Review of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Technology in the Agricultural Environment

Simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM)is one of the most attractive research hotspots in the field of robotics,and it is also a prerequisite for the autonomous navigation of robots.It can significantly improve the autonomous navigation ability of mobile robots and their adaptability to different application environments and contribute to the realization of real-time obstacle avoidance and dynamic path planning.Moreover,the application of SLAM technology has expanded from industrial production,intelligent transportation,special operations and other fields to agricultural environments,such as autonomous navigation,independent weeding,three-dimen-sional(3D)mapping,and independent harvesting.This paper mainly introduces the principle,sys-tem framework,latest development and application of SLAM technology,especially in agricultural environments.Firstly,the system framework and theory of the SLAM algorithm are introduced,and the SLAM algorithm is described in detail according to different sensor types.Then,the devel-opment and application of SLAM in the agricultural environment are summarized from two aspects:environment map construction,and localization and navigation of agricultural robots.Finally,the challenges and future research directions of SLAM in the agricultural environment are discussed.

Mapping epistasis and environment × QTX interaction based on four-omics genotypes for the detected QTX loci controlling complex traits in tobacco

Using newly developed methods and software, association mapping was conducted for chromium content and total sugar in tobacco leaf, based on four-omics datasets. Our objective was to collect data on genotype and phenotype for 60 leaf samples at four developmental stages, from three plant architectural positions and for three cultivars that were grown in two locations. Association mapping was conducted to detect genetic variants at quantitative trait SNP(QTS) loci, quantitative trait transcript(QTT) differences,quantitative trait protein(QTP) variability, and quantitative trait metabolite(QTM) changes,which can be summarized as QTX locus variation. The total heritabilities of the four-omics loci for both traits tested were 23.60% for epistasis and 15.26% for treatment interaction.Epistasis and environment × treatment interaction had important impacts on complex traits at all-omics levels. For decreasing chromium content and increasing total sugar in tobacco leaf, six methylated loci can be directly used for marker-assisted selection, and expression of ten QTTs, seven QTPs and six QTMs can be modified by selection or cultivation.

Updating conventional soil maps by mining soil–environment relationships from individual soil polygons

Conventional soil maps contain valuable knowledge on soil–environment relationships.Such knowledge can be extracted for use when updating conventional soil maps with improved environmental data.Existing methods take all polygons of the same map unit on a map as a whole to extract the soil–environment relationship.Such approach ignores the difference in the environmental conditions represented by individual soil polygons of the same map unit.This paper proposes a method of mining soil–environment relationships from individual soil polygons to update conventional soil maps.The proposed method consists of three major steps.Firstly,the soil–environment relationships represented by each individual polygon on a conventional soil map are extracted in the form of frequency distribution curves for the involved environmental covariates.Secondly,for each environmental covariate,these frequency distribution curves from individual polygons of the same soil map unit are synthesized to form the overall soil–environment relationship for that soil map unit across the mapped area.And lastly,the extracted soil–environment relationships are applied to updating the conventional soil map with new,improved environmental data by adopting a soil land inference model(SoLIM)framework.This study applied the proposed method to updating a conventional soil map of the Raffelson watershed in La Crosse County,Wisconsin,United States.The result from the proposed method was compared with that from the previous method of taking all polygons within the same soil map unit on a map as a whole.Evaluation results with independent soil samples showed that the proposed method exhibited better performance and produced higher accuracy.

Groundwater ecological environment and the mapping of Asia

Based on the mapping of groundwater resources and environmental geology in China and its surrounding regions, Groundwater Ecological Environment Map of Asia is drawn to broadly reflect the ecological situation of Asian groundwater, categorize its ecological environment into three basic types and elaborate the research categories. This paper analyzes and summarizes the major characteristics and distribution regularities of the groundwater ecological environment of Asia to reveal the key related problem so as to provide a necessary reference for the construction and planning of One Belt and One Road.

