Kinds Of Terrains Research Articles

Legged robot locomotion on viscoelastic terrain using a reduced-order dynamic model with rolling contact and energy input and dissipation

ABSTRACT In recent decades, robots have gradually taken on more tasks that require mobility. However, unlike animals that are capable of coordinating complex sensing organs and muscles to achieve dynamic motion on all kinds of terrains, robots have difficulties traversing rough terrains at high speeds due to limitations of computational resources, actuator strength, etc. This research aims to build a new model that captures the essence of how animals achieve dynamic motion and traverse rough terrains. Based on the previously developed dynamic model running on the rigid ground, this model incorporates the interaction between the leg and the ground, which is described by a combination of linear springs and dampers that can model a wide range of terrains. Simulation results show chaotic behavior under certain conditions, and an experiment verified such behavior. This work underscores the urgency and significance of understanding and replicating the capabilities of animals in robot locomotion, and its relevance to the field of robotics is significant.

Cascading failure mechanism of major drainage system in mountainous city: Taking the basin of the main urban area of Chongqing as an example, China

Failure of major drainage systems is almost always accompanied by waterlogging. Understanding the operation and failure mechanism of major drainage systems is an important prerequisite for understanding and managing waterlogging. The natural and artificial environments in mountainous cities are more complex, and the major drainage system, as an open system for excessive surface runoff discharge and storage, is more prone to local overload and cascading failure. Existing theories and methods are difficult to explain and analyze the cascading failure characteristics and principles of major drainage systems in mountainous cities. Based on the complex network technology and the principle of runoff balance, the cascade failure model of major drainage system was constructed, and the characteristics and laws of cascade failure under six kinds of terrain, six kinds of short duration rainstorm and two kinds of surface environments were quantitatively analyzed. Research has found that the cascading failure of major drainage systems and waterlogging in mountainous cities should be the same phenomenon from different perspectives, and the simulated matching degree between the two can reach 79.5%. Meanwhile, 456 potential waterlogging locations were discovered in the study area, which is much larger than the actual 73 locations. When urban construction and rainfall conditions change, these unstable potential waterlogging locations are easily apparent. Among them, terrain is the main factor restricting the cascading failure of major drainage systems. Low lying valley areas often quickly accumulate a large amount of overflow, while flat areas are prone to overflow spreading to the surrounding areas; Slope areas are not prone to overflow, but are prone to local flooding. The change of short duration rainstorm and the difference of surface environmental openness will further interfere with the cascade failure of the major drainage system. The longer the return period of the short duration rainstorm or the increase of the peak value of the rainfall pattern, the greater the discharge and storage pressure of the major drainage system per unit time, resulting in intensified waterlogging. The open and unobstructed surface environment will lead to the small-scale spread of waterlogging, but this will significantly reduce the overall degree of waterlogging in the late rainstorm. The study revealed the spatiotemporal principles and basic laws of cascading failure of major drainage systems in mountainous cities. The conclusion is helpful for mountainous cities to formulate urban construction management strategies and climate change adaptation strategies, and to cope with current and future potential waterlogging disasters.

La Chine, le Japon et l’« étoffe » de Perse

Abstract in English Pressing past the frameworks of the wa-kan (Japanese-Chinese) and sangoku (“the Three Kingdoms”), this essay explores a border-crossing “geopoetics” in order to espy distant “Persia” in the literary culture of classical Japan. In the “Picture Contest” midway through The Tale of Genji, an illustration supposedly set in far-off Persia is praised not for its exoticism but rather for its adroit synthesis of Japanese and Chinese pictorial elements. It turns out that the Persia made by Japanese persons around the beginning of the eleventh century is connected to the intermixing of all things Chinese and Japanese, especially when it comes to poetry. In other words, the stuff of this artificial Occident is laced through with these twin poetries from Asia’s easternmost extremities. We can see this interlacing in vernacular fictions, such as The Tale of the Tree Hollow (Utsubo monogatari), in which one of the protagonists is a Persian mage reincarnated in Japan obliged to recite passages in bilingual alternation, night by night, before the monarch. Elsewhere, academicians of Chinese “letters” exhibit their boundless knowledge of this “Far West” in such bilingual works as The New Man’yōshū (Shinsen man’yōshū) and The New Collection of Resonant Verse (Shinsen rōeishū). The latter presents itself as a learned sequel to The Collection of Japanese and Chinese Resonant Verse (Wakan rōeishū)—an emblem of the Heian period’s bilingual poetics which, in its turn, attracted the attention of monk-commentators who used the anthology to develop their Indo-Buddhist cosmo-cartography, including Persia. Persia, therefore, gets woven out of this mix of poetry in Chinese and Japanese—a mixed arrangement that enjoys an unparalleled display in the scrolls of the Collection of Resonant Verse. In its turn, The Collection itself begins to appear like an altogether “Persian” kind of terrain : a virtual terrain which belongs neither to China nor to Japan, but which is nonetheless made out of both.

