Sign in to use this feature.

Years

Between: -

Subjects

remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline

Journals

Article Types

Countries / Regions

Search Results (182)

Search Parameters:
Keywords = adaptive filter window

Order results
Result details
Results per page
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
30 pages, 1713 KB  
Article
Safe-Calibrated TCN–Transformer Transfer Learning for Reliable Battery SoH Estimation Under Lab-to-Field Domain Shift
by Kumbirayi Nyachionjeka and Ehab H. E. Bayoumi
World Electr. Veh. J. 2026, 17(3), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj17030149 - 17 Mar 2026
Abstract
Battery state-of-health (SoH) estimation is central to transportation electrification because it conditions safety limits, warranty accounting, power capability management, and long-horizon fleet optimization. Although deep temporal architectures can achieve high laboratory accuracy, field deployment is frequently limited by laboratory (Lab)-to-field (L2F) domain shift [...] Read more.
Battery state-of-health (SoH) estimation is central to transportation electrification because it conditions safety limits, warranty accounting, power capability management, and long-horizon fleet optimization. Although deep temporal architectures can achieve high laboratory accuracy, field deployment is frequently limited by laboratory (Lab)-to-field (L2F) domain shift that alters input statistics, feature definitions, and noise regimes. Under such a shift, predictors may remain strongly monotonic, preserving degradation ordering and become operationally unreliable due to systematic output distortion (e.g., compression/warping of the SoH scale). A deployment-complete L2F transfer learning pipeline is presented, built around a gated Temporal Convolutional Network (TCN)–Transformer fusion backbone, domain-specific adapters and heads, alignment-regularized fine-tuning, and row-level inference via sliding-window overlap averaging. To address the dominant deployment failure mode, a Safe Calibration stage robustly filters calibration pairs and selects among candidate calibrators under a strict do-no-harm criterion. On an unseen deployment stream (2154 labeled rows), overlap-averaged raw inference achieves MAE = 0.0439, RMSE = 0.0501, and R2 = 0.7451, consistent with mid-to-high SoH range compression, while Safe Calibration (Isotonic-Balanced selected) corrects nonlinear scaling without violating monotonic structure, improving to MAE = 0.0188, RMSE = 0.0252, and R2 = 0.9357 to obtain a complete understanding of the challenges due to domain shifts, evaluation is extended to include other architecture baselines such as TCN-only, Transformer-only, Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU), and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and a Ridge regression baseline. Also added is explicit alignment and calibration ablations that include CORAL off/on, that is, none vs. Safe-Global vs. Context-Aware under identical leakage-safe splits and the same overlap-averaged deployment inference operator. This work goes beyond peak-score reporting and looks at the robustness of a pipeline under domain shift, which is quantified across four random seeds and multiple deployment streams, with uncertainty summarized via mean ± std and bootstrap confidence intervals for Mean of Absolute value of Errors (MAE)/Root of the Mean of the Square of Errors (RMSE) computed from per-example absolute errors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Storage Systems)
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1694 KB  
Article
Tool-Health Digital Twin for CNC Predictive Maintenance via Innovation-Adaptive Sensor Fusion and Uncertainty-Aware Prognostics
by Zhuming Cao, Lihua Chen, Chunhui Li, Laifa Zhu and Zhengjian Deng
Machines 2026, 14(3), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines14030335 - 16 Mar 2026
Abstract
A tool-health digital twin for CNC predictive maintenance is developed and operationalised as a fusion-and-state-estimation core that produces a latent tool-health trajectory (wear level and wear-rate dynamics) from multi-rate sensor streams for diagnosis and remaining useful life (RUL) forecasting under strict edge latency [...] Read more.
A tool-health digital twin for CNC predictive maintenance is developed and operationalised as a fusion-and-state-estimation core that produces a latent tool-health trajectory (wear level and wear-rate dynamics) from multi-rate sensor streams for diagnosis and remaining useful life (RUL) forecasting under strict edge latency constraints. The scope is tool-health–informed maintenance decisions (condition-based tool replacement/scheduling), rather than a comprehensive maintenance twin for all CNC subsystems. Multi-rate vibration, spindle-current, and temperature signals are synchronized and windowed, and a linear state-space model with Kalman filtering and innovation-guided adaptive noise estimation stabilizes the latent health state across operating-regime changes. The fused state is then used by compact sequence learners, an LSTM for edge feasibility, and a compact Transformer as a higher-accuracy comparison, to output fault categories and RUL estimates. Predictive uncertainty is quantified via a Monte Carlo dropout and linked to reliability-aware actions through a simple alarm/defer/schedule policy, while SHAP provides feature-level interpretability. On a CNC testbed, fusion improves fault F1 from 0.811 to 0.892 and PR-AUC from 0.867 to 0.918 while reducing RUL RMSE from 10.4 to 8.1 cycles; the compact Transformer reaches 0.903 F1 and 7.9-cycle RMSE at higher inference time. The end-to-end pipeline remains within a ≤100 ms breakdown, maintains in-band innovation statistics, supports rehearsal-based updates under drift, and is additionally evaluated on external tool-wear and turbofan datasets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Advanced Manufacturing)
Show Figures

