engagement of the target by the killer UAS. The UDF prototype was deployed at the Maritime Operations Center at Commander Second Fleet, Naval Station Norfolk to provide intelligence analysts and the ISR commander with a common fused track picture from the available FMV sources. It consisted of a video exploitation component that automatically detected moving objects, a multiple hypothesis tracker that fused all of the detection data to produce a common track picture, and a display and user interface component that visualized the common track picture along with appropriate geospatial information such as maps and terrain as well as target coordinates and the source video.

Implementation and flight tests for the Digital Integrated Automatic Landing System (DIALS). Part 1: Flight software equations, flight test description and selected flight test data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hueschen, R. M.

1986-01-01

Five flight tests of the Digital Automated Landing System (DIALS) were conducted on the Advanced Transport Operating Systems (ATOPS) Transportation Research Vehicle (TSRV) -- a modified Boeing 737 aircraft for advanced controls and displays research. These flight tests were conducted at NASA's Wallops Flight Center using the microwave landing system (MLS) installation on runway 22. This report describes the flight software equations of the DIALS which was designed using modern control theory direct-digital design methods and employed a constant gain Kalman filter. Selected flight test performance data is presented for localizer (runway centerline) capture and track at various intercept angles, for glideslope capture and track of 3, 4.5, and 5 degree glideslopes, for the decrab maneuver, and for the flare maneuver. Data is also presented to illustrate the system performance in the presence of cross, gust, and shear winds. The mean and standard deviation of the peak position errors for localizer capture were, respectively, 24 feet and 26 feet. For mild wind conditions, glideslope and localizer tracking position errors did not exceed, respectively, 5 and 20 feet. For gusty wind conditions (8 to 10 knots), these errors were, respectively, 10 and 30 feet. Ten hands off automatic lands were performed. The standard deviation of the touchdown position and velocity errors from the mean values were, respectively, 244 feet and 0.7 feet/sec.

Point-and-stare operation and high-speed image acquisition in real-time hyperspectral imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Driver, Richard D.; Bannon, David P.; Ciccone, Domenic; Hill, Sam L.

2010-04-01

The design and optical performance of a small-footprint, low-power, turnkey, Point-And-Stare hyperspectral analyzer, capable of fully automated field deployment in remote and harsh environments, is described. The unit is packaged for outdoor operation in an IP56 protected air-conditioned enclosure and includes a mechanically ruggedized fully reflective, aberration-corrected hyperspectral VNIR (400-1000 nm) spectrometer with a board-level detector optimized for point and stare operation, an on-board computer capable of full system data-acquisition and control, and a fully functioning internal hyperspectral calibration system for in-situ system spectral calibration and verification. Performance data on the unit under extremes of real-time survey operation and high spatial and high spectral resolution will be discussed. Hyperspectral acquisition including full parameter tracking is achieved by the addition of a fiber-optic based downwelling spectral channel for solar illumination tracking during hyperspectral acquisition and the use of other sensors for spatial and directional tracking to pinpoint view location. The system is mounted on a Pan-And-Tilt device, automatically controlled from the analyzer's on-board computer, making the HyperspecTM particularly adaptable for base security, border protection and remote deployments. A hyperspectral macro library has been developed to control hyperspectral image acquisition, system calibration and scene location control. The software allows the system to be operated in a fully automatic mode or under direct operator control through a GigE interface.

Causes of dissociation between subjective workload measures and performance - Caveats for the use of subjective assessments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vidulich, M. A.; Wickens, C. D.

1985-01-01

Dissociations between subjective workload assessments and performance were investigated. The difficulty of a Sternberg memory search task was manipulated by varying stimulus presentation rate, stimulus discernibility, value of good performance, and automaticity of performance. All Sternberg task conditions were performed both alone and concurrently with a tracking task. Bipolar subjective workload assessments were collected. Dissociations between workload and performance were found related to automaticity, presentation rate, and motivation level. The results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the specific cognitive processes responsible for subjective assessments can differ from those responsible for performance. The potential contamination these dissociations could inflict on operational workload assessments is discussed.

Techniques for detumbling a disabled space base

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaplan, M. H.

1973-01-01

Techniques and conceptual devices for carrying out detumbling operations are examined, and progress in the development of these concepts is discussed. Devices which reduce tumble to simple spin through active linear motion of a small mass are described, together with a Module for Automatic Dock and Detumble (MADD) that could perform an orbital transfer from the shuttle in order to track and dock at a preselected point on the distressed craft. Once docked, MADD could apply torques by firing thrustors to detumble the passive vehicle. Optimum combinations of mass-motion and external devices for various situation should be developed. The need for completely formulating the automatic control logic of MADD is also emphasized.

Using the Weighted Keyword Model to Improve Information Retrieval for Answering Biomedical Questions

PubMed Central

Yu, Hong; Cao, Yong-gang

2009-01-01

Physicians ask many complex questions during the patient encounter. Information retrieval systems that can provide immediate and relevant answers to these questions can be invaluable aids to the practice of evidence-based medicine. In this study, we first automatically identify topic keywords from ad hoc clinical questions with a Condition Random Field model that is trained over thousands of manually annotated clinical questions. We then report on a linear model that assigns query weights based on their automatically identified semantic roles: topic keywords, domain specific terms, and their synonyms. Our evaluation shows that this weighted keyword model improves information retrieval from the Text Retrieval Conference Genomics track data. PMID:21347188

Using the weighted keyword model to improve information retrieval for answering biomedical questions.

PubMed

Yu, Hong; Cao, Yong-Gang

2009-03-01

Physicians ask many complex questions during the patient encounter. Information retrieval systems that can provide immediate and relevant answers to these questions can be invaluable aids to the practice of evidence-based medicine. In this study, we first automatically identify topic keywords from ad hoc clinical questions with a Condition Random Field model that is trained over thousands of manually annotated clinical questions. We then report on a linear model that assigns query weights based on their automatically identified semantic roles: topic keywords, domain specific terms, and their synonyms. Our evaluation shows that this weighted keyword model improves information retrieval from the Text Retrieval Conference Genomics track data.

A novel vehicle tracking algorithm based on mean shift and active contour model in complex environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Lei; Wang, Lin; Li, Bo; Zhang, Libao; Lv, Wen

2017-06-01

Vehicle tracking technology is currently one of the most active research topics in machine vision. It is an important part of intelligent transportation system. However, in theory and technology, it still faces many challenges including real-time and robustness. In video surveillance, the targets need to be detected in real-time and to be calculated accurate position for judging the motives. The contents of video sequence images and the target motion are complex, so the objects can't be expressed by a unified mathematical model. Object-tracking is defined as locating the interest moving target in each frame of a piece of video. The current tracking technology can achieve reliable results in simple environment over the target with easy identified characteristics. However, in more complex environment, it is easy to lose the target because of the mismatch between the target appearance and its dynamic model. Moreover, the target usually has a complex shape, but the tradition target tracking algorithm usually represents the tracking results by simple geometric such as rectangle or circle, so it cannot provide accurate information for the subsequent upper application. This paper combines a traditional object-tracking technology, Mean-Shift algorithm, with a kind of image segmentation algorithm, Active-Contour model, to get the outlines of objects while the tracking process and automatically handle topology changes. Meanwhile, the outline information is used to aid tracking algorithm to improve it.

Simulation approach for the evaluation of tracking accuracy in radiotherapy: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Tanaka, Rie; Ichikawa, Katsuhiro; Mori, Shinichiro; Sanada, Sigeru

2013-01-01

Real-time tumor tracking in external radiotherapy can be achieved by diagnostic (kV) X-ray imaging with a dynamic flat-panel detector (FPD). It is important to keep the patient dose as low as possible while maintaining tracking accuracy. A simulation approach would be helpful to optimize the imaging conditions. This study was performed to develop a computer simulation platform based on a noise property of the imaging system for the evaluation of tracking accuracy at any noise level. Flat-field images were obtained using a direct-type dynamic FPD, and noise power spectrum (NPS) analysis was performed. The relationship between incident quantum number and pixel value was addressed, and a conversion function was created. The pixel values were converted into a map of quantum number using the conversion function, and the map was then input into the random number generator to simulate image noise. Simulation images were provided at different noise levels by changing the incident quantum numbers. Subsequently, an implanted marker was tracked automatically and the maximum tracking errors were calculated at different noise levels. The results indicated that the maximum tracking error increased with decreasing incident quantum number in flat-field images with an implanted marker. In addition, the range of errors increased with decreasing incident quantum number. The present method could be used to determine the relationship between image noise and tracking accuracy. The results indicated that the simulation approach would aid in determining exposure dose conditions according to the necessary tracking accuracy.

Investigation of tracking systems properties in CAVE-type virtual reality systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymaniak, Magda; Mazikowski, Adam; Meironke, Michał

2017-08-01

In recent years, many scientific and industrial centers in the world developed a virtual reality systems or laboratories. One of the most advanced solutions are Immersive 3D Visualization Lab (I3DVL), a CAVE-type (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) laboratory. It contains two CAVE-type installations: six-screen installation arranged in a form of a cube, and four-screen installation, a simplified version of the previous one. The user feeling of "immersion" and interaction with virtual world depend on many factors, in particular on the accuracy of the tracking system of the user. In this paper properties of the tracking systems applied in I3DVL was investigated. For analysis two parameters were selected: the accuracy of the tracking system and the range of detection of markers by the tracking system in space of the CAVE. Measurements of system accuracy were performed for six-screen installation, equipped with four tracking cameras for three axes: X, Y, Z. Rotation around the Y axis was also analyzed. Measured tracking system shows good linear and rotating accuracy. The biggest issue was the range of the monitoring of markers inside the CAVE. It turned out, that the tracking system lose sight of the markers in the corners of the installation. For comparison, for a simplified version of CAVE (four-screen installation), equipped with eight tracking cameras, this problem was not occur. Obtained results will allow for improvement of cave quality.

Precision laser automatic tracking system.

PubMed

Lucy, R F; Peters, C J; McGann, E J; Lang, K T

1966-04-01

A precision laser tracker has been constructed and tested that is capable of tracking a low-acceleration target to an accuracy of about 25 microrad root mean square. In tracking high-acceleration targets, the error is directly proportional to the angular acceleration. For an angular acceleration of 0.6 rad/sec(2), the measured tracking error was about 0.1 mrad. The basic components in this tracker, similar in configuration to a heliostat, are a laser and an image dissector, which are mounted on a stationary frame, and a servocontrolled tracking mirror. The daytime sensitivity of this system is approximately 3 x 10(-10) W/m(2); the ultimate nighttime sensitivity is approximately 3 x 10(-14) W/m(2). Experimental tests were performed to evaluate both dynamic characteristics of this system and the system sensitivity. Dynamic performance of the system was obtained, using a small rocket covered with retroreflective material launched at an acceleration of about 13 g at a point 204 m from the tracker. The daytime sensitivity of the system was checked, using an efficient retroreflector mounted on a light aircraft. This aircraft was tracked out to a maximum range of 15 km, which checked the daytime sensitivity of the system measured by other means. The system also has been used to track passively stars and the Echo I satellite. Also, the system tracked passively a +7.5 magnitude star, and the signal-to-noise ratio in this experiment indicates that it should be possible to track a + 12.5 magnitude star.

