The Far-UltraViolet (FUV) imager onboard the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft provides two-dimensional limb images of oxygen airglow in the nightside low-latitude ionosphere that are used to determine the oxygen ion density. As yet, no FUV limb imager has been used for climatological analyses of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). To examine the potential of ICON/FUV for this purpose, we statistically investigate small-scale (~180 km) fluctuations of oxygen ion density in its limb images. The seasonal-longitudinal variations of the fluctuation level reasonably conform to the EPB statistics in existing literature. To further validate the ICON/FUV data quality, we also inspect climatology of the ambient (unfiltered) nightside oxygen ion density. The ambient density exhibits (1) the well-known zonal wavenumber-4 signatures in the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and (2) off-equatorial enhancement above the Caribbean, both of which agree with previous studies. Merits of ICON/FUV observations over other conventional data sets are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we suggest possible directions of future work, e.g., synergy between ICON/FUV and the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission.

We describe a method for the in-orbit calibration of body-mounted magnetometers based on the CHAOS-7 geomagnetic field model. The code is designed to find the true calibration parameters autonomously by using only the onboard magnetometer data and the corresponding CHAOS outputs. As the model output and satellite data have different coordinate systems, they are first transformed to a Star Tracker Coordinate (STC). Then, non-linear optimization processes are run to minimize the differences between the CHAOS-7 model and satellite data in the STC. The process finally searches out a suite of calibration parameters that can maximize the model-data agreement. These parameters include the instrument gain, offset, axis orthogonality, and Euler rotation matrices between the magnetometer frame and the STC. To validate the performance of the Python code, we first produce pseudo satellite data by convoluting CHAOS-7 model outputs with a prescribed set of the ‘true’ calibration parameters. Then, we let the code autonomously undistort the pseudo satellite data through optimization processes, which ultimately track down the initially prescribed calibration parameters. The reconstructed parameters are in good agreement with the prescribed (true) ones, which demonstrates that the code can be used for actual instrument data calibration. This study is performed using Python 3.8.5, NumPy 1.19.2, SciPy 1.6, AstroPy 4.2, SpacePy 0.2.1, and ChaosmagPy 0.5 including the CHAOS-7.6 geomagnetic field model. This code will be utilized for processing NextSat-1 and Small scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment (SNIPE) data in the future.

We report, for the first time, the afternoon (i.e., from noon to sunset time) observations of the northern mid-latitude E-region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs) made by the very high frequency (VHF) coherent backscatter radar operated continuously since 29 December 2009 at Daejeon (36.18°N, 127.14°E, 26.7°N dip latitude) in South Korea. We present the statistical characteristics of the mid-latitude afternoon E-region FAIs based on the continuous radar observations. Echo signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the afternoon E-region FAIs is found to be as high as 35 dB, mostly occurring around 100–135 km altitudes. Most spectral widths of the afternoon echoes are close to zero, indicating that the irregularities during the afternoon time are not related to turbulent plasma motions. The occurrence of afternoon E-regional FAI is observed with significant seasonal variation, with a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter. Furthermore, to investigate the afternoon E-region FAIs- Sporadic E (Es) relationship, the FAIs have also been compared with Es parameters based on observations made from an ionosonde located at Icheon (37.14°N, 127.54°E, 27.7°N dip latitude), which is 100 km north of Daejeon. The virtual height of Es (h’Es) is mainly in the height range of 105 km to 110 km, which is 5 km to 10 km greater than the bottom of the FAI. There is no relationship between the FAI SNR and the highest frequencies (ftEs) (or blanket frequencies (fbEs)). SNR of FAIs, however, is found to be related well with (ftEs–fbEs).

In this paper, we present observations of the Space Radiation Detectors (SRDs) onboard the Next Generation Small Satellite-1 (NEXTSat-1) satellite. The SRDs, which are a part of the Instruments for the study of Stable/Storm-time Space (ISSS), consist of the Medium-Energy Particle Detector (MEPD) and the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD). The MEPD can detect electrons, ions, and neutrals with energies ranging from 20 to 400 keV, and the HEPD can detect electrons over an energy range from 0.35 to 2 MeV. In this paper, we report an event where particle flux enhancements due to substorm injections are clearly identified in the MEPD A observations at energies of tens of keV. Additionally, we report a specific example observation of the electron distributions over a wide energy range in which we identify electron spatial distributions with energies of tens to hundreds of keV from the MEPD and with energy ranging up to a few MeV from the HEPD in the slot region and outer radiation belts. In addition, for an ~1.5-year period, we confirm that the HEPD successfully observed the well-known outer radiation belt electron flux distributions and their variations in time and L shell in a way consistent with the geomagnetic disturbance levels. Last, we find that the inner edge of the outer radiation belt is mostly coincident with the plasmapause locations in L, somewhat more consistent at subrelativistic energies than at relativistic energies. Based on these example events, we conclude that the SRD observations are of reliable quality, so they are useful for understanding the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere, including substorms and radiation belt variations.

