© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. The demand response (DR), which balances power supply and demand, is attracting attention as a method of absorbing fluctuations in renewable energy when output is unstable. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Japan has made progress toward the liberalization of electricity and the introduction of renewable energy. In 2021, a supply and demand adjustment market will be opened. Unlike companies and factories, which can control large amounts of power for long periods, household demand has a small capacity and is short term. However, household demand is expected to be able to respond quickly to emergencies and to secure capacity by consolidating multiple households via an aggregator. This study concerns two problems in assessing town-scale residential DR capability. First, we evaluate residential DR response capacity. This capacity is assumed to be pre-cooling heating by an air conditioner according to thermal insulation and heat capacity characteristics, and energy storage by a hot water storage tank and a power storage device. Next, we investigate implementing the optimization of the town-scale DR by an aggregator. Optimal town-scale aggregation proposals are often formulated in large-scale combinatorial optimization problems. The challenge is that the calculation tends to be time-consuming and difficult to solve. In this research, we propose a framework that can be solved at high speed using digital annealer. Finally, we evaluate the possibility of town-scale residential DR in specific areas of Tokyo.

© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. The utilization of "100% renewable energy" has recently attracted considerable interest in view of the objective of achieving a low-carbon society. An approach that seems effective to realize this goal is the purchase of renewable electricity from the power grid. However, the amount of renewable electricity that the power grid can supply at various seasons and periods is limited. In view of this, it is necessary to consider the use of energy systems that can exploit renewable energy, such as the installation of photovoltaics in households. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of 100% renewable energy systems in residential areas and multi-dwelling buildings. The area and building examined are limited to a set of "all-electric houses" with electric vehicles, photovoltaics, and heat pump water heaters. In each case, the electricity self-sufficiency ratio and electricity self-consumption ratio resulting from the use of photovoltaics are derived. In this study, an operation that minimizes CO2 emissions during the evaluation period is developed. It is found that the use of 100% renewable energy in residential areas without relying on the renewable electricity from the power grid is possible as demonstrated by the high feasibility of using 100% renewable energy in rural areas. In multidwelling buildings, this feasibility is lower than that in residential areas. To achieve the utilization of 100% renewable energy using the renewable electricity from the power grid, the grid should increase its supply of renewable electricity at dawn and in the evening. In winter, the renewable electricity from the photovoltaic power alone is insufficient; hence, the power grid requires other renewable electricity sources, such as windgenerated power. To improve the electricity self-sufficiency ratio of multi-dwelling buildings, the use of an energy system that allows electricity sharing from the residential areas to multi-dwelling buildings is found effective.

© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. The article develops and demonstrates the fractional optimization to evaluate the environmental efficiency of the regional-scale energy system with heat pumping and thermal storage. The fractional optimization gets converted into the equivalent quadratic one via the proposed iterative algorithm. The proposed method makes converting a fractional equation into a different one with an auxiliary variable, and it makes us free from heuristic parameter tuning that makes balancing the weight of objective coefficient when the objective function is composed of some terms. We consider the operational planning problem of the mixed energy grid, including electricity and heat. It manages power generations and a heat pump with thermal storage as an application. The numerical studies take into account the open data measured by the most western region of Japan, where the region gets applied the installation/connection of variable renewable energy sources of 25.7 GW at the moment even not every capacity starts operation. As a result, the CO2conversion factor reaches 0.21 kg-CO2/kWh in the best case. It is confirmed that a heat pump with thermal storage can absorb the electrical output from variable renewable energy sources up to 2.72 TWh/y.

© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. Reducing CO2emissions by the effective use of renewable energy is one of the most important issues globally. Therefore, research has focused on both the development of individual high-performance equipment and also district heating and cooling systems. In Japan, installations of the conventional district heating and cooling system, which utilizes steam and chilled water, are rare. In recent years, a promising alternative, the CO2network system, has been proposed by researchers at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. The system uses the latent heat of vaporization of the CO2refrigerant to transport and exchange unused heat to specific areas via decentralized heat pumps on the demand-side. The proposed system is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption compared with the conventional system. In this study, we analyzed the energy-saving effects of introducing a CO2network system in Tokyo, with consideration of the environmental conditions and the typical energy demand profiles. The effects of modifying the central unit and the demand-side decentralized heat pump systems were examined in the context of Tokyo. When using the CO2network, the annual energy consumption resulting from equipment operation can be reduced by approximately 80% compared with the conventional system. This effect is almost of the same magnitude as the effect observed in previous research conducted in Switzerland. Furthermore, we examined the optimum connection pattern of the decentralized heat pumps and the optimum temperature of the CO2supplied to the network.

© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. The objective of the research is to develop an optimal management and control framework to contribute to improving the capacity factor of the geothermal power plant. As the initial consideration of the study, the article aims to identify the phenomenon that causes to decrease capacity factor from the analysis of a process data, to detect the phenomenon to support the decision-making of operators. For achieving the latter goal, we construct the framework that announces the operator to how much anomaly with a convolutional neural network model, which can capture non-stationary and nonlinearity of process data. Through the literature survey and the analysis of the process data, we confirmed that the steam flow rate and pressure of wellbore having two feed zones oscillate, and the wellbore reached the spurts stop of the steam due to oscillation growth. We confirmed that the pressure-drop events occurred six times in 2018, and it would be one of the causes to decrease capacity factor. As numerical results of the proposed framework, before the pressure-drop happens, they are increased that the amplitude of the second harmonic wave, the period of the first harmonic wave, and the anomaly score we derived. We could conclude that the pressure-drop, as mentioned above indexes made by the proposed method, could predict the pressure-drop at the one minute ahead, even in the case that pressure time-series have the nature of non-stationarity and nonlinearity.

© ECOS 2020.All right reserved. The SYNTHSEP methodology that presents a general procedure to derive a complex system configuration of thermodynamic systems operating with a pure working fluid was proposed by A. Lazzaretto and A. Toffolo et al. In this methodology, the designers focus on a set of fundamental thermodynamic processes (compression, heating, expansion, and cooling) in the flowsheet, which is called as the "basic configuration", and it is defined by aggregating certain elementary thermodynamic cycles. In previous studies, this methodology was applied to the absorption refrigeration cycle by Seki et al. for a water-lithium bromide system used as a working fluid pair. By aggregating certain elementary thermodynamic cycles, the cycle configuration and operating point equivalent to the absorption refrigerator that had been considered optimal were demonstrated by a case study. Based on these works, this study redefines a part of the bottom-up synthesis methodology to apply to an absorption power system. In a case study considered for this research, elementary thermodynamic cycles were operated with an ammonia-water mixture. The proposed methodology for optimization is demonstrated by performing a case study for an absorption power cycle with thermal efficiency as an objective function.

© 2020 Proceedings of the 33rd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute of Navigation, ION GNSS+ 2020. All rights reserved. In global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning, GNSS satellites are often obstructed by buildings, leading to reflected and diffracted signals, which are known as non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals. Such signals cause major GNSS positioning (also known as “NLOS multipath”) errors. In this paper, a novel NLOS multipath detection technique using a machine-learning approach to improve the positioning accuracy in urban environments is proposed. The key idea behind this technique is to construct a classifier that discriminates NLOS multipath signals from the output of the multiple GNSS signal correlators of a software GNSS receiver. In the case of an NLOS signal, there are no direct signals; the first reflected signal has low power compared to a direct signal. Hence, the correlation function is expected to be more distorted in the case of an NLOS signal correlation. We use this phenomenon to detect NLOS signals. To consider the change in shape of the correlation values of NLOS signals and their temporal variation, we propose a method for constructing a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based NLOS discriminator. Furthermore, we propose a method for applying the NLOS probability, which is the output of the CNN, to the positioning calculation. To evaluate the proposed technique, we conducted NLOS classification experiments using signal correlation data acquired at different locations in the Shinjuku area of Japan. We compared the proposed method with a method using a simple NN. As the experiment results indicate, the proposed method can correctly discriminate approximately 98% of NLOS multipath signals, and the discrimination rate of the proposed CNN-based method is higher than that of the simple NN-based approach. Furthermore, we improved the positioning accuracy from 34.1 to 1.6 m using the proposed method and concluded that the proposed approach can increase the positioning accuracy in urban environments.

© 2019 IEEE. This study proposes a hot water demand prediction method for operational planning of polymer electrolyte fuel cell cogeneration systems (PEFC-CGSs). PEFC-CGSs provide hot water by utilizing waste heat produced in the electricity generation process. An optimal operational plan according to household demand leads to further energy saving. Therefore, operational planning methods based on household demand prediction have received intense focus. In particular, the prediction of the amount of hot water demand is important for efficient operation. The authors have attempted to improve the hot water prediction method based on multivariate random forest (MRF), which uses the average of many decision trees' outputs as the prediction result. However, some experimental results show that a prediction strategy based on averaging the outputs of decision trees does not always lead to the best solution. In this study, the authors propose a novel prediction method utilizing the quantile of the estimation results derived in MRF. By setting the appropriate quantile, we can evade the demand underestimation, which has a higher negative impact on operational efficiency than overestimation. The usefulness of the proposed approach is evaluated via numerical simulations using real-world demand data.

© 2019 IEEE. Small-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely investigated for use in a variety of applications such as remote sensing and aerial surveying. Direct three-dimensional (3D) mapping using a small-sized UAV equipped with a laser scanner is required for numerous remote sensing applications. In direct 3D mapping, the precise information about the position and attitude of the UAV is necessary for constructing 3D maps. In this study, we propose a novel and robust technique for estimating the position and attitude of small-sized UAVs by employing multiple low-cost and light-weight global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antennas/receivers. Using the 'redundancy'' of multiple GNSS receivers, we enhance the performance of real-time kinematic (RTK)-GNSS by employing single-frequency GNSS receivers. This method consists of two approaches: hybrid GNSS fix solutions and consistency examination of the GNSS signal strength. The fix rate of RTK-GNSS using single-frequency GNSS receivers can be highly enhanced to combine multiple RTK-GNSS to fix solutions in the multiple antennas. In addition, positioning accuracy and fix rate can be further enhanced to detect multipath signals by using multiple GNSS antennas. In this study, we developed a prototype UAV that is equipped with six GNSS antennas /receivers. From the static test results, we conclude that the proposed technique can enhance the accuracy of the position and attitude estimation in multipath environments. From the flight test, the proposed system could generate a 3D map with an accuracy of 5 cm.

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This paper deals with the development and operation of a mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) desalination system with improved energy efficiency in harnessing wind energy, which is non-dispatchable. Its design, construction, and operation details are presented in this paper. Especially, the main focus of developing the system was on the operation of the system in conjunction with variable loads of new and renewable power sources, in particular, varying wind power. That is, the present work has been carried out to assess the feasibility of its operation in light of capacity modulation to match the power generated under various wind speeds. Optimal operation modes of the system were studied, in which single- and double-effect operations were analyzed for their improvement in energy efficiency. The compression ratio of the proposed MVR system was 1.55 at an inverter speed of 55 Hz, which agreed well with its design value. Operation of the main heat exchanger remained stable within the limits of its operable range, although the temperature differences in the main heat exchanger did not remain constant because of the pressure variations in the evaporator. The daily freshwater yield was between 28 and 51 tons. The power consumption per ton of freshwater produced was about 43 kW for a single effect and about 23 kW for a double effect, which is about twice as efficient.

© 2019 IEEE. This study proposes an operation planning method for polymer electrolyte fuel cell cogeneration systems (PEFC-CGSs). PEFC-CGSs provide hot water by utilizing waste heat produced in the electricity generation process. An appropriate operation plan according to household demand will lead to further energy saving. The authors have discussed a framework for estimating expected operation costs of individual operation plans to select an appropriate candidate that minimizes the cost. In this scheme, the expected cost under each corresponding operation was independently estimated. This approach can be expected to provide accurate prediction of costs under individual operations. However, one open issue remains; it may not work well in estimating relative goodness compared to other operations. In this study, the authors propose a new cost estimation approach, focusing on relative appropriateness in candidate plans based on a multiple output prediction. The usefulness of the proposed approach is proved via a numerical simulation.

© 2019 by the authors. Optimal design of energy systems ultimately aims to develop a methodology to realize an energy system that utilizes available resources to generate maximum product with minimum components. For this aim, several researches attempt to decide the optimal system configuration as a problem of decomposing each energy system into primitive process elements. Then, they search the optimal combination sequentially from the minimum number of constituent elements. This paper proposes a bottom-up procedure to define and explore configurations by combining elementary processes for energy systems with absorption technology, which is widely applied as a heat driven technology and important for improving system’s energy efficiency and utilizing alternative energy resources. Two examples of application are presented to show the capability of the proposed methodology to find basic configurations that can generate the maximum product. The demonstration shows that the existing absorption systems, which would be calculated based on the experience of designers, could be derived by performing optimization with the synthesis methodology automatically under the simplified/idealized operating conditions. The proposed bottom-up methodology is significant for realizing an optimized absorption system. With this methodology, engineers will be able to predict all possible configurations and identify a simple yet feasible optimal system configuration.

© ECOS 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems. All rights reserved. For a daily-basis scheduling of an energy system, energy management system often enough to use not a global optimal scheduling but a near optimal scheduling. The article proposes an online scheduling framework without online optimization. The framework is built from two encoder-decoder architectures to extract features of time series; a multi-layer long short-term memory regression model for multi-step time-series forecasting, and multi-class and single-label classification model for on/off scheduling of a device. The models are estimated at offline, and return scheduling from historical time series as input, at online. We evaluate the accuracy of scheduling from the viewpoint of Kullback-Leibler divergence which measures the dissimilarity between two probability distributions. Through the numerical experiments, we demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework.

© 2019 Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems.All rights reserved. It is extremely difficult to conduct fundamental research on optimizing the system configuration and design parameters of energy conversion systems because many parameters need to be considered. This study ultimately aims to develop a methodology for realizing an energy system that utilizes available resources to generate a maximum product that employs the minimum number of components. Several studies have been conducted to find an optimal system configuration by decomposing energy systems into primitive process elements and sequentially searching for the optimal combination that uses the minimum number of constituent elements. This paper proposes a bottom-up methodology for defining and exploring configurations that combine elementary processes of energy systems with absorption technology. Absorption technology is a widely applied heat driven technology that is important for improving the energy efficiency of systems and also utilizes alternative energy resources. A specific procedure using a codification method is presented that generates new candidate configurations for the absorption system with respect to the optimization problem and enables an optimization algorithm to be used to implement the organized rules. When applying the proposed methodology to optimization, designers should narrow promising solutions by conducting the optimization under simplified and/or idealized conditions, and then adjusting the solutions by considering certain real conditions. One example of applying this optimization is shown to reveal the capability of the proposed methodology in clarifying a basic configuration that generates the maximum product under constant heat source capacity conditions. The demonstration shows that the existing absorption system, which is calculated based on the experience of designers, could be derived by automatically performing the optimization using this methodology. The proposed methodology is significant for use in realizing an optimized absorption system, and it allows designers to predict all possible configurations in advance and clarify a simple and feasible optimal system configuration.

2019 © International Journal of Thermodynamics. All Rights Reserved. Energy management is a systematic activity for improving energy performances of a target system, and an energy management system is expected to solve operational planning problems and report or suggest opportunities for performance improvement. An equipment model is required to reflect the characteristics of the actual equipment’s performance and to have a simple structure to apply to operational planning problems. The model should be able to diagnose changes with performance degradation over time. In this study, we proposed a thermodynamically-sound model of a CO2 heat pump water heater, suitable for solving operational planning problems and diagnosing degradation of equipment. The proposed model consists of a heat pump unit (HP) and a hot water storage tank (ST). The HP model is a status-transition model, constructed based on the Lorentz efficiency, which is identified by experimental values and a theoretical maximum coefficient of performance (COP) for a trans-critical heat pump cycle. The ST model is simplified and can describe temperature distribution in the ST because the unit COP of the HP influences the thermal stratification of the ST. The proposed model is preferable in its simplicity and robust performance for a wide temperature range by comparison with a conventional statistical regression model.

