Information acquisition using eye-gaze tracking for person-following with mobile robots

In the effort of developing natural means for human-robot interaction (HRI), signifcant amount of research has been focusing on Person-Following (PF) for mobile robots. PF, which generally consists of detecting, recognizing and following people, is believed to be one of the required functionalities for most future robots that share their environments with their human companions. Research in this field is mostly directed towards fully automating this functionality, which makes the challenge even more tedious. Focusing on this challenge leads research to divert from other challenges that coexist in any PF system. A natural PF functionality consists of a number of tasks that are required to be implemented in the system. However, in more realistic life scenarios, not all the tasks required for PF need to be automated. Instead, some of these tasks can be operated by human operators and therefore require natural means of interaction and information acquisition. In order to highlight all the tasks that are believed to exist in any PF system, this paper introduces a novel taxonomy for PF. Also, in order to provide a natural means for HRI, TeleGaze is used for information acquisition in the implementation of the taxonomy. TeleGaze was previously developed by the authors as a means of natural HRI for teleoperation through eye-gaze tracking. Using TeleGaze in the aid of developing PF systems is believed to show the feasibility of achieving a realistic information acquisition in a natural way

Performance Analysis of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

This work focusses on analyzing the optimization strategies of routing protocols with respect to energy utilization of sensor nodes in Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs). Different routing mechanisms have been proposed to address energy optimization problem in sensor nodes. Clustering mechanism is one of the popular WSNs routing mechanisms. In this paper, we first address energy limitation constraints with respect to maximizing network life time using linear programming formulation technique. To check the efficiency of different clustering scheme against modeled constraints, we select four cluster based routing protocols; Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Threshold Sensitive Energy Efficient sensor Network (TEEN), Stable Election Protocol (SEP), and Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering (DEEC). To validate our mathematical framework, we perform analytical simulations in MATLAB by choosing number of alive nodes, number of dead nodes, number of packets and number of CHs, as performance metrics.Comment: NGWMN with 7th IEEE International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA 2012), Victoria, Canada, 201

HEER: Hybrid Energy Efficient Reactive Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of numerous sensors which send sensed data to base station. Energy conservation is an important issue for sensor nodes as they have limited power.Many routing protocols have been proposed earlier for energy efficiency of both homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. We can prolong our stability and network lifetime by reducing our energy consumption. In this research paper, we propose a protocol designed for the characteristics of a reactive homogeneous WSNs, HEER (Hybrid Energy Efficient Reactive) protocol. In HEER, Cluster Head(CH) selection is based on the ratio of residual energy of node and average energy of network. Moreover, to conserve more energy, we introduce Hard Threshold (HT) and Soft Threshold (ST). Finally, simulations show that our protocol has not only prolonged the network lifetime but also significantly increased stability period.Comment: 2nd IEEE Saudi International Electronics, Communications and Photonics Conference (SIECPC 13), 2013, Riyadh, Saudi Arabi

ACH: Away Cluster Heads Scheme for Energy Efficient Clustering Protocols in WSNs

This paper deals with the routing protocols for distributed wireless sensor networks. The conventional protocols for WSNs like Low Energy adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Stable Election Protocol (SEP), Threshold Sensitive Energy Efficient Network (TEEN), Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol (DEEC) may not be optimal. We propose a scheme called Away Cluster Head (ACH) which effectively increases the efficiency of conventional clustering based protocols in terms of stability period and number of packets sent to base station (BS). We have implemented ACH scheme on LEACH, SEP, TEEN and DEEC. Simulation results show that LEACHACH, SEP-ACH, TEEN-ACH and DEEC-ACH performs better than LEACH, SEP, TEEN and DEEC respectively in terms of stability period and number of packets sent to BS. The stability period of the existing protocols prolongs by implementing ACH on them.Comment: 2nd IEEE Saudi International Electronics, Communications and Photonics Conference (SIECPC 13), 2013, Riyadh, Saudi Arabi