A review of vision-based motion analysis in sport.

PubMed

Barris, Sian; Button, Chris

2008-01-01

Efforts at player motion tracking have traditionally involved a range of data collection techniques from live observation to post-event video analysis where player movement patterns are manually recorded and categorized to determine performance effectiveness. Due to the considerable time required to manually collect and analyse such data, research has tended to focus only on small numbers of players within predefined playing areas. Whilst notational analysis is a convenient, practical and typically inexpensive technique, the validity and reliability of the process can vary depending on a number of factors, including how many observers are used, their experience, and the quality of their viewing perspective. Undoubtedly the application of automated tracking technology to team sports has been hampered because of inadequate video and computational facilities available at sports venues. However, the complex nature of movement inherent to many physical activities also represents a significant hurdle to overcome. Athletes tend to exhibit quick and agile movements, with many unpredictable changes in direction and also frequent collisions with other players. Each of these characteristics of player behaviour violate the assumptions of smooth movement on which computer tracking algorithms are typically based. Systems such as TRAKUS, SoccerMan, TRAKPERFORMANCE, Pfinder and Prozone all provide extrinsic feedback information to coaches and athletes. However, commercial tracking systems still require a fair amount of operator intervention to process the data after capture and are often limited by the restricted capture environments that can be used and the necessity for individuals to wear tracking devices. Whilst some online tracking systems alleviate the requirements of manual tracking, to our knowledge a completely automated system suitable for sports performance is not yet commercially available. Automatic motion tracking has been used successfully in other domains outside of elite sport performance, notably for surveillance in the military and security industry where automatic recognition of moving objects is achievable because identification of the objects is not necessary. The current challenge is to obtain appropriate video sequences that can robustly identify and label people over time, in a cluttered environment containing multiple interacting people. This problem is often compounded by the quality of video capture, the relative size and occlusion frequency of people, and also changes in illumination. Potential applications of an automated motion detection system are offered, such as: planning tactics and strategies; measuring team organisation; providing meaningful kinematic feedback; and objective measures of intervention effectiveness in team sports, which could benefit coaches, players, and sports scientists.

Bandwidth controller for phase-locked-loop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brockman, Milton H. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

A phase locked loop utilizing digital techniques to control the closed loop bandwidth of the RF carrier phase locked loop in a receiver provides high sensitivity and a wide dynamic range for signal reception. After analog to digital conversion, a digital phase locked loop bandwidth controller provides phase error detection with automatic RF carrier closed loop tracking bandwidth control to accommodate several modes of transmission.

Strategies for Automatic Track Initiation

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-06-01

research and development; - Providing scientific and technical advice and assistancc to the North Atlantic Military Committee in the field of aerospace... research and development; - Rendering scientil and technical assistance, as requested, to other NATO bodies and to member nations in connection with rcý...tcchnical potential; - Recommending effective ways for the member nations to use their research and development capabilities for the common benefit of

Acoustic Levitator Maintains Resonance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barmatz, M. B.; Gaspar, M. S.

1986-01-01

Transducer loading characteristics allow resonance tracked at high temperature. Acoustic-levitation chamber length automatically adjusted to maintain resonance at constant acoustic frequency as temperature changes. Developed for containerless processing of materials at high temperatures, system does not rely on microphones as resonance sensors, since microphones are difficult to fabricate for use at temperatures above 500 degrees C. Instead, system uses acoustic transducer itself as sensor.

Elucidating the Component Processes Involved in Dyslexic and Non-Dyslexic Reading Fluency: An Eye-Tracking Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Manon W.; Obregon, Mateo; Kelly, M. Louise; Branigan, Holly P.

2008-01-01

The relationship between rapid automatized naming (RAN) and reading fluency is well documented (see Wolf, M. & Bowers, P.G. (1999). "The double-deficit hypothesis for the 'developmental dyslexias.'" "Journal of Educational Psychology," 91(3), 415-438, for a review), but little is known about which component processes are important in RAN, and why…

78 FR 25347 - Petition for Waiver of Compliance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-30

.... Specifically, BNSF and UP seek a waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 232.305(b)(2) for railroad cars tested with automatic single car test devices (ASCTD). The current rule stipulates that if a car is on a shop or repair track for any reason and has not had a single car air brake test within the previous 12-month period, a...

Dr. Mashup or, Why Educators Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Remix

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Brian

2007-01-01

A music track that lays a vocal from Madonna over guitars from the Sex Pistols. A classroom portal that presents automatically updated syndicated resources from the campus library, news sources, student events, weblogs, and podcasts and that was built quickly using free tools. A Web site that takes crime data from the Chicago Police and applies…

An embedded real-time red peach detection system based on an OV7670 camera, ARM cortex-M4 processor and 3D look-up tables.

PubMed

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-10-22

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second.

An Embedded Real-Time Red Peach Detection System Based on an OV7670 Camera, ARM Cortex-M4 Processor and 3D Look-Up Tables

PubMed Central

Teixidó, Mercè; Font, Davinia; Pallejà, Tomàs; Tresanchez, Marcel; Nogués, Miquel; Palacín, Jordi

2012-01-01

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second. PMID:23202040

Physiological Self-Regulation and Adaptive Automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzell, Lawrence J.; Pope, Alan T.; Freeman, Frederick G.

2007-01-01

Adaptive automation has been proposed as a solution to current problems of human-automation interaction. Past research has shown the potential of this advanced form of automation to enhance pilot engagement and lower cognitive workload. However, there have been concerns voiced regarding issues, such as automation surprises, associated with the use of adaptive automation. This study examined the use of psychophysiological self-regulation training with adaptive automation that may help pilots deal with these problems through the enhancement of cognitive resource management skills. Eighteen participants were assigned to 3 groups (self-regulation training, false feedback, and control) and performed resource management, monitoring, and tracking tasks from the Multiple Attribute Task Battery. The tracking task was cycled between 3 levels of task difficulty (automatic, adaptive aiding, manual) on the basis of the electroencephalogram-derived engagement index. The other two tasks remained in automatic mode that had a single automation failure. Those participants who had received self-regulation training performed significantly better and reported lower National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index scores than participants in the false feedback and control groups. The theoretical and practical implications of these results for adaptive automation are discussed.

Computer-assisted analysis of the vascular endothelial cell motile response to injury.

PubMed

Askey, D B; Herman, I M

1988-12-01

We have developed an automated, user-friendly method to track vascular endothelial cell migration in vitro using an IBM PC/XT with MS DOS. Analog phase-contrast images of the bovine aortic endothelial cells are converted into digital images (8 bit, 250 x 240 pixel resolution) using a Tecmar Video VanGogh A/D board. Digitized images are stored at selected time points following mechanical injury in vitro. FORTRAN and assembly language subroutines have been implemented to automatically detect the wound edge and the edge of each cell nucleus in the phase-contrast, light-microscope field. Detection of the wound edge is accomplished by intensity thresholding following noise reduction in the image and subsequent sampling of the wound. After the range of wound intensities is determined, the entire image is sampled and a histogram of intensities is formed. The histogram peak corresponding to the wound intensities is subtracted, leaving a histogram peak that gives the range of intensities corresponding to the cell nuclei. Rates of cell migration, as well as cellular trajectories and cell surface areas, can be automatically quantitated and analyzed. This inexpensive, automated cell-tracking system should be widely applicable in a variety of cell biologic applications.

Ontology-based automatic identification of public health-related Turkish tweets.

PubMed

Küçük, Emine Ela; Yapar, Kürşad; Küçük, Dilek; Küçük, Doğan

2017-04-01

Social media analysis, such as the analysis of tweets, is a promising research topic for tracking public health concerns including epidemics. In this paper, we present an ontology-based approach to automatically identify public health-related Turkish tweets. The system is based on a public health ontology that we have constructed through a semi-automated procedure. The ontology concepts are expanded through a linguistically motivated relaxation scheme as the last stage of ontology development, before being integrated into our system to increase its coverage. The ultimate lexical resource which includes the terms corresponding to the ontology concepts is used to filter the Twitter stream so that a plausible tweet subset, including mostly public-health related tweets, can be obtained. Experiments are carried out on two million genuine tweets and promising precision rates are obtained. Also implemented within the course of the current study is a Web-based interface, to track the results of this identification system, to be used by the related public health staff. Hence, the current social media analysis study has both technical and practical contributions to the significant domain of public health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

X33 Reusable Launch Vehicle Control on Sliding Modes: Concepts for a Control System Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shtessel, Yuri B.

1998-01-01

Control of the X33 reusable launch vehicle is considered. The launch control problem consists of automatic tracking of the launch trajectory which is assumed to be optimally precalculated. It requires development of a reliable, robust control algorithm that can automatically adjust to some changes in mission specifications (mass of payload, target orbit) and the operating environment (atmospheric perturbations, interconnection perturbations from the other subsystems of the vehicle, thrust deficiencies, failure scenarios). One of the effective control strategies successfully applied in nonlinear systems is the Sliding Mode Control. The main advantage of the Sliding Mode Control is that the system's state response in the sliding surface remains insensitive to certain parameter variations, nonlinearities and disturbances. Employing the time scaling concept, a new two (three)-loop structure of the control system for the X33 launch vehicle was developed. Smoothed sliding mode controllers were designed to robustly enforce the given closed-loop dynamics. Simulations of the 3-DOF model of the X33 launch vehicle with the table-look-up models for Euler angle reference profiles and disturbance torque profiles showed a very accurate, robust tracking performance.

Video-processing-based system for automated pedestrian data collection and analysis when crossing the street

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansouri, Nabila; Watelain, Eric; Ben Jemaa, Yousra; Motamed, Cina

2018-03-01

Computer-vision techniques for pedestrian detection and tracking have progressed considerably and become widely used in several applications. However, a quick glance at the literature shows a minimal use of these techniques in pedestrian behavior and safety analysis, which might be due to the technical complexities facing the processing of pedestrian videos. To extract pedestrian trajectories from a video automatically, all road users must be detected and tracked during sequences, which is a challenging task, especially in a congested open-outdoor urban space. A multipedestrian tracker based on an interframe-detection-association process was proposed and evaluated. The tracker results are used to implement an automatic tool for pedestrians data collection when crossing the street based on video processing. The variations in the instantaneous speed allowed the detection of the street crossing phases (approach, waiting, and crossing). These were addressed for the first time in the pedestrian road security analysis to illustrate the causal relationship between pedestrian behaviors in the different phases. A comparison with a manual data collection method, by computing the root mean square error and the Pearson correlation coefficient, confirmed that the procedures proposed have significant potential to automate the data collection process.

