Day, K, Orr, M & Sankaran, S 2006, 'The reflexive employee: Action research immortalized?', Action Learning and Action Research Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 5-27.
James, P & Sankaran, S 2006, 'How and Why Redundant Knowledge Assets Are Identified: A Case Study of the End of the Knowledge Asset Lifecycle', The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management: Annual Review, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 151-160.
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Public sector reform, or New Public Management in Australia, and around the world, is causing operational and cultural change within government departments. For such transformation to occur, people and organisations are required to `unlearn the old and now `dysfunctional ways of doing things. The changes are analogous to the process of `creative destruction, where organisations make their knowledge obsolete through developments in technology, business processes or business models. This phenomenon is common to all organisations, social, firms, and societies, as they all evolve through adapting the knowledge of their members. An inability to unlearn can reduce the speed with which new learning takes place, potentially favouring efficiency over flexibility, and inhibiting the ability to change. Based on research into twelve public sector organisations in Australia, the research established a nexus between the two management disciplines of strategic management and knowledge management. The focus of the research was a study of the life cycle of knowledge assets, which starts and ends when their need or otherwise is identified directly or indirectly by strategic plans. Knowledge assets are acquired, deployed, utilised and maintained until they are no longer needed. They are then disposed of by outsourcing or atrophy when people are redeployed or retrained. The research found that the majority of the public sector practitioners interviewed admitted that their departments had no formal processes for identifying redundant knowledge assets. This is supported by case studies on Australian Government departments where the focus of these programs is on knowledge capture, sharing and utilisation.
Kim, J, Ong, LLS, Nettleton, E & Sukkarieh, S 2006, 'Decentralised approach to UAV navigation: without the use of GPS and preloaded maps', Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, vol. 218, pp. 399-416.
Kirchner, N, Paul, G, Liu, DK & PRESS, WUT 2006, 'Bridge maintenance robotic arm: Mechanical technique to reduce the nozzle force of a sandblastine rig', 1st International Symposium on Digital Manufacture, Vols 1-3, vol. 28, no. 164, pp. 12-18.
Kodagoda, KRS, Wijesoma, WS & Balasuriya, AP 2006, 'CuTE: curb tracking and estimation', IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 951-957.
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The number of road accident related fatalities and damages are reduced substantially by improving road infrastructure and enacting and imposing laws. Further reduction is possible through embedding intelligence onto the vehicles for safe decision making. Road boundary information plays a major role in developing such intelligent vehicles. A prominent feature of roads in urban, semi-urban, and similar environments, is curbs on either side defining the road's boundary. In this brief, a novel methodology of tracking curbs is proposed. The problem of tracking a curb from a moving vehicle is formulated as tracking of a maneuvering target in clutter from a mobile platform using onboard sensors. A curb segment is presumed to be the maneuvering target, and is modeled as a nonlinear Markov switching process. The target's (curb's) orientation and location measurements are simultaneously obtained using a two-dimensional (2-D) scanning laser radar (LADAR) and a charge-coupled device (CCD) monocular camera, and are modeled as traditional base state observations. Camera images are also used to estimate the target's mode, which is modeled as a discrete-time point process. An effective curb tracking algorithm, known as Curb Tracking and Estimation (CuTE) using multiple modal sensor information is, thus, synthesized in an image enhanced interactive multiple model filtering framework. The use and fusion of camera vision and LADAR within this frame provide for efficient, effective, and robust tracking of curbs. Extensive experiments conducted in a campus road network demonstrate the viability, effectiveness, and robustness of the proposed method. © 2006 IEEE.
Kouzmin, A, Hase, S & Sankaran, S 2006, 'Careless Conversations, Costly Mistakes: Coercive Managers and Organisations in the Litigious Spotlight', The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management: Annual Review, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 95-102.
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Despite what we know about the psychology of human behaviour at work and communication, careless conversations on the part of managers to each other and to other employees have an enormous human resource cost to organisations and, emotionally, to those involved. This paper is based on a number of case studies in which careless conversations by managers have led to: workers compensation claims; sick leave; prolongation of workers compensation and sick leave; staff turnover; organisational ineffectiveness; low morale; and mental and physical illness. These case studies have unearthed several manifestations of careless conversations. These include: inappropriate emotional responses on the part of managers; a failure to recognise the impact of punishment for what are relatively minor breaches of policy on hard working employees; covert punishment; lack of recognition for hard work; job insecurity; favouritism; unresolved conflict; inability to deal with people in distress; ignoring the prompt resolution of work problems; workers compensation paralysis; ignoring issues of justice; and ignorance of individual styles and needs. The reasons for this behaviour are discussed and we argue that this is largely a preventable problem and provide a number of solutions.
Kouzmin, A, Hase, S, Sankaran, S & Kakabadse, NK 2006, 'Je Regrette: Towards Marshalling Remorse in Knowledge Transfer', The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Change Management: Annual Review, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 89-94.