Estimation of Trajectory of High speed Artillery Shell


 
 
 This paper presents a novel technique that uses the stereoscopic arrangement of multiple cameras to determine the trajectory of a high-speed projectile. It can be used to detect and track artillery shells moving at high speed in the air toward friendly territory. A system with the proposed concept can enhance retaliation success in battlefield countermeasures. There are many state-of-the-art Radar-based systems to detect moving artillery shells and mortars, but the cost and size of those products make them not so easily deployable in all kinds of terrains. A system with multiple cameras is discussed in this paper as an alternative solution. The experimental results, after algorithms were applied to simulated videos of expected scenes showed that the proposed technique is feasible. The proposed technique is fast and accurate and can be converted into deployable hardware. It can lead to realizing a system that has utility in saving precious lives in critical circumstances.
 
 

Structural Behaviour of Transmission Tower with Different Bracings under Wind Loading

Abstract: India has a sizable population that is dispersed throughout the nation, and this population's high need for energy production results in the need for a sizable transmission and distribution system. The present work for the design of transmission towers with foundations for two distinct zones, each with a different basic wind speed and kind of terrain. The requirement of the members has also been optimised. With the aid of Staad.pro and MS Excel's VBA, this present work has completed. Three distinct bracing systems were contrasted based on a number of factors, including deflection, weight, the quantity of joints, and cost. STAAD.pro has used to analyse the tower under various loading conditions, and Excel-VBA interface has used to construct the connections and base. The technological analysis and economic design of transmission line tower constructions have been the main aims of the present work. Under the specified loading conditions scenarios for both zones, the K bracing tower showed the least deflection in terms of the deflection criterion.

An online terrain classification framework for legged robots based on acoustic signals

Terrain classification information is of great significance for legged robots to traverse various terrains. Therefore, this communication presents an online terrain classification framework for legged robots, utilizing the acoustic signals produced during locomotion. The Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficient (MFCC) feature vectors are extracted from the acoustic data recorded by an on-board microphone. Then the Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) are used to classify the MFCC features into different terrain type categories. The proposed framework was validated on a quadruped robot. Overall, our investigations achieved a classification time-resolution of 1 s when the robot trotted over three kinds of terrains, thus recording a comprehensive success rate of 92.7%.

Analysis of an all-terrain tracked robot with innovative suspension system

Tracked robots are gaining interest in the current context of off-road mobile robotics, especially in soft-terrain applications, because they offer a large contact area with the ground, which provides better traction than wheels or legs. In this paper, a novel passively articulated tracked robot is introduced. On each side, Polibot features a rubber track wrapped around four independently suspended road wheels, an idler wheel, and the sprocket, and it can adapt to many kinds of terrain. An inverse kinematic model for the proposed architecture is also developed to predict the system configuration given the terrain topography. The analytical model is based on constraint equations and a quasi-static force analysis, and it is validated against results obtained from the real prototype, showing good agreement. It can also be used to evaluate the influence of the many suspension design parameters and operating conditions, proving that it can be a useful tool for the proper setup of the robot.

Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) integrated phytotechnology: A sustainable approach for remediation of marginal lands.

