Operator's Intention Research Articles

Novel stability control strategy for distributed drive electric vehicle based on driver operation intention

In this paper, a novel direct yaw control method based on driver operation intention for stability control of a distributed drive electric vehicle is proposed. It was discovered that the vehicle loses its stability easily under an emergency steering alignment (EA) problem. An emergent control algorithm is proposed to improve vehicle stability under such a condition. A driver operation intention recognition module is developed to identify the driving conditions. When the vehicle enters into an EA condition, the module can quickly identify it and transfer the control method from normal direct yaw control to emergency control. Two control algorithms are designed. The emergency control algorithm is applied to an EA condition while the adaptive control algorithm is applied to other conditions except the EA condition. Both simulation results and real vehicle results show that: The driver module can accurately identify driving conditions based on driver operation intention. When the vehicle enters into EA condition, the emergent control algorithm can intervene quickly, and it has proven to outperform normal direct yaw control for better stabilization of vehicles.

The Colonial State and Resource Frontiers

The article, through an investigation of a plethora of colonial reports, correspondences and petitions, attempts to build a history of frontier spaces invested in resource appropriation. Discovered in the forests of the northeastern tracts of British India in the early nineteenth century, rubber entailed the culmination of a resource frontier whose effects simultaneously produced the disruptive as well as the dialogical in a multiplicity of extractive as well as non-extractive activities. As the material intricacies of appropriating rubber located beyond the assumed political boundary of the colonial state littered the frontier geography with strange institutions and legal apparatus, there circulated at the same time certain ideas and perceptions that wove the region and its people within an ideological geography that increasingly rationalised the operative intentionality of the resource frontier. The effects noted, sometimes through the violent outbursts of military combat and sometimes through the discursive politics of petition writing, bring forth the complexities that the project of rubber appropriation unfolded for the region.

The Creative Expression of the Sense of Experience

En este trabajo estudiamos la prioridad que Husserl otorga en sus primeras obras al sentido frente a la expresión, considerada improductiva. En sus últimos escritos, en cambio, la génesis del sentido es correlativa a la de la expresión y la comunicación intersubjetivas. De la mano de Merleau-Ponty, nos centraremos concretamente en el giro que supone El Origen de la Geometría de Husserl. No obstante, contextualizaremos en cada una de sus obras su reiterada interpretación de la intención husserliana de llevar la experiencia a la expresión de su sentido con el propósito de demostrar que nunca dejó de pensar con Husserl, tematizando incluso sus impensados. La concepción merleau-pontiana de la reducción incompleta, la intencionalidad operante y la fenomenología como interrogación así lo pondrá de manifiesto. Con ella, se abre, yendo más allá de Husserl, la posibilidad de una expresión creadora.

Inability to determine tissue health is main indication of allograft use in intermediate extent burns

IntroductionCutaneous allograft is commonly used in the early coverage of excised burns when autograft is unavailable. However, allograft is also applied in intermediate-extent burns (25–50%), during cases in which it is possible to autograft. In this population, there is a paucity of data on the indications for allograft use. This study explores the indications for allograft usage in moderate size burns. MethodsUnder an IRB-approved protocol, patients admitted to our burn unit between March 2003 and December 2010 were identified through a review of the burn registry. Data on allograft use, total burn surface area, operation performed, operative intent, number of operations, intensive care unit length of stay, and overall length of stay were collected and analyzed. Data are presented as means±standard deviations, except where noted. ResultsIn the study period, 146 patients received allograft during their acute hospitalization. Twenty-five percent of allograft recipients sustained intermediate-extent burns. Patients with intermediate-extent burns received allograft later in their hospitalization than those with large-extent (50–75% TBSA) burns (6.8 days vs. 3.4 days, p=0.01). Allografted patients with intermediate-extent burns underwent more operations (10.8 vs. 6.1, p=0.002) and had longer hospitalizations (78.3 days vs. 40.9 days, p<0.001) than non-allografted patients, when controlled for TBSA. Clinical rationale for placement of allograft in this population included autograft failure, uncertain depth of excision, lack of autograft donor site, and wound complexity. When uncertain depth of excision was the indication, allograft was universally applied onto the face. In half of allografted intermediate-extent burn patients the inability to identify a viable recipient bed was the ultimate reason for allograft use. ConclusionsUnlike large body surface area burns, allograft skin use in intermediate-extent injury occurs later in the hospitalization and is driven by the inability to determine wound bed suitability for autograft application. Allograft application can be utilized to test recipient site viability in cases of autograft failure or uncertain depth of excision.