Figure 1

34 pages, 7227 KB  
Article
Real-Time Sand Transport Detection in an Offshore Hydrocarbon Well Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing-Based VSP Technology: Field Data Analysis and Operational Insights
by Dejen Teklu Asfha, Abdul Halim Abdul Latiff, Hassan Soleimani, Abdul Rahim Md Arshad, Alidu Rashid, Ida Bagus Suananda Yogi, Daniel Asante Otchere, Ahmed Mousa and Rifqi Roid Dhiaulhaq
Technologies 2026, 14(3), 175; https://doi.org/10.3390/technologies14030175 - 13 Mar 2026
Viewed by 130
Abstract
Sand production in an offshore hydrocarbon wells poses significant operational and integrity challenges, particularly in deviated wells, where complex flow geometries intensify particle transport and erosion risks. The traditional sand-monitoring method utilizes stationary acoustic sensors attached to the production flowline at the surface. [...] Read more.
Sand production in an offshore hydrocarbon wells poses significant operational and integrity challenges, particularly in deviated wells, where complex flow geometries intensify particle transport and erosion risks. The traditional sand-monitoring method utilizes stationary acoustic sensors attached to the production flowline at the surface. However, these sensors provide limited spatial coverage and intermittent measurements, restricting their ability to detect early sanding onset or precisely localize sanding intervals. By combining with vertical seismic profiling (VSP), Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) delivers continuous, high-density data along the entire length of the wellbore and is increasingly recognized as a powerful diagnostic tool for real-time downhole monitoring. This study presents a field application of DAS-VSP for detecting and characterizing sand transport in a deviated offshore production well equipped with 350 distributed fiber-optic channels spanning 0–1983 m true vertical depth (TVD) at 8 m spacing. A multistage workflow was developed, including SEGY ingestion and shot merging, channel and time window selection, trace normalization, and low-pass filtering below 20 Hz. Multi-domain signal analysis, such as RMS energy, spike-based time-domain attributes, FFT, PSD spectral characterization, and time–frequency decomposition, were used to isolate the characteristic im-pulsive low-frequency (<20 Hz) signatures associated with sand impact. An adaptive thresholding and event-clustering scheme was then applied to discriminate sanding bursts from background noise and integrate their acoustic energy over depth. The processed DAS section revealed distinct, depth-localized sand ingress zones within the production interval (1136–1909 m TVD). The derived sand log provided a quantitative measure of sand intensity variations along the deviated wellbore, with normalized RMS amplitudes ranging from 0.039 to 1.000 a.u., a mean value of 0.235 a.u., and 137 analyzed channels within the production interval. These results indicate that sand production is highly clustered within discrete depth intervals, offering new insights into sand–fluid interactions during steady-state flow. Overall, the findings confirm that DAS-VSP enables continuous real-time monitoring of the sanding behavior with a far greater depth resolution than conventional tools. This approach supports proactive sand management strategies, enhances well-integrity decision-making, and underscores the potential of DAS to evolve into a standard surveillance technology for hydrocarbon production wells. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

