Design of a dynamic test platform for autonomous robot vision systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rich, G. C.

1980-01-01

The concept and design of a dynamic test platform for development and evluation of a robot vision system is discussed. The platform is to serve as a diagnostic and developmental tool for future work with the RPI Mars Rover's multi laser/multi detector vision system. The platform allows testing of the vision system while its attitude is varied, statically or periodically. The vision system is mounted on the test platform. It can then be subjected to a wide variety of simulated can thus be examined in a controlled, quantitative fashion. Defining and modeling Rover motions and designing the platform to emulate these motions are also discussed. Individual aspects of the design process are treated separately, as structural, driving linkages, and motors and transmissions.

Development and testing of the EVS 2000 enhanced vision system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Way, Scott P.; Kerr, Richard; Imamura, Joe J.; Arnoldy, Dan; Zeylmaker, Richard; Zuro, Greg

2003-09-01

An effective enhanced vision system must operate over a broad spectral range in order to offer a pilot an optimized scene that includes runway background as well as airport lighting and aircraft operations. The large dynamic range of intensities of these images is best handled with separate imaging sensors. The EVS 2000 is a patented dual-band Infrared Enhanced Vision System (EVS) utilizing image fusion concepts to provide a single image from uncooled infrared imagers in both the LWIR and SWIR. The system is designed to provide commercial and corporate airline pilots with improved situational awareness at night and in degraded weather conditions. A prototype of this system was recently fabricated and flown on the Boeing Advanced Technology Demonstrator 737-900 aircraft. This paper will discuss the current EVS 2000 concept, show results taken from the Boeing Advanced Technology Demonstrator program, and discuss future plans for EVS systems.

Application of the Modular Automated Reconfigurable Assembly System (MARAS) concept to adaptable vision gauging and parts feeding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

By, Andre Bernard; Caron, Ken; Rothenberg, Michael; Sales, Vic

1994-01-01

This paper presents the first phase results of a collaborative effort between university researchers and a flexible assembly systems integrator to implement a comprehensive modular approach to flexible assembly automation. This approach, named MARAS (Modular Automated Reconfigurable Assembly System), has been structured to support multiple levels of modularity in terms of both physical components and system control functions. The initial focus of the MARAS development has been on parts gauging and feeding operations for cylinder lock assembly. This phase is nearing completion and has resulted in the development of a highly configurable system for vision gauging functions on a wide range of small components (2 mm to 100 mm in size). The reconfigurable concepts implemented in this adaptive Vision Gauging Module (VGM) are now being extended to applicable aspects of the singulating, selecting, and orienting functions required for the flexible feeding of similar mechanical components and assemblies.

Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System: Interim Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Committee On Science Opportunities Enabled By Nasa'S Constellation System, National Research Council

To begin implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration (recently renamed "United States Space Exploration Policy"), NASA has begun development of new launch vehicles and a human-carrying spacecraft that are collectively called the Constellation System. In November 2007, NASA asked the NRC to evaluate the potential for the Constellation System to enable new space science opportunities. For this interim report, 11 existing "Vision Mission" studies of advanced space science mission concepts inspired by earlier NASA forward-looking studies were evaluated. The focus was to assess the concepts and group them into two categories: more-deserving or less deserving of future study. This report presents a description of the Constellation System and its opportunities for enabling new space science opportunities, and a systematic analysis of the 11 Vision Mission studies. For the final report, the NRC issued a request for information to the relevant communities to obtain ideas for other mission concepts that will be assessed by the study committee, and several issues addressed only briefly in the interim report will be explored more fully.

Differential GNSS and Vision-Based Tracking to Improve Navigation Performance in Cooperative Multi-UAV Systems.

PubMed

Vetrella, Amedeo Rodi; Fasano, Giancarmine; Accardo, Domenico; Moccia, Antonio

2016-12-17

Autonomous navigation of micro-UAVs is typically based on the integration of low cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-based inertial and magnetic sensors to stabilize and control the flight. The resulting navigation performance in terms of position and attitude accuracy may not suffice for other mission needs, such as the ones relevant to fine sensor pointing. In this framework, this paper presents a cooperative UAV navigation algorithm that allows a chief vehicle, equipped with inertial and magnetic sensors, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and a vision system, to improve its navigation performance (in real time or in the post processing phase) exploiting formation flying deputy vehicles equipped with GPS receivers. The focus is set on outdoor environments and the key concept is to exploit differential GPS among vehicles and vision-based tracking (DGPS/Vision) to build a virtual additional navigation sensor whose information is then integrated in a sensor fusion algorithm based on an Extended Kalman Filter. The developed concept and processing architecture are described, with a focus on DGPS/Vision attitude determination algorithm. Performance assessment is carried out on the basis of both numerical simulations and flight tests. In the latter ones, navigation estimates derived from the DGPS/Vision approach are compared with those provided by the onboard autopilot system of a customized quadrotor. The analysis shows the potential of the developed approach, mainly deriving from the possibility to exploit magnetic- and inertial-independent accurate attitude information.

Evaluation of Fused Synthetic and Enhanced Vision Display Concepts for Low-Visibility Approach and Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Wilz, Susan J.

2009-01-01

NASA is developing revolutionary crew-vehicle interface technologies that strive to proactively overcome aircraft safety barriers that would otherwise constrain the full realization of the next generation air transportation system. A piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision technologies. Specific focus was placed on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of Enhanced and Synthetic Vision and its impact within a two-crew flight deck during low-visibility approach and landing operations. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in situation awareness, without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter, could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying. Improvements in lateral path control performance were realized when the Head-Up Display concepts included a tunnel, independent of the imagery (enhanced vision or fusion of enhanced and synthetic vision) presented with it. During non-normal operations, the ability of the crew to handle substantial navigational errors and runway incursions were neither improved nor adversely impacted by the display concepts. The addition of Enhanced Vision may not, of itself, provide an improvement in runway incursion detection without being specifically tailored for this application.

A computer vision system for the recognition of trees in aerial photographs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinz, Axel J.

1991-01-01

Increasing problems of forest damage in Central Europe set the demand for an appropriate forest damage assessment tool. The Vision Expert System (VES) is presented which is capable of finding trees in color infrared aerial photographs. Concept and architecture of VES are discussed briefly. The system is applied to a multisource test data set. The processing of this multisource data set leads to a multiple interpretation result for one scene. An integration of these results will provide a better scene description by the vision system. This is achieved by an implementation of Steven's correlation algorithm.

Translating Vision into Design: A Method for Conceptual Design Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, Joyce E.

2003-01-01

One of the most challenging tasks for engineers is the definition of design solutions that will satisfy high-level strategic visions and objectives. Even more challenging is the need to demonstrate how a particular design solution supports the high-level vision. This paper describes a process and set of system engineering tools that have been used at the Johnson Space Center to analyze and decompose high-level objectives for future human missions into design requirements that can be used to develop alternative concepts for vehicles, habitats, and other systems. Analysis and design studies of alternative concepts and approaches are used to develop recommendations for strategic investments in research and technology that support the NASA Integrated Space Plan. In addition to a description of system engineering tools, this paper includes a discussion of collaborative design practices for human exploration mission architecture studies used at the Johnson Space Center.

A dental vision system for accurate 3D tooth modeling.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Alemzadeh, K

2006-01-01

This paper describes an active vision system based reverse engineering approach to extract the three-dimensional (3D) geometric information from dental teeth and transfer this information into Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacture (CAD/CAM) systems to improve the accuracy of 3D teeth models and at the same time improve the quality of the construction units to help patient care. The vision system involves the development of a dental vision rig, edge detection, boundary tracing and fast & accurate 3D modeling from a sequence of sliced silhouettes of physical models. The rig is designed using engineering design methods such as a concept selection matrix and weighted objectives evaluation chart. Reconstruction results and accuracy evaluation are presented on digitizing different teeth models.

Differential GNSS and Vision-Based Tracking to Improve Navigation Performance in Cooperative Multi-UAV Systems

PubMed Central

Vetrella, Amedeo Rodi; Fasano, Giancarmine; Accardo, Domenico; Moccia, Antonio

2016-01-01

Autonomous navigation of micro-UAVs is typically based on the integration of low cost Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-based inertial and magnetic sensors to stabilize and control the flight. The resulting navigation performance in terms of position and attitude accuracy may not suffice for other mission needs, such as the ones relevant to fine sensor pointing. In this framework, this paper presents a cooperative UAV navigation algorithm that allows a chief vehicle, equipped with inertial and magnetic sensors, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, and a vision system, to improve its navigation performance (in real time or in the post processing phase) exploiting formation flying deputy vehicles equipped with GPS receivers. The focus is set on outdoor environments and the key concept is to exploit differential GPS among vehicles and vision-based tracking (DGPS/Vision) to build a virtual additional navigation sensor whose information is then integrated in a sensor fusion algorithm based on an Extended Kalman Filter. The developed concept and processing architecture are described, with a focus on DGPS/Vision attitude determination algorithm. Performance assessment is carried out on the basis of both numerical simulations and flight tests. In the latter ones, navigation estimates derived from the DGPS/Vision approach are compared with those provided by the onboard autopilot system of a customized quadrotor. The analysis shows the potential of the developed approach, mainly deriving from the possibility to exploit magnetic- and inertial-independent accurate attitude information. PMID:27999318

Active vision in satellite scene analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naillon, Martine

1994-01-01

In earth observation or planetary exploration it is necessary to have more and, more autonomous systems, able to adapt to unpredictable situations. This imposes the use, in artificial systems, of new concepts in cognition, based on the fact that perception should not be separated from recognition and decision making levels. This means that low level signal processing (perception level) should interact with symbolic and high level processing (decision level). This paper is going to describe the new concept of active vision, implemented in Distributed Artificial Intelligence by Dassault Aviation following a 'structuralist' principle. An application to spatial image interpretation is given, oriented toward flexible robotics.

2D/3D Synthetic Vision Navigation Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Arthur, J. J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Sweeters, jason L.

2008-01-01

Flight-deck display software was designed and developed at NASA Langley Research Center to provide two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) terrain, obstacle, and flight-path perspectives on a single navigation display. The objective was to optimize the presentation of synthetic vision (SV) system technology that permits pilots to view multiple perspectives of flight-deck display symbology and 3D terrain information. Research was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the concept. The concept has numerous unique implementation features that would permit enhanced operational concepts and efficiencies in both current and future aircraft.

Design and testing of a dual-band enhanced vision system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Way, Scott P.; Kerr, Richard; Imamura, Joseph J.; Arnoldy, Dan; Zeylmaker, Dick; Zuro, Greg

2003-09-01

An effective enhanced vision system must operate over a broad spectral range in order to offer a pilot an optimized scene that includes runway background as well as airport lighting and aircraft operations. The large dynamic range of intensities of these images is best handled with separate imaging sensors. The EVS 2000 is a patented dual-band Infrared Enhanced Vision System (EVS) utilizing image fusion concepts. It has the ability to provide a single image from uncooled infrared imagers combined with SWIR, NIR or LLLTV sensors. The system is designed to provide commercial and corporate airline pilots with improved situational awareness at night and in degraded weather conditions but can also be used in a variety of applications where the fusion of dual band or multiband imagery is required. A prototype of this system was recently fabricated and flown on the Boeing Advanced Technology Demonstrator 737-900 aircraft. This paper will discuss the current EVS 2000 concept, show results taken from the Boeing Advanced Technology Demonstrator program, and discuss future plans for the fusion system.

Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA's Constellation System: Interim Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

In 2004 NASA initiated studies of advanced science mission concepts known as the Vision Missions and inspired by a series of NASA roadmap activities conducted in 2003. Also in 2004 NASA began implementation of the first phases of a new space exploration policy, the Vision for Space Exploration. This implementation effort included development of a new human-carrying spacecraft, known as Orion, and two new launch vehicles, the Ares I and Ares V rockets.collectively called the Constellation System. NASA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to evaluate the science opportunities enabled by the Constellation System (see Preface) and to produce an interim report on a short time schedule and a final report by November 2008. The committee notes, however, that the Constellation System and its Orion and Ares vehicles have been justified by NASA and selected in order to enable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, and not to enable science missions. This interim report of the Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA s Constellation System evaluates the 11 Vision Mission studies presented to it and groups them into two categories: those more deserving of future study, and those less deserving of future study. Although its statement of task also refers to Earth science missions, the committee points out that the Vision Missions effort was focused on future astronomy, heliophysics, and planetary exploration and did not include any Earth science studies because, at the time, the NRC was conducting the first Earth science decadal survey, and funding Earth science studies as part of the Vision Missions effort would have interfered with that process. Consequently, no Earth science missions are evaluated in this interim report. However, the committee will evaluate any Earth science mission proposal submitted in response to its request for information issued in March 2008 (see Appendix A). The committee based its evaluation of the preexisting Vision Missions studies on two criteria: whether the concepts offered the potential for a significant scientific advance, and whether or not the concepts would benefit from the Constellation System. The committee determined that all of the concepts offered the possibility of a significant scientific advance, but it cautions that such an evaluation ultimately must be made by the decadal survey process, and it emphasizes that this interim report s evaluation should not be considered to be an endorsement of the scientific merit of these proposals, which must of course be evaluated relative to other proposals. The committee determined that seven of these concepts would benefit from the Constellation System, whereas four would not, but it stresses that this conclusion does not reflect an evaluation of the scientific merit of the projects, but rather an assessment of whether or not new capabilities provided by the Constellation System could significantly affect them. Some of the mission concepts, such as the Advanced Compton Telescope, already offer a significant scientific advance and fit easily within the mass and volume constraints of existing launch vehicles. Other mission concepts, such as the Palmer Quest proposal to drill through the Mars polar cap, are not constrained by the launch vehicle, but rather by other technology limitations. The committee evaluated the mission concepts as presented to it, aware nevertheless that proposing a far larger and more ambitious mission with the same science goals might be possible given the capabilities of the Ares V launch vehicle. (Such proposals can be submitted in response to the committee s request for information to be evaluated in its final report.) See Table S.1 for a summary of the Vision Missions, including their cost estimates, technical maturity, and reasons that they might benefit from the Constellation System. The committee developed several findings and recommendations.

TeleOperator/telePresence System (TOPS) Concept Verification Model (CVM) development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shimamoto, Mike S.

1993-01-01

The development of an anthropomorphic, undersea manipulator system, the TeleOperator/telePresence System (TOPS) Concept Verification Model (CVM) is described. The TOPS system's design philosophy, which results from NRaD's experience in undersea vehicles and manipulator systems development and operations, is presented. The TOPS design approach, task teams, manipulator, and vision system development and results, conclusions, and recommendations are presented.

DSMS science operations concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connally, M. J.; Kuiper, T. B.

2001-01-01

The Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) Science Operations Concept describes the vision for enabling the use of the DSMS, particularly the Deep Space Network (DSN) for direct science observations in the areas of radio astronomy, planetary radar, radio science and VLBI.

Identifying Balance in a Balanced Scorecard System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aravamudhan, Suhanya; Kamalanabhan, T. J.

2007-01-01

In recent years, strategic management concepts seem to be gaining greater attention from the academicians and the practitioner's alike. Balanced Scorecard (BSC) concept is one such management concepts that has spread in worldwide business and consulting communities. The BSC translates mission and vision statements into a comprehensive set of…

Flight Test Evaluation of Synthetic Vision Concepts at a Terrain Challenged Airport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Prince, Lawrence J., III; Bailey, Randell E.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Parrish, Russell V.

2004-01-01

NASA's Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) Project is striving to eliminate poor visibility as a causal factor in aircraft accidents as well as enhance operational capabilities of all aircraft through the display of computer generated imagery derived from an onboard database of terrain, obstacle, and airport information. To achieve these objectives, NASA 757 flight test research was conducted at the Eagle-Vail, Colorado airport to evaluate three SVS display types (Head-up Display, Head-Down Size A, Head-Down Size X) and two terrain texture methods (photo-realistic, generic) in comparison to the simulated Baseline Boeing-757 Electronic Attitude Direction Indicator and Navigation/Terrain Awareness and Warning System displays. The results of the experiment showed significantly improved situation awareness, performance, and workload for SVS concepts compared to the Baseline displays and confirmed the retrofit capability of the Head-Up Display and Size A SVS concepts. The research also demonstrated that the tunnel guidance display concept used within the SVS concepts achieved required navigation performance (RNP) criteria.

Design And Implementation Of Integrated Vision-Based Robotic Workcells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Michael J.

1985-01-01

Reports have been sparse on large-scale, intelligent integration of complete robotic systems for automating the microelectronics industry. This paper describes the application of state-of-the-art computer-vision technology for manufacturing of miniaturized electronic components. The concepts of FMS - Flexible Manufacturing Systems, work cells, and work stations and their control hierarchy are illustrated in this paper. Several computer-controlled work cells used in the production of thin-film magnetic heads are described. These cells use vision for in-process control of head-fixture alignment and real-time inspection of production parameters. The vision sensor and other optoelectronic sensors, coupled with transport mechanisms such as steppers, x-y-z tables, and robots, have created complete sensorimotor systems. These systems greatly increase the manufacturing throughput as well as the quality of the final product. This paper uses these automated work cells as examples to exemplify the underlying design philosophy and principles in the fabrication of vision-based robotic systems.

Terrain Portrayal for Synthetic Vision Systems Head-Down Displays Evaluation Results: Compilation of Pilot Transcripts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Monica F.; Glaab, Louis J.

2007-01-01

The Terrain Portrayal for Head-Down Displays (TP-HDD) simulation experiment addressed multiple objectives involving twelve display concepts (two baseline concepts without terrain and ten synthetic vision system (SVS) variations), four evaluation maneuvers (two en route and one approach maneuver, plus a rare-event scenario), and three pilot group classifications. The TP-HDD SVS simulation was conducted in the NASA Langley Research Center's (LaRC's) General Aviation WorkStation (GAWS) facility. The results from this simulation establish the relationship between terrain portrayal fidelity and pilot situation awareness, workload, stress, and performance and are published in the NASA TP entitled Terrain Portrayal for Synthetic Vision Systems Head-Down Displays Evaluation Results. This is a collection of pilot comments during each run of the TP-HDD simulation experiment. These comments are not the full transcripts, but a condensed version where only the salient remarks that applied to the scenario, the maneuver, or the actual research itself were compiled.

Lens Systems Incorporating A Zero Power Corrector Objectives And Magnifiers For Night Vision Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDowell, M. W.; Klee, H. W.

1986-02-01

The use of the zero power corrector concept has been extended to the design of objective lenses and magnifiers suitable for use in night vision goggles. A novel design which can be used as either an f/1.2 objective or an f/2 magnifier is also described.

Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept and Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holmes, Bruce J.; Durham, Michael H.; Tarry, Scott E.

2005-01-01

This paper summarizes both the vision and the early public-private collaborative research for the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS). The paper outlines an operational definition of SATS, describes how SATS conceptually differs from current air transportation capabilities, introduces four SATS operating capabilities, and explains the relation between the SATS operating capabilities and the potential for expanded air mobility. The SATS technology roadmap encompasses on-demand, widely distributed, point-to-point air mobility, through hired-pilot modes in the nearer-term, and through self-operated user modes in the farther-term. The nearer-term concept is based on aircraft and airspace technologies being developed to make the use of smaller, more widely distributed community reliever and general aviation airports and their runways more useful in more weather conditions, in commercial hired-pilot service modes. The farther-term vision is based on technical concepts that could be developed to simplify or automate many of the operational functions in the aircraft and the airspace for meeting future public transportation needs, in personally operated modes. NASA technology strategies form a roadmap between the nearer-term concept and the farther-term vision. This paper outlines a roadmap for scalable, on-demand, distributed air mobility technologies for vehicle and airspace systems. The audiences for the paper include General Aviation manufacturers, small aircraft transportation service providers, the flight training industry, airport and transportation authorities at the Federal, state and local levels, and organizations involved in planning for future National Airspace System advancements.

Contribution to the theory of photopic vision: Retinal phenomena

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calvet, H.

1979-01-01

Principles of thermodynamics are applied to the study of the ultramicroscopic anatomy of the inner eye. Concepts introduced and discussed include: the retina as a three-dimensional sensor, light signals as coherent beams in relation to the dimensions of retinal pigments, pigment effects topographed by the conjugated antennas effect, visualizing lights, the autotropic function of hemoglobin and some cytochromes, and reversible structural arrangements during photopic adaptation. A paleoecological diagram is presented which traces the evolution of scotopic vision (primitive system) to photopic vision (secondary system) through the emergence of structures sensitive to the intensity, temperature, and wavelengths of the visible range.

Application of the SP theory of intelligence to the understanding of natural vision and the development of computer vision.

PubMed

Wolff, J Gerard

2014-01-01

The SP theory of intelligence aims to simplify and integrate concepts in computing and cognition, with information compression as a unifying theme. This article is about how the SP theory may, with advantage, be applied to the understanding of natural vision and the development of computer vision. Potential benefits include an overall simplification of concepts in a universal framework for knowledge and seamless integration of vision with other sensory modalities and other aspects of intelligence. Low level perceptual features such as edges or corners may be identified by the extraction of redundancy in uniform areas in the manner of the run-length encoding technique for information compression. The concept of multiple alignment in the SP theory may be applied to the recognition of objects, and to scene analysis, with a hierarchy of parts and sub-parts, at multiple levels of abstraction, and with family-resemblance or polythetic categories. The theory has potential for the unsupervised learning of visual objects and classes of objects, and suggests how coherent concepts may be derived from fragments. As in natural vision, both recognition and learning in the SP system are robust in the face of errors of omission, commission and substitution. The theory suggests how, via vision, we may piece together a knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of objects and of our environment, it provides an account of how we may see things that are not objectively present in an image, how we may recognise something despite variations in the size of its retinal image, and how raster graphics and vector graphics may be unified. And it has things to say about the phenomena of lightness constancy and colour constancy, the role of context in recognition, ambiguities in visual perception, and the integration of vision with other senses and other aspects of intelligence.

Multi-spectrum-based enhanced synthetic vision system for aircraft DVE operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kashyap, Sudesh K.; Naidu, V. P. S.; Shanthakumar, N.

2016-04-01

This paper focus on R&D being carried out at CSIR-NAL on Enhanced Synthetic Vision System (ESVS) for Indian regional transport aircraft to enhance all weather operational capabilities with safety and pilot Situation Awareness (SA) improvements. Flight simulator has been developed to study ESVS related technologies and to develop ESVS operational concepts for all weather approach and landing and to provide quantitative and qualitative information that could be used to develop criteria for all-weather approach and landing at regional airports in India. Enhanced Vision System (EVS) hardware prototype with long wave Infrared sensor and low light CMOS camera is used to carry out few field trials on ground vehicle at airport runway at different visibility conditions. Data acquisition and playback system has been developed to capture EVS sensor data (image) in time synch with test vehicle inertial navigation data during EVS field experiments and to playback the experimental data on ESVS flight simulator for ESVS research and concept studies. Efforts are on to conduct EVS flight experiments on CSIR-NAL research aircraft HANSA in Degraded Visual Environment (DVE).

Evaluation of Equivalent Vision Technologies for Supersonic Aircraft Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Wilz, Susan P.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.

2009-01-01

Twenty-four air transport-rated pilots participated as subjects in a fixed-based simulation experiment to evaluate the use of Synthetic/Enhanced Vision (S/EV) and eXternal Vision System (XVS) technologies as enabling technologies for future all-weather operations. Three head-up flight display concepts were evaluated a monochromatic, collimated Head-up Display (HUD) and a color, non-collimated XVS display with a field-of-view (FOV) equal to and also, one significantly larger than the collimated HUD. Approach, landing, departure, and surface operations were conducted. Additionally, the apparent angle-of-attack (AOA) was varied (high/low) to investigate the vertical field-of-view display requirements and peripheral, side window visibility was experimentally varied. The data showed that lateral approach tracking performance and lateral landing position were excellent regardless of the display type and AOA condition being evaluated or whether or not there were peripheral cues in the side windows. Longitudinal touchdown and glideslope tracking were affected by the display concepts. Larger FOV display concepts showed improved longitudinal touchdown control, superior glideslope tracking, significant situation awareness improvements and workload reductions compared to smaller FOV display concepts.

Evaluation of Alternate Concepts for Synthetic Vision Flight Displays With Weather-Penetrating Sensor Image Inserts During Simulated Landing Approaches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parrish, Russell V.; Busquets, Anthony M.; Williams, Steven P.; Nold, Dean E.

2003-01-01

A simulation study was conducted in 1994 at Langley Research Center that used 12 commercial airline pilots repeatedly flying complex Microwave Landing System (MLS)-type approaches to parallel runways under Category IIIc weather conditions. Two sensor insert concepts of 'Synthetic Vision Systems' (SVS) were used in the simulated flights, with a more conventional electro-optical display (similar to a Head-Up Display with raster capability for sensor imagery), flown under less restrictive visibility conditions, used as a control condition. The SVS concepts combined the sensor imagery with a computer-generated image (CGI) of an out-the-window scene based on an onboard airport database. Various scenarios involving runway traffic incursions (taxiing aircraft and parked fuel trucks) and navigational system position errors (both static and dynamic) were used to assess the pilots' ability to manage the approach task with the display concepts. The two SVS sensor insert concepts contrasted the simple overlay of sensor imagery on the CGI scene without additional image processing (the SV display) to the complex integration (the AV display) of the CGI scene with pilot-decision aiding using both object and edge detection techniques for detection of obstacle conflicts and runway alignment errors.

BioCore Guide: A Tool for Interpreting the Core Concepts of Vision and Change for Biology Majors

PubMed Central

Freeman, Scott; Wenderoth, Mary Pat; Crowe, Alison J.

2014-01-01

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and created a Vision and Change BioCore Guide—a set of general principles and specific statements that expand upon the core concepts, creating a framework that biology departments can use to align with the goals of Vision and Change. We used a grassroots approach to generate the BioCore Guide, beginning with faculty ideas as the basis for an iterative process that incorporated feedback from more than 240 biologists and biology educators at a diverse range of academic institutions throughout the United States. The final validation step in this process demonstrated strong national consensus, with more than 90% of respondents agreeing with the importance and scientific accuracy of the statements. It is our hope that the BioCore Guide will serve as an agent of change for biology departments as we move toward transforming undergraduate biology education. PMID:26086653

Visions Unite through the Concept of Democracy: The School and the Popular Adult Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johansson, Lotta; Bergstedt, Bosse

2015-01-01

With a point of departure in the concept of democracy, this article aims to show how Swedish Popular Adult Education influenced the content of the established school system in Sweden. The Popular Adult Education and established school systems are studied through their relation to democracy, based on curricula, as well as on visionary and political…

The Impact of Vision Impairment on Students' Self-Concept

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Datta, Poulomee; Talukdar, Joy

2016-01-01

This study investigated the self-concept of students with vision impairment who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Self-Concept was explored across six dimensions, namely Physical, Moral, Personal, Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts and the Total Self-Concept. The "Tennessee Self-Concept…

Civic Education and Visions of War and Peace in the Spanish Transition to Democracy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mahamud Angulo, Kira; Groves, Tamar; Milito Barone, Cecilia Cristina; Hernández Laina, Yovana

2016-01-01

This article explores visions of war and peace in the education system during the Spanish transition to democracy. During those years, the Spanish state was faced with the challenge of leaving its authoritarian political past behind and forging a democratic civic culture. As the concepts of war and peace are inextricably linked to those of state…

Distant touch hydrodynamic imaging with an artificial lateral line.

PubMed

Yang, Yingchen; Chen, Jack; Engel, Jonathan; Pandya, Saunvit; Chen, Nannan; Tucker, Craig; Coombs, Sheryl; Jones, Douglas L; Liu, Chang

2006-12-12

Nearly all underwater vehicles and surface ships today use sonar and vision for imaging and navigation. However, sonar and vision systems face various limitations, e.g., sonar blind zones, dark or murky environments, etc. Evolved over millions of years, fish use the lateral line, a distributed linear array of flow sensing organs, for underwater hydrodynamic imaging and information extraction. We demonstrate here a proof-of-concept artificial lateral line system. It enables a distant touch hydrodynamic imaging capability to critically augment sonar and vision systems. We show that the artificial lateral line can successfully perform dipole source localization and hydrodynamic wake detection. The development of the artificial lateral line is aimed at fundamentally enhancing human ability to detect, navigate, and survive in the underwater environment.

Multi-Dimensionality of Synthetic Vision Cockpit Displays: Prevention of Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2006-01-01

NASA's Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) project is developing technologies with practical applications that will help to eliminate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to civil aircraft accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. The paper describes experimental evaluation of a multi-mode 3-D exocentric synthetic vision navigation display concept for commercial aircraft. Experimental results showed the situation awareness benefits of 2-D and 3-D exocentric synthetic vision displays over traditional 2-D co-planar navigation and vertical situation displays. Conclusions and future research directions are discussed.

Aspects of Synthetic Vision Display Systems and the Best Practices of the NASA's SVS Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Jones, Denise R.; Young, Steven D.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J.; Glaab, Louis J.; Harrah, Steven D.; Parrish, Russell V.

2008-01-01

NASA s Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) Project conducted research aimed at eliminating visibility-induced errors and low visibility conditions as causal factors in civil aircraft accidents while enabling the operational benefits of clear day flight operations regardless of actual outside visibility. SVS takes advantage of many enabling technologies to achieve this capability including, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS), data links, radar, imaging sensors, geospatial databases, advanced display media and three dimensional video graphics processors. Integration of these technologies to achieve the SVS concept provides pilots with high-integrity information that improves situational awareness with respect to terrain, obstacles, traffic, and flight path. This paper attempts to emphasize the system aspects of SVS - true systems, rather than just terrain on a flight display - and to document from an historical viewpoint many of the best practices that evolved during the SVS Project from the perspective of some of the NASA researchers most heavily involved in its execution. The Integrated SVS Concepts are envisagements of what production-grade Synthetic Vision systems might, or perhaps should, be in order to provide the desired functional capabilities that eliminate low visibility as a causal factor to accidents and enable clear-day operational benefits regardless of visibility conditions.

Population Spotting Using Big Data: Validating the Human Performance Concept of Operations Analytic Vision

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

AFRL-SA-WP-SR-2017-0001 Population Spotting Using “ Big Data ”: Validating the Human Performance Concept of Operations Analytic Vision...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Population Spotting Using “ Big Data ”: Validating the Human Performance Concept of Operations Analytic Vision 5a. CONTRACT...STINFO COPY NOTICE AND SIGNATURE PAGE Using Government drawings, specifications, or other data included in this document for any

Flight Testing of Night Vision Systems in Rotorcraft (Test en vol de systemes de vision nocturne a bord des aeronefs a voilure tournante)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-01

SAS System Analysis and Studies Panel • SCI Systems Concepts and Integration Panel • SET Sensors and Electronics Technology Panel These...Daylight Readability 4-2 4.1.4 Night-Time Readability 4-2 4.1.5 NVIS Radiance 4-2 4.1.6 Human Factors Analysis 4-3 4.1.7 Flight Tests 4-3 4.1.7.1...position is shadowing. Moonlight creates shadows during night-time just as sunlight does during the day. Understanding what cannot be seen in night-time

3D Visualization in Elementary Education Astronomy: Teaching Urban Second Graders about the Sun, Earth, and Moon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isik-Ercan, Zeynep; Kim, Beomjin; Nowak, Jeffrey

This research-in-progress hypothesizes that urban second graders can have an early understanding about the shape of Sun, Moon, and Earth, how day and night happens, and how Moon appears to change its shape by using three dimensional stereoscopic vision. The 3D stereoscopic vision system might be an effective way to teach subjects like astronomy that explains relationships among objects in space. Currently, Indiana state standards for science teaching do not suggest the teaching of these astronomical concepts explicitly before fourth grade. Yet, we expect our findings to indicate that students can learn these concepts earlier in their educational lives with the implementation of such technologies. We also project that these technologies could revolutionize when these concepts could be taught to children and expand the ways we think about children's cognitive capacities in understanding scientific concepts.

Thirty Years After Marr's Vision: Levels of Analysis in Cognitive Science.

PubMed

Peebles, David; Cooper, Richard P

2015-04-01

Thirty years after the publication of Marr's seminal book Vision (Marr, 1982) the papers in this topic consider the contemporary status of his influential conception of three distinct levels of analysis for information-processing systems, and in particular the role of the algorithmic and representational level with its cognitive-level concepts. This level has (either implicitly or explicitly) been downplayed or eliminated both by reductionist neuroscience approaches from below that seek to account for behavior from the implementation level and by Bayesian approaches from above that seek to account for behavior in purely computational-level terms. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Pathway concepts experiment for head-down synthetic vision displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2004-08-01

Eight 757 commercial airline captains flew 22 approaches using the Reno Sparks 16R Visual Arrival under simulated Category I conditions. Approaches were flown using a head-down synthetic vision display to evaluate four tunnel ("minimal", "box", "dynamic pathway", "dynamic crow's feet") and three guidance ("ball", "tadpole", "follow-me aircraft") concepts and compare their efficacy to a baseline condition (i.e., no tunnel, ball guidance). The results showed that the tunnel concepts significantly improved pilot performance and situation awareness and lowered workload compared to the baseline condition. The dynamic crow's feet tunnel and follow-me aircraft guidance concepts were found to be the best candidates for future synthetic vision head-down displays. These results are discussed with implications for synthetic vision display design and future research.

Functional vision and cognition in infants with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system.

PubMed

Dale, Naomi; Sakkalou, Elena; O'Reilly, Michelle; Springall, Clare; De Haan, Michelle; Salt, Alison

2017-07-01

To investigate how vision relates to early development by studying vision and cognition in a national cohort of 1-year-old infants with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system and visual impairment. This was a cross-sectional observational investigation of a nationally recruited cohort of infants with 'simple' and 'complex' congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system. Entry age was 8 to 16 months. Vision level (Near Detection Scale) and non-verbal cognition (sensorimotor understanding, Reynell Zinkin Scales) were assessed. Parents completed demographic questionnaires. Of 90 infants (49 males, 41 females; mean 13mo, standard deviation [SD] 2.5mo; range 7-17mo); 25 (28%) had profound visual impairment (light perception at best) and 65 (72%) had severe visual impairment (basic 'form' vision). The Near Detection Scale correlated significantly with sensorimotor understanding developmental quotients in the 'total', 'simple', and 'complex' groups (all p<0.001). Age and vision accounted for 48% of sensorimotor understanding variance. Infants with profound visual impairment, especially in the 'complex' group with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system with known brain involvement, showed the greatest cognitive delay. Lack of vision is associated with delayed early-object manipulative abilities and concepts; 'form' vision appeared to support early developmental advance. This paper provides baseline characteristics for cross-sectional and longitudinal follow-up investigations in progress. A methodological strength of the study was the representativeness of the cohort according to national epidemiological and population census data. © 2017 Mac Keith Press.

A Practical Solution Using A New Approach To Robot Vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, David L.

1984-01-01

Up to now, robot vision systems have been designed to serve both application development and operational needs in inspection, assembly and material handling. This universal approach to robot vision is too costly for many practical applications. A new industrial vision system separates the function of application program development from on-line operation. A Vision Development System (VDS) is equipped with facilities designed to simplify and accelerate the application program development process. A complimentary but lower cost Target Application System (TASK) runs the application program developed with the VDS. This concept is presented in the context of an actual robot vision application that improves inspection and assembly for a manufacturer of electronic terminal keyboards. Applications developed with a VDS experience lower development cost when compared with conventional vision systems. Since the TASK processor is not burdened with development tools, it can be installed at a lower cost than comparable "universal" vision systems that are intended to be used for both development and on-line operation. The VDS/TASK approach opens more industrial applications to robot vision that previously were not practical because of the high cost of vision systems. Although robot vision is a new technology, it has been applied successfully to a variety of industrial needs in inspection, manufacturing, and material handling. New developments in robot vision technology are creating practical, cost effective solutions for a variety of industrial needs. A year or two ago, researchers and robot manufacturers interested in implementing a robot vision application could take one of two approaches. The first approach was to purchase all the necessary vision components from various sources. That meant buying an image processor from one company, a camera from another and lens and light sources from yet others. The user then had to assemble the pieces, and in most instances he had to write all of his own software to test, analyze and process the vision application. The second and most common approach was to contract with the vision equipment vendor for the development and installation of a turnkey inspection or manufacturing system. The robot user and his company paid a premium for their vision system in an effort to assure the success of the system. Since 1981, emphasis on robotics has skyrocketed. New groups have been formed in many manufacturing companies with the charter to learn about, test and initially apply new robot and automation technologies. Machine vision is one of new technologies being tested and applied. This focused interest has created a need for a robot vision system that makes it easy for manufacturing engineers to learn about, test, and implement a robot vision application. A newly developed vision system addresses those needs. Vision Development System (VDS) is a complete hardware and software product for the development and testing of robot vision applications. A complimentary, low cost Target Application System (TASK) runs the application program developed with the VDS. An actual robot vision application that demonstrates inspection and pre-assembly for keyboard manufacturing is used to illustrate the VDS/TASK approach.

Pathway Concepts Experiment for Head-Down Synthetic Vision Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2004-01-01

Eight 757 commercial airline captains flew 22 approaches using the Reno Sparks 16R Visual Arrival under simulated Category I conditions. Approaches were flown using a head-down synthetic vision display to evaluate four tunnel ("minimal", "box", "dynamic pathway", "dynamic crow s feet") and three guidance ("ball", "tadpole", "follow-me aircraft") concepts and compare their efficacy to a baseline condition (i.e., no tunnel, ball guidance). The results showed that the tunnel concepts significantly improved pilot performance and situation awareness and lowered workload compared to the baseline condition. The dynamic crow s feet tunnel and follow-me aircraft guidance concepts were found to be the best candidates for future synthetic vision head-down displays. These results are discussed with implications for synthetic vision display design and future research.

Time-to-impact sensors in robot vision applications based on the near-sensor image processing concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Åström, Anders; Forchheimer, Robert

2012-03-01

Based on the Near-Sensor Image Processing (NSIP) concept and recent results concerning optical flow and Time-to- Impact (TTI) computation with this architecture, we show how these results can be used and extended for robot vision applications. The first case involves estimation of the tilt of an approaching planar surface. The second case concerns the use of two NSIP cameras to estimate absolute distance and speed similar to a stereo-matching system but without the need to do image correlations. Going back to a one-camera system, the third case deals with the problem to estimate the shape of the approaching surface. It is shown that the previously developed TTI method not only gives a very compact solution with respect to hardware complexity, but also surprisingly high performance.

Essentials of photometry for clinical electrophysiology of vision.

PubMed

McCulloch, Daphne L; Hamilton, Ruth

2010-08-01

Electrophysiological testing of the visual system requires familiarity with photometry. This technical note outlines the concepts of photometry with a focus on information relevant to clinical ERG and VEP testing. Topics include photometric quantities, consideration of pupil size, specification of brief extended flash stimuli, and the influence of the spectral composition of visual stimuli. Standard units and terms are explained in the context of the ISCEV standards and guidelines for clinical electrophysiology of vision.

Advanced Pathway Guidance Evaluations on a Synthetic Vision Head-Up Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.

2005-01-01

NASA's Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) project is developing technologies with practical applications to potentially eliminate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to civil aircraft accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. A major thrust of the SVS project involves the development/demonstration of affordable, certifiable display configurations that provide intuitive out-the-window terrain and obstacle information with advanced guidance for commercial and business aircraft. This experiment evaluated the influence of different pathway and guidance display concepts upon pilot situation awareness (SA), mental workload, and flight path tracking performance for Synthetic Vision display concepts using a Head-Up Display (HUD). Two pathway formats (dynamic and minimal tunnel presentations) were evaluated against a baseline condition (no tunnel) during simulated instrument meteorological conditions approaches to Reno-Tahoe International airport. Two guidance cues (tadpole, follow-me aircraft) were also evaluated to assess their influence. Results indicated that the presence of a tunnel on an SVS HUD had no effect on flight path performance but that it did have significant effects on pilot SA and mental workload. The dynamic tunnel concept with the follow-me aircraft guidance symbol produced the lowest workload and provided the highest SA among the tunnel concepts evaluated.

Pathway Design Effects on Synthetic Vision Head-Up Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.

2004-01-01

NASA s Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) project is developing technologies with practical applications that will eliminate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to civil aircraft accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. A major thrust of the SVS project involves the development/demonstration of affordable, certifiable display configurations that provide intuitive out-the-window terrain and obstacle information with advanced pathway guidance for transport aircraft. This experiment evaluated the influence of different tunnel and guidance concepts upon pilot situation awareness (SA), mental workload, and flight path tracking performance for Synthetic Vision display concepts using a Head-Up Display (HUD). Two tunnel formats (dynamic, minimal) were evaluated against a baseline condition (no tunnel) during simulated IMC approaches to Reno-Tahoe International airport. Two guidance cues (tadpole, follow-me aircraft) were also evaluated to assess their influence on the tunnel formats. Results indicated that the presence of a tunnel on an SVS HUD had no effect on flight path performance but that it did have significant effects on pilot SA and mental workload. The dynamic tunnel concept with the follow-me aircraft guidance symbol produced the lowest workload and provided the highest SA among the tunnel concepts evaluated.

Special Technology Area Review on Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MOEMS)

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-12-01

Optical Interference in Night Vision Systems "* DMD Assisted Intelligent Manufacturing of ................................................... SRI...CONCEPT ......................................... p. 8 FIGURE 3(a): DMD LIGHT SWITCHES...p. 9 FIGURE 3(b): SEM PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF DMD CHIPS ........................................ p. 9 FIGURE 4: MULTI-USER MEMS PROJECTS (MUMPS

Effects of a Velocity-Vector Based Command Augmentation System and Synthetic Vision System Terrain Portrayal and Guidance Symbology Concepts on Single-Pilot Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Dahai; Goodrich, Kenneth H.; Peak, Bob

2010-01-01

This study investigated the effects of synthetic vision system (SVS) concepts and advanced flight controls on the performance of pilots flying a light, single-engine general aviation airplane. We evaluated the effects and interactions of two levels of terrain portrayal, guidance symbology, and flight control response type on pilot performance during the conduct of a relatively complex instrument approach procedure. The terrain and guidance presentations were evaluated as elements of an integrated primary flight display system. The approach procedure used in the study included a steeply descending, curved segment as might be encountered in emerging, required navigation performance (RNP) based procedures. Pilot performance measures consisted of flight technical performance, perceived workload, perceived situational awareness and subjective preference. The results revealed that an elevation based generic terrain portrayal significantly improved perceived situation awareness without adversely affecting flight technical performance or workload. Other factors (pilot instrument rating, control response type, and guidance symbology) were not found to significantly affect the performance measures.

Damage Detection and Verification System (DDVS) for In-Situ Health Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Martha K.; Lewis, Mark; Szafran, J.; Shelton, C.; Ludwig, L.; Gibson, T.; Lane, J.; Trautwein, T.

2015-01-01

Project presentation for Game Changing Program Smart Book Release. Detection and Verification System (DDVS) expands the Flat Surface Damage Detection System (FSDDS) sensory panels damage detection capabilities and includes an autonomous inspection capability utilizing cameras and dynamic computer vision algorithms to verify system health. Objectives of this formulation task are to establish the concept of operations, formulate the system requirements for a potential ISS flight experiment, and develop a preliminary design of an autonomous inspection capability system that will be demonstrated as a proof-of-concept ground based damage detection and inspection system.

Commercial Flight Crew Decision-Making during Low-Visibility Approach Operations Using Fused Synthetic/Enhanced Vision Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III

2007-01-01

NASA is investigating revolutionary crew-vehicle interface technologies that strive to proactively overcome aircraft safety barriers that would otherwise constrain the full realization of the next-generation air transportation system. A fixed-based piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision technologies. Specific focus was placed on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of Enhanced and Synthetic Vision and its impact within a two-crew flight deck on the crew's decision-making process during low-visibility approach and landing operations. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in situation awareness, without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter, could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying. During non-normal operations, the ability of the crew to handle substantial navigational errors and runway incursions were neither improved nor adversely impacted by the display concepts. The addition of Enhanced Vision may not, unto itself, provide an improvement in runway incursion detection without being specifically tailored for this application. Existing enhanced vision system procedures were effectively used in the crew decision-making process during approach and missed approach operations but having to forcibly transition from an excellent FLIR image to natural vision by 100 ft above field level was awkward for the pilot-flying.

Vision-guided micromanipulation system for biomedical application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shim, Jae-Hong; Cho, Sung-Yong; Cha, Dong-Hyuk

2004-10-01

In these days, various researches for biomedical application of robots have been carried out. Particularly, robotic manipulation of the biological cells has been studied by many researchers. Usually, most of the biological cell's shape is sphere. Commercial biological manipulation systems have been utilized the 2-Dimensional images through the optical microscopes only. Moreover, manipulation of the biological cells mainly depends on the subjective viewpoint of an operator. Due to these reasons, there exist lots of problems such as slippery and destruction of the cell membrane and damage of the pipette tip etc. In order to overcome the problems, we have proposed a vision-guided biological cell manipulation system. The newly proposed manipulation system makes use of vision and graphic techniques. Through the proposed procedures, an operator can inject the biological cell scientifically and objectively. Also, the proposed manipulation system can measure the contact force occurred at injection of a biological cell. It can be transmitted a measured force to the operator by the proposed haptic device. Consequently, the proposed manipulation system could safely handle the biological cells without any damage. This paper presents the introduction of our vision-guided manipulation techniques and the concept of the contact force sensing. Through a series of experiments the proposed vision-guided manipulation system shows the possibility of application for precision manipulation of the biological cell such as DNA.

New directions for space solar power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mankins, John C.

2009-07-01

Several of the central issues associated with the eventual realization of the vision of solar power from space for terrestrial markets resolve around the expect costs associated with the assembly, inspection, maintenance and repair of future solar power satellite (SPS) stations. In past studies (for example, NASA's "Fresh Look Study", c. 1995-1997) efforts were made to reduce both the scale and mass of large, systems-level interfaces (e.g., the power management and distribution (PMAD) system) and on-orbit fixed infrastructures through the use of modular systems strategies. These efforts have had mixed success (as reflected in the projected on-orbit mass of various systems concepts. However, the author remains convinced of the importance of modular strategies for exceptionally large space systems in eventually realizing the vision of power from space. This paper will introduce some of the key issues associated with cost-competitive space solar power in terrestrial markets. It will examine some of the relevant SPS concepts and will assess the 'pros and cons' of each in terms of space assembly, maintenance and servicing (SAMS) requirements. The paper discusses at a high level some relevant concepts and technologies that may play r role in the eventual, successful resolution of these challenges. The paper concludes with an example of the kind of novel architectural approach for space solar power that is needed.

Wearable optical-digital assistive device for low vision students.

PubMed

Afinogenov, Boris I; Coles, James B; Parthasarathy, Sailashri; Press-Williams, Jessica; Tsykunova, Ralina; Vasilenko, Anastasia; Narain, Jaya; Hanumara, Nevan C; Winter, Amos; Satgunam, PremNandhini

2016-08-01

People with low vision have limited residual vision that can be greatly enhanced through high levels of magnification. Current assistive technologies are tailored for far field or near field magnification but not both. In collaboration with L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a wearable, optical-digital assistive device was developed to meet the near and far field magnification needs of students. The critical requirements, system architecture and design decisions for each module were analyzed and quantified. A proof-of-concept prototype was fabricated that can achieve magnification up to 8x and a battery life of up to 8 hours. Potential user evaluation with a Snellen chart showed identification of characters not previously discernible. Further feedback suggested that the system could be used as a general accessibility aid.

Assessment in the Learning Organization: Shifting the Paradigm.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Arthur L., Ed.; Kallick, Bena, Ed.

This collection provides a new perspective for understanding what assessment can do to promote continuous improvement in education. The concepts of systems thinking, continued learning, mental models, shared vision, and team building are highlighted in the selections, which include: (1) "A Systems Approach to Assessing School Culture"…

General Aviation Flight Test of Advanced Operations Enabled by Synthetic Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glaab, Louis J.; Hughhes, Monica F.; Parrish, Russell V.; Takallu, Mohammad A.

2014-01-01

A flight test was performed to compare the use of three advanced primary flight and navigation display concepts to a baseline, round-dial concept to assess the potential for advanced operations. The displays were evaluated during visual and instrument approach procedures including an advanced instrument approach resembling a visual airport traffic pattern. Nineteen pilots from three pilot groups, reflecting the diverse piloting skills of the General Aviation pilot population, served as evaluation subjects. The experiment had two thrusts: 1) an examination of the capabilities of low-time (i.e., <400 hours), non-instrument-rated pilots to perform nominal instrument approaches, and 2) an exploration of potential advanced Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC)-like approaches in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). Within this context, advanced display concepts are considered to include integrated navigation and primary flight displays with either aircraft attitude flight directors or Highway In The Sky (HITS) guidance with and without a synthetic depiction of the external visuals (i.e., synthetic vision). Relative to the first thrust, the results indicate that using an advanced display concept, as tested herein, low-time, non-instrument-rated pilots can exhibit flight-technical performance, subjective workload and situation awareness ratings as good as or better than high-time Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)-rated pilots using Baseline Round Dials for a nominal IMC approach. For the second thrust, the results indicate advanced VMC-like approaches are feasible in IMC, for all pilot groups tested for only the Synthetic Vision System (SVS) advanced display concept.

Robustness. [in space systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, Robert

1993-01-01

The concept of rubustness includes design simplicity, component and path redundancy, desensitization to the parameter and environment variations, control of parameter variations, and punctual operations. These characteristics must be traded with functional concepts, materials, and fabrication approach against the criteria of performance, cost, and reliability. The paper describes the robustness design process, which includes the following seven major coherent steps: translation of vision into requirements, definition of the robustness characteristics desired, criteria formulation of required robustness, concept selection, detail design, manufacturing and verification, operations.

Square tracking sensor for autonomous helicopter hover stabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oertel, Carl-Henrik

1995-06-01

Sensors for synthetic vision are needed to extend the mission profiles of helicopters. A special task for various applications is the autonomous position hold of a helicopter above a ground fixed or moving target. As a proof of concept for a general synthetic vision solution a restricted machine vision system, which is capable of locating and tracking a special target, was developed by the Institute of Flight Mechanics of Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (i.e., German Aerospace Research Establishment). This sensor, which is specialized to detect and track a square, was integrated in the fly-by-wire helicopter ATTHeS (i.e., Advanced Technology Testing Helicopter System). An existing model following controller for the forward flight condition was adapted for the hover and low speed requirements of the flight vehicle. The special target, a black square with a length of one meter, was mounted on top of a car. Flight tests demonstrated the automatic stabilization of the helicopter above the moving car by synthetic vision.

The Self-Concepts of Spanish Children and Adolescents with Low Vision and Their Sighted Peers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez-Justicia, Maria Dolores; Pichardo, Maria Carmen; Amezcua, Juan Antonio; Fernandez, Eduardo

2001-01-01

Three studies of Spanish students with low vision, aged 4-7, 8-11, and 12-17, found that, overall, the participants' scores for some dimensions of self-concept were lower than those of comparison groups of sighted students. Teaching strategies such as cooperative learning are suggested to help improve the self-concept and academic performance of…

Multi-Sensory, Multi-Modal Concepts for Information Understanding

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-04-01

September 20022-2 Outline • The modern dilemma of knowledge acquisition • A vision for information access and understanding • Emerging concepts for...Multi-Sensory, Multi-Modal Concepts for Information Understanding David L. Hall, Ph.D. School of Information Sciences and Technology The... understanding . INTRODUCTION Historically, information displays for display and understanding of data fusion products have focused on the use of vision

Breaking BAD: A Data Serving Vision for Big Active Data

PubMed Central

Carey, Michael J.; Jacobs, Steven; Tsotras, Vassilis J.

2017-01-01

Virtually all of today’s Big Data systems are passive in nature. Here we describe a project to shift Big Data platforms from passive to active. We detail a vision for a scalable system that can continuously and reliably capture Big Data to enable timely and automatic delivery of new information to a large pool of interested users as well as supporting analyses of historical information. We are currently building a Big Active Data (BAD) system by extending an existing scalable open-source BDMS (AsterixDB) in this active direction. This first paper zooms in on the Data Serving piece of the BAD puzzle, including its key concepts and user model. PMID:29034377

High-precision shape representation using a neuromorphic vision sensor with synchronous address-event communication interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belbachir, A. N.; Hofstätter, M.; Litzenberger, M.; Schön, P.

2009-10-01

A synchronous communication interface for neuromorphic temporal contrast vision sensors is described and evaluated in this paper. This interface has been designed for ultra high-speed synchronous arbitration of a temporal contrast image sensors pixels' data. Enabling high-precision timestamping, this system demonstrates its uniqueness for handling peak data rates and preserving the main advantage of the neuromorphic electronic systems, that is high and accurate temporal resolution. Based on a synchronous arbitration concept, the timestamping has a resolution of 100 ns. Both synchronous and (state-of-the-art) asynchronous arbiters have been implemented in a neuromorphic dual-line vision sensor chip in a standard 0.35 µm CMOS process. The performance analysis of both arbiters and the advantages of the synchronous arbitration over asynchronous arbitration in capturing high-speed objects are discussed in detail.

External Vision Systems (XVS) Proof-of-Concept Flight Test Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shelton, Kevin J.; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Prinzel, Lawrence, III; Bailey, Randall E.

2014-01-01

NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, High Speed Project is performing research, development, test and evaluation of flight deck and related technologies to support future low-boom, supersonic configurations (without forward-facing windows) by use of an eXternal Vision System (XVS). The challenge of XVS is to determine a combination of sensor and display technologies which can provide an equivalent level of safety and performance to that provided by forward-facing windows in today's aircraft. This flight test was conducted with the goal of obtaining performance data on see-and-avoid and see-to-follow traffic using a proof-of-concept XVS design in actual flight conditions. Six data collection flights were flown in four traffic scenarios against two different sized participating traffic aircraft. This test utilized a 3x1 array of High Definition (HD) cameras, with a fixed forward field-of-view, mounted on NASA Langley's UC-12 test aircraft. Test scenarios, with participating NASA aircraft serving as traffic, were presented to two evaluation pilots per flight - one using the proof-of-concept (POC) XVS and the other looking out the forward windows. The camera images were presented on the XVS display in the aft cabin with Head-Up Display (HUD)-like flight symbology overlaying the real-time imagery. The test generated XVS performance data, including comparisons to natural vision, and post-run subjective acceptability data were also collected. This paper discusses the flight test activities, its operational challenges, and summarizes the findings to date.

EVA Communications Avionics and Informatics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carek, David Andrew

2005-01-01

The Glenn Research Center is investigating and developing technologies for communications, avionics, and information systems that will significantly enhance extra vehicular activity capabilities to support the Vision for Space Exploration. Several of the ongoing research and development efforts are described within this presentation including system requirements formulation, technology development efforts, trade studies, and operational concept demonstrations.

