An Architecture for Autonomic Web Service Process Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, Colm; Xue Wang, Ming; Pahl, Claus

Web service composition is a technology that has received considerable attention in the last number of years. Languages and tools to aid in the process of creating composite Web services have been received specific attention. Web service composition is the process of linking single Web services together in order to accomplish more complex tasks. One area of Web service composition that has not received as much attention is the area of dynamic error handling and re-planning, enabling autonomic composition. Given a repository of service descriptions and a task to complete, it is possible for AI planners to automatically create a plan that will achieve this goal. If however a service in the plan is unavailable or erroneous the plan will fail. Motivated by this problem, this paper suggests autonomous re-planning as a means to overcome dynamic problems. Our solution involves automatically recovering from faults and creating a context-dependent alternate plan. We present an architecture that serves as a basis for the central activities autonomous composition, monitoring and fault handling.

Path Planning Algorithms for Autonomous Border Patrol Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, George Tin Lam

This thesis presents an online path planning algorithm developed for unmanned vehicles in charge of autonomous border patrol. In this Pursuit-Evasion game, the unmanned vehicle is required to capture multiple trespassers on its own before any of them reach a target safe house where they are safe from capture. The problem formulation is based on Isaacs' Target Guarding problem, but extended to the case of multiple evaders. The proposed path planning method is based on Rapidly-exploring random trees (RRT) and is capable of producing trajectories within several seconds to capture 2 or 3 evaders. Simulations are carried out to demonstrate that the resulting trajectories approach the optimal solution produced by a nonlinear programming-based numerical optimal control solver. Experiments are also conducted on unmanned ground vehicles to show the feasibility of implementing the proposed online path planning algorithm on physical applications.

Semantic Likelihood Models for Bayesian Inference in Human-Robot Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sweet, Nicholas

Autonomous systems, particularly unmanned aerial systems (UAS), remain limited in au- tonomous capabilities largely due to a poor understanding of their environment. Current sensors simply do not match human perceptive capabilities, impeding progress towards full autonomy. Recent work has shown the value of humans as sources of information within a human-robot team; in target applications, communicating human-generated 'soft data' to autonomous systems enables higher levels of autonomy through large, efficient information gains. This requires development of a 'human sensor model' that allows soft data fusion through Bayesian inference to update the probabilistic belief representations maintained by autonomous systems. Current human sensor models that capture linguistic inputs as semantic information are limited in their ability to generalize likelihood functions for semantic statements: they may be learned from dense data; they do not exploit the contextual information embedded within groundings; and they often limit human input to restrictive and simplistic interfaces. This work provides mechanisms to synthesize human sensor models from constraints based on easily attainable a priori knowledge, develops compression techniques to capture information-dense semantics, and investigates the problem of capturing and fusing semantic information contained within unstructured natural language. A robotic experimental testbed is also developed to validate the above contributions.

Development of Autonomous Optimal Cooperative Control in Relay Rover Configured Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan that identified small unmanned aerial systems ( SUAS ) as “a profound technological...advances in small unmanned aerial systems ( SUAS ) cooperative control. The end state objective of the research effort was to flight test an autonomous...requirements were captured in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan . The flight plan

GNC architecture for autonomous robotic capture of a non-cooperative target: Preliminary concept design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jankovic, Marko; Paul, Jan; Kirchner, Frank

2016-04-01

Recent studies of the space debris population in low Earth orbit (LEO) have concluded that certain regions have already reached a critical density of objects. This will eventually lead to a cascading process called the Kessler syndrome. The time may have come to seriously consider active debris removal (ADR) missions as the only viable way of preserving the space environment for future generations. Among all objects in the current environment, the SL-8 (Kosmos 3M second stages) rocket bodies (R/Bs) are some of the most suitable targets for future robotic ADR missions. However, to date, an autonomous relative navigation to and capture of an non-cooperative target has never been performed. Therefore, there is a need for more advanced, autonomous and modular systems that can cope with uncontrolled, tumbling objects. The guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system is one of the most critical ones. The main objective of this paper is to present a preliminary concept of a modular GNC architecture that should enable a safe and fuel-efficient capture of a known but uncooperative target, such as Kosmos 3M R/B. In particular, the concept was developed having in mind the most critical part of an ADR mission, i.e. close range proximity operations, and state of the art algorithms in the field of autonomous rendezvous and docking. In the end, a brief description of the hardware in the loop (HIL) testing facility is made, foreseen for the practical evaluation of the developed architecture.

Dynamics and control of robot for capturing objects in space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Panfeng

Space robots are expected to perform intricate tasks in future space services, such as satellite maintenance, refueling, and replacing the orbital replacement unit (ORU). To realize these missions, the capturing operation may not be avoided. Such operations will encounter some challenges because space robots have some unique characteristics unfound on ground-based robots, such as, dynamic singularities, dynamic coupling between manipulator and space base, limited energy supply and working without a fixed base, and so on. In addition, since contacts and impacts may not be avoided during capturing operation. Therefore, dynamics and control problems of space robot for capturing objects are significant research topics if the robots are to be deployed for the space services. A typical servicing operation mainly includes three phases: capturing the object, berthing and docking the object, then repairing the target. Therefore, this thesis will focus on resolving some challenging problems during capturing the object, berthing and docking, and so on. In this thesis, I study and analyze the dynamics and control problems of space robot for capturing objects. This work has potential impact in space robotic applications. I first study the contact and impact dynamics of space robot and objects. I specifically focus on analyzing the impact dynamics and mapping the relationship of influence and speed. Then, I develop the fundamental theory for planning the minimum-collision based trajectory of space robot and designing the configuration of space robot at the moment of capture. To compensate for the attitude of the space base during the capturing approach operation, a new balance control concept which can effectively balance the attitude of the space base using the dynamic couplings is developed. The developed balance control concept helps to understand of the nature of space dynamic coupling, and can be readily applied to compensate or minimize the disturbance to the space base. After capturing the object, the space robot must complete the following two tasks: one is to berth the object, and the other is to re-orientate the attitude of the whole robot system for communication and power supply. Therefore, I propose a method to accomplish these two tasks simultaneously using manipulator motion only. The ultimate goal of space services is to realize the capture and manipulation autonomously. Therefore, I propose an affective approach based on learning human skill to track and capture the objects automatically in space. With human-teaching demonstration, the space robot is able to learn and abstract human tracking and capturing skill using an efficient neural-network learning architecture that combines flexible Cascade Neural Networks with Node Decoupled Extended Kalman Filtering (CNN-NDEKF). The simulation results attest that this approach is useful and feasible in tracking trajectory planning and capturing of space robot. Finally I propose a novel approach based on Genetic Algorithms (GAs) to optimize the approach trajectory of space robots in order to realize effective and stable operations. I complete the minimum-torque path planning in order to save the limited energy in space, and design the minimum jerk trajectory for the stabilization of the space manipulator and its space base. These optimal algorithms are very important and useful for the application of space robot.

Self-propelled carbon nanotube based microrockets for rapid capture and isolation of circulating tumor cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Shashwat S.; Jalota-Badhwar, Archana; Zope, Khushbu R.; Todkar, Kiran J.; Mascarenhas, Russel R.; Chate, Govind P.; Khutale, Ganesh V.; Bharde, Atul; Calderon, Marcelo; Khandare, Jayant J.

2015-05-01

Here, we report a non-invasive strategy for isolating cancer cells by autonomously propelled carbon nanotube (CNT) microrockets. H2O2-driven oxygen (O2) bubble-propelled microrockets were synthesized using CNT and Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the inner surface and covalently conjugating transferrin on the outer surface. Results show that self-propellant microrockets can specifically capture cancer cells.Here, we report a non-invasive strategy for isolating cancer cells by autonomously propelled carbon nanotube (CNT) microrockets. H2O2-driven oxygen (O2) bubble-propelled microrockets were synthesized using CNT and Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the inner surface and covalently conjugating transferrin on the outer surface. Results show that self-propellant microrockets can specifically capture cancer cells. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr01797a

Automated and Adaptive Mission Planning for Orbital Express

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chouinard, Caroline; Knight, Russell; Jones, Grailing; Tran, Daniel; Koblick, Darin

2008-01-01

The Orbital Express space mission was a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) lead demonstration of on-orbit satellite servicing scenarios, autonomous rendezvous, fluid transfers of hydrazine propellant, and robotic arm transfers of Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) components. Boeing's Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (ASTRO) vehicle provided the servicing to the Ball Aerospace's Next Generation Serviceable Satellite (NextSat) client. For communication opportunities, operations used the high-bandwidth ground-based Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) along with the relatively low-bandwidth GEO-Synchronous space-borne Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) network. Mission operations were conducted out of the RDT&E Support Complex (RSC) at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. All mission objectives were met successfully: The first of several autonomous rendezvous was demonstrated on May 5, 2007; autonomous free-flyer capture was demonstrated on June 22, 2007; the fluid and ORU transfers throughout the mission were successful. Planning operations for the mission were conducted by a team of personnel including Flight Directors, who were responsible for verifying the steps and contacts within the procedures, the Rendezvous Planners who would compute the locations and visibilities of the spacecraft, the Scenario Resource Planners (SRPs), who were concerned with assignment of communications windows, monitoring of resources, and sending commands to the ASTRO spacecraft, and the Mission planners who would interface with the real-time operations environment, process planning products and coordinate activities with the SRP. The SRP position was staffed by JPL personnel who used the Automated Scheduling and Planning ENvironment (ASPEN) to model and enforce mission and satellite constraints. The lifecycle of a plan began three weeks outside its execution on-board. During the planning timeframe, many aspects could change the plan, causing the need for re-planning. These variable factors, ranging from shifting contact times to ground-station closures and required maintenance times, are discussed along with the flexibility of the ASPEN tool to accommodate changes to procedures and the daily or long-range plan, which contributed to the success of the mission. This paper will present an introduction to ASPEN, a more in-depth discussion on its use on the Orbital Express mission, and other relative work. A description of ground operations after the SRP deliveries were made is included, and we briefly discuss lessons learned from the planning perspective and future work.

An Autonomous Gps-Denied Unmanned Vehicle Platform Based on Binocular Vision for Planetary Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, M.; Wan, X.; Shao, Y. Y.; Li, S. Y.

2018-04-01

Vision-based navigation has become an attractive solution for autonomous navigation for planetary exploration. This paper presents our work of designing and building an autonomous vision-based GPS-denied unmanned vehicle and developing an ARFM (Adaptive Robust Feature Matching) based VO (Visual Odometry) software for its autonomous navigation. The hardware system is mainly composed of binocular stereo camera, a pan-and tilt, a master machine, a tracked chassis. And the ARFM-based VO software system contains four modules: camera calibration, ARFM-based 3D reconstruction, position and attitude calculation, BA (Bundle Adjustment) modules. Two VO experiments were carried out using both outdoor images from open dataset and indoor images captured by our vehicle, the results demonstrate that our vision-based unmanned vehicle is able to achieve autonomous localization and has the potential for future planetary exploration.

Six degree of freedom simulation system for evaluating automated rendezvous and docking spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rourke, Kenneth H.; Tsugawa, Roy K.

1991-01-01

Future logistics supply and servicing vehicles such as cargo transfer vehicles (CTV) must have full 6 degree of freedom (6DOF) capability in order to perform requisite rendezvous, proximity operations, and capture operations. The design and performance issues encountered when developing a 6DOF maneuvering spacecraft are very complex with subtle interactions which are not immediately obvious or easily anticipated. In order to deal with these complexities and develop robust maneuvering spacecraft designs, a simulation system and associated family of tools are used at TRW for generating and validating spacecraft performance requirements and guidance algorithms. An overview of the simulator and tools is provided. These are used by TRW for autonomous rendezvous and docking research projects including CTV studies.

An integrated movement capture and control platform applied towards autonomous movements of surgical robots.

PubMed

Daluja, Sachin; Golenberg, Lavie; Cao, Alex; Pandya, Abhilash K; Auner, Gregory W; Klein, Michael D

2009-01-01

Robotic surgery has gradually gained acceptance due to its numerous advantages such as tremor filtration, increased dexterity and motion scaling. There remains, however, a significant scope for improvement, especially in the areas of surgeon-robot interface and autonomous procedures. Previous studies have attempted to identify factors affecting a surgeon's performance in a master-slave robotic system by tracking hand movements. These studies relied on conventional optical or magnetic tracking systems, making their use impracticable in the operating room. This study concentrated on building an intrinsic movement capture platform using microcontroller based hardware wired to a surgical robot. Software was developed to enable tracking and analysis of hand movements while surgical tasks were performed. Movement capture was applied towards automated movements of the robotic instruments. By emulating control signals, recorded surgical movements were replayed by the robot's end-effectors. Though this work uses a surgical robot as the platform, the ideas and concepts put forward are applicable to telerobotic systems in general.

[Mobile autonomous robots-Possibilities and limits].

PubMed

Maehle, E; Brockmann, W; Walthelm, A

2002-02-01

Besides industrial robots, which today are firmly established in production processes, service robots are becoming more and more important. They shall provide services for humans in different areas of their professional and everyday environment including medicine. Most of these service robots are mobile which requires an intelligent autonomous behaviour. After characterising the different kinds of robots the relevant paradigms of intelligent autonomous behaviour for mobile robots are critically discussed in this paper and illustrated by three concrete examples of robots realized in Lübeck. In addition a short survey of actual kinds of surgical robots as well as an outlook to future developments is given.

Applying the System Component and Operationally Relevant Evaluation (SCORE) Framework to Evaluate Advanced Military Technologies

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

and charac- terize the actions taken by the soldier (e.g., running, walking, climbing stairs ). Real-time image capture and exchange N The ability of...multimedia information sharing among soldiers in the field, two-way speech translation systems, and autonomous robotic platforms. Key words: Emerging...soldiers in the field, two-way speech translation systems, and autonomous robotic platforms. It has been the foundation for 10 technology evaluations

Architecture of autonomous systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dikshit, Piyush; Guimaraes, Katia; Ramamurthy, Maya; Agrawala, Ashok; Larsen, Ronald L.

1986-01-01

Automation of Space Station functions and activities, particularly those involving robotic capabilities with interactive or supervisory human control, is a complex, multi-disciplinary systems design problem. A wide variety of applications using autonomous control can be found in the literature, but none of them seem to address the problem in general. All of them are designed with a specific application in mind. In this report, an abstract model is described which unifies the key concepts underlying the design of automated systems such as those studied by the aerospace contractors. The model has been kept as general as possible. The attempt is to capture all the key components of autonomous systems. With a little effort, it should be possible to map the functions of any specific autonomous system application to the model presented here.

Experiences with a Requirements-Based Programming Approach to the Development of a NASA Autonomous Ground Control System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, Michael G.; Rash, James L.; Rouff, Christopher A.; Gracanin, Denis; Erickson, John

2005-01-01

Requirements-to-Design-to-Code (R2D2C) is an approach to the engineering of computer-based systems that embodies the idea of requirements-based programming in system development. It goes further; however, in that the approach offers not only an underlying formalism, but full formal development from requirements capture through to the automatic generation of provably-correct code. As such, the approach has direct application to the development of systems requiring autonomic properties. We describe a prototype tool to support the method, and illustrate its applicability to the development of LOGOS, a NASA autonomous ground control system, which exhibits autonomic behavior. Finally, we briefly discuss other areas where the approach and prototype tool are being considered for application.

Architecture of autonomous systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dikshit, Piyush; Guimaraes, Katia; Ramamurthy, Maya; Agrawala, Ashok; Larsen, Ronald L.

1989-01-01

Automation of Space Station functions and activities, particularly those involving robotic capabilities with interactive or supervisory human control, is a complex, multi-disciplinary systems design problem. A wide variety of applications using autonomous control can be found in the literature, but none of them seem to address the problem in general. All of them are designed with a specific application in mind. In this report, an abstract model is described which unifies the key concepts underlying the design of automated systems such as those studied by the aerospace contractors. The model has been kept as general as possible. The attempt is to capture all the key components of autonomous systems. With a little effort, it should be possible to map the functions of any specific autonomous system application to the model presented here.

Self-organizing network services with evolutionary adaptation.

PubMed

Nakano, Tadashi; Suda, Tatsuya

2005-09-01

This paper proposes a novel framework for developing adaptive and scalable network services. In the proposed framework, a network service is implemented as a group of autonomous agents that interact in the network environment. Agents in the proposed framework are autonomous and capable of simple behaviors (e.g., replication, migration, and death). In this paper, an evolutionary adaptation mechanism is designed using genetic algorithms (GAs) for agents to evolve their behaviors and improve their fitness values (e.g., response time to a service request) to the environment. The proposed framework is evaluated through simulations, and the simulation results demonstrate the ability of autonomous agents to adapt to the network environment. The proposed framework may be suitable for disseminating network services in dynamic and large-scale networks where a large number of data and services need to be replicated, moved, and deleted in a decentralized manner.

IT-security challenges in IoT environments and autonomous systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heun, Ulrich

2017-05-01

Internet of Things will open the digital world for future services working across company borders. Together with autonomous systems intelligent things will communicate and work together without direct influence of human technicians or service managers. IT-security will become one of the most important challenges to ensure a stable service performance and to provide a trustful environment to let people use such service without any concerns regarding data privacy and eligibility of the outcomes.

Grasping rigid objects in zero-g

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Greg D.

1993-12-01

The extra vehicular activity helper/retriever (EVAHR) is a prototype for an autonomous free- flying robotic astronaut helper. The ability to grasp a moving object is a fundamental skill required for any autonomous free-flyer. This paper discusses an algorithm that couples resolved acceleration control with potential field based obstacle avoidance to enable a manipulator to track and capture a rigid object in (imperfect) zero-g while avoiding joint limits, singular configurations, and unintentional impacts between the manipulator and the environment.

Autonomous Motivation of Omani Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers for Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tekin, Ali Kemal

2016-01-01

This study investigated the Omani early childhood pre-service teachers' motivation for teaching. Specific attention was given to the levels of their autonomous motivation, including: (1) intrinsic motivation and (2) extrinsic motivation comprised of identified, introjected, and external motivations. In addition, the effects of age, cohort (grade…

Autonomous Scheduling Requirements for Agile Cubesat Constellations in Earth Observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nag, S.; Li, A. S. X.; Kumar, S.

2017-12-01

Distributed Space Missions such as formation flight and constellations, are being recognized as important Earth Observation solutions to increase measurement samples over space and time. Cubesats are increasing in size (27U, 40 kg) with increasing capabilities to host imager payloads. Given the precise attitude control systems emerging commercially, Cubesats now have the ability to slew and capture images within short notice. Prior literature has demonstrated a modular framework that combines orbital mechanics, attitude control and scheduling optimization to plan the time-varying orientation of agile Cubesats in a constellation such that they maximize the number of observed images, within the constraints of hardware specs. Schedule optimization is performed on the ground autonomously, using dynamic programming with two levels of heuristics, verified and improved upon using mixed integer linear programming. Our algorithm-in-the-loop simulation applied to Landsat's use case, captured up to 161% more Landsat images than nadir-pointing sensors with the same field of view, on a 2-satellite constellation over a 12-hour simulation. In this paper, we will derive the requirements for the above algorithm to run onboard small satellites such that the constellation can make time-sensitive decisions to slew and capture images autonomously, without ground support. We will apply the above autonomous algorithm to a time critical use case - monitoring of precipitation and subsequent effects on floods, landslides and soil moisture, as quantified by the NASA Unified Weather Research and Forecasting Model. Since the latency between these event occurrences is quite low, they make a strong case for autonomous decisions among satellites in a constellation. The algorithm can be implemented in the Plan Execution Interchange Language - NASA's open source technology for automation, used to operate the International Space Station and LADEE's in flight software - enabling a controller-in-the-loop demonstration. The autonomy software can then be integrated with NASA's open source Core Flight Software, ported onto a Raspberry Pi 3.0 for a software-in-the-loop demonstration. Future use cases can be time critical events such as cloud movement, storms or other disasters, and in conjunction with other platforms in a Sensor Web.

Symmetries and solutions of the non-autonomous von Bertalanffy equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edwards, Maureen P.; Anderssen, Robert S.

2015-05-01

For growth in a closed environment, which is indicative of the situation in laboratory experiments, autonomous ODE models do not necessarily capture the dynamics under investigation. The importance and impact of a closed environment arise when the question under examination relates, for example, to the number of the surviving microbes, such as in a study of the spoilage and contamination of food, the gene silencing activity of fungi or the production of a chemical compound by bacteria or fungi. Autonomous ODE models are inappropriate as they assume that only the current size of the population controls the growth-decay dynamics. This is reflected in the fact that, asymptotically, their solutions can only grow or decay monotonically or asymptote. Non-autonomous ODE models are not so constrained. A natural strategy for the choice of non-autonomous ODEs is to take appropriate autonomous ones and change them to be non-autonomous through the introduction of relevant non-autonomous terms. This is the approach in this paper with the focus being the von Bertalanffy equation. Since this equation has independent importance in relation to practical applications in growth modelling, it is natural to explore the deeper relationships between the introduced non-autonomous terms through a symmetry analysis, which is the purpose and goal of the current paper. Infinitesimals are derived which allow particular forms of the non-autonomous von Bertalanffy equation to be transformed into autonomous forms for which some new analytic solutions have been found.

Autonomous Aerobraking: A Design, Development, and Feasibility Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prince, Jill L. H.; Powell, Richard W.; Murri, Dan

2011-01-01

Aerobraking has been used four times to decrease the apoapsis of a spacecraft in a captured orbit around a planetary body with a significant atmosphere utilizing atmospheric drag to decelerate the spacecraft. While aerobraking requires minimum fuel, the long time required for aerobraking requires both a large operations staff, and large Deep Space Network resources. A study to automate aerobraking has been sponsored by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center to determine initial feasibility of equipping a spacecraft with the onboard capability for autonomous aerobraking, thus saving millions of dollars incurred by a large aerobraking operations workforce and continuous DSN coverage. This paper describes the need for autonomous aerobraking, the development of the Autonomous Aerobraking Development Software that includes an ephemeris estimator, an atmospheric density estimator, and maneuver calculation, and the plan forward for continuation of this study.

Automated and connected vehicle implications and analysis.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-05-01

Automated and connected vehicles (ACV) and, in particular, autonomous vehicles have captured : the interest of the public, industry and transportation authorities. ACVs can significantly reduce : accidents, fuel consumption, pollution and the costs o...

Integrated CO2 capture-fixation chemistry via interfacial ionic liquid catalyst in laminar gas/liquid flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vishwakarma, Niraj K.; Singh, Ajay K.; Hwang, Yoon-Ho; Ko, Dong-Hyeon; Kim, Jin-Oh; Babu, A. Giridhar; Kim, Dong-Pyo

2017-03-01

Simultaneous capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its utilization with subsequent work-up would significantly enhance the competitiveness of CO2-based sustainable chemistry over petroleum-based chemistry. Here we report an interfacial catalytic reaction platform for an integrated autonomous process of simultaneously capturing/fixing CO2 in gas-liquid laminar flow with subsequently providing a work-up step. The continuous-flow microreactor has built-in silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with immobilized ionic liquid catalysts on tips of cone-shaped nanowire bundles. Because of the superamphiphobic SiNWs, a stable gas-liquid interface maintains between liquid flow of organoamines in upper part and gas flow of CO2 in bottom part of channel. The intimate and direct contact of the binary reagents leads to enhanced mass transfer and facilitating reactions. The autonomous integrated platform produces and isolates 2-oxazolidinones and quinazolines-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with 81-97% yields under mild conditions. The platform would enable direct CO2 utilization to produce high-valued specialty chemicals from flue gases without pre-separation and work-up steps.

Integrated CO2 capture-fixation chemistry via interfacial ionic liquid catalyst in laminar gas/liquid flow.

PubMed

Vishwakarma, Niraj K; Singh, Ajay K; Hwang, Yoon-Ho; Ko, Dong-Hyeon; Kim, Jin-Oh; Babu, A Giridhar; Kim, Dong-Pyo

2017-03-06

Simultaneous capture of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and its utilization with subsequent work-up would significantly enhance the competitiveness of CO 2 -based sustainable chemistry over petroleum-based chemistry. Here we report an interfacial catalytic reaction platform for an integrated autonomous process of simultaneously capturing/fixing CO 2 in gas-liquid laminar flow with subsequently providing a work-up step. The continuous-flow microreactor has built-in silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with immobilized ionic liquid catalysts on tips of cone-shaped nanowire bundles. Because of the superamphiphobic SiNWs, a stable gas-liquid interface maintains between liquid flow of organoamines in upper part and gas flow of CO 2 in bottom part of channel. The intimate and direct contact of the binary reagents leads to enhanced mass transfer and facilitating reactions. The autonomous integrated platform produces and isolates 2-oxazolidinones and quinazolines-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with 81-97% yields under mild conditions. The platform would enable direct CO 2 utilization to produce high-valued specialty chemicals from flue gases without pre-separation and work-up steps.

Integrated CO2 capture-fixation chemistry via interfacial ionic liquid catalyst in laminar gas/liquid flow

PubMed Central

Vishwakarma, Niraj K.; Singh, Ajay K.; Hwang, Yoon-Ho; Ko, Dong-Hyeon; Kim, Jin-Oh; Babu, A. Giridhar; Kim, Dong-Pyo

2017-01-01

Simultaneous capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its utilization with subsequent work-up would significantly enhance the competitiveness of CO2-based sustainable chemistry over petroleum-based chemistry. Here we report an interfacial catalytic reaction platform for an integrated autonomous process of simultaneously capturing/fixing CO2 in gas–liquid laminar flow with subsequently providing a work-up step. The continuous-flow microreactor has built-in silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with immobilized ionic liquid catalysts on tips of cone-shaped nanowire bundles. Because of the superamphiphobic SiNWs, a stable gas–liquid interface maintains between liquid flow of organoamines in upper part and gas flow of CO2 in bottom part of channel. The intimate and direct contact of the binary reagents leads to enhanced mass transfer and facilitating reactions. The autonomous integrated platform produces and isolates 2-oxazolidinones and quinazolines-2,4(1H,3H)-diones with 81–97% yields under mild conditions. The platform would enable direct CO2 utilization to produce high-valued specialty chemicals from flue gases without pre-separation and work-up steps. PMID:28262667

Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-06-15

Intrepid Systems robot "MXR - Mark's Exploration Robot" takes to the practice field and tries to capture the white object in the foreground on Friday, June 15, 2012 at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass. Intrepid Systems' robot team will compete for a $1.5 million NASA prize in the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Centennial Challenge at WPI. Teams have been challenged to build autonomous robots that can identify, collect and return samples. NASA needs autonomous robotic capability for future planetary exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An automated rendezvous and capture system design concept for the cargo transfer vehicle and Space Station Freedom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fuchs, Ron; Marsh, Steven

1991-01-01

A rendezvous sensor system concept was developed for the cargo transfer vehicle (CTV) to autonomously rendezvous with and be captured by Space Station Freedom (SSF). The development of requirements, the design of a unique Lockheed developed sensor concept to meet these requirements, and the system design to place this sensor on the CTV and rendezvous with the SSF are described .

The moderating effect of motivation on health-related decision-making.

PubMed

Berezowska, Aleksandra; Fischer, Arnout R H; Trijp, Hans C M van

2017-06-01

This study identifies how autonomous and controlled motivation moderates the cognitive process that drives the adoption of personalised nutrition services. The cognitive process comprises perceptions of privacy risk, personalisation benefit, and their determinants. Depending on their level of autonomous and controlled motivation, participants (N = 3453) were assigned to one of four motivational orientations, which resulted in a 2 (low/high autonomous motivation) × 2 (low/high controlled motivation) quasi-experimental design. High levels of autonomous motivation strengthened the extent to which: (1) the benefits of engaging with a service determined the outcome of a risk-benefit trade-off; (2) the effectiveness of a service determined benefit perceptions. High levels of controlled motivation influenced the extent to which: (1) the risk of privacy loss determined the outcome of a risk-benefit trade-off; (2) controlling personal information after disclosure and perceiving the disclosed personal information as sensitive determined the risk of potential privacy loss. To encourage the adoption of personalised dietary recommendations, for individuals with high levels of autonomous motivation emphasis should be on benefits and its determinants. For those with high levels of controlled motivation, it is important to focus on risk-related issues such as information sensitivity.

Successful Detection of Floods in Real Time Onboard EO1 Through NASA's ST6 Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ip, F.; Dohm, J. M.; Baker, V. R.; Castano, R.; Cichy, B.; Chien, S.; Davies, A.; Doggett, T.; Greeley, R.

2004-12-01

For the first time, a spacecraft has the ability to autonomously detect and react to flood events. Flood detection and the investigation of flooding dynamics in real time from space have never been done before at least not until now. Part of the challenge for the hydrological community has been the difficulty of obtaining cloud-free scenes from orbit at sufficient temporal and spatial resolutions to accurately assess flooding. In addition, the large spatial extent of drainage networks coupled with the size of the data sets necessary to be downlinked from satellites add to the difficulty of monitoring flooding from space. Technology developed as part of the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) creates the new capability to autonomously detect, assess, and react to dynamic events, thereby enabling the monitoring of transient processes such as flooding in real time. In addition to being able to autonomously process the imaged data onboard the spacecraft for the first time and search the data for specific spectral features, the ASE Science Team has developed and tested change detection algorithms for the Hyperion spectrometer on EO-1. For flood events, if a change is detected in the onboard processed image (i.e. an increase in the number of ¡wet¡" pixels relative to a baseline image where the system is in normal flow condition or relatively dry), the spacecraft is autonomously retasked to obtain additional scenes. For instance, in February 2004 a rare flooding of the Australian Diamantina River was captured by EO-1. In addition, in August during ASE onboard testing a Zambezi River scene in Central Africa was successfully triggered by the classifier to autonomously take another observation. Yet another successful trigger-response flooding test scenario of the Yellow River in China was captured by ASE on 8/18/04. These exciting results pave the way for future smart reconnaissance missions of transient processes on Earth and beyond. Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the City of Tucson and Tucson Water for their support and cooperation.

Autonomous Car Parking System through a Cooperative Vehicular Positioning Network.

PubMed

Correa, Alejandro; Boquet, Guillem; Morell, Antoni; Lopez Vicario, Jose

2017-04-13

The increasing development of the automotive industry towards a fully autonomous car has motivated the design of new value-added services in Vehicular Sensor Networks (VSNs). Within the context of VSNs, the autonomous car, with an increasing number of on-board sensors, is a mobile node that exchanges sensed and state information within the VSN. Among all the value added services for VSNs, the design of new intelligent parking management architectures where the autonomous car will coexist with traditional cars is mandatory in order to profit from all the opportunities associated with the increasing intelligence of the new generation of cars. In this work, we design a new smart parking system on top of a VSN that takes into account the heterogeneity of cars and provides guidance to the best parking place for the autonomous car based on a collaborative approach that searches for the common good of all of them measured by the accessibility rate, which is the ratio of the free parking places accessible for an autonomous car. Then, we simulate a real parking lot and the results show that the performance of our system is close to the optimum considering different communication ranges and penetration rates for the autonomous car.

Autonomous Car Parking System through a Cooperative Vehicular Positioning Network

PubMed Central

Correa, Alejandro; Boquet, Guillem; Morell, Antoni; Lopez Vicario, Jose

2017-01-01

The increasing development of the automotive industry towards a fully autonomous car has motivated the design of new value-added services in Vehicular Sensor Networks (VSNs). Within the context of VSNs, the autonomous car, with an increasing number of on-board sensors, is a mobile node that exchanges sensed and state information within the VSN. Among all the value added services for VSNs, the design of new intelligent parking management architectures where the autonomous car will coexist with traditional cars is mandatory in order to profit from all the opportunities associated with the increasing intelligence of the new generation of cars. In this work, we design a new smart parking system on top of a VSN that takes into account the heterogeneity of cars and provides guidance to the best parking place for the autonomous car based on a collaborative approach that searches for the common good of all of them measured by the accessibility rate, which is the ratio of the free parking places accessible for an autonomous car. Then, we simulate a real parking lot and the results show that the performance of our system is close to the optimum considering different communication ranges and penetration rates for the autonomous car. PMID:28406426

Incremental inverse kinematics based vision servo for autonomous robotic capture of non-cooperative space debris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Gangqi; Zhu, Z. H.

2016-04-01

This paper proposed a new incremental inverse kinematics based vision servo approach for robotic manipulators to capture a non-cooperative target autonomously. The target's pose and motion are estimated by a vision system using integrated photogrammetry and EKF algorithm. Based on the estimated pose and motion of the target, the instantaneous desired position of the end-effector is predicted by inverse kinematics and the robotic manipulator is moved incrementally from its current configuration subject to the joint speed limits. This approach effectively eliminates the multiple solutions in the inverse kinematics and increases the robustness of the control algorithm. The proposed approach is validated by a hardware-in-the-loop simulation, where the pose and motion of the non-cooperative target is estimated by a real vision system. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed estimation approach for the target and the incremental control strategy for the robotic manipulator.

Deep Impact Autonomous Navigation : the trials of targeting the unknown

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kubitschek, Daniel G.; Mastrodemos, Nickolaos; Werner, Robert A.; Kennedy, Brian M.; Synnott, Stephen P.; Null, George W.; Bhaskaran, Shyam; Riedel, Joseph E.; Vaughan, Andrew T.

2006-01-01

On July 4, 2005 at 05:44:34.2 UTC the Impactor Spacecraft (s/c) impacted comet Tempel 1 with a relative speed of 10.3 km/s capturing high-resolution images of the surface of a cometary nucleus just seconds before impact. Meanwhile, the Flyby s/c captured the impact event using both the Medium Resolution Imager (MRI) and the High Resolution Imager (HRI) and tracked the nucleus for the entire 800 sec period between impact and shield attitude transition. The objective of the Impactor s/c was to impact in an illuminated area viewable from the Flyby s/c and capture high-resolution context images of the impact site. This was accomplished by using autonomous navigation (AutoNav) algorithms and precise attitude information from the attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS). The Flyby s/c had two primary objectives: 1) capture the impact event with the highest temporal resolution possible in order to observe the ejecta plume expansion dynamics; and 2) track the impact site for at least 800 sec to observe the crater formation and capture the highest resolution images possible of the fully developed crater. These two objectives were met by estimating the Flyby s/c trajectory relative to Tempel 1 using the same AutoNav algorithms along with precise attitude information from ADCS and independently selecting the best impact site. This paper describes the AutoNav system, what happened during the encounter with Tempel 1 and what could have happened.

Automated rendezvous and capture development infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, Thomas C.; Roe, Fred; Coker, Cynthia

1992-01-01

The facilities at Marshall Space Flight Center and JSC to be utilized to develop and test an autonomous rendezvous and capture (ARC) system are described. This includes equipment and personnel facility capabilities to devise, develop, qualify, and integrate ARC elements and subsystems into flight programs. Attention is given to the use of a LEO test facility, the current concept and unique system elements of the ARC, and the options available to develop ARC technology.

Visual Odometry for Autonomous Deep-Space Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, Shane; Pedrotty, Sam

2016-01-01

Visual Odometry fills two critical needs shared by all future exploration architectures considered by NASA: Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D), and autonomous navigation during loss of comm. To do this, a camera is combined with cutting-edge algorithms (called Visual Odometry) into a unit that provides accurate relative pose between the camera and the object in the imagery. Recent simulation analyses have demonstrated the ability of this new technology to reliably, accurately, and quickly compute a relative pose. This project advances this technology by both preparing the system to process flight imagery and creating an activity to capture said imagery. This technology can provide a pioneering optical navigation platform capable of supporting a wide variety of future missions scenarios: deep space rendezvous, asteroid exploration, loss-of-comm.

Source Update Capture in Information Agents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashish, Naveen; Kulkarni, Deepak; Wang, Yao

2003-01-01

In this paper we present strategies for successfully capturing updates at Web sources. Web-based information agents provide integrated access to autonomous Web sources that can get updated. For many information agent applications we are interested in knowing when a Web source to which the application provides access, has been updated. We may also be interested in capturing all the updates at a Web source over a period of time i.e., detecting the updates and, for each update retrieving and storing the new version of data. Previous work on update and change detection by polling does not adequately address this problem. We present strategies for intelligently polling a Web source for efficiently capturing changes at the source.

Autonomic Computing for Spacecraft Ground Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Zhenping; Savkli, Cetin; Jones, Lori

2007-01-01

Autonomic computing for spacecraft ground systems increases the system reliability and reduces the cost of spacecraft operations and software maintenance. In this paper, we present an autonomic computing solution for spacecraft ground systems at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), which consists of an open standard for a message oriented architecture referred to as the GMSEC architecture (Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center), and an autonomic computing tool, the Criteria Action Table (CAT). This solution has been used in many upgraded ground systems for NASA 's missions, and provides a framework for developing solutions with higher autonomic maturity.

A three-dimensional autonomous nonlinear dynamical system modelling equatorial ocean flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionescu-Kruse, Delia

2018-04-01

We investigate a nonlinear three-dimensional model for equatorial flows, finding exact solutions that capture the most relevant geophysical features: depth-dependent currents, poleward or equatorial surface drift and a vertical mixture of upward and downward motions.

Integrated vision-based GNC for autonomous rendezvous and capture around Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strippoli, L.; Novelli, G.; Gil Fernandez, J.; Colmenarejo, P.; Le Peuvedic, C.; Lanza, P.; Ankersen, F.

2015-06-01

Integrated GNC (iGNC) is an activity aimed at designing, developing and validating the GNC for autonomously performing the rendezvous and capture phase of the Mars sample return mission as defined during the Mars sample return Orbiter (MSRO) ESA study. The validation cycle includes testing in an end-to-end simulator, in a real-time avionics-representative test bench and, finally, in a dynamic HW in the loop test bench for assessing the feasibility, performances and figure of merits of the baseline approach defined during the MSRO study, for both nominal and contingency scenarios. The on-board software (OBSW) is tailored to work with the sensors, actuators and orbits baseline proposed in MSRO. The whole rendezvous is based on optical navigation, aided by RF-Doppler during the search and first orbit determination of the orbiting sample. The simulated rendezvous phase includes also the non-linear orbit synchronization, based on a dedicated non-linear guidance algorithm robust to Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) injection accuracy or MAV failures resulting in elliptic target orbits. The search phase is very demanding for the image processing (IP) due to the very high visual magnitude of the target wrt. the stellar background, and the attitude GNC requires very high pointing stability accuracies to fulfil IP constraints. A trade-off of innovative, autonomous navigation filters indicates the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) as the approach that provides the best results in terms of robustness, response to non-linearities and performances compatibly with computational load. At short range, an optimized IP based on a convex hull algorithm has been developed in order to guarantee LoS and range measurements from hundreds of metres to capture.

Autonomous mission planning and scheduling: Innovative, integrated, responsive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sary, Charisse; Liu, Simon; Hull, Larry; Davis, Randy

1994-01-01

Autonomous mission scheduling, a new concept for NASA ground data systems, is a decentralized and distributed approach to scientific spacecraft planning, scheduling, and command management. Systems and services are provided that enable investigators to operate their own instruments. In autonomous mission scheduling, separate nodes exist for each instrument and one or more operations nodes exist for the spacecraft. Each node is responsible for its own operations which include planning, scheduling, and commanding; and for resolving conflicts with other nodes. One or more database servers accessible to all nodes enable each to share mission and science planning, scheduling, and commanding information. The architecture for autonomous mission scheduling is based upon a realistic mix of state-of-the-art and emerging technology and services, e.g., high performance individual workstations, high speed communications, client-server computing, and relational databases. The concept is particularly suited to the smaller, less complex missions of the future.

Advanced avionics concepts: Autonomous spacecraft control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

A large increase in space operations activities is expected because of Space Station Freedom (SSF) and long range Lunar base missions and Mars exploration. Space operations will also increase as a result of space commercialization (especially the increase in satellite networks). It is anticipated that the level of satellite servicing operations will grow tenfold from the current level within the next 20 years. This growth can be sustained only if the cost effectiveness of space operations is improved. Cost effectiveness is operational efficiency with proper effectiveness. A concept is presented of advanced avionics, autonomous spacecraft control, that will enable the desired growth, as well as maintain the cost effectiveness (operational efficiency) in satellite servicing operations. The concept of advanced avionics that allows autonomous spacecraft control is described along with a brief description of each component. Some of the benefits of autonomous operations are also described. A technology utilization breakdown is provided in terms of applications.

Mobility and generation of mosaic non-autonomous transposons by Tn3-derived inverted-repeat miniature elements (TIMEs).

PubMed

Szuplewska, Magdalena; Ludwiczak, Marta; Lyzwa, Katarzyna; Czarnecki, Jakub; Bartosik, Dariusz

2014-01-01

Functional transposable elements (TEs) of several Pseudomonas spp. strains isolated from black shale ore of Lubin mine and from post-flotation tailings of Zelazny Most in Poland, were identified using a positive selection trap plasmid strategy. This approach led to the capture and characterization of (i) 13 insertion sequences from 5 IS families (IS3, IS5, ISL3, IS30 and IS1380), (ii) isoforms of two Tn3-family transposons--Tn5563a and Tn4662a (the latter contains a toxin-antitoxin system), as well as (iii) non-autonomous TEs of diverse structure, ranging in size from 262 to 3892 bp. The non-autonomous elements transposed into AT-rich DNA regions and generated 5- or 6-bp sequence duplications at the target site of transposition. Although these TEs lack a transposase gene, they contain homologous 38-bp-long terminal inverted repeat sequences (IRs), highly conserved in Tn5563a and many other Tn3-family transposons. The simplest elements of this type, designated TIMEs (Tn3 family-derived Inverted-repeat Miniature Elements) (262 bp), were identified within two natural plasmids (pZM1P1 and pLM8P2) of Pseudomonas spp. It was demonstrated that TIMEs are able to mobilize segments of plasmid DNA for transposition, which results in the generation of more complex non-autonomous elements, resembling IS-driven composite transposons in structure. Such transposon-like elements may contain different functional genetic modules in their core regions, including plasmid replication systems. Another non-autonomous element "captured" with a trap plasmid was a TIME derivative containing a predicted resolvase gene and a res site typical for many Tn3-family transposons. The identification of a portable site-specific recombination system is another intriguing example confirming the important role of non-autonomous TEs of the TIME family in shuffling genetic information in bacterial genomes. Transposition of such mosaic elements may have a significant impact on diversity and evolution, not only of transposons and plasmids, but also of other types of mobile genetic elements.

Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration: Phase I Flight-Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dibley, Ryan P.; Allen, Michael J.; Nabaa, Nassib

2007-01-01

The first phase of the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) project was completed on August 30, 2006. The goal of this 15-month effort was to develop and flight-test a system to demonstrate an autonomous refueling engagement using the Navy style hose-and-drogue air-to-air refueling method. The prime contractor for this Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored program was Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), Sparks, Nevada. The responsible flight-test organization was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Edwards, California, which also provided the F/A-18 receiver airplane (McDonnell Douglas, now The Boeing Company, Chicago, Illinois). The B-707-300 tanker airplane (The Boeing Company) was contracted through Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, and the optical tracking system was contracted through OCTEC Ltd., Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Nine research flights were flown, testing the functionality and performance of the system in a stepwise manner, culminating in the plug attempts on the final flight. Relative position keeping was found to be very stable and accurate. The receiver aircraft was capable of following the tanker aircraft through turns while maintaining its relative position. During the last flight, six capture attempts were made, two of which were successful. The four misses demonstrated excellent characteristics, the receiver retreating from the drogue in a controlled, safe, and predictable manner that precluded contact between the drogue and the receiver aircraft. The position of the receiver aircraft when engaged and in position for refueling was found to be 5.5 to 8.5 ft low of the ideal position. The controller inputs to the F/A-18 were found to be extremely small.

Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration, Phase I Flight-Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dibley, Ryan P.; Allen, Michael J.; Nabaa, Nassib

2007-01-01

The first phase of the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) project was completed on August 30, 2006. The goal of this 15-month effort was to develop and flight-test a system to demonstrate an autonomous refueling engagement using the Navy style hose-and-drogue air-to-air refueling method. The prime contractor for this Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored program was Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), Sparks, Nevada. The responsible flight-test organization was the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), Edwards, California, which also provided the F/A-18 receiver airplane (McDonnell Douglas, now The Boeing Company, Chicago, Illinois). The B-707-300 tanker airplane (The Boeing Company) was contracted through Omega Aerial Refueling Services, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, and the optical tracking system was contracted through OCTEC Ltd., Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Nine research flights were flown, testing the functionality and performance of the system in a stepwise manner, culminating in the plug attempts on the final flight. Relative position keeping was found to be very stable and accurate. The receiver aircraft was capable of following the tanker aircraft through turns while maintaining its relative position. During the last flight, six capture attempts were made, two of which were successful. The four misses demonstrated excellent characteristics, the receiver retreating from the drogue in a controlled, safe, and predictable manner that precluded contact between the drogue and the receiver aircraft. The position of the receiver aircraft when engaged and in position for refueling was found to be 5.5 to 8.5 ft low of the ideal position. The controller inputs to the F/A-18 were found to be extremely small

Autonomous spectrographic system to analyse the main elements of fireballs and meteors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espartero, Francisco Ángel; Martínez, Germán; Frías, Marta; Montes Moya, Francisco Simón; Castro-Tirado, Alberto Javier

2018-01-01

We present a meteor observation system based on imaging CCD cameras, wide-field optics and a diffraction grating. This system is composed of two independent spectrographs with different configurations, which allows us to capture images of fireballs and meteors with several fields of view and sensitivities. The complete set forms a small autonomous observatory, comprised of a sealed box with a sliding roof, weather station and computers for data storing and reduction. Since 2014, several meteors have been studied using this facility, such as the Alcalá la Real fireball recorded on 30 September 2016.

Autonomous mobile platform for enhanced situational awareness in Mass Casualty Incidents.

PubMed

Yang, Dongyi; Schafer, James; Wang, Sili; Ganz, Aura

2014-01-01

To enhance the efficiency of the search and rescue process of a Mass Casualty Incident, we introduce a low cost autonomous mobile platform. The mobile platform motion is controlled by an Android Smartphone mounted on a robot. The pictures and video captured by the Smartphone camera can significantly enhance the situational awareness of the incident commander leading to a more efficient search and rescue process. Moreover, the active RFID readers mounted on the mobile platform can improve the localization accuracy of victims in the disaster site in areas where the paramedics are not present, reducing the triage and evacuation time.

Free-standing leaping experiments with a power-autonomous elastic-spined quadruped

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pusey, Jason L.; Duperret, Jeffrey M.; Haynes, G. Clark; Knopf, Ryan; Koditschek, Daniel E.

2013-05-01

We document initial experiments with Canid, a freestanding, power-autonomous quadrupedal robot equipped with a parallel actuated elastic spine. Research into robotic bounding and galloping platforms holds scientific and engineering interest because it can both probe biological hypotheses regarding bounding and galloping mammals and also provide the engineering community with a new class of agile, efficient and rapidly-locomoting legged robots. We detail the design features of Canid that promote our goals of agile operation in a relatively cheap, conventionally prototyped, commercial off-the-shelf actuated platform. We introduce new measurement methodology aimed at capturing our robot's "body energy" during real time operation as a means of quantifying its potential for agile behavior. Finally, we present joint motor, inertial and motion capture data taken from Canid's initial leaps into highly energetic regimes exhibiting large accelerations that illustrate the use of this measure and suggest its future potential as a platform for developing efficient, stable, hence useful bounding gaits.

Stochastic receding horizon control: application to an octopedal robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Shridhar K.; Tanner, Herbert G.

2013-06-01

Miniature autonomous systems are being developed under ARL's Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST). These systems can only be fitted with a small-size processor, and their motion behavior is inherently uncertain due to manufacturing and platform-ground interactions. One way to capture this uncertainty is through a stochastic model. This paper deals with stochastic motion control design and implementation for MAST- specific eight-legged miniature crawling robots, which have been kinematically modeled as systems exhibiting the behavior of a Dubin's car with stochastic noise. The control design takes the form of stochastic receding horizon control, and is implemented on a Gumstix Overo Fire COM with 720 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM, weighing 5.5 g. The experimental results show the effectiveness of this control law for miniature autonomous systems perturbed by stochastic noise.

An autonomous dynamical system captures all LCSs in three-dimensional unsteady flows.

PubMed

Oettinger, David; Haller, George

2016-10-01

Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) are material surfaces that shape the finite-time tracer patterns in flows with arbitrary time dependence. Depending on their deformation properties, elliptic and hyperbolic LCSs have been identified from different variational principles, solving different equations. Here we observe that, in three dimensions, initial positions of all variational LCSs are invariant manifolds of the same autonomous dynamical system, generated by the intermediate eigenvector field, ξ 2 (x 0 ), of the Cauchy-Green strain tensor. This ξ 2 -system allows for the detection of LCSs in any unsteady flow by classical methods, such as Poincaré maps, developed for autonomous dynamical systems. As examples, we consider both steady and time-aperiodic flows, and use their dual ξ 2 -system to uncover both hyperbolic and elliptic LCSs from a single computation.

Dynamic SLA Negotiation in Autonomic Federated Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubach, Pawel; Sobolewski, Michael

Federated computing environments offer requestors the ability to dynamically invoke services offered by collaborating providers in the virtual service network. Without an efficient resource management that includes Dynamic SLA Negotiation, however, the assignment of providers to customer's requests cannot be optimized and cannot offer high reliability without relevant SLA guarantees. We propose a new SLA-based SERViceable Metacomputing Environment (SERVME) capable of matching providers based on QoS requirements and performing autonomic provisioning and deprovisioning of services according to dynamic requestor needs. This paper presents the SLA negotiation process that includes on-demand provisioning and uses an object-oriented SLA model for large-scale service-oriented systems supported by SERVME. An initial reference implementation in the SORCER environment is also described.

Autonomous dial-a-ride transit. Part 1, technical overview

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-11-01

Is autonomous-dial-a-ride (ADART) and idea whose time has come with the advent of technologies. This report describes the essential features of an experimental ADART service and establishes a context for ADART implementation based on urban transit in...

Safety Ellipse Motion with Coarse Sun Angle Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naasz, Bo

2005-01-01

The Hubble Space Telescope Robotic Servicing and De-orbit Mission (HRSDM) was t o be performed by the unmanned Hubble Robotic Vehicle (HRV) consisting of a Deorbit Module (DM), responsible for the ultimate disposal of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at the end of science operations, and an Ejection Module (EM), responsible for robotically servicing the HST to extend its useful operational lifetime. HRSDM consisted of eight distinct phases, including: launch, pursuit, proximity operations, capture, servicing, EM jettison and disposal, science operations, and deorbit. The scope of this paper is limited to the Proximity Operations phase of HRSDM. It introduces a relative motion strategy useful for Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) or Formation Flying missions where safe circumnavigation trajectories, or close proximity operations (tens or hundreds of meters) are required for extended periods of time. Parameters and algorithms used to model the relative motion of HRV with respect to HST during the Proximity Operations phase of the HRSDM are described. Specifically, the Safety Ellipse (SE) concept, convenient parameters for describing SE motion, and a concept for initializing SE motion around a target vehicle to coarsely optimize sun and relative navigation sensor angles are presented. The effects of solar incidence angle variations on sun angle optimization, and the effects of orbital perturbations and navigation uncertainty on long term SE motion are discussed.

Performance Evaluation of a SLA Negotiation Control Protocol for Grid Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cergol, Igor; Mirchandani, Vinod; Verchere, Dominique

A framework for an autonomous negotiation control protocol for service delivery is crucial to enable the support of heterogeneous service level agreements (SLAs) that will exist in distributed environments. We have first given a gist of our augmented service negotiation protocol to support distinct service elements. The augmentations also encompass related composition of the services and negotiation with several service providers simultaneously. All the incorporated augmentations will enable to consolidate the service negotiation operations for telecom networks, which are evolving towards Grid networks. Furthermore, our autonomous negotiation protocol is based on a distributed multi-agent framework to create an open market for Grid services. Second, we have concisely presented key simulation results of our work in progress. The results exhibit the usefulness of our negotiation protocol for realistic scenarios that involves different background traffic loading, message sizes and traffic flow asymmetry between background and negotiation traffics.

Monitoring Pest Insect Traps by Means of Low-Power Image Sensor Technologies

PubMed Central

López, Otoniel; Rach, Miguel Martinez; Migallon, Hector; Malumbres, Manuel P.; Bonastre, Alberto; Serrano, Juan J.

2012-01-01

Monitoring pest insect populations is currently a key issue in agriculture and forestry protection. At the farm level, human operators typically must perform periodical surveys of the traps disseminated through the field. This is a labor-, time- and cost-consuming activity, in particular for large plantations or large forestry areas, so it would be of great advantage to have an affordable system capable of doing this task automatically in an accurate and a more efficient way. This paper proposes an autonomous monitoring system based on a low-cost image sensor that it is able to capture and send images of the trap contents to a remote control station with the periodicity demanded by the trapping application. Our autonomous monitoring system will be able to cover large areas with very low energy consumption. This issue would be the main key point in our study; since the operational live of the overall monitoring system should be extended to months of continuous operation without any kind of maintenance (i.e., battery replacement). The images delivered by image sensors would be time-stamped and processed in the control station to get the number of individuals found at each trap. All the information would be conveniently stored at the control station, and accessible via Internet by means of available network services at control station (WiFi, WiMax, 3G/4G, etc.). PMID:23202232

Monitoring pest insect traps by means of low-power image sensor technologies.

PubMed

López, Otoniel; Rach, Miguel Martinez; Migallon, Hector; Malumbres, Manuel P; Bonastre, Alberto; Serrano, Juan J

2012-11-13

Monitoring pest insect populations is currently a key issue in agriculture and forestry protection. At the farm level, human operators typically must perform periodical surveys of the traps disseminated through the field. This is a labor-, time- and cost-consuming activity, in particular for large plantations or large forestry areas, so it would be of great advantage to have an affordable system capable of doing this task automatically in an accurate and a more efficient way. This paper proposes an autonomous monitoring system based on a low-cost image sensor that it is able to capture and send images of the trap contents to a remote control station with the periodicity demanded by the trapping application. Our autonomous monitoring system will be able to cover large areas with very low energy consumption. This issue would be the main key point in our study; since the operational live of the overall monitoring system should be extended to months of continuous operation without any kind of maintenance (i.e., battery replacement). The images delivered by image sensors would be time-stamped and processed in the control station to get the number of individuals found at each trap. All the information would be conveniently stored at the control station, and accessible via Internet by means of available network services at control station (WiFi, WiMax, 3G/4G, etc.).

Methods of monitoring the technical condition of the braking system of an autonomous vehicle during operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revin, A.; Dygalo, V.; Boyko, G.; Lyaschenko, M.; Dygalo, L.

2018-02-01

Possibilities of diagnosing of a technical condition of braking system of the autonomous vehicles with automated modules while in service are considered. The concept of sharing of onboard means and stands for diagnosing is presented.

Orbital Express mission operations planning and resource management using ASPEN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chouinard, Caroline; Knight, Russell; Jones, Grailing; Tran, Daniel

2008-04-01

As satellite equipment and mission operations become more costly, the drive to keep working equipment running with less labor-power rises. Demonstrating the feasibility of autonomous satellite servicing was the main goal behind the Orbital Express (OE) mission. Like a tow-truck delivering gas to a car on the road, the "servicing" satellite of OE had to find the "client" from several kilometers away, connect directly to the client, and transfer fluid (or a battery) autonomously, while on earth-orbit. The mission met 100% of its success criteria, and proved that autonomous satellite servicing is now a reality for space operations. Planning the satellite mission operations for OE required the ability to create a plan which could be executed autonomously over variable conditions. As the constraints for execution could change weekly, daily, and even hourly, the tools used create the mission execution plans needed to be flexible and adaptable to many different kinds of changes. At the same time, the hard constraints of the plans needed to be maintained and satisfied. The Automated Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN) tool, developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was used to create the schedule of events in each daily plan for the two satellites of the OE mission. This paper presents an introduction to the ASPEN tool, an overview of the constraints of the OE domain, the variable conditions that were presented within the mission, and the solution to operations that ASPEN provided. ASPEN has been used in several other domains, including research rovers, Deep Space Network scheduling research, and in flight operations for the NASA's Earth Observing One mission's EO1 satellite. Related work is discussed, as are the future of ASPEN and the future of autonomous satellite servicing.

Hybrid ARQ Scheme with Autonomous Retransmission for Multicasting in Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Jung, Young-Ho; Choi, Jihoon

2017-02-25

A new hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) scheme for multicast service for wireless sensor networks is proposed in this study. In the proposed algorithm, the HARQ operation is combined with an autonomous retransmission method that ensure a data packet is transmitted irrespective of whether or not the packet is successfully decoded at the receivers. The optimal number of autonomous retransmissions is determined to ensure maximum spectral efficiency, and a practical method that adjusts the number of autonomous retransmissions for realistic conditions is developed. Simulation results show that the proposed method achieves higher spectral efficiency than existing HARQ techniques.

Autonomous Relative Navigation for Formation-Flying Satellites Using GPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gramling, Cheryl; Carpenter, J. Russell; Long, Anne; Kelbel, David; Lee, Taesul

2000-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center is currently developing advanced spacecraft systems to provide autonomous navigation and control of formation flyers. This paper discusses autonomous relative navigation performance for a formation of four eccentric, medium-altitude Earth-orbiting satellites using Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and "GPS-like " intersatellite measurements. The performance of several candidate relative navigation approaches is evaluated. These analyses indicate that an autonomous relative navigation position accuracy of 1meter root-mean-square can be achieved by differencing high-accuracy filtered solutions if only measurements from common GPS space vehicles are used in the independently estimated solutions.

A QoS Management Technique of Urgent Information Provision in ITS Services Using DSRC for Autonomous Base Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimura, Akitoshi; Aizono, Takeiki; Hiraiwa, Masashi; Sugano, Shigeki

A QoS management technique based on an autonomous decentralized mobility system, which is an autonomous decentralized system enhanced to provide mobile stations with information about urgent roadway situations, is proposed in this paper. This technique enables urgent messages to be flexibly and quickly transmitted to mobile stations by multiple decentralized base stations using dedicated short range communication. It also supports the easy addition of additional base stations. Each station autonomously creates information-delivery communities based on the urgency of the messages it receives through the roadside network and the distances between the senders and receivers. Each station dynamically determines the urgency of messages according to the message content and the speed of the mobile stations. Evaluation of this technique applied to the Smart Gateway system, which provides driving-assistance services to mobile stations through dedicated short-range communication, demonstrated its effectiveness and that it is suitable for actual systems.

Development of a semi-autonomous service robot with telerobotic capabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, J. E.; White, D. R.

1987-01-01

The importance to the United States of semi-autonomous systems for application to a large number of manufacturing and service processes is very clear. Two principal reasons emerge as the primary driving forces for development of such systems: enhanced national productivity and operation in environments whch are hazardous to humans. Completely autonomous systems may not currently be economically feasible. However, autonomous systems that operate in a limited operation domain or that are supervised by humans are within the technology capability of this decade and will likely provide reasonable return on investment. The two research and development efforts of autonomy and telerobotics are distinctly different, yet interconnected. The first addresses the communication of an intelligent electronic system with a robot while the second requires human communication and ergonomic consideration. Discussed here are work in robotic control, human/robot team implementation, expert system robot operation, and sensor development by the American Welding Institute, MTS Systems Corporation, and the Colorado School of Mines--Center for Welding Research.

A Test-Bed Configuration: Toward an Autonomous System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ocaña, F.; Castillo, M.; Uranga, E.; Ponz, J. D.; TBT Consortium

2015-09-01

In the context of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) program of ESA, it is foreseen to deploy several large robotic telescopes in remote locations to provide surveillance and tracking services for man-made as well as natural near-Earth objects (NEOs). The present project, termed Telescope Test Bed (TBT) is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme, and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario, consisting of two telescopes located in Spain and Australia, to collect representative test data for precursor NEO services. In order to fulfill all the security requirements for the TBT project, the use of a autonomous emergency system (AES) is foreseen to monitor the control system. The AES will monitor remotely the health of the observing system and the internal and external environment. It will incorporate both autonomous and interactive actuators to force the protection of the system (i.e., emergency dome close out).

An AI Approach to Ground Station Autonomy for Deep Space Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, Forest; Estlin, Tara; Mutz, Darren; Paal, Leslie; Law, Emily; Stockett, Mike; Golshan, Nasser; Chien, Steve

1998-01-01

This paper describes an architecture for an autonomous deep space tracking station (DS-T). The architecture targets fully automated routine operations encompassing scheduling and resource allocation, antenna and receiver predict generation. track procedure generation from service requests, and closed loop control and error recovery for the station subsystems. This architecture has been validated by the construction of a prototype DS-T station, which has performed a series of demonstrations of autonomous ground station control for downlink services with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS).

The Pixhawk Open-Source Computer Vision Framework for Mavs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meier, L.; Tanskanen, P.; Fraundorfer, F.; Pollefeys, M.

2011-09-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and micro air vehicles (MAV) are already intensively used in geodetic applications. State of the art autonomous systems are however geared towards the application area in safe and obstacle-free altitudes greater than 30 meters. Applications at lower altitudes still require a human pilot. A new application field will be the reconstruction of structures and buildings, including the facades and roofs, with semi-autonomous MAVs. Ongoing research in the MAV robotics field is focusing on enabling this system class to operate at lower altitudes in proximity to nearby obstacles and humans. PIXHAWK is an open source and open hardware toolkit for this purpose. The quadrotor design is optimized for onboard computer vision and can connect up to four cameras to its onboard computer. The validity of the system design is shown with a fully autonomous capture flight along a building.

Grounding Robot Autonomy in Emotion and Self-awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanz, Ricardo; Hernández, Carlos; Hernando, Adolfo; Gómez, Jaime; Bermejo, Julita

Much is being done in an attempt to transfer emotional mechanisms from reverse-engineered biology into social robots. There are two basic approaches: the imitative display of emotion —e.g. to intend more human-like robots— and the provision of architectures with intrinsic emotion —in the hope of enhancing behavioral aspects. This paper focuses on the second approach, describing a core vision regarding the integration of cognitive, emotional and autonomic aspects in social robot systems. This vision has evolved as a result of the efforts in consolidating the models extracted from rat emotion research and their implementation in technical use cases based on a general systemic analysis in the framework of the ICEA and C3 projects. The desire for generality of the approach intends obtaining universal theories of integrated —autonomic, emotional, cognitive— behavior. The proposed conceptualizations and architectural principles are then captured in a theoretical framework: ASys — The Autonomous Systems Framework.

Video Guidance Sensor for Surface Mobility Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandez, Kenneth R.; Fischer, Richard; Bryan, Thomas; Howell, Joe; Howard, Ricky; Peters, Bruce

2008-01-01

Robotic systems and surface mobility will play an increased role in future exploration missions. Unlike the LRV during Apollo era which was an astronaut piloted vehicle future systems will include teleoperated and semi-autonomous operations. The tasks given to these vehicles will run the range from infrastructure maintenance, ISRU, and construction to name a few. A common task that may be performed would be the retrieval and deployment of trailer mounted equipment. Operational scenarios may require these operations to be performed remotely via a teleoperated mode,or semi-autonomously. This presentation describes the on-going project to adapt the Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) sensor developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center for use in an automated trailer pick-up and deployment operation. The sensor which has been successfully demonstrated on-orbit has been mounted on an iRobot/John Deere RGATOR autonomous vehicle for this demonstration which will be completed in the March 2008 time-frame.

Intelligent image capture of cartridge cases for firearms examiners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Brett C.; Guerci, Joseph R.

1997-02-01

The FBI's DRUGFIRETM system is a nationwide computerized networked image database of ballistic forensic evidence. This evidence includes images of cartridge cases and bullets obtained from both crime scenes and controlled test firings of seized weapons. Currently, the system is installed in over 80 forensic labs across the country and has enjoyed a high degree of success. In this paper, we discuss some of the issues and methods associated with providing a front-end semi-automated image capture system that simultaneously satisfies the often conflicting criteria of the many human examiners visual perception versus the criteria associated with optimizing autonomous digital image correlation. Specifically, we detail the proposed processing chain of an intelligent image capture system (IICS), involving a real- time capture 'assistant,' which assesses the quality of the image under test utilizing a custom designed neural network.

Effect of autogenic training on cardiac autonomic nervous activity in high-risk fire service workers for posttraumatic stress disorder.

PubMed

Mitani, Satoko; Fujita, Masatoshi; Sakamoto, Satoko; Shirakawa, Taro

2006-05-01

We investigated the effect of autogenic training (AT) on cardiac autonomic nervous activity in fire services workers with the use of the questionnaire of the Japanese-language version of Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J) and indexes of heart rate variability. We studied 22 male fire services workers who were divided into posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related stress group (n=10) and control group (n=12). They underwent AT twice or three times a week for 2 months. Posttraumatic stress disorder-related stress group showed a significantly higher cardiac sympathetic nervous activity and a significantly lower cardiac parasympathetic nervous activity than control group at baseline. Autogenic training significantly decreased cardiac sympathetic nervous activity and significantly increased cardiac parasympathetic nervous activity in both groups. These changes were accompanied by a significant decrease in the total points of IES-R-J. Autogenic training is effective for ameliorating the disturbance of cardiac autonomic nervous activity and psychological issues secondary to PTSD.

Satellite Servicing's Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking Testbed on the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naasz, Bo J.; Strube, Matthew; Van Eepoel, John; Barbee, Brent W.; Getzandanner, Kenneth M.

2011-01-01

The Space Servicing Capabilities Project (SSCP) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has been tasked with developing systems for servicing space assets. Starting in 2009, the SSCP completed a study documenting potential customers and the business case for servicing, as well as defining several notional missions and required technologies. In 2010, SSCP moved to the implementation stage by completing several ground demonstrations and commencing development of two International Space Station (ISS) payloads-the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) and the Dextre Pointing Package (DPP)--to mitigate new technology risks for a robotic mission to service existing assets in geosynchronous orbit. This paper introduces the DPP, scheduled to fly in July of 2012 on the third operational SpaceX Dragon mission, and its Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) instruments. The combination of sensors and advanced avionics provide valuable on-orbit demonstrations of essential technologies for servicing existing vehicles, both cooperative and non-cooperative.

Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) web service to support Area Navigation (RNAV) flight planning

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-01-28

The Volpe Center designed, implemented, and deployed a Global Positioning System (GPS) Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) prediction system in the mid 1990s to support both Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) use of TSO C...

Coring Sample Acquisition Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haddad, Nicolas E.; Murray, Saben D.; Walkemeyer, Phillip E.; Badescu, Mircea; Sherrit, Stewart; Bao, Xiaoqi; Kriechbaum, Kristopher L.; Richardson, Megan; Klein, Kerry J.

2012-01-01

A sample acquisition tool (SAT) has been developed that can be used autonomously to sample drill and capture rock cores. The tool is designed to accommodate core transfer using a sample tube to the IMSAH (integrated Mars sample acquisition and handling) SHEC (sample handling, encapsulation, and containerization) without ever touching the pristine core sample in the transfer process.

ScienceDesk Project Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

NASA's ScienceDesk Project at the Ames Research Center is responsible for scientific knowledge management which includes ensuring the capture, preservation, and traceability of scientific knowledge. Other responsibilities include: 1) Maintaining uniform information access which is achieved through intelligent indexing and visualization, 2) Collaborating both asynchronous and synchronous science teamwork, 3) Monitoring and controlling semi-autonomous remote experimentation.

Retrieval operations with SPARTAN 201

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-09-15

STS064-74-052 (9-20 Sept. 1994) --- Astronauts onboard the space shuttle Discovery used a 70mm camera to capture this photograph of the retrieval operations with the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 201 (SPARTAN 201). A gibbous moon can be seen in the background. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Sample Acqusition Drilling System for the the Resource Prospector Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zacny, K.; Paulsen, G.; Quinn, J.; Smith, J.; Kleinhenz, J.

2015-12-01

The goal of the Lunar Resource Prospector Mission (RPM) is to capture and identify volatiles species within the top meter of the lunar regolith. The RPM drill has been designed to 1. Generate cuttings and place them on the surface for analysis by the the Near InfraRed Volatiles Spectrometer Subsystem (NIRVSS), and 2. Capture cuttings and transfer them to the Oxygen and Volatile Extraction Node (OVEN) coupled with the Lunar Advanced Volatiles Analysis (LAVA) subsystem. The RPM drill is based on the Mars Icebreaker drill developed for capturing samples of ice and ice cemented ground on Mars. The drill weighs approximately 10 kg and is rated at ~300 Watt. It is a rotary-percussive, fully autonomous system designed to capture cuttings for analysis. The drill consists of: 1. Rotary-Percussive Drill Head, 2. Sampling Auger, 3. Brushing station, 4. Z-stage, 5. Deployment stage. To reduce sample handling complexity, the drill auger is designed to capture cuttings as opposed to cores. High sampling efficiency is possible through a dual design of the auger. The lower section has deep and low pitch flutes for retaining of cuttings. The upper section has been designed to efficiently move the cuttings out of the hole. The drill uses a "bite" sampling approach where samples are captured in ~10 cm intervals. The first generation drill was tested in Mars chamber as well as in Antarctica and the Arctic. It demonstrated drilling at 1-1-100-100 level (1 meter in 1 hour with 100 Watt and 100 N Weight on Bit) in ice, ice cemented ground, soil, and rocks. The second generation drill was deployed on a Carnegie Mellon University rover, called Zoe, and tested in Atacama in 2012. The tests demonstrated fully autonomous sample acquisition and delivery to a carousel. The third generation drill was tested in NASA GRC's vacuum chamber, VF13, at 10-5 torr and approximately 200 K. It demonstrated successful capture and transfer of icy samples to a crucible. The drill has been modified and integrated onto the NASA JSC RPM rover. It has been undergoing testing in a lab and in the field during the Summer of 2015.

Respiration of four species of deep-sea demersal fishes measured in situ in the eastern North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drazen, Jeffrey C.; Yeh, John

2012-01-01

The lack of data on the metabolism of deep-sea demersal fishes is a major gap in our ecological knowledge of the deep ocean. Metabolism influences individual rate processes such as resource utilization, growth, and reproduction. It also correlates with an animal's ability to accommodate ocean acidification. Here we describe an autonomous in situ respirometry system that is deployed autonomously from a ship to capture fishes attracted to bait, and measure their rate of oxygen consumption. This instrument is multi-chambered and relies on the fish to actuate the capture mechanism and start the experiments. Although capture rates were low, data on five fishes were obtained including Eptatretus deani, two Coryphaenoides acrolepis, Antimora microlepis, and Pachycara gymninium. The metabolisms of the latter two species were measured for the first time. The metabolic rates were low (0.09-0.40 μmols O 2 g -1 h -1 at temperatures of 1.8-4.0 °C) in comparison to shallow water species. After taking temperature differences into account only the metabolic rates of benthopelagic species, C. acrolepis and A. microlepis, were substantially lower, by an order of magnitude, than shallow water relatives such as cod and pollock. The metabolic rate of the deep-sea fishes varied considerably clearly warranting further experiments to ascertain which factors are likely to explain the differences.

Autonomous Preference-Aware Information Services Integration for High Response in Integrated Faded Information Field Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xiaodong; Mori, Kinji

The market and users' requirements have been rapidly changing and diversified. Under these heterogeneous and dynamic situations, not only the system structure itself, but also the accessible information services would be changed constantly. To cope with the continuously changing conditions of service provision and utilization, Faded Information Field (FIF) has been proposed, which is a agent-based distributed information service system architecture. In the case of a mono-service request, the system is designed to improve users' access time and preserve load balancing through the information structure. However, with interdependent requests of multi-service increasing, adaptability and timeliness have to be assured by the system. In this paper, the relationship that exists among the correlated services and the users' preferences for separate and integrated services is clarified. Based on these factors, the autonomous preference-aware information services integration technology to provide one-stop service for users multi-service requests is proposed. As compared to the conventional system, we show that proposed technology is able to reduce the total access time.

DARPA Orbital Express program: effecting a revolution in space-based systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whelan, David A.; Adler, E. A.; Wilson, Samuel B., III; Roesler, Gordon M., Jr.

2000-11-01

A primary goal of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is to develop innovative, high-risk technologies with the potential of a revolutionary impact on missions of the Department of Defense. DARPA is developing a space experiment to prove the feasibility of autonomous on- orbit servicing of spacecraft. The Orbital Express program will demonstrate autonomous on-orbit refueling, as well as autonomous delivery of a small payload representing an avionics upgrade package. The maneuverability provided to spacecraft from a ready refueling infrastructure will enable radical new capabilities for the military, civil and commercial spacecraft. Module replacement has the potential to extend bus lifetimes, and to upgrade the performance of key subsystems (e.g. processors) at the pace of technology development. The Orbital Express technology development effort will include the necessary autonomy for a viable servicing infrastructure; a universal interface for docking, refueling and module transfers; and a spacecraft bus design compatible with this servicing concept. The servicer spacecraft of the future may be able to act as a host platform for microsatellites, extending their capabilities while reducing risk. An infrastructure based on Orbital Express also benefits from, and stimulates the development of, lower-cost launch strategies.

Propagation, cascades, and agreement dynamics in complex communication and social networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Qiming

Many modern and important technological, social, information and infrastructure systems can be viewed as complex systems with a large number of interacting components. Models of complex networks and dynamical interactions, as well as their applications are of fundamental interests in many aspects. Here, several stylized models of multiplex propagation and opinion dynamics are investigated on complex and empirical social networks. We first investigate cascade dynamics in threshold-controlled (multiplex) propagation on random geometric networks. We find that such local dynamics can serve as an efficient, robust, and reliable prototypical activation protocol in sensor networks in responding to various alarm scenarios. We also consider the same dynamics on a modified network by adding a few long-range communication links, resulting in a small-world network. We find that such construction can further enhance and optimize the speed of the network's response, while keeping energy consumption at a manageable level. We also investigate a prototypical agent-based model, the Naming Game, on two-dimensional random geometric networks. The Naming Game [A. Baronchelli et al., J. Stat. Mech.: Theory Exp. (2006) P06014.] is a minimal model, employing local communications that captures the emergence of shared communication schemes (languages) in a population of autonomous semiotic agents. Implementing the Naming Games with local broadcasts on random geometric graphs, serves as a model for agreement dynamics in large-scale, autonomously operating wireless sensor networks. Further, it captures essential features of the scaling properties of the agreement process for spatially-embedded autonomous agents. Among the relevant observables capturing the temporal properties of the agreement process, we investigate the cluster-size distribution and the distribution of the agreement times, both exhibiting dynamic scaling. We also present results for the case when a small density of long-range communication links are added on top of the random geometric graph, resulting in a "small-world"-like network and yielding a significantly reduced time to reach global agreement. We construct a finite-size scaling analysis for the agreement times in this case. When applying the model of Naming Game on empirical social networks, this stylized agent-based model captures essential features of agreement dynamics in a network of autonomous agents, corresponding to the development of shared classification schemes in a network of artificial agents or opinion spreading and social dynamics in social networks. Our study focuses on the impact that communities in the underlying social graphs have on the outcome of the agreement process. We find that networks with strong community structure hinder the system from reaching global agreement; the evolution of the Naming Game in these networks maintains clusters of coexisting opinions indefinitely. Further, we investigate agent-based network strategies to facilitate convergence to global consensus.

Autonomous rendezvous and capture development infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, Thomas C.; Roe, Fred; Coker, Cindy; Nelson, Pam; Johnson, B.

1991-01-01

In the development of the technology for autonomous rendezvous and docking, key infrastructure capabilities must be used for effective and economical development. This involves facility capabilities, both equipment and personnel, to devise, develop, qualify, and integrate ARD elements and subsystems into flight programs. One effective way of reducing technical risks in developing ARD technology is the use of the ultimate test facility, using a Shuttle-based reusable free-flying testbed to perform a Technology Demonstration Test Flight which can be structured to include a variety of additional sensors, control schemes, and operational approaches. This conceptual testbed and flight demonstration will be used to illustrate how technologies and facilities at MSFC can be used to develop and prove an ARD system.

Concept synthesis of an equipment manipulation and transportation system EMATS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Depeuter, W.; Waffenschmidt, E.

1989-01-01

The European Columbus Scenario is established. One of the Columbus Elements, the Man Tended Free Flyer will be designed for fully autonomous operation in order to provide the environment for micro gravity facilities. The Concept of an autonomous automation system which perform servicing of facilities and deals with related logistic tasks is discussed.

Automation and robotics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montemerlo, Melvin

1988-01-01

The Autonomous Systems focus on the automation of control systems for the Space Station and mission operations. Telerobotics focuses on automation for in-space servicing, assembly, and repair. The Autonomous Systems and Telerobotics each have a planned sequence of integrated demonstrations showing the evolutionary advance of the state-of-the-art. Progress is briefly described for each area of concern.

Web Service Distributed Management Framework for Autonomic Server Virtualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solomon, Bogdan; Ionescu, Dan; Litoiu, Marin; Mihaescu, Mircea

Virtualization for the x86 platform has imposed itself recently as a new technology that can improve the usage of machines in data centers and decrease the cost and energy of running a high number of servers. Similar to virtualization, autonomic computing and more specifically self-optimization, aims to improve server farm usage through provisioning and deprovisioning of instances as needed by the system. Autonomic systems are able to determine the optimal number of server machines - real or virtual - to use at a given time, and add or remove servers from a cluster in order to achieve optimal usage. While provisioning and deprovisioning of servers is very important, the way the autonomic system is built is also very important, as a robust and open framework is needed. One such management framework is the Web Service Distributed Management (WSDM) system, which is an open standard of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). This paper presents an open framework built on top of the WSDM specification, which aims to provide self-optimization for applications servers residing on virtual machines.

Technological evaluation of gesture and speech interfaces for enabling dismounted soldier-robot dialogue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kattoju, Ravi Kiran; Barber, Daniel J.; Abich, Julian; Harris, Jonathan

2016-05-01

With increasing necessity for intuitive Soldier-robot communication in military operations and advancements in interactive technologies, autonomous robots have transitioned from assistance tools to functional and operational teammates able to service an array of military operations. Despite improvements in gesture and speech recognition technologies, their effectiveness in supporting Soldier-robot communication is still uncertain. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the performance of gesture and speech interface technologies to facilitate Soldier-robot communication during a spatial-navigation task with an autonomous robot. Gesture and speech semantically based spatial-navigation commands leveraged existing lexicons for visual and verbal communication from the U.S Army field manual for visual signaling and a previously established Squad Level Vocabulary (SLV). Speech commands were recorded by a Lapel microphone and Microsoft Kinect, and classified by commercial off-the-shelf automatic speech recognition (ASR) software. Visual signals were captured and classified using a custom wireless gesture glove and software. Participants in the experiment commanded a robot to complete a simulated ISR mission in a scaled down urban scenario by delivering a sequence of gesture and speech commands, both individually and simultaneously, to the robot. Performance and reliability of gesture and speech hardware interfaces and recognition tools were analyzed and reported. Analysis of experimental results demonstrated the employed gesture technology has significant potential for enabling bidirectional Soldier-robot team dialogue based on the high classification accuracy and minimal training required to perform gesture commands.

Autonomous rendezvous and docking operations of unmanned expendable cargo transfer vehicles (e.g. Centaur) with Space Station Freedom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emmet, Brian R.

1991-01-01

This paper describes the results of the feasibility study using Centaur or other CTV's to deliver payloads to the Space Station Freedom (SSF). During this study was examined the requirements upon unmanned cargo transfer stages (including Centaur) for phasing, rendezvous, proximity operations and docking/berthing (capture).

Teaching Autonomy: The Obligations of Liberal Education in Plural Societies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerr, Donald

2006-01-01

Existing conceptions of autonomy tend to fall to one of two criticisms: they either fail to capture our intuitive understanding that autonomy implies an ability to act congruently with the demands of justice and equality, or they are unclear as to whether particular actions must be good by some standard to be considered autonomous. In this article…

Automated Rendezvous and Capture System Development and Simulation for NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roe, Fred D.; Howard, Richard T.; Murphy, Leslie

2004-01-01

The United States does not have an Automated Rendezvous and Capture/Docking (AR and C) capability and is reliant on manned control for rendezvous and docking of orbiting spacecraft. This reliance on the labor intensive manned interface for control of rendezvous and docking vehicles has a significant impact on the cost of the operation of the International Space Station (ISS) and precludes the use of any U.S. expendable launch capabilities for Space Station resupply. The Soviets have the capability to autonomously dock in space, but their system produces a hard docking with excessive force and contact velocity. Automated Rendezvous and Capture/Docking has been identified as a key enabling technology for the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) Program, DARPA Orbital Express and other DOD Programs. The development and implementation of an AR&C capability can significantly enhance system flexibility, improve safety, and lower the cost of maintaining, supplying, and operating the International Space Station. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has conducted pioneering research in the development of an automated rendezvous and capture (or docking) (AR and C) system for U.S. space vehicles. This AR&C system was tested extensively using hardware-in-the-loop simulations in the Flight Robotics Laboratory, and a rendezvous sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor was developed and successfully flown on the Space Shuttle on flights STS-87 and STS-95, proving the concept of a video- based sensor. Further developments in sensor technology and vehicle and target configuration have lead to continued improvements and changes in AR&C system development and simulation. A new Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) with target will be utilized on the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technologies (DART) flight experiment in 2004.

Autonomous Navigation Performance During The Hartley 2 Comet Flyby

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abrahamson, Matthew J; Kennedy, Brian A.; Bhaskaran, Shyam

2012-01-01

On November 4, 2010, the EPOXI spacecraft performed a 700-km flyby of the comet Hartley 2 as follow-on to the successful 2005 Deep Impact prime mission. EPOXI, an extended mission for the Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft, returned a wealth of visual and infrared data from Hartley 2, marking the fifth time that high-resolution images of a cometary nucleus have been captured by a spacecraft. The highest resolution science return, captured at closest approach to the comet nucleus, was enabled by use of an onboard autonomous navigation system called AutoNav. AutoNav estimates the comet-relative spacecraft trajectory using optical measurements from the Medium Resolution Imager (MRI) and provides this relative position information to the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) for maintaining instrument pointing on the comet. For the EPOXI mission, AutoNav was tasked to enable continuous tracking of a smaller, more active Hartley 2, as compared to Tempel 1, through the full encounter while traveling at a higher velocity. To meet the mission goal of capturing the comet in all MRI science images, position knowledge accuracies of +/- 3.5 km (3-?) cross track and +/- 0.3 seconds (3-?) time of flight were required. A flight-code-in-the-loop Monte Carlo simulation assessed AutoNav's statistical performance under the Hartley 2 flyby dynamics and determined optimal configuration. The AutoNav performance at Hartley 2 was successful, capturing the comet in all of the MRI images. The maximum residual between observed and predicted comet locations was 20 MRI pixels, primarily influenced by the center of brightness offset from the center of mass in the observations and attitude knowledge errors. This paper discusses the Monte Carlo-based analysis that led to the final AutoNav configuration and a comparison of the predicted performance with the flyby performance.

Capturing Requirements for Autonomous Spacecraft with Autonomy Requirements Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vassev, Emil; Hinchey, Mike

2014-08-01

The Autonomy Requirements Engineering (ARE) approach has been developed by Lero - the Irish Software Engineering Research Center within the mandate of a joint project with ESA, the European Space Agency. The approach is intended to help engineers develop missions for unmanned exploration, often with limited or no human control. Such robotics space missions rely on the most recent advances in automation and robotic technologies where autonomy and autonomic computing principles drive the design and implementation of unmanned spacecraft [1]. To tackle the integration and promotion of autonomy in software-intensive systems, ARE combines generic autonomy requirements (GAR) with goal-oriented requirements engineering (GORE). Using this approach, software engineers can determine what autonomic features to develop for a particular system (e.g., a space mission) as well as what artifacts that process might generate (e.g., goals models, requirements specification, etc.). The inputs required by this approach are the mission goals and the domain-specific GAR reflecting specifics of the mission class (e.g., interplanetary missions).

The China Health and Nutrition Survey, 1989-2011.

PubMed

Zhang, B; Zhai, F Y; Du, S F; Popkin, B M

2014-01-01

The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) began in 1989 with the goal of creating a multilevel method of data collection from individuals and households and their communities to understand how the wide-ranging social and economic changes in China affect a wide array of nutrition and health-related outcomes. Initiated with a partial sample in 1989, the full survey runs from 1991 to 2011, and this issue documents the CHNS history. The CHNS cohort includes new household formation and replacement communities and households; all household members are studied. Furthermore, in-depth community data are collected. The sample began with eight provinces and added a ninth, Heilongjiang, in 1997 and three autonomous cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing, in 2011. The in-depth community contextual measures have allowed us to create a unique measure of urbanicity that captures major dimensions of modernization across all 288 communities currently in the CHNS sample. The standardized, validated urbanicity measure captures the changes in 12 dimensions: population density; economic activity; traditional markets; modern markets; transportation infrastructure; sanitation; communications; housing; education; diversity; health infrastructure; and social services. Each is based on numerous measures applicable to each dimension. They are used jointly and separately in hundreds of studies. © 2014 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

Enhancing AstroInformatics and Science Discovery from Data in Journal Articles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazzarella, Joseph

2011-05-01

Traditional methods of publishing scientific data and metadata in journal articles are in need of major upgrades to reach the full potential of astronomical databases and astroinformatics techniques to facilitate semi-automated, and eventually autonomous, methods of science discovery. I will review a growing collaboration involving the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), the Astrophysics Data System (ADS), the Virtual Astronomical Observatory (VAO), the AAS Journals and IOP, and the Data Conservancy that is aimed toward transforming the methodology used to publish, capture and link data associated with astrophysics journal articles. We are planning a web-based workflow to assist astronomers during the publication of journal articles. The primary goals are to facilitate the application of structure and standards to (meta)data, reduce errors, remove ambiguities in the identification of astrophysical objects and regions of sky, capture and preserve the images and spectral data files used to make plots, and accelerate the ingestion of the data into relevant repositories, search engines and integration services. The outcome of this community wide effort will address a recent public policy mandate to publish scientific data in open formats to allow reproducibility of results and to facilitate new discoveries. Equally important, this work has the potential to usher in a new wave of science discovery based on seamless connectivity between data relationships that are continuously growing in size and complexity, and increasingly sophisticated data visualization and analysis applications.

Orbital Express Mission Operations Planning and Resource Management using ASPEN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chouinard, Caroline; Knight, Russell; Jones, Grailing; Tran, Danny

2008-01-01

The Orbital Express satellite servicing demonstrator program is a DARPA program aimed at developing "a safe and cost-effective approach to autonomously service satellites in orbit". The system consists of: a) the Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (ASTRO) vehicle, under development by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, and b) a prototype modular next-generation serviceable satellite, NEXTSat, being developed by Ball Aerospace. Flexibility of ASPEN: a) Accommodate changes to procedures; b) Accommodate changes to daily losses and gains; c) Responsive re-planning; and d) Critical to success of mission planning Auto-Generation of activity models: a) Created plans quickly; b) Repetition/Re-use of models each day; and c) Guarantees the AML syntax. One SRP per day vs. Tactical team

[Training and use of dental manpower resources in Mexico].

PubMed

Hermosillo, G G; López Cámara, V; Alvarez Manilla, J M; García Cantú, M; Silva Olivares, H

1978-01-01

The introductory section describes the general situation of dental care in Mexico, analyzes the prevailing service model (including the kind of work done by the dental professional and the technology he employs), and briefly reviews the evolution of dentistry in the country. There follows an account of a series of new approaches to service and manpower training in experimental implementation since 1972 in the stomatology curriculum at the Xochimilco campus of the Metropolitan Autonomous University, at the National School of Professional Studies at Zaragoza, in the School of Dentistry of Nuevo León Autonomous University, Monterrey, and in the Dental Services at Ciudad Netzahualcóyotl. In each case, the background, characteristics, and objectives of the programs, and their evolution and prospects are described.

Analysis of the stability of PTW riders in autonomous braking scenarios.

PubMed

Symeonidis, Ioannis; Kavadarli, Gueven; Erich, Schuller; Graw, Matthias; Peldschus, Steffen

2012-11-01

While fatalities of car occupants in the EU decreased remarkably over the last decade, Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) fatalities still increase following the increase of PTW ownership. Autonomous braking systems have been implemented in several types of vehicles and are presently addressed by research in the field of PTWs. A major concern in this context is the rider stability. Experiments with volunteers were performed in order to find out whether autonomous braking for PTWs will produce a greater instability of the rider in comparison to manual braking. The PTW's braking conditions were simulated in a laboratory with a motorcycle mock-up mounted on a sled, which was accelerated with an average of 0.35 g. The motion of the rider was captured in autonomous braking scenarios with and without pre-warning as well as in manual braking scenarios. No significant differences between the scenarios were found with respect to maximum forward displacement of the volunteer's torso and head (p<0.05). By performing clustering analysis on two kinematic parameters, two different strategies of the volunteers were identified. They were not related to the braking scenarios. A relation of the clusters with the initial posture represented by the elbow angle was revealed (p<0.05). It is concluded that autonomous braking at low deceleration will not cause significant instabilities of the rider in comparison to manual braking in idealized laboratory conditions. Based on this, further research into the development and implementation of autonomous braking systems for PTWs, e.g. by extensive riding tests, seems valuable. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resource allocation and supervisory control architecture for intelligent behavior generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shah, Hitesh K.; Bahl, Vikas; Moore, Kevin L.; Flann, Nicholas S.; Martin, Jason

2003-09-01

In earlier research the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS) at Utah State University (USU) was funded by the US Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command's (TACOM) Intelligent Mobility Program to develop and demonstrate enhanced mobility concepts for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). As part of our research, we presented the use of a grammar-based approach to enabling intelligent behaviors in autonomous robotic vehicles. With the growth of the number of available resources on the robot, the variety of the generated behaviors and the need for parallel execution of multiple behaviors to achieve reaction also grew. As continuation of our past efforts, in this paper, we discuss the parallel execution of behaviors and the management of utilized resources. In our approach, available resources are wrapped with a layer (termed services) that synchronizes and serializes access to the underlying resources. The controlling agents (called behavior generating agents) generate behaviors to be executed via these services. The agents are prioritized and then, based on their priority and the availability of requested services, the Control Supervisor decides on a winner for the grant of access to services. Though the architecture is applicable to a variety of autonomous vehicles, we discuss its application on T4, a mid-sized autonomous vehicle developed for security applications.

An Autonomous Data Reduction Pipeline for Wide Angle EO Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Privett, G.; George, S.; Feline, W.; Ash, A.; Routledge, G.

The UK’s National Space and Security Policy states that the identification of potential on-orbit collisions and re-entry warning over the UK is of high importance, and is driving requirements for indigenous Space Situational Awareness (SSA) systems. To meet these requirements options are being examined, including the creation of a distributed network of simple, low cost commercial–off-the-shelf electro-optical sensors to support survey work and catalogue maintenance. This paper outlines work at Dstl examining whether data obtained using readily-deployable equipment could significantly enhance UK SSA capability and support cross-cueing between multiple deployed systems. To effectively exploit data from this distributed sensor architecture, a data handling system is required to autonomously detect satellite trails in a manner that pragmatically handles highly variable target intensities, periodicity and rates of apparent motion. The processing and collection strategies must be tailored to specific mission sets to ensure effective detections of platforms as diverse as stable geostationary satellites and low altitude CubeSats. Data captured during the Automated Transfer Vehicle-5 (ATV-5) de-orbit trial and images captured of a rocket body break up and a deployed deorbit sail have been employed to inform the development of a prototype processing pipeline for autonomous on-site processing. The approach taken employs tools such as Astrometry.Net and DAOPHOT from the astronomical community, together with image processing and orbit determination software developed inhouse by Dstl. Interim results from the automated analysis of data collected from wide angle sensors are described, together with the current perceived limitations of the proposed system and our plans for future development.

A Proposed Strategy for the U.S. to Develop and Maintain a Mainstream Capability Suite ("Warehouse") for Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking in Low Earth Orbit and Beyond

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krishnakumar, Kalmanje S.; Stillwater, Ryan A.; Babula, Maria; Moreau, Michael C.; Riedel, J. Ed; Mrozinski, Richard B.; Bradley, Arthur; Bryan, Thomas C.

2012-01-01

The ability of space assets to rendezvous and dock/capture/berth is a fundamental enabler for numerous classes of NASA fs missions, and is therefore an essential capability for the future of NASA. Mission classes include: ISS crew rotation, crewed exploration beyond low-Earth-orbit (LEO), on-orbit assembly, ISS cargo supply, crewed satellite servicing, robotic satellite servicing / debris mitigation, robotic sample return, and robotic small body (e.g. near-Earth object, NEO) proximity operations. For a variety of reasons to be described, NASA programs requiring Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking/Capture/Berthing (AR&D) capabilities are currently spending an order-of-magnitude more than necessary and taking twice as long as necessary to achieve their AR&D capability, "reinventing the wheel" for each program, and have fallen behind all of our foreign counterparts in AR&D technology (especially autonomy) in the process. To ensure future missions' reliability and crew safety (when applicable), to achieve the noted cost and schedule savings by eliminate costs of continually "reinventing the wheel ", the NASA AR&D Community of Practice (CoP) recommends NASA develop an AR&D Warehouse, detailed herein, which does not exist today. The term "warehouse" is used herein to refer to a toolbox or capability suite that has pre-integrated selectable supply-chain hardware and reusable software components that are considered ready-to-fly, low-risk, reliable, versatile, scalable, cost-effective, architecture and destination independent, that can be confidently utilized operationally on human spaceflight and robotic vehicles over a variety of mission classes and design reference missions, especially beyond LEO. The CoP also believes that it is imperative that NASA coordinate and integrate all current and proposed technology development activities into a cohesive cross-Agency strategy to produce and utilize this AR&D warehouse. An initial estimate indicates that if NASA strategically coordinates the development of a robust AR&D capability across the Agency, the cost of implementing AR&D on a spacecraft could be reduced from roughly $70M per mission to as low as $7M per mission, and the associated development time could be reduced from 4 years to 2 years, after the warehouse is completely developed. Table 1 shows the clear long-term benefits to the Agency in term of costs and schedules for various missions. (The methods used to arrive at the Table 1 numbers is presented in Appendices A and B.)

Improving Performance on Preventive Health Quality Measures Using Clinical Decision Support to Capture Care Done Elsewhere and Patient Exceptions.

PubMed

Bowen, Michael E; Bhat, Deepa; Fish, Jason; Moran, Brett; Howell-Stampley, Temple; Kirk, Lynne; Persell, Stephen D; Halm, Ethan A

Preventive services required for performance measurement often are completed in outside health systems and not captured in electronic medical records (EMRs). A before-after study was conducted to examine the ability of clinical decision support (CDS) to improve performance on preventive quality measures, capture clinician-reported services completed elsewhere, and patient/medical exceptions and to describe their impact on quality measurement. CDS improved performance on colorectal cancer screening, osteoporosis screening, and pneumococcal vaccination measures ( P < .05) but not breast or cervical cancer screening. CDS captured clinician-reported services completed elsewhere (2% to 10%) and patient/medical exceptions (<3%). Compared to measures using only within-system data, including services completed elsewhere in the numerator improved performance: pneumococcal vaccine (73% vs 82%); breast (69% vs 75%), colorectal (58% vs 70%), and cervical cancer (53% vs 62%); and osteoporosis (72% vs 75%) screening ( P < .05). Visit-based CDS can capture clinician-reported preventive services, and accounting for services completed elsewhere improves performance on quality measures.

Synthetic Nano- and Micromachines in Analytical Chemistry: Sensing, Migration, Capture, Delivery, and Separation.

PubMed

Duan, Wentao; Wang, Wei; Das, Sambeeta; Yadav, Vinita; Mallouk, Thomas E; Sen, Ayusman

2015-01-01

Synthetic nano- and microscale machines move autonomously in solution or drive fluid flows by converting sources of energy into mechanical work. Their sizes are comparable to analytes (sub-nano- to microscale), and they respond to signals from each other and their surroundings, leading to emergent collective behavior. These machines can potentially enable hitherto difficult analytical applications. In this article, we review the development of different classes of synthetic nano- and micromotors and pumps and indicate their possible applications in real-time in situ chemical sensing, on-demand directional transport, cargo capture and delivery, as well as analyte isolation and separation.

New Concepts and Perspectives on Micro-Rotorcraft and Small Autonomous Rotary-Wing Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Larry A.; Aiken, E. W.; Johnson, J. L.; Demblewski, R.; Andrews, J.; Aiken, Irwin W. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

A key part of the strategic vision for rotorcraft research as identified by senior technologists within the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center is the development and use of small autonomous rotorcraft. Small autonomous rotorcraft are defined for the purposes of this paper to be a class of vehicles that range in size from rotary-wing micro air vehicles (MAVs) to larger, more conventionally sized, rotorcraft uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs) - i.e. vehicle gross weights ranging from hundreds of grams to thousands of kilograms. The development of small autonomous rotorcraft represents both a technology challenge and a potential new vehicle class that will have substantial societal impact for: national security, personal transport, planetary science, and public service.

Autonomous, In-Flight Crew Health Risk Management for Exploration-Class Missions: Leveraging the Integrated Medical Model for the Exploration Medical System Demonstration Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, D. J.; Kerstman, E.; Saile, L.; Myers, J.; Walton, M.; Lopez, V.; McGrath, T.

2011-01-01

The Integrated Medical Model (IMM) captures organizational knowledge across the space medicine, training, operations, engineering, and research domains. IMM uses this knowledge in the context of a mission and crew profile to forecast risks to crew health and mission success. The IMM establishes a quantified, statistical relationship among medical conditions, risk factors, available medical resources, and crew health and mission outcomes. These relationships may provide an appropriate foundation for developing an in-flight medical decision support tool that helps optimize the use of medical resources and assists in overall crew health management by an autonomous crew with extremely limited interactions with ground support personnel and no chance of resupply.

Autonomous rendezvous and capture development infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryan, Thomas C.

1991-01-01

In the development of the technology for autonomous rendezvous and docking, key infrastructure capabilities must be used for effective and economical development. This need involves facility capabilities, both equipment and personnel, to devise, develop, qualify, and integrate ARD elements and subsystems into flight programs. One effective way of reducing technical risks in developing ARD technology is the use of the Low Earth Orbit test facility. Using a reusable free-flying testbed carried in the Shuttle, as a technology demonstration test flight, can be structured to include a variety of sensors, control schemes, and operational approaches. This testbed and flight demonstration concept will be used to illustrate how technologies and facilities at MSFC can be used to develop and prove an ARD system.

Preliminary Results from a Model-Driven Architecture Methodology for Development of an Event-Driven Space Communications Service Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, Christopher J.; Morgenstern, Robert M.; Israel, David J.; Borky, John M.; Bradley, Thomas H.

2017-01-01

NASA's next generation space communications network will involve dynamic and autonomous services analogous to services provided by current terrestrial wireless networks. This architecture concept, known as the Space Mobile Network (SMN), is enabled by several technologies now in development. A pillar of the SMN architecture is the establishment and utilization of a continuous bidirectional control plane space link channel and a new User Initiated Service (UIS) protocol to enable more dynamic and autonomous mission operations concepts, reduced user space communications planning burden, and more efficient and effective provider network resource utilization. This paper provides preliminary results from the application of model driven architecture methodology to develop UIS. Such an approach is necessary to ensure systematic investigation of several open questions concerning the efficiency, robustness, interoperability, scalability and security of the control plane space link and UIS protocol.

[Service robots in elderly care. Possible application areas and current state of developments].

PubMed

Graf, B; Heyer, T; Klein, B; Wallhoff, F

2013-08-01

The term "Service robotics" describes semi- or fully autonomous technical systems able to perform services useful to the well-being of humans. Service robots have the potential to support and disburden both persons in need of care as well as nursing care staff. In addition, they can be used in prevention and rehabilitation in order to reduce or avoid the need for help. Products currently available to support people in domestic environments are mainly cleaning or remote-controlled communication robots. Examples of current research activities are the (further) development of mobile robots as advanced communication assistants or the development of (semi) autonomous manipulation aids and multifunctional household assistants. Transport robots are commonly used in many hospitals. In nursing care facilities, the first evaluations have already been made. So-called emotional robots are now sold as products and can be used for therapeutic, occupational, or entertainment activities.

Principles of Queued Service Observing at CFHT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manset, Nadine; Burdullis, T.; Devost, D.

2011-03-01

CFHT started to use Queued Service Observing in 2001, and is now operating in that mode over 95% of the time. Ten years later, the observations are now carried out by Remote Observers who are not present at the telescope (see the companion presentation "Remote Queued Service Observing at CFHT"). The next phase at CFHT will likley involve assisted or autonomous service observing (see the presentation "Artificial Intelligence in Autonomous Telescopes"), which would not be possible without first having a Queued observations system already in place. The advantages and disadvantages of QSO at CFHT will be reviewed. The principles of QSO at CFHT, which allow CFHT to complete 90-100% of the top 30-40% programs and often up to 80% of other accepted programs, will be presented, along with the strategic use of overfill programs, the method of agency balance, and the suite of planning, scheduling, analysis and data quality assessment tools available to Queue Coordinators and Remote Observers.

Autonomous Information Fading and Provision to Achieve High Response Time in Distributed Information Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xiaodong; Arfaoui, Helene; Mori, Kinji

In highly dynamic electronic commerce environment, the need for adaptability and rapid response time to information service systems has become increasingly important. In order to cope with the continuously changing conditions of service provision and utilization, Faded Information Field (FIF) has been proposed. FIF is a distributed information service system architecture, sustained by push/pull mobile agents to bring high-assurance of services through a recursive demand-oriented provision of the most popular information closer to the users to make a tradeoff between the cost of information service allocation and access. In this paper, based on the analysis of the relationship that exists among the users distribution, information provision and access time, we propose the technology for FIF design to resolve the competing requirements of users and providers to improve users' access time. In addition, to achieve dynamic load balancing with changing users preference, the autonomous information reallocation technology is proposed. We proved the effectiveness of the proposed technology through the simulation and comparison with the conventional system.

Information technology in the foxhole.

PubMed

Eyestone, S M

1995-08-01

The importance of digital data capture at the point of health care service within the military environment is highlighted. Current paper-based data capture does not allow for efficient data reuse throughout the medical support information domain. A simple, high-level process and data flow model is used to demonstrate the importance of data capture at point of service. The Department of Defense is developing a personal digital assistant, called MEDTAG, that accomplishes point of service data capture in the field using a prototype smart card as a data store in austere environments.

Bio-inspired Autonomic Structures: a middleware for Telecommunications Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzalini, Antonio; Minerva, Roberto; Moiso, Corrado

Today, people are making use of several devices for communications, for accessing multi-media content services, for data/information retrieving, for processing, computing, etc.: examples are laptops, PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, mp3 players, smart cards and smart appliances. One of the most attracting service scenarios for future Telecommunications and Internet is the one where people will be able to browse any object in the environment they live: communications, sensing and processing of data and services will be highly pervasive. In this vision, people, machines, artifacts and the surrounding space will create a kind of computational environment and, at the same time, the interfaces to the network resources. A challenging technological issue will be interconnection and management of heterogeneous systems and a huge amount of small devices tied together in networks of networks. Moreover, future network and service infrastructures should be able to provide Users and Application Developers (at different levels, e.g., residential Users but also SMEs, LEs, ASPs/Web2.0 Service roviders, ISPs, Content Providers, etc.) with the most appropriate "environment" according to their context and specific needs. Operators must be ready to manage such level of complication enabling their latforms with technological advanced allowing network and services self-supervision and self-adaptation capabilities. Autonomic software solutions, enhanced with innovative bio-inspired mechanisms and algorithms, are promising areas of long term research to face such challenges. This chapter proposes a bio-inspired autonomic middleware capable of leveraging the assets of the underlying network infrastructure whilst, at the same time, supporting the development of future Telecommunications and Internet Ecosystems.

An Optimized, Data Distribution Service-Based Solution for Reliable Data Exchange Among Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

PubMed Central

Bilbao, Sonia; Martínez, Belén; Frasheri, Mirgita; Cürüklü, Baran

2017-01-01

Major challenges are presented when managing a large number of heterogeneous vehicles that have to communicate underwater in order to complete a global mission in a cooperative manner. In this kind of application domain, sending data through the environment presents issues that surpass the ones found in other overwater, distributed, cyber-physical systems (i.e., low bandwidth, unreliable transport medium, data representation and hardware high heterogeneity). This manuscript presents a Publish/Subscribe-based semantic middleware solution for unreliable scenarios and vehicle interoperability across cooperative and heterogeneous autonomous vehicles. The middleware relies on different iterations of the Data Distribution Service (DDS) software standard and their combined work between autonomous maritime vehicles and a control entity. It also uses several components with different functionalities deemed as mandatory for a semantic middleware architecture oriented to maritime operations (device and service registration, context awareness, access to the application layer) where other technologies are also interweaved with middleware (wireless communications, acoustic networks). Implementation details and test results, both in a laboratory and a deployment scenario, have been provided as a way to assess the quality of the system and its satisfactory performance. PMID:28783049

An Optimized, Data Distribution Service-Based Solution for Reliable Data Exchange Among Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Molina, Jesús; Bilbao, Sonia; Martínez, Belén; Frasheri, Mirgita; Cürüklü, Baran

2017-08-05

Major challenges are presented when managing a large number of heterogeneous vehicles that have to communicate underwater in order to complete a global mission in a cooperative manner. In this kind of application domain, sending data through the environment presents issues that surpass the ones found in other overwater, distributed, cyber-physical systems (i.e., low bandwidth, unreliable transport medium, data representation and hardware high heterogeneity). This manuscript presents a Publish/Subscribe-based semantic middleware solution for unreliable scenarios and vehicle interoperability across cooperative and heterogeneous autonomous vehicles. The middleware relies on different iterations of the Data Distribution Service (DDS) software standard and their combined work between autonomous maritime vehicles and a control entity. It also uses several components with different functionalities deemed as mandatory for a semantic middleware architecture oriented to maritime operations (device and service registration, context awareness, access to the application layer) where other technologies are also interweaved with middleware (wireless communications, acoustic networks). Implementation details and test results, both in a laboratory and a deployment scenario, have been provided as a way to assess the quality of the system and its satisfactory performance.

Low Earth Orbiter: Terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kremer, Steven E.; Bundick, Steven N.

1999-01-01

In response to the current government budgetary environment that requires the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to do more with less, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility has developed and implemented a class of ground stations known as a Low Earth Orbiter-Terminal (LEO-T). This development thus provides a low-cost autonomous ground tracking service for NASA's customers. More importantly, this accomplishment provides a commercial source to spacecraft customers around the world to purchase directly from the company awarded the NASA contract to build these systems. A few years ago, NASA was driven to provide more ground station capacity for spacecraft telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) services with a decreasing budget. NASA also made a decision to develop many smaller, cheaper satellites rather than a few large spacecraft as done in the past. In addition, university class missions were being driven to provide their own TT&C services due to the increasing load on the NASA ground-tracking network. NASA's solution for this ever increasing load was to use the existing large aperture systems to support those missions requiring that level of performance and to support the remainder of the missions with the autonomous LEO-T systems. The LEO-T antenna system is a smaller, cheaper, and fully autonomous unstaffed system that can operate without the existing NASA support infrastructure. The LEO-T provides a low-cost, reliable space communications service to the expanding number of low-earth orbiting missions around the world. The system is also fostering developments that improve cost-effectiveness of autonomous-class capabilities for NASA and commercial space use. NASA has installed three LEO-T systems. One station is at the University of Puerto Rico, the second system is installed at the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska, and the third system is installed at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This paper will describe the current NASA implementation of the LEO-T network of antenna systems, the customers now being supported, and the services NASA can now offer with this new breed of autonomous ground stations. In addition, the paper will define the technical capabilities of the system and the cost effectiveness of using the systems including the capital costs of installation.

Preliminary GN&C Design for the On-Orbit Autonomous Assembly of Nanosatellite Demonstration Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pei, Jing; Walsh, Matt; Roithmayr, Carlos; Karlgaard, Chris; Peck, Mason; Murchison, Luke

2017-01-01

Small spacecraft autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) is an essential technology for future space structure assembly missions. The On-orbit Autonomous Assembly of Nanosatellites (OAAN) team at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) intends to demonstrate the technology to autonomously dock two nanosatellites to form an integrated system. The team has developed a novel magnetic capture and latching mechanism that allows for docking of two CubeSats without precise sensors and actuators. The proposed magnetic docking hardware not only provides the means to latch the CubeSats, but it also significantly increases the likelihood of successful docking in the presence of relative attitude and position errors. The simplicity of the design allows it to be implemented on many CubeSat rendezvous missions. Prior to demonstrating the docking subsystem capabilities on orbit, the GN&C subsystem should have a robust design such that it is capable of bringing the CubeSats from an arbitrary initial separation distance of as many as a few thousand kilometers down to a few meters. The main OAAN Mission can be separated into the following phases: 1) Launch, checkout, and drift, 2) Far-Field Rendezvous or Drift Recovery, 3) Proximity Operations, 4) Docking. This paper discusses the preliminary GN&C design and simulation results for each phase of the mission.

Imaging Flash Lidar for Autonomous Safe Landing and Spacecraft Proximity Operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amzajerdian, Farzin; Roback, Vincent E.; Brewster, Paul F.; Hines, Glenn D.; Bulyshev, Alexander E.

2016-01-01

3-D Imaging flash lidar is recognized as a primary candidate sensor for safe precision landing on solar system bodies (Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn moons, etc.), and autonomous rendezvous proximity operations and docking/capture necessary for asteroid sample return and redirect missions, spacecraft docking, satellite servicing, and space debris removal. During the final stages of landing, from about 1 km to 500 m above the ground, the flash lidar can generate 3-Dimensional images of the terrain to identify hazardous features such as craters, rocks, and steep slopes. The onboard fli1ght computer can then use the 3-D map of terrain to guide the vehicle to a safe location. As an automated rendezvous and docking sensor, the flash lidar can provide relative range, velocity, and bearing from an approaching spacecraft to another spacecraft or a space station from several kilometers distance. NASA Langley Research Center has developed and demonstrated a flash lidar sensor system capable of generating 16k pixels range images with 7 cm precision, at a 20 Hz frame rate, from a maximum slant range of 1800 m from the target area. This paper describes the lidar instrument design and capabilities as demonstrated by the closed-loop flight tests onboard a rocket-propelled free-flyer vehicle (Morpheus). Then a plan for continued advancement of the flash lidar technology will be explained. This proposed plan is aimed at the development of a common sensor that with a modest design adjustment can meet the needs of both landing and proximity operation and docking applications.

[Characteristics of communication systems of suspected occupational disease in the Autonomous Communities, Spain].

PubMed

García Gómez, Montserrat; Urbaneja Arrúe, Félix; García López, Vega; Estaban Buedo, Valentín; Rodríguez Suárez, Valentín; Miralles Martínez-Portillo, Lourdes; González García, Isabel; Egea Garcia, Josefa; Corraliza Infanzon, Emma; Ramírez Salvador, Laura; Briz Blázquez, Santiago; Armengol Rosell, Ricard; Cisnal Gredilla, José María; Correa Rodríguez, Juan Francisco; Coto Fernández, Juan Carlos; Díaz Peral, Mª Rosario; Elvira Espinosa, Mercedes; Fernández Fernández, Iñigo; García-Ramos Alonso, Eduardo; Martínez Arguisuelas, Nieves; Rivas Pérez, Ana Isabel

2017-03-17

There are several initiatives to develop systems for the notification of suspected occupational disease (OD) in different autonomous communities. The objective was to describe the status of development and characteristics of these systems implemented by the health authorities. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on the existence of systems for the information and surveillance of suspected OD, their legal framework, responsible institution and availability of information. A specific meeting was held and a survey was designed and sent to all autonomous communities and autonomous cities (AACC). Information was collected on the existence of a regulatory standard, assigned human resources, notifiers, coverage and number of suspected OD received, processed and recognized. 18 of 19 AACC responded. 10 have developed a suspected OD notification system, 3 of them supported by specific autonomic law. The notifiers were physicians of the public health services, physicians of the occupational health services and, in 2 cases, medical inspectors. 7 AACC had specific software to support the system. The OD recognition rate of suspected cases was 53% in the Basque Country; 41% in Castilla-La Mancha; 36% in Murcia; 32.6% in the Valencian Community and 31% in La Rioja. The study has revealed an heterogeneous development of suspected OD reporting systems in Spain. Although the trend is positive, only 55% of the AACC have some type of development and 39% have specific software supporting it. Therefore unequal OD recognition rates have been obtained depending on the territory.

Orbital Express Mission Operations Planning and Resource Management using ASPEN

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chouinard, Caroline; Knight, Russell; Jones, Grailing; Tran, Daniel

2008-01-01

As satellite equipment and mission operations become more costly, the drive to keep working equipment running with less man-power rises.Demonstrating the feasibility of autonomous satellite servicing was the main goal behind the Orbital Express (OE) mission. Planning the satellite mission operations for OE required the ability to create a plan which could be executed autonomously over variable conditions. The Automated-Scheduling and Planning Environment (ASPEN)tool, developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was used to create the schedule of events in each daily plan for the two satellites of the OE mission. This paper presents an introduction to the ASPEN tool, the constraints of the OE domain, the variable conditions that were presented within the mission, and the solution to operations that ASPEN provided. ASPEN has been used in several other domains, including research rovers, Deep Space Network scheduling research, and in flight operations for the ASE project's EO1 satellite. Related work is discussed, as are the future of ASPEN and the future of autonomous satellite servicing.

Sharing Service Resource Information for Application Integration in a Virtual Enterprise - Modeling the Communication Protocol for Exchanging Service Resource Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Hiroshi; Kawaguchi, Akira

Grid computing and web service technologies enable us to use networked resources in a coordinated manner. An integrated service is made of individual services running on coordinated resources. In order to achieve such coordinated services autonomously, the initiator of a coordinated service needs to know detailed service resource information. This information ranges from static attributes like the IP address of the application server to highly dynamic ones like the CPU load. The most famous wide-area service discovery mechanism based on names is DNS. Its hierarchical tree organization and caching methods take advantage of the static information managed. However, in order to integrate business applications in a virtual enterprise, we need a discovery mechanism to search for the optimal resources based on the given a set of criteria (search keys). In this paper, we propose a communication protocol for exchanging service resource information among wide-area systems. We introduce the concept of the service domain that consists of service providers managed under the same management policy. This concept of the service domain is similar to that for autonomous systems (ASs). In each service domain, the service information provider manages the service resource information of service providers that exist in this service domain. The service resource information provider exchanges this information with other service resource information providers that belong to the different service domains. We also verified the protocol's behavior and effectiveness using a simulation model developed for proposed protocol.

Systems and Methods for Automated Water Detection Using Visible Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rankin, Arturo L. (Inventor); Matthies, Larry H. (Inventor); Bellutta, Paolo (Inventor)

2016-01-01

Systems and methods are disclosed that include automated machine vision that can utilize images of scenes captured by a 3D imaging system configured to image light within the visible light spectrum to detect water. One embodiment includes autonomously detecting water bodies within a scene including capturing at least one 3D image of a scene using a sensor system configured to detect visible light and to measure distance from points within the scene to the sensor system, and detecting water within the scene using a processor configured to detect regions within each of the at least one 3D images that possess at least one characteristic indicative of the presence of water.

System for effecting underwater coupling of optical fiber cables characterized by a novel V-probe cable capture mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillenbrand, Christopher F.; Barron, Thomas D.; Nugent, David M.

1995-03-01

A submarine trails one fiber optic cable and an undersea vehicle is controlled by this first cable. A missile/torpedo trails a second cable that is to be coupled to the first cable. The second cable has a segment suspended vertically underwater between a buoyant pod and a sea anchor type buoy. The undersea vehicle, or Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, (AUV) hunts for the pod by conventional homing means. A forked cable pickup device in the nose of the AUV captures the suspended cable segment directing it into a slot so a male socket in the underside of the pod mates with a female socket in the slot.

SPARTAN-201-3 spacecraft prior to being re-captured

NASA Image and Video Library

1995-09-10

STS069-703-00H (10 September 1995) --- Prior to being re-captured by Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS), the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-201) spacecraft was recorded on film, backdropped against the darkness of space over a heavily cloud-covered Earth. Endeavour, with a five-member crew, launched on September 7, 1995, from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and ended its mission there on September 18, 1995, with a successful landing on Runway 33. The multifaceted mission carried a crew of astronauts David M. Walker, mission commander; Kenneth D. Cockrell, pilot; and James S. Voss (payload commander), James H. Newman and Michael L. Gernhardt, all mission specialists.