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In the manifold excesses of current Anglo-American managerial praxis, from short-term time horizons, grossly distorted expressions of managerial prerogatives and remuneration rationales and a calculated brutality far in excess of any Human Relations sensitivity, the need to inflate shareholder perceptions of the bottom line has led to a managerial immorality that staggers many ethical and stakeholders boundaries. Post Enron, Tyco and others, can much change? Are all senior managers doomed to the moral/ethical vacuum of the bottom line? With remuneration packages deliberately focused around an economic-rationalist brutality, what reflective space, what discourse allows and enables moments of remorse/regret and accommodates the inevitable need for personal accountability and attempts at restitution? Is it merely recourse to recalcitrant legal/governance codes that provides for accounting for managerial incompetence and ideologized greed? How will management discourse remember the current regressive nature of managerial behaviour? How will Knowledge Management, in full flight with rhetoric about the importance of Tacit Knowledge, deal with organizational incompetence?
Kumar, MR & Sankaran, S 2006, 'From east to west - Has the Twain met? Linkages between context sensitivity and soft systems methodology', SYSTEMIC PRACTICE AND ACTION RESEARCH, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 365-381.
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This paper links context sensitivity of Indians to mode 2 of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) bringing out the similarities between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft and the primary mode and secondary mode of behaviour of context sensitivity respectively. Both SSM and context sensitivity consider the totality of environment before selecting the most appropriate behaviour. In the Indian context, the three dimensions of context sensitivity person (patra), time (kal) and ecology (the pattern of relationships people have with their social and physical surrounding) (desh) are the three coordinates along which SSMs standard of facts and values change. The unbundling of the changing standard of SSM along the three dimensions of person, time and ecology and across the two polarities of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft provides a model which is used to explain the recent economic rise of India.
Kumar, MR & Sankaran, S 2006, 'The actions of Mahabharat (an Indian epic): An analysis from action science perspective', SYSTEMIC PRACTICE AND ACTION RESEARCH, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 159-178.
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This paper analyses the actions of Mahabharat from the point of view of action science. From the point of view of action science, the source of the problem of Mahabharat is the undiscussable issue of who should be the king of Hastinapur. The paper then analyses the actions of different actors of this epic. It concludes that Yudhishthir displays the Model I governing value of `minimize generating or expressing negative feelings. Duryodhan displays the Model I governing value of `maximize winning and minimize losing. Vidur, Bhishm andDronacharya display the Model I governing value of `be rational. Together these actors create the `limited learning system of ModelO-I. The primary inhibitory loops created by this limited learning system finally lead to secondary inhibitory loop of polarisation of different actors into two groups and the emergence of win-lose group dynamics in the form of war as the only action which can settle the original undiscussable issue of who should be the king of Hastinapur.
Kumar, S, Allen, GC & Thompson, WF 2006, 'Gene targeting in plants: fingers on the move', Trends in Plant Science, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 159-161.
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This paper analyses the actions of Mahabharat from the point of view of action science. From the point of view of action science, the source of the problem of Mahabharat is the undiscussable issue of who should be the king of Hastinapur. The paper then analyses the actions of different actors of this epic. It concludes that Yudhishthir displays the Model I governing value of 'minimize generating or expressing negative feelings'. Duryodhan displays the Model I governing value of 'maximize winning and minimize losing'. Vidur, Bhishm and Dronacharya display the Model I governing value of 'be rational'. Together these actors create the 'limited learning system' of Model O-I. The primary inhibitory loops created by this limited learning system finally lead to secondary inhibitory loop of polarisation of different actors into two groups and the emergence of win-lose group dynamics in the form of war as the only action which can settle the original undiscussable issue of who should be the king of Hastinapur.
Kwok, NM, Liu, DK & Dissanayake, G 2006, 'Evolutionary computing based mobile robot localization', ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 857-868.
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Evolutionary computing techniques, including genetic algorithms (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and ants system (AS) are applied to the localization problem of a mobile robot. Salient features of robot localization are that the system is partially dynamic and information for fitness evaluation is incomplete and corrupted by noise. In this research, variations to the above three evolutionary computing techniques are proposed to tackle the specific dynamic and noisy system. Their performances are compared based on simulation and experiment results and the feasibility of the proposed approach to mobile robot localization is demonstrated.
Leung, C, Huang, S, Kwok, N & Dissanayake, G 2006, 'Planning under uncertainty using model predictive control for information gathering', Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 54, no. 11, pp. 898-910.
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This paper considers trajectory planning problems for autonomous robots in information gathering tasks. The objective of the planning is to maximize the information gathered within a finite time horizon. It is assumed that either the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) or the Extended Information Filter (EIF) is applied to estimate the features of interest and the information gathered is expressed by the covariance matrix or information matrix. It is shown that the planning process can be formulated as an optimal control problem for a nonlinear control system with a gradually identified model. This naturally leads to the Model Predictive Control (MPC) planning strategy, which uses the updated knowledge about the model to solve a finite horizon optimal control problem at each time step and only executes the first control action. The proposed MPC framework is demonstrated through solutions to two challenging information gathering tasks: (1) Simultaneous planning, localization, and map building (SPLAM) and (2) Multi-robot Geolocation. It is shown that MPC can effectively deal with dynamic constraints, multiple robots/features and a range of objective functions. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Leung, C, Huang, S, Kwok, N & Dissanayake, G 2006, 'Planning under uncertainty using model predictive control for information gathering', ROBOTICS AND AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS, vol. 54, no. 11, pp. 898-910.
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Liu, DK, Wu, X, Paul, G, Dissanayake, G & PRESS, WUT 2006, 'Case studies on an approach to multiple autonomous vehicle motion coordination', 1st International Symposium on Digital Manufacture, Vols 1-3, vol. 26, no. 164, pp. 26-31.
Sankaran, G, Hase, S & Sankaran, S 2006, 'What impact will the research quality framework have on knowledge production and diffusion in Australia's new generation universities?', International Journal of Knowledge Culture and Change Management, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 55-61.
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The current research funding model for Australian universities is based on performance (Kemp 1999). In 2005, the Commonwealth government proposed a new model based on research quality ranking, to increase the accountability and accessibility of publicly funded research. The proposed Research Quality Framework will, for the first time, take into consideration the impact as well as the quantity and quality of research. Many academics and smaller universities are concerned that they might be disadvantaged. This paper looks at how the new model is likely to impact knowledge production and transfer in Australias New Generation Universities, especially with regards to business research.
Sankaran, S, Hase, S, Dick, B & Davies, A 2006, 'Reflections on developing an offshore, action research/learning-based Ph.D. program', Action Learning: Research and Practice, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 197-211.
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In this paper, the authors describe their experience of establishing an action research/learning-based doctoral program in Singapore by an Australian university, which was designed to help managers get academic accreditation while solving workplace problems. The program was designed by four managers working in Singapore and their supervisors. These managers had completed a Ph.D. program using action learning/action research in their workplace under the supervision of Australian academics. The paper describes the various challenges faced by the candidates, supervisors and administrators in developing and implementing the new program.
Sankaran, S, Hill, G & Swepson, P 2006, 'Should Australian AR theses be examined using a developmental approach used by US Universities?', Action Learning and Action Research Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 28-48.
Sankaran, S, Sheppard, A, Cartwright, C & Kelly, J 2006, 'How can we develop a leadership capability framework for non-profit Australian health and community organizations?', International Journal of Health and Ageing Management, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 47-60.
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Leadership is a topic that raises a great deal of interest as well as concem to organisations, communities and nations. There is a great deal of literature on the subject, e.g. a search using 'leadership' as a keyword in Proqnest 5000 database found 30,447 peer-reviewed articles. Despite this, '... leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomenon on earth' (Dainty & Anderson 1996, p. 116 - quoting Bums 1978), with no universal agreement on definitions, or what leadership involves. There is also confusion about which qualities are most necessary for leadership and whether such qualities are intrinsic or can be developed (Bums 1978). Yet leadership remains a potent focus of interest and debate because the quality of leadership can impact significantly on the quality of life of people at work or in the broader conununity (Van Maurik 2001).
Alempijevic, A, Kodagoda, S, Underwood, J, Kumar, S, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Mutual information based sensor registration and calibration', 2006 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS, VOLS 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 25-30.
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Knowledge of calibration, that defines the location of sensors relative to each other, and registration, that relates sensor response due to the same physical phenomena, are essential in order to be able to fuse information from multiple sensors. In this paper, a Mutual Information (MI) based approach for automatic sensor registration and calibration is presented. Unsupervised learning of a nonparametric sensing model by maximizing mutual information between signal streams is used to relate information from different sensors, allowing unknown sensor registration and calibration to be determined. Experiments conducted in an office environment are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Two laser sensors are used to capture people mobbing in an arbitrarily manner in the environment and MI from a number of attributes of the motion are used for relating the signal streams from the sensors. Thus the sensor registration and calibration is achieved without using artificial patterns or pre-specified motions. © 2006 IEEE.
Cheong, CY, Tan, KC, Liu, DK & Xu, JX 1970, 'A Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm for Solving Vehicle Routing Problem with Stochastic Demand', 2006 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, IEEE, Vancouver, Canada, pp. 1370-1377.
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This paper considers the routing of vehicles with limited capacity from a central depot to a set of geographically dispersed customers where actual demand is revealed only when the vehicle arrives at the customer. The solution to this vehicle routing problem with stochastic demand (VRPSD) involves the optimization of complete routing schedules with minimum travel distance, driver remuneration, and number of vehicles, subject to a number of constraints such as vehicle time window and capacity. To solve such a multiobjective combinatorial optimization problem, this paper presents a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm that incorporates two VRPSD-specific heuristics for local exploitation and a route simulation method to evaluate the fitness of solutions. A novel way of assessing the quality of solutions to the VRPSD on top of comparing their expected costs is also proposed. It is shown that the algorithm is capable of finding useful tradeoff solutions which are robust to the stochastic nature of the problem.
Cheong, CY, Tan, KC, Liu, DK & Xu, JX 1970, 'A multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for solving vehicle routing problem with stochastic demand', 2006 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, CEC 2006, pp. 1370-1377.
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This paper considers the routing of vehicles with limited capacity from a central depot to a set of geographically dispersed customers where actual demand is revealed only when the vehicle arrives at the customer. The solution to this vehicle routing problem with stochastic demand (VRPSD) involves the optimization of complete routing schedules with minimum travel distance, driver remuneration, and number of vehicles, subject to a number of constraints such as vehicle time window and capacity. To solve such a multiobjective combinatorial optimization problem, this paper presents a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm that incorporates two VRPSD-specific heuristics for local exploitation and a route simulation method to evaluate the fitness of solutions. A novel way of assessing the quality of solutions to the VRPSD on top of comparing their expected costs is also proposed. It is shown that the algorithm is capable of finding useful tradeoff solutions which are robust to the stochastic nature of the problem. © 2006 IEEE.
Dissanayake, G, Paxman, J, Miro, JV, Thane, O & Thi, H-T 1970, 'Robotics for Urban Search and Rescue', 2006 International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, 2006 International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, IEEE, Peradeniya, SRI LANKA, pp. 294-298.
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This paper describes a team of robots that are designed for urban search and rescue applications. The team CASualty consists of four tele-operated robots and one autonomous robot. A brief description of the capabilities of the robot team is presented together with the details of capabilities of the autonomous robot HOMER. In particular, the software architecture, user interface, strategies used for mapping, exploration and the identification of human victims present in the environment are described. The team participated in an international competition on urban search and rescue (RoboCup Rescue) held in Bremen, Germany in June 2006 where HOMER was placed second in the autonomy challenge. ©2006 IEEE.
Dissanayake, G, Paxman, J, Miro, JV, Thane, O & Thi, H-T 1970, 'Robotics for Urban Search and Rescue', First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems, IEEE, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, pp. 294-298.
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This paper describes a team of robots that are designed for urban search and rescue applications. The team CASualty consists of four tele-operated robots and one autonomous robot. A brief description of the capabilities of the robot team is presented together with the details of capabilities of the autonomous robot HOMER. In particular, the software architecture, user interface, strategies used for mapping, exploration and the identification of human victims present in the environment are described. The team participated in an international competition on urban search and rescue (RoboCup Rescue) held in Bremen, Germany in June 2006 where HOMER was placed second in the autonomy challenge
Ellekilde, L, Valls Miro, J & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Fusing range and intensity images for generating dense models of three-dimensional environments', Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Man-Machine Systems (ICoMMS 2006), IEEE International Conference on Man-Machine Systems, IET, Langkawi, Malaysia, pp. 1-5.
Enedah, CC & Waldron, K 1970, 'Robotic Perception of Mechanical Properties of the Human Skin: A Validation Study', Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 14, Medicine Meets Virtual Reality, Long Beach, CA.
Estremera, J & Waldron, KJ 1970, 'Leg Thrust Control for Stabilization of Dynamic Gaits in a Quadruped Robot', Proceedings of ROMANSY 2006, Springer Vienna, Warsaw, Poland, pp. 213-220.
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Herath, DC, Kodagoda, KRS & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Modeling errors in small baseline stereo for SLAM', 2006 9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONTROL, AUTOMATION, ROBOTICS AND VISION, VOLS 1- 5, 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, IEEE, Singapore, SINGAPORE, pp. 2034-+.
Herath, DC, Kodagoda, KRS & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Modeling Errors in Small Baseline Stereo for SLAM', 2006 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, 2006 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, IEEE, Singapore, pp. 1-6.
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In the past few years, there has been significant advancement in localization and mapping using stereo cameras. Despite the recent successes, reliably generating an accurate geometric map of a large indoor area using stereo vision still poses significant challenges due to the accuracy and reliability of depth information especially with small baselines. Most stereo vision based applications presented to date have used medium to large baseline stereo cameras with Gaussian error models. Here we make an attempt to analyze the significance of errors in small baseline (usually <0.1m) stereo cameras and the validity of the Gaussian assumption used in the implementation of Kalman Filter based SLAM algorithms. Sensor errors are analyzed through experimentations carried out in the form of a robotic mapping. Then we show that SLAM solutions based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) could become inconsistent due to the nature of the observation models used. © 2006 IEEE.
Herath, DC, Kodagoda, S, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Simultaneous localisation and mapping: A stereo vision based approach', 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vols 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 922-927.
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With limited dynamic range and poor noise performance, cameras still pose considerable challenges in the application of range sensors in the context of robotic navigation, especially in the implementation of Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) with sparse features. This paper presents a combination of methods in solving the SLAM problem in a constricted indoor environment using small baseline stereo vision. Main contributions include a feature selection and tracking algorithm, a stereo noise filter, a robust feature validation algorithm and a multiple hypotheses adaptive window positioning method in 'closing the loop'. These methods take a novel approach in that information from the image processing and robotic navigation domains are used in tandem to augment each other. Experimental results including a real-time implementation in an office-like environment are also presented. © 2006 IEEE.
Huang, S, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Convergence analysis for extended Kalman filter based SLAM', 2006 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION (ICRA), VOLS 1-10, IEEE International Conference on Robots and Automation, IEEE, Orlando, USA, pp. 412-417.
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The main contribution of this paper is a theoretical analysis of the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based solution to the simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) problem. The convergence properties for the general nonlinear two-dimensional SLAM are provided. The proofs clearly show that the robot orientation error has a significant effect on the limit and/or the lower bound of the uncertainty of the landmark location estimates. Furthermore, some insights to the performance of EKF SLAM and a theoretical analysis on the inconsistencies in EKF SLAM that have been recently observed are given. © 2006 IEEE.
Huang, S, Wang, Z, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Mapping large scale environments using relative position information among landmarks', 2006 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION (ICRA), VOLS 1-10, IEEE International Conference on Robots and Automation, IEEE, Orlando, FL, pp. 2297-2302.
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The main contribution of this paper is a new SLAM algorithm for the mapping of large scale environments by combining local maps. The local maps can be generated by traditional Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based SLAM. Relationships between the locations of the landmarks in the local map are then extracted and used in an Extended Information Filter (EIF) to build a global map. An important feature is that the information matrix for the global map is exactly sparse, leading to significant computational advantages. This paper thus presents an algorithm that combines the advantages of both the existing local map joining SLAM algorithms, which reduces the linearization error in EKF SLAM and allows computationally demanding global map fusion to be scheduled off-line, and the Decoupled SLAM (D-SLAM) algorithm, which provides an efficient strategy for building large maps using relative location information. The effectiveness of the new algorithm is illustrated through computer simulations. © 2006 IEEE.
Jonghyuk Kim & Sukkarieh, S 1970, 'Robust multi-loop airborne SLAM in unknown wind environments', Proceedings 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006., 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006., IEEE, IEEE, pp. 1536-1541.
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Kirchner, N, Liu, D & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Bridge Maintenance Robotic Arm: Capacitive Sensor for Obstacle Ranging in Particle Laden Air', Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (IAARC), 23rd International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction (IAARC), Tokyo, Japan, pp. 596-601.
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This paper describes an Adaptive Capacitive Sensor Network for Obstacle Ranging (ACSOR) that is intended to provide entire arm encompassing obstacle range data for a robotic arm conducting the task of sandblasting a bridge. A multi-channel capacitive sensor capable of dynamic obstacle ranging in air heavily laden with lead contaminated sandblasting refuse has been developed. Experimental results have shown the ACSOR's working range to be 50cm, that it is relatively immune from airborne lead contaminated sandblasting refuse and that it is capable of ranging an obstacle 21cm away whilst fitted to a robotic arm moving at 2cm/s with an obstacle range error of less than 1cm.
Kodagoda, KRS, Alempijevic, A, Underwood, J, Kumar, S & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Sensor Registration and Calibration using Moving Targets', 2006 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, 2006 9th International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision, IEEE, Singapore, pp. 1-6.
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Multimodal sensor registration and calibration are crucially important aspects in distributed sensor fusion. Unknown relationships of sensors and joint probability distribution between sensory signals make the sensor fusion nontrivial. In this paper, we adopt a Mutual Information (MI) based approach for sensor registration and calibration. It is based on unsupervised learning of a nonparametric sensing model by maximizing mutual information between signal streams. Experiments were carried out in an office like environment with two laser sensors capturing arbitrarily moving people. Attributes of the moving targets are used. Problems due to target occlusions are alleviated by the multiple model tracker. The registration and calibration methodology does not require any artificially generated patterns or motions unlike other calibration methodologies. © 2006 IEEE.
Kodagoda, S, Hemachandra, EASM, Jayasekara, PG, Peiris, RL, De Silva, AC & Munasinghe, R 1970, 'Obstacle Detection and Map Building with a Rotating Ultrasonic Range Sensor using Bayesian Combination', 2006 International Conference on Information and Automation, 2006 International Conference on Information and Automation, IEEE, pp. 98-103.
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Kodagoda, S, Hemachandra, EASM, Pannipitiya, PAAR, Bartholomeuz, LS & Pasqual, AA 1970, 'Minimal Invasive Headband for Brain Computer Interfacing and Analysis', 2006 International Conference on Information and Automation, 2006 International Conference on Information and Automation, IEEE, pp. 109-114.
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Kulatunga, AK, Liu, DK, Dissanayake, G & Siyambalapitiya, SB 1970, 'Ant colony optimization based simultaneous task allocation and path planning of autonomous vehicles', 2006 IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, CIS 2006, IEEE International Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, IEEE, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 823-828.
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This paper applies a meta-heuristic based Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) technique for simultaneous task allocation and path planning of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) in material handling. ACO algorithm allocates tasks to AGVs based on collision free path obtained by a proposed path and motion planning algorithm. The validity of this approach is investigated by applying it to different task and AGV combinations which have different initial settings. For small combinations, i.e. small number of tasks and vehicles, the quality of the ACO solution is compared against the optimal results obtained from exhaustive search mechanism. This approach has shown near optimal results. For larger combinations, ACO solutions are compared with Simulated Annealing algorithm which is another commonly used meta-heuristic approach. The results show that ACO solutions have slightly better performance than that of Simulated Annealing algorithm. © 2006 IEEE.
Kulatunga, AK, Liu, DK, Dissanayake, G, Siyambalapitiya, SB & IEEE 1970, 'Ant colony optimization based simultaneous task allocation and path planning of autonomous vehicles', 2006 IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, Vols 1 and 2, IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, IEEE, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 727-732.
Kwok, NM, Ha, QP, Liu, DK, Fang, G & IEEE 1970, 'Intensity-preserving contrast enhancement for gray-level images using multi-objective particle swarm optimization', 2006 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, Vols 1 and 2, IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, IEEE, Shanghai, China, pp. 21-26.
