Concept Design and Analysis of a Novel Steamer-Filling Robot

Steamer-filling operation is a crucially important process in the liquor-making process, directly related to liquor yield and liquor quality. But so far, this process is still dominated by manual operation. In view of working environment and labor shortages in this industry, a novel exclusive steamer-filling robot is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the steamer-filling operation process is described, and the structure composition and function realization of the robot are particularly introduced. Secondly, the kinematics problems in terms of position analysis and workspace of the robot are analyzed in detail. Thirdly, experimental analyses are made to prove the validity and efficiency of the robot system. Finally, some conclusions and the future developing direction are prescribed

Dynamic ontology for service robots

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyAutomatic ontology creation, aiming to develop ontology without or with minimal human intervention, is needed for robots that work in dynamic environments. This is particularly required for service (or domestic) robots that work in unstructured and dynamic domestic environments, as robots and their human users share the same space. Most current works adopt learning to build the ontology in terms of defining concepts and relations of concepts, from various data and information resources. Given the partial or incomplete information often observed by robots in domestic environments, identifying useful data and information and extracting concepts and relations is challenging. In addition, more types of relations which do not appear in current approaches for service robots such as “HasA” and “MadeOf”, as well as semantic knowledge, are needed for domestic robots to cope with uncertainties during human–robot interaction. This research has developed a framework, called Data-Information Retrieval based Automated Ontology Framework (DIRAOF), that is able to identify the useful data and information, to define concepts according to the data and information collected, to define the “is-a” relation, “HasA” relation and “MadeOf” relation, which are not seen in other works, to evaluate the concepts and relations. The framework is also able to develop semantic knowledge in terms of location and time for robots, and a recency and frequency based algorithm that uses the semantic knowledge to locate objects in domestic environments. Experimental results show that the robots are able to create ontology components with correctness of 86.5% from 200 random object names and to associate semantic knowledge of physical objects by presenting tracking instances. The DIRAOF framework is able to build up an ontology for domestic robots without human intervention

Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications

The Fifth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications brings together diverse technical and scientific work in order to help those who employ AI methods in space applications to identify common goals and to address issues of general interest in the AI community. Topics include the following: automation for Space Station; intelligent control, testing, and fault diagnosis; robotics and vision; planning and scheduling; simulation, modeling, and tutoring; development tools and automatic programming; knowledge representation and acquisition; and knowledge base/data base integration

Objectworlds : a class of computer-based discovery learning environments

It is possible to discern a class of Computer-Based Discovery Learning Environments which centre on novel, concept rich,simulated objects and which include simple but general functions with which the objects may be manipulated. This thesis provides a history of this class of environments, which we call objectworlds, and we also give them a strict definition. We describe Gravitas, a new objectworld we have built, which allows learners to work with objects that behave like gravitating masses moving in a two dimensional space.Gravitas contains a powerful programmable interface to the objects, in the form of a set of Logo commands, and a functionally equivalent but easier to use graphical interface which is controlled by the mouse. We show that the combination of interfaces helps learners to explore the world of these objects more effectively.We contrast the educational experiences learners are afforded by objectworlds with those offered by two closely related kinds of Discovery Learning Environment: Simulations and Modelling Systems. We also describe a psychological framework which provides a useful way of thinking about the construction of computer simulated objects for discovery learning applications

Foundations of Human-Aware Planning -- A Tale of Three Models

abstract: A critical challenge in the design of AI systems that operate with humans in the loop is to be able to model the intentions and capabilities of the humans, as well as their beliefs and expectations of the AI system itself. This allows the AI system to be "human- aware" -- i.e. the human task model enables it to envisage desired roles of the human in joint action, while the human mental model allows it to anticipate how its own actions are perceived from the point of view of the human. In my research, I explore how these concepts of human-awareness manifest themselves in the scope of planning or sequential decision making with humans in the loop. To this end, I will show (1) how the AI agent can leverage the human task model to generate symbiotic behavior; and (2) how the introduction of the human mental model in the deliberative process of the AI agent allows it to generate explanations for a plan or resort to explicable plans when explanations are not desired. The latter is in addition to traditional notions of human-aware planning which typically use the human task model alone and thus enables a new suite of capabilities of a human-aware AI agent. Finally, I will explore how the AI agent can leverage emerging mixed-reality interfaces to realize effective channels of communication with the human in the loop.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Computer Science 201

Human-machine communication for educational systems design

This book contains the papers presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on the Basics of man-machine communication for the design of educational systems, held August 16-26, 1993, in Eindhoven, The Netherland

13th Annual Focus on Creative Inquiry Poster Forum Program

The Focus on Creative Inquiry (FoCI) Poster Forum is an annual event in which CI teams can present their research and project accomplishments through poster and interactive displays. FoCI is a celebration of student and mentor collaboration and accomplishments! FoCI is a great venue for students to develop and hone their communication skills

TeachandLearn.net: Using new technology to support D&T teachers

During 2003/2004, The Open University in the United Kingdom, in association with he BBC, will launch a wholly on-line continual professional development environment for teachers to be known as TeachandLearn.Net. Focusing on the example of the materials developed for Design and Technology teachers, this paper will consider the rationale, design and learning purposes of this novel approach to teacher development. The line of pedagogical development of on-line technologies from the Learning Schools Programme (see paper in PATT-11) to the current flexible Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, through to the proposed TeachandLearn.net will be explored