31 pages, 7577 KB  
Article
A Zero-Interaction, Cloud-Free Remote ECG Monitoring and Arrhythmia Screening System Using Handheld Leads and Email Transmission
by Wenjie Feng, Lingjun Meng, Tianxiang Yang, Hong Jin, Xinhao Liu and Pan Pei
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 2640; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062640 - 10 Mar 2026
Viewed by 213
Abstract
To address the challenges of complex operation, high server deployment costs, and insufficient automated identification capabilities in community-based centralized electrocardiogram (ECG) screening, a novel arrhythmia screening system based on handheld ECG leads and email transmission is proposed. The system is operated in a [...] Read more.
To address the challenges of complex operation, high server deployment costs, and insufficient automated identification capabilities in community-based centralized electrocardiogram (ECG) screening, a novel arrhythmia screening system based on handheld ECG leads and email transmission is proposed. The system is operated in a zero-interaction mode: ECG acquisition is initiated automatically upon skin contact with the electrodes, and upon completion, the ECG signal is automatically analyzed and the email transmission function is triggered—no user intervention being required. First, noise in the ECG signal is effectively suppressed by cascading a zero-phase high-pass filter with a sliding window and a zero-crossing-rate (ZCR) guided adaptive wavelet thresholding technique. Subsequently, RR interval sequences are extracted from the denoised signals and fed into a lightweight bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) network for automatic arrhythmia detection. In the final step, a 30 s standard ECG, screening status, and acquired image are automatically delivered to clinicians via standard IMAP/SMTP email protocols—eliminating the need for dedicated mobile applications or cloud platforms. Experimental results demonstrated that the relative signal-to-noise ratio (SNRECG) was improved by 2.36 dB. On the independent test set, a sensitivity of 97.98%, a specificity of 98.21%, and an AUC of 0.994 were achieved. Furthermore, an end-to-end email transmission latency of less than 7.68 s was recorded. These findings confirm the potential of the proposed system as a low-cost, easily deployable, and elderly-friendly remote ECG solution for primary healthcare settings. Finally, in a pilot screening involving 10 volunteers, one case of arrhythmia was successfully identified, which validated the feasibility of the system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Topic Electronic Communications, IOT and Big Data, 2nd Volume)
Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 4170 KB  
Article
Real-Time Vibration Energy Prediction for Semi-Active Suspensions Using Inertial Sensors: A Physics-Guided Deep Learning Approach
by Jian Cheng, Fanhua Qin, Leyao Wang and Ruijuan Chi
Sensors 2026, 26(5), 1695; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26051695 - 7 Mar 2026
Viewed by 189
Abstract
Response latency and sensor noise are universal challenges in closed-loop control systems. In the context of semi-active suspensions, these issues also exist and manifest as critical bottlenecks. Due to the highly transient nature of road shocks, the inherent physical actuation delays of the [...] Read more.
Response latency and sensor noise are universal challenges in closed-loop control systems. In the context of semi-active suspensions, these issues also exist and manifest as critical bottlenecks. Due to the highly transient nature of road shocks, the inherent physical actuation delays of the hardware, combined with the phase lag introduced by traditional signal filtering, often cause the control response to significantly lag behind the physical excitation. To address this issue from a predictive perspective, this study proposes a Physics-Informed Gated Convolutional Neural Network (PI-GCNN) designed to predict future multi-modal energy evolution, thereby enabling feedforward control. Unlike traditional feedback mechanisms, the proposed framework employs the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) to convert short-horizon inertial data into time–frequency scalograms, effectively isolating transient shock features from background vibrations. A novel physics-guided gating mechanism is embedded within the network architecture to regulate feature activation. This mechanism is trained using an asymmetric sparse physics loss, which combines L1 regularization with adaptive spectral consistency constraints to enforce noise suppression on flat roads while ensuring sensitivity to impacts. Extensive validation was conducted using high-fidelity heavy truck simulations and the public PVS 9 real-world dataset. The results confirm that the PI-GCNN achieves a predictive phase lead of approximately 100–200 ms over real-time baselines, creating a valuable actuation window for suspension dampers. Furthermore, the model demonstrates exceptional computational efficiency, with a parameter count of 0.10 M and a single-frame inference latency of 0.25 ms, making it highly suitable for deployment on resource-constrained automotive edge computing platforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 1932 KB  