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This paper addresses the enhancement of the contrast of gray-level digital images while preserving the mean image intensity, thus, providing better viewing consistence and effectiveness. The contrast enhancement is achieved by maximizing the information content carried in the image with a continuous intensity transform function and the mean image intensity is preserved, by using the gamma-correction approach. Since the contrast enhancement and intensity preservation are contradicting, a multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MPSO) algorithm is developed to resolve this trade-off. Benchmark images, street senses and skyline images are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. © 2006 IEEE.
Kwok, NM, Liu, DK, Tan, KC & Ha, QP 1970, 'An empirical study on the settings of control coefficients in particle swarm optimization', 2006 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, CEC 2006, pp. 823-830.
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The effects of randomness of control coefficients in Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are investigated through empirical studies. The PSO is viewed as a method to solve a coverage problem in the solution space when the global-best particle is reported as the solution. Randomness of the control coefficients, therefore, plays a crucial role in providing an efficient and effective algorithm. Comparisons of performances are made between the uniform and Gaussian distributed random coefficients in adjusting particle velocities. Alternative strategies are also tested, they include: i) pre-assigned randomness through the iterations, ii) selective hybrid random adjustment based on the fitness of the particles. Furthermore, the effect of velocity momentum factor is compared between a constant and random momentum. Numerical results show that performances of the proposed variations are comparable to the conventional implementation for simple test functions. However, enhanced performances using the selective and hybrid strategy are observed for complicate functions. ©2006 IEEE.
Kwok, NM, Liu, DK, Tan, KC, Ha, QP & IEEE 1970, 'An empirical study on the settings of control coefficients in Particle Swarm Optimization', 2006 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION, VOLS 1-6, IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, IEEE, Vancouver BC, Canada, pp. 823-830.
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The effects of randomness of control coefficients in particle swarm optimization (PSO) are investigated through empirical studies. The PSO is viewed as a method to solve a coverage problem in the solution space when the global-best particle is reported as the solution. Randomness of the control coefficients, therefore, plays a crucial role in providing an efficient and effective algorithm. Comparisons of performances are made between the uniform and Gaussian distributed random coefficients in adjusting particle velocities. Alternative strategies are also tested, they include: i) pre-assigned randomness through the iterations, ii) selective hybrid random adjustment based on the fitness of the particles. Furthermore, the effect of velocity momentum factor is compared between a constant and random momentum. Numerical results show that performances of the proposed variations are comparable to the conventional implementation for simple test functions. However, enhanced performances using the selective and hybrid strategy are observed for complicate functions.
Lau, H, Huang, S, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Probabilistic search for a moving target in an indoor environment', 2006 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS, VOLS 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 3393-3398.
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We consider a search for a target moving within a known indoor environment partitioned into interconnected regions of varying sizes. The knowledge of target location is described as a probability distribution over the regions, and the searcher can only move from one region to another as the structure allows. The objective is to find a feasible path through the regions that maximizes the probability of locating the target within fixed time. This problem generalizes the existing optimal searcher path problem (OSP) by additionally stipulating a minimum amount of time that a finite-speed searcher must spend to travel through a region before reaching the next. We propose a technique to obtain the upper bound of detection for solving the problem in a branch and bound framework. Comparisons show that the technique is also superior to known bounding methods for the original optimal searcher path problem. © 2006 IEEE.
Leung, C, Huang, S, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Active SLAM using model predictive control and attractor based exploration', 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vols 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 5026-5031.
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Active SLAM poses the challenge for an autonomous robot to plan efficient paths simultaneous to the SLAM process. The uncertainties of the robot, map and sensor measurements, and the dynamic and motion constraints need to be considered in the planning process. In this paper, the active SLAM problem is formulated as an optimal trajectory planning problem. A novel technique is introduced that utilises an attractor combined with local planning strategies such as Model Predictive Control (a.k.a. Receding Horizon) to solve this problem. An attractor provides high level task intentions and incorporates global information about the environment for the local planner, thereby eliminating the need for costly global planning with longer horizons. It is demonstrated that trajectory planning with an attractor results in improved performance over systems that have local planning alone. © 2006 IEEE.
Liu, DK, Wang, D & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'A Force Field Method Based Multi-Robot Collaboration', 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, IEEE, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 1-6.
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A force field (F2) based multi-robot collaboration method is presented in this paper. In this method, a virtual force field is generated for every moving robot and continuously changing based on the robot status including its traveling speed, dimension, priority, location and environment, etc. The interactions among robots' force fields and obstacles provide a natural way for collision avoidance and collaboration while robots are on their way to goals. In this paper, the definition of reaction force direction is modified to reduce robot orientation oscillations which occur when a robot approaches obstacles or other robots. Then the influence of task priority on motion planning and the problem of deadlock in multi-robot cases are discussed. Simulations in a real indoor environment were carried out and demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of this method. © 2006 IEEE.
Liu, DK, Wu, X, Kulatunga, AK & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Motion coordination of multiple autonomous vehicles in dynamic and strictly constrained environments', 2006 IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, IEEE International Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, IEEE, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 204-209.
