Review of machine learning methods in soft robotics

Soft robots have been extensively researched due to their flexible, deformable, and adaptive characteristics. However, compared to rigid robots, soft robots have issues in modeling, calibration, and control in that the innate characteristics of the soft materials can cause complex behaviors due to non-linearity and hysteresis. To overcome these limitations, recent studies have applied various approaches based on machine learning. This paper presents existing machine learning techniques in the soft robotic fields and categorizes the implementation of machine learning approaches in different soft robotic applications, which include soft sensors, soft actuators, and applications such as soft wearable robots. An analysis of the trends of different machine learning approaches with respect to different types of soft robot applications is presented; in addition to the current limitations in the research field, followed by a summary of the existing machine learning methods for soft robots

Language contact: Briding the gap between individual interactions and areal patterns

Contact linguistics is the overarching term for a highly diversified field with branches that connect to such widely divergent areas as historical linguistics, typology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and grammatical theory. Because of this diversification, there is a risk of fragmentation and lack of interaction between the different subbranches of contact linguistics. Nevertheless, the different approaches share the general goal of accounting for the results of interacting linguistic systems. This common goal opens up possibilities for active communication, cooperation, and coordination between the different branches of contact linguistics. This book, therefore, explores the extent to which contact linguistics can be viewed as a coherent field, and whether the advances achieved in a particular subfield can be translated to others. In this way our aim is to encourage a boundary-free discussion between different types of specialists of contact linguistics, and to stimulate cross-pollination between them

Bridging the gap between individual interactions and areal patterns

Synopsis: Contact linguistics is the overarching term for a highly diversified field with branches that connect to such widely divergent areas as historical linguistics, typology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and grammatical theory. Because of this diversification, there is a risk of fragmentation and lack of interaction between the different subbranches of contact linguistics. Nevertheless, the different approaches share the general goal of accounting for the results of interacting linguistic systems. This common goal opens up possibilities for active communication, cooperation, and coordination between the different branches of contact linguistics. This book, therefore, explores the extent to which contact linguistics can be viewed as a coherent field, and whether the advances achieved in a particular subfield can be translated to others. In this way our aim is to encourage a boundary-free discussion between different types of specialists of contact linguistics, and to stimulate cross-pollination between them

Design and development of an implantable biohybrid device for muscle stimulation following lower motor neuron injury

In the absence of innervation caused by complete lower motor neuron injuries, skeletal muscle undergoes an inexorable course of degeneration and atrophy. The most apparent and debilitating clinical outcome of denervation is the immediate loss of voluntary use of muscle. However, these injuries are associated with secondary complications of bones, skin and cardiovascular system that, if untreated, may be fatal. Electrical stimulation has been implemented as a clinical rehabilitation technique in patients with denervated degenerated muscles offering remarkable improvements in muscle function. Nevertheless, this approach has limitations and side effects triggered by the delivery of high intensity electrical pulses. Combining innovative approaches in the fields of cell therapy and implanted electronics offers the opportunity to develop a biohybrid device to stimulate muscles in patients with lower motor neuron injuries. Incorporation of stem cell-derived motor neurons into implantable electrodes, could allow muscles to be stimulated in a physiological manner and circumvent problems associated with direct stimulation of muscle. The hypothesis underpinning this project is that artificially-grown motor neurons can serve as an intermediate between stimulator and muscle, converting the electrical stimulus into a biological action potential and re-innervating muscle via neuromuscular interaction. Here, a suitable stem cell candidate with therapeutic potential was identified and a differentiation protocol developed to generate motor neuron-like cells. Thick-film technology and laser micromachining were implemented to manufacture electrode arrays with features and dimensions suitable for implantation. Manufactured electrodes were electrochemically characterised, and motor neuron-like cells incorporated to create biohybrid devices. In vitro results indicate manufactured electrodes support motor neuron-like cell growth and neurite extension. Moreover, electrochemical characterisation suggests electrodes are suitable for stimulation. Preliminary in vivo testing explored implantation in a rat muscle denervation model. Overall, this thesis demonstrates initial development of a novel approach for fabricating biohybrid devices that may improve stimulation of denervated muscles

Indigenous Arctic Fish Skin Heritage: Sustainability, Craft and Material Innovation

The use of fish skin for the construction of garments and accessories is an ancient tradition shared by coastal Arctic societies as a subsistence lifestyle depending on aquatic resources for food and clothing. Arctic Indigenous Peoples need formidable resourcefulness to thrive in inhospitable ecosystems; fish skins provide them physical and spiritual protection. During the last century, they resisted not only colonisation and repression by humans but also dramatic ecological changes in seafood security. Fish skin craft became a way to communicate traditional knowledge where practical benefits combined cultural resilience. As market goods have replaced traditional fish skin clothing, the need for the skills required to create these items have diminished. The decrease of local natural resources also threatens the craft. The focus of this research is primarily to propose a vision of sustainability as an anthropological study of the resourcefulness and resilience of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples, their lifestyles, and fish skin practices. Secondarily it identifies the historical, cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic importance of fish skin as an innovative sustainable material, explored through the study of materials, processes and artefact analysis. Thirdly, the application of fish skin materials and craft practices has been tested through participatory workshops to explore how this material and the skill transmissions can contribute to sustainability practices in fashion. The contribution to knowledge is firstly the mapping of fish skin craft participatory practices with Artic Indigenous communities as this is the first time that such a survey has been undertaken. The material study of fish skin and its contribution to fashion sustainability forms a secondary contribution