© ECOS 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems. All rights reserved. To reduce CO2 emissions in the residential sector, the installation of high-efficiency energy supply equipment and development of zero energy house are progressing in Japan. It is important to appropriately select energy system configuration, such as the number of installed equipment and capacity when designing the system configuration. There are various studies on the configuration of energy systems. The purpose of this study, we analyze the trends of the relationship between optimal configuration and household characteristics. Then, based on the derived configuration, we evaluate the system configuration from a long-term perspective. We assume a smart residential building consisting of multiple households that introduces photovoltaics (PV) and battery (BT) as common assets and has variations in the number of occupants and demand profile. In addition, we consider various thermal devices, which is a gas-fired water heater (GH), heat pump water heater (HPWH), and solid oxide fuel cell cogeneration systems (SOFC). Deriving the optimal configuration of energy systems over the year is difficult from the viewpoint of calculation load. Therefore, we select 7 representative days for each month and derive optimal configuration such as minimizing CO2 emissions in each evaluation period. Then, we aggregate the results and decide the optimal configuration of the residential building in the target year. As a result, when the CO2 conversion factor for electricity is 0.400 kg/kWh or more, installing SOFC to the few-person household is effective. On the other hand, in the case of the many-person household, the SOFC installation effect is lower than the HPWH from the viewpoint of CO2 emissions.

© ECOS 2019 - Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems. All rights reserved. In this paper, an analysis of the temperature condition producing maximal power from a sensible heat source by finite heat-recovery thermodynamic cycles is presented. Some studies have been conducted that theoretically analyzed a system utilizing thermal energy from heat sources by multiple thermodynamic cycles in cascade with the assumption of constant heat-source temperature. However, many heat sources for heat-recovery thermodynamic cycles are sensible, in which the temperature changes considerably with the cycles during heat exchange. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the temperature change of the heat source. First, a temperature condition that maximizes the power generated by a combination of single/multiple Carnot cycles from constant-specific-heat heat sources is analyzed, and the optimal temperature is derived analytically. Subsequently, simulations of the Rankine cycle and several patterns of the Kalina cycle are compared to the analytical model. These comparisons reveal that the Carnot cycle model provides an effective estimation of the temperature conditions for the heat-recovery cycles that produce maximal power from a sensible heat source.

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Home energy management systems (HEMSs) are the system to manage the energy usage in houses. The use of HEMSs, and especially those which are capable of automatically controlling home energy appliances such as air-conditioners (ACs), is expected to manage energy utilized in domestic field effectively. In the present study, we focused on automatic AC operation by HEMS with the combined goal of improving thermal comfort while reducing electricity costs. In general, the room temperature and electricity consumption of an AC are highly dependent on the characteristics of the installation environment, so that the derivation of an appropriate AC operation plan is generally a difficult task. To tackle this problem, an energy management method to provide AC operation plan tailor-made for the target AC installation environmental by learning the characteristics of the installation environment (CIE) from the historical operation result data is proposed. The efficacy of the proposed method is verified via numerical and real-world experiments.

© 2017 IMEKO This study presents optimal design conditions by considering the cost effectiveness and operability of a single-stage ammonia/water absorption refrigerator (AAR) via exergy analysis. Chemical exergy change constitutes complexity with respect to exergy analysis of absorption systems. In the study, Gibbs free energy is considered in exergy analysis to precisely evaluate absorption and rectification processes including chemical exergy change. The theoretical maximum exergy efficiency of AAR and the influence of its design/operating conditions on exergy efficiency/destructions are investigated in an ideal condition. The analysis indicates the importance of the evaporator outlet liquid (bleed) ammonia mass fraction and desorber temperature. A condition of bleed mass fraction control is illustrated. The study also involves performing sensitivity analysis of design parameters (pinch temperatures) with respect to exergy efficiency and optimal desorber temperature. Finally, design conditions that maximize exergy efficiency per cost are derived relative to the sum of thermal conductance as a cost parameter. The study demonstrates the potential for downsizing of AAR without reducing exergy efficiency. The results indicate that approximately 39% total thermal conductance reduction, maintaining nominal efficiency, or 19% total thermal conductance reduction with an exergy efficiency increase of 16% are expected when compared to those in a commercial AAR.

© 2018, Fuji Technology Press. All rights reserved. Our goal is to automatically classify objects from Mobile Mapping System data to enable the automatic construction of dynamic maps. We aimed at the extraction of curbstones and classification of curb types. Although there is much research about curbstones being recognized from laser-scanned point clouds, there are few methods to classify curb types. In this paper, we propose a method to extract curbstones from low-density-type laser scan data. We also propose a method to distinguish whether curbstones allow access to off-road facilities. Evaluation tests give an F-measure of ≥94.4% and an accessibility classification accuracy of ≥99.6%. Moreover, the results of applying multiple filters to noise removal are compared.

© 2018 University of Minho. All rights reserved. There is a high demand that aggregating Home Energy Management System (HEMS) as demand response service. Aggregation scheme is divided into the centralized and decentralized approach. On the one hand, in a centralized fashion, a controller manages all device. On the other hand, in a decentralized fashion, a local controller manages own devices and exchanges information for achieving the global optimum. Our previous work has proposed decentralized HEMS aggregation with Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) to address scalability and privacy issue. The main idea of this method is that we decompose the large-scale aggregated scheduling problem into individual HEMS scheduling problem by introducing local upper limit which stands for the maximum purchasable electricity from an electrical grid. This article reports that we extend the previous decentralized HEM method to asynchronous fashion in order to improve convergence time efficiency from the practical implementation perspective. We propose the waiting ratio which represents the minimum HEMS number for updating the next local upper limit. We also evaluate the algorithm processing time with changing waiting ratio and the number of households. As a result, it is confirmed that though the result shows 53% of acceleration at the most accompanied by barely 2% increase cost, the asynchronous process does not always accelerate the processing time. It may be reasonable to suppose that the degree of acceleration is decreased, as the degree of asynchrony increases, because iteration number until fulfilling converging criteria is increased.

© 2018 University of Minho. All rights reserved. Energy management is systematic activity to improve energy performances of target system, and it has already been introduced in the industrial and commercial field. Energy management system is expected to solve operational planning problem and report or suggest opportunities for performance improvement. In recent years, CO2 heat pump water heater (HPWH) is attracting attention as one of the high-efficiency devices to meet domestic hot water demand. Equipment model is required to reflect the characteristics of the actual equipment’s performance and to have a simple structure to apply to operational planning problem and should diagnose the changes with the performance degradation overtime. However, few studies have been reported which proposes the thermodynamically-sound model of HPWH for energy management. In this paper, we proposed a simple model suitable for solving operational planning problem and diagnosing aging deterioration or degradation of equipment in energy management system. Firstly, we constructed function model consisting of a heat pump unit (HP) and a hot water storage tank (ST). HP model is simply composed of start-up, steady state, and shut-down status-transition model. The steady state model is constructed based on the Lorentz efficiencyand theoretical maximum coefficient of performance (COP) for trans-critical heat pump cycle. The Lorentz efficiency is identified by experiment on typical domestic hot water demand with variation of ambient temperature, inlet/outlet water temperature at the gas-cooler. While the heat pump system is operating, unit COP of the HP is influenced on the thermal stratification of ST. The ST model is a simplified model that can describe temperature distribution in ST. Secondly, we validated the model. Proposed model reproduced experimental values with sufficient accuracy for day-ahead planning problem. Finally, we confirmed that the proposed model is preferable in its simplicity and robust performance for wide temperature range by comparing with a conventional statistical regression model.

© 2018 University of Minho. All rights reserved. Some general procedures for optimizing energy systems have previously been presented. However, it is practically difficult to obtain an optimal design of thermodynamic systems that have several system parameters. The optimization is considered at three levels: synthesis (configuration), design (component characteristics), and operation. In this paper, the syntheses of two absorption heat pump systems are evaluated and their design/operation optimization is performed efficiently based on an energy-utilization diagram (EUD) for performance improvement. Cycle models of an absorption heat pump system, including an absorber heat exchanger (AHX) and a solution heat exchanger (SHX), are constructed. These models consider exergy destruction caused by heat transfer and pressure loss. The exergy analysis is performed to evaluate the system performance, and an EUD is drawn to evaluate the margins for improvement. The design parameters and operating points are improved for reducing the exergy destruction in the components where dominant exergy destruction occurs, based on an EUD. Before improvements, COP and exergy efficiency are higher in the SHX cycle, while the margin for improvement is larger in the AHX cycle. In the absorber, exergy destruction is reduced by adjusting the operating point to make the temperature slopes at the hot and cold sides coincide. In other components, exergy destruction is reduced by adjusting the design parameters to improve the heat transfer performances. The results show that exergy efficiency is improved by the distribution of exergy destruction of each component. After these improvements, COP is higher in the SHX cycle, while exergy efficiency is higher in the AHX cycle. It is concluded that we can efficiently realize the design/operation optimization of a thermodynamic system using an EUD. This is because an EUD presents both exergy destruction and margin for improvement at the components comprehensively, as well as the operating point of the system.

© 2018 IEEE. With growing attention to sustainability and recognition of the impact of global warming problems, energy supply and consumption have become critically important. This paper presents the construction of a modeling platform accommodating cooperative energy management systems (EMSs), which virtually produces the model of a smart city with a distribution network (DN) by using a wide range of data obtained from the real world. The platform involves models of various EMSs, governing the operation of a power system or controlling consumer-installed devices, and simulating the power flow, electrical losses, and voltage in the DN. In addition, indices measuring the sustainability of the model city, such as CO2 emission, are estimated from scenarios, for example, photovoltaic system installation, electric vehicle penetration, etc. The results can be visually displayed and the platform is highly versatile and applicable to various types of issues associated with smart cities. Two case studies are presented in detail.

© 2016 IEEE. The introduction of photovoltaic power systems is being significantly promoted. This paper proposes the implementation of a distributed energy management framework linking demand-side management systems and supply-side management system under the given time-of-use pricing program for efficient utilization of photovoltaic power outputs; each system implements a consistent management flow composed of forecasting, operation planning, and control steps. In our framework, demand-side systems distributed in the electric distribution network manage individual energy consumption to reduce the residential operating cost by utilizing the residential photovoltaic power system and controllable energy appliances so as not to inconvenience residents. On the other hand, the supply-side system utilizes photovoltaic power maximally while maintaining the quality of electric power. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is evaluated on the basis of an actual Japanese distribution network simulation model from both the supply-side and demand-side viewpoints.

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. As demand-side energy management system (EMS) has not only a function to maximize owner's utility by automatic control but also a potential capability to respond a demand activation, demand-side EMS is expected to fulfill the key role for intelligent control of community energy management. To achieve the stable control result of EMS against the uncertain environment, it needs approach from both forecast and operation sides. The objective of this study is to construct a control scheme for a home EMS from a practicable implementation perspective and to evaluate the control performance of the scheme proposed. The scheme is composed of operational planning with receding horizon and energy demand forecasting. The goal of the scheme is to maximize householder's utility only by retrofitting the home EMS to a residential household. Throughout numerical results, it is revealed that the better control performance comes from the conservative operational strategy derived from the multiple scenarios.

© 2017 IEEE. The world is more aware of the need for saving energy because of increasing world energy consumption and environmental problems. To promote saving energy in the domestic field, the use of home energy management systems (HEMSs) is rapidly spreading. The HEMS which has automatically controlling function can control domestic electrical appliances including air-conditioners (ACs). In this research, we focus on AC operation plans to improve thermal comfort and reduce electricity costs for residents. However, AC control planning is generally a difficult task because the operation results greatly depend on the environmental characteristics in which the HEMS is installed. To solve this problem, we proposed an AC planning method that accounts for environmental characteristics and uncertainty in prediction by using historical data.

<p>This paper describes an extrinsic parameter calibration of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) for a 3D measurement system using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Recently, the use of small UAVs becomes widespread in 3D measurements because small UAVs are highly useful. We target 10 cm accuracy of 3D measurement aiming for use in disaster environments. 3D measurements using small UAV need estimating not only accurate position and attitude of UAV but also accurate extrinsic parameters of the LiDAR. We propose a calibration method of extrinsic parameters of the LiDAR using reflectors. The proposed method estimates the angle of the LiDAR that minimizes the RMS error of the distance between the reference points of the reflectors and the measured 3D points. As the result of the calibration, vertical RMS error of 3D measurements was 0.0408 m and horizontal RMS error was 0.0472 m.</p>

<p>This paper describes a precise attitude estimation method for a 3D measurement system using LiDAR on a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Recently, the use of small UAVs becomes widespread in 3D measurements because small UAVs are highly useful. In 3D measurement using LiDAR, the precise attitude of the UAV is necessary because attitude estimation errors influence the 3D measurement accuracy. However, it is difficult to estimate the attitude of small UAVs because they are too small to be equipped with large and precise inertial measurement unit (IMU). Therefore, we proposed a method using six global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers and a low-cost and light-weight IMU to estimate the precise attitude. The method combines Euler angles calculated statistically using six GNSS receivers with angular velocities measured by the IMU. As a result of evaluation, the proposed method is effective on improvement of the attitude estimation accuracy.</p>

<p>This paper describes a method of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) multipath detection by using machine learning of signal correlation value of grobal positioning system (GPS) for precise positioning in urban environments. GPS is widely used for estimating self-position in many scenes. However, in urban canyons, GPS positioning accuracy is deteriorated due to NLOS multipath signals. Because of obstacles between NLOS satellites and a GPS antenna, GPS signals omitted from GPS satellites are reflected or diffracted by obstacles. We propose the method to detect NLOS multipath signals using support vector machine (SVM) based on a machine learning of GPS signal correlation values. GPS signal correlation values can be obtained by using a software receiver. We extract the features of NLOS multipath signals from signal correlation value and create the NLOS multipath detection program by machine learning of its feature. As the result of the evaluation, the proposed method is effective to detect NLOS multipath signal.</p>

© 2017 IMEKO As communication standard, such as SEP 2.0 and ECHONET Lite, for digital communication of home appliances has been established, the research of networked control system is progressing in the domain of residential house. Instead of building new power station to fulfil new electricity requirement, such as electric vehicle charging, the concept, that an aggregator coordinates massive amount of home energy management system (HEMS) to supply negawatt power, is proposed. The aggregator requires to manipulate electricity consumption through massive amount of HMES as networked control system. As fundamental study for control algorithm of distributed architecture, this paper constructed one of the networked supervisory control system formulated as stochastic model predictive control scheme, and analysed primary energy consumption sensitivity against update interval of energy demand forecasting and operational strategy in addition to changing number of scenarios. The mainly results are concluded that: as the energy saving ratio in the case of 6 hours update interval has enough high point, which is 9.5% in comparison with the case of 24 hours update interval, the stochastic model predictive control scheme proposed in the case using six scenarios can downsample until 6 hours update interval.

© 2017 IMEKO In order to reduce energy consumption, the installation of combined heat and power (CHP) has been promoted. However, when the heat to power ratio of CHP and the energy demand do not match, performance of CHP is depreciated. As one of the solutions to improve performance of the CHP and to reduce the energy consumption, energy interchanges have attracted attention and gradually increased in importance in the commercial sector. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of the difference between demand profiles in buildings employing power and heat interchanges on energy saving. Specifically, we formulated the optimal planning problem of building energy systems by Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) from the viewpoint of energy consumption minimization. The analysis was applied to three model areas with different demand profiles by changing the component ratio of each building in a city with the same total floor area. The main results showed that the energy reduction effects of three model areas with different demand profiles were due to power and heat interchanges. We also found that employing power and heat interchanges increased both the installed capacity of CHPs in buildings and the contributing ratio of CHPs for electricity demand.

© 2017 IMEKO This paper presents the design method for an ejector-absorption heat pump based on entropy generation minimization (EGM). This cycle is driven by low-temperature waste heat below 90 °C. A cycle model of the ejector-absorption heat pump with an ammonia-water mixture as the working fluid has been constructed. The required model parameters to represent the thermodynamic and geometric characteristics were determined from an experimental study. Cycle simulation specifies the dominant locations of irreversibility and operability. Parametric analysis is performed to investigate the effects of the geometry of the cycle components on entropy generation. This study considers the entropy generation from two components: one associated with the frictional pressure drop and the other including heat transfer in each heat exchanger. The geometric parameter for each component is set based on the results of the parametric analysis. The performance of the designed heat pump is evaluated by its modified coefficient of performance (COP) based on the primary energy consumption. The results show that the dominant entropy generation occurs in the solution heat exchanger and absorber, and the design using EGM produces an improved COP. The results of the sensitivity analysis for the overall unit size of the designed heat pump are also shown.

