1,523 research outputs found
Active Inference and Behavior Trees for Reactive Action Planning and Execution in Robotics
We propose a hybrid combination of active inference and behavior trees (BTs)
for reactive action planning and execution in dynamic environments, showing how
robotic tasks can be formulated as a free-energy minimization problem. The
proposed approach allows to handle partially observable initial states and
improves the robustness of classical BTs against unexpected contingencies while
at the same time reducing the number of nodes in a tree. In this work, the
general nominal behavior is specified offline through BTs, where a new type of
leaf node, the prior node, is introduced to specify the desired state to be
achieved rather than an action to be executed as typically done in BTs. The
decision of which action to execute to reach the desired state is performed
online through active inference. This results in the combination of continual
online planning and hierarchical deliberation, that is an agent is able to
follow a predefined offline plan while still being able to locally adapt and
take autonomous decisions at runtime. The properties of our algorithm, such as
convergence and robustness, are thoroughly analyzed, and the theoretical
results are validated in two different mobile manipulators performing similar
tasks, both in a simulated and real retail environment
Global driving forces shaping the future of the Finnish cadastral system by 2035 : a Delphi study
Sustainable and efficient land management system is a crucial factor for the well-being of every society. Cadastral system as a constituent of land management system plays an important role in ensuring legality of relationships between land and its owners, government and citizens. Cadastre is a storage of information regarding who owns the land, its boundaries and rights of its owner. However, this system has evolved along with the macro transformations in human society. Such macro phenomena as industrialization, urbanization, emergence of real estate market, and technological advancements influenced on the operational environment of the cadastral system considerably. If the external environment changes, all the subsystems inside it have to transform as well in order to remain relevant and be convenient for its users. The aim of this thesis was to understand future operational environment of the cadastral system in Finland towards 2035. The study intended to answer two research questions: (1) What are the global drivers shaping the operational environment of the cadastral system in Finland by 2035? (2) What are the alternative scenarios of the operational environment of the cadastral system in Finland?
Contextually and conceptually, this study lies between two scientific domains, cadastral research and futures studies. The research strategy was designed following the principle of a well-established futures studies method, Disaggregative Policy Delphi. The study was conducted from October 2016 until January 2017. Experts from various fields related to land management and land use were invited to estimate probable and preferred impacts of the listed megatrends on the development of the cadastral system in Finland. The core part of the questionnaire in both rounds consisted of five step Likert scale questions, however respondents were also asked to support their choice with qualitative arguments. Besides, respondents were invited to estimate relevance of these megatrends to the development of cadastral system. Finally, the most relevant driving forces shaping the operational environment of the cadastral system were identified and four normative scenarios were constructed based on the hierarchical cluster analysis. Findings of the study revealed the relevance of technological phenomena such as digital culture and ubiquitous intelligence and political tendency towards transparency, accessibility and open data to the operational environmental of the Finnish cadastral system. Scenarios analysis reaffirmed these elaborations, i.e. three out of four future visions were driven by mainly technological and economic megatrends, whereas social and environmental ones received lower value
The Predictive Brain Must Have a Limitation in Short-Term Memory Capacity
Traditionally, short-term memory (STM) has been assessed by asking participants to remember words, visual objects, or numbers for a short amount of time before their recall or recognition of those items is tested. However, this focus on memory for past sensory input might have obscured potential theoretical insights into the function of this cognitive faculty. Here, we suggest that STM may have an important role in predicting future sensory input. This reconceptualization of STM may provide a functional explanation for its capacity limitation
Behavior Trees in Robotics and AI: An Introduction
A Behavior Tree (BT) is a way to structure the switching between different
tasks in an autonomous agent, such as a robot or a virtual entity in a computer
game. BTs are a very efficient way of creating complex systems that are both
modular and reactive. These properties are crucial in many applications, which
has led to the spread of BT from computer game programming to many branches of
AI and Robotics. In this book, we will first give an introduction to BTs, then
we describe how BTs relate to, and in many cases generalize, earlier switching
structures. These ideas are then used as a foundation for a set of efficient
and easy to use design principles. Properties such as safety, robustness, and
efficiency are important for an autonomous system, and we describe a set of
tools for formally analyzing these using a state space description of BTs. With
the new analysis tools, we can formalize the descriptions of how BTs generalize
earlier approaches. We also show the use of BTs in automated planning and
machine learning. Finally, we describe an extended set of tools to capture the
behavior of Stochastic BTs, where the outcomes of actions are described by
probabilities. These tools enable the computation of both success probabilities
and time to completion
The First Step to Leadership in School Management: Taking Initiative
Problem statement: The present study aims to determine the situations and the characteristics of these situations, in which school administrators take initiatives, and the outcomes of these initiatives for the school
Recovering the Divide: A Review of Strategy and Tactics in Business and Management
With origins in military history, strategy and tactics is a frequently used conceptual couplet in the business and management literature. This paper reviews how strategy and tactics are portrayed, identifying a dominant ‘pragmatic’ account of strategy as an expression of formal, planned ends achieved through the subordinate means of tactics. Pragmatic distinctions give rise to a range of well-known problems, in particular in strategy implementation stages. We suggest that some of these problems may be avoided when the strategy–tactics relationship is conceived differently. We elaborate two alternative distinctions: a sociological framing of tactics as mechanisms of resistance to formal, controlling strategies; and a processual perspective, which sidesteps fixed distinctions between tactics and strategy, giving rise to more fluid interrelations between both modes. Based on a review of the business and management literature, we identify key examples of each trope and conclude by drawing insights for each account on the basis of these wider discussions
Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics
This paper briefly explores the expected impact of the ‘Global Drivers’ (such as population demographics,
food security; energy security; community security and safety), and the role of sustainability engineering
in mitigating the potential effects of these Global Drivers. The message of the paper is that sustainability
requires a significant input from Ergonomics/Human Factors, but the profession needs some expansion in
its thinking in order to make this contribution.
Creating a future sustainable world in which people experience an acceptable way of life will not
happen without a large input from manufacturing industry into all the Global Drivers, both in delivering
products that meet sustainability criteria (such as durability, reliability, minimised material requirement
and low energy consumption), and in developing sustainable processes to deliver products for sustainability
(such as minimum waste, minimum emissions and low energy consumption). Appropriate
changes are already being implemented in manufacturing industry, including new business models, new
jobs and new skills.
Considerable high-level planning around the world is in progress and is bringing about these changes;
for example, there is the US ‘Advanced Manufacturing National Program’ (AMNP)’, the German ‘Industrie
4.0’ plan, the French plan ‘la nouvelle France industrielle’ and the UK Foresight publications on the
‘Future of Manufacturing’.
All of these activities recognise the central part that humans will continue to play in the new
manufacturing paradigms; however, they do not discuss many of the issues that systems ergonomics
professionals acknowledge. This paper discusses a number of these issues, highlighting the need for
some new thinking and knowledge capture by systems ergonomics professionals. Among these are
ethical issues, job content and skills issues.
Towards the end, there is a summary of knowledge extensions considered necessary in order that
systems ergonomists can be fully effective in this new environment, together with suggestions for the
means to acquire and disseminate the knowledge extensions
Ranking Research and Development Needs of Silvicultural Operations for a Plantation Forestry Cooperative
Forest Owners Organizations can help small- and medium-scale private landowners stay competitive by conducting and sharing research and development (R and D) activities. This study evaluated R and D needs for silvicultural operations to inform an R and D strategy for the cooperative. Individual and group priorities were collected using the Analytical Hierarchy Process via a web survey and web meeting. Consensus in priorities was followed by an assessment of the cooperative's capacity to carry out in-house research. Two regional managers, eight plantation managers and one R & D/Technology manager participated in one or more stages of the process. Participants ranked most silvicultural operations similarly. However, the variation was largest for harvest residue, seedling, and stump management. Minor regional differences were found but both regions (south and north) had "very high" group consensus indicators (86.2% and 89%, respectively). The group decision ranked R and D in harvest residue management as the highest priority, followed by soil preparation and planting methods. The cooperative's strongest capacity for in-house research was in the execution of the experimental design to address the research questions (implementation). The weakest research capacity was found in terms of harvest residue, seedling, and stump management. Hence, the cooperative is dependent on research institutions. These findings can be used to inform and align the cooperative's R and D strategy, investments, and their research collaborations
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