• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.450-456
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• 2006

Monte Carlo localization is known to be one of the most reliable methods for pose estimation of a mobile robot. Although MCL is capable of estimating the robot pose even for a completely unknown initial pose in the known environment, it takes considerable time to give an initial pose estimate because the number of random samples is usually very large especially for a large-scale environment. For practical implementation of MCL, therefore, a reduction in sample size is desirable. This paper presents a novel approach to reducing the number of samples used in the particle filter for efficient implementation of MCL. To this end, the topological information generated through the thinning technique, which is commonly used in image processing, is employed. The global topological map is first created from the given grid map for the environment. The robot then scans the local environment using a laser rangefinder and generates a local topological map. The robot then navigates only on this local topological edge, which is likely to be similar to the one obtained off-line from the given grid map. Random samples are drawn near the topological edge instead of being taken with uniform distribution all over the environment, since the robot traverses along the edge. Experimental results using the proposed method show that the number of samples can be reduced considerably, and the time required for robot pose estimation can also be substantially decreased without adverse effects on the performance of MCL.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1339-1355
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• 2023

Localization is a hot research spot for many areas, especially in the mobile robot field. Due to the weak signal of the global positioning system (GPS), the alternative schemes in an indoor environment include wireless signal transmitting and receiving solutions, laser rangefinder to build a map followed by a re-localization stage and visual positioning methods, etc. Among all wireless signal positioning techniques, Wi-Fi is the most common one. Wi-Fi access points are installed in most indoor areas of human activities, and smart devices equipped with Wi-Fi modules can be seen everywhere. However, the localization of a mobile robot using a Wi-Fi scheme usually lacks orientation information. Besides, the distance error is large because of indoor signal interference. Another research direction that mainly refers to laser sensors is to actively detect the environment and achieve positioning. An occupancy grid map is built by using the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) method when the mobile robot enters the indoor environment for the first time. When the robot enters the environment again, it can localize itself according to the known map. Nevertheless, this scheme only works effectively based on the prerequisite that those areas have salient geometrical features. If the areas have similar scanning structures, such as a long corridor or similar rooms, the traditional methods always fail. To address the weakness of the above two methods, this work proposes a coarse-to-fine paradigm and an improved localization algorithm that utilizes Wi-Fi to assist the robot localization in a geometrically similar environment. Firstly, a grid map is built by using laser SLAM. Secondly, a fingerprint database is built in the offline phase. Then, the RSSI values are achieved in the localization stage to get a coarse localization. Finally, an improved particle filter method based on the Wi-Fi signal values is proposed to realize a fine localization. Experimental results show that our approach is effective and robust for both global localization and the kidnapped robot problem. The localization success rate reaches 97.33%, while the traditional method always fails.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.391-399
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• 2012

This paper proposes a particle filter approach for SLAM(Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) of a mobile robot. The SLAM denotes estimation of both the robot location and map while the robot navigates in an unknown environment without map. The proposed method estimates robot location simultaneously with the locations of the ultrasonic beacons which constitute landmarks for navigation. The particle filter method represents the locations of the robot and landmarks in probabilistic manner by the distribution of particles. The method takes care of the uncertainty of the landmarks' location as well as that of the robot motion. Therefore, the locations of the landmarks are updated including uncertainty at every sampling time. Performance of the proposed method is verified through simulation and experiments. The method yields practically useful mapping information even if the range data from the landmarks include random noise. Also, it provides more accurate and robust estimation of the robot location than the usual least squares methods or dead-reckoning method.

• KSCI Review
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.241-248
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• 2006

The recognition of a relatively big and rarely movable object. such as refrigerator and air conditioner, etc. is necessary because these objects can be crucial global stable features of Simultaneous Localization and Map building(SLAM) in the indoor environment. In this paper. we propose a novel method to recognize these big objects using a sequence of 3D scenes. The particles representing an object to be recognized are scattered to the environment and then the probability of each particles is calculated by the matching test with 3D lines of the environment. Based on the probability and degree of convergence of particles, we can recognize the object in the environment and the pose of object is also estimated. The experimental results show the feasibility of incremental object recognition based on particle filtering and the application to SLAM

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.407-416
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• 2020