Land that has little to no utility for agriculture or industry is considered marginal land. This kind of terrain is frequently found on the edge of deserts or other arid regions. The amount of land that can be used for agriculture continues to be constrained by increasing desertification, which is being caused by climate change and the deterioration of agriculturally marginal areas. Plants and associated microorganisms are used to remediate and enhance the soil quality of marginal land. They represent a low-cost and usually long-term solution for restoring soil fertility. Among various phytoremediation processes (viz., phytodegradation, phytoextraction, phytostabilization, phytovolatilization, phytofiltration, phytostimulation, and phytodesalination), the employment of a specific mechanism is determined by the state of the soil, the presence and concentration of contaminants, and the plant species involved. This review focuses on the key economically important plants used for phytoremediation, as well as the challenges to plant growth and phytoremediation capability with emphasis on the advantages and limits of plant growth in marginal land soil. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) boost plant development and promote soil bioremediation by secreting a variety of metabolites and hormones, through nitrogen fixation, and by increasing other nutrients' bioavailability through mineral solubilization. This review also emphasizes the role of PGPB under different abiotic stresses, including heavy-metal-contaminated land, high salinity environments, and organic contaminants. In our opinion, the improved soil fertility of marginal lands using PGPB with economically significant plants (e.g., Miscanthus) in dual precession technology will result in the reclamation of general agriculture as well as the restoration of native vegetation.

Deep Learning Goes to Boot Camp: The U.S. Army wants to Team Humans and Robots on the Battlefield

“I should probably not be standing this close,” I think to myself, as the robot slowly approaches a large tree branch on the floor in front of me. It's not the size of the branch that makes me nervous-it's that the robot is operating autonomously, and that while I know what it's supposed to do, I'm not entirely sure what it will do. If everything works the way the roboticists at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, Md., expect, the robot will identify the branch, grasp it, and drag it out of the way. These folks know what they're doing, but I've spent enough time around robots that I take a small step backward anyway. • The robot, named RoMan, for Robotic Manipulator, is about the size of a large lawn mower, with a tracked base that helps it handle most kinds of terrain. At the front, it has a squat torso equipped with cameras and depth sensors, as well as a pair of arms that were harvested from a prototype disaster-response robot originally developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for a DARPA robotics competition. RoMan's job today is roadway clearing, a multistep task that ARL wants the robot to complete as autonomously as possible. Instead of instructing the robot to grasp specific objects in specific ways and move them to specific places, the operators tell RoMan to “go clear a path.” It's then up to the robot to make all the decisions necessary to achieve that objective.

Situational Awareness and General Aviation Accidents

Abstract. Situational awareness is a concept increasingly used in aircraft accident investigation reports. We analyzed 94 general aviation accidents in which situational awareness was mentioned by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator to determine factors that are significantly more often associated with fatality. We found a consistent use of the situational awareness concept, mainly applied to situations in which aircraft inadvertently collided with each other, with other man-made objects, and with various kinds of terrain. A significantly higher proportion of fatal accidents occurred during nighttime, in instrument meteorological conditions, or low visibility conditions. In addition, flights occurring during the cruise phase or in combination with spatial or geographical disorientation proved most often fatal.

Leg-wheel composite wheelchair based on parallelogram mechanism

with the aging society in China, the demand for wheelchairs is increasing for the elderly with mobility disabilities. At the same time, the number of people with physical disabilities caused by accidents and natural disasters is also rising. This paper designs a kind of electric wheelchair which can adapt to many kinds of terrain, which integrates climbing stairs, crossing obstacle function and safety and comfort to meet the living needs of specific people.

Application of LiDAR UAV for High-Resolution Flood Modelling

To overcome the difficulty of collecting fine-grained terrain data that is important for flood modelling, this work presents a method for the application of UAV-based LiDAR techniques to drive high-resolution flood propagation and inundation modelling. This paper comprehensively introduces the UAV platform, LiDAR sensor and data processing techniques required and proposes the approach for obtaining refined DEM for flood management using which the DEM accuracy can reach ±3 cm. Accordingly, two kinds of terrains, a small mountain area and a large urban area, have been measured and the time requirements for the method are 5 h and 2 days respectively. Based on the collected data, a full hydrodynamic numerical flood model is applied to simulate a flash flood in the mountain catchment and an urban flood at high-resolution. The results show that the water depth and velocity affected by key micro terrain features, such as tiny channels and roads, can be captured and considered, indicating that LiDAR UAV techniques are an efficient and reliable method for surveying terrain making them highly important for creating high accurate flood simulation.

