Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Thesis--University of Oklahoma. / Bibliography: leaves 79-81.

Improving robotic manipulation is critical for robots to be actively useful in realworld factories and homes. While some success has been shown in simulation and controlled environments, robots are slow, clumsy, and not general or robust enough when interacting with their environment. By contrast, humans effortlessly manipulate objects. One possible reason for this discrepancy is that, starting from birth, humans have years of experience to collect data and develop good internal models of what happens when they manipulate objects. If robots could also learn models from a large amount of real data, perhaps they, too, could become more capable manipulators. In this thesis, we propose to improve robotic manipulation by solving two problems. First, we look at how robots can collect a large amount of manipulation data without human intervention. Second, we study how to build statistical models of robotic manipulation from the collected data. These data-driven models can then be used for planning more robust manipulation actions. To solve the first problem of enabling large data collection, we perform several different robotic manipulation experiments and use these as case studies. We study bin-picking, post-grasp manipulation, pushing, tray tilting, planar grasping, and regrasping. These case studies allow us to gain insights on how robots can collect a large amount of accurate data with minimal human intervention. To solve the second problem of statistically modeling manipulation actions, we propose models for different parts of various manipulation actions. First, we look at how to model post-grasp manipulation actions by modeling the probability distribution of where an object ends up in a robot’s hand, and how this affects its success rate at various tasks such as placing or insertion. Second, we model how robots can change the pose of an object in their hand with regrasp actions. Third, we improve on the place and pick regrasp action by modeling each separately with more data. These learned data-driven models can then be used for planning more robust and accurate manipulation actions.

Orientadores: Secundino Soares Filho, Marinho Gomes de Andrade Filho / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T04:56:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Siqueira_ThaisGamade_D.pdf: 1878251 bytes, checksum: c4c0b7a2af163305b181cf917f725354 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O planejamento da operação energética (POE) tem como objetivo determinar metas de geração para cada usina do sistema elétrico a cada estágio (mês) do período de planejamento (anos) que minimizam o custo total de operação, atendendo a demanda e respeitando as restrições operativas das usinas. A Programação Dinâmica (PD) é a ferramenta mais utilizada na resolução do POE devido, entre outras coisas, a sua capacidade de representar a natureza estocástica das vazões afluentes futuras. Entretanto, a PD é restrita pela "maldição da dimensionalidade", pois o esforço computacional cresce exponencialmente com o aumento do número de usinas consideradas. Para poder utilizar a PD no POE de sistemas de grande porte, como o brasileiro, com centenas de usinas, uma abordagem adotada baseia-se na agregação do sistema hidrelétrico em reservatórios equivalentes, reduzindo a dimensão do sistema - quatro reservatórios equivalentes no caso do sistema brasileiro. Este trabalho visa elaborar uma análise comparativa detalhada de diversas políticas operativas para o POE baseadas em PD com o objetivo de estimar o benefício do seu uso em sistemas equivalentes. Para melhor comparar as diferentes políticas são considerados somente sistemas formados por uma única usina, evitando-se assim o efeito das simplificações e limitações dos modelos equivalentes. Alem disso, são comparadas diferentes modelagens para as distribuições de probabilidades das vazões na PD. Os desempenhos das diferentes políticas são avaliados por simulação no histórico de vazões e os resultados, considerando usinas hidrelétricas localizadas em diferentes bacias do sistema brasileiro, indicam que as diferenças não são expressivas / Abstract: The medium term hydrothermal scheduling problem aims to determine, for each stage (month) of the planning period (years), the amount of generation at each hydro and thermal plant that attends the load demand and minimizes the expected operation cost in the planning period. Dynamic programming has been the most applied technique to solve the long term hydrothermal scheduling problem because it adequately copes with the uncertainty of inflows. Although efficient in the treatment of river inflows as random variables described by probability distributions, the dynamic programming technique is limited by the so-called "curse of dimensionality" since its computational burden increases exponentially with the number of hydro plants. In order to overcome this difficulty, allowing the use of dynamic programming in medium term hydrothermal scheduling, one common manipulation adopted is to represent the hydro system by an aggregate model, as it is the case in the Brazilian power system. This work evaluates the influence of inflow modeling in the performance of dynamic programming for medium term hydrothermal scheduling. Different models have been progressively considered in order to evaluate the benefits of increasing sophistication of inflow modelling. Features and sensitivities of different models are discussed. Numerical results for hydrothermal test systems composed by a single hydro plant located in several Brazilian rivers were obtained by simulation and indicated that the differences among the policies are not significant / Doutorado / Energia Eletrica / Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica

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The concept of intelligent CAD systems to assist a designer in automating the design process has been discussed for years. It has been recognized that knowledge engineering techniques and the study of design theory can provide certain solutions to this approach. A major issue in developing intelligent CAD systems for geometric modeling is the integration of the design geometry with the representation of the design constraints. Current commercial computer aided design (CAD) systems are used primarily for recording the results of the design process. Using conventional CAD systems, a design engineer either must create the geometry of the design object with precise coordinates and dimensions, or start his design from an existing geometry of a previous design. It is difficult to propagate a dimensional change throughout an entire model -- especially solid models. This rigidity imposed by conventional CAD systems discourages a designer from exploring different approaches in creating a novel product. / Ph. D.

In an integrated design environment, the common thread between the different design stages is usually the geometric model of the part. However, the requirements for the geometric definition of the design is usually different for each stage. The transformation of data between these different stages is essential for the success of the integrated design environment. For example, conceptual design systems usually deal with geometric dimensional parameters (e.g. length, radius, etc.) whereas preliminary design systems frequently require the geometry definition to be in the form of surface models. This dissertation presents the necessity and scope of creating and implementing methodologies to obtain dimensional geometric parameters from the surface description of an object. Since the study of geometric modeling and parametric surfaces is a new field, few classical methods are applicable. Methods and algorithms for the extraction of various geometry parameters are created. A few methods to pre-process and manipulate these surfaces before the parameter extraction methods can be applied are outlined. One of the most important applications of parameter extraction is in the field of aircraft design. There are two important aspects of geometry data conversion in the design cycle. The first is the conversion from conceptual CAD models to CFD compatible models. The second is the conversion from surface representations of CFD models to obtain component parameters (e.g. wing span, fuselage fineness ratio, moments of inertia, etc.). The methods created in this dissertation are used to extract geometric parameters of importance in aircraft design. This enables the design cycle to be complete and promotes integrated design. These methods have been implemented in the aircraft design software, ACSYNT. Examples of the conversion of data from B-spline surface models to dimensional geometric parameters using these methods are included. The emphasis of this dissertation is on non-uniform B-spline surfaces. Methods for obtaining geometric parameters from aircraft models described by characteristic points are also considered briefly. / Ph. D.

The personal computer is rapidly finding its way into the architectural working environment, at this time however it is used mostly as a drafting tool. This thesis is an investigation into programming that would allow the computer to become a design tool. The issues that are dealt with in this thesis include an easy to use user interface that will not inhibit the design process, and develop a system that will allow design changes and additions to a model in a three dimensional sketch like ability. Three dimensional models of paper, clay, wood and other materials have been used to create designs, and aid the designer in making decisions. This type of medium is difficult to make changes, and because of the scale of such materials it becomes difficult to work on interior spaces, thus more attention is usually placed on the exterior design. With the use of the computer these limitations may be eliminated, and the designer may create a design from any perspective or view point. / Master of Architecture

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"May 2002" Includes list of papers published during this study Errata slip inserted inside back cover of v. 1 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 331-357) V. 1. [Text} -- v. 2. Appendices Develops an alternative design flood estimation methodology. Establishing a relationship between catchment characteristics and the rainfall excess frequency duration proportions enables the definition of these proportions for generic catchment types, increasing the potential for translation to catchments with limited data but similar hydrographic properties, thereby improving design process.