• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.982-996
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• 2016

In this paper, new tethered aerial robots including roaming tethered aerial robots (RTARs) for radioactive material sampling and stationary tethered aerial robots (STARs) for environment monitoring are proposed to meet extremely-long-endurance missions of nuclear power plants. The flight of the proposed tethered aerial robots may last for a few days or even a few months as long as the tethered cable provides continuous power. A high voltage AC or DC power system was newly adopted to reduce the mass of the tethered cable. The RTAR uses a tethered cable spooled from the aerial robot and an aerial tension control system. The aerial tension control system provides the appropriate tension to the tethered cable, which is accordingly laid down on the ground as the RTAR roams. The STAR includes a tethered cable spooled from the ground and a ground tension control system, which enables the STAR to reach high altitudes. Prototypes of the RTAR and STAR were designed and successfully demonstrated in outdoor environments, where the load power, power type, operating frequency, and flight attitude of the RTAR and STAR were: 180 W, AC 100 kHz, and 20 m; and 300 W, AC or DC 100 kHz, and 80 m, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

Obstacle detection is much studied by using sensors such as laser, vision, radar and ultrasonic in path planning for UGV(Unmanned Ground Vehicle), but not much reported about its characterization. In this paper not only an obstacle classification method using 2-dimensional LMS(Laser Measurement System) but also a decision making method whether to avoid or traverse the obstacle is proposed. The basic idea of decision making is to classify the characteristics by 2D laser scanned data and intensity data. Roughness features are obtained by range data using a simple linear regression model. The standard deviations of roughness and intensity data are used as measures for decision making by comparing with those of reference data. The obstacle classification and decision making for the UGV can facilitate a short path to the target position and the survivability of the robot.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.450-456
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• 2013

This paper suggests the target tracking method improved for the collaboration of the quad rotor type UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and omnidirectional Unmanned Ground Vehicle. If UAV shakes or UGV moves rapidly, the existing method generates a phenomenon that the tracking object loses the tracking target. To solve the problems, we propose an algorithm that can track continually when they lose the target. The proposed algorithm stores the vector of the landmark. And if the target was lost, the control signal was inputted so that the landmark could move continuously to the direction running out. Prior to the experiment, Proportional and integral control were used in 4 motors in order to calibrate the Heading value of the omnidirectional mobile robot. The landmark of UGV was recognized as the camera adhered to UAV and the target was traced through the proportional-integral-derivative control. Finally, the performance of the target tracking controller and proposed algorithm was evaluated through the experiment.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.471-478
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• 2011

This UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is not only widely used in various practical applications but is also currently being researched in many disciplines. In particular, obstacle avoidance is considered one of the most important technologies in the navigation of an unmanned vehicle. In this paper, we introduce a simple algorithm for path planning in order to reach a destination while avoiding a polygonal-shaped static obstacle. To effectively avoid such an obstacle, a path planned near the obstacle is much shorter than a path planned far from the obstacle, on the condition that both paths guarantee that the robot will not collide with the obstacle. So, to generate a path near the obstacle, we have developed an algorithm that combines an edge detection method and a limit-cycle navigation method. The edge detection method, based on Hough Transform and IR sensors, finds an obstacle's edge, and the limit-cycle navigation method generates a path that is smooth enough to reach a detected obstacle's edge. And we proposed novel algorithm to solve local minima using the virtual wall in the local vision. Finally, we verify performances of the proposed algorithm through simulations and experiments.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.35-41
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• 2008

The most important requirement for the automotive radars is the simultaneous target range and velocity measurement under environment of multi-target, clutters, multi-path, and so on. If the many vehicles with 77GHz FMCW(Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave) radar system are in the near area we should consider the interference signals occurred by other radar systems because these signals reduce exact detection of range and velocity. In this paper, we propose the interference cancellation method, which each vehicle radar transmits chirp trains with the different frequency sweep shapes. The proposed method is applied into the various applications such as an intelligent vehicle, Robot, and UGV(Unmanned Ground Vehicle).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2012.01a
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• pp.169-170
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• 2012

현대전에서는 인명 손실을 최소화하는 동시에 타 전투체계와의 연계를 통해 부여된 임무를 성공적으로 이끌어 내기 위해 무인로봇을 활발하게 이용하고 있다. 본 논문에서는 미래 전장에서 중심 역할을 수행할 것으로 기대되는 무인로봇과 통제장치의 기능을 제안한다. 통제장치는 디지털 지도를 기반으로 무인로봇의 위치를 전시하는 동시에 특정 위치로의 자율 이동 명령을 내리게 하는 인터페이스이다. 통제장치에서 무인로봇의 실시간 이동 간에 디지털 지도 기반 가시선(line of sight) 분석을 수행함으로써 통신 가능지역 식별 및 중계기를 통한 통신 가능 영역 식별을 용이하게 한다. 제안한 무인로봇과 통제장치를 통해 전장 환경에서 부여된 작전을 성공적으로 이끄는데 주된 역할을 수행할 것으로 기대한다.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2400-2405
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• 2013

We detect the obstacle for the UGV(unmanned ground vehicle) from the compound image which is generated by stereo vision sensor masking the depth image and color image. Stereo vision sensor can gathers the distance information by stereo camera. The obstacle information from the depth compound image can be send to mobile robot and the robot can localize the indoor area. And, we test the performance of the mobile robot in terms of distance between the obstacle and the robot's position and also test the color, depth and compound image respectively. Moreover, we test the performance in terms of number of frame per second which is processed by operating machine. From the result, compound image shows the improved performance in distance and number of frames.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.115-124
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• 2022

Welding is a significant part of the construction industry. Since most high-rise building construction structures rely on a robust metal frame welded together, welding defect can damage welded structures and is critical to safety and quality. Despite its importance and heavy usage in construction, the labor shortage of welders has been a continuous challenge to the construction industry. To deal with the labor shortage, the ultimate goal of this study is to design and develop an automated robotic welding system composed of a welding machine, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), robotic arm, and visual sensors. This paper proposes and focuses on automated weaving using the robotic arm. For automated welding operation, a microcontroller is used to control the switch and is added to a welding torch by physically modifying the hardware. Varying weave patterns are mathematically programmed. The automated weaving is tested using a brush pen and a ballpoint pen to clearly see the patterns and detect any changes in vertical forces by the arm during weaving. The results show that the weave patterns have sufficiently high consistency and precision to be used in the actual welding. Lastly, actual welding was performed, and the results are presented.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.26-34
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• 2008

The information of traversability and path planning is essential for UGV(Unmanned Ground Vehicle) navigation. Such information can be obtained by analyzing 3D terrain. In this paper, we present the method of 3D terrain modeling with color information from a camera, precise distance information from a 2D Laser Range Finder(LRF) and wheel encoder information from mobile robot with less data. And also we present the method of 3B terrain modeling with the information from GPS/IMU and 2D LRF with less data. To fuse the color information from camera and distance information from 2D LRF, we obtain extrinsic parameters between a camera and LRF using planar pattern. We set up such a fused system on a mobile robot and make an experiment on indoor environment. And we make an experiment on outdoor environment to reconstruction 3D terrain with 2D LRF and GPS/IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit). The obtained 3D terrain model is based on points and requires large amount of data. To reduce the amount of data, we use cubic grid-based model instead of point-based model.