Abstract: A vision-based state estimation framework to estimate the state of an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) used for inspection of an underwater structure, for example, a nuclear reactor pressure vessel. The framework employs an external overhead, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera as the primary sensing modality and incorporates prior knowledge of the geometry of the structure.

Abstract: A clipped tail, which is the severed lead end of a paper web tail formed on a papermaking machine, is produced in the tail supported on a roll by combining the operation of a water jet, which projects a high pressure stream of water and is moved laterally to sever the tail transversely to its direction of travel, with the operation of a doctor having a blade, which moves with the water jet and which lifts and deflects the tail clip and following tail from the roll. An air stream is used to guide the tail downstream of the doctor blade. Both the water jet and doctors are mounted on a traversing apparatus to move transversely together across the traveling tail to automatically produce the tail clip and direct it to thread the downstream portion of the papermaking machine.