Drinking Coffee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøbæk, Pernille Solveig

2015-01-01

The chapter explores how coffee is an integral part of our daily life. Focusing on coffee drinking at home, at work, and on the go I show that coffee consumption is a social practice. The chapter illustrates through everyday examples that coffee is more than a caffeine drug. Coffee, with or without...... caffeine, is a social lubricant. We talk to each other and share emotions with one another as we share a cup of coffee. Coffee makes conversation and we embrace coffee, to stay or to go, in the daily rhythm of our busy and global social existence. The practice and sociality of coffee consumption provide...... the coffee industry with the opportunity to make money on our coffee preferences – indeed, also for those of us who actually dislike the taste of coffee. Would you prefer coffee mixed and stirred with non-coffee products such as salt, caramel and licorice? Then you are one of us in the modern age of coffee...

Development of a bio-inspired UAV perching system

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Pu

Although technologies of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) including micro air vehicles (MAVs) have been greatly advanced in the recent years, it is still very difficult for a UAV to perform some very challenging tasks such as perching to any desired spot reliably and agilely like a bird. Unlike the UAVs, the biological control mechanism of birds has been optimized through millions of year evolution and hence, they can perform many extremely maneuverability tasks, such as perching or grasping accurately and robustly. Therefore, we have good reason to learn from the nature in order to significantly improve the capabilities of UAVs. The development of a UAV perching system is becoming feasible, especially after a lot of research contributions in ornithology which involve the analysis of the bird's functionalities. Meanwhile, as technology advances in many engineering fields, such as airframes, propulsion, sensors, batteries, micro-electromechanical-system (MEMS), and UAV technology is also advancing rapidly. All of these research efforts in ornithology and the fast growing development technologies in UAV applications are motivating further interests and development in the area of UAV perching and grasping research. During the last decade, the research contributions about UAV perching and grasping were mainly based on fixed-wing, flapping-wing, and rotorcraft UAVs. However, most of the current researches in UAV systems with perching and grasping capability are focusing on either active (powered) grasping and perching or passive (unpowered) perching. Although birds do have both active and passive perching capabilities depending on their needs, there is no UAV perching system with both capabilities. In this project, we focused on filling this gap. Inspired by the anatomy analysis of bird legs and feet, a novel perching system has been developed to implement the bionics action for both active grasping and passive perching. In addition, for developing a robust and

Acquisition and Processing Protocols for Uav Images: 3d Modeling of Historical Buildings Using Photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Murtiyoso, A.; Koehl, M.; Grussenmeyer, P.; Freville, T.

2017-08-01

Photogrammetry has seen an increase in the use of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) for both large and smaller scale cartography. The use of UAVs is also advantageous because it may be used for tasks requiring quick response, including in the case of the inspection and monitoring of buildings. The objective of the project is to study the acquisition and processing protocols which exist in the literature and to adapt them for UAV projects. This implies a study on the calibration of the sensors, flight planning, comparison of software solutions, data management, and analysis on the different products of a UAV project. Two historical buildings of the city of Strasbourg were used as case studies: a part of the Rohan Palace façade and the St-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic church. In addition, a preliminary test was performed on the Josephine Pavilion. Two UAVs were used in this research; namely the Sensefly Albris and the DJI Phantom 3 Professional. The experiments have shown that the calibration parameters tend to be unstable for small sensors. Furthermore, the dense matching of images remains a particular problem to address in a close range photogrammetry project, more so in the presence of noise on the images. Data management in cases where the number of images is high is also very important. The UAV is nevertheless a suitable solution for the surveying and recording of historical buildings because it is able to take images from points of view which are normally inaccessible to classical terrestrial techniques.

Climate Change Impacts on Worldwide Coffee Production

Science.gov (United States)

Foreman, T.; Rising, J. A.

2015-12-01

Coffee (Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora) plays a vital role in many countries' economies, providing necessary income to 25 million members of tropical countries, and supporting a $81 billion industry, making it one of the most valuable commodities in the world. At the same time, coffee is at the center of many issues of sustainability. It is vulnerable to climate change, with disease outbreaks becoming more common and suitable regions beginning to shift. We develop a statistical production model for coffee which incorporates temperature, precipitation, frost, and humidity effects using a new database of worldwide coffee production. We then use this model to project coffee yields and production into the future based on a variety of climate forecasts. This model can then be used together with a market model to forecast the locations of future coffee production as well as future prices, supply, and demand.

Autonomous Control of a Quadrotor UAV Using Fuzzy Logic

Science.gov (United States)

Sureshkumar, Vijaykumar

UAVs are being increasingly used today than ever before in both military and civil applications. They are heavily preferred in "dull, dirty or dangerous" mission scenarios. Increasingly, UAVs of all kinds are being used in policing, fire-fighting, inspection of structures, pipelines etc. Recently, the FAA gave its permission for UAVs to be used on film sets for motion capture and high definition video recording. The rapid development in MEMS and actuator technology has made possible a plethora of UAVs that are suited for commercial applications in an increasingly cost effective manner. An emerging popular rotary wing UAV platform is the Quadrotor A Quadrotor is a helicopter with four rotors, that make it more stable; but more complex to model and control. Characteristics that provide a clear advantage over other fixed wing UAVs are VTOL and hovering capabilities as well as a greater maneuverability. It is also simple in construction and design compared to a scaled single rotorcraft. Flying such UAVs using a traditional radio Transmitter-Receiver setup can be a daunting task especially in high stress situations. In order to make such platforms widely applicable, a certain level of autonomy is imperative to the future of such UAVs. This thesis paper presents a methodology for the autonomous control of a Quadrotor UAV using Fuzzy Logic. Fuzzy logic control has been chosen over conventional control methods as it can deal effectively with highly nonlinear systems, allows for imprecise data and is extremely modular. Modularity and adaptability are the key cornerstones of FLC. The objective of this thesis is to present the steps of designing, building and simulating an intelligent flight control module for a Quadrotor UAV. In the course of this research effort, a Quadrotor UAV is indigenously developed utilizing the resources of an online open source project called Aeroquad. System design is comprehensively dealt with. A math model for the Quadrotor is developed and a

Automatic UAV Image Geo-Registration by Matching UAV Images to Georeferenced Image Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangyu Zhuo

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Recent years have witnessed the fast development of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles. As an alternative to traditional image acquisition methods, UAVs bridge the gap between terrestrial and airborne photogrammetry and enable flexible acquisition of high resolution images. However, the georeferencing accuracy of UAVs is still limited by the low-performance on-board GNSS and INS. This paper investigates automatic geo-registration of an individual UAV image or UAV image blocks by matching the UAV image(s with a previously taken georeferenced image, such as an individual aerial or satellite image with a height map attached or an aerial orthophoto with a DSM (digital surface model attached. As the biggest challenge for matching UAV and aerial images is in the large differences in scale and rotation, we propose a novel feature matching method for nadir or slightly tilted images. The method is comprised of a dense feature detection scheme, a one-to-many matching strategy and a global geometric verification scheme. The proposed method is able to find thousands of valid matches in cases where SIFT and ASIFT fail. Those matches can be used to geo-register the whole UAV image block towards the reference image data. When the reference images offer high georeferencing accuracy, the UAV images can also be geolocalized in a global coordinate system. A series of experiments involving different scenarios was conducted to validate the proposed method. The results demonstrate that our approach achieves not only decimeter-level registration accuracy, but also comparable global accuracy as the reference images.

POTENTIAL OF UAV-BASED LASER SCANNER AND MULTISPECTRAL CAMERA DATA IN BUILDING INSPECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Mader

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Conventional building inspection of bridges, dams or large constructions in general is rather time consuming and often cost expensive due to traffic closures and the need of special heavy vehicles such as under-bridge inspection units or other large lifting platforms. In consideration that, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV will be more reliable and efficient as well as less expensive and simpler to operate. The utilisation of UAVs as an assisting tool in building inspections is obviously. Furthermore, light-weight special sensors such as infrared and thermal cameras as well as laser scanner are available and predestined for usage on unmanned aircraft systems. Such a flexible low-cost system is realized in the ADFEX project with the goal of time-efficient object exploration, monitoring and damage detection. For this purpose, a fleet of UAVs, equipped with several sensors for navigation, obstacle avoidance and 3D object-data acquisition, has been developed and constructed. This contribution deals with the potential of UAV-based data in building inspection. Therefore, an overview of the ADFEX project, sensor specifications and requirements of building inspections in general are given. On the basis of results achieved in practical studies, the applicability and potential of the UAV system in building inspection will be presented and discussed.

Vision based systems for UAV applications

CERN Document Server

Kuś, Zygmunt

2013-01-01

This monograph is motivated by a significant number of vision based algorithms for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that were developed during research and development projects. Vision information is utilized in various applications like visual surveillance, aim systems, recognition systems, collision-avoidance systems and navigation. This book presents practical applications, examples and recent challenges in these mentioned application fields. The aim of the book is to create a valuable source of information for researchers and constructors of solutions utilizing vision from UAV. Scientists, researchers and graduate students involved in computer vision, image processing, data fusion, control algorithms, mechanics, data mining, navigation and IC can find many valuable, useful and practical suggestions and solutions. The latest challenges for vision based systems are also presented.

The use of UAVs to monitor archeological sites: the case study of Choirokoitia within the PROTHEGO project

Science.gov (United States)

Themistocleous, K.

2017-09-01

PROTHEGO (PROTection of European Cultural HEritage from GeO-hazards) is a collaborative research project funded in the framework of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPICH) - Heritage Plus in 2015-2018 (www.prothego.eu). PROTHEGO aims to make an innovative contribution towards the analysis of geo-hazards in areas of cultural heritage, and uses novel space technology for the management of sites and world heritage monuments located throughout Europe, using specialized remote sensing techniques. Τhe methodology will include the 395 monuments of UNESCO in Europe, with case studies conducted in 4 UNESCO sites in England, Spain, Italy and Cyprus. For the Cyprus case study in Choirokoitia, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are used to monitor and assess the risk from natural hazards on the archaeological site to evaluate cultural heritage sites deformation. The UAVs were flown over the study area to produce time-series data, including orthoimages, 3D models and digital elevation models of the Choirokoitia site in order to identify changes in the area caused by natural hazards.

UAV measurements of aerosol properties at the Cyprus institute

Science.gov (United States)

Neitola, Kimmo; Sciare, Jean; Keleshis, Christos; Pikridas, Michael; Argyrides, Marios; Vouterakos, Panagiotis; Antoniou, Panyiota; Apostolou, Apostolos; Savvides, Constantinos; Vrekoussis, Mihalis; Mihalopoulos, Nikos; Biskos, George; Gao, Ru-Shan; Murphy, Daniel; Schrod, Jann; Weber, Daniel; Bingemer, Heinz; Mocnik, Grisa

2017-04-01

discrete altitudes and not only during the ascend and descend periods. The POPS measures the particle size distribution in the range of 140-3000 nm diameter within 14 size channels. The POPS was successfully compared to another OPC (MetOne, model 212 profiler) on separate flights during the same day with coinciding results. The routine flights will continue for a year, once or twice a week, targeting different air mass origins and synoptic conditions. The aim is to build a comprehensive dataset by merging atmospheric data measured both by UAVs and ground-based in situ observations obtained 1) at the Agia Marina Xyliatou remote station (500m asl) and 2) at the free troposphere Troodos altitude station (1800m asl). This project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project BACCHUS under grant agreement no. 603445 and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ACTRIS-2 under grant agreement No 654109.

UAV FOR GEODATA ACQUISITION IN AGRICULTUREAL AND FORESTAL APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Reidelstürz

2012-09-01

The airframe´s wingspan is about 3,45m weighting 4.2 kg, ready to fly. The hand launchable UAV can start from any place in agricultural regions. The wing is configured with flaps, allowing steep approaches and short landings using a „butterfly“ brake configuration. In spite of the lightweight configuration the UAV yet proves its worth under windy baltic wether situations by collecting regular sharp images of fields under wind speed up to 15m/s (Beaufort 6 –7. In further projects the development of further payload modules and a user friendly flight planning tool is scheduled considering different payload – and airframe requirements for different precision farming purposes and forest applications. Data processing and workflow will be optimized. Cooperation with further partners to establish UAV systems in agricultural, forest and geodata aquisition is desired.

UAV Delivery Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

San Khin Thida

2018-01-01

Full Text Available UAV-based delivery systems are increasingly being used in the logistics field, particularly to achieve faster last-mile delivery. This study develops a UAV delivery system that manages delivery order assignments, autonomous flight operation, real time control for UAV flights, and delivery status tracking. To manage the delivery item assignments, we apply the concurrent scheduler approach with a genetic algorithm. The present paper describes real time flight data based on a micro air vehicle communication protocol (MAVLink. It also presents the detailed hardware components used for the field tests. Finally, we provide UAV component analysis to choose the suitable components for delivery in terms of battery capacity, flight time, payload weight and motor thrust ratio.

Classical Photogrammetry and Uav - Selected Ascpects

Science.gov (United States)

Mikrut, S.

2016-06-01

The UAV technology seems to be highly future-oriented due to its low costs as compared to traditional aerial images taken from classical photogrammetry aircrafts. The AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow - Department of Geoinformation, Photogrammetry and Environmental Remote Sensing focuses mainly on geometry and radiometry of recorded images. Various scientific research centres all over the world have been conducting the relevant research for years. The paper presents selected aspects of processing digital images made with the UAV technology. It provides on a practical example a comparison between a digital image taken from an airborne (classical) height, and the one made from an UAV level. In his research the author of the paper is trying to find an answer to the question: to what extent does the UAV technology diverge today from classical photogrammetry, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both methods? The flight plan was made over the Tokarnia Village Museum (more than 0.5 km2) for two separate flights: the first was made by an UAV - System FT-03A built by FlyTech Solution Ltd. The second was made with the use of a classical photogrammetric Cesna aircraft furnished with an airborne photogrammetric camera (Ultra Cam Eagle). Both sets of photographs were taken with pixel size of about 3 cm, in order to have reliable data allowing for both systems to be compared. The project has made aerotriangulation independently for the two flights. The DTM was generated automatically, and the last step was the generation of an orthophoto. The geometry of images was checked under the process of aerotriangulation. To compare the accuracy of these two flights, control and check points were used. RMSE were calculated. The radiometry was checked by a visual method and using the author's own algorithm for feature extraction (to define edges with subpixel accuracy). After initial pre-processing of data, the images were put together, and shown side by side

Ion beam analysis of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debastiani, R.; Santos, C.E.I. dos; Yoneama, M.L.; Amaral, L.; Dias, J.F.

2014-01-01

The way that coffee is prepared (using roasted ground coffee or roasted coffee beans) may influence the quality of beverage. Therefore, the aim of this work is to use ion beam techniques to perform a full elemental analysis of packed roasted ground coffee and packed roasted coffee beans, as well as green coffee beans. The samples were analyzed by PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission). Light elements were measured through RBS (Rutherford backscattering spectrometry) experiments. Micro-PIXE experiments were carried out in order to check the elemental distribution in the roasted and green coffee beans. In general, the elements found in ground coffee were Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb and Sr. A comparison between ground coffee and grinded roasted beans shows significant differences for several elements. Elemental maps reveal that P and K are correlated and practically homogeneously distributed over the beans

Ion beam analysis of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Debastiani, R., E-mail: rafa_debas@yahoo.com.br; Santos, C.E.I. dos; Yoneama, M.L.; Amaral, L.; Dias, J.F.

2014-01-01

The way that coffee is prepared (using roasted ground coffee or roasted coffee beans) may influence the quality of beverage. Therefore, the aim of this work is to use ion beam techniques to perform a full elemental analysis of packed roasted ground coffee and packed roasted coffee beans, as well as green coffee beans. The samples were analyzed by PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission). Light elements were measured through RBS (Rutherford backscattering spectrometry) experiments. Micro-PIXE experiments were carried out in order to check the elemental distribution in the roasted and green coffee beans. In general, the elements found in ground coffee were Mg, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Rb and Sr. A comparison between ground coffee and grinded roasted beans shows significant differences for several elements. Elemental maps reveal that P and K are correlated and practically homogeneously distributed over the beans.

Coffee intake.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelis, Marilyn C

2012-01-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Its widespread popularity and availability has fostered public health concerns of the potential health consequences of regular coffee consumption. Epidemiological studies of coffee intake and certain health outcomes have been inconsistent. The precise component of coffee potentially contributing to development of these conditions also remains unclear. One step toward addressing the challenges in studying the impact coffee has on health is a better understanding of the factors contributing to its consumption and physiological effects. This chapter focuses on those factors that are genetically determined and briefly summarizes progress in applying this knowledge to epidemiological studies of coffee and disease. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Practical Application of Uav-Based Photogrammetry Under Economic Aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Sauerbier, M.; Siegrist, E.; Eisenbeiss, H.; Demir, N.

2011-09-01

test data from a project featuring an area of interest within the practical range for mini UAVs. While flight planning and flight operation are already quite efficient processes, the bottlenecks identified are mainly related to image processing. Although we used specific software for image processing, the identified gaps in the processing chain today are valid for most commercial photogrammetric software systems on the market. An outlook proposing improvements for a practicable workflow applicable in projects in private economy will be given.

Assessment of Cellular Mutagenicity of Americano Coffees from Popular Coffee Chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhen-Shu; Chen, Po-Wen; Wang, Jung-Yu; Kuo, Tai-Chen

2017-09-01

Coffee is a popular beverage worldwide, but coffee beans can be contaminated with carcinogens. The Ames Salmonella mutagenicity test is often used for analysis of carcinogens for mutagenicity. However, previous studies have provided controversial data about the direct mutagenicity of coffee beans based on Ames test results. This study was conducted to determine the mutagenicity of popular Americano coffee based on results from the Ames test. Coffee samples without additives that were served by five international coffee chain restaurants were subjected to the analysis using Salmonella Typhimurium tester strains TA98, TA100, and TA1535. The levels of bacterial revertants in samples from coffee chains were lower than the twofold criterion of the control sets, and no significant dose-response effect was observed with or without rat liver enzyme activation. These data indicate that Americano coffees from the selected coffee chains possessed no direct mutagenic activity with or without enzyme activation. These findings suggest a low mutagenic risk from Americano coffees served by the selected coffee chains and support the use of other methods to confirm the nonmutagenicity of coffee products. These results are consistent with most recent epidemiological reports.

Spurious RF signals emitted by mini-UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Schleijpen, Ric (H. M. A.); Voogt, Vincent; Zwamborn, Peter; van den Oever, Jaap

2016-10-01

This paper presents experimental work on the detection of spurious RF emissions of mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (mini-UAV). Many recent events have shown that mini-UAVs can be considered as a potential threat for civil security. For this reason the detection of mini-UAVs has become of interest to the sensor community. The detection, classification and identification chain can take advantage of different sensor technologies. Apart from the signatures used by radar and electro-optical sensor systems, the UAV also emits RF signals. These RF signatures can be split in intentional signals for communication with the operator and un-intentional RF signals emitted by the UAV. These unintentional or spurious RF emissions are very weak but could be used to discriminate potential UAV detections from false alarms. The goal of this research was to assess the potential of exploiting spurious emissions in the classification and identification chain of mini-UAVs. It was already known that spurious signals are very weak, but the focus was on the question whether the emission pattern could be correlated to the behaviour of the UAV. In this paper experimental examples of spurious RF emission for different types of mini-UAVs and their correlation with the electronic circuits in the UAVs will be shown

Spent coffee grounds as a versatile source of green energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kondamudi, Narasimharao; Mohapatra, Susanta K; Misra, Mano

2008-12-24

The production of energy from renewable and waste materials is an attractive alternative to the conventional agricultural feed stocks such as corn and soybean. This paper describes an approach to extract oil from spent coffee grounds and to further transesterify the processed oil to convert it into biodiesel. This process yields 10-15% oil depending on the coffee species (Arabica or Robusta). The biodiesel derived from the coffee grounds (100% conversion of oil to biodiesel) was found to be stable for more than 1 month under ambient conditions. It is projected that 340 million gallons of biodiesel can be produced from the waste coffee grounds around the world. The coffee grounds after oil extraction are ideal materials for garden fertilizer, feedstock for ethanol, and as fuel pellets.

Exposure to lead from intake of coffee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Max; Sloth, Jens Jørgen; Rasmussen, Rie Romme

Food and beverages is one of the primary sources of intake of and exposure to lead, with beverages accounting for almost 50%. Previous studies from Denmark have estimated that the intake of lead from coffee is very high and may contribute to up to 20% of the total lead intake from food and bevera......Food and beverages is one of the primary sources of intake of and exposure to lead, with beverages accounting for almost 50%. Previous studies from Denmark have estimated that the intake of lead from coffee is very high and may contribute to up to 20% of the total lead intake from food...... and beverages. This estimate is, however, based on older, non-published data. In the current project extensive chemical analyses of coffee beans, drinking water and ready-to-drink coffee have been performed. The results hereof have been compared to calculations of the total intake of lead from food...... and beverages. The results show that the intake of lead from coffee is considerably lower than previously estimated and account for 4.2% and 3.3% of the total lead intake from food and beverages for Danish men and women, respectively. It can generally be concluded that the intake of lead from coffee is low...

Diverse Planning for UAV Control and Remote Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Tožička

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs are suited to various remote sensing missions, such as measuring air quality. The conventional method of UAV control is by human operators. Such an approach is limited by the ability of cooperation among the operators controlling larger fleets of UAVs in a shared area. The remedy for this is to increase autonomy of the UAVs in planning their trajectories by considering other UAVs and their plans. To provide such improvement in autonomy, we need better algorithms for generating alternative trajectory variants that the UAV coordination algorithms can utilize. In this article, we define a novel family of multi-UAV sensing problems, solving task allocation of huge number of tasks (tens of thousands to a group of configurable UAVs with non-zero weight of equipped sensors (comprising the air quality measurement as well together with two base-line solvers. To solve the problem efficiently, we use an algorithm for diverse trajectory generation and integrate it with a solver for the multi-UAV coordination problem. Finally, we experimentally evaluate the multi-UAV sensing problem solver. The evaluation is done on synthetic and real-world-inspired benchmarks in a multi-UAV simulator. Results show that diverse planning is a valuable method for remote sensing applications containing multiple UAVs.

Climate and Pest-Driven Geographic Shifts in Global Coffee Production: Implications for Forest Cover, Biodiversity and Carbon Storage

Science.gov (United States)

Magrach, Ainhoa; Ghazoul, Jaboury

2015-01-01

Coffee is highly sensitive to temperature and rainfall, making its cultivation vulnerable to geographic shifts in response to a changing climate. This could lead to the establishment of coffee plantations in new areas and potential conflicts with other land covers including natural forest, with consequent implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services. We project areas suitable for future coffee cultivation based on several climate scenarios and expected responses of the coffee berry borer, a principle pest of coffee crops. We show that the global climatically-suitable area will suffer marked shifts from some current major centres of cultivation. Most areas will be suited to Robusta coffee, demand for which could be met without incurring forest encroachment. The cultivation of Arabica, which represents 70% of consumed coffee, can also be accommodated in the future, but only by incurring some natural forest loss. This has corresponding implications for carbon storage, and is likely to affect areas currently designated as priority areas for biodiversity. Where Arabica coffee does encroach on natural forests, we project average local losses of 35% of threatened vertebrate species. The interaction of climate and coffee berry borer greatly influences projected outcomes. PMID:26177201

Omnidirectional vision applied to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) attitude and heading estimation

OpenAIRE

Mondragon, Ivan F.; Campoy, Pascual; Martinez, Carol; Olivares Mendez, Miguel Angel

2010-01-01

This paper presents an aircraft attitude and heading estimator using catadioptric images as a principal sensor for UAV or as a redundant system for IMU (Inertial Measure Unit) and gyro sensors. First, we explain how the unified theory for central catadioptric cameras is used for attitude and heading estimation, explaining how the skyline is projected on the catadioptric image and how it is segmented and used to calculate the UAV's attitude. Then, we use appearance images to obtain a visual co...

Have coffee reforms and coffee supply chains affected farmers' income? The case of coffee growers in Rwanda

OpenAIRE

Murekezi, Abdoul Karim; Loveridge, Scott

2009-01-01

Low prices in the international coffee markets have worsened the economic well-being among coffee farmers. In the face of this situation, the Government of Rwanda has introduced coffee sector reforms that aimed to transform the sector in a way that targets the high quality market and moves away from the bulk coffee market. The high quality coffee market has shown consistent growth over time and exhibits price premiums in international market. If these high prices are passed on to farmers who ...

An evaluation of a UAV guidance system with consumer grade GPS receivers

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Abigail Stella

Remote sensing has been demonstrated an important tool in agricultural and natural resource management and research applications, however there are limitations that exist with traditional platforms (i.e., hand held sensors, linear moves, vehicle mounted, airplanes, remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellites). Rapid technological advances in electronics, computers, software applications, and the aerospace industry have dramatically reduced the cost and increased the availability of remote sensing technologies. Remote sensing imagery vary in spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions and are available from numerous providers. Appendix A presented results of a test project that acquired high-resolution aerial photography with a RPV to map the boundary of a 0.42 km2 fire area. The project mapped the boundaries of the fire area from a mosaic of the aerial images collected and compared this with ground-based measurements. The project achieved a 92.4% correlation between the aerial assessment and the ground truth data. Appendix B used multi-objective analysis to quantitatively assess the tradeoffs between different sensor platform attributes to identify the best overall technology. Experts were surveyed to identify the best overall technology at three different pixel sizes. Appendix C evaluated the positional accuracy of a relatively low cost UAV designed for high resolution remote sensing of small areas in order to determine the positional accuracy of sensor readings. The study evaluated the accuracy and uncertainty of a UAV flight route with respect to the programmed waypoints and of the UAV's GPS position, respectively. In addition, the potential displacement of sensor data was evaluated based on (1) GPS measurements on board the aircraft and (2) the autopilot's circuit board with 3-axis gyros and accelerometers (i.e., roll, pitch, and yaw). The accuracies were estimated based on a 95% confidence interval or similar methods. The

UAV Swarm Operational Risk Assessment System

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

are detected, clear monitoring is required to track and identify the possible intentions of inbound UAVs. And when a target is identified, enough...armed UAVs (Davis et al. 2014). Although manufacturers in the U.S. and Israel dominate the global UAV market (approximately 75 percent share between

Smashing CoffeeScript

CERN Document Server

Hudson, Alex

2013-01-01

Brew the perfect code with CoffeeScript If you're familiar with JavaScript and the often-frustrating process of creating complex applications, a nice cup of CoffeeScript can help. CoffeeScript is a programming language that compiles into JavaScript and simplifies the entire development process. Now you can tap the full power of CoffeeScript with Smashing CoffeeScript. This full-color, practical book explains CoffeeScript language, syntax, and processes, and will soon have you producing concise and quality code. Ultimately, you'll create RIAs and mobile apps faster, with less

Shaded Coffee: A way to Increase Sustainability in Brazilian Organic Coffee plantations

OpenAIRE

Moreira, Cassio Franco; De Nadai Fernandes, Elisabete A.; Tagliaferro, Fábio Sileno

2008-01-01

Consumption of specialty coffee, mainly organic coffee, increases worldwide following the tendency of consuming social and ecological sustainable products. Brazil is the world largest coffee producer, with an average of 2,300,000 tons of green coffee in the last 5 years. Cultivation of organic coffee and shaded coffee are common in Central America, while in Brazil both conventional and organic coffee are cultivated in the full sun system. The full sun system is criticized due to the lack of b...

The Pocket-4-Life project, bioavailability and beneficial properties of the bioactive compounds of espresso coffee and cocoa-based confectionery containing coffee: study protocol for a randomized cross-over trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mena, Pedro; Tassotti, Michele; Martini, Daniela; Rosi, Alice; Brighenti, Furio; Del Rio, Daniele

2017-11-09

Coffee is an important source of bioactive compounds, including caffeine, phenolic compounds (mainly chlorogenic acids), trigonelline, and diterpenes. Several studies have highlighted the preventive effects of coffee consumption on major cardiometabolic diseases, but the impact of coffee dosage on markers of cardiometabolic risk is not well understood. Moreover, the pool of coffee-derived circulating metabolites and the contribution of each metabolite to disease prevention still need to be evaluated in real-life settings. The aim of this study will be to define the bioavailability and beneficial properties of coffee bioactive compounds on the basis of different levels of consumption, by using an innovative experimental design. The contribution of cocoa-based products containing coffee to the pool of circulating metabolites and their putative bioactivity will also be investigated. A three-arm, crossover, randomized trial will be conducted. Twenty-one volunteers will be randomly assigned to consume three treatments in a random order for 1 month: 1 cup of espresso coffee/day, 3 cups of espresso coffee/day, and 1 cup of espresso coffee plus 2 cocoa-based products containing coffee twice per day. The last day of each treatment, blood and urine samples will be collected at specific time points, up to 24 hours following the consumption of the first product. At the end of each treatment the same protocol will be repeated, switching the allocation group. Besides the bioavailability of the coffee/cocoa bioactive compounds, the effect of the coffee/cocoa consumption on several cardiometabolic risk factors (anthropometric measures, blood pressure, inflammatory markers, trimethylamine N-oxide, nitric oxide, blood lipids, fasting indices of glucose/insulin metabolism, DNA damage, eicosanoids, and nutri-metabolomics) will be investigated. Results will provide information on the bioavailability of the main groups of phytochemicals in coffee and on their modulation by the level

Robust UAV Mission Planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Dollevoet, T.; Barros, A.I.; Monsuur, H.

2014-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can provide significant contributions to information gathering in military missions. UAVs can be used to capture both full motion video and still imagery of specific target locations within the area of interest. In order to improve the effectiveness of a

Robust UAV mission planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Dollevoet, T.; Barros, A.I.; Monsuur, H.

2011-01-01

Unmanned Areal Vehicles (UAVs) can provide significant contributions to information gathering in military missions. UAVs can be used to capture both full motion video and still imagery of specific target locations within the area of interest. In order to improve the effectiveness of a reconnaissance

Robust UAV Mission Planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Dollevoet, T; Barros, A.I.; Monsuur, H.

2011-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can provide significant contributions to information gathering in military missions. UAVs can be used to capture both full motion video and still imagery of specific target locations within the area of interest. In order to improve the effectiveness of a

Robust UAV Mission Planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. Evers (Lanah); T.A.B. Dollevoet (Twan); A.I. Barros (Ana); H. Monsuur (Herman)

2011-01-01

textabstractUnmanned Areal Vehicles (UAVs) can provide significant contributions to information gathering in military missions. UAVs can be used to capture both full motion video and still imagery of specific target locations within the area of interest. In order to improve the effectiveness of a

A Survey of Channel Modeling for UAV Communications

KAUST Repository

Khuwaja, Aziz Altaf; Chen, Yunfei; Zhao, Nan; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Dobbins, Paul

2018-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gained great interest for rapid deployment in both civil and military applications. UAV communication has its own distinctive channel characteristics compared with widely used cellular and satellite systems. Thus, accurate channel characterization is crucial for the performance optimization and design of efficient UAV communication systems. However, several challenges exist in UAV channel modeling. For example, propagation characteristics of UAV channels are still less explored for spatial and temporal variations in non-stationary channels. Also, airframe shadowing has not yet been investigated for small size rotary UAVs. This paper provides an extensive survey on the measurement campaigns launched for UAV channel modeling using low altitude platforms and discusses various channel characterization efforts. We also review the contemporary perspective of UAV channel modeling approaches and outline some future research challenges in this domain.

A Survey of Channel Modeling for UAV Communications

KAUST Repository

Khuwaja, Aziz Altaf

2018-01-23

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have gained great interest for rapid deployment in both civil and military applications. UAV communication has its own distinctive channel characteristics compared with widely used cellular and satellite systems. Thus, accurate channel characterization is crucial for the performance optimization and design of efficient UAV communication systems. However, several challenges exist in UAV channel modeling. For example, propagation characteristics of UAV channels are still less explored for spatial and temporal variations in non-stationary channels. Also, airframe shadowing has not yet been investigated for small size rotary UAVs. This paper provides an extensive survey on the measurement campaigns launched for UAV channel modeling using low altitude platforms and discusses various channel characterization efforts. We also review the contemporary perspective of UAV channel modeling approaches and outline some future research challenges in this domain.

Unmanned air vehicle (UAV) ultra-persitence research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dron, S. B.

2012-03-01

considered. Fundamental cost driver analysis was also performed. System development plans were drafted in order to determine where the technological and programmatic critical paths lay. As a result of this effort, UAVs were to be able to provide far more surveillance time and intelligence information per mission while reducing the high cost of support activities. This technology was intended to create unmatched global capabilities to observe and preempt terrorist and weapon of mass destruction (WMD) activities. Various DOE laboratory and contractor personnel and facilities could have been used to perform detailed engineering, fabrication, assembly and test operations including follow-on operational support. Unfortunately, none of the results will be used in the near-term or mid-term future. NGIS UMS and SNL felt that the technical goals for the project were accomplished. NGIS UMS was quite pleased with the results of analysis and design although it was disappointing to all that the political realities would not allow use of the results. Technology and system designs evaluated under this CRADA had previously never been applied to unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Based upon logistic support cost predictions, because the UAVs would not have had to refuel as often, forward basing support costs could have been reduced due to a decrease in the number and extent of support systems and personnel being required to operate UAVs in remote areas. Basic application of the advanced propulsion and power approach is well understood and industry now understands the technical, safety, and political issues surrounding implementation of these strategies. However, the overall economic impact was not investigated. The results will not be applied/implemented. No near-term benefit to industry or the taxpayer will be encountered as a result of these studies.

Development of Cloud-Based UAV Monitoring and Management System.

Science.gov (United States)

Itkin, Mason; Kim, Mihui; Park, Younghee

2016-11-15

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionize commercial industries and the public domain outside of the military. UAVs would be able to speed up rescue and recovery operations from natural disasters and can be used for autonomous delivery systems (e.g., Amazon Prime Air). An increase in the number of active UAV systems in dense urban areas is attributed to an influx of UAV hobbyists and commercial multi-UAV systems. As airspace for UAV flight becomes more limited, it is important to monitor and manage many UAV systems using modern collision avoidance techniques. In this paper, we propose a cloud-based web application that provides real-time flight monitoring and management for UAVs. For each connected UAV, detailed UAV sensor readings from the accelerometer, GPS sensor, ultrasonic sensor and visual position cameras are provided along with status reports from the smaller internal components of UAVs (i.e., motor and battery). The dynamic map overlay visualizes active flight paths and current UAV locations, allowing the user to monitor all aircrafts easily. Our system detects and prevents potential collisions by automatically adjusting UAV flight paths and then alerting users to the change. We develop our proposed system and demonstrate its feasibility and performances through simulation.

Development of Cloud-Based UAV Monitoring and Management System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mason Itkin

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs are an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionize commercial industries and the public domain outside of the military. UAVs would be able to speed up rescue and recovery operations from natural disasters and can be used for autonomous delivery systems (e.g., Amazon Prime Air. An increase in the number of active UAV systems in dense urban areas is attributed to an influx of UAV hobbyists and commercial multi-UAV systems. As airspace for UAV flight becomes more limited, it is important to monitor and manage many UAV systems using modern collision avoidance techniques. In this paper, we propose a cloud-based web application that provides real-time flight monitoring and management for UAVs. For each connected UAV, detailed UAV sensor readings from the accelerometer, GPS sensor, ultrasonic sensor and visual position cameras are provided along with status reports from the smaller internal components of UAVs (i.e., motor and battery. The dynamic map overlay visualizes active flight paths and current UAV locations, allowing the user to monitor all aircrafts easily. Our system detects and prevents potential collisions by automatically adjusting UAV flight paths and then alerting users to the change. We develop our proposed system and demonstrate its feasibility and performances through simulation.

Development of Cloud-Based UAV Monitoring and Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Itkin, Mason; Kim, Mihui; Park, Younghee

2016-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are an emerging technology with the potential to revolutionize commercial industries and the public domain outside of the military. UAVs would be able to speed up rescue and recovery operations from natural disasters and can be used for autonomous delivery systems (e.g., Amazon Prime Air). An increase in the number of active UAV systems in dense urban areas is attributed to an influx of UAV hobbyists and commercial multi-UAV systems. As airspace for UAV flight becomes more limited, it is important to monitor and manage many UAV systems using modern collision avoidance techniques. In this paper, we propose a cloud-based web application that provides real-time flight monitoring and management for UAVs. For each connected UAV, detailed UAV sensor readings from the accelerometer, GPS sensor, ultrasonic sensor and visual position cameras are provided along with status reports from the smaller internal components of UAVs (i.e., motor and battery). The dynamic map overlay visualizes active flight paths and current UAV locations, allowing the user to monitor all aircrafts easily. Our system detects and prevents potential collisions by automatically adjusting UAV flight paths and then alerting users to the change. We develop our proposed system and demonstrate its feasibility and performances through simulation. PMID:27854267

Spices Coffee : Innovation Strategy To Increase Quality On Powder Coffee Farmers

Science.gov (United States)

Amir, I. T.; Indah, P. N.; Widayanti, S.

2018-01-01

The purpose of the study is a) to analyze the condition of internal environment industry spices coffee, b) to analyze the condition of the external environment industry spices coffee, and c) to determine the technological innovation strategy spices coffee in order to improve the competitiveness of the coffee people. Most of the coffee grown in Tutur district is cultivated by smallholder farms, resulting in low quality. The strategy of coffee spice agro-industry aims to increase the added value of the products so that farmers obtain higher coffee prices. Activities include the provision of raw materials, processing, supply of final products, and marketing.The results showed that the internal environmental conditions that have the highest value is the strengthen factors. The highest score of strengthen factors is the availability of coffee, availability of labor and communications group. The highest score of opportunity factors is technological assistance from the government and other government support for the development of people’s coffee industry and high market potential. The development of agrotourism should improve as well as expand the network to seize market. The strategy should be applied in the development of spices coffee industry is to support aggressive growth (Growth-oriented strategy).

Characterization of UAV Performance and Development of a Formation Flight Controller for Multiple Small UAVS

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McCarthy, Patrick A

2006-01-01

... (UAV). One area of particular interest is using multiple small UAVs cooperatively to improve mission efficiency, as well as perform missions that couldn't be performed using vehicles independently...

Thrust sensing for small UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Marchman, Christopher Scott

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become prevalent in both military and civilian applications. UAVs have many size categories from large-scale aircraft to micro air vehicles. The performance, health, and efficiency for UAVs of smaller sizes can be difficult to assess and few associated instrumentation systems have been developed. Thrust measurements on the ground can characterize systems especially when combined with simultaneous motor power measurements. This thesis demonstrates the use of strain measurements to measure the thrust produced by motor/propeller combinations for such small UAVs. A full-bridge Wheatstone circuit and electrical resistance strain gauges were used in conjunction with constant-stress cantilever beams for static tests and dynamic wind tunnel tests. An associated instrumentation module monitored power from the electric motor. Monitoring the thrust data over time can provide insights into optimal propeller and motor selection and early detection of problems such as component failure. The approach provides a system for laboratory or field measurements that can be scaled for a wide range of small UAVs.

Analysis of acrylamide in coffee and dietary exposure to acrylamide from coffee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Granby, Kit; Fagt, Sisse

2004-01-01

An analytical method for analysing acrylamide in coffee was validated. The analysis of prepared coffee includes a comprehensive clean-up using multimode solid-phase extraction (SPE) by automatic SPE equipment and detection by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using electrospray...... in the positive mode. The recoveries of acrylamide in ready-to-drink coffee spiked with 5 and 10 mug l(-1) were 96 +/- 14% and 100 +/- 8%, respectively. Within laboratory reproducibility for the same spiking levels were 14% and 9%, respectively. Coffee samples (n = 25) prepared twice by coffee machines and twice...... by a French Press Cafetiere coffee maker contained 8 +/- 3 mug l(-1) and 9 +/- 3 mug l(-1) acrylamide. Five ready-to-drink instant coffee prepared twice contained 8 +/- 2 mug l(-1). Hence, the results do not show significant differences in the acrylamide contents in ready-to-drink coffee prepared by coffee...

The effect of dewaxing of green coffee on the coffee brew

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stegen, G.H.D. van der

1979-01-01

The two commercially most important mild treatments for green coffee are the steam treatment and the dewaxing process. In the former treatment the green coffee is just steamed. In the dewaxing process the waxy layer is extracted from the green coffee with an organic solvent, after which this coffee

Multisensor Equipped Uav/ugv for Automated Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Batzdorfer, S.; Bobbe, M.; Becker, M.; Harms, H.; Bestmann, U.

2017-08-01

The usage of unmanned systems for exploring disaster scenarios has become more and more important in recent times as a supporting system for action forces. These systems have to offer a well-balanced relationship between the quality of support and additional workload. Therefore within the joint research project ANKommEn - german acronym for Automated Navigation and Communication for Exploration - a system for exploration of disaster scenarios is build-up using multiple UAV und UGV controlled via a central ground station. The ground station serves as user interface for defining missions and tasks conducted by the unmanned systems, equipped with different environmental sensors like cameras - RGB as well as IR - or LiDAR. Depending on the exploration task results, in form of pictures, 2D stitched orthophoto or LiDAR point clouds will be transmitted via datalinks and displayed online at the ground station or will be processed in short-term after a mission, e.g. 3D photogrammetry. For mission planning and its execution, UAV/UGV monitoring and georeferencing of environmental sensor data, reliable positioning and attitude information is required. This is gathered using an integrated GNSS/IMU positioning system. In order to increase availability of positioning information in GNSS challenging scenarios, a GNSS-Multiconstellation based approach is used, amongst others. The present paper focuses on the overall system design including the ground station and sensor setups on the UAVs and UGVs, the underlying positioning techniques as well as 2D and 3D exploration based on a RGB camera mounted on board the UAV and its evaluation based on real world field tests.

MULTISENSOR EQUIPPED UAV/UGV FOR AUTOMATED EXPLORATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Batzdorfer

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The usage of unmanned systems for exploring disaster scenarios has become more and more important in recent times as a supporting system for action forces. These systems have to offer a well-balanced relationship between the quality of support and additional workload. Therefore within the joint research project ANKommEn – german acronym for Automated Navigation and Communication for Exploration – a system for exploration of disaster scenarios is build-up using multiple UAV und UGV controlled via a central ground station. The ground station serves as user interface for defining missions and tasks conducted by the unmanned systems, equipped with different environmental sensors like cameras – RGB as well as IR – or LiDAR. Depending on the exploration task results, in form of pictures, 2D stitched orthophoto or LiDAR point clouds will be transmitted via datalinks and displayed online at the ground station or will be processed in short-term after a mission, e.g. 3D photogrammetry. For mission planning and its execution, UAV/UGV monitoring and georeferencing of environmental sensor data, reliable positioning and attitude information is required. This is gathered using an integrated GNSS/IMU positioning system. In order to increase availability of positioning information in GNSS challenging scenarios, a GNSS-Multiconstellation based approach is used, amongst others. The present paper focuses on the overall system design including the ground station and sensor setups on the UAVs and UGVs, the underlying positioning techniques as well as 2D and 3D exploration based on a RGB camera mounted on board the UAV and its evaluation based on real world field tests.

Development of Open source-based automatic shooting and processing UAV imagery for Orthoimage Using Smart Camera UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Park, J. W.; Jeong, H. H.; Kim, J. S.; Choi, C. U.

2016-06-01

Recently, aerial photography with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system uses UAV and remote controls through connections of ground control system using bandwidth of about 430 MHz radio Frequency (RF) modem. However, as mentioned earlier, existing method of using RF modem has limitations in long distance communication. The Smart Camera equipments's LTE (long-term evolution), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi to implement UAV that uses developed UAV communication module system carried out the close aerial photogrammetry with the automatic shooting. Automatic shooting system is an image capturing device for the drones in the area's that needs image capturing and software for loading a smart camera and managing it. This system is composed of automatic shooting using the sensor of smart camera and shooting catalog management which manages filmed images and information. Processing UAV imagery module used Open Drone Map. This study examined the feasibility of using the Smart Camera as the payload for a photogrammetric UAV system. The open soure tools used for generating Android, OpenCV (Open Computer Vision), RTKLIB, Open Drone Map.

Development of Open source-based automatic shooting and processing UAV imagery for Orthoimage Using Smart Camera UAV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. Park

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Recently, aerial photography with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV system uses UAV and remote controls through connections of ground control system using bandwidth of about 430 MHz radio Frequency (RF modem. However, as mentioned earlier, existing method of using RF modem has limitations in long distance communication. The Smart Camera equipments’s LTE (long-term evolution, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi to implement UAV that uses developed UAV communication module system carried out the close aerial photogrammetry with the automatic shooting. Automatic shooting system is an image capturing device for the drones in the area’s that needs image capturing and software for loading a smart camera and managing it. This system is composed of automatic shooting using the sensor of smart camera and shooting catalog management which manages filmed images and information. Processing UAV imagery module used Open Drone Map. This study examined the feasibility of using the Smart Camera as the payload for a photogrammetric UAV system. The open soure tools used for generating Android, OpenCV (Open Computer Vision, RTKLIB, Open Drone Map.

Aeromagnetic Compensation for UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

Naprstek, T.; Lee, M. D.

2017-12-01

Aeromagnetic data is one of the most widely collected types of data in exploration geophysics. With the continuing prevalence of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) in everyday life there is a strong push for aeromagnetic data collection using UAVs. However, apart from the many political and legal barriers to overcome in the development of UAVs as aeromagnetic data collection platforms, there are also significant scientific hurdles, primary of which is magnetic compensation. This is a well-established process in manned aircraft achieved through a combination of platform magnetic de-noising and compensation routines. However, not all of this protocol can be directly applied to UAVs due to fundamental differences in the platforms, most notably the decrease in scale causing magnetometers to be significantly closer to the avionics. As such, the methodology must be suitably adjusted. The National Research Council of Canada has collaborated with Aeromagnetic Solutions Incorporated to develop a standardized approach to de-noising and compensating UAVs, which is accomplished through a series of static and dynamic experiments. On the ground, small static tests are conducted on individual components to determine their magnetization. If they are highly magnetic, they are removed, demagnetized, or characterized such that they can be accounted for in the compensation. Dynamic tests can include measuring specific components as they are powered on and off to assess their potential effect on airborne data. The UAV is then flown, and a modified compensation routine is applied. These modifications include utilizing onboard autopilot current sensors as additional terms in the compensation algorithm. This process has been applied with success to fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms, with both a standard manned-aircraft magnetometer, as well as a new atomic magnetometer, much smaller in scale.

DEVELOPMENT OF COFFEE MARKET AND CHANGES IN COFFEE CONSUMPTION AMONG POLES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylwia Chudy

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents results of a survey concerning coffee consumption together with results of visual and instrumental coffee analyses. The investigations focused on the type of additives used when preparing coffee. Based on the survey it was found that 58.3% respondents use sweeteners and 92.7% coffee whiteners (mainly milk with 3.2% fat content.

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.

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.

The performances of coffee processors and coffee market in the Republic of Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nuševa Daniela

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to investigate the performances of coffee processors and coffee market in Serbia based on the market concentration analysis, profitability analysis, and profitability determinants analysis. The research was based on the sample of 40 observations of coffee processing companies divided into two groups: large and small coffee processors. The results indicate that two large coffee processors have dominant market share. Even though the Serbian coffee market is an oligopolistic, profitability analysis indicates that small coffee processors have a significant better profitability ratio than large coffee processors. Furthermore, results show that profitability ratio is positively related to the inventory turnover and negatively related to the market share.

Comparing data of terrestrial LiDAR and UAV (photogrammetric) in the context of the project "SedAlp"

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, Judith; Wegner, Kerstin; Haas, Florian; Heckmann, Tobias; Becht, Michael

2014-05-01

The project "SedAlp" (Sediment management in Alpine basins: integrating sediment continuum, risk mitigation and hydropower) concentrates on problems and approaches related to sediment transfer in the alpine region and is embedded in the European transnational cooperation program "Alpine Space". The catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt contributes the German part to this project on behalf of the Bavarian Environment Agency and in collaboration with the Authority of Water Resources Weilheim. The area of interest is the river Isar between the Sylvenstein reservoir and the city of Bad Tölz, Bavaria, Germany. The main aim of the activities is to quantify the transfer of sediments from the tributary catchments to the river Isar, specifically in light of the fact that the construction of the Sylvenstein reservoir in the mid 1950ies has created a barrier to longitudinal sediment transfer, thus heavily impacting the sediment budget and morphodynamics of the Isar reaches downstream. Moreover, the further development of artificially inserted gravel deposits and the effect of dismantling reinforcement structures at the river banks need investigation. Therefore, the dynamics of alluvial fans and gravel bars in the areas of confluence of tributary torrents are monitored using multitemporal surveys with terrestrial laserscanners and drone-based imagery. The latter is used both for the generation of high-resolution digital elevation models and for the mapping of changes in comparison to historical aerial photos. This study focuses on a comparison of TLS and UAV-based photogrammetric digital elevation models in order to highlight advantages and disadvantages of the two methods in relation to the SedAlp-specific research problems. It is shown that UAV-based elevation models are highly accurate alternatives to TLS-based models; due to their favourable acquisition geometry with respect to the topography in floodplain areas, and their large areal coverage, their use is seen as

Research for new UAV capabilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canavan, G.H.; Leadabrand, R.

1996-07-01

This paper discusses research for new Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) capabilities. Findings indicate that UAV performance could be greatly enhanced by modest research. Improved sensors and communications enhance near term cost effectiveness. Improved engines, platforms, and stealth improve long term effectiveness.

Production of Flammulina velutipes on coffee husk and coffee spent-ground

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leifa Fan

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Solid state cultivation (SSC was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of using coffee husk and spent-ground as substrates for the production of edible mushroom Flammulina under different conditions of moisture and spawn rate. The strain of F. velutipes LPB 01 was adapted for a coffee husk extract medium. Best results were obtained with 25% spawn rate, though there was not much difference when lower spawn rates (10-20% were used. Ideal moisture content for mycelial growth was 60% and 55% for coffee husk and spent-ground, respectively. With coffee husk as substrate, first fructification occurred after 25 days of inoculation and the biological efficiency reached about 56% with two flushes after 40 days. With spent-ground as substrate, first fructification occurred 21 days after inoculation and the biological efficiency reached about 78% in 40 days. There was decrease in the caffeine and tannins contents (10.2 and 20.4%, respectively in coffee husk after 40 days. In coffee spent-ground, the tannin contents decreased by 28% after 40 days. These decrease was attributed to the degradation of caffeine or tannins by the culture because these were not adsorbed in the fungal mycelia. Results showed the feasibility of using coffee husk and coffee spent-ground as substrate without any nutritional supplementation for cultivation of edible fungus in SSC. Spent ground appeared better than coffee husk.

