Recently there has been a tremendous growth of research emphasizing control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) either in isolation or in teams. As a matter of fact, UAVs increasingly find their way to applications, especially in military and law enforcement (e.g., reconnaissance, remote delivery of urgent equipment/material, resource assessment, environmental monitoring, battlefield monitoring, ordnance delivery, etc.). This trend will continue in the future, as UAVs are poised to replace the human-in-the-loop during dangerous missions. Civilian applications of UAVs are also envisioned such as crop dusting, geological surveying, search and rescue operations, etc. In this thesis we propose a new online multiresolution path planning algorithm for a small UAV with limited on-board computational resources. The proposed approach assumes that the UAV has detailed information of the environment and the obstacles only in its vicinity. Information about far-away obstacles is also available, albeit less accurately. The proposed algorithm uses the fast lifting wavelet transform (FLWT) to get a multiresolution cell decomposition of the environment, whose dimension is commensurate to the on-board computational resources. A topological graph representation of the multiresolution cell decomposition is constructed efficiently, directly from the approximation and detail wavelet coefficients. Dynamic path planning is sequentially executed for an optimal path using the A* algorithm over the resulting graph. The proposed path planning algorithm is implemented on-line on a small autopilot. Comparisons with the standard D*-lite algorithm are also presented. We also investigate the problem of generating a smooth, planar reference path from a discrete optimal path. Upon the optimal path being represented as a sequence of cells in square geometry, we derive a smooth B-spline path that is constrained inside a channel that is induced by the geometry of the cells. To this end, a constrained optimization problem is formulated by setting up geometric linear constraints as well as boundary conditions. Subsequently, we construct B-spline path templates by solving a set of distinct optimization problems. For an application to the UAV motion planning, the path templates are incorporated to replace parts of the entire path by the smooth B-spline paths. Each path segment is stitched together while preserving continuity to obtain a final smooth reference path to be used for path following control. The path following control for a small fixed-wing UAV to track the prescribed smooth reference path is also addressed. Assuming the UAV is equipped with an autopilot for low level control, we adopt a kinematic error model with respect to the moving Serret-Frenet frame attached to a path for tracking controller design. A kinematic path following control law that commands heading rate is presented. Backstepping is applied to derive the roll angle command by taking into account the approximate closed-loop roll dynamics. A parameter adaptation technique is employed to account for the inaccurate time constant of the closed-loop roll dynamics during actual implementation. Finally, we implement the proposed hierarchical path control of a small UAV on the actual hardware platform, which is based on an 1/5 scale R/C model airframe (Decathlon) and the autopilot hardware and software. Based on the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation environment, the proposed hierarchical path control algorithm has been validated through the on-line, real-time implementation on a small micro-controller. By a seamless integration of the control algorithms for path planning, path smoothing, and path following, it has been demonstrated that the UAV equipped with a small autopilot having limited computational resources manages to accomplish the path control objective to reach the goal while avoiding obstacles with minimal human intervention.

Transient regimes experienced by dynamic systems may have severe impacts on the operation of the aircraft. They are often regulated by dynamic constraints, requiring the dynamic signals to remain within bounds whose values vary with time. The verification of these peculiar types of constraints, which generally requires high-fidelity time-domain simulation, intervenes late in the system development process, thus potentially causing costly design iterations. The research objective of this thesis is to develop a methodology that integrates the verification of dynamic constraints in the early specification of dynamic systems. In order to circumvent the inefficiencies of time-domain simulation, multivariate dynamic surrogate models of the original time-domain simulation models are generated using wavelet neural networks (or wavenets). Concurrently, an alternate approach is formulated, in which the envelope of the dynamic response, extracted via a wavelet-based multiresolution analysis scheme, is subject to transient constraints. Dynamic surrogate models using sigmoid-based neural networks are generated to emulate the transient behavior of the envelope of the time-domain response. The run-time efficiency of the resulting dynamic surrogate models enables the implementation of a data farming approach, in which the full design space is sampled through a Monte-Carlo Simulation. An interactive visualization environment, enabling what-if analyses, is developed; the user can thereby instantaneously comprehend the transient response of the system (or its envelope) and its sensitivities to design and operation variables, as well as filter the design space to have it exhibit only the design scenarios verifying the dynamic constraints. The proposed methodology, along with its foundational hypotheses, is tested on the design and optimization of a 350VDC network, where a generator and its control system are concurrently designed in order to minimize the electrical losses, while ensuring that the transient undervoltage induced by peak demands in the consumption of a motor does not violate transient power quality constraints.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-361).

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-128). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xix, 136 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-136). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 204-214).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-08-08Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:51:11Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pilastri_al_me_sjrp.pdf: 506207 bytes, checksum: ce2e546b12ea3a6fa5de08a9258bcef8 (MD5) / Na área de processamento de sinais e, particularmente, em processamento de imagens, pesquisas recentes priorizam o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas e métodos que possam ser empregados em um amplo domínio de aplicações. As pirâmides de imagens constituem uma técnica bastante importante na criação de decomposições multirresolução em visão computacional e processamento de imagens. As transformadas de Wavelets podem ser vistas como mecanismos para decompor sinais nas suas partes constituintes, permitindo analisar os dados em diferentes domínios de frequência com a resolução de cada componente relacionada à sua escala. Além disso, na análise de wavelets, pode-se usar funções que estão contidas em regiões finitas, tornando-as convenientes na aproximação de dados com descontinuidades. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho apresentou uma técnica piramidal baseada nas transformações dos Polinômios Potências de Sigmóide (PPS) e suas famílias PPS-Wavelet, para tratamento em imagens digitais. Foram reaizados experimentos utilizando as novas técnicas piramidais e métricas para a avaliação de qualidade imagem, apresentando resultados promissores em relação à acurácia / In the signal processing and image processing fields, recent research give priority to develop new techniques and methods that can be used in a wide field of applications. The pyramids of images are important techniques used in multiresolution decompositions, applied to computer vision and image processing. The wavelet transforms can be viewed as tools to decompose signals into component parts, allowing to analyze the data in different frequency domains with resolution of each component related to your own scale. Furthermore, in the wavelet analysis, can be used functions which are contained in limited areas, making them suitable approximation of the data discontinuities. In this research presents a technique based on pyramid transforms the PPS and PPS-Wavelet families applied to digital images. The experiments using new techniques and pyramidal metrics for evaluation of image quality presents promising results about accuracy

Orientador: João Fernando Marar / Banca: José Remo Ferreira Brega / Banca: Edson Costa de Barros Carvalho Filho / Banca: Antonio Carlos Sementille / Resumo: Na área de processamento de sinais e, particularmente, em processamento de imagens, pesquisas recentes priorizam o desenvolvimento de novas técnicas e métodos que possam ser empregados em um amplo domínio de aplicações. As pirâmides de imagens constituem uma técnica bastante importante na criação de decomposições multirresolução em visão computacional e processamento de imagens. As transformadas de Wavelets podem ser vistas como mecanismos para decompor sinais nas suas partes constituintes, permitindo analisar os dados em diferentes domínios de frequência com a resolução de cada componente relacionada à sua escala. Além disso, na análise de wavelets, pode-se usar funções que estão contidas em regiões finitas, tornando-as convenientes na aproximação de dados com descontinuidades. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho apresentou uma técnica piramidal baseada nas transformações dos Polinômios Potências de Sigmóide (PPS) e suas famílias PPS-Wavelet, para tratamento em imagens digitais. Foram reaizados experimentos utilizando as novas técnicas piramidais e métricas para a avaliação de qualidade imagem, apresentando resultados promissores em relação à acurácia / Abstract: In the signal processing and image processing fields, recent research give priority to develop new techniques and methods that can be used in a wide field of applications. The pyramids of images are important techniques used in multiresolution decompositions, applied to computer vision and image processing. The wavelet transforms can be viewed as tools to decompose signals into component parts, allowing to analyze the data in different frequency domains with resolution of each component related to your own scale. Furthermore, in the wavelet analysis, can be used functions which are contained in limited areas, making them suitable approximation of the data discontinuities. In this research presents a technique based on pyramid transforms the PPS and PPS-Wavelet families applied to digital images. The experiments using new techniques and pyramidal metrics for evaluation of image quality presents promising results about accuracy / Mestre

CAPES / Vídeos digitais se tornaram uma forma de comunicação altamente utilizada na rede, entretanto estes dados são facilmente copiados e distribuídos. Isto se deve ao crescente número de ferramentas que surgiram com este objetivo, causando quebra dos direitos autorais e distribuição ilegal de conteúdo. A solução mais estudada para este problema são as marcas d'água digitais, que provêm segurança em forma de autenticação e verificação de violação. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um novo método de inserção e extração de marcas d'água em um vídeo, usando o processo chamado abordagem lateral. Este possibilita a marcação em blocos de frames. As diversas marcas inseridas são usadas como redundância para aumentar a robustez contra ataques. Os testes realizados seguiram o padrão dos benchmarks Vidmark e Stirmark, os quais demonstram a eficiência do método em manter a marca d'água mesmo após ataques. / Digital videos have become the most used way to communicate, however these data are easily copied and distributed. That happen due the growing number of tools that are create with this goal, causing breach of copyright and illegal distribution of content. The most studied solution that can solve this problem are the digital watermarks that provide security like authentication and tamper detection. In this work, we developed a new method of embedding and extracting watermarks in a video using a process called side view. This process allows watermark a block of frames. The several watermarks embedded can be used like redundance to grow the robustness of the method against attacks. The tests followed the standard benchmarks Vidmark and Stirmark that show the performance of the method in keep the watermark even after attacks.