Introduction to Systems Approach

Main aspects of systems theory are outlined. Emphasis is on the interface of between time and systems - natural or artificial

Design and implementation of a compliant robot with force feedback and strategy planning software

Force-feedback robotics techniques are being developed for automated precision assembly and servicing of NASA space flight equipment. Design and implementation of a prototype robot which provides compliance and monitors forces is in progress. Computer software to specify assembly steps and makes force feedback adjustments during assembly are coded and tested for three generically different precision mating problems. A model program demonstrates that a suitably autonomous robot can plan its own strategy

How Executive Directors' Remuneration is Determined in Two FTSE 350 Companies: Results of an Exploratory Study

This paper sets out the results of interview-based research into the way in which executive directors’ remuneration is set in two UK utilities. Although the subject of executive directors’ remuneration has been widely researched, little work has addressed the question ‘how is the directors’ remuneration determined?’. This study addresses that research gap through direct and in-depth questioning of key people involved in the remuneration-setting process. Research was carried out at two UK utilities, both listed in the FTSE 350. In each company, interviews were conducted individually with the key executives and non executives involved in the remuneration-setting process, and with the compensation consultants who acted as their advisors, to determine the processes undertaken and the factors affecting their decisions. The interviews were semi structured, in order to enable open discussion and ensure a wide-ranging discussion of the protagonists’ actions and reasoning. The findings of the research project reflected both economic and social-psychological theories adopted in the executive remuneration literature. The interviews showed that the level and structure of remuneration were clearly influenced by ‘the market’, although issues were surfaced about the problems of determining a suitable comparator market. Institutional theory influences were identified in the level and structure of the pay, and the way trends in practices influenced the protagonists. Furthermore, the way in which the companies’ policies were tailored to their corporate strategies was consistent with

The Use of Proof Planning for Cooperative Theorem Proving

AbstractWe describebarnacle: a co-operative interface to theclaminductive theorem proving system. For the foreseeable future, there will be theorems which cannot be proved completely automatically, so the ability to allow human intervention is desirable; for this intervention to be productive the problem of orienting the user in the proof attempt must be overcome. There are many semi-automatic theorem provers: we call our style of theorem provingco-operative, in that the skills of both human and automaton are used each to their best advantage, and used together may find a proof where other methods fail. The co-operative nature of thebarnacleinterface is made possible by the proof planning technique underpinningclam. Our claim is that proof planning makes new kinds of user interaction possible.Proof planning is a technique for guiding the search for a proof in automatic theorem proving. Common patterns of reasoning in proofs are identified and represented computationally as proof plans, which can then be used to guide the search for proofs of new conjectures. We have harnessed the explanatory power of proof planning to enable the user to understand where the automatic prover got to and why it is stuck. A user can analyse the failed proof in terms ofclam's specification language, and hence override the prover to force or prevent the application of a tactic, or discover a proof patch. This patch might be to apply further rules or tactics to bridge the gap between the effects of previous tactics and the preconditions needed by a currently inapplicable tactic

Mixed-Integer Linear Programming for Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Delivery and Pick-Up with Maximum Route-Length

The vehicle routing problem with simultaneous delivery and pick-up (VRPSDP) is the problem of optimally assimilating goods collection and distribution, when no priority constraints are imposed on the order in which the vehicle must perform the operations. This paper considers an additional constraint of maximum route length in VRPSDP. We develop a mixed-integer linear programming model for VRPSDP with an additional constraint of maximum route length. The results are encouraging for a sample benchmark data set

Terrified by Technology: How Systemic Bias Distorts U.S. Legal and Regulatory Responses to Emerging Technology

Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the systemic biases we possess and how those biases preclude us from collectively living out the true meaning of our national creed. But to fully understand systemic bias we must acknowledge that it is pervasive and extends beyond the contexts of race, privilege, and economic status. Understanding all forms of systemic bias helps us to better understand ourselves and our shortcomings. At first glance, a human bias against emerging technology caused by systemic risk misperception might seem uninteresting or unimportant. But this Article demonstrates how the presence of systemic bias anywhere, even in an area as unexpected as technology regulation, creates inefficiencies and inequalities that exact heavy costs in the form of human lives, standards of living, and lost economic opportunities. The decision to regulate or implement an emerging technology, like any other complex decision, naturally involves some form of cost-benefit or risk-reward analysis. However, in the context of emerging technology, that analysis is biased by systemic risk misperception. Immutable characteristics existing in emerging technology combine with interrelated characteristics in human decisionmakers and regulators to inflate perceptions of risks and depress perceptions of benefits. This artificial shifting of cost-benefit curves results in suboptimal legislative and regulatory responses to emerging technology, and ultimately, in the loss of American lives

A Criteria-Based Approach to the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP)

The “traveling salesman problem (TSP)” is a classic minimum cost network flow problem in mathematical programming and graph theory that can be formulated in multiple configurations. The fundamental question, however, is: “what is a cost”? The original “traveling salesman problem (TSP)” defines distance as the cost and the objective is to minimize distance traveled. This paper proposes other “cost” criteria to the original problem and also proposes a maximum revenue network flow as a variant to improve managerial decision-making. The proposed decision table methodology can be applied to problems that involve multiple locations or multiple tasks to complete

Casting And Recasting Gender: Children Constituting Social Identities Through Literacy Practices

Considers how gender, identity and literacy are entangled and mutually constitutive. Concludes that social experience, desire, proximate others, and the ways in which children can draw upon these in the classroom are aspects of the situated condition that deserve more prominence in literacy and identity research

Implications of alternative operational risk modeling techniques

Quantification of operational risk has received increased attention with the inclusion of an explicit capital charge for operational risk under the new Basle proposal. The proposal provides significant flexibility for banks to use internal models to estimate their operational risk, and the associated capital needed for unexpected losses. Most banks have used variants of value at risk models that estimate frequency, severity, and loss distributions. This paper examines the empirical regularities in operational loss data. Using loss data from six large internationally active banking institutions, we find that loss data by event types are quite similar across institutions. Furthermore, our results are consistent with economic capital numbers disclosed by some large banks, and also with the results of studies modeling losses using publicly available “external” loss data.Bank capital ; Risk management ; Basel capital accord