A visual terrain classification method for mobile robots’ navigation based on convolutional neural network and support vector machine

In this paper, a hybrid method based on deep learning is proposed to visually classify terrains encountered by mobile robots. Considering the limited computing resource on mobile robots and the requirement for high classification accuracy, the proposed hybrid method combines a convolutional neural network with a support vector machine to keep a high classification accuracy while improve work efficiency. The key idea is that the convolutional neural network is used to finish a multi-class classification and simultaneously the support vector machine is used to make a two-class classification. The two-class classification performed by the support vector machine is aimed at one kind of terrain that users are mostly concerned with. Results of the two classifications will be consolidated to get the final classification result. The convolutional neural network used in this method is modified for the on-board usage of mobile robots. In order to enhance efficiency, the convolutional neural network has a simple architecture. The convolutional neural network and the support vector machine are trained and tested by using RGB images of six kinds of common terrains. Experimental results demonstrate that this method can help robots classify terrains accurately and efficiently. Therefore, the proposed method has a significant potential for being applied to the on-board usage of mobile robots.

A Novel Motion Intention Recognition Approach for Soft Exoskeleton via IMU

To solve the complexity of the traditional motion intention recognition method using a multi-mode sensor signal and the lag of the recognition process, in this paper, an inertial sensor-based motion intention recognition method for a soft exoskeleton is proposed. Compared with traditional motion recognition, in addition to the classic five kinds of terrain, the recognition of transformed terrain is also added. In the mode acquisition, the sensors’ data in the thigh and calf in different motion modes are collected. After a series of data preprocessing, such as data filtering and normalization, the sliding window is used to enhance the data, so that each frame of inertial measurement unit (IMU) data keeps the last half of the previous frame’s historical information. Finally, we designed a deep convolution neural network which can learn to extract discriminant features from temporal gait period to classify different terrain. The experimental results show that the proposed method can recognize the pose of the soft exoskeleton in different terrain, including walking on flat ground, going up and downstairs, and up and down slopes. The recognition accuracy rate can reach 97.64%. In addition, the recognition delay of the conversion pattern, which is converted between the five modes, only accounts for 23.97% of a gait cycle. Finally, the oxygen consumption was measured by the wearable metabolic system (COSMED K5, The Metabolic Company, Rome, Italy), and compared with that without an identification method; the net metabolism was reduced by 5.79%. The method in this paper can greatly improve the control performance of the flexible lower extremity exoskeleton system and realize the natural and seamless state switching of the exoskeleton between multiple motion modes according to the human motion intention.

Analysis and Optimization of Interpolation Points for Quadruped Robots Joint Trajectory

Trajectory planning is the foundation of locomotion control for quadruped robots. This paper proposes a bionic foot-end trajectory which can adapt to many kinds of terrains and gaits based on the idea of trajectory planning combining Cartesian space with joint space. Trajectory points are picked for inverse kinematics solution, and then quintic polynomials are used to plan joint space trajectories. In order to ensure that the foot-end trajectory generated by the joint trajectory planning is closer to the original Cartesian trajectory, the distributions of the interpolation point are analyzed from the spatial domain to temporal domain. An evaluation function was established to assess the closeness degree between the actual trajectory and the original curve. Subsequently, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and genetic algorithm (GA) for the points selection are used to obtain a more precise trajectory. Simulation and physical prototype experiments were included to support the correctness and effectiveness of the algorithms and the conclusions.

Effect of Distributed Damping on the Dynamic Behavior of Flexible Chassis of Heavy Road Vehicle Under Standardized Random Road Responses

This paper evaluates the dynamics of a heavy road truck on different random road conditions, whereas the issue of beam flexibility is also being accompanied. Heavy vehicles like trucks and buses having a large structure to carry their load ride in all kinds of terrains, for thousands of miles without failing structure. Structure (chassis or frame) of the truck should be able to sustain all types of vibration (i.e., longitudinal, transverse and flexural). This study starts with developing an analytical model with consideration of the Rayleigh beam approach, where the rotary inertia of the beam has also been admitted. This work also considered internal damping of the chassis, which has been neglected in past studies specifically for flexural vibration. Further bond graph model of the flexible structure of a heavy road vehicle is developed, where this model is derived through modal expansion approach. The dynamic response of the structure is analyzed under various random road conditions at different vehicle speeds. These random models of the road are developed according to ISO 8608 standard, whereas four (H1–H4) kinds of road categories are considered. Results show the dynamic response of the chassis under a real road response so that parameters of the various parts of the structure can be evaluated, which further raises the ride comfort and road holding capability of the structure. Further, this work also examines the effect of structural damping or internal damping on the dynamics of the system.

