• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SP
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2009

Sound source localization systems in service robot applications estimate the direction of a human voice. Time delay information obtained from a few separate microphones is widely used for the estimation of the sound direction. Correlation is computed in order to calculate the time delay between two signals. Inverse cosine is used when the position of the maximum correlation value is converted to an angle. Because of nonlinear characteristic of inverse cosine, the accuracy of the computed angle is varied depending on the position of the specific sound source. In this paper, we propose an efficient sound source localization system using angle division. By the proposed approach, the region from $0^{\circ}$ to $180^{\circ}$ is divided into three regions and we consider only one of the three regions. Thus considerable amount of computation time is saved. Also, the accuracy of the computed angle is improved since the selected region corresponds to the linear part of the inverse cosine function. By simulations, it is shown that the error of the proposed algorithm is only 31% of that of the conventional a roach.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.463-468
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• 2010

The mobile robot which accomplishes a work in explored region does not know location information of surroundings. Traditionally, simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) algorithms solve the localization and mapping problem in explored regions. Among the several SLAM algorithms, the EKF (Extended Kalman Filter) based SLAM is the scheme most widely used. The EKF is the optimal sensor fusion method which has been used for a long time. The odometeric error caused by an encoder can be compensated by an EKF, which fuses different types of sensor data with weights proportional to the uncertainty of each sensor. In many cases the EKF based SLAM requires artificially installed features, which causes difficulty in actual implementation. Moreover, the computational complexity involved in an EKF increases as the number of features increases. And SLAM is a weak point of long operation time. Therefore, this paper presents a symmetrical model based SLAM algorithm(called M-SLAM).

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.687-694
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• 2022

In this paper, we proposed an autonomous vehicle platform that delivers goods to a designated destination based on the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) map generated indoors by applying the Visual SLAM technology. To generate a SLAM map indoors, a depth camera for SLAM map generation was installed on the top of a small autonomous vehicle platform, and a tracking camera was installed for accurate location estimation in the SLAM map. In addition, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to recognize the label of the destination, and the driving algorithm was applied to accurately arrive at the destination. A prototype of an indoor delivery autonomous vehicle was manufactured, and the accuracy of the SLAM map was verified and a destination label recognition experiment was performed through CNN. As a result, the suitability of the autonomous driving vehicle implemented by increasing the label recognition success rate for indoor delivery purposes was verified.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.816-827
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• 2009

This paper deals with a bearing faults localization technique based on holographic approach by visualizing sound radiated from the faults. The main idea stems from the phenomenon that bearing faults in a moving vehicle generate impulsive sound. To visualize fault signal from the moving vehicle, we can use the moving frame acoustic holography [Kwon, H.-S. and Kim, Y.-H., 1998, "Moving Frame Technique for Planar Acoustic Holography," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Vol. 103, No. 4, pp. 1734${\sim}$1741]. However, it is not easy to localize faults only by applying the method. This is because the microphone array measures noise(for example, noise from other parts of the vehicle and the wind noise) as well as the fault signal while the vehicle passes by the array. To reduce the effect of noise, we propose two ideas which utilize the characteristics of fault signal. The first one is to average holograms for several frequencies to reduce the random noise. The second one is to apply the partial field decomposition algorithm [Nam, K.-U., Kim, Y.-H., 2004, "A Partial Field Decomposition Algorithm and Its Examples for Near-field Acoustic Holography," J. of Acoust. Soc. Am. Vol. 116, No. 1, pp. 172${\sim}$185] to the moving source, which can separate the fault signal and noise. Basic theory of those methods is introduced and how they can be applied to localize bearing faults is demonstrated. Experimental results via a miniature vehicle showed how well the proposed method finds out the location of source in practice.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.174-179
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• 2003

Through the simultaneous localization and map building (SLAM) technique, a robot can create maps about its unknown environment while it continuously localizes its position. Grid maps and feature maps have been widely used for SLAM together with application of probability methods and POMDP (partially observed Markov decision process). But this approach based on grid maps suffers from enormous computational burden. Topological maps, however, have drawn more attention these days because they are compact, provide natural interfaces, and are easily applicable to path planning in comparison with grid maps. Some topological SLAM techniques like GVG (generalized Voronoi diagram) were introduced, but it enables the robot to decide only whether the current position is part of GVG branch or not in the GVG algorithm. In this paper, therefore, to overcome these problems, we present a method for updating a global topological map from the local topological maps. These local topological maps are created through a labeled Voronoi diagram algorithm from the local grid map built based on the sensor information at the current robot position. And the nodes of a local topological map can be utilized as the features of the environment because it is robust in light of visibility problem. The geometric information of the feature is applied to the extended Kalman filter and the SLAM in the indoor environment is accomplished. A series of simulations have been conducted using a two-wheeled mobile robot equipped with a laser scanner. It is shown that the proposed scheme can be applied relatively well.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.114-120
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• 2013