Autonomous caregiver following robotic wheelchair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratnam, E. Venkata; Sivaramalingam, Sethurajan; Vignesh, A. Sri; Vasanth, Elanthendral; Joans, S. Mary

2011-12-01

In the last decade, a variety of robotic/intelligent wheelchairs have been proposed to meet the need in aging society. Their main research topics are autonomous functions such as moving toward some goals while avoiding obstacles, or user-friendly interfaces. Although it is desirable for wheelchair users to go out alone, caregivers often accompany them. Therefore we have to consider not only autonomous functions and user interfaces but also how to reduce caregivers' load and support their activities in a communication aspect. From this point of view, we have proposed a robotic wheelchair moving with a caregiver side by side based on the MATLAB process. In this project we discussing about robotic wheel chair to follow a caregiver by using a microcontroller, Ultrasonic sensor, keypad, Motor drivers to operate robot. Using camera interfaced with the DM6437 (Davinci Code Processor) image is captured. The captured image are then processed by using image processing technique, the processed image are then converted into voltage levels through MAX 232 level converter and given it to the microcontroller unit serially and ultrasonic sensor to detect the obstacle in front of robot. In this robot we have mode selection switch Automatic and Manual control of robot, we use ultrasonic sensor in automatic mode to find obstacle, in Manual mode to use the keypad to operate wheel chair. In the microcontroller unit, c language coding is predefined, according to this coding the robot which connected to it was controlled. Robot which has several motors is activated by using the motor drivers. Motor drivers are nothing but a switch which ON/OFF the motor according to the control given by the microcontroller unit.

From the outside looking in: developing snapshot imaging spectro-polarimeters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dereniak, E. L.

2014-09-01

The information from a scene is critical in autonomous optical systems, and the variety of information that can be extracted is determined by the application. To characterize a target, the information of interest captured is spectral (λ), polarization (S) and distance (Z). There are many technologies that capture this information in different ways to identify the target. In many fields, such as mining and military reconnaissance, there is a need for rapid data acquisition and, for this reason, a relatively new method has been devised that can obtain all this information simultaneously. The need for snapshot acquisition of data without moving parts was the goal of the research. This paper reviews the chain of novel research instruments that were sequentially developed to capture spectral and polarization information of a scene in a snapshot or flash. The distance (Z) is yet to be integrated.

Low prevalence of high risk human papillomavirus in normal oral mucosa by hybrid capture 2

PubMed Central

González-Losa, Maria del Refugio; Manzano-Cabrera, Luis; Rueda-Gordillo, Florencio; Hernández-Solís, Sandra E.; Puerto-Solís, Luis

2008-01-01

High risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) are recognized as a necessary factor to development cervical cancer. During the last decade many studies have found HR-HPV in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and normal oral mucosa, however the association between HR-HPV and OSCC is still uncertain. The aim of the study was to determine DNA HR-HPV in normal oral cavity of healthy adults. A cross-sectional study was performed; samples from 77 patients with normal oral cavity were collected at the Dentistry school, Autonomous University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, México. HR-HPV was detected by hybrid capture 2. One sample out of 77(1.2%) was positive for HR-PVH. It was from a man of 50 years old. HRHPV is present in low rate among healthy oral mucosa. Hybrid capture 2 could be a good methodology for large epidemiology studies. PMID:24031173

Autonomous, Decentralized Grid Architecture: Prosumer-Based Distributed Autonomous Cyber-Physical Architecture for Ultra-Reliable Green Electricity Networks

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

None

2012-01-11

GENI Project: Georgia Tech is developing a decentralized, autonomous, internet-like control architecture and control software system for the electric power grid. Georgia Tech’s new architecture is based on the emerging concept of electricity prosumers—economically motivated actors that can produce, consume, or store electricity. Under Georgia Tech’s architecture, all of the actors in an energy system are empowered to offer associated energy services based on their capabilities. The actors achieve their sustainability, efficiency, reliability, and economic objectives, while contributing to system-wide reliability and efficiency goals. This is in marked contrast to the current one-way, centralized control paradigm.

[Factors related to lack of autonomous mobility during out-of-hospital emergency care].

PubMed

Montero García, Antonio; Morales Asencio, José Miguel; Trujillo Illescas, Juan Alfonso; Martí, Celia

2016-10-01

To explore the frequency of lack of autonomous mobility and factors related to it in patients requiring prehospital emergency services. Cross-sectional, observational, retrospective analysis. We identified a stratified random sample of patients attended by the public health emergency service of Andalusia in 2011. The sample included 280 patients with a mean age of 56 years; 63.9% were men. The majority were attended in homes and streets or other public spaces. Most were transported to a hospital in a mobile intensive care unit. The reasons for calling the service were most often related to chest pain or injuries. Loss of autonomous mobility was seen more often in men, when care was required in a public area, when there were injuries or altered vital signs, and when the patient required transport in a mobile intensive care unit. Dependence on others was significantly associated with the presence of a prior condition before the patient required transport (odds ratio [OR], 3.27; 95% CI, 1.60-6.33), the use of immobilization strategies (OR, 7.71; 95% CI, 1.7-34.96], and the use of ambulance transport (OR, 4.35; 95% CI, 1.63-11.60]. The following 2 variables were at the limit of significance: pain during the care process (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.99-1.29) and age (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.97-1.01). The profile we identified for patients and situations in which patients cannot move autonomously during prehospital emergency care can be used to plan preventive strategies to ensure patient safety.

MER Surface Phase; Blurring the Line Between Fault Protection and What is Supposed to Happen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reeves, Glenn E.

2008-01-01

An assessment on the limitations of communication with MER rovers and how such constraints drove the system design, flight software and fault protection architecture, blurring the line between traditional fault protection and expected nominal behavior, and requiring the most novel autonomous and semi-autonomous elements of the vehicle software including communication, surface mobility, attitude knowledge acquisition, fault protection, and the activity arbitration service.

Autonomous Cryogenics Loading Operations Simulation Software: Knowledgebase Autonomous Test Engineer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wehner, Walter S., Jr.

2013-01-01

Working on the ACLO (Autonomous Cryogenics Loading Operations) project I have had the opportunity to add functionality to the physics simulation software known as KATE (Knowledgebase Autonomous Test Engineer), create a new application allowing WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) creation of KATE schematic files and begin a preliminary design and implementation of a new subsystem that will provide vision services on the IHM (Integrated Health Management) bus. The functionality I added to KATE over the past few months includes a dynamic visual representation of the fluid height in a pipe based on number of gallons of fluid in the pipe and implementing the IHM bus connection within KATE. I also fixed a broken feature in the system called the Browser Display, implemented many bug fixes and made changes to the GUI (Graphical User Interface).

Uncertainty Concerning the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Red Clay's Data Management and Processing Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ammann, Charles

2010-01-01

For twenty-nine years, Red Clay Consolidated School District has managed data processing in a unique manner. Red Clay participates in the Data Service Center consortium to provide data management and processing services. This consortium is more independent than a department in the district but not as autonomous as an outsourced arrangement. While…

How Small Is Too Small? Technology into 2035

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

by Arrayed Polyimide Joint Actuators,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering 10, no. 3 [2000]: 337–49.) 6 A more integrated microrobot is...application-specific in- tegrated circuit used for overall control; three piezoelectric legs used for forward, reverse, and z-axis rotation move- ments...a piezoelectric touch sensor; and power storage Figure 3. Captured video image of an integrated and autonomous micro- robot. (Reproduced from Seth

SPARTAN-201 satellite lined up with RMS arm for recapture

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-09-15

STS064-76-035 (15 Sept. 1994) --- Backdropped against the darkness of space, the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 201 (SPARTAN-201) satellite is lined up with the space shuttle Discovery's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm for re-capture. The free-flying spacecraft had remained some 40 miles away from Discovery for over two days. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Autonomous Surface Sample Acquisition for Planetary and Lunar Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, D. P.

2007-08-01

Surface science sample acquisition is a critical activity within any planetary and lunar exploration mission, and our research is focused upon the design, implementation, experimentation and demonstration of an onboard autonomous surface sample acquisition capability for a rover equipped with a robotic arm upon which are mounted appropriate science instruments. Images captured by a rover stereo camera system can be processed using shape from stereo methods and a digital elevation model (DEM) generated. We have developed a terrain feature identification algorithm that can determine autonomously from DEM data suitable regions for instrument placement and/or surface sample acquisition. Once identified, surface normal data can be generated autonomously which are then used to calculate an arm trajectory for instrument placement and sample acquisition. Once an instrument placement and sample acquisition trajectory has been calculated, a collision detection algorithm is required to ensure the safe operation of the arm during sample acquisition.We have developed a novel adaptive 'bounding spheres' approach to this problem. Once potential science targets have been identified, and these are within the reach of the arm and will not cause any undesired collision, then the 'cost' of executing the sample acquisition activity is required. Such information which includes power expenditure and duration can be used to select the 'best' target from a set of potential targets. We have developed a science sample acquisition resource requirements calculation that utilises differential inverse kinematics methods to yield a high fidelity result, thus improving upon simple 1st order approximations. To test our algorithms a new Planetary Analogue Terrain (PAT) Laboratory has been created that has a terrain region composed of Mars Soil Simulant-D from DLR Germany, and rocks that have been fully characterised in the laboratory. These have been donated by the UK Planetary Analogue Field Study network, and constitute the science targets for our autonomous sample acquisition work. Our PAT Lab. terrain has been designed to support our new rover chassis which is based upon the ExoMars rover Concept-E mechanics which were investigated during the ESA ExoMars Phase A study. The rover has 6 wheel drives, 6 wheels steering, and a 6 wheel walking capability. Mounted on the rover chassis is the UWA robotic arm and mast. We have designed and built a PanCam system complete with a computer controlled pan and tilt mechanism. The UWA PanCam is based upon the ExoMars PanCam (Phase A study) and hence supports two Wide Angle Cameras (WAC - 64 degree FOV), and a High Resolution Camera (HRC - 5 degree FOV). WAC separation is 500 mm. Software has been developed to capture images which form the data input into our on-board autonomous surface sample acquisition algorithms.

Trust Management and Accountability for Internet Security

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Wayne W.

2011-01-01

Adversarial yet interacting interdependent relationships in information sharing and service provisioning have been a pressing issue of the Internet. Such relationships exist among autonomous software agents, in networking system peers, as well as between "service users and providers." Traditional "ad hoc" security approaches effective in…

Autonomous landing and ingress of micro-air-vehicles in urban environments based on monocular vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brockers, Roland; Bouffard, Patrick; Ma, Jeremy; Matthies, Larry; Tomlin, Claire

2011-06-01

Unmanned micro air vehicles (MAVs) will play an important role in future reconnaissance and search and rescue applications. In order to conduct persistent surveillance and to conserve energy, MAVs need the ability to land, and they need the ability to enter (ingress) buildings and other structures to conduct reconnaissance. To be safe and practical under a wide range of environmental conditions, landing and ingress maneuvers must be autonomous, using real-time, onboard sensor feedback. To address these key behaviors, we present a novel method for vision-based autonomous MAV landing and ingress using a single camera for two urban scenarios: landing on an elevated surface, representative of a rooftop, and ingress through a rectangular opening, representative of a door or window. Real-world scenarios will not include special navigation markers, so we rely on tracking arbitrary scene features; however, we do currently exploit planarity of the scene. Our vision system uses a planar homography decomposition to detect navigation targets and to produce approach waypoints as inputs to the vehicle control algorithm. Scene perception, planning, and control run onboard in real-time; at present we obtain aircraft position knowledge from an external motion capture system, but we expect to replace this in the near future with a fully self-contained, onboard, vision-aided state estimation algorithm. We demonstrate autonomous vision-based landing and ingress target detection with two different quadrotor MAV platforms. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of onboard, vision-based autonomous landing and ingress algorithms that do not use special purpose scene markers to identify the destination.

Autonomous Landing and Ingress of Micro-Air-Vehicles in Urban Environments Based on Monocular Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brockers, Roland; Bouffard, Patrick; Ma, Jeremy; Matthies, Larry; Tomlin, Claire

2011-01-01

Unmanned micro air vehicles (MAVs) will play an important role in future reconnaissance and search and rescue applications. In order to conduct persistent surveillance and to conserve energy, MAVs need the ability to land, and they need the ability to enter (ingress) buildings and other structures to conduct reconnaissance. To be safe and practical under a wide range of environmental conditions, landing and ingress maneuvers must be autonomous, using real-time, onboard sensor feedback. To address these key behaviors, we present a novel method for vision-based autonomous MAV landing and ingress using a single camera for two urban scenarios: landing on an elevated surface, representative of a rooftop, and ingress through a rectangular opening, representative of a door or window. Real-world scenarios will not include special navigation markers, so we rely on tracking arbitrary scene features; however, we do currently exploit planarity of the scene. Our vision system uses a planar homography decomposition to detect navigation targets and to produce approach waypoints as inputs to the vehicle control algorithm. Scene perception, planning, and control run onboard in real-time; at present we obtain aircraft position knowledge from an external motion capture system, but we expect to replace this in the near future with a fully self-contained, onboard, vision-aided state estimation algorithm. We demonstrate autonomous vision-based landing and ingress target detection with two different quadrotor MAV platforms. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of onboard, vision-based autonomous landing and ingress algorithms that do not use special purpose scene markers to identify the destination.

Navigation Architecture For A Space Mobile Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valdez, Jennifer E.; Ashman, Benjamin; Gramling, Cheryl; Heckler, Gregory W.; Carpenter, Russell

2016-01-01

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS) is a proposed beacon service to provide a global, space-based GPS augmentation service based on the NASA Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) System. The TASS signal will be tied to the GPS time system and usable as an additional ranging and Doppler radiometric source. Additionally, it will provide data vital to autonomous navigation in the near Earth regime, including space weather information, TDRS ephemerides, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), and forward commanding capability. TASS benefits include enhancing situational awareness, enabling increased autonomy, and providing near real-time command access for user platforms. As NASA Headquarters Space Communication and Navigation Office (SCaN) begins to move away from a centralized network architecture and towards a Space Mobile Network (SMN) that allows for user initiated services, autonomous navigation will be a key part of such a system. This paper explores how a TASS beacon service enables the Space Mobile Networking paradigm, what a typical user platform would require, and provides an in-depth analysis of several navigation scenarios and operations concepts.

Working Alliance and Stages of Change for Employment: The Intermediary Role of Autonomous Motivation, Outcome Expectancy and Vocational Rehabilitation Engagement.

PubMed

Iwanaga, Kanako; Chan, Fong; Tansey, Timothy N; Strauser, David; Ritter, Ellen; Bishop, Malachy; Brooks, Jessica

2018-05-30

Purpose Working alliance is one of the most important common factors for successful counseling/psychotherapy outcomes. Based on the empirical literature about working alliance, it seems that self-determination and self-efficacy theory (SDT/SET) can potentially be used as a motivational model to explain the relationship between working alliance and vocational rehabilitation (VR) outcomes. The purpose of this study is to evaluate three primary SDT/SET constructs, autonomous motivation, expectancy and engagement, as mediators for the relationship between working alliance and stages of change (SOC) for employment. Methods A serial multiple mediation analysis (SMMA) was computed to evaluate autonomy, outcome expectancy, and VR engagement as mediators of the relationship between working alliance and SOC for employment in a sample of 277 people with chronic illness and disability (CID) receiving services from state VR agencies in the United States. Results The SMMA results indicated that working alliance was positively associated with SOC for employment (total effect), while the direct effect between working alliance and SOC for employment was not significant after controlling for the effects of the mediators, indicating significant mediation effects. The mediation effects were estimates of the indirect effects for working alliance on SOC for employment through (a) autonomous motivation, (b) outcome expectancy, (c) VR engagement, and (d) autonomous motivation, outcome expectancy and VR engagement together. Conclusions The results indicated that a strong working alliance has the benefit of helping consumers develop autonomous motivation to work and increasing their vocational outcome expectancy and engagement in VR services, leading to employment.

Expressing Intervals in Automated Service Negotiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Kassidy P.; Warnier, Martijn; van Splunter, Sander; Brazier, Frances M. T.

During automated negotiation of services between autonomous agents, utility functions are used to evaluate the terms of negotiation. These terms often include intervals of values which are prone to misinterpretation. It is often unclear if an interval embodies a continuum of real numbers or a subset of natural numbers. Furthermore, it is often unclear if an agent is expected to choose only one value, multiple values, a sub-interval or even multiple sub-intervals. Additional semantics are needed to clarify these issues. Normally, these semantics are stored in a domain ontology. However, ontologies are typically domain specific and static in nature. For dynamic environments, in which autonomous agents negotiate resources whose attributes and relationships change rapidly, semantics should be made explicit in the service negotiation. This paper identifies issues that are prone to misinterpretation and proposes a notation for expressing intervals. This notation is illustrated using an example in WS-Agreement.

[Web accessibility of Internet appointment scheduling in primary care].

PubMed

Casasola Balsells, Luis Alejandro; Guerra González, Juan Carlos; Casasola Balsells, María Araceli; Pérez Chamorro, Vicente Antonio

2017-12-16

To assess the accessibility level of Internet appointment scheduling in primary care and the fulfilment of the requirements of Spanish legislation. Descriptive study of the accessibility of 18 web sites corresponding to the autonomic health services responsible for Internet appointment scheduling for primary health care services. The level of web accessibility was evaluated by means of five automated tools. Only six websites self-declared to be in compliance with level AA of WCAG 2.0. The level of web accessibility according to the legal requirements in Spain is low. The evaluation tools identified the main errors to be corrected. Most of the autonomic health services responsible for Internet appointment scheduling in primary care need to improve their level of web accessibility and ensure that it complies with Spanish legislation. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

An autonomous recovery mechanism against optical distribution network failures in EPON

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liem, Andrew Tanny; Hwang, I.-Shyan; Nikoukar, AliAkbar

2014-10-01

Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) is chosen for servicing diverse applications with higher bandwidth and Quality-of-Service (QoS), starting from Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), FTTB (business/building) and FTTO (office). Typically, a single OLT can provide services to both residential and business customers on the same Optical Line Terminal (OLT) port; thus, any failures in the system will cause a great loss for both network operators and customers. Network operators are looking for low-cost and high service availability mechanisms that focus on the failures that occur within the drop fiber section because the majority of faults are in this particular section. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an autonomous recovery mechanism that provides protection and recovery against Drop Distribution Fiber (DDF) link faults or transceiver failure at the ONU(s) in EPON systems. In the proposed mechanism, the ONU can automatically detect any signal anomalies in the physical layer or transceiver failure, switching the working line to the protection line and sending the critical event alarm to OLT via its neighbor. Each ONU has a protection line, which is connected to the nearest neighbor ONU, and therefore, when failure occurs, the ONU can still transmit and receive data via the neighbor ONU. Lastly, the Fault Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for recovery mechanism is presented. Simulation results show that our proposed autonomous recovery mechanism is able to maintain the overall QoS performance in terms of mean packet delay, system throughput, packet loss and EF jitter.

Shared vision and autonomous motivation vs. financial incentives driving success in corporate acquisitions

PubMed Central

Clayton, Byron C.

2015-01-01

Successful corporate acquisitions require its managers to achieve substantial performance improvements in order to sufficiently cover acquisition premiums, the expected return of debt and equity investors, and the additional resources needed to capture synergies and accelerate growth. Acquirers understand that achieving the performance improvements necessary to cover these costs and create value for investors will most likely require a significant effort from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) management teams. This understanding drives the common and longstanding practice of offering hefty performance incentive packages to key managers, assuming that financial incentives will induce in-role and extra-role behaviors that drive organizational change and growth. The present study debunks the assumptions of this common M&A practice, providing quantitative evidence that shared vision and autonomous motivation are far more effective drivers of managerial performance than financial incentives. PMID:25610406

Shared vision and autonomous motivation vs. financial incentives driving success in corporate acquisitions.

PubMed

Clayton, Byron C

2014-01-01

Successful corporate acquisitions require its managers to achieve substantial performance improvements in order to sufficiently cover acquisition premiums, the expected return of debt and equity investors, and the additional resources needed to capture synergies and accelerate growth. Acquirers understand that achieving the performance improvements necessary to cover these costs and create value for investors will most likely require a significant effort from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) management teams. This understanding drives the common and longstanding practice of offering hefty performance incentive packages to key managers, assuming that financial incentives will induce in-role and extra-role behaviors that drive organizational change and growth. The present study debunks the assumptions of this common M&A practice, providing quantitative evidence that shared vision and autonomous motivation are far more effective drivers of managerial performance than financial incentives.

Autonomous Navigation Improvements for High-Earth Orbiters Using GPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Long, Anne; Kelbel, David; Lee, Taesul; Garrison, James; Carpenter, J. Russell; Bauer, F. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center is currently developing autonomous navigation systems for satellites in high-Earth orbits where acquisition of the GPS signals is severely limited This paper discusses autonomous navigation improvements for high-Earth orbiters and assesses projected navigation performance for these satellites using Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) measurements. Navigation performance is evaluated as a function of signal acquisition threshold, measurement errors, and dynamic modeling errors using realistic GPS signal strength and user antenna models. These analyses indicate that an autonomous navigation position accuracy of better than 30 meters root-mean-square (RMS) can be achieved for high-Earth orbiting satellites using a GPS receiver with a very stable oscillator. This accuracy improves to better than 15 meters RMS if the GPS receiver's signal acquisition threshold can be reduced by 5 dB-Hertz to track weaker signals.

An agent-based peer-to-peer architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across virtual enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wenyu; Zhang, Shuai; Cai, Ming; Jian, Wu

2015-04-01

With the development of virtual enterprise (VE) paradigm, the usage of serviceoriented architecture (SOA) is increasingly being considered for facilitating the integration and utilisation of distributed manufacturing resources. However, due to the heterogeneous nature among VEs, the dynamic nature of a VE and the autonomous nature of each VE member, the lack of both sophisticated coordination mechanism in the popular centralised infrastructure and semantic expressivity in the existing SOA standards make the current centralised, syntactic service discovery method undesirable. This motivates the proposed agent-based peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture for semantic discovery of manufacturing services across VEs. Multi-agent technology provides autonomous and flexible problemsolving capabilities in dynamic and adaptive VE environments. Peer-to-peer overlay provides highly scalable coupling across decentralised VEs, each of which exhibiting as a peer composed of multiple agents dealing with manufacturing services. The proposed architecture utilises a novel, efficient, two-stage search strategy - semantic peer discovery and semantic service discovery - to handle the complex searches of manufacturing services across VEs through fast peer filtering. The operation and experimental evaluation of the prototype system are presented to validate the implementation of the proposed approach.

Automated fudicial labeling on human body data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewark, Erick A.; Nurre, Joseph H.

1998-03-01

The Cyberware WB4 whole body scanner generates a high- resolution data set of the outer surface of the human body. The acquisition of anthropometric data from this data set is important for the development of custom sizing for the apparel industry. Software for locating anthropometric landmarks from a cloud of more than 200,000 three-dimensional data points, captured from a human subject, is presented. The first phase of identification is to locate externally placed fudicials on the human body using luminance information captured at scan time. The fudicials are then autonomously labeled and categorized according to their general position and anthropometric significance in the scan. Once registration of the landmarks is complete, body measurements may be extracted for apparel sizing.

A collaborative smartphone sensing platform for detecting and tracking hostile drones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boddhu, Sanjay K.; McCartney, Matt; Ceccopieri, Oliver; Williams, Robert L.

2013-05-01

In recent years, not only United States Armed Services but other Law-enforcement agencies have shown increasing interest in employing drones for various surveillance and reconnaissance purposes. Further, recent advancements in autonomous drone control and navigation technology have tremendously increased the geographic extent of dronebased missions beyond the conventional line-of-sight coverage. Without any sophisticated requirement on data links to control them remotely (human-in-loop), drones are proving to be a reliable and effective means of securing personnel and soldiers operating in hostile environments. However, this autonomous breed of drones can potentially prove to be a significant threat when acquired by antisocial groups who wish to target property and life in urban settlements. To further escalate the issue, the standard detection techniques like RADARs, RF data link signature scanners, etc..., prove futile as the drones are smaller in size to evade successful detection by a RADAR based system in urban environment and being autonomous, have the capability of operating without a traceable active data link (RF). Hence, towards investigating possible practical solutions for the issue, the research team at AFRL's Tec^Edge Labs under SATE and YATE programs has developed a highly scalable, geographically distributable and easily deployable smartphone-based collaborative platform that can aid in detecting and tracking unidentified hostile drones. In its current state, this collaborative platform built on the paradigm of "Human-as-Sensors", consists primarily of an intelligent Smartphone application that leverages appropriate sensors on the device to capture a drone's attributes (flight direction, orientation, shape, color, etc..,) with real-time collaboration capabilities through a highly composable sensor cloud and an intelligent processing module (based on a Probabilistic model) that can estimate and predict the possible flight path of a hostile drone based on multiple (geographically distributed) observation data points. This developed collaborative sensing platform has been field tested and proven to be effective in providing real-time alerting mechanism for the personnel in the field to avert or subdue the potential damages caused by the detected hostile drones.

[A new prison health care model: the experience of the Basque Country].

PubMed

Zulaika, D; Etxeandia, P; Bengoa, A; Caminos, J; Arroyo-Cobo, J M

2012-02-01

A year after the transfer of prison health care functions and services from the State Administration to the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the process up to completion of the transfer, the current status of the transferred services and remaining challenges are described.

Secure, Autonomous, Intelligent Controller for Integrating Distributed Emergency Response Satellite Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivancic, W. D.; Paulsen, P. E.; Miller, E. M.; Sage, S. P.

This report describes a Secure, Autonomous, and Intelligent Controller for Integrating Distributed Emergency Response Satellite Operations. It includes a description of current improvements to existing Virtual Mission Operations Center technology being used by US Department of Defense and originally developed under NASA funding. The report also highlights a technology demonstration performed in partnership with the United States Geological Service for Earth Resources Observation and Science using DigitalGlobe® satellites to obtain space-based sensor data.

Autonomous Electrothermal Facility for Oil Recovery Intensification Fed by Wind Driven Power Unit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belsky, Aleksey A.; Dobush, Vasiliy S.

2017-10-01

This paper describes the structure of autonomous facility fed by wind driven power unit for intensification of viscous and heavy crude oil recovery by means of heat impact on productive strata. Computer based service simulation of this facility was performed. Operational energy characteristics were obtained for various operational modes of facility. The optimal resistance of heating element of the downhole heater was determined for maximum operating efficiency of wind power unit.

Automated and Autonomous Systems for Combat Service Support: Scoping Study and Technology Prioritisation

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

workshop, and use case development for automated and autonomous systems for CSS. The scoping study covers key concepts and trends, a technology scan, and...requirements and delimiters for the selected technologies. The report goes on to present detailed use cases for two technologies of interest: semi...selected use cases . As a result of the workshop, the large list of technologies and applications from the scoping study was narrowed down to the top

Precise laser gyroscope for autonomous inertial navigation

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

Kuznetsov, A G; Molchanov, A V; Izmailov, E A

2015-01-31

Requirements to gyroscopes of strapdown inertial navigation systems for aircraft application are formulated. The construction of a ring helium – neon laser designed for autonomous navigation is described. The processes that determine the laser service life and the relation between the random error of the angular velocity measurement and the surface relief features of the cavity mirrors are analysed. The results of modelling one of the promising approaches to processing the laser gyroscope signals are presented. (laser gyroscopes)

Data analysis-based autonomic bandwidth adjustment in software defined multi-vendor optical transport networks.

PubMed

Li, Yajie; Zhao, Yongli; Zhang, Jie; Yu, Xiaosong; Jing, Ruiquan

2017-11-27

Network operators generally provide dedicated lightpaths for customers to meet the demand for high-quality transmission. Considering the variation of traffic load, customers usually rent peak bandwidth that exceeds the practical average traffic requirement. In this case, bandwidth provisioning is unmetered and customers have to pay according to peak bandwidth. Supposing that network operators could keep track of traffic load and allocate bandwidth dynamically, bandwidth can be provided as a metered service and customers would pay for the bandwidth that they actually use. To achieve cost-effective bandwidth provisioning, this paper proposes an autonomic bandwidth adjustment scheme based on data analysis of traffic load. The scheme is implemented in a software defined networking (SDN) controller and is demonstrated in the field trial of multi-vendor optical transport networks. The field trial shows that the proposed scheme can track traffic load and realize autonomic bandwidth adjustment. In addition, a simulation experiment is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. We also investigate the impact of different parameters on autonomic bandwidth adjustment. Simulation results show that the step size and adjustment period have significant influences on bandwidth savings and packet loss. A small value of step size and adjustment period can bring more benefits by tracking traffic variation with high accuracy. For network operators, the scheme can serve as technical support of realizing bandwidth as metered service in the future.

Novel lineage patterns from an automated water sampler to probe marine microbial biodiversity with ships of opportunity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, Rowena F.; Picard, Kathryn T.; Hamilton, Kristina M.; Walne, Antony; Tarran, Glen A.; Mills, David; McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail; Edwards, Martin

2015-09-01

There is a paucity of data on long-term, spatially resolved changes in microbial diversity and biogeography in marine systems, and yet these organisms underpin fundamental ecological processes in the oceans affecting socio-economic values of the marine environment. We report results from a new autonomous Water and Microplankton Sampler (WaMS) that is carried within the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR). Whilst the CPR with its larger mesh size (270 μm), is designed to capture larger plankton, the WaMS was designed as an additional device to capture plankton below 50 μm and delicate larger species, often destroyed by net sampling methods. A 454 pyrosequencing and flow cytometric investigation of eukaryotic microbes using the partial 18S rDNA from thirteen WaMS samples collected over three months in the English Channel revealed a wide diversity of organisms. Alveolates, Fungi, and picoplanktonic Chlorophytes were the most common lineages captured despite the small sample volumes (200-250 ml). The survey also identified Cercozoa and MAST heterotrophic Stramenopiles, normally missed in microscopic-based plankton surveys. The most common was the likely parasitic LKM11 Rozellomycota lineage which comprised 43.2% of all reads and are rarely observed in marine pelagic surveys. An additional 9.5% of reads belonged to other parasitic lineages including marine Syndiniales and Ichthyosporea. Sample variation was considerable, indicating that microbial diversity is spatially or temporally patchy. Our study has shown that the WaMS sampling system is autonomous, versatile and robust, and due to its deployment on the established CPR network, is a cost-effective monitoring tool for microbial diversity for the detection of smaller and delicate taxa.

Reactive Sequencing for Autonomous Navigation Evolving from Phoenix Entry, Descent, and Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grasso, Christopher A.; Riedel, Joseph E.; Vaughan, Andrew T.

2010-01-01

Virtual Machine Language (VML) is an award-winning advanced procedural sequencing language in use on NASA deep-space missions since 1997, and was used for the successful entry, descent, and landing (EDL) of the Phoenix spacecraft onto the surface of Mars. Phoenix EDL utilized a state-oriented operations architecture which executed within the constraints of the existing VML 2.0 flight capability, compatible with the linear "land or die" nature of the mission. The intricacies of Phoenix EDL included the planned discarding of portions of the vehicle, the complex communications management for relay through on-orbit assets, the presence of temporally indeterminate physical events, and the need to rapidly catch up four days of sequencing should a reboot of the spacecraft flight computer occur shortly before atmospheric entry. These formidable operational challenges led to new techniques for packaging and coordinating reusable sequences called blocks using one-way synchronization via VML sequencing global variable events. The coordinated blocks acted as an ensemble to land the spacecraft, while individually managing various elements in as simple a fashion as possible. This paper outlines prototype VML 2.1 flight capabilities that have evolved from the one-way synchronization techniques in order to implement even more ambitious autonomous mission capabilities. Target missions for these new capabilities include autonomous touch-and-go sampling of cometary and asteroidal bodies, lunar landing of robotic missions, and ultimately landing of crewed lunar vehicles. Close proximity guidance, navigation, and control operations, on-orbit rendezvous, and descent and landing events featured in these missions require elaborate abort capability, manifesting highly non-linear scenarios that are so complex as to overtax traditional sequencing, or even the sort of one-way coordinated sequencing used during EDL. Foreseeing advanced command and control needs for small body and lunar landing guidance, navigation and control scenarios, work began three years ago on substantial upgrades to VML that are now being exercised in scenarios for lunar landing and comet/asteroid rendezvous. The advanced state-based approach includes coordinated state transition machines with distributed decision-making logic. These state machines are not merely sequences - they are reactive logic constructs capable of autonomous decision making within a well-defined domain. Combined with the JPL's AutoNav software used on Deep Space 1 and Deep Impact, the system allows spacecraft to autonomously navigate to an unmapped surface, soft-contact, and either land or ascend. The state machine architecture enabled by VML 2.1 has successfully performed sampling missions and lunar descent missions in a simulated environment, and is progressing toward flight capability. The authors are also investigating using the VML 2.1 flight director architecture to perform autonomous activities like rendezvous with a passive hypothetical Mars sample return capsule. The approach being pursued is similar to the touch-and-go sampling state machines, with the added complications associated with the search for, physical capture of, and securing of a separate spacecraft. Complications include optically finding and tracking the Orbiting Sample Capsule (OSC), keeping the OSC illuminated, making orbital adjustments, and physically capturing the OSC. Other applications could include autonomous science collection and fault compensation.

Autonomous Navigation Using Celestial Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Folta, David; Gramling, Cheryl; Leung, Dominic; Belur, Sheela; Long, Anne

1999-01-01

In the twenty-first century, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Enterprises envision frequent low-cost missions to explore the solar system, observe the universe, and study our planet. Satellite autonomy is a key technology required to reduce satellite operating costs. The Guidance, Navigation, and Control Center (GNCC) at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) currently sponsors several initiatives associated with the development of advanced spacecraft systems to provide autonomous navigation and control. Autonomous navigation has the potential both to increase spacecraft navigation system performance and to reduce total mission cost. By eliminating the need for routine ground-based orbit determination and special tracking services, autonomous navigation can streamline spacecraft ground systems. Autonomous navigation products can be included in the science telemetry and forwarded directly to the scientific investigators. In addition, autonomous navigation products are available onboard to enable other autonomous capabilities, such as attitude control, maneuver planning and orbit control, and communications signal acquisition. Autonomous navigation is required to support advanced mission concepts such as satellite formation flying. GNCC has successfully developed high-accuracy autonomous navigation systems for near-Earth spacecraft using NASA's space and ground communications systems and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Recently, GNCC has expanded its autonomous navigation initiative to include satellite orbits that are beyond the regime in which use of GPS is possible. Currently, GNCC is assessing the feasibility of using standard spacecraft attitude sensors and communication components to provide autonomous navigation for missions including: libration point, gravity assist, high-Earth, and interplanetary orbits. The concept being evaluated uses a combination of star, Sun, and Earth sensor measurements along with forward-link Doppler measurements from the command link carrier to autonomously estimate the spacecraft's orbit and reference oscillator's frequency. To support autonomous attitude determination and control and maneuver planning and control, the orbit determination accuracy should be on the order of kilometers in position and centimeters per second in velocity. A less accurate solution (one hundred kilometers in position) could be used for acquisition purposes for command and science downloads. This paper provides performance results for both libration point orbiting and high Earth orbiting satellites as a function of sensor measurement accuracy, measurement types, measurement frequency, initial state errors, and dynamic modeling errors.

Capturing Safety Requirements to Enable Effective Task Allocation Between Humans and Automaton in Increasingly Autonomous Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neogi, Natasha A.

2016-01-01

There is a current drive towards enabling the deployment of increasingly autonomous systems in the National Airspace System (NAS). However, shifting the traditional roles and responsibilities between humans and automation for safety critical tasks must be managed carefully, otherwise the current emergent safety properties of the NAS may be disrupted. In this paper, a verification activity to assess the emergent safety properties of a clearly defined, safety critical, operational scenario that possesses tasks that can be fluidly allocated between human and automated agents is conducted. Task allocation role sets were proposed for a human-automation team performing a contingency maneuver in a reduced crew context. A safety critical contingency procedure (engine out on takeoff) was modeled in the Soar cognitive architecture, then translated into the Hybrid Input Output formalism. Verification activities were then performed to determine whether or not the safety properties held over the increasingly autonomous system. The verification activities lead to the development of several key insights regarding the implicit assumptions on agent capability. It subsequently illustrated the usefulness of task annotations associated with specialized requirements (e.g., communication, timing etc.), and demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.

AGUIA: autonomous graphical user interface assembly for clinical trials semantic data services.

PubMed

Correa, Miria C; Deus, Helena F; Vasconcelos, Ana T; Hayashi, Yuki; Ajani, Jaffer A; Patnana, Srikrishna V; Almeida, Jonas S

2010-10-26

AGUIA is a front-end web application originally developed to manage clinical, demographic and biomolecular patient data collected during clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The diversity of methods involved in patient screening and sample processing generates a variety of data types that require a resource-oriented architecture to capture the associations between the heterogeneous data elements. AGUIA uses a semantic web formalism, resource description framework (RDF), and a bottom-up design of knowledge bases that employ the S3DB tool as the starting point for the client's interface assembly. The data web service, S3DB, meets the necessary requirements of generating the RDF and of explicitly distinguishing the description of the domain from its instantiation, while allowing for continuous editing of both. Furthermore, it uses an HTTP-REST protocol, has a SPARQL endpoint, and has open source availability in the public domain, which facilitates the development and dissemination of this application. However, S3DB alone does not address the issue of representing content in a form that makes sense for domain experts. We identified an autonomous set of descriptors, the GBox, that provides user and domain specifications for the graphical user interface. This was achieved by identifying a formalism that makes use of an RDF schema to enable the automatic assembly of graphical user interfaces in a meaningful manner while using only resources native to the client web browser (JavaScript interpreter, document object model). We defined a generalized RDF model such that changes in the graphic descriptors are automatically and immediately (locally) reflected into the configuration of the client's interface application. The design patterns identified for the GBox benefit from and reflect the specific requirements of interacting with data generated by clinical trials, and they contain clues for a general purpose solution to the challenge of having interfaces automatically assembled for multiple and volatile views of a domain. By coding AGUIA in JavaScript, for which all browsers include a native interpreter, a solution was found that assembles interfaces that are meaningful to the particular user, and which are also ubiquitous and lightweight, allowing the computational load to be carried by the client's machine.

Preparing for the future: a review of tools and strategies to support autonomous goal setting for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Hodgetts, Sandra; Park, Elly

2017-03-01

Despite recognized benefits, current clinical practice rarely includes direct input from children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in setting rehabilitation goals. This study reviews tools and evidence-based strategies to assist with autonomous goal settings for children and youth with ASD. This study included two components: (1) A scoping review of existing tools and strategies to assist with autonomous goal setting in individuals with ASD and (2) a chart review of inter-disciplinary service plan goals for children and youth with ASD. Eleven data sources, evaluating five different tools to assist with autonomous goal setting for children and youth with ASD, were found. Three themes emerged from the integration of the scoping review and chart review, which are discussed in the paper: (1) generalizability of findings, (2) adaptations to support participation and (3) practice implications. Children and youth with ASD can participate in setting rehabilitation goals, but few tools to support their participation have been evaluated, and those tools that do exist do not align well with current services foci. Visual aids appear to be one effective support, but further research on effective strategies for meaningful engagement in autonomous goal setting for children and youth with ASD is warranted. Implications for rehabilitation Persons with ASD are less self-determined than their peers. Input into one's own rehabilitation goals and priorities is an important component of self-determination. Few tools exist to help engage children and youth with ASD in setting their own rehabilitation goals. An increased focus on identifying, developing and evaluating effective tools and strategies to facilitate engagement of children and youth with ASD in setting their own rehabilitation goals is warranted.

Autonomous spacecraft maintenance study group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, M. H.; Low, G. D.

1981-01-01

A plan to incorporate autonomous spacecraft maintenance (ASM) capabilities into Air Force spacecraft by 1989 is outlined. It includes the successful operation of the spacecraft without ground operator intervention for extended periods of time. Mechanisms, along with a fault tolerant data processing system (including a nonvolatile backup memory) and an autonomous navigation capability, are needed to replace the routine servicing that is presently performed by the ground system. The state of the art fault handling capabilities of various spacecraft and computers are described, and a set conceptual design requirements needed to achieve ASM is established. Implementations for near term technology development needed for an ASM proof of concept demonstration by 1985, and a research agenda addressing long range academic research for an advanced ASM system for 1990s are established.

Fault tolerant and lifetime control architecture for autonomous vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogdanov, Alexander; Chen, Yi-Liang; Sundareswaran, Venkataraman; Altshuler, Thomas

2008-04-01

Increased vehicle autonomy, survivability and utility can provide an unprecedented impact on mission success and are one of the most desirable improvements for modern autonomous vehicles. We propose a general architecture of intelligent resource allocation, reconfigurable control and system restructuring for autonomous vehicles. The architecture is based on fault-tolerant control and lifetime prediction principles, and it provides improved vehicle survivability, extended service intervals, greater operational autonomy through lower rate of time-critical mission failures and lesser dependence on supplies and maintenance. The architecture enables mission distribution, adaptation and execution constrained on vehicle and payload faults and desirable lifetime. The proposed architecture will allow managing missions more efficiently by weighing vehicle capabilities versus mission objectives and replacing the vehicle only when it is necessary.

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

The Autonomic Intelligent Cyber Sensor (AICS) provides cyber security and industrial network state awareness for Ethernet based control network implementations. The AICS utilizes collaborative mechanisms based on Autonomic Research and a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to: 1) identify anomalous network traffic; 2) discover network entity information; 3) deploy deceptive virtual hosts; and 4) implement self-configuring modules. AICS achieves these goals by dynamically reacting to the industrial human-digital ecosystem in which it resides. Information is transported internally and externally on a standards based, flexible two-level communication structure.

Secure, Autonomous, Intelligent Controller for Integrating Distributed Emergency Response Satellite Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivancic, William D.; Paulsen, Phillip E.; Miller, Eric M.; Sage, Steen P.

2013-01-01

This report describes a Secure, Autonomous, and Intelligent Controller for Integrating Distributed Emergency Response Satellite Operations. It includes a description of current improvements to existing Virtual Mission Operations Center technology being used by US Department of Defense and originally developed under NASA funding. The report also highlights a technology demonstration performed in partnership with the United States Geological Service for Earth Resources Observation and Science using DigitalGlobe(Registered TradeMark) satellites to obtain space-based sensor data.

Autonomous Kinematic Calibration of the Robot Manipulator with a Linear Laser-Vision Sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Hee-Jun; Jeong, Jeong-Woo; Shin, Sung-Weon; Suh, Young-Soo; Ro, Young-Schick

This paper presents a new autonomous kinematic calibration technique by using a laser-vision sensor called "Perceptron TriCam Contour". Because the sensor measures by capturing the image of a projected laser line on the surface of the object, we set up a long, straight line of a very fine string inside the robot workspace, and then allow the sensor mounted on a robot to measure the point intersection of the line of string and the projected laser line. The data collected by changing robot configuration and measuring the intersection points are constrained to on a single straght line such that the closed-loop calibration method can be applied. The obtained calibration method is simple and accurate and also suitable for on-site calibration in an industrial environment. The method is implemented using Hyundai VORG-35 for its effectiveness.

Wind Turbine Contingency Control Through Generator De-Rating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frost, Susan; Goebel, Kai; Balas, Mark

2013-01-01

Maximizing turbine up-time and reducing maintenance costs are key technology drivers for wind turbine operators. Components within wind turbines are subject to considerable stresses due to unpredictable environmental conditions resulting from rapidly changing local dynamics. In that context, systems health management has the aim to assess the state-of-health of components within a wind turbine, to estimate remaining life, and to aid in autonomous decision-making to minimize damage to the turbine. Advanced contingency control is one way to enable autonomous decision-making by providing the mechanism to enable safe and efficient turbine operation. The work reported herein explores the integration of condition monitoring of wind turbines with contingency control to balance the trade-offs between maintaining system health and energy capture. The contingency control involves de-rating the generator operating point to achieve reduced loads on the wind turbine. Results are demonstrated using a high fidelity simulator of a utility-scale wind turbine.

Autonomous subpixel satellite track end point determination for space-based images.

PubMed

Simms, Lance M

2011-08-01

An algorithm for determining satellite track end points with subpixel resolution in spaced-based images is presented. The algorithm allows for significant curvature in the imaged track due to rotation of the spacecraft capturing the image. The motivation behind the subpixel end point determination is first presented, followed by a description of the methodology used. Results from running the algorithm on real ground-based and simulated spaced-based images are shown to highlight its effectiveness.

The flight telerobotic servicer and technology transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andary, James F.; Bradford, Kayland Z.

1991-01-01

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) project at the Goddard Space Flight Center is developing an advanced telerobotic system to assist in and reduce crew extravehicular activity (EVA) for Space Station Freedom (SSF). The FTS will provide a telerobotic capability in the early phases of the SSF program and will be employed for assembly, maintenance, and inspection applications. The current state of space technology and the general nature of the FTS tasks dictate that the FTS be designed with sophisticated teleoperational capabilities for its internal primary operating mode. However, technologies such as advanced computer vision and autonomous planning techniques would greatly enhance the FTS capabilities to perform autonomously in less structured work environments. Another objective of the FTS program is to accelerate technology transfer from research to U.S. industry.

Dynamics of heart rate variability analysed through nonlinear and linear dynamics is already impaired in young type 1 diabetic subjects.

PubMed

Souza, Naiara M; Giacon, Thais R; Pacagnelli, Francis L; Barbosa, Marianne P C R; Valenti, Vitor E; Vanderlei, Luiz C M

2016-10-01

Autonomic diabetic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of type 1 diabetes mellitus, and studies using heart rate variability to investigate these individuals have shown inconclusive results regarding autonomic nervous system activation. Aims To investigate the dynamics of heart rate in young subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus through nonlinear and linear methods of heart rate variability. We evaluated 20 subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus and 23 healthy control subjects. We obtained the following nonlinear indices from the recurrence plot: recurrence rate (REC), determinism (DET), and Shanon entropy (ES), and we analysed indices in the frequency (LF and HF in ms2 and normalised units - nu - and LF/HF ratio) and time domains (SDNN and RMSSD), through analysis of 1000 R-R intervals, captured by a heart rate monitor. There were reduced values (p<0.05) for individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus compared with healthy subjects in the following indices: DET, REC, ES, RMSSD, SDNN, LF (ms2), and HF (ms2). In relation to the recurrence plot, subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus demonstrated lower recurrence and greater variation in their plot, inter-group and intra-group, respectively. Young subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus have autonomic nervous system behaviour that tends to randomness compared with healthy young subjects. Moreover, this behaviour is related to reduced sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the autonomic nervous system.

Optimizing Aerobot Exploration of Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, Kevin S.

1997-03-01

Venus Flyer Robot (VFR) is an aerobot; an autonomous balloon probe designed for remote exploration of Earth's sister planet in 2003. VFR's simple navigation and control system permits travel to virtually any location on Venus, but it can survive for only a limited duration in the harsh Venusian environment. To help address this limitation, we develop: (1) a global circulation model that captures the most important characteristics of the Venusian atmosphere; (2) a simple aerobot model that captures thermal restrictions faced by VFR at Venus; and (3) one exact and two heuristic algorithms that, using abstractions (1) and (2), construct routes making the best use of VFR's limited lifetime. We demonstrate this modeling by planning several small example missions and a prototypical mission that explores numerous interesting sites recently documented in the plane tary geology literature.

Optimizing Aerobot Exploration of Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ford, Kevin S.

1997-01-01

Venus Flyer Robot (VFR) is an aerobot; an autonomous balloon probe designed for remote exploration of Earth's sister planet in 2003. VFR's simple navigation and control system permits travel to virtually any location on Venus, but it can survive for only a limited duration in the harsh Venusian environment. To help address this limitation, we develop: (1) a global circulation model that captures the most important characteristics of the Venusian atmosphere; (2) a simple aerobot model that captures thermal restrictions faced by VFR at Venus; and (3) one exact and two heuristic algorithms that, using abstractions (1) and (2), construct routes making the best use of VFR's limited lifetime. We demonstrate this modeling by planning several small example missions and a prototypical mission that explores numerous interesting sites recently documented in the plane tary geology literature.

KSC-08pd2387

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-08-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, technicians monitor the lifting of the Soft Capture Mechanism (SCM), part of the Soft Capture and Rendezvous System, or SCRS, from its shipping container. The SCRS will enable the future rendezvous, capture and safe disposal of Hubble by either a crewed or robotic mission. The ring-like device attaches to Hubble’s aft bulkhead. The SCRS greatly increases the current shuttle capture interfaces on Hubble, therefore significantly reducing the rendezvous and capture design complexities associated with the disposal mission. The SCRS comprises the Soft Capture Mechanism system and the Relative Navigation System and is part of the payload on the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission, STS-125, targeted for launch Oct. 8. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Trust Management in Swarm-Based Autonomic Computing Systems

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

Maiden, Wendy M.; Haack, Jereme N.; Fink, Glenn A.

2009-07-07

Reputation-based trust management techniques can address issues such as insider threat as well as quality of service issues that may be malicious in nature. However, trust management techniques must be adapted to the unique needs of the architectures and problem domains to which they are applied. Certain characteristics of swarms such as their lightweight ephemeral nature and indirect communication make this adaptation especially challenging. In this paper we look at the trust issues and opportunities in mobile agent swarm-based autonomic systems and find that by monitoring the trustworthiness of the autonomic managers rather than the swarming sensors, the trust managementmore » problem becomes much more scalable and still serves to protect the swarms. We also analyze the applicability of trust management research as it has been applied to architectures with similar characteristics. Finally, we specify required characteristics for trust management mechanisms to be used to monitor the trustworthiness of the entities in a swarm-based autonomic computing system.« less

Development and Evaluation of an Airborne Separation Assurance System for Autonomous Aircraft Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barhydt, Richard; Palmer, Michael T.; Eischeid, Todd M.

2004-01-01

NASA Langley Research Center is developing an Autonomous Operations Planner (AOP) that functions as an Airborne Separation Assurance System for autonomous flight operations. This development effort supports NASA s Distributed Air-Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM) operational concept, designed to significantly increase capacity of the national airspace system, while maintaining safety. Autonomous aircraft pilots use the AOP to maintain traffic separation from other autonomous aircraft and managed aircraft flying under today's Instrument Flight Rules, while maintaining traffic flow management constraints assigned by Air Traffic Service Providers. AOP is designed to facilitate eventual implementation through careful modeling of its operational environment, interfaces with other aircraft systems and data links, and conformance with established flight deck conventions and human factors guidelines. AOP uses currently available or anticipated data exchanged over modeled Arinc 429 data buses and an Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast 1090 MHz link. It provides pilots with conflict detection, prevention, and resolution functions and works with the Flight Management System to maintain assigned traffic flow management constraints. The AOP design has been enhanced over the course of several experiments conducted at NASA Langley and is being prepared for an upcoming Joint Air/Ground Simulation with NASA Ames Research Center.

A Single RF Emitter-Based Indoor Navigation Method for Autonomous Service Robots.

PubMed

Sherwin, Tyrone; Easte, Mikala; Chen, Andrew Tzer-Yeu; Wang, Kevin I-Kai; Dai, Wenbin

2018-02-14

Location-aware services are one of the key elements of modern intelligent applications. Numerous real-world applications such as factory automation, indoor delivery, and even search and rescue scenarios require autonomous robots to have the ability to navigate in an unknown environment and reach mobile targets with minimal or no prior infrastructure deployment. This research investigates and proposes a novel approach of dynamic target localisation using a single RF emitter, which will be used as the basis of allowing autonomous robots to navigate towards and reach a target. Through the use of multiple directional antennae, Received Signal Strength (RSS) is compared to determine the most probable direction of the targeted emitter, which is combined with the distance estimates to improve the localisation performance. The accuracy of the position estimate is further improved using a particle filter to mitigate the fluctuating nature of real-time RSS data. Based on the direction information, a motion control algorithm is proposed, using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) and A* path planning to enable navigation through unknown complex environments. A number of navigation scenarios were developed in the context of factory automation applications to demonstrate and evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed system.

A Single RF Emitter-Based Indoor Navigation Method for Autonomous Service Robots

PubMed Central

Sherwin, Tyrone; Easte, Mikala; Wang, Kevin I-Kai; Dai, Wenbin

2018-01-01

Location-aware services are one of the key elements of modern intelligent applications. Numerous real-world applications such as factory automation, indoor delivery, and even search and rescue scenarios require autonomous robots to have the ability to navigate in an unknown environment and reach mobile targets with minimal or no prior infrastructure deployment. This research investigates and proposes a novel approach of dynamic target localisation using a single RF emitter, which will be used as the basis of allowing autonomous robots to navigate towards and reach a target. Through the use of multiple directional antennae, Received Signal Strength (RSS) is compared to determine the most probable direction of the targeted emitter, which is combined with the distance estimates to improve the localisation performance. The accuracy of the position estimate is further improved using a particle filter to mitigate the fluctuating nature of real-time RSS data. Based on the direction information, a motion control algorithm is proposed, using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) and A* path planning to enable navigation through unknown complex environments. A number of navigation scenarios were developed in the context of factory automation applications to demonstrate and evaluate the functionality and performance of the proposed system. PMID:29443906

Investigating the Use of Cloudbursts for High-Throughput Medical Image Registration

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyunjoo; Parashar, Manish; Foran, David J.; Yang, Lin

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the use of clouds and autonomic cloudbursting to support a medical image registration. The goal is to enable a virtual computational cloud that integrates local computational environments and public cloud services on-the-fly, and support image registration requests from different distributed researcher groups with varied computational requirements and QoS constraints. The virtual cloud essentially implements shared and coordinated task-spaces, which coordinates the scheduling of jobs submitted by a dynamic set of research groups to their local job queues. A policy-driven scheduling agent uses the QoS constraints along with performance history and the state of the resources to determine the appropriate size and mix of the public and private cloud resource that should be allocated to a specific request. The virtual computational cloud and the medical image registration service have been developed using the CometCloud engine and have been deployed on a combination of private clouds at Rutgers University and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Amazon EC2. An experimental evaluation is presented and demonstrates the effectiveness of autonomic cloudbursts and policy-based autonomic scheduling for this application. PMID:20640235

Intergenerational concordance in Adult Attachment Interviews with mothers, fathers and adolescent sons and subsequent adjustment of sons to military service.

PubMed

Scharf, Miri; Mayseless, Ofra; Kivenson-Baron, Inbal

2012-01-01

The study examined: (1) the intergenerational concordance between parents and their adolescent sons using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) categories and state-of-mind scales; and (2) the contribution of parents' state of mind with respect to attachment to their sons' adjustment during a stressful separation, as well as the possibility that sons' AAI mediates the associations between parents' AAI and sons' adjustment. Eighty-eight adolescents and their parents were interviewed using the AAI during the son's senior year in high school. Approximately a year later, during the first phase of compulsory military service, the adolescents and their peers reported on the sons' adjustment. Results demonstrated AAI correspondence between mothers' (but not fathers) and sons' categories (autonomous versus non-autonomous) and associations between mothers', fathers' and sons' AAI state-of-mind scales. The adjustment of sons of non-autonomous mothers (in particular, preoccupied mothers) was inferior to the adjustment of others. Mothers' and fathers' state of mind scales were associated with sons' adjustment, but sons' AAI did not mediate this association. The uniqueness of adolescence, the importance of parents' state of mind and the differences between mothers and fathers are discussed.

Learner Engagement under the "Regulatory Gaze": Possibilities for Re-Positioning Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers as Autonomous Professionals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jovanovic, Jessie; Fane, Jennifer

2016-01-01

In a climate of increasing regulation within early childhood education and care services, and the greater re-positioning of professionals within public sectors, this article seeks to extend the literature surrounding risk and regulation in early childhood. In efforts to "push back" against the "regulatory gaze" in the early…

Study of Guidance Services in the High Schools, 1988-89. OREA Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mei, Dolores M.; And Others

Guidance services are an integral part of the New York City public high school system, but because each high school plans and implements its own guidance program autonomously, little is known about the actual organization and operation of guidance activities citywide. In March 1989 New York city high school guidance departments (N=122) were…

Flight Simulation of a 3 gram Autonomous Glider

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-24

are referred to as S(t) and Sdot(t), respectively. The rotational direction is in a 4 element vector q(t), a quaternion that captures the 3 degrees... angles of attack from 30º to -30º, and the lift and drag forces were measured at each angle . Figure 3 shows the results of these measurements. As...expected, within a certain range the lift forces vary roughly linearly versus angle of attack. The drag forces increase more dramatically as one

Realtime Decision Making on EO-1 Using Onboard Science Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sherwood, Robert; Chien, Steve; Davies, Ashley; Mandl, Dan; Frye, Stu

2004-01-01

Recent autonomy experiments conducted on Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) using the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) flight software has been used to classify key features in hyperspectral images captured by EO-1. Furthermore, analysis is performed by this software onboard EO-1 and then used to modify the operational plan without interaction from the ground. This paper will outline the overall operations concept and provide some details and examples of the onboard science processing, science analysis, and replanning.

A Lightweight Intelligent Virtual Cinematography System for Machinima Production

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

portmanteau of machine and cinema , machinima refers to the innovation of leveraging video game technology to greatly ease the creation of computer...selecting camera angles to capture the action of an a priori unknown script as aesthetically appropriate cinema . There are a number of challenges therein...Proc. of the 4th International Conf. on Autonomous Agents. Young, R.M. and Riedl, M.O. 2003. Towards an Architecture for Intelligent Control of Narrative in Interactive Virtual Worlds. In Proc. of IUI 2003.

Autonomous Mission Manager for Rendezvous, Inspection and Mating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zimpfer, Douglas J.

