Engineering Commons^™

Developing Robust Autonomous Vehicles With Ros, Dylan J. Kangas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The demand for autonomous vehicles (AVs) is rising across both military and civilian sectors. These unmanned systems offer numerous advantages, such as improved efficiency, safety, and adaptability. Addressing this demand requires the development of resilient and versatile autonomous vehicles crucial for the transport and reconnaissance markets.

The sensory perception of autonomous vehicles of any kind is paramount to their ability to navigate and localize in their environment. Factors such as sensor noise, erroneous readings, and deliberate attacks should all be considered when developing a robust autonomous system. This work aims to quantify the degradation of sensor data which causes mapping …

Av Operation And Energy Efficiency Improved Through The Evaluation And Demonstration Of Av Sensor Technology, Nicholas Brown

Dissertations

The majority of states have passed legislation or have signed an executive order enacting safe testing, development, and deployment of level 4 and level 5 autonomous vehicles (AVs) in accordance with SAE standard J3016, which has led to an increase in the frequency of AV testing. The major driving force behind the push for AVs on public roads appears to be the increases the number of AVs on the road to decrease the chances of fatalities from distracted drivers. There are reports of disengagement from companies, which are required to report them to operate within California. The continuance of disengagements …

Challenges And Solutions For Autonomous Ground Robot Scene Understanding And Navigation In Unstructured Outdoor Environments: A Review, Liyana Wijayathunga, Alexander Rassau, Douglas Chai

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The capabilities of autonomous mobile robotic systems have been steadily improving due to recent advancements in computer science, engineering, and related disciplines such as cognitive science. In controlled environments, robots have achieved relatively high levels of autonomy. In more unstructured environments, however, the development of fully autonomous mobile robots remains challenging due to the complexity of understanding these environments. Many autonomous mobile robots use classical, learning-based or hybrid approaches for navigation. More recent learning-based methods may replace the complete navigation pipeline or selected stages of the classical approach. For effective deployment, autonomous robots must understand their external environments at a …

Enhancing Vehicular Perception: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Sensor Fusion Performance Through Weighted Averages And Fuzzy C-Means For Optimal Data Association, Zachary Brian Flanigan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This work explores the implementation of sensor fusion and data association for autonomous vehicle design. Advancements in Adaptive Driver Assistance System (ADAS) technology have driven the development of perception algorithms required for higher levels of autonomy in vehicles. Perception algorithms process data collected from radar, camera, and LiDAR sensors to generate a complete model of the ego vehicle’s surrounding environment. Fusion of data from these sensors is important for accurate measurement of longitudinal and lateral distances to surrounding objects. Sensor fusion associates sensor detections to each other through different data association techniques. Data association techniques can consist of independent assignment …

The Importance Of Hand Motions For Communication And Interaction In Virtual Reality, Alex Adkins

All Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) is a growing method of communication and play. Recent advances have enabled hand-tracking technologies for consumer VR headsets, allowing virtual hands to mimic a user's real hand movements in real-time. A growing number of users now utilize hand-tracking when using VR to manipulate objects or to create gestures when interacting with others. As VR grows as a tool and communication platform, it is important to understand how the rising prevalence of hand-tracking technology might affect users' experiences.

The goal of this dissertation is to investigate, through a series of experiments, how using hand motions in VR influences …

Transforming Character Faces Based On Perceived Personality Traits, Kara Porter

All Theses

The ability to read other human's faces is a crucial part of everyday life. Subconsciously, the human brain analyzes someone's face within the first few seconds of seeing it, making a variety of conclusions ~\cite{FacePerp} such as gathering information about emotional state and assuming character traits this person might possess. The purpose of this thesis is to create a tool that allows a user to alter features of a character's three dimensional (3D) face mesh to look increasingly or decreasingly like the character possesses certain personality traits. Using a sample set of randomly generated faces, a survey is conducted to …

Path Planning And Flight Control Of Drones For Autonomous Pollination, Chapel R. Rice

Masters Theses

The decline of natural pollinators necessitates the development of novel pollination technologies. In this thesis, a drone-enabled autonomous pollination system (APS) that consists of five primary modules: environment sensing, flower perception, path planning, flight control, and pollination mechanisms is proposed. These modules are highly dependent upon each other, with each module relying on inputs from the other modules. This thesis focuses on approaches to the path planning and flight control modules. Flower perception is briefly demonstrated developing a map of flowers using results from previous work. With that map of flowers, APS path planning is defined as a variant of …

Characterizing And Predicting Human Visual Perception Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Gestures, Paul Fletcher

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are being used in public domains and hazardous environments where effective communication strategies are critical. UAV gesture techniques have been shown to communicate meaning to human observers and may be ideal in contexts that require lightweight systems such as unmanned aerial flight, however, this work may be limited to an idealized range of viewer perspectives. As gesture is a visual communication technique it is necessary to consider how the perception of a robot gesture may suffer from obfuscation or self-occlusion from some viewpoints. This thesis presents the results of three online user-studies that examine participants’ ability …

Perceptions Of High Achieving High School Students Regarding The Professionalization Of Teaching And Their Interest In Becoming Teachers, Jonathan Crossley

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

This study was designed to highlight the factors that contribute to high-achieving high school students not deciding to join the teaching profession. There is growing evidence to indicate that the teaching profession is comprised mostly of educators in their first five years in the profession and educators with more than 25 years of teaching experience. Increasing numbers of educators are leaving the profession within their first five years in a classroom. On the other end of the spectrum, as teachers with more than 25 years of experience ultimately retire, the question remains about the viability of the profession for younger …

Constructing Frameworks For Task-Optimized Visualizations, Ghulam Jilani Abdul Rahim Quadri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Visualization is crucial in today’s data-driven world to augment and enhance human understanding and decision-making. Effective visualizations must support accuracy in visual task performance and expressive data communication. Effective visualization design depends on the visual channels used, chart types, or visual tasks. However, design choices and visual judgment are co-related, and effectiveness is not one-dimensional, leading to a significant need to understand the intersection of these factors to create optimized visualizations. Hence, constructing frameworks that consider both design decisions and the task being performed enables optimizing visualization design to maximize efficacy. This dissertation describes experiments, techniques, and user studies to …

Cortical Dynamics Of Language, Kiefer Forseth

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

The human capability for fluent speech profoundly directs inter-personal communication and, by extension, self-expression. Language is lost in millions of people each year due to trauma, stroke, neurodegeneration, and neoplasms with devastating impact to social interaction and quality of life. The following investigations were designed to elucidate the neurobiological foundation of speech production, building towards a universal cognitive model of language in the brain. Understanding the dynamical mechanisms supporting cortical network behavior will significantly advance the understanding of how both focal and disconnection injuries yield neurological deficits, informing the development of therapeutic approaches.

Teenage Cyclists’ Perception Towards Autonomous Vehicles And Its Associated Traffic Infrastructures, Obiageli Lawrentia Ngwu

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations

Background: Cycling is a cost-effective means of transportation. Many teenagers cycle to go to schools and ride in neighborhoods. Cyclists are more vulnerable to injuries and fatalities than motor vehicle drivers. With the implementation of autonomous vehicles (AVs), interactions between AVs and road-users are expected to be safer. It is most likely that current young people will be the ones to use these vehicles and interact with them. However, very few past studies have focused on cyclist-AV interaction, with little to no attention toward the teenage cyclist population. Objectives: This study is aimed at examining teenage cyclists’ perceptions of AVs …

Research On Cgf-Oriented Virtual Human Perceptual Attention Model, Weilong Yang, Xu Kai, Xie Xu, Sun Lin

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Perception model is an important research field of CGF behavior modeling. As the input of the reasoning module, the information obtained from the perception model has an important influence on the fidelity of the simulation. The CGF perception model is researched, and the attention mechanism, effective time of attention model is analyzed, compared with the traditional model of perception. By modeling the knowledge base and information feedback, a virtual human perception framework based on attention mechanism is proposed, and the experiment is carried out in the simulation environment.

Multimodal Computational Modeling Of Visual Object Recognition Deficits But Intact Repetition Priming In Schizophrenia, Pejman Sehatpour, Anahita Bassir Nia, Devin Adair, Zhishun Wang, Heloise M. Debaun, Gail Silipo, Antigona Martinez, Daniel C. Javitt

Publications and Research

The term perceptual closure refers to the neural processes responsible for “filling-in” missing information in the visual image under highly adverse viewing conditions such as fog or camouflage. Here we used a closure task that required the participants to identify barely recognizable fragmented line-drawings of common objects. Patients with schizophrenia have been shown to perform poorly on this task. Following priming, controls and importantly patients can complete the line-drawings at greater levels of fragmentation behaviorally, suggesting an improvement in their ability to performthe task. Closure phenomena have been shown to involve a distributed network of cortical regions, notably the lateral …

Civilian Pepper Spray For Self Defense: Understanding User Perception And Impact Of Design On User Performance, David Strybel, Anil R. Kumar

Faculty Publications

Pepper spray is widely used in the US, and is marketed as an effective self-defense device. While pepper spray can be useful in deterring an attacker, many pepper spray owners do not have any experience using it. There is a dearth of published studies that focus on civilian pepper-spray use, not to mention first time pepper-spray users. A study to analyze pepper-spray designs with first-time users, to see how the design, specifically the safety mechanism, affects response time and overall performance would be helpful. The study was conducted in 2 parts – a survey to understand user perception, and a …