Over the last years, a number of different path following methods for the autonomous parking system have been proposed for tracking planned paths. However, it is difficult to find a study comparing path following methods for a short path length with large curvature such as a parking path. In this paper, we conduct a comparative study of the path following methods for perpendicular parking. By using Monte-Carlo simulation, we determine the optimal parameters of each controller and analyze the performance of the path following. In addition, we consider the path following error occurred at the switching point where forward and reverse paths are switched. To address this error, we conduct the comparative study of the path following methods with the one thousand switching points generated by the Monte-Carlo method. The performance of each controller is analyzed using the V-rep simulator. With the simulation results, this paper provides a deep discussion about the effectiveness and limitations of each algorithm.

This paper proposes a parking space detection method for autonomous parking by using the Around View Monitor (AVM) image and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor fusion. This method consists of removing obstacles except for the parking line, detecting the parking line, and template matching method to detect the parking space location information in the parking lot. In order to remove the obstacles, we correct and converge LIDAR information considering the distortion phenomenon in AVM image. Based on the assumption that the obstacles are removed, the line filter that reflects the thickness of the parking line and the improved radon transformation are applied to detect the parking line clearly. The parking space location information is detected by applying template matching with the modified parking space template and the detected parking lines are used to return location information of parking space. Finally, we propose a novel parking space detection system that returns relative distance and relative angle from the current vehicle to the parking space.

The present paper describes the design of a Solid State Telescope (SST) on board the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute satellite-1 (KASISat-1) consisting of four [TBD] nanosatellites. The SST will measure these radiation belt electrons from a low-Earth polar orbit satellite to study mechanisms related to the spatial resolution of electron precipitation, such as electron microbursts, and those related to the measurement of energy dispersion with a high temporal resolution in the sub-auroral regions. We performed a simulation to determine the sensor design of the SST using GEometry ANd Tracking 4 (GEANT4) simulations and the Bethe formula. The simulation was performed in the range of 100 ~ 400 keV considering that the electron, which is to be detected in the space environment. The SST is based on a silicon barrier detector and consists of two telescopes mounted on a satellite to observe the electrons moving along the geomagnetic field (pitch angle 0°) and the quasi-trapped electrons (pitch angle 90°) during observations. We determined the telescope design of the SST in view of previous measurements and the geometrical factor in the cylindrical geometry of Sullivan (1971). With a high spectral resolution of 16 channels over the 100 keV ~ 400 keV energy range, together with the pitch angle information, the designed SST will answer questions regarding the occurrence of microbursts and the interaction with energetic particles. The KASISat-1 is expected to be launched in the latter half of 2020.

This paper proposes a unified framework that overcomes four motion constraints including joint limit, kinematic singularity, algorithmic singularity and obstacles. The proposed framework is based on our previous works which can insert or remove tasks continuously using activation parameters and be applied to avoid joint limit and singularity. Additionally, we develop a method for avoiding obstacles and combine it into the framework to consider four motion constraints simultaneously. The performance of the proposed framework was demonstrated by simulation tests with considering four motion constraints. Results of the simulations verified the framework’s effectiveness near joint limit, kinematic singularity, algorithmic singularity and obstacles. We also analyzed sensitivity of our algorithm near singularity when using closed loop inverse kinematics depending on magnitude of gain matrix.

Pc1 pulsations are geomagnetic fluctuations in the frequency range of 0.2 to 5 Hz. There have been several observations of Pc1 pulsations in low earth orbit by MAGSAT, DE-2, Viking, Freja, CHAMP, and SWARM satellites. However, there has been a clear limitation in resolving the spatial and temporal variations of the pulsation by using a single-point observation by a single satellite. To overcome such limitations of previous observations, a new space mission was recently initiated, using the concept of multi-satellites, named the Small scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiments (SNIPE). The SNIPE mission consists of four nanosatellites (~10 kg), which will be launched into a polar orbit at an altitude of 600 km (TBD) in 2020. Four satellites will be deployed in orbit, and the distances between each satellite will be controlled from 10 to 1,000 km by a highend formation-flying algorithm. One of the possible science targets of the SNIPE mission is observing electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves. In this paper, we report on examples of observations, showing the limitations of previous EMIC observations in low earth orbit, and suggest possibilities to overcome those limitations through a new mission.

Recently, development of robot technology has been actively investigated that industrial robots are used in various other fields. However, the interface of the industrial robot is limited to the planned and manipulated path according to the target point and reaching time of the robot arm. Thus, it is not easy to create or change the various paths of the robot arm in other applications, and it is not easy to control the robot so that the robot arm passes the specific point precisely at the desired time during the course of the path. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper proposes a new-media content management platform that can manipulate 6 DOF industrial robot arm using 3D game engine. In this platform, the user can directly generate the motion of the robot arm in the UI based on the 3D game engine, and can drive the robot in real time with the generated motion. The proposed platform was verified using 3D game engine Unity3D and KUKA KR-120 robot.

Using an inverse of the geometric Jacobian matrix is one of the most popular ways to control robot manipulators, because the Jacobian matrix contains the relationship between joint space velocities and operational space velocities. However, the control algorithm based on Jacobian matrix has algorithmic singularities: The robot manipulator becomes unstable when the Jacobian matrix loses rank. To solve this problem, various methods such as damped and filtered inverse have been proposed, but comparative studies to evaluate the performance of these algorithms are insufficient. Thus, this paper deals with a comparative analysis of six representative singularity avoidance algorithms: Damped Pseudo Inverse, Error Damped Pseudo Inverse, Scaled Jacobian Transpose, Selectively Damped Inverse, Filtered Inverse, and Task Transition Method. Especially, these algorithms are verified through computer simulations with a virtual model of a humanoid robot, THORMANG, in order to evaluate tracking error, computational time, and multiple task performance. With the experimental results, this paper contains a deep discussion about the effectiveness and limitations of each algorithm.

The localization of the robot is one of the most important factors of navigating mobile robots. The use of featured information of landmarks is one approach to estimate the location of the robot. This approach can be classified into two categories: the natural-landmark-based and artificial-landmark-based approach. Natural landmarks are suitable for any environment, but they may not be sufficient for localization in the less featured or dynamic environment. On the other hand, artificial landmarks may generate shaded areas due to space constraints. In order to improve these disadvantages, this paper presents a novel development of the localization system by using artificial and natural-landmarks-based approach on a topological map. The proposed localization system can recognize far or near landmarks without any distortion by using landmark tracking system based on top-view image transform. The camera is rotated by distance of landmark. The experiment shows a result of performing position recognition without shading section by applying the proposed system with a small number of artificial landmarks in the mobile robot.

Generating motion of center of mass for biped robots is a challenging issue since biped robots can easily lose balance due to limited contact area between foot and ground. In this paper, we propose force control method to generate high-speed motion of the center of mass for horizontal direction without losing balancing condition. Contact consistent multi-body dynamics of the robot is used to calculate force for horizontal direction of the center of mass considering balance. The calculated force is applied for acceleration or deceleration of the center of mass to generate high speed motion. The linear inverted pendulum model is used to estimate motion of the center of mass and the estimated motion is used to select either maximum or minimum force to stop at goal position. The proposed method is verified by experiments using 12-DOF torque controlled human sized legged robot.

In this study, we estimated the topside scale height of plasma density (Hm) using the Swarm constellation and ionosondes in Korea. The Hm above Korean Peninsula is generally around 50 km. Statistical distributions of the topside scale height exhibited a complex dependence upon local time and season. The results were in general agreement with those of Tulasi Ram et al. (2009), who used the same method to calculate the topside scale height in a mid-latitude region. On the contrary, our results did not fully coincide with those obtained by Liu et al. (2007), who used electron density profiles from Arecibo Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) between 1966 and 2002. The disagreement may result from the limitations in our approximation method and data coverage used for estimations, as well as the inherent dependence of Hm on Geographic LONgitude (GLON).

Peg-in-hole assembly is the most representative task for a robot to perform under contact conditions. Various strategies for accomplishing the peg-in-hole task with a robot exist, but the existing strategies are not sufficiently practical to be used for various assembly tasks in a human environment because they require additional sensors or exclusive tools. In this paper, the peg-in-hole assembly experiment is performed with anthropomorphic hand arm robot without extra sensors or devices using “intuitive peg-in-hole strategy”. From this work, the probability of applying the peg-in-hole strategy to a common assembly task is verified.