© 2017 IMEKO As a replacement for conventional sources, which cause CO2 emissions, the installation of photovoltaics (PV) has increased extensively in residential sectors. However, large-scale PV installation causes voltage violations of low-voltage distribution grids, particularly in the residential sector. According to previous studies, energy storage systems and power interchange methods are effective in utilizing PV surplus electricity and saving energy. The objective of this study is to derive the optimal configuration of energy systems in multiple households under power interchange for the minimization of total CO2 emissions. Two methods for solving this complicated and large-scale problem are proposed. First, we considered a calculation of the optimal configuration of energy systems in multiple households as an optimal unit sizing of energy systems in a single household. Second, we examined the operational planning problem as mixed integer linear programming (MILP) with an enumeration method. We found that a heat pump water heater (HP) can be installed as the heat supply equipment regardless of the PV installation ratio by the year 2030 in Japan, when the CO2 conversion factor of the electrical grid will be 0.37 kg/kWh. In addition, the maximum impact of power interchange on CO2 emissions will lead to its reduction by 85 kg, at 75 % of PV installation ratio.

Copyright © 2017 ASME. In order to reduce CO2 emissions in the residential sector, the installation of photovoltaics (PV) has been increasing extensively. However, such large-scale PV installations cause problems in the low-voltage distribution grid of the residential sector, such as PV related voltage surges. In this study, the utilization of suppressed PV output through energy storage devices was proposed. Using demand side energy storage devices reduces voltage surge, transmission loss, and CO2 emissions from the residential buildings. The objective of this study was to add voltage constraints of the low-voltage distribution grid to an operational planning problem that we developed for the residential energy systems, and to quantitatively evaluate the potential of heat pump water heater (HP) to utilize the PV surplus electricity, while considering the electrical grid constraints based on the minimization of CO2 emissions. We found that when a 4.5 kW HP with 370 L storage, which utilizes PV output, was added to the system, the reduction in CO2 emissions was more than twice compared with that in the case of adding 4 kWh battery (BT) to a PV and gas fired water heater configuration. Further, the effect of utilizing the suppressed PV electricity by HP was almost equivalent to that by the BT. Therefore, the potential of HP in utilizing PV surplus electricity is higher than that of the BT in terms of CO2 emissions reduction in the residential sector.

© 2016 University of Ljubljana. The degree of operational freedom of home appliances is increasing with introducing controllable demand-side appliances by using Home Energy Management System with some communication standard. This situation increases the demands on methodology achieving customer utility maximization, which is able to plan operational strategies of a variety of appliances under various exogenous variables such as energy demand, outlet temperature, and power output of Photovoltaic power generator. Energy demand and photovoltaic output have some uncertainty or variation in the parameter. The objective of this study is to analyze a solution behavior of an operational planning problem adapting Mixed Integer Second-Order Cone Programming extended from traditional Mixed Integer Linear Programming model. The objective function of the mathematical optimization involves mean and its variance by extracting naturally Markowitz model. Above proposed model is intended to sophisticate robust operational planning method, and is also evaluated on the EMS simulation platform that we are developing. As a result, it is found that involving variance to objective function affects to computational time meaning computational load rather than robustness of planned schedule. Additionally, using several scenario results in more robust schedule than using plausible one scenario.

Recently, small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely investigated for a variety of applications, including remote sensing and aerial surveying. For such applications, current small UAV platforms use a camera to generate a 3D map from aerial images obtained by the UAV. To generate a 3D map, accurate position and attitude data of the UAV is necessary. However, the typical positioning accuracy of a single frequency global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver is 1-3 m, and the attitude accuracy obtained from a low-cost micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) sensor is limited to approximately 1-3°. This accuracy is not sufficiently high for accurate 3D mapping. The goal of this study is establish an accurate position and attitude determination technique by using low-cost GNSS receivers for small UAVs. The key idea behind the proposed method is using multiple low-cost and single-frequency GNSS antennas/receivers to accurately estimate the position and attitude of a UAV. Using the "redundancy" of multiple GNSS receivers, we improve the performance of Real-time kinematic (RTK)-GNSS by using the single-frequency GNSS receivers. This method consists of two approaches: hybrid GNSS fix solutions and consistency check of the GNSS signal strength. In multipath environments, the carrier-phase multipath affects the ambiguity resolution of RTK-GNSS. Different GNSS signal propagation paths are caused at each GNSS antenna. As a result, different multipath errors are caused in each GNSS receiver. It can be used to detect the multipath signals. With this method, we can enhance the availability of carrier-phase ambiguity solutions by using a single-frequency GNSS receiver. Furthermore, we propose a direct attitude estimation technique for a small UAV by using the multiple GNSS receivers. To estimate the absolute attitude of the UAV, we used relative GNSS antenna positions determined by GNSS carrier-phase measurements. It is difficult to resolve the ambiguity for a low-cost single-frequency receiver. In this paper, baseline length constraints can be applied between the GNSS antennas to estimate a reliable ambiguity. To evaluate the proposed method, we conducted a static test in a narrow-sky environment. First, we determined the attitude by using the proposed technique. Using the proposed method, we could almost perfectly solve the GNSS carrier-phase ambiguity by using low-cost single-frequency GNSS receivers in multipath environments. Next, we evaluated the position determination by using the proposed technique. The fix rates are improved in every GNSS antenna by using the proposed multipath elimination technique. Finally, the fix rate reaches 99.9 %, and it can be concluded that the proposed technique offers increased positioning accuracy in urban environments.

© Copyright 2016 by ASME. This paper proposes an optimal predictive control of 0.75 kW PEM fuel-cell cogeneration with home appliances. This paper also models fuel cell system for design and operation evaluation of building equipment based on actual measurement of residential fuel cell system on sale. As one application of constructed model and proposed control method, this paper discusses concerning home EMS for efficient PV utilization.

This paper presents a motion-stereo device using the GPS/DR (dead reckoning) combination along with omnidirectional cameras to reconstruct 3-D environments by means of sensors small enough to be installed on a mobile robot. The proposed technique is based on the fact that it is possible to determine epipolar lines by using the precise positions and heading angles measured by a combination of GPS and various sensors; high-precision stereo matching may then be performed by means of geometrical restrictions. Furthermore, in comparison to the other stereo techniques, it is also possible to establish longer baselines for peripheral objects and simultaneously provide a higher precision in calculating the distances to far objects by applying voting processing to a series of distant motion-stereo images, which can be attained by using more than one baseline length, in 3-D spaces based on the precise positions and heading angles. In short, the proposed technique provides a substantial increase in measurement precision as compared to that with the well-known SFM (structure from motion) technique for reconstructing 3-D environments with monocular cameras; this is because the proposed technique utilizes a greater number of mobile parameters, which are determined using precise cameras. In this experiment, the measurement precision of the proposed technique has been evaluated in reconstructing the shapes of vehicles parked alongside a road; the measurements were found to have a standard deviation of 140 mm within a range of 10 m. It can be stated that the proposed omnidirectional motion-stereo technique is robust to environmental perturbations and can accurately estimate distances in the case of highly textured objects. © 2007 SAGE Publications.

This paper describes the localization method based on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) technology for autonomous navigation of mobile robots. The accurate and robust position estimation of the robot is the key to the autonomous navigation. GNSS was usually not used in localization in urban environments because its positioning has multipath errors and problems in availability. In this paper, we propose the GNSS positioning technique that is suitable for the autonomous navigation of mobile robots. We use an open source GNSS positioning library to compute the GNSS fix solutions. The techniques, which select the GNSS observations using the GNSS signal strength and validate GNSS fix solutions, are proposed. Then the GNSS fix solutions are integrated with inertial sensors and an odometer through the extended Kalman filter. From the experiment in the &quot;Real World Robot Challenge (RWRC)&quot;, it was confirmed that the effectiveness of our proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

© 2016, Fuji Technology Press. All rights reserved. In recent years, global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) have been widely used in intelligent transport systems (ITSs), and many countries have been rapidly improving the infrastructure of their satellite positioning systems. However, there is a serious problem involving the use of kinematic GNSS positioning in urban environments, which stems from significant positioning errors introduced by non-line-of-sight (NLOS) satellites blocked by obstacles. Therefore, we propose the method for positioning based on NLOS satellites detection using a fish-eye camera. In general, it is difficult to robustly extract an obstacle region from the fish-eye image because the image is affected by cloud cover, illumination conditions, and weather conditions. We extract the obstacle region from the image by tracking image feature points in sequential images. Because the obstacle region on the image moves larger than the sky region, the obstacle region can be determined by performing image segmentation and by using feature point tracking techniques. Finally, NLOS satellites can be identified using the obstacle region on the image. The evaluation results confirm the GNSS positioning accuracy without the NLOS satellites was improved compared with using all observed satellites, and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of implementing its highly accurate positioning capabilities in urban environments.

© 2016 ICIC International. This paper presents a technique to optimize the communication schedules generated for synchronization of Foundation Fieldbus H1 devices in cascade control loop. A level-to-flow cascade control operated by the Harmonas-DEO host system is examined as an illustrative case study. Major objectives of the optimization are not only to minimize the latency of the control loop but also to maximize the availability of the network bandwidth. The proposed technique can be applied for H1 segment macrocycle schedules performing the control functions in both of the host controller and the field devices. Three examples for optimizing communication schedules generated from different control block assignments are described. The validation of the optimization methods can be determined by using two metrics: control loop latency improvement and publication gap availability improvement. Experimental results confirm that the proposed technique works effectively to operate the studied H1 segment for cascade control without any problems.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. In Japan, a feed-in tariff scheme has been implemented to promote the use of photovoltaic power generators in combination with electric batteries. Although many researchers have assessed the operation of grid-connected photovoltaic systems with electric batteries, little attention has been paid to the impact of the electric batteries' degradation characteristics. This paper evaluates the operation of a grid-connected photovoltaic/electric-battery system in a house in terms of cost savings and energy savings. We constructed a long-term operational optimization model considering the degradation characteristics of the electric battery. This model contains two objective functions: energy savings and operating costs. We create a scenario of power rates and photovoltaic/battery system configurations. To reveal the optimal operational strategy for the photovoltaic/battery system, the multi-objective optimization problem was solved. As a result, Pareto-optimal solutions were obtained, and trade-off relationships between cost and energy savings are presented. In this study, the utilization of a grid-connected photovoltaic system with an electric battery was expected to be most effective in energy-saving priority operation.

This paper describes an accurate attitude determination technique using multiple global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers and antennas for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A laser survey using a small UAV needs highly accurate attitude information for reconstructing 3D models. The proposed technique uses the multiple GNSS antenna&#039;s positions computed by the GNSS carrier phase measurements to estimate the UAV&#039;s attitude. To solve the GNSS carrier phase ambiguity, the reliable ambiguity search is performed with a couple of constraints for the base line vector. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated in the static test. From the test, the proposed technique could estimate UAV&#039;s yaw angle in 0.1 degree accuracy.

The multi-stage renewal planning problem is studied here for an energy supply system installed into a hospital from the long- Term economic viewpoint by applying the mathematical optimization method. This problem is mathematically formulated as a large-scale mixed-integer linear programming one, and the average annual total cost during the evaluation period is set as the objective function to be minimized. In this problem, by taking the deterioration of performance efficiency of the existing pieces of equipment, the renewal system is assumed to be composed by installing new pieces of equipment with improved efficiency by reflecting technical progress. By optimizing the system's operational policy for hourly and seasonally changing energy demands through years of the evaluation period, the renewal years and the system's configurations at each multi-stages are determined optimally. A numerical study is carried out for a really existing hospital with total floor area of 25000m2, and many comprehensive and useful results are obtained by comparing 13 alternative renewal plans by using the CPLEX solver.

Demand-side electricity saving is an important factor in the reduction of the installed capacity of power-supply facilities. In order to save electricity automatically while maintaining comfort levels, home energy management systems (HEMS) have attracted attention. These systems can control residential energy equipment cooperatively to reduce electricity consumption while considering benefits to consumers. Although many researchers have evaluated HEMS, no one has conducted a study which considers the control of various types of residential energy equipment in real time along with the uncertainties of energy demands. This paper proposes a single HEMS method which connects prediction, operational planning and control steps and enables the evaluation of operational planning methods of HEMS connected with many kinds of residential energy equipment currently in use in Japan while considering the uncertainties. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic potential of residential energy systems based on the proposed method with the uncertainties of energy demands and photovoltaic (PV) output under time-of-use prices. The results allowed us to establish a framework to quantitatively evaluate the operational planning methods of HEMS with the uncertainties of energy demands and PV output. In addition, the usability of the proposed method was confirmed by comparing the operational costs to those of a reference method.

Residential houses are in the process of introducing power generators such as photovoltaic (PV) power generators and fuel cell cogeneration systems. Under current laws in Japan, surplus electricity from a residential PV system can be sold by feeding it back into the electrical grid. However, when a lot of neighboring power generators make and feed back electricity at the same time, there is an issue of an upper voltage violation of the provisions of the laws and regulations relating to the Electricity Business Act in the distribution system of the electrical grid. The issue has been solved by stopping power generators when they reach an upper voltage limit, 107V. Another solution is to acknowledge demand response signal from electrical grid operator to store electricity in residential batteries using Home Energy Management System (HEMS). The research question is that how to collaborate HEMS and Grid Energy Management System (GEMS). This paper developed an evaluation framework for the cooperative behavior between HEMS and GEMS. Using this evaluation framework, this paper demonstrated the optimal operational strategy of HEMS including PV in the case that HEMS is informed voltage profile from GEMS, and also assessed amount of PV suppression quantitatively in residential sector in practical aspect.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. The Active X-ray Spectrometer (AXS) is considered as one of the scientific payload candidates for a future Japanese mission, SELENE-2. The AXS consists of pyroelectric X-ray generators and a Silicon Drift Detector to conduct X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) on the Moon to measure major elements: Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, and Fe; minor elements: Na, K, P, S, Cr and Mn; and the trace element Ni depending on their concentration. Some factors such as roughness, grain size and porosity of sample, and the geometry of X-ray incidence, emission and energy will affect the XRF measurements precision. Basic studies on the XRF are required to develop the AXS. In this study, fused samples were used to make homogeneous samples free from the effect of grain size and porosity. Experimental and numerical studies on the XRF were conducted to evaluate the effects from incidence and emission angles and surface roughness. Angle geometry and surface roughness will be optimized for the design of the AXS on future missions from the results of the experiment and the numerical simulation.

An optimal operational planning problem of residential energy system has been formulated by Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP). The decision variables of optimal operational planning problem are energy and mass flows, equipment's operating statuses, and energy level of storage. Many kinds of energy supply equipment are available for householders in Japan. Of course, in operational planning problem, the increase of integer variables which means equipment's on/off status, is linked to the increase of calculation time. It is important to assess the impact of introducing an energy system for a house based on the suitable planning horizon of this problem. Energy storage brings the energy in the form of hot water and electricity to the next d a y. The operational strategy of energy system including storage should be evaluated through few days toward various energy demand. The optimal planning problems become large scale because many pieces of equipment to introduce and long evaluation period are required. This paper analyzes characteristics of energy systems caused by planning horizon. Additionally, we propose a hierarchical method as heuristic method for solving large MILP problem easily, and the proposed method is tested the effectiveness. Our finding shows that the proposed search method for better feasible solution has good performance in comparison with default settings of conventional MILP solver in terms of calculation time.

The Active X-ray Spectrometer (AXS) for the Japanese SELENE-2 rover has been proposed for elemental analysis on the lunar surface to measure the major elements: Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, and Fe; the minor elements, Na, K, P, S, Cl, Cr, and Mn and the trace element Ni, all depending on their concentrations at a landing site. The elemental data of the AXS allow us to not only classification but also quantification of surface rocks on the Moon. The AXS is a compact low-weight instrument for elemental analysis based on the principle of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry using an X-ray spectrometer and two (four) pyroelectric crystals as X-Ray Generators (XRG). This paper introduces the current status of the pre-project to develop an AXS for the SELENE-2 Rover including the investigations on the generation of X-ray flux of the XRG, required surface roughness for the XRS measurement, and a thermal design of the AXS.