On-Orbit Ephemeris Determination with Radio Doppler Validation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dallmann, Nicholas; Proicou, Michael Chris; Seitz, Daniel Nathan

2016-02-09

Multiple CubeSats are often released from the same host spacecraft into virtually the same orbit at nearly the same time. A satellite team needs the ability to identify and track its own satellites as soon as possible. However, this can be a difficult and confusing task with a large number of satellites. Los Alamos National Laboratory encountered this issue during a launch of LANL-designed CubeSats that were released with more than 20 other objects. A simple radio Doppler method used shortly after launch by the Los Alamos team to select its satellites of interest from the list of available trackedmore » ephemerides is described. This method can also be used for automated real time ephemeris validation. For future efforts, each LANL-designed CubeSat will automatically perform orbit determination from the position, velocity, and covariance estimates provided by an added on-board GPS receiver. This self-determined ephemeris will be automatically downlinked by ground stations for mission planning, antenna tracking, Doppler-pre-correction, etc. A simple algorithm based on established theory and well suited for embedded on-board processing is presented. The trades examined in selecting the algorithm components and data formats are briefly discussed, as is the expected performance.« less

The influence of the region of interest width on two-dimensional speckle tracking-based measurements of strain and strain rate.

PubMed

Spriestersbach, Hendrik; Oh-Icí, Darach; Schmitt, Boris; Berger, Felix; Schmitz, Lothar

2015-01-01

There are significant variations in the published normal values of two-dimensional speckle tracking-derived strain and strain rate. These occur even when authors use the same software. To measure strain, the operator creates a region of interest (ROI) to define the myocardium to be analyzed. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that measurements vary significantly with the chosen ROI width. In 20 healthy subjects (11 males, mean age 17.6 ± 6.18 years) an apical four-chamber view (4CH) and parasternal short-axis view (SAX) were analyzed. Initially ROI width was set automatically by the software. Two subsequent measurements were obtained from each cine loop by choosing the ROI width one step narrower and one step wider than the automatic ROI width. The mean differences between the measurements of narrower and automatic ROI and between automatic and wider ROI were -1.8 ± 0.7% and -0.9 ± 0.5% for global longitudinal strain (SL), -2.2 ± 0.6% and -1.7 ± 0.7% for global circumferential strain (SC), -0.10 ± 0.06/sec and -0.07 ± 0.06/sec for global longitudinal strain rate (SrL), and -0.15 ± 0.09/sec and -0.12 ± 0.07/sec for global circumferential strain rate (SrC) (all P < 0.000). This corresponds to a relative difference to the mean of both measurements of -4.4 to -11.0%. Layer-specific myocardial deformation and curvature dependency lead to an inverse correlation between the chosen ROI width and strain and strain rate measurements. Just one step of ROI-width change leads to a significant bias. Precise ROI-width definition is essential but technical factors limit its feasibility. © 2014, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automatic Visual Tracking and Social Behaviour Analysis with Multiple Mice

PubMed Central

Giancardo, Luca; Sona, Diego; Huang, Huiping; Sannino, Sara; Managò, Francesca; Scheggia, Diego; Papaleo, Francesco; Murino, Vittorio

2013-01-01

Social interactions are made of complex behavioural actions that might be found in all mammalians, including humans and rodents. Recently, mouse models are increasingly being used in preclinical research to understand the biological basis of social-related pathologies or abnormalities. However, reliable and flexible automatic systems able to precisely quantify social behavioural interactions of multiple mice are still missing. Here, we present a system built on two components. A module able to accurately track the position of multiple interacting mice from videos, regardless of their fur colour or light settings, and a module that automatically characterise social and non-social behaviours. The behavioural analysis is obtained by deriving a new set of specialised spatio-temporal features from the tracker output. These features are further employed by a learning-by-example classifier, which predicts for each frame and for each mouse in the cage one of the behaviours learnt from the examples given by the experimenters. The system is validated on an extensive set of experimental trials involving multiple mice in an open arena. In a first evaluation we compare the classifier output with the independent evaluation of two human graders, obtaining comparable results. Then, we show the applicability of our technique to multiple mice settings, using up to four interacting mice. The system is also compared with a solution recently proposed in the literature that, similarly to us, addresses the problem with a learning-by-examples approach. Finally, we further validated our automatic system to differentiate between C57B/6J (a commonly used reference inbred strain) and BTBR T+tf/J (a mouse model for autism spectrum disorders). Overall, these data demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of this new machine learning system in the detection of social and non-social behaviours in multiple (>2) interacting mice, and its versatility to deal with different experimental settings and scenarios. PMID:24066146

Color Image Processing and Object Tracking System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimek, Robert B.; Wright, Ted W.; Sielken, Robert S.

1996-01-01

This report describes a personal computer based system for automatic and semiautomatic tracking of objects on film or video tape, developed to meet the needs of the Microgravity Combustion and Fluids Science Research Programs at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The system consists of individual hardware components working under computer control to achieve a high degree of automation. The most important hardware components include 16-mm and 35-mm film transports, a high resolution digital camera mounted on a x-y-z micro-positioning stage, an S-VHS tapedeck, an Hi8 tapedeck, video laserdisk, and a framegrabber. All of the image input devices are remotely controlled by a computer. Software was developed to integrate the overall operation of the system including device frame incrementation, grabbing of image frames, image processing of the object's neighborhood, locating the position of the object being tracked, and storing the coordinates in a file. This process is performed repeatedly until the last frame is reached. Several different tracking methods are supported. To illustrate the process, two representative applications of the system are described. These applications represent typical uses of the system and include tracking the propagation of a flame front and tracking the movement of a liquid-gas interface with extremely poor visibility.

Real-Time Motion Tracking for Mobile Augmented/Virtual Reality Using Adaptive Visual-Inertial Fusion

PubMed Central

Fang, Wei; Zheng, Lianyu; Deng, Huanjun; Zhang, Hongbo

2017-01-01

In mobile augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), real-time 6-Degree of Freedom (DoF) motion tracking is essential for the registration between virtual scenes and the real world. However, due to the limited computational capacity of mobile terminals today, the latency between consecutive arriving poses would damage the user experience in mobile AR/VR. Thus, a visual-inertial based real-time motion tracking for mobile AR/VR is proposed in this paper. By means of high frequency and passive outputs from the inertial sensor, the real-time performance of arriving poses for mobile AR/VR is achieved. In addition, to alleviate the jitter phenomenon during the visual-inertial fusion, an adaptive filter framework is established to cope with different motion situations automatically, enabling the real-time 6-DoF motion tracking by balancing the jitter and latency. Besides, the robustness of the traditional visual-only based motion tracking is enhanced, giving rise to a better mobile AR/VR performance when motion blur is encountered. Finally, experiments are carried out to demonstrate the proposed method, and the results show that this work is capable of providing a smooth and robust 6-DoF motion tracking for mobile AR/VR in real-time. PMID:28475145

SLATE: scanning laser automatic threat extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, David J.; Prickett, Shaun L.; Napier, Ashley A.; Mellor, Matthew P.

2016-10-01

SLATE is an Autonomous Sensor Module (ASM) designed to work with the SAPIENT system providing accurate location tracking and classifications of targets that pass through its field of view. The concept behind the SLATE ASM is to produce a sensor module that provides a complementary view of the world to the camera-based systems that are usually used for wide area surveillance. Cameras provide a hi-fidelity, human understandable view of the world with which tracking and identification algorithms can be used. Unfortunately, positioning and tracking in a 3D environment is difficult to implement robustly, making location-based threat assessment challenging. SLATE uses a Scanning Laser Rangefinder (SLR) that provides precise (<1cm) positions, sizes, shapes and velocities of targets within its field-of-view (FoV). In this paper we will discuss the development of the SLATE ASM including the techniques used to track and classify detections that move through the field of view of the sensor providing the accurate tracking information to the SAPIENT system. SLATE's ability to locate targets precisely allows subtle boundary-crossing judgements, e.g. on which side of a chain-link fence a target is. SLATE's ability to track targets in 3D throughout its FoV enables behavior classification such as running and walking which can provide an indication of intent and help reduce false alarm rates.

Real-Time Motion Tracking for Mobile Augmented/Virtual Reality Using Adaptive Visual-Inertial Fusion.

PubMed

Fang, Wei; Zheng, Lianyu; Deng, Huanjun; Zhang, Hongbo

2017-05-05

In mobile augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), real-time 6-Degree of Freedom (DoF) motion tracking is essential for the registration between virtual scenes and the real world. However, due to the limited computational capacity of mobile terminals today, the latency between consecutive arriving poses would damage the user experience in mobile AR/VR. Thus, a visual-inertial based real-time motion tracking for mobile AR/VR is proposed in this paper. By means of high frequency and passive outputs from the inertial sensor, the real-time performance of arriving poses for mobile AR/VR is achieved. In addition, to alleviate the jitter phenomenon during the visual-inertial fusion, an adaptive filter framework is established to cope with different motion situations automatically, enabling the real-time 6-DoF motion tracking by balancing the jitter and latency. Besides, the robustness of the traditional visual-only based motion tracking is enhanced, giving rise to a better mobile AR/VR performance when motion blur is encountered. Finally, experiments are carried out to demonstrate the proposed method, and the results show that this work is capable of providing a smooth and robust 6-DoF motion tracking for mobile AR/VR in real-time.

Laboratory Animal Management Assistant (LAMA): a LIMS for active research colonies.

PubMed

Milisavljevic, Marko; Hearty, Taryn; Wong, Tony Y T; Portales-Casamar, Elodie; Simpson, Elizabeth M; Wasserman, Wyeth W

2010-06-01

Laboratory Animal Management Assistant (LAMA) is an internet-based system for tracking large laboratory mouse colonies. It has a user-friendly interface with powerful search capabilities that ease day-to-day tasks such as tracking breeding cages and weaning litters. LAMA was originally developed to manage hundreds of new mouse strains generated by a large functional genomics program, the Pleiades Promoter Project ( http://www.pleiades.org ). The software system has proven to be highly flexible, suitable for diverse management approaches to mouse colonies. It allows custom tagging and grouping of animals, simplifying project-specific handling and access to data. Finally, LAMA was developed in close collaboration with mouse technicians to ease the transition from paper- or Excel-based management systems to computerized tracking, allowing data export in a popular spreadsheet format and automatic printing of cage cards. LAMA is an open-access software tool, freely available to the research community at http://launchpad.net/mousedb .

Catheter tracking using continuous radial MRI.

PubMed

Rasche, V; Holz, D; Köhler, J; Proksa, R; Röschmann, P

1997-06-01

The guidance of minimally invasive procedures may become a very important future application of MRI. The guidance of interventions requires images of the anatomy as well as the information of the position of invasive devices used. This paper introduces continuous radial MRI for the simultaneous acquisition of the anatomic MR image and the position of one or more small RF-coils (mu-coils), which can be mounted on invasive devices such as catheters or biopsy needles. This approach allows the in-plane tracking of an invasive device without any prolongation of the overall acquisition time. The extension to three-dimensional position tracking is described. Phantom studies are presented demonstrating the capability of this technique for real-time automatic adjustment of the slice position to the current catheter position with a temporal resolution of 100 ms. Simultaneously the in-plane catheter position is depicted in the actually acquired MR image during continuous scanning.

Energy spectrum of 50-250 MeV/nucleon iron nuclei inside the MIR space craft.

