Abstract-This work presents a method for estimating the egomotion of an aerial vehicle in challenging industrial environments. It combines binocular visual and inertial cues in a tightly-coupled fashion and operates in real time on an embedded platform. An extended Kalman filter fuses measurements and makes motion estimation rely more on inertial data if visual feature constellation is degenerate. Errors in roll and pitch are bounded implicitly by the gravity vector. Inertial sensors are used for efficient outlier detection and enable operation in poorly and repetitively textured environments. We demonstrate robustness and accuracy in an industrial scenario as well as in general indoor environments. The former is accompanied by a detailed performance evaluation supported with ground truth measurements from an external tracking system.
Hearing is amongst the most important senses a modern robot must exhibit. Perceiving the acoustic world enables capabilities such as natural interaction with humans, interpreting spoken commands or the localization of victims during search and rescue tasks. Real-world robotic operations often take place in noisy, reverberant environments while requiring features such as source separation, accurate direction of arrival estimation or high performance noise suppression. This work presents a methodology to design, calibrate and operate large microphone arrays that enable such features. Recent micro electro-mechanical microphones in conjunction with reconfigurable logic tackle the weight, size, power consumption and cost constraints of robotic systems. A novel, automatic array shape calibration algorithm is developed for 2D and 3D arrays to face common experimental problems such as reverberation and poor signal-to-noise ratio when calibrating the array. The special case of a 2D array calibrated using sources moving in 3D is addressed. No prior information on array geometry is required, the process is fully automated and does not require any specific calibration equipment. The example application of an acoustic camera is presented as a proof of concept. High-quality acoustic images are computed in real-time by generalized inverse beamforming. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed design and illustrates the usefulness of such sensing capabilities for various robotic applications.
The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the science return of future Venus atmosphere probe mission concepts using the Quadrupole Ion Trap (QIT) Mass Spectrometer (MS) Instrument (QIT-MS-I). We demonstrate the use of Monte-Carlo simulations in determining the optimal ion trapping conditions and focus the analysis on retrieving isotope ratios of noble gases in the model sample of the Venus atmosphere. Sampling takes place at a constant velocity of ~10 km/s between 112–110 km altitude and involves the use of getter pumps to remove all chemically-active species, retaining inert noble gases. The enriched sample is leaked into passively pumped vacuum chamber where it is analyzed by the QIT-MS sensor (QIT-MS-S) for 40 minutes. The simulated mass spectrum, as recorded by the QIT-MS-S, is deconvoluted using random walk algorithm to reveal relative abundances of noble gas isotopes. The required precision and accuracy of the deconvolution method is benchmarked against the a priori known model composition of the atmospheric sample.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pediatric populations is high. In the present study we analyzed associations between vitamin D therapy and pain, mobility, fatigue, and daily functioning in children with musculoskeletal/orthopedic conditions suffering from chronic and recurrent pain, but also diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency. MATERIAL AND METHODSChildren with different musculoskeletal/orthopedic conditions and vitamin D deficiency were prescribed to receive vitamin D over 6 months. Thirty-five children (18 males; age 10.48 ± 3.87 years) completed a 6-month follow-up. Self-and parent/proxy rating scales were used to evaluate pain, movement, fatigue, and daily functioning. RESULTSAt a six-month follow-up assessment involving child-and parent-reported scores, worst pain intensity significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.03) after vitamin D therapy, as well as functioning problems related to pain (p ≤ 0.01). The children reported better movement and balance with less fatigue. The parents reported better functioning in everyday activities of their children. CONCLUSIONThis pilot study showed that vitamin D therapy possibly reduces pain intensity and improves mobility and daily functioning in children with musculoskeletal/orthopedic disorders, chronic recurrent pain, and vitamin D deficiency. Further follow-up and randomized studies are required in order to assess the validity of clinical recommendations.
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