Agent-based Drivers’ Information Assistance System

“Drivers’ Information Assistance System (DIA system)” is an ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) application framework that provides agent-based information assistance to drivers through car navigation systems or on-board PCs. DIA system enables flexible information retrieval over the Internet using intelligent mobile agent, and incorporates a high-speed event delivery facility that makes real-time information service possible. The goal of the system is to provide up to the minute information and services related to driver needs, such as parking lot vacancy information. Crucial to making this a practical operation is the agent-based ability to access the network while the vehicle is in motion. Masanori Hattori: He is a research engineer in the Computer & Network Systems Laboratory, Corporate Research & Development Center, Toshiba Corporation. His research interests are network computing, human interface, and agent technologies especially in mobile agents, intelligent agents, and physical agents. He received the B.E. and M.E. from the Kyushu University. Naoki Kase: He received the M.S. in computer science from the Keio University, Japan. His research interests are mobile agent and its applications. He has developed an intelligent mobile agent system and its applications on ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) field. Akihiko Ohsuga, Dr. Eng.: He is a senior research scientist at the Computer & Network Systems Laboratory in Toshiba Corporation. Dr. Ohsuga received a B.S. degree in mathematics from Sophia University in 1981 and a Dr. Eng. degree in electrical engineering from Waseda University in 1995. He joined Toshiba Corporation in 1981, worked with the ICOT (institute for New Generation Computer Technology) involved in the Fifth Generation Computer System project from 1985 to 1989. His research interests include agent technologies, formal specification & verification, and automated theorem proving. Shinichi Honiden, Dr.Eng.: He is a chief specialist of Government Division, Toshiba Corporation. He received the B.S., M.S., and Dr. Eng. degrees in electrical engineering from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1976, 1978, and 1986, respectively. Since 1978, he has been with Toshiba Corporation. His research interests include software engineering and artificial intelligence. In these fields, he is the author or coauthor of ten textbooks and has published over 80 technical papers.     

Nonlinear adaptive decentralized stabilization control for multimachine power systems

This paper presents a decentralized adaptive backstepping controller to dampen oscillations and improve the transient stability to parametric uncertainties in multimachine power systems. The proposed design on the i ^th synchronous generator uses only local information and operates without the need for remote signals from the other generators. The design of the nonlinear controller is based on a modified fourth-order nonlinear model of a synchronous generator, and the automatic voltage regulator model is considered so as to decrease the steady state voltage error. The construction of both the control law and the associated Lyapunov function is systematically designed within the design methodology. A 3-machine power system is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller over two other controllers, namely a conventional damping controller (power system stabilizer) and one designed using the feedback linearization techniques. Recommended by Editorial Board member Gang Tao under the direction of Editor Jae Weon Choi. This work was supported by the Korea Electrical Engineering and Science Research Institute, which is funded by Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. Shan-Ying Li received the B.S. degrees in Computer Science and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeast DianLi University, China, in 1997 and 2002, respectively. She obtained the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University, Korea, in 2008. She is a Post Doctor in North China Electric Power Research Institute, North China Grid Co., Ltd., China. Her research interests are in the areas of advanced control and stability applications on power systems. Sang-Seung Lee received the M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering at Seoul National University. Currently, he is with Power System Research Division of KESRI, Seoul National University, Korea. His interest areas are nonlinear/adaptive control theory, North-East Asia power system interconnection, distributed/small generation, distributed transmission/distribution load flow algorithm, regional/local energy system, PSS (power system stabilizer), and RCM (Reliability Centered Maintenance). Yong Tae Yoon was born in Korea on April 20, 1971. He received the B.S. degree, M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from M.I.T., USA in 1995, 1997, and 2001, respectively. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Seoul National University, Korea. His special field of interest includes electric power network economics, power system reliability, and the incentive regulation of independent transmission companies. Jong-Keun Park received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea in 1973 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from The University of Tokyo, Japan in 1979 and 1982, respectively. He is currently a Professor of School of Electrical Engineering, Seoul National University. In 1992, he attended as a Visiting Professor at Technology and Policy Program and Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, a Fellow of the IEE, and a Member of Japan Institute of Electrical Engineers (JIEE).     

