On-board cable attitude measurement and controller for outdoor aerial transportation

Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Pratik Prajapati ◽  
Sagar Parekh ◽  
Vineet Vashista
Keyword(s):  
Material Handling ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sensor System ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Attitude Measurement ◽  
Unstructured Environment ◽  
Outdoor Experiments

Abstract Deploying quadcopters for aerial transportation can be cost effective in impromptu material handling applications. However, such applications are limited mainly due to the requirement of onboard localization sensors and associated computation. The current work presents a human-controlled modality to successfully execute spontaneous outdoor flight of a quadcopter with a cable-suspended payload. Stable and smooth flights are achieved through an onboard integration of a custom-built sensor system and a controller to minimize payload oscillations. The feasibility of the proposed modality is demonstrated by conducting outdoor experiments and a case study in an unstructured environment.

The socio-spatial politics of royalties and their distribution: A case study of the Surat Basin, Queensland

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110266
Author(s):  
Neil Argent ◽  
Sean Markey ◽  
Greg Halseth ◽  
Laura Ryser ◽  
Fiona Haslam-McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Energy Extraction ◽  
Grant Application ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Development Fund ◽  
Effective Use

This paper is concerned with the socio-spatial and ethical politics of redistribution, specifically the allocation of natural resources rents from political and economic cores to the economic and geographical peripheries whence the resource originated. Based on a case study of the coal seam gas sector in Queensland's Surat Basin, this paper focuses on the operation of the Queensland State Government's regional development fund for mining and energy extraction-affected regions. Employing an environmental justice framework, we critically explore the operation of these funds in ostensibly helping constituent communities in becoming resilient to the worst effects of the ‘staples trap’. Drawing on secondary demographic and housing data for the region, as well as primary information collected from key respondents from mid-2018 to early 2019, we show that funds were distributed across all of the local government areas, and allocated to projects and places primarily on a perceived economic needs basis. However, concerns were raised with the probity of the funds’ administration. In terms of recognition justice, the participation of smaller and more remote towns and local Indigenous communities was hampered by their structural marginalisation. Procedurally, the funds were criticised for the lack of local consultation taken in the development and approval of projects. While spatially concentrated expenditure may be the most cost-effective use of public monies, we argue that grant application processes should be open, transparent and inclusive, and the outcomes cognisant of the developmental needs of smaller communities, together with the need to foster regional solidarity and coherence.

scholarly journals Toward Decentralised Sanitary Sewage Collection Systems: A Multiobjective Approach for Cost-Effective and Resilient Designs

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1886
Author(s):  
Arezoo Zahediasl ◽  
Amin E. Bakhshipour ◽  
Ulrich Dittmer ◽  
Ali Haghighi
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Hydraulic Design ◽  
Multiobjective Approach ◽  
Layout Generation ◽  
Plant Allocation ◽  
Problem Solving Process

In recent years, the concept of a centralized drainage system that connect an entire city to one single treatment plant is increasingly being questioned in terms of the costs, reliability, and environmental impacts. This study introduces an optimization approach based on decentralization in order to develop a cost-effective and sustainable sewage collection system. For this purpose, a new algorithm based on the growing spanning tree algorithm is developed for decentralized layout generation and treatment plant allocation. The trade-off between construction and operation costs, resilience, and the degree of centralization is a multiobjective problem that consists of two subproblems: the layout of the networks and the hydraulic design. The innovative characteristics of the proposed framework are that layout and hydraulic designs are solved simultaneously, three objectives are optimized together, and the entire problem solving process is self-adaptive. The model is then applied to a real case study. The results show that finding an optimum degree of centralization could reduce not only the network’s costs by 17.3%, but could also increase its structural resilience significantly compared to fully centralized networks.

An application of Austrian legal requirements for CSO emissions

2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1081-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfred Kleidorfer ◽  
Wolfgang Rauch
Keyword(s):  
Model Calibration ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Combined Sewer Overflows ◽  
Sewer System ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Combined Sewer

The Austrian standard for designing combined sewer overflow (CSO) detention basins introduces the efficiency of the combined sewer overflows as an indicator for CSO pollution. Additionally criteria for the ambient water quality are defined, which comprehend six kinds of impacts. In this paper, the Austrian legal requirements are described and discussed by means of hydrological modelling. This is exemplified with the case study Innsbruck (Austria) including a description for model building and model calibration. Furthermore an example is shown in order to demonstrate how – in this case – the overall system performance could be improved by implementing a cost-effective rearrangement of the storage tanks already available at the inflow of the wastewater treatment plant. However, this guideline also allows more innovative methods for reducing CSO emissions as measures for better usage of storage volume or de-centralised treatment of stormwater runoff because it is based on a sewer system simulation.

scholarly journals GPU-Enabled Serverless Workflows for Efficient Multimedia Processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1438
Author(s):  
Sebastián Risco ◽  
Germán Moltó
Keyword(s):  
Video Processing ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Multimedia Processing ◽  
Computing Services ◽  
Video Frames ◽  
Open Source Framework ◽  
Cloud Infrastructures ◽  
Aws Lambda ◽  
Runtime Environments

