Learning robust policies for object manipulation with robot swarms

Swarm robotics investigates how a large population of robots with simple actuation and limited sensors can collectively solve complex tasks. One particular interesting application with robot swarms is autonomous object assembly. Such tasks have been solved successfully with robot swarms that are controlled by a human operator using a light source. In this paper, we present a method to solve such assembly tasks autonomously based on policy search methods. We split the assembly process in two subtasks: generating a high-level assembly plan and learning a low-level object movement policy. The assembly policy plans the trajectories for each object and the object movement policy controls the trajectory execution. Learning the object movement policy is challenging as it depends on the complex state of the swarm which consists of an individual state for each agent. To approach this problem, we introduce a representation of the swarm which is based on Hilbert space embeddings of distributions. This representation is invariant to the number of agents in the swarm as well as to the allocation of an agent to its position in the swarm. These invariances make the learned policy robust to changes in the swarm and also reduce the search space for the policy search method significantly. We show that the resulting system is able to solve assembly tasks with varying object shapes in multiple simulation scenarios and evaluate the robustness of our representation to changes in the swarm size. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the policies learned in simulation are robust enough to be transferred to real robots

Robust learning of object assembly tasks with an invariant representation of robot swarms

— Swarm robotics investigates how a large population of robots with simple actuation and limited sensors can collectively solve complex tasks. One particular interesting application with robot swarms is autonomous object assembly. Such tasks have been solved successfully with robot swarms that are controlled by a human operator using a light source. In this paper, we present a method to solve such assembly tasks autonomously based on policy search methods. We split the assembly process in two subtasks: generating a high-level assembly plan and learning a low-level object movement policy. The assembly policy plans the trajectories for each object and the object movement policy controls the trajectory execution. Learning the object movement policy is challenging as it depends on the complex state of the swarm which consists of an individual state for each agent. To approach this problem, we introduce a representation of the swarm which is based on Hilbert space embeddings of distributions. This representation is invariant to the number of agents in the swarm as well as to the allocation of an agent to its position in the swarm. These invariances make the learned policy robust to changes in the swarm and also reduce the search space for the policy search method significantly. We show that the resulting system is able to solve assembly tasks with varying object shapes in multiple simulation scenarios and evaluate the robustness of our representation to changes in the swarm size. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the policies learned in simulation are robust enough to be transferred to real robots

Baby, dream your dream : Pearl Bailey, Hello, Dolly!, and the negotiation of race in commerical American musical theatre

In October of 1967, producer David Merrick closed his successful production of Hello, Dolly! Merrick reopened the show one month later with an all-black cast that featured the talents of performers Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway. While this Bailey Dolly! was a mammoth commercial success, this production brought attention to various problems concerning the interaction of black and white creative and performing talent in the venue of commercial American musical theatre. One such problem involved the risk of possible loss of genuine black culture and ignorance of recalcitrant intra-black-community difficulties and the extent to which African Americans should have desired entrée into bourgeois society, as the play Hello, Dolly! itself portrayed onstage. Another such problem involved the possibility of the production avoiding dealing with racism head-on in order to avoid alienating white audiences. A corollary of such problems begged the question of what vision of American integration and civil rights the show represented. On a more practical level, the Bailey Dolly! raised questions of the extent to which the Broadway stage needed reform with respect to its treatment of non-white participants. In this regard, questions arose as to whether there was any middle ground between calls for black separatist theatre and African-American participation in white commercial theatre, as well as to what extent white-dominated commercial American musical theatre would allow for black control of the creative and economic process. In exploring these broad areas of concern, the study finds a fundamental conundrum. The production, to a great extent, glossed over everyday problems that the African American faced in 1960s America. At the same time, the Bailey Dolly! celebrated the victories of the civil rights era, providing a blueprint for African-American bourgeois entrée. Thus, despite acknowledged detriments with respect to portraying a genuine African-American experience, the Bailey Dolly! served as a flashpoint of change in the treatment of African Americans in commercial American musical theatre, and as a harbinger for improvement in such treatment

Using MapReduce Streaming for Distributed Life Simulation on the Cloud

Distributed software simulations are indispensable in the study of large-scale life models but often require the use of technically complex lower-level distributed computing frameworks, such as MPI. We propose to overcome the complexity challenge by applying the emerging MapReduce (MR) model to distributed life simulations and by running such simulations on the cloud. Technically, we design optimized MR streaming algorithms for discrete and continuous versions of Conway’s life according to a general MR streaming pattern. We chose life because it is simple enough as a testbed for MR’s applicability to a-life simulations and general enough to make our results applicable to various lattice-based a-life models. We implement and empirically evaluate our algorithms’ performance on Amazon’s Elastic MR cloud. Our experiments demonstrate that a single MR optimization technique called strip partitioning can reduce the execution time of continuous life simulations by 64%. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to propose and evaluate MR streaming algorithms for lattice-based simulations. Our algorithms can serve as prototypes in the development of novel MR simulation algorithms for large-scale lattice-based a-life models.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/scs_books/1014/thumbnail.jp

Stuck in the middle: A case study of conflict experiences by a first-time community college president

Leadership models for community college presidents are in a major transformation from traditional hierarchical, positional authority to participatory models of decision making. As leadership becomes more participatory, and educators experiment with more team and collaborative approaches to leadership, increased conflict is a likely outcome. Inclusiveness often brings diverse voices into decision making, and empowerment of a variety of individuals brings a shift in traditional power dynamics. Different interests may create conflict, and leaders will need to find ways to negotiate these differences in order to enhance creative adaptation of a community college to its changing environment. This study explores the experiences and responses to conflict of a community college president using a field case study method and grounded theory approach. Interviews were conducted with the president over 10 months, triangulated with faculty and staff interviews, onsite observations, document analysis and the results of the Leadership Development Profile questionnaire which was developed by William Torbert to predict a leader\u27s stage of social cognitive development (ego maturity). The results of this study suggest that presidential responses to conflict negatively impacted the organization through habitual avoidance of conflict tensions including disengagement from important and clarifying discussions with the faculty and staff and retreat into bureaucratic routines that kept him separated from faculty interaction. In addition, the results of the Leadership Development Profile suggest a relationship between the president\u27s experiences of conflict and his suggested stage of ego maturity which in turn influenced his choice of conflict responses. The implications of this study are that conflict engagement choices of this president can best be understood (a) as part of the organizational and environmental context and the developmental capacity (ego maturity) of a leader, (b) problem solving and decision making through collaboration require leaders to continually learn on the job, (c) complex, ambiguous problems may require conflict as a catalyst to surface and challenge assumptions that hinder the search for novel solutions

Every Pawn is a Potential Queen: How Female Early-Career Faculty Play the Game of Tenure

The research on early-career faculty on the tenure track suggests they are surviving amidst low job satisfaction. Scholars found that early-career faculty lack the skills and preparation needed for the job, perceive the tenure process to be vague or unclear, feel isolated or disenchanted with their work, and struggle with time management (Austin, 2002; Austin, Sorcinelli, & McDaniels, 2007; Batille & Brown, 2006; Ponjuan, Conley, & Trower, 2011; Tierney & Bensimon, 1996). Female early-career faculty are susceptible to additional gendered and biased challenges (Gappa, Austin, & Trice, 2007). Missing from the literature are the positive experiences of early-career faculty. The purpose of this study is to describe the professional approaches of six female early-career faculty who work at selective liberal arts colleges and how those approaches are similar or different from four of their peers at a large research university, using theories of intrinsic motivation (Pink, 2009), agency (Bandura, 2001), and positive deviance (Spreitzer & Sonenshein, 2003) to frame the inquiry. A secondary purpose of this study is to describe the strategies to faculty work that deviate positively from the typical early-career faculty behaviors articulated in the existing research. Using a qualitative embedded multi-case study design, data was collected from ten female early-career faculty from three different institutions. Using constant comparative analysis and pattern matching, the theme of tenure as a game emerged, as well as the greater metaphor that participants approach their work like they are playing a challenging, but gratifying, game of chess. There were four major insights that surfaced from the findings. First, female early-career faculty assess their skills to play the game and take subsequent actions to improve their positions within the first few years of their appointments. Second, female early-career faculty seize opportunities to advance quickly by the middle of the probationary period. Third, female early-career faculty incorporate moves that reinforce their passions throughout their appointments. And finally, positive-deviant approaches combined participants’ skills, awareness of opportunity, and passion into a single move at the onset, which ultimately positioned participants for success

When I Die, I Won\u27t Stay Dead: The Poetry of Bob Kaufman

This dissertation begins with the premise that critical attention to the work of Bob Kaufman is long overdue, and that Bob Kaufman is a significant American poet in the African American and Beat traditions. The purpose of this dissertation begins to rectify this need with a study of Bob Kaufman’s verse. My exploration of Kaufman necessitates some pointed attention to the cultural, social, and psychological influences that gave rise to his work, specifically his upbringing in the south, his travels, and the misrepresented times of his life in current biographical entries and some present scholarship. I will also address the notion of him as an oral poet within the context of the African American Oral tradition and the improvisational nature of Jazz music. I will also consider the surrealist impulse in Bob Kaufman’s work. Thus, this dissertation will treat Bob Kaufman’s use of the Surreal and the Jazz idiom as a social and political vehicle for his art. This practice locates him at the heart of modernism, and looks ahead to the postmodern in American Literature. In this regard, I will demonstrate how Bob Kaufman outdistances his Beat contemporaries and pre-figures the Black Arts and Cultural Movement of the 1960s not just in chronological order but in social and political content, and literary practice. My project seeks to understand Bob Kaufman’s overall aesthetic by close analysis of his major themes; linguistic prowess; his often overlooked southern surreal; the collision of music and poetry in his poems; his use of rhythm and typography as structural performance. To this end, I will examine the Solitudes collection with attention to his emphasis on poetic shape, structure and sound, and how to read the influence of Jazz in his printed work. I demonstrate why American literary scholarship should unearth the multi-layered mind field that is Bob Kaufman’s verse

Brand Response to Consumer Backlash in Social Media: A Typology

The use of social media by consumers to admonish firms for their conduct has become increasingly common. Such backlash can take many forms and often occurs rapidly, spreads widely and is highly visible. The potential damage to brands can be severe if these situations are not dealt with effectively. To date, the issue has been examined relatively superficially in a range of disciplines without specific regard to the management of consumer-brand relationships in online environments. Our research examines the nature of company reactions to social media backlash and conceptualises a typology that categorises reputational damage and effective response. We present four typical reactionary scenarios and conclude that insufficient research exists in this domain proportionate to the level of consumer-brand social media discourse to the peril of practitioners operating via these channel

The evolution of architecture faculty organizational culture at the University of Michigan

Understanding and navigating the multiple academic disciplines and administrative subcultures, which operate within higher education institutions, is challenging for both internal and external stakeholders who may be unfamiliar with the disparate normative, regulative, and cultural cognitive systems that guide social behavior of each area. Higher education leaders need to understand the cultures operating within the organizational groups and subgroups in order to coordinate, integrate, and foster collaboration toward organizational and institutional goal attainment activities. This case study, which focused on the emergence and evolution of the organizational culture of the architecture faculty at the University of Michigan, provides insights into this particular organizational unit as well as a conceptual framework and research process from which to examine other faculty subcultures. Findings included explication of historical, societal and technological influences; the sociocultural, norms, roles and structural elements developed by the organizational members to structure their social behavior; a list of norms, roles and statuses used by members; as well as an explication of leadership actions that were accepted or rejected by faculty members as the organizational culture developed

Constructing instructor-student and student-student authority relationships in technical writing classrooms

The technical writing classroom, where instructors come from English while most students have expertise in science and technical fields, creates a complicated dynamic of authority. Despite these complications, little technical communication research addresses classroom authority. Composition provides considerably more discussion of classroom authority but is often predicated on the belief that (1) authority rests solely with instructors, and (2) such authority is inherently negative, particularly for students.;Drawing on classroom observations and the work of composition scholars and post-structural theorists, this dissertation argues that classroom authority is best understood as a series of negotiated relationships between instructor and students and among students. Although influenced by external structures such as institutional status, expertise, and gender, authority manifests in interactions between individual instructors and students.;In the study, two discursive structures in particular shaped instructor-student authority. First, the institutional structure of the university, particularly the relative status of those in the class, placed the instructor in a hierarchical position over the students, a structure which individuals could complicate but never escape. But while students and instructors did sometimes experience this traditional authority structure as a constraint, both groups also benefited in specific ways. Authority was further complicated by the different expertise of those in the class. As students advance further in their own fields, they bring increased discipline-specific expertise to classroom relationships. When students had disciplinary expertise that the instructor did not, they were able to assert authority in ways not encouraged by institutional structure. Different forms of expertise, combined with other structures of cultural power, such as gender, created a complex web that instructor and students negotiated when developing authority relationships.;Student-student authority has received little scholarly attention despite increasing pedagogical interest in assigning students to collaborative projects. Students face two challenges to asserting authority with peers: (1) an educational system focused on individual success, and (2) an institutional structure that encourages students to engage in non-hierarchical, socially-based peer relationships. Despite these challenges, students did find ways to assert authority and work together by calling on discipline-based expertise to frame their authority assertions or by imitating other types of authority relationships (e.g., instructor-student)