Genetic algorithm with dynamic variable number of individuals and accuracy

This paper proposes a novel processor for genetic algorithm (GA) that can dynamically change number of individuals and accuracy. In conventional GA, number of population and accuracy are fixed. However, the accuracy of solution is low at first-half stage. Therefore, the number of population is doubled at expense of the accuracy of solution, and the searching ability is improved at first-stage in the proposed GA processor. Then, the number of population is reduced by half, and the accuracy is improved at second-half stage. As a result, the searching ability is improved. The proposed GA processor was designed and verified. The effectiveness of proposed method was confirmed by applying to the knapsack problem. Recommended by Guest Editor Phill Kyu Rhee. This work was supported by the grant from Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo Denki University (Q06J-03). Akihiko Tsukahara received the B.E. degree in Electronic Engineering from Tokyo Denki University in 2005. He is currently a M.E. student in Tokyo Denki University. His research interests include VLSI design for genetic algorithm and rough sets. Akinori Kanasugi received the B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Saitama University, Japan, in 1983, 1985 and 1994, respectively. After a research associate in Saitama University, he moved to Tokyo Denki University in 2002, where he is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Engineering. His current research interests are in the development of VLSI systems such as reconfigurable processor, GA processor, and rough sets processor.     

A grid-oriented genetic algorithm framework for bioinformatics

In this paper, we propose a framework for enabling for researchers of genetic algorithms (GAs) to easily develop GAs running on the Grid, named “Grid-Oriented Genetic algorithms (GOGAs)”, and actually “Gridify” a GA for estimating genetic networks, which is being developed by our group, in order to examine the usability of the proposed GOGA framework. We also evaluate the scalability of the “Gridified” GA by applying it to a five-gene genetic network estimation problem on a grid testbed constructed in our laboratory. Hiroaki Imade: He received his B.S. degree in the department of engineering from The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan, in 2001. He received the M.S. degree in information systems from the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokushima in 2003. He is now in Doctoral Course of Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokushima. His research interests include evolutionary computation. He currently researches a framework to easily develop the GOGA models which efficiently work on the grid. Ryohei Morishita: He received his B.S. degree in the department of engineering from The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan, in 2002. He is now in Master Course of Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima. His research interest is evolutionary computation. He currently researches GA for estimating genetic networks. Isao Ono, Ph.D.: He received his B.S. degree from the Department of Control Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1994. He received Ph.D. of Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, in 1997. He worked as a Research Fellow from 1997 to 1998 at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and at University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan, in 1998. He worked as a Lecturer from 1998 to 2001 at University of Tokushima. He is now Associate Professor at University of Tokushima. His research interests include evolutionary computation, scheduling, function optimization, optical design and bioinformatics. He is a member of JSAI, SCI, IPSJ and OSJ. Norihiko Ono, Ph.D.: He received his B.S. M.S. and Ph.D. of Engineering in 1979, 1981 and 1986, respectively, from Tokyo Institute of Technology. From 1986 to 1989, he was Research Associate at Faculty of Engineering, Hiroshima University. From 1989 to 1997, he was an associate professor at Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokushima. He was promoted to Professor in the Department of Information Science and Intelligent Systems in 1997. His current research interests include learning in multi-agent systems, autonomous agents, reinforcement learning and evolutionary algorithms. Masahiro Okamoto, Ph.D.: He is currently Professor of Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Japan. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from Kyushu University in 1981. His major research field is nonlinear numerical optimization and systems biology. His current research interests cover system identification of nonlinear complex systems by using evolutional computer algorithm of optimization, development of integrated simulator for analyzing nonlinear dynamics and design of fault-tolerant routing network by mimicking metabolic control system. He has more than 90 peer reviewed publications.     

LMI stability criterion with less variables for time-delay systems

Slack variables approach is an important technique for tackling the delay-dependent stability problem for systems with time-varying delay. In this paper, a new delay-dependent stability criterion is presented without introducing any slack variable. The technique is based on a simply integral inequality. The result is shown to be equivalent to some existing ones but includes the least number of variables. Thus, redundant selection and computation can be avoided so that the computational burden can be largely reduced. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed stability conditions. Recommended by Editorial Board member Young Soo Suh under the direction of Editor Jae Weon Choi. The authors would like to thank the Associate Editor and the Reviewers for their very helpful comments and suggestions. This work was supported in part by the Funds for Creative Research Groups of China under Grant 60821063, by the State Key Program of National Natural Science of China under Grant 60534010, by the Funds of National Science of China under Grant 60674021, 60774013, 60774047, National 973 Program of China under Grant No. 2009CB320604, and by the Funds of Ph.D. program of MOE, China under Grant 20060145019 and the 111 Project B08015. Xun-Lin Zhu received the B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Information Engineering Institute, Zhengzhou, China, in 1986, the M.S. degree in basic mathematics from Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, in 1989, and the Ph.D. degree in Control Theory and Engineer-ing from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, in 2008. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China. His research interests include neural networks and networked control systems. Guang-Hong Yang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Northeast University of Technology, China, in 1983 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Control Engineering from Northeastern University, China (formerly, Northeast University of Technology), in 1994. He was a Lecturer/Associate Professor with Northeastern University from 1986 to 1995. He joined the Nanyang Technological University in 1996 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. From 2001 to 2005, he was a Research Scientist/Senior Research Scientist with the National University of Singapore. He is currently a Professor at the College of Information Science and Engineering, Northeastern University. His current research interests include fault-tolerant control, fault detection and isolation, non-fragile control systems design, and robust control. Dr. Yang is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems (IJCAS), and an Associate Editor of the Conference Editorial Board of the IEEE Control Systems Society. Tao Li was born in 1979. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Research Institute of Automation Southeast University, China. His current research interests include time-delay systems, neural networks, robust control, fault detection and diagnosis. Chong Lin received the B.Sci and M.Sci in Applied Mathematics from the Northeastern University, China, in 1989 and 1992, respectively, and the Ph.D in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 1999. He was a Research Associate with the University of Hong Kong in 1999. From 2000 to 2006, he was a Research Fellow with the National University of Singapore. He is currently a Profesor with the Institute of Complexity Science, Qingdao University, China. His current research interests are mainly in the area of systems analysis and control. Lei Guo was born in 1966. He received the Ph.D. degree in Control Engineering from Southeast University (SEU), PR China, in 1997. From 1999 to 2004, he has worked at Hong Kong University, IRCCyN (France), Glasgow University, Loughborough University and UMIST, UK. Now he is a Professor in School of Instrument Science and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Beihang University. He also holds a Visiting Professor position in the University of Manchester, UK and an invitation fellowship in Okayama University, Japan. His research interests include robust control, stochastic systems, fault detection, filter design, and nonlinear control with their applications.     

Intelligent systems using Web-pages as knowledge base for statistical decision making

In this paper, we propose an approach to the construction of an intelligent system that handles various domain information provided on the Internet. The intelligent system adopts statistical decision-making as its reasoning framework and automatically constructs probabilistic knowledge, required for its decision-making, from Web-pages. This construction of probabilistic knowledge is carried out using aprobability interpretation idea that transforms statements in Web-pages into constraints on the subjective probabilities of a person who describes the statements. In this paper, we particularly focus on describing the basic idea of our approach and on discussing difficulties in our approach, including our perspective. Kazunori Fujimoto: He received bachelor’s degree from Department of Electrical Engineering, Doshisha University, Japan, in 1989, and master’s degree from Division of Applied Systems Science, Kyoto University, Japan, in 1992. From there, he joined NTT Electrical Communications Laboratories, Tokyo, Japan, and has been engaged in research on Artificial Intelligence. He is currently interested in probabilistic reasoning, knowledge acquisition, and especially in quantitative approaches to research in human cognition and behavior. Mr. Fujimoto is a member of Decision Analysis Society, The Behaviormetric Society of Japan, Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, Information Processing Society of Japan, and Japanese Society for Fuzzy Theory and Systems. Kazumitsu Matsuzawa: He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in electronic engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1975 and 1977. From there, he joined NTT Electrical Communications Laboratories, Tokyo, Japan, and has been engaged in research on computer architecture and the design of LSI. He is currently concerned with AI technology. Mr. Matsuzawa is a member of The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Information Processing Society of Japan, Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, and Japanese Society for Fuzzy Theory and Systems.     

Feasibility Study on an Excavation-Type Demining Robot

In this study, we propose a design of an excavation-type demining robot that rids a farm of mines efficiently and safely. In the dangerous area, the robot automatically takes in soil in which mines are laid. The entire soil surface, including mines, is crushed, separated and discharged. Therefore, the demining ratio is high; also, the soil becomes clean and cultivated. The robot has a large bucket on its front. The robot moves forward, maintaining the height of the bucket from the ground by the vertical motion of the bucket and the forward motion of the body. The possibility of that motion is confirmed through simulations and experiments. The crush process and the proper depth of the excavation are also discussed.Yoshikazu Mori has a Ph.D. degree in information science from Tohoku University (Japan). he is a research associate in the Department of Precision Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University. His research focuses on a welfare robot, and won the 2004 Presentation Award from The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Robotics and Mechatronics Division. He is also interested in an autonomous agent that lives with the human.Kazuhiro Takayama has a Masters Degree from the Department of precision Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University. He is an acoustic engineer of Honda R&D Co., Ltd., Tochigi R&D Center.Takeshi Adachi has a Bachelors Degree from the Department of Precision Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Currently he is studying a bipedal robot with jack legs for carrying a heavy load.Shintaro Omote has a Bachelors Degree from the Department of Precision Engineering at Tokyo Metropolitan University. He is currently studying a partner robot and trying to let it recognize human mental characters.Tatsuya Nakamura received the B.E. degree in aeronautics, the M.S. degree in physics and D. E. degree in robotics in 1965, 1967 and 1983, respectively, from Nagoya University. He joined the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, AIST, MITI in 1967. He was engaged in advanced robotics project there. In 1992, he became a professor at Mie University. Since 1997, he has been a Professor in the Department of Precision Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University. His research topics include micromanipulation using magnetic technologies and intelligent welfare robots.     

Biologically inspired control of quadruped walking robot

In this paper, we present a control method for a quadruped walking robot inspired from the locomotion of quadrupeds. A simple and useful framework for controlling a quadruped walking robot is presented, which is obtained by observing the stimulus-reaction mechanism, the gravity load receptor and the manner of generating repetitive motions from quadrupeds. In addition, we propose a new rhythmic pattern generator that can relieve the large computational burden on solving the kinematics. The proposed method is tested via a dynamic simulation and validated by implementation in a quadruped walking robot, called AiDIN-I (Artificial Digitigrade for Natural Environment I). Recommended by Editorial Board member Sangdeok Park under the direction of Editor Jae-Bok Song. This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) (KRF-2005-D00031). Ig Mo Koo received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Myongji University, Yongin, Korea, in 2003, the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2005, where he is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. His research interests include artificial muscle actuators, haptics, tactile display, biomimetics and quadruped walking robots systems. Tae Hun Kang received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, in 2000, 2002, and 2006, respectively. His current research interests focus on biomimetics and quadruped walking robot. Gia Loc Vo received the B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering form Ha Noi University of Technology in Vietnam 2003, the M.S. degree Mechanical Engineering form Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2006, where he is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. His research interests include legged locomotion, walking and climbing robot. Tran Duc Trong received the B.S degree in Mechatronics from HoChiMinh City University of Technology in Vietnam in 2005, where he is currently working toward a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. His research interests include biological inspired control and adaptive control of quadruped walking robot. Young Kuk Song received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, in 2006, where he is currently working toward a M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. His research interests include biomimetics, hydraulic robotics system and quadruped walking robot. Hyouk Ryeol Choi received the B.S. degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1984, the M.S. degree from the Korea Advanced Technology of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea, in 1986, and the Ph.D. degree from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea, in 1994. Since 1995, he has been with Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, where he is currently a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering. He was an Associate Engineer with LG Electronics Central Research Laboratory, Seoul, Korea, from 1986 to 1989. From 1993 to 1995, he was with Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, as a grantee of scholarship funds from the Japanese Educational Administry. He visited the Advanced Institute of Industrial Science Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan, as a JSPS Fellow from 1999 to 2000. He is now an Associate Editor in IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems (IJCAS). His interests includes dexterous mechanisms, field application of robots, and artificial muscle actua tors.     

Object-spatial layout-route based hybrid map and global localization for mobile robots

This paper presents new object-spatial layout-route based hybrid map representation and global localization approaches using a stereo camera. By representing objects as high-level features in a map, a robot can deal more effectively with different contexts such as dynamic environments, human-robot interaction, and semantic information. However, the use of objects alone for map representation has inherent problems. For example, it is difficult to represent empty spaces for robot navigation, and objects are limited to readily recognizable things. One way to overcome these problems is to develop a hybrid map that includes objects and the spatial layout of a local space. The map developed in this research has a hybrid structure that combines a global topological map and a local hybrid map. The topological map represents the spatial relationships between local spaces. The local hybrid map combines the spatial layout of the local space with the objects found in that space. Based on the proposed map, we suggest a novel coarse-to-fine global localization method that uses object recognition, point cloud fitting and probabilistic scan matching. This approach can accurately estimate robot pose with respect to the correct local space. Recommended by Editor Jae-Bok Song. This research was performed for the Intelligent Robotics Development Program, one of the 21st Century Frontier R&D Programs funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy of Korea. Soonyong Park received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyunghee University, Seoul, Korea, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. Since 2001, he has been a student researcher in the Center for Cognitive Robotics Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, Korea. His research interests include mobile robot navigation and computer vision. Mignon Park received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electronics from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, in 1973 and 1977, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree in University of Tokyo, Japan, 1982. He was a researcher with the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan, from 1972 to 1982, as well as at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and the University of California Berkeley, in 1982. He was a visiting researcher in Robotics Division, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Tsukuba, Japan, from 1986 to 1987. He has been a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Yonsei University, since 1982. His research interests include fuzzy control and application, robotics, and fuzzy biomedical system. Sung-Kee Park is a principal research scientist for Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1987 and 1989, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree (2000) from Korea Advanced Institue of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea, in the area of computer vision. Since then, he has been working for the center for cognitive robotics research at KIST. During his period at KIST, he held a visiting position at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in 2005, where he did research on object recognition. His recent work has been on cognitive visual processing, object recognition, visual navigation, and human-robot interaction.     

A path following control of an unmanned autonomous forklift

In this paper, the development of an unmanned autonomous forklift is discussed. A system configuration using vision, laser ranger finder, sonar, etc. for autonomous navigation is presented. The kinematics of a spin-turn mechanism is analyzed first, and then the obtained kinematics equations are transformed to the equations represented by path variables. These equations are nonlinear state equations to be used for control purposes. A time varying feedback control law via the chained form of Murray and Sastry [12] is derived. The effectiveness of the proposed control law is examined through simulations and experiments. Recommended by Editorial Board member Sooyong Lee under the direction of Editor Jae-Bok Song. This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) (The Regional Research Universities Program/Institute of Logistics Information Technology). Tua Agustinus Tamba received the B.S. degree in Engineering Physics from Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia, in 2006. He is currently a graduate student at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea. His research interests include control of unmanned vehicles and path planning technologies for autonomous robots. Bonghee Hong received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from Seoul National University in 1982, 1984, and 1988, respectively. Dr. Hong joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Pusan National University (PNU) in 1989 and now he is a Professor. Dr. Hong is the Director of the Research Institute of Logistics Information Technology (LIT) at PNU. Dr. Hong received the Korean Minister Award in 2006 and the University Excellence Innovation Award in 2007. His current research interests include theory of database systems, RTLS systems, RFID middleware, RFID database, and stream data processing. Keum-Shik Hong received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering from Seoul National University in 1979, the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University, New York, in 1987, and both the M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics and the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1991. From 1991 to 1992, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at UIUC. Since Dr. Hong joined the School of Mechanical Engineering at Pusan National University, Korea, in 1993, he is now a Professor. During 1982–85, he was with Daewoo Heavy Industries, Incheon, Korea, where he worked on vibration, noise, and emission problems of vehicles and engines. Dr. Hong serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology and serves as an Associate Editor in various IEEE and IFAC conferences editorial boards. He also served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems Engineering and has been serving as an Associate Editor for Automatica (2000–2006) and as an Editor for the International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems (2003–2005). His laboratory, Integrated Dynamics and Control Engineering Laboratory, was designated as a National Research Laboratory by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea in 2003. Dr. Hong received Fumio Harashima Mechatronics Award in 2003 and the Korean Government Presidential Award in 2007. He is a Member of ASME, IEEE, ICROS, KSME, KSPE, KIEE, and KINPR. Dr. Hong’s current research interests include nonlinear systems theory, adaptive control, distributed parameter system control, robotics, vehicle control, and innovative control applications to engineering problems.     

An Efficient Support Vector Machine Learning Method with Second-Order Cone Programming for Large-Scale Problems

In this paper we propose a new fast learning algorithm for the support vector machine (SVM). The proposed method is based on the technique of second-order cone programming. We reformulate the SVM's quadratic programming problem into the second-order cone programming problem. The proposed method needs to decompose the kernel matrix of SVM's optimization problem, and the decomposed matrix is used in the new optimization problem. Since the kernel matrix is positive semidefinite, the dimension of the decomposed matrix can be reduced by decomposition (factorization) methods. The performance of the proposed method depends on the dimension of the decomposed matrix. Experimental results show that the proposed method is much faster than the quadratic programming solver LOQO if the dimension of the decomposed matrix is small enough compared to that of the kernel matrix. The proposed method is also faster than the method proposed in (S. Fine and K. Scheinberg, 2001) for both low-rank and full-rank kernel matrices. The working set selection is an important issue in the SVM decomposition (chunking) method. We also modify Hsu and Lin's working set selection approach to deal with large working set. The proposed approach leads to faster convergence. Rameswar Debnath is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan and also a lecturer of the Computer Science & Engineering Discipline at Khulna University, Bangladesh. He received the bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering from Khulna University in 1997 and masters of engineering degree in communication and systems from the University of Electro-Communications in 2002. His research interests include support vector machines, artificial neural networks, pattern recognition, and image processing. Masakazu Muramatsu is an associate professor of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Electro-Communications, Japan. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Tokyo in 1989, master's degree in engineering from University of Tokyo in 1991, and Ph.D from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in 1994. He was an assistant professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Sophia University from 1994 to 2000, when he moved to the current university. His research interests include mathematical programming, second-order cone programming and its application to machine learning. Haruhisa Takahashi was born in Shizuoka Prefecture Japan, on March 31, 1952. He graduated from the University of Electro-Communications. He received the Dr Eng. degree from Osaka University. He was a faculty member of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology from 1980 to 1986. Since 1986, he has been with the University of Electro-Communications where he is currently professor of the Department of Information and Communication Engineering. He was previously engaged in the fields of nonlinear network theory, queueing theory and performance evaluation of communication systems. His current research includes learning machines, artificial neural networks, and cognitive science.     