Article
Non-Contact Heart Rate Estimation via Higher Harmonic Analysis Using 24-GHz Doppler Radar: Validation in Humans and Anesthetized Cat
by Huu-Son Nguyen, Masaki Kurosawa, Koichiro Ishibashi, Ryou Tanaka, Cong-Kha Pham and Guanghao Sun
Signals 2026, 7(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/signals7020024 - 4 Mar 2026
Viewed by 230
Abstract
This study presents a harmonic-based method for non-contact heart rate (HR) estimation from continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radar signals, validated across multiple species including humans and small animals (cat). Traditional frequency-domain methods struggle when the HR fundamental frequency is weak or overlaps with respiratory [...] Read more.
This study presents a harmonic-based method for non-contact heart rate (HR) estimation from continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radar signals, validated across multiple species including humans and small animals (cat). Traditional frequency-domain methods struggle when the HR fundamental frequency is weak or overlaps with respiratory components. The proposed approach addresses this by identifying three higher-order HR harmonics (2nd, 3rd, and 4th) then reconstructing the HR fundamental frequency from their integer ratios (3/2, 4/3, 2/1). The algorithm processes 20-s sliding windows (1-s overlap) using bandpass filtering to remove respiratory components and HR fundamental while preserving higher harmonics, followed by Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis. When a complete harmonic set cannot be found, the proposed algorithm switches to harmonic pair detection, enhancing robustness when one harmonic is absent or attenuated. Besides, an adaptive tolerance mechanism enables detection under non-ideal conditions. The method was validated using a public human dataset and an experimental cat dataset with varied positions (supine/prone) and anesthesia levels (1–3% isoflurane). For humans, the algorithm achieved HR Accuracy consistently above 98% with an average RMSE of 1.33 bpm (MAPE: 1.29%, MAE: 0.86 bpm) and Bland-Altman bias below 0.9 bpm. For the cat dataset, performance was even better with HR Accuracy remaining above 99%, an average RMSE of 0.39 bpm (MAPE: 0.22%, MAE: 0.30 bpm), and bias below 0.14 bpm. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 1175 KB  
Article
Facial Expression Recognition Integrating Multi-Stage Feature Sparse Constraints and Key Region Graph Learning
by Guanghui Xu, Yan Hong, Wanli Zhao, Zhongjie Mao, Duantengchuan Li and Yue Li
Information 2026, 17(3), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/info17030246 - 2 Mar 2026
Viewed by 191
Abstract
Current Facial expression recognition methods typically extract facial features indiscriminately, incorporating expression-irrelevant information that compromises recognition accuracy. To overcome this, we propose Multi-stage Feature Sparse Constraints (MFSC), a novel model that integrates a Multi-scale Attention-based Sparse Window Selection (MSAWS) mechanism with key region [...] Read more.
Current Facial expression recognition methods typically extract facial features indiscriminately, incorporating expression-irrelevant information that compromises recognition accuracy. To overcome this, we propose Multi-stage Feature Sparse Constraints (MFSC), a novel model that integrates a Multi-scale Attention-based Sparse Window Selection (MSAWS) mechanism with key region graph learning. Notably, MFSC operates without dependence on pre-extracted facial landmarks, enabling more flexible deployment. The MSAWS mechanism progressively filters redundant features through multi-stage sparse attention, adaptively selecting the most discriminative facial patches. The selected tokens are structured into a dynamic graph to model regional relationships via graph neural networks (GNNs). Critically, our framework further introduces a global-guided fusion module, which effectively integrates fine-grained local features from an IR50 backbone with the global topological features from the GNN through cross-attention. This integration enables complementary strengths, where local details are enhanced by global semantic context. Comprehensive experiments on RAF-DB, FER2013, and AffectNet-7 datasets demonstrate MFSC’s superior performance, achieving state-of-the-art accuracy of 92.31%, 76.21%, and 67.35%, respectively. These results validate the effectiveness of our approach in focusing computational resources on expression-salient regions while maintaining a lightweight and efficient architecture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence)
Show Figures

