On the motion of a system of particles.

"From the Transactions of the Cambridge philosophical society, vol. vi, part ii.

DS and GS maintenance manual : target-tracking, target-ranging, and missile-tracking antenna-receiver-transmitter group and radar-test set group (NIKE-HERCULES and improved NIKE-HERCULES air defense guided missile system and NIKE-HERCULES anti-tactical ballistic missile system).

Includes index.

Tracking the states of a nonlinear and nonstationary system in the weight-space of artificial neural networks

We propose a novel interpretation and usage of Neural Network (NN) in modeling physiological signals, which are allowed to be nonlinear and/or nonstationary. The method consists of training a NN for the k-step prediction of a physiological signal, and then examining the connection-weight-space (CWS) of the NN to extract information about the signal generator mechanism. We de. ne a novel feature, Normalized Vector Separation (gamma(ij)), to measure the separation of two arbitrary states i and j in the CWS and use it to track the state changes of the generating system. The performance of the method is examined via synthetic signals and clinical EEG. Synthetic data indicates that gamma(ij) can track the system down to a SNR of 3.5 dB. Clinical data obtained from three patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy of the brain showed that EEG could be modeled (within a root-means-squared-error of 0.01) by the proposed method, and the blood perfusion state of the brain could be monitored via gamma(ij), with small NNs having no more than 21 connection weight altogether.

Tracking the states of a nonlinear system in the weight-space of a feed-forward neural network

Nonlinear, non-stationary signals are commonly found in a variety of disciplines such as biology, medicine, geology and financial modeling. The complexity (e.g. nonlinearity and non-stationarity) of such signals and their low signal to noise ratios often make it a challenging task to use them in critical applications. In this paper we propose a new neural network based technique to address those problems. We show that a feed forward, multi-layered neural network can conveniently capture the states of a nonlinear system in its connection weight-space, after a process of supervised training. The performance of the proposed method is investigated via computer simulations.

Signal processing and information fusing algorithms for the synthesis of an alternative electromyogram/eye gaze tracking computer cursor control system

This research pursued the conceptualization and real-time verification of a system that allows a computer user to control the cursor of a computer interface without using his/her hands. The target user groups for this system are individuals who are unable to use their hands due to spinal dysfunction or other afflictions, and individuals who must use their hands for higher priority tasks while still requiring interaction with a computer. ^ The system receives two forms of input from the user: Electromyogram (EMG) signals from muscles in the face and point-of-gaze coordinates produced by an Eye Gaze Tracking (EGT) system. In order to produce reliable cursor control from the two forms of user input, the development of this EMG/EGT system addressed three key requirements: an algorithm was created to accurately translate EMG signals due to facial movements into cursor actions, a separate algorithm was created that recognized an eye gaze fixation and provided an estimate of the associated eye gaze position, and an information fusion protocol was devised to efficiently integrate the outputs of these algorithms. ^ Experiments were conducted to compare the performance of EMG/EGT cursor control to EGT-only control and mouse control. These experiments took the form of two different types of point-and-click trials. The data produced by these experiments were evaluated using statistical analysis, Fitts' Law analysis and target re-entry (TRE) analysis. ^ The experimental results revealed that though EMG/EGT control was slower than EGT-only and mouse control, it provided effective hands-free control of the cursor without a spatial accuracy limitation, and it also facilitated a reliable click operation. This combination of qualities is not possessed by either EGT-only or mouse control, making EMG/EGT cursor control a unique and practical alternative for a user's cursor control needs. ^

Database System for Alumni Tracking

In their discussion - Database System for Alumni Tracking - by Steven Moll, Associate Professor and William O'Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, Professors Moll and O’Brien initially state: “The authors describe a unique database program which was created to solve problems associated with tracking hospitality majors subsequent to graduation.” “…and please, whatever you do, keep in touch with your school; join an alum’ organization. It is a great way to engage the resources of your school to help further your career,” says Professor Claudia Castillo in addressing a group of students attending her Life after College seminar on 9/18/2009. This is a very good point and it is obviously germane to the article at hand. “One of the greatest strengths of a hospitality management school, a strength that grows with each passing year, is its body of alumni,” say the authors. “Whether in recruiting new students or placing graduates, whether in fund raising or finding scholarship recipients, whatever the task, the network of loyal alumni stands ready to help.” The caveat is the resources are only available if students and school, faculty and alumni can keep track of each other, say professors Moll and O’Brien. The authors want you to know that the practice is now considered essential to success, especially in the hospitality industry whereby the fluid nature of the industry makes networking de rigueur to accomplishment. “When the world was a smaller, slower place, it was fairly easy for graduates to keep track of each other; there weren't that many graduates and they didn't move that often,” say the authors. “Now the hospitality graduate enters an international job market and may move five times in the first four years of employment,” they expand that thought. In the contemporary atmosphere linking human resources from institution to marketplace is relatively easy to do. “How can an association keep track of its graduates? There are many techniques, but all of them depend upon adequate recordkeeping,” Moll and O’Brien answer their own query. “A few years ago that would have meant a group of secretaries; today it means a database system,” they say. Moll and O’Brien discuss the essentials of compiling/programming such a comprehensive data base; the body of information to include, guidelines on the problems encountered, and how to avoid the pitfalls. They use the Florida International University, Hospitality database as a template for their example.

A practical system for hands-off computer interaction based on electromyogram (EMG)/eye gaze tracking (EGT)

Effective interaction with personal computers is a basic requirement for many of the functions that are performed in our daily lives. With the rapid emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web, computers have become one of the premier means of communication in our society. Unfortunately, these advances have not become equally accessible to physically handicapped individuals. In reality, a significant number of individuals with severe motor disabilities, due to a variety of causes such as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Amyothrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), etc., may not be able to utilize the computer mouse as a vital input device for computer interaction. The purpose of this research was to further develop and improve an existing alternative input device for computer cursor control to be used by individuals with severe motor disabilities. This thesis describes the development and the underlying principle for a practical hands-off human-computer interface based on Electromyogram (EMG) signals and Eye Gaze Tracking (EGT) technology compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system (OS). Results of the software developed in this thesis show a significant improvement in the performance and usability of the EMG/EGT cursor control HCI.

An adaptive motion model for person tracking with instantaneous head-pose features

This letter presents novel behaviour-based tracking of people in low-resolution using instantaneous priors mediated by head-pose. We extend the Kalman Filter to adaptively combine motion information with an instantaneous prior belief about where the person will go based on where they are currently looking. We apply this new method to pedestrian surveillance, using automatically-derived head pose estimates, although the theory is not limited to head-pose priors. We perform a statistical analysis of pedestrian gazing behaviour and demonstrate tracking performance on a set of simulated and real pedestrian observations. We show that by using instantaneous `intentional' priors our algorithm significantly outperforms a standard Kalman Filter on comprehensive test data.

Bridge weigh-in-motion system and Structural Health Monitoring using fiber optic sensors

There have been over 3000 bridge weigh-in-motion (B-WIM) installations in 25 countries worldwide, this has led vast improvements in post processing of B-WIM systems since its introduction in the 1970’s. This paper introduces a new low-power B-WIM system using fibre optic sensors (FOS). The system consisted of a series of FOS which were attached to the soffit of an existing integral bridge with a single span of 19m. The site selection criteria and full installation process has been detailed in the paper. A method of calibration was adopted using live traffic at the bridge site and based on this calibration the accuracy of the system was determined.

DESEO: an active vision system for detection, tracking and recognition

[EN]In this paper, a basic conceptual architecture aimed at the design of Computer Vision System is qualitatively described. The proposed architecture addresses the design of vision systems in a modular fashion using modules with three distinct units or components: a processing network or diagnostics unit, a control unit and a communications unit. The control of the system at the modules level is designed based on a Discrete Events Model. This basic methodology has been used to design a realtime active vision system for detection, tracking and recognition of people. It is made up of three functional modules aimed at the detection, tracking, recognition of moving individuals plus a supervision module.