Autonomous Energy Grids: Preprint

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

Kroposki, Benjamin D; Dall-Anese, Emiliano; Bernstein, Andrey

With much higher levels of distributed energy resources - variable generation, energy storage, and controllable loads just to mention a few - being deployed into power systems, the data deluge from pervasive metering of energy grids, and the shaping of multi-level ancillary-service markets, current frameworks to monitoring, controlling, and optimizing large-scale energy systems are becoming increasingly inadequate. This position paper outlines the concept of 'Autonomous Energy Grids' (AEGs) - systems that are supported by a scalable, reconfigurable, and self-organizing information and control infrastructure, can be extremely secure and resilient (self-healing), and self-optimize themselves in real-time for economic and reliable performancemore » while systematically integrating energy in all forms. AEGs rely on scalable, self-configuring cellular building blocks that ensure that each 'cell' can self-optimize when isolated from a larger grid as well as partaking in the optimal operation of a larger grid when interconnected. To realize this vision, this paper describes the concepts and key research directions in the broad domains of optimization theory, control theory, big-data analytics, and complex system modeling that will be necessary to realize the AEG vision.« less

Wireless sensor systems for sense/decide/act/communicate.

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

Berry, Nina M.; Cushner, Adam; Baker, James A.

2003-12-01

After 9/11, the United States (U.S.) was suddenly pushed into challenging situations they could no longer ignore as simple spectators. The War on Terrorism (WoT) was suddenly ignited and no one knows when this war will end. While the government is exploring many existing and potential technologies, the area of wireless Sensor networks (WSN) has emerged as a foundation for establish future national security. Unlike other technologies, WSN could provide virtual presence capabilities needed for precision awareness and response in military, intelligence, and homeland security applications. The Advance Concept Group (ACG) vision of Sense/Decide/Act/Communicate (SDAC) sensor system is an instantiationmore » of the WSN concept that takes a 'systems of systems' view. Each sensing nodes will exhibit the ability to: Sense the environment around them, Decide as a collective what the situation of their environment is, Act in an intelligent and coordinated manner in response to this situational determination, and Communicate their actions amongst each other and to a human command. This LDRD report provides a review of the research and development done to bring the SDAC vision closer to reality.« less

Monocular Stereo Measurement Using High-Speed Catadioptric Tracking

PubMed Central

Hu, Shaopeng; Matsumoto, Yuji; Takaki, Takeshi; Ishii, Idaku

2017-01-01

This paper presents a novel concept of real-time catadioptric stereo tracking using a single ultrafast mirror-drive pan-tilt active vision system that can simultaneously switch between hundreds of different views in a second. By accelerating video-shooting, computation, and actuation at the millisecond-granularity level for time-division multithreaded processing in ultrafast gaze control, the active vision system can function virtually as two or more tracking cameras with different views. It enables a single active vision system to act as virtual left and right pan-tilt cameras that can simultaneously shoot a pair of stereo images for the same object to be observed at arbitrary viewpoints by switching the direction of the mirrors of the active vision system frame by frame. We developed a monocular galvano-mirror-based stereo tracking system that can switch between 500 different views in a second, and it functions as a catadioptric active stereo with left and right pan-tilt tracking cameras that can virtually capture 8-bit color 512×512 images each operating at 250 fps to mechanically track a fast-moving object with a sufficient parallax for accurate 3D measurement. Several tracking experiments for moving objects in 3D space are described to demonstrate the performance of our monocular stereo tracking system. PMID:28792483

Study of Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) and Velocity-vector Based Command Augmentation System (V-CAS) on Pilot Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Dahai; Goodrich, Ken; Peak, Bob

2006-01-01

This study investigated the effects of synthetic vision system (SVS) concepts and advanced flight controls on single pilot performance (SPP). Specifically, we evaluated the benefits and interactions of two levels of terrain portrayal, guidance symbology, and control-system response type on SPP in the context of lower-landing minima (LLM) approaches. Performance measures consisted of flight technical error (FTE) and pilot perceived workload. In this study, pilot rating, control type, and guidance symbology were not found to significantly affect FTE or workload. It is likely that transfer from prior experience, limited scope of the evaluation task, specific implementation limitations, and limited sample size were major factors in obtaining these results.

Simulation Evaluation of Synthetic Vision as an Enabling Technology for Equivalent Visual Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Bailey, Randall E.

2008-01-01

Enhanced Vision (EV) and synthetic vision (SV) systems may serve as enabling technologies to meet the challenges of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Equivalent Visual Operations (EVO) concept ? that is, the ability to achieve or even improve on the safety of Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations, maintain the operational tempos of VFR, and even, perhaps, retain VFR procedures independent of actual weather and visibility conditions. One significant challenge lies in the definition of required equipage on the aircraft and on the airport to enable the EVO concept objective. A piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of the presence or absence of Synthetic Vision, the location of this information during an instrument approach (i.e., on a Head-Up or Head-Down Primary Flight Display), and the type of airport lighting information on landing minima. The quantitative data from this experiment were analyzed to begin the definition of performance-based criteria for all-weather approach and landing operations. Objective results from the present study showed that better approach performance was attainable with the head-up display (HUD) compared to the head-down display (HDD). A slight performance improvement in HDD performance was shown when SV was added, as the pilots descended below 200 ft to a 100 ft decision altitude, but this performance was not tested for statistical significance (nor was it expected to be statistically significant). The touchdown data showed that regardless of the display concept flown (SV HUD, Baseline HUD, SV HDD, Baseline HDD) a majority of the runs were within the performance-based defined approach and landing criteria in all the visibility levels, approach lighting systems, and decision altitudes tested. For this visual flight maneuver, RVR appeared to be the most significant influence in touchdown performance. The approach lighting system clearly impacted the pilot's ability to descend to 100 ft height above touchdown based on existing Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.175 using a 200 ft decision height, but did not appear to influence touchdown performance or approach path maintenance

Point-to-Point! Validation of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Higher Volume Operations Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Daniel M.

2006-01-01

Described is the research process that NASA researchers used to validate the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) Higher Volume Operations (HVO) concept. The four phase building-block validation and verification process included multiple elements ranging from formal analysis of HVO procedures to flight test, to full-system architecture prototype that was successfully shown to the public at the June 2005 SATS Technical Demonstration in Danville, VA. Presented are significant results of each of the four research phases that extend early results presented at ICAS 2004. HVO study results have been incorporated into the development of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) vision and offer a validated concept to provide a significant portion of the 3X capacity improvement sought after in the United States National Airspace System (NAS).

Non-visual crypsis: a review of the empirical evidence for camouflage to senses other than vision.

PubMed

Ruxton, Graeme D

2009-02-27

I review the evidence that organisms have adaptations that confer difficulty of detection by predators and parasites that seek their targets primarily using sensory systems other than vision. In other words, I will answer the question of whether crypsis is a concept that can usefully be applied to non-visual sensory perception. Probably because vision is such an important sensory system in humans, research in this field is sparse. Thus, at present we have very few examples of chemical camouflage, and even these contain some ambiguity in deciding whether they are best seen as examples of background matching or mimicry. There are many examples of organisms that are adaptively silent at times or in locations when or where predation risk is higher or in response to detection of a predator. By contrast, evidence that the form (rather than use) of vocalizations and other sound-based signals has been influenced by issues of reducing detectability to unintended receivers is suggestive rather than conclusive. There is again suggestive but not completely conclusive evidence for crypsis against electro-sensing predators. Lastly, mechanoreception is highly understudied in this regard, but there are scattered reports that strongly suggest that some species can be thought of as being adapted to be cryptic in this modality. Hence, I conclude that crypsis is a concept that can usefully be applied to senses other than vision, and that this is a field very much worthy of more investigation.

Part-Task Simulation of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision Concepts for Lunar Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Jackson, E. Bruce; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Barnes, James R.

2010-01-01

During Apollo, the constraints placed by the design of the Lunar Module (LM) window for crew visibility and landing trajectory were a major problem. Lunar landing trajectories were tailored to provide crew visibility using nearly 70 degrees look-down angle from the canted LM windows. Apollo landings were scheduled only at specific times and locations to provide optimal sunlight on the landing site. The complications of trajectory design and crew visibility are still a problem today. Practical vehicle designs for lunar lander missions using optimal or near-optimal fuel trajectories render the natural vision of the crew from windows inadequate for the approach and landing task. Further, the sun angles for the desirable landing areas in the lunar polar regions create visually powerful, season-long shadow effects. Fortunately, Synthetic and Enhanced Vision (S/EV) technologies, conceived and developed in the aviation domain, may provide solutions to this visibility problem and enable additional benefits for safer, more efficient lunar operations. Piloted simulation evaluations have been conducted to assess the handling qualities of the various lunar landing concepts, including the influence of cockpit displays and the informational data and formats. Evaluation pilots flew various landing scenarios with S/EV displays. For some of the evaluation trials, an eye glasses-mounted, monochrome monocular display, coupled with head tracking, was worn. The head-worn display scene consisted of S/EV fusion concepts. The results of this experiment showed that a head-worn system did not increase the pilot s workload when compared to using just the head-down displays. As expected, the head-worn system did not provide an increase in performance measures. Some pilots commented that the head-worn system provided greater situational awareness compared to just head-down displays.

Part-task simulation of synthetic and enhanced vision concepts for lunar landing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Jackson, E. Bruce; Barnes, James R.; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.

2010-04-01

During Apollo, the constraints placed by the design of the Lunar Module (LM) window for crew visibility and landing trajectory were "a major problem." Lunar landing trajectories were tailored to provide crew visibility using nearly 70 degrees look-down angle from the canted LM windows. Apollo landings were scheduled only at specific times and locations to provide optimal sunlight on the landing site. The complications of trajectory design and crew visibility are still a problem today. Practical vehicle designs for lunar lander missions using optimal or near-optimal fuel trajectories render the natural vision of the crew from windows inadequate for the approach and landing task. Further, the sun angles for the desirable landing areas in the lunar polar regions create visually powerful, season-long shadow effects. Fortunately, Synthetic and Enhanced Vision (S/EV) technologies, conceived and developed in the aviation domain, may provide solutions to this visibility problem and enable additional benefits for safer, more efficient lunar operations. Piloted simulation evaluations have been conducted to assess the handling qualities of the various lunar landing concepts, including the influence of cockpit displays and the informational data and formats. Evaluation pilots flew various landing scenarios with S/EV displays. For some of the evaluation trials, an eye glasses-mounted, monochrome monocular display, coupled with head tracking, was worn. The head-worn display scene consisted of S/EV fusion concepts. The results of this experiment showed that a head-worn system did not increase the pilot's workload when compared to using just the head-down displays. As expected, the head-worn system did not provide an increase in performance measures. Some pilots commented that the head-worn system provided greater situational awareness compared to just head-down displays.

Concept of Operations for Commercial and Business Aircraft Synthetic Vision Systems. 1.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams Daniel M.; Waller, Marvin C.; Koelling, John H.; Burdette, Daniel W.; Capron, William R.; Barry, John S.; Gifford, Richard B.; Doyle, Thomas M.

2001-01-01

A concept of operations (CONOPS) for the Commercial and Business (CaB) aircraft synthetic vision systems (SVS) is described. The CaB SVS is expected to provide increased safety and operational benefits in normal and low visibility conditions. Providing operational benefits will promote SVS implementation in the Net, improve aviation safety, and assist in meeting the national aviation safety goal. SVS will enhance safety and enable consistent gate-to-gate aircraft operations in normal and low visibility conditions. The goal for developing SVS is to support operational minima as low as Category 3b in a variety of environments. For departure and ground operations, the SVS goal is to enable operations with a runway visual range of 300 feet. The system is an integrated display concept that provides a virtual visual environment. The SVS virtual visual environment is composed of three components: an enhanced intuitive view of the flight environment, hazard and obstacle defection and display, and precision navigation guidance. The virtual visual environment will support enhanced operations procedures during all phases of flight - ground operations, departure, en route, and arrival. The applications selected for emphasis in this document include low visibility departures and arrivals including parallel runway operations, and low visibility airport surface operations. These particular applications were selected because of significant potential benefits afforded by SVS.

Superintendent Leadership and Districtwide Vision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lilly, Edward R.

The concept of superintendent "vision" as a key element of effective leadership is discussed in this paper, which develops a framework for understanding the creation of vision, its implementation and articulation, and organizational impact. Vision differs from strategy in that it represents a set of beliefs about the school district's aspiring…

System Members at Odds: Managing Divergent Perspectives in the Higher Education Change Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnett, Kathy

2011-01-01

Achieving a shared vision is often cited as a prerequisite to successful organisational change. What change strategists do not take into consideration is how this concept applies to complex systems such as those found in higher education. This paper explores and identifies the divergent perspectives and meanings found among the multiplicity of…

The Effects of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision Technologies for Lunar Landings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Norman, Robert M.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Williams, Steven P.

2009-01-01

Eight pilots participated as test subjects in a fixed-based simulation experiment to evaluate advanced vision display technologies such as Enhanced Vision (EV) and Synthetic Vision (SV) for providing terrain imagery on flight displays in a Lunar Lander Vehicle. Subjects were asked to fly 20 approaches to the Apollo 15 lunar landing site with four different display concepts - Baseline (symbology only with no terrain imagery), EV only (terrain imagery from Forward Looking Infra Red, or FLIR, and LIght Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, sensors), SV only (terrain imagery from onboard database), and Fused EV and SV concepts. As expected, manual landing performance was excellent (within a meter of landing site center) and not affected by the inclusion of EV or SV terrain imagery on the Lunar Lander flight displays. Subjective ratings revealed significant situation awareness improvements with the concepts employing EV and/or SV terrain imagery compared to the Baseline condition that had no terrain imagery. In addition, display concepts employing EV imagery (compared to the SV and Baseline concepts which had none) were significantly better for pilot detection of intentional but unannounced navigation failures since this imagery provided an intuitive and obvious visual methodology to monitor the validity of the navigation solution.

Space Mobile Network: A Near Earth Communication and Navigation Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Israel, Dave J.; Heckler, Greg; Menrad, Robert J.

2016-01-01

This paper describes a Space Mobile Network architecture, the result of a recently completed NASA study exploring architectural concepts to produce a vision for the future Near Earth communications and navigation systems. The Space Mobile Network (SMN) incorporates technologies, such as Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) and optical communications, and new operations concepts, such as User Initiated Services, to provide user services analogous to a terrestrial smartphone user. The paper will describe the SMN Architecture, envisioned future operations concepts, opportunities for industry and international collaboration and interoperability, and technology development areas and goals.

Synthetic Vision Enhances Situation Awareness and RNP Capabilities for Terrain-Challenged Approaches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III

2003-01-01

The Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) Project of Aviation Safety Program is striving to eliminate poor visibility as a causal factor in aircraft accidents as well as enhance operational capabilities of all aircraft through the display of computer generated imagery derived from an onboard database of terrain, obstacle, and airport information. To achieve these objectives, NASA 757 flight test research was conducted at the Eagle-Vail, Colorado airport to evaluate three SVS display types (Head-Up Display, Head-Down Size A, Head-Down Size X) and two terrain texture methods (photo-realistic, generic) in comparison to the simulated Baseline Boeing-757 Electronic Attitude Direction Indicator and Navigation / Terrain Awareness and Warning System displays. These independent variables were evaluated for situation awareness, path error, and workload while making approaches to Runway 25 and 07 and during simulated engine-out Cottonwood 2 and KREMM departures. The results of the experiment showed significantly improved situation awareness, performance, and workload for SVS concepts compared to the Baseline displays and confirmed the retrofit capability of the Head-Up Display and Size A SVS concepts. The research also demonstrated that the pathway and pursuit guidance used within the SVS concepts achieved required navigation performance (RNP) criteria.

Fusion of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision for All-Weather Commercial Aviation Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence, III

2007-01-01

NASA is developing revolutionary crew-vehicle interface technologies that strive to proactively overcome aircraft safety barriers that would otherwise constrain the full realization of the next-generation air transportation system. A piloted simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of Synthetic and Enhanced Vision technologies. Specific focus was placed on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of Enhanced and Synthetic Vision and its impact within a two-crew flight deck during low visibility approach and landing operations. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in situation awareness, without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter, could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying. During non-normal operations, the ability of the crew to handle substantial navigational errors and runway incursions were not adversely impacted by the display concepts although the addition of Enhanced Vision did not, unto itself, provide an improvement in runway incursion detection.

Flight Simulator Evaluation of Display Media Devices for Synthetic Vision Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, J. J., III; Williams, Steven P.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2004-01-01

The Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) Project of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is striving to eliminate poor visibility as a causal factor in aircraft accidents as well as enhance operational capabilities of all aircraft. To accomplish these safety and capacity improvements, the SVS concept is designed to provide a clear view of the world around the aircraft through the display of computer-generated imagery derived from an onboard database of terrain, obstacle, and airport information. Display media devices with which to implement SVS technology that have been evaluated so far within the Project include fixed field of view head up displays and head down Primary Flight Displays with pilot-selectable field of view. A simulation experiment was conducted comparing these display devices to a fixed field of view, unlimited field of regard, full color Helmet-Mounted Display system. Subject pilots flew a visual circling maneuver in IMC at a terrain-challenged airport. The data collected for this experiment is compared to past SVS research studies.

Toward Head-Up and Head-Worn Displays for Equivalent Visual Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Jones, Denise R.; Williams, Steven P.; Harrison, Stephanie J.; Ellis, Kyle K.

2015-01-01

A key capability envisioned for the future air transportation system is the concept of equivalent visual operations (EVO). EVO is the capability to achieve the safety of current-day Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations and maintain the operational tempos of VFR irrespective of the weather and visibility conditions. Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) offer a path to achieve EVO. NASA has successfully tested EFVS for commercial flight operations that has helped establish the technical merits of EFVS, without reliance on natural vision, to runways without category II/III ground-based navigation and lighting requirements. The research has tested EFVS for operations with both Head-Up Displays (HUDs) and "HUD equivalent" Head-Worn Displays (HWDs). The paper describes the EVO concept and representative NASA EFVS research that demonstrate the potential of these technologies to safely conduct operations in visibilities as low as 1000 feet Runway Visual Range (RVR). Future directions are described including efforts to enable low-visibility approach, landing, and roll-outs using EFVS under conditions as low as 300 feet RVR.

Integrated 3-D vision system for autonomous vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Kun M.; Shawky, Mohamed; Tu, Xiaowei

1992-03-01

Nowadays, autonomous vehicles have become a multidiscipline field. Its evolution is taking advantage of the recent technological progress in computer architectures. As the development tools became more sophisticated, the trend is being more specialized, or even dedicated architectures. In this paper, we will focus our interest on a parallel vision subsystem integrated in the overall system architecture. The system modules work in parallel, communicating through a hierarchical blackboard, an extension of the 'tuple space' from LINDA concepts, where they may exchange data or synchronization messages. The general purpose processing elements are of different skills, built around 40 MHz i860 Intel RISC processors for high level processing and pipelined systolic array processors based on PLAs or FPGAs for low-level processing.

BioCore Guide: A Tool for Interpreting the Core Concepts of Vision and Change for Biology Majors.

PubMed

Brownell, Sara E; Freeman, Scott; Wenderoth, Mary Pat; Crowe, Alison J

2014-01-01

Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education outlined five core concepts intended to guide undergraduate biology education: 1) evolution; 2) structure and function; 3) information flow, exchange, and storage; 4) pathways and transformations of energy and matter; and 5) systems. We have taken these general recommendations and created a Vision and Change BioCore Guide-a set of general principles and specific statements that expand upon the core concepts, creating a framework that biology departments can use to align with the goals of Vision and Change. We used a grassroots approach to generate the BioCore Guide, beginning with faculty ideas as the basis for an iterative process that incorporated feedback from more than 240 biologists and biology educators at a diverse range of academic institutions throughout the United States. The final validation step in this process demonstrated strong national consensus, with more than 90% of respondents agreeing with the importance and scientific accuracy of the statements. It is our hope that the BioCore Guide will serve as an agent of change for biology departments as we move toward transforming undergraduate biology education. © 2014 S. E. Brownell et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2014 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

The Vision Thing in Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, George

1995-01-01

It is argued that while the concept of "vision" in higher education has been met with disdain, criticism is based on misconceptions of vision's nature and role--that vision requires a charismatic administrator and that visionaries are dreamers. Educators and planners are urged to use imaginative thinking to connect the institution's and staff's…

Visual cognition

PubMed Central

Cavanagh, Patrick

2011-01-01

Visual cognition, high-level vision, mid-level vision and top-down processing all refer to decision-based scene analyses that combine prior knowledge with retinal input to generate representations. The label “visual cognition” is little used at present, but research and experiments on mid- and high-level, inference-based vision have flourished, becoming in the 21st century a significant, if often understated part, of current vision research. How does visual cognition work? What are its moving parts? This paper reviews the origins and architecture of visual cognition and briefly describes some work in the areas of routines, attention, surfaces, objects, and events (motion, causality, and agency). Most vision scientists avoid being too explicit when presenting concepts about visual cognition, having learned that explicit models invite easy criticism. What we see in the literature is ample evidence for visual cognition, but few or only cautious attempts to detail how it might work. This is the great unfinished business of vision research: at some point we will be done with characterizing how the visual system measures the world and we will have to return to the question of how vision constructs models of objects, surfaces, scenes, and events. PMID:21329719

Are visual peripheries forever young?

PubMed

Burnat, Kalina

2015-01-01

The paper presents a concept of lifelong plasticity of peripheral vision. Central vision processing is accepted as critical and irreplaceable for normal perception in humans. While peripheral processing chiefly carries information about motion stimuli features and redirects foveal attention to new objects, it can also take over functions typical for central vision. Here I review the data showing the plasticity of peripheral vision found in functional, developmental, and comparative studies. Even though it is well established that afferent projections from central and peripheral retinal regions are not established simultaneously during early postnatal life, central vision is commonly used as a general model of development of the visual system. Based on clinical studies and visually deprived animal models, I describe how central and peripheral visual field representations separately rely on early visual experience. Peripheral visual processing (motion) is more affected by binocular visual deprivation than central visual processing (spatial resolution). In addition, our own experimental findings show the possible recruitment of coarse peripheral vision for fine spatial analysis. Accordingly, I hypothesize that the balance between central and peripheral visual processing, established in the course of development, is susceptible to plastic adaptations during the entire life span, with peripheral vision capable of taking over central processing.

Principles of 'servant leadership' and how they can enhance practice.

PubMed

Waterman, Harold

2011-02-01

This article explores the concept of service in modern health and social care. It examines the principles of servant leadership in the contexts of service, community and vision, in that, if service is what leaders do, community is who they do it for and vision is how the two concepts are brought together.

Peripheral Visions: Californian-Australian Environmental Contacts, c. 1850s-1910.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tyrrell, Ian

1997-01-01

Offers a comparative and transnational study of environmental contacts between California and Australia. Analyzes concepts of the ideal society, the influence of isolation, distant markets, and climate similarities, using world system and cultural landscape theories. Discusses key exchanges of plants and policies regarding irrigation and…

Advanced technology development for image gathering, coding, and processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huck, Friedrich O.

1990-01-01

Three overlapping areas of research activities are presented: (1) Information theory and optimal filtering are extended to visual information acquisition and processing. The goal is to provide a comprehensive methodology for quantitatively assessing the end-to-end performance of image gathering, coding, and processing. (2) Focal-plane processing techniques and technology are developed to combine effectively image gathering with coding. The emphasis is on low-level vision processing akin to the retinal processing in human vision. (3) A breadboard adaptive image-coding system is being assembled. This system will be used to develop and evaluate a number of advanced image-coding technologies and techniques as well as research the concept of adaptive image coding.

GridWise Standards Mapping Overview

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

Bosquet, Mia L.

''GridWise'' is a concept of how advanced communications, information and controls technology can transform the nation's energy system--across the spectrum of large scale, central generation to common consumer appliances and equipment--into a collaborative network, rich in the exchange of decision making information and an abundance of market-based opportunities (Widergren and Bosquet 2003) accompanying the electric transmission and distribution system fully into the information and telecommunication age. This report summarizes a broad review of standards efforts which are related to GridWise--those which could ultimately contribute significantly to advancements toward the GridWise vision, or those which represent today's current technological basis uponmore » which this vision must build.« less

Simulation Evaluation of Equivalent Vision Technologies for Aerospace Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Wilz, Susan J.; Arthur, Jarvis J.

2009-01-01

A fixed-based simulation experiment was conducted in NASA Langley Research Center s Integration Flight Deck simulator to investigate enabling technologies for equivalent visual operations (EVO) in the emerging Next Generation Air Transportation System operating environment. EVO implies the capability to achieve or even improve on the safety of current-day Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations, maintain the operational tempos of VFR, and perhaps even retain VFR procedures - all independent of the actual weather and visibility conditions. Twenty-four air transport-rated pilots evaluated the use of Synthetic/Enhanced Vision Systems (S/EVS) and eXternal Vision Systems (XVS) technologies as enabling technologies for future all-weather operations. The experimental objectives were to determine the feasibility of XVS/SVS/EVS to provide for all weather (visibility) landing capability without the need (or ability) for a visual approach segment and to determine the interaction of XVS/EVS and peripheral vision cues for terminal area and surface operations. Another key element of the testing investigated the pilot's awareness and reaction to non-normal events (i.e., failure conditions) that were unexpectedly introduced into the experiment. These non-normal runs served as critical determinants in the underlying safety of all-weather operations. Experimental data from this test are cast into performance-based approach and landing standards which might establish a basis for future all-weather landing operations. Glideslope tracking performance appears to have improved with the elimination of the approach visual segment. This improvement can most likely be attributed to the fact that the pilots didn't have to simultaneously perform glideslope corrections and find required visual landing references in order to continue a landing. Lateral tracking performance was excellent regardless of the display concept being evaluated or whether or not there were peripheral cues in the side window. Although workload ratings were significantly less when peripheral cues were present compared to when there were none, these differences appear to be operationally inconsequential. Larger display concepts tested in this experiment showed significant situation awareness (SA) improvements and workload reductions compared to smaller display concepts. With a fixed display size, a color display was more influential in SA and workload ratings than a collimated display.

Vision and Leadership: Paying Attention to Intention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manasse, A. Lorri

1985-01-01

A review of literature regarding the concept of visionary leadership identifies and discusses four types of vision (organizational, future, personal, and strategic) and factors that contribute to this vision (information processing skills; diagnostic tools; conceptual knowledge; creative thinking; and self-awareness). (CB)

Efficient Multi-Concept Visual Classifier Adaptation in Changing Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

yet to be discussed in existing supervised multi-concept visual perception systems used in robotics applications.1,5–7 Anno - tation of images is...Autonomous robot navigation in highly populated pedestrian zones. J Field Robotics. 2015;32(4):565–589. 3. Milella A, Reina G, Underwood J . A self...learning framework for statistical ground classification using RADAR and monocular vision. J Field Robotics. 2015;32(1):20–41. 4. Manjanna S, Dudek G

Small Boats in an Ocean of School Activities: Towards a European Vision on Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villalba, Ernesto

2008-01-01

The paper discusses the concept of schools as "multi-purpose learning centres", proposed by the European Commission in the year 2000 as part of the Lisbon Strategy to improve competitiveness. This concept was arguably the "European vision" for school education and was meant to drive the modernization of school education.…

The Affordable Care Act: a case study for understanding and applying complexity concepts to health care reform.

PubMed

Larkin, D Justin; Swanson, R Chad; Fuller, Spencer; Cortese, Denis A

2016-02-01

The current health system in the United States is the result of a history of patchwork policy decisions and cultural assumptions that have led to persistent contradictions in practice, gaps in coverage, unsustainable costs, and inconsistent outcomes. In working toward a more efficient health system, understanding and applying complexity science concepts will allow for policy that better promotes desired outcomes and minimizes the effects of unintended consequences. This paper will consider three applied complexity science concepts in the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA): developing a shared vision around reimbursement for value, creating an environment for emergence through simple rules, and embracing transformational leadership at all levels. Transforming the US health system, or any other health system, will be neither easy nor quick. Applying complexity concepts to health reform efforts, however, will facilitate long-term change in all levels, leading to health systems that are more effective, efficient, and equitable. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Upgrades to the NESS (Nuclear Engine System Simulation) Code

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fittje, James E.

2007-01-01

In support of the President's Vision for Space Exploration, the Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) concept is being evaluated as a potential propulsion technology for human expeditions to the moon and Mars. The need for exceptional propulsion system performance in these missions has been documented in numerous studies, and was the primary focus of a considerable effort undertaken during the 1960's and 1970's. The NASA Glenn Research Center is leveraging this past NTR investment in their vehicle concepts and mission analysis studies with the aid of the Nuclear Engine System Simulation (NESS) code. This paper presents the additional capabilities and upgrades made to this code in order to perform higher fidelity NTR propulsion system analysis and design.

[Incorporation and adaptation of the postmodern belief system].

PubMed

Garzón Pérez, Adela

2012-01-01

Every society develops a particular system of beliefs that summarizes its vision of socio-political organization, culture and interpersonal relationships. Each of these three basic dimensions has different forms, depending on the spatial and temporal context of societies. The belief system of the service societies is characterized by a democratic vision of social and political organization, rejection of radical social changes and high levels of interpersonal trust. This paper empirically examines the incorporation and adaptation of the postmodern belief system in a sample of university students. The participants belong to a country that is slowly integrating into the service societies. We used a scale of postmodernity to analyze the incorporation of the postmodern belief system. The results indicate that there is a peculiar combination of the three basic dimensions of the postmodern belief system, where the postmodern conceptions of culture and social relationships have lower acceptance.

Latency Requirements for Head-Worn Display S/EVS Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Trey Arthur, J. J., III; Williams, Steven P.

2004-01-01

NASA s Aviation Safety Program, Synthetic Vision Systems Project is conducting research in advanced flight deck concepts, such as Synthetic/Enhanced Vision Systems (S/EVS), for commercial and business aircraft. An emerging thrust in this activity is the development of spatially-integrated, large field-of-regard information display systems. Head-worn or helmet-mounted display systems are being proposed as one method in which to meet this objective. System delays or latencies inherent to spatially-integrated, head-worn displays critically influence the display utility, usability, and acceptability. Research results from three different, yet similar technical areas flight control, flight simulation, and virtual reality are collectively assembled in this paper to create a global perspective of delay or latency effects in head-worn or helmet-mounted display systems. Consistent definitions and measurement techniques are proposed herein for universal application and latency requirements for Head-Worn Display S/EVS applications are drafted. Future research areas are defined.

Latency requirements for head-worn display S/EVS applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Williams, Steven P.

2004-08-01

NASA's Aviation Safety Program, Synthetic Vision Systems Project is conducting research in advanced flight deck concepts, such as Synthetic/Enhanced Vision Systems (S/EVS), for commercial and business aircraft. An emerging thrust in this activity is the development of spatially-integrated, large field-of-regard information display systems. Head-worn or helmet-mounted display systems are being proposed as one method in which to meet this objective. System delays or latencies inherent to spatially-integrated, head-worn displays critically influence the display utility, usability, and acceptability. Research results from three different, yet similar technical areas - flight control, flight simulation, and virtual reality - are collectively assembled in this paper to create a global perspective of delay or latency effects in head-worn or helmet-mounted display systems. Consistent definitions and measurement techniques are proposed herein for universal application and latency requirements for Head-Worn Display S/EVS applications are drafted. Future research areas are defined.

Operator vision aids for space teleoperation assembly and servicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brooks, Thurston L.; Ince, Ilhan; Lee, Greg

1992-01-01

This paper investigates concepts for visual operator aids required for effective telerobotic control. Operator visual aids, as defined here, mean any operational enhancement that improves man-machine control through the visual system. These concepts were derived as part of a study of vision issues for space teleoperation. Extensive literature on teleoperation, robotics, and human factors was surveyed to definitively specify appropriate requirements. This paper presents these visual aids in three general categories of camera/lighting functions, display enhancements, and operator cues. In the area of camera/lighting functions concepts are discussed for: (1) automatic end effector or task tracking; (2) novel camera designs; (3) computer-generated virtual camera views; (4) computer assisted camera/lighting placement; and (5) voice control. In the technology area of display aids, concepts are presented for: (1) zone displays, such as imminent collision or indexing limits; (2) predictive displays for temporal and spatial location; (3) stimulus-response reconciliation displays; (4) graphical display of depth cues such as 2-D symbolic depth, virtual views, and perspective depth; and (5) view enhancements through image processing and symbolic representations. Finally, operator visual cues (e.g., targets) that help identify size, distance, shape, orientation and location are discussed.

Encouragement for Faculty to Implement "Vision and Change"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Caylyn; Eshleman, Kristen; Koo, Kyosung; Smith, Kevin G.; Paradise, Christopher J.; Campbell, A. Malcolm

2016-01-01

The seminal report "Vision and Change" outlined improvements necessary for undergraduate biology courses to accomplish widely recognized learning objectives. Over the past 8 years, we have developed a two-semester introductory biology course that incorporates the core concepts and competencies recommended in "Vision and…

Three-dimensional displays and stereo vision

PubMed Central

Westheimer, Gerald

2011-01-01

Procedures for three-dimensional image reconstruction that are based on the optical and neural apparatus of human stereoscopic vision have to be designed to work in conjunction with it. The principal methods of implementing stereo displays are described. Properties of the human visual system are outlined as they relate to depth discrimination capabilities and achieving optimal performance in stereo tasks. The concept of depth rendition is introduced to define the change in the parameters of three-dimensional configurations for cases in which the physical disposition of the stereo camera with respect to the viewed object differs from that of the observer's eyes. PMID:21490023

Synthetic and Enhanced Vision System for Altair Lunar Lander

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzell, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Norman, Robert M.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Williams, Steven P.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2009-01-01

Past research has demonstrated the substantial potential of synthetic and enhanced vision (SV, EV) for aviation (e.g., Prinzel & Wickens, 2009). These augmented visual-based technologies have been shown to significantly enhance situation awareness, reduce workload, enhance aviation safety (e.g., reduced propensity for controlled flight -into-terrain accidents/incidents), and promote flight path control precision. The issues that drove the design and development of synthetic and enhanced vision have commonalities to other application domains; most notably, during entry, descent, and landing on the moon and other planetary surfaces. NASA has extended SV/EV technology for use in planetary exploration vehicles, such as the Altair Lunar Lander. This paper describes an Altair Lunar Lander SV/EV concept and associated research demonstrating the safety benefits of these technologies.

A hybrid 2D/3D inspection concept with smart routing optimisation for high throughput, high dynamic range and traceable critical dimension metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Christopher W.; O’Connor, Daniel

2018-07-01

Dimensional surface metrology is required to enable advanced manufacturing process control for products such as large-area electronics, microfluidic structures, and light management films, where performance is determined by micrometre-scale geometry or roughness formed over metre-scale substrates. While able to perform 100% inspection at a low cost, commonly used 2D machine vision systems are insufficient to assess all of the functionally relevant critical dimensions in such 3D products on their own. While current high-resolution 3D metrology systems are able to assess these critical dimensions, they have a relatively small field of view and are thus much too slow to keep up with full production speeds. A hybrid 2D/3D inspection concept is demonstrated, combining a small field of view, high-performance 3D topography-measuring instrument with a large field of view, high-throughput 2D machine vision system. In this concept, the location of critical dimensions and defects are first registered using the 2D system, then smart routing algorithms and high dynamic range (HDR) measurement strategies are used to efficiently acquire local topography using the 3D sensor. A motion control platform with a traceable position referencing system is used to recreate various sheet-to-sheet and roll-to-roll inline metrology scenarios. We present the artefacts and procedures used to calibrate this hybrid sensor system for traceable dimensional measurement, as well as exemplar measurement of optically challenging industrial test structures.

Biomorphic Explorers Leading Towards a Robotic Ecology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thakoor, Sarita; Miralles, Carlos; Chao, Tien-Hsin

1999-01-01

This paper presents viewgraphs of biomorphic explorers as they provide extended survival and useful life of robots in ecology. The topics include: 1) Biomorphic Explorers; 2) Advanced Mobility for Biomorphic Explorers; 3) Biomorphic Explorers: Size Based Classification; 4) Biomorphic Explorers: Classification (Based on Mobility and Ambient Environment); 5) Biomorphic Flight Systems: Vision; 6) Biomorphic Glider Deployment Concept: Larger Glider Deploy/Local Relay; 7) Biomorphic Glider Deployment Concept: Balloon Deploy/Dual Relay; 8) Biomorphic Exlplorer: Conceptual Design; 9) Biomorphic Gliders; and 10) Applications.

In-Space Cryogenic Propellant Depot (ISCPD) Architecture Definitions and Systems Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fikes, John C.; Howell, Joe T.; Henley, Mark

2006-01-01

The objectives of the ISCPD Architecture Definitions and Systems Studies were to determine high leverage propellant depot architecture concepts, system configuration trades, and related technologies to enable more ambitious and affordable human and robotic exploration of the Earth Neighborhood and beyond. This activity identified architectures and concepts that preposition and store propellants in space for exploration and commercial space activities, consistent with Exploration Systems Research and Technology (ESR&T) objectives. Commonalities across mission scenarios for these architecture definitions, depot concepts, technologies, and operations were identified that also best satisfy the Vision of Space Exploration. Trade studies were conducted, technology development needs identified and assessments performed to drive out the roadmap for obtaining an in-space cryogenic propellant depot capability. The Boeing Company supported the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) by conducting this Depot System Architecture Development Study. The primary objectives of this depot architecture study were: (1) determine high leverage propellant depot concepts and related technologies; (2) identify commonalities across mission scenarios of depot concepts, technologies, and operations; (3) determine the best depot concepts and key technology requirements and (4) identify technology development needs including definition of ground and space test article requirements.

Got Web 2.0? A Review of Web 2.0 Tools for the Information Systems Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sendall, Patricia; Ceccucci, Wendy; Peslak, Alan R.

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the importance of incorporating Web 2.0 technologies across the Information Systems (IS) curriculum. The Web 2.0 paradigm is not new; although the term itself was coined in 2004 by Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media, Inc., (Anderson, 2007) the concept of a collaborative workspace was the original vision of Tim Berners-Lee, the…

A survey of autonomous vision-based See and Avoid for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mcfadyen, Aaron; Mejias, Luis

2016-01-01

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the vision-based See and Avoid problem for unmanned aircraft. The unique problem environment and associated constraints are detailed, followed by an in-depth analysis of visual sensing limitations. In light of such detection and estimation constraints, relevant human, aircraft and robot collision avoidance concepts are then compared from a decision and control perspective. Remarks on system evaluation and certification are also included to provide a holistic review approach. The intention of this work is to clarify common misconceptions, realistically bound feasible design expectations and offer new research directions. It is hoped that this paper will help us to unify design efforts across the aerospace and robotics communities.

The ODINUS Mission Concept: a Mission to the Ice Giant Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turrini, Diego; Politi, Romolo; Peron, Roberto; Grassi, Davide; Plainaki, Christina; Barbieri, Mauro; Massimo Lucchesi, David; Magni, Gianfranco; Altieri, Francesca; Cottini, Valeria; Gorius, Nicolas; Gaulme, Patrick; Schmider, François-Xavier; Adriani, Alberto; Piccioni, Giuseppe

2014-05-01

We present the scientific case and the mission concept for the comparative exploration of the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune and their satellites with a pair of twin spacecraft: ODINUS (Origins, Dynamics and Interiors of Neptunian and Uranian Systems). The ODINUS proposal was submitted in response to the call for white papers for the definition of the themes of the L2 and L3 mission in the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. The goal of ODINUS is the advancement of our understanding of the ancient past of the Solar System and, more generally, of how planetary systems form and evolve. The mission concept is focused on providing elements to answer to the scientific themes of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program: What are the conditions for planetary formation and the emergency of life? How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental physical laws of the Universe? In order to achieve its goals, the ODINUS mission concept proposed the use of two twin spacecraft to be put in orbit around Uranus and Neptune respectively, with selected flybys of their satellites. The proposed measurements aim to study the atmospheres and magnetospheres of the planets, the surfaces of the satellites, and the interior structure and composition of both satellites and planets. An important possibility for performing fundamental physics studies (among them tests of general relativity theory) is offered by the cruise phase. After the extremely positive evaluation of ESA Senior Survey Committee, who stated that 'the exploration of the icy giants appears to be a timely milestone, fully appropriate for an L class mission', we discuss strategies to comparatively study Uranus and Neptune with future international missions.

Testing the Efficacy of Synthetic Vision during Non-Normal Operations as an Enabling Technology for Equivalent Visual Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.

2008-01-01

Synthetic Vision (SV) may serve as a revolutionary crew/vehicle interface enabling technology to meet the challenges of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Equivalent Visual Operations (EVO) concept that is, the ability to achieve or even improve on the safety of Visual Flight Rules (VFR) operations, maintain the operational tempos of VFR, and potentially retain VFR procedures independent of actual weather and visibility conditions. One significant challenge lies in the definition of required equipage on the aircraft and on the airport to enable the EVO concept objective. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of the presence or absence of SV, the location (head-up or head-down) of this information during an instrument approach, and the type of airport lighting information on landing minima. Another key element of the testing entailed investigating the pilot s awareness and reaction to non-normal events (i.e., failure conditions) that were unexpectedly introduced into the experiment. These non-normals are critical determinants in the underlying safety of all-weather operations. This paper presents the experimental results specific to pilot response to non-normal events using head-up and head-down synthetic vision displays.

Explicit Goals, Implicit Values, and the Unintentional Stifling of Pluralism: An Examination of a Social Studies Teacher Education Vision Statement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritter, Jason K.; Lee, Kyunghwa

2009-01-01

The purpose of this article is to evaluate a social studies teacher education vision statement as it relates to Parker's (2003) "advanced" conception of citizenship education for democratic society. The vision statement, titled "Powerful Vision of Social Studies," was created by a group of practicing teachers and teacher educators as part of a…

Use of Closed-Circuit Television with a Severely Visually Impaired Young Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller-Wood, D. J.; And Others

1990-01-01

A closed-circuit television system was used with a five-year-old girl with severely limited vision to develop visual skills, especially skills related to concept formation. At the end of training, the girl could recognize lines, forms, shapes, letters, numbers, and words and could read short sentences. (Author/JDD)

Vision communications based on LED array and imaging sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, Jong-Ho; Jung, Sung-Yoon

2012-11-01

In this paper, we propose a brand new communication concept, called as "vision communication" based on LED array and image sensor. This system consists of LED array as a transmitter and digital device which include image sensor such as CCD and CMOS as receiver. In order to transmit data, the proposed communication scheme simultaneously uses the digital image processing and optical wireless communication scheme. Therefore, the cognitive communication scheme is possible with the help of recognition techniques used in vision system. By increasing data rate, our scheme can use LED array consisting of several multi-spectral LEDs. Because arranged each LED can emit multi-spectral optical signal such as visible, infrared and ultraviolet light, the increase of data rate is possible similar to WDM and MIMO skills used in traditional optical and wireless communications. In addition, this multi-spectral capability also makes it possible to avoid the optical noises in communication environment. In our vision communication scheme, the data packet is composed of Sync. data and information data. Sync. data is used to detect the transmitter area and calibrate the distorted image snapshots obtained by image sensor. By making the optical rate of LED array be same with the frame rate (frames per second) of image sensor, we can decode the information data included in each image snapshot based on image processing and optical wireless communication techniques. Through experiment based on practical test bed system, we confirm the feasibility of the proposed vision communications based on LED array and image sensor.

Crew and Display Concepts Evaluation for Synthetic / Enhanced Vision Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III

2006-01-01

NASA s Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) project is developing technologies with practical applications that strive to eliminate low-visibility conditions as a causal factor to civil aircraft accidents and replicate the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. Enhanced Vision System (EVS) technologies are analogous and complementary in many respects to SVS, with the principle difference being that EVS is an imaging sensor presentation, as opposed to a database-derived image. The use of EVS in civil aircraft is projected to increase rapidly as the Federal Aviation Administration recently changed the aircraft operating rules under Part 91, revising the flight visibility requirements for conducting operations to civil airports. Operators conducting straight-in instrument approach procedures may now operate below the published approach minimums when using an approved EVS that shows the required visual references on the pilot s Head-Up Display. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of SVS and EVS technologies, specifically focusing on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies and crew resource management while operating under the newly adopted FAA rules which provide operating credit for EVS. Overall, the experimental data showed that significant improvements in SA without concomitant increases in workload and display clutter could be provided by the integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies for the pilot-flying and the pilot-not-flying.

Synthetic Vision Displays for Planetary and Lunar Lander Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Williams, Steven P.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Norman, Robert M.

2008-01-01

Aviation research has demonstrated that Synthetic Vision (SV) technology can substantially enhance situation awareness, reduce pilot workload, improve aviation safety, and promote flight path control precision. SV, and related flight deck technologies are currently being extended for application in planetary exploration vehicles. SV, in particular, holds significant potential for many planetary missions since the SV presentation provides a computer-generated view for the flight crew of the terrain and other significant environmental characteristics independent of the outside visibility conditions, window locations, or vehicle attributes. SV allows unconstrained control of the computer-generated scene lighting, terrain coloring, and virtual camera angles which may provide invaluable visual cues to pilots/astronauts, not available from other vision technologies. In addition, important vehicle state information may be conformally displayed on the view such as forward and down velocities, altitude, and fuel remaining to enhance trajectory control and vehicle system status. The paper accompanies a conference demonstration that introduced a prototype NASA Synthetic Vision system for lunar lander spacecraft. The paper will describe technical challenges and potential solutions to SV applications for the lunar landing mission, including the requirements for high-resolution lunar terrain maps, accurate positioning and orientation, and lunar cockpit display concepts to support projected mission challenges.

Computer-aided system for detecting runway incursions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sridhar, Banavar; Chatterji, Gano B.

1994-07-01

A synthetic vision system for enhancing the pilot's ability to navigate and control the aircraft on the ground is described. The system uses the onboard airport database and images acquired by external sensors. Additional navigation information needed by the system is provided by the Inertial Navigation System and the Global Positioning System. The various functions of the system, such as image enhancement, map generation, obstacle detection, collision avoidance, guidance, etc., are identified. The available technologies, some of which were developed at NASA, that are applicable to the aircraft ground navigation problem are noted. Example images of a truck crossing the runway while the aircraft flies close to the runway centerline are described. These images are from a sequence of images acquired during one of the several flight experiments conducted by NASA to acquire data to be used for the development and verification of the synthetic vision concepts. These experiments provide a realistic database including video and infrared images, motion states from the Inertial Navigation System and the Global Positioning System, and camera parameters.

NASA Synthetic Vision EGE Flight Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Comstock, J. Raymond; Bailey, Randall E.; Hughes, Monica F.; Parrish, Russell V.

2002-01-01

NASA Langley Research Center conducted flight tests at the Eagle County, Colorado airport to evaluate synthetic vision concepts. Three display concepts (size 'A' head-down, size 'X' head-down, and head-up displays) and two texture concepts (photo, generic) were assessed for situation awareness and flight technical error / performance while making approaches to Runway 25 and Runway 07 and simulated engine-out Cottonwood 2 and KREMM departures. The results of the study confirm the retrofit capability of the HUD and Size 'A' SVS concepts to significantly improve situation awareness and performance over current EFIS glass and non-glass instruments for difficult approaches in terrain-challenged environments.

Shaping future Naval warfare with unmanned systems, the impact across the fleet, and joint considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, E. C.; Johnson, Gordon; Summey, Delbert C.; Portmann, Helmut H., Jr.

2004-09-01

This paper discusses a comprehensive vision for unmanned systems that will shape the future of Naval Warfare within a larger Joint Force concept, and examines the broad impact that can be anticipated across the Fleet. The vision has been articulated from a Naval perspective in NAVSEA technical report CSS/TR-01/09, Shaping the Future of Naval Warfare with Unmanned Systems, and from a Joint perspective in USJFCOM Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) Report #03-10 (Unmanned Effects (UFX): Taking the Human Out of the Loop). Here, the authors build on this foundation by reviewing the major findings and laying out the roadmap for achieving the vision and truly transforming how we fight wars. The focus is on broad impact across the Fleet - but the implications reach across all Joint forces. The term "Unmanned System" means different things to different people. Most think of vehicles that are remotely teleoperated that perform tasks under remote human control. Actually, unmanned systems are stand-alone systems that can execute missions and tasks without direct physical manned presence under varying levels of human control - from teleoperation to full autonomy. It is important to note that an unmanned system comprises a lot more than just a vehicle - it includes payloads, command and control, and communications and information processing.

The Application of Architecture Frameworks to Modelling Exploration Operations Costs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shishko, Robert

2006-01-01

Developments in architectural frameworks and system-of-systems thinking have provided useful constructs for systems engineering. DoDAF concepts, language, and formalisms, in particular, provide a natural way of conceptualizing an operations cost model applicable to NASA's space exploration vision. Not all DoDAF products have meaning or apply to a DoDAF inspired operations cost model, but this paper describes how such DoDAF concepts as nodes, systems, and operational activities relate to the development of a model to estimate exploration operations costs. The paper discusses the specific implementation to the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) operational functions/activities currently being developed and presents an overview of how this powerful representation can apply to robotic space missions as well.

Wearable design issues for electronic vision enhancement systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvorak, Joe

2006-09-01

As the baby boomer generation ages, visual impairment will overtake a significant portion of the US population. At the same time, more and more of our world is becoming digital. These two trends, coupled with the continuing advances in digital electronics, argue for a rethinking in the design of aids for the visually impaired. This paper discusses design issues for electronic vision enhancement systems (EVES) [R.C. Peterson, J.S. Wolffsohn, M. Rubinstein, et al., Am. J. Ophthalmol. 136 1129 (2003)] that will facilitate their wearability and continuous use. We briefly discuss the factors affecting a person's acceptance of wearable devices. We define the concept of operational inertia which plays an important role in our design of wearable devices and systems. We then discuss how design principles based upon operational inertia can be applied to the design of EVES.

Flight Deck Display Technologies for 4DT and Surface Equivalent Visual Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Jones, Denis R.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Allamandola, Angela S.; Foyle, David C.; Hooey, Becky L.

2009-01-01

NASA research is focused on flight deck display technologies that may significantly enhance situation awareness, enable new operating concepts, and reduce the potential for incidents/accidents for terminal area and surface operations. The display technologies include surface map, head-up, and head-worn displays; 4DT guidance algorithms; synthetic and enhanced vision technologies; and terminal maneuvering area traffic conflict detection and alerting systems. This work is critical to ensure that the flight deck interface technologies and the role of the human participants can support the full realization of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and its novel operating concepts.

Warfighting Concepts to Future Weapon System Designs (WARCON)

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-12

34* Software design documents rise to litigation. "* A Material List "Cost information that may support, or may * Final Engineering Process Maps be...document may include design the system as derived from the engineering design, software development, SRD. MTS Technologies, Inc. 26 FOR OFFICIAL USE...document, early in the development phase. It is software engineers produce the vision of important to establish a standard, formal the design effort. As

A new concept of imaging system: telescope windows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourgenot, Cyril; Cowie, Euan; Young, Laura; Love, Gordon; Girkin, John; Courtial, Johannes

2018-02-01

A Telescope window is a novel concept of transformation-optics consisting of an array of micro-telescopes, in our configuration, of a Galilean type. When the array is considered as one multifaceted device, it acts as a traditional Galilean telescope with distinctive and attractive properties such as compactness and modularity. Each lenslet, can in principle, be independently designed for a specific optical function. In this paper, we report on the design, manufacture and prototyping, by diamond precision machining, of 2 concepts of telescope windows, and discuss both their performances and limitations with a view to use them as potential low vision aid devices to support patients with macular degeneration.

The importance of utility systems in today's biorefineries and a vision for tomorrow.

PubMed

Eggeman, Tim; Verser, Dan

2006-01-01

Heat and power systems commonly found in today's corn processing facilities, sugar mills, and pulp and paper mills will be reviewed. We will also examine concepts for biorefineries of the future. We will show that energy ratio, defined as the ratio of renewable energy produced divided by the fossil energy input, can vary widely from near unity to values greater than 12. Renewable-based utility systems combined with low-fossil input agricultural systems lead to high-energy ratios.

A Low-Power High-Speed Smart Sensor Design for Space Exploration Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fang, Wai-Chi

1997-01-01

A low-power high-speed smart sensor system based on a large format active pixel sensor (APS) integrated with a programmable neural processor for space exploration missions is presented. The concept of building an advanced smart sensing system is demonstrated by a system-level microchip design that is composed with an APS sensor, a programmable neural processor, and an embedded microprocessor in a SOI CMOS technology. This ultra-fast smart sensor system-on-a-chip design mimics what is inherent in biological vision systems. Moreover, it is programmable and capable of performing ultra-fast machine vision processing in all levels such as image acquisition, image fusion, image analysis, scene interpretation, and control functions. The system provides about one tera-operation-per-second computing power which is a two order-of-magnitude increase over that of state-of-the-art microcomputers. Its high performance is due to massively parallel computing structures, high data throughput rates, fast learning capabilities, and advanced VLSI system-on-a-chip implementation.

Synthetic Vision Enhanced Surface Operations and Flight Procedures Rehearsal Tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.

2006-01-01

Limited visibility has been cited as predominant causal factor for both Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain (CFIT) and runway incursion accidents. NASA is conducting research and development of Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) technologies which may potentially mitigate low visibility conditions as a causal factor to these accidents while replicating the operational benefits of clear day flight operations, regardless of the actual outside visibility condition. Two experimental evaluation studies were performed to determine the efficacy of two concepts: 1) head-worn display application of SVS technology to enhance transport aircraft surface operations, and 2) three-dimensional SVS electronic flight bag display concept for flight plan preview, mission rehearsal and controller-pilot data link communications interface of flight procedures. In the surface operation study, pilots evaluated two display devices and four display modes during taxi under unlimited and CAT II visibility conditions. In the mission rehearsal study, pilots flew approaches and departures in an operationally-challenged airport environment, including CFIT scenarios. Performance using the SVS concepts was compared to traditional baseline displays with paper charts only or EFB information. In general, the studies evince the significant situation awareness and enhanced operational capabilities afforded from these advanced SVS display concepts. The experimental results and conclusions from these studies are discussed along with future directions.

Modelling Subjectivity in Visual Perception of Orientation for Image Retrieval.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, D.; Chamorro-Martinez, J.; Vila, M. A.

2003-01-01

Discussion of multimedia libraries and the need for storage, indexing, and retrieval techniques focuses on the combination of computer vision and data mining techniques to model high-level concepts for image retrieval based on perceptual features of the human visual system. Uses fuzzy set theory to measure users' assessments and to capture users'…

Access and Retention in French Higher Education: Student Drop-Out as a Form of Regulation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodin, Romuald; Orange, Sophie

2018-01-01

Drawing on Bourdieu's theory and using Durkheim's concepts of "social fact" and "regulation", this article examines the place held by public universities within the French higher education (HE) system, breaking with the purely bureaucratic vision prevailing in France today. By setting aside some of the main received ideas about…

Biological Essentialism and the Tidal Change of Natural Kinds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkins, John S.

2013-01-01

The vision of natural kinds that is most common in the modern philosophy of biology, particularly with respect to the question whether species and other taxa are natural kinds, is based on a revision of the notion by Mill in "A System of Logic." However, there was another conception that Whewell had previously captured well, which taxonomists have…

Conceptual Design Standards for eXternal Visibility System (XVS) Sensor and Display Resolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Wilz, Susan J.; Arthur, Jarvis J, III

2012-01-01

NASA is investigating eXternal Visibility Systems (XVS) concepts which are a combination of sensor and display technologies designed to achieve an equivalent level of safety and performance to that provided by forward-facing windows in today s subsonic aircraft. This report provides the background for conceptual XVS design standards for display and sensor resolution. XVS resolution requirements were derived from the basis of equivalent performance. Three measures were investigated: a) human vision performance; b) see-and-avoid performance and safety; and c) see-to-follow performance. From these three factors, a minimum but perhaps not sufficient resolution requirement of 60 pixels per degree was shown for human vision equivalence. However, see-and-avoid and see-to-follow performance requirements are nearly double. This report also reviewed historical XVS testing.