Figure 1

47 pages, 6821 KB  
Article
Prediction and Validation of Phase II Glucuronide Conjugates in Urine Using Combined Non-Targeted and Targeted LC–HRMS/MS Workflows and Their Validation for over 200 Drugs
by Camila Bardy, Luis Manuel Menéndez-Quintanal, Gemma Montalvo, Carmen García-Ruiz, Begoña Bravo Serrano and Jose Manuel Matey
Analytica 2026, 7(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/analytica7010018 - 26 Feb 2026
Viewed by 458
Abstract
High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) enables non-targeted detection of drugs and metabolites in complex matrices. Phase II metabolites—especially glucuronides—are often the only detectable biomarkers in late or postmortem samples but are underrepresented in commercial libraries. This work pursued the prediction of phase II-glucuronide conjugates [...] Read more.
High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) enables non-targeted detection of drugs and metabolites in complex matrices. Phase II metabolites—especially glucuronides—are often the only detectable biomarkers in late or postmortem samples but are underrepresented in commercial libraries. This work pursued the prediction of phase II-glucuronide conjugates in diluted urine samples by non-targeted/targeted LC-HRMS workflows. A simply “dilute-and-shoot” qualitative UHPLC-HRMS/MS method (Q Exactive HF, ddMS2) was integrated with Compound Discoverer® software for data processing. The workflow incorporated predictive strategies such as exact mass suspect lists, Structured Query Language (SQL)-based filters, compound-class and diagnostic neutral-loss rules (including the characteristic loss of 176.0321 Da for glucuronides) and MS/MS confirmation using both in-house and public spectral libraries. An additional part of the application’s performance assessment involved its validation for diluted urine sample. A qualitative validated method for more than two hundred drugs in urine samples was performed, including the method’s selectivity/specificity, limit of identification, matrix effects, and potential carryover. Most analytes fulfilled the qualitative acceptance criteria, with more than 60% successfully identified at a concentration of at least 2.5 ng/mL. Matrix effects were within acceptable limits for most compounds, and no severe ion suppression was observed. A non-targeted workflow was applied to real forensic samples (n = 16), allowing a reduction of approximately 66,800 detected features to 225 glucuronide candidates, while a targeted workflow based on exact mass lists yielded 31 high-confidence identifications. Characteristic neutral losses and diagnostic fragment ions led to the tentative identification of some glucuronide phase II metabolites such as mirtazapine–glucuronide, morphine-6–glucuronide, and glucuronide conjugates of benzodiazepines and synthetic opioids. In conclusion, the integration of biotransformation knowledge with HRMS-based predictive filtering allows for the efficient and hydrolysis-free detection of glucuronide metabolites, thereby extending detection windows and enhancing toxicological interpretation in complex forensic scenarios. This adaptable and library-independent workflow also facilitates retrospective data mining, making it suitable for the identification of emerging substances and newly characterized metabolites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Analytical Techniques and Methods in Pharmaceutical Science)
Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 9927 KB  
Article
A Combined Error-Compensation and Adaptive Third-Order PLL Demodulation Method for TMR-Based Magnetic Encoders
by Yue Xin, Jia Cui, Haifeng Wei and Li Lui
Electronics 2026, 15(4), 860; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics15040860 - 18 Feb 2026
Viewed by 265
Abstract
TMR-based magnetic encoders provide sensitive SIN/COS signals, but practical accuracy is degraded by channel mismatch and decoder dynamics. This study evaluates an end-to-end embedded implementation on a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) bench. We consider amplitude mismatch, quadrature non-orthogonality, and harmonic/noise disturbances in [...] Read more.