Lateral pelvic compartment excision during pelvic exenteration.

Involvement of the lateral compartment remains a relative or absolute contraindication to pelvic exenteration in most units. Initial experience with exenteration in the authors' unit produced a 21 per cent clear margin rate (R0), which improved to 53 per cent by adopting a novel technique for en bloc resection of the iliac vessels and other side-wall structures. The objective of this study was to report morbidity and oncological outcomes in consecutive exenterations involving the lateral compartment. Patients undergoing pelvic exenteration between 1994 and 2014 were eligible for review. Two hundred consecutive patients who had en bloc resection of the lateral compartment were included. R0 resection was achieved in 66·5 per cent of 197 patients undergoing surgery for cancer and 68·9 per cent of planned curative resections. For patients with colorectal cancer, a clear resection margin was associated with a significant overall survival benefit (P = 0·030). Median overall and disease-free survival in this group was 41 and 27 months respectively. Overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 86, 46 and 35 per cent respectively. No predictors of survival were identified on univariable analysis other than margin status and operative intent. Excision of the common or external iliac vessels or sciatic nerve did not confer a survival disadvantage. The continuing evolution of radical pelvic exenteration techniques has seen an improvement in R0 margin status from 21 to 66·5 per cent over a 20-year interval by routine adoption of a more lateral anatomical plane. Five-year overall survival rates are comparable with those for more centrally based tumours.

New Silane and MAPP Coupling Agents as Natural Composites Production Systems Improvement

Still more and more applications using synthetic polymers find new material alternative in materials based on synthetic polymer filled with nature fibers mainly plant fibers. Not only in common applications but also in technical applications is possible to use nature fiber composites. But some additional modifications are necessary to perform to gain properties possible to use in technical applications. Mainly increasing adhesion between matrix and fibers is the most common intent of these additional operations. This paper deals with maleic anhydride based coupling agent and silane coupling agent effect in the polypropylene matrix and jute fiber composite and its mechanical properties. By using of silane coupling agents was achieved mechanical properties which are possible to compare with composites with glass fibers mechanical properties mainly in case of the flexural and tensile modulus and mainly was gained significant increasing of composite production system stability.

Data-Driven Motion Mappings Improve Transparency in Teleoperation

A teleoperation system with high transparency enables the operator to focus on completing the task at hand instead of on controlling the robot. We previously proposed that modifying the mapping from human movement to desired robot movement might improve the transparency of teleoperators in ways similar to adding sensory feedback. Specifically, we created non-Cartesian motion mappings that correct for systematic reaching errors made by humans, so that the robot motion resembles the operator's intent rather than his or her produced movement. This article presents a study that compares subjects' performance on a virtual teleoperated targeting task under three different motion mappings: a Cartesian-scaling motion mapping that is typically implemented in teleoperators, a corrective variable-similarity motion mapping that is fit to aggregate data from subjects in a previous study, and a corrective variable-similarity motion mapping that is fit to calibration data collected from each subject. Twelve participants reached toward 120 targets under each of the three motion mappings with balanced random presentation order and a washout task between conditions. Subjects were able to complete the targeting task with higher accuracy in the initial direction of robot motion, at higher speeds, and with more natural and efficient reaching movements under the variable-similarity motion mappings. Subjects also overwhelmingly preferred the variable-similarity motion mappings. These results indicate that subjects experienced a higher level of transparency when using the virtual teleoperator with the variable-similarity motion mappings than with the standard Cartesian mapping. Therefore, mappings that correct for systematic errors in human motion, such as the variable-similarity motion mappings tested here, should be considered in teleoperator design.