Indigenous Arctic Fish Skin Heritage: Sustainability, Craft and Material Innovation

The use of fish skin(1) for the construction of garments and accessories is an ancient tradition shared by coastal Arctic societies as a subsistence lifestyle(2) depending on aquatic resources for food and clothing. Arctic Indigenous(3) Peoples(4) need formidable resourcefulness to thrive in inhospitable ecosystems; fish skins provide them physical and spiritual protection(5). During the last century, they resisted not only colonisation and repression by humans but also dramatic ecological changes in seafood security. Fish skin craft became a way to communicate traditional knowledge where practical benefits combined cultural resilience(6). As market goods have replaced traditional fish skin clothing, the need for the skills required to create these items have diminished. The decrease of local natural resources also threatens the craft. The focus of this research is primarily to propose a vision of sustainability as an anthropological study of the resourcefulness and resilience of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples, their lifestyles, and fish skin practices. Secondarily it identifies the historical, cultural, environmental, and socioeconomic importance of fish skin as an innovative sustainable material, explored through the study of materials, processes and artefact analysis. Thirdly, the application of fish skin materials and craft practices has been tested through participatory workshops to explore how this material and the skill transmissions can contribute to sustainability practices in fashion. The contribution to knowledge is firstly the mapping of fish skin craft participatory practices with Artic Indigenous communities as this is the first time that such a survey has been undertaken. The material study of fish skin and its contribution to fashion sustainability forms a secondary contribution. 1 Within this thesis, the terms fish skin and fish leather are used to indicate different processes of the same material. Fish skin. Skin indicates the superficial dermis of an animal. In the thesis fish skin is referred as the historical raw material tanned following traditional methods: mechanical, oiling, smoking, bark, brain, urine, fish eggs and corn flour tanning. Fish Leather is used to indicate that the fish skin has passed one or more stages of industrial vegetable or chrome tanning production and is ready to be used to produce leather goods. 2 Subsistence activities of hunting, herding, fishing and gathering continue to be of major significance to the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic in providing food, social relationships and cultural identity. 3 Indigenous Peoples are descent from the populations which inhabited a geographical region at the time of colonisation and who retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions. In this thesis, I use the terms ‘Indigenous’ and ‘Native’ interchangeably. In some countries, one of these terms may be favoured over the other. 4 The specific Arctic Indigenous groups with historical evidence of fish leather production are the Inuit, Yup’ik and Athabascan of Alaska and Canada; the various Siberian peoples, such as the Nivkh and Nanai; the Ainu from the Hokkaido Island in Japan and Sakhalin Island, Russia; the Hezhe from northeast China and the Saami of northern Scandinavia. 5 Arctic Indigenous Peoples believed that humans, animals and nature shared spiritual qualities. Arctic seamstresses decorated hunters’ fish skin clothing with motifs imbued with spirits, which gave protection from danger. 6 Arctic Indigenous Peoples have become a symbol of cultural resilience, actively adapting to colonisation, place dislocation due to land dispossession and resettlement, challenging the persistence of Indigenous knowledge systems

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

Stream temperature modeling in mountainous environments

Stream temperature is one of the key variables affecting the habitat suitability of numerous aquatic species. Over the past decades, research efforts on this topic have concentrated on low-land rivers of North-America, whereas mountainous environments have received much less attention - above all in Europe. The present thesis introduces two new models for stream temperature prediction in Alpine watersheds. Both are tested over selected catchments in Switzerland, a mountainous country which presents the advantage of possessing a dense network of automatic stream temperature measurement stations. The first model is specifically designed to provide stream temperature estimates in ungauged catchments, so as to compensate for the scarcity of temperature measurement sites in mountainous environments. Its design is based on a new statistical approach. As opposed to standard statistical models, which are common to many disciplines, the present one aims at incorporating some of the physics controlling stream temperature in its own structure. Its formulation is derived from an analytical solution to the equation describing the energy balance of an entire stream network. Some terms of this solution cannot be readily determined based on data available at the regional scale; they are approximated using standard statistical techniques. The resulting model is statistical in nature, but includes elements of thermodynamic principles. Its accuracy is shown to be similar to the one of a standard statistical model, its root mean square error being 1.3°C at the monthly time scale. In virtue of its physical basis, the model can be used to investigate into more detail the factors controlling stream temperature at the regional scale, as shown through a simple example. The second model is intended to provide deterministic stream temperature predictions, to be used for example in climate change studies. It builds upon an existing physically-based model, which has been entirely written anew in order to clarify its structure and ease future developments. Conceived as an add-on to the spatially distributed snow model Alpine3D, it simulates the flows of both water and energy within the catchment, based on a semi-distributed approach. Some components of the model can be represented using various alternatives; for example, three different techniques are available to simulate the temperature of subsurface runoff. This flexibility allows the model to be tuned to the specific needs of each user, but also permits a more thorough assessment of the simulation uncertainty by comparing the predictions of the various alternatives. Evaluation of the model in a high alpine watershed indicates that hourly mean discharge is reproduced with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.82, and hourly mean stream temperature with a NSE of 0.78. Both models are shown to contribute to a better understanding of stream temperature dynamics in Alpine environments. Future work involves further research on the structure of the statistical model, as well as the application of the deterministic model within the framework of climate change studies