Antonio Carlos Domínguez Brito

Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria | ULPGC · Instituto Universitario de Sistemas Inteligentes y Aplicaciones Numéricas en Ingeniería (SIANI)

We carry out a general review of the main studies developed in the Canary Islands during the XXI century on the ecology and distribution of free-ranging cetacean populations. The particular location and oceanographic conditions make the archipelago one of the world´s most important hotspots for cetacean diversity. However, the 30 species reported i...

Canary Islands, in particular Gran Canaria Island, show spiny butterfly ray aggregative behaviour in different beaches, and it seems to be related with the temperature variation.

Telemetry is a technique used to safeguard the misinformation about elasmobranchs, in this case acoustic tags are being used to find out the presence of spiny butterfly ray on the coast of Gran Canaria

Coastal dunes have long suffered the effects of human interventions that have altered the landscape and operation of these ecosystems. Aggregate extractions have been shown to modify the biogeomorphological processes in aeolian sedimentary systems. The impacts associated to aggregate extraction include the reduction of available sediment and change...

Introducción: El tiburón Angelote (Squatina squatina) también conocido como peje ángel en el archipiélago canario, es una especie de tiburón bentónico que se puede encontrar en toda la zona costera de las Islas Canarias. La especie está clasificada, por la Lista Roja de UICN, como en peligro crítico de extinción, debido principalmente a la sobrepes...

Environmental studies on coastal dune systems are faced with a considerable cost barrier due to the cost of the instrumentation and sensory equipment required for data collection. These systems play an important role in coastal areas as a protection against erosion and as providers of stability to coastal sedimentary deposits. The DIY (Do-It-Yourse...

This study aimed to add light-avoidance as a categorizing technique for the study of mesopelagic acoustic layers. Data recorded along the 20° W parallel from 20° N to Iceland showed three types of mesopelagic layers: the non-avoiding non-migrant deep scattering layer (NMDSL), which dropped its intensity toward the north, the avoiding migrating fish...

Autonomous sailboats are silent surface vehicles which are well suited for acoustic monitoring. The integration of an acoustic receiver in an unmanned surface vehicle has a large potential for population monitoring as it permits to report geo-referenced detections in real time, so that researchers can adapt monitoring strategies as data arrive. In...

Structures and infrastructures can modify aeolian sedimentary dynamics as has occurred in the arid transgressive dunefield of Maspalomas (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands), where an aeolian shadow zone has been formed leeward of a tourist resort (Playa del Inglés). The aim of this paper is to analyse spatial and statistically the influences of vegetati...

Las construcciones humanas pueden modificar la dinámica sedimentaria eólica, como ha ocurrido en el campo de dunas transgresivo árido de Maspalomas (Gran Canaria, islas Canarias). Como resultado de esa alteración, se detecta una zona de sombra eólica a sotavento de una urbanización turística (Playa del Inglés), caracterizada por un aumento en la de...

The new C++ standard, C++11, and its upgrade, C++14, introduces new advances and features which make more affordable and easier the development of software for complex systems. Following this tenet we have designed and developed a component-based service-oriented C++ middleware, called ISE, for distributed systems using exclusively standard C++ and...

Wind sensors are essential components of any sailboat, meanwhile they are also one of its most compromised and exposed elements. This paper introduces a novel approach that allows to estimate wind direction and speed based on the application of a particle filter technique that relies on a model dynamics of the sailboat. The proposal incorporates el...

This paper describes a new design of a 2 meter LOA (Length Over All) autonomous sailboat conceived for sailing in an ample set of weather conditions. The design has been focused on robustness and on achieving some degree of redundancy on critical components like sails and rudder. Accordingly, it is equipped with two light-weight carbon fiber wing s...

While traditional glider path planning relies on constant model forecasts with only a limited range, a new approach to glider operation is based on automated topographical understanding incorporating feature detection and tracking techniques. Encapsulating the key elements of ocean structure dynamics and focusing on their behaviour an alternative p...