Trajectory prediction for future air traffic management – complex manoeuvres and taxiing

AbstractThe future air traffic management (ATM) concept envisaged by the Single European Sky ATM Research – SESAR – and the USA equivalent NextGen, mark a paradigm shift from the current reactive approach of ATM towards holistic strategic collaborative decision making. The core of the future ATM concept relies on common situational awareness over potentially large time-horizons, based upon the user operational intent. This is beyond human capabilities and requires the support of automation tools to predict aircraft state throughout the operation and provide support to optimal decision making long before any potential conflict may arise. This is achieved with trajectory predictors and conflict detectors and resolvers respectively. Numerous tools have been developed, typically geared towards addressing specific airborne applications. However, a comprehensive literature search suggests that none of the tools was designed to predict trajectories throughout the entire operation of an aircraft, i.e. gate-to-gate. Yet, such functionality is relevant in the holistic optimisation of aircraft operations. To address this gap, this paper builds on an existing en route trajectory prediction (TP) model and develops novel techniques to predict aircraft trajectories for the transitions between the ground- and enroute-phases of operation and for the ground-phase, thereby enabling gate-to-gate (or enroute -to-enroute) TP. The model is developed on the basis of Newtonian physics and operational procedures. Real recorded data obtained from a flight data record (FDR) were used to estimate some of the input parameters required by the model. The remaining parameters were taken from the BADA 3.7 model. Performance results using these flight data demonstrate that the proposed TP model has the potential to accurately predict gate-to-gate trajectories and to support future ATM applications such as gate-to-gate synchronisation.

Research on Operational Intention Identification of Quayside Container Crane Driver

To study intelligent auxiliary drive system of port machinery, it needs to identify operational intention of quayside container crane driver. With the background of loading and unloading process of quayside container crane, upon Hidden Markov Model, double HMM model is established. The algorithm of revised Forward-Backward is applied to calculate each likelihood of HMM in operation layer, the model of the largest likelihood is selected to be the identify result of operation behavior. After combining them to constitute the observation sequence bunch, it will be sent to the intention layer of HMM to conduct the identification of operation intention of crane driver. Finally, HMM is realized by Matlab. By means of field statistics, the basic data can be determined and effectiveness is also verified. It turns out that this model can accurately identify the operational intention of quayside container crane driver, which is of great significance for studying intelligent auxiliary drive system of port machinery.

脳内電流源推定手法を用いた前方車両に対するドライバの操舵意図推定

Vehicle technology retarding the interaction between human and the machine has been called human-electronics in Japan. It is necessary to achieve a better relationship between human and vehicle. A driver's information, which can be obtained from steering operation, pedal operation, camera images and physiological information, particularly is crucial to find a method to determine a driver's operational intention. It is important to find a method to determine a driver's operational intention. Therefore, we have focused on the brain activities in the biological information. The time frequency analysis such as FFT has been major method in the traditional decomposition of the electroencephalogram (EEG). However, these conventional methods can only use two-dimensional data. In our previous research, we investigated that the driver's EEG at the preceding car avoidance maneuver was decomposed by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and we investigated the feature factor of longitudinal behavior for recognize and judgment from that decomposition result. PARAFAC analysis has known as a multi-channel EEG analysis of multi-dimensional data. In the previous research (Ikenishi et al., 2010), we investigated the driver's EEG of during lane change maneuver using the parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis. Consequently, all subjects have two common factors of the frequency component which exist in the 5-10 Hz and 8-13 Hz region. Those factors were changed by the driver's mental state during visual recognition and judgment. In this paper, we estimated the driver's intention from a driver's EEG using source current distribution estimation with Hierarchical Bayesian method and the sparse logistic regression. From the estimation results, the estimation accuracy of driver's intention was higher than about 70 % of three subject's in the lateral operation.

