Virtual spring damper method for nonholonomic robotic swarm self-organization and leader following

In this paper, we demonstrate a method for self-organization and leader following of nonholonomic robotic swarm based on spring damper mesh. By self-organization of swarm robots we mean the emergence of order in a swarm as the result of interactions among the single robots. In other words the self-organization of swarm robots mimics some natural behavior of social animals like ants among others. The dynamics of two-wheel robot is derived, and a relation between virtual forces and robot control inputs is defined in order to establish stable swarm formation. Two cases of swarm control are analyzed. In the first case the swarm cohesion is achieved by virtual spring damper mesh connecting nearest neighboring robots without designated leader. In the second case we introduce a swarm leader interacting with nearest and second neighbors allowing the swarm to follow the leader. The paper ends with numeric simulation for performance evaluation of the proposed control method

Regional Convergence in Portugal: Policy Impacts (1990-2001)

In this study we look at whether the seven Portuguese NUTS II regions have been able to share equally in the country’s overall growth or whether there have been asymmetries and divergences in their growth patterns. We assess the regional impact of a wide range of Portuguese domestic policies on cohesion. We focus mainly on regional economic cohesion, although social cohesion effects are also considered. As in the case of Portugal structural operations within the community framework programmes and national efforts were highly intertwined, we also contrast the impact of Community policies in two regions.Portugal, European Union, Regional Convergence, Cohesion, National Policies, Structural Funds, Institutions.

No Accounting for Culture? Value in the New Economy

This paper explores the articulation of the value of investment in culture and the arts through a critical discourse analysis of policy documents, reports and commentary since 1997. It argues that in this period discourses around the value of culture have moved from the direct economic contributions of the culture industries to indirect economic benefits. These indirect benefits are discussed under three main headings: creativity and innovation, employability and social inclusion. These in turn are analysed in terms of three forms of capital: human, social and cultural. The paper concludes with an analysis of this discursive shift through the lens of autonomist Marxist concerns with the labour of social reproduction. It is our argument that, in contemporary policy discourses on culture and the arts, that government in the UK is increasingly concerned with the use of culture to form the social in the image of capital. As such we have to turn our attention beyond the walls of the factory in order to understand the contemporary capitalist production of value

Indicators and methods for spatial cohesion research: difficulties and challenges in low-density regions

Previous research carried out by this same authors went through the analysis of data sources and their potential to apply the polycentrism approach to territories where the urban features is weak (specifically in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain). Lately, several hubs were identified as potential centres and sub-centres in a regional articulation, helping out to delimitate accurately the map of polycentrism and Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) for each of them. Currently, we hope to depict those FUAs, highlighting the spatial cohesion, and looking for a better geographical knowledge, in accordance with current European standards. The most common methods to characterize functional areas used to be linked with numerous variables, demographic and economic, usually available and updated. Nevertheless, to go deepen is a difficult task because the broad range of indicators involved and the outcomes of recent dynamics. The specific aim of this paper is reviewing methodologies and datasets sources frequently used in the spatial evaluation, stressing those which focus less populated or dispersed areas. The analysis is driven by the difficulty to effectively assess what spatial cohesion is and how can it be measured, especially in these zones where this concept is crucial to understand the regional development.

'Safety: everybody’s concern, everybody’s duty?' Questioning the significance of 'active citizenship' and 'social cohesion' for people's perception of safety

The catchphrase “Safety: everybody’s concern, everybody’s duty” implies that in order to safe-guard the social order and safety we, the professionals as well as the public, need to unite and work together. In this sense, social connectedness and civic engagement are perceived as the prime sources to counter crime and people’s perception of safety. In this paper, we will first clarify that the references to ‘active citizenship’ and ‘social cohesion’ in criminal policy discourse are the result of the development of ‘perception of safety’ as an autonomous subject for research and policy. Policymakers have come to see (in)security as a phenomenon that needs to be explained by taking into account crime and non-crime related factors. Next, we will describe the emergence of ‘social cohesion’ and ‘active citizenship’ as natural barriers against crime and other deviant behaviour and as prerequisites for people’s perception of safety. In the third part, however, we will point out that both concepts are not necessarily positively interlinked with people’s ‘perception of safety’. Moreover we will indicate that activating civic engagement and stimulating social cohesion can even be detrimental to people’s perception of safety. In the final part we will suggest that in order to understand people’s perception of safety, we need to consider the process of identity formation and social categorization

Team to Market (T2M): Creating High Performance Teams in the Digital Age

1. Teams are the essential means of product or service delivery and the fundamental building blocks of modern organisations. An effective team can produce results far outperforming a collection of even the most talented individuals when team members coalesce and jell into a single, well-functioning, fully-aligned organism. This report advances the notion of “Team to Market” (T2M) to help business leaders and knowledge workers understand, create and lead high performance teams in the digital age

Balancing language planning and language rights: Catalonia's uneasy juggling act

In the 1980s, language planning in Catalonia was carried out against a background of general consensus that major language recovery measures were needed in order to improve the linguistic and sociolinguistic situation of Catalan. Demographic and social conditions favoured language reforms aimed at making Catalan the official language of the autonomous region of Catalonia, promoting its use in public and in the education system. Non-Catalans, too, supported these language policies as the use of Castilian (Spanish) was not restricted. This paper discusses the language planning measures resulting from the 1998 Law of Catalan. Catalonia seems to have reached a point where language recovery and language promotion come up against an evolving sociolinguistic situation marked by changed demographic conditions and social attitudes. The debate about the 1998 Law of Catalan demonstrates that popular consensus can no longer be relied upon. Instead, conflicting views are being voiced as the promotion of Catalan above Castilian has come to be seen as an infringement of the language rights of non-Catalans. Public discourse has become more polemical, bipartisan and politicised. The question arises as to how far a region within a multilingual member state of the EU can go in promoting monolingual language policies