In present road traffic system, drone-network based traffic monitoring using the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) is a promising solution. However, camera-based traffic monitoring does not collect complete data, cover all areas, provide quick medical services, or take vehicle follow-ups in case of an incident. Drone-based system helps to derive important information (such as commuter's behavior, traffic patterns, vehicle follow-ups) and sends this information to centralized or distributed authorities for making traffic diversions or necessary decisions as per laws. The present approaches fail to meet the requirements such as (i) collision free, (ii) drone navigation, and (iii) less computational and communicational overheads. This work has considered the collision-free drone-based movement strategies for road traffic monitoring using Software Defined Networking (SDN). The SDN controllable drone network results in lesser overhead over drones and provide efficient drone-device management. In simulation, two case studies are simulated using JaamSim simulator. Results show that the zones-based strategy covers a large area in few hours and consume 5 kWs to 25 kWs energy for 150 drones (Case study 1). Zone-less based strategies (case study-2) show that the energy consumption lies between 5 kWs to 18 kWs for 150 drones. Further, the use of SDN-based drones controller reduces the overhead over drone-network and increases the area coverage with a minimum of 1.2% and maximum of 2.6%. Simulation (using AnyLogic simulator) shows the 3D view of successful implementation of collision free strategies.

In this dissertation, regularization of simultaneous binary collision, existence of a Schubart-like periodic orbit, existence of a planar symmetric periodic orbit with multiple simultaneous binary collisions, and their linear stabilities are studied. The detailed background of those problems is introduced in chapter 1. The singularities of simultaneous binary collision in the collinear four-body problem is regularized in chapter 2. We use canonical transformations to collectively analytically continue the singularities of the simultaneous binary collision solutions in both the decoupled case and the coupled case. All the solutions are found and more importantly, we find a crucial first integral which describes the relationship between the decoupled solutions and the coupled solutions. In chapter 3, we show the existence of a Schubart-like orbit, a periodic orbit with singularities in the symmetric collinear four-body problem. In each period of the orbit, there is a binary collision (BC) between the inner two bodies and a simultaneous binary collision (SBC) of the two clusters on both sides of the origin. The system is regularized and the existence is proven by using a "turning point" technique and a continuity argument on differential equations of the regularized Hamiltonian. Analytical methods are used in chapter 4 to prove the existence of a periodic, symmetric solution with singularities in the planar 4-body problem. A numerical calculation and simulation are used to generate the orbit. The analytical method can be extended to any even number of bodies. Multiple simultaneous binary collisions are a key feature of the orbits generated. In chapter 5, we apply the analytic-numerical method of Roberts to determine the linear stability of time-reversible periodic simultaneous binary collision orbits in the symmetric collinear four body problem with masses 1, m, m , 1, and also in a symmetric planar four-body problem with equal masses. For the collinear problem, this verifies the earlier numerical results of Sweatman for linear stability.

In present road traffic system, drone-network based traffic monitoring using the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) is a promising solution. However, camera-based traffic monitoring does not collect complete data, cover all areas, provide quick medical services, or take vehicle follow-ups in case of an incident. Drone-based system helps to derive important information (such as commuter's behavior, traffic patterns, vehicle follow-ups) and sends this information to centralized or distributed authorities for making traffic diversions or necessary decisions as per laws. The present approaches fail to meet the requirements such as (i) collision free, (ii) drone navigation, and (iii) less computational and communicational overheads. This work has considered the collision-free drone-based movement strategies for road traffic monitoring using Software Defined Networking (SDN). The SDN controllable drone network results in lesser overhead over drones and provide efficient drone-device management. In simulation, two case studies are simulated using JaamSim simulator. Results show that the zones-based strategy covers a large area in few hours and consume 5 kWs to 25 kWs energy for 150 drones (Case study 1). Zone-less based strategies (case study-2) show that the energy consumption lies between 5 kWs to 18 kWs for 150 drones. Further, the use of SDN-based drones controller reduces the overhead over drone-network and increases the area coverage with a minimum of 1.2% and maximum of 2.6%. Simulation (using AnyLogic simulator) shows the 3D view of successful implementation of collision free strategies.

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Robotic automation has evolved to be an irreplaceable part of production lines. Orderly operation of the robots is a key factor. Yet robots often have to deal with unpredictable factors including human beings or possible failures that lead to unexpected behaviours. Collision avoidance mechanisms are therefore of outmost importance to prevent injuries and damage. A major challenge in the creation of a dependable collision avoidance system is the sensory system that could cover relevant parts of the robot and capacitive sensors are a promising solution. The burden is to overcome the nonlinearity and other limitations of the capacitive sensors and harness their potential to this end. It is cumbersome to estimate the proximity of surfaces of the robot from its environment (which could include other robots) from the capacitive readings, so a novel sensing approach is proposed in this thesis. For industrial applications where the motions are well-defined, a pre-recorded capacitive signature can be used to monitor for unexpected changes. In this thesis the capacitive signature of one or more robotic arms will be used to predict and prevent collisions in a robotic workcell. A short training cycle is used to create a signature that is used at runtime to monitor the robot operation. Capacitive electrodes are placed on strategic locations on the robot arms and the surrounding environments and a supervisor computer uses the readings to cease the operation in case of any abnormality. This thesis describes the details of generating the signature from the training data and the runtime software. The supervisor computer provides a pause and/or go signal to the robot(s). The native controller of each arm is kept in place and the only change needed is the ability of each controller to pause the arm at command when a collision is detected and continue from this paused state. This approach requires minimum changes to the existing robotic equipments and programmes. These hardware requirements are widely available on existing controllers. Signature creation is the process of finding the normal pattern of the capacitance readings from all sensors as well as some expected limits allowing for the variations that are to be expected. The algorithms, reasoning, and experimental data are provided throughout the text. The system is tested on a robotic workcell that includes an actively controlled robot and a passive revolute joint. While the algorithm is universal, the suggested hardware has been shown to provide sampling times of down to 20ms, and positional accuracies of ±2mm or better are achieved for the test setup. The thesis also proposes methods to expand the measurement hardware for increased protection and fault tolerance. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Dans ce projet de recherche, deux types de modèles physiques paramétriques construits par une combinaison de ressorts, de masses et de liaisons sont présentés pour étudier l’impact frontal d’un véhicule de type Dodge 2001. Également, deux modèles linéaires paramétriques (LMS) à 5 degrés de liberté sont introduits et vérifiés, en référence aux travaux de recherche de Mr Javad Marzbanrad et de Mr Mostafa Pahlavani. Les ressorts et les amortisseurs utilisés sont déterminés via une optimisation des décélérations, tenant compte des résultats numériques par éléments finis et ceux provenant de l’expérience. Plus précisément, ces paramètres sont identifiés par une minimisation de l’erreur moyenne quadratique entre les résultats des simulations et les tests expérimentaux lors de l’impact frontal. / In this study, two types of physical parametric models built using a combination of springs, masses and links are introduced for a vehicle frontal crash study. In addition, two 5DOF linear parametric models (LMS) are proposed and checked, based on the previous investigation made by Mr Javad Marzbanrad and Mostafa Pahlavani. The values of spring and dampers have been determined using an optimisation of deceleration, considering the numerical results from finite element and experimental results. These determined values have been calculated on the basis of minimisation of the root mean square of the difference between simulated and experimental results as occurred for occupants in the frontal crash.

Over the past few decades, wireless local area networks (WLANs) have been widely deployed for data communication in indoor environments such as offices, houses, and airports. In order to fairly and efficiently use the unlicensed frequency band that Wi-Fi devices share, the devices follow a set of channel access rules, which is called a wireless medium access control (MAC) protocol. It is known that wireless devices following the 802.11 standard MAC protocol, i.e. the distributed coordination function (DCF), suffer from packet collisions when multiple nodes simultaneously transmit. This significantly degrades the throughput performance. Recently, several studies have reported access techniques to reduce the number of packet collisions and to achieve a collision free WLAN. Although these studies have shown that the number of collisions can be reduced to zero in a simple way, there have been a couple of remaining issues to solve, such as dynamic parameter adjustment and fairness to legacy DCF nodes in terms of channel access opportunity. Recently, In-Band Full Duplex (IBFD) communication has received much attention, because it has significant potential to improve the communication capacity of a radio band. IBFD means that a node can simultaneously transmit one signal and receive another signal in the same band at the same time. In order to maximize the performance of IBFD communication capability and to fairly share access to the wireless medium among distributed devices in WLANs, a number of IBFD MAC protocols have been proposed. However, little attention has been paid to fairness issues between half duplex nodes (i.e. nodes that can either transmit or receive but not both simultaneously in one time-frequency resource block) and IBFD capable nodes in the presence of the hidden node problem.

I detta examensarbete har jag undersökt förmågan hos nautiker att ta fram och tillgodogöra sig information från radar och ARPA för sitt beslutsunderlag i trafiksituationer. Syftet var att få förståelse i om fartygsbefäl haft svårigheter att få fram denna mycket relevanta information. Detta gjordes med hjälp av förstudier i form av intervjuer med erfarna fartygsbefäl. Dessa intervjuer gav kriterier som möjliggjorde analyseringen av 13 olycksfallsrapporter, vilket utgjorde litteraturstudien. Dessa rapporter var författade av engelska Department of Transport, Marine Investigation Branch(MAIB), Statenshaverikommission(SHK) och  Sjöfartsverkets rapportserie(SjöfR). Dessutom användes både sjö- och luftfartsrelaterade artiklar för framtagning av fakta. Slutsatserna visade att man i hälften av fallen använt sig av väldigt låg nivå på funktionalitet för sitt beslutsunderlag, men att även i de fall man använt mer avancerad funktionalitet fann man brister i tolkning av informationen för att i tid ta beslut för att undvika olyckor. / This is a study about the Navigating Mariners ability to locate and use information from the Radar and ARPA, before taking important decisions in Trafic Situations. The purpose was to acquire an understanding if there are some difficulties in receiving this important information. This purpose was accomplished by a pre-investigation using two interviews with experienced deck officers. This pre-study produced criterias, that made it possible to compare 13 Accident Reports. These reports were used as a litterature for the investigation. The Department of Transport, Marine Investigation Branch(MAIB), The Swedish Accident Investigation Board(SHK) and The Swedish Maritime Safety Inspectorate(SjöfR) had produced these reports. In addition to these reports, the author used both maritime- and aeronautical based articles in order to find more facts about the issues around the investigation. The findings showed that in half of the investigated accidents the mariners involved had used a low level of functionality before making the final decisions. It was also shown, that the ones that had used a very high level of functionality, before the accident, misinterpreted the information and failed to take the right decision in ample time before the accident.

Thesis submitted in compliance with the requirements of the Master's Degree in Technology: Mechanical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Automotive bumpers are installed primarily to minimize damage and harm to both the automobile and passengers during minor and low speed collisions. The efficacy of the current bumper systems lies in absorbing the impact energy. The primary mechanism for energy absorption is damage. In this study an attempt is made to shift from this traditional design platform by exploring non-destructive energy dissipation mechanisms. In pursuit of this, an alternative bumper system that simulates human-arm ergonomic response to impact has been proposed. The system capitalizes on the characteristic dissipative mechanics of granular media. A mathematical model describing the dissipative mechanics of the system is presented. The model shows that granular media can be used effectively to re-direct the impulse wave away from its axis of incidence. The resulting effect is that the impulse wave is attenuated through the thickness. A second mathematical model, based on the Concept of Energy Balance has been developed. Here, the total impact energy is shown to be absorbed or dissipated by the individual components of the system. The largest component of this energy is taken up by sliding and rotation of the granular media. Both models are validated by experimentation. A prototype system has been built and tested. The system effectively manages impact energy with minimal or no damage to the constituent components. The system demonstrates an ability to recover dimensionally when loaded under FMVSS conditions. / Post Graduate Development Support

This thesis investigates the problem of sensors used with mobile robots. Firstly, a colour sensor is considered, for its ability to detect objects having the three primary colours Red, Green and Blue (RGB). Secondly, an accelerometer was investigated, from which velocity was derived from the raw data using numerical integration. The purpose of the design and development of the sensors was to use them for robotic navigation and collision avoidance. This report presents the results of experiments carried out on the colour sensor and the accelerometer. A discussion of the results and some conclusions are also presented. It proved feasible to achieve the goal of detecting colours successfully but only for a limited distance. The accelerometer proved reliable but is not yet being applied in real time. Both the colour sensor and the accelerometer proved to be inexpensive. Some recommendations are made to improve both the colour sensor and the accelerometer sensors.