Teaching Autonomous Systems Hands-On: Leveraging Modular Small-Scale Hardware in the Robotics Classroom

Although robotics courses are well established in higher education, the courses often focus on theory and sometimes lack the systematic coverage of the techniques involved in developing, deploying, and applying software to real hardware. Additionally, most hardware platforms for robotics teaching are low-level toys aimed at younger students at middle-school levels. To address this gap, an autonomous vehicle hardware platform, called F1TENTH, is developed for teaching autonomous systems hands-on. This article describes the teaching modules and software stack for teaching at various educational levels with the theme of "racing" and competitions that replace exams. The F1TENTH vehicles offer a modular hardware platform and its related software for teaching the fundamentals of autonomous driving algorithms. From basic reactive methods to advanced planning algorithms, the teaching modules enhance students' computational thinking through autonomous driving with the F1TENTH vehicle. The F1TENTH car fills the gap between research platforms and low-end toy cars and offers hands-on experience in learning the topics in autonomous systems. Four universities have adopted the teaching modules for their semester-long undergraduate and graduate courses for multiple years. Student feedback is used to analyze the effectiveness of the F1TENTH platform. More than 80% of the students strongly agree that the hardware platform and modules greatly motivate their learning, and more than 70% of the students strongly agree that the hardware-enhanced their understanding of the subjects. The survey results show that more than 80% of the students strongly agree that the competitions motivate them for the course.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 3 table

Appreciating metaphor for participatory practice: constructivist inquiries in a children and young people's justice organisation

This thesis is framed as a first person action inquiry into participatory inquiry and practice. The context of the inquiry is a national voluntary organisation working for social justice for children and young people. The thesis is developed in four connected Inquiry Strands: 1) the implications of researching within a constructivist epistemology; 2) the implications of self- aware research through inquiry into the history and traditions of the researcher; 3) how appreciating metaphor can help in researching understandings of participation;4) how appreciating metaphor can enhance participatory practising. In connection with the first two Inquiry Strands the thesis identifies implications for epistemic and ethical practice. In connection with the third Inquiry Strand, the thesis first develops a theory of metaphor as relational and participative. This is then incorporated in a participatory methodology that can be applied in research with children, young people and adults and that embodies the output from the first two Inquiry Strands. . The methodology includes elicitation of stories and pictures in conversations and activities, exploration of the contexts of the inquiry, the identification and exploration of metaphors in the stories and pictures, and the development of criteria for judging these metaphors for the enhancement of practice. In developing the methodology the researcher draws on her experiencing of the fourth Inquiry Strand within the social justice organisation. The methodology is then used as a framework for explicating the fourth Inquiry Strand. This inquiry leads to the proposal of a set of metaphorical conditions for participatory practice: ‘purposeful activity’, ‘space for change’, ‘a safe place to learn’ and ‘reciprocal recognition’. The thesis concludes by reflecting on the four Inquiry Strands to identify learning concerning participatory inquiry in conditions of complexity and uncertainty and issues of power. Invitations are offered concerning changes in practices within the organisation, and for further research

On the Nature of Social and Institutional Reality

What is the nature of the social reality? How do the major social institutions like money or law exist? What are the limits of individualistically-oriented social theories?These and related problems are intensely discussed in philosophy, in legal theory and in the methodology of social sciences. This collection brings together the different traditions of the contemporary discussion. It includes thought-provoking articles by John Searle, Margaret Gilbert, Ota Weinberger, Raimo Tuomela, Eerik Lagerspetz, Michael Quante, Cristina Redondo and Paolo Comanducci. ”Wonderful selection of articles that contribute in important ways to the growing field of social ontology... A ’must-have’ for anyone working on issues of social ontology.” Deborah Tollefsen, University of Memphi

The Politics of Knowledge in Inclusive Development and Innovation

This book develops an integrated perspective on the practices and politics of making knowledge work in inclusive development and innovation. While debates about development and innovation commonly appeal to the authority of academic researchers, many current approaches emphasise the plurality of actors with relevant expertise for addressing livelihood challenges. Adopting an action-oriented and reflexive approach, this volume explores the variety of ways in which knowledge works, paying particular attention to dilemmas and controversies. The six parts of the book address the complex interplay of knowledge and politics, starting with the need for knowledge integration in the first part and decolonial perspectives on the politics of knowledge integration in the second part. The following three parts focus on the practices of inclusive development and innovation through three major themes of learning for transformative change, evidence, and digitisation. The final part of the book addresses the governance of knowledge and innovation in the light of political struggles about inclusivity. Exploring conceptual and practical themes through case studies from the Global North and South, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners researching and working in development studies, epistemology, innovation studies, science and technology studies, and sustainability studies more broadly

Performance Analysis For Wireless G (IEEE 802.11 G) And Wireless N (IEEE 802.11 N) In Outdoor Environment

This paper described an analysis the different capabilities and limitation of both IEEE technologies that has been utilized for data transmission directed to mobile device. In this work, we have compared an IEEE 802.11/g/n outdoor environment to know what technology is better. the comparison consider on coverage area (mobility), through put and measuring the interferences. The work presented here is to help the researchers to select the best technology depending of their deploying case, and investigate the best variant for outdoor. The tool used is Iperf software which is to measure the data transmission performance of IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11g