Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Physics
Cross Hallway Detection And Indoor Localization Using Flash Laser Detection And Ranging, Istvan M. Prileszky
Cross Hallway Detection And Indoor Localization Using Flash Laser Detection And Ranging, Istvan M. Prileszky
Theses and Dissertations
A flash LADAR is investigated as a source of navigation information to support cross-hallway detection and relative localization. To accomplish this, a dynamic, flexible simulation was developed that simulated the LADAR and the noise of a LADAR system. Using simulated LADAR data, algorithms were developed that were shown to be effective at detecting cross hallways in simulated ideal environments and in simulated environments with noise. Relative position was determined in the same situations. A SwissRanger SR4000 flash LADAR was then used to collect real data and to verify algorithm performance in real environments. Hallway detection was shown to be possible …
Optical Flow-Based Odometry For Underground Tunnel Exploration, Terra Kier
Optical Flow-Based Odometry For Underground Tunnel Exploration, Terra Kier
Theses and Dissertations
As military operations in degraded or GPS-denied environments continue to increase in frequency and importance, there is an increased necessity to be able to determine precision location within these environments. Furthermore, authorities are finding a record number of tunnels along the U.S.-Mexico border; therefore, underground tunnel characterization is becoming a high priority for U.S. Homeland Security as well. This thesis investigates the performance of a new image registration technique based on a two camera optical- flow configuration using phase correlation techniques. These techniques differ from other image based navigation methods but present a viable alternative increasing autonomy and answering the …
Estimating Anthropometric Marker Locations From 3-D Ladar Point Clouds, Matthew J. Maier
Estimating Anthropometric Marker Locations From 3-D Ladar Point Clouds, Matthew J. Maier
Theses and Dissertations
An area of interest for improving the identification portion of the system is in extracting anthropometric markers from a Laser Detection and Ranging (LADAR) point cloud. Analyzing anthropometrics markers is a common means of studying how a human moves and has been shown to provide good results in determining certain demographic information about the subject. This research examines a marker extraction method utilizing principal component analysis (PCA), self-organizing maps (SOM), alpha hulls, and basic anthropometric knowledge. The performance of the extraction algorithm is tested by performing gender classification with the calculated markers.
A Multispectral Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Study Of Human Skin For Improved Dismount Detection, Bradley M. Koch
A Multispectral Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Study Of Human Skin For Improved Dismount Detection, Bradley M. Koch
Theses and Dissertations
In 2008, the Sensors Exploitation Research Group at the Air Force Institute of Technology began using spectral properties of skin for the detection and classification of humans. Since then a multispectral skin detection system was developed to exploit the optical properties of human skin at wavelengths in the visible and near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. A rules-based detector, analyzing an image spectrally, currently bases its skin pixel selection criteria on a diffuse skin reflectance model. However, when observing skin in direct view of the sun, a glint of light off skin is common and indicates specularity. The areas …
Adaptive Control Of Woofer-Tweeter Adaptive Optics, Jimmie J. Perez
Adaptive Control Of Woofer-Tweeter Adaptive Optics, Jimmie J. Perez
Theses and Dissertations
Adaptive optics applies advanced sensing and control to improve the ability of optical systems to collect images through a turbulent atmosphere. The results of this research effort demonstrate that the combination of two recent approaches improves the performance of adaptive optics in directed energy and laser communication scenarios. The first approach is adaptive control, which offers improved performance over fixed-gain controllers in the presence of rapidly changing turbulence. The second approach incorporated into the study is a dual-mirror system. The two mirrors are a high-bandwidth, low-actuator-stroke (tweeter) mirror and a low-bandwidth, large actuator-stroke (woofer) mirror. The woofer-tweeter combination allows for …
Analysis Of Non-Uniform Gain For Control Of A Deformable Mirror In An Adaptive-Optics System, Kevin P. Vitayaudom
Analysis Of Non-Uniform Gain For Control Of A Deformable Mirror In An Adaptive-Optics System, Kevin P. Vitayaudom
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Sodium Guidestar Adaptive Optics for Space Situational Awareness program (NGAS) has sponsored research on spatially non-uniform gain for the servo-loop controller of an adaptive optics (AO) system. The edge subapertures of a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor have lower signal-to-noise ratios and are more susceptible to measurement errors than fully illuminated center subapertures. These measurement errors produce errant commands over the corresponding edge actuators and can induce instabilities over these regions in strong turbulence conditions. The objective of this research was to develop and experimentally verify the use of spatially varying gain maps on the servo-loop controller …
Tightly Integrating Optical And Inertial Sensors For Navigation Using The Ukf, Sedat Ebcin
Tightly Integrating Optical And Inertial Sensors For Navigation Using The Ukf, Sedat Ebcin
Theses and Dissertations
The motivation of this research is to address the benefits of tightly integrating optical and inertial sensors where GNSS signals are not available. The research begins with describing the navigation problem. Then, error and measurement models are presented. Given a set of features, a feature detection and projection algorithm is developed which utilizes inertial measurements to predict vectors in the feature space between images. The unscented Kalman filter is applied to the navigation system using the inertial measurements and feature matches to estimate the navigation trajectory. Finally, the image-aided navigation algorithm is tested using a simulation and an experiment. As …
Collision Avoidance For Uavs Using Optic Flow Measurement With Line Of Sight Rate Equalization And Looming, Paul J. Shelnutt
Collision Avoidance For Uavs Using Optic Flow Measurement With Line Of Sight Rate Equalization And Looming, Paul J. Shelnutt
Theses and Dissertations
A series of simplified scenarios is investigated whereby an optical flow balancing guidance law is used to avoid obstacles by steering an air vehicle between fixed objects/obstacles. These obstacles are registered as specific points that can be representative of features in a scene. The obstacles appear in the field of view of a single forward looking camera. First a 2-D analysis is presented where the rate of the line of sight from the vehicle to each of the obstacles to be avoided is measured. The analysis proceeds by initially using no field of view (FOV) limitations, then applying FOV restrictions, …