Robotics handbook. Version 1: For the interested party and professional

This publication covers several categories of information about robotics. The first section provides a brief overview of the field of Robotics. The next section provides a reasonably detailed look at the NASA Robotics program. The third section features a listing of companies and organization engaging in robotics or robotic-related activities; followed by a listing of associations involved in the field; followed by a listing of publications and periodicals which cover elements of robotics or related fields. The final section is an abbreviated abstract of referred journal material and other reference material relevant to the technology and science of robotics, including such allied fields as vision perception; three-space axis orientation and measurement systems and associated inertial reference technology and algorithms; and physical and mechanical science and technology related to robotics

Harmonizing CMMI-DEV 1.2 and XP Method to Improve The Software Development Processes in Small Software Development Firms

Most software development organizations are small firms, and they have realized the need to manage and improve their software development and management activities. Traditional Software Process Improvement (SPI) models and standards are not realistic for these firms because of high cost, limited resources and strict project deadlines. Therefore, these firms need a lightweight software development method and an appropriate SPI model to manage and improve their software development and management processes. This study aims to construct a suitable software development process improvement framework for Small Software Development Firms (SSDFs) based on eXtreme Programming (XP) method and Capability Maturity Model Integration for Development Version 1.2 (CMMI-Dev1.2) model. Four stages are involved in developing the framework: (1) aligning XP practices to the specific goals of CMMI-Dev1.2 Key Process Areas (KPAs); (2) developing the proposed software development process improvement framework based on extending XP method by adapting the Extension-Based Approach (EBA), CMMI-Dev1.2, and generic elements of the SPI framework; (3) verifying the compatibility of the proposed framework to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 by using focus group method coupled with Delphi technique; and (4) validating the modified framework by using CMMI-Dev1.2 questionnaire as a main item to validate the suitability of the modified framework for SSDFs, and conducting two case studies to validate the applicability and effectiveness of this framework for these firms. The result of aligning XP practices to the KPAs of CMMI-Dev1.2 shows that twelve KPAs are largely supported by XP practices, eight KPAs are partially supported by XP practices, and two KPAs are not-supported by XP practices. The main contributions of this study are: software development process improvement framework for SSDFs, elicit better understanding of how to construct the framework, and quality improvement of the software development processes. There are possible avenues for extending this research to fulfil the missing specific practices of several KPAs, examining other agile practices and using CMMI-Dev1.3 to improve the framework, and conducting more case studie

Knowledge-Based Systems. Overview and Selected Examples

The Advanced Computer Applications (ACA) project builds on IIASA's traditional strength in the methodological foundations of operations research and applied systems analysis, and its rich experience in numerous application areas including the environment, technology and risk. The ACA group draws on this infrastructure and combines it with elements of AI and advanced information and computer technology to create expert systems that have practical applications. By emphasizing a directly understandable problem representation, based on symbolic simulation and dynamic color graphics, and the user interface as a key element of interactive decision support systems, models of complex processes are made understandable and available to non-technical users. Several completely externally-funded research and development projects in the field of model-based decision support and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) are currently under way, e.g., "Expert Systems for Integrated Development: A Case Study of Shanxi Province, The People's Republic of China." This paper gives an overview of some of the expert systems that have been considered, compared or assessed during the course of our research, and a brief introduction to some of our related in-house research topics

Programming Languages for Distributed Computing Systems

When distributed systems first appeared, they were programmed in traditional sequential languages, usually with the addition of a few library procedures for sending and receiving messages. As distributed applications became more commonplace and more sophisticated, this ad hoc approach became less satisfactory. Researchers all over the world began designing new programming languages specifically for implementing distributed applications. These languages and their history, their underlying principles, their design, and their use are the subject of this paper. We begin by giving our view of what a distributed system is, illustrating with examples to avoid confusion on this important and controversial point. We then describe the three main characteristics that distinguish distributed programming languages from traditional sequential languages, namely, how they deal with parallelism, communication, and partial failures. Finally, we discuss 15 representative distributed languages to give the flavor of each. These examples include languages based on message passing, rendezvous, remote procedure call, objects, and atomic transactions, as well as functional languages, logic languages, and distributed data structure languages. The paper concludes with a comprehensive bibliography listing over 200 papers on nearly 100 distributed programming languages

An Analytical Approach to Programs as Data Objects

This essay accompanies a selection of 32 articles (referred to in bold face in the text and marginally marked in the bibliographic references) submitted to Aarhus University towards a Doctor Scientiarum degree in Computer Science.The author's previous academic degree, beyond a doctoral degree in June 1986, is an "Habilitation à diriger les recherches" from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) in France; the corresponding material was submitted in September 1992 and the degree was obtained in January 1993.The present 32 articles have all been written since 1993 and while at DAIMI.Except for one other PhD student, all co-authors are or have been the author's students here in Aarhus

Falsification of Cyber-Physical Systems with Robustness-Guided Black-Box Checking

For exhaustive formal verification, industrial-scale cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are often too large and complex, and lightweight alternatives (e.g., monitoring and testing) have attracted the attention of both industrial practitioners and academic researchers. Falsification is one popular testing method of CPSs utilizing stochastic optimization. In state-of-the-art falsification methods, the result of the previous falsification trials is discarded, and we always try to falsify without any prior knowledge. To concisely memorize such prior information on the CPS model and exploit it, we employ Black-box checking (BBC), which is a combination of automata learning and model checking. Moreover, we enhance BBC using the robust semantics of STL formulas, which is the essential gadget in falsification. Our experiment results suggest that our robustness-guided BBC outperforms a state-of-the-art falsification tool.Comment: Accepted to HSCC 202

Proceedings of the Workshop on Linear Logic and Logic Programming

Declarative programming languages often fail to effectively address many aspects of control and resource management. Linear logic provides a framework for increasing the strength of declarative programming languages to embrace these aspects. Linear logic has been used to provide new analyses of Prolog\u27s operational semantics, including left-to-right/depth-first search and negation-as-failure. It has also been used to design new logic programming languages for handling concurrency and for viewing program clauses as (possibly) limited resources. Such logic programming languages have proved useful in areas such as databases, object-oriented programming, theorem proving, and natural language parsing. This workshop is intended to bring together researchers involved in all aspects of relating linear logic and logic programming. The proceedings includes two high-level overviews of linear logic, and six contributed papers. Workshop organizers: Jean-Yves Girard (CNRS and University of Paris VII), Dale Miller (chair, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), and Remo Pareschi, (ECRC, Munich)

High-Density Solid-State Memory Devices and Technologies

This Special Issue aims to examine high-density solid-state memory devices and technologies from various standpoints in an attempt to foster their continuous success in the future. Considering that broadening of the range of applications will likely offer different types of solid-state memories their chance in the spotlight, the Special Issue is not focused on a specific storage solution but rather embraces all the most relevant solid-state memory devices and technologies currently on stage. Even the subjects dealt with in this Special Issue are widespread, ranging from process and design issues/innovations to the experimental and theoretical analysis of the operation and from the performance and reliability of memory devices and arrays to the exploitation of solid-state memories to pursue new computing paradigms

Technology for large space systems: A bibliography with indexes (supplement 19)

This bibliography lists 526 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between January 1, 1988 and June 30, 1988. Its purpose is to provide helpful information to the researcher, manager, and designer in technology development and mission design according to system, interactive analysis and design, structural and thermal analysis and design, structural concepts and control systems, electronics, advanced materials, assembly concepts, propulsion, and solar power satellite systems