This paper describes the development of a mobile robot system and an outdoor navigation method based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) in an autonomous mobile robot navigation challenge, called the Tsukuba Challenge, held in Tsukuba, Japan, in 2011 and 2012. The Tsukuba Challenge promotes practical technologies for autonomous mobile robots working in ordinary pedestrian environments. Many teams taking part in the Tsukuba Challenge used laser scanners to determine robot positions. GNSS was not used in localization because its positioning has multi-path errors and problems in availability. We propose a technique for realizing multipath mitigation that uses an omnidirectional IR camera to exclude "invisible" satellites, i.e., those entirely obstructed by a building and whose direct waves therefore are not received. We applied GPS/dead reckoning (DR) integrated based on observation data from visible satellites determined by the IR camera. Positioning was evaluated during Tsukuba Challenge 2011 and 2012. Our robot ran the 1.4 km course autonomously and evaluation results confirmed the effectiveness of our proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

Copyright © (2014) by the Institute of Navigation All rights reserved. This paper describes a new positioning method that improves the availability and accuracy of Multi-global navigation satellites system (GNSS) positioning by using QZSS satellites in urban canyon environments. Standard multi-GNSS is problematic because one satellite is defined as the master satellite in each GNSS, leaving insufficient numbers of satellites for positioning roles. Our new method uses QZSS as the sole master satellite. To this end, we solve the ambiguity of QZSS by the wide- lane method and the QZSS LEX signal, and preserve that double-difference (DD) ambiguity is integral number. We also estimate the inter system bias (ISB). The GNSS used in our method includes GPS, QZSS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou satellites. Static evaluation tests were conducted in open-sky and narrow-sky environments. The open-sky evaluation confirmed the accurate positioning ability of our proposed method (horizontal RMS error: 1.6 cm), whereas the narrow-sky evaluation confirmed that our proposed method operates with accurate positioning and high availability in urban canyon environments (fixed ratio: 92.7%, horizontal RMS error: 4.2 cm). In conclusion, our method realizes high accuracy and availability high-coverage positioning.

© 2014 SPIE. The chemical element abundance on planetary surface is essential for planetary science. We have been developing an active X-ray spectrometer (AXS), which is an in-situ chemical element analyzer based on the X-ray uorescence analysis for future planetary landing missions. The AXS consists of an X-ray detector and multiple X-ray sources. Although a pyroelectric X-ray generator is promising for the AXS as an X-ray source, the raise of emission X-ray intensity is necessary for short-time and precise determination of elemental composition. Also, in order to enhance the detection efficiency of light major elements such as Mg, Al, and Si, we have tested the low energy X-ray emission by changing the target material. In this study, the X-ray emission calculation at the target by Monte Carlo simulation and the X-ray emission experiments were carried out. More than 106 cps of the time-averaged X-ray emission rate was achieved in maximum using a LiTaO3 crystal with 4 mm thickness and Cu target with 10 μm thickness. The performance of pyroelectric X-ray generator is presented in this paper.

Copyright ©2014 by ASME. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the maximum energy-saving potential of residentia energy supply systems consisting of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cogeneration syste (CGS) combined with a solar cell (SC) and a battery (BT), compared with reference system (RS). This study applies an optimization theory into an operational plannin problem to measure actual energy demands over the course of 1 year. Eight differen types of energy supply system were compared with each other by changing the component of the SOFC-CGS, SC, BT, and RS. Meaningful numerical results are obtained indicating the maximum potential energy savings.

Various residential cogeneration systems have been studied and developed as parts of distributed energy supply system. A residential fuel cell cogeneration system is composed of three units: a fuel cell unit, a thermal storage unit and a back-up boiler. Those three-parts are necessary to compensate a gap between system output with a rigid heat-to-power ratio and heat and power demand. It is difficult to operate the fuel cell system with frequent starts and stops. The peak thermal load is far greater than the maximum thermal output capacity of the fuel cell unit alone. Generally, a cogeneration system performs effectively when all of the recovered heat was utilized in a day. The common issues in promoting residential fuel cell cogeneration systems are the unit price and size. The size must be reduced for use in apartment houses, which constitute about half of the households in Japan. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the rational hot water tank capacity for individual households in order to provide a guide for hot water tank capacity sizing. Sensitivity analysis on the hot water tank capacity from energy saving and economic viewpoints based on an optimal operational planning problem was carried out. Additionally, residential energy demand profiles with different climate conditions are analysed. Our findings show that, in Japan, commutative duration of hot water demand is about 10% or less of the time in one year, and domestic hot water demand rarely observed above 4 kWh in any quarter of an hour. Annual primary energy consumption and operating costs rarely fell when the hot water tank capacity was 7 kWh or more. Additionally, reducing the hot water tank capacity to 5 kWh had only a small effect on the objective values. This suggests that the hot water tank could be smaller than that currently in use. The daily hot water demand gives an excellent estimation of the maximum stored heat of the hot water tank. It was found that the hot water tank capacity can be estimated from the regression lines, or from the fraction of daily hot water demand.

本研究では，MMSで計測された大規模三次元点群を用いて電線などの空中架線を効率的に管理することを目的とし，空中架線の自動抽出手法について提案する．本手法では，まず柱状物体をSVMにより認識し，次に認識された柱状物体と空中架線との位置関係から架線の認識を行う．本論文では，本手法の詳細と実際のMMS点群に本手法を適用した結果について述べる．

The operational degree of freedom in a residential energy system has dramatically increased recently because an energy system tends to be composed of many devices including some energy buffers. It is challenging to construct the framework of the operational planning problems, which update the plan based on the short-span predictions. This framework has to plan the operation before uncertain demand and PV output are realized; hence the plan is based on ex-ante decisions. The aim of this paper is to apply a stochastic programming framework to the operational planning of a residential energy system considering the prediction, and is to show basic directions for the planning. The residential energy system includes a fuel cell cogeneration system with a hot water tank, the photovoltaic system with an electrical battery. The parameters of the numerical experiments are three kinds of temporal precision and the number of predicted scenarios. The operation means the timing of the fuel cell's start-stop, and the stored energy levels of the battery and the hot water tank. As a result, the expected value based on scenarios was 21% greater than the minimized value based on perfect information in terms of daily primary energy consumption. The number of predicted scenarios was reasonable around 10 at 15-min temporal precision, because the great number of input scenarios made a decision not to operate the fuel cell cogeneration system for the entire day, and needed a great deal of the computational time.

An active X-ray spectrometer (AXS) is now being developed as a payload candidate for the rover on SELENE-2, the next Japanese lunar exploration mission. The AXS will determine the chemical compositions of lunar rocks and regolith around the landing site. The surface of lunar rock samples will be ground using a rock abrasion tool. Thus, fundamental studies on the X-ray fluorescence analysis for lunar rocks and regolith are required to design and develop the AXS. In this study, we have investigated the X-ray fluorescence analysis in order to evaluate the effects of surface roughness of samples and the angle of incident and emergent X-rays. It was found that the fluorescent X-ray yield for low energy X-rays, i.e. the light elements, decreases at rough surface samples. This effect of surface roughness becomes small for smooth surface samples. It was also found that the fluorescent X-ray yield depends on the incident angle, which is attributed to the fact that the X-ray fluorescence occurs closer to the sample surface at larger incident angles. Since the emergent X-rays are affected by the detection geometry and surface roughness, the incident angle effect also depends on the above conditions. © 2013 SPIE.

In conventional vehicle teleoperation systems, using low-bandwidth, high-delay transmission links causes a serious problem for remote control of the vehicles. To solve this problem, a proposed teleoperation system employs 3D maps and GPS time synchronization. Two GPS receivers measure the transmission delay, which the system uses to estimate the vehicle's location and orientation. Field experiments show that the 3D-map-based interface lets users easily comprehend the remote environment while navigating a vehicle. The experiments also show that taking communication delays into account improves maneuverability. © 2013 IEEE.

In this paper, we propose a path planning method for a Mobile Mapping System (MMS) considering GPS geometry for the purpose of increasing GPS availability. We calculate Position Dilution of Precision (PDOP) using aerial laser survey data that provides geography and height of buildings near roads. PDOP is used for weighting road network data. By using the Chinese postman problem, we then calculate the optimum path that passes through all routes at least once. We describe currentMMS operation first and clear up problems with the current method. We then describe the proposed method in detail. Finally, we conduct evaluation tests and describe results in detail. The evaluation test verifies that the proposed method increases the GPS FIX ratio by 5% under the same GPS geometry and proves the effectiveness of the proposed method.

When evaluating residential energy systems like co-generation systems, hot water and electricity demand profiles are critical. In this paper, the authors aim to extract basic time-series demand patterns from two kinds of measured demand (electricity and domestic hot water), and also aim to reveal effective demand patterns for primary energy saving. Time-series demand data are categorized with a hierarchical clustering method using a statistical pseudo-distance, which is represented by the generalized Kullback-Leibler divergence of two Gaussian mixture distributions. The classified demand patterns are built using hierarchical clustering and then a comparison is made between the optimal operation of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell co-generation system and the operation of a reference system (a conventional combination of a condensing gas boiler and electricity purchased from the grid) using the appropriately built demand profiles. Our results show that basic demand patterns are extracted by the proposed method, and the heat-to-power ratio of demand, the amount of daily demand, and demand patterns affect the primary energy saving of the co-generation system. © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This paper describes a path planning method that uses the Quasi-Zenith Satellites System (QZSS) and a satellite visibility map for autonomous vehicles. QZSS is a positioning system operated by Japan that has an effect similar to an increase in the number of GPS satellites. Therefore, QZSS can be used to improve the availability of GPS positioning. A satellite visibility map is a special map that simulates the number of visible satellites at all points on the map. The vehicle can use the satellite visibility map to determine the points that receive more satellite signals. The proposed method generates the artificial potential fields from the satellite visibility map and obstacle information around the vehicle, and it generates the path following the potential fields. Thereby, the vehicle can select the path that has more satellite signals, improving the availability of GPS fixed solutions. Hence, the vehicle can reduce the accumulated error by dead reckoning, and it can improve the safety of self-control. In this study, we evaluate the satellite visibility maps and the path planning method. The results show that the proposed method does improve the availability of GPS fixed solutions.

This paper describes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) precise point positioning (PPP) technique that can be applied to mobile robots in urban environments. The multipath signals, which from invisible satellites in urban area, cause serious effect on the GNSS positioning. Our proposed technique mitigates GNSS multipath signals by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites by using IR images. With an IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark. This facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, because of the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rates between visible light and IR rays. Positioning evaluation was carried out only with visible satellites that have less multipath errors. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

本研究では，モバイルマッピングシステムにより取得した大規模三次元点群からの道路周辺地物の自動認識を目的としている．本研究の従来手法では，柱状物体の認識において壁面の誤認識が多いことが課題であった．そこで本論文では壁面の誤認識低減のために，従来の認識手法に加え，局所領域の点群孤立度に着目した認識手法を提案する．また，本手法を実環境の大規模三次元点群に適用した結果や課題について述べる．

In recent years, many types of energy supply systems have come into use in various buildings for spaceheating/ cooling and hot water supply. Lifetimes of buildings are generally more than 60 years, but those of energy supply systems are around 15~25 years. Therefore, these systems must be renewed several times during lifetimes of buildings. In the study, this renewal planning problem is formulated mathematically as an optimization one, in which the objective function to be minimized is the average value of annual total cost during system's evaluation period. Namely, this optimization problem is formulated as a large-scale mixed-integer linear programming problem, and the programming language AMPL solver is adopted here as the solving tool to derive the numerical solution. A numerical study is carried out for a hospital with the total floor area of 25 000m2, where electrical (e.g., heat pump) and gas (e.g., gas engine cogeneration) systems are compared together with their hybrid system. The analysis is particularly focused on the influence of initial system's difference on the renewal planning of energy supply system. Through this study, the following results are mainly obtained: a) If the initial system is gas one, it is better to renew it to the electrical one as soon as possible due to relatively low energy efficiency of gas utilizing pieces of equipment, the high price of gas input energy in Japan, and so on. b) If the initial system is electrical one, the optimal renewal year becomes relatively later year, because it is economically better to use the initially installed high efficiency system as long as possible. c) Theoretically, the hybrid system is of course the best renewal one. However, there is no economic difference between the hybrid and the electrical systems.

This paper describes an outdoor positioning system for vehicles that can be applied to an urban canyon by using an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera and a digital surface model (DSM). By means of omnidirectional IR images, this system enables robust positioning in urban areas where satellite invisibility caused by buildings hampers high-precision GPS measurements. The omnidirectional IR camera can generate IR images with an elevation of 20-70° for the surrounding area of 360°. The image captured by the camera is highly robust to light disturbances in the outdoor environment. Through the IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark; this enables easy detection of the border between the sky and the buildings captured in white due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rate between visible light and IR rays. The omnidirectional image, which includes several building profiles, is compared with building-restoration images produced by the corresponding DSM in order to determine the self-position. Field experiments in an urban area show that the proposed outdoor positioning method is valid and effective, even if high-rise buildings cause satellite blockage that affects GPS measurements. © 2008 VSP.

Residential energy demand varies widely in terms of time-series behaviors, amounts consumed between families, and even within one family. Residential energy demand profiles have a high degree of uncertainty in their essentials because the demand profile is entirely based on the occupant-driven load. When evaluating residential energy systems like co-generation systems, hot water and electricity demand profiles are critical. In this paper, in order to clarify rational energy system selection guidelines and rational operation strategies, authors aim to extract basic demand time-series patterns from two kinds of measured demand (electricity and domestic hot water), measured over 26307 days of data in Japan. Authors also aim to reveal the relationship between primary energy consumption and demand patterns. Demand time-series data are categorized by means of a kind of "unsupervised" learning, which is a hierarchical clustering method using a statistical pseudo-distance. The statistical pseudo-distance is calculated from the generalized Kullback-Leibler divergence with the Gaussian mixture distribution fitted to the demand time-series data. The classified demand patterns are built using a hierarchical clustering and then a comparison is performed between the optimal operation of the two systems (a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell co-generation system, and a CO2 heat pump system) and the operation of a reference system (a conventional combination of a condensing gas boiler and electricity purchased from the grid) using the demand profiles appropriately built. Our results show that basic demand patterns are extracted by the proposed method. The demand patterns, the amount of daily demand and heat-to-power ratio of demand affect the primary energy reduction ratio of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell co-generation system.

In this paper, we have evaluated the performance and availability enhancement of Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in urban environments. In urban environments, QZSS can be expected to be fairly effective because of the high elevation angle of satellite and enhancement functions. Therefore, we conducted performance and availability enhancement evaluation tests to verify thus. In performance enhancement evaluation test, in order to evaluate the improvement of GPS accuracy by L1 Submeter-class Augmentation with Integrity Function (L1-SAIF) broadcasted by QZSS satellite, we compared the positioning errors of only GPS positioning and L1-SAIF positioning in open sky environment. In availability enhancement evaluation test, we performed the static and kinematic observation test. In static observation test, in order to evaluate the improvement of GPS accuracy by availability enhancement, we observed GPS and QZSS statically in narrow-sky environment. And we compared the positioning errors of only GPS positioning and positioning using availability enhancement. In kinematic observation test, in order to evaluate the availability of QZSS based on the visibility of QZSS satellite in urban environment, we observed QZSS and SBAS from moving vehicle. And we compared the visibility of QZSS and SBAS satellites. From these evaluation tests, it was confirmed that the performance and availability enhancement of QZSS have high availability and effectiveness.

MMSの計測データには対向車など不要なデータが計測される。そのため、使用用途によっては対向車の除去が必要である。筆者らは、これまでに進行方向を向いたカメラとレーザを用いた対向車除手法を提案してきた。本報では、前後方向を計測できる複数のレーザを搭載したMMSに着目し、１回の走行の中で複数のレーザで計測された対向車の点群を検出し、除去する手法を提案する。

大規模災害からの復興の際に，支援物資の輸送や新たな街づくり等において道路は重要なインフラである．そのため航空写真などを用いた広域な被災状況の収集に加えて，道路周辺環境の詳細な被災状況の把握が，迅速な災害復興に結びつく．本論文では，道路周辺環境の詳細な情報収集が可能なMobileMappingSystemを活用した災害復興の支援手法を提案し，さらに東日本大震災への適用の展望について述べる．

In this paper, a method of rationally determining an optimal renewal plan is proposed for energy supply systems based on the optimization approach. In the planning of this proposed method, it becomes necessary to consider many factors such as the deterioration of each pieces of existing equipment, candidate pieces of equipment with upgraded efficiency reflecting technology improvement in the proper renewal year, the structure of renewal system, and so on. It is also necessary to determine the system's operational policy to match energy demands, which change daily and hourly through the year. A numerical study is carried out for a hospital with the total floor area of 25 000m2, where electrical (e.g., heat pump) and gas (e.g., gas engine cogeneration) systems are compared together with their combination of gas and electricity driven equipment (hybrid) system. Through this numerical study, the following results are obtained: a) Theoretically, the hybrid system is, of course, the best renewal system. However, the economic difference between the hybrid and the electrical systems is very small. b) The gas system is worse economically than the electrical one relatively due to the low energy efficiency of the related equipment, the high price of energy, and so on.