On Energy Efficiency and Delay Minimization in Reactive Protocols in Wireless Multi-hop Networks

In Wireless Multi-hop Networks (WMhNs), routing protocols with energy efficient and delay reduction techniques are needed to fulfill users demands. In this paper, we present Linear Programming models (LP_models) to assess and enhance reactive routing protocols. To practically examine constraints of respective LP_models over reactive protocols, we select AODV, DSR and DYMO. It is deduced from analytical simulations of LP_models in MATLAB that quick route repair reduces routing latency and optimizations of retransmission attempts results efficient energy utilization. To provide quick repair, we enhance AODV and DSR. To practically examine the efficiency of enhanced protocols in different scenarios of WMhNs, we conduct simulations using NS- 2. From simulation results, enhanced DSR and AODV achieve efficient output by optimizing routing latencies and routing load in terms of retransmission attempts

The Onset of Chaos in Pulsating Variable Stars

Random changes in pulsation period occur in cool pulsating Mira variables, Type A, B, and C semiregular variables, RV Tauri variables, and in most classical Cepheids. The physical processes responsible for such fluctuations are uncertain, but presumably originate in temporal modifications of the envelope convection in such stars. Such fluctuations are seemingly random over a few pulsation cycles of the stars, but are dominated by the regularity of the primary pulsation over the long term. The magnitude of stochasticity in pulsating stars appears to be linked directly to their dimensions, although not in simple fashion. It is relatively larger in M supergiants, for example, than in short-period Cepheids, but is common enough that it can be detected in visual observations for many types of pulsating stars. Although chaos was discovered in such stars 80 years ago, detection of its general presence in the group has only been possible in recent studies.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Odessa Variable Stars 2010 Conference (see http://uavso.org.ua/?page=vs2010&lang=en), edited by I. Andronov and V. Kovtyuk

Effect of side-specific valvular shear stress on the content of extracellular matrix in aortic valves

Responses of valve endothelial cells (VECs) to shear stresses are important for the regulation of valve durability. However, the effect of flow patterns subjected to VECs on the opposite surfaces of the valves on the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) has not yet been investigated. This study aims to investigate the response of side-specific flow patterns, in terms of ECM synthesis and/or degradation in porcine aortic valves. Aortic and ventricular sides of aortic valve leaflets were exposed to oscillatory and laminar flow generated by a Cone-and-Plate machine for 48 h. The amount of collagen, GAGs and elastin was quantified and compared to samples collected from the same leaflets without exposing to flow. The results demonstrated that flow is important to maintain the amount of GAGs and elastin in the valve, as compared to the effect of static conditions. Particularly, the laminar waveform plays a crucial role on the modulation of elastin in side-independent manner. Furthermore, the ability of oscillatory flow on the aortic surface to increase the amount of collagen and GAGs cannot be replicated by exposure of an identical flow pattern on the ventricular side of the valve. Side-specific responses to the particular patterns of flow are important to the regulation of ECM components. Such understanding is imperative to the creation of tissue-engineered heart valves that must be created from the “appropriate” cells that can replicate the functions of the native VECs to regulate the different constituents of ECM

Aplikasi Pph Final USAha Jasa Konstruksi Pada PT. Wika Realty Proyek Perumahan Grand Tamansari

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the amount of final income tax rates and taxes on construction services are implemented by PT . Wijaya Karya Realty in Grand Castle Samarinda housing project in 2013. The analysis tool used is the calculation of the final income tax on construction services under Government Regulation No. 40 in 2009 and compare it with the calculation of the company . Based on the results of research conducted found differences in applying the final income tax on construction services that are individual . PT . Wika Realty for housing project Grand Castle PPH 21 Samarinda apply if the contractor who is peorangan do the job on the basis of SP3 ( Job Execution Warrant ) and apply the final income tax when executing construction work on the basis of the SPK ( Work Order