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With the increasing applications of fully autonomous vehicles, efficient motion coordination of multi-autonomous vehicles becomes a very important problem as it significantly affects the productivity. This problem is even harder to solve with the increases of the number of autonomous vehicles employed in a dynamic changing environment and constraints to vehicle movement. This paper presents a simultaneous path and motion planning (SiPaMoP) approach to coordinate motions of multi-autonomous vehicles in dynamic and strictly constrained environments. This approach integrates the path planning, collision avoidance and motion planning into a comprehensive model, which has so far not attracted a lot of attention in the academic literature, and optimizes vehicles' path and speed to minimize the completion time of a set of tasks. Simulation results demonstrated that this approach can effectively coordinate the motion of a team of vehicles, and solve the problems of traffic congestion and collision under various traffic conditions. © 2006 IEEE.
Liu, DK, Wu, X, Kulatunga, AK, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Motion coordination of multiple autonomous vehicles in dynamic and strictly constrained environments', 2006 IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, Vols 1 and 2, IEEE Conference on Cybernetics and Intelligent Systems, IEEE, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 683-688.
McIntyre, DG, Liu, D, Lasky, V & Murray, SJ 1970, 'A Remote Water-Level Rig Laboratory for e-Learning', Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Information Technology base Higher Education and Training, International Confernce on Information Technology Base Higher Education and Training, IEEE, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-5.
McIntyre, DG, Liu, DK, Lasky, VL, Murray, SJ & IEEE 1970, 'A remote water-level rig laboratory for e-learning', 2006 7th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training, Vols 1 and 2, 7th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training, IEEE, Sydney, AUSTRALIA, pp. 77-81.
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Miro, JV, Zhou, W, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'Towards vision based navigation in large indoor environments', 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vols 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 2096-2102.
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The main contribution of this paper is a novel stereo-based algorithm which serves as a tool to examine the viability of stereo vision solutions to the simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) for large indoor environments. Using features extracted from the scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) and depth maps from a small vision system (SVS) stereo head, an extended Kalman fllter (EKF) based SLAM algorithm, that allows the independent use of information relating to depth and bearing, is developed. By means of a map pruning strategy for managing the computational cost, it is demonstrated that statistically consistent location estimates can be generated for a small (6 m × 6 m) structured office environment, and in a robotics search and rescue arena of similar size. It is shown that in a larger office environment, the proposed algorithm generates location estimates which are topologically correct, but statistically inconsistent. A discussion on the possible reasons for the inconsistency is presented. The paper highlights that, despite recent advances, building accurate geometric maps of large environments with vision only sensing is still a challenging task. ©2006 IEEE.
N. Singh, S, Csonka, P & Waldron, K 1970, 'Optical Flow Aided Motion Estimation for Legged Locomotion', 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 1738-1743.
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Dynamic legged locomotion entails navigating terrain at high speed. The impact shocks from rapid footfalls, pivotal for such mobility, introduce large impulses that saturate motion measurement. A biomimetic approach is presented in which visual information, in the form of optical flow, complements information from inertial sensors. The motion is then determined using a two-phase Hybrid Extended Kalman Filter. Experimentation in determining attitudes on a robotic leg platform shows a reduction in drift over inertial approaches and in delay over visual approaches. In tests with 6g impulses, pose was recovered within 5 deg rms with angular rate errors limited to 10 deglsec at frequencies up to 250 Hz.
Paul, G & Liu, DK 1970, 'Replanning of multiple autonomous vehicles in material handling', 2006 IEEE CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS, AUTOMATION AND MECHATRONICS, VOLS 1 AND 2, IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, IEEE, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 721-+.
Paul, G & Liu, DK 1970, 'Replanning of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles in Material Handling', 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, IEEE, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 1-6.
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The fully automated docks in Australia present opportunities for applications of autonomous vehicles and engineering innovation. When planning tasks to be done by multi-autonomous vehicles in an enclosed area with a known dynamic map (i.e. bi-directional path network), there are many issues that have not yet been comprehensively solved. The real world presents more complexity than the initial algorithms addressed. There are problems that occur due to interaction with the real-world. This means autonomous vehicles can stop, are affected, or face problems, and hence tasks and vehicles' paths and motion need to be replanned. In order to replan, a greater understanding of the state of vehicles, the state of the map, and importantly the importance of tasks and vehicles is definitely needed. This paper explores the improvements made to replanning by gaining a thorough understanding of the map and then utilising map information to make the best, most efficient replanning decision. Five replanning Methods are investigated and four Options which combine the Methods in different ways, are tested in this research. A map analysis Method is also presented. Simulation studies show that map information based replanning is the most efficient Method out of those tested. © 2006 IEEE.
Sankaran, S 1970, 'Practitioner Research in Project Management', Proceedings 3rd International Conference on Project Management (ProMAC 2006), Project Management conference, ProMAC, Sydney, Australia, pp. 1-8.
Sankaran, S, Xu, J & Sankaran, G 1970, 'Knowledge Sharing in Doctoral Research Supervision and Examination', Proceedings of Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific, Knowledge Management in Asia Pacific 2006, KMAP, Hongkong, PRC, pp. 1-16.
Singh, SPN & Waldron, KJ 1970, 'Towards High-Fidelity On-Board Attitude Estimation for Legged Locomotion via a Hybrid Range and Inertial Approach', Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics: Experimaental Robots IX, International Symposium On Experimental Robots, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, pp. 589-598.
