<p>The first objective of this research has always been carry out a study of visual techniques SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping), specifically the type monovisual, less studied than the stereo. These techniques have been well studied in the world of robotics. These techniques are focused on reconstruct a map of the robot enviroment while maintaining its position information in that map. We chose to investigate a method to encode the points by the inverse of its depth, from the first time that the feature was observed. This method permits efficient and accurate representation of uncertainty during undelayed initialization and beyond, all within the standard extended Kalman filter (EKF).At first, the study mentioned it should be consolidated developing an application that implements this method. After suffering various difficulties, it was decided to make use of a platform developed by the same author of Slam method mentioned in MATLAB. Until then it had developed the tasks of calibration, feature extraction and matching. From that point, that application was adapted to the characteristics of our camera and our video to work. We recorded a video with our camera following a known trajectory to check the calculated path shown in the application. Corroborating works and studying the limitations and advantages of this method.</p>

The first objective of this research has always been carry out a study of visual techniques SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping), specifically the type monovisual, less studied than the stereo. These techniques have been well studied in the world of robotics. These techniques are focused on reconstruct a map of the robot enviroment while maintaining its position information in that map. We chose to investigate a method to encode the points by the inverse of its depth, from the first time that the feature was observed. This method permits efficient and accurate representation of uncertainty during undelayed initialization and beyond, all within the standard extended Kalman filter (EKF).At first, the study mentioned it should be consolidated developing an application that implements this method. After suffering various difficulties, it was decided to make use of a platform developed by the same author of Slam method mentioned in MATLAB. Until then it had developed the tasks of calibration, feature extraction and matching. From that point, that application was adapted to the characteristics of our camera and our video to work. We recorded a video with our camera following a known trajectory to check the calculated path shown in the application. Corroborating works and studying the limitations and advantages of this method.

The first objective of this research has always been carry out a study of visual techniques SLAM (Simultaneous localization and mapping), specifically the type monovisual, less studied than the stereo. These techniques have been well studied in the world of robotics. These techniques are focused on reconstruct a map of the robot enviroment while maintaining its position information in that map. We chose to investigate a method to encode the points by the inverse of its depth, from the first time that the feature was observed. This method permits efficient and accurate representation of uncertainty during undelayed initialization and beyond, all within the standard extended Kalman filter (EKF).At first, the study mentioned it should be consolidated developing an application that implements this method. After suffering various difficulties, it was decided to make use of a platform developed by the same author of Slam method mentioned in MATLAB. Until then it had developed the tasks of calibration, feature extraction and matching. From that point, that application was adapted to the characteristics of our camera and our video to work. We recorded a video with our camera following a known trajectory to check the calculated path shown in the application. Corroborating works and studying the limitations and advantages of this method.

There are many different algorithms that have been shown to solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem depending on the type of input data. Many of these algorithms use some form of cumulative current position as a state variable and only store landmarks in their globally mapped form, discarding past data. This thesis takes a different approach in not using current position as a cumulative state variable and storing and using past data. Landmarks are mapped relative to each other in their untransformed states and use either three points or one plane to maintain translation and rotation invariance. The Relative algorithms can use both current and past data for accuracy purposes. Using this approach, the SLAM problem is solved by data structures and algorithms rather than probabilistic modeling. The Relative algorithms are shown to be good solutions to the simulated SLAM problems tested in this thesis. In particular the Relative Point algorithm is shown to have a worst case computation complexity of O(nslogns). ns is the average quantity of points observed in a given observation and is not related to the total quantity of points on the map. The Relative Point algorithm is able to identify points with movement that is not correlated to the viewpoint at a low cost, and has comparable accuracy to a 6D no odometry Extended Kalman Filter.

In this study an investigation was made on whether a petroleum based polyelectrolyte could be replaced by a biodegradable polymer. This was done to enable the use of sludge from the biogas plant of the dairy in Umeå, Sweden, as fertilizer. The properties and effectiveness of a starch based polyelectrolyte were compared to polyacrylamide in laboratory tests. Other biodegradable polyelectrolytes were also presented. The tests were made on sludge from the dairy. In tests with a waste water with a low dry substance content (&lt;0,1 %) the dewatering effects were similar between polyacrylamide and the starch based polymer. Starch had a small effect on dewatering sludge with a higher dry substance content (4 %). Cellulose fibers in combination with starch increased the amount of dewatered sludge, but polyacrylamide was still the most effective polyelectrolyte. A starch based polymer could be an alternative to polyacrylamide, if cellulose fibers are added. Other biodegradable polyelectrolytes which could have sufficient dewatering effects are chitosan and tannins. There were methodical problems in this study with the accuracy of measuring dry substance content and a difference in dilution of sludge samples when adding chemicals. To proceed in the search for biodegradable alternatives to polyacrylamide at the biogas plant the first step is to develop reliable methods for evaluating the effects of different polyelectrolytes.   Key words: dewatering, sludge, polyelectrolyte, biodegradable

Allt färre globala tillgångar av fosfatmalmer, som används främst som mineralgödsel inom jordbruket, leder till att återföring av fosfor från olika källor blir allt mer viktigt. I Naturvårdsverkets utredning ”Hållbar återföring av fosfor” undersöks olika fosforflöden och deras potential för hållbar återföring bedöms. Utredningen omfattar bland annat avloppsslam och matavfall och föreslår nya gränsvärden för fraktioner som sprids på åkermark. Sundets reningsverk har samrötat avloppsslam och matavfall sedan år 2007. Rötslammet används främst som gödsel inom jordbruket. De nya gränsvärdena kan påverka spridningsmöjligheten på åkermark. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utvärdera slamkvalitéten vid Sundets reningsverk med avseende på halter av metaller och organiska ämnen den senaste tioårsperioden. Arbetet undersöker hur halterna förhåller sig till gällande och framtida gränsvärden och mål. I utvärderingen föreslås ämnen som bör prioriteras i reningsverkets uppströmsarbete. Med hjälp av studier av metallhalter i matavfallet vid Sundets reningsverk samt litteraturstudier inom området undersöks matavfallets påverkan på metallhalter i rötslammet. Studien visar att Sundets reningsverk har goda förutsättningar att fortsätta sprida sitt rötslam på åkermark. Analyserade ämnen klarar gällande och majoriteten av föreslagna gränsvärden. Flera faktorer kan dock påverka metallinnehållet i slammet. Kadmium, kvicksilver, silver och zink är metaller som bör uppmärksammas i Sundets uppströmsarbete.

There are many different algorithms that have been shown to solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem depending on the type of input data. Many of these algorithms use some form of cumulative current position as a state variable and only store landmarks in their globally mapped form, discarding past data. This thesis takes a different approach in not using current position as a cumulative state variable and storing and using past data. Landmarks are mapped relative to each other in their untransformed states and use either three points or one plane to maintain translation and rotation invariance. The Relative algorithms can use both current and past data for accuracy purposes. Using this approach, the SLAM problem is solved by data structures and algorithms rather than probabilistic modeling. The Relative algorithms are shown to be good solutions to the simulated SLAM problems tested in this thesis. In particular the Relative Point algorithm is shown to have a worst case computation complexity of O(nslogns). ns is the average quantity of points observed in a given observation and is not related to the total quantity of points on the map. The Relative Point algorithm is able to identify points with movement that is not correlated to the viewpoint at a low cost, and has comparable accuracy to a 6D no odometry Extended Kalman Filter.

The ability to precisely determine one's location in within the world (localisation) is a key requirement for any robot wishing to navigate through the world. For long-term operation, such a localisation system must be robust to changes in the environment, both short term (eg. traffic, weather) and long term (eg. seasons). This thesis presents two methods for performing such localisation using cameras - small, cheap, lightweight sensors that are universally available. Whilst many image-based localisation systems have been proposed in the past, they generally rely on either feature matching, which fails under many degradations such as motion blur, or on photometric consistency, which fails under changing illumination. The methods we propose here directly align images with a dense prior map. The first method uses maps synthesised from a combination of LIDAR scanners to generate geometry and cameras to generate appearance, whilst the second uses vision for both mapping and localisation. Both make use of an information-theoretic metric, Normalised Information Distance (NID), for image alignment, relaxing the appearance constancy assumption inherent in photometric methods. Our methods require significant computational resources, but through the use of commodity GPUs, we are able to run them at a rate of 8-10Hz. Our GPU implementations make use of low level OpenGL, enabling compatibility across almost any GPU hardware. We also present a method for calibrating multi-sensor systems, enabling the joint use of cameras and LIDAR for mapping. Through experiments on both synthetic data and real-world data from over 100km of driving outdoors, we demonstrate the robustness of our localisation system to large variations in appearance. Comparisons with state-of-the-art feature-based and direct methods show that ours is significantly more robust, whilst maintaining similar precision.

Sweden's largest sewage treatment plant, Henrikdal, will be rebuilt to receive twice as much sludge than they can do today. To have the ability to do that, either the level of total solids (TS) must increase or expand the rotary chambers. Off which the second option is to be avoided due to the high costs.The report will answer why the origin, viscosity, shear rate, temperature and TS-level of the sludge is important to consider when pumping it. Also, the report will show results of how the viscosity will get higher either when the TS-level or the shear rate is increasing as well as the temperature is decreasing. Beyond that, the report will contain source gathering, method, conclusion, discussion and ends with proposals for further research.

Le thymus est un organe permettant le développement des lymphocytes T, partie intégrante du système immunitaire. Ces cellules sont communément associées au système immunitaire adaptatif, bien que certaines populations, dont les lymphocytes iNKT et T©tm, soient associées au système immunitaire inné. De manière générale, ces lymphocytes « innés » sont capables de répondre très rapidement à différents signaux d’activation, par la production rapide et massive d’IL‐4, d’IFN‐© et d’IL‐17. Notre laboratoire a mis en évidence l’existence de deux sous‐populations de lymphocytes iNKT, iNKT conventionnels et iNKT17, ayant deux voies de différenciation thymique bien distinctes, mais dont les mécanismes de détermination sont encore inconnus. Il a été montré que « SLAM‐associated protein » (SAP) est indispensable au développement des lymphocytes iNKT, puisqu’ils sont absents chez les souris déficientes en SAP. D’autre part, ces mêmes souris montrent également une déficience de la réponse Th2. Nous avons alors émis l’hypothèse que SAP pourrait être impliqué dans la production d’IL‐4 par les lymphocytes iNKT, et dans la détermination des deux sous‐populations de lymphocytes iNKT conventionnel ou producteur d’IL‐17. Dans une première partie, nous avons utilisé des souris triple mutantes Sap‐/‐ V©14Tg‐ROR(©t)‐Egfp, permettant l’étude des sous‐populations de lymphocytes iNKT malgré la déficience en SAP. Nous avons ainsi montré que SAP est indispensable à l’acquisition thymique de la capacité de production d’IL‐4 par les lymphocytes iNKT conventionnels. Chez ces souris déficientes en SAP, nous avons observé une augmentation de la fréquence des lymphocytes iNKT17 ROR©tpos producteurs d’IL‐17, ce qui montre clairement que SAP n’est pas nécessaire pour l’acquisition des propriétés fonctionnelles des lymphocytes iNKT17. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence une nouvelle fonction de SAP dans le développement thymique des cellules iNKT productrices d’IL‐4. De plus, nos résultats montrent que SAP est un point de contrôle obligatoire déterminant l’orientation de la différenciation thymique des cellules iNKT vers les cellules iNKT17 ou vers les cellules iNKT conventionnelles. En parallèle des lymphocytes iNKT17 présents dans le thymus, nous avons également analysé une autre population T particulière : des thymocytes TCR©posCD4pos matures et producteurs d’IL‐17, les lymphocytes Th17 naturels. Nous avons mis en évidence que ces lymphocytes expriment le facteur de transcription ROR©t. Ces lymphocytes T CD4posCD8negCD44hiROR©tpos sont capables de produire rapidement et massivement de l’IL‐17, mais requièrent l’IL‐23 pour co‐produire l’IL‐22. De plus, ils se distinguent des lymphocytes Th17 induits, ou conventionnels, par l’expression du facteur de transcription PLZF et par leur capacité à répondre très rapidement à des stimuli pro‐inflammatoires, nommément l’IL‐23 associé à l’IL‐1©et un agoniste TLR4. Les résultats obtenus durant cette thèse ouvrent donc de nombreuses perspectives de recherches fondamentale et thérapeutique, domaine dans lequel l’IL‐17 est devenu une cible privilégiée pour le traitement des maladies auto‐immunes / Pas de résumé en anglais