Abrasive Wear Map of Polymer Tapes in Sand Dust Environment

To make clear the wear conditions of ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) tribosystem when servicing in Chi- nese sand dust environment, abrasive wear of two kinds of polymer tapes specified for ATM, PI (Polyimide) and PEN (Polyethylene-2, 6-naphthalenedicarboxylate), was investigated in simulated sand dust environment with ATM tape-scraper tribosystem under various conditions of loads and sliding distances. The surface profiles of worn tape were measured with a surface profiler in order to calculating the wear cross-section areas and the wear volumes. The specific wear rates of polymer tapes were calculated under load conditions of 0.6, 1 and 1.5 N, and wear mechanisms were in- vestigated with optical topography photos. As main results, the specific wear rates show stage variations in the wear process and the wear resistance of polymer tape shows good relationship with the mechanical deformation factors. In consideration of the service life, four wear models are generalized according to the magnitude of specific wear rates, which include no wear, mild wear, normal wear and severe wear model and the corresponding wear mechanisms for the four wear models are discussed with typical worn topographies. Based on the wear models and corresponding wear mechanisms, the abrasive wear maps of two polymer tapes servicing in sand dust environments are concluded for its industrial applications.

A novel class of two-dimensional chaotic maps with infinitely many coexisting attractors

We study a novel class of two-dimensional maps with infinitely many coexisting attractors.Firstly,the mathematical model of these maps is formulated by introducing a sinusoidal function.The existence and the stability of the fixed points in the model are studied indicating that they are infinitely many and all unstable.In particular,a computer searching program is employed to explore the chaotic attractors in these maps,and a simple map is exemplified to show their complex dynamics.Interestingly,this map contains infinitely many coexisting attractors which has been rarely reported in the literature.Further studies on these coexisting attractors are carried out by investigating their time histories,phase trajectories,basins of attraction,Lyapunov exponents spectrum,and Lyapunov(Kaplan–Yorke)dimension.Bifurcation analysis reveals that the map has periodic and chaotic solutions,and more importantly,exhibits extreme multi-stability.

Image encryption technique based on new two-dimensional fractional-order discrete chaotic map and Menezes–Vanstone elliptic curve cryptosystem

We propose a new fractional two-dimensional triangle function combination discrete chaotic map(2D-TFCDM)with the discrete fractional difference.Moreover,the chaos behaviors of the proposed map are observed and the bifurcation diagrams,the largest Lyapunov exponent plot,and the phase portraits are derived,respectively.Finally,with the secret keys generated by Menezes-Vanstone elliptic curve cryptosystem,we apply the discrete fractional map into color image encryption.After that,the image encryption algorithm is analyzed in four aspects and the result indicates that the proposed algorithm is more superior than the other algorithms.

A New Dynamic Self-Organizing Method for Mobile Robot Environment Mapping

To solve the mapping problem for the mobile robots in the unknown environment, a dynamic growing self-organizing map with growing-threshold tuning automatically algorithm (DGSOMGT) based on Self-organizing Map is proposed. It introduces a value of spread factor to describe the changing process of the growing threshold dynamically. The method realizes the network structure growing by training through mobile robot movement constantly in the unknown environment. The proposed algorithm is based on self-organizing map and can adjust the growing-threshold value by the number of network neurons increasing. It avoids tuning the parameters repeatedly by human. The experimental results show that the proposed method detects the complex environment quickly, effectively and correctly. The robot can realize environment mapping automatically. Compared with the other methods the proposed mapping strategy has better topological properties and time property.

Different people,different wild:Comparing and mapping wilderness representation in Wuyishan National Park,China

It is essential to better integrate wilderness representations of different stakeholders into wilderness conservation.The way in which local residents and other stakeholders frame the construction of wilderness of protected areas in developing countries are poorly understood.In these areas,land use policy and decision may lead to conflicts.This study aims to explore existing public wilderness representations using a questionnaire survey(n=514)administered amongst tourists and other stakeholders in the Wuyishan National Park,in southeast China.The spatial differences in public representations of wilderness across different stakeholder groups were compared against expert knowledge.We found that integrated wilderness representation maps of different stakeholder groups were consistent,namely'area where wild animals live','area with no human influence','a barren and lonely area'.However,three sub-representations of the individual stakeholders varied significantly.Moreover,expert-based wilderness mapping did not reflect public representations accurately,and an integrated wilder-ness quality map considering wilderness representations across both stakeholders and experts can better identify detailed wilderness areas.Our study provides new insights and technical support for future exploration of wilder-ness conservation and mapping in China and other countries with insufficient awareness of wilderness values and investigations in a regional scale.

