VLSI architecture for motion estimation in underwater imaging

El treball desenvolupat en aquesta tesi aprofundeix i aporta solucions innovadores en el camp orientat a tractar el problema de la correspondència en imatges subaquàtiques. En aquests entorns, el que realment complica les tasques de processat és la falta de contorns ben definits per culpa d'imatges esborronades; un fet aquest que es deu fonamentalment a il·luminació deficient o a la manca d'uniformitat dels sistemes d'il·luminació artificials. Els objectius aconseguits en aquesta tesi es poden remarcar en dues grans direccions. Per millorar l'algorisme d'estimació de moviment es va proposar un nou mètode que introdueix paràmetres de textura per rebutjar falses correspondències entre parells d'imatges. Un seguit d'assaigs efectuats en imatges submarines reals han estat portats a terme per seleccionar les estratègies més adients. Amb la finalitat d'aconseguir resultats en temps real, es proposa una innovadora arquitectura VLSI per la implementació d'algunes parts de l'algorisme d'estimació de moviment amb alt cost computacional.

Optimal kinematic control of an autonomous underwater vehicle

This note investigates the motion control of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The AUV is modeled as a nonholonomic system as any lateral motion of a conventional, slender AUV is quickly damped out. The problem is formulated as an optimal kinematic control problem on the Euclidean Group of Motions SE(3), where the cost function to be minimized is equal to the integral of a quadratic function of the velocity components. An application of the Maximum Principle to this optimal control problem yields the appropriate Hamiltonian and the corresponding vector fields give the necessary conditions for optimality. For a special case of the cost function, the necessary conditions for optimality can be characterized more easily and we proceed to investigate its solutions. Finally, it is shown that a particular set of optimal motions trace helical paths. Throughout this note we highlight a particular case where the quadratic cost function is weighted in such a way that it equates to the Lagrangian (kinetic energy) of the AUV. For this case, the regular extremal curves are constrained to equate to the AUV's components of momentum and the resulting vector fields are the d'Alembert-Lagrange equations in Hamiltonian form.

Newly Automated System For Integrated Assessment Of The Conditions Of Underwater Gas Pipelines

An underwater gas pipeline is the portion of the pipeline that crosses a river beneath its bottom. Underwater gas pipelines are subject to increasing dangers as time goes by. An accident at an underwater gas pipeline can lead to technological and environmental disaster on the scale of an entire region. Therefore, timely troubleshooting of all underwater gas pipelines in order to prevent any potential accidents will remain a pressing task for the industry. The most important aspect of resolving this challenge is the quality of the automated system in question. Now the industry doesn't have any automated system that fully meets the needs of the experts working in the field maintaining underwater gas pipelines. Principle Aim of this Research: This work aims to develop a new system of automated monitoring which would simplify the process of evaluating the technical condition and decision making on planning and preventive maintenance and repair work on the underwater gas pipeline. Objectives: Creation a shared model for a new, automated system via IDEF3; Development of a new database system which would store all information about underwater gas pipelines; Development a new application that works with database servers, and provides an explanation of the results obtained from the server; Calculation of the values MTBF for specified pipelines based on quantitative data obtained from tests of this system. Conclusion: The new, automated system PodvodGazExpert has been developed for timely and qualitative determination of the physical conditions of underwater gas pipeline; The basis of the mathematical analysis of this new, automated system uses principal component analysis method; The process of determining the physical condition of an underwater gas pipeline with this new, automated system increases the MTBF by a factor of 8.18 above the existing system used today in the industry.

How does tourist monitoring alter fish behavior in underwater trails?

Nature based tourism is becoming more popular because it is perceived as a solution to the conflict between conservation and economic exploitation. Nevertheless, it is known to cause several effects. This paper reports findings whereby monitored tourism avoids triggering adverse effects for social cichlid fish species, Crenicichla lepidota. Measures used included aggression toward territorial intruders and the number of nests built in pristine reference areas for monitored and in non-monitored tourist areas. We observed suppressed aggressive behavior and suppressed nesting only in the non-monitored area. We conclude that by monitoring visits, and using techniques including avoiding stepping on the river bed, reducing the number of visitors, prohibiting fish feeding and protecting riparian vegetation, it is possible to avoid the enduring damage caused by nature tourism. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A new species of hylodes (Anura, Hylodidae) and its secretive underwater breeding behavior

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Cross-Layer Packet Size Optimization for Wireless Terrestrial, Underwater, and Underground Sensor Networks

In this paper, a cross-layer solution for packet size optimization in wireless sensor networks (WSN) is introduced such that the effects of multi-hop routing, the broadcast nature of the physical wireless channel, and the effects of error control techniques are captured. A key result of this paper is that contrary to the conventional wireless networks, in wireless sensor networks, longer packets reduce the collision probability. Consequently, an optimization solution is formalized by using three different objective functions, i.e., packet throughput, energy consumption, and resource utilization. Furthermore, the effects of end-to-end latency and reliability constraints are investigated that may be required by a particular application. As a result, a generic, cross-layer optimization framework is developed to determine the optimal packet size in WSN. This framework is further extended to determine the optimal packet size in underwater and underground sensor networks. From this framework, the optimal packet sizes under various network parameters are determined.

Modeling and Identification of an Open-frame Underwater Vehicle: The Yaw Motion Dynamics

A semi-autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), named LAURS, is being developed at the Laboratory of Sensors and Actuators at the University of Sao Paulo. The vehicle has been designed to provide inspection and intervention capabilities in specific missions of deep water oil fields. In this work, a method of modeling and identification of yaw motion dynamic system model of an open-frame underwater vehicle is presented. Using an on-board low cost magnetic compass sensor the method is based on the utilization of an uncoupled 1-DOF (degree of freedom) dynamic system equation and the application of the integral method which is the classical least squares algorithm applied to the integral form of the dynamic system equations. Experimental trials with the actual vehicle have been performed in a test tank and diving pool. During these experiments, thrusters responsible for yaw motion are driven by sinusoidal voltage signal profiles. An assessment of the feasibility of the method reveals that estimated dynamic system models are more reliable when considering slow and small sinusoidal voltage signal profiles, i.e. with larger periods and with relatively small amplitude and offset.

Experimental model identification of open-frame underwater vehicles

Most of the works published on hydrodynamic parameter identification of open-frame underwater vehicles focus their attention almost exclusively on good coherence between simulated and measured responses, giving less importance to the determination of “actual values” for hydrodynamic parameters. To gain insight into hydrodynamic parameter experimental identification of open-frame underwater vehicles, an experimental identification procedure is proposed here to determine parameters of uncoupled and coupled models. The identification procedure includes: (i) a prior estimation of actual values of the forces/torques applied to the vehicle, (ii) identification of drag parameters from constant velocity tests and (iii) identification of inertia and coupling parameters from oscillatory tests; at this stage, the estimated values of drag parameter obtained in item (ii) are used. The procedure proposed here was used to identify the hydrodynamic parameters of LAURS—an unmanned underwater vehicle developed at the University of São Paulo. The thruster–thruster and thruster–hull interactions and the advance velocity of the vehicle are shown to have a strong impact on the efficiency of thrusters appended to open-frame underwater vehicles, especially for high advance velocities. Results of tests with excitation in 1-DOF and 3-DOF are reported and discussed, showing the feasibility of the developed procedure.

Underwater towed video: a useful tool to rapidly assess elasmobranch populations in large marine protected areas

Elasmobranch stock assessment studies are usually made through fisheries surveys data. However, in large marine protected areas (MPAs) the use of destructive techniques must be dismissed in order to avoid population impacts. In 2005, while conducting a marine habitat survey in two marine Special Areas of Conservation (Sebadales de Playa de Inglés and Franja Marina de Mogán) in south Gran Canary Island (Canary Islands, Spain) with underwater towed video (UTV) and underwater visual census (UVC) transects, we recognized the opportunity rose to assess elasmobranch populations through UTV. Number of observed species and specimens, overall field work effort and total surveyed area were determined and compared between methods. Mean observations per day per unit of time (MOPUT) and mean observations per day per unit of surveyed area (MOPUA) were also compared through Mann–Whitney rank sum statistical test (α=0.05). Data analysis demonstrated that UTV is a very useful tool to rapidly assess elasmobranch populations in large MPAs in good visibility underwater environments. It can assess larger areas than UVC with the same effort (statistically significant difference found for the MOPUT; p=<0.001), leading to more observed species (5 vs 2) and specimens (46 vs 3) per day of work, with no loss in resolution power (MOPUA values were not significantly different between UTV and UVC; p=0.104).

Contributions to underwater glider path planning

[ES] La Planificación de Rutas o Caminos es un disciplina de Robótica que trata la búsqueda de caminos factibles u óptimos. Para la mayoría de vehículos y entornos, no es un problema trivial y por tanto nos encontramos con un gran diversidad de algoritmos para resolverlo, no sólo en Robótica e Inteligencia Artificial, sino también como parte de la literatura de Optimización, con Métodos Numéricos y Algoritmos Bio-inspirados, como Algoritmos Genéticos y el Algoritmo de la Colonia de Hormigas. El caso particular de escenarios de costes variables es considerablemente difícil de abordar porque el entorno en el que se mueve el vehículo cambia con el tiempo. El presente trabajo de tesis estudia este problema y propone varias soluciones prácticas para aplicaciones de Robótica Submarina.

Underwater mapping using sonar

[ES]El proyecto contiene módulos de simulación, procesado de datos, mapeo y localización, desarrollados en C++ utilizando ROS (Robot Operating System) y PCL (Point Cloud Library). Ha sido desarrollado bajo el proyecto de robótica submarina AVORA.Se han caracterizado el vehículo y el sensor, y se han analizado diferentes tecnologías de sensores y mapeo. Los datos pasan por tres etapas: Conversión a nube de puntos, filtrado por umbral, eliminación de puntos espureos y, opcionalmente, detección de formas. Estos datos son utilizados para construir un mapa de superficie multinivel. La otra herramienta desarrollada es un algoritmo de Punto más Cercano Iterativo (ICP) modificado, que tiene en cuenta el modo de funcionamiento del sonar de imagen utilizado.

The Underwater Photic Environment of Cape Maclear, Lake Malawi: Comparison Between Rock- and Sand-Bottom Habitats and Implications for Cichlid Fish Vision

Lake Malawi boasts the highest diversity of freshwater fishes in the world. Nearshore sites are categorized according to their bottom substrate, rock or sand, and these habitats host divergent assemblages of cichlid fishes. Sexual selection driven by mate choice in cichlids led to spectacular diversification in male nuptial coloration. This suggests that the spectral radiance contrast of fish, the main determinant of visibility under water, plays a crucial role in cichlid visual communication. This study provides the first detailed description of underwater irradiance, radiance and beam attenuation at selected sites representing two major habitats in Lake Malawi. These quantities are essential for estimating radiance contrast and, thus, the constraints imposed on fish body coloration. Irradiance spectra in the sand habitat were shifted to longer wavelengths compared with those in the rock habitat. Beam attenuation in the sand habitat was higher than in the rock habitat. The effects of water depth, bottom depth and proximity to the lake bottom on radiometric quantities are discussed. The radiance contrast of targets exhibiting diffused and spectrally uniform reflectance depended on habitat type in deep water but not in shallow water. In deep water, radiance contrast of such targets was maximal at long wavelengths in the sand habitat and at short wavelengths in the rock habitat. Thus, to achieve conspicuousness, color patterns of rock-and sand-dwelling cichlids would be restricted to short and long wavelengths, respectively. This study provides a useful platform for the examination of cichlid visual communication.