Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83). / Oceanographic applications of robotics are as varied as the undersea environment itself. As underwater robotics moves toward the study of dynamic processes with multiple vehicles, there is an increasing need to distill large volumes of data from underwater vehicles and deliver it quickly to human operators. While tethered robots are able to communicate data to surface observers instantly, communicating discoveries is more difficult for untethered vehicles. The ocean imposes severe limitations on wireless communications; light is quickly absorbed by seawater, and tradeoffs between frequency, bitrate and environmental effects result in data rates for acoustic modems that are routinely as low as tens of bits per second. These data rates usually limit telemetry to state and health information, to the exclusion of mission-specific science data. In this thesis, I present a system designed for communicating and presenting science telemetry from untethered underwater vehicles to surface observers. The system's goals are threefold: to aid human operators in understanding oceanographic processes, to enable human operators to play a role in adaptively responding to mission-specific data, and to accelerate mission planning from one vehicle dive to the next. The system uses standard lossy compression techniques to lower required data rates to those supported by commercially available acoustic modems (O(10) - O(100) bits per second). / (cont.) As part of the system, a method for compressing time-series science data based upon the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) is explained, a number of low-bitrate image compression techniques are compared, and a novel user interface for reviewing transmitted telemetry is presented. Each component is motivated by science data from a variety of actual Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) missions performed in the last year. / by Christopher Alden Murphy. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), February 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-140). / Self-localization of an underwater vehicle is particularly challenging due to the absence of Global Positioning System (GPS) reception or features at known positions that could otherwise have been used for position computation. Thus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) applications typically require the pre-deployment of a set of beacons.This thesis examines the scenario in which the members of a, group of AUVs exchange navigation information with one another so as to improve their individual position estimates. We describe how the underwater environment poses unique challenges to vehicle navigation not encountered in other environments in which robots operate and how cooperation can improve the performance of self-localization. As intra-vehicle communication is crucial to cooperation, we also address the constraints of the communication channel and the effect that these constraints have on the design of cooperation strategies. The classical approaches to underwater self-localization of a single vehicle, as well as more recently developed techniques are presented. We then examine how methods used for cooperating land-vehicles can be transferred to the underwater domain. An algorithm for distributed self-localization, which is designed to take the specific characteristics of the environment into account, is proposed. We also address how correlated position estimates of cooperating vehicles can lead to overconfidence in individual position estimates. Finally, key to any successful cooperative navigation strategy is the incorporation of the relative positioning between vehicles. The performance of localization algorithms with different geometries is analyzed and a distributed algorithm for the dynamic positioning of vehicles, which serve as dedicated navigation beacons for a fleet of AUVs, is proposed. / by Alexander Bahr. / Ph.D.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / An increasing number of unmanned vehicles (UV) are being incorporated into maritime operations as organic elements of Expeditionary and Carrier Strike Groups for development of the recognized maritime picture. This thesis develops an analytically-based planning aid for allocating UVs to missions. Inputs include the inventory of UVs, sensors, their performance parameters, and operational scenarios. Operations are broken into mission critical functions: detection, identification, and collection. The model output assigns aggregated packages of UVs and sensors to one of the three functions within named areas of interest. A spreadsheet model uses conservative time-speed-distance calculations, and simplified mathematical models from search theory and queuing theory, to calculate measures of performance for possible assignments of UVs to missions. The spreadsheet model generates a matrix as input to a linear integer program assignment model which finds the best assignment of UVs to missions based on the user inputs and simplified models. The results provide the mission planner with quantitatively-based recommendations for unmanned vehicle mission tasking in challenging scenarios. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T14:19:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TIAGO GERKE.pdf: 2494737 bytes, checksum: 62b5d2787dcdebe0e9ccf39bfa75f626 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-03 / Wheat cultivation plays an important role to Brazil and the world economic development, as well as in the human diet. The wheat Brazilian production is insufficient to meet the national demand, making research needed in order to improve the yield of this cereal. The goal of this work was to estimate wheat yield, searching for a predictive model through the data mining techniques, with data obtained from high spatial resolution images collected by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The work was carried out in two experimental areas at Ponta Grossa city, Parana state, where for each area eight images were taken, at different culture development stages, with spatial resolution of 3.4cm/px and two images with resolution 10cm/px and 20cm/px, using an eBee UAV with an RGB and a NIR camera. The image processing was done with the Pix4D software, and resulted in an orthomosaics with reflectance values at different wavelengths: Red, Green and Blue, from the RGB camera and Red, Greed and NIR from the NIR camera, besides an image with NDVI values obtained from the arithmetic of NIR and Red wavelengths. The georeferencing correction of each orthomosaic and the extraction of the reflectance values were done with Quantum GIS geographic information system (GIS). From the extracted reflectance values, databases in different proportions (10%, 20%, 40%, 70% and 100%) were created for data mining, using the SMOReg algorithm, based on a support vector machine (SVM) for regression (SVR). The georreferencing correction using 10 control points provided ortomosaics with mean square error (RSME) of distance of 0.35m, which did not show significant difference compared to the correction with 5 control points (RMSE = 0.38m). The reflectance values were different for each study area, making it difficult to indicate better periods for estimating wheat yield. The highest correlation were obtained with data from RGB camera images, followed by the NIR and NDVI camera, with correlations of 0.6168,0.5423 and 0.5324, respectively. The amount of information extracted from the images, reflected in the proportion of the databases, was not significant to generated predictive models, as well as in the correlation indexes, which were statistically the same. Better correlation indices were obtained from the data extracted from the images with spatial resolution of 20cm/px, which suggests that high spatial resolution images may not be adequate for wheat yield estimation. / O cultivo do trigo desempenha um papel importante no desenvolvimento econômico de várias regiões do Brasil e do mundo, bem como na dieta humana. A produção brasileira do trigo é insuficiente para atender à demanda nacional, tornando necessárias pesquisas com intuito de melhorar a produtividade desse cereal. O objetivo desse trabalho foi a estimativa de produtividade do trigo, a partir da criação de modelos preditivos por meio da mineração de dados obtidos em imagens de alta resolução espacial, coletadas por aeronave remotamente pilotada (RPA). O trabalho foi realizado em duas áreas experimentais na cidade de Ponta Grossa – PR, onde para cada área foram feitas oito coletas de imagens, em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento da cultura, com resolução espacial de 3,4cm/px e duas coletas com resolução 10cm/px e 20cm/px, através de uma RPA eBee utilizando uma câmera RGB e outra NIR. O processamento das imagens foi feito a partir do software Pix4D, e resultou em um ortomosaicos com os valores de refletância em diferentes comprimentos de onda: R, G e B da câmera RGB e R, G e NIR da câmera NIR, além de uma imagem com valores de NDVI obtidos a partir da aritmética das bandas Nir e Red (vermelho). A correção de georreferenciamento de cada ortomosaico e a extração dos valores de refletância foram feitas com auxílio do sistema de informação geográfica (SIG) Quantum GIS. A partir dos valores de refletância extraídos, foram criadas bases de dados em diferentes proporções (10%, 20%, 40%, 70% e 100%) para mineração de dados por meio do algoritmo SMOReg, baseado em máquina de vetor de suporte (SVM) para regressão (SVR). A correção de georreferenciamento utilizando 10 pontos de controle proporcionou ortomosaicos com erro médio quadrático (RSME) de distância de 0,35m, o qual não mostrou diferença significativa para a correção com 5 pontos de controle (RMSE = 0,38m). Os valores de refletância foram diferentes para cada área de estudo, tornando difícil a indicação de melhores períodos para a estimativa de produtividade do trigo. Os maiores índices de correlação da produtividade com os comprimentos de onda, foram obtidos com os dados das imagens da câmera RGB, seguido da câmera NIR e NDVI, com as correlações de 0,6168, 0,5423 e 0,5324, respectivamente. A quantidade de informação extraída das imagens, refletida na proporção das bases de dados, não se mostrou significativa nos modelos preditivos gerados, bem como nos índices de correlação, os quais foram estatisticamente iguais. Índices de correlação melhores foram obtidos a partir dos dados extraídos das imagens com resolução espacial de 20cm/px, o que sugere que imagens de alta resolução espacial podem não ser adequadas para estimativa de produtividade do trigo.

This thesis describes the application of the first-order Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) to the autoignition of high-pressure fuel jets, and to piloted and lifted turbulent jet flames using classical and advanced CMC submodels. A Doubly-Conditional Moment Closure (DCMC) formulation is further proposed. In the first study, CMC is applied to investigate the impact of C₂H₆, H₂ and N₂ additives on the autoignition of high-pressure CH₄ jets injected into lower pressure heated air. A wide range of pre-combustion air temperatures is considered and detailed chemical kinetics are employed. It is demonstrated that the addition of C₂H₆ and H₂ does not change the main CH₄ oxidisation pathways. The decomposition of these additives provides additional ignition-promoting radicals, and therefore leads to shorter ignition delays. N₂ additives do not alter the CH₄ oxidisation pathways, however, they reduce the amount of CH₄ available for reaction, causing delayed ignition. It is further shown that ignition always occurs in lean mixtures and at low scalar dissipation rates. The second study is concerned with the modelling of a piloted CH₄/air turbulent jet flame. A detailed assessment of several Probability Density Function (PDF), Conditional Scalar Dissipation Rate (CSDR) and Conditional Velocity (CV) submodels is first performed. The results of two β-PDF-based implementations are then presented. The two realisations differ by the modelling of the CSDR. Homogeneous (inconsistent) and inhomogeneous (consistent) closures are considered. It is shown that the levels of all reactive scalars, including minor intermediates and radicals, are better predicted when the effects of inhomogeneity are included in the modelling of the CSDR. The two following studies are focused on the consistent modelling of a lifted H₂/N₂ turbulent jet flame issuing into a vitiated coflow. Two approaches are followed to model the PDF. In the first, a presumed β-distribution is assumed, whereas in the second, the Presumed Mapping Function (PMF) approach is employed. Fully consistent CV and CSDR closures based on the β-PDF and the PMF-PDF are employed. The homogeneous versions of the CSDR closures are also considered in order to assess the effect of the spurious sources which stem from the inconsistent modelling of mixing. The flame response is analysed over a narrow range of coflow temperatures (Tc). The stabilisation mechanism is determined from the analysis of the transport budgets in mixture fraction and physical spaces, and the history of radical build-up ahead of the stabilisation height. The β-PDF realisations indicate that the flame is stabilised by autoignition irrespective of the value of Tc. On the other hand, the PMF realisations reveal that the stabilisation mechanism is susceptible to Tc. Autoignition remains the controlling stabilisation mechanism for sufficiently high Tc. However, as Tc is decreased, stabilisation is achieved by means of premixed flame propagation. The analysis of the spurious sources reveals that their effect is small but non-negligible, most notably within the flame zone. Further, the assessment of several H₂ oxidation mechanisms show that the flame is very sensitive to chemical kinetics. In the last study, a DCMC method is proposed for the treatment of fluctuations in non-premixed and partially premixed turbulent combustion. The classical CMC theory is extended by introducing a normalised Progress Variable (PV) as a second conditioning variable beside the mixture fraction. The unburnt and burnt states involved in the normalisation of the PV are specified such that they are mixture fraction-dependent. A transport equation for the normalised PV is first obtained. The doubly-conditional species, enthalpy and temperature transport equations are then derived using the decomposition approach and the primary closure hypothesis is applied. Submodels for the doubly-conditioned unclosed terms which arise from the derivation of DCMC are proposed. As a preliminary analysis, the governing equations are simplified for homogeneous turbulence and a parametric assessment is performed by varying the strain rate levels in mixture fraction and PV spaces.

This thesis describes the application of the first-order Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) to the autoignition of high-pressure fuel jets, and to piloted and lifted turbulent jet flames using classical and advanced CMC submodels. A Doubly-Conditional Moment Closure (DCMC) formulation is further proposed. In the first study, CMC is applied to investigate the impact of C₂H₆, H₂ and N₂ additives on the autoignition of high-pressure CH₄ jets injected into lower pressure heated air. A wide range of pre-combustion air temperatures is considered and detailed chemical kinetics are employed. It is demonstrated that the addition of C₂H₆ and H₂ does not change the main CH₄ oxidisation pathways. The decomposition of these additives provides additional ignition-promoting radicals, and therefore leads to shorter ignition delays. N₂ additives do not alter the CH₄ oxidisation pathways, however, they reduce the amount of CH₄ available for reaction, causing delayed ignition. It is further shown that ignition always occurs in lean mixtures and at low scalar dissipation rates. The second study is concerned with the modelling of a piloted CH₄/air turbulent jet flame. A detailed assessment of several Probability Density Function (PDF), Conditional Scalar Dissipation Rate (CSDR) and Conditional Velocity (CV) submodels is first performed. The results of two β-PDF-based implementations are then presented. The two realisations differ by the modelling of the CSDR. Homogeneous (inconsistent) and inhomogeneous (consistent) closures are considered. It is shown that the levels of all reactive scalars, including minor intermediates and radicals, are better predicted when the effects of inhomogeneity are included in the modelling of the CSDR. The two following studies are focused on the consistent modelling of a lifted H₂/N₂ turbulent jet flame issuing into a vitiated coflow. Two approaches are followed to model the PDF. In the first, a presumed β-distribution is assumed, whereas in the second, the Presumed Mapping Function (PMF) approach is employed. Fully consistent CV and CSDR closures based on the β-PDF and the PMF-PDF are employed. The homogeneous versions of the CSDR closures are also considered in order to assess the effect of the spurious sources which stem from the inconsistent modelling of mixing. The flame response is analysed over a narrow range of coflow temperatures (Tc). The stabilisation mechanism is determined from the analysis of the transport budgets in mixture fraction and physical spaces, and the history of radical build-up ahead of the stabilisation height. The β-PDF realisations indicate that the flame is stabilised by autoignition irrespective of the value of Tc. On the other hand, the PMF realisations reveal that the stabilisation mechanism is susceptible to Tc. Autoignition remains the controlling stabilisation mechanism for sufficiently high Tc. However, as Tc is decreased, stabilisation is achieved by means of premixed flame propagation. The analysis of the spurious sources reveals that their effect is small but non-negligible, most notably within the flame zone. Further, the assessment of several H₂ oxidation mechanisms show that the flame is very sensitive to chemical kinetics. In the last study, a DCMC method is proposed for the treatment of fluctuations in non-premixed and partially premixed turbulent combustion. The classical CMC theory is extended by introducing a normalised Progress Variable (PV) as a second conditioning variable beside the mixture fraction. The unburnt and burnt states involved in the normalisation of the PV are specified such that they are mixture fraction-dependent. A transport equation for the normalised PV is first obtained. The doubly-conditional species, enthalpy and temperature transport equations are then derived using the decomposition approach and the primary closure hypothesis is applied. Submodels for the doubly-conditioned unclosed terms which arise from the derivation of DCMC are proposed. As a preliminary analysis, the governing equations are simplified for homogeneous turbulence and a parametric assessment is performed by varying the strain rate levels in mixture fraction and PV spaces.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The no-tillage system (SPD) was one of the main innovations in Brazilian agriculture, but there are still discussions about how to achieve and maintain its quality and sustainability. The management of SPD areas through management zones presents great potential for this purpose, since it integrates different variables in order to facilitate and increase the technical and computerized management of agricultural practices and consequently the reduction of polluting potencies in environments. Among the main variables used to delimit management zones are the chemical attributes, yield maps and recently the NDVI index. In this sense, with Article I, the objective was to delimit management zones through yield maps and NDVIs derived from satellite images in historical series. To do this, in an area of 118 ha, three yield maps of different cultures between the years of 2010 to 2015 were selected and for each yield map we searched for the images from the Landsat 5 and 8 satellite that included a date in of the cycle of the crop in question from which the NDVI was calculated and also with the intention of verifying the stability of the NDVI generated in different crop cycles, four other satellite images were selected for four crops according to the historical of the study area, between the years 2007 and 2013. In article II, the objective was to verify the variability caused by the winter cover crop in the summer crop and if the NDVI index performed by land and with a RPAS is able to evidence this variability in the summer crop. In an area 73.96 there was applied a sampling grid of 70.71 x 70.71 m (0.5 ha), where soil sampling for chemical analysis and dry matter nutrients accumulated in the winter cover crop of black oats where soybean was sown in the summer, in which in the R5 and R5.5 stages evaluations were carried out with a portable sensor "by land" and with a RPAS for obtaining of the NDVI index and finally the grain yield of the soybean was determined, as well as the final population of plants. With the results, NDVI from satellite images can replace and/or compose the yield maps (article I) and that the dry mass and accumulated nutrients in the winter crop interfere with the yield of the summer crop and the NDVI index performed by land or with a RPAS was effective in expressing this variability (article II). / O Sistema Plantio Direto (SPD) foi uma das principais inovações na agricultura brasileira, contudo ainda há discussões sobre como alcançar e manter sua qualidade e sustentabilidade. A gestão de áreas sob SPD por meio de zonas de manejo, apresenta grande potencial para essa finalidade, pois integra diferentes variáveis afim de facilitar e incrementar a gestão tecnificada e informatizada das práticas agrícolas, e em consequência a redução de potencias poluidores no ambiente. Entre as principais variáveis utilizadas para delimitar zonas de manejo estão os atributos químicos, mapas de rendimento e recentemente o índice NDVI. Nesse sentido, com o artigo I objetivou-se delimitar zonas de manejo por meio de mapas de rendimento e NDVI oriundos de imagens de satélite em series históricas. Para isso, em uma área de 118 ha, selecionou-se três mapas de rendimento de diferentes culturas compreendidas entre os anos de 2010 a 2015 e para cada mapa de rendimento buscou-se selecionar as imagens satélite oriundas série Landsat que compreendessem uma data dentro do ciclo da cultura em questão a partir das quais procedeu-se o cálculo do NDVI e ainda com o intuito de verificar a estabilidade do NDVI gerado em diferentes ciclos de cultivo, foram selecionadas outras quatro imagens de satélites referentes a quatro cultivos, segundo o histórico de cultivo da área de estudo, compreendidos entre os anos de 2007 a 2013. Já no artigo II, o objetivo foi verificar a variabilidade causada pela cultura de cobertura de inverno na cultura de verão e se o índice de NDVI realizado “por terra” e com um RPAS é capaz de evidenciar essa variabilidade na cultura de verão. Em uma área 73,96 ha, aplicou-se uma malha amostral de 70,71 x 70,71 m (0,5 ha), onde realizou-se a amostragem de solo para a análise química e as avaliações de matéria seca e os nutrientes acumulados na cultura de cobertura inverno da aveia preta onde sobre esta, foi semeada no verão a cultura da soja, na qual nos estágios R5 e R5.5 foram realizadas avaliações com um sensor portátil “por terra” e com um RPAS para a obtenção do índice de NDVI e por final determinou-se o rendimento de grãos da soja, bem como, a população final de plantas. Com os resultados, constatou-se que O NDVI foi um bom parâmetro para delimitar duas zonas de manejo de alto e baixo potencial (artigo I) e que a matéria seca e os nutrientes acumulados na cultura de inverno interferem o rendimento da cultura de verão, sendo que o índice de NDVI realizado “por terra” ou com um RPAS foi eficaz em expressar essa variabilidade (artigo II).

Tato diplomová práce se zabývá možnostmi rozvoje a zajištěním bezpečnosti dálkově řízených letadel (RPAS) v ČR. Práce je rozdělena do 3 hlavních částí: legislativní, technické a bezpečnostní. V legislativní části najdeme současné a připravované předpisy pro RPAS. Technická část popisuje vývoj bezpilotního letectví až k dnešním civilním RPAS, které jsou popsány na příkladech používaných v ČR. V poslední části je věnován prostor oblastem, které, především z bezpečnostního hlediska, omezují rozvoj RPAS.

Real-Time Rollover prevention of Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) is very paramount to its reliability and survivability mostly when operating on unknown and rough terrains like mines or other planets.Therefore this research presents the method of real-time rollover prevention of UGVs making use of Adaptive control techniques based on Recursive least Squares (RLS) estimation of unknown parameters, in order to enable the UGVs to adapt to unknown hush terrains thereby increasing their reliability and survivability. The adaptation is achieved by using indirect adaptive control technique where the controller parameters are computed in real time based on the online estimation of the plant’s (UGV) parameters (Rollover index and Roll Angle) and desired UGV’s performance in order to appropriately adjust the UGV speed and suspension actuators to counter-act the vehicle rollover. A great challenge of indirect adaptive control system is online parameter identification, where in this case the RLS based estimator is used to estimate the vehicles rollover index and Roll Angle from lateral acceleration measurements and height of the centre of gravity of the UGV. RLS is suitable for online parameter identification due to its nature of updating parameter estimate at each sample time. The performance of the adaptive control algorithms and techniques is evaluated using Matlab Simulink® system model with the UGV Model built using SimMechanics physical modelling platform and the whole system runs within Simulink environment to emulate real world application. The simulation results of the proposed adaptive control algorithm based on RLS estimation, show that the adaptive control algorithm does prevent or minimize the likely hood of vehicle rollover in real time. / Electrical and Mining Engineering / M. Tech. (Electrical Engineering)

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