TMR-based magnetic encoders provide sensitive SIN/COS signals, but practical accuracy is degraded by channel mismatch and decoder dynamics. This study evaluates an end-to-end embedded implementation on a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) bench. We consider amplitude mismatch, quadrature non-orthogonality, and harmonic/noise disturbances in the measured differential channels. We implement a lightweight compensation chain, including fixed-window moving-average filtering, min–max amplitude normalization, and correlation-based quadrature identification with sample-shift correction. We then compare four demodulation configurations under identical sampling and reference alignment to a 24-bit encoder: (A0) conventional second-order PLL (phase locked loop), (A1) compensation + open-loop atan2, (A2) compensation + fixed-ωn third-order PLL, and (A3) compensation + adaptive-ωn third-order PLL. Experiments with a TMR3081 sensor and an STM32 controller show clear differences among A0–A3. In steady operation, A3 removes the DC bias observed with A0 and keeps the angle error within approximately ±0.3° in the evaluated steady window. During commutation and ramp-like segments, PLL-based tracking (A0/A2/A3) is more robust than open-loop atan2 (A1), and bandwidth adaptation in A3 improves the acquisition–noise trade-off within the preset ωn bounds. These results are reported for this prototype and the tested parameter settings. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 4637 KB  
Article
An Approach for Spectrum Extraction Based on Canny Operator-Enabled Adaptive Edge Extraction and Centroid Localization
by Ao Li, Xinlan Ge, Zeyu Gao, Qiang Yuan, Yong Chen, Chao Yang, Licheng Zhu, Shiqing Ma, Shuai Wang and Ping Yang
Photonics 2026, 13(2), 169; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics13020169 - 10 Feb 2026
Viewed by 266
Abstract
In adaptive optics systems, high spatial resolution detection is a core prerequisite for achieving accurate wavefront correction. High spatial resolution wavefront measurement based on the traditional Shack-Hartmann technique is limited by the density of the microlens array. In contrast, off-axis digital holography technology [...] Read more.
In adaptive optics systems, high spatial resolution detection is a core prerequisite for achieving accurate wavefront correction. High spatial resolution wavefront measurement based on the traditional Shack-Hartmann technique is limited by the density of the microlens array. In contrast, off-axis digital holography technology is applied in wavefront measurement systems of adaptive optics systems due to its advantages of high spatial resolution, non-contact measurement, and full-field measurement. However, during the demodulation of its interference fringes, the accurate extraction of the complex amplitude of the +1st-order diffraction order directly determines the precision of wavefront reconstruction. Traditional frequency-domain filtering methods suffer from drawbacks such as reliance on manual threshold setting, poor adaptability to irregular spectra, and localization deviations caused by multi-region interference, making it difficult to meet the dynamic application requirements of adaptive optics. To address these issues, this study proposes a spectrum extraction method based on the Canny operator for adaptive edge extraction and centroid localization. The method first locks the rough range of the +1st-order spectrum through multi-stage peak screening, then achieves complete segmentation of spectrum spots by combining adaptive histogram equalization with edge closing and filling, resolves centroid indexing errors via maximum connected component screening, and ultimately accomplishes accurate extraction through Gaussian window filtering. Simulation experimental results show that, in comparison with two classical spectrum filtering methods, the centroid estimation error of the proposed method remains below 0.245 pixels under different noise intensity conditions. Moreover, the root mean square error of the residual wavefront corresponding to the reconstructed wavefront of the proposed method is reduced by 89.0% and 87.2% compared with those of the two classical methods, respectively. We further carried out measurement experiments based on a self-developed atmospheric turbulence test bench. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits higher-precision spectral centroid localization capability, which provides a reliable technical support for the high-precision measurement of dynamic distortion induced by atmospheric turbulence. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

37 pages, 36191 KB  
Article
A Density-Guided and Residual-Feedback Denoising Method for Building Height Estimation from ICESat-2/ATLAS Data
by Pingbo Hu, Yichen Wang, Hanqi Chen, Yanan Liu and Xiulin Liu
Remote Sens. 2026, 18(4), 540; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18040540 - 8 Feb 2026
Viewed by 263
Abstract
Building height is a critical parameter for urban analysis, yet accurately estimating it from ICESat-2 photon-counting LiDAR data remains challenging due to pervasive noise photons and uneven noise distribution. To address the limitations of fixed-threshold denoising methods and improve adaptability across varying density [...] Read more.
Building height is a critical parameter for urban analysis, yet accurately estimating it from ICESat-2 photon-counting LiDAR data remains challenging due to pervasive noise photons and uneven noise distribution. To address the limitations of fixed-threshold denoising methods and improve adaptability across varying density conditions, this study proposes a dual-stage denoising framework for ICESat-2 ATL03 photon data. In the first stage, local photon densities are estimated within a reliable radius, log-transformed, and stratified into multiple levels. Adaptive thresholds are then applied at each level to suppress low-density noise while minimizing over-filtering in sparse regions. In the second stage, residual feedback-driven adaptive fitting strategy is applied along the ground track, where polynomial fitting was performed in sliding windows, with the window size dynamically adjusted based on residuals to refine local structures and eliminate outliers. The experiment was conducted in South Holland and Friesland, across 84 ICESat-2 tracks, where quantitative evaluations under varying day/night and beam conditions confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed framework. For denoising, the proposed method achieved high denoising accuracy, with F1-scores exceeding 0.97 in most cases, outperforming previous methods. Furthermore, building heights derived from footprint buffering and elevation differencing are validated against airborne LiDAR, yielding coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.7235 and 0.9487 for the two regions, with root mean square error (RMSE) values of 1.5045 m and 1.8849 m, respectively. This study confirms the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed dual-stage framework, demonstrating its strong capability for both noise suppression in ICESat-2 ATL03 photon data and the subsequent accurate estimation of building heights. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 4222 KB  
Article
Robust INS/GNSS/DVL Integrated Navigation for MASS Based on Gradient-Adaptive Factor Graph Optimization
by Muzhuang Guo, Baoyuan Wang, Lai Wei, Min Zhang, Chuang Zhang and Hongrui Lu
Electronics 2026, 15(3), 634; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics15030634 - 2 Feb 2026
Viewed by 305
Abstract
The escalating development of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) has imposed rigorous demands on the precision, continuity, and resilience of onboard integrated navigation systems. However, in complicated marine settings, data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) are [...] Read more.
The escalating development of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) has imposed rigorous demands on the precision, continuity, and resilience of onboard integrated navigation systems. However, in complicated marine settings, data from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) are frequently corrupted by multipath effects and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) interference. These disturbances introduce anomalous observations that violate Gaussian noise assumptions, thereby severely deteriorating the robustness and estimation quality of traditional sliding-window factor graph optimization (SW-FGO). To mitigate this problem, this study introduces a novel integrated navigation strategy termed gradient-adaptive factor graph optimization (GA-FGO). By designing a gradient-adaptive robust objective function within the factor graph structure, the proposed method dynamically re-weights constraints from the inertial navigation system (INS), GNSS, and DVL. This mechanism adequately suppresses the influence of measurement outliers at the optimization level. Furthermore, a unified solution framework utilizing iterative reweighted least squares (IRLS) and the Gauss–Newton method is established to simultaneously perform adaptive weight updates and state estimation. Validation was based on offline field data benchmarked against the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), and standard SW-FGO. The simulation results demonstrated that the GA-FGO algorithm achieves superior positioning accuracy and estimation stability under realistic measurement conditions. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 7458 KB  
Article
A Safe Maritime Path Planning Fusion Algorithm for USVs Based on Reinforcement Learning A* and LSTM-Enhanced DWA
by Zhenxing Zhang, Qiujie Wang, Xiaohui Wang and Mingkun Feng
Sensors 2026, 26(3), 776; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26030776 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 273
Abstract
In complex maritime environments, the safety of path planning for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) remains a significant challenge. Existing methods for handling dynamic obstacles often suffer from inadequate predictability and generate non-smooth trajectories. To address these issues, this paper proposes a reliable hybrid [...] Read more.
In complex maritime environments, the safety of path planning for Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) remains a significant challenge. Existing methods for handling dynamic obstacles often suffer from inadequate predictability and generate non-smooth trajectories. To address these issues, this paper proposes a reliable hybrid path planning approach that integrates a reinforcement learning-enhanced A* algorithm with an improved Dynamic Window Approach (DWA). Specifically, the A* algorithm is augmented by incorporating a dynamic five-neighborhood search mechanism, a reinforcement learning-based adaptive weighting strategy, and a path post-optimization procedure. These enhancements collectively shorten the path length and significantly improve trajectory smoothness. While ensuring that the global path avoids dynamic obstacles smoothly, a Kalman Filter (KF) is integrated into the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to preprocess historical data. This mechanism suppresses transient outliers and stabilizes the trajectory prediction of dynamic obstacles. Moreover, the evaluation function of the DWA is refined by incorporating the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) constraints, enabling compliant navigation behaviors. Simulation results in MATLAB demonstrate that the enhanced A* algorithm better conforms to the kinematic model of the USVs. The improved DWA significantly reduces collision risks, thereby ensuring safer navigation in dynamic marine environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Navigation and Positioning)
Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 7304 KB  
Article
Adaptive Trajectory-Constrained Heading Estimation for Tractor GNSS/SINS Integrated Navigation
by Shupeng Hu, Song Chen, Lihui Wang, Zhijun Meng, Weiqiang Fu, Yaxin Ren, Cunjun Li and Hao Wang
Sensors 2026, 26(2), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26020595 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 425
Abstract
Accurate heading estimation is crucial for the autonomous navigation of small-to-medium tractors. While dual-antenna GNSS systems offer precision, they face installation and safety challenges. Single-antenna GNSS integrated with a low-cost Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS) presents a more adaptable solution but suffers from [...] Read more.
Accurate heading estimation is crucial for the autonomous navigation of small-to-medium tractors. While dual-antenna GNSS systems offer precision, they face installation and safety challenges. Single-antenna GNSS integrated with a low-cost Strapdown Inertial Navigation System (SINS) presents a more adaptable solution but suffers from slow convergence and low accuracy of heading estimation in low-speed farmland operations. This study proposes an adaptive trajectory-constrained heading estimation method. A sliding-window adaptive extended Kalman filter (SWAEKF) was developed, incorporating a heading constraint model that utilizes the GNSS-derived trajectory angle. An enhanced Sage–Husa algorithm was employed for the adaptive estimation of the trajectory angle measurement variance. Furthermore, a covariance initialization strategy based on the variance of trajectory angle increments was implemented to accelerate convergence. Field tests demonstrated that the proposed method achieved rapid heading convergence (less than 10 s for straight lines and 14 s for curves) and high accuracy (RMS heading error below 0.15° for straight-line tracking and 0.25° for curved paths). Compared to a conventional adaptive EKF, the SWAEKF improved accuracy by 23% and reduced convergence time by 62%. The proposed algorithm effectively enhances the performance of GNSS/SINS integrated navigation for tractors in low-dynamic environments, meeting the requirements for autonomous navigation systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Navigation and Positioning)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1419 KB  
Review
How the Vestibular Labyrinth Encodes Air-Conducted Sound: From Pressure Waves to Jerk-Sensitive Afferent Pathways
by Leonardo Manzari
J. Otorhinolaryngol. Hear. Balance Med. 2026, 7(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/ohbm7010005 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 705
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The vestibular labyrinth is classically viewed as a sensor of low-frequency head motion—linear acceleration for the otoliths and angular velocity/acceleration for the semicircular canals. However, there is now substantial evidence that air-conducted sound (ACS) can also activate vestibular receptors and afferents in [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The vestibular labyrinth is classically viewed as a sensor of low-frequency head motion—linear acceleration for the otoliths and angular velocity/acceleration for the semicircular canals. However, there is now substantial evidence that air-conducted sound (ACS) can also activate vestibular receptors and afferents in mammals and other vertebrates. This sound sensitivity underlies sound-evoked vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs), sound-induced eye movements, and several clinical phenomena in third-window pathologies. The cellular and biophysical mechanisms by which a pressure wave in the cochlear fluids is transformed into a vestibular neural signal remain incompletely integrated into a single framework. This study aimed to provide a narrative synthesis of how ACS activates the vestibular labyrinth, with emphasis on (1) the anatomical and biophysical specializations of the maculae and cristae, (2) the dual-channel organization of vestibular hair cells and afferents, and (3) the encoding of fast, jerk-rich acoustic transients by irregular, striolar/central afferents. Methods: We integrate experimental evidence from single-unit recordings in animals, in vitro hair cell and calyx physiology, anatomical studies of macular structure, and human clinical data on sound-evoked VEMPs and sound-induced eye movements. Key concepts from vestibular cellular neurophysiology and from the physics of sinusoidal motion (displacement, velocity, acceleration, jerk) are combined into a unified interpretative scheme. Results: ACS transmitted through the middle ear generates pressure waves in the perilymph and endolymph not only in the cochlea but also in vestibular compartments. These waves produce local fluid particle motions and pressure gradients that can deflect hair bundles in selected regions of the otolith maculae and canal cristae. Irregular afferents innervating type I hair cells in the striola (maculae) and central zones (cristae) exhibit phase locking to ACS up to at least 1–2 kHz, with much lower thresholds than regular afferents. Cellular and synaptic specializations—transducer adaptation, low-voltage-activated K+ conductances (KLV), fast quantal and non-quantal transmission, and afferent spike-generator properties—implement effective high-pass filtering and phase lead, making these pathways particularly sensitive to rapid changes in acceleration, i.e., mechanical jerk, rather than to slowly varying displacement or acceleration. Clinically, short-rise-time ACS stimuli (clicks and brief tone bursts) elicit robust cervical and ocular VEMPs with clear thresholds and input–output relationships, reflecting the recruitment of these jerk-sensitive utricular and saccular pathways. Sound-induced eye movements and nystagmus in third-window syndromes similarly reflect abnormally enhanced access of ACS-generated pressure waves to canal and otolith receptors. Conclusions: The vestibular labyrinth does not merely “tolerate” air-conducted sound as a spill-over from cochlear mechanics; it contains a dedicated high-frequency, transient-sensitive channel—dominated by type I hair cells and irregular afferents—that is well suited to encoding jerk-rich acoustic events. We propose that ACS-evoked vestibular responses, including VEMPs, are best interpreted within a dual-channel framework in which (1) regular, extrastriolar/peripheral pathways encode sustained head motion and low-frequency acceleration, while (2) irregular, striolar/central pathways encode fast, sound-driven transients distinguished by high jerk, steep onset, and precise spike timing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Otology and Neurotology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop