GAO questions key aspects of FAA's plans to acquire the multi-billion dollar advanced automation system and related programs.

"B-206887."

User's guide for the gas chromatography automation system /

Mode of access: Internet.

Univac file computer [Model 1] Basic programming, data automation system.

Mode of access: Internet.

Towards rope shovel automation operation information system

The road to electric rope shovel automation is marked with technological innovations that include an increase in operational information available to mining operations. The CRCMining Shovel Operator Information System not only collects machine operational data but also provides the operator with knowledge-of-performance and influences his/her performance to achieve higher productivity with reduced machine duty. The operator’s behaviour is one of the most important aspects of the man-machine interaction to be considered before semi- or fully-automated shovel systems can be realised. This paper presents the results of the rope shovel studies conducted by CRCMining between 2002 and 2004, provides information on current research to improve shovel performance and briefly discusses the implications of human-system interactions on future designs of autonomous machines.

Helicopter automation using a low-cost sensing system

This paper details the design of an autonomous helicopter control system using a low cost sensor suite. Control is maintained using simple nested PID loops. Aircraft attitude, velocity, and height is estimated using an in-house designed IMU and vision system. Information is combined using complimentary filtering. The aircraft is shown to be stabilised and responding to high level demands on all axes, including heading, height, lateral velocity and longitudinal velocity.

The Automation of Adaptive Processes in the System of Distance Education and Knowledge Control

The article reveals a new technological approach to the creation of adaptive systems of distance learning and knowledge control. The use of the given technology helps to automate the learning process with the help of adaptive system. Developed with the help of the quantum approach of knowledge setting, a programming module-controller guarantees the support of students’ attention and the adaptation of the object language, and this helps to provide the effective interaction between learners and the learning system and to reach good results in the intensification of learning process.

Towards automatic power line detection for a UAV surveillance system using pulse coupled neural filter and an improved Hough transform

Spatial information captured from optical remote sensors on board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has great potential in automatic surveillance of electrical infrastructure. For an automatic vision-based power line inspection system, detecting power lines from a cluttered background is one of the most important and challenging tasks. In this paper, a novel method is proposed, specifically for power line detection from aerial images. A pulse coupled neural filter is developed to remove background noise and generate an edge map prior to the Hough transform being employed to detect straight lines. An improved Hough transform is used by performing knowledge-based line clustering in Hough space to refine the detection results. The experiment on real image data captured from a UAV platform demonstrates that the proposed approach is effective for automatic power line detection.

A Vision Based Target Detection System for Docking of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

This paper describes the development and preliminary experimental evaluation of a visionbased docking system to allow an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to identify and attach itself to a set of uniquely identifiable targets. These targets, docking poles, are detected using Haar rectangular features and rotation of integral images. A non-holonomic controller allows the Starbug AUV to orient itself with respect to the target whilst maintaining visual contact during the manoeuvre. Experimental results show the proposed vision system is capable of robustly identifying a pair of docking poles simultaneously in a variety of orientations and lighting conditions. Experiments in an outdoor pool show that this vision system enables the AUV to dock autonomously from a distance of up to 4m with relatively low visibility.

Dragline automation: experimental evaluation through productivity trial

Since 1993 we have been working on the automation of dragline excavators, the largest earthmoving machines that exist. Recently we completed a large-scale experimental program where the automation system was used for production purposes over a two week period and moved over 200,000 tonnes of overburden. This is a landmark achievement in the history of automated excavation. In this paper we briefly describe the robotic system and how it works cooperatively with the machine operator. We then describe our methodology for gauging machine performance, analyze results from the production trial and comment on the effectiveness of the system that we have created. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.

Automation of an underground mining vehicle using reactive navigation and opportunistic localization

This paper describes the implementation of an autonomous navigation system onto a 30 tonne Load-Haul-Dump truck. The control architecture is based on a robust reactive wall-following behaviour. To make it purposeful we provide driving hints derived from an approximate nodal-map. For most of the time, the vehicle is driven with weak localization (odometry). This need only be improved at intersections where decisions must be made - a technique we refer to as opportunistic localization. The truck has achieved full-speed autonomous operation at an artificial test mine, and subsequently, at a operational underground mine.