Spring water quality and discharge assessment in the Basantar watershed of Jammu Himalaya using geographic information system (GIS) and water quality Index(WQI)

The demand for fresh spring water recently increased due to intensive domestic, industrial irrigation practices which typically caused depletion of water resources and deterioration of water quality. The spring water quality was analyzed for its major hydrochemistry and hydrochemical evolution of the spring water in the study area. A total of 60 spring water samples were collected from the three kinds of terrain (mountainous, hilly and plain) and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), bicarbonate (HCO3−), sulphate (SO42−), chloride (Cl−), nitrate (NO3−), and fluoride (F−). The water quality of drinking purposes was plotted in the Piper trilinear diagram which reveals that spring hydrochemistry is dominated by the alkaline earth and weak acids. Gibbs diagram reveals that the spring water chemistry is primarily controlled by rock-water interaction in the investigated region. The water quality index (WQI), 45% of samples fall in the excellent category, 50% of spring samples fall in good categories for drinking purposes. The pH and TDS are within the permissible limit ranges from 7 to 8.4 and 123to 793 respectively. Based on chemical analysis of the various parameters such as non-carbonate hardness, sodium percentage sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate were calculated to define the quality of spring water for irrigation purposes. The discharge of spring water was also calculated during the pre-monsoon season and found that 70% of samples have discharge more than 20 L per second (Lps).

Evaluation of Hopping Robot Performance With Novel Foot Pad Design on Natural Terrain for Hopper Development

This letter presents the hopping performance evaluation on three types of terrains and novel foot pad designs for efficient traverse of hopping rovers. Hopping rovers, called Hopper, are expected to explore scientific richness areas where wheeled vehicles are hard to traverse. In order to succeed in the robotic planetary exploration, optimization and efficient designs of rovers are essential. Almost all planetary surfaces are covered with sand, called regolith, which makes hopping efficiency bad. In this letter, we discover the hopping performance on three kinds of terrains. Moreover, we also propose the method of increasing hopping performance on soft soil. Inspired by the conventional wheeled vehicle design, treads, called grouser, are installed on the bottom of the foot pad. While grousers are effective on hard ground and soft soil, they are ineffective on bilayer terrain. Bilayer means that hard ground is covered with thin regolith. And the other novel grouser shape is designed based on the soil interaction model using a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The proposed design improves the hopping performance on soft soil in comparison with the straight grouser.

A Dynamic Inertial Weight Strategy in Micro PSO for Swarm Robots

A relatively new area of research and development is Swarm Robotics. It is a part of the swarm intelligence field. In the proposed paper, we shall use swarm robotics in the field of defense and security, particularly for the problem of counter-improvised explosive device (IED) operations. The biggest problem in this regard is to physically detect the IEDs. We propose the use of a swarm of autonomous robots which shall be moving through the search space to collectively detect IEDs in a relatively lesser span of time with greater reliability. Since the robots are autonomous, there will not be any human contact involved, thus distancing humans from any potential IEDs or hazardous environments. The robot hardware shall be robust and able to traverse different kinds of terrains or even water bodies. A major problem of decision making for autonomous robots is localization of the robots towards the origin. Localization deals with finding its Cartesian coordinates and direction in the given coordinate system. For effective autonomous navigation of a robot, finding the position of the robot is essential at every point of time. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a useful method for population based global search. The proposed algorithm is an extension of micro-particle swarm optimization (µPSO) for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping. The effectiveness of this method is estimated by comparing its results with the traditional PSO and µPSO.

The acceptability and feasibility of a novel asthma management strategy in Australian antenatal clinics-a qualitative descriptive study

In this chapter, the special point of tracked unmanned ground vehicle (TUGV), the terramechanics between the tracks of UGV and ground, are thoroughly discussed. The refined fundamentals of soil and terramechanics are introduced, which consist of the classification of soil, the kernel mechanical model of terrain, and the identification of parameters of the ground. Based on a classical model of terrain and experimental data of two kinds of terrains, the key parameters are identified. The essential part of an exponential function with respect to the longitudinal deformation of ground, has perfect differentiability and simplicity, and makes sense to both theoretical analysis and practical usage.