Complete Coverage by Mobile Robots Using Slice Decomposition Based on Natural Landmarks
In applications such as vacuum cleaning, painting, demining and foraging, a mobile robot must cover an unknown surface. The efficiency and completeness of coverage is improved by the construction of a map while the robot covers the surface. Existing methods generally use grid maps, which are susceptible to odometry error and may require considerable memory and computation. We propose a new "slice decomposition" ideally suited to coverage by a simple zigzag path. Cell boundaries are large, easily detectable natural landmarks. Therefore, the decomposition is robust against uncertainty in sensors. It can also handle a wider variety of environments. The proposed method has been evaluated using simulation and real robot experiments.

title: A Distributed Approach to Musical Composition
abstract: Current techniques for automated composition use a single algorithm, focusing on one aspect of musical generation. In our system we make use of several algorithms, distributed using an agent oriented middleware, with each specialising on a separate aspect of composition. This paper describes the architecture and algorithms behind this system, with a focus on the agent framework used for implementation. We show early results which encourage a future application of this framework in automated music composition and analysis.

title: Provenance-Based Validation of E-Science Experiments
abstract: E-Science experiments typically involve many distributed services maintained by different organisations. After an experiment has been executed, it is useful for a scientist to verify that the execution was performed correctly or is compatible with some existing experimental criteria or standards. Scientists may also want to review and verify experiments performed by their colleagues. There are no exsiting frameworks for validating such experiments in today's e-Science systems. Users therefore have to rely on error checking performed by the services, or adopt other ad hoc methods. This paper introduces a platform-independent framework for validating workflow executions. The validation relies on reasoning over the documented provenance of experiment results and semantic descriptions of services advertised in a registry. This validation process ensures experiments are performed correctly, and thus results generated are meaningful. The framework is tested in a bioinformatics application that performs protein compressibility analysis.

title: On a service-oriented approach for an engineering knowledge desktop
abstract: Increasingly, manufacturing companies are shifting their focus from selling products to providing services. As a result, when designing new products, engineers must increasingly consider the life cycle costs in addition to any design requirements. To identify possible areas of concern, designers are required to consult existing maintenance information from identical products. However, in a large engineering company, the amount of information available is significant and in wide range of formats. This paper presents a prototype knowledge desktop suitable for the design engineer. The Engineering Knowledge Desktop analyses and suggests relevant information from ontologically marked-up heterogeneous web resources. It is designed using a Service-Oriented Architecture, with an ontology to mediate between Web Services. It has been delivered to the user community for evaluation.

title: Cluster Computing and Grid 2005 Works in Progress
abstract: This is the second in a two-part series () of works-in-progress articles taken from a special session, which was part of the Cluster Computing and Grid 2005 conference (http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/ccgrid2005), held in Cardiff, UK. The session was organized by Mark Baker (University of Portsmouth, UK) and Daniel S. Katz (. For more information, you can contact the session organizers or the authors of the articles.

title: Lightweight Agent Framework for Camera Array Applications
abstract: This paper describes a lightweight middleware agent framework (LAF) for coordinating a large array of computers with attached cameras to construct high resolution video-rate image sequences. Compared to existing camera middleware, LAF provides more than a remote sensor access API. The use of an agent framework allows reconfigurable and transparent access to cameras, as well as software agents capable of intelligent processing. It also eases maintenance by encouraging code reuse. Other features include an automatic discovery mechanism at startup, and multiple language bindings. Performance tests showed the lightweight nature of the framework while validating its correctness and scalability. Two different camera agents were implemented to provide access to a large array of distributed cameras. Correct operation of these camera agents was confirmed via several image processing agents.

title: Fast analytical approach to finding steady-state waveforms for power electronics circuits using orthogonal polynomial basis functions
abstract: This paper describes a general analytical procedure for steady-state waveform analysis of power electronics circuits using orthogonal polynomials. The proposed method exploits the time-domain piecewise property of power electronics circuits as well as the orthogonality of certain polynomials in order to maximize the accuracy and computational efficiency. This new analytical approach can provide a fast means to obtain improved and more robust solutions of steady-state waveforms of power electronics circuits

title: Stability of a circuit with parasitic capacitances
abstract: A novel algorithm which is based on the linear programming technique is proposed to test the stability property of a circuit. This algorithm is efficient and non-Lyapunov equation based. Parasitic capacitances which may de-stabilize a circuit can be located.

title: 76-Space analysis of grey matter diffusivity: Methods and applications
abstract: Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) are widely used in the study and diagnosis of neurological diseases involving the White Matter (WM). However, many neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) are generally considered to involve the Grey Matter (GM). Investigation of GM diffusivity of normal aging and pathological brains has both scientific significance and clinical applications. Most of previous research reports on quantification of GM diffusivity were based on the manually labeled Region of Interests (ROI) analysis of specific neuroanatomic regions. The well-known drawbacks of ROI analysis include inter-rater variations, irreproducible results, tediousness, and requirement of a priori definition of interested regions. In this paper, we present a new framework of automated 76-space analysis of GM diffusivity using DWI/DTI. The framework will be evaluated using clinical data, and applied for study of normal brain, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Schizophrenia.

title: Optimum design of very low distortion class E power amplifiers
abstract: In this paper, the optimum design of a class E power amplifier with resonant tank being symmetrically driven by two class E circuits is studied. The optimally designed symmetrical class E circuit has extremely low harmonic distortion, and the load matching network (if required) is non-critical and can be designed with ease. Practical steady-state design equations are derived and graphically presented. Experimental circuits are constructed for distortion evaluation.

title: A study of the short message service of a nationwide cellular network
abstract: In recent years, cellular networks have experienced an astronomical increase in the use of Short Message Service (SMS), making it a popular communication means for inter-personal as well as content provider-to-person usage. Yet little is known about the traffic and message user behavior in real SMS systems. In this paper, we present a measurement study of SMS based on traces collected from a nationwide cellular carrier during a three-week period. We characterize message traffic at both the message level and the conversation thread level. We also examine the "store-and-forward" mechanism of SMS and present initial measurements on how messages are actually delivered.