Role Of Artificial Lighting In Emphasizing The Entrance Approaches, Maged Youssef

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Building's entrance is metaphorically a threshold between two realms, the first is an outdoor exposed to climatic change, hazards, and environmental factors, while the second is controlled, monitored, and determined to certain functions. It plays an important role in enriching users' experience. Moreover, it is the first impression a visitor takes to evaluate a whole building. Architecturally, the entrance is a very special part in the elevation, distinguished and emphasized by different design approaches. One of these approaches is using lighting. There is a direct connection between recognition of a space and light assimilation in it. From sunset to dawn, …

Gender-Related Differences In Flood Risk Perception And Behaviours Among Private Groundwater Users In The Republic Of Ireland, Cillian P. Mcdowell, Luisa Andrade, Eoin O'Neill, Kevin O'Malley, Jean O'Dwyer, Paul Hynds

Articles

Extreme weather events including flooding can have severe personal, infrastructural, and economic consequences, with recent evidence pointing to surface flooding as a pathway for the microbial contamination of private groundwater supplies. There is a pressing need for increasingly focused information and awareness campaigns to highlight the risks posed by extreme weather events and appropriate subsequent post-event actions. To date, little is known about the presence, directionality or magnitude of gender-related differences regarding flood risk awareness and behaviour among private groundwater users, a particularly susceptible sub-population due to an overarching paucity of infrastructural regulation across many regions. The current study investigated …

An Analysis Of Perceptual Masking Between Stems In Manually-Mixed Multitrack Audio Using A Cross-Analytic Loudness Model, Brian H. Cofer

Student Theses

In music production, there are many tools available to an audio engineer throughout the mixing process to bring a song to completion. Among the most common are level balancing, equalization (EQ), and compression. However, these tools still require the subjective judgments of human engineers to create the desired listening experience. While automated mixing algorithms have been increasingly studied, they have yet to match the skills of even an amateur mixing engineer, in major part, because the subjective mixing decisions of an engineer are difficult to replicate by automated systems. The following research was developed with the primary goal of objectively …

Enhancing 3d Visual Odometry With Single-Camera Stereo Omnidirectional Systems, Carlos A. Jaramillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

We explore low-cost solutions for efficiently improving the 3D pose estimation problem of a single camera moving in an unfamiliar environment. The visual odometry (VO) task -- as it is called when using computer vision to estimate egomotion -- is of particular interest to mobile robots as well as humans with visual impairments. The payload capacity of small robots like micro-aerial vehicles (drones) requires the use of portable perception equipment, which is constrained by size, weight, energy consumption, and processing power. Using a single camera as the passive sensor for the VO task satisfies these requirements, and it motivates the …

Applications Of Robot Operating System (Ros) To Mobile Microgrid Formation Outdoors, John Naglak

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Application of mobile robots to microgrid formation has value for disaster response and service of forward operating bases. This thesis describes the development, testing and demonstration of broad effort across multiple disciplines to enable outdoor positioning and connection of mobile microgrids for the first time. This work includes an outdoor waypoint controller for a UGV agent, specifically the Clearpath Husky. It details sensor fusion of 2D LiDAR and stereo vision, and fusion of odometry sources using an Extended Kalman Filter. Development of these software tools entails integration of many of the packages available through the Robot Operating System (ROS), with …

Examining The Effects Of A Virtual Character On Learning And Engagement In Serious Games, Vihanga Gamage, Cathy Ennis

Articles

Virtual characters have been employed for many purposes including interacting with players of serious games, with a purpose to increase engagement. These characters are often embodied conversational agents playing diverse roles, such as demonstrators, guides, teachers or interviewers. Recently, much research has been conducted into properties that affect the realism and plausibility of virtual characters, but it is less clear whether the inclusion of interactive agents in serious applications can enhance a user’s engagement with the application, or indeed increase efficacy. In a first step towards answering these questions, we conducted a study where a Virtual Learning Environment was used …

Engineering Technology Vs. Engineering Students: Differences In Perception And Understanding, Anne M. Lucietto, Jennifer D. Moss, Eddy Efendy, R. Mark French

IMPACT Publications

Engineering technology students either are studied under the auspices of research focused on engineering students, or are excluded from engineering research in its entirety. Even when they are included in research, our understanding of engineering technology students is either missing or obscured. The lack of available research focused on engineering technology students in particular has prompted an effort to contribute to the greater body of knowledge of engineering technology education. The lack of research, as compared to other STEM fields, presents a challenge to practitioners in engineering technology programs when making discipline-specific decisions regarding these particular students.

