Spatial Thinking Across the College Curriculum: A Report on a Specialist Meeting

This report presents findings from a specialist meeting of spatially-minded researchers and administrators from education and industry to consider prospects for introducing courses and curricula on spatial thinking in higher education. More than 40 participants explored the rationale for expanding student exposure to concepts, tools, and applications of spatial reasoning across a range of science, engineering, and humanities disciplines. The focus was on what we know and what we need to know to make the case for space, underscoring basic research on what is meant by spatial thinking and on variations in the spatial reasoning skills required in different domains of knowledge. The need for rigorous assessments of learning outcomes associated with different approaches to teaching spatial thinking was emphasized.     

基于自适应深度网络的无人机目标跟踪算法

针对无人机（UAV）视频中目标易受到遮挡、形变、复杂背景干扰等问题，提出一种基于自适应深度网络的无人机目标跟踪算法。首先，基于主成分分析（PCA）和卷积神经网络（CNN）算法，设计3阶的自适应深度网络进行目标特征提取，该网络对图像的H、S、I通道分别进行主成分分析学习，将得到的特征向量输入网络进行分层卷积，优化了网络结构，提高了网络的收敛速度和精度。其次，将目标深度特征输入核相关滤波算法进行目标跟踪，通过分析相邻2帧图像的变化率，采用分段自适应调整学习率的算法进行目标模板更新，有效地改善目标遮挡问题。仿真实验结果表明，该算法有效地避免了复杂因素干扰导致的跟踪精度下降，具有较好的鲁棒性，相较于全卷积跟踪（FCNT）算法平均跟踪精度提高了9.62%，平均跟踪成功率提高了11.9%。     

Route generation and description using the notions of object's influence area and spatial conceptual map

In the GRAAD Project we aimed at creatinga system which could generate route directions thatare comparable to route directions created by humanparticipants. With this goal in mind, we started froma linguistic and cognitive study of route directionsproduced by people and the study of cognitive modelsof mental maps. We proposed a new qualitative spatialmodel that can support the spatial properties of humanroute directions. This model is based on the notion ofobject's influence area which is used to modelneighborhood, orientation and distance. The proposedapproach relies on the manipulation of spatialentities in a spatial conceptual map (SCM) which isthe computarized analog of a mental map used bypeople. We developped the GRAAD System, software thatgenerates routes in a SCM and describes them innatural language. Finally, we conducted an experimentin order to compare GRAAD's route directions androutes described by human participants in similarexperimental conditions. GRAAD's output was notdistinguishable from route directions created by humanparticipants. In this paper we present the mainresults obtained during all phases of the GRAADProject.     

An Investigation into Vertical Bias Effects

ABSTRACT

In three experiments, after exploring a virtual environment (VE), adult participants made spatial judgments about the location of target objects that were higher and lower than their perceived test location within the VE. In Experiment 1, the locations of the target objects were inferred from verbal instructions. The main results were a tendency to judge objects as closer to the horizontal plane than their true locations, and more efficient downward than upward judgments. Both effects generally accord with findings reported by Wilson et al. (2004a Wilson, P. N., Foreman, N., Stanton, D. and Duffy, H. 2004a. Memory for targets in a multilevel simulated environment: Evidence for vertical asymmetry in spatial memory. Memory & Cognition, 32: 283–297. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2004b Wilson, P. N., Foreman, N., Stanton, D. and Duffy, H. 2004b. Memory for targets in a multi-level simulated-environment: A comparison between able-bodied and physically disabled children. British Journal of Psychology, 95: 325–338.  [Google Scholar]). In Experiments 2 and 3, which were closely modeled on the design of the Wilson et al. studies, regression to the horizontal plane was noted but no downward bias was observed. A misperception in the viewing height between the floors and ceilings of the virtual rooms was apparent in both experiments. The results from the present study together with earlier investigations suggest different hierarchical encoding of between-axis and within-axis information.     