Analysis of Human Grip Strength in Physical Human Robot Interaction

The purpose of this paper is to explore how an operator's grip plays a role in physical Human Robot Interaction (pHRI). By considering how the operator reacts to or initiates changes in control, it is possible to study the operator's grip pattern. By analyzing the grip pattern, it is possible to incorporate their natural response in order to create safer and more intuitive interfaces. An experiment where an exoskeleton and human collaborate in order to complete a path following task has been chosen to measure the forces applied by the user at the handle to observe the interaction between the operator and robot. AThruMode Matrix Array sensor has been wrapped around the robot's handle to measure the applied pressure. By introducing the sensor it not only enables the measurement of applied forces and how they are applied but also a measure of how tight the user is gripping the handle. Previous studies show that the natural response of a human to an unexpected event is to tighten their grip, indicating that how an operator grasps the handle can be related to the operator's intention. In order to investigate how the operator's grip of the handle changes, the experiments presented in this paper examine two different scenarios which might occur during an interaction, the first where the robot attempts to deviate from the path and the second where the operator wishes to deviate to a new path. The results of the experiments show that whether the operator or the robot initiates the transition, a measurable change in how the operator grasps the handle. The information in this paper can lead to new applications in pHRI by exploring the possible uses of an operator's grasping strength.

1A1-R02 テレプレゼンス・ロボットにおける人間協調ナビゲーションシステムのための操作インターフェースの開発

This study aims to achieve cooperative navigation systems of tele-presence robots which anyone can operate easily. We have already developed a navigation method based online updating way points according to operator's intentions at remote sites. However, the developed system provides operators narrow camera views around a mobile robot. It is hard for operators to feel that they exist in remote sites. This paper considers an operation interface to provide high realities of presence in remote sites.

Embodiment and self in reorientation to everyday life following severe traumatic brain injury

People with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) are often young and need long-term follow-up as many suffer complex motor, sensory, perceptual and cognitive impairments. This paper aims to introduce phenomenological notions of embodiment and self as a framework to help understand how people with sTBI experience reorientation to everyday life, and to inform clinical practice in neurological physiotherapy. The impairments caused by the sTBI may lead to a sense of alienation of one's own body and changes in operative intentionality and in turn disrupt the reorganization of self, identity, everyday life and integration/co-construction of meaning with others. Applying a first-person conception of the body may extend insights into the importance of an adapted and individualized approach to strengthen the sensory, perceptual and motor body functions, which underpin the pre-reflective and reflective aspects of the self. It seems important to integrate these aspects, while also paying attention to optimizing co-construction of meaning for the person with sTBI in the treatment context. This requires understanding the patient as an experiencing and expressive body, a lived body (body-as-subject) and not just the body-as-object as is favored in more traditional frameworks of physiotherapy.

Delivering key signals to the machine: seeking the electric signal that muscles emanate

Due to the limitation of electric power generation in the human body, present human-machine interfaces have not been successful because of the nature of standard electronics circuit designs, which do not consider the specifications of signals that resulted from the skin. In general, the outcomes and applications of human-machine interfaces are limited to custom-designed subsystems, such as neuroprosthesis. We seek to model the bio dynamical of sub skin into equivalent mathematical definitions, descriptions, and theorems. Within the human skin, there are networks of nerves that permit the skin to function as a multi dimension transducer. We investigate the nature of structural skin. Apart from multiple networks of nerves, there are other segments within the skin such as minute muscles. We identify the segments that are active when there is an electromyography activity. When the nervous system is firing signals, the muscle is being stimulated. We evaluate the phenomena of biodynamic of the muscles that is concerned with the electromyography activity of the nervous system. In effect, we design a relationship between the human somatosensory and synthetic systems sensory as the union of a complete set of the new domain of the functional system. This classifies electromyogram waveforms linked to intent thought of an operator. The system will become the basis for delivering key signals to machine such that the machine is under operator's intent, hence slavery.