PubMed

Gunther, W; Leugner, D; Becker, E; Heinrich, W; Reitz, G

2002-10-01

Stacks of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors were mounted inside the MIR spacecraft during the EUROMIR95 space mission for a period of 6 months. This long exposure time resulted in a large number of tracks of HZE-particles in the detector foils. All trajectories of stopping iron nuclei could be reconstructed by optimizing the etching conditions so that an automatic track measurement using image analysis techniques was possible. We found 185 stopping iron nuclei and used the énergy-range relation to calculate their energies at the stack surface. The measured spectrum of iron nuclei inside the MIR station is compared to results of model predictions considering the effect of the solar modulation for the mission period, the geomagnetic shielding effect for the MIR orbit and the shielding by material of the spacecraft walls and its instrumentation. c2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

An ice-motion tracking system at the Alaska SAR facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kwok, Ronald; Curlander, John C.; Pang, Shirley S.; Mcconnell, Ross

1990-01-01

An operational system for extracting ice-motion information from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is being developed as part of the Alaska SAR Facility. This geophysical processing system (GPS) will derive ice-motion information by automated analysis of image sequences acquired by radars on the European ERS-1, Japanese ERS-1, and Canadian RADARSAT remote sensing satellites. The algorithm consists of a novel combination of feature-based and area-based techniques for the tracking of ice floes that undergo translation and rotation between imaging passes. The system performs automatic selection of the image pairs for input to the matching routines using an ice-motion estimator. It is designed to have a daily throughput of ten image pairs. A description is given of the GPS system, including an overview of the ice-motion-tracking algorithm, the system architecture, and the ice-motion products that will be available for distribution to geophysical data users.

A model predictive speed tracking control approach for autonomous ground vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Min; Chen, Huiyan; Xiong, Guangming

2017-03-01

This paper presents a novel speed tracking control approach based on a model predictive control (MPC) framework for autonomous ground vehicles. A switching algorithm without calibration is proposed to determine the drive or brake control. Combined with a simple inverse longitudinal vehicle model and adaptive regulation of MPC, this algorithm can make use of the engine brake torque for various driving conditions and avoid high frequency oscillations automatically. A simplified quadratic program (QP) solving algorithm is used to reduce the computational time, and the approach has been applied in a 16-bit microcontroller. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated via simulations and vehicle tests, which were carried out in a range of speed-profile tracking tasks. With a well-designed system structure, high-precision speed control is achieved. The system can robustly model uncertainty and external disturbances, and yields a faster response with less overshoot than a PI controller.

A tracking and verification system implemented in a clinical environment for partial HIPAA compliance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Bing; Documet, Jorge; Liu, Brent; King, Nelson; Shrestha, Rasu; Wang, Kevin; Huang, H. K.; Grant, Edward G.

2006-03-01

The paper describes the methodology for the clinical design and implementation of a Location Tracking and Verification System (LTVS) that has distinct benefits for the Imaging Department at the Healthcare Consultation Center II (HCCII), an outpatient imaging facility located on the USC Health Science Campus. A novel system for tracking and verification of patients and staff in a clinical environment using wireless and facial biometric technology to monitor and automatically identify patients and staff was developed in order to streamline patient workflow, protect against erroneous examinations and create a security zone to prevent and audit unauthorized access to patient healthcare data under the HIPAA mandate. This paper describes the system design and integration methodology based on initial clinical workflow studies within a clinical environment. An outpatient center was chosen as an initial first step for the development and implementation of this system.

Vehicle tracking for an evasive manoeuvres assistant using low-cost ultrasonic sensors.

PubMed

Jiménez, Felipe; Naranjo, José E; Gómez, Oscar; Anaya, José J

2014-11-28

Many driver assistance systems require knowledge of the vehicle environment. As these systems are increasing in complexity and performance, this knowledge of the environment needs to be more complete and reliable, so sensor fusion combining long, medium and short range sensors is now being used. This paper analyzes the feasibility of using ultrasonic sensors for low cost vehicle-positioning and tracking in the lane adjacent to the host vehicle in order to identify free areas around the vehicle and provide information to an automatic avoidance collision system that can perform autonomous braking and lane change manoeuvres. A laser scanner is used for the early detection of obstacles in the direction of travel while two ultrasonic sensors monitor the blind spot of the host vehicle. The results of tests on a test track demonstrate the ability of these sensors to accurately determine the kinematic variables of the obstacles encountered, despite a clear limitation in range.

A Polarization-Diversity Simultaneous-Lobing Angle-Tracking Receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renhult, W. B.

1961-01-01

This report describes a simultaneous-lobing angle-tracking receiver operating in the 225-260 milli-cycle-per-second telemetry band and employing polarization diversity. Its operation is considered primarily in the context of the Mercury range and tracking of the Mercury capsule. Several methods of providing diversity are briefly considered, and a number of ways of implementing the phase shifts required at one polarization for coherent signal addition are discussed. A prototype receiver is briefly described although circuitry which may be somewhat novel is covered in greater detail. No attempt has been made to include all of the sophistication one might expect in a receiver of this type; circuits have been simplified in some areas where, for example, a manual control can replace an automatic function and reduce complexity. Some conclusions are drawn as to how this receiver might perform in the Mercury environment.

Trans-dimensional MCMC methods for fully automatic motion analysis in tagged MRI.

PubMed

Smal, Ihor; Carranza-Herrezuelo, Noemí; Klein, Stefan; Niessen, Wiro; Meijering, Erik

2011-01-01

Tagged magnetic resonance imaging (tMRI) is a well-known noninvasive method allowing quantitative analysis of regional heart dynamics. Its clinical use has so far been limited, in part due to the lack of robustness and accuracy of existing tag tracking algorithms in dealing with low (and intrinsically time-varying) image quality. In this paper, we propose a novel probabilistic method for tag tracking, implemented by means of Bayesian particle filtering and a trans-dimensional Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach, which efficiently combines information about the imaging process and tag appearance with prior knowledge about the heart dynamics obtained by means of non-rigid image registration. Experiments using synthetic image data (with ground truth) and real data (with expert manual annotation) from preclinical (small animal) and clinical (human) studies confirm that the proposed method yields higher consistency, accuracy, and intrinsic tag reliability assessment in comparison with other frequently used tag tracking methods.

Fitness Tracker for Weight Lifting Style Workouts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wihl, B. M.

This document proposes an early, high level design for a fitness tracking system which can automatically log weight lifting style workouts. The system will provide an easy to use interface both physically through the use of several wireless wristband style motion trackers worn on the limbs, and graphically through a smartphone application. Exercise classification will be accomplished by calibration of the user’s specific motions. The system will accurately track a user’s workout, miscounting no more than one repetition in every 20, have sufficient battery life to last several hours, work with existing smartphones and have a cost similar to thosemore » of current fitness tracking devices. This document presents the mission background, current state-of-theart, stakeholders and their expectations, the proposed system’s context and concepts, implementation concepts, system requirements, first sublevel function decomposition, possible risks for the system, and a reflection on the design process.« less

Overview of the INEX 2008 Book Track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kazai, Gabriella; Doucet, Antoine; Landoni, Monica

This paper provides an overview of the INEX 2008 Book Track. Now in its second year, the track aimed at broadening its scope by investigating topics of interest in the fields of information retrieval, human computer interaction, digital libraries, and eBooks. The main topics of investigation were defined around challenges for supporting users in reading, searching, and navigating the full texts of digitized books. Based on these themes, four tasks were defined: 1) The Book Retrieval task aimed at comparing traditional and book-specific retrieval approaches, 2) the Page in Context task aimed at evaluating the value of focused retrieval approaches for searching books, 3) the Structure Extraction task aimed to test automatic techniques for deriving structure from OCR and layout information, and 4) the Active Reading task aimed to explore suitable user interfaces for eBooks enabling reading, annotation, review, and summary across multiple books. We report on the setup and results of each of these tasks.

Miss-distance indicator for tank main gun systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bornstein, Jonathan A.; Hillis, David B.

1994-07-01

The initial development of a passive, automated system to track bullet trajectories near a target to determine the `miss distance,' and the corresponding correction necessary to bring the following round `on target' is discussed. The system consists of a visible wavelength CCD sensor, long focal length optics, and a separate IR sensor to detect the muzzle flash of the firing event; this is coupled to a `PC' based image processing and automatic tracking system designed to follow the projectile trajectory by intelligently comparing frame to frame variation of the projectile tracer image. An error analysis indicates that the device is particularly sensitive to variation of the projectile time of flight to the target, and requires development of algorithms to estimate this value from the 2D images employed by the sensor to monitor the projectile trajectory. Initial results obtained by using a brassboard prototype to track training ammunition are promising.

Adaptive DIT-Based Fringe Tracking and Prediction at IOTA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, Edward; Pedretti, Ettore; Bregman, Jesse; Mah, Robert W.; Traub, Wesley A.

2004-01-01

An automatic fringe tracking system has been developed and implemented at the Infrared Optical Telescope Array (IOTA). In testing during May 2002, the system successfully minimized the optical path differences (OPDs) for all three baselines at IOTA. Based on sliding window discrete Fourier transform (DFT) calculations that were optimized for computational efficiency and robustness to atmospheric disturbances, the algorithm has also been tested extensively on off-line data. Implemented in ANSI C on the 266 MHZ PowerPC processor running the VxWorks real-time operating system, the algorithm runs in approximately 2.0 milliseconds per scan (including all three interferograms), using the science camera and piezo scanners to measure and correct the OPDs. Preliminary analysis on an extension of this algorithm indicates a potential for predictive tracking, although at present, real-time implementation of this extension would require significantly more computational capacity.

Three-dimensional face pose detection and tracking using monocular videos: tool and application.

PubMed

Dornaika, Fadi; Raducanu, Bogdan

2009-08-01

Recently, we have proposed a real-time tracker that simultaneously tracks the 3-D head pose and facial actions in monocular video sequences that can be provided by low quality cameras. This paper has two main contributions. First, we propose an automatic 3-D face pose initialization scheme for the real-time tracker by adopting a 2-D face detector and an eigenface system. Second, we use the proposed methods-the initialization and tracking-for enhancing the human-machine interaction functionality of an AIBO robot. More precisely, we show how the orientation of the robot's camera (or any active vision system) can be controlled through the estimation of the user's head pose. Applications based on head-pose imitation such as telepresence, virtual reality, and video games can directly exploit the proposed techniques. Experiments on real videos confirm the robustness and usefulness of the proposed methods.

Real-time seam tracking control system based on line laser visions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Yanbiao; Wang, Yanbo; Zhou, Weilin; Chen, Xiangzhi

2018-07-01

A set of six-degree-of-freedom robotic welding automatic tracking platform was designed in this study to realize the real-time tracking of weld seams. Moreover, the feature point tracking method and the adaptive fuzzy control algorithm in the welding process were studied and analyzed. A laser vision sensor and its measuring principle were designed and studied, respectively. Before welding, the initial coordinate values of the feature points were obtained using morphological methods. After welding, the target tracking method based on Gaussian kernel was used to extract the real-time feature points of the weld. An adaptive fuzzy controller was designed to input the deviation value of the feature points and the change rate of the deviation into the controller. The quantization factors, scale factor, and weight function were adjusted in real time. The input and output domains, fuzzy rules, and membership functions were constantly updated to generate a series of smooth bias robot voltage. Three groups of experiments were conducted on different types of curve welds in a strong arc and splash noise environment using the welding current of 120 A short-circuit Metal Active Gas (MAG) Arc Welding. The tracking error was less than 0.32 mm and the sensor's metrical frequency can be up to 20 Hz. The end of the torch run smooth during welding. Weld trajectory can be tracked accurately, thereby satisfying the requirements of welding applications.