A next-generation digital road map (DRM) is expected to be an effective technology for achieving detailed navigation and driving safety assistance. As certain precise road information is required to make the next-generation DRM, the mobile mapping system (MMS) has attracted considerable attention as an efficient and precise survey method to gather such information. Since the MMS is a vehicle equipped with a GPS/inertial measurement unit along with a navigation system, cameras, and laser scanners, it can acquire precise, detailed 3D road information. However, when the MMS surveys are carried out during a GPS blockage, the positioning precision is reduced. In such a case, the MMS corrects its position by observing landmarks (LMs) which is surveyed its position by conventional method to calculate the precise position. In this study, we performed simulations of the positioning correction method to evaluate optimum landmark intervals and estimated the acceptable observation errors. We also conducted a field test to evaluate the effectiveness of the abovementioned positioning correction method. © 2011 SICE.

In this paper, we have evaluated the L1 submeter-class augmentation with integrity function (L1-SAIF) broadcasted by the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in an urban environment for vehicle positioning. In urban environments, the augmentation of QZSS can be expected to be fairly effective because of the high elevation angles. Therefore, we conducted static and kinematic evaluation tests to verify thus. In the static evaluation test, for evaluating the positioning accuracy, we compared the positioning errors for only GPS positioning and augmentation of QZSS positioning. In the kinematic evaluation test, for evaluating the availability, we compared the visibility of QZSS and SBAS satellites. From the evaluation tests, it was confirmed that the QZSS augmentation has better availability and effectiveness than the SBAS augmentation. © 2011 SICE.

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles or mobile robots in urban or leafy environments. The availability of satellite positioning is currently expected to improve due to the presence of positioning satellites such as US GPS, Russia's Glonass and Europe's Galileo. Due to the serious multipath impact on positioning accuracy in urban or leafy areas, however, improvements in satellite positioning availability do not necessarily facilitate highprecision positioning. Our proposed technique mitigates the GPS and Glonass multipath using an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites using IR images. With an IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark. This facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and surrounding buildings and foliage due to the difference in atmospheric transmittance between visible light and IR rays, since buildings and foliage appear white. The proposed technique can automatically and robustly mitigate the GPS and Glonass multipath by excluding invisible satellites. Positioning was evaluated with visible satellites, which have less multipath error and without using invisible satellites. Evaluation results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

This paper describes a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm using a monocular camera for a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A small U AV is attracted the attention for effective means of the collecting aerial information. However, there are few practical applications due to its small payloads for the 3D measurement. We propose extended Kalman filter (EKF) SLAM to increase UAV position and attitude data and to construct 3D terrain maps using a small monocular camera. We propose 3D measurement based on scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) triangulation features extracted from captured images. Field-experiment results show that our proposal effectively estimates U AV position and attitude of the U AV and construct the 3D terrain map. © 2011 SICE.

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles or mobile robots in urban environments. Currently, the availability of satellite positioning is anticipated to improve because of the presence of various positioning satellites such as U.S.'s GPS, Russia's GLONASS and Europe's GALILEO systems. However, because of the serious impact of multipath on their positioning accuracy in urban areas, such improvements in the availability of satellite positioning do not necessarily also facilitate high precision positioning. In this study, we propose a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles or mobile robots in urban environment using a single frequency GNSS receiver, and we propose a technique to realize code multipath mitigation that uses an omnidirectional IR (infrared) camera to exclude invisible satellites. With the IR camera, the sky is distinctively dark. This makes it easy to detect the borderline between the sky and the obstacles such as the buildings, which are captured in white, due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rates between visible light and far-IR rays. Moreover we apply a tightly coupled GPS/INS (inertial navigation system) integration based on code and carrier phase from visible satellites determined by the omnidirectional IR camera. In a situation of degraded GNSS availability because of elimination of invisible satellites however a tightly coupled configuration is capable of updating the filter with only one visible satellite. Positioning evaluation was carried out only with visible satellites that have less multipath errors and without using invisible satellites. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles or mobile robots in urban or leafy environments. Currently, the availability of satellite positioning is anticipated to improve because of the presence of various positioning satellites such as GPS of the U.S., GLONASS of Russia and GALILEO of Europe. However, because of the serious impact of multipath on their positioning accuracy in urban or leafy areas, such improvements in the availability of satellite positioning do not necessarily also facilitate high precision positioning. Our proposed technique mitigates GPS and GLONASS multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites by using IR images. With an IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark. This facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, because of the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rates between visible light and IR rays. The proposed technique can automatically and robustly mitigate GPS and GLONASS multipath by excluding the invisible satellites. Positioning evaluation was carried out only with visible satellites that have less multipath errors and without using invisible satellites. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning. © 2011 IEEE.

This paper describes a Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) algorithm using a monocular camera for a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). A small UAV has attracted the attention for effective means of the collecting aerial information. However, there are few practical applications due to its small payloads for the 3D measurement. We propose extended Kalman filter SLAM to increase UAV position and attitude data and to construct 3D terrain maps using a small monocular camera. We propose 3D measurement based on Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) triangulation features extracted from captured images. Field-experiment results show that our proposal effectively estimates position and attitude of the UAV and construct the 3D terrain map.

This paper describes a way to generate mosaic image using a small lightweight UAV for effective remote sensing. Payload limits are the source of most error in small lightweight UAVs to generate accurate mosaic images. We have overcome inherent small lightweight UAV drawbacks by providing them with integration of a GPS receiver, inertial sensors, and an image sensor to generate a large mosaic image. Position and attitude data of a UAV is estimated using onboard sensors and image correlation from SIFT features between overlapped images. A nonlinear optimization algorithm is used to optimize the position and attitude of the UAV. We demonstrated that our proposed mosaic image effectively enables low-cost remote sensing using a small lightweight UAV. © 2010 SICE.

This paper describes outdoor localization for a mobile robot using a laser scanner and a three-dimensional (3D) voxel map that is based on outdoor point clouds. A mobile mapping system (MMS) measures outdoor 3D point clouds easily and precisely. The complete 6D state of a mobile robot is estimated by combining dead reckoning and the 3D voxel map. The 2D position and orientation are extended to 3D by using the 3D voxel map and by assuming that the mobile robot remains in continuous contact with the road surface. Our approach applies a particle filter to correct position errors in the laser measurement model for a 3D point cloud space. Field experiments were performed to evaluate the accuracy of our proposed method. Our results confirmed that it is possible to achieve a localization precision of 0.2 m (RMS) using our proposed method. ©2010 IEEE.

An optimal planning method is proposed for the renewal-planning problem of an energy supply system installed into building from economic viewpoint. In this method, the objective function to be minimized is the average annual total cost during the evaluation period of the objective system based on the annualized costs method, and the renewal year is considered as a decision variable together with the renewal system's structure, equipment capacities, and system's operational strategy. This problem is formulated as one of the mixed-integer linear programming problem, and a numerical study is carried out for an office building with the total floor area of 15,000 m2 by using the GAMS/CPLEX solver. Impact analysis of the carbon tax introduction is mainly studied on the renewal planning mentioned above, and the following results are obtained:. (a) The optimal renewal strategy is not affected by the future carbon tax introduction at the standard rate such as 655 Japanese Yen/t-CO2 (=4.1 €/t-CO2) argued presently in Japan. (b) By increasing the above tax rate more than 13 times higher, structure of the optimal renewal system changes suddenly, and equipment with high energy conversion efficiency becomes to be installed in spite of its expensive initial cost. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper describes a low-cost and flexible vegetation monitoring system and compares it with traditional remote sensing systems such as airplanes and satellites. We have developed a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with visible and infrared cameras for vegetation observation. This system can automatically generate widespread high-resolution mosaic image and calculate the vegetation index from the multiple aerial images collected by an autonomous flight of the UAV. We performed monitoring experiments at Yawata moor in Hiroshima Prefecture. From the experimental results, we concluded that the small UAV system was effective and useful for carrying out low-cost and flexible vegetation monitoring. © 2009 SICE.

Aerial cables in urban area are complicated. On the other hand, to check interferences between heavy machines and road features, a safety and efficient 3D road environment survey system's necessity is increasing in the field of civil engineering. In this paper, efficient and robust aerial cable measurement method using a Mobile Mapping System (MMS) and its automatic extraction method from 3D point cloud model are introduced. And the MMS enables to measure the road 3D environment and reconstruct 3D environment efficiently. The MMS can acquire road environment data at the cruising speed. The MMS enables to detect aerial cables in excess of 6mm, and its detection ratio is 99.6%. The extracted aerial cable is registered to GIS and the result of registration to a GIS is introduced. © 2009 SICE.

A multi-stage optimal renewal planning method is proposed for an energy supply system installed into building from economic viewpoint. Based on the annualized costs method, the average annual total cost during the total evaluation period is formulated as the objective function to be minimized. This is formulated as one of the mixed-integer linear programming problem, and the numerical solution is carried out by using the GAMS/CPLEX solver. A numerical study is carried out for an energy supply system installed into an office building with total floor area of 15 000m2, and the optimal renewal system is proposed as the one of installing high performance equipment properly at each optimal renewal year.

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles in urban areas. The proposed technique mitigates Global Positioning System (GPS) multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites [a satellite detected by the receiver but without line of sight (LOS)] by using IR images. Some simple GPS multipath mitigation techniques, such as the installation of antennas away from buildings and using choke ring antennas, are well known. Further, various correlator techniques can also be employed. However, when a direct signal cannot be received by the antenna, these techniques do not provide satisfactory results because they presume that the antenna chiefly receives direct signals. On the other hand, the proposed technique can mitigate GPS multipath, even if a direct signal cannot be received because it can recognize the surrounding environment by means of an omnidirectional IR camera. With the IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark; this facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rate between visible light and IR rays. Positioning is performed only with visible satellites having fewer multipath errors and without using invisible satellites. With the proposed system, static and kinematic evaluations in which invisible satellites are discriminated through observation using an omnidirectional IR camera are conducted. Hence, signals are received even if satellites are hidden behind buildings; furthermore, the exclusion of satellites having large errors from the positioning computation becomes possible. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of highly accurate positioning. © 2006 IEEE.

This paper presents the disaster prevention and mitigation system using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) . Immediate assessments of damage information and continuous collection of information for constructing a revival plan are important for damage mitigation when natural disasters such as huge earthquakes occur. In this study, we divide the period that follows a natural disaster on the basis of three processes, and propose the use of the small UAV for gathering information in such situations. The field experiments were conducted to evaluate the proposed system employing the small UAV. From the results of our experiments, it can be concluded that the small UAV system is effective for disaster prevention and mitigation.

In this paper, based on the multi-objective optimization approach, a renewal planning method is proposed for the energy supply system to determine the optimal renewal one by selecting optimal renewal year and system's structure from both economic and environmental viewpoints simultaneously. In this method, one objective function is the annual total cost of the system, which is the summation of the annual capital, operational and maintenance costs based on the annualized cost method during the evaluation years. The other objective function is the average annual total amount of CO2 emission during the evaluation years. The numerical optimal solution is derived for the system of an office building by the conventional mixed integer linear programming algorithm together with the ε-constraint method. As a result, the set of Pareto optimal solutions is derived, and the trade-off relationship between economy and environment is analyzed. Through the result of the set of Pareto optimal solutions, tolerating the increase of the system's annual total cost up to 1%, we can reduce the amount of CO2 emission from the system up to 15%. One main result also obtained shows that it is necessary to introduce different types of electrically-driven equipment such as heat pumps to reduce CO2 emission.

This paper presents a disaster mitigation system that uses a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The immediate assessment of damage and the continuous collection of information when natural disasters such as large earthquakes strike are important for developing a disaster recovery plan for damage mitigation. In this study, we develop a small prototype UAV and onboard software using a GPS navigation system and propose a unique disaster mitigation system that generates digital real-time hazard maps with the aid of the UAV. The effectiveness of the proposed system is confirmed by a flight experiment. © 2008 SICE.

This paper presents a disaster prevention system using aerial images obtained by a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The immediate assessment of damage information and the continuous collection of information for constructing a revival plan are important for damage mitigation when natural disasters such as large earthquakes occur. In this study, we develop a small prototype UAV and onboard software using a GPS navigation system and propose a unique disaster prevention system that employs the small UAV and a geographical information system (GIS). We divide the period that follows a natural disaster on the basis of three processes, and we propose the use of the small UAV for gathering and integrating information into the GIS. We conducted field experiments to evaluate the proposed system employing the small UAV. From the results of our experiments, we concluded that the system is effective in disaster prevention.

This paper describes a precision positioning technique that can be applied to vehicles in urban areas. The proposed technique mitigates GPS multipath by means of an omnidirectional infrared (IR) camera that can eliminate the need for invisible satellites (a satellite detected by the receiver but without LOS (Line Of Sight)) by using IR images. Some simple GPS multipath mitigation techniques such as installation of antennas away from buildings and using choke ring antennas are well known. Further, various correlator techniques can also be employed. However, when a direct signal cannot be received by the antenna, these techniques do not provide satisfactory results because they presume that the antenna chiefly receives direct signals. On the other hand, the proposed technique can mitigate GPS multipath even if a direct signal cannot be received because it can recognize the surrounding environment by means of an omnidirectional IR camera. With the IR camera, the sky appears distinctively dark; this facilitates the detection of the borderline between the sky and the surrounding buildings, which are captured in white, due to the difference in the atmospheric transmittance rate between visible light and the IR rays. Positioning is performed only with visible satellites having less multipath errors, and without using invisible satellites. With the proposed system, static and kinematic evaluations in which invisible satellites are discriminated through observation using an omnidirectional IR camera are conducted. Hence, signals are received even if satellites are hidden behind buildings; furthermore, exclusion of satellites having large errors from the positioning computation becomes possible. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of highly accurate positioning. ©2008 IEEE.

The energy saving potential of micro-scale gas engine cogeneration systems installed in detached residential houses was studied experimentally and theoretically. First, the energy demands for electricity and hot water were measured experimentally, with a 1-minute sampling time interval, in two houses for one year. Based on these measured data, a simulation model was built to analyse and compare the energy saving characteristics of the cogeneration systems with a corresponding conventional system. The estimated results show that the total primary energy consumption of the cogeneration system in the two houses was 4.5% and 10.1% higher than that of conventional system. Therefore it did not contribute to energy saving in these houses. Next, the maximum potential energy saving characteristics of the cogeneration system was investigated by constructing a mathematical model which optimises the system's operation to minimise total primary energy consumption. It became clear that under theoretically optimal conditions the above total primary energy consumption ratios could be decreased by up to 5.5% and 6.6% in the two houses.

In order to empirically study a cogeneration system, an advanced co-generation system (ACGS) was built in Waseda University in 1999. The ACGS consists of a gas turbine system, a steam turbine system, an ammonia-water mixture turbine system, an ammonia absorption refrigerator system and an ice storage system. In the bottoming stage of ACGS, by activating an ammonia-water mixture turbine system and an ammonia absorption refrigerator system, both of which are effective for heat recovery of low temperatures, the system is made up positively using the heat cascade, which is unique compared to other systems. At present, for the introduction of the co-generation system, its practicality is not fully considered and a method has not yet been established which would lead to an operating method fitting the characteristics of the customer requirements. So it is considered very important to propose the most suitable system construction, taking an overall view of the annual earnings and cost of energy for the customers. In this paper, we cover an assumed system which changed the part of composition of ACGS and, in order to find out the initial advantages of the system, seek the most suitable composition and the most suitable operational planning of a system for cooling, electricity and heat demand of a typical hotel, and then propose an example of the system design guide.

