Automatic diagnosis of voltage disturbances in power distribution networks

This thesis proposes a framework for identifying the root-cause of a voltage disturbance, as well as, its source location (upstream/downstream) from the monitoring place. The framework works with three-phase voltage and current waveforms collected in radial distribution networks without distributed generation. Real-world and synthetic waveforms are used to test it. The framework involves features that are conceived based on electrical principles, and assuming some hypothesis on the analyzed phenomena. Features considered are based on waveforms and timestamp information. Multivariate analysis of variance and rule induction algorithms are applied to assess the amount of meaningful information explained by each feature, according to the root-cause of the disturbance and its source location. The obtained classification rates show that the proposed framework could be used for automatic diagnosis of voltage disturbances collected in radial distribution networks. Furthermore, the diagnostic results can be subsequently used for supporting power network operation, maintenance and planning.

An approach to coded structured light to obtain three dimensional information

The human visual ability to perceive depth looks like a puzzle. We perceive three-dimensional spatial information quickly and efficiently by using the binocular stereopsis of our eyes and, what is mote important the learning of the most common objects which we achieved through living. Nowadays, modelling the behaviour of our brain is a fiction, that is why the huge problem of 3D perception and further, interpretation is split into a sequence of easier problems. A lot of research is involved in robot vision in order to obtain 3D information of the surrounded scene. Most of this research is based on modelling the stereopsis of humans by using two cameras as if they were two eyes. This method is known as stereo vision and has been widely studied in the past and is being studied at present, and a lot of work will be surely done in the future. This fact allows us to affirm that this topic is one of the most interesting ones in computer vision. The stereo vision principle is based on obtaining the three dimensional position of an object point from the position of its projective points in both camera image planes. However, before inferring 3D information, the mathematical models of both cameras have to be known. This step is known as camera calibration and is broadly describes in the thesis. Perhaps the most important problem in stereo vision is the determination of the pair of homologue points in the two images, known as the correspondence problem, and it is also one of the most difficult problems to be solved which is currently investigated by a lot of researchers. The epipolar geometry allows us to reduce the correspondence problem. An approach to the epipolar geometry is describes in the thesis. Nevertheless, it does not solve it at all as a lot of considerations have to be taken into account. As an example we have to consider points without correspondence due to a surface occlusion or simply due to a projection out of the camera scope. The interest of the thesis is focused on structured light which has been considered as one of the most frequently used techniques in order to reduce the problems related lo stereo vision. Structured light is based on the relationship between a projected light pattern its projection and an image sensor. The deformations between the pattern projected into the scene and the one captured by the camera, permits to obtain three dimensional information of the illuminated scene. This technique has been widely used in such applications as: 3D object reconstruction, robot navigation, quality control, and so on. Although the projection of regular patterns solve the problem of points without match, it does not solve the problem of multiple matching, which leads us to use hard computing algorithms in order to search the correct matches. In recent years, another structured light technique has increased in importance. This technique is based on the codification of the light projected on the scene in order to be used as a tool to obtain an unique match. Each token of light is imaged by the camera, we have to read the label (decode the pattern) in order to solve the correspondence problem. The advantages and disadvantages of stereo vision against structured light and a survey on coded structured light are related and discussed. The work carried out in the frame of this thesis has permitted to present a new coded structured light pattern which solves the correspondence problem uniquely and robust. Unique, as each token of light is coded by a different word which removes the problem of multiple matching. Robust, since the pattern has been coded using the position of each token of light with respect to both co-ordinate axis. Algorithms and experimental results are included in the thesis. The reader can see examples 3D measurement of static objects, and the more complicated measurement of moving objects. The technique can be used in both cases as the pattern is coded by a single projection shot. Then it can be used in several applications of robot vision. Our interest is focused on the mathematical study of the camera and pattern projector models. We are also interested in how these models can be obtained by calibration, and how they can be used to obtained three dimensional information from two correspondence points. Furthermore, we have studied structured light and coded structured light, and we have presented a new coded structured light pattern. However, in this thesis we started from the assumption that the correspondence points could be well-segmented from the captured image. Computer vision constitutes a huge problem and a lot of work is being done at all levels of human vision modelling, starting from a)image acquisition; b) further image enhancement, filtering and processing, c) image segmentation which involves thresholding, thinning, contour detection, texture and colour analysis, and so on. The interest of this thesis starts in the next step, usually known as depth perception or 3D measurement.

Automatic mass segmentation in mammographic images

Aquesta tesi està emmarcada dins la detecció precoç de masses, un dels símptomes més clars del càncer de mama, en imatges mamogràfiques. Primerament, s'ha fet un anàlisi extensiu dels diferents mètodes de la literatura, concloent que aquests mètodes són dependents de diferent paràmetres: el tamany i la forma de la massa i la densitat de la mama. Així, l'objectiu de la tesi és analitzar, dissenyar i implementar un mètode de detecció robust i independent d'aquests tres paràmetres. Per a tal fi, s'ha construït un patró deformable de la massa a partir de l'anàlisi de masses reals i, a continuació, aquest model és buscat en les imatges seguint un esquema probabilístic, obtenint una sèrie de regions sospitoses. Fent servir l'anàlisi 2DPCA, s'ha construït un algorisme capaç de discernir aquestes regions són realment una massa o no. La densitat de la mama és un paràmetre que s'introdueix de forma natural dins l'algorisme.

Intonation contours vs. syntactic structure as predictors of apparent segmentation

This paper is a review of a study on perception and comprehension of speech using syntactic, visual and acoustic information.

Generic systolic array for genetic algorithms

The authors present a systolic design for a simple GA mechanism which provides high throughput and unidirectional pipelining by exploiting the inherent parallelism in the genetic operators. The design computes in O(N+G) time steps using O(N2) cells where N is the population size and G is the chromosome length. The area of the device is independent of the chromosome length and so can be easily scaled by replicating the arrays or by employing fine-grain migration. The array is generic in the sense that it does not rely on the fitness function and can be used as an accelerator for any GA application using uniform crossover between pairs of chromosomes. The design can also be used in hybrid systems as an add-on to complement existing designs and methods for fitness function acceleration and island-style population management

Parallel genetic algorithms for the tuning of a fuzzy AQM controller

This paper presents the results of the application of a parallel Genetic Algorithm (GA) in order to design a Fuzzy Proportional Integral (FPI) controller for active queue management on Internet routers. The Active Queue Management (AQM) policies are those policies of router queue management that allow the detection of network congestion, the notification of such occurrences to the hosts on the network borders, and the adoption of a suitable control policy. Two different parallel implementations of the genetic algorithm are adopted to determine an optimal configuration of the FPI controller parameters. Finally, the results of several experiments carried out on a forty nodes cluster of workstations are presented.

Implementing a generic systolic array for genetic algorithms

We have designed a highly parallel design for a simple genetic algorithm using a pipeline of systolic arrays. The systolic design provides high throughput and unidirectional pipelining by exploiting the implicit parallelism in the genetic operators. The design is significant because, unlike other hardware genetic algorithms, it is independent of both the fitness function and the particular chromosome length used in a problem. We have designed and simulated a version of the mutation array using Xilinix FPGA tools to investigate the feasibility of hardware implementation. A simple 5-chromosome mutation array occupies 195 CLBs and is capable of performing more than one million mutations per second. I. Introduction Genetic algorithms (GAs) are established search and optimization techniques which have been applied to a range of engineering and applied problems with considerable success [1]. They operate by maintaining a population of trial solutions encoded, using a suitable encoding scheme.

Systolic random number generation for genetic algorithms

A parallel hardware random number generator for use with a VLSI genetic algorithm processing device is proposed. The design uses an systolic array of mixed congruential random number generators. The generators are constantly reseeded with the outputs of the proceeding generators to avoid significant biasing of the randomness of the array which would result in longer times for the algorithm to converge to a solution. 1 Introduction In recent years there has been a growing interest in developing hardware genetic algorithm devices [1, 2, 3]. A genetic algorithm (GA) is a stochastic search and optimization technique which attempts to capture the power of natural selection by evolving a population of candidate solutions by a process of selection and reproduction [4]. In keeping with the evolutionary analogy, the solutions are called chromosomes with each chromosome containing a number of genes. Chromosomes are commonly simple binary strings, the bits being the genes.

Mapping and controlling molecular processes: The application of control theory and system identification algorithms to ASOPS and other fast pulse spectroscopies

Asynchronous Optical Sampling (ASOPS) [1,2] and frequency comb spectrometry [3] based on dual Ti:saphire resonators operated in a master/slave mode have the potential to improve signal to noise ratio in THz transient and IR sperctrometry. The multimode Brownian oscillator time-domain response function described by state-space models is a mathematically robust framework that can be used to describe the dispersive phenomena governed by Lorentzian, Debye and Drude responses. In addition, the optical properties of an arbitrary medium can be expressed as a linear combination of simple multimode Brownian oscillator functions. The suitability of a range of signal processing schemes adopted from the Systems Identification and Control Theory community for further processing the recorded THz transients in the time or frequency domain will be outlined [4,5]. Since a femtosecond duration pulse is capable of persistent excitation of the medium within which it propagates, such approach is perfectly justifiable. Several de-noising routines based on system identification will be shown. Furthermore, specifically developed apodization structures will be discussed. These are necessary because due to dispersion issues, the time-domain background and sample interferograms are non-symmetrical [6-8]. These procedures can lead to a more precise estimation of the complex insertion loss function. The algorithms are applicable to femtosecond spectroscopies across the EM spectrum. Finally, a methodology for femtosecond pulse shaping using genetic algorithms aiming to map and control molecular relaxation processes will be mentioned.

Characterisation of an amphioxus Fringe gene and the evolution of the vertebrate segmentation clock

In mouse and chick embryos, cyclic expression of lunatic fringe has an important role in the regulation of mesoderm segmentation. We have isolated a Fringe gene from the protochordate amphioxus. Amphioxus is the closest living relative of the vertebrates, and has mesoderm that is definitively segmented in a manner that is similar to, and probably homologous with, that of vertebrates. AmphiFringe is placed basal to vertebrate Fringe genes in molecular phylogenetic analyses, indicating that the duplications that formed radical-, manic- and lunatic fringe are specific to the vertebrate lineage. AmphiFringe expression was detected in the anterior neural plate of early neurulae, where it resolved into a series of segmental patches by the mid-neurulae stage. No AmphiFringe transcripts were detected in the mesoderm. Based on these observations, we propose a model depicting a successive recruitment of Fringe in the maintenance then regulation of segmentation during vertebrate evolution.

Texture segmentation in Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder in which visuo-spatial cognition is poor relative to verbal ability. At the level of visuo-spatial perception, individuals with WS can perceive both the local and global aspects of an image. However, the manner in which local elements are integrated into a global whole is atypical, with relative strengths in integration by luminance, closure, and alignment compared to shape, orientation and proximity. The present study investigated the manner in which global images are segmented into local parts. Segmentation by seven gestalt principles was investigated: proximity, shape, luminance, orientation, closure, size (and alignment: Experiment I only). Participants were presented with uniform texture squares and asked to detect the presence of a discrepant patch (Experiment 1) or to identify the form of a discrepant patch as a capital E or H (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, the pattern and level of performance of the WS group did not differ from that of typically developing controls, and was commensurate with the general level of non-verbal ability observed in WS. These results were replicated in Experiment 2, with the exception of segmentation by proximity, where individuals with WS demonstrated superior performance relative to the remaining segmentation types. Overall, the results suggest that, despite some atypical aspects of visuo-spatial perception in WS, the ability to segment a global form into parts is broadly typical in this population. In turn, this informs predictions of brain function in WS, particularly areas V1 and V4. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.