Frame rate required for speckle tracking echocardiography: A quantitative clinical study with open-source, vendor-independent software.

PubMed

Negoita, Madalina; Zolgharni, Massoud; Dadkho, Elham; Pernigo, Matteo; Mielewczik, Michael; Cole, Graham D; Dhutia, Niti M; Francis, Darrel P

2016-09-01

To determine the optimal frame rate at which reliable heart walls velocities can be assessed by speckle tracking. Assessing left ventricular function with speckle tracking is useful in patient diagnosis but requires a temporal resolution that can follow myocardial motion. In this study we investigated the effect of different frame rates on the accuracy of speckle tracking results, highlighting the temporal resolution where reliable results can be obtained. 27 patients were scanned at two different frame rates at their resting heart rate. From all acquired loops, lower temporal resolution image sequences were generated by dropping frames, decreasing the frame rate by up to 10-fold. Tissue velocities were estimated by automated speckle tracking. Above 40 frames/s the peak velocity was reliably measured. When frame rate was lower, the inter-frame interval containing the instant of highest velocity also contained lower velocities, and therefore the average velocity in that interval was an underestimate of the clinically desired instantaneous maximum velocity. The higher the frame rate, the more accurately maximum velocities are identified by speckle tracking, until the frame rate drops below 40 frames/s, beyond which there is little increase in peak velocity. We provide in an online supplement the vendor-independent software we used for automatic speckle-tracked velocity assessment to help others working in this field. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Track-based event recognition in a realistic crowded environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Huis, Jasper R.; Bouma, Henri; Baan, Jan; Burghouts, Gertjan J.; Eendebak, Pieter T.; den Hollander, Richard J. M.; Dijk, Judith; van Rest, Jeroen H.

2014-10-01

Automatic detection of abnormal behavior in CCTV cameras is important to improve the security in crowded environments, such as shopping malls, airports and railway stations. This behavior can be characterized at different time scales, e.g., by small-scale subtle and obvious actions or by large-scale walking patterns and interactions between people. For example, pickpocketing can be recognized by the actual snatch (small scale), when he follows the victim, or when he interacts with an accomplice before and after the incident (longer time scale). This paper focusses on event recognition by detecting large-scale track-based patterns. Our event recognition method consists of several steps: pedestrian detection, object tracking, track-based feature computation and rule-based event classification. In the experiment, we focused on single track actions (walk, run, loiter, stop, turn) and track interactions (pass, meet, merge, split). The experiment includes a controlled setup, where 10 actors perform these actions. The method is also applied to all tracks that are generated in a crowded shopping mall in a selected time frame. The results show that most of the actions can be detected reliably (on average 90%) at a low false positive rate (1.1%), and that the interactions obtain lower detection rates (70% at 0.3% FP). This method may become one of the components that assists operators to find threatening behavior and enrich the selection of videos that are to be observed.

Automated tracking for advanced satellite laser ranging systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGarry, Jan F.; Degnan, John J.; Titterton, Paul J., Sr.; Sweeney, Harold E.; Conklin, Brion P.; Dunn, Peter J.

1996-06-01

NASA's Satellite Laser Ranging Network was originally developed during the 1970's to track satellites carrying corner cube reflectors. Today eight NASA systems, achieving millimeter ranging precision, are part of a global network of more than 40 stations that track 17 international satellites. To meet the tracking demands of a steadily growing satellite constellation within existing resources, NASA is embarking on a major automation program. While manpower on the current systems will be reduced to a single operator, the fully automated SLR2000 system is being designed to operate for months without human intervention. Because SLR2000 must be eyesafe and operate in daylight, tracking is often performed in a low probability of detection and high noise environment. The goal is to automatically select the satellite, setup the tracking and ranging hardware, verify acquisition, and close the tracking loop to optimize data yield. TO accomplish the autotracking tasks, we are investigating (1) improved satellite force models, (2) more frequent updates of orbital ephemerides, (3) lunar laser ranging data processing techniques to distinguish satellite returns from noise, and (4) angular detection and search techniques to acquire the satellite. A Monte Carlo simulator has been developed to allow optimization of the autotracking algorithms by modeling the relevant system errors and then checking performance against system truth. A combination of simulator and preliminary field results will be presented.

Layered data association using graph-theoretic formulation with applications to tennis ball tracking in monocular sequences.

PubMed

Yan, Fei; Christmas, William; Kittler, Josef

2008-10-01

In this paper, we propose a multilayered data association scheme with graph-theoretic formulation for tracking multiple objects that undergo switching dynamics in clutter. The proposed scheme takes as input object candidates detected in each frame. At the object candidate level, "tracklets'' are "grown'' from sets of candidates that have high probabilities of containing only true positives. At the tracklet level, a directed and weighted graph is constructed, where each node is a tracklet, and the edge weight between two nodes is defined according to the "compatibility'' of the two tracklets. The association problem is then formulated as an all-pairs shortest path (APSP) problem in this graph. Finally, at the path level, by analyzing the APSPs, all object trajectories are identified, and track initiation and track termination are automatically dealt with. By exploiting a special topological property of the graph, we have also developed a more efficient APSP algorithm than the general-purpose ones. The proposed data association scheme is applied to tennis sequences to track tennis balls. Experiments show that it works well on sequences where other data association methods perform poorly or fail completely.

Design of tracking and detecting lens system by diffractive optical method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jiang; Qi, Bo; Ren, Ge; Zhou, Jianwei

2016-10-01

Many target-tracking applications require an optical system to acquire the target for tracking and identification. This paper describes a new detecting optical system that can provide automatic flying object detecting, tracking and measuring in visible band. The main feature of the detecting lens system is the combination of diffractive optics with traditional lens design by a technique was invented by Schupmann. Diffractive lens has great potential for developing the larger aperture and lightweight lens. First, the optical system scheme was described. Then the Schupmann achromatic principle with diffractive lens and corrective optics is introduced. According to the technical features and requirements of the optical imaging system for detecting and tracking, we designed a lens system with flat surface Fresnel lens and cancels the optical system chromatic aberration by another flat surface Fresnel lens with effective focal length of 1980mm, an F-Number of F/9.9 and a field of view of 2ωω = 14.2', spatial resolution of 46 lp/mm and a working wavelength range of 0.6 0.85um. At last, the system is compact and easy to fabricate and assembly, the diffuse spot size and MTF function and other analysis provide good performance.

A Freehand Ultrasound Elastography System with Tracking for In-vivo Applications

PubMed Central

Foroughi, Pezhman; Kang, Hyun-Jae; Carnegie, Daniel A.; van Vledder, Mark G.; Choti, Michael A.; Hager, Gregory D.; Boctor, Emad M.

2012-01-01

Ultrasound transducers are commonly tracked in modern ultrasound navigation/guidance systems. In this paper, we demonstrate the advantages of incorporating tracking information into ultrasound elastography for clinical applications. First, we address a common limitation of freehand palpation: speckle decorrelation due to out-of-plane probe motion. We show that by automatically selecting pairs of radio frequency (RF) frames with minimal lateral and out-of-plane motions combined with a fast and robust displacement estimation technique greatly improves in-vivo elastography results. We also use tracking information and image quality measure to fuse multiple images with similar strain that are taken roughly from the same location to obtain a high quality elastography image. Finally, we show that tracking information can be used to give the user partial control over the rate of compression. Our methods are tested on tissue mimicking phantom and experiments have been conducted on intra-operative data acquired during animal and human experiments involving liver ablation. Our results suggest that in challenging clinical conditions, our proposed method produces reliable strain images and eliminates the need for a manual search through the ultrasound data in order to find RF pairs suitable for elastography. PMID:23257351

A Novel Ship-Tracking Method for GF-4 Satellite Sequential Images.

PubMed

Yao, Libo; Liu, Yong; He, You

2018-06-22

The geostationary remote sensing satellite has the capability of wide scanning, persistent observation and operational response, and has tremendous potential for maritime target surveillance. The GF-4 satellite is the first geostationary orbit (GEO) optical remote sensing satellite with medium resolution in China. In this paper, a novel ship-tracking method in GF-4 satellite sequential imagery is proposed. The algorithm has three stages. First, a local visual saliency map based on local peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) is used to detect ships in a single frame of GF-4 satellite sequential images. Second, the accuracy positioning of each potential target is realized by a dynamic correction using the rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs) and automatic identification system (AIS) data of ships. Finally, an improved multiple hypotheses tracking (MHT) algorithm with amplitude information is used to track ships by further removing the false targets, and to estimate ships’ motion parameters. The algorithm has been tested using GF-4 sequential images and AIS data. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the algorithm achieves good tracking performance in GF-4 satellite sequential images and estimates the motion information of ships accurately.

The Identification and Tracking of Uterine Contractions Using Template Based Cross-Correlation.

PubMed

McDonald, Sarah C; Brooker, Graham; Phipps, Hala; Hyett, Jon

2017-09-01

The purpose of this paper is to outline a novel method of using template based cross-correlation to identify and track uterine contractions during labour. A purpose built six-channel Electromyography (EMG) device was used to collect data from consenting women during labour and birth. A range of templates were constructed for the purpose of identifying and tracking uterine activity when cross-correlated with the EMG signal. Peak finding techniques were applied on the cross-correlated result to simplify and automate the identification and tracking of contractions. The EMG data showed a unique pattern when a woman was contracting with key features of the contraction signal remaining consistent and identifiable across subjects. Contraction profiles across subjects were automatically identified using template based cross-correlation. Synthetic templates from a rectangular function with a duration of between 5 and 10 s performed best at identifying and tracking uterine activity across subjects. The successful application of this technique provides opportunity for both simple and accurate real-time analysis of contraction data while enabling investigations into the application of techniques such as machine learning which could enable automated learning from contraction data as part of real-time monitoring and post analysis.

Stability control for high speed tracked unmanned vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pape, Olivier; Morillon, Joel G.; Houbloup, Philippe; Leveque, Stephane; Fialaire, Cecile; Gauthier, Thierry; Ropars, Patrice

2005-05-01

The French Military Robotic Study Program (introduced in Aerosense 2003), sponsored by the French Defense Procurement Agency and managed by Thales as the prime contractor, focuses on about 15 robotic themes which can provide an immediate "operational add-on value". The paper details the "automatic speed adjustment" behavior (named SYR4), developed by Giat Industries Company, which main goal is to secure the teleoperated mobility of high speed tracked vehicles on rough grounds; more precisely, the validated low level behavior continuously adjusts the vehicle speed taking into account the teleperator wish AND the maximum speed that the vehicle can manage safely according to the commanded radius of curvature. The algorithm is based on a realistic physical model of the ground-tracks relation, taking into account many vehicle and ground parameters (such as ground adherence and dynamic specificities of tracked vehicles). It also deals with the teleoperator-machine interface, providing a balanced strategy between both extreme behaviors: a) maximum speed reduction before initiating the commanded curve; b) executing the minimum possible radius without decreasing the commanded speed. The paper presents the results got from the military acceptance tests performed on tracked SYRANO vehicle (French Operational Demonstrator).