ASME Section III Treatment of Stress Distribution in Cylindrical Vessels With Symmetric Thin-Walled Discontinuity

In equipment design, the designer often attempts to minimize cost and maximize performance while meeting the design specification requirements. In the Power Industry, for example, a significant portion of the design requirements are user defined and the rest are dictated by Codes and Standards. In most applications such as tanks, valves, and pumps, the designers are familiar with the technical issues and are able to meet them. In some cases, however, balancing the two requirements (i.e., the user defined requirements and the ASME Codes and Standards) is complex. An example of this challenge can be found in the design and analysis of a pressurized cylindrical vessel that allows the user to impose a “weak-link” section that under certain operating scenarios can cause the vessel to rupture or fail. In such a case, the designers have to address the discontinuity that is imposed on the structure while still meeting the ASME required stress criteria for structural integrity. The term “weak-link” is used herein to identify the subcomponent or subsystem which is most likely to fail under a postulated operating condition. The loading condition can be either internal or external. In internal loading, the loading is generally an overpressure excursion. In the external case, the load can be seismically induced or an applied actuator load for operation. This paper presents a case study of internally induced loading condition in an ASME Section III cylindrical pressurized vessel where the cylinder is required to fail or rupture only when it is impacted by an actuating load. In this case, the ASME Section III requirements for pressure integrity are combined with the failure mechanism of a symmetrical discontinuity in the design and analysis to ensure that the operational intent of the valve is met. The challenge for this design is two fold; (a) ensure that the device maintains structural integrity without any leakage during normal operation, and (b) guarantee vessel rupture and relieve pressure predictably. This paper presents the ASME treatment of such a design using finite element analysis (FEA).

Tool use and the human mind: From basic to materially mediated operative intentionality

AbstractThis paper explores some of the cognitive-ecological dimensions of various manual forms of tool use occurring among human agents. In particular, it clarifies what such forms reveal about the intentionality of the human mind. Integrating phenomenological, philosophical and anthropological findings and perspectives, I argue that there exists not one but at least three different forms of operative types of intentionality that are associated with three specific forms of manual technical activity. First, there is the direct type of operative intentionality that realizes itself through a human agent’s concrete bodily movements. Second, there is a materially mediated form of operative intentionality, which is required for performing those technical activities where the external tool directly extends the movements of the human body. Third, there is a more complex variety of such materially mediated intentionality, which underpins those forms of tool use where the dynamics of the tool and those of the body significantly diverge. It is suggested that the relation between these three forms of operative intentionality is best conceived in terms of a structural hierarchy.

Analysis of longitudinal driving behaviors during car following situation by the driver's EEG using PARAFAC

Abstract Vehicle technology of the interaction between human and the machine has been called human-electronics in Japan. It is necessary to achieve a better relationship between human and vehicle. A driver's information, which can be obtained from steering operation, pedal operation, camera images and physiological information, particularly is crucial to find a method to determine a driver's operational intention. Recently, some former researches have been reported about the investigation of the brain activity of the driver. The time frequency analysis such as FFT has been major method in the traditional decomposition of the electroencephalogram (EEG). However, these conventional methods can only use two-dimensional data. In this paper, we described that the driver's EEG during car following was decomposed by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and we investigated the feature factor of longitudinal behavior for recognize and judgment from that decomposition result. PARAFAC analysis has known as a multi-channel EEG analysis of multi-dimensional data. Consequently, Common to all subjects has two factors of the frequency component which were in the 5-10 Hz and 8-13 Hz. Those factors were changed by the driver's mental state during visual recognition and judgment. In addition, we estimated the feature factor from a new EEG data set using inverse solution of PARAFAC. From estimation results, the driver recognized preferentially shape and color than distance and movement information in the car following situation.