In the near future, precise digital map data is said to be applied to the next generation car navigation system as well as ITS to increase the driving safety. It is important to maintain digital map data's freshness and accuracy. A MMS (Mobile Mapping System) can acquire this highway database, while offering unbeatable productivity with the combination of navigation and videogrammetry tools. The proposed MMS, featuring a GPS/DR combined navigation system, a GPS-Gyro/IMU, nearly horizontal cameras, laser scanners, high sampling rate road data measurement logger, and the network-based RTK-GPS PASTM can acquire road feature location like snow-poles, guard-rails, road signs and road line precisely at normal cruising speed considering 3D road surface model. The carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system and GPS-Gyro/IMU performs highly accurate positioning performance at a few centimeter and posture estimation at 0.073 [deg rms] for heading and 0.064 [deg rms] for pitching, and 0.116 [deg rms] for rolling. Furthermore, the proposed road feature digitizing method, featuring 2D camera image projection to the 3D road surface model, allows users to understand complicated 3D point-cloud data intuitively and to designate desired road feature with few mistakes. The accuracy comparison between the static RTK-GPS/Total-Station measurement with the dynamic MMS mobile measurement reveal that the system allows 0.3 [m] road feature measurement accuracy with unbeatable productivity when sufficient GPS visibility is obtained. ©2007 IEEE.

This paper describes an outdoor positioning system that can be applied for an urban canyon by using an omni-directional IR camera and the DSM (Digital Surface Model). The image captured by an IR camera has high robustness to light disturbances in the outdoor environment. The omni-directional image, which includes several building profiles, is compared with building-restoration images that are calculated from the corresponding DSM in order to identify the self-position. Field experiments at Fujisawa City show that the proposed outdoor positioning method is valid and effective even if high-rise buildings cause satellite blockages affecting GPS measurements. ©2007 IEEE.

In order to empirically study a cogeneration system, an advanced co-generation system (ACGS) was built in Waseda University in 1999. The ACGS consists of a gas turbine system, a steam turbine system, an ammonia-water mixture turbine system, an ammonia absorption refrigerator system and an ice storage system. In the bottoming stage of ACGS, by activating an ammonia-water mixture turbine system and an ammonia absorption refrigerator system, both of which are effective for heat recovery of low temperatures, the system is made up positively using the heat cascade, which is unique compared to other systems. At present, for the introduction of the co-generation system, its practicality is not fully considered and a method has not yet been established which would lead to an operating method fitting the characteristics of the customer requirements. So it is considered very important to propose the most suitable system construction, taking an overall view of the annual earnings and cost of energy for the customers. In this paper, we cover an assumed system which changed the part of composition of ACGS and, in order to find out the initial advantages of the system, seek the most suitable composition and the most suitable operational planning of a system for cooling, electricity and heat demand of a typical hotel, and then propose an example of the system design guide.

In recent years, automation system based on IT technology becomes very popular not only for manufacturing industries but also for the construction and civil engineering industries. The conventional location survey method in the civil engineering construction site is pinpoint location survey for a broad objective area. The conventional method has severe constraints when it comes to measure the broad objective area as macro or to estimate general distinctive geometrical features. In this study, a unique vehicle-mounted mobile measurement system which can measure dense 3D point-cloud data for wide construction site is presented. The proposed MMS (Mobile Mapping System) is equipped with the carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system, the GPS gyro, and a laser scanner. The MMS, which measures unleveled round surface at 40 [km/h] using laser scanner's range data and vehicle attitude stabilization algorithm, can construct continuous dense road surface 3D model. The functional and performance test as a mobile measurement instrument is revealed.

In the near future, precise road line location data is said to be applied to car navigation system and ITS to increase the driving safety. It is important to maintain road data freshness and accuracy. A MMS(Mobile Mapping System) can acquire this road database, while offering an unbeatable productivity with the combination of navigation, and videogrammetry tools. The proposed MMS, featuring a GPS/DR(Dead Reckoning) combined navigation system, the 3 axes GPS-Gyro/IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit) , laser scanners, and nearly horizontal cameras, can measure centerline and side-line location precisely considering 3D road surface model based on a laser scanner. The carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system and GPS-Gyro/IMU performs highly accurate position and posture estimation at a few centimeter and 0.1 degree order. It can be said that the proposed MMS and its unique road signs positioning method is valid and effective as the road sign location error is within 100[mm] even in the slanted road by considering the 3D road surface model.

This paper reports on the demonstration of a hybrid power generation and refrigeration cycle in a turbine system which employs ammonia-water mixture as the working fluid. The hybrid cycle is the one in which the ammonia-water mixture turbine cycle and the ammonia absorption refrigerator are combined. To demonstrate the performance enhancement of the hybrid cycle, its steady state characteristics were experimentally investigated. The increase of the coefficient of performance (COP) and the performance improvement of the cycle are mainly due to a reduction of the heat of rectification at the ammonia absorption refrigerator. Therefore, the authors especially focused on the COP, the heat source steam consumption rate, and the heat of rectification when the ammonia mass fraction at the rectifier inlet increased. Results showed the COP and heat source steam consumption rate improved about 20% in hybrid operation, compared with normal operation which drives the ammonia absorption refrigerator and the ammonia-water mixture turbine cycle separately. Copyright © 2006 by ASME.

In this paper, a unique dense 3D shape reconstruction method featuring GPS/DR coupled omni-direction multi-baseline motion stereo system is presented. The epipolar plane equation between two Omni Directional Vision images is computed from the GPS/DR s position and posture information. Then, the precise epipolar lines can be obtained robustly by projecting the intersection line between the epipolar plane and the ODV s image plane. The robust matching method featuring hybrid use of the future based matching and the area based matching, as well as the bi-directional matching which chose common mutual matching points to improve robustness is also presented. Voting process using multi-baseline is used to reduce distance error of motion stereo. Hundreds of dense range images are unified based on the precise position/posture information to generate the successive dense 3D outdoor model. The range estimation accuracy within 10 [m] area is 140 [mm], which is equal to a laser radar. It can be said that the propos d omni-directional stereo vision has robustness toward environmental complication and accurate distance estimation performance for rich textured object. ©2006 IEEE.

The development of road telematics requires the management of continuously growing road database. A MMS(Mobile Mapping System) can acquire this road database, while offering an unbeatable productivity with the combination of navigation, and videogrammetry tools. The proposed MMS, featuring a GPS/DR(Dead Reckoning) combined navigation system, a GPS-Gyro/IMU(Inertial Measurement Unit) , laser scanners, nearly horizontal cameras and high sampling rate road data measurement logger, can measure centerline and side-line location precisely considering 3D road surface model based on a laser scanner. The carrier phased D-GPS/DR combined navigation system and GPS-Gyro/IMU performs highly accurate position and posture estimation at a few centimeter and 0.1 degree order. It can be said that the proposed MMS and its unique road signs positioning method is valid and effective as the road sign location error is within 100[mm] even in the slanted road by considering the 3D road surface model©2006 IEEE.

This paper reports results from experimental investigations of the dynamics of an ammonia-water mixture turbine system. The mixture turbine system features Kalina Cycle technology [1]. The working fluid is an ammonia-water mixture (AWM), which enhances the power production recovered from the low-temperature heat source [2], [3]. The Kalina Cycle is superior to the Rankine Cycle for a low temperature heat source [4], [5].
The ammonia-water mixture turbine system has distillation-condensation processes. The subsystem produces ammonia-rich vapor and a lean solution at the separator, and the vapor and the solution converge at the condenser. The mass balance of ammonia and water is maintained by a level control at the separator and reservoirs at the condensers. Since the ammonia mass fraction in the cycle has a high sensitivity to the evaporation/condensation pressure and vapor flow rate in the cycle, the pressure change gives rise to a flow rate change and then level changes in the separators and reservoirs and vice versa. From the experimental investigation of the ammonia-water mixture turbine system, it was observed that the sensitivity of the evaporating flow rate and solution liquid density in the cycle is very high, and those sensitivity factors are affected by the ammonia-mass fraction. This paper presents the experimental results of a study on the dynamics of the distillation process of the ammonia-water mixture turbine system and uses the results of investigation to explain the mechanism of the unstable fluctuation in the system.

This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation into the effect of installing an ejector in an ammonia-water mixture turbine cycle, also called a Kalina cycle. To enhance the availability of the cycle, we focus on the pressure difference in the cycle. The temperature difference between the heat source and sink enhances the efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle, as does the pressure difference in the cycle. To improve the heat recovery in the cycle, other heat exchangers are required, and to utilize the pressure difference in the cycle, an ejector is a reasonable choice. From the viewpoint of the impact on the initial cost of the plant, the heat exchanger option is more costly than the ejector option. The authors investigated a simple AWM turbine cycle with an ejector driven by the high-pressure solution stream to vacuum the turbine exhaust. Simulations of several AWM turbine cycle configurations, with or without heat recovery exchangers and ejectors were performed. The specific power, which is the output power per unit mass flow rate of the heat source, of the proposed cycle EJT34 was 103% that of the WMTS. The thermal conductance is only about 24% of that of the WMTS, which is almost the same as the value of the KCS34. The results shows that the EJT34 produced as much power as that from the WMTS with 24% of the heat transfer area.

This paper describes performance comparison of two types of hybrid configuration of power generation and refrigeration cycles using ammonia-water mixture by simulation calculation. Difference between two configurations is the ammonia mass fraction of solution from the turbine system (power generation cycle) to the ammonia absorption refrigerator (refrigeration cycle). The newer configuration (configuration 2) supplies higher mass fraction solution to the refrigerator. As a result, both configurations show larger system net power than separate operations when the basic composition (the ammonia mass fraction of the evaporator in the turbine system) is 0.45 kg/kg. The performance gains of configuration 1 and 2 are 13.6% and 13.8%, respectively.

This paper presents the optimal plan in an assumed co-generation system based on Advanced Co-generation system built in Kikui-cho campus and suggests the introductory technique of co-generation system. At first, we analyzed the annual change of the electric power and cooling demand for a typical consumer and completed the assumed model by formulating. In hospital, hotel, etc., it was checked that electric power and cooling demand have the high correlation with outside temperature, and the daily maximum temperature is effective as an explaining variable especially. We verified the optimal planning according to the consumer using this assumed demand.

This study describes mobile robot surveillance system using spatial temporal GIS. This paper specially describes the method of collecting spatial temporal data by an autonomous mobile robot system used in a factory premises with some high-rise buildings. This system consists of a wireless LAN network, a base station and an autonomous vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a GPS/INS navigation system using the network-based Real-Time Kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS) with Positioning Augmentation Services (PAS™, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 2003), an Area Laser Radar (ALR), a slaved camera, and an Omni-Directional Vision (ODV) sensor for surveillance and reconnaissance. The vehicle switches control modes according to the vehicle navigation error. It has three modes, "Normal", "Road tracking", and "Crossing recognition". A field test result shows that the vehicle can track the planned-path within 0.10 [m] accuracy at straight paths and within 0.25 [m] for curved paths even if RTK fixed solutions are not available. Field experiments and analyses have proved that the proposed navigation method can provide sufficient navigation and guidance accuracy under poor satellite geometry and visibility. Omni-directional image and ALR's scan data, which is synchronized with both position and GPS time, is memorized as spatial temporal. This spatial temporal data enables the operator to search everywhere in the factory premises efficiently by way of arbitrary position or measured time. The field test reveals that the spatial temporal database is confirmed to be useful for remote surveillance. © 2005 IEEE.

In this paper, the unique omni-directional motion stereo method featuring robust epipolar estimation and hybrid use of the feature/area based matching, and the change-region recognition technique which uses dense color-textured depth map and 3D-GIS data for segmentation, are presented. The dense stereo imaging data, which is acquired by the coupled use of an ODV (Omni-Directional Vision) and a GPS/INS (Inertial Navigation Systems) by the motion stereo method, is classified in "change region" or "registered region" by the 3D-GIS's geometric model of the building. Hence, the changeable region like a parking-vehicle on the road is modeled as a hexahedron through surface recognition process, the position of vertexes and the image texture of three surfaces are measured, and are additionally registered in the Spatial Temporal GIS (Geographic Information System) as new object data. The proposed method can be applicable to a mobile robot surveillance system which is used in a site immediately after a disaster. © 2005 IEEE.

In this study, an advanced cogeneration system (ACGS) composed of three turbine systems and an ammonia absorption refrigerator is presented. The overall system configurations and some experimental results of the steady state are shown. The effectiveness of the bottoming stage that employs an ammonia-water mixture (AWM) as the working fluid is confirmed by experimental investigation. The experimental investigation shows that the AWM bottoming power-refrigeration cycles contributes to a higher bottoming efficiency, which is about 7.0% in electric power. Otherwise. the efficiency at the middle stage in conventional combined gas and steam turbine power plants is 4.6%. The cogeneration efficiency at the bottoming reached about 26.5% which is the heat and power ratio to the heat input from the heat recovery steam generator. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The performance of the rectifying column affects the coefficient of performance (COP) of an ammonia absorption refrigerator. Ammonia mass fraction of refrigerant is one of the key parameters indicating the performance of the rectifying column. We propose a method to estimate the refrigerant mass fraction with mass and energy balance equations around the separator at the inlet of the evaporator, and describe the results of experiments which measured the refrigerant mass fraction by sampling from the refrigerant receiver. Throughout these investigations, the refrigerant mass fraction turned out to be lower than the expected value calculated from the condition of dry-saturated vapor at the top of the rectifying column. The refrigerant mass fraction can be estimated within an accuracy of 0.3% by the estimation method based on mass and energy balance equations.

The advanced co-generation system (ACGS) was built at Waseda University in 1999. The ACGS consists of a gas turbine, a steam turbine, an ammonia-water mixture turbine, an ammonia absorption refrigerator and an ice storage system. These turbine systems have a cascade relation upon the utilization of energy. Meanwhile, the ammonia-water mixture turbine and the ammonia absorption refrigerator located in the bottoming stage of the ACGS to utilize the lower temperature steam. In this paper, a mathematical model of the bottoming stage of the ACGS is established according to the experimental data. And, the operational planning of the bottoming stage with three cases of the cooling demand during the nighttime is also discussed.

The subject of this study is to plan the operation of residential energy system with uncertain parameters based on ex-ante decision before uncertain parameters are realized. This paper applies a scenario-based stochastic programming framework to the operational planning problem having uncertain energy demand as parameters. Based on predicted energy demand scenarios, the operational strategies, which indicates the prime mover's start-stop status and the level of hot water tank, are decided. The decided operational strategies and realized values of energy demand are input to optimal control problem, which is formulated by dynamic programming. Finally we consider the operational performance of dynamic programming using the decided operational strategies based on predicted demand scenarios. As a result, the proposed stochastic programming framework decided the optimal strategies, and showed that effectiveness.

Nowadays, PEFC-CGS is getting attention as a distributed energy system. It has high efficiency, and a lot of studies of PEFC-CGS were reported. But almost of them didn't consider energy prediction error. In this study, in order to evaluate energy-saving performance of PEFC-CGS for residential use with energy prediction error, I made PEFC-CGS control low input optimal operational plan based on energy prediction value. Consequently, operational plan to start PEFC-CGS in the morning or avoiding unneeded power runup and low load operation of PEFC-CGS can make control low of PEFC-CGS improved.

This paper presents that the method of position error correction for planetary rovers by using skyline matching azimuth estimation. Skyline matching is the method that estimating position and attitude by comparing two skylines. One skyline is simulated one from a digital elevation model (DEM). The other one is gotten from camera images taking around view. We focus on using azimuth attitude estimated by skyline matching to correct accumulation error of IMU. We modeled IMU angular velocity bias increases linearity. We conducted field experiments in Oshima Island and Chiba. As a result, estimated relative azimuth errors are lower than 1 degree. IMU azimuth errors decreased by 67% (6.25 deg to 2.15 deg ) and IMU position errors decreased by 70% (3.33m to 1.04m).

This paper describes a method of obstacle detection in the fish-eye camera image for GPS-Non-Line-Of-Sight(NLOS) satellites detection. Recently the development of the autonomous mobile system(AMS) is more expected for example an auto-pilot car. A GPS measurement is widely used for estimating self-position for such AMS. It can measure the position without premeasured emvironmental data like a map-matching. However, in the urban canyon, GPS measurement accuracy deteriorates seriously using NLOS satellite. Because of obstacles between NLOS satellites and GPS antenna, electrical waves omitted from GPS satellites are reflected or diffracted by obstacles. We propose the method to detect the obstacle using a fish-eye camera image to detect NLOS satellite. Firstly fish-eye image is parted into various small segments by k-means clustering method. And the segments are divided into sky and obstacle areas according to its movement using SIFT matching. The result of a field experiment shows the proposed method is effective to detect GPS-NLOS satellites.

When the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant happened, TOKYO Fire Department member were send for cooling the nuclear reactor. But there isn't means to get information of disaster site by unmanned and fire fighter had to rush into Nuclear Power Plant with taking a risk of radiation exposure. Therefore in this study, we propose Attack and Retreat Judgment System Referring the Lesson from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In this paper, we mainly describe Attack Judgment System, consisting of remote-control information gathering system and geographical information system. Remote-control information gathering system gets disaster site information with remote-control unmanned ground vehicle and geographical information system registers the information.

This paper describes a new positioning method which improves the availability and accuracy of multi-GNSS positioning in urban canyon environment using QZSS satellite. In our proposal method, we use GNSSs including GPS, QZSS, GLONASS, Galileo, and Beidou. Furthermore, we use the QZSS as an only master satellite. We conducted a static evaluation test in a narrow-sky environment with many obstacles above the GNSS antenna.The results of the static evaluation test show that our proposal method is highly available and has accurate positioning (fixed ratio: 92.7%, horizontal RMS error: 4.2cm) in urban canyon. In contrast, the number of DD measurements of the conventional multi-GNSS positioning method is 4 or less nearly all the time, indicating that this positioning does not work most of the time.

Two configurations of power/cooling cycle with ammonia-water mixture are evaluated. At first, an ammonia-absorption hybrid cycle (AAH), which is one of the simplest configurations, is evaluated on temperature entropy diagram to introduce the insight for enhancement. The other configuration, which was proposed by Goswami, is also evaluated. It is a candidate for an enhanced in producing power. The multi-objective optimization for net-work output, refrigerating capacity and total thermal conductance are carried out to derive the pareto front. The optimization is carried out by epsilon-constraint method. The results show that T-S diagram is a good tool for derive the enhancement. Goswami cycle has about quarter cooling capacity while 123.8% net output power comparing with AAH.

In this paper, three conventional energy supply systems are compared from economic and energy saving characteristic points of view for an office building with total floor area of 5000m^2. These systems are consuming mainly electricity (E-system), heavy oil (D-system), and city gas (G-system) as primary energy source, respectively. For hourly and daily changing energy demands, the daily input energy cost or primary input energy is minimized through one year for these systems by considering disaster occurring three days, respectively. As a result, economic and energy saving superiorities of E-system are resulted to those of respective D- and G-ones. For disaster occurring situation, effects of installing solar cell and battery are also evaluated by changing capacities of them numerically.

This paper describes an outdoor localization method by matching skyline. On a surface of the moon, we cannot use either the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), information of artificial landmark or map matching. However a lot of planetary probe's missions need absolute coordinates. Therefore we propose a method that uses DEM (Digital Elevation Model) and panoramic photo image, and compares skylines made by them. Extracting skylines from image uses k-means clustering method with color information. A skyline made by panoramic photo image is determined uniquely by 4 parameters. However the proposed method fixes 2 parameters and uses a rough calculation, assuming that the place to get the photo image is horizontality. As the result of experiments at Oshima Island, it was confirmed that it is possible to estimate location in error by 65 m or 19 m by using the proposed method. One of prospective causes of an error is the assumption of horizontality in the place getting photo images, so we expect to improve accuracy of estimating location if this method is used with attitude sensor.

The steam compressors are usually developed for the purpose of large size and special VRC (vapor re-compression) application. However, it seems to have a considerable ripple effect on the various purposes if the small size and high performance steam compressor are practical use. In this study, the authors suggest the two-phase compression process models which are based on the various assumptions. In addition, an experimental set-up which uses 7.5kW - wing type compressor is made to validate calculation results and enabled to confirm reduced discharge temperature and effect of compression work reduction. An effect of two-phase compression of the steam is reported by comparing calculation results with experimental results.

Promoting utilization of photovoltaic (PV) cell, for residential use has become urgent issue recently. One approach is to use an electrical battery (BT) in the house in order to maximize consuming the electricity generated by the photovoltaic power generator. The energy systems including energy buffer like electrical batteries have a lot of operational flexibility. The mathematical optimization technique is useful for rational energy use The objective of this study is to making operational optimization models considering degradation characteristic of a battery. As a result, the four types of operational optimization models, which consider degradation characteristics caused by battery cycle life, were formulated on the mixed integer linear programming problems. Consequently, it was found that the appropriate optimal operational strategy should be derived from the model including the degradation characteristics on DOD.

This paper describes about the attitude measuring method for a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using GPS-gyro combined with inertial measurement unit (IMU) by EKF. A small UAV attracts people's attention as the effective means for collecting aerial information. However the conventional attitude measuring methods have some issues, which cannot measure the attitude angle everywhere easily and absolutely against the earth. GPS observables are interpolated with cubic spline to do time synchronization among three GPS receivers (Master, Slave1, and Slave2). Using the attitude angle estimated by EKF, the correct solution is searched from among the candidates of integer ambiguity every epoch. The result of a field experiment shows the proposed method is effective to estimate attitude for the small UAV.

This paper describes a positioning method by GNSS/IMU integration using tightly coupled kalman filter and LEX signal. Tightly coupled kalman filter uses pseudorange and doppler frequency for observation update. Therefore, if a vehicle is in narrow sky environment, this filter could update states by using observation. LEX signal is GPS and QZSS performance enhancement function emitted from QZSS satellite. Therefore, it is expected that positioning accuracy is improved by using LEX signal. In this paper, the proposed method is evaluated on the course of Real World Robot Challenge at post processing.

The need of high precision location information has been increasing. Therefore, correcting the multipath error is needed. Especially, the multipath caused by trees are said to be difficult to correct. In this paper, we propose a new index called foliage parameter. This index is made by measuring the tree with the 3D laser scanner and shows the density distribution of the tree by the amount of leaves. By looking the multipath error and the foliage parameter, we study the correlation between them and plan to use it to correcting the multipath errors caused by trees.

We developed portable 3D measurement device. It is available where cars cannot run and GPS is not available. This device consists of camera, laser scanner and PC for data acquisition. Using this devise we propose a method combining camera data and scan data. First, the method calculates standardizes a self-position with Structure from Motion (SFM) and reflects the data which a laser scanner acquired in the three-dimensional space. Then we correct unevenness of the point cloud with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We conducted evaluation test. The evaluation test verified that we can comprehend rough indoor and outdoor shape reconstruction result by 3D measurement device.

For the purpose of increasing the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) availability and efficient measurement, a path planning for Mobile Mapping System (MMS) is proposed. However, this is not real time planning. Therefore, measurement precision decreases when MMS run in traffic jam. In this paper, we propose recalculation method of a path planning for MMS with Nearest Neighbor method. And, we conducted evaluation test. The evaluation test verified that the proposed method can increase 3.1% of the epoch that gets GNSS fix solution (FIX ratio) and 12.3% of the distance that gets GNSS fix solution (FIX cover ratio) under the same geometry of the GNSS.

This paper describes performance comparison of separate and hybrid systems of power and cooling cycle that is combined with Kalina cycle and ammonia absorption refrigeration cycle. Authors emphasis on utilization of T-S diagram in order to visualize the factors of the improvement in net output power by comparing with idealized cycle such as Maximum Power cycle and Minimum input compression work for refrigeration cycle. Results of case study show that exergy efficiency of the hybrid system combining with Kalina and ammonia absorption cycle is 16.9% higher than that of the separate operation of each cycle. However, the total thermal conductance of the hybrid system is 5.32% larger than that of separate one.

Steam compressor is the key unit of VRC (vapor recompression) technology. The analytical and experimental investigation on the steam compressor had been revealed that the relatively high temperature of steam at the outlet of it made it difficult to developing cost-effective steam compressor with high efficiency. The authors have been investigated on VCC (Vapor Compression and Condensation) system which is redefined from VRC technique for dehydration of wet-materials, such as wet-biomass. To reduce temperature increase at the outlet of the compressor, the effectiveness of liquid-vapor 2-phase compression process by utilizing the water injection is investigated. The case study on the 7.5kW-wing type compressor is taken up, and maximum droplet radius for the injection water which are completely evaporate in a period of a compression process.

Evaluation method of power cycle and refrigeration cycle are usually based on first low of thermodynamics. In other words, usability of power cycle and refrigeration cycle are determined by energy efficiency and COP. In this paper, we focus on second low of thermodynamics. We compare two Hybrid power and refrigeration cycles by theoretical optimum cycles and exergy efficiency. Specifically, we simulated cooling capacity and exergy efficiency, draw T-s diagrams, and compared with theoretical optimum cycles. When using T-s diagrams, entropy is multiplied by flow rate, because hybrid power and refrigeration cycles are composed of several flow.

This paper proposes a novel vegetation classification method using an airborne imagery obtained by the small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A conventional method used in the vegetation classification uses the value of reflected intensity in airborne images obtained by airplanes and satellites. However, it is difficult to classify the type of vegetations because of the restriction of the image resolution. The small UAV can fly at low attitude, it can obtain a high resolution airborne imagery. The proposed method aims to make a vegetation classification map using the texture analysis and Adaboost machinery learning. We use the texture, color, and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) calculated from airborne imagery as the classification features. From the result of classification test, we concluded that proposed method is effective to classify the type of vegetation using a small UAV.

A devastating earthquake and tsunami damaged large area in the Pacific coast of Japan, Tohoku district on March 11th 2011. In such a huge disaster, it is important to collect recovery information at regular intervals for speedy recovery work and disaster prevention. For information collecting work, aerial photos and conventional survey have been used, but these methods cost much. Thus, we have developed Mobile Mapping System (MMS) as an efficient survey method to collect information when disaster occurs. To collect information about the environment of disaster area and to record recovery process, we conducted a survey of the Tohoku district in June and November, 2011. This paper provides methods for extracting road environment changes around roads, such as postseismic crustal movement and reconstruction, by comparing time series 3D point clouds acquired from these two surveys.

As the practical uses of point cloud generated by the Mobile Mapping System (MMS) spread, modeled data are applied to many fields. However, the cost of modeling process increases with the size of data. So, in order to make the process efficient, we have proposed recognizing pole-like objects method. The proposed method recognizes pole-like objects focusing on local area of segments and using Support vector Machine (SVM). The method recognized pole-like objects robustly and its recognition accuracy is 91.4%. However, this method recognized walls as pole-like objects (miss recognition) and wasn't able to recognize tilt pole-like objects. Thus, we added two improvements to the method. One is tilt correcting in machine learning and recognition phase. The other is making local area search active. With these improvements, the total recognition accuracy became 97.4%.

This paper describes a path planning for Mobile Mapping System (MMS) considering with GPS availability. In a MMS survey, accuracy and efficiency are important factor. The accuracy depends on GNSS availability, which is affected by the road environment. Also, in some operations, MMS have to survey every road in an area. Because of these conditions, it is difficult for navigators to decide MMS's path in the surveys. Thus, we proposed a path planning for MMS considering with GNSS availability. The proposed method weights all links based on the number of visible GNSS and distance between nodes. The number of visible GNSS is calculated by aerial laser survey point cloud and GNSS almanac data. Since the number of visible GNSS changes, the weight of a link is recalculated hour by hour. In a field test, the proposed method improved the GNSS availability and we confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method.

For the realization of the 3D measurement such as MMS (Mobile Mapping System), the needs of high precision location information has been increasing. Therefore, by combining the United States GPS (Global Positioning System) , the Russian GLONASS(Global Navigation Satellite System), and the INS(Inertial Navigation System), it is possible to increase the number of satellites in reception. Moreover, it enables high precision and improvement of convenience. However, due to the effects of multipath, it is necessary to evaluate the reliability of the positioning solution obtained by the GPS and GLONASS combined positioning. In this paper, we propose an algorithm which automatically selects the reliable positioning solution.

This paper described a path planning method using Quasi Zenith Satellites System (QZSS) and the map for the number of visible satellites. QZSS is a positioning system in japan. And, it has effect increasing the number of satellites. The map of the number of satellites is used for path planning considering the number of visible satellites. This proposed method improving GPS positioning availability by increasing the number of satellites. In this paper, we carried out evaluation test for this proposed method. As the result of this test, it is confirm that proposed method had effectiveness for improving GPS positioning availability.

This paper describes an attitude determination technique for small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Small UAVs are attracted the attention for effective means of the collecting aerial information. However, there are few practical applications, because the accurate attitude data cannot be obtained due to its small payloads. We propose the attitude determination technique using the multiple single frequency GPS receivers. We install three GPS antennas on the wing of the UAV. We resolve the integer ambiguity of the carrier frequency of GPS observation data using the geometric constrain of the antennas to estimate the attitude of the UAV. In the result of the static test, we conclude the proposed method is effective to estimate the attitude for the small UAV.

This paper describes an improvement for the accuracy of GPS single point positioning using L1-SAIF signal and carrier smoothing. L1-SAIF is a performance enhancement function of Quasi-Zenith Satellites System (QZSS). Carrier smoothing is the method for smoothing a pseudorange by precise carrier phase. The proposed technique mitigates systematic and accidental errors of GPS positioning. But, carrier smoothing has two problems. One is increasing the positioning error in long-time smoothing. Another is vulnerability to cycle slip. So, in this paper, we propose the method for decreasing the effects of these problems using L1-SAIF. The evaluation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique and the feasibility of its highly accurate positioning.

The CO_2 emission characteristic is evaluated for 700W PEFC cogeneration systems used for residential houses based on the mathematical optimization method. First the mathematical model is built based on the measured data through one year. Then, for energy demand data measured at 10 houses through one year, the optimal potential of CO_2 emission reduction ratios are analyzed by optimizing the operational policy of the system. By comparing with the conventional system composed by the condensing gas boiler and electric grid, the reduction ratios of the CO_2 emission are ?5.42%〜-0.10%, and it is concluded that this system has no high potential to contribute for CO_2 reduction.

In this paper, a method of rationally determining an optimal renewal plan is proposed for energy supply systems based on the optimization approach. In the planning of this proposed method, it becomes necessary to consider many factors such as the deterioration of each pieces of existing equipment, candidate pieces of equipment with upgraded efficiency reflecting technology improvement in the proper renewal year, the structure of renewal system, and so on. It is also necessary to determine the system's operational policy to match energy demands, which change daily and hourly through the year. A numerical study is carried out for a hospital with the total floor area of 25 000m2, where electrical (e.g., heat pump) and gas (e.g., gas engine cogeneration) systems are compared together with theircombination of gas and electricity driven equipment (hybrid) system. Through this numerical study, the following results are obtained: a) Theoretically, the hybrid system is, of course, the best renewal system. However, the economic difference between the hybrid and the electrical systems is very small. b) The gas system is worse economically than the electrical one relatively due to the low energy efficiency of the related equipment, the high price of energy, and so on.

An electrically driven heat pump using CO^2 as the refrigerant is developed to supply hot water with a high coefficient of performance for use in buildings such as hospitals, hotels, and so on. In addition, these values of conventional heat pumps which use alternative chlorofluorocarbon gas are also increasing step by step in recent years. This study compares several alternative heat pump and hot water tank systems as well as a gas-fired boiler system from economic points of view based on a mathematical optimization method considering ambient temperature. A hospital is taken as the objective of this study, and the energy demand for hot water supply is estimated hourly and monthly through one year. As there are alternative modes for the system's operation, a mathematical optimization method is applied at this stage for responding to changing energy demands in a timely manner. The economic evaluation of the systems is done by applying the annualized costs method. Our results show that there exists an economically optimal combination of heat pumps and hot water tank of proper capacity. It is also seen that systems adopting heat pumps have advantages over gas systems from economic, energy saving and environmental points of view.

Mobile Mapping System(MMS) come to be widely used in survey. Although MMS can survey precisely in open sky condition, the quality of positioning is reduced in GPS blockage conditions like urban area because errors which accumulated by inertial measurement unit cannot be reset. Since GPS satellite geometries change hour by hour, the precision of survey data at same position is different. This paper describes a positioning correction method using road features which are common for multiple survey data. This method references road feature coordinates extracted from high-precision data, then correct low-precision data by observing same road feature coordinates. The result of positioning of this method depends on observation errors occurred when a user selects the two coordinates. Thus, this paper also proposes an observation error reduction method calculating road feature center coordinates from 3D point clouds.

This paper describes an extrinsic camera parameter estimation method for a 3D measurement using a mobile mapping system (MMS). MMS can acquire the 3D information of the road environment efficiently using the laser scanner. However, a measurement range is limited because of the performance of the laser scanner, the use of camera for the 3D measurement is expected. In the 3D measurement using the camera, the accurate extrinsic camera parameter estimation is required. We propose an automatic camera parameter estimation method that uses the measurement data of laser scanner acquired by the MMS. In the result of experiment, it is confirmed that the proposed method can estimate the extrinsic camera parameter to an accuracy of 0.07 degree.

This paper describes an evaluation of the L1-SAIF (L1 Submeter-class Augmentation with Integrity Function) augmentation broadcasted by Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) in the urban environment for the vehicle positioning. In urban environment, it is expected that the augmentation of QZSS is quite effective because of its high elevation angle. Therefore, we carried out the static and moving evaluation test. In static evaluation test, we compared with the positioning error between the only GPS positioning and augmentation of QZSS positioning for evaluation of the positioning accuracy. In moving evaluation test, we compared with the visibility of QZSS and SBAS satellites for evaluation of availability. As the result of the evaluation test, it was confirmed that the augmentation of QZSS has better availability and effectiveness than the augmentation of SBAS.

This paper describes a development of a small autonomous mobile crawler system using a temporal expansive two-dimensional grid map for the purpose of exploring the disaster site. The environmental map generated from the laser scanner and gyroscope is unsuitable for the actual environment because of the use of low-precision sensors. Therefore we propose the temporal expansion two-dimensional grid map to differentiate the overlapping of the grid map by time-tagging measurements of a laser scanner. As a result of the actual environment test, it can be concluded that the proposed crawler system can estimate the accurate location to differentiate the overlapping using the proposed temporal expansive two-dimensional grid map.

In this study, a mathematical optimization model is constructed to analyze the energy saving characteristics of gas engine home cogeneration system (say, GE-CGS). Energy saving characteristic is analyzed by comparing GE-CGS with the corresponding conventional system composed of a gas boiler and electricity purchased from outside grid. The system's operation is determined by the optimization model, by which the annual primary energy consumption is minimized for the energy demands measured actually through one year. Energy saving characteristics is analyzed for 5 houses. As the result, no apparent energy saving improvement was observed.

This paper presents a disaster mitigation system using a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). When natural disasters such as large earthquakes strike, immediate assessment of damages and continuous collection of information is necessary for saving disaster victims and constructing revival plans. We develop a small prototype UAV and an onboard software using a GPS navigation system and propose a unique disaster information collection system. This system enables us to collect disaster information in real-time by processing aerial pictures transmitted by the UAV and integrate it to the geographic information system (GIS). The usability of this system is confirmed by flight experiments.

This paper presents 3D measurement method using a small UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) which is loaded with limited payload sensors and can fly at lower altitude than manned-aircrafts. The proposal is based on motion stereo technique using high accuracy 3D-camera motion estimation by means of combination of GPS/INS, image features and ground control points tracking. As a result of field experiments, it can be stated that the proposed 3D measurement method is robust to environmental perturbations and can realize accurately/high resolution distance estimation.

This paper describes a remote control procedure for the autonomous Mobile Surveillance System. In general, there are some problems for camera-based remote vehicle control system, such as the telecommunication rate, time delay, and narrowness in the camera view field. To solve these problems, real-time environmental map, which is made by the distance information from LRF and the accurate position from the GPS/INS, is used to compensate these problems. It can be said that obstacle recognition and the distance measurement ability of an operator can be improved by the proposed method.

This paper describes the hi-speed remote manual control for the autonomous Mobile Surveillance System. In general, there are some problems for camera-based remote vehicle control, such as narrowness in camera view field, image time delay, and lack of distance information. To solve these problems, real-time environmental map made by the distance information from LRF and highly accurate position from the GPS/INS is used to compensate these problems. Experimental data reveals that the proposed method is valid and effective for hi-speed remote vehicle control.

小型自律飛行機(UAV)の複数台の運用、複数回の飛行により取得される連続画像を用いて、取得した連続画像の特徴点とGCP(Ground Control Point)を画像処理により複合追跡することで、地物の精密な三次元地物計測手法の開発を行った。提案手法を評価するため、神奈川県三浦半島において干潟の地形観測を行いその結果、平面分解能2cm、奥行き分解能15cmという高分解能な三次元計測を達成し、本手法の有効性を確認した。

群無人システムのための通信規格を中心としたアーキテクチャ仕様であるJAUS を実用化されている無人機に導入することで、システムの流用性を含めた柔軟な運用手法を開発した。無人機を2台用いてプラトーン走行を実施し、先頭車両を基地局からの遠隔操縦によって操縦し、その軌跡を後方車両に追従させる試験を行い、従来では困難であった制御動作中の前後車両の入れ替えも、遠隔基地局から伝送するコマンドを変更するだけで対応ができ、システムの運用変更を容易に実現することが可能となった。

本研究は,全周の視野情報をリアルタイムに取得する全周撮像装置ODV(OmniDirectional Vision system)を用いることで,中距離走者の走行についての定量的なデータベースを構築し,さらには走行モデルの構築を通して,最適なトレーニング方法をユーザにフィードバックするものである.
これまでに,本運動解析システムにおける撮像器の基本設計を行うとともに,システムの有効性確認のため,全周撮像装置による競技全体の運動解析システムと,通常カメラによる詳細動作解析システムの2つにシステムを分割し,それぞれ確認試験を行うことにより,システム全体の有効性を確認した.
昨年度,400m走トラックというグローバルな規格を持つフィールドにおいて計測を行うために,新たな装置を設計・製作した.本装置は,トラック全体を撮像し競技の始終を解析する全周撮像光学系と,競技者を拡大撮影し,詳細な身体動作を解析するための局所撮像光学系,の2つの特殊光学系,及び1台のハイスピードカメラにより構成

本年度までに明らかにした事項は次の2点である。
1) アンモニア・水混合媒体の熱力学的物性推算式は、Tillner-Roth等の推奨するHelmholtz Free Energyを基礎とした状態方程式による方法が、現状では最も信頼が置ける。しかしながら、この方法は、物性値推算において2次の微分項を含む演算があり、たとえばIbrahim等の推奨する提案する状態方程式を元にした方法に比べて、収束演算時間がかかることが不利な点として残る。また、修正SRK方程式を元にした方法で推算すると、特に密度からアンモニア濃度を算定する際に、他の上記方式に比べて大きくその値がずれることが確認された。現状では、系内のアンモニア濃度をオンライン計測する方法としては、密度計による液相部濃度の推算が唯一であることから、注意すべき点である。
2) 直接接触熱交換プロセスの基礎的な特性を定常特性実験により評価した。シェル内に流入した水蒸気に、冷却水を液柱(動作点によっては液滴)状に熱交換器上

　排熱駆動可能な冷熱源機器として、吸収式の冷凍機がある。主に空調用には3～7[°C]程度までの冷水を出力可能な臭化リチウム式が一般的に広く普及している。しかし、臭化リチウムによる吸収式冷凍機は冷媒を水とすることにより、一般には氷点下以下の出力を得ることはできないため、氷蓄熱などの用途には適用できない欠点がある。一方、アンモニアを冷媒とし水を吸収剤とするアンモニア吸収式冷凍機は、-60[°C]程度の低温を出力可能である利点を持つが、一部10[kW]程度の小型機も空調用として発売されてはいるものの、大部分は大型の冷凍装置としての需要に対応した製品として開発されてきた。また、低温を出力するために、熱力学的な意味での代償として、駆動熱源の温度を低下させることが困難であった。特に、冷媒濃度を高めることが効率向上に不可欠であるとする常識的なとらえ方から離れて、あえて冷媒のアンモニア純度をある程度犠牲にしても、ブリードサイクルの容量アップや乾式の蒸発器を採用することにより、溶液サイクルにおける濃度幅（濃溶液と希溶液とのアンモニア濃度差）の低下を極力抑えて精留熱を大幅に低下させ、これにより精留機能を実現する精留塔の大幅な小型化とリフラックスサイクルの削除を可能にするサイクルを提案した。　提案サイクルの実現可能性を調査するために、現有のアンモニア吸収式冷凍機を用いて、蒸発温度を操作して冷媒濃度を変更し、サイクル内各部における状態量変化の詳細な調査をおこなった。その結果、乾式の蒸発器を採用し、蒸発器周りの構成要素を変更することで提案サイクルによって再生器出口における熱源温度を設計点より10[°C]程度低下させても運転が十分可能であることを確認した。同時に、乾式の蒸発器を採用する利点と、冷媒濃度変化が凝縮圧力に及ぼす影響を、プレート式熱交換器を使用した場合について、実験によって整理した。　また、サイクル内の過渡的な状態量変化の調査を、吸収器周りについて詳細に行った結果、起動時にみられる吸収器内での溶液濃度の過渡的な変化に起因するポンプ異常のメカニズムを解明した。

バイオマスは本質的に高含水である場合が多い。たとえば汚水、下水汚泥、家畜糞尿などの高含水廃棄物では含有する有機物の割合が相対的に少なくエネルギー密度も小さい上、分離、貯蔵、運搬等の処理全体に高含水であるが故、ハンドリングコストが高くついてしまう欠点がある。その結果、これらのバイオマスは十分に再生、リサイクルされにくい。しかしながら社会全体からの排出量は膨大で、我が国では年間数億トンにも及ぶ。有機性高含水廃棄物は発生した場所、その地域で脱水処理することで、有用物質の分離、運搬、貯蔵における負荷を大幅に削減できる。しかし、濃縮、乾燥などの水分蒸発操作は、水の蒸発潜熱が約2.3[MJ/kg]と大きいことに起因して、典型的なエネルギー多消費プロセスとなっている。さらに、乾燥過程で化石燃料を燃焼させる方法を採用してしまうと、バイオマスを利用、再生するメリットが相殺されてしまう。　そこで、本研究では蒸発脱水プロセスを省エネルギー化するための手法として、蒸発させた水蒸気を再圧縮し、昇温、昇圧下後、蒸気の潜熱を高含水廃棄物の蒸発へ再生利用する水蒸気再圧縮プロセスを用いて、溶液の濃縮、蒸発脱水における既成の省エネルギー技術の数倍の効率向上を目指す。具体的な想定開発対象として、数kW～数十kWクラスの分散型蒸発脱水装置への適用を意図して、高含水物質を蒸発脱水するプロセスにおいて化石燃料燃焼を代替し、CO2排出量を大幅に低下させるため技術開発の基礎研究として取り組んだ。いったん発生した蒸気を圧縮して加熱源として再生利用する手法は、化学工学プラントなどの大型装置で利用されている技術として知られている。この蒸気再圧縮プロセスをベースに基本的な実現可能性評価を行った後、基本的なサイクルの構成要素の特性と、それぞれの構成機器がサイクル特性へ与える影響度を評価した。　まず、現在知られている脱水乾燥技術と性能を比較した。具体的には重油だきの熱伝導式乾燥機、高温燃焼ガスとの直接接触による乾燥機、マイクロウエーブによる電磁加熱蒸発器とを比較した。既存技術のうちもっとも一次エネルギー換算で高効率な重油だき熱伝導式乾燥機の約16倍の効率向上が見込めることを確認した。ここで、評価指標には、投入エネルギー（一次換算）に対する脱水に必要な交換熱量を成績係数COPとして定義し、用いた。　また、実際に蒸発脱水処理量約100[kg/h]の実験装置を設置し、バッチ運転における基礎的な装置の特性データを収集、解析した。その結果、COP=10.5～7.0程度で動作することを確認した。また構成要素のエクセルギー評価を行った結果、コンプレッサーにおける圧縮仕事と熱交換器における熱交換プロセスに起因する不可逆損失がほぼ同程度で、もっとも大きなエクセルギー損失要素であることを確認し、具体的な要素開発課題を明らかにした。

　アンモニア・水混合媒体（AWM: Ammonia-Water Mixture）を作動媒体とし、吸収作用を利用することで電気動力を必要としない、排熱駆動型の熱源機器として、アンモニア吸収式冷凍機が古くから利用されてきた。サイクル論的には、この吸収冷凍サイクルと逆である、発電サイクルの一つにカリーナサイクルは１９８０年代後期から注目され、様々な研究が行われてきたが、実際の運用を意識した詳細な研究開発は世界的にも数例しか報告されていない。本学では、環境に優しい自然系冷媒であるアンモニアと水を用いた、発電・冷凍サイクルの実証研究を行うための研究設備として、喜久井町キャンパスに「喜久井町キャンパス発電所」を設置した。このコージェネレーションプラントは、ガスタービンをトッピングに持ち、その排熱を蒸気タービンで動力回収するだけでなく、さらにその排出蒸気を駆動源とする、AWMを作動媒体とする吸収式冷凍機とAWMタービンシステムとを並列に設置したユニークなものである。コージェネレーションシステムの出力である熱と動力（電気）とを負荷の状況に対応してバランスよく運用できるよう意図したシステム構成となっている。本研究は、このボトミングに位置するAWMを作動媒体とする吸収冷凍サイクルと発電サイクルとを、対象に、それらをハイブリッド化することで、単独で運転する場合に比べて約10％以上高効率に運転可能であることを実証するための基礎研究である。現在までに、ハイブリッド化するための基礎条件を明らかにすべく、発電サイクルと冷凍サイクルを個別に特性評価を行い、基本特性をシミュレートするモデルを構築した。　これらの発電サイクル、冷凍サイクルはともに、吸収作用を利用することを特徴とするが、吸収器の性能が非常にシステムの全体性能に大きく影響する。したがって、特にそれぞれの熱交換特性の評価と制御性の評価を行った。実験結果から、発電サイクル側の吸収作用を伴う凝縮器での性能低下が著しいことを確認し、この性能低下を防ぐための循環系統の設置が有効であることを確認した。

　独自に考案したアンモニア・水混合媒体を用いるタービンシステムの60KW実験装置を完成した。これを対象に基礎データ取得のための実験検討を行った。　これにより、これまで一般に用いられてきた水やアンモニアなどの単体媒体を用いるランキンサイクルや、濃度調整機構のない混合媒体サイクルであるローレンツサイクルよりもさらに高効率で動力を回収するカリーナサイクルを基本とした、独自のサイクル形態を有す本システムの有効性を確認した。調整運転を経てシステムの運転操作方法を確立し、設計点より若干低濃度域でのシステムの静的特性データを得た。これにより、システムの起動、停止方法の確立およびそれにかかる時間短縮への指針を明らかにした。このほかにR123/R134aの混合媒体サイクルについてのシステムを対象としたダイナミクスを検討、報告した。　具体的には、タービンへの媒体ソースとしての蒸発器系サブシステムと、タービン排気側媒体シンクとしての凝縮・再生系サブシステムの二つのサブシステムに注目してそれらの特性評価を行うことで、システムの動力抽出性に関する具体的な効果を明らかにした。すなわち、蒸発器系を特性評価した結果からは、システムへの流入熱源の変化に応じたシステム内のAWM流量制御が動力抽出性に対して支配的であることを明らかにした。また、凝縮・再生器系の機能については、つぎの２点に注目して評価した。すなわち、凝縮機能の回復機構としての循環系の効果と濃度分配機能を大きく左右するセパレータ入口温度の影響度である。これらはどちらもサイクルパターンによって最適な値が存在すること、またその影響度は同程度でシステムの最大定格出力に対して約20％程度であったことを明らかにした。　これらの結果から、システムを運転制御する上で、これら２つのサブシステムをそれぞれ最適になるよう制御して運転することが動力抽出性から重要であり、それぞれの制御系がほぼ独立して操作可能であることからこのようなシステムの運転制御系の構築指針とその運転指針を明らかにした。　また、カリーナサイクルと同様な吸収過程を有するアンモニア吸収式冷凍機についても制御性、構成要素の特性評価をまとめ、コンパクト化への指針を示した。