The need to …

Investigation Of Subjective Perception & Objective Metrics Of Acoustic Room Diffusion, Jay Michael Bliefnick

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

While a variety of assessment methodologies have been proposed to quantify acoustic diffusivity within rooms, a link between these and the perception of diffusion has not been fully established. This study investigated various ways of analyzing diffusion, through both human perception and objective metrics. Numerous impulse response measurements were collected from a physical acoustics testing facility designed for diffusion research. This space featured reversible absorptive/diffusive/reflective wall panels, which allowed numerous testing configurations. One such setup investigated how changing the diffusivity of an isolated wall surface impacted diffusive room conditions. Alternatively, the effects diffuser configurations had on diffusive room conditions were …

Eliciting Drivers Of Community Perceptions Of Mining Projects Through Effective Community Engagement, Liang Wang, Kwame Awuah-Offei, Sisi Que, Wei Yang

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Sustainable mining has received much attention in recent years as a consequence of the negative impacts of mining and public awareness. The aim of this paper is to provide mining companies guidance on improving the sustainability of their sites through effective community engagement based on recent advances in the literature. It begins with a review of the literature on sustainable development and its relationship to stakeholder engagement. It then uses the literature to determine the dominant factors that affect community perceptions of mining projects. These factors are classified into five categories: environmental, economic, social, governance and demographic factors. Then, we …

Age-Related Differences In Vehicle Control And Eye Movement Patterns At Intersections: Older And Middle-Aged Drivers, Yusuke Yamani, William J. Horrey, Yulan Liang, Donald L. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Publications

Older drivers are at increased risk of intersection crashes. Previous work found that older drivers execute less frequent glances for detecting potential threats at intersections than middle-aged drivers. Yet, earlier work has also shown that an active training program doubled the frequency of these glances among older drivers, suggesting that these effects are not necessarily due to age-related functional declines. In light of findings, the current study sought to explore the ability of older drivers to coordinate their head and eye movements while simultaneously steering the vehicle as well as their glance behavior at intersections. In a driving simulator, older …

A Multi-~Procedural Approach To Evaluating Walkability And Pedestrian Safety, Peris Nyagah

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Walking has sound health benefits and tends to be a pleasurable experience requiring no fuel, fare, license, nor registration. Whilst walking is recommended as part of physical activity, it is necessary to provide a conducive and safe walking environment. In an effort to determine an optimum combination of infrastructure that would create walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods eliminating unnecessary motorized trips; various approaches evaluating an assortment of features in the walking environment have been implemented. However, some factors such as crash risk which have an essential contribution to the suitability of the walking environment have yet to be considered. Therefore the objective …

Consumer Perceptions Towards Package Designs: A Cross Cultural Study, Romica Chandra Lal, Fritz Yambrach, Lucy Mcproud

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

The choice of one package or the other can be an economic decision or can be influenced by cultural acceptance or perception of individual convenience. Product package systems can be designed for one-time use or multiple-use purposes. Package perceptions in different countries typically develop from a variety of factors, including climate, lifestyle, and cultural acceptance with regard to particular products. In an increasingly global economy with multinational firms marketing products worldwide, it is important to understand the differences between consumer needs and consumer responses to product-package systems.

The objective of this research was to examine consumer perceptions of different product …

Reducing Error Rates In Intelligence, Surveillance, And Reconnaissance (Isr) Anomaly Detection Via Information Presentation Optimization, Donald Glen Church

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In the ISR domain, time-critical decision-making and dealing with multiple information feeds places high demands on the human. When designing aids and tools, the decision maker must be taken into account. This research looks toward designing a decision aid based the personality type of the operator. The BFI is used to determine the impact of personality and decision aid type (graphical vs. textual) on performance. Results show Openness and Agreeableness to be the strongest single factors for decision aid impact on performance. A model was also developed to show how the human takes the information and relates it to a …

Public Street Surveillance: A Psychometric Study On The Perceived Social Risk, David J. Brooks

David J Brooks Dr.

Public street surveillance, a domain of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), has grown enormously and is becoming common place with increasing utilization in society as an all-purpose security tool. Previous authors (Ditton, 1999; Davies, 1998; Horne, 1998; Tomkins, 1998) have raised concern over social, civil and privacy issues, but there has been limited research to quantify these concerns. There are a number of core aspects that could relocate the risk perception and therefore, social support of public street surveillance. This study utilized the psychometric paradigm to quantitatively measure the social risk perception of public street surveillance. The psychometric paradigm is a …

Perception Based Misunderstandings In Human-Computer Dialogues, Niels Schütte, John D. Kelleher, Brian Mac Namee

Articles

In a situated dialogue, misunderstandings may arise if the participants perceive or interpret the environment in different ways. In human-computer dialogue this may be due the sensor errors. We present an experiment system and a series of experiments in which we investigate this problem.