169,476 research outputs found
Adaptive locomotion of artificial microswimmers
Bacteria can exploit mechanics to display remarkable plasticity in response
to locally changing physical and chemical conditions. Compliant structures play
a striking role in their taxis behavior, specifically for navigation inside
complex and structured environments. Bioinspired mechanisms with rationally
designed architectures capable of large, nonlinear deformation present
opportunities for introducing autonomy into engineered small-scale devices.
This work analyzes the effect of hydrodynamic forces and rheology of local
surroundings on swimming at low Reynolds number, identifies the challenges and
benefits of utilizing elastohydrodynamic coupling in locomotion, and further
develops a suite of machinery for building untethered microrobots with
self-regulated mobility. We demonstrate that coupling the structural and
magnetic properties of artificial microswimmers with the dynamic properties of
the fluid leads to adaptive locomotion in the absence of on-board sensors
Kinetic Voronoi Diagrams and Delaunay Triangulations under Polygonal Distance Functions
Let be a set of points and a convex -gon in .
We analyze in detail the topological (or discrete) changes in the structure of
the Voronoi diagram and the Delaunay triangulation of , under the convex
distance function defined by , as the points of move along prespecified
continuous trajectories. Assuming that each point of moves along an
algebraic trajectory of bounded degree, we establish an upper bound of
on the number of topological changes experienced by the
diagrams throughout the motion; here is the maximum length of an
-Davenport-Schinzel sequence, and is a constant depending on the
algebraic degree of the motion of the points. Finally, we describe an algorithm
for efficiently maintaining the above structures, using the kinetic data
structure (KDS) framework
An Omnidirectional Aerial Manipulation Platform for Contact-Based Inspection
This paper presents an omnidirectional aerial manipulation platform for
robust and responsive interaction with unstructured environments, toward the
goal of contact-based inspection. The fully actuated tilt-rotor aerial system
is equipped with a rigidly mounted end-effector, and is able to exert a 6
degree of freedom force and torque, decoupling the system's translational and
rotational dynamics, and enabling precise interaction with the environment
while maintaining stability. An impedance controller with selective apparent
inertia is formulated to permit compliance in certain degrees of freedom while
achieving precise trajectory tracking and disturbance rejection in others.
Experiments demonstrate disturbance rejection, push-and-slide interaction, and
on-board state estimation with depth servoing to interact with local surfaces.
The system is also validated as a tool for contact-based non-destructive
testing of concrete infrastructure.Comment: Accepted submission to Robotics: Science and Systems conference 2019.
9 pages, 12 figure
Changing the Ties That Bind? The Emerging Roles and Identities of General Practitioners and Managers in the New Clinical Commissioning Groups in the English NHS
The English National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing significant reorganization following the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. Key to these changes is the shift of responsibility for commissioning services from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to general practitioners (GPs) working together in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). This article is based on an empirical study that examined the development of emerging CCGs in eight case studies across England between September 2011 and June 2012. The findings are based on interviews with GPs and managers, observations of meetings, and reading of related documents. Scott’s notion that institutions are constituted by three pillars—the regulative, normative, and cognitive–cultural—is explored here. This approach helps to understand the changing roles and identities of doctors and managers implicated by the present reforms. This article notes the far reaching changes in the regulative pillar and questions how these changes will affect the normative and cultural–cognitive pillars
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Goodbye to Projects? Working paper 1: Annotated bibliography on livelihood approaches and development interventions.
YesThis paper is one in a series of working papers prepared under a research project on Goodbye to Projects? The Institutional Impacts of a Livelihood Approach on Projects and Project Cycle Management.
This is a collaborative project between the Bradford Centre for International Centre for Development (BCID) with the Economic and Policy Research Centre (EPRC), Uganda; Khanya ¿ managing rural change, South Africa; and, the Institute for Development Management (IDM), Tanzania. The project is supported by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under their Economic and Social Research Programme (ESCOR).Department for International Developmen
Frontiers of Adaptive Design, Synthetic Biology and Growing Skins for Ephemeral Hybrid Structures
The history of membranes is one of adaptation, from the development in living organisms to man-made versions, with a great variety of uses in temporary design: clothing, building, packaging, etc. Being versatile and simple to integrate, membranes have a strong sustainability potential, through an essential use of material resources and multifunctional design, representing one of the purest cases where “design follows function.” The introduction of new engineered materials and techniques, combined with a growing interest for Nature-inspired technologies are progressively merging man-made artifacts and biological processes with a high potential for innovation. This chapter introduces, through a number of examples, the broad variety of hybrid membranes in the contest of experimental Design, Art and Architecture, categorized following two different stages of biology-inspired approach with the aim of identifying potential developments. Biomimicry, is founded on the adoption of practices from nature in architecture though imitation:
solutions are observed on a morphological, structural or procedural level and copied to design everything from nanoscale materials to building technologies.
Synthetic biology relies on hybrid procedures mixing natural and synthetic materials and processes
Framework for the implementation of urban big screens in the public space
In the last decade, big urban screens have appeared in town squares and on building facades across the UK. The use of these screens brings new potentials and challenges for city regulators, artists, architects, urban designers, producers, broadcasters and advertisers. Dynamic moving images form new architectural material, affecting our perception and the experience of the space around us. A new form of urban space is emerging that is fundamentally different from what we have known, and it seems that we are
ill-equipped to deal with and analyse it.
We are just beginning to understand the opportunities for public information, art and community engagement. Most of screens at present serve mainly commercial purposes, they do not broadcast information aimed at sharing community content nor do they support public social interactions. We
need to see more negotiation between commercial, public and cultural interests. The SCREAM project addresses these new challenges by looking at the physical urban spaces and the potential spaces created by the new technologies
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