Serverless computing has introduced scalable event-driven processing in Cloud infrastructures. However, it is not trivial for multimedia processing to benefit from the elastic capabilities featured by serverless applications. To this aim, this paper introduces the evolution of a framework to support the execution of customized runtime environments in AWS Lambda in order to accommodate workloads that do not satisfy its strict computational requirements: increased execution times and the ability to use GPU-based resources. This has been achieved through the integration of AWS Batch, a managed service to deploy virtual elastic clusters for the execution of containerized jobs. In addition, a Functions Definition Language (FDL) is introduced for the description of data-driven workflows of functions. These workflows can simultaneously leverage both AWS Lambda for the highly-scalable execution of short jobs and AWS Batch, for the execution of compute-intensive jobs that can profit from GPU-based computing. To assess the developed open-source framework, we executed a case study for efficient serverless video processing. The workflow automatically generates subtitles based on the audio and applies GPU-based object recognition to the video frames, thus simultaneously harnessing different computing services. This allows for the creation of cost-effective highly-parallel scale-to-zero serverless workflows in AWS.

scholarly journals Pressure Sensor System for Customized Scoliosis Braces

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1153
Author(s):  
Franz Konstantin Fuss ◽  
Asliza Ahmad ◽  
Adin Ming Tan ◽  
Rizal Razman ◽  
Yehuda Weizman
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensor ◽  
Testing Machine ◽  
Force Plate ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Mobile Systems ◽  
Sensor System ◽  
Closed Cell ◽  
Hard Shell ◽  
Energy Absorbers ◽  
Material Testing Machine

Hard-shell thoracolumbar sacral orthoses (TLSOs) are used for treating idiopathic scoliosis, a deformation of the spine with a sideways curvature. The pressure required inside the TLSO for ideal corrective results remains unclear. Retrofitting TLSOs with commercially available pressure measurement systems is expensive and can only be performed in a laboratory. The aim of this study was to develop a cost-effective but accurate pressure sensor system for TLSOs. The sensor was built from a piezoresistive polymer, placed between two closed-cell foam liners, and evaluated with a material testing machine. Because foams are energy absorbers, the pressure-conductance curve was affected by hysteresis. The sensor was calibrated on a force plate with the transitions from loading to unloading used to establish the calibration curve. The root mean square error was 12% on average within the required pressure range of 0.01–0.13 MPa. The sensor reacted to the changing pressure during breathing and different activities when tested underneath a chest belt at different tensions. The peak pressure reached 0.135 MPa. The sensor was further tested inside the scoliosis brace during different activities. The measured pressure was 0.014–0.124 MPa. The results from this study enable cheaper and mobile systems to be used for clinical studies on the comfort and pressure of braces during daily activities.

The potential cost of environmental certification to vegetation management in plantation forests: a New Zealand case study

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Rolando ◽  
Michael S. Watt ◽  
Jerzy A. Zabkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Rate Of Return ◽  
Internal Rate Of Return ◽  
Mechanical Control ◽  
Vegetation Control ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Plantation Forests

Plantation forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council have restrictions on herbicide use. Since certified plantations are dependant on herbicides for cost-effective vegetation management, compliance requires a shift from current chemical practices. Using New Zealand plantation forests as a case study, discounted cash flow analyses were used to estimate the cost of certification-compliant vegetation control regimes compared with current non-compliant methods. We examined methods that (i) reduce the quantity of herbicides by using spot control and (ii) avoid the use of herbicides by using weed mats, manual, and mechanical control. Cost analyses were undertaken for low-, medium-, and high-productivity sites. The internal rate of return of the non-compliant regime was between 5% and 5.8% across the productivity range. Spot control was cheaper than current non-compliant practice. However, spot control is limited by site suitability and the availability of labour. Non-chemical control methods were expensive relative to other regimes. Reductions in the internal rate of return varied across low- and high-productivity sites between 0.8% and 0.5% for manual control, 1.3% and 0.8% for mechanical control, and 1.7% and 1.0% for weed mats. Meeting the goals of certification while retaining cost-effective vegetation control presents a challenge to the plantation forestry sector.

The Use of Photogrammetry in Piping Design

1983 ◽  
Vol 197 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
P A Bracewell ◽  
U R Klement
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Mathematical Formulation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Process Industry ◽  
Process Plant ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Positional Data

Piping design for ‘revamp’ projects in the process industry requires the retrieval of large amounts of ‘as-built’ data from existing process plant installations. Positional data with a high degree of accuracy are required. Photogrammetry, the science of measurement from photographs, was identified in Imperial Chemical Industries plc (ICI) as a suitable tool for information retrieval. The mathematical formulation enabling the definition of three-dimensional positions from photographic information is described. The process of using ICI's photogrammetric system for the definition of complete objects such as structures and pipes is illustrated. The need for specialized photogrammetric software for design purposes is explained. A case study describing how the photogrammetric system has been applied is described and graphical outputs from this exercise are shown. It is concluded that this particular photogrammetric system has proved to be a cost effective and accurate tool for the retrieval of ‘as-built’ information.

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