Recently, navigation systems based on wireless communication have been applied to the internal structures such as building or ship. If a stable azimuth information is obtained, these systems can effectively guide the direction of the user's progress through the information and then can improve the performance of guidance. Since conventional method which has acquired an azimuth information using geomagnetic and acceleration sensor(azimuth sensor hereafter) is sensitive to the effects of the magnetic field, it has unstable error range according to the surrounding environment. In order to improve these problems, this paper presents a new relative azimuth estimation algorithm using the displacement of a mobile node and its rotation angle based on Wireless communication. For the performance assessment of the proposed algorithm, experiments using rotating arm are performed and the results are confirmed that the proposed system can estimate the relative azimuth without using additional sensors.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1048-1053
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• 2005

This paper presents design and integration of the ROBHAZ-DT3, which is a newly developed mobile robot system with chained double-track mechanisms. A passive adaptation mechanism equipped between the front and rear body enables the ROBHAZ-DT3 to have good adaptability to uneven terrains including stairs. The passive adaptation mechanism reduces energy consumption when moving on uneven terrain as well as its simplicity in design and remote control, since no actuator is necessary for adaptation. Based on this novel mobile platform, a rescue version of the ROBHAZ-DT3 with appropriate sensors and a semi-autonomous mapping and localization algorithm is developed to participate in the RoboCup2004 US-Open: Urban Search and Rescue Competition. From the various experiments in the realistic rescue arena, we can verify that the ROBHAZ-DT3 is reliable in traveling rugged terrain and the proposed mapping and localization algorithm are effective in the unstructured environment with uneven ground. The another application is an military robot for an EOD(Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and reconnaissance mission. The military version of the ROBHAZ-DT3 with a water disrupter, a thermal scope and a long distance wireless communication device is developed and sent to the area of military tactics in Iraq. Consequently, the feasibility of the military version of ROBHAZ-DT3 is verified.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1167-1175
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• 2010

This paper presents the use of the inertial measurement unit information and the infrared sector information for getting the position of an object. Travel distance is usually calculated from the double integration of the accelerometer output with respect to time; however, the accumulated errors due to the drift are inevitable. The orientation change of the accelerometer also causes error because the gravity is added to the measured acceleration. Unless three axis orientations are completely identified, the accelerometer alone does not provide correct acceleration for estimating the travel distance. We propose a way of minimizing the error due to the change of the orientation. In order to reduce the accumulated error, the infrared sector information is fused with the inertial measurement unit information. Infrared sector information has highly deterministic characteristics, different from RFID. By putting several infrared emitters on the ceiling, the floor is divided into many different sectors and each sector is set to have a unique identification. Infrared light based sector information tells the sector the object is in, but the size of the uncertainty is too large if only the sector information is used. This paper presents an algorithm which combines both the inertial measurement unit information and the sector information so that the size of the uncertainty becomes smaller. It also introduces a framework which can be used with other types of the artificial landmarks. The characteristics of the developed infrared light based sector and the proposed algorithm are verified from the experiments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2009.04a
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• pp.681-688
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• 2009

This paper deals with a bearing faults localization technique based on holographic approach by visualizing sound radiated from the faults. The main idea stems from the phenomenon that bearing faults in a moving vehicle generate impulsive sound. To visualize fault signal from the moving vehicle, we can use the moving frame acoustic holography [H.-S. Kwon and Y.-H. Kim, "Moving frame technique for planar acoustic holography," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103(4), 1734-1741, 1998]. However, it is not easy to localize faults only by applying the method. This is because the microphone array measures noise (for example, noise from other parts of the vehicle and the wind noise) as well as the fault signal while the vehicle passes by the array. To reduce the effect of noise, we propose two ideas which utilize the characteristics of fault signal. The first one is to average holograms for several frequencies to reduce the random noise. The second one is to apply the partial field decomposition algorithm [K.-U. Nam, Y.-H. Kim, "A partial field decomposition algorithm and its examples for near-field acoustic holography," J. of Acoust. Soc. Am. 116(1), 172-185, 2004] to the moving source, which can separate the fault signal and noise. Basic theory of those methods is introduced and how they can be applied to localize bearing faults is demonstrated. Experimental results via a miniature vehicle showed how well the proposed method finds out the location of source in practice.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.846-860
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• 2011

The binaural auditory system of human has ability to differentiate the direction and the distance of the sound sources by using the information which are inter-aural intensity difference(IID), inter-aural time difference(ITD) and/or the spectral shape difference(SSD). These information is generated from the acoustical transfer of a sound source to pinna, the outer ears. We can create a virtual sound system using the information which is called Head related transfer function(HRTF). However the performance of 3D sound is not always satisfactory because of non-individual characteristics of the HRTF. In this paper, we propose the algorithm that uses human's auditory characteristics for accurate perception. To achieve this, excitation energy of HRTF, global masking threshold and loudness are applied to the proposed algorithm. Informal listening test shows that the proposed method improves the sound localization characteristics much better than conventional methods.