2003-01-01

To meet cost and safety objectives, space missions that involve proximity operations between two vehicles require a high level of autonomy to successfully complete their missions. The need for autonomy is primarily driven by the need to conduct complex operations outside of communication windows, and the communication time delays inherent in space missions. Autonomy also supports the goals of both NASA and the DOD to make space operations more routine, and lower operational costs by reducing the requirement for ground personnel. NASA and the DoD have several programs underway that require a much higher level of autonomy for space vehicles. NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) program has ambitious goals of reducing costs by a factor or 10 and improving safety by a factor of 100. DARPA has recently begun its Orbital Express to demonstrate key technologies to make satellite servicing routine. The Air Force's XSS-ll program is developing a protoflight demonstration of an autonomous satellite inspector. A common element in space operations for many NASA and DOD missions is the ability to rendezvous, inspect anclJor dock with another spacecraft. For DARPA, this is required to service or refuel military satellites. For the Air Force, this is required to inspect un-cooperative resident space objects. For NASA, this is needed to meet the primary SLI design reference mission of International Space Station re-supply. A common aspect for each of these programs is an Autonomous Mission Manager that provides highly autonomous planning, execution and monitoring of the rendezvous, inspection and docking operations. This paper provides an overview of the Autonomous Mission Manager (AMM) design being incorporated into many of these technology programs. This AMM provides a highly scalable level of autonomous operations, ranging from automatic execution of ground-derived plans to highly autonomous onboard planning to meet ground developed mission goals. The AMM provides the capability to automatically execute the plans and monitor the system performance. In the event of system dispersions or failures the AMM can modify plans or abort to assure overall system safety. This paper describes the design and functionality of Draper's AMM framework, presents concept of operations associated with the use of the AMM, and outlines the relevant features of the flight demonstrations.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease vs. Panayiotopoulos syndrome: an underestimated misdiagnosis in pediatric age?

PubMed

Parisi, Pasquale; Pacchiarotti, Claudia; Ferretti, Alessandro; Bianchi, Simona; Paolino, Maria Chiara; Barreto, Mario; Principessa, Luigi; Villa, Maria Pia

2014-12-01

Autonomic signs and symptoms could be of epileptic or nonepileptic origin, and the differential diagnosis depends on a number of factors which include the nature of the autonomic manifestations themselves, the occurrence of other nonictal autonomic signs/symptoms, and the age of the patient. Here, we describe twelve children (aged from ten months to six years at the onset of the symptoms) with Panayiotopoulos syndrome misdiagnosed as gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroesophageal reflux disease and Panayiotopoulos syndrome may represent an underestimated diagnostic challenge. When the signs/symptoms occur mainly during sleep, a sleep EEG or, if available, a polysomnographic evaluation may be the most useful investigation to make a differential diagnosis between autonomic epileptic and nonepileptic disorders. An early detection can reduce both the high morbidity related to mismanagement and the high costs to the national health service related to the incorrect diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. To decide if antiseizure therapy is required, one should take into account both the frequency and severity of epileptic seizures and the tendency to have potentially lethal autonomic cardiorespiratory involvement. In conclusion, we would emphasize the need to make a differential diagnosis between gastroesophageal reflux disease and Panayiotopoulos syndrome in patients with "an unusual" late-onset picture of GERD and acid therapy-resistant gastroesophageal reflux, especially if associated with other autonomic symptoms and signs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robot Evolutionary Localization Based on Attentive Visual Short-Term Memory

PubMed Central

Vega, Julio; Perdices, Eduardo; Cañas, José M.

2013-01-01

Cameras are one of the most relevant sensors in autonomous robots. However, two of their challenges are to extract useful information from captured images, and to manage the small field of view of regular cameras. This paper proposes implementing a dynamic visual memory to store the information gathered from a moving camera on board a robot, followed by an attention system to choose where to look with this mobile camera, and a visual localization algorithm that incorporates this visual memory. The visual memory is a collection of relevant task-oriented objects and 3D segments, and its scope is wider than the current camera field of view. The attention module takes into account the need to reobserve objects in the visual memory and the need to explore new areas. The visual memory is useful also in localization tasks, as it provides more information about robot surroundings than the current instantaneous image. This visual system is intended as underlying technology for service robot applications in real people's homes. Several experiments have been carried out, both with simulated and real Pioneer and Nao robots, to validate the system and each of its components in office scenarios. PMID:23337333

Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking Conference, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (ARD) will be a requirement for future space programs. Clear examples include satellite servicing, repair, recovery, and reboost in the near term, and the longer range lunar and planetary exploration programs. ARD will permit more aggressive unmanned space activities, while providing a valuable operational capability for manned missions. The purpose of the conference is to identify the technologies required for an on-orbit demonstration of ARD, assess the maturity of those technologies, and provide the necessary insight for a quality assessment of programmatic management, technical, schedule, and cost risks.

Experimental evaluation of the impact of packet capturing tools for web services.

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

Choe, Yung Ryn; Mohapatra, Prasant; Chuah, Chen-Nee

Network measurement is a discipline that provides the techniques to collect data that are fundamental to many branches of computer science. While many capturing tools and comparisons have made available in the literature and elsewhere, the impact of these packet capturing tools on existing processes have not been thoroughly studied. While not a concern for collection methods in which dedicated servers are used, many usage scenarios of packet capturing now requires the packet capturing tool to run concurrently with operational processes. In this work we perform experimental evaluations of the performance impact that packet capturing process have on web-based services;more » in particular, we observe the impact on web servers. We find that packet capturing processes indeed impact the performance of web servers, but on a multi-core system the impact varies depending on whether the packet capturing and web hosting processes are co-located or not. In addition, the architecture and behavior of the web server and process scheduling is coupled with the behavior of the packet capturing process, which in turn also affect the web server's performance.« less

47 CFR 43.21 - Transactions with affiliates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... file, by April 1 of each year, a report designed to capture trends in service quality under price cap... report designed to capture trends in service quality under price cap regulation. The report shall contain...) REPORTS OF COMMUNICATION COMMON CARRIERS AND CERTAIN AFFILIATES § 43.21 Transactions with affiliates. (a...

47 CFR 43.21 - Transactions with affiliates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... file, by April 1 of each year, a report designed to capture trends in service quality under price cap... report designed to capture trends in service quality under price cap regulation. The report shall contain...) REPORTS OF COMMUNICATION COMMON CARRIERS AND CERTAIN AFFILIATES § 43.21 Transactions with affiliates. (a...

Physiologic reactivity despite emotional resilience several years after direct exposure to terrorism.

PubMed

Tucker, Phebe M; Pfefferbaum, Betty; North, Carol S; Kent, Adrian; Burgin, Christie E; Parker, Don E; Hossain, Akm; Jeon-Slaughter, Haekyung; Trautman, Richard P

2007-02-01

Six and a half to 7 years after the 1995 terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, the authors assessed autonomic reactivity to trauma reminders and psychiatric symptoms in adults who had some degree of direct exposure to the blast. Sixty survivors who were listed in a state health department registry of persons exposed to the bombing and 60 age- and gender-matched members of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area community were assessed for symptoms of PTSD and depression and for axis I diagnoses. Heart rate and systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures were measured before, during, and after bombing-related interviews. The two groups were compared on both psychometric and physiologic assessments. Posttraumatic stress but not depressive symptoms were significantly more prevalent in the survivor group than in the comparison group, although symptoms were below levels considered clinically relevant. Despite apparent emotional resilience or recovery, blast survivors had significantly greater autonomic reactivity to trauma reminders on all measures than comparison subjects. The results suggest that physiologic assessment may capture long-term effects of terrorism that are not identified by psychometric instruments. The consequences of autonomic reactivity despite emotional resilience years after experiencing trauma are unknown but theoretically could range from facilitating a protective vigilance toward future disasters to more maladaptive avoidance behaviors, somatic symptoms, or medical problems.

Family planning and sexual health organizations: management lessons for health system reform.

PubMed

Ambegaokar, Maia; Lush, Louisiana

2004-10-01

Advocates of health system reform are calling for, among other things, decentralized, autonomous managerial and financial control, use of contracting and incentives, and a greater reliance on market mechanisms in the delivery of health services. The family planning and sexual health (FP&SH) sector already has experience of these. In this paper, we set forth three typical means of service provision within the FP&SH sector since the mid-1900s: independent not-for-profit providers, vertical government programmes and social marketing programmes. In each case, we present the context within which the service delivery mechanism evolved, the management techniques that characterize it and the lessons learned in FP&SH that are applicable to the wider debate about improving health sector management. We conclude that the FP&SH sector can provide both positive and negative lessons in the areas of autonomous management, use of incentives to providers and acceptors, balancing of centralization against decentralization, and employing private sector marketing and distribution techniques for delivering health services. This experience has not been adequately acknowledged in the debates about how to improve the quality and quantity of health services for the poor in developing countries. Health sector reform advocates and FP&SH advocates should collaborate within countries and regions to apply these management lessons. Copyright 2004 Oxford University Press

Satellite Docking Simulator with Generic Contact Dynamics Capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, O.; Crabtree, D.; Carr, R.; Gonthier, Y.; Martin, E.; Piedboeuf, J.-C.

2002-01-01

Satellite docking (and capture) systems are critical for the servicing or salvage of satellites. Satellite servicing has comparatively recently become a realistic and promising space operation/mission. Satellite servicing includes several of the following operations: rendezvous; docking (capturing); inspection; towing (transporting); refueling; refurbishing (replacement of faulty or "used-up" modules/boxes); and un-docking (releasing). Because spacecraft servicing has been, until recently non-feasible or non-economical, spacecraft servicing technology has been neglected. Accordingly, spacecraft designs have featured self- contained systems without consideration for operational servicing. Consistent with this view, most spacecrafts were designed and built without docking interfaces. If, through some mishap, a spacecraft was rendered non-operational, it was simply considered expendable. Several feasibility studies are in progress on salvaging stranded satellites (which, in fact had led to this project). The task of the designer of the docking system for a salvaging task is difficult. He/she has to work with whatever it is on orbit, and this excludes any special docking interfaces, which might have made his/her task easier. As satellite servicing becomes an accepted design requirement, many future satellites will be equipped with appropriate docking interfaces. The designer of docking systems will be faced with slightly different challenges: reliable, cost-effective, docking (and re-supply) systems. Thus, the role of designers of docking systems will increase from one of a kind, ad-hoc interfaces intended for salvaging operations, to docking systems for satellites and "caretaker" spacecraft which are meant for servicing and are produced in larger numbers. As in any space system (for which full and representative ground hardware test-beds are very expensive and often impossible to develop), simulations are mandatory for the development of systems and operations for satellite servicing. Simulations are also instrumental in concept studies during proposals and early development stages. Finally, simulations are useful during the operational phase of satellite servicing: improving the operational procedures; training ground operators; command and control, etc. Hence the need exists for a Satellite Servicing Simulator, which will support a project throughout its lifecycle. The paper addresses a project to develop a Simulink-based Satellite Docking Simulator (SDS) with generic Contact Dynamics (CD) capabilities. The simulator is intended to meet immediate practical demands for development of complex docking systems and operations at MD Robotics. The docking phase is the most critical and complex phase of the entire servicing sequence, and without docking there is no servicing. Docking mechanisms are often quite complex, especially when built to dock with a satellite manufactured without special docking interfaces. For successful docking operations, the design of a docking system must take into consideration: complexity of 3D geometric shapes defining the contact interfaces; sophistication of the docking mechanism; friction and stiction at the contacting surfaces; compliance (stiffness) and damping, in all axes; positional (translation and rotation) misalignments and relative velocities, in all axes; inertial properties of the docking satellites (including their distribution); complexity of the drive mechanisms and control sub-systems for the overall docking system; fully autonomous or tele-operated docking from the ground; etc. The docking simulator, which makes use of the proven Contact Dynamics Toolkit (CDT) developed by MD Robotics, is thus practically indispensable for the docking system designer. The use of the simulator could greatly reduce the prototyping and development time of a docking interface. A special feature of the simulator, which required an update of CDT, is variable step-size integration. This new capability permits increases in speed to accomplish all the simulation tasks.

Unified Simulation and Analysis Framework for Deep Space Navigation Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anzalone, Evan; Chuang, Jason; Olsen, Carrie

2013-01-01

As the technology that enables advanced deep space autonomous navigation continues to develop and the requirements for such capability continues to grow, there is a clear need for a modular expandable simulation framework. This tool's purpose is to address multiple measurement and information sources in order to capture system capability. This is needed to analyze the capability of competing navigation systems as well as to develop system requirements, in order to determine its effect on the sizing of the integrated vehicle. The development for such a framework is built upon Model-Based Systems Engineering techniques to capture the architecture of the navigation system and possible state measurements and observations to feed into the simulation implementation structure. These models also allow a common environment for the capture of an increasingly complex operational architecture, involving multiple spacecraft, ground stations, and communication networks. In order to address these architectural developments, a framework of agent-based modules is implemented to capture the independent operations of individual spacecraft as well as the network interactions amongst spacecraft. This paper describes the development of this framework, and the modeling processes used to capture a deep space navigation system. Additionally, a sample implementation describing a concept of network-based navigation utilizing digitally transmitted data packets is described in detail. This developed package shows the capability of the modeling framework, including its modularity, analysis capabilities, and its unification back to the overall system requirements and definition.

Microfluidic Capillaric Circuit for Rapid and Facile Bacteria Detection.

PubMed

Olanrewaju, Ayokunle Oluwafemi; Ng, Andy; DeCorwin-Martin, Philippe; Robillard, Alessandra; Juncker, David

2017-06-20

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are one of the most common bacterial infections and would greatly benefit from a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test. Although significant progress has been made in developing microfluidic systems for nucleic acid and whole bacteria immunoassay tests, their practical application is limited by complex protocols, bulky peripherals, and slow operation. Here we present a microfluidic capillaric circuit (CC) optimized for rapid and automated detection of bacteria in urine. Molds for CCs were constructed using previously established design rules, then 3D-printed and replicated into poly(dimethylsiloxane). CCs autonomously and sequentially performed all liquid delivery steps required for the assay. For efficient bacteria capture, on-the-spot packing of antibody-functionalized microbeads was completed in <20 s followed by autonomous sequential delivery of 100 μL of bacteria sample, biotinylated detection antibodies, fluorescent streptavidin conjugate, and wash buffer for a total volume ≈115 μL. The assay was completed in <7 min. Fluorescence images of the microbead column revealed captured bacteria as bright spots that were easily counted manually or using an automated script for user-independent assay readout. The limit of detection of E. coli in synthetic urine was 1.2 × 10 2 colony-forming-units per mL (CFU/mL), which is well below the clinical diagnostic criterion (>10 5 CFU/mL) for UTI. The self-powered, peripheral-free CC presented here has potential for use in rapid point-of-care UTI screening.

Secure Autonomous Automated Scheduling (SAAS). Rev. 1.1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walke, Jon G.; Dikeman, Larry; Sage, Stephen P.; Miller, Eric M.

2010-01-01

This report describes network-centric operations, where a virtual mission operations center autonomously receives sensor triggers, and schedules space and ground assets using Internet-based technologies and service-oriented architectures. For proof-of-concept purposes, sensor triggers are received from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to determine targets for space-based sensors. The Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) Disaster Monitoring Constellation satellite, the UK-DMC, is used as the space-based sensor. The UK-DMC's availability is determined via machine-to-machine communications using SSTL's mission planning system. Access to/from the UK-DMC for tasking and sensor data is via SSTL's and Universal Space Network's (USN) ground assets. The availability and scheduling of USN's assets can also be performed autonomously via machine-to-machine communications. All communication, both on the ground and between ground and space, uses open Internet standards

Situation Awareness of Onboard System Autonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schreckenghost, Debra; Thronesbery, Carroll; Hudson, Mary Beth

2005-01-01

We have developed intelligent agent software for onboard system autonomy. Our approach is to provide control agents that automate crew and vehicle systems, and operations assistants that aid humans in working with these autonomous systems. We use the 3 Tier control architecture to develop the control agent software that automates system reconfiguration and routine fault management. We use the Distributed Collaboration and Interaction (DCI) System to develop the operations assistants that provide human services, including situation summarization, event notification, activity management, and support for manual commanding of autonomous system. In this paper we describe how the operations assistants aid situation awareness of the autonomous control agents. We also describe our evaluation of the DCI System to support control engineers during a ground test at Johnson Space Center (JSC) of the Post Processing System (PPS) for regenerative water recovery.

Impact of Diabetes Type 1 in Children on Autonomic Modulation at Rest and in Response to the Active Orthostatic Test

PubMed Central

Giacon, Thais Roque; Vanderlei, Franciele Marques; Christofaro, Diego Giulliano Destro; Vanderlei, Luiz Carlos Marques

2016-01-01

Introduction Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1), of which one of the first subclinical manifestations is changes in heart rate variability (HRV). Thus, analysis of HRV associated with the autonomic active orthostatic test is important in this population. Objectives To analyze the autonomic modulation responses induced by the implementation of the active orthostatic test, in children with DM1, and study the autonomic modulation by means of HRV indices. Method Data of 35 children were analyzed, of both sexes, aged between 7 and 15 years, who were divided into two groups: Diabetic (n = 16) and Control (n = 19). The following variables were collected initially: weight, height, body fat percentage, heart rate, blood pressure and casual blood glucose. Subsequently, for analysis of autonomic modulation, the beat-to-beat heart rate was captured by a heart rate monitor in the supine position for 30 minutes and after 10 minutes standing during performance of the active orthostatic test. HRV indices were calculated in the time and frequency domains. For data analysis, covariance analysis was used to compare groups and ANOVA for repeated measures to compare the effects of the active orthostatic test. These data were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, body fat percentage and casual blood glucose, with a 5% significance level. Results The results suggested that diabetic children at rest present a decrease in SDNN (50.4 vs. 75.2), rMSSD (38.7 vs 57.6) and LF [ms2] (693.6 vs 1874.6). During the active orthostatic test the children in both groups demonstrated a reduction in SDNN, RMSSD and LF [ms2] compared to the resting position, and this response was less pronounced in the diabetic group. Conclusion We conclude that regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, body fat percentage and casual blood glucose, performing the active orthostatic test promoted increased sympathetic modulation and reduced parasympathetic modulation in both groups, and this response was less pronounced in diabetic children, who presented reduced overall variability and parasympathetic modulation. PMID:27788152

Impact of Diabetes Type 1 in Children on Autonomic Modulation at Rest and in Response to the Active Orthostatic Test.

PubMed

Giacon, Thais Roque; Vanderlei, Franciele Marques; Christofaro, Diego Giulliano Destro; Vanderlei, Luiz Carlos Marques

2016-01-01

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy is one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1), of which one of the first subclinical manifestations is changes in heart rate variability (HRV). Thus, analysis of HRV associated with the autonomic active orthostatic test is important in this population. To analyze the autonomic modulation responses induced by the implementation of the active orthostatic test, in children with DM1, and study the autonomic modulation by means of HRV indices. Data of 35 children were analyzed, of both sexes, aged between 7 and 15 years, who were divided into two groups: Diabetic (n = 16) and Control (n = 19). The following variables were collected initially: weight, height, body fat percentage, heart rate, blood pressure and casual blood glucose. Subsequently, for analysis of autonomic modulation, the beat-to-beat heart rate was captured by a heart rate monitor in the supine position for 30 minutes and after 10 minutes standing during performance of the active orthostatic test. HRV indices were calculated in the time and frequency domains. For data analysis, covariance analysis was used to compare groups and ANOVA for repeated measures to compare the effects of the active orthostatic test. These data were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, body fat percentage and casual blood glucose, with a 5% significance level. The results suggested that diabetic children at rest present a decrease in SDNN (50.4 vs. 75.2), rMSSD (38.7 vs 57.6) and LF [ms2] (693.6 vs 1874.6). During the active orthostatic test the children in both groups demonstrated a reduction in SDNN, RMSSD and LF [ms2] compared to the resting position, and this response was less pronounced in the diabetic group. We conclude that regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, body fat percentage and casual blood glucose, performing the active orthostatic test promoted increased sympathetic modulation and reduced parasympathetic modulation in both groups, and this response was less pronounced in diabetic children, who presented reduced overall variability and parasympathetic modulation.

Interoperability between loose-coupled distributed resources and application across autonomous systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrott, M.; Orcutt, J.; Chave, A.

2005-12-01

The following is an example to illustrate the concept, possibilities and issues associated with the interoperability between loose-coupled distributed resources and application across autonomous systems. Take, for example, printing. If you are in your office (or home office) environment, it is likely that you select "Print" in your application, select a printer from the list of printers offered those "loaded" onto your computer, and your computer communicates directly with the selected printer to produce a paper copy of your document. If you are sitting in a coffee shop, however, selecting the same printer likely produces no immediate results. Imagine if, in contrast to the scenario just outlined, your selection of the "Print" command produced a list of printers available at nearby copy service shops (e.g., Ali's Copy & Print), public libraries and "friends you forgot you had." This list might include information regarding how far the printer is from your current location and how much you would be charged to print your document on it. Deciding that you'll gladly pay .30 cents to save a half mile walk, you select Ali's Copy & Print. Your system authorizes payment, Ali's Copy & Print authorizes service, and your document appears on Ali's printer, ready for pickup. This latter scenario requires the introduction of a layer of negotiation between producers and consumers of network services that is not available today. Rather than a resource consumer (your application) seeking to connect to a specific resource (your printer), a resource consumer presents a request for service which one or more producers offer to fill. The beginning and the end of the transaction remain unchanged: you select the print command and the system presents potential printers, and, eventually, your system presents a command to a printer: however, an intermediate negotiation takes place to determine the when, where who and how. The implication of this model is that, fundamentally, networks must shift from being collections of known resources to being confederated communities of potential resources. In other words, producers must be able to advertise their services, consumers must be able to present their needs, and the two must be able to reach an agreement on services rendered and payments received. Creating a confederated community of potential resources poses three basic technical challenges. First, collaborating parties in a service must be able to describe, identify and communicate themselves in manner that is mutually understandable. Second, parties must be able to establish trust that each are legitimate; potentially requiring mutually trusted third party verification. Third, parties must be able to govern negotiations and agreements in which they participate. This presentation addresses these three challenges in manner that provides a durable set of solutions, by investigate the following questions in the context of a loose-coupled distributed environment between autonomous systems: 1. Characterize the domain of the relationship between the resources offered by one autonomous system and the utilization of those resource by applications used in another autonomous system? 2. What models of interactions can be employed to support the domain of relationship? 3. What are the metrics for evaluating these relationships? 4. What changes the nature of the relationship between the resource and the application?

Autonomous control of production networks using a pheromone approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armbruster, D.; de Beer, C.; Freitag, M.; Jagalski, T.; Ringhofer, C.

2006-04-01

The flow of parts through a production network is usually pre-planned by a central control system. Such central control fails in presence of highly fluctuating demand and/or unforeseen disturbances. To manage such dynamic networks according to low work-in-progress and short throughput times, an autonomous control approach is proposed. Autonomous control means a decentralized routing of the autonomous parts themselves. The parts’ decisions base on backward propagated information about the throughput times of finished parts for different routes. So, routes with shorter throughput times attract parts to use this route again. This process can be compared to ants leaving pheromones on their way to communicate with following ants. The paper focuses on a mathematical description of such autonomously controlled production networks. A fluid model with limited service rates in a general network topology is derived and compared to a discrete-event simulation model. Whereas the discrete-event simulation of production networks is straightforward, the formulation of the addressed scenario in terms of a fluid model is challenging. Here it is shown, how several problems in a fluid model formulation (e.g. discontinuities) can be handled mathematically. Finally, some simulation results for the pheromone-based control with both the discrete-event simulation model and the fluid model are presented for a time-dependent influx.

An urban observatory for quantifying phosphorus and suspended solid loads in combined natural and stormwater conveyances.

PubMed

Melcher, Anthony A; Horsburgh, Jeffery S

2017-06-01

Water quality in urban streams and stormwater systems is highly dynamic, both spatially and temporally, and can change drastically during storm events. Infrequent grab samples commonly collected for estimating pollutant loadings are insufficient to characterize water quality in many urban water systems. In situ water quality measurements are being used as surrogates for continuous pollutant load estimates; however, relatively few studies have tested the validity of surrogate indicators in urban stormwater conveyances. In this paper, we describe an observatory aimed at demonstrating the infrastructure required for surrogate monitoring in urban water systems and for capturing the dynamic behavior of stormwater-driven pollutant loads. We describe the instrumentation of multiple, autonomous water quality and quantity monitoring sites within an urban observatory. We also describe smart and adaptive sampling procedures implemented to improve data collection for developing surrogate relationships and for capturing the temporal and spatial variability of pollutant loading events in urban watersheds. Results show that the observatory is able to capture short-duration storm events within multiple catchments and, through inter-site communication, sampling efforts can be synchronized across multiple monitoring sites.

System for effecting underwater coupling of optical fiber cables characterized by a novel lateral arm cable capture mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillenbrand, Christopher F.

1995-03-01

A submarine trails one fiber optic cable and an undersea vehicle is controlled by this first cable. A missile/torpedo trails a second cable that is to be coupled to the first cable. The second cable has a segment suspended vertically underwater between a buoyant pod and a sea anchor type buoy. The undersea vehicle, or autonomous undersea vehicle, (AUV) hunts for the pod by conventional homing components, and cable capturing arms on the vehicle direct the cable's movement relative to the vehicle into a pod mating position that achieves optical coupling of the two cables. In one embodiment two arms are pivotably mounted to the vehicle's sides so one arm captures the suspended cable segment directing it into a slot so a male socket in the underside of the pod mates with a female socket in the slot. Another embodiment accomplishes the same result with a device in which the arms are formed as the off-shoots of a forked cable pickup device in the nose of the AUV.

Featured Image: Fireball After a Temporary Capture?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-06-01

This image of a fireball was captured in the Czech Republic by cameras at a digital autonomous observatory in the village of Kunak. This observatory is part of a network of stations known as the European Fireball Network, and this particular meteoroid detection, labeled EN130114, is notable because it has the lowest initial velocity of any natural object ever observed by the network. Led by David Clark (University of Western Ontario), the authors of a recent study speculate that before this meteoroid impacted Earth, it may have been a Temporarily Captured Orbiter (TCO). TCOs are near-Earth objects that make a few orbits of Earth before returning to heliocentric orbits. Only one has ever been observed to date, and though they are thought to make up 0.1% of all meteoroids, EN130114 is the first event ever detected that exhibits conclusive behavior of a TCO. For more information on EN130114 and why TCOs are important to study, check out the paper below!CitationDavid L. Clark et al 2016 AJ 151 135. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/151/6/135

Ecosystem Services Deserve Better than “Dirty Paper” ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This letter presents our rationale for promoting pluralism in methods to capture peoples values associated with changes in ecosystems services, some of which do not involve monetization. This Letter to the Editor is in response to a Letter submitted to the journal that questions why an earlier paper (Selck et al. 2016; ORD-015297) hadn’t lobbied harder for monetization of ecosystem services to inform decisions. We present our rationale for promoting pluralism in methods to capture peoples values associated with changes in ecosystems services, some of which do not involve monetization.

Safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Little Karoo, South Africa.

PubMed

Egoh, Benis N; Reyers, Belinda; Carwardine, Josie; Bode, Michael; O'Farrell, Patrick J; Wilson, Kerrie A; Possingham, Hugh P; Rouget, Mathieu; de Lange, Willem; Richardson, David M; Cowling, Richard M

2010-08-01

Global declines in biodiversity and the widespread degradation of ecosystem services have led to urgent calls to safeguard both. Responses to this urgency include calls to integrate the needs of ecosystem services and biodiversity into the design of conservation interventions. The benefits of such integration are purported to include improvements in the justification and resources available for these interventions. Nevertheless, additional costs and potential trade-offs remain poorly understood in the design of interventions that seek to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. We sought to investigate the synergies and trade-offs in safeguarding ecosystem services and biodiversity in South Africa's Little Karoo. We used data on three ecosystem services--carbon storage, water recharge, and fodder provision--and data on biodiversity to examine several conservation planning scenarios. First, we investigated the amount of each ecosystem service captured incidentally by a conservation plan to meet targets for biodiversity only while minimizing opportunity costs. We then examined the costs of adding targets for ecosystem services into this conservation plan. Finally, we explored trade-offs between biodiversity and ecosystem service targets at a fixed cost. At least 30% of each ecosystem service was captured incidentally when all of biodiversity targets were met. By including data on ecosystem services, we increased the amount of services captured by at least 20% for all three services without additional costs. When biodiversity targets were reduced by 8%, an extra 40% of fodder provision and water recharge were obtained and 58% of carbon could be captured for the same cost. The opportunity cost (in terms of forgone production) of safeguarding 100% of the biodiversity targets was about US$500 million. Our results showed that with a small decrease in biodiversity target achievement, substantial gains for the conservation of ecosystem services can be achieved within our biodiversity priority areas for no extra cost.

Autonomous Navigation and Control

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-01

Ball Aerospace, Cincinnati Electronics, COMSAT, DSI, Harris Corporation, M/A-COM, Qualcomm , RCA, Rockwell and SPACECOM. The objective of the satellite...constellation was to provide global prioritized data-voice service during peacetime and essential communications during crises . This was to be

Teaching and implementing autonomous robotic lab walkthroughs in a biotech laboratory through model-based visual tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojtczyk, Martin; Panin, Giorgio; Röder, Thorsten; Lenz, Claus; Nair, Suraj; Heidemann, Rüdiger; Goudar, Chetan; Knoll, Alois

2010-01-01

After utilizing robots for more than 30 years for classic industrial automation applications, service robots form a constantly increasing market, although the big breakthrough is still awaited. Our approach to service robots was driven by the idea of supporting lab personnel in a biotechnology laboratory. After initial development in Germany, a mobile robot platform extended with an industrial manipulator and the necessary sensors for indoor localization and object manipulation, has been shipped to Bayer HealthCare in Berkeley, CA, USA, a global player in the sector of biopharmaceutical products, located in the San Francisco bay area. The determined goal of the mobile manipulator is to support the off-shift staff to carry out completely autonomous or guided, remote controlled lab walkthroughs, which we implement utilizing a recent development of our computer vision group: OpenTL - an integrated framework for model-based visual tracking.

Towards an autonomous telescope system: the Test-Bed Telescope project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Racero, E.; Ocaña, F.; Ponz, D.; the TBT Consortium

2015-05-01

In the context of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme of ESA, it is foreseen to deploy several large robotic telescopes in remote locations to provide surveillance and tracking services for man-made as well as natural near-Earth objects (NEOs). The present project, termed Telescope Test Bed (TBT) is being developed under ESA's General Studies and Technology Programme, and shall implement a test-bed for the validation of an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario, consisting of two telescopes located in Spain and Australia, to collect representative test data for precursor NEO services. It is foreseen that this test-bed environment will be used to validate future prototype software systems as well as to evaluate remote monitoring and control techniques. The test-bed system will be capable to deliver astrometric and photometric data of the observed objects in near real-time. This contribution describes the current status of the project.

Autonomous rendezvous and docking: A commercial approach to on-orbit technology validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tchoryk, Peter, Jr.; Whitten, Raymond P.

1991-01-01

SpARC, in conjunction with its corporate affiliates, is planning an on-orbit validation of autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) technology. The emphasis in this program is to utilize existing technology and commercially available components wherever possible. The primary subsystems to be validated by this demonstration include GPS receivers for navigation, a video-based sensor for proximity operations, a fluid connector mechanism to demonstrate fluid resupply capability, and a compliant, single-point docking mechanism. The focus for this initial experiment will be ELV based and will make use of two residual Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) service modules. The first COMET spacecraft will be launched in late 1992 and will serve as the target vehicle. After the second COMET spacecraft has been launched in late 1994, the ARD demonstration will take place. The service module from the second COMET will serve as the chase vehicle.

Embedding Human Expert Cognition Into Autonomous UAS Trajectory Planning.

PubMed

Narayan, Pritesh; Meyer, Patrick; Campbell, Duncan

2013-04-01

This paper presents a new approach for the inclusion of human expert cognition into autonomous trajectory planning for unmanned aerial systems (UASs) operating in low-altitude environments. During typical UAS operations, multiple objectives may exist; therefore, the use of multicriteria decision aid techniques can potentially allow for convergence to trajectory solutions which better reflect overall mission requirements. In that context, additive multiattribute value theory has been applied to optimize trajectories with respect to multiple objectives. A graphical user interface was developed to allow for knowledge capture from a human decision maker (HDM) through simulated decision scenarios. The expert decision data gathered are converted into value functions and corresponding criteria weightings using utility additive theory. The inclusion of preferences elicited from HDM data within an automated decision system allows for the generation of trajectories which more closely represent the candidate HDM decision preferences. This approach has been demonstrated in this paper through simulation using a fixed-wing UAS operating in low-altitude environments.

Is paramecium swimming autonomic?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandyopadhyay, Promode R.; Toplosky, Norman; Hansen, Joshua

2010-11-01

We seek to explore if the swimming of paramecium has an underlying autonomic mechanism. Such robotic elements may be useful in capturing the disturbance field in an environment in real time. Experimental evidence is emerging that motion control neurons of other animals may be present in paramecium as well. The limit cycle determined using analog simulation of the coupled nonlinear oscillators of olivo-cerebellar dynamics (ieee joe 33, 563-578, 2008) agrees with the tracks of the cilium of a biological paramecium. A 4-motor apparatus has been built that reproduces the kinematics of the cilium motion. The motion of the biological cilium has been analyzed and compared with the results of the finite element modeling of forces on a cilium. The modeling equates applied torque at the base of the cilium with drag, the cilium stiffness being phase dependent. A low friction pendulum apparatus with a multiplicity of electromagnetic actuators is being built for verifying the maps of the attractor basin computed using the olivo-cerebellar dynamics for different initial conditions. Sponsored by ONR 33.

Flight Testing of Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems on the Mighty Eagle Robotic Lander Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hannan, Mike; Rickman, Doug; Chavers, Greg; Adam, Jason; Becker, Chris; Eliser, Joshua; Gunter, Dan; Kennedy, Logan; O'Leary, Patrick

2015-01-01

During 2011 a series of progressively more challenging flight tests of the Mighty Eagle autonomous terrestrial lander testbed were conducted primarily to validate the GNC system for a proposed lunar lander. With the successful completion of this GNC validation objective the opportunity existed to utilize the Mighty Eagle as a flying testbed for a variety of technologies. In 2012 an Autonomous Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) algorithm was implemented in flight software and demonstrated in a series of flight tests. In 2012 a hazard avoidance system was developed and flight tested on the Mighty Eagle. Additionally, GNC algorithms from Moon Express and a MEMs IMU were tested in 2012. All of the testing described herein was above and beyond the original charter for the Mighty Eagle. In addition to being an excellent testbed for a wide variety of systems the Mighty Eagle also provided a great learning opportunity for many engineers and technicians to work a flight program.

Repeated crack healing in MAX-phase ceramics revealed by 4D in situ synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy.

PubMed

Sloof, Willem G; Pei, Ruizhi; McDonald, Samuel A; Fife, Julie L; Shen, Lu; Boatemaa, Linda; Farle, Ann-Sophie; Yan, Kun; Zhang, Xun; van der Zwaag, Sybrand; Lee, Peter D; Withers, Philip J

2016-03-14

MAX phase materials are emerging as attractive engineering materials in applications where the material is exposed to severe thermal and mechanical conditions in an oxidative environment. The Ti2AlC MAX phase possesses attractive thermomechanical properties even beyond a temperature of 1000 K. An attractive feature of this material is its capacity for the autonomous healing of cracks when operating at high temperatures. Coupling a specialized thermomechanical setup to a synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy endstation at the TOMCAT beamline, we captured the temporal evolution of local crack opening and healing during multiple cracking and autonomous repair cycles at a temperature of 1500 K. For the first time, the rate and position dependence of crack repair in pristine Ti2AlC material and in previously healed cracks has been quantified. Our results demonstrate that healed cracks can have sufficient mechanical integrity to make subsequent cracks form elsewhere upon reloading after healing.

Examining Needs and Referrals to Mental Health Services for Children in Residential Care in Spain: An Empirical Study in an Autonomous Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sainero, Ana; Bravo, Amaia; del Valle, Jorge F.

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of mental health disorders in children living in residential care and their use of therapeutic services, including the relationship between these factors and social-family and intervention process variables, as well as the relationship among the disorders identified by professionals and the…

Geometry-Based Observability Metric

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eaton, Colin; Naasz, Bo

2012-01-01

The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) is currently developing and testing Goddard s Natural Feature Image Recognition (GNFIR) software for autonomous rendezvous and docking missions. GNFIR has flight heritage and is still being developed and tailored for future missions with non-cooperative targets: (1) DEXTRE Pointing Package System on the International Space Station, (2) Relative Navigation System (RNS) on the Space Shuttle for the fourth Hubble Servicing Mission.

[Association of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and prolonged QT interval with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].

PubMed

Ticse Aguirre, Ray; Villena, Jaime E

2011-03-01

In order to evaluate the relationship between cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and corrected QT interval (QTc) with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, we followed up for 5 years 67 patients attending the outpatient Endocrinology Service. 82% completed follow-up and cardiovascular events occurred in 16 patients. We found that long QTc interval was the only variable significantly associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the multiple logistic regression analysis (RR: 13.56, 95% CI: 2.01-91.36) (p = 0.0074).

Guidance, Navigation, and Control Techniques and Technologies for Active Satellite Removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega Hernando, Guillermo; Erb, Sven; Cropp, Alexander; Voirin, Thomas; Dubois-Matra, Olivier; Rinalducci, Antonio; Visentin, Gianfranco; Innocenti, Luisa; Raposo, Ana

2013-09-01

This paper shows an internal feasibility analysis to de- orbit a non-functional satellite of big dimensions by the Technical Directorate of the European Space Agency ESA. The paper focuses specifically on the design of the techniques and technologies for the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) system of the spacecraft mission that will capture the satellite and ultimately will de-orbit it on a controlled re-entry.The paper explains the guidance strategies to launch, rendezvous, close-approach, and capture the target satellite. The guidance strategy uses chaser manoeuvres, hold points, and collision avoidance trajectories to ensure a safe capture. It also details the guidance profile to de-orbit it in a controlled re-entry.The paper continues with an analysis of the required sensing suite and the navigation algorithms to allow the homing, fly-around, and capture of the target satellite. The emphasis is placed around the design of a system to allow the rendezvous with an un-cooperative target, including the autonomous acquisition of both the orbital elements and the attitude of the target satellite.Analysing the capture phase, the paper provides a trade- off between two selected capture systems: the net and the tentacles. Both are studied from the point of view of the GNC system.The paper analyses as well the advanced algorithms proposed to control the final compound after the capture that will allow the controlled de-orbiting of the assembly in a safe place in the Earth.The paper ends proposing the continuation of this work with the extension to the analysis of the destruction process of the compound in consecutive segments starting from the entry gate to the rupture and break up.

Pre-deploy operations with SPARTAN-201 during STS-64

NASA Image and Video Library

1994-09-12

STS064-111-070 (9-20 Sept. 1994) --- The astronauts onboard the space shuttle Discovery used a 70mm camera to capture this view of the pre-deploy operations with the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-201) 201. In the grasp of the robot arm device of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), SPARTAN 201 hovers above Discovery's cargo bay prior to its two days of free-flight, some 40 miles away from the parent spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Fostering Self-Determination Is a Developmental Task.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sands, Deanna J.; Doll, Beth

1996-01-01

This discussion of the developmental underpinnings of self-determination for students with disabilities considers metacognition, self-perception, social problem solving, and autonomous decision making. It urges developing school policies contributing to self-sufficiency; ameliorating curricular, instructional, and service delivery systems…

Development and experimentation of LQR/APF guidance and control for autonomous proximity maneuvers of multiple spacecraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bevilacqua, R.; Lehmann, T.; Romano, M.

2011-04-01

This work introduces a novel control algorithm for close proximity multiple spacecraft autonomous maneuvers, based on hybrid linear quadratic regulator/artificial potential function (LQR/APF), for applications including autonomous docking, on-orbit assembly and spacecraft servicing. Both theoretical developments and experimental validation of the proposed approach are presented. Fuel consumption is sub-optimized in real-time through re-computation of the LQR at each sample time, while performing collision avoidance through the APF and a high level decisional logic. The underlying LQR/APF controller is integrated with a customized wall-following technique and a decisional logic, overcoming problems such as local minima. The algorithm is experimentally tested on a four spacecraft simulators test bed at the Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory of the Naval Postgraduate School. The metrics to evaluate the control algorithm are: autonomy of the system in making decisions, successful completion of the maneuver, required time, and propellant consumption.

Autonomous RPOD Technology Challenges for the Coming Decade

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naasz, Bo J.; Moreau, Michael C.

2012-01-01

Rendezvous Proximity Operations and Docking (RPOD) technologies are important to a wide range of future space endeavors. This paper will review some of the recent and ongoing activities related to autonomous RPOD capabilities and summarize the current state of the art. Gaps are identified where future investments are necessary to successfully execute some of the missions likely to be conducted within the next ten years. A proposed RPOD technology roadmap that meets the broad needs of NASA's future missions will be outlined, and ongoing activities at OSFC in support of a future satellite servicing mission are presented. The case presented shows that an evolutionary, stair-step technology development program. including a robust campaign of coordinated ground tests and space-based system-level technology demonstration missions, will ultimately yield a multi-use main-stream autonomous RPOD capability suite with cross-cutting benefits across a wide range of future applications.

AGUIA: autonomous graphical user interface assembly for clinical trials semantic data services

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background AGUIA is a front-end web application originally developed to manage clinical, demographic and biomolecular patient data collected during clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The diversity of methods involved in patient screening and sample processing generates a variety of data types that require a resource-oriented architecture to capture the associations between the heterogeneous data elements. AGUIA uses a semantic web formalism, resource description framework (RDF), and a bottom-up design of knowledge bases that employ the S3DB tool as the starting point for the client's interface assembly. Methods The data web service, S3DB, meets the necessary requirements of generating the RDF and of explicitly distinguishing the description of the domain from its instantiation, while allowing for continuous editing of both. Furthermore, it uses an HTTP-REST protocol, has a SPARQL endpoint, and has open source availability in the public domain, which facilitates the development and dissemination of this application. However, S3DB alone does not address the issue of representing content in a form that makes sense for domain experts. Results We identified an autonomous set of descriptors, the GBox, that provides user and domain specifications for the graphical user interface. This was achieved by identifying a formalism that makes use of an RDF schema to enable the automatic assembly of graphical user interfaces in a meaningful manner while using only resources native to the client web browser (JavaScript interpreter, document object model). We defined a generalized RDF model such that changes in the graphic descriptors are automatically and immediately (locally) reflected into the configuration of the client's interface application. Conclusions The design patterns identified for the GBox benefit from and reflect the specific requirements of interacting with data generated by clinical trials, and they contain clues for a general purpose solution to the challenge of having interfaces automatically assembled for multiple and volatile views of a domain. By coding AGUIA in JavaScript, for which all browsers include a native interpreter, a solution was found that assembles interfaces that are meaningful to the particular user, and which are also ubiquitous and lightweight, allowing the computational load to be carried by the client's machine. PMID:20977768

Orbital Express Advanced Video Guidance Sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Ricky; Heaton, Andy; Pinson, Robin; Carrington, Connie

2008-01-01

In May 2007 the first US fully autonomous rendezvous and capture was successfully performed by DARPA's Orbital Express (OE) mission. Since then, the Boeing ASTRO spacecraft and the Ball Aerospace NEXTSat have performed multiple rendezvous and docking maneuvers to demonstrate the technologies needed for satellite servicing. MSFC's Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) is a primary near-field proximity operations sensor integrated into ASTRO's Autonomous Rendezvous and Capture Sensor System (ARCSS), which provides relative state knowledge to the ASTRO GN&C system. This paper provides an overview of the AVGS sensor flying on Orbital Express, and a summary of the ground testing and on-orbit performance of the AVGS for OE. The AVGS is a laser-based system that is capable of providing range and bearing at midrange distances and full six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) knowledge at near fields. The sensor fires lasers at two different frequencies to illuminate the Long Range Targets (LRTs) and the Short Range Targets (SRTs) on NEXTSat. Subtraction of one image from the other image removes extraneous light sources and reflections from anything other than the corner cubes on the LRTs and SRTs. This feature has played a significant role for Orbital Express in poor lighting conditions. The very bright spots that remain in the subtracted image are processed by the target recognition algorithms and the inverse-perspective algorithms, to provide 3DOF or 6DOF relative state information. Although Orbital Express has configured the ASTRO ARCSS system to only use AVGS at ranges of 120 m or less, some OE scenarios have provided opportunities for AVGS to acquire and track NEXTSat at greater distances. Orbital Express scenarios to date that have utilized AVGS include a berthing operation performed by the ASTRO robotic arm, sensor checkout maneuvers performed by the ASTRO robotic arm, 10-m unmated operations, 30-m unmated operations, and Scenario 3-1 anomaly recovery. The AVGS performed very well during the pre-unmated operations, effectively tracking beyond its 10-degree Pitch and Yaw limit-specifications, and did not require I-LOAD adjustments before unmated operations. AVGS provided excellent performance in the 10-m unmated operations, effectively tracking and maintaining lock for the duration of this scenario, and showing good agreement between the short and long range targets. During the 30-m unmated operations, the AVGS continuously tracked the SRT to 31.6 m, exceeding expectations, and continuously tracked the LRT from 8.8 m out to 31.6 m, with good agreement between these two target solutions. After this scenario was aborted at a 10-m separation during remate operations, the AVGS tracked the LRT out 54.3 m, until the relative attitude between the vehicles was too large. The vehicles remained apart for eight days, at ranges from 1 km to 6 km. During the approach to remate in this recovery operation, the AVGS began tracking the LRT at 150 m, well beyond the OE planned limits for AVGS ranges, and functioned as the primary sensor for the autonomous rendezvous and docking.

Conceptual Model Formalization in a Semantic Interoperability Service Framework: Transforming Relational Database Schemas to OWL.

PubMed

Bravo, Carlos; Suarez, Carlos; González, Carolina; López, Diego; Blobel, Bernd

2014-01-01

Healthcare information is distributed through multiple heterogeneous and autonomous systems. Access to, and sharing of, distributed information sources are a challenging task. To contribute to meeting this challenge, this paper presents a formal, complete and semi-automatic transformation service from Relational Databases to Web Ontology Language. The proposed service makes use of an algorithm that allows to transform several data models of different domains by deploying mainly inheritance rules. The paper emphasizes the relevance of integrating the proposed approach into an ontology-based interoperability service to achieve semantic interoperability.

[Analysis of activities of the preventive dentistry service in the Health Area 8 of the Valencia Autonomous Region].

PubMed

Llena Puy, M C; Ausina Márquez, V

1996-02-29

We describe and analize the activities we carried out in a surgery from a preventive dentistry unit. Longitudinal descriptive study from 1993 since 1994. Health Area 8 from the Valencian Autonomous Region. Children from 3 to 14 year-old attendant to the preventive dentistry unit's surgery (2.497). We visited 5.012 children. The highest percentage of population corresponded to the zona 4, where began at first the preventive service. The activities distribution was as follow: oral explorations and plaque control (100%), fluoride topic aplication (90.38%), diet control (36.81%), pit and fisure sealants (6.46%), profilaxis (8.71%), radiological diagnosis (6.46%), dental emergencies (2.17%). The users origin was: 38.88% school oral explorations made over 6- and 10-year-old children; 63.71% from self-request; and 16.45% sent by other health professionals. 41.42% were continuated visits. Demand of preventive dental services is very high in our health area, although incorporation of therapeutic techniques is wished by the population. This demand increase as well as the surgery is closer to the user. People from big cities are stubborn using these services from smallest villages, even having transport facilities. Children start coming to the consults between 5-6 year-old, keeping an acceptable control until 12 approximately.

Lessons learned from the introduction of autonomous monitoring to the EUVE science operations center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, M.; Girouard, F.; Kronberg, F.; Ringrose, P.; Abedini, A.; Biroscak, D.; Morgan, T.; Malina, R. F.

1995-01-01

The University of California at Berkeley's (UCB) Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics (CEA), in conjunction with NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC), has implemented an autonomous monitoring system in the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) science operations center (ESOC). The implementation was driven by a need to reduce operations costs and has allowed the ESOC to move from continuous, three-shift, human-tended monitoring of the science payload to a one-shift operation in which the off shifts are monitored by an autonomous anomaly detection system. This system includes Eworks, an artificial intelligence (AI) payload telemetry monitoring package based on RTworks, and Epage, an automatic paging system to notify ESOC personnel of detected anomalies. In this age of shrinking NASA budgets, the lessons learned on the EUVE project are useful to other NASA missions looking for ways to reduce their operations budgets. The process of knowledge capture, from the payload controllers for implementation in an expert system, is directly applicable to any mission considering a transition to autonomous monitoring in their control center. The collaboration with ARC demonstrates how a project with limited programming resources can expand the breadth of its goals without incurring the high cost of hiring additional, dedicated programmers. This dispersal of expertise across NASA centers allows future missions to easily access experts for collaborative efforts of their own. Even the criterion used to choose an expert system has widespread impacts on the implementation, including the completion time and the final cost. In this paper we discuss, from inception to completion, the areas where our experiences in moving from three shifts to one shift may offer insights for other NASA missions.

Autonomous physics-based color learning under daylight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berube Lauziere, Yves; Gingras, Denis J.; Ferrie, Frank P.

1999-09-01

An autonomous approach for learning the colors of specific objects assumed to have known body spectral reflectances is developed for daylight illumination conditions. The main issue is to be able to find these objects autonomously in a set of training images captured under a wide variety of daylight illumination conditions, and to extract their colors to determine color space regions that are representative of the objects' colors and their variations. The work begins by modeling color formation under daylight using the color formation equations and the semi-empirical model of Judd, MacAdam and Wyszecki (CIE daylight model) for representing the typical spectral distributions of daylight. This results in color space regions that serve as prior information in the initial phase of learning which consists in detecting small reliable clusters of pixels having the appropriate colors. These clusters are then expanded by a region growing technique using broader color space regions than those predicted by the model. This is to detect objects in a way that is able to account for color variations which the model cannot due to its limitations. Validation on the detected objects is performed to filter out those that are not of interest and to eliminate unreliable pixel color values extracted from the remaining ones. Detection results using the color space regions determined from color values obtained by this procedure are discussed.

Variation in the functioning of autonomous self-pollination, pollinator services and floral traits in three Centaurium species

PubMed Central

Brys, Rein; Jacquemyn, Hans

2011-01-01

Background and Aims Reproductive assurance through autonomous selfing is thought to be one of the main advantages of self-fertilization in plants. Floral mechanisms that ensure autonomous seed set are therefore more likely to occur in species that grow in habitats where pollination is scarce and/or unpredictable. Methods Emasculation and pollen supplementation experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions to investigate the capacity for, and timing of autonomous selfing in three closely related Centaurium species (Centaurium erythraea, C. littorale and C. pulchellum). In addition, observations of flower visitors were combined with emasculation and pollen addition experiments in natural populations to investigate the degree of pollinator limitation and pollination failure and to assess the extent to which autonomous selfing conferred reproductive assurance. Results All three species were capable of autonomous selfing, although this capacity differed significantly between species (index of autonomous selfing 0·55 ± 0·06, 0·68 ± 0·09 and 0·92 ± 0·03 for C. erythraea, C. littorale and C. pulchellum, respectively). The efficiency and timing of autogamous selfing was primarily associated with differences in the degree of herkogamy and dichogamy. The number of floral visitors showed significant interspecific differences, with 1·6 ± 0·6, 5·4 ± 0·6 and 14·5 ± 2·1 floral visitors within a 2 × 2 m2 plot per 20-min observation period, for C. pulchellum, C. littorale and C. erythraea, respectively. Concomitantly, pollinator failure was highest in C. pulchellum and lowest in C. erythraea. Nonetheless, all three study species showed very low levels of pollen limitation (index of pollen limitation 0·14 ± 0·03, 0·11 ± 0·03 and 0·09 ± 0·02 for C. erythraea, C. littorale and C. pulchellum, respectively), indicating that autonomous selfing may guarantee reproductive assurance. Conclusions These findings show that limited availability of pollinators may select for floral traits and plant mating strategies that lead to a system of reproductive assurance via autonomous selfing. PMID:21320880

Mission Use of the SpaceCube Hybrid Data Processing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrick, Dave

2017-01-01

The award-winning SpaceCube v2.0 system is a high performance, reconfigurable, hybrid data processing system that can be used in a multitude of applications including those that require a radiation hardened and reliable solution. This presentation provides an overview of the design architecture, flexibility, and the advantages of the modular SpaceCube v2.0 high performance data processing system for space applications. The current state of the proven SpaceCube technology is based on 11 years of engineering and operations. Eight systems have been successfully operated in space starting in 2008 with eight more to be delivered for payload integration in 2018 in support of various missions. This presentation will highlight how this multipurpose system is currently being used to solve design challenges of a variety of independent applications. The SpaceCube hardware adapts to new system requirements by allowing for application-unique interface cards that are utilized by reconfiguring the underlying programmable elements on the core processor card. We will show how this system is being used to improve on a heritage NASA GPS technology, enable a cutting-edge LiDAR instrument, and serve as a typical command and data handling (CDH) computer for a space robotics technology demonstration.Finally, this presentation will highlight the use of the SpaceCube v2.0 system on the Restore-L robotic satellite servicing mission. SpaceCube v2.0 is the central avionics responsible for the real-time vision system and autonomous robotic control necessary to find, capture, and service a national asset weather satellite.

Solar Weather Ice Monitoring Station (SWIMS). A low cost, extreme/harsh environment, solar powered, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

2013-12-01

The Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally respectful materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enhancing the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. Small scale deployments using various materials have been done in Canada, California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and a pond in Minnesota to test the albedo performance and environmental characteristics of these materials. SWIMS is a sophisticated autonomous sensor system being developed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. The system (SWIMS) employs low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, high resolution cameras, and an extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless communication. The entire system is solar powered with redundant battery backup on a floating buoy platform engineered for low temperature (-40C) and high wind conditions. The system also incorporates tilt sensors, sonar based ice thickness sensors and a weather station. To keep the costs low, each SWIMS unit measures incoming and reflected radiation from the four quadrants around the buoy. This allows data from four sets of sensors, cameras, weather station, water temperature probe to be collected and transmitted by a single on-board solar powered computer. This presentation covers the technical, logistical and cost challenges in designing, developing and deploying these stations in remote, extreme environments. Image captured by camera #3 of setting sun on the SWIMS station One of the images captured by SWIMS Camera #4

Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Image Processing and Earth Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The titles in this section include: 1) Expansion in Geographic Information Services for PIGWAD; 2) Modernization of the Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers; 3) Science-based Region-of-Interest Image Compression; 4) Topographic Analysis with a Stereo Matching Tool Kit; 5) Central Avra Valley Storage and Recovery Project (CAVSARP) Site, Tucson, Arizona: Floodwater and Soil Moisture Investigations with Extraterrestrial Applications; 6) ASE Floodwater Classifier Development for EO-1 HYPERION Imagery; 7) Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) Operations on EO-1 in 2004; 8) Autonomous Vegetation Cover Scene Classification of EO-1 Hyperion Hyperspectral Data; 9) Long-Term Continental Areal Reduction Produced by Tectonic Processes.

Toward an Autonomous Telescope Network: the TBT Scheduler

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Racero, E.; Ibarra, A.; Ocaña, F.; de Lis, S. B.; Ponz, J. D.; Castillo, M.; Sánchez-Portal, M.

2015-09-01

Within the ESA SSA program, it is foreseen to deploy several robotic telescopes to provide surveillance and tracking services for hazardous objects. The TBT project will procure a validation platform for an autonomous optical observing system in a realistic scenario, consisting of two telescopes located in Spain and Australia, to collect representative test data for precursor SSA services. In this context, the planning and scheduling of the night consists of two software modules, the TBT Scheduler, that will allow the manual and autonomous planning of the night, and the control of the real-time response of the system, done by the RTS2 internal scheduler. The TBT Scheduler allocates tasks for both telescopes without human intervention. Every night it takes all the inputs needed and prepares the schedule following some predefined rules. The main purpose of the scheduler is the distribution of the time for follow-up of recently discovered targets and surveys. The TBT Scheduler considers the overall performance of the system, and combine follow-up with a priori survey strategies for both kind of objects. The strategy is defined according to the expected combined performance for both systems the upcoming night (weather, sky brightness, object accessibility and priority). Therefore, TBT Scheduler defines the global approach for the network and relies on the RTS2 internal scheduler for the final detailed distribution of tasks at each sensor.

Autonomous Navigation With Ground Station One-Way Forward-Link Doppler Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Horstkamp, G. M.; Niklewski, D. J.; Gramling, C. J.

1996-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has spent several years developing operational onboard navigation systems (ONS's) to provide real time autonomous, highly accurate navigation products for spacecraft using NASA's space and ground communication systems. The highly successful Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRSS) ONS (TONS) experiment on the Explorer Platform/Extreme Ultraviolet (EP/EUV) spacecraft, launched on June 7, 1992, flight demonstrated the ONS for high accuracy navigation using TDRSS forward link communication services. In late 1994, a similar ONS experiment was performed using EP/EUV flight hardware (the ultrastable oscillator and Doppler extractor card in one of the TDRSS transponders) and ground system software to demonstrate the feasibility of using an ONS with ground station forward link communication services. This paper provides a detailed evaluation of ground station-based ONS performance of data collected over a 20 day period. The ground station ONS (GONS) experiment results are used to project the expected performance of an operational system. The GONS processes Doppler data derived from scheduled ground station forward link services using a sequential estimation algorithm enhanced by a sophisticated process noise model to provide onboard orbit and frequency determination. Analysis of the GONS experiment performance indicates that real time onboard position accuracies of better than 125 meters (1 sigma) are achievable with two or more 5-minute contacts per day for the EP/EUV 525 kilometer altitude, 28.5 degree inclination orbit. GONS accuracy is shown to be a function of the fidelity of the onboard propagation model, the frequency/geometry of the tracking contacts, and the quality of the tracking measurements. GONS provides a viable option for using autonomous navigation to reduce operational costs for upcoming spacecraft missions with moderate position accuracy requirements.

The space station freedom flight telerobotic servicer. The design and evolution of a dexterous space robot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCain, Harry G.; Andary, James F.; Hewitt, Dennis R.; Haley, Dennis C.

