Power wheelchairs can increase independence by supporting the mobility of their users. However, severe disabilities of users can render controlling the wheelchair difficult, if not impossible, especially over longer periods of time. This paper describes a proposal for research into techniques that would improve the experience and quality of life of wheelchair users by reducing the cognitive burden introduced by repetitive and complicated navigation tasks and manoeuvres. This will be achieved by sharing the control between the user and an autonomous controller. A number of techniques will be used to achieve this aim. Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) and topological mapping will be used for navigation between rooms while Computer Vision techniques will allow the (semi) automatic recognition of places in the user's home, based on the detection and categorisation of objects. Finally, medium to high level automation will be provided. This includes automatic and transparent assistance with tasks such as navigating through doorways but also autonomous navigation to specific locations using high level constructs ("take me to the kitchen table").
Spectroscopic measurements of the low solar corona are crucial to understanding the mechanisms that heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind, yet the lowest solar radii ($R_{\odot }$ R ⊙ ) of the corona are difficult to observe. Our expedition collected narrow wavelengths of visible light at 530.3, 637.4, and 789.2 nm emitted by Fe xiv, x, and xi ions, respectively, from the total solar eclipse on 2019 July 2 at 20:40 UTC in Rodeo, Argentina with a bespoke 3-channel spectrometer. This paper describes the instrument and data calibration method that enables diagnostics out to ${\approx}\,1.0~R_{\odot }$ ≈ 1.0 R ⊙ above the solar limb within a bright helmet streamer. We find that Fe x and xi lines are dominant through $0.3~R_{\odot }$ 0.3 R ⊙ , with Fe xiv maintaining a stronger signal at higher elevations. Thermal line width broadening is consistent with 1.5 MK for the cooler Fe x, 2 MK for Fe xi, and 3 MK for the hotter Fe xiv line, which can be interpreted as differing density scale heights within isolated, isothermal flux tubes. The Doppler measurements correspond to bulk plasma motion ranging from −12 to +2.5 km s−1, with Fe xiv moving at nearly an assumed solid body rotation rate throughout $1.0~R_{\odot }$ 1.0 R ⊙ . After considering coronal rotation, these measurements are likely associated with plasma motion along the dominant longitudinal orientation of the magnetic field at the streamer base within $0.4~R_{\odot }$ 0.4 R ⊙ . These results show that high-resolution spectroscopy of visible light offers valuable diagnostics of the low corona, and lend insight into the interconnected loop complexity within helmet streamers.
Wheelchairs aid people with physical disabilities by assisting with mobility, thus improving their independence. Autonomous assistance on wheelchairs are limited to prototypes that provide 'smart functionality', by completing tasks such as docking or terrain adaption. The biggest constraints are navigating within dynamic environments, such as the home.This paper describes the data pipeline to automate the wheelchair navigation process, from classifying an object, estimating the user's intention via verbal command (e.g. take me to the fridge) and navigating towards a goal.Object locations will be registered within a map whilst contextual meta data is calculated. A combination of object classification confidence and object instances is used to calculate the uniqueness of all identifiable objects. Thus, assisting in predicting the user's intention. For example, if a "go to the fridge" request is received, the wheelchair will know that the fridge is located within the kitchen, and therefore drive to the kitchen and then the fridge.Results show that utilising contextual data reduces the likelihood of false-positive object detections being registered by the navigation pipeline, thus is more likely to interpret the user intention more accurately.
Spectroscopic measurements of the low solar corona are crucial to understanding the mechanisms that heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind, yet the lowest solar radii (R⊙) of the corona is difficult to observe. Our expedition collected narrow wavelengths of visible light at 530.3, 637.4, and 789.2 nm emitted by Fe XIV, X, and XI ions, respectively, from the total solar eclipse on 2019 July 2 at 20:40 UTC in Rodeo, Argentina with a bespoke 3-channel spectrometer. This paper describes the instrument, and data calibration method that enables diagnostics out to ≈1.0 R⊙ above the solar limb within a bright helmet streamer. We find that Fe X and XI lines are dominant through 0.3 R⊙, with Fe XIV maintaining a stronger signal at higher elevations. Thermal broadening is consistent with 4 MK for the cooler Fe X and XI lines, and 6 MK for the hottest Fe XIV line, which can be interpreted as differing density scale heights within isolated, isothermal flux tubes. The Doppler measurements correspond to bulk plasma motion ranging from -12 to +2.5 km s-1, with Fe XIV moving at nearly an assumed solid body rotation rate throughout 1.0 R⊙. After considering coronal rotation, these measurements are likely associated with plasma motion along the dominant longitudinal orientation of the magnetic field at the streamer base within 0.4R⊙. These results show that high resolution spectroscopy of visible light offers valuable diagnostics of the low corona, and lend insight into the interconnected loop complexity within helmet streamers.
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