Mobile Robots

The objective of this book is to cover advances of mobile robotics and related technologies applied for multi robot systems' design and development. Design of control system is a complex issue, requiring the application of information technologies to link the robots into a single network. Human robot interface becomes a demanding task, especially when we try to use sophisticated methods for brain signal processing. Generated electrophysiological signals can be used to command different devices, such as cars, wheelchair or even video games. A number of developments in navigation and path planning, including parallel programming, can be observed. Cooperative path planning, formation control of multi robotic agents, communication and distance measurement between agents are shown. Training of the mobile robot operators is very difficult task also because of several factors related to different task execution. The presented improvement is related to environment model generation based on autonomous mobile robot observations

3D Bioprinted Engineered Living Materials for Continuous Organophosphorus Compound Detoxification

Engineered living materials (ELMs) are a rapidly emerging class of materials, demonstrating a wide range of functionalities, including responsive morphing, self-healing, and bio-catalysis. 3D bioprinted hydrogels have been used for the fabrication of high resolution, compartmentalised, and load-bearing structures suitable for hosting microbial metabolism, and accordingly represent an ideal environment for ELMs. The interactions between material frameworks, such as hydrogels, and encapsulated life are now beginning to be investigated.Herein, by 3D printing a hydrogel-encapsulated population of Escherichia coli, a chemically inducible, metabolically active, microbial ELM was fabricated. The material was characterised using a wide range of techniques, including fluorescence microscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy. Toxic organophosphorus compound (OPC) detoxifying capabilities were conveyed to the material through inducible expression of Agrobacterium radiobacter phosphotriesterase (arPTE). The reaction diffusion process occurring at the interface of the OPC detoxifying ELM was investigated using continuous fluorescence imaging of Coumaphos hydrolysis.. Principal component analysis was then used to uncover spatial and temporal features within this data, with relevance for future optimisation of catalytic microbial ELMstructures. To further demonstrate the applicability of this 3D printable microbial ELM, the material was incorporated into an entirely 3D printed flow reactor, demonstrating effective, cyclical detoxification of an OPC solution at high flow rate.Looking towards the future of ELM design, a novel, 3D printable, contractile-thermosensitive,double-network hydrogel was used to create thermo-responsive OPC degrading bioreactors, capable of autonomously controlling their performance

Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: ● Formulations and Numerical Methods ● Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications ● Flexible Multibody Dynamics ● Contact Dynamics and Constraints ● Multiphysics and Coupled Problems ● Control and Optimization ● Software Development and Computer Technology ● Aerospace and Maritime Applications ● Biomechanics ● Railroad Vehicle Dynamics ● Road Vehicle Dynamics ● Robotics ● Benchmark ProblemsPostprint (published version

Semiannual review of research and advanced development, 1 January - 30 June 1969. Volume 2 - /OART/

Supporting research and technology on spacecraft propulsion and electronic system

30th International Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases

Information modelling is becoming more and more important topic for researchers, designers, and users of information systems. The amount and complexity of information itself, the number of abstraction levels of information, and the size of databases and knowledge bases are continuously growing. Conceptual modelling is one of the sub-areas of information modelling. The aim of this conference is to bring together experts from different areas of computer science and other disciplines, who have a common interest in understanding and solving problems on information modelling and knowledge bases, as well as applying the results of research to practice. We also aim to recognize and study new areas on modelling and knowledge bases to which more attention should be paid. Therefore philosophy and logic, cognitive science, knowledge management, linguistics and management science are relevant areas, too. In the conference, there will be three categories of presentations, i.e. full papers, short papers and position papers

Developments toward a Silicon Strip Tracker for the PANDA Experiment

The PANDA detector at the future FAIR facility in Darmstadt will be a key experiment in the understanding of the strong interaction at medium energies where perturbative models fail to describe the quark-quark interaction. An important feature of the detector system is the ability to reconstruct secondary decay vertices of short-lived intermediate states by means of a powerful particle tracking system with the the Micro-Vertex Detector (MVD) as central element to perform high-resolution charmonium and open-charm spectroscopy. The MVD is conceived with pixel detectors in the inner parts and double-sided silicon strip detectors at the outer half in a very lightweight design. The PANDA detector system shall be operated in a self-triggering broadband acquisition mode. Implications on the read-out electronics and the construction of the front-end assemblies are analyzed and evaluation of prototype DSSD-detectors wrt. signal-to-noise ratio, noise figures, charge sharing behavior, spacial resolution and radiation degradation discussed. Methods of electrical sensor characterization with different measurement setups are investigated which may be useful for future large-scale QA procedures. A novel algorithm for recovering multiple degenerate cluster hit patterns of double-sided strip sensors is introduced and a possible architecture of a Module Data Concentrator ASIC (MDC) aggregating multiple front-end data streams conceived. A first integrative concept for the construction and assembly of DSSD modules for the barrel part of the MVD is introduced as a conclusion of the thesis. Furthermore, a detailed description of a simplified procedure for the calculation of displacement damage in compound materials is given as reference which was found useful for the retrieval of non-ionizing energy loss for materials other than silicon.Der PANDA Detektor im zukünftigen FAIR-Beschleunigerkomplex in Darmstadt wird ein Schlüsselexperiment im Verständnis der starken Wechselwirkung bei mittleren Energien, bei denen kein Zugang über perturbative Methoden zur Quark-Quark Interaktion existiert, sein. Eine wichtige Eigenschaft des Detektorsystems, die Ortsrekonstruktion sekundärer Zerfallsvertizes kurzlebiger Zwischenzustände, wird dabei durch ein Spurverfolgungssystem mit dem Mikro-Vertex Detektor (MVD) als wichtigstem Element zur hochauflösenden Charmoniumund Open-Charm Spektroskopie garantiert. Der MVD ist konzipiert als leichtgewichtiges, geteiltes Silizium-Detektorsystem mit Pixeldetektoren im inneren Bereich und doppelseitigen Streifendetektoren (DSSD) in den äußeren Regionen. Das PANDA Detektorsystem soll in einem selbstgetriggertem Regime Daten breitbandig und ohne Totzeitverluste verarbeiten können. Die sich daraus ergebenden Implikationen auf den Aufbau der Ausleseelektronik und der Front-end-Baugruppen werden analysiert und es werden Ergebnisse von Messungen an DSSD-Prototypen im Hinblick auf Signal-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis, Rauscheigenschaften, Ladungsteilungsverhalten, Ortsauflösung und Bestrahlungstoleranz diskutiert. Methoden zur elektrischen Charakterisierung von Sensoren werden untersucht, die bei zukünftigen großangelegten QA-Untersuchungen nützlich eingesetzt werden können. Ein neuartiger Cluster- Korrelationsalgorithmus, welcher mehrfach entartete Clusterhit-Muster zu erkennen vermag wird ebenso vorgestellt wie eine mögliche Architektur des noch zu entwickelnden Module-Data- Concentrator ASIC (MDC), welcher die Datenströme der Front-end Chips auf Modulebene zusammenfassen soll. Ein erstes integratives Konzept für Konstruktion und Zusammenbau von DSSD-Modulen des Barrel-Bereichs des MVD wird im Abschluss der Dissertation vorgestellt. Darüber hinaus wird eine detaillierte Beschreibung einer vereinfachten Vorschrift zur Berechnung des Versetzungsschadens durch Neutronen in zusammengesetzten Stoffen angegeben, welche sich als nützlich für die Ableitung des nicht-ionisierenden Energieverlustes in Materialien neben Silizium erwiesen hat

Cumulative index to NASA Tech Briefs, 1986-1990, volumes 10-14

Tech Briefs are short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This cumulative index of Tech Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes (subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief number) and covers the period 1986 to 1990. The abstract section is organized by the following subject categories: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer programs, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences