A personal navigation system is proposed in the present paper. This system is based on the use of inertial sensors and will be a complement for the Global Positioning System in places where GPS signals are not available. Such places are indoors and outdoors without a clear visibility of the sky (urban canyons, places under dense foliage...). A known initial position is required for this method for it to be able to estimate the trajectory of the pedestrian using inertial sensors attached to the foot. The developed method and the approximations taken into account are explained. Finally, the results of several tests carried out are shown.

http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/12578/1/JoPha_3_1_05.pdf

Pedestrian tracking using inertial sensors

Computational vision-based flame detection has drawn significant attention in the past decade with camera surveillance systems becoming ubiquitous. Whereas many discriminating features, such as color, shape, texture, etc., have been employed in the literature, this paper proposes a set of motion features based on motion estimators. The key idea consists of exploiting the difference between the turbulent, fast, fire motion, and the structured, rigid motion of other objects. Since classical optical flow methods do not model the characteristics of fire motion (e.g., non-smoothness of motion, non-constancy of intensity), two optical flow methods are specifically designed for the fire detection task: optimal mass transport models fire with dynamic texture, while a data-driven optical flow scheme models saturated flames. Then, characteristic features related to the flow magnitudes and directions are computed from the flow fields to discriminate between fire and non-fire motion. The proposed features are tested on a large video database to demonstrate their practical usefulness. Moreover, a novel evaluation method is proposed by fire simulations that allow for a controlled environment to analyze parameter influences, such as flame saturation, spatial resolution, frame rate, and random noise.

/pdf/optical-flow-estimation-for-flame-detection-in-videos-3jfyl7uhr9.pdf

Optical Flow Estimation for Flame Detection in Videos

This paper presents an inertial-sensor-based digital pen (inertial pen) and its associated dynamic time warping (DTW)-based recognition algorithm for handwriting and gesture recognition. Users hold the inertial pen to write numerals or English lowercase letters and make hand gestures with their preferred handheld style and speed. The inertial signals generated by hand motions are wirelessly transmitted to a computer for online recognition. The proposed DTW-based recognition algorithm includes the procedures of inertial signal acquisition, signal preprocessing, motion detection, template selection, and recognition. We integrate signals collected from an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer into a quaternion-based complementary filter for reducing the integral errors caused by the signal drift or intrinsic noise of the gyroscope, which might reduce the accuracy of the orientation estimation. Furthermore, we have developed a minimal intra-class to maximal inter-class based template selection method (min-max template selection method) for a DTW recognizer to obtain a superior class separation for improved recognition. Experimental results have successfully validated the effectiveness of the DTW-based recognition algorithm for online handwriting and gesture recognition using the inertial pen.

An Inertial Pen With Dynamic Time Warping Recognizer for Handwriting and Gesture Recognition

Microwave photonics and optics-based analog links are technologies that are being developed for a growing number of applications. Photodetectors that operate at high power levels are key components. Additionally, it is important for many of these applications that the photodiodes have millimeter-wave bandwidths and highly linear response. This paper reviews the performance of modified uni-traveling carrier photodiodes with respect to these characteristics.

High-power, high-linearity photodiodes

Techniques for the optimal design of permanent magnet motors considering rotation are investigated. The nonconforming mesh technique is used to take into account the rotation of the rotor. It is shown that the technique is especially useful for the optimal design using the finite element method, because no modification of mesh is necessary during the rotation. The mesh at each angle of rotation can be obtained by only combining meshes of a rotor and a stator. By using the combined optimization technique of the experimental design method and Rosenbrock's method, the number of FEM calculations can be reduced. By applying the optimal design method, about 40% of volume of permanent magnet of IPM motor and about 15% of the torque ripple can be reduced.

/pdf/optimal-design-of-efficient-ipm-motor-using-finite-element-4fndr5lf5g.pdf

Optimal design of efficient IPM motor using finite element method

The depth-profiles of amorphous TbFeCo films sputtered onto polycarbonate substrate were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Oxidized metals, oxides and hydroxides for example, and adsorbed impurities were found to exist mainly in the vicinity of the film surface and film/ substrate interface.

Electron Spectroscopy Studies on Magneto-Optical Media and Plastic Substrate Interface

Depth-profile of amorphous TbFeCo film sputtered onto polycarbonate substrate was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Oxidized metals, oxides and hydroxides for example, and adsorbed impurities were found to exist mainly in the vicinity of the film surface and film/substrate interface. Multiplet splitting of core-level spectra was also observed to estimate the degree of charge transfer from rare earth to transition metal. The splitting was identical with that of pure metal which indicates extremely small charge transfer.

M. Hirano

Papers

Electron Spectroscopy Studies on Magneto-Optical Media and Plastic Substrate Interface

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies on amorphous TbFeCo alloy and polycarbonate interface