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center is developing an advanced telerobotic system to assist in and reduce crew extravehicular activity (EVA) for Space Station Freedom (SSF). The FTS will provide a telerobotic capability to the Freedom Station in the early assembly phases of the program and will be employed for assembly, maintenance, and inspection applications throughout the lifetime of the space station. Appropriately configured elements of the FTS will also be employed for robotic manipulation in remote satellite servicing applications and possibly the Lunar/Mars Program. In mid-1989, the FTS entered the flight system design and implementation phase (Phase C/D) of development with the signing of the FTS prime contract with Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. The basic FTS design is now established and can be reported on in some detail. This paper will describe the FTS flight system design and the rationale for the specific design approaches and component selections. The current state of space technology and the general nature of the FTS task dictate that the FTS be designed with sophisticated teleoperation capabilities for its initial primary operating mode. However, there are technologies, such as advanced computer vision and autonomous planning techniques currently in research and advanced development phases which would greatly enhance the FTS capabilities to perform autonomously in less structured work environments. Therefore, a specific requirement on the initial FTS design is that it has the capability to evolve as new technology becomes available. This paper will describe the FTS design approach for evolution to more autonomous capabilities. Some specific task applications of the FTS and partial automation approaches of these tasks will also be discussed in this paper.

The Space Station Freedom Flight Telerobotic Servicer: the design and evolution of a dexterous space robot.

PubMed

McCain, H G; Andary, J F; Hewitt, D R; Haley, D C

1991-01-01

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center is developing an advanced telerobotic system to assist in and reduce crew extravehicular activity (EVA) for Space Station) Freedom (SSF). The FTS will provide a telerobotic capability to the Freedom Station in the early assembly phases of the program and will be employed for assembly, maintenance, and inspection applications throughout the lifetime of the space station. Appropriately configured elements of the FTS will also be employed for robotic manipulation in remote satellite servicing applications and possibly the Lunar/Mars Program. In mid-1989, the FTS entered the flight system design and implementation phase (Phase C/D) of development with the signing of the FTS prime contract with Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. The basic FTS design is now established and can be reported on in some detail. This paper will describe the FTS flight system design and the rationale for the specific design approaches and component selections. The current state of space technology and the nature of the FTS task dictate that the FTS be designed with sophisticated teleoperation capabilities for its initial primary operating mode. However, there are technologies, such as advanced computer vision and autonomous planning techniques currently in research and advanced development phases which would greatly enhance the FTS capabilities to perform autonomously in less structured work environments. Therefore, a specific requirement on the initial FTS design is that it has the capability to evolve as new technology becomes available. This paper will describe the FTS design approach for evolution to more autonomous capabilities. Some specific task applications of the FTS and partial automation approaches of these tasks will also be discussed in this paper.

The Space Station Freedom Flight Telerobotic Servicer: the design and evolution of a dexterous space robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCain, H. G.; Andary, J. F.; Hewitt, D. R.; Haley, D. C.

1991-01-01

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center is developing an advanced telerobotic system to assist in and reduce crew extravehicular activity (EVA) for Space Station) Freedom (SSF). The FTS will provide a telerobotic capability to the Freedom Station in the early assembly phases of the program and will be employed for assembly, maintenance, and inspection applications throughout the lifetime of the space station. Appropriately configured elements of the FTS will also be employed for robotic manipulation in remote satellite servicing applications and possibly the Lunar/Mars Program. In mid-1989, the FTS entered the flight system design and implementation phase (Phase C/D) of development with the signing of the FTS prime contract with Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. The basic FTS design is now established and can be reported on in some detail. This paper will describe the FTS flight system design and the rationale for the specific design approaches and component selections. The current state of space technology and the nature of the FTS task dictate that the FTS be designed with sophisticated teleoperation capabilities for its initial primary operating mode. However, there are technologies, such as advanced computer vision and autonomous planning techniques currently in research and advanced development phases which would greatly enhance the FTS capabilities to perform autonomously in less structured work environments. Therefore, a specific requirement on the initial FTS design is that it has the capability to evolve as new technology becomes available. This paper will describe the FTS design approach for evolution to more autonomous capabilities. Some specific task applications of the FTS and partial automation approaches of these tasks will also be discussed in this paper.

Some Results from Rehabilitation Team Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Settles, Robert B.; Crisler, Jack R.

Provision of training for an interdisciplinary rehabilitation team in a center serving mental patients was investigated. An autonomous service delivery rehabilitation team was formed and provided training in cooperative function. Findings indicate that the experimental team became a particularly cohesive functional unit, and that their support of…

Automated monitoring of medical protocols: a secure and distributed architecture.

PubMed

Alsinet, T; Ansótegui, C; Béjar, R; Fernández, C; Manyà, F

2003-03-01

The control of the right application of medical protocols is a key issue in hospital environments. For the automated monitoring of medical protocols, we need a domain-independent language for their representation and a fully, or semi, autonomous system that understands the protocols and supervises their application. In this paper we describe a specification language and a multi-agent system architecture for monitoring medical protocols. We model medical services in hospital environments as specialized domain agents and interpret a medical protocol as a negotiation process between agents. A medical service can be involved in multiple medical protocols, and so specialized domain agents are independent of negotiation processes and autonomous system agents perform monitoring tasks. We present the detailed architecture of the system agents and of an important domain agent, the database broker agent, that is responsible of obtaining relevant information about the clinical history of patients. We also describe how we tackle the problems of privacy, integrity and authentication during the process of exchanging information between agents.

Autonomous rendezvous and docking: A commercial approach to on-orbit technology validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tchoryk, Peter, Jr.; Dobbs, Michael E.; Conrad, David J.; Apley, Dale J.; Whitten, Raymond P.

1991-01-01

The Space Automation and Robotics Center (SpARC), a NASA-sponsored Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS), in conjunction with its corporate affiliates, is planning an on-orbit validation of autonomous rendezvous and docking (ARD) technology. The emphasis in this program is to utilize existing technology and commercially available components whenever possible. The primary subsystems that will be validated by this demonstration include GPS receivers for navigation, a video-based sensor for proximity operations, a fluid connector mechanism to demonstrate fluid resupply capability, and a compliant, single-point docking mechanism. The focus for this initial experiment will be expendable launch vehicle (ELV) based and will make use of two residual Commercial Experiment Transporter (COMET) service modules. The first COMET spacecraft will be launched in late 1992 and will serve as the target vehicle. The ARD demonstration will take place in late 1994, after the second COMET spacecraft has been launched. The service module from the second COMET will serve as the chase vehicle.

Navigation Architecture for a Space Mobile Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valdez, Jennifer E.; Ashman, Benjamin; Gramling, Cheryl; Heckler, Gregory W.; Carpenter, Russell

2016-01-01

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS) is a proposed beacon service to provide a global, space based GPS augmentation service based on the NASA Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) System. The TASS signal will be tied to the GPS time system and usable as an additional ranging and Doppler radiometric source. Additionally, it will provide data vital to autonomous navigation in the near Earth regime, including space weather information, TDRS ephemerides, Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP), and forward commanding capability. TASS benefits include enhancing situational awareness, enabling increased autonomy, and providing near real-time command access for user platforms. As NASA Headquarters' Space Communication and Navigation Office (SCaN) begins to move away from a centralized network architecture and towards a Space Mobile Network (SMN) that allows for user initiated services, autonomous navigation will be a key part of such a system. This paper explores how a TASS beacon service enables the Space Mobile Networking paradigm, what a typical user platform would require, and provides an in-depth analysis of several navigation scenarios and operations concepts. This paper provides an overview of the TASS beacon and its role within the SMN and user community. Supporting navigation analysis is presented for two user mission scenarios: an Earth observing spacecraft in low earth orbit (LEO), and a highly elliptical spacecraft in a lunar resonance orbit. These diverse flight scenarios indicate the breadth of applicability of the TASS beacon for upcoming users within the current network architecture and in the SMN.

Traffic Sign Inventory from Google Street View Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Victor J. D.; Chen, Jyun-Han; Huang, Hsun-Sheng

2016-06-01

Traffic sign detection and recognition (TSDR) has drawn considerable attention on developing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and autonomous vehicle driving systems (AVDS) since 1980's. Unlikely to the general TSDR systems that deal with real-time images captured by the in-vehicle cameras, this research aims on developing techniques for detecting, extracting, and positioning of traffic signs from Google Street View (GSV) images along user-selected routes for low-cost, volumetric and quick establishment of the traffic sign infrastructural database that may be associated with Google Maps. The framework and techniques employed in the proposed system are described.

A Robust Indoor Autonomous Positioning System Using Particle Filter Based on ISM Band Wireless Communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, Takeshi; Kawamoto, Mitsuru; Sashima, Akio; Suzuki, Keiji; Kurumatani, Koichi

In the field of the ubiquitous computing, positioning systems which can provide users' location information have paid attention as an important technical element which can be applied to various services, for example, indoor navigation services, evacuation services, market research services, guidance services, and so on. A lot of researchers have proposed various outdoor and indoor positioning systems. In this paper, we deal with indoor positioning systems. Many conventional indoor positioning systems use expensive infrastructures, because the propagated times of radio waves are used to measure users' positions with high accuracy. In this paper, we propose an indoor autonomous positioning system using radio signal strengths (RSSs) based on ISM band communications. In order to estimate users' positions, the proposed system utilizes a particle filter that is one of the Monte Carlo methods. Because the RSS information is used in the proposed system, the equipments configuring the system are not expensive compared with the conventional indoor positioning systems and it can be installed easily. Moreover, because the particle filter is used to estimate user's position, even if the RSS fluctuates due to, for example, multi-paths, the system can carry out position estimation robustly. We install the proposed system in one floor of a building and carry out some experiments in order to verify the validity of the proposed system. As a result, we confirmed that the average of the estimation errors of the proposed system was about 1.8 m, where the result is enough accuracy for achieving the services mentioned above.

Transforming Functional Requirements from UML into BPEL to Efficiently Develop SOA-Based Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vemulapalli, Anisha; Subramanian, Nary

The intended behavior of any system such as services, tasks or functions can be captured by functional requirements of the system. As our dependence on online services has grown steadily, the web applications are being developed employing the SOA. BPEL4WS provides a means for expressing functional requirements of an SOA-based system by providing constructs to capture business goals and objectives for the system. In this paper we propose an approach for transforming user-centered requirements captured using UML into a corresponding BPEL specification, where the business processes are captured by means of use-cases from which UML sequence diagrams and activity diagrams are extracted. Subsequently these UML models are mapped to BPEL specifications that capture the essence of the initial business requirements to develop the SOA-based system by employing CASE tools. A student housing system is used as a case study to illustrate this approach and the system is validated using NetBeans.

Semi-autonomous wheelchair system using stereoscopic cameras.

PubMed

Nguyen, Jordan S; Nguyen, Thanh H; Nguyen, Hung T

2009-01-01

This paper is concerned with the design and development of a semi-autonomous wheelchair system using stereoscopic cameras to assist hands-free control technologies for severely disabled people. The stereoscopic cameras capture an image from both the left and right cameras, which are then processed with a Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) correlation algorithm to establish correspondence between image features in the different views of the scene. This is used to produce a stereo disparity image containing information about the depth of objects away from the camera in the image. A geometric projection algorithm is then used to generate a 3-Dimensional (3D) point map, placing pixels of the disparity image in 3D space. This is then converted to a 2-Dimensional (2D) depth map allowing objects in the scene to be viewed and a safe travel path for the wheelchair to be planned and followed based on the user's commands. This assistive technology utilising stereoscopic cameras has the purpose of automated obstacle detection, path planning and following, and collision avoidance during navigation. Experimental results obtained in an indoor environment displayed the effectiveness of this assistive technology.

AUV and Aircraft Measurements of an Internal Hydraulic Jump at the Mouth of the Columbia River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeil, C. L.

2016-02-01

In 2013, an extensive 3-km long persistent hydraulic jump in the Mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) was captured in a joint pilot study involving coordinated autonomous and remote sensing observations. Airborne thermal infrared (IR) cameras provided observations of surface brightness temperature, while an along-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ATI-SAR) measured surface velocity and roughness. Subsurface hydrographic surveys were conducted with a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). These observations showed a flow- oblique stationary front that persisted through most of an ebb-tide. A pronounced dip and divergence (mixing) of the isohaline surfaces downstream of the surface front suggested that the newly-discovered feature is an internal hydraulic jump. Hydraulic jumps reduce kinetic energy of a laminar flow, partially converting it to turbulent kinetic energy that, in turn, increases the potential energy of the system via mixing. Our goal is to quantify this mixing associated with the MCR jump using our existing data, and more generally assess the jump's impact on the physics and biology of the lower estuary, plume, and coastal ocean.

A comparative analysis of alternative approaches for quantifying nonlinear dynamics in cardiovascular system.

PubMed

Chen, Yun; Yang, Hui

2013-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis has emerged as an important research topic to evaluate autonomic cardiac function. However, traditional time and frequency-domain analysis characterizes and quantify only linear and stationary phenomena. In the present investigation, we made a comparative analysis of three alternative approaches (i.e., wavelet multifractal analysis, Lyapunov exponents and multiscale entropy analysis) for quantifying nonlinear dynamics in heart rate time series. Note that these extracted nonlinear features provide information about nonlinear scaling behaviors and the complexity of cardiac systems. To evaluate the performance, we used 24-hour HRV recordings from 54 healthy subjects and 29 heart failure patients, available in PhysioNet. Three nonlinear methods are evaluated not only individually but also in combination using three classification algorithms, i.e., linear discriminate analysis, quadratic discriminate analysis and k-nearest neighbors. Experimental results show that three nonlinear methods capture nonlinear dynamics from different perspectives and the combined feature set achieves the best performance, i.e., sensitivity 97.7% and specificity 91.5%. Collectively, nonlinear HRV features are shown to have the promise to identify the disorders in autonomic cardiovascular function.

Effects of automation and task load on task switching during human supervision of multiple semi-autonomous robots in a dynamic environment.

PubMed

Squire, P N; Parasuraman, R

2010-08-01

The present study assessed the impact of task load and level of automation (LOA) on task switching in participants supervising a team of four or eight semi-autonomous robots in a simulated 'capture the flag' game. Participants were faster to perform the same task than when they chose to switch between different task actions. They also took longer to switch between different tasks when supervising the robots at a high compared to a low LOA. Task load, as manipulated by the number of robots to be supervised, did not influence switch costs. The results suggest that the design of future unmanned vehicle (UV) systems should take into account not simply how many UVs an operator can supervise, but also the impact of LOA and task operations on task switching during supervision of multiple UVs. The findings of this study are relevant for the ergonomics practice of UV systems. This research extends the cognitive theory of task switching to inform the design of UV systems and results show that switching between UVs is an important factor to consider.

Robust Pedestrian Classification Based on Hierarchical Kernel Sparse Representation.

PubMed

Sun, Rui; Zhang, Guanghai; Yan, Xiaoxing; Gao, Jun

2016-08-16

Vision-based pedestrian detection has become an active topic in computer vision and autonomous vehicles. It aims at detecting pedestrians appearing ahead of the vehicle using a camera so that autonomous vehicles can assess the danger and take action. Due to varied illumination and appearance, complex background and occlusion pedestrian detection in outdoor environments is a difficult problem. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical feature extraction and weighted kernel sparse representation model for pedestrian classification. Initially, hierarchical feature extraction based on a CENTRIST descriptor is used to capture discriminative structures. A max pooling operation is used to enhance the invariance of varying appearance. Then, a kernel sparse representation model is proposed to fully exploit the discrimination information embedded in the hierarchical local features, and a Gaussian weight function as the measure to effectively handle the occlusion in pedestrian images. Extensive experiments are conducted on benchmark databases, including INRIA, Daimler, an artificially generated dataset and a real occluded dataset, demonstrating the more robust performance of the proposed method compared to state-of-the-art pedestrian classification methods.

Robust Pedestrian Classification Based on Hierarchical Kernel Sparse Representation

PubMed Central

Sun, Rui; Zhang, Guanghai; Yan, Xiaoxing; Gao, Jun

2016-01-01

Vision-based pedestrian detection has become an active topic in computer vision and autonomous vehicles. It aims at detecting pedestrians appearing ahead of the vehicle using a camera so that autonomous vehicles can assess the danger and take action. Due to varied illumination and appearance, complex background and occlusion pedestrian detection in outdoor environments is a difficult problem. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical feature extraction and weighted kernel sparse representation model for pedestrian classification. Initially, hierarchical feature extraction based on a CENTRIST descriptor is used to capture discriminative structures. A max pooling operation is used to enhance the invariance of varying appearance. Then, a kernel sparse representation model is proposed to fully exploit the discrimination information embedded in the hierarchical local features, and a Gaussian weight function as the measure to effectively handle the occlusion in pedestrian images. Extensive experiments are conducted on benchmark databases, including INRIA, Daimler, an artificially generated dataset and a real occluded dataset, demonstrating the more robust performance of the proposed method compared to state-of-the-art pedestrian classification methods. PMID:27537888

An embedded wireless system for remote monitoring of bridges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harms, T.; Bastianini, F.; Sedigh Sarvestani, S.

2008-03-01

This paper describes an autonomous embedded system for remote monitoring of bridges. Salient features of the system include ultra-low power consumption, wireless communication of data and alerts, and incorporation of embedded sensors that monitor various indicators of the structural health of a bridge, while capturing the state of its surrounding environment. Examples include water level, temperature, vibration, and acoustic emissions. Ease of installation, physical robustness, remote maintenance and calibration, and autonomous data communication make the device a self-contained solution for remote monitoring of structural health. The system addresses shortcomings present in centralized structural health monitoring systems, particularly their reliance on a laptop or handheld computer. The system has been field-tested to verify the accuracy of the collected data and dependability of communication. The sheer volume of data collected, and the regularity of its collection can enable accurate and precise assessment of the health of a bridge, guiding maintenance efforts and providing early warning of potentially dangerous events. In this paper, we present a detailed breakdown of the system's power requirements and the results of the initial field test.

What Factors Are Associated with Autonomous and Controlled Motivation for Hearing Help-Seekers?

PubMed

Ridgway, Jason; Hickson, Louise; Lind, Christopher

Hearing impairment is prevalent in older adults. Motivation is important in people's choice to seek help for their hearing and whether to adopt or not adopt hearing aids. To investigate associations between sociodemographic and audiometric characteristics and autonomous and controlled motivation among a sample of hearing help-seekers. A quantitative approach was taken for this cross-sectional cohort study. A total of 253 adult first-time hearing help-seekers were recruited to the study. Participants provided sociodemographic information and completed questionnaires adapted from self-determination theory that measured autonomous motivation (motivation that originates from within the self and is aligned with personal values and beliefs) and controlled motivation (motivation that stems from external pressures such as rewards or punishment, or conflicted inner feelings such as guilt or shame). Participants with higher autonomous motivation scores were younger, wanted hearing aids more, and reported greater hearing difficulty in everyday life than those with lower scores. Participants with higher controlled motivation scores were more often referred to the service by others and wanted hearing aids more than those with lower controlled motivation scores. Controlled motivation scores were not associated with perceptions of hearing difficulty in everyday life. Relationships among motivation and sociodemographic factors highlight the importance of characterizing autonomous and controlled motivation in first-time hearing help-seekers. Attention to personal characteristics in order to understand motivational processes involved in rehabilitation decisions such as hearing aid adoption may aid in consultations. American Academy of Audiology

[Autonomy for financial management in public and private healthcare facilities in Brazil].

PubMed

Santos, Maria Angelica Borges dos; Madeira, Fátima Carvalho; Passos, Sonia Regina Lambert; Bakr, Felipe; Oliveira, Klivia Brayner de; Andreazzi, Marco Antonio Ratzsch de

2014-01-01

Autonomy in financial management is an advantage in public administration. A 2009 National Healthcare Facility Survey showed that 3.9% of Brazil's 52,055 public healthcare facilities had some degree of financial autonomy. Such autonomy was more common in inpatient facilities (17.8%), those managed by State governments (26.3%), and in Southern Brazil (6.6%). Autonomy was mainly partial (for resources in specific areas, relating to small outlays, consumables and capital goods, and outsourced services or personnel). 74.3% of 2,264 public facilities with any financial autonomy were under direct government administration. Financial autonomy in public healthcare facilities appears to be linked to local political decisions and not necessarily to the facility's specific legal and administrative status. However, legal status displays distinct scopes of autonomy - those under direct government administration tend to be less autonomous, and those under private businesses more autonomous; 85.8% of the 45,394 private healthcare facilities reported that they were financially autonomous.

Contagious Ideas from Health Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaffee, Ellen

2009-01-01

Financial problems plague both higher education and health care, two sectors that struggle to meet public expectations for quality services at affordable rates. Both higher education and health care also have a complex bottom line, heavy reliance on relatively autonomous professionals, and clients who share personal responsibility for achieving…

Trusted Remote Operation of Proximate Emergy Robots (TROOPER): DARPA Robotics Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

sensor in each of the robot’s feet. Additionally, there is a 6-axis IMU that sits in the robot’s pelvis cage. While testing before the Finals, the...Services. Many of the controllers in the autonomic layer have overlapping requirements, such as filtered IMU and force torque data from the robot...the following services during the DRC: • IMU Filtering • Force Torque Filtering • Joint State Publishing • TF (Transform) Broadcasting • Robot Pose

Trusted Remote Operation of Proximate Emergency Robots (TROOPER): DARPA Robotics Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

sensor in each of the robot’s feet. Additionally, there is a 6-axis IMU that sits in the robot’s pelvis cage. While testing before the Finals, the...Services. Many of the controllers in the autonomic layer have overlapping requirements, such as filtered IMU and force torque data from the robot...the following services during the DRC: • IMU Filtering • Force Torque Filtering • Joint State Publishing • TF (Transform) Broadcasting • Robot Pose

Can a Canine Companion Modify Cardiac Autonomic Reactivity and Tone in PTSD

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

aim is to explore the likely generalizability of these effects under conditions of greater service dog availability. Posttraumatic stress disorder...13 Dog participants 29 Non- dog participants  3 currently active (all 3 are dog participants)  5 withdrawn (due to d/c from inpatient treatment... dog no dog Sleep Heart Rate 6 In contrast to the absence of a trend in sleep heart rate, service animal companionship appears to modify reactivity

Autonomous Multi-Sensor Coordination: The Science Goal Monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koratkar, Anuradha; Grosvenor, Sandy; Jung, John; Hess, Melissa; Jones, Jeremy

2004-01-01

Many dramatic earth phenomena are dynamic and coupled. In order to fully understand them, we need to obtain timely coordinated multi-sensor observations from widely dispersed instruments. Such a dynamic observing system must include the ability to Schedule flexibly and react autonomously to sciencehser driven events; Understand higher-level goals of a sciencehser defined campaign; Coordinate various space-based and ground-based resources/sensors effectively and efficiently to achieve goals. In order to capture transient events, such a 'sensor web' system must have an automated reactive capability built into its scientific operations. To do this, we must overcome a number of challenges inherent in infusing autonomy. The Science Goal Monitor (SGM) is a prototype software tool being developed to explore the nature of automation necessary to enable dynamic observing. The tools being developed in SGM improve our ability to autonomously monitor multiple independent sensors and coordinate reactions to better observe dynamic phenomena. The SGM system enables users to specify what to look for and how to react in descriptive rather than technical terms. The system monitors streams of data to identify occurrences of the key events previously specified by the scientisther. When an event occurs, the system autonomously coordinates the execution of the users' desired reactions between different sensors. The information can be used to rapidly respond to a variety of fast temporal events. Investigators will no longer have to rely on after-the-fact data analysis to determine what happened. Our paper describes a series of prototype demonstrations that we have developed using SGM and NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite and Earth Observing Systems' Aqua/Terra spacecrafts' MODIS instrument. Our demonstrations show the promise of coordinating data from different sources, analyzing the data for a relevant event, autonomously updating and rapidly obtaining a follow-on relevant image. SGM was used to investigate forest fires, floods and volcanic eruptions. We are now identifying new Earth science scenarios that will have more complex SGM reasoning. By developing and testing a prototype in an operational environment, we are also establishing and gathering metrics to gauge the success of automating science campaigns.

32 CFR 1630.45 - Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... is in a captured or missing in action status. 1630.45 Section 1630.45 National Defense Other... Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status. In Class 4-G shall be... missing status as a result of such service in the Armed Forces during any period of time; or (b) The sole...

32 CFR 1630.45 - Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... is in a captured or missing in action status. 1630.45 Section 1630.45 National Defense Other... Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status. In Class 4-G shall be... missing status as a result of such service in the Armed Forces during any period of time; or (b) The sole...

32 CFR 1630.45 - Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... is in a captured or missing in action status. 1630.45 Section 1630.45 National Defense Other... Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status. In Class 4-G shall be... missing status as a result of such service in the Armed Forces during any period of time; or (b) The sole...

32 CFR 1630.45 - Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... is in a captured or missing in action status. 1630.45 Section 1630.45 National Defense Other... Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status. In Class 4-G shall be... missing status as a result of such service in the Armed Forces during any period of time; or (b) The sole...

32 CFR 1630.45 - Class 4-G: Registrant exempted from service because of the death of his parent or sibling while...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... is in a captured or missing in action status. 1630.45 Section 1630.45 National Defense Other... Forces or whose parent or sibling is in a captured or missing in action status. In Class 4-G shall be... missing status as a result of such service in the Armed Forces during any period of time; or (b) The sole...

Design of Field Experiments for Adaptive Sampling of the Ocean with Autonomous Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, H.; Ooi, B. H.; Cho, W.; Dao, M. H.; Tkalich, P.; Patrikalakis, N. M.

2010-05-01

Due to the highly non-linear and dynamical nature of oceanic phenomena, the predictive capability of various ocean models depends on the availability of operational data. A practical method to improve the accuracy of the ocean forecast is to use a data assimilation methodology to combine in-situ measured and remotely acquired data with numerical forecast models of the physical environment. Autonomous surface and underwater vehicles with various sensors are economic and efficient tools for exploring and sampling the ocean for data assimilation; however there is an energy limitation to such vehicles, and thus effective resource allocation for adaptive sampling is required to optimize the efficiency of exploration. In this paper, we use physical oceanography forecasts of the coastal zone of Singapore for the design of a set of field experiments to acquire useful data for model calibration and data assimilation. The design process of our experiments relied on the oceanography forecast including the current speed, its gradient, and vorticity in a given region of interest for which permits for field experiments could be obtained and for time intervals that correspond to strong tidal currents. Based on these maps, resources available to our experimental team, including Autonomous Surface Craft (ASC) are allocated so as to capture the oceanic features that result from jets and vortices behind bluff bodies (e.g., islands) in the tidal current. Results are summarized from this resource allocation process and field experiments conducted in January 2009.

Scheduling lessons learned from the Autonomous Power System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ringer, Mark J.

1992-01-01

The Autonomous Power System (APS) project at NASA LeRC is designed to demonstrate the applications of integrated intelligent diagnosis, control, and scheduling techniques to space power distribution systems. The project consists of three elements: the Autonomous Power Expert System (APEX) for Fault Diagnosis, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR); the Autonomous Intelligent Power Scheduler (AIPS) to efficiently assign activities start times and resources; and power hardware (Brassboard) to emulate a space-based power system. The AIPS scheduler was tested within the APS system. This scheduler is able to efficiently assign available power to the requesting activities and share this information with other software agents within the APS system in order to implement the generated schedule. The AIPS scheduler is also able to cooperatively recover from fault situations by rescheduling the affected loads on the Brassboard in conjunction with the APEX FDIR system. AIPS served as a learning tool and an initial scheduling testbed for the integration of FDIR and automated scheduling systems. Many lessons were learned from the AIPS scheduler and are now being integrated into a new scheduler called SCRAP (Scheduler for Continuous Resource Allocation and Planning). This paper will service three purposes: an overview of the AIPS implementation, lessons learned from the AIPS scheduler, and a brief section on how these lessons are being applied to the new SCRAP scheduler.

Autonomously Organized and Funded IT Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichol, Bruce

2004-01-01

Central IT organizations under stress often cannot offer a high level of service to groups with above-average support needs. An example of such a group would be a well-funded, research-oriented computer science department. Several factors contribute to the increased demand on IT organizations. Given the availability of relatively…

General Child Benefit Fund Experiments in Providing Differentiated Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Serres, Anne-Marie

2005-01-01

Populations not autonomous in their administrative relations has difficulties with access to social benefits of the Caisses d'Allocations Familiales (CAFs). These difficulties, whether rooted in cultural, educational, social, or other issues, disrupt the management of their documents of social benefits and thereby weigh on their economic…

Complications of Diabetes and Their Implications for Service Providers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ponchillia, S. V.

1993-01-01

This article presents information on the complications of both Type I and Type II diabetes and the implications for the rehabilitation of persons with diabetes and visual impairment. Topics covered include retinopathy, cataracts, glaucoma, peripheral neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetic hand syndrome, neuropathy of the autonomic nervous…

Education in the Rural American Community: A Lifelong Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galbraith, Michael W., Ed.

This book provides a conceptual and practical framework for understanding lifelong education in the context of the multifaceted rural community. The goal of the discussion is to develop educational programs involving new combinations of services and new organizational arrangements so that individuals will become resourceful, autonomous, and…

Optical sedimentation recorder

DOEpatents

Bishop, James K.B.

2014-05-06

A robotic optical sedimentation recorder is described for the recordation of carbon flux in the oceans wherein both POC and PIC particles are captured at the open end of a submersible sampling platform, the captured particles allowed to drift down onto a collection plate where they can be imaged over time. The particles are imaged using three separate light sources, activated in sequence, one source being a back light, a second source being a side light to provide dark field illumination, and a third source comprising a cross polarized light source to illuminate birefringent particles. The recorder in one embodiment is attached to a buoyancy unit which is capable upon command for bringing the sedimentation recorder to a programmed depth below the ocean surface during recordation mode, and on command returning the unit to the ocean surface for transmission of recorded data and receipt of new instructions. The combined unit is provided with its own power source and is designed to operate autonomously in the ocean for extended periods of time.

Network Management and FDIR for SpaceWire Networks (N-MaSS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montano, Giuseppe; Jameux, David; Cook, Barry; Peel, Rodger; McCormick, Ecaterina; Walker, Paul; Kollias, Vangelis; Pogkas, Nikos

2014-08-01

The SpaceWire network management layer, which manages network topology and routing, is not yet standardised. This paper presents the European Space Agency (ESA) N-MaSS study, which focuses on implementation and standardisation of Fault Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) functions within the SpaceWire network management layer. N-MaSS provides an autonomous FDIR solution. It is defined at the SpaceWire network layer in order to achieve efficient re-use for heterogeneous missions, allowing for the incorporation of legacy equipment. The N-MaSS FDIR functions identify SpaceWire link and node failures and provide recovery using redundant nodes.This paper provides an overview of the overall N- MaSS study. In particular, the following topics are discussed: (a) how user requirements have been captured from the industry, SpaceWire Working Group and ESA; (b) how the N-MaSS architecture was organically shaped on the basis of the requirements captured; (c) how the N-MaSS concept is currently being implemented in a demonstrator and verified.

Descriptive study of the Specialized Care of the Spanish Health System.

PubMed

Nombela-Monterroso, Karen; González-Chordá, Víctor M; Roman, Pablo

2018-02-05

The objective of this study is to analyze the trend of the Key Indicators of the National Health System of Spain and its autonomous communities, related to Specialized Care, from the publication of the Law of Cohesion and Quality. This is an ecological study of temporary series of Spain and its autonomous communities from 2003 to 2014. We have analyzed 10 indicators related to Specialized Care (percentage of expenditure, professionals, waiting lists, surgical activity, average duration, infections, and mortality) using the Prais-Winsten regression method. We have obtained data from the health information system of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services, and Equality. Specialized care expenditure (APC = 0.059, 95%CI 0.041-0.074), number of medical professionals (APC = 0.0006, 95%CI 0.0003-0.0009) and nursing professionals (APC = 0.001, 95%CI 0.0005-0.0016), hospital infections (APC = 0.0003, 95%CI 0.0002-0.0004), and in-hospital mortality (APC = 0.0008, 95%CI 0.0006-0.001) had an increasing trend in Spain. Average duration presented a decreasing trend (APC = -0.0017, 95%CI -0.002- -0.0014). The trend of waiting lists (specialized appointment and non-urgent surgical interventions) was static. The trend of these indicators varied in the Autonomous Communities. We have observed a non-compliance with the principles of equity and quality of the services offered. Increased aging, technological development, and inadequate strategies taken to reduce health costs may be the main causes.

Autonomous Satellite Operations Via Secure Virtual Mission Operations Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Eric; Paulsen, Phillip E.; Pasciuto, Michael

2011-01-01

The science community is interested in improving their ability to respond to rapidly evolving, transient phenomena via autonomous rapid reconfiguration, which derives from the ability to assemble separate but collaborating sensors and data forecasting systems to meet a broad range of research and application needs. Current satellite systems typically require human intervention to respond to triggers from dissimilar sensor systems. Additionally, satellite ground services often need to be coordinated days or weeks in advance. Finally, the boundaries between the various sensor systems that make up such a Sensor Web are defined by such things as link delay and connectivity, data and error rate asymmetry, data reliability, quality of service provisions, and trust, complicating autonomous operations. Over the past ten years, researchers from the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC), General Dynamics, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), Cisco, Universal Space Networks (USN), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Naval Research Laboratory, the DoD Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, and others have worked collaboratively to develop a virtual mission operations capability. Called VMOC (Virtual Mission Operations Center), this new capability allows cross-system queuing of dissimilar mission unique systems through the use of a common security scheme and published application programming interfaces (APIs). Collaborative VMOC demonstrations over the last several years have supported the standardization of spacecraft to ground interfaces needed to reduce costs, maximize space effects to the user, and allow the generation of new tactics, techniques and procedures that lead to responsive space employment.

Using quality function deployment to capture the voice of the customer and translate it into the voice of the provider.

PubMed

Chaplin, E; Bailey, M; Crosby, R; Gorman, D; Holland, X; Hippe, C; Hoff, T; Nawrocki, D; Pichette, S; Thota, N

1999-06-01

Health care has a number of historical barriers to capturing the voice of the customer and to incorporating customer wants into health care services, whether the customer is a patient, an insurer, or a community. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a set of tools and practices that can help overcome these barriers to form a process for the planning and design or redesign of products and services. The goal of the project was to increase referral volume and to improve a rehabilitation hospital's capacity to provide comprehensive medical and/or legal evaluations for people with complex and catastrophic injuries or illnesses. HIGH-LEVEL VIEW OF QFD AS A PROCESS: The steps in QFD are as follows: capture of the voice of the customer, quality deployment, functions deployment, failure mode deployment, new process deployment, and task deployment. The output of each step becomes the input to a matrix tool or table of the next step of the process. In 3 1/2 months a nine-person project team at Continental Rehabilitation Hospital (San Diego) used QFD tools to capture the voice of the customer, use these data as the basis for a questionnaire on important qualities of service from the customer's perspective, obtain competitive data on how the organization was perceived to be meeting the demanded qualities, identify measurable dimensions and targets of these qualities, and incorporate the functions and tasks into the delivery of service which are necessary to meet the demanded qualities. The future of providing health care services will belong to organizations that can adapt to a rapidly changing environment and to demands for new products and services that are produced and delivered in new ways.

Valuing Blue Carbon: Carbon Sequestration Benefits Provided by the Marine Protected Areas in Colombia

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Marine protected areas are aimed to protect and conserve key ecosystems for the provision of a number of ecosystem services that are the basis for numerous economic activities. Among the several services that these areas provide, the capacity of sequestering (capturing and storing) organic carbon is a regulating service, provided mainly by mangroves and seagrasses, that gains importance as alternatives for mitigating global warming become a priority in the international agenda. The objective of this study is to value the services associated with the capture and storage of oceanic carbon, known as Blue Carbon, provided by a new network of marine protected areas in Colombia. We approach the monetary value associated to these services through the simulation of a hypothetical market for oceanic carbon. To do that, we construct a benefit function that considers the capacity of mangroves and seagrasses for capturing and storing blue carbon, and simulate scenarios for the variation of key variables such as the market carbon price, the discount rate, the natural rate of loss of the ecosystems, and the expectations about the post-Kyoto negotiations. The results indicate that the expected benefits associated to carbon capture and storage provided by these ecosystems are substantial but highly dependent on the expectations in terms of the negotiations surrounding the extension of the Kyoto Protocol and the dynamics of the carbon credit’s demand and supply. We also find that the natural loss rate of these ecosystems does not seem to have a significant effect on the annual value of the benefits. This approach constitutes one of the first attempts to value blue carbon as one of the services provided by conservation. PMID:26018814

The Use of Autonomous Systems in Emergency Medical Services: Bridging Human Intelligence and Technology

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

significant impact on emergency medical services ( EMS ). EMS provider organizations must be prepared to not only interact with AS by having response... EMS will be high, that the number of opportunities to improve required emergency response and deliver expedient medical care will be diminished, and...that strengths may be nonexistent. The thesis focuses on the analysis of what AS are, how they are used in the provision of EMS today, how they may be

Maritime-Based UAVs: A Key to Success for the Joint Force Commander

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-18

both cases, the UAVs encountered icing conditions inevitably losing control and crashing into the water.xxiii Land-based UAVs as well as manned...www2.l- 3com.com/csw/ProductsAndServices/ DataSheets /VORTEX Sales-Sheet WEB.pdf. xxviii L3 Communication Systems, “ROVER 5 Handheld,” accessed on...May 2, 2015, http://www2.l-3com.com/csw/ProductsAndServices/ DataSheets /ROVER-5_Sales- Sheet_WEB.pdf. xxix National Research Council, Autonomous

Data Service: Distributed Data Capture and Replication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warner, P. B.; Pietrowicz, S. R.

2007-10-01

Data Service is a critical component of the NOAO Data Management and Science Support (DMaSS) Solutions Platform, which is based on a service-oriented architecture, and is to replace the current NOAO Data Transport System. Its responsibilities include capturing data from NOAO and partner telescopes and instruments and replicating the data across multiple (currently six) storage sites. Java 5 was chosen as the implementation language, and Java EE as the underlying enterprise framework. Application metadata persistence is performed using EJB and Hibernate on the JBoss Application Server, with PostgreSQL as the persistence back-end. Although potentially any underlying mass storage system may be used as the Data Service file persistence technology, DTS deployments and Data Service test deployments currently use the Storage Resource Broker from SDSC. This paper presents an overview and high-level design of the Data Service, including aspects of deployment, e.g., for the LSST Data Challenge at the NCSA computing facilities.

Positioning navigation and timing service applications in cyber physical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qu, Yi; Wu, Xiaojing; Zeng, Lingchuan

2017-10-01

The positioning navigation and timing (PNT) architecture was discussed in detail, whose history, evolvement, current status and future plan were presented, main technologies were listed, advantages and limitations of most technologies were compared, novel approaches were introduced, and future capacities were sketched. The concept of cyber-physical system (CPS) was described and their primary features were interpreted. Then the three-layer architecture of CPS was illustrated. Next CPS requirements on PNT services were analyzed, including requirements on position reference and time reference, requirements on temporal-spatial error monitor, requirements on dynamic services, real-time services, autonomous services, security services and standard services. Finally challenges faced by PNT applications in CPS were concluded. The conclusion was expected to facilitate PNT applications in CPS, and furthermore to provide references to the design and implementation of both architectures.

[Variables associated with the use of dental services among preschool population in Spain: a national health survey analysis].

PubMed

Barriuso Lapresa, Laura; Sanz-Barbero, Belén

2012-01-01

oral health is integral to health from the eruption of the first tooth. To achieving, it is necessary an early establishment of healthy oral habits as regular dental checkups. In developed countries, caries is the most prevalent chronic pediatric disease and it may be increasing in preschool age. a) assessing prevalence of oral health services use among Spanish preschool population, b) quantifying and analyzing the existence of variability among autonomous community and c) identifying variables associated with such use. cross-sectional study about Spanish National health Survey (2006). 2,172 children aged between 2 and 5 years (both inclusive). have gone to dental services at least once during life. sociodemographic, self-referred dental health, habits and family socioeconomic status variables. Multivariate logistic regression analysis. 20.8% of Spanish preschoolers reported had attended dental services. Probability of use increased with age (OR: 1,88; IC:1,53-2,31), frequency of daily tooth brushing (three or more times per day vrs less than once: OR: 2,94; IC: 1,47-5,87) and presence of caries (OR: 2,60; IC: 1,22-5,51). There is a socioeconomic gradient about probability of use: it increased with family socioeconomic status measured by social class (low vrs high: OR: 0,41; IC: 0,19-0,86) and maternal educational level (OR: 1,62; IC: 1,13-2,32). There was not variability in the oral health services use attributable to the autonomous community. the use of dental health services among Spanish preschool population is lower than desirable. The promotion of its use should be intensified in children from disadvantaged families.

Sensor Management for Applied Research Technologies (SMART)-On Demand Modeling (ODM) Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodman, M.; Blakeslee, R.; Hood, R.; Jedlovec, G.; Botts, M.; Li, X.

2006-01-01

NASA requires timely on-demand data and analysis capabilities to enable practical benefits of Earth science observations. However, a significant challenge exists in accessing and integrating data from multiple sensors or platforms to address Earth science problems because of the large data volumes, varying sensor scan characteristics, unique orbital coverage, and the steep learning curve associated with each sensor and data type. The development of sensor web capabilities to autonomously process these data streams (whether real-time or archived) provides an opportunity to overcome these obstacles and facilitate the integration and synthesis of Earth science data and weather model output. A three year project, entitled Sensor Management for Applied Research Technologies (SMART) - On Demand Modeling (ODM), will develop and demonstrate the readiness of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) capabilities that integrate both Earth observations and forecast model output into new data acquisition and assimilation strategies. The advancement of SWE-enabled systems (i.e., use of SensorML, sensor planning services - SPS, sensor observation services - SOS, sensor alert services - SAS and common observation model protocols) will have practical and efficient uses in the Earth science community for enhanced data set generation, real-time data assimilation with operational applications, and for autonomous sensor tasking for unique data collection.

An exploration of chronic pain patients' perceptions of home telerehabilitation services.

PubMed

Cranen, Karlijn; Drossaert, Constance H C; Brinkman, Evelien S; Braakman-Jansen, Annemarie L M; Ijzerman, Maarten J; Vollenbroek-Hutten, Miriam M R

2012-12-01

To explore patients' perceptions regarding prospective telerehabilitation services and the factors that facilitate or impede patients' intentions to use these services. Using semi-structured interviews, patients reflected on the pros and cons of various scenarios of prospective telerehabilitation services. Patients' arguments were first arranged according to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Next, using inductive analysis, the data for each UTAUT component were analysed and arranged into subthemes. Twenty-five chronic pain patients were selected from a rehabilitation centre in the Netherlands. Overall, participants considered telerehabilitation helpful as a complementary or follow-up treatment, rather than an autonomous treatment. Arguments mainly related to the UTAUT constructs of 'performance expectancy' and 'facilitating conditions'. Patients valued the benefits such as reduced transportation barriers, flexible exercise hours and the possibility to better integrate skills into daily life. However, many patients feared a loss of treatment motivation and expressed concerns about both reduced fellow sufferer contact and reduced face-to-face therapist contact. Few arguments related to 'social norms' and 'effort expectancy'. The effect of telerehabilitation on healthcare strongly depends on patients' willingness to use. Our study showed that chronic pain patients valued the benefits of telerehabilitation but hesitate to use it as an autonomous treatment. Therefore, future initiatives should maintain traditional care to some degree and focus on patients' attitudes as well. Either by giving information to increase patients' confidence in telerehabilitation or by addressing reported drawbacks into the future design of these services. Further quantitative studies are needed to explore patients' intentions to use telerehabilitation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Agent-based user-adaptive service provision in ubiquitous systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saddiki, H.; Harroud, H.; Karmouch, A.

2012-11-01

With the increasing availability of smartphones, tablets and other computing devices, technology consumers have grown accustomed to performing all of their computing tasks anytime, anywhere and on any device. There is a greater need to support ubiquitous connectivity and accommodate users by providing software as network-accessible services. In this paper, we propose a MAS-based approach to adaptive service composition and provision that automates the selection and execution of a suitable composition plan for a given service. With agents capable of autonomous and intelligent behavior, the composition plan is selected in a dynamic negotiation driven by a utility-based decision-making mechanism; and the composite service is built by a coalition of agents each providing a component necessary to the target service. The same service can be built in variations for catering to dynamic user contexts and further personalizing the user experience. Also multiple services can be grouped to satisfy new user needs.

Bio-inspired UAV routing, source localization, and acoustic signature classification for persistent surveillance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burman, Jerry; Hespanha, Joao; Madhow, Upamanyu; Pham, Tien

2011-06-01

A team consisting of Teledyne Scientific Company, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the Army Research Laboratory* is developing technologies in support of automated data exfiltration from heterogeneous battlefield sensor networks to enhance situational awareness for dismounts and command echelons. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide an effective means to autonomously collect data from a sparse network of unattended ground sensors (UGSs) that cannot communicate with each other. UAVs are used to reduce the system reaction time by generating autonomous collection routes that are data-driven. Bio-inspired techniques for search provide a novel strategy to detect, capture and fuse data. A fast and accurate method has been developed to localize an event by fusing data from a sparse number of UGSs. This technique uses a bio-inspired algorithm based on chemotaxis or the motion of bacteria seeking nutrients in their environment. A unique acoustic event classification algorithm was also developed based on using swarm optimization. Additional studies addressed the problem of routing multiple UAVs, optimally placing sensors in the field and locating the source of gunfire at helicopters. A field test was conducted in November of 2009 at Camp Roberts, CA. The field test results showed that a system controlled by bio-inspired software algorithms can autonomously detect and locate the source of an acoustic event with very high accuracy and visually verify the event. In nine independent test runs of a UAV, the system autonomously located the position of an explosion nine times with an average accuracy of 3 meters. The time required to perform source localization using the UAV was on the order of a few minutes based on UAV flight times. In June 2011, additional field tests of the system will be performed and will include multiple acoustic events, optimal sensor placement based on acoustic phenomenology and the use of the International Technology Alliance (ITA) Sensor Network Fabric (IBM).

Autonomous Optimization of Targeted Stimulation of Neuronal Networks

PubMed Central

Kumar, Sreedhar S.; Wülfing, Jan; Okujeni, Samora; Boedecker, Joschka; Riedmiller, Martin

2016-01-01

Driven by clinical needs and progress in neurotechnology, targeted interaction with neuronal networks is of increasing importance. Yet, the dynamics of interaction between intrinsic ongoing activity in neuronal networks and their response to stimulation is unknown. Nonetheless, electrical stimulation of the brain is increasingly explored as a therapeutic strategy and as a means to artificially inject information into neural circuits. Strategies using regular or event-triggered fixed stimuli discount the influence of ongoing neuronal activity on the stimulation outcome and are therefore not optimal to induce specific responses reliably. Yet, without suitable mechanistic models, it is hardly possible to optimize such interactions, in particular when desired response features are network-dependent and are initially unknown. In this proof-of-principle study, we present an experimental paradigm using reinforcement-learning (RL) to optimize stimulus settings autonomously and evaluate the learned control strategy using phenomenological models. We asked how to (1) capture the interaction of ongoing network activity, electrical stimulation and evoked responses in a quantifiable ‘state’ to formulate a well-posed control problem, (2) find the optimal state for stimulation, and (3) evaluate the quality of the solution found. Electrical stimulation of generic neuronal networks grown from rat cortical tissue in vitro evoked bursts of action potentials (responses). We show that the dynamic interplay of their magnitudes and the probability to be intercepted by spontaneous events defines a trade-off scenario with a network-specific unique optimal latency maximizing stimulus efficacy. An RL controller was set to find this optimum autonomously. Across networks, stimulation efficacy increased in 90% of the sessions after learning and learned latencies strongly agreed with those predicted from open-loop experiments. Our results show that autonomous techniques can exploit quantitative relationships underlying activity-response interaction in biological neuronal networks to choose optimal actions. Simple phenomenological models can be useful to validate the quality of the resulting controllers. PMID:27509295

Autonomous Optimization of Targeted Stimulation of Neuronal Networks.

PubMed

Kumar, Sreedhar S; Wülfing, Jan; Okujeni, Samora; Boedecker, Joschka; Riedmiller, Martin; Egert, Ulrich

2016-08-01

Driven by clinical needs and progress in neurotechnology, targeted interaction with neuronal networks is of increasing importance. Yet, the dynamics of interaction between intrinsic ongoing activity in neuronal networks and their response to stimulation is unknown. Nonetheless, electrical stimulation of the brain is increasingly explored as a therapeutic strategy and as a means to artificially inject information into neural circuits. Strategies using regular or event-triggered fixed stimuli discount the influence of ongoing neuronal activity on the stimulation outcome and are therefore not optimal to induce specific responses reliably. Yet, without suitable mechanistic models, it is hardly possible to optimize such interactions, in particular when desired response features are network-dependent and are initially unknown. In this proof-of-principle study, we present an experimental paradigm using reinforcement-learning (RL) to optimize stimulus settings autonomously and evaluate the learned control strategy using phenomenological models. We asked how to (1) capture the interaction of ongoing network activity, electrical stimulation and evoked responses in a quantifiable 'state' to formulate a well-posed control problem, (2) find the optimal state for stimulation, and (3) evaluate the quality of the solution found. Electrical stimulation of generic neuronal networks grown from rat cortical tissue in vitro evoked bursts of action potentials (responses). We show that the dynamic interplay of their magnitudes and the probability to be intercepted by spontaneous events defines a trade-off scenario with a network-specific unique optimal latency maximizing stimulus efficacy. An RL controller was set to find this optimum autonomously. Across networks, stimulation efficacy increased in 90% of the sessions after learning and learned latencies strongly agreed with those predicted from open-loop experiments. Our results show that autonomous techniques can exploit quantitative relationships underlying activity-response interaction in biological neuronal networks to choose optimal actions. Simple phenomenological models can be useful to validate the quality of the resulting controllers.

Standard services for the capture, processing, and distribution of packetized telemetry data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stallings, William H.

1989-01-01

Standard functional services for the capture, processing, and distribution of packetized data are discussed with particular reference to the future implementation of packet processing systems, such as those for the Space Station Freedom. The major functions are listed under the following major categories: input processing, packet processing, and output processing. A functional block diagram of a packet data processing facility is presented, showing the distribution of the various processing functions as well as the primary data flow through the facility.

Design of a framework for the deployment of collaborative independent rare disease-centric registries: Gaucher disease registry model.

PubMed

Bellgard, Matthew I; Napier, Kathryn R; Bittles, Alan H; Szer, Jeffrey; Fletcher, Sue; Zeps, Nikolajs; Hunter, Adam A; Goldblatt, Jack

2018-02-01

Orphan drug clinical trials often are adversely affected by a lack of high quality treatment efficacy data that can be reliably compared across large patient cohorts derived from multiple governmental and country jurisdictions. It is critical that these patient data be captured with limited corporate involvement. For some time, there have been calls to develop collaborative, non-proprietary, patient-centric registries for post-market surveillance of aspects related to orphan drug efficacy. There is an urgent need for the development and sustainable deployment of these 'independent' registries that can capture comprehensive clinical, genetic and therapeutic information on patients with rare diseases. We therefore extended an open-source registry platform, the Rare Disease Registry Framework (RDRF) to establish an Independent Rare Disease Registry (IRDR). We engaged with an established rare disease community for Gaucher disease to determine system requirements, methods of data capture, consent, and reporting. A non-proprietary IRDR model is presented that can serve as autonomous data repository, but more importantly ensures that the relevant data can be made available to appropriate stakeholders in a secure, timely and efficient manner to improve clinical decision-making and the lives of those with a rare disease. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modulated Acquisition of Spatial Distortion Maps

PubMed Central

Volkov, Alexey; Gros, Jerneja Žganec; Žganec, Mario; Javornik, Tomaž; Švigelj, Aleš

2013-01-01

This work discusses a novel approach to image acquisition which improves the robustness of captured data required for 3D range measurements. By applying a pseudo-random code modulation to sequential acquisition of projected patterns the impact of environmental factors such as ambient light and mutual interference is significantly reduced. The proposed concept has been proven with an experimental range sensor based on the laser triangulation principle. The proposed design can potentially enhance the use of this principle to a variety of outdoor applications, such as autonomous vehicles, pedestrians' safety, collision avoidance, and many other tasks, where robust real-time distance detection in real world environment is crucial. PMID:23966196

Modulated acquisition of spatial distortion maps.

PubMed

Volkov, Alexey; Gros, Jerneja Zganec; Zganec, Mario; Javornik, Tomaž; Svigelj, Aleš

2013-08-21

This work discusses a novel approach to image acquisition which improves the robustness of captured data required for 3D range measurements. By applying a pseudo-random code modulation to sequential acquisition of projected patterns the impact of environmental factors such as ambient light and mutual interference is significantly reduced. The proposed concept has been proven with an experimental range sensor based on the laser triangulation principle. The proposed design can potentially enhance the use of this principle to a variety of outdoor applications, such as autonomous vehicles, pedestrians' safety, collision avoidance, and many other tasks, where robust real-time distance detection in real world environment is crucial.

Bioinformatics for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Kathy A.

2006-01-01

For the purpose of this paper, bioinformatics is defined as the application of computer technology to the management of biological information. It can be thought of as the science of developing computer databases and algorithms to facilitate and expedite biological research. This is a crosscutting capability that supports nearly all human health areas ranging from computational modeling, to pharmacodynamics research projects, to decision support systems within autonomous medical care. Bioinformatics serves to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the life sciences research program. It provides data, information, and knowledge capture which further supports management of the bioastronautics research roadmap - identifying gaps that still remain and enabling the determination of which risks have been addressed.

Standards Evaluation & Development « Coast Guard Maritime Commons

Science.gov Websites

maritime distress and safety services Editor's note: This post was updated April 10, 2018 to reflect that . For the latest information, visit the Inmarsat website provided in our blog post. Inmarsat announced conference. In this post, the chief of the Office of Merchant Mariner Credentialing discusses autonomous

Remote mission specialist - A study in real-time, adaptive planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rokey, Mark J.

1990-01-01

A high-level planning architecture for robotic operations is presented. The remote mission specialist integrates high-level directives with low-level primitives executable by a run-time controller for command of autonomous servicing activities. The planner has been designed to address such issues as adaptive plan generation, real-time performance, and operator intervention.

Continuity and Change: The Integration of Oxford University's Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Barbara B.

2005-01-01

Prior to 1997, the University of Oxford in Great Britain had approximately one hundred autonomous libraries with little coordination of services, collection development, or management among them. In that year a new director was hired with the mandate to integrate many of these libraries into one centralized system. Over the past seven years…

An Autonomic Framework for Integrating Security and Quality of Service Support in Databases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alomari, Firas

2013-01-01

The back-end databases of multi-tiered applications are a major data security concern for enterprises. The abundance of these systems and the emergence of new and different threats require multiple and overlapping security mechanisms. Therefore, providing multiple and diverse database intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) is a critical…

Development of a Scale to Address Perceptions of Pre-Service Teachers Regarding Online Risks for Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dönmez, Onur; Odabasi, H. Ferhan; Kabakçi Yurdakul, Isil; Kuzu, Abdullah; Girgin, Ümit

2017-01-01

Children's ever-increasing and autonomous engagement with the internet exposes them to online risks, especially when parental supervision is limited. Furthermore, media coverage highlighting negative online experiences increases adults' risk perceptions, which in turn jeopardize children's sustainable and beneficial engagement with the internet.…

Anomalous dismeter distribution shifts estimated from FIA inventories through time

Treesearch

Francis A. Roesch; Paul C. Van Deusen

2010-01-01

In the past decade, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) has replaced regionally autonomous, periodic, state-wide forest inventories using various probability proportional to tree size sampling designs with a nationally consistent annual forest inventory design utilizing systematically spaced clusters...

A cluster-randomised controlled trial of values-based training to promote autonomously held recovery values in mental health workers.

PubMed

Williams, Virginia; Deane, Frank P; Oades, Lindsay G; Crowe, Trevor P; Ciarrochi, Joseph; Andresen, Retta

2016-02-02

The implementation and use of evidence-based practices is a key priority for recovery-oriented mental health service provision. Training and development programmes for employees continue to be a key method of knowledge and skill development, despite acknowledged difficulties with uptake and maintenance of behaviour change. Self-determination theory suggests that autonomy, or a sense that behaviour is self-generated, is a key motivator to sustained behaviour change, in this case practices in mental health services. This study examined the utility of values-focused staff intervention as a specific, reproducible method of autonomy support. Mental health workers (n = 146) were assigned via cluster randomisation to either a values clarification condition or an active problem-solving control condition. Results demonstrated that a structured values clarification exercise was useful in promoting integrated motivation for the changed practice and resulted in increased implementation planning. Structured values clarification intervention demonstrates utility as a reproducible means of autonomy support within the workplace. We discuss future directions for the study of autonomous motivation in the field of implementation science. ACTRN12613000353796.

Self-evaluation on Motion Adaptation for Service Robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Funabora, Yuki; Yano, Yoshikazu; Doki, Shinji; Okuma, Shigeru

We suggest self motion evaluation method to adapt to environmental changes for service robots. Several motions such as walking, dancing, demonstration and so on are described with time series patterns. These motions are optimized with the architecture of the robot and under certain surrounding environment. Under unknown operating environment, robots cannot accomplish their tasks. We propose autonomous motion generation techniques based on heuristic search with histories of internal sensor values. New motion patterns are explored under unknown operating environment based on self-evaluation. Robot has some prepared motions which realize the tasks under the designed environment. Internal sensor values observed under the designed environment with prepared motions show the interaction results with the environment. Self-evaluation is composed of difference of internal sensor values between designed environment and unknown operating environment. Proposed method modifies the motions to synchronize the interaction results on both environment. New motion patterns are generated to maximize self-evaluation function without external information, such as run length, global position of robot, human observation and so on. Experimental results show that the possibility to adapt autonomously patterned motions to environmental changes.

Laboratory testing of candidate robotic applications for space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Purves, R. B.

1987-01-01

Robots have potential for increasing the value of man's presence in space. Some categories with potential benefit are: (1) performing extravehicular tasks like satellite and station servicing, (2) supporting the science mission of the station by manipulating experiment tasks, and (3) performing intravehicular activities which would be boring, tedious, exacting, or otherwise unpleasant for astronauts. An important issue in space robotics is selection of an appropriate level of autonomy. In broad terms three levels of autonomy can be defined: (1) teleoperated - an operator explicitly controls robot movement; (2) telerobotic - an operator controls the robot directly, but by high-level commands, without, for example, detailed control of trajectories; and (3) autonomous - an operator supplies a single high-level command, the robot does all necessary task sequencing and planning to satisfy the command. Researchers chose three projects for their exploration of technology and implementation issues in space robots, one each of the three application areas, each with a different level of autonomy. The projects were: (1) satellite servicing - teleoperated; (2) laboratory assistant - telerobotic; and (3) on-orbit inventory manager - autonomous. These projects are described and some results of testing are summarized.