The Pocket-4-Life project, bioavailability and beneficial properties of the bioactive compounds of espresso coffee and cocoa-based confectionery containing coffee: study protocol for a randomized cross-over trial

OpenAIRE

Mena, Pedro; Tassotti, Michele; Martini, Daniela; Rosi, Alice; Brighenti, Furio; Del Rio, Daniele

2017-01-01

Background Coffee is an important source of bioactive compounds, including caffeine, phenolic compounds (mainly chlorogenic acids), trigonelline, and diterpenes. Several studies have highlighted the preventive effects of coffee consumption on major cardiometabolic diseases, but the impact of coffee dosage on markers of cardiometabolic risk is not well understood. Moreover, the pool of coffee-derived circulating metabolites and the contribution of each metabolite to disease prevention still ne...

Multi-UAV joint target recognizing based on binocular vision theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Target recognizing of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV based on image processing take the advantage of 2D information containing in the image for identifying the target. Compare to single UAV with electrical optical tracking system (EOTS, multi-UAV with EOTS is able to take a group of image focused on the suspected target from multiple view point. Benefit from matching each couple of image in this group, points set constituted by matched feature points implicates the depth of each point. Coordinate of target feature points could be computing from depth of feature points. This depth information makes up a cloud of points and reconstructed an exclusive 3D model to recognizing system. Considering the target recognizing do not require precise target model, the cloud of feature points was regrouped into n subsets and reconstructed to a semi-3D model. Casting these subsets in a Cartesian coordinate and applying these projections in convolutional neural networks (CNN respectively, the integrated output of networks is the improved result of recognizing.

A system of UAV application in indoor environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khosiawan, Yohanes; Nielsen, Izabela Ewa

2016-01-01

In recent years, there has been an increased demand in the use of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in indoor environments such as material handling task in a manufacturing environment and plant/environment monitoring task in a greenhouse. However, there is a lack of work reported on this ......In recent years, there has been an increased demand in the use of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in indoor environments such as material handling task in a manufacturing environment and plant/environment monitoring task in a greenhouse. However, there is a lack of work reported...... on this topic. This paper presents a detailed study on several UAV systems and UAV scheduling systems. It is followed by a proposed system of UAV application in indoor environment, which comprises components of UAV system addressed in detail; focused on scheduler as the heart of operations. Consequently, system...... architecture of UAV scheduling system is presented and the framework of scheduler component is included. Scheduler component works in a phased manner to provide a systematic abstraction and achieve an efficient computation time. This study serves as a reference guide for UAV application in indoor environment....

Optical and acoustical UAV detection

Science.gov (United States)

Christnacher, Frank; Hengy, Sébastien; Laurenzis, Martin; Matwyschuk, Alexis; Naz, Pierre; Schertzer, Stéphane; Schmitt, Gwenael

2016-10-01

Recent world events have highlighted that the proliferation of UAVs is bringing with it a new and rapidly increasing threat for national defense and security agencies. Whilst many of the reported UAV incidents seem to indicate that there was no terrorist intent behind them, it is not unreasonable to assume that it may not be long before UAV platforms are regularly employed by terrorists or other criminal organizations. The flight characteristics of many of these mini- and micro-platforms present challenges for current systems which have been optimized over time to defend against the traditional air-breathing airborne platforms. A lot of programs to identify cost-effective measures for the detection, classification, tracking and neutralization have begun in the recent past. In this paper, lSL shows how the performance of a UAV detection and tracking concept based on acousto-optical technology can be powerfully increased through active imaging.

Spurious RF signals emitted by mini-UAVs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schleijpen, R.; Voogt, V.; Zwamborn, P.; Oever, J. van den

2016-01-01

This paper presents experimental work on the detection of spurious RF emissions of mini Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (mini-UAV). Many recent events have shown that mini-UAVs can be considered as a potential threat for civil security. For this reason the detection of mini-UAVs has become of interest to

UAV magnetometry in mineral exploration and infrastructure detection

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, A.; Parvar, K.; Burns, M.

2015-12-01

Magnetic surveys are critical tools in mineral exploration and UAVs have the potential to carry magnetometers. UAV surveys can offer higher spatial resolution than traditional airborne surveys, and higher coverage than terrestrial surveys. However, the main advantage is their ability to sense the magnetic field in 3-D, while most airborne or terrestrial surveys are restricted to 2-D acquisition. This study compares UAV magnetic data from two different UAVs (JIB drone, DJI Phantom 2) and three different magnetometers (GEM GSPM35, Honeywell HMR2300, GEM GST-19). The first UAV survey was conducted using a JIB UAV with a GSPM35 flying at 10-15 m above ground. The survey's goal was to detect intrusive Rhyolite bodies for primary mineral exploration. The survey resulted in a better understanding of the validity/resolution of UAV data and led to improved knowledge about the geological structures in the area. The results further drove the design of a following terrestrial survey. Comparing the UAV data with an available airborne survey (upward continued to 250 m) reveals that the UAV data has superior spatial resolution, but exhibits a higher noise level. The magnetic anomalies related to the Rhyolite intrusions is about 109 nT and translates into an estimated depth of approximately 110 meters. The second survey was conducted using an in-house developed UAV magnetometer system equipped with a DJI Phantom 2 and a Honeywell HMR2300 fluxgate magnetometer. By flying the sensor in different altitudes, the vertical and horizontal gradients can be derived leading to full 3-D magnetic data volumes which can provide improved constraints for source depth/geometry characterization. We demonstrate that a buried steam pipeline was detectable with the UAV magnetometer system and compare the resulting data with a terrestrial survey using a GEM GST-19 Proton Precession Magnetometer.

Design of UAV (Diseño de un UAV)

OpenAIRE

Sacristán Estévez, José María

2016-01-01

En este proyecto se ha diseñado un dron, un vehículo aéreo no tripulado (UAV en sus siglas inglesas). El propósito de este proyecto es empezar el diseño desde cero hasta poder vender el dron y que sea rentable. Han sido calculados los parámetros necesarios para comenzar el diseño. Se ha comprobado si todas las partes del UAV son capaces de resistir un impacto contra el suelo durante su uso, y se ha buscado la forma más óptima de conseguir los materiales, así de cómo fabricar ciertas partes y ...

Estimation and Extrapolation of Tree Parameters Using Spectral Correlation between UAV and Pléiades Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azadeh Abdollahnejad

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The latest technological advances in space-borne imagery have significantly enhanced the acquisition of high-quality data. With the availability of very high-resolution satellites, such as Pléiades, it is now possible to estimate tree parameters at the individual level with high fidelity. Despite innovative advantages on high-precision satellites, data acquisition is not yet available to the public at a reasonable cost. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs have the practical advantage of data acquisition at a higher spatial resolution than that of satellites. This study is divided into two main parts: (1 we describe the estimation of basic tree attributes, such as tree height, crown diameter, diameter at breast height (DBH, and stem volume derived from UAV data based on structure from motion (SfM algorithms; and (2 we consider the extrapolation of the UAV data to a larger area, using correlation between satellite and UAV observations as an economically viable approach. Results have shown that UAVs can be used to predict tree characteristics with high accuracy (i.e., crown projection, stem volume, cross-sectional area (CSA, and height. We observed a significant relation between extracted data from UAV and ground data with R2 = 0.71 for stem volume, R2 = 0.87 for height, and R2 = 0.60 for CSA. In addition, our results showed a high linear relation between spectral data from the UAV and the satellite (R2 = 0.94. Overall, the accuracy of the results between UAV and Pléiades was reasonable and showed that the used methods are feasible for extrapolation of extracted data from UAV to larger areas.

UAV applications for thermodynamic profiling: Emphasis on ice fog research

Science.gov (United States)

Gultepe, Ismail; Heymsfield, Andrew J.; Fernando, Harindra J. S.; Hoch, Sebastian W.; Ware, Randolph

2016-04-01

Ice fog occurs often over the Arctic, cold climatic, and mountainous regions for about 30% of time where temperature (T) can go down to -10°C or below. Ice Nucleation (IN) and cooling processes play an important role by the controlling the intensity of ice fog conditions that affect aviation application, transportation, and local climate. Ice fog can also occur at T above -10°C but close to 0°C it occurs due to freezing of supercooled droplets that include an IN. To better document ice fog conditions, observations from the ice fog events of the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol effects on Climate (ISDAC) project, Barrow, Alaska, Fog Remote Sensing And Modeling (FRAM) project Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) project, Heber City, Utah, were analyzed.. Measurements difficulties of small ice fog particles at cold temperatures and low-level flying restrictions prevent observations from aircraft within the surface boundary layer. However, unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be operated safely to measure IN number concentration, Relative Humidity with respect to ice (RHi), T, horizontal wind speed (Uh) and direction, and ice crystal spectra less than about 500 micron. Thermodynamic profiling by a Radiometrics Profiling Microwave Radiometer (PMWR) and Vaisala CL51 ceilometer was used to describe ice fog conditions in the vertical and its time development. In this presentation, ice fog characteristics and its thermodynamic environment will be presented using both ground-based and airborne platforms such as a UAV with new sensors. Some examples of measurements from the UAV for future research, and challenges related to both ice fog measurements and visibility parameterization will also be presented.

Collaborative UAV Exploration of Hostile Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Luotsinen, Linus J; Gonzalez, Avelino J; Boeloeni, Ladislau

2004-01-01

.... UAVs can be lost or significantly damaged during the exploration process. Although employing multiple UAVs can increase the chance of success, their efficiency depends on the collaboration strategies used...

A Benchmark and Simulator for UAV Tracking

KAUST Repository

Mueller, Matthias; Smith, Neil; Ghanem, Bernard

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a new aerial video dataset and benchmark for low altitude UAV target tracking, as well as, a photorealistic UAV simulator that can be coupled with tracking methods. Our benchmark provides the first evaluation of many state-of-the-art and popular trackers on 123 new and fully annotated HD video sequences captured from a low-altitude aerial perspective. Among the compared trackers, we determine which ones are the most suitable for UAV tracking both in terms of tracking accuracy and run-time. The simulator can be used to evaluate tracking algorithms in real-time scenarios before they are deployed on a UAV “in the field”, as well as, generate synthetic but photo-realistic tracking datasets with automatic ground truth annotations to easily extend existing real-world datasets. Both the benchmark and simulator are made publicly available to the vision community on our website to further research in the area of object tracking from UAVs. (https://ivul.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/pub-benchmark-simulator-uav.aspx.). © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.

A Benchmark and Simulator for UAV Tracking

KAUST Repository

Mueller, Matthias

2016-09-16

In this paper, we propose a new aerial video dataset and benchmark for low altitude UAV target tracking, as well as, a photorealistic UAV simulator that can be coupled with tracking methods. Our benchmark provides the first evaluation of many state-of-the-art and popular trackers on 123 new and fully annotated HD video sequences captured from a low-altitude aerial perspective. Among the compared trackers, we determine which ones are the most suitable for UAV tracking both in terms of tracking accuracy and run-time. The simulator can be used to evaluate tracking algorithms in real-time scenarios before they are deployed on a UAV “in the field”, as well as, generate synthetic but photo-realistic tracking datasets with automatic ground truth annotations to easily extend existing real-world datasets. Both the benchmark and simulator are made publicly available to the vision community on our website to further research in the area of object tracking from UAVs. (https://ivul.kaust.edu.sa/Pages/pub-benchmark-simulator-uav.aspx.). © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.

Radio Channel Modelling for UAV Communication over Cellular Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amorim, Rafhael Medeiros de; Nguyen, Huan Cong; Mogensen, Preben Elgaard

2017-01-01

a commercial UAV. Our results show that path loss exponents decrease as the UAV moves up, approximating freespace propagation for horizontal ranges up to tens of kilometers at UAV heights around 100m. Our findings support the need of heightdependent parameters for describing the propagation channel for UAVs...

Wake up and smell the coffee. Caffeine, coffee, and the medical consequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, T

1992-11-01

Caffeine is a methylxanthine whose primary biologic effect is antagonism of the adenosine receptor. Its presence in coffee, tea, soda beverages, chocolate, and many prescription and over-the-counter drugs makes it the most commonly consumed stimulant drug. Initially caffeine increases blood pressure, plasma catecholamine levels, plasma renin activity, serum free fatty acid levels, urine production, and gastric acid secretion. Its long-term effects have been more difficult to substantiate. Most of the caffeine consumed in the United States is in coffee, which contains many other chemicals that may have other biologic actions. The consumption of coffee is a self-reinforcing behavior, and caffeine dependence and addiction are common. Coffee and caffeine intake have been linked to many illnesses, but definitive correlations have been difficult to substantiate. Initial trials showing coffee's association with coronary disease and myocardial infarction have been difficult to reproduce and have many confounding variables. Recent studies showing a larger effect over long follow-up periods and with heavy coffee consumption have again brought the question of the role of coffee in disease states to the fore. Caffeine in average dosages does not seem to increase the risk of arrhythmia. At present there is no convincing evidence that caffeine or coffee consumption increases the risk for any solid tumor. The intake of coffee and caffeine has clearly been decreasing in this country over the past two decades, largely brought about by the increasing health consciousness of Americans. Although there have been many studies that hint that the fears of increased disease with coffee drinking may be warranted, many questions have yet to be answered about the health effects of coffee and caffeine use.

Comparative effect of coffee robusta and coffee arabica (Qahwa) on memory and attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Alharbi, Waheeb D M; Azmat, Aisha; Ahmed, Muhammad

2018-04-13

The comparative effects of coffee robusta and coffee arabica (Qahwa) on different attention and memory related assignments were measured in a double-blind study of 300 healthy young adult women who were randomly assigned to one of three different drinks: Group I (coffee robusta sachet dissolved in 100 ml of hot water): Group II (coffee arabica): and group III (100 ml water only). Cognitive function was assessed by standardized tests. Several monitoring cognitive tests and tasks were specifically chosen and performed to investigate the comparative effects of coffee robusta (CR) and coffee arabica (Qahwa; AC) on sleepiness (sleep and clear headed scale), attention (trail A & B, symbol digit, letter cancellation), general cognitive ability (stroop test) and memory (card test). Data was interpreted by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The present study revealed that coffee robusta has beneficial effects on attention, general cognitive ability and memory. Higher though non-significant cognitive scores were associated with coffee robusta consumption. Although, consumption of coffee arabica (Qahwa) has significant effects (P < 0.05) on sleepiness, attention, general cognitive ability and memory and it significantly improve reaction time and correct responses. Since different tasks were related to the sustained attention and working memory processes, results would suggest that coffee arabica (qahwa) could increase the memory and efficiency of the attentional system might be due to the presence of chlorogenic acids (CGA) which are found in less quantity in coffee robusta. However, more studies using larger samples and different tasks are necessary to better understand the effects of coffee robusta and arabica (Qahwa) on attention and memory.

EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF ACTION CAMERAS WITH WIDE-ANGLE LENSES IN UAV PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Hastedt

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The application of light-weight cameras in UAV photogrammetry is required due to restrictions in payload. In general, consumer cameras with normal lens type are applied to a UAV system. The availability of action cameras, like the GoPro Hero4 Black, including a wide-angle lens (fish-eye lens offers new perspectives in UAV projects. With these investigations, different calibration procedures for fish-eye lenses are evaluated in order to quantify their accuracy potential in UAV photogrammetry. Herewith the GoPro Hero4 is evaluated using different acquisition modes. It is investigated to which extent the standard calibration approaches in OpenCV or Agisoft PhotoScan/Lens can be applied to the evaluation processes in UAV photogrammetry. Therefore different calibration setups and processing procedures are assessed and discussed. Additionally a pre-correction of the initial distortion by GoPro Studio and its application to the photogrammetric purposes will be evaluated. An experimental setup with a set of control points and a prospective flight scenario is chosen to evaluate the processing results using Agisoft PhotoScan. Herewith it is analysed to which extent a pre-calibration and pre-correction of a GoPro Hero4 will reinforce the reliability and accuracy of a flight scenario.

Evaluation of the Quality of Action Cameras with Wide-Angle Lenses in Uav Photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Hastedt, H.; Ekkel, T.; Luhmann, T.

2016-06-01

The application of light-weight cameras in UAV photogrammetry is required due to restrictions in payload. In general, consumer cameras with normal lens type are applied to a UAV system. The availability of action cameras, like the GoPro Hero4 Black, including a wide-angle lens (fish-eye lens) offers new perspectives in UAV projects. With these investigations, different calibration procedures for fish-eye lenses are evaluated in order to quantify their accuracy potential in UAV photogrammetry. Herewith the GoPro Hero4 is evaluated using different acquisition modes. It is investigated to which extent the standard calibration approaches in OpenCV or Agisoft PhotoScan/Lens can be applied to the evaluation processes in UAV photogrammetry. Therefore different calibration setups and processing procedures are assessed and discussed. Additionally a pre-correction of the initial distortion by GoPro Studio and its application to the photogrammetric purposes will be evaluated. An experimental setup with a set of control points and a prospective flight scenario is chosen to evaluate the processing results using Agisoft PhotoScan. Herewith it is analysed to which extent a pre-calibration and pre-correction of a GoPro Hero4 will reinforce the reliability and accuracy of a flight scenario.

The Way Ahead For Maritime UAVS

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pearson , II, F. C

2006-01-01

.... There is an overarching USN plan for UAVs, but I propose an emphasis should be placed on the close range or tactical UAVs that will directly complement battle space management, increase situational...

An UAV scheduling and planning method for post-disaster survey

Science.gov (United States)

Li, G. Q.; Zhou, X. G.; Yin, J.; Xiao, Q. Y.

2014-11-01

Annually, the extreme climate and special geological environments lead to frequent natural disasters, e.g., earthquakes, floods, etc. The disasters often bring serious casualties and enormous economic losses. Post-disaster surveying is very important for disaster relief and assessment. As the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) remote sensing with the advantage of high efficiency, high precision, high flexibility, and low cost, it is widely used in emergency surveying in recent years. As the UAVs used in emergency surveying cannot stop and wait for the happening of the disaster, when the disaster happens the UAVs usually are working at everywhere. In order to improve the emergency surveying efficiency, it is needed to track the UAVs and assign the emergency surveying task for each selected UAV. Therefore, a UAV tracking and scheduling method for post-disaster survey is presented in this paper. In this method, Global Positioning System (GPS), and GSM network are used to track the UAVs; an emergency tracking UAV information database is built in advance by registration, the database at least includes the following information, e.g., the ID of the UAVs, the communication number of the UAVs; when catastrophe happens, the real time location of all UAVs in the database will be gotten using emergency tracking method at first, then the traffic cost time for all UAVs to the disaster region will be calculated based on the UAVs' the real time location and the road network using the nearest services analysis algorithm; the disaster region is subdivided to several emergency surveying regions based on DEM, area, and the population distribution map; the emergency surveying regions are assigned to the appropriated UAV according to shortest cost time rule. The UAVs tracking and scheduling prototype is implemented using SQLServer2008, ArcEnginge 10.1 SDK, Visual Studio 2010 C#, Android, SMS Modem, and Google Maps API.

Coffee and Liver Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadhawan, Manav; Anand, Anil C

2016-03-01

Coffee is the most popular beverage in the world. Consumption of coffee has been shown to benefit health in general, and liver health in particular. This article reviews the effects of coffee intake on development and progression of liver disease due to various causes. We also describe the putative mechanisms by which coffee exerts the protective effect. The clinical evidence of benefit of coffee consumption in Hepatitis B and C, as well as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcoholic liver disease, has also been presented. Coffee consumption is associated with improvement in liver enzymes (ALT, AST, and GGTP), especially in individuals with risk for liver disease. Coffee intake more than 2 cups per day in patients with preexisting liver disease has been shown to be associated with lower incidence of fibrosis and cirrhosis, lower hepatocellular carcinoma rates, as well as decreased mortality.

SKYLARK - A crossbow-launched micro scale cheap UAV for close aerial surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru-Marius PANAIT

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Close air support of ground troops especially in densely populated, urban environments has an ever increasing prevalence in the modern warfare. Counter-terrorism activities as well as land-based “surgical strikes” impose a set of special requirements on all the used weapons and equipment so as to minimize weight, cost and complexity and maximize efficiency. Small scale UAVs are in service with all the armed forces around the globe; micro UAVs are emerging as the ground troop close support preferred solution. Endurance and range of these devices is regularly small to very small, and their speed is low. Their small size makes them virtually un-targetable if somewhat still detectable. A new generation of micro-drones is proposed, with a higher speed (up to 350 km/h ground speed averaged and automatic recovery system. Project SKYLARK consists of a reusable minimal micro-UAV featuring a portable micro-USB camera and an aerodynamically assisted timer-based recovery system.

Teaching UAVs to Race Using UE4Sim

KAUST Repository

Mueller, Matthias

2017-08-19

Automating the navigation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in diverse scenarios has gained much attention in the recent years. However, teaching UAVs to fly in challenging environments remains an unsolved problem, mainly due to the lack of data for training. In this paper, we develop a photo-realistic simulator that can afford the generation of large amounts of training data (both images rendered from the UAV camera and its controls) to teach a UAV to autonomously race through challenging tracks. We train a deep neural network to predict UAV controls from raw image data for the task of autonomous UAV racing. Training is done through imitation learning enabled by data augmentation to allow for the correction of navigation mistakes. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our trained network (when sufficient data augmentation is used) outperforms state-of-the-art methods and flies more consistently than many human pilots.

Teaching UAVs to Race Using UE4Sim

KAUST Repository

Mueller, Matthias; Casser, Vincent; Smith, Neil; Michels, Dominik L.; Ghanem, Bernard

2017-01-01

Automating the navigation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in diverse scenarios has gained much attention in the recent years. However, teaching UAVs to fly in challenging environments remains an unsolved problem, mainly due to the lack of data for training. In this paper, we develop a photo-realistic simulator that can afford the generation of large amounts of training data (both images rendered from the UAV camera and its controls) to teach a UAV to autonomously race through challenging tracks. We train a deep neural network to predict UAV controls from raw image data for the task of autonomous UAV racing. Training is done through imitation learning enabled by data augmentation to allow for the correction of navigation mistakes. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our trained network (when sufficient data augmentation is used) outperforms state-of-the-art methods and flies more consistently than many human pilots.

Some like it hot: the influence and implications of climate change on coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei and coffee production in East Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Jaramillo

Full Text Available The negative effects of climate change are already evident for many of the 25 million coffee farmers across the tropics and the 90 billion dollar (US coffee industry. The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei, the most important pest of coffee worldwide, has already benefited from the temperature rise in East Africa: increased damage to coffee crops and expansion in its distribution range have been reported. In order to anticipate threats and prioritize management actions for H. hampei we present here, maps on future distributions of H. hampei in coffee producing areas of East Africa. Using the CLIMEX model we relate present-day insect distributions to current climate and then project the fitted climatic envelopes under future scenarios A2A and B2B (for HADCM3 model. In both scenarios, the situation with H. hampei is forecasted to worsen in the current Coffea arabica producing areas of Ethiopia, the Ugandan part of the Lake Victoria and Mt. Elgon regions, Mt. Kenya and the Kenyan side of Mt. Elgon, and most of Rwanda and Burundi. The calculated hypothetical number of generations per year of H. hampei is predicted to increase in all C. arabica-producing areas from five to ten. These outcomes will have serious implications for C. arabica production and livelihoods in East Africa. We suggest that the best way to adapt to a rise of temperatures in coffee plantations could be via the introduction of shade trees in sun grown plantations. The aims of this study are to fill knowledge gaps existing in the coffee industry, and to draft an outline for the development of an adaptation strategy package for climate change on coffee production. An abstract in Spanish is provided as Abstract S1.

Too much coffee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordentoft, Helle Merete; Olesen, Birgitte Ravn

coffee can be motivated to drink less coffee. The ethnomethodological perspective reveals how the participants’ different common-sense and hierarchical perceptions of a normative theory and its meaning in practice appears to guide the talk about how to motivate the patient to drink less coffee....... The negotiation between the researchers’ and practitioners’ approach to the coffee drinking patient facilitate a more profound understanding of how different knowledge forms can be at play in other ways than expected. In conclusion the findings show that dialogue and interplay between different knowledge forms...

Green Coffee

Science.gov (United States)

... coffee product Coffee Slender (Med-Eq Ltd., Tonsberg, Norway), lose an average of 2.5 to 3. ... might increase the risk of experiencing serious or life-threatening side effects such as high blood pressure, ...

Coffee seed physiology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eira, M.T.S.; Silva, da E.A.A.; Castro, de R.D.; Dussert, S.; Walters, C.; Bewley, J.D.; Hilhorst, H.W.M.

2006-01-01

Coffee is a member of the Rubiaceae family and the genus Coffea. There are more than 70 species of coffee but only two are economically important: Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora Pierre; 70 % of the coffee traded in the world is arabica and 30 % is robusta (C. canephora). Other species such

My Morning Coffee: The Effect of Climate Change on the Economies of Coffee-Producing Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Shilling, K.; Brauman, K. A.

2012-12-01

Through its effect on export crops, climate change will have important effects on economic systems and government capacity in sub-Saharan Africa. We show that climate change effects on three important export crops - coffee, cocoa and cotton - will undermine large portions of the economy, not just the rural farmers who grow these crops. Our analysis is based high-resolution data on crop location, temperature, and water requirements in conjunction with new projections for temperature increases and precipitation changes in sub-Saharan Africa. Our focus on export crops is distinct from most work on the effects of climate change on agriculture, which often focuses on subsistence and food crops. We posit that substantial and important effects on the economy and political systems will come from negative impacts on cash crops, which underpin many economies in sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, 3% of cropland in Uganda (and 2% in Ethiopia) is used for coffee production and over 3.5 million households are involved in the sector; by contrast, 7% of cropland in Uganda (and 11% in Ethiopia) is used for maize, which contributes much less to the formal economy. The relationship between the value of coffee exported and government revenue illustrates the importance of coffee to political and economic stability. A drop in the export value of coffee by 10% in Uganda will drive government revenue down by 20%, and while there is uncertainty around the exact impact of climate change, it is likely that production will take a turn for the worse. We use these factors to assess reliance of select country's economy on these crops, from the farmer to the exporter; the sensitivity of the crops to variation in the climate; and the subsequent impact on government capacity. Our research illustrates how strongly the impacts of climate change are linked to economic and political structures.

Air Force UAVs: The Secret History

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

iA Mitchell Institute Study i Air Force UAVs The Secret History A Mitchell Institute Study July 2010 By Thomas P. Ehrhard Report Documentation Page...DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Air Force UAVs The Secret History 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c...opening phases of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. By Thomas P. Ehrhard a miTchEll insTiTuTE sTudy July 2010 Air Force UAVs The Secret History

Uav-Based 3d Urban Environment Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Boonpook, Wuttichai; Tan, Yumin; Liu, Huaqing; Zhao, Binbin; He, Lingfeng

2018-04-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing can be used to make three-dimensions (3D) mapping with great flexibility, besides the ability to provide high resolution images. In this paper we propose a quick-change detection method on UAV images by combining altitude from Digital Surface Model (DSM) and texture analysis from images. Cases of UAV images with and without georeferencing are both considered. Research results show that the accuracy of change detection can be enhanced with georeferencing procedure, and the accuracy and precision of change detection on UAV images which are collected both vertically and obliquely but without georeferencing also have a good performance.

Review of the Current State of UAV Regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Stöcker

2017-05-01

Full Text Available UAVs—unmanned aerial vehicles—facilitate data acquisition at temporal and spatial scales that still remain unachievable for traditional remote sensing platforms. However, current legal frameworks that regulate UAVs present significant barriers to research and development. To highlight the importance, impact, and diversity of UAV regulations, this paper provides an exploratory investigation of UAV regulations on the global scale. For this, the methodological approach consists of a research synthesis of UAV regulations, including a thorough literature review and a comparative analysis of national regulatory frameworks. Similarities and contrasting elements in the various national UAV regulations are explored including their statuses from the perspectives of past, present, and future trends. Since the early 2000s, countries have gradually established national legal frameworks. Although all UAV regulations have one common goal—minimizing the risks to other airspace users and to both people and property on the ground—the results reveal distinct variations in all the compared variables. Furthermore, besides the clear presence of legal frameworks, market forces such as industry design standards and reliable information about UAVs as public goods are expected to shape future developments.

Flight safety measurements of UAVs in congested airspace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Jinwu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Describing spatial safety status is crucial for high-density air traffic involving multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs in a complex environment. A probabilistic approach is proposed to measure safety situation in congested airspace. The occupancy distribution of the airspace is represented with conflict probability between spatial positions and UAV. The concept of a safety envelope related to flight performance and response time is presented first instead of the conventional fixed-size protected zones around aircraft. Consequently, the conflict probability is performance-dependent, and effects of various UAVs on safety can be distinguished. The uncertainty of a UAV future position is explicitly accounted for as Brownian motion. An analytic approximate algorithm for the conflict probability is developed to decrease the computational consumption. The relationship between safety and flight performance are discussed for different response times and prediction intervals. To illustrate the applications of the approach, an experiment of three UAVs in formation flight is performed. In addition, an example of trajectory planning is simulated for one UAV flying over airspace where five UAVs exist. The validation of the approach shows its potential in guaranteeing flight safety in highly dynamic environment.

Air Force UAV’s: The Secret History

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

iA Mitchell Institute Study i Air Force UAVs The Secret History A Mitchell Institute Study July 2010 By Thomas P. Ehrhard Report Documentation Page...DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Air Force UAVs The Secret History 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c... The Secret History 2 Air Force UAVs: The Secret History2 air Force uaVs: The secret history Has any airplane in the past decade captured the public

Photogrammetric Measurements in Fixed Wing Uav Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Gülch, E.

2012-07-01

Several flights have been undertaken with PAMS (Photogrammetric Aerial Mapping System) by Germap, Germany, which is briefly introduced. This system is based on the SmartPlane fixed-wing UAV and a CANON IXUS camera system. The plane is equipped with GPS and has an infrared sensor system to estimate attitude values. A software has been developed to link the PAMS output to a standard photogrammetric processing chain built on Trimble INPHO. The linking of the image files and image IDs and the handling of different cases with partly corrupted output have to be solved to generate an INPHO project file. Based on this project file the software packages MATCH-AT, MATCH-T DSM, OrthoMaster and OrthoVista for digital aerial triangulation, DTM/DSM generation and finally digital orthomosaik generation are applied. The focus has been on investigations on how to adapt the "usual" parameters for the digital aerial triangulation and other software to the UAV flight conditions, which are showing high overlaps, large kappa angles and a certain image blur in case of turbulences. It was found, that the selected parameter setup shows a quite stable behaviour and can be applied to other flights. A comparison is made to results from other open source multi-ray matching software to handle the issue of the described flight conditions. Flights over the same area at different times have been compared to each other. The major objective was here to see, on how far differences occur relative to each other, without having access to ground control data, which would have a potential for applications with low requirements on the absolute accuracy. The results show, that there are influences of weather and illumination visible. The "unusual" flight pattern, which shows big time differences for neighbouring strips has an influence on the AT and DTM/DSM generation. The results obtained so far do indicate problems in the stability of the camera calibration. This clearly requests a usage of GCPs for all

Earth Science Capability Demonstration Project

Science.gov (United States)

Cobleigh, Brent

2006-01-01

A viewgraph presentation reviewing the Earth Science Capability Demonstration Project is shown. The contents include: 1) ESCD Project; 2) Available Flight Assets; 3) Ikhana Procurement; 4) GCS Layout; 5) Baseline Predator B Architecture; 6) Ikhana Architecture; 7) UAV Capability Assessment; 8) The Big Picture; 9) NASA/NOAA UAV Demo (5/05 to 9/05); 10) NASA/USFS Western States Fire Mission (8/06); and 11) Suborbital Telepresence.

Dynamics of the international coffee market and instrumental in price formation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo Candéa Sá Barreto

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study's main general objective of studying the behavior of coffee beans on the international market. Empirical analysis uses econometric tool as a model of simultaneous equations using least squares in a three-stage annual data base extending over the period 1964 / 65-2014 / 15. The results suggest that the factors that affect the production of coffee beans are the actual prices and the planted area. However, demand is affected by the growth of the world economy. The price simulations for the period 2014/15 - 2020/21 indicate that a yearly growth (GDP of 2.1% there is a tendency of small high price to 3.6% moderate rise in the price of coffee until 2018/19 and a stronger growth trend of prices from 2019/20 and a growth of 4.7% a high coffee prices trend in grain on the international market. Thus the tendency of the projections 3 and the key market factors continue to favor the maintenance of current high coffee prices. For the full period 1964/65 to 2014/15 there is a moderate relationship between coffee prices and the stock. It follows that the results obtained with the scenarios developed in this work can be useful to rethink measures to recover income from coffee producing countries

APPLICATION OF SENSOR FUSION TO IMPROVE UAV IMAGE CLASSIFICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Jabari

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Image classification is one of the most important tasks of remote sensing projects including the ones that are based on using UAV images. Improving the quality of UAV images directly affects the classification results and can save a huge amount of time and effort in this area. In this study, we show that sensor fusion can improve image quality which results in increasing the accuracy of image classification. Here, we tested two sensor fusion configurations by using a Panchromatic (Pan camera along with either a colour camera or a four-band multi-spectral (MS camera. We use the Pan camera to benefit from its higher sensitivity and the colour or MS camera to benefit from its spectral properties. The resulting images are then compared to the ones acquired by a high resolution single Bayer-pattern colour camera (here referred to as HRC. We assessed the quality of the output images by performing image classification tests. The outputs prove that the proposed sensor fusion configurations can achieve higher accuracies compared to the images of the single Bayer-pattern colour camera. Therefore, incorporating a Pan camera on-board in the UAV missions and performing image fusion can help achieving higher quality images and accordingly higher accuracy classification results.

Application of Sensor Fusion to Improve Uav Image Classification

Science.gov (United States)

Jabari, S.; Fathollahi, F.; Zhang, Y.

2017-08-01

Image classification is one of the most important tasks of remote sensing projects including the ones that are based on using UAV images. Improving the quality of UAV images directly affects the classification results and can save a huge amount of time and effort in this area. In this study, we show that sensor fusion can improve image quality which results in increasing the accuracy of image classification. Here, we tested two sensor fusion configurations by using a Panchromatic (Pan) camera along with either a colour camera or a four-band multi-spectral (MS) camera. We use the Pan camera to benefit from its higher sensitivity and the colour or MS camera to benefit from its spectral properties. The resulting images are then compared to the ones acquired by a high resolution single Bayer-pattern colour camera (here referred to as HRC). We assessed the quality of the output images by performing image classification tests. The outputs prove that the proposed sensor fusion configurations can achieve higher accuracies compared to the images of the single Bayer-pattern colour camera. Therefore, incorporating a Pan camera on-board in the UAV missions and performing image fusion can help achieving higher quality images and accordingly higher accuracy classification results.

[Coffee as hepatoprotective factor].

Science.gov (United States)

Szántová, Mária; Ďurkovičová, Zuzana

The mind about the coffee did change upon the recent studies and metaanalysis of the last years. Consensual protective effect of coffee on the progression of chronic liver diseases (NASH, viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, hepatocelullar carcinoma) was detected in experimental, clinical and large population studies together with decrease of mortality. Antioxidant, antifibrotic, insulinsensitizing and anticarcinogenic effect of coffee were detected. Modulation of genetic expression of key enzymes of fatty acid synthesis, modulation of mRNA included in autophagia, reduction of stress of endoplasmatic reticulum together with decrease of proinflammatory cytokines and decrease of fibrogenesis are main mechanisms. Chlorogenic acids, diterpens (cafestol, kahweol), caffein, polyfenols and melanoidins are key protective components of coffee. Inverse dose-dependent correlation of coffee consumption with liver diseases was found in clinical and population studies. Coffee is non-pharmacological tool of primary and secondary prevention of chronic liver diseases. Review of published data together with supposed mechanisms of hepatoprotection are given.Key words: coffee - hepatoprotective effect - metaanalysis.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in pest management: Progress in the development of a UAV-deployed mating disruption system for Wisconsin cranberries

Science.gov (United States)

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) represent a powerful new tool for agriculture. Currently, UAVs are used almost exclusively as crop reconnaissance devices (“eyes in the sky”), not as pest control delivery systems. Research in Wisconsin cranberries is taking UAVs in a new direction. The Steffan and Lu...

Coffee and pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, Bodil Hammer

Background: Coffee consumption in Denmark is high also among pregnant women and it is presumably their main source of caffeine intake. Coffee or caffeine intake during pregnancy has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and reduced fetal growth. However...... a review of the literature indicates that further studies are needed to test the hypothesis of an effect of coffee or caffeine on the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.The aim of the thesis was to study the relation between coffee and the risk of fetal death and the relation between caffeine intake...

Influence of coffee/water ratio on the final quality of espresso coffee

OpenAIRE

Andueza, S. (Susana); Vila, M.A. (María A.); Peña, M.P. (María Paz) de; Cid, C. (Concepción)

2007-01-01

Espresso coffee is a polyphasic beverage in which the physico-chemical and sensory characteristics obviously depend on both the selection of ground roasted coffee and the technical conditions of the percolation process. The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of the coffee/water ratio on the physico-chemical and sensory quality of espresso coffee. Furthermore, the influence of botanical varieties (Arabica and Robusta) and the type of roast (conventional and torrefacto) on the selec...

lon beam analysis of Brazilian coffee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Debastiani, R.; Santos, C.E.I. dos; Ramos, M.M.; Souza, V.S.; Yoneama, M.L.; Amaral, L.; Dias, J.F. [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande so Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

2013-07-01

Full text: Coffee is one of the most popular and consumed beverages worldwide. Consumers can make the beverage from different types of coffee such as ground coffee, instant coffee or grinding roasted coffee beans. Each type of coffee leads to different characteristics in flavor and scent. The aim of this work is to perform an elemental analysis of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. To that end, eight popular Brazilian ground coffee brands have been chosen to make a comparative study among brands. One of these brands was selected for a complete study of the beverage preparation process. This same brand offers packages of roasted coffee beans, which allowed the elemental comparison between ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. Roasted coffee beans were ground with a pestle and mortar. The beverage was prepared using a typical coffee pot. The spent and liquid coffees were submitted to a heat treatment and subsequently homogenized and pressed into pellets. The filters used in the coffee pot were analyzed as well. For micro-PIXE studies, coffee beans were cut in different parts for analysis. Samples of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans (grind) were analyzed by PIXE, while light elements like C, O and N were analyzed by RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry). The roasted coffee beans were analyzed by micro-PIXE to check the elemental distribution in the beans. The elements found in powder coffee were Mg, AI, Si, P, S, CI, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Rb. Potassium is the element with higher concentration, while Ti and Zn are trace elements. AI, Si and Ti showed the same concentration for all brands. Potassium and chlorine have high solubility, and about 80% of their concentration is transferred from the powder to the beverage during the infusion. Mg, P, CI, K, Mn, Fe, Zn and Rb showed significant variation between ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. The elemental maps show that potassium and phosphorus are correlated, and iron appears in particular

lon beam analysis of Brazilian coffee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debastiani, R.; Santos, C.E.I. dos; Ramos, M.M.; Souza, V.S.; Yoneama, M.L.; Amaral, L.; Dias, J.F.

2013-01-01

Full text: Coffee is one of the most popular and consumed beverages worldwide. Consumers can make the beverage from different types of coffee such as ground coffee, instant coffee or grinding roasted coffee beans. Each type of coffee leads to different characteristics in flavor and scent. The aim of this work is to perform an elemental analysis of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. To that end, eight popular Brazilian ground coffee brands have been chosen to make a comparative study among brands. One of these brands was selected for a complete study of the beverage preparation process. This same brand offers packages of roasted coffee beans, which allowed the elemental comparison between ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. Roasted coffee beans were ground with a pestle and mortar. The beverage was prepared using a typical coffee pot. The spent and liquid coffees were submitted to a heat treatment and subsequently homogenized and pressed into pellets. The filters used in the coffee pot were analyzed as well. For micro-PIXE studies, coffee beans were cut in different parts for analysis. Samples of ground coffee and roasted coffee beans (grind) were analyzed by PIXE, while light elements like C, O and N were analyzed by RBS (Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry). The roasted coffee beans were analyzed by micro-PIXE to check the elemental distribution in the beans. The elements found in powder coffee were Mg, AI, Si, P, S, CI, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn and Rb. Potassium is the element with higher concentration, while Ti and Zn are trace elements. AI, Si and Ti showed the same concentration for all brands. Potassium and chlorine have high solubility, and about 80% of their concentration is transferred from the powder to the beverage during the infusion. Mg, P, CI, K, Mn, Fe, Zn and Rb showed significant variation between ground coffee and roasted coffee beans. The elemental maps show that potassium and phosphorus are correlated, and iron appears in particular

Contour Detection for UAV-Based Cadastral Mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sophie Crommelinck

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs provide a flexible and low-cost solution for the acquisition of high-resolution data. The potential of high-resolution UAV imagery to create and update cadastral maps is being increasingly investigated. Existing procedures generally involve substantial fieldwork and many manual processes. Arguably, multiple parts of UAV-based cadastral mapping workflows could be automated. Specifically, as many cadastral boundaries coincide with visible boundaries, they could be extracted automatically using image analysis methods. This study investigates the transferability of gPb contour detection, a state-of-the-art computer vision method, to remotely sensed UAV images and UAV-based cadastral mapping. Results show that the approach is transferable to UAV data and automated cadastral mapping: object contours are comprehensively detected at completeness and correctness rates of up to 80%. The detection quality is optimal when the entire scene is covered with one orthoimage, due to the global optimization of gPb contour detection. However, a balance between high completeness and correctness is hard to achieve, so a combination with area-based segmentation and further object knowledge is proposed. The localization quality exhibits the usual dependency on ground resolution. The approach has the potential to accelerate the process of general boundary delineation during the creation and updating of cadastral maps.

FEASIBILITY COMPARISON OF AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING DATA AND 3D-POINT CLOUDS FORMED FROM UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV-BASED IMAGERY USED FOR 3D PROJECTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. I. Rilskiy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available New, innovative methods of aerial surveys have changed the approaches to information provision of projecting dramatically for the last 15 years. Nowadays there are at least two methods that claim to be the most efficient way for collecting geospatial data intended for projecting – the airborne laser scanning (LIDAR data and photogrammetrically processed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV-based aerial imagery, forming 3D point clouds. But these materials are not identical to each other neither in precision, nor in completeness.Airborne laser scanning (LIDAR is normally being performed using manned aircrafts. LIDAR data are very precise, they allow us to achieve data about relief even overgrown with vegetation, or to collect laser reflections from wires, metal constructions and poles. UAV surveys are normally being performed using frame digital cameras (lightweight, full-frame, or mid-size. These cameras form images that are being processed using 3D photogrammetric software in automatic mode that allows one to generate 3D point cloud, which is used for building digital elevation models, surfaces, orthomosaics, etc.All these materials are traditionally being used for making maps and GIS data. LIDAR data have been popular in design work. Also there have been some attempts to use for the same purpose 3D-point clouds, formed by photogrammetric software from images acquired from UAVs.After comparison of the datasets from these two different types of surveying (surveys were made simultaneously on the same territory, it became possible to define some specific, typical for LIDAR or imagery-based 3D data. It can be mentioned that imagery-based 3D data (3D point clouds, formed in automatic mode using photogrammetry, are much worse than LIDAR data – both in terms of precision and completeness.The article highlights these differences and makes attempts at explaining the origin of these differences. 

[Coffee in Cancer Chemoprevention].

Science.gov (United States)

Neuwirthová, J; Gál, B; Smilek, P; Urbánková, P

Coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of several diseases including cancer. Its chemopreventive effect has been studied in vitro, in animal models, and more recently in humans. Several modes of action have been proposed, namely, inhibition of oxidative stress and damage, activation of metabolizing liver enzymes involved in carcinogen detoxification processes, and anti-inflammatory effects. The antioxidant activity of coffee relies partly on its chlorogenic acid content and is increased during the roasting process. Maximum antioxidant activity is observed for medium-roasted coffee. The roasting process leads to the formation of several components, e.g., melanoidins, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Coffee also contains two specific diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol, which have anticarcinogenic properties. Roasted coffee is a complex mixture of various chemicals. Previous studies have reported that the chemopreventive components present in coffee induce apoptosis, inhibit growth and metastasis of tumor cells, and elicit antiangiogenic effects. A meta-analysis of epidemiological studies showed that coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of developing various malignant tumors. This review summarizes the molecular mechanisms and the experimental and epidemiological evidence supporting the chemopreventive effect of coffee.Key words: coffee - chemoprevention - antioxidative enzyme - detoxification enzyme - anti-inflammatory effect The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers.Submitted: 11. 9. 2016Accepted: 24. 11. 2016.

Commercial UAV operations in civil airspace

Science.gov (United States)

Newcome, Laurence R.

2000-11-01

The Federal Aviation Administration is often portrayed as the major impediment to unmanned aerial vehicle expansion into civil government and commercial markets. This paper describes one company's record for successfully negotiating the FAA regulations and obtaining authorizations for several types of UAVs to fly commercial reconnaissance missions in civil airspace. The process and criteria for obtaining such authorizations are described. The mishap records of the Pioneer, Predator and Hunter UAVs are examined in regard to their impact on FAA rule making. The paper concludes with a discussion of the true impediments to UAV penetration of commercial markets to date.

Kibale forest wild coffee: challenges to market-based conservation in Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Lilieholm, Robert J; Weatherly, W Paul

2010-08-01

Declining rural security and pressures to reduce public-sector expenditures in the late 1990s spurred efforts to develop alternative funding models for Uganda's Kibale National Park (KNP). The Wild Coffee Project, established in 1999 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and the Ford Foundation, sought to develop a market for wild coffee that had been harvested traditionally from areas within today's KNP. The Kibale Forest Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, was created to legalize harvests, obtain third-party wild and organic certification, and coordinate management between KNP, the coffee industry, and local communities. Although the project was successful in legalizing, harvesting, and processing the world's first certified wild and organic coffee, efforts to gain entry into the international marketplace failed. Chief among the lessons learned from this project is that for many wild-grown products, the value of "the story"--in both human and conservation terms--is likely to far exceed actual product values. This value differential should be captured through high-value niche markets to avoid low commodity pricing and subsequent pressures to improve financial returns through over harvesting. In addition, local producers should hold significant assets in whatever brands are developed, creating a shared-equity approach that serves social responsibility goals, fosters project sustainability, and ensures a steady stream of positive stories for use in marketing to build brand value. Shared equity--in this case ownership interest in the intellectual property embodied in the brand--provides a second incentive beyond transactional profits that can only be realized if resource conservation is maintained.

Coffee and spent coffee extracts protect against cell mutagens and inhibit growth of food-borne pathogen microorganisms

OpenAIRE

Cid, C. (Concepción); Peña, M.P. (María Paz) de; Arbillaga, L. (Leire); Vitas, A.I. (Ana Isabel); Bravo, J. (Jimena); Monente, C. (Carmen)

2015-01-01

Coffee consumption decreases the risk of oxidative stress-related diseases. The by-product obtained after brewing process (spent coffee) also has antioxidant capacity. Spent coffee and coffee brews (filter and espresso) extracts were obtained from Arabica and Robusta coffees, respectively. Spent coffee showed slightly high amounts in chlorogenic acids, but caffeine content was similar to their respective coffee brew. All samples exhibited strong protection activity against indirect acting mut...

Do Coffee Farmers Benefit in Food Security from Participating in Coffee Cooperatives? Evidence from Southwest Ethiopia Coffee Cooperatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Shumeta, Zekarias; D'Haese, Marijke

2018-06-01

Most coffee in Ethiopia is produced by smallholder farmers who face a daily struggle to get sufficient income but also to feed their families. At the same time, many smallholder coffee producers are members of cooperatives. Yet, literature has paid little attention to the effect of cooperatives on combating food insecurity among cash crop producers including coffee farmers. The objective of the study was to investigate how coffee cooperative membership may affect food security among coffee farm households in Southwest Ethiopia. The study used cross-sectional household data on income, expenditure on food, staple food production (maize and teff), and utilization of improved inputs (fertilizer and improved seed) collected from 256 randomly selected farm households (132 cooperative members and 124 nonmembers) and applied an inverse probability weighting (IPW) estimation to assess the impact of cooperative membership on food security. The result revealed that cooperative membership has a positive and significant effect on staple food production (maize and teff) and facilitated technological transformation via increased utilization of fertilizer and improved seeds. Nonetheless, the effect on food expenditure and income could not be confirmed. Findings suggest a trade-off between coffee marketing and input supply functions of the cooperatives, impairing their true food security impact from the pooled income and production effect.

UAV State Estimation Modeling Techniques in AHRS

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Shikin; Zhahir, Amzari

2017-11-01

Autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system is depending on state estimation feedback to control flight operation. Estimation on the correct state improves navigation accuracy and achieves flight mission safely. One of the sensors configuration used in UAV state is Attitude Heading and Reference System (AHRS) with application of Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) or feedback controller. The results of these two different techniques in estimating UAV states in AHRS configuration are displayed through position and attitude graphs.

Synthesis of Control Algorithm for a Leaderheaded UAVs Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. O. Samodov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, a defense sphere uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs. UAVs have several advantages over manned aircrafts such as small size, reduced combat losses of personnel, etc. In addition, in threat environment, it is necessary to arrange both bringing together distant from each other UAVs in a group and their undetected in radar fields compact flying in terms of the joint flight security.However, the task to control a UAVs group is much more difficult than to control a single UAV, since it is necessary not only to control the aircraft, but also take into account the relative position of objects in the group.To solve this problem two ways are possible: using a network exchange between members of the group on the "everyone with everyone" principle and organizing the leader-headed flight.The aim of the article is to develop and study a possible option of the UAVs group control with arranging a leader-headed flight to provide the undetected in radar fields compact flying in terms of the joint flight security.The article develops a universal algorithm to control leader-headed group, based on a new modification of the statistical theory of optimal control. It studies effectiveness of the algorithm. While solving this task, a flight of seven UAVs was simulated in the horizontal plane in a rectangular coordinate system. Control time, linear errors of desired alignment of UAV, and control errors with respect to angular coordinates are used as measures of merit.The study results of the algorithm to control a leader-headed group of UAVs confirmed that it is possible to fulfill tasks of flying free-of-collision group of UAVs with essentially reduced computational costs.

Using crowd sourcing to combat potentially illegal or dangerous UAV operations

Science.gov (United States)

Tapsall, Brooke T.

2016-10-01

The UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) industry is growing exponentially at a pace that policy makers, individual countries and law enforcement agencies are finding difficult to keep up. The UAV market is large, as such the amount of UAVs being operated in potentially dangerous situations is prevalent and rapidly increasing. Media is continually reporting `near-miss' incidents between UAVs and commercial aircraft, UAV breaching security in sensitive areas or invading public privacy. One major challenge for law enforcement agencies is gaining tangible evidence against potentially dangerous or illegal UAV operators due to the rapidity with which UAV operators are able to enter, fly and exit a scene before authorities can arrive or before they can be located. DroneALERT, an application available via the Airport-UAV.com website, allows users to capture potentially dangerous or illegal UAV activity using their mobile device as it the incident is occurring. A short online DroneALERT Incident Report (DIR) is produced, emailed to the user and the Airport-UAV.com custodians. The DIR can be used to aid authorities in their investigations. The DIR contains details such as images and videos, location, time, date of the incident, drone model, its distance and height. By analysing information from the DIR, photos or video, there is a high potential for law enforcement authorities to use this evidence to identify the type of UAV used, triangulate the location of the potential dangerous UAV and operator, create a timeline of events, potential areas of operator exit and to determine the legalities breached. All provides crucial evidence for identifying and prosecuting a UAV operator.

Can good coffee prices increase smallholder revenue?

OpenAIRE

Pinard, Fabrice; Aithal, Anand

2011-01-01

The global coffee market is currently plagued by 2 paradoxes, a coffee boom in consuming countries, and a coffee crisis in producing countries (over supply of low quality coffee and shortage of high quality coffee) which is actually driving the coffee market (Daviron and Ponte, 2005). After the termination of the International Coffee Agreement between producing and consuming countries in 1989, the coffee market has been in a flux, with market forces and over supply bringing down the coffee pr...

Development Situation, Trend and Countermeasure of Consumer-level UAV Market in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kang Yu-Lei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is based on the status of Chinese consumer-level UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle market. According to the main problems in Chinese consumer-level UAV market, the author analyses the trends of Chinese consumer-level UAV market. Then, the author put forward some suggestions to develop Chinese consumer-level UAV market. In 21st century, the research and development expenditure presents the explosive growth in Chinese consumer-level UAV market. From the year of 2012, DJI released their first consumer-level UAV product. Amazon, Facebook, Google and other companies have announced their entry into the UAV market. In 2016, Huawei also announced that it will enter the UAV market.

Automatic Reverse Engineering of Private Flight Control Protocols of UAVs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ran Ji

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The increasing use of civil unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs has the potential to threaten public safety and privacy. Therefore, airspace administrators urgently need an effective method to regulate UAVs. Understanding the meaning and format of UAV flight control commands by automatic protocol reverse-engineering techniques is highly beneficial to UAV regulation. To improve our understanding of the meaning and format of UAV flight control commands, this paper proposes a method to automatically analyze the private flight control protocols of UAVs. First, we classify flight control commands collected from a binary network trace into clusters; then, we analyze the meaning of flight control commands by the accumulated error of each cluster; next, we extract the binary format of commands and infer field semantics in these commands; and finally, we infer the location of the check field in command and the generator polynomial matrix. The proposed approach is validated via experiments on a widely used consumer UAV.

Multiple UAV Cooperation for Wildfire Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhongjie

Wildfires have been a major factor in the development and management of the world's forest. An accurate assessment of wildfire status is imperative for fire management. This thesis is dedicated to the topic of utilizing multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to cooperatively monitor a large-scale wildfire. This is achieved through wildfire spreading situation estimation based on on-line measurements and wise cooperation strategy to ensure efficiency. First, based on the understanding of the physical characteristics of the wildfire propagation behavior, a wildfire model and a Kalman filter-based method are proposed to estimate the wildfire rate of spread and the fire front contour profile. With the enormous on-line measurements from on-board sensors of UAVs, the proposed method allows a wildfire monitoring mission to benefit from on-line information updating, increased flexibility, and accurate estimation. An independent wildfire simulator is utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Second, based on the filter analysis, wildfire spreading situation and vehicle dynamics, the influence of different cooperation strategies of UAVs to the overall mission performance is studied. The multi-UAV cooperation problem is formulated in a distributed network. A consensus-based method is proposed to help address the problem. The optimal cooperation strategy of UAVs is obtained through mathematical analysis. The derived optimal cooperation strategy is then verified in an independent fire simulation environment to verify its effectiveness.

Introduction to UAV systems

CERN Document Server

Fahlstrom, Paul

2012-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely adopted in the military world over the last decade and the success of these military applications is increasingly driving efforts to establish unmanned aircraft in non-military roles. Introduction to UAV Systems, 4th edition provides a comprehensive introduction to all of the elements of a complete Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). It addresses the air vehicle, mission planning and control, several types of mission payloads, data links and how they interact with mission performance, and launch and recovery concepts. This

Smoking, alcohol, and coffee consumption preceding Parkinson's disease: a case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Benedetti, M D; Bower, J H; Maraganore, D M; McDonnell, S K; Peterson, B J; Ahlskog, J E; Schaid, D J; Rocca, W A

2000-11-14

To study the association of PD with preceding smoking, alcohol, and coffee consumption using a case-control design. The authors used the medical records linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project to identify 196 subjects who developed PD in Olmsted County, MN, during the years 1976 to 1995. Each incident case was matched by age (+/-1 year) and sex to a general population control subject. The authors reviewed the complete medical records of cases and control subjects to abstract exposure information. For coffee consumption, the authors found an OR of 0.35 (95% CI = 0.16 to 0.78, p = 0.01), a dose-effect trend (p = 0.003), and a later age at PD onset in cases who drank coffee compared with those who never did (median 72 versus 64 years; p = 0.0002). The inverse association with coffee remained significant after adjustment for education, smoking, and alcohol drinking and was restricted to PD cases with onset at age coffee drinking and PD; however, this association does not imply that coffee has a direct protective effect against PD. Alternative explanations for the association should be considered.

Slic Superpixels for Object Delineation from Uav Data

Science.gov (United States)

Crommelinck, S.; Bennett, R.; Gerke, M.; Koeva, M. N.; Yang, M. Y.; Vosselman, G.

2017-08-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly investigated with regard to their potential to create and update (cadastral) maps. UAVs provide a flexible and low-cost platform for high-resolution data, from which object outlines can be accurately delineated. This delineation could be automated with image analysis methods to improve existing mapping procedures that are cost, time and labor intensive and of little reproducibility. This study investigates a superpixel approach, namely simple linear iterative clustering (SLIC), in terms of its applicability to UAV data. The approach is investigated in terms of its applicability to high-resolution UAV orthoimages and in terms of its ability to delineate object outlines of roads and roofs. Results show that the approach is applicable to UAV orthoimages of 0.05 m GSD and extents of 100 million and 400 million pixels. Further, the approach delineates the objects with the high accuracy provided by the UAV orthoimages at completeness rates of up to 64 %. The approach is not suitable as a standalone approach for object delineation. However, it shows high potential for a combination with further methods that delineate objects at higher correctness rates in exchange of a lower localization quality. This study provides a basis for future work that will focus on the incorporation of multiple methods for an interactive, comprehensive and accurate object delineation from UAV data. This aims to support numerous application fields such as topographic and cadastral mapping.

Coffee, hunger, and peptide YY.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, James A; Geliebter, Allan

2012-06-01

There is evidence from several empirical studies suggesting that coffee may help people control body weight. Our objective was to assess the effects of caffeine, caffeinated coffee, and decaffeinated coffee, both alone and in combination with 75 g of glucose, on perceived hunger and satiety and related peptides. We conducted a placebo-controlled single-blinded randomized 4-way crossover trial. Eleven healthy male volunteers (mean age, 23.5 ± 5.7 years; mean BMI, 23.6 ± 4.2 kg/m(2)) ingested 1 of 3 test beverages (caffeine in water, caffeinated coffee, or decaffeinated coffee) or placebo (water), and 60 minutes later they ingested the glucose. Eight times during each laboratory visit, hunger and satiety were assessed by visual analog scales, and blood samples were drawn to measure 3 endogenous peptides associated with hunger and satiety: ghrelin, peptide YY (PYY), and leptin. Compared to placebo, decaffeinated coffee yielded significantly lower hunger during the whole 180-minute study period and higher plasma PYY for the first 90 minutes (p hunger or PYY. Caffeinated coffee showed a pattern between that of decaffeinated coffee and caffeine in water. These findings suggest that one or more noncaffeine ingredients in coffee may have the potential to decrease body weight. Glucose ingestion did not change the effects of the beverages. Our randomized human trial showed that decaffeinated coffee can acutely decrease hunger and increase the satiety hormone PYY.

Flocking of quad-rotor UAVs with fuzzy control.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Xiang; Zhang, Hongbin; Wang, Yanhui

2018-03-01

This paper investigates the flocking problem of quad-rotor UAVs. Considering the actual situations, we derived a new simplified quad-rotor UAV model which is more reasonable. Based on the model, the T-S fuzzy model of attitude dynamic equation and the corresponding T-S fuzzy feedback controller are discussed. By introducing a double-loop control construction, we adjust its attitude to realize the position control. Then a flocking algorithm is proposed to achieve the flocking of the quad-rotor UAVs. Compared with the flocking algorithm of the mass point model, we dealt with the collision problem of the quad-rotor UAVs. In order to improve the airspace utilization, a more compact configuration called quasi e-lattice is constructed to guarantee the compact flight of the quad-rotor UAVs. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Turkish cultural heritage: a cup of coffee

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birsen Yılmaz

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Setting out a fabulous journey from a tiny bean, coffee is the stimulant of the heart and mind and a mysterious plant that strengthens friendship and also takes your tiredness away during the day. Although information on how and where the coffee came from is not clear, Sheikh Şazeli is regarded as the “father” by coffee makers. The word coffee originates from “Kaffa”, a primary coffee production center in Abyssinia, Africa, which can be considered the homeland of coffee. According to this consideration, in Abyssinia, coffee was consumed with bread; it was then pulped and brought to Yemen, and Yemeni people started to cultivate coffee. The word “kahve” in Turkish does not mean the coffee plant like its synonym in Arabic but means the beverage made by boiling. Turkish coffee is a blend of high-quality Arabic-type coffee beans, originating from Brazil and Central America and moderately roasted and ground finely. The way it is prepared differentiates Turkish coffee from others. This coffee was called Turkish coffee because of a new method of preparation invented by Turkish people where it is boiled in copper coffee pots. Turkish coffee that has spread around the world with this name has been an indispensable part of the cultural and social history of Turks.

75 FR 7471 - Chandra Coffee and Rabun Boatworks, Complainants v. Georgia Power Company, Respondent; Notice of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-19

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Project No. 2354-10] Chandra Coffee and Rabun Boatworks, Complainants v. Georgia Power Company, Respondent; Notice of Complaint February 3, 2010. Take notice that on December 14, 2009, as amended on January 8, 2010, Chandra Coffee and Rabun...

Can Coffee Chemical Compounds and Insecticidal Plants Be Harnessed for Control of Major Coffee Pests?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Paul W C; Davis, Aaron P; Cossé, Allard A; Vega, Fernando E

2015-11-04

Pests and pathogens threaten coffee production worldwide and are difficult to control using conventional methods, such as insecticides. We review the literature on the chemistry of coffee, concentrating on compounds most commonly reported from Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. Differences in chemistry can distinguish coffee species and varieties, and plants grown under different biogeographic conditions exhibit different chemotypes. A number of chemical groups, such as alkaloids and caffeoylquinic acids, are known to be insecticidal, but most studies have investigated their effects on coffee quality and flavor. More research is required to bridge this gap in knowledge, so that coffee can be bred to be more resistant to pests. Furthermore, we report on some pesticidal plants that have been used for control of coffee pests. Locally sourced pesticidal plants have been underutilized and offer a sustainable alternative to conventional insecticides and could be used to augment breeding for resilience of coffee plants.

State-Of in Uav Remote Sensing Survey - First Insights Into Applications of Uav Sensing Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Aasen, H.

2017-08-01

UAVs are increasingly adapted as remote sensing platforms. Together with specialized sensors, they become powerful sensing systems for environmental monitoring and surveying. Spectral data has great capabilities to the gather information about biophysical and biochemical properties. Still, capturing meaningful spectral data in a reproducible way is not trivial. Since a couple of years small and lightweight spectral sensors, which can be carried on small flexible platforms, have become available. With their adaption in the community, the responsibility to ensure the quality of the data is increasingly shifted from specialized companies and agencies to individual researchers or research teams. Due to the complexity of the data acquisition of spectral data, this poses a challenge for the community and standardized protocols, metadata and best practice procedures are needed to make data intercomparable. In November 2016, the ESSEM COST action Innovative optical Tools for proximal sensing of ecophysiological processes (OPTIMISE; http://optimise.dcs.aber.ac.uk/) held a workshop on best practices for UAV spectral sampling. The objective of this meeting was to trace the way from particle to pixel and identify influences on the data quality / reliability, to figure out how well we are currently doing with spectral sampling from UAVs and how we can improve. Additionally, a survey was designed to be distributed within the community to get an overview over the current practices and raise awareness for the topic. This talk will introduce the approach of the OPTIMISE community towards best practises in UAV spectral sampling and present first results of the survey (http://optimise.dcs.aber.ac.uk/uav-survey/). This contribution briefly introduces the survey and gives some insights into the first results given by the interviewees.

Energy-Efficient Power Allocation for UAV Cognitive Radio Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2018-02-12

We study the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) based cognitive system in an area covered by the primary network (PN). An UAV shares the spectrum of the PN and aims to maximize its energy efficiency (EE) by optimizing the transmit power. We focus on the case where the UAV simultaneously communicates with the ground receiver (G), under interference limitation, and with another relaying UAV (A), with a minimal required rate. We analytically develop the power allocation framework that maximizes the EE subject to power budget, interference, and minimal rate constraints. In the numerical results, we show that the minimal rate may cause a transmission outage at low power budget values. We also highlighted the existence of optimal altitudes given the UAV location with respect to the different other terminals.

Energy-Efficient Power Allocation for UAV Cognitive Radio Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Ghazzai, Hakim; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2018-01-01

We study the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) based cognitive system in an area covered by the primary network (PN). An UAV shares the spectrum of the PN and aims to maximize its energy efficiency (EE) by optimizing the transmit power. We focus on the case where the UAV simultaneously communicates with the ground receiver (G), under interference limitation, and with another relaying UAV (A), with a minimal required rate. We analytically develop the power allocation framework that maximizes the EE subject to power budget, interference, and minimal rate constraints. In the numerical results, we show that the minimal rate may cause a transmission outage at low power budget values. We also highlighted the existence of optimal altitudes given the UAV location with respect to the different other terminals.

Research on UAV Intelligent Obstacle Avoidance Technology During Inspection of Transmission Line

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Chuanhu; Zhang, Fei; Yin, Chaoyuan; Liu, Yue; Liu, Liang; Li, Zongyu; Wang, Wanguo

Autonomous obstacle avoidance of unmanned aerial vehicle (hereinafter referred to as UAV) in electric power line inspection process has important significance for operation safety and economy for UAV intelligent inspection system of transmission line as main content of UAV intelligent inspection system on transmission line. In the paper, principles of UAV inspection obstacle avoidance technology of transmission line are introduced. UAV inspection obstacle avoidance technology based on particle swarm global optimization algorithm is proposed after common obstacle avoidance technologies are studied. Stimulation comparison is implemented with traditional UAV inspection obstacle avoidance technology which adopts artificial potential field method. Results show that UAV inspection strategy of particle swarm optimization algorithm, adopted in the paper, is prominently better than UAV inspection strategy of artificial potential field method in the aspects of obstacle avoidance effect and the ability of returning to preset inspection track after passing through the obstacle. An effective method is provided for UAV inspection obstacle avoidance of transmission line.

A method of fast mosaic for massive UAV images

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Ren; Sun, Min; Jiang, Cheng; Liu, Lei; Zheng, Hui; Li, Xiaodong

2014-11-01

With the development of UAV technology, UAVs are used widely in multiple fields such as agriculture, forest protection, mineral exploration, natural disaster management and surveillances of public security events. In contrast of traditional manned aerial remote sensing platforms, UAVs are cheaper and more flexible to use. So users can obtain massive image data with UAVs, but this requires a lot of time to process the image data, for example, Pix4UAV need approximately 10 hours to process 1000 images in a high performance PC. But disaster management and many other fields require quick respond which is hard to realize with massive image data. Aiming at improving the disadvantage of high time consumption and manual interaction, in this article a solution of fast UAV image stitching is raised. GPS and POS data are used to pre-process the original images from UAV, belts and relation between belts and images are recognized automatically by the program, in the same time useless images are picked out. This can boost the progress of finding match points between images. Levenberg-Marquard algorithm is improved so that parallel computing can be applied to shorten the time of global optimization notably. Besides traditional mosaic result, it can also generate superoverlay result for Google Earth, which can provide a fast and easy way to show the result data. In order to verify the feasibility of this method, a fast mosaic system of massive UAV images is developed, which is fully automated and no manual interaction is needed after original images and GPS data are provided. A test using 800 images of Kelan River in Xinjiang Province shows that this system can reduce 35%-50% time consumption in contrast of traditional methods, and increases respond speed of UAV image processing rapidly.

Single and Multiple UAV Cyber-Attack Simulation and Performance Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Y. Javaid

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Usage of ground, air and underwater unmanned vehicles (UGV, UAV and UUV has increased exponentially in the recent past with industries producing thousands of these unmanned vehicles every year.With the ongoing discussion of integration of UAVs in the US National Airspace, the need of a cost-effective way to verify the security and resilience of a group of communicating UAVs under attack has become very important. The answer to this need is a simulation testbed which can be used to simulate the UAV Network (UAVNet. One of these attempts is - UAVSim (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Simulation testbed developed at the University of Toledo. It has the capability of simulating large UAV networks as well as small UAV networks with large number of attack nodes. In this paper, we analyse the performance of the simulation testbed for two attacks, targeting single and multiple UAVs. Traditional and generic computing resource available in a regular computer laboratory was used. Various evaluation results have been presented and analysed which suggest the suitability of UAVSim for UAVNet attack and swarm simulation applications.

Surveillance mission planning for UAVs in GPS-denied urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Pengfei, Wang

In this thesis, the issues involved in the mission planning of UAVs for city surveillance have been studied. In this thesis, the research includes two major parts. Firstly, a mission planning system is developed that generates mission plans for a group of fixed-wing UAVs with on-board gimballed cameras to provide continuous surveillance over an urban area. Secondly, the problem of perching location selection (as part of perch-and-stare surveillance mission) for rotary-wing UAVs in a GPS-denied environment is studied. In this kind of mission, a UAV is dispatched to perch on a roof of a building to keep surveillance on a given target. The proposed algorithms to UAV surveillance mission planning (fixed-wing and rotary-wing) have been implemented and tested. It represents an important step towards achieving autonomous planning in UAV surveillance missions.

Characteristic analysis on UAV-MIMO channel based on normalized correlation matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xi jun; Chen, Zi li; Hu, Yong Jiang

2014-01-01

Based on the three-dimensional GBSBCM (geometrically based double bounce cylinder model) channel model of MIMO for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the simple form of UAV space-time-frequency channel correlation function which includes the LOS, SPE, and DIF components is presented. By the methods of channel matrix decomposition and coefficient normalization, the analytic formula of UAV-MIMO normalized correlation matrix is deduced. This formula can be used directly to analyze the condition number of UAV-MIMO channel matrix, the channel capacity, and other characteristic parameters. The simulation results show that this channel correlation matrix can be applied to describe the changes of UAV-MIMO channel characteristics under different parameter settings comprehensively. This analysis method provides a theoretical basis for improving the transmission performance of UAV-MIMO channel. The development of MIMO technology shows practical application value in the field of UAV communication.

Mini UAV as an improvised air threat

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraker, K.J. de; Wiel, R.A.N. van de

2013-01-01

The use of UAVs for military and law enforcement purposes is increasing dramatically. Simultaneously, possible opponents are also developing UAV capabilities that they may deploy for their purposes. For example, a terrorist may deploy a commercially available model airplane or multicopter with an

Color stability of restorative materials in response to Arabic coffee, Turkish coffee and Nescafe.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Samadani, Khalid H

2013-07-01

To evaluate the effect of Arabic coffee, Turkish coffee and Nescafe on the color stability of four different composite resins after a period of aging time 1, 7 and 30 days. Twenty specimens from each type of tested composite resin material were prepared. Five specimens from each tested material (Z350 XT, Artist, GC and Z250) was evaluated after storage in Arabic coffee, Turkish coffee, Nescafe and distil water (control) at 37°C in a dark container for 1, 7 and 30 days. Color measurement was done using colorimeter based on the CIE L* a* b* color scale. Color differences ΔE*ab, Δb* and Δa* among specimens immersed in distil water and staining coffee beverages were evaluated overtime. Mean values were statistically analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey test with p Nescafe except Δa*. The highest total color difference ΔE*ab after 30 days was in group A Arabic coffee (ΔE > 1.5 perceivable) and not perceivable in group B Turkish coffee and group C Nescafe. For Δb* all materials discolored toward yellowness after 30 days except Arabic coffee group which shifted from yellowness toward blueness (Δb*> 1.5 perceivable). The effect of staining beverages on the resin composite materials increases with time of aging toward yellowness and not perceivable in all groups except with Arabic coffee which had highest effect after 30 days and the discoloration shifted from yellowness to blueness perceivable.

The coffee agroforestry system. Its importance for the agro-alimentary and nutritional security in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano Abelardo Ponce Vaca

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the context of coffee growing, Ecuador is characterized by planting two main commercial species of Coffea arabica L. (Arabica coffee, and Coffea canephora Pierre ex Froehner (Robusta coffee, where small production units and agroforestry systems predominate. To overcome the low national production, which constitutes the central problem of coffee growing in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, promoted the project «Reactivation of the Ecuadorian coffee industry», which contributes to food security and nutrition with integral approach. In these circumstances, the objective of this paper is to analyze the importance of coffee agroforestry systems for agro-alimentary and nutritional security in Ecuador. The proposal is born from the agro-economic diagnosis «case study», from the situation of the Coffee Production Units, from the Association of Peasants «Juntos Lucharemos» from the La Unión parish of the Jipijapa county, province of Manabí, in which they settled Main contributions to the agro-alimentary and nutritional security coming from the coffee agroforestry systems, this allowed to analyze characteristics related to the object of study. Based on the research results, gaps in national consumption needs were detected. This proposal contributed to articulate and promote the reactivation of coffee growing on agroecological bases, in harmony with the dimensions of sustainability in order to protect and conserve biodiversity and the coffee forest.

Coffee and liver health.

Science.gov (United States)

Morisco, Filomena; Lembo, Vincenzo; Mazzone, Giovanna; Camera, Silvia; Caporaso, Nicola

2014-01-01

Coffee is one of the most widely used beverages in the world. It includes a wide array of components that can have potential implications for health. Several epidemiological studies associate coffee consumption with a reduced incidence of various chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Over the past 20 years, an increasing number of epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated the positive effects of coffee on chronic liver diseases. Coffee consumption has been inversely associated with the activity of liver enzymes in subjects at risk, including heavy drinkers. Coffee favours an improvement in hepatic steatosis and fibrosis, and a reduction in cirrhosis and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanisms of action through which it exerts its beneficial effects are not fully understood. Experimental studies show that coffee consumption reduces fat accumulation and collagen deposition in the liver and promotes antioxidant capacity through an increase in glutathione as well as modulation of the gene and protein expression of several inflammatory mediators. Animal and in vitro studies indicate that cafestol and kahweol, 2 diterpens, can operate by modulating multiple enzymes involved in the detoxification process of carcinogens causing hepatocellular carcinoma. It is unclear whether the benefits are significant enough to "treat" patients with chronic liver disease. While we await clarification, moderate daily unsweetened coffee use is a reasonable adjuvant to therapy for these patients.

Water and coffee: a systems approach to improving coffee harvesting work in Nicaragua.

Science.gov (United States)

Silverstein, Barbara A; Bao, Stephen S; Russell, Steven; Stewart, Kate

2012-12-01

The aim of this study was to reduce the physical load on coffee-harvesting workers while maintaining productivity. Coffee is second to oil in commodity trading. Water is becoming scarce worldwide. The global virtual water footprint for one cup of coffee is 140 liters. Shade-grown coffee is one approach to reducing the water footprint. A participatory ergonomics approach was used during two Nicaraguan shade-grown coffee harvesting seasons to reduce the physical load on harvesters with the use of a newly designed bag instead of a basket strapped around the waist. Productivity in the mountainous, shade-grown coffee farms was maintained while physical load on the worker was improved somewhat.Among basket users, 84.2% reported pain in at least one body area compared with 78.9% of bag users (ns). Nonetheless, 74% of participants liked the bag "much better" than the basket. Workers identified ways the bag could be improved further with the use of local materials.These suggestions included (a) reducing the horizontal distance of the bag to reduce reach and (b) having waterproof material on the bag between the worker and the bag to reduce moisture and damage to the berries.There was no difference in productivity between using the bag and using the small basket. Workers are extending this participatory approach to how to get the harvested coffee cherries down the mountain other than carrying 40-kg bags on their backs. The ultimate goal is to make the coffee-harvesting bag design available to harvesters around the world.

Prediction of specialty coffee cup quality based on near infrared spectra of green coffee beans.

Science.gov (United States)

Tolessa, Kassaye; Rademaker, Michael; De Baets, Bernard; Boeckx, Pascal

2016-04-01

The growing global demand for specialty coffee increases the need for improved coffee quality assessment methods. Green bean coffee quality analysis is usually carried out by physical (e.g. black beans, immature beans) and cup quality (e.g. acidity, flavour) evaluation. However, these evaluation methods are subjective, costly, time consuming, require sample preparation and may end up in poor grading systems. This calls for the development of a rapid, low-cost, reliable and reproducible analytical method to evaluate coffee quality attributes and eventually chemical compounds of interest (e.g. chlorogenic acid) in coffee beans. The aim of this study was to develop a model able to predict coffee cup quality based on NIR spectra of green coffee beans. NIR spectra of 86 samples of green Arabica beans of varying quality were analysed. Partial least squares (PLS) regression method was used to develop a model correlating spectral data to cupping score data (cup quality). The selected PLS model had a good predictive power for total specialty cup quality and its individual quality attributes (overall cup preference, acidity, body and aftertaste) showing a high correlation coefficient with r-values of 90, 90,78, 72 and 72, respectively, between measured and predicted cupping scores for 20 out of 86 samples. The corresponding root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 1.04, 0.22, 0.27, 0.24 and 0.27 for total specialty cup quality, overall cup preference, acidity, body and aftertaste, respectively. The results obtained suggest that NIR spectra of green coffee beans are a promising tool for fast and accurate prediction of coffee quality and for classifying green coffee beans into different specialty grades. However, the model should be further tested for coffee samples from different regions in Ethiopia and test if one generic or region-specific model should be developed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

SLIC superpixels for object delineation UAV data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crommelinck, Sophie Charlotte; Bennett, R.M.; Gerke, Markus; Koeva, M.N.; Yang, M.Y.; Vosselman, G.; Stachniss, C.; Förstner, W.; Schneider, J.

2017-01-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly investigated with regard to their potential to create and update (cadastral) maps. UAVs provide a flexible and low-cost platform for high-resolution data, from which object outlines can be accurately delineated. This delineation could be automated with

EMERGENCY RADIATION SURVEY DEVICE ONBOARD THE UAV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Bogatov

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Radiation survey device (RSD on the base of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV was developed as an equipment of rescue forces for radiation situation reconnaissance in case of emergency. RSD is multi range radiometer with spectrometer functions capable to work within gamma ray fields of dose rate 10–7 – 10–1 Sievert per hour. UAV md4-1000 (Microdrones GmbH, Germany was selected as the RSD carrier as a reliable vehicle with appropriate properties. Short description of RSD, UAV and developed software features as well as sensitivity assessments for different radiation sources are presented.

Dynamic Data-Driven UAV Network for Plume Characterization

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-23

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0203 Dynamic Data-Driven UAV Network for Plume Characterization Kamran Mohseni UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Final Report 05/23/2016...AND SUBTITLE Dynamic Data-Driven UAV Network for Plume Characterization 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-13-1-0090 5c.  PROGRAM ELEMENT...studied a dynamic data driven (DDD) approach to operation of a heterogeneous team of unmanned aerial vehicles ( UAVs ) or micro/miniature aerial

Implications of longitude and latitude on the size of solar-powered UAV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajendran, Parvathy; Smith, Howard

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We studied solar irradiance and daylight implication on solar-powered UAV design. • We explored for perpetual UAV flight for 12 cities around the world. • All year round solar-powered UAV operation possible for cities near equatorial line. • Cities in latitudes of ±35° are the optimal for solar-powered UAV. • Longitudinal coordinates and elevation have a minor effect on UAV design. - Abstract: The implication of solar irradiance and daylight duration on the design of a small solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is capable of operating perpetually in various cities around the world was investigated. Solar data in 2013 on 12 cities distributed around the world was collected. The effects of the available solar irradiance and daylight of the city on the maximum take-off weight and wing span of a small solar-powered UAV were studied. The analysis indicates that daylight duration is as important as the available solar irradiance to the performance of the solar-powered UAV. Longitudinal coordinates and elevation have a minor effect on the estimation of daylight duration. Areas considerably high in solar irradiance and daylight duration are more conducive to the effective performance of solar-powered UAVs than other areas. Therefore, cities closer to the equator have an advantage in utilizing solar-powered UAVs; where smaller and lighter solar-powered UAV can be designed

Aerial photogrammetry procedure optimized for micro uav

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Anai

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the automatic aerial photogrammetry procedure optimized for Micro UAV that has ability of autonomous flight. The most important goal of our proposed method is the reducing the processing cost for fully automatic reconstruction of DSM from a large amount of image obtained from Micro UAV. For this goal, we have developed automatic corresponding point generation procedure using feature point tracking algorithm considering position and attitude information, which obtained from onboard GPS-IMU integrated on Micro UAV. In addition, we have developed the automatic exterior orientation and registration procedure from the automatic generated corresponding points on each image and position and attitude information from Micro UAV. Moreover, in order to reconstruct precise DSM, we have developed the area base matching process which considering edge information. In this paper, we describe processing flow of our automatic aerial photogrammetry. Moreover, the accuracy assessment is also described. Furthermore, some application of automatic reconstruction of DSM will be desired.

From random process to chaotic behavior in swarms of UAVs

OpenAIRE

Rosalie , Martin; Danoy , Grégoire; Chaumette , Serge; Bouvry , Pascal

2016-01-01

International audience; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) applications have seen an important increase in the last decade for both military and civilian applications ranging from fire and high seas rescue to military surveillance and target detection. While this technology is now mature for a single UAV, new methods are needed to operate UAVs in swarms, also referred to as fleets. This work focuses on the mobility management of one single autonomous swarm of UAVs which mission is to cover a giv...

UAV-borne lidar with MEMS mirror-based scanning capability

Science.gov (United States)

Kasturi, Abhishek; Milanovic, Veljko; Atwood, Bryan H.; Yang, James

2016-05-01

Firstly, we demonstrated a wirelessly controlled MEMS scan module with imaging and laser tracking capability which can be mounted and flown on a small UAV quadcopter. The MEMS scan module was reduced down to a small volume of smartphone via Bluetooth while flying on a drone, and could project vector content, text, and perform laser based tracking. Also, a "point-and-range" LiDAR module was developed for UAV applications based on low SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) gimbal-less MEMS mirror beam-steering technology and off-the-shelf OEM LRF modules. For demonstration purposes of an integrated laser range finder module, we used a simple off-the-shelf OEM laser range finder (LRF) with a 100m range, +/-1.5mm accuracy, and 4Hz ranging capability. The LRFs receiver optics were modified to accept 20° of angle, matching the transmitter's FoR. A relatively large (5.0mm) diameter MEMS mirror with +/-10° optical scanning angle was utilized in the demonstration to maintain the small beam divergence of the module. The complete LiDAR prototype can fit into a small volume of battery. The MEMS mirror based LiDAR system allows for ondemand ranging of points or areas within the FoR without altering the UAV's position. Increasing the LRF ranging frequency and stabilizing the pointing of the laser beam by utilizing the onboard inertial sensors and the camera are additional goals of the next design.

Sensitivity to coffee and subjective health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Snel, J.; Koppes, L.L.J.; Twisk, J.W.

2009-01-01

The question was whether health complaints are associated with coffee consumption and self reported sensitivity to coffee. Participants were 89 men and 107 women, all coffee drinkers. Questionnaires were used at 2 points of time with an interval of 3.7 years. The correlations among coffee

Toward systems epidemiology of coffee and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelis, Marilyn C

2015-02-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has been associated with many health conditions. This review examines the limitations of the classic epidemiological approach to studies of coffee and health, and describes the progress in systems epidemiology of coffee and its correlated constituent, caffeine. Implications and applications of this growing body of knowledge are also discussed. Population-based metabolomic studies of coffee replicate coffee-metabolite correlations observed in clinical settings but have also identified novel metabolites of coffee response, such as specific sphingomyelin derivatives and acylcarnitines. Genome-wide analyses of self-reported coffee and caffeine intake and serum levels of caffeine support an overwhelming role for caffeine in modulating the coffee consumption behavior. Interindividual variation in the physiological exposure or response to any of the many chemicals present in coffee may alter the persistence and magnitude of their effects. It is thus imperative that future studies of coffee and health account for this variation. Systems epidemiological approaches promise to inform causality, parse the constituents of coffee responsible for health effects, and identify the subgroups most likely to benefit from increasing or decreasing coffee consumption.

Critical infrastructure monitoring using UAV imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Maltezos, Evangelos; Skitsas, Michael; Charalambous, Elisavet; Koutras, Nikolaos; Bliziotis, Dimitris; Themistocleous, Kyriacos

2016-08-01

The constant technological evolution in Computer Vision enabled the development of new techniques which in conjunction with the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) may extract high quality photogrammetric products for several applications. Dense Image Matching (DIM) is a Computer Vision technique that can generate a dense 3D point cloud of an area or object. The use of UAV systems and DIM techniques is not only a flexible and attractive solution to produce accurate and high qualitative photogrammetric results but also is a major contribution to cost effectiveness. In this context, this study aims to highlight the benefits of the use of the UAVs in critical infrastructure monitoring applying DIM. A Multi-View Stereo (MVS) approach using multiple images (RGB digital aerial and oblique images), to fully cover the area of interest, is implemented. The application area is an Olympic venue in Attica, Greece, at an area of 400 acres. The results of our study indicate that the UAV+DIM approach respond very well to the increasingly greater demands for accurate and cost effective applications when provided with, a 3D point cloud and orthomosaic.

Heterogeneous CPU-GPU moving targets detection for UAV video

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Maowen; Tang, Linbo; Han, Yuqi; Yu, Chunlei; Zhang, Chao; Fu, Huiquan

2017-07-01

Moving targets detection is gaining popularity in civilian and military applications. On some monitoring platform of motion detection, some low-resolution stationary cameras are replaced by moving HD camera based on UAVs. The pixels of moving targets in the HD Video taken by UAV are always in a minority, and the background of the frame is usually moving because of the motion of UAVs. The high computational cost of the algorithm prevents running it at higher resolutions the pixels of frame. Hence, to solve the problem of moving targets detection based UAVs video, we propose a heterogeneous CPU-GPU moving target detection algorithm for UAV video. More specifically, we use background registration to eliminate the impact of the moving background and frame difference to detect small moving targets. In order to achieve the effect of real-time processing, we design the solution of heterogeneous CPU-GPU framework for our method. The experimental results show that our method can detect the main moving targets from the HD video taken by UAV, and the average process time is 52.16ms per frame which is fast enough to solve the problem.

UAV formation control design with obstacle avoidance in dynamic three-dimensional environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Kai; Xia, Yuanqing; Huang, Kaoli

2016-01-01

This paper considers the artificial potential field method combined with rotational vectors for a general problem of multi-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems tracking a moving target in dynamic three-dimensional environment. An attractive potential field is generated between the leader and the target. It drives the leader to track the target based on the relative position of them. The other UAVs in the formation are controlled to follow the leader by the attractive control force. The repulsive force affects among the UAVs to avoid collisions and distribute the UAVs evenly on the spherical surface whose center is the leader-UAV. Specific orders or positions of the UAVs are not required. The trajectories of avoidance obstacle can be obtained through two kinds of potential field with rotation vectors. Every UAV can choose the optimal trajectory to avoid the obstacle and reconfigure the formation after passing the obstacle. Simulations study on UAV are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed method.

A REDUNDANT GNSS-INS LOW-COST UAV NAVIGATION SOLUTION FOR PROFESSIONAL APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Navarro

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the current results for the FP7 GINSEC project. Its goal is to build a pre-commercial prototype of a low-cost, accurate and reliable system for the professional UAV market. Low-cost, in this context, stands for the use of sensors in the most affordable segment of the market, especially MEMS IMUs and GNSS receivers. Reliability applies to the ability of the autopilot to cope with situations where unfavourable GNSS reception conditions or strong electromagnetic fields make the computation of the position and / or attitude of the UAV difficult. Professional and accurate mean that, at least using post-processing techniques as PPP, it will be possible to reach cm-level precisions that open the door to a range of applications demanding high levels of quality in positioning, as precision agriculture or mapping. To achieve such goal, a rigorous sensor error modelling approach, the use of redundant IMUs and a dual-GNSS receiver setup, together with close-coupling techniques and an extended Kalman filter with self-analysis capabilities have been used. Although the project is not yet complete, the results obtained up to now prove the feasibility of the aforementioned goal, especially in those aspects related to position determination. Research work is still undergoing to estimate the heading using a dual-GNNS receiver setup; preliminary results prove the validity of this approach for relatively long baselines, although positive results are expected when these are shorter than 1 m – which is a necessary requisite for small-sized UAVs.

a Redundant Gnss-Ins Low-Cost Uav Navigation Solution for Professional Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, J.; Parés, M. E.; Colomina, I.; Bianchi, G.; Pluchino, S.; Baddour, R.; Consoli, A.; Ayadi, J.; Gameiro, A.; Sekkas, O.; Tsetsos, V.; Gatsos, T.; Navoni, R.

2015-08-01

This paper presents the current results for the FP7 GINSEC project. Its goal is to build a pre-commercial prototype of a low-cost, accurate and reliable system for the professional UAV market. Low-cost, in this context, stands for the use of sensors in the most affordable segment of the market, especially MEMS IMUs and GNSS receivers. Reliability applies to the ability of the autopilot to cope with situations where unfavourable GNSS reception conditions or strong electromagnetic fields make the computation of the position and / or attitude of the UAV difficult. Professional and accurate mean that, at least using post-processing techniques as PPP, it will be possible to reach cm-level precisions that open the door to a range of applications demanding high levels of quality in positioning, as precision agriculture or mapping. To achieve such goal, a rigorous sensor error modelling approach, the use of redundant IMUs and a dual-GNSS receiver setup, together with close-coupling techniques and an extended Kalman filter with self-analysis capabilities have been used. Although the project is not yet complete, the results obtained up to now prove the feasibility of the aforementioned goal, especially in those aspects related to position determination. Research work is still undergoing to estimate the heading using a dual-GNNS receiver setup; preliminary results prove the validity of this approach for relatively long baselines, although positive results are expected when these are shorter than 1 m - which is a necessary requisite for small-sized UAVs.

Application of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) in monitoring of terrestrial habitats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Peter Borgen; Strandberg, Beate; Bak, Jesper Leth

2015-01-01

I the last years there have been high focus on UAVs (drones) for many civil purposes and UAVs are also increasingly used for ecological data gathering. This presentation will first make an appetizer to show the new possibilities of using UAVs. The traditional concept of separating “data......” that are “real” from “models” that are “simulations” has to be refined in the area of field investigations, in order to utilize UAVs to make a revolution in data and understanding about the terrestrial habitats. However, this is not straightforward, and the presentation will line up the obstacles for using UAVs...

Multi-UAV Flight using Virtual Structure Combined with Behavioral Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kownacki Cezary

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Implementations of multi-UAV systems can be divided mainly into two different approaches, centralised system that synchronises positions of each vehicle by a ground station and an autonomous system based on decentralised control, which offers more flexibility and independence. Decentralisation of multi-UAV control entails the need for information sharing between all vehicles, what in some cases could be problematic due to a significant amount of data to be sent over the wireless network. To improve the reliability and the throughput of information sharing inside the formation of UAVs, this paper proposes an approach that combines virtual structure with a leader and two flocking behaviours. Each UAV has assigned different virtual migration point referenced to the leader's position which is simultaneously the origin of a formation reference frame. All migration points create together a virtual rigid structure. Each vehicle uses local behaviours of cohesion and repulsion respectively, to track its own assigned point in the structure and to avoid a collision with the previous UAV in the structure. To calculate parameters of local behaviours, each UAV should know position and attitude of the leader to define the formation reference frame and also the actual position of the previous UAV in the structure. Hence, information sharing can be based on a chain of local peer-to-peer communication between two consecutive vehicles in the structure. In such solution, the information about the leader could be sequentially transmitted from one UAV to another. Numerical simulations were prepared and carried out to verify the effectiveness of the presented approach. Trajectories recorded during those simulations show collective, coherence and collision-free flights of the formation created with five UAVs.

Low complexity video encoding for UAV inspection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Jacob; Zhang, Ruo; Forchhammer, Søren

2016-01-01

In this work we present several methods for fast integer motion estimation of videos recorded aboard an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Different from related work, the field depth is not considered to be consistent. The novel methods designed for low complexity MV prediction in H.264/AVC and anal......In this work we present several methods for fast integer motion estimation of videos recorded aboard an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Different from related work, the field depth is not considered to be consistent. The novel methods designed for low complexity MV prediction in H.264/AVC...... for UAV infrared (IR) video are also provided....

Landing spot selection for UAV emergency landing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eendebak, P.T.; Eekeren, A.W.M. van; Hollander, R.J.M. den

2013-01-01

We present a robust method for landing zone selection using obstacle detection to be used for UAV emergency landings. The method is simple enough to allow real-time implementation on a UAV system. The method is able to detect objects in the presence of camera movement and motion parallax. Using the

Mainstreaming sustainable coffee

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kolk, A.

2013-01-01

This overview article examines the various dimensions of sustainable coffee as well as the actors involved and their perceptions of how to advance the market from niche to mainstream. The issues at hand are very complex, with different types of coffee producers, manufacturing/roasting companies and

Determination of trace elements in coffee beans and instant coffee of various origins by INAA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaidi, J.H.; Fatima, I.; Arif, M.; Qureshi, I.H.

2006-01-01

Extensive use of coffee, by one-third of world's population, entails the evaluation of trace element contents in it. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was successfully employed to determine the concentration of 20 trace elements (essential, toxic and nonessential) in four samples of coffee beans of various origins and two instant coffee brands most commonly consumed in Pakistan. Base-line values of certain toxic and essential elements in coffee are provided. The daily intake of essential and toxic elements through coffee was estimated and compared with the recommended values. The cumulative intake of Mn is four times higher than the recommended value and that of toxic elements is well below the tolerance limits. (author)

Weed detection by UAV with camera guided landing sequence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dyrmann, Mads

UAVs gain more and more currency in agriculture, as they allow for inspection of even remote areas of farmland. Measurements of weed occurrence in fields is one branch of this growing field of research. A problem with UAVs is that they have a limited energy capacity: Consequently, after a short...... flight, they must return to the farm to charge. By installing a landing platform in the field it is possible to have charging facilities close to the area where the UAV is used, providing greater opportunity for autonomous flight in distant fields. A landing platform in the field will also allow...... for greater computing capacity, whereby collected images can be processed and appropriate actions can be taken. The present study uses an entry level UAV with a Pixhawk controller and a GPS specified with an accuracy of 2.5m, meaning that the GPS alone is not sufficient to coordinate the UAV landing. Using...

JOINT PROCESSING OF UAV IMAGERY AND TERRESTRIAL MOBILE MAPPING SYSTEM DATA FOR VERY HIGH RESOLUTION CITY MODELING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Gruen

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Both unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV technology and Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS are important techniques for surveying and mapping. In recent years, the UAV technology has seen tremendous interest, both in the mapping community and in many other fields of application. Carrying off-the shelf digital cameras, the UAV can collect high quality aerial optical images for city modeling using photogrammetric techniques. In addition, a MMS can acquire high density point clouds of ground objects along the roads. The UAV, if operated in an aerial mode, has difficulties in acquiring information of ground objects under the trees and along façades of buildings. On the contrary, the MMS collects accurate point clouds of objects from the ground, together with stereo images, but it suffers from system errors due to loss of GPS signals, and also lacks the information of the roofs. Therefore, both technologies are complementary. This paper focuses on the integration of UAV images, MMS point cloud data and terrestrial images to build very high resolution 3D city models. The work we will show is a practical modeling project of the National University of Singapore (NUS campus, which includes buildings, some of them very high, roads and other man-made objects, dense tropical vegetation and DTM. This is an intermediate report. We present work in progress.

MONITORING PHENOLOGY OF FLOODPLAIN GRASSLAND AND HERBACEOUS VEGETATION WITH UAV IMAGERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. K. van Iersel

2016-06-01

Full Text Available River restoration projects, which aim at improved flood safety and increased ecological value, have resulted in more heterogeneous vegetation. However, they also resulted in increasing hydraulic roughness, which leads to higher flood water levels during peak discharges. Due to allowance of vegetation development and succession, both ecological and hydraulic characteristics of the floodplain change more rapidly over time. Monitoring of floodplain vegetation has become essential to document and evaluate the changing floodplain characteristics and associated functioning. Extraction of characteristics of low vegetation using single-epoch remote sensing data, however, remains challenging. The aim of this study was to (1 evaluate the performance of multi-temporal, high-spatial-resolution UAV imagery for extracting temporal vegetation height profiles of grassland and herbaceous vegetation in floodplains and (2 to assess the relation between height development and NDVI changes. Vegetation height was measured six times during one year in 28 field plots within a single floodplain. UAV true-colour and false-colour imagery of the floodplain were recorded coincidently with each field survey. We found that: (1 the vertical accuracy of UAV normalized digital surface models (nDSMs is sufficiently high to obtain temporal height profiles of low vegetation over a growing season, (2 vegetation height can be estimated from the time series of nDSMs, with the highest accuracy found for combined imagery from February and November (RMSE = 29-42 cm, (3 temporal relations between NDVI and observed vegetation height show different hysteresis behaviour for grassland and herbaceous vegetation. These results show the high potential of using UAV imagery for increasing grassland and herbaceous vegetation classification accuracy.

Review of the current state of UAV regulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stöcker, Elvira Claudia; Bennett, Rohan; Nex, Francesco; Gerke, Markus; Zevenbergen, Jaap

2017-01-01

UAVs-unmanned aerial vehicles-facilitate data acquisition at temporal and spatial scales that still remain unachievable for traditional remote sensing platforms. However, current legal frameworks that regulate UAVs present significant barriers to research and development. To highlight the

Thrips (Thysanoptera) of coffee flowers

Science.gov (United States)

A survey of thrips (Thysanoptera) associated with coffee flowers was conducted in coffee plantations in Chiapas, Mexico. The main objectives were to identify them and to determine whether they were carrying coffee pollen grains. A total of 40 thrips species in 22 genera were identified. The most com...

Growing Coffee in the Shade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thapa, Sushil; Lantinga, Egbert A.

2017-01-01

Coffee white stem borer, Xylotrechus quadripes Chevrolat (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a major coffee pest in parts of Asia and Africa. In recent years, the pest has also been found in American countries. This study in Gulmi District, Nepal, aimed to determine the infestation by coffee white stem

USING DISTANCE SENSORS TO PERFORM COLLISION AVOIDANCE MANEUVRES ON UAV APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Raimundo

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV and its applications are growing for both civilian and military purposes. The operability of an UAV proved that some tasks and operations can be done easily and at a good cost-efficiency ratio. Nowadays, an UAV can perform autonomous missions. It is very useful to certain UAV applications, such as meteorology, vigilance systems, agriculture, environment mapping and search and rescue operations. One of the biggest problems that an UAV faces is the possibility of collision with other objects in the flight area. To avoid this, an algorithm was developed and implemented in order to prevent UAV collision with other objects. “Sense and Avoid” algorithm was developed as a system for UAVs to avoid objects in collision course. This algorithm uses a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR, to detect objects facing the UAV in mid-flights. This light sensor is connected to an on-board hardware, Pixhawk’s flight controller, which interfaces its communications with another hardware: Raspberry Pi. Communications between Ground Control Station and UAV are made via Wi-Fi or cellular third or fourth generation (3G/4G. Some tests were made in order to evaluate the “Sense and Avoid” algorithm’s overall performance. These tests were done in two different environments: A 3D simulated environment and a real outdoor environment. Both modes worked successfully on a simulated 3D environment, and “Brake” mode on a real outdoor, proving its concepts.

Using Distance Sensors to Perform Collision Avoidance Maneuvres on Uav Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Raimundo, A.; Peres, D.; Santos, N.; Sebastião, P.; Souto, N.

2017-08-01

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and its applications are growing for both civilian and military purposes. The operability of an UAV proved that some tasks and operations can be done easily and at a good cost-efficiency ratio. Nowadays, an UAV can perform autonomous missions. It is very useful to certain UAV applications, such as meteorology, vigilance systems, agriculture, environment mapping and search and rescue operations. One of the biggest problems that an UAV faces is the possibility of collision with other objects in the flight area. To avoid this, an algorithm was developed and implemented in order to prevent UAV collision with other objects. "Sense and Avoid" algorithm was developed as a system for UAVs to avoid objects in collision course. This algorithm uses a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), to detect objects facing the UAV in mid-flights. This light sensor is connected to an on-board hardware, Pixhawk's flight controller, which interfaces its communications with another hardware: Raspberry Pi. Communications between Ground Control Station and UAV are made via Wi-Fi or cellular third or fourth generation (3G/4G). Some tests were made in order to evaluate the "Sense and Avoid" algorithm's overall performance. These tests were done in two different environments: A 3D simulated environment and a real outdoor environment. Both modes worked successfully on a simulated 3D environment, and "Brake" mode on a real outdoor, proving its concepts.

Caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee.

Science.gov (United States)

McCusker, Rachel R; Fuehrlein, Brian; Goldberger, Bruce A; Gold, Mark S; Cone, Edward J

2006-10-01

Caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in the world with coffee representing a major source of intake. Despite widespread availability, various medical conditions necessitate caffeine-restricted diets. Patients on certain prescription medications are advised to discontinue caffeine intake. Such admonition has implications for certain psychiatric patients because of pharmacokinetic interactions between caffeine and certain anti-anxiety drugs. In an effort to abstain from caffeine, patients may substitute decaffeinated for caffeinated coffee. However, decaffeinated beverages are known to contain caffeine in varying amounts. The present study determined the caffeine content in a variety of decaffeinated coffee drinks. In phase 1 of the study, 10 decaffeinated samples were collected from different coffee establishments. In phase 2 of the study, Starbucks espresso decaffeinated (N=6) and Starbucks brewed decaffeinated coffee (N=6) samples were collected from the same outlet to evaluate variability of caffeine content of the same drink. The 10 decaffeinated coffee samples from different outlets contained caffeine in the range of 0-13.9 mg/16-oz serving. The caffeine content for the Starbucks espresso and the Starbucks brewed samples collected from the same outlet were 3.0-15.8 mg/shot and 12.0-13.4 mg/16-oz serving, respectively. Patients vulnerable to caffeine effects should be advised that caffeine may be present in coffees purported to be decaffeinated. Further research is warranted on the potential deleterious effects of consumption of "decaffeinated" coffee that contains caffeine on caffeine-restricted patients. Additionally, further exploration is merited for the possible physical dependence potential of low doses of caffeine such as those concentrations found in decaffeinated coffee.

Current development of UAV sense and avoid system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhahir, A.; Razali, A.; Mohd Ajir, M. R.

2016-10-01

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now gaining high interests from civil and commercialised market, the automatic sense and avoid (SAA) system is currently one of the essential features in research spotlight of UAV. Several sensor types employed in current SAA research and technology of sensor fusion that offers a great opportunity in improving detection and tracking system are presented here. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of SAA system development in general, as well as the current challenges facing UAV researchers and designers.

Process technology of luwak coffee through bioreactor utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Hadipernata, M.; Nugraha, S.

2018-01-01

Indonesia has an advantage in producing exotic coffee that is Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee is produced from the fermentation process in digestion of civet. Luwak coffee production is still limited due to the difficulty level in the use of civet animals as the only medium of Luwak coffee making. The research was conducted by developing technology of luwak coffee production through bioreactor utilization and addition the bacteria isolate from gastric of civet. The process conditions in the bioreactor which include temperature, pH, and bacteria isolate of civet are adjusted to the process that occurs in civet digestion, including peristaltic movement on the stomach and small intestine of the civet will be replaced by the use of propellers that rotate on the bioreactor. The result of research showed that proximat analysis data of artificial/bioreactor luwak coffee did not significant different with original luwak coffee. However, the original luwak coffee has higher content of caffeine compared to bioreactor luwak coffee. Based on the cuping test the bioreactor luwak coffee has a value of 84.375, while the original luwak coffee is 84.875. As the result, bioreactor luwak coffee has excellent taste that similiar with original luwak coffee taste.

The Impact of Coffee on Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieber, Karen

2017-11-01

Coffee is one of the most popular and widely consumed beverages worldwide due to its stimulating effects on the central nervous system as well as its taste and aroma. Coffee is a complex mixture of more than 800 volatile compounds whereas caffeine and chlorogenic acids are the most common compounds. During the last years, coffee has progressively moved to a less negative position on health due to its better-known pharmacology. Caffeine, e.g., in a cup of coffee, appears to exert most of its effects through an antagonism of the adenosine receptors. Novel approaches in epidemiological studies and experimental researches suggest that coffee consumption may help to prevent several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus and liver disease. Most prospective cohort studies have not found coffee consumption to be associated with a significantly increased cardiovascular disease risk. There is also evidence that decaffeinated coffee may, in some respect, have similar benefits as regular coffee, indicating that besides caffeine other components contribute to the health protecting effects. For adults consuming moderate amounts of coffee (3 - 4 cups/d providing 300 - 400 mg/d of caffeine), there is little evidence of health risks and some evidence of health benefits. This review provides up-to-date information about coffee on health. Topics addressed include the cardiovascular system, liver diseases, and diabetes as well as gastrointestinal disorders. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Association of coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of Parkinson disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, G W; Abbott, R D; Petrovitch, H; Morens, D M; Grandinetti, A; Tung, K H; Tanner, C M; Masaki, K H; Blanchette, P L; Curb, J D; Popper, J S; White, L R

The projected expansion in the next several decades of the elderly population at highest risk for Parkinson disease (PD) makes identification of factors that promote or prevent the disease an important goal. To explore the association of coffee and dietary caffeine intake with risk of PD. Data were analyzed from 30 years of follow-up of 8004 Japanese-American men (aged 45-68 years) enrolled in the prospective longitudinal Honolulu Heart Program between 1965 and 1968. Incident PD, by amount of coffee intake (measured at study enrollment and 6-year follow-up) and by total dietary caffeine intake (measured at enrollment). During follow-up, 102 men were identified as having PD. Age-adjusted incidence of PD declined consistently with increased amounts of coffee intake, from 10.4 per 10,000 person-years in men who drank no coffee to 1.9 per 10,000 person-years in men who drank at least 28 oz/d (Pcoffee sources (P=.03 for trend). Consumption of increasing amounts of coffee was also associated with lower risk of PD in men who were never, past, and current smokers at baseline (P=.049, P=.22, and P=.02, respectively, for trend). Other nutrients in coffee, including niacin, were unrelated to PD incidence. The relationship between caffeine and PD was unaltered by intake of milk and sugar. Our findings indicate that higher coffee and caffeine intake is associated with a significantly lower incidence of PD. This effect appears to be independent of smoking. The data suggest that the mechanism is related to caffeine intake and not to other nutrients contained in coffee. JAMA. 2000;283:2674-2679.

A Natural Interaction Interface for UAVs Using Intuitive Gesture Recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Chandarana, Meghan; Trujillo, Anna; Shimada, Kenji; Allen, Danette

2016-01-01

The popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is increasing as technological advancements boost their favorability for a broad range of applications. One application is science data collection. In fields like Earth and atmospheric science, researchers are seeking to use UAVs to augment their current portfolio of platforms and increase their accessibility to geographic areas of interest. By increasing the number of data collection platforms UAVs will significantly improve system robustness and allow for more sophisticated studies. Scientists would like be able to deploy an available fleet of UAVs to fly a desired flight path and collect sensor data without needing to understand the complex low-level controls required to describe and coordinate such a mission. A natural interaction interface for a Ground Control System (GCS) using gesture recognition is developed to allow non-expert users (e.g., scientists) to define a complex flight path for a UAV using intuitive hand gesture inputs from the constructed gesture library. The GCS calculates the combined trajectory on-line, verifies the trajectory with the user, and sends it to the UAV controller to be flown.

Brazilian Coffee Production as Function of Global Warming.

Science.gov (United States)

Avila, A. M. H. D.; Pinto, H. S.; Alfonsi, E. L., Sr.; Alfonsi, W. M. V.; Pereira, V. R.

2016-12-01

According to the Brazilian Government the actual area of coffee production in the country is close to 2.25 million hectares. The sector involves 290.000 of farmers with a production of 44 million of 60 Kg bags in 2015. The Arabica Coffee specie is cultivated in the country where the climate condition are characterized by a year mean temperatures between 18°C and 22°C. Temperatures higher than 33°C can cause abortion of flowers during the spring season and reduce the production while lower than 18°C can be affected by frost during winter when the minimum temperature can be lower than 2°C in the shelter. For a better quality of the final product the winter, between July and August, must be dry with rainfall lower than 50 mm/month. The Ministry of Agriculture defines those conditions for the Official Coffee Climatic Risk Zoning. In 2002, a partnership with the British Embassy and 2 Brazilian institutions, i. e. the State University of Campinas - UNICAMP and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - Embrapa, published the study "Global Warming and the New Geography of Agricultural Production in Brazil" (Pinto and Assad, 2002). This study was based on the PRECIS/Hadley Centre Regional Climate Model future projections. The crop simulations indicated a decrease in the grain production due to temperature rise. Later in 2012, a new study was developed in cooperation with the World Bank to evaluate the future of nine main commodities in Brazil under climate change, including the Arabica coffee. The worst scenario considering any mitigation and adaptation action indicated that the two most affected crops would be the soybean and coffee, with a reduction of 22% and 6.7 % in the yield respectively. Field surveys to evaluate the historical spatial dynamic and migration of Arabica coffee cultivated areas confirmed the results of the previous studies and indicated a recent increase in the search for cooler altitude areas to plant coffee. Also the field observations

UAV Robust Strategy Control Based on MAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Han

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A novel multiagent system (MAS has been proposed to integrate individual UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle to form a UAV team which can accomplish complex missions with better efficiency and effect. The MAS based UAV team control is more able to conquer dynamic situations and enhance the performance of any single UAV. In this paper, the MAS proposed and established combines the reacting and thinking abilities to be an initiative and autonomous hybrid system which can solve missions involving coordinated flight and cooperative operation. The MAS uses BDI model to support its logical perception and to classify the different missions; then the missions will be allocated by utilizing auction mechanism after analyzing dynamic parameters. Prim potential algorithm, particle swarm algorithm, and reallocation mechanism are proposed to realize the rational decomposing and optimal allocation in order to reach the maximum profit. After simulation, the MAS has been proved to be able to promote the success ratio and raise the robustness, while realizing feasibility of coordinated flight and optimality of cooperative mission.

Development of a Data Acquisition System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) System Identification

Science.gov (United States)

Lear, Donald Joseph

Aircraft system identification techniques are developed for fixed wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). The use of a designed flight experiment with measured system inputs/outputs can be used to derive aircraft stability derivatives. This project set out to develop a methodology to support an experiment to model pitch damping in the longitudinal short-period mode of a UAV. A Central Composite Response Surface Design was formed using angle of attack and power levels as factors to test for the pitching moment coefficient response induced by a multistep pitching maneuver. Selecting a high-quality data acquisition platform was critical to the success of the project. This system was designed to support fixed wing research through the addition of a custom air data vane capable of measuring angle of attack and sideslip, as well as an airspeed sensor. A Pixhawk autopilot system serves as the core and modification of the device firmware allowed for the integration of custom sensors and custom RC channels dedicated to performing system identification maneuvers. Tests were performed on all existing Pixhawk sensors to validate stated uncertainty values. The air data system was calibrated in a low speed wind tunnel and dynamic performance was verified. The assembled system was then installed in a commercially available UAV known as an Air Titan FPV in order to test the Pixhawk's automated flight maneuvers and determine the final performance of each sensor. Flight testing showed all the critical sensors produced acceptable data for further research. The Air Titan FPV airframe was found to be very flexible and did not lend itself well to accurate measurement of inertial properties. This realization prohibited the construction of the required math models for longitudinal dynamics. It is recommended that future projects using the developed methods choose an aircraft with a more rigid airframe.

Volumetric calculation using low cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) approach

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, A. A. Ab; Maulud, K. N. Abdul; Mohd, F. A.; Jaafar, O.; Tahar, K. N.

2017-12-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) technology has evolved dramatically in the 21st century. It is used by both military and general public for recreational purposes and mapping work. Operating cost for UAV is much cheaper compared to that of normal aircraft and it does not require a large work space. The UAV systems have similar functions with the LIDAR and satellite images technologies. These systems require a huge cost, labour and time consumption to produce elevation and dimension data. Measurement of difficult objects such as water tank can also be done by using UAV. The purpose of this paper is to show the capability of UAV to compute the volume of water tank based on a different number of images and control points. The results were compared with the actual volume of the tank to validate the measurement. In this study, the image acquisition was done using Phantom 3 Professional, which is a low cost UAV. The analysis in this study is based on different volume computations using two and four control points with variety set of UAV images. The results show that more images will provide a better quality measurement. With 95 images and four GCP, the error percentage to the actual volume is about 5%. Four controls are enough to get good results but more images are needed, estimated about 115 until 220 images. All in all, it can be concluded that the low cost UAV has a potential to be used for volume of water and dimension measurement.

LUNA: low-flying UAV-based forest monitoring system

Science.gov (United States)

Keizer, Jan Jacob; Pereira, Luísa; Pinto, Glória; Alves, Artur; Barros, Antonio; Boogert, Frans-Joost; Cambra, Sílvia; de Jesus, Cláudia; Frankenbach, Silja; Mesquita, Raquel; Serôdio, João; Martins, José; Almendra, Ricardo

2015-04-01

The LUNA project is aiming to develop an information system for precision forestry and, in particular, the monitoring of eucalypt plantations that is first and foremost based on multi-spectral imagery acquired using low-flying uav's. The presentation will focus on the first phase of image acquisition, processing and analysis for a series of pot experiments addressing main threats for early-stage eucalypt plantations in Portugal, i.e. acute , chronic and cyclic hydric stress, nutrient stress, fungal infections and insect plague attacks. The imaging results will be compared with spectroscopic measurements as well as with eco-physiological and plant morphological measurements. Furthermore, the presentation will show initial results of the project's second phase, comprising field tests in existing eucalypt plantations in north-central Portugal.

Turkish cultural heritage: a cup of coffee

OpenAIRE

Birsen Yılmaz; Nilüfer Acar-Tek; Saniye Sözlü

2017-01-01

Setting out a fabulous journey from a tiny bean, coffee is the stimulant of the heart and mind and a mysterious plant that strengthens friendship and also takes your tiredness away during the day. Although information on how and where the coffee came from is not clear, Sheikh Şazeli is regarded as the “father” by coffee makers. The word coffee originates from “Kaffa”, a primary coffee production center in Abyssinia, Africa, which can be considered the homeland of coffee. According to this con...

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT VEHICLE (UAV IN THE ROMANIAN AIRSPACE. AN OVERVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasile PRISACARIU

2014-04-01

Full Text Available For the last decade the unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV field has evolved in terms of the sub-branches established in the aerospace industry. At national level the UAV market is still in its infancy but acknowledges an upward trend in the implementation and use of UAVs in civilian and military missions. The achievements of the past decade confirms that Romanian specialists are able to conceive, design and build UAVs at a technological and operational level comparable to the one achieved by large international producers creating the prerequisites of developing a sub-sector for the national aeronautic industry. The current article aims at providing an overview of all activities related to the conception, manufacturing, testing, improving, operating UAVs as these activities evolved within the national airspace filed with brief references to the missions and legislation in this area.

Markkinointiviestintäsuunnitelma : Classic Coffee Oy

OpenAIRE

Eerola, Laura

2015-01-01

Opinnäytetyön aiheena oli laatia markkinointiviestintäsuunnitelma kalenterivuodelle 2016 vuosikellon muodossa, toimintansa jo vakiinnuttaneelle Classic Coffee Oy:lle. Classic Coffee Oy on vuonna 2011 perustettu, Tampereella toimiva kahvila-alan yritys joka tarjoaa lounaskahvilatoiminnan lisäksi laadukkaita konditoria-palveluita, yritys- ja kokoustarjoiluja sekä tilavuokrausta. Classic Coffee Oy:llä on yksi kahvila, Classic Coffee Tampella. Kahvila sijaitsee Tampellassa, Tampereen keskustan vä...

Output feedback control of a quadrotor UAV using neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Dierks, Travis; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2010-01-01

In this paper, a new nonlinear controller for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed using neural networks (NNs) and output feedback. The assumption on the availability of UAV dynamics is not always practical, especially in an outdoor environment. Therefore, in this work, an NN is introduced to learn the complete dynamics of the UAV online, including uncertain nonlinear terms like aerodynamic friction and blade flapping. Although a quadrotor UAV is underactuated, a novel NN virtual control input scheme is proposed which allows all six degrees of freedom (DOF) of the UAV to be controlled using only four control inputs. Furthermore, an NN observer is introduced to estimate the translational and angular velocities of the UAV, and an output feedback control law is developed in which only the position and the attitude of the UAV are considered measurable. It is shown using Lyapunov theory that the position, orientation, and velocity tracking errors, the virtual control and observer estimation errors, and the NN weight estimation errors for each NN are all semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB) in the presence of bounded disturbances and NN functional reconstruction errors while simultaneously relaxing the separation principle. The effectiveness of proposed output feedback control scheme is then demonstrated in the presence of unknown nonlinear dynamics and disturbances, and simulation results are included to demonstrate the theoretical conjecture.

HOW COFFEE COMPANIES CAN STAY COMPETITIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RALUCA DANIELA RIZEA

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The coffee shop industry in the U.S. includes 20,000 stores with combined annual revenue of about $11 billion. Major companies include Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Caribou, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Diedrich (Gloria Jean’s. The industry is highly concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom: the top 50 companies have over 70 percent of industry sales. Coffee is one of the world’s largest commodities. The top green coffee producing countries are Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam. Many grower countries are small, poor developing nations that depend on coffee to sustain local economies. The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of green coffee beans and the largest consumer of coffee. The main objective of this study is to investigate the competitive strategies that U.S. coffee franchise companies adopt considering customers’ expectations and industry best practices. In order to achieve this objective, a best practice benchmarking analysis was performed taking into account the top U.S. coffee companies This analysis showed that product and service innovation are necessary in order to stay competitive in the market and attract new or to keep existing customers successfully. Many customers focus on the special atmosphere each store has and which is characterized by the location, music, interior design, seating or whether internet access is provided. Particularly for specialty coffee shops it is important not to sell only the beverage but the whole experience. Coffee shops have to establish a unique image that prevents customers from buying products from another shop or use home-brewing systems which are also on the rise in American households. In addressing the increased level of competition, every company’s focus should be on differentiating from the rest of the market in every possible business segment (products, atmosphere, location, image etc..

Radar sensing via a Micro-UAV-borne system

Science.gov (United States)

Catapano, Ilaria; Ludeno, Giovanni; Gennarelli, Gianluca; Soldovieri, Francesco; Rodi Vetrella, Amedeo; Fasano, Giancarmine

2017-04-01

In recent years, the miniaturization of flight control systems and payloads has contributed to a fast and widespread diffusion of micro-UAV (Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle). While micro-UAV can be a powerful tool in several civil applications such as environmental monitoring and surveillance, unleashing their full potential for societal benefits requires augmenting their sensing capability beyond the realm of active/passive optical sensors [1]. In this frame, radar systems are drawing attention since they allow performing missions in all-weather and day/night conditions and, thanks to the microwave ability to penetrate opaque media, they enable the detection and localization not only of surface objects but also of sub-surface/hidden targets. However, micro-UAV-borne radar imaging represents still a new frontier, since it is much more than a matter of technology miniaturization or payload installation, which can take advantage of the newly developed ultralight systems. Indeed, micro-UAV-borne radar imaging entails scientific challenges in terms of electromagnetic modeling and knowledge of flight dynamics and control. As a consequence, despite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging is a traditional remote sensing tool, its adaptation to micro-UAV is an open issue and so far only few case studies concerning the integration of SAR and UAV technologies have been reported worldwide [2]. In addition, only early results concerning subsurface imaging by means of an UAV-mounted radar are available [3]. As a contribution to radar imaging via autonomous micro-UAV, this communication presents a proof-of-concept experiment. This experiment represents the first step towards the development of a general methodological approach that exploits expertise about (sub-)surface imaging and aerospace systems with the aim to provide high-resolution images of the surveyed scene. In details, at the conference, we will present the results of a flight campaign carried out by using a single radar

Recording animal vocalizations from a UAV: bat echolocation during roost re-entry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kloepper, Laura N; Kinniry, Morgan

2018-05-17

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are rising in popularity for wildlife monitoring, but direct recordings of animal vocalizations have not yet been accomplished, likely due to the noise generated by the UAV. Echolocating bats, especially Tadarida brasiliensis, are good candidates for UAV recording due to their high-speed, high-altitude flight. Here, we use a UAV to record the signals of bats during morning roost re-entry. We designed a UAV to block the noise of the propellers from the receiving microphone, and report on the characteristics of bioacoustic recordings from a UAV. We report the first published characteristics of echolocation signals from bats during group flight and cave re-entry. We found changes in inter-individual time-frequency shape, suggesting that bats may use differences in call design when sensing in complex groups. Furthermore, our first documented successful recordings of animals in their natural habitat demonstrate that UAVs can be important tools for bioacoustic monitoring, and we discuss the ethical considerations for such monitoring.

UAV Based Imaging for Crop, Weed and Disease Monitoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia Ruiz, Francisco Jose

Summary Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with cameras have become a powerful technology to collect high resolution remote sensing data from agricultural crops. When equipped with multispectral cameras, light invisible for the human eye may be captured and used to characterize the physiolog......Summary Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with cameras have become a powerful technology to collect high resolution remote sensing data from agricultural crops. When equipped with multispectral cameras, light invisible for the human eye may be captured and used to characterize...... the physiological status of the vegetation. UAV imagery may be divided into three steps (1) spectral characterization of the targets of interest, (2) flight and image acquisition and (3) image processing and interpretation. The overall aims of this study were to improve knowledge in all three steps associated...... with UAV-based remote sensing for practical use in agriculture and to contribute to the incipient research on UAV based remote sensing for agricultural applications. Three case studies were performed to (1) Characterize the spectral signatures of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) and creeping thistle (Cirsium...

UAV PHOTOGRAMMETRY: BLOCK TRIANGULATION COMPARISONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Gini

2013-08-01

Full Text Available UAVs systems represent a flexible technology able to collect a big amount of high resolution information, both for metric and interpretation uses. In the frame of experimental tests carried out at Dept. ICA of Politecnico di Milano to validate vector-sensor systems and to assess metric accuracies of images acquired by UAVs, a block of photos taken by a fixed wing system is triangulated with several software. The test field is a rural area included in an Italian Park ("Parco Adda Nord", useful to study flight and imagery performances on buildings, roads, cultivated and uncultivated vegetation. The UAV SenseFly, equipped with a camera Canon Ixus 220HS, flew autonomously over the area at a height of 130 m yielding a block of 49 images divided in 5 strips. Sixteen pre-signalized Ground Control Points, surveyed in the area through GPS (NRTK survey, allowed the referencing of the block and accuracy analyses. Approximate values for exterior orientation parameters (positions and attitudes were recorded by the flight control system. The block was processed with several software: Erdas-LPS, EyeDEA (Univ. of Parma, Agisoft Photoscan, Pix4UAV, in assisted or automatic way. Results comparisons are given in terms of differences among digital surface models, differences in orientation parameters and accuracies, when available. Moreover, image and ground point coordinates obtained by the various software were independently used as initial values in a comparative adjustment made by scientific in-house software, which can apply constraints to evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of point extraction and accuracies on ground check points.

a Three-Dimensional Simulation and Visualization System for Uav Photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Y.; Qu, Y.; Cui, T.

2017-08-01

Nowadays UAVs has been widely used for large-scale surveying and mapping. Compared with manned aircraft, UAVs are more cost-effective and responsive. However, UAVs are usually more sensitive to wind condition, which greatly influences their positions and orientations. The flight height of a UAV is relative low, and the relief of the terrain may result in serious occlusions. Moreover, the observations acquired by the Position and Orientation System (POS) are usually less accurate than those acquired in manned aerial photogrammetry. All of these factors bring in uncertainties to UAV photogrammetry. To investigate these uncertainties, a three-dimensional simulation and visualization system has been developed. The system is demonstrated with flight plan evaluation, image matching, POS-supported direct georeferencing, and ortho-mosaicing. Experimental results show that the presented system is effective for flight plan evaluation. The generated image pairs are accurate and false matches can be effectively filtered. The presented system dynamically visualizes the results of direct georeferencing in three-dimensions, which is informative and effective for real-time target tracking and positioning. The dynamically generated orthomosaic can be used in emergency applications. The presented system has also been used for teaching theories and applications of UAV photogrammetry.

Rancang Bangun Prototype Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV dengan Tiga Rotor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darmawan Rasyid Hadi Saputra

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Unmanned Aerial Vehicle atau yang biasa dikenal dengan istilah UAV  merupakan sebuah sistem penerbangan/ pesawat tanpa pilot yang berada di dalam pesawat tersebut. UAV dapat dikendalikan dengan menggunakan remote dari jarak jauh, diprogram dengan perintah tertentu, atau bahkan dengan sistem pengendalian otomatis yang lebih kompleks. Aplikasi dari teknologi UAV pun beragam mulai dari tugas militer hingga pengamatan udara. Dalam penelitian ini, sebuah UAV akan dikembangkan dengan tiga buah rotor dan satu buah motor servo di bagian belakang UAV. Perancangan model menggunakan software CATIA dengan batasan dimensi (panjang × lebar maksimum 75 × 75 cm dan massa < 2 kg. Analisis struktur rangka dilakukan untuk menguji kekuatan rangka ketika terbang dan membawa beban, dengan menggunakan metode elemen hingga dan kriteria kegagalan Von-Misses. Dalam proses pengerjaan, rancangan dari CATIA dan analisis yang telah dilakukan dalam perancangan tersebut akan digunakan. Hasil yang didapat berupa UAV yang memiliki struktur rangka dengan defleksi maksimum 3,67 mm pada rangka tengah yang berbahan acrylic. Dalam pengujian di lapangan, UAV dapat melakukan gerak roll, pitch, dan yaw yang dikendalikan melalui remote control. Waktu operasi maksimum yang dapat dilakukan adalah selama 7 menit 43 detik.

Complementary Coffee Cups

Science.gov (United States)

Banchoff, Thomas

2006-01-01

What may have been the birth of a new calculus problem took place when the author noticed that two coffee cups, one convex and one concave, fit nicely together, and he wondered which held more coffee. The fact that their volumes were about equal led to the topic of this article: complementary surfaces of revolution with equal volumes.

Magnetically modified spent coffee grounds for dyes removal

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šafařík, Ivo; Horská, Kateřina; Svobodová, Barbora; Šafaříková, Miroslava

2012-01-01

Roč. 234, č. 2 (2012), s. 345-350 ISSN 1438-2377 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC09052; GA MPO 2A-1TP1/094 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : coffee grounds * magnetic fluid * adsorption * dyes * magnetic solid-phase extraction Subject RIV: GM - Food Processing Impact factor: 1.436, year: 2012

Evaluation of physiological changes in coffee seedlings ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Field experiments were carried out at three locations with different vegetation in Nigeria between 1996 and 1998 to determine the physiological changes in coffee intercropped with maize, cassava and plantain. There were four intercropping treatments comprising coffee/maize, coffee/cassava, coffee/plantain and ...

Study of composition of espresso coffee prepared from various roast degrees of Coffea arabica L. coffee beans.

Science.gov (United States)

Kučera, Lukáš; Papoušek, Roman; Kurka, Ondřej; Barták, Petr; Bednář, Petr

2016-05-15

Espresso coffee samples prepared at various roasting degrees defined according to its basic conventional classification (light, medium, medium-dark and dark roasted) were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Obtained raw data were processed using multivariate statistical analysis (Principal Component Analysis, PCA) to evaluate chemical differences between each roasting degrees (untargeted part of study). All four roasting degrees were resolved in appropriate Score plot. Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures provided signals of significant markers describing the differences among particular roasting degrees. Detailed interpretation of those signals by targeted LC/MS(2) analysis revealed four groups of compounds. The first two groups involve chlorogenic acids and related lactones. The signals of other two sets of markers were ascribed to some specific atractylosides and particular melanoidins. Ratios of contents of selected representatives of each group to the sum of all identified markers were proposed as definite parameters for determination of roasting degree of Brazilian coffee Arabica. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biodiesel Production from Spent Coffee Grounds

Science.gov (United States)

Blinová, Lenka; Bartošová, Alica; Sirotiak, Maroš

2017-06-01

The residue after brewing the spent coffee grounds is an oil-containing waste material having a potential of being used as biodiesel feedstock. Biodiesel production from the waste coffee grounds oil involves collection and transportation of coffee residue, drying, oil extraction, and finally production of biodiesel. Different methods of oil extraction with organic solvents under different conditions show significant differences in the extraction yields. In the manufacturing of biodiesel from coffee oil, the level of reaction completion strongly depends on the quality of the feedstock oil. This paper presents an overview of oil extraction and a method of biodiesel production from spent coffee grounds.

Optimal trajectory planning for a UAV glider using atmospheric thermals

Science.gov (United States)

Kagabo, Wilson B.

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Glider (UAV glider) uses atmospheric energy in its different forms to remain aloft for extended flight durations. This UAV glider's aim is to extract atmospheric thermal energy and use it to supplement its battery energy usage and increase the mission period. Given an infrared camera identified atmospheric thermal of known strength and location; current wind speed and direction; current battery level; altitude and location of the UAV glider; and estimating the expected altitude gain from the thermal, is it possible to make an energy-efficient based motivation to fly to an atmospheric thermal so as to achieve UAV glider extended flight time? For this work, an infrared thermal camera aboard the UAV glider takes continuous forward-looking ground images of "hot spots". Through image processing a candidate atmospheric thermal strength and location is estimated. An Intelligent Decision Model incorporates this information with the current UAV glider status and weather conditions to provide an energy-based recommendation to modify the flight path of the UAV glider. Research, development, and simulation of the Intelligent Decision Model is the primary focus of this work. Three models are developed: (1) Battery Usage Model, (2) Intelligent Decision Model, and (3) Altitude Gain Model. The Battery Usage Model comes from the candidate flight trajectory, wind speed & direction and aircraft dynamic model. Intelligent Decision Model uses a fuzzy logic based approach. The Altitude Gain Model requires the strength and size of the thermal and is found a priori.

Intification and modelling of flight characteristics for self-build shock flyer type UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid., Z. A.; Dardin, A. S. F. Syed.; Azid, A. A.; Ahmad, K. A.

2018-02-01

The development of an autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) requires a fundamentals studies of the UAV's flight characteristic. The aim of this study is to identify and model the flight characteristic of a conventional fixed-wing type UAV. Subsequence to this, the mode of flight of the UAV can be investigated. One technique to identify the characteristic of a UAV is a flight test where it required specific maneuvering to be executed while measuring the attitude sensor. In this study, a simple shock flyer type UAV was used as the aircraft. The result shows that the modeled flight characteristic has a significant relation with actual values but the fitting value is rather small. It is suggested that the future study is conducted with an improvement of the physical UAV, data filtering and better system identification methods.

Coffee consumption and risk of renal cell carcinoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Antwi, Samuel O; Eckel-Passow, Jeanette E; Diehl, Nancy D; Serie, Daniel J; Custer, Kaitlynn M; Arnold, Michelle L; Wu, Kevin J; Cheville, John C; Thiel, David D; Leibovich, Bradley C; Parker, Alexander S

2017-08-01

Studies have suggested an inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, data regarding decaffeinated coffee are limited. We conducted a case-control study of 669 incident RCC cases and 1,001 frequency-matched controls. Participants completed identical risk factor questionnaires that solicited information about usual coffee consumption habits. The study participants were categorized as non-coffee, caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, or both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee drinkers. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression, adjusting for multiple risk factors for RCC. Compared with no coffee consumption, we found an inverse association between caffeinated coffee consumption and RCC risk (OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.57-0.99), whereas we observed a trend toward increased risk of RCC for consumption of decaffeinated coffee (OR 1.47; 95% CI 0.98-2.19). Decaffeinated coffee consumption was associated also with increased risk of the clear cell RCC (ccRCC) subtype, particularly the aggressive form of ccRCC (OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.01-3.22). Consumption of caffeinated coffee is associated with reduced risk of RCC, while decaffeinated coffee consumption is associated with an increase in risk of aggressive ccRCC. Further inquiry is warranted in large prospective studies and should include assessment of dose-response associations.

The Climate Change and Rwandan Coffee Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fidele Hakorimana

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper provides a detailed overview of the current situation of the coffee sector in the Rwandan economy and identifies the possible challenges that the sector is currently facing. The study has identified the economic and the livelihood indicators for farmers who are engaged in coffee production and also gives the Rwandan coffee sector’ situation and its position in the global coffee market. Also, the research has found out that in Rwanda, nearly 500,000 farmers produce coffee along with other crops, notably beans, savory banana and corn and found out that in 2012, coffee accounted for almost 30 percent of Rwanda’s total export revenue. On the other hand, the study revealed that the sector throughout all the coffee production process, has undergone different challenges especially climate change as it is reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal resources. A low yield was reported in 2007 and climate variability was quoted among the causes. Insufficient rainfall in the last three months of 2006 (the period of coffee flowering proceeding the short dry season in the first two months of 2007 was recorded. The reduced rainfall was also poorly distributed across coffee growing regions in Rwanda. In addition, the research revealed that even though the area under coffee production is increasing, the coffee production is decreasing due to unexpected climate change and variability in current years and also the improper use of chemical fertilizers by coffee farmers is very critical. The study concluded that adding value to the coffee supply chain of Rwanda is adding direct economic benefits and important indirect social benefits to the lives of individuals and to the health of communities in Rwanda. Moreover, more effort should continue to raise the profile of the Rwandan coffee sector suggesting that proper use of chemical fertilizers, solid marketing channels and climate change adaptations measures would be the fair ways of making the

Multi-UAV Routing for Area Coverage and Remote Sensing with Minimum Time.

Science.gov (United States)

Avellar, Gustavo S C; Pereira, Guilherme A S; Pimenta, Luciano C A; Iscold, Paulo

2015-11-02

This paper presents a solution for the problem of minimum time coverage of ground areas using a group of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) equipped with image sensors. The solution is divided into two parts: (i) the task modeling as a graph whose vertices are geographic coordinates determined in such a way that a single UAV would cover the area in minimum time; and (ii) the solution of a mixed integer linear programming problem, formulated according to the graph variables defined in the first part, to route the team of UAVs over the area. The main contribution of the proposed methodology, when compared with the traditional vehicle routing problem's (VRP) solutions, is the fact that our method solves some practical problems only encountered during the execution of the task with actual UAVs. In this line, one of the main contributions of the paper is that the number of UAVs used to cover the area is automatically selected by solving the optimization problem. The number of UAVs is influenced by the vehicles' maximum flight time and by the setup time, which is the time needed to prepare and launch a UAV. To illustrate the methodology, the paper presents experimental results obtained with two hand-launched, fixed-wing UAVs.

The use of UAVs for monitoring land degradation

Science.gov (United States)

Themistocleous, Kyriacos

2017-10-01

Land degradation is one of the causes of desertification of drylands in the Mediterranean. UAVs can be used to monitor and document the various variables that cause desertification in drylands, including overgrazing, aridity, vegetation loss, etc. This paper examines the use of UAVs and accompanying sensors to monitor overgrazing, vegetation stress and aridity in the study area. UAV images can be used to generate digital elevation models (DEMs) to examine the changes in microtopography as well as ortho-photos were used to detect changes in vegetation patterns. The combined data of the digital elevation models and the orthophotos can be used to identify the mechanisms for desertification in the study area.

Evaluation of an ergonomics intervention among Nicaraguan coffee harvesting workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bao, Stephen; Silverstein, Barbara; Stewart, Kate

2013-01-01

This study evaluated an ergonomics intervention among Nicaraguan coffee harvesting workers, using electromyography and questionnaire survey techniques. Nicaraguan researchers were involved in the study so that they could gain hands-on experience with ergonomics research and applications, and eventually be the specialists conducting ergonomics interventions in Nicaraguan workplaces. Coffee harvesting activities were studied individually and physical hazards were identified accordingly. The results showed decreased muscle loading on the erector spinae muscle and improved comfort reporting in the back region compared to the commonly used baskets. This fulfils the design objective of a newly developed bag that was used in the intervention to reduce physical workload on the coffee harvesting workers. Workers' opinion survey results showed some issues related to the size of the new bag and the lumbar-shoulder belt mechanism. This information can be used in the modification of the bag in the next design. Key players in the process have been identified. Stimulating ergonomics activities in developing countries is suggested by many experts. This study provided an example from coffee workers in Nicaragua. Commonly used job evaluation procedures and physical load quantification methods were used. Ergonomics researchers and practitioners in developing countries may do similar projects on their own in the future.

Coffee Production in Kavre and Lalitpur Districts, Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yogendra Kumar Karki

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Coffee (Coffea spp is an important and emerging cash crop having potential to provide farmers employment and income generation opportunities. This crop is well adapted to the climatic conditions of mid-hills of Nepal. Thus, majority of the farmers are attracted towards cultivation of coffee because of demands in national and international market. Coffee is now becoming integral part of farming system in rural areas. However, information on performance of coffee and farmers response has not been well documented. Therefore, we undertook the present work to analyze demography, ethnicity, household occupation, literacy status, average land holding, coffee cultivation area, livelihood and sources of income of coffee growers, production and productivity, pricing, cropping pattern of the coffee and problesm faced by them in mid hill district of Kavrepalanchowk (hereafter ‘Kavre’ and Lalitpur Districts. All the samples were taken randomly and selected from coffee producing cooperative of Kavre and Lalitpur. Our analysis showed that the male farmer dominant over female on adopting coffee cultivation in both districts with higher value in Kavre. Brahmin and Chetri ethnic communities were in majority over others in adopting the coffee cultivation. Literate farmers were more dominant over illiterates on adopting the coffee cultivation, The mean land holding was less, ranging from 0.15 to 2.30 ha for coffee cultivation, the history of coffee cultivation in Kavre showed that highest number of farmers were engaged in coffee farming from last 16 years. The mean yield of fresh cherry was 1027.20 kg/ha in Kavre, while it was 1849.36 kg/ha in Lalitpur. The study revealed that majority of the coffee plantations were between 6-10 years old. The major problems facing by coffee farmers were diseases spread, lack of irrigation facility and drying of plants. Despite of that the coffee farming was one of the rapidly emerging occupations among the farmers in both

Coffee harvest management by manipulation of coffee flowering with plant growth regulators

Science.gov (United States)

The breaking of coffee flower bud dormancy is known to be associated with one or more significant rainfall events following an extended period of dryness. In Hawaii, lack of a distinct wet-dry season poses serious problems for coffee growers because flowering is spread over several months. Multiple...

Buying cannabis in 'coffee shops'.

Science.gov (United States)

Monshouwer, Karin; Van Laar, Margriet; Vollebergh, Wilma A

2011-03-01

The key objective of Dutch cannabis policy is to prevent and limit the risks of cannabis consumption for users, their direct environment and society ('harm reduction'). This paper will focus on the tolerated sale of cannabis in 'coffee shops'. We give a brief overview of Dutch policy on coffee shops, its history and recent developments. Furthermore, we present epidemiological data that may be indicative of the effects of the coffee shop policy on cannabis and other drug use. Dutch coffee shop policy has become more restrictive in recent years and the number of coffee shops has decreased. Cannabis prevalence rates in the adult population are somewhat below the European average; the rate is relatively high among adolescents; and age of first use appears to be low. On a European level, the use of hard drugs in both the Dutch adult and adolescent population is average to low (except for ecstasy among adults). International comparisons do not suggest a strong, upward effect of the coffee shop system on levels of cannabis use, although prevalence rates among Dutch adolescents give rise to concern. Furthermore, the coffee shop system appears to be successful in separating the hard and soft drugs markets. Nevertheless, in recent years, issues concerning the involvement of organised crime and the public nuisance related to drug tourism have given rise to several restrictive measures on the local level and have sparked a political debate on the reform of Dutch drug policy. © 2011 Trimbos Institute.

Variation in caffeine concentration in single coffee beans.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Glen P; Wu, Alex; Yiran, Liang; Force, Lesleigh

2013-11-13

Twenty-eight coffee samples from around the world were tested for caffeine levels to develop near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) calibrations for whole and ground coffee. Twenty-five individual beans from five of those coffees were used to develop a NIRS calibration for caffeine concentration in single beans. An international standard high-performance liquid chromatography method was used to analyze for caffeine content. Coffee is a legal stimulant and possesses a number of heath properties. However, there is variation in the level of caffeine in brewed coffee and other caffeinated beverages. Being able to sort beans on the basis of caffeine concentration will improve quality control in the level of caffeine in those beverages. The range in caffeine concentration was from 0.01 mg/g (decaffeinated coffee) to 19.9 mg/g (Italian coffee). The majority of coffees were around 10.0-12.0 mg/g. The NIRS results showed r(2) values for bulk unground and ground coffees were >0.90 with standard errors coffee beans. One application of this calibration could be sorting beans on caffeine concentration to provide greater quality control for high-end markets. Furthermore, bean sorting may open new markets for novel coffee products.

UAV-based Radar Sounding of Antarctic Ice

Science.gov (United States)

Leuschen, Carl; Yan, Jie-Bang; Mahmood, Ali; Rodriguez-Morales, Fernando; Hale, Rick; Camps-Raga, Bruno; Metz, Lynsey; Wang, Zongbo; Paden, John; Bowman, Alec; Keshmiri, Shahriar; Gogineni, Sivaprasad

2014-05-01

We developed a compact radar for use on a small UAV to conduct measurements over the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. It operates at center frequencies of 14 and 35 MHz with bandwidths of 1 MHz and 4 MHz, respectively. The radar weighs about 2 kgs and is housed in a box with dimensions of 20.3 cm x 15.2 cm x 13.2 cm. It transmits a signal power of 100 W at a pulse repletion frequency of 10 kHz and requires average power of about 20 W. The antennas for operating the radar are integrated into the wings and airframe of a small UAV with a wingspan of 5.3 m. We selected the frequencies of 14 and 35 MHz based on previous successful soundings of temperate ice in Alaska with a 12.5 MHz impulse radar [Arcone, 2002] and temperate glaciers in Patagonia with a 30 MHz monocycle radar [Blindow et al., 2012]. We developed the radar-equipped UAV to perform surveys over a 2-D grid, which allows us to synthesize a large two-dimensional aperture and obtain fine resolution in both the along- and cross-track directions. Low-frequency, high-sensitivity radars with 2-D aperture synthesis capability are needed to overcome the surface and volume scatter that masks weak echoes from the ice-bed interface of fast-flowing glaciers. We collected data with the radar-equipped UAV on sub-glacial ice near Lake Whillans at both 14 and 35 MHz. We acquired data to evaluate the concept of 2-D aperture synthesis and successfully demonstrated the first successful sounding of ice with a radar on an UAV. We are planning to build multiple radar-equipped UAVs for collecting fine-resolution data near the grounding lines of fast-flowing glaciers. In this presentation we will provide a brief overview of the radar and UAV, as well as present results obtained at both 14 and 35 MHz. Arcone, S. 2002. Airborne-radar stratigraphy and electrical structure of temperate firn: Bagley Ice Field, Alaska, U.S.A. Journal of Glaciology, 48, 317-334. Blindow, N., C. Salat, and G. Casassa. 2012. Airborne GPR sounding of

Acute effects of decaffeinated coffee and the major coffee components chlorogenic acid and trigonelline on glucose tolerance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dijk, A.E.; Olthof, M.R.; Meeuse, J.C.; Seebus, E.; Heine, R.J.; van Dam, R.M.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE - Coffee consumption has been associated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes. We evaluated the acute effects of decaffeinated coffee and the major coffee components chlorogenic acid and trigonelline on glucose tolerance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We conducted a randomized crossover

Multi‐angular observations of vegetation indices from UAV cameras

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sobejano-Paz, Veronica; Wang, Sheng; Jakobsen, Jakob

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are found as an alternative to the classical manned aerial photogrammetry, which can be used to obtain environmental data or as a complementary solution to other methods (Nex and Remondino, 2014). Although UAVs have coverage limitations, they have better resolution...... (Berni et al., 2009), hyper spectral camera (Burkart et al., 2015) and photometric elevation mapping sensor (Shahbazi et al., 2015) among others. Therefore, UAVs can be used in many fields such as agriculture, forestry, archeology, architecture, environment and traffic monitoring (Nex and Remondino, 2014......). In this study, the UAV used is a hexacopter s900 equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) and two cameras; a digital RGB photo camera and a multispectral camera (MCA), with a resolution of 5472 x 3648 pixels and 1280 x 1024 pixels, respectively. In terms of applications, traditional methods using...

Good news for coffee addicts.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Thomas H

2009-06-01

Whether it's a basic Mr. Coffee or a gadget that sports a snazzy device for grinding beans on demand, the office coffee machine offers a place for serendipitous encounters that can improve the social aspect of work and generate new ideas. What's more, a steaming cup of joe may be as good for your health as it is for the bottom line, says Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the CEO of Partners Community HealthCare. Fears of coffee's carcinogenic effects now appear to be unfounded, and, in fact, the brew might even protect against some types of cancer. What's more, coffee may guard against Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and somehow soften the blow of a heart attack. Of course, its role as a pick-me-up is well known. So there's no need to take your coffee with a dollop of guilt, especially if you ease up on the sugar, cream, double chocolate, and whipped-cream topping.

HOW COFFEE COMPANIES CAN STAY COMPETITIVE

OpenAIRE

RALUCA DANIELA RIZEA; ROXANA SARBU; ELENA CONDREA

2014-01-01

The coffee shop industry in the U.S. includes 20,000 stores with combined annual revenue of about $11 billion. Major companies include Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Caribou, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Diedrich (Gloria Jean’s). The industry is highly concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom: the top 50 companies have over 70 percent of industry sales. Coffee is one of the world’s largest commodities. The top green coffee producing countries are Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam. Many...

A proposal to correct external effects in the coffee market: a tax on regular coffee and tea to subsidise the fair trade coffee

OpenAIRE

Galarraga, Ibon; Markandya, Anil

2006-01-01

This paper justifies the need to introduce a tax on regular coffee drinkers in the UK to subsidise the fair trade/organic coffee production. This policy will allow to take full account of the negative external effect of regular coffee production while internalising the positive effect of fair trade initiatives. Designing such a policy is possible and the benefits of it can be calculated. This paper shows how. Propuesta para corregir las externalidades en el mercado de café: un impuesto sobre ...

Comprehensive UAV agricultural remote-sensing research at Texas A M University

Science.gov (United States)

Thomasson, J. Alex; Shi, Yeyin; Olsenholler, Jeffrey; Valasek, John; Murray, Seth C.; Bishop, Michael P.

2016-05-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have advantages over manned vehicles for agricultural remote sensing. Flying UAVs is less expensive, is more flexible in scheduling, enables lower altitudes, uses lower speeds, and provides better spatial resolution for imaging. The main disadvantage is that, at lower altitudes and speeds, only small areas can be imaged. However, on large farms with contiguous fields, high-quality images can be collected regularly by using UAVs with appropriate sensing technologies that enable high-quality image mosaics to be created with sufficient metadata and ground-control points. In the United States, rules governing the use of aircraft are promulgated and enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and rules governing UAVs are currently in flux. Operators must apply for appropriate permissions to fly UAVs. In the summer of 2015 Texas A&M University's agricultural research agency, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, embarked on a comprehensive program of remote sensing with UAVs at its 568-ha Brazos Bottom Research Farm. This farm is made up of numerous fields where various crops are grown in plots or complete fields. The crops include cotton, corn, sorghum, and wheat. After gaining FAA permission to fly at the farm, the research team used multiple fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAVs along with various sensors to collect images over all parts of the farm at least once per week. This article reports on details of flight operations and sensing and analysis protocols, and it includes some lessons learned in the process of developing a UAV remote-sensing effort of this sort.

Experiment on Uav Photogrammetry and Terrestrial Laser Scanning for Ict-Integrated Construction

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, N.; Wakutsu, R.; Kato, T.; Wakaizumi, T.; Ooishi, T.; Matsuoka, R.

2017-08-01

In the 2016 fiscal year the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan started a program integrating construction and ICT in earthwork and concrete placing. The new program named "i-Construction" focusing on productivity improvement adopts such new technologies as UAV photogrammetry and TLS. We report a field experiment to investigate whether the procedures of UAV photogrammetry and TLS following the standards for "i-Construction" are feasible or not. In the experiment we measured an embankment of about 80 metres by 160 metres immediately after earthwork was done on the embankment. We used two sets of UAV and camera in the experiment. One is a larger UAV enRoute Zion QC730 and its onboard camera Sony α6000. The other is a smaller UAV DJI Phantom 4 and its dedicated onboard camera. Moreover, we used a terrestrial laser scanner FARO Focus3D X330 based on the phase shift principle. The experiment results indicate that the procedures of UAV photogrammetry using a QC730 with an α6000 and TLS using a Focus3D X330 following the standards for "i-Construction" would be feasible. Furthermore, the experiment results show that UAV photogrammetry using a lower price UAV Phantom 4 was unable to satisfy the accuracy requirement for "i-Construction." The cause of the low accuracy by Phantom 4 is under investigation. We also found that the difference of image resolution on the ground would not have a great influence on the measurement accuracy in UAV photogrammetry.

Perception-based Co-evolutionary Reinforcement Learning for UAV Sensor Allocation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Berenji, Hamid

2003-01-01

.... A Perception-based reasoning approach based on co-evolutionary reinforcement learning was developed for jointly addressing sensor allocation on each individual UAV and allocation of a team of UAVs...

Suitability Analysis and Projected Climate Change Impact on Banana and Coffee Production Zones in Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Sujakhu, Nani M.; Merz, Juerg; Kindt, Roeland; Xu, Jianchu; Matin, Mir A.; Ali, Mostafa; Zomer, Robert J.

2016-01-01

The Government of Nepal has identified opportunities in agricultural commercialization, responding to a growing internal demand and expansion of export markets to reduce the immense trade deficit. Several cash crops, including coffee and bananas, have been identified in the recently approved Agriculture Development Strategy. Both of these crops have encouraged smallholder farmers to convert their subsistence farming practices to more commercial cultivation. Identification of suitable agro-ecological zones and understanding climate-related issues are important for improved production and livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Here, the suitability of coffee and banana crops is analyzed for different agro-ecological zones represented by Global Environmental Stratification (GEnS). Future shifts in these suitability zones are also predicted. Plantation sites in Nepal were geo-referenced and used as input in species distribution modelling. The multi-model ensemble model suggests that climate change will reduce the suitable growing area for coffee by about 72% across the selected emission scenarios from now to 2050. Impacts are low for banana growing, with a reduction in suitability by about 16% by 2050. Bananas show a lot of potential for playing an important role in Nepal as a sustainable crop in the context of climate change, as this study indicates that the amount of area suited to banana growing will grow by 40% by 2050. Based on our analysis we recommend possible new locations for coffee plantations and one method for mitigating climate change-related problems on existing plantations. These findings are expected to support planning and policy dialogue for mitigation and support better informed and scientifically based decision-making relating to these two crops. PMID:27689354

Precise Positioning of Uavs - Dealing with Challenging Rtk-Gps Measurement Conditions during Automated Uav Flights

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, F.; Eling, C.; Klingbeil, L.; Kuhlmann, H.