Teacher Educators' Visions of Pedagogical Training within Instrumental Higher Music Education. A Case in Finland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juntunen, Marja-Leena

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the visions of teacher educators of instrumental pedagogy (n = 12) in higher music education regarding "good" teaching and instrumental student teacher preparation. The theoretical basis for the study was research on teachers' visions (Hammerness, 2006): teachers' own conceptions of ideal teaching…

Air and Water System (AWS) Design and Technology Selection for the Vision for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Harry; Kliss, Mark

2005-01-01

This paper considers technology selection for the crew air and water recycling systems to be used in long duration human space exploration. The specific objectives are to identify the most probable air and water technologies for the vision for space exploration and to identify the alternate technologies that might be developed. The approach is to conduct a preliminary first cut systems engineering analysis, beginning with the Air and Water System (AWS) requirements and the system mass balance, and then define the functional architecture, review the International Space Station (ISS) technologies, and discuss alternate technologies. The life support requirements for air and water are well known. The results of the mass flow and mass balance analysis help define the system architectural concept. The AWS includes five subsystems: Oxygen Supply, Condensate Purification, Urine Purification, Hygiene Water Purification, and Clothes Wash Purification. AWS technologies have been evaluated in the life support design for ISS node 3, and in earlier space station design studies, in proposals for the upgrade or evolution of the space station, and in studies of potential lunar or Mars missions. The leading candidate technologies for the vision for space exploration are those planned for Node 3 of the ISS. The ISS life support was designed to utilize Space Station Freedom (SSF) hardware to the maximum extent possible. The SSF final technology selection process, criteria, and results are discussed. Would it be cost-effective for the vision for space exploration to develop alternate technology? This paper will examine this and other questions associated with AWS design and technology selection.

A Summary of NASA Architecture Studies Utilizing Fission Surface Power Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mason, Lee; Poston, Dave

2010-01-01

Beginning with the Exploration Systems Architecture Study in 2005, NASA has conducted various mission architecture studies to evaluate implementation options for the U.S. Space Policy (formerly the Vision for Space Exploration). Several of the studies examined the use of Fission Surface Power (FSP) systems for human missions to the lunar and Martian surface. This paper summarizes the FSP concepts developed under four different NASA-sponsored architecture studies: Lunar Architecture Team, Mars Architecture Team, Lunar Surface Systems/Constellation Architecture team, and International Architecture Working Group-Power Function team. The results include a summary of FSP design characteristics, a compilation of mission-compatible FSP configuration options, and an FSP concept-of-operations that is consistent with the overall mission objectives.

Enhanced Flight Vision Systems Operational Feasibility Study Using Radar and Infrared Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Etherington, Timothy J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Severance, Kurt; Bailey, Randall E.; Williams, Steven P.; Harrison, Stephanie J.

2015-01-01

Approach and landing operations during periods of reduced visibility have plagued aircraft pilots since the beginning of aviation. Although techniques are currently available to mitigate some of the visibility conditions, these operations are still ultimately limited by the pilot's ability to "see" required visual landing references (e.g., markings and/or lights of threshold and touchdown zone) and require significant and costly ground infrastructure. Certified Enhanced Flight Vision Systems (EFVS) have shown promise to lift the obscuration veil. They allow the pilot to operate with enhanced vision, in lieu of natural vision, in the visual segment to enable equivalent visual operations (EVO). An aviation standards document was developed with industry and government consensus for using an EFVS for approach, landing, and rollout to a safe taxi speed in visibilities as low as 300 feet runway visual range (RVR). These new standards establish performance, integrity, availability, and safety requirements to operate in this regime without reliance on a pilot's or flight crew's natural vision by use of a fail-operational EFVS. A pilot-in-the-loop high-fidelity motion simulation study was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center to evaluate the operational feasibility, pilot workload, and pilot acceptability of conducting straight-in instrument approaches with published vertical guidance to landing, touchdown, and rollout to a safe taxi speed in visibility as low as 300 feet RVR by use of vision system technologies on a head-up display (HUD) without need or reliance on natural vision. Twelve crews flew various landing and departure scenarios in 1800, 1000, 700, and 300 RVR. This paper details the non-normal results of the study including objective and subjective measures of performance and acceptability. The study validated the operational feasibility of approach and departure operations and success was independent of visibility conditions. Failures were handled within the lateral confines of the runway for all conditions tested. The fail-operational concept with pilot in the loop needs further study.

Computer graphics testbed to simulate and test vision systems for space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheatham, John B.

1991-01-01

Artificial intelligence concepts are applied to robotics. Artificial neural networks, expert systems and laser imaging techniques for autonomous space robots are being studied. A computer graphics laser range finder simulator developed by Wu has been used by Weiland and Norwood to study use of artificial neural networks for path planning and obstacle avoidance. Interest is expressed in applications of CLIPS, NETS, and Fuzzy Control. These applications are applied to robot navigation.

Integration of a 3D perspective view in the navigation display: featuring pilot's mental model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebrecht, L.; Schmerwitz, S.

2015-05-01

Synthetic vision systems (SVS) appear as spreading technology in the avionic domain. Several studies prove enhanced situational awareness when using synthetic vision. Since the introduction of synthetic vision a steady change and evolution started concerning the primary flight display (PFD) and the navigation display (ND). The main improvements of the ND comprise the representation of colored ground proximity warning systems (EGPWS), weather radar, and TCAS information. Synthetic vision seems to offer high potential to further enhance cockpit display systems. Especially, concerning the current trend having a 3D perspective view in a SVS-PFD while leaving the navigational content as well as methods of interaction unchanged the question arouses if and how the gap between both displays might evolve to a serious problem. This issue becomes important in relation to the transition and combination of strategic and tactical flight guidance. Hence, pros and cons of 2D and 3D views generally as well as the gap between the egocentric perspective 3D view of the PFD and the exocentric 2D top and side view of the ND will be discussed. Further a concept for the integration of a 3D perspective view, i.e., bird's eye view, in synthetic vision ND will be presented. The combination of 2D and 3D views in the ND enables a better correlation of the ND and the PFD. Additionally, this supports the building of pilot's mental model. The authors believe it will improve the situational and spatial awareness. It might prove to further raise the safety margin when operating in mountainous areas.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home Neighbor: A Critical Concept for a Redesigned Healthcare Delivery System

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-25

Sharing Knowledge: Achieving Breakthrough Performance 2010 Military Health System Conference The Patient -Centered Medical Home Neighbor: A Critical...DATE 25 JAN 2011 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED 00-00-2011 to 00-00-2011 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Patient -Centered Medical Home Neighbor: A...Conference What is the Patient -Centered Medical Home?  …a vision of health care as it should be  …a framework for organizing systems of care at both the

Revolutionary Propulsion Systems for 21st Century Aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sehra, Arun K.; Shin, Jaiwon

2003-01-01

The air transportation for the new millennium will require revolutionary solutions to meeting public demand for improving safety, reliability, environmental compatibility, and affordability. NASA's vision for 21st Century Aircraft is to develop propulsion systems that are intelligent, virtually inaudible (outside the airport boundaries), and have near zero harmful emissions (CO2 and Knox). This vision includes intelligent engines that will be capable of adapting to changing internal and external conditions to optimally accomplish the mission with minimal human intervention. The distributed vectored propulsion will replace two to four wing mounted or fuselage mounted engines by a large number of small, mini, or micro engines, and the electric drive propulsion based on fuel cell power will generate electric power, which in turn will drive propulsors to produce the desired thrust. Such a system will completely eliminate the harmful emissions. This paper reviews future propulsion and power concepts that are currently under development at NASA Glenn Research Center.

Synthetic Vision System Commercial Aircraft Flight Deck Display Technologies for Unusual Attitude Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Ellis, Kyle E.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Nicholas, Stephanie N.; Kiggins, Daniel

2017-01-01

A Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) study of 18 worldwide loss-of-control accidents and incidents determined that the lack of external visual references was associated with a flight crew's loss of attitude awareness or energy state awareness in 17 of these events. Therefore, CAST recommended development and implementation of virtual day-Visual Meteorological Condition (VMC) display systems, such as synthetic vision systems, which can promote flight crew attitude awareness similar to a day-VMC environment. This paper describes the results of a high-fidelity, large transport aircraft simulation experiment that evaluated virtual day-VMC displays and a "background attitude indicator" concept as an aid to pilots in recovery from unusual attitudes. Twelve commercial airline pilots performed multiple unusual attitude recoveries and both quantitative and qualitative dependent measures were collected. Experimental results and future research directions under this CAST initiative and the NASA "Technologies for Airplane State Awareness" research project are described.

Flight Test Comparison of Synthetic Vision Display Concepts at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glaab, Louis J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Arthur, Trey; Parrish, Russell V.; Barry, John S.

2003-01-01

Limited visibility is the single most critical factor affecting the safety and capacity of worldwide aviation operations. Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) technology can solve this visibility problem with a visibility solution. These displays employ computer-generated terrain imagery to present 3D, perspective out-the-window scenes with sufficient information and realism to enable operations equivalent to those of a bright, clear day, regardless of weather conditions. To introduce SVS display technology into as many existing aircraft as possible, a retrofit approach was defined that employs existing HDD display capabilities for glass cockpits and HUD capabilities for the other aircraft. This retrofit approach was evaluated for typical nighttime airline operations at a major international airport. Overall, 6 evaluation pilots performed 75 research approaches, accumulating 18 hours flight time evaluating SVS display concepts that used the NASA LaRC's Boeing B-757-200 aircraft at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Results from this flight test establish the SVS retrofit concept, regardless of display size, as viable for tested conditions. Future assessments need to extend evaluation of the approach to operations in an appropriate, terrain-challenged environment with daytime test conditions.

Quantum vision in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roth, Yehuda

We present four models for describing a 3-D vision. Similar to the mirror scenario, our models allow 3-D vision with no need for additional accessories such as stereoscopic glasses or a hologram film. These four models are based on brain interpretation rather than pure objective encryption. We consider the observer "subjective" selection of a measuring device and the corresponding quantum collapse into one of his selected states, as a tool for interpreting reality in according to the observer concepts. This is the basic concept of our study and it is introduced in the first model. Other models suggests "soften" versions that might be much easier to implement. Our quantum interpretation approach contribute to the following fields. In technology the proposed models can be implemented into real devices, allowing 3-D vision without additional accessories. Artificial intelligence: In the desire to create a machine that exchange information by using human terminologies, our interpretation approach seems to be appropriate.

Augmented reality with image registration, vision correction and sunlight readability via liquid crystal devices.

PubMed

Wang, Yu-Jen; Chen, Po-Ju; Liang, Xiao; Lin, Yi-Hsin

2017-03-27

Augmented reality (AR), which use computer-aided projected information to augment our sense, has important impact on human life, especially for the elder people. However, there are three major challenges regarding the optical system in the AR system, which are registration, vision correction, and readability under strong ambient light. Here, we solve three challenges simultaneously for the first time using two liquid crystal (LC) lenses and polarizer-free attenuator integrated in optical-see-through AR system. One of the LC lens is used to electrically adjust the position of the projected virtual image which is so-called registration. The other LC lens with larger aperture and polarization independent characteristic is in charge of vision correction, such as myopia and presbyopia. The linearity of lens powers of two LC lenses is also discussed. The readability of virtual images under strong ambient light is solved by electrically switchable transmittance of the LC attenuator originating from light scattering and light absorption. The concept demonstrated in this paper could be further extended to other electro-optical devices as long as the devices exhibit the capability of phase modulations and amplitude modulations.

Recent progress in millimeter-wave sensor system capabilities for enhanced (synthetic) vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellemann, Karlheinz; Zachai, Reinhard

1999-07-01

Weather- and daylight independent operation of modern traffic systems is strongly required for an optimized and economic availability. Mainly helicopters, small aircraft and military transport aircraft operating frequently close to the ground have a need for effective and cost-effective Enhanced Vision sensors. The technical progress in sensor technology and processing speed offer today the possibility for new concepts to be realized. Derived from this background the paper reports on the improvements which are under development within the HiVision program at DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. A sensor demonstrator based on FMCW radar technology with high information update-rate and operating in the mm-wave band, has been up-graded to improve performance and fitted to fly on an experimental base. The results achieved so far demonstrate the capability to produce a weather independent enhanced vision. In addition the demonstrator has been tested on board a high- speed ferry at the Baltic sea, because fast vessels have a similar need for weather-independent operation and anti- collision measures. In the future one sensor type may serve both 'worlds' and help ease and save traffic. The described demonstrator fills up the technology gap between optical sensors (Infrared) and standard pulse radars with its specific features such as high speed scanning and weather penetration with the additional benefit of cost-effectiveness.

Libration Point Navigation Concepts Supporting the Vision for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, J. Russell; Folta, David C.; Moreau, Michael C.; Quinn, David A.

2004-01-01

This work examines the autonomous navigation accuracy achievable for a lunar exploration trajectory from a translunar libration point lunar navigation relay satellite, augmented by signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS). We also provide a brief analysis comparing the libration point relay to lunar orbit relay architectures, and discuss some issues of GPS usage for cis-lunar trajectories.

From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom: Hopeful Essays for 21st Century Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prensky, Marc

2012-01-01

What can you learn on a cell phone? Almost anything! How does that concept fit with our traditional system of education? It doesn't. Best-selling author and futurist Marc Prensky's book of essays challenges educators to "reboot" and make the changes necessary to prepare students for 21st century careers. His "bottom-up" vision is based on…

Can Effective Synthetic Vision System Displays be Implemented on Limited Size Display Spaces?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comstock, J. Raymond, Jr.; Glaab, Lou J.; Prinzel, Lance J.; Elliott, Dawn M.

2004-01-01

The Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) element of the NASA Aviation Safety Program is striving to eliminate poor visibility as a causal factor in aircraft accidents, and to enhance operational capabilities of all types or aircraft. To accomplish these safety and situation awareness improvements, the SVS concepts are designed to provide a clear view of the world ahead through the display of computer generated imagery derived from an onboard database of terrain, obstacle and airport information. An important issue for the SVS concept is whether useful and effective Synthetic Vision System (SVS) displays can be implemented on limited size display spaces as would be required to implement this technology on older aircraft with physically smaller instrument spaces. In this study, prototype SVS displays were put on the following display sizes: (a) size "A' (e.g. 757 EADI), (b) form factor "D" (e.g. 777 PFD), and (c) new size "X" (Rectangular flat-panel, approximately 20 x 25 cm). Testing was conducted in a high-resolution graphics simulation facility at NASA Langley Research Center. Specific issues under test included the display size as noted above, the field-of-view (FOV) to be shown on the display and directly related to FOV is the degree of minification of the displayed image or picture. Using simulated approaches with display size and FOV conditions held constant no significant differences by these factors were found. Preferred FOV based on performance was determined by using approaches during which pilots could select FOV. Mean preference ratings for FOV were in the following order: (1) 30 deg., (2) Unity, (3) 60 deg., and (4) 90 deg., and held true for all display sizes tested. Limitations of the present study and future research directions are discussed.

Photonics and bioinspiration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Keith

2014-10-01

Biological systems exploiting light have benefitted from thousands of years of genetic evolution and can provide insight to support the development of new approaches for imaging, image processing and communication. For example, biological vision systems can provide significant diversity, yet are able to function with only a minimal degree of neural processing. Examples will be described underlying the processes used to support the development of new concepts for photonic systems, ranging from uncooled bolometers and tunable filters, to asymmetric free-space optical communication systems and new forms of camera capable of simultaneously providing spectral and polarimetric diversity.

Novel Propulsion and Power Concepts for 21st Century Aviation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sehra, Arun K.

2003-01-01

The air transportation for the new millennium will require revolutionary solutions to meeting public demand for improving safety, reliability, environmental compatibility, and affordability. NASA s vision for 21st Century Aircraft is to develop propulsion systems that are intelligent, virtually inaudible (outside the airport boundaries), and have near zero harmful emissions (CO2 and NO(x)). This vision includes intelligent engines that will be capable of adapting to changing internal and external conditions to optimally accomplish the mission with minimal human intervention. The distributed vectored propulsion will replace two to four wing mounted or fuselage mounted engines by a large number of small, mini, or micro engines. And the electric drive propulsion based on fuel cell power will generate electric power, which in turn will drive propulsors to produce the desired thrust. Such a system will completely eliminate the harmful emissions.

Civil use of night vision goggles within the National Airspace System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkel, James G.; Faber, Lorelei

2001-08-01

When properly employed, Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) improve a pilot's ability to see during periods of darkness. The resultant enhancement in situational awareness achieved when using NVGs, increases light safety during night VFR operations. FAA is constrained with a lack of requisite regulatory and guidance infrastructure to adequately facilitate the civil request for use in NVGs within the National Airspace System (NAS) Appliances and Equipment, is formed and tasked to develop: operational concept and operational requirements for NVG implementation into the NAS, minimum operational performance standards for NVGs, and training guidelines and considerations for NVG operations. This paper provides a historical perspective on use of NVGs within the NAS, the status of SC-196 work in progress, FAA integration of SC-196 committee products and the harmonization effort between EUROCAEs NVG committee and SC- 196.

Two-Phase Flow Technology Developed and Demonstrated for the Vision for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sankovic, John M.; McQuillen, John B.; Lekan, Jack F.

2005-01-01

NASA s vision for exploration will once again expand the bounds of human presence in the universe with planned missions to the Moon and Mars. To attain the numerous goals of this vision, NASA will need to develop technologies in several areas, including advanced power-generation and thermal-control systems for spacecraft and life support. The development of these systems will have to be demonstrated prior to implementation to ensure safe and reliable operation in reduced-gravity environments. The Two-Phase Flow Facility (T(PHI) FFy) Project will provide the path to these enabling technologies for critical multiphase fluid products. The safety and reliability of future systems will be enhanced by addressing focused microgravity fluid physics issues associated with flow boiling, condensation, phase separation, and system stability, all of which are essential to exploration technology. The project--a multiyear effort initiated in 2004--will include concept development, normal-gravity testing (laboratories), reduced gravity aircraft flight campaigns (NASA s KC-135 and C-9 aircraft), space-flight experimentation (International Space Station), and model development. This project will be implemented by a team from the NASA Glenn Research Center, QSS Group, Inc., ZIN Technologies, Inc., and the Extramural Strategic Research Team composed of experts from academia.

77 FR 16890 - Eighteenth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Visions Systems/Synthetic Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-22

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Visions Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... 213, Enhanced Flight Visions Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing... Flight Visions Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held April 17-19...

78 FR 5557 - Twenty-First Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-25

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing..., Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held...

77 FR 56254 - Twentieth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-12

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing... Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held October 2-4...

Vision Guided Intelligent Robot Design And Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slutzky, G. D.; Hall, E. L.

1988-02-01

The concept of an intelligent robot is an important topic combining sensors, manipulators, and artificial intelligence to design a useful machine. Vision systems, tactile sensors, proximity switches and other sensors provide the elements necessary for simple game playing as well as industrial applications. These sensors permit adaption to a changing environment. The AI techniques permit advanced forms of decision making, adaptive responses, and learning while the manipulator provides the ability to perform various tasks. Computer languages such as LISP and OPS5, have been utilized to achieve expert systems approaches in solving real world problems. The purpose of this paper is to describe several examples of visually guided intelligent robots including both stationary and mobile robots. Demonstrations will be presented of a system for constructing and solving a popular peg game, a robot lawn mower, and a box stacking robot. The experience gained from these and other systems provide insight into what may be realistically expected from the next generation of intelligent machines.

The ODINUS Mission Concept: a Mission for the exploration the Ice Giant Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peron, Roberto

We present the scientific case and the mission concept of a proposal for the the comparative exploration of the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune and their satellites with a pair of twin spacecraft: ODINUS (Origins, Dynamics and Interiors of Neptunian and Uranian Systems). The ODINUS proposal was submitted in response to the call for white papers for the definition of the themes of the L2 and L3 mission in the framework of ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. The goal of ODINUS is the advancement of our understanding of the ancient past of the Solar System and, more generally, of how planetary systems form and evolve. The mission concept is focused on providing elements to answer to the scientific themes of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program: What are the conditions for planetary formation and the emergency of life? How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental physical laws of the Universe? In order to achieve its goals, ODINUS foresees the use of two twin spacecraft to be placed in orbit around Uranus and Neptune respectively, with selected flybys of their satellites. The proposed measurements aim to study the atmospheres and magnetospheres of the planets, the surfaces of the satellites, and the interior structure and composition of both satellites and planets. An important possibility for performing fundamental physics studies (among them tests of general relativity theory) is offered by the cruise phase. After the extremely positive evaluation of ESA Senior Survey Committee, who stated that ``the exploration of the icy giants appears to be a timely milestone, fully appropriate for an L class mission'', we discuss strategies to comparatively study Uranus and Neptune with future international missions.

[Georg Schlöndorff-the father of computer-assisted surgery].

PubMed

Mösges, R

2016-09-01

Georg Schlöndorff (1931-2011) developed the idea of computer-assisted surgery (CAS) during his time as professor and chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Aachen, Germany. In close cooperation with engineers and physicists, he succeeded in translating this concept into a functional prototype that was applied in live surgery in the operating theatre. The first intervention performed with this image-guided navigation system was a skull base surgical procedure 1987. During the following years, this concept was extended to orbital surgery, neurosurgery, mid-facial traumatology, and brachytherapy of solid tumors in the head and neck region. Further technical developments of this first prototype included touchless optical positioning and the computer vision concept with three orthogonal images, which is still common in contemporary navigation systems. During his time as emeritus professor from 1996, Georg Schlöndorff further pursued his concept of CAS by developing technical innovations such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Enhanced and Synthetic Vision for Terminal Maneuvering Area NextGen Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Ellis, Kyle K. E.; Norman, R. Michael; Williams, Steven P.; Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III

2011-01-01

Synthetic Vision Systems and Enhanced Flight Vision System (SVS/EFVS) technologies have the potential to provide additional margins of safety for aircrew performance and enable operational improvements for low visibility operations in the terminal area environment with equivalent efficiency as visual operations. To meet this potential, research is needed for effective technology development and implementation of regulatory and design guidance to support introduction and use of SVS/EFVS advanced cockpit vision technologies in Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) operations. A fixed-base pilot-in-the-loop simulation test was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center that evaluated the use of SVS/EFVS in NextGen low visibility ground (taxi) operations and approach/landing operations. Twelve crews flew approach and landing operations in a simulated NextGen Chicago O Hare environment. Various scenarios tested the potential for EFVS for operations in visibility as low as 1000 ft runway visibility range (RVR) and SVS to enable lower decision heights (DH) than can currently be flown today. Expanding the EFVS visual segment from DH to the runway in visibilities as low as 1000 RVR appears to be viable as touchdown performance was excellent without any workload penalties noted for the EFVS concept tested. A lower DH to 150 ft and/or possibly reduced visibility minima by virtue of SVS equipage appears to be viable when implemented on a Head-Up Display, but the landing data suggests further study for head-down implementations.

[The contribution of systems theory and "existential integrative psychotherapy" to the relationship of the concepts "endogenous", "exogenous", "psychogenic", and "sociogenic" in psychic disorders].

PubMed

Bühler, K E; Wyss, D

1980-01-01

Proof is given that the "atomistic" concepts of sickness lead to insolvable contradictions of methodic and logic origin. In this study these contradictions are exemplified and critically analysed, and historical aspects are included. We then propose the dimensions "Interior--Exterior" and "Psychogenous--Somatogeneous" as an heuristic model, dimensions on which any sickness is to be located according to its basic causes. The General System Theory had developed a new formal concept of sickness based on a relatively complete and integral vision of the human being. Nevertheless, the constructs of the General System Theory remain incomplete as they include only objects and their relations, never individual subjects. Wyss however has established explicitely an anthropology of the subject which he connects with his communication orientated concept of sickness. This concept does not judge sickness to be contradictory to health, but both, sickness and health together, form a functional whole on a higher level of abstraction. On this level the organism and its functions, the "interior", represent an inherent component of the "exterior". "Interior" and "exterior"--differentiated in various items--attempt to establish an equilibrium that is always in danger of being desquilibrized.

Simulation Based Acquisition for NASA's Office of Exploration Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hale, Joe

2004-01-01

In January 2004, President George W. Bush unveiled his vision for NASA to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program. This vision includes the goal to extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to the Moon no later than 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations. In response to this vision, NASA has created the Office of Exploration Systems (OExS) to develop the innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures to explore and support decisions about human exploration destinations, including the development of a new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Within the OExS organization, NASA is implementing Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA), a robust Modeling & Simulation (M&S) environment integrated across all acquisition phases and programs/teams, to make the realization of the President s vision more certain. Executed properly, SBA will foster better informed, timelier, and more defensible decisions throughout the acquisition life cycle. By doing so, SBA will improve the quality of NASA systems and speed their development, at less cost and risk than would otherwise be the case. SBA is a comprehensive, Enterprise-wide endeavor that necessitates an evolved culture, a revised spiral acquisition process, and an infrastructure of advanced Information Technology (IT) capabilities. SBA encompasses all project phases (from requirements analysis and concept formulation through design, manufacture, training, and operations), professional disciplines, and activities that can benefit from employing SBA capabilities. SBA capabilities include: developing and assessing system concepts and designs; planning manufacturing, assembly, transport, and launch; training crews, maintainers, launch personnel, and controllers; planning and monitoring missions; responding to emergencies by evaluating effects and exploring solutions; and communicating across the OExS enterprise, within the Government, and with the general public. The SBA process features empowered collaborative teams (including industry partners) to integrate requirements, acquisition, training, operations, and sustainment. The SBA process also utilizes an increased reliance on and investment in M&S to reduce design risk. SBA originated as a joint Industry and Department of Defense (DoD) initiative to define and integrate an acquisition process that employs robust, collaborative use of M&S technology across acquisition phases and programs. The SBA process was successfully implemented in the Air Force s Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program.

Control electronics for a multi-laser/multi-detector scanning system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kennedy, W.

1980-01-01

The Mars Rover Laser Scanning system uses a precision laser pointing mechanism, a photodetector array, and the concept of triangulation to perform three dimensional scene analysis. The system is used for real time terrain sensing and vision. The Multi-Laser/Multi-Detector laser scanning system is controlled by a digital device called the ML/MD controller. A next generation laser scanning system, based on the Level 2 controller, is microprocessor based. The new controller capabilities far exceed those of the ML/MD device. The first draft circuit details and general software structure are presented.

78 FR 16756 - Twenty-Second Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-18

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing..., Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held April...

78 FR 55774 - Twenty Fourth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-11

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation... 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing..., Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held October...

75 FR 17202 - Eighth Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-05

... Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY...-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing...: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will be held April...

75 FR 44306 - Eleventh Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-28

... Committee 213: EUROCAE WG- 79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY... Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS... 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The...

75 FR 71183 - Twelfth Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-22

... Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY... Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY...: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). DATES: The meeting will...

Beyond speculative robot ethics: a vision assessment study on the future of the robotic caretaker.

PubMed

van der Plas, Arjanna; Smits, Martijntje; Wehrmann, Caroline

2010-11-01

In this article we develop a dialogue model for robot technology experts and designated users to discuss visions on the future of robotics in long-term care. Our vision assessment study aims for more distinguished and more informed visions on future robots. Surprisingly, our experiment also led to some promising co-designed robot concepts in which jointly articulated moral guidelines are embedded. With our model, we think to have designed an interesting response on a recent call for a less speculative ethics of technology by encouraging discussions about the quality of positive and negative visions on the future of robotics.

Efficient mission control for the 48-satellite Globalstar Constellation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Dan

1994-01-01

The Globalstar system is being developed by Globalstar, Limited Partnership and will utilize 48 satellites in low earth orbit (See Figure 1) to create a world-wide mobile communications system consistent with Vice President Gore's vision of a Global Information Infrastructure. As a large long term commercial system developed by a newly formed organization, Globalstar provides an excellent opportunity to explore innovative solutions for highly efficient satellite command and control. Design and operational concepts being developed are unencumbered by existing physical and organizational infrastructures. This program really is 'starting with a clean sheet of paper'. Globalstar operations challenges can appear enormous. Clearly, assigning even a single person around the clock to monitor and control each satellite is excessive for Globalstar (it would require a staff of 200! . Even with only a single contact per orbit per satellite, data acquisitions will start or stop every 45 seconds! Although essentially identical, over time the satellites will develop their own 'personalities'and will re quire different data calibrations and levels of support. This paper discusses the Globalstar system and challenges and presents engineering concepts, system design decisions, and operations concepts which address the combined needs and concerns of satellite, ground system, and operations teams. Lessons from past missions have been applied, organizational barriers broken, partnerships formed across the mission segments, and new operations concepts developed for satellite constellation management. Control center requirements were then developed from the operations concepts.

76 FR 11847 - Thirteenth Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-03

... Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG- 79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS... Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems... Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS...

76 FR 20437 - Fourteenth Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-12

... Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG- 79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS... Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems... Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS...

High End Computing Technologies for Earth Science Applications: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parks, John (Technical Monitor); Biswas, Rupak; Yan, Jerry C.; Brooks, Walter F.; Sterling, Thomas L.

2003-01-01

Earth science applications of the future will stress the capabilities of even the highest performance supercomputers in the areas of raw compute power, mass storage management, and software environments. These NASA mission critical problems demand usable multi-petaflops and exabyte-scale systems to fully realize their science goals. With an exciting vision of the technologies needed, NASA has established a comprehensive program of advanced research in computer architecture, software tools, and device technology to ensure that, in partnership with US industry, it can meet these demanding requirements with reliable, cost effective, and usable ultra-scale systems. NASA will exploit, explore, and influence emerging high end computing architectures and technologies to accelerate the next generation of engineering, operations, and discovery processes for NASA Enterprises. This article captures this vision and describes the concepts, accomplishments, and the potential payoff of the key thrusts that will help meet the computational challenges in Earth science applications.

How do plants see the world? - UV imaging with a TiO2 nanowire array by artificial photosynthesis.

PubMed

Kang, Ji-Hoon; Leportier, Thibault; Park, Min-Chul; Han, Sung Gyu; Song, Jin-Dong; Ju, Hyunsu; Hwang, Yun Jeong; Ju, Byeong-Kwon; Poon, Ting-Chung

2018-05-10

The concept of plant vision refers to the fact that plants are receptive to their visual environment, although the mechanism involved is quite distinct from the human visual system. The mechanism in plants is not well understood and has yet to be fully investigated. In this work, we have exploited the properties of TiO2 nanowires as a UV sensor to simulate the phenomenon of photosynthesis in order to come one step closer to understanding how plants see the world. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first approach to emulate and depict plant vision. We have emulated the visual map perceived by plants with a single-pixel imaging system combined with a mechanical scanner. The image acquisition has been demonstrated for several electrolyte environments, in both transmissive and reflective configurations, in order to explore the different conditions in which plants perceive light.

Deep-Space Optical Communications: Visions, Trends, and Prospects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cesarone, R. J.; Abraham, D. S.; Shambayati, S.; Rush, J.

2011-01-01

Current key initiatives in deep-space optical communications are treated in terms of historical context, contemporary trends, and prospects for the future. An architectural perspective focusing on high-level drivers, systems, and related operations concepts is provided. Detailed subsystem and component topics are not addressed. A brief overview of past ideas and architectural concepts sets the stage for current developments. Current requirements that might drive a transition from radio frequencies to optical communications are examined. These drivers include mission demand for data rates and/or data volumes; spectrum to accommodate such data rates; and desired power, mass, and cost benefits. As is typical, benefits come with associated challenges. For optical communications, these include atmospheric effects, link availability, pointing, and background light. The paper describes how NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Office will respond to the drivers, achieve the benefits, and mitigate the challenges, as documented in its Optical Communications Roadmap. Some nontraditional architectures and operations concepts are advanced in an effort to realize benefits and mitigate challenges as quickly as possible. Radio frequency communications is considered as both a competitor to and a partner with optical communications. The paper concludes with some suggestions for two affordable first steps that can yet evolve into capable architectures that will fulfill the vision inherent in optical communications.

Advances in stereomicroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnitzler, H.; Zimmer, Klaus-Peter

2008-09-01

Similar to human's binocular vision, stereomicroscopes are comprised of two optical paths under a convergence angle providing a full perspective insight into the world's microstructure. The numerical aperture of stereomicroscopes has continuously increased over the years, reaching the point where the lenses of left and right perspective paths touched each other. This constraint appeared as an upper limit for the resolution of stereomicroscopes, as the resolution of a stereomicroscope was deduced from the numerical apertures of the two equally sized perspective channels. We present the optical design and advances in resolution of the world's first asymmetrical stereomicroscope, which is a technological breakthrough in many aspects of stereomicroscopes. This unique approach uses a large numerical aperture and thus an, so far, unachievable high lateral resolution in the one path, and a small aperture in the other path, which provides a high depth of field ("Fusion Optics"). This new concept is a technical challenge for the optical design of the zoom system as well as for the common main objectives. Furthermore, the new concept makes use of the particular way in which perspective information by binocular vision is formed in the human's brain. In conjunction with a research project at the University of Zurich, Leica Microsystems consolidated the functionality of this concept in to a new generation of stereomicroscopes.

Design Environment for Novel Vertical Lift Vehicles: DELIVER

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Theodore, Colin

2016-01-01

This is a 20 minute presentation discussing the DELIVER vision. DELIVER is part of the ARMD Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program, particularly the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project. The presentation covers the DELIVER vision, transforming markets, conceptual design process, challenges addressed, technical content, and FY2016 key activities.

Network Randomization and Dynamic Defense for Critical Infrastructure Systems

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

Chavez, Adrian R.; Martin, Mitchell Tyler; Hamlet, Jason

2015-04-01

Critical Infrastructure control systems continue to foster predictable communication paths, static configurations, and unpatched systems that allow easy access to our nation's most critical assets. This makes them attractive targets for cyber intrusion. We seek to address these attack vectors by automatically randomizing network settings, randomizing applications on the end devices themselves, and dynamically defending these systems against active attacks. Applying these protective measures will convert control systems into moving targets that proactively defend themselves against attack. Sandia National Laboratories has led this effort by gathering operational and technical requirements from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and performing research and developmentmore » to create a proof-of-concept solution. Our proof-of-concept has been tested in a laboratory environment with over 300 nodes. The vision of this project is to enhance control system security by converting existing control systems into moving targets and building these security measures into future systems while meeting the unique constraints that control systems face.« less

Accurate Natural Trail Detection Using a Combination of a Deep Neural Network and Dynamic Programming.

PubMed

Adhikari, Shyam Prasad; Yang, Changju; Slot, Krzysztof; Kim, Hyongsuk

2018-01-10

This paper presents a vision sensor-based solution to the challenging problem of detecting and following trails in highly unstructured natural environments like forests, rural areas and mountains, using a combination of a deep neural network and dynamic programming. The deep neural network (DNN) concept has recently emerged as a very effective tool for processing vision sensor signals. A patch-based DNN is trained with supervised data to classify fixed-size image patches into "trail" and "non-trail" categories, and reshaped to a fully convolutional architecture to produce trail segmentation map for arbitrary-sized input images. As trail and non-trail patches do not exhibit clearly defined shapes or forms, the patch-based classifier is prone to misclassification, and produces sub-optimal trail segmentation maps. Dynamic programming is introduced to find an optimal trail on the sub-optimal DNN output map. Experimental results showing accurate trail detection for real-world trail datasets captured with a head mounted vision system are presented.

Universe exploration vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Handley, D.; Swan, P.; Sadeh, W.

1992-01-01

U.S. space policy is discussed in terms of present and planned activities in the solar system and beyond to develop a concept for expanding space travel. The history of space exploration is briefly reviewed with references to the Mariner II, Apollo, and Discoverer programs. Attention is given to the issues related to return trips to the moon, sprint vs repetitive missions to Mars, and the implications of propulsion needs. The concept of terraforming other bodies within the solar system so that they can support human activity is identified as the next major phase of exploration. The following phase is considered to be the use of robotic or manned missions that extend beyond the solar system. Reference is given to a proposed Thousand Astronomical Units mission as a precursor to exploratory expansion into the universe, and current robotic mission activities are mentioned.

Runway Incursion Prevention System Testing at the Wallops Flight Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Denise R.

2005-01-01

A Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIPS) integrated with a Synthetic Vision System concept (SVS) was tested at the Reno/Tahoe International Airport (RNO) and Wallops Flight Facility (WAL) in the summer of 2004. RIPS provides enhanced surface situational awareness and alerts of runway conflicts in order to prevent runway incidents while also improving operational capability. A series of test runs was conducted using a Gulfstream-V (G-V) aircraft as the test platform and a NASA test aircraft and a NASA test van as incurring traffic. The purpose of the study, from the RIPS perspective, was to evaluate the RIPS airborne incursion detection algorithms and associated alerting and airport surface display concepts, focusing on crossing runway incursion scenarios. This paper gives an overview of the RIPS, WAL flight test activities, and WAL test results.

Energy from space; Proceedings of the Symposium on Solar Energy from Space, Vienna, Austria, August 9-21, 1982

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, J. W.

Aspects of solar power generation in space are considered. The subjects discussed include: a vision of future energy from space; solar power satellite concept for utilization of energy from space; the institutional challenge of solar power satellites; system study of the solar power satellite concept; market potential and possible limitations for satellite solar power stations; financing a solar power satellite project; and European questions related to satellite power systems. Also addressed are: options and high payoff choices for transportation; an electric propulsion transportation system from low-earth orbit to geostationary orbit utilizing beamed microwave power; the Canadarm robot arm of the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System; an early experimental solar power satellite; power economical considerations for the integration of terrestrial and extraterrestrial solar generators into existing power generation stations; and space solar power in perspective. For individual items see A84-21477 to A84-21489

Horizontal Launch: A Versatile Concept for Assured Space Access

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bartolotta, Paul; Wilhite, Alan W.; Schaffer, Mark; Voland, Randall T.; Huebner, Larry

2011-01-01

The vision of horizontal launch is the capability to provide a mobile launch pad that can use existing aircraft runways, cruise above weather, loiter for mission instructions, and achieve precise placement for orbital intercept, rendezvous, or reconnaissance. Another compelling benefit of horizontal launch is that today s ground-based vertical launch pads are a single earthquake, hurricane, or terrorist attack away from disruption of critical U.S. launch capabilities. The study did not attempt to design a new system concept for horizontal launch, but rather focused on the refinement of many previously-studied horizontal launch concepts. Because of the large number of past horizontal launch studies, a process was developed to narrow the number of concepts through prescreening, screening, and evaluation of point designs. The refinement process was not intended to select the "best" concept, but rather to establish the feasibility of horizontal launch from a balanced assessment of figures of merit and to identify potential concepts that warrant further exploration.

Object-oriented models of cognitive processing.

PubMed

Mather, G

2001-05-01

Information-processing models of vision and cognition are inspired by procedural programming languages. Models that emphasize object-based representations are closely related to object-oriented programming languages. The concepts underlying object-oriented languages provide a theoretical framework for cognitive processing that differs markedly from that offered by procedural languages. This framework is well-suited to a system designed to deal flexibly with discrete objects and unpredictable events in the world.

Byond the reality principle. [The psychology of environmentalism

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

Roszak, T.

The psychology of Freud is combined with the Gaia hypothesis of Lovelock and Margulis to form an ecopsychology. Ecopsychology is committed to understanding people as actors on a planetary stage who shape and are shaped by the biospheric system. Ecopsychology enlarges on Freudian insight to embrace the knowledge of the bond between ourselves and the planet. Within an emerging vision of cosmic wholeness lies a new, ecologically-based conception of sanity.

Introduction: The SERENITY vision

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maña, Antonio; Spanoudakis, George; Kokolakis, Spyros

In this chapter we present an overview of the SERENITY approach. We describe the SERENITY model of secure and dependable applications and show how it addresses the challenge of developing, integrating and dynamically maintaining security and dependability mechanisms in open, dynamic, distributed and heterogeneous computing systems and in particular Ambient Intelligence scenarios. The chapter describes the basic concepts used in the approach and introduces the different processes supported by SERENITY, along with the tools provided.

Flight Simulator Evaluation of Synthetic Vision Display Concepts to Prevent Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Parrish, Russell V.; Bailey, Randall E.

2004-01-01

In commercial aviation, over 30-percent of all fatal accidents worldwide are categorized as Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents, where a fully functioning airplane is inadvertently flown into the ground. The major hypothesis for a simulation experiment conducted at NASA Langley Research Center was that a Primary Flight Display (PFD) with synthetic terrain will improve pilots ability to detect and avoid potential CFITs compared to conventional instrumentation. All display conditions, including the baseline, contained a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) and Vertical Situation Display (VSD) enhanced Navigation Display (ND). Each pilot flew twenty-two approach departure maneuvers in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) to the terrain challenged Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) in Colorado. For the final run, flight guidance cues were altered such that the departure path went into terrain. All pilots with a synthetic vision system (SVS) PFD (twelve of sixteen pilots) noticed and avoided the potential CFIT situation. The four pilots who flew the anomaly with the conventional baseline PFD configuration (which included a TAWS and VSD enhanced ND) had a CFIT event. Additionally, all the SVS display concepts enhanced the pilot s situational awareness, decreased workload and improved flight technical error (FTE) compared to the baseline configuration.

Propulsion and power for 21st century aviation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sehra, Arun K.; Whitlow, Woodrow

2004-05-01

Air transportation in the new millennium will require revolutionary solutions to meet public demand for improving safety, reliability, environmental compatibility, and affordability. NASA's vision for 21st century aircraft is to develop propulsion systems that are intelligent, highly efficient, virtually inaudible (outside airport boundaries), and have near zero harmful emissions (CO 2 and NO x). This vision includes intelligent engines capable of adapting to changing internal and external conditions to optimally accomplish missions with either minimal or no human intervention. Distributed vectored propulsion will replace current two to four wing mounted and fuselage mounted engine configurations with a large number of small, mini, or micro engines. Other innovative concepts, such as the pulse detonation engine (PDE), which potentially can replace conventional gas turbine engines, also are reviewed. It is envisioned that a hydrogen economy will drive the propulsion system revolution towards the ultimate goal of silent aircrafts with zero harmful emissions. Finally, it is envisioned that electric drive propulsion based on fuel cell power will generate electric power, which in turn will drive propulsors to produce the desired thrust. This paper reviews future propulsion and power concepts that are under development at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Historical perspectives of autonomy within the medical profession: considerations for 21st century physical therapy practice.

PubMed

Johnson, Michael P; Abrams, Sandra L

2005-10-01

As a part of the American Physical Therapy Association's (APTA) vision statement, by the year 2020, physical therapists "will hold all privileges of autonomous practice." This vision statement and the ideals held within it are elemental to the direction of our continued growth as a profession. Many members and nonmembers, however, appear confused and perhaps even intimidated by the concept of autonomous practice. This paper will review and discuss the processes used by other health care professions to gain autonomy within the US health care system. In particular, the processes used by physicians, which were extremely effective and have been used as a template by many other health professions, including physical therapy. Further discussion will focus on the physical therapy profession, emphasizing the parallels with medicine and considering many issues relevant to the goal of autonomous practice. By understanding the past and considering the present, readers will develop an appreciation of (1) the foundation for autonomous practice in health care, (2) the vision of the APTA and why the profession is well positioned to achieve this vision, and (3) the factors we need to consider to hold (and maintain) all privileges of autonomous practice.

Georgia Academy for the Blind: Orientation and Mobility Curriculum. Crossroads to Independence.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berner, Catherine L., Comp.; Lindh, Peter D., Comp.

The Georgia Academy for the Blind curriculum guide covers orientation, cane skills, and travel skills. Chapter two, on low vision utilization, includes indoor, outdoor, and night low vision lessons checklists. Chapter three covers postural development and motor coordination. Chapter four, on concept development, covers body image, spatial…

Experiencing the Impact of Organizational Structure on Planning and Visioning Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pennisi, Lisa

2012-01-01

The various ways natural resource agencies and programs are structured and how that impacts leadership style and products is an important concept for students to understand. Leadership style and organizational structure determine visions, missions, goals and objectives that set the tone for organizations. This exercise demonstrates organizational…

Institutional Vision and Academic Advising

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abelman, Robert; Molina, Anthony D.

2006-01-01

Quality academic advising in higher education is the product of a multitude of elements not the least of which is institutional vision. By recognizing and embracing an institution's concept of its capabilities and the kinds of educated human beings it is attempting to cultivate, advisors gain an invaluable apparatus to guide the provision of…

Visions for Children: African American Early Childhood Education Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hale-Benson, Janice

The features of an early childhood education demonstration program, Visions for Children, are delineated in this paper. The program was designed to facilitate the intellectual development, boost the academic achievement, and enhance the self-concepts of African-American preschool children. The program implements a curriculum that focuses on…

enVisionMATH. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2013

2013-01-01

"enVisionMATH," published by Pearson Education, Inc., is a core curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 6. The program seeks to help students develop an understanding of math concepts through problem-based instruction, small-group interaction, and visual learning with a focus on reasoning and modeling. Differentiated…

Design and Testing of an Unlimited Field-of-regard Synthetic Vision Head-worn Display for Commercial Aircraft Surface Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Bailey, Randall E.; Norman, Robert M.

2007-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that a Head-Up Display (HUD) and a head-down, electronic moving map (EMM) can be enhanced with Synthetic Vision for airport surface operations. While great success in ground operations was demonstrated with a HUD, the research noted that two major HUD limitations during ground operations were their monochrome form and limited, fixed field of regard. A potential solution to these limitations found with HUDs may be emerging Head Worn Displays (HWDs). HWDs are small, lightweight full color display devices that may be worn without significant encumbrance to the user. By coupling the HWD with a head tracker, unlimited field-of-regard may be realized for commercial aviation applications. In the proposed paper, the results of two ground simulation experiments conducted at NASA Langley are summarized. The experiments evaluated the efficacy of head-worn display applications of Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision technology to enhance transport aircraft surface operations. The two studies tested a combined six display concepts: (1) paper charts with existing cockpit displays, (2) baseline consisting of existing cockpit displays including a Class III electronic flight bag display of the airport surface; (3) an advanced baseline that also included displayed traffic and routing information, (4) a modified version of a HUD and EMM display demonstrated in previous research; (5) an unlimited field-of-regard, full color, head-tracked HWD with a conformal 3-D synthetic vision surface view; and (6) a fully integrated HWD concept. The fully integrated HWD concept is a head-tracked, color, unlimited field-of-regard concept that provides a 3-D conformal synthetic view of the airport surface integrated with advanced taxi route clearance, taxi precision guidance, and data-link capability. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD provided greater path performance compared to using paper charts alone. Further, when comparing the HWD with the HUD concept, there were no differences in path performance. In addition, the HWD and HUD concepts were rated via paired-comparisons the same in terms of situational awareness and workload. However, there were over twice as many taxi incursion events with the HUD than the HWD.

Preliminary Effect of Synthetic Vision Systems Displays to Reduce Low-Visibility Loss of Control and Controlled Flight Into Terrain Accidents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glaab, Louis J.; Takallu, Mohammad A.

2002-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) flight displays as a means of eliminating Low Visibility Loss of Control (LVLOC) and Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accidents by low time general aviation (GA) pilots. A series of basic maneuvers were performed by 18 subject pilots during transition from Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) to Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), with continued flight into IMC, employing a fixed-based flight simulator. A total of three display concepts were employed for this evaluation. One display concept, referred to as the Attitude Indicator (AI) replicated instrumentation common in today's General Aviation (GA) aircraft. The second display concept, referred to as the Electronic Attitude Indicator (EAI), featured an enlarged attitude indicator that was more representative of a glass display that also included advanced flight symbology, such as a velocity vector. The third concept, referred to as the SVS display, was identical to the EAI except that computer-generated terrain imagery replaced the conventional blue-sky/brown-ground of the EAI. Pilot performance parameters, pilot control inputs and physiological data were recorded for post-test analysis. Situation awareness (SA) and qualitative pilot comments were obtained through questionnaires and free-form interviews administered immediately after the experimental session. Initial pilot performance data were obtained by instructor pilot observations. Physiological data (skin temperature, heart rate, and muscle flexure) were also recorded. Preliminary results indicate that far less errors were committed when using the EAI and SVS displays than when using conventional instruments. The specific data example examined in this report illustrates the benefit from SVS displays to avoid massive loss of SA conditions. All pilots acknowledged the enhanced situation awareness provided by the SVS display concept. Levels of pilot stress appear to be correlated with skin temperature measurements.

A Vision of Improvement of Learning: South African Teachers' Conceptions of Classroom Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sethusha, Mantsose Jane

2013-01-01

This article explored conceptions that teachers hold about classroom assessment and how these conceptions influence their classroom assessment practices. The qualitative study employed a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews, observations and document analyses were used. The study utilized Brown's (2004) conceptual framework on…

Initial Concept for Terminal Area Conflict Detection, Alerting, and Resolution Capability on or Near the Airport Surface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, David F.; Otero, Sharon D.; Barker, Glover D.; Jones, Denise R.

2009-01-01

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept for 2025 envisions the movement of large numbers of people and goods in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner. The NextGen will remove many of the constraints in the current air transportation system, support a wider range of operations, and deliver an overall system capacity up to 3 times that of current operating levels. In order to achieve the NextGen vision, research is necessary in the areas of surface traffic optimization, maximum runway capacity, reduced runway occupancy time, simultaneous single runway operations, and terminal area conflict prevention, among others. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting Collision Avoidance for Airport Traffic (CAAT) research to develop technologies, data, and guidelines to enable Conflict Detection and Resolution (CD&R) in the Airport Terminal Maneuvering Area (ATMA) under current and emerging NextGen operating concepts. In this report, an initial concept for an aircraft-based method for CD&R in the ATMA is presented. This method is based upon previous NASA work in CD&R for runway incursion prevention, the Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIPS). CAAT research is conducted jointly under NASA's Airspace Systems Program, Airportal Project and the Aviation Safety Program, Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Project.

Materials Challenges in Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhat, Biliyar N.

2005-01-01

United States civil space program administered by National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a new strategic direction to explore the solar system. This new 'vision for space exploration' encompasses a broad range of human and robotic missions, including the Moon. Mars and destinations beyond. These missions require advanced systems and capabilities that will accelerate the development of many critical technologies, including advanced materials and structural concepts. Specifically, it is planned to develop high-performance materials for vehicle structures, propulsion systems, and space suits; structural concepts for modular assembly for space infrastructure: lightweight deployable and inflatable structures for large space systems and crew habitats; and highly integrated structural systems and advanced thermal management systems for reducing launch mass and volume. This paper will present several materials challenges in advanced space systems-high performance structural and thermal materials, space durable materials, radiation protection materials, and nano-structural materials. Finally, the paper will take a look at the possibility of utilizing materials in situ, i.e., processing materials on the surface of the Moon and Mars.

The SMART-NAS Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aquilina, Rudolph A.

2015-01-01

The SMART-NAS Testbed for Safe Trajectory Based Operations Project will deliver an evaluation capability, critical to the ATM community, allowing full NextGen and beyond-NextGen concepts to be assessed and developed. To meet this objective a strong focus will be placed on concept integration and validation to enable a gate-to-gate trajectory-based system capability that satisfies a full vision for NextGen. The SMART-NAS for Safe TBO Project consists of six sub-projects. Three of the sub-projects are focused on exploring and developing technologies, concepts and models for evolving and transforming air traffic management operations in the ATM+2 time horizon, while the remaining three sub-projects are focused on developing the tools and capabilities needed for testing these advanced concepts. Function Allocation, Networked Air Traffic Management and Trajectory Based Operations are developing concepts and models. SMART-NAS Test-bed, System Assurance Technologies and Real-time Safety Modeling are developing the tools and capabilities to test these concepts. Simulation and modeling capabilities will include the ability to assess multiple operational scenarios of the national airspace system, accept data feeds, allowing shadowing of actual operations in either real-time, fast-time and/or hybrid modes of operations in distributed environments, and enable integrated examinations of concepts, algorithms, technologies, and NAS architectures. An important focus within this project is to enable the development of a real-time, system-wide safety assurance system. The basis of such a system is a continuum of information acquisition, analysis, and assessment that enables awareness and corrective action to detect and mitigate potential threats to continuous system-wide safety at all levels. This process, which currently can only be done post operations, will be driven towards "real-time" assessments in the 2035 time frame.

Development of a Configurable Growth Chamber with a Computer Vision System to Study Circadian Rhythm in Plants

PubMed Central

Navarro, Pedro J.; Fernández, Carlos; Weiss, Julia; Egea-Cortines, Marcos

2012-01-01

Plant development is the result of an endogenous morphogenetic program that integrates environmental signals. The so-called circadian clock is a set of genes that integrates environmental inputs into an internal pacing system that gates growth and other outputs. Study of circadian growth responses requires high sampling rates to detect changes in growth and avoid aliasing. We have developed a flexible configurable growth chamber comprising a computer vision system that allows sampling rates ranging between one image per 30 s to hours/days. The vision system has a controlled illumination system, which allows the user to set up different configurations. The illumination system used emits a combination of wavelengths ensuring the optimal growth of species under analysis. In order to obtain high contrast of captured images, the capture system is composed of two CCD cameras, for day and night periods. Depending on the sample type, a flexible image processing software calculates different parameters based on geometric calculations. As a proof of concept we tested the system in three different plant tissues, growth of petunia- and snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) flowers and of cladodes from the cactus Opuntia ficus-indica. We found that petunia flowers grow at a steady pace and display a strong growth increase in the early morning, whereas Opuntia cladode growth turned out not to follow a circadian growth pattern under the growth conditions imposed. Furthermore we were able to identify a decoupling of increase in area and length indicating that two independent growth processes are responsible for the final size and shape of the cladode. PMID:23202214

Libration Point Navigation Concepts Supporting Exploration Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carpenter, J. Russell; Folta, David C.; Moreau, Michael C.; Gramling, Cheryl J.

2004-01-01

Farquhar described several libration point navigation concepts that would appear to support NASA s current exploration vision. One concept is a Lunar Relay Satellite operating in the vicinity of Earth-Moon L2, providing Earth-to-lunar far-side and long- range surface-to-surface navigation and communications capability. Reference [ 1] lists several advantages of such a system in comparison to a lunar orbiting relay satellite constellation. Among these are one or two vs. many satellites for coverage, simplified acquisition and tracking due to very low relative motion, much longer contact times, and simpler antenna pointing. An obvious additional advantage of such a system is that uninterrupted links to Earth avoid performing critical maneuvers "in the blind." Another concept described is the use of Earth-Moon L1 for lunar orbit rendezvous, rather than low lunar orbit as was done for Apollo. This rendezvous technique would avoid large plane change and high fuel cost associated with high latitude landing sites and long stay times. Earth-Moon L1 also offers unconstrained launch windows from the lunar surface. Farquhar claims this technique requires only slightly higher fuel cost than low lunar orbit rendezvous for short-stay equatorial landings. Farquhar also describes an Interplanetary Transportation System that would use libration points as terminals for an interplanetary shuttle. This approach would offer increased operational flexibility in terms of launch windows, rendezvous, aborts, etc. in comparison to elliptical orbit transfers. More recently, other works including Folta[3] and Howell[4] have shown that patching together unstable trajectories departing Earth-Moon libration points with stable trajectories approaching planetary libration points may also offer lower overall fuel costs than elliptical orbit transfers. Another concept Farquhar described was a Deep Space Relay at Earth-Moon IA and/or L5 that would serve as a high data rate optical navigation and communications relay satellite. The advantages in comparison to a geosynchronous relay are minimal Earth occultation, distance from large noise sources on Earth, easier pointing due to smaller relative velocity, and a large baseline for interferometry if both L4 and L5 are used.

A Concept of Operations for an Integrated Vehicle Health Assurance System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunter, Gary W.; Ross, Richard W.; Berger, David E.; Lekki, John D.; Mah, Robert W.; Perey, Danie F.; Schuet, Stefan R.; Simon, Donald L.; Smith, Stephen W.

2013-01-01

This document describes a Concept of Operations (ConOps) for an Integrated Vehicle Health Assurance System (IVHAS). This ConOps is associated with the Maintain Vehicle Safety (MVS) between Major Inspections Technical Challenge in the Vehicle Systems Safety Technologies (VSST) Project within NASA s Aviation Safety Program. In particular, this document seeks to describe an integrated system concept for vehicle health assurance that integrates ground-based inspection and repair information with in-flight measurement data for airframe, propulsion, and avionics subsystems. The MVS Technical Challenge intends to maintain vehicle safety between major inspections by developing and demonstrating new integrated health management and failure prevention technologies to assure the integrity of vehicle systems between major inspection intervals and maintain vehicle state awareness during flight. The approach provided by this ConOps is intended to help optimize technology selection and development, as well as allow the initial integration and demonstration of these subsystem technologies over the 5 year span of the VSST program, and serve as a guideline for developing IVHAS technologies under the Aviation Safety Program within the next 5 to 15 years. A long-term vision of IVHAS is provided to describe a basic roadmap for more intelligent and autonomous vehicle systems.

Evaluation of a gaze-controlled vision enhancement system for reading in visually impaired people

PubMed Central

Aguilar, Carlos; Castet, Eric

2017-01-01

People with low vision, especially those with Central Field Loss (CFL), need magnification to read. The flexibility of Electronic Vision Enhancement Systems (EVES) offers several ways of magnifying text. Due to the restricted field of view of EVES, the need for magnification is conflicting with the need to navigate through text (panning). We have developed and implemented a real-time gaze-controlled system whose goal is to optimize the possibility of magnifying a portion of text while maintaining global viewing of the other portions of the text (condition 1). Two other conditions were implemented that mimicked commercially available advanced systems known as CCTV (closed-circuit television systems)—conditions 2 and 3. In these two conditions, magnification was uniformly applied to the whole text without any possibility to specifically select a region of interest. The three conditions were implemented on the same computer to remove differences that might have been induced by dissimilar equipment. A gaze-contingent artificial 10° scotoma (a mask continuously displayed in real time on the screen at the gaze location) was used in the three conditions in order to simulate macular degeneration. Ten healthy subjects with a gaze-contingent scotoma read aloud sentences from a French newspaper in nine experimental one-hour sessions. Reading speed was measured and constituted the main dependent variable to compare the three conditions. All subjects were able to use condition 1 and they found it slightly more comfortable to use than condition 2 (and similar to condition 3). Importantly, reading speed results did not show any significant difference between the three systems. In addition, learning curves were similar in the three conditions. This proof of concept study suggests that the principles underlying the gaze-controlled enhanced system might be further developed and fruitfully incorporated in different kinds of EVES for low vision reading. PMID:28380004

Evaluation of Synthetic Vision Display Concepts for Improved Awareness in Unusual Attitude Recovery Scenarios

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicholas, Stephanie

2016-01-01

A recent study conducted by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) determined 40 percent of all fixed-wing fatal accidents, between 2001 and 2011, were caused by Loss-of-Control (LOC) in flight (National Transportation Safety Board, 2015). Based on their findings, CAST recommended manufacturers develop and implement virtual day-visual meteorological conditions (VMC) display systems, such as synthetic vision or equivalent systems (CAST, 2016). In a 2015 simulation study conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), researchers gathered to test and evaluate virtual day-VMC displays under realistic flight operation scenarios capable of inducing reduced attention states in pilots. Each display concept was evaluated to determine its efficacy to improve attitude awareness. During the experiment, Evaluation Pilots (EPs) were shown the following three display concepts on the Primary Flight Display (PFD): Baseline, Synthetic Vision (SV) with color gradient, and SV with texture. The baseline configuration was a standard, conventional 'blue over brown' display. Experiment scenarios were simulated over water to evaluate Unusual Attitude (UA) recovery over 'featureless terrain' environments. Thus, the SV with color gradient configuration presented a 'blue over blue' display with a linear blue color progression, to differentiate attitude changes between sky and ocean. The SV with texture configuration presented a 'blue over blue' display with a black checkerboard texture atop a synthetic ocean. These displays were paired with a Background Attitude Indicator (BAI) concept. The BAI was presented across all four Head-Down Displays (HDDs), displaying a wide field-of-view blue-over-blue attitude indicator. The BAI aligned with the PFD and showed through the background of the navigation displays with opaque transparency. Each EP participated in a two-part experiment series with a total seventy-five trial runs: Part I included a set of twenty-five Unusual Attitude Recovery (UAR) scenarios; Part II included a set of fifty Attitude Memory Recall Tasks (AMRT). At the conclusion of each trial, EPs were asked to complete a set post-run questionnaires. Quantitative results showed that there were no significant statistical effects on UA recovery times when utilizing SV with or without the presence of a BAI. Qualitative results show the SV displays (color, texture) with BAI On are most preferred for both UA recognition and recovery when compared with the baseline display. When only comparing SV display concepts, EPs performed better when using the SV with texture, BAI On, than any other display configuration. This is an interesting find considering most EPs noted their preference towards the SV with color gradient when the BAI was on.

[Colors and their meaning in culture and psychology--a historical outline and contemporary status of color vision theories].

PubMed

Grzybowski, Andrzej; Lewicka, Romana; Torlińska, Teresa; Stelcer, Bogusław

2008-01-01

The mechanism of color perception has intrigued scholars from antiquity. However, the understanding of this phenomena only came with the recognition of the nature of light and visual perception. Ancient concepts, present in science until the Renaissance, were based more on philosophical considerations and theoretical speculations than on anatomical studies and a matter-of-fact assessment of physiological functions of the visual system. From antiquity to 17th century scientific approach to the concept of vision was dominated by two theories: intromission and extramission (emanation). Intromission theory, propagated by Alhazen (lbn al.-Haythama), Vitello, John Peckham, Roger Bacon and Leonardo da Vinci, assumed that the light was transmitted from the observed object perpendicularly to the transparent eye structures. Johannes Kepler was the first scholar to propose that the retina was the receptive part of the eye. In the first half of the 17th century, Kepler's groundbreaking optical achievements and anatomical discoveries of many other scientists cast new light on the understanding of the role of different eye structures, finally wiping out the intromission theory. A further major achievement contributing to the recognition of the true nature of colors was a theory presented by Newton in 1688. He argued that they were colored rays, and not white light, that were composed of homogenous and pure light. It was, however, not until the 19th century when two modern theories of color appeared, i.e. a trichromatic theory mostly associated with the names of Young and Hemlholtz, and an opponent colors theory of Hering. In the 20th century, the two theories--previously assumed as contradictory--were joined into the zone theories of color vision. Colors have their cultural and social meanings, as far as a very individual and personal interpretation. In the former function they are used to illustrate some cultural and sociological phenomena; in the latter, they are helpful in psychological analyses of patients. The paper outlines major historical concepts of color perception and the present usefulness of color vision tests in psychology.

77 FR 2342 - Seventeenth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision/Synthetic Vision Systems...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

... Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY: Federal Aviation..., Enhanced Flight Vision/ Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice to advise the public of the seventeenth meeting of RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision...

The Purpose of the Sensor Web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoeberl, Mark R.

2004-01-01

The Sensor Web concept emerged as the number of Earth Science Satellites began to increase in the recent years. The idea, part of a vision for the future of earth science, was that the sensor systems would be linked in an active way to provide improved forecast capability. This means that a system that is nearly autonomous would need to be developed to allow the satellites to re-target and deploy assets for particular phenomena or provide on board processing for real time data. This talk will describe several elements of the sensor web.

Creating Thinking Schools through "Knowledge and Inquiry": The Curriculum Challenges for Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tan, Charlene

2006-01-01

The importance of thinking skills in Singapore was seen in the launch of the "Thinking Schools, Learning Nation" (TSLN) vision in 1997. This vision aims to develop creative thinking skills, a lifelong passion for learning and nationalistic commitment in the young. In elucidating the concept of "thinking schools" the former…

Preparing Mathematics Teachers for Elementary High-Poverty Schools: Perceptions and Suggestions from Preservice Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinney, Sueanne E.; Berry, Robert Q., III; Jackson, Joan M.

2007-01-01

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics articulates an ambitious vision of a high-quality mathematics program. Achieving this vision requires competent and knowledgeable teachers who can support all students in learning mathematics concepts with understanding. Effective mathematics teachers are especially needed for high-poverty schools…

Peripatetic and Euclidean theories of the visual ray.

PubMed

Jones, A

1994-01-01

The visual ray of Euclid's Optica is endowed with properties that reveal the concept to be an abstraction of a specific physical account of vision. The evolution of a physical theory of vision compatible with the Euclidean model can be traced in Peripatetic writings of the late fourth and third centuries B.C.

The Implications of a Democratic Vision of Community College Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibson-Benninger, Barbara; And Others

A fundamental challenge facing community college presidents and senior-level staff is to create an environment in which diverse qualities of students and staff make positive contributions to the organization. This requires replacing conceptions of leadership as one person at the top who has power with a vision of democratic leadership which…

The "Islamic" in Islamic Education: Assessing the Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Panjwani, Farid

2004-01-01

The paper assesses the dominant discourse on Islam and education that argues for an education derived from an exclusively "Islamic" vision. In addition to exploring the historical roots of this discourse, the paper analyses it with respect to its (i) arguments for an Islamic vision of education, (ii) conception of Islam, and (iii)…

Music Teacher Educators' Visions of Music Teacher Preparation in Finland, Norway and Sweden

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thorgersen, Cecilia Ferm; Johansen, Geir; Juntunen, Marja-Leena

2016-01-01

In this study we investigated the visions of 12 music teacher educators who teach pedagogical courses called instrumental pedagogy and classroom music pedagogy in three music academies in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The data were collected through individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews. Drawing on Hammerness' concept of "teachers'…

Vision: Essential Scaffolding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Joseph; Torre, Daniela

2015-01-01

Few concepts are more noted in the leadership effects research than vision. It is a cardinal element in the school improvement equation as well. Yet, it remains one of the least well-specified components of that algorithm. Based on a comprehensive review of the research on effective leadership and school improvement from 1995 to 2012, we bring…

Two-Eyed Seeing into Environmental Education: Revealing Its "Natural" Readiness to Indigenize

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKeon, Margaret

2012-01-01

Recent visions for environmental education now include a foundational acknowledgement that the well-being of humans and the environment are inseparable. This vision of environmental education, with a focus on interconnectedness as well as concepts of transformation, holism, caring, and responsibility, rooted in experiences of nature, community,…

Visioning as an Integral Element to Understanding Indigenous Learners' Transition to University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parent, Amy

2017-01-01

This article focuses on high school to university transitions for Indigenous youth at universities in British Columbia, Canada. The study is premised on an Indigenous research design, which utilizes the concept of visioning and a storywork methodology (Archibald, 2008). The results challenge existing institutional and psychological approaches to…

75 FR 38863 - Tenth Meeting: Joint RTCA Special Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-06

... Committee 213: EUROCAE WG-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS) AGENCY...-79: Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision Systems (EFVS/SVS). SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing...: Enhanced Flight [[Page 38864

Conceptual Elements: A Detailed Framework to Support and Assess Student Learning of Biology Core Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cary, Tawnya; Branchaw, Janet

2017-01-01

The "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: Call to Action" report has inspired and supported a nationwide movement to restructure undergraduate biology curricula to address overarching disciplinary concepts and competencies. The report outlines the concepts and competencies generally but does not provide a detailed…

Initial Concept for Terminal Area Conflict Detection, Alerting, and Resolution Capability On or Near the Airport Surface, Version 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Otero, Sharon D.; Barker, Glover D.; Jones, Denise R.

2013-01-01

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept for 2025 envisions the movement of large numbers of people and goods in a safe, efficient, and reliable manner. The NextGen will remove many of the constraints in the current air transportation system, support a wider range of operations, and deliver an overall system capacity up to 3 times that of current operating levels. In order to achieve the NextGen vision, research is necessary in the areas of surface traffic optimization, maximum runway capacity, reduced runway occupancy time, simultaneous single runway operations, and terminal area conflict prevention, among others. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting Collision Avoidance for Airport Traffic (CAAT) research to develop technologies, data, and guidelines to enable Conflict Detection and Resolution (CD&R) in the Airport Terminal Maneuvering Area (ATMA) under current and emerging NextGen operating concepts. The term ATMA was created to reflect the fact that the CD&R concept area of operation is focused near the airport within the terminal maneuvering area. In the following, an initial concept for an aircraft-based method for CD&R in the ATMA is presented. This method is based upon previous NASA work in CD&R for runway incursion prevention, the Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIPS).

Extracting semantics from audio-visual content: the final frontier in multimedia retrieval.

PubMed

Naphade, M R; Huang, T S

2002-01-01

Multimedia understanding is a fast emerging interdisciplinary research area. There is tremendous potential for effective use of multimedia content through intelligent analysis. Diverse application areas are increasingly relying on multimedia understanding systems. Advances in multimedia understanding are related directly to advances in signal processing, computer vision, pattern recognition, multimedia databases, and smart sensors. We review the state-of-the-art techniques in multimedia retrieval. In particular, we discuss how multimedia retrieval can be viewed as a pattern recognition problem. We discuss how reliance on powerful pattern recognition and machine learning techniques is increasing in the field of multimedia retrieval. We review the state-of-the-art multimedia understanding systems with particular emphasis on a system for semantic video indexing centered around multijects and multinets. We discuss how semantic retrieval is centered around concepts and context and the various mechanisms for modeling concepts and context.

Advanced data management design for autonomous telerobotic systems in space using spaceborne symbolic processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goforth, Andre

1987-01-01

The use of computers in autonomous telerobots is reaching the point where advanced distributed processing concepts and techniques are needed to support the functioning of Space Station era telerobotic systems. Three major issues that have impact on the design of data management functions in a telerobot are covered. It also presents a design concept that incorporates an intelligent systems manager (ISM) running on a spaceborne symbolic processor (SSP), to address these issues. The first issue is the support of a system-wide control architecture or control philosophy. Salient features of two candidates are presented that impose constraints on data management design. The second issue is the role of data management in terms of system integration. This referes to providing shared or coordinated data processing and storage resources to a variety of telerobotic components such as vision, mechanical sensing, real-time coordinated multiple limb and end effector control, and planning and reasoning. The third issue is hardware that supports symbolic processing in conjunction with standard data I/O and numeric processing. A SSP that currently is seen to be technologically feasible and is being developed is described and used as a baseline in the design concept.

Historical Reveiw of Interstellar Probe Concepts and Examination of Payload Mass Considerations for Different System Architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, K.

2017-12-01

The ability to send a space probe beyond the Voyager probes, through the interstellar medium and towardsthe distant stars, has long been the ambition of both the science ction literature but also a small community ofadvocates that have argued for a broader and deeper vision of space exploration that goes outside of our SolarSystem. In this paper we discuss some of the historical interstellar probe concepts which are propelled usingdierent types of propulsion technology, from energetic reaction engines to directed energy beaming, and considerthe payload mass associated with such concepts. We compare and contrast the dierent design concepts, payloadmass fractions, powers and energies and discuss the implications for robotic space exploration within the stellarneighbourhood. Finally, we consider the Breakthrough Starshot initiative, which proposes to send a Gram-scalelaser driven spacecraft to the Alpha Centauri system in a 20 year mission travelling at v 0.2c. We show howthis is a good start in pushing our robotic probes towards interstellar destinations, but also discuss the potentialfor scaling up this systems architecture to missions closer at home, or higher mass missions wider aeld. This is apresentation for the American Geophysical Union at the AGU Fall meeting, New Orleans, 11-15 December 2017,Special Session on the Interstellar Probe Missions.Keywords: Interstellar Probe, Breakthrough Starshot

Parallel Architectures and Parallel Algorithms for Integrated Vision Systems. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhary, Alok Nidhi

1989-01-01

Computer vision is regarded as one of the most complex and computationally intensive problems. An integrated vision system (IVS) is a system that uses vision algorithms from all levels of processing to perform for a high level application (e.g., object recognition). An IVS normally involves algorithms from low level, intermediate level, and high level vision. Designing parallel architectures for vision systems is of tremendous interest to researchers. Several issues are addressed in parallel architectures and parallel algorithms for integrated vision systems.

Cockpit emergency safety system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keller, Leo

2000-06-01

A comprehensive safety concept is proposed for aircraft's experiencing an incident to the development of fire and smoke in the cockpit. Fire or excessive heat development caused by malfunctioning electrical appliance may produce toxic smoke, may reduce the clear vision to the instrument panel and may cause health-critical respiration conditions. Immediate reaction of the crew, safe respiration conditions and a clear undisturbed view to critical flight information data can be assumed to be the prerequisites for a safe emergency landing. The personal safety equipment of the aircraft has to be effective in supporting the crew to divert the aircraft to an alternate airport in the shortest possible amount of time. Many other elements in the cause-and-effect context of the emergence of fire, such as fire prevention, fire detection, the fire extinguishing concept, systematic redundancy, the wiring concept, the design of the power supplying system and concise emergency checklist procedures are briefly reviewed, because only a comprehensive and complete approach will avoid fatal accidents of complex aircraft in the future.

A Concept for Robust, High Density Terminal Air Traffic Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Isaacson, Douglas R.; Robinson, John E.; Swenson, Harry N.; Denery, Dallas G.

2010-01-01

This paper describes a concept for future high-density, terminal air traffic operations that has been developed by interpreting the Joint Planning and Development Office s vision for the Next Generation (NextGen) Air Transportation System and coupling it with emergent NASA and other technologies and procedures during the NextGen timeframe. The concept described in this paper includes five core capabilities: 1) Extended Terminal Area Routing, 2) Precision Scheduling Along Routes, 3) Merging and Spacing, 4) Tactical Separation, and 5) Off-Nominal Recovery. Gradual changes are introduced to the National Airspace System (NAS) by phased enhancements to the core capabilities in the form of increased levels of automation and decision support as well as targeted task delegation. NASA will be evaluating these conceptual technological enhancements in a series of human-in-the-loop simulations and will accelerate development of the most promising capabilities in cooperation with the FAA through the Efficient Flows Into Congested Airspace Research Transition Team.

Technology Roadmap for Dual-Mode Scramjet Propulsion to Support Space-Access Vision Vehicle Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cockrell, Charles E., Jr.; Auslender, Aaron H.; Guy, R. Wayne; McClinton, Charles R.; Welch, Sharon S.

2002-01-01

Third-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) systems are envisioned that utilize airbreathing and combined-cycle propulsion to take advantage of potential performance benefits over conventional rocket propulsion and address goals of reducing the cost and enhancing the safety of systems to reach earth orbit. The dual-mode scramjet (DMSJ) forms the core of combined-cycle or combination-cycle propulsion systems for single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles and provides most of the orbital ascent energy. These concepts are also relevant to two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) systems with an airbreathing first or second stage. Foundation technology investments in scramjet propulsion are driven by the goal to develop efficient Mach 3-15 concepts with sufficient performance and operability to meet operational system goals. A brief historical review of NASA scramjet development is presented along with a summary of current technology efforts and a proposed roadmap. The technology addresses hydrogen-fueled combustor development, hypervelocity scramjets, multi-speed flowpath performance and operability, propulsion-airframe integration, and analysis and diagnostic tools.

Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals: An Exploration of Key Organizational Statements and Daily Practice in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gurley, D. Keith; Peters, Gary B.; Collins, Loucrecia; Fifolt, Matthew

2015-01-01

This article reports findings from a study of graduate level, educational leadership students' familiarity with shared mission, vision, values, and goals statements and the perceived impact these concepts have on their practice as leaders and teachers in schools. The study is primarily qualitative and uses content analysis of responses to…

Mapping the Future, Mapping Education: An Analysis of the 2011 State of the Union Address

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collin, Ross

2012-01-01

This article presents a discourse analysis of President Barack Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address. Fredric Jameson's concepts of cognitive mapping, cultural revolution, and the unconscious are employed to examine the president's vision of educational and economic transformation. Ultimately, it is argued this vision evokes a world in which…

Effectively Transforming IMC Flight into VMC Flight: An SVS Case Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glaab, Louis J.; Hughes, Monic F.; Parrish, Russell V.; Takallu, Mohammad A.

2006-01-01

A flight-test experiment was conducted using the NASA LaRC Cessna 206 aircraft. Four primary flight and navigation display concepts, including baseline and Synthetic Vision System (SVS) concepts, were evaluated in the local area of Roanoke Virginia Airport, flying visual and instrument approach procedures. A total of 19 pilots, from 3 pilot groups reflecting the diverse piloting skills of the GA population, served as evaluation pilots. Multi-variable Discriminant Analysis was applied to three carefully selected and markedly different operating conditions with conventional instrumentation to provide an extension of traditional analysis methods as well as provide an assessment of the effectiveness of SVS displays to effectively transform IMC flight into VMC flight.

The Self-Concept of Spanish Young Adults with Retinitis Pigmentosa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lopez-Justicia, Maria Dolores; Cordoba, Inmaculada Nieto

2006-01-01

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a degenerative disease of the retina that causes the severe impairment of visual functioning similar to low vision, leading, in many cases, to blindness. Because the construct of self-concept plays a key role in personality, this study was designed to measure self-concept in a group of young adults with RP. The…

Repository-based software engineering program: Concept document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

This document provides the context for Repository-Based Software Engineering's (RBSE's) evolving functional and operational product requirements, and it is the parent document for development of detailed technical and management plans. When furnished, requirements documents will serve as the governing RBSE product specification. The RBSE Program Management Plan will define resources, schedules, and technical and organizational approaches to fulfilling the goals and objectives of this concept. The purpose of this document is to provide a concise overview of RBSE, describe the rationale for the RBSE Program, and define a clear, common vision for RBSE team members and customers. The document also provides the foundation for developing RBSE user and system requirements and a corresponding Program Management Plan. The concept is used to express the program mission to RBSE users and managers and to provide an exhibit for community review.

General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT): Mission, Vision, and Business Case

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Steven P.

2007-01-01

The Goal of the GMAT project is to develop new space trajectory optimization and mission design technology by working inclusively with ordinary people, universities businesses and other government organizations; and to share that technology in an open and unhindered way. GMAT's a free and open source software system; free for anyone to use in development of new mission concepts or to improve current missions, freely available in source code form for enhancement or future technology development.

Telemedicine system interoperability architecture: concept description and architecture overview.

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

Craft, Richard Layne, II

2004-05-01

In order for telemedicine to realize the vision of anywhere, anytime access to care, it must address the question of how to create a fully interoperable infrastructure. This paper describes the reasons for pursuing interoperability, outlines operational requirements that any interoperability approach needs to consider, proposes an abstract architecture for meeting these needs, identifies candidate technologies that might be used for rendering this architecture, and suggests a path forward that the telemedicine community might follow.

Prototype and Metrics for Data Processing Chain Components of IPM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ly, Vuong T.

2014-01-01

This presentation lays out the evolution of the Intelligent Payload Module (IPM) vision given that the HyspIRI mission has been delayed. It shows that there has been a focus on airborne vehcile and unmanned aerial systems to further develop the IPM functionality. This of course does not preclude use of the IPM for space missions but provides alternate paths to continue the concept of improved onboard processing for low latency users of science data products.

Synthetic Vision Systems in GA Cockpit-Evaluation of Basic Maneuvers Performed by Low Time GA Pilots During Transition from VMC to IMC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Takallu, M. A.; Wong, D. T.; Uenking, M. D.

2002-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of modern flight displays in general aviation cockpits for mitigating Low Visibility Loss of Control and the Controlled Flight Into Terrain accidents. A total of 18 General Aviation (GA) pilots with private pilot, single engine land rating, with no additional instrument training beyond private pilot license requirements, were recruited to evaluate three different display concepts in a fixed-based flight simulator at the NASA Langley Research Center's General Aviation Work Station. Evaluation pilots were asked to continue flight from Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) while performing a series of 4 basic precision maneuvers. During the experiment, relevant pilot/vehicle performance variables, pilot control inputs and physiological data were recorded. Human factors questionnaires and interviews were administered after each scenario. Qualitative and quantitative data have been analyzed and the results are presented here. Pilot performance deviations from the established target values (errors) were computed and compared with the FAA Practical Test Standards. Results of the quantitative data indicate that evaluation pilots committed substantially fewer errors when using the Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) displays than when they were using conventional instruments. Results of the qualitative data indicate that evaluation pilots perceived themselves to have a much higher level of situation awareness while using the SVS display concept.

Vision and Operational Concept for Enabling Advanced Traveler Information Services : Operational Concept

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-05-01

EnableATIS is looking ahead to a future operational environment that will support and enable an advanced, transformational traveler information services framework. This future framework is envisioned to be enabled with a much more robust pool of real...

The Generation-X Vision Mission Study and Advanced Mission Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brissenden, Roger J. V.; Generation-X Team

2008-03-01

The Generation-X (Gen-X) mission was selected as one of NASA's Vision Missions as a concept for a next generation X-ray telescope designed to study the very early universe with 1000-times greater sensitivity than current X-ray telescopes. The mission has also been proposed as an Advanced Mission Concept Study (AMCS) to further define the technology development plan and mission design. The scientific goals for Gen-X include studying the first generations of stars and black holes in the epoch z=10-20, the evolution of black holes and galaxies from high z to the present, the chemical evolution of the universe and the properties of matter under extreme conditions. The key parameters required to meet these goals define a challenging mission and include an effective area of 50 m2 at 1 keV, and an angular resolution (HPD) of 0.1 arcsec over an energy band of 0.1-10 keV. The required effective area implies that extremely lightweight grazing incidence X-ray optics must be developed. To achieve the required areal density of at least 100 times lower than in Chandra, thin ( 0.1 mm) mirrors that have active on-orbit figure control are required. We present the major findings from the Gen-X Vision Mission Study and a streamlined mission concept enabled by the Ares V launch capability, as proposed in response to the AMSC call.

Smart tissue anastomosis robot (STAR): a vision-guided robotics system for laparoscopic suturing.

PubMed

Leonard, Simon; Wu, Kyle L; Kim, Yonjae; Krieger, Axel; Kim, Peter C W

2014-04-01

This paper introduces the smart tissue anastomosis robot (STAR). Currently, the STAR is a proof-of-concept for a vision-guided robotic system featuring an actuated laparoscopic suturing tool capable of executing running sutures from image-based commands. The STAR tool is designed around a commercially available laparoscopic suturing tool that is attached to a custom-made motor stage and the STAR supervisory control architecture that enables a surgeon to select and track incisions and the placement of stitches. The STAR supervisory-control interface provides two modes: A manual mode that enables a surgeon to specify the placement of each stitch and an automatic mode that automatically computes equally-spaced stitches based on an incision contour. Our experiments on planar phantoms demonstrate that the STAR in either mode is more accurate, up to four times more consistent and five times faster than surgeons using state-of-the-art robotic surgical system, four times faster than surgeons using manual Endo360(°)®, and nine times faster than surgeons using manual laparoscopic tools.

Understanding, creating, and managing complex techno-socio-economic systems: Challenges and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helbing, D.; Balietti, S.; Bishop, S.; Lukowicz, P.

2011-05-01

This contribution reflects on the comments of Peter Allen [1], Bikas K. Chakrabarti [2], Péter Érdi [3], Juval Portugali [4], Sorin Solomon [5], and Stefan Thurner [6] on three White Papers (WP) of the EU Support Action Visioneer (www.visioneer.ethz.ch). These White Papers are entitled "From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crises" (WP 1) [7], "From Social Simulation to Integrative System Design" (WP 2) [8], and "How to Create an Innovation Accelerator" (WP 3) [9]. In our reflections, the need and feasibility of a "Knowledge Accelerator" is further substantiated by fundamental considerations and recent events around the globe. newpara The Visioneer White Papers propose research to be carried out that will improve our understanding of complex techno-socio-economic systems and their interaction with the environment. Thereby, they aim to stimulate multi-disciplinary collaborations between ICT, the social sciences, and complexity science. Moreover, they suggest combining the potential of massive real-time data, theoretical models, large-scale computer simulations and participatory online platforms. By doing so, it would become possible to explore various futures and to expand the limits of human imagination when it comes to the assessment of the often counter-intuitive behavior of these complex techno-socio-economic-environmental systems. In this contribution, we also highlight the importance of a pluralistic modeling approach and, in particular, the need for a fruitful interaction between quantitative and qualitative research approaches. newpara In an appendix we briefly summarize the concept of the FuturICT flagship project, which will build on and go beyond the proposals made by the Visioneer White Papers. EU flagships are ambitious multi-disciplinary high-risk projects with a duration of at least 10 years amounting to an envisaged overall budget of 1 billion EUR [10]. The goal of the FuturICT flagship initiative is to understand and manage complex, global, socially interactive systems, with a focus on sustainability and resilience.

Human Factors Engineering as a System in the Vision for Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Smith, Danielle; Holden, Kritina

2006-01-01

In order to accomplish NASA's Vision for Exploration, while assuring crew safety and productivity, human performance issues must be well integrated into system design from mission conception. To that end, a two-year Technology Development Project (TDP) was funded by NASA Headquarters to develop a systematic method for including the human as a system in NASA's Vision for Exploration. The specific goals of this project are to review current Human Systems Integration (HSI) standards (i.e., industry, military, NASA) and tailor them to selected NASA Exploration activities. Once the methods are proven in the selected domains, a plan will be developed to expand the effort to a wider scope of Exploration activities. The methods will be documented for inclusion in NASA-specific documents (such as the Human Systems Integration Standards, NASA-STD-3000) to be used in future space systems. The current project builds on a previous TDP dealing with Human Factors Engineering processes. That project identified the key phases of the current NASA design lifecycle, and outlined the recommended HFE activities that should be incorporated at each phase. The project also resulted in a prototype of a webbased HFE process tool that could be used to support an ideal HFE development process at NASA. This will help to augment the limited human factors resources available by providing a web-based tool that explains the importance of human factors, teaches a recommended process, and then provides the instructions, templates and examples to carry out the process steps. The HFE activities identified by the previous TDP are being tested in situ for the current effort through support to a specific NASA Exploration activity. Currently, HFE personnel are working with systems engineering personnel to identify HSI impacts for lunar exploration by facilitating the generation of systemlevel Concepts of Operations (ConOps). For example, medical operations scenarios have been generated for lunar habitation in order to identify HSI requirements for the lunar communications architecture. Throughout these ConOps exercises, HFE personnel are testing various tools and methodologies that have been identified in the literature. A key part of the effort is the identification of optimal processes, methods, and tools for these early development phase activities, such as ConOps, requirements development, and early conceptual design. An overview of the activities completed thus far, as well as the tools and methods investigated will be presented.

Computer vision techniques for rotorcraft low-altitude flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sridhar, Banavar; Cheng, Victor H. L.

1988-01-01

A description is given of research that applies techniques from computer vision to automation of rotorcraft navigation. The effort emphasizes the development of a methodology for detecting the ranges to obstacles in the region of interest based on the maximum utilization of passive sensors. The range map derived from the obstacle detection approach can be used as obstacle data for the obstacle avoidance in an automataic guidance system and as advisory display to the pilot. The lack of suitable flight imagery data, however, presents a problem in the verification of concepts for obstacle detection. This problem is being addressed by the development of an adequate flight database and by preprocessing of currently available flight imagery. Some comments are made on future work and how research in this area relates to the guidance of other autonomous vehicles.

Advanced integrated life support system update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whitley, Phillip E.

1994-01-01

The Advanced Integrated Life Support System Program (AILSS) is an advanced development effort to integrate the life support and protection requirements using the U.S. Navy's fighter/attack mission as a starting point. The goal of AILSS is to optimally mate protection from altitude, acceleration, chemical/biological agent, thermal environment (hot, cold, and cold water immersion) stress as well as mission enhancement through improved restraint, night vision, and head-mounted reticules and displays to ensure mission capability. The primary emphasis to date has been to establish garment design requirements and tradeoffs for protection. Here the garment and the human interface are treated as a system. Twelve state-off-the-art concepts from government and industry were evaluated for design versus performance. On the basis of a combination of centrifuge, thermal manikin data, thermal modeling, and mobility studies, some key design parameters have been determined. Future efforts will concentrate on the integration of protection through garment design and the use of a single layer, multiple function concept to streamline the garment system.

Technologies and Collaborative Education Strengthen Conviviality in Rural Communities in the Alps and in Senegal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Udo; Ahamer, Gilbert; Peters, Holger; Weinke, Elisabeth; Sapper, Norbert; Salcher, Elvira

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this publication is to present a didactic concept with the targeted impact of a positive future vision. This paper reflects the effect of local educational action on the development of regionally optimised visions in rural regions of a European industrial state, compared with a rural region in the developing country of…

Simulation Test of a Head-Worn Display with Ambient Vision Display for Unusual Attitude Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis (Trey) J., III; Nicholas, Stephanie N.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Ballard, Kathryn; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Ellis, Kyle E.; Bailey, Randall E.; Williams, Steven P.

2017-01-01

Head-Worn Displays (HWDs) are envisioned as a possible equivalent to a Head-Up Display (HUD) in commercial and general aviation. A simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate whether the HWD can provide an equivalent or better level of performance to a HUD in terms of unusual attitude recognition and recovery. A prototype HWD was tested with ambient vision capability which were varied (on/off) as an independent variable in the experiment testing for attitude awareness. The simulation experiment was conducted in two parts: 1) short unusual attitude recovery scenarios where the aircraft is placed in an unusual attitude and a single-pilot crew recovered the aircraft; and, 2) a two-pilot crew operating in a realistic flight environment with "off-nominal" events to induce unusual attitudes. The data showed few differences in unusual attitude recognition and recovery performance between the tested head-down, head-up, and head-worn display concepts. The presence and absence of ambient vision stimulation was inconclusive. The ergonomic influences of the head-worn display, necessary to implement the ambient vision experimentation, may have influenced the pilot ratings and acceptance of the concepts.

In the Middle: Do We Share the Vision? Do Principals and Teachers Agree about the Middle School Concept?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Cherry; Seed, Allen H.; Franceschini, Louis A., III

2013-01-01

In 2009, the Tennessee Professors of Middle Level Education (TPOMLE) examined how Tennessee schools implemented the middle school concept. Of concern was the impact that emphasis on accountability and achievement had on the middle school concept which emphasizes the development of the whole child. A survey was developed based on the tenets of…

Conceptual Elements: A Detailed Framework to Support and Assess Student Learning of Biology Core Concepts

PubMed Central

Cary, Tawnya; Branchaw, Janet

2017-01-01

The Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: Call to Action report has inspired and supported a nationwide movement to restructure undergraduate biology curricula to address overarching disciplinary concepts and competencies. The report outlines the concepts and competencies generally but does not provide a detailed framework to guide the development of the learning outcomes, instructional materials, and assessment instruments needed to create a reformed biology curriculum. In this essay, we present a detailed Vision and Change core concept framework that articulates key components that transcend subdisciplines and scales for each overarching biological concept, the Conceptual Elements (CE) Framework. The CE Framework was developed using a grassroots approach of iterative revision and incorporates feedback from more than 60 biologists and undergraduate biology educators from across the United States. The final validation step resulted in strong national consensus, with greater than 92% of responders agreeing that each core concept list was ready for use by the biological sciences community, as determined by scientific accuracy and completeness. In addition, we describe in detail how educators and departments can use the CE Framework to guide and document reformation of individual courses as well as entire curricula. PMID:28450444

NASA Langley's Formal Methods Research in Support of the Next Generation Air Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.; Munoz, Cesar A.

2008-01-01

This talk will provide a brief introduction to the formal methods developed at NASA Langley and the National Institute for Aerospace (NIA) for air traffic management applications. NASA Langley's formal methods research supports the Interagency Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) effort to define and develop the 2025 Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS). The JPDO was created by the passage of the Vision 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act in Dec 2003. The NGATS vision calls for a major transformation of the nation s air transportation system that will enable growth to 3 times the traffic of the current system. The transformation will require an unprecedented level of safety-critical automation used in complex procedural operations based on 4-dimensional (4D) trajectories that enable dynamic reconfiguration of airspace scalable to geographic and temporal demand. The goal of our formal methods research is to provide verification methods that can be used to insure the safety of the NGATS system. Our work has focused on the safety assessment of concepts of operation and fundamental algorithms for conflict detection and resolution (CD&R) and self- spacing in the terminal area. Formal analysis of a concept of operations is a novel area of application of formal methods. Here one must establish that a system concept involving aircraft, pilots, and ground resources is safe. The formal analysis of algorithms is a more traditional endeavor. However, the formal analysis of ATM algorithms involves reasoning about the interaction of algorithmic logic and aircraft trajectories defined over an airspace. These trajectories are described using 2D and 3D vectors and are often constrained by trigonometric relations. Thus, in many cases it has been necessary to unload the full power of an advanced theorem prover. The verification challenge is to establish that the safety-critical algorithms produce valid solutions that are guaranteed to maintain separation under all possible scenarios. Current research has assumed perfect knowledge of the location of other aircraft in the vicinity so absolute guarantees are possible, but increasingly we are relaxing the assumptions to allow incomplete, inaccurate, and/or faulty information from communication sources.

Hi-Vision telecine system using pickup tube

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iijima, Goro

1992-08-01

Hi-Vision broadcasting, offering far more lifelike pictures than those produced by existing television broadcasting systems, has enormous potential in both industrial and commercial fields. The dissemination of the Hi-Vision system will enable vivid, movie theater quality pictures to be readily enjoyed in homes in the near future. To convert motion film pictures into Hi-Vision signals, a telecine system is needed. The Hi-Vision telecine systems currently under development are the "laser telecine," "flying-spot telecine," and "Saticon telecine" systems. This paper provides an overview of the pickup tube type Hi-Vision telecine system (referred to herein as the Saticon telecine system) developed and marketed by Ikegami Tsushinki Co., Ltd.

Hyper-Spectral Networking Concept of Operations and Future Air Traffic Management Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Paul; Boisvert, Benjamin

2017-01-01

The NASA sponsored Hyper-Spectral Communications and Networking for Air Traffic Management (ATM) (HSCNA) project is conducting research to improve the operational efficiency of the future National Airspace System (NAS) through diverse and secure multi-band, multi-mode, and millimeter-wave (mmWave) wireless links. Worldwide growth of air transportation and the coming of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) will increase air traffic density and complexity. Safe coordination of aircraft will require more capable technologies for communications, navigation, and surveillance (CNS). The HSCNA project will provide a foundation for technology and operational concepts to accommodate a significantly greater number of networked aircraft. This paper describes two of the HSCNA projects technical challenges. The first technical challenge is to develop a multi-band networking concept of operations (ConOps) for use in multiple phases of flight and all communication link types. This ConOps will integrate the advanced technologies explored by the HSCNA project and future operational concepts into a harmonized vision of future NAS communications and networking. The second technical challenge discussed is to conduct simulations of future ATM operations using multi-bandmulti-mode networking and technologies. Large-scale simulations will assess the impact, compared to todays system, of the new and integrated networks and technologies under future air traffic demand.

Miniaturized unified imaging system using bio-inspired fluidic lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Frank S.; Cho, Sung Hwan; Qiao, Wen; Kim, Nam-Hyong; Lo, Yu-Hwa

2008-08-01

Miniaturized imaging systems have become ubiquitous as they are found in an ever-increasing number of devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and web cameras. Until now, the design and fabrication methodology of such systems have not been significantly different from conventional cameras. The only established method to achieve focusing is by varying the lens distance. On the other hand, the variable-shape crystalline lens found in animal eyes offers inspiration for a more natural way of achieving an optical system with high functionality. Learning from the working concepts of the optics in the animal kingdom, we developed bio-inspired fluidic lenses for a miniature universal imager with auto-focusing, macro, and super-macro capabilities. Because of the enormous dynamic range of fluidic lenses, the miniature camera can even function as a microscope. To compensate for the image quality difference between the central vision and peripheral vision and the shape difference between a solid-state image sensor and a curved retina, we adopted a hybrid design consisting of fluidic lenses for tunability and fixed lenses for aberration and color dispersion correction. A design of the world's smallest surgical camera with 3X optical zoom capabilities is also demonstrated using the approach of hybrid lenses.

Image understanding and the man-machine interface II; Proceedings of the Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, Jan. 17, 18, 1989

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrett, Eamon B. (Editor); Pearson, James J. (Editor)

1989-01-01

Image understanding concepts and models, image understanding systems and applications, advanced digital processors and software tools, and advanced man-machine interfaces are among the topics discussed. Particular papers are presented on such topics as neural networks for computer vision, object-based segmentation and color recognition in multispectral images, the application of image algebra to image measurement and feature extraction, and the integration of modeling and graphics to create an infrared signal processing test bed.

Vision and operational concept for enabling advanced traveler information services : market readiness assessment (EnableATIS).

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-05-01

The purpose of this market readiness assessment is to identify next steps for USDOT to research, demonstrate and advance the objectives of EnableATIS. This will include demonstrating those key concepts that will be within the USDOT and agency sphere ...

Fostering Visions for the Future: A Review of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2009-01-01

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) was formed in 1998 to provide an independent source of advanced aeronautical and space concepts that could dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions. Until the program's termination in August 2007, NIAC provided an independent open forum, a high-level point of entry to NASA for an external community of innovators, and an external capability for analysis and definition of advanced aeronautics and space concepts to complement the advanced concept activities conducted within NASA. Throughout its 9-year existence, NIAC inspired an atmosphere for innovation that stretched the imagination and encouraged creativity. As requested by Congress, this volume reviews the effectiveness of NIAC and makes recommendations concerning the importance of such a program to NASA and to the nation as a whole, including the proper role of NASA and the federal government in fostering scientific innovation and creativity and in developing advanced concepts for future systems. Key findings and recommendations include that in order to achieve its mission, NASA must have, and is currently lacking, a mechanism to investigate visionary, far-reaching advanced concepts. Therefore, a NIAC-like entity should be reestablished to fill this gap.

Basic design principles of colorimetric vision systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mumzhiu, Alex M.

1998-10-01

Color measurement is an important part of overall production quality control in textile, coating, plastics, food, paper and other industries. The color measurement instruments such as colorimeters and spectrophotometers, used for production quality control have many limitations. In many applications they cannot be used for a variety of reasons and have to be replaced with human operators. Machine vision has great potential for color measurement. The components for color machine vision systems, such as broadcast quality 3-CCD cameras, fast and inexpensive PCI frame grabbers, and sophisticated image processing software packages are available. However the machine vision industry has only started to approach the color domain. The few color machine vision systems on the market, produced by the largest machine vision manufacturers have very limited capabilities. A lack of understanding that a vision based color measurement system could fail if it ignores the basic principles of colorimetry is the main reason for the slow progress of color vision systems. the purpose of this paper is to clarify how color measurement principles have to be applied to vision systems and how the electro-optical design features of colorimeters have to be modified in order to implement them for vision systems. The subject of this presentation far exceeds the limitations of a journal paper so only the most important aspects will be discussed. An overview of the major areas of applications for colorimetric vision system will be discussed. Finally, the reasons why some customers are happy with their vision systems and some are not will be analyzed.

NASA Langley Research Center Systems Analysis & Concepts Directorate Participation in the Exploration Systems Architecture Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keyes, Jennifer; Troutman, Patrick A.; Saucillo, Rudolph; Cirillo, William M.; Cavanaugh, Steve; Stromgren, Chel

2006-01-01

The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) Systems Analysis & Concepts Directorate (SACD) began studying human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) in the year 1999. This included participation in NASA s Decadal Planning Team (DPT), the NASA Exploration Team (NExT), Space Architect studies and Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts (RASC) architecture studies that were used in formulating the new Vision for Space Exploration. In May of 2005, NASA initiated the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS). The primary outputs of the ESAS activity were concepts and functional requirements for the Crewed Exploration Vehicle (CEV), its supporting launch vehicle infrastructure and identification of supporting technology requirements and investments. An exploration systems analysis capability has evolved to support these functions in the past and continues to evolve to support anticipated future needs. SACD had significant roles in supporting the ESAS study team. SACD personnel performed the liaison function between the ESAS team and the Shuttle/Station Configuration Options Team (S/SCOT), an agency-wide team charged with using the Space Shuttle to complete the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. The most significant of the identified issues involved the ability of the Space Shuttle system to achieve the desired number of flights in the proposed time frame. SACD with support from the Kennedy Space Center performed analysis showing that, without significant investments in improving the shuttle processing flow, that there was almost no possibility of completing the 28-flight sequence by the end of 2010. SACD performed numerous Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) trades to define top level element requirements and establish architecture propellant needs. Configuration trades were conducted to determine the impact of varying degrees of segmentation of the living capabilities of the combined descent stage, ascent stage, and other elements. The technology assessment process was developed and implemented by SACD as the ESAS architecture was refined. SACD implemented a rigorous and objective process which included (a) establishing architectural functional needs, (b) collection, synthesis and mapping of technology data, and (c) performing an objective decision analysis resulting in technology development investment recommendations. The investment recommendation provided budget, schedule, and center/program allocations to develop required technologies for the exploration architecture, as well as the identification of other investment opportunities to maximize performance and flexibility while minimizing cost and risk. A summary of the trades performed and methods utilized by SACD for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESAS) activity is presented along with how SACD is currently supporting the implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration.

Computational approaches to vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrow, H. G.; Tenenbaum, J. M.

1986-01-01

Vision is examined in terms of a computational process, and the competence, structure, and control of computer vision systems are analyzed. Theoretical and experimental data on the formation of a computer vision system are discussed. Consideration is given to early vision, the recovery of intrinsic surface characteristics, higher levels of interpretation, and system integration and control. A computational visual processing model is proposed and its architecture and operation are described. Examples of state-of-the-art vision systems, which include some of the levels of representation and processing mechanisms, are presented.

Material requirements for bio-inspired sensing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biggins, Peter; Lloyd, Peter; Salmond, David; Kusterbeck, Anne

2008-10-01

The aim of developing bio-inspired sensing systems is to try and emulate the amazing sensitivity and specificity observed in the natural world. These capabilities have evolved, often for specific tasks, which provide the organism with an advantage in its fight to survive and prosper. Capabilities cover a wide range of sensing functions including vision, temperature, hearing, touch, taste and smell. For some functions, the capabilities of natural systems are still greater than that achieved by traditional engineering solutions; a good example being a dog's sense of smell. Furthermore, attempting to emulate aspects of biological optics, processing and guidance may lead to more simple and effective devices. A bio-inspired sensing system is much more than the sensory mechanism. A system will need to collect samples, especially if pathogens or chemicals are of interest. Other functions could include the provision of power, surfaces and receptors, structure, locomotion and control. In fact it is possible to conceive of a complete bio-inspired system concept which is likely to be radically different from more conventional approaches. This concept will be described and individual component technologies considered.

Identifying the computational requirements of an integrated top-down-bottom-up model for overt visual attention within an active vision system.

PubMed

McBride, Sebastian; Huelse, Martin; Lee, Mark

2013-01-01

Computational visual attention systems have been constructed in order for robots and other devices to detect and locate regions of interest in their visual world. Such systems often attempt to take account of what is known of the human visual system and employ concepts, such as 'active vision', to gain various perceived advantages. However, despite the potential for gaining insights from such experiments, the computational requirements for visual attention processing are often not clearly presented from a biological perspective. This was the primary objective of this study, attained through two specific phases of investigation: 1) conceptual modeling of a top-down-bottom-up framework through critical analysis of the psychophysical and neurophysiological literature, 2) implementation and validation of the model into robotic hardware (as a representative of an active vision system). Seven computational requirements were identified: 1) transformation of retinotopic to egocentric mappings, 2) spatial memory for the purposes of medium-term inhibition of return, 3) synchronization of 'where' and 'what' information from the two visual streams, 4) convergence of top-down and bottom-up information to a centralized point of information processing, 5) a threshold function to elicit saccade action, 6) a function to represent task relevance as a ratio of excitation and inhibition, and 7) derivation of excitation and inhibition values from object-associated feature classes. The model provides further insight into the nature of data representation and transfer between brain regions associated with the vertebrate 'active' visual attention system. In particular, the model lends strong support to the functional role of the lateral intraparietal region of the brain as a primary area of information consolidation that directs putative action through the use of a 'priority map'.

Micro-optical artificial compound eyes.

PubMed

Duparré, J W; Wippermann, F C

2006-03-01

Natural compound eyes combine small eye volumes with a large field of view at the cost of comparatively low spatial resolution. For small invertebrates such as flies or moths, compound eyes are the perfectly adapted solution to obtaining sufficient visual information about their environment without overloading their brains with the necessary image processing. However, to date little effort has been made to adopt this principle in optics. Classical imaging always had its archetype in natural single aperture eyes which, for example, human vision is based on. But a high-resolution image is not always required. Often the focus is on very compact, robust and cheap vision systems. The main question is consequently: what is the better approach for extremely miniaturized imaging systems-just scaling of classical lens designs or being inspired by alternative imaging principles evolved by nature in the case of small insects? In this paper, it is shown that such optical systems can be achieved using state-of-the-art micro-optics technology. This enables the generation of highly precise and uniform microlens arrays and their accurate alignment to the subsequent optics-, spacing- and optoelectronics structures. The results are thin, simple and monolithic imaging devices with a high accuracy of photolithography. Two different artificial compound eye concepts for compact vision systems have been investigated in detail: the artificial apposition compound eye and the cluster eye. Novel optical design methods and characterization tools were developed to allow the layout and experimental testing of the planar micro-optical imaging systems, which were fabricated for the first time by micro-optics technology. The artificial apposition compound eye can be considered as a simple imaging optical sensor while the cluster eye is capable of becoming a valid alternative to classical bulk objectives but is much more complex than the first system.

Impact of visual impairment on the lives of young adults in the Netherlands: a concept-mapping approach.

PubMed

Elsman, Ellen Bernadette Maria; van Rens, Gerardus Hermanus Maria Bartholomeus; van Nispen, Ruth Marie Antoinette

2017-12-01

While the impact of visual impairments on specific aspects of young adults' lives is well recognised, a systematic understanding of its impact on all life aspects is lacking. This study aims to provide an overview of life aspects affected by visual impairment in young adults (aged 18-25 years) using a concept-mapping approach. Visually impaired young adults (n = 22) and rehabilitation professionals (n = 16) participated in online concept-mapping workshops (brainstorm procedure), to explore how having a visual impairment influences the lives of young adults. Statements were categorised based on similarity and importance. Using multidimensional scaling, concept maps were produced and interpreted. A total of 59 and 260 statements were generated by young adults and professionals, respectively, resulting in 99 individual statements after checking and deduplication. The combined concept map revealed 11 clusters: work, study, information and regulations, social skills, living independently, computer, social relationships, sport and activities, mobility, leisure time, and hobby. The concept maps provided useful insight into activities influenced by visual impairments in young adults, which can be used by rehabilitation centres to improve their services. This might help in goal setting, rehabilitation referral and successful transition to adult life, ultimately increasing participation and quality of life. Implications for rehabilitation Having a visual impairment affects various life-aspects related to participation, including activities related to work, study, social skills and relationships, activities of daily living, leisure time and mobility. Concept-mapping helped to identify the life aspects affected by low vision, and quantify these aspects in terms of importance according to young adults and low vision rehabilitation professionals. Low vision rehabilitation centres should focus on all life aspects found in this study when identifying the needs of young adults, as this might aid goal setting and rehabilitation referral, ultimately leading to more successful transitions, better participation and quality of life.

Unification of force and substance.

PubMed

Wilczek, Frank

2016-08-28

Maxwell's mature presentation of his equations emphasized the unity of electromagnetism and mechanics, subsuming both as 'dynamical systems'. That intuition of unity has proved both fruitful, as a source of pregnant concepts, and broadly inspiring. A deep aspect of Maxwell's work is its use of redundant potentials, and the associated requirement of gauge symmetry. Those concepts have become central to our present understanding of fundamental physics, but they can appear to be rather formal and esoteric. Here I discuss two things: the physical significance of gauge invariance, in broad terms; and some tantalizing prospects for further unification, building on that concept, that are visible on the horizon today. If those prospects are realized, Maxwell's vision of the unity of field and substance will be brought to a new level.This article is part of the themed issue 'Unifying physics and technology in light of Maxwell's equations'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Sociopolitical development.

PubMed

Watts, Roderick J; Williams, Nat Chioke; Jagers, Robert J

2003-03-01

This paper examines theories and concepts relevant to sociopolitical development (SPD). As an emerging theory, SPD expands on empowerment and similar ideas related to social change and activism in community psychology--oppression, liberation, critical consciousness, and culture among them. SPD is the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, analytical skills, emotional faculties, and the capacity for action in political and social systems necessary to interpret and resist oppression. Equally as important is a vision of liberation that is an alternative to oppressive conditions. All of these concepts have been underemphasized in the social change literature of U.S. community psychology. In our view, sociopolitical development is vital to human development and the creation of a just society. As part of identifying and illustrating concepts and processes relevant to SPD theory, we will draw from the words of young African American activists who were interviewed as part of a research study.

Starshade Rendezvous Mission Probe Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seager, Sara; Kasdin, Jeremy; Starshade Rendezvous Probe Team

2018-01-01

The Starshade Rendezvous Mission Concept Prove is a Starshade that works with the WFIRST Mission, but is built and launched separately, with a rendezvous on orbit. A 2015 Exo-S report first detailed the mission concept. In the current study we develop a new scientific vision for WFIRST exoplanet discovery and characterization, using the complementary coronagraph and starshade to execute the most sensitive and thorough direct imaging campaign ever attempted. The overarching goal of our proposal is to carry out the first “deep dive” direct imaging exploration of planetary systems orbiting the nearest sun-like stars in a search for Earth-like planets using only a fraction of the WFIRST telescope time. The study aims to improve on the Exo-S 2015 report with updated study of the key spacecraft and starshade technology development issues, as related to WFIRST design changes since 2015 that make the timely implementation of such a mission possible.

Status of the Planet Formation Imager (PFI) concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ireland, Michael J.; Monnier, John D.; Kraus, Stefan; Isella, Andrea; Minardi, Stefano; Petrov, Romain; ten Brummelaar, Theo; Young, John; Vasisht, Gautam; Mozurkewich, David; Rinehart, Stephen; Michael, Ernest A.; van Belle, Gerard; Woillez, Julien

2016-08-01

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI) project aims to image the period of planet assembly directly, resolving structures as small as a giant planet's Hill sphere. These images will be required in order to determine the key mechanisms for planet formation at the time when processes of grain growth, protoplanet assembly, magnetic fields, disk/planet dynamical interactions and complex radiative transfer all interact - making some planetary systems habitable and others inhospitable. We will present the overall vision for the PFI concept, focusing on the key technologies and requirements that are needed to achieve the science goals. Based on these key requirements, we will define a cost envelope range for the design and highlight where the largest uncertainties lie at this conceptual stage.

Relevance feedback-based building recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jing; Allinson, Nigel M.

2010-07-01

Building recognition is a nontrivial task in computer vision research which can be utilized in robot localization, mobile navigation, etc. However, existing building recognition systems usually encounter the following two problems: 1) extracted low level features cannot reveal the true semantic concepts; and 2) they usually involve high dimensional data which require heavy computational costs and memory. Relevance feedback (RF), widely applied in multimedia information retrieval, is able to bridge the gap between the low level visual features and high level concepts; while dimensionality reduction methods can mitigate the high-dimensional problem. In this paper, we propose a building recognition scheme which integrates the RF and subspace learning algorithms. Experimental results undertaken on our own building database show that the newly proposed scheme appreciably enhances the recognition accuracy.

An Emphasis on Perception: Teaching Image Formation Using a Mechanistic Model of Vision.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Sue; And Others

An effective way to teach the concept of image is to give students a model of human vision which incorporates a simple mechanism of depth perception. In this study two almost identical versions of a curriculum in geometrical optics were created. One used a mechanistic, interpretive eye model, and in the other the eye was modeled as a passive,…

Using Commercially Available Techniques to Make Organic Chemistry Representations Tactile and More Accessible to Students with Blindness or Low Vision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supalo, Cary A.; Kennedy, Sean H.

2014-01-01

Organic chemistry courses can present major obstacles to access for students with blindness or low vision (BLV). In recent years, efforts have been made to represent organic chemistry concepts in tactile forms for blind students. These methodologies are described in this manuscript. Further work being done at Illinois State University is also…

The Road to Certainty and Back.

PubMed

Westheimer, Gerald

2016-10-14

The author relates his intellectual journey from eye-testing clinician to experimental vision scientist. Starting with the quest for underpinning in physics and physiology of vague clinical propositions and of psychology's acceptance of thresholds as "fuzzy-edged," and a long career pursuing a reductionist agenda in empirical vision science, his journey led to the realization that the full understanding of human vision cannot proceed without factoring in an observer's awareness, with its attendant uncertainty and open-endedness. He finds support in the loss of completeness, finality, and certainty revealed in fundamental twentieth-century formulations of mathematics and physics. Just as biology prospered with the introduction of the emergent, nonreductionist concepts of evolution, vision science has to become comfortable accepting data and receiving guidance from human observers' conscious visual experience.

NextGEOSS: The Next Generation Data Hub For Earth Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lilja Bye, Bente; De Lathouwer, Bart; Catarino, Nuno; Concalves, Pedro; Trijssenaar, Nicky; Grosso, Nuno; Meyer-Arnek, Julian; Goor, Erwin

2017-04-01

The Group on Earth observation embarked on the next 10 year phase with an ambition to streamline and further develop its achievements in building the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). The NextGEOSS project evolves the European vision of GEOSS data exploitation for innovation and business, relying on the three main pillars of engaging communities, delivering technological developments and advocating the use of GEOSS, in order to support the creation and deployment of Earth observation based innovative research activities and commercial services. In this presentation we will present the NextGEOSS concept, a concept that revolves around providing the data and resources to the users communities, together with Cloud resources, seamlessly connected to provide an integrated ecosystem for supporting applications. A central component of NextGEOSS is the strong emphasis put on engaging the communities of providers and users, and bridging the space in between.

Supporting Three-Dimensional Science Learning: The Role of Curiosity-Driven Classroom Discourse

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Wendy Renae

2017-01-01

The National Research Council's "Framework for K-12 Science Education" (2011) presents a new vision for science education that calls for the integration of the three dimensions of science learning: science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. Unlike previous conceptions of science learning that…

Automated and connected vehicle (AV/CV) test bed to improve transit, bicycle, and pedestrian safety : concept of operations plan.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-02-01

This document presents the Concept of Operations (ConOps) Plan for the Automated and Connected Vehicle (AV/CV) Test Bed to Improve Transit, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Safety. As illustrated in Figure 1, the plan presents the overarching vision and goals...

Vision-based control for flight relative to dynamic environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Causey, Ryan Scott

The concept of autonomous systems has been considered an enabling technology for a diverse group of military and civilian applications. The current direction for autonomous systems is increased capabilities through more advanced systems that are useful for missions that require autonomous avoidance, navigation, tracking, and docking. To facilitate this level of mission capability, passive sensors, such as cameras, and complex software are added to the vehicle. By incorporating an on-board camera, visual information can be processed to interpret the surroundings. This information allows decision making with increased situational awareness without the cost of a sensor signature, which is critical in military applications. The concepts presented in this dissertation facilitate the issues inherent to vision-based state estimation of moving objects for a monocular camera configuration. The process consists of several stages involving image processing such as detection, estimation, and modeling. The detection algorithm segments the motion field through a least-squares approach and classifies motions not obeying the dominant trend as independently moving objects. An approach to state estimation of moving targets is derived using a homography approach. The algorithm requires knowledge of the camera motion, a reference motion, and additional feature point geometry for both the target and reference objects. The target state estimates are then observed over time to model the dynamics using a probabilistic technique. The effects of uncertainty on state estimation due to camera calibration are considered through a bounded deterministic approach. The system framework focuses on an aircraft platform of which the system dynamics are derived to relate vehicle states to image plane quantities. Control designs using standard guidance and navigation schemes are then applied to the tracking and homing problems using the derived state estimation. Four simulations are implemented in MATLAB that build on the image concepts present in this dissertation. The first two simulations deal with feature point computations and the effects of uncertainty. The third simulation demonstrates the open-loop estimation of a target ground vehicle in pursuit whereas the four implements a homing control design for the Autonomous Aerial Refueling (AAR) using target estimates as feedback.

Biomimetic machine vision system.

PubMed

Harman, William M; Barrett, Steven F; Wright, Cameron H G; Wilcox, Michael

2005-01-01

Real-time application of digital imaging for use in machine vision systems has proven to be prohibitive when used within control systems that employ low-power single processors without compromising the scope of vision or resolution of captured images. Development of a real-time machine analog vision system is the focus of research taking place at the University of Wyoming. This new vision system is based upon the biological vision system of the common house fly. Development of a single sensor is accomplished, representing a single facet of the fly's eye. This new sensor is then incorporated into an array of sensors capable of detecting objects and tracking motion in 2-D space. This system "preprocesses" incoming image data resulting in minimal data processing to determine the location of a target object. Due to the nature of the sensors in the array, hyperacuity is achieved thereby eliminating resolutions issues found in digital vision systems. In this paper, we will discuss the biological traits of the fly eye and the specific traits that led to the development of this machine vision system. We will also discuss the process of developing an analog based sensor that mimics the characteristics of interest in the biological vision system. This paper will conclude with a discussion of how an array of these sensors can be applied toward solving real-world machine vision issues.

Color image processing and vision system for an automated laser paint-stripping system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hickey, John M., III; Hise, Lawson

1994-10-01

Color image processing in machine vision systems has not gained general acceptance. Most machine vision systems use images that are shades of gray. The Laser Automated Decoating System (LADS) required a vision system which could discriminate between substrates of various colors and textures and paints ranging from semi-gloss grays to high gloss red, white and blue (Air Force Thunderbirds). The changing lighting levels produced by the pulsed CO2 laser mandated a vision system that did not require a constant color temperature lighting for reliable image analysis.

NASA Unmanned Aircraft (UA) Control and Non-Payload Communication (CNPC) System Waveform Trade Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chavez, Carlos; Hammel, Bruce; Hammel, Allan; Moore, John R.

2014-01-01

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) represent a new capability that will provide a variety of services in the government (public) and commercial (civil) aviation sectors. The growth of this potential industry has not yet been realized due to the lack of a common understanding of what is required to safely operate UAS in the National Airspace System (NAS). To address this deficiency, NASA has established a project called UAS Integration in the NAS (UAS in the NAS), under the Integrated Systems Research Program (ISRP) of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). This project provides an opportunity to transition concepts, technology, algorithms, and knowledge to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other stakeholders to help them define the requirements, regulations, and issues for routine UAS access to the NAS. The safe, routine, and efficient integration of UAS into the NAS requires new radio frequency (RF) spectrum allocations and a new data communications system which is both secure and scalable with increasing UAS traffic without adversely impacting the Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication system. These data communications, referred to as Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC), whose purpose is to exchange information between the unmanned aircraft and the ground control station to ensure safe, reliable, and effective unmanned aircraft flight operation. A Communications Subproject within the UAS in the NAS Project has been established to address issues related to CNPC development, certification and fielding. The focus of the Communications Subproject is on validating and allocating new RF spectrum and data link communications to enable civil UAS integration into the NAS. The goal is to validate secure, robust data links within the allocated frequency spectrum for UAS. A vision, architectural concepts, and seed requirements for the future commercial UAS CNPC system have been developed by RTCA Special Committee 203 (SC-203) in the process of determining formal recommendations to the FAA in its role provided for under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. NASA intends to conduct its research and development in keeping with this vision and associated architectural concepts. The prototype communication systems developed and tested by NASA will be used to validate and update the initial SC-203 requirements in order to provide a foundation for SC-203's Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS).

Overview of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Project Four Enabling Operating Capabilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Viken, Sally A.; Brooks, Frederick M.; Johnson, Sally C.

2005-01-01

It has become evident that our commercial air transportation system is reaching its peak in terms of capacity, with numerous delays in the system and the demand still steadily increasing. NASA, FAA, and the National Consortium for Aviation Mobility (NCAM) have partnered to aid in increasing the mobility throughout the United States through the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) project. The SATS project has been a five-year effort to provide the technical and economic basis for further national investment and policy decisions to support a small aircraft transportation system. The SATS vision is to enable people and goods to have the convenience of on-demand point-to-point travel, anywhere, anytime for both personal and business travel. This vision can be obtained by expanding near all-weather access to more than 3,400 small community airports that are currently under-utilized throughout the United States. SATS has focused its efforts on four key operating capabilities that have addressed new emerging technologies, procedures, and concepts to pave the way for small aircraft to operate in nearly all weather conditions at virtually any runway in the United States. These four key operating capabilities are: Higher Volume Operations at Non-Towered/Non-Radar Airports, En Route Procedures and Systems for Integrated Fleet Operations, Lower Landing Minimums at Minimally Equipped Landing Facilities, and Increased Single Pilot Performance. The SATS project culminated with the 2005 SATS Public Demonstration in Danville, Virginia on June 5th-7th, by showcasing the accomplishments achieved throughout the project and demonstrating that a small aircraft transportation system could be viable. The technologies, procedures, and concepts were successfully demonstrated to show that they were safe, effective, and affordable for small aircraft in near all weather conditions. The focus of this paper is to provide an overview of the technical and operational feasibility of the four operating capabilities, and explain how they can enable a small aircraft transportation system.

Head-Worn Display Concepts for Surface Operations for Commerical Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Bailey, Randall E.; Shelton, Kevin J.; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Norman, Robert M.

2008-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that a Head-Up Display (HUD) and a head-down electronic moving map (EMM) can be enhanced with Synthetic Vision for airport surface operations. While great success in ground operations was demonstrated with a HUD, the research noted that two major HUD limitations during ground operations were its monochrome form and limited, fixed field-of-regard. A potential solution to these limitations found with HUDs may be emerging with Head Worn Displays (HWDs). HWDs are small display devices that may be worn without significant encumbrance to the user. By coupling the HWD with a head tracker, unlimited field-of-regard may be realized. The results of three ground simulation experiments conducted at NASA Langley Research Center are summarized. The experiments evaluated the efficacy of head-worn display applications of Synthetic Vision and Enhanced Vision technology to improve transport aircraft surface operations. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD provided greater pilot performance with respect to staying on the path compared to using paper charts alone. Further, when comparing the HWD with the HUD concept, there were no differences in path performance. In addition, the HWD and HUD concepts were rated via paired-comparisons the same in terms of situation awareness and workload.

The sky as a topic in science education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galili, Igal; Weizman, Ayelet; Cohen, Ariel

2004-07-01

The concepts of sky and visibility distance, as perceived by different learners, are investigated for the first time as a subject of a science education research. Mental models of students with regard to the subject were elicited. They were interpreted in terms of two-level hierarchy: schemes and facets-of-knowledge (defined in the paper). Our results suggest that many students do not consider sky to be a scientific (physical) concept. The majority perceives the sky as having an oblate profile. Among the parameters that determine this profile were mentioned daytime, atmosphere, geometry of the situation, and weather conditions. The students hold two major explanatory views (schemes) with regard to the sky: the sky is the atmosphere and the sky is the appearance of space. With regard to the visibility distance, the two following schemes prevail: vision weakens with the distance and natural obstacles determine vision distance. No significant correlation was found between the views regarding the sky appearance and the vision distance. Students do not relate Moon illusion to the profile of sky or visibility distance. The notions of sky and visibility distance are argued for inclusion into science curriculum, and implications of the findings to a constructivist instruction of the considered concepts and phenomena are discussed.

A metadata initiative for global information discovery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christian, E.

2001-01-01

The Global Information Locator Service (GILS) encompasses a global vision framed by the fundamental values of open societies. Societal values such as a free flow of information impose certain requirements on the society's information infrastructure. These requirements in turn shape the various laws, policies, standards, and technologies that determine the infrastructure design. A particular focus of GILS is the requirement to provide the means for people to discover sources of data and information. Information discovery in the GILS vision is designed to be decentralized yet coherent, and globally comprehensive yet useful for detailed data. This article introduces basic concepts and design issues, with emphasis on the techniques by which GILS supports interoperability. It explains the practical implications of GILS for the common roles of organizations involved in handling information, from content provider through system engineer and intermediary to searcher. The article provides examples of GILS initiatives in various types of communities: bibliographic, geographic, environmental, and government. ?? 2001 Elsevier Science Inc.

Design of a reading test for low-vision image warping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loshin, David S.; Wensveen, Janice; Juday, Richard D.; Barton, R. Shane

1993-08-01

NASA and the University of Houston College of Optometry are examining the efficacy of image warping as a possible prosthesis for at least two forms of low vision -- maculopathy and retinitis pigmentosa. Before incurring the expense of reducing the concept to practice, one would wish to have confidence that a worthwhile improvement in visual function would result. NASA's Programmable Remapper (PR) can warp an input image onto arbitrary geometric coordinate systems at full video rate, and it has recently been upgraded to accept computer- generated video text. We have integrated the Remapper with an SRI eye tracker to simulate visual malfunction in normal observers. A reading performance test has been developed to determine if the proposed warpings yield an increase in visual function; i.e., reading speed. We describe the preliminary experimental results of this reading test with a simulated central field defect with and without remapped images.

Design of a reading test for low vision image warping

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loshin, David S.; Wensveen, Janice; Juday, Richard D.; Barton, R. S.

1993-01-01

NASA and the University of Houston College of Optometry are examining the efficacy of image warping as a possible prosthesis for at least two forms of low vision - maculopathy and retinitis pigmentosa. Before incurring the expense of reducing the concept to practice, one would wish to have confidence that a worthwhile improvement in visual function would result. NASA's Programmable Remapper (PR) can warp an input image onto arbitrary geometric coordinate systems at full video rate, and it has recently been upgraded to accept computer-generated video text. We have integrated the Remapper with an SRI eye tracker to simulate visual malfunction in normal observers. A reading performance test has been developed to determine if the proposed warpings yield an increase in visual function; i.e., reading speed. We will describe the preliminary experimental results of this reading test with a simulated central field defect with and without remapped images.

Factors Affecting Readiness for Low Vision Interventions in Older Adults.

PubMed

Mohler, Amanda Jean; Neufeld, Peggy; Perlmutter, Monica S

2015-01-01

We sought to identify factors that facilitate and inhibit readiness for low vision interventions in people with vision loss, conceptualized as readiness for change in the way they perform daily activities. We conducted 10 semistructured interviews with older adults with low vision and analyzed the results using grounded theory concepts. Themes involving factors that facilitated change included desire to maintain or regain independence, positive attitude, and presence of formal social support. Themes related to barriers to change included limited knowledge of options and activity not a priority. Themes that acted as both barriers and facilitators were informal social support and community resources. This study provides insight into readiness to make changes in behavior and environment in older adults with vision loss. Study findings can help occupational therapy practitioners practice client-centered care more effectively and promote safe and satisfying daily living activity performance in this population. Copyright © 2015 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Extending the littoral battlespace (ELB)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinney, Edward J.

1999-07-01

The ELB program is a joint Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration funded by the Navy, Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defence, and managed by the Naval Research. ELB is based on the new warfare paradigm defined by 'joint vision 2010, and on concepts developed by the Navy and Marine Corps in 'From the Sea', 'Forward...from the Sea', 'Ship to Objective Maneuver (STOM)', and 'Operational Maneuver from the Sea'. The objective of ELB is to demonstrate effective operation of dispersed forces in a variety of littoral environments, and to provide those forces timely remote fire support. Successful operation will depend on achieving a common situational awareness among a mobile, distributed command and control, a shortened sensor- to-shooter timeline, and effective utilization of all information source. The glue to hold this system of systems together is a reliable wide band communications system and network infrastructure. This paper will describe the overall architecture of ELB and focus on the core command and control functions associated with achieving a common situational awareness.

Modeling the 360° Innovating Firm as a Multiple System or Collective Being

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouchard, Véronique

Confronted with fast changing technologies and markets and with increasing competitive pressures, firms are now required to innovate fast and continuously. In order to do so, several firms superpose an intrapreneurial layer (IL) to their formal organization (FO). The two systems are in complex relations: the IL is embedded in the FO, sharing human, financial and technical components, but strongly diverges from it when it comes to representation, structure, values and behavior of the shared components. Furthermore, the two systems simultaneously cooperate and compete. In the long run, the organizational dynamics usually end to the detriment of the intrapreneurial layer, which remains marginal or regresses after an initial period of boom. The concepts of Multiple Systems and Collective Beings, proposed by Minati and Pessa, can help students of the firm adopt a different viewpoint on this issue. These concepts can help them move away from a rigid, Manichean view of the two systems' respective functions and roles towards a more fluid and elaborate vision of their relations, allowing for greater flexibility and coherence.

Wearable Improved Vision System for Color Vision Deficiency Correction

PubMed Central

Riccio, Daniel; Di Perna, Luigi; Sanniti Di Baja, Gabriella; De Nino, Maurizio; Rossi, Settimio; Testa, Francesco; Simonelli, Francesca; Frucci, Maria

2017-01-01

Color vision deficiency (CVD) is an extremely frequent vision impairment that compromises the ability to recognize colors. In order to improve color vision in a subject with CVD, we designed and developed a wearable improved vision system based on an augmented reality device. The system was validated in a clinical pilot study on 24 subjects with CVD (18 males and 6 females, aged 37.4 ± 14.2 years). The primary outcome was the improvement in the Ishihara Vision Test score with the correction proposed by our system. The Ishihara test score significantly improved (\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document} }{}$p = 0.03$ \\end{document}) from 5.8 ± 3.0 without correction to 14.8 ± 5.0 with correction. Almost all patients showed an improvement in color vision, as shown by the increased test scores. Moreover, with our system, 12 subjects (50%) passed the vision color test as normal vision subjects. The development and preliminary validation of the proposed platform confirm that a wearable augmented-reality device could be an effective aid to improve color vision in subjects with CVD. PMID:28507827

Ultraviolet sensor as integrity monitor for enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) approaches to Cat II RVR conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinley, John B.; Pierson, Roger; Ertem, M. C.; Krone, Norris J., Jr.; Cramer, James A.

2008-04-01

Flight tests were conducted at Greenbrier Valley Airport (KLWB) and Easton Municipal Airport / Newnam Field (KESN) in a Cessna 402B aircraft using a head-up display (HUD) and a Norris Electro Optical Systems Corporation (NEOC) developmental ultraviolet (UV) sensor. These flights were sponsored by NEOC under a Federal Aviation Administration program, and the ultraviolet concepts, technology, system mechanization, and hardware for landing during low visibility landing conditions have been patented by NEOC. Imagery from the UV sensor, HUD guidance cues, and out-the-window videos were separately recorded at the engineering workstation for each approach. Inertial flight path data were also recorded. Various configurations of portable UV emitters were positioned along the runway edge and threshold. The UV imagery of the runway outline was displayed on the HUD along with guidance generated from the mission computer. Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) approaches with the UV sensor were conducted from the initial approach fix to the ILS decision height in both VMC and IMC. Although the availability of low visibility conditions during the flight test period was limited, results from previous fog range testing concluded that UV EFVS has the performance capability to penetrate CAT II runway visual range obscuration. Furthermore, independent analysis has shown that existing runway light emit sufficient UV radiation without the need for augmentation other than lens replacement with UV transmissive quartz lenses. Consequently, UV sensors should qualify as conforming to FAA requirements for EFVS approaches. Combined with Synthetic Vision System (SVS), UV EFVS would function as both a precision landing aid, as well as an integrity monitor for the GPS and SVS database.

Medical telerobotic systems: current status and future trends.

PubMed

Avgousti, Sotiris; Christoforou, Eftychios G; Panayides, Andreas S; Voskarides, Sotos; Novales, Cyril; Nouaille, Laurence; Pattichis, Constantinos S; Vieyres, Pierre

2016-08-12

Teleoperated medical robotic systems allow procedures such as surgeries, treatments, and diagnoses to be conducted across short or long distances while utilizing wired and/or wireless communication networks. This study presents a systematic review of the relevant literature between the years 2004 and 2015, focusing on medical teleoperated robotic systems which have witnessed tremendous growth over the examined period. A thorough insight of telerobotics systems discussing design concepts, enabling technologies (namely robotic manipulation, telecommunications, and vision systems), and potential applications in clinical practice is provided, while existing limitations and future trends are also highlighted. A representative paradigm of the short-distance case is the da Vinci Surgical System which is described in order to highlight relevant issues. The long-distance telerobotics concept is exemplified through a case study on diagnostic ultrasound scanning. Moreover, the present review provides a classification into short- and long-distance telerobotic systems, depending on the distance from which they are operated. Telerobotic systems are further categorized with respect to their application field. For the reviewed systems are also examined their engineering characteristics and the employed robotics technology. The current status of the field, its significance, the potential, as well as the challenges that lie ahead are thoroughly discussed.

A 3-Dimensional Cockpit Display with Traffic and Terrain Information for the Small Aircraft Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

UijtdeHaag, Maarten; Thomas, Robert; Rankin, James R.

2004-01-01

The report discusses the architecture and the flight test results of a 3-Dimensional Cockpit Display of Traffic and terrain Information (3D-CDTI). The presented 3D-CDTI is a perspective display format that combines existing Synthetic Vision System (SVS) research and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology to improve the pilot's situational awareness. The goal of the 3D-CDTI is to contribute to the development of new display concepts for NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System research program. Papers were presented at the PLANS 2002 meeting and the ION-GPS 2002 meeting. The contents of this report are derived from the results discussed in those papers.

Portable Common Execution Environment (PCEE) project review: Peer review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Locke, C. Douglass

1991-01-01

The purpose of the review was to conduct an independent, in-depth analysis of the PCEE project and to provide the results of said review. The review team was tasked with evaluating the potential contribution of the PCEE project to the improvement of the life cycle support of mission and safety critical (MASC) computing components for large, complex, non-stop, distributed systems similar to those planned for such NASA programs as the space station, lunar outpost, and manned missions to Mars. Some conclusions of the review team are as follow: The PCEE project was given high marks for its breath of vision on the overall problem with MASC software; Correlated with the sweeping vision, the Review Team is very skeptical that any research project can successfully attack such a broad range of problems; and several recommendations are made such as to identify the components of the broad solution envisioned, prioritizing them with respect to their impact and the likely ability of the PCEE or others to attack them successfully, and to rewrite its Concept Document differentiating the problem description, objectives, approach, and results so that the project vision becomes assessible to others.

Knowledge-based machine vision systems for space station automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ranganath, Heggere S.; Chipman, Laure J.

1989-01-01

Computer vision techniques which have the potential for use on the space station and related applications are assessed. A knowledge-based vision system (expert vision system) and the development of a demonstration system for it are described. This system implements some of the capabilities that would be necessary in a machine vision system for the robot arm of the laboratory module in the space station. A Perceptics 9200e image processor, on a host VAXstation, was used to develop the demonstration system. In order to use realistic test images, photographs of actual space shuttle simulator panels were used. The system's capabilities of scene identification and scene matching are discussed.

Dynamic Tunnel Usability Study: Format Recommendations for Synthetic Vision System Primary Flight Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2006-01-01

A usability study evaluating dynamic tunnel concepts has been completed under the Aviation Safety and Security Program, Synthetic Vision Systems Project. The usability study was conducted in the Visual Imaging Simulator for Transport Aircraft Systems (VISTAS) III simulator in the form of questionnaires and pilot-in-the-loop simulation sessions. Twelve commercial pilots participated in the study to determine their preferences via paired comparisons and subjective rankings regarding the color, line thickness and sensitivity of the dynamic tunnel. The results of the study showed that color was not significant in pilot preference paired comparisons or in pilot rankings. Line thickness was significant for both pilot preference paired comparisons and in pilot rankings. The preferred line/halo thickness combination was a line width of 3 pixels and a halo of 4 pixels. Finally, pilots were asked their preference for the current dynamic tunnel compared to a less sensitive dynamic tunnel. The current dynamic tunnel constantly gives feedback to the pilot with regard to path error while the less sensitive tunnel only changes as the path error approaches the edges of the tunnel. The tunnel sensitivity comparison results were not statistically significant.

MIT-NASA Workshop: Transformational Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mankins, J. C. (Editor); Christensen, C. B.; Gresham, E. C.; Simmons, A.; Mullins, C. A.

2005-01-01

As a space faring nation, we are at a critical juncture in the evolution of space exploration. NASA has announced its Vision for Space Exploration, a vision of returning humans to the Moon, sending robots and eventually humans to Mars, and exploring the outer solar system via automated spacecraft. However, mission concepts have become increasingly complex, with the potential to yield a wealth of scientific knowledge. Meanwhile, there are significant resource challenges to be met. Launch costs remain a barrier to routine space flight; the ever-changing fiscal and political environments can wreak havoc on mission planning; and technologies are constantly improving, and systems that were state of the art when a program began can quickly become outmoded before a mission is even launched. This Conference Publication describes the workshop and featured presentations by world-class experts presenting leading-edge technologies and applications in the areas of power and propulsion; communications; automation, robotics, computing, and intelligent systems; and transformational techniques for space activities. Workshops such as this one provide an excellent medium for capturing the broadest possible array of insights and expertise, learning from researchers in universities, national laboratories, NASA field Centers, and industry to help better our future in space.

The Cocreation of Crazy Patchworks: Becoming Rhizomatic in Systemic Therapy.

PubMed

Sermijn, Jasmina; Loots, Gerrit

2015-09-01

In the field of systemic therapy, there has been much discussion recently about the narrative self. This concept refers to the idea that the self is narratively constructed in and through the stories which someone tells about him/herself. The story is thereby not only viewed as a metaphor for selfhood: Selfhood is not compared to a story, it is a story. But what kind of story are we talking about here? If the self is a story, what does that story look like? These questions are explored in this article. Starting from the possibilities and limitations of traditional and postmodern visions on the self as a story, an alternative vision is illustrated. By considering the self as a rhizomatic story, we not only create a useful view of the way narrative selfhood is constructed within a therapy context, but we also stimulate therapists to coconstruct-together with their clients-patchworks of self-stories. By using story fragments of our own practice, we illustrate the rhizomatic thinking and its possibilities in therapy. © 2015 Family Process Institute.

Vision-based semi-autonomous outdoor robot system to reduce soldier workload

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richardson, Al; Rodgers, Michael H.

2001-09-01

Sensors and computational capability have not reached the point to enable small robots to navigate autonomously in unconstrained outdoor environments at tactically useful speeds. This problem is greatly reduced, however, if a soldier can lead the robot through terrain that he knows it can traverse. An application of this concept is a small pack-mule robot that follows a foot soldier over outdoor terrain. The solder would be responsible to avoid situations beyond the robot's limitations when encountered. Having learned the route, the robot could autonomously retrace the path carrying supplies and munitions. This would greatly reduce the soldier's workload under normal conditions. This paper presents a description of a developmental robot sensor system using low-cost commercial 3D vision and inertial sensors to address this application. The robot moves at fast walking speed and requires only short-range perception to accomplish its task. 3D-feature information is recorded on a composite route map that the robot uses to negotiate its local environment and retrace the path taught by the soldier leader.

[Focus on popular science education of glaucoma and reduce glaucomatous low vision and blindness].

PubMed

Sun, X H

2017-02-11

The prevention of blindness caused by glaucoma is a difficult task. In order to accomplish the task better, we need the participation of whole society and popularize relevant medical knowledge. Popular science and related knowledge of glaucoma are needed to the people especially for high risk population. If people know glaucoma better and actively join the screening of glaucoma, we can find and diagnose glaucoma earlier, avoid late treatment and reduce the glaucomatous visual function impairment. For patients who had been diagnosed with glaucoma, they should aware and accept new medical concept and technique through systemic popular science education. They should actively participate the whole procedure of the disease management and improve their compliance and confidence. Academic organization of ophthalmology should participate and guide the patient education, improve the individualized comprehensive health care for the diagnosis and treatment and third-order health care system that is suitable for the condition of our country, help improving the prognosis of glaucoma and life quality related to vision for advanced and late glaucoma. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2017, 53: 81-84) .

Plans for a Next Generation Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Observatory (NGO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Livas, Jeffrey C.; Stebbins, Robin T.; Jennrich, Oliver

2012-01-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently in the process of selecting a mission for the Cosmic Visions Program. A space-based gravitational wave observatory in the low-frequency band (0.0001 - 1 Hz) of the gravitational wave spectrum is one of the leading contenders. This low frequency band has a rich spectrum of astrophysical sources, and the LISA concept has been the key mission to cover this science for over twenty years. Tight budgets have recently forced ESA to consider a reformulation of the LISA mission concept that wi" allow the Cosmic Visions Program to proceed on schedule either with the US as a minority participant, or independently of the US altogether. We report on the status of these reformulation efforts.

Biological Basis For Computer Vision: Some Perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Madan M.

1990-03-01

Using biology as a basis for the development of sensors, devices and computer vision systems is a challenge to systems and vision scientists. It is also a field of promising research for engineering applications. Biological sensory systems, such as vision, touch and hearing, sense different physical phenomena from our environment, yet they possess some common mathematical functions. These mathematical functions are cast into the neural layers which are distributed throughout our sensory regions, sensory information transmission channels and in the cortex, the centre of perception. In this paper, we are concerned with the study of the biological vision system and the emulation of some of its mathematical functions, both retinal and visual cortex, for the development of a robust computer vision system. This field of research is not only intriguing, but offers a great challenge to systems scientists in the development of functional algorithms. These functional algorithms can be generalized for further studies in such fields as signal processing, control systems and image processing. Our studies are heavily dependent on the the use of fuzzy - neural layers and generalized receptive fields. Building blocks of such neural layers and receptive fields may lead to the design of better sensors and better computer vision systems. It is hoped that these studies will lead to the development of better artificial vision systems with various applications to vision prosthesis for the blind, robotic vision, medical imaging, medical sensors, industrial automation, remote sensing, space stations and ocean exploration.

Model-based video segmentation for vision-augmented interactive games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lurng-Kuo

2000-04-01

This paper presents an architecture and algorithms for model based video object segmentation and its applications to vision augmented interactive game. We are especially interested in real time low cost vision based applications that can be implemented in software in a PC. We use different models for background and a player object. The object segmentation algorithm is performed in two different levels: pixel level and object level. At pixel level, the segmentation algorithm is formulated as a maximizing a posteriori probability (MAP) problem. The statistical likelihood of each pixel is calculated and used in the MAP problem. Object level segmentation is used to improve segmentation quality by utilizing the information about the spatial and temporal extent of the object. The concept of an active region, which is defined based on motion histogram and trajectory prediction, is introduced to indicate the possibility of a video object region for both background and foreground modeling. It also reduces the overall computation complexity. In contrast with other applications, the proposed video object segmentation system is able to create background and foreground models on the fly even without introductory background frames. Furthermore, we apply different rate of self-tuning on the scene model so that the system can adapt to the environment when there is a scene change. We applied the proposed video object segmentation algorithms to several prototype virtual interactive games. In our prototype vision augmented interactive games, a player can immerse himself/herself inside a game and can virtually interact with other animated characters in a real time manner without being constrained by helmets, gloves, special sensing devices, or background environment. The potential applications of the proposed algorithms including human computer gesture interface and object based video coding such as MPEG-4 video coding.

Data Fusion for a Vision-Radiological System for Source Tracking and Discovery

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

Enqvist, Andreas; Koppal, Sanjeev

2015-07-01

A multidisciplinary approach to allow the tracking of the movement of radioactive sources by fusing data from multiple radiological and visual sensors is under development. The goal is to improve the ability to detect, locate, track and identify nuclear/radiological threats. The key concept is that such widely available visual and depth sensors can impact radiological detection, since the intensity fall-off in the count rate can be correlated to movement in three dimensions. To enable this, we pose an important question; what is the right combination of sensing modalities and vision algorithms that can best compliment a radiological sensor, for themore » purpose of detection and tracking of radioactive material? Similarly what is the best radiation detection methods and unfolding algorithms suited for data fusion with tracking data? Data fusion of multi-sensor data for radiation detection have seen some interesting developments lately. Significant examples include intelligent radiation sensor systems (IRSS), which are based on larger numbers of distributed similar or identical radiation sensors coupled with position data for network capable to detect and locate radiation source. Other developments are gamma-ray imaging systems based on Compton scatter in segmented detector arrays. Similar developments using coded apertures or scatter cameras for neutrons have recently occurred. The main limitation of such systems is not so much in their capability but rather in their complexity and cost which is prohibitive for large scale deployment. Presented here is a fusion system based on simple, low-cost computer vision and radiological sensors for tracking of multiple objects and identifying potential radiological materials being transported or shipped. The main focus of this work is the development on two separate calibration algorithms for characterizing the fused sensor system. The deviation from a simple inverse square-root fall-off of radiation intensity is explored and accounted for. In particular, the computer vision system enables a map of distance-dependence of the sources being tracked. Infrared, laser or stereoscopic vision sensors are all options for computer-vision implementation depending on interior vs exterior deployment, resolution desired and other factors. Similarly the radiation sensors will be focused on gamma-ray or neutron detection due to the long travel length and ability to penetrate even moderate shielding. There is a significant difference between the vision sensors and radiation sensors in the way the 'source' or signals are generated. A vision sensor needs an external light-source to illuminate the object and then detects the re-emitted illumination (or lack thereof). However, for a radiation detector, the radioactive material is the source itself. The only exception to this is the field of active interrogations where radiation is beamed into a material to entice new/additional radiation emission beyond what the material would emit spontaneously. The aspect of the nuclear material being the source itself means that all other objects in the environment are 'illuminated' or irradiated by the source. Most radiation will readily penetrate regular material, scatter in new directions or be absorbed. Thus if a radiation source is located near a larger object that object will in turn scatter some radiation that was initially emitted in a direction other than the direction of the radiation detector, this can add to the count rate that is observed. The effect of these scatter is a deviation from the traditional distance dependence of the radiation signal and is a key challenge that needs a combined system calibration solution and algorithms. Thus both an algebraic approach as well as a statistical approach have been developed and independently evaluated to investigate the sensitivity to this deviation from the simplified radiation fall-off as a function of distance. The resulting calibrated system algorithms are used and demonstrated in various laboratory scenarios, and later in realistic tracking scenarios. The selection and testing of radiological and computer-vision sensors for the additional specific scenarios will be the subject of ongoing and future work. (authors)« less

In-process fault detection for textile fabric production: onloom imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neumann, Florian; Holtermann, Timm; Schneider, Dorian; Kulczycki, Ashley; Gries, Thomas; Aach, Til

2011-05-01

Constant and traceable high fabric quality is of high importance both for technical and for high-quality conventional fabrics. Usually, quality inspection is carried out by trained personal, whose detection rate and maximum period of concentration are limited. Low resolution automated fabric inspection machines using texture analysis were developed. Since 2003, systems for the in-process inspection on weaving machines ("onloom") are commercially available. With these defects can be detected, but not measured quantitative precisely. Most systems are also prone to inevitable machine vibrations. Feedback loops for fault prevention are not established. Technology has evolved since 2003: Camera and computer prices dropped, resolutions were enhanced, recording speeds increased. These are the preconditions for real-time processing of high-resolution images. So far, these new technological achievements are not used in textile fabric production. For efficient use, a measurement system must be integrated into the weaving process; new algorithms for defect detection and measurement must be developed. The goal of the joint project is the development of a modern machine vision system for nondestructive onloom fabric inspection. The system consists of a vibration-resistant machine integration, a high-resolution machine vision system, and new, reliable, and robust algorithms with quality database for defect documentation. The system is meant to detect, measure, and classify at least 80 % of economically relevant defects. Concepts for feedback loops into the weaving process will be pointed out.

Progress in computer vision.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, A. K.; Dorai, C.

Computer vision has emerged as a challenging and important area of research, both as an engineering and a scientific discipline. The growing importance of computer vision is evident from the fact that it was identified as one of the "Grand Challenges" and also from its prominent role in the National Information Infrastructure. While the design of a general-purpose vision system continues to be elusive machine vision systems are being used successfully in specific application elusive, machine vision systems are being used successfully in specific application domains. Building a practical vision system requires a careful selection of appropriate sensors, extraction and integration of information from available cues in the sensed data, and evaluation of system robustness and performance. The authors discuss and demonstrate advantages of (1) multi-sensor fusion, (2) combination of features and classifiers, (3) integration of visual modules, and (IV) admissibility and goal-directed evaluation of vision algorithms. The requirements of several prominent real world applications such as biometry, document image analysis, image and video database retrieval, and automatic object model construction offer exciting problems and new opportunities to design and evaluate vision algorithms.

System Analysis and Evaluation of Greenhouse Modules within Moon/Mars Habitats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad Nagendra, Narayan; Schubert, Daniel; Zabel, Paul

2012-07-01

Long term settlement on different planets of the solar system is a fascination for mankind. Some researchers contemplate that planetary settlement is a necessity for the survival of the human race over millions of years. The generation of food for self sufficiency in space or on planetary bases is a vital part of this vision of space habitation. The amount of mass that can be transported in deep space missions is constrained by the launcher capability and its costs. The space community has proposed and designed various greenhouse modules to cater to human culinary requirements and act as part of life support systems. A survey of the different greenhouse space concepts and terrestrial test facilities is presented, drawing a list of measurable factors (e.g. growth area, power consumption, human activity index, etc.) for the evaluation of greenhouse modules. These factors include tangible and intangible parameters that have been used in the development of an evaluation method on greenhouse concepts as a subsystem of planetary habitats at the DLR Institute of Space Systems, Bremen.

Full Spectrum Operations: Is This the Science of Victory?

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-19

Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera and Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki proposed yet another experimental operating concept, the Objective Force...19-22. 124 Adams, The Army After Next, 54. 125 Ibid., 68. 126 Louis Caldera and Eric K. Shinseki, “Army Vision: Soldiers On Point for the Nation...the United States of America. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2006. Caldera , Louis and Eric K. Shinseki. “Army Vision: Soldiers On

Synthetic Vision Enhanced Surface Operations With Head-Worn Display for Commercial Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arthur, Jarvis J., III; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Kramer, Lynda J.; Williams, Steven P.; Bailey, Randall E.; Norman, R. M.

2007-01-01

Experiments and flight tests have shown that airport surface operations can be enhanced by using synthetic vision and associated technologies, employed on a Head-Up Display (HUD) and head-down display electronic moving maps (EMM). Although HUD applications have shown the greatest potential operational improvements, the research noted that two major limitations during ground operations were its monochrome form and limited, fixed field-of-regard. A potential solution to these limitations may be the application of advanced Head Worn Displays (HWDs) particularly during low-visibility operations wherein surface movement is substantially limited because of the impaired vision of pilots and air traffic controllers. The paper describes the results of ground simulation experiments conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center. The results of the experiments showed that the fully integrated HWD concept provided significantly improved path performance compared to using paper charts alone. When comparing the HWD and HUD concepts, there were no statistically-significant differences in path performance or subjective ratings of situation awareness and workload. Implications and directions for future research are described.

Going Below Minimums: The Efficacy of Display Enhanced/Synthetic Vision Fusion for Go-Around Decisions during Non-Normal Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.

2007-01-01

The use of enhanced vision systems in civil aircraft is projected to increase rapidly as the Federal Aviation Administration recently changed the aircraft operating rules under Part 91, revising the flight visibility requirements for conducting approach and landing operations. Operators conducting straight-in instrument approach procedures may now operate below the published approach minimums when using an approved enhanced flight vision system that shows the required visual references on the pilot's Head-Up Display. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the complementary use of synthetic vision systems and enhanced vision system technologies, focusing on new techniques for integration and/or fusion of synthetic and enhanced vision technologies and crew resource management while operating under these newly adopted rules. Experimental results specific to flight crew response to non-normal events using the fused synthetic/enhanced vision system are presented.

Exploration Rover Concepts and Development Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zakrajsek, James J.; McKissock, David B.; Woytach, Jeffrey M.; Zakrajsek, June F.; Oswald, Fred B.; McEntire, Kelly J.; Hill, Gerald M.; Abel, Phillip; Eichenberg, Dennis J.; Goodnight, Thomas W.

2005-01-01

This paper presents an overview of exploration rover concepts and the various development challenges associated with each as they are applied to exploration objectives and requirements for missions on the Moon and Mars. A variety of concepts for surface exploration vehicles have been proposed since the initial development of the Apollo-era lunar rover. This paper provides a brief description of the rover concepts, along with a comparison of their relative benefits and limitations. In addition, this paper outlines, and investigates a number of critical development challenges that surface exploration vehicles must address in order to successfully meet the exploration mission vision. These include: mission and environmental challenges, design challenges, and production and delivery challenges. Mission and environmental challenges include effects of terrain, extreme temperature differentials, dust issues, and radiation protection. Design methods are discussed that focus on optimum methods for developing highly reliable, long-life and efficient systems. In addition, challenges associated with delivering a surface exploration system is explored and discussed. Based on all the information presented, modularity will be the single most important factor in the development of a truly viable surface mobility vehicle. To meet mission, reliability, and affordability requirements, surface exploration vehicles, especially pressurized rovers, will need to be modularly designed and deployed across all projected Moon and Mars exploration missions.

Avionic Pictorial Tunnel-/Pathway-/Highway-In-The-Sky Workshops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parrish, Russell V. (Compiler)

2003-01-01

In 1994-96, Langley Research Center held a series of interactive workshops investigating highway-in-the-sky concepts, which enable precise flight path control. These workshops brought together government and industry display designers and pilots to discuss and fly various concepts in an iterative manner. The primary emphasis of the first workshops was the utility and usability of pathways and the pros and cons of various features available. The final workshops were focused on the specific applications to the eXternal Visibility System (XVS) of the NASA High-speed Research Program, which was concerned with replacement of the forward windows in a High-speed Civil Transport with electronic displays and high resolution video cameras to enable a "No-Droop" configuration. The primary concerns in the XVS application were the prevention of display clutter and obscuration of hazards, as the camera image was the primary means of traffic separation in clear visibility conditions. These concerns were not so prominent in the first workshops, which assumed a Synthetic Vision System application in which hazard locations are known and obscuration is handled easily. The resulting consensus concept has been used since in simulation and flight test activities of many Government programs. and other concepts have been influenced by the workshop discussions.

Development of a High-Fidelity Simulation Environment for Shadow-Mode Assessments of Air Traffic Concepts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, John E., III; Lee, Alan; Lai, Chok Fung

2017-01-01

This paper describes the Shadow-Mode Assessment Using Realistic Technologies for the National Airspace System (SMART-NAS) Test Bed. The SMART-NAS Test Bed is an air traffic simulation platform being developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The SMART-NAS Test Bed's core purpose is to conduct high-fidelity, real-time, human-in-the-loop and automation-in-the-loop simulations of current and proposed future air traffic concepts for the United States' Next Generation Air Transportation System called NextGen. The setup, configuration, coordination, and execution of realtime, human-in-the-loop air traffic management simulations are complex, tedious, time intensive, and expensive. The SMART-NAS Test Bed framework is an alternative to the current approach and will provide services throughout the simulation workflow pipeline to help alleviate these shortcomings. The principle concepts to be simulated include advanced gate-to-gate, trajectory-based operations, widespread integration of novel aircraft such as unmanned vehicles, and real-time safety assurance technologies to enable autonomous operations. To make this possible, SNTB will utilize Web-based technologies, cloud resources, and real-time, scalable, communication middleware. This paper describes the SMART-NAS Test Bed's vision, purpose, its concept of use, and the potential benefits, key capabilities, high-level requirements, architecture, software design, and usage.

The Perspectives of Graduate Students with Visual Disabilities: A Heuristic Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perez, Luis F.

2013-01-01

The concept of liminality describes the experiences of individuals who live "between and betwixt" as a result of their indeterminate status in society. This concept seems appropriate to describe the experiences of people who live with vision loss, because we simultaneously belong to two social or cultural groups. On the one hand we must…

The Semiotics of Education: A New Vision in an Old Landscape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pikkarainen, Eetu

2011-01-01

In this article, I attempt to describe how certain theoretical constructions of semiotics could be applied in educational theoretical work. First I introduce meaning as a basic concept of semiotics, thus also touching on concepts such as action, competence and causality. I am then able to define learning as a change of competences, and also refer…

Soundscapes/Artabilitation - Evolution of a Hybrid Human Performance Concept, Method & Apparatus Where Digital Interactive Media, The Arts, & Entertainment are Combined

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brooks, A. L.

'SoundScapes' is a body of empirical research that for almost two decades has focused upon investigating noninvasive gesture control of multi-sensory stimuli and potential uses in therapy and the arts. In this context noninvasive gesture refers to motion in invisible activity zones of a system input device utilizing technology outside of human vision. Especially targeted are disabled people of all ages, and special focus has been on the profoundly impaired who especially have limited opportunities for creative self-articulation and playful interaction. The concept has been explored in various situations including: - live stage performances; interactive room installations for museums, workshops, and festivals; and in health-care sessions at hospitals, institutes and special schools. Multifaceted aspects continuously cross-inform in a systemic manner, and each situation where the motion-sensitive environment is applied is considered as a hybrid system. Whilst simplistic in concept, i.e. learning by playful and creative doings, inherent are complexities of optimizing the interactive system to user-experience and evaluation of same. This chapter presents the system in context to its conceived-for-target community; it also presents the parallel practice-led investigations in performance art. Reciprocal design and reflective cross-analysis of the activities has resulted such that performance informs design and strategies of intervention and evaluation with impaired users, and vice versa.

Exploiting semantic linkages among multiple sources for semantic information retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, JianQiang; Yang, Ji-Jiang; Liu, Chunchen; Zhao, Yu; Liu, Bo; Shi, Yuliang

2014-07-01

The vision of the Semantic Web is to build a global Web of machine-readable data to be consumed by intelligent applications. As the first step to make this vision come true, the initiative of linked open data has fostered many novel applications aimed at improving data accessibility in the public Web. Comparably, the enterprise environment is so different from the public Web that most potentially usable business information originates in an unstructured form (typically in free text), which poses a challenge for the adoption of semantic technologies in the enterprise environment. Considering that the business information in a company is highly specific and centred around a set of commonly used concepts, this paper describes a pilot study to migrate the concept of linked data into the development of a domain-specific application, i.e. the vehicle repair support system. The set of commonly used concepts, including the part name of a car and the phenomenon term on the car repairing, are employed to build the linkage between data and documents distributed among different sources, leading to the fusion of documents and data across source boundaries. Then, we describe the approaches of semantic information retrieval to consume these linkages for value creation for companies. The experiments on two real-world data sets show that the proposed approaches outperform the best baseline 6.3-10.8% and 6.4-11.1% in terms of top five and top 10 precisions, respectively. We believe that our pilot study can serve as an important reference for the development of similar semantic applications in an enterprise environment.

VLSI chips for vision-based vehicle guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masaki, Ichiro

1994-02-01

Sensor-based vehicle guidance systems are gathering rapidly increasing interest because of their potential for increasing safety, convenience, environmental friendliness, and traffic efficiency. Examples of applications include intelligent cruise control, lane following, collision warning, and collision avoidance. This paper reviews the research trends in vision-based vehicle guidance with an emphasis on VLSI chip implementations of the vision systems. As an example of VLSI chips for vision-based vehicle guidance, a stereo vision system is described in detail.

A sharp image or a sharp knife: norms for the modality-exclusivity of 774 concept-property items.

PubMed

van Dantzig, Saskia; Cowell, Rosemary A; Zeelenberg, René; Pecher, Diane

2011-03-01

According to recent embodied cognition theories, mental concepts are represented by modality-specific sensory-motor systems. Much of the evidence for modality-specificity in conceptual processing comes from the property-verification task. When applying this and other tasks, it is important to select items based on their modality-exclusivity. We collected modality ratings for a set of 387 properties, each of which was paired with two different concepts, yielding a total of 774 concept-property items. For each item, participants rated the degree to which the property could be experienced through five perceptual modalities (vision, audition, touch, smell, and taste). Based on these ratings, we computed a measure of modality exclusivity, the degree to which a property is perceived exclusively through one sensory modality. In this paper, we briefly sketch the theoretical background of conceptual knowledge, discuss the use of the property-verification task in cognitive research, provide our norms and statistics, and validate the norms in a memory experiment. We conclude that our norms are important for researchers studying modality-specific effects in conceptual processing.

Vision Systems with the Human in the Loop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauckhage, Christian; Hanheide, Marc; Wrede, Sebastian; Käster, Thomas; Pfeiffer, Michael; Sagerer, Gerhard

2005-12-01

The emerging cognitive vision paradigm deals with vision systems that apply machine learning and automatic reasoning in order to learn from what they perceive. Cognitive vision systems can rate the relevance and consistency of newly acquired knowledge, they can adapt to their environment and thus will exhibit high robustness. This contribution presents vision systems that aim at flexibility and robustness. One is tailored for content-based image retrieval, the others are cognitive vision systems that constitute prototypes of visual active memories which evaluate, gather, and integrate contextual knowledge for visual analysis. All three systems are designed to interact with human users. After we will have discussed adaptive content-based image retrieval and object and action recognition in an office environment, the issue of assessing cognitive systems will be raised. Experiences from psychologically evaluated human-machine interactions will be reported and the promising potential of psychologically-based usability experiments will be stressed.

3D vision system assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pezzaniti, J. Larry; Edmondson, Richard; Vaden, Justin; Hyatt, Bryan; Chenault, David B.; Kingston, David; Geulen, Vanilynmae; Newell, Scott; Pettijohn, Brad

2009-02-01

In this paper, we report on the development of a 3D vision system consisting of a flat panel stereoscopic display and auto-converging stereo camera and an assessment of the system's use for robotic driving, manipulation, and surveillance operations. The 3D vision system was integrated onto a Talon Robot and Operator Control Unit (OCU) such that direct comparisons of the performance of a number of test subjects using 2D and 3D vision systems were possible. A number of representative scenarios were developed to determine which tasks benefited most from the added depth perception and to understand when the 3D vision system hindered understanding of the scene. Two tests were conducted at Fort Leonard Wood, MO with noncommissioned officers ranked Staff Sergeant and Sergeant First Class. The scenarios; the test planning, approach and protocols; the data analysis; and the resulting performance assessment of the 3D vision system are reported.

Dense range map reconstruction from a versatile robotic sensor system with an active trinocular vision and a passive binocular vision.

PubMed

Kim, Min Young; Lee, Hyunkee; Cho, Hyungsuck

2008-04-10

One major research issue associated with 3D perception by robotic systems is the creation of efficient sensor systems that can generate dense range maps reliably. A visual sensor system for robotic applications is developed that is inherently equipped with two types of sensor, an active trinocular vision and a passive stereo vision. Unlike in conventional active vision systems that use a large number of images with variations of projected patterns for dense range map acquisition or from conventional passive vision systems that work well on specific environments with sufficient feature information, a cooperative bidirectional sensor fusion method for this visual sensor system enables us to acquire a reliable dense range map using active and passive information simultaneously. The fusion algorithms are composed of two parts, one in which the passive stereo vision helps active vision and the other in which the active trinocular vision helps the passive one. The first part matches the laser patterns in stereo laser images with the help of intensity images; the second part utilizes an information fusion technique using the dynamic programming method in which image regions between laser patterns are matched pixel-by-pixel with help of the fusion results obtained in the first part. To determine how the proposed sensor system and fusion algorithms can work in real applications, the sensor system is implemented on a robotic system, and the proposed algorithms are applied. A series of experimental tests is performed for a variety of configurations of robot and environments. The performance of the sensor system is discussed in detail.

Development of a model of machine hand eye coordination and program specifications for a topological machine vision system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

A unified approach to computer vision and manipulation is developed which is called choreographic vision. In the model, objects to be viewed by a projected robot in the Viking missions to Mars are seen as objects to be manipulated within choreographic contexts controlled by a multimoded remote, supervisory control system on Earth. A new theory of context relations is introduced as a basis for choreographic programming languages. A topological vision model is developed for recognizing objects by shape and contour. This model is integrated with a projected vision system consisting of a multiaperture image dissector TV camera and a ranging laser system. System program specifications integrate eye-hand coordination and topological vision functions and an aerospace multiprocessor implementation is described.

Vision System Measures Motions of Robot and External Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Talukder, Ashit; Matthies, Larry

2008-01-01

A prototype of an advanced robotic vision system both (1) measures its own motion with respect to a stationary background and (2) detects other moving objects and estimates their motions, all by use of visual cues. Like some prior robotic and other optoelectronic vision systems, this system is based partly on concepts of optical flow and visual odometry. Whereas prior optoelectronic visual-odometry systems have been limited to frame rates of no more than 1 Hz, a visual-odometry subsystem that is part of this system operates at a frame rate of 60 to 200 Hz, given optical-flow estimates. The overall system operates at an effective frame rate of 12 Hz. Moreover, unlike prior machine-vision systems for detecting motions of external objects, this system need not remain stationary: it can detect such motions while it is moving (even vibrating). The system includes a stereoscopic pair of cameras mounted on a moving robot. The outputs of the cameras are digitized, then processed to extract positions and velocities. The initial image-data-processing functions of this system are the same as those of some prior systems: Stereoscopy is used to compute three-dimensional (3D) positions for all pixels in the camera images. For each pixel of each image, optical flow between successive image frames is used to compute the two-dimensional (2D) apparent relative translational motion of the point transverse to the line of sight of the camera. The challenge in designing this system was to provide for utilization of the 3D information from stereoscopy in conjunction with the 2D information from optical flow to distinguish between motion of the camera pair and motions of external objects, compute the motion of the camera pair in all six degrees of translational and rotational freedom, and robustly estimate the motions of external objects, all in real time. To meet this challenge, the system is designed to perform the following image-data-processing functions: The visual-odometry subsystem (the subsystem that estimates the motion of the camera pair relative to the stationary background) utilizes the 3D information from stereoscopy and the 2D information from optical flow. It computes the relationship between the 3D and 2D motions and uses a least-mean-squares technique to estimate motion parameters. The least-mean-squares technique is suitable for real-time implementation when the number of external-moving-object pixels is smaller than the number of stationary-background pixels.

Social energy: mining energy from the society

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

Zhang, Jun Jason; Gao, David Wenzhong; Zhang, Yingchen

The inherent nature of energy, i.e., physicality, sociality and informatization, implies the inevitable and intensive interaction between energy systems and social systems. From this perspective, we define 'social energy' as a complex sociotechnical system of energy systems, social systems and the derived artificial virtual systems which characterize the intense intersystem and intra-system interactions. The recent advancement in intelligent technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, sensing and communication in Internet of Things technologies, and massive high performance computing and extreme-scale data analytics technologies, enables the possibility of substantial advancement in socio-technical system optimization, scheduling, control and management. In thismore » paper, we provide a discussion on the nature of energy, and then propose the concept and intention of social energy systems for electrical power. A general methodology of establishing and investigating social energy is proposed, which is based on the ACP approach, i.e., 'artificial systems' (A), 'computational experiments' (C) and 'parallel execution' (P), and parallel system methodology. A case study on the University of Denver (DU) campus grid is provided and studied to demonstrate the social energy concept. In the concluding remarks, we discuss the technical pathway, in both social and nature sciences, to social energy, and our vision on its future.« less

Some considerations on the definition of risk based on concepts of systems theory and probability.

PubMed

Andretta, Massimo

2014-07-01

The concept of risk has been applied in many modern science and technology fields. Despite its successes in many applicative fields, there is still not a well-established vision and universally accepted definition of the principles and fundamental concepts of the risk assessment discipline. As emphasized recently, the risk fields suffer from a lack of clarity on their scientific bases that can define, in a unique theoretical framework, the general concepts in the different areas of application. The aim of this article is to make suggestions for another perspective of risk definition that could be applied and, in a certain sense, generalize some of the previously known definitions (at least in the fields of technical and scientific applications). By drawing on my experience of risk assessment in different applicative situations (particularly in the risk estimation for major industrial accidents, and in the health and ecological risk assessment for contaminated sites), I would like to revise some general and foundational concepts of risk analysis in as consistent a manner as possible from the axiomatic/deductive point of view. My proposal is based on the fundamental concepts of the systems theory and of the probability. In this way, I try to frame, in a single, broad, and general theoretical context some fundamental concepts and principles applicable in many different fields of risk assessment. I hope that this article will contribute to the revitalization and stimulation of useful discussions and new insights into the key issues and theoretical foundations of risk assessment disciplines. © 2013 Society for Risk Analysis.

[Dreams and sensoperception in epicurean theory].

PubMed

Pangas, Julio César

2007-01-01

In this article, we analyse the epicurean vision on sensoperception and dreams. This epicurean vision is known to us, specially, from the wrintings of his roman divulger, Titus Lucretius Caro in his work "On the nature of things" ("De rerum natura"), IV Chant. The epicureans adopted the materialistic conception of nature, based upon Democritus of Abdera atomistic theory and, in this way, they distinguished their theories on dreams from the general principles prevailing in the popular greco-roman litterature, as well as from the divinatory perception of oneirocritics like Artemidorus and also from the first steps of the physiological conception of dreams from philosophers as the presocratics and Aristotle. We end this article with some of the more interesting paragraphs from Chant IV of the work by Lucretius, regarding this subjet.

Design and Real-World Evaluation of Eyes-Free Yoga: An Exergame for Blind and Low-Vision Exercise

PubMed Central

Rector, Kyle; Vilardaga, Roger; Lansky, Leo; Lu, Kellie; Bennett, Cynthia L.; Ladner, Richard E.; Kientz, Julie A.

2017-01-01

People who are blind or low vision may have a harder time participating in exercise due to inaccessibility or lack of encouragement. To address this, we developed Eyes-Free Yoga using the Microsoft Kinect that acts as a yoga instructor and has personalized auditory feedback based on skeletal tracking. We conducted two different studies on two different versions of Eyes-Free Yoga: (1) a controlled study with 16 people who are blind or low vision to evaluate the feasibility of a proof-of-concept and (2) an 8-week in-home deployment study with 4 people who are blind or low vision, with a fully functioning exergame containing four full workouts and motivational techniques. We found that participants preferred the personalized feedback for yoga postures during the laboratory study. Therefore, the personalized feedback was used as a means to build the core components of the system used in the deployment study and was included in both study conditions. From the deployment study, we found that the participants practiced Yoga consistently throughout the 8-week period (Average hours = 17; Average days of practice = 24), almost reaching the American Heart Association recommended exercise guidelines. On average, motivational techniques increased participant’s user experience and their frequency and exercise time. The findings of this work have implications for eyes-free exergame design, including engaging domain experts, piloting with inexperienced users, using musical metaphors, and designing for in-home use cases. PMID:29104712

Vision and Quality of Life Index: validation of the Indian version using Rasch analysis.

PubMed

Gothwal, Vijaya K; Bagga, Deepak K

2013-07-18

A multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI) consists of a descriptive system in which the items and responses seek information about a concept of the universe of health-related quality of life (QoL), and responses to these items then are weighted and combined to produce the index. To our knowledge, the 6-item Vision and Quality of Life Index (VisQoL) is the only available vision-related MAUI, developed and validated in Australia, specifically for visually impaired (VI) populations. To our knowledge, the psychometric properties of the VisQoL have not yet been investigated in an Indian VI sample; this was the aim of our study. The Indian VisQoL was administered to 349 VI adults face-to-face by a trained interviewer at the Vision Rehabilitation Centres of a tertiary eye care facility, South India. Rasch analysis was used to assess the psychometric properties. Rescoring was necessary for all except one item before ordered thresholds were obtained. All items fit the Rasch model and unidimensionality was confirmed. Person separation was acceptable (2.01), indicating that the instrument can discriminate among three strata of participants" vision-related QoL (VRQoL). The VisQoL items were targeted substantially to the participants" VRQoL (-0.69 logits). One item ("ability to have friendships") demonstrated large differential item functioning by work status; working participants reported the item to be more difficult (-1.13 logits) relative to other items when compared to the nonworking participants. The 6-item Indian VisQoL satisfies unidimensional Rasch model expectations in VI patients. Disordering of response categories was evident; replication is required before a common rescoring option should be considered.

Identifying local structural states in atomic imaging by computer vision

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

Laanait, Nouamane; Ziatdinov, Maxim; He, Qian

The availability of atomically resolved imaging modalities enables an unprecedented view into the local structural states of materials, which manifest themselves by deviations from the fundamental assumptions of periodicity and symmetry. Consequently, approaches that aim to extract these local structural states from atomic imaging data with minimal assumptions regarding the average crystallographic configuration of a material are indispensable to advances in structural and chemical investigations of materials. Here, we present an approach to identify and classify local structural states that is rooted in computer vision. This approach introduces a definition of a structural state that is composed of both localmore » and non-local information extracted from atomically resolved images, and is wholly untethered from the familiar concepts of symmetry and periodicity. Instead, this approach relies on computer vision techniques such as feature detection, and concepts such as scale-invariance. We present the fundamental aspects of local structural state extraction and classification by application to simulated scanning transmission electron microscopy images, and analyze the robustness of this approach in the presence of common instrumental factors such as noise, limited spatial resolution, and weak contrast. Finally, we apply this computer vision-based approach for the unsupervised detection and classification of local structural states in an experimental electron micrograph of a complex oxides interface, and a scanning tunneling micrograph of a defect engineered multilayer graphene surface.« less

Identifying local structural states in atomic imaging by computer vision

DOE PAGES

Laanait, Nouamane; Ziatdinov, Maxim; He, Qian; ...

2016-11-02

The availability of atomically resolved imaging modalities enables an unprecedented view into the local structural states of materials, which manifest themselves by deviations from the fundamental assumptions of periodicity and symmetry. Consequently, approaches that aim to extract these local structural states from atomic imaging data with minimal assumptions regarding the average crystallographic configuration of a material are indispensable to advances in structural and chemical investigations of materials. Here, we present an approach to identify and classify local structural states that is rooted in computer vision. This approach introduces a definition of a structural state that is composed of both localmore » and non-local information extracted from atomically resolved images, and is wholly untethered from the familiar concepts of symmetry and periodicity. Instead, this approach relies on computer vision techniques such as feature detection, and concepts such as scale-invariance. We present the fundamental aspects of local structural state extraction and classification by application to simulated scanning transmission electron microscopy images, and analyze the robustness of this approach in the presence of common instrumental factors such as noise, limited spatial resolution, and weak contrast. Finally, we apply this computer vision-based approach for the unsupervised detection and classification of local structural states in an experimental electron micrograph of a complex oxides interface, and a scanning tunneling micrograph of a defect engineered multilayer graphene surface.« less

Techniques and potential capabilities of multi-resolutional information (knowledge) processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meystel, A.

1989-01-01

A concept of nested hierarchical (multi-resolutional, pyramidal) information (knowledge) processing is introduced for a variety of systems including data and/or knowledge bases, vision, control, and manufacturing systems, industrial automated robots, and (self-programmed) autonomous intelligent machines. A set of practical recommendations is presented using a case study of a multiresolutional object representation. It is demonstrated here that any intelligent module transforms (sometimes, irreversibly) the knowledge it deals with, and this tranformation affects the subsequent computation processes, e.g., those of decision and control. Several types of knowledge transformation are reviewed. Definite conditions are analyzed, satisfaction of which is required for organization and processing of redundant information (knowledge) in the multi-resolutional systems. Providing a definite degree of redundancy is one of these conditions.

Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drake, Bret G.; Hoffman, Stephen J.; Beaty, David W.

2009-01-01

This paper provides a summary of the 2007 Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (DRA 5.0), which is the latest in a series of NASA Mars reference missions. It provides a vision of one potential approach to human Mars exploration including how Constellation systems can be used. The reference architecture provides a common framework for future planning of systems concepts, technology development, and operational testing as well as Mars robotic missions, research that is conducted on the International Space Station, and future lunar exploration missions. This summary the Mars DRA 5.0 provides an overview of the overall mission approach, surface strategy and exploration goals, as well as the key systems and challenges for the first three human missions to Mars.

What Makes Earth and Space Science Sexy? A Model for Developing Systemic Change in Earth and Space Systems Science Curriculum and Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slutskin, R. L.

2001-12-01

Earth and Space Science may be the neglected child in the family of high school sciences. In this session, we examine the strategies that Anne Arundel County Public Schools and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center used to develop a dynamic and highly engaging program which follows the vision of the National Science Education Standards, is grounded in key concepts of NASA's Earth Science Directorate, and allows students to examine and apply the current research of NASA scientists. Find out why Earth/Space Systems Science seems to have usurped biology and has made students, principals, and teachers clamor for similar instructional practices in what is traditionally thought of as the "glamorous" course.

Deep hierarchies in the primate visual cortex: what can we learn for computer vision?

PubMed

Krüger, Norbert; Janssen, Peter; Kalkan, Sinan; Lappe, Markus; Leonardis, Ales; Piater, Justus; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Antonio J; Wiskott, Laurenz

2013-08-01

Computational modeling of the primate visual system yields insights of potential relevance to some of the challenges that computer vision is facing, such as object recognition and categorization, motion detection and activity recognition, or vision-based navigation and manipulation. This paper reviews some functional principles and structures that are generally thought to underlie the primate visual cortex, and attempts to extract biological principles that could further advance computer vision research. Organized for a computer vision audience, we present functional principles of the processing hierarchies present in the primate visual system considering recent discoveries in neurophysiology. The hierarchical processing in the primate visual system is characterized by a sequence of different levels of processing (on the order of 10) that constitute a deep hierarchy in contrast to the flat vision architectures predominantly used in today's mainstream computer vision. We hope that the functional description of the deep hierarchies realized in the primate visual system provides valuable insights for the design of computer vision algorithms, fostering increasingly productive interaction between biological and computer vision research.

A spiking neural network model of 3D perception for event-based neuromorphic stereo vision systems

PubMed Central

Osswald, Marc; Ieng, Sio-Hoi; Benosman, Ryad; Indiveri, Giacomo

2017-01-01

Stereo vision is an important feature that enables machine vision systems to perceive their environment in 3D. While machine vision has spawned a variety of software algorithms to solve the stereo-correspondence problem, their implementation and integration in small, fast, and efficient hardware vision systems remains a difficult challenge. Recent advances made in neuromorphic engineering offer a possible solution to this problem, with the use of a new class of event-based vision sensors and neural processing devices inspired by the organizing principles of the brain. Here we propose a radically novel model that solves the stereo-correspondence problem with a spiking neural network that can be directly implemented with massively parallel, compact, low-latency and low-power neuromorphic engineering devices. We validate the model with experimental results, highlighting features that are in agreement with both computational neuroscience stereo vision theories and experimental findings. We demonstrate its features with a prototype neuromorphic hardware system and provide testable predictions on the role of spike-based representations and temporal dynamics in biological stereo vision processing systems. PMID:28079187

A spiking neural network model of 3D perception for event-based neuromorphic stereo vision systems.

PubMed

Osswald, Marc; Ieng, Sio-Hoi; Benosman, Ryad; Indiveri, Giacomo

2017-01-12

Stereo vision is an important feature that enables machine vision systems to perceive their environment in 3D. While machine vision has spawned a variety of software algorithms to solve the stereo-correspondence problem, their implementation and integration in small, fast, and efficient hardware vision systems remains a difficult challenge. Recent advances made in neuromorphic engineering offer a possible solution to this problem, with the use of a new class of event-based vision sensors and neural processing devices inspired by the organizing principles of the brain. Here we propose a radically novel model that solves the stereo-correspondence problem with a spiking neural network that can be directly implemented with massively parallel, compact, low-latency and low-power neuromorphic engineering devices. We validate the model with experimental results, highlighting features that are in agreement with both computational neuroscience stereo vision theories and experimental findings. We demonstrate its features with a prototype neuromorphic hardware system and provide testable predictions on the role of spike-based representations and temporal dynamics in biological stereo vision processing systems.

Knowledge-based vision and simple visual machines.

PubMed Central

Cliff, D; Noble, J

1997-01-01

The vast majority of work in machine vision emphasizes the representation of perceived objects and events: it is these internal representations that incorporate the 'knowledge' in knowledge-based vision or form the 'models' in model-based vision. In this paper, we discuss simple machine vision systems developed by artificial evolution rather than traditional engineering design techniques, and note that the task of identifying internal representations within such systems is made difficult by the lack of an operational definition of representation at the causal mechanistic level. Consequently, we question the nature and indeed the existence of representations posited to be used within natural vision systems (i.e. animals). We conclude that representations argued for on a priori grounds by external observers of a particular vision system may well be illusory, and are at best place-holders for yet-to-be-identified causal mechanistic interactions. That is, applying the knowledge-based vision approach in the understanding of evolved systems (machines or animals) may well lead to theories and models that are internally consistent, computationally plausible, and entirely wrong. PMID:9304684

A spiking neural network model of 3D perception for event-based neuromorphic stereo vision systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osswald, Marc; Ieng, Sio-Hoi; Benosman, Ryad; Indiveri, Giacomo

2017-01-01

Stereo vision is an important feature that enables machine vision systems to perceive their environment in 3D. While machine vision has spawned a variety of software algorithms to solve the stereo-correspondence problem, their implementation and integration in small, fast, and efficient hardware vision systems remains a difficult challenge. Recent advances made in neuromorphic engineering offer a possible solution to this problem, with the use of a new class of event-based vision sensors and neural processing devices inspired by the organizing principles of the brain. Here we propose a radically novel model that solves the stereo-correspondence problem with a spiking neural network that can be directly implemented with massively parallel, compact, low-latency and low-power neuromorphic engineering devices. We validate the model with experimental results, highlighting features that are in agreement with both computational neuroscience stereo vision theories and experimental findings. We demonstrate its features with a prototype neuromorphic hardware system and provide testable predictions on the role of spike-based representations and temporal dynamics in biological stereo vision processing systems.

3D morphology reconstruction using linear array CCD binocular stereo vision imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Yu; Wang, Jinjiang

2018-01-01

Binocular vision imaging system, which has a small field of view, cannot reconstruct the 3-D shape of the dynamic object. We found a linear array CCD binocular vision imaging system, which uses different calibration and reconstruct methods. On the basis of the binocular vision imaging system, the linear array CCD binocular vision imaging systems which has a wider field of view can reconstruct the 3-D morphology of objects in continuous motion, and the results are accurate. This research mainly introduces the composition and principle of linear array CCD binocular vision imaging system, including the calibration, capture, matching and reconstruction of the imaging system. The system consists of two linear array cameras which were placed in special arrangements and a horizontal moving platform that can pick up objects. The internal and external parameters of the camera are obtained by calibrating in advance. And then using the camera to capture images of moving objects, the results are then matched and 3-D reconstructed. The linear array CCD binocular vision imaging systems can accurately measure the 3-D appearance of moving objects, this essay is of great significance to measure the 3-D morphology of moving objects.

Concept of Operations for Integrating Commercial Supersonic Transport Aircraft into the National Airspace System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Matthew C.

2017-01-01

Several businesses and government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are currently working on solving key technological barriers that must be overcome in order to realize the vision of low-boom supersonic flights conducted over land. However, once these challenges are met, the manner in which this class of aircraft is integrated in the National Airspace System may become a potential constraint due to the significant environmental, efficiency, and economic repercussions that their integration may cause. This document was developed to create a path for research and development that exposes the benefits and barriers of seamlessly integrating a class of CSTs into the NAS, while also serving as a Concept of Operations (ConOps) which posits a mid- to far-term solution (2025-2035) concept for best integrating CST into the NAS. Background research regarding historic supersonic operations in the National Airspace System, assumptions about design aspects and equipage of commercial supersonic transport (CST) aircraft, assumptions concerning the operational environment are described in this document. Results of a simulation experiment to investigate the interactions between CST aircraft and modern-day air traffic are disseminated and are used to generate scenarios for CST operations. Finally, technology needs to realize these operational scenarios are discussed.

Management by Trajectory Trade Study of Roles and Responsibilities Between Participants and Automation Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandes, Alicia D.; Kaler, Curt; Leiden, Kenneth; Atkins, Stephen; Bell, Alan; Kilbourne, Todd; Evans, Mark

2017-01-01

This report describes a trade study of roles and responsibilities associated with the Management by Trajectory (MBT) concept. The MBT concept describes roles, responsibilities, and information and automation requirements for providing air traffic controllers and managers the ability to quickly generate, evaluate and implement changes to an aircraft's trajectory. In addition, the MBT concept describes mechanisms for imposing constraints on flight operator preferred trajectories only to the extent necessary to maintain safe and efficient traffic flows, and the concept provides a method for the exchange of trajectory information between ground automation systems and the aircraft that allows for trajectory synchronization and trajectory negotiation. The participant roles considered in this trade study include: airline dispatcher, flight crew, radar controller, traffic manager, and Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) traffic management specialists. The proposed allocation of roles and responsibilities was based on analysis of several use cases that were developed for this purpose as well as for walking through concept elements. The resulting allocation of roles and responsibilities reflects both increased automation capability to support many aviation functions, as well as increased flexibility to assign responsibilities to different participants - in many cases afforded by the increased automation capabilities. Note that the selection of participants to consider for allocation of each function is necessarily rooted in the current environment, in that MBT is envisioned as an evolution of the National Airspace System (NAS), and not a revolution. A key feature of the MBT allocations is a vision for the traffic management specialist to take on a greater role. This is facilitated by the vision that separation management functions, in addition to traffic management functions, will be carried out as trajectory management functions. This creates an opportunity for flexibility, allowing the traffic management specialist to carry out tasks that today can only be carried out by the controller currently in contact with the aircraft. This additional tasking for the traffic management specialist comes with requirements for workload management. An increased role for the Data-side (D-side) controller relative to the Radar-side (R-side) controller is a potential approach to mitigating workload for the traffic management specialist, as the D-side controller would have similar ability to perform separation management functions in what today might be considered the "trajectory management" timeframe. This analysis did not distinguish between the D-side and R-side controllers since in many cases the R-side controller works unassisted.

Moving to higher ground: The dynamic field theory and the dynamics of visual cognition

PubMed Central

Johnson, Jeffrey S.; Spencer, John P.; Schöner, Gregor

2009-01-01

In the present report, we describe a new dynamic field theory that captures the dynamics of visuo-spatial cognition. This theory grew out of the dynamic systems approach to motor control and development, and is grounded in neural principles. The initial application of dynamic field theory to issues in visuo-spatial cognition extended concepts of the motor approach to decision making in a sensori-motor context, and, more recently, to the dynamics of spatial cognition. Here we extend these concepts still further to address topics in visual cognition, including visual working memory for non-spatial object properties, the processes that underlie change detection, and the ‘binding problem’ in vision. In each case, we demonstrate that the general principles of the dynamic field approach can unify findings in the literature and generate novel predictions. We contend that the application of these concepts to visual cognition avoids the pitfalls of reductionist approaches in cognitive science, and points toward a formal integration of brains, bodies, and behavior. PMID:19173013

MMW radar enhanced vision systems: the Helicopter Autonomous Landing System (HALS) and Radar-Enhanced Vision System (REVS) are rotary and fixed wing enhanced flight vision systems that enable safe flight operations in degraded visual environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cross, Jack; Schneider, John; Cariani, Pete

2013-05-01

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has developed rotary and fixed wing millimeter wave radar enhanced vision systems. The Helicopter Autonomous Landing System (HALS) is a rotary-wing enhanced vision system that enables multi-ship landing, takeoff, and enroute flight in Degraded Visual Environments (DVE). HALS has been successfully flight tested in a variety of scenarios, from brown-out DVE landings, to enroute flight over mountainous terrain, to wire/cable detection during low-level flight. The Radar Enhanced Vision Systems (REVS) is a fixed-wing Enhanced Flight Vision System (EFVS) undergoing prototype development testing. Both systems are based on a fast-scanning, threedimensional 94 GHz radar that produces real-time terrain and obstacle imagery. The radar imagery is fused with synthetic imagery of the surrounding terrain to form a long-range, wide field-of-view display. A symbology overlay is added to provide aircraft state information and, for HALS, approach and landing command guidance cuing. The combination of see-through imagery and symbology provides the key information a pilot needs to perform safe flight operations in DVE conditions. This paper discusses the HALS and REVS systems and technology, presents imagery, and summarizes the recent flight test results.

Evaluation of 5 different labeled polymer immunohistochemical detection systems.

PubMed

Skaland, Ivar; Nordhus, Marit; Gudlaugsson, Einar; Klos, Jan; Kjellevold, Kjell H; Janssen, Emiel A M; Baak, Jan P A

2010-01-01

Immunohistochemical staining is important for diagnosis and therapeutic decision making but the results may vary when different detection systems are used. To analyze this, 5 different labeled polymer immunohistochemical detection systems, REAL EnVision, EnVision Flex, EnVision Flex+ (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark), NovoLink (Novocastra Laboratories Ltd, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK) and UltraVision ONE (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Fremont, CA) were tested using 12 different, widely used mouse and rabbit primary antibodies, detecting nuclear, cytoplasmic, and membrane antigens. Serial sections of multitissue blocks containing 4% formaldehyde fixed paraffin embedded material were selected for their weak, moderate, and strong staining for each antibody. Specificity and sensitivity were evaluated by subjective scoring and digital image analysis. At optimal primary antibody dilution, digital image analysis showed that EnVision Flex+ was the most sensitive system (P < 0.005), with means of 8.3, 13.4, 20.2, and 41.8 gray scale values stronger staining than REAL EnVision, EnVision Flex, NovoLink, and UltraVision ONE, respectively. NovoLink was the second most sensitive system for mouse antibodies, but showed low sensitivity for rabbit antibodies. Due to low sensitivity, 2 cases with UltraVision ONE and 1 case with NovoLink stained false negatively. None of the detection systems showed any distinct false positivity, but UltraVision ONE and NovoLink consistently showed weak background staining both in negative controls and at optimal primary antibody dilution. We conclude that there are significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, costs, and total assay time in the immunohistochemical detection systems currently in use.

Real Time Target Tracking Using Dedicated Vision Hardware

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kambies, Keith; Walsh, Peter

1988-03-01

This paper describes a real-time vision target tracking system developed by Adaptive Automation, Inc. and delivered to NASA's Launch Equipment Test Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The target tracking system is part of the Robotic Application Development Laboratory (RADL) which was designed to provide NASA with a general purpose robotic research and development test bed for the integration of robot and sensor systems. One of the first RADL system applications is the closing of a position control loop around a six-axis articulated arm industrial robot using a camera and dedicated vision processor as the input sensor so that the robot can locate and track a moving target. The vision system is inside of the loop closure of the robot tracking system, therefore, tight throughput and latency constraints are imposed on the vision system that can only be met with specialized hardware and a concurrent approach to the processing algorithms. State of the art VME based vision boards capable of processing the image at frame rates were used with a real-time, multi-tasking operating system to achieve the performance required. This paper describes the high speed vision based tracking task, the system throughput requirements, the use of dedicated vision hardware architecture, and the implementation design details. Important to the overall philosophy of the complete system was the hierarchical and modular approach applied to all aspects of the system, hardware and software alike, so there is special emphasis placed on this topic in the paper.

Key features of an EU health information system: a concept mapping study.

PubMed

Rosenkötter, Nicole; Achterberg, Peter W; van Bon-Martens, Marja J H; Michelsen, Kai; van Oers, Hans A M; Brand, Helmut

2016-02-01

Despite the acknowledged value of an EU health information system (EU-HISys) and the many achievements in this field, the landscape is still heavily fragmented and incomplete. Through a systematic analysis of the opinions and valuations of public health stakeholders, this study aims to conceptualize key features of an EU-HISys. Public health professionals and policymakers were invited to participate in a concept mapping procedure. First, participants (N = 34) formulated statements that reflected their vision of an EU-HISys. Second, participants (N = 28) rated the relative importance of each statement and grouped conceptually similar ones. Principal Component and cluster analyses were used to condense these results to EU-HISys key features in a concept map. The number of key features and the labelling of the concept map were determined by expert consensus. The concept map contains 10 key features that summarize 93 statements. The map consists of a horizontal axis that represents the relevance of an 'organizational strategy', which deals with the 'efforts' to design and develop an EU-HISys and the 'achievements' gained by a functioning EU-HISys. The vertical axis represents the 'professional orientation' of the EU-HISys, ranging from the 'scientific' through to the 'policy' perspective. The top ranking statement expressed the need to establish a system that is permanent and sustainable. The top ranking key feature focuses on data and information quality. This study provides insights into key features of an EU-HISys. The results can be used to guide future planning and to support the development of a health information system for Europe. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

High-speed civil transport - Advanced flight deck challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Swink, Jay R.; Goins, Richard T.

1992-01-01

This paper presents the results of a nine month study of the HSCT flight deck challenges and assessment of its benefits. Operational requirements are discussed and the most significant findings for specified advanced concepts are highlighted. These concepts are a no nose-droop configuration, a far forward cockpit location and advanced crew monitoring and control of complex systems. Results indicate that the no nose-droop configuration is critically dependent on the design and development of a safe, reliable and certifiable synthetic vision system (SVS). This configuration would cause significant weight, performance and cost penalties. A far forward cockpit configuration with a tandem seating arrangement allows either an increase in additional payload or potential downsizing of the vehicle leading to increased performance efficiency and reductions in emissions. The technologies enabling such capabilities, which provide for Category III all-weather opreations on every flight represent a benefit multiplier in a 20005 ATM network in terms of enhanced economic viability and environmental acceptability.

Unobtrusive Behavioral and Activity-Related Multimodal Biometrics: The ACTIBIO Authentication Concept

PubMed Central

Drosou, A.; Ioannidis, D.; Moustakas, K.; Tzovaras, D.

2011-01-01

Unobtrusive Authentication Using ACTIvity-Related and Soft BIOmetrics (ACTIBIO) is an EU Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) where new types of biometrics are combined with state-of-the-art unobtrusive technologies in order to enhance security in a wide spectrum of applications. The project aims to develop a modular, robust, multimodal biometrics security authentication and monitoring system, which uses a biodynamic physiological profile, unique for each individual, and advancements of the state of the art in unobtrusive behavioral and other biometrics, such as face, gait recognition, and seat-based anthropometrics. Several shortcomings of existing biometric recognition systems are addressed within this project, which have helped in improving existing sensors, in developing new algorithms, and in designing applications, towards creating new, unobtrusive, biometric authentication procedures in security-sensitive, Ambient Intelligence environments. This paper presents the concept of the ACTIBIO project and describes its unobtrusive authentication demonstrator in a real scenario by focusing on the vision-based biometric recognition modalities. PMID:21380485

New concepts in macrophage ontogeny in the adult neural retina.

PubMed

Saban, Daniel R

2018-04-22

The number of neurons dedicated to vision itself is thought to be greater than the sum of the four other senses combined. Yet, little attention has been payed to the retina as compared to elsewhere in the central nervous system with respect to microglia, the macrophages of the neural parenchyma. Indeed, major advancements in the understanding of microglial ontogeny and maintenance in brain and spinal cord are now widely appreciated, whereas less notice has been given to the neural retina in this regard. The current Review covers topical concepts on adult microglia and perivascular macrophage ontogenies in the steady state retina, as well as parallels made with these macrophages in other areas of the central nervous system. The subject of recruited monocytes and their descendant monocyte-derived macrophages in degenerative diseases of the retina is also integrated into this Review. Key experiments that have led to the theories covered are highlighted throughout, as are the knowledge gaps that remain unresolved. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unobtrusive behavioral and activity-related multimodal biometrics: The ACTIBIO Authentication concept.

PubMed

Drosou, A; Ioannidis, D; Moustakas, K; Tzovaras, D

2011-03-01

Unobtrusive Authentication Using ACTIvity-Related and Soft BIOmetrics (ACTIBIO) is an EU Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) where new types of biometrics are combined with state-of-the-art unobtrusive technologies in order to enhance security in a wide spectrum of applications. The project aims to develop a modular, robust, multimodal biometrics security authentication and monitoring system, which uses a biodynamic physiological profile, unique for each individual, and advancements of the state of the art in unobtrusive behavioral and other biometrics, such as face, gait recognition, and seat-based anthropometrics. Several shortcomings of existing biometric recognition systems are addressed within this project, which have helped in improving existing sensors, in developing new algorithms, and in designing applications, towards creating new, unobtrusive, biometric authentication procedures in security-sensitive, Ambient Intelligence environments. This paper presents the concept of the ACTIBIO project and describes its unobtrusive authentication demonstrator in a real scenario by focusing on the vision-based biometric recognition modalities.

Pyramidal neurovision architecture for vision machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Madan M.; Knopf, George K.

1993-08-01

The vision system employed by an intelligent robot must be active; active in the sense that it must be capable of selectively acquiring the minimal amount of relevant information for a given task. An efficient active vision system architecture that is based loosely upon the parallel-hierarchical (pyramidal) structure of the biological visual pathway is presented in this paper. Although the computational architecture of the proposed pyramidal neuro-vision system is far less sophisticated than the architecture of the biological visual pathway, it does retain some essential features such as the converging multilayered structure of its biological counterpart. In terms of visual information processing, the neuro-vision system is constructed from a hierarchy of several interactive computational levels, whereupon each level contains one or more nonlinear parallel processors. Computationally efficient vision machines can be developed by utilizing both the parallel and serial information processing techniques within the pyramidal computing architecture. A computer simulation of a pyramidal vision system for active scene surveillance is presented.

Utilizing Commercial Hardware and Open Source Computer Vision Software to Perform Motion Capture for Reduced Gravity Flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Humphreys, Brad; Bellisario, Brian; Gallo, Christopher; Thompson, William K.; Lewandowski, Beth

2016-01-01

Long duration space travel to Mars or to an asteroid will expose astronauts to extended periods of reduced gravity. Since gravity is not present to aid loading, astronauts will use resistive and aerobic exercise regimes for the duration of the space flight to minimize the loss of bone density, muscle mass and aerobic capacity that occurs during exposure to a reduced gravity environment. Unlike the International Space Station (ISS), the area available for an exercise device in the next generation of spacecraft is limited. Therefore, compact resistance exercise device prototypes are being developed. The NASA Digital Astronaut Project (DAP) is supporting the Advanced Exercise Concepts (AEC) Project, Exercise Physiology and Countermeasures (ExPC) project and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) funded researchers by developing computational models of exercising with these new advanced exercise device concepts. To perform validation of these models and to support the Advanced Exercise Concepts Project, several candidate devices have been flown onboard NASAs Reduced Gravity Aircraft. In terrestrial laboratories, researchers typically have available to them motion capture systems for the measurement of subject kinematics. Onboard the parabolic flight aircraft it is not practical to utilize the traditional motion capture systems due to the large working volume they require and their relatively high replacement cost if damaged. To support measuring kinematics on board parabolic aircraft, a motion capture system is being developed utilizing open source computer vision code with commercial off the shelf (COTS) video camera hardware. While the systems accuracy is lower than lab setups, it provides a means to produce quantitative comparison motion capture kinematic data. Additionally, data such as required exercise volume for small spaces such as the Orion capsule can be determined. METHODS: OpenCV is an open source computer vision library that provides the ability to perform multi-camera 3 dimensional reconstruction. Utilizing OpenCV, via the Python programming language, a set of tools has been developed to perform motion capture in confined spaces using commercial cameras. Four Sony Video Cameras were intrinsically calibrated prior to flight. Intrinsic calibration provides a set of camera specific parameters to remove geometric distortion of the lens and sensor (specific to each individual camera). A set of high contrast markers were placed on the exercising subject (safety also necessitated that they be soft in case they become detached during parabolic flight); small yarn balls were used. Extrinsic calibration, the determination of camera location and orientation parameters, is performed using fixed landmark markers shared by the camera scenes. Additionally a wand calibration, the sweeping of the camera scenes simultaneously, was also performed. Techniques have been developed to perform intrinsic calibration, extrinsic calibration, isolation of the markers in the scene, calculation of marker 2D centroids, and 3D reconstruction from multiple cameras. These methods have been tested in the laboratory side-by-side comparison to a traditional motion capture system and also on a parabolic flight.

The History in DNA: A Proposal to Generate a Change of Vision of Science in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cortez, Leonardo A.; Latorre, Nubia P.; Hernández, Rubinsten

2016-01-01

Currently, in science teaching and in particular, natural science teaching there are concepts in the school that have a high level of abstraction. Concepts, such as atom, gene, mole and energy, among others are difficult to explain in an understanding manner to students. This situation requires the teacher to design alternative strategies to…

Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drake, Bret G.

2010-01-01

This paper provides a summary of the Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (DRA 5.0), which is the latest in a series of NASA Mars reference missions. It provides a vision of one potential approach to human Mars exploration. The reference architecture provides a common framework for future planning of systems concepts, technology development, and operational testing as well as Mars robotic missions, research that is conducted on the International Space Station, and future lunar exploration missions. This summary the Mars DRA 5.0 provides an overview of the overall mission approach, surface strategy and exploration goals, as well as the key systems and challenges for the first three human missions to Mars.

Synthetic Foveal Imaging Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael; Monacos, Steve; Nikzad, Shouleh

2009-01-01

Synthetic Foveal imaging Technology (SyFT) is an emerging discipline of image capture and image-data processing that offers the prospect of greatly increased capabilities for real-time processing of large, high-resolution images (including mosaic images) for such purposes as automated recognition and tracking of moving objects of interest. SyFT offers a solution to the image-data processing problem arising from the proposed development of gigapixel mosaic focal-plane image-detector assemblies for very wide field-of-view imaging with high resolution for detecting and tracking sparse objects or events within narrow subfields of view. In order to identify and track the objects or events without the means of dynamic adaptation to be afforded by SyFT, it would be necessary to post-process data from an image-data space consisting of terabytes of data. Such post-processing would be time-consuming and, as a consequence, could result in missing significant events that could not be observed at all due to the time evolution of such events or could not be observed at required levels of fidelity without such real-time adaptations as adjusting focal-plane operating conditions or aiming of the focal plane in different directions to track such events. The basic concept of foveal imaging is straightforward: In imitation of a natural eye, a foveal-vision image sensor is designed to offer higher resolution in a small region of interest (ROI) within its field of view. Foveal vision reduces the amount of unwanted information that must be transferred from the image sensor to external image-data-processing circuitry. The aforementioned basic concept is not new in itself: indeed, image sensors based on these concepts have been described in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles. Active-pixel integrated-circuit image sensors that can be programmed in real time to effect foveal artificial vision on demand are one such example. What is new in SyFT is a synergistic combination of recent advances in foveal imaging, computing, and related fields, along with a generalization of the basic foveal-vision concept to admit a synthetic fovea that is not restricted to one contiguous region of an image.

Real-Time Integrity Monitoring of Stored Geo-Spatial Data Using Forward-Looking Remote Sensing Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Steven D.; Harrah, Steven D.; deHaag, Maarten Uijt

2002-01-01

Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) and Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) provide pilots with displays of stored geo-spatial data (e.g. terrain, obstacles, and/or features). As comprehensive validation is impractical, these databases typically have no quantifiable level of integrity. This lack of a quantifiable integrity level is one of the constraints that has limited certification and operational approval of TAWS/SVS to "advisory-only" systems for civil aviation. Previous work demonstrated the feasibility of using a real-time monitor to bound database integrity by using downward-looking remote sensing technology (i.e. radar altimeters). This paper describes an extension of the integrity monitor concept to include a forward-looking sensor to cover additional classes of terrain database faults and to reduce the exposure time associated with integrity threats. An operational concept is presented that combines established feature extraction techniques with a statistical assessment of similarity measures between the sensed and stored features using principles from classical detection theory. Finally, an implementation is presented that uses existing commercial-off-the-shelf weather radar sensor technology.

Structural Concepts and Materials for Lunar Exploration Habitats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belvin, W. Keith; Watson, Judith J.; Singhal, Surendra N.

2006-01-01

A new project within the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate s Technology Development Program at NASA involves development of lightweight structures and low temperature mechanisms for Lunar and Mars missions. The Structures and Mechanisms project is to develop advanced structure technology for the primary structure of various pressurized elements needed to implement the Vision for Space Exploration. The goals are to significantly enhance structural systems for man-rated pressurized structures by 1) lowering mass and/or improving efficient volume for reduced launch costs, 2) improving performance to reduce risk and extend life, and 3) improving manufacturing and processing to reduce costs. The targeted application of the technology is to provide for the primary structure of the pressurized elements of the lunar lander for both sortie and outpost missions, and surface habitats for the outpost missions. The paper presents concepts for habitats that support six month (and longer) lunar outpost missions. Both rigid and flexible habitat wall systems are discussed. The challenges of achieving a multi-functional habitat that provides micro-meteoroid, radiation, and thermal protection for explorers are identified.

Encouragement for Faculty to Implement Vision and Change

PubMed Central

Harvey, Caylyn; Eshleman, Kristen; Koo, Kyosung; Smith, Kevin G.; Paradise, Christopher J.; Campbell, A. Malcolm

2016-01-01

The seminal report Vision and Change outlined improvements necessary for undergraduate biology courses to accomplish widely recognized learning objectives. Over the past 8 years, we have developed a two-semester introductory biology course that incorporates the core concepts and competencies recommended in Vision and Change. Using published research on how students learn, we focused our efforts on three main areas of change: pedagogy, course content, and technology. We introduced active-learning strategies to improve our classroom environments, wrote an e-textbook that provides students with the tools they need to construct their own knowledge, and employed an online learning hub to assist students who needed extra support. The redesigned courses have been well received by students, and we have seen good student learning outcomes. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate to faculty that Vision and Change’s recommendations are feasible and students welcome the improvements. PMID:27810871

USAF Cyber Capability Development: A Vision for Future Cyber Warfare & a Concept for Education of Cyberspace Leaders

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

Significant and interrelated problems are hindering the Air Force’s development of cyber warfare capabilities. The first is a lack of awareness about...why the AF has chosen to take cyber warfare on as a core capability on par with air and space. The second stems from the lack of a commonly...the cyber capabilities needed in the future? The contributions of this research include a strategic vision for future cyber warfare capabilities that

Peripheral vision horizon display on the single seat night attack A-10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nims, D. F.

1984-01-01

The concept of the peripheral vision horizon display (PVHD) held promise for significant reduction in workload for the single seat night attack pilot. For this reason it was incorporated in the single seat night attack (SSNA) A-10. The implementation and results of the PVHD on the SSNA A-10 are discussed as well as the SSNA program. The part the PVHD played in the test and the results and conclusions of that effort are also considered.

Lunar Communication Terminals for NASA Exploration Missions: Needs, Operations Concepts and Architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhasin, Kul B.; Warner, Joseph D.; Anderson, Lynn M.

2008-01-01

NASA is conducting architecture studies prior to deploying a series of short- and long-duration human and robotic missions for the exploration of the Moon and Mars under the Vision for Space Exploration Initiative. A key objective of these missions is to establish and expand, through a series of launches, a system of systems approach to exploration capabilities and science return. The systems identified were Crew Exploration Vehicles, crew and cargo launch vehicles, crew EVA suits, crew and cargo landers, habitats, mobility carriers, and small, pressurized rovers. Multiple space communication networks and systems, deployed over time, will support these space exploration systems of systems. Each deployment phase will support interoperability of components and provide 20 years of legacy systems. In this paper, we describe the modular lunar communications terminals needed for the emerging lunar mission operational scenarios. These lunar communication terminals require flexibility for use in stationary, integrated, and mobile environments. They will support links directly to Earth, to lunar relay satellites, to astronauts and to fixed and mobile lunar surface systems. The operating concepts and traffic models are presented for these terminals within variety of lunar scenarios. A preliminary architecture is outlined, providing for suitable long-duration operations in the harsh lunar environment.

NASA's Decadal Planning Team Mars Mission Analysis Summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drake, Bret G.

2007-02-01

In June 1999 the NASA Administrator chartered an internal NASA task force, termed the Decadal Planning Team, to create new integrated vision and strategy for space exploration. The efforts of the Decadal Planning Team evolved into the Agency-wide team known as the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT). This team was also instructed to identify technology roadmaps to enable the science-driven exploration vision, established a cross-Enterprise, cross-Center systems engineering team with emphasis focused on revolutionary not evolutionary approaches. The strategy of the DPT and NEXT teams was to "Go Anywhere, Anytime" by conquering key exploration hurdles of space transportation, crew health and safety, human/robotic partnerships, affordable abundant power, and advanced space systems performance. Early emphasis was placed on revolutionary exploration concepts such as rail gun and electromagnetic launchers, propellant depots, retrograde trajectories, nano structures, and gas core nuclear rockets to name a few. Many of these revolutionary concepts turned out to be either not feasible for human exploration missions or well beyond expected technology readiness for near-term implementation. During the DPT and NEXT study cycles, several architectures were analyzed including missions to the Earth-Sun Libration Point (L2), the Earth-Moon Gateway and L1, the lunar surface, Mars (both short and long stays), one-year round trip Mars, and near-Earth asteroids. Common emphasis of these studies included utilization of the Earth-Moon Libration Point (L1) as a staging point for exploration activities, current (Shuttle) and near-term launch capabilities (EELV), advanced propulsion, and robust space power. Although there was much emphasis placed on utilization of existing launch capabilities, the team concluded that missions in near-Earth space are only marginally feasible and human missions to Mars were not feasible without a heavy lift launch capability. In addition, the team concluded that missions in Earth s neighborhood, such as to the Moon, can serve as stepping-stones toward further deep-space missions in terms of proving systems, technologies, and operational concepts. The material contained in this presentation was compiled to capture the work performed by the Mars Sub-Team of the DPT NEXT efforts in the late 1999-2001 timeframe.

NASA's Decadal Planning Team Mars Mission Analysis Summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drake, Bret G. (Editor)

2007-01-01

In June 1999 the NASA Administrator chartered an internal NASA task force, termed the Decadal Planning Team, to create new integrated vision and strategy for space exploration. The efforts of the Decadal Planning Team evolved into the Agency-wide team known as the NASA Exploration Team (NEXT). This team was also instructed to identify technology roadmaps to enable the science-driven exploration vision, established a cross-Enterprise, cross-Center systems engineering team with emphasis focused on revolutionary not evolutionary approaches. The strategy of the DPT and NEXT teams was to "Go Anywhere, Anytime" by conquering key exploration hurdles of space transportation, crew health and safety, human/robotic partnerships, affordable abundant power, and advanced space systems performance. Early emphasis was placed on revolutionary exploration concepts such as rail gun and electromagnetic launchers, propellant depots, retrograde trajectories, nano structures, and gas core nuclear rockets to name a few. Many of these revolutionary concepts turned out to be either not feasible for human exploration missions or well beyond expected technology readiness for near-term implementation. During the DPT and NEXT study cycles, several architectures were analyzed including missions to the Earth-Sun Libration Point (L2), the Earth-Moon Gateway and L1, the lunar surface, Mars (both short and long stays), one-year round trip Mars, and near-Earth asteroids. Common emphasis of these studies included utilization of the Earth-Moon Libration Point (L1) as a staging point for exploration activities, current (Shuttle) and near-term launch capabilities (EELV), advanced propulsion, and robust space power. Although there was much emphasis placed on utilization of existing launch capabilities, the team concluded that missions in near-Earth space are only marginally feasible and human missions to Mars were not feasible without a heavy lift launch capability. In addition, the team concluded that missions in Earth s neighborhood, such as to the Moon, can serve as stepping-stones toward further deep-space missions in terms of proving systems, technologies, and operational concepts. The material contained in this presentation was compiled to capture the work performed by the Mars Sub-Team of the DPT NEXT efforts in the late 1999-2001 timeframe.

Vision-based obstacle recognition system for automated lawn mower robot development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohd Zin, Zalhan; Ibrahim, Ratnawati

2011-06-01

Digital image processing techniques (DIP) have been widely used in various types of application recently. Classification and recognition of a specific object using vision system require some challenging tasks in the field of image processing and artificial intelligence. The ability and efficiency of vision system to capture and process the images is very important for any intelligent system such as autonomous robot. This paper gives attention to the development of a vision system that could contribute to the development of an automated vision based lawn mower robot. The works involve on the implementation of DIP techniques to detect and recognize three different types of obstacles that usually exist on a football field. The focus was given on the study on different types and sizes of obstacles, the development of vision based obstacle recognition system and the evaluation of the system's performance. Image processing techniques such as image filtering, segmentation, enhancement and edge detection have been applied in the system. The results have shown that the developed system is able to detect and recognize various types of obstacles on a football field with recognition rate of more 80%.

Neural Networks for Computer Vision: A Framework for Specifications of a General Purpose Vision System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skrzypek, Josef; Mesrobian, Edmond; Gungner, David J.

1989-03-01

The development of autonomous land vehicles (ALV) capable of operating in an unconstrained environment has proven to be a formidable research effort. The unpredictability of events in such an environment calls for the design of a robust perceptual system, an impossible task requiring the programming of a system bases on the expectation of future, unconstrained events. Hence, the need for a "general purpose" machine vision system that is capable of perceiving and understanding images in an unconstrained environment in real-time. The research undertaken at the UCLA Machine Perception Laboratory addresses this need by focusing on two specific issues: 1) the long term goals for machine vision research as a joint effort between the neurosciences and computer science; and 2) a framework for evaluating progress in machine vision. In the past, vision research has been carried out independently within different fields including neurosciences, psychology, computer science, and electrical engineering. Our interdisciplinary approach to vision research is based on the rigorous combination of computational neuroscience, as derived from neurophysiology and neuropsychology, with computer science and electrical engineering. The primary motivation behind our approach is that the human visual system is the only existing example of a "general purpose" vision system and using a neurally based computing substrate, it can complete all necessary visual tasks in real-time.

Real-time high-level video understanding using data warehouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lienard, Bruno; Desurmont, Xavier; Barrie, Bertrand; Delaigle, Jean-Francois

2006-02-01

High-level Video content analysis such as video-surveillance is often limited by computational aspects of automatic image understanding, i.e. it requires huge computing resources for reasoning processes like categorization and huge amount of data to represent knowledge of objects, scenarios and other models. This article explains how to design and develop a "near real-time adaptive image datamart", used, as a decisional support system for vision algorithms, and then as a mass storage system. Using RDF specification as storing format of vision algorithms meta-data, we can optimise the data warehouse concepts for video analysis, add some processes able to adapt the current model and pre-process data to speed-up queries. In this way, when new data is sent from a sensor to the data warehouse for long term storage, using remote procedure call embedded in object-oriented interfaces to simplified queries, they are processed and in memory data-model is updated. After some processing, possible interpretations of this data can be returned back to the sensor. To demonstrate this new approach, we will present typical scenarios applied to this architecture such as people tracking and events detection in a multi-camera network. Finally we will show how this system becomes a high-semantic data container for external data-mining.

Monovision techniques for telerobots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goode, P. W.; Carnils, K.

1987-01-01

The primary task of the vision sensor in a telerobotic system is to provide information about the position of the system's effector relative to objects of interest in its environment. The subtasks required to perform the primary task include image segmentation, object recognition, and object location and orientation in some coordinate system. The accomplishment of the vision task requires the appropriate processing tools and the system methodology to effectively apply the tools to the subtasks. The functional structure of the telerobotic vision system used in the Langley Research Center's Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory is discussed as well as two monovision techniques for accomplishing the vision subtasks.

Using the Cognitive Apprenticeship Web-based Argumentation System to Improve Argumentation Instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Chun-Yen; Jack, Brady Michael; Huang, Tai-Chu; Yang, Jin-Tan

2012-08-01

This study investigated how the instruction of argumentation skills could be promoted by using an online argumentation system. This system entitled `Cognitive Apprenticeship Web-based Argumentation' (CAWA) system was based on cognitive apprenticeship model. One hundred eighty-nine fifth grade students took part in this study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted and qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to evaluate the effectiveness of this online system in measuring students' progress in learning argumentation. The results of this study showed that different teaching strategies had effects on students' use of argumentation in the topics of daily life and the concept of `vision.' When the CAWA system was employed during the instruction and practice of argumentation on these two topics, the students' argumentation performance improved. Suggestions on how the CAWA system could be used to enhance the instruction of argumentation skills in science education were also discussed.

Systems engineering at the nanoscale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benkoski, Jason J.; Breidenich, Jennifer L.; Wei, Michael C.; Clatterbaughi, Guy V.; Keng, Pei Yuin; Pyun, Jeffrey

2012-06-01

Nanomaterials have provided some of the greatest leaps in technology over the past twenty years, but their relatively early stage of maturity presents challenges for their incorporation into engineered systems. Perhaps even more challenging is the fact that the underlying physics at the nanoscale often run counter to our physical intuition. The current state of nanotechnology today includes nanoscale materials and devices developed to function as components of systems, as well as theoretical visions for "nanosystems," which are systems in which all components are based on nanotechnology. Although examples will be given to show that nanomaterials have indeed matured into applications in medical, space, and military systems, no complete nanosystem has yet been realized. This discussion will therefore focus on systems in which nanotechnology plays a central role. Using self-assembled magnetic artificial cilia as an example, we will discuss how systems engineering concepts apply to nanotechnology.

Using X-band Weather Radar Measurements to Monitor the Integrity of Digital Elevation Models for Synthetic Vision Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Steve; UijtdeHaag, Maarten; Sayre, Jonathon

2003-01-01

Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) provide pilots with displays of stored geo-spatial data representing terrain, obstacles, and cultural features. As comprehensive validation is impractical, these databases typically have no quantifiable level of integrity. Further, updates to the databases may not be provided as changes occur. These issues limit the certification level and constrain the operational context of SVS for civil aviation. Previous work demonstrated the feasibility of using a realtime monitor to bound the integrity of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) by using radar altimeter measurements during flight. This paper describes an extension of this concept to include X-band Weather Radar (WxR) measurements. This enables the monitor to detect additional classes of DEM errors and to reduce the exposure time associated with integrity threats. Feature extraction techniques are used along with a statistical assessment of similarity measures between the sensed and stored features that are detected. Recent flight-testing in the area around the Juneau, Alaska Airport (JNU) has resulted in a comprehensive set of sensor data that is being used to assess the feasibility of the proposed monitor technology. Initial results of this assessment are presented.

Structuring the collaboration of science and service in pursuit of a shared vision.

PubMed

Chorpita, Bruce F; Daleiden, Eric L

2014-01-01

The enduring needs of our society highlight the importance of a shared vision to improve human functioning and yield better lives for families and communities. Science offers a powerful strategy for managing the inevitable uncertainty in pursuit of these goals. This article presents ideas and examples of methods that could preserve the strengths of the two major paradigms in children's mental health, evidence-based treatments and individualized care models, but that also have the potential to extend their applicability and impact. As exemplified in some of the articles throughout this issue, new models to connect science and service will likely emerge from novel consideration of better ways to structure and inform collaboration within mental health systems. We contend that the future models for effective systems will involve increased attention to (a) client and provider developmental pathways, (b) explicit frameworks for coordinating people and the knowledge and other resources they use, and (c) a balance of evidence-based planning and informed adaptation. We encourage the diverse community of scientists, providers, and administrators in our field to come together to enhance our collective wisdom through consideration of and reflection on these concepts and their illustrations.

Autonomous Assembly of Modular Structures in Space and on Extraterrestrial Locations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alhorn, Dean C.

2005-02-01

The new U.S. National Vision for Space Exploration requires many new enabling technologies to accomplish the goals of space commercialization and returning humans to the moon and extraterrestrial environments. Traditionally, flight elements are complete sub-systems requiring humans to complete the integration and assembly. These bulky structures also require the use of heavy launch vehicles to send the units to a desired location. This philosophy necessitates a high degree of safety, numerous space walks at a significant cost. Future space mission costs must be reduced and safety increased to reasonably achieve exploration goals. One proposed concept is the autonomous assembly of space structures. This concept is an affordable, reliable solution to in-space and extraterrestrial assembly. Assembly is autonomously performed when two components join after determining that specifications are correct. Local sensors continue monitor joint integrity post assembly, which is critical for safety and structural reliability. Achieving this concept requires a change in space structure design philosophy and the development of innovative technologies to perform autonomous assembly. Assembly of large space structures will require significant numbers of integrity sensors. Thus simple, low-cost sensors are integral to the success of this concept. This paper addresses these issues and proposes a novel concept for assembling space structures autonomously. Core technologies required to achieve in space assembly are presented. These core technologies are critical to the goal of utilizing space in a cost efficient and safe manner. Additionally, these novel technologies can be applied to other systems both on earth and extraterrestrial environments.

Precision of FLEET Velocimetry Using High-speed CMOS Camera Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, Christopher J.; Danehy, Paul M.; Bathel, Brett F.; Jiang, Naibo; Calvert, Nathan D.; Miles, Richard B.

2015-01-01

Femtosecond laser electronic excitation tagging (FLEET) is an optical measurement technique that permits quantitative velocimetry of unseeded air or nitrogen using a single laser and a single camera. In this paper, we seek to determine the fundamental precision of the FLEET technique using high-speed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) cameras. Also, we compare the performance of several different high-speed CMOS camera systems for acquiring FLEET velocimetry data in air and nitrogen free-jet flows. The precision was defined as the standard deviation of a set of several hundred single-shot velocity measurements. Methods of enhancing the precision of the measurement were explored such as digital binning (similar in concept to on-sensor binning, but done in post-processing), row-wise digital binning of the signal in adjacent pixels and increasing the time delay between successive exposures. These techniques generally improved precision; however, binning provided the greatest improvement to the un-intensified camera systems which had low signal-to-noise ratio. When binning row-wise by 8 pixels (about the thickness of the tagged region) and using an inter-frame delay of 65 micro sec, precisions of 0.5 m/s in air and 0.2 m/s in nitrogen were achieved. The camera comparison included a pco.dimax HD, a LaVision Imager scientific CMOS (sCMOS) and a Photron FASTCAM SA-X2, along with a two-stage LaVision High Speed IRO intensifier. Excluding the LaVision Imager sCMOS, the cameras were tested with and without intensification and with both short and long inter-frame delays. Use of intensification and longer inter-frame delay generally improved precision. Overall, the Photron FASTCAM SA-X2 exhibited the best performance in terms of greatest precision and highest signal-to-noise ratio primarily because it had the largest pixels.

Running head: What color is it

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Andrew T.

1988-01-01

Color vision provides low-resolution spectrophotometric information about candidate materials for planetary surfaces that is comparable in precision to wideband photoelectric photometry, and considerably superior to Voyager TV data. Briefly explained are the basic concepts, teminology, and notation of color science. Also shown is how to convert a reflectance spectrum into a color specification. An Appendix lists a simple computer subroutine to convert spectral reflectance into CIE coordinates, and the text explains how to convert these to a surface color in a standard color atlas. Target and printed Solar System colors are compared to show how accurate are the printed colors.

Initial test of MITA/DIMM with an operational CBP system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, Kevin; Hanna, Randall; Brown, Andrea; Brown, David; Moyer, Steven; Hixson, Jonathan G.

2018-05-01

The MITA (Motion Imagery Task Analyzer) project was conceived by CBP OA (Customs and Border Protection - Office of Acquisition) and executed by JHU/APL (Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory) and CERDEC NVESD MSD (Communications and Electronics Research Development Engineering Command Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate Modeling and Simulation Division). The intent was to develop an efficient methodology whereby imaging system performance could be quickly and objectively characterized in a field setting. The initial design, development, and testing spanned a period of approximately 18 months with the initial project coming to a conclusion after testing of the MITA system in June 2017 with a fielded CBP system. The NVESD contribution to MITA was thermally heated target resolution boards deployed to support a range close to the sensor and, when possible, at range with the targets of interest. JHU/APL developed a laser DIMM (Differential Image Motion Monitor) system designed to measure the optical turbulence present along the line of sight of the imaging system during the time of image collection. The imagery collected of the target board was processed to calculate the in situ system resolution. This in situ imaging system resolution and the time-correlated turbulence measured by the DIMM system were used in NV-IPM (Night Vision Integrated Performance Model) to calculate the theoretical imaging system performance. Overall, this proves the MITA concept feasible. However, MITA is still in the initial phases of development and requires further verification and validation to ensure accuracy and reliability of both the instrument and the imaging system performance predictions.

Key Gaps for Enabling Plant Growth in Future Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Molly; Motil, Brian; Barta, Dan; Fritsche, Ralph; Massa, Gioia; Quincy, Charlie; Romeyn, Matthew; Wheeler, Ray; Hanford, Anthony

2017-01-01

Growing plants to provide food or psychological benefits to crewmembers is a common vision for the future of human spaceflight, often represented in media and in serious concept studies. The complexity of controlled environment agriculture, and plant growth in microgravity have and continue to be the subject of dedicated scientific research. However, actually implementing these systems in a way that will be cost effective, efficient, and sustainable for future space missions is a complex, multi-disciplinary problem. Key questions exist in many areas: human medical research in nutrition and psychology, horticulture, plant physiology and microbiology, multi-phase microgravity fluid physics, hardware design and technology development, and system design, operations and mission planning. This paper describes key knowledge gaps identified by a multi-disciplinary working group within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It also begins to identify solutions to the simpler questions identified by the group based on work initiated in 2017. Growing plants to provide food or psychological benefits to crewmembers is a common vision for the future of human spaceflight, often represented in media and in serious concept studies. The complexity of controlled environment agriculture, and plant growth in microgravity have and continue to be the subject of dedicated scientific research. However, actually implementing these systems in a way that will be cost effective, efficient, and sustainable for future space missions is a complex, multi-disciplinary problem. Key questions exist in many areas: human medical research in nutrition and psychology, horticulture, plant physiology and microbiology, multi-phase microgravity fluid physics, hardware design and technology development, and system design, operations and mission planning. This paper describes key knowledge gaps identified by a multi-disciplinary working group within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It also begins to identify solutions to the simpler questions identified by the group based on work initiated in 2017.

Hierarchical Spatial Concept Formation Based on Multimodal Information for Human Support Robots.

PubMed

Hagiwara, Yoshinobu; Inoue, Masakazu; Kobayashi, Hiroyoshi; Taniguchi, Tadahiro

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a hierarchical spatial concept formation method based on the Bayesian generative model with multimodal information e.g., vision, position and word information. Since humans have the ability to select an appropriate level of abstraction according to the situation and describe their position linguistically, e.g., "I am in my home" and "I am in front of the table," a hierarchical structure of spatial concepts is necessary in order for human support robots to communicate smoothly with users. The proposed method enables a robot to form hierarchical spatial concepts by categorizing multimodal information using hierarchical multimodal latent Dirichlet allocation (hMLDA). Object recognition results using convolutional neural network (CNN), hierarchical k-means clustering result of self-position estimated by Monte Carlo localization (MCL), and a set of location names are used, respectively, as features in vision, position, and word information. Experiments in forming hierarchical spatial concepts and evaluating how the proposed method can predict unobserved location names and position categories are performed using a robot in the real world. Results verify that, relative to comparable baseline methods, the proposed method enables a robot to predict location names and position categories closer to predictions made by humans. As an application example of the proposed method in a home environment, a demonstration in which a human support robot moves to an instructed place based on human speech instructions is achieved based on the formed hierarchical spatial concept.

Hierarchical Spatial Concept Formation Based on Multimodal Information for Human Support Robots

PubMed Central

Hagiwara, Yoshinobu; Inoue, Masakazu; Kobayashi, Hiroyoshi; Taniguchi, Tadahiro

2018-01-01

In this paper, we propose a hierarchical spatial concept formation method based on the Bayesian generative model with multimodal information e.g., vision, position and word information. Since humans have the ability to select an appropriate level of abstraction according to the situation and describe their position linguistically, e.g., “I am in my home” and “I am in front of the table,” a hierarchical structure of spatial concepts is necessary in order for human support robots to communicate smoothly with users. The proposed method enables a robot to form hierarchical spatial concepts by categorizing multimodal information using hierarchical multimodal latent Dirichlet allocation (hMLDA). Object recognition results using convolutional neural network (CNN), hierarchical k-means clustering result of self-position estimated by Monte Carlo localization (MCL), and a set of location names are used, respectively, as features in vision, position, and word information. Experiments in forming hierarchical spatial concepts and evaluating how the proposed method can predict unobserved location names and position categories are performed using a robot in the real world. Results verify that, relative to comparable baseline methods, the proposed method enables a robot to predict location names and position categories closer to predictions made by humans. As an application example of the proposed method in a home environment, a demonstration in which a human support robot moves to an instructed place based on human speech instructions is achieved based on the formed hierarchical spatial concept. PMID:29593521

Detecting Motion from a Moving Platform; Phase 3: Unification of Control and Sensing for More Advanced Situational Awareness

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

RX-TY-TR-2011-0096-01) develops a novel computer vision sensor based upon the biological vision system of the common housefly , Musca domestica...01 summarizes the development of a novel computer vision sensor based upon the biological vision system of the common housefly , Musca domestica

Vehicle-based vision sensors for intelligent highway systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masaki, Ichiro

1989-09-01

This paper describes a vision system, based on ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) approach, for vehicle guidance on highways. After reviewing related work in the fields of intelligent vehicles, stereo vision, and ASIC-based approaches, the paper focuses on a stereo vision system for intelligent cruise control. The system measures the distance to the vehicle in front using trinocular triangulation. An application specific processor architecture was developed to offer low mass-production cost, real-time operation, low power consumption, and small physical size. The system was installed in the trunk of a car and evaluated successfully on highways.

Clarus : concept of operations

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-10-01

The Clarus Initiative establishes a vision for the leveraging of local and regional road/route weather observations to serve a greater community and enhance 21st century transportation operations. Its goal is to provide broader weather information su...

A Vision-Based Driver Nighttime Assistance and Surveillance System Based on Intelligent Image Sensing Techniques and a Heterogamous Dual-Core Embedded System Architecture

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study proposes a vision-based intelligent nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system (VIDASS system) implemented by a set of embedded software components and modules, and integrates these modules to accomplish a component-based system framework on an embedded heterogamous dual-core platform. Therefore, this study develops and implements computer vision and sensing techniques of nighttime vehicle detection, collision warning determination, and traffic event recording. The proposed system processes the road-scene frames in front of the host car captured from CCD sensors mounted on the host vehicle. These vision-based sensing and processing technologies are integrated and implemented on an ARM-DSP heterogamous dual-core embedded platform. Peripheral devices, including image grabbing devices, communication modules, and other in-vehicle control devices, are also integrated to form an in-vehicle-embedded vision-based nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system. PMID:22736956

A vision-based driver nighttime assistance and surveillance system based on intelligent image sensing techniques and a heterogamous dual-core embedded system architecture.

PubMed

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study proposes a vision-based intelligent nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system (VIDASS system) implemented by a set of embedded software components and modules, and integrates these modules to accomplish a component-based system framework on an embedded heterogamous dual-core platform. Therefore, this study develops and implements computer vision and sensing techniques of nighttime vehicle detection, collision warning determination, and traffic event recording. The proposed system processes the road-scene frames in front of the host car captured from CCD sensors mounted on the host vehicle. These vision-based sensing and processing technologies are integrated and implemented on an ARM-DSP heterogamous dual-core embedded platform. Peripheral devices, including image grabbing devices, communication modules, and other in-vehicle control devices, are also integrated to form an in-vehicle-embedded vision-based nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system.

Morphological features of the macerated cranial bones registered by the 3D vision system for potential use in forensic anthropology.

PubMed

Skrzat, Janusz; Sioma, Andrzej; Kozerska, Magdalena

2013-01-01

In this paper we present potential usage of the 3D vision system for registering features of the macerated cranial bones. Applied 3D vision system collects height profiles of the object surface and from that data builds a three-dimensional image of the surface. This method appeared to be accurate enough to capture anatomical details of the macerated bones. With the aid of the 3D vision system we generated images of the surface of the human calvaria which was used for testing the system. Performed reconstruction visualized the imprints of the dural vascular system, cranial sutures, and the three-layer structure of the cranial bones observed in the cross-section. We figure out that the 3D vision system may deliver data which can enhance estimation of sex from the osteological material.

Machine vision systems using machine learning for industrial product inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yi; Chen, Tie Q.; Chen, Jie; Zhang, Jian; Tisler, Anthony

2002-02-01

Machine vision inspection requires efficient processing time and accurate results. In this paper, we present a machine vision inspection architecture, SMV (Smart Machine Vision). SMV decomposes a machine vision inspection problem into two stages, Learning Inspection Features (LIF), and On-Line Inspection (OLI). The LIF is designed to learn visual inspection features from design data and/or from inspection products. During the OLI stage, the inspection system uses the knowledge learnt by the LIF component to inspect the visual features of products. In this paper we will present two machine vision inspection systems developed under the SMV architecture for two different types of products, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and Vacuum Florescent Displaying (VFD) boards. In the VFD board inspection system, the LIF component learns inspection features from a VFD board and its displaying patterns. In the PCB board inspection system, the LIF learns the inspection features from the CAD file of a PCB board. In both systems, the LIF component also incorporates interactive learning to make the inspection system more powerful and efficient. The VFD system has been deployed successfully in three different manufacturing companies and the PCB inspection system is the process of being deployed in a manufacturing plant.

A mobile phone system to find crosswalks for visually impaired pedestrians

PubMed Central

Shen, Huiying; Chan, Kee-Yip; Coughlan, James; Brabyn, John

2010-01-01

Urban intersections are the most dangerous parts of a blind or visually impaired pedestrian’s travel. A prerequisite for safely crossing an intersection is entering the crosswalk in the right direction and avoiding the danger of straying outside the crosswalk. This paper presents a proof of concept system that seeks to provide such alignment information. The system consists of a standard mobile phone with built-in camera that uses computer vision algorithms to detect any crosswalk visible in the camera’s field of view; audio feedback from the phone then helps the user align him/herself to it. Our prototype implementation on a Nokia mobile phone runs in about one second per image, and is intended for eventual use in a mobile phone system that will aid blind and visually impaired pedestrians in navigating traffic intersections. PMID:20411035

Application of aircraft navigation sensors to enhanced vision systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sweet, Barbara T.

1993-01-01

In this presentation, the applicability of various aircraft navigation sensors to enhanced vision system design is discussed. First, the accuracy requirements of the FAA for precision landing systems are presented, followed by the current navigation systems and their characteristics. These systems include Instrument Landing System (ILS), Microwave Landing System (MLS), Inertial Navigation, Altimetry, and Global Positioning System (GPS). Finally, the use of navigation system data to improve enhanced vision systems is discussed. These applications include radar image rectification, motion compensation, and image registration.

SLS launched missions concept studies for LUVOIR mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.

2015-09-01

NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-m Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-m class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. The multi-center ATLAST Team is working to meet these needs. The MSFC Team is examining potential concepts that leverage the advantages of the SLS (Space Launch System). A key challenge is how to affordably get a large telescope into space. The JWST design was severely constrained by the mass and volume capacities of its launch vehicle. This problem is solved by using an SLS Block II-B rocket with its 10-m diameter x 30-m tall fairing and estimated 45 mt payload to SE-L2. Previously, two development study cycles produced a detailed concept called ATLAST-8. Using ATLAST-8 as a point of departure, this paper reports on a new ATLAST-12 concept. ATLAST-12 is a 12-m class segmented aperture LUVOIR with an 8-m class center segment. Thus, ATLAST-8 is now a de-scope option.

SLS Launched Missions Concept Studies for LUVOIR Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stahl, H. Philip; Hopkins, Randall C.

2015-01-01

NASA's "Enduring Quests Daring Visions" report calls for an 8- to 16-meter Large UV-Optical-IR (LUVOIR) Surveyor mission to enable ultra-high-contrast spectroscopy and coronagraphy. AURA's "From Cosmic Birth to Living Earth" report calls for a 12-meter class High-Definition Space Telescope to pursue transformational scientific discoveries. The multi-center ATLAST Team is working to meet these needs. The MSFC Team is examining potential concepts that leverage the advantages of the SLS (Space Launch System). A key challenge is how to affordably get a large telescope into space. The JWST design was severely constrained by the mass and volume capacities of its launch vehicle. This problem is solved by using an SLS Block II-B rocket with its 10-m diameter x 30-m tall fairing and 45 mt payload to SE-L2. Previously, two development study cycles produced a detailed concept called ATLAST-8. Using ATLAST-8 as a point of departure, this paper reports on a new ATLAST-12 concept. ATLAST-12 is a 12-meter class segmented aperture LUVOIR with an 8-m class center segment. Thus, ATLAST-8 is now a de-scope option.

The 3D Recognition, Generation, Fusion, Update and Refinement (RG4) Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maluf, David A.; Cheeseman, Peter; Smelyanskyi, Vadim N.; Kuehnel, Frank; Morris, Robin D.; Norvig, Peter (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This paper describes an active (real time) recognition strategy whereby information is inferred iteratively across several viewpoints in descent imagery. We will show how we use inverse theory within the context of parametric model generation, namely height and spectral reflection functions, to generate model assertions. Using this strategy in an active context implies that, from every viewpoint, the proposed system must refine its hypotheses taking into account the image and the effect of uncertainties as well. The proposed system employs probabilistic solutions to the problem of iteratively merging information (images) from several viewpoints. This involves feeding the posterior distribution from all previous images as a prior for the next view. Novel approaches will be developed to accelerate the inversion search using novel statistic implementations and reducing the model complexity using foveated vision. Foveated vision refers to imagery where the resolution varies across the image. In this paper, we allow the model to be foveated where the highest resolution region is called the foveation region. Typically, the images will have dynamic control of the location of the foveation region. For descent imagery in the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) process, it is possible to have more than one foveation region. This research initiative is directed towards descent imagery in connection with NASA's EDL applications. Three-Dimensional Model Recognition, Generation, Fusion, Update, and Refinement (RGFUR or RG4) for height and the spectral reflection characteristics are in focus for various reasons, one of which is the prospect that their interpretation will provide for real time active vision for automated EDL.

Thoughts turned into high-level commands: Proof-of-concept study of a vision-guided robot arm driven by functional MRI (fMRI) signals.

PubMed

Minati, Ludovico; Nigri, Anna; Rosazza, Cristina; Bruzzone, Maria Grazia

2012-06-01

Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility of using functional MRI to control a robot arm through a brain-machine interface by directly coupling haemodynamic activity in the sensory-motor cortex to the position of two axes. Here, we extend this work by implementing interaction at a more abstract level, whereby imagined actions deliver structured commands to a robot arm guided by a machine vision system. Rather than extracting signals from a small number of pre-selected regions, the proposed system adaptively determines at individual level how to map representative brain areas to the input nodes of a classifier network. In this initial study, a median action recognition accuracy of 90% was attained on five volunteers performing a game consisting of collecting randomly positioned coloured pawns and placing them into cups. The "pawn" and "cup" instructions were imparted through four mental imaginery tasks, linked to robot arm actions by a state machine. With the current implementation in MatLab language the median action recognition time was 24.3s and the robot execution time was 17.7s. We demonstrate the notion of combining haemodynamic brain-machine interfacing with computer vision to implement interaction at the level of high-level commands rather than individual movements, which may find application in future fMRI approaches relevant to brain-lesioned patients, and provide source code supporting further work on larger command sets and real-time processing. Copyright © 2012 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthetic Vision for Lunar and Planetary Landing Vehicles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Steven P.; Arthur, Jarvis (Trey) J., III; Shelton, Kevin J.; Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Norman, R. Michael

2008-01-01

The Crew Vehicle Interface (CVI) group of the Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck Technologies (IIFDT) has done extensive research in the area of Synthetic Vision (SV), and has shown that SV technology can substantially enhance flight crew situation awareness, reduce pilot workload, promote flight path control precision and improve aviation safety. SV technology is being extended to evaluate its utility for lunar and planetary exploration vehicles. SV may hold significant potential for many lunar and planetary missions since the SV presentation provides a computer-generated view of the terrain and other significant environment characteristics independent of the outside visibility conditions, window locations, or vehicle attributes. SV allows unconstrained control of the computer-generated scene lighting, terrain coloring, and virtual camera angles which may provide invaluable visual cues to pilots/astronauts and in addition, important vehicle state information may be conformally displayed on the view such as forward and down velocities, altitude, and fuel remaining to enhance trajectory control and vehicle system status. This paper discusses preliminary SV concepts for tactical and strategic displays for a lunar landing vehicle. The technical challenges and potential solutions to SV applications for the lunar landing mission are explored, including the requirements for high resolution terrain lunar maps and an accurate position and orientation of the vehicle that is essential in providing lunar Synthetic Vision System (SVS) cockpit displays. The paper also discusses the technical challenge of creating an accurate synthetic terrain portrayal using an ellipsoid lunar digital elevation model which eliminates projection errors and can be efficiently rendered in real-time.

FLORA™: Phase I development of a functional vision assessment for prosthetic vision users

PubMed Central

Geruschat, Duane R; Flax, Marshall; Tanna, Nilima; Bianchi, Michelle; Fisher, Andy; Goldschmidt, Mira; Fisher, Lynne; Dagnelie, Gislin; Deremeik, Jim; Smith, Audrey; Anaflous, Fatima; Dorn, Jessy

2014-01-01

Background Research groups and funding agencies need a functional assessment suitable for an ultra-low vision population in order to evaluate the impact of new vision restoration treatments. The purpose of this study was to develop a pilot assessment to capture the functional vision ability and well-being of subjects whose vision has been partially restored with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Methods The Functional Low-Vision Observer Rated Assessment (FLORA) pilot assessment involved a self-report section, a list of functional vision tasks for observation of performance, and a case narrative summary. Results were analyzed to determine whether the interview questions and functional vision tasks were appropriate for this ultra-low vision population and whether the ratings suffered from floor or ceiling effects. Thirty subjects with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa (bare light perception or worse in both eyes) were enrolled in a clinical trial and implanted with the Argus II System. From this population, twenty-six subjects were assessed with the FLORA. Seven different evaluators administered the assessment. Results All 14 interview questions were asked. All 35 functional vision tasks were selected for evaluation at least once, with an average of 20 subjects being evaluated for each test item. All four rating options -- impossible (33%), difficult (23%), moderate (24%) and easy (19%) -- were used by the evaluators. Evaluators also judged the amount of vision they observed the subjects using to complete the various tasks, with vision only occurring 75% on average with the System ON, and 29% with the System OFF. Conclusion The first version of the FLORA was found to contain useful elements for evaluation and to avoid floor and ceiling effects. The next phase of development will be to refine the assessment and to establish reliability and validity to increase its value as a functional vision and well-being assessment tool. PMID:25675964

System Oriented Runway Management: A Research Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lohr, Gary W.; Brown, Sherilyn A.; Stough, Harry P., III; Eisenhawer, Steve; Atkins, Stephen; Long, Dou

2011-01-01

The runway configuration used by an airport has significant implications with respect to its capacity and ability to effectively manage surface and airborne traffic. Aircraft operators rely on runway configuration information because it can significantly affect an airline's operations and planning of their resources. Current practices in runway management are limited by a relatively short time horizon for reliable weather information and little assistance from automation. Wind velocity is the primary consideration when selecting a runway configuration; however when winds are below a defined threshold, discretion may be used to determine the configuration. Other considerations relevant to runway configuration selection include airport operator constraints, weather conditions (other than winds) traffic demand, user preferences, surface congestion, and navigational system outages. The future offers an increasingly complex landscape for the runway management process. Concepts and technologies that hold the potential for capacity and efficiency increases for both operations on the airport surface and in terminal and enroute airspace are currently under investigation. Complementary advances in runway management are required if capacity and efficiency increases in those areas are to be realized. The System Oriented Runway Management (SORM) concept has been developed to address this critical part of the traffic flow process. The SORM concept was developed to address all aspects of runway management for airports of varying sizes and to accommodate a myriad of traffic mixes. SORM, to date, addresses the single airport environment; however, the longer term vision is to incorporate capabilities for multiple airport (Metroplex) operations as well as to accommodate advances in capabilities resulting from ongoing research. This paper provides an update of research supporting the SORM concept including the following: a concept of overview, results of a TRCM simulation, single airport and Metroplex modeling effort and a benefits assessment.

Night vision: changing the way we drive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klapper, Stuart H.; Kyle, Robert J. S.; Nicklin, Robert L.; Kormos, Alexander L.

2001-03-01

A revolutionary new Night Vision System has been designed to help drivers see well beyond their headlights. From luxury automobiles to heavy trucks, Night Vision is helping drivers see better, see further, and react sooner. This paper describes how Night Vision Systems are being used in transportation and their viability for the future. It describes recent improvements to the system currently in the second year of production. It also addresses consumer education and awareness, cost reduction, product reliability, market expansion and future improvements.

A Machine Vision System for Automatically Grading Hardwood Lumber - (Proceedings)

Treesearch

Richard W. Conners; Tai-Hoon Cho; Chong T. Ng; Thomas H. Drayer; Joe G. Tront; Philip A. Araman; Robert L. Brisbon

1990-01-01

Any automatic system for grading hardwood lumber can conceptually be divided into two components. One of these is a machine vision system for locating and identifying grading defects. The other is an automatic grading program that accepts as input the output of the machine vision system and, based on these data, determines the grade of a board. The progress that has...

Modeling Drug- and Chemical-Induced Hepatotoxicity with Systems Biology Approaches

PubMed Central

Bhattacharya, Sudin; Shoda, Lisl K.M.; Zhang, Qiang; Woods, Courtney G.; Howell, Brett A.; Siler, Scott Q.; Woodhead, Jeffrey L.; Yang, Yuching; McMullen, Patrick; Watkins, Paul B.; Andersen, Melvin E.

2012-01-01

We provide an overview of computational systems biology approaches as applied to the study of chemical- and drug-induced toxicity. The concept of “toxicity pathways” is described in the context of the 2007 US National Academies of Science report, “Toxicity testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and A Strategy.” Pathway mapping and modeling based on network biology concepts are a key component of the vision laid out in this report for a more biologically based analysis of dose-response behavior and the safety of chemicals and drugs. We focus on toxicity of the liver (hepatotoxicity) – a complex phenotypic response with contributions from a number of different cell types and biological processes. We describe three case studies of complementary multi-scale computational modeling approaches to understand perturbation of toxicity pathways in the human liver as a result of exposure to environmental contaminants and specific drugs. One approach involves development of a spatial, multicellular “virtual tissue” model of the liver lobule that combines molecular circuits in individual hepatocytes with cell–cell interactions and blood-mediated transport of toxicants through hepatic sinusoids, to enable quantitative, mechanistic prediction of hepatic dose-response for activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor toxicity pathway. Simultaneously, methods are being developing to extract quantitative maps of intracellular signaling and transcriptional regulatory networks perturbed by environmental contaminants, using a combination of gene expression and genome-wide protein-DNA interaction data. A predictive physiological model (DILIsym™) to understand drug-induced liver injury (DILI), the most common adverse event leading to termination of clinical development programs and regulatory actions on drugs, is also described. The model initially focuses on reactive metabolite-induced DILI in response to administration of acetaminophen, and spans multiple biological scales. PMID:23248599

Machine Vision Systems for Processing Hardwood Lumber and Logs

Treesearch

Philip A. Araman; Daniel L. Schmoldt; Tai-Hoon Cho; Dongping Zhu; Richard W. Conners; D. Earl Kline

1992-01-01

Machine vision and automated processing systems are under development at Virginia Tech University with support and cooperation from the USDA Forest Service. Our goals are to help U.S. hardwood producers automate, reduce costs, increase product volume and value recovery, and market higher value, more accurately graded and described products. Any vision system is...

Machine vision system for inspecting characteristics of hybrid rice seed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Fang; Ying, Yibin

2004-03-01

Obtaining clear images advantaged of improving the classification accuracy involves many factors, light source, lens extender and background were discussed in this paper. The analysis of rice seed reflectance curves showed that the wavelength of light source for discrimination of the diseased seeds from normal rice seeds in the monochromic image recognition mode was about 815nm for jinyou402 and shanyou10. To determine optimizing conditions for acquiring digital images of rice seed using a computer vision system, an adjustable color machine vision system was developed. The machine vision system with 20mm to 25mm lens extender produce close-up images which made it easy to object recognition of characteristics in hybrid rice seeds. White background was proved to be better than black background for inspecting rice seeds infected by disease and using the algorithms based on shape. Experimental results indicated good classification for most of the characteristics with the machine vision system. The same algorithm yielded better results in optimizing condition for quality inspection of rice seed. Specifically, the image processing can correct for details such as fine fissure with the machine vision system.

Vision Algorithms to Determine Shape and Distance for Manipulation of Unmodeled Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montes, Leticia; Bowers, David; Lumia, Ron

1998-01-01

This paper discusses the development of a robotic system for general use in an unstructured environment. This is illustrated through pick and place of randomly positioned, un-modeled objects. There are many applications for this project, including rock collection for the Mars Surveyor Program. This system is demonstrated with a Puma560 robot, Barrett hand, Cognex vision system, and Cimetrix simulation and control, all running on a PC. The demonstration consists of two processes: vision system and robotics. The vision system determines the size and location of the unknown objects. The robotics part consists of moving the robot to the object, configuring the hand based on the information from the vision system, then performing the pick/place operation. This work enhances and is a part of the Low Cost Virtual Collaborative Environment which provides remote simulation and control of equipment.

A Most Rare Vision: Improvisations on "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hakaim, Charles J., Jr.

1993-01-01

Describes one teacher's methods for introducing to secondary English students the concepts of improvisation, experimentation, and innovation. Discusses numerous techniques for fostering such skills when working with William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." (HB)

Achieving Transformational Materials Performance in a New Era of Science

ScienceCinema

Sarrao, John

2017-12-22

The inability of current materials to meet performance requirements is a key stumbling block for addressing grand challenges in energy and national security. Fortunately, materials research is on the brink of a new era - a transition from observation and validation of materials properties to prediction and control of materials performance. In this talk, I describe the nature of the current challenge, the prospects for success, and a specific facility concept, MaRIE, that will provide the needed capabilities to meet these challenges, especially for materials in extreme environments. MaRIE, for Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes, is Los Alamos' concept to realize this vision of 21st century materials research. This vision will be realized through enhancements to the current LANSCE accelerator, development of a fourth-generation x-ray light source co-located with the proton accelerator, and a comprehensive synthesis and characterization facility focused on controlling complex materials and the defect/structure link to materials performance.

Airport databases for 3D synthetic-vision flight-guidance displays: database design, quality assessment, and data generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedrich, Axel; Raabe, Helmut; Schiefele, Jens; Doerr, Kai Uwe

1999-07-01

In future aircraft cockpit designs SVS (Synthetic Vision System) databases will be used to display 3D physical and virtual information to pilots. In contrast to pure warning systems (TAWS, MSAW, EGPWS) SVS serve to enhance pilot spatial awareness by 3-dimensional perspective views of the objects in the environment. Therefore all kind of aeronautical relevant data has to be integrated into the SVS-database: Navigation- data, terrain-data, obstacles and airport-Data. For the integration of all these data the concept of a GIS (Geographical Information System) based HQDB (High-Quality- Database) has been created at the TUD (Technical University Darmstadt). To enable database certification, quality- assessment procedures according to ICAO Annex 4, 11, 14 and 15 and RTCA DO-200A/EUROCAE ED76 were established in the concept. They can be differentiated in object-related quality- assessment-methods following the keywords accuracy, resolution, timeliness, traceability, assurance-level, completeness, format and GIS-related quality assessment methods with the keywords system-tolerances, logical consistence and visual quality assessment. An airport database is integrated in the concept as part of the High-Quality- Database. The contents of the HQDB are chosen so that they support both Flight-Guidance-SVS and other aeronautical applications like SMGCS (Surface Movement and Guidance Systems) and flight simulation as well. Most airport data are not available. Even though data for runways, threshold, taxilines and parking positions were to be generated by the end of 1997 (ICAO Annex 11 and 15) only a few countries fulfilled these requirements. For that reason methods of creating and certifying airport data have to be found. Remote sensing and digital photogrammetry serve as means to acquire large amounts of airport objects with high spatial resolution and accuracy in much shorter time than with classical surveying methods. Remotely sensed images can be acquired from satellite-platforms or aircraft-platforms. To achieve the highest horizontal accuracy requirements stated in ICAO Annex 14 for runway centerlines (0.50 meters), at the present moment only images acquired from aircraft based sensors can be used as source data. Still, ground reference by GCP (Ground Control-points) is obligatory. A DEM (Digital Elevation Model) can be created automatically in the photogrammetric process. It can be used as highly accurate elevation model for the airport area. The final verification of airport data is accomplished by independent surveyed runway- and taxiway- control-points. The concept of generation airport-data by means of remote sensing and photogrammetry was tested with the Stuttgart/Germany airport. The results proved that the final accuracy was within the accuracy specification defined by ICAO Annex 14.

The Intangible Assets Advantages in the Machine Vision Inspection of Thermoplastic Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muntean, Diana; Răulea, Andreea Simina

2017-12-01

Innovation is not a simple concept but is the main source of success. It is more important to have the right people and mindsets in place than to have a perfectly crafted plan in order to make the most out of an idea or business. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of intangible assets when it comes to machine vision inspection of thermoplastic materials pointing out some aspects related to knowledge based assets and their need for a success idea to be developed in a successful product.

The concept of Magnetically Driven Magnetosphere: storm/substorm dynamics and organization of the magnetotail

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavlov, Nikolai

A set of novel ideas and approaches have been found in the long-lasting attempts to better understand how the magnetosphere operates. It is proposed a certain vision of the substorm/storm scenario, of the tail structure with moderate magnetic By-component, and with intrinsic turbulence. Particle acceleration and the place of the tail's current sheet(s) in the proposed vision are discussed as well. For the reasoning of the proposal, several key ideas on the purely magnetospheric topics are included in the presentation.

AN INVESTIGATION OF VISION PROBLEMS AND THE VISION CARE SYSTEM IN RURAL CHINA.

PubMed

Bai, Yunli; Yi, Hongmei; Zhang, Linxiu; Shi, Yaojiang; Ma, Xiaochen; Congdon, Nathan; Zhou, Zhongqiang; Boswell, Matthew; Rozelle, Scott

2014-11-01

This paper examines the prevalence of vision problems and the accessibility to and quality of vision care in rural China. We obtained data from 4 sources: 1) the National Rural Vision Care Survey; 2) the Private Optometrists Survey; 3) the County Hospital Eye Care Survey; and 4) the Rural School Vision Care Survey. The data from each of the surveys were collected by the authors during 2012. Thirty-three percent of the rural population surveyed self-reported vision problems. Twenty-two percent of subjects surveyed had ever had a vision exam. Among those who self-reported having vision problems, 34% did not wear eyeglasses. Fifty-four percent of those with vision problems who had eyeglasses did not have a vision exam prior to receiving glasses. However, having a vision exam did not always guarantee access to quality vision care. Four channels of vision care service were assessed. The school vision examination program did not increase the usage rate of eyeglasses. Each county-hospital was staffed with three eye-doctors having one year of education beyond high school, serving more than 400,000 residents. Private optometrists often had low levels of education and professional certification. In conclusion, our findings shows that the vision care system in rural China is inadequate and ineffective in meeting the needs of the rural population sampled.

The Nuka System of Care: improving health through ownership and relationships.

PubMed

Gottlieb, Katherine

2013-01-01

Southcentral Foundation's Nuka System of Care, based in Anchorage, Alaska, is a result of a customer-driven overhaul of what was previously a bureaucratic system centrally controlled by the Indian Health Service. Alaska Native people are in control as the "customer-owners" of this health care system. The vision and mission focus on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness and working together as a Native Community. Coupled with operational principles based on relationships, core concepts and key points, this framework has fostered an environment for creativity, innovation and continuous quality improvement. Alaska Native people have received national and international recognition for their work and have set high standards for performance excellence, community engagement, and overall impact on population health. In this article, the health care transformation led by Alaska Native people is described and the benefits and results of customer ownership and the relationship-based Nuka System of Care are discussed.

The Nuka System of Care: improving health through ownership and relationships

PubMed Central

Gottlieb, Katherine

2013-01-01

Southcentral Foundation’s Nuka System of Care, based in Anchorage, Alaska, is a result of a customer-driven overhaul of what was previously a bureaucratic system centrally controlled by the Indian Health Service. Alaska Native people are in control as the “customer-owners” of this health care system. The vision and mission focus on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness and working together as a Native Community. Coupled with operational principles based on relationships, core concepts and key points, this framework has fostered an environment for creativity, innovation and continuous quality improvement. Alaska Native people have received national and international recognition for their work and have set high standards for performance excellence, community engagement, and overall impact on population health. In this article, the health care transformation led by Alaska Native people is described and the benefits and results of customer ownership and the relationship-based Nuka System of Care are discussed. PMID:23984269

Risk assessment of integrated electronic health records.

PubMed

Bjornsson, Bjarni Thor; Sigurdardottir, Gudlaug; Stefansson, Stefan Orri

2010-01-01

The paper describes the security concerns related to Electronic Health Records (EHR) both in registration of data and integration of systems. A description of the current state of EHR systems in Iceland is provided, along with the Ministry of Health's future vision and plans. New legislation provides the opportunity for increased integration of EHRs and further collaboration between institutions. Integration of systems, along with greater availability and access to EHR data, requires increased security awareness since additional risks are introduced. The paper describes the core principles of information security as it applies to EHR systems and data. The concepts of confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability and traceability are introduced and described. The paper discusses the legal requirements and importance of performing risk assessment for EHR data. Risk assessment methodology according to the ISO/IEC 27001 information security standard is described with examples on how it is applied to EHR systems.

The Application of Lidar to Synthetic Vision System Integrity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Jacob L.; UijtdeHaag, Maarten; Vadlamani, Ananth; Young, Steve

2003-01-01

One goal in the development of a Synthetic Vision System (SVS) is to create a system that can be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for use at various flight criticality levels. As part of NASA s Aviation Safety Program, Ohio University and NASA Langley have been involved in the research and development of real-time terrain database integrity monitors for SVS. Integrity monitors based on a consistency check with onboard sensors may be required if the inherent terrain database integrity is not sufficient for a particular operation. Sensors such as the radar altimeter and weather radar, which are available on most commercial aircraft, are currently being investigated for use in a real-time terrain database integrity monitor. This paper introduces the concept of using a Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) sensor as part of a real-time terrain database integrity monitor. A LiDAR system consists of a scanning laser ranger, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Information from these three sensors can be combined to generate synthesized terrain models (profiles), which can then be compared to the stored SVS terrain model. This paper discusses an initial performance evaluation of the LiDAR-based terrain database integrity monitor using LiDAR data collected over Reno, Nevada. The paper will address the consistency checking mechanism and test statistic, sensitivity to position errors, and a comparison of the LiDAR-based integrity monitor to a radar altimeter-based integrity monitor.

Adjustable typography: an approach to enhancing low vision text accessibility.

PubMed

Arditi, Aries

2004-04-15

Millions of people have low vision, a disability condition caused by uncorrectable or partially correctable disorders of the eye. The primary goal of low vision rehabilitation is increasing access to printed material. This paper describes how adjustable typography, a computer graphic approach to enhancing text accessibility, can play a role in this process, by allowing visually-impaired users to customize fonts to maximize legibility according to their own visual needs. Prototype software and initial testing of the concept is described. The results show that visually-impaired users tend to produce a variety of very distinct fonts, and that the adjustment process results in greatly enhanced legibility. But this initial testing has not yet demonstrated increases in legibility over and above the legibility of highly legible standard fonts such as Times New Roman.

A Machine Vision System for Automatically Grading Hardwood Lumber - (Industrial Metrology)

Treesearch

Richard W. Conners; Tai-Hoon Cho; Chong T. Ng; Thomas T. Drayer; Philip A. Araman; Robert L. Brisbon

1992-01-01

Any automatic system for grading hardwood lumber can conceptually be divided into two components. One of these is a machine vision system for locating and identifying grading defects. The other is an automatic grading program that accepts as input the output of the machine vision system and, based on these data, determines the grade of a board. The progress that has...

Synframe: a preliminary report.

PubMed

Aebi, M; Steffen, T

2000-02-01

Both endoscopic lumbar spinal surgery and the non-standardized and unstable retractor systems for the lumbar spine presently on the market have disadvantages and limitations in relation to the minimally invasive surgical concept, which have been gradually recognized in the last few years. In an attempt to resolve some of these issues, we have developed a highly versatile retractor system, which allows access to and surgery at the lumbar, thoracic and even cervical spine. This retractor system - Synframe - is based on a ring concept allowing 360 degrees access to a surgical opening in anterior as well as posterior surgery. The ring is concentrically laid over the surgical opening for the approach and is used as a carrier for retractor arms, which are instrumented with either different sizes or types of blades and/or different sizes of Hohmann hooks. In posterior surgery, nerve root retractors can also be installed. This ring also functions as a carrier for fiberoptic illumination devices and different sizes of endoscopes, used to transmit the surgical procedure out of the depth of the surgical exposure for both teaching purposes and for the surgical team when it has no longer direct visual access to the procedure. The ring is stable, being fixed onto the operating table, allowing precise minimally open approaches and surgical procedures under direct vision with optimal illumination. This ring system also opens perspectives for an integrated minimally open surgical concept, where the ring may be used as a reference platform in computer-navigated surgery.

Machine Vision Giving Eyes to Robots. Resources in Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Technology Teacher, 1990

1990-01-01

This module introduces machine vision, which can be used for inspection, robot guidance and part sorting. The future for machine vision will include new technology and will bring vision systems closer to the ultimate vision processor, the human eye. Includes a student quiz, outcomes, and activities. (JOW)

3-D Signal Processing in a Computer Vision System

Treesearch

Dongping Zhu; Richard W. Conners; Philip A. Araman

1991-01-01

This paper discusses the problem of 3-dimensional image filtering in a computer vision system that would locate and identify internal structural failure. In particular, a 2-dimensional adaptive filter proposed by Unser has been extended to 3-dimension. In conjunction with segmentation and labeling, the new filter has been used in the computer vision system to...

Intensity measurement of automotive headlamps using a photometric vision system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patel, Balvant; Cruz, Jose; Perry, David L.; Himebaugh, Frederic G.

1996-01-01

Requirements for automotive head lamp luminous intensity tests are introduced. The rationale for developing a non-goniometric photometric test system is discussed. The design of the Ford photometric vision system (FPVS) is presented, including hardware, software, calibration, and system use. Directional intensity plots and regulatory test results obtained from the system are compared to corresponding results obtained from a Ford goniometric test system. Sources of error for the vision system and goniometer are discussed. Directions for new work are identified.

Sensor Webs as Virtual Data Systems for Earth Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moe, K. L.; Sherwood, R.

2008-05-01

The NASA Earth Science Technology Office established a 3-year Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) development program in late 2006 to explore the technical challenges associated with integrating sensors, sensor networks, data assimilation and modeling components into virtual data systems called "sensor webs". The AIST sensor web program was initiated in response to a renewed emphasis on the sensor web concepts. In 2004, NASA proposed an Earth science vision for a more robust Earth observing system, coupled with remote sensing data analysis tools and advances in Earth system models. The AIST program is conducting the research and developing components to explore the technology infrastructure that will enable the visionary goals. A working statement for a NASA Earth science sensor web vision is the following: On-demand sensing of a broad array of environmental and ecological phenomena across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from a heterogeneous suite of sensors both in-situ and in orbit. Sensor webs will be dynamically organized to collect data, extract information from it, accept input from other sensor / forecast / tasking systems, interact with the environment based on what they detect or are tasked to perform, and communicate observations and results in real time. The focus on sensor webs is to develop the technology and prototypes to demonstrate the evolving sensor web capabilities. There are 35 AIST projects ranging from 1 to 3 years in duration addressing various aspects of sensor webs involving space sensors such as Earth Observing-1, in situ sensor networks such as the southern California earthquake network, and various modeling and forecasting systems. Some of these projects build on proof-of-concept demonstrations of sensor web capabilities like the EO-1 rapid fire response initially implemented in 2003. Other projects simulate future sensor web configurations to evaluate the effectiveness of sensor-model interactions for producing improved science predictions. Still other projects are maturing technology to support autonomous operations, communications and system interoperability. This paper will highlight lessons learned by various projects during the first half of the AIST program. Several sensor web demonstrations have been implemented and resulting experience with evolving standards, such as the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) among others, will be featured. The role of sensor webs in support of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations' Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will also be discussed. The GEOSS vision is a distributed system of systems that builds on international components to supply observing and processing systems that are, in the whole, comprehensive, coordinated and sustained. Sensor web prototypes are under development to demonstrate how remote sensing satellite data, in situ sensor networks and decision support systems collaborate in applications of interest to GEO, such as flood monitoring. Furthermore, the international Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has stepped up to the challenge to provide the space-based systems component for GEOSS. CEOS has proposed "virtual constellations" to address emerging data gaps in environmental monitoring, avoid overlap among observing systems, and make maximum use of existing space and ground assets. Exploratory applications that support the objectives of virtual constellations will also be discussed as a future role for sensor webs.

Digital Earth reloaded - Beyond the next generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ehlers, M.; Woodgate, P.; Annoni, A.; Schade, S.

2014-02-01

Digital replicas (or 'mirror worlds') of complex entities and systems are now routine in many fields such as aerospace engineering; archaeology; medicine; or even fashion design. The Digital Earth (DE) concept as a digital replica of the entire planet occurs in Al Gore's 1992 book Earth in the Balance and was popularized in his speech at the California Science Center in January 1998. It played a pivotal role in stimulating the development of a first generation of virtual globes, typified by Google Earth that achieved many elements of this vision. Almost 15 years after Al Gore's speech, the concept of DE needs to be re-evaluated in the light of the many scientific and technical developments in the fields of information technology, data infrastructures, citizen?s participation, and earth observation that have taken place since. This paper intends to look beyond the next generation predominantly based on the developments of fields outside the spatial sciences, where concepts, software, and hardware with strong relationships to DE are being developed without referring to this term. It also presents a number of guiding criteria for future DE developments.

A perception theory in mind-body medicine: guided imagery and mindful meditation as cross-modal adaptation.

PubMed

Bedford, Felice L

2012-02-01

A new theory of mind-body interaction in healing is proposed based on considerations from the field of perception. It is suggested that the combined effect of visual imagery and mindful meditation on physical healing is simply another example of cross-modal adaptation in perception, much like adaptation to prism-displaced vision. It is argued that psychological interventions produce a conflict between the perceptual modalities of the immune system and vision (or touch), which leads to change in the immune system in order to realign the modalities. It is argued that mind-body interactions do not exist because of higher-order cognitive thoughts or beliefs influencing the body, but instead result from ordinary interactions between lower-level perceptual modalities that function to detect when sensory systems have made an error. The theory helps explain why certain illnesses may be more amenable to mind-body interaction, such as autoimmune conditions in which a sensory system (the immune system) has made an error. It also renders sensible erroneous changes, such as those brought about by "faith healers," as conflicts between modalities that are resolved in favor of the wrong modality. The present view provides one of very few psychological theories of how guided imagery and mindfulness meditation bring about positive physical change. Also discussed are issues of self versus non-self, pain, cancer, body schema, attention, consciousness, and, importantly, developing the concept that the immune system is a rightful perceptual modality. Recognizing mind-body healing as perceptual cross-modal adaptation implies that a century of cross-modal perception research is applicable to the immune system.

The study of stereo vision technique for the autonomous vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Pei; Wang, Xi; Wang, Jiang-feng

2015-08-01

The stereo vision technology by two or more cameras could recovery 3D information of the field of view. This technology can effectively help the autonomous navigation system of unmanned vehicle to judge the pavement conditions within the field of view, and to measure the obstacles on the road. In this paper, the stereo vision technology in measuring the avoidance of the autonomous vehicle is studied and the key techniques are analyzed and discussed. The system hardware of the system is built and the software is debugged, and finally the measurement effect is explained by the measured data. Experiments show that the 3D reconstruction, within the field of view, can be rebuilt by the stereo vision technology effectively, and provide the basis for pavement condition judgment. Compared with unmanned vehicle navigation radar used in measuring system, the stereo vision system has the advantages of low cost, distance and so on, it has a good application prospect.

Self calibration of the stereo vision system of the Chang'e-3 lunar rover based on the bundle block adjustment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shuo; Liu, Shaochuang; Ma, Youqing; Qi, Chen; Ma, Hao; Yang, Huan

2017-06-01

The Chang'e-3 was the first lunar soft landing probe of China. It was composed of the lander and the lunar rover. The Chang'e-3 successful landed in the northwest of the Mare Imbrium in December 14, 2013. The lunar rover completed the movement, imaging and geological survey after landing. The lunar rover equipped with a stereo vision system which was made up of the Navcam system, the mast mechanism and the inertial measurement unit (IMU). The Navcam system composed of two cameras with the fixed focal length. The mast mechanism was a robot with three revolute joints. The stereo vision system was used to determine the position of the lunar rover, generate the digital elevation models (DEM) of the surrounding region and plan the moving paths of the lunar rover. The stereo vision system must be calibrated before use. The control field could be built to calibrate the stereo vision system in the laboratory on the earth. However, the parameters of the stereo vision system would change after the launch, the orbital changes, the braking and the landing. Therefore, the stereo vision system should be self calibrated on the moon. An integrated self calibration method based on the bundle block adjustment is proposed in this paper. The bundle block adjustment uses each bundle of ray as the basic adjustment unit and the adjustment is implemented in the whole photogrammetric region. The stereo vision system can be self calibrated with the proposed method under the unknown lunar environment and all parameters can be estimated simultaneously. The experiment was conducted in the ground lunar simulation field. The proposed method was compared with other methods such as the CAHVOR method, the vanishing point method, the Denavit-Hartenberg method, the factorization method and the weighted least-squares method. The analyzed result proved that the accuracy of the proposed method was superior to those of other methods. Finally, the proposed method was practical used to self calibrate the stereo vision system of the Chang'e-3 lunar rover on the moon.

Conceptual Elements: A Detailed Framework to Support and Assess Student Learning of Biology Core Concepts.

PubMed

Cary, Tawnya; Branchaw, Janet

2017-01-01

The Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: Call to Action report has inspired and supported a nationwide movement to restructure undergraduate biology curricula to address overarching disciplinary concepts and competencies. The report outlines the concepts and competencies generally but does not provide a detailed framework to guide the development of the learning outcomes, instructional materials, and assessment instruments needed to create a reformed biology curriculum. In this essay, we present a detailed Vision and Change core concept framework that articulates key components that transcend subdisciplines and scales for each overarching biological concept, the Conceptual Elements (CE) Framework. The CE Framework was developed using a grassroots approach of iterative revision and incorporates feedback from more than 60 biologists and undergraduate biology educators from across the United States. The final validation step resulted in strong national consensus, with greater than 92% of responders agreeing that each core concept list was ready for use by the biological sciences community, as determined by scientific accuracy and completeness. In addition, we describe in detail how educators and departments can use the CE Framework to guide and document reformation of individual courses as well as entire curricula. © 2017 T. Cary and J. Branchaw. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

An embedded vision system for an unmanned four-rotor helicopter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lillywhite, Kirt; Lee, Dah-Jye; Tippetts, Beau; Fowers, Spencer; Dennis, Aaron; Nelson, Brent; Archibald, James

2006-10-01

In this paper an embedded vision system and control module is introduced that is capable of controlling an unmanned four-rotor helicopter and processing live video for various law enforcement, security, military, and civilian applications. The vision system is implemented on a newly designed compact FPGA board (Helios). The Helios board contains a Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA chip and memory making it capable of implementing real time vision algorithms. A Smooth Automated Intelligent Leveling daughter board (SAIL), attached to the Helios board, collects attitude and heading information to be processed in order to control the unmanned helicopter. The SAIL board uses an electrolytic tilt sensor, compass, voltage level converters, and analog to digital converters to perform its operations. While level flight can be maintained, problems stemming from the characteristics of the tilt sensor limits maneuverability of the helicopter. The embedded vision system has proven to give very good results in its performance of a number of real-time robotic vision algorithms.

A history of the optic nerve and its diseases.

PubMed

Reeves, C; Taylor, D

2004-11-01

We will trace the history of ideas about optic nerve anatomy and function in the Western world from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century and show how these influenced causal theories of optic nerve diseases. Greek and Roman humoral physiology needed a hollow optic nerve, the obstruction of which prevented the flow of visual spirit to and from the brain and resulted in blindness. Medieval physicians understood that the presence of a fixed dilated pupil indicated optic nerve obstruction, preventing the passage of visual spirit, and that cataract surgery in such cases would not restore sight. During the Renaissance, the organ of vision was transferred from the lens to the optic nerve, which was generally believed to be on the axis of the eye. The acuity of central vision (at the optic disc) was explained by the concentration of visual spirit where the optic nerve met the retina. The growth of anatomy and influence of mechanical philosophy from the 17th century led to visual spirit being replaced with the concept of nerve force, which later became associated with electricity travelling along nerve fibres. This coincided with discourse about the nature of the nervous system and a shift in orientation from understanding illness holistically in terms of an individual's humoral imbalance to the concept of organ-based diseases. Both the microscope and the ophthalmoscope allowed visualisation of the optic nerve, but problems of interpretation persisted until conceptual transformations in medical science were made.

The human movement system: our professional identity.

PubMed

Sahrmann, Shirley A

2014-07-01

The 2013 House of Delegates of the American Physical Therapy Association adopted a vision statement that addresses the role of physical therapy in transforming society through optimizing movement. The accompanying guidelines address the movement system as key to achieving this vision. The profession has incorporated movement in position statements and documents since the early 1980s, but movement as a physiological system has not been addressed. Clearly, those health care professions identified with a system of the body are more easily recognized for their expertise and role in preventing, diagnosing, and treating dysfunctions of the system than health professions identified with intervention but not a system. This perspective article provides a brief history of how leaders in the profession have advocated for clear identification of a body of knowledge. The reasons are discussed for why movement can be considered a physiological system, as are the advantages of promoting the system rather than just movement. In many ways, a focus on movement is more restrictive than incorporating the concept of the movement system. Promotion of the movement system also provides a logical context for the diagnoses made by physical therapists. In addition, there is growing evidence, particularly in relation to musculoskeletal conditions, that the focus is enlarging from pathoanatomy to pathokinesiology, further emphasizing the timeliness of promoting the role of movement as a system. Discussion also addresses musculoskeletal conditions as lifestyle issues in the same way that general health has been demonstrated to be clearly related to lifestyle. The suggestion is made that the profession should be addressing kinesiopathologic conditions and not just pathokinesiologic conditions, as would be in keeping with the physical therapist's role in prevention and as a life-span practitioner. © 2014 American Physical Therapy Association.

Information Age Transformation: Getting to a 21st Century Military (revised)

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-06-01

strategy for transformation is built around experimentation with network- centric concepts designed to leverage the power of Information Age technologies and...Edward A. Smith: From Network- Centric to Effects-Based Operations. 7 CHAPTER 2 Background and Purpose DoD is fully committed to taking advantage...Network Centric Warfare3 (NCW) translates these broad vision statements into a way ahead. NCW is a set of warfighting concepts4 designed to create and

U.S. Navy Capstone Strategies and Concepts (1981-1990): Strategy, Policy, Concept, and Vision Documents

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Contra Affair (1988) USS Iowa (BB-61) turret explosion, investigation (1989) US Naval Academy sexual harassment scandal (1989)  Female midshipman...down (1981); Grenada intervention (1983), Lebanon intervention (1982-3); Med hijacker force-down (1985); US assistance to Central American anti...LTG Colin Powell USA Reaction to disastrous USMC intervention in Lebanon (1983)  Forces for Unified Commands memorandum (Feb 1987)  JCS Pub 26

Feasibility Study of a Vision-Based Landing System for Unmanned Fixed-Wing Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security 7 no. 3: 112–117. Accessed April 7, 2017. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article /pii...the feasibility of applying computer vision techniques and visual feedback in the control loop for an autonomous system. This thesis examines the...integration into an autonomous aircraft control system. 14. SUBJECT TERMS autonomous systems, auto-land, computer vision, image processing

The Perfect Mate for Safe Fueling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Referred to as the "lifeline for any space launch vehicle" by NASA Space Launch Initiative Program Manager Warren Wiley, an umbilical is a large device that transports power, communications, instrument readings, and fluids such as propellants, pressurization gases, and coolants from one source to another. Numerous launch vehicles, planetary systems, and rovers require umbilical "mating". This process is a driving factor for dependable and affordable space access. With future-generation space vehicles in mind, NASA recently designed a smart, automated method for quickly and reliably mating and demating electrical and fluid umbilical connectors. The new umbilical concept is expected to replace NASA s traditional umbilical systems that release at vehicle lift-off (T-0). The idea is to increase safety by automatically performing hazardous tasks, thus reducing potential failure modes and the time and labor hours necessary to prepare for launch. The new system will also be used as a test bed for quick disconnect development and for advance control and leak detection. It incorporates concepts such as a secondary mate plate, robotic machine vision, and compliant motor motion control, and is destined to advance usage of automated umbilicals in a variety of aerospace and commercial applications.

Remote-controlled vision-guided mobile robot system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ande, Raymond; Samu, Tayib; Hall, Ernest L.

1997-09-01

Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have many potential applications in manufacturing, medicine, space and defense. The purpose of this paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of the remote controlled emergency stop and vision systems for an autonomous mobile robot. The remote control provides human supervision and emergency stop capabilities for the autonomous vehicle. The vision guidance provides automatic operation. A mobile robot test-bed has been constructed using a golf cart base. The mobile robot (Bearcat) was built for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVS) 1997 competition. The mobile robot has full speed control with guidance provided by a vision system and an obstacle avoidance system using ultrasonic sensors systems. Vision guidance is accomplished using two CCD cameras with zoom lenses. The vision data is processed by a high speed tracking device, communicating with the computer the X, Y coordinates of blobs along the lane markers. The system also has three emergency stop switches and a remote controlled emergency stop switch that can disable the traction motor and set the brake. Testing of these systems has been done in the lab as well as on an outside test track with positive results that show that at five mph the vehicle can follow a line and at the same time avoid obstacles.

Reconfigurable vision system for real-time applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres-Huitzil, Cesar; Arias-Estrada, Miguel

2002-03-01

Recently, a growing community of researchers has used reconfigurable systems to solve computationally intensive problems. Reconfigurability provides optimized processors for systems on chip designs, and makes easy to import technology to a new system through reusable modules. The main objective of this work is the investigation of a reconfigurable computer system targeted for computer vision and real-time applications. The system is intended to circumvent the inherent computational load of most window-based computer vision algorithms. It aims to build a system for such tasks by providing an FPGA-based hardware architecture for task specific vision applications with enough processing power, using the minimum amount of hardware resources as possible, and a mechanism for building systems using this architecture. Regarding the software part of the system, a library of pre-designed and general-purpose modules that implement common window-based computer vision operations is being investigated. A common generic interface is established for these modules in order to define hardware/software components. These components can be interconnected to develop more complex applications, providing an efficient mechanism for transferring image and result data among modules. Some preliminary results are presented and discussed.

Robust and efficient vision system for group of cooperating mobile robots with application to soccer robots.

PubMed

Klancar, Gregor; Kristan, Matej; Kovacic, Stanislav; Orqueda, Omar

2004-07-01

In this paper a global vision scheme for estimation of positions and orientations of mobile robots is presented. It is applied to robot soccer application which is a fast dynamic game and therefore needs an efficient and robust vision system implemented. General applicability of the vision system can be found in other robot applications such as mobile transport robots in production, warehouses, attendant robots, fast vision tracking of targets of interest and entertainment robotics. Basic operation of the vision system is divided into two steps. In the first, the incoming image is scanned and pixels are classified into a finite number of classes. At the same time, a segmentation algorithm is used to find corresponding regions belonging to one of the classes. In the second step, all the regions are examined. Selection of the ones that are a part of the observed object is made by means of simple logic procedures. The novelty is focused on optimization of the processing time needed to finish the estimation of possible object positions. Better results of the vision system are achieved by implementing camera calibration and shading correction algorithm. The former corrects camera lens distortion, while the latter increases robustness to irregular illumination conditions.

Latency in Visionic Systems: Test Methods and Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, J. J., III; Williams, Steven P.; Kramer, Lynda J.

2005-01-01

A visionics device creates a pictorial representation of the external scene for the pilot. The ultimate objective of these systems may be to electronically generate a form of Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) to eliminate weather or time-of-day as an operational constraint and provide enhancement over actual visual conditions where eye-limiting resolution may be a limiting factor. Empirical evidence has shown that the total system delays or latencies including the imaging sensors and display systems, can critically degrade their utility, usability, and acceptability. Definitions and measurement techniques are offered herein as common test and evaluation methods for latency testing in visionics device applications. Based upon available data, very different latency requirements are indicated based upon the piloting task, the role in which the visionics device is used in this task, and the characteristics of the visionics cockpit display device including its resolution, field-of-regard, and field-of-view. The least stringent latency requirements will involve Head-Up Display (HUD) applications, where the visionics imagery provides situational information as a supplement to symbology guidance and command information. Conversely, the visionics system latency requirement for a large field-of-view Head-Worn Display application, providing a Virtual-VMC capability from which the pilot will derive visual guidance, will be the most stringent, having a value as low as 20 msec.

Key Gaps for Enabling Plant Growth in Future Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anderson, Molly S.; Barta, Daniel; Douglas, Grace; Fritsche, Ralph; Massa, Gioia; Wheeler, Ray; Quincy, Charles; Romeyn, Matthew; Motil, Brian; Hanford, Anthony

2017-01-01

Growing plants to provide food or psychological benefits to crewmembers is a common vision for the future of human spaceflight, often represented both in media and in serious concept studies. The complexity of controlled environment agriculture and of plant growth in microgravity have and continue to be the subject of dedicated scientific research. However, actually implementing these systems in a way that will be cost effective, efficient, and sustainable for future space missions is a complex, multi-disciplinary problem. Key questions exist in many areas: human research in nutrition and psychology, horticulture, plant physiology and microbiology, multi-phase microgravity fluid physics, hardware design and technology development, and system design, operations and mission planning. The criticality of the research, and the ideal solution, will vary depending on the mission and type of system implementation being considered.

Camera-based micro interferometer for distance sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Will, Matthias; Schädel, Martin; Ortlepp, Thomas

2017-12-01

Interference of light provides a high precision, non-contact and fast method for measurement method for distances. Therefore this technology dominates in high precision systems. However, in the field of compact sensors capacitive, resistive or inductive methods dominates. The reason is, that the interferometric system has to be precise adjusted and needs a high mechanical stability. As a result, we have usual high-priced complex systems not suitable in the field of compact sensors. To overcome these we developed a new concept for a very small interferometric sensing setup. We combine a miniaturized laser unit, a low cost pixel detector and machine vision routines to realize a demonstrator for a Michelson type micro interferometer. We demonstrate a low cost sensor smaller 1cm3 including all electronics and demonstrate distance sensing up to 30 cm and resolution in nm range.

Adaptive multisensor fusion for planetary exploration rovers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Collin, Marie-France; Kumar, Krishen; Pampagnin, Luc-Henri

1992-01-01

The purpose of the adaptive multisensor fusion system currently being designed at NASA/Johnson Space Center is to provide a robotic rover with assured vision and safe navigation capabilities during robotic missions on planetary surfaces. Our approach consists of using multispectral sensing devices ranging from visible to microwave wavelengths to fulfill the needs of perception for space robotics. Based on the illumination conditions and the sensors capabilities knowledge, the designed perception system should automatically select the best subset of sensors and their sensing modalities that will allow the perception and interpretation of the environment. Then, based on reflectance and emittance theoretical models, the sensor data are fused to extract the physical and geometrical surface properties of the environment surface slope, dielectric constant, temperature and roughness. The theoretical concepts, the design and first results of the multisensor perception system are presented.

The neurosciences in Averroes principles of medicine.

PubMed

Delgado, Fernando

2012-01-01

One of the fundamental advances of the transition of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance was the rediscovery of the Greek philosophers. Among the greatest representatives of this epoch we find the Cordovan doctor and philosopher Averroes (Ibn Rushd) who, with his commentaries on the works of Aristotle, brought a new philosophical vision to Western Europe. His contribution to medicine has been overshadowed to some extent by this great work of philosophy. Our intention is to evaluate, in the context of the neurosciences, the vision of health and sickness that he left us in his book "The Book of the Principles of Medicine. The organisation of the Kulliyat is based on Aristotelian concepts. Averroes regarded the nervous system not as single entity but rather as a complex of various elements. The anatomy of the nervous system is studied in two parts: the encephalus and the periphery. Both the encephalic nervous system and the sensory organs are regarded as heterogeneous organs. Averroes structures the anatomical order without taking into account the local movements of the living body. The mission of the senses is to maintain contact between external reality and the structure of the organism. This requires an external process, a point of union and an internal process. The ultimate goal is the preservation of health in a balanced disposition and the cure of disease in the organism in disequilibrium.

Function-based design process for an intelligent ground vehicle vision system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagel, Robert L.; Perry, Kenneth L.; Stone, Robert B.; McAdams, Daniel A.

2010-10-01

An engineering design framework for an autonomous ground vehicle vision system is discussed. We present both the conceptual and physical design by following the design process, development and testing of an intelligent ground vehicle vision system constructed for the 2008 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition. During conceptual design, the requirements for the vision system are explored via functional and process analysis considering the flows into the vehicle and the transformations of those flows. The conceptual design phase concludes with a vision system design that is modular in both hardware and software and is based on a laser range finder and camera for visual perception. During physical design, prototypes are developed and tested independently, following the modular interfaces identified during conceptual design. Prototype models, once functional, are implemented into the final design. The final vision system design uses a ray-casting algorithm to process camera and laser range finder data and identify potential paths. The ray-casting algorithm is a single thread of the robot's multithreaded application. Other threads control motion, provide feedback, and process sensory data. Once integrated, both hardware and software testing are performed on the robot. We discuss the robot's performance and the lessons learned.

Parallel asynchronous systems and image processing algorithms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coon, D. D.; Perera, A. G. U.

1989-01-01

A new hardware approach to implementation of image processing algorithms is described. The approach is based on silicon devices which would permit an independent analog processing channel to be dedicated to evey pixel. A laminar architecture consisting of a stack of planar arrays of the device would form a two-dimensional array processor with a 2-D array of inputs located directly behind a focal plane detector array. A 2-D image data stream would propagate in neuronlike asynchronous pulse coded form through the laminar processor. Such systems would integrate image acquisition and image processing. Acquisition and processing would be performed concurrently as in natural vision systems. The research is aimed at implementation of algorithms, such as the intensity dependent summation algorithm and pyramid processing structures, which are motivated by the operation of natural vision systems. Implementation of natural vision algorithms would benefit from the use of neuronlike information coding and the laminar, 2-D parallel, vision system type architecture. Besides providing a neural network framework for implementation of natural vision algorithms, a 2-D parallel approach could eliminate the serial bottleneck of conventional processing systems. Conversion to serial format would occur only after raw intensity data has been substantially processed. An interesting challenge arises from the fact that the mathematical formulation of natural vision algorithms does not specify the means of implementation, so that hardware implementation poses intriguing questions involving vision science.

GSFC Information Systems Technology Developments Supporting the Vision for Space Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Peter; Dennehy, Cornelius; Mosier, Gary; Smith, Dan; Rykowski, Lisa

2004-01-01

The Vision for Space Exploration will guide NASA's future human and robotic space activities. The broad range of human and robotic missions now being planned will require the development of new system-level capabilities enabled by emerging new technologies. Goddard Space Flight Center is actively supporting the Vision for Space Exploration in a number of program management, engineering and technology areas. This paper provides a brief background on the Vision for Space Exploration and a general overview of potential key Goddard contributions. In particular, this paper focuses on describing relevant GSFC information systems capabilities in architecture development; interoperable command, control and communications; and other applied information systems technology/research activities that are applicable to support the Vision for Space Exploration goals. Current GSFC development efforts and task activities are presented together with future plans.

Computer Vision System For Locating And Identifying Defects In Hardwood Lumber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conners, Richard W.; Ng, Chong T.; Cho, Tai-Hoon; McMillin, Charles W.

1989-03-01

This paper describes research aimed at developing an automatic cutup system for use in the rough mills of the hardwood furniture and fixture industry. In particular, this paper describes attempts to create the vision system that will power this automatic cutup system. There are a number of factors that make the development of such a vision system a challenge. First there is the innate variability of the wood material itself. No two species look exactly the same, in fact, they can have a significant visual difference in appearance among species. Yet a truly robust vision system must be able to handle a variety of such species, preferably with no operator intervention required when changing from one species to another. Secondly, there is a good deal of variability in the definition of what constitutes a removable defect. The hardwood furniture and fixture industry is diverse in the nature of the products that it makes. The products range from hardwood flooring to fancy hardwood furniture, from simple mill work to kitchen cabinets. Thus depending on the manufacturer, the product, and the quality of the product the nature of what constitutes a removable defect can and does vary. The vision system must be such that it can be tailored to meet each of these unique needs, preferably without any additional program modifications. This paper will describe the vision system that has been developed. It will assess the current system capabilities, and it will discuss the directions for future research. It will be argued that artificial intelligence methods provide a natural mechanism for attacking this computer vision application.

Audible vision for the blind and visually impaired in indoor open spaces.

PubMed

Yu, Xunyi; Ganz, Aura

2012-01-01

In this paper we introduce Audible Vision, a system that can help blind and visually impaired users navigate in large indoor open spaces. The system uses computer vision to estimate the location and orientation of the user, and enables the user to perceive his/her relative position to a landmark through 3D audio. Testing shows that Audible Vision can work reliably in real-life ever-changing environment crowded with people.

Relating Standardized Visual Perception Measures to Simulator Visual System Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kaiser, Mary K.; Sweet, Barbara T.

2013-01-01

Human vision is quantified through the use of standardized clinical vision measurements. These measurements typically include visual acuity (near and far), contrast sensitivity, color vision, stereopsis (a.k.a. stereo acuity), and visual field periphery. Simulator visual system performance is specified in terms such as brightness, contrast, color depth, color gamut, gamma, resolution, and field-of-view. How do these simulator performance characteristics relate to the perceptual experience of the pilot in the simulator? In this paper, visual acuity and contrast sensitivity will be related to simulator visual system resolution, contrast, and dynamic range; similarly, color vision will be related to color depth/color gamut. Finally, we will consider how some characteristics of human vision not typically included in current clinical assessments could be used to better inform simulator requirements (e.g., relating dynamic characteristics of human vision to update rate and other temporal display characteristics).

A method for work modeling at complex systems: towards applying information systems in family health care units.

PubMed

Jatobá, Alessandro; de Carvalho, Paulo Victor R; da Cunha, Amauri Marques

2012-01-01

Work in organizations requires a minimum level of consensus on the understanding of the practices performed. To adopt technological devices to support the activities in environments where work is complex, characterized by the interdependence among a large number of variables, understanding about how work is done not only takes an even greater importance, but also becomes a more difficult task. Therefore, this study aims to present a method for modeling of work in complex systems, which allows improving the knowledge about the way activities are performed where these activities do not simply happen by performing procedures. Uniting techniques of Cognitive Task Analysis with the concept of Work Process, this work seeks to provide a method capable of providing a detailed and accurate vision of how people perform their tasks, in order to apply information systems for supporting work in organizations.

Lockheed Martin Response to the OSP Challenge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, Robert T.; Munkres, Randy; Megna, Thomas D.; Beckham, Joanne

2003-01-01

The Lockheed Martin Orbital Space Plane System provides crew transfer and rescue for the International Space Station more safely and affordably than current human space transportation systems. Through planned upgrades and spiral development, it is also capable of satisfying the Nation's evolving space transportation requirements and enabling the national vision for human space flight. The OSP System, formulated through rigorous requirements definition and decomposition, consists of spacecraft and launch vehicle flight elements, ground processing facilities and existing transportation, launch complex, range, mission control, weather, navigation, communication and tracking infrastructure. The concept of operations, including procurement, mission planning, launch preparation, launch and mission operations and vehicle maintenance, repair and turnaround, is structured to maximize flexibility and mission availability and minimize program life cycle cost. The approach to human rating and crew safety utilizes simplicity, performance margin, redundancy, abort modes and escape modes to mitigate credible hazards that cannot be designed out of the system.

Use of 3D vision for fine robot motion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lokshin, Anatole; Litwin, Todd

1989-01-01

An integration of 3-D vision systems with robot manipulators will allow robots to operate in a poorly structured environment by visually locating targets and obstacles. However, by using computer vision for objects acquisition makes the problem of overall system calibration even more difficult. Indeed, in a CAD based manipulation a control architecture has to find an accurate mapping between the 3-D Euclidean work space and a robot configuration space (joint angles). If a stereo vision is involved, then one needs to map a pair of 2-D video images directly into the robot configuration space. Neural Network approach aside, a common solution to this problem is to calibrate vision and manipulator independently, and then tie them via common mapping into the task space. In other words, both vision and robot refer to some common Absolute Euclidean Coordinate Frame via their individual mappings. This approach has two major difficulties. First a vision system has to be calibrated over the total work space. And second, the absolute frame, which is usually quite arbitrary, has to be the same with a high degree of precision for both robot and vision subsystem calibrations. The use of computer vision to allow robust fine motion manipulation in a poorly structured world which is currently in progress is described along with the preliminary results and encountered problems.

Three-dimensional vision enhances task performance independently of the surgical method.

PubMed

Wagner, O J; Hagen, M; Kurmann, A; Horgan, S; Candinas, D; Vorburger, S A

2012-10-01

Within the next few years, the medical industry will launch increasingly affordable three-dimensional (3D) vision systems for the operating room (OR). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D visualization on surgical skills and task performance. In this study, 34 individuals with varying laparoscopic experience (18 inexperienced individuals) performed three tasks to test spatial relationships, grasping and positioning, dexterity, precision, and hand-eye and hand-hand coordination. Each task was performed in 3D using binocular vision for open performance, the Viking 3Di Vision System for laparoscopic performance, and the DaVinci robotic system. The same tasks were repeated in 2D using an eye patch for monocular vision, conventional laparoscopy, and the DaVinci robotic system. Loss of 3D vision significantly increased the perceived difficulty of a task and the time required to perform it, independently of the approach (P < 0.0001-0.02). Simple tasks took 25 % to 30 % longer to complete and more complex tasks took 75 % longer with 2D than with 3D vision. Only the difficult task was performed faster with the robot than with laparoscopy (P = 0.005). In every case, 3D robotic performance was superior to conventional laparoscopy (2D) (P < 0.001-0.015). The more complex the task, the more 3D vision accelerates task completion compared with 2D vision. The gain in task performance is independent of the surgical method.

The precision measurement and assembly for miniature parts based on double machine vision systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X. D.; Zhang, L. F.; Xin, M. Z.; Qu, Y. Q.; Luo, Y.; Ma, T. M.; Chen, L.

2015-02-01

In the process of miniature parts' assembly, the structural features on the bottom or side of the parts often need to be aligned and positioned. The general assembly equipment integrated with one vertical downward machine vision system cannot satisfy the requirement. A precision automatic assembly equipment was developed with double machine vision systems integrated. In the system, a horizontal vision system is employed to measure the position of the feature structure at the parts' side view, which cannot be seen with the vertical one. The position measured by horizontal camera is converted to the vertical vision system with the calibration information. By careful calibration, the parts' alignment and positioning in the assembly process can be guaranteed. The developed assembly equipment has the characteristics of easy implementation, modularization and high cost performance. The handling of the miniature parts and assembly procedure were briefly introduced. The calibration procedure was given and the assembly error was analyzed for compensation.

Computer vision for foreign body detection and removal in the food industry

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Computer vision inspection systems are often used for quality control, product grading, defect detection and other product evaluation issues. This chapter focuses on the use of computer vision inspection systems that detect foreign bodies and remove them from the product stream. Specifically, we wi...

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

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tonkay, Gregory

1990-01-01

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

A smart telerobotic system driven by monocular vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Defigueiredo, R. J. P.; Maccato, A.; Wlczek, P.; Denney, B.; Scheerer, J.

1994-01-01

A robotic system that accepts autonomously generated motion and control commands is described. The system provides images from the monocular vision of a camera mounted on a robot's end effector, eliminating the need for traditional guidance targets that must be predetermined and specifically identified. The telerobotic vision system presents different views of the targeted object relative to the camera, based on a single camera image and knowledge of the target's solid geometry.

Microscope self-calibration based on micro laser line imaging and soft computing algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apolinar Muñoz Rodríguez, J.

2018-06-01

A technique to perform microscope self-calibration via micro laser line and soft computing algorithms is presented. In this technique, the microscope vision parameters are computed by means of soft computing algorithms based on laser line projection. To implement the self-calibration, a microscope vision system is constructed by means of a CCD camera and a 38 μm laser line. From this arrangement, the microscope vision parameters are represented via Bezier approximation networks, which are accomplished through the laser line position. In this procedure, a genetic algorithm determines the microscope vision parameters by means of laser line imaging. Also, the approximation networks compute the three-dimensional vision by means of the laser line position. Additionally, the soft computing algorithms re-calibrate the vision parameters when the microscope vision system is modified during the vision task. The proposed self-calibration improves accuracy of the traditional microscope calibration, which is accomplished via external references to the microscope system. The capability of the self-calibration based on soft computing algorithms is determined by means of the calibration accuracy and the micro-scale measurement error. This contribution is corroborated by an evaluation based on the accuracy of the traditional microscope calibration.

An innovative way of thinking nuclear waste management - Neutron physics of a reactor directly operating on SNF.

PubMed

Merk, Bruno; Litskevich, Dzianis; Bankhead, Mark; Taylor, Richard J

2017-01-01

A solution for the nuclear waste problem is the key challenge for an extensive use of nuclear reactors as a major carbon free, sustainable, and applied highly reliable energy source. Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) promises a solution for improved waste management. Current strategies rely on systems designed in the 60's for the massive production of plutonium. We propose an innovative strategic development plan based on invention and innovation described with the concept of developments in s-curves identifying the current boundary conditions, and the evolvable objectives. This leads to the ultimate, universal vision for energy production characterized by minimal use of resources and production of waste, while being economically affordable and safe, secure and reliable in operation. This vision is transformed into a mission for a disruptive development of the future nuclear energy system operated by burning of existing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) without prior reprocessing. This highly innovative approach fulfils the sustainability goals and creates new options for P&T. A proof on the feasibility from neutronic point of view is given demonstrating sufficient breeding of fissile material from the inserted SNF. The system does neither require new resources nor produce additional waste, thus it provides a highly sustainable option for a future nuclear system fulfilling the requests of P&T as side effect. In addition, this nuclear system provides enhanced resistance against misuse of Pu and a significantly reduced fuel cycle. However, the new system requires a demand driven rethinking of the separation process to be efficient.

An innovative way of thinking nuclear waste management – Neutron physics of a reactor directly operating on SNF

PubMed Central

Litskevich, Dzianis; Bankhead, Mark; Taylor, Richard J.

2017-01-01

A solution for the nuclear waste problem is the key challenge for an extensive use of nuclear reactors as a major carbon free, sustainable, and applied highly reliable energy source. Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) promises a solution for improved waste management. Current strategies rely on systems designed in the 60’s for the massive production of plutonium. We propose an innovative strategic development plan based on invention and innovation described with the concept of developments in s-curves identifying the current boundary conditions, and the evolvable objectives. This leads to the ultimate, universal vision for energy production characterized by minimal use of resources and production of waste, while being economically affordable and safe, secure and reliable in operation. This vision is transformed into a mission for a disruptive development of the future nuclear energy system operated by burning of existing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) without prior reprocessing. This highly innovative approach fulfils the sustainability goals and creates new options for P&T. A proof on the feasibility from neutronic point of view is given demonstrating sufficient breeding of fissile material from the inserted SNF. The system does neither require new resources nor produce additional waste, thus it provides a highly sustainable option for a future nuclear system fulfilling the requests of P&T as side effect. In addition, this nuclear system provides enhanced resistance against misuse of Pu and a significantly reduced fuel cycle. However, the new system requires a demand driven rethinking of the separation process to be efficient. PMID:28749952

An architecture for real-time vision processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chien, Chiun-Hong

1994-01-01

To study the feasibility of developing an architecture for real time vision processing, a task queue server and parallel algorithms for two vision operations were designed and implemented on an i860-based Mercury Computing System 860VS array processor. The proposed architecture treats each vision function as a task or set of tasks which may be recursively divided into subtasks and processed by multiple processors coordinated by a task queue server accessible by all processors. Each idle processor subsequently fetches a task and associated data from the task queue server for processing and posts the result to shared memory for later use. Load balancing can be carried out within the processing system without the requirement for a centralized controller. The author concludes that real time vision processing cannot be achieved without both sequential and parallel vision algorithms and a good parallel vision architecture.

[Evaluation of Motion Sickness Induced by 3D Video Clips].

PubMed

Matsuura, Yasuyuki; Takada, Hiroki

2016-01-01

The use of stereoscopic images has been spreading rapidly. Nowadays, stereoscopic movies are nothing new to people. Stereoscopic systems date back to 280 A.D. when Euclid first recognized the concept of depth perception by humans. Despite the increase in the production of three-dimensional (3D) display products and many studies on stereoscopic vision, the effect of stereoscopic vision on the human body has been insufficiently understood. However, symptoms such as eye fatigue and 3D sickness have been the concerns when viewing 3D films for a prolonged period of time; therefore, it is important to consider the safety of viewing virtual 3D contents as a contribution to society. It is generally explained to the public that accommodation and convergence are mismatched during stereoscopic vision and that this is the main reason for the visual fatigue and visually induced motion sickness (VIMS) during 3D viewing. We have devised a method to simultaneously measure lens accommodation and convergence. We used this simultaneous measurement device to characterize 3D vision. Fixation distance was compared between accommodation and convergence during the viewing of 3D films with repeated measurements. Time courses of these fixation distances and their distributions were compared in subjects who viewed 2D and 3D video clips. The results indicated that after 90 s of continuously viewing 3D images, the accommodative power does not correspond to the distance of convergence. In this paper, remarks on methods to measure the severity of motion sickness induced by viewing 3D films are also given. From the epidemiological viewpoint, it is useful to obtain novel knowledge for reduction and/or prevention of VIMS. We should accumulate empirical data on motion sickness, which may contribute to the development of relevant fields in science and technology.

Extrafoveal Video Extension for an Immersive Viewing Experience.

PubMed

Turban, Laura; Urban, Fabrice; Guillotel, Philippe

2016-02-11

Between the recent popularity of virtual reality (VR) and the development of 3D, immersion has become an integral part of entertainment concepts. Head-mounted Display (HMD) devices are often used to afford users a feeling of immersion in the environment. Another technique is to project additional material surrounding the viewer, as is achieved using cave systems. As a continuation of this technique, it could be interesting to extend surrounding projection to current television or cinema screens. The idea would be to entirely fill the viewer's field of vision, thus providing them with a more complete feeling of being in the scene and part of the story. The appropriate content can be captured using large field of view (FoV) technology, using a rig of cameras for 110 to 360 capture, or created using computergenerated images. The FoV is, however, rather limited in its use for existing (legacy) content, achieving between 36 to 90 degrees () field, depending on the distance from the screen. This paper seeks to improve this FoV limitation by proposing computer vision techniques to extend such legacy content to the peripheral (extrafoveal) vision without changing the original creative intent or damaging the viewer's experience. A new methodology is also proposed for performing user tests in order to evaluate the quality of the experience and confirm that the sense of immersion has been increased. This paper thus presents: i) an algorithm to spatially extend the video based on human vision characteristics, ii) its subjective results compared to state-of-the-art techniques, iii) the protocol required to evaluate the quality of the experience (QoE), and iv) the results of the user tests.

Short communication: Measuring feed volume and weight by machine vision.

PubMed

Shelley, A N; Lau, D L; Stone, A E; Bewley, J M

2016-01-01

Individual dairy cow feed intake is closely related to the health and productive output of each cow, with healthy cows generally eating more feed than unhealthy cows. Incorporating the use of an automated system to monitor feed consumption for each cow may be beneficial for dairy farm management. This study examined the use of an inexpensive 3-dimensional video camera to measure feed volume, from which we derived feed weight. Proof-of-concept testing was conducted to determine the effectiveness and capability of the machine vision feed-scanning system and its possible use in feed intake monitoring. Such systems are ideal because they do not impede the workflow of the farm or interrupt feeding behavior. This is an improvement over existing systems that are labor and cost intensive. Our conducted experiments involve measuring feed volume at known weights, up to 22.68 kg, with the resulting volume and weight values analyzed by means of linear and quadratic least squares t-test regression analysis. The effects of feed positioning in the bin and near-range sensor limitations were also examined. The results showed that an estimation of feed weight from 3-dimensional scan of volume measurements could be made to within 0.5 kg of the physically measured feed weight using a digital scale. Future efforts will focus on extending this work to active bunks with multiple cows eating throughout the day and testing total mixed rations of varied composition. Copyright © 2016 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmental care in agricultural catchments: Toward the communicative catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Peter

1991-11-01

Substantial land degradation of agricultural catchments in Australia has resulted from the importation of European farming methods and the large-scale clearing of land. Rural communities are now being encouraged by government to take responsibility for environmental care. The importance of community involvement is supported by the view that environmental problems are a function of interactions between people and their environment. It is suggested that the commonly held view that community groups cannot care for their resources is due to inappropriate social institutions rather that any inherent disability in people. The communicative catchment is developed as a vision for environmental care into the future. This concept emerges from a critique of resource management through the catchment metaphors of the reduced, mechanical, and the complex, evolving catchment, which reflect the development of systemic and people-centered approaches to environmental care. The communicative catchment is one where both community and resource managers participate collaboratively in environmental care. A methodology based on action research and systemic thinking (systemic action research) is proposed as a way of moving towards the communicative catchment of the future. Action research is a way of taking action in organizations and communities that is participative and informed by theory, while systemic thinking takes into account the interconnections and relationships between social and natural worlds. The proposed vision, methodology, and practical operating principles stem from involvement in an action research project looking at extension strategies for the implementation of total catchment management in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.

Taking a Concept to Commercialization: Designing Relevant Tests to Address Safety.

PubMed

Ferrara, Lisa A

2016-04-01

Taking a product from concept to commercialization requires careful navigation of the regulatory pathway through a series of steps: (A) moving the idea through proof of concept and beyond; (B) evaluating new technologies that may provide added value to the idea; (C) designing appropriate test strategies and protocols; and (D) evaluating and mitigating risks. Moving an idea from the napkin stage of development to the final product requires a team effort. When finished, the product rarely resembles the original design, but careful steps throughout the product life cycle ensure that the product meets the vision.

A Machine Vision Quality Control System for Industrial Acrylic Fibre Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heleno, Paulo; Davies, Roger; Correia, Bento A. Brázio; Dinis, João

2002-12-01

This paper describes the implementation of INFIBRA, a machine vision system used in the quality control of acrylic fibre production. The system was developed by INETI under a contract with a leading industrial manufacturer of acrylic fibres. It monitors several parameters of the acrylic production process. This paper presents, after a brief overview of the system, a detailed description of the machine vision algorithms developed to perform the inspection tasks unique to this system. Some of the results of online operation are also presented.

Mission Techniques for Exploring Saturn's icy moons Titan and Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reh, Kim; Coustenis, Athena; Lunine, Jonathan; Matson, Dennis; Lebreton, Jean-Pierre; Vargas, Andre; Beauchamp, Pat; Spilker, Tom; Strange, Nathan; Elliott, John

2010-05-01

The future exploration of Titan is of high priority for the solar system exploration community as recommended by the 2003 National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey [1] and ESA's Cosmic Vision Program themes. Cassini-Huygens discoveries continue to emphasize that Titan is a complex world with very many Earth-like features. Titan has a dense, nitrogen atmosphere, an active climate and meteorological cycles where conditions are such that the working fluid, methane, plays the role that water does on Earth. Titan's surface, with lakes and seas, broad river valleys, sand dunes and mountains was formed by processes like those that have shaped the Earth. Supporting this panoply of Earth-like processes is an ice crust that floats atop what might be a liquid water ocean. Furthermore, Titan is rich in very many different organic compounds—more so than any place in the solar system, except Earth. The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) concept that followed the 2007 TandEM ESA CV proposal [2] and the 2007 Titan Explorer NASA Flagship study [3], was examined [4,5] and prioritized by NASA and ESA in February 2009 as a mission to follow the Europa Jupiter System Mission. The TSSM study, like others before it, again concluded that an orbiter, a montgolfiѐre hot-air balloon and a surface package (e.g. lake lander, Geosaucer (instrumented heat shield), …) are very high priority elements for any future mission to Titan. Such missions could be conceived as Flagship/Cosmic Vision L-Class or as individual smaller missions that could possibly fit within NASA's New Frontiers or ESA's Cosmic Vision M-Class budgets. As a result of a multitude of Titan mission studies, several mission concepts have been developed that potentially fit within various cost classes. Also, a clear blueprint has been laid out for early efforts critical toward reducing the risks inherent in such missions. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of potential Titan (and Enceladus) mission techniques and to describe risk reduction efforts and recent advances toward enabling such future missions. References [1] NRC Space Studies Board (2003), New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy (first Decadal Survey Report), National Academic Press, Washington, DC. [2] Coustenis et al. (2008). Experimental Astronomy, DOI: 10.1007/s10686-008-9103-z. [3] J. Leary, R. Strain, R. Lorenz, J. H. Waite, 2008. Titan Explorer Flagship Mission Study, http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/Titan_Explorer_Public_Report.pdf. [4] TSSM Final Report, 3 November 2008, NASA Task Order NMO710851 [5] TSSM NASA/ESA Joint Summary Report, 15 November 2008, NASA Task Order NMO710851

CT Image Sequence Analysis for Object Recognition - A Rule-Based 3-D Computer Vision System

Treesearch

Dongping Zhu; Richard W. Conners; Daniel L. Schmoldt; Philip A. Araman

1991-01-01

Research is now underway to create a vision system for hardwood log inspection using a knowledge-based approach. In this paper, we present a rule-based, 3-D vision system for locating and identifying wood defects using topological, geometric, and statistical attributes. A number of different features can be derived from the 3-D input scenes. These features and evidence...

Synthetic Vision Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, L.J.; Kramer, L.J.

2009-01-01

A synthetic vision system is an aircraft cockpit display technology that presents the visual environment external to the aircraft using computer-generated imagery in a manner analogous to how it would appear to the pilot if forward visibility were not restricted. The purpose of this chapter is to review the state of synthetic vision systems, and discuss selected human factors issues that should be considered when designing such displays.

Model Fusion Tool - the Open Environmental Modelling Platform Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kessler, H.; Giles, J. R.

2010-12-01

The vision of an Open Environmental Modelling Platform - seamlessly linking geoscience data, concepts and models to aid decision making in times of environmental change. Governments and their executive agencies across the world are facing increasing pressure to make decisions about the management of resources in light of population growth and environmental change. In the UK for example, groundwater is becoming a scarce resource for large parts of its most densely populated areas. At the same time river and groundwater flooding resulting from high rainfall events are increasing in scale and frequency and sea level rise is threatening the defences of coastal cities. There is also a need for affordable housing, improved transport infrastructure and waste disposal as well as sources of renewable energy and sustainable food production. These challenges can only be resolved if solutions are based on sound scientific evidence. Although we have knowledge and understanding of many individual processes in the natural sciences it is clear that a single science discipline is unable to answer the questions and their inter-relationships. Modern science increasingly employs computer models to simulate the natural, economic and human system. Management and planning requires scenario modelling, forecasts and ‘predictions’. Although the outputs are often impressive in terms of apparent accuracy and visualisation, they are inherently not suited to simulate the response to feedbacks from other models of the earth system, such as the impact of human actions. Geological Survey Organisations (GSO) are increasingly employing advances in Information Technology to visualise and improve their understanding of geological systems. Instead of 2 dimensional paper maps and reports many GSOs now produce 3 dimensional geological framework models and groundwater flow models as their standard output. Additionally the British Geological Survey have developed standard routines to link geological data to groundwater models but these models are only aimed at solving one specific part of the earth’s system, e.g. the flow of groundwater to an abstraction borehole or the availability of water for irrigation. Particular problems arise when model data from two or more disciplines are incompatible in terms of data formats, scientific concepts or language. Other barriers include the cultural segregation within and between science disciplines as well as impediments to data exchange due to ownership and copyright restrictions. OpenMI and GeoSciML are initiatives that are trying to overcome these barriers by building international communities that share vocabularies and data formats. This paper gives examples of the successful merging of geological and hydrological models from the UK and will introduce the vision of an open Environmental Modelling Platform which aims to link data, knowledge and concepts seamlessly to numerical process models. Last but not least there is an urgent need to create a Subsurface Information System akin to a Geographic Information System in which all results of subsurface modelling can be visualised and analysed in an integrated manner and thereby become useful for decision makers.

Advanced helmet vision system (AHVS) integrated night vision helmet mounted display (HMD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashcraft, Todd W.; Atac, Robert

2012-06-01

Gentex Corporation, under contract to Naval Air Systems Command (AIR 4.0T), designed the Advanced Helmet Vision System to provide aircrew with 24-hour, visor-projected binocular night vision and HMD capability. AHVS integrates numerous key technologies, including high brightness Light Emitting Diode (LED)-based digital light engines, advanced lightweight optical materials and manufacturing processes, and innovations in graphics processing software. This paper reviews the current status of miniaturization and integration with the latest two-part Gentex modular helmet, highlights the lessons learned from previous AHVS phases, and discusses plans for qualification and flight testing.

COMPARISON OF RECENTLY USED PHACOEMULSIFICATION SYSTEMS USING A HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT METHOD.

PubMed

Huang, Jiannan; Wang, Qi; Zhao, Caimin; Ying, Xiaohua; Zou, Haidong

2017-01-01

To compare the recently used phacoemulsification systems using a health technology assessment (HTA) model. A self-administered questionnaire, which included questions to gauge on the opinions of the recently used phacoemulsification systems, was distributed to the chief cataract surgeons in the departments of ophthalmology of eighteen tertiary hospitals in Shanghai, China. A series of senile cataract patients undergoing phacoemulsification surgery were enrolled in the study. The surgical results and the average costs related to their surgeries were all recorded and compared for the recently used phacoemulsification systems. The four phacoemulsification systems currently used in Shanghai are the Infiniti Vision, Centurion Vision, WhiteStar Signature, and Stellaris Vision Enhancement systems. All of the doctors confirmed that the systems they used would help cataract patients recover vision. A total of 150 cataract patients who underwent phacoemulsification surgery were enrolled in the present study. A significant difference was found among the four groups in cumulative dissipated energy, with the lowest value found in the Centurion group. No serious complications were observed and a positive trend in visual acuity was found in all four groups after cataract surgery. The highest total cost of surgery was associated with procedures conducted using the Centurion Vision system, and significant differences between systems were mainly because of the cost of the consumables used in the different surgeries. This HTA comparison of four recently used phacoemulsification systems found that each of system offers a satisfactory vision recovery outcome, but differs in surgical efficacy and costs.

Task-focused modeling in automated agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vriesenga, Mark R.; Peleg, K.; Sklansky, Jack

1993-01-01

Machine vision systems analyze image data to carry out automation tasks. Our interest is in machine vision systems that rely on models to achieve their designed task. When the model is interrogated from an a priori menu of questions, the model need not be complete. Instead, the machine vision system can use a partial model that contains a large amount of information in regions of interest and less information elsewhere. We propose an adaptive modeling scheme for machine vision, called task-focused modeling, which constructs a model having just sufficient detail to carry out the specified task. The model is detailed in regions of interest to the task and is less detailed elsewhere. This focusing effect saves time and reduces the computational effort expended by the machine vision system. We illustrate task-focused modeling by an example involving real-time micropropagation of plants in automated agriculture.

Color Helmet Mounted Display System with Real Time Computer Generated and Video Imagery for In-Flight Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sawyer, Kevin; Jacobsen, Robert; Aiken, Edwin W. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

NASA Ames Research Center and the US Army are developing the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) using a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter for the purpose of flight systems research. A primary use of the RASCAL is in-flight simulation for which the visual scene will use computer generated imagery and synthetic vision. This research is made possible in part to a full color wide field of view Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) system that provides high performance color imagery suitable for daytime operations in a flight-rated package. This paper describes the design and performance characteristics of the HMD system. Emphasis is placed on the design specifications, testing, and integration into the aircraft of Kaiser Electronics' RASCAL HMD system that was designed and built under contract for NASA. The optical performance and design of the Helmet mounted display unit will be discussed as well as the unique capabilities provided by the system's Programmable Display Generator (PDG).

Health system vision of iran in 2025.

PubMed

Rostamigooran, N; Esmailzadeh, H; Rajabi, F; Majdzadeh, R; Larijani, B; Dastgerdi, M Vahid

2013-01-01

Vast changes in disease features and risk factors and influence of demographic, economical, and social trends on health system, makes formulating a long term evolutionary plan, unavoidable. In this regard, to determine health system vision in a long term horizon is a primary stage. After narrative and purposeful review of documentaries, major themes of vision statement were determined and its context was organized in a work group consist of selected managers and experts of health system. Final content of the statement was prepared after several sessions of group discussions and receiving ideas of policy makers and experts of health system. Vision statement in evolutionary plan of health system is considered to be :"a progressive community in the course of human prosperity which has attained to a developed level of health standards in the light of the most efficient and equitable health system in visionary region(1) and with the regarding to health in all policies, accountability and innovation". An explanatory context was compiled either to create a complete image of the vision. Social values and leaders' strategic goals, and also main orientations are generally mentioned in vision statement. In this statement prosperity and justice are considered as major values and ideals in society of Iran; development and excellence in the region as leaders' strategic goals; and also considering efficiency and equality, health in all policies, and accountability and innovation as main orientations of health system.

Vision of Fish in Air

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colicchia, Giuseppe

2007-01-01

The investigation of the focusing in fish eyes, both theoretical and experimental, by using a simple fish eye model, provides an interesting biological context for teaching the introductory principles of optics. Moreover, the students will learn concepts of biology by an approach of cause and effect.

77 FR 36331 - Nineteenth Meeting: RTCA Special Committee 213, Enhanced Flight Vision Systems/Synthetic Vision...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-18

... Document--Draft DO-XXX, Minimum Aviation Performance Standards (MASPS) for an Enhanced Flight Vision System... Discussion (9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) Provide Comment Resolution of Document--Draft DO-XXX, Minimum Aviation.../Approve FRAC Draft for PMC Consideration--Draft DO- XXX, Minimum Aviation Performance Standards (MASPS...

Robust Spatial Autoregressive Modeling for Hardwood Log Inspection

Treesearch

Dongping Zhu; A.A. Beex

1994-01-01

We explore the application of a stochastic texture modeling method toward a machine vision system for log inspection in the forest products industry. This machine vision system uses computerized tomography (CT) imaging to locate and identify internal defects in hardwood logs. The application of CT to such industrial vision problems requires efficient and robust image...

Augmentation of Cognition and Perception Through Advanced Synthetic Vision Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Bailey, Randall E.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Williams, Steve P.; McNabb, Jennifer

2005-01-01

Synthetic Vision System technology augments reality and creates a virtual visual meteorological condition that extends a pilot's cognitive and perceptual capabilities during flight operations when outside visibility is restricted. The paper describes the NASA Synthetic Vision System for commercial aviation with an emphasis on how the technology achieves Augmented Cognition objectives.

Industrial Inspection with Open Eyes: Advance with Machine Vision Technology

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

Liu, Zheng; Ukida, H.; Niel, Kurt

Machine vision systems have evolved significantly with the technology advances to tackle the challenges from modern manufacturing industry. A wide range of industrial inspection applications for quality control are benefiting from visual information captured by different types of cameras variously configured in a machine vision system. This chapter screens the state of the art in machine vision technologies in the light of hardware, software tools, and major algorithm advances for industrial inspection. The inspection beyond visual spectrum offers a significant complementary to the visual inspection. The combination with multiple technologies makes it possible for the inspection to achieve a bettermore » performance and efficiency in varied applications. The diversity of the applications demonstrates the great potential of machine vision systems for industry.« less

Multi-camera and structured-light vision system (MSVS) for dynamic high-accuracy 3D measurements of railway tunnels.

PubMed

Zhan, Dong; Yu, Long; Xiao, Jian; Chen, Tanglong

2015-04-14

Railway tunnel 3D clearance inspection is critical to guaranteeing railway operation safety. However, it is a challenge to inspect railway tunnel 3D clearance using a vision system, because both the spatial range and field of view (FOV) of such measurements are quite large. This paper summarizes our work on dynamic railway tunnel 3D clearance inspection based on a multi-camera and structured-light vision system (MSVS). First, the configuration of the MSVS is described. Then, the global calibration for the MSVS is discussed in detail. The onboard vision system is mounted on a dedicated vehicle and is expected to suffer from multiple degrees of freedom vibrations brought about by the running vehicle. Any small vibration can result in substantial measurement errors. In order to overcome this problem, a vehicle motion deviation rectifying method is investigated. Experiments using the vision inspection system are conducted with satisfactory online measurement results.

Tracking by Identification Using Computer Vision and Radio

PubMed Central

Mandeljc, Rok; Kovačič, Stanislav; Kristan, Matej; Perš, Janez

2013-01-01

We present a novel system for detection, localization and tracking of multiple people, which fuses a multi-view computer vision approach with a radio-based localization system. The proposed fusion combines the best of both worlds, excellent computer-vision-based localization, and strong identity information provided by the radio system, and is therefore able to perform tracking by identification, which makes it impervious to propagated identity switches. We present comprehensive methodology for evaluation of systems that perform person localization in world coordinate system and use it to evaluate the proposed system as well as its components. Experimental results on a challenging indoor dataset, which involves multiple people walking around a realistically cluttered room, confirm that proposed fusion of both systems significantly outperforms its individual components. Compared to the radio-based system, it achieves better localization results, while at the same time it successfully prevents propagation of identity switches that occur in pure computer-vision-based tracking. PMID:23262485

Design of a surgical robot with dynamic vision field control for Single Port Endoscopic Surgery.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Yo; Sekiguchi, Yuta; Tomono, Yu; Watanabe, Hiroki; Toyoda, Kazutaka; Konishi, Kozo; Tomikawa, Morimasa; Ieiri, Satoshi; Tanoue, Kazuo; Hashizume, Makoto; Fujie, Masaktsu G

2010-01-01

Recently, a robotic system was developed to assist Single Port Endoscopic Surgery (SPS). However, the existing system required a manual change of vision field, hindering the surgical task and increasing the degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the manipulator. We proposed a surgical robot for SPS with dynamic vision field control, the endoscope view being manipulated by a master controller. The prototype robot consisted of a positioning and sheath manipulator (6 DOF) for vision field control, and dual tool tissue manipulators (gripping: 5DOF, cautery: 3DOF). Feasibility of the robot was demonstrated in vitro. The "cut and vision field control" (using tool manipulators) is suitable for precise cutting tasks in risky areas while a "cut by vision field control" (using a vision field control manipulator) is effective for rapid macro cutting of tissues. A resection task was accomplished using a combination of both methods.

Perceptual organization in computer vision - A review and a proposal for a classificatory structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarkar, Sudeep; Boyer, Kim L.

1993-01-01

The evolution of perceptual organization in biological vision, and its necessity in advanced computer vision systems, arises from the characteristic that perception, the extraction of meaning from sensory input, is an intelligent process. This is particularly so for high order organisms and, analogically, for more sophisticated computational models. The role of perceptual organization in computer vision systems is explored. This is done from four vantage points. First, a brief history of perceptual organization research in both humans and computer vision is offered. Next, a classificatory structure in which to cast perceptual organization research to clarify both the nomenclature and the relationships among the many contributions is proposed. Thirdly, the perceptual organization work in computer vision in the context of this classificatory structure is reviewed. Finally, the array of computational techniques applied to perceptual organization problems in computer vision is surveyed.

The Efficacy of Using Synthetic Vision Terrain-Textured Images to Improve Pilot Situation Awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uenking, Michael D.; Hughes, Monica F.

2002-01-01

The General Aviation Element of the Aviation Safety Program's Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) Project is developing technology to eliminate low visibility induced General Aviation (GA) accidents. SVS displays present computer generated 3-dimensional imagery of the surrounding terrain on the Primary Flight Display (PFD) to greatly enhance pilot's situation awareness (SA), reducing or eliminating Controlled Flight into Terrain, as well as Low-Visibility Loss of Control accidents. SVS-conducted research is facilitating development of display concepts that provide the pilot with an unobstructed view of the outside terrain, regardless of weather conditions and time of day. A critical component of SVS displays is the appropriate presentation of terrain to the pilot. An experimental study is being conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to explore and quantify the relationship between the realism of the terrain presentation and resulting enhancements of pilot SA and performance. Composed of complementary simulation and flight test efforts, Terrain Portrayal for Head-Down Displays (TP-HDD) experiments will help researchers evaluate critical terrain portrayal concepts. The experimental effort is to provide data to enable design trades that optimize SVS applications, as well as develop requirements and recommendations to facilitate the certification process. In this part of the experiment a fixed based flight simulator was equipped with various types of Head Down flight displays, ranging from conventional round dials (typical of most GA aircraft) to glass cockpit style PFD's. The variations of the PFD included an assortment of texturing and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) resolution combinations. A test matrix of 10 terrain display configurations (in addition to the baseline displays) were evaluated by 27 pilots of various backgrounds and experience levels. Qualitative (questionnaires) and quantitative (pilot performance and physiological) data were collected during the experimental runs. This paper focuses on the experimental set-up and final physiological results of the TP-HDD simulation experiment. The physiological measures of skin temperature, heart rate, and muscle response, show a decreased engagement (while using the synthetic vision displays as compared to the baseline conventional display) of the sympathetic and somatic nervous system responses which, in turn, indicates a reduced level of mental workload. This decreased level of workload is expected to enable improvement in the pilot's situation and terrain awareness.

FLORA™: Phase I development of a functional vision assessment for prosthetic vision users.

PubMed

Geruschat, Duane R; Flax, Marshall; Tanna, Nilima; Bianchi, Michelle; Fisher, Andy; Goldschmidt, Mira; Fisher, Lynne; Dagnelie, Gislin; Deremeik, Jim; Smith, Audrey; Anaflous, Fatima; Dorn, Jessy

2015-07-01

Research groups and funding agencies need a functional assessment suitable for an ultra-low vision population to evaluate the impact of new vision-restoration treatments. The purpose of this study was to develop a pilot assessment to capture the functional visual ability and well-being of subjects whose vision has been partially restored with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. The Functional Low-Vision Observer Rated Assessment (FLORA) pilot assessment involved a self-report section, a list of functional visual tasks for observation of performance and a case narrative summary. Results were analysed to determine whether the interview questions and functional visual tasks were appropriate for this ultra-low vision population and whether the ratings suffered from floor or ceiling effects. Thirty subjects with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa (bare light perception or worse in both eyes) were enrolled in a clinical trial and implanted with the Argus II System. From this population, 26 subjects were assessed with the FLORA. Seven different evaluators administered the assessment. All 14 interview questions were asked. All 35 tasks for functional vision were selected for evaluation at least once, with an average of 20 subjects being evaluated for each test item. All four rating options—impossible (33 per cent), difficult (23 per cent), moderate (24 per cent) and easy (19 per cent)—were used by the evaluators. Evaluators also judged the amount of vision they observed the subjects using to complete the various tasks, with 'vision only' occurring 75 per cent on average with the System ON, and 29 per cent with the System OFF. The first version of the FLORA was found to contain useful elements for evaluation and to avoid floor and ceiling effects. The next phase of development will be to refine the assessment and to establish reliability and validity to increase its value as an assessment tool for functional vision and well-being. © 2015 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Optometry © 2015 Optometry Australia.

Producing a socially accountable medical school: AMEE Guide No. 109.

PubMed

Boelen, Charles; Pearson, David; Kaufman, Arthur; Rourke, James; Woollard, Robert; Marsh, David C; Gibbs, Trevor

2016-11-01

Health systems worldwide are confronted with challenges due to increased demand from their citizens, an aging population, a variety of health risks and limited resources. Key health stakeholders, including academic institutions and medical schools, are urged to develop a common vision for a more efficient and equitable health sector. It is in this environment that Boelen and Heck defined the concept of the "Social Accountability of Medical Schools" - a concept that encourages schools to produce not just highly competent professionals, but professionals who are equipped to respond to the changing challenges of healthcare through re-orientation of their education, research and service commitments, and be capable of demonstrating a positive effect upon the communities they serve. Social Accountability calls on the academic institution to demonstrate an impact on the communities served and thus make a contribution for a just and efficient health service, through mutually beneficial partnerships with other healthcare stakeholders. The purpose of this Guide is to explore the concept of Social Accountability, to explain it in more detail through examples and to identify ways to overcome obstacles to its development. Although in the Guide reference is frequently made to medical schools, the concept is equally applicable to all forms of education allied to healthcare.

The role of vision processing in prosthetic vision.

PubMed

Barnes, Nick; He, Xuming; McCarthy, Chris; Horne, Lachlan; Kim, Junae; Scott, Adele; Lieby, Paulette

2012-01-01

Prosthetic vision provides vision which is reduced in resolution and dynamic range compared to normal human vision. This comes about both due to residual damage to the visual system from the condition that caused vision loss, and due to limitations of current technology. However, even with limitations, prosthetic vision may still be able to support functional performance which is sufficient for tasks which are key to restoring independent living and quality of life. Here vision processing can play a key role, ensuring that information which is critical to the performance of key tasks is available within the capability of the available prosthetic vision. In this paper, we frame vision processing for prosthetic vision, highlight some key areas which present problems in terms of quality of life, and present examples where vision processing can help achieve better outcomes.

Hierarchical Modelling Of Mobile, Seeing Robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luh, Cheng-Jye; Zeigler, Bernard P.

1990-03-01

This paper describes the implementation of a hierarchical robot simulation which supports the design of robots with vision and mobility. A seeing robot applies a classification expert system for visual identification of laboratory objects. The visual data acquisition algorithm used by the robot vision system has been developed to exploit multiple viewing distances and perspectives. Several different simulations have been run testing the visual logic in a laboratory environment. Much work remains to integrate the vision system with the rest of the robot system.

Hierarchical modelling of mobile, seeing robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luh, Cheng-Jye; Zeigler, Bernard P.

1990-01-01

This paper describes the implementation of a hierarchical robot simulation which supports the design of robots with vision and mobility. A seeing robot applies a classification expert system for visual identification of laboratory objects. The visual data acquisition algorithm used by the robot vision system has been developed to exploit multiple viewing distances and perspectives. Several different simulations have been run testing the visual logic in a laboratory environment. Much work remains to integrate the vision system with the rest of the robot system.

Marking parts to aid robot vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bales, J. W.; Barker, L. K.

1981-01-01

The premarking of parts for subsequent identification by a robot vision system appears to be beneficial as an aid in the automation of certain tasks such as construction in space. A simple, color coded marking system is presented which allows a computer vision system to locate an object, calculate its orientation, and determine its identity. Such a system has the potential to operate accurately, and because the computer shape analysis problem has been simplified, it has the ability to operate in real time.