A state feedback controller with integration of output error is proposed for way-point tracking of an AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). For the steering control on the XY plane, the proposed controller uses three state variables (sway velocity, yaw rate, heading angle) and the integral of the steering error, and for the depth control on the XZ plane, it uses four state variables (pitch rate, depth, pitch angle) and the integral of the depth error. From the simulation using Matlab/Simulink, we verify that the performance of the proposed controller is satisfactory within an error range of 1m from the target way-point for arbitrarily chosen sets of consecutive way-points.

This paper presents vision-based techniques for underwater landmark detection, map-based localization, and SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) in structured underwater environments. A variety of underwater tasks require an underwater robot to be able to successfully perform autonomous navigation, but the available sensors for accurate localization are limited. A vision sensor among the available sensors is very useful for performing short range tasks, in spite of harsh underwater conditions including low visibility, noise, and large areas of featureless topography. To overcome these problems and to a utilize vision sensor for underwater localization, we propose a novel vision-based object detection technique to be applied to MCL (Monte Carlo Localization) and EKF (Extended Kalman Filter)-based SLAM algorithms. In the image processing step, a weighted correlation coefficient-based template matching and color-based image segmentation method are proposed to improve the conventional approach. In the localization step, in order to apply the landmark detection results to MCL and EKF-SLAM, dead-reckoning information and landmark detection results are used for prediction and update phases, respectively. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated by experiments with an underwater robot platform in an indoor water tank and the results are discussed.

For underwater vehicles, the use of sensors such as cameras and laser scanners is limited by the difference in environment compared to robots designed to work on dry land. In underwater environments, if use is made of sound signals, valuable information can be obtained. The most important application is the localization of underwater sound sources. The estimated location of a sound source can be used to control underwater robots or submarines. Thus, the purpose of this research is to estimate the source's direction and location in a noisy underwater environment. The direction of the sound source is obtained using two hydrophones. Furthermore, if we assume that the robot or sound source is moving, the location of the sound source is estimated using more than two estimated directions. The feasibility of the developed algorithm is examined by experiments in a water tank and in the ocean.

Navigation is a crucial capability for all types of manned or unmanned vehicles. However, vehicle navigation in underwater environments still remains a challenging problem since GPS signals for position fixes are not available in the water. Terrain-referenced underwater navigation is an alternative navigation technique that utilizes geometric information of the subsea terrain to correct drift errors due to dead-reckoning or inertial navigation. Terrain-referenced navigation requires the description of an undulating terrain surface as a mathematical function or table, which often leads to a highly nonlinear estimation problem. Recently, PFs (Particle Filters), which do not require any restrictive assumptions about the system dynamics and uncertainty distributions, have been widely used for nonlinear filtering applications. However, PF has considerable computational requirements which used to limit its applicability to problems of relatively low state dimensions. This study proposes the use of a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter that is computationally more efficient than the standard PF for terrain-referenced underwater navigation involving a moderate number of states, and its performance is compared with that of the extended Kalman filter algorithm. The validity and feasibility of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through numerical simulations.

This paper proposes a new method on attitude control of an underwater robot by using five ABTs (Attitude Ballast Tank). A pipe is connected to the bottom of the ABTs and transfers water by a pump, while another pipe is connected to the top of the ABT to transfer air. The buoyancy center of the underwater robot can be changed by means of the water transfer. This way, the attitude of the underwater robot can be maintained and/or controlled as desired. The changes of the center of gravity and the buoyancy central are estimated by a Lagrangian function which is similar to that for an inverted pendulum. The controller in this paper is designed by modeling of the underwater robot and selecting suitable gains of a PD controller which has fast response characteristics. This paper shows the possibility of the attitude control of an underwater robot by changing the center of gravity and the buoyancy center of the robot. Moreover, experimental results verify that the controller is effective in maintaining Roll/Pitch of the underwater robot with very low power consumption.

This paper deals with the problem of accurately tracking a single target moving through UWSNs (Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks) by employing underwater acoustic sensors. This paper addresses the issues of estimating the states of the target, and improving energy efficiency by applying a Kalman filter in a distributed architecture. Each underwater wireless sensor nodes composing the UWSNs is battery-powered, so the energy conservation problem is a critical issue. This paper provides an algorithm which increases the energy efficiency of each sensor node through WuS (Waked-up/Sleeping) and VM (Valid Measurement) selecting schemes. Simulation results illustrate the performance of the distributed tracking filter.

