A gap analysis for automated cargo handling operations with geared vessels frequenting small sized ports

With the Yara Birkeland, the world’s first autonomous cargo ship developed for commercial use, nearing regular unmanned operation, it is crucial to assess the availability and readiness of unmanned cargo handling solutions. While there are already fully automated container terminals at large international ports, the purpose of this study is to consider solutions to support autonomous ships for small sized ports with little infrastructure, typical of coastal harbors in Norway. The analysis centers on geared cargo vessels that can navigate such ports with minimal or no crew onboard, and the primary method used involved workshops and interviews with personnel from relevant industries. An important finding is the lack of skilled crane operators that are willing to follow the ship. The study concludes that it is important to address the following 3 key technological gaps: (1) the autonomous connection and release of break-bulk, (2) automatic securing and lashing of onboard cargo, and (3) shipboard cranes that can operate without an onsite crane operator.publishedVersio

The kinetics of the reaction of carbon with carbon dioxide

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 1950.Vita.Bibliography: leaves 225-228.by Pao-chen Wu.Sc.D

Learning Multi-step Robotic Manipulation Tasks through Visual Planning

Multi-step manipulation tasks in unstructured environments are extremely challenging for a robot to learn. Such tasks interlace high-level reasoning that consists of the expected states that can be attained to achieve an overall task and low-level reasoning that decides what actions will yield these states. A model-free deep reinforcement learning method is proposed to learn multi-step manipulation tasks. This work introduces a novel Generative Residual Convolutional Neural Network (GR-ConvNet) model that can generate robust antipodal grasps from n-channel image input at real-time speeds (20ms). The proposed model architecture achieved a state-of-the-art accuracy on three standard grasping datasets. The adaptability of the proposed approach is demonstrated by directly transferring the trained model to a 7 DoF robotic manipulator with a grasp success rate of 95.4% and 93.0% on novel household and adversarial objects, respectively. A novel Robotic Manipulation Network (RoManNet) is introduced, which is a vision-based model architecture, to learn the action-value functions and predict manipulation action candidates. A Task Progress based Gaussian (TPG) reward function is defined to compute the reward based on actions that lead to successful motion primitives and progress towards the overall task goal. To balance the ratio of exploration/exploitation, this research introduces a Loss Adjusted Exploration (LAE) policy that determines actions from the action candidates according to the Boltzmann distribution of loss estimates. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by training RoManNet to learn several challenging multi-step robotic manipulation tasks in both simulation and real-world. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods and achieves state-of-the-art performance in terms of success rate and action efficiency. The ablation studies show that TPG and LAE are especially beneficial for tasks like multiple block stacking

GPT-3.5, GPT-4, or BARD? Evaluating LLMs Reasoning Ability in Zero-Shot Setting and Performance Boosting Through Prompts

Large Language Models (LLMs) have exhibited remarkable performance on various Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks. However, there is a current hot debate regarding their reasoning capacity. In this paper, we examine the performance of GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and BARD models, by performing a thorough technical evaluation on different reasoning tasks across eleven distinct datasets. Our paper provides empirical evidence showcasing the superior performance of ChatGPT-4 in comparison to both ChatGPT-3.5 and BARD in zero-shot setting throughout almost all evaluated tasks. While the superiority of GPT-4 compared to GPT-3.5 might be explained by its larger size and NLP efficiency, this was not evident for BARD. We also demonstrate that the three models show limited proficiency in Inductive, Mathematical, and Multi-hop Reasoning Tasks. To bolster our findings, we present a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the results from these three models. Furthermore, we propose a set of engineered prompts that enhances the zero-shot setting performance of all three models.Comment: Accepted for publication at Elsevier's Natural Language Processing Journa

Direct Laser Deposition of Quasi-Hollow Metallic Components

The work in this thesis is concerned with the deposition of quasi-hollow components fabricated using the additive manufacturing technique Direct Laser Deposition (DLD). Solid metallic layers are deposited onto the surface of a substrate via the introduction of metallic powder material into a melt pool created by the intensity of a laser beam. Successive deposition of tracks in a layer by layer fashion leads to the ability to build functional components. Presented in this thesis is an analytical approach to predicting the minimum power required to clad single tracks with minimal dilution into the substrate using an energy balance and conservation of mass equation. To help determine the minimum power required to deposit continuous, , well bonded clad tracks a simple geometric model was created that describes the change in cross-sectional area of a deposited clad track as its height and width increases. The results of this work produced curves which enabled the minimum power to be predicted for certain combinations of processing speed and powder mass flow rates. Abstract ii Abstract Stephen J. Davis The maximum overhang capable of being achieved using the 3-Axis DLD system described in this work was determined for different combinations of process parameters. Multiple clad tracks were deposited in layers to create solid, thin walls built at an incline to the vertical axis. The effects of the process parameters and clad track cross-sectional profile were investigated to examine the limits of the process when depositing un-supported overhang builds. It was found that a maximum overhang angle of _600 to the vertical could be deposited without the need of build supports. This greatly improves the flexibility of the process 10 terms of fabrication time and the complexity of the components capable of being built. Abstract Stephen J. Davis iii \Vith the ability to deposit non-vertical walls novel internal component geometries were deposited using the DLD process. Components with novel internal geometries, such as enclosed voids, are termed quasihollow components. The response of these components to axial compression and external pressure was investigated with the aid of finite element analysis and mechanical testing. It was found that components of equivalent mass having solid sections performed better at resisting the external loads compared to the quasi-hollow components. Upon collapse of the quasi-hollow components it was noticed that the orientation of the internal support structures influenced the location at which collapse occurred. Comparisons between the FE analysis and mechanical results ', showed that for a large quasi-hollow thin walled cylinder FE analysis underestimated the collapse load by 8.3%. For the case of the solid section thin wall cylinder the FE results underestimated the collapse load by 12.6%

Globalization and Labour in the Twenty-First Century

Globalisation has adversely affected working-class organisation and mobilisation; but international labour movement demobilisation is not necessarily an irreversible trend. Globalisation has prompted workers and their organisations to find new ways to mobilise. This book examines international labour movement opposition to globalisation. It chronicles and critically scrutinizes the emergence of distinctively new forms of labour movement organisation and mobilisation that constitute creative initiatives on the part of labour, which present capitalism with fresh challenges. The author identifies eight characteristics of globalisation that have proven problematic to workers and their organisations and describes and analyses how they have responded to these challenges since 1990 and especially in the past decade. In particular, it focuses attention on new types of labour movement organisation and mobilisation that are not simply defensive reactions but are offensive and innovative responses that compel corporations to behave more responsively and responsibly towards employees and society at large. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of globalisation, political economy, labour politics, economics, Marxism and sociology of work

Future Trends in Advanced Materials and Processes

The Special Issue “Future Trends in Advanced Materials and Processes” contains original high-quality research papers and comprehensive reviews addressing the relevant state-of-the-art topics in the area of materials focusing on relevant or innovative applications such as radiological hazard evaluations of non-metallic materials, composite materials' characterization, geopolymers, metallic biomaterials, etc

Technology 2001: The Second National Technology Transfer Conference and Exposition, volume 2

Proceedings of the workshop are presented. The mission of the conference was to transfer advanced technologies developed by the Federal government, its contractors, and other high-tech organizations to U.S. industries for their use in developing new or improved products and processes. Volume two presents papers on the following topics: materials science, robotics, test and measurement, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, electronics, and software engineering

Responsible AI and Analytics for an Ethical and Inclusive Digitized Society

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