Abstract
The synthesis and sensing properties of a new fluorescent probe designed to have a 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide fluorescent platform functionalized with a 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone bidentate chelating unit at the 4-position and a terminal aliphatic dimethylamino group at the imide site, are reported. The absorption and fluorescence properties of the ligand were investigated in DMSO and in aqueous solution at variable pH and in the presence of increasing concentration of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. Analysis of the UV-Vis spectra at variable pH allowed the determination of three pK(a) values (PKa1 = 3.19, pK(a2) = 8.38, pK(a3) = 9.95) and establishment of the corresponding speciation diagram. Fluorescence spectra obtained in the same conditions show that the fluorescence intensity of the probe decreases with increasing pH and are off above pH 9 as a result of photo-induced electron transfer arising from the aliphatic dimethylamino group. Under physiological pH conditions, the probe shows an absorption band centred at 439 nm and emits in the green at lambda = 536 nm. Analysis of UV-Vis and EPR spectra of the ligand in the presence of Fe3+ and Cu2+ is consistent with the formation of the corresponding metal ion complexes. The fluorescence intensity of the ligand is quenched in the presence of variable concentrations of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ and under physiological pH conditions the fluorescence of the probe is ca 92%, 88% and 91% quenched in the presence of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ respectively.

Abstract
In this paper, a new fast and computationally light weight methodology is proposed to pinpoint a robot in a structured scenario. The localisation algorithm performs a tracking routine to pinpoint the robot's position as it moves in a known map. To perform such tracking routine, it is necessary to know the initial position of the vehicle. This paper briefly describes the tracking routine and presents a solution to pinpoint that initial position in an autonomous way. Experimental results on the performance of the proposed methodology are presented in this paper in two different scenarios: 1) in the Middle Size Soccer Robotic League (MSL), with artificial vision data from an omni directional robot, and 2) in an indoor environment with a Laser Range Finder data from a differential traction robot (called Robot Vigil). © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
Video segmentation is one of the most important parts of a vision system which allows partitioning each frame into homogeneous regions that share a common property. This work proposes a new methodology that aggregates three different techniques: background subtraction, region growing and a pseudo Fuzzy colour model to define colour subspaces that characterize each class. In addition, the pseudo Fuzzy colour model allows a given colour to belong to more than one class and enables the expansion ofthe classes through a dynamic model based on belonging and persistence information. In case of shared colours among classes, regional features are searched in order to determine the object's class. Tests with test and real videos of sports footages show promising results.

Abstract

Abstract
We propose an online sensorimotor architecture for controlling a low-cost humanoid robot to perform dance movements synchronized with musical stimuli. The proposed architecture attempts to overcome the robot's motor constraints by adjusting the velocity of its actuators and inter-changing the attended beat metrical-level on-the-fly. Moreover, we propose quantitative metrics for measuring the level of beat-synchrony of the generated robot dancing motion and complement them with a qualitative survey about several aspects of the demonstrated robot dance performances. Tests with different dance movements and musical pieces demonstrated satisfactory beat-synchrony results despite the physical limitations of the robot. The comparison against robot dance sequences generated without inter-changing the attended metrical-level validated our sensorimotor approach for controlling beat-synchronous robot dancing motions using different dance movements and facing distinct musical tempo conditions.

Abstract
Humanoid robots usually have a large number of degrees of freedom which turns humanoid control into a very complex problem. Humanoids are used in several RoboCup soccer leagues. In this work, the SimSpark simulator of the Simulation 3D will be used. This paper presents an automatic approach for developing humanoid behaviors based on the development of a generic optimization system. The paper describes the adopted architecture, main design choices and the results achieved with the optimization of a side kick and a forward kick. For both skills, the optimization approach allowed the creation of faster and more powerful and stable behaviors.