| Real-Time Motion Planning and Safe Navigation in Dynamic Multi-Robot Environments |
15 DEC 2006 |
205 pages |
| Authors:
James R. Bruce; CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
|
 | All mobile robots share the need to navigate, creating the problem of motion planning. In multi-robot domains with agents acting in parallel, highly complex and unpredictable dynamics can arise. This leads to the need for navigation calculations to be carried out within tight time constraints, so that they can be applied before the dynamics of the environment make the calculated answer obsolete. At the same time, we want the robots ... |
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| Improvised Explosive Devise Placement Detection from a Semi-Autonomous Ground Vehicle |
DEC 2006 |
111 pages |
| Authors:
Benjamin D. Miller; NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA
|
| Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) continue to kill and seriously injure military members throughout the Iraqi theatre. Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) seeks to identify the human presence placing the IED and then report that contact to a unit of action. This research developed a semiautonomous platform that can navigate to waypoints, avoid obstacles, investigate possible threats and then detect motion that triggers a visual camera. The information is then relayed back ... |
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| Adaptive Optoelectronic Eyes: Hybrid Sensor/Processor Architectures |
13 NOV 2006 |
126 pages |
| Authors:
Jr. Tanguay Armand R.; B. K. Jenkins; Christoph von der Malsburg; Bartlett Mel; Irving Biederman; John O'Brien; Anupam Madhukar; UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
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| The goal of this research program was to develop novel algorithms, architectures, and hardware for a truly smart camera, with inherent capability for semi-autonomous object recognition as well as optimal image capture. In this research, we combined striking advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of biological vision systems with similar advances in hybrid electronic/photonic packaging technology, in order to develop adaptive, artificial, biologically-inspired vision systems. A key research program ... |
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| NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations 10 - Evaluation of Robotic and Sensor Technologies for Surgery in Extreme Environments |
NOV 2006 |
108 pages |
| Authors:
Timothy J. Broderick; CINCINNATI UNIV OH
|
| This final report covers the activities conducted by Dr. Timothy Broderick during his participation in planning and execution of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) 9 mission. The mission, held in collaboration with NASA, was conducted from April 3 - 20, 2006. Dr. Broderick served as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius habitat, which is submerged off the coast of Key Largo, FL. During this mission, Dr. Broderick participated in ... |
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| A Computing Cluster for Numerical Simulation |
23 OCT 2006 |
6 pages |
| Authors:
Ronald Fedkiw; STANFORD UNIV CA DEPT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
|
| The acquired computing cluster is used in the development of novel techniques for computational fluid dynamics and continuum mechanics, with a focus on large Eulerian or Lagrangian discretizations. Applications that receive particular emphasis include the following: (1) simulation of discontinuous flows resulting from the interaction of several immiscible or chemically reacting phases; (2) adaptive discretizations of large fluid volumes that can resolve turbulent flows and the effects of highly variable ... |
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| Establishing Tools for Computing Hybrids |
OCT 2006 |
39 pages |
| Authors:
Clare Thiem; Sunil Bhat; Thomas Blount; AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB ROME NY INFORMATION DIRECTORATE
|
| Establishing Tools for Computing hybrids (ETCH) provides a starting point from which to explore how advanced computing technology, based upon biotechnology, might enable intelligent systems and provide new capabilities to the Air Force. Much effort was spent exploring published research to understand what others have accomplished, problems they encountered, the potential of the biotechnology to advance computing technology, and identifying potential paths on which to focus future research. Various computational ... |
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| Simulation of Biomolecular Nanomechanical Systems |
OCT 2006 |
34 pages |
| Authors:
Arup K. Chakraborty; Arunava Majumdar; CALIFORNIA UNIV REGENTS BERKELEY
|
| This report documents results from the BioNEMS project. Computer simulation methods and theoretical tools that can be applied to guide the design of microdevices relying on the concept of translating biomolecular binding to mechanical forces were developed. These computational tools were applied, in synergy with experiments, to define the important factors that determine device performance. One important result is that molecular-level self assembly of probe molecules determines microdevice performance, and ... |
