On the Implementation of Behavior Trees in Robotics

There is a growing interest in Behavior Trees (BTs) as a tool to describe and implement robot behaviors. BTs were devised in the video game industry and their adoption in robotics resulted in the development of ad-hoc libraries to design and execute BTs that fit complex robotics software architectures. While there is broad consensus on how BTs work, some characteristics rely on the implementation choices done in the specific software library used. In this letter, we outline practical aspects in the adoption of BTs and the solutions devised by the robotics community to fully exploit the advantages of BTs in real robots. We also overview the solutions proposed in open-source libraries used in robotics, we show how BTs fit in robotic software architecture, and we present a use case example

The Hubble Hypothesis and the Developmentalist's Dilemma

Developmental psychopathology stands poised at the close of the 20th century on the horns of a major scientific dilemma. The essence of this dilemma lies in the contrast between its heuristically rich open system concepts on the one hand, and the closed system paradigm it adopted from mainstream psychology for investigating those models on the other. Many of the research methods, assessment strategies, and data analytic models of psychology’s paradigm are predicated on closed system assumptions and explanatory models. Thus, they are fundamentally inadequate forstudying humans, who are unparalleled among open systems in their wide ranging capacities for equifinal and multifinal functioning. Developmental psychopathology faces two challenges in successfully negotiating the developmentalist’s dilemma. The first lies in recognizing how the current paradigm encourages research practices that are antithetical to developmental principles, yet continue to flourish. I argue that the developmentalist’s dilemma is sustained by long standing, mutually enabling weaknesses in the paradigm’s discovery methods and scientific standards. These interdependent weaknesses function like a distorted lens on the research process by variously sustaining the illusion of theoretical progress, obscuring the need for fundamental reforms, and both constraining and misguiding reform efforts. An understanding of how these influences arise and take their toll provides a foundation and rationale for engaging the second challenge. The essence of this challenge will be finding ways to resolve the developmentalist’s dilemma outside the constraints of the existing paradigm by developing indigenous research strategies, methods, and standards with fidelity to the complexity of developmental phenomena

Towards Resilient Organizations and Societies

This open access book brings together scholars in the fields of management, public policy, regional studies, and organization theory around the concept of resilience. The aim is to provide a more holistic understanding of the complex phenomenon of resilience from a multi-sectorial, cross-national, and multidisciplinary perspective. The book facilitates a conversation across diverse disciplinary specializations and empirical domains. The authors contribute both to theory testing and theory development and provide key empirical insights useful for societies, organizations, and individuals experiencing disruptive pressures, not least in the context of a post-COVID-19 world. Diverse chapters are held together by a clear organization of the volume across levels of analysis (resilience in organizations and societies) and by an original perspective on resilience derived from an extended review, by the editors, of the existing literature and knowledge gaps, according to which each of the individual chapter contributions is positioned and connected to

Quantitative analysis of historical material as the basis for a new cooperation between history and sociology

Der Autor erklärt die partielle Gegnerschaft zwischen Soziologen und Historikern aus ihren unterschiedlichen Zielstellungen und Ansätzen. Zur Verdeutlichung werden der evolutionäre, der funktionalistische und der empirisch-soziologische Ansatz vorgestellt. Diese Ansätze werden, aus Sicht des Historikers und des Autors, dem historischen Quellenmaterial nur bedingt gerecht. Die Entwicklung von quantitativen Analysen für historisches Material durch die Historiker bietet für den Autor eine Möglichkeit einer fruchtbaren Zusammenarbeit zwischen beiden Wissenschaften. Vor allen Dingen kann das so aufbereitete historische Material Fehleinschätzungen der Soziologen korrigieren, die bei der Suche nach generalisierenden Momenten in der Geschichte dem wirklichen Verlauf nicht gerecht werden. (BG

Model-driven engineering for mobile robotic systems: a systematic mapping study

Mobile robots operate in various environments (e.g. aquatic, aerial, or terrestrial), they come in many diverse shapes and they are increasingly becoming parts of our lives. The successful engineering of mobile robotics systems demands the interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from different domains, such as mechanical and electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, and systems engineering. Research and industry have tried to tackle this heterogeneity by proposing a multitude of model-driven solutions to engineer the software of mobile robotics systems. However, there is no systematic study of the state of the art in model-driven engineering (MDE) for mobile robotics systems that could guide research or practitioners in finding model-driven solutions and tools to efficiently engineer mobile robotics systems. The paper is contributing to this direction by providing a map of software engineering research in MDE that investigates (1) which types of robots are supported by existing MDE approaches, (2) the types and characteristics of MRSs that are engineered using MDE approaches, (3) a description of how MDE approaches support the engineering of MRSs, (4) how existing MDE approaches are validated, and (5) how tools support existing MDE approaches. We also provide a replication package to assess, extend, and/or replicate the study. The results of this work and the highlighted challenges can guide researchers and practitioners from robotics and software engineering through the research landscape

Normativity without artifice: a new foundation for teleological realism

Interest in teleological analysis has risen dramatically over the last several decades: teleo-functional accounts of biological systems, of gross mental state types, and of intentionality have all had their share of adherents. Such analysis has been attractive in part, because characterizing function as some item's job, office, or role allows that it might perform its work more or less well. (For example, in the context of intentionality, the possibility of malfunction is what is thought to secure intentional inexistence, e.g., misperception, false belief, etc.) For the application of teleological analysis to traditional philosophical problems, such as the "mind/body" problem or the problem of "intentional inexistence", to be successful, however, teleo-functional ascriptions to natural or nonartifactual systems must be construed literally. Yet, since a teleologically characterized item or behavior can succeed or fail at its function, teleo-functional ascriptions imply norms or standards of functional performance. A literal construal of nonartifactual teleological ascriptions presupposes, then, that there are literally norms within the natural world, which are independent of intentional and psychological agency. Any realist account of nonartifactual teleology must have at its core a realist account of nonartifactual normativity. In short, I develop just such an account of normativity and one that will serve as the foundation of nonartifactual teleological realism, thereby securing, I believe, a theoretical pillar requisite for naturalizing the mind