This paper presents ongoing work aimed at the development of a multithreaded open source sailboat controller based on low cost Arduinocompatible hardware and ChibiOS/RT, a small and agile real-time operating system. The results achieved so far prove that this approach, that relies intensively on the programming resources provided by the real-time m...

The special characteristics of the ocean gliders propulsion scheme endows these vehicles with an extremely high endurance, at the cost of a relatively low surge speed. Hence, gliders' trajectory is highly influenced by ocean currents, which can even exceed the vehicle's nominal velocity. This calls for intelligent path planning algorithms, fact tha...

This work presents a small and affordable autonomous sailboat platform designed to be transported and operated by one or two people without any special means. The sailboat is based on a RC One Meter class vessel equipped with a low power 8-bit microcontroller board and a set of navigation sensors (compass, GPS, wind vane, ...) and a 868 MHz RF modu...

In the present work we propose a method for generating ocean glider trajectories that optimize the sampling of mesoscale eddy structures based on a given objective function and the predictions available from ROMS maps. The eddy structure is modeled as a 3D volume discretized into sectors rotating around its center at different velocities. The objec...

In this paper we propose a deterministic route planner for a sailboat suitable for areas where high quality wind and currents forecasts are available. An optimization based approach is used with the objective of minimizing the time required to arrive at a destination. Several simulations have been performed using high resolution regional forecasts...

CoolBOT is a C++ distributed component-based programming framework for robotics. A system can be seen as a distributed network of software components interconnected by port connections where system behavior emerges from the interaction and independent execution of the components integrating the system. Recently we have endowed CoolBOT with two new...

Underwater gliders have revealed as a valuable scientific platform, with a growing number of successful environmental sampling applications. They are specially suited for long range missions due to their unmatched autonomy level, although their low surge speed makes them strongly affected by ocean currents. Path planning constitutes a real concern...

Underwater gliders are vehicles characterized by their persistence as they allow missions extremely long requiring very low power consumption. However, this also implicates that they are much more affected by adverse environmental conditions during navigation, making the use of path planning a crucial tool for this vehicles. In this work we analyse...

Path planning for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) is a key issue for the success and efficiency of the missions these vehicles perform. This problem is very challenging, because it must cope with dynamic and uncertain models both for the vehicle and for the environment. In the case of ocean gliders, this aspect is critical due to the strong inf...

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are commonly used in Oceanography due to their relative low cost and wide range of capabilities. Gliders are a type of UUV particularly suitable for long-range missions because of their large autonomy. They change their buoyancy to dive and climb describing a vertical saw tooth pattern, which produces an effectiv...

Underwater gliders constitute a technology in active development, which has proven very promising in Ocean Research because of its relative low cost and long mission range. Due to their low surge speed, however, gliders are strongly affected by ocean currents, making path planning a crucial tool for this type of vehicles. In this work, we present a...

Underwater gliders are a technology that have demonstrated to be a valid tool for diverse applications in the oceans including validation of currents models, environmental control or security. Due to their low speed, gliders might drift significantly from the planned trajectory by effect of ocean currents, making path planning a crucial tool for th...

Programming robotic systems is not an easy task, even developing software for simple systems may be difficult, or at least cumbersome and error prone. In this document it is presented a C++ distributed component based programming framework for robotics socalled CoolBOT, around which we have started an open source initiative which is freely availabl...

An automatic system aimed at producing a compacttridimensional description of indoor environments using a mobile3D laser scanner is described in this paper. The resultingdescription is made up of a Multi-Level Map (ML map) and aseries of plane patches extracted from the MLSM. We propose anovel plane detection algorithm, based on the efficient RANSA...

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are commonly used in Oceanography due to their relative low cost and wide range of capabilities. Gliders, being UUVs, are particularly suitable for long-range missions because of their large autonomy. They change their buoyancy to dive and climb describing a vertical saw tooth route, which produces an effective b...