2A1-C04 インテリジェント制御型歩行器のためのユーザー意図同定に関する検討(福祉ロボティクス・メカトロニクス(1))

The walking ability is very important in daily life. Lack of walking ability causes a decline in quality of life (QOL). The intelligently controllable walker (i-Walker) is a computer-aided walking support which recognizes environment and assists walking. In previous studies we has conducted several experiments and identified several problems. And we found that if there is mismatch between intent of user's operation and the control of i-Walker, it prevents smooth walking of users. To solve this problem, we developed a sensor walker (Pre-i-Walker4) and a prediction method by using support vector machine. Gait experiments were conducted by healthy users to evaluate the developed prediction model to predict stop, walk, turning left and right, and emergency.

Metastatic Nonfunctioning Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Carcinoma to Liver: Surgical Treatment and Outcomes

The surgical treatment of metastatic, nonfunctional pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (nPNEC) is not well defined. Existing series are confounded by inclusion of patients with metastatic functional tumors or gastrointestinal carcinoid. Our hypothesis was that the surgical treatment of metastatic nPNEC provides favorable perioperative and oncologic outcomes. We performed a retrospective review of all patients undergoing surgical treatment of metastatic nPNEC to the liver from 1987 through 2008 at the Mayo Clinic. Data are presented as medians with ranges. Seventy-two patients were identified, with a median age of 57 years (range 28 to 77 years) and median body mass index (BMI) of 26 kg/m(2) (range 18 to 40 kg/m(2)). Operative intent of resection was curative in 39 (54%) or palliative (≥ 90% tumor debulking) in 32 (44%). Median number of tumors treated and median tumor size were 8 (range 1 to 30) and 4.5 cm (range 0.3 to 20 cm), respectively. Tumor grade was 1 or 2 in 97%, and angioinvasion was identified in 55 (76%) patients. Postoperative morbidity and mortality were 50% and 0%, respectively. Among the 72 patients, overall survivals at 1, 5 and 10 years were 97.1%, 59.9%, and 45.0%, respectively. Among the 39 patients with a complete (R0) resection, the 1- and 5-year disease-free survivals were 53.7% and 10.7%, respectively. For patients undergoing debulking of ≥ 90% tumor burden, the 1- and 5-year survivals free of progression were 58.1% and 3.5%, respectively. Surgical treatment of metastatic nPNEC to the liver with curative intent or for palliative ≥ 90% debulking provides favorable oncologic outcomes. Despite a high incidence of tumor recurrence, 5-year survival rates are encouraging and appear to justify an aggressive surgical approach in these patients.

Quality of care in rectal cancer surgery. Exploring influencing factors in the West of Scotland

To assess variability in the proportions of types of major resection for rectal cancer throughout the west of Scotland (WoS) and ascertain factors explaining the variability. Retrospective cohort study of a regional population clinical audit database. This was linked to cancer registrations and death certificates in order that outcome analyses could be derived. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were used to explore determinants of survival. A total of 1574 patients met the inclusion criteria. The age range was from 22 to 97 years. The mean age was 67, median age 68 and the standard deviation was 11.5. The majority of patients (61%) were male. Unlike previous series, male patients and those with poorer socioeconomic circumstances (SEC) were no more likely to receive an abdominoperineal excision (APE) procedure for rectal cancer. Variation exists in the west of Scotland regarding surgical treatment for rectal cancer. We found no difference in the type of procedure offered according to sex, intent of operation or socioeconomic circumstances with reference to APE and anterior resection (AR) for rectal cancer. We conclude therefore that our region provides an equitable service on grounds of sex and SEC. This demonstrates that an equitable surgical service has been provided for those suffering from rectal cancer. Circumferential margin positivity was four times more likely in an APE than an AR for rectal cancer. This is not explained by age, stage, sex, socioeconomic circumstances (SEC), volume of surgery, intent of operation, type of admission or year of incidence.