A separation method for DNA computing based on concentration control

A separation method for DNA computing based on concentration control is presented. The concentration control method was earlier developed and has enabled us to use DNA concentrations as input data and as filters to extract target DNA. We have also applied the method to the shortest path problems, and have shown the potential of concentration control to solve large-scale combinatorial optimization problems. However, it is still quite difficult to separate different DNA with the same length and to quantify individual DNA concentrations. To overcome these difficulties, we use DGGE and CDGE in this paper. We demonstrate that the proposed method enables us to separate different DNA with the same length efficiently, and we actually solve an instance of the shortest path problems. Masahito Yamamoto, Ph.D.: He is associate professor of information engineering at Hokkaido University. He received Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University in 1996. His current research interests include DNA computing based the laboratory experiments. He is a member of Operations Research Society of Japan, Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, Information Processing Society of Japan etc. Atsushi Kameda, Ph.D.: He is the research staff of Japan Science and Technology Corporation, and has participated in research of DNA computing in Hokkaido University. He received his Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in 2001. For each degree he majored in molecular biology. His research theme is about the role of polyphosphate in the living body. As one of the researches relevant to it, he constructed the ATP regeneration system using two enzyme which makes polyphosphate the phosphagen. Nobuo Matsuura: He is a master course student of Division of Systems and Information Engineering of Hokkaido University. His research interests relate to DNA computing with concentration control for shortest path problems, as a means of solution of optimization problems with bimolecular. Toshikazu Shiba, Ph.D.: He is associate, professor of biochemical engineering at Hokkaido University. He received his Ph.D. from Osaka University in 1991. He majored in molecular genetics and biochemistry. His research has progressed from bacterial molecular biology (regulation of gene expression of bacterial cells) to tissue engineering (bone regeneration). Recently, he is very interested in molecular computation and trying to apply his biochemical idea to information technology. Yumi Kawazoe: She is a master course student of Division of Molecular Chemistry of Hokkaido University. Although her major is molecular biology, she is very interested in molecular computation and bioinformatics. Azuma Ohuchi, Ph.D.: He is professor of Information Engineering at the University of Hokkaido, Sapporo, Japan. He has been developing a new field of complex systems engineering, i.e., Harmonious Systems Engineering since 1995. He has published numerous papers on systems engineering, operations research, and computer science. In addition, he is currently supervising projects on DNA computing, multi-agents based artificial market systems, medical informatics, and autonomous flying objects. He was awarded “The 30th Anniversary Award for Excellent Papers” by the Information Processing Society of Japan. He is a member of Operations Research Society of Japan, Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, Information Processing Society of Japan, Japan Association for Medical Informatics, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE System, Man and Cybernetics Society etc. He received PhD from Hokkaido University in 1976.     

Escaping route method for a trap situation in local path planning

This paper introduces a new framework for escaping from a local minimum in path planning based on artificial potential functions (APFs). In particular, this paper presents a set of analytical guidelines for designing potential functions to avoid local minima in a trap situation (in this case, the robot is trapped in a local minimum by the potential of obstacles). The virtual escaping route method is proposed to allow a robot to escape from a local minimum in a trap situation where the total forces are composed of repulsive forces by obstacles and attractive force by a goal are zero. The example results show that the proposed scheme can effectively construct a path planning system with the capability of reaching a goal and avoiding obstacles, despite a trapped situation under possible local minima. Recommended by Editorial Board member Sooyong Lee under the direction of Editor Jae-Bok Song. This work was supported by the Kyungnam University Foundation Grant, 2007. Dong Hun Kim received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Hanyang University, Korea, in 1995, 1997 and 2001, respectively. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Research Associate under several grants in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, NC, USA. In 2003, he joined Boston University, MA, USA, as a Visiting Assistant Professor under several grants in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. In 2004, he was engaged in postdoctoral research at the School of Information Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Japan. Since 2005, he has been an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Kyungnam University, Korea. His research interests include swarm intelligence, self-organization of swarm systems, mobile robot path planning, decentralized control of autonomous vehicles, intelligent control, and adaptive nonlinear control.     