In this chapter we describe the main problems associated with the integration of active vision and multitasking. This configuration, though attractive, must be properly handled by means of simplification strategies that cope with its inherent complexity. Besides, the programming of this kind of complex system is prone to conclude often in monolithi...

This paper describes the utilization of software design patterns and plan-based mission specification in the definition of AUVs missions. Within this approach, a mission is described in terms of a set of task-oriented plans in order to simplify mission definition and favor reutilization of some aspects of a mission. Each plan organizes how and when...

This work is related to the analysis of reactive obstacle avoidance in general, and specifically to ND algorithms family. Contrary to many previous methods, the ND approach is not aimed at devising a general motion law; instead, it operates over a reduced set of possible situations that are treated by a particular motion law. The big earning of thi...

Endowing a physical agent with the capability of moving in a safe and agile manner is an issue of capital importance during the development of these systems. In this context, our work is related to obstacle avoidance in general, and specifically to ND algorithms. Contrary to many previous methods , the ND approach is not aimed at devising a general...

This paper describes the architecture of an active-vision system that has been conceived to ease the concurrent utilization of a visual sensor by several tasks on a mobile robot. We describe in detail the functional architecture of the system and provide several solutions to the problem of sharing the visual atten-tion when several visual tasks nee...

Los mecanismos de atención visual han sido frecuente objeto de interés por parte de investigadores en las áreas de robótica y visión por computador. Sin embargo, aspectos como el control de la mirada y la composición modular de capacidades visuales han sido estudiados en mucha menor medida. En este artículo se realiza una propuesta de arquitectura...

The use of the vision in humans is a source of inspiration for many research works in robotics. Attention mechanisms has received much of this effort, however, aspects such as gaze control and modular composition of vision capabilities have been much less analyzed. This paper describes the architecture of an active vision system that has been conce...

Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) is an approach that has arisen in the software engineering community in the last decade. It aims to shift the emphasis in system-building from traditional programming to composing software systems from a mixture of off-the-shelf and custom-built components [Cas00, HC01, Szy02, DW98, CC01]. Component-Based...

In general, we face recurrently some common problems when programming robotic systems: multithreading and multiprocessing, distributed computing, hardware abstraction, hardware and software integration, multiple levels of abstraction and control, the development of a programming tool for a group of users which may become wide and diverse, etc. In t...

Very little attention has been devoted to the problem of modular composition of vision capabilities in perception-action systems. While new algorithms and techniques have paved the way for important developments, the majority of vision systems are still designed and integrated in a very primitive way according to modern software engineering princip...

This paper describes the architecture of an active-vision system that has been conceived to ease the concurrent utilization of a visual sensor by several tasks on a mobile robot. We describe in detail the functional architecture of the system and provide several solutions to the problem of sharing the visual attention among multiple visual tasks. T...

In this work, we present a hybrid control structure for a mobile robotic system which combines concepts from homeostatic control and adaptive behavior. The homeostatic control consists of a set of control lo ops operating on state variables. These variables are computed from pre-categorical sensory data and also from high-level application results....

This document presents an operating version of CoolBOT, a component oriented software framework for programming robotic systems, that was already presented in WAF'2002 [3] when it was at the beginning of its development. CoolBOT has been designed having in mind the idea of programming by integrating software components, in order to reduce the devel...

Visual tracking based on pattern matching is a very used computer vision technique in a wide range of applications [3]. Updating the template of reference is a crucial aspect for a correct working of this kind of algorithms. This work proposes a new approach to the updating problem in order to achieve a better performance and robustness of tracking...

The development and maintenance of software for robotic systems is a hard task due to the complexity inherent in these systems. Besides, the resulting applications have to deal with limited resources and variable execution conditions that must be considered in order to keep an acceptable system performance. To address both problems we have integrat...

Visual tracking based on pattern matching is a very used computer vision technique in a wide range of applications [4]. Updating the template of reference is a crucial aspect for a correct working of this kind of algorithms. This paper proposes a new approach to the updating problem in order to achieve a better performance and robustness of trackin...

