In this paper, we propose a new defect detection technology for micro-defect on the surface of steel products. Due to depth and size of microscopic defect, slop of surface and vibration of strip, the conventional optical method cannot guarantee the detection performance. To solve the above-mentioned problems and increase signal to noise ratio, a novel retro-schlieren method that consists of retro reflector and knife edge is proposed. Moreover dual switching lighting method is also applied to distinguish uneven micro defects and surface noise. In proposed method, defective regions are represented by a black and white pattern. This pattern is detected by a defect detection algorithm with Gabor filter. Experimental results by simulator for sample defects of cold rolled steel show that the proposed method is effective.

We propose an obstacle classification method using multi-decision factors and decision sections based on Single 2D LiDAR. The existing obstacle classification method based on single 2D LiDAR has two specific advantages: accuracy and decreased calculation time. However, it was difficult to classify obstacle type, and therefore accurate path planning was not possible. To overcome this problem, a method of classifying obstacle type based on width data was proposed. However, width data was not sufficient to enable accurate obstacle classification. The proposed algorithm of this paper involves the comparison between decision factor and decision section to classify obstacle type. Decision factor and decision section was determined using width, standard deviation of distance, average normalized intensity, and standard deviation of normalized intensity data. Experiments using a real autonomous vehicle in a real environment showed that calculation time decreased in comparison with 2D LiDAR-based method, thus demonstrating the possibility of obstacle type classification using single 2D LiDAR.

In this paper, we propose a technique of drowsiness detection using machine vision. The drowsiness of vehicle driver is often the primary cause of motor vehicle accidents. Therefore, the checking of eye images for detecting drowsiness status of driver is critical for preventing these accidents. In our suggested method, we analyze the changes of histogram and edge of eye region images which are acquired using CCD camera. We developed a drowsiness detection system using the histogram and edge change information. The experimental results show that our proposed method enhances the accuracy of detecting drowsiness nearly to 98%, and can be used for preventing vehicle accidents due to the drowsiness of drivers.

For machining systems like the motor driven linear stage which have high precision positioning with a long stroke, it is necessary to examine the repeatability of the reference position decision. Though piezo (PZT) actuator driven linear stages have high precision feed drivers and a short stroke, they have some limitations for reference position decisions if they have not been equipped with an accurate home sensor. This study was performed to examine the repeatability for home position decision of a EE-SX671 photo sensor as a home switch by using piezo actuator driven linear stages and capacitance probe.

Due to the increasing interest in safety and consistent product quality over a past few decades, demand for effective quality monitoring and safe operation in the modern industry has propelled research into statistical based fault detection and diagnosis methods. This paper describes the application of Hotelling $T^2$ index based Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method for fault detection and diagnosis in industrial processes. Multivariate statistical process control techniques are now widely used for performance monitoring and fault detection. Conventional methods such as PCA are suitable only for steady state processes. These conventional projection methods causes false alarms or missing data for the systems with transient values of processes. These issues significantly compromise the reliability of the monitoring systems. In this paper, a reliable method is used to overcome false alarms occur due to varying process conditions and missing data problems in transient states. This monitoring method is implemented and validated experimentally along with matlab. Experimental results proved the credibility of this fault detection method for both the steady state and transient operations.

In this paper, we propose a novel compact surveillance throwing robot which has an omnidirectional shock absorption mechanism and an active control part of wheel treads to stabilize the dynamic posture of a miniature sphere type throwing robot. This throwing robot, which weighs 1.14kg and is 110mm in height, is designed in a spherical shape to be easily grabbed for throwing. Also, the omnidirectional shock absorbing aspect is designed using several leaf springs connected with inner and outer wheels. The wheel treads control part consists of a link mechanism. Through the field experiments, this robot is validated to withstand higher than 17Ns of omnidirectional impulse and increase the stabilized max speed three times from 11 rad/s to 33rad/s by increasing wheel treads.

In this paper, we propose an infrared image based human victim recognition method for a search and rescue robot in dark environments, like general disaster situations. For recognizing a human victim, an infrared camera on a RGB-D camera, Microsoft Kinect, is used. The contrast and brightness of the infrared image are first improved by histogram equalization, and the noise on the image is removed by morphological operation and Gaussian filtering. For recognizing a human victim, the binarization and blob labeling methods are applied to the improved image. Finally, for verifying the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method, an experiment for human victim recognition is carried out in a dark environment.

The Voice recognition is one of convenient methods to communicate between human and robots. This study proposes a speech recognition method using speech recognizers based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) with a combination of techniques to enhance a biped robot control. In the past, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) were used, however, currently they are less commonly applied to speech recognition systems. This Research confirms that the HMM, an accepted high-performance technique, can be successfully employed to model speech signals. High recognition accuracy can be obtained by using HMMs. Apart from speech modeling techniques, multiple feature extraction methods have been studied to find speech stresses caused by emotions and the environment to improve speech recognition rates. The procedure consisted of 2 parts: one is recognizing robot commands using multiple HMM recognizers, and the other is sending recognized commands to control a robot. In this paper, a practical voice recognition system which can recognize a lot of task commands is proposed. The proposed system consists of a general purpose microprocessor and a useful voice recognition processor which can recognize a limited number of voice patterns. By simulation and experiment, it was illustrated the reliability of voice recognition rates for application of the manufacturing process.

This paper presents the results of a study for robust self-localization and indoor slam using external cameras (such as a CCTV) and odometry of mobile robot. First, a position of mobile robot was estimated by using maker and odometry. This data was then fused with camera data and odometry data using an extended kalman filter. Finally, indoor slam was realized by applying the proposed method. This was demonstrated in the actual experiment.

Recently, demands on the tapping machine are increased due to the case of a cell phone is changed to metal such as aluminum. The automatic tool changer (ATC) is one of the most important devices for the tapping machine related to the speed and energy consumption of the machine. To reduce the consumed energy and vibration, the dynamic modeling is essential for the ATC. In this paper, inverse dynamic modeling of a novel ATC mechanism is introduced. The proposed ATC mechanism is composed of a double four-bar mechanism with a circular tablet to generate continuous rotation of the tablet. The dynamic modeling is performed based on the Lagrange equation with a modeling for the contact between the four-bar and the tablet. Simulation results for various working conditions are proposed and analyzed for the prototype design. The dynamic modeling can be applied to determine the proper actuator and to reduce the vibration and consumed energy for the ATC machine.