Recent complex battle field demands Network Centric Warfare(NCW) ability to control various parts into a cohesive unit. In path planning filed, the NCW ability increases complexity of path planning algorithm, and it has to consider a communication coverage map as well as traditional parameters such as minimum radar exposure and survivability. In this paper, pros and cons of various propagation models are summarized, and we suggest a coverage map generation method using a Longley-Rice propagation model. Previous coverage map based on line of sight has significant discontinuities that limits selection of path planning algorithms such as Dijkstra and fast marching only. If there is method to remove discontinuities in the coverage map, optimization based path planning algorithms such as trajectory optimization and Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO) can also be used. In this paper, the Longley-Rice propagation model is used to calculate continuous RF strengths, and convert the strength data using smoothed leaky BER for the coverage map. In addition, we also suggest other types of rough coverage map generation using a lookup table method with simple inputs such as terrain type and antenna heights only. The implemented communication coverage map can be used various path planning algorithms, especially in the optimization based algorithms.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.17B no.3
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• pp.239-248
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• 2010

Leukocyte in blood smear image provides significant information to doctors for diagnosis of patient health status. Therefore, it is necessary step to separate leukocyte from blood smear image among various blood cells for early disease prediction. In this paper, we present a saliency map and stepwise region merging based leukocyte segmentation method. Since leukocyte region has salient color and texture, we create a saliency map using these feature map. Saliency map is used for sub-image separation. Then, clustering is performed on each sub-image using mean-shift. After mean-shift is applied, stepwise region-merging is applied to particle clusters to obtain final leukocyte nucleus. The experimental results show that our system can indeed improve segmentation performance compared to previous researches with average accuracy rate of 71%.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.160-167
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• 2016

This paper reports a localization method of a mobile robot using ceiling image. The ceiling has landmarks which are not distinguishablefrom one another. The location of every landmark in a map is given a priori while correspondence is not given between a detected landmark and a landmark in the map. Only the initial pose of the robot relative to the landmarks is given. The method uses particle filter approach for localization. Along with estimating robot pose, the method also associates a landmark in the map to a landmark detected from the ceiling image. The method is tested in an indoor environment which has circular landmarks on the ceiling. The test verifies the feasibility of the method in an environment where range data to walls or to beacons are not available or severely corrupted with noise. This method is useful for localization in a warehouse where measurement by Laser range finder and range data to beacons of RF or ultrasonic signal have large uncertainty.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.487-493
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• 2012

SLAM(Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) is a technique used by robots and autonomous vehicles to build up a map within an unknown environment and estimate a place of robot. FastSLAM(A Factored Solution to the SLAM) is one of representative method of SLAM, which is based on particle filter and extended Kalman filter. However it is suffered from loss of particle diversity. In this paper, new approach using fitness sharing is proposed to supplement loss of particle diversity, compared and analyzed with existing methods.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.61-75
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• 2014

Five on-road measurements were made using a mobile laboratory (ML) to characterize spatial and temporal air pollutant distributions over roads around a day-care center in urban area on 30 August 2013. Fixed monitoring was also done near the day-care center using the ML during the periods between on-road measurements. On-road air pollution monitoring route was classified into seven sections and three zones to identify severe polluted roads among many roads having different traffic volumes and directions. Typical pollutants emitted from vehicles such as $NO_x$, black carbon, particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and submicron particles including nanoparticles were monitored using real-time instruments. Peak concentration episodes were frequently observed during the on-road measurements and most peaks were simultaneously monitored at four pollutants. Colored on-road air pollution map for each pollutant provides an insight on spatial air pollution distribution, showing heavily polluted roads and sections. Average on-road $NO_x$ concentration of each run was similar to that monitored at the nearest roadside air monitoring station.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.347-357
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• 2017

The applications of active control is being more popular nowadays. Several control algorithms have been developed to determine optimum control force. In this paper, a Chaotic Particle Swarm Optimization (CPSO) technique, based on Logistic map, is used to compute the optimum control force of active tendon system. A chaotic exploration is used to search the solution space for optimum control force. The response control of Multi-Degree of Freedom (MDOF) shear buildings, equipped with active tendons, is introduced as an optimization problem, based on Instantaneous Optimal Active Control algorithm. Three MDOFs are simulated in this paper. Two examples out of three, which have been previously controlled using Lattice type Probabilistic Neural Network (LPNN) and Block Pulse Functions (BPFs), are taken from prior works in order to compare the efficiency of the current method. In the present study, a maximum allowable value of control force is added to the original problem. Later, a twenty-story shear building, as the third and more realistic example, is considered and controlled. Besides, the required Central Processing Unit (CPU) time of CPSO control algorithm is investigated. Although the CPU time of LPNN and BPFs methods of prior works is not available, the results show that a full state measurement is necessary, especially when there are more than three control devices. The results show that CPSO algorithm has a good performance, especially in the presence of the cut-off limit of tendon force; therefore, can widely be used in the field of optimum active control of actual buildings.