A deep reinforcement learning based homeostatic system for unmanned position control

Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has been proven to be capable of designing an optimal control theory by minimising the error in dynamic systems. However, in many of the real-world operations, the exact behaviour of the environment is unknown. In such environments, random changes cause the system to reach different states for the same action. Hence, application of DRL for unpredictable environments is difficult as the states of the world cannot be known for non-stationary transition and reward functions. In this paper, a mechanism to encapsulate the randomness of the environment is suggested using a novel bio-inspired homeostatic approach based on a hybrid of Receptor Density Algorithm (an artificial immune system based anomaly detection application) and a Plastic Spiking Neuronal model. DRL is then introduced to run in conjunction with the above hybrid model. The system is tested on a vehicle to autonomously re-position in an unpredictable environment. Our results show that the DRL based process control raised the accuracy of the hybrid model by 32%.N/

Performance evaluation of a distributed integrative architecture for robotics

The eld of robotics employs a vast amount of coupled sub-systems. These need to interact cooperatively and concurrently in order to yield the desired results. Some hybrid algorithms also require intensive cooperative interactions internally. The architecture proposed lends it- self amenable to problem domains that require rigorous calculations that are usually impeded by the capacity of a single machine, and incompatibility issues between software computing elements. Implementations are abstracted away from the physical hardware for ease of de- velopment and competition in simulation leagues. Monolithic developments are complex, and the desire for decoupled architectures arises. Decoupling also lowers the threshold for using distributed and parallel resources. The ability to re-use and re-combine components on de- mand, therefore is essential, while maintaining the necessary degree of interaction. For this reason we propose to build software components on top of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) using Web Services. An additional bene t is platform independence regarding both the operating system and the implementation language. The robot soccer platform as well as the associated simulation leagues are the target domain for the development. Furthermore are machine vision and remote process control related portions of the architecture currently in development and testing for industrial environments. We provide numerical data based on the Python frameworks ZSI and SOAPpy undermining the suitability of this approach for the eld of robotics. Response times of signi cantly less than 50 ms even for fully interpreted, dynamic languages provides hard information showing the feasibility of Web Services based SOAs even in time critical robotic applications

Multi-agent evolutionary systems for the generation of complex virtual worlds

Modern films, games and virtual reality applications are dependent on convincing computer graphics. Highly complex models are a requirement for the successful delivery of many scenes and environments. While workflows such as rendering, compositing and animation have been streamlined to accommodate increasing demands, modelling complex models is still a laborious task. This paper introduces the computational benefits of an Interactive Genetic Algorithm (IGA) to computer graphics modelling while compensating the effects of user fatigue, a common issue with Interactive Evolutionary Computation. An intelligent agent is used in conjunction with an IGA that offers the potential to reduce the effects of user fatigue by learning from the choices made by the human designer and directing the search accordingly. This workflow accelerates the layout and distribution of basic elements to form complex models. It captures the designer's intent through interaction, and encourages playful discovery

an important partnership for decades

Graesch, J. P., Hensel-Börner, S., & Henseler, J. (2021). Information technology and marketing: an important partnership for decades. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 121(1), 123-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-08-2020-0510Purpose: The enabling technologies that emerged from information technology (IT) have had a considerable influence upon the development of marketing tools, and marketing has become digitalized by adopting these technologies over time. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impacts of these enabling technologies on marketing tools in the past and present and to demonstrate their potential future. Furthermore, it provides guidance about the digital transformation occurring in marketing and the need to align of marketing and IT. Design/methodology/approach: This study demonstrates the impact of enabling technologies on the subsequent marketing tools developed through a content analysis of information systems and marketing conference proceedings. It offers a fresh look at marketing's digital transformation over the last 40 years. Moreover, it initially applies the findings to a general digital transformation model from another field to verify its presence in marketing. Findings: This paper identifies four eras within the digital marketing evolution and reveals insights into a potential fifth era. This chronological structure verifies the impact of IT on marketing tools and accordingly the digital transformation within marketing. IT has made digital marketing tools possible in all four digital transformation levers: automation, customer interaction, connectivity and data. Practical implications: The sequencing of enabling technologies and subsequent marketing tools demonstrates the need to align marketing and IT to design new marketing tools that can be applied to customer interactions and be used to foster marketing control. Originality/value: This study is the first to apply the digital transformation levers, namely, automation, customer interaction, connectivity and data, to the marketing discipline and contribute new insights by demonstrating the chronological development of digital transformation in marketing.authorsversionpublishe

An intuitive tangible game controller

This paper outlines the development of a sensory feedback device providing a low cost, versatile and intuitive interface for controlling digital environments, in this example a flight simulator. Gesture based input allows for a more immersive experience, so rather than making the user feel like they are controlling an aircraft the intuitive interface allows the user to become the aircraft that is controlled by the movements of the user's hand. The movements are designed to feel intuitive and allow for a sense of immersion that would be difficult to achieve with an alternative interface. In this example the user's hand can become the aircraft much the same way that a child would imagine it

Options and opportunities for New Zealand and France 1918-1935 : les liaisons dangereuses? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Figures 7, 8 & 9 were removed as the author tried unsuccessfully to obtain permission for their reproduction from the family representative (Alexander Turnbull Library catalogue record https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.452950).The New Zealand histories typically assert that a new national identity evolved after World War I to substitute for the pre-war British-based model. This assumption has resulted in the creation of a British-centric historiography that understates the important role of other non-British influencers – especially the French – in the evolution of post-war New Zealand. Systematic sampling of newspaper articles in the PapersPast database has revealed that within New Zealand’s post-1918 public discourse there was a diverse seam of opinion and news related to France that sat alongside that from Britain. This suggests that events concerning France were more prevalent in shaping the New Zealand story than the earlier histories have indicated. These additional perspectives have been integrated into aspects of the New Zealand post-World War I narrative, supplemented where appropriate with articles from French newspapers and the archive. When the First World War finally ended, New Zealand attempted to disengage from Europe in order to put the collective national trauma in the past. Resuming the traditional dislike of the French was a reflexive rejection of the war years rather than a considered policy. It was a self-imposed rather than an obligatory restraint which manifested as official resistance to repatriating bodies and haste in preparing the local monuments that replicated the grander memorials being constructed in France. Thus, when France attempted to maintain contact with her New Zealand ally through trade and diplomacy, the clear wish of New Zealand to identify as a British-dependent entity led to rejection. Nevertheless, France remained a significant global power owing to the Versailles Treaty and post-war political and economic realities. As a result New Zealand was reluctantly drawn into further interactions with the French. As the other Dominions chose a more independent path it was New Zealand - having spurned the French overtures – that was left by choice diplomatically isolated, while clinging culturally, economically and diplomatically to the remnants of a British Empire that had no need for the former colony

Multi-agent evolutionary systems for the generation of complex virtual worlds

Modern films, games and virtual reality applications are dependent on convincing computer graphics. Highly complex models are a requirement for the successful delivery of many scenes and environments. While workflows such as rendering, compositing and animation have been streamlined to accommodate increasing demands, modelling complex models is still a laborious task. This paper introduces the computational benefits of an Interactive Genetic Algorithm (IGA) to computer graphics modelling while compensating the effects of user fatigue, a common issue with Interactive Evolutionary Computation. An intelligent agent is used in conjunction with an IGA that offers the potential to reduce the effects of user fatigue by learning from the choices made by the human designer and directing the search accordingly. This workflow accelerates the layout and distribution of basic elements to form complex models. It captures the designer’s intent through interaction, and encourages playful discovery