Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Multi-Robot Coordination And Scheduling For Deactivation & Decommissioning, Sebastian A. Zanlongo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large quantities of high-level radioactive waste were generated during WWII. This waste is being stored in facilities such as double-shell tanks in Washington, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Due to the dangerous nature of radioactive waste, these facilities must undergo periodic inspections to ensure that leaks are detected quickly. In this work, we provide a set of methodologies to aid in the monitoring and inspection of these hazardous facilities. This allows inspection of dangerous regions without a human operator, and for the inspection of locations where a person would not be physically able to enter.

First, …

A Mathematical Framework On Machine Learning: Theory And Application, Bin Shi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation addresses the research topics of machine learning outlined below. We developed the theory about traditional first-order algorithms from convex opti- mization and provide new insights in nonconvex objective functions from machine learning. Based on the theory analysis, we designed and developed new algorithms to overcome the difficulty of nonconvex objective and to accelerate the speed to obtain the desired result. In this thesis, we answer the two questions: (1) How to design a step size for gradient descent with random initialization? (2) Can we accelerate the current convex optimization algorithms and improve them into nonconvex objective? For application, …

Efficient Mission Planning For Robot Networks In Communication Constrained Environments, Md Mahbubur Rahman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many robotic systems are remotely operated nowadays that require uninterrupted connection and safe mission planning. Such systems are commonly found in military drones, search and rescue operations, mining robotics, agriculture, and environmental monitoring. Different robotic systems may employ disparate communication modalities such as radio network, visible light communication, satellite, infrared, Wi-Fi. However, in an autonomous mission where the robots are expected to be interconnected, communication constrained environment frequently arises due to the out of range problem or unavailability of the signal. Furthermore, several automated projects (building construction, assembly line) do not guarantee uninterrupted communication, and a safe project plan is …