Pipeline for Variable Star Detection and Eclipsing Binary Characterization

Stars have been observed and recorded since ancient times. Practices of documenting brightness led to observations of variability. Optical CCD observations of eclipsing binary stars were made with instruments at UTRGV Dr. Cristina Valeria Torres Memorial Astronomical Observatory. There are two main goals for this project. The first goal is to create a pipeline written in python (lightcurator) that creates a framework for detecting variable stars. The pipeline starts by creating a list of ccd frames written in FITS format of an eclipsing binary star observation. These object frames are expected to be already reduced, but lightcurator provides tools to achieve this. The object frames are aligned and stacked to create a deepsky frame. Astrometry is performed to find the proper positions in right ascension and declination of all sources in the deepsky frame. This creates a master catalogue of stars to be monitored through the entire observation. Source extraction is performed on each object frame to generate a catalogue of stars that includes the measure of instrumental flux and the time recorded. After converting instrumental flux to instrumental magnitude, light curves are produced for every object for all frames. Currently, lightcurator is limited to detecting cataloged variable stars from the General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS) and the Variable Star Index (VSX). Identification of the intended eclipsing binary system is confirmed in all cases with this method. The second goal for this project is to extract the physical parameters of the eclipsing binary systems observed from the time series data computed from the pipeline

DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFT PNEUMATIC ACTUATOR FOR MODULAR ROBOTIC MECHANISMS

Soft robotics is a widely and rapidly growing field of research today. Soft pneumatic actuators, as a fundamental element in soft robotics, have gained huge popularity and are being employed for the development of soft robots. During the last decade, a variety of hyper-elastic robotic systems have been realized. As the name suggests, such robots are made up of soft materials, and do not have any underlying rigid mechanical structure. These robots are actuated employing various methods like pneumatic, electroactive, jamming etc. Generally, in order to achieve a desired mechanical response to produce required actuation or manipulation, two or more materials having different stiffness are utilized to develop a soft robot. However, this method introduces complications in the fabrication process as well as in further design flexibility and modifications. The current work presents a design scheme of a soft robotic actuator adapting an easier fabrication approach, which is economical and environment friendly as well. The purpose is the realization of a soft pneumatic actuator having functional ability to produce effective actuation, and which is further employable to develop modular and scalable mechanisms. That infers to scrutinize the profile and orientation of the internal actuation cavity and the outer shape of viii the actuator. Utilization of a single material for this actuator has been considered to make this design scheme convenient. A commercial silicone rubber was selected which served for an economical process both in terms of the cost as well as its accommodating fabrication process through molding. In order to obtain the material behavior, \u2018Ansys Workbench 17.1 R \u2019 has been used. Cubic outline for the actuator aided towards the realization of a body shape which can easily be engaged for the development of modular mechanisms employing multiple units. This outer body shape further facilitates to achieve the stability and portability of the actuator. The soft actuator has been named \u2018Soft Cubic Module\u2019 based on its external cubic shape. For the internal actuation cavity design, various shapes, such as spherical, elliptical and cylindrical, were examined considering their different sizes and orientations within the cubic module. These internal cavities were simulated in order to achieve single degree of freedom actuation. That means, only one face of the cube is principally required to produce effective deformation. \u2018Creo Perametric 3.0 M 130\u2019 has been used to design the model and to evaluate the performance of actuation cavities in terms of effective deformation and the resulting von-mises stress. Out of the simulated profiles, cylindrical cavity with desired outcomes has been further considered to design the soft actuator. \u2018Ansys Workbench 17.1 R \u2019 environment was further used to assess the performance of cylindrical actuation cavity. Evaluation in two different simulation environments helped to validate the initially achieved results. The developed soft cubic actuator was then employed to develop different mechanisms in a single unit configuration as well as multi-unit robotic system developments. This design scheme is considered as the first tool to investigate its capacity to perform certain given tasks in various configurations. Alongside its application as a single unit gripper and a two unit bio-mimetic crawling mechanism, this soft actuator has been employed to realize a four degree ix of freedom robotic mechanism. The formation of this primitive soft robotic four axis mechanism is being further considered to develop an equivalent mechanism similar to the well known Stewart platform, with advantages of compactness, simpler kinematics design, easier control, and lesser cost. Overall, the accomplished results indicate that the design scheme of Soft Cubic Module is helpful in realizing a simple and cost-effective soft pneumatic actuator which is modular and scalable. Another favourable point of this scheme is the use of a single material with convenient fabrication and handling

Design and control of soft rehabilitation robots actuated by pneumatic muscles: State of the art

Robot-assisted rehabilitation has become a new mainstream trend for the treatment of stroke patients with movement disability. Pneumatic muscle (PM) is one of the most promising actuators for rehabilitation robots, due to its inherent compliance and safety features. In this paper, we conduct a systematic review on the soft rehabilitation robots driven by pneumatic muscles. This review discusses up to date mechanical structures and control strategies for PMs-actuated rehabilitation robots. A variety of state-of-the-art soft rehabilitation robots are classified and reviewed according to the actuation configurations. Special attentions are paid to control strategies under different mechanical designs, with advanced control approaches to overcome PM’s highly nonlinear and time-varying behaviors and to enhance the adaptability to different patients. Finally, we analyze and highlight the current research gaps and the future directions in this field, which is potential for providing a reliable guidance on the development of advanced soft rehabilitation robots

A morphological design and evaluation model for the development of circular facades

The current construction industry can be characterized by its linear model of material use resulting in waste with its possible negative impact on the environment and society. As a solution to the inefficient material use of the construction industry, they should strive to a circular model of material use. This can be obtained by the application of the circular economy concept. However, clear guidance on how to apply the circular economy concept in buildings is still to be fully developed. In this research, a Circular Building Framework (CBF) and a Morphological Design and Evaluation Model (MDEM) have been developed for the facade. The CBF forms the starting point of the MDEM by providing a holistic view on all aspects related to the design and functioning of circular buildings. The MDEM forms a first draft to apply two essential principles ‘design for disassembly’ and ‘design for adaptability’ in the development of circular designed facades. In the MDEM two types of conceptual circular facade design solutions are identified making the facade designer aware about the consequences of different design decisions. The application of the MDEM will reclaim the embodied values of facade products by enabling them to enter re-life options at high quality

Extreme Cinema

Extreme Cinema examines the highly stylized treatment of sex and violence in post-millennial transnational cinema, where the governing convention is not the narrative but the spectacle

Emerging Technologies

This monograph investigates a multitude of emerging technologies including 3D printing, 5G, blockchain, and many more to assess their potential for use to further humanity’s shared goal of sustainable development. Through case studies detailing how these technologies are already being used at companies worldwide, author Sinan Küfeoğlu explores how emerging technologies can be used to enhance progress toward each of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to guarantee economic growth even in the face of challenges such as climate change. To assemble this book, the author explored the business models of 650 companies in order to demonstrate how innovations can be converted into value to support sustainable development. To ensure practical application, only technologies currently on the market and in use actual companies were investigated. This volume will be of great use to academics, policymakers, innovators at the forefront of green business, and anyone else who is interested in novel and innovative business models and how they could help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is an open access book

Extreme Cinema

Extreme Cinema examines the highly stylized treatment of sex and violence in post-millennial transnational cinema, where the governing convention is not the narrative but the spectacle

Humanistic Approaches to Medical Practice

Medical practice is a mixture of science and art, technique and humanism. The importance of human beings is more obvious in medicine than in any other field. At the center of medical care is the patient, and at its base and that of the entire medical system is the relationship that is established between the patient and the medical staff. Overspecialization is a big component of modern medicine, with professionals working in increasingly narrow fields, which makes patients routinely treated by multidisciplinary teams. This draws attention to the importance of appropriate relationships between members of the medical team for the success of the therapeutic approach. In the context of technological progress in medicine, the need to relate to the humanistic values of the medical profession and the complexity of the medical act in which technical aspects are intertwined with cultural, ethical, legal, psychological, and sociological issues becomes increasingly clear. This Special Issue is dedicated to the humanistic values of medical practice. It includes articles that approach various aspects of the so-called humanistic medicine, drawing a picture of what contemporary medicine should strive for

Learning Outcomes of Classroom Research

Personal pronouns are a linguistic device that is used to engage students at various educational levels. Personal pronouns are multifunctional, and their functions range from inclusion to exclusion, and include establishing of rapport with students. In this chapter, we compare the use of personal pronouns at university and secondary school levels. Our previous study (Yeo & Ting, 2014) showed the frequent use of you in lecture introductions (2,170 instances in the 37,373-word corpus) to acknowledge the presence of students. The arts lecturers were more inclusive than the science lecturers, reflected in the less frequent use of exclusive-we and we for one, as well as the frequent use of you-generalised. We have also compiled and analysed a 43,511-word corpus from 15 English lessons in three Malaysian secondary schools. This corpus yielded 2,019 instances of personal pronoun use. The results showed that you was the most frequently used personal pronoun, followed by we and I. You-audience was used more than you-generalised, and the main function was to give instructions to students. The teachers appeared to be more directive than the lecturers in the previous study, who sometimes used the inclusive-we for you and I and we for I to lessen the social distance with students, indicating that the discourse functions of personal pronouns vary with the educational context. The findings suggest that educators can be alerted to the versatility of personal pronouns, for example, for engaging students in the lesson and for asserting authority in the subject matter. Keywords: student engagement; personal pronouns; lecture; classroom; teache