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| Developing Autonomous Vehicles That Learn to Navigate by Mimicking Human Behavior |
28 SEP 2006 |
15 pages |
| Authors:
Dean B. Edwards; John Canning; Joel Alberts; IDAHO UNIV MOSCOW DEPT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
|
| A program initiated by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) called "Learning Applied to Ground Robots" (LAGR) is developing control algorithms that would allow a vehicle to safely travel cross-country. The University of Idaho with funding from the Office of Naval Research is participating in this program in which DARPA provided a vehicle having both sensors and supporting software for the sensors. We used the LAGR vehicle to help ... |
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| Emulating the Fast-Start Swimming Performance of the Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) Using a Mechanical Fish Design |
01 SEP 2006 |
|
| Authors:
Matthew N. Watts; MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
|
 | Mean maximum start-up accelerations and velocities achieved by the fast-start specialist, northern pike, are reported at 120 m/s sq and 4 m/s, respectively (Harper and Blake, 1990). In this thesis, a simple mechanical system was created to closely mimic the startle response that produces these extreme acceleration events. The system consisted of a thin metal beam covered by a urethane rubber fish body. The mechanical fish was held in curvature ... |
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| Compression and Instrumented Indentation Measurements on Biomimetic Polymers |
SEP 2006 |
14 pages |
| Authors:
Thomas F. Juliano; Paul Moy; Tusit Weerasooriya; Mark R. VanLandingham; Aaron M. Forster; ARMY RESEARCH LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD
|
| The mechanical response of living tissue is important to understanding the injury-risk associated with impact events. Unfortunately, currently used materials are not optimal surrogates and present several experimental challenges. Bulk measurement techniques, such as compression and shear tests, do not necessarily represent the type and rate of loading experienced in an actual impact event. Indentation testing may induce surface loading at stress states and strain rates not available to bulk ... |
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| Biomimetics and the Application to Devices (Preprint) |
SEP 2006 |
9 pages |
| Authors:
Morley O. Stone; AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING DIRECTORATE
|
| At first glance, imitating nature via biomimetics seems to be a straightforward proposition. For example, if one is a roboticist, just add legs to the platform instead of wheels. Unfortunately, and as often the case, the devil is in the details. This short synopsis will cover biomimetic examples of material synthesis, sensing and robotics. This overview will attempt to capture some lessons learned, some surprising and unanticipated insights, and some ... |
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| Modeling Dynamics and Exploring Control of a Single-Wheeled Dynamically Stable Mobile Robot with Arms |
31 AUG 2006 |
|
| Authors:
Eric M. Schearer; CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA ROBOTICS INST
|
| This paper focuses on simulations of a dynamically stable mobile robot (Ballbot) with arms. The simulations are of Ballbot lifting its arms in various directions. A PD arm controller works independently of an LQR-designed balancing/station keeping controller. The PD controller drives the arms to follow desired trajectories. when the arms are raised, Ballbot assumes a leaning equilibrium (the physical equilibrium) as opposed to the standing equilibrium (body stands totally upright ... |
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| New Architectures, Algorithms And Designs That Lead To Implemented Machine Reasoning Over Knowledge In Epistemic And Deontic Formats, In The Service Of Advanced Wargaming |
AUG 2006 |
48 pages |
| Authors:
Selmer Bringsjord; Konstantine Arkoudas; Yingrui Yang; RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INST TROY NY
|
| This effort investigated new architectures, algorithms, and designs to lead to: implemented machine reasoning over knowledge in expressive formats that include doxastic and deontic operators; understanding use of such implementations in a multi-agent setting; and implementation into other relevant DoD-related efforts. The RASCALS cognitive architecture has been developed further; new algorithms have been devised in mechanized epistemic and deontic logics; and the basic design for a logicist intelligent agent, callable ... |
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| Perspectives on Retaining a DRDC Human Sciences Centre...in Toronto |
AUG 2006 |
|
| Authors:
Ira Jacobs; DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TORONTO (CANADA)
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| Defence R&D Canada (DRDC) is embarking on a central initiative to develop a comprehensive infrastructure strategy. A major objective of the initiative is to identify and justify the infrastructure required by DRDC to ensure that it remains a world leader in its Science & Technology activities. The strategy will include addressing issues such as the location of the research centres and the associated synergy that exists with industry and academia ... |
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| A Biomimetic Algorithm for Flight Stabilization in Airborne Vehicles, Based on Dragonfly Ocellar Vision |
27 JUL 2006 |
45 pages |
| Authors:
Gert Stange; Josh van Kleef; Richard Berry; Robert Parker; AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIV CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA) RESEARCH SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
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| This report covers research done on dragonfly eyes focused on understanding how dragonflies process attitude information. By understanding the anatomy of the dragonfly occeli, it can be concluded that they are simple lens eyes designed for attitude stabilization. |
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| Information Fusion for Hypothesis Generation under Uncertain and Partial Information Access Situation |
21 JUL 2006 |
83 pages |
| Authors:
Hiroaki Kitano; ZMP INC TOKYO (JAPAN)
|
| The challenge for most artificial systems that operate autonomously in the real world environment is how to cope with dynamic environment with limited, uncertain, and noisy information. Artificial intelligence and intelligent robotics research has been trying to solve such a problem by either improving accuracy of recognition systems or by integrating multiple source of information. In addition, architectural issues has been discussed on whether classical Sense-Model-Plan-Act architecture or the subsumption ... |
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| MURI: Surface-Templated Bio-Inspired Synthesis and Fabrication of Functional Materials |
21 JUN 2006 |
59 pages |
| Authors:
Chad A. Mirkin; Vinayak Dravid; Mark Ratner; George Schatz; Sam Stupp; David Kaplan; Reza Ghadiri; David Ginger; NORTHWESTERN UNIV EVANSTON IL DEPT OF CHEMISTRY
|
| The use of biosynthons and bio-inspired assembly is a new, but extremely powerful approach to the synthesis of designer materials. The development of new methods for patterning biological molecules on the nanometer to micron length scale will lead to new biomaterials that can be used for fabricating a variety of nanostructured organic and inorganic materials that are of vital importance to the Department of Defense. These include catalytic peptide tubes, ... |
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| Transferring Insights from Complex Biological Systems to the Exploitation of Netted Sensors in Command and Control Enterprises |
JUN 2006 |
|
| Authors:
Jennifer Mathieu; Grace Hwang; James Dunyak; MITRE CORP BEDFORD MA
|
| PROBLEM FORMULATION: (1) In a dynamic, complex threat environment, agile responses from Command and Control are needed -- especially for cross-scale interaction; (2) Biologically-inspired methods based on individual behavior to population response dynamics will be explored for coupling scales; (3) Sensor Enterprise Proof-of-Concept: * The Sensor Enterprise Scales * Air Operation Center (AOC) Scales * Develop agent-based models to investigate biologically-inspired methods for coupling/exploitation; (4) Map threats in the Sensor ... |
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| Three-Dimensional Nanobiocomputing Architectures with aleph-Hypercells: Revolutionary Super-High-Performance Computing Platform |
MAY 2006 |
34 pages |
| Authors:
Sergey Lyshevski; Vlad Shmerko; Svetlana Yanushkevich; Marina Lyshevski; MICROSYSTEMS AND NANOTECHNOLOGIES WEBSTER NY
|
| Microsystems and Nanotechnologies developed a revolutionary 3D3 (Hardware-Software-Nanotechnology) technology to design three-dimensional (3D) nanobiocomputing architectures and Integrated Circuits (ICs). Our technology was based on the design of 3D computing architectures utilizing a threefold solution: (1) innovative hardware (device/module/system-level and 3D ICs); (2) novel software - Computer Aided Design (CAD) supported by new synthesis and design methods; and (3) enabling nanotechnology. The solution and innovations developed ensure information processing pre-eminence and ... |
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| StreetScenes: Towards Scene Understanding in Still Images |
MAY 2006 |
|
| Authors:
Stanley M. Bileschi; MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
|
| This thesis describes an effort to construct a scene understanding system that is able to analyze the content of real images. While constructing the system we had to provide solutions to many of the fundamental questions that every student of object recognition deals with daily. These include the choice of data set, the choice of success measurement, the representation of the image content, the selection of inference engine, and the ... |
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| Autonomous Robotic Following Using Vision Based Techniques |
18 APR 2006 |
12 pages |
| Authors:
Robert T. Kania; Phil A. Frederick; Mike Del Rose; TACOM RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER WARREN MI
|
| The Intelligent Systems And Autonomous Controls (ISAAC) robot is an experimental autonomous research platform being developed to advance current dismount following applications. Specifically, vision based following using pedestrian detection. The current standard in mule applications is the following of GPS waypoints. ISAAC is designed to follow a specific person using solely vision based techniques. The core of the vision based algorithms used in this application is based on years of ... |
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| Multi-Robot Operator Control Unit |
APR 2006 |
9 pages |
| Authors:
D. Powell; G. Gilbreath; M. Bruch; SPACE AND NAVAL WARFARE SYSTEMS CENTER SAN DIEGO CA
|
| Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego (SSC San Diego) has developed an unmanned vehicle and sensor operator control interface capable of simultaneously controlling and monitoring multiple sets of heterogeneous systems. The modularity, scalability and flexible user interface of the Multi-robot Operator Control Unit (MOCU) accommodates a wide range of vehicles and sensors in varying mission scenarios. MOCU currently controls all of the SSC San Diego developmental vehicles (land, ... |
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| Algorithmic Tools and Computational Frameworks for Cell Informatics |
APR 2006 |
30 pages |
| Authors:
Bud Mishra; NEW YORK UNIV NY
|
| The central thesis motivating this research project was that, by drawing upon mathematical approaches developed in the context of dynamical systems, kinetic analysis, computational theory and logic, it is possible to create powerful simulation, analysis and reasoning tools for working biologists. These tools could be used in deciphering existing data, devising new experiments and ultimately, understanding functional properties of genomes, proteomes, cells, organs and organisms. Through tool development (Simpathica, XSSYS, ... |
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| Evolving Self-Organized Behavior for Homogeneous and Heterogeneous UAV or UCAV Swarms |
MAR 2006 |
238 pages |
| Authors:
Ian C. Price; AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH
|
| This investigation uses a self-organization (SO) approach to enable cooperative search and destruction of retaliating targets with swarms of homogeneous and heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To facilitate specific system design, a facilitating SO algebraic framework is created that emphasizes scalability, robustness, and exibility. This framework is then used to implement a UAV behavior architecture relying upon rules governing formation and target interaction. Sets of applicable behaviors are created by ... |
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| A Monocular Vision Based Approach to Flocking |
MAR 2006 |
81 pages |
| Authors:
Brian P. Kirchner; AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
|
| Flocking is seen in nature as a means for self protection, more efficient foraging, and other search behaviors. Although much research has been done regarding the application of this principle to autonomous vehicles, the majority of the research has relied on GPS information, broadcast communication, an omniscient central controller, or some other form of "global" knowledge. This approach, while effective, has serious drawbacks, especially regarding stealth, reliability, and biological grounding. ... |
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| Bio-Inspired, Odor-Based Navigation |
MAR 2006 |
185 pages |
| Authors:
III Porter Maynard J.; AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH DEPT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
|
| The ability of moths to locate a member of the opposite sex, by tracking a wind-borne plume of odor molecules, is an amazing reality. Numerous scenarios exist where having this capability embedded into ground-based or aerial vehicles would be invaluable. The main crux of this thesis investigation is the development of a navigation algorithm which gives a UAV the ability to track a chemical plume to its source. Inspiration from ... |
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| Patterning of Biomolecules on Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposited Generated Surfaces |
JAN 2006 |
17 pages |
| Authors:
Joseph M. Slocik; Eric R. Beckel; Hao Jiang; Jesse O. Enlow; Jr. Zabinsky Jeffrey S.; Timothy J. Bunning; Rajesh R. Naika; AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING DIRECTORATE
|
| Micropatterned surfaces have received extensive attention for possible applications in advanced technologies including microelectronics, microfluidics, cell growth confinement and biosensor fabrication. The latter two applications exemplify the increasing coordination between materials science and biology for future generation advanced materials. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) shows great promise for strengthening this aforementioned materials science and biology intersection. PECVD provides an excellent generalized platform for the incorporation of a wealth of different ... |
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| Three-Dimensional Data Registration Based on Human Perception |
Jan-2006 |
9 pages |
| Authors:
Bruce Brendle; TACOM RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER WARREN MI
|
| Registration, the process of transforming different sets of data into a common coordinate system, is often required to allow the comparison or integration of the data sets. Techniques such as the widely used Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm have limited effectiveness on data sets that require significant transformation or that have large degrees of inconsistencies. This paper describes a biologically inspired algorithm for data registration that is based on two ... |
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| Self-Taught Visually-Guided Pointing for a Humanoid Robot |
2006 |
11 pages |
| Authors:
Matthew Marjanovic; Brian Scassellati; Matthew Williamson; MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LAB
|
| The authors implemented a system which performs a fundamental visuomotor coordination task on the humanoid robot Cog. Cog's task was to saccade its pair of two degree-of-freedom eyes to foveate on a target, and then to maneuver its six degree-of-freedom compliant arm to point at that target. This task requires systems for learning saccade to visual targets, generating smooth arm trajectories, locating the arm in the visual field, and learning ... |
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| On the Role of Object-Specific Features for Real World Object Recognition in Biological Vision |
2006 |
11 pages |
| Authors:
Thomas Serre; Maximilian Riesenhuber; Jennifer Louie; Tomaso Poggio; MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE MA CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL LEARNING
|
| Models of object recognition in cortex have so far been mostly applied to tasks involving the recognition of isolated objects presented on blank backgrounds. However, ultimately models of the visual system have to prove themselves in real world object recognition tasks. Here we took a first step in this direction: We investigated the performance of the HMAX model of object recognition in cortex recently presented by Riesenhuber & Poggio on ... |
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| Exploration in the Complexity of Possible Life: Abstracting and Synthesizing the Principles of Living Systems - Proceedings of the German Workshop on Artificial Life (7th) Held in Jena, Germany on 26-28 Jul 2006 |
2006 |
156 pages |
| Authors:
Stefan Artmann; Peter Dittrich; FRIEDRICH-SCHILLER UNIV JENA (GERMAN D R)
|
| Topics of the conference will cover the whole area of research in Artificial Life (AL), in particular: Modelling of biological processes, systems biology, adaptive behaviour, pattern recognition, perception and evolution of sensors, morphology and actuators, learning and intelligence in biological and artificial systems, complexity and its emergence in biological processes, self-organization in living and life-like systems (e.g. swarms, hypercycles, multicellular systems, artificial multi-agent systems), dynamics of information in living and ... |
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| Dynamic Modelling for Planar Extensible Continuum Robot Manipulators |
2006 |
28 pages |
| Authors:
E. Tatlicioglu; Ian D. Walker; Darren M. Dawson; CLEMSON UNIV SC DEPT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
|
| In this paper, a new dynamic model for continuum robot manipulators is derived. The dynamic model is developed based on the geometric model of extensible continuum robot manipulators with no torsional effects. The development presented in this paper is an extension of the dynamic model proposed by Mochiyama and Suzuki to include a class of extensible continuum robot manipulators. Numerical simulation results are presented for a planar 3-link extensible continuum ... |
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| Neural Network Grasping Controller for Continuum Robots |
2006 |
12 pages |
| Authors:
D. Braganza; D. M. Dawson; I. D. Walker; N. Nath; CLEMSON UNIV SC DEPT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
|
| Continuum or hyper-redundant robots are robots which exhibit behavior similar to biological trunks, tentacles and snakes. Unlike traditional robots, continuum robot manipulators do not have rigid joints, hence the manipulators are compliant, extremely dexterous, and capable of dynamic, adaptive manipulation in unstructured environments; however, the development of high-performance control algorithms for these manipulators is a challenging problem. In this paper, we present an approach to whole arm grasping control for ... |
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| Simultaneous Planning and Control for Autonomous Ground Vehicles |
2006 |
158 pages |
| Authors:
Thomas C. Galluzzo; FLORIDA UNIV GAINESVILLE CENTER FOR INTELLIGENT MACHINES AND ROBOTICS
|
| Motion planning and control for autonomous vehicles are complex tasks that must be done in order for a ground robot to operate in a cluttered environment. This dissertation presents the theory, implementation, and test results for some new and novel Receding Horizon Control (RHC) techniques that allow these tasks to be unified into one. The first new method is called Heuristic Receding Horizon Control (HRHC), and uses a modified A* ... |
|
| Biotechnology Industry, 2006 |
2006 |
31 pages |
| Authors:
INDUSTRIAL COLL OF THE ARMED FORCES WASHINGTON DC
|
| The United States leads the world in biotechnology, centered on genetic engineering at the cellular or molecular level, a process which applies across a range of products in diverse industries, just as computer engineering does. The biotech industry is becoming a major player in many sectors, including medicine, agriculture, energy, defense, the environment, and nanotechnology. Genetically modified (GM) foods are feeding millions. GM bacteria and plants are cleaning up pollution ... |
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| Agent Based Computing Machine |
09 DEC 2005 |
49 pages |
| Authors:
Edwin R. Addison; LEXXLE INC WILMINGTON NC
|
| This SBIR developed a new class of computer architecture called an "agent based computing" module (ABC Machine) that enables "cognitive computing" algorithms to be implemented effectively on a large scale. The ABC Machine is a biologically inspired architecture derived from the field of "membrane computing" and is also based upon "statistical dataflow computing". It operates in local contexts over string operators. The ABC Machine is motivated by analyzing the biochemical ... |
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| Swedish Projects |
01 DEC 2005 |
17 pages |
| Authors:
Jonathan Borgvall; Patrik Lif; SWEDISH DEFENCE RESEARCH AGENCY STOCKHOLM
|
| The Swedish part of this report focus on research within virtual reality in the military sector. Of course there is a lot of research conducted at different universities in Sweden but these activities are not included here. The military research work presented here includes the three military administrations, FOI -- Swedish Defence Research Agency, FMV -- Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, and SNDC -- Swedish National Defence College. Some work is ... |
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| Design and Integration Issues for Visually Coupled Systems |
DEC 2005 |
77 pages |
| Authors:
Vincent Parisi; AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH HUMAN EFFECTIVENESS DIRECTORATE
|
| This is a briefing on design and integration issues for visually coupled systems that was presented to AATC (The Air National Guard/Reserve Test Center/Tuscon AZ). |
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| Expert Assessment of Human-Human Stigmergy |
OCT 2005 |
38 pages |
| Authors:
H. V. Parunak; ALTARUM INST ANN ARBOR MI
|
| Human-Human Stigmergy is pervasive. A wide range of pre-computer social systems fit the pattern of stigmergic coordination, and have provided a rich set of metaphors on which a diverse set of computer-enabled systems for enabling human stigmergy have been constructed. It would be more difficult to show a functioning human institution that is not stigmergic, than it is to find examples of human stigmergy. The reason that human-human stigmergy is ... |
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| Expert Assessment of Stigmergy: A Report for the Department of National Defence |
OCT 2005 |
148 pages |
| Authors:
Tony White; CARLETON UNIV OTTAWA (ONTARIO)
|
| This report describes the current state of research in the area known as Swarm Intelligence. Swarm Intelligence relies upon stigmergic principles in order to solve complex problems using only simple agents. Swarm Intelligence has been receiving increasing attention over the last 10 years as a result of the acknowledgement of the success of social insect systems in solving complex problems without the need for central control or global information. In ... |
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| An Evolutionary Algorithm to Generate Ellipsoid Detectors for Negative Selection |
28 SEP 2005 |
158 pages |
| Authors:
Joseph M. Shapiro; AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
|
| Negative selection is a process from the biological immune system that can be applied to two-class (self and nonself) classification problems. Negative selection uses only one class (self) for training, which results in detectors for the other class (nonself). This paradigm is especially useful for problems in which only one class is available for training, such as network intrusion detection. Previous work has investigated hyper-rectangles and hyper-spheres as geometric detectors. ... |
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| Mathematical Modeling of Large Multi-Agent Systems |
SEP 2005 |
77 pages |
| Authors:
Kristina Lerman; Maja Mataric; Aram Galstyan; CALIFORNIA UNIV LOS ANGELES
|
| The biologically-inspired swarm paradigm is being used to design self-organizing systems of locally interacting agents. A major difficulty in designing swarms with desired characteristics is understanding the causal relation between individual agent and collective behaviors. Mathematical analysis of swarm dynamics can address this difficulty to gain insight into system design. This project developed a formal framework for mathematical modeling and analysis of multi-agent swarms. Though the behavior of an individual ... |
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| Global Path Planning for Unmanned Ground Vehicles |
24 AUG 2005 |
|
| Authors:
J. Giesbrecht; DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SUFFIELD (ALBERTA)
|
| This paper is an overview of high-level path planning methods used in mobile robotics with special emphasis on outdoor planning for unmanned ground vehicles. It surveys all portions of the path planning process including world representation, graph search algorithms, and planning for partially and completely unknown environments. Planning representations such as Cell Decompositions, Roadmaps, and Potential Fields are covered as well as both heuristic and non-heuristic methods of graph search. ... |
|
| Staged Experiments in Mobile Vehicle Autonomy. Procedures and Results with the SegwayRMP |
24 AUG 2005 |
|
| Authors:
J. Giesbrecht; J. Collier; S. Monckton; DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SUFFIELD (ALBERTA)
|
| This paper presents details and results for experiments conducted at DRDC Suffield in autonomous robot control of the Segway RMP (Robotic Mobility Platform). The autonomous control was a demonstration of robotic abilities achievable with an inexpensive, rapid implementation by a small team using off-the-shelf hardware and software. It was based upon the Player/Stage robot software development environment, and used a basic sensor suite consisting of a SICK laser scanner, GPS ... |
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| Development of a Geospatial Data-Sharing Method for Unmanned Vehicles Based on the Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JAUS) |
AUG 2005 |
133 pages |
| Authors:
III Evans Carl P.; FLORIDA UNIV GAINESVILLE CENTER FOR INTELLIGENT MACHINES AND ROBOTICS
|
| A task performed almost effortlessly by humans, perception is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks for autonomous vehicles. While substantial research has been done to develop these technologies, few studies have examined ways for multiple heterogeneous unmanned systems to cooperate in their perception tasks. Our study examined ways to model both perceived and a priori geospatial information, and formatting these data so that they can be used by the ... |
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| Human Emotional State and its Relevance for Military VR Training |
JUL 2005 |
11 pages |
| Authors:
Albert Rizzo; Jacquelyn F. Morie; Josh Williams; Jarrell Pair; J. G. Buckwalter; UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINA DEL REY CA INST FOR CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
|
| Combat environments by their nature can produce a dramatic range of emotional responses in military personnel. When immersed in the emotional "fog of war", the potential exists for optimal human decision-making and performance of goal-directed activities to be seriously compromised. Real world military training often naturally includes stress induction that aims to promote a similarity of internal emotional stimulus cues with what is expected to be present on the battlefield. ... |
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| The Fidelity of 'Feel': Emotional Affordance in Virtual Environments |
JUL 2005 |
11 pages |
| Authors:
Jacquelyn F. Morie; Josh Williams; Aimee Dozois; Donat-Pierre Luigi; UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINA DEL REY CA INST FOR CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
|
| Virtual environments (VEs) should be able to provide experiences as rich and complex as those to be had in real life. While this seems obvious, it is not yet possible to create a perfect simulacrum of the real world, so such correspondence requires the development of design techniques by which VEs can be made to appear more real. It also requires evaluation studies to determine if such techniques produce the ... |
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| Integrated Massively Parallel Arrays of Stochastic Sensors (IMPASS) |
JUN 2005 |
8 pages |
| Authors:
Carlo Montemagno; Jacob Schmidt; CALIFORNIA UNIV REGENTS LOS ANGELES
|
| We report the successful formation of biomimetic polymer membranes approximately 5-6 nm in thickness made from the biomimetic amphiphilic triblock copolymer poly(methyloxazoline)-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(methyloxazoline). We have also successfully inserted a number of membrane proteins (OmpG, MscL, alpha-hemolysin, and alamethicin) into these membranes and demonstrated that these proteins retain their natural function and capabilities. We have found that these membranes exhibit extended lifetimes compared to lipid membranes and on micromachined substrates the lifetime ... |
|
| A Simplified Taxonomy of Command and Control Structures for Robot Teams |
JUN 2005 |
28 pages |
| Authors:
Robert Grabowski; Alan Christiansen; MITRE CORP MCLEAN VA
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| For a team to be effective, it must coordinate and cooperate in some fashion. Often this ability is a direct function of the way the team is put together. Selecting the right architecture is driven by many factors including the skill of the individual, ability to communicate, availability of resources, and the size of the team. In this paper, we examine the issue of command and control from the perspective ... |
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| Simulation and Experimental Elaboration of Acoustic Sensors for Mobile Robots |
01 MAY 2005 |
9 pages |
| Authors:
V. E. Pavlovsky; T. S. Khashan; RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MOSCOW KELDYSH INST OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS
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| The paper presents the concept and deals with the elaboration of intelligent technical audition sensors for mobile robots. General description of a robot, its control system, and description of an audition system are given in the paper. Simulation and experimental results are presented as well. Experiments were performed with using wheeled robot as a carrier, but audition system may be installed on board of other robots like tracked or helicopter ... |
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Bionics