Digital mapping in agriculture and environment

Global demand for soil data and information for maintaining and improving agricultural productivity and environmental health is soaring.The accurate and rapid digital maps of soil characteristics are of key importance for evaluation of soil fertility,precision management of crop inputs,estimation of carbon stocks,and modeling ecological responses as well as environmental threats.

Extremely hidden multi-stability in a class of two-dimensional maps with a cosine memristor

We present a class of two-dimensional memristive maps with a cosine memristor. The memristive maps do not have any fixed points, so they belong to the category of nonlinear maps with hidden attractors. The rich dynamical behaviors of these maps are studied and investigated using different numerical tools, including phase portrait, basins of attraction,bifurcation diagram, and Lyapunov exponents. The two-parameter bifurcation analysis of the memristive map is carried out to reveal the bifurcation mechanism of its dynamical behaviors. Based on our extensive simulation studies, the proposed memristive maps can produce hidden periodic, chaotic, and hyper-chaotic attractors, exhibiting extremely hidden multistability, namely the coexistence of infinite hidden attractors, which was rarely observed in memristive maps. Potentially,this work can be used for some real applications in secure communication, such as data and image encryptions.

Progress on the mapping of groundwater resources and environment in Asia

With the ever-accelerating economic and social growth in Asia,the sustainable development of environment,economy and society of Asia and beyond,is severely constrained by a series of grave issues,such as global climate change,population explosion,resource shortage,and rampant disasters.The need for study on groundwater resources and environment in Asia as part of the efforts to tackle global climate change looms even larger.In analyzing how global changes of modern times and human activities are related to primary geo-environment,the groundwater environment serial maps of Asia introduces a new concept for mapping geo-environment of Asia that connects the geological background to groundwater environment.The serial maps reveal the geographic environment that is closely related to groundwater,the special-temporal features of the geo-environment and how it is distributed.The study is vital not only to the harmonious development among environment,economy and society as well as ecological progress in Asia,but also to the strategic requirements posed by the'One Belt One Road'.

A class of two-dimensional rational maps with self-excited and hidden attractors

This paper studies a new class of two-dimensional rational maps exhibiting self-excited and hidden attractors. The mathematical model of these maps is firstly formulated by introducing a rational term. The analysis of existence and stability of the fixed points in these maps suggests that there are four types of fixed points, i.e., no fixed point, one single fixed point, two fixed points and a line of fixed points. To investigate the complex dynamics of these rational maps with different types of fixed points, numerical analysis tools, such as time histories, phase portraits, basins of attraction, Lyapunov exponent spectrum, Lyapunov(Kaplan–Yorke) dimension and bifurcation diagrams, are employed. Our extensive numerical simulations identify both self-excited and hidden attractors, which were rarely reported in the literature. Therefore, the multi-stability of these maps, especially the hidden one, is further explored in the present work.

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECO-ENVIRONMENT MAPPING IN HENAN,CHINA

The history is briefly looked back of natural resources and eec-environmental mapping in Henan Province. The main achievements are alsosummed up in following aspects: geographical mapping, soil mapping, land resource mapping, hydrothermal resource mapping, biological resource mapping, ecological mapping, design and compilation of natural resource and environment atlas, and study on cartographic theory and method. The basic characterristics are discussed, they include 1) extensive cartographic field and varied-type map; 2) resource and environment mapping being closely connected with resource investigation and environment research; 3) traditional cartographic method being dominant; 4) cooperation of cartographic researchers. Finally, the future tasks are proposed as follows: compiling a series of large-scale maps and renewing obsolete maps; dynamically monitoring and mapping of natural resource and environment system; mapping of eec-environment; and establishing information system of resource and environment.

Elaborating Spatiotemporal Associations Between the Built Environment and Urban Vibrancy:A Case of Guangzhou City,China

This study applies multi-source datasets(i.e.,Baidu Heat Map data,points of interest(POIs)data,and floor area and land use data)and geographically and temporally weighted regression(GTWR)models to elaborate the spatiotemporal relationships between the built environment and urban vibrancy on both weekdays and weekends,using Guangzhou City as a case.First,we verified the spatially and temporally nonstationary nature of the built environment correlates,which have been largely ignored in previous studies based on local regression techniques.The spatially and temporally heterogeneous effects of the built environment on urban vibrancy are then presented and visualized,based on the GTWR results.We found that the elasticity of location(i.e.,distance),land use mix(i.e.,diversity),building intensity and numbers of POIs with various functions(i.e.,density)are different across time(2-h intervals within a day)and space(grids),due to people’s everyday lifestyle,time-space constraints,and geographical context(e.g.,spatial structure).The findings highlight the importance of a better understanding of the local geography on the spatiotemporal relationships for urban planners and local governments so as to put forward decision-making support for fostering and maintaining urban vibrancy.