Novel Approaches to Improve Iris Recognition System Performance Based on Local Quality Evaluation and Feature Fusion

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

For building a new iris template, this paper proposes a strategy to fuse different portions of iris based on machine learning method to evaluate local quality of iris. There are three novelties compared to previous work. Firstly, the normalized segmented iris is divided into multitracks and then each track is estimated individually to analyze the recognition accuracy rate (RAR). Secondly, six local quality evaluation parameters are adopted to analyze texture information of each track. Besides, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to get the weights of these evaluation parameters and corresponding weighted coefficients of different tracks. Finally, all tracks' information is fused according to the weights of different tracks. The experimental results based on subsets of three public and one private iris image databases demonstrate three contributions of this paper. (1) Our experimental results prove that partial iris image cannot completely replace the entire iris image for iris recognition system in several ways. (2) The proposed quality evaluation algorithm is a self-adaptive algorithm, and it can automatically optimize the parameters according to iris image samples' own characteristics. (3) Our feature information fusion strategy can effectively improve the performance of iris recognition system. PMID:24693243

Novel approaches to improve iris recognition system performance based on local quality evaluation and feature fusion.

PubMed

Chen, Ying; Liu, Yuanning; Zhu, Xiaodong; Chen, Huiling; He, Fei; Pang, Yutong

2014-01-01

For building a new iris template, this paper proposes a strategy to fuse different portions of iris based on machine learning method to evaluate local quality of iris. There are three novelties compared to previous work. Firstly, the normalized segmented iris is divided into multitracks and then each track is estimated individually to analyze the recognition accuracy rate (RAR). Secondly, six local quality evaluation parameters are adopted to analyze texture information of each track. Besides, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to get the weights of these evaluation parameters and corresponding weighted coefficients of different tracks. Finally, all tracks' information is fused according to the weights of different tracks. The experimental results based on subsets of three public and one private iris image databases demonstrate three contributions of this paper. (1) Our experimental results prove that partial iris image cannot completely replace the entire iris image for iris recognition system in several ways. (2) The proposed quality evaluation algorithm is a self-adaptive algorithm, and it can automatically optimize the parameters according to iris image samples' own characteristics. (3) Our feature information fusion strategy can effectively improve the performance of iris recognition system.

Real-Time Gaze Tracking for Public Displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sippl, Andreas; Holzmann, Clemens; Zachhuber, Doris; Ferscha, Alois

In this paper, we explore the real-time tracking of human gazes in front of large public displays. The aim of our work is to estimate at which area of a display one ore more people are looking at a time, independently from the distance and angle to the display as well as the height of the tracked people. Gaze tracking is relevant for a variety of purposes, including the automatic recognition of the user's focus of attention, or the control of interactive applications with gaze gestures. The scope of the present paper is on the former, and we show how gaze tracking can be used for implicit interaction in the pervasive advertising domain. We have developed a prototype for this purpose, which (i) uses an overhead mounted camera to distinguish four gaze areas on a large display, (ii) works for a wide range of positions in front of the display, and (iii) provides an estimation of the currently gazed quarters in real time. A detailed description of the prototype as well as the results of a user study with 12 participants, which show the recognition accuracy for different positions in front of the display, are presented.

An object detection and tracking system for unmanned surface vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jian; Xiao, Yang; Fang, Zhiwen; Zhang, Naiwen; Wang, Li; Li, Tao

2017-10-01

Object detection and tracking are critical parts of unmanned surface vehicles(USV) to achieve automatic obstacle avoidance. Off-the-shelf object detection methods have achieved impressive accuracy in public datasets, though they still meet bottlenecks in practice, such as high time consumption and low detection quality. In this paper, we propose a novel system for USV, which is able to locate the object more accurately while being fast and stable simultaneously. Firstly, we employ Faster R-CNN to acquire several initial raw bounding boxes. Secondly, the image is segmented to a few superpixels. For each initial box, the superpixels inside will be grouped into a whole according to a combination strategy, and a new box is thereafter generated as the circumscribed bounding box of the final superpixel. Thirdly, we utilize KCF to track these objects after several frames, Faster-RCNN is again used to re-detect objects inside tracked boxes to prevent tracking failure as well as remove empty boxes. Finally, we utilize Faster R-CNN to detect objects in the next image, and refine object boxes by repeating the second module of our system. The experimental results demonstrate that our system is fast, robust and accurate, which can be applied to USV in practice.

Semi-automated location identification of catheters in digital chest radiographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Brad M.; Reeves, Anthony P.; Cham, Matthew D.; Henschke, Claudia I.; Yankelevitz, David F.

2007-03-01

Localization of catheter tips is the most common task in intensive care unit imaging. In this work, catheters appearing in digital chest radiographs acquired by portable chest x-rays were tracked using a semi-automatic method. Due to the fact that catheters are synthetic objects, its profile does not vary drastically over its length. Therefore, we use forward looking registration with normalized cross-correlation in order to take advantage of a priori information of the catheter profile. The registration is accomplished with a two-dimensional template representative of the catheter to be tracked generated using two seed points given by the user. To validate catheter tracking with this method, we look at two metrics: accuracy and precision. The algorithms results are compared to a ground truth established by catheter midlines marked by expert radiologists. Using 12 objects of interest comprised of naso-gastric, endo-tracheal tubes, and chest tubes, and PICC and central venous catheters, we find that our algorithm can fully track 75% of the objects of interest, with a average tracking accuracy and precision of 85.0%, 93.6% respectively using the above metrics. Such a technique would be useful for physicians wishing to verify the positioning of catheter tips using chest radiographs.

Automatic segmentation of coronary arteries from computed tomography angiography data cloud using optimal thresholding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Muhammad Ahsan; Zai, Sammer; Moon, Young Shik

2017-01-01

Manual analysis of the bulk data generated by computed tomography angiography (CTA) is time consuming, and interpretation of such data requires previous knowledge and expertise of the radiologist. Therefore, an automatic method that can isolate the coronary arteries from a given CTA dataset is required. We present an automatic yet effective segmentation method to delineate the coronary arteries from a three-dimensional CTA data cloud. Instead of a region growing process, which is usually time consuming and prone to leakages, the method is based on the optimal thresholding, which is applied globally on the Hessian-based vesselness measure in a localized way (slice by slice) to track the coronaries carefully to their distal ends. Moreover, to make the process automatic, we detect the aorta using the Hough transform technique. The proposed segmentation method is independent of the starting point to initiate its process and is fast in the sense that coronary arteries are obtained without any preprocessing or postprocessing steps. We used 12 real clinical datasets to show the efficiency and accuracy of the presented method. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method achieves 95% average accuracy.

Shape-and-behavior encoded tracking of bee dances.

PubMed

Veeraraghavan, Ashok; Chellappa, Rama; Srinivasan, Mandyam

2008-03-01

Behavior analysis of social insects has garnered impetus in recent years and has led to some advances in fields like control systems, flight navigation etc. Manual labeling of insect motions required for analyzing the behaviors of insects requires significant investment of time and effort. In this paper, we propose certain general principles that help in simultaneous automatic tracking and behavior analysis with applications in tracking bees and recognizing specific behaviors exhibited by them. The state space for tracking is defined using position, orientation and the current behavior of the insect being tracked. The position and orientation are parametrized using a shape model while the behavior is explicitly modeled using a three-tier hierarchical motion model. The first tier (dynamics) models the local motions exhibited and the models built in this tier act as a vocabulary for behavior modeling. The second tier is a Markov motion model built on top of the local motion vocabulary which serves as the behavior model. The third tier of the hierarchy models the switching between behaviors and this is also modeled as a Markov model. We address issues in learning the three-tier behavioral model, in discriminating between models, detecting and in modeling abnormal behaviors. Another important aspect of this work is that it leads to joint tracking and behavior analysis instead of the traditional track and then recognize approach. We apply these principles for tracking bees in a hive while they are executing the waggle dance and the round dance.

Cooperative multisensor system for real-time face detection and tracking in uncontrolled conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchesotti, Luca; Piva, Stefano; Turolla, Andrea; Minetti, Deborah; Regazzoni, Carlo S.

2005-03-01

The presented work describes an innovative architecture for multi-sensor distributed video surveillance applications. The aim of the system is to track moving objects in outdoor environments with a cooperative strategy exploiting two video cameras. The system also exhibits the capacity of focusing its attention on the faces of detected pedestrians collecting snapshot frames of face images, by segmenting and tracking them over time at different resolution. The system is designed to employ two video cameras in a cooperative client/server structure: the first camera monitors the entire area of interest and detects the moving objects using change detection techniques. The detected objects are tracked over time and their position is indicated on a map representing the monitored area. The objects" coordinates are sent to the server sensor in order to point its zooming optics towards the moving object. The second camera tracks the objects at high resolution. As well as the client camera, this sensor is calibrated and the position of the object detected on the image plane reference system is translated in its coordinates referred to the same area map. In the map common reference system, data fusion techniques are applied to achieve a more precise and robust estimation of the objects" track and to perform face detection and tracking. The work novelties and strength reside in the cooperative multi-sensor approach, in the high resolution long distance tracking and in the automatic collection of biometric data such as a person face clip for recognition purposes.

Automatic Detection and Vulnerability Analysis of Areas Endangered by Heavy Rain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krauß, Thomas; Fischer, Peter

2016-08-01

In this paper we present a new method for fully automatic detection and derivation of areas endangered by heavy rainfall based only on digital elevation models. Tracking news show that the majority of occuring natural hazards are flood events. So already many flood prediction systems were developed. But most of these existing systems for deriving areas endangered by flooding events are based only on horizontal and vertical distances to existing rivers and lakes. Typically such systems take not into account dangers arising directly from heavy rain events. In a study conducted by us together with a german insurance company a new approach for detection of areas endangered by heavy rain was proven to give a high correlation of the derived endangered areas and the losses claimed at the insurance company. Here we describe three methods for classification of digital terrain models and analyze their usability for automatic detection and vulnerability analysis for areas endangered by heavy rainfall and analyze the results using the available insurance data.

Using RGB-D sensors and evolutionary algorithms for the optimization of workstation layouts.

PubMed

Diego-Mas, Jose Antonio; Poveda-Bautista, Rocio; Garzon-Leal, Diana

2017-11-01

RGB-D sensors can collect postural data in an automatized way. However, the application of these devices in real work environments requires overcoming problems such as lack of accuracy or body parts' occlusion. This work presents the use of RGB-D sensors and genetic algorithms for the optimization of workstation layouts. RGB-D sensors are used to capture workers' movements when they reach objects on workbenches. Collected data are then used to optimize workstation layout by means of genetic algorithms considering multiple ergonomic criteria. Results show that typical drawbacks of using RGB-D sensors for body tracking are not a problem for this application, and that the combination with intelligent algorithms can automatize the layout design process. The procedure described can be used to automatically suggest new layouts when workers or processes of production change, to adapt layouts to specific workers based on their ways to do the tasks, or to obtain layouts simultaneously optimized for several production processes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Note: An automated image analysis method for high-throughput classification of surface-bound bacterial cell motions.

PubMed

Shen, Simon; Syal, Karan; Tao, Nongjian; Wang, Shaopeng

2015-12-01

We present a Single-Cell Motion Characterization System (SiCMoCS) to automatically extract bacterial cell morphological features from microscope images and use those features to automatically classify cell motion for rod shaped motile bacterial cells. In some imaging based studies, bacteria cells need to be attached to the surface for time-lapse observation of cellular processes such as cell membrane-protein interactions and membrane elasticity. These studies often generate large volumes of images. Extracting accurate bacterial cell morphology features from these images is critical for quantitative assessment. Using SiCMoCS, we demonstrated simultaneous and automated motion tracking and classification of hundreds of individual cells in an image sequence of several hundred frames. This is a significant improvement from traditional manual and semi-automated approaches to segmenting bacterial cells based on empirical thresholds, and a first attempt to automatically classify bacterial motion types for motile rod shaped bacterial cells, which enables rapid and quantitative analysis of various types of bacterial motion.

Multisource oil spill detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salberg, Arnt B.; Larsen, Siri O.; Zortea, Maciel

2013-10-01

In this paper we discuss how multisource data (wind, ocean-current, optical, bathymetric, automatic identification systems (AIS)) may be used to improve oil spill detection in SAR images, with emphasis on the use of automatic oil spill detection algorithms. We focus particularly on AIS, optical, and bathymetric data. For the AIS data we propose an algorithm for integrating AIS ship tracks into automatic oil spill detection in order to improve the confidence estimate of a potential oil spill. We demonstrate the use of ancillary data on a set of SAR images. Regarding the use of optical data, we did not observe a clear correspondence between high chlorophyll values (estimated from products derived from optical data) and observed slicks in the SAR image. Bathymetric data was shown to be a good data source for removing false detections caused by e.g. sand banks on low tide. For the AIS data we observed that a polluter could be identified for some dark slicks, however, a precise oil drift model is needed in order to identify the polluter with high certainty.

Toward image phylogeny forests: automatically recovering semantically similar image relationships.

PubMed

Dias, Zanoni; Goldenstein, Siome; Rocha, Anderson

2013-09-10

In the past few years, several near-duplicate detection methods appeared in the literature to identify the cohabiting versions of a given document online. Following this trend, there are some initial attempts to go beyond the detection task, and look into the structure of evolution within a set of related images overtime. In this paper, we aim at automatically identify the structure of relationships underlying the images, correctly reconstruct their past history and ancestry information, and group them in distinct trees of processing history. We introduce a new algorithm that automatically handles sets of images comprising different related images, and outputs the phylogeny trees (also known as a forest) associated with them. Image phylogeny algorithms have many applications such as finding the first image within a set posted online (useful for tracking copyright infringement perpetrators), hint at child pornography content creators, and narrowing down a list of suspects for online harassment using photographs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Clonal Selection Algorithm for Minimizing Distance Travel and Back Tracking of Automatic Guided Vehicles in Flexible Manufacturing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chawla, Viveak Kumar; Chanda, Arindam Kumar; Angra, Surjit

2018-03-01

The flexible manufacturing system (FMS) constitute of several programmable production work centers, material handling systems (MHSs), assembly stations and automatic storage and retrieval systems. In FMS, the automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) play a vital role in material handling operations and enhance the performance of the FMS in its overall operations. To achieve low makespan and high throughput yield in the FMS operations, it is highly imperative to integrate the production work centers schedules with the AGVs schedules. The Production schedule for work centers is generated by application of the Giffler and Thompson algorithm under four kind of priority hybrid dispatching rules. Then the clonal selection algorithm (CSA) is applied for the simultaneous scheduling to reduce backtracking as well as distance travel of AGVs within the FMS facility. The proposed procedure is computationally tested on the benchmark FMS configuration from the literature and findings from the investigations clearly indicates that the CSA yields best results in comparison of other applied methods from the literature.

Development and Long-Term Verification of Stereo Vision Sensor System for Controlling Safety at Railroad Crossing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosotani, Daisuke; Yoda, Ikushi; Hishiyama, Yoshiyuki; Sakaue, Katsuhiko

Many people are involved in accidents every year at railroad crossings, but there is no suitable sensor for detecting pedestrians. We are therefore developing a ubiquitous stereo vision based system for ensuring safety at railroad crossings. In this system, stereo cameras are installed at the corners and are pointed toward the center of the railroad crossing to monitor the passage of people. The system determines automatically and in real-time whether anyone or anything is inside the railroad crossing, and whether anyone remains in the crossing. The system can be configured to automatically switch over to a surveillance monitor or automatically connect to an emergency brake system in the event of trouble. We have developed an original stereovision device and installed the remote controlled experimental system applied human detection algorithm in the commercial railroad crossing. Then we store and analyze image data and tracking data throughout two years for standardization of system requirement specification.

Computer vision elastography: speckle adaptive motion estimation for elastography using ultrasound sequences.

PubMed

Revell, James; Mirmehdi, Majid; McNally, Donal

2005-06-01

We present the development and validation of an image based speckle tracking methodology, for determining temporal two-dimensional (2-D) axial and lateral displacement and strain fields from ultrasound video streams. We refine a multiple scale region matching approach incorporating novel solutions to known speckle tracking problems. Key contributions include automatic similarity measure selection to adapt to varying speckle density, quantifying trajectory fields, and spatiotemporal elastograms. Results are validated using tissue mimicking phantoms and in vitro data, before applying them to in vivo musculoskeletal ultrasound sequences. The method presented has the potential to improve clinical knowledge of tendon pathology from carpel tunnel syndrome, inflammation from implants, sport injuries, and many others.

Weighted feature selection criteria for visual servoing of a telerobot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Feddema, John T.; Lee, C. S. G.; Mitchell, O. R.

1989-01-01

Because of the continually changing environment of a space station, visual feedback is a vital element of a telerobotic system. A real time visual servoing system would allow a telerobot to track and manipulate randomly moving objects. Methodologies for the automatic selection of image features to be used to visually control the relative position between an eye-in-hand telerobot and a known object are devised. A weighted criteria function with both image recognition and control components is used to select the combination of image features which provides the best control. Simulation and experimental results of a PUMA robot arm visually tracking a randomly moving carburetor gasket with a visual update time of 70 milliseconds are discussed.

Minimal hardware Bluetooth tracking for long-term at-home elder supervision.

PubMed

Kelly, Damian; McLoone, Sean; Farrell, Ronan

2010-01-01

The ability to automatically detect the location of an elder within their own home is a significant enabler of remote elder supervision and interaction applications. This location information is typically generated via a myriad of sensors throughout the home environment. Even with high sensor redundancy, there are still situations where traditional elder monitoring systems are unable to resolve the location of the elder. This work develops a minimal infrastructure radio-frequency localisation system for long-term elder location tracking. An RFID room-labelling technique is employed and with it, the localisation system developed in this work is shown to exhibit superior performance to more traditional localisation systems in realistic long-term deployments.

The constant displacement scheme for tracking particles in heterogeneous aquifers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wen, X.H.; Gomez-Hernandez, J.J.

1996-01-01

Simulation of mass transport by particle tracking or random walk in highly heterogeneous media may be inefficient from a computational point of view if the traditional constant time step scheme is used. A new scheme which adjusts automatically the time step for each particle according to the local pore velocity, so that each particle always travels a constant distance, is shown to be computationally faster for the same degree of accuracy than the constant time step method. Using the constant displacement scheme, transport calculations in a 2-D aquifer model, with nature log-transmissivity variance of 4, can be 8.6 times fastermore » than using the constant time step scheme.« less

Development of a digital automatic control law for steep glideslope capture and flare

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.

1977-01-01

A longitudinal digital guidance and control law for steep glideslopes using MLS (Microwave Landing System) data is developed for CTOL aircraft using modern estimation and control techniques. The control law covers the final approach phases of glideslope capture, glideslope tracking, and flare to touchdown for automatic landings under adverse weather conditions. The control law uses a constant gain Kalman filter to process MLS and body-mounted accelerometer data to form estimates of flight path errors and wind velocities including wind shear. The flight path error estimates and wind estimates are used for feedback in generating control surface commands. Results of a digital simulation of the aircraft dynamics and the guidance and control law are presented for various wind conditions.

An automatic frequency control loop using overlapping DFTs (Discrete Fourier Transforms)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aguirre, S.

1988-01-01

An automatic frequency control (AFC) loop is introduced and analyzed in detail. The new scheme is a generalization of the well known Cross Product AFC loop that uses running overlapping discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs) to create a discriminator curve. Linear analysis is included and supported with computer simulations. The algorithm is tested in a low carrier to noise ratio (CNR) dynamic environment, and the probability of loss of lock is estimated via computer simulations. The algorithm discussed is a suboptimum tracking scheme with a larger frequency error variance compared to an optimum strategy, but offers simplicity of implementation and a very low operating threshold CNR. This technique can be applied during the carrier acquisition and re-acquisition process in the Advanced Receiver.

The virtual craniofacial patient: 3D jaw modeling and animation.

PubMed

Enciso, Reyes; Memon, Ahmed; Fidaleo, Douglas A; Neumann, Ulrich; Mah, James

2003-01-01

In this paper, we present new developments in the area of 3D human jaw modeling and animation. CT (Computed Tomography) scans have traditionally been used to evaluate patients with dental implants, assess tumors, cysts, fractures and surgical procedures. More recently this data has been utilized to generate models. Researchers have reported semi-automatic techniques to segment and model the human jaw from CT images and manually segment the jaw from MRI images. Recently opto-electronic and ultrasonic-based systems (JMA from Zebris) have been developed to record mandibular position and movement. In this research project we introduce: (1) automatic patient-specific three-dimensional jaw modeling from CT data and (2) three-dimensional jaw motion simulation using jaw tracking data from the JMA system (Zebris).

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bolme, David S; Tokola, Ryan A; Boehnen, Chris Bensing

Automatic recognition systems are a valuable tool for identifying unknown deceased individuals. Immediately af- ter death fingerprint and face biometric samples are easy to collect using standard sensors and cameras and can be easily matched to anti-mortem biometric samples. Even though post-mortem fingerprints and faces have been used for decades, there are no studies that track these biomet- rics through the later stages of decomposition to determine the length of time the biometrics remain viable. This paper discusses a multimodal dataset of fingerprints, faces, and irises from 14 human cadavers that decomposed outdoors under natural conditions. Results include predictive modelsmore » relating time and temperature, measured as Accumulated Degree Days (ADD), and season (winter, spring, summer) to the predicted probably of automatic verification using a commercial algorithm.« less

Truck circuits diagnosis for railway lines equipped with an automatic block signalling system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spunei, E.; Piroi, I.; Muscai, C.; Răduca, E.; Piroi, F.

2018-01-01

This work presents a diagnosis method for detecting track circuits failures on a railway traffic line equipped with an Automatic Block Signalling installation. The diagnosis method uses the installation’s electrical schemas, based on which a series of diagnosis charts have been created. Further, the diagnosis charts were used to develop a software package, CDCBla, which substantially contributes to reducing the diagnosis time and human error during failure remedies. The proposed method can also be used as a training package for the maintenance staff. Since the diagnosis method here does not need signal or measurement inputs, using it does not necessitate additional IT knowledge and can be deployed on a mobile computing device (tablet, smart phone).