Underwater TRN (Underwater Terrain Referenced Navigation) estimates an underwater vehicle state by measuring a distance between the vehicle and undersea terrain, and comparing it with the known terrain database. TRN belongs to absolute navigation methods, which are used to compensate a drift error of dead reckoning measurements such as IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) or DVL (Doppler Velocity Log). However, underwater TRN is different to other absolute methods such as USBL (Ultra-Short Baseline) and LBL (Long Baseline), because TRN is independent of the external environment. As a magnetic-field-based navigation, TRN is a kind of geophysical navigation. This paper develops an EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) formulation for underwater TRN. A filter propagation part is composed by an inertial navigation system, and a filter update is executed with echo-sounder measurement. For large-initial-error cases, an adaptive EKF approach is also presented, to keep the filter be stable. At the end, simulation studies are given to verify the performance of the proposed TRN filter. With simplified sensor and terrain database models, the simulation results show that the underwater TRN could support conventional underwater navigation methods.

This paper presents the development of a specialized underwater leg with a manipulator function(convertible-to-arm leg) for the seabed walking robot named CRABSTER200(CR200). The objective functions of the convertible-to-arm leg are to walk on the seabed and to work in underwater for precise seabed exploration and underwater tasks under coastal area with strong tidal current. In order to develop the leg, important design elements including the degree of freedom, dimensions, mass, motion range, joint structure/torque/angular-speed, pressure-resistance, watertight capability and cable protection are considered. The key elements of the convertible-to-arm leg are realized through concept/specific/mechanical design and implementation process with a suitable joint actuator/gear/controller selection procedure. In order to verify the performance of the manufactured convertible-to-arm leg, a 25bar pressure-resistant and watertight test using a high-pressure chamber and a joints operating test with posture control of the CR200 are performed. This paper describes the whole design, realization and verification process for implementation of the underwater convertible-to-arm leg.

In today's automotive industry, there exist several systems that help drivers reduce the possibility of accidents, such as the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System). The ADAS helps drivers make correct and quick decisions during dangerous situations. This study analyzed the performance of the IMM (Interacting Multiple Model) method based on multiple Kalman filters using the data acquired from a driving simulator. An IMM algorithm is developed to identify the current discrete state of neighboring vehicles using the sensor data and the vehicle dynamics. In particular, the driving modes of the neighboring vehicles are classified by the cruising and maneuvering modes, and the transition between the states is modeled using a Markovian switching coefficient. The performance of the IMM algorithm is analyzed through realistic simulations where a target vehicle executes sudden lane change or acceleration maneuver.

This paper proposed a novel method for an analysis feature of an Electroencephalogram (EEG) at all channels simultaneously. In a BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) system, EEGs are used to control a machine or computer. The EEG signals were weak to noise and had low spatial resolution because they were acquired by a non-invasive method involving, attaching electrodes along with scalp. This made it difficult to analyze the whole channel of EEG signals. And the previous method could not analyze multiple stimuli, the result being that the BCI system could not react to multiple orders. The method proposed in this paper made it possible analyze multiple-stimuli by grouping the channels. We searched the groups making the largest correlation coefficient summation of every member of the group with a BHS (Binary Harmony Search) algorithm. Then we assumed the EEG signal could be written in linear summation of groups using concentration parameters. In order to verify this assumption, we performed a simulation of three subjects, 60 times per person. From the simulation, we could obtain the groups of EEG signals. We also established the types of stimulus from the concentration coefficient. Consequently, we concluded that the signal could be divided into several groups. Furthermore, we could analyze the EEG in a new way with concentration coefficients from the EEG channel grouping.

In this paper, we propose an image-based output feedback robust controller of robot manipulators which have bounded parametric uncertainty. The proposed controller contains an integral action and high-gain observer in order to improve steady state error of joint position and performance deterioration due to measurement errors of joint velocity. The stability of the closed-loop system is proved by Lyapunov approach. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by simulations on a 5-link robot manipulators with two degrees of freedom.

According to the cognitive science research, the interaction intent of humans can be estimated through an analysis of the representing behaviors. This paper proposes a novel methodology for reliable intention analysis of humans by applying this approach. To identify the intention, 8 behavioral features are extracted from the 4 characteristics in human-human interaction and we outline a set of core components for nonverbal behavior of humans. These nonverbal behaviors are associated with various recognition modules including multimodal sensors which have each modality with localizing sound source of the speaker in the audition part, recognizing frontal face and facial expression in the vision part, and estimating human trajectories, body pose and leaning, and hand gesture in the spatial part. As a post-processing step, temporal confidential reasoning is utilized to improve the recognition performance and integrated human model is utilized to quantitatively classify the intention from multi-dimensional cues by applying the weight factor. Thus, interactive robots can make informed engagement decision to effectively interact with multiple persons. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme works successfully between human users and a robot in human-robot interaction.

An efficient urban outdoor localization and navigation system is proposed for car-like robots. First an accurate outdoor localization method is suggested using line/arc features and 2.5D map matching with LRFs (Laser Range Finders), which can reduce the number of singular cases and increase accuracy. Also, path generation, path tracking, and path modification algorithms are proposed for navigation. All these algorithms are implemented on an electric scooter to construct an autonomous urban outdoor localization and navigation system. Experiments reveal the practicality of the proposed system.