Robot SLAM with Ad hoc wireless network adapted to search and rescue environments

An innovative multi-robot simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM)is proposed based on a mobile Ad hoc local wireless sensor network(Ad-WSN).Multiple followed-robots equipped with the wireless link RS232/485module act as mobile nodes,with various on-board sensors,Tp-link wireless local area network cards,and Tp-link wireless routers.The master robot with embedded industrial PC and a complete robot control system autonomously performs the SLAM task by exchanging information with multiple followed-robots by using this self-organizing mobile wireless network.The PC on the remote console can monitor multi-robot SLAM on-site and provide direct motion control of the robots.This mobile Ad-WSN complements an environment devoid of usual GPS signals for the robots performing SLAM task in search and rescue environments.In post-disaster areas,the network is usually absent or variable and the site scene is cluttered with obstacles.To adapt to such harsh situations,the proposed self-organizing mobile Ad-WSN enables robots to complete the SLAM process while improving the performances of object of interest identification and exploration area coverage.The information of localization and mapping can communicate freely among multiple robots and remote PC control center via this mobile Ad-WSN.Therefore,the autonomous master robot runs SLAM algorithms while exchanging information with multiple followed-robots and with the remote PC control center via this local WSN environment.Simulations and experiments validate the improved performances of the exploration area coverage,object marked,and loop closure,which are adapted to search and rescue post-disaster cluttered environments.

A novel algorithm for SLAM in dynamic environments using landscape theory of aggregation

To tackle the problem of simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) in dynamic environments, a novel algorithm using landscape theory of aggregation is presented. By exploiting the coherent explanation how actors form alignments in a game provided by the landscape theory of aggregation, the algorithm is able to explicitly deal with the ever-changing relationship between the static objects and the moving objects without any prior models of the moving objects. The effectiveness of the method has been validated by experiments in two representative dynamic environments: the campus road and the urban road.

Variable refractive index in environment matte

Environment matting and compositing is a technique to extract a foreground object, including color, opacity, reflec- tive and refractive properties, from a real-world scene, and synthesize new images by placing it into new environments. The description of the captured object is named environment matte. Recent matting and compositing techniques can produce quite realistic images for objects with complex optical properties. This paper presents an approximate method to transform the matte by simulating variation of the foreground object’s refractive index. Our algorithms can deal with achromatous-and-transparent ob- jects and the experimental results are visually acceptable. Our idea and method can be applied to produce some special video effects, which could be very useful in film making, compared with the extreme difficulty of physically changing an object’s refractive index.

Development of a Bikeability Index to Assess the Bicycle-Friendliness of Urban Environments

Background: Cycling as a means of transport contributes to public health in terms of increasing the physical activity behaviour and reducing air pollution. In comparison to walking, cycling-spe cific environmental characteristics have been less investigated. The aim of this study was to develop, based on geographic information systems (GIS) data, a bikeability index for a mid-sized European city, to examine the predictive validity of the index and to visualize the bicycle-friendliness of the city by creating a bikeability map. Methods: Using GIS data, we assessed the environmental characteristics of 278 bicycle trips in the city of Graz, Austria. Characteristics which differed significantly between the actually taken and shortest possible routes were used to form an additive bikeability index and the bikeability map for 100 m × 100 m cells. The relationship between the cycling behaviour and the bikeability index around the home environment was examined to assess the predictive validity of the index. Results: Three environmental components (cycling infrastructure, bicycle pathways and green areas) were positively related, and two components (main roads, and topography) were negatively related to the actually used route. These components formed the bikeability index, which was positively correlated with cycling behaviour (OR: 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 - 1.17). The final outcome is a high-resolution coloured map indicating the degree of bicycle-friendliness in the city of Graz. Conclusion: Mapping based on the bikeability index helps to visualize the bicycle-friendliness of an urban area. Therefore, it should be a useful tool for the planning as well as for the evaluation of the transport environments in cities.