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

Lee, Hsien-Hsin S

The overall objective of this research project is to develop novel architectural techniques as well as system software to achieve a highly secure and intrusion-tolerant computing system. Such system will be autonomous, self-adapting, introspective, with self-healing capability under the circumstances of improper operations, abnormal workloads, and malicious attacks. The scope of this research includes: (1) System-wide, unified introspection techniques for autonomic systems, (2) Secure information-flow microarchitecture, (3) Memory-centric security architecture, (4) Authentication control and its implication to security, (5) Digital right management, (5) Microarchitectural denial-of-service attacks on shared resources. During the period of the project, we developed several architectural techniquesmore » and system software for achieving a robust, secure, and reliable computing system toward our goal.« less

A development of intelligent entertainment robot for home life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Cheoltaek; Lee, Ju-Jang

2005-12-01

The purpose of this paper was to present the study and design idea for entertainment robot with educational purpose (IRFEE). The robot has been designed for home life considering dependability and interaction. The developed robot has three objectives - 1. Develop autonomous robot, 2. Design robot considering mobility and robustness, 3. Develop robot interface and software considering entertainment and education functionalities. The autonomous navigation was implemented by active vision based SLAM and modified EPF algorithm. The two differential wheels, the pan-tilt were designed mobility and robustness and the exterior was designed considering esthetic element and minimizing interference. The speech and tracking algorithm provided the good interface with human. The image transfer and Internet site connection is needed for service of remote connection and educational purpose.

Aerocapture Performance Analysis for a Neptune-Triton Exploration Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starr, Brett R.; Westhelle, Carlos H.; Masciarelli, James P.

2004-01-01

A systems analysis has been conducted for a Neptune-Triton Exploration Mission in which aerocapture is used to capture a spacecraft at Neptune. Aerocapture uses aerodynamic drag instead of propulsion to decelerate from the interplanetary approach trajectory to a captured orbit during a single pass through the atmosphere. After capture, propulsion is used to move the spacecraft from the initial captured orbit to the desired science orbit. A preliminary assessment identified that a spacecraft with a lift to drag ratio of 0.8 was required for aerocapture. Performance analyses of the 0.8 L/D vehicle were performed using a high fidelity flight simulation within a Monte Carlo executive to determine mission success statistics. The simulation was the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST) modified to include Neptune specific atmospheric and planet models, spacecraft aerodynamic characteristics, and interplanetary trajectory models. To these were added autonomous guidance and pseudo flight controller models. The Monte Carlo analyses incorporated approach trajectory delivery errors, aerodynamic characteristics uncertainties, and atmospheric density variations. Monte Carlo analyses were performed for a reference set of uncertainties and sets of uncertainties modified to produce increased and reduced atmospheric variability. For the reference uncertainties, the 0.8 L/D flatbottom ellipsled vehicle achieves 100% successful capture and has a 99.87 probability of attaining the science orbit with a 360 m/s V budget for apoapsis and periapsis adjustment. Monte Carlo analyses were also performed for a guidance system that modulates both bank angle and angle of attack with the reference set of uncertainties. An alpha and bank modulation guidance system reduces the 99.87 percentile DELTA V 173 m/s (48%) to 187 m/s for the reference set of uncertainties.

Ground Simulation of an Autonomous Satellite Rendezvous and Tracking System Using Dual Robotic Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trube, Matthew J.; Hyslop, Andrew M.; Carignan, Craig R.; Easley, Joseph W.

2012-01-01

A hardware-in-the-loop ground system was developed for simulating a robotic servicer spacecraft tracking a target satellite at short range. A relative navigation sensor package "Argon" is mounted on the end-effector of a Fanuc 430 manipulator, which functions as the base platform of the robotic spacecraft servicer. Machine vision algorithms estimate the pose of the target spacecraft, mounted on a Rotopod R-2000 platform, relay the solution to a simulation of the servicer spacecraft running in "Freespace", which performs guidance, navigation and control functions, integrates dynamics, and issues motion commands to a Fanuc platform controller so that it tracks the simulated servicer spacecraft. Results will be reviewed for several satellite motion scenarios at different ranges. Key words: robotics, satellite, servicing, guidance, navigation, tracking, control, docking.

Autonomous Path Planning for On-Orbit Servicing Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McInnes, C. R.

On-orbit servicing has long been considered as a means of reducing mission costs. While automated on-orbit servicing of satellites in LEO and GEO has yet to be realised, the International Space Station (ISS) will require servicing in a number of forms for re-supply, external visual inspection and maintenance. This paper will discuss a unified approach to path planning for such servicing vehicles using artificial potential field methods. In particular, path constrained rendezvous and docking of the ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) at the ISS will be investigated as will mission and path planning tools for the Daimler-Chrysler Aerospace ISS Inspector free-flying camera. Future applications for free-flying microcameras and co-operative control between multiple free-flyers for on-orbit assembly will also be considered.

Graph-Based Semantic Web Service Composition for Healthcare Data Integration.

PubMed

Arch-Int, Ngamnij; Arch-Int, Somjit; Sonsilphong, Suphachoke; Wanchai, Paweena

2017-01-01

Within the numerous and heterogeneous web services offered through different sources, automatic web services composition is the most convenient method for building complex business processes that permit invocation of multiple existing atomic services. The current solutions in functional web services composition lack autonomous queries of semantic matches within the parameters of web services, which are necessary in the composition of large-scale related services. In this paper, we propose a graph-based Semantic Web Services composition system consisting of two subsystems: management time and run time. The management-time subsystem is responsible for dependency graph preparation in which a dependency graph of related services is generated automatically according to the proposed semantic matchmaking rules. The run-time subsystem is responsible for discovering the potential web services and nonredundant web services composition of a user's query using a graph-based searching algorithm. The proposed approach was applied to healthcare data integration in different health organizations and was evaluated according to two aspects: execution time measurement and correctness measurement.

Graph-Based Semantic Web Service Composition for Healthcare Data Integration

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Within the numerous and heterogeneous web services offered through different sources, automatic web services composition is the most convenient method for building complex business processes that permit invocation of multiple existing atomic services. The current solutions in functional web services composition lack autonomous queries of semantic matches within the parameters of web services, which are necessary in the composition of large-scale related services. In this paper, we propose a graph-based Semantic Web Services composition system consisting of two subsystems: management time and run time. The management-time subsystem is responsible for dependency graph preparation in which a dependency graph of related services is generated automatically according to the proposed semantic matchmaking rules. The run-time subsystem is responsible for discovering the potential web services and nonredundant web services composition of a user's query using a graph-based searching algorithm. The proposed approach was applied to healthcare data integration in different health organizations and was evaluated according to two aspects: execution time measurement and correctness measurement. PMID:29065602

Factors influencing the role of cardiac autonomic regulation in the service of cognitive control.

PubMed

Capuana, Lesley J; Dywan, Jane; Tays, William J; Elmers, Jamie L; Witherspoon, Richelle; Segalowitz, Sidney J

2014-10-01

Working from a model of neurovisceral integration, we examined whether adding response contingencies and motivational involvement would increase the need for cardiac autonomic regulation in maintaining effective cognitive control. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was recorded during variants of the Stroop color-word task. The Basic task involved "accepting" congruent items and "rejecting" words printed in incongruent colors (BLUE in red font); an added contingency involved rejecting a particular congruent word (e.g., RED in red font), or a congruent word repeated on an immediately subsequent trial. Motivation was increased by adding a financial incentive phase. Results indicate that pre-task RSA predicted accuracy best when response contingencies required the maintenance of a specific item in memory or on the Basic Stroop task when errors resulted in financial loss. Overall, RSA appeared to be most relevant to performance when the task encouraged a more proactive style of cognitive control, a control strategy thought to be more metabolically costly, and hence, more reliant on flexible cardiac autonomic regulation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Capture the Fracture: a Best Practice Framework and global campaign to break the fragility fracture cycle.

PubMed

Akesson, K; Marsh, D; Mitchell, P J; McLellan, A R; Stenmark, J; Pierroz, D D; Kyer, C; Cooper, C

2013-08-01

The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Capture the Fracture Campaign aims to support implementation of Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) throughout the world. FLS have been shown to close the ubiquitous secondary fracture prevention care gap, ensuring that fragility fracture sufferers receive appropriate assessment and intervention to reduce future fracture risk. Capture the Fracture has developed internationally endorsed standards for best practice, will facilitate change at the national level to drive adoption of FLS and increase awareness of the challenges and opportunities presented by secondary fracture prevention to key stakeholders. The Best Practice Framework (BPF) sets an international benchmark for FLS, which defines essential and aspirational elements of service delivery. The BPF has been reviewed by leading experts from many countries and subject to beta-testing to ensure that it is internationally relevant and fit-for-purpose. The BPF will also serve as a measurement tool for IOF to award 'Capture the Fracture Best Practice Recognition' to celebrate successful FLS worldwide and drive service development in areas of unmet need. The Capture the Fracture website will provide a suite of resources related to FLS and secondary fracture prevention, which will be updated as new materials become available. A mentoring programme will enable those in the early stages of development of FLS to learn from colleagues elsewhere that have achieved Best Practice Recognition. A grant programme is in development to aid clinical systems which require financial assistance to establish FLS in their localities. Nearly half a billion people will reach retirement age during the next 20 years. IOF has developed Capture the Fracture because this is the single most important thing that can be done to directly improve patient care, of both women and men, and reduce the spiralling fracture-related care costs worldwide.

Automatic management of atrial and ventricular stimulation in a contemporary unselected population of pacemaker recipients: the ESSENTIAL Registry.

PubMed

Biffi, Mauro; Bertini, Matteo; Saporito, Davide; Belotti, Giuseppina; Quartieri, Fabio; Piancastelli, Maurizio; Pucci, Angelo; Boggian, Giulio; Mazzocca, Gian Franco; Giorgi, Davide; Diotallevi, Paolo; Diemberger, Igor; Martignani, Cristian; Pancaldi, Stefano; Ziacchi, Matteo; Marcantoni, Lina; Toselli, Tiziano; Attala, Simone; Iori, Matteo; Bottoni, Nicola; Argnani, Selina; Tomasi, Corrado; Sassone, Biagio; Boriani, Giuseppe

2016-10-01

We investigated the applicability of the Ventricular Capture Control (VCC) and Atrial Capture Control (ACC) algorithms for automatic management of cardiac stimulation featured by Biotronik pacemakers in a broad, unselected population of pacemaker recipients. Ventricular Capture Control and Atrial Capture Control were programmed to work at a maximum adapted output voltage as 4.8 V in consecutive recipients of Biotronik pacemakers. Ambulatory threshold measurements were made 1 and 12 months after pacemaker implant/replacement in all possible pacing/sensing configurations, and were compared with manual measurements. Among 542 patients aged 80 (73-85) years, 382 had a pacemaker implant and 160 a pacemaker replacement. Ventricular Capture Control could work at long term in 97% of patients irrespectively of pacing indication, lead type, and lead service life, performance being superior with discordant pacing/sensing configurations. Atrial Capture Control could work in 93% of patients at 4.8 V maximum adapted voltage and at any pulse width, regardless of pacing indication, lead type, and service life. At 12-month follow-up, a ventricular threshold increase ≥1.5 V had occurred in 4.4% of patients uneventfully owing to VCC functioning. Projected pacemaker longevity at 1 month was strongly correlated with the 12-month estimate, and exceeded 13 years in >60% of patients. These algorithms for automatic management of pacing output ensure patient safety in the event of a huge increase of pacing threshold, while enabling maximization of battery longevity. Their applicability is quite broad in an unselected pacemaker population irrespectively of lead choice and service of life. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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

Pang, Yuan-Ping, E-mail: pang@mayo.edu

Highlights: • Reducing atomic masses by 10-fold vastly improves sampling in MD simulations. • CLN025 folded in 4 of 10 × 0.5-μs MD simulations when masses were reduced by 10-fold. • CLN025 folded as early as 96.2 ns in 1 of the 4 simulations that captured folding. • CLN025 did not fold in 10 × 0.5-μs MD simulations when standard masses were used. • Low-mass MD simulation is a simple and generic sampling enhancement technique. - Abstract: CLN025 is one of the smallest fast-folding proteins. Until now it has not been reported that CLN025 can autonomously fold to its nativemore » conformation in a classical, all-atom, and isothermal–isobaric molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. This article reports the autonomous and repeated folding of CLN025 from a fully extended backbone conformation to its native conformation in explicit solvent in multiple 500-ns MD simulations at 277 K and 1 atm with the first folding event occurring as early as 66.1 ns. These simulations were accomplished by using AMBER forcefield derivatives with atomic masses reduced by 10-fold on Apple Mac Pros. By contrast, no folding event was observed when the simulations were repeated using the original AMBER forcefields of FF12SB and FF14SB. The results demonstrate that low-mass MD simulation is a simple and generic technique to enhance configurational sampling. This technique may propel autonomous folding of a wide range of miniature proteins in classical, all-atom, and isothermal–isobaric MD simulations performed on commodity computers—an important step forward in quantitative biology.« less

Intra-individual psychological and physiological responses to acute laboratory stressors of different intensity.

PubMed

Skoluda, Nadine; Strahler, Jana; Schlotz, Wolff; Niederberger, Larissa; Marques, Sofia; Fischer, Susanne; Thoma, Myriam V; Spoerri, Corinne; Ehlert, Ulrike; Nater, Urs M

2015-01-01

The phenomenon of stress is understood as a multidimensional concept which can be captured by psychological and physiological measures. There are various laboratory stress protocols which enable stress to be investigated under controlled conditions. However, little is known about whether these protocols differ with regard to the induced psycho-physiological stress response pattern. In a within-subjects design, 20 healthy young men underwent four of the most common stress protocols (Stroop test [Stroop], cold pressor test [CPT], Trier Social Stress Test [TSST], and bicycle ergometer test [Ergometer]) and a no-stress control condition (rest) in a randomized order. For the multidimensional assessment of the stress response, perceived stress, endocrine and autonomic biomarkers (salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and heart rate) were obtained during the experiments. All stress protocols evoked increases in perceived stress levels, with the highest levels in the TSST, followed by Ergometer, Stroop, and CPT. The highest HPA axis response was found in the TSST, followed by Ergometer, CPT, and Stroop, whilst the highest autonomic response was found in the Ergometer, followed by TSST, Stroop, and CPT. These findings suggest that different stress protocols differentially stimulate various aspects of the stress response. Physically demanding stress protocols such as the Ergometer test appear to be particularly suitable for evoking autonomic stress responses, whereas uncontrollable and social-evaluative threatening stressors (such as the TSST) are most likely to elicit HPA axis stress responses. The results of this study may help researchers in deciding which stress protocol to use, depending on the individual research question. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Task analysis of autonomous on-road driving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbera, Anthony J.; Horst, John A.; Schlenoff, Craig I.; Aha, David W.

2004-12-01

The Real-time Control System (RCS) Methodology has evolved over a number of years as a technique to capture task knowledge and organize it into a framework conducive to implementation in computer control systems. The fundamental premise of this methodology is that the present state of the task activities sets the context that identifies the requirements for all of the support processing. In particular, the task context at any time determines what is to be sensed in the world, what world model states are to be evaluated, which situations are to be analyzed, what plans should be invoked, and which behavior generation knowledge is to be accessed. This methodology concentrates on the task behaviors explored through scenario examples to define a task decomposition tree that clearly represents the branching of tasks into layers of simpler and simpler subtask activities. There is a named branching condition/situation identified for every fork of this task tree. These become the input conditions of the if-then rules of the knowledge set that define how the task is to respond to input state changes. Detailed analysis of each branching condition/situation is used to identify antecedent world states and these, in turn, are further analyzed to identify all of the entities, objects, and attributes that have to be sensed to determine if any of these world states exist. This paper explores the use of this 4D/RCS methodology in some detail for the particular task of autonomous on-road driving, which work was funded under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Mobile Autonomous Robot Software (MARS) effort (Doug Gage, Program Manager).

The anemia of primary autonomic failure and its reversal with recombinant erythropoietin

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biaggioni, I.; Robertson, D.; Krantz, S.; Jones, M.; Haile, V.

1994-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine if chronic sympathetic deprivation is associated with anemia and a low erythropoietin response. DESIGN: Survey of the prevalence and characteristics of anemia in patients with severe primary autonomic failure. SETTING: A referral service for autonomic failure in a tertiary teaching hospital. PATIENTS: 84 patients with primary autonomic failure who had symptomatic orthostatic hypotension. INTERVENTION: Open-label trial with human recombinant erythropoietin. RESULTS: Anemia was present in 32 of 84 patients (38%; 95% Cl, 27% to 50%). Plasma norepinephrine levels, measured in patients standing upright, were lower in the patient group with lower hemoglobin levels. Mean values in 22 patients with a hemoglobin level of less than 120 g/L were as follows: hemoglobin, 108 g/L (range, 87 to 118 g/L); hematocrit, 0.33; corrected reticulocyte counts, 0.008; mean corpuscular volume, 89 fL (89 microns 3); serum iron, 16.5 mumol/L (92 micrograms/dL); total iron binding capacity, 43.3 mumol/L (242 micrograms/dL); ferritin, 184 micrograms/L; serum vitamin B12, 410 pmol/L (556 pg/mL); and serum folate, 22.7 nmol/L (10 ng/mL). No relation was found between serum erythropoietin and blood hemoglobin levels. In seven of nine patients with autonomic failure who had hemoglobin levels less than 120 g/L, serum erythropoietin levels decreased below the 95% confidence interval corresponding to patients with iron deficiency anemia. Therapy with recombinant erythropoietin improved mean hemoglobin levels (from 108 to 133 g/L) in all patients treated (n = 5) at relatively low doses (25 to 50 units/kg body weight, subcutaneously, three times a week). CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the hypothesis that the sympathetic nervous system stimulates erythropoiesis in humans because anemia is a frequent occurrence in patients with severe autonomic failure and is associated with a blunted erythropoietin response.

State Scope of Practice Laws, Nurse-Midwifery Workforce, and Childbirth Procedures and Outcomes.

PubMed

Yang, Y Tony; Attanasio, Laura B; Kozhimannil, Katy B

2016-01-01

Despite research indicating that health, cost, and quality of care outcomes in midwife-led maternity care are comparable with and in some case preferable to those for patients with physician-led care, midwifery plays a more important role in some U.S. states than in others. However, this variability is not well-understood. This study estimates the association between state scope of practice laws related to the autonomy of midwifery practice with the certified nurse-midwifery (CNM) workforce, access to midwife-attended births, and childbirth-related procedures and outcomes. Using multivariate regression models, we analyzed Natality Detail File data from births occurring from 2009 to 2011. Each state was classified regarding autonomous midwifery practice (not requiring supervision or contractual agreements) based on Lexis legal search. States with autonomous practice laws had an average of 4.85 CNMs per 1,000 births, compared with 2.17 in states where CNM practice is subject to collaborative agreement. In states with autonomous CNM practice, women had higher odds of having a CNM-attended birth (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.59; p = .004), compared with women in states where midwifery is subject to collaborative agreement. In addition, women in states with autonomous practice had lower odds of cesarean delivery (AOR, 0.87; p = .016), preterm birth (AOR, 0.87; p < .001), and low birth weight (AOR, 0.89; p = .001), compared with women in states without such practice. States with regulations that support autonomous midwifery practice have a larger nurse-midwifery workforce, and a greater proportion of CNM-attended births. Correlations between autonomous practice laws and better birth outcomes suggest future policy efforts to enhance access to midwifery services may be beneficial to pregnancy outcomes and infant health. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design of an algorithm for autonomous docking with a freely tumbling target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nolet, Simon; Kong, Edmund; Miller, David W.

2005-05-01

For complex unmanned docking missions, limited communication bandwidth and delays do not allow ground operators to have immediate access to all real-time state information and hence prevent them from playing an active role in the control loop. Advanced control algorithms are needed to make mission critical decisions to ensure safety of both spacecraft during close proximity maneuvers. This is especially true when unexpected contingencies occur. These algorithms will enable multiple space missions, including servicing of damaged spacecraft and missions to Mars. A key characteristic of spacecraft servicing missions is that the target spacecraft is likely to be freely tumbling due to various mechanical failures or fuel depletion. Very few technical references in the literature can be found on autonomous docking with a freely tumbling target and very few such maneuvers have been attempted. The MIT Space Systems Laboratory (SSL) is currently performing research on the subject. The objective of this research is to develop a control architecture that will enable safe and fuel-efficient docking of a thruster based spacecraft with a freely tumbling target in presence of obstacles and contingencies. The approach is to identify, select and implement state estimation, fault detection, isolation and recovery, optimal path planning and thruster management algorithms that, once properly integrated, can accomplish such a maneuver autonomously. Simulations and demonstrations on the SPHERES testbed developed by the MIT SSL will be executed to assess the performance of different combinations of algorithms. To date, experiments have been carried out at the MIT SSL 2-D Laboratory and at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) flat floor.

Descriptive study of the Specialized Care of the Spanish Health System

PubMed Central

Nombela-Monterroso, Karen; González-Chordá, Víctor M; Roman, Pablo

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to analyze the trend of the Key Indicators of the National Health System of Spain and its autonomous communities, related to Specialized Care, from the publication of the Law of Cohesion and Quality. METHODS This is an ecological study of temporary series of Spain and its autonomous communities from 2003 to 2014. We have analyzed 10 indicators related to Specialized Care (percentage of expenditure, professionals, waiting lists, surgical activity, average duration, infections, and mortality) using the Prais-Winsten regression method. We have obtained data from the health information system of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services, and Equality. RESULTS Specialized care expenditure (APC = 0.059, 95%CI 0.041–0.074), number of medical professionals (APC = 0.0006, 95%CI 0.0003–0.0009) and nursing professionals (APC = 0.001, 95%CI 0.0005–0.0016), hospital infections (APC = 0.0003, 95%CI 0.0002–0.0004), and in-hospital mortality (APC = 0.0008, 95%CI 0.0006–0.001) had an increasing trend in Spain. Average duration presented a decreasing trend (APC = -0.0017, 95%CI -0.002– -0.0014). The trend of waiting lists (specialized appointment and non-urgent surgical interventions) was static. The trend of these indicators varied in the Autonomous Communities. CONCLUSIONS We have observed a non-compliance with the principles of equity and quality of the services offered. Increased aging, technological development, and inadequate strategies taken to reduce health costs may be the main causes. PMID:29412372

Autonomous Aerobraking Using Thermal Response Surface Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prince, Jill L.; Dec, John A.; Tolson, Robert H.

2007-01-01

Aerobraking is a proven method of significantly increasing the science payload that can be placed into low Mars orbits when compared to an all propulsive capture. However, the aerobraking phase is long and has mission cost and risk implications. The main cost benefit is that aerobraking permits the use of a smaller and cheaper launch vehicle, but additional operational costs are incurred during the long aerobraking phase. Risk is increased due to the repeated thermal loading of spacecraft components and the multiple attitude and propulsive maneuvers required for successful aerobraking. Both the cost and risk burdens can be significantly reduced by automating the aerobraking operations phase. All of the previous Mars orbiter missions that have utilized aerobraking have increasingly relied on onboard calculations during aerobraking. Even though the temperature of spacecraft components has been the limiting factor, operational methods have relied on using a surrogate variable for mission control. This paper describes several methods, based directly on spacecraft component maximum temperature, for autonomously predicting the subsequent aerobraking orbits and prescribing apoapsis propulsive maneuvers to maintain the spacecraft within specified temperature limits. Specifically, this paper describes the use of thermal response surface analysis in predicting the temperature of the spacecraft components and the corresponding uncertainty in this temperature prediction.

Influence of the Casserius Tables on fetal anatomy illustration and how we envision the unborn.

PubMed

Heilemann, Heidi A

2011-01-01

The paper demonstrates how visual representation of the fetus in early anatomy texts influenced the reader's perception of the unborn child as an autonomous being. The health, art, and history literatures were used as sources. Original texts and illustrations, with particular attention paid to the Casserius Tables, published by Andreas Spigelius in 1627, are discussed. A review of the literature was conducted to identify and analyze published renderings, reproductions, and discussion of images of the unborn child. Original anatomy atlases were consulted. Artists' renderings of a particularly vulnerable state of human life influenced early perceptions of the status of the unborn child. The images show fetuses as highly independent, providing a visual cue that life is fully formed in utero. The legacy of the Casserius Tables is that they are still able to capture our attention because they portray the idea of a fetus and newborn even more clearly than our modern representations of this charged topic. The use of deceptive realism provides the viewer with an accessible visual representation of the unborn child. These early anatomy illustrations continue to influence modern-day perception of the unborn child as a separate being, completely autonomous from the mother.

The Advanced Video Guidance Sensor: Orbital Express and the Next Generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, Richard T.; Heaton, Andrew F.; Pinson, Robin M.; Carrington, Connie L.; Lee, James E.; Bryan, Thomas C.; Robertson, Bryan A.; Spencer, Susan H.; Johnson, Jimmie E.

2008-01-01

The Orbital Express (OE) mission performed the first autonomous rendezvous and docking in the history of the United States on May 5-6, 2007 with the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) acting as one of the primary docking sensors. Since that event, the OE spacecraft performed four more rendezvous and docking maneuvers, each time using the AVGS as one of the docking sensors. The Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) AVGS is a nearfield proximity operations sensor that was integrated into the Autonomous Rendezvous and Capture Sensor System (ARCSS) on OE. The ARCSS provided the relative state knowledge to allow the OE spacecraft to rendezvous and dock. The AVGS is a mature sensor technology designed to support Automated Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) operations. It is a video-based laser-illuminated sensor that can determine the relative position and attitude between itself and its target. Due to parts obsolescence, the AVGS that was flown on OE can no longer be manufactured. MSFC has been working on the next generation of AVGS for application to future Constellation missions. This paper provides an overview of the performance of the AVGS on Orbital Express and discusses the work on the Next Generation AVGS (NGAVGS).

Flight Analysis of an Autonomously Navigated Experimental Lander for High Altitude Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Jeffrey; Niehaus, Justin; Goodenow, Debra; Dunker, Storm; Montague, David

2016-01-01

First steps have been taken to qualify a family of parafoil systems capable of increasing the survivability and reusability of high-altitude balloon payloads. The research is motivated by the common risk facing balloon payloads where expensive flight hardware can often land in inaccessible areas that make them difficult or impossible to recover. The Autonomously Navigated Experimental Lander (ANGEL) flight test introduced a commercial Guided Parachute Aerial Delivery System (GPADS) to a previously untested environment at 108,000ft MSL to determine its high-altitude survivability and capabilities. Following release, ANGEL descended under a drogue until approximately 25,000ft, at which point the drogue was jettisoned and the main parachute was deployed, commencing navigation. Multiple data acquisition platforms were used to characterize the return-to-point technology performance and help determine its suitability for returning future scientific payloads ranging from 180 to 10,000lbs to safer and more convenient landing locations. This report describes the test vehicle design, and summarizes the captured sensor data. Various post-flight analyses are used to quantify the system's performance, gondola load data, and serve as a reference point for subsequent missions.

Flight Analysis of an Autonomously Navigated Experimental Lander

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chin, Jeffrey; Niehaus, Justin; Goodenow, Debra; Dunker, Storm; Montague, David

2016-01-01

First steps have been taken to qualify a family of parafoil systems capable of increasing the survivability and reusability of high-altitude balloon payloads. The research is motivated by the common risk facing balloon payloads where expensive flight hardware can often land in inaccessible areas that make them difficult or impossible to recover. The Autonomously Navigated Experimental Lander (ANGEL) flight test introduced a commercial Guided Parachute Aerial Delivery System (GPADS) to a previously untested environment at 108,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) to determine its high-altitude survivability and capabilities. Following release, ANGEL descended under a drogue until approximately 25,000 feet, at which point the drogue was jettisoned and the main parachute was deployed, commencing navigation. Multiple data acquisition platforms were used to characterize the return-to-point technology performance and help determine its suitability for returning future scientific payloads ranging from 180 to 10,000 pounds to safer and more convenient landing locations. This report describes the test vehicle design, and summarizes the captured sensor data. Various post-flight analyses are used to quantify the systems performance, gondola load data, and serve as a reference point for subsequent missions.

Knowledge Management and Reference Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gandhi, Smiti

2004-01-01

Many corporations are embracing knowledge management (KM) to capture the intellectual capital of their employees. This article focuses on KM applications for reference work in libraries. It defines key concepts of KM, establishes a need for KM for reference services, and reviews various KM initiatives for reference services.

Common ground for biodiversity and ecosystem services: the “partial protection” challenge

PubMed Central

Faith, Daniel P

2012-01-01

New global initiatives require clarity about similarities and differences between biodiversity and ecosystem services. One argument is that ecosystem services capture utilitarian values, while biodiversity captures intrinsic values. However, the concept of biodiversity equally emerges from anthropogenic use values. Measures of biodiversity indicate broad option values, and so provide different information about future uses and benefits. Such differences nevertheless can be the basis for “common ground” for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Systematic conservation planning and related frameworks acknowledge such differences through effective trade-offs and synergies among different values of society. The early work on regional biodiversity trade-offs includes a little-explored aspect that could enhance this common ground. Regional planning here takes into account the “partial protection” of biodiversity provided by some land uses. Common-ground will be promoted by better integrating the ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation offered by ecosystems at the “natural end of the spectrum” with the partial protection and other benefits/services provided by more intensively-transformed places. PMID:24358821

The Space Station Freedom Flight Telerobotic Servicer - The design and evolution of a dexterous space robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccain, Harry G.; Andary, James F.; Hewitt, Dennis R.; Haley, Dennis C.

1990-01-01

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) will provide a telerobotic capability to the Space Station in the early assembly phases of the program and will be used for assembly, maintenance, and inspection throughout the lifetime of the Station. Here, the FTS design approach to the development of autonomous capabilities is discussed. The FTS telerobotic workstations for the Shuttle and Space Station, and facility for on-orbit storage are examined. The rationale of the FTS with regard to ease of operation, operational versatility, maintainability, safety, and control is discussed.

Privacy-Related Context Information for Ubiquitous Health

PubMed Central

Nykänen, Pirkko; Ruotsalainen, Pekka

2014-01-01

Background Ubiquitous health has been defined as a dynamic network of interconnected systems. A system is composed of one or more information systems, their stakeholders, and the environment. These systems offer health services to individuals and thus implement ubiquitous computing. Privacy is the key challenge for ubiquitous health because of autonomous processing, rich contextual metadata, lack of predefined trust among participants, and the business objectives. Additionally, regulations and policies of stakeholders may be unknown to the individual. Context-sensitive privacy policies are needed to regulate information processing. Objective Our goal was to analyze privacy-related context information and to define the corresponding components and their properties that support privacy management in ubiquitous health. These properties should describe the privacy issues of information processing. With components and their properties, individuals can define context-aware privacy policies and set their privacy preferences that can change in different information-processing situations. Methods Scenarios and user stories are used to analyze typical activities in ubiquitous health to identify main actors, goals, tasks, and stakeholders. Context arises from an activity and, therefore, we can determine different situations, services, and systems to identify properties for privacy-related context information in information-processing situations. Results Privacy-related context information components are situation, environment, individual, information technology system, service, and stakeholder. Combining our analyses and previously identified characteristics of ubiquitous health, more detailed properties for the components are defined. Properties define explicitly what context information for different components is needed to create context-aware privacy policies that can control, limit, and constrain information processing. With properties, we can define, for example, how data can be processed or how components are regulated or in what kind of environment data can be processed. Conclusions This study added to the vision of ubiquitous health by analyzing information processing from the viewpoint of an individual’s privacy. We learned that health and wellness-related activities may happen in several environments and situations with multiple stakeholders, services, and systems. We have provided new knowledge regarding privacy-related context information and corresponding components by analyzing typical activities in ubiquitous health. With the identified components and their properties, individuals can define their personal preferences on information processing based on situational information, and privacy services can capture privacy-related context of the information-processing situation. PMID:25100084

Privacy-related context information for ubiquitous health.

PubMed

Seppälä, Antto; Nykänen, Pirkko; Ruotsalainen, Pekka

2014-03-11

Ubiquitous health has been defined as a dynamic network of interconnected systems. A system is composed of one or more information systems, their stakeholders, and the environment. These systems offer health services to individuals and thus implement ubiquitous computing. Privacy is the key challenge for ubiquitous health because of autonomous processing, rich contextual metadata, lack of predefined trust among participants, and the business objectives. Additionally, regulations and policies of stakeholders may be unknown to the individual. Context-sensitive privacy policies are needed to regulate information processing. Our goal was to analyze privacy-related context information and to define the corresponding components and their properties that support privacy management in ubiquitous health. These properties should describe the privacy issues of information processing. With components and their properties, individuals can define context-aware privacy policies and set their privacy preferences that can change in different information-processing situations. Scenarios and user stories are used to analyze typical activities in ubiquitous health to identify main actors, goals, tasks, and stakeholders. Context arises from an activity and, therefore, we can determine different situations, services, and systems to identify properties for privacy-related context information in information-processing situations. Privacy-related context information components are situation, environment, individual, information technology system, service, and stakeholder. Combining our analyses and previously identified characteristics of ubiquitous health, more detailed properties for the components are defined. Properties define explicitly what context information for different components is needed to create context-aware privacy policies that can control, limit, and constrain information processing. With properties, we can define, for example, how data can be processed or how components are regulated or in what kind of environment data can be processed. This study added to the vision of ubiquitous health by analyzing information processing from the viewpoint of an individual's privacy. We learned that health and wellness-related activities may happen in several environments and situations with multiple stakeholders, services, and systems. We have provided new knowledge regarding privacy-related context information and corresponding components by analyzing typical activities in ubiquitous health. With the identified components and their properties, individuals can define their personal preferences on information processing based on situational information, and privacy services can capture privacy-related context of the information-processing situation.

CT scan exposure in Spanish children and young adults by socioeconomic status: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort data.

PubMed

Bosch de Basea, Magda; Espinosa, Ana; Gil, Mariona; Figuerola, Jordi; Pardina, Marina; Vilar, José; Cardis, Elisabeth

2018-01-01

Recent publications reported that children in disadvantaged areas undergo more CT scanning than others. The present study is aimed to assess the potential differences in CT imaging by socioeconomic status (SES) in Spanish young scanned subjects and if such differences vary with different indicators or different time point SES measurements. The associations between CT scanning and SES, and between the CT scan rate per patient and SES were investigated in the Spanish EPI-CT subcohort. Various SES indicators were studied to determine whether particular SES dimensions were more closely related to the probability of undergoing one or multiple CTs. Comparisons were made with indices based on 2001 and 2011 censuses. We found evidence of socio-economic variation among young people, mainly related to autonomous communities of residence. A slightly higher rate of scans per patient of multiple body parts in the less affluent categories was observed, possibly reflecting a higher rate of accidents and violence in these groups. The number of CT scans per patient was higher both in the most affluent and the most deprived categories and somewhat lower in the intermediate groups. This relation varied with the SES indicator used, with lower CT scans per patients in categories of high unemployment and temporary work, but not depending on categories of unskilled work or illiteracy. The relationship between these indicators and number of CTs in 2011 was different than that seen with the 2001 census, with the number of CTs increasing with higher unemployment. Overall we observed some differences in the SES distribution of scanned patients by Autonomous Community in Spain. There was, however, no major differences in the frequency of CT scans per patient by SES overall, based on the 2001 census. The use of different indicators and of SES data collected at different time points led to different relations between SES and frequency of CT scans, outlining the difficulty of adequately capturing the social and economic dimensions which may affect health and health service utilisation.

CT scan exposure in Spanish children and young adults by socioeconomic status: Cross-sectional analysis of cohort data

PubMed Central

Espinosa, Ana; Gil, Mariona; Figuerola, Jordi; Pardina, Marina; Vilar, José; Cardis, Elisabeth

2018-01-01

Recent publications reported that children in disadvantaged areas undergo more CT scanning than others. The present study is aimed to assess the potential differences in CT imaging by socioeconomic status (SES) in Spanish young scanned subjects and if such differences vary with different indicators or different time point SES measurements. The associations between CT scanning and SES, and between the CT scan rate per patient and SES were investigated in the Spanish EPI-CT subcohort. Various SES indicators were studied to determine whether particular SES dimensions were more closely related to the probability of undergoing one or multiple CTs. Comparisons were made with indices based on 2001 and 2011 censuses. We found evidence of socio-economic variation among young people, mainly related to autonomous communities of residence. A slightly higher rate of scans per patient of multiple body parts in the less affluent categories was observed, possibly reflecting a higher rate of accidents and violence in these groups. The number of CT scans per patient was higher both in the most affluent and the most deprived categories and somewhat lower in the intermediate groups. This relation varied with the SES indicator used, with lower CT scans per patients in categories of high unemployment and temporary work, but not depending on categories of unskilled work or illiteracy. The relationship between these indicators and number of CTs in 2011 was different than that seen with the 2001 census, with the number of CTs increasing with higher unemployment. Overall we observed some differences in the SES distribution of scanned patients by Autonomous Community in Spain. There was, however, no major differences in the frequency of CT scans per patient by SES overall, based on the 2001 census. The use of different indicators and of SES data collected at different time points led to different relations between SES and frequency of CT scans, outlining the difficulty of adequately capturing the social and economic dimensions which may affect health and health service utilisation. PMID:29723272

Turning Teachers into Academics? The Role of Educational Development in Fostering Synergy between Teaching and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macfarlane, Bruce; Hughes, Gwyneth

2009-01-01

The history of educational development is rooted in the improvement of teaching techniques. As a result, centres or units have normally been located in central registrars or human resources departments, library, learning and technical support services, or established as semi-autonomous entities. The alignment of educational development with…

An Autonomous Mobile Agent-Based Distributed Learning Architecture: A Proposal and Analytical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Iftikhar; Sadeq, Muhammad Jafar

2006-01-01

Current distance learning systems are increasingly packing highly data-intensive contents on servers, resulting in the congestion of network and server resources at peak service times. A distributed learning system based on faded information field (FIF) architecture that employs mobile agents (MAs) has been proposed and simulated in this work. The…

Joint NASA Ames/Langley Experimental Evaluation of Integrated Air/Ground Operations for En Route Free Maneuvering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barhydt, Richard; Kopardekar, Parimal; Battiste, Vernol; Doble, Nathan; Johnson, Walter; Lee, Paul; Prevot, Thomas; Smith, Nancy

2005-01-01

In order to meet the anticipated future demand for air travel, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investigating a new concept of operations known as Distributed Air-Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM). Under the En Route Free Maneuvering component of DAG-TM, appropriately equipped autonomous aircraft self separate from other autonomous aircraft and from managed aircraft that continue to fly under today s Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Controllers provide separation services between IFR aircraft and assign traffic flow management constraints to all aircraft. To address concept feasibility issues pertaining to integrated air/ground operations at various traffic levels, NASA Ames and Langley Research Centers conducted a joint human-in-the-loop experiment. Professional airline pilots and air traffic controllers flew a total of 16 scenarios under four conditions: mixed autonomous/managed operations at three traffic levels and a baseline all-managed condition at the lowest traffic level. These scenarios included en route flights and descents to a terminal area meter fix in airspace modeled after the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Pilots of autonomous aircraft met controller assigned meter fix constraints with high success. Separation violations by subject pilots did not appear to vary with traffic level and were mainly attributable to software errors and procedural lapses. Controller workload was lower for mixed flight conditions, even at higher traffic levels. Pilot workload was deemed acceptable under all conditions. Controllers raised several safety concerns, most of which pertained to the occurrence of near-term conflicts between autonomous and managed aircraft. These issues are being addressed through better compatibility between air and ground systems and refinements to air and ground procedures.

An exploration of chronic pain patients’ perceptions of home telerehabilitation services

PubMed Central

Cranen, Karlijn; Drossaert, Constance H. C.; Brinkman, Evelien S.; Braakman‐Jansen, Annemarie L. M.; IJzerman, Maarten J.; Vollenbroek‐Hutten, Miriam M. R.

2011-01-01

Abstract Objectives  To explore patients’ perceptions regarding prospective telerehabilitation services and the factors that facilitate or impede patients’ intentions to use these services. Design  Using semi‐structured interviews, patients reflected on the pros and cons of various scenarios of prospective telerehabilitation services. Patients’ arguments were first arranged according to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Next, using inductive analysis, the data for each UTAUT component were analysed and arranged into subthemes. Setting and participants  Twenty‐five chronic pain patients were selected from a rehabilitation centre in the Netherlands. Results  Overall, participants considered telerehabilitation helpful as a complementary or follow‐up treatment, rather than an autonomous treatment. Arguments mainly related to the UTAUT constructs of ‘performance expectancy’ and ‘facilitating conditions’. Patients valued the benefits such as reduced transportation barriers, flexible exercise hours and the possibility to better integrate skills into daily life. However, many patients feared a loss of treatment motivation and expressed concerns about both reduced fellow sufferer contact and reduced face‐to‐face therapist contact. Few arguments related to ‘social norms’ and ‘effort expectancy’. Conclusions  The effect of telerehabilitation on healthcare strongly depends on patients’ willingness to use. Our study showed that chronic pain patients valued the benefits of telerehabilitation but hesitate to use it as an autonomous treatment. Therefore, future initiatives should maintain traditional care to some degree and focus on patients’ attitudes as well. Either by giving information to increase patients’ confidence in telerehabilitation or by addressing reported drawbacks into the future design of these services. Further quantitative studies are needed to explore patients’ intentions to use telerehabilitation. PMID:21348905

Service Mediation and Negotiation Bootstrapping as First Achievements Towards Self-adaptable Cloud Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandic, Ivona; Music, Dejan; Dustdar, Schahram

Nowadays, novel computing paradigms as for example Cloud Computing are gaining more and more on importance. In case of Cloud Computing users pay for the usage of the computing power provided as a service. Beforehand they can negotiate specific functional and non-functional requirements relevant for the application execution. However, providing computing power as a service bears different research challenges. On one hand dynamic, versatile, and adaptable services are required, which can cope with system failures and environmental changes. On the other hand, human interaction with the system should be minimized. In this chapter we present the first results in establishing adaptable, versatile, and dynamic services considering negotiation bootstrapping and service mediation achieved in context of the Foundations of Self-Governing ICT Infrastructures (FoSII) project. We discuss novel meta-negotiation and SLA mapping solutions for Cloud services bridging the gap between current QoS models and Cloud middleware and representing important prerequisites for the establishment of autonomic Cloud services.

Effective secondary fracture prevention: implementation of a global benchmarking of clinical quality using the IOF Capture the Fracture® Best Practice Framework tool.

PubMed

Javaid, M K; Kyer, C; Mitchell, P J; Chana, J; Moss, C; Edwards, M H; McLellan, A R; Stenmark, J; Pierroz, D D; Schneider, M C; Kanis, J A; Akesson, K; Cooper, C

2015-11-01

Fracture Liaison Services are the best model to prevent secondary fractures. The International Osteoporosis Foundation developed a Best Practice Framework to provide a quality benchmark. After a year of implementation, we confirmed that a single framework with set criteria is able to benchmark services across healthcare systems worldwide. Despite evidence for the clinical effectiveness of secondary fracture prevention, translation in the real-world setting remains disappointing. Where implemented, a wide variety of service models are used to deliver effective secondary fracture prevention. To support use of effective models of care across the globe, the International Osteoporosis Foundation's Capture the Fracture® programme developed a Best Practice Framework (BPF) tool of criteria and standards to provide a quality benchmark. We now report findings after the first 12 months of implementation. A questionnaire for the BPF was created and made available to institutions on the Capture the Fracture website. Responses from institutions were used to assign gold, silver, bronze or black (insufficient) level of achievements mapped across five domains. Through an interactive process with the institution, a final score was determined and published on the Capture the Fracture website Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) map. Sixty hospitals across six continents submitted their questionnaires. The hospitals served populations from 20,000 to 15 million and were a mix of private and publicly funded. Each FLS managed 146 to 6200 fragility fracture patients per year with a total of 55,160 patients across all sites. Overall, 27 hospitals scored gold, 23 silver and 10 bronze. The pathway for the hip fracture patients had the highest proportion of gold grading while vertebral fracture the lowest. In the first 12 months, we have successfully tested the BPF tool in a range of health settings across the globe. Initial findings confirm a significant heterogeneity in service provision and highlight the importance of a global approach to ensure high quality secondary fracture prevention services.

Lessons from game theory about healthcare system price inflation: evidence from a community-level case study.

PubMed

Agee, Mark D; Gates, Zane

2013-02-01

Game theory is useful for identifying conditions under which individual stakeholders in a collective action problem interact in ways that are more cooperative and in the best interest of the collective. The literature applying game theory to healthcare markets predicts that when providers set prices for services autonomously and in a noncooperative fashion, the market will be susceptible to ongoing price inflation. We compare the traditional fee-for-service pricing framework with an alternative framework involving modified doctor, hospital and insurer pricing and incentive strategies. While the fee-for-service framework generally allows providers to set prices autonomously, the alternative framework constrains providers to interact more cooperatively. We use community-level provider and insurer data to compare provider and insurer costs and patient wellness under the traditional and modified pricing frameworks. The alternative pricing framework assumes (i) providers agree to manage all outpatient claims; (ii) the insurer agrees to manage all inpatient clams; and (iii) insurance premiums are tied to patients' healthy behaviours. Consistent with game theory predictions, the more cooperative alternative pricing framework benefits all parties by producing substantially lower administrative costs along with higher profit margins for the providers and the insurer. With insurance premiums tied to consumers' risk-reducing behaviours, the cost of insurance likewise decreases for both the consumer and the insurer.

Navigation of robotic system using cricket motes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patil, Yogendra J.; Baine, Nicholas A.; Rattan, Kuldip S.

2011-06-01

This paper presents a novel algorithm for self-mapping of the cricket motes that can be used for indoor navigation of autonomous robotic systems. The cricket system is a wireless sensor network that can provide indoor localization service to its user via acoustic ranging techniques. The behavior of the ultrasonic transducer on the cricket mote is studied and the regions where satisfactorily distance measurements can be obtained are recorded. Placing the motes in these regions results fine-grain mapping of the cricket motes. Trilateration is used to obtain a rigid coordinate system, but is insufficient if the network is to be used for navigation. A modified SLAM algorithm is applied to overcome the shortcomings of trilateration. Finally, the self-mapped cricket motes can be used for navigation of autonomous robotic systems in an indoor location.

Quality of Service Metrics in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snigdh, Itu; Gupta, Nisha

2016-03-01

Wireless ad hoc network is characterized by autonomous nodes communicating with each other by forming a multi hop radio network and maintaining connectivity in a decentralized manner. This paper presents a systematic approach to the interdependencies and the analogy of the various factors that affect and constrain the wireless sensor network. This article elaborates the quality of service parameters in terms of methods of deployment, coverage and connectivity which affect the lifetime of the network that have been addressed, till date by the different literatures. The analogy of the indispensable rudiments was discussed that are important factors to determine the varied quality of service achieved, yet have not been duly focused upon.

Bibliography of Intelligence Literature. A Critical and Annotated Bibliography of Open-Source Literature.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

outlooks in a continuing, important battlefield. HAREL, Isser. The House on Garibaldi Street: The First Full Account of the Capture of Adolf Eichmann ...Israeli Service, MOSSAD, describes in detailed fashion the long-range, in-depth planning and operation for the Eichmann capture by Israeli agents in

Winning Them Over

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raths, David

2010-01-01

In a 2008 survey of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 82 percent of undergraduate respondents said they preferred courses with online lecture content, and 60 percent said they would even be willing to pay for lecture capture services. Colleges and universities that have gone down the lecture capture path have found four essential…

Capture of algae promotes growth and propagation in aquatic Utricularia

PubMed Central

Koller-Peroutka, Marianne; Lendl, Thomas; Watzka, Margarete; Adlassnig, Wolfram

2015-01-01

Background and Aims Some carnivorous plants trap not only small animals but also algae and pollen grains. However, it remains unclear if these trapped particles are useless bycatch or whether they provide nutrients for the plant. The present study examines this question in Utricularia, which forms the largest and most widely spread genus of carnivorous plants, and which captures prey by means of sophisticated suction traps. Methods Utricularia plants of three different species (U. australis, U. vulgaris and U. minor) were collected in eight different water bodies including peat bogs, lakes and artificial ponds in three regions of Austria. The prey spectrum of each population was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and correlated with data on growth and propagation, C/N ratio and δ15N. Key Results More than 50 % of the prey of the Utricularia populations investigated consisted of algae and pollen, and U. vulgaris in particular was found to capture large amounts of gymnosperm pollen. The capture of algae and pollen grains was strongly correlated with most growth parameters, including weight, length, budding and elongation of internodes. The C/N ratio, however, was less well correlated. Other prey, such as moss leaflets, fungal hyphae and mineral particles, were negatively correlated with most growth parameters. δ15N was positively correlated with prey capture, but in situations where algae were the main prey objects it was found that the standard formula for calculation of prey-derived N was no longer applicable. Conclusions The mass capture of immotile particles confirms the ecological importance of autonomous firing of the traps. Although the C/N ratio was little influenced by algae, they clearly provide other nutrients, possibly including phosphorus and trace elements. By contrast, mosses, fungi and mineral particles appear to be useless bycatch. Correlations with chemical parameters indicate that Utricularia benefits from nutrient-rich waters by uptake of inorganic nutrients from the water, by the production of more traps per unit of shoot length, and by the capture of more prey particles per trap, as nutrient-rich waters harbour more prey organisms. PMID:25527195

The Data Egg: A new solution to text entry barriers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedman, Gary L.

1993-01-01

A unit that allows text entry with only one hand has been developed, and holds the promise of allowing computers to be truly portable. It is unique in that it allows operation in any position, freeing the user from the traditional constraints of having to be seated near a desk. This hand held, chord-key-based unit can be used either autonomously for idea capturing, or tethered to a personal computer and used as an auxiliary keyboard. Astronauts, journalists, the bedridden, and anyone else normally barred from using a computer while on the job could also benefit from this form of man-machine interface, which has been dubbed the 'Data Egg'.

Robust multi-model control of an autonomous wind power system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cutululis, Nicolas Antonio; Ceanga, Emil; Hansen, Anca Daniela; Sørensen, Poul

2006-09-01

This article presents a robust multi-model control structure for a wind power system that uses a variable speed wind turbine (VSWT) driving a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) connected to a local grid. The control problem consists in maximizing the energy captured from the wind for varying wind speeds. The VSWT-PMSG linearized model analysis reveals the resonant nature of its dynamic at points on the optimal regimes characteristic (ORC). The natural frequency of the system and the damping factor are strongly dependent on the operating point on the ORC. Under these circumstances a robust multi-model control structure is designed. The simulation results prove the viability of the proposed control structure. Copyright

STS-56 freeflying SPARTAN-201 backdropped over the Red Sea coast of Sudan

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-04-17

During STS-56, the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 201 (SPARTAN-201), a freeflying payload, was captured on 70mm film as it drifts over the Red Sea coast of Sudan. SPARTAN-201 was photographed by the crewmembers aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103. On the mission's third day, crewmembers used the remote manipulator system (RMS) to lift the satellite from its support structure in OV-103's payload bay (PLB) and release it into space. SPARTAN-201 was later recaptured by OV-103's RMS and returned to Earth with the astronaut crew. The cape structure in the background is Ras abu Shagara, north of Port Sudan.

[Policies and innovation in mental healthcare: limits to decoupling from the performance of the SUS].

PubMed

Ribeiro, José Mendes; Inglez-Dias, Aline

2011-12-01

We studied Brazilian policies on mental health with respect to normative, supply and demand and financing aspects. We concluded that the sustainability of innovations in psychiatric reform depends on enhanced financing and integration with primary care community services, on the overall performance of SUS and the reduction of autonomous and exclusive services in primary care. There is high and rising pressure in demand for services measured in DALY and the incidence of disease. The reduction observed in psychiatric beds was accompanied by the systemic reduction, though with selective reduction for psychiatric hospitalizations. CAPS services have institutional limits due to the model adopted of direct public administration and local government capacity. Secondary data available show that: (i) SUS has a virtual monopoly on general outpatient and hospital services; (ii) mental health specialists belong mostly to SUS; (iii) most mental health services are outpatient services; (iv) few CAPS have day-bed services available; and (v) there is reduced federal financing for these innovations.

Feasibility of real-time capture of routine clinical data in the electronic health record: a hospital-based, observational service-evaluation study

PubMed Central

Archbold, R Andrew; Weerackody, Roshan; Barnes, Michael R; Lee, Aaron M; Janjuha, Surjeet; Gutteridge, Charles; Robson, John; Timmis, Adam

2018-01-01

Objectives The electronic health record (EHR) is underused in the hospital setting. The aim of this service evaluation study was to respond to National Health Service (NHS) Digital’s ambition for a paperless NHS by capturing routinely collected cardiac outpatient data in the EHR to populate summary patient reports and provide a resource for audit and research. Design A PowerForm template was developed within the Cerner EHR, for real-time entry of routine clinical data by clinicians attending a cardiac outpatient clinic. Data captured within the PowerForm automatically populated a SmartTemplate to generate a view-only report that was immediately available for the patient and for electronic transmission to the referring general practitioner (GP). Results During the first 8 months, the PowerForm template was used in 61% (360/594) of consecutive outpatient referrals increasing from 42% to 77% during the course of the study. Structured patient reports were available for immediate sharing with the referring GP using Cerner Health Information Exchange technology while electronic transmission was successfully developed in a substudy of 64 cases, with direct delivery by the NHS Data Transfer Service in 29 cases and NHS mail in the remainder. In feedback, the report’s immediate availability was considered very or extremely important by >80% of the patients and GPs who were surveyed. Both groups reported preference of the patient report to the conventional typed letter. Deidentified template data for all 360 patients were successfully captured within the Trust system, confirming availability of these routinely collected outpatient data for audit and research. Conclusion Electronic template development tailored to the requirements of a specialist outpatient clinic facilitates capture of routinely collected data within the Cerner EHR. These data can be made available for audit and research. They can also be used to enhance communication by populating structured reports for immediate delivery to patients and GPs. PMID:29523565

Trade-offs across space, time, and ecosystem services

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rodriguez, J.P.; Beard, T.D.; Bennett, E.M.; Cumming, Graeme S.; Cork, S.J.; Agard, J.; Dobson, A.P.; Peterson, G.D.

2006-01-01

Ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs arise from management choices made by humans, which can change the type, magnitude, and relative mix of services provided by ecosystems. Trade-offs occur when the provision of one ES is reduced as a consequence of increased use of another ES. In some cases, a trade-off may be an explicit choice; but in others, trade-offs arise without premeditation or even awareness that they are taking place. Trade-offs in ES can be classified along three axes: spatial scale, temporal scale, and reversibility. Spatial scale refers to whether the effects of the trade-off are felt locally or at a distant location. Temporal scale refers to whether the effects take place relatively rapidly or slowly. Reversibility expresses the likelihood that the perturbed ES may return to its original state if the perturbation ceases. Across all four Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios and selected case study examples, trade-off decisions show a preference for provisioning, regulating, or cultural services (in that order). Supporting services are more likely to be "taken for granted." Cultural ES are almost entirely unquantified in scenario modeling; therefore, the calculated model results do not fully capture losses of these services that occur in the scenarios. The quantitative scenario models primarily capture the services that are perceived by society as more important - provisioning and regulating ecosystem services - and thus do not fully capture trade-offs of cultural and supporting services. Successful management policies will be those that incorporate lessons learned from prior decisions into future management actions. Managers should complement their actions with monitoring programs that, in addition to monitoring the short-term provisions of services, also monitor the long-term evolution of slowly changing variables. Policies can then be developed to take into account ES trade-offs at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Successful strategies will recognize the inherent complexities of ecosystem management and will work to develop policies that minimize the effects of ES trade-offs. Copyright ?? 2006 by the author(s).

Automated Rendezvous and Capture System Development and Simulation for NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roe, Fred D.; Howard, Richard T.; Murphy, Leslie

2004-01-01

The United States does not have an Automated Rendezvous and Capture Docking (AR&C) capability and is reliant on manned control for rendezvous and docking of orbiting spacecraft. T h i s reliance on the labor intensive manned interface for control of rendezvous and docking vehicles has a significant impact on the cost of the operation of the International Space Station (ISS) and precludes the use of any U.S. expendable launch capabilities for Space Station resupply. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has conducted pioneering research in the development of an automated rendezvous and capture (or docking) (AR&C) system for U.S. space vehicles. This A M C system was tested extensively using hardware-in-the-loop simulations in the Flight Robotics Laboratory, and a rendezvous sensor, the Video Guidance Sensor was developed and successfully flown on the Space Shuttle on flights STS-87 and STS-95, proving the concept of a video- based sensor. Further developments in sensor technology and vehicle and target configuration have lead to continued improvements and changes in AR&C system development and simulation. A new Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS) with target will be utilized as the primary navigation sensor on the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technologies (DART) flight experiment in 2004. Realtime closed-loop simulations will be performed to validate the improved AR&C systems prior to flight.

Educational Planning and Social Responsibility: Eleven Years of Mega Planning at the Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guerra, Ingrid J.; Rodriguez, Gonzalo

2005-01-01

The Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora (ITSON), a public and autonomous university in Cuidad Obregon, Sonora in Mexico has, since its inception, maintained a commitment to society and public service. To transform this commitment into valued results, it has used Mega Planning as its framework over the last eleven years. This article illustrates the…

Statement Testimony of Mr. Alan Shaffer, Principal Deputy, Defense Research and Engineering, Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-13

neuroscience , biotechnology, immersive technology, quantum information science, nanotechnology, and autonomous systems. The Army has also increased...already occurred within the intelligence community. These include (but were not limited to) a 10 Gigabit/second encryption to NSA , delivering a

Extending Quad-Rotor UAV Autonomy with Onboard Image Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-01

of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services , Directorate for Information...vehicles perform a variety of tasks, from strike to surveillance to communications . Some vehicles, like the MQ-1 Predator, are operated remotely by...a human operator; others, like the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile, can maneuver autonomously by following pre-programmed control law . Unmanned

Autonomous Adaptive Acoustic Relay Positioning

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

underwater acoustic sensor networks . In Proc. 1st ACM International Work- shop on Underwater Networks , pages 7–16, 2006. [4] A Alvarez, A...routing in underwater delay/disruption tolerant sensor networks . In Wireless on Demand Network Systems and Services, 2008. WONS 2008. Fifth Annual...the development of multi-vehicle applications in the ocean, and the main mode of wireless data transmission underwater is acoustic .