Developing software for controlling robotic systems is costly due to the complexity in- herent in these systems. There is a need for tools that permit a reduction in the program- ming effort, aiming at the generation of modular and robust applications, and promoting software reuse. The techniques which are of common use today in other areas are not...

This document presents the first operating version of CoolBOT, a component oriented software framework for programming robotic systems. CoolBOT has been designed having in mind the idea of programming by integrating software components, in order to reduce the developing effort typically invested when programming robots. CoolBOT also fosters some in...

Developing software for controlling robotic systems is costly due to the complexity inherent in these systems. There is a need for tools that permit a reduction in the programming efforts, aiming at the generation of modular and robust applications, and promoting software reuse. The techniques which are of common use today in other areas are not ad...

Developing software for controlling robotic systems is costly due to the complexity inherent in these systems. There is a need for tools that permit a reduction in the programming efforts, aiming at the generation of modular and robust applications, and promoting software reuse. The techniques which are of common use today in other areas are not ad...

Developing software for controlling robotic systems is costly due to the complexity inherent in these systems. There is a need for tools that permit a reduction in the programming efforts, aiming at the generation of modular and robust applications, and promoting software reuse. The techniques which are of common use today in other areas are not ad...

Uno de los aspectos que se considera fundamental en un sistema percepto-efector es la capacidad para garantizar un comportamiento robusto. Esto implica que en condiciones del entorno cambiantes o incluso desfavorables, la integridad del sistema en primer lugar, y su eficacia en segundo, deben disponer de elementos de salvaguarda. En este trabajo se...

In this paper we will present Eldi, a mobile robot that has been in operation at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria since December 1999. This is an ongoing project that was organized in three different stages of which only the first one has been accomplished. The initial phase, termed “The Player”, the second s...

In this paper we will present Eldi, a mobile robot that has been in daily operation at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria since December 1999. The system that controls Eldi and the rest of the installation has been conceived as a set of agents that interact by means of discrete events. This is an ongoing projec...

In this paper we will present Eldi, a mobile robot that has been in daily operation at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria since December 1999. This is an ongoing project that was organized in three different stages, describing here the one that has been accomplished. The initial phase, termed "The Player", the...

This paper introduces at the specification level CoolBOT, a component-oriented programming framework for robotics designed to assist robotic system developers in obtaining more structured and reusable systems without imposing any specific architecture. Within this framework components are conceived as Port Automata (PA)[13] that interact through th...

In this paper, a basic conceptual architecture aimed at the design of Computer Vision System is qualitatively described. The proposed architecture addresses the design of vision systems in a modular fashion using modules with three distinct units or components: a processing network or diagnostics unit, a control unit and a communications unit. The...

This paper describes an Active Vision System whose design assumes a distinction between fast or reactive and slow or background processes. Fast processes need to operate in cycles with critical timeouts that may affect system stability. While slow processes, though necessary, do not compromise system stability if its execution is delayed. Based on...

Many methods have been developed in the last few years to self-calibrate cameras, but few works have addressed the comparison of such methods to provide the user with hints on the suitability of certain algorithms under particular circumstances. This work presents a comparative analysis of four self-calibration methods for cameras which only rotate...

Extended Abstract In this work, we present a hybrid mechanism for controlling a mobile robotic sys-tem which combines concepts from homeostatic control and adaptive behavior. The homeostatic control is inspired by an emotional approach consisting of a set of artifi-cial hormones [2] computed from pre-categorical sensory data and also from high-leve...

This document presents an operating version of CoolBOT, a component oriented software frame- work for programming robotic systems, that was al- ready presented in WAF'2002 (3) when it was at the beginning of its development. CoolBOT has been designed having in mind the idea of programming by integrating software components, in order to re- duce the...

Mobile robotic systems are often conditioned by limitations in available resources. Normally these systems try to offer a robust behaviour while pursuing several goals simultaneously, which leads to the execution of sev-eral tasks competing for CPU time and other shared hardware resources as sensors and actuators. If not properly managed, these lim...