Visual odometry (VO) refers to the estimation of vehicle motion using onboard cameras. A common mode of operation utilizes stereovision to tri angulate a set of image features, track these over time, and infer vehicle motion by computing the apparent point cloud motion with respect to the cameras. It has...

Machine learning techniques have shown considerable promise for automating common visual inspection tasks. For example, Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers that have been learned from labeled training data deliver strong detection performance both for finding human faces in...

A vehicle entering the atmosphere of a planet will do so at hypersonic speeds and will need to decelerate and maneuver through that atmosphere while protecting its payload from excessive heating. As a consequence, the vehicle shape must be designed to provide optimal aerodynamic lift and drag...

DAPS was designed to support the DAWN-AIR project participating in the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) hurricane campaign. It controls the data acquisition system consisting of a scanner that directs the lidar beam, an inertial navigation system/GPS (INS/GPS) unit for monitoring...

The Debris & ICE Mapping Analysis Tool (DIMAT) system is a Web-based system that supports communication, data integration, data sharing, and problem definition/resolution through use of an integrated presentation framework for ice and debris description and analysis. It provides an integrated...

This lidar data fusion approach is based on associating samples from sparse lidar data with groups of region objects determined by a unique image segmentation approach, HSeg (Hierar - chical Segmentation). This segmentation approach, which was previously developed by...

University of Colorado Boulder scientists have found a creative way to radically improve thermoelectric materials, a finding that could one day lead to the development of improved solar panels, more energy-efficient cooling equipment, and even the creation of new devices that could turn the vast...

With a new distance-learning program called NASA STEM Mania, teachers and students can learn the science behind scoring a touchdown, throwing down a slam-dunk, or a hitting a home run.NASA's Distance Learning Network (DLN) will present the two-week series Monday, Feb. 24, through Monday, March 10, and will give...

The Glyph headset, from the Ann Arbor, MI-based Avegant, beams video into a user's eyes, without requiring a screen. To emulate the way the eye processes images, the technology uses a set of 2 million microscopic mirrors to reflect visuals, even 3D content, into the eye. The headset’s screen can be connected to...

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed K-Glass, a wearable, hands-free head-mounted display (HMD).Unlike virtual reality which replaces the real world with a computer-simulated environment, augmented reality (AR) incorporates digital data...

By exploring how creatures in nature are able to fly by flapping their wings, Virginia Tech researchers hope to design "micro air vehicles.”In Virginia Tech's study of fruit bat wings, the researchers used experimental measurements of the movements of the bats' wings in real flight, and then used analysis software...

Carbon nanotube-based fibers have greater capacity to carry electrical current than copper cables of the same mass, according to new research. A series of tests at Rice University showed the wet-spun carbon nanotube fiber still handily beat copper, carrying up to four times as much current as a copper wire...

Inspired by the termites’ resilience and collective intelligence, a team of computer scientists and engineers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University has created an autonomous robotic construction...

Google recently announced that it will add Google Glass options for prescription glasses. The search giant's wearable computer features an optical head-mounted display that presents information in a smartphone-like format. "We're going to reach some day, hopefully it will be soon, where people...

Multiple NASA centers are currently conducting a remotely controlled test of new technologies that would empower future space robots to transfer satellite oxidizer into the propellant tanks of spacecraft in space today.Building on the success of the International Space Station's landmark Robotic Refueling...

A new system combines simple control programs to enable fleets of robots — or other “multiagent systems” — to collaborate in unprecedented ways.The technology factors in uncertainty — the odds, for instance, that a communication link will drop, or that a particular algorithm will...