Categorical Bias in Line Angle Judgments: Sex Differences and the Use of Multiple Categories

According to the Category Adjustment (CA) model, spatial estimates (e.g., of location) involve Bayesian combination across multiple, hierarchical pieces information, each weighted by its relative certainty. Recent work, though, has shown that men and women differ in terms of their certainty regarding fine-grained and categorical information in location memory. Here we demonstrate that this reflects a more general sex difference in visuospatial processing by examining bias patterns in a line angle judgment task (JLAP-15). In addition, the data suggest that multiple, hierarchical levels of categorical information influenced spatial judgments. These results imply that the hierarchical combination outlined by the CA model extends beyond two levels, and that men and women apply differential weighting to these representations.     

Environmental reference systems for large-scale spaces

Human navigation in well-known environments is guided by stored memory representations of spatial information. In three experiments (N = 43) we investigated the role of different spatial reference systems when accessing information about familiar objects at different locations in the city in which the participants lived. Our results indicate that two independent reference systems underly the retrieval of spatial knowledge. Environmental characteristics, e.g., the streets at an intersection, determine which headings are easier to imagine at a given location and lead to differences in accessibility of spatial information (orientation-specific behavior). In addition, access to spatial information depends on the relative direction of a location with respect to the imagined heading, such that information about locations imagined in front of oneself is easier to access than about locations towards the back. This influence of an egocentric reference system was found for environmental knowledge as well as map-based knowledge. In light of these reference system effects, position-dependent models of spatial memory for large-scale environments are discussed. To account for the simultaneous effect of an environmental and an egocentric reference system, we present a 2-level model of spatial memory access.     

基于CompactPCI总线的红外目标跟踪系统

红外目标跟踪方法的理论研究较多,而通用的实时跟踪系统较少。给出了具有CompactPCI总线、并行分布式结构的系统方案,核心是基于标准总线的实时系统,上位机实现卡尔曼预测,DSP并行完成频域转换与相关,CPLD实现总线接口控制。所实现的系统具有运算能力强、通信带宽大、可扩展性和通用性强的特点,实用表明了它的可行性。     

直扩测控系统抗多址能力分析与验证

为了防止多址干扰造成接收机出现误捕和假锁,改善直接序列扩频测控系统抗多址干扰性能,在Gold码特性和扩频接收机性能分析的基础上,结合最大似然原理,对采用扩频体制测控系统的抗干扰能力进行了分析。为契合工程应用,采用仿真遍历结合理论分析的方式,对Gold码的互相关抑制能力理论值进行了工程修正。在分析捕获阶段的抗干扰捕获门限后,还分析了载噪比估计结果在正常锁定和假锁两种状态下的差异,给出了接收机对假锁状态的判决方法和门限。根据分析和仿真的结果,给出了系统设计约束条件和优化的接收机设计流程,作为测控系统和接收机设计的参考。     

Human Four-Dimensional Spatial Judgments of Hyper-Volume

The dimensionality limitation of human spatial representations has been a long-lasting, unsolved issue in psychology, mathematics, and philosophy. The present study examined the possibility of human four-dimensional spatial representations using a spatial judgment task on hyper-volume, a novel property unique to higher dimensional space. Observers studied visual simulations of random wireframe hyper-tetrahedrons (4-simplexes) rotating around the y-z plane and judged their hyper-volume by adjusting the size of a 4-D block. Multiple regression analyses showed a significant correlation between the responses and the actual hyper-volume but not the definition-based, lower-dimensional cues such as the mean 3-D volume, providing empirical evidence of human 4-D spatial representations that can support judgments of certain novel, high-dimensional properties.     

关于热量与质量传递的湍流模式问题

本文发展了一个新的热量与质量传递的标量—压力相关模式。讨论了局部平衡湍流的标量脉动与速度脉动相关。同时将所得理论结果和自由射流中关于温度脉动的测量数据进行了比较。