Gianni Cario

Data fusion algorithms for lane departure warning systems

This paper discusses data-fusion algorithms for computing the “Time-to-Lane-Crossing” (TLC) of a vehicle traveling along a lane on the basis of road images, collected by an on-board video-camera, and kinematic data coming from car sensors. Such algorithms are instrumental to built Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) with enhanced predictive capabilities and tolerant to a certain amount of errors and outliers in video-camera and sensors data flows. Two Kalman filters are outlined and used for data fusion purposes. Simulations within the Carsim® simulation tool have been undertaken to verify the effectiveness of these filters during critical driving scenarios.

Clock synchronization and ranging estimation for control and cooperation of multiple UUVs

This paper presents the initial implementation of an acoustic synchronization and ranging system to enable the control and cooperation of multiple Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs). Our solution is based on acoustic clock synchronization and one-way ranging. It requires minimum overhead while providing accurate and quick estimation of the relative distances among underwater nodes. The use of one-way ranging allows to scale up to large teams of UUVs and reduces the energy consumption of localization techniques. Our solution has been implemented in SUNSET, leveraging on the accurate timing information and scheduled transmissions provided by SeaModem acoustic modems. Chip Scale Atomic Clocks have been integrated in the SeaModem to overcome the typical drift of real-time clocks thus enabling accurate one-way ranging estimation during long term missions. The performance of the proposed system have been extensively evaluated in two at-sea campaigns considering different testing scenarios. We have shown that our scheme is able to maintain high ranging accuracy over time without requiring the high overhead and energy consumption of two way ranging techniques. We have also shown that the proposed scheme for acoustic synchronization is very effective in synchronizing real-time and atomic clocks of underwater nodes, whenever needed. Our results confirm that the proposed solution for synchronization and one-way ranging allows to enable the control of multiple UUVs keeping at the bay the overhead in the network and the time needed to estimate relative distances.

Virtual and Augmented Reality Tools to Improve the Exploitation of Underwater Archaeological Sites by Diver and Non-diver Tourists

The underwater cultural heritage is an immeasurable archaeological and historical resource with huge, but yet largely unexploited, potentials for the maritime and coastal tourism.

Long lasting underwater wireless sensors network for water quality monitoring in fish farms

This paper concerns the implementation of an efficient underwater acoustic network suitable for long lasting environmental monitoring in fish farming. Several hardware and software solutions have been designed and implemented to extend the network lifetime and to make the system autonomous and suitable for such an application scenario. The proposed system is composed of different components. The SUNSET Software Defined Communication Stack (SDCS) is used to provide networking capabilities to underwater nodes communicating acoustically through AppliCon SeaModem modems. The Hydrolab Series 5 probes are used to monitor the water quality. Lifetime of underwater nodes is extended through the use of a novel device that allows to harvest energy from underwater water currents via suitable propellers. In addition, novel sleep and wake up mechanisms have been designed and implemented into the underwater nodes to minimize the energy consumption of the system during the idle periods. The performance of the proposed system has been extensively evaluated in field by monitoring the water quality in three fish farming cages located in the Mediterranean Sea, Italy. The system has been connected to the Internet infrastructure allowing the users to easy interact with the underwater system in real-time. Our results confirm that the proposed system is suitable for long term monitoring providing a reliable and robust data collection scheme with an extended network life time.

A hybrid observer approach for driver drowsiness detection

This paper discusses an algorithm for driver drowsiness detection based on the theory of hybrid observers. A hybrid observer is designed on the basis of a drivers model whose parameters change according to the assumed drowsiness levels which are identified on-line from measurements of relevant vehicle signals. Simulations have been undertaken with Carsim to verify the capability of the proposed methodology to correctly identify on-line the current drivers drowsiness level.