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Legged robots display a characteristically periodic motion. Measuring and tracking this motion has traditionally been performed using general inertial measurement techniques. While widely applied in robotics, this approach is limited in dynamic legged locomotion due to the excessive accumulation of drift from severe impact shocks (nearly 9 g in single leg experiments). This paper introduces the attitude estimation problem for legged locomotion and shows preliminary results from a more powerful combined range and inertial sensing approach. Based on a modified Extended Kalman Filter the method uses ground-directed range sensors, the stride period, and other periodic features of legged locomotion in order to address inertial drift. Together this provides rapid, robust estimates of flight phases and attitude necessary for extended dynamic legged operations.
Taha, T, Miro, J & Liu, D 1970, 'An Efficient Path Planner for Large Mobile Platforms in Cluttered Environments', 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, 2006 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, IEEE, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 1-6.
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This paper presents a one step smooth and efficient path planning algorithm for navigating a large robotic platform in known cluttered environments. The proposed strategy, based on the generation of a novel search space, relies on non-uniform density sampling of the free areas to direct the computational resources to troubled and difficult regions, such as narrow passages, leaving the larger open spaces sparsely populated. A smoothing penalty is also associated to the nodes to encourage the generation of gentle paths along the middle of the empty spaces. Collision detection is carried out off-line during the creation of the configuration space to speed up the actual search for the path, which is done on-line. Results prove that the proposed approach considerably reduces the search space in a meaningful and practical manner, improving the computational cost of generating a path optimised for fine and smooth motion. © 2006 IEEE.
Taha, T, Miro, JV & Liu, D 1970, 'An efficient path planner for large mobile platforms in cluttered environments', 2006 IEEE CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS, AUTOMATION AND MECHATRONICS, VOLS 1 AND 2, IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, IEEE, Bangkok, THAILAND, pp. 671-+.
Taha, T, Valls Miro, J & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Sampling based time efficient path planning algorithm for mobile platforms', Proceeding of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on Man-Machine Systems (ICoMMS 2006), IEEE International Conference on Man-Machine Systems, IET, Langkawi, Malaysia, pp. 1-6.
Takezawa, S, Ishimoto, T & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Optimal Control for Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping Problems in Indoor Environments with Stereo Vision', IECON 2006 - 32nd Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics, IECON 2006 - 32nd Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics, IEEE, pp. 4749-4754.
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This paper proposes a optimal control method for simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) in an indoor environment using stereo vision. Specially designed artificial landmarks distributed in the environment are observed and extracted from a camera image. The disparity map obtained from the stereo vision system is used to obtain the ranges to these landmarks. The main contribution of the paper is the formulation of the mathematical framework for SLAM for a robot moving on a planar surface among landmarks distributed in three dimensional space. The paper also presents the results of experiments for optimal control conducted using a Pioneer robot and a Triclops stereo vision system. It is demonstrated that accurate robot and feature locations can be obtained using the proposed technique. © 2006 IEEE.
Vidal-Calleja, T, Davison, AJ, Andrade-Cetto, J & Murray, DW 1970, 'Active control for single camera SLAM', Proceedings 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006., 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2006. ICRA 2006., IEEE, Orlando, FL, pp. 1930-1936.
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In this paper we consider a single hand-held camera performing SLAM at video rate with generic 6DOF motion. The aim is to optimise both the localisation of the sensor and building of the feature map by computing the most appropriate control actions or mo
Wang, D, Liu, D, Dissanayake, G & IEEE 1970, 'A Variable Speed Force Field method for multi-robot collaboration', 2006 IEEE/RSJ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT ROBOTS AND SYSTEMS, VOLS 1-12, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Robots and Intelligent Systems, IEEE, Beijing, China, pp. 2697-2702.
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A novel Force Field (F2) method with variable speed for multi-robot motion planning and collaboration is presented in this paper. The basic concept of the F2 method is to generate a force field for every robot based on and continuously changing according to its status including traveling speed, dimension, priority, location and environmental factor, etc. The interactions among robots' force fields and obstacles provide a natural way for collision avoidance and collaboration while robots are on their way to goals. Previous F2 method assumes that robots travel with constant speeds and can react instantly to the resultant force to change their orientations. Starting from a problematic situation brought out by this hypothesis, this paper remedies the F2 method by taking robots' dynamics and kinematics characteristics into consideration. In the Variable Speed Force Field method (VSF2), a robot can change its own speed according to environment information and its own status. Simulations in a real indoor environment were carried out and demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of this method. © 2006 IEEE.
Wang, Z, Huang, S & Dissanayake, G 1970, 'Implementation issues and experimental evaluation of D-SLAM', Field and Service Robotics, International Conference on Field and Service Robotics, Springer-Verlag Berlin, Port Douglas, Australia, pp. 155-166.
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D-SLAM algorithm first described in [1] allows SLAM to be decoupled into solving a non-linear static estimation problem for mapping and a threedimensional estimation problem for localization. This paper presents a new version of the D-SLAM algorithm that uses an absolute map instead of a relative map as presented in [1]. One of the significant advantages of D-SLAM algorithm is its O(N) computational cost where N is the total number of features (landmarks). The theoretical foundations of D-SLAM together with implementation issues including data association, state recovery, and computational complexity are addressed in detail. Evaluation of the D-SLAM algorithm is provided using both real experimental data and simulations. © Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2006.