An enhanced force and contact position sensor for micro-manipulations

In micro-manipulations, force sensing devices play an important role in the control and the assembly of micro-objects. To protect these micro-objects from damage, we must have the ability to detect the value of the minute amount of interactive force (about a few μN) upon contact between the tip and the object. To detect this micro-force, we need an optimized design of force sensor to increase the strain values at the positions we place sensing components. Stress concentration can effectively amplify the strain values measured by the force sensors. This paper investigates the effect that the notches have on increasing the strain values at the positions we attach the sensing elements. In addition, the optimal design with a flexible structure improves the sensitivity of the sensor. An algorithm that can calculate both contact force and contact position on the sensor tip is also mentioned. Besides, an optimal location of strain gauges will ensure the accuracy and stability of the measurement. Finally, analysis and experiment are done to verify the proposed idea. Recommended by Editorial Board member Dong Hwan Kim under the direction of Editor Jae-Bok Song. This research was supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and Korean Industrial Technology Foundation through the Human Resource Training Project for Strategic Technology. Tri Cong Phung received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the HCM University of Technology, Vietnam in 2004 and the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in 2007. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronic System Laboratory (IRMS Lab), Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University. His research interests include dexterous manipulation and touch sensors. Seung Hwa Ha received the B.S. degree in Korean University of Technology and Education, Korea in 2004. He received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in 2008. He is currently working in Samsung Electronic Co. Ltd. His research interests are about strain gauge and high precision control. Yong Seok Ihn received the B.S. degree in School of Mechanical Engineering from the Sungkyunkwan University, Korea in 2006. He received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Sungkyunkwan University, in 2008. He is currently working toward a Ph. D. degree in the Computer Aided Modeling & Simulation Laboratory (CAMAS Lab), School of Mechanical Engineering at the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. His research interests are precision mechatronics, dynamic system modeling, and control. Byung June Choi received the B.S. degree in School of Mechanical Engineering from the Sungkyunkwan University, Korea in 2002. He received the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineer-ing from the Sungkyunkwan University, in 2005. He is currently working toward a Ph.D. degree in the Intelligent Robotics and Mechatronic System Laboratory (IRMS Lab), School of Mechanical Engineering at the Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. His research interests are mechanisms design, multi-robot system control, cooperation, path planning and task allocation algorithm. Sang Moo Lee was born in Seoul, Korea and educated in Seoul. He received the Ph.D. degree from the Seoul National University in Korea, in 1999. He is currently a Principal Researcher of Division for Applied Robot Technology at Korean Institute of Industrial Technology. His research interests include high-precision robot control, motion field network, and location system in outdoor environment for robots. Ja Choon Koo is an Associate Professor of School of Mechanical Engineering in Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. His major researches are in the field of design, analysis, and control of dynamics systems, especially micro precision mechatronic systems and energy transducers. He was an Advisory Engineer for IBM, San Jose, California, USA and a Staff Engineer for SISA, San Jose, CA, USA. He received the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the B.S. from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. Hyouk Ryeol Choi received the B.S. degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1984, the M.S. degree from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejon, Korea, in 1986, and the Ph.D. degree from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Korea, in 1994, all in Mechanical Engineering. From 1986 to 1989, he was an Associate Engineer at LG Electronics Central Research Laboratory, Seoul. From 1993 to 1995, he was at Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, as a Grantee of scholarship from the Japanese Educational Ministry. From 2000 to 2001, he visited Advanced Institute of Industrial Science Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan, as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) Fellow. Since 1995, he has been with Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea, where he is currently a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics and International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems (IJCAS), and IEEE Transactions on Robotics. His current research interests include dexterous mechanism, field application of robots, and artificial muscle actuators.     

User-independent gesture recognition by relative-motion extraction and discriminant analysis

We propose a new method for user-independent gesture recognition from time-varying images. The method uses relative-motion extraction and discriminant analysis for providing online learning/recognition abilities. Efficient and robust extraction of motion information is achieved. The method is computationally inexpensive which allows real-time operation on a personal computer. The performance of the proposed method has been tested with several data sets and good generalization abilities have been observed: it is robust to changes in background and illumination conditions, to users’ external appearance and changes in spatial location, and successfully copes with the non-uniformity of the performance speed of the gestures. No manual segmentation of any kind, or use of markers, etc. is necessary. Having the above-mentioned features, the method could be successfully used as a part of more refined human-computer interfaces. Bisser R. Raytchev: He received his BS and MS degrees in electronics from Tokai University, Japan, in 1995 and 1997 respectively. He is currently a doctoral student in electronics and information sciences at Tsukuba University, Japan. His research interests include biological and computer vision, pattern recognition and neural networks. Osamu Hasegawa, Ph.D.: He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Science University of Tokyo, in 1988, 1990 respectively. He received Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tokyo, in 1993. Currently, he is a senior research scientist at the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL), Tsukuba, Japan. His research interests include Computer Vision and Multi-modal Human Interface. Dr. Hasegawa is a member of the AAAI, the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Japan (IEICE), Information Processing Society of Japan and others. Nobuyuki Otsu, Ph.D.: He received B.S., Mr. Eng. and Dr. Eng. in Mathematical Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1969, 1971, and 1981, respectively. Since he joined ETL in 1971, he has been engaged in theoretical research on pattern recognition, multivariate data analysis, and applications to image recognition in particular. After taking positions of Head of Mathematical Informatics Section (since 1985) and ETL Chief Senior Scientist (since 1990), he is currently Director of Machine Understanding Division since 1991, and concurrently a professor of the post graduate school of Tsukuba University since 1992. He has been involved in the Real World Computing program and directing the R&D of the project as Head of Real World Intelligence Center at ETL. Dr. Otsu is members of Behaviormetric Society and IEICE of Japan, etc.     

Boundary control of container cranes from the perspective of controlling an axially moving string system

The control objectives in this paper are to move the load of a container crane to its target position and to suppress the transverse vibration of the load. Owing to the fact that the load is hoisted up and down, the crane is modeled as an axially moving string system. The dynamics of the moving string are derived using Hamilton’s principle for systems with changing mass. The Lyapunov function method is used in deriving a boundary control law, where the Lyapunov function candidate takes the form of the total mechanical energy of the system. The boundary control law utilizes the hoisting speed as well as the sway angle of the rope at the gantry side. Through experiment, the effectiveness of the proposed control law is demonstrated particularly in the lift-up process of the load. Recommended by Editorial Board member Dong Hwan Kim under the direction of Editor Hyun Seok Yang. A preliminary version of this work (with Hahn Park) has been presented at the 16th IFAC World Congress, Prague, 2005. This work was supported by Korea Research Foundation Grant No. KRF-2007-314-D00011. Chang-Sei Kim received the B.S. degree in Control and Mechanical Engineering from Pusan National University in 1998, the M.S. degree in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering from Seoul National University in 2000. Since 2000, he has been with Robot Research and Development Team in DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Korea, as a researcher. In DSME, he has worked on the development of welding robots, painting robots and factory automation. His current research interests include nonlinear robust control, robotic system, hydraulic systems, and control system applications. Keum-Shik Hong received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering from Seoul National University in 1979, the M.S. degree in ME from Columbia University in 1987, and both the M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics and the Ph.D. degree in ME from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991. He served as an Associate Editor for Automatica (2000–2006) and as an Editor for the International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems (2003–2005). Dr. Hong received Fumio Harashima Mechatronics Award in 2003 and the Korean Government Presidential Award in 2007. Dr. Hong’s research interests include nonlinear systems theory, adaptive control, distributed parameter system control, robotics, and vehicle controls.     

A New Approach to Humanitarian Demining

Landmines can deprive whole areas of valuable resources, and continue to kill and cause injuries years after the end of armed conflicts. Armored vehicles are used for mine clearance, but with limited reliability. The final inspection of minefields is still performed by human deminers exposed to potentially fatal accidents. The aim of this research is to introduce automation as a way to improve the final level of humanitarian demining. This paper addresses mobility and manipulation, while sensing, communication and visualization shall be discussed in detail in a subsequent paper. After analyzing the merits and limitations of previous works, a new approach to tele-operated demining is considered, using off-road buggies equipped with combustion engines, and taking into account actual field requirements. Control of the automated buggies on rough terrain is also discussed, as well as the development of a new weight-balanced manipulator for landmine clearance operations.Paulo Debenest received the B. Eng. degree in mechanical engineering (major in automation and systems) from Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (EPUSP), Brazil, in 1998, and the M. Eng. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan, in 2002. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in mechanical science engineering at Tokyo Tech and member of IEEE. His current research activities include development of demining robots and mechanical design of machines for field applications.Edwardo F. Fukushima is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech). He received the B. Eng. degree in electric engineering (major in electronics and telecommunications) from Federal Center of Technological Education of Paraná (CEFET-PR), Brazil, in 1989, and M. Eng. degree in mechanical science engineering from Tokyo Tech in 1993. In 1994 he became a research associate in the same institute. During Sept.–Dec. 2001 he has been a Visiting Researcher at Stanford University, and during Aug.–Sept. 2004 Visiting Scientist at University of Zurich. He is also member of RSJ. His current research activities include development of demining robots, design of controllers for intelligent robots, and development of new brushless motors and drives.Yuki Tojo is a masters course student in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech). He received the B. Eng. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Tokyo Tech in 2003. His research interests include design and control of weight-compensated manipulator on mobile platform. He is also member of RSJ.Shigeo Hirose was born in Tokyo in 1947. He received his B.Eng. Degree with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering from Yokohama National University in 1971, and his M. Eng. and Ph.D. Eng. Degrees in Control Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1973 and 1976, respectively. From 1976 to 1979 he was a Research Associate, and from 1979 to 1992 an Associate Professor. Since 1992 he has been a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Since 2002, he has been Honorary Professor in Shengyang Institute of Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Fellow of JSME and IEEE. He is engaged in creative design of robotic systems. Prof. Hirose has been awarded more than twenty prizes.