Autonomous deployment and repair of a sensor network using an unmanned aerial vehicle

We describe a sensor network deployment method using autonomous flying robots. Such networks are suitable for tasks such as large-scale environmental monitoring or for command and control in emergency situations. We describe in detail the algorithms used for deployment and for measuring network connectivity and provide experimental data we collected from field trials. A particular focus is on determining gaps in connectivity of the deployed network and generating a plan for a second, repair, pass to complete the connectivity. This project is the result of a collaboration between three robotics labs (CSIRO, USC, and Dartmouth.)

A Tale of Two Sovereigns: Federal and State Use and Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Despite claims to the contrary, the federal government is severely limited in what it can do to regulate unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). States, on the other hand, as governments of general jurisdiction, have expansive powers that they are already using to grapple with the questions posed by UAS related to privacy, crime, and public safety. This chapter outlines the evolution of federal measures, noting their limitations, before delving into three categories of state law, related to law enforcement, criminal measures, and regulatory regimes. The chapter then turns to the history of state sovereignty, looking at states’ jurisdiction over persons and land within their bounds, before turning to the limits of federal interstate commerce authorities. With river navigation and aviation serving as the forerunners of federal power, the chapter distinguishes the types of questions that accompany UAS, arguing that it is in relation to adjacent airspace and noneconomic activities where the federal government is at its weakest in any effort to regulate the states. Up to 500 ft above the ground, states have sovereignty, with authority over roads, land, and waterways. Within this domain, federal Commerce Clause powers only occupy a narrow area, leaving state police powers the dominant framework for UAS. The chapter concludes by highlighting the advantages of having states take the lead for UAS, focusing on the risk to rights of allowing the federal government to move into this realm and underscoring the importance in the role of the states as incubators of innovation

Adverse weather impact on aviation safety, investigation and oversight

A brief review of the weather factors that effect aviation safety with respect to U.S. Coast Guard operations is presented. Precise meteorological information is an absolute necessity to the Coast Guard which must conduct life saving and rescue operations under the worst of weather conditions. Many times the weather conditions in which they operate are the cause of or a contributing factor to the predicament from which they must execute a rescue operation

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 12 (03) 1958

published or submitted for publicatio

Aerospatiale is ready to develop a convertiplane with tethering rotors

Information on the recent study of the convertiplane is reported. The convertiplane was designed to replace the conventional helicopter. Its speed is much faster than that of the helicopter, it uses less fuel, and can carry up to five passengers. The discovery of the convertiplane was brought about because the helicopter is handicapped by its slow speed and can carry only a few passengers

Nepal: Earthquake Recovery Must Safeguard Human Rights

This briefing highlights some important areas of concern which Amnesty International believes could have an impact on the success of relief and reconstruction endeavours in Nepal.Protection and respect for human rights has been severely weakened by Nepal's unsettled political climate at the national level and the resulting governance vacuum at local levels, and also impacted by the armed conflict between government forces and Maoist insurgents between 1996 and 2006. Impunity persists for gross human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances, a hallmark of the conflict, as do longstanding problems of discrimination and social exclusion that affect large segments of Nepali society. Relief and reconstruction efforts grounded in human rights norms, including the universal principles of human dignity and non-discrimination, could help avoid further harm to recipients of humanitarian assistance and also have a better chance of successfully helping individuals and communities affected by the disaster to recover and become more resilient in future. Such efforts must include attention to deeper structural and systemic inequities that persist in Nepal and which accentuate the vulnerability of disadvantaged groups to the impact of the disaster

The Whalesong

Student and community leaders meet at banquet -- Peru inspires and amazes UAS group -- Egan Library wing opens to rave reviews -- Count yourself lucky -- Notice to Stafford Loan Borrowers -- VideoVersity - what is it? -- Global ethics brought to UAS -- Success is up to you -- Student Spotlight: Augie Stiehr -- Long Live Narcissus -- Media and computer services merge -- Special election to be held -- Paint misbehavin' -- Get wet at Squire's -- Preview -- The best album you never heard. .

Reframing the Archive: Vietnamese Refugee Narratives in the Post-9/11 Period

This article considers how recent narratives about Vietnamese refugees engage with the Vietnam War’s visual archive, particularly iconic photographs from the war and ensuing “boat people” crisis, and contribute to present-day discourses on American militarism and immigration. The article focuses on two texts, a National Public Radio special series about a US naval ship (2010) and Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out & Back Again (2011), which recounts a Vietnamese child’s refugee passage. By refiguring famous photojournalistic images from the war, the radio series advances a familiar rescue-and-gratitude narrative in which the US military operates as a care apparatus, exemplifying a cultural habit Yến Lê Espiritu dubs the “we-win-even-when-we-lose-syndrome.” Lai’s novel, by contrast, represents a new generation of Vietnamese American texts that find narrative possibilities outside the teleology of the grateful refugee, in part by challenging a hegemonic visual culture that has rendered refugees frequently seen but seldom heard. Refugee narratives stemming from the Vietnam War continue to find an eager audience, as they prime the social imaginary to make sense of the newest US wars; the article concludes by analyzing echoes of the sentimental rescue-and-gratitude narrative in media coverage of the recent Iraq War and its refugees

Effects of interior aircraft noise on speech intelligibility and annoyance

Recordings of the aircraft ambiance from ten different types of aircraft were used in conjunction with four distinct speech interference tests as stimuli to determine the effects of interior aircraft background levels and speech intelligibility on perceived annoyance in 36 subjects. Both speech intelligibility and background level significantly affected judged annoyance. However, the interaction between the two variables showed that above an 85 db background level the speech intelligibility results had a minimal effect on annoyance ratings. Below this level, people rated the background as less annoying if there was adequate speech intelligibility