Cyber-physical networking for wireless mesh infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannweiler, C.; Lottermann, C.; Klein, A.; Schneider, J.; Schotten, H. D.

2012-09-01

This paper presents a novel approach for cyber-physical network control. "Cyber-physical" refers to the inclusion of different parameters and information sources, ranging from physical sensors (e.g. energy, temperature, light) to conventional network information (bandwidth, delay, jitter, etc.) to logical data providers (inference systems, user profiles, spectrum usage databases). For a consistent processing, collected data is represented in a uniform way, analyzed, and provided to dedicated network management functions and network services, both internally and, through an according API, to third party services. Specifically, in this work, we outline the design of sophisticated energy management functionalities for a hybrid wireless mesh network (WLAN for both backhaul traffic and access, GSM for access only), disposing of autonomous energy supply, in this case solar power. Energy consumption is optimized under the presumption of fluctuating power availability and considerable storage constraints, thus influencing, among others, handover and routing decisions. Moreover, advanced situation-aware auto-configuration and self-adaptation mechanisms are introduced for an autonomous operation of the network. The overall objective is to deploy a robust wireless access and backbone infrastructure with minimal operational cost and effective, cyber-physical control mechanisms, especially dedicated for rural or developing regions.

[Emergency care in the autonomous regions of Spain. Improvement in pre-hospital emergency care and welfare coordination. SESPAS Report 2012].

PubMed

Miguel García, Félix; Fernández Quintana, Ana Isabel; Díaz Prats, Amadeo

2012-03-01

The present article describes the general organization of pre-hospital emergency care in the autonomous regions and provides data on activity corresponding to 2010, drawn from the information available in the Primary Care Information System of the Ministry of Health, Social Policy and Equality. Emergency care is provided through various organizational structures covering 24-hour periods. Family medicine attended 17.8 million emergency consultations and nursing attended 10.2 million (year 2010, 14 autonomous communities, 79.7% of the National Health System population). Emergency department utilization ranged between 0.11 and 0.83 urgent family physician consultations per inhabitant/year and between 0.05 and 0.57 nursing consultations per inhabitant/year. Any reform in the management of pre-hospital emergency care will involve organizational changes and aims to produce measurable improvements in healthcare coordination. In the new organizational designs, most of the responsibility lies with human resources in order to achieve the new goals for the future aims to be presented in an operational teamwork structure. Undoubtedly, the main challenge is to achieve optimal coordination with other welfare levels, including the police, social services, nursing homes, etc. If optimal care of the population needs to count on the efforts of all these groups, mobility, individual differences, consistent achievement of high standards, and -most of all- the use of these services by citizens will determine the final result. The results can be quantified in various ways, but evaluation should concentrate on the resources used, the degree of satisfaction among all the parties involved and optimal management of demand, which will help to disseminate the need for a rational resource use. Copyright © 2011 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Dynamic multisensor fusion for mobile robot navigation in an indoor environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Taeseok; Lee, Jang-Myung; Luk, Bing L.; Tso, Shiu K.

2001-10-01

In this study, as the preliminary step for developing a multi-purpose Autonomous robust carrier mobile robot to transport trolleys or heavy goods and serve as robotic nursing assistant in hospital wards. The aim of this paper is to present the use of multi-sensor data fusion such as sonar, CCD camera dn IR sensor for map-building mobile robot to navigate, and presents an experimental mobile robot designed to operate autonomously within both indoor and outdoor environments. Smart sensory systems are crucial for successful autonomous systems. We will give an explanation for the robot system architecture designed and implemented in this study and a short review of existing techniques, since there exist several recent thorough books and review paper on this paper. Instead we will focus on the main results with relevance to the intelligent service robot project at the Centre of Intelligent Design, Automation & Manufacturing (CIDAM). We will conclude by discussing some possible future extensions of the project. It is first dealt with the general principle of the navigation and guidance architecture, then the detailed functions recognizing environments updated, obstacle detection and motion assessment, with the first results form the simulations run.

A New Signaling Architecture THREP with Autonomous Radio-Link Control for Wireless Communications Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirono, Masahiko; Nojima, Toshio

This paper presents a new signaling architecture for radio-access control in wireless communications systems. Called THREP (for THREe-phase link set-up Process), it enables systems with low-cost configurations to provide tetherless access and wide-ranging mobility by using autonomous radio-link controls for fast cell searching and distributed call management. A signaling architecture generally consists of a radio-access part and a service-entity-access part. In THREP, the latter part is divided into two steps: preparing a communication channel, and sustaining it. Access control in THREP is thus composed of three separated parts, or protocol phases. The specifications of each phase are determined independently according to system requirements. In the proposed architecture, the first phase uses autonomous radio-link control because we want to construct low-power indoor wireless communications systems. Evaluation of channel usage efficiency and hand-over loss probability in the personal handy-phone system (PHS) shows that THREP makes the radio-access sub-system operations in a practical application model highly efficient, and the results of a field experiment show that THREP provides sufficient protection against severe fast CNR degradation in practical indoor propagation environments.

Non-destructive inspection in industrial equipment using robotic mobile manipulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurtua, Iñaki; Susperregi, Loreto; Ansuategui, Ander; Fernández, Ane; Ibarguren, Aitor; Molina, Jorge; Tubio, Carlos; Villasante, Cristobal; Felsch, Torsten; Pérez, Carmen; Rodriguez, Jorge R.; Ghrissi, Meftah

2016-05-01

MAINBOT project has developed service robots based applications to autonomously execute inspection tasks in extensive industrial plants in equipment that is arranged horizontally (using ground robots) or vertically (climbing robots). The industrial objective has been to provide a means to help measuring several physical parameters in multiple points by autonomous robots, able to navigate and climb structures, handling non-destructive testing sensors. MAINBOT has validated the solutions in two solar thermal plants (cylindrical-parabolic collectors and central tower), that are very demanding from mobile manipulation point of view mainly due to the extension (e.g. a thermal solar plant of 50Mw, with 400 hectares, 400.000 mirrors, 180 km of absorber tubes, 140m height tower), the variability of conditions (outdoor, day-night), safety requirements, etc. Once the technology was validated in simulation, the system was deployed in real setups and different validation tests carried out. In this paper two of the achievements related with the ground mobile inspection system are presented: (1) Autonomous navigation localization and planning algorithms to manage navigation in huge extensions and (2) Non-Destructive Inspection operations: thermography based detection algorithms to provide automatic inspection abilities to the robots.

Reconfigurable Software for Controlling Formation Flying

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, Joseph B.

2006-01-01

Software for a system to control the trajectories of multiple spacecraft flying in formation is being developed to reflect underlying concepts of (1) a decentralized approach to guidance and control and (2) reconfigurability of the control system, including reconfigurability of the software and of control laws. The software is organized as a modular network of software tasks. The computational load for both determining relative trajectories and planning maneuvers is shared equally among all spacecraft in a cluster. The flexibility and robustness of the software are apparent in the fact that tasks can be added, removed, or replaced during flight. In a computational simulation of a representative formation-flying scenario, it was demonstrated that the following are among the services performed by the software: Uploading of commands from a ground station and distribution of the commands among the spacecraft, Autonomous initiation and reconfiguration of formations, Autonomous formation of teams through negotiations among the spacecraft, Working out details of high-level commands (e.g., shapes and sizes of geometrically complex formations), Implementation of a distributed guidance law providing autonomous optimization and assignment of target states, and Implementation of a decentralized, fuel-optimal, impulsive control law for planning maneuvers.

Ground Demonstration on the Autonomous Docking of Two 3U CubeSats Using a Novel Permanent-Magnet Docking Mechanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pei, Jing; Murchison, Luke; BenShabat, Adam; Stewart, Victor; Rosenthal, James; Follman, Jacob; Branchy, Mark; Sellers, Drew; Elandt, Ryan; Elliott, Sawyer;

TU-FG-201-04: Computer Vision in Autonomous Quality Assurance of Linear Accelerators

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

Yu, H; Jenkins, C; Yu, S

Purpose: Routine quality assurance (QA) of linear accelerators represents a critical and costly element of a radiation oncology center. Recently, a system was developed to autonomously perform routine quality assurance on linear accelerators. The purpose of this work is to extend this system and contribute computer vision techniques for obtaining quantitative measurements for a monthly multi-leaf collimator (MLC) QA test specified by TG-142, namely leaf position accuracy, and demonstrate extensibility for additional routines. Methods: Grayscale images of a picket fence delivery on a radioluminescent phosphor coated phantom are captured using a CMOS camera. Collected images are processed to correct formore » camera distortions, rotation and alignment, reduce noise, and enhance contrast. The location of each MLC leaf is determined through logistic fitting and a priori modeling based on knowledge of the delivered beams. Using the data collected and the criteria from TG-142, a decision is made on whether or not the leaf position accuracy of the MLC passes or fails. Results: The locations of all MLC leaf edges are found for three different picket fence images in a picket fence routine to 0.1mm/1pixel precision. The program to correct for image alignment and determination of leaf positions requires a runtime of 21– 25 seconds for a single picket, and 44 – 46 seconds for a group of three pickets on a standard workstation CPU, 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7. Conclusion: MLC leaf edges were successfully found using techniques in computer vision. With the addition of computer vision techniques to the previously described autonomous QA system, the system is able to quickly perform complete QA routines with minimal human contribution.« less

Trial design and rationale for APOLLO, a Phase 3, placebo-controlled study of patisiran in patients with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy.

PubMed

Adams, David; Suhr, Ole B; Dyck, Peter J; Litchy, William J; Leahy, Raina G; Chen, Jihong; Gollob, Jared; Coelho, Teresa

2017-09-11

Patisiran is an investigational RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic in development for the treatment of hereditary ATTR (hATTR) amyloidosis, a progressive disease associated with significant disability, morbidity, and mortality. Here we describe the rationale and design of the Phase 3 APOLLO study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, global study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of patisiran in patients with hATTR amyloidosis with polyneuropathy. Eligible patients are 18-85 years old with hATTR amyloidosis, investigator-estimated survival of ≥2 years, Neuropathy Impairment Score (NIS) of 5-130, and polyneuropathy disability score ≤IIIb. Patients are randomized 2:1 to receive either intravenous patisiran 0.3 mg/kg or placebo once every 3 weeks. The primary objective is to determine the efficacy of patisiran at 18 months based on the difference in the change in modified NIS+7 (a composite measure of motor strength, sensation, reflexes, nerve conduction, and autonomic function) between the patisiran and placebo groups. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the effect of patisiran on Norfolk-Diabetic Neuropathy quality of life questionnaire score, nutritional status (as evaluated by modified body mass index), motor function (as measured by NIS-weakness and timed 10-m walk test), and autonomic symptoms (as measured by the Composite Autonomic Symptom Score-31 questionnaire). Exploratory objectives include assessment of cardiac function and pathologic evaluation to assess nerve fiber innervation and amyloid burden. Safety of patisiran will be assessed throughout the study. APOLLO represents the largest randomized, Phase 3 study to date in patients with hATTR amyloidosis, with endpoints that capture the multisystemic nature of this disease. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT01960348 ); October 9, 2013.

A long telephoto lens captured Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

A long telephoto lens captured Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 1, 2001. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards would subsequently service the shuttle and mount it on a 747 for the ferry flight to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The BlackBerry Project: Capturing the Content of Adolescents' Text Messaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Marion K.; Rosen, Lisa H.; More, David; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; Gentsch, Joanna K.

2012-01-01

This article presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents' electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, e-mail, and instant messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid for by the investigators, and use of text messaging was…

76 FR 27017 - Endangered and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-10

... and Threatened Species; Take of Anadromous Fish AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS... governing listed fish and wildlife permits (50 CFR 222-226). NMFS issues permits based on findings that such... in the area. The UW proposes to capture fish using enclosure nets and beach seines. The captured fish...

Student Perceptions of Online Tutoring Videos

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sligar, Steven R.; Pelletier, Christopher D.; Bonner, Heidi Stone; Coghill, Elizabeth; Guberman, Daniel; Zeng, Xiaoming; Newman, Joyce J.; Muller, Dorothy; Dennis, Allen

2017-01-01

Online tutoring is made possible by using videos to replace or supplement face to face services. The purpose of this research was to examine student reactions to the use of lecture capture technology in a university tutoring setting and to assess student knowledge of some features of Tegrity lecture capture software. A survey was administered to…

Selling Supplemental Services: Can School Districts Serve as Both Regulators and Providers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorman, Siobhan

2004-01-01

Tutoring services, known in the federal No Child Left Behind Act as "supplemental services," arguably represent the federal government's largest free-market experiment in education. In the rush to capture market share, more than 1,000 tutoring providers have signed up for the program. But market uncertainty, combined with differences in…

After 10 years of service, NOAA retires GOES-12 satellite

Science.gov Websites

Destinations After 10 years of service, NOAA retires GOES-12 satellite Progress continuing toward launch of next-generation GOES-R satellite August 19, 2013 GOES-12 captured this visible image of Hurricane 10 years of stellar service, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12

Ambient Assisted Nutritional Advisor for elderly people living at home.

PubMed

Lazaro, Juan P; Fides, Alvaro; Navarro, Ana; Guillen, Sergio

2010-01-01

Nutrition is a critical aspect when getting older because bad nutrition habits can accelerate the process of degradation of the physical condition of the old person. In order to mitigate this problem, an Ambient Assisted Living service has been developed. Research with this service is focused on demonstrating that with an Ambient Intelligence systems it is possible to make the nutritional management much more effective by influencing the user, by automatically and seamlessly monitoring and by facilitating tools for nutritional management for people that want to be autonomous. In this paper both requirement acquisition and development processes are described as well.

Seamless presentation capture, indexing, and management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hilbert, David M.; Cooper, Matthew; Denoue, Laurent; Adcock, John; Billsus, Daniel

2005-10-01

Technology abounds for capturing presentations. However, no simple solution exists that is completely automatic. ProjectorBox is a "zero user interaction" appliance that automatically captures, indexes, and manages presentation multimedia. It operates continuously to record the RGB information sent from presentation devices, such as a presenter's laptop, to display devices, such as a projector. It seamlessly captures high-resolution slide images, text and audio. It requires no operator, specialized software, or changes to current presentation practice. Automatic media analysis is used to detect presentation content and segment presentations. The analysis substantially enhances the web-based user interface for browsing, searching, and exporting captured presentations. ProjectorBox has been in use for over a year in our corporate conference room, and has been deployed in two universities. Our goal is to develop automatic capture services that address both corporate and educational needs.

An artificial intelligence tool for complex age-depth models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bradley, E.; Anderson, K. A.; de Vesine, L. R.; Lai, V.; Thomas, M.; Nelson, T. H.; Weiss, I.; White, J. W. C.

2017-12-01

CSciBox is an integrated software system for age modeling of paleoenvironmental records. It incorporates an array of data-processing and visualization facilities, ranging from 14C calibrations to sophisticated interpolation tools. Using CSciBox's GUI, a scientist can build custom analysis pipelines by composing these built-in components or adding new ones. Alternatively, she can employ CSciBox's automated reasoning engine, Hobbes, which uses AI techniques to perform an in-depth, autonomous exploration of the space of possible age-depth models and presents the results—both the models and the reasoning that was used in constructing and evaluating them—to the user for her inspection. Hobbes accomplishes this using a rulebase that captures the knowledge of expert geoscientists, which was collected over the course of more than 100 hours of interviews. It works by using these rules to generate arguments for and against different age-depth model choices for a given core. Given a marine-sediment record containing uncalibrated 14C dates, for instance, Hobbes tries CALIB-style calibrations using a choice of IntCal curves, with reservoir age correction values chosen from the 14CHRONO database using the lat/long information provided with the core, and finally composes the resulting age points into a full age model using different interpolation methods. It evaluates each model—e.g., looking for outliers or reversals—and uses that information to guide the next steps of its exploration, and presents the results to the user in human-readable form. The most powerful of CSciBox's built-in interpolation methods is BACON, a Bayesian sedimentation-rate algorithm—a powerful but complex tool that can be difficult to use. Hobbes adjusts BACON's many parameters autonomously to match the age model to the expectations of expert geoscientists, as captured in its rulebase. It then checks the model against the data and iteratively re-calculates until it is a good fit to the data.

Invariant Functions, Symmetries and Primary Branch Solutions of First Order Autonomous Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Sen-Yue; Yao, Ruo-Xia

2017-07-01

An invariant function (IF) is defined as a multiplier of a symmetry that means a symmetry multiplied by an IF is still a symmetry. Primary branch solutions of arbitrary first order scalar systems can be obtained by means of the IF and its related symmetry approach. Especially, one recursion operator and some sets of infinitely many high order symmetries are also explicitly given for arbitrary (1+1)-dimensional first order autonomous systems. Because of the intrusion of the arbitrary function, various implicit special exact solutions can be found by fixing the arbitrary functions and selecting different seed solutions. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China under Grant Nos. 11435005, 11471004, 11175092, and 11205092, Shanghai Knowledge Service Platform for Trustworthy Internet of Things No. ZF1213 and K. C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University

Compute Element and Interface Box for the Hazard Detection System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Villalpando, Carlos Y.; Khanoyan, Garen; Stern, Ryan A.; Some, Raphael R.; Bailey, Erik S.; Carson, John M.; Vaughan, Geoffrey M.; Werner, Robert A.; Salomon, Phil M.; Martin, Keith E.;

Optimal SSN Tasking to Enhance Real-time Space Situational Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, J., III; Hussein, I.; Gerber, J.; Sivilli, R.

2016-09-01

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is currently constrained by an overwhelming number of resident space objects (RSOs) that need to be tracked and the amount of data these observations produce. The Joint Centralized Autonomous Tasking System (JCATS) is an autonomous, net-centric tool that approaches these SSA concerns from an agile, information-based stance. Finite set statistics and stochastic optimization are used to maintain an RSO catalog and develop sensor tasking schedules based on operator configured, state information-gain metrics to determine observation priorities. This improves the efficiency of sensors to target objects as awareness changes and new information is needed, not at predefined frequencies solely. A net-centric, service-oriented architecture (SOA) allows for JCATS integration into existing SSA systems. Testing has shown operationally-relevant performance improvements and scalability across multiple types of scenarios and against current sensor tasking tools.

Shipboard Analytical Capabilities on the Renovated JOIDES Resolution, IODP Riserless Drilling Vessel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blum, P.; Foster, P.; Houpt, D.; Bennight, C.; Brandt, L.; Cobine, T.; Crawford, W.; Fackler, D.; Fujine, K.; Hastedt, M.; Hornbacher, D.; Mateo, Z.; Moortgat, E.; Vasilyev, M.; Vasilyeva, Y.; Zeliadt, S.; Zhao, J.

2008-12-01

The JOIDES Resolution (JR) has conducted 121 scientific drilling expeditions during the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and the first phase of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) (1983-2006). The vessel and scientific systems have just completed an NSF-sponsored renovation (2005-2008). Shipboard analytical systems have been upgraded, within funding constraints imposed by market driven vessel conversion cost increases, to include: (1) enhanced shipboard analytical services including instruments and software for sampling and the capture of chemistry, physical properties, and geological data; (2) new data management capabilities built around a laboratory information management system (LIMS), digital asset management system, and web services; (3) operations data services with enhanced access to navigation and rig instrumentation data; and (4) a combination of commercial and home-made user applications for workflow- specific data extractions, generic and customized data reporting, and data visualization within a shipboard production environment. The instrumented data capture systems include a new set of core loggers for rapid and non-destructive acquisition of images and other physical properties data from drill cores. Line-scan imaging and natural gamma ray loggers capture data at unprecedented quality due to new and innovative designs. Many instruments used to characterize chemical compounds of rocks, sediments, and interstitial fluids were upgraded with the latest technology. The shipboard analytical environment features a new and innovative framework (DESCinfo) and application (DESClogik) for capturing descriptive and interpretive data from geological sub-domains such as sedimentology, petrology, paleontology, structural geology, stratigraphy, etc. This system fills a long-standing gap by providing a global database, controlled vocabularies and taxa name lists with version control, a highly configurable spreadsheet environment for data capture, and visualization of context data collected with the shipboard core loggers and other instruments.

Plant species and functional group combinations affect green roof ecosystem functions.

PubMed

Lundholm, Jeremy; Macivor, J Scott; Macdougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-03-12

Green roofs perform ecosystem services such as summer roof temperature reduction and stormwater capture that directly contribute to lower building energy use and potential economic savings. These services are in turn related to ecosystem functions performed by the vegetation layer such as radiation reflection and transpiration, but little work has examined the role of plant species composition and diversity in improving these functions. We used a replicated modular extensive (shallow growing- medium) green roof system planted with monocultures or mixtures containing one, three or five life-forms, to quantify two ecosystem services: summer roof cooling and water capture. We also measured the related ecosystem properties/processes of albedo, evapotranspiration, and the mean and temporal variability of aboveground biomass over four months. Mixtures containing three or five life-form groups, simultaneously optimized several green roof ecosystem functions, outperforming monocultures and single life-form groups, but there was much variation in performance depending on which life-forms were present in the three life-form mixtures. Some mixtures outperformed the best monocultures for water capture, evapotranspiration, and an index combining both water capture and temperature reductions. Combinations of tall forbs, grasses and succulents simultaneously optimized a range of ecosystem performance measures, thus the main benefit of including all three groups was not to maximize any single process but to perform a variety of functions well. Ecosystem services from green roofs can be improved by planting certain life-form groups in combination, directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The strong performance by certain mixtures of life-forms, especially tall forbs, grasses and succulents, warrants further investigation into niche complementarity or facilitation as mechanisms governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green roof ecosystems.

Plant Species and Functional Group Combinations Affect Green Roof Ecosystem Functions

PubMed Central

Lundholm, Jeremy; MacIvor, J. Scott; MacDougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-01-01

Background Green roofs perform ecosystem services such as summer roof temperature reduction and stormwater capture that directly contribute to lower building energy use and potential economic savings. These services are in turn related to ecosystem functions performed by the vegetation layer such as radiation reflection and transpiration, but little work has examined the role of plant species composition and diversity in improving these functions. Methodology/Principal Findings We used a replicated modular extensive (shallow growing- medium) green roof system planted with monocultures or mixtures containing one, three or five life-forms, to quantify two ecosystem services: summer roof cooling and water capture. We also measured the related ecosystem properties/processes of albedo, evapotranspiration, and the mean and temporal variability of aboveground biomass over four months. Mixtures containing three or five life-form groups, simultaneously optimized several green roof ecosystem functions, outperforming monocultures and single life-form groups, but there was much variation in performance depending on which life-forms were present in the three life-form mixtures. Some mixtures outperformed the best monocultures for water capture, evapotranspiration, and an index combining both water capture and temperature reductions. Combinations of tall forbs, grasses and succulents simultaneously optimized a range of ecosystem performance measures, thus the main benefit of including all three groups was not to maximize any single process but to perform a variety of functions well. Conclusions/Significance Ecosystem services from green roofs can be improved by planting certain life-form groups in combination, directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The strong performance by certain mixtures of life-forms, especially tall forbs, grasses and succulents, warrants further investigation into niche complementarity or facilitation as mechanisms governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green roof ecosystems. PMID:20300196

Electronic capture of patient-reported and clinician-reported outcome measures in an elective orthopaedic setting: a retrospective cohort analysis.

PubMed

Malhotra, Karan; Buraimoh, Olatunbosun; Thornton, James; Cullen, Nicholas; Singh, Dishan; Goldberg, Andrew J

2016-06-20

To determine whether an entirely electronic system can be used to capture both patient-reported outcomes (electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures, ePROMs) as well as clinician-validated diagnostic and complexity data in an elective surgical orthopaedic outpatient setting. To examine patients' experience of this system and factors impacting their experience. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Single centre series. Outpatient clinics at an elective foot and ankle unit in the UK. All new adult patients attending elective orthopaedic outpatient clinics over a 32-month period. All patients were invited to complete ePROMs prior to attending their outpatient appointment. At their appointment, those patients who had not completed ePROMs were offered the opportunity to complete it on a tablet device with technical support. Matched diagnostic and complexity data were captured by the treating consultant during the appointment. Capture rates of patient-reported and clinician-reported data. All information and technology (IT) failures, language and disability barriers were captured. Patients were asked to rate their experience of using ePROMs. The scoring systems used included EQ-5D-5L, the Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOxFQ) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain score. Out of 2534 new patients, 2176 (85.9%) completed ePROMs, of whom 1090 (50.09%) completed ePROMs at home/work prior to their appointment. 31.5% used a mobile (smartphone/tablet) device. Clinician-reported data were captured on 2491 patients (98.3%). The mean patient experience score of using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) was 8.55±1.85 out of 10 and 666 patients (30.61%) left comments. Of patients leaving comments, 214 (32.13%) felt ePROMs did not adequately capture their symptoms and these patients had significantly lower patient experience scores (p<0.001). This study demonstrates the successful implementation of technology into a service improvement programme. Excellent capture rates of ePROMs and clinician-validated diagnostic data can be achieved within a National Health Service setting. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Implementing Minority Rights in the Balkans.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-04-27

strengthening the autonomous powers of local government over taxation , delivery of services, and language use. The government of the Republic of Macedonia...or a considerable number. The Center for Ethnic Relations at the Institute for Sociological, Political, and Juridical Research, as a scientific...Affairs, members of national minorities represent 16.5 percent of the total number of those employed, a figure that has almost doubled in only two to

Developing Collaborative Autonomous Learning Abilities in Computer Mediated Language Learning: Attention to Meaning among Students in Wiki Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kessler, Greg; Bikowski, Dawn

2010-01-01

This study reports on attention to meaning among 40 NNS pre-service EFL teachers as they collaboratively constructed a wiki in a 16-week online course. Focus is placed upon the nature of individual and group behavior when attending to meaning in a long-term wiki-based collaborative activity as well as the students' collaborative autonomous…

Evidencing the Passion of Language Teachers' Research Engagement: The Case of a University Pedagogy ALMS Course Module

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaattovaara, Johanna

2017-01-01

This paper presents a case example of a University Pedagogy course module carried out in ALMS (Autonomous Learning Modules) format. The participants of the course were mainly in-service language teachers of the University of Helsinki Language Centre, and the author of this report is a module instructor and counsellor. The motivation for the ALMS…

Agent-Based Scientific Workflow Composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barker, A.; Mann, B.

2006-07-01

Agents are active autonomous entities that interact with one another to achieve their objectives. This paper addresses how these active agents are a natural fit to consume the passive Service Oriented Architecture which is found in Internet and Grid Systems, in order to compose, coordinate and execute e-Science experiments. A framework is introduced which allows an e-Science experiment to be described as a MultiAgent System.

Nonlinear Dynamic Theory of Acute Cell Injuries and Brain Ischemia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taha, Doaa; Anggraini, Fika; Degracia, Donald; Huang, Zhi-Feng

2015-03-01

Cerebral ischemia in the form of stroke and cardiac arrest brain damage affect over 1 million people per year in the USA alone. In spite of close to 200 clinical trials and decades of research, there are no treatments to stop post-ischemic neuron death. We have argued that a major weakness of current brain ischemia research is lack of a deductive theoretical framework of acute cell injury to guide empirical studies. A previously published autonomous model based on the concept of nonlinear dynamic network was shown to capture important facets of cell injury, linking the concept of therapeutic to bistable dynamics. Here we present an improved, non-autonomous formulation of the nonlinear dynamic model of cell injury that allows multiple acute injuries over time, thereby allowing simulations of both therapeutic treatment and preconditioning. Our results are connected to the experimental data of gene expression and proteomics of neuron cells. Importantly, this new model may be construed as a novel approach to pharmacodynamics of acute cell injury. The model makes explicit that any pro-survival therapy is always a form of sub-lethal injury. This insight is expected to widely influence treatment of acute injury conditions that have defied successful treatment to date. This work is supported by NIH NINDS (NS081347) and Wayne State University President's Research Enhancement Award.

Influence of the Casserius Tables on fetal anatomy illustration and how we envision the unborn*

PubMed Central

Heilemann, Heidi A

2011-01-01

Objective: The paper demonstrates how visual representation of the fetus in early anatomy texts influenced the reader's perception of the unborn child as an autonomous being. Data Sources: The health, art, and history literatures were used as sources. Original texts and illustrations, with particular attention paid to the Casserius Tables, published by Andreas Spigelius in 1627, are discussed. Study Selection: A review of the literature was conducted to identify and analyze published renderings, reproductions, and discussion of images of the unborn child. Original anatomy atlases were consulted. Main Results: Artists' renderings of a particularly vulnerable state of human life influenced early perceptions of the status of the unborn child. The images show fetuses as highly independent, providing a visual cue that life is fully formed in utero. Conclusion: The legacy of the Casserius Tables is that they are still able to capture our attention because they portray the idea of a fetus and newborn even more clearly than our modern representations of this charged topic. The use of deceptive realism provides the viewer with an accessible visual representation of the unborn child. These early anatomy illustrations continue to influence modern-day perception of the unborn child as a separate being, completely autonomous from the mother. PMID:21243052

Clonal analysis of human embryonic stem cell differentiation into teratomas.

PubMed

Blum, Barak; Benvenisty, Nissim

2007-08-01

Differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (HESCs) can be studied in vivo through the induction of teratomas in immune-deficient mice. Cells within the teratomas differentiate into all three embryonic germ layers. However, the exact nature of the proliferation and differentiation of HESCs within the teratoma is not fully characterized, and it is not clear whether the differentiation is cell autonomous or affected by neighboring cells. Here, we establish a genetic approach to study the clonality of differentiation in teratomas using a mixture of HESC lines. We first demonstrate, by means of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation, that cell proliferation occurs throughout the teratoma, and that there are no clusters of undifferentiated-proliferating cells. Using a combination of laser capture microdissection and DNA fingerprinting analysis, we show that different cell lines contribute mutually to the same distinctive tissue structures. Further support for the nonclonal differentiation within the teratoma was achieved by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis of sex chromosomes. We therefore suggest that in vivo differentiation of HESCs is polyclonal and, thus, may not be cell autonomous, stressing the need for a three-dimensional growth in order to achieve complex differentiation of HESCs. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

TRAC based sensing for autonomous rendezvous

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Everett, Louis J.; Monford, Leo

1991-01-01

The Targeting Reflective Alignment Concept (TRAC) sensor is to be used in an effort to support an Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) flight experiment. The TRAC sensor uses a fixed-focus, fixed-iris CCD camera and a target that is a combination of active and passive components. The system experiment is anticipated to fly in 1994 using two Commercial Experiment Transporters (COMET's). The requirements for the sensor are: bearing error less than or equal to 0.075 deg; bearing error rate less than 0.3 deg/sec; attitude error less than 0.5 deg.; and attitude rate error less than 2.0 deg/sec. The range requirement depends on the range and the range rate of the vehicle. The active component of the target is several 'kilo-bright' LED's that can emit 2500 millicandela with 40 milliwatts of input power. Flashing the lights in a known pattern eliminates background illumination. The system should be able to rendezvous from 300 meters all the way to capture. A question that arose during the presentation: What is the life time of the LED's and their sensitivity to radiation? The LED's should be manufactured to Military Specifications, coated with silicon dioxide, and all other space qualified precautions should be taken. The LED's will not be on all the time so they should easily last the two-year mission.

Intelligent agents: adaptation of autonomous bimodal microsystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Patrice; Terry, Theodore B.

2014-03-01

Autonomous bimodal microsystems exhibiting survivability behaviors and characteristics are able to adapt dynamically in any given environment. Equipped with a background blending exoskeleton it will have the capability to stealthily detect and observe a self-chosen viewing area while exercising some measurable form of selfpreservation by either flying or crawling away from a potential adversary. The robotic agent in this capacity activates a walk-fly algorithm, which uses a built in multi-sensor processing and navigation subsystem or algorithm for visual guidance and best walk-fly path trajectory to evade capture or annihilation. The research detailed in this paper describes the theoretical walk-fly algorithm, which broadens the scope of spatial and temporal learning, locomotion, and navigational performances based on optical flow signals necessary for flight dynamics and walking stabilities. By observing a fly's travel and avoidance behaviors; and, understanding the reverse bioengineering research efforts of others, we were able to conceptualize an algorithm, which works in conjunction with decisionmaking functions, sensory processing, and sensorimotor integration. Our findings suggest that this highly complex decentralized algorithm promotes inflight or terrain travel mobile stability which is highly suitable for nonaggressive micro platforms supporting search and rescue (SAR), and chemical and explosive detection (CED) purposes; a necessity in turbulent, non-violent structured or unstructured environments.

NASA Tech Briefs, March 2004

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Topics covered include: 1) Advanced Signal Conditioners for Data-Acquisition Systems; 2) Downlink Data Multiplexer; 3) Viewing ISS Data in Real Time via the Internet; 4) Autonomous Environment-Monitoring Networks; 5) Readout of DSN Monitor Data; 6) Parallel-Processing Equalizers for Multi-Gbps Communications; 7) AIN-Based Packaging for SiC High-Temperature Electronics; 8) Software for Optimizing Quality Assurance of Other Software; 9) The TechSat 21 Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment; 10) Software for Analyzing Laminar-to-Turbulent Flow Transitions; 11) Elastomer Filled With Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes; 12) Modifying Ship Air-Wake Vortices for Aircraft Operations; 13) Strain-Gauge Measurement of Weight of Fluid in a Tank; 14) Advanced Docking System With Magnetic Initial Capture; 15) Blade-Pitch Control for Quieting Tilt-Rotor Aircraft; 16) Solar Array Panels With Dust-Removal Capability; 17) Aligning Arrays of Lenses and Single-Mode Optical Fibers; 18) Automatic Control of Arc Process for Making Carbon Nanotubes; 19) Curved-Focal-Plane Arrays Using Deformed-Membrane Photodetectors; 20) Role of Meteorology in Flights of a Solar-Powered Airplane; 21) Model of Mixing Layer With Multicomponent Evaporating Drops; 22) Solution-Assisted Optical Contacting; 23) Improved Discrete Approximation of Laplacian of Gaussian; 24) Utilizing Expert Knowledge in Estimating Future STS Costs; 25) Study of Rapid-Regression Liquefying Hybrid Rocket Fuels; and 26) More About the Phase-Synchronized Enhancement Method.

Measuring the Effect of Tourism Services on Travelers' Quality of Life: Further Validation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neal, Janet D.; Sirgy, M. Joseph; Uysal, Muzaffer

2004-01-01

lication and extension study provided additional validational support of the original tourism services satisfaction measure in relation to QOL-related measures.Neal, Sirgy and Uysal (1999) developed a model and a measure to capture the effect of tourism services on travelers' quality of life (QOL). They hypothesized that travelers' overall life…

Best Practices of Small IT Services Providers in the Federal Arena

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trammell, Stacy Dacole

2009-01-01

Today, more than 139,294 (43%) small businesses registered in the CCR and DSBS databases offer IT services to the federal government. Providing IT services to the federal government is an affordable and feasible low risk approach for emerging and seasoned small IT businesses in the federal arena. This dissertation captures how successful small…

A long telephoto lens captured Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 1, 2001

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-05-01

A long telephoto lens captured Space Shuttle Endeavour landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 1, 2001. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards would subsequently service the shuttle and mount it on a 747 for the ferry flight to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Cataract surgical coverage and outcome in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China

PubMed Central

Bassett, K L; Noertjojo, K; Liu, L; Wang, F S; Tenzing, C; Wilkie, A; Santangelo, M; Courtright, P

2005-01-01

Background: A recently published, population based survey of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China reported on low vision, blindness, and blinding conditions. This paper presents detailed findings from that survey regarding cataract, including prevalence, cataract surgical coverage, surgical outcome, and barriers to use of services. Methods: The Tibet Eye Care Assessment (TECA) was a prevalence survey of people from randomly selected households from three of the seven provinces of the TAR (Lhoka, Nakchu, and Lingzhr), representing its three main environmental regions. The survey, conducted in 1999 and 2000, assessed visual acuity, cause of vision loss, and eye care services. Results: Among the 15 900 people enumerated, 12 644 were examined (79.6%). Cataract prevalence was 5.2% and 13.8%, for the total population, and those over age 50, respectively. Cataract surgical coverage (vision <6/60) for people age 50 and older (85–90% of cataract blind) was 56% overall, 70% for men and 47% for women. The most common barriers to use of cataract surgical services were distance and cost. In the 216 eyes with cataract surgery, 60% were aphakic and 40% were pseudophakic. Pseudophakic surgery left 19% of eyes blind (<6/60) and an additional 20% of eyes with poor vision (6/24–6/60). Aphakic surgery left 24% of eyes blind and an additional 21% of eyes with poor vision. Even though more women remained blind than men, 28% versus 18% respectively, the different was not statistically significant (p = 0.25). Conclusions: Cataract surgical coverage was remarkably high despite the difficulty of providing services to such an isolated and sparse population. Cataract surgical outcome was poor for both aphakic and pseudophakic surgery. Two main priorities are improving cataract surgical quality and cataract surgical coverage, particularly for women. PMID:15615736

Development of a frequency-modulated ultrasonic sensor inspired by bat echolocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kepa, Krzysztof; Abaid, Nicole

2015-03-01

Bats have evolved to sense using ultrasonic signals with a variety of different frequency signatures which interact with their environment. Among these signals, those with time-varying frequencies may enable the animals to gather more complex information for obstacle avoidance and target tracking. Taking inspiration from this system, we present the development of a sonar sensor capable of generating frequency-modulated ultrasonic signals. The device is based on a miniature mobile computer, with on board data capture and processing capabilities, which is designed for eventual autonomous operation in a robotic swarm. The hardware and software components of the sensor are detailed, as well their integration. Preliminary results for target detection using both frequency-modulated and constant frequency signals are discussed.

Semantic Information Extraction of Lanes Based on Onboard Camera Videos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, L.; Deng, T.; Ren, C.

2018-04-01

In the field of autonomous driving, semantic information of lanes is very important. This paper proposes a method of automatic detection of lanes and extraction of semantic information from onboard camera videos. The proposed method firstly detects the edges of lanes by the grayscale gradient direction, and improves the Probabilistic Hough transform to fit them; then, it uses the vanishing point principle to calculate the lane geometrical position, and uses lane characteristics to extract lane semantic information by the classification of decision trees. In the experiment, 216 road video images captured by a camera mounted onboard a moving vehicle were used to detect lanes and extract lane semantic information. The results show that the proposed method can accurately identify lane semantics from video images.

RIACS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oliger, Joseph

1997-01-01

Topics considered include: high-performance computing; cognitive and perceptual prostheses (computational aids designed to leverage human abilities); autonomous systems. Also included: development of a 3D unstructured grid code based on a finite volume formulation and applied to the Navier-stokes equations; Cartesian grid methods for complex geometry; multigrid methods for solving elliptic problems on unstructured grids; algebraic non-overlapping domain decomposition methods for compressible fluid flow problems on unstructured meshes; numerical methods for the compressible navier-stokes equations with application to aerodynamic flows; research in aerodynamic shape optimization; S-HARP: a parallel dynamic spectral partitioner; numerical schemes for the Hamilton-Jacobi and level set equations on triangulated domains; application of high-order shock capturing schemes to direct simulation of turbulence; multicast technology; network testbeds; supercomputer consolidation project.

ROS-based ground stereo vision detection: implementation and experiments.

PubMed

Hu, Tianjiang; Zhao, Boxin; Tang, Dengqing; Zhang, Daibing; Kong, Weiwei; Shen, Lincheng

This article concentrates on open-source implementation on flying object detection in cluttered scenes. It is of significance for ground stereo-aided autonomous landing of unmanned aerial vehicles. The ground stereo vision guidance system is presented with details on system architecture and workflow. The Chan-Vese detection algorithm is further considered and implemented in the robot operating systems (ROS) environment. A data-driven interactive scheme is developed to collect datasets for parameter tuning and performance evaluating. The flying vehicle outdoor experiments capture the stereo sequential images dataset and record the simultaneous data from pan-and-tilt unit, onboard sensors and differential GPS. Experimental results by using the collected dataset validate the effectiveness of the published ROS-based detection algorithm.

Vapor mediated droplet interactions - models and mechanisms (Part 2)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benusiglio, Adrien; Cira, Nate; Prakash, Manu

2014-11-01

When deposited on clean glass a two-component binary mixture of propylene glycol and water is energetically inclined to spread, as both pure liquids do. Instead the mixture forms droplets stabilized by evaporation induced surface tension gradients, giving them unique properties such as negligible hysteresis. When two of these special droplets are deposited several radii apart they attract each other. The vapor from one droplet destabilizes the other, resulting in an attraction force which brings both droplets together. We present a flux-based model for droplet stabilization and a model which connects the vapor profile to net force. These simple models capture the static and dynamic experimental trends, and our fundamental understanding of these droplets and their interactions allowed us to build autonomous fluidic machines.

An Exploratory Study of Staff Capture at the South African Inspectorate of Prisons

PubMed Central

Wood, Steven

2012-01-01

When prison inspectorates are co-opted or “captured” by those they are monitoring, their ability to bring transparency, accountability, and a human rights culture to prisons becomes harder. Using survey data from 102 staff at the South African Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (JIOP), this exploratory study measured the severity of staff capture (i.e. they were not protecting the exclusive interests of prisoners) and potential correlates of capture. Overall, study participants exhibited significant levels of capture with Ordinary Least Squares regression indicating higher levels of capture among staff that were African, thought about someday working for the Department of Correctional Services, felt powerless when prison officials ignored them, and if prison officials respected their work (p’s < .05). Length of JIOP employment was not associated with capture. These findings suggest that the JIOP’s policy of not renewing many staffs’ three year contracts could ironically be putting them at risk for capture. PMID:22581999

GROVER: An autonomous vehicle for ice sheet research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trisca, G. O.; Robertson, M. E.; Marshall, H.; Koenig, L.; Comberiate, M. A.

2013-12-01

The Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research or Greenland Rover (GROVER) is a science enabling autonomous robot specifically designed to carry a low-power, large bandwidth radar for snow accumulation mapping over the Greenland Ice Sheet. This new and evolving technology enables reduced cost and increased safety for polar research. GROVER was field tested at Summit, Greenland in May 2013. The robot traveled over 30 km and was controlled both by line of sight wireless and completely autonomously with commands and telemetry via the Iridium Satellite Network, from Summit as well as remotely from Boise, Idaho. Here we describe GROVER's unique abilities and design. The software stack features a modular design that can be adapted for any application that requires autonomous behavior, reliable communications using different technologies and low level control of peripherals. The modules are built to communicate using the publisher-subscriber design pattern to maximize data-reuse and allow for graceful failures at the software level, along with the ability to be loaded or unloaded on-the-fly, enabling the software to adopt different behaviors based on power constraints or specific processing needs. These modules can also be loaded or unloaded remotely for servicing and telemetry can be configured to contain any kind of information being generated by the sensors or scientific instruments. The hardware design protects the electronic components and the control system can change functional parameters based on sensor input. Power failure modes built into the hardware prevent the vehicle from running out of energy permanently by monitoring voltage levels and triggering software reboots when the levels match pre-established conditions. This guarantees that the control software will be operational as soon as there is enough charge to sustain it, giving the vehicle increased longevity in case of a temporary power loss. GROVER demonstrates that autonomous rovers can be a revolutionary tool for data collection, and that both the technology and the software are available and ready to be implemented to create scientific data collection platforms.

Autonomous Mission Operations for Sensor Webs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Underbrink, A.; Witt, K.; Stanley, J.; Mandl, D.

2008-12-01

We present interim results of a 2005 ROSES AIST project entitled, "Using Intelligent Agents to Form a Sensor Web for Autonomous Mission Operations", or SWAMO. The goal of the SWAMO project is to shift the control of spacecraft missions from a ground-based, centrally controlled architecture to a collaborative, distributed set of intelligent agents. The network of intelligent agents intends to reduce management requirements by utilizing model-based system prediction and autonomic model/agent collaboration. SWAMO agents are distributed throughout the Sensor Web environment, which may include multiple spacecraft, aircraft, ground systems, and ocean systems, as well as manned operations centers. The agents monitor and manage sensor platforms, Earth sensing systems, and Earth sensing models and processes. The SWAMO agents form a Sensor Web of agents via peer-to-peer coordination. Some of the intelligent agents are mobile and able to traverse between on-orbit and ground-based systems. Other agents in the network are responsible for encapsulating system models to perform prediction of future behavior of the modeled subsystems and components to which they are assigned. The software agents use semantic web technologies to enable improved information sharing among the operational entities of the Sensor Web. The semantics include ontological conceptualizations of the Sensor Web environment, plus conceptualizations of the SWAMO agents themselves. By conceptualizations of the agents, we mean knowledge of their state, operational capabilities, current operational capacities, Web Service search and discovery results, agent collaboration rules, etc. The need for ontological conceptualizations over the agents is to enable autonomous and autonomic operations of the Sensor Web. The SWAMO ontology enables automated decision making and responses to the dynamic Sensor Web environment and to end user science requests. The current ontology is compatible with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) Sensor Model Language (SensorML) concepts and structures. The agents are currently deployed on the U.S. Naval Academy MidSTAR-1 satellite and are actively managing the power subsystem on-orbit without the need for human intervention.

Evaluation of sea otter capture after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bodkin, James L.; Weltz, F.; Bayha, Keith; Kormendy, Jennifer

1990-01-01

After the T/V Exxon Valdez oil spill into Prince William Sound, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Exxon Company, U.S.A., began rescuing sea otters (Enhydra lutris). The primary objective of this operation was to capture live, oiled sea otters for cleaning and rehabilitation. Between 30 March and 29 May 1989, 139 live sea otters were captured in the sound and transported to rehabilitation centers in Valdez, Alaska. Within the first 15 days of capture operations, 122 (88%) otters were captured. Most sea otters were captured near Knight, Green, and Evans islands in the western sound. The primary capture method consisted of dipnetting otters out of water and off beaches. While capture rates declined over time, survival of captured otters increased as the interval from spill date to capture date increased. The relative degree of oiling observed for each otter captured declined over time. Declining capture rates led to the use of tangle nets. The evidence suggests the greatest threat to sea otters in Prince William Sound occurred within the first 3 weeks after the spill. Thus, in the future, the authors believe rescue efforts should begin as soon as possible after an oil spill in sea otter habitat. Further, preemptive capture and relocation of sea otters in Prince William Sound may have increased the number of otters that could have survived this event.

Documenting different domains of promotion of autonomy in families.

PubMed

Manzi, Claudia; Regalia, Camillo; Pelucchi, Sara; Fincham, Frank D

2012-04-01

Parental promotion of autonomy for offspring well-being has been widely recognized in developmental psychology. Recent studies, however, show that this association varies across cultures. Such variation may reflect inappropriate measurement of this dimension of parenting. Therefore, three existing measures of promotion of autonomy were used to derive different dimensions related to the promotion of autonomy in three different domains - promotion of autonomous thought, promotion of autonomous decision-making, and promotion of physical separation. The cross-cultural significance of this three-component model was tested in samples of late adolescents (n = 1361) from four nations- the US, Belgium, Italy and China. Data from all four countries best fit a three dimensional model but the covariance between the three dimensions was moderated by culture. Culture also moderated the impact of promotion of autonomy on offspring well-being. Copyright © 2011 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Design of a questionnaire on the knowledge and attitudes of the population of Madrid (Spain) facing the end-of-life].

PubMed

Ortiz-Gonçalves, Belén; Santiago-Sáez, Andrés; Albarrán Juan, Elena; Labajo González, Elena; Perea-Pérez, Bernardo

2017-12-05

To create and validate a questionnaire about knowledge and attitudes of the general population in Madrid (Spain) about life's end stage. A descriptive study designed as a structured self-administered questionnaire, validated by seven Madrid Health Service professional experts and assessed through a pilot study. The questionnaire consisted of 42 questions, divided into six modules: 1) decisions and psychological-physical care at life's end; 2) palliative care; 3) euthanasia and assisted suicide; 4) advance directives document; 5) spiritual factors; and 6) socio-demographic data. The questionnaire was a useful, indirect method to ascertain the opinion of life's end in the Autonomous Region of Madrid. If it were applied in primary health care and hospital care, comparisons could be made among users in different autonomous regions of Spain. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

A CDMA synchronisation scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soprano, C.

1993-01-01

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is known to decrease inter-service interference in Satellite Communication Systems. Its performance is increased by chip quasi-synchronous operation which virtually eliminates the self-noise; however, the theory shows that the time error on the synchronization has to be kept at less than one tenth of a chip which, for 1 Mchip/sec. spreading rate, corresponds to 10(exp -7) sec. This, on the return-link, may only be achieved by means of a closed loop control system which, for mobile communication systems, has to be capable of autonomous operation. Until now some results have been reported on the feasibility of chip quasi-synchronous operation for mobile communication systems only including satellites on GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit). In what follows, the basic principles are exposed, and results are presented showing how low chip synchronism error may be achieved by means of an autonomous control loop operating through satellites on any Earth orbit.

Virtual Mission Operations of Remote Sensors With Rapid Access To and From Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivancic, William D.; Stewart, Dave; Walke, Jon; Dikeman, Larry; Sage, Steven; Miller, Eric; Northam, James; Jackson, Chris; Taylor, John; Lynch, Scott;

[Primary care: decentralization and efficiency].

PubMed

Pinillos, M; Antoñanzas, F

2002-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the productive behavior of health centers in autonomous communities with competence in health is more efficient than that among centers belonging to Spanish public health system (INSALUD). The technical efficiency of 66 health centers in Alava, Navarre and La Rioja was analyzed. Centers in autonomous communities that in 1997 had been granted complete authority from the central government to manage their healthcare services were compared with centers whose administration, in the same year, was still in the hands of INSALUD. The method used to measure and quantify the efficiency of these centers was data envelopment analysis. Nonparametric contrast of the health centers' mean efficiency rates revealed no significant differences in the (in)efficiency of centers from La Rioja, Navarre and Alava. The results obtained from the model of efficiency measurement used did not indicate that decentralization improves the productive efficiency of primary care centers.

Interesting viewpoints to those who will put Ada into practice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlsson, Arne

1986-01-01

Ada will most probably be used as the programming language for computers in the NASA Space Station. It is reasonable to suppose that Ada will be used for at least embedded computers, because the high software costs for these embedded computers were the reason why Ada activities were initiated about ten years ago. The on-board computers are designed for use in space applications, where maintenance by man is impossible. All manipulation of such computers has to be performed in an autonomous way or remote with commands from the ground. In a manned Space Station some maintenance work can be performed by service people on board, but there are still a lot of applications, which require autonomous computers, for example, vital Space Station functions and unmanned orbital transfer vehicles. Those aspect which have come out of the analysis of Ada characteristics together with the experience of requirements for embedded on-board computers in space applications are examined.

Developing Pre-Service Teachers' Subject Matter Knowledge of Electromagnetism by Integrating Concept Maps and Collaborative Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Govender, Nadaraj

2015-01-01

This case study explored the development of two pre-service teachers' subject matter knowledge (SMK) of electromagnetism while integrating the use of concept maps (CM) and collaborative learning (CL) strategies. The study aimed at capturing how these pre-service teachers' SMK in electromagnetism was enhanced after having been taught SMK in a…

Project CAPTURE: a U.S. national prioritization assessment of tree species for conservation, management, and restoration

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Barbara S. Crane; Valerie D. Hipkins

2017-01-01

that forest tree species will undergo population-level extirpation or species-level extinction during the next century. Project CAPTURE (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees Under Risk of Extirpation) is a cooperative effort across the three U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) deputy areas to establish a framework for...

Assessing the ability of comorbidity indexes to capture comorbid disease in the inpatient rehabilitation burn injury population.

PubMed

Slocum, Chloe S; Goldstein, Richard; DiVita, Margaret A; Mix, Jacqueline; Niewczyk, Paulette; Gerrard, Paul; Sheridan, Robert; Kowalske, Karen J; Zafonte, Ross; Ryan, Colleen M; Schneider, Jeffrey C

2015-05-01

Burn patients exhibit comorbidities that influence outcomes. This study examines whether existing comorbidity measures capture comorbidities in the burn inpatient rehabilitation population. Data were obtained from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation from 2002 to 2011 for adults with burn injury. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, codes were used to assess three comorbidity measures (Charlson Comorbidity Index, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Comorbidity Tiers). The number of subjects and unique comorbidity codes (>1% of frequency) captured by each comorbidity measure was calculated. The study included 5347 patients with a median total body surface area burn decile of 20%-29%, mean age of 51.6 yrs, and mean number of comorbidities of 7.6. There were 2809 unique International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, comorbidity codes. The Charlson Comorbidity Index, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Comorbidity Tiers did not capture 67%, 27%, and 58% of the subjects, respectively. There were 107 unique comorbidities that occurred with a frequency of greater than 1%. Of these, 67% were not captured in all three comorbidity measures. Commonly used comorbidity indexes do not reflect the extent of comorbid disease in the burn rehabilitation population. Future work is needed to assess the need for comorbidity indexes specific to the inpatient rehabilitation setting.

Autonomy in military aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henderson, D. W.

Military users are becoming increasingly dependent on satellites for vital services related to communication, surveillance information, navigation, and meteorological data. The current military spacecraft, however, need the services of a ground support network which is vulnerable in connection with a variety of threats. It has, therefore, been proposed to decrease the dependence of the satellites on the ground segment by improving satellite autonomy, and the Satellite Autonomy Program at the recently created Air Force Space Technology Center is developing the Autonomous Redundancy and Maintenance Management Subsystem (ARMMS) for a near term generic autonomy solution. Attention is given to the implementation of autonomy and technological requirements for ensuring autonomy.

Coordination and Control for Multi-Quadrotor UAV Missions

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-01

space equation uses a set of matrices to set up a series of first-order differential equations of the vehicle states. Some flexibility exists in...challenges with autonomous micro aerial vehicles.” Int. Symp. On Robotics Research, 2011 [11] M. Turpin , N. Michael, & V. Kumar, (2012). “Trajectory design...Mathematics and Engineer- ingAnalysis, TechnicalDocumentMEA-LR-085. Boeing Information and Support Services, The Boeing Company, Seattle ( 1997 ) [23] O

Design Description for Team-Based Execution of Autonomous Missions (TEAM), Spiral 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-18

TEAM), Spiral 1 Doc. #: Version: 1.0 Date: November 18, 2008 Page 12 of 39 Visualization Framework (WorldWind) Hibernate / Hibernate ...Spatial hibernate -properties XML Mapping WCS WFSWMS Enterprise Service Bus (Mule) Messaging, Data Transformation, Intelligent Routing Workflow Engine...government selected solutions. Neither these nor Mule® are deliverable, but the government may opt to use them if it so chooses. jBPM, java Business

NASA University Research Centers Technical Advances in Education, Aeronautics, Space, Autonomy, Earth and Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jamshidi, M. (Editor); Lumia, R. (Editor); Tunstel, E., Jr. (Editor); White, B. (Editor); Malone, J. (Editor); Sakimoto, P. (Editor)

1997-01-01

This first volume of the Autonomous Control Engineering (ACE) Center Press Series on NASA University Research Center's (URC's) Advanced Technologies on Space Exploration and National Service constitute a report on the research papers and presentations delivered by NASA Installations and industry and Report of the NASA's fourteen URC's held at the First National Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 16-19, 1997.

CERT Research Annual Report 2009

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

Domain Name System (DNS), which maps names to IP addresses, is a vital component of the Internet. Nearly every transaction on the Internet begins by...many different ASNs (Autonomous System Numbers, which map to Internet Service Providers) there are. If there are more than 20, then it is extremely...functions, that is, mappings from their domains to ranges, or inputs to outputs. These mappings are pre-defined as a starting point for the FX

Consequences for patients of health care professionals' conscientious actions: the ban on abortions in South Australia.

PubMed Central

Cannold, L

1994-01-01

The legitimacy of the refusal of South Australian nurses to care for second trimester abortion patients on grounds of conscience is examined as a test case for a theory of permissible limits on the autonomy of health care professionals. In cases of health care professional (HCP) conscientious refusal, it is argued that a balance be struck between the HCPs' claims to autonomous action and the consequences to them of having their autonomous action restricted, and the entitlement of patients to care and the consequences for them of being refused such care. Conscientious action that results in the disruption or termination of health care services, however, is always impermissible on two grounds. Firstly, because it is at this point that the action '... invades a patient's autonomy, puts a patient at serious risk ... [and] treats a patient unjustly' (1) Secondly, because the consequences of such refusals turn them into political acts--acts of civil disobedience. It is arguable that in order for acts of civil disobedience to be legitimate, certain obligations are required of the dissenter by the community. It is concluded that the actions of the South Australian nurses, which have over the last few years both terminated and disrupted second trimester services, are morally impermissible. PMID:8083879

Consequences for patients of health care professionals' conscientious actions: the ban on abortions in South Australia.

PubMed

Cannold, L

1994-06-01

The legitimacy of the refusal of South Australian nurses to care for second trimester abortion patients on grounds of conscience is examined as a test case for a theory of permissible limits on the autonomy of health care professionals. In cases of health care professional (HCP) conscientious refusal, it is argued that a balance be struck between the HCPs' claims to autonomous action and the consequences to them of having their autonomous action restricted, and the entitlement of patients to care and the consequences for them of being refused such care. Conscientious action that results in the disruption or termination of health care services, however, is always impermissible on two grounds. Firstly, because it is at this point that the action '... invades a patient's autonomy, puts a patient at serious risk ... [and] treats a patient unjustly' (1) Secondly, because the consequences of such refusals turn them into political acts--acts of civil disobedience. It is arguable that in order for acts of civil disobedience to be legitimate, certain obligations are required of the dissenter by the community. It is concluded that the actions of the South Australian nurses, which have over the last few years both terminated and disrupted second trimester services, are morally impermissible.

Monitoring Agents for Assisting NASA Engineers with Shuttle Ground Processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Semmel, Glenn S.; Davis, Steven R.; Leucht, Kurt W.; Rowe, Danil A.; Smith, Kevin E.; Boeloeni, Ladislau

2005-01-01

The Spaceport Processing Systems Branch at NASA Kennedy Space Center has designed, developed, and deployed a rule-based agent to monitor the Space Shuttle's ground processing telemetry stream. The NASA Engineering Shuttle Telemetry Agent increases situational awareness for system and hardware engineers during ground processing of the Shuttle's subsystems. The agent provides autonomous monitoring of the telemetry stream and automatically alerts system engineers when user defined conditions are satisfied. Efficiency and safety are improved through increased automation. Sandia National Labs' Java Expert System Shell is employed as the agent's rule engine. The shell's predicate logic lends itself well to capturing the heuristics and specifying the engineering rules within this domain. The declarative paradigm of the rule-based agent yields a highly modular and scalable design spanning multiple subsystems of the Shuttle. Several hundred monitoring rules have been written thus far with corresponding notifications sent to Shuttle engineers. This chapter discusses the rule-based telemetry agent used for Space Shuttle ground processing. We present the problem domain along with design and development considerations such as information modeling, knowledge capture, and the deployment of the product. We also present ongoing work with other condition monitoring agents.

Secure Cooperation of Autonomous Mobile Sensors Using an Underwater Acoustic Network

PubMed Central

Caiti, Andrea; Calabrò, Vincenzo; Dini, Gianluca; Duca, Angelica Lo; Munafò, Andrea

2012-01-01

Methodologies and algorithms are presented for the secure cooperation of a team of autonomous mobile underwater sensors, connected through an acoustic communication network, within surveillance and patrolling applications. In particular, the work proposes a cooperative algorithm in which the mobile underwater sensors (installed on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles—AUVs) respond to simple local rules based on the available information to perform the mission and maintain the communication link with the network (behavioral approach). The algorithm is intrinsically robust: with loss of communication among the vehicles the coverage performance (i.e., the mission goal) is degraded but not lost. The ensuing form of graceful degradation provides also a reactive measure against Denial of Service. The cooperative algorithm relies on the fact that the available information from the other sensors, though not necessarily complete, is trustworthy. To ensure trustworthiness, a security suite has been designed, specifically oriented to the underwater scenario, and in particular with the goal of reducing the communication overhead introduced by security in terms of number and size of messages. The paper gives implementation details on the integration between the security suite and the cooperative algorithm and provides statistics on the performance of the system as collected during the UAN project sea trial held in Trondheim, Norway, in May 2011. PMID:22438748

Secure cooperation of autonomous mobile sensors using an underwater acoustic network.

PubMed

Caiti, Andrea; Calabrò, Vincenzo; Dini, Gianluca; Lo Duca, Angelica; Munafò, Andrea

2012-01-01

Methodologies and algorithms are presented for the secure cooperation of a team of autonomous mobile underwater sensors, connected through an acoustic communication network, within surveillance and patrolling applications. In particular, the work proposes a cooperative algorithm in which the mobile underwater sensors (installed on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles-AUVs) respond to simple local rules based on the available information to perform the mission and maintain the communication link with the network (behavioral approach). The algorithm is intrinsically robust: with loss of communication among the vehicles the coverage performance (i.e., the mission goal) is degraded but not lost. The ensuing form of graceful degradation provides also a reactive measure against Denial of Service. The cooperative algorithm relies on the fact that the available information from the other sensors, though not necessarily complete, is trustworthy. To ensure trustworthiness, a security suite has been designed, specifically oriented to the underwater scenario, and in particular with the goal of reducing the communication overhead introduced by security in terms of number and size of messages. The paper gives implementation details on the integration between the security suite and the cooperative algorithm and provides statistics on the performance of the system as collected during the UAN project sea trial held in Trondheim, Norway, in May 2011.

[Shades and shadows in the application of the long-term care law].

PubMed

Correa, Manuel; Jiménez-Aguilera, Juan de Dios

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to provide a brief overview of the most controversial aspects of the Spanish Act of Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Long-Term Care 39/2006, which, in the last few years, has led to heated debates between the state and the autonomous regions. Because of the funding problems due to initial poor planning, the decline of contributions from the Spanish Government in the last few years, including the suppression of the agreed level, and low cash collection from the user through copayment, the autonomous regions have had to provide significant economic resources to maintain this social policy in an environment characterised by a lack of transparency of the system. In addition, the regulatory reforms of mid-2012 to ease the burden on state and autonomous budgets have represented a clear setback to the spirit of the act and a loss of welfare to dependent individuals and their families. All these circumstances have contributed to a widely heterogeneous picture in the territorial implementation of the act, with clear differences in waiting lists, abuse in the granting of cash benefits in some regions, and differences in the number of applications for benefits and services. Copyright © 2015 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The Virtual Earth-Solar Observatory of the SCiESMEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De la Luz, V.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Cifuentes-Nava, G.

2015-12-01

The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX, http://www.sciesmex.unam.mx) started operations in October 2014. The project includes the Virtual Earth-Solar Observatory (VESO, http://www.veso.unam.mx). The VESO is a improved project wich objetive is integrate the space weather instrumentation network from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The network includes the Mexican Array Radiotelescope (MEXART), the Callisto receptor (MEXART), a Neutron Telescope, a Cosmic Ray Telescope. the Schumann Antenna, the National Magnetic Service, and the mexican GPS network (TlalocNet). The VESO facility is located at the Geophysics Institute campus Michoacan (UNAM). We offer the service of data store, real-time data, and quasi real-time data. The hardware of VESO includes a High Performance Computer (HPC) dedicated specially to big data storage.

77 FR 35343 - Provisions for Fees Related to Hazardous Materials Endorsements and Transportation Worker...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-13

... maintenance, and customer service support. When the pertinent contracts for services are amended or... capture worker overall satisfaction with the enrollment process; this optional survey is provided during... 532411), Sightseeing Water (NAICS 48799), Casinos (except Casino Hotels) (NAICS 713210), Other Gambling...

Reference Model for Project Support Environments Version 1.0

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-28

relationship with the framework’s Process Support services and with the Lifecycle Process Engineering services. Examples: "* ORCA (Object-based...Design services. Examples: "* ORCA (Object-based Requirements Capture and Analysis). "* RETRAC (REquirements TRACeability). 4.3 Life-Cycle Process...34traditional" computer tools. Operations: Examples of audio and video processing operations include: "* Create, modify, and delete sound and video data

Through the eyes of the Informationist: Identifying information needs of the Breast Imaging Service at a tertiary medical center specializing in cancer.

PubMed

DeRosa, Antonio P; Gibson, Donna S; Morris, Elizabeth A

2017-09-01

The information services offered by Embedded Librarians over the years have led to the more modern-and domain knowledge-specific-role of the Informationist. A 10-point questionnaire was developed and used to interview 12 attending physicians and three fellows chosen at random. The participants are either on the research track (n = 3) or the clinical track (n = 9). A two-part schematic was also created to capture more detailed feedback about the information needs and information-seeking behavior of clinicians regarding patient care (clinical) and research activities. Bibliographic management tool use and time-related factors were also captured in the interviews and written schematics. The role of the Informationist is an emerging, yet valuable one to assigned clinical groups. Clinician's knowledge-base, current awareness, productivity, and evidence-based care can be improved by use of Informationist services.

Using VITA Service Learning Experiences to Teach Hypothesis Testing and P-Value Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drougas, Anne; Harrington, Steve

2011-01-01

This paper describes a hypothesis testing project designed to capture student interest and stimulate classroom interaction and communication. Using an online survey instrument, the authors collected student demographic information and data regarding university service learning experiences. Introductory statistics students performed a series of…

On (Un)common Ground: Transforming from Dissonance to Commitment in a Service Learning Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naudé, Luzelle

2015-01-01

Through the lenses of transformative and experiential learning theory, this article describes South African psychology students' transformational journey while doing service-learning in a rural community. The reflection reports of five cohort groups (2006 to 2010), capturing students meaning making experiences and interpretations during community…

A Design Rationale Capture Using REMAP/MM

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-06-01

company-wide down-sizing, the power company has determined that an automated service order processing system is the most economical solution. This new...service order processing system for a large power company can easily be 37 led. A system of this complexity would typically require three to five years

Physicians can boost shrinking revenues with in-house ancillary services.

PubMed

2004-04-01

Physicians are examining a variety of mechanisms to capture new sources of revenue while improving efficiency and continuity of care. Adding on-site diagnostic and therapeutic services is one of the most effective ways to accomplish both of these goals, but physician groups must be wary of potential pitfalls.

Higher Education Institutions: Satisfaction and Loyalty among International Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paswan, Audhesh K.; Ganesh, Gopala

2009-01-01

This study empirically investigates the relationship between satisfaction with educational service augmenters and consumer loyalty within the context of the international student market. An enhanced state of consumer satisfaction, also labeled as delight, is captured by focusing on service augmenters that fall outside the domain of the core…

Social Workers in Home Care: The Israeli Case

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayalon, Liat; Baum, Nehami

2010-01-01

In Israel, the government partially supports personal home care services (grooming, feeding, assistance with transfers) as a means to maintain frail individuals in their home environment for as long as possible. Social workers capture a prominent position in these arrangements as initiators and supervisors of personal home care services. This…

76 FR 30715 - Information Collection Being Reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-26

... technology; and (e) ways to further reduce the information collection burden on small business concerns with...: Business or other for-profit. Number of Respondents and Responses: 48 respondents; 63 responses. Estimated... designed to capture trends in service quality under price cap regulation. It provides service quality...

Comparisons of boll weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) pheromone traps with and without kill strips.

PubMed

Suh, C P C; Armstrong, J S; Spurgeon, D W; Duke, S

2009-02-01

Boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), eradication programs typically equip pheromone traps with an insecticide-impregnated kill strip. These strips are intended to kill captured insects, thereby simplifying trap servicing and reducing the loss of weevils from predation and escape. However, the effectiveness of kill strips has not been extensively evaluated. We examined the influences of kill strips on weevil captures, trap servicing, and the incidences of weevil predation and trap obstruction (e.g., by spider webs). Evaluations were conducted weekly during three different production periods (pre- to early-, late-, and postseason) of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., to represent different environmental conditions and weevil population levels. Within each period, mean weekly captures of weevils in traps with and without kill strips were statistically similar. On average, traps with kill strips took 9 s longer to service than traps without kill strips, but statistical differences were only detected during the late-season period. Overall, the mean weekly proportion of traps with evidence of weevil predation or trap obstruction was significantly lower for traps with kill strips (0.25) than for traps without kill strips (0.37). However, this reduction in the frequency of weevil predation or trap obstruction was too small to produce a corresponding increase in the numbers of weevils captured. In light of these findings, the use of kill strips is likely unnecessary in eradication programs, but may be a consideration in situations when the numbers of deployed traps are reduced and chronic problems with weevil predation or trap obstruction exist.

Value Assessment of Ecosystem Services in Nature Reserves in Ningxia, China: A Response to Ecological Restoration

PubMed Central

Wang, Yan; Gao, Jixi; Wang, Jinsheng; Qiu, Jie

2014-01-01

Changes in land use can cause significant changes in the ecosystem structure and process variation of ecosystem services. This study presents a detailed spatial, quantitative assessment of the variation in the value of ecosystem services based on land use change in national nature reserves of the Ningxia autonomous region in China. We used areas of land use types calculated from the remote sensing data and the adjusted value coefficients to assess the value of ecosystem services for the years 2000, 2005, and 2010, analyzing the fluctuations in the valuation of ecosystem services in response to land use change. With increases in the areas of forest land and water bodies, the value of ecosystem services increased from 182.3×107 to 223.8×107 US$ during 2000–2010. Grassland and forest land accounted for 90% of this increase. The values of all ecosystem services increased during this period, especially the value of ecosystem services for biodiversity protection and soil formation and protection. Ecological restoration in the reserves had a positive effect on the value of ecosystem services during 2000–2010. PMID:24586571

Clinical and electrophysiologic attributes as predictors of results of autonomic function tests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, C. L.; Denq, J. C.; Harper, C. M.; O'Brien, P. C.; Low, P. A.

1998-01-01

Autonomic dysfunction is a feature of some neuropathies and not others. It has been suggested that some clinical and electrophysiologic attributes are predictable of autonomic impairment detected using laboratory testing; however, dear guidelines are unavailable. We evaluated 138 relatively unselected patients with peripheral neuropathy who underwent neurologic evaluation, electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction studies, and autonomic function tests to determine which variables were predictive of laboratory findings of autonomic failure. The variables evaluated were 1) clinical somatic neuropathic findings, 2) clinical autonomic symptoms, and 3) electrophysiologic findings. Autonomic symptoms were strongly predictive (Rs = 0.40, p < 0.001) of autonomic failure. Among the non-autonomic indices, absent ankle reflexes were mildly predictive (Rs = 0.19, p = 0.022) of autonomic impairment, but all others were not (duration, clinical pattern, severity, weakness, sensory loss). Electrophysiologic changes of an axonal neuropathy predicted autonomic impairment while demyelinating neuropathy did not. We conclude that autonomic studies will most likely be abnormal in patients who have symptoms of autonomic involvement and those who have an axonal neuropathy.

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) for Interactive Ocean Observatories: LOOKING Ahead

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orcutt, J.; Abbott, M.; Bellingham, J.; Chave, A.; Delaney, J.; Johnson, R.; Lazowska, E.; Moline, M.; Smarr, L.

2004-12-01

Investments in next-generation facilities to achieve a permanent, interactive telepresence throughout remote or hostile environments can empower a broad spectrum of autonomous sensornet facilities through the NSF Major Research Equipment and Facililties Construction Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). These systems must involve powerful suites of generic cyberinfrastructure tools designed to optimize access and benefits to a large academic and public user base. Many future research and educational efforts focused throughout the ocean basins, especially within heavily populated coastal regions, will be empowered by these new systems. Our project LOOKING (Laboratory for the Ocean Observatory Knowledge Integration Grid) is developing prototype CI for the OOI to achieve these goals. In the case of ocean observatory networks, it is essential to establish powerful network infrastructures linking the wet or subsea portion, with a host of shore station facilities. These components in turn must seamlessly communicate with an ensemble of data repositories, and relevant computer and visualization resources designed to serve a widely diverse ocean science community with real time, broadband access to all observatory system data, products, and metadata. This infrastructure must be secure, reliable, and resilient. It must meet the potentially ambitious latency, bandwidth, and performance requirements demanded by a set of evolving autonomous sensor platforms over a period of decades. This Grid environment must seamlessly interconnect all relevant national and international research and education nets accessible through high speed, next generation communication networks. The primary components of LOOKING are remote services that fulfill the CI needs of the ocean observatory community. These services arise from overarching science and education requirements: 1) Instrument Services operate at the sensor end of an ocean observatory, and are dominantly but not exclusively wet. 2) Infrastructure Services operate within the ocean observatory itself, providing data, time distribution, and power functions to instruments; 3) Data Services interface the ocean observatory to users, whether human beings or modeling programs. In an appropriately designed and functioning system, none can stand alone, nor can they be developed in isolation. These services and associated middleware layers must be designed from the outset to interact seamlessly and transparently.

Support and Assessment for Fall Emergency Referrals (SAFER 1): Cluster Randomised Trial of Computerised Clinical Decision Support for Paramedics

PubMed Central

Snooks, Helen Anne; Carter, Ben; Dale, Jeremy; Foster, Theresa; Humphreys, Ioan; Logan, Philippa Anne; Lyons, Ronan Anthony; Mason, Suzanne Margaret; Phillips, Ceri James; Sanchez, Antonio; Wani, Mushtaq; Watkins, Alan; Wells, Bridget Elizabeth; Whitfield, Richard; Russell, Ian Trevor

2014-01-01

Objective To evaluate effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of Computerised Clinical Decision Support (CCDS) for paramedics attending older people who fall. Design Cluster trial randomised by paramedic; modelling. Setting 13 ambulance stations in two UK emergency ambulance services. Participants 42 of 409 eligible paramedics, who attended 779 older patients for a reported fall. Interventions Intervention paramedics received CCDS on Tablet computers to guide patient care. Control paramedics provided care as usual. One service had already installed electronic data capture. Main Outcome Measures Effectiveness: patients referred to falls service, patient reported quality of life and satisfaction, processes of care. Safety Further emergency contacts or death within one month. Cost-Effectiveness Costs and quality of life. We used findings from published Community Falls Prevention Trial to model cost-effectiveness. Results 17 intervention paramedics used CCDS for 54 (12.4%) of 436 participants. They referred 42 (9.6%) to falls services, compared with 17 (5.0%) of 343 participants seen by 19 control paramedics [Odds ratio (OR) 2.04, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.72]. No adverse events were related to the intervention. Non-significant differences between groups included: subsequent emergency contacts (34.6% versus 29.1%; OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.72); quality of life (mean SF12 differences: MCS −0.74, 95% CI −2.83 to +1.28; PCS −0.13, 95% CI −1.65 to +1.39) and non-conveyance (42.0% versus 36.7%; OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.52). However ambulance job cycle time was 8.9 minutes longer for intervention patients (95% CI 2.3 to 15.3). Average net cost of implementing CCDS was £208 per patient with existing electronic data capture, and £308 without. Modelling estimated cost per quality-adjusted life-year at £15,000 with existing electronic data capture; and £22,200 without. Conclusions Intervention paramedics referred twice as many participants to falls services with no difference in safety. CCDS is potentially cost-effective, especially with existing electronic data capture. Trial Registration ISRCTN Register ISRCTN10538608 PMID:25216281

A United Framework for Solving Multiagent Task Assignment Problems

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-12-01

Presented to the Faculty Graduate School of Engineering and Management Air Force Institute of Technology Air University Air Education and Training Command in...Member Date Date Accepted: 170-e<.. 01 DateM.V.THOMAS Dean, Graduate School of E,ngineering and Management Air Force Institute of Technology AFIT...actions in two different problem groups: using shame [37] for autonomous robots navigating a minefield, and a waiter - refiller service environment [94

NATO RTO Space Science and Technology Advisory Group (SSTAG) Recommendations for Space Research Topics

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

technological basis that will guarantee a solid base for the future. The content of this publication has been reproduced directly from material supplied by...maintenance services, re- supply or other logistic in orbit operation. The benefit to have an extended satellite lifetime and a longer autonomous...to: • recover the satellites in the proper orbit • refuel, re- supply satellites to extend their operative life • reconfigure and repair

[The co-payment of the dependence from the structural reform of 2012 in Spain].

PubMed

Del Pozo-Rubio, Raúl; Pardo-García, Isabel; Escribano-Sotos, Francisco

The objective of this piece of work is to establish the cost of dependency and the cost of financing it. Specifically, we will determine the cost of co-payment for individual users following the modification introduced by the 13th of July 2012 Resolution as well as its allocation by the autonomous regions. The degree and level of dependency was established using the Survey on Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency Situations, 2008. The cost of dependency according to degree and level and autonomous regions was established with information from the System for Personal Autonomy and Care of Dependent Persons. The co-payment was established according to applicants' purchasing power. The rating of these services, and the contribution of individual users were done in agreement with 2012 legislation and with common indicators and benchmarks for the whole national territory. The total estimated cost is 10,598.8 million euros (1.03% of GDP), and Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Catalonia are those regions with the greatest costs. The average national co-payment per individual user is 53.54%, with differences due to degrees and levels of disability and autonomous regions, although, generally speaking, all of the users fund more than half of the care they receive. This change in legislation has meant that co-payment is higher than the 33% established by this law and that co-payments prior to 2012 were about 20%. If we add to this the differences in autonomous regions, it would be useful to reflect on the uneven application of the law. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

An early underwater artificial vision model in ocean investigations via independent component analysis.

PubMed

Nian, Rui; Liu, Fang; He, Bo

2013-07-16

Underwater vision is one of the dominant senses and has shown great prospects in ocean investigations. In this paper, a hierarchical Independent Component Analysis (ICA) framework has been established to explore and understand the functional roles of the higher order statistical structures towards the visual stimulus in the underwater artificial vision system. The model is inspired by characteristics such as the modality, the redundancy reduction, the sparseness and the independence in the early human vision system, which seems to respectively capture the Gabor-like basis functions, the shape contours or the complicated textures in the multiple layer implementations. The simulation results have shown good performance in the effectiveness and the consistence of the approach proposed for the underwater images collected by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

An Early Underwater Artificial Vision Model in Ocean Investigations via Independent Component Analysis

PubMed Central

Nian, Rui; Liu, Fang; He, Bo

2013-01-01

Underwater vision is one of the dominant senses and has shown great prospects in ocean investigations. In this paper, a hierarchical Independent Component Analysis (ICA) framework has been established to explore and understand the functional roles of the higher order statistical structures towards the visual stimulus in the underwater artificial vision system. The model is inspired by characteristics such as the modality, the redundancy reduction, the sparseness and the independence in the early human vision system, which seems to respectively capture the Gabor-like basis functions, the shape contours or the complicated textures in the multiple layer implementations. The simulation results have shown good performance in the effectiveness and the consistence of the approach proposed for the underwater images collected by autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). PMID:23863855

Re-Engineering the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Satellite Utilizing Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Mission Services Center (GMSEC) Middleware Based Technology to Enable Lights Out Operations and Autonomous Re-Dump of Lost Telemetry Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marius, Julio L.; Busch, Jim

2008-01-01

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft was launched in November of 1996 in order to obtain unique three dimensional radar cross sectional observations of cloud structures with particular interest in hurricanes. The TRMM mission life was recently extended with current estimates that operations will continue through the 2012-2013 timeframe. Faced with this extended mission profile, the project has embarked on a technology refresh and re-engineering effort. TRMM has recently implemented a re-engineering effort to expand a middleware based messaging architecture to enable fully redundant lights-out of flight operations activities. The middleware approach is based on the Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture, tools and associated open-source Applications Programming Interface (API). Middleware based messaging systems are useful in spacecraft operations and automation systems because private node based knowledge (such as that within a telemetry and command system) can be broadcast on the middleware messaging bus and hence enable collaborative decisions to be made by multiple subsystems. In this fashion, private data is made public and distributed within the local area network and multiple nodes can remain synchronized with other nodes. This concept is useful in a fully redundant architecture whereby one node is monitoring the processing of the 'prime' node so that in the event of a failure the backup node can assume operations of the prime, without loss of state knowledge. This paper will review and present the experiences, architecture, approach and lessons learned of the TRMM re-engineering effort centered on the GMSEC middleware architecture and tool suite. Relevant information will be presented that relates to the dual redundant parallel nature of the Telemetry and Command (T and C) and Front-End systems and how these systems can interact over a middleware bus to achieve autonomous operations including autonomous commanding to recover missing science data during the same spacecraft contact.

Colour-based Object Detection and Tracking for Autonomous Quadrotor UAV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadouf, Hani Hunud A.; Mohd Mustafah, Yasir

2013-12-01

With robotics becoming a fundamental aspect of modern society, further research and consequent application is ever increasing. Aerial robotics, in particular, covers applications such as surveillance in hostile military zones or search and rescue operations in disaster stricken areas, where ground navigation is impossible. The increased visual capacity of UAV's (Unmanned Air Vehicles) is also applicable in the support of ground vehicles to provide supplies for emergency assistance, for scouting purposes or to extend communication beyond insurmountable land or water barriers. The Quadrotor, which is a small UAV has its lift generated by four rotors and can be controlled by altering the speeds of its motors relative to each other. The four rotors allow for a higher payload than single or dual rotor UAVs, which makes it safer and more suitable to carry camera and transmitter equipment. An onboard camera is used to capture and transmit images of the Quadrotor's First Person View (FPV) while in flight, in real time, wirelessly to a base station. The aim of this research is to develop an autonomous quadrotor platform capable of transmitting real time video signals to a base station for processing. The result from the image analysis will be used as a feedback in the quadrotor positioning control. To validate the system, the algorithm should have the capacity to make the quadrotor identify, track or hover above stationary or moving objects.

Bandwidth Allocation to Interactive Users in DBS-Based Hybrid Internet

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-01-01

policies 12 3.1 Framework for queuing analysis: ON/OFF source traffic model . 13 3.2 Service quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14...minimizing the queuing delay. In consequence, we were interested in ob- taining improvements in the service quality , as perceived by the users. A...the service quality as per- ceived by users. The merit of this approach, first introduced in [8], is the ability to capture the characteristics of the

Specifying Software Behavior for Requirements and Design

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

e.g., Behavior Hiding is comprised of the Function Driver and Shared Services modules. Blacked-out modules, which are concerned with mechanisms for...and Shared Services modules. “The Func- tion Driver Module consists of a set of modules called Func- tion Drivers; each Function Driver is the sole...system environment. Functions that capture the rules determining these output values specify that behavior. The Shared Services module concerns aspects of

The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) - A focus for automation and robotics on the Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinkal, Sanford W.; Andary, James F.; Watzin, James G.; Provost, David E.

1987-01-01

The concept, fundamental design principles, and capabilities of the FTS, a multipurpose telerobotic system for use on the Space Station and Space Shuttle, are discussed. The FTS is intended to assist the crew in the performance of extravehicular tasks; the telerobot will also be used on the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle to service free-flyer spacecraft. The FTS will be capable of both teleoperation and autonomous operation; eventually it may also utilize ground control. By careful selection of the functional architecture and a modular approach to the hardware and software design, the FTS can accept developments in artificial intelligence and newer, more advanced sensors, such as machine vision and collision avoidance.

Thai Pre-Service Science Teachers' Conceptions of the Nature of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buaraphan, Khajornsak; Sung-ong, Sunun

2009-01-01

The conceptions of the nature of science (NOS), particularly scientific knowledge, scientific method, scientists' work, and scientific enterprise, of 113 Thai pre-service science teachers were was captured by the Myths of Science Questionnaire (MOSQ) in the first semester of the 2008 academic year. The data was quantitatively and qualitatively…

78 FR 69694 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-20

.... Information Collection Request Title: The National Health Service Corps and NURSE Corps Interest Capture Form. OMB No.: 0915-0337--Revision. Abstract: The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and the NURSE Corps... professionals and by supporting communities' efforts to build better systems of care. The NHSC and NURSE Corps...

Generic Service Integration in Adaptive Learning Experiences Using IMS Learning Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de-la-Fuente-Valentin, Luis; Pardo, Abelardo; Kloos, Carlos Delgado

2011-01-01

IMS Learning Design is a specification to capture the orchestration taking place in a learning scenario. This paper presents an extension called Generic Service Integration. This paradigm allows a bidirectional communication between the course engine in charge of the orchestration and conventional Web 2.0 tools. This communication allows the…

78 FR 24768 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Permit Applications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service [FWS-R3-ES-2013-N094; FXES11130300000F3-234... Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability of permit applications; request for comments. SUMMARY... Survey and Design, LLC, Temperance, MI. The applicant requests a permit to take (capture and release...

Identity Development: What I Notice about Myself as a Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ó Gallchóir, Ciarán; O'Flaherty, Joanne; Hinchion, Carmel

2018-01-01

Teacher identity has been recognised as critical to the practice and development of teachers. However, there remains a paucity of scholarship capturing the voice of pre-service teachers' meaning making of their own development as teachers during initial teacher education. This paper sets out to explore seven pre-service teachers' meaning making of…

Latent Class Analysis of Conduct Problems of Elementary Students Receiving Special Education Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toupin, Jean; Déry, Michèle; Verlaan, Pierrette; Lemelin, Jean-Pascal; Lecocq, Aurélie; Jagiellowicz, Jadwiga

2016-01-01

Students with conduct problems (CPs) may present heterogeneity in terms of behavioral manifestations and service needs. Previous studies using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to capture this heterogeneity have been conducted mostly with community samples and have often applied a narrow definition of CP. Considering this context, this study…

Factors Affecting Pre-Service TESOL Teachers' Attitudes towards Using CD-ROM Dictionary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Issa, Jinan Hatem; Jamil, Hazri

2011-01-01

Rapid technological advances in communication technologies and computational power are altering the nature of knowledge, skills, talents and the know-how of individuals. A CD-ROM dictionary is an interesting and effective teaching tool, which captures pre-service teachers' interest and does much more than just translates especially with the…

HST High Gain Antennae photographed by Electronic Still Camera

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-12-04

S61-E-021 (7 Dec 1993) --- This close-up view of one of two High Gain Antennae (HGA) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was photographed with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC), and down linked to ground controllers soon afterward. Endeavour's crew captured the HST on December 4, 1993 in order to service the telescope over a period of five days. Four of the crew members have been working in alternating pairs outside Endeavour's shirt sleeve environment to service the giant telescope. Electronic still photography is a relatively new technology which provides the means for a handheld camera to electronically capture and digitize an image with resolution approaching film quality. The electronic still camera has flown as an experiment on several other shuttle missions.

Hubble Space Telescope photographed by Electronic Still Camera

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-12-04

S61-E-001 (4 Dec 1993) --- This medium close-up view of the top portion of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was photographed with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC), and down linked to ground controllers soon afterward. Endeavour's crew captured the HST on December 4, 1993 in order to service the telescope over a period of five days. Four of the crew members will work in alternating pairs outside Endeavour's shirt sleeve environment to service the giant telescope. Electronic still photography is a relatively new technology which provides the means for a handheld camera to electronically capture and digitize an image with resolution approaching film quality. The electronic still camera has flown as an experiment on several other shuttle missions.

HST Solar Arrays photographed by Electronic Still Camera

NASA Image and Video Library

1993-12-07

S61-E-020 (7 Dec 1993) --- This close-up view of one of two Solar Arrays (SA) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was photographed with an Electronic Still Camera (ESC), and down linked to ground controllers soon afterward. Endeavour's crew captured the HST on December 4, 1993, in order to service the telescope over a period of five days. Four of the crew members will work in alternating pairs outside Endeavour's shirt sleeve environment to service the giant telescope. Electronic still photography is a relatively new technology which provides the means for a handheld camera to electronically capture and digitize an image with resolution approaching film quality. The electronic still camera has flown as an experiment on several other shuttle missions.

A mobile trauma database with charge capture.

PubMed

Moulton, Steve; Myung, Dan; Chary, Aron; Chen, Joshua; Agarwal, Suresh; Emhoff, Tim; Burke, Peter; Hirsch, Erwin

2005-11-01

Charge capture plays an important role in every surgical practice. We have developed and merged a custom mobile database (DB) system with our trauma registry (TRACS), to better understand our billing methods, revenue generators, and areas for improved revenue capture. The mobile database runs on handheld devices using the Windows Compact Edition platform. The front end was written in C# and the back end is SQL. The mobile database operates as a thick client; it includes active and inactive patient lists, billing screens, hot pick lists, and Current Procedural Terminology and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code sets. Microsoft Information Internet Server provides secure data transaction services between the back ends stored on each device. Traditional, hand written billing information for three of five adult trauma surgeons was averaged over a 5-month period. Electronic billing information was then collected over a 3-month period using handheld devices and the subject software application. One surgeon used the software for all 3 months, and two surgeons used it for the latter 2 months of the electronic data collection period. This electronic billing information was combined with TRACS data to determine the clinical characteristics of the trauma patients who were and were not captured using the mobile database. Total charges increased by 135%, 148%, and 228% for each of the three trauma surgeons who used the mobile DB application. The majority of additional charges were for evaluation and management services. Patients who were captured and billed at the point of care using the mobile DB had higher Injury Severity Scores, were more likely to undergo an operative procedure, and had longer lengths of stay compared with those who were not captured. Total charges more than doubled using a mobile database to bill at the point of care. A subsequent comparison of TRACS data with billing information revealed a large amount of uncaptured patient revenue. Greater familiarity and broader use of mobile database technology holds the potential for even greater revenue capture.

Noninvasive beat-to-beat finger arterial pressure monitoring during orthostasis: a comprehensive review of normal and abnormal responses at different ages.

PubMed

van Wijnen, V K; Finucane, C; Harms, M P M; Nolan, H; Freeman, R L; Westerhof, B E; Kenny, R A; Ter Maaten, J C; Wieling, W

2017-12-01

Over the past 30 years, noninvasive beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) monitoring has provided great insight into cardiovascular autonomic regulation during standing. Although traditional sphygmomanometric measurement of BP may be sufficient for detection of sustained orthostatic hypotension, it fails to capture the complexity of the underlying dynamic BP and heart rate responses. With the emerging use of noninvasive beat-to-beat BP monitoring for the assessment of orthostatic BP control in clinical and population studies, various definitions for abnormal orthostatic BP patterns have been used. Here, age-related changes in cardiovascular control in healthy subjects will be reviewed to define the spectrum of the most important abnormal orthostatic BP patterns within the first 180 s of standing. Abnormal orthostatic BP responses can be defined as initial orthostatic hypotension (a transient systolic BP fall of >40 mmHg within 15 s of standing), delayed BP recovery (an inability of systolic BP to recover to a value of >20 mmHg below baseline at 30 s after standing) and sustained orthostatic hypotension (a sustained decline in systolic BP of ≥20 mmHg occurring 60-180 s after standing). In the evaluation of patients with light-headedness, pre(syncope), (unexplained) falls or suspected autonomic dysfunction, it is essential to distinguish between normal cardiovascular autonomic regulation and these abnormal orthostatic BP responses. The prevalence, clinical relevance and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of these patterns differ significantly across the lifespan. Initial orthostatic hypotension is important for identifying causes of syncope in younger adults, whereas delayed BP recovery and sustained orthostatic hypotension are essential for evaluating the risk of falls in older adults. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Internal Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Publication of The Journal of Internal Medicine.

SyPRID sampler: A large-volume, high-resolution, autonomous, deep-ocean precision plankton sampling system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Billings, Andrew; Kaiser, Carl; Young, Craig M.; Hiebert, Laurel S.; Cole, Eli; Wagner, Jamie K. S.; Van Dover, Cindy Lee

2017-03-01

The current standard for large-volume (thousands of cubic meters) zooplankton sampling in the deep sea is the MOCNESS, a system of multiple opening-closing nets, typically lowered to within 50 m of the seabed and towed obliquely to the surface to obtain low-spatial-resolution samples that integrate across 10 s of meters of water depth. The SyPRID (Sentry Precision Robotic Impeller Driven) sampler is an innovative, deep-rated (6000 m) plankton sampler that partners with the Sentry Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to obtain paired, large-volume plankton samples at specified depths and survey lines to within 1.5 m of the seabed and with simultaneous collection of sensor data. SyPRID uses a perforated Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight (UHMW) plastic tube to support a fine mesh net within an outer carbon composite tube (tube-within-a-tube design), with an axial flow pump located aft of the capture filter. The pump facilitates flow through the system and reduces or possibly eliminates the bow wave at the mouth opening. The cod end, a hollow truncated cone, is also made of UHMW plastic and includes a collection volume designed to provide an area where zooplankton can collect, out of the high flow region. SyPRID attaches as a saddle-pack to the Sentry vehicle. Sentry itself is configured with a flight control system that enables autonomous survey paths to low altitudes. In its verification deployment at the Blake Ridge Seep (2160 m) on the US Atlantic Margin, SyPRID was operated for 6 h at an altitude of 5 m. It recovered plankton samples, including delicate living larvae, from the near-bottom stratum that is seldom sampled by a typical MOCNESS tow. The prototype SyPRID and its next generations will enable studies of plankton or other particulate distributions associated with localized physico-chemical strata in the water column or above patchy habitats on the seafloor.

Use of Low-Value Pediatric Services Among the Commercially Insured

PubMed Central

Schwartz, Aaron L.; Volerman, Anna; Conti, Rena M.; Huang, Elbert S.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Claims-based measures of “low-value” pediatric services could facilitate the implementation of interventions to reduce the provision of potentially harmful services to children. However, few such measures have been developed. METHODS: We developed claims-based measures of 20 services that typically do not improve child health according to evidence-based guidelines (eg, cough and cold medicines). Using these measures and claims from 4.4 million commercially insured US children in the 2014 Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, we calculated the proportion of children who received at least 1 low-value pediatric service during the year, as well as total and out-of-pocket spending on these services. We report estimates based on "narrow" measures designed to only capture instances of service use that were low-value. To assess the sensitivity of results to measure specification, we also reported estimates based on "broad measures" designed to capture most instances of service use that were low-value. RESULTS: According to the narrow measures, 9.6% of children in our sample received at least 1 of the 20 low-value services during the year, resulting in $27.0 million in spending, of which $9.2 million was paid out-of-pocket (33.9%). According to the broad measures, 14.0% of children in our sample received at least 1 of the 20 low-value services during the year. CONCLUSIONS: According to a novel set of claims-based measures, at least 1 in 10 children in our sample received low-value pediatric services during 2014. Estimates of low-value pediatric service use may vary substantially with measure specification. PMID:27940698

The Autonomic Symptom Profile: a new instrument to assess autonomic symptoms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suarez, G. A.; Opfer-Gehrking, T. L.; Offord, K. P.; Atkinson, E. J.; O'Brien, P. C.; Low, P. A.

1999-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new specific instrument called the Autonomic Symptom Profile to measure autonomic symptoms and test its validity. BACKGROUND: Measuring symptoms is important in the evaluation of quality of life outcomes. There is no validated, self-completed questionnaire on the symptoms of patients with autonomic disorders. METHODS: The questionnaire is 169 items concerning different aspects of autonomic symptoms. The Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale (COMPASS) with item-weighting was established; higher scores indicate more or worse symptoms. Autonomic function tests were performed to generate the Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale (CASS) and to quantify autonomic deficits. We compared the results of the COMPASS with the CASS derived from the Autonomic Reflex Screen to evaluate validity. RESULTS: The instrument was tested in 41 healthy controls (mean age 46.6 years), 33 patients with nonautonomic peripheral neuropathies (mean age 59.5 years), and 39 patients with autonomic failure (mean age 61.1 years). COMPASS scores correlated well with the CASS, demonstrating an acceptable level of content and criterion validity. The mean (+/-SD) overall COMPASS score was 9.8 (+/-9) in controls, 25.9 (+/-17.9) in the patients with nonautonomic peripheral neuropathies, and 52.3 (+/-24.2) in the autonomic failure group. Scores of symptoms of orthostatic intolerance and secretomotor dysfunction best predicted the CASS on multiple stepwise regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: We describe a questionnaire that measures autonomic symptoms and present evidence for its validity. The instrument shows promise in assessing autonomic symptoms in clinical trials and epidemiologic studies.

Active 3D camera design for target capture on Mars orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cottin, Pierre; Babin, François; Cantin, Daniel; Deslauriers, Adam; Sylvestre, Bruno

2010-04-01

During the ESA Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, a sample canister launched from Mars will be autonomously captured by an orbiting satellite. We present the concept and the design of an active 3D camera supporting the orbiter navigation system during the rendezvous and capture phase. This camera aims at providing the range and bearing of a 20 cm diameter canister from 2 m to 5 km within a 20° field-of-view without moving parts (scannerless). The concept exploits the sensitivity and the gating capability of a gated intensified camera. It is supported by a pulsed source based on an array of laser diodes with adjustable amplitude and pulse duration (from nanoseconds to microseconds). The ranging capability is obtained by adequately controlling the timing between the acquisition of 2D images and the emission of the light pulses. Three modes of acquisition are identified to accommodate the different levels of ranging and bearing accuracy and the 3D data refresh rate. To come up with a single 3D image, each mode requires a different number of images to be processed. These modes can be applied to the different approach phases. The entire concept of operation of this camera is detailed with an emphasis on the extreme lighting conditions. Its uses for other space missions and terrestrial applications are also highlighted. This design is implemented in a prototype with shorter ranging capabilities for concept validation. Preliminary results obtained with this prototype are also presented. This work is financed by the Canadian Space Agency.

Features of Heart Rate Variability Capture Regulatory Changes During Kangaroo Care in Preterm Infants.

PubMed

Kommers, Deedee R; Joshi, Rohan; van Pul, Carola; Atallah, Louis; Feijs, Loe; Oei, Guid; Bambang Oetomo, Sidarto; Andriessen, Peter

2017-03-01

To determine whether heart rate variability (HRV) can serve as a surrogate measure to track regulatory changes during kangaroo care, a period of parental coregulation distinct from regulation within the incubator. Nurses annotated the starting and ending times of kangaroo care for 3 months. The pre-kangaroo care, during-kangaroo care, and post-kangaroo care data were retrieved in infants with at least 10 accurately annotated kangaroo care sessions. Eight HRV features (5 in the time domain and 3 in the frequency domain) were used to visually and statistically compare the pre-kangaroo care and during-kangaroo care periods. Two of these features, capturing the percentage of heart rate decelerations and the extent of heart rate decelerations, were newly developed for preterm infants. A total of 191 kangaroo care sessions were investigated in 11 preterm infants. Despite clinically irrelevant changes in vital signs, 6 of the 8 HRV features (SD of normal-to-normal intervals, root mean square of the SD, percentage of consecutive normal-to-normal intervals that differ by >50 ms, SD of heart rate decelerations, high-frequency power, and low-frequency/high-frequency ratio) showed a visible and statistically significant difference (P <.01) between stable periods of kangaroo care and pre-kangaroo care. HRV was reduced during kangaroo care owing to a decrease in the extent of transient heart rate decelerations. HRV-based features may be clinically useful for capturing the dynamic changes in autonomic regulation in response to kangaroo care and other changes in environment and state. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Process for Capturing the Art of Systems Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, Clark V., III; Sekeres, Carrie; Roumie, Yasmeen

2016-01-01

There is both an art and a science to systems engineering. The science of systems engineering is effectively captured in processes and procedures, but the art is much more elusive. We propose that there is six step process that can be applied to any systems engineering organization to create an environment from which the "art" of that organization can be captured, be allowed to evolve collaboratively and be shared with all members of the organization. This paper details this process as it was applied to NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) Integration Engineering Branch during a pilot program of Confluence, a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) wiki tool.

Autonomous, agile micro-satellites and supporting technologies

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

Breitfeller, E; Dittman, M D; Gaughan, R J

1999-07-19

This paper updates the on-going effort at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to develop autonomous, agile micro-satellites (MicroSats). The objective of this development effort is to develop MicroSats weighing only a few tens of kilograms, that are able to autonomously perform precision maneuvers and can be used telerobotically in a variety of mission modes. The required capabilities include satellite rendezvous, inspection, proximity-operations, docking, and servicing. The MicroSat carries an integrated proximity-operations sensor-suite incorporating advanced avionics. A new self-pressurizing propulsion system utilizing a miniaturized pump and non-toxic mono-propellant hydrogen peroxide was successfully tested. This system can provide a nominal 25 kg MicroSatmore » with 200-300 m/s delta-v including a warm-gas attitude control system. The avionics is based on the latest PowerPC processor using a CompactPCI bus architecture, which is modular, high-performance and processor-independent. This leverages commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies and minimizes the effects of future changes in processors. The MicroSat software development environment uses the Vx-Works real-time operating system (RTOS) that provides a rapid development environment for integration of new software modules, allowing early integration and test. We will summarize results of recent integrated ground flight testing of our latest non-toxic pumped propulsion MicroSat testbed vehicle operated on our unique dynamic air-rail.« less

Autonomic Intelligent Cyber Sensor to Support Industrial Control Network Awareness

DOE PAGES

Vollmer, Todd; Manic, Milos; Linda, Ondrej

2013-06-01

The proliferation of digital devices in a networked industrial ecosystem, along with an exponential growth in complexity and scope, has resulted in elevated security concerns and management complexity issues. This paper describes a novel architecture utilizing concepts of Autonomic computing and a SOAP based IF-MAP external communication layer to create a network security sensor. This approach simplifies integration of legacy software and supports a secure, scalable, self-managed framework. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: 1) A flexible two level communication layer based on Autonomic computing and Service Oriented Architecture is detailed and 2) Three complementary modules that dynamically reconfiguremore » in response to a changing environment are presented. One module utilizes clustering and fuzzy logic to monitor traffic for abnormal behavior. Another module passively monitors network traffic and deploys deceptive virtual network hosts. These components of the sensor system were implemented in C++ and PERL and utilize a common internal D-Bus communication mechanism. A proof of concept prototype was deployed on a mixed-use test network showing the possible real world applicability. In testing, 45 of the 46 network attached devices were recognized and 10 of the 12 emulated devices were created with specific Operating System and port configurations. Additionally the anomaly detection algorithm achieved a 99.9% recognition rate. All output from the modules were correctly distributed using the common communication structure.« less

The Right Track for Vision Correction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2003-01-01

More and more people are putting away their eyeglasses and contact lenses as a result of laser vision correction surgery. LASIK, the most widely performed version of this surgical procedure, improves vision by reshaping the cornea, the clear front surface of the eye, using an excimer laser. One excimer laser system, Alcon s LADARVision 4000, utilizes a laser radar (LADAR) eye tracking device that gives it unmatched precision. During LASIK surgery, laser During LASIK surgery, laser pulses must be accurately placed to reshape the cornea. A challenge to this procedure is the patient s constant eye movement. A person s eyes make small, involuntary movements known as saccadic movements about 100 times per second. Since the saccadic movements will not stop during LASIK surgery, most excimer laser systems use an eye tracking device that measures the movements and guides the placement of the laser beam. LADARVision s eye tracking device stems from the LADAR technology originally developed through several Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts with NASA s Johnson Space Center and the U.S. Department of Defense s Ballistic Missile Defense Office (BMDO). In the 1980s, Johnson awarded Autonomous Technologies Corporation a Phase I SBIR contract to develop technology for autonomous rendezvous and docking of space vehicles to service satellites. During Phase II of the Johnson SBIR contract, Autonomous Technologies developed a prototype range and velocity imaging LADAR to demonstrate technology that could be used for this purpose.

Information architecture for a planetary 'exploration web'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lamarra, N.; McVittie, T.

2002-01-01

'Web services' is a common way of deploying distributed applications whose software components and data sources may be in different locations, formats, languages, etc. Although such collaboration is not utilized significantly in planetary exploration, we believe there is significant benefit in developing an architecture in which missions could leverage each others capabilities. We believe that an incremental deployment of such an architecture could significantly contribute to the evolution of increasingly capable, efficient, and even autonomous remote exploration.

Multilevel Coordination Mechanisms for Real-Time Autonomous Agents

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-02-01

for example, (Paolucci, 2000) or www.sun.com/ jini ) can allow agents to find each other by describing the kinds of services that they need or provide...In this regard, an important output from DARPA’s CoABS program is the CoABS Grid — a middleware layer based on Java / Jini technology that provides...Figure 1. Map of Binni showing firestorm deception. Misinformation from Gao is intended to displace the firestorm to the west, allowing Gao and

Patterns of Change in User-Generated Social Media Behavior among Service Members Who Die by Suicide

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-01

communications about physiological indicators of autonomic arousal (e.g., pain, insomnia) occur independent of internal psychological states. Finally, in the...privacy settings to determine if observed change patterns are generalizable to the larger community of social media users, as opposed to the subgroup who...suicidal intent in the time leading up to their deaths (Busch, Fawcett, & Jacobs, 2003; Coombs et al., 1992; Hall, Platt, & Hall, 1999; Kovacs, Beck

Design and implementation of a compliant robot with force feedback and strategy planning software

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Premack, T.; Strempek, F. M.; Solis, L. A.; Brodd, S. S.; Cutler, E. P.; Purves, L. R.

1984-01-01

Force-feedback robotics techniques are being developed for automated precision assembly and servicing of NASA space flight equipment. Design and implementation of a prototype robot which provides compliance and monitors forces is in progress. Computer software to specify assembly steps and makes force feedback adjustments during assembly are coded and tested for three generically different precision mating problems. A model program demonstrates that a suitably autonomous robot can plan its own strategy.

Flying the ST-5 Constellation with "Plug and Play" Autonomy Components and the GMSEC Bus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shendock, Bob; Witt, Ken; Stanley, Jason; Mandl, Dan; Coyle, Steve

2006-01-01

The Space Technology 5 (ST5) Project, part of NASA's New Millennium Program, will consist of a constellation of three micro-satellites. This viewgraph document presents the components that will allow it to operate in an autonomous mode. The ST-5 constellation will use the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) architecture to enable cost effective model based operations. The ST-5 mission will demonstrate several principles of self managing software components.

Empowerment in a model of outreach undergraduate dental education.

PubMed

Radford, D R; Hellyer, P

2017-01-13

Aim To undertake a quantitative and qualitative examination into what aspects of the students' experience in outreach at University of Portsmouth Dental Academy (UPDA) are encouraging their empowerment as autonomous practitioners, ready to graduate as 'safe beginners'.Methods The study was devised as part of the educational service evaluation of outreach education at the UPDA. For the two most recent cohorts of 160 students (2014-16) an additional domain was added specifically investigating the students' sense of how their experience of outreach at the UPDA has impacted on their development to be ready for independent practice (safe beginner). The questionnaire was completed anonymously in their last week of attendance just before graduation.Results A 91% response rate for the questionnaire was achieved. To the question about 'being given an opportunity to become an independent dentist', 83% of the respondents strongly agreed. Two themes with seven subthemes were identified from the free text responses. The two themes were 'self-actualisation: developing self-awareness and self-confidence' and 'delivery of care as a dentist'.Conclusion Within the limitations of this educational evaluation, students enjoyed the increase of autonomy they gained during the year-long placement and felt that the clinical teachers empowered, encouraged and supported them to develop as autonomous dental practitioners and as 'safe beginners', to deliver holistic care in the National Health Service.

[Gender and accessibility barriers to treatment in alcohol abuse patients in the Autonomous Region of Valencia].

PubMed

Tomás-Dols, Sofía; Valderrama-Zurián, Juan Carlos; Vidal-Infer, Antonio; Samper-Gras, Teresa; Hernández-Martínez, Ma Carmen; Torrijo-Rodrigo, Ma José

2007-01-01

This study aimed at identifying the factors that contribute to delaying the access of alcohol abuse patients to specific treatment centres in the Autonomous Region of Valencia (Spain). 563 patients from Addictive Behaviours Units (UCA) and Alcohology Units (UA) were interviewed. A survey was conducted which included items on previous requested treatment in other centres and on barriers of accessibility to treatment in specific ambulatory centres. A descriptive analysis and t-student and ANOVA with Scheffé post-hoc tests were carried out. 59.7% of respondents said they had requested previous treatment in non-specific resources due to physical or psychical trouble that they now relate to their alcohol use although they did not do so at the time, in addition to being motivated by their own alcohol abuse (42.8%). The most attended resources were Primary Care and Specialist Unit Care. Women showed a higher demand for treatment in Mental Health Services (p < 0,05). The most important treatment barriers were included in the axis "unawareness of illness and related problems" (2.2; dt = 0,6). Women obtained higher scores in the axes "stigmatisation and environment response" and "treatment intrinsic factors". gender differences in barriers that delay access to treatment do exist. It is necessary to build gender-adapted intervention guidelines to be used in Primary Care and Mental Health services to reduce the accessibility barriers to treatment.

Trend of Autonomous Decentralized System Technologies and Their Application in IC Card Ticket System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, Kinji; Shiibashi, Akio

The advancement of technology is ensured by step-by-step innovation and its implementation into society. Autonomous Decentralized Systems (ADSs) have been growing since first proposed in 1977. Since then, the ADS technologies and their implementations have interacted with the evolving markets, sciences, and technologies. The ADS concept is proposed on biological analogy, and its technologies have been advanced according to changing and expanding requirements. These technologies are now categorized into six generations on the basis of requirements and system structures, but the ADS concept and its system architecture have not changed. The requirements for the system can be divided in operation-oriented, mass service-oriented, and personal service-oriented categories. Moreover, these technologies have been realized in homogeneous system structure and, as the next step, in heterogeneous system structure. These technologies have been widely applied in manufacturing, telecommunications, information provision/utilization, data centers, transportation, and so on. They have been operating successfully throughout the world. In particular, ADS technologies have been applied in Suica, the IC card ticket system (ICCTS) for fare collection and e-commerce. This system is not only expanding in size and functionality but also its components are being modified almost every day without stopping its operation. This system and its technologies are shown here. Finally, the future direction of ADS is discussed, and one of its technologies is presented.

Overview of the Autonomic Nervous System

MedlinePlus

... be reversible or progressive. Anatomy of the autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system is the part of ... organs they connect with. Function of the autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system controls internal body processes ...

Site Selection and Deployment Scenarios for Servicing of Deep-Space Observatories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willenberg, Harvey J.; Fruhwirth, Michael A.; Potter, Seth D.; Leete, Stephen J.; Moe, Rud V.

2001-01-01

The deep-space environment and relative transportation accessibility of the Weak Stability Boundary (WSB) region connecting the Earth-Moon and Sun-Earth libration points makes the Sun-Earth L2 an attractive operating location for future observatories. A summary is presented of key characteristics of future observatories designed to operate in this region. The ability to service observatories that operate within the region around the Lagrange points may greatly enhance their reliability, lifetime, and scientific return. The range of servicing missions might begin with initial deployment, assembly, test, and checkout. Post-assembly servicing missions might also include maintenance and repair, critical fluids resupply, and instrument upgrades. We define the range of servicing missions that can be performed with extravehicular activity, with teleoperated robots, and with autonomous robots. We then describe deployment scenarios that affect payload design. A trade study is summarized of the benefits and risks of alternative servicing sites, including at the International Space Station, at other low-Earth-orbit locations, at the Earth-Moon L1 location, and on-site at the Sun-Earth L2 location. Required technology trades and development issues for observatory servicing at each site, and with each level of autonomy, are summarized.

Autonomous Flight Rules - A Concept for Self-Separation in U.S. Domestic Airspace

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wing, David J.; Cotton, William B.

2011-01-01

Autonomous Flight Rules (AFR) are proposed as a new set of operating regulations in which aircraft navigate on tracks of their choice while self-separating from traffic and weather. AFR would exist alongside Instrument and Visual Flight Rules (IFR and VFR) as one of three available flight options for any appropriately trained and qualified operator with the necessary certified equipment. Historically, ground-based separation services evolved by necessity as aircraft began operating in the clouds and were unable to see each other. Today, technologies for global navigation, airborne surveillance, and onboard computing enable the functions of traffic conflict management to be fully integrated with navigation procedures onboard the aircraft. By self-separating, aircraft can operate with more flexibility and fewer restrictions than are required when using ground-based separation. The AFR concept is described in detail and provides practical means by which self-separating aircraft could share the same airspace as IFR and VFR aircraft without disrupting the ongoing processes of Air Traffic Control.

Evaluation of Relative Navigation Algorithms for Formation-Flying Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelbel, David; Lee, Taesul; Long, Anne; Carpenter, J. Russell; Gramling, Cheryl

2001-01-01

Goddard Space Flight Center is currently developing advanced spacecraft systems to provide autonomous navigation and control of formation flyers. This paper discusses autonomous relative navigation performance for formations in eccentric, medium, and high-altitude Earth orbits using Global Positioning System (GPS) Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and intersatellite range measurements. The performance of several candidate relative navigation approaches is evaluated. These analyses indicate that the relative navigation accuracy is primarily a function of the frequency of acquisition and tracking of the GPS signals. A relative navigation position accuracy of 0.5 meters root-mean-square (RMS) can be achieved for formations in medium-attitude eccentric orbits that can continuously track at least one GPS signal. A relative navigation position accuracy of better than 75 meters RMS can be achieved for formations in high-altitude eccentric orbits that have sparse tracking of the GPS signals. The addition of round-trip intersatellite range measurements can significantly improve relative navigation accuracy for formations with sparse tracking of the GPS signals.

[The health care system requires individuals to take more personal responsibility].

PubMed

Schaefer, Corinna; Weißbach, Lothar

2012-01-01

In the health care context, the phrase "personal responsibility" is frequently used as a euphemism for restricting publicly funded health care services. The concept of responsibility, however, primarily comprises the individual's own autonomous choices in consideration of their possible implications. In order to be able to act responsibly in respect to health care issues, the individual must rely on objective information about the possible consequences of his or her decision. The current profit-oriented competitive medical care environment prevents the distribution of objective information. A mutually supportive community benefits from its members acting responsibly, since citizens are capable of supporting themselves before they avail themselves of community support. This requires the State to respect the individual and his or her autonomous decision-making. If the community established rules as to what is considered a healthy lifestyle or even required people to adopt one, it would, to a large part, take away the citizens' autonomy and thus prevent them to assume responsibility. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Applying Utility Functions to Adaptation Planning for Home Automation Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bratskas, Pyrros; Paspallis, Nearchos; Kakousis, Konstantinos; Papadopoulos, George A.

A pervasive computing environment typically comprises multiple embedded devices that may interact together and with mobile users. These users are part of the environment, and they experience it through a variety of devices embedded in the environment. This perception involves technologies which may be heterogeneous, pervasive, and dynamic. Due to the highly dynamic properties of such environments, the software systems running on them have to face problems such as user mobility, service failures, or resource and goal changes which may happen in an unpredictable manner. To cope with these problems, such systems must be autonomous and self-managed. In this chapter we deal with a special kind of a ubiquitous environment, a smart home environment, and introduce a user-preference-based model for adaptation planning. The model, which dynamically forms a set of configuration plans for resources, reasons automatically and autonomously, based on utility functions, on which plan is likely to best achieve the user's goals with respect to resource availability and user needs.

Integrated Mid-Continent Carbon Capture, Sequestration & Enhanced Oil Recovery Project

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

Brian McPherson

2010-08-31

A consortium of research partners led by the Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration and industry partners, including CAP CO2 LLC, Blue Source LLC, Coffeyville Resources, Nitrogen Fertilizers LLC, Ash Grove Cement Company, Kansas Ethanol LLC, Headwaters Clean Carbon Services, Black & Veatch, and Schlumberger Carbon Services, conducted a feasibility study of a large-scale CCS commercialization project that included large-scale CO{sub 2} sources. The overall objective of this project, entitled the 'Integrated Mid-Continent Carbon Capture, Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery Project' was to design an integrated system of US mid-continent industrial CO{sub 2} sources with CO{sub 2} capture, and geologicmore » sequestration in deep saline formations and in oil field reservoirs with concomitant EOR. Findings of this project suggest that deep saline sequestration in the mid-continent region is not feasible without major financial incentives, such as tax credits or otherwise, that do not exist at this time. However, results of the analysis suggest that enhanced oil recovery with carbon sequestration is indeed feasible and practical for specific types of geologic settings in the Midwestern U.S.« less

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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-30

... all regular UB projects. To do so, project directors will be asked to complete a 40 minute survey. This survey will serve two main purposes: 1. To describe the services and strategies that Upward Bound... to provide other services as well. The survey will attempt to capture program offerings, requirements...