Coordination and navigation of heterogeneous MAV-UGV formations localized by a 'hawk-eye'-like approach under a model predictive control scheme

n approach for coordination and control of 3D heterogeneous formations of unmanned aerial and ground vehicles under hawk-eye-like relative localization is presented in this paper. The core of the method lies in the use of visual top-view feedback from flying robots for the stabilization of the entire group in a leader–follower formation. We formulate a novel model predictive control-based methodology for guiding the formation. The method is employed to solve the trajectory planning and control of a virtual leader into a desired target region. In addition, the method is used for keeping the following vehicles in the desired shape of the group. The approach is designed to ensure direct visibility between aerial and ground vehicles, which is crucial for the formation stabilization using the hawk-eye-like approach. The presented system is verified in numerous experiments inspired by search-and-rescue applications, where the formation acts as a searching phalanx. In addition, stability and convergence analyses are provided to explicitly determine the limitations of the method in real-world applications

Investigation into Swarm-based Cooperative Behaviour in Execution of Open Field Agricultural Tasks

Because of the significant drop in the number of farmers and increase in the earth population, the use of autonomous farming units including unmanned tractors is becoming more and more popular. However, relying on a single autonomous farming unit to carry out the entire task on a large field is inefficient. Using multiple autonomous tractors bring more efficiency, however, without cooperation this attempt will fail (Mataric et al., 1995). This cooperation can be achieved by an appropriate task allocation and coordination mechanism between the participating units. The current trend in this field is to use direct forms of communication in any form of directional or broadcasting meaningful messages among the group. The messages assist the group to identify the state of the task, assigned workload, collision and congestion avoidance, and etc. These forms of approaches are fast and efficient when units are within the communicating signal range. In this thesis, we aim to investigate the feasibility of cooperative execution of open field farming task including spraying and ploughing while inter-team interaction is other than direct communication methods. For every task, an algorithm is suggested and an appropriate mathematical model is presented. Then, using ROS Stage simulation environment, each algorithm is implemented and multiple tests are conducted. Finally, the simulation results and the correspondent mathematical results are compared and appropriate modifications are suggested

Frontier Tibet

Frontier Tibet addresses a historical sequence that sealed the future of the Sino-Tibetan borderlands. It considers how starting in the late nineteenth century imperial formations and emerging nation-states developed competing schemes of integration and debated about where the border between China and Tibet should be. It also ponders the ways in which this border is internalised today, creating within the People's Republic of China a space that retains some characteristics of a historical frontier. The region of eastern Tibet called Kham, the focus of this volume, is a productive lens through which processes of place-making and frontier dynamics can be analysed. Using historical records and ethnography, the authors challenge purely externalist approaches to convey a sense of Kham's own centrality and the agency of the actors involved. They contribute to a history from below that is relevant to the history of China and Tibet, and of comparative value for borderland studies

Frontier Tibet

Frontier Tibet: Patterns of Change in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands addresses a historical sequence that sealed the future of the Sino-Tibetan borderlands. It considers how starting in the late nineteenth century imperial formations and emerging nation-states developed competing schemes of integration and debated about where the border between China and Tibet should be. It also ponders the ways in which this border is internalised today, creating within the People’s Republic of China a space that retains some characteristics of a historical frontier. The region of eastern Tibet called Kham, the focus of this volume, is a productive lens through which processes of place-making and frontier dynamics can be analysed. Using historical records and ethnography, the authors challenge purely externalist approaches to convey a sense of Kham’s own centrality and the agency of the actors involved. They contribute to a history from below that is relevant to the history of China and Tibet, and of comparative value for borderland studies

An analysis of emerging forms of social organisation and agency in the aftermath of 'fast track' land reform in Zimbabwe

The fast track land reform programme resulted in a fundamental reorganisation of rural relations in Zimbabwe, changing the landscape in an irreversible way with people from diverse backgrounds converging on former white-owned farms. This thesis tells the story of how the newly resettled land beneficiaries are organising themselves socially in response to various economic challenges. It makes a contribution towards understanding how redistributive land reforms and local government restructuring influence rural social organisation and agency. Furthermore the study examines local perceptions on the meanings of the „farm‟ and „land redistribution‟. An utterance by one war veteran “what used to be your farm is now our land and you are free to take your farm but leave our land” provides an alternative rendition to contestations of restitution versus a purely farm productionist discourse. The study, through an analysis of primary and secondary data, provides a fresh understanding of the social outcomes of fast track. It traces the evolution of land and agrarian reforms in post-independence Zimbabwe and the political and social economic context that led to „fast track‟. Through an analysis of field findings the thesis is able to define the dominant social groups that were resettled during fast track and the challenges they face in utilising the land. The findings show that the majority of the land beneficiaries were from the customary areas, with limited agricultural experiences. Local cooperation within informal networks and local farmer groups has been identified as one of the ways in which social reproduction is being organised. These groups are responsible for enhancing production capacity but they face a number of constraints. The study derives its theoretical foundation from the post 1980s debates on rural society dominated by Mafeje (1993, 2003), Rahmato (1991) and Mamdani (1996). The debates centred on how institutions of inclusion, authority and cooperation such as the lineage groups, local farmer groups and traditional authority remain relevant in the organisation of post-independent rural African society especially in a context of increased commoditisation of rural relations of production. Using theoretical insights derived from analysing the role of the lineage groups in the allocation of critical resources such as land and the influence of traditional authority (indirect rule) as a form of local government, the study examines how social organisation is emerging in areas where neither lineage nor traditional authority are not dominant. The thesis of rural cooperation through local groups as advanced by Rahmato (1991) and Moyo (2002) provides partial insights into the response mechanisms that land beneficiaries invoke in this instance. It is not necessarily an autonomous space of organisation but rather the state is actively involved through various functionaries including extension officers who invariably advance a very productionist approach. The state‟s monopoly through its local functionaries hides its political cooptation effect by emphasising organisation for production without questioning the manner in which that production is externally controlled through limited rights over land, the state‟s monopoly over inputs supply and markets for commodities. Whilst land reform has been driven by local participation through land occupations, local government reform has been technocratically determined through Ministerial directives. There is however little innovation in the form of local government that is being introduced. It expands the fusion of authority between elected Rural District Councils and unelected traditional authority functionaries. The forms of social organisation and agency that have emerged remain subordinated to the state with no links to other networks of rural producers‟ associations and urban civil society organisations. These developments form part of a longheld tradition within the Zimbabwean state where the legitimacy of local organisation and authority is usurped to service the interests of the state. Thus whilst land reform has to a certain extent accommodated the majority poor, the ensuing local government and agrarian reforms are more focused on limiting their participation in broader processes of political engagement around distribution and accumulation and their own governance

To Sew or To Sow?” European Gender Images and Development in Rural Ecuador

This thesis examines the impact of a gender specific Swiss development project on Andean artisans women who struggle to intensify their craft production in the face of an increasing subsistence crisis characteristic among rural small producers around the globe. The selection of a project which has proven sustainable over a number of years allowed the author to conduct fieldwork in three different settings (1992-1995): among two hundred artisan women from eleven rural communities in Ecuador\u27s Azuay province, who embroider table linen and apparel for export; among Ecuadorian and expatriate Swiss development specialists in Quito and Cuenca; and, to a limited extent, with policy makers and programmers at the headquarters of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Berne. The thesis analyzes how European gender stereotypes contravene the stated project goal to slow down rural emigration and interfere with the transfer of grassroots management skills. Research with development agents shows that gender and their cultural as well as geographic distance to aid receiving populations influence how well local needs are assessed. The Swiss case reveals that development agency staff are active in policy making; a lack of knowledge about current social science debates partly accounts for shortcomings in gender specific programming. Swiss foreign policy past and present is examined to expose the links between a nation\u27s internal situation and development programming, which is influenced by kind and degree of colonial and neo-colonial activities of the donor nation

From coal pits to tar sands: examining labour migration between the Athabasca oil sands and an Atlantic Canadian region

In less than two decades, the Oil Sands industries of Northern Alberta have transformed from a costly experiment in oil production hidden in the Canadian hinterlands to a mega-industry employing over 100 000 individuals situated at the centre of the Canadian economy. This rapid growth is due in large part to industries' adoption of certain neoliberal strategies, in particular making use of mobile and flexible temporary migrant workforces drawn from communities from across Canada undergoing processes of deindustrialization, capital flight and high levels of unemployment. One such region is Industrial Cape Breton, a former centre of coal mining and steel milