WorldWideScience

Sample records for non-tracking atc system

  1. Cost-Optimal ATCs in Zonal Electricity Markets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Tue Vissing; Kazempour, Jalal; Pinson, Pierre

    2017-01-01

    from the physical ATCs based on security indices only typically used in zonal electricity markets today. Determining cost-optimal ATCs requires viewing ATCs as an endogenous market construct, and leads naturally to the definition of a market entity whose responsibility is to optimize ATCs....... The optimization problem which this entity solves is a stochastic bilevel problem, which we decompose to yield a computationally tractable formulation. We show that cost-optimal ATCs depend non-trivially on the underlying network structure, and the problem of finding a setof cost-optimal ATCs is in general non...... by a factor of 2 or more, and ATCs which are zero between well-connected areas.Our results indicate that the perceived efficiency gap between zonal and nodal markets may be exagerrated if non-optimal ATCs are used....

  2. Mass casualty tracking with air traffic control methodologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoskins, Jason D; Graham, Ross F; Robinson, Duane R; Lutz, Clifford C; Folio, Les R

    2009-06-01

    An intrahospital casualty throughput system modeled after air traffic control (ATC) tracking procedures was tested in mass casualty exercises. ATC uses a simple tactile process involving informational progress strips representing each aircraft, which are held in bays representing each stage of flight to prioritize and manage aircraft. These strips can be reordered within the bays to indicate a change in priority of aircraft sequence. In this study, a similar system was designed for patient tracking. We compared the ATC model and traditional casualty tracking methods of paper and clipboard in 18 four-hour casualty scenarios, each with 5 to 30 mock casualties. The experimental and control groups were alternated to maximize exposure and minimize training effects. Results were analyzed with Mann-Whitney statistical analysis with p value < 0.05 (two-sided). The ATC method had significantly (p = 0.017) fewer errors in critical patient data (eg, name, social security number, diagnosis). Specifically, the ATC method better tracked the mechanism of injury, working diagnosis, and disposition of patients. The ATC method also performed considerably better with patient accountability during mass casualty scenarios. Data strips were comparable with the control method in terms of ease of use. In addition, participants preferred the ATC method to the control (p = 0.003) and preferred using the ATC method (p = 0.003) to traditional methods in the future. The ATC model more effectively tracked patient data with fewer errors when compared with the clipboard method. Application of these principles can enhance trauma management and can have application in civilian and military trauma centers and emergency rooms.

  3. Cooperative Route Planning for Multiple Aircraft in a Semifree ATC System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Yang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the Semifree Flight theory used in a civil air traffic control (ATC system to improve the capability of the traditional Free Flight mode. The progressiveness and hidden defects of the “Free Flight” model in civil aviation are analysed, and the Semifree Flight ATC system mode is introduced. Moreover, this paper presents the collaborative route planning method, which is the most important method used in the Semifree Flight ATC system. This collaborative route planning method can plan routes for each aircraft (either in flight or just before achieving flight in real time, and the routes can satisfy all the safety constraints. The final numerical simulations verify the correctness and practicability of the Semifree Flight theory and the collaborative route planning method.

  4. CASE/A - COMPUTER AIDED SYSTEM ENGINEERING AND ANALYSIS, ECLSS/ATCS SERIES

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bacskay, A.

    1994-01-01

    , specific heat, density, and viscosity) is generated at user-selected output intervals and stored for reference. The Integrated Plot Utility (IPU) provides plotting capability for all data output. System utility commands are provided to enable the user to operate more efficiently in the CASE/A environment. The user is able to customize a simulation through optional operations FORTRAN logic. This user-developed code is compiled and linked with a CASE/A model and enables the user to control and timeline component operating parameters during various phases of the iterative solution process. CASE/A provides for transient tracking of the flow stream constituents and determination of their thermodynamic state throughout an ECLSS/ATCS simulation, performing heat transfer, chemical reaction, mass/energy balance, and system pressure drop analysis based on user-specified operating conditions. The program tracks each constituent through all combination and decomposition states while maintaining a mass and energy balance on the overall system. This allows rapid assessment of ECLSS designs, the impact of alternate technologies, and impacts due to changes in metabolic forcing functions, consumables usage, and system control considerations. CASE/A is written in FORTRAN 77 for the DEC VAX/VMS computer series, and requires 12Mb of disk storage and a minimum paging file quota of 20,000 pages. The program operates on the Tektronix 4014 graphics standard and VT100 text standard. The program requires a Tektronix 4014 or later graphics terminal, third party composite graphics/text terminal, or personal computer loaded with appropriate VT100/TEK 4014 emulator software. The use of composite terminals or personal computers with popular emulation software is recommended for enhanced CASE/A operations and general ease of use. The program is available on an unlabeled 9-track 6250 BPI DEC VAX BACKUP format magnetic tape. CASE/A development began in 1985 under contract to NASA/Marshall Space Flight

  5. Real-time speech gisting for ATC applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunkelberger, Kirk A.

    1995-06-01

    Command and control within the ATC environment remains primarily voice-based. Hence, automatic real time, speaker independent, continuous speech recognition (CSR) has many obvious applications and implied benefits to the ATC community: automated target tagging, aircraft compliance monitoring, controller training, automatic alarm disabling, display management, and many others. However, while current state-of-the-art CSR systems provide upwards of 98% word accuracy in laboratory environments, recent low-intrusion experiments in the ATCT environments demonstrated less than 70% word accuracy in spite of significant investments in recognizer tuning. Acoustic channel irregularities and controller/pilot grammar verities impact current CSR algorithms at their weakest points. It will be shown herein, however, that real time context- and environment-sensitive gisting can provide key command phrase recognition rates of greater than 95% using the same low-intrusion approach. The combination of real time inexact syntactic pattern recognition techniques and a tight integration of CSR, gisting, and ATC database accessor system components is the key to these high phase recognition rates. A system concept for real time gisting in the ATC context is presented herein. After establishing an application context, discussion presents a minimal CSR technology context then focuses on the gisting mechanism, desirable interfaces into the ATCT database environment, and data and control flow within the prototype system. Results of recent tests for a subset of the functionality are presented together with suggestions for further research.

  6. Assessment of ATC with Shunt FACTS Devices

    OpenAIRE

    Ashwani Kumar; Jitender Kumar

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, an optimal power flow based approach has been applied for multi-transactions deregulated environment for ATC determination with SVC and STATCOM. The main contribution of the paper is (i) OPF based approach for evaluation of ATC with multi-transactions, (ii) ATC enhancement with FACTS devices viz. SVC and STATCOM for intact and line contingency cases, (iii) Impact of ZIP load on ATC determination and comparison of ATC obtained with SVC and STATCOM. The results have been determin...

  7. ATC-lab(Advanced): an air traffic control simulator with realism and control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fothergill, Selina; Loft, Shayne; Neal, Andrew

    2009-02-01

    ATC-lab(Advanced) is a new, publicly available air traffic control (ATC) simulation package that provides both realism and experimental control. ATC-lab(Advanced) simulations are realistic to the extent that the display features (including aircraft performance) and the manner in which participants interact with the system are similar to those used in an operational environment. Experimental control allows researchers to standardize air traffic scenarios, control levels of realism, and isolate specific ATC tasks. Importantly, ATC-lab(Advanced) also provides the programming control required to cost effectively adapt simulations to serve different research purposes without the need for technical support. In addition, ATC-lab(Advanced) includes a package for training participants and mathematical spreadsheets for designing air traffic events. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that ATC-lab(Advanced) is a flexible tool for applied and basic research.

  8. Output Tracking for Systems with Non-Hyperbolic and Near Non-Hyperbolic Internal Dynamics: Helicopter Hover Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devasia, Santosh

    1996-01-01

    A technique to achieve output tracking for nonminimum phase linear systems with non-hyperbolic and near non-hyperbolic internal dynamics is presented. This approach integrates stable inversion techniques, that achieve exact-tracking, with approximation techniques, that modify the internal dynamics to achieve desirable performance. Such modification of the internal dynamics is used (1) to remove non-hyperbolicity which an obstruction to applying stable inversion techniques and (2) to reduce large pre-actuation time needed to apply stable inversion for near non-hyperbolic cases. The method is applied to an example helicopter hover control problem with near non-hyperbolic internal dynamic for illustrating the trade-off between exact tracking and reduction of pre-actuation time.

  9. ATC calculation with steady-state security constraints using Benders decomposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaaban, M.; Yan, Z.; Ni, Y.; Wu, F.; Li, W.; Liu, H.

    2003-01-01

    Available transfer capability (ATC) is an important indicator of the usable amount of transmission capacity accessible by assorted parties for commercial trading, ATC calculation is nontrivial when steady-state security constraints are included. In hie paper, Benders decomposition method is proposed to partition the AC problem with steady-state security constraints into a base case master problem and a series of subproblems relevant to various contingencies to include their impacts on ATC. The mathematical model is formulated and the two solution schemes are presented. Computer testing on the 4-bus system and IEEE 30-bus system shows the effectiveness of the proposed method and the solution schemes. (Author)

  10. Heat pump evaluation for Space Station ATCS evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ames, Brian E.; Petete, Patricia A.

    1991-01-01

    A preliminary feasibility assessment of the application of a vapor compression heat pump to the Active Thermal Control System (ATCS) of SSF is presented. This paper focuses on the methodology of raising the surface temperature of the radiators for improved heat rejection. Some of the effects of the vapor compression cycle on SSF examined include heat pump integration into ATCS, constraints on the heat pump operating parameters, and heat pump performance enhancements.

  11. A Novel Approach for ATC Computation in Deregulated Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. K. Babulal

    2006-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a novel method for determination of Available Transfer Capability (ATC based on fuzzy logic. Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS is used to determine the step length of Homotophy continuation power flow method by considering the values of load bus voltage and change in load bus voltage. The approach is compared with the already available method. The proposed method determines ATC for various transactions by considering thermal limit, voltage limit and static voltage stability limit and tested in WSCC 9 bus system, New England 39 bus system and Indian 181 bus system

  12. A Fast Calculation Method for Analyzing the Effect of Wind Generation on ATC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.A Armin

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Wind energy penetration in power system has been increased very fast and large amount of capitals invested for wind farms all around the world. Meanwhile, in power systems with wind turbine generators (WTGs, the value of Available transfer capability (ATC is influenced by the probabilistic nature of the wind power. The Mont Carlo Simulation (MCS is the most common method to model the uncertainty of WTG. However, the MCS method suffers from low convergence rate. To overcome this shortcoming, the proposed technique in this paper uses a new formulation for solving ATC problem analytically. This lowers the computational burden of the ATC computation and hence results in increased convergence rate of the MCS. Using this fast technique to evaluate the ATC, wind generation and load correlation is required to get into modeling. A numerical method is presented to consider load and wind correlation. The proposed method is tested on the modified IEEE 118 bus to analyze the impacts of the WTGs on the ATC. The obtained results show that wind generation capacity and its correlation with system load has significant impacts on the network transfer capability. In other words, ATC probability distribution is sensitive to the wind generation capacity.

  13. Evaluation of head-free eye tracking as an input device for air traffic control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alonso, Roland; Causse, Mickaël; Vachon, François; Parise, Robert; Dehais, Frédéric; Terrier, Patrice

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility to integrate a free head motion eye-tracking system as input device in air traffic control (ATC) activity. Sixteen participants used an eye tracker to select targets displayed on a screen as quickly and accurately as possible. We assessed the impact of the presence of visual feedback about gaze position and the method of target selection on selection performance under different difficulty levels induced by variations in target size and target-to-target separation. We tend to consider that the combined use of gaze dwell-time selection and continuous eye-gaze feedback was the best condition as it suits naturally with gaze displacement over the ATC display and free the hands of the controller, despite a small cost in terms of selection speed. In addition, target size had a greater impact on accuracy and selection time than target distance. These findings provide guidelines on possible further implementation of eye tracking in ATC everyday activity. We investigated the possibility to integrate a free head motion eye-tracking system as input device in air traffic control (ATC). We found that the combined use of gaze dwell-time selection and continuous eye-gaze feedback allowed the best performance and that target size had a greater impact on performance than target distance.

  14. Passive Target Tracking in Non-cooperative Radar System Based on Particle Filtering

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Shuo; TAO Ran

    2006-01-01

    We propose a target tracking method based on particle filtering(PF) to solve the nonlinear non-Gaussian target-tracking problem in the bistatic radar systems using external radiation sources. Traditional nonlinear state estimation method is extended Kalman filtering (EKF), which is to do the first level Taylor series extension. It will cause an inaccuracy or even a scatter estimation result on condition that there is either a highly nonlinear target or a large noise square-error. Besides, Kalman filtering is the optimal resolution under a Gaussian noise assumption, and is not suitable to the non-Gaussian condition. PF is a sort of statistic filtering based on Monte Carlo simulation that is using some random samples (particles) to simulate the posterior probability density of system random variables. This method can be used in any nonlinear random system. It can be concluded through simulation that PF can achieve higher accuracy than the traditional EKF.

  15. ATC, from all perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palacio, T.

    2010-01-01

    At the meeting in Universidad Menendez Pelayo in Santander, from June 21st to 23rd 2010, was presented a safe and efficient radioactive waste management. The meeting, arranged by ENRESA, became in a disclosure and discussion about the project Almacen Temporal Centralizado (ATC).

  16. The Dornier 328 Acoustic Test Cell (ATC) for interior noise tests and selected test results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hackstein, H. Josef; Borchers, Ingo U.; Renger, Klaus; Vogt, Konrad

    1992-01-01

    To perform acoustic studies for achieving low noise levels for the Dornier 328, an acoustic test cell (ATC) of the Dornier 328 has been built. The ATC consists of a fuselage section, a realistic fuselage suspension system, and three exterior noise simulation rings. A complex digital 60 channel computer/amplifier noise generation system as well as multichannel digital data acquisition and evaluation system have been used. The noise control tests started with vibration measurements for supporting acoustic data interpretation. In addition, experiments have been carried out on dynamic vibration absorbers, the most important passive noise reduction measure for low frequency propeller noise. The design and arrangement of the current ATC are presented. Furthermore, exterior noise simulation as well as data acquisition are explained. The most promising results show noise reduction due to synchrophasing and dynamic vibration absorbers.

  17. Power and phase monitoring system for the lower hybrid phased array heating system on ATC machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reed, B.W.

    1975-01-01

    A four waveguide phased array slow wave structure has been constructed to couple microwave energy into plasma in the ATC Tokamac at Princeton. Theory has indicated that the coupling of power into the plasma column is a strong function of the imposed fourier spectrum at the antenna aperture. To optimize heating, and to verify theoretical results, a precision amplitude and phase monitoring system has been designed and constructed. The system data output is routed to an IBM 1800 computer where the fourier spectrum in n/sub parallel/ space is computed for discrete increments of time during an RF pulse. Computer output data is used to update the adjustment of transmission line parameters in between pulses

  18. Predicting Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) Classification of Drugs by Integrating Chemical-Chemical Interactions and Similarities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lei; Zeng, Wei-Ming; Cai, Yu-Dong; Feng, Kai-Yan; Chou, Kuo-Chen

    2012-01-01

    The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system, recommended by the World Health Organization, categories drugs into different classes according to their therapeutic and chemical characteristics. For a set of query compounds, how can we identify which ATC-class (or classes) they belong to? It is an important and challenging problem because the information thus obtained would be quite useful for drug development and utilization. By hybridizing the informations of chemical-chemical interactions and chemical-chemical similarities, a novel method was developed for such purpose. It was observed by the jackknife test on a benchmark dataset of 3,883 drug compounds that the overall success rate achieved by the prediction method was about 73% in identifying the drugs among the following 14 main ATC-classes: (1) alimentary tract and metabolism; (2) blood and blood forming organs; (3) cardiovascular system; (4) dermatologicals; (5) genitourinary system and sex hormones; (6) systemic hormonal preparations, excluding sex hormones and insulins; (7) anti-infectives for systemic use; (8) antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents; (9) musculoskeletal system; (10) nervous system; (11) antiparasitic products, insecticides and repellents; (12) respiratory system; (13) sensory organs; (14) various. Such a success rate is substantially higher than 7% by the random guess. It has not escaped our notice that the current method can be straightforwardly extended to identify the drugs for their 2nd-level, 3rd-level, 4th-level, and 5th-level ATC-classifications once the statistically significant benchmark data are available for these lower levels. PMID:22514724

  19. Context-dependent ATC complexity metric

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mercado Velasco, G.A.; Borst, C.

    2015-01-01

    Several studies have investigated Air Traffic Control (ATC) complexity metrics in a search for a metric that could best capture workload. These studies have shown how daunting the search for a universal workload metric (one that could be applied in different contexts: sectors, traffic patterns,

  20. A MATLAB-based eye tracking control system using non-invasive helmet head restraint in the macaque.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Luna, Paolo; Mohamed Mustafar, Mohamed Faiz Bin; Rainer, Gregor

    2014-09-30

    Tracking eye position is vital for behavioral and neurophysiological investigations in systems and cognitive neuroscience. Infrared camera systems which are now available can be used for eye tracking without the need to surgically implant magnetic search coils. These systems are generally employed using rigid head fixation in monkeys, which maintains the eye in a constant position and facilitates eye tracking. We investigate the use of non-rigid head fixation using a helmet that constrains only general head orientation and allows some freedom of movement. We present a MATLAB software solution to gather and process eye position data, present visual stimuli, interact with various devices, provide experimenter feedback and store data for offline analysis. Our software solution achieves excellent timing performance due to the use of data streaming, instead of the traditionally employed data storage mode for processing analog eye position data. We present behavioral data from two monkeys, demonstrating that adequate performance levels can be achieved on a simple fixation paradigm and show how performance depends on parameters such as fixation window size. Our findings suggest that non-rigid head restraint can be employed for behavioral training and testing on a variety of gaze-dependent visual paradigms, reducing the need for rigid head restraint systems for some applications. While developed for macaque monkey, our system of course can work equally well for applications in human eye tracking where head constraint is undesirable. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  1. [Development of Autogenic Training Clinical Effectiveness Scale (ATCES)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikezuki, Makoto; Miyauchi, Yuko; Yamaguchi, Hajime; Koshikawa, Fusako

    2002-02-01

    The purpose of the present study was to develop a scale measuring clinical effectiveness of autogenic training. In Study 1, 167 undergraduates completed a survey of items concerning physical and mental states, which were thought to vary in the course of autogenic training. With item and factor analyses, 20 items were selected, and the resulting scale (ATCES) had high discrimination and clear factor structure. In Study 2, reliability and concurrent and clinical validity of the scale were examined with three groups of respondents: 85 mentally healthy, 31 control, 13 clinical persons. The scale showed a high test-retest correlation (r = .83) and alpha coefficient (alpha = .86). ATCES had a Pearson correlation coefficient of r = .56 with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and r = .73 with trait anxiety (STAI-T). And ATCES successfully discriminated the mentally healthy and clinical groups in terms of clinical effectiveness. These results demonstrated high reliability and sufficient concurrent and clinical validity of the new scale.

  2. Color perception and ATC job performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1983-07-01

    Current OMP policy and guidance requires demonstrated job-relatedness and reasonable accommodation in the application of physical qualifications. The OPM has accomplished an analysis of the Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS) series and recommended...

  3. HABOG, ATC Netherlands

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vico, E.

    2010-01-01

    The Netherlands has opted for a centralized temporary storage strategy (ATC) for managing all radioactive waste produced in the country, prior to final disposal in deep geological formations. the agency. COVRA national agency with functions similar to those of ENRESA, operates a complex in the industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost, southwest of the country, near the Borssele nuclear power, within which is the centralized temporary storage facility HABOG , Acronym for building for the processing and storage of high level waste in operation since 2003. (Author)

  4. Evaluation techniques of accuracy characteristics for non-contact photonic track inspection system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Popov, Dmitry V.; Ryabichenko, Roman B.; Krivosheina, Elena A.

    2005-06-01

    The most important task in Moscow metro is increasing safety of railway traffic. For safety purposes six track parameters are measured in Moscow Metro with help of track measurement car. Equipment mounted on this car works only in contact mode and doesn't provide modem requirements for accuracy. Also important task is measurement at high speeds, but contact technology limits speed of movement up to 25mph on rail switches. Current system can't measure in real-time mode. For decision of these field of tasks non-contact photonic measurement system (KSIR) is constructed. The KSIR works at speeds up to 70 mph and measure seven track parameters. The KSIR contains four subsystems: rail wear, height and track gauge measurement (BFSM); rail slump measurement (FTP); contact rail measurement (FKR); speed, level and car locating (USI). KSIR contains five CCD matrix cameras, four line CCD cameras, five infrared stripe lasers and four spot infrared lasers. Laser forms shape on the rail. CCD-camera acquires rail image and transfers it into the digital signal processor which produces preliminary calculation ofrail shape. Then image is transferred into the central computer to calculate values of rail characteristics. Angles between photonic unit and rail bring distortions in images from cameras. Additional distortions are caused by short-focus optics and small distance between camera and track. This distance is limited by structure clearance. The transformation algorithms for distortions elimination are applied. It's based on surfaces spline-approximation. As a result the KSIR calculates coefficients of approximating polynomials. The calibration is performed for checking accuracy of measurement in BFSM, FTP and FKR units. Evaluation techniques of accuracy characteristics are considered.

  5. ATC enhancement using TCSC via artificial intelligent techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rashidinejad, M.; Gharaveisi, A.A.; Farahmand, H.; Fotuhi-Firuzabad, M.

    2008-01-01

    Procurement of optimum available transfer capability (ATC) in the restructured electricity industry is a crucial challenge with regards to open access to transmission network. This paper presents an approach to determine the optimum location and optimum capacity of TCSC in order to improve ATC as well as voltage profile. Real genetic algorithm (RGA) associated with analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy sets are implemented as a hybrid heuristic technique in this paper to optimize such a complicated problem. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is examined through different case studies. (author)

  6. An Error-Entropy Minimization Algorithm for Tracking Control of Nonlinear Stochastic Systems with Non-Gaussian Variables

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, Yunlong; Wang, Aiping; Guo, Lei; Wang, Hong

    2017-07-09

    This paper presents an error-entropy minimization tracking control algorithm for a class of dynamic stochastic system. The system is represented by a set of time-varying discrete nonlinear equations with non-Gaussian stochastic input, where the statistical properties of stochastic input are unknown. By using Parzen windowing with Gaussian kernel to estimate the probability densities of errors, recursive algorithms are then proposed to design the controller such that the tracking error can be minimized. The performance of the error-entropy minimization criterion is compared with the mean-square-error minimization in the simulation results.

  7. ATC/pilot voice communications: A survey of the literature

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prinzo, O. Veronika; Britton, Thomas W.

    1993-11-01

    The first radio-equipped control tower in the United States opened at the Cleveland Municipal Airport in 1930. From that time to the present, voice radio communications have played a primary role in air safety. Verbal communications in air traffic control (ATC) operations have been frequently cited as causal factors in operational errors and pilot deviations in the FAA Operational Error and Deviation System, the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), and reports derived from government sponsored research projects. Collectively, the data provided by these programs indicate that communications constitute a significant problem for pilots and controllers. Although the communications problem was well known the research literature was fragmented, making it difficult to appreciate the various types of verbal communications problems that existed and their unique influence on the quality of ATC/pilot communications. This is a survey of the voice radio communications literature. The 43 reports in the review represent survey data, field studies, laboratory studies, narrative reports, and reviews. The survey topics pertain to communications taxonomies, acoustical correlates and cognitive/psycholinguistic perspectives. Communications taxonomies were used to identify the frequency and types of information that constitute routine communications, as well as those communications involved in operational errors, pilot deviations, and other safety-related events. Acoustical correlate methodologies identified some qualities of a speaker's voice, such as loudness, pitch, and speech rate, which might be used potentially to monitor stress, mental workload, and other forms of psychological or physiological factors that affect performance. Cognitive/psycho-linguistic research offered an information processing perspective for understanding how pilots' and controllers' memory and language comprehension processes affect their ability to communicate effectively with one another. This

  8. The public opinion and ATC; La opinion publica y el ATC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ballera, J.

    2010-07-01

    The role of the media is essential to adopt a final decision in relation to the location of a Centralized Temporary Storage (ATC)in Spain. to the deliberative process is public, open and transparent, as included in Royal Decree that created the Inter ministerial Commission responsible for overseeing the procedure, it is necessary for that citizens has information, clear and unequivocal. indicators such as the special edition of the Eurobarometer survey published in June 2008 showed that it is moving towards a truly informed public opinion in these matters. (Author)

  9. UAS in the NAS: Survey Responses by ATC, Manned Aircraft Pilots, and UAS Pilots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comstock, James R., Jr.; McAdaragh, Raymon; Ghatas, Rania W.; Burdette, Daniel W.; Trujillo, Anna C.

    2014-01-01

    NASA currently is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish future requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flying in the National Airspace System (NAS). To work these issues NASA has established a multi-center "UAS Integration in the NAS" project. In order to establish Ground Control Station requirements for UAS, the perspective of each of the major players in NAS operations was desired. Three on-line surveys were administered that focused on Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), pilots of manned aircraft, and pilots of UAS. Follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with some survey respondents. The survey questions addressed UAS control, navigation, and communications from the perspective of small and large unmanned aircraft. Questions also addressed issues of UAS equipage, especially with regard to sense and avoid capabilities. From the civilian ATC and military ATC perspectives, of particular interest are how mixed operations (manned / UAS) have worked in the past and the role of aircraft equipage. Knowledge gained from this information is expected to assist the NASA UAS Integration in the NAS project in directing research foci thus assisting the FAA in the development of rules, regulations, and policies related to UAS in the NAS.

  10. Color and Visual Factors in ATC Displays

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Xing, Jing

    2006-01-01

    .... While the advantages of color may be apparent, many display designs suggest that ATC technology developers have not used basic human factors and color principles to optimize the advantages of color...

  11. Adaptive tracking control for active suspension systems with non-ideal actuators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Huihui; Sun, Weichao; Jing, Xingjian; Gao, Huijun; Yao, Jianyong

    2017-07-01

    As a critical component of transportation vehicles, active suspension systems are instrumental in the improvement of ride comfort and maneuverability. However, practical active suspensions commonly suffer from parameter uncertainties (e.g., the variations of payload mass and suspension component parameters), external disturbances and especially the unknown non-ideal actuators (i.e., dead-zone and hysteresis nonlinearities), which always significantly deteriorate the control performance in practice. To overcome these issues, this paper synthesizes an adaptive tracking control strategy for vehicle suspension systems to achieve suspension performance improvements. The proposed control algorithm is formulated by developing a unified framework of non-ideal actuators rather than a separate way, which is a simple yet effective approach to remove the unexpected nonlinear effects. From the perspective of practical implementation, the advantages of the presented controller for active suspensions include that the assumptions on the measurable actuator outputs, the prior knowledge of nonlinear actuator parameters and the uncertain parameters within a known compact set are not required. Furthermore, the stability of the closed-loop suspension system is theoretically guaranteed by rigorous mathematical analysis. Finally, the effectiveness of the presented adaptive control scheme is confirmed using comparative numerical simulation validations.

  12. 77 FR 6949 - Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Rates for Non-U.S. Government Customers

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-10

    ... Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Rates for Non- U.S. Government Customers AGENCY: National... customer flexibility, allowing more efficient use of the system. This notion was never implemented in the... commercial customers, as well as Arctic and Antarctic science programs. In this direct final rule, NASA is...

  13. Robust intelligent backstepping tracking control for uncertain non-linear chaotic systems using H∞ control technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng, Y.-F.

    2009-01-01

    The cerebellar model articulation controller (CMAC) is a non-linear adaptive system with built-in simple computation, good generalization capability and fast learning property. In this paper, a robust intelligent backstepping tracking control (RIBTC) system combined with adaptive CMAC and H ∞ control technique is proposed for a class of chaotic systems with unknown system dynamics and external disturbance. In the proposed control system, an adaptive backstepping cerebellar model articulation controller (ABCMAC) is used to mimic an ideal backstepping control (IBC), and a robust H ∞ controller is designed to attenuate the effect of the residual approximation errors and external disturbances with desired attenuation level. Moreover, the all adaptation laws of the RIBTC system are derived based on the Lyapunov stability analysis, the Taylor linearization technique and H ∞ control theory, so that the stability of the closed-loop system and H ∞ tracking performance can be guaranteed. Finally, three application examples, including a Duffing-Holmes chaotic system, a Genesio chaotic system and a Sprott circuit system, are used to demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of proposed robust control technique.

  14. Improving Pilot/ATC Voice Communication in General Aviation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Morrow, Daniel

    1999-01-01

    ...) Basic General Aviation Research Simulator (BGARS). Prior to flying the simulator each pilot was provided with familiarization training, listened to and read back ATC messages spoken in either grouped or sequential format...

  15. Novel Zinc(II Complexes [Zn(atc-Et2] and [Zn(atc-Ph2]: In Vitro and in Vivo Antiproliferative Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erica de O. Lopes

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Cisplatin and its derivatives are the main metallodrugs used in cancer therapy. However, low selectivity, toxicity and drug resistance are associated with their use. The zinc(II (ZnII thiosemicarbazone complexes [Zn(atc-Et2] (1 and [Zn(atc-Ph2] (2 (atc-R: monovalent anion of 2-acetylpyridine N4-R-thiosemicarbazone were synthesized and fully characterized in the solid state and in solution via elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR, ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR spectroscopy, conductometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The cytotoxicity of these complexes was evaluated in the HepG2, HeLa, MDA-MB-231, K-562, DU 145 and MRC-5 cancer cell lines. The strongest antiproliferative results were observed in MDA-MB-231 and HepG2 cells, in which these complexes displayed significant selective toxicity (3.1 and 3.6, respectively compared with their effects on normal MRC-5 cells. In vivo studies were performed using an alternative model (Artemia salina L. to assure the safety of these complexes, and the results were confirmed using a conventional model (BALB/c mice. Finally, tests of oral bioavailability showed maximum plasma concentrations of 3029.50 µg/L and 1191.95 µg/L for complexes 1 and 2, respectively. According to all obtained results, both compounds could be considered as prospective antiproliferative agents that warrant further research.

  16. 14 CFR 99.17 - Deviation from flight plans and ATC clearances and instructions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Deviation from flight plans and ATC clearances and instructions. 99.17 Section 99.17 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION... TRAFFIC General § 99.17 Deviation from flight plans and ATC clearances and instructions. (a) No pilot may...

  17. Solar tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okandan, Murat; Nielson, Gregory N.

    2016-07-12

    Solar tracking systems, as well as methods of using such solar tracking systems, are disclosed. More particularly, embodiments of the solar tracking systems include lateral supports horizontally positioned between uprights to support photovoltaic modules. The lateral supports may be raised and lowered along the uprights or translated to cause the photovoltaic modules to track the moving sun.

  18. Scaling with toroidal current of impurity transport in ATC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marmar, E.S.; Cohen, S.A.; Cecchi, J.L.

    1976-06-01

    An experiment measuring the scaling with changing plasma conditions of a parameter characteristic of the transport of aluminum injected into the ATC tokamak is discussed. This parameter is the time after injection at which the photon signal from Al XI reaches its maximum. It is found that the data are in agreement with the predictions of a computer code which uses neoclassical theory in the Pfirsch-Schluter regime. An approximate model describing impurity transport in ATC is also presented. This model is utilized to calculate the expected scaling with current of the aluminum transport assuming classical, neoclassical and pseudoclassical forms for the diffusion coefficient. The data are in agreement with both the neoclassical and pseudoclassical results from this model

  19. 75 FR 30372 - Foreign-Trade Zone 196 Temporary/Interim Manufacturing Authority ATC Logistics & Electronics...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Docket T-2-2010] Foreign-Trade Zone 196 Temporary/Interim Manufacturing Authority ATC Logistics & Electronics (Cell Phone Kitting and Distribution... filed an application submitted by the ATC Logistics & Electronics, operator of Site 2, FTZ 196...

  20. Initial validations for pursuing irradiation using a gimbals tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takayama, Kenji; Mizowaki, Takashi; Kokubo, Masaki; Kawada, Noriyuki; Nakayama, Hiroshi; Narita, Yuichiro; Nagano, Kazuo; Kamino, Yuichiro; Hiraoka, Masahiro

    2009-01-01

    Our newly designed image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) system enables the dynamic tracking irradiation with a gimbaled X-ray head and a dual on-board kilovolt imaging subsystem for real-time target localization. Examinations using a computer-controlled three-dimensionally movable phantom demonstrated that our gimbals tracking system significantly reduced motion blurring effects in the dose distribution compared to the non-tracking state.

  1. Efforts to stabilize the M = 2 helical instability in ATC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bol, K.; Ellis, R.A. Jr.; Hsuan, H.

    1975-01-01

    Experiments show that there is no difficulty about interacting with a 2/1 mode in ATC, and that given sufficient gain and a harmonic-free control winding the probability of stabilizing it is good. Control by steadily applied, DC quadrupole fields, on the other hand, on the basis of experiments with ATC as well as Pulsator, would seem at this juncture to have a small chance of success. Finally, the high currents achieved in gettered discharges offer the possibility that if control of wall emission can be achieved--e.g., with a divertor--one may simultaneously achieve a measure of control of the 2/1 and higher modes

  2. A distributed database view of network tracking systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yosinski, Jason; Paffenroth, Randy

    2008-04-01

    In distributed tracking systems, multiple non-collocated trackers cooperate to fuse local sensor data into a global track picture. Generating this global track picture at a central location is fairly straightforward, but the single point of failure and excessive bandwidth requirements introduced by centralized processing motivate the development of decentralized methods. In many decentralized tracking systems, trackers communicate with their peers via a lossy, bandwidth-limited network in which dropped, delayed, and out of order packets are typical. Oftentimes the decentralized tracking problem is viewed as a local tracking problem with a networking twist; we believe this view can underestimate the network complexities to be overcome. Indeed, a subsequent 'oversight' layer is often introduced to detect and handle track inconsistencies arising from a lack of robustness to network conditions. We instead pose the decentralized tracking problem as a distributed database problem, enabling us to draw inspiration from the vast extant literature on distributed databases. Using the two-phase commit algorithm, a well known technique for resolving transactions across a lossy network, we describe several ways in which one may build a distributed multiple hypothesis tracking system from the ground up to be robust to typical network intricacies. We pay particular attention to the dissimilar challenges presented by network track initiation vs. maintenance and suggest a hybrid system that balances speed and robustness by utilizing two-phase commit for only track initiation transactions. Finally, we present simulation results contrasting the performance of such a system with that of more traditional decentralized tracking implementations.

  3. The public opinion and ATC

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ballera, J.

    2010-01-01

    The role of the media is essential to adopt a final decision in relation to the location of a Centralized Temporary Storage (ATC)in Spain. to the deliberative process is public, open and transparent, as included in Royal Decree that created the Inter ministerial Commission responsible for overseeing the procedure, it is necessary for that citizens has information, clear and unequivocal. indicators such as the special edition of the Eurobarometer survey published in June 2008 showed that it is moving towards a truly informed public opinion in these matters. (Author)

  4. Inferring anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) class of drugs using shortest path and random walk with restart algorithms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Lei; Liu, Tao; Zhao, Xian

    2018-06-01

    The anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) classification system is a widely accepted drug classification scheme. This system comprises five levels and includes several classes in each level. Drugs are classified into classes according to their therapeutic effects and characteristics. The first level includes 14 main classes. In this study, we proposed two network-based models to infer novel potential chemicals deemed to belong in the first level of ATC classification. To build these models, two large chemical networks were constructed using the chemical-chemical interaction information retrieved from the Search Tool for Interactions of Chemicals (STITCH). Two classic network algorithms, shortest path (SP) and random walk with restart (RWR) algorithms, were executed on the corresponding network to mine novel chemicals for each ATC class using the validated drugs in a class as seed nodes. Then, the obtained chemicals yielded by these two algorithms were further evaluated by a permutation test and an association test. The former can exclude chemicals produced by the structure of the network, i.e., false positive discoveries. By contrast, the latter identifies the most important chemicals that have strong associations with the ATC class. Comparisons indicated that the two models can provide quite dissimilar results, suggesting that the results yielded by one model can be essential supplements for those obtained by the other model. In addition, several representative inferred chemicals were analyzed to confirm the reliability of the results generated by the two models. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Accelerating Precision Medicine through Genetic and Genomic Big Data Analysis edited by Yudong Cai & Tao Huang. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. 76 FR 35025 - Nokia, Inc.; a Subsidiary of Nokia Group; Including On-Site Leased Workers From ATC Logistics and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-15

    ... of Nokia Group; Including On-Site Leased Workers From ATC Logistics and Electronics and Adecco Fort... workers from ATC Logistics and Electronics, Fort Worth, Texas. The workers supplied planning and materials... ATC Logistics and Electronics, and Adecco, Fort Worth, Texas, who became totally or partially...

  6. 75 FR 64248 - Approval for Manufacturing Authority Foreign-Trade Zone 196 ATC Logistics & Electronics (Cell...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-19

    ... Authority Foreign-Trade Zone 196 ATC Logistics & Electronics (Cell Phone Kitting) Fort Worth, TX Pursuant to... Foreign-Trade Zones Board (the Board) adopts the following Order: Whereas, ATC Logistics & Electronics... Logistics & Electronics, as described in the application and Federal Register notice, is approved, subject...

  7. The Benefit Impact of Air Pollution Reduction Through ATCS Implementation at Intersections

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budihardjo, Mochamad Arief; Huboyo, Haryono Setiyo; Samadikun, Budi Prasetyo

    2018-02-01

    The field study in five intersections that had ATCS, such as Krapyak, Tugu Muda, Polda, Bangkong and Fatmawati were done to investigate the effectivity of air pollution reduction. The study was done by estimating the differences between the vehicle speed due to the cycle duration of green light by field observation and video recording in each intersection. In five intersections that had been observed, the percentage of fuel consumption savings for two-wheeled vehicles were between 15 - 18%, meanwhile for four-wheel vehicles were between 30 - 46%. Based on the calculation that adopt the emission factor from CORINAIR and USEPA emission, the emission reduction based on pollutant types were TSP (12-17%), NOx (22-36%), CO (15-25%), HC (16-28%) and SO2 (22-35%). The result to the vehicles' speed that passed the intersections through ATCS has also indicated that the ATCS could increase vehicle speed and consequently reduce the emission.

  8. The Benefit Impact of Air Pollution Reduction Through ATCS Implementation at Intersections

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arief Budihardjo Mochamad

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The field study in five intersections that had ATCS, such as Krapyak, Tugu Muda, Polda, Bangkong and Fatmawati were done to investigate the effectivity of air pollution reduction. The study was done by estimating the differences between the vehicle speed due to the cycle duration of green light by field observation and video recording in each intersection. In five intersections that had been observed, the percentage of fuel consumption savings for two-wheeled vehicles were between 15 – 18%, meanwhile for four-wheel vehicles were between 30 – 46%. Based on the calculation that adopt the emission factor from CORINAIR and USEPA emission, the emission reduction based on pollutant types were TSP (12-17%, NOx (22-36%, CO (15-25%, HC (16-28% and SO2 (22-35%. The result to the vehicles' speed that passed the intersections through ATCS has also indicated that the ATCS could increase vehicle speed and consequently reduce the emission.

  9. ATC Operations Analysis via Automatic Recognition of Clearances, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Recent advances in airport surface surveillance have motivated the creation of new tools for analysis of Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations, such as the Surface...

  10. Non-etching nuclear track visualization in polymers: fluorescent and dyed tracks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Somogyi, G.; Toth-Szilagyi, M.; Monnin, M.; Gourcy, J.

    1979-01-01

    A report is presented on progress in two methods of non-etching nuclear track visualization. The basis for one method is to graft polymer chains in the vicinity of the ion path in a polymer, and then to dye it, making the track visible. The second method is similar, but in this case saturated organic molecules can be used, which prevents subsequent polymerization. The detector is soaked with a solution of a sensitization molecule that can react with a convenient dye and fix it. The sensitization molecules may diffuse into the detector either through the bulk of it or/ and along the region damaged by a charged particle. Depending on the detailed procedure used, the tracks may be seen as 'dyed tracks' with visible-light illumination or as 'fluorescent tracks' with u.v. illumination. Experimental procedures and results are given and discussed. (U.K.)

  11. A Time-Frequency Respiration Tracking System using Non-Contact Bed Sensors with Harmonic Artifact Rejection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beattie, Zachary T.; Jacobs, Peter G.; Riley, Thomas C.; Hagen, Chad C.

    2015-01-01

    Sleep apnea is a serious health condition that affects many individuals and has been associated with serious health conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Clinical diagnosis of sleep apnea requires that a patient spend the night in a sleep clinic while being wired up to numerous obtrusive sensors. We are developing a system that utilizes respiration rate and breathing amplitude inferred from non-contact bed sensors (i.e. load cells placed under bed supports) to detect sleep apnea. Multi-harmonic artifacts generated either biologically or as a result of the impulse response of the bed have made it challenging to track respiration rate and amplitude with high resolution in time. In this paper, we present an algorithm that can accurately track respiration on a second-by-second basis while removing noise harmonics. The algorithm is tested using data collected from 5 patients during overnight sleep studies. Respiration rate is compared with polysomnography estimations of respiration rate estimated by a technician following clinical standards. Results indicate that certain subjects exhibit a large harmonic component of their breathing signal that can be removed by our algorithm. When compared with technician transcribed respiration rates using polysomnography signals, we demonstrate improved accuracy of respiration rate tracking using harmonic artifact rejection (mean error: 0.18 breaths/minute) over tracking not using harmonic artifact rejection (mean error: −2.74 breaths/minute). PMID:26738176

  12. Remote gaze tracking system for 3D environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Congcong Liu; Herrup, Karl; Shi, Bertram E

    2017-07-01

    Eye tracking systems are typically divided into two categories: remote and mobile. Remote systems, where the eye tracker is located near the object being viewed by the subject, have the advantage of being less intrusive, but are typically used for tracking gaze points on fixed two dimensional (2D) computer screens. Mobile systems such as eye tracking glasses, where the eye tracker are attached to the subject, are more intrusive, but are better suited for cases where subjects are viewing objects in the three dimensional (3D) environment. In this paper, we describe how remote gaze tracking systems developed for 2D computer screens can be used to track gaze points in a 3D environment. The system is non-intrusive. It compensates for small head movements by the user, so that the head need not be stabilized by a chin rest or bite bar. The system maps the 3D gaze points of the user onto 2D images from a scene camera and is also located remotely from the subject. Measurement results from this system indicate that it is able to estimate gaze points in the scene camera to within one degree over a wide range of head positions.

  13. Motion Tracking for Medical Imaging: A Non-Visible Structured Light Tracking Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Oline Vinter; Paulsen, Rasmus Reinhold; Højgaard, Liselotte

    2012-01-01

    We present a system for head motion tracking in 3D brain imaging. The system is based on facial surface reconstruction and tracking using a structured light (SL) scanning principle. The system is designed to fit into narrow 3D medical scanner geometries limiting the field of view. It is tested......, is that it is not necessary to place markers on the patient. This provides a simpler workflow and eliminates uncertainties related to marker attachment and stability. We show proof of concept of a marker less tracking system especially designed for clinical use with promising results....... in a clinical setting on the high resolution research tomograph (HRRT), Siemens PET scanner with a head phantom and volunteers. The SL system is compared to a commercial optical tracking system, the Polaris Vicra system, from NDI based on translatory and rotary ground truth motions of the head phantom...

  14. The ATC, the centralized temporary storage facility for the spanish nuclear spend fuel; El ATC, la instalación de Almacenamiento Temporal Centralizado de Combustible Nuclear Gastado Español

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    González Fernández-Conde, A.; Gónzalez Gandal, R.; Larrosa Peruga, O.; Medinilla Téllez, G.; Navarro Santos, M.

    2016-07-01

    The ATC, strategic project contained in the Sixth Radioactive Waste General Plan approved by the Government in 2006, is the temporary storage facility of centralized nature intended to store the spent nuclear fuel generated by Spanish NPP during their operation life, for other so-called special waste arising either from the ATC operation itself or from NPP dismantling, and for vitrified waste generated as a result of fuel reprocessing from Vandellós 1 NPP. The main functions of the ATC are the reception of transport casks, encapsulation of spent fuel, and storage of such canister in dry vaults with passive cooling by natural convection; and additionally, the temporary storage of storage casks with spent fuel, of other special waste in canisters, and finally of secondary waste generated during the operation of the facility. The facility estimated operation lifetime is 60 years, and its safety structures, systems and components are designed considering the requirements according to the Spanish nuclear regulations and using best international practices. In the detailed design, major Spanish and some foreign nuclear sector engineering companies are taking part. [Spanish] El ATC, proyecto estratégico recogido en el Sexto Plan General de Residuos Radiactivos aprobado por el Gobierno en 2006, es la instalación de almacenamiento temporal de carácter centralizado destinada para el combustible nuclear gastado generado por las centrales nucleares españolas durante su proceso de operación, así como de otros residuos denominados especiales originados por la propia operación o durante el desmantelamiento de las citadas centrales nucleares, así como los residuos vitrificados originados como consecuencia del reproceso del combustible de la central nuclear de Vandellós I. Las principales funciones del ATC son la recepción de los contenedores de transporte, encapsulado del combustible y almacenamiento de dichas cápsulas en bóvedas en seco con refrigeración pasiva por

  15. Physical activity measured using global positioning system tracking in non-small cell lung cancer: an observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granger, Catherine L; Denehy, Linda; McDonald, Christine F; Irving, Louis; Clark, Ross A

    2014-11-01

    Increasingly physical activity (PA) is being recognized as an important outcome in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We investigated PA using novel global positioning system (GPS) tracking individuals with NSCLC and a group of similar-aged healthy individuals. A prospective cross-sectional multicenter study. Fifty individuals with NSCLC from 3 Australian tertiary hospitals and 35 similar-aged healthy individuals without cancer were included. Individuals with NSCLC were assessed pretreatment. Primary measures were triaxial accelerometery (steps/day) and GPS tracking (outdoor PA behavior). Secondary measures were questionnaires assessing depression, motivation to exercise, and environmental barriers to PA. Between-group comparisons were analyzed using analysis of covariance. Individuals with NSCLC engaged in significantly less PA than similar-aged healthy individuals (mean difference 2363 steps/day, P = .007) and had higher levels of depression (P = .027) and lower motivation to exercise (P = .001). Daily outdoor walking time (P = .874) and distance travelled away from home (P = .883) were not different between groups. Individuals with NSCLC spent less time outdoors in their local neighborhood area (P system tracking appears to be a feasible methodology for adult cancer patients and holds promise for use in future studies investigating PA and or lifestyle behaviors. © The Author(s) 2014.

  16. A High Performance System With Explicit Incorporation of ATC Regulations to Generate Contingency Plans for UAVs with Lost Communication, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We propose a comprehensive and systematic contingency plan generation framework to deal with lost communication in UAVs. ATC regulations are explicitly incorporated...

  17. 基于概率模型的ATC系统冲突目标生成算法%Probability-Based Method of Generating the Conflict Trajectories for ATC System

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    苏志刚; 眭聪聪; 吴仁彪

    2011-01-01

    For testing the capability of short term conflict alerting of air traffic control system, two methods are usually used. The former is to set a higher threshold, use the real data testing whether the system can alert when distance between two flights gets lower than the threshold. However, this method is not reliable. The second method is simulating flights which will conflict and obtain their trajectory from calculating, and then send these data to ATC system to see its reaction. This method is usually too simple to test whether the system can pre-detect a conflict effectively. To solve these problems, a probabilistic approach is used in this paper to simulate air-crafts with given probability of conflicting. Firstly, we derived the conflict probability of turing flights from Prandaini' s method of conflict probability estimation for linear flight. Then using reverse derivation we got the motion parameters of two targets whose conflict probability was pre-setted. At last, we simulated this pair of targets' track and anlysised their conflict probability. The simulation results show that the targets' probability of conflict was in line with the previous assumption. The trajectories generated by this algorithm are more realistic then a more effective conclusion of ATC system' s capability of short term conflict alerting and pre-detecting will be provided.%通常用于测试空中交通管制(Air Traffic Control,ATC)自动化系统的飞行冲突告警功能的方法主要有放宽系统告警值和向系统输入模拟的飞行冲突目标的雷达数据.前一种方法存在不可靠性,第二种方法由于只产生简单的确定目标轨迹数据,因此只能简单地测试系统能否告警,无法对系统的飞行冲突预测能力作出评价.为了使用于测试系统的模拟雷达数据更符合实际飞行情况,并检测系统预测飞行冲突的技术水平,本文提出了一种基于飞行

  18. Systematic instruction of assistive technology for cognition (ATC) in an employment setting following acquired brain injury: A single case, experimental study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powell, Laurie E; Glang, Ann; Pinkelman, Sarah; Albin, Richard; Harwick, Robin; Ettel, Deborah; Wild, Michelle R

    2015-01-01

    Assistive technology for cognition (ATC) can be an effective means of compensating for cognitive impairments following acquired brain injury. Systematic instruction is an evidence-based approach to training a variety of skills and strategies, including the use of ATC. This study experimentally evaluated systematic instruction applied to assistive technology for cognition (ATC) in a vocational setting. The study used a single-case, multiple-probe design across behaviors design. The participant was a 50-year old female with cognitive impairments following an acquired brain injury (ABI). As a part-time employee, she was systematically instructed on how to operate and routinely use selected applications (apps) on her iPod Touch to support three work-related skills: (a) recording/recalling the details of work assignments, (b) recording/recalling work-related meetings and conversations, and (c) recording/performing multi-step technology tasks. The experimental intervention was systematic instruction applied to ATC. The dependent measures were: (a) the use of ATC at work as measured by an ATC routine task analysis; and (b) recall of work-related tasks and information. Treatment effects were replicated across the three work-related skills and were maintained up to one year following the completion of intensive training across behaviors with periodic review (booster sessions). Systematic instruction is a critical component to teaching the routine use of ATC to compensate for cognitive impairments following ABI.

  19. Renewable Energy Tracking Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renewable energy generation ownership can be accounted through tracking systems. Tracking systems are highly automated, contain specific information about each MWh, and are accessible over the internet to market participants.

  20. Pennsylvania Source Term Tracking System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-08-01

    The Pennsylvania Source Term Tracking System tabulates surveys received from radioactive waste generators in the Commonwealth of radioactive waste is collected each quarter from generators using the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Quarterly Report Form (hereafter called the survey) and then entered into the tracking system data base. This personal computer-based tracking system can generate 12 types of tracking reports. The first four sections of this reference manual supply complete instructions for installing and setting up the tracking system on a PC. Section 5 presents instructions for entering quarterly survey data, and Section 6 discusses generating reports. The appendix includes samples of each report

  1. Development of ATC for High Speed and High Density Commuter Line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okutani, Tamio; Nakamura, Nobuyuki; Araki, Hisato; Irie, Shouji; Osa, Hiroki; Sano, Minoru; Ikeda, Keigo; Ozawa, Hiroyuki

    A new ATC (Automatic Train Control) system has been developed with solutions to realize short train headway by assured braking utilizing digital data transmission via rails; the digital data for the ATP (Automatic Train Protection) function; and to achieve EMC features for both AC and DC sections. The DC section is of the unprecedented DC traction power supply system utilizing IGBT PWM converter at all DC substations. Within the AC section, train traction force is controlled by PWM converter/inverters. The carrier frequencies of the digital data signals and chopping frequency of PWM traction power converters on-board are decided via spectral analysis of noise up to degraded mode cases of equipment. Developed system was equipped to the Tukuba Express Line, new commuter line of Tokyo metropolitan area, and opened since Aug. 2005.

  2. A Non-Intrusive Cyber Physical Social Sensing Solution to People Behavior Tracking: Mechanism, Prototype, and Field Experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Yunjian; Zhou, Zhenyu; Chen, Fei; Duan, Peng; Guo, Zhen; Mumtaz, Shahid

    2017-01-13

    Tracking people's behaviors is a main category of cyber physical social sensing (CPSS)-related people-centric applications. Most tracking methods utilize camera networks or sensors built into mobile devices such as global positioning system (GPS) and Bluetooth. In this article, we propose a non-intrusive wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)-based tracking method. To show the feasibility, we target tracking people's access behaviors in Wi-Fi networks, which has drawn a lot of interest from the academy and industry recently. Existing methods used for acquiring access traces either provide very limited visibility into media access control (MAC)-level transmission dynamics or sometimes are inflexible and costly. In this article, we present a passive CPSS system operating in a non-intrusive, flexible, and simplified manner to overcome above limitations. We have implemented the prototype on the off-the-shelf personal computer, and performed real-world deployment experiments. The experimental results show that the method is feasible, and people's access behaviors can be correctly tracked within a one-second delay.

  3. Implementation of Active Thermal Control (ATC) for the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Radiometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mikhaylov, Rebecca; Kwack, Eug; French, Richard; Dawson, Douglas; Hoffman, Pamela

    2014-01-01

    affords to operate the radiometer component away from the problematic temperature zone. A simple ThermXL model (10 nodes) was developed to exercise quick trade studies among various proposed control algorithms: Modified P control vs. PI control. The ThermXL results were then compared with the detailed Thermal Desktop (TD) model for corroboration. Once done, the simple ThermXL model was used to evaluate parameter effects such as temperature digitization, heater size and gain margin, time step, and voltage variation of power supply on the ATC performance. A Modified P control algorithm was implemented into the instrument flight electronics based on the ThermXL results. The thermal short-term stability margin decreased by 10 percent with ATC and a wide temperature error band (plus or minus 0.1 degrees Centigrade) compared to the original passive thermal design. However, a tighter temperature error band (plus or minus 0.1 degrees Centigrade) increased the thermal short-term stability margin by a factor of three over the passive thermal design. The current ATC design provides robust thermal control, tighter stability, and greater in-flight flexibility even though its implementation was prompted by non-thermal performance concerns.

  4. Second sound tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2017-10-01

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

  5. A Non-Intrusive Cyber Physical Social Sensing Solution to People Behavior Tracking: Mechanism, Prototype, and Field Experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunjian Jia

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Tracking people’s behaviors is a main category of cyber physical social sensing (CPSS-related people-centric applications. Most tracking methods utilize camera networks or sensors built into mobile devices such as global positioning system (GPS and Bluetooth. In this article, we propose a non-intrusive wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi-based tracking method. To show the feasibility, we target tracking people’s access behaviors in Wi-Fi networks, which has drawn a lot of interest from the academy and industry recently. Existing methods used for acquiring access traces either provide very limited visibility into media access control (MAC-level transmission dynamics or sometimes are inflexible and costly. In this article, we present a passive CPSS system operating in a non-intrusive, flexible, and simplified manner to overcome above limitations. We have implemented the prototype on the off-the-shelf personal computer, and performed real-world deployment experiments. The experimental results show that the method is feasible, and people’s access behaviors can be correctly tracked within a one-second delay.

  6. Radar tracking with an interacting multiple model and probabilistic data association filter for civil aviation applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jan, Shau-Shiun; Kao, Yu-Chun

    2013-05-17

    The current trend of the civil aviation technology is to modernize the legacy air traffic control (ATC) system that is mainly supported by many ground based navigation aids to be the new air traffic management (ATM) system that is enabled by global positioning system (GPS) technology. Due to the low receiving power of GPS signal, it is a major concern to aviation authorities that the operation of the ATM system might experience service interruption when the GPS signal is jammed by either intentional or unintentional radio-frequency interference. To maintain the normal operation of the ATM system during the period of GPS outage, the use of the current radar system is proposed in this paper. However, the tracking performance of the current radar system could not meet the required performance of the ATM system, and an enhanced tracking algorithm, the interacting multiple model and probabilistic data association filter (IMMPDAF), is therefore developed to support the navigation and surveillance services of the ATM system. The conventional radar tracking algorithm, the nearest neighbor Kalman filter (NNKF), is used as the baseline to evaluate the proposed radar tracking algorithm, and the real flight data is used to validate the IMMPDAF algorithm. As shown in the results, the proposed IMMPDAF algorithm could enhance the tracking performance of the current aviation radar system and meets the required performance of the new ATM system. Thus, the current radar system with the IMMPDAF algorithm could be used as an alternative system to continue aviation navigation and surveillance services of the ATM system during GPS outage periods.

  7. Radar Tracking with an Interacting Multiple Model and Probabilistic Data Association Filter for Civil Aviation Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shau-Shiun Jan

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The current trend of the civil aviation technology is to modernize the legacy air traffic control (ATC system that is mainly supported by many ground based navigation aids to be the new air traffic management (ATM system that is enabled by global positioning system (GPS technology. Due to the low receiving power of GPS signal, it is a major concern to aviation authorities that the operation of the ATM system might experience service interruption when the GPS signal is jammed by either intentional or unintentional radio-frequency interference. To maintain the normal operation of the ATM system during the period of GPS outage, the use of the current radar system is proposed in this paper. However, the tracking performance of the current radar system could not meet the required performance of the ATM system, and an enhanced tracking algorithm, the interacting multiple model and probabilistic data association filter (IMMPDAF, is therefore developed to support the navigation and surveillance services of the ATM system. The conventional radar tracking algorithm, the nearest neighbor Kalman filter (NNKF, is used as the baseline to evaluate the proposed radar tracking algorithm, and the real flight data is used to validate the IMMPDAF algorithm. As shown in the results, the proposed IMMPDAF algorithm could enhance the tracking performance of the current aviation radar system and meets the required performance of the new ATM system. Thus, the current radar system with the IMMPDAF algorithm could be used as an alternative system to continue aviation navigation and surveillance services of the ATM system during GPS outage periods.

  8. Measurement of the energy balance in ATC Tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsuan, H.; Bol, K.; Ellis, R.A.

    1975-01-01

    Gross properties of the energy balance in the ATC tokamak have been investigated. During the quasi-steady state phase of a normal discharge, the major part of the energy loss was found to be the limiters. Radiation and charge-exchange play minor roles during this quasi-steady state phase, but are nevertheless the dominant loss mechanisms at the termination of a discharge; and account for a substantial portion of the stored poloidal magnetic energy associated with the plasma current. (auth)

  9. Note: Reliable and non-contact 6D motion tracking system based on 2D laser scanners for cargo transportation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Young-Keun, E-mail: ykkim@handong.edu [Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Handong Global University, Pohang (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Kyung-Soo [Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701 (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-10-15

    Maritime transportation demands an accurate measurement system to track the motion of oscillating container boxes in real time. However, it is a challenge to design a sensor system that can provide both reliable and non-contact methods of 6-DOF motion measurements of a remote object for outdoor applications. In the paper, a sensor system based on two 2D laser scanners is proposed for detecting the relative 6-DOF motion of a crane load in real time. Even without implementing a camera, the proposed system can detect the motion of a remote object using four laser beam points. Because it is a laser-based sensor, the system is expected to be highly robust to sea weather conditions.

  10. An Enhanced Non-Coherent Pre-Filter Design for Tracking Error Estimation in GNSS Receivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Zhibin; Ding, Jicheng; Zhao, Lin; Wu, Mouyan

    2017-11-18

    Tracking error estimation is of great importance in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers. Any inaccurate estimation for tracking error will decrease the signal tracking ability of signal tracking loops and the accuracies of position fixing, velocity determination, and timing. Tracking error estimation can be done by traditional discriminator, or Kalman filter-based pre-filter. The pre-filter can be divided into two categories: coherent and non-coherent. This paper focuses on the performance improvements of non-coherent pre-filter. Firstly, the signal characteristics of coherent and non-coherent integration-which are the basis of tracking error estimation-are analyzed in detail. After that, the probability distribution of estimation noise of four-quadrant arctangent (ATAN2) discriminator is derived according to the mathematical model of coherent integration. Secondly, the statistical property of observation noise of non-coherent pre-filter is studied through Monte Carlo simulation to set the observation noise variance matrix correctly. Thirdly, a simple fault detection and exclusion (FDE) structure is introduced to the non-coherent pre-filter design, and thus its effective working range for carrier phase error estimation extends from (-0.25 cycle, 0.25 cycle) to (-0.5 cycle, 0.5 cycle). Finally, the estimation accuracies of discriminator, coherent pre-filter, and the enhanced non-coherent pre-filter are evaluated comprehensively through the carefully designed experiment scenario. The pre-filter outperforms traditional discriminator in estimation accuracy. In a highly dynamic scenario, the enhanced non-coherent pre-filter provides accuracy improvements of 41.6%, 46.4%, and 50.36% for carrier phase error, carrier frequency error, and code phase error estimation, respectively, when compared with coherent pre-filter. The enhanced non-coherent pre-filter outperforms the coherent pre-filter in code phase error estimation when carrier-to-noise density ratio

  11. Tracking the Sun IX: The Installed Price of Residential and Non-Residential Photovoltaic Systems in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area; Darghouth, Naïm [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Technologies Area; Millstein, Dev [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Cates, Sarah [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States); DiSanti, Nicholas [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States); Widiss, Rebecca [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States)

    2016-08-16

    Now in its ninth edition, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)’s Tracking the Sun report series is dedicated to summarizing trends in the installed price of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. The present report focuses on residential and non-residential systems installed through year-end 2015, with preliminary trends for the first half of 2016. An accompanying LBNL report, Utility-Scale Solar, addresses trends in the utility-scale sector. This year’s report incorporates a number of important changes and enhancements from prior editions. Among those changes, LBNL has made available a public data file containing all non-confidential project-level data underlying the analysis in this report. Installed pricing trends presented within this report derive primarily from project-level data reported to state agencies and utilities that administer PV incentive programs, solar renewable energy credit (SREC) registration systems, or interconnection processes. Refer to the text box to the right for several key notes about these data. In total, data were collected and cleaned for more than 820,000 individual PV systems, representing 85% of U.S. residential and non-residential PV systems installed cumulatively through 2015 and 82% of systems installed in 2015. The analysis in this report is based on a subset of this sample, consisting of roughly 450,000 systems with available installed price data.

  12. A simultaneous localization and tracking method for a worm tracking system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kowalski Mateusz

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The idea of worm tracking refers to the path analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes and is an important tool in neurobiology which helps to describe their behavior. Knowledge about nematode behavior can be applied as a model to study the physiological addiction process or other nervous system processes in animals and humans. Tracking is performed by using a special manipulator positioning a microscope with a camera over a dish with an observed individual. In the paper, the accuracy of a nematode’s trajectory reconstruction is investigated. Special attention is paid to analyzing errors that occurred during the microscope displacements. Two sources of errors in the trajectory reconstruction are shown. One is due to the difficulty in accurately measuring the microscope shift, the other is due to a nematode displacement during the microscope movement. A new method that increases path reconstruction accuracy based only on the registered sequence of images is proposed. The method Simultaneously Localizes And Tracks (SLAT the nematodes, and is robust to the positioning system displacement errors. The proposed method predicts the nematode position by using NonParametric Regression (NPR. In addition, two other methods of the SLAT problem are implemented to evaluate the NPR method. The first consists in ignoring the nematode displacement during microscope movement, and the second is based on a Kalman filter. The results suggest that the SLAT method based on nonparametric regression gives the most promising results and decreases the error of trajectory reconstruction by 25% compared with reconstruction based on data from the positioning system

  13. Function integrated track system

    OpenAIRE

    Hohnecker, Eberhard

    2010-01-01

    The paper discusses a function integrated track system that focuses on the reduction of acoustic emissions from railway lines. It is shown that the combination of an embedded rail system (ERS), a sound absorbing track surface, and an integrated mini sound barrier has significant acoustic advantages compared to a standard ballast superstructure. The acoustic advantages of an embedded rail system are particularly pronounced in the case of railway bridges. Finally, it is shown that a...

  14. An insight on advantage of hybrid sun–wind-tracking over sun-tracking PV system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahimi, Masoud; Banybayat, Meisam; Tagheie, Yaghoub; Valeh-e-Sheyda, Peyvand

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Real photograph of hybrid sun–wind-tracking system. - Highlights: • Novel hybrid sun–wind-tracking system proposed to enhance PV cell performance. • The wind tracker can cool down the PV cell as sun-tracking system work. • The hybrid tracker achieved 7.4% increase in energy gain over the sun tracker. • The overall daily output energy gain was increased by 49.83% by using this system. - Abstract: This paper introduces the design and application of a novel hybrid sun–wind-tracking system. This hybrid system employs cooling effect of wind, besides the advantages of tracking sun for enhancing power output from examined hybrid photovoltaic cell. The principal experiment focuses on comparison between dual-axes sun-tracking and hybrid sun–wind-tracking photovoltaic (PV) panels. The deductions based on the research tests confirm that the overall daily output energy gain was increased by 49.83% compared with that of a fixed system. Moreover, an overall increase of about 7.4% in the output power was found for the hybrid sun–wind-tracking over the two-axis sun tracking system.

  15. Tracking errors in a prototype real-time tumour tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharp, Gregory C; Jiang, Steve B; Shimizu, Shinichi; Shirato, Hiroki

    2004-01-01

    In motion-compensated radiation therapy, radio-opaque markers can be implanted in or near a tumour and tracked in real-time using fluoroscopic imaging. Tracking these implanted markers gives highly accurate position information, except when tracking fails due to poor or ambiguous imaging conditions. This study investigates methods for automatic detection of tracking errors, and assesses the frequency and impact of tracking errors on treatments using the prototype real-time tumour tracking system. We investigated four indicators for automatic detection of tracking errors, and found that the distance between corresponding rays was most effective. We also found that tracking errors cause a loss of gating efficiency of between 7.6 and 10.2%. The incidence of treatment beam delivery during tracking errors was estimated at between 0.8% and 1.25%

  16. Studies for the ALICE inner tracking system upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reidt, Felix

    2016-01-01

    The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC identifies D"0 mesons via secondary-vertex reconstruction and topological cuts to reduce the corresponding combinatorial background in heavy-ion collisions. The D"0 meson is produced promptly in initial, hard scatterings via the strong interaction or as feed-down from weakly decaying B hadrons. Within this thesis, a novel method for the separation of prompt and feed-down D"0 mesons using cut variations was implemented and applied to data from p-Pb collisions at √(s_N_N)=5.02 TeV. The effectiveness of the secondary-vertex reconstruction strongly depends on the performance and in particular the pointing resolution of the Inner Tracking System. The upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System for the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC in 2019/2020 will significantly improve its vertex-reconstruction and tracking capabilities. It will be equipped with Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors manufactured using the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS process on wafers with a high-resistivity epitaxial layer. In another part of this thesis, several pixel-chip prototypes of the ALPIDE architecture with in-pixel amplification and discrimination as well as in-matrix data reduction were characterised. The pALPIDE-2 prototype was measured to fulfil the requirements in terms of detection efficiency, fake-hit rate, position resolution and tolerance to irradiation with non-ionising energy loss. Based on simulations modelling the tracking and vertex-reconstruction performance of the upgraded Inner Tracking System, the perspective of the feed-down separation using cut variations after the upgrade was assessed within this thesis.

  17. Energy Efficient Hybrid Dual Axis Solar Tracking System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rashid Ahammed Ferdaus

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the design and implementation of an energy efficient solar tracking system from a normal mechanical single axis to a hybrid dual axis. For optimizing the solar tracking mechanism electromechanical systems were evolved through implementation of different evolutional algorithms and methodologies. To present the tracker, a hybrid dual-axis solar tracking system is designed, built, and tested based on both the solar map and light sensor based continuous tracking mechanism. These light sensors also compare the darkness and cloudy and sunny conditions assisting daily tracking. The designed tracker can track sun’s apparent position at different months and seasons; thereby the electrical controlling device requires a real time clock device for guiding the tracking system in seeking solar position for the seasonal motion. So the combination of both of these tracking mechanisms made the designed tracker a hybrid one. The power gain and system power consumption are compared with a static and continuous dual axis solar tracking system. It is found that power gain of hybrid dual axis solar tracking system is almost equal to continuous dual axis solar tracking system, whereas the power saved in system operation by the hybrid tracker is 44.44% compared to the continuous tracking system.

  18. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATIVE TRACKING SYSTEM (CATS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Contract Administrative Tracking System (CATS) was developed in response to an ORD NHEERL, Mid-Continent Ecology Division (MED)-recognized need for an automated tracking and retrieval system for Cost Reimbursable Level of Effort (CR/LOE) Contracts. CATS is an Oracle-based app...

  19. A non-disruptive technology for robust 3D tool tracking for ultrasound-guided interventions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mung, Jay; Vignon, Francois; Jain, Ameet

    2011-01-01

    In the past decade ultrasound (US) has become the preferred modality for a number of interventional procedures, offering excellent soft tissue visualization. The main limitation however is limited visualization of surgical tools. A new method is proposed for robust 3D tracking and US image enhancement of surgical tools under US guidance. Small US sensors are mounted on existing surgical tools. As the imager emits acoustic energy, the electrical signal from the sensor is analyzed to reconstruct its 3D coordinates. These coordinates can then be used for 3D surgical navigation, similar to current day tracking systems. A system with real-time 3D tool tracking and image enhancement was implemented on a commercial ultrasound scanner and 3D probe. Extensive water tank experiments with a tracked 0.2mm sensor show robust performance in a wide range of imaging conditions and tool position/orientations. The 3D tracking accuracy was 0.36 +/- 0.16mm throughout the imaging volume of 55 degrees x 27 degrees x 150mm. Additionally, the tool was successfully tracked inside a beating heart phantom. This paper proposes an image enhancement and tool tracking technology with sub-mm accuracy for US-guided interventions. The technology is non-disruptive, both in terms of existing clinical workflow and commercial considerations, showing promise for large scale clinical impact.

  20. Overview of Maximum Power Point Tracking Techniques for Photovoltaic Energy Production Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koutroulis, Eftichios; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2015-01-01

    A substantial growth of the installed photovoltaic systems capacity has occurred around the world during the last decade, thus enhancing the availability of electric energy in an environmentally friendly way. The maximum power point tracking technique enables maximization of the energy production...... of photovoltaic sources during stochastically varying solar irradiation and ambient temperature conditions. Thus, the overall efficiency of the photovoltaic energy production system is increased. Numerous techniques have been presented during the last decade for implementing the maximum power point tracking...... process in a photovoltaic system. This article provides an overview of the operating principles of these techniques, which are suited for either uniform or non-uniform solar irradiation conditions. The operational characteristics and implementation requirements of these maximum power point tracking...

  1. Two non-tracking solar collectors: Design criteria and performance analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ratismith, Wattana; Inthongkhum, Anusorn; Briggs, John

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A collector module designed to capture solar radiation efficiently is proposed. • Two different compound parabolic trough designs are examined and tested. • A novel design with a flat base trough and vertical absorber operates efficiently in direct and diffuse sunlight. - Abstract: We propose fixed (non-tracking) configurations of solar light collector modules which are designed to operate efficiently throughout the day, i.e. for varying incident angles of direct sunlight, and in conditions of diffuse solar irradiation. We present two trough designs of compound parabolic collector (CPC) type. One, a more conventional double-parabolic trough, has the absorber plate perpendicular to the vertical axis of the trough cross-section. The other, of a new flat-base shape, has the absorber plate parallel. The collectors have two novel features appropriate to non-tracking. The first is a smoothing of the power output over the day by the simple expedient of arranging three troughs tilted at different angles. The second is the original design of the flat-base trough allowing optimal interception of the caustic surfaces of this non-focussing device. By ray-tracing analysis of the different trough shapes and absorber plate orientation, we emphasise the design criteria for achievement of a high intercept factor throughout the day without tracking and demonstrate the superiority of the flat-base collector over the double-parabolic design. In test experiments we show that the high temperatures (≈180 °C) necessary for some industrial process heat applications can be achieved. Also test results of the efficiency of the proposed systems are presented which indicate that the flat-base trough with vertical absorber plate is superior to the double-parabolic trough with horizontal absorber plate

  2. Studies for the ALICE inner tracking system upgrade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reidt, Felix

    2016-04-28

    The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC identifies D{sup 0} mesons via secondary-vertex reconstruction and topological cuts to reduce the corresponding combinatorial background in heavy-ion collisions. The D{sup 0} meson is produced promptly in initial, hard scatterings via the strong interaction or as feed-down from weakly decaying B hadrons. Within this thesis, a novel method for the separation of prompt and feed-down D{sup 0} mesons using cut variations was implemented and applied to data from p-Pb collisions at √(s{sub NN})=5.02 TeV. The effectiveness of the secondary-vertex reconstruction strongly depends on the performance and in particular the pointing resolution of the Inner Tracking System. The upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System for the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC in 2019/2020 will significantly improve its vertex-reconstruction and tracking capabilities. It will be equipped with Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors manufactured using the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS process on wafers with a high-resistivity epitaxial layer. In another part of this thesis, several pixel-chip prototypes of the ALPIDE architecture with in-pixel amplification and discrimination as well as in-matrix data reduction were characterised. The pALPIDE-2 prototype was measured to fulfil the requirements in terms of detection efficiency, fake-hit rate, position resolution and tolerance to irradiation with non-ionising energy loss. Based on simulations modelling the tracking and vertex-reconstruction performance of the upgraded Inner Tracking System, the perspective of the feed-down separation using cut variations after the upgrade was assessed within this thesis.

  3. Application of one-axis sun tracking system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sefa, Ibrahim; Demirtas, Mehmet; Colak, Ilhami [Gazi University, Faculty of Technical Education, Department of Electrical Education, GEMEC-Gazi Electric Machines and Control Group, Ankara (Turkey)

    2009-11-15

    This paper introduces design and application of a novel one-axis sun tracking system which follows the position of the sun and allows investigating effects of one-axis tracking system on the solar energy in Turkey. The tracking system includes a serial communication interface based on RS 485 to monitor whole processes on a computer screen and to plot data as graphic. In addition, system parameters such as the current, the voltage and the panel position have been observed by means of a microcontroller. The energy collected is measured and compared with a fixed solar system for the same solar panel. The results show that the solar energy collected on the tracking system is considerably much efficient than the fixed system. The tracking system developed in this study provides easy installation, simple mechanism and less maintenance. (author)

  4. Application of one-axis sun tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sefa, Ibrahim; Demirtas, Mehmet; Colak, Ilhami

    2009-01-01

    This paper introduces design and application of a novel one-axis sun tracking system which follows the position of the sun and allows investigating effects of one-axis tracking system on the solar energy in Turkey. The tracking system includes a serial communication interface based on RS 485 to monitor whole processes on a computer screen and to plot data as graphic. In addition, system parameters such as the current, the voltage and the panel position have been observed by means of a microcontroller. The energy collected is measured and compared with a fixed solar system for the same solar panel. The results show that the solar energy collected on the tracking system is considerably much efficient than the fixed system. The tracking system developed in this study provides easy installation, simple mechanism and less maintenance.

  5. Ultra-Wideband Tracking System Design for Relative Navigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Jianjun David; Arndt, Dickey; Bgo, Phong; Dekome, Kent; Dusl, John

    2011-01-01

    This presentation briefly discusses a design effort for a prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) tracking system that is currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The system is being designed for use in localization and navigation of a rover in a GPS deprived environment for surface missions. In one application enabled by the UWB tracking, a robotic vehicle carrying equipments can autonomously follow a crewed rover from work site to work site such that resources can be carried from one landing mission to the next thereby saving up-mass. The UWB Systems Group at JSC has developed a UWB TDOA High Resolution Proximity Tracking System which can achieve sub-inch tracking accuracy of a target within the radius of the tracking baseline [1]. By extending the tracking capability beyond the radius of the tracking baseline, a tracking system is being designed to enable relative navigation between two vehicles for surface missions. A prototype UWB TDOA tracking system has been designed, implemented, tested, and proven feasible for relative navigation of robotic vehicles. Future work includes testing the system with the application code to increase the tracking update rate and evaluating the linear tracking baseline to improve the flexibility of antenna mounting on the following vehicle.

  6. Object tracking system using a VSW algorithm based on color and point features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lim Hye-Youn

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract An object tracking system using a variable search window (VSW algorithm based on color and feature points is proposed. A meanshift algorithm is an object tracking technique that works according to color probability distributions. An advantage of this algorithm based on color is that it is robust to specific color objects; however, a disadvantage is that it is sensitive to non-specific color objects due to illumination and noise. Therefore, to offset this weakness, it presents the VSW algorithm based on robust feature points for the accurate tracking of moving objects. The proposed method extracts the feature points of a detected object which is the region of interest (ROI, and generates a VSW using the given information which is the positions of extracted feature points. The goal of this paper is to achieve an efficient and effective object tracking system that meets the accurate tracking of moving objects. Through experiments, the object tracking system is implemented that it performs more precisely than existing techniques.

  7. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE SIZE NON-TRACKING SOLAR COOKER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. M. NAHAR

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available A large size novel non-tracking solar cooker has been designed, developed and tested. The cooker has been designed in such a way that the width to length ratio for reflector and glass window is about 4 so that maximum radiation falls on the glass window. This has helped in eliminating azimuthal tracking that is required in simple hot box solar cooker towards the Sun every hour because the width to length ratio of reflector is 1. It has been found that stagnation temperatures were 118.5oC and 108oC in large size non-tracking solar cooker and hot box solar cooker respectively. It takes about 2 h for soft food and 3 h for hard food. The cooker is capable of cooking 4.0 kg of food at a time. The efficiency of the large size non-tracking solar cooker has been found to be 27.5%. The cooker saves 5175 MJ of energy per year. The cost of the cooker is Rs. 10000.00 (1.0 US$ = Rs. 50.50. The payback period has been calculated by considering 10% annual interest, 5% maintenance cost and 5% inflation in fuel prices and maintenance cost. The payback period is least, i.e. 1.58 yr., with respect to electricity and maximum, i.e. 4.89 yr., with respect to kerosene. The payback periods are in increasing order with respect to fuel: electricity, coal, firewood, liquid petroleum gas, and kerosene. The shorter payback periods suggests that the use of large size non-tracking solar cooker is economical.

  8. Real-Time Tumor Tracking in the Lung Using an Electromagnetic Tracking System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shah, Amish P., E-mail: Amish.Shah@orlandohealth.com [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, Orlando, Florida (United States); Kupelian, Patrick A.; Waghorn, Benjamin J.; Willoughby, Twyla R.; Rineer, Justin M.; Mañon, Rafael R.; Vollenweider, Mark A.; Meeks, Sanford L. [Department of Radiation Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, Orlando, Florida (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Purpose: To describe the first use of the commercially available Calypso 4D Localization System in the lung. Methods and Materials: Under an institutional review board-approved protocol and an investigational device exemption from the US Food and Drug Administration, the Calypso system was used with nonclinical methods to acquire real-time 4-dimensional lung tumor tracks for 7 lung cancer patients. The aims of the study were to investigate (1) the potential for bronchoscopic implantation; (2) the stability of smooth-surface beacon transponders (transponders) after implantation; and (3) the ability to acquire tracking information within the lung. Electromagnetic tracking was not used for any clinical decision making and could only be performed before any radiation delivery in a research setting. All motion tracks for each patient were reviewed, and values of the average displacement, amplitude of motion, period, and associated correlation to a sinusoidal model (R{sup 2}) were tabulated for all 42 tracks. Results: For all 7 patients at least 1 transponder was successfully implanted. To assist in securing the transponder at the tumor site, it was necessary to implant a secondary fiducial for most transponders owing to the transponder's smooth surface. For 3 patients, insertion into the lung proved difficult, with only 1 transponder remaining fixed during implantation. One patient developed a pneumothorax after implantation of the secondary fiducial. Once implanted, 13 of 14 transponders remained stable within the lung and were successfully tracked with the tracking system. Conclusions: Our initial experience with electromagnetic guidance within the lung demonstrates that transponder implantation and tracking is achievable though not clinically available. This research investigation proved that lung tumor motion exhibits large variations from fraction to fraction within a single patient and that improvements to both transponder and tracking system are still

  9. Metrix Matrix: A Cloud-Based System for Tracking Non-Relative Value Unit Value-Added Work Metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovacs, Mark D; Sheafor, Douglas H; Thacker, Paul G; Hardie, Andrew D; Costello, Philip

    2018-03-01

    In the era of value-based medicine, it will become increasingly important for radiologists to provide metrics that demonstrate their value beyond clinical productivity. In this article the authors describe their institution's development of an easy-to-use system for tracking value-added but non-relative value unit (RVU)-based activities. Metrix Matrix is an efficient cloud-based system for tracking value-added work. A password-protected home page contains links to web-based forms created using Google Forms, with collected data populating Google Sheets spreadsheets. Value-added work metrics selected for tracking included interdisciplinary conferences, hospital committee meetings, consulting on nonbilled outside studies, and practice-based quality improvement. Over a period of 4 months, value-added work data were collected for all clinical attending faculty members in a university-based radiology department (n = 39). Time required for data entry was analyzed for 2 faculty members over the same time period. Thirty-nine faculty members (equivalent to 36.4 full-time equivalents) reported a total of 1,223.5 hours of value-added work time (VAWT). A formula was used to calculate "value-added RVUs" (vRVUs) from VAWT. VAWT amounted to 5,793.6 vRVUs or 6.0% of total work performed (vRVUs plus work RVUs [wRVUs]). Were vRVUs considered equivalent to wRVUs for staffing purposes, this would require an additional 2.3 full-time equivalents, on the basis of average wRVU calculations. Mean data entry time was 56.1 seconds per day per faculty member. As health care reimbursement evolves with an emphasis on value-based medicine, it is imperative that radiologists demonstrate the value they add to patient care beyond wRVUs. This free and easy-to-use cloud-based system allows the efficient quantification of value-added work activities. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Thinking Tracks for Integrated Systems Design

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bonnema, Gerrit Maarten; Denkena, B.; Gausemeijer, J.; Scholz-Reiter, B.

    2012-01-01

    The paper investigates systems thinking and systems engineering. After a short literature review, the paper presents, as a means for systems thinking, twelve thinking tracks. The tracks can be used as creativity starter, checklist, and as means to investigate effects of design decisions taken early

  11. Deployable Plume and Aerosol Release Prediction and Tracking System. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Task 1. Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kleppe, John; Norris, William; Etezadi, Mehdi

    2006-07-19

    This contract was awarded in response to a proposal in which a deployable plume and aerosol release prediction and tracking system would be designed, fabricated, and tested. The system would gather real time atmospheric data and input it into a real time atmospheric model that could be used for plume predition and tracking. The system would be able to be quickly deployed by aircraft to points of interest or positioned for deployment by vehicles. The system would provide three dimensional (u, v, and w) wind vector data, inversion height measurements, surface wind information, classical weather station data, and solar radiation. The on-board real time computer model would provide the prediction of the behavior of plumes and released aerosols.

  12. Augmented Nonlinear Controller for Maximum Power-Point Tracking with Artificial Neural Network in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suliang Ma

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Photovoltaic (PV systems have non-linear characteristics that generate maximum power at one particular operating point. Environmental factors such as irradiance and temperature variations greatly affect the maximum power point (MPP. Diverse offline and online techniques have been introduced for tracking the MPP. Here, to track the MPP, an augmented-state feedback linearized (AFL non-linear controller combined with an artificial neural network (ANN is proposed. This approach linearizes the non-linear characteristics in PV systems and DC/DC converters, for tracking and optimizing the PV system operation. It also reduces the dependency of the designed controller on linearized models, to provide global stability. A complete model of the PV system is simulated. The existing maximum power-point tracking (MPPT and DC/DC boost-converter controller techniques are compared with the proposed ANN method. Two case studies, which simulate realistic circumstances, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. The AFL with ANN controller can provide good dynamic operation, faster convergence speed, and fewer operating-point oscillations around the MPP. It also tracks the global maxima under different conditions, especially irradiance-mutating situations, more effectively than the conventional methods. Detailed mathematical models and a control approach for a three-phase grid-connected intelligent hybrid system are proposed using MATLAB/Simulink.

  13. Intelligent Maximum Power Point Tracking Using Fuzzy Logic for Solar Photovoltaic Systems Under Non-Uniform Irradiation Conditions

    OpenAIRE

    P. Selvam; S. Senthil Kumar

    2016-01-01

    Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) has played a vital role to enhance the efficiency of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation under varying atmospheric temperature and solar irradiation. However, it is hard to track the maximum power point using conventional linear controllers due to the natural inheritance of nonlinear I-V and P-V characteristics of solar PV systems. Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) is suitable for nonlinear system control applications and eliminating oscillations, circuit c...

  14. Quality assurance tracking and trending system (QATTS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, W.J.

    1987-01-01

    In 1984, The Philadelphia Electric Company (PECo) Quality Assurance (QA) Division recognized a need to modify the existing quality finding tracking program to generate a nuclear trending program that could detect trends of PECo-initiated findings that were not detectable to a day-to-day observer. Before 1984, each quality organization in PECo had a separate tracking system. An adequate quality trending program demanded that all findings be tracked in a common data base. The Quality Assurance Tracking and Trending System (QATTS) is divided into two parts, an on-line subsystem that provides access to QATTS data via corporate computer data screens and a reports and graphics subsystem that connects commercially available reports and graphic software computer packages to the QATTS data base. The QATTS can be accessed from any terminal connected to the main frame computer at PECo headquarters. The paper discusses the tracking system, report generation, responsible organization commitment tracking system (ROCT), and trending program

  15. Novel high accurate sensorless dual-axis solar tracking system controlled by maximum power point tracking unit of photovoltaic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fathabadi, Hassan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Novel high accurate sensorless dual-axis solar tracker. • It has the advantages of both sensor based and sensorless solar trackers. • It does not have the disadvantages of sensor based and sensorless solar trackers. • Tracking error of only 0.11° that is less than the tracking errors of others. • An increase of 28.8–43.6% depending on the seasons in the energy efficiency. - Abstract: In this study, a novel high accurate sensorless dual-axis solar tracker controlled by the maximum power point tracking unit available in almost all photovoltaic systems is proposed. The maximum power point tracking controller continuously calculates the maximum output power of the photovoltaic module/panel/array, and uses the altitude and azimuth angles deviations to track the sun direction where the greatest value of the maximum output power is extracted. Unlike all other sensorless solar trackers, the proposed solar tracking system is a closed loop system which means it uses the actual direction of the sun at any time to track the sun direction, and this is the contribution of this work. The proposed solar tracker has the advantages of both sensor based and sensorless dual-axis solar trackers, but it does not have their disadvantages. Other sensorless solar trackers all are open loop, i.e., they use offline estimated data about the sun path in the sky obtained from solar map equations, so low exactness, cloudy sky, and requiring new data for new location are their problems. A photovoltaic system has been built, and it is experimentally verified that the proposed solar tracking system tracks the sun direction with the tracking error of 0.11° which is less than the tracking errors of other both sensor based and sensorless solar trackers. An increase of 28.8–43.6% depending on the seasons in the energy efficiency is the main advantage of utilizing the proposed solar tracking system.

  16. Modular Track System For Positioning Mobile Robots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Jeff

    1995-01-01

    Conceptual system for positioning mobile robotic manipulators on large main structure includes modular tracks and ancillary structures assembled easily along with main structure. System, called "tracked robotic location system" (TROLS), originally intended for application to platforms in outer space, but TROLS concept might also prove useful on Earth; for example, to position robots in factories and warehouses. T-cross-section rail keeps mobile robot on track. Bar codes mark locations along track. Each robot equipped with bar-code-recognizing circuitry so it quickly finds way to assigned location.

  17. 40 CFR 73.30 - Allowance tracking system accounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Allowance tracking system accounts. 73.30 Section 73.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) SULFUR DIOXIDE ALLOWANCE SYSTEM Allowance Tracking System § 73.30 Allowance tracking system...

  18. Computer controlled scanning systems for quantitative track measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gold, R.; Roberts, J.H.; Preston, C.C.; Ruddy, F.H.

    1982-01-01

    The status of three computer cntrolled systems for quantitative track measurements is described. Two systems, an automated optical track scanner (AOTS) and an automated scanning electron microscope (ASEM) are used for scanning solid state track recorders (SSTR). The third system, the emulsion scanning processor (ESP), is an interactive system used to measure the length of proton tracks in nuclear research emulsions (NRE). Recent advances achieved with these systems are presented, with emphasis placed upon the current limitation of these systems for reactor neutron dosimetry

  19. Students paperwork tracking system (SPATRASE)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishak, I. Y.; Othman, M. B.; Talib, Rahmat; Ilyas, M. A.

    2017-09-01

    This paper focused on a system for tracking the status of the paperwork using the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and mobile apps. Student paperwork tracking system or known as SPATRASE was developed to ease the user to track the location status of the paperwork. The current problem faced by the user is the process of approval paperwork takes around a month or more. The process took around a month to get full approval from the department because of many procedures that need to be done. Nevertheless, the user cannot know the location status of the paperwork immediately because of the inefficient manual system. The submitter needs to call the student affairs department to get the information about the location status of the paperwork. Thus, this project was purposed as an alternative to solve the waiting time of the paperwork location status. The prototype of this system involved the hardware and software. The project consists of NFC tags, RFID Reader, and mobile apps. At each checkpoint, the RFID Reader was placed on the secretary desk. While the system involved the development of database using Google Docs that linked to the web server. After that, the submitter received the URL link and be directed to the web server and mobile apps. This system is capable of checking their location status tracking using mobile apps and Google Docs. With this system, it makes the tracking process become efficient and reliable to know the paperwork at the exact location. Thus, it is preventing the submitter to call the department all the time. Generally, this project is fully functional and we hope it can help Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) to overcome the problem of paperwork missing and location of the paperwork.

  20. Study thermofluidynamic of the sub frame of fuel in the cell of discharge of the ATC; Estudio termofluidodinamico del bastidor auxiliar de combustible en la celda de descarga del ATC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Penalva, J.; Feria, F.; Herranz, L. E.

    2014-07-01

    The objective of this work was to determine the conditions that guarantee the maintenance of the State of the fuel during hypothetical stays in the discharge of a postulated ATC cell. The study includes three different conditions fuel element: intact, defective drawer of damaged fuel and defective without drawer of damaged fuel. (Author)

  1. Output Feedback Adaptive Control of Non-Minimum Phase Systems Using Optimal Control Modification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Nhan; Hashemi, Kelley E.; Yucelen, Tansel; Arabi, Ehsan

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes output feedback adaptive control approaches for non-minimum phase SISO systems with relative degree 1 and non-strictly positive real (SPR) MIMO systems with uniform relative degree 1 using the optimal control modification method. It is well-known that the standard model-reference adaptive control (MRAC) cannot be used to control non-SPR plants to track an ideal SPR reference model. Due to the ideal property of asymptotic tracking, MRAC attempts an unstable pole-zero cancellation which results in unbounded signals for non-minimum phase SISO systems. The optimal control modification can be used to prevent the unstable pole-zero cancellation which results in a stable adaptation of non-minimum phase SISO systems. However, the tracking performance using this approach could suffer if the unstable zero is located far away from the imaginary axis. The tracking performance can be recovered by using an observer-based output feedback adaptive control approach which uses a Luenberger observer design to estimate the state information of the plant. Instead of explicitly specifying an ideal SPR reference model, the reference model is established from the linear quadratic optimal control to account for the non-minimum phase behavior of the plant. With this non-minimum phase reference model, the observer-based output feedback adaptive control can maintain stability as well as tracking performance. However, in the presence of the mismatch between the SPR reference model and the non-minimum phase plant, the standard MRAC results in unbounded signals, whereas a stable adaptation can be achieved with the optimal control modification. An application of output feedback adaptive control for a flexible wing aircraft illustrates the approaches.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2015-03-01

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

  3. Visuo-manual tracking: does intermittent control with aperiodic sampling explain linear power and non-linear remnant without sensorimotor noise?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gollee, Henrik; Gawthrop, Peter J; Lakie, Martin; Loram, Ian D

    2017-11-01

    A human controlling an external system is described most easily and conventionally as linearly and continuously translating sensory input to motor output, with the inevitable output remnant, non-linearly related to the input, attributed to sensorimotor noise. Recent experiments show sustained manual tracking involves repeated refractoriness (insensitivity to sensory information for a certain duration), with the temporary 200-500 ms periods of irresponsiveness to sensory input making the control process intrinsically non-linear. This evidence calls for re-examination of the extent to which random sensorimotor noise is required to explain the non-linear remnant. This investigation of manual tracking shows how the full motor output (linear component and remnant) can be explained mechanistically by aperiodic sampling triggered by prediction error thresholds. Whereas broadband physiological noise is general to all processes, aperiodic sampling is associated with sensorimotor decision making within specific frontal, striatal and parietal networks; we conclude that manual tracking utilises such slow serial decision making pathways up to several times per second. The human operator is described adequately by linear translation of sensory input to motor output. Motor output also always includes a non-linear remnant resulting from random sensorimotor noise from multiple sources, and non-linear input transformations, for example thresholds or refractory periods. Recent evidence showed that manual tracking incurs substantial, serial, refractoriness (insensitivity to sensory information of 350 and 550 ms for 1st and 2nd order systems respectively). Our two questions are: (i) What are the comparative merits of explaining the non-linear remnant using noise or non-linear transformations? (ii) Can non-linear transformations represent serial motor decision making within the sensorimotor feedback loop intrinsic to tracking? Twelve participants (instructed to act in three prescribed

  4. Active power reference tracking in electricity distribution grids over non-ideal communication networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Thomas le Fevre; Olsen, Rasmus Løvenstein; Iov, Florin

    2018-01-01

    the distributed implementation in the testbed show the effectiveness of the controller and that the considered scenario of the reference tracking application is not significantly affected by delays and losses as originating from PLC communication in good conditions. The subsequent simulation experiments show......Distribution system operators may in the future control active power of selected consumers and generators in order to achieve a desired grid behavior. For cost efficient deployment, this control application may use existing communication infrastructure with non-ideal properties, i.e. imposing...... the resilience of the reference tracking control application to end-to-end message delays up to the order of 3 control periods and to message loss up to approximately 70%....

  5. Track-to-track association for object matching in an inter-vehicle communication system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Ting; Roth, Tobias; Chen, Qi; Breu, Jakob; Bogdanovic, Miro; Weiss, Christian A.

    2015-09-01

    Autonomous driving poses unique challenges for vehicle environment perception due to the complex driving environment the autonomous vehicle finds itself in and differentiates from remote vehicles. Due to inherent uncertainty of the traffic environments and incomplete knowledge due to sensor limitation, an autonomous driving system using only local onboard sensor information is generally not sufficiently enough for conducting a reliable intelligent driving with guaranteed safety. In order to overcome limitations of the local (host) vehicle sensing system and to increase the likelihood of correct detections and classifications, collaborative information from cooperative remote vehicles could substantially facilitate effectiveness of vehicle decision making process. Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) system provides a powerful inter-vehicle wireless communication channel to enhance host vehicle environment perceiving capability with the aid of transmitted information from remote vehicles. However, there is a major challenge before one can fuse the DSRC-transmitted remote information and host vehicle Radar-observed information (in the present case): the remote DRSC data must be correctly associated with the corresponding onboard Radar data; namely, an object matching problem. Direct raw data association (i.e., measurement-to-measurement association - M2MA) is straightforward but error-prone, due to inherent uncertain nature of the observation data. The uncertainties could lead to serious difficulty in matching decision, especially, using non-stationary data. In this study, we present an object matching algorithm based on track-to-track association (T2TA) and evaluate the proposed approach with prototype vehicles in real traffic scenarios. To fully exploit potential of the DSRC system, only GPS position data from remote vehicle are used in fusion center (at host vehicle), i.e., we try to get what we need from the least amount of information; additional feature

  6. Investigation of tracking systems properties in CAVE-type virtual reality systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szymaniak, Magda; Mazikowski, Adam; Meironke, Michał

    2017-08-01

    In recent years, many scientific and industrial centers in the world developed a virtual reality systems or laboratories. One of the most advanced solutions are Immersive 3D Visualization Lab (I3DVL), a CAVE-type (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) laboratory. It contains two CAVE-type installations: six-screen installation arranged in a form of a cube, and four-screen installation, a simplified version of the previous one. The user feeling of "immersion" and interaction with virtual world depend on many factors, in particular on the accuracy of the tracking system of the user. In this paper properties of the tracking systems applied in I3DVL was investigated. For analysis two parameters were selected: the accuracy of the tracking system and the range of detection of markers by the tracking system in space of the CAVE. Measurements of system accuracy were performed for six-screen installation, equipped with four tracking cameras for three axes: X, Y, Z. Rotation around the Y axis was also analyzed. Measured tracking system shows good linear and rotating accuracy. The biggest issue was the range of the monitoring of markers inside the CAVE. It turned out, that the tracking system lose sight of the markers in the corners of the installation. For comparison, for a simplified version of CAVE (four-screen installation), equipped with eight tracking cameras, this problem was not occur. Obtained results will allow for improvement of cave quality.

  7. COMBINING INDEPENDENT VISUALIZATION AND TRACKING SYSTEMS FOR AUGMENTED REALITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Hübner

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The basic requirement for the successful deployment of a mobile augmented reality application is a reliable tracking system with high accuracy. Recently, a helmet-based inside-out tracking system which meets this demand has been proposed for self-localization in buildings. To realize an augmented reality application based on this tracking system, a display has to be added for visualization purposes. Therefore, the relative pose of this visualization platform with respect to the helmet has to be tracked. In the case of hand-held visualization platforms like smartphones or tablets, this can be achieved by means of image-based tracking methods like marker-based or model-based tracking. In this paper, we present two marker-based methods for tracking the relative pose between the helmet-based tracking system and a tablet-based visualization system. Both methods were implemented and comparatively evaluated in terms of tracking accuracy. Our results show that mobile inside-out tracking systems without integrated displays can easily be supplemented with a hand-held tablet as visualization device for augmented reality purposes.

  8. Vehicle Tracking System, Vehicle Infrastructure Provided with Vehicle Tracking System and Method for Tracking

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papp, Z.; Doodeman, G.J.N.; Nelisse, M.W.; Sijs, J.; Theeuwes, J.A.C.; Driessen, B.J.F.

    2010-01-01

    A vehicle tracking system is described comprising - a plurality of sensor nodes (10) that each provide a message (D) indicative for an occupancy status of a detection area of an vehicle infrastructure monitored by said sensor node, said sensor nodes (10) being arranged in the vehicle infrastructure

  9. Cre/lox-assisted non-invasive in vivo tracking of specific cell populations by positron emission tomography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thunemann, Martin; Schörg, Barbara F; Feil, Susanne; Lin, Yun; Voelkl, Jakob; Golla, Matthias; Vachaviolos, Angelos; Kohlhofer, Ursula; Quintanilla-Martinez, Leticia; Olbrich, Marcus; Ehrlichmann, Walter; Reischl, Gerald; Griessinger, Christoph M; Langer, Harald F; Gawaz, Meinrad; Lang, Florian; Schäfers, Michael; Kneilling, Manfred; Pichler, Bernd J; Feil, Robert

    2017-09-05

    Many pathophysiological processes are associated with proliferation, migration or death of distinct cell populations. Monitoring specific cell types and their progeny in a non-invasive, longitudinal and quantitative manner is still challenging. Here we show a novel cell-tracking system that combines Cre/lox-assisted cell fate mapping with a thymidine kinase (sr39tk) reporter gene for cell detection by positron emission tomography (PET). We generate Rosa26-mT/sr39tk PET reporter mice and induce sr39tk expression in platelets, T lymphocytes or cardiomyocytes. As proof of concept, we demonstrate that our mouse model permits longitudinal PET imaging and quantification of T-cell homing during inflammation and cardiomyocyte viability after myocardial infarction. Moreover, Rosa26-mT/sr39tk mice are useful for whole-body characterization of transgenic Cre mice and to detect previously unknown Cre activity. We anticipate that the Cre-switchable PET reporter mice will be broadly applicable for non-invasive long-term tracking of selected cell populations in vivo.Non-invasive cell tracking is a powerful method to visualize cells in vivo under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here Thunemann et al. generate a mouse model for in vivo tracking and quantification of specific cell types by combining a PET reporter gene with Cre-dependent activation that can be exploited for any cell population for which a Cre mouse line is available.

  10. Real Property Project Tracking System (RPPTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Real Property Project Tracking System (RPPTS), formerly known as the Lease/Project Tracking (LEASE) database, contains information about lease and land projects...

  11. Bayesian estimation and tracking a practical guide

    CERN Document Server

    Haug, Anton J

    2012-01-01

    A practical approach to estimating and tracking dynamic systems in real-worl applications Much of the literature on performing estimation for non-Gaussian systems is short on practical methodology, while Gaussian methods often lack a cohesive derivation. Bayesian Estimation and Tracking addresses the gap in the field on both accounts, providing readers with a comprehensive overview of methods for estimating both linear and nonlinear dynamic systems driven by Gaussian and non-Gaussian noices. Featuring a unified approach to Bayesian estimation and tracking, the book emphasizes the derivation

  12. MTB-USDH Compensation Tracking System (MTB-CTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — MTB-USDH Compensation Tracking System: is the USDH Compensation Tracking System (MTB-CTS) to assist managers in monitoring their payroll costs for U.S. direct hires....

  13. Flight Activity and Crew Tracking System -

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — The Flight Activity and Crew Tracking System (FACTS) is a Web-based application that provides an overall management and tracking tool of FAA Airmen performing Flight...

  14. Thinking Tracks for Multidisciplinary System Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerrit Maarten Bonnema

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Systems engineering is, for a large part, a process description of how to bring new systems to existence. It is valuable as it directs the development effort. Tools exist that can be used in this process. System analysis investigates existing and/or desired situations. However, how to create a system that instantiates the desired situation depends significantly on human creativity and insight; the required human trait here is commonly called systems thinking. In literature, this trait is regularly used, but information on how to do systems thinking is scarce. Therefore, we have introduced earlier twelve thinking tracks that are concrete and help system designers to make an optimal fit between the system under design, the identified issue, the user, the environment and the rest of the world. The paper provides the scientific rationale for the thinking tracks based on literature. Secondly, the paper presents three cases of application, leading to the conclusion that the tracks are usable and effective.

  15. Occupational and public field exposure from communication, navigation, and radar systems used for air traffic control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Wout; Goeminne, Francis; Vermeeren, Günter; Verloock, Leen; Martens, Luc

    2012-12-01

    Electromagnetic exposure (occupational and general public) to 14 types of air traffic control (ATC) systems is assessed. Measurement methods are proposed for in situ exposure assessment of these ATC systems. In total, 50 sites are investigated at 1,073 locations in the frequency range of 255 kHz to 24 GHz. For all installations, typical and maximal exposure values for workers and the general public are provided. Two of the 14 types of systems, Non-Directional Beacons (NDB) (up to 881.6 V m) and Doppler Very High Frequency (VHF) Omni-directional Range (DVOR) (up to 92.3 V m), exhibited levels requiring recommended minimum distances such that the ICNIRP reference levels are not exceeded. Cumulative exposure of all present radiofrequency (RF) sources is investigated, and it is concluded that the ATC source dominates the total exposure in its neighborhood.

  16. Upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System

    OpenAIRE

    Reidt, Felix; Collaboration, for the ALICE

    2014-01-01

    During the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC in 2018/2019, the ALICE experiment plans the installation of a novel Inner Tracking System. It will replace the current six layer detector system with a seven layer detector using Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors. The upgraded Inner Tracking System will have significantly improved tracking and vertexing capabilities, as well as readout rate to cope with the expected increased Pb-Pb luminosity of the LHC. The choice of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors has be...

  17. Field-Testing of an Active Laser Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markov, V.; Khiznyak, A.; Woll, D.; Liu, S.

    Comprehensive space surveillance demands a more accurate technique in tracking multi-dimensional state vector (3D coordinate, velocity, vibration, etc.) of the space objects. RF radiometric techniques typically can not provide the needed accuracy, while passive optical (and laser) tracking systems can provide distance to the object and its angular position, but not a direct reading of velocity, the parameter of primary importance for space object tracking and characterization. Addressing this problem with active optical tracking techniques is challenging because of the great distances involved, the high velocity of the satellites, and the optical aberrations induced by the atmosphere. We have proposed a phase conjugation based laser tracking concept, and accomplished the first version of design and engineering of a prototype for an Active Laser Tracking System (ALTS). In its current state the ALTS is capable to demonstrate the very basics operational principles of the proposed active tracking technique. We then performed a number of experiments to prove operational capabilities of this prototype both at MetroLaser's lab environment and at Edwards AFB Test Range. In its current architecture the ALTS is comprised of two laser cavities, Master and Slave that are coupled through a Phase Conjugate Mirror (PCM) formed in a non-linear medium (NLM) set at Master laser cavity. By pumping NLM and forming PCM, Master laser establishes the cavities coupling mode and injects the photons in the slave cavity. It is essential that the specific features of the PCM not only serve to couple ALTS cavities, but also serves to compensate optical aberrations of the ALTS (gain media and optical elements of the laser resonator). Due to its ability to compensate optical aberrations, phase conjugate resonators are capable of sustaining oscillation with a remote target as an output coupler. The entire system comprises of several modules, including a laser, emitting/receiving telescope, gimbal

  18. Trendy ve spotřebě léčiv z ATC skupiny A10 za období 2005-2009: porovnání situace v České a Slovenské republice

    OpenAIRE

    Písaříková, Zuzana

    2009-01-01

    This thesis describes a methodology for expressing the consumption of drugs, a system of ATC/DDD, ATC classification and DDD recommended daily dose assigment. It acquaints readers with the most appropriate data source for consumption determining and also inform about diabetes mellitus. This involves also recommended standards of medical care in diabetes by the Czech Diabetes Association, with which is comparethe actual consumption of drugs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the conclusion....

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2009-08-30

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

  20. Audit Follow-up Tracking System (AFTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Office of Personnel Management — The Audit Follow-up Tracking System (AFTS) is used to track, monitor, and report on audits and open recommendations of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)...

  1. The Centralized Temporary Storage (ATC) Spanish. General and operational readiness in the management of high level radioactive waste

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reyes, S.; Diaz, A.; Dilla, A.; Gonzalez, J. R.; Haro, R.

    2014-01-01

    The high-level waste will go to Centralized Temporary Storage (ATC) in Villar de Canas (Cuenca), which is the solution to your management until finished designing its final disposal in the Deep Geological Storage (AGP). Transport containers of high activity radioactive waste will be stored on arrival at the ATC. In time of management, waste will be taken remotely, will be encapsulated in secure conditions and stored in vaults designed to be cooled by natural convection of air confinement. The buildings in the facility will have a general provision optimize the movement of packages and people for the development of all these activities. (Author)

  2. Simulation study of multi-step model algorithmic control of the nuclear reactor thermal power tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shi Xiaoping; Xu Tianshu

    2001-01-01

    The classical control method is usually hard to ensure the thermal power tracking accuracy, because the nuclear reactor system is a complex nonlinear system with uncertain parameters and disturbances. A sort of non-parameter model is constructed with the open-loop impulse response of the system. Furthermore, a sort of thermal power tracking digital control law is presented using the multi-step model algorithmic control principle. The control method presented had good tracking performance and robustness. It can work despite the existence of unmeasurable disturbances. The simulation experiment testifies the correctness and effectiveness of the method. The high accuracy matching between the thermal power and the referenced load is achieved

  3. Decontamination and Decommissioning Equipment Tracking System (DDETS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, S.

    1994-07-01

    At the request of the Department of Energy (DOE)(EM-50), the Scientific Computing Unit developed a prototype system to track information and data relevant to equipment and tooling removed during decontamination and decommissioning activities. The DDETS proof-of-concept tracking system utilizes a one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) bar coding technology to retain and track information such as identification number, manufacturer, requisition information, and various contaminant information, etc. The information is encoded in a bar code, printed on a label and can be attached to corresponding equipment. The DDETS was developed using a proven relational database management system which allows the addition, modification, printing, and deletion of data. In addition, communication interfaces with bar code printers and bar code readers were developed. Additional features of the system include: (a) Four different reports available for the user (REAPS, transaction, and two inventory), (b) Remote automated inventory tracking capabilities, (c) Remote automated inventory tracking capability (2D bar codes allow equipment to be scanned/tracked without being linked to the DDETS database), (d) Edit, update, delete, and query capabilities, (e) On-line bar code label printing utility (data from 2D bar codes can be scanned directly into the data base simplifying data entry), and (f) Automated data backup utility. Compatibility with the Reportable Excess Automated Property System (REAPS) to upload data from DDETS is planned

  4. DCS Budget Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — DCS Budget Tracking System database contains budget information for the Information Technology budget and the 'Other Objects' budget. This data allows for monitoring...

  5. Tracking System : Suaineadh satellite experiment

    OpenAIRE

    Brengesjö, Carl; Selin, Martine

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to present a tracking system for the Suaineadh satellite experiment. The experiment is a part of the REXUS (Rocket EXperiments for University Students) program and the objective is to deploy a foldable web in space. The assignment of this thesis is to develop a tracking system to find the parts from the Suaineadh experiment that will land on Earth. It is important to find the parts and recover all the data that the experiment performed during the travel ...

  6. 75 FR 15413 - Approval for Processing Authority, Foreign-Trade Zone 196, ATC Logistics & Electronics (Personal...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1671] Approval for Processing Authority, Foreign-Trade Zone 196, ATC Logistics & Electronics (Personal Navigation Devices), Fort Worth... & Electronics, an operator of Foreign-Trade Zone 196, has requested processing authority within FTZ 196 in Fort...

  7. Automation system for optical counting of nuclear tracks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boulyga, S.F.; Boulyga, E.G.; Lomonosova, E.M.; Zhuk, I.V

    1999-06-01

    An automation system consisting of the microscope, video camera and Pentium PC with frame recorder was created. The system provides counting of nuclear tracks on the SSNTD surface with a resolution of 752 x 582 points, determination of the surface area and main axis of the track. The pattern recognition program was developed for operation in Windows 3.1 (or higher) ensuring a convenient interface with the user. In a comparison of the results on automatic track counting with the more accurate hand mode it was shown that the program enables the tracks to be detected even on images with a rather high noise level. It ensures a high accuracy of track counting being comparable with the accuracy of manual counting for densities of tracks in the range of up to 2{center_dot}10{sup 5} tracks/cm{sup 2}. The automatic system was applied in the experimental investigation of uranium and transuranium elements.

  8. Automation system for optical counting of nuclear tracks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boulyga, S.F.; Boulyga, E.G.; Lomonosova, E.M.; Zhuk, I.V.

    1999-01-01

    An automation system consisting of the microscope, video camera and Pentium PC with frame recorder was created. The system provides counting of nuclear tracks on the SSNTD surface with a resolution of 752 x 582 points, determination of the surface area and main axis of the track. The pattern recognition program was developed for operation in Windows 3.1 (or higher) ensuring a convenient interface with the user. In a comparison of the results on automatic track counting with the more accurate hand mode it was shown that the program enables the tracks to be detected even on images with a rather high noise level. It ensures a high accuracy of track counting being comparable with the accuracy of manual counting for densities of tracks in the range of up to 2·10 5 tracks/cm 2 . The automatic system was applied in the experimental investigation of uranium and transuranium elements

  9. Automation system for optical counting of nuclear tracks

    CERN Document Server

    Boulyga, S F; Lomonosova, E M; Zhuk, I V

    1999-01-01

    An automation system consisting of the microscope, video camera and Pentium PC with frame recorder was created. The system provides counting of nuclear tracks on the SSNTD surface with a resolution of 752 x 582 points, determination of the surface area and main axis of the track. The pattern recognition program was developed for operation in Windows 3.1 (or higher) ensuring a convenient interface with the user. In a comparison of the results on automatic track counting with the more accurate hand mode it was shown that the program enables the tracks to be detected even on images with a rather high noise level. It ensures a high accuracy of track counting being comparable with the accuracy of manual counting for densities of tracks in the range of up to 2 centre dot 10 sup 5 tracks/cm sup 2. The automatic system was applied in the experimental investigation of uranium and transuranium elements.

  10. Reasonable Accommodation Information Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Reasonable Accommodation Information Tracking System (RAITS) is a case management system that allows the National Reasonable Accommodation Coordinator (NRAC) and...

  11. Tracking the Sun VIII. The Installed Price of Residential and Non-Residential Photovoltaic Systems in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbose, Galen L. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Darghouth, Naïm R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Millstein, Dev [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Spears, Mike [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wiser, Ryan H. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Buckley, Michael [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States); Widiss, Rebecca [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States); Grue, Nick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-08-01

    Now in its eighth edition, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)’s Tracking the Sun report series is dedicated to summarizing trends in the installed price of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. The present report focuses on residential and nonresidential systems installed through year-end 2014, with preliminary trends for the first half of 2015. As noted in the text box below, this year’s report incorporates a number of important changes and enhancements. Among those changes, this year's report focuses solely on residential and nonresidential PV systems; data on utility-scale PV are reported in LBNL’s companion Utility-Scale Solar report series. Installed pricing trends presented within this report derive primarily from project-level data reported to state agencies and utilities that administer PV incentive programs, solar renewable energy credit (SREC) registration systems, or interconnection processes. In total, data were collected for roughly 400,000 individual PV systems, representing 81% of all U.S. residential and non-residential PV capacity installed through 2014 and 62% of capacity installed in 2014, though a smaller subset of this data were used in analysis.

  12. Matter Tracking Information System -

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — The Matter Tracking Information System (MTIS) principle function is to streamline and integrate the workload and work activity generated or addressed by our 300 plus...

  13. Tracking the Sun 10: The Installed Price of Residential and Non-Residential Photovoltaic Systems in the United States

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barbose, Galen [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Darghouth, Naim R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Millstein, Dev [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); LaCommare, Kristina [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); DiSanti, Nicholas [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States); Widiss, Rebecca [Exeter Associates, Columbia, MD (United States)

    2017-09-21

    Berkeley Lab’s Tracking the Sun report series is dedicated to summarizing trends in the installed price of grid-connected, residential and non-residential systems solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the United States. The present report, the tenth edition in the series, focuses on systems installed through year-end 2016, with preliminary data for the first half of 2017. The report provides an overview of both long-term and more-recent trends, highlighting key drivers for installed price declines over different time horizons. The report also extensively characterizes the widespread variability in system pricing, comparing installed prices across states, market segments, installers, and various system and technology characteristics. The trends described in this report derive from project-level data collected by state agencies and utilities that administer PV incentive programs, solar renewable energy credit (SREC) registration systems, or interconnection processes. In total, data for this report were compiled and cleaned for more than 1.1 million individual PV systems, though the analysis in the report is based on a subset of that sample, consisting of roughly 630,000 systems with available installed price data. The full underlying dataset of project-level data (excluding any confidential information) is available in a public data file, for use by other researchers and analysts.

  14. 75 FR 17691 - Foreign-Trade Zone 196 - Fort Worth, Texas, Application for Manufacturing Authority, ATC...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-07

    ... Worth, Texas, Application for Manufacturing Authority, ATC Logistics & Electronics (Cell Phone Kitting... million unit capacity) is used for the kitting and distribution of cell phones. Components and materials sourced from abroad (representing 96% of the value of the finished product) include: cell phone batteries...

  15. Evolution of the SOFIA tracking control system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fiebig, Norbert; Jakob, Holger; Pfüller, Enrico; Röser, Hans-Peter; Wiedemann, Manuel; Wolf, Jürgen

    2014-07-01

    The airborne observatory SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is undergoing a modernization of its tracking system. This included new, highly sensitive tracking cameras, control computers, filter wheels and other equipment, as well as a major redesign of the control software. The experiences along the migration path from an aged 19" VMbus based control system to the application of modern industrial PCs, from VxWorks real-time operating system to embedded Linux and a state of the art software architecture are presented. Further, the concept is presented to operate the new camera also as a scientific instrument, in parallel to tracking.

  16. Developing a multipurpose sun tracking system using fuzzy control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alata, Mohanad [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), PO Box 3030, Irbid 22110 (Jordan)]. E-mail: alata@just.edu.jo; Al-Nimr, M.A. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), PO Box 3030, Irbid 22110 (Jordan); Qaroush, Yousef [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), PO Box 3030, Irbid 22110 (Jordan)

    2005-05-01

    The present work demonstrates the design and simulation of time controlled step sun tracking systems that include: one axis sun tracking with the tilted aperture equal to the latitude angle, equatorial two axis sun tracking and azimuth/elevation sun tracking. The first order Sugeno fuzzy inference system is utilized for modeling and controller design. In addition, an estimation of the insolation incident on a two axis sun tracking system is determined by fuzzy IF-THEN rules. The approach starts by generating the input/output data. Then, the subtractive clustering algorithm, along with least square estimation (LSE), generates the fuzzy rules that describe the relationship between the input/output data of solar angles that change with time. The fuzzy rules are tuned by an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Finally, an open loop control system is designed for each of the previous types of sun tracking systems. The results are shown using simulation and virtual reality. The site of application is chosen at Amman, Jordan (32 deg. North, 36 deg. East), and the period of controlling and simulating each type of tracking system is the year 2003.

  17. Development of Non-Tracking Solar Thermal Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winston, Roland; Johnston, Bruce; Balkowski, Kevin

    2011-11-01

    The aims of this research is to develop high temperature solar thermal collectors that do not require complex solar tracking devices to maintain optimal performance. The collector technology developed through these efforts uses non-imaging optics and is referred to as an external compound parabolic concentrator. It is able to operate with a solar thermal efficiency of approximately 50% at a temperature of 200 ° C and can be readily manufactured at a cost between 15 and 18 per square foot.

  18. Persistent Aerial Tracking system for UAVs

    KAUST Repository

    Mueller, Matthias; Sharma, Gopal; Smith, Neil; Ghanem, Bernard

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a persistent, robust and autonomous object tracking system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) called Persistent Aerial Tracking (PAT). A computer vision and control strategy is applied to a diverse set of moving objects (e.g. humans, animals, cars, boats, etc.) integrating multiple UAVs with a stabilized RGB camera. A novel strategy is employed to successfully track objects over a long period, by ‘handing over the camera’ from one UAV to another. We evaluate several state-of-the-art trackers on the VIVID aerial video dataset and additional sequences that are specifically tailored to low altitude UAV target tracking. Based on the evaluation, we select the leading tracker and improve upon it by optimizing for both speed and performance, integrate the complete system into an off-the-shelf UAV, and obtain promising results showing the robustness of our solution in real-world aerial scenarios.

  19. Persistent Aerial Tracking system for UAVs

    KAUST Repository

    Mueller, Matthias

    2016-12-19

    In this paper, we propose a persistent, robust and autonomous object tracking system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) called Persistent Aerial Tracking (PAT). A computer vision and control strategy is applied to a diverse set of moving objects (e.g. humans, animals, cars, boats, etc.) integrating multiple UAVs with a stabilized RGB camera. A novel strategy is employed to successfully track objects over a long period, by ‘handing over the camera’ from one UAV to another. We evaluate several state-of-the-art trackers on the VIVID aerial video dataset and additional sequences that are specifically tailored to low altitude UAV target tracking. Based on the evaluation, we select the leading tracker and improve upon it by optimizing for both speed and performance, integrate the complete system into an off-the-shelf UAV, and obtain promising results showing the robustness of our solution in real-world aerial scenarios.

  20. Mobile Tracking Systems Using Meter Class Reflective Telescopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sturzenbecher, K.; Ehrhorn, B.

    This paper is a discussion on the use of large reflective telescopes on mobile tracking systems with modern instrument control systems. Large optics can be defined as reflective telescopes with an aperture of at least 20 inches in diameter. New carbon composite construction techniques allow for larger, stronger, and lighter telescopes ranging from 240 pounds for a 20 inch, to 800 pounds for a 32 inch, making them ideal for mobile tracking systems. These telescopes have better light gathering capability and produce larger images with greater detail at a longer range than conventional refractive lenses. In a mobile configuration these systems provide the ability to move the observation platform to the optimal location anywhere in the world. Mounting and systems integration - We will discuss how large telescopes can be physically fit to the mobile tracking system and the integration with the tracking systems' digital control system. We will highlight the remote control capabilities. We will discuss special calibration techniques available in a modern instrument control system such as star calibration, calibration of sensors. Tracking Performance - We will discuss the impact of using large telescopes on the performance of the mobile tracking system. We will highlight the capabilities for auto-tracking and sidereal rate tracking in a mobile mount. Large optics performance - We will discuss the advantages of two-mirror Ritchey-Chrétien reflective optics which offer in-focus imaging across the spectrum, from visible to Long Wave Infrared. These zero expansion optics won't lose figure or focus during temperature changes. And the carbon composite telescope tube is thermally inert. The primary mirror is a modern lightweight "dish" mirror for low thermal mass and is center supported/self balancing. Applications - We will discuss Visible - IR Imaging requirements, Optical Rangefinders, and capabilities for special filters to increase resolution in difficult conditions such as

  1. Tumor tracking and motion compensation with an adaptive tumor tracking system (ATTS): System description and prototype testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilbert, Juergen; Meyer, Juergen; Baier, Kurt; Guckenberger, Matthias; Herrmann, Christian; Hess, Robin; Janka, Christian; Ma Lei; Mersebach, Torben; Richter, Anne; Roth, Michael; Schilling, Klaus; Flentje, Michael

    2008-01-01

    A novel system for real-time tumor tracking and motion compensation with a robotic HexaPOD treatment couch is described. The approach is based on continuous tracking of the tumor motion in portal images without implanted fiducial markers, using the therapeutic megavoltage beam, and tracking of abdominal breathing motion with optical markers. Based on the two independently acquired data sets the table movements for motion compensation are calculated. The principle of operation of the entire prototype system is detailed first. In the second part the performance of the HexaPOD couch was investigated with a robotic four-dimensional-phantom capable of simulating real patient tumor trajectories in three-dimensional space. The performance and limitations of the HexaPOD table and the control system were characterized in terms of its dynamic behavior. The maximum speed and acceleration of the HexaPOD were 8 mm/s and 34.5 mm/s 2 in the lateral direction, and 9.5 mm/s and 29.5 mm/s 2 in longitudinal and anterior-posterior direction, respectively. Base line drifts of the mean tumor position of realistic lung tumor trajectories could be fully compensated. For continuous tumor tracking and motion compensation a reduction of tumor motion up to 68% of the original amplitude was achieved. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that it is technically feasible to compensate breathing induced tumor motion in the lung with the adaptive tumor tracking system

  2. Systems for tracking minimally invasive surgical instruments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chmarra, M K; Grimbergen, C A; Dankelman, J

    2007-01-01

    Minimally invasive surgery (e.g. laparoscopy) requires special surgical skills, which should be objectively assessed. Several studies have shown that motion analysis is a valuable assessment tool of basic surgical skills in laparoscopy. However, to use motion analysis as the assessment tool, it is necessary to track and record the motions of laparoscopic instruments. This article describes the state of the art in research on tracking systems for laparoscopy. It gives an overview on existing systems, on how these systems work, their advantages, and their shortcomings. Although various approaches have been used, none of the tracking systems to date comes out as clearly superior. A great number of systems can be used in training environment only, most systems do not allow the use of real laparoscopic instruments, and only a small number of systems provide force feedback.

  3. Advanced Alignment of the ATLAS Tracking System

    CERN Document Server

    Pedraza Lopez, S; The ATLAS collaboration

    2012-01-01

    In order to reconstruct trajectories of charged particles, ATLAS is equipped with a tracking system built using different technologies embedded in a 2T solenoidal magnetic field. ATLAS physics goals require high resolution, unbiased measurement of all charged particle kinematic parameters in order to assure accurate invariant mass reconstruction and interaction and decay vertex finding. These critically depend on the systematic effects related to the alignment of the tracking system. In order to eliminate malicious systematic deformations, various advanced tools and techniques have been put in place. These include information from known mass resonances, energy of electrons and positrons measured by the electromagnetic calorimeters, etc. Despite being stable under normal running conditions, ATLAS tracking system responses to sudden environ-mental changes (temperature, magnetic field) by small collective deformations. These have to be identified and corrected in order to assure uniform, highest quality tracking...

  4. Procurement Tracking System (PTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Office of Personnel Management — The Procurement Tracking System (PTS) is used solely by the procurement staff of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management...

  5. Electro-Optical Data Acquisition and Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Electro-Optical Data Acquisition and Tracking System (EDATS) dynamically tracks and measures target signatures. It consists of an instrumentation van integrated...

  6. Optimum Design Of On Grid Pv System Using Tracking System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saeed Mansour

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The fossil fuel is a main issue in the world due to the increase of fossil fuel cost and the depletion of the fossil fuel with continuous increasing demand on electricity. With continuous decrease of PV panels cost it is interesting to consider generation of electricity from PV system. To provide electric energy to a load in a remote area where electric grid utility is not available or connection with grid utility is available there are two approaches of photovoltaic system PV without tracking system Fixed System and PV with tracking systems. The result shows that the energy production by using PV with tracking system generates more energy in comparison with fixed panels system. However the cost per produced KWH is less in case of using fixed panels. This is the backbone in choice between two approaches of photovoltaic system. In this work a system design and cost analysis for two approaches of photovoltaic system are considered.

  7. Field testing of prototype systems for the non-destructive measurement of the neutral temperature of railroad tracks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Robert; Lanza di Scalea, Francesco; Nucera, Claudio; Fateh, Mahmood; Choros, John

    2014-03-01

    In both high speed and freight rail systems, the modern construction method is Continuous Welded Rail (CWR). The purpose of the CWR method is to eliminate joints in order to reduce the maintenance costs for both the rails and the rolling stock. However the elimination of the joints increases the risk of rail breakage in cold weather and buckling in hot weather. In order to predict the temperature at which the rail will break or buckle, it is critical to have knowledge of the temperature at which the rail is stress free, namely, the Rail Neutral Temperature (Rail-NT).The University of California at San Diego has developed an innovative technique based on non-linear ultrasonic guided waves, under FRA research and development grants for the non-destructive measurement of the neutral temperature of railroad tracks. Through the licensing of this technology from the UCSD and under the sponsorship of the FRA Office of Research and Development, a field deployable prototype system has been developed and recently field tested at cooperating railroad properties. Three prototype systems have been deployed to the Union Pacific (UP), Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), and AMTRAK railroads for field testing and related data acquisition for a comprehensive evaluation of the system, with respect to both performance and economy of operation. The results from these tests have been very encouraging. Based on the lessons learned from these field tests and the feedback from the railroads, it is planned develop a compact 2nd generation Rail-NT system to foster deployment and furtherance of FRA R&D grant purpose of potential contribution to the agency mission of US railroad safety. In this paper, the results of the field tests with the railroads in summer of 2013 are reported.

  8. 47 CFR 64.1320 - Payphone call tracking system audits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Payphone call tracking system audits. 64.1320... call tracking system audits. (a) Unless it has entered into an alternative compensation arrangement... Completing Carrier must undergo an audit of its § 64.1310(a)(1) tracking system by an independent third party...

  9. A Magnetic Tracking System based on Highly Sensitive Integrated Hall Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlageter, Vincent; Drljaca, Predrag; Popovic, Radivoje S.; KuČERA, Pavel

    A tracking system with five degrees of freedom based on a 2D-array of 16 Hall sensors and a permanent magnet is presented in this paper. The sensitivity of the Hall sensors is increased by integrated micro- and external macro-flux-concentrators. Detection distance larger than 20cm (during one hour without calibration) is achieved using a magnet of 0.2cm3. This corresponds to a resolution of the sensors of 0.05µTrms. The position and orientation of the marker is displayed in real time at least 20 times per second. The sensing system is small enough to be hand-held and can be used in a normal environment. This presented tracking system has been successfully applied to follow a small swallowed magnet through the entire human digestive tube. This approach is extremely promising as a new non-invasive diagnostic technique in gastro-enterology.

  10. Demonstrating EnTracked a System for Energy-Efficient Position Tracking for Mobile Devices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun; Jensen, Jakob Langdal; Godsk, Torben

    An important feature of a modern mobile device is that it can position itself. Not only for use on the device but also for remote applications that require tracking of the device. To be useful, such position tracking has to be energy-efficient to avoid having a major impact on the battery life...... of the mobile device. To address this challenge we have build a system named EnTracked that, based on the estimation and prediction of system conditions and mobility, schedules position updates to both minimize energy consumption and optimize robustness. In this demonstration we would like to show how...

  11. The Establishment of a Formal Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETS) Organization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maria Redmond; Chela Bordas O' Connor

    2010-06-30

    The objectives identified in requesting and utilizing this funding has been met. The goal was to establish a formal, multi-jurisdictional organization to: (1) ensure the policy objectives of the participating jurisdictions are addressed through increased tradability of the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from M-RETS and to eliminate the possibility that a single jurisdiction will be the sole arbiter of the operation of the system; (2) facilitate the establishment of REC standards including the attributes related to, the creation, trading, and interaction with other trading and tracking systems; and (3) have a centralized and established organization that will be responsible for the contracting and governance responsibilities of a multi-jurisdictional tracking system. The M-RETS Inc. Board ensures that the system remains policy neutral; that the attributes of generation are tracked in a way that allows the system users to easily identify and trade relevant RECs; that the system can add jurisdictions as needed or desired; and that the tracking system operate in such a way to allow for the greatest access possible for those participating in other tracking or trading systems by allowing those systems to negotiate with a single M-RETS entity for the import and export of RECs. M-RETS as an organizational body participates and often leads the discussions related to the standardization of RECs and increasing the tradability of M-RETS RECs. M-RETS is a founding member of the Environmental Trading Network of North America (ETNNA) and continues to take a leadership role in the development of processes to facilitate trading among tracking systems and to standardize REC definitions. The Board of Directors of M-RETS, Inc., the non-profit corporation, continues to hold telephone/internet Board meetings. Legal counsel continues working with the board and APX management on a new agreement with APX. The board expects to have an agreement and corresponding fee structure in place by

  12. Real-Time Radar-Based Tracking and State Estimation of Multiple Non-Conformant Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cook, Brandon; Arnett, Timothy; Macmann, Owen; Kumar, Manish

    2017-01-01

    In this study, a novel solution for automated tracking of multiple unknown aircraft is proposed. Many current methods use transponders to self-report state information and augment track identification. While conformant aircraft typically report transponder information to alert surrounding aircraft of its state, vehicles may exist in the airspace that are non-compliant and need to be accurately tracked using alternative methods. In this study, a multi-agent tracking solution is presented that solely utilizes primary surveillance radar data to estimate aircraft state information. Main research challenges include state estimation, track management, data association, and establishing persistent track validity. In an effort to realize these challenges, techniques such as Maximum a Posteriori estimation, Kalman filtering, degree of membership data association, and Nearest Neighbor Spanning Tree clustering are implemented for this application.

  13. Phase tracking system for ultra narrow bandwidth applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hill, M.T.; Cantoni, A.

    2002-01-01

    Recent advances make it possible to mitigate a number of drawbacks of conventional phase locked loops. These advances permit the design of phase tracking systems with much improved characteristics that are sought after in modern communication system applications. A new phase tracking system is

  14. Simulation of an advanced small aperture track system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Tommy J.; Crockett, Gregg A.; Brunson, Richard L.; Beatty, Brad; Zahirniak, Daniel R.; Deuto, Bernard G.

    2001-08-01

    Simulation development for EO Systems has progressed to new levels with the advent of COTS software tools such as Matlab/Simulink. These tools allow rapid reuse of simulation library routines. We have applied these tools to newly emerging Acquisition Tracking and Pointing (ATP) systems using many routines developed through a legacy to High Energy Laser programs such as AirBorne Laser, Space Based Laser, Tactical High Energy Laser, and The Air Force Research Laboratory projects associated with the Starfire Optical Range. The simulation architecture allows ease in testing various track algorithms under simulated scenes with the ability to rapidly vary system hardware parameters such as track sensor and track loop control systems. The atmospheric turbulence environment and associated optical distortion is simulated to high fidelity levels through the application of an atmospheric phase screen model to produce scintillation of the laser illuminator uplink. The particular ATP system simulated is a small transportable system for tracking satellites in a daytime environment and projects a low power laser and receives laser return from retro-reflector equipped satellites. The primary application of the ATP system (and therefore the simulation) is the determination of the illuminator beam profile, jitter, and scintillation of the low power laser at the satellite. The ATP system will serve as a test bed for satellite tracking in a high background during daytime. Of particular interest in this simulation is the ability to emulate the hardware modelogic within the simulation to test and refine system states and mode change decisions. Additionally, the simulation allows data from the hardware system tests to be imported into Matlab and to thereby drive the simulation or to be easily compared to simulation results.

  15. Maximum-power-point tracking control of solar heating system

    KAUST Repository

    Huang, Bin-Juine

    2012-11-01

    The present study developed a maximum-power point tracking control (MPPT) technology for solar heating system to minimize the pumping power consumption at an optimal heat collection. The net solar energy gain Q net (=Q s-W p/η e) was experimentally found to be the cost function for MPPT with maximum point. The feedback tracking control system was developed to track the optimal Q net (denoted Q max). A tracking filter which was derived from the thermal analytical model of the solar heating system was used to determine the instantaneous tracking target Q max(t). The system transfer-function model of solar heating system was also derived experimentally using a step response test and used in the design of tracking feedback control system. The PI controller was designed for a tracking target Q max(t) with a quadratic time function. The MPPT control system was implemented using a microprocessor-based controller and the test results show good tracking performance with small tracking errors. It is seen that the average mass flow rate for the specific test periods in five different days is between 18.1 and 22.9kg/min with average pumping power between 77 and 140W, which is greatly reduced as compared to the standard flow rate at 31kg/min and pumping power 450W which is based on the flow rate 0.02kg/sm 2 defined in the ANSI/ASHRAE 93-1986 Standard and the total collector area 25.9m 2. The average net solar heat collected Q net is between 8.62 and 14.1kW depending on weather condition. The MPPT control of solar heating system has been verified to be able to minimize the pumping energy consumption with optimal solar heat collection. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

  16. The tracking of high level waste shipments-TRANSCOM system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, P.E.; Joy, D.S.; Pope, R.B.

    1995-01-01

    The TRANSCOM (transportation tracking and communication) system is the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) real-time system for tracking shipments of spent fuel, high-level wastes, and other high-visibility shipments of radioactive material. The TRANSCOM system has been operational since 1988. The system was used during FY1993 to track almost 100 shipments within the US.DOE complex, and it is accessed weekly by 10 to 20 users

  17. The tracking of high level waste shipments - TRANSCOM system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, P.E.; Joy, D.S.; Pope, R.B.; Thomas, T.M.; Lester, P.B.

    1994-01-01

    The TRANSCOM (transportation tracking and communication) system is the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) real-time system for tracking shipments of spent fuel, high-level wastes, and other high-visibility shipments of radioactive material. The TRANSCOM system has been operational since 1988. The system was used during FY 1993 to track almost 100 shipments within the US DOE complex, and it is accessed weekly by 10 to 20 users

  18. Comparison of the optics of non-tracking and novel types of tracking solar thermal collectors for process heat applications up to 300{sup o}C

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grass, C.; Schoelkopf, W.; Staudacher, L.; Hacker, Z. [Bavarian Centre for Applied Energy Research, ZAE Bayern Division 4, Garching (Germany)

    2004-03-01

    Evacuated CPC (compound parabolic concentrator) collectors with non-tracking reflectors are compared with two novel tracking collectors: a parabolic trough and an evacuated tube collector with integrated tracking reflector. Non-tracking low concentrating CPC collectors are mostly mounted in east-west direction with a latitude dependent slope angle. They are suitable at most for working temperatures up to 200-250 {sup o}C. We present a tracking evacuated tube-collector with a trough-like concentrating mirror. Single-axis tracking of the mirror is realized with a magnetic mechanism. The mirror is mounted inside the evacuated tube and hence protected from environmental influences. One axis tracking in combination with a small acceptance angle allows for higher concentration as compared to non-tracking concentrating collectors. Ray-tracing analysis shows a half acceptance angle of about 5.7{sup o} at geometrical concentration ratio of 3.2. Losses of well constructed evacuated tube collectors (heat conductivity through the manifolds inside the thermally insulated terminating housing are low) are dominated by radiation losses of the absorber. Hence, reducing the absorber size can lead to higher efficiencies at high operating temperature levels. With the presented collector we aim for operating temperatures up to 350 {sup o}C. At temperatures of 300 {sup o}C we expect with anti-reflective coating of the glass tube and a selective absorber coating efficiencies of 0.65. This allows for application in industrial process heat generation, high efficient solar cooling and power generation. A first prototype, equipped with a standard glass tube and a black paint absorber coating, was tested at ZAE Bayern. The optical efficiency was measured to be 0.71. This tube-collector is compared by ray-tracing with non-tracking market available tube-collectors with geometrical concentration ratios up to 1.1 and with a low cost parabolic trough collector of Industrial Solar Technology (IST

  19. Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector Tracking System

    CERN Document Server

    Lacuesta, V; The ATLAS collaboration

    2010-01-01

    ATLAS is a multipurpose experiment that records the LHC collisions. To reconstruct trajectories of charged particles produced in these collisions, ATLAS tracking system is equipped with silicon planar sensors and drift‐tube based detectors. They constitute the ATLAS Inner Detector. In order to achieve its scientific goals, the alignment of the ATLAS tracking system requires the determine accurately its almost 36000 degrees of freedom. Thus the demanded precision for the alignment of the silicon sensors is below 10 micrometers. This implies to use a large sample of high momentum and isolated charge particle tracks. The high level trigger selects those tracks online. Then the raw data with the hits information of the triggered tracks is stored in a calibration stream. Tracks from cosmic trigger during empty LHC bunches are also used as input for the alignment. The implementation of the track based alignment within the ATLAS software framework unifies different alignment approaches and allows the alignment of ...

  20. MICROCONTROLLER BASED SOLAR-TRACKING SYSTEM AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Okan BİNGÖL

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new micro-controller based solar-tracking system is proposed, implemented and tested. The scheme presented here can be operated as independent of the geographical location of the site of setting up. The system checks the position of the sun and controls the movement of a solar panel so that radiation of the sun comes normally to the surface of the solar panel. The developed-tracking system tracks the sun both in the azimuth as well as in the elevation plane. PC based system monitoring facility is also included in the design.

  1. Modeling of Target Tracking System for Homing Missiles and Air Defense Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunes Sh. ALQUDSI

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available One reason of why the guidance and control systems are imperfect is due to the dynamics of both the tracker and the missile, which appears as an error in the alignment with the LOS and delay in the response of the missile to change its orientation. Other reasons are the bias and disturbances as well as the noise about and within the system such as the thermal noise. This paper deals with the tracking system used in the homing guidance and air defense systems. A realistic model for the tracking system model is developed including the receiver servo dynamics and the possible disturbance and noise that may affect the accuracy of the tracking signals measured by the seeker sensor. Modeling the parameters variability and uncertainty is also examined to determine the robustness margin of the tracking system.

  2. Automated tracking for advanced satellite laser ranging systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGarry, Jan F.; Degnan, John J.; Titterton, Paul J., Sr.; Sweeney, Harold E.; Conklin, Brion P.; Dunn, Peter J.

    1996-06-01

    NASA's Satellite Laser Ranging Network was originally developed during the 1970's to track satellites carrying corner cube reflectors. Today eight NASA systems, achieving millimeter ranging precision, are part of a global network of more than 40 stations that track 17 international satellites. To meet the tracking demands of a steadily growing satellite constellation within existing resources, NASA is embarking on a major automation program. While manpower on the current systems will be reduced to a single operator, the fully automated SLR2000 system is being designed to operate for months without human intervention. Because SLR2000 must be eyesafe and operate in daylight, tracking is often performed in a low probability of detection and high noise environment. The goal is to automatically select the satellite, setup the tracking and ranging hardware, verify acquisition, and close the tracking loop to optimize data yield. TO accomplish the autotracking tasks, we are investigating (1) improved satellite force models, (2) more frequent updates of orbital ephemerides, (3) lunar laser ranging data processing techniques to distinguish satellite returns from noise, and (4) angular detection and search techniques to acquire the satellite. A Monte Carlo simulator has been developed to allow optimization of the autotracking algorithms by modeling the relevant system errors and then checking performance against system truth. A combination of simulator and preliminary field results will be presented.

  3. Real-time Non-linear Target Tracking Control of Wheeled Mobile Robots

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    YU Wenyong

    2006-01-01

    A control strategy for real-time target tracking for wheeled mobile robots is presented. Using a modified Kalman filter for environment perception, a novel tracking control law derived from Lyapunov stability theory is introduced. Tuning of linear velocity and angular velocity with mechanical constraints is applied. The proposed control system can simultaneously solve the target trajectory prediction, real-time tracking, and posture regulation problems of a wheeled mobile robot. Experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed tracking control laws.

  4. Intelligent Materials Tracking System for Construction Projects Management

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Narimah Kasim

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available An essential factor adversely affecting the performance of construction projects is the improper handling of materials during site activities. In addition, paper-based reports are mostly used to record and exchange information related to the material components within the supply chain, which is problematic and inefficient. Generally, technologies (such as wireless systems and RFID are not being adequately used to overcome human errors and are not well integrated with project management systems to make tracking and management of materials easier and faster. Findings from a literature review and surveys showed that there is a lack of positive examples of such tools having been used effectively. Therefore, this research focused on the development of a materials tracking system that integrates RFID-based materials management with resources modelling to improve on-site materials tracking. Rapid prototyping was used to develop the system and testing of the system was carried out to examine the functionality and working appropriately. The proposed system is intended to promote the employment of RFID for automatic materials tracking with integration of resource modelling (Microsoft (R Office Project in the project management system in order to establish which of the tagged components are required resources for certain project tasks. In conclusion, the system provides an automatic and easy tracking method for managing materials during materials delivery and inventory management processes in construction projects.

  5. Maximum Correntropy Criterion Kalman Filter for α-Jerk Tracking Model with Non-Gaussian Noise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bowen Hou

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available As one of the most critical issues for target track, α -jerk model is an effective maneuver target track model. Non-Gaussian noises always exist in the track process, which usually lead to inconsistency and divergence of the track filter. A novel Kalman filter is derived and applied on α -jerk tracking model to handle non-Gaussian noise. The weighted least square solution is presented and the standard Kalman filter is deduced firstly. A novel Kalman filter with the weighted least square based on the maximum correntropy criterion is deduced. The robustness of the maximum correntropy criterion is also analyzed with the influence function and compared with the Huber-based filter, and, moreover, the kernel size of Gaussian kernel plays an important role in the filter algorithm. A new adaptive kernel method is proposed in this paper to adjust the parameter in real time. Finally, simulation results indicate the validity and the efficiency of the proposed filter. The comparison study shows that the proposed filter can significantly reduce the noise influence for α -jerk model.

  6. Off-line tracking of series parameters in distribution systems using AMI data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, Tess L.; Sun, Yannan; Schneider, Kevin

    2016-05-01

    Electric distribution systems have historically lacked measurement points, and equipment is often operated to its failure point, resulting in customer outages. The widespread deployment of sensors at the distribution level is enabling observability. This paper presents an off-line parameter value tracking procedure that takes advantage of the increasing number of measurement devices being deployed at the distribution level to estimate changes in series impedance parameter values over time. The tracking of parameter values enables non-diurnal and non-seasonal change to be flagged for investigation. The presented method uses an unbalanced Distribution System State Estimation (DSSE) and a measurement residual-based parameter estimation procedure. Measurement residuals from multiple measurement snapshots are combined in order to increase the effective local redundancy and improve the robustness of the calculations in the presence of measurement noise. Data from devices on the primary distribution system and from customer meters, via an AMI system, form the input data set. Results of simulations on the IEEE 13-Node Test Feeder are presented to illustrate the proposed approach applied to changes in series impedance parameters. A 5% change in series resistance elements can be detected in the presence of 2% measurement error when combining less than 1 day of measurement snapshots into a single estimate.

  7. Finite-time tracking control for multiple non-holonomic mobile robots based on visual servoing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ou, Meiying; Li, Shihua; Wang, Chaoli

    2013-12-01

    This paper investigates finite-time tracking control problem of multiple non-holonomic mobile robots via visual servoing. It is assumed that the pinhole camera is fixed to the ceiling, and camera parameters are unknown. The desired reference trajectory is represented by a virtual leader whose states are available to only a subset of the followers, and the followers have only interaction. First, the camera-objective visual kinematic model is introduced by utilising the pinhole camera model for each mobile robot. Second, a unified tracking error system between camera-objective visual servoing model and desired reference trajectory is introduced. Third, based on the neighbour rule and by using finite-time control method, continuous distributed cooperative finite-time tracking control laws are designed for each mobile robot with unknown camera parameters, where the communication topology among the multiple mobile robots is assumed to be a directed graph. Rigorous proof shows that the group of mobile robots converges to the desired reference trajectory in finite time. Simulation example illustrates the effectiveness of our method.

  8. Official Union Time Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — Official Union Time Tracking System captures the reporting and accounting of the representational activity for all American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)...

  9. Wire chamber requirements and tracking simulation studies for tracking systems at the superconducting super collider

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hanson, G.G.; Niczyporuk, B.B.; Palounek, A.P.T.

    1989-02-01

    Limitations placed on wire chambers by radiation damage and rate requirements in the SSC environment are reviewed. Possible conceptual designs for wire chamber tracking systems which meet these requirements are discussed. Computer simulation studies of tracking in such systems are presented. Simulations of events from interesting physics at the SSC, including hits from minimum bias background events, are examined. Results of some preliminary pattern recognition studies are given. Such computer simulation studies are necessary to determine the feasibility of wire chamber tracking systems for complex events in a high-rate environment such as the SSC. 11 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

  10. Control system design for UAV trajectory tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Haitao; Gao, Jinyuan

    2006-11-01

    In recent years, because of the emerging requirements for increasing autonomy, the controller of uninhabited air vehicles must be augmented with a very sophisticated autopilot design which is capable of tracking complex and agile maneuvering trajectory. This paper provides a simplified control system framework to solve UAV maneuvering trajectory tracking problem. The flight control system is divided into three subsystems including command generation, transformation and allocation. According to the kinematics equations of the aircraft, flight path angle commands can be generated by desired 3D position from path planning. These commands are transformed to body angular rates through direct nonlinear mapping, which is simpler than common multi-loop method based on time scale separation assumption. Then, by using weighted pseudo-inverse method, the control surface deflections are allocated to follow body angular rates from the previous step. In order to improve the robustness, a nonlinear disturbance observer-based approach is used to compensate the uncertainty of system. A 6DOF nonlinear UAV model is controlled to demonstrate the performance of the trajectory tracking control system. Simulation results show that the control strategy is easy to be realized and the precision of tracking is satisfying.

  11. Advanced Alignment of the ATLAS Tracking System

    CERN Document Server

    Butti, P; The ATLAS collaboration

    2014-01-01

    In order to reconstruct the trajectories of charged particles, the ATLAS experiment exploits a tracking system built using different technologies, planar silicon modules or microstrips (PIX and SCT detectors) and gaseous drift tubes (TRT), all embedded in a 2T solenoidal magnetic field. Misalignments and deformations of the active detector elements deteriorate the track reconstruction resolution and lead to systematic biases on the measured track parameters. The alignment procedures exploits various advanced tools and techniques in order to determine for module positions and correct for deformations. For the LHC Run II, the system is being upgraded with the installation of a new pixel layer, the Insertable B-layer (IBL).

  12. Continuous fractional-order Zero Phase Error Tracking Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Lu; Tian, Siyuan; Xue, Dingyu; Zhang, Tao; Chen, YangQuan

    2018-04-01

    A continuous time fractional-order feedforward control algorithm for tracking desired time varying input signals is proposed in this paper. The presented controller cancels the phase shift caused by the zeros and poles of controlled closed-loop fractional-order system, so it is called Fractional-Order Zero Phase Tracking Controller (FZPETC). The controlled systems are divided into two categories i.e. with and without non-cancellable (non-minimum-phase) zeros which stand in unstable region or on stability boundary. Each kinds of systems has a targeted FZPETC design control strategy. The improved tracking performance has been evaluated successfully by applying the proposed controller to three different kinds of fractional-order controlled systems. Besides, a modified quasi-perfect tracking scheme is presented for those systems which may not have available future tracking trajectory information or have problem in high frequency disturbance rejection if the perfect tracking algorithm is applied. A simulation comparison and a hardware-in-the-loop thermal peltier platform are shown to validate the practicality of the proposed quasi-perfect control algorithm. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Track star : Merrick's RFID system tracks oilpatch equipment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Louie, J

    2006-10-15

    Designed by Merrick Systems, the new Rig-Hand system uses radio frequency identification (RFID) in conjunction with downhole components to manage both surface and downhole equipment. The Rig-Hand system consists of RFID tags which can either be installed to new pipe or retrofitted to existing components; handheld or fixed RFID tag readers; and, software modules. The tags can be mounted to a wide range of surface and downhole components. The system can be used by rig personnel to scan tags with handheld computers, or can be used by a designated reader for greater automation and efficiency. The software modules have been designed for typical rig, pipeyard and service company users. The system provides essential drillstring information that helps to reduce pipe failures, fishing costs and downtime. Component tracking may also impact on both personnel safety and operational risks, as a recent survey has suggested that 14 per cent of catastrophic drillstring failures are due to pipe fatigue. When drilling deviated wells, operators typically have difficulty tracking which pipe may have become fatigued. It is anticipated that the system will also allow for improved logistics management, as it is currently estimated that 70 per cent of casing returned from the wellsite to a pipe yard goes to rust. The tagged components will also demand a higher resale or salvage value than untagged components with limited traceability. The system has gone through extensive testing, and to date has provided extensive savings in both onshore and offshore rigs. Commercialization is expected by the end of 2006. 1 fig.

  14. Track star : Merrick's RFID system tracks oilpatch equipment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Louie, J.

    2006-01-01

    Designed by Merrick Systems, the new Rig-Hand system uses radio frequency identification (RFID) in conjunction with downhole components to manage both surface and downhole equipment. The Rig-Hand system consists of RFID tags which can either be installed to new pipe or retrofitted to existing components; handheld or fixed RFID tag readers; and, software modules. The tags can be mounted to a wide range of surface and downhole components. The system can be used by rig personnel to scan tags with handheld computers, or can be used by a designated reader for greater automation and efficiency. The software modules have been designed for typical rig, pipeyard and service company users. The system provides essential drillstring information that helps to reduce pipe failures, fishing costs and downtime. Component tracking may also impact on both personnel safety and operational risks, as a recent survey has suggested that 14 per cent of catastrophic drillstring failures are due to pipe fatigue. When drilling deviated wells, operators typically have difficulty tracking which pipe may have become fatigued. It is anticipated that the system will also allow for improved logistics management, as it is currently estimated that 70 per cent of casing returned from the wellsite to a pipe yard goes to rust. The tagged components will also demand a higher resale or salvage value than untagged components with limited traceability. The system has gone through extensive testing, and to date has provided extensive savings in both onshore and offshore rigs. Commercialization is expected by the end of 2006. 1 fig

  15. Real-time aircraft continuous descent trajectory optimization with ATC time constraints using direct collocation methods.

    OpenAIRE

    Verhoeven, Ronald; Dalmau Codina, Ramon; Prats Menéndez, Xavier; de Gelder, Nico

    2014-01-01

    1 Abstract In this paper an initial implementation of a real - time aircraft trajectory optimization algorithm is presented . The aircraft trajectory for descent and approach is computed for minimum use of thrust and speed brake in support of a “green” continuous descent and approach flight operation, while complying with ATC time constraints for maintaining runway throughput and co...

  16. NGSI: Function Requirements for a Cylinder Tracking System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Branney, S.

    2012-01-01

    While nuclear suppliers currently track uranium hexafluoride (UF 6 ) cylinders in various ways, for their own purposes, industry practices vary significantly. The NNSA Office of Nonproliferation and International Security's Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI) has begun a 5-year program to investigate the concept of a global monitoring scheme that uniquely identifies and tracks UF 6 cylinders. As part of this effort, NGSI's multi-laboratory team has documented the 'life of a UF 6 cylinder' and reviewed IAEA practices related to UF 6 cylinders. Based on this foundation, this paper examines the functional requirements of a system that would uniquely identify and track UF 6 cylinders. There are many considerations for establishing a potential tracking system. Some of these factors include the environmental conditions a cylinder may be expected to be exposed to, where cylinders may be particularly vulnerable to diversion, how such a system may be integrated into the existing flow of commerce, how proprietary data generated in the process may be protected, what a system may require in terms of the existing standard for UF 6 cylinder manufacture or modifications to it and what the limiting technology factors may be. It is desirable that a tracking system should provide benefit to industry while imposing as few additional constraints as possible and still meeting IAEA safeguards objectives. This paper includes recommendations for this system and the analysis that generated them.

  17. High Accuracy Tracking of Space-Borne Non-Cooperative Targets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, David Arge Klevang

    for the spacecraft to navigate safely and autonomously towards the target. These methods are applied on three distinct study cases, which are based on the platform of the microASC instrument. In relation to the Mars2020 rover, a structured light system is used to navigate the PIXL instrument towards the Martian...... surface, whose objective is to seek evidence of ancient life in the form of chemical biosignatures. The structured light is a subsystem of the PIXL instrument consisting of two active lasers and an imager. The structured light makes use of active triangulation to support a safe approach towards...... team and processing of the captured data was recognized with two Group Achievement Awards from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. With today's advancement in autonomy, the focus is set on in-flight tracking of a non-cooperative artificial satellite with the end goal of capturing...

  18. Maximum-power-point tracking control of solar heating system

    KAUST Repository

    Huang, Bin-Juine; Ton, Wei-Zhe; Wu, Chen-Chun; Ko, Hua-Wei; Chang, Hsien-Shun; Yen, Rue-Her; Wang, Jiunn-Cherng

    2012-01-01

    was used to determine the instantaneous tracking target Q max(t). The system transfer-function model of solar heating system was also derived experimentally using a step response test and used in the design of tracking feedback control system. The PI

  19. Detection of differential viewing patterns to erotic and non-erotic stimuli using eye-tracking methodology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lykins, Amy D; Meana, Marta; Kambe, Gretchen

    2006-10-01

    As a first step in the investigation of the role of visual attention in the processing of erotic stimuli, eye-tracking methodology was employed to measure eye movements during erotic scene presentation. Because eye-tracking is a novel methodology in sexuality research, we attempted to determine whether the eye-tracker could detect differences (should they exist) in visual attention to erotic and non-erotic scenes. A total of 20 men and 20 women were presented with a series of erotic and non-erotic images and tracked their eye movements during image presentation. Comparisons between erotic and non-erotic image groups showed significant differences on two of three dependent measures of visual attention (number of fixations and total time) in both men and women. As hypothesized, there was a significant Stimulus x Scene Region interaction, indicating that participants visually attended to the body more in the erotic stimuli than in the non-erotic stimuli, as evidenced by a greater number of fixations and longer total time devoted to that region. These findings provide support for the application of eye-tracking methodology as a measure of visual attentional capture in sexuality research. Future applications of this methodology to expand our knowledge of the role of cognition in sexuality are suggested.

  20. Assignment and Correspondence Tracking System - Tactical / Operational Reporting

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — Reporting data store for the Assignment and Correspondence Tracking System (ACT). ACT automates the assignment and tracking of correspondence processing within the...

  1. Tracking Behavioral Progress within a Children's Mental Health System: The Vermont Community Adjustment Tracking System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruns, Eric J.; Burchard, John D.; Froelich, Peter; Yoe, James T.; Tighe, Theodore

    1998-01-01

    Describes the Vermont Community Adjustment Tracking System (VT-CATS), which utilizes four behavioral instruments to allow intensive, ongoing, and interpretable behavioral assessment of a service system's most challenging children and adolescents. Also explains the adjustment indicator checklists and the ability of VT-CATS to address agencies'…

  2. Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

    CERN Document Server

    Aamodt, K; Abeysekara, U; Abrahantes Quintana, A; Adamová, D; Aggarwal, M M; Aglieri Rinella, G; Agocs, A G; Aguilar Salazar, S; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, A; Ahmad, N; Ahn, S U; Akimoto, R; Akindinov, A; Aleksandrov, D; Alessandro, B; Alfaro Molina, R; Alici, A; Almaráz Aviña, E; Alme, J; Altini, V; Altinpinar, S; Alt, T; Andrei, C; Andronic, A; Anelli, G; Angelov, V; Anson, C; Anticic, T; Antinori, F; Antinori, S; Antipin, K; Antonczyk, D; Antonioli, P; Anzo, A; Aphecetche, L; Appelshäuser, H; Arcelli, S; Arceo, R; Arend, A; Armesto, N; Arnaldi, R; Aronsson, T; Arsene, I C; Asryan, A; Augustinus, A; Averbeck, R; Awes, T C; Äystö, J; Azmi, M D; Bablok, S; Bach, M; Badalà, A; Baek, Y W; Bagnasco, S; Bailhache, R; Bala, R; Baldisseri, A; Baldit, A; Bán, J; Barbera, R; Barile, F; Barnaföldi, G G; Barnby, L; Barret, V; Bartke, J; Basile, M; Basmanov, V; Bastid, N; Bathen, B; Batigne, G; Batyunya, B; Baumann, C; Bearden, I G; Becker, B; Belikov, I; Bellwied, R; Belmont-Moreno, E; Belogianni, A; Benhabib, L; Beolé, S; Berceanu, I; Bercuci, A; Berdermann, E; Berdnikov, Y; Betev, L; Bhasin, A; Bhati, A K; Bianchi, L; Bianchin, C; Bianchi, N; Bielcík, J; Bielcíková, J; Bilandzic, A; Bimbot, L; Biolcati, E; Blanc, A; Blanco, F; Blanco, F; Blau, D; Blume, C; Boccioli, M; Bock, N; Bogdanov, A; Bøggild, H; Bogolyubsky, M; Bohm, J; Boldizsár, L; Bombara, M; Bombonati, C; Bondila, M; Borel, H; Borshchov, V; Bortolin, C; Bose, S; Bosisio, L; Bossú, F; Botje, M; Böttger, S; Bourdaud, G; Boyer, B; Braun, M; Braun-Munzinger, P; Bravina, L; Bregant, M; Breitner, T; Bruckner, G; Bruna, E; Bruno, G E; Brun, R; Budnikov, D; Buesching, H; Bugaev, K; Buncic, P; Busch, O; Buthelezi, Z; Caffarri, D; Caines, H; Cai, X; Camacho, E; Camerini, P; Campbell, M; Canoa Roman, V; Capitani, G P; Cara Romeo, G; Carena, F; Carena, W; Carminati, F; Casanova Díaz, A; Caselle, M; Castillo Castellanos, J; Castillo Hernandez, J F; Catanescu, V; Cattaruzza, E; Cavicchioli, C; Cerello, P; Chambert, V; Chang, B; Chapeland, S; Charpy, A; Charvet, J L; Chattopadhyay, S; Chattopadhyay, S; Cherney, M; Cheshkov, C; Cheynis, B; Chiavassa, E; Chibante Barroso, V; Chinellato, D D; Chochula, P; Choi, K; Chojnacki, M; Christakoglou, P; Christensen, C H; Christiansen, P; Chujo, T; Chuman, F; Cicalo, C; Cifarelli, L; Cindolo, F; Cleymans, J; Cobanoglu, O; Coffin, J P; Coli, S; Colla, A; Conesa Balbastre, G; Conesa del Valle, Z; Conner, E S; Constantin, P; Contin, G; Contreras, J G; Cormier, T M; Corrales Morales, Y; Cortese, P; Cortés Maldonado, I; Cosentino, M R; Costa, F; Cotallo, M E; Crescio, E; Crochet, P; Cuautle, E; Cunqueiro, L; Cussonneau, J; Dainese, A; Dalsgaard, H H; Danu, A; Dash, A; Dash, S; Das, I; Das, S; de Barros, G O V; De Caro, A; de Cataldo, G; de Cuveland, J; De Falco, A; De Gaspari, M; de Groot, J; De Gruttola, D; de Haas, A P; De Marco, N; De Pasquale, S; De Remigis, R; de Rooij, R; de Vaux, G; Delagrange, H; Dellacasa, G; Deloff, A; Demanov, V; Dénes, E; Deppman, A; D'Erasmo, G; Derkach, D; Devaux, A; Di Bari, D; Di Giglio, C; Di Liberto, S; Di Mauro, A; Di Nezza, P; Dialinas, M; Díaz, L; Díaz, R; Dietel, T; Ding, H; Divià, R; Djuvsland, Ø; do Amaral Valdiviesso, G; Dobretsov, V; Dobrin, A; Dobrowolski, T; Dönigus, B; Domínguez, I; Dordic, O; Dubey, A K; Dubuisson, J; Ducroux, L; Dupieux, P; Dutta Majumdar, A K; Dutta Majumdar, M R; Elia, D; Emschermann, D; Enokizono, A; Espagnon, B; Estienne, M; Evans, D; Evrard, S; Eyyubova, G; Fabjan, C W; Fabris, D; Faivre, J; Falchieri, D; Fantoni, A; Fasel, M; Fearick, R; Fedunov, A; Fehlker, D; Fekete, V; Felea, D; Fenton-Olsen, B; Feofilov, G; Fernández Téllez, A; Ferreiro, E G; Ferretti, A; Ferretti, R; Figueredo, M A S; Filchagin, S; Fini, R; Fionda, F M; Fiore, E M; Floris, M; Fodor, Z; Foertsch, S; Foka, P; Fokin, S; Formenti, F; Fragiacomo, E; Fragkiadakis, M; Frankenfeld, U; Frolov, A; Fuchs, U; Furano, F; Furget, C; Fusco Girard, M; Gaardhøje, J J; Gadrat, S; Gagliardi, M; Gago, A; Gallio, M; Ganoti, P; Ganti, M S; Garabatos, C; García Trapaga, C; Gebelein, J; Gemme, R; Germain, M; Gheata, A; Gheata, M; Ghidini, B; Ghosh, P; Giraudo, G; Giubellino, P; Gladysz-Dziadus, E; Glasow, R; Glässel, P; Glenn, A; Gomez, R; González Santos, H; González-Trueba, L H; González-Zamora, P; Gorbunov, S; Gorbunov, Y; Gotovac, S; Gottschlag, H; Grabski, V; Grajcarek, R; Grelli, A; Grigoras, A; Grigoras, C; Grigoriev, V; Grigoryan, A; Grinyov, B; Grion, N; Gros, P; Grosse-Oetringhaus, J F; Grossiord, J Y; Grosso, R; Guarnaccia, C; Guber, F; Guernane, R; Guerzoni, B; Gulbrandsen, K; Gulkanyan, H; Gunji, T; Gupta, A; Gupta, R; Gustafsson, H A; Gutbrod, H; Haaland, Ø; Hadjidakis, C; Haiduc, M; Hamagaki, H; Hamar, G; Hamblen, J; Han, B H; Harris, J W; Hartig, M; Harutyunyan, A; Hasch, D; Hasegan, D; Hatzifotiadou, D; Hayrapetyan, A; Heide, M; Heinz, M; Helstrup, H; Herghelegiu, A; Hernández, C; Herrera Corral, G; Herrmann, N; Hetland, K F; Hicks, B; Hiei, A; Hille, P T; Hippolyte, B; Horaguchi, T; Hori, Y; Hristov, P; Hrivnácová, I; Huber, S; Humanic, T J; Hu, S; Hutter, D; Hwang, D S; Ichou, R; Ilkaev, R; Ilkiv, I; Innocenti, P G; Ippolitov, M; Irfan, M; Ivan, C; Ivanov, A; Ivanov, M; Ivanov, V; Iwasaki, T; Jachokowski, A; Jacobs, P; Jancurová, L; Jangal, S; Janik, R; Jayananda, K; Jena, C; Jena, S; Jirden, L; Jones, G T; Jones, P G; Jovanovic, P; Jung, H; Jung, W; Jusko, A; Kaidalov, A B; Kalcher, S; Kalinák, P; Kalliokoski, T; Kalweit, A; Kamal, A; Kamermans, R; Kanaki, K; Kang, E; Kang, J H; Kapitan, J; Kaplin, V; Kapusta, S; Karavicheva, T; Karpechev, E; Kazantsev, A; Kebschull, U; Keidel, R; Khan, M M; Khan, S A; Khanzadeev, A; Kharlov, Y; Kikola, D; Kileng, B; Kim, D J; Kim, D S; Kim, D W; Kim, H N; Kim, J H; Kim, J; Kim, J S; Kim, M; Kim, M; Kim, S H; Kim, S; Kim, Y; Kirsch, S; Kiselev, S; Kisel, I; Kisiel, A; Klay, J L; Klein-Bösing, C; Klein, J; Kliemant, M; Klovning, A; Kluge, A; Kniege, S; Koch, K; Kolevatov, R; Kolojvari, A; Kondratiev, V; Kondratyeva, N; Konevskih, A; Kornas, E; Kour, R; Kowalski, M; Kox, S; Kozlov, K; Králik, I; Kral, J; Kramer, F; Kraus, I; Kravcáková, A; Krawutschke, T; Krivda, M; Krumbhorn, D; Krus, M; Kryshen, E; Krzewicki, M; Kucheriaev, Y; Kuhn, C; Kuijer, P G; Kumar, L; Kumar, N; Kupczak, R; Kurashvili, P; Kurepin, A; Kurepin, A N; Kuryakin, A; Kushpil, S; Kushpil, V; Kutouski, M; Kvaerno, H; Kweon, M J; Kwon, Y; Lackner, F; Ladrón de Guevara, P; Lafage, V; Lal, C; Lara, C; La Rocca, P; Larsen, D T; Laurenti, G; Lazzeroni, C; Le Bornec, Y; Le Bris, N; Lee, H; Lee, K S; Lee, S C; Lefèvre, F; Lehnert, J; Leistam, L; Lenhardt, M; Lenti, V; León, H; León Monzón, I; León Vargas, H; Lévai, P; Lietava, R; Lindal, S; Lindenstruth, V; Lippmann, C; Lisa, M A; Listratenko, O; Liu, L; Li, Y; Loginov, V; Lohn, S; López Noriega, M; López-Ramírez, R; López Torres, E; Lopez, X; Løvhøiden, G; Lozea Feijo Soares, A; Lunardon, M; Luparello, G; Luquin, L; Lu, S; Lutz, J R; Luvisetto, M; Madagodahettige-Don, D M; Maevskaya, A; Mager, M; Mahajan, A; Mahapatra, D P; Maire, A; Makhlyueva, I; Ma, K; Malaev, M; Maldonado Cervantes, I; Malek, M; Mal'Kevich, D; Malkiewicz, T; Malzacher, P; Mamonov, A; Manceau, L; Mangotra, L; Manko, V; Manso, F; Manzari, V; Mao, Y; Mares, J; Margagliotti, G V; Margotti, A; Marín, A; Martashvili, I; Martinengo, P; Martínez Davalos, A; Martínez García, G; Martínez, M I; Maruyama, Y; Ma, R; Marzari Chiesa, A; Masciocchi, S; Masera, M; Masetti, M; Masoni, A; Massacrier, L; Mastromarco, M; Mastroserio, A; Matthews, Z L; Mattos Tavares, B; Matyja, A; Mayani, D; Mazza, G; Mazzoni, M A; Meddi, F; Menchaca-Rocha, A; Mendez Lorenzo, P; Meoni, M; Mercado Pérez, J; Mereu, P; Miake, Y; Michalon, A; Miftakhov, N; Milosevic, J; Minafra, F; Mischke, A; Miskowiec, D; Mitu, C; Mizoguchi, K; Mlynarz, J; Mohanty, B; Molnar, L; Mondal, M M; Montaño Zetina, L; Monteno, M; Montes, E; Morando, M; Moretto, S; Morsch, A; Moukhanova, T; Muccifora, V; Mudnic, E; Muhuri, S; Müller, H; Munhoz, M G; Munoz, J; Musa, L; Musso, A; Nandi, B K; Nania, R; Nappi, E; Navach, F; Navin, S; Nayak, T K; Nazarenko, S; Nazarov, G; Nedosekin, A; Nendaz, F; Newby, J; Nianine, A; Nicassio, M; Nielsen, B S; Nikolaev, S; Nikolic, V; Nikulin, S; Nikulin, V; Nilsen, B S; Nilsson, M S; Noferini, F; Nomokonov, P; Nooren, G; Novitzky, N; Nyatha, A; Nygaard, C; Nyiri, A; Nystrand, J; Ochirov, A; Odyniec, G; Oeschler, H; Oinonen, M; Okada, K; Okada, Y; Oldenburg, M; Oleniacz, J; Oppedisano, C; Orsini, F; Ortíz Velázquez, A; Ortona, G; Oskamp, C; Oskarsson, A; Osmic, F; Österman, L; Ostrowski, P; Otterlund, I; Otwinowski, J; Øvrebekk, G; Oyama, K; Ozawa, K; Pachmayer, Y; Pachr, M; Padilla, F; Pagano, P; Paic, G; Painke, F; Pajares, C; Palaha, A; Palmeri, A; Pal, S K; Pal, S; Panse, R; Pappalardo, G S; Park, W J; Pastircák, B; Pastore, C; Paticchio, V; Pavlinov, A; Pawlak, T; Peitzmann, T; Pepato, A; Pereira, H; Peressounko, D; Pérez, C; Perini, D; Perrino, D; Peryt, W; Peschek, J; Pesci, A; Peskov, V; Pestov, Y; Peters, A J; Petrácek, V; Petridis, A; Petris, M; Petrovici, M; Petrov, P; Petta, C; Peyré, J; Piano, S; Piccotti, A; Pikna, M; Pillot, P; Pinsky, L; Pitz, N; Piuz, F; Platt, R; Pluta, J; Pocheptsov, T; Pochybova, S; Podesta Lerma, P L M; Poggio, F; Poghosyan, M G; Poghosyan, T; Polák, K; Polichtchouk, B; Polozov, P; Polyakov, V; Pommeresch, B; Pop, A; Posa, F; Poskon, M; Pospisil, V; Potukuchi, B; Pouthas, J; Prasad, S K; Preghenella, R; Prino, F; Pruneau, C A; Pshenichnov, I; Puddu, G; Pujahari, P; Pulvirenti, A; Punin, A; Punin, V; Putis, M; Putschke, J; Quercigh, E; Rachevski, A; Rademakers, A; Radomski, S; Räihä, T S; Rak, J; Rakotozafindrabe, A; Ramello, L; Ramírez Reyes, A; Rammler, M; Raniwala, R; Raniwala, S; Räsänen, S; Rashevskaya, I; Rath, S; Read, K F; Real, J; Redlich, K; Renfordt, R; Reolon, A R; Reshetin, A; Rettig, F; Revol, J P; Reygers, K; Ricaud, H; Riccati, L; Ricci, R A; Richter, M; Riedler, P; Riegler, W; Riggi, F; Rivetti, A; Rodriguez Cahuantzi, M; Røed, K; Röhrich, D; Román López, S; Romita, R; Ronchetti, F; Rosinský, P; Rosnet, P; Rossegger, S; Rossi, A; Roukoutakis, F; Rousseau, S; Roy, C; Roy, P; Rubio-Montero, A J; Rui, R; Rusanov, I; Russo, G; Ryabinkin, E; Rybicki, A; Sadovsky, S; Safarík, K; Sahoo, R; Saini, J; Saiz, P; Sakata, D; Salgado, C A; Salgueiro Dominques da Silva, R; Salur, S; Samanta, T; Sambyal, S; Samsonov, V; Sándor, L; Sandoval, A; Sano, M; Sano, S; Santo, R; Santoro, R; Sarkamo, J; Saturnini, P; Scapparone, E; Scarlassara, F; Scharenberg, R P; Schiaua, C; Schicker, R; Schindler, H; Schmidt, C; Schmidt, H R; Schossmaier, K; Schreiner, S; Schuchmann, S; Schukraft, J; Schutz, Y; Schwarz, K; Schweda, K; Scioli, G; Scomparin, E; Segato, G; Semenov, D; Senyukov, S; Seo, J; Serci, S; Serkin, L; Serradilla, E; Sevcenco, A; Sgura, I; Shabratova, G; Shahoyan, R; Sharkov, G; Sharma, N; Sharma, S; Shigaki, K; Shimomura, M; Shtejer, K; Sibiriak, Y; Siciliano, M; Sicking, E; Siddi, E; Siemiarczuk, T; Silenzi, A; Silvermyr, D; Simili, E; Simonetti, G; Singaraju, R; Singhal, V; Singh, R; Sinha, B C; Sinha, T; Sitar, B; Sitta, M; Skaali, T B; Skjerdal, K; Smakal, R; Smirnov, N; Snellings, R; Snow, H; Søgaard, C; Sokolov, O; Soloviev, A; Soltveit, H K; Soltz, R; Sommer, W; Son, C W; Song, M; Son, H S; Soos, C; Soramel, F; Soyk, D; Spyropoulou-Stassinaki, M; Srivastava, B K; Stachel, J; Staley, F; Stan, I; Stefanek, G; Stefanini, G; Steinbeck, T; Stenlund, E; Steyn, G; Stocco, D; Stock, R; Stolpovsky, P; Strmen, P; Suaide, A A P; Subieta Vásquez, M A; Sugitate, T; Suire, C; Sumbera, M; Susa, T; Swoboda, D; Symons, J; Szanto de Toledo, A; Szarka, I; Szostak, A; Szuba, M; Tadel, M; Tagridis, C; Takahara, A; Takahashi, J; Tanabe, R; Tapia Takaki, J D; Taureg, H; Tauro, A; Tavlet, M; Tejeda Muñoz, G; Telesca, A; Terrevoli, C; Thäder, J; Tieulent, R; Tlusty, D; Toia, A; Tolyhy, T; Torcato de Matos, C; Torii, H; Torralba, G; Toscano, L; Tosello, F; Tournaire, A; Traczyk, T; Tribedy, P; Tröger, G; Truesdale, D; Trzaska, W H; Tsiledakis, G; Tsilis, E; Tsuji, T; Tumkin, A; Turrisi, R; Turvey, A; Tveter, T S; Tydesjö, H; Tywoniuk, K; Ulery, J; Ullaland, K; Uras, A; Urbán, J; Urciuoli, G M; Usai, G L; Vacchi, A; Vala, M; Valencia Palomo, L; Vallero, S; van den Brink, A; van der Kolk, N; Vande Vyvre, P; van Leeuwen, M; Vannucci, L; Vargas, A; Varma, R; Vasiliev, A; Vassiliev, I; Vassiliou, M; Vechernin, V; Venaruzzo, M; Vercellin, E; Vergara, S; Vernet, R; Verweij, M; Vetlitskiy, I; Vickovic, L; Viesti, G; Vikhlyantsev, O; Vilakazi, Z; Villalobos Baillie, O; Vinogradov, A; Vinogradov, L; Vinogradov, Y; Virgili, T; Viyogi, Y P; Vodopianov, A; Voloshin, K; Voloshin, S; Volpe, G; von Haller, B; Vranic, D; Vrláková, J; Vulpescu, B; Wagner, B; Wagner, V; Wallet, L; Wan, R; Wang, D; Wang, Y; Watanabe, K; Wen, Q; Wessels, J; Wiechula, J; Wikne, J; Wilk, A; Wilk, G; Williams, M C S; Willis, N; Windelband, B; Xu, C; Yang, C; Yang, H; Yasnopolsky, A; Yermia, F; Yi, J; Yin, Z; Yokoyama, H; Yoo, I-K; Yuan, X; Yushmanov, I; Zabrodin, E; Zagreev, B; Zalite, A; Zampolli, C; Zanevsky, Yu; Zaporozhets, Y; Zarochentsev, A; Závada, P; Zbroszczyk, H; Zelnicek, P; Zenin, A; Zepeda, A; Zgura, I; Zhalov, M; Zhang, X; Zhou, D; Zhou, S; Zhu, J; Zichichi, A; Zinchenko, A; Zinovjev, G; Zinovjev, M; Zoccarato, Y; Zychácek, V

    2010-01-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that h...

  3. Robust Solar Position Sensor for Tracking Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ritchie, Ewen; Argeseanu, Alin; Leban, Krisztina Monika

    2009-01-01

    The paper proposes a new solar position sensor used in tracking system control. The main advantages of the new solution are the robustness and the economical aspect. Positioning accuracy of the tracking system that uses the new sensor is better than 1°. The new sensor uses the ancient principle...... of the solar clock. The sensitive elements are eight ordinary photo-resistors. It is important to note that all the sensors are not selected simultaneously. It is not necessary for sensor operating characteristics to be quasi-identical because the sensor principle is based on extreme operating duty measurement...... (bright or dark). In addition, the proposed solar sensor significantly simplifies the operation of the tracking control device....

  4. Supercavitating Projectile Tracking System and Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-30

    Distribution is unlimited 20100104106 Attorney Docket No. 96681 SUPERCAVITATING PROJECTILE TRACKING SYSTEM AND METHOD STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT...underwater track or path 14 of a supercavitating vehicle under surface 16 of a body of water. In this embodiment, passive acoustic or pressure...transducers 12 are utilized to measure a pressure field produced by a moving supercavitating vehicle. The present invention provides a low-cost, reusable

  5. Dynamic Ocean Track System Plus -

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Transportation — Dynamic Ocean Track System Plus (DOTS Plus) is a planning tool implemented at the ZOA, ZAN, and ZNY ARTCCs. It is utilized by Traffic Management Unit (TMU) personnel...

  6. Fuzzy logic control for camera tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lea, Robert N.; Fritz, R. H.; Giarratano, J.; Jani, Yashvant

    1992-01-01

    A concept utilizing fuzzy theory has been developed for a camera tracking system to provide support for proximity operations and traffic management around the Space Station Freedom. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic based reasoning are used in a control system which utilizes images from a camera and generates required pan and tilt commands to track and maintain a moving target in the camera's field of view. This control system can be implemented on a fuzzy chip to provide an intelligent sensor for autonomous operations. Capabilities of the control system can be expanded to include approach, handover to other sensors, caution and warning messages.

  7. Explosives Classifications Tracking System User Manual

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Genoni, R.P.

    1993-10-01

    The Explosives Classification Tracking System (ECTS) presents information and data for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) explosives classifications of interest to EM-561, Transportation Management Division, other DOE facilities, and contractors. It is intended to be useful to the scientist, engineer, and transportation professional, who needs to classify or transport explosives. This release of the ECTS reflects upgrading of the software which provides the user with an environment that makes comprehensive retrieval of explosives related information quick and easy. Quarterly updates will be provided to the ECTS throughout its development in FY 1993 and thereafter. The ECTS is a stand alone, single user system that contains unclassified, publicly available information, and administrative information (contractor names, product descriptions, transmittal dates, EX-Numbers, etc.) information from many sources for non-decisional engineering and shipping activities. The data is the most up-to-date and accurate available to the knowledge of the system developer. The system is designed to permit easy revision and updating as new information and data become available. These, additions and corrections are welcomed by the developer. This user manual is intended to help the user install, understand, and operate the system so that the desired information may be readily obtained, reviewed, and reported.

  8. Real-time resource allocation for tracking systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Satsangi, Y.; Whiteson, S.; Oliehoek, F.A.; Bouma, H.

    2017-01-01

    Automated tracking is key to many computer vision applications. However, many tracking systems struggle to perform in real-time due to the high computational cost of detecting people, especially in ultra high resolution images. We propose a new algorithm called PartiMax that greatly reduces this

  9. Online multi-modal robust non-negative dictionary learning for visual tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiang; Guan, Naiyang; Tao, Dacheng; Qiu, Xiaogang; Luo, Zhigang

    2015-01-01

    Dictionary learning is a method of acquiring a collection of atoms for subsequent signal representation. Due to its excellent representation ability, dictionary learning has been widely applied in multimedia and computer vision. However, conventional dictionary learning algorithms fail to deal with multi-modal datasets. In this paper, we propose an online multi-modal robust non-negative dictionary learning (OMRNDL) algorithm to overcome this deficiency. Notably, OMRNDL casts visual tracking as a dictionary learning problem under the particle filter framework and captures the intrinsic knowledge about the target from multiple visual modalities, e.g., pixel intensity and texture information. To this end, OMRNDL adaptively learns an individual dictionary, i.e., template, for each modality from available frames, and then represents new particles over all the learned dictionaries by minimizing the fitting loss of data based on M-estimation. The resultant representation coefficient can be viewed as the common semantic representation of particles across multiple modalities, and can be utilized to track the target. OMRNDL incrementally learns the dictionary and the coefficient of each particle by using multiplicative update rules to respectively guarantee their non-negativity constraints. Experimental results on a popular challenging video benchmark validate the effectiveness of OMRNDL for visual tracking in both quantity and quality.

  10. Patient tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chapman, L.J.; Hakimi, R.; Salehi, D.; McCord, T.; Zionczkowski, B.; Churchill, R.

    1987-01-01

    This exhibit describes computer applications in monitoring patient tracking in radiology and the collection of management information (technologist productivity, patient waiting times, repeat rate, room utilization) and quality assurance information. An analysis of the reports that assist in determining staffing levels, training needs, and patient scheduling is presented. The system is designed to require minimal information input and maximal information output to assist radiologists, quality assurance coordinators, and management personnel in departmental operations

  11. EYE GAZE TRACKING

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2017-01-01

    This invention relates to a method of performing eye gaze tracking of at least one eye of a user, by determining the position of the center of the eye, said method comprising the steps of: detecting the position of at least three reflections on said eye, transforming said positions to spanning...... a normalized coordinate system spanning a frame of reference, wherein said transformation is performed based on a bilinear transformation or a non linear transformation e.g. a möbius transformation or a homographic transformation, detecting the position of said center of the eye relative to the position...... of said reflections and transforming this position to said normalized coordinate system, tracking the eye gaze by tracking the movement of said eye in said normalized coordinate system. Thereby calibration of a camera, such as knowledge of the exact position and zoom level of the camera, is avoided...

  12. GPS-based tracking system for TOPEX orbit determination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melbourne, W. G.

    1984-01-01

    A tracking system concept is discussed that is based on the utilization of the constellation of Navstar satellites in the Global Positioning System (GPS). The concept involves simultaneous and continuous metric tracking of the signals from all visible Navstar satellites by approximately six globally distributed ground terminals and by the TOPEX spacecraft at 1300-km altitude. Error studies indicate that this system could be capable of obtaining decimeter position accuracies and, most importantly, around 5 cm in the radial component which is key to exploiting the full accuracy potential of the altimetric measurements for ocean topography. Topics covered include: background of the GPS, the precision mode for utilization of the system, past JPL research for using the GPS in precision applications, the present tracking system concept for high accuracy satellite positioning, and results from a proof-of-concept demonstration.

  13. Hazardous chemical tracking system (HAZ-TRAC)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bramlette, J.D.; Ewart, S.M.; Jones, C.E.

    1990-07-01

    Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Company, Inc. (WINCO) developed and implemented a computerized hazardous chemical tracking system, referred to as Haz-Trac, for use at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). Haz-Trac is designed to provide a means to improve the accuracy and reliability of chemical information, which enhances the overall quality and safety of ICPP operations. The system tracks all chemicals and chemical components from the time they enter the ICPP until the chemical changes form, is used, or becomes a waste. The system runs on a Hewlett-Packard (HP) 3000 Series 70 computer. The system is written in COBOL and uses VIEW/3000, TurboIMAGE/DBMS 3000, OMNIDEX, and SPEEDWARE. The HP 3000 may be accessed throughout the ICPP, and from remote locations, using data communication lines. Haz-Trac went into production in October, 1989. Currently, over 1910 chemicals and chemical components are tracked on the system. More than 2500 personnel hours were saved during the first six months of operation. Cost savings have been realized by reducing the time needed to collect and compile reporting information, identifying and disposing of unneeded chemicals, and eliminating duplicate inventories. Haz-Trac maintains information required by the Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act (SARA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

  14. Hazardous chemical tracking system (HAZ-TRAC)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bramlette, J D; Ewart, S M; Jones, C E

    1990-07-01

    Westinghouse Idaho Nuclear Company, Inc. (WINCO) developed and implemented a computerized hazardous chemical tracking system, referred to as Haz-Trac, for use at the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant (ICPP). Haz-Trac is designed to provide a means to improve the accuracy and reliability of chemical information, which enhances the overall quality and safety of ICPP operations. The system tracks all chemicals and chemical components from the time they enter the ICPP until the chemical changes form, is used, or becomes a waste. The system runs on a Hewlett-Packard (HP) 3000 Series 70 computer. The system is written in COBOL and uses VIEW/3000, TurboIMAGE/DBMS 3000, OMNIDEX, and SPEEDWARE. The HP 3000 may be accessed throughout the ICPP, and from remote locations, using data communication lines. Haz-Trac went into production in October, 1989. Currently, over 1910 chemicals and chemical components are tracked on the system. More than 2500 personnel hours were saved during the first six months of operation. Cost savings have been realized by reducing the time needed to collect and compile reporting information, identifying and disposing of unneeded chemicals, and eliminating duplicate inventories. Haz-Trac maintains information required by the Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act (SARA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

  15. Multiple Drosophila Tracking System with Heading Direction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pudith Sirigrivatanawong

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Machine vision systems have been widely used for image analysis, especially that which is beyond human ability. In biology, studies of behavior help scientists to understand the relationship between sensory stimuli and animal responses. This typically requires the analysis and quantification of animal locomotion. In our work, we focus on the analysis of the locomotion of the fruit fly D r o s o p h i l a m e l a n o g a s t e r , a widely used model organism in biological research. Our system consists of two components: fly detection and tracking. Our system provides the ability to extract a group of flies as the objects of concern and furthermore determines the heading direction of each fly. As each fly moves, the system states are refined with a Kalman filter to obtain the optimal estimation. For the tracking step, combining information such as position and heading direction with assignment algorithms gives a successful tracking result. The use of heading direction increases the system efficiency when dealing with identity loss and flies swapping situations. The system can also operate with a variety of videos with different light intensities.

  16. Active Multimodal Sensor System for Target Recognition and Tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Yufu; Zhang, Guirong; Zou, Zhaofan; Liu, Ziyue; Mao, Jiansen

    2017-06-28

    High accuracy target recognition and tracking systems using a single sensor or a passive multisensor set are susceptible to external interferences and exhibit environmental dependencies. These difficulties stem mainly from limitations to the available imaging frequency bands, and a general lack of coherent diversity of the available target-related data. This paper proposes an active multimodal sensor system for target recognition and tracking, consisting of a visible, an infrared, and a hyperspectral sensor. The system makes full use of its multisensor information collection abilities; furthermore, it can actively control different sensors to collect additional data, according to the needs of the real-time target recognition and tracking processes. This level of integration between hardware collection control and data processing is experimentally shown to effectively improve the accuracy and robustness of the target recognition and tracking system.

  17. Robust tracking control of uncertain Duffing-Holmes control systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Y.-J.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, the notion of virtual stabilizability for dynamical systems is introduced and the virtual stabilizability of uncertain Duffing-Holmes control systems is investigated. Based on the time-domain approach with differential inequality, a tracking control is proposed such that the states of uncertain Duffing-Holmes control system track the desired trajectories with any pre-specified exponential decay rate and convergence radius. Moreover, we present an algorithm to find such a tracking control. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the use of the main results.

  18. Artificial Potential Field Approach to Path Tracking for a Non-Holonomic Mobile Robot

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, M.J.

    2003-01-01

    This paper introduces a novel path tracking controller for an over-actuated robotic vehicle moving in an agricultural field. The vehicle itself is a four wheel steered, four wheel driven vehicle subject to the two non-holonomic constraints of free rolling and non-slipping wheels. A dynamic model...

  19. Two axes sun tracking system with PLC control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdallah, Salah; Nijmeh, Salem

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, an electromechanical, two axes sun tracking system is designed and constructed. The programming method of control with an open loop system is employed where the programmable logic controller is used to control the motion of the sun tracking surface. An experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of using two axes tracking on the solar energy collected. The collected energy was measured and compared with that on a fixed surface tilted at 32 deg. towards the south. The results indicate that the measured collected solar energy on the moving surface was significantly larger than that on a fixed surface. The two axes tracking surface showed a better performance with an increase in the collected energy of up to 41.34% compared with the fixed surface

  20. Video-based Chinese Input System via Fingertip Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chih-Chang Yu

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a system to detect and track fingertips online and recognize Mandarin Phonetic Symbol (MPS for user-friendly Chinese input purposes. Using fingertips and cameras to replace pens and touch panels as input devices could reduce the cost and improve the ease-of-use and comfort of computer-human interface. In the proposed framework, particle filters with enhanced appearance models are applied for robust fingertip tracking. Afterwards, MPS combination recognition is performed on the tracked fingertip trajectories using Hidden Markov Models. In the proposed system, the fingertips of the users could be robustly tracked. Also, the challenges of entering, leaving and virtual strokes caused by video-based fingertip input can be overcome. Experimental results have shown the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed work.

  1. A non-parametric hierarchical model to discover behavior dynamics from tracks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooij, J.F.P.; Englebienne, G.; Gavrila, D.M.

    2012-01-01

    We present a novel non-parametric Bayesian model to jointly discover the dynamics of low-level actions and high-level behaviors of tracked people in open environments. Our model represents behaviors as Markov chains of actions which capture high-level temporal dynamics. Actions may be shared by

  2. PAMTRAK: A personnel and material tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anspach, D.A.; Anspach, J.P.; Crain, B. Jr.

    1996-01-01

    There is a need for an automated system for protecting and monitoring sensitive or classified parts and material. Sandia has developed a real-time personnel and material tracking system (PAMTRAK) that has been installed at selected DOE facilities. It safeguards sensitive parts and material by tracking tags worn by personnel and by monitoring sensors attached to the parts or material. It includes remote control and alarm display capabilities and a complementary program in Keyhole to display measured material attributes remotely. This paper describes the design goals, the system components, current installations, and the benefits a site can expect when using PAMTRAK

  3. Trajectory Specification for Automation of Terminal Air Traffic Control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paielli, Russell A.

    2016-01-01

    "Trajectory specification" is the explicit bounding and control of aircraft tra- jectories such that the position at each point in time is constrained to a precisely defined volume of space. The bounding space is defined by cross-track, along-track, and vertical tolerances relative to a reference trajectory that specifies position as a function of time. The tolerances are dynamic and will be based on the aircraft nav- igation capabilities and the current traffic situation. A standard language will be developed to represent these specifications and to communicate them by datalink. Assuming conformance, trajectory specification can guarantee safe separation for an arbitrary period of time even in the event of an air traffic control (ATC) sys- tem or datalink failure, hence it can help to achieve the high level of safety and reliability needed for ATC automation. As a more proactive form of ATC, it can also maximize airspace capacity and reduce the reliance on tactical backup systems during normal operation. It applies to both enroute airspace and the terminal area around airports, but this paper focuses on arrival spacing in the terminal area and presents ATC algorithms and software for achieving a specified delay of runway arrival time.

  4. Static security-based available transfer capability using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Venkaiah, C.; Vinod Kumar, D.M.

    2010-07-01

    In a deregulated power system, power transactions between a seller and a buyer can only be scheduled when there is sufficient available transfer capability (ATC). Internet-based, open access same-time information systems (OASIS) provide market participants with ATC information that is continuously updated in real time. Static security-based ATC can be computed for the base case system as well as for the critical line outages of the system. Since critical line outages are based on static security analysis, the computation of static security based ATC using conventional methods is both tedious and time consuming. In this study, static security-based ATC was computed for real-time applications using 3 artificial intelligent methods notably the back propagation algorithm (BPA), the radial basis function (RBF) neural network, and the adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). An IEEE 24-bus reliability test system (RTS) and 75-bus practical system were used to test these 3 different intelligent methods. The results were compared with the conventional full alternating current (AC) load flow method for different transactions.

  5. Static security-based available transfer capability using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Venkaiah, C.; Vinod Kumar, D.M.

    2010-01-01

    In a deregulated power system, power transactions between a seller and a buyer can only be scheduled when there is sufficient available transfer capability (ATC). Internet-based, open access same-time information systems (OASIS) provide market participants with ATC information that is continuously updated in real time. Static security-based ATC can be computed for the base case system as well as for the critical line outages of the system. Since critical line outages are based on static security analysis, the computation of static security based ATC using conventional methods is both tedious and time consuming. In this study, static security-based ATC was computed for real-time applications using 3 artificial intelligent methods notably the back propagation algorithm (BPA), the radial basis function (RBF) neural network, and the adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). An IEEE 24-bus reliability test system (RTS) and 75-bus practical system were used to test these 3 different intelligent methods. The results were compared with the conventional full alternating current (AC) load flow method for different transactions.

  6. A compact muon tracking system for didactic and outreach activities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Antolini, R.; Candela, A.; Conicella, V.; De Deo, M.; D' Incecco, M.; Sablone, D. [INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory – Assergi (AQ) (Italy); Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L.; Di Giovanni, A. [New York University Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Pazos Clemens, L., E-mail: luis.pazclem@nyu.edu [New York University Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Franchi, G.; D' Inzeo, M. [Age Scientific srl – Capezzano Pianore (Italy)

    2016-07-11

    We present a cosmic ray telescope based on the use of plastic scintillator bars coupled to ASD-RGB1S-M Advansid Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) through wavelength shifter fibers. The system is comprised of 200 electronic channels organized into 10 couples of orthogonal planes allowing the 3D reconstruction of crossing muons. Two monolithic PCB boards have been designed to bias, readout all the SiPMs enclosed in the system, to monitor the working parameters and to remotely connect the detector. To make easier the display of muon tracks to non-expert users, two LED matrices, triggered by particle interactions, have been implemented. To improve the usability of the muon telescope, a controller board unit permits to select different levels of trigger and allows data acquisition for refined analyses for the more proficient user. A first prototype, funded by INFN and deployed in collaboration with NYUAD, is operating at the Toledo Metro station of Naples, while two further detectors will be developed and installed in Abu Dhabi in the next few months. - Highlights: • A compact system for real time displaying of muon tracks is presented. • The system is based on scintillating plates composed of doped polystyrene bars. • By using SiPMs and corresponding LEDs the muon paths can be visualized. • The purpose of this system is to introduce the public to sub-nuclear particles.

  7. A compact muon tracking system for didactic and outreach activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antolini, R.; Candela, A.; Conicella, V.; De Deo, M.; D' Incecco, M.; Sablone, D.; Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L.; Di Giovanni, A.; Pazos Clemens, L.; Franchi, G.; D'Inzeo, M.

    2016-01-01

    We present a cosmic ray telescope based on the use of plastic scintillator bars coupled to ASD-RGB1S-M Advansid Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) through wavelength shifter fibers. The system is comprised of 200 electronic channels organized into 10 couples of orthogonal planes allowing the 3D reconstruction of crossing muons. Two monolithic PCB boards have been designed to bias, readout all the SiPMs enclosed in the system, to monitor the working parameters and to remotely connect the detector. To make easier the display of muon tracks to non-expert users, two LED matrices, triggered by particle interactions, have been implemented. To improve the usability of the muon telescope, a controller board unit permits to select different levels of trigger and allows data acquisition for refined analyses for the more proficient user. A first prototype, funded by INFN and deployed in collaboration with NYUAD, is operating at the Toledo Metro station of Naples, while two further detectors will be developed and installed in Abu Dhabi in the next few months. - Highlights: • A compact system for real time displaying of muon tracks is presented. • The system is based on scintillating plates composed of doped polystyrene bars. • By using SiPMs and corresponding LEDs the muon paths can be visualized. • The purpose of this system is to introduce the public to sub-nuclear particles.

  8. Target tracking system based on preliminary and precise two-stage compound cameras

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Yiyan; Hu, Ruolan; She, Jun; Luo, Yiming; Zhou, Jie

    2018-02-01

    Early detection of goals and high-precision of target tracking is two important performance indicators which need to be balanced in actual target search tracking system. This paper proposed a target tracking system with preliminary and precise two - stage compound. This system using a large field of view to achieve the target search. After the target was searched and confirmed, switch into a small field of view for two field of view target tracking. In this system, an appropriate filed switching strategy is the key to achieve tracking. At the same time, two groups PID parameters are add into the system to reduce tracking error. This combination way with preliminary and precise two-stage compound can extend the scope of the target and improve the target tracking accuracy and this method has practical value.

  9. Real-time non-rigid target tracking for ultrasound-guided clinical interventions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zachiu, Cornel; Ries, Mario G; Ramaekers, Pascal; Guey, Jean-Luc; Moonen, Chrit T W; de Senneville, Baudouin Denis

    2017-01-01

    Biological motion is a problem for non- or mini-invasive interventions when conducted in mobile/deformable organs due to the targeted pathology moving/deforming with the organ. This may lead to high miss rates and/or incomplete treatment of the pathology. Therefore, real-time tracking of the target

  10. Application of Knowledge-Based Techniques to Tracking Function

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Farina, A

    2006-01-01

    ...: historical survey of stochastic filtering theory; overview of tracking systems with some details on mono-sensor and multi-sensor tracking, evolution of filtering logics, evolution of correlation logics, and presentation of recent findings on non...

  11. Real-time non-rigid target tracking for ultrasound-guided clinical interventions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zachiu, C.; Ries, M.; Ramaekers, P.; Guey, J.-L.; Moonen, C. T. W.; de Senneville, B. Denis

    2017-10-01

    Biological motion is a problem for non- or mini-invasive interventions when conducted in mobile/deformable organs due to the targeted pathology moving/deforming with the organ. This may lead to high miss rates and/or incomplete treatment of the pathology. Therefore, real-time tracking of the target anatomy during the intervention would be beneficial for such applications. Since the aforementioned interventions are often conducted under B-mode ultrasound (US) guidance, target tracking can be achieved via image registration, by comparing the acquired US images to a separate image established as positional reference. However, such US images are intrinsically altered by speckle noise, introducing incoherent gray-level intensity variations. This may prove problematic for existing intensity-based registration methods. In the current study we address US-based target tracking by employing the recently proposed EVolution registration algorithm. The method is, by construction, robust to transient gray-level intensities. Instead of directly matching image intensities, EVolution aligns similar contrast patterns in the images. Moreover, the displacement is computed by evaluating a matching criterion for image sub-regions rather than on a point-by-point basis, which typically provides more robust motion estimates. However, unlike similar previously published approaches, which assume rigid displacements in the image sub-regions, the EVolution algorithm integrates the matching criterion in a global functional, allowing the estimation of an elastic dense deformation. The approach was validated for soft tissue tracking under free-breathing conditions on the abdomen of seven healthy volunteers. Contact echography was performed on all volunteers, while three of the volunteers also underwent standoff echography. Each of the two modalities is predominantly specific to a particular type of non- or mini-invasive clinical intervention. The method demonstrated on average an accuracy of

  12. Reexamination of Color Vision Standards, Part I: Status of Color Use in ATC Displays and Demography of Color-Deficit Controllers

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Xing, Jing; Schroeder, David J

    2006-01-01

    This report describes the status of color use in current air traffic control (ATC) displays. It represents the first step in an effort to reexamine the color vision standards for air traffic controllers...

  13. Launch vehicle tracking enhancement through Global Positioning System Metric Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, T. C.; Li, Hanchu; Gray, T.; Doran, A.

    United Launch Alliance (ULA) initiated operational flights of both the Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicle families in 2002. The Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles were developed jointly with the US Air Force (USAF) as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Both Launch Vehicle (LV) families have provided 100% mission success since their respective inaugural launches and demonstrated launch capability from both Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) on the Western Test Range and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on the Eastern Test Range. However, the current EELV fleet communications, tracking, & control architecture & technology, which date back to the origins of the space launch business, require support by a large and high cost ground footprint. The USAF has embarked on an initiative known as Future Flight Safety System (FFSS) that will significantly reduce Test Range Operations and Maintenance (O& M) cost by closing facilities and decommissioning ground assets. In support of the FFSS, a Global Positioning System Metric Tracking (GPS MT) System based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation has been developed for EELV which will allow both Ranges to divest some of their radar assets. The Air Force, ULA and Space Vector have flown the first 2 Atlas Certification vehicles demonstrating the successful operation of the GPS MT System. The first Atlas V certification flight was completed in February 2012 from CCAFS, the second Atlas V certification flight from VAFB was completed in September 2012 and the third certification flight on a Delta IV was completed October 2012 from CCAFS. The GPS MT System will provide precise LV position, velocity and timing information that can replace ground radar tracking resource functionality. The GPS MT system will provide an independent position/velocity S-Band telemetry downlink to support the current man-in-the-loop ground-based commanded destruct of an anomalous flight- The system

  14. Advanced alignment of the ATLAS tracking system

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2085334; The ATLAS collaboration

    2016-01-01

    In order to reconstruct the trajectories of charged particles, the ATLAS experiment exploits a tracking system built using different technologies, silicon planar modules or microstrips (PIX and SCT detectors) and gaseous drift tubes (TRT), all embedded in a 2T solenoidal magnetic field. Misalignments of the active detector elements and deformations of the structures (which can lead to \\textit{Weak Modes}) deteriorate resolution of the track reconstruction and lead to systematic biases on the measured track parameters. The applied alignment procedures exploit various advanced techniques in order to minimise track-hit residuals and remove detector deformations. For the LHC Run II, the Pixel Detector has been refurbished and upgraded with the installation of a new pixel layer, the Insertable B-layer (IBL).

  15. Geometric accuracy of a novel gimbals based radiation therapy tumor tracking system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Depuydt, Tom; Verellen, Dirk; Haas, Olivier; Gevaert, Thierry; Linthout, Nadine; Duchateau, Michael; Tournel, Koen; Reynders, Truus; Leysen, Katrien; Hoogeman, Mischa; Storme, Guy; De Ridder, Mark

    2011-03-01

    VERO is a novel platform for image guided stereotactic body radiotherapy. Orthogonal gimbals hold the linac-MLC assembly allowing real-time moving tumor tracking. This study determines the geometric accuracy of the tracking. To determine the tracking error, an 1D moving phantom produced sinusoidal motion with frequencies up to 30 breaths per minute (bpm). Tumor trajectories of patients were reproduced using a 2D robot and pursued with the gimbals tracking system prototype. Using the moving beam light field and a digital-camera-based detection unit tracking errors, system lag and equivalence of pan/tilt performance were measured. The system lag was 47.7 ms for panning and 47.6 ms for tilting. Applying system lag compensation, sinusoidal motion tracking was accurate, with a tracking error 90% percentile E(90%)tracking errors were below 0.14 mm. The 2D tumor trajectories were tracked with an average E(90%) of 0.54 mm, and tracking error standard deviations of 0.20 mm for pan and 0.22 mm for tilt. In terms of dynamic behavior, the gimbaled linac of the VERO system showed to be an excellent approach for providing accurate real-time tumor tracking in radiation therapy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. An Indoor Tracking System Based on Bluetooth Technology

    OpenAIRE

    Opoku, Samuel King

    2012-01-01

    Implementations of tracking systems have become prevalent issues in modern technology due to its advantage of location detection of objects. Objects are usually tracked using trackers based on GPS, GSM, RFID and Bluetooth signal strength implementation. These mechanisms usually require line of sight operations, limited coverage and low level programming language for accessing Bluetooth signal strength. This paper presents an alternative technique for tracking the movement of indoor objects ba...

  17. Mobile Robot Positioning by using Low-Cost Visual Tracking System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruangpayoongsak Niramon

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an application of visual tracking system on mobile robot positioning. The proposed method is verified on a constructed low-cost tracking system consisting of 2 DOF pan-tilt unit, web camera and distance sensor. The motion of pan-tilt joints is realized and controlled by using LQR controller running on microcontroller. Without needs of camera calibration, robot trajectory is tracked by Kalman filter integrating distance information and joint positions. The experimental results demonstrate validity of the proposed positioning technique and the obtained mobile robot trajectory is benchmarked against laser rangefinder positioning. The implemented system can successfully track a mobile robot driving at 14 cm/s.

  18. The GLAST silicon-strip tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, Robert P.

    2000-01-01

    The GLAST instrument concept is a gamma-ray pair conversion telescope that uses silicon microstrip detector technology to track the electron-positron pairs resulting from gamma-ray conversions in thin lead foils. A cesium iodide calorimeter following the tracker is used to measure the gamma-ray energy. Silicon strip technology is mature and robust, with an excellent heritage in space science and particle physics. It has many characteristics important for optimal performance of a pair conversion telescope, including high efficiency in thin detector planes, low noise, and excellent resolution and two-track separation. The large size of GLAST and high channel count in the tracker puts demands on the readout technology to operate at very low power, yet with sufficiently low noise occupancy to allow self triggering. A prototype system employing custom-designed ASIC's has been built and tested that meets the design goal of approximately 200 W per channel power consumption with a noise occupancy of less than one hit per trigger per 10,000 channels. Detailed design of the full-scale tracker is well advanced, with non-flight prototypes built for all components, and a complete 50,000 channel engineering demonstration tower module is currently under construction and will be tested in particle beams in late 1999. The flight-instrument conceptual design is for a 4x4 array of tower modules with an aperture of 2.9 m2 and an effective area of greater than 8000 cm2

  19. The GLAST Silicon-Strip Tracking System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johnson, R

    2004-01-01

    The GLAST instrument concept is a gamma-ray pair conversion telescope that uses silicon microstrip detector technology to track the electron-positron pairs resulting from gamma ray conversions in thin lead foils. A cesium iodide calorimeter following the tracker is used to measure the gamma-ray energy. Silicon strip technology is mature and robust, with an excellent heritage in space science and particle physics. It has many characteristics important for optimal performance of a pair conversion telescope, including high efficiency in thin detector planes, low noise, and excellent resolution and two-track separation. The large size of GLAST and high channel count in the tracker puts demands on the readout technology to operate at very low power, yet with sufficiently low noise occupancy to allow self triggering. A prototype system employing custom-designed ASIC's has been built and tested that meets the design goal of approximately 200 (micro)W per channel power consumption with a noise occupancy of less than one hit per trigger per 10,000 channels. Detailed design of the full-scale tracker is well advanced, with non-flight prototypes built for all components, and a complete 50,000 channel engineering demonstration tower module is currently under construction and will be tested in particle beams in late 1999. The flight-instrument conceptual design is for a 4 x 4 array of tower modules with an aperture of 2.9 m 2 and an effective area of greater than 8000 cm 2

  20. Distributed formation tracking using local coordinate systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yang, Qingkai; Cao, Ming; Garcia de Marina, Hector

    2018-01-01

    This paper studies the formation tracking problem for multi-agent systems, for which a distributed estimator–controller scheme is designed relying only on the agents’ local coordinate systems such that the centroid of the controlled formation tracks a given trajectory. By introducing a gradient...... descent term into the estimator, the explicit knowledge of the bound of the agents’ speed is not necessary in contrast to existing works, and each agent is able to compute the centroid of the whole formation in finite time. Then, based on the centroid estimation, a distributed control algorithm...

  1. Automated vehicle for railway track fault detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhushan, M.; Sujay, S.; Tushar, B.; Chitra, P.

    2017-11-01

    For the safety reasons, railroad tracks need to be inspected on a regular basis for detecting physical defects or design non compliances. Such track defects and non compliances, if not detected in a certain interval of time, may eventually lead to severe consequences such as train derailments. Inspection must happen twice weekly by a human inspector to maintain safety standards as there are hundreds and thousands of miles of railroad track. But in such type of manual inspection, there are many drawbacks that may result in the poor inspection of the track, due to which accidents may cause in future. So to avoid such errors and severe accidents, this automated system is designed.Such a concept would surely introduce automation in the field of inspection process of railway track and can help to avoid mishaps and severe accidents due to faults in the track.

  2. Authenticated tracking and monitoring system (ATMS) tracking shipments from an Australian uranium mine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schoeneman, J.L.

    1998-01-01

    The Authenticated Tracking and Monitoring System (ATMS) answers the need for global monitoring of the status and location of sensitive items on a worldwide basis, 24 hours a day. ATMS uses wireless sensor packs to monitor the status of the items and environmental conditions. A receiver and processing unit collect a variety of sensor event data. The collected data are transmitted to the INMARSAT satellite communication system, which then sends the data to appropriate ground stations. Authentication and encryption algorithms secure the data during communication activities. A typical ATMS application would be to track and monitor the safety and security of a number of items in transit along a scheduled shipping route. The resulting tracking, timing, and status information could then be processed to ensure compliance with various agreements. Following discussions between the Australian Safeguards Office (ASO), the US Department of Energy (DOE), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in early 1995, the parties mutually agreed to conduct and evaluate a field trial prototype ATMS to track and monitor shipments of uranium ore concentrate (UOC) from an operating uranium mine in Australia to a final destination in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with numerous stops along the way. During the months of February and March 1998, the trial was conducted on a worldwide basis, with tracking and monitoring stations located at sites in both Australia and the US. This paper describes ATMS and the trial

  3. Tracking strategy for photovoltaic solar systems in high latitudes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quesada, Guillermo; Guillon, Laura; Rousse, Daniel R.; Mehrtash, Mostafa; Dutil, Yvan; Paradis, Pierre-Luc

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • In cloudy conditions tracking the sun is ineffective. • A methodology to estimate a theoretical threshold for solar tracking was developed. • A tracking strategy to maximize electricity production was proposed. - Abstract: Several studies show that from about 20% to 50% more solar energy can be recovered by using photovoltaic systems that track the sun rather than systems set at a fixed angle. For overcast or cloudy days, recent studies propose the use of a set position in which each photovoltaic panel faces toward the zenith (horizontal position). Compared to a panel that follows the sun’s path, this approach claims that a horizontal panel increases the amount of solar radiation captured and subsequently the quantity of electricity produced. The present work assesses a solar tracking photovoltaic panel hourly and seasonally in high latitudes. A theoretical method based on an isotropic sky model was formulated, implemented, and used in a case study analysis of a grid-connected photovoltaic system in Montreal, Canada. The results obtained, based on the definition of a critical hourly global solar radiation, were validated numerically and experimentally. The study confirmed that a zenith-set sun tracking strategy for overcast or mostly cloudy days in summer is not advantageous

  4. Transcom's next move: Improvements to DOE's transportation satellite tracking systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harmon, L.H.; Harris, A.D. III; Driscoll, K.L.; Ellis, L.G.

    1990-01-01

    In today's society, the use of satellites is becoming the state-of-the-art method of tracking shipments. The United States Department of Energy (US DOE) has advanced technology in this area with its transportation tracking and communications system, TRANSCOM, which has been in operation for over one year. TRANSCOM was developed by DOE to monitor selected, unclassified shipments of radioactive materials across the country. With the latest technology in satellite communications, Long Range Navigation (Loran), and computer networks, TRANSCOM tracks shipments in near-real time, disseminates information on each shipment to authorized users of the system, and offers two-way communications between vehicle operators and TRANSCOM users anywhere in the country. TRANSCOM's successful tracking record, during fiscal year 1989, includes shipments of spent fuel, cesium, uranium hexafluoride, and demonstration shipments for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Plans for fiscal year 1990 include tracking additional shipments, implementing system enhancements designed to meet the users' needs, and continuing to research the technology of tracking systems so that TRANSCOM can provide its users with the newest technology available in satellite communications. 3 refs., 1 fig

  5. Kinect-Based Moving Human Tracking System with Obstacle Avoidance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdel Mehsen Ahmad

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an extension of work originally presented and published in IEEE International Multidisciplinary Conference on Engineering Technology (IMCET. This work presents a design and implementation of a moving human tracking system with obstacle avoidance. The system scans the environment by using Kinect, a 3D sensor, and tracks the center of mass of a specific user by using Processing, an open source computer programming language. An Arduino microcontroller is used to drive motors enabling it to move towards the tracked user and avoid obstacles hampering the trajectory. The implemented system is tested under different lighting conditions and the performance is analyzed using several generated depth images.

  6. Development of structural model of adaptive training complex in ergatic systems for professional use

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obukhov, A. D.; Dedov, D. L.; Arkhipov, A. E.

    2018-03-01

    The article considers the structural model of the adaptive training complex (ATC), which reflects the interrelations between the hardware, software and mathematical model of ATC and describes the processes in this subject area. The description of the main components of software and hardware complex, their interaction and functioning within the common system are given. Also the article scrutinizers a brief description of mathematical models of personnel activity, a technical system and influences, the interactions of which formalize the regularities of ATC functioning. The studies of main objects of training complexes and connections between them will make it possible to realize practical implementation of ATC in ergatic systems for professional use.

  7. Particle Tracking Model (PTM) with Coastal Modeling System (CMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-11-04

    Coastal Inlets Research Program Particle Tracking Model (PTM) with Coastal Modeling System ( CMS ) The Particle Tracking Model (PTM) is a Lagrangian...currents and waves. The Coastal Inlets Research Program (CIRP) supports the PTM with the Coastal Modeling System ( CMS ), which provides coupled wave...and current forcing for PTM simulations. CMS -PTM is implemented in the Surface-water Modeling System, a GUI environment for input development

  8. Automated telephone communication systems for preventive healthcare and management of long-term conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Posadzki, Pawel; Mastellos, Nikolaos; Ryan, Rebecca; Gunn, Laura H; Felix, Lambert M; Pappas, Yannis; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Julious, Steven A; Xiang, Liming; Oldenburg, Brian; Car, Josip

    2016-12-14

    Automated telephone communication systems (ATCS) can deliver voice messages and collect health-related information from patients using either their telephone's touch-tone keypad or voice recognition software. ATCS can supplement or replace telephone contact between health professionals and patients. There are four different types of ATCS: unidirectional (one-way, non-interactive voice communication), interactive voice response (IVR) systems, ATCS with additional functions such as access to an expert to request advice (ATCS Plus) and multimodal ATCS, where the calls are delivered as part of a multicomponent intervention. To assess the effects of ATCS for preventing disease and managing long-term conditions on behavioural change, clinical, process, cognitive, patient-centred and adverse outcomes. We searched 10 electronic databases (the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; MEDLINE; Embase; PsycINFO; CINAHL; Global Health; WHOLIS; LILACS; Web of Science; and ASSIA); three grey literature sources (Dissertation Abstracts, Index to Theses, Australasian Digital Theses); and two trial registries (www.controlled-trials.com; www.clinicaltrials.gov) for papers published between 1980 and June 2015. Randomised, cluster- and quasi-randomised trials, interrupted time series and controlled before-and-after studies comparing ATCS interventions, with any control or another ATCS type were eligible for inclusion. Studies in all settings, for all consumers/carers, in any preventive healthcare or long term condition management role were eligible. We used standard Cochrane methods to select and extract data and to appraise eligible studies. We included 132 trials (N = 4,669,689). Studies spanned across several clinical areas, assessing many comparisons based on evaluation of different ATCS types and variable comparison groups. Forty-one studies evaluated ATCS for delivering preventive healthcare, 84 for managing long-term conditions, and seven studies for appointment reminders

  9. Long-range eye tracking: A feasibility study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jayaweera, S.K.; Lu, Shin-yee

    1994-08-24

    The design considerations for a long-range Purkinje effects based video tracking system using current technology is presented. Past work, current experiments, and future directions are thoroughly discussed, with an emphasis on digital signal processing techniques and obstacles. It has been determined that while a robust, efficient, long-range, and non-invasive eye tracking system will be difficult to develop, such as a project is indeed feasible.

  10. Tracking Control of Nonlinear Mechanical Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lefeber, A.A.J.

    2000-01-01

    The subject of this thesis is the design of tracking controllers for certain classes of mechanical systems. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part an accurate mathematical model of the mechanical system under consideration is assumed to be given. The goal is to follow a certain

  11. Evaluation of environmental commitment tracking systems for use at CDOT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-01

    "The purpose of this study is to review existing Environmental Tracking Systems (ETSs) used by other, : select state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), as well as the existing Environmental Commitment : Tracking System (ECTS) currently in use by C...

  12. Grants Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Grants Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS) is the primary tool for management and oversight of EPA's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution Control Program. GRTS pulls...

  13. Tracking Accuracy of a Real-Time Fiducial Tracking System for Patient Positioning and Monitoring in Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shchory, Tal; Schifter, Dan; Lichtman, Rinat; Neustadter, David; Corn, Benjamin W.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: In radiation therapy there is a need to accurately know the location of the target in real time. A novel radioactive tracking technology has been developed to answer this need. The technology consists of a radioactive implanted fiducial marker designed to minimize migration and a linac mounted tracking device. This study measured the static and dynamic accuracy of the new tracking technology in a clinical radiation therapy environment. Methods and Materials: The tracking device was installed on the linac gantry. The radioactive marker was located in a tissue equivalent phantom. Marker location was measured simultaneously by the radioactive tracking system and by a Microscribe G2 coordinate measuring machine (certified spatial accuracy of 0.38 mm). Localization consistency throughout a volume and absolute accuracy in the Fixed coordinate system were measured at multiple gantry angles over volumes of at least 10 cm in diameter centered at isocenter. Dynamic accuracy was measured with the marker located inside a breathing phantom. Results: The mean consistency for the static source was 0.58 mm throughout the tested region at all measured gantry angles. The mean absolute position error in the Fixed coordinate system for all gantry angles was 0.97 mm. The mean real-time tracking error for the dynamic source within the breathing phantom was less than 1 mm. Conclusions: This novel radioactive tracking technology has the potential to be useful in accurate target localization and real-time monitoring for radiation therapy.

  14. SU-F-T-518: Development and Characterization of a Gated Treatment System Implemented with An In-House Optical Tracking System and the Elekta Response Interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barraclough, B; Park, J; Li, F; Lu, B; Li, J; Liu, C; Yan, G

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: To report the development and characterization of the first in-house gating system implemented with an optical tracking system (OTS) and the Elekta Response™ interface. Methods: The Response™ connects a patient tracking system with a linac, enabling the tracking system to control radiation delivery. The developed system uses an in-house OTS to monitor patient breathing. The OTS consists of two infrared-based cameras, tracking markers affixed on patient. It achieves gated or breath-held (BH) treatment by calling beam ON/OFF functions in the Response™ dynamic-link library (DLL). A 4D motion phantom was used to evaluate its dosimetric and time delay characteristics. Two FF- and two FFF-IMRT beams were delivered in non-gated, BH and gated mode. The sinusoidal gating signal had a 6 sec period and 15 mm amplitude. The duty cycle included 10%, 20%, 30% and 50%. The BH signal was adapted from the sinusoidal wave by inserting 15 sec BHs. Each delivery was measured with a 2D diode array (MapCHECK™) and compared with the non-gated delivery using gamma analysis (3%). The beam ON/OFF time was captured using the service graphing utility of the linac. Results: The gated treatments were successfully delivered except the 10% duty cycle. The BH delivery had perfect agreement (100%) with non-gated delivery; the agreement of gated delivery decreased from 99% to 88% as duty cycle reduced from 50% to 20%. The beam on/off delay was on average 0.25/0.06 sec. The delivery time for the 50%, 30% and 20% duty cycle increased by 29%, 71% and 139%, respectively. No dosimetric or time delay difference was noticed between FF- and FFF-IMRT beams. Conclusion: The in-house gating system was successfully developed with dosimetric and time delay characteristics in line with published results for commercial systems. It will be an important platform for further research and clinical development of gated treatment.

  15. Quality Assurance Tracking System - R7 (QATS-R7)

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This is metadata documentation for the Quality Assurance Tracking System - R7, an EPA Region 7 resource that tracks information on quality assurance reviews. Also...

  16. Pamela tracking system status report

    CERN Document Server

    Taccetti, F; Bonechi, L; Bongi, M; Boscherini, M; Castellini, G; D'Alessandro, R; Gabbanini, A; Grandi, M; Papini, P; Piccardi, S; Ricciarini, S; Spillantini, P; Straulino, S; Tesi, M; Vannuccini, E

    2002-01-01

    The Pamela apparatus will be launched at the end of 2002 on board of the Resurs DK Russian satellite. The tracking system, composed of six planes of silicon sensors inserted inside a permanent magnetic field was intensively tested during these last years. Results of tests have shown a good signal-to-noise ratio and an excellent spatial resolution, which should allow to measure the antiproton flux in an energy range from 80 MeV up to 190 GeV. The production of the final detector modules is about to start and mechanical and thermal tests on the tracking tower are being performed according to the specifications of the Russian launcher and satellite.

  17. An auxiliary frequency tracking system for general purpose lock-in amplifiers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Kai; Chen, Liuhao; Huang, Anfeng; Zhao, Kai; Zhang, Hanlu

    2018-04-01

    Lock-in amplifiers (LIAs) are designed to measure weak signals submerged by noise. This is achieved with a signal modulator to avoid low-frequency noise and a narrow-band filter to suppress out-of-band noise. In asynchronous measurement, even a slight frequency deviation between the modulator and the reference may lead to measurement error because the filter’s passband is not flat. Because many commercial LIAs are unable to track frequency deviations, in this paper we propose an auxiliary frequency tracking system. We analyze the measurement error caused by the frequency deviation and propose both a tracking method and an auto-tracking system. This approach requires only three basic parameters, which can be obtained from any general purpose LIA via its communications interface, to calculate the frequency deviation from the phase difference. The proposed auxiliary tracking system is designed as a peripheral connected to the LIA’s serial port, removing the need for an additional power supply. The test results verified the effectiveness of the proposed system; the modified commercial LIA (model SR-850) was able to track the frequency deviation and continuous drift. For step frequency deviations, a steady tracking error of less than 0.001% was achieved within three adjustments, and the worst tracking accuracy was still better than 0.1% for a continuous frequency drift. The tracking system can be used to expand the application scope of commercial LIAs, especially for remote measurements in which the modulation clock and the local reference are separated.

  18. Perspective : component tracking on the Nova system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MacDonald, S.

    1999-01-01

    The issue of introducing Component Tracking as a service to natural gas producers, shippers and straddle plant operators was discussed. Approximately 39 companies in the industry were contacted by consultants at Nova Gas Transmission in an effort to assess if introducing this service would add value to individual producers. The numerous implications that may have to be dealt with if Component Tracking is introduced were also described. Component Tracking would provide an equitable approach to the allocation of molecules in the gas stream, and could provide producers with the ability to avoid capital outlay in field plants by alternatively contracting for recovery of the liquids at the straddle plants. Component Tracking is to be voluntary and each shipper would be able to decide whether to utilize the service at each of their receipt points onto the Nova system

  19. A novel track imaging system as a range counter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Z. [National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan); Matsufuji, N. [National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan); Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Kanayama, S. [Chiba University (Japan); Ishida, A. [National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan); Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Kohno, T. [Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Koba, Y.; Sekiguchi, M.; Kitagawa, A.; Murakami, T. [National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan)

    2016-05-01

    An image-intensified, camera-based track imaging system has been developed to measure the tracks of ions in a scintillator block. To study the performance of the detector unit in the system, two types of scintillators, a dosimetrically tissue-equivalent plastic scintillator EJ-240 and a CsI(Tl) scintillator, were separately irradiated with carbon ion ({sup 12}C) beams of therapeutic energy from HIMAC at NIRS. The images of individual ion tracks in the scintillators were acquired by the newly developed track imaging system. The ranges reconstructed from the images are reported here. The range resolution of the measurements is 1.8 mm for 290 MeV/u carbon ions, which is considered a significant improvement on the energy resolution of the conventional ΔE/E method. The detector is compact and easy to handle, and it can fit inside treatment rooms for in-situ studies, as well as satisfy clinical quality assurance purposes.

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

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

    2014-01-01

    For the first time, the authors are describing an automatic fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD) reader for neutron dosimetry. FNTD is a luminescent integrating type of detector made of aluminium oxide crystals that does not require electronics or batteries during irradiation. Non-destructive optical readout of the detector is performed using a confocal laser scanning fluorescence imaging with near-diffraction limited resolution. The fully automatic table-top reader allows one to load up to 216 detectors on a tray, read their engraved IDs using a CCD camera and optical character recognition, scan and process simultaneously two types of images in fluorescent and reflected laser light contrast to eliminate false-positive tracks related to surface and volume crystal imperfections. The FNTD dosimetry system allows one to measure neutron doses from 0.1 mSv to 20 Sv and covers neutron energies from thermal to 20 MeV. The reader is characterised by a robust, compact optical design, fast data processing electronics and user-friendly software. The first table-top automatic FNTD neutron dosimetry system was successfully tested for LLD, linearity and ability to measure neutrons in mixed neutron-photon fields satisfying US and ISO standards. This new neutron dosimetry system provides advantages over other technologies including environmental stability of the detector material, wide range of detectable neutron energies and doses, detector re-readability and re-usability and all-optical readout. A new adaptive image processing algorithm reliably removes false-positive tracks associated with surface and bulk crystal imperfections. (authors)

  1. Developing an electronic system to manage and track emergency medications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamm, Mark W; Calabrese, Samuel V; Knoer, Scott J; Duty, Ashley M

    2018-03-01

    The development of a Web-based program to track and manage emergency medications with radio frequency identification (RFID) is described. At the Cleveland Clinic, medication kit restocking records and dispense locations were historically documented using a paper record-keeping system. The Cleveland Clinic investigated options to replace the paper-based tracking logs with a Web-based program that could track the real-time location and inventory of emergency medication kits. Vendor collaboration with a board of pharmacy (BOP) compliance inspector and pharmacy personnel resulted in the creation of a dual barcoding system using medication and pocket labels. The Web-based program was integrated with a Cleveland Clinic-developed asset tracking system using active RFID tags to give the real-time location of the medication kit. The Web-based program and the asset tracking system allowed identification of kits nearing expiration or containing recalled medications. Conversion from a paper-based system to a Web-based program began in October 2013. After 119 days, data were evaluated to assess the success of the conversion. Pharmacists spent an average of 27 minutes per day approving medication kits during the postimplementation period versus 102 minutes daily using the paper-based system, representing a 74% decrease in pharmacist time spent on this task. Prospective reports are generated monthly to allow the manager to assess the expected workload and adjust staffing for the next month. Implementation of a BOP-approved Web-based system for managing and tracking emergency medications with RFID integration decreased pharmacist review time, minimized compliance risk, and increased access to real-time data. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Testbeam results of the first real-time embedded tracking system with artificial retina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neri, N., E-mail: nicola.neri@mi.infn.it; Abba, A.; Caponio, F.; Citterio, M.; Coelli, S.; Fu, J.; Merli, A.; Monti, M.; Petruzzo, M.

    2017-02-11

    We present the testbeam results of the first real-time embedded tracking system based on artificial retina algorithm. The tracking system prototype is capable of fast track reconstruction with a latency of the response below 1 μs and track parameter resolutions that are comparable with the offline results. The artificial retina algorithm was implemented in hardware in a custom data acquisition board based on commercial FPGA. The system was tested successfully using a 180 GeV/c proton beam at the CERN SPS with a maximum track rate of about 280 kHz. Online track parameters were found in good agreement with offline results and with the simulated response. - Highlights: • First real-time tracking system based on artificial retina algorithm tested on beam. • Fast track reconstruction within one microsecond latency and offline like quality. • Fast tracking algorithm implemented in commercial FPGAs.

  3. Human factors measurement for future air traffic control systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langan-Fox, Janice; Sankey, Michael J; Canty, James M

    2009-10-01

    This article provides a critical review of research pertaining to the measurement of human factors (HF) issues in current and future air traffic control (ATC). Growing worldwide air traffic demands call for a radical departure from current ATC systems. Future systems will have a fundamental impact on the roles and responsibilities of ATC officers (ATCOs). Valid and reliable methods of assessing HF issues associated with these changes, such as a potential increase (or decrease) in workload, are of utmost importance for advancing theory and for designing systems, procedures, and training. We outline major aviation changes and how these relate to five key HF issues in ATC. Measures are outlined, compared, and evaluated and are followed by guidelines for assessing these issues in the ATC domain. Recommendations for future research are presented. A review of the literature suggests that situational awareness and workload have been widely researched and assessed using a variety of measures, but researchers have neglected the areas of trust, stress, and boredom. We make recommendations for use of particular measures and the construction of new measures. It is predicted that, given the changing role of ATCOs and profound future airspace requirements and configurations, issues of stress, trust, and boredom will become more significant. Researchers should develop and/or refine existing measures of all five key HF issues to assess their impact on ATCO performance. Furthermore, these issues should be considered in a holistic manner. The current article provides an evaluation of research and measures used in HF research on ATC that will aid research and ATC measurement.

  4. Adaptive Traffic Control Systems in a medium-sized Scandinavian city

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agerholm, Niels; Olesen, Anne Vingaard

    2018-01-01

    Adaptive Traffic Control Systems (ATCS) are aimed at reducing congestion. ATCS adapt to approaching traffic to continuously optimise the traffic flows in question. ATCS have been implemented in many locations, including the Scandinavian countries, with various effects. Due to congestion problems......, and GPS data from a range of cars driving on the ring road formed the basis for the study. The result of ATCS implementation was a significant 17% reduction in transportation time on the ring road in the most congested period, the afternoon peak. Less significant effects were found regarding the morning...

  5. Trajectory Specification for Terminal Air Traffic: Pairwise Conflict Detection and Resolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paielli, Russ; Erzberger, Heinz

    2017-01-01

    Trajectory specification is the explicit bounding and control of aircraft trajectories such that the position at each point in time is constrained to a precisely defined volume of space. The bounding space is defined by cross-track, along-track, and vertical tolerances relative to a reference trajectory that specifies position as a function of time. The tolerances are dynamic and will be based on the aircraft navigation capabilities and the current traffic situation. A standard language will be developed to represent these specifications and to communicate them by datalink. Assuming conformance, trajectory specification can guarantee safe separation for an arbitrary period of time even in the event of an air traffic control (ATC) system or datalink failure, hence it can help to achieve the high level of safety and reliability needed for ATC automation. As a more proactive form of ATC, it can also maximize airspace capacity and reduce the reliance on tactical backup systems during normal operation. It applies to both enroute airspace and the terminal area around airports, but this paper focuses on the terminal area and presents algorithms and software for spacing arrivals and deconflicting both arrivals and departures.

  6. WIPP Transparency Project - container tracking and monitoring demonstration using the Authenticated Tracking and Monitoring System (ATMS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    SCHOENEMAN, J. LEE; SMARTT, HEIDI ANNE; HOFER, DENNIS

    2000-01-01

    The Authenticated Tracking and Monitoring System (ATMS) is designed to answer the need for global monitoring of the status and location of proliferation-sensitive items on a worldwide basis, 24 hours a day. ATMS uses wireless sensor packs to monitor the status of the items within the shipment and surrounding environmental conditions. Receiver and processing units collect a variety of sensor event data that is integrated with GPS tracking data. The collected data are transmitted to the International Maritime Satellite (INMARSAT) communication system, which then sends the data to mobile ground stations. Authentication and encryption algorithms secure the data during communication activities. A typical ATMS application would be to track and monitor the stiety and security of a number of items in transit along a scheduled shipping route. The resulting tracking, timing, and status information could then be processed to ensure compliance with various agreements

  7. Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aamodt, K.; Chojnacki, M.; Christakoglou, P.; de Haas, A.P.; de Rooij, R. S.; Grelli, A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/326052577; Ivan, C.G.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304847747; Kamermans, R.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073698733; Mischke, A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/325781435; Nooren, G.J.L.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/07051349X; Oskamp, C.J.; Peitzmann, T.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304833959; Simili, E.; van den Brink, A.; van Leeuwen, M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/250599171; Verweij, M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/330542133

    2010-01-01

    ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with

  8. Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction among Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waltman, Jean; Bergom, Inger; Hollenshead, Carol; Miller, Jeanne; August, Louise

    2012-01-01

    While scholars have investigated the recent influx of non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF), few have talked extensively with NTTF to understand their perspectives. Using Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory, we present focus group findings about job satisfaction of NTTF at 12 research universities. We highlight policies supporting teaching, job…

  9. Symmetry breaking of adjacent tracks in perpendicular recording system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Huang; Wei Dan

    2007-01-01

    The track density increase in a perpendicular magnetic recording system is limited by the adjacent-track interference (ATI). In this work, a composite micromagnetic simulation model of the read/write process is developed to analyse ATI by the symmetry of signal and noise in two adjacent W = 60 nm tracks with the track pitch of the order of 100 nm. Based on the two-dimensional medium noise distribution of dibit recording, it is found that the noise in the first and later recorded tracks start to be asymmetric when the track pitch is lower than 2 W; if the read width is limited within 2/3 of the write width, the asymmetry of noise appears when the track pitch is less than 1.5 W. At higher recording densities, the signal-to-noise ratio degradation is mainly due to the noise caused by the interference from the signal of the adjacent track. Side writing can be effectively eliminated by the use of a guard band whose width is at least half the track width

  10. Fiducial-Based Translational Localization Accuracy of Electromagnetic Tracking System and On-Board Kilovoltage Imaging System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santanam, Lakshmi; Malinowski, Kathleen; Hubenshmidt, James; Dimmer, Steve; Mayse, Martin L.; Bradley, Jeffrey; Chaudhari, Amir; Lechleiter, Kirsten; Goddu, Sree Krishna Murty; Esthappan, Jacqueline; Mutic, Sasa; Low, Daniel A.; Parikh, Parag

    2008-01-01

    Purpose: The Calypso medical four-dimensional localization system uses AC electromagnetics, which do not require ionizing radiation, for accurate, real-time tumor tracking. This investigation compared the static and dynamic tracking accuracy of this system to that of an on-board imaging kilovoltage X-ray system for concurrent use of the two systems. Methods and Materials: The localization accuracies of a kilovoltage imaging system and a continuous electromagnetic tracking system were compared. Using an in-house developed four-dimensional stage, quality-assurance fixture containing three radiofrequency transponders was positioned at a series of static locations and then moved through the ellipsoidal and nonuniform continuous paths. The transponder positions were tracked concurrently by the Calypso system. For static localization, the transponders were localized using portal images and digitally reconstructed radiographs by commercial matching software. For dynamic localization, the transponders were fluoroscopically imaged, and their positions were determined retrospectively using custom-written image processing programs. The localization data sets were synchronized with and compared to the known quality assurance fixture positions. The experiment was repeated to retrospectively track three transponders implanted in a canine lung. Results: The root mean square error of the on-board imaging and Calypso systems was 0.1 cm and 0.0 cm, respectively, for static localization, 0.22 mm and 0.33 mm for dynamic phantom positioning, and 0.42 mm for the canine study. Conclusion: The results showed that both localization systems provide submillimeter accuracy. The Calypso and on-board imaging tracking systems offer distinct sets of advantages and, given their compatibility, patients could benefit from the complementary nature of the two systems when used concurrently

  11. Target Tracking of a Linear Time Invariant System under Irregular Sampling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Xue-Bo

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Due to event-triggered sampling in a system, or maybe with the aim of reducing data storage, tracking many applications will encounter irregular sampling time. By calculating the matrix exponential using an inverse Laplace transform, this paper transforms the irregular sampling tracking problem to the problem of tracking with time-varying parameters of a system. Using the common Kalman filter, the developed method is used to track a target for the simulated trajectory and video tracking. The results of simulation experiments have shown that it can obtain good estimation performance even at a very high irregular rate of measurement sampling time.

  12. A simple tracking system to monitor solar PV panels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bentaher, H.; Kaich, H.; Ayadi, N.; Ben Hmouda, M.; Maalej, A.; Lemmer, U.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We designed and constructed a solar tracking system based on light-dependent resistors (LDRs). • A study was made to determine the optimal angle of LDRs inducing the best precision of the device. • An experimental system was built to test different values of the angle between LDRs. • Results showed a good agreement between the experience and the predicted values. • The obtained results are useful for the design of new trackers based on the use of LDRs. - Abstract: The solar tracking systems are a center of interest of a big number of researchers from the fifties. The deflection of sun rays on a solar photovoltaic panel can reduce its power output until 50%. For concentrators solar trackers are master parts of the systems. A simple tracking system based on light dependent resistors was locally constructed, tested and optimized. Good agreement was recorded between numerical optimization results and experimental ones. These results are useful for the design and construction of new sun trackers

  13. GPS-based satellite tracking system for precise positioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunck, T. P.; Melbourne, W. G.; Thornton, C. L.

    1985-01-01

    NASA is developing a Global Positioning System (GPS) based measurement system to provide precise determination of earth satellite orbits, geodetic baselines, ionospheric electron content, and clock offsets between worldwide tracking sites. The system will employ variations on the differential GPS observing technique and will use a network of nine fixed ground terminals. Satellite applications will require either a GPS flight receiver or an on-board GPS beacon. Operation of the system for all but satellite tracking will begin by 1988. The first major satellite application will be a demonstration of decimeter accuracy in determining the altitude of TOPEX in the early 1990's. By then the system is expected to yield long-baseline accuracies of a few centimeters and instantaneous time synchronization to 1 ns.

  14. Relay tracking control for second-order multi-agent systems with damaged agents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Lijing; Li, Jing; Liu, Qin

    2017-11-01

    This paper investigates a situation where smart agents capable of sensory and mobility are deployed to monitor a designated area. A preset number of agents start tracking when a target intrudes this area. Some of the tracking agents are possible to be out of order over the tracking course. Thus, we propose a cooperative relay tracking strategy to ensure the successful tracking with existence of damaged agents. Relay means that, when a tracking agent quits tracking due to malfunction, one of the near deployed agents replaces it to continue the tracking task. This results in jump of tracking errors and dynamic switching of topology of the multi-agent system. Switched system technique is employed to solve this specific problem. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed tracking strategy and validity of the theoretical results are verified by conducting a numerical simulation. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Feedforward Tracking Control of Flat Recurrent Fuzzy Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gering, Stefan; Adamy, Jürgen

    2014-01-01

    Flatness based feedforward control has proven to be a feasible solution for the problem of tracking control, which may be applied to a broad class of nonlinear systems. If a flat output of the system is known, the control is often based on a feedforward controller generating a nominal input in combination with a linear controller stabilizing the linearized error dynamics around the trajectory. We show in this paper that the very same idea may be incorporated for tracking control of MIMO recurrent fuzzy systems. Their dynamics is given by means of linguistic differential equations but may be converted into a hybrid system representation, which then serves as the basis for controller synthesis

  16. Feedforward Tracking Control of Flat Recurrent Fuzzy Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gering, Stefan; Adamy, Jürgen

    2014-12-01

    Flatness based feedforward control has proven to be a feasible solution for the problem of tracking control, which may be applied to a broad class of nonlinear systems. If a flat output of the system is known, the control is often based on a feedforward controller generating a nominal input in combination with a linear controller stabilizing the linearized error dynamics around the trajectory. We show in this paper that the very same idea may be incorporated for tracking control of MIMO recurrent fuzzy systems. Their dynamics is given by means of linguistic differential equations but may be converted into a hybrid system representation, which then serves as the basis for controller synthesis.

  17. An Approach of Tracking Control for Chaotic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Xing

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Combining the ergodicity of chaos and the Jacobian matrix, we design a general tracking controller for continuous and discrete chaotic systems. The control scheme has the ability to track a bounded reference signal. We prove its globally asymptotic stability and extend it to generalized projective synchronization. Numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

  18. Design of tracking mount and controller for mobile satellite laser ranging system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Cheol Hoon; Son, Young Su; Kim, Byung In; Ham, Sang Young; Lee, Sung Whee; Lim, Hyung Chul

    2012-01-01

    In this study, we have proposed and implemented a design for the tracking mount and controller of the ARGO-M (Accurate Ranging system for Geodetic Observation - Mobile) which is a mobile satellite laser ranging (SLR) system developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM). The tracking mount comprises a few core components such as bearings, driving motors and encoders. These components were selected as per the technical specifications for the tracking mount of the ARGO-M. A three-dimensional model of the tracking mount was designed. The frequency analysis of the model predicted that the first natural frequency of the designed tracking mount was high enough. The tracking controller is simulated using MATLAB/xPC Target to achieve the required pointing and tracking accuracy. In order to evaluate the system repeatability and tracking accuracy of the tracking mount, a prototype of the ARGO-M was fabricated, and repeatability tests were carried out using a laser interferometer. Tracking tests were conducted using the trajectories of low earth orbit (LEO) and high earth orbit (HEO) satellites. Based on the test results, it was confirmed that the prototype of the tracking mount and controller of the ARGO-M could achieve the required repeatability along with a tracking accuracy of less than 1 arcsec.

  19. Yarr: A PCIe based readout system for semiconductor tracking systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heim, Timon [Bergische Universitaet Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany); CERN, Geneva (Switzerland); Maettig, Peter [Bergische Universitaet Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany); Pernegger, Heinz [CERN, Geneva (Switzerland)

    2015-07-01

    The Yarr readout system is a novel DAQ concept, using an FPGA board connected via PCIe to a computer, to read out semiconductor tracking systems. The system uses the FPGA as a reconfigurable IO interface which, in conjunction with the very high speed of the PCIe bus, enables a focus of processing the data stream coming from the pixel detector in software. Modern computer system could potentially make the need of custom signal processing hardware in readout systems obsolete and the Yarr readout system showcases this for FE-I4 chips, which are state-of-the-art readout chips used in the ATLAS Pixel Insertable B-Layer and developed for tracking in high multiplicity environments. The underlying concept of the Yarr readout system tries to move intelligence from hardware into the software without the loss of performance, which is made possible by modern multi-core processors. The FPGA board firmware acts like a buffer and does no further processing of the data stream, enabling rapid integration of new hardware due to minimal firmware minimisation.

  20. Long range position and Orientation Tracking System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Armstrong, G.A.; Jansen, J.F.; Burks, B.L.

    1996-01-01

    The long range Position and Orientation Tracking System is an active triangulation-based system that is being developed to track a target to a resolution of 6.35 mm (0.25 in.) and 0.009 degrees(32.4 arcseconds) over a range of 13.72 m (45 ft.). The system update rate is currently set at 20 Hz but can be increased to 100 Hz or more. The tracking is accomplished by sweeping two pairs of orthogonal line lasers over infrared (IR) sensors spaced with known geometry with respect to one another on the target (the target being a rigid body attached to either a remote vehicle or a remote manipulator arm). The synchronization and data acquisition electronics correlates the time that an IR sensor has been hit by one of the four lasers and the angle of the respective mirror at the time of the hit. This information is combined with the known geometry of the IR sensors on the target to determine position and orientation of the target. This method has the advantage of allowing the target to be momentarily lost due to occlusions and then reacquired without having to return the target to a known reference point. The system also contains a camera with operator controlled lighting in each pod that allows the target to be continuously viewed from either pod, assuming their are no occlusions

  1. Analysis of fixed tilt and sun tracking photovoltaic–micro wind based hybrid power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinha, Sunanda; Chandel, S.S.

    2016-01-01

    Graphical abstract: 6 kW_p photovoltaic–micro wind based hybrid power system analysis in a Indian Western Himalayan location. - Highlights: • Power generation by a roof mounted photovoltaic–micro wind hybrid system is explored. • Optimum hybrid configurations using fixed and sun tracking photovoltaic systems are determined. • Analysis of hybrid systems with optimally tilted and different sun tracking systems is presented. • Two axis sun tracking systems are found to generate 4.88–26.29% more energy than fixed tilt system. • Hybrid system installed at optimum tilt angle is found to be cost effective than a sun tracking system. - Abstract: In this study fixed tilt and sun tracking photovoltaic based micro wind hybrid power systems are analyzed along with determining the optimum configurations for a 6 kW_p roof mounted micro wind based hybrid system using fixed and tracking photovoltaic systems to enhance the power generation potential in a low windy Indian hilly terrain with good solar resource. The main objective of the study is to enhance power generation by focusing on photovoltaic component of the hybrid system. A comparative power generation analysis of different configurations of hybrid systems with fixed tilt, monthly optimum tilt, yearly optimum tilt and 6 different sun tracking photovoltaic systems is carried out using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables. Monthly and seasonal optimum tilt angles determined for the location vary between 0° and 60° with annual optimum tilt angle as 29.25°. The optimum configurations for all sun tracking systems except for the two axis tracking system is found to be 7 kW_p photovoltaic system, one 5 kW_p wind turbine, 10 batteries and a 2 kW_p inverter. The optimum configuration for two axis tracking system and two types of fixed tilt systems, is found to be a 8 kW_p photovoltaic system, one 5 kW_p wind turbine, 10 batteries and a 2 kW_p inverter. The results show that horizontal axis with

  2. A real-time sub-μrad laser beam tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buske, Ivo; Schragner, Ralph; Riede, Wolfgang

    2007-10-01

    We present a rugged and reliable real-time laser beam tracking system operating with a high speed, high resolution piezo-electric tip/tilt mirror. Characteristics of the piezo mirror and position sensor are investigated. An industrial programmable automation controller is used to develop a real-time digital PID controller. The controller provides a one million field programmable gate array (FPGA) to realize a high closed-loop frequency of 50 kHz. Beam tracking with a root-mean-squared accuracy better than 0.15 μrad has been laboratory confirmed. The system is intended as an add-on module for established mechanical mrad tracking systems.

  3. A GPS measurement system for precise satellite tracking and geodesy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yunck, T. P.; Wu, S.-C.; Lichten, S. M.

    1985-01-01

    NASA is pursuing two key applications of differential positioning with the Global Positioning System (GPS): sub-decimeter tracking of earth satellites and few-centimeter determination of ground-fixed baselines. Key requirements of the two applications include the use of dual-frequency carrier phase data, multiple ground receivers to serve as reference points, simultaneous solution for use position and GPS orbits, and calibration of atmospheric delays using water vapor radiometers. Sub-decimeter tracking will be first demonstrated on the TOPEX oceanographic satellite to be launched in 1991. A GPS flight receiver together with at least six ground receivers will acquire delta range data from the GPS carriers for non-real-time analysis. Altitude accuracies of 5 to 10 cm are expected. For baseline measurements, efforts will be made to obtain precise differential pseudorange by resolving the cycle ambiguity in differential carrier phase. This could lead to accuracies of 2 or 3 cm over a few thousand kilometers. To achieve this, a high-performance receiver is being developed, along with improved calibration and data processing techniques. Demonstrations may begin in 1986.

  4. The Siegen automatic measuring system for nuclear track detectors: new developments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noll, A.; Rusch, G.; Roecher, H.; Dreute, J.; Heinrich, W.

    1988-01-01

    Starting ten years ago we developed completely automatic scanning and measuring systems for nuclear track detectors. In this paper we describe some new developments. Our autofocus systems based on the contrast of the video picture and on a laser autofocus have been improved in speed and in reliability. Based on new algorithms, faster programs have been developed to scan for nuclear tracks in plastic detectors. Methods for separation of overlapping tracks have been improved. Interactive programs for track measurements have been developed which are very helpful for space bio-physics experiments. Finally new methods for track measurements in nuclear emulsions irradiated with a beam perpendicular to the detector surface are described in this paper. (author)

  5. Subaru FATS (fault tracking system)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winegar, Tom W.; Noumaru, Junichi

    2000-07-01

    The Subaru Telescope requires a fault tracking system to record the problems and questions that staff experience during their work, and the solutions provided by technical experts to these problems and questions. The system records each fault and routes it to a pre-selected 'solution-provider' for each type of fault. The solution provider analyzes the fault and writes a solution that is routed back to the fault reporter and recorded in a 'knowledge-base' for future reference. The specifications of our fault tracking system were unique. (1) Dual language capacity -- Our staff speak both English and Japanese. Our contractors speak Japanese. (2) Heterogeneous computers -- Our computer workstations are a mixture of SPARCstations, Macintosh and Windows computers. (3) Integration with prime contractors -- Mitsubishi and Fujitsu are primary contractors in the construction of the telescope. In many cases, our 'experts' are our contractors. (4) Operator scheduling -- Our operators spend 50% of their work-month operating the telescope, the other 50% is spent working day shift at the base facility in Hilo, or day shift at the summit. We plan for 8 operators, with a frequent rotation. We need to keep all operators informed on the current status of all faults, no matter the operator's location.

  6. LHCb : Tracking system of the LHCb upgrade

    CERN Multimedia

    Szumlak, Tomasz

    2015-01-01

    The upgrade of the LHCb experiment will run at an instantaneous luminosity of 2x10^33 cm^-2 s^-1 with a fully software based trigger, allowing to read out the detector at a rate of 40MHz. For this purpose, the full tracking system will be newly developed: the vertex locator (VELO) will be replaced by a pixel-based detector, withstanding the high radiation dose and providing an excellent track reconstruction with an efficiency of above 99% for all charged particles of interest. Upstream of the magnet, a silicon mico-strip detector with a high granularity and an improved acceptance coverage, called the Upstream Tracker (UT), will replace the current silicon strip tracker, and provide a rough momentum estimate. The tracking system downstream of the magnet will be replaced by the Scintillating Fibre tracker (SciFi), which will consist of 12 layers using 2.5m long scintillating fibres read out by silicon photo-multipliers, providing a spatial resolution better than 100 micron and resulting in a total momentum reso...

  7. Privacy Act System of Records: Confidential Business Information Tracking System, EPA-20

    Science.gov (United States)

    Learn about the Confidential Business Information Tracking System, including who is covered in the system, the purpose of data collection, routine uses for the system's records, and other security procedures.

  8. Information Technology Procurement Authorization (ITPA) Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Office of Personnel Management — Information Technology Procurement Authorization (ITPA) Tracking System is used for gathering consistent data from U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) program...

  9. MetaTracker: integration and abstraction of 3D motion tracking data from multiple hardware systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopecky, Ken; Winer, Eliot

    2014-06-01

    Motion tracking has long been one of the primary challenges in mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Military and defense training can provide particularly difficult challenges for motion tracking, such as in the case of Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) and other dismounted, close quarters simulations. These simulations can take place across multiple rooms, with many fast-moving objects that need to be tracked with a high degree of accuracy and low latency. Many tracking technologies exist, such as optical, inertial, ultrasonic, and magnetic. Some tracking systems even combine these technologies to complement each other. However, there are no systems that provide a high-resolution, flexible, wide-area solution that is resistant to occlusion. While frameworks exist that simplify the use of tracking systems and other input devices, none allow data from multiple tracking systems to be combined, as if from a single system. In this paper, we introduce a method for compensating for the weaknesses of individual tracking systems by combining data from multiple sources and presenting it as a single tracking system. Individual tracked objects are identified by name, and their data is provided to simulation applications through a server program. This allows tracked objects to transition seamlessly from the area of one tracking system to another. Furthermore, it abstracts away the individual drivers, APIs, and data formats for each system, providing a simplified API that can be used to receive data from any of the available tracking systems. Finally, when single-piece tracking systems are used, those systems can themselves be tracked, allowing for real-time adjustment of the trackable area. This allows simulation operators to leverage limited resources in more effective ways, improving the quality of training.

  10. Trajectory planning and optimal tracking for an industrial mobile robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Huosheng; Brady, J. Michael; Probert, Penelope J.

    1994-02-01

    This paper introduces a unified approach to trajectory planning and tracking for an industrial mobile robot subject to non-holonomic constraints. We show (1) how a smooth trajectory is generated that takes into account the constraints from the dynamic environment and the robot kinematics; and (2) how a general predictive controller works to provide optimal tracking capability for nonlinear systems. The tracking performance of the proposed guidance system is analyzed by simulation.

  11. Robust H(infinity) tracking control of boiler-turbine systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, J; Nguang, S K; Shen, J; Liu, G; Li, Y G

    2010-07-01

    In this paper, the problem of designing a fuzzy H(infinity) state feedback tracking control of a boiler-turbine is solved. First, the Takagi and Sugeno fuzzy model is used to model a boiler-turbine system. Next, based on the Takagi and Sugeno fuzzy model, sufficient conditions for the existence of a fuzzy H(infinity) nonlinear state feedback tracking control are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The advantage of the proposed tracking control design is that it does not involve feedback linearization technique and complicated adaptive scheme. An industrial boiler-turbine system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design as compared with a linearized approach. 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. An Orientation Sensor-Based Head Tracking System for Driver Behaviour Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yifan Zhao

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Although at present legislation does not allow drivers in a Level 3 autonomous vehicle to engage in a secondary task, there may become a time when it does. Monitoring the behaviour of drivers engaging in various non-driving activities (NDAs is crucial to decide how well the driver will be able to take over control of the vehicle. One limitation of the commonly used face-based head tracking system, using cameras, is that sufficient features of the face must be visible, which limits the detectable angle of head movement and thereby measurable NDAs, unless multiple cameras are used. This paper proposes a novel orientation sensor based head tracking system that includes twin devices, one of which measures the movement of the vehicle while the other measures the absolute movement of the head. Measurement error in the shaking and nodding axes were less than 0.4°, while error in the rolling axis was less than 2°. Comparison with a camera-based system, through in-house tests and on-road tests, showed that the main advantage of the proposed system is the ability to detect angles larger than 20° in the shaking and nodding axes. Finally, a case study demonstrated that the measurement of the shaking and nodding angles, produced from the proposed system, can effectively characterise the drivers’ behaviour while engaged in the NDAs of chatting to a passenger and playing on a smartphone.

  13. Next Generation Waste Tracking: Linking Legacy Systems with Modern Networking Technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, Randy M.; Resseguie, David R.; Shankar, Mallikarjun; Gorman, Bryan L.; Smith, Cyrus M.; Hill, David E.

    2010-01-01

    This report describes results from a preliminary analysis to satisfy the Department of Energy (DOE) objective to ensure the safe, secure, efficient packaging and transportation of materials both hazardous and non hazardous (1, 2). The DOE Office of Environmental Management (OEM) through Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has embarked on a project to further this objective. OEM and ORNL have agreed to develop, demonstrate and make available modern day cost effective technologies for characterization, identification, tracking, monitoring and disposal of radioactive waste when transported by, or between, motor, air, rail, and water modes. During the past 8 years ORNL has investigated and deployed Web 2.0 compliant sensors into the transportation segment of the supply chain. ORNL has recently demonstrated operational experience with DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office (ORO) and others in national test beds and applications within this domain of the supply chain. Furthermore, in addition to DOE, these hazardous materials supply chain partners included Federal and State enforcement agencies, international ports, and commercial sector shipping operations in a hazardous/radioactive materials tracking and monitoring program called IntelligentFreight. IntelligentFreight is an ORNL initiative encompassing 5 years of research effort associated with the supply chain. The ongoing ORNL SmartFreight programs include RadSTraM (3), GRadSTraM, Trusted Corridors, SensorPedia (4), SensorNet, Southeastern Transportation Corridor Pilot (SETCP) and Trade Data Exchange (5). The integration of multiple technologies aimed at safer more secure conveyance has been investigated with the core research question being focused on testing distinctly different distributed supply chain information sharing systems. ORNL with support from ORO have demonstrated capabilities when transporting Environmental Management (EM) waste materials for disposal over an onsite haul road. ORNL has unified the operations

  14. Cluster-based localization and tracking in ubiquitous computing systems

    CERN Document Server

    Martínez-de Dios, José Ramiro; Torres-González, Arturo; Ollero, Anibal

    2017-01-01

    Localization and tracking are key functionalities in ubiquitous computing systems and techniques. In recent years a very high variety of approaches, sensors and techniques for indoor and GPS-denied environments have been developed. This book briefly summarizes the current state of the art in localization and tracking in ubiquitous computing systems focusing on cluster-based schemes. Additionally, existing techniques for measurement integration, node inclusion/exclusion and cluster head selection are also described in this book.

  15. 14 CFR Appendix E to Part 43 - Altimeter System Test and Inspection

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... associated computing systems, or which incorporate air data correction internally, may be tested in a manner...) Automatic Pressure Altitude Reporting Equipment and ATC Transponder System Integration Test. The test must...). Measure the automatic pressure altitude at the output of the installed ATC transponder when interrogated...

  16. Bug tracking and project management system application in an electronic design company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadık ARSLAN

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this study, commercially available Bug Tracking and Management Information Systems has been investigated in a comprehensive manner. The systems that commonly used described in detail. Bug Tracking and Project Management Systems requirements analysis of medium-sized companies and Kentkart Ege Electronic which is an Information Technology company has been made. Obtained by the analysis requirements, the appropriate tools are selected for system application. JIRA that a product of Atlassian company was determined as a Bug Tracking and Project Management application tool. In this study, JIRA system adapted to the requirements, Bug Tracking and Project Management systems is designed in a structure which can be easily used by R&D employees. Cost-Benefit analysis is done and using this project was determined to be quite useful.

  17. Evaluation of a real-time personnel and material tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trujillo, A.A.; Hoover, C.E.; Garcia, B.A.

    1988-01-01

    Past experience in addressing the insider threat has led to the development of general principles for mitigating the insider threat while minimizing adverse impacts on site operations. Among the general principles developed was the requirement of a real-time personnel and material tracking system. A real-time system for personnel and material tracking will aid in mitigating the insider threat by providing critical information regarding the movement and location of personnel and material. In addition, this system can provide an early detection mechanism for potential insider actions. A system integrating Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters for real-time personnel and material tracking has been developed. This system was installed and tested in an operational environment. This test was intended to demonstrate the system's ability to successfully control access to material and areas by personnel, as well as providing information regarding the status of materials in transit and storage

  18. Urinary catheterization diary – A useful tool in tracking causes of non ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Urinary catheterization diary – A useful tool in tracking causes of non-deflating Foley catheter. ... The main aim of this study was to determine the cause/source of this ... Companies marketing Foley catheters should print the catheter name on both ... By Country · List All Titles · Free To Read Titles This Journal is Open Access.

  19. Automated Mulitple Object Optical Tracking and Recognition System, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — OPTRA proposes to develop an optical tracking system that is capable of recognizing and tracking up to 50 different objects within an approximately 2 degree x 3...

  20. ROBUST PERSON TRACKING WITH MULTIPLE NON-OVERLAPPING CAMERAS IN AN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Hellwig

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The aim of our work is to combine multiple cameras for a robust tracking of persons in an outdoor environment. Although surveillance is a well established field, many algorithms apply various constraints like overlapping fields of view or precise calibration of the cameras to improve results. An application of these developed systems in a realistic outdoor environment is often difficult. Our aim is to be widely independent from the camera setup and the observed scene, in order to use existing cameras. Thereby our algorithm needs to be capable to work with both overlapping and non-overlapping fields of views. We propose an algorithm that allows flexible combination of different static cameras with varying properties. Another requirement of a practical application is that the algorithm is able to work online. Our system is able to process the data during runtime and to provide results immediately. In addition to seeking flexibility in the camera setup, we present a specific approach that combines state of the art algorithms in order to be robust to environment influences. We present results that indicate a good performance of our introduced algorithm in different scenarios. We show its robustness to different types of image artifacts. In addition we demonstrate that our algorithm is able to match persons between cameras in a non-overlapping scenario.

  1. TRANSCOM: The US Department of Energy (DOE) system for tracking shipments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boes, K.S.; Joy, D.S.; Pope, R.B.; Thomas, T.M.; Lester, P.B.

    1994-01-01

    The US Department of energy (DOE) Transportation Management Division (TMD) has developed a system which allows communications with and near real-time tracking of high-visibility shipments of hazardous materials. This system, which is known as TRANSCOM (Transportation Tracking and Communications System), is currently in operation. This paper summarizes the current status of TRANSCOM, its history, the experience associated with its use, and the future plans for its growth and enhancement. during the first half of fiscal year (FY) 1994, 38 shipments were tracked by the TRANSCOM system. These shipments included two Mark-42 spent fuel shipments, one BUSS cask shipment, and one waterway shipment (the Seawolf shipment)

  2. Effects of striated laser tracks on thermal fatigue resistance of cast iron samples with biomimetic non-smooth surface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tong, Xin; Zhou, Hong; Liu, Min; Dai, Ming-jiang

    2011-01-01

    In order to enhance the thermal fatigue resistance of cast iron materials, the samples with biomimetic non-smooth surface were processed by Neodymium:Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser. With self-controlled thermal fatigue test method, the thermal fatigue resistance of smooth and non-smooth samples was investigated. The effects of striated laser tracks on thermal fatigue resistance were also studied. The results indicated that biomimetic non-smooth surface was benefit for improving thermal fatigue resistance of cast iron sample. The striated non-smooth units formed by laser tracks which were vertical with thermal cracks had the best propagation resistance. The mechanisms behind these influences were discussed, and some schematic drawings were introduced to describe them.

  3. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Office of Personnel Management — Tracking system which allows for the input of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request date, compiles the due date, information pertaining to the request, name...

  4. Developing an Undergraduate Information Systems Security Track

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Aditya; Murphy, Marianne C.; Rosso, Mark A.; Grant, Donna

    2013-01-01

    Information Systems Security as a specialized area of study has mostly been taught at the graduate level. This paper highlights the efforts of establishing an Information Systems (IS) Security track at the undergraduate level. As there were many unanswered questions and concerns regarding the Security curriculum, focus areas, the benefit of…

  5. Integrated quality status and inventory tracking system for FFTF driver fuel pins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gottschalk, G.P.

    1979-11-01

    An integrated system for quality status and inventory tracking of Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) driver fuel pins has been developed. Automated fuel pin identification systems, a distributed computer network, and a data base are used to implement the tracking system

  6. Studies for the ALICE Inner Tracking System Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    AUTHOR|(CDS)2079168; Musa, Luciano

    The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC identifies D0 mesons via secondary-vertex reconstruction and topological cuts to reduce the corresponding combinatorial background in heavy-ion collisions. The D0 meson is produced promptly in initial, hard scatterings via the strong interaction or as feed-down from weakly decaying B hadrons. Within this thesis, a novel method for the separation of prompt and feed-down D0 mesons using cut variations was implemented and applied to data from p–Pb collisions at $\\sqrt(s_\\mathrm{NN})=5.02$ TeV. The effectiveness of the secondary-vertex reconstruction strongly depends on the performance and in particular the pointing resolution of the Inner Tracking System. The upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System for the Long Shutdown 2 of the LHC in 2019/2020 will significantly improve its vertex-reconstruction and tracking capabilities. It will be equipped with Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors manufactured using the TowerJazz 180nm CMOS process on wafers with a high-resistivity epitax...

  7. Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector Tracking System

    CERN Document Server

    Moles-Valls, R

    2008-01-01

    The ATLAS experiment is equipped with a tracking system for c harged particles built on two technologies: silicon and drift tube base detectors. These kind of detectors compose the ATLAS Inner Detector (ID). The Alignment of the ATLAS ID tracking s ystem requires the determination of almost 36000 degrees of freedom. From the tracking point o f view, the alignment parameters should be know to a few microns precision. This permits to att ain optimal measurements of the parameters of the charged particles trajectories, thus ena bling ATLAS to achieve its physics goals. The implementation of the alignment software, its framewor k and the data flow will be discussed. Special attention will be paid to the recent challenges wher e large scale computing simulation of the ATLAS detector has been performed, mimicking the ATLAS o peration, which is going to be very important for the LHC startup scenario. The alignment r esult for several challenges (real cosmic ray data taking and computing system commissioning) will be...

  8. Design and Implementation of PLC-Based Automatic Sun tracking System for Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Jinping

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A sun-tracking system for parabolic trough solar concentrators (PTCs is a control system used to orient the concentrator toward the sun always, so that the maximum energy can be collected. The work presented here is a design and development of PLC based sun tracking control system for PTC. Sun tracking control system consists of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC and a single axis hydraulic drives tracking control system. Hydraulic drives and the necessary tracking angle algorithm have been designed and developed to perform the technical tasks. A PLC unit was employed to control and monitor the mechanical movement of the PTC and to collect and store data related to the tracking angle of PTC. It is found that the tracking error of the system is less than 0.6°. Field experience shows that tracking algorithm act stable and reliable and suit for PTCs.

  9. SU-G-JeP3-08: Robotic System for Ultrasound Tracking in Radiation Therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuhlemann, I [University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Luebeck (Germany); Jauer, P; Schweikard, A; Ernst, F [University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: For safe and accurate real-time tracking of tumors for IGRT using 4D ultrasound, it is necessary to make use of novel, high-end force-sensitive lightweight robots designed for human-machine interaction. Such a robot will be integrated into an existing robotized ultrasound system for non-invasive 4D live tracking, using a newly developed real-time control and communication framework. Methods: The new KUKA LWR iiwa robot is used for robotized ultrasound real-time tumor tracking. Besides more precise probe contact pressure detection, this robot provides an additional 7th link, enhancing the dexterity of the kinematic and the mounted transducer. Several integrated, certified safety features create a safe environment for the patients during treatment. However, to remotely control the robot for the ultrasound application, a real-time control and communication framework has to be developed. Based on a client/server concept, client-side control commands are received and processed by a central server unit and are implemented by a client module running directly on the robot’s controller. Several special functionalities for robotized ultrasound applications are integrated and the robot can now be used for real-time control of the image quality by adjusting the transducer position, and contact pressure. The framework was evaluated looking at overall real-time capability for communication and processing of three different standard commands. Results: Due to inherent, certified safety modules, the new robot ensures a safe environment for patients during tumor tracking. Furthermore, the developed framework shows overall real-time capability with a maximum average latency of 3.6 ms (Minimum 2.5 ms; 5000 trials). Conclusion: The novel KUKA LBR iiwa robot will advance the current robotized ultrasound tracking system with important features. With the developed framework, it is now possible to remotely control this robot and use it for robotized ultrasound tracking

  10. SU-G-JeP3-08: Robotic System for Ultrasound Tracking in Radiation Therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuhlemann, I; Jauer, P; Schweikard, A; Ernst, F

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: For safe and accurate real-time tracking of tumors for IGRT using 4D ultrasound, it is necessary to make use of novel, high-end force-sensitive lightweight robots designed for human-machine interaction. Such a robot will be integrated into an existing robotized ultrasound system for non-invasive 4D live tracking, using a newly developed real-time control and communication framework. Methods: The new KUKA LWR iiwa robot is used for robotized ultrasound real-time tumor tracking. Besides more precise probe contact pressure detection, this robot provides an additional 7th link, enhancing the dexterity of the kinematic and the mounted transducer. Several integrated, certified safety features create a safe environment for the patients during treatment. However, to remotely control the robot for the ultrasound application, a real-time control and communication framework has to be developed. Based on a client/server concept, client-side control commands are received and processed by a central server unit and are implemented by a client module running directly on the robot’s controller. Several special functionalities for robotized ultrasound applications are integrated and the robot can now be used for real-time control of the image quality by adjusting the transducer position, and contact pressure. The framework was evaluated looking at overall real-time capability for communication and processing of three different standard commands. Results: Due to inherent, certified safety modules, the new robot ensures a safe environment for patients during tumor tracking. Furthermore, the developed framework shows overall real-time capability with a maximum average latency of 3.6 ms (Minimum 2.5 ms; 5000 trials). Conclusion: The novel KUKA LBR iiwa robot will advance the current robotized ultrasound tracking system with important features. With the developed framework, it is now possible to remotely control this robot and use it for robotized ultrasound tracking

  11. Model tracking system for low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities: License application interrogatories and responses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benbennick, M.E.; Broton, M.S.; Fuoto, J.S.; Novgrod, R.L.

    1994-08-01

    This report describes a model tracking system for a low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facility license application. In particular, the model tracks interrogatories (questions, requests for information, comments) and responses. A set of requirements and desired features for the model tracking system was developed, including required structure and computer screens. Nine tracking systems were then reviewed against the model system requirements and only two were found to meet all requirements. Using Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis, a model tracking system was selected.

  12. Model tracking system for low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities: License application interrogatories and responses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Benbennick, M.E.; Broton, M.S.; Fuoto, J.S.; Novgrod, R.L.

    1994-08-01

    This report describes a model tracking system for a low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facility license application. In particular, the model tracks interrogatories (questions, requests for information, comments) and responses. A set of requirements and desired features for the model tracking system was developed, including required structure and computer screens. Nine tracking systems were then reviewed against the model system requirements and only two were found to meet all requirements. Using Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis, a model tracking system was selected

  13. Former Prisoner of War Statistical Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Former Prisoner of War (POW) Statistical Tracking System database is a registry designed to comply with Public Law 97-37, the Former Prisoner of War Benefits Act...

  14. The EU market for apparel exports, China's cotton imports, and the end of the ATC

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yu, Wusheng; Babula, Ronald A.

    2011-01-01

    in the EU market; (3) the interrelationship between China's apparel exports and its demand for imported cotton is found to be statistically significant. However, increased apparel exports from China induce proportionally larger increases in its cotton imports. In particular, the end of the ATC is shown...... has seemingly prompted China to relax its restrictions on cotton imports. Using monthly trade data, this study employs a vector autoregression model to investigate the interlinkages between China's and its competitors’ apparel exports to the EU and between China's apparel exports and its cotton...

  15. Photovoltaic System with Smart Tracking of the Optimal Working Point

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PATARAU, T.

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available A photovoltaic (PV system, based on a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT controller that extracts the maximum possible output power from the solar panel is described. Output efficiency of a PV energy system can be achieved only if the system working point is brought near the maximum power point (MPP. The proposed system, making use of several MPPT control algorithms (Perturb and Observe, Incremental conductance, Fuzzy Logic, demonstrates in simulations as well as in real experiments good tracking of the optimal working point.

  16. Design, construction and operation of spherical solar cooker with automatic sun tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abu-Malouh, Riyad; Abdallah, Salah; Muslih, Iyad M.

    2011-01-01

    In this work, the effect of two axes tracking on a solar cooking system was studied. A dish was built to concentrate solar radiation on a pan that is fixed at the focus of the dish. The dish tracks the sun using a two axes sun tracking system. This system was built and tested. Experimental results obtained show that the temperature inside the pan reached more than 93 o C in a day where the maximum ambient temperature was 32 o C. This temperature is suitable for cooking purposes and this was achieved by using the two axes sun tracking system.

  17. The dE/dx capabilities of the D0 tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajagopalan, S.

    1992-06-01

    The D0 forward tracking system has been extensively calibrated using electron and pion beams in the energy range from 10 GeV to 150 GeV in the neutrino area fixed target beam line at Fermilab. The forward tracking system provides a spatial resolution of 200 μm and a two hit separation of 2.5 mm at 90% efficiency. The chamber provides 32 samples of pulse height information for a given track equivalent to a dE/dx resolution of 12.7%. The energy loss response of the chamber to low energy-beam has been studied. A Monte Carlo simulation program has been developed based on the Photo Absorption Ionization model to simulate the dE/dx response of the chamber. The observations made using low energy test beam are consistent with the model's predictions. The dE/dx measurement in the D0 tracking system provides identification of electrons against gamma conversions resulting from π 0 decays. The rejection factor of distinguishing doubly minimum ionizing tracks in the chamber has been measured to be 30.5 with the requirement that singly minimum ionizing tracks be identified with a 90% efficiency. This factor improves with lower multiplicity. Using a Monte Carlo program based on GEANT, the identification efficiency of electrons and π 0 's has been determined. Using the capabilities of the outer tracking system alone, the background due to isolated π 0 production is reduced by up to a factor of 60 in the central direction based on measurements made on a sample of simulated QCD two jet events

  18. Stability of miniature electromagnetic tracking systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schicho, Kurt; Figl, Michael; Donat, Markus; Birkfellner, Wolfgang; Seemann, Rudolf; Wagner, Arne; Bergmann, Helmar; Ewers, Rolf

    2005-01-01

    This study aims at a comparative evaluation of two recently introduced electromagnetic tracking systems under reproducible simulated operating-room (OR) conditions: the recently launched Medtronic StealthStation TM Treon-EM TM and the NDI Aurora TM . We investigate if and to what extent these systems provide improved performance and stability in the presence of surgical instruments as possible sources of distortions compared with earlier reports on electromagnetic tracking technology. To investigate possible distortions under pseudo-realistic OR conditions, a large Langenbeck hook, a dental drill with its handle and an ultrasonic (US) scanhead are fixed on a special measurement rack at variable distances from the navigation sensor. The position measurements made by the Treon-EM TM were least affected by the presence of the instruments. The lengths of the mean deviation vectors were 0.21 mm for the Langenbeck hook, 0.23 mm for the drill with handle and 0.56 mm for the US scanhead. The Aurora TM was influenced by the three sources of distortion to a higher degree. A mean deviation vector of 1.44 mm length was observed in the vicinity of the Langenbeck hook, 0.53 mm length with the drill and 2.37 mm due to the US scanhead. The maximum of the root mean squared error (RMSE) for all coordinates in the presence of the Langenbeck hook was 0.3 mm for the Treon TM and 2.1 mm for the Aurora TM ; the drill caused a maximum RMSE of 0.2 mm with the Treon TM and 1.2 mm with the Aurora TM . In the presence of the US scanhead, the maximum RMSE was 1.4 mm for the Treon TM and 5.1 mm for the Aurora TM . The new generation of electromagnetic tracking systems has significantly improved compared to common systems that were available in the middle of the 1990s and has reached a high level of technical development. We conclude that, in general, both systems are suitable for routine clinical application

  19. Soft-information flipping approach in multi-head multi-track BPMR systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warisarn, C.; Busyatras, W.; Myint, L. M. M.

    2018-05-01

    Inter-track interference is one of the most severe impairments in bit-patterned media recording system. This impairment can be effectively handled by a modulation code and a multi-head array jointly processing multiple tracks; however, such a modulation constraint has never been utilized to improve the soft-information. Therefore, this paper proposes the utilization of modulation codes with an encoded constraint defined by the criteria for soft-information flipping during a three-track data detection process. Moreover, we also investigate the optimal offset position of readheads to provide the most improvement in system performance. The simulation results indicate that the proposed systems with and without position jitter are significantly superior to uncoded systems.

  20. Development of the Open Items Tracking System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Riggi, V.

    1994-01-01

    The West Valley Demonstration Project, located on the site of the only commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing facility to have operated in USA, has the directed objectives of solidifying the high-level radioactive waste into a durable, solid form for shipment; decontaminating and decommissioning the tanks and facilities; and disposing of the resulting low-level and transuranic wastes. Since an escalating trend of open work items was noticed in the Fall of 1988, and there was no control mechanism for tracking and closing the open items, a Work Control System was developed for this purpose. It is self-contained system on a mainframe ARTEMIS 9000, which tracks, monitors, and closes out external commitments in a timely manner. Audits, surveillances, site appraisals, preventive maintenance, instrument calibration recall, and scheduling are covered

  1. TrackCC: A Practical Wireless Indoor Localization System Based on Less-Expensive Chips

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaolong Li

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims at proposing a new wireless indoor localization system (ILS, called TrackCC, based on a commercial type of low-power system-on-chip (SoC, nRF24LE1. This type of chip has only l output power levels and acute fluctuation for a received minimum power level in operation, which give rise to many practical challenges for designing localization algorithms. In order to address these challenges, we exploit the Markov theory to construct a ( l + 1 × ( l + 1 -sized state transition matrix to remove the fluctuation, and then propose a priority-based pattern matching algorithm to search for the most similar match in the signal map to estimate the real position of unknown nodes. The experimental results show that, compared to two existing wireless ILSs, LANDMARC and SAIL, which have meter level positioning accuracy, the proposed TrackCC can achieve the decimeter level accuracy on average in both line-of-sight (LOS and non-line-of-sight (NLOS senarios.

  2. Designs and Algorithms to Map Eye Tracking Data with Dynamic Multielement Moving Objects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ziho Kang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Design concepts and algorithms were developed to address the eye tracking analysis issues that arise when (1 participants interrogate dynamic multielement objects that can overlap on the display and (2 visual angle error of the eye trackers is incapable of providing exact eye fixation coordinates. These issues were addressed by (1 developing dynamic areas of interests (AOIs in the form of either convex or rectangular shapes to represent the moving and shape-changing multielement objects, (2 introducing the concept of AOI gap tolerance (AGT that controls the size of the AOIs to address the overlapping and visual angle error issues, and (3 finding a near optimal AGT value. The approach was tested in the context of air traffic control (ATC operations where air traffic controller specialists (ATCSs interrogated multiple moving aircraft on a radar display to detect and control the aircraft for the purpose of maintaining safe and expeditious air transportation. In addition, we show how eye tracking analysis results can differ based on how we define dynamic AOIs to determine eye fixations on moving objects. The results serve as a framework to more accurately analyze eye tracking data and to better support the analysis of human performance.

  3. Solar Panel System for Street Light Using Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiedjaja A.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Solar energy is one form of the renewable energy which is very abundant in regions close to the equator. One application of solar energy is for street light. This research focuses on using the maximum power point tracking technique (MPPT, particularly the perturb and observe (P&O algorithm, to charge battery for street light system. The proposed charger circuit can achieve 20.73% higher power efficiency compared to that of non-MPPT charger. We also develop the LED driver circuit for the system which can achieve power efficiency up to 91.9% at a current of 1.06 A. The proposed street lightning system can be implemented with a relatively low cost for public areas.

  4. Reconfigurable materials handling system incorporating part tracking, routing and scheduling

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naidu, P

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available . Transmission range of 10m-30m indoors is common. RFID is a commonly available system which uses either low-cost passive Radio tags, or higher cost active tags, that an RF receiver can then read. An RFID system comprises of a reader, its associated antenna...]. 3. Proposed Tracking System The proposed tracking system consists of a two phases. In the first phase a passive radio frequency (RF) tag is read by a RF reader. In the second phase the information obtained from the reader is wirelessly...

  5. Cabling for an SSC silicon tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ziock, H.; Boissevain, J.; Cooke, B.; Miller, W.

    1990-01-01

    As part of the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory (SSCL) funded silicon tracking subsystem R ampersand D program, we examine the problems associated with cabling such a system. Different options for the cabling plant are discussed. A silicon microstrip tracking detector for an SSC experiment is an extremely complex system. The system consists of approximately 10 7 detector channels, each of which requires a communication link with the outside world and connections to the detector bias voltage supply, to a DC power supply for the onboard electronics, and to an adjustable discrimination level. The large number of channels and the short time between beam interactions (16 nanoseconds) dictates the need for high speed and large bandwidth communication channels, and a power distribution system that can handle the high current draw of the electronics including the large AC component due to their switching. At the same time the constraints imposed by the physics measurements require that the cable plant have absolutely minimal mass and radiation length. 4 refs., 2 figs

  6. Enhancement of tracking performance in electro-optical system based on servo control algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, WooJin; Kim, SungSu; Jung, DaeYoon; Seo, HyoungKyu

    2017-10-01

    Modern electro-optical surveillance and reconnaissance systems require tracking capability to get exact images of target or to accurately direct the line of sight to target which is moving or still. This leads to the tracking system composed of image based tracking algorithm and servo control algorithm. In this study, we focus on the servo control function to minimize the overshoot in the tracking motion and do not miss the target. The scheme is to limit acceleration and velocity parameters in the tracking controller, depending on the target state information in the image. We implement the proposed techniques by creating a system model of DIRCM and simulate the same environment, validate the performance on the actual equipment.

  7. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma in Denmark 1996-2012

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvilsom, Gitte Bjørn; Londero, Stefano Christian; Hahn, Christoffer Holst

    2018-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is the least common but most malignant thyroid cancer. We aimed to examine the characteristics as well as evaluate the incidence, prognostic factors, and if introduction of a fast track cancer program might influence survival in a cohort of ATC...

  8. Speckle tracking in a phantom and feature-based tracking in liver in the presence of respiratory motion using 4D ultrasound

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harris, Emma J; Miller, Naomi R; Bamber, Jeffrey C; Symonds-Tayler, J Richard N; Evans, Philip M

    2010-01-01

    We have evaluated a 4D ultrasound-based motion tracking system developed for tracking of abdominal organs during therapy. Tracking accuracy and precision were determined using a tissue-mimicking phantom, by comparing tracked motion with known 3D sinusoidal motion. The feasibility of tracking 3D liver motion in vivo was evaluated by acquiring 4D ultrasound data from four healthy volunteers. For two of these volunteers, data were also acquired whilst simultaneously measuring breath flow using a spirometer. Hepatic blood vessels, tracked off-line using manual tracking, were used as a reference to assess, in vivo, two types of automated tracking algorithm: incremental (from one volume to the next) and non-incremental (from the first volume to each subsequent volume). For phantom-based experiments, accuracy and precision (RMS error and SD) were found to be 0.78 mm and 0.54 mm, respectively. For in vivo measurements, mean absolute distance and standard deviation of the difference between automatically and manually tracked displacements were less than 1.7 mm and 1 mm respectively in all directions (left-right, anterior-posterior and superior-inferior). In vivo non-incremental tracking gave the best agreement. In both phantom and in vivo experiments, tracking performance was poorest for the elevational component of 3D motion. Good agreement between automatically and manually tracked displacements indicates that 4D ultrasound-based motion tracking has potential for image guidance applications in therapy.

  9. Amtrak performance tracking (APT) system : methodology summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-09-15

    The Volpe Center collaborated with Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop a cost accounting system named Amtrak Performance Tracking (APT) used by Amtrak to manage, allocate, and report its costs. APTs initial development ...

  10. Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaozhe Jiang

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

  11. Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Chaozhe; Xu, Yibo; Wen, Chao; Chen, Dilin

    2017-12-19

    Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS) based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

  12. SU-G-JeP1-11: Feasibility Study of Markerless Tracking Using Dual Energy Fluoroscopic Images for Real-Time Tumor-Tracking Radiotherapy System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shiinoki, T; Shibuya, K [Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi (Japan); Sawada, A [Kyoto college of medical science, Nantan, Kyoto (Japan); Uehara, T; Yuasa, Y; Koike, M; Kawamura, S [Yamaguchi University Hospital, Ube, Yamaguchi (Japan)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: The new real-time tumor-tracking radiotherapy (RTRT) system was installed in our institution. This system consists of two x-ray tubes and color image intensifiers (I.I.s). The fiducial marker which was implanted near the tumor was tracked using color fluoroscopic images. However, the implantation of the fiducial marker is very invasive. Color fluoroscopic images enable to increase the recognition of the tumor. However, these images were not suitable to track the tumor without fiducial marker. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of markerless tracking using dual energy colored fluoroscopic images for real-time tumor-tracking radiotherapy system. Methods: The colored fluoroscopic images of static and moving phantom that had the simulated tumor (30 mm diameter sphere) were experimentally acquired using the RTRT system. The programmable respiratory motion phantom was driven using the sinusoidal pattern in cranio-caudal direction (Amplitude: 20 mm, Time: 4 s). The x-ray condition was set to 55 kV, 50 mA and 105 kV, 50 mA for low energy and high energy, respectively. Dual energy images were calculated based on the weighted logarithmic subtraction of high and low energy images of RGB images. The usefulness of dual energy imaging for real-time tracking with an automated template image matching algorithm was investigated. Results: Our proposed dual energy subtraction improve the contrast between tumor and background to suppress the bone structure. For static phantom, our results showed that high tracking accuracy using dual energy subtraction images. For moving phantom, our results showed that good tracking accuracy using dual energy subtraction images. However, tracking accuracy was dependent on tumor position, tumor size and x-ray conditions. Conclusion: We indicated that feasibility of markerless tracking using dual energy fluoroscopic images for real-time tumor-tracking radiotherapy system. Furthermore, it is needed to investigate the

  13. Hacker tracking Security system for HMI

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chauhan, Rajeev Kumar

    2011-12-01

    Conventional Supervisory control and data Acquisition (SCADA) systems use PC, notebook, thin client, and PDA as a Client. Nowadays the Process Industries are following multi shift system that's why multi- client of different category have to work at a single human Machine Interface (HMI). They may hack the HMI Display and change setting of the other client. This paper introduces a Hacker tracking security (HTS) System for HMI. This is developed by using the conventional and Biometric authentication. HTS system is developed by using Numeric passwords, Smart card, biometric, blood flow and Finger temperature. This work is also able to identify the hackers.

  14. Installing and Commissioning a New Radioactive Waste Tracking System - Lessons Learned

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robert S. Anderson; Miklos Garamszeghy; Fred Rodrigues; Ed Nicholls

    2005-05-01

    Ontario Power Generation (OPG) recognizes the importance of information management particularly with regards to its low and intermediate level waste program. Various computer based waste tracking systems have been used in OPG since the 1980s. These systems tracked the physical receipt, processing, storage, and inventory of the waste. As OPG moved towards long-term management (e.g. disposal), it was recognized that tracking of more detailed waste characterization information was important. This required either substantial modification of the existing system to include a waste characterization module or replacing it entirely with a new system. After a detailed review of available options, it was decided that the existing waste tracking application would be replaced with the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Integrated Waste Tracking System (IWTS). Installing and commissioning a system which must receive historical operational waste management information (data) and provide new features, required much more attention than was originally considered. The operational readiness of IWTS required extensive vetting and preparation of historic data (which itself had been created from multiple databases in varied formats) to ensure a consistent format for import of some 30,000-container records, and merging and linking these container records to a waste stream based characterization database. This paper will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses contributing to project success or hindrance so that others can understand and minimize the difficulties inherent in a project of this magnitude.

  15. Installing and Commissioning a New Radioactive Waste Tracking System - Lessons Learned

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robert S. Anderson; Miklos Garamszeghy; Fred Rodrigues; Ed Nicholls

    2005-01-01

    Ontario Power Generation (OPG) recognizes the importance of information management particularly with regards to its low and intermediate level waste program. Various computer based waste tracking systems have been used in OPG since the 1980s. These systems tracked the physical receipt, processing, storage, and inventory of the waste. As OPG moved towards long-term management (e.g. disposal), it was recognized that tracking of more detailed waste characterization information was important. This required either substantial modification of the existing system to include a waste characterization module or replacing it entirely with a new system. After a detailed review of available options, it was decided that the existing waste tracking application would be replaced with the Idaho National Laboratory's (INL) Integrated Waste Tracking System (IWTS). Installing and commissioning a system which must receive historical operational waste management information (data) and provide new features, required much more attention than was originally considered. The operational readiness of IWTS required extensive vetting and preparation of historic data (which itself had been created from multiple databases in varied formats) to ensure a consistent format for import of some 30,000-container records, and merging and linking these container records to a waste stream based characterization database. This paper will discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses contributing to project success or hindrance so that others can understand and minimize the difficulties inherent in a project of this magnitude

  16. Chaotic system optimal tracking using data-based synchronous method with unknown dynamics and disturbances

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song Ruizhuo; Wei Qinglai

    2017-01-01

    We develop an optimal tracking control method for chaotic system with unknown dynamics and disturbances. The method allows the optimal cost function and the corresponding tracking control to update synchronously. According to the tracking error and the reference dynamics, the augmented system is constructed. Then the optimal tracking control problem is defined. The policy iteration (PI) is introduced to solve the min-max optimization problem. The off-policy adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm is then proposed to find the solution of the tracking Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs (HJI) equation online only using measured data and without any knowledge about the system dynamics. Critic neural network (CNN), action neural network (ANN), and disturbance neural network (DNN) are used to approximate the cost function, control, and disturbance. The weights of these networks compose the augmented weight matrix, and the uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) of which is proven. The convergence of the tracking error system is also proven. Two examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed synchronous solution method for the chaotic system tracking problem. (paper)

  17. Maximum power point tracking for photovoltaic solar pump based on ANFIS tuning system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Shabaan

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Solar photovoltaic (PV systems are a clean and naturally replenished energy source. PV panels have a unique point which represents the maximum available power and this point depend on the environmental conditions such as temperature and irradiance. A maximum power point tracking (MPPT is therefore necessary for maximum efficiency. In this paper, a study of MPPT for PV water pumping system based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS is discussed. A comparison between the performance of the system with and without MPPT is carried out under varying irradiation and temperature conditions. ANFIS based controller shows fast response with high efficiency at all irradiance and temperature levels making it a powerful technique for non-linear systems as PV modules. Keywords: MPPT, ANFIS, Boost converter, PMDC pump

  18. Detecting critical illness outside the ICU: the role of track and trigger systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jansen, Jan O; Cuthbertson, Brian H

    2010-06-01

    Critical illness is often preceded by physiological deterioration. Track and trigger systems are intended to facilitate the timely recognition of patients with potential or established critical illness outside critical care areas. The aim of this article is to review the evidence for the use of such systems. Existing track and trigger systems have low sensitivity, low positive predictive values, and high specificity. They often fail to identify patients who need additional care and have not been shown to improve outcomes. The development of such systems must be based on robust methodological and statistical principles. At present, few track and trigger systems meet these standards. Although track and trigger systems, combined with appropriate response algorithms, have the potential to improve the recognition and management of critical illness, further work is required to validate their utility.

  19. Digital Watermark Tracking using Intelligent Multi-Agents System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nagaraj V. DHARWADKAR

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available E-commerce has become a huge business and adriving factor in the development of the Internet. Onlineshopping services are well established. Due to the evolution of2G and 3G mobile networks, soon online shopping services arecomplemented by their wireless counterparts. Furthermore, inthe recent years online delivery of digital media, such as MP3audio or video or image is very popular and will become anincreasingly important part of E-commerce. The advantage ofinternet is sharing the valuable digital data which lead to misuseof digital data. To resolve the problem of misuse of digital dataon Internet we need to have strong Digital rights monitoringsystem. Digital Rights Management (DRM is fairly youngdiscipline, while some of its underlying technologies have beenknown from many years. The use of DRM for managing andprotecting intellectual property rights is a comparatively newfield. In this paper we propose a model for online digital imagelibrary copyright protection based on watermark trackingSystem.In our proposed model the tracking of watermarks onremote host nodes is done using active mobile agents. The multiagentsystem architecture is used in watermark tracking whichsupports the coordination of several component tasks acrossdistributed and flexible networks of information sources.Whereas a centralized system is susceptible to system-widefailures and processing bottlenecks, multi-agent systems aremore reliable, especially given the likelihood of individualcomponent failures.

  20. Modification of the poly(ethylene) terephthalate track membrane structure and surface in the plasma of non-polymerized gases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kravets, L.I.; Dmitriev, S.N.; Apel, P.Y.

    1999-01-01

    An investigation of the properties of poly(ethylene) terephthalate track membranes (PETTMs) treated with a plasma RF-discharge in non-polymerized gases has been performed. The influence of the plasma treatment conditions on the basic properties of the membranes has been studied. It was arranged that the effect of non-polymerized gases plasma on the PETTMs results to etching a membrane's surface layer. The membranes' pore size and the form in this case change. It is shown that it is possible to change the structure of track membranes directly by gas discharge etching

  1. The Cosmic Ray Tracking (CRT) detector system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernloehr, K.; Gamp, S.; Hermann, G.; Hofmann, W.; Kihm, T.; Knoeppler, J.; Leffers, G.; Matheis, V.; Panter, M.; Trunk, U.; Ulrich, M.; Wolf, T.; Zink, R.; Heintze, J.

    1996-01-01

    The Cosmic Ray Tracking (CRT) project represents a study on the use of tracking detectors of the time projection chamber type to detect secondary cosmic ray particles in extensive air showers. In reconstructing the arrival direction of the primary cosmic ray particles, the CRT detectors take advantage of the angular correlation of secondary particles with the cosmic rays leading to these air showers. In this paper, the detector hardware including the custom-designed electronics system is described in detail. A CRT detector module provides an active area of 2.5 m 2 and allows to measure track directions with a precision of 0.4 circle . It consists of two circular drift chambers of 1.8 m diameter with six sense wires each, and a 10 cm thick iron plate between the two chambers. Each detector has a local electronics box with a readout, trigger, and monitoring system. The detectors can distinguish penetrating muons from other types of charged secondaries. A large detector array could be used to search for γ-ray point sources at energies above several TeV and for studies of the cosmic-ray composition. Ten detectors are in operation at the site of the HEGRA air shower array. (orig.)

  2. Single nanoparticle tracking spectroscopic microscope

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Haw [Moraga, CA; Cang, Hu [Berkeley, CA; Xu, Cangshan [Berkeley, CA; Wong, Chung M [San Gabriel, CA

    2011-07-19

    A system that can maintain and track the position of a single nanoparticle in three dimensions for a prolonged period has been disclosed. The system allows for continuously imaging the particle to observe any interactions it may have. The system also enables the acquisition of real-time sequential spectroscopic information from the particle. The apparatus holds great promise in performing single molecule spectroscopy and imaging on a non-stationary target.

  3. Official Union Time Tracking System Operational Data Store

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — Official Union Time Tracking System captures the reporting and accounting of the representational activity for all American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)...

  4. Field Support System (FS-AID) and Working Capital Fund Tracking System (WCF-TS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — The Field Support System (FS-AID) and Working Capital Fund Tracking System (WCF-TS) are two modules of a single data management system that share common tables and...

  5. ISAT: The mega-fauna acoustic tracking system

    KAUST Repository

    De la Torre, Pedro; Smith, Egan Lloyd; Sancheti, Ajay; Salama, Khaled N.; Berumen, Michael L.

    2013-01-01

    The acoustic tracking module of the Integrated Satellite and Acoustic Telemetry (iSAT) system is discussed in detail. iSAT is capable of detecting the relative direction of an acoustic source by measuring the order of arrival (OOA) of the acoustic

  6. Non-Tenure Track Faculty and Learning Communities: Bridging the Divide to Enhance Teaching Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banasik, MaryJo D.; Dean, Jennifer L.

    2016-01-01

    Institutions of higher education are increasingly hiring non-tenure track faculty members (NTTF) to help meet the demands of the institutional teaching mission. Research suggests NTTF experience inadequate working conditions that hinder performance and negatively impact the quality of undergraduate education. Given the growing number of NTTF…

  7. Solid waste information and tracking system server conversion project management plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MAY, D.L.

    1999-01-01

    The Project Management Plan governing the conversion of Solid Waste Information and Tracking System (SWITS) to a client-server architecture. The Solid Waste Information and Tracking System Project Management Plan (PMP) describes the background, planning and management of the SWITS conversion. Requirements and specification documentation needed for the SWITS conversion will be released as supporting documents

  8. Improved Line Tracking System for Autonomous Navigation of High-Speed Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yahya Zare Khafri

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Line tracking navigation is one of the most widely techniques used in the robot navigation. In this paper, a customized line tracking system is proposed for autonomous navigation of high speed vehicles. In the presented system, auxiliary information -in addition to the road path- is added to the tracking lines such as locations of turn and intersections in the real roads. Moreover, the geometric position of line sensors is re-designed enables the high rate sensing with higher reliability. Finally, a light-weight navigation algorithm is proposed allow the high-speed movement using a reasonable processing power. This system is implemented on a MIPS-based embedded processor and experimental results with this embedded system show more than 98% accuracy at 200km/h with a 1GHz processor is viable.

  9. Herramienta web para calcular el impacto radiologico asociado al transporte de residuos radiactivos al ATC

    OpenAIRE

    Calleja Rubio, Jose Antonio; Gutierrez Martin, Fernando; Colón Hernández, Cristobal

    2012-01-01

    Técnicos de TECNATOM, S.A. e Investigadores de la (UPM), han desarrollado un programa para analizar la logística y los impactos potenciales del transporte por carretera de materiales radiactivos en España. El transporte de materiales radiactivos es un tema de renovado interés en nuestro país debido a la creciente movilidad que cabe esperar, sobre todo tras la entrada en operación del almacén temporal centralizado (ATC) previsto para los próximos años. Este almacén está destinado a resi...

  10. System requirement specifications for the Z-plant materials information tracking system (ZMITS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    NEGIN, C.A.

    1999-01-01

    This is a system requirement specification for a database which will be developed to track classified information related to nuclear materials stored at PFP. The system will supplement existing databases to support both processing and disposition information needs

  11. Low Complexity Track Initialization from a Small Set of Non-Invertible Measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wolfgang Koch

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Target tracking from non-invertible measurement sets, for example, incomplete spherical coordinates measured by asynchronous sensors in a sensor network, is a task of data fusion present in a lot of applications. Difficulties in tracking using extended Kalman filters lead to unstable behavior, mainly caused by poor initialization. Instead of using high complexity numerical batch-estimators, we offer an analytical approach to initialize the filter from a minimum number of observations. This directly pertains to multi-hypothesis tracking (MHT, where in the presence of clutter and/or multiple targets (i low complexity algorithms are desirable and (ii using a small set of measurements avoids the combinatorial explosion. Our approach uses no numerical optimization, simply evaluating several equations to find the state estimates. This is possible since we avoid an over-determined setup by initializing only from the minimum necessary subset of measurements. Loss in accuracy is minimized by choosing the best subset using an optimality criterion and incorporating the leftover measurements afterwards. Additionally, we provide the possibility to estimate only sub-sets of parameters, and to reliably model the resulting added uncertainties by the covariance matrix. We compare two different implementations, differing in the approximation of the posterior: linearizing the measurement equation as in the extended Kalman filter (EKF or employing the unscented transform (UT. The approach will be studied in two practical examples: 3D track initialization using bearingsonly measurements or using slant-range and azimuth only.

  12. Automated Safety Incident Surveillance and Tracking System (ASISTS)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Automated Safety Incident Surveillance and Tracking System (ASISTS) is a repository of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee accident data. Many types of...

  13. Assessment of oscillatory stability constrained available transfer capability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jain, T.; Singh, S.N.; Srivastava, S.C.

    2009-01-01

    This paper utilizes a bifurcation approach to compute oscillatory stability constrained available transfer capability (ATC) in an electricity market having bilateral as well as multilateral transactions. Oscillatory instability in non-linear systems can be related to Hopf bifurcation. At the Hopf bifurcation, one pair of the critical eigenvalues of the system Jacobian reaches imaginary axis. A new optimization formulation, including Hopf bifurcation conditions, has been developed in this paper to obtain the dynamic ATC. An oscillatory stability based contingency screening index, which takes into account the impact of transactions on severity of contingency, has been utilized to identify critical contingencies to be considered in determining ATC. The proposed method has been applied for dynamic ATC determination on a 39-bus New England system and a practical 75-bus Indian system considering composite static load as well as dynamic load models. (author)

  14. Off-policy integral reinforcement learning optimal tracking control for continuous-time chaotic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Qing-Lai; Song Rui-Zhuo; Xiao Wen-Dong; Sun Qiu-Ye

    2015-01-01

    This paper estimates an off-policy integral reinforcement learning (IRL) algorithm to obtain the optimal tracking control of unknown chaotic systems. Off-policy IRL can learn the solution of the HJB equation from the system data generated by an arbitrary control. Moreover, off-policy IRL can be regarded as a direct learning method, which avoids the identification of system dynamics. In this paper, the performance index function is first given based on the system tracking error and control error. For solving the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation, an off-policy IRL algorithm is proposed. It is proven that the iterative control makes the tracking error system asymptotically stable, and the iterative performance index function is convergent. Simulation study demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed tracking control method. (paper)

  15. Actor-critic-based optimal tracking for partially unknown nonlinear discrete-time systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiumarsi, Bahare; Lewis, Frank L

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a partially model-free adaptive optimal control solution to the deterministic nonlinear discrete-time (DT) tracking control problem in the presence of input constraints. The tracking error dynamics and reference trajectory dynamics are first combined to form an augmented system. Then, a new discounted performance function based on the augmented system is presented for the optimal nonlinear tracking problem. In contrast to the standard solution, which finds the feedforward and feedback terms of the control input separately, the minimization of the proposed discounted performance function gives both feedback and feedforward parts of the control input simultaneously. This enables us to encode the input constraints into the optimization problem using a nonquadratic performance function. The DT tracking Bellman equation and tracking Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) are derived. An actor-critic-based reinforcement learning algorithm is used to learn the solution to the tracking HJB equation online without requiring knowledge of the system drift dynamics. That is, two neural networks (NNs), namely, actor NN and critic NN, are tuned online and simultaneously to generate the optimal bounded control policy. A simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  16. A 4D ultrasound real-time tracking system for external beam radiotherapy of upper abdominal lesions under breath-hold

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sihono, Dwi Seno Kuncoro; Vogel, Lena; Thoelking, Johannes; Wenz, Frederik; Boda-Heggemann, Judit; Wertz, Hansjoerg [University of Heidelberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Weiss, Christel [University of Heidelberg, Department of Biomathematics and Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Lohr, Frank [University of Heidelberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany); Az. Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Modena, Struttura Complessa di Radioterapia, Dipartimento di Oncologia, Modena (Italy)

    2017-03-15

    To evaluate a novel four-dimensional (4D) ultrasound (US) tracking system for external beam radiotherapy of upper abdominal lesions under computer-controlled deep-inspiration breath-hold (DIBH). The tracking accuracy of the research 4D US system was evaluated using two motion phantoms programmed with sinusoidal and breathing patterns to simulate free breathing and DIBH. Clinical performance was evaluated with five healthy volunteers. US datasets were acquired in computer-controlled DIBH with varying angular scanning angles. Tracked structures were renal pelvis (spherical structure) and portal/liver vein branches (non-spherical structure). An external marker was attached to the surface of both phantoms and volunteers as a secondary object to be tracked by an infrared camera for comparison. Phantom measurements showed increased accuracy of US tracking with decreasing scanning range/increasing scanning frequency. The probability of lost tracking was higher for small scanning ranges (43.09% for 10 and 13.54% for 20 ).The tracking success rates in healthy volunteers during DIBH were 93.24 and 89.86% for renal pelvis and portal vein branches, respectively. There was a strong correlation between marker motion and US tracking for the majority of analyzed breath-holds: 84.06 and 88.41% of renal pelvis target results and 82.26 and 91.94% of liver vein target results in anteroposterior and superoinferior directions, respectively; Pearson's correlation coefficient was between 0.71 and 0.99. The US system showed a good tracking performance in 4D motion phantoms. The tracking capability of surrogate structures for upper abdominal lesions in DIBH fulfills clinical requirements. Further investigation in a larger cohort of patients is underway. (orig.) [German] Evaluation eines neuen vierdimensionalen (4D) Ultraschall(US)-Tracking-Systems fuer die externe Strahlentherapie von Oberbauchlaesionen unter computergesteuertem tiefem Atemanhalt (DIBH). Die Tracking-Genauigkeit des 4D-US-Systems

  17. A novel open-loop tracking strategy for photovoltaic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexandru, Cătălin

    2013-01-01

    This paper approaches a dual-axis equatorial tracking system that is used to increase the photovoltaic efficiency by maximizing the degree of use of the solar radiation. The innovative aspect in the solar tracker design consists in considering the tracking mechanism as a perturbation for the DC motors. The goal is to control the DC motors, which are perturbed with the motor torques whose computation is based on the dynamic model of the mechanical structure on which external forces act. The daily and elevation angles of the PV module represent the input parameters in the mechanical device, while the outputs transmitted to the controller are the motor torques. The controller tuning is approached by a parametric optimization process, using design of experiments and response surface methodology techniques, in a multiple regression. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the operational performance of the tracking system.

  18. A Novel Open-Loop Tracking Strategy for Photovoltaic Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cătălin Alexandru

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper approaches a dual-axis equatorial tracking system that is used to increase the photovoltaic efficiency by maximizing the degree of use of the solar radiation. The innovative aspect in the solar tracker design consists in considering the tracking mechanism as a perturbation for the DC motors. The goal is to control the DC motors, which are perturbed with the motor torques whose computation is based on the dynamic model of the mechanical structure on which external forces act. The daily and elevation angles of the PV module represent the input parameters in the mechanical device, while the outputs transmitted to the controller are the motor torques. The controller tuning is approached by a parametric optimization process, using design of experiments and response surface methodology techniques, in a multiple regression. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the operational performance of the tracking system.

  19. Treatment of non-Gaussian tails of multiple Coulomb scattering in track fitting with a Gaussian-sum filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strandlie, A.; Wroldsen, J.

    2006-01-01

    If any of the probability densities involved in track fitting deviate from the Gaussian assumption, it is plausible that a non-linear estimator which better takes the actual shape of the distribution into account can do better. One such non-linear estimator is the Gaussian-sum filter, which is adequate if the distributions under consideration can be approximated by Gaussian mixtures. The main purpose of this paper is to present a Gaussian-sum filter for track fitting, based on a two-component approximation of the distribution of angular deflections due to multiple scattering. In a simulation study within a linear track model the Gaussian-sum filter is shown to be a competitive alternative to the Kalman filter. Scenarios at various momenta and with various maximum number of components in the Gaussian-sum filter are considered. Particularly at low momenta the Gaussian-sum filter yields a better estimate of the uncertainties than the Kalman filter, and it is also slightly more precise than the latter

  20. An ion beam tracking system based on a parallel plate avalanche counter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carter, I. P.; Ramachandran, K.; Dasgupta, M.; Hinde, D. J.; Rafiei, R.; Luong, D. H.; Williams, E.; Cook, K. J.; McNeil, S.; Rafferty, D. C.; Harding, A. B.; Muirhead, A. G.; Tunningley, T.

    2013-01-01

    A pair of twin position-sensitive parallel plate avalanche counters have been developed at the Australian National University as a tracking system to aid in the further rejection of unwanted beam particles from a 6.5 T super conducting solenoid separator named SOLEROO. Their function is to track and identify each beam particle passing through the detectors on an event-by-event basis. In-beam studies have been completed and the detectors are in successful operation, demonstrating the tracking capability. A high efficiency 512-pixel wide-angle silicon detector array will then be integrated with the tracking system for nuclear reactions studies of radioactive ions. (authors)

  1. Autonomous Aerial Refueling Ground Test Demonstration—A Sensor-in-the-Loop, Non-Tracking Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chao-I Chen

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available An essential capability for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV to extend its airborne duration without increasing the size of the aircraft is called the autonomous aerial refueling (AAR. This paper proposes a sensor-in-the-loop, non-tracking method for probe-and-drogue style autonomous aerial refueling tasks by combining sensitivity adjustments of a 3D Flash LIDAR camera with computer vision based image-processing techniques. The method overcomes the inherit ambiguity issues when reconstructing 3D information from traditional 2D images by taking advantage of ready to use 3D point cloud data from the camera, followed by well-established computer vision techniques. These techniques include curve fitting algorithms and outlier removal with the random sample consensus (RANSAC algorithm to reliably estimate the drogue center in 3D space, as well as to establish the relative position between the probe and the drogue. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method on a real system, a ground navigation robot was designed and fabricated. Results presented in the paper show that using images acquired from a 3D Flash LIDAR camera as real time visual feedback, the ground robot is able to track a moving simulated drogue and continuously narrow the gap between the robot and the target autonomously.

  2. Experimental research on laser tracking system with galvanometer scanner for measuring spatial coordinates of moving target

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jia; Hu, Zhaohui; Liu, Yongdong; Liang, Jinwen

    2000-10-01

    The spatial position of industrial object, such as robot end- effector, is an important geometric parameter whose accuracy determines whether robot can perform accurately. Therefore, we have established a laser tracking and coordinate measuring system with galvanometer scanner for high accuracy, large range, non- contact, and spatial dynamic measurement. In this paper, the laser tracking system and its setup are illuminated at first. Then, the formulae for calculating coordinates are deduced, and the calibration method of the initial distance from tracking mirror to target is presented. After that, two preliminary experiments in different distances are described. One is on CMM; the other is with grating ruler as reference. In the former, the maximum measurement error of coordinates is 70micrometers and the maximum error of length is 35micrometers in the 85x100x100mm3 measurement volume, and in the 1m initial distance. In the later, the maximum error of length is 140micrometers in the range of 480mm, and in the 5m initial distance. At the end of the paper, the error sources are analyzed and simulated.

  3. Developments for the outer tracking system of the LHCb experiment

    CERN Document Server

    Bachmann, S; Haas, T; Uwer, U; Walter, M; Wiedner, D

    2004-01-01

    The outer tracking system of the LHCb experiment is discussed. The outer tracking system (OT) is made of three stations and every station is made up of four detecting planes with a double layer of straw tubes. The straw tubes are mounted in detector module boxes made up of sandwich panels. The use of a counting gas with a high drift velocity is suggested to cope with high bunch crossing rate at the LHCb experiment. (Edited abstract) 3 Refs.

  4. 21 CFR 821.25 - Device tracking system and content requirements: manufacturer requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES MEDICAL DEVICE TRACKING REQUIREMENTS Tracking... procedure for the collection, maintenance, and auditing of the data specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of... recording system, and the file maintenance procedures system; and (3) A quality assurance program that...

  5. Robustness-tracking control based on sliding mode and H∞ theory for linear servo system

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    TIAN Yan-feng; GUO Qing-ding

    2005-01-01

    A robustness-tracking control scheme based on combining H∞ robust control and sliding mode control is proposed for a direct drive AC permanent-magnet linear motor servo system to solve the conflict between tracking and robustness of the linear servo system. The sliding mode tracking controller is designed to ensure the system has a fast tracking characteristic to the command, and the H∞ robustness controller suppresses the disturbances well within the close loop( including the load and the end effect force of linear motor etc. ) and effectively minimizes the chattering of sliding mode control which influences the steady state performance of the system. Simulation results show that this control scheme enhances the track-command-ability and the robustness of the linear servo system, and in addition, it has a strong robustness to parameter variations and resistance disturbances.

  6. Tracking control of air-breathing hypersonic vehicles with non-affine dynamics via improved neural back-stepping design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bu, Xiangwei; He, Guangjun; Wang, Ke

    2018-04-01

    This study considers the design of a new back-stepping control approach for air-breathing hypersonic vehicle (AHV) non-affine models via neural approximation. The AHV's non-affine dynamics is decomposed into velocity subsystem and altitude subsystem to be controlled separately, and robust adaptive tracking control laws are developed using improved back-stepping designs. Neural networks are applied to estimate the unknown non-affine dynamics, which guarantees the addressed controllers with satisfactory robustness against uncertainties. In comparison with the existing control methodologies, the special contributions are that the non-affine issue is handled by constructing two low-pass filters based on model transformations, and virtual controllers are treated as intermediate variables such that they aren't needed for back-stepping designs any more. Lyapunov techniques are employed to show the uniformly ultimately boundedness of all closed-loop signals. Finally, simulation results are presented to verify the tracking performance and superiorities of the investigated control strategy. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Deficiency tracking system, conceptual business process requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hermanson, M.L.

    1997-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to describe the conceptual business process requirements of a single, site-wide, consolidated, automated, deficiency management tracking, trending, and reporting system. This description will be used as the basis for the determination of the automated system acquisition strategy including the further definition of specific requirements, a ''make or buy'' determination and the development of specific software design details

  8. Effect of cross-correlation on track-to-track fusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saha, Rajat K.

    1994-07-01

    Since the advent of target tracking systems employing a diverse mixture of sensors, there has been increasing recognition by air defense system planners and other military system analysts of the need to integrate these tracks so that a clear air picture can be obtained in a command center. A popular methodology to achieve this goal is to perform track-to-track fusion, which performs track-to-track association as well as kinematic state vector fusion. This paper seeks to answer analytically the extent of improvement achievable by means of kinetic state vector fusion when the tracks are obtained from dissimilar sensors (e.g., Radar/ESM/IRST/IFF). It is well known that evaluation of the performance of state vector fusion algorithms at steady state must take into account the effects of cross-correlation between eligible tracks introduced by the input noise which, unfortunately, is often neglected because of added computational complexity. In this paper, an expression for the steady-state cross-covariance matrix for a 2D state vector track-to-track fusion is obtained. This matrix is shown to be a function of the parameters of the Kalman filters associated with the candidate tracks being fused. Conditions for positive definiteness of the cross-covariance matrix have been derived and the effect of positive definiteness on performance of track-to-track fusion is also discussed.

  9. Neuro-PID tracking control of a discharge air temperature system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaheer-uddin, M.; Tudoroiu, N.

    2004-01-01

    In this paper, the problem of improving the performance of a discharge air temperature (DAT) system using a PID controller and augmenting it with neural network based tuning and tracking functions is explored. The DAT system is modeled as a SISO (single input single output) system. The architecture of the real time neuro-PID controller and simulation results obtained under realistic operating conditions are presented. The neural network assisted PID tuning method is simple to implement. Results show that the network assisted PID controller is able to track both constant and variable set point trajectories efficiently in the presence of disturbances acting on the DAT system

  10. Models of Human Information Requirements: "When Reasonable Aiding Systems Disagree"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corker, Kevin; Pisanich, Gregory; Shafto, Michael (Technical Monitor)

    1994-01-01

    Aircraft flight management and Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation are under development to maximize the economy of flight and to increase the capacity of the terminal area airspace while maintaining levels of flight safety equal to or better than current system performance. These goals are being realized by the introduction of flight management automation aiding and operations support systems on the flight deck and by new developments of ATC aiding systems that seek to optimize scheduling of aircraft while potentially reducing required separation and accounting for weather and wake vortex turbulence. Aiding systems on both the flight deck and the ground operate through algorithmic functions on models of the aircraft and of the airspace. These models may differ from each other as a result of variations in their models of the immediate environment. The resultant flight operations or ATC commands may differ in their response requirements (e.g. different preferred descent speeds or descent initiation points). The human operators in the system must then interact with the automation to reconcile differences and resolve conflicts. We have developed a model of human performance including cognitive functions (decision-making, rule-based reasoning, procedural interruption recovery and forgetting) that supports analysis of the information requirements for resolution of flight aiding and ATC conflicts. The model represents multiple individuals in the flight crew and in ATC. The model is supported in simulation on a Silicon Graphics' workstation using Allegro Lisp. Design guidelines for aviation automation aiding systems have been developed using the model's specification of information and team procedural requirements. Empirical data on flight deck operations from full-mission flight simulation are provided to support the model's predictions. The paper describes the model, its development and implementation, the simulation test of the model predictions, and the empirical

  11. Evaluation of maximum power point tracking in hydrokinetic energy conversion systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jahangir Khan

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Maximum power point tracking is a mature control issue for wind, solar and other systems. On the other hand, being a relatively new technology, detailed discussion on power tracking of hydrokinetic energy conversion systems are generally not available. Prior to developing sophisticated control schemes for use in hydrokinetic systems, existing know-how in wind or solar technologies can be explored. In this study, a comparative evaluation of three generic classes of maximum power point scheme is carried out. These schemes are (a tip speed ratio control, (b power signal feedback control, and (c hill climbing search control. In addition, a novel concept for maximum power point tracking: namely, extremum seeking control is introduced. Detailed and validated system models are used in a simulation environment. Potential advantages and drawbacks of each of these schemes are summarised.

  12. Agency Secure Image And Storage Tracking System (ASIST)

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — Agency Secure Image and Storage Tracking System (Missions): is a Documentum-based user interface developed and maintained by the USAID OCIO (formerly IRM) to improve...

  13. A Non-invasive Real-time Localization System for Enhanced Efficacy in Nasogastric Intubation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Zhenglong; Foong, Shaohui; Maréchal, Luc; Tan, U-Xuan; Teo, Tee Hui; Shabbir, Asim

    2015-12-01

    Nasogastric (NG) intubation is one of the most commonly performed clinical procedures. Real-time localization and tracking of the NG tube passage at the larynx region into the esophagus is crucial for safety, but is lacking in current practice. In this paper, we present the design, analysis and evaluation of a non-invasive real-time localization system using passive magnetic tracking techniques to improve efficacy of the clinical NG intubation process. By embedding a small permanent magnet at the insertion tip of the NG tube, a wearable system containing embedded sensors around the neck can determine the absolute position of the NG tube inside the body in real-time to assist in insertion. In order to validate the feasibility of the proposed system in detecting erroneous tube placement, typical reference intubation trajectories are first analyzed using anatomically correct models and localization accuracy of the system are evaluated using a precise robotic platform. It is found that the root-mean-squared tracking accuracy is within 5.3 mm for both the esophagus and trachea intubation pathways. Experiments were also designed and performed to demonstrate that the system is capable of tracking the NG tube accurately in biological environments even in presence of stationary ferromagnetic objects (such as clinical instruments). With minimal physical modification to the NG tube and clinical process, this system allows accurate and efficient localization and confirmation of correct NG tube placement without supplemental radiographic methods which is considered the current clinical standard.

  14. Design and Performance Evaluation on Ultra-Wideband Time-Of-Arrival 3D Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Jianjun; Arndt, Dickey; Ngo, Phong; Dusl, John

    2012-01-01

    A three-dimensional (3D) Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Time--of-Arrival (TOA) tracking system has been studied at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) to provide the tracking capability inside the International Space Station (ISS) modules for various applications. One of applications is to locate and report the location where crew experienced possible high level of carbon-dioxide and felt upset. In order to accurately locate those places in a multipath intensive environment like ISS modules, it requires a robust real-time location system (RTLS) which can provide the required accuracy and update rate. A 3D UWB TOA tracking system with two-way ranging has been proposed and studied. The designed system will be tested in the Wireless Habitat Testbed which simulates the ISS module environment. In this presentation, we discuss the 3D TOA tracking algorithm and the performance evaluation based on different tracking baseline configurations. The simulation results show that two configurations of the tracking baseline are feasible. With 100 picoseconds standard deviation (STD) of TOA estimates, the average tracking error 0.2392 feet (about 7 centimeters) can be achieved for configuration Twisted Rectangle while the average tracking error 0.9183 feet (about 28 centimeters) can be achieved for configuration Slightly-Twisted Top Rectangle . The tracking accuracy can be further improved with the improvement of the STD of TOA estimates. With 10 picoseconds STD of TOA estimates, the average tracking error 0.0239 feet (less than 1 centimeter) can be achieved for configuration "Twisted Rectangle".

  15. Cooperative Fault Tolerant Tracking Control for Multiagent Systems: An Intermediate Estimator-Based Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Jun-Wei; Yang, Guang-Hong; Zhang, Wen-An; Yu, Li

    2017-10-17

    This paper studies the observer based fault tolerant tracking control problem for linear multiagent systems with multiple faults and mismatched disturbances. A novel distributed intermediate estimator based fault tolerant tracking protocol is presented. The leader's input is nonzero and unavailable to the followers. By applying a projection technique, the mismatched disturbances are separated into matched and unmatched components. For each node, a tracking error system is established, for which an intermediate estimator driven by the relative output measurements is constructed to estimate the sensor faults and a combined signal of the leader's input, process faults, and matched disturbance component. Based on the estimation, a fault tolerant tracking protocol is designed to eliminate the effects of the combined signal. Besides, the effect of unmatched disturbance component can be attenuated by directly adjusting some specified parameters. Finally, a simulation example of aircraft demonstrates the effectiveness of the designed tracking protocol.This paper studies the observer based fault tolerant tracking control problem for linear multiagent systems with multiple faults and mismatched disturbances. A novel distributed intermediate estimator based fault tolerant tracking protocol is presented. The leader's input is nonzero and unavailable to the followers. By applying a projection technique, the mismatched disturbances are separated into matched and unmatched components. For each node, a tracking error system is established, for which an intermediate estimator driven by the relative output measurements is constructed to estimate the sensor faults and a combined signal of the leader's input, process faults, and matched disturbance component. Based on the estimation, a fault tolerant tracking protocol is designed to eliminate the effects of the combined signal. Besides, the effect of unmatched disturbance component can be attenuated by directly adjusting some

  16. Tracking radioactive shipments using radio-navigation and satellite telecommunication systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harmon, L.H.; Habib, E.J.; Hurley, J.D.; Carlson, R.D.

    1988-01-01

    The United States Department of Enegy (USDOE) Waste Transportation Management Division (WMTD) has commissioned the development of a transportation tracking management and communication system to monitor movement of radioactive material shipments throughout the United States. The system, TRANSCOM, is being developed to enhance DOE's management oversight and operational control over the transport of sensitive materials (e.g., spent fuel, highlevel waste, transuranic waste etc.) and to address state and local government concerns regarding public safety. These goals are accomplished through providing a near real time tracking and communication system complete with information database management to support emergency response capabilities

  17. The Siegen automatic measuring system for track detectors: new developments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rusch, G.; Winkel, E.; Noll, A.; Heinrich, W.

    1991-01-01

    Starting twelve years ago we have developed completely automatic scanning and measuring systems for nuclear track detectors. The hardware and software of these systems have continuously been improved. They were used in different heavy ion and cosmic ray experiments. In this paper we describe methods for high resolution REL measurements in plastic nuclear track detectors and methods to scan and measure nuclear disintegration stars in AgCl detectors using an automatic measuring technique. The system uses a stepping motor driven microscope stage, a video camera and an image analysis computer based on a MC68020 microprocessor. (author)

  18. Registration Combining Wide and Narrow Baseline Feature Tracking Techniques for Markerless AR Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bo Yang

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Augmented reality (AR is a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real world and computer generated data. Registration is one of the most difficult problems currently limiting the usability of AR systems. In this paper, we propose a novel natural feature tracking based registration method for AR applications. The proposed method has following advantages: (1 it is simple and efficient, as no man-made markers are needed for both indoor and outdoor AR applications; moreover, it can work with arbitrary geometric shapes including planar, near planar and non planar structures which really enhance the usability of AR systems. (2 Thanks to the reduced SIFT based augmented optical flow tracker, the virtual scene can still be augmented on the specified areas even under the circumstances of occlusion and large changes in viewpoint during the entire process. (3 It is easy to use, because the adaptive classification tree based matching strategy can give us fast and accurate initialization, even when the initial camera is different from the reference image to a large degree. Experimental evaluations validate the performance of the proposed method for online pose tracking and augmentation.

  19. The integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system for tracking marine megafauna

    KAUST Repository

    De la Torre, Pedro

    2012-10-06

    This document describes the integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system: an autonomous modular system for tracking the movements of large pelagic fish using acoustic telemetry and satellite communications. The sensor platform is described along with the propulsion and navigation systems. An application for tracking the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the Red Sea is included along with a discussion of the technical difficulties that such a system faces.

  20. The integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system for tracking marine megafauna

    KAUST Repository

    De la Torre, Pedro; Berumen, Michael L.; Salama, Khaled N.; Smith, E. Lloyd

    2012-01-01

    This document describes the integrated satellite-acoustic telemetry (iSAT) system: an autonomous modular system for tracking the movements of large pelagic fish using acoustic telemetry and satellite communications. The sensor platform is described along with the propulsion and navigation systems. An application for tracking the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) in the Red Sea is included along with a discussion of the technical difficulties that such a system faces.

  1. Research on Key Technologies of Network Centric System Distributed Target Track Fusion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Mao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available To realize common tactical picture in network-centered system, this paper proposes a layered architecture for distributed information processing and a method for distributed track fusion on the basis of analyzing the characteristics of network-centered systems. Basing on the noncorrelation of three-dimensional measurement of surveillance and reconnaissance sensors under polar coordinates, it also puts forward an algorithm for evaluating track quality (TQ using statistical decision theory. According to simulation results, the TQ value is associated with the measurement accuracy of sensors and the motion state of targets, which is well matched with the convergence process of tracking filters. Besides, the proposed algorithm has good reliability and timeliness in track quality evaluation.

  2. Speckle tracking analysis: a new tool for left atrial function analysis in systemic hypertension: an overview.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cameli, Matteo; Ciccone, Marco M; Maiello, Maria; Modesti, Pietro A; Muiesan, Maria L; Scicchitano, Pietro; Novo, Salvatore; Palmiero, Pasquale; Saba, Pier S; Pedrinelli, Roberto

    2016-05-01

    Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is an imaging technique applied to the analysis of left atrial function. STE provides a non-Doppler, angle-independent and objective quantification of left atrial myocardial deformation. Data regarding feasibility, accuracy and clinical applications of left atrial strain are rapidly gathering. This review describes the fundamental concepts of left atrial STE, illustrates its pathophysiological background and discusses its emerging role in systemic arterial hypertension.

  3. A real time tracking vision system and its application to robotics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, Hirochika

    1994-01-01

    Among various sensing channels the vision is most important for making robot intelligent. If provided with a high speed visual tracking capability, the robot-environment interaction becomes dynamic instead of static, and thus the potential repertoire of robot behavior becomes very rich. For this purpose we developed a real-time tracking vision system. The fundamental operation on which our system based is the calculation of correlation between local images. Use of special chip for correlation and the multi-processor configuration enable the robot to track more than hundreds cues in full video rate. In addition to the fundamental visual performance, applications for robot behavior control are also introduced. (author)

  4. A study of a two stage maximum power point tracking control of a photovoltaic system under partially shaded insolation conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobayashi, Kenji; Takano, Ichiro; Sawada, Yoshio [Kogakuin University, Tokyo 163-8677 (Japan)

    2006-11-23

    A photovoltaic (PV) array shows relatively low output power density, and has a greatly drooping current-voltage (I-V) characteristic. Therefore, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control is used to maximize the output power of the PV array. Many papers have been reported in relation to MPPT. However, the current-power (I-P) curve sometimes shows multi-local maximum point mode under non-uniform insolation conditions. The operating point of the PV system tends to converge to a local maximum output point which is not the real maximal output point on the I-P curve. Some papers have been also reported, trying to avoid this difficulty. However, most of those control systems become rather complicated. Then, the two stage MPPT control method is proposed in this paper to realize a relatively simple control system which can track the real maximum power point even under non-uniform insolation conditions. The feasibility of this control concept is confirmed for steady insolation as well as for rapidly changing insolation by simulation study using software PSIM and LabVIEW. (author)

  5. Beam test of a 12-layer scintillating-fiber charged-particle tracking system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abbott, B.; Howell, B.L.; Koltick, D.; McIlwain, R.L.; Schmitz, C.J.; Shibata, E.I.; Zhou, Z.; Baumbaugh, B.; Ivancic, M.; Jaques, J.; Kehoe, R.; Kelley, M.; Mahoney, M.; Marchant, J.; Ruchti, R.; Wayne, M.; Atac, M.; Baumbaugh, A.; Elias, J.E.; Romero, A.; Chrisman, D.; Park, J.; Adams, M.R.; Chung, M.; Goldberg, H.; Margulies, S.; Solomon, J.; Chaney, R.; Orgeron, J.; Armstrong, T.; Lewis, R.A.; Mitchell, G.S.; Moore, R.S.; Passaneau, J.; Smith, G.A.; Corcoran, M.; Adams, D.; Bird, F.; Fenker, H.; Regan, T.; Thomas, J. (Dept. of Physics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States) Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Notre Dame, IN (United States) Fermilab, Batavia, IL (United States) Dept. of Physics, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States) Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States) Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Texas, Richardson, TX (United States) Dept. of Physics, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States) Dept. of Physics, Rice Univ

    1994-02-01

    A 96-channel, 3-superlayer, scintillating-fiber tracking system has been tested in a 5 GeV/c [pi][sup -] beam. The scintillating fibers were 830 [mu]m in diameter, spaced 850 [mu]m apart, and 4.3 m in length. They were coupled to 6 m long, clear fiber waveguides and finally to visible light photon counters. A spatial resolution of [approx]150 [mu]m for a double-layered ribbon was achieved with this tracking system. This first prototype of a charged-particle tracking system configured for the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration at the Superconducting Super Collider is a benchmark in verifying the expected number of photoelectrons from the fibers. (orig.)

  6. Innovative control systems for tracked vehicle platforms

    CERN Document Server

    2014-01-01

     This book has been motivated by an urgent need for designing and implementation of innovative control algorithms and systems for tracked vehicles. Nowadays the unmanned vehicles are becoming more and more common. Therefore there is a need for innovative mechanical constructions capable of adapting to various applications regardless the ground, air or water/underwater environment. There are multiple various activities connected with tracked vehicles. They can be distributed among three main groups: design and control algorithms, sensoric and vision based in-formation, construction and testing mechanical parts of unmanned vehicles. Scientists and researchers involved in mechanics, control algorithms, image processing, computer vision, data fusion, or IC will find this book useful.

  7. LHCb : Performance of the LHCb tracking system in Run I of the LHC

    CERN Multimedia

    Davis, Adam

    2015-01-01

    The LHCb tracking system consists of a Vertex Locator around the interaction point, a tracking station with four layers of silicon strip detectors in front of the magnet, and three tracking stations, using either straw-tubes or silicon strip detectors, behind the magnet. This system allows to reconstruct charged particles with a high efficiency (typically > 95% for particles with momentum > 5 GeV) and an excellent momentum resolution (0.5% for particles with momentum mu mu. Furthermore an optimal decay time resolution is an essential element in the studies of time dependent CP violation. Thanks to the excellent performance of the tracking system, a decay time resolution of ~50 fs is obtained, allowing to resolve the fast B0s oscillation with a mixing frequency of 17.7 ps-1. In this talk, we will give an overview of the track reconstruction in LHCb and review its performance in Run I of the LHC. We will highlight the challenges and improvements of the track reconstruction for the data taking period from 2015 ...

  8. Deficiency tracking system, conceptual business process requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hermanson, M.L.

    1997-04-18

    The purpose of this document is to describe the conceptual business process requirements of a single, site-wide, consolidated, automated, deficiency management tracking, trending, and reporting system. This description will be used as the basis for the determination of the automated system acquisition strategy including the further definition of specific requirements, a ''make or buy'' determination and the development of specific software design details.

  9. Bar-code automated waste tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hull, T.E.

    1994-10-01

    The Bar-Code Automated Waste Tracking System was designed to be a site-Specific program with a general purpose application for transportability to other facilities. The system is user-friendly, totally automated, and incorporates the use of a drive-up window that is close to the areas dealing in container preparation, delivery, pickup, and disposal. The system features ''stop-and-go'' operation rather than a long, tedious, error-prone manual entry. The system is designed for automation but allows operators to concentrate on proper handling of waste while maintaining manual entry of data as a backup. A large wall plaque filled with bar-code labels is used to input specific details about any movement of waste

  10. Development of Intelligent Fuzzy Controller for a Two-Axis Solar Tracking System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cong-Hui Huang

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes the development of a two-axis sun tracking solar energy system using fuzzy logic as intelligent quality policy. To achieve maximum efficiency for solar panels, it is necessary to follow the sun’s path in the sky. Therefore, the architecture for the two-axis sun tracking solar energy system uses software to control the hardware. The hardware comprises (i solar cells; (ii lead-acid batteries; (iii a gear box; (iv a stepping motor; and (v a light detection circuit, while the software comprises (i a detection system; (ii a fuzzy tracking controller; and (iii a database system. A fuzzy logic controller is designed as the software architecture of the system to decide the timing for tracking the sun. The nearest position that results in receiving direct sunlight is obtained from the database. Our system is fully automatic in a changing environment and takes into account meteorological changes and the effects of the external environment arising from a malfunction. This approach reduces the number of starting motors and results in smaller energy loss in cloudy, cloud mask, or unstable weather conditions.

  11. Tracking Systems for Virtual Rehabilitation: Objective Performance vs. Subjective Experience. A Practical Scenario

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Lloréns

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Motion tracking systems are commonly used in virtual reality-based interventions to detect movements in the real world and transfer them to the virtual environment. There are different tracking solutions based on different physical principles, which mainly define their performance parameters. However, special requirements have to be considered for rehabilitation purposes. This paper studies and compares the accuracy and jitter of three tracking solutions (optical, electromagnetic, and skeleton tracking in a practical scenario and analyzes the subjective perceptions of 19 healthy subjects, 22 stroke survivors, and 14 physical therapists. The optical tracking system provided the best accuracy (1.074 ± 0.417 cm while the electromagnetic device provided the most inaccurate results (11.027 ± 2.364 cm. However, this tracking solution provided the best jitter values (0.324 ± 0.093 cm, in contrast to the skeleton tracking, which had the worst results (1.522 ± 0.858 cm. Healthy individuals and professionals preferred the skeleton tracking solution rather than the optical and electromagnetic solution (in that order. Individuals with stroke chose the optical solution over the other options. Our results show that subjective perceptions and preferences are far from being constant among different populations, thus suggesting that these considerations, together with the performance parameters, should be also taken into account when designing a rehabilitation system.

  12. Development and Application of the Stereo Vision Tracking System with Virtual Reality

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chia-Sui Wang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A virtual reality (VR driver tracking verification system is created, of which the application to stereo image tracking and positioning accuracy is researched in depth. In the research, the feature that the stereo vision system has image depth is utilized to improve the error rate of image tracking and image measurement. In a VR scenario, the function collecting behavioral data of driver was tested. By means of VR, racing operation is simulated and environmental (special weathers such as raining and snowing and artificial (such as sudden crossing road by pedestrians, appearing of vehicles from dead angles, roadblock variables are added as the base for system implementation. In addition, the implementation is performed with human factors engineered according to sudden conditions that may happen easily in driving. From experimental results, it proves that the stereo vision system created by the research has an image depth recognition error rate within 0.011%. The image tracking error rate may be smaller than 2.5%. In the research, the image recognition function of stereo vision is utilized to accomplish the data collection of driver tracking detection. In addition, the environmental conditions of different simulated real scenarios may also be created through VR.

  13. Radiation-hardened fast acquisition/weak signal tracking system and method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winternitz, Luke (Inventor); Boegner, Gregory J. (Inventor); Sirotzky, Steve (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    A global positioning system (GPS) receiver and method of acquiring and tracking GPS signals comprises an antenna adapted to receive GPS signals; an analog radio frequency device operatively connected to the antenna and adapted to convert the GPS signals from an analog format to a digital format; a plurality of GPS signal tracking correlators operatively connected to the analog RF device; a GPS signal acquisition component operatively connected to the analog RF device and the plurality of GPS signal tracking correlators, wherein the GPS signal acquisition component is adapted to calculate a maximum vector on a databit correlation grid; and a microprocessor operatively connected to the plurality of GPS signal tracking correlators and the GPS signal acquisition component, wherein the microprocessor is adapted to compare the maximum vector with a predetermined correlation threshold to allow the GPS signal to be fully acquired and tracked.

  14. Cooperative multisensor system for real-time face detection and tracking in uncontrolled conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchesotti, Luca; Piva, Stefano; Turolla, Andrea; Minetti, Deborah; Regazzoni, Carlo S.

    2005-03-01

    The presented work describes an innovative architecture for multi-sensor distributed video surveillance applications. The aim of the system is to track moving objects in outdoor environments with a cooperative strategy exploiting two video cameras. The system also exhibits the capacity of focusing its attention on the faces of detected pedestrians collecting snapshot frames of face images, by segmenting and tracking them over time at different resolution. The system is designed to employ two video cameras in a cooperative client/server structure: the first camera monitors the entire area of interest and detects the moving objects using change detection techniques. The detected objects are tracked over time and their position is indicated on a map representing the monitored area. The objects" coordinates are sent to the server sensor in order to point its zooming optics towards the moving object. The second camera tracks the objects at high resolution. As well as the client camera, this sensor is calibrated and the position of the object detected on the image plane reference system is translated in its coordinates referred to the same area map. In the map common reference system, data fusion techniques are applied to achieve a more precise and robust estimation of the objects" track and to perform face detection and tracking. The work novelties and strength reside in the cooperative multi-sensor approach, in the high resolution long distance tracking and in the automatic collection of biometric data such as a person face clip for recognition purposes.

  15. Interacting with target tracking algorithms in a gaze-enhanced motion video analysis system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hild, Jutta; Krüger, Wolfgang; Heinze, Norbert; Peinsipp-Byma, Elisabeth; Beyerer, Jürgen

    2016-05-01

    Motion video analysis is a challenging task, particularly if real-time analysis is required. It is therefore an important issue how to provide suitable assistance for the human operator. Given that the use of customized video analysis systems is more and more established, one supporting measure is to provide system functions which perform subtasks of the analysis. Recent progress in the development of automated image exploitation algorithms allow, e.g., real-time moving target tracking. Another supporting measure is to provide a user interface which strives to reduce the perceptual, cognitive and motor load of the human operator for example by incorporating the operator's visual focus of attention. A gaze-enhanced user interface is able to help here. This work extends prior work on automated target recognition, segmentation, and tracking algorithms as well as about the benefits of a gaze-enhanced user interface for interaction with moving targets. We also propose a prototypical system design aiming to combine both the qualities of the human observer's perception and the automated algorithms in order to improve the overall performance of a real-time video analysis system. In this contribution, we address two novel issues analyzing gaze-based interaction with target tracking algorithms. The first issue extends the gaze-based triggering of a target tracking process, e.g., investigating how to best relaunch in the case of track loss. The second issue addresses the initialization of tracking algorithms without motion segmentation where the operator has to provide the system with the object's image region in order to start the tracking algorithm.

  16. TH-AB-202-11: Spatial and Rotational Quality Assurance of 6DOF Patient Tracking Systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Belcher, AH; Liu, X; Grelewicz, Z; Wiersma, R [The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: External tracking systems used for patient positioning and motion monitoring during radiotherapy are now capable of detecting both translations and rotations (6DOF). In this work, we develop a novel technique to evaluate the 6DOF performance of external motion tracking systems. We apply this methodology to an infrared (IR) marker tracking system and two 3D optical surface mapping systems in a common tumor 6DOF workspace. Methods: An in-house designed and built 6DOF parallel kinematics robotic motion phantom was used to follow input trajectories with sub-millimeter and sub-degree accuracy. The 6DOF positions of the robotic system were then tracked and recorded independently by three optical camera systems. A calibration methodology which associates the motion phantom and camera coordinate frames was first employed, followed by a comprehensive 6DOF trajectory evaluation, which spanned a full range of positions and orientations in a 20×20×16 mm and 5×5×5 degree workspace. The intended input motions were compared to the calibrated 6DOF measured points. Results: The technique found the accuracy of the IR marker tracking system to have maximal root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.25 mm translationally and 0.09 degrees rotationally, in any one axis, comparing intended 6DOF positions to positions measured by the IR camera. The 6DOF RSME discrepancy for the first 3D optical surface tracking unit yielded maximal values of 0.60 mm and 0.11 degrees over the same 6DOF volume. An earlier generation 3D optical surface tracker was observed to have worse tracking capabilities than both the IR camera unit and the newer 3D surface tracking system with maximal RMSE of 0.74 mm and 0.28 degrees within the same 6DOF evaluation space. Conclusion: The proposed technique was effective at evaluating the performance of 6DOF patient tracking systems. All systems examined exhibited tracking capabilities at the sub-millimeter and sub-degree level within a 6DOF workspace.

  17. An improved technique for fission track dating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Yunlong; Wu Zhaohui; Xia Yuliang

    1996-01-01

    The necessity of improving the fission track dating (FTD) technique both at home and abroad is illustrated. The ways of making such improvement are also proposed. It is suggested to calibrate the constant b value of the uranium standard glass by using the method of fission products activity. The 3 kinds of uranium standard glass which have been calibrated are NBS SRM962a, UB 1 and UB 2 . An established new method σ·Φ ρ d /b, to measure neutron fluence, avoids the influence of the varying neutron spectrum on measuring neutron fluence. The improved etching technique for fission tracks in zircon adopted a two-step method which includes the molten alkali system etching using NaOH + KOH and the mixed acid system etching using HNO 3 + HF; this technique results in adequate track etching, increased track clarity and less interference. In this way the intensity of tracks is authentically reflected. Dividing angular zone in accordance with the angular distribution of spontaneous fission track on the crystal surface of minerals to count the tracks and using the improved etching technique to remove the non-uniform angular distribution of spontaneous fission tracks in zircon, ensure the accuracy of tracks count. The improved FTD techniques were used to finish Laboratory Standardized Calibration. The tests using international FTD age standards samples have proved that above mentioned techniques are reliable and practical in obtaining the accurate FTD data. (8 tabs.; 3 figs.)

  18. False alerts in air traffic control conflict alerting system: is there a "cry wolf" effect?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wickens, Christopher D; Rice, Stephen; Keller, David; Hutchins, Shaun; Hughes, Jamie; Clayton, Krisstal

    2009-08-01

    The aim is to establish the extent to which the high false-alarm rate of air traffic control midair conflict alerts is responsible for a "cry wolf' effect-where true alerts are not responded to and all alerts are delayed in their response. Some aircraft collisions have been partly attributed to the cry wolf effect, and in other domains (health care and systems monitoring), there is a causal connection between false-alarm rate and cry wolf behavior. We hypothesized that a corresponding relationship exists in air traffic control (ATC). Aircraft track and alert system behavior data surrounding 495 conflict alerts were analyzed to identify true and false alerts, trajectory type, and controller behavior. Forty-five percent of the alerts were false, ranging from 0.28 to 0.58. Although centers with more false alerts contributed to more nonresponses, there was no evidence that these were nonresponses to true alerts or that response times were delayed in those centers. Instead, controllers showed desirable anticipatory behavior by issuing trajectory changes prior to the alert. Those trajectory pairs whose conflicts were more difficult to visualize induced more reliance on, and less compliance with, the alerting system. The high false-alarm rate does not appear to induce cry wolf behavior in the context of en route ATC conflict alerts. There is no need to substantially modify conflict alert algorithms, but the conflict alert system may be modified to address difficult-to-visualize conflicts.

  19. An embedded optical tracking system for motion-corrected magnetic resonance imaging at 7T.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulz, Jessica; Siegert, Thomas; Reimer, Enrico; Labadie, Christian; Maclaren, Julian; Herbst, Michael; Zaitsev, Maxim; Turner, Robert

    2012-12-01

    Prospective motion correction using data from optical tracking systems has been previously shown to reduce motion artifacts in MR imaging of the head. We evaluate a novel optical embedded tracking system. The home-built optical embedded tracking system performs image processing within a 7 T scanner bore, enabling high speed tracking. Corrected and uncorrected in vivo MR volumes are acquired interleaved using a modified 3D FLASH sequence, and their image quality is assessed and compared. The latency between motion and correction of the slice position was measured to be (19 ± 5) ms, and the tracking noise has a standard deviation no greater than 10 μm/0.005° during conventional MR scanning. Prospective motion correction improved the edge strength by 16 % on average, even though the volunteers were asked to remain motionless during the acquisitions. Using a novel method for validating the effectiveness of in vivo prospective motion correction, we have demonstrated that prospective motion correction using motion data from the embedded tracking system considerably improved image quality.

  20. The silicon tracking system of the CBM experiment at FAIR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singla, Minni [GSI Darmstadt (Germany); Collaboration: CBM-Collaboration

    2015-07-01

    The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment, one of the major scientific pillars at FAIR, will explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at the highest net-baryon densities in nucleus-nucleus collisions with interaction rates up to 10 MHz. The Silicon Tracking System is the central detector system of the CBM experiment. Its task is to perform track reconstruction and momentum determination for all charged particles created in beam-target collisions at SIS 100 and SIS 300 beam energies. The technical challenges to meet are a high granularity matching the high track densities, a fast self-triggering read-out coping with high interaction rates, and a low mass to yield high momentum resolution of Δp/p=1%. The detector system acceptance covers polar angles between 2.5 and 25 degrees and will be operated in the 1 T field of a superconducting dipole magnet. We introduce the concept of the STS, being comprised of eight tracking stations employing ∝1300 double-sided silicon microstrip sensors on modular structures that keep the read-out electronics outside the physics aperture. Ultra-thin-multiline micro-cables will be used to bridge the distance between the microstrip sensors and the readout electronics. Infrastructure such as power lines and cooling plates will be placed at the periphery of the stations. The status of the STS development is summarized in the presentation, including an overview on sensors, read-out electronics, prototypes, and system integration.

  1. RPC based 5D tracking concept for high multiplicity tracking trigger

    CERN Document Server

    Aielli, G; Cardarelli, R; Di Ciaccio, A; Distante, L; Liberti, B; Paolozzi, L; Pastori, E; Santonico, R

    2018-01-01

    The recently approved High Luminosity LHC project (HL-LHC) and the future col- liders proposals present a challenging experimental scenario, dominated by high pileup, radiation background and a bunch crossing time possibly shorter than 5 ns. This holds as well for muon systems, where RPCs can play a fundamental role in the design of the future experiments. The RPCs, thanks to their high space-time granularity, allows a sparse representation of the particle hits, in a very large parametric space containing, in addition to 3D spatial localization, also the pulse time and width associated to the avalanche charge. This 5D representation of the hits can be exploited to improve the performance of complex detectors such as muon systems and increase the discovery potential of a future experiment, by allowing a better track pileup rejection and sharper momentum resolution, an effective measurement of the particle velocity, to tag and trigger the non- ultrarelativistic particles, and the detection local multiple track ...

  2. Radio Tracking Fish with Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahlgren, R. P.; Anderson, K. R.; Hanson, L.; Pinsker, E. A.; Jonsson, J.; Chapman, D. C.; Witten, D. M.; O'Connor, K. A.

    2017-12-01

    Tracking radio tagged fish by boat or on foot in riverine systems is difficult and time consuming, particularly in large braided island complexes, shallow wetlands, and rocky reaches. Invasive Asian carp are commonly found in these hard to reach areas, but their near-surface feeding behavior makes radio tracking possible. To identify new methods of fish tracking that could same time and money, this study tested the feasibility of tracking Asian carp with Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) in areas generally inaccessible to traditional tracking equipment. The U.S. Geological Survey worked with NanoElectromagnetics LLC and WWR Development to create and integrate a lightweight custom radio receiver, directional antenna, and accompanying software into a sUAS platform. The receiver includes independent GPS, software defined radio, and compass. The NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) completed payload integration, electromagnetic-interference and airworthiness testing, and provided a DJI Matrice 600 sUAS for this study. Additionally, ARC provided subject matter experts, airworthiness and flight readiness evaluation, and flight test facilities during preparation; and a pilot, range safety officer, and aircraft engineer during field deployment. Results demonstrate that this custom sUAS and sensor combination can detect radio tags at 100m above ground level and at horizontal ranges of 100m and 300m, with operators in either onshore or offshore locations. With this combination of sUAS and radio receiver, fish can be tracked in areas previously inaccessible and during flooding, providing new insights into riverine fish movement and habitat utilization.

  3. Track-mounted remote handling system for the Tokamak Fusion Engineering Test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kelly, V.P.; Berger, J.D.; Daubert, R.L.; Yount, J.A.

    1982-01-01

    Concepts for remote handling machines (IVM) designed to transverse the interior of toroidal vessels with guidance and support from track systems have been developed for the proposed Tokamak Fusion Engineering Test (TFET). TFET has been proposed as an upgrade for the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), currently nearing completion. The track-mounted IVMs were conceived to perform in-vessel remote maintenance for TFET, including removal and replacement of pump limiter blades and protective tiles as well as other maintenance-related tasks such as vessel wall inspection leak testing and interior cleanup. The conceptual IVMs consist of three manipulator arms mounted on a common frame member: a single power manipulator arm with high load carrying capacity and two lower-capacity servomanipulator arms. Descriptions of the IVM concepts, in-vessel track systems, and ex-vessel handling systems are presented

  4. Enterprise Mobile Tracking and Reminder System: MAE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheah Huei Yoong

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Mobile phones have made significant improvements from providing voice communications to advanced features such as camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, SMS, voice recognition, Internet surfing, and touch screen. This paper presents an enterprise mobile tracking and reminder system (MAE that enables the elderly to have a better elder-care experience. The high-level architecture and major software algorithms especially the tracking in Android phones and SMS functions in server are described. The analysis of data captured and performance study of the server are discussed. In order to show the effectiveness of MAE, a pilot test was carried out with a retirement village in Singapore and the feedback from the elderly was evaluated. Generally, most comments received from the elderly were positive.

  5. Tracking system for solar collectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, B.

    1980-10-01

    A tracking system is provided for pivotally mounted spaced-apart solar collectors. A pair of cables is connected to spaced-apart portions of each collector, and a driver displaces the cables, thereby causing the collectors to pivot about their mounting, so as to assume the desired orientation. The collectors may be of the cylindrical type as well as the flat-plate type. Rigid spar-like linkages may be substituted for the cables. Releasable attachments of the cables to the collectors is also described, as is a fine tuning mechanism for precisely aligning each individual collector.

  6. Systems and methods for tracking a device in zero-infrastructure and zero-power conditions, and a tracking device therefor

    KAUST Repository

    Shamim, Atif

    2017-03-23

    Disclosed are embodiments for a tracking device having multiple layers of localization and communication capabilities, and particularly having the ability to operate in zero-infrastructure or zero-power conditions. Also disclosed are methods and systems that enhance location determination in zero-infrastructure and zero-power conditions. In one example, a device, system and/or method includes an infrastructure-based localization module, an infrastructure-less localization module and a passive module that can utilize at least two of the modules to determine a location of the tracking device.

  7. Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Tracking Systems: Costs & Verification Issues (Presentation)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heeter, J.

    2013-10-01

    This document provides information on REC tracking systems: how they are used in the voluntary REC market, a comparison of REC systems fees and information regarding how they treat environmental attributes.

  8. State Authorization Tracking System (StATS) - Data, Charts and Graphs

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The State Authorization Tracking System (StATS) is an information management system designed to document the progress of each state and territory in establishing and...

  9. Tag-n-Track system for situation awareness for MOUTs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Rakesh; Aggarwal, Manoj; Germano, Thomas E.; Zhao, Tao; Fontana, Robert; Bushika, Martin

    2006-05-01

    In order to train war fighters for urban warfare, live exercises are held at various Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) facilities. Commanders need to have situation awareness (SA) of the entire mock battlefield, and also the individual actions of the various war fighters. The commanders must be able to provide instant feedback and play through different actions and 'what-if' scenarios with the war fighters. The war fighters in their turn should be able to review their actions and rehearse different maneuvers. In this paper, we describe the technologies behind a prototype training system, which tracks war fighters around an urban site using a combination of ultra-wideband (UWB) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and smart video based tracking. The system is able to: (1) Tag each individual with an unique ID using an RFID system, (2) Track and locate individuals within the domain of interest, (3) Associate IDs with visual appearance derived from live videos, (4) Visualize movement and actions of individuals within the context of a 3D model, and (5) Store and review activities with (x,y,ID) information associated with each individual. Dynamic acquisition and recording of the precise location of individual troops and units during training greatly aids the analysis of the training sessions allowing improved review, critique and instruction.

  10. 78 FR 37775 - Privacy Act Systems of Records; Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-24

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Office of the Secretary [Docket No. APHIS-2012-0104] Privacy Act Systems of Records; Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health... Health Inspection Service proposes to add a system of records to its inventory of records systems subject...

  11. Visualisation of γH2AX Foci Caused by Heavy Ion Particle Traversal; Distinction between Core Track versus Non-Track Damage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Nakako Izumi; Brunton, Holly; Watanabe, Ritsuko; Shrikhande, Amruta; Hirayama, Ryoichi; Matsufuji, Naruhiro; Fujimori, Akira; Murakami, Takeshi; Okayasu, Ryuichi; Jeggo, Penny; Shibata, Atsushi

    2013-01-01

    Heavy particle irradiation produces complex DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) which can arise from primary ionisation events within the particle trajectory. Additionally, secondary electrons, termed delta-electrons, which have a range of distributions can create low linear energy transfer (LET) damage within but also distant from the track. DNA damage by delta-electrons distant from the track has not previously been carefully characterised. Using imaging with deconvolution, we show that at 8 hours after exposure to Fe (∼200 keV/µm) ions, γH2AX foci forming at DSBs within the particle track are large and encompass multiple smaller and closely localised foci, which we designate as clustered γH2AX foci. These foci are repaired with slow kinetics by DNA non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) in G1 phase with the magnitude of complexity diminishing with time. These clustered foci (containing 10 or more individual foci) represent a signature of DSBs caused by high LET heavy particle radiation. We also identified simple γH2AX foci distant from the track, which resemble those arising after X-ray exposure, which we attribute to low LET delta-electron induced DSBs. They are rapidly repaired by NHEJ. Clustered γH2AX foci induced by heavy particle radiation cause prolonged checkpoint arrest compared to simple γH2AX foci following X-irradiation. However, mitotic entry was observed when ∼10 clustered foci remain. Thus, cells can progress into mitosis with multiple clusters of DSBs following the traversal of a heavy particle. PMID:23967070

  12. Stochastic linear hybrid systems: Modeling, estimation, and application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seah, Chze Eng

    Hybrid systems are dynamical systems which have interacting continuous state and discrete state (or mode). Accurate modeling and state estimation of hybrid systems are important in many applications. We propose a hybrid system model, known as the Stochastic Linear Hybrid System (SLHS), to describe hybrid systems with stochastic linear system dynamics in each mode and stochastic continuous-state-dependent mode transitions. We then develop a hybrid estimation algorithm, called the State-Dependent-Transition Hybrid Estimation (SDTHE) algorithm, to estimate the continuous state and discrete state of the SLHS from noisy measurements. It is shown that the SDTHE algorithm is more accurate or more computationally efficient than existing hybrid estimation algorithms. Next, we develop a performance analysis algorithm to evaluate the performance of the SDTHE algorithm in a given operating scenario. We also investigate sufficient conditions for the stability of the SDTHE algorithm. The proposed SLHS model and SDTHE algorithm are illustrated to be useful in several applications. In Air Traffic Control (ATC), to facilitate implementations of new efficient operational concepts, accurate modeling and estimation of aircraft trajectories are needed. In ATC, an aircraft's trajectory can be divided into a number of flight modes. Furthermore, as the aircraft is required to follow a given flight plan or clearance, its flight mode transitions are dependent of its continuous state. However, the flight mode transitions are also stochastic due to navigation uncertainties or unknown pilot intents. Thus, we develop an aircraft dynamics model in ATC based on the SLHS. The SDTHE algorithm is then used in aircraft tracking applications to estimate the positions/velocities of aircraft and their flight modes accurately. Next, we develop an aircraft conformance monitoring algorithm to detect any deviations of aircraft trajectories in ATC that might compromise safety. In this application, the SLHS

  13. Tracker: Image-Processing and Object-Tracking System Developed

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klimek, Robert B.; Wright, Theodore W.

    1999-01-01

    extracting numerical instrumentation data that are embedded in images. All the results are saved in files for further data reduction and graphing. There are currently three Tracking Systems (workstations) operating near the laboratories and offices of Lewis Microgravity Science Division researchers. These systems are used independently by students, scientists, and university-based principal investigators. The researchers bring their tapes or films to the workstation and perform the tracking analysis. The resultant data files generated by the tracking process can then be analyzed on the spot, although most of the time researchers prefer to transfer them via the network to their offices for further analysis or plotting. In addition, many researchers have installed Tracker on computers in their office for desktop analysis of digital image sequences, which can be digitized by the Tracking System or some other means. Tracker has not only provided a capability to efficiently and automatically analyze large volumes of data, saving many hours of tedious work, but has also provided new capabilities to extract valuable information and phenomena that was heretofore undetected and unexploited.

  14. Stabilization and tracking controller for a class of nonlinear discrete-time systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, B.B.; Kar, I.N.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → We present recursive design of stabilizing controller for nonlinear discrete-time systems. → Problem of stabilizing and tracking control of single link manipulator system is addressed. → We extend the proposed results to output tracking problems. → The proposed methodology is applied satisfactorily to discrete-time chaotic maps. - Abstract: In this paper, stabilization and tracking control problem for parametric strict feedback class of discrete time systems is addressed. Recursive design of control function based on contraction theory framework is proposed instead of traditional Lyapunov based method. Explicit structure of controller is derived for the addressed class of nonlinear discrete-time systems. Conditions for exponential stability of system states are derived in terms of controller parameters. At each stage of recursive procedure a specific structure of Jacobian matrix is ensured so as to satisfy conditions of stability. The closed loop dynamics in this case remains nonlinear in nature. The proposed algorithm establishes global stability results in quite a simple manner as it does not require formulation of error dynamics. Problem of stabilization and output tracking control in case of single link manipulator system with actuator dynamics is analyzed using the proposed strategy. The proposed results are further extended to stabilization of discrete time chaotic systems. Numerical simulations presented in the end show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

  15. Structured light 3D tracking system for measuring motions in PET brain imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Oline Vinter; Jørgensen, Morten Rudkjær; Paulsen, Rasmus Reinhold

    2010-01-01

    Patient motion during scanning deteriorates image quality, especially for high resolution PET scanners. A new proposal for a 3D head tracking system for motion correction in high resolution PET brain imaging is set up and demonstrated. A prototype tracking system based on structured light with a ...

  16. Optimization Controller for Mechatronic Sun Tracking System to Improve Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Engin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available An embedded system that contains hardware and software was developed for two-axis solar tracking system to improve photovoltaic panel utilization. The hardware section of the embedded system consists of a 32-bit ARM core microcontroller, motor driver circuits, a motion control unit, pyranometer, GPS receiver, and an anemometer. The real-time control algorithm enables the solar tracker to operate automatically without external control as a stand-alone system, combining the advantages of the open-loop and the closed-loop control methods. The pyranometer is employed to continuously send radiation data to the controller if the measured radiation is above the lower radiation limit the photovoltaic panel can generate power, guaranteeing the solar tracking process to be highly efficient. The anemometer is utilized in the system to ensure that the solar tracking procedure halts under high wind speed conditions to protect the entire system. Latitude, longitude, altitude, date, and real-time clock data are provided by GPS receiver. The algorithm calculates solar time using astronomical equations with GPS data and converts it to pulse-width modulated motor control signal. The overall objective of this study is to develop a control algorithm that improves performance and reliability of the two-axis solar tracker, focusing on optimization of the controller board, drive hardware, and software.

  17. A comparative study between the imaging system and the optical tracking system in proton therapy at CNAO

    CERN Document Server

    Desplanques, Maxime; Fontana, Giulia; Pella, Andrea; Riboldi, Marco; Fattori, Giovanni; Donno, Andrea; Baroni, Guido; Orecchia, Roberto

    2013-01-01

    The synergy between in-room imaging and optical tracking, in co-operation with highly accurate robotic patient handling represents a concept for patient-set-up which has been implemented at CNAO (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica). In-room imaging is based on a double oblique X-ray projection system; optical tracking consists of the detection of the position of spherical markers placed directly on the patient’s skin or on the immobilization devices. These markers are used as external fiducials during patient positioning and dose delivery. This study reports the results of a comparative analysis between in-room imaging and optical tracking data for patient positioning within the framework of high-precision particle therapy. Differences between the optical tracking system (OTS) and the imaging system (IS) were on average within the expected localization accuracy. On the first 633 fractions for head and neck (H&N) set-up procedures, the corrections applied by the IS, after patient positioning usin...

  18. Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector Tracking System

    CERN Document Server

    Heller, C; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    ATLAS is one of the multipurpose experiments that records the products of the LHC proton-proton and heavy ion collisions. In order to reconstruct trajectories of charged particles produced in these collisions, ATLAS is equipped with a tracking system built using two different technologies, silicon planar sensors (pixel and microstrips) and drift-tube based detectors. Together they constitute the ATLAS Inner Detector, which is embedded in a 2 T axial field. Efficiently reconstructing tracks from charged particles traversing the detector, and precisely measure their momenta is of crucial importance for physics analyses. In order to achieve its scientific goals, an alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector is required to accurately determine its more than 700,000 degrees of freedom. The goal of the alignment is set such that the limited knowledge of the sensor locations should not deteriorate the resolution of track parameters by more than 20% with respect to the intrinsic tracker resolution. The implementation of t...

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2014-12-01

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

  20. Design and control of the precise tracking bed based on complex electromechanical design theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Changzhi; Liu, Zhao; Wu, Liao; Chen, Ken

    2010-05-01

    The precise tracking technology is wide used in astronomical instruments, satellite tracking and aeronautic test bed. However, the precise ultra low speed tracking drive system is one high integrated electromechanical system, which one complexly electromechanical design method is adopted to improve the efficiency, reliability and quality of the system during the design and manufacture circle. The precise Tracking Bed is one ultra-exact, ultra-low speed, high precision and huge inertial instrument, which some kind of mechanism and environment of the ultra low speed is different from general technology. This paper explores the design process based on complex electromechanical optimizing design theory, one non-PID with a CMAC forward feedback control method is used in the servo system of the precise tracking bed and some simulation results are discussed.

  1. The forward detector of the ANKE spectrometer. Tracking system and its use in data analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dymov, S.; Erven, W.; Kacharava, A.

    2004-01-01

    The tracking system of the forward detector of the ANKE magnetic spectrometer at the internal beam of the accelerator COSY (Juelich, Germany) is described. Data analysis procedures, including track search and momentum reconstruction, are presented, and the performance of the tracking system is illustrated with the use of experimental data

  2. Implementation of a vector-based tracking loop receiver in a pseudolite navigation system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    So, Hyoungmin; Lee, Taikjin; Jeon, Sanghoon; Kim, Chongwon; Kee, Changdon; Kim, Taehee; Lee, Sanguk

    2010-01-01

    We propose a vector tracking loop (VTL) algorithm for an asynchronous pseudolite navigation system. It was implemented in a software receiver and experiments in an indoor navigation system were conducted. Test results show that the VTL successfully tracks signals against the near-far problem, one of the major limitations in pseudolite navigation systems, and could improve positioning availability by extending pseudolite navigation coverage.

  3. A Mobile Asset Tracking System Architecture under Mobile-Stationary Co-Existing WSNs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Tae Hyon; Jo, Hyeong Gon; Lee, Jae Shin; Kang, Soon Ju

    2012-01-01

    The tracking of multiple wireless mobile nodes is not easy with current legacy WSN technologies, due to their inherent technical complexity, especially when heavy traffic and frequent movement of mobile nodes are encountered. To enable mobile asset tracking under these legacy WSN systems, it is necessary to design a specific system architecture that can manage numerous mobile nodes attached to mobile assets. In this paper, we present a practical system architecture including a communication protocol, a three-tier network, and server-side middleware for mobile asset tracking in legacy WSNs consisting of mobile-stationary co-existing infrastructures, and we prove the functionality of this architecture through careful evaluation in a test bed. Evaluation was carried out in a microwave anechoic chamber as well as on a straight road near our office. We evaluated communication mobility performance between mobile and stationary nodes, location-awareness performance, system stability under numerous mobile node conditions, and the successful packet transfer rate according to the speed of the mobile nodes. The results indicate that the proposed architecture is sufficiently robust for application in realistic mobile asset tracking services that require a large number of mobile nodes. PMID:23242277

  4. A Mobile Asset Tracking System Architecture under Mobile-Stationary Co-Existing WSNs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soon Ju Kang

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The tracking of multiple wireless mobile nodes is not easy with current legacy WSN technologies, due to their inherent technical complexity, especially when heavy traffic and frequent movement of mobile nodes are encountered. To enable mobile asset tracking under these legacy WSN systems, it is necessary to design a specific system architecture that can manage numerous mobile nodes attached to mobile assets. In this paper, we present a practical system architecture including a communication protocol, a three-tier network, and server-side middleware for mobile asset tracking in legacy WSNs consisting of mobile-stationary co-existing infrastructures, and we prove the functionality of this architecture through careful evaluation in a test bed. Evaluation was carried out in a microwave anechoic chamber as well as on a straight road near our office. We evaluated communication mobility performance between mobile and stationary nodes, location-awareness performance, system stability under numerous mobile node conditions, and the successful packet transfer rate according to the speed of the mobile nodes. The results indicate that the proposed architecture is sufficiently robust for application in realistic mobile asset tracking services that require a large number of mobile nodes.

  5. Communications and Tracking Distributed Systems Evolution Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culpepper, William

    1990-01-01

    The Communications and Tracking (C & T) techniques and equipment to support evolutionary space station concepts are being analyzed. Evolutionary space station configurations and operational concepts are used to derive the results to date. A description of the C & T system based on future capability needs is presented. Included are the hooks and scars currently identified to support future growth.

  6. Dual-Axis Solar Tracking System for Maximum Power Production in PV Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhd.Ikram Mohd. Rashid

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The power developed in a solar energy system depends fundamentally upon the amount of sunlight captured by the photovoltaic modules/arrays. This paper describes a simple electro-mechanical dual axis solar tracking system designed and developed in a study. The control of the two axes was achieved by the pulses generated from the data acquisition (DAQ card fed into four relays. This approach was so chosen to effectively avoid the error that usually arises in sensor-based methods. The programming of the mathematical models of the solar elevation and azimuth angles was done using Borland C++ Builder. The performance and accuracy of the developed system was evaluated with a PV panel at latitude 3.53o N and longitude 103.5o W in Malaysia. The results obtained reflect the effectiveness of the developed tracking system in terms of the energy yield when compared with that generated from a fixed panel. Overall, 20%, 23% and 21% additional energy were produced for the months of March, April and May respectively using the tracker developed in this study.

  7. Secure Location Provenance for Mobile Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-07-01

    A malicious user should not be able to hide a temporary off-track movement from the claimed location provenance. • A malicious user may want to...Seltzer, “Provenance-aware storage systems,” in Proc. of USENIX ATC. USENIX Association, May 2006, pp. 43–56. [48] D. Bhagwat, L. Chiticariu, W.-C. Tan

  8. A Study of a Two Stage Maximum Power Point Tracking Control of a Photovoltaic System under Partially Shaded Insolation Conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Kenji; Takano, Ichiro; Sawada, Yoshio

    A photovoltaic array shows relatively low output power density, and has a greatly drooping Current-Voltage (I-V) characteristic. Therefore, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control is used to maximize the output power of the array. Many papers have been reported in relation to MPPT. However, the Current-Power (I-P) curve sometimes shows multi-local maximum points mode under non-uniform insolation conditions. The operating point of the PV system tends to converge to a local maximum output point which is not the real maximal output point on the I-P curve. Some papers have been also reported, trying to avoid this difficulty. However most of those control systems become rather complicated. Then, the two stage MPPT control method is proposed in this paper to realize a relatively simple control system which can track the real maximum power point even under non-uniform insolation conditions. The feasibility of this control concept is confirmed for steady insolation as well as for rapidly changing insolation by simulation study using software PSIM and LabVIEW. In addition, simulated experiment confirms fundament al operation of the two stage MPPT control.

  9. Visual tracking strategies for intelligent vehicle highway systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Christopher E.; Papanikolopoulos, Nikolaos P.; Brandt, Scott A.; Richards, Charles

    1995-01-01

    The complexity and congestion of current transportation systems often produce traffic situations that jeopardize the safety of the people involved. These situations vary from maintaining a safe distance behind a leading vehicle to safely allowing a pedestrian to cross a busy street. Environmental sensing plays a critical role in virtually all of these situations. Of the sensors available, vision sensors provide information that is richer and more complete than other sensors, making them a logical choice for a multisensor transportation system. In this paper we present robust techniques for intelligent vehicle-highway applications where computer vision plays a crucial role. In particular, we demonstrate that the controlled active vision framework can be utilized to provide a visual sensing modality to a traffic advisory system in order to increase the overall safety margin in a variety of common traffic situations. We have selected two application examples, vehicle tracking and pedestrian tracking, to demonstrate that the framework can provide precisely the type of information required to effectively manage the given situation.

  10. A flexible GPS tracking system for studying bird behaviour at multiple scales

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bouten, W.; Baaij, E.W.; Shamoun-Baranes, J.; Camphuysen, K.C.J.

    2013-01-01

    Tracking devices and bio-loggers provide crucial information on the ecology and behaviour of birds in their natural environment. An optimal tracking system should be lightweight, measure three-dimensional locations, enable flexible measurement schemes, transmit data remotely and measure

  11. Development of requirements tracking and verification system for the software design of distributed control system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Chul Hwan; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kim, Jung Tack; Lee, Jang Soo; Ham, Chang Shik [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-12-31

    In this paper a prototype of Requirement Tracking and Verification System(RTVS) for a Distributed Control System was implemented and tested. The RTVS is a software design and verification tool. The main functions required by the RTVS are managing, tracking and verification of the software requirements listed in the documentation of the DCS. The analysis of DCS software design procedures and interfaces with documents were performed to define the user of the RTVS, and the design requirements for RTVS were developed. 4 refs., 3 figs. (Author)

  12. Development of requirements tracking and verification system for the software design of distributed control system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Chul Hwan; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kim, Jung Tack; Lee, Jang Soo; Ham, Chang Shik [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1998-12-31

    In this paper a prototype of Requirement Tracking and Verification System(RTVS) for a Distributed Control System was implemented and tested. The RTVS is a software design and verification tool. The main functions required by the RTVS are managing, tracking and verification of the software requirements listed in the documentation of the DCS. The analysis of DCS software design procedures and interfaces with documents were performed to define the user of the RTVS, and the design requirements for RTVS were developed. 4 refs., 3 figs. (Author)

  13. Compensating Unknown Time-Varying Delay in Opto-Electronic Platform Tracking Servo System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruihong Xie

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the problem of compensating miss-distance delay in opto-electronic platform tracking servo system. According to the characteristic of LOS (light-of-sight motion, we setup the Markovian process model and compensate this unknown time-varying delay by feed-forward forecasting controller based on robust H∞ control. Finally, simulation based on double closed-loop PI (Proportion Integration control system indicates that the proposed method is effective for compensating unknown time-varying delay. Tracking experiments on the opto-electronic platform indicate that RMS (root-mean-square error is 1.253 mrad when tracking 10° 0.2 Hz signal.

  14. Automated positioning dual-axis solar tracking system with precision elevation and azimuth angle control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sidek, M.H.M.; Azis, N.; Hasan, W.Z.W.; Ab Kadir, M.Z.A.; Shafie, S.; Radzi, M.A.M.

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a study on an automated positioning open-loop dual-axis solar tracking system. The solar tracker was designed and fabricated using standard cylindrical aluminium hollow and Polyuthrene (PE). The control system of the solar tracker was governed by Micro Controller Unit (MCU) with auxiliary devices which includes encoder and Global Positioning System (GPS). The sun path trajectory algorithm utilizing the astronomical equation and GPS information was also embedded in the system. The power generation performance of the dual-axis solar tracking system was compared with the fixed-tilted Photovoltaic (PV) system. It is found that the solar tracker is able to position itself automatically based on sun path trajectory algorithm with an accuracy of ±0.5°. The embedded Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) positioning system improves the tracking of elevation and azimuth angles with minimum energy consumption. It is reveals that the proposed solar tracker is able generate 26.9% and 12.8% higher power than fixed-tilted PV system on a clear and heavy overcast conditions respectively. Overall, the open-loop dual-axis solar tracker can be deployed automatically at any location on the earth with minimal configurations and is suitable for mobile solar tracking system. - Highlights: • Self-positioning dual-axis solar tracking system. • Precise control of elevation and azimuth angle. • Sun path trajectory based on astronomical equation and GPS. • Can achieve up to 26.9% higher power than fixed-tilted PV system under clear weather condition.

  15. A systematic review of patient tracking systems for use in the pediatric emergency department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, Ian; Doan, Quynh; Hung, Geoffrey

    2013-01-01

    Patient safety is of great importance in the pediatric emergency department (PED). The combination of acutely and critically ill patients and high patient volumes creates a need for systems to support physicians in making accurate and timely diagnoses. Electronic patient tracking systems can potentially improve PED safety by reducing overcrowding and enhancing security. To enhance our understanding of current electronic tracking technologies, how they are implemented in a clinical setting, and resulting effect on patient care outcomes including patient safety. Nine databases were searched. Two independent reviewers identified articles that contained reference to patient tracking technologies in pediatrics or emergency medicine. Quantitative studies were assessed independently for methodological strength by two reviewers using an external assessment tool. Of 2292 initial articles, 22 were deemed relevant. Seventeen were qualitative, and the remaining five quantitative articles were assessed as being methodologically weak. Existing patient tracking systems in the ED included: infant monitoring/abduction prevention; barcode identification; radiofrequency identification (RFID)- or infrared (IR)-based patient tracking. Twenty articles supported the use of tracking technology to enhance patient safety or improve efficiency. One article failed to support the use of IR patient sensors due to study design flaws. Support exists for the use of barcode-, IR-, and RFID-based patient tracking systems to improve ED patient safety and efficiency. A lack of methodologically strong studies indicates a need for further evidence-based support for the implementation of patient tracking technology in a clinical or research setting. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Sliding mode control of photoelectric tracking platform based on the inverse system method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yao Zong Chen

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve the photoelectric tracking platform tracking performance, an integral sliding mode control strategy based on inverse system decoupling method is proposed. The electromechanical dynamic model is established based on multi-body system theory and Newton-Euler method. The coupled multi-input multi-output (MIMO nonlinear system is transformed into two pseudo-linear single-input single-output (SISO subsystems based on the inverse system method. An integral sliding mode control scheme is designed for the decoupled pseudo-linear system. In order to eliminate system chattering phenomenon caused by traditional sign function in sliding-mode controller, the sign function is replaced by the Sigmoid function. Simulation results show that the proposed decoupling method and the control strategy can restrain the influences of internal coupling and disturbance effectively, and has better robustness and higher tracking accuracy.

  17. A Kinect-based real-time compressive tracking prototype system for amphibious spherical robots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Shaowu; Shi, Liwei; Guo, Shuxiang

    2015-04-08

    A visual tracking system is essential as a basis for visual servoing, autonomous navigation, path planning, robot-human interaction and other robotic functions. To execute various tasks in diverse and ever-changing environments, a mobile robot requires high levels of robustness, precision, environmental adaptability and real-time performance of the visual tracking system. In keeping with the application characteristics of our amphibious spherical robot, which was proposed for flexible and economical underwater exploration in 2012, an improved RGB-D visual tracking algorithm is proposed and implemented. Given the limited power source and computational capabilities of mobile robots, compressive tracking (CT), which is the effective and efficient algorithm that was proposed in 2012, was selected as the basis of the proposed algorithm to process colour images. A Kalman filter with a second-order motion model was implemented to predict the state of the target and select candidate patches or samples for the CT tracker. In addition, a variance ratio features shift (VR-V) tracker with a Kalman estimation mechanism was used to process depth images. Using a feedback strategy, the depth tracking results were used to assist the CT tracker in updating classifier parameters at an adaptive rate. In this way, most of the deficiencies of CT, including drift and poor robustness to occlusion and high-speed target motion, were partly solved. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, a Microsoft Kinect sensor, which combines colour and infrared depth cameras, was adopted for use in a prototype of the robotic tracking system. The experimental results with various image sequences demonstrated the effectiveness, robustness and real-time performance of the tracking system.

  18. A Kinect-Based Real-Time Compressive Tracking Prototype System for Amphibious Spherical Robots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaowu Pan

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available A visual tracking system is essential as a basis for visual servoing, autonomous navigation, path planning, robot-human interaction and other robotic functions. To execute various tasks in diverse and ever-changing environments, a mobile robot requires high levels of robustness, precision, environmental adaptability and real-time performance of the visual tracking system. In keeping with the application characteristics of our amphibious spherical robot, which was proposed for flexible and economical underwater exploration in 2012, an improved RGB-D visual tracking algorithm is proposed and implemented. Given the limited power source and computational capabilities of mobile robots, compressive tracking (CT, which is the effective and efficient algorithm that was proposed in 2012, was selected as the basis of the proposed algorithm to process colour images. A Kalman filter with a second-order motion model was implemented to predict the state of the target and select candidate patches or samples for the CT tracker. In addition, a variance ratio features shift (VR-V tracker with a Kalman estimation mechanism was used to process depth images. Using a feedback strategy, the depth tracking results were used to assist the CT tracker in updating classifier parameters at an adaptive rate. In this way, most of the deficiencies of CT, including drift and poor robustness to occlusion and high-speed target motion, were partly solved. To evaluate the proposed algorithm, a Microsoft Kinect sensor, which combines colour and infrared depth cameras, was adopted for use in a prototype of the robotic tracking system. The experimental results with various image sequences demonstrated the effectiveness, robustness and real-time performance of the tracking system.

  19. Quantitative safety assessment of air traffic control systems through system control capacity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Jingjing

    Quantitative Safety Assessments (QSA) are essential to safety benefit verification and regulations of developmental changes in safety critical systems like the Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems. Effectiveness of the assessments is particularly desirable today in the safe implementations of revolutionary ATC overhauls like NextGen and SESAR. QSA of ATC systems are however challenged by system complexity and lack of accident data. Extending from the idea "safety is a control problem" in the literature, this research proposes to assess system safety from the control perspective, through quantifying a system's "control capacity". A system's safety performance correlates to this "control capacity" in the control of "safety critical processes". To examine this idea in QSA of the ATC systems, a Control-capacity Based Safety Assessment Framework (CBSAF) is developed which includes two control capacity metrics and a procedural method. The two metrics are Probabilistic System Control-capacity (PSC) and Temporal System Control-capacity (TSC); each addresses an aspect of a system's control capacity. And the procedural method consists three general stages: I) identification of safety critical processes, II) development of system control models and III) evaluation of system control capacity. The CBSAF was tested in two case studies. The first one assesses an en-route collision avoidance scenario and compares three hypothetical configurations. The CBSAF was able to capture the uncoordinated behavior between two means of control, as was observed in a historic midair collision accident. The second case study compares CBSAF with an existing risk based QSA method in assessing the safety benefits of introducing a runway incursion alert system. Similar conclusions are reached between the two methods, while the CBSAF has the advantage of simplicity and provides a new control-based perspective and interpretation to the assessments. The case studies are intended to investigate the

  20. Track Reconstruction and b-Jet Identification for the ATLAS Trigger System

    CERN Document Server

    Coccaro, A; The ATLAS collaboration

    2011-01-01

    A sophisticated trigger system, capable of real-time track reconstruction, is in place in the ATLAS experiment, to reject most of the events containing uninteresting background collisions while preserving as much as possible the interesting physics signals. The strategy adopted for fast reconstruction of charged tracks and in particular its application to the selection of jets from the hadronization of b-quarks is reviewed. Track reconstruction is routinely used for selection based on various physics objects while b-jet triggers are actively selecting events from the beginning of the 2011 LHC data-taking campaign.

  1. Welding technology transfer task/laser based weld joint tracking system for compressor girth welds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Looney, Alan

    1991-01-01

    Sensors to control and monitor welding operations are currently being developed at Marshall Space Flight Center. The laser based weld bead profiler/torch rotation sensor was modified to provide a weld joint tracking system for compressor girth welds. The tracking system features a precision laser based vision sensor, automated two-axis machine motion, and an industrial PC controller. The system benefits are elimination of weld repairs caused by joint tracking errors which reduces manufacturing costs and increases production output, simplification of tooling, and free costly manufacturing floor space.

  2. The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS), Higher Volume Operations (HVO) Concept and Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baxley, B.; Williams, D.; Consiglio, M.; Adams, C.; Abbott, T.

    2005-01-01

    The ability to conduct concurrent, multiple aircraft operations in poor weather at virtually any airport offers an important opportunity for a significant increase in the rate of flight operations, a major improvement in passenger convenience, and the potential to foster growth of operations at small airports. The Small Aircraft Transportation System, (SATS) Higher Volume Operations (HVO) concept is designed to increase capacity at the 3400 non-radar, non-towered airports in the United States where operations are currently restricted to one-in/one-out procedural separation during low visibility or ceilings. The concept s key feature is that pilots maintain their own separation from other aircraft using air-to-air datalink and on-board software within the Self-Controlled Area (SCA), an area of flight operations established during poor visibility and low ceilings around an airport without Air Traffic Control (ATC) services. While pilots self-separate within the SCA, an Airport Management Module (AMM) located at the airport assigns arriving pilots their sequence based on aircraft performance, position, winds, missed approach requirements, and ATC intent. The HVO design uses distributed decision-making, safe procedures, attempts to minimize pilot and controller workload, and integrates with today's ATC environment. The HVO procedures have pilots make their own flight path decisions when flying in Instrument Metrological Conditions (IMC) while meeting these requirements. This paper summarizes the HVO concept and procedures, presents a summary of the research conducted and results, and outlines areas where future HVO research is required. More information about SATS HVO can be found at http://ntrs.nasa.gov.

  3. Position and Orientation Tracking in a Ubiquitous Monitoring System for Parkinson Disease Patients With Freezing of Gait Symptom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Català, Andreu; Rodríguez Martín, Daniel; van der Aa, Nico; Chen, Wei; Rauterberg, Matthias

    2013-01-01

    Background Freezing of gait (FoG) is one of the most disturbing and least understood symptoms in Parkinson disease (PD). Although the majority of existing assistive systems assume accurate detections of FoG episodes, the detection itself is still an open problem. The specificity of FoG is its dependency on the context of a patient, such as the current location or activity. Knowing the patient's context might improve FoG detection. One of the main technical challenges that needs to be solved in order to start using contextual information for FoG detection is accurate estimation of the patient's position and orientation toward key elements of his or her indoor environment. Objective The objectives of this paper are to (1) present the concept of the monitoring system, based on wearable and ambient sensors, which is designed to detect FoG using the spatial context of the user, (2) establish a set of requirements for the application of position and orientation tracking in FoG detection, (3) evaluate the accuracy of the position estimation for the tracking system, and (4) evaluate two different methods for human orientation estimation. Methods We developed a prototype system to localize humans and track their orientation, as an important prerequisite for a context-based FoG monitoring system. To setup the system for experiments with real PD patients, the accuracy of the position and orientation tracking was assessed under laboratory conditions in 12 participants. To collect the data, the participants were asked to wear a smartphone, with and without known orientation around the waist, while walking over a predefined path in the marked area captured by two Kinect cameras with non-overlapping fields of view. Results We used the root mean square error (RMSE) as the main performance measure. The vision based position tracking algorithm achieved RMSE = 0.16 m in position estimation for upright standing people. The experimental results for the proposed human orientation

  4. Leader-Follower Tracking System for Agricultural Vehicles: Fusion of Laser and Odometry Positioning Using Extended Kalman Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang Lin Huan

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research was to develop a safe human-driven and autonomous leader-follower tracking system for an autonomous tractor. To enable the tracking system, a laser range finder (LRF-based landmark detection system was designed to observe the relative position between a leader and a follower used in agricultural operations. The virtual follower-based formation-tracking algorithm was developed to minimize tracking errors and ensure safety. An extended Kalman filter (EKF was implemented for fusing LRF and odometry position to ensure stability of tracking in noisy farmland conditions. Simulations were conducted for tracking the leader in small and large sinusoidal curved paths. Simulated results verified high accuracy of formation tracking, stable velocity, and regulated steering angle of the follower. The tracking method confirmed the follower could follow the leader with a required formation safely and steadily in noisy conditions. The EKF helped to improve observation accuracy, velocity, and steering angle stability of the follower. As a result of the improved accuracy of observation and motion action, the tracking performance for lateral, longitudinal, and heading were also improved after the EKF was implemented in the tracking system.

  5. Three-dimensional tracking of cardiac catheters using an inverse geometry x-ray fluoroscopy system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Speidel, Michael A.; Tomkowiak, Michael T.; Raval, Amish N.; Van Lysel, Michael S.

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Scanning beam digital x-ray (SBDX) is an inverse geometry fluoroscopic system with high dose efficiency and the ability to perform continuous real-time tomosynthesis at multiple planes. This study describes a tomosynthesis-based method for 3D tracking of high-contrast objects and present the first experimental investigation of cardiac catheter tracking using a prototype SBDX system. Methods: The 3D tracking algorithm utilizes the stack of regularly spaced tomosynthetic planes that are generated by SBDX after each frame period (15 frames/s). Gradient-filtered versions of the image planes are generated, the filtered images are segmented into object regions, and then a 3D coordinate is calculated for each object region. Two phantom studies of tracking performance were conducted. In the first study, an ablation catheter in a chest phantom was imaged as it was pulled along a 3D trajectory defined by a catheter sheath (10, 25, and 50 mm/s pullback speeds). SBDX tip tracking coordinates were compared to the 3D trajectory of the sheath as determined from a CT scan of the phantom after the registration of the SBDX and CT coordinate systems. In the second study, frame-to-frame tracking precision was measured for six different catheter configurations as a function of image noise level (662-7625 photons/mm 2 mean detected x-ray fluence at isocenter). Results: During catheter pullbacks, the 3D distance between the tracked catheter tip and the sheath centerline was 1.0±0.8 mm (mean ±one standard deviation). The electrode to centerline distances were comparable to the diameter of the catheter tip (2.3 mm), the confining sheath (4 mm outside diameter), and the estimated SBDX-to-CT registration error (±0.7 mm). The tip position was localized for all 332 image frames analyzed and 83% of tracked positions were inside the 3D sheath volume derived from CT. The pullback speeds derived from the catheter trajectories were within 5% of the programed pullback speeds. The

  6. Track reconstruction at the ILC: the ILD tracking software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaede, Frank; Aplin, Steven; Rosemann, Christoph; Voutsinas, Georgios; Glattauer, Robin

    2014-01-01

    One of the key requirements for Higgs physics at the International Linear Collider ILC is excellent track reconstruction with very good momentum and impact parameter resolution. ILD is one of the two detector concepts at the ILC. Its central tracking system comprises of an outer Si-tracker, a highly granular TPC, an intermediate silicon tracker and a pixel vertex detector, and it is complemented by silicon tracking disks in the forward direction. Large hit densities from beam induced coherent electron-positron pairs at the ILC pose an additional challenge to the pattern recognition algorithms. We present the recently developed new ILD tracking software, the pattern recognition algorithms that are using clustering techniques, Cellular Automatons and Kalman filter based track extrapolation. The performance of the ILD tracking system is evaluated using a detailed simulation including dead material, gaps and imperfections.

  7. Video-based lane estimation and tracking for driver assistance: Survey, system, and evaluation

    OpenAIRE

    McCall, J C; Trivedi, Mohan Manubhai

    2006-01-01

    Driver-assistance systems that monitor driver intent, warn drivers of lane departures, or assist in vehicle guidance are all being actively considered. It is therefore important to take a critical look at key aspects of these systems, one of which is lane-position tracking. It is for these driver-assistance objectives that motivate the development of the novel "video-based lane estimation and tracking" (VioLET) system. The system is designed using steerable filters for robust and accurate lan...

  8. EnTracked: Energy-Efficient Robust Position Tracking for Mobile Devices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun; Jensen, Jakob Langdal; Godsk, Torben

    2009-01-01

    conditions and mobility, schedules position updates to both minimize energy consumption and optimize robustness. The realized system tracks pedestrian targets equipped with GPS-enabled devices. The system is configurable to realize different trade-offs between energy consumption and robustness. We provide...... of the mobile device. Furthermore, tracking has to robustly deliver position updates when faced with changing conditions such as delays due to positioning and communication, and changing positioning accuracy. This work proposes EnTracked --- a system that, based on the estimation and prediction of system...... extensive experimental results by profiling how devices consume power, by emulation on collected data and by validation in several real-world deployments. Results from this profiling show how a device consumes power while tracking its position. Results from the emulation indicate that the system can...

  9. GPS-based system for satellite tracking and geodesy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertiger, Willy I.; Thornton, Catherine L.

    1989-01-01

    High-performance receivers and data processing systems developed for GPS are reviewed. The GPS Inferred Positioning System (GIPSY) and the Orbiter Analysis and Simulation Software (OASIS) are described. The OASIS software is used to assess GPS system performance using GIPSY for data processing. Consideration is given to parameter estimation for multiday arcs, orbit repeatability, orbit prediction, daily baseline repeatability, agreement with VLBI, and ambiguity resolution. Also, the dual-frequency Rogue receiver, which can track up to eight GPS satellites simultaneously, is discussed.

  10. A gamma-ray tracking detector for molecular imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hall, C.J.; Lewis, R.A.; Helsby, W.I.; Nolan, P.; Boston, A.

    2003-01-01

    A design for a gamma-ray detector for molecular imaging is presented. The system is based on solid-state strip detector technology. The advantages of position sensitivity coupled with fine spectral resolution are exploited to produce a tracking detector for use with a variety of isotopes in nuclear medicine. Current design concepts employ both silicon and germanium layers to provide an energy range from 60 keV to >1 MeV. This allows a reference X-ray image to be collected simultaneously with the gamma-ray image providing accurate anatomical registration. The tracking ability of the gamma-ray detector allows ambiguities in the data set to be resolved which would otherwise cause events to be rejected in standard non-tracking system. Efficiency improvements that high solid angle coverage and the use of a higher proportion of events make time resolved imaging and multi-isotope work possible. A modular detector system, designed for viewing small animals has been accepted for funding

  11. New Low Cost Structure for Dual Axis Mount Solar Tracking System Using Adaptive Solar Sensor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Argeseanu, Alin; Ritchie, Ewen; Leban, Krisztina Monika

    2010-01-01

    A solar tracking system is designed to optimize the operation of solar energy receivers. The objective of this paper is proposing a new tracking system structure with two axis. The success strategy of this new project focuses on the economical analysis of solar energy. Therefore it is important...... to determine the most cost effective design, to consider the costs of production and maintenance, and operating. The proposed tracking system uses a new solar sensor position with an adaptive feature....

  12. A multi-modality tracking, navigation and calibration for a flexible robotic drill system for total hip arthroplasty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmad Fuad, Ahmad Nazmi Bin; Deep, Kamal; Yao, Wei

    2018-02-01

    This paper presents a novel multi-modality tracking and navigation system that provides a unique capability to guild a flexible drill tip inside the bone with accurate curved tunnelling. As the flexible drill tip cannot be tracked optically inside the bone, this research focuses on developing a hybrid tracking and navigation system for tracking a flexible drill tip by using both optical and kinematic tracking. The tracking information is used to guide the THA (total hip arthroplasty) procedure, providing a real-time virtual model of the flexible drill. The flexible and steerable drill tip system is then tested on total hip arthroplasty followed by evaluation of the positioning and orientation of femoral stem placement by femoral milling. Based on this study, we conclude that the tracking and navigation system is able to guide the flexible drill to mill inside femoral canal. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  13. Failure mode and effect analysis-based quality assurance for dynamic MLC tracking systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sawant, Amit; Dieterich, Sonja; Svatos, Michelle; Keall, Paul [Stanford University, Stanford, California 94394 (United States); Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, California 94304 (United States); Stanford University, Stanford, California 94394 (United States)

    2010-12-15

    Purpose: To develop and implement a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA)-based commissioning and quality assurance framework for dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) tumor tracking systems. Methods: A systematic failure mode and effect analysis was performed for a prototype real-time tumor tracking system that uses implanted electromagnetic transponders for tumor position monitoring and a DMLC for real-time beam adaptation. A detailed process tree of DMLC tracking delivery was created and potential tracking-specific failure modes were identified. For each failure mode, a risk probability number (RPN) was calculated from the product of the probability of occurrence, the severity of effect, and the detectibility of the failure. Based on the insights obtained from the FMEA, commissioning and QA procedures were developed to check (i) the accuracy of coordinate system transformation, (ii) system latency, (iii) spatial and dosimetric delivery accuracy, (iv) delivery efficiency, and (v) accuracy and consistency of system response to error conditions. The frequency of testing for each failure mode was determined from the RPN value. Results: Failures modes with RPN{>=}125 were recommended to be tested monthly. Failure modes with RPN<125 were assigned to be tested during comprehensive evaluations, e.g., during commissioning, annual quality assurance, and after major software/hardware upgrades. System latency was determined to be {approx}193 ms. The system showed consistent and accurate response to erroneous conditions. Tracking accuracy was within 3%-3 mm gamma (100% pass rate) for sinusoidal as well as a wide variety of patient-derived respiratory motions. The total time taken for monthly QA was {approx}35 min, while that taken for comprehensive testing was {approx}3.5 h. Conclusions: FMEA proved to be a powerful and flexible tool to develop and implement a quality management (QM) framework for DMLC tracking. The authors conclude that the use of FMEA-based QM ensures

  14. Failure mode and effect analysis-based quality assurance for dynamic MLC tracking systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawant, Amit; Dieterich, Sonja; Svatos, Michelle; Keall, Paul

    2010-12-01

    To develop and implement a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA)-based commissioning and quality assurance framework for dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) tumor tracking systems. A systematic failure mode and effect analysis was performed for a prototype real-time tumor tracking system that uses implanted electromagnetic transponders for tumor position monitoring and a DMLC for real-time beam adaptation. A detailed process tree of DMLC tracking delivery was created and potential tracking-specific failure modes were identified. For each failure mode, a risk probability number (RPN) was calculated from the product of the probability of occurrence, the severity of effect, and the detectibility of the failure. Based on the insights obtained from the FMEA, commissioning and QA procedures were developed to check (i) the accuracy of coordinate system transformation, (ii) system latency, (iii) spatial and dosimetric delivery accuracy, (iv) delivery efficiency, and (v) accuracy and consistency of system response to error conditions. The frequency of testing for each failure mode was determined from the RPN value. Failures modes with RPN > or = 125 were recommended to be tested monthly. Failure modes with RPN < 125 were assigned to be tested during comprehensive evaluations, e.g., during commissioning, annual quality assurance, and after major software/hardware upgrades. System latency was determined to be approximately 193 ms. The system showed consistent and accurate response to erroneous conditions. Tracking accuracy was within 3%-3 mm gamma (100% pass rate) for sinusoidal as well as a wide variety of patient-derived respiratory motions. The total time taken for monthly QA was approximately 35 min, while that taken for comprehensive testing was approximately 3.5 h. FMEA proved to be a powerful and flexible tool to develop and implement a quality management (QM) framework for DMLC tracking. The authors conclude that the use of FMEA-based QM ensures efficient allocation

  15. Failure mode and effect analysis-based quality assurance for dynamic MLC tracking systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sawant, Amit; Dieterich, Sonja; Svatos, Michelle; Keall, Paul

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To develop and implement a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA)-based commissioning and quality assurance framework for dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) tumor tracking systems. Methods: A systematic failure mode and effect analysis was performed for a prototype real-time tumor tracking system that uses implanted electromagnetic transponders for tumor position monitoring and a DMLC for real-time beam adaptation. A detailed process tree of DMLC tracking delivery was created and potential tracking-specific failure modes were identified. For each failure mode, a risk probability number (RPN) was calculated from the product of the probability of occurrence, the severity of effect, and the detectibility of the failure. Based on the insights obtained from the FMEA, commissioning and QA procedures were developed to check (i) the accuracy of coordinate system transformation, (ii) system latency, (iii) spatial and dosimetric delivery accuracy, (iv) delivery efficiency, and (v) accuracy and consistency of system response to error conditions. The frequency of testing for each failure mode was determined from the RPN value. Results: Failures modes with RPN≥125 were recommended to be tested monthly. Failure modes with RPN<125 were assigned to be tested during comprehensive evaluations, e.g., during commissioning, annual quality assurance, and after major software/hardware upgrades. System latency was determined to be ∼193 ms. The system showed consistent and accurate response to erroneous conditions. Tracking accuracy was within 3%-3 mm gamma (100% pass rate) for sinusoidal as well as a wide variety of patient-derived respiratory motions. The total time taken for monthly QA was ∼35 min, while that taken for comprehensive testing was ∼3.5 h. Conclusions: FMEA proved to be a powerful and flexible tool to develop and implement a quality management (QM) framework for DMLC tracking. The authors conclude that the use of FMEA-based QM ensures efficient allocation

  16. The dual-axis solar tracking system efficiency improving via the drive power consumption optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rambhowan, Y.; Oree, V.

    2014-01-01

    A major drawback with active dual-axis solar tracking systems is that the power used by the driving mechanism is often drawn from the output power of the solar panel itself. The net energy gain of the photo-voltaic panel is therefore less than its maximum value. This work presents a novel design which uses a three-fold strategy to minimize the power consumed by the tracking mechanism whilst maintaining the power out-put of the photovoltaic panel near its optimal value. The results reveal that the improved tracking system has a significant energy gain of about 43.6% as compared to a fixed photovoltaic panel. Experiments further show that an increase of 1.6% in energy output is achieved over conventional precise dual-axis tracking system. (author)

  17. Tracking Control for Switched Cascade Nonlinear Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxiao Dong

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The issue of H∞ output tracking for switched cascade nonlinear systems is discussed in this paper, where not all the linear parts of subsystems are stabilizable. The conditions of the solvability for the issue are given by virtue of the structural characteristics of the systems and the average dwell time method, in which the total activation time for stabilizable subsystems is longer than that for the unstabilizable subsystems. At last, a simulation example is used to demonstrate the validity and advantages of the proposed approach.

  18. Troublesome transportation concerns can be mitigated - RADMAT tracking system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harmon, L.H.

    1987-01-01

    There are three troublesome institutional concerns which face every large-quantity radioactive materials shipment - routing, pre-notification, and emergency response. People want to know: where's the shipment going and how's it getting there? States want to know what's being shipped and when? What kind of response to accidents is needed for this shipment and who'll respond? DOE is developing a transportation tracking system, based on a rapidly developing technology to determine geographical location using geo-positioning satellite systems. This technology will be used to track unclassified radioactive materials shipments in real-time. It puts those charged with monitoring transportation status on top of every shipment. Besides its practical benefits in the areas of logistics planning and execution, it demonstrates emergency preparedness has indeed been considered and close monitoring is possible. This paper will describe the system's technical detail, DOE plans and policy for its implementation, and the state of satellite positioning technology

  19. A tracking system for laboratory mice to support medical researchers in behavioral analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macrì, S; Mainetti, L; Patrono, L; Pieretti, S; Secco, A; Sergi, I

    2015-08-01

    The behavioral analysis of laboratory mice plays a key role in several medical and scientific research areas, such as biology, toxicology, pharmacology, and so on. Important information on mice behavior and their reaction to a particular stimulus is deduced from a careful analysis of their movements. Moreover, behavioral analysis of genetically modified mice allows obtaining important information about particular genes, phenotypes or drug effects. The techniques commonly adopted to support such analysis have many limitations, which make the related systems particularly ineffective. Currently, the engineering community is working to explore innovative identification and sensing technologies to develop new tracking systems able to guarantee benefits to animals' behavior analysis. This work presents a tracking solution based on passive Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID) in Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band. Much emphasis is given to the software component of the system, based on a Web-oriented solution, able to process the raw tracking data coming from a hardware system, and offer 2D and 3D tracking information as well as reports and dashboards about mice behavior. The system has been widely tested using laboratory mice and compared with an automated video-tracking software (i.e., EthoVision). The obtained results have demonstrated the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed solution, which is able to correctly detect the events occurring in the animals' cage, and to offer a complete and user-friendly tool to support researchers in behavioral analysis of laboratory mice.

  20. The DATCON system of the Belle II experiment. Tracking and data reduction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wessel, Christian; Dingfelder, Jochen; Marinas, Carlos; Deschamps, Bruno [Universitaet Bonn (Germany). Physikalisches Institut

    2016-07-01

    The SuperKEKB e{sup +}e{sup -} accelerator at KEK in Japan will have a luminosity which is a factor of 40 higher than the luminosity of its predecessor KEKB. The Belle II detector at SuperKEKB will contain a two-layer pixel detector at radii of 1.421 and 2.179 cm from the interaction point, based on the DEPFET (DEpleted P-channel Field Effect Transistor) technology. It is surrounded by four layers of strip detectors. Due to the high collision rate, the data rate of the pixel detector needs to by drastically reduced by an online data reduction system. The DATCON (Data Acquisition Tracking and Concentrator Online Node) system performs track reconstruction in the SVD (Strip Vertex Detector) and extrapolates to the PXD (PiXel Detector) to calculate ROI and to keep only hits in the ROI. The track reconstruction algorithm is based on a Hough transform, which reduces track finding to finding intersection points in the Hough parameter space. In this talk the employed algorithm for fast online track reconstruction on FPGA, ROI finding and the performance of the data reduction are presented.

  1. Maximum power point tracking: a cost saving necessity in solar energy systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Enslin, J H.R. [Stellenbosch Univ. (South Africa). Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

    1992-12-01

    A well engineered renewable remote energy system, utilizing the principal of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) can improve cost effectiveness, has a higher reliability and can improve the quality of life in remote areas. A high-efficient power electronic converter, for converting the output voltage of a solar panel, or wind generator, to the required DC battery bus voltage has been realized. The converter is controlled to track the maximum power point of the input source under varying input and output parameters. Maximum power point tracking for relative small systems is achieved by maximization of the output current in a battery charging regulator, using an optimized hill-climbing, inexpensive microprocessor based algorithm. Through practical field measurements it is shown that a minimum input source saving of between 15 and 25% on 3-5 kWh/day systems can easily be achieved. A total cost saving of at least 10-15% on the capital cost of these systems are achievable for relative small rating Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems. The advantages at large temperature variations and high power rated systems are much higher. Other advantages include optimal sizing and system monitor and control. (author).

  2. The Best Achievable ℋ2 Tracking Performances for SIMO Feedback Control Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shinji Hara

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the inherent ℋ2 tracking performance limitation of single-input and multiple-output (SIMO linear time-invariant (LTI feedback control systems. The performance is measured by the tracking error between a step reference input and the plant output with additional penalty on control input. We employ the plant augmentation strategy, which enables us to derive analytical closed-form expressions of the best achievable performance not only for discrete-time system, but also for continuous-time system by exploiting the delta domain version of the expressions.

  3. Silicon-based tracking system: Mechanical engineering and design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, W.O.; Gamble, M.T.; Thompson, T.C.; Woloshun, K.A.; Reid, R.S.; Hanlon, J.A.; Michaud, F.D.; Dransfield, G.D.; Ziock, H.J.; Palounek, A.P.

    1992-01-01

    The Silicon Tracking System (STS) is composed of silicon strip detectors arranged by both in a cylindrical array and an array of flat panels about the interaction region. The cylindrical array is denoted the central region and the flat panel arrays, which are normal to the beam axis, we denoted the forward regions. The overall length of the silicon array is 5.16 m and the maximum diameter is 0.93 m. The Silicon Tracking System Conceptual Design Report, should be consulted for the body of analysis performed to quantify the present design concept. For the STS to achieve its physics goals, the mechanical structures and services must support 17 m 2 of silicon detectors and stabilize their positions to within 5 μm, uniformly cool the detector the system to O degrees C and at the same time potentially remove up to 13 kW of waste heat generated by the detector electronics, provide up to 3400 A of current to supply the 6.5 million electronics channels, and supply of control and data transmission lines for those channels. These objectives must be achieved in a high ionizing radiation environment, using virtually no structural mass and only low-Z materials. The system must be maintainable during its 10 year operating life

  4. An ice-motion tracking system at the Alaska SAR facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwok, Ronald; Curlander, John C.; Pang, Shirley S.; Mcconnell, Ross

    1990-01-01

    An operational system for extracting ice-motion information from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is being developed as part of the Alaska SAR Facility. This geophysical processing system (GPS) will derive ice-motion information by automated analysis of image sequences acquired by radars on the European ERS-1, Japanese ERS-1, and Canadian RADARSAT remote sensing satellites. The algorithm consists of a novel combination of feature-based and area-based techniques for the tracking of ice floes that undergo translation and rotation between imaging passes. The system performs automatic selection of the image pairs for input to the matching routines using an ice-motion estimator. It is designed to have a daily throughput of ten image pairs. A description is given of the GPS system, including an overview of the ice-motion-tracking algorithm, the system architecture, and the ice-motion products that will be available for distribution to geophysical data users.

  5. Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yajie; Shi, Yunbo; Yu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Yongjie

    2016-01-01

    Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV) systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works. PMID:27327657

  6. Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yajie Wang

    Full Text Available Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works.

  7. Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yajie; Shi, Yunbo; Yu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Yongjie

    2016-01-01

    Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV) systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works.

  8. EXPERIMENTAL TARGET INJECTION AND TRACKING SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION AND SINGLE SHOT TESTING

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    PETZOLDT, R.W.; ALEXANDER, N.B.; DRAKE, T.J.; GOODIN, D.T; JONESTRACK, K; VERMILLION, B.A

    2003-01-01

    Targets must be injected into an IFE power plant at a rate of approximately 5 to 10 Hz. Targets must be tracked very accurately to allow driver beams to be aligned with defined points on the targets with accuracy ± 150 (micro)m for indirect drive and ± 20 (micro)m for direct drive. An experimental target injection and tracking system has been constructed at General Atomics. The injector system will be used as a tool for testing the survivability of various target designs and provide feedback to the target designers. Helium gas propels the targets down an 8 m gun barrel up to 400 m/s. Direct-drive targets are protected in the barrel by sabots that are spring loaded to separate into two halves after acceleration. A sabot deflector directs the sabot halves away from the target injection path. Targets will be optically tracked with laser beams and line-scan cameras. Target position and arrival time will be predicted in real time based on early target position measurements. The system installation will be described. System testing to overcome excessive projectile wear and debris in the gun barrel is presented

  9. Fuzzy Tracking and Control Algorithm for an SSVEP-Based BCI System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yeou-Jiunn Chen

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS consistently experience decreasing quality of life because of this distinctive disease. Thus, a practical brain-computer interface (BCI application can effectively help subjects with ALS to participate in communication or entertainment. In this study, a fuzzy tracking and control algorithm is proposed for developing a BCI remote control system. To represent the characteristics of the measured electroencephalography (EEG signals after visual stimulation, a fast Fourier transform is applied to extract the EEG features. A self-developed fuzzy tracking algorithm quickly traces the changes of EEG signals. The accuracy and stability of a BCI system can be greatly improved by using a fuzzy control algorithm. Fifteen subjects were asked to attend a performance test of this BCI system. The canonical correlation analysis (CCA was adopted to compare the proposed approach, and the average recognition rates are 96.97% and 94.49% for proposed approach and CCA, respectively. The experimental results showed that the proposed approach is preferable to CCA. Overall, the proposed fuzzy tracking and control algorithm applied in the BCI system can profoundly help subjects with ALS to control air swimmer drone vehicles for entertainment purposes.

  10. SKYWARD: the next generation airborne infrared search and track

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortunato, L.; Colombi, G.; Ondini, A.; Quaranta, C.; Giunti, C.; Sozzi, B.; Balzarotti, G.

    2016-05-01

    Infrared Search and Track systems are an essential element of the modern and future combat aircrafts. Passive automatic search, detection and tracking functions, are key points for silent operations or jammed tactical scenarios. SKYWARD represents the latest evolution of IRST technology in which high quality electro-optical components, advanced algorithms, efficient hardware and software solutions are harmonically integrated to provide high-end affordable performances. Additionally, the reduction of critical opto-mechanical elements optimises weight and volume and increases the overall reliability. Multiple operative modes dedicated to different situations are available; many options can be selected among multiple or single target tracking, for surveillance or engagement, and imaging, for landing or navigation aid, assuring the maximum system flexibility. The high quality 2D-IR sensor is exploited by multiple parallel processing chains, based on linear and non-linear techniques, to extract the possible targets from background, in different conditions, with false alarm rate control. A widely tested track processor manages a large amount of candidate targets simultaneously and allows discriminating real targets from noise whilst operating with low target to background contrasts. The capability of providing reliable passive range estimation is an additional qualifying element of the system. Particular care has been dedicated to the detector non-uniformities, a possible limiting factor for distant targets detection, as well as to the design of the electro-optics for a harsh airborne environment. The system can be configured for LWIR or MWIR waveband according to the customer operational requirements. An embedded data recorder saves all the necessary images and data for mission debriefing, particularly useful during inflight system integration and tuning.

  11. 78 FR 54445 - Privacy Act Systems of Records; Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-04

    ... INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Christian B. Dellis, Export Services, Plant Health Programs, Plant Protection and... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Office of the Secretary [Docket No. APHIS-2012-0104] Privacy Act Systems of Records; Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health...

  12. The Integration of GPS Navigator Device with Vehicles Tracking System for Rental Cars Firms

    OpenAIRE

    Omarah O. Alharaki; Fahad S. Alaieri; Akram M. Zeki

    2010-01-01

    The aim of this research is to integrate the GPS tracking system (tracking device and web-based application) with GPS navigator for rental cars, allowing the company to use various applications to monitor and manage the cars. This is enable the firms and customers to communicate with each other via the GPS navigator. The system should be developed by applying new features in GPS tracking application devices in vehicles. This paper also proposes new features that can be applied to the GPS Navi...

  13. Adaptive Visual Face Tracking for an Autonomous Robot

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Hoof, Herke; van der Zant, Tijn; Wiering, Marco

    2011-01-01

    Perception is an essential ability for autonomous robots in non-standardized conditions. However, the appearance of objects can change between different conditions. A system visually tracking a target based on its appearance could lose its target in those cases. A tracker learning the appearance of

  14. Integrated tracking of components by engineering and logistics utilizing logistics asset tracking system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renfroe, Michael B.; Mcdonald, Edward J.; Bradshaw, Kimberly

    1988-01-01

    The Logistics Asset Tracking System (LATS) devised by NASA contains data on Space Shuttle LRUs that are daily updated to reflect such LRU status changes as repair due to failure or modification due to changing engineering requirements. The implementation of LATS has substantially increased personnel responsiveness, preventing costly delays in Space Shuttle processing and obviating hardware cannibalization. An evaluation is presented of LATS achievements in the direction of an integrated logistical support posture.

  15. Human tracking over camera networks: a review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, Li; Wan, Wanggen; Hwang, Jenq-Neng; Muhammad, Rizwan; Yang, Mingyang; Han, Kang

    2017-12-01

    In recent years, automated human tracking over camera networks is getting essential for video surveillance. The tasks of tracking human over camera networks are not only inherently challenging due to changing human appearance, but also have enormous potentials for a wide range of practical applications, ranging from security surveillance to retail and health care. This review paper surveys the most widely used techniques and recent advances for human tracking over camera networks. Two important functional modules for the human tracking over camera networks are addressed, including human tracking within a camera and human tracking across non-overlapping cameras. The core techniques of human tracking within a camera are discussed based on two aspects, i.e., generative trackers and discriminative trackers. The core techniques of human tracking across non-overlapping cameras are then discussed based on the aspects of human re-identification, camera-link model-based tracking and graph model-based tracking. Our survey aims to address existing problems, challenges, and future research directions based on the analyses of the current progress made toward human tracking techniques over camera networks.

  16. Timber tracking

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Düdder, Boris; Ross, Omry

    2017-01-01

    Managing and verifying forest products in a value chain is often reliant on easily manipulated document or digital tracking methods - Chain of Custody Systems. We aim to create a new means of tracking timber by developing a tamper proof digital system based on Blockchain technology. Blockchain...

  17. MRI mediated, non-invasive tracking of intratumoral distribution of nanocarriers in rat glioma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Karathanasis, Efstathios; Park, Jaekeun; Agarwal, Abhiruchi; Patel, Vijal; Zhao Fuqiang; Hu Xiaoping; Bellamkonda, Ravi V [Wallace H Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332 (United States); Annapragada, Ananth V [School of Health Information Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7000 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030 (United States)], E-mail: ravi@gatech.edu

    2008-08-06

    Nanocarrier mediated therapy of gliomas has shown promise. The success of systemic nanocarrier-based chemotherapy is critically dependent on the so-called leaky vasculature to permit drug extravasation across the blood-brain barrier. Yet, the extent of vascular permeability in individual tumors varies widely, resulting in a correspondingly wide range of responses to the therapy. However, there exist no tools currently for rationally determining whether tumor blood vessels are amenable to nanocarrier mediated therapy in an individualized, patient specific manner today. To address this need for brain tumor therapy, we have developed a multifunctional 100 nm scale liposomal agent encapsulating a gadolinium-based contrast agent for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging with prolonged blood circulation. Using a 9.4 T MRI system, we were able to track the intratumoral distribution of the gadolinium-loaded nanocarrier in a rat glioma model for a period of three days due to improved magnetic properties of the contrast agent being packaged in a nanocarrier. Such a nanocarrier provides a tool for non-invasively assessing the suitability of tumors for nanocarrier mediated therapy and then optimizing the treatment protocol for each individual tumor. Additionally, the ability to image the tumor in high resolution can potentially constitute a surgical planning tool for tumor resection.

  18. Interactive and automated systems for nuclear track measurements with applications to fast neutron dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roberts, J.H.; Gold, R.; McNeece, J.P.; Preston, C.C.; Ruddy, F.H.

    1983-12-01

    Interactive and automatic track measuring systems have been developed primarily for fast neutron dosimetry in and around reactors. The interactive system is used for proton recoil measurements in nuclear research emulsions and the automatic systems for counting fission fragment tracks in Muscovite mica. The status of these systems, along with illustrative applications, are presented, particularly with regard to their relationship to neutron personnel dosimetry. 16 references, 12 figures

  19. Automatic track following system to study double strangeness nuclei in nuclear emulsion exposed to the observable limit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Myint Kyaw Soe, E-mail: npkyaw1@gmail.com; Goto, Ryosuke; Mishina, Akihiro; Nakanisi, Yoshiaki; Nakashima, Daisuke; Yoshida, Junya; Nakazawa, Kazuma

    2017-03-11

    An automatic track following system has been successfully developed to follow tracks in nuclear emulsion sheets exposed with beam up to the limit to be observed for the first time. The track followed rate of the system is 99.5% with the assistance of the new techniques. The working speed for a track is less than 1 min through one thick emulsion sheet, whereas it is 15 times faster than that of semiautomatic system with human. The system working for 24 h is applied for the E07 experiment at J-PARC and makes it possible to detect ~10{sup 2} nuclei with double strangeness (S=−2 nuclei) within one year. Regarding analyses to identify nuclear species of S=−2 nuclei, the system shows quite decent job for significant steps such as following tracks emitted to spherical directions from S=−2 nuclei, measurement of lengths of followed tracks, and so on.

  20. On the development of inexpensive speed and position tracking system for swimming

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Trangbæk, Søren; Rasmussen, Cuno; Andersen, Thomas Bull

    2016-01-01

    A semi-automated tracking system was developed for the analysis of swimming, using cameras, an LED diode marker, and a red swim cap. Four experienced young swimmers were equipped with a marker and a swim cap and their position and speed was tracked throughout above-water and under-water swimming...

  1. Object Tracking Vision System for Mapping the UCN τ Apparatus Volume

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lumb, Rowan; UCNtau Collaboration

    2016-09-01

    The UCN τ collaboration has an immediate goal to measure the lifetime of the free neutron to within 0.1%, i.e. about 1 s. The UCN τ apparatus is a magneto-gravitational ``bottle'' system. This system holds low energy, or ultracold, neutrons in the apparatus with the constraint of gravity, and keeps these low energy neutrons from interacting with the bottle via a strong 1 T surface magnetic field created by a bowl-shaped array of permanent magnets. The apparatus is wrapped with energized coils to supply a magnetic field throughout the ''bottle'' volume to prevent depolarization of the neutrons. An object-tracking stereo-vision system will be presented that precisely tracks a Hall probe and allows a mapping of the magnetic field throughout the volume of the UCN τ bottle. The stereo-vision system utilizes two cameras and open source openCV software to track an object's 3-d position in space in real time. The desired resolution is +/-1 mm resolution along each axis. The vision system is being used as part of an even larger system to map the magnetic field of the UCN τ apparatus and expose any possible systematic effects due to field cancellation or low field points which could allow neutrons to depolarize and possibly escape from the apparatus undetected. Tennessee Technological University.

  2. Near Field UHF RFID Antenna System Enabling the Tracking of Small Laboratory Animals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Catarinucci

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Radio frequency identification (RFID technology is more and more adopted in a wide range of applicative scenarios. In many cases, such as the tracking of small-size living animals for behaviour analysis purposes, the straightforward use of commercial solutions does not ensure adequate performance. Consequently, both RFID hardware and the control software should be tailored for the particular application. In this work, a novel RFID-based approach enabling an effective localization and tracking of small-sized laboratory animals is proposed. It is mainly based on a UHF Near Field RFID multiantenna system, to be placed under the animals’ cage, and able to rigorously identify the NF RFID tags implanted in laboratory animals (e.g., mice. Once the requirements of the reader antenna have been individuated, the antenna system has been designed and realized. Moreover, an algorithm based on the measured Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI aiming at removing potential ambiguities in data captured by the multiantenna system has been developed and integrated. The animal tracking system has been largely tested on phantom mice in order to verify its ability to precisely localize each subject and to reconstruct its path. The achieved and discussed results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed tracking system.

  3. Privacy Impact Assessment for the Enforcement Superfund Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    This Enforcement Superfund Tracking System (ESTS) collects publicly available information from the California Secretary of State on businesses. Learn how this data is collected, how it will be used, access to the data, and the purpose of data collection.

  4. Positron emission zone plate holography for particle tracking

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gundogdu, O. [University of Birmingham, School of Physics and Astronomy, Birmingham B15 2TT (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: o.gundogdu@surrey.ac.uk

    2006-01-15

    Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) is a powerful non-invasive technique that has been used extensively for tracking a single particle. In this paper, we present a study of zone plate holography method in order to track multiple particles, mainly two particles. The main aim is to use as small number of events as possible in the order to make it possible to track particles in fast moving industrial systems. A zone plate with 100% focal efficiency is simulated and applied to the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) data for multiple particle tracking. A simple trajectory code was employed to explore the effects of the nature of the experimental trajectories. A computer holographic reconstruction code that simulates optical reconstruction was developed. The different aspects of the particle location, particle activity ratios for enabling tagging of particles and zone plate and hologram locations are investigated. The effect of the shot noise is investigated and the limitations of the zone plate holography are reported.

  5. Positron emission zone plate holography for particle tracking

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gundogdu, O.

    2006-01-01

    Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) is a powerful non-invasive technique that has been used extensively for tracking a single particle. In this paper, we present a study of zone plate holography method in order to track multiple particles, mainly two particles. The main aim is to use as small number of events as possible in the order to make it possible to track particles in fast moving industrial systems. A zone plate with 100% focal efficiency is simulated and applied to the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) data for multiple particle tracking. A simple trajectory code was employed to explore the effects of the nature of the experimental trajectories. A computer holographic reconstruction code that simulates optical reconstruction was developed. The different aspects of the particle location, particle activity ratios for enabling tagging of particles and zone plate and hologram locations are investigated. The effect of the shot noise is investigated and the limitations of the zone plate holography are reported

  6. Solid Waste Information and Tracking System (SWITS) Software Requirements Specification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    MAY, D.L.

    2000-01-01

    This document is the primary document establishing requirements for the Solid Waste Information and Tracking System (SWITS) as it is converted to a client-server architecture. The purpose is to provide the customer and the performing organizations with the requirements for the SWITS in the new environment. This Software Requirement Specification (SRS) describes the system requirements for the SWITS Project, and follows the PHMC Engineering Requirements, HNF-PRO-1819, and Computer Software Qualify Assurance Requirements, HNF-PRO-309, policies. This SRS includes sections on general description, specific requirements, references, appendices, and index. The SWITS system defined in this document stores information about the solid waste inventory on the Hanford site. Waste is tracked as it is generated, analyzed, shipped, stored, and treated. In addition to inventory reports a number of reports for regulatory agencies are produced

  7. Solid Waste Information and Tracking System (SWITS) Software Requirements Specification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    MAY, D.L.

    2000-03-22

    This document is the primary document establishing requirements for the Solid Waste Information and Tracking System (SWITS) as it is converted to a client-server architecture. The purpose is to provide the customer and the performing organizations with the requirements for the SWITS in the new environment. This Software Requirement Specification (SRS) describes the system requirements for the SWITS Project, and follows the PHMC Engineering Requirements, HNF-PRO-1819, and Computer Software Qualify Assurance Requirements, HNF-PRO-309, policies. This SRS includes sections on general description, specific requirements, references, appendices, and index. The SWITS system defined in this document stores information about the solid waste inventory on the Hanford site. Waste is tracked as it is generated, analyzed, shipped, stored, and treated. In addition to inventory reports a number of reports for regulatory agencies are produced.

  8. A novel strong tracking finite-difference extended Kalman filter for nonlinear eye tracking

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHANG ZuTao; ZHANG JiaShu

    2009-01-01

    Non-Intrusive methods for eye tracking are Important for many applications of vision-based human computer interaction. However, due to the high nonlinearity of eye motion, how to ensure the robust-ness of external interference and accuracy of eye tracking poses the primary obstacle to the integration of eye movements into today's interfaces. In this paper, we present a strong tracking finite-difference extended Kalman filter algorithm, aiming to overcome the difficulty In modeling nonlinear eye tracking. In filtering calculation, strong tracking factor is introduced to modify a priori covariance matrix and im-prove the accuracy of the filter. The filter uses finite-difference method to calculate partial derivatives of nonlinear functions for eye tracking. The latest experimental results show the validity of our method for eye tracking under realistic conditions.

  9. Least Squares Approach to the Alignment of the Generic High Precision Tracking System

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Renstrom, Pawel Brückman; Haywood, Stephen

    2006-04-01

    A least squares method to solve a generic alignment problem of a high granularity tracking system is presented. The algorithm is based on an analytical linear expansion and allows for multiple nested fits, e.g. imposing a common vertex for groups of particle tracks is of particular interest. We present a consistent and complete recipe to impose constraints on either implicit or explicit parameters. The method has been applied to the full simulation of a subset of the ATLAS silicon tracking system. The ultimate goal is to determine ≈35,000 degrees of freedom (DoF's). We present a limited scale exercise exploring various aspects of the solution.

  10. Chemical and Metallurgy Research (CMR) Sample Tracking System Design Document

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bargelski, C. J.; Berrett, D. E.

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this document is to describe the system architecture of the Chemical and Metallurgy Research (CMR) Sample Tracking System at Los Alamos National Laboratory. During the course of the document observations are made concerning the objectives, constraints and limitations, technical approaches, and the technical deliverables

  11. Modeling of Maximum Power Point Tracking Controller for Solar Power System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aryuanto Soetedjo

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT controller for solar power system is modeled using MATLAB Simulink. The model consists of PV module, buck converter, and MPPT controller. The contribution of the work is in the modeling of buck converter that allowing the input voltage of the converter, i.e. output voltage of PV is changed by varying the duty cycle, so that the maximum power point could be tracked when the environmental changes. The simulation results show that the developed model performs well in tracking the maximum power point (MPP of the PV module using Perturb and Observe (P&O Algorithm.

  12. A novel non-uniform control vector parameterization approach with time grid refinement for flight level tracking optimal control problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ping; Li, Guodong; Liu, Xinggao; Xiao, Long; Wang, Yalin; Yang, Chunhua; Gui, Weihua

    2018-02-01

    High quality control method is essential for the implementation of aircraft autopilot system. An optimal control problem model considering the safe aerodynamic envelop is therefore established to improve the control quality of aircraft flight level tracking. A novel non-uniform control vector parameterization (CVP) method with time grid refinement is then proposed for solving the optimal control problem. By introducing the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) analysis, an efficient time grid refinement approach is presented and an adaptive time grid is automatically obtained. With this refinement, the proposed method needs fewer optimization parameters to achieve better control quality when compared with uniform refinement CVP method, whereas the computational cost is lower. Two well-known flight level altitude tracking problems and one minimum time cost problem are tested as illustrations and the uniform refinement control vector parameterization method is adopted as the comparative base. Numerical results show that the proposed method achieves better performances in terms of optimization accuracy and computation cost; meanwhile, the control quality is efficiently improved. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. A real-time tracking system for monitoring shipments of hazardous materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Womble, Phillip; Paschal, Jon; Hopper, Lindsay; Pinson, Dudley; Schultz, Frederick; Whitfield Humphrey, Melinda

    2007-04-01

    Due to the ever increasing use of radioactive materials in day to day living from the treatment of cancer patients and irradiation of food for preservation to industrial radiography to check for defects in the welding of pipelines and buildings there is a growing concern over the tracking and monitoring of these sources in transit prior to use as well as the waste produced by such use. The prevention of lost sealed sources is important in reducing the environmental and health risk posed by direct exposure, co-mingling in the metal recycling stream, use in contaminated consumer products, and use in terrorist activities. Northwest Nuclear, LLC (NWN) and the Applied Physics Institute (API) at Western Kentucky University have developed a tracking technology using active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. This system provides location information by measuring the time of arrival of packets from a set of RFID tags to a set of location receivers. The system can track and graphically display the location on maps, drawings or photographs of tagged items on any 802.11- compliant device (PDAs, laptops, computers, WiFi telephones) situated both outside and inside structures. This location information would be vital for tracking the location of high level radiological sources while in transit. RFID technology would reduce the number of lost sources by tracking them from origination to destination. Special tags which indicate tampering or sudden movement have also been developed.

  14. Ballistic target tracking algorithm based on improved particle filtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Xiao-lei; Chen, Zhan-qi; Li, Xiao-yang

    2015-10-01

    Tracking ballistic re-entry target is a typical nonlinear filtering problem. In order to track the ballistic re-entry target in the nonlinear and non-Gaussian complex environment, a novel chaos map particle filter (CMPF) is used to estimate the target state. CMPF has better performance in application to estimate the state and parameter of nonlinear and non-Gassuian system. The Monte Carlo simulation results show that, this method can effectively solve particle degeneracy and particle impoverishment problem by improving the efficiency of particle sampling to obtain the better particles to part in estimation. Meanwhile CMPF can improve the state estimation precision and convergence velocity compared with EKF, UKF and the ordinary particle filter.

  15. Applying dual-laser spot positions measurement technology on a two-dimensional tracking measurement system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hau-Wei; Chen, Chieh-Li

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents a two-dimensional tracking measurement system with a tracking module, which consists of two stepping motors, two laser diodes and a four separated active areas segmented position sensitive detector (PSD). The PSD was placed on a two-dimensional moving stage and used as a tracking target. The two laser diodes in the tracking module were directly rotated to keep the laser spots on the origin of the PSD. The two-dimensional position of the target PSD on the moving stage is determined from the distance between the two motors and the tracking angles of the two laser diodes, which are rotated by the two stepping motors, respectively. In order to separate the four positional values of the two laser spots on one PSD, the laser diodes were modulated by two distinct frequencies. Multiple-laser spot position measurement technology was used to separate the four positional values of the two laser spots on the PSD. The experimental results show that the steady-state voltage shift rate is about 0.2% and dynamic cross-talk rate is smaller than 2% when the two laser spots are projected on one PSD at the same time. The measurement errors of the x and y axial positions of the two-dimensional tracking system were less than 1% in the measuring range of 20 mm. The results demonstrate that multiple-laser spot position measurement technology can be employed in a two-dimensional tracking measurement system

  16. Output Tracking Control of Switched Hybrid Systems: A Fliess Functional Expansion Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenghua He

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The output tracking problem is investigated for a nonlinear affine system with multiple modes of continuous control inputs. We convert the family of nonlinear affine systems under consideration into a switched hybrid system by introducing a multiple-valued logic variable. The Fliess functional expansion is adopted to express the input and output relationship of the switched hybrid system. The optimal switching control is determined for a multiple-step output tracking performance index. The proposed approach is applied to a multitarget tracking problem for a flight vehicle aiming for one real target with several decoys flying around it in the terminal guidance course. These decoys appear as apparent targets and have to be distinguished with the approaching of the flight vehicle. The guidance problem of one flight vehicle versus multiple apparent targets should be considered if no large miss distance might be caused due to the limitation of the flight vehicle maneuverability. The target orientation at each time interval is determined. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  17. Design Of Single-Axis And Dual-Axis Solar Tracking Systems Protected Against High Wind Speeds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mai Salaheldin Elsherbiny

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Solar energy is rapidly gaining ground as an important mean of expanding renewable energy use. Solar tracking is employed in order to maximize collected solar radiation by a photovoltaic panel. In this paper we present a prototype for Automatic solar tracker that is designed using Arduino UNO with Wind sensor to Cease Wind effect on panels if wind speed exceeds certain threshold. The Proposed solar tracker tracks the location of the sun anywhere in any time by calculating the position of the sun. For producing the maximum amount of solar energy a solar panel must always be perpendicular to the source of light. Because the sun motion plane varies daily and during the day it moves from east to west one needs two axis tracking to follow the suns position. Maximum possible power is collected when two axis tracking is done. However two axis tracking is relatively costly and complex. A compromise between maximum power collection and system simplicity is obtained by single axis tracking where the plane North south axis is fixed while the east west motion is accomplished. This work deals with the design of both single and two axis tracking systems. Automatic trackers is also compared to Fixed one in terms of Energy generated Efficiency Cost and System reliability.

  18. Smartphone-Based Indoor Pedestrian Tracking Using Geo-Magnetic Observations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sungnam Lee

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available With the widespread use of smartphones, the use of location-based services (LBS with smartphones has become an active research issue. The accurate measurement of user location is necessary to provide LBS. While outdoor locations are easily obtained with GPS, indoor location information is difficult to acquire. Previous work on indoor location tracking systems often relied on infrastructures that are influenced by environmental changes and temporal differences. Several studies have proposed infrastructure-less systems that are independent of the surroundings, but these works generally required non-trivial computation time or energy costs. In this paper, we propose an infrastructure-less pedestrian tracking system in indoor environments. The system uses accelerometers and magnetic sensors in smartphones without pre-installed infrastructure. We reduced the cumulative error of location tracking by geo-magnetic observations at corners and spots with magnetic fluctuations. In addition, we developed a robust estimation model that is tolerant to false positives, as well as a mobility model that reflects the characteristics of multiple sensors. Extensive evaluation in a real environment indicates that our system is accurate and cost-effective.

  19. Energy Optimal Tracking Control with Discrete Fluid Power Systems using Model Predictive Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Anders Hedegaard; Asmussen, Magnus Færing; Bech, Michael Møller

    2017-01-01

    For Discrete Displacement Cylinder (DDC) drives the control task lies in choosing force level. Hence, which force level to apply and thereby which pressure level each cylinder chambers shall be connected to. The DDC system is inherently a force system why often a force reference is generated...... and compared to a PID like tracking controller combined with a FSA. The results indicate that the energy efficiency of position tracking DDC systems may be improved significantly by using the MPC algorithm....

  20. Muon tracking system with Silicon Photomultipliers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L.; Dahal, S.; Di Giovanni, A.; Pazos Clemens, L.; Candela, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Sablone, D.; Franchi, G.

    2015-01-01

    We report the characterisation and performance of a low cost muon tracking system consisting of plastic scintillator bars and Silicon Photomultipliers equipped with a customised front-end electronics based on a fast preamplifier network. This system can be used as a detector test bench for astroparticle physics and for educational and outreach purposes. We investigated the device behaviour in self-trigger and coincidence mode, without using LED and pulse generators, showing that with a relatively simple set up a complete characterisation work can be carried out. A high definition oscilloscope, which can easily be found in many university physics or engineering departments, has been used for triggering and data acquisition. Its capabilities have been exploited to discriminate real particles from the background

  1. Muon tracking system with Silicon Photomultipliers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L.; Dahal, S. [New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Di Giovanni, A., E-mail: adriano.digiovanni@nyu.edu [New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Pazos Clemens, L. [New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Candela, A.; D' Incecco, M.; Sablone, D. [Gran Sasso National Laboratory of INFN, Assergi (Italy); Franchi, G. [AGE Scientific Srl, Capezzano Pianore (Italy)

    2015-11-01

    We report the characterisation and performance of a low cost muon tracking system consisting of plastic scintillator bars and Silicon Photomultipliers equipped with a customised front-end electronics based on a fast preamplifier network. This system can be used as a detector test bench for astroparticle physics and for educational and outreach purposes. We investigated the device behaviour in self-trigger and coincidence mode, without using LED and pulse generators, showing that with a relatively simple set up a complete characterisation work can be carried out. A high definition oscilloscope, which can easily be found in many university physics or engineering departments, has been used for triggering and data acquisition. Its capabilities have been exploited to discriminate real particles from the background.

  2. Automated cloud tracking system for the Akatsuki Venus Climate Orbiter data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogohara, Kazunori; Kouyama, Toru; Yamamoto, Hiroki; Sato, Naoki; Takagi, Masahiro; Imamura, Takeshi

    2012-02-01

    Japanese Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki, is cruising to approach to Venus again although its first Venus orbital insertion (VOI) has been failed. At present, we focus on the next opportunity of VOI and the following scientific observations.We have constructed an automated cloud tracking system for processing data obtained by Akatsuki in the present study. In this system, correction of the pointing of the satellite is essentially important for improving accuracy of the cloud motion vectors derived using the cloud tracking. Attitude errors of the satellite are reduced by fitting an ellipse to limb of an imaged Venus disk. Next, longitude-latitude distributions of brightness (cloud patterns) are calculated to make it easy to derive the cloud motion vectors. The grid points are distributed at regular intervals in the longitude-latitude coordinate. After applying the solar zenith correction and a highpass filter to the derived longitude-latitude distributions of brightness, the cloud features are tracked using pairs of images. As a result, we obtain cloud motion vectors on longitude-latitude grid points equally spaced. These entire processes are pipelined and automated, and are applied to all data obtained by combinations of cameras and filters onboard Akatsuki. It is shown by several tests that the cloud motion vectors are determined with a sufficient accuracy. We expect that longitude-latitude data sets created by the automated cloud tracking system will contribute to the Venus meteorology.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    2012-01-01

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

  4. Positioning and tracking control system analysis for mobile free space optical network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yushan; Refai, Hazem; Sluss, , James J., Jr.; Verma, Pramode; LoPresti, Peter

    2005-08-01

    Free Space Optical (FSO) communication has evolved to be applied to the mobile network, because it can provide up to 2.5Gbps or higher data rate wireless communication. One of the key challenges with FSO systems is to maintain the Line of Sight (LOS) between transmitter and receiver. In this paper, the feasibility and performance of applying the FSO technology to the mobile network is explored, and the design plan of the attitude positioning and tracking control system of the FSO transceiver is investigated. First, the system architecture is introduced, the requirements for the control system are analyzed, the involved reference frames and frame transformation are presented. Second, the control system bandwidth is used to evaluate the system performance in controlling a positioning system consisting of a gimbal and a steering mirror, some definitions to describe the positioning accuracy and tracking capacity are given. The attitude control of a FSO transceiver is split into 2 similar channels: pitch and yaw. Using an equivalent linear control system model, the simulations are carried out, with and without the presence of uncertainties that includes GPS data errors and sensor measurement errors. Finally, based on the simulation results in the pitch channel, the quantitative evaluation on the performance of the control system is given, including positioning accuracy, tracking capability and uncertainty tolerance.

  5. Efficient Photovoltaic System Maximum Power Point Tracking Using a New Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Partial shading is an unavoidable condition which significantly reduces the efficiency and stability of a photovoltaic (PV system. When partial shading occurs the system has multiple-peak output power characteristics. In order to track the global maximum power point (GMPP within an appropriate period a reliable technique is required. Conventional techniques such as hill climbing and perturbation and observation (P&O are inadequate in tracking the GMPP subject to this condition resulting in a dramatic reduction in the efficiency of the PV system. Recent artificial intelligence methods have been proposed, however they have a higher computational cost, slower processing time and increased oscillations which results in further instability at the output of the PV system. This paper proposes a fast and efficient technique based on Radial Movement Optimization (RMO for detecting the GMPP under partial shading conditions. The paper begins with a brief description of the behavior of PV systems under partial shading conditions followed by the introduction of the new RMO-based technique for GMPP tracking. Finally, results are presented to demonstration the performance of the proposed technique under different partial shading conditions. The results are compared with those of the PSO method, one of the most widely used methods in the literature. Four factors, namely convergence speed, efficiency (power loss reduction, stability (oscillation reduction and computational cost, are considered in the comparison with the PSO technique.

  6. Orion Active Thermal Control System Dynamic Modeling Using Simulink/MATLAB

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiao-Yen J.; Yuko, James

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents dynamic modeling of the crew exploration vehicle (Orion) active thermal control system (ATCS) using Simulink (Simulink, developed by The MathWorks). The model includes major components in ATCS, such as heat exchangers and radiator panels. The mathematical models of the heat exchanger and radiator are described first. Four different orbits were used to validate the radiator model. The current model results were compared with an independent Thermal Desktop (TD) (Thermal Desktop, PC/CAD-based thermal model builder, developed in Cullimore & Ring (C&R) Technologies) model results and showed good agreement for all orbits. In addition, the Orion ATCS performance was presented for three orbits and the current model results were compared with three sets of solutions- FloCAD (FloCAD, PC/CAD-based thermal/fluid model builder, developed in C&R Technologies) model results, SINDA/FLUINT (SINDA/FLUINT, a generalized thermal/fluid network-style solver ) model results, and independent Simulink model results. For each case, the fluid temperatures at every component on both the crew module and service module sides were plotted and compared. The overall agreement is reasonable for all orbits, with similar behavior and trends for the system. Some discrepancies exist because the control algorithm might vary from model to model. Finally, the ATCS performance for a 45-hr nominal mission timeline was simulated to demonstrate the capability of the model. The results show that the ATCS performs as expected and approximately 2.3 lb water was consumed in the sublimator within the 45 hr timeline before Orion docked at the International Space Station.

  7. Controlled ion track etching

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, J.; Irkens, M.; Neumann, S.; Scherer, U. W.; Srivastava, A.; Sinha, D.; Fink, D.

    2006-03-01

    It is a common practice since long to follow the ion track-etching process in thin foils via conductometry, i.e . by measurement of the electrical current which passes through the etched track, once the track breakthrough condition has been achieved. The major disadvantage of this approach, namely the absence of any major detectable signal before breakthrough, can be avoided by examining the track-etching process capacitively. This method allows one to define precisely not only the breakthrough point before it is reached, but also the length of any non-transient track. Combining both capacitive and conductive etching allows one to control the etching process perfectly. Examples and possible applications are given.

  8. Laser vision seam tracking system based on image processing and continuous convolution operator tracker

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yanbiao; Chen, Tao

    2018-06-01

    To address the problem of low welding precision caused by the poor real-time tracking performance of common welding robots, a novel seam tracking system with excellent real-time tracking performance and high accuracy is designed based on the morphological image processing method and continuous convolution operator tracker (CCOT) object tracking algorithm. The system consists of a six-axis welding robot, a line laser sensor, and an industrial computer. This work also studies the measurement principle involved in the designed system. Through the CCOT algorithm, the weld feature points are determined in real time from the noise image during the welding process, and the 3D coordinate values of these points are obtained according to the measurement principle to control the movement of the robot and the torch in real time. Experimental results show that the sensor has a frequency of 50 Hz. The welding torch runs smoothly with a strong arc light and splash interference. Tracking error can reach ±0.2 mm, and the minimal distance between the laser stripe and the welding molten pool can reach 15 mm, which can significantly fulfill actual welding requirements.

  9. Powertrain preheating system of tracked hybrid electric vehicle in cold weather

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Rui; Wang, Yichun; Feng, Chaoqing; Zhang, Xilong

    2015-01-01

    In order to make sure that the heavy duty tracked vehicle can work in various conditions, especially severe cold weather, preheating system of powertrain should be adopted, and a novel preheating system is presented for the tracked hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) in which heat is generated by the low-speed drive motor. The new preheating system can meet the need of cold start without adding any additional device. The characteristic of heat generation by motor is tested when the rotor of motor is rotated in very low speed. The heat loss from power cabin to external environment has been simulated, and the relevant test has been done to verify the simulation results. Combining the characteristic of heat generation and heat loss situation about preheating system, the heat transfer model of preheating system was implemented by MATLAB. The total energy required for preheating in different ambient temperature was calculated by this model. The results showed that: the minimum heating power was 70 kW and energy required was about 180 MJ when the HEV worked in −46 °C. If lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) battery was used in power system, the minimum battery capacity is about 290 A h. - Highlights: • A novel preheating method was proposed for heavy duty tracked HEV. • Thermal energy in preheating system is produced by the PMSM in driving system. • This method can achieve preheating target by its own components without any adding. • Analyzing low temperature performance of power battery and select its capacity.

  10. Case Analysis Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Archives and Records Administration — CATS tracks Public and Federal Agency Reference Requests for OPF (Official Personnel Folder) , EMF (Employee Medical Folder), and eOPF (electronic Official Personnel...

  11. An acoustic system for autonomous navigation and tracking of marine fauna

    KAUST Repository

    De la Torre, Pedro; Salama, Khaled N.; Berumen, Michael L.

    2014-01-01

    A marine acoustic system for underwater target tracking is described. This system is part of the Integrated Satellite and Acoustic Telemetry (iSAT) project to study marine fauna. It is a microcontroller-based underwater projector and receiver. A

  12. Real-time object tracking system based on field-programmable gate array and convolution neural network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Congyi Lyu

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Vision-based object tracking has lots of applications in robotics, like surveillance, navigation, motion capturing, and so on. However, the existing object tracking systems still suffer from the challenging problem of high computation consumption in the image processing algorithms. The problem can prevent current systems from being used in many robotic applications which have limitations of payload and power, for example, micro air vehicles. In these applications, the central processing unit- or graphics processing unit-based computers are not good choices due to the high weight and power consumption. To address the problem, this article proposed a real-time object tracking system based on field-programmable gate array, convolution neural network, and visual servo technology. The time-consuming image processing algorithms, such as distortion correction, color space convertor, and Sobel edge, Harris corner features detector, and convolution neural network were redesigned using the programmable gates in field-programmable gate array. Based on the field-programmable gate array-based image processing, an image-based visual servo controller was designed to drive a two degree of freedom manipulator to track the target in real time. Finally, experiments on the proposed system were performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the real-time object tracking system.

  13. A better understanding of biomass co-firing by developing an advanced non-spherical particle tracking model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yin, Chungen; Rosendahl, Lasse Aistrup; Kær, Søren Knudsen

    2004-01-01

    -area-to-volume ratio and thus experiences a totally different motion and reaction as a non-spherical particle. Therefore, an advanced non-spherical particle-tracking model is developed to calculate the motion and reaction of nonspherical biomass particles. The biomass particles are assumed as solid or hollow cylinders......-gradient force. Since the drag and lift forces are both shape factor- and orientation-dependent, coupled particle rotation equations are resolved to update particle orientation. In the reaction of biomass particles, the actual particle surface area available and the average oxygen mass flux at particle surface...

  14. Financial Disclosure Tracking System

    Data.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development — USAID's FDTS identifies personal service contractors and local employees who should file disclosure reports. It tracks late filers and identifies those who must take...

  15. Auditory display as feedback for a novel eye-tracking system for sterile operating room interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, David; Unger, Michael; Fischer, Nele; Kikinis, Ron; Hahn, Horst; Neumuth, Thomas; Glaser, Bernhard

    2018-01-01

    The growing number of technical systems in the operating room has increased attention on developing touchless interaction methods for sterile conditions. However, touchless interaction paradigms lack the tactile feedback found in common input devices such as mice and keyboards. We propose a novel touchless eye-tracking interaction system with auditory display as a feedback method for completing typical operating room tasks. Auditory display provides feedback concerning the selected input into the eye-tracking system as well as a confirmation of the system response. An eye-tracking system with a novel auditory display using both earcons and parameter-mapping sonification was developed to allow touchless interaction for six typical scrub nurse tasks. An evaluation with novice participants compared auditory display with visual display with respect to reaction time and a series of subjective measures. When using auditory display to substitute for the lost tactile feedback during eye-tracking interaction, participants exhibit reduced reaction time compared to using visual-only display. In addition, the auditory feedback led to lower subjective workload and higher usefulness and system acceptance ratings. Due to the absence of tactile feedback for eye-tracking and other touchless interaction methods, auditory display is shown to be a useful and necessary addition to new interaction concepts for the sterile operating room, reducing reaction times while improving subjective measures, including usefulness, user satisfaction, and cognitive workload.

  16. Evaluation of Human Body Tracking System for Gesture-based Programming of Industrial Robots

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Høilund, Carsten; Krüger, Volker; Moeslund, Thomas B.

    2012-01-01

    Is low-cost tracking precise enough for recognition of pointing actions? We investigate the quality of the human body tracking available with a Kinect camera by comparing it to a state-of-the-art motion capture system. The application is action recognition with parametric hidden Markov Models...

  17. Optical performance of inclined south-north axis three-positions tracked solar panels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong, Hao; Li, Guihua; Tang, Runsheng; Dong, Wenli

    2011-01-01

    In this work, the optical performance of solar panels with a new sun-tracking technique was theoretically investigated based on the proposed mathematical method and monthly horizontal radiation. The mechanism of the investigated sun-tracking is that the attitude angle of solar panels is daily adjusted three times at three fixed positions: eastward, southward, and westward in the morning, noon, and afternoon, respectively, by rotating solar panels about the inclined south-north axis (ISNA-3P sun-tracking). Calculation results showed that, for ISNA-3P tracked solar panels with a yearly fixed tilt-angle of the ISNA, the maximum annual collectible radiation on ISNA-3P tracked solar panels was about 93% of that on a solar panel with 2-axis sun-tracking; whereas for those with the ISNA being yearly adjusted four times at three fixed tilt-angles, it was about 96%. Results also indicated that the attempt to further increase the annual solar gain on ISNA-3P tracked solar panels by seasonally optimizing design of the sun-tracking system for maximizing solar gain in each of four seasons was not efficient, and thus not advisable in practical applications. Optimal parametric designs of such sun-tracking system for maximizing the annual solar gain on solar panels in different cases were also presented. -- Research highlights: → The paper presented a new sun-tracking technique (ISNA-3P) for possible applications in PV generating systems. → Algorithms to estimate daily collectible radiation on the fixed, 2-axis and ISNA-3P tracked solar panels were proposed based on solar geometry and monthly horizontal radiation. → A detailed theoretical study on the optical performance of such tracked solar panels in terms of R 3P-0 and R 3P-2 , the ratios of maximum annual solar gain to that on fixed and 2-axis tracked solar panels; optimal parameters affecting the optical performance of the systems were presented in the different cases. → Results showed that such sun-tracking system

  18. Strategic Mobility 21: Integrated Tracking System Analysis and Concept Design

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Mallon, Lawrence G; Savacool, Edwin

    2007-01-01

    .... This design document supports the SM21 efforts in developing a dual-use multi-modal node at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, CA that will be supported by an Integrated Tracking System...

  19. Performance Evaluation of Dual-axis Tracking System of Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ullah, Fahim; Min, Kang

    2018-01-01

    A parabolic trough solar collector with the concentration ratio of 24 was developed in the College of Engineering; Nanjing Agricultural University, China with the using of the TracePro software an optical model built. Effects of single-axis and dual-axis tracking modes, azimuth and elevating angle tracking errors on the optical performance were investigated and the thermal performance of the solar collector was experimentally measured. The results showed that the optical efficiency of the dual-axis tracking was 0.813% and its year average value was 14.3% and 40.9% higher than that of the eat-west tracking mode and north-south tracking mode respectively. Further, form the results of the experiment, it was concluded that the optical efficiency was affected significantly by the elevation angle tracking errors which should be kept below 0.6o. High optical efficiency could be attained by using dual-tracking mode even though the tracking precision of one axis was degraded. The real-time instantaneous thermal efficiency of the collector reached to 0.775%. In addition, the linearity of the normalized efficiency was favorable. The curve of the calculated thermal efficiency agreed well with the normalized instantaneous efficiency curve derived from the experimental data and the maximum difference between them was 10.3%. This type of solar collector should be applied in middle-scale thermal collection systems.

  20. ENERGY EFFICIENT TRACKING SYSTEM USING WIRELESS SENSORS

    OpenAIRE

    Thankaselvi Kumaresan; Sheryl Mathias; Digja Khanvilkar; Prof. Smita Dange

    2014-01-01

    One of the most important applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is surveillance system, which is used to track moving targets. WSN is composed of a large number of low cost sensors which operate on the power derived from batteries. Energy efficiency is an important issue in WSN, which determines the network lifetime. Due to the need for continuous monitoring with 100% efficiency, keeping all the sensor nodes active permanently leads to fast draining of batteries. Hen...