Patients with schizophrenia do not preserve automatic grouping when mentally re-grouping figures: shedding light on an ignored difficulty.

PubMed

Giersch, Anne; van Assche, Mitsouko; Capa, Rémi L; Marrer, Corinne; Gounot, Daniel

2012-01-01

Looking at a pair of objects is easy when automatic grouping mechanisms bind these objects together, but visual exploration can also be more flexible. It is possible to mentally "re-group" two objects that are not only separate but belong to different pairs of objects. "Re-grouping" is in conflict with automatic grouping, since it entails a separation of each item from the set it belongs to. This ability appears to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia. Here we check if this impairment is selective, which would suggest a dissociation between grouping and "re-grouping," or if it impacts on usual, automatic grouping, which would call for a better understanding of the interactions between automatic grouping and "re-grouping." Sixteen outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy controls had to identify two identical and contiguous target figures within a display of circles and squares alternating around a fixation point. Eye-tracking was used to check central fixation. The target pair could be located in the same or separate hemifields. Identical figures were grouped by a connector (grouped automatically) or not (to be re-grouped). Attention modulation of automatic grouping was tested by manipulating the proportion of connected and unconnected targets, thus prompting subjects to focalize on either connected or unconnected pairs. Both groups were sensitive to automatic grouping in most conditions, but patients were unusually slowed down for connected targets while focalizing on unconnected pairs. In addition, this unusual effect occurred only when targets were presented within the same hemifield. Patients and controls differed on this asymmetry between within- and across-hemifield presentation, suggesting that patients with schizophrenia do not re-group figures in the same way as controls do. We discuss possible implications on how "re-grouping" ties in with ongoing, automatic perception in healthy volunteers.

Patients with Schizophrenia Do Not Preserve Automatic Grouping When Mentally Re-Grouping Figures: Shedding Light on an Ignored Difficulty

PubMed Central

Giersch, Anne; van Assche, Mitsouko; Capa, Rémi L.; Marrer, Corinne; Gounot, Daniel

2012-01-01

Looking at a pair of objects is easy when automatic grouping mechanisms bind these objects together, but visual exploration can also be more flexible. It is possible to mentally “re-group” two objects that are not only separate but belong to different pairs of objects. “Re-grouping” is in conflict with automatic grouping, since it entails a separation of each item from the set it belongs to. This ability appears to be impaired in patients with schizophrenia. Here we check if this impairment is selective, which would suggest a dissociation between grouping and “re-grouping,” or if it impacts on usual, automatic grouping, which would call for a better understanding of the interactions between automatic grouping and “re-grouping.” Sixteen outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy controls had to identify two identical and contiguous target figures within a display of circles and squares alternating around a fixation point. Eye-tracking was used to check central fixation. The target pair could be located in the same or separate hemifields. Identical figures were grouped by a connector (grouped automatically) or not (to be re-grouped). Attention modulation of automatic grouping was tested by manipulating the proportion of connected and unconnected targets, thus prompting subjects to focalize on either connected or unconnected pairs. Both groups were sensitive to automatic grouping in most conditions, but patients were unusually slowed down for connected targets while focalizing on unconnected pairs. In addition, this unusual effect occurred only when targets were presented within the same hemifield. Patients and controls differed on this asymmetry between within- and across-hemifield presentation, suggesting that patients with schizophrenia do not re-group figures in the same way as controls do. We discuss possible implications on how “re-grouping” ties in with ongoing, automatic perception in healthy volunteers. PMID:22912621

WE-G-BRF-09: Force- and Image-Adaptive Strategies for Robotised Placement of 4D Ultrasound Probes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhlemann, I; Graduate School for Computing in Life Science, University of Luebeck, Luebeck; Bruder, R

2014-06-15

Purpose: To allow continuous acquisition of high quality 4D ultrasound images for non-invasive live tracking of tumours for IGRT, image- and force-adaptive strategies for robotised placement of 4D ultrasound probes are developed and evaluated. Methods: The developed robotised ultrasound system is based on a 6-axes industrial robot (adept Viper s850) carrying a 4D ultrasound transducer with a mounted force-torque sensor. The force-adaptive placement strategies include probe position control using artificial potential fields and contact pressure regulation by a PD controller strategy. The basis for live target tracking is a continuous minimum contact pressure to ensure good image quality and highmore » patient comfort. This contact pressure can be significantly disturbed by respiratory movements and has to be compensated. All measurements were performed on human subjects under realistic conditions. When performing cardiac ultrasound, rib- and lung shadows are a common source of interference and can disrupt the tracking. To ensure continuous tracking, these artefacts had to be detected to automatically realign the probe. The detection is realised by multiple algorithms based on entropy calculations as well as a determination of the image quality. Results: Through active contact pressure regulation it was possible to reduce the variance of the contact pressure by 89.79% despite respiratory motion of the chest. The results regarding the image processing clearly demonstrate the feasibility to detect image artefacts like rib shadows in real-time. Conclusion: In all cases, it was possible to stabilise the image quality by active contact pressure control and automatically detected image artefacts. This fact enables the possibility to compensate for such interferences by realigning the probe and thus continuously optimising the ultrasound images. This is a huge step towards fully automated transducer positioning and opens the possibility for stable target tracking in ultrasoundguided radiation therapy requiring contact pressure of 5–10 N. This work was supported by the Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences funded by Germany's Excellence Initiative [DFG GSC 235/1].« less

Geodetic Secor Satellite

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-06-01

retrans- minied modulation signals. A phase-lock loop was used to provide correlation detection, allowing automatic acquisition and phase tracking at...steel strips, 0.5-inch-wide by 0.009-inch-thick, and formed to a 0.75-inch radius. Each antenne -was plated with silver to imprive con- dutivity...Telemetry Requirements k. Phase Detector Output Requirements 1. Primary Power Requirements m. AM Suppression Requirements n. Data Feedback Loop Gain

A portable real-time data processing system for standard meteorological radiosondes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Staffanson, F. L.

1983-01-01

The UMET-1 is a microprocessor-based portable system for automatic real-time processing of flight data transmitted from the standard RAWINSONDE upper atmosphere meteorological balloonsonde. The first 'target system' is described which was designed to receive data from a mobile tracking and telemetry receiving station (TRADAT), as the balloonsonde ascends to apogee. After balloon-burst, the UMET-1 produces user-ready hardcopy.

SU-D-201-05: On the Automatic Recognition of Patient Safety Hazards in a Radiotherapy Setup Using a Novel 3D Camera System and a Deep Learning Framework

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santhanam, A; Min, Y; Beron, P

Purpose: Patient safety hazards such as a wrong patient/site getting treated can lead to catastrophic results. The purpose of this project is to automatically detect potential patient safety hazards during the radiotherapy setup and alert the therapist before the treatment is initiated. Methods: We employed a set of co-located and co-registered 3D cameras placed inside the treatment room. Each camera provided a point-cloud of fraxels (fragment pixels with 3D depth information). Each of the cameras were calibrated using a custom-built calibration target to provide 3D information with less than 2 mm error in the 500 mm neighborhood around the isocenter.more » To identify potential patient safety hazards, the treatment room components and the patient’s body needed to be identified and tracked in real-time. For feature recognition purposes, we used a graph-cut based feature recognition with principal component analysis (PCA) based feature-to-object correlation to segment the objects in real-time. Changes in the object’s position were tracked using the CamShift algorithm. The 3D object information was then stored for each classified object (e.g. gantry, couch). A deep learning framework was then used to analyze all the classified objects in both 2D and 3D and was then used to fine-tune a convolutional network for object recognition. The number of network layers were optimized to identify the tracked objects with >95% accuracy. Results: Our systematic analyses showed that, the system was effectively able to recognize wrong patient setups and wrong patient accessories. The combined usage of 2D camera information (color + depth) enabled a topology-preserving approach to verify patient safety hazards in an automatic manner and even in scenarios where the depth information is partially available. Conclusion: By utilizing the 3D cameras inside the treatment room and a deep learning based image classification, potential patient safety hazards can be effectively avoided.« less

Automated Description of Regional Left Ventricular Motion in Patients With Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Quantitative Study Using Heart Deformation Analysis.

PubMed

Meng, Leng; Lin, Kai; Collins, Jeremy; Markl, Michael; Carr, James C

2017-08-01

The purpose of this article is to test the hypothesis that heart deformation analysis can automatically quantify regional myocardial motion patterns in patients with cardiac amyloidosis. Eleven patients with cardiac amyloidosis and 11 healthy control subjects were recruited to undergo cardiac MRI. Cine images were analyzed using heart deformation analysis and feature tracking. Heart deformation analysis-derived myocardial motion indexes in radial and circumferential directions, including radial and circumferential displacement, radial and circumferential velocity, radial and circumferential strain, and radial and circumferential strain rate, were compared between the two groups. The heart deformation analysis tool required a shorter mean (± SD) processing time than did the feature-tracking tool (1.5 ± 0.3 vs 5.1 ± 1.2 minutes). Patients with cardiac amyloidosis had lower peak radial displacement (4.32 ± 1.37 vs 5.62 ± 1.19 mm), radial velocity (25.50 ± 7.70 vs 33.41 ± 5.43 mm/s), radial strain (23.32% ± 10.24% vs 31.21% ± 8.71%), circumferential strain (-13.44% ± 4.21% vs -17.84% ± 2.84%), radial strain rate (1.14 ± 0.46 vs 1.58 ± 0.41 s -1 ), and circumferential strain rate (-0.78 ± 0.22 vs -1.08 ± 0.20 s -1 ) than did healthy control subjects. Heart deformation analysis-derived indexes correlated with feature tracking-derived indexes (r = 0.411 and 0.552). Heart deformation analysis is able to automatically quantify regional myocardial motion in patients with cardiac amyloidosis without the need for operator interaction.

Automated tilt series alignment and tomographic reconstruction in IMOD.

PubMed

Mastronarde, David N; Held, Susannah R

2017-02-01

Automated tomographic reconstruction is now possible in the IMOD software package, including the merging of tomograms taken around two orthogonal axes. Several developments enable the production of high-quality tomograms. When using fiducial markers for alignment, the markers to be tracked through the series are chosen automatically; if there is an excess of markers available, a well-distributed subset is selected that is most likely to track well. Marker positions are refined by applying an edge-enhancing Sobel filter, which results in a 20% improvement in alignment error for plastic-embedded samples and 10% for frozen-hydrated samples. Robust fitting, in which outlying points are given less or no weight in computing the fitting error, is used to obtain an alignment solution, so that aberrant points from the automated tracking can have little effect on the alignment. When merging two dual-axis tomograms, the alignment between them is refined from correlations between local patches; a measure of structure was developed so that patches with insufficient structure to give accurate correlations can now be excluded automatically. We have also developed a script for running all steps in the reconstruction process with a flexible mechanism for setting parameters, and we have added a user interface for batch processing of tilt series to the Etomo program in IMOD. Batch processing is fully compatible with interactive processing and can increase efficiency even when the automation is not fully successful, because users can focus their effort on the steps that require manual intervention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.