2017-08-01

For some years now, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are commonly used for different mobile mapping applications, such as in the fields of surveying, mining or archeology. To improve the efficiency of these applications an automation of the flight as well as the processing of the collected data is currently aimed at. One precondition for an automated mapping with UAVs is that the georeferencing is performed directly with cm-accuracies or better. Usually, a cm-accurate direct positioning of UAVs is based on an onboard multi-sensor system, which consists of an RTK-capable (real-time kinematic) GPS (global positioning system) receiver and additional sensors (e.g. inertial sensors). In this case, the absolute positioning accuracy essentially depends on the local GPS measurement conditions. Especially during mobile mapping applications in urban areas, these conditions can be very challenging, due to a satellite shadowing, non-line-of sight receptions, signal diffraction or multipath effects. In this paper, two straightforward and easy to implement strategies will be described and analyzed, which improve the direct positioning accuracies for UAV-based mapping and surveying applications under challenging GPS measurement conditions. Based on a 3D model of the surrounding buildings and vegetation in the area of interest, a GPS geometry map is determined, which can be integrated in the flight planning process, to avoid GPS challenging environments as far as possible. If these challenging environments cannot be avoided, the GPS positioning solution is improved by using obstruction adaptive elevation masks, to mitigate systematic GPS errors in the RTK-GPS positioning. Simulations and results of field tests demonstrate the profit of both strategies.

Consumer Acceptance of a Polyphenolic Coffee Beverage.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thuy; Kuchera, Meredith; Smoot, Katie; Diako, Charles; Vixie, Beata; Ross, Carolyn F

2016-10-05

The objective of this study was to determine if Chardonnay grape seed pomace (GSP), a waste stream of wine production, could be used as a functional ingredient in brewed coffee. Two consumer panels were conducted to assess the acceptance of coffee at coffee replacement (w/w) values of 0% (control), 6.25%, 12.50%, 18.75%, or 25% GSP. The 1st consumer panel (n = 80) assessed the coffee samples served "black." The 2nd panel (n = 67) assessed the coffee samples with adjustment (that is, sweeteners, milk, and cream) options available. Consumer sensory evaluation involved evaluating the 5 treatments individually for acceptance of appearance, aroma, taste/flavor, and overall acceptance using a 9-point hedonic scale. A check-all-that-apply questionnaire surveyed the sensory attributes describing aroma, appearance, and taste/flavor of the samples. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity was used to measure the effects of antioxidant levels in GSP coffee samples. Results showed that GSP could be added at 6.25% replacement without significantly affecting the overall consumer acceptance of coffee compared to the control (0% GSP). Above 6.25% GSP supplementation, the coffee beverage was described as more tan, milky, watery/dilute, and mild, and was generally less accepted by the consumers. GSP also increased the antioxidant capacity of the coffee compared to the control (0% GSP), with no significant differences among replacement values. Therefore, 6.25% GSP replacement is recommended for creating coffee beverages acceptable to consumers. Further in vivo investigation may substantiate the free-radical scavenging capacity of GSP coffee and its potential health benefits. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Cost and effectiveness analysis on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) use at border security

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Bahadır.

2013-06-01

Drones and Remotely Piloted Vehicles are types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. UAVs began to be used with the war of Vietnam, they had a great interest when Israel used them in Bekaa Valley Operations of 1982. UAVs have been used by different countries with different aims with the help of emerging technology and investments. In this article, in the context of areas of UAV usage in national security, benefits and disadvantages of UAVs are put forward. Particularly, it has been evaluated on the basis of cost-effectiveness by focusing the use of UAV in the border security. UAVs have been studied by taking cost analysis, procurement and operational costs into consideration. Analysis of effectiveness has been done with illegal passages of people and drugs from flight times of UAVs. Although the procurement cost of the medium-level UAVs is low, its operational costs are high. For this reason, the idea of less costly alternative systems have been revealed for the border security. As the costs are reduced to acceptable level involving national security and border security in future with high-technology products in their structure, it will continue to be used in an increasing proportion.

Difference Spectroscopy in the Analysis of the Effects of Coffee Cherry Processing Variables on the Flavor of Brewed Coffee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyman, D.J.; Benck, R.M.; Merle, S.F.

2011-01-01

Infrared difference spectroscopy was used to study how changes in the processing of Arabica coffee cherries into green beans affected the flavor of coffee brewed from roasted green beans. Paired samples of green beans, in which the drying step or fermentation/washing step in their processing was altered, were roasted and brewed in a standard manner and their ATR-FT-IR spectra obtained. Difference spectra of the 1800 to 1680 cm-1 carbonyl region of water-subtracted spectra of paired samples of these brewed coffees provided data which indicated differences in brewed coffee flavor due to changes in fermentation/washing steps and drying steps involved in the processing of coffee cherries. The role of acid, ketone, aldehyde, ester, lactone, and vinyl ester carbonyl components on the flavor of brewed coffee is proposed that is consistent with the flavors as perceived by the coffee tasters.

Difference Spectroscopy in the Analysis of the Effects of Coffee Cherry Processing Variables on the Flavor of Brewed Coffee

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donald J. Lyman

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Infrared difference spectroscopy was used to study how changes in the processing of Arabica coffee cherries into green beans affected the flavor of coffee brewed from roasted green beans. Paired samples of green beans, in which the drying step or fermentation/washing step in their processing was altered, were roasted and brewed in a standard manner and their ATR-FT-IR spectra obtained. Difference spectra of the 1800 to 1680 cm−1 carbonyl region of water-subtracted spectra of paired samples of these brewed coffees provided data which indicated differences in brewed coffee flavor due to changes in fermentation/washing steps and drying steps involved in the processing of coffee cherries. The role of acid, ketone, aldehyde, ester, lactone, and vinyl ester carbonyl components on the flavor of brewed coffee is proposed that is consistent with the flavors as perceived by the coffee tasters.

Multidepot UAV Routing Problem with Weapon Configuration and Time Window

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tianren Zhou

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In recent wars, there is an increasing trend that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs are utilized to conduct military attacking missions. In this paper, we investigate a novel multidepot UAV routing problem with consideration of weapon configuration in the UAV and the attacking time window of the target. A mixed-integer linear programming model is developed to jointly optimize three kinds of decisions: the weapon configuration strategy in the UAV, the routing strategy of target, and the allocation strategy of weapons to targets. An adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS algorithm is proposed for solving the problem, which is tested by randomly generated instances covering the small, medium, and large sizes. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed ALNS algorithm.

HIL Tuning of UAV for Exploration of Risky Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. D. Melita

2008-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper the latest results of an HIL architecture, optimized to develop and test UAV platforms are presented. This architecture has been used to realize the different devices involved in the navigation and stability control of the Volcan UAV, a plane designed to operate in volcanic environments. The proposed architecture is strongly modular and flexible and allows the development of avionic hardware and software, testing and tuning the involved algorithms with non-destructive trials. A flight simulator (X-Plane with a suitable plane model and plug-in, has been adopted to simulate the UAV dynamics. The flight simulator, interfaced with the real electronic boards, allows an easy tuning of all the control parameters and data collecting for test and validation. The effectiveness of adopted methodology was confirmed by several flight tests performed subsequently by using the designed avionic modules on the real UAV.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for Kona coffee authentication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jun; Jun, Soojin; Bittenbender, H C; Gautz, Loren; Li, Qing X

2009-06-01

Kona coffee, the variety of "Kona typica" grown in the north and south districts of Kona-Island, carries a unique stamp of the region of Big Island of Hawaii, U.S.A. The excellent quality of Kona coffee makes it among the best coffee products in the world. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy integrated with an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory and multivariate analysis was used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of ground and brewed Kona coffee and blends made with Kona coffee. The calibration set of Kona coffee consisted of 10 different blends of Kona-grown original coffee mixture from 14 different farms in Hawaii and a non-Kona-grown original coffee mixture from 3 different sampling sites in Hawaii. Derivative transformations (1st and 2nd), mathematical enhancements such as mean centering and variance scaling, multivariate regressions by partial least square (PLS), and principal components regression (PCR) were implemented to develop and enhance the calibration model. The calibration model was successfully validated using 9 synthetic blend sets of 100% Kona coffee mixture and its adulterant, 100% non-Kona coffee mixture. There were distinct peak variations of ground and brewed coffee blends in the spectral "fingerprint" region between 800 and 1900 cm(-1). The PLS-2nd derivative calibration model based on brewed Kona coffee with mean centering data processing showed the highest degree of accuracy with the lowest standard error of calibration value of 0.81 and the highest R(2) value of 0.999. The model was further validated by quantitative analysis of commercial Kona coffee blends. Results demonstrate that FTIR can be a rapid alternative to authenticate Kona coffee, which only needs very quick and simple sample preparations.

Occurrence of acrylamide carcinogen in Arabic coffee Qahwa, coffee and tea from Saudi Arabian market

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mohammad Rizwan; Alothman, Zeid Abdullah; Naushad, Mu; Alomary, Ahmed Khodran; Alfadul, Sulaiman Mohammed; Alsohaimi, Ibrahim Hotan; Algamdi, Mohammad Saad

2017-02-01

The present work describes the outcomes of the assessment on acrylamide contents in a number of thermally treated foods (Arabic coffee Qahwa, coffee and tea) obtained from the Saudi Arabian markets. A total of 56 food samples of different brands and origin were studied, the amounts of acrylamide in Arabic coffee Qahwa, coffee and tea were obtained in the range of 10 to 682 μg kg-1. In comparison to coffee (152-682 μg kg-1), the Arabic coffee Qahwa (73-108 μg kg-1) and tea (10-97 μg kg-1) contain lower amounts of acrylamide. Among the analyzed samples, the green tea contained low amounts of acrylamide ranged from 10 to 18 μg kg-1, and thus the green tea could be considered as a healthier hot drink. A great variation of acrylamide formation has been observed in these food products. This divergence may be due to the initial concentration of amino acids especially asparagines and reducing sugars in food products, in addition to roasting temperature and time, pH and water activity. The obtained data can also be used in epidemiological investigation to estimate the acrylamide exposure from nutritional survey.

The Little Book on CoffeeScript

CERN Document Server

MacCaw, Alex

2012-01-01

This little book shows JavaScript developers how to build superb web applications with CoffeeScript, the remarkable little language that's gaining considerable interest. Through example code, this guide demonstrates how CoffeeScript abstracts JavaScript, providing syntactical sugar and preventing many common errors. You'll learn CoffeeScript's syntax and idioms step by step, from basic variables and functions to complex comprehensions and classes. Written by Alex MacCaw, author of JavaScript Web Applications (O'Reilly), with contributions from CoffeeScript creator Jeremy Ashkenas, this book

Extracting Objects for Aerial Manipulation on UAVs Using Low Cost Stereo Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Ramon Soria

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Giving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs the possibility to manipulate objects vastly extends the range of possible applications. This applies to rotary wing UAVs in particular, where their capability of hovering enables a suitable position for in-flight manipulation. Their manipulation skills must be suitable for primarily natural, partially known environments, where UAVs mostly operate. We have developed an on-board object extraction method that calculates information necessary for autonomous grasping of objects, without the need to provide the model of the object’s shape. A local map of the work-zone is generated using depth information, where object candidates are extracted by detecting areas different to our floor model. Their image projections are then evaluated using support vector machine (SVM classification to recognize specific objects or reject bad candidates. Our method builds a sparse cloud representation of each object and calculates the object’s centroid and the dominant axis. This information is then passed to a grasping module. Our method works under the assumption that objects are static and not clustered, have visual features and the floor shape of the work-zone area is known. We used low cost cameras for creating depth information that cause noisy point clouds, but our method has proved robust enough to process this data and return accurate results.

Common Operating Picture: UAV Security Study

Science.gov (United States)

2004-01-01

This initial communication security study is a top-level assessment of basic security issues related to the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the National Airspace System (NAS). Security considerations will include information relating to the use of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN) protocols and applications identifying their maturity, as well as the use of IPV4 and a version of mobile IPV6. The purpose of this assessment is to provide an initial analysis of the security implications of introducing UAVs into the NAS.

Survey on the novel hybrid aquatic-aerial amphibious aircraft: Aquatic unmanned aerial vehicle (AquaUAV)

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xingbang; Wang, Tianmiao; Liang, Jianhong; Yao, Guocai; Liu, Miao

2015-04-01

The aquatic unmanned aerial vehicle (AquaUAV), a kind of vehicle that can operate both in the air and the water, has been regarded as a new breakthrough to broaden the application scenario of UAV. Wide application prospects in military and civil field are more than bright, therefore many institutions have focused on the development of such a vehicle. However, due to the significant difference of the physical properties between the air and the water, it is rather difficult to design a fully-featured AquaUAV. Until now, majority of partially-featured AquaUAVs have been developed and used to verify the feasibility of an aquatic-aerial vehicle. In the present work, we classify the current partially-featured AquaUAV into three categories from the scope of the whole UAV field, i.e., the seaplane UAV, the submarine-launched UAV, and the submersible UAV. Then the recent advancements and common characteristics of the three kinds of AquaUAVs are reviewed in detail respectively. Then the applications of bionics in the design of AquaUAV, the transition mode between the air and the water, the morphing wing structure for air-water adaptation, and the power source and the propulsion type are summarized and discussed. The tradeoff analyses for different transition methods between the air and the water are presented. Furthermore, it indicates that applying the bionics into the design and development of the AquaUAV will be essential and significant. Finally, the significant technical challenges for the AquaUAV to change from a conception to a practical prototype are indicated.

UAV Research at NASA Langley: Towards Safe, Reliable, and Autonomous Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Davila, Carlos G.

2016-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are fundamental components in several aspects of research at NASA Langley, such as flight dynamics, mission-driven airframe design, airspace integration demonstrations, atmospheric science projects, and more. In particular, NASA Langley Research Center (Langley) is using UAVs to develop and demonstrate innovative capabilities that meet the autonomy and robotics challenges that are anticipated in science, space exploration, and aeronautics. These capabilities will enable new NASA missions such as asteroid rendezvous and retrieval (ARRM), Mars exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), pollution measurements in historically inaccessible areas, and the integration of UAVs into our everyday lives all missions of increasing complexity, distance, pace, and/or accessibility. Building on decades of NASA experience and success in the design, fabrication, and integration of robust and reliable automated systems for space and aeronautics, Langley Autonomy Incubator seeks to bridge the gap between automation and autonomy by enabling safe autonomous operations via onboard sensing and perception systems in both data-rich and data-deprived environments. The Autonomy Incubator is focused on the challenge of mobility and manipulation in dynamic and unstructured environments by integrating technologies such as computer vision, visual odometry, real-time mapping, path planning, object detection and avoidance, object classification, adaptive control, sensor fusion, machine learning, and natural human-machine teaming. These technologies are implemented in an architectural framework developed in-house for easy integration and interoperability of cutting-edge hardware and software.

Multimodal UAV detection: study of various intrusion scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Hengy, Sebastien; Laurenzis, Martin; Schertzer, Stéphane; Hommes, Alexander; Kloeppel, Franck; Shoykhetbrod, Alex; Geibig, Thomas; Johannes, Winfried; Rassy, Oussama; Christnacher, Frank

2017-10-01

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly popular and affordable the last years for professional and private consumer market, with varied capacities and performances. Recent events showed that illicit or hostile uses constitute an emergent, quickly evolutionary threat. Recent developments in UAV technologies tend to bring autonomous, highly agile and capable unmanned aerial vehicles to the market. These UAVs can be used for spying operations as well as for transporting illicit or hazardous material (smuggling, flying improvised explosive devices). The scenario of interest concerns the protection of sensitive zones against the potential threat constituted by small drones. In the recent past, field trials were carried out to investigate the detection and tracking of multiple UAV flying at low altitude. Here, we present results which were achieved using a heterogeneous sensor network consisting of acoustic antennas, small FMCW RADAR systems and optical sensors. While acoustics and RADAR was applied to monitor a wide azimuthal area (360°), optical sensors were used for sequentially identification. The localization results have been compared to the ground truth data to estimate the efficiency of each detection system. Seven-microphone acoustic arrays allow single source localization. The mean azimuth and elevation estimation error has been measured equal to 1.5 and -2.5 degrees respectively. The FMCW radar allows tracking of multiple UAVs by estimating their range, azimuth and motion speed. Both technologies can be linked to the electro-optical system for final identification of the detected object.

Thermocouple-based Temperature Sensing System for Chemical Cell Inside Micro UAV Device

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Yanhui; Feng, Yue; Lou, Haozhe; Zhang, Xinzhao

2018-03-01

Environmental temperature of UAV system is crucial for chemical cell component inside. Once the temperature of this chemical cell is over 259 °C and keeps more than 20 min, the high thermal accumulation would result in an explosion, which seriously damage the whole UAV system. Therefore, we develop a micro temperature sensing system for monitoring the temperature of chemical cell thermally influenced by UAV device deployed in a 300 °C temperature environment, which is quite useful for insensitive munitions and UAV safety enhancement technologies.

Levels of Antioxidant Activity and Fluoride Content in Coffee Infusions of Arabica, Robusta and Green Coffee Beans in According to their Brewing Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolska, J; Janda, Katarzyna; Jakubczyk, K; Szymkowiak, M; Chlubek, D; Gutowska, I

2017-10-01

Coffee is a rich source of dietary antioxidants, and this property links with the fact that coffee is one of the world's most popular beverages. Moreover, it is a source of macro- and microelements, including fluoride. The aim of this work was to determine antioxidant activity of coffee beverages and fluoride content depending on different coffee species and conditions of brewing. Three species of coffee, arabica, robusta and green coffee beans obtained from retail stores in Szczecin (Poland) were analyzed. Five different techniques of preparing drink were used: simple infusion, french press, espresso maker, overflow espresso and Turkish coffee. Antioxidant potential of coffee beverages was investigated spectrophotometrically by DPPH method. Fluoride concentrations were measured by potentiometric method with a fluoride ion-selective electrode. Statistical analysis was performed using Stat Soft Statistica 12.5. Antioxidant activity of infusions was high (71.97-83.21% inhibition of DPPH) depending on coffee species and beverage preparing method. It has been shown that the method of brewing arabica coffee and green coffee significantly affects the antioxidant potential of infusions. The fluoride concentration in the coffee infusions changed depending, both, on the species and conditions of brewing, too (0.013-0.502 mg/L). Methods of brewing didn't make a difference to the antioxidant potential of robusta coffee, which had also the lowest level of fluoride among studied species. Except overflow espresso, the fluoride content was the highest in beverages from green coffee. The highest fluoride content was found in Turkish coffee from green coffee beans.

IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING OF LOW COST UAV PLATFORM FOR ORTHOPHOTO IMAGING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Brucas

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Implementation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for civilian applications is rapidly increasing. Technologies which were expensive and available only for military use have recently spread on civilian market. There is a vast number of low cost open source components and systems for implementation on UAVs available. Using of low cost hobby and open source components ensures considerable decrease of UAV price, though in some cases compromising its reliability. In Space Science and Technology Institute (SSTI in collaboration with Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU researches have been performed in field of constructing and implementation of small UAVs composed of low cost open source components (and own developments. Most obvious and simple implementation of such UAVs – orthophoto imaging with data download and processing after the flight. The construction, implementation of UAVs, flight experience, data processing and data implementation will be further covered in the paper and presentation.

Implementation and Testing of Low Cost Uav Platform for Orthophoto Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Brucas, D.; Suziedelyte-Visockiene, J.; Ragauskas, U.; Berteska, E.; Rudinskas, D.

2013-08-01

Implementation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for civilian applications is rapidly increasing. Technologies which were expensive and available only for military use have recently spread on civilian market. There is a vast number of low cost open source components and systems for implementation on UAVs available. Using of low cost hobby and open source components ensures considerable decrease of UAV price, though in some cases compromising its reliability. In Space Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) in collaboration with Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) researches have been performed in field of constructing and implementation of small UAVs composed of low cost open source components (and own developments). Most obvious and simple implementation of such UAVs - orthophoto imaging with data download and processing after the flight. The construction, implementation of UAVs, flight experience, data processing and data implementation will be further covered in the paper and presentation.

Design of Electric Patrol UAVs Based on a Dual Antenna System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongjie Zhai

2018-04-01

Full Text Available China completed the construction of more than 1.15 million kilometers of transmission lines with conventional voltage levels spanning its vast territory in 2014. This large and complicated power grid structure relies mainly on manual operation and maintenance of lines. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs equipped with high-definition digital video cameras and cameras and GPS positioning systems can conduct autonomous patrols along the grid. However, the presence of electromagnetic fields around high-voltage transmission lines can affect the UAV’s magnetometer, resulting in a wrong heading and thus unsafe flight. In this paper, the traditional method of UAV heading calculation using a magnetometer was analyzed, and a novel method for calculating UAV heading based on dual antennas was proposed. Experimental data showed that the proposed method improves the anti-magnetic interference characteristics of UAVs and increases UAV security and stability for power inspection applications.

Furan in roasted, ground and brewed coffee

Science.gov (United States)

Gruczyńska, Eliza; Kowalska, Dorota; Kozłowska, Mariola; Majewska, Ewa; Tarnowska, Katarzyna

2018-01-01

Coffee is the most popular hot beverage in the world. The annual coffee production in 2010, 2014 and 2016 was 8.1, 9.0 and 9.3 million tons respectively. There are more than 100 coffee species, but only two of them: Arabica (Coffea arabica) and Robusta (Coffea canephora) have gained commercial importance. During roasting of green coffee beans not only desirable compounds are formed, that exert positive influence on the taste and flavour of coffee, but also small quantities of undesirable ones. Furan (C4H4O) is one of the latter. Furan is a volatile compound (boiling temp. of 31.4 oC) formed during thermal processing of food. The toxicity of furan has been well documented and it is classified as “possible human carcinogen” (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Various pathways have been reported for furan formation during food processing. It can be formed from carbohydrates, amino acids by their thermal degradation or thermal re-arrangement and by oxidation of ascorbic acid and polyunsaturated acids and carotenoids. High concentrations of furan have been reported in coffee, baked and roasted food and in food subjected to preserving in cans and jars. Furan levels in brewed coffee are typically near or below 120 μg/L, but it can approach thousands μg/kg in roasted whole beans or ground coffee. The highest concentration of furan in roasted coffee reaches the level of 7000 μg/kg. Taking into account that coffee is the most popular hot drink, it becomes the main contributor to furan exposure from dietary sources for adults. In this article the published scientific papers concerned with the presence of furan in roasted non-brewed and brewed coffee have been reviewed. The formation mechanisms and occurrence of furan in coffee and the harmful influence of furan on the consumer health have been discussed.

Evaluation of the International coffee market conditions

OpenAIRE

FISAKOVA O.S.

2014-01-01

This article includes analysis of coffee market and its conditions for coffee companies. Also, coffee export amounts and prices are compared and analyzed. Statistics were collected over few last years to present accurate research

How coffee affects metabolic syndrome and its components.

Science.gov (United States)

Baspinar, B; Eskici, G; Ozcelik, A O

2017-06-21

Metabolic syndrome, with its increasing prevalence, is becoming a major public health problem throughout the world. Many risk factors including nutrition play a role in the emergence of metabolic syndrome. Of the most-consumed beverages in the world, coffee contains more than 1000 components such as caffeine, chlorogenic acid, diterpenes and trigonelline. It has been proven in many studies that coffee consumption has a positive effect on chronic diseases. In this review, starting from the beneficial effects of coffee on health, the relationship between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome and its components has been investigated. There are few studies investigating the relationship between coffee and metabolic syndrome, and the existing ones put forward different findings. The factors leading to the differences are thought to stem from coffee variety, the physiological effects of coffee elements, and the nutritional ingredients (such as milk and sugar) added to coffee. It is reported that consumption of coffee in adults up to three cups a day reduces the risk of Type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Roasted and Ground Coffee: A Study of Extenders, Substitutes and Alternative Coffee Sources

Science.gov (United States)

1984-02-01

other large food service organizations. The policy of adjusting the amount of R&G coffee used in brewing recipes according to consumer preferences , as...health, such as in the reduction of caffeine levels, as well as’ general consumer preferences for hot beverages with lower levels of coffee- like

Vision-IMU based collaborative control of a blind UAV

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogervorst, R.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Wopereis, Han Willem; Fumagalli, Matteo

2015-01-01

Position estimation of UAVs is usually done using onboard sensors such as GPS and camera. However, in certain practical situations, the measurements of both the GPS and the onboard camera of the UAV might not always be available or reliable. This paper investigates the possibility to overcome

Development Of Linear Quadratic Regulator Design For Small UAV System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cho Zin Myint

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to know the importance role of stability analysis for both unmanned aircraft system and for all control system. The objective of paper is to develop a method for dynamic stability analysis of the design process. These are categorized intoTo design model and stability analysis of UAV based on the forces and moment equations of aircraft dynamic model To choose the suitable controller for desired altitude of a particular UAV model To analyze the stability condition for aircraft using mathematical modeling and MATLAB. In this paper the analytical model of the longitudinal dynamic of flying wing UAV has been developed using aerodynamic data. The stability characteristics of UAV can be achieved from the system transfer function with LQR controller.

UAV-guided navigation for ground robot tele-operation in a military reconnaissance environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jessie Y C

2010-08-01

A military reconnaissance environment was simulated to examine the performance of ground robotics operators who were instructed to utilise streaming video from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to navigate his/her ground robot to the locations of the targets. The effects of participants' spatial ability on their performance and workload were also investigated. Results showed that participants' overall performance (speed and accuracy) was better when she/he had access to images from larger UAVs with fixed orientations, compared with other UAV conditions (baseline- no UAV, micro air vehicle and UAV with orbiting views). Participants experienced the highest workload when the UAV was orbiting. Those individuals with higher spatial ability performed significantly better and reported less workload than those with lower spatial ability. The results of the current study will further understanding of ground robot operators' target search performance based on streaming video from UAVs. The results will also facilitate the implementation of ground/air robots in military environments and will be useful to the future military system design and training community.

Using LTE Networks for UAV Command and Control Link

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nguyen, Huan Cong; Amorim, Rafhael Medeiros de; Wigard, Jeroen

2017-01-01

In this paper we investigate the ability of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network to provide coverage for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a rural area, in particular for the Command and Control (C2) downlink. The study takes into consideration the dependency of the large-scale path loss on the hei......In this paper we investigate the ability of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network to provide coverage for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a rural area, in particular for the Command and Control (C2) downlink. The study takes into consideration the dependency of the large-scale path loss...... on the height of the UAV, which is derived from actual measurements, and a real-world cellular network layout and configuration. The results indicate that interference is the dominant factor limiting the cellular coverage for UAVs in the downlink: outage level increases from 4.2% at 1.5 m height to 51.7% at 120...

Fostering corporate sustainability in the Mexican coffee industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nora Munguia

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose – At the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 21 in Paris, 195 governments reached an agreement pivotal not only for countries but also for companies. The Paris Agreement makes it impossible to practice business as usual. The transition to a low-carbon coffee industry could be achieved by fostering corporate sustainability. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of how to adopt the principles of Paris Agreement by enhancing the corporate sustainability of a Mexican coffee-roaster company using the inventory phase of the life cycle assessment tool. Design/methodology/approach – The data collection process followed the requirements of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System Handbook, developed by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability in the European Commission Joint Research Centre, and data on packaging materials and energy production were drawn from a commercially available database in the LCA software SimaPro. Findings – Compiling data on the energy of the firm’s material flows in a firm revealed opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The results of the inventory analysis can be used to evaluate the specific environmental impacts of the coffee-roasting process at this Mexican coffee company. Data compilation activities for energy flows identified the need to install liquefied petroleum gas measuring devices and individual measuring devices for electricity consumption in different areas of the coffee plant. It is recommended that, while implementing this option, the company also develop an energy management program to achieve energy efficiency. Practical implications – The inventory data in this case study permit comparisons of the current state of the system studied and its possible future states and offer stakeholders relevant information on resource use. Similarly, the project

Evapotranspiration from UAV Images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Helene Hoffmann Munk

and is thus of importance in both hydrological, agricultural and atmospheric sciences. Still today, accurate measurements of ET are not achieved easily. The state-of the-art method to measure ET, the eddy covariance method, is associated with uncertainties and its footprint, though at the order of around 1...... hectare, varies much with the atmospheric stability and wind conditions. Indirect measurements of ET are obtained with satellite imagery, as a residual of the surface energy balance. Satellite images provide spatially distributed measurements, however high resolution satellite products provide footprints...... of measurements and thus new understandings of ET and its inferred parameters such as crop water stress and heat fluxes in the surface energy balance. However, UAV data collection is a new measuring method and the lightweight sensors are novel instrumentations. Workflows for processing UAV data, and the data...

Autonomous target tracking of UAVs based on low-power neural network hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wei; Jin, Zhanpeng; Thiem, Clare; Wysocki, Bryant; Shen, Dan; Chen, Genshe

2014-05-01

Detecting and identifying targets in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images and videos have been challenging problems due to various types of image distortion. Moreover, the significantly high processing overhead of existing image/video processing techniques and the limited computing resources available on UAVs force most of the processing tasks to be performed by the ground control station (GCS) in an off-line manner. In order to achieve fast and autonomous target identification on UAVs, it is thus imperative to investigate novel processing paradigms that can fulfill the real-time processing requirements, while fitting the size, weight, and power (SWaP) constrained environment. In this paper, we present a new autonomous target identification approach on UAVs, leveraging the emerging neuromorphic hardware which is capable of massively parallel pattern recognition processing and demands only a limited level of power consumption. A proof-of-concept prototype was developed based on a micro-UAV platform (Parrot AR Drone) and the CogniMemTMneural network chip, for processing the video data acquired from a UAV camera on the y. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and potential of incorporating emerging neuromorphic hardware into next-generation UAVs and their superior performance and power advantages towards the real-time, autonomous target tracking.

SAR system development for UAV multicopter platforms

OpenAIRE

Escartin Martínez, Antonio

2015-01-01

SAR system development for UAV multicopter platforms This thesis describes the optimization of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) at X-band and its integration into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of type octocopter. For such optimization the SAR system functionality was extended from singlepol to fulpol and it has been optimized at hardware level in order to improve its quality against noise figure. After its integration into the octocopter platform, its features has been used in order to ...

Mini-Uav LIDAR for Power Line Inspection

Science.gov (United States)

Teng, G. E.; Zhou, M.; Li, C. R.; Wu, H. H.; Li, W.; Meng, F. R.; Zhou, C. C.; Ma, L.

2017-09-01

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system based on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) recently are in rapid advancement, meanwhile portable and flexible mini-UAV-borne laser scanners have been a hot research field, especially for the complex terrain survey in the mountains and other areas. This study proposes a power line inspection system solution based on mini-UAV-borne LIDAR system-AOEagle, developed by Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which mounted on a Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for complex terrain survey according to real test. Furthermore, the point cloud data was explored to validate its applicability for power line inspection, in terms of corridor and line laser point clouds; deformation detection of power towers, etc. The feasibility and advantages of AOEagle have been demonstrated by the promising results based on the real-measured data in the field of power line inspection.

Control of fixed-wing UAV at levelling phase using artificial intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Sayfeddine, Daher

2018-03-01

The increase in the share of fly-by-wire and software controlled UAV is explained by the need to release the human-operator and the desire to reduce the degree of influence of the human factor errors that account for 26% of aircraft accidents. An important reason for the introduction of new control algorithms is also the high level of UAV failures due loss of communication channels and possible hacking. This accounts for 17% of the total number of accidents. The comparison with manned flights shows that the frequency of accidents of unmanned flights is 27,000 times higher. This means that the UAV has 1611 failures per million flight hours and only 0.06 failures at the same time for the manned flight. In view of that, this paper studies the flight autonomy of fixed-wing UAV at the levelling phase. Landing parameters of the UAV are described. They will be used to setup a control scheme for an autopilot based on fuzzy logic algorithm.

Evaluation and development of unmanned aircraft (UAV) for UDOT needs.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-01

This research involved the use of high-resolution aerial photography obtained from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to aid UDOT in monitoring and documenting State Roadway structures and associated issues. Using geo-referenced UAV high resolution aeria...

Thermodynamic analysis of a solar coffee maker

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sosa-Montemayor, F.; Jaramillo, O.A.; Rio, J.A. del

2009-01-01

In this paper we present a novel solar concentrating application, a coffee brewing system using a satellite TV mini-Dish concentrator coupled to a stovetop espresso coffee maker. We present a theoretical model for the thermal behavior of the water in the lower chamber of the coffee maker. We validate the model obtaining good agreement with the experimental results. Our findings indicate that the coffee brewing system works, it takes 30-50 min to complete its task. The model and our practical experience encourage us to improve the concentration device in order to obtain a useful solar coffee maker, using the theoretical model as a safe guide to achieve this.

Thermodynamic analysis of a solar coffee maker

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sosa-Montemayor, F.; Jaramillo, O.A. [Centro de Investigacion en Energia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Privada Xochicalco S/N, Temixco, Morelos CP 62580 (Mexico); del Rio, J.A. [Centro Morelense de Innovacion y Tranferencia Tecnologica, CCyTEM, Camino Temixco a Emiliano Zapata, Km 0.3, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, Morelos CP 62760 (Mexico)

2009-09-15

In this paper we present a novel solar concentrating application, a coffee brewing system using a satellite TV mini-Dish concentrator coupled to a stovetop espresso coffee maker. We present a theoretical model for the thermal behavior of the water in the lower chamber of the coffee maker. We validate the model obtaining good agreement with the experimental results. Our findings indicate that the coffee brewing system works, it takes 30-50 min to complete its task. The model and our practical experience encourage us to improve the concentration device in order to obtain a useful solar coffee maker, using the theoretical model as a safe guide to achieve this. (author)

A Survey of Open-Source UAV Flight Controllers and Flight Simulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ebeid, Emad Samuel Malki; Skriver, Martin; Terkildsen, Kristian Husum

2018-01-01

The current disruptive innovation in civilian drone (UAV) applications has led to an increased need for research and development in UAV technology. The key challenges currently being addressed are related to UAV platform properties such as functionality, reliability, fault tolerance, and endurance......-source drone platform elements that can be used for research and development. The survey covers open-source hardware, software, and simulation drone platforms and compares their main features....

Recent Advances in the Genetic Transformation of Coffee

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, M. K.; Slater, A.

2012-01-01

Coffee is one of the most important plantation crops, grown in about 80 countries across the world. The genus Coffea comprises approximately 100 species of which only two species, that is, Coffea arabica (commonly known as arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (known as robusta coffee), are commercially cultivated. Genetic improvement of coffee through traditional breeding is slow due to the perennial nature of the plant. Genetic transformation has tremendous potential in developing improved coffee varieties with desired agronomic traits, which are otherwise difficult to achieve through traditional breeding. During the last twenty years, significant progress has been made in coffee biotechnology, particularly in the area of transgenic technology. This paper provides a detailed account of the advances made in the genetic transformation of coffee and their potential applications. PMID:22970380

Coastal Ecosystem Assessment, Development and Creation of a Policy Tool using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for: A Case Study of Western Puerto Rico Coastal Region

Science.gov (United States)

Munoz Barreto, J.; Pillich, J.; Aponte Bermúdez, L. D.; Torres Pagan, G.

2017-12-01

This project utilizes low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) based systems for different applications, such as low-altitude (high resolution) aerial photogrammetry for aerial analysis of vegetation, reconstruction of beach topography and mapping coastal erosion to understand, and estimated ecosystem values. As part of this work, five testbeds coastal sites, designated as the Caribbean Littoral Aerial Surveillance System (CLASS), were established. The sites are distributed along western Puerto Rico coastline where population and industry (tourism) are very much clustered and dense along the coast. Over the past year, rapid post-storm deployment of UAV surveying has been successfully integrated into the CLASS sites, specifically at Rincon (Puerto Rico), where coastal erosion has raised the public and government concern over the past decades. A case study is presented here where we collected aerial photos before and after the swells caused by Hurricane Mathew (October 2016). We merged the point cloud obtained from the UAV photogrammetric assessment with topo-bathymetric data, to get a complete beach topography. Using the rectified and georeferenced UAV orthophotos, we identified the maximum wave runup for the pre-swell and post-swell events. Also, we used numerical modeling (X-Beach) to simulate the rate-of-change dynamics of the coastal zones and compare the model results to observed values (including multiple historic shoreline positions). In summary, our project has accomplished the first milestone which is the Development and Implementation of an Effective Shoreline Monitoring Program using UAVs. The activities of the monitoring program have enabled the collection of crucial data for coastal mapping along Puerto Rico's shorelines with emphasis on coastal erosion hot spots zones and ecosystem values. Our results highlight the potential of the synergy between UAVs, photogrammetry, and Geographic Information Systems to provide faster and low-cost reliable

DTM GENERATION WITH UAV BASED PHOTOGRAMMETRIC POINT CLOUD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Polat

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Nowadays Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs are widely used in many applications for different purposes. Their benefits however are not entirely detected due to the integration capabilities of other equipment such as; digital camera, GPS, or laser scanner. The main scope of this paper is evaluating performance of cameras integrated UAV for geomatic applications by the way of Digital Terrain Model (DTM generation in a small area. In this purpose, 7 ground control points are surveyed with RTK and 420 photographs are captured. Over 30 million georeferenced points were used in DTM generation process. Accuracy of the DTM was evaluated with 5 check points. The root mean square error is calculated as 17.1 cm for an altitude of 100 m. Besides, a LiDAR derived DTM is used as reference in order to calculate correlation. The UAV based DTM has o 94.5 % correlation with reference DTM. Outcomes of the study show that it is possible to use the UAV Photogrammetry data as map producing, surveying, and some other engineering applications with the advantages of low-cost, time conservation, and minimum field work.

DTM Generation with Uav Based Photogrammetric Point Cloud

Science.gov (United States)

Polat, N.; Uysal, M.

2017-11-01

Nowadays Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in many applications for different purposes. Their benefits however are not entirely detected due to the integration capabilities of other equipment such as; digital camera, GPS, or laser scanner. The main scope of this paper is evaluating performance of cameras integrated UAV for geomatic applications by the way of Digital Terrain Model (DTM) generation in a small area. In this purpose, 7 ground control points are surveyed with RTK and 420 photographs are captured. Over 30 million georeferenced points were used in DTM generation process. Accuracy of the DTM was evaluated with 5 check points. The root mean square error is calculated as 17.1 cm for an altitude of 100 m. Besides, a LiDAR derived DTM is used as reference in order to calculate correlation. The UAV based DTM has o 94.5 % correlation with reference DTM. Outcomes of the study show that it is possible to use the UAV Photogrammetry data as map producing, surveying, and some other engineering applications with the advantages of low-cost, time conservation, and minimum field work.

PRECISE POSITIONING OF UAVS – DEALING WITH CHALLENGING RTK-GPS MEASUREMENT CONDITIONS DURING AUTOMATED UAV FLIGHTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Zimmermann

2017-08-01

Full Text Available For some years now, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles are commonly used for different mobile mapping applications, such as in the fields of surveying, mining or archeology. To improve the efficiency of these applications an automation of the flight as well as the processing of the collected data is currently aimed at. One precondition for an automated mapping with UAVs is that the georeferencing is performed directly with cm-accuracies or better. Usually, a cm-accurate direct positioning of UAVs is based on an onboard multi-sensor system, which consists of an RTK-capable (real-time kinematic GPS (global positioning system receiver and additional sensors (e.g. inertial sensors. In this case, the absolute positioning accuracy essentially depends on the local GPS measurement conditions. Especially during mobile mapping applications in urban areas, these conditions can be very challenging, due to a satellite shadowing, non-line-of sight receptions, signal diffraction or multipath effects. In this paper, two straightforward and easy to implement strategies will be described and analyzed, which improve the direct positioning accuracies for UAV-based mapping and surveying applications under challenging GPS measurement conditions. Based on a 3D model of the surrounding buildings and vegetation in the area of interest, a GPS geometry map is determined, which can be integrated in the flight planning process, to avoid GPS challenging environments as far as possible. If these challenging environments cannot be avoided, the GPS positioning solution is improved by using obstruction adaptive elevation masks, to mitigate systematic GPS errors in the RTK-GPS positioning. Simulations and results of field tests demonstrate the profit of both strategies.

[Coffee can protect against disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Hermansen, Kjeld; Krogholm, Kirstine Suszkiewicz; Bech, Bodil Hammer; Dragsted, Lars Ove; Hyldstrup, Lars; Jørgensen, Kasper; Larsen, Mogens Lytken; Tjønneland, Anne Marie

2012-09-24

A moderate daily intake of 3-4 cups of coffee has convincing protective effects against development of type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease. The literature also indicates that moderate coffee intake reduces the risk of stroke, the overall risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, suicide and depression. However, pregnant women, people suffering from anxiety disorder and persons with a low calcium intake should restrain from moderate or high intake of coffee due to uncertainty regarding potential negative effects on pregnancy, anxiety and risk of osteoporosis, respectively.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): a new tool in counterterrorism operations?

Science.gov (United States)

Dörtbudak, Mehmet F.

2015-05-01

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon to the world, yet it remains difficult to define and counter. Countering terrorism requires several measures that must be taken simultaneously; however, counterterrorism strategies of many countries mostly depend on military measures. In the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the United States (U.S.) has started and led the campaign of Global War on Terrorism. They have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and have encountered insurgencies run by terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda and its affiliates. The U.S. made the utilization of Air and Space Power very intensively during these operations. In order to implement operations; Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets were used to collect the necessary information. Before the successful insertion of a small number of U.S. Special Operation Force (SOF) teams into Afghanistan, the U.S. Air Force attacked al-Qaeda and Taliban's targets such as infrastructure, airfields, ground forces, command-control facilities etc. As soon as the U.S. troops got on the ground and started to marshal to Kabul, the Air Force supported them by attacking jointly determined targets. The Air Force continued to carry out the missions and played a significant role to achieve the objective of operation during all the time. This is not the only example of utilization of Air and Space Power in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations. All around the world, many countries have also made the utilization of Air Power in different missions ranging from ISR to attacking. Thinking that terrorism has a psychological dimension and losing a pilot during operations may result in decreasing the population support to operations, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) started to be used by practitioners and took priority over other assets. Although UAVs have been on the theatre for a long time used for ISR mission in conventional conflicts, with the advent

Interactive Cadastral Boundary Delineation from Uav Data

Science.gov (United States)

Crommelinck, S.; Höfle, B.; Koeva, M. N.; Yang, M. Y.; Vosselman, G.

2018-05-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are evolving as an alternative tool to acquire land tenure data. UAVs can capture geospatial data at high quality and resolution in a cost-effective, transparent and flexible manner, from which visible land parcel boundaries, i.e., cadastral boundaries are delineable. This delineation is to no extent automated, even though physical objects automatically retrievable through image analysis methods mark a large portion of cadastral boundaries. This study proposes (i) a methodology that automatically extracts and processes candidate cadastral boundary features from UAV data, and (ii) a procedure for a subsequent interactive delineation. Part (i) consists of two state-of-the-art computer vision methods, namely gPb contour detection and SLIC superpixels, as well as a classification part assigning costs to each outline according to local boundary knowledge. Part (ii) allows a user-guided delineation by calculating least-cost paths along previously extracted and weighted lines. The approach is tested on visible road outlines in two UAV datasets from Germany. Results show that all roads can be delineated comprehensively. Compared to manual delineation, the number of clicks per 100 m is reduced by up to 86 %, while obtaining a similar localization quality. The approach shows promising results to reduce the effort of manual delineation that is currently employed for indirect (cadastral) surveying.

Establishing a disruptive new capability for NASA to fly UAV's into hazardous conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Ely, Jay; Nguyen, Truong; Wilson, Jennifer; Brown, Robert; Laughter, Sean; Teets, Ed; Parker, Allen; Chan, Hon M.; Richards, Lance

2015-05-01

A 2015 NASA Aeronautics Mission "Seedling" Proposal is described for a Severe-Environment UAV (SE-UAV) that can perform in-situ measurements in hazardous atmospheric conditions like lightning, volcanic ash and radiation. Specifically, this paper describes the design of a proof-of-concept vehicle and measurement system that can survive lightning attachment during flight operations into thunderstorms. Elements from three NASA centers draw together for the SE-UAV concept. 1) The NASA KSC Genesis UAV was developed in collaboration with the DARPA Nimbus program to measure electric field and X-rays present within thunderstorms. 2) A novel NASA LaRC fiber-optic sensor uses Faraday-effect polarization rotation to measure total lightning electric current on an air vehicle fuselage. 3) NASA AFRC's state-of-the-art Fiber Optics and Systems Integration Laboratory is envisioned to transition the Faraday system to a compact, light-weight, all-fiber design. The SE-UAV will provide in-flight lightning electric-current return stroke and recoil leader data, and serve as a platform for development of emerging sensors and new missions into hazardous environments. NASA's Aeronautics and Science Missions are interested in a capability to perform in-situ volcanic plume measurements and long-endurance UAV operations in various weather conditions. (Figure 1 shows an artist concept of a SE-UAV flying near a volcano.) This paper concludes with an overview of the NASA Aeronautics Strategic Vision, Programs, and how a SE-UAV is envisioned to impact them. The SE-UAV concept leverages high-value legacy research products into a new capability for NASA to fly a pathfinder UAV into hazardous conditions, and is presented in the SPIE DSS venue to explore teaming, collaboration and advocacy opportunities outside NASA.

Establishing a Disruptive New Capability for NASA to Fly UAV's into Hazardous Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Ely, Jay; Nguyen, Truong; Wilson, Jennifer; Brown, Robert; Laughter, Sean; Teets, Ed; Parker, Allen; Chan, Patrick Hon Man; Richards, Lance

2015-01-01

A 2015 NASA Aeronautics Mission "Seedling" Proposal is described for a Severe-Environment UAV (SE-UAV) that can perform in-situ measurements in hazardous atmospheric conditions like lightning, volcanic ash and radiation. Specifically, this paper describes the design of a proof-of-concept vehicle and measurement system that can survive lightning attachment during flight operations into thunderstorms. Elements from three NASA centers draw together for the SE-UAV concept. 1) The NASA KSC Genesis UAV was developed in collaboration with the DARPA Nimbus program to measure electric field and X-rays present within thunderstorms. 2) A novel NASA LaRC fiber-optic sensor uses Faraday-effect polarization rotation to measure total lightning electric current on an air vehicle fuselage. 3) NASA AFRC's state-of-the-art Fiber Optics and Systems Integration Laboratory is envisioned to transition the Faraday system to a compact, light-weight, all-fiber design. The SE-UAV will provide in-flight lightning electric-current return stroke and recoil leader data, and serve as a platform for development of emerging sensors and new missions into hazardous environments. NASA's Aeronautics and Science Missions are interested in a capability to perform in-situ volcanic plume measurements and long-endurance UAV operations in various weather conditions. (Figure 1 shows an artist concept of a SE-UAV flying near a volcano.) This paper concludes with an overview of the NASA Aeronautics Strategic Vision, Programs, and how a SE-UAV is envisioned to impact them. The SE-UAV concept leverages high-value legacy research products into a new capability for NASA to fly a pathfinder UAV into hazardous conditions, and is presented in the SPIE DSS venue to explore teaming, collaboration and advocacy opportunities outside NASA.

WETLAND ASSESSMENT USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Boon

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The use of Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV photogrammetry is a valuable tool to enhance our understanding of wetlands. Accurate planning derived from this technological advancement allows for more effective management and conservation of wetland areas. This paper presents results of a study that aimed at investigating the use of UAV photogrammetry as a tool to enhance the assessment of wetland ecosystems. The UAV images were collected during a single flight within 2½ hours over a 100 ha area at the Kameelzynkraal farm, Gauteng Province, South Africa. An AKS Y-6 MKII multi-rotor UAV and a digital camera on a motion compensated gimbal mount were utilised for the survey. Twenty ground control points (GCPs were surveyed using a Trimble GPS to achieve geometrical precision and georeferencing accuracy. Structure-from-Motion (SfM computer vision techniques were used to derive ultra-high resolution point clouds, orthophotos and 3D models from the multi-view photos. The geometric accuracy of the data based on the 20 GCP’s were 0.018 m for the overall, 0.0025 m for the vertical root mean squared error (RMSE and an over all root mean square reprojection error of 0.18 pixel. The UAV products were then edited and subsequently analysed, interpreted and key attributes extracted using a selection of tools/ software applications to enhance the wetland assessment. The results exceeded our expectations and provided a valuable and accurate enhancement to the wetland delineation, classification and health assessment which even with detailed field studies would have been difficult to achieve.

Design of attitude solution algorithm for tail-sitter VTOL UAV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghui LIU

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The tail-sitter Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV, flying in a fixed-wing model, overcomes many shortcomings of traditional fixed-wing UAVs, and inherits the advantage of high overall efficiency, which means it has great development potential and very broad application prospects. The attitude of tail-sitter VTOL UAV shows a wide change range in its takeoff and landing stages, and when the attitude sensor changes more than 90 degrees in pitch direction, the Euler angles converted by the Quaternions will have singular points, which means gimbal deadlock appears. From the solution algorithm, this paper provides a method of changing the order of rotation to avoid the appearance of singular points. The results show that this method can be well applied to the attitude solution of the VTOL UAV.

Tea, coffee and prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Andy H; Fraser, Michelle L; Binns, Colin W

2009-02-01

Worldwide, prostate cancer has the second highest incidence of all cancers in males with incidence and mortality being much higher in affluent developed countries. Risk and progression of the disease may be linked to both genetic and environmental factors, especially dietary factors. Tea and coffee are two of the most popular beverages in the world and have been investigated for possible effects on health outcomes, including cancer. However, very little dietary advice for their consumption exists. The evidence for a relationship between coffee or tea consumption and prostate cancer is reviewed in this paper. While current evidence indicates that coffee is a safe beverage, its consumption probably has no relationship with prostate cancer. Tea, especially green tea, has shown some potential in the prevention of prostate cancer. While evidence from epidemiologic studies is currently inconclusive, strong evidence has emerged from animal and in vitro studies. We also consider what level of evidence is required to make recommendations for preventive measures to the public. Although evidence on the relationship between coffee, tea and prostate cancer is not complete, we consider it strong enough to recommend tea as a healthier alternative to coffee.

Generació de mapes a partir d'imatges preses amb un UAV

OpenAIRE

Perarnau, Guim; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Escola d'Enginyeria

2015-01-01

En els darrers anys s'ha popularitzat l'ús dels UAVs (drones) en una gran varietat d'àmbits. Aquest treball se centra en el camp de generació de mapes (vistes àrees) òptima basat en imatges enregistrades amb un UAV. Per millorar la qualitat del mapa resultant es vol treure profit de la instal•lació de sensors en l'UAV que proporcionin informació que pugui ser útil en el procés, com la posició i l'orientació de l'UAV. Com a tal, es descriuran tots els passos emprats per tal d'aprofitar les dad...

Analysis of Nondeterministic Search Patterns for Minimization of UAV Counter-Targeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-01

64 Figure 4.9 Procerus Unicorn UAV [48] used in multi-UAV look-ahead Levy search demonstration conducted at 13-2 JIFX in February, 2013...minimum time or coverage path, minimal overlap, increased robustness to localization errors, etc. [3–5]. The role of randomized coverage and search...to the Procerus Unicorn UAV employed during these flight experiments, shown in Figure 4.9. Figure 4.10 shows the straight-line path between the major

How Competitive is the Dutch Coffee market?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L.J.H. Bettendorf (Leon); F. Verboven

1997-01-01

textabstractWorld coffee bean prices have shown large fluctuations during the past years. Consumer prices for roasted coffee, in contrast, have varied considerably less. This article investigates whether the weak relationship between coffee bean and consumer prices can be explained by a lack of

Monitoring ground deformation of cultural heritage sites using UAVs and geodetic techniques: the case study of Choirokoitia, JPI PROTHEGO project

Science.gov (United States)

Themistocleous, Kyriacos; Danezis, Chris; Mendonidis, Evangelos; Lymperopoulou, Efstathia

2017-10-01

This paper presents the integrated methods using UAVs and geodetic techniques to monitor ground deformation within the Choirokoitia UNESCO World Heritage Site in Cyprus. The Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia, occupied from the 7th to the 4th millennium B.C., is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The study is conducted under the PROTHEGO (PROTection of European Cultural HEritage from GeO-hazards) project, which is a collaborative research project funded in the framework of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPICH) - Heritage Plus in 2015-2018 (www.prothego.eu) and through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation. PROTHEGO aims to make an innovative contribution towards the analysis of geo-hazards in areas of cultural heritage, and uses novel space technology based on radar interferometry to retrieve information on ground stability and motion in the 400+ UNESCO's World Heritage List monuments and sites of Europe. The field measurements collected at the Choirokoitia site will be later compared with SAR data to verify micro-movements in the area to monitor potential geo-hazards. The site is located on a steep hill, which makes it vulnerable to rock falls and landslides.

Online UAV Mission Planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Evers, L.; Barros, A.I.; Monsuur, H.; Wagelmans, A.P.M.

2014-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become an essential asset for military and law enforcement operations. In particular their use for surveillance and reconnaissance tasks has been growing due to the quick developments in the areal systems themselves, sensor technology, and image processing

The dynamic of the “Coffee Quality Paraná” contest in the production of specialty coffees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorian Voigt-Gair

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In Paraná, the concentration of efforts of various organizations have collaborated to improve the image of coffee. This work aims to study the coffee samples, through the sensory attributes scored in the “Test Cup” Contest of “Coffee Quality Paraná” from 2004 to 2009 and to prove the qualification of rural extension technicians and producers in order to obtain a differentiated with high quality product, linked to the methodology of marketing strategy. The study was conducted with 570 samples from 55 municipalities and analyzed in state steps of this contest. It was concluded that the methodology used in the Contest “Coffee Quality Paraná” encourages constant improvement and disseminates technical and scientific innovations in various links in the productive chain, having as the final result the increasing of the amount of coffee produced in Paraná with excellent quality drink.

Restoring the Power Projection Capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces

Science.gov (United States)

2017-02-16

stealthy UAVs; swarms of small, expendable UAVs; and robotic sensors on the surface. The idea is to spread sensors across a number of different...powered exoskeleton , also known as the Talon Project • Develop swarming and autonomous unmanned vehicles a David Ochmanek, Peter A. Wilson, Brenna

Coffee Bean Grade Determination Based on Image Parameter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Ferdiansjah

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Quality standard for coffee as an agriculture commodity in Indonesia uses defect system which is regulated in Standar Nasional Indonesia (SNI for coffee bean, No: 01-2907-1999. In the Defect System standard, coffee bean is classified into six grades, from grade I to grade VI depending on the number of defect found in the coffee bean. Accuracy of this method heavily depends on the experience and the expertise of the human operators. The objective of the research is to develop a system to determine the coffee bean grading based on SNI No: 01-2907-1999. A visual sensor, a webcam connected to a computer, was used for image acquisition of coffee bean image samples, which were placed under uniform illumination of 414.5+2.9 lux. The computer performs feature extraction from parameters of coffee bean image samples in the term of texture (energy, entropy, contrast, homogeneity and color (R mean, G mean, and B mean and determines the grade of coffee bean based on the image parameters by implementing neural network algorithm. The accuracy of system testing for the coffee beans of grade I, II, III, IVA, IVB, V, and VI have the value of 100, 80, 60, 40, 100, 40, and 100%, respectively.

How Can High-Biodiversity Coffee Make It to the Mainstream Market? The Performativity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Outcomes for Coffee Diversification.

Science.gov (United States)

Solér, Cecilia; Sandström, Cecilia; Skoog, Hanna

2017-02-01

This article investigates the outcomes of mainstream coffee voluntary sustainability standards for high-biodiversity coffee diversification. By viewing voluntary sustainability standards certifications as performative marketing tools, we address the question of how such certification schemes affect coffee value creation based on unique biodiversity conservation properties in coffee farming. To date, the voluntary sustainability standards literature has primarily approached biodiversity conservation in coffee farming in the context of financial remuneration to coffee farmers. The performative analysis of voluntary sustainability standards certification undertaken in this paper, in which such certifications are analyzed in terms of their effect on mutually reinforcing representational, normalizing and exchange practices, provides an understanding of coffee diversification potential as dependent on standard criteria and voluntary sustainability standards certification as branding tools. We draw on a case of high-biodiversity, shade-grown coffee-farming practice in Kodagu, South-West India, which represents one of the world's biodiversity "hotspots".

How Can High-Biodiversity Coffee Make It to the Mainstream Market? The Performativity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Outcomes for Coffee Diversification

Science.gov (United States)

Solér, Cecilia; Sandström, Cecilia; Skoog, Hanna

2017-02-01

This article investigates the outcomes of mainstream coffee voluntary sustainability standards for high-biodiversity coffee diversification. By viewing voluntary sustainability standards certifications as performative marketing tools, we address the question of how such certification schemes affect coffee value creation based on unique biodiversity conservation properties in coffee farming. To date, the voluntary sustainability standards literature has primarily approached biodiversity conservation in coffee farming in the context of financial remuneration to coffee farmers. The performative analysis of voluntary sustainability standards certification undertaken in this paper, in which such certifications are analyzed in terms of their effect on mutually reinforcing representational, normalizing and exchange practices, provides an understanding of coffee diversification potential as dependent on standard criteria and voluntary sustainability standards certification as branding tools. We draw on a case of high-biodiversity, shade-grown coffee-farming practice in Kodagu, South-West India, which represents one of the world's biodiversity "hotspots".

ASSESSMENT OF METALS IN ROASTED INDIGENOUS COFFEE ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box. 1176, Addis .... cultivation region of Ethiopian coffee by elemental analysis. ... health regulatory limits of the metals in coffee to provide guideline information on the .... Procedures tested for digestion of roasted coffee samples. No.

Coffee Consumption and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmit, Stephanie L; Rennert, Hedy S; Rennert, Gad; Gruber, Stephen B

2016-04-01

Coffee contains several bioactive compounds relevant to colon physiology. Although coffee intake is a proposed protective factor for colorectal cancer, current evidence remains inconclusive. We investigated the association between coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer in 5,145 cases and 4,097 controls from the Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer (MECC) study, a population-based case-control study in northern Israel. We also examined this association by type of coffee, by cancer site (colon and rectum), and by ethnic subgroup (Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, and Arabs). Coffee data were collected by interview using a validated, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Coffee consumption was associated with 26% lower odds of developing colorectal cancer [OR (drinkers vs. non-drinkers), 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.64-0.86; P consumption alone (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68-0.99; P = 0.04) and for boiled coffee (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71-0.94; P = 0.004). Increasing consumption of coffee was associated with lower odds of developing colorectal cancer. Compared with 2.5 servings/day (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.39-0.54; P colorectal cancer (Ptrend cancers. Coffee consumption may be inversely associated with risk of colorectal cancer in a dose-response manner. Global coffee consumption patterns suggest potential health benefits of the beverage for reducing the risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(4); 634-9. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

Micro-CT unveils the secret life of the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei; Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Scolytinae) inside coffee berries

Science.gov (United States)

The coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari); Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is the most important insect pest of coffee worldwide, and due to the cryptic life habit of the insect inside coffee berries, effective pest management strategies have been difficult to develop. In this pap...

Impact of caffeine and coffee on our health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez de Mejia, Elvira; Ramirez-Mares, Marco Vinicio

2014-10-01

Coffee is the most frequently consumed caffeine-containing beverage. The caffeine in coffee is a bioactive compound with stimulatory effects on the central nervous system and a positive effect on long-term memory. Although coffee consumption has been historically linked to adverse health effects, new research indicates that coffee consumption may be beneficial. Here we discuss the impact of coffee and caffeine on health and bring attention to the changing caffeine landscape that includes new caffeine-containing energy drinks and supplements, often targeting children and adolescents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial distribution of the coffee-leaf-miner (Leucoptera coffeella) in an organic coffee (Coffea arabica L.) field in formation

OpenAIRE

Scalon, João Domingos; Universidade Federal de Lavras; Freitas, Gabriela Alves; DEX/UFLA; Avelar, Maria Betania Lopes; DEX/UFLA; Zacarias, Mauricio Sérgio; EPAMIG/EcoCentro

2011-01-01

Coffee production has been one of the economy pillars of many tropical countries. Unfortunately, this crop is susceptible to infestation by the coffee-leaf-miner (Leucoptera coffeella (Guérin-Mèneville & Perrottet, 1842)) which causes severe damage to coffee plantations with losses that may reach 80% of the total production. In recent years, researchers have been trying to develop practices for minimizing the use of pesticides in the coffee-leaf-miner control. It is well known that the un...

Tracking, aiming, and hitting the UAV with ordinary assault rifle

Science.gov (United States)

Racek, František; Baláž, Teodor; Krejčí, Jaroslav; Procházka, Stanislav; Macko, Martin

2017-10-01

The usage small-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is significantly increasing nowadays. They are being used as a carrier of military spy and reconnaissance devices (taking photos, live video streaming and so on), or as a carrier of potentially dangerous cargo (intended for destruction and killing). Both ways of utilizing the UAV cause the necessity to disable it. From the military point of view, to disable the UAV means to bring it down by a weapon of an ordinary soldier that is the assault rifle. This task can be challenging for the soldier because he needs visually detect and identify the target, track the target visually and aim on the target. The final success of the soldier's mission depends not only on the said visual tasks, but also on the properties of the weapon and ammunition. The paper deals with possible methods of prediction of probability of hitting the UAV targets.

Pathloss Measurements and Modeling for UAVs Connected to Cellular Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amorim, Rafhael Medeiros de; Mogensen, Preben Elgaard; Sørensen, Troels Bundgaard

2017-01-01

. The measurements were conducted in an operating LTE network (850 MHz), using a commercial cell phone, placed inside the frame of the UAV. Trials were conducted for UAV flying at 5 different heights measured above ground level (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100m) and a pathloss regression line was obtained from results. Then......This paper assess field measurements, as part of the investigation of the suitability of cellular networks for providing connectivity to UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). Evaluation is done by means of field measurements obtained in a rural environment in Denmark with an airbone UAV......, downlink (DL) SINR levels obtained during flight measurements are also presented. An important result obtained from the measurents reveal that there is a height-related DL SINR degradation. Three main sources of uncertainty on the pathloss model that could be responsible for the SINR degradation are also...

Data Gathering and Energy Transfer Dilemma in UAV-Assisted Flying Access Network for IoT.

Science.gov (United States)

Arabi, Sara; Sabir, Essaid; Elbiaze, Halima; Sadik, Mohamed

2018-05-11

Recently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as an alternative solution to assist wireless networks, thanks to numerous advantages they offer in comparison to terrestrial fixed base stations. For instance, a UAV can be used to embed a flying base station providing an on-demand nomadic access to network services. A UAV can also be used to wirelessly recharge out-of-battery ground devices. In this paper, we aim to deal with both data collection and recharging depleted ground Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices through a UAV station used as a flying base station. To extend the network lifetime, we present a novel use of UAV with energy harvesting module and wireless recharging capabilities. However, the UAV is used as an energy source to empower depleted IoT devices. On one hand, the UAV charges depleted ground IoT devices under three policies: (1) low-battery first scheme; (2) high-battery first scheme; and (3) random scheme. On the other hand, the UAV station collects data from IoT devices that have sufficient energy to transmit their packets, and in the same phase, the UAV exploits the Radio Frequency (RF) signals transmitted by IoT devices to extract and harvest energy. Furthermore, and as the UAV station has a limited coverage time due to its energy constraints, we propose and investigate an efficient trade-off between ground users recharging time and data gathering time. Furthermore, we suggest to control and optimize the UAV trajectory in order to complete its travel within a minimum time, while minimizing the energy spent and/or enhancing the network lifetime. Extensive numerical results and simulations show how the system behaves under different scenarios and using various metrics in which we examine the added value of UAV with energy harvesting module.

Data Gathering and Energy Transfer Dilemma in UAV-Assisted Flying Access Network for IoT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Arabi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs have emerged as an alternative solution to assist wireless networks, thanks to numerous advantages they offer in comparison to terrestrial fixed base stations. For instance, a UAV can be used to embed a flying base station providing an on-demand nomadic access to network services. A UAV can also be used to wirelessly recharge out-of-battery ground devices. In this paper, we aim to deal with both data collection and recharging depleted ground Internet-of-Things (IoT devices through a UAV station used as a flying base station. To extend the network lifetime, we present a novel use of UAV with energy harvesting module and wireless recharging capabilities. However, the UAV is used as an energy source to empower depleted IoT devices. On one hand, the UAV charges depleted ground IoT devices under three policies: (1 low-battery first scheme; (2 high-battery first scheme; and (3 random scheme. On the other hand, the UAV station collects data from IoT devices that have sufficient energy to transmit their packets, and in the same phase, the UAV exploits the Radio Frequency (RF signals transmitted by IoT devices to extract and harvest energy. Furthermore, and as the UAV station has a limited coverage time due to its energy constraints, we propose and investigate an efficient trade-off between ground users recharging time and data gathering time. Furthermore, we suggest to control and optimize the UAV trajectory in order to complete its travel within a minimum time, while minimizing the energy spent and/or enhancing the network lifetime. Extensive numerical results and simulations show how the system behaves under different scenarios and using various metrics in which we examine the added value of UAV with energy harvesting module.

Miniature UAVs : An overview

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weimar, P.W.L.; Kerkkamp, J.S.F.; Wiel, R.A.N.; Meiller, P.P.; Bos, J.G.H.

2014-01-01

With this book TNO provides an overview of topics related to Miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MUAVs). Both novices and experts may find this publication valuable. The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO conducts research on UAVs and MUAVs, see for example [1], on the

Cloud-Assisted UAV Data Collection for Multiple Emerging Events in Distributed WSNs.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Huiru; Liu, Yongxin; Yue, Xuejun; Zhu, Wenjian

2017-08-07

In recent years, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) have been widely applied for data collection and image capture. Specifically, UAVs have been integrated with wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to create data collection platforms with high flexibility. However, most studies in this domain focus on system architecture and UAVs' flight trajectory planning while event-related factors and other important issues are neglected. To address these challenges, we propose a cloud-assisted data gathering strategy for UAV-based WSN in the light of emerging events. We also provide a cloud-assisted approach for deriving UAV's optimal flying and data acquisition sequence of a WSN cluster. We validate our approach through simulations and experiments. It has been proved that our methodology outperforms conventional approaches in terms of flying time, energy consumption, and integrity of data acquisition. We also conducted a real-world experiment using a UAV to collect data wirelessly from multiple clusters of sensor nodes for monitoring an emerging event, which are deployed in a farm. Compared against the traditional method, this proposed approach requires less than half the flying time and achieves almost perfect data integrity.

Coastal areas mapping using UAV photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolakopoulos, Konstantinos G.; Kozarski, Dimitrios; Kogkas, Stefanos

2017-10-01

The coastal areas in the Patras Gulf suffer degradation due to the sea action and other natural and human-induced causes. Changes in beaches, ports, and other man made constructions need to be assessed, both after severe events and on a regular basis, to build models that can predict the evolution in the future. Thus, reliable spatial data acquisition is a critical process for the identification of the coastline and the broader coastal zones for geologists and other scientists involved in the study of coastal morphology. High resolution satellite data, airphotos and airborne Lidar provided in the past the necessary data for the coastline monitoring. High-resolution digital surface models (DSMs) and orthophoto maps had become a necessity in order to map with accuracy all the variations in costal environments. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) photogrammetry offers an alternative solution to the acquisition of high accuracy spatial data along the coastline. This paper presents the use of UAV to map the coastline in Rio area Western Greece. Multiple photogrammetric aerial campaigns were performed. A small commercial UAV (DJI Phantom 3 Advance) was used to acquire thousands of images with spatial resolutions better than 5 cm. Different photogrammetric software's were used to orientate the images, extract point clouds, build a digital surface model and produce orthoimage mosaics. In order to achieve the best positional accuracy signalised ground control points were measured with a differential GNSS receiver. The results of this coastal monitoring programme proved that UAVs can replace many of the conventional surveys, with considerable gains in the cost of the data acquisition and without any loss in the accuracy.

Prognostics Applied to Electric Propulsion UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Goebel, Kai; Saha, Bhaskar

2013-01-01

Health management plays an important role in operations of UAV. If there is equipment malfunction on critical components, safe operation of the UAV might possibly be compromised. A technology with particular promise in this arena is equipment prognostics. This technology provides a state assessment of the health of components of interest and, if a degraded state has been found, it estimates how long it will take before the equipment will reach a failure threshold, conditional on assumptions about future operating conditions and future environmental conditions. This chapter explores the technical underpinnings of how to perform prognostics and shows an implementation on the propulsion of an electric UAV. A particle filter is shown as the method of choice in performing state assessment and predicting future degradation. The method is then applied to the batteries that provide power to the propeller motors. An accurate run-time battery life prediction algorithm is of critical importance to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle if one wants to maximize in-air time. Current reliability based techniques turn out to be insufficient to manage the use of such batteries where loads vary frequently in uncertain environments.

Transmission Tower Environment Monitoring Using UAV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Redzuwan, Redia Mohd; Din, Norashidah Md; Baharuddin, Mohd Zafri; Mustafa, Intan Shafinaz; Omar, Rohayu Che'

2013-01-01

Power utility engineers used to conduct ground survey to collect topographic data. Therefore, they can get detailed and accurate information, but these techniques take a lot of labors and expenses, and spending times for the surveying. An attractive solution to the ground survey is using images taken using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Images captured from UAV can be collected quickly and efficiently over the same area covered in the land survey, in a fraction of the time. The purpose of this research is to mosaic the large numbers of spectral images together into a region wide panoramic image which allows experts to analyze the data for transmission tower monitoring purposes.

Geotechnologies for the Characterization of Specialty Coffee Environments of Mantiqueira de Minas in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, H. M. R.; Vieira, T. G. C.; Volpato, M. M. L.; Lacerda, M. P. C.; Borém, F. M.

2016-06-01

Land-use/land-cover change (LUCC) is a major cause of environmental transformation. Distant drivers, often associated with emerging markets for specific products, are now being considered one of the main factors of LUCC and are gaining attention in land change science. Consumers show an increasing interest in local and quality food, certified for its origin and its environmental production standards. A kind of agricultural product certification, Geographic Indication, identifies a product as originating from a specific region where a given quality, reputation or characteristic is attributed to its geographical origin. Sustainable land use is potentially an indirect effect of Geographic Indication, as it requires better land management in order to preserve the natural resources associated with the unique characteristics of the certified product. Located in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil is the region of Mantiqueira de Minas, considered one of the most important regions for the production of specialty coffees in Brazil. In 2011, the region's tradition and reputation were recognized with a Geographic Indication, the second given for coffee regions in the country. To explore the full potential of this area for producing coffees with higher quality and meet the growing demand of this new international market, which aggregates value at specialty coffees, it became fundamental to understand the coffee environments of the region, the "terroirs" where these coffees are obtained. Geotechnology can give a significant contribution in filling this gap. This work is part of a research project that made a detailed characterization of the region's coffee agroecosystems. Geotechnologies were employed to map the areas occupied by coffee plantations by using RapidEye satellite images and SPRING and ArcGIS software. All the segments of the environment were characterized and mapped in detail and the relations with coffee quality were evaluated. The results

GEOTECHNOLOGIES FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF SPECIALTY COFFEE ENVIRONMENTS OF MANTIQUEIRA DE MINAS IN BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. M. R. Alves

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Land-use/land-cover change (LUCC is a major cause of environmental transformation. Distant drivers, often associated with emerging markets for specific products, are now being considered one of the main factors of LUCC and are gaining attention in land change science. Consumers show an increasing interest in local and quality food, certified for its origin and its environmental production standards. A kind of agricultural product certification, Geographic Indication, identifies a product as originating from a specific region where a given quality, reputation or characteristic is attributed to its geographical origin. Sustainable land use is potentially an indirect effect of Geographic Indication, as it requires better land management in order to preserve the natural resources associated with the unique characteristics of the certified product. Located in the southern region of the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil is the region of Mantiqueira de Minas, considered one of the most important regions for the production of specialty coffees in Brazil. In 2011, the region’s tradition and reputation were recognized with a Geographic Indication, the second given for coffee regions in the country. To explore the full potential of this area for producing coffees with higher quality and meet the growing demand of this new international market, which aggregates value at specialty coffees, it became fundamental to understand the coffee environments of the region, the “terroirs” where these coffees are obtained. Geotechnology can give a significant contribution in filling this gap. This work is part of a research project that made a detailed characterization of the region’s coffee agroecosystems. Geotechnologies were employed to map the areas occupied by coffee plantations by using RapidEye satellite images and SPRING and ArcGIS software. All the segments of the environment were characterized and mapped in detail and the relations with coffee quality

Teaching UAVs to Race With Observational Imitation Learning

KAUST Repository

Li, Guohao; Mueller, Matthias; Casser, Vincent; Smith, Neil; Michels, Dominik L.; Ghanem, Bernard

2018-01-01

Recent work has tackled the problem of autonomous navigation by imitating a teacher and learning an end-to-end policy, which directly predicts controls from raw images. However, these approaches tend to be sensitive to mistakes by the teacher and do not scale well to other environments or vehicles. To this end, we propose a modular network architecture that decouples perception from control, and is trained using Observational Imitation Learning (OIL), a novel imitation learning variant that supports online training and automatic selection of optimal behavior from observing multiple teachers. We apply our proposed methodology to the challenging problem of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) racing. We develop a simulator that enables the generation of large amounts of synthetic training data (both UAV captured images and its controls) and also allows for online learning and evaluation. We train a perception network to predict waypoints from raw image data and a control network to predict UAV controls from these waypoints using OIL. Our modular network is able to autonomously fly a UAV through challenging race tracks at high speeds. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our trained network outperforms its teachers, end-to-end baselines, and even human pilots in simulation. The supplementary video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/PeTXSoriflc

Teaching UAVs to Race With Observational Imitation Learning

KAUST Repository

Li, Guohao

2018-03-03

Recent work has tackled the problem of autonomous navigation by imitating a teacher and learning an end-to-end policy, which directly predicts controls from raw images. However, these approaches tend to be sensitive to mistakes by the teacher and do not scale well to other environments or vehicles. To this end, we propose a modular network architecture that decouples perception from control, and is trained using Observational Imitation Learning (OIL), a novel imitation learning variant that supports online training and automatic selection of optimal behavior from observing multiple teachers. We apply our proposed methodology to the challenging problem of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) racing. We develop a simulator that enables the generation of large amounts of synthetic training data (both UAV captured images and its controls) and also allows for online learning and evaluation. We train a perception network to predict waypoints from raw image data and a control network to predict UAV controls from these waypoints using OIL. Our modular network is able to autonomously fly a UAV through challenging race tracks at high speeds. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our trained network outperforms its teachers, end-to-end baselines, and even human pilots in simulation. The supplementary video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/PeTXSoriflc

Freezing as a treatment to prevent the spread of coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in coffee

Science.gov (United States)

Coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) is the most serious insect pest of coffee around the world. While it is already present in most of the world’s major coffee growing regions, it is important to delay further spread and to prevent re-introductions which might include hyperparasites or...

Analisis Customer Segment, Channels, Dan Customer Relationship Dalam Pembentukan Value Proposition Di Starbucks Coffee (Studi Kasus Pada Starbucks Coffee Indonesia)

OpenAIRE

Nurmanisa, Aisy; Wilopo,; Sanawiri, Brillyanes

2016-01-01

This research aims to understand and explain; How to Starbucks Coffee create value proposition for their customer? How to Starbucks Coffee segmented the customer, to create the value proposition? How to Starbucks Coffee build and choose the channels to grab the customer and create value proposition? How to Starbucks Coffee build a customer relationship and create value proposition from the process? .This reaserch uses primery data descriptive analysis method with fenomelogy kualitative o...

Economic injury level for the coffee berry borer (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) using attractive traps in Brazilian coffee fields.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, F L; Picanço, M C; Campos, S O; Bastos, C S; Chediak, M; Guedes, R N C; Silva, R S

2011-12-01

The currently existing sample procedures available for decision-making regarding the control of the coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to perform, compromising their adoption. In addition, the damage functions incorporated in such decision levels only consider the quantitative losses, while dismissing the qualitative losses. Traps containing ethanol, methanol, and benzaldehyde may allow cheap and easy decision-making. Our objective was to determine the economic injury level (EIL) for the adults of the coffee berry borer by using attractant-baited traps. We considered both qualitative and quantitative losses caused by the coffee borer in estimating the EILs. These EILs were determined for conventional and organic coffee under high and average plant yield. When the quantitative losses caused by H. hampei were considered alone, the EILs ranged from 7.9 to 23.7% of bored berries for high and average-yield conventional crops, respectively. For high and average-yield organic coffee the ELs varied from 24.4 to 47.6% of bored berries, respectively. When qualitative and quantitative losses caused by the pest were considered together, the EIL was 4.3% of bored berries for both conventional and organic coffee. The EILs for H. hampei associated to the coffee plants in the flowering, pinhead fruit, and ripening fruit stages were 426, 85, and 28 adults per attractive trap, respectively.

[Spectroscopic methods applied to component determination and species identification for coffee].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hua-zhou; Xu, Li-li; Qin, Qiang

2014-06-01

Spectroscopic analysis was applied to the determination of the nutrient quality of ground, instant and chicory coffees. By using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-ES), nine mineral elements were determined in solid coffee samples. Caffeine was determined by ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry and organic matter was investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Oxidation-reduction titration was utilized for measuring the oxalate. The differences between ground coffee and instant coffee was identified on the basis of the contents of caffeine, oxalate and mineral elements. Experimental evidence showed that, caffeine in instant coffee was 2-3 times higher than in ground coffee. Oxalate in instant coffee was significantly higher in ground coffee. Mineral elements of Mg, P and Zn in ground coffee is lower than in instant coffee, while Cu is several times higher. The mineral content in chicory coffee is overall lower than the instant coffee. In addition, we determined the content of Ti for different types of coffees, and simultaneously detected the elements of Cu, Ti and Zn in chicory coffee. As a fast detection technique, FTIR spectroscopy has the potential of detecting the differences between ground coffee and instant coffee, and is able to verify the presence of caffeine and oxalate.

Cooperative control of UAVs for localization of intermittently emitting mobile targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Pack, Daniel J; Delima, Pedro; Toussaint, Gregory J; York, George

2009-08-01

Compared with a single platform, cooperative autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer efficiency and robustness in performing complex tasks. Focusing on ground mobile targets that intermittently emit radio frequency signals, this paper presents a decentralized control architecture for multiple UAVs, equipped only with rudimentary sensors, to search, detect, and locate targets over large areas. The proposed architecture has in its core a decision logic which governs the state of operation for each UAV based on sensor readings and communicated data. To support the findings, extensive simulation results are presented, focusing primarily on two success measures that the UAVs seek to minimize: overall time to search for a group of targets and the final target localization error achieved. The results of the simulations have provided support for hardware flight tests.

A debugging method of the Quadrotor UAV based on infrared thermal imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Guangjie; Hao, Qian; Yang, Jianguo; Chen, Lizhi; Hu, Hongkang; Zhang, Lijun

2018-01-01

High-performance UAV has been popular and in great need in recent years. The paper introduces a new method in debugging Quadrotor UAVs. Based on the infrared thermal technology and heat transfer theory, a UAV is under debugging above a hot-wire grid which is composed of 14 heated nichrome wires. And the air flow propelled by the rotating rotors has an influence on the temperature distribution of the hot-wire grid. An infrared thermal imager below observes the distribution and gets thermal images of the hot-wire grid. With the assistance of mathematic model and some experiments, the paper discusses the relationship between thermal images and the speed of rotors. By means of getting debugged UAVs into test, the standard information and thermal images can be acquired. The paper demonstrates that comparing to the standard thermal images, a UAV being debugging in the same test can draw some critical data directly or after interpolation. The results are shown in the paper and the advantages are discussed.

Multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Cooperative Fault Detection Employing Differential Global Positioning (DGPS), Inertial and Vision Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Heredia, Guillermo; Caballero, Fernando; Maza, Iván; Merino, Luis; Viguria, Antidio; Ollero, Aníbal

2009-01-01

This paper presents a method to increase the reliability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sensor Fault Detection and Identification (FDI) in a multi-UAV context. Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and inertial sensors are used for sensor FDI in each UAV. The method uses additional position estimations that augment individual UAV FDI system. These additional estimations are obtained using images from the same planar scene taken from two different UAVs. Since accuracy and noise level of the estimation depends on several factors, dynamic replanning of the multi-UAV team can be used to obtain a better estimation in case of faults caused by slow growing errors of absolute position estimation that cannot be detected by using local FDI in the UAVs. Experimental results with data from two real UAVs are also presented.

APPLICABILITY ANALYSIS OF ULTRA-LIGHT UAV FOR FLOODING SITE SURVEY IN SOUTH KOREA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Lee

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is used in a variety of fields such as the military service, fire prevention, traffic supervision, mapping, and etc. The increased demand for UAVs is typically attributed to the low manufacturing and operational costs, flexibility of the platforms to accommodate the consumer’s particular needs and the elimination of the risk to pilots’ lives in difficult missions. But, in South Korea, UAV might be first introduced to military service, and is still in its infancy, just being available for construction site monitoring, landscape photographing, spraying agricultural chemicals, broadcasting fields. This study presents the background and the aim of flood mapping, and presents the possibility analysis of how to use UAV effectively for flooding area. And author tries to overlap UAV image with the flooding area trace surveyed by ground surveys. As a result, it is expected that UAV photogrammetry will contributes to investigating the flooded area by providing images, which is describing the flooded area in near real-time and also making a decision like paying compensation.

Observing Crop-Height Dynamics Using a UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Ziliani, M. G.; Parkes, S. D.; McCabe, M.

2017-12-01

Retrieval of vegetation height during a growing season is a key indicator for monitoring crop status, offering insight to the forecast yield relative to previous planting cycles. Improvement in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technologies, supported by advances in computer vision and photogrammetry software, has enabled retrieval of crop heights with much higher spatial resolution and coverage. These methodologies retrieve a Digital Surface Map (DSM), which combine terrain and crop elements to obtain a Crop Surface Map (CSM). Here we describe an automated method for deriving high resolution CSMs from a DSM, using RGB imagery from a UAV platform. Importantly, the approach does not require the need for a digital terrain map (DTM). The method involves distinguishing between vegetation and bare-ground cover pixels, using vegetation index maps from the RGB orthomosaic derived from the same flight as the DSM. We show that the absolute crop height can be extracted to within several centimeters, exploiting the data captured from a single UAV flight. In addition, the method is applied across five surveys during a maize growing cycle and compared against a terrain map constructed from a baseline UAV survey undertaken prior to crop growth. Results show that the approach is able to reproduce the observed spatial variability of the crop height within the maize field throughout the duration of the growing season. This is particularly valuable since it may be employed to detect intra-field problems (i.e. fertilizer variability, inefficiency in the irrigation system, salinity etc.) at different stages of the season, from which remedial action can be initiated to mitigate against yield loss. The method also demonstrates that UAV imagery combined with commercial photogrammetry software can determine a CSM from a single flight without the requirement of a prior DTM. This, together with the dynamic crop height estimation, provide useful information with which to inform precision

Influence of conjunctive use of coffee effluent and fresh water on performance of robusta coffee and soil properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Salakinkop, S R; Shivaprasad, P

2012-01-01

A field experiment was conducted to study the influence of treated coffee effluent irrigation on performance of established robusta coffee, nutrient contribution and microbial activities in the soil. The results revealed that the field irrigated with coffee effluent from aerobic tank having COD of 1009 ppm, did not affect the yield of clean coffee (1309 kg/ha) and it was statistically similar (on par) with the plots irrigated with fresh water (1310 kg/ha) with respect to clean coffee yield. Effluent irrigation increased significantly the population bacteria, yeast, fungi, actinomycetes and PSB (122, 52, 12, 34 and 6 x 104/g respectively)) in the soil compared to the soil irrigated with fresh water (87, 22, 5, 24 and 2 x 10(4)/g respectively). The organic carbon (2.60%), available nutrients in the soil like P (57.2 kg/ha), K (401.6 kg/ha, Ca (695.3 ppm), S (5.3 ppm),Cu (4.09 ppm) and Zn(4.78 ppm) were also increased due to effluent irrigation compared to fresh water irrigation. Thus analysis of coffee effluent for major and minor plant nutrients content revealed its potential as source of nutrients and water for plant growth.

Possibilities of Use of UAVS for Technical Inspection of Buildings and Constructions

Science.gov (United States)

Banaszek, Anna; Banaszek, Sebastian; Cellmer, Anna

2017-12-01

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been used in various sectors of the economy. This is due to the development of new technologies for acquiring and processing geospatial data. The paper presents the results of experiments using UAV, equipped with a high resolution digital camera, for a visual assessment of the technical condition of the building roof and for the inventory of energy infrastructure and its surroundings. The usefulness of digital images obtained from the UAV deck is presented in concrete examples. The use of UAV offers new opportunities in the area of technical inspection due to the detail and accuracy of the data, low operating costs and fast data acquisition.

An Efficient Genetic Algorithm for Routing Multiple UAVs under Flight Range and Service Time Window Constraints

OpenAIRE

KARAKAYA, Murat; SEVİNÇ, Ender

2017-01-01

Recently using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) either for military or civilian purposes is getting popularity. However, UAVs have their own limitations which require adopted approaches to satisfy the Quality of Service (QoS) promised by the applications depending on effective use of UAVs. One of the important limitations of the UAVs encounter is the flight range. Most of the time, UAVs have very scarce energy resources and, thus, they have relatively short flight ranges. Besides, for the appl...

Coffee Production in Kigoma Region, Tanzania: Profitability and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Farmers processed at CPU gained about TZS 1350/kg as coffee improvement gain. Coffee production ... explored, keeping in mind the theories put forth in the theoretical ... Information used in the gross margin analysis encompass total coffee ...

COFFEE GROWING AREAS OF ETHIOPIA"

African Journals Online (AJOL)

accelerated economic growth, part of which is hoped to be achieved via increased ... at the Fifth International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy held at the United ... Samuel and Ludi: Agricultural commercialisation in coffee growing areas. ... Ethiopia produces and exports one of the best fighland coffees in the world.

Effects of Hearing Protection Device Attenuation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Audio Signatures

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

UAV ) Audio Signatures by Melissa Bezandry, Adrienne Raglin, and John Noble Approved for public release; distribution...Research Laboratory Effects of Hearing Protection Device Attenuation on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ( UAV ) Audio Signatures by Melissa Bezandry...Aerial Vehicle ( UAV ) Audio Signatures 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Melissa Bezandry

An Application of UAV Attitude Estimation Using a Low-Cost Inertial Navigation System

Science.gov (United States)

Eure, Kenneth W.; Quach, Cuong Chi; Vazquez, Sixto L.; Hogge, Edward F.; Hill, Boyd L.

2013-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are playing an increasing role in aviation. Various methods exist for the computation of UAV attitude based on low cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. There has been a recent increase in UAV autonomy as sensors are becoming more compact and onboard processing power has increased significantly. Correct UAV attitude estimation will play a critical role in navigation and separation assurance as UAVs share airspace with civil air traffic. This paper describes attitude estimation derived by post-processing data from a small low cost Inertial Navigation System (INS) recorded during the flight of a subscale commercial off the shelf (COTS) UAV. Two discrete time attitude estimation schemes are presented here in detail. The first is an adaptation of the Kalman Filter to accommodate nonlinear systems, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). The EKF returns quaternion estimates of the UAV attitude based on MEMS gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer, and pitot tube inputs. The second scheme is the complementary filter which is a simpler algorithm that splits the sensor frequency spectrum based on noise characteristics. The necessity to correct both filters for gravity measurement errors during turning maneuvers is demonstrated. It is shown that the proposed algorithms may be used to estimate UAV attitude. The effects of vibration on sensor measurements are discussed. Heuristic tuning comments pertaining to sensor filtering and gain selection to achieve acceptable performance during flight are given. Comparisons of attitude estimation performance are made between the EKF and the complementary filter.

Personal characteristics of coffee consumers and non-consumers, reasons and preferences for foods eaten with coffee among adults from the Federal District, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandra Gaspar SOUSA

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of consumers and non-consumers, the reasons and foods associated with coffee intake among adults from the Federal District, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional population-based survey conducted by telephone interview (n= 1,368. We collected information on detailed coffee intake, socio-demographic aspects and personal characteristics. The coffee had an average daily intake of 319 mL. Individuals were more likely to drink coffee at an older age (68% and with higher body mass index (58%. The most cited reason for consuming coffee was the “personal pleasure” (48%, followed by “habit / tradition” of consuming coffee. Among non-consumers of this beverage, the main reason was not liking the taste and / or aroma of coffee (62%. The method of coffee preparation used was by infusion (86% and sugar was the main sweetener used by 83% of consumers. The majority of consumers (59% reported consuming coffee with certain foods such as bakery products. The results from our study may suggest that the popularity of coffee can be attributed to its taste, personal pleasure and habit, and the consumption is more likely to occur with the advance of age and with intake of other foods.

Cross Validation on the Equality of Uav-Based and Contour-Based Dems

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, R.; Xu, Z.; Wu, L.; Liu, S.

2018-04-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have been widely used for Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generation in geographic applications. This paper proposes a novel framework of generating DEM from UAV images. It starts with the generation of the point clouds by image matching, where the flight control data are used as reference for searching for the corresponding images, leading to a significant time saving. Besides, a set of ground control points (GCP) obtained from field surveying are used to transform the point clouds to the user's coordinate system. Following that, we use a multi-feature based supervised classification method for discriminating non-ground points from ground ones. In the end, we generate DEM by constructing triangular irregular networks and rasterization. The experiments are conducted in the east of Jilin province in China, which has been suffered from soil erosion for several years. The quality of UAV based DEM (UAV-DEM) is compared with that generated from contour interpolation (Contour-DEM). The comparison shows a higher resolution, as well as higher accuracy of UAV-DEMs, which contains more geographic information. In addition, the RMSE errors of the UAV-DEMs generated from point clouds with and without GCPs are ±0.5 m and ±20 m, respectively.

Doppler Effect-Based Automatic Landing Procedure for UAV in Difficult Access Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan M. Kelner

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, almost unrestricted access to low-lying areas of airspace creates an opportunity to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, especially those capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL, in transport services. UAVs become increasingly popular for transporting postal items over small, medium, and large distances. It is forecasted that, in the near future, VTOL UAVs with a high take-off weight will also deliver goods to very distant and hard-to-reach locations. Therefore, UAV navigation plays a very important role in the process of carrying out transport services. At present, during the flight phase, drones make use of the integrated global navigation satellite system (GNSS and the inertial navigation system (INS. However, the inaccuracy of GNSS + INS makes it unsuitable for landing and take-off, necessitating the guidance of a human UAV operator during those phases. Available navigation systems do not provide sufficiently high positioning accuracy for an UAV. For this reason, full automation of the landing approach is not possible. This paper puts forward a proposal to solve this problem. The authors show the structure of an autonomous system and a Doppler-based navigation procedure that allows for automatic landing approaches. An accuracy evaluation of the developed solution for VTOL is made on the basis of simulation studies.

Association between coffee consumption and serum lipid profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Karabudak, Efsun; Türközü, Duygu; Köksal, Eda

2015-05-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between coffee consumption and serum lipid levels in a study population of 122 Turkish subjects (mean age, 41.4±12.69 years), including 48 males and 74 females. A questionnaire was compiled to determine baseline characteristics, and food and coffee consumption. Subjects were divided into three groups, which included non-drinkers, Turkish coffee and instant coffee drinkers, and anthropometric measurements were acquired, including weight, height and body mass index. Serum lipid levels were analyzed, including the total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) levels. Of the population studied, 76.2% had consumed at least one cup of coffee per week over the previous year. Daily consumption values were 62.3±40.60 ml (0.7±0.50 cup) for Turkish coffee and 116.3±121.96 ml (0.7±0.81 cup) for instant coffee. No statistically significant differences were observed in the serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C or VLDL-C among the three groups. In addition, no statistically significant differences were observed in the serum lipid levels when comparing individuals who consumed coffee with sugar/cream or who smoked and those who did not (P>0.05). Therefore, the present observations indicated no significant association between the consumption of Turkish or instant coffee and serum lipid levels.

Mathematical Model for Mexican Coffee MarketMathematical Model for the Mexican Coffee MarketMathematical Model for Mexican Coffee Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MOSS, Charles B.

2004-05-01

Full Text Available RESUMOA afirmação que a produção de café de qualidade é mais cara que a produção de café de menor qualidade, também que mercado falha na transmissão de sinais de qualidade para os produtores baixarem a qualidade média do café produzido. Ao usar equações simultâneas em mínimos quadrados de três estágios, descobriu-se que algumas variáveis foram significantes: o tamanho do produtor afeta a parcela de café cherry vendida, a qualidade afeta o preço internacional de café verde do México, e a qualidade da cherry aumenta a parcela vendida de café verde. Mas, não há evidencia que a concentração de poder de mercado afete a parcela de preços do café verde.ABSTRACTThe assumption that the production of quality coffee is more expensive than the production of coffee of less quality, also that market failures in the transmission of quality signals to producer lower the average quality of coffee produced industry. Used its simultaneous equations in three stage lest square we have found that some variable were significant; the size of the producer affects the share of sold cherry, the quality affects the international green coffee price of México and the quality of cherry increases the share of green coffee sold. But there in no evidence that market power concentration affects the share prices of green coffee.RESUMENSe afirma que producir café de calidad es más caro que producir café de peor calidad, y también que el mercado falla en la transmisión de señales de calidad para que los productores disminuyan la calidad media del café producido. Al usar ecuaciones simultáneas en mínimos cuadrados de tres etapas, se descubrió que algunas variables fueron significativas: el tamaño del productor afecta la fracción de café cherry vendida, la calidad afecta el precio internacional del café verde de México y la calidad de la cherry aumenta la fracción vendida de café verde. Pero no hay evidencia de que la concentración de

Coffee and tea: perks for health and longevity?

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatti, Salman K; O'Keefe, James H; Lavie, Carl J

2013-11-01

Tea and coffee, after water, are the most commonly consumed beverages in the world and are the top sources of caffeine and antioxidant polyphenols in the American diet. The purpose of this review is to assess the health effects of chronic tea and/or coffee consumption. Tea consumption, especially green tea, is associated with significantly reduced risks for stroke, diabetes and depression, and improved levels of glucose, cholesterol, abdominal obesity and blood pressure. Habitual coffee consumption in large epidemiological studies is associated with reduced mortality, both for all-cause and cardiovascular deaths. In addition, coffee intake is associated with risks of heart failure, stroke, diabetes mellitus and some cancers in an inverse dose-dependent fashion. Surprisingly, coffee is associated with neutral to reduced risks for both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. However, caffeine at high doses can increase anxiety, insomnia, calcium loss and possibly the risk of fractures. Coffee and tea can generally be recommended as health-promoting additions to an adult diet. Adequate dietary calcium intake may be particularly important for tea and coffee drinkers.

Coffee Berry Borer Joins Bark Beetles in Coffee Klatch

Science.gov (United States)

Jaramillo, Juliana; Torto, Baldwyn; Mwenda, Dickson; Troeger, Armin; Borgemeister, Christian; Poehling, Hans-Michael; Francke, Wittko

2013-01-01

Unanswered key questions in bark beetle-plant interactions concern host finding in species attacking angiosperms in tropical zones and whether management strategies based on chemical signaling used for their conifer-attacking temperate relatives may also be applied in the tropics. We hypothesized that there should be a common link in chemical signaling mediating host location by these Scolytids. Using laboratory behavioral assays and chemical analysis we demonstrate that the yellow-orange exocarp stage of coffee berries, which attracts the coffee berry borer, releases relatively high amounts of volatiles including conophthorin, chalcogran, frontalin and sulcatone that are typically associated with Scolytinae chemical ecology. The green stage of the berry produces a much less complex bouquet containing small amounts of conophthorin but no other compounds known as bark beetle semiochemicals. In behavioral assays, the coffee berry borer was attracted to the spiroacetals conophthorin and chalcogran, but avoided the monoterpenes verbenone and α-pinene, demonstrating that, as in their conifer-attacking relatives in temperate zones, the use of host and non-host volatiles is also critical in host finding by tropical species. We speculate that microorganisms formed a common basis for the establishment of crucial chemical signals comprising inter- and intraspecific communication systems in both temperate- and tropical-occurring bark beetles attacking gymnosperms and angiosperms. PMID:24073204

IMPROVED UAV-BORNE 3D MAPPING BY FUSING OPTICAL AND LASERSCANNER DATA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Jutzi

2013-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a new method for fusing optical and laserscanner data is presented for improved UAV-borne 3D mapping. We propose to equip an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV with a small platform which includes two sensors: a standard low-cost digital camera and a lightweight Hokuyo UTM-30LX-EW laserscanning device (210 g without cable. Initially, a calibration is carried out for the utilized devices. This involves a geometric camera calibration and the estimation of the position and orientation offset between the two sensors by lever-arm and bore-sight calibration. Subsequently, a feature tracking is performed through the image sequence by considering extracted interest points as well as the projected 3D laser points. These 2D results are fused with the measured laser distances and fed into a bundle adjustment in order to obtain a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM. It is demonstrated that an improvement in terms of precision for the pose estimation is derived by fusing optical and laserscanner data.

Comparison of a UAV-derived point-cloud to Lidar data at Haig Glacier, Alberta, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Bash, E. A.; Moorman, B.; Montaghi, A.; Menounos, B.; Marshall, S. J.

2016-12-01

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is expanding rapidly in glaciological research as a result of technological improvements that make UAVs a cost-effective solution for collecting high resolution datasets with relative ease. The cost and difficult access traditionally associated with performing fieldwork in glacial environments makes UAVs a particularly attractive tool. In the small, but growing, body of literature using UAVs in glaciology the accuracy of UAV data is tested through the comparison of a UAV-derived DEM to measured control points. A field campaign combining simultaneous lidar and UAV flights over Haig Glacier in April 2015, provided the unique opportunity to directly compare UAV data to lidar. The UAV was a six-propeller Mikrokopter carrying a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 camera with a 12 Megapixel Live MOS sensor and Lumix G 20 mm lens flown at a height of 90 m, resulting in sub-centimetre ground resolution per image pixel. Lidar data collection took place April 20, while UAV flights were conducted April 20-21. A set of 65 control points were laid out and surveyed on the glacier surface on April 19 and 21 using a RTK GPS with a vertical uncertainty of 5 cm. A direct comparison of lidar points to these control points revealed a 9 cm offset between the control points and the lidar points on average, but the difference changed distinctly from points collected on April 19 versus those collected April 21 (7 cm and 12 cm). Agisoft Photoscan was used to create a point-cloud from imagery collected with the UAV and CloudCompare was used to calculate the difference between this and the lidar point cloud, revealing an average difference of less than 17 cm. This field campaign also highlighted some of the benefits and drawbacks of using a rotary UAV for glaciological research. The vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, combined with quick responsiveness and higher carrying capacity, make the rotary vehicle favourable for high-resolution photos when

Coordinating quality practices in Direct Trade coffee

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holland, Emil; Kjeldsen, Chris; Kerndrup, Søren

2016-01-01

Over the past few decades, many food niches have emerged with a specific focus on quality. In specialty coffee, micro roasters have brought about Direct Trade coffee as a way of organising an alternative around new tastes and qualities through ongoing and ‘direct’ relations to farmers...... and cooperatives. But Direct Trade also involves exporters. We ask, how do exporters and roasters work together in these new coffee relations, and what do they work on? We observe and participate in a situation where Colombian coffee exporters visit Danish roasters. They tour the roasting facilities and taste...... a number of coffees. Often, the term power is used to analyse such value chain interactions, but we argue that the term coordination better opens up these interactions for exploration and analysis. What emerges is a coordination of quality. Through touring and tasting, issues emerge and differences...

An automated 3D reconstruction method of UAV images

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jun; Wang, He; Liu, Xiaoyang; Li, Feng; Sun, Guangtong; Song, Ping

2015-10-01

In this paper a novel fully automated 3D reconstruction approach based on low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle system (UAVs) images will be presented, which does not require previous camera calibration or any other external prior knowledge. Dense 3D point clouds are generated by integrating orderly feature extraction, image matching, structure from motion (SfM) and multi-view stereo (MVS) algorithms, overcoming many of the cost, time limitations of rigorous photogrammetry techniques. An image topology analysis strategy is introduced to speed up large scene reconstruction by taking advantage of the flight-control data acquired by UAV. Image topology map can significantly reduce the running time of feature matching by limiting the combination of images. A high-resolution digital surface model of the study area is produced base on UAV point clouds by constructing the triangular irregular network. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is robust and feasible for automatic 3D reconstruction of low-altitude UAV images, and has great potential for the acquisition of spatial information at large scales mapping, especially suitable for rapid response and precise modelling in disaster emergency.

Accuracy assessment of topographic mapping using UAV image integrated with satellite images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azmi, S M; Ahmad, Baharin; Ahmad, Anuar

2014-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV is extensively applied in various fields such as military applications, archaeology, agriculture and scientific research. This study focuses on topographic mapping and map updating. UAV is one of the alternative ways to ease the process of acquiring data with lower operating costs, low manufacturing and operational costs, plus it is easy to operate. Furthermore, UAV images will be integrated with QuickBird images that are used as base maps. The objective of this study is to make accuracy assessment and comparison between topographic mapping using UAV images integrated with aerial photograph and satellite image. The main purpose of using UAV image is as a replacement for cloud covered area which normally exists in aerial photograph and satellite image, and for updating topographic map. Meanwhile, spatial resolution, pixel size, scale, geometric accuracy and correction, image quality and information contents are important requirements needed for the generation of topographic map using these kinds of data. In this study, ground control points (GCPs) and check points (CPs) were established using real time kinematic Global Positioning System (RTK-GPS) technique. There are two types of analysis that are carried out in this study which are quantitative and qualitative assessments. Quantitative assessment is carried out by calculating root mean square error (RMSE). The outputs of this study include topographic map and orthophoto. From this study, the accuracy of UAV image is ± 0.460 m. As conclusion, UAV image has the potential to be used for updating of topographic maps

Sensor-Oriented Path Planning for Multiregion Surveillance with a Single Lightweight UAV SAR

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jincheng; Chen, Jie; Wang, Pengbo; Li, Chunsheng

2018-01-01

In the surveillance of interested regions by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), system performance relies greatly on the motion control strategy of the UAV and the operation characteristics of the onboard sensors. This paper investigates the 2D path planning problem for the lightweight UAV synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system in an environment of multiple regions of interest (ROIs), the sizes of which are comparable to the radar swath width. Taking into account the special requirements of the SAR system on the motion of the platform, we model path planning for UAV SAR as a constrained multiobjective optimization problem (MOP). Based on the fact that the UAV route can be designed in the map image, an image-based path planner is proposed in this paper. First, the neighboring ROIs are merged by the morphological operation. Then, the parts of routes for data collection of the ROIs can be located according to the geometric features of the ROIs and the observation geometry of UAV SAR. Lastly, the route segments for ROIs surveillance are connected by a path planning algorithm named the sampling-based sparse A* search (SSAS) algorithm. Simulation experiments in real scenarios demonstrate that the proposed sensor-oriented path planner can improve the reconnaissance performance of lightweight UAV SAR greatly compared with the conventional zigzag path planner. PMID:29439447

Sensor-Oriented Path Planning for Multiregion Surveillance with a Single Lightweight UAV SAR.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jincheng; Chen, Jie; Wang, Pengbo; Li, Chunsheng

2018-02-11

In the surveillance of interested regions by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), system performance relies greatly on the motion control strategy of the UAV and the operation characteristics of the onboard sensors. This paper investigates the 2D path planning problem for the lightweight UAV synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system in an environment of multiple regions of interest (ROIs), the sizes of which are comparable to the radar swath width. Taking into account the special requirements of the SAR system on the motion of the platform, we model path planning for UAV SAR as a constrained multiobjective optimization problem (MOP). Based on the fact that the UAV route can be designed in the map image, an image-based path planner is proposed in this paper. First, the neighboring ROIs are merged by the morphological operation. Then, the parts of routes for data collection of the ROIs can be located according to the geometric features of the ROIs and the observation geometry of UAV SAR. Lastly, the route segments for ROIs surveillance are connected by a path planning algorithm named the sampling-based sparse A* search (SSAS) algorithm. Simulation experiments in real scenarios demonstrate that the proposed sensor-oriented path planner can improve the reconnaissance performance of lightweight UAV SAR greatly compared with the conventional zigzag path planner.

Technologies Advance UAVs for Science, Military

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

A Space Act Agreement with Goddard Space Flight Center and West Virginia University enabled Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, of Manassas, Virginia, to develop cost-effective composite manufacturing capabilities and open a facility in West Virginia. The company now employs 160 workers at the plant, tasked with crafting airframe components for the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program. While one third of the company's workforce focuses on Global Hawk production, the rest of the company develops advanced UAV technologies that are redefining traditional approaches to unmanned aviation. Since the company's founding, Aurora s cutting-edge work has been supported with funding from NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

THE RISE AND DECLINE OF RENT-SEEKING ACTIVITY IN THE BRAZILIAN COFFEE SECTOR: LESSONS FROM THE IMPOSITION AND REMOVAL OF COFFEE EXPORT QUOTAS

OpenAIRE

Jarvis, Lovell S.

2004-01-01

Brazil, the world's largest coffee exporter, encouraged efforts in the 1960s to form the International Coffee Agreement (ICA), which restricted total coffee exports via country export quotas. The quotas led to significant domestic quota rents in producing countries. This paper analyzes the effects of rent seeking in Brazil. The Brazilian Institute of Coffee (IBC), which was responsible for coffee policy, was the focus of rent seeking. The paper models the policy instruments used by the IB...

Preliminary design of a coffee harvester

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raphael Magalhães Gomes Moreira

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Design of an agricultural machine is a highly complex process due to interactions between the operator, machine, and environment. Mountain coffee plantations constitute an economic sector that requires huge investments for the development of agricultural machinery to improve the harvesting and post-harvesting processes and to overcome the scarcity of work forces in the fields. The aim of this study was to develop a preliminary design for a virtual prototype of a coffee fruit harvester. In this study, a project methodology was applied and adapted for the development of the following steps: project planning, informational design, conceptual design, and preliminary design. The construction of a morphological matrix made it possible to obtain a list of different mechanisms with specific functions. The union between these mechanisms resulted in variants, which were weighed to attribute scores for each selected criterion. From each designated proposal, two variants with the best scores were selected and this permitted the preparation of the preliminary design of both variants. The archetype was divided in two parts, namely the hydraulically articulated arms and the harvesting system that consisted of the vibration mechanism and the detachment mechanism. The proposed innovation involves the use of parallel rods, which were fixed in a plane and rectangular metal sheet. In this step, dimensions including a maximum length of 4.7 m, a minimum length of 3.3 m, and a total height of 2.15 m were identified based on the functioning of the harvester in relation to the coupling point of the tractor.

Research on the Application of Rapid Surveying and Mapping for Large Scare Topographic Map by Uav Aerial Photography System

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Z.; Song, Y.; Li, C.; Zeng, F.; Wang, F.

2017-08-01

Rapid acquisition and processing method of large scale topographic map data, which relies on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) low-altitude aerial photogrammetry system, is studied in this paper, elaborating the main work flow. Key technologies of UAV photograph mapping is also studied, developing a rapid mapping system based on electronic plate mapping system, thus changing the traditional mapping mode and greatly improving the efficiency of the mapping. Production test and achievement precision evaluation of Digital Orth photo Map (DOM), Digital Line Graphic (DLG) and other digital production were carried out combined with the city basic topographic map update project, which provides a new techniques for large scale rapid surveying and has obvious technical advantage and good application prospect.

UAV MONITORING FOR ENVIROMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Ballaria

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the Galapagos Islands, where 97% of the territory is protected and ecosystem dynamics are highly vulnerable, timely and accurate information is key for decision making. An appropriate monitoring system must meet two key features: on one hand, being able to capture information in a systematic and regular basis, and on the other hand, to quickly gather information on demand for specific purposes. The lack of such a system for geographic information limits the ability of Galapagos Islands’ institutions to evaluate and act upon environmental threats such as invasive species spread and vegetation degradation. In this context, the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles for capturing georeferenced images is a promising technology for environmental monitoring and management. This paper explores the potential of UAV images for monitoring degradation of littoral vegetation in Puerto Villamil (Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. Imagery was captured using two camera types: Red Green Blue (RGB and Infrarred Red Green (NIR. First, vegetation presence was identified through NDVI. Second, object-based classification was carried out for characterization of vegetation vigor. Results demonstrates the feasibility of UAV technology for base-line studies and monitoring on the amount and vigorousness of littoral vegetation in the Galapagos Islands. It is also showed that UAV images are not only useful for visual interpretation and object delineation, but also to timely produce useful thematic information for environmental management.

UAV Monitoring for Enviromental Management in Galapagos Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Ballari, D.; Orellana, D.; Acosta, E.; Espinoza, A.; Morocho, V.

2016-06-01

In the Galapagos Islands, where 97% of the territory is protected and ecosystem dynamics are highly vulnerable, timely and accurate information is key for decision making. An appropriate monitoring system must meet two key features: on one hand, being able to capture information in a systematic and regular basis, and on the other hand, to quickly gather information on demand for specific purposes. The lack of such a system for geographic information limits the ability of Galapagos Islands' institutions to evaluate and act upon environmental threats such as invasive species spread and vegetation degradation. In this context, the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for capturing georeferenced images is a promising technology for environmental monitoring and management. This paper explores the potential of UAV images for monitoring degradation of littoral vegetation in Puerto Villamil (Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador). Imagery was captured using two camera types: Red Green Blue (RGB) and Infrarred Red Green (NIR). First, vegetation presence was identified through NDVI. Second, object-based classification was carried out for characterization of vegetation vigor. Results demonstrates the feasibility of UAV technology for base-line studies and monitoring on the amount and vigorousness of littoral vegetation in the Galapagos Islands. It is also showed that UAV images are not only useful for visual interpretation and object delineation, but also to timely produce useful thematic information for environmental management.

Incomplete resistance to coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eskes, A.B.

1983-01-01

Incomplete resistance to coffee leaf rust ( Hemileia vastatrix ) may be of value in obtaining durable resistance, which is of great importance for the perennial coffee crop. Methods were developed to assess incomplete resistance to coffee leaf rust by using illustrated scales

THE LATIN AMERICAN ORGANIC COFFEE INDUSTRY: U.S. MARKET INROADS

OpenAIRE

Rodriguez, Danilo; Epperson, James E.

2001-01-01

Certified organic coffee is a minuscule but important portion of coffee production and trade and is the fastest growing sector in sales revenue. Organic coffee has its roots in sustainable crop production and economic development policy. Latin America has become the center of the organic coffee movement, representing a change from the old market structure of the coffee trade. The U.S. organic coffee market has experienced extraordinary growth in the past five years because of an increase in c...

Recce and UAV: mass memory an enabling technology for merger

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Walter J., Jr.

1996-11-01

In the era of Declining Defense Dollars, the cost of sophisticated aircraft and highly trained personnel has heightened interest in Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs). The obvious lure is the lower vehicle cost (no crew station and crew support systems) and reduced needs for highly skilled air crews. Reconnaissance (commonly called recce) aircraft and their missions are among the commonly sighted applications for UAVs. Today's UAV recce aircraft (such as the Predator) are the genesis of much more sophisticated UAVs of the future. The evolution of the UAV will not be constrained to recce aircraft, but the recce mission will be significant for UAVs. The recce hole has historically been that of a battlefield data collector for post mission review and planning. In the electronic battlefield of the future, that role will be expanded. Envisioned mission for future recce aircraft include real-time scout, target location and fire coordination, battle damage assessment, and large area surveillance. Associated with many of these new roles is the need to store or assess much higher volumes of data. The higher volume data requirements are the result of higher resolution sensors (the Advanced Helicopter Pilotage infrared sensor has a data rate of near 1.2 Gigabits per second) and multi-sensor applications (the Multi-Sensor Aided Targeting program considered infrared, TV, and radar). The evolution of the UAV recce role, and associated increased data storage needs (from higher data rates and increased coverage requirements), requires the development of new data storage equipment. One solution to the increased storage needs is solid-state memory. As solid-state memories become faster, smaller, and cheaper they will enable the UAV recce mission capability to expand. Because of the speed of the memory, it will be possible to buffer and assess (identify the existence of targets or other points of interest) data before committing to consumption of limited storage assets. Faster memory

Radioactivity in coffee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roselli, C.; Desideri, D.; Feduzi, L.; Rongoni, A.; Saetta, D.

2013-01-01

This research was dedicated to the study of the background levels of 210 Po and natural gamma emitters as 40 K, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 228 Ac, 212 Pb and 212 Bi in coffee powder and in coffee beverage; also the artificial 137 Cs was determined. In the coffee powder the mean 210 Po activity resulted 7.25 ± 2.25 x 10 -2 Bq kg -1 . 40 K showed a mean activity of 907.4 ± 115.6 Bq kg -1 . The mean activity concentration of 214 Pb and 214 Bi, indicators of 226 Ra, given as mean value of the two radionuclides, resulted 10.61 ± 4.02 Bq kg -1 . 228 Ac, 228 Ra indicator, showed a mean activity concentration of 13.73 ± 3.20 Bq kg -1 . The mean activity concentration of 212 Pb, 224 Ra indicator, was 8.28 ± 2.88 Bq kg -1 . 208 Tl, 224 Ra indicator, presented a mean activity concentration of 11.03 ± 4.34 Bq kg -1 . In all samples, the artificial 137 Cs resulted below the detection limit (2.0 Bq kg -1 ). The arithmetical mean value of percentage of 210 Po extraction in coffee beverage resulted 20.5 ± 6.9. The percentage of transfer of gamma emitters, 40 K, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 228 Ac, 212 Pb, 208 Tl resulted of 80.0, 33.5, 24.7, 30.0, 35.1 and 53.5 % for 40 K, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, 228 Ac, 212 Pb and 208 Tl respectively. (author)

Hankel Matrix Correlation Function-Based Subspace Identification Method for UAV Servo System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minghong She

2018-01-01

Full Text Available For the identification problem of closed-loop subspace model, we propose a zero space projection method based on the estimation of correlation function to fill the block Hankel matrix of identification model by combining the linear algebra with geometry. By using the same projection of related data in time offset set and LQ decomposition, the multiplication operation of projection is achieved and dynamics estimation of the unknown equipment system model is obtained. Consequently, we have solved the problem of biased estimation caused when the open-loop subspace identification algorithm is applied to the closed-loop identification. A simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In final, the practicability of the identification algorithm is verified by hardware test of UAV servo system in real environment.

Activity of some isoenzymatic systems in stored coffee grains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reni Saath

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Considering the worldwide consumption of coffee, it is natural that throughout the history many people have dedicated the research to markers that contribute somehow on gauging its quality. This research aimed to evaluate the biochemical performance of arabica coffee during storage. Coffee in beans (natural and in parchment (pulped dried in concrete terrace and in dryer with heated air were packed in jute bags and stored in not controlled environmental conditions. Enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, esterase and lipoxygenase in coffee grains were evaluated at zero, three, six, nine and twelve months by means of electrophoresis. Independently of the drying method, the activity of isoenzymatic complexes highlighted deteriorative processes in stored grains of coffee. The treatments 60/40º C and 60º C used to reduce the water content imposed a greater stress condition, accelerated metabolism of natural coffee in the storage with decreased activity of defense mechanisms due to latent damage in these grains. Natural coffees are more sensible to high drying temperatures and its quality reduces faster than pulped coffee in the storage.

Diversity in smallholder farms growing coffee and their use of recommended coffee management practices in Uganda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bongers, G.; Fleskens, L.; Ven, van de G.W.J.; Mukasa, D.; Giller, K.E.; Asten, van P.

2015-01-01

Many smallholder farm systems in Uganda produce coffee as an important cash crop. Yet coffee yields are poor. To increase farmers’ production, a range of agronomic practices have been recommended by national and international agencies. Yet the adoption potential of recommendations differs between

Reinforcing effects of caffeine in coffee and capsules.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, R R; Bigelow, G E; Liebson, I A

1989-09-01

In a residential research ward the reinforcing and subjective effects of caffeine were studied under double-blind conditions in volunteer subjects with histories of heavy coffee drinking. In Experiment 1, 6 subjects had 13 opportunities each day to self-administer either a caffeine (100 mg) or a placebo capsule for periods of 14 to 61 days. All subjects developed a clear preference for caffeine, with intake of caffeine becoming relatively stable after preference had been attained. Preference for caffeine was demonstrated whether or not preference testing was preceded by a period of 10 to 37 days of caffeine abstinence, suggesting that a recent history of heavy caffeine intake (tolerance/dependence) was not a necessary condition for caffeine to function as a reinforcer. In Experiment 2, 6 subjects had 10 opportunities each day to self-administer a cup of coffee or (on different days) a capsule, dependent upon completing a work requirement that progressively increased and then decreased over days. Each day, one of four conditions was studied: caffeinated coffee (100 mg/cup), decaffeinated coffee, caffeine capsules (100 mg/capsule), or placebo capsules. Caffeinated coffee maintained the most self-administration, significantly higher than decaffeinated coffee and placebo capsules but not different from caffeine capsules. Both decaffeinated coffee and caffeine capsules were significantly higher than placebo capsules but not different from each other. In both experiments, subject ratings of "linking" of coffee or capsules covaried with the self-administration measures. These experiments provide the clearest demonstrations to date of the reinforcing effects of caffeine in capsules and in coffee.

Development of a variable stability, modular UAV airframe for local research purposes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Monk, John S

2008-11-01

Full Text Available /DPSS Wind tunnel Test CAD Patterns &Moulds Future partners Manufacture XDM 1 Auto pilot spec. A/P design Univ. Stellenbosch A/P manufacture A/P update Manufacture UAVs 1&2 Integrate XM 2D Structural Design A/P integrate Iron Bird... Manufacture XDM 2 Slide 30 © CSIR 2008 www.csir.co.za UAV Systems Integration Laboratory Servos UAV Flight SimulatorIron Bird (XDM) Motors and Controllers Looms Wind Tunnel? Control algorithms Flight models Atmospheric...

Caffeine adsorption of montmorillonite in coffee extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiono, Takashi; Yamamoto, Kenichiro; Yotsumoto, Yuko; Yoshida, Aruto

2017-08-01

The growth in health-conscious consumers continues to drive the demand for a wide variety of decaffeinated beverages. We previously developed a new technology using montmorillonite (MMT) in selective decaffeination of tea extract. This study evaluated and compared decaffeination of coffee extract using MMT and activated carbon (AC). MMT adsorbed caffeine without significant adsorption of caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs), feruloylquinic acids (FQAs), dicaffeoylquinic acids (di-CQAs), or caffeoylquinic lactones (CQLs). AC adsorbed caffeine, chlorogenic acids (CGAs) and CQLs simultaneously. The results suggested that the adsorption selectivity for caffeine in coffee extract is higher in MMT than AC. The caffeine adsorption isotherms of MMT in coffee extract fitted well to the Langmuir adsorption model. The adsorption properties in coffee extracts from the same species were comparable, regardless of roasting level and locality of growth. Our findings suggest that MMT is a useful adsorbent in the decaffeination of a wide range of coffee extracts.

A Real Options Analysis of Coffee Planting in Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Luong, Quoc; Tauer, Loren W.

2004-01-01

Vietnam grew from an insignificant to the world’s second largest coffee producer during the 1990s. To understand this growth, this paper examines Vietnamese coffee growers’ investment decisions using real options theory. The study finds that producers, with variable costs of 19 cents/lb and total cost of 29.3 cents/lb, would enter coffee production at a coffee price of 47 cents/lb and exit at a coffee price of 14 cents/lb. Most Vietnamese growers appear to be sufficiently efficient to continu...

Automatic detection of blurred images in UAV image sets

Science.gov (United States)

Sieberth, Till; Wackrow, Rene; Chandler, Jim H.

2016-12-01

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have become an interesting and active research topic for photogrammetry. Current research is based on images acquired by an UAV, which have a high ground resolution and good spectral and radiometrical resolution, due to the low flight altitudes combined with a high resolution camera. UAV image flights are also cost effective and have become attractive for many applications including, change detection in small scale areas. One of the main problems preventing full automation of data processing of UAV imagery is the degradation effect of blur caused by camera movement during image acquisition. This can be caused by the normal flight movement of the UAV as well as strong winds, turbulence or sudden operator inputs. This blur disturbs the visual analysis and interpretation of the data, causes errors and can degrade the accuracy in automatic photogrammetric processing algorithms. The detection and removal of these images is currently achieved manually, which is both time consuming and prone to error, particularly for large image-sets. To increase the quality of data processing an automated process is necessary, which must be both reliable and quick. This paper describes the development of an automatic filtering process, which is based upon the quantification of blur in an image. Images with known blur are processed digitally to determine a quantifiable measure of image blur. The algorithm is required to process UAV images fast and reliably to relieve the operator from detecting blurred images manually. The newly developed method makes it possible to detect blur caused by linear camera displacement and is based on human detection of blur. Humans detect blurred images best by comparing it to other images in order to establish whether an image is blurred or not. The developed algorithm simulates this procedure by creating an image for comparison using image processing. Creating internally a comparable image makes the method independent of

Improved Seam-Line Searching Algorithm for UAV Image Mosaic with Optical Flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Weilong; Guo, Bingxuan; Li, Ming; Liao, Xuan; Li, Wenzhuo

2018-04-16

Ghosting and seams are two major challenges in creating unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) image mosaic. In response to these problems, this paper proposes an improved method for UAV image seam-line searching. First, an image matching algorithm is used to extract and match the features of adjacent images, so that they can be transformed into the same coordinate system. Then, the gray scale difference, the gradient minimum, and the optical flow value of pixels in adjacent image overlapped area in a neighborhood are calculated, which can be applied to creating an energy function for seam-line searching. Based on that, an improved dynamic programming algorithm is proposed to search the optimal seam-lines to complete the UAV image mosaic. This algorithm adopts a more adaptive energy aggregation and traversal strategy, which can find a more ideal splicing path for adjacent UAV images and avoid the ground objects better. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the problems of ghosting and seams in the panoramic UAV images.

Optimizing the presentation of UAV images in an attack helicopter cockpit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, C.; Vries, S.C. de; Duistermaat, M.

2006-01-01

Future Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) will collaborate more directly with military manned aircraft. TNO Defence, Security and Safety investigated how to present UAV sensor images in a fighter aircraft cockpit in order to maximize target identification and flying performance. Ten military pilots

Coffee and Depression: A Short Review of Literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenore, Gian Carlo; Daglia, Maria; Orlando, Valentina; D'Urso, Emanuela; Saadat, Seyed Hassan; Novellino, Ettore; Nabavi, Seyed Fazel; Nabavi, Seyed Mohammad

2015-01-01

Coffee is among the most widespread and healthiest beverages in the world. It is known to be a highly rich source of biologically active natural metabolites which possess therapeutic effects (i.e. caffeine) and functional properties (i.e. chlorogenic acids). Therefore, coffee can be considered a drink which has different positive effects on human health such as cardioprotective, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, etc. However, heavy coffee consumption may be related to some unpleasant symptoms, mainly anxiety, headache, increased blood pressure, nausea, and restlessness. During the past two decades, several studies have indicated that there is a close correlation between consumption of coffee and incidence of depression. In addition, phytochemical studies showed that caffeine is the main responsible constituent for antidepressant effects of coffee through multiple molecular mechanisms. The aim of the present paper was to collect the latest literature data (from 1984 to 2014) on the positive and negative impacts of coffee consumption on the major depressive disorders and to clarify the role of bioactive constituents of coffee in the related different clinical trials. To the best of our knowledge, this the first review on this topic.

The inclusion of coffee in commercial layer diets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LR Mendes

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This experiment aimed at evaluating the effect of the dietary inclusion of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee on the performance and internal and external egg quality of commercial layers. One hundred and twenty 25-week-old Hy-line Brown layers, with 1575 ± 91 average body weight, were distributed according to a completely randomized experimental design with three treatments (control, 1.2% caffeinated coffee, or 1.2% decaffeinated coffee of five replicates of eight birds each. The inclusion of 1.2% caffeinated coffee was calculated to supply 6mg caffeine per kg body weight, which is considered a moderate dose. The applied treatments did not influence (p>0.05 feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, Haugh units, yolk color or albumen and yolk percentages. The eggs of hens fed 1.2% caffeinated coffee presented lower (p<0.05 eggshell thickness and egg specific density. The eggs of layers fed 1.2% caffeinated coffee tended (p=0.0637 to present lower eggshell percentage. It was concluded that feeding caffeinated coffee to commercial layers does not affect their performance or internal egg quality; however, eggshell quality is impaired.

Application Possibility of Smartphone as Payload for Photogrammetric Uav System

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, M. H.; Kim, J.; Seo, D.; Lee, J.; Choi, C.

2012-07-01

Smartphone can not only be operated under 3G network environment anytime and anyplace but also cost less than the existing photogrammetric UAV since it provides high-resolution image, 3D location and attitude data on a real-time basis from a variety of built-in sensors. This study is aimed to assess the possibility of smartphone as a payload for photogrammetric UAV system. Prior to such assessment, a smartphone-based photogrammetric UAV system application was developed, through which real-time image, location and attitude data was obtained using smartphone under both static and dynamic conditions. Subsequently the accuracy assessment on the location and attitude data obtained and sent by this system was conducted. The smartphone images were converted into ortho-images through image triangulation. The image triangulation was conducted in accordance with presence or absence of consideration of the interior orientation (IO) parameters determined by camera calibration. In case IO parameters were taken into account in the static experiment, the results from triangulation for any smartphone type were within 1.5 pixel (RMSE), which was improved at least by 35% compared to when IO parameters were not taken into account. On the contrary, the improvement effect of considering IO parameters on accuracy in triangulation for smartphone images in dynamic experiment was not significant compared to the static experiment. It was due to the significant impact of vibration and sudden attitude change of UAV on the actuator for automatic focus control within the camera built in smartphone under the dynamic condition. This cause appears to have a negative impact on the image-based DEM generation. Considering these study findings, it is suggested that smartphone is very feasible as a payload for UAV system. It is also expected that smartphone may be loaded onto existing UAV playing direct or indirect roles significantly.

Ochratoxin A in Brazilian green coffee

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LEONI Luís A.B.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Ochratoxin A is a nephrotoxic, teratogenic and imunotoxic compound produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. It is a suspected carcinogen to humans and it is carcinogenic to rats. Recently it has drawn attention because it has been found in coffee and it has been the object of regulation by coffee importing countries. Brazil is the largest coffee producing country and its largest consumer. In order to conduct an initial assessment of the situation of the coffee produced in the country and offered to its population, one hundred and thirty two samples of Brazilian green coffee from 5 producing states (Minas Gerais, Paraná, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Bahia and destined for the home market, were collected at sales points at the cities of Londrina and Santos, Brazil, and analyzed for ochratoxin A. The toxin was isolated in immunoaffinity columns and quantified by HPLC with florescence detection. The limit of detection was 0.7ng/g and the average RSD for duplicates of the samples was 11%. Twenty seven samples were found contaminated with the toxin and the average concentration for the contaminated samples was 7.1ng/g ochratoxin A. Neither the total number of defects nor the number of specific defects according to the Brazilian coffee classification system (black, partly -- black, sour, stinkers-black, stinkers-green, pod beans showed any relation to the contamination of the samples with ochratoxin A.

Evidence from The Rwandan Coffee Sector.

African Journals Online (AJOL)

the coffee value chain and to promote the production of speciality coffee. A research team ... exporters and the installation of several parchment mills by companies ..... use a Simple linear regression model was used to explain the total quantity.

Hurricane Harvey Building Damage Assessment Using UAV Data

Science.gov (United States)

Yeom, J.; Jung, J.; Chang, A.; Choi, I.

2017-12-01

Hurricane Harvey which was extremely destructive major hurricane struck southern Texas, U.S.A on August 25, causing catastrophic flooding and storm damages. We visited Rockport suffered severe building destruction and conducted UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) surveying for building damage assessment. UAV provides very high resolution images compared with traditional remote sensing data. In addition, prompt and cost-effective damage assessment can be performed regardless of several limitations in other remote sensing platforms such as revisit interval of satellite platforms, complicated flight plan in aerial surveying, and cloud amounts. In this study, UAV flight and GPS surveying were conducted two weeks after hurricane damage to generate an orthomosaic image and a DEM (Digital Elevation Model). 3D region growing scheme has been proposed to quantitatively estimate building damages considering building debris' elevation change and spectral difference. The result showed that the proposed method can be used for high definition building damage assessment in a time- and cost-effective way.

The structural changes in the Mexican coffee sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Padron, Benigno Rodriguez; Burger, Kees

2015-01-01

This paper analyses the structural changes which have been present since the economic clauses of the International Coffee Agreements have no longer been in effect. It studies the elements that modified the coffee policy over time. It also investigates the main characteristics of the entire coffee

An Ecological Approach to the Design of UAV Ground Control Station (GCS) Status Displays

Science.gov (United States)

Dowell, Susan; Morphew, Ephimia; Shively, Jay

2003-01-01

Use of UAVs in military and commercial applications will continue to increase. However, there has been limited research devoted to UAV GCS design. The current study employed an ecological approach to interfac e design. Ecological Interface Design (EID) can be characterized as r epresenting the properties of a system, such that an operator is enco uraged to use skill-based behavior when problem solving. When more ef fortful cognitive processes become necessary due to unfamiliar situations, the application of EID philosophy supports the application of kn owledge-based behavior. With advances toward multiple UAV command and control, operators need GCS interfaces designed to support understan ding of complex systems. We hypothesized that use of EID principles f or the display of UAV status information would result in better opera tor performance and situational awareness, while decreasing workload. Pilots flew a series of missions with three UAV GCS displays of statu s information (Alphanumeric, Ecological, and Hybrid display format). Measures of task performance, Situational Awareness, and workload dem onstrated the benefits of using an ecological approach to designing U AV GCS displays. The application of ecological principles to the design of UAV GCSs is a promising area for improving UAV operations.

Preliminary Study on Earthquake Surface Rupture Extraction from Uav Images

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, X.; Wang, X.; Ding, X.; Wu, X.; Dou, A.; Wang, S.

2018-04-01

Because of the advantages of low-cost, lightweight and photography under the cloud, UAVs have been widely used in the field of seismic geomorphology research in recent years. Earthquake surface rupture is a typical seismic tectonic geomorphology that reflects the dynamic and kinematic characteristics of crustal movement. The quick identification of earthquake surface rupture is of great significance for understanding the mechanism of earthquake occurrence, disasters distribution and scale. Using integrated differential UAV platform, series images were acquired with accuracy POS around the former urban area (Qushan town) of Beichuan County as the area stricken seriously by the 2008 Wenchuan Ms8.0 earthquake. Based on the multi-view 3D reconstruction technique, the high resolution DSM and DOM are obtained from differential UAV images. Through the shade-relief map and aspect map derived from DSM, the earthquake surface rupture is extracted and analyzed. The results show that the surface rupture can still be identified by using the UAV images although the time of earthquake elapse is longer, whose middle segment is characterized by vertical movement caused by compression deformation from fault planes.

Multiple Event Localization in a Sparse Acoustic Sensor Network Using UAVs as Data Mules

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-01

the events to arrive in different orders at the sensors. Consequently , simple rules to group the ToAs from an event at different sensors, such as...a Microhard radio to forward the ToAs to the mule-UAV. Two Procerus Unicorn UAVs were used with different payloads. The imaging- UAV was equipped

Coffee drinking enhances the analgesic effect of cigarette smoking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nastase, Anca; Ioan, Silvia; Braga, Radu I

2007-01-01

Nicotine (from cigarette smoke) and caffeine (from coffee) have analgesic effects in humans and experimental animals. We investigated the combined effects of coffee drinking and cigarette smoking on pain experience in a group of moderate nicotine-dependent, coffee drinking, young smokers. Pain...... threshold and pain tolerance were measured during cold pressor test following the habitual nocturnal deprivation of smoking and coffee drinking. Smoking increased pain threshold and pain tolerance in both men and women. Coffee drinking, at a dose that had no independent effect, doubled the increase in pain...

AERIAL IMAGES FROM AN UAV SYSTEM: 3D MODELING AND TREE SPECIES CLASSIFICATION IN A PARK AREA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Gini

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The use of aerial imagery acquired by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs is scheduled within the FoGLIE project (Fruition of Goods Landscape in Interactive Environment: it starts from the need to enhance the natural, artistic and cultural heritage, to produce a better usability of it by employing audiovisual movable systems of 3D reconstruction and to improve monitoring procedures, by using new media for integrating the fruition phase with the preservation ones. The pilot project focus on a test area, Parco Adda Nord, which encloses various goods' types (small buildings, agricultural fields and different tree species and bushes. Multispectral high resolution images were taken by two digital compact cameras: a Pentax Optio A40 for RGB photos and a Sigma DP1 modified to acquire the NIR band. Then, some tests were performed in order to analyze the UAV images' quality with both photogrammetric and photo-interpretation purposes, to validate the vector-sensor system, the image block geometry and to study the feasibility of tree species classification. Many pre-signalized Control Points were surveyed through GPS to allow accuracy analysis. Aerial Triangulations (ATs were carried out with photogrammetric commercial software, Leica Photogrammetry Suite (LPS and PhotoModeler, with manual or automatic selection of Tie Points, to pick out pros and cons of each package in managing non conventional aerial imagery as well as the differences in the modeling approach. Further analysis were done on the differences between the EO parameters and the corresponding data coming from the on board UAV navigation system.

Two-UAV Intersection Localization System Based on the Airborne Optoelectronic Platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Guanbing; Liu, Jinghong; Song, Yueming; Zuo, Yujia

2017-01-06

To address the limitation of the existing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) photoelectric localization method used for moving objects, this paper proposes an improved two-UAV intersection localization system based on airborne optoelectronic platforms by using the crossed-angle localization method of photoelectric theodolites for reference. This paper introduces the makeup and operating principle of intersection localization system, creates auxiliary coordinate systems, transforms the LOS (line of sight, from the UAV to the target) vectors into homogeneous coordinates, and establishes a two-UAV intersection localization model. In this paper, the influence of the positional relationship between UAVs and the target on localization accuracy has been studied in detail to obtain an ideal measuring position and the optimal localization position where the optimal intersection angle is 72.6318°. The result shows that, given the optimal position, the localization root mean square error (RMS) will be 25.0235 m when the target is 5 km away from UAV baselines. Finally, the influence of modified adaptive Kalman filtering on localization results is analyzed, and an appropriate filtering model is established to reduce the localization RMS error to 15.7983 m. Finally, An outfield experiment was carried out and obtained the optimal results: σ B = 1.63 × 10 - 4 ( ° ) , σ L = 1.35 × 10 - 4 ( ° ) , σ H = 15.8 ( m ) , σ s u m = 27.6 ( m ) , where σ B represents the longitude error, σ L represents the latitude error, σ H represents the altitude error, and σ s u m represents the error radius.

Visual navigation of the UAVs on the basis of 3D natural landmarks

Science.gov (United States)

Karpenko, Simon; Konovalenko, Ivan; Miller, Alexander; Miller, Boris; Nikolaev, Dmitry

2015-12-01

This work considers the tracking of the UAV (unmanned aviation vehicle) on the basis of onboard observations of natural landmarks including azimuth and elevation angles. It is assumed that UAV's cameras are able to capture the angular position of reference points and to measure the angles of the sight line. Such measurements involve the real position of UAV in implicit form, and therefore some of nonlinear filters such as Extended Kalman filter (EKF) or others must be used in order to implement these measurements for UAV control. Recently it was shown that modified pseudomeasurement method may be used to control UAV on the basis of the observation of reference points assigned along the UAV path in advance. However, the use of such set of points needs the cumbersome recognition procedure with the huge volume of on-board memory. The natural landmarks serving as such reference points which may be determined on-line can significantly reduce the on-board memory and the computational difficulties. The principal difference of this work is the usage of the 3D reference points coordinates which permits to determine the position of the UAV more precisely and thereby to guide along the path with higher accuracy which is extremely important for successful performance of the autonomous missions. The article suggests the new RANSAC for ISOMETRY algorithm and the use of recently developed estimation and control algorithms for tracking of given reference path under external perturbation and noised angular measurements.

Effects of coffee management on deforestation rates and forest integrity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hylander, Kristoffer; Nemomissa, Sileshi; Delrue, Josefien; Enkosa, Woldeyohannes

2013-10-01

Knowledge about how forest margins are utilized can be crucial for a general understanding of changes in forest cover, forest structure, and biodiversity across landscapes. We studied forest-agriculture transitions in southwestern Ethiopia and hypothesized that the presence of coffee (Coffea arabica)decreases deforestation rates because of coffee's importance to local economies and its widespread occurrence in forests and forest margins. Using satellite images and elevation data, we compared changes in forest cover over 37 years (1973-2010) across elevations in 2 forest-agriculture mosaic landscapes (1100 km(2) around Bonga and 3000 km(2) in Goma-Gera). In the field in the Bonga area, we determined coffee cover and forest structure in 40 forest margins that differed in time since deforestation. Both the absolute and relative deforestation rates were lower at coffee-growing elevations compared with at higher elevations (-10/20% vs. -40/50% comparing relative rates at 1800 m asl and 2300-2500 m asl, respectively). Within the coffee-growing elevation, the proportion of sites with high coffee cover (>20%) was significantly higher in stable margins (42% of sites that had been in the same location for the entire period) than in recently changed margins (0% of sites where expansion of annual crops had changed the margin). Disturbance level and forest structure did not differ between sites with 30% or 3% coffee. However, a growing body of literature on gradients of coffee management in Ethiopia reports coffee's negative effects on abundances of forest-specialist species. Even if the presence of coffee slows down the conversion of forest to annual-crop agriculture, there is a risk that an intensification of coffee management will still threaten forest biodiversity, including the genetic diversity of wild coffee. Conservation policy for Ethiopian forests thus needs to develop strategies that acknowledge that forests without coffee production may have higher deforestation

Integration of Multiple UAVs for Collaborative ISR Missions in an Urban Environment

OpenAIRE

Chua, Chee Nam

2012-01-01

Military conflicts are shifting from jungles and deserts to cities. This is because terrorists, insurgents, and guerillas find these areas provide a rich target environment and good hideouts. With the use of UAVs, urban threats can be tracked and targeted effectively. However, in an urban environment where there is little or no GPS signals and many obstacles, navigation of UAVs is a major challenge. Multiple UAVs can be employed to share sensor information to counter these challenges and to p...

Coffee for morning hunger pangs. An examination of coffee and caffeine on appetite, gastric emptying, and energy intake.

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Matthew M; Grant, Gary; Horner, Katy; King, Neil; Leveritt, Michael; Sabapathy, Surendran; Desbrow, Ben

2014-12-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has a number of potential health benefits. Coffee may influence energy expenditure and energy intake, which in turn may affect body weight. However, the influence of coffee and its constituents - particularly caffeine - on appetite remains largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of coffee consumption (with and without caffeine) on appetite sensations, energy intake, gastric emptying, and plasma glucose between breakfast and lunch meals. In a double-blind, randomised crossover design. Participants (n = 12, 9 women; Mean ± SD age and BMI: 26.3 ± 6.3 y and 22.7 ± 2.2 kg•m⁻²) completed 4 trials: placebo (PLA), decaffeinated coffee (DECAF), caffeine (CAF), and caffeine with decaffeinated coffee (COF). Participants were given a standardised breakfast labelled with ¹³C-octanoic acid and 225 mL of treatment beverage and a capsule containing either caffeine or placebo. Two hours later, another 225 mL of the treatment beverage and capsule was administered. Four and a half hours after breakfast, participants were given access to an ad libitum meal for determination of energy intake. Between meals, participants provided exhaled breath samples for determination of gastric emptying; venous blood and appetite sensations. Energy intake was not significantly different between the trials (Means ± SD, p> 0.05; Placebo: 2118 ± 663 kJ; Decaf: 2128 ± 739 kJ; Caffeine: 2287 ± 649 kJ; Coffee: 2016 ± 750 kJ); Other than main effects of time (p appetite sensations or plasma glucose between treatments (p > 0.05). Gastric emptying was not significantly different across trials (p > 0.05). No significant effects of decaffeinated coffee, caffeine or their combination were detected. However, the consumption of caffeine and/or coffee for regulation of energy balance over longer periods of time warrant further

Coffee berry borer in conilon coffee in the Brazilian Cerrado: an ancient pest in a new environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, C M; Santos, M J; Amabile, R F; Frizzas, M R; Bartholo, G F

2018-02-01

The aim of this study was to verify the occurrence of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari), and to evaluate the population fluctuation of the pest in the Brazilian Cerrado (Federal District). The study was conducted, between November 2014 and October 2015, at Embrapa Cerrados (Planaltina/DF, Brazil) in an irrigated conilon coffee production area. In November 2014, 120 samples (ten berries/sample) were collected from berries that had fallen on the ground from the previous harvest. Between November 2014 and October 2015, insects were collected weekly, using traps (polyethylene terephthalate bottles) baited with ethyl alcohol (98 GL), ethyl alcohol (98 GL) with coffee powder, or molasses. Between January and July 2015, samples were collected fortnightly from 92 plants (12 berries per plant). All samples were evaluated for the presence of adult coffee berry borers. Samples from the previous harvest had an attack incidence of 72.4%. The baited traps captured 4062 H. hampei adults, and showed no statistical difference in capture efficiency among the baits. Pest population peaked in the dry season, with the largest percentage of captured adults occurring in July (31.0%). An average of 18.6% of the collected berries was attacked by the borer and the highest percentage incidence was recorded in July (33.2%). Our results suggest that the coffee berry borer, if not properly managed, could constitute a limiting factor for conilon coffee production in the Brazilian Cerrado.

Caffeine, coffee, and appetite control: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Matthew M; Irwin, Christopher; Seay, Rebekah F; Clarke, Holly E; Allegro, Deanne; Desbrow, Ben

2017-12-01

Coffee and caffeine consumption has global popularity. However, evidence for the potential of these dietary constituents to influence energy intake, gut physiology, and appetite perceptions remains unclear. The purpose of this review was to examine the evidence regarding coffee and caffeine's influence on energy intake and appetite control. The literature was examined for studies that assessed the effects of caffeine and coffee on energy intake, gastric emptying, appetite-related hormones, and perceptual measures of appetite. The literature review indicated that coffee administered 3-4.5 h before a meal had minimal influence on food and macronutrient intake, while caffeine ingested 0.5-4 h before a meal may suppress acute energy intake. Evidence regarding the influence of caffeine and coffee on gastric emptying, appetite hormones, and appetite perceptions was equivocal. The influence of covariates such as genetics of caffeine metabolism and bitter taste phenotype remain unknown; longer controlled studies are needed.

Coffee Consumption During Pregnancy and Birth Weight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, Bodil Hammer; Frydenberg, Morten; Henriksen, Tine Brink

2015-01-01

weight and whether it was modified by the mothers' smoking habits. Methods: In the Danish National Birth Cohort, coffee intake and smoking during pregnancy were recorded prospectively in 89,539 pregnancies that ended with live born singletons. Information on birth weight was obtained from the Danish......Background: A previous randomized trial demonstrated an association between coffee intake and birth weight in smokers only. This could be a chance finding or because smoking interferes with caffeine metabolism. This study assessed the association between coffee intake during pregnancy and birth....../cup/day). Compared to non-coffee drinkers, intake of eight or more cups of coffee per day was associated with an adjusted birth weight difference of −65 g [95% confidence interval (CI) −92 to −39] for non-smokers and −79 g [95% CI −124 to −34] for women smoking more than 10 cigarettes per day. Women drinking eight...

The Hawaii protocol for scientific monitoring of coffee berry borer: a model for coffee agroecosystems worldwide

Science.gov (United States)

Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) is the most devastating insect pest for coffee crops worldwide. We developed a scientific monitoring protocol aimed at capturing and quantifying the dynamics and impact of this invasive insect pest as well as the development of its host plant across a heterogeneous landscape...

UAV Deployment Exercise for Mapping Purposes: Evaluation of Emergency Response Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piero Boccardo

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Exploiting the decrease of costs related to UAV technology, the humanitarian community started piloting the use of similar systems in humanitarian crises several years ago in different application fields, i.e., disaster mapping and information gathering, community capacity building, logistics and even transportation of goods. Part of the author’s group, composed of researchers in the field of applied geomatics, has been piloting the use of UAVs since 2006, with a specific focus on disaster management application. In the framework of such activities, a UAV deployment exercise was jointly organized with the Regional Civil Protection authority, mainly aimed at assessing the operational procedures to deploy UAVs for mapping purposes and the usability of the acquired data in an emergency response context. In the paper the technical features of the UAV platforms will be described, comparing the main advantages/disadvantages of fixed-wing versus rotor platforms. The main phases of the adopted operational procedure will be discussed and assessed especially in terms of time required to carry out each step, highlighting potential bottlenecks and in view of the national regulation framework, which is rapidly evolving. Different methodologies for the processing of the acquired data will be described and discussed, evaluating the fitness for emergency response applications.

UAV Deployment Exercise for Mapping Purposes: Evaluation of Emergency Response Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Boccardo, Piero; Chiabrando, Filiberto; Dutto, Furio; Tonolo, Fabio Giulio; Lingua, Andrea

2015-07-02

Exploiting the decrease of costs related to UAV technology, the humanitarian community started piloting the use of similar systems in humanitarian crises several years ago in different application fields, i.e., disaster mapping and information gathering, community capacity building, logistics and even transportation of goods. Part of the author's group, composed of researchers in the field of applied geomatics, has been piloting the use of UAVs since 2006, with a specific focus on disaster management application. In the framework of such activities, a UAV deployment exercise was jointly organized with the Regional Civil Protection authority, mainly aimed at assessing the operational procedures to deploy UAVs for mapping purposes and the usability of the acquired data in an emergency response context. In the paper the technical features of the UAV platforms will be described, comparing the main advantages/disadvantages of fixed-wing versus rotor platforms. The main phases of the adopted operational procedure will be discussed and assessed especially in terms of time required to carry out each step, highlighting potential bottlenecks and in view of the national regulation framework, which is rapidly evolving. Different methodologies for the processing of the acquired data will be described and discussed, evaluating the fitness for emergency response applications.

Quality Analysis on 3d Buidling Models Reconstructed from Uav Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Jarzabek-Rychard, M.; Karpina, M.

2016-06-01

Recent developments in UAV technology and structure from motion techniques have effected that UAVs are becoming standard platforms for 3D data collection. Because of their flexibility and ability to reach inaccessible urban parts, drones appear as optimal solution for urban applications. Building reconstruction from the data collected with UAV has the important potential to reduce labour cost for fast update of already reconstructed 3D cities. However, especially for updating of existing scenes derived from different sensors (e.g. airborne laser scanning), a proper quality assessment is necessary. The objective of this paper is thus to evaluate the potential of UAV imagery as an information source for automatic 3D building modeling at LOD2. The investigation process is conducted threefold: (1) comparing generated SfM point cloud to ALS data; (2) computing internal consistency measures of the reconstruction process; (3) analysing the deviation of Check Points identified on building roofs and measured with a tacheometer. In order to gain deep insight in the modeling performance, various quality indicators are computed and analysed. The assessment performed according to the ground truth shows that the building models acquired with UAV-photogrammetry have the accuracy of less than 18 cm for the plannimetric position and about 15 cm for the height component.

QUALITY ANALYSIS ON 3D BUIDLING MODELS RECONSTRUCTED FROM UAV IMAGERY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Jarzabek-Rychard

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in UAV technology and structure from motion techniques have effected that UAVs are becoming standard platforms for 3D data collection. Because of their flexibility and ability to reach inaccessible urban parts, drones appear as optimal solution for urban applications. Building reconstruction from the data collected with UAV has the important potential to reduce labour cost for fast update of already reconstructed 3D cities. However, especially for updating of existing scenes derived from different sensors (e.g. airborne laser scanning, a proper quality assessment is necessary. The objective of this paper is thus to evaluate the potential of UAV imagery as an information source for automatic 3D building modeling at LOD2. The investigation process is conducted threefold: (1 comparing generated SfM point cloud to ALS data; (2 computing internal consistency measures of the reconstruction process; (3 analysing the deviation of Check Points identified on building roofs and measured with a tacheometer. In order to gain deep insight in the modeling performance, various quality indicators are computed and analysed. The assessment performed according to the ground truth shows that the building models acquired with UAV-photogrammetry have the accuracy of less than 18 cm for the plannimetric position and about 15 cm for the height component.

The role of dissolved cations in coffee extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendon, Christopher H; Colonna-Dashwood, Lesley; Colonna-Dashwood, Maxwell

2014-05-28

The flavorsome compounds in coffee beans exist in the form of aprotic charge neutral species, as well as a collection of acids and conjugate salts. The dissolution and extraction of these organic molecules is a process dependent on the dissolved mineral content of the water. It is known that different rates and compositions of coffee extraction are achieved through the control of the water "impurities", Na(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+), which coordinate to nucleophilic motifs in coffee. Using density functional theory, we quantify the thermodynamic binding energies of five familiar coffee-contained acids, caffeine, and a representative flavor component, eugenol. From this, we provide insight into the mechanism and ideal mineral composition of water for extraction of flavorsome compounds in coffee.

What every dentist should know about coffee.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidman, Lara M; Eckenrode, Kelsey N; Bloom, Ira T; Bashirelahi, Nasir

2016-01-01

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages throughout the world. Its stimulating nature is responsible for much of its popularity, which paradoxically has resulted in its reputation for negative effects on consumer health. This review will address recent research on the systemic and dental health effects of coffee. Many of its supposed harmful effects have been disproved, while many protective and beneficial roles for coffee are emerging.

Climate change impacts on coffee rust disease

Science.gov (United States)

Alfonsi, W. M. V.; Koga-Vicente, A.; Pinto, H. S.; Alfonsi, E. L., Sr.; Coltri, P. P.; Zullo, J., Jr.; Patricio, F. R.; Avila, A. M. H. D.; Gonçalves, R. R. D. V.

2016-12-01

Changes in climate conditions and in extreme weather events may affect the food security due to impacts in agricultural production. Despite several researches have been assessed the impacts of extremes in yield crops in climate change scenarios, there is the need to consider the effects in pests and diseases which increase losses in the sector. Coffee Arabica is an important commodity in world and plays a key role in Brazilian agricultural exports. Although the coffee crop has a world highlight, its yield is affected by several factors abiotic or biotic. The weather as well pests and diseases directly influence the development and coffee crop yield. These problems may cause serious damage with significant economic impacts. The coffee rust, caused by the fungus Hemileia vastarix,is among the diseases of greatest impact for the crop. The disease emerged in Brazil in the 70s and is widely spread in all producing regions of coffee in Brazil, and in the world. Regions with favorable weather conditions for the pathogen may exhibit losses ranging from 30% to 50% of the total grain production. The evaluation of extreme weather events of coffee rust disease in futures scenarios was carried out using the climatic data from CMIP5 models, data field of coffee rust disease incidence and, incubation period simulation data for Brazilian municipalities. Two Regional Climate Models were selected, Eta-HadGEM2-ES and Eta-MIROC5, and the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 w/m2 was adopted. The outcomes pointed out that in these scenarios the period of incubation tends to decrease affecting the coffee rust disease incidence, which tends to increase. Nevertheless, the changing in average trends tends to benefit the reproduction of the pathogen. Once the temperature threshold for the disease reaches the adverse conditions it may be unfavorable for the incidence.

How Brazil Transferred Billions to Foreign Coffee Importers: The International Coffee Agreement, Rent Seeking and Export Tax Rebates

OpenAIRE

Jarvis, Lovell S.

2003-01-01

Rent seeking is well known, but empirical evidence of its effects is relatively rare. This paper analyzes how the domestic and international rent seeking caused Brazil to provide coffee export tax rebates that transferred foreign exchange to coffee importers. Although Brazil was the world's largest exporter, it began to pay export tax rebates to selected coffee importers in 1965 and, by 1988, had paid rebates totaling $8 billion. Brazil explained these rebates as a mechanism to price disc...

Image-based tracking and sensor resource management for UAVs in an urban environment

Science.gov (United States)

Samant, Ashwin; Chang, K. C.

2010-04-01

Coordination and deployment of multiple unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) requires a lot of human resources in order to carry out a successful mission. The complexity of such a surveillance mission is significantly increased in the case of an urban environment where targets can easily escape from the UAV's field of view (FOV) due to intervening building and line-of-sight obstruction. In the proposed methodology, we focus on the control and coordination of multiple UAVs having gimbaled video sensor onboard for tracking multiple targets in an urban environment. We developed optimal path planning algorithms with emphasis on dynamic target prioritizations and persistent target updates. The command center is responsible for target prioritization and autonomous control of multiple UAVs, enabling a single operator to monitor and control a team of UAVs from a remote location. The results are obtained using extensive 3D simulations in Google Earth using Tangent plus Lyapunov vector field guidance for target tracking.

Closing the Gap Between Research and Field Applications for Multi-UAV Cooperative Missions

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

REPORT DATE September 2013 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND FIELD...iii Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND FIELD APPLICATIONS FOR MULTI-UAV COOPERATIVE...the report is to lay the groundwork for future analysis in multi-UAV analysis to close the gap between existing research and efficient multi-UAV

Coffee and health: a review of recent human research.

Science.gov (United States)

Higdon, Jane V; Frei, Balz

2006-01-01

Coffee is a complex mixture of chemicals that provides significant amounts of chlorogenic acid and caffeine. Unfiltered coffee is a significant source of cafestol and kahweol, which are diterpenes that have been implicated in the cholesterol-raising effects of coffee. The results of epidemiological research suggest that coffee consumption may help prevent several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, Parkinson's disease and liver disease (cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma). Most prospective cohort studies have not found coffee consumption to be associated with significantly increased cardiovascular disease risk. However, coffee consumption is associated with increases in several cardiovascular disease risk factors, including blood pressure and plasma homocysteine. At present, there is little evidence that coffee consumption increases the risk of cancer. For adults consuming moderate amounts of coffee (3-4 cups/d providing 300-400 mg/d of caffeine), there is little evidence of health risks and some evidence of health benefits. However, some groups, including people with hypertension, children, adolescents, and the elderly, may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of caffeine. In addition, currently available evidence suggests that it may be prudent for pregnant women to limit coffee consumption to 3 cups/d providing no more than 300 mg/d of caffeine to exclude any increased probability of spontaneous abortion or impaired fetal growth.

Review: Utilization of Waste From Coffee Production

Science.gov (United States)

Blinová, Lenka; Sirotiak, Maroš; Bartošová, Alica; Soldán, Maroš

2017-06-01

Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in the world trade, and also a central and popular part of our culture. However, coffees production generate a lot of coffee wastes and by-products, which, on the one hand, could be used for more applications (sorbent for the removal of heavy metals and dyes from aqueous solutions, production of fuel pellets or briquettes, substrate for biogas, bioethanol or biodiesel production, composting material, production of reusable cups, substrat for mushroom production, source of natural phenolic antioxidants etc.), but, on the other hand, it could be a source of severe contamination posing a serious environmental problem. In this paper, we present an overview of utilising the waste from coffee production.

Coffee: biochemistry and potential impact on health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ludwig, Iziar A; Clifford, Michael N; Lean, Michael E J; Ashihara, Hiroshi; Crozier, Alan

2014-08-01

This review provides details on the phytochemicals in green coffee beans and the changes that occur during roasting. Key compounds in the coffee beverage, produced from the ground, roasted beans, are volatile constituents responsible for the unique aroma, the alkaloids caffeine and trigonelline, chlorogenic acids, the diterpenes cafestol and kahweol, and melanoidins, which are Maillard reaction products. The fate of these compounds in the body following consumption of coffee is discussed along with evidence of the mechanisms by which they may impact on health. Finally, epidemiological findings linking coffee consumption to potential health benefits including prevention of several chronic and degenerative diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, are evaluated.

Furan Levels and Sensory Profiles of Commercial Coffee Products Under Various Handling Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Jeesoo; Kim, Mina K; Lee, Kwang-Geun

2017-11-01

In this study, the levels of furan in coffee with consideration towards common coffee consumption was investigated. The concentration of furan in brewed coffee was the highest among the coffee types studied, with an average of 110.73 ng/mL, followed by canned coffee (28.08 ng/mL) and instant coffee (8.55 ng/mL). In instant and brewed coffee, the furan levels decreased by up to an average of 20% and 22%, after 5 min of pouring in a cup without a lid. The degree of reduction was greater when coffee was served without a lid, regardless of coffee type (P coffee, the level of furan decreased by an average of 14% after storage at 60 °C without a lid, and the degree of furan reduction in coffee was greater in coffee served warm (60 °C) than in coffee served cold (4 °C). A time-dependent intensities of sensory attributes in commercial coffees with various handling condition were different (P coffee kept in a cup with lid closed, holds the aroma of coffee longer than coffee in a cup without a lid. Consumption of coffee has increased rapidly in Korea over the past few years. Consequently, the probability of exposure to chemical hazards presence in coffee products increases. Furan is a heterocyclic compound, formed mainly from Maillard reaction, therefore present in coffee products. This work demonstrated the strategy to reduce the levels of furan in coffee products at individual consumer level, by investigating the levels of furan served in common handling scenarios of coffee in Korea: canned coffee, instant coffee, and brewed coffee. Findings of this study can practically guide industry, government, and consumer agencies to reduce the risk exposure to furan during coffee consumptions. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Enabling UAV Navigation with Sensor and Environmental Uncertainty in Cluttered and GPS-Denied Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Vanegas

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV can navigate with low risk in obstacle-free environments using ground control stations that plan a series of GPS waypoints as a path to follow. This GPS waypoint navigation does however become dangerous in environments where the GPS signal is faulty or is only present in some places and when the airspace is filled with obstacles. UAV navigation then becomes challenging because the UAV uses other sensors, which in turn generate uncertainty about its localisation and motion systems, especially if the UAV is a low cost platform. Additional uncertainty affects the mission when the UAV goal location is only partially known and can only be discovered by exploring and detecting a target. This navigation problem is established in this research as a Partially-Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP, so as to produce a policy that maps a set of motion commands to belief states and observations. The policy is calculated and updated on-line while flying with a newly-developed system for UAV Uncertainty-Based Navigation (UBNAV, to navigate in cluttered and GPS-denied environments using observations and executing motion commands instead of waypoints. Experimental results in both simulation and real flight tests show that the UAV finds a path on-line to a region where it can explore and detect a target without colliding with obstacles. UBNAV provides a new method and an enabling technology for scientists to implement and test UAV navigation missions with uncertainty where targets must be detected using on-line POMDP in real flight scenarios.

Enabling UAV Navigation with Sensor and Environmental Uncertainty in Cluttered and GPS-Denied Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanegas, Fernando; Gonzalez, Felipe

2016-05-10

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) can navigate with low risk in obstacle-free environments using ground control stations that plan a series of GPS waypoints as a path to follow. This GPS waypoint navigation does however become dangerous in environments where the GPS signal is faulty or is only present in some places and when the airspace is filled with obstacles. UAV navigation then becomes challenging because the UAV uses other sensors, which in turn generate uncertainty about its localisation and motion systems, especially if the UAV is a low cost platform. Additional uncertainty affects the mission when the UAV goal location is only partially known and can only be discovered by exploring and detecting a target. This navigation problem is established in this research as a Partially-Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), so as to produce a policy that maps a set of motion commands to belief states and observations. The policy is calculated and updated on-line while flying with a newly-developed system for UAV Uncertainty-Based Navigation (UBNAV), to navigate in cluttered and GPS-denied environments using observations and executing motion commands instead of waypoints. Experimental results in both simulation and real flight tests show that the UAV finds a path on-line to a region where it can explore and detect a target without colliding with obstacles. UBNAV provides a new method and an enabling technology for scientists to implement and test UAV navigation missions with uncertainty where targets must be detected using on-line POMDP in real flight scenarios.

Standing "the Watches" with Armed UAVs

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

McCulloch, Francis

2002-01-01

This paper addresses the additional Options available to the operational commander in charge of conducting 'presence and monitoring' missions with the introduction of an armed capability on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs...

HPLC determination of caffeine in coffee beverage

Science.gov (United States)

Fajara, B. E. P.; Susanti, H.

2017-11-01

Coffee is the second largest beverage which is consumed by people in the world, besides the water. One of the compounds which contained in coffee is caffeine. Caffeine has the pharmacological effect such as stimulating the central nervous system. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of caffeine in coffee beverages with HPLC method. Three branded coffee beverages which include in 3 of Top Brand Index 2016 Phase 2 were used as samples. Qualitative analysis was performed by Parry method, Dragendorff reagent, and comparing the retention time between sample and caffeine standard. Quantitative analysis was done by HPLC method with methanol-water (95:5v/v) as mobile phase and ODS as stationary phasewith flow rate 1 mL/min and UV 272 nm as the detector. The level of caffeine data was statistically analyzed using Anova at 95% confidence level. The Qualitative analysis showed that the three samples contained caffeine. The average of caffeine level in coffee bottles of X, Y, and Z were 138.048 mg/bottle, 109.699 mg/bottle, and 147.669 mg/bottle, respectively. The caffeine content of the three coffee beverage samples are statistically different (pcoffee beverage samples were not meet the requirements set by the Indonesian Standard Agency of 50 mg/serving.

Wavelength-Adaptive Dehazing Using Histogram Merging-Based Classification for UAV Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inhye Yoon

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Since incoming light to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV platform can be scattered by haze and dust in the atmosphere, the acquired image loses the original color and brightness of the subject. Enhancement of hazy images is an important task in improving the visibility of various UAV images. This paper presents a spatially-adaptive dehazing algorithm that merges color histograms with consideration of the wavelength-dependent atmospheric turbidity. Based on the wavelength-adaptive hazy image acquisition model, the proposed dehazing algorithm consists of three steps: (i image segmentation based on geometric classes; (ii generation of the context-adaptive transmission map; and (iii intensity transformation for enhancing a hazy UAV image. The major contribution of the research is a novel hazy UAV image degradation model by considering the wavelength of light sources. In addition, the proposed transmission map provides a theoretical basis to differentiate visually important regions from others based on the turbidity and merged classification results.

Wavelength-adaptive dehazing using histogram merging-based classification for UAV images.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Inhye; Jeong, Seokhwa; Jeong, Jaeheon; Seo, Doochun; Paik, Joonki

2015-03-19

Since incoming light to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform can be scattered by haze and dust in the atmosphere, the acquired image loses the original color and brightness of the subject. Enhancement of hazy images is an important task in improving the visibility of various UAV images. This paper presents a spatially-adaptive dehazing algorithm that merges color histograms with consideration of the wavelength-dependent atmospheric turbidity. Based on the wavelength-adaptive hazy image acquisition model, the proposed dehazing algorithm consists of three steps: (i) image segmentation based on geometric classes; (ii) generation of the context-adaptive transmission map; and (iii) intensity transformation for enhancing a hazy UAV image. The major contribution of the research is a novel hazy UAV image degradation model by considering the wavelength of light sources. In addition, the proposed transmission map provides a theoretical basis to differentiate visually important regions from others based on the turbidity and merged classification results.

Semiautonomous Avionics-and-Sensors System for a UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Qamar

2006-01-01

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) autonomous or remotely controlled pilotless aircraft have been recently thrust into the spotlight for military applications, for homeland security, and as test beds for research. In addition to these functions, there are many space applications in which lightweight, inexpensive, small UAVS can be used e.g., to determine the chemical composition and other qualities of the atmospheres of remote planets. Moreover, on Earth, such UAVs can be used to obtain information about weather in various regions; in particular, they can be used to analyze wide-band acoustic signals to aid in determining the complex dynamics of movement of hurricanes. The Advanced Sensors and Electronics group at Langley Research Center has developed an inexpensive, small, integrated avionics-and-sensors system to be installed in a UAV that serves two purposes. The first purpose is to provide flight data to an AI (Artificial Intelligence) controller as part of an autonomous flight-control system. The second purpose is to store data from a subsystem of distributed MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensors. Examples of these MEMS sensors include humidity, temperature, and acoustic sensors, plus chemical sensors for detecting various vapors and other gases in the environment. The critical sensors used for flight control are a differential- pressure sensor that is part of an apparatus for determining airspeed, an absolute-pressure sensor for determining altitude, three orthogonal accelerometers for determining tilt and acceleration, and three orthogonal angular-rate detectors (gyroscopes). By using these eight sensors, it is possible to determine the orientation, height, speed, and rates of roll, pitch, and yaw of the UAV. This avionics-and-sensors system is shown in the figure. During the last few years, there has been rapid growth and advancement in the technological disciplines of MEMS, of onboard artificial-intelligence systems, and of smaller, faster, and

[Coffee can be beneficial for patients with liver diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Kjærgaard, Maria; Thiele, Maja; Krag, Aleksander

2014-10-20

Coffee is one of the most commonly consumed beverages in the world. Consequently, it is important to consider the impact of coffee on health and disease. A daily intake of at least three cups of coffee is likely to have beneficial health effects, especially in patients at risk of liver diseases. Coffee has been associated with decreased liver inflammation, prevention of cirrhosis, reduced steatosis and lower incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma. It is not yet possible to make clear recommendations, but coffee can likely be included as part of a healthy diet for patients with liver diseases.

Processed coffee alleviates DSS-induced colitis in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernd L. Fiebich

2013-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTBackground: Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and it has been demonstrated that it has important therapeutic activities not only because of its caffeine content but also owing to the presence of other biologically active small molecules such as chlorogenic acid, trigonelline and cyclopentadiones. However, chlorogenic acid is degraded into catechol, pyrogallol and hydroxyhydroquinone, which are thought to induce irritation of the gastric mucosa. To reduce the content of irritant compounds processing methods have been developed prior to roasting the coffee beans.Objectives: The aim of this study was to study the anti-inflammatory and gastro-protective effects of processed coffee (Idee-Kaffee on in LPS-treated human primary monocytes and in a murine model of colon inflammation (IBD model.Results: In this study we have analyzed the effects on inflammatory events in cultured cells and in mice drinking a commercially available processed coffee. The processed coffee inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF, IL-6 and IL-8, and other inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandin (PGE2 and 8-isoprostane in cultured human primary monocytes. Oral administration of dissolved processed coffee, i.e., in its usual beverage form, improved greatly the adverse macroscopic and histological features of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS-induced colitis in mice in a dose-dependent manner. Processed coffee not only largely prevented DSS-induced colitis but also dramatically suppressed in vivo NF-B and STAT3 activities through inhibition of IB and STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, this solubleFunctional Foods in Health and Disease 2013; 3(5:133-145coffee bean extract reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines TNF, IL-11, and IL-6 and the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX-2 in colonic tissues.Conclusions: This work identified

Coffee: The magical bean for liver diseases

OpenAIRE

Heath, Ryan D; Brahmbhatt, Mihir; Tahan, Asli C; Ibdah, Jamal A; Tahan, Veysel

2017-01-01

Coffee has long been recognized as having hepatoprotective properties, however, the extent of any beneficial effect is still being elucidated. Coffee appears to reduce risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, reduce advancement of fibrotic disease in a variety of chronic liver diseases, and perhaps reduce ability of hepatitis C virus to replicate. This review aims to catalog the evidence for coffee as universally beneficial across a spectrum of chronic liver diseases, as well as spotlight opportunit...

Coffee consumption and periodontal disease in males.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Nathan; Kaye, Elizabeth Krall; Garcia, Raul I

2014-08-01

Coffee is a major dietary source of antioxidants as well as of other anti-inflammatory factors. Given the beneficial role of such factors in periodontal disease, whether coffee intake is associated with periodontal disease in adult males was explored. Existing data collected by a prospective, closed-panel cohort study of aging and oral health in adult males was used. Participants included the 1,152 dentate males in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Dental Longitudinal Study who presented for comprehensive medical and dental examinations from 1968 to 1998. Mean age at baseline was 48 years; males were followed for up to 30 years. Participants are not VA patients; rather, they receive their medical and dental care in the private sector. Periodontal status was assessed by probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing, and radiographic alveolar bone loss (ABL), measured on intraoral periapical radiographs with a modified Schei ruler method. Moderate-to-severe periodontal disease was defined as cumulative numbers of teeth exhibiting PD ≥4 mm or ABL ≥40%. Coffee intake was obtained from participant self-reports using the Cornell Medical Index and food frequency questionnaires. Multivariate repeated-measures generalized linear models estimated mean number of teeth with moderate-to-severe disease at each examination by coffee intake level. It was found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a small but significant reduction in number of teeth with periodontal bone loss. No evidence was found that coffee consumption was harmful to periodontal health. Coffee consumption may be protective against periodontal bone loss in adult males.

Activation and characterization of waste coffee grounds as bio-sorbent

Science.gov (United States)

Mariana; Marwan; Mulana, F.; Yunardi; Ismail, T. A.; Hafdiansyah, M. F.

2018-03-01

As the city well known for its culture of coffee drinkers, modern and traditional coffee shops are found everywhere in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. High number of coffee shops in the city generates large quantities of spent coffee grounds as waste without any effort to convert them as other valuable products. In an attempt to reduce environmental problems caused by used coffee grounds, this research was conducted to utilize waste coffee grounds as an activated carbon bio-sorbent. The specific purpose of this research is to improve the performance of coffee grounds bio-sorbent through chemical and physical activation, and to characterize the produced bio-sorbent. Following physical activation by carbonization, a chemical activation was achieved by soaking the carbonized waste coffee grounds in HCl solvent and carbonization process. The activated bio-sorbent was characterized for its morphological properties using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), its functional groups by Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectrophotometer (FTIR), and its material characteristics using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Characterization of the activated carbon prepared from waste coffee grounds shows that it meets standard quality requirement in accordance with Indonesian National Standard, SNI 06-3730-1995. Activation process has modified the functional groups of the waste coffee grounds. Comparing to natural waste coffee grounds, the resulted bio-sorbent demonstrated a more porous surface morphology following activation process. Consequently, such bio-sorbent is a potential source to be used as an adsorbent for various applications.

Evaluating the effectiveness of low cost UAV generated topography for geomorphic change detection

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, K. L.

2014-12-01

With the recent explosion in the use and availability of unmanned aerial vehicle platforms and development of easy to use structure from motion software, UAV based photogrammetry is increasingly being adopted to produce high resolution topography for the study of surface processes. UAV systems can vary substantially in price and complexity, but the tradeoffs between these and the quality of the resulting data are not well constrained. We look at one end of this spectrum and evaluate the effectiveness of a simple low cost UAV setup for obtaining high resolution topography in a challenging field setting. Our study site is the Daan River gorge in western Taiwan, a rapidly eroding bedrock gorge that we have monitored with terrestrial Lidar since 2009. The site presents challenges for the generation and analysis of high resolution topography, including vertical gorge walls, vegetation, wide variation in surface roughness, and a complicated 3D morphology. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the UAV-derived topography, we compare it with terrestrial Lidar data collected during the same survey period. Our UAV setup combines a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter with a 16 megapixel Canon Powershot camera for a total platform cost of less than $850. The quadcopter is flown manually, and the camera is programmed to take a photograph every 5 seconds, yielding 200-250 pictures per flight. We measured ground control points and targets for both the Lidar scans and the aerial surveys using a Leica RTK GPS with 1-2 cm accuracy. UAV derived point clouds were obtained using Agisoft Photoscan software. We conducted both Lidar and UAV surveys before and after a summer typhoon season, allowing us to evaluate the reliability of the UAV survey to detect geomorphic changes in the range of one to several meters. We find that this simple UAV setup can yield point clouds with an average accuracy on the order of 10 cm compared to the Lidar point clouds. Well-distributed and accurately located ground

Fast Orientation of Video Images of Buildings Acquired from a UAV without Stabilization

Science.gov (United States)

Kedzierski, Michal; Delis, Paulina

2016-01-01

The aim of this research was to assess the possibility of conducting an absolute orientation procedure for video imagery, in which the external orientation for the first image was typical for aerial photogrammetry whereas the external orientation of the second was typical for terrestrial photogrammetry. Starting from the collinearity equations, assuming that the camera tilt angle is equal to 90°, a simplified mathematical model is proposed. The proposed method can be used to determine the X, Y, Z coordinates of points based on a set of collinearity equations of a pair of images. The use of simplified collinearity equations can considerably shorten the processing tine of image data from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), especially in low cost systems. The conducted experiments have shown that it is possible to carry out a complete photogrammetric project of an architectural structure using a camera tilted 85°–90° (φ or ω) and simplified collinearity equations. It is also concluded that there is a correlation between the speed of the UAV and the discrepancy between the established and actual camera tilt angles. PMID:27347954

UAV Swarm Tactics: An Agent-Based Simulation and Markov Process Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-01

research UAV platforms, namely the (a) Procerus Unicorn UAV and (b) modified Ritewing ZephyrII RC plane, for ongoing live-fly field experimentation of the...number of possible states would grow exponentially, but short excursions with baseline two-on-one models, as found in the literature, could provide

A Novel Method for Vertical Acceleration Noise Suppression of a Thrust-Vectored VTOL UAV.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Huanyu; Wu, Linfeng; Li, Yingjie; Li, Chunwen; Li, Hangyu

2016-12-02

Acceleration is of great importance in motion control for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially during the takeoff and landing stages. However, the measured acceleration is inevitably polluted by severe noise. Therefore, a proper noise suppression procedure is required. This paper presents a novel method to reduce the noise in the measured vertical acceleration for a thrust-vectored tail-sitter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAV. In the new procedure, a Kalman filter is first applied to estimate the UAV mass by using the information in the vertical thrust and measured acceleration. The UAV mass is then used to compute an estimate of UAV vertical acceleration. The estimated acceleration is finally fused with the measured acceleration to obtain the minimum variance estimate of vertical acceleration. By doing this, the new approach incorporates the thrust information into the acceleration estimate. The method is applied to the data measured in a VTOL UAV takeoff experiment. Two other denoising approaches developed by former researchers are also tested for comparison. The results demonstrate that the new method is able to suppress the acceleration noise substantially. It also maintains the real-time performance in the final estimated acceleration, which is not seen in the former denoising approaches. The acceleration treated with the new method can be readily used in the motion control applications for UAVs to achieve improved accuracy.

A Novel Method for Vertical Acceleration Noise Suppression of a Thrust-Vectored VTOL UAV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huanyu Li

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Acceleration is of great importance in motion control for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, especially during the takeoff and landing stages. However, the measured acceleration is inevitably polluted by severe noise. Therefore, a proper noise suppression procedure is required. This paper presents a novel method to reduce the noise in the measured vertical acceleration for a thrust-vectored tail-sitter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL UAV. In the new procedure, a Kalman filter is first applied to estimate the UAV mass by using the information in the vertical thrust and measured acceleration. The UAV mass is then used to compute an estimate of UAV vertical acceleration. The estimated acceleration is finally fused with the measured acceleration to obtain the minimum variance estimate of vertical acceleration. By doing this, the new approach incorporates the thrust information into the acceleration estimate. The method is applied to the data measured in a VTOL UAV takeoff experiment. Two other denoising approaches developed by former researchers are also tested for comparison. The results demonstrate that the new method is able to suppress the acceleration noise substantially. It also maintains the real-time performance in the final estimated acceleration, which is not seen in the former denoising approaches. The acceleration treated with the new method can be readily used in the motion control applications for UAVs to achieve improved accuracy.

Energy-Efficient Systems Eliminate Icing Danger for UAVs

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Ames Research Center engineer Leonard Haslim invented an anti-icing t echnology called an electroexpulsive separation system, which uses m echanical force to shatter potentially dangerous ice buildup on an ai rcraft surface. Temecula, California-based Ice Management Systems (no w known as IMS-ESS) licensed the technology from Ames and has discov ered a niche market for the lightweight, energy-efficient technology: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). IMS-ESS systems now prevent damagi ng ice accumulation on military UAVs, allowing the vehicles to carry out crucial missions year round.

Weather and Climate Indicators for Coffee Rust Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Georgiou, S.; Imbach, P. A.; Avelino, J.; Anzueto, F.; del Carmen Calderón, G.

2014-12-01

Coffee rust is a disease that has significant impacts on the livelihoods of those who are dependent on the Central American coffee sector. Our investigation has focussed on the weather and climate indicators that favoured the high incidence of coffee rust disease in Central America in 2012 by assessing daily temperature and precipitation data available from 81 weather stations in the INSIVUMEH and ANACAFE networks located in Guatemala. The temperature data were interpolated to determine the corresponding daily data at 1250 farms located across Guatemala, between 400 and 1800 m elevation. Additionally, CHIRPS five day (pentad) data has been used to assess the anomalies between the 2012 and the climatological average precipitation data at farm locations. The weather conditions in 2012 displayed considerable variations from the climatological data. In general the minimum daily temperatures were higher than the corresponding climatology while the maximum temperatures were lower. As a result, the daily diurnal temperature range was generally lower than the corresponding climatological range, leading to an increased number of days where the temperatures fell within the optimal range for either influencing the susceptibility of the coffee plants to coffee rust development during the dry season, or for the development of lesions on the coffee leaves during the wet season. The coffee rust latency period was probably shortened as a result, and farms at high altitudes were impacted due to these increases in minimum temperature. Factors taken into consideration in developing indicators for coffee rust development include: the diurnal temperature range, altitude, the environmental lapse rate and the phenology. We will present the results of our study and discuss the potential for each of the derived weather and climatological indicators to be used within risk assessments and to eventually be considered for use within an early warning system for coffee rust disease.

Accuracy Investigation of Creating Orthophotomaps Based on Images Obtained by Applying Trimble-UX5 UAV

Science.gov (United States)

Hlotov, Volodymyr; Hunina, Alla; Siejka, Zbigniew

2017-06-01

The main purpose of this work is to confirm the possibility of making largescale orthophotomaps applying unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Trimble- UX5. A planned altitude reference of the studying territory was carried out before to the aerial surveying. The studying territory has been marked with distinctive checkpoints in the form of triangles (0.5 × 0.5 × 0.2 m). The checkpoints used to precise the accuracy of orthophotomap have been marked with similar triangles. To determine marked reference point coordinates and check-points method of GNSS in real-time kinematics (RTK) measuring has been applied. Projecting of aerial surveying has been done with the help of installed Trimble Access Aerial Imaging, having been used to run out the UX5. Aerial survey out of the Trimble UX5 UAV has been done with the help of the digital camera SONY NEX-5R from 200m and 300 m altitude. These aerial surveying data have been calculated applying special photogrammetric software Pix 4D. The orthophotomap of the surveying objects has been made with its help. To determine the precise accuracy of the got results of aerial surveying the checkpoint coordinates according to the orthophotomap have been set. The average square error has been calculated according to the set coordinates applying GNSS measurements. A-priori accuracy estimation of spatial coordinates of the studying territory using the aerial surveying data have been calculated: mx=0.11 m, my=0.15 m, mz=0.23 m in the village of Remeniv and mx=0.26 m, my=0.38 m, mz=0.43 m in the town of Vynnyky. The accuracy of determining checkpoint coordinates has been investigated using images obtained out of UAV and the average square error of the reference points. Based on comparative analysis of the got results of the accuracy estimation of the made orthophotomap it can be concluded that the value the average square error does not exceed a-priori accuracy estimation. The possibility of applying Trimble UX5 UAV for making large

Use of Coffee Pulp and Minerals for Natural Soil Ameliorant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pujiyanto Pujiyanto

2007-05-01

Full Text Available In coffee plantation, solid waste of coffee pulp is usually collected as heap nearby processing facilities for several months prior being used as compost. The practice is leading to the formation of odor and liquid which contaminate the environment. Experiments to evaluate the effect of natural soil ameliorant derived from coffee pulp and minerals were conducted at The Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute in Jember, East Java. The experiments were intended to optimize the use of coffee pulp to support farming sustainability and minimize negative impacts of solid waste disposal originated from coffee cherry processing. Prior to applications, coffee pulp was hulled to organic paste. The paste was then mixed with 10% minerals (b/b. Composition of the minerals was 50% zeolite and 50% rock phosphate powder. The ameliorant was characterized for their physical and chemical properties. Agronomic tests were conducted on coffee and cocoa seedling. The experiments were arranged according to Randomized Completely Design with 2 factors, consisted of natural ameliorant and inorganic fertilizer respectively. Natural ameliorant derived from coffee pulp was applied at 6 levels: 0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 g dry ameliorant/seedling of 3 kg soil, equivalent to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% (b/b of ameliorant respectively. Inorganic fertilizer was applied at 2 levels: 0 and 2 g fertilizer/application of N-P-K compound fertilizer of 15-15-15 respectively. The inorganic fertilizer was applied 4 times during nursery of coffee and cocoa. The result of the experiment indicated that coffee pulp may be used as natural soil ameliorant. Composition of ameliorant of 90% coffee pulp and 10% of minerals has good physical and chemical characteristics for soil amelioration. The composition has high water holding capacity; cations exchange capacity, organic carbon and phosphorus contents which are favorable to increase soil capacity to support plant growth. Application of

Adaptive Measures for the Factors Affecting Marketing of Coffee ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adaptive Measures for the Factors Affecting Marketing of Coffee ( Coffea robusta ... of coffee in the study area was poor pricing and marketing systems; this is as a ... of quality control and relevant information on improved coffee technologies.

Chronic coffee consumption and respiratory disease: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfaro, Tiago M; Monteiro, Rita A; Cunha, Rodrigo A; Cordeiro, Carlos Robalo

2018-03-01

The widespread consumption of coffee means that any biological effects from its use can lead to significant public health consequences. Chronic pulmonary diseases are extremely prevalent and responsible for one of every six deaths on a global level. Major medical databases for studies reporting on the effects of coffee or caffeine consumption on a wide range of non-malignant respiratory outcomes, including incidence, prevalence, evolution or severity of respiratory disease in adults were searched. Studies on lung function and respiratory mortality were also considered. Fifteen studies, including seven cohort, six cross-sectional, one case control and one randomized control trial were found. Coffee consumption was generally associated with a reduction in prevalence of asthma. The association of coffee with natural honey was an effective treatment for persistent post-infectious cough. One case-control study found higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with coffee consumption. No association was found with the evolution of COPD or sarcoidosis. Coffee was associated with a reduction in respiratory mortality, and one study found improved lung function in coffee consumers. Smoking was a significant confounder in most studies. Coffee consumption was associated with some positive effects on the respiratory system. There was however limited available evidence, mostly from cross sectional and retrospective studies. The only prospective cohort studies were those reporting on respiratory mortality. These results suggest that coffee consumption may be a part of a healthy lifestyle leading to reduced respiratory morbidity. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of resampling applied to UAV imagery for weed detection using OBIA

OpenAIRE

Borra, I.; Peña Barragán, José Manuel; Torres Sánchez, Jorge; López Granados, Francisca

2015-01-01

Los vehículos aéreos no tripulados (UAVs) son una tecnología emergente en el estudio de parámetros agrícolas por sus características y por portar sensores en diferente rango espectral. En este trabajo se ha detectado y cartografiado rodales de malas hierbas en fase temprana mediante análisis OBIA para elaborar mapas que optimicen el tratamiento herbicida localizado. Se ha aplicado resampling (resampleo) sobre imágenes tomadas en campo desde un UAV (UAV-I) para crear una nueva imagen con disti...

UAV Control on the Basis of 3D Landmark Bearing-Only Observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Karpenko, Simon; Konovalenko, Ivan; Miller, Alexander; Miller, Boris; Nikolaev, Dmitry

2015-11-27

The article presents an approach to the control of a UAV on the basis of 3D landmark observations. The novelty of the work is the usage of the 3D RANSAC algorithm developed on the basis of the landmarks' position prediction with the aid of a modified Kalman-type filter. Modification of the filter based on the pseudo-measurements approach permits obtaining unbiased UAV position estimation with quadratic error characteristics. Modeling of UAV flight on the basis of the suggested algorithm shows good performance, even under significant external perturbations.

Applications of UAVs to Measurement and Monitoring of Anthropogenic Contamination of an Urban Wildlife Preserve

Science.gov (United States)

Higa, E.; Valencia, D.; Hunt, A.

2017-12-01

Over the past decade, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) has seen unprecedented growth in diverse research areas due to advances in UAV hardware and reduced total operating costs. These developments have given environmental investigators a new aerial data acquisition technique that can be used to not only survey large areas of terrain in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner but can be used to gather previously almost unattainable air quality data. Vertically resolved profiles of air pollutant data can be readily constructed. This project's goal is to produce a time resolved (seasonal) aerial survey of a 150-acre section from a 1300-acre ecologically diverse park of bottomland forests, wetlands and prairies. This ecosystem provides abundant habitats for a diverse wildlife community. This section was chosen due to its close proximity to the city landfill located 0.5 miles due north from the chosen section. The process of collecting UAV aerial images at a constant altitude of ( 200ft) on a bi-monthly basis (for a period of 6 months) has commenced. The UAV has been fitted with a custom made mount to secure an Ultrafine Particle (UFP) counter; this is providing information on UFP levels over the study area as a proxy for airborne particle inputs to the site. Sediment samples will be taken from several runoff ponds within the survey area to evaluate possible anthropogenic contamination of the park . Post processing imaging software, DroneDeploy, is being used to create an orthomosaic, topographic surface and 3D model that can be integrated with GIS platforms to create a comprehensive and cohesive multi-layered data set. Data sets of this nature will provide information on temporally constrained sources of runoff material to the pond areas in the preserve.

Secure Utilization of Beacons and UAVs in Emergency Response Systems for Building Fire Hazard.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Seung-Hyun; Choi, Jung-In; Song, Jinseok

2017-09-25

An intelligent emergency system for hazard monitoring and building evacuation is a very important application area in Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Through the use of smart sensors, such a system can provide more vital and reliable information to first-responders and also reduce the incidents of false alarms. Several smart monitoring and warning systems do already exist, though they exhibit key weaknesses such as a limited monitoring coverage and security, which have not yet been sufficiently addressed. In this paper, we propose a monitoring and emergency response method for buildings by utilizing beacons and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on an IoT security platform. In order to demonstrate the practicability of our method, we also implement a proof of concept prototype, which we call the UAV-EMOR (UAV-assisted Emergency Monitoring and Response) system. Our UAV-EMOR system provides the following novel features: (1) secure communications between UAVs, smart sensors, the control server and a smartphone app for security managers; (2) enhanced coordination between smart sensors and indoor/outdoor UAVs to expand real-time monitoring coverage; and (3) beacon-aided rescue and building evacuation.

Development of a method for the mineralization of coffee husk ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Every year, large quantities of husk resulting from the dry method of treatment of robusta coffee are dumped into nature. This generates multiple harmful ecological effects. The downward trend of coffee prices and the rise in the cost of manure has urged coffee farmers to better exploit the by-products of coffee transformation.

Online 3D terrain visualisation using Unity 3D game engine: A comparison of different contour intervals terrain data draped with UAV images

Science.gov (United States)

Hafiz Mahayudin, Mohd; Che Mat, Ruzinoor

2016-06-01

The main objective of this paper is to discuss on the effectiveness of visualising terrain draped with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images generated from different contour intervals using Unity 3D game engine in online environment. The study area that was tested in this project was oil palm plantation at Sintok, Kedah. The contour data used for this study are divided into three different intervals which are 1m, 3m and 5m. ArcGIS software were used to clip the contour data and also UAV images data to be similar size for the overlaying process. The Unity 3D game engine was used as the main platform for developing the system due to its capabilities which can be launch in different platform. The clipped contour data and UAV images data were process and exported into the web format using Unity 3D. Then process continue by publishing it into the web server for comparing the effectiveness of different 3D terrain data (contour data) draped with UAV images. The effectiveness is compared based on the data size, loading time (office and out-of-office hours), response time, visualisation quality, and frame per second (fps). The results were suggest which contour interval is better for developing an effective online 3D terrain visualisation draped with UAV images using Unity 3D game engine. It therefore benefits decision maker and planner related to this field decide on which contour is applicable for their task.

Roving UAV IED Interdiction System

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

UAVs (Raven, Wasp, and Puma) do not advertise any payload capability, the Tier I operators that Team Bravo contacted claimed small payload...www.ncca.navy.mil/services/inflation.cfm (accessed February 2011). Net Resources International. "Javelin Anti- Armour Missile." Army-Technology.com. 2011. http

Ground Control Point - Wireless System Network for UAV-based environmental monitoring applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mejia-Aguilar, Abraham

2016-04-01

In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have seen widespread civil applications including usage for survey and monitoring services in areas such as agriculture, construction and civil engineering, private surveillance and reconnaissance services and cultural heritage management. Most aerial monitoring services require the integration of information acquired during the flight (such as imagery) with ground-based information (such as GPS information or others) for improved ground truth validation. For example, to obtain an accurate 3D and Digital Elevation Model based on aerial imagery, it is necessary to include ground-based information of coordinate points, which are normally acquired with surveying methods based on Global Position Systems (GPS). However, GPS surveys are very time consuming and especially for longer time series of monitoring data repeated GPS surveys are necessary. In order to improve speed of data collection and integration, this work presents an autonomous system based on Waspmote technologies build on single nodes interlinked in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) star-topology for ground based information collection and later integration with surveying data obtained by UAV. Nodes are designed to be visible from the air, to resist extreme weather conditions with low-power consumption. Besides, nodes are equipped with GPS as well as Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), accelerometer, temperature and soil moisture sensors and thus provide significant advantages in a broad range of applications for environmental monitoring. For our purpose, the WSN transmits the environmental data with 3G/GPRS to a database on a regular time basis. This project provides a detailed case study and implementation of a Ground Control Point System Network for UAV-based vegetation monitoring of dry mountain grassland in the Matsch valley, Italy.

Automated UAV-based video exploitation using service oriented architecture framework

Science.gov (United States)

Se, Stephen; Nadeau, Christian; Wood, Scott

2011-05-01

Airborne surveillance and reconnaissance are essential for successful military missions. Such capabilities are critical for troop protection, situational awareness, mission planning, damage assessment, and others. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) gather huge amounts of video data but it is extremely labour-intensive for operators to analyze hours and hours of received data. At MDA, we have developed a suite of tools that can process the UAV video data automatically, including mosaicking, change detection and 3D reconstruction, which have been integrated within a standard GIS framework. In addition, the mosaicking and 3D reconstruction tools have also been integrated in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework. The Visualization and Exploitation Workstation (VIEW) integrates 2D and 3D visualization, processing, and analysis capabilities developed for UAV video exploitation. Visualization capabilities are supported through a thick-client Graphical User Interface (GUI), which allows visualization of 2D imagery, video, and 3D models. The GUI interacts with the VIEW server, which provides video mosaicking and 3D reconstruction exploitation services through the SOA framework. The SOA framework allows multiple users to perform video exploitation by running a GUI client on the operator's computer and invoking the video exploitation functionalities residing on the server. This allows the exploitation services to be upgraded easily and allows the intensive video processing to run on powerful workstations. MDA provides UAV services to the Canadian and Australian forces in Afghanistan with the Heron, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV system. On-going flight operations service provides important intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information to commanders and front-line soldiers.

Innovative Strategies for Control of Coffee Insect Pests in Tanzania ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Coffee insect pests are one of the major factors which affect coffee production and quality. globally, coffee insect pests are estimated to cause losses of about 13%. However in Africa, yield losses can be much higher, particularly where Arabica and Robusta coffee are grown for a long time. In Tanzania the major insect pests ...

Cycloidal Propulsion for UAV VTOL Applications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Boschma, James

1998-01-01

.... This propulsion concept holds significant promise for adaptation to UAV VTOL operations. Thrust levels demonstrated were substantially higher than achievable by the best screw type propellers, and approximately equal to those of high end helicopters...

Short Communication. Using high resolution UAV imagery to estimate tree variables in Pinus pinea plantation in Portugal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guerra Hernandez, J.; Gonzalez-Ferreiro, E.; Sarmento, A.; Silva, J.; Nunes, A.; Correia, A.C.; Fontes, L.; Tomé, M.; Diaz-Varela, D.

2016-07-01

Aim of the study: The study aims to analyse the potential use of low‑cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for the estimation of Pinus pinea L. variables at the individual tree level (position, tree height and crown diameter). Area of study: This study was conducted under the PINEA project focused on 16 ha of umbrella pine afforestation (Portugal) subjected to different treatments. Material and methods: The workflow involved: a) image acquisition with consumer‑grade cameras on board an UAV; b) orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) generation using structure-from-motion (SfM) image reconstruction; and c) automatic individual tree segmentation by using a mixed pixel‑ and region‑based based algorithm. Main results: The results of individual tree segmentation (position, height and crown diameter) were validated using field measurements from 3 inventory plots in the study area. All the trees of the plots were correctly detected. The RMSE values for the predicted heights and crown widths were 0.45 m and 0.63 m, respectively. Research highlights: The results demonstrate that tree variables can be automatically extracted from high resolution imagery. We highlight the use of UAV systems as a fast, reliable and cost‑effective technique for small scale applications. (Author)

Short Communication. Using high resolution UAV imagery to estimate tree variables in Pinus pinea plantation in Portugal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerra Hernandez, J.; Gonzalez-Ferreiro, E.; Sarmento, A.; Silva, J.; Nunes, A.; Correia, A.C.; Fontes, L.; Tomé, M.; Diaz-Varela, D.

2016-01-01

Aim of the study: The study aims to analyse the potential use of low‑cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for the estimation of Pinus pinea L. variables at the individual tree level (position, tree height and crown diameter). Area of study: This study was conducted under the PINEA project focused on 16 ha of umbrella pine afforestation (Portugal) subjected to different treatments. Material and methods: The workflow involved: a) image acquisition with consumer‑grade cameras on board an UAV; b) orthomosaic and digital surface model (DSM) generation using structure-from-motion (SfM) image reconstruction; and c) automatic individual tree segmentation by using a mixed pixel‑ and region‑based based algorithm. Main results: The results of individual tree segmentation (position, height and crown diameter) were validated using field measurements from 3 inventory plots in the study area. All the trees of the plots were correctly detected. The RMSE values for the predicted heights and crown widths were 0.45 m and 0.63 m, respectively. Research highlights: The results demonstrate that tree variables can be automatically extracted from high resolution imagery. We highlight the use of UAV systems as a fast, reliable and cost‑effective technique for small scale applications. (Author)

Roasting Effects on Formation Mechanisms of Coffee Brew Melanoidins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekedam, E.K.; Loots, M.J.; Schols, H.A.; Boekel, van M.A.J.S.; Smit, G.

2008-01-01

The effect of the roasting degree on coffee brew melanoidin properties and formation mechanisms was studied. Coffee brew fractions differing in molecular weight (Mw) were isolated from green and light-, medium-, and dark-roasted coffee beans. Isolated fractions were characterized for their

Effects of tea and coffee on cardiovascular disease risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Bøhn, Siv K; Ward, Natalie C; Hodgson, Jonathan M; Croft, Kevin D

2012-06-01

Tea and coffee have been associated with risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), both positively and negatively. Epidemiological data suggest that black and green tea may reduce the risk of both coronary heart disease and stroke by between 10 and 20%. Experimental and clinical trial data generally indicate either neutral or beneficial effects on risk factors and pathways linked to the development of CVD. Controversy still exists regarding the effects of coffee, where there have been concerns regarding associations with hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension and myocardial infarction. However, long term moderate intake of coffee is not associated with detrimental effects in healthy individuals and may even protect against the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The detrimental effects of coffee may be associated with the acute pressor effects, most likely due to caffeine at high daily intakes, and lipids from boiled coffee can contribute to raised serum cholesterol. Genetic polymorphisms in enzymes involved in uptake, metabolism and excretion of tea and coffee compounds are also associated with differential biological effects. Potential mechanisms by which tea and coffee phytochemicals can exert effects for CVD protection include the regulation of vascular tone through effects on endothelial function, improved glucose metabolism, increased reverse cholesterol transport and inhibition of foam cell formation, inhibition of oxidative stress, immunomodulation and effects on platelet function (adhesion and activation, aggregation and clotting). The phytochemical compounds in tea and coffee and their metabolites are suggested to influence protective endogenous pathways by modulation of gene-expression. It is not known exactly which compounds are responsible for the suggestive protective effects of tea and coffee. Although many biologically active compounds have been identified with known biological effects, tea and coffee contain many unidentified compounds with potential

SUSI 62 A ROBUST AND SAFE PARACHUTE UAV WITH LONG FLIGHT TIME AND GOOD PAYLOAD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. P. Thamm

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In many research areas in the geo-sciences (erosion, land use, land cover change, etc. or applications (e.g. forest management, mining, land management etc. there is a demand for remote sensing images of a very high spatial and temporal resolution. Due to the high costs of classic aerial photo campaigns, the use of a UAV is a promising option for obtaining the desired remote sensed information at the time it is needed. However, the UAV must be easy to operate, safe, robust and should have a high payload and long flight time. For that purpose, the parachute UAV SUSI 62 was developed. It consists of a steel frame with a powerful 62 cm3 2- stroke engine and a parachute wing. The frame can be easily disassembled for transportation or to replace parts. On the frame there is a gimbal mounted sensor carrier where different sensors, standard SLR cameras and/or multi-spectral and thermal sensors can be mounted. Due to the design of the parachute, the SUSI 62 is very easy to control. Two different parachute sizes are available for different wind speed conditions. The SUSI 62 has a payload of up to 8 kg providing options to use different sensors at the same time or to extend flight duration. The SUSI 62 needs a runway of between 10 m and 50 m, depending on the wind conditions. The maximum flight speed is approximately 50 km/h. It can be operated in a wind speed of up to 6 m/s. The design of the system utilising a parachute UAV makes it comparatively safe as a failure of the electronics or the remote control only results in the UAV coming to the ground at a slow speed. The video signal from the camera, the GPS coordinates and other flight parameters are transmitted to the ground station in real time. An autopilot is available, which guarantees that the area of investigation is covered at the desired resolution and overlap. The robustly designed SUSI 62 has been used successfully in Europe, Africa and Australia for scientific projects and also for

Coffee Consumption and the Risk of Obesity in Korean Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jeonghee; Kim, Hye Young; Kim, Jeongseon

2017-12-08

Instant coffee mixes that contain sugar and non-dairy creamer account for 80-90% of the total coffee market in Korea. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and obesity in Korean women. We included 5995 women who participated in a health screening examination at the Korean National Cancer Center between 2007 and 2016. Daily coffee consumption and the use of sugar and creamer in coffee was evaluated using a 106-item food frequency questionnaire. Obesity was assessed by body mass index (BMI), and abdominal obesity was assessed by waist circumference (WC). A multiple logistic regression model was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of obesity according to coffee consumption. After multivariate adjustment, high coffee consumption was positively associated with obesity as measured by BMI (≥3 cups vs. no drinks, OR = 2.52; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.91-3.34; p for the trend coffee consumption and obesity prevalence was not altered by menopause. The amount of coffee with additives consumed per day by Korean women was positively correlated with the prevalence of obesity, but causation cannot be determined due to the cross-sectional nature of the study design. The mechanism underlying the observed relationship is yet to be elucidated.

Coffee and autoimmunity: More than a mere hot beverage!

Science.gov (United States)

Sharif, Kassem; Watad, Abdulla; Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Adawi, Mohammad; Amital, Howard; Shoenfeld, Yehuda

2017-07-01

Coffee is one of the world's most consumed beverage. In the last decades, coffee consumption has attracted a huge body of research due to its impact on health. Recent scientific evidences showed that coffee intake could be associated with decreased mortality from cardiovascular and neurological diseases, diabetes type II, as well as from endometrial and liver cancer, among others. In this review, on the basis of available data in the literature, we aimed to investigate the association between coffee intake and its influence on the immune system and the insurgence of the most relevant autoimmune diseases. While some studies reported conflicting results, general trends have been identified. Coffee consumption seems to increase the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). By contrast, coffee consumption may exert a protective role against multiple sclerosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and ulcerative colitis. Concerning other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, primary biliary cholangitis and Crohn's disease, no significant association was found. In other studies, coffee consumption was shown to influence disease course and management options. Coffee intake led to a decrease in insulin sensitivity in T1DM, in methotrexate efficacy in RA, and in levothyroxine absorption in Hashimoto's disease. Further, coffee consumption was associated with cross reactivity with gliadin antibodies in celiac patients. Data on certain autoimmune diseases like systemic sclerosis, Sjögren's syndrome, and Behçet's disease, among others, are lacking in the existent literature. As such, further research is warranted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CoffeeScript application development

CERN Document Server

Young, Ian

2013-01-01

CoffeeScript Application Development is a practical, hands-on guide with step-by-step instructions. Follow the smooth and easy tutorial approach, covering examples that build in complexity. By the final chapter you'll be wondering why you didn't try CoffeeScript sooner.If you are a JavaScript developer who wants to save time and add power to your code, then this is the book that will help you do it. With minimal fuss you will learn a whole new language which will reduce your application development time from weeks to days.

UAV telemetry communications using ZigBee protocol

Science.gov (United States)

Nasution, T. H.; Siregar, I.; Yasir, M.

2017-10-01

Wireless communication has been widely used in various fields or disciplines such as agriculture, health, engineering, military, and aerospace so as to support the work in that field. The communication technology is typically used for controlling devices and data monitoring. One development of wireless communication is the widely used telemetry system used to reach areas that cannot be reached by humans using UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) or unmanned aircraft. In this paper we discuss the design of telemetry system in UAV using ZigBee protocol. From the test obtained the system can work well with visualization displays without pause is 20 data per second with a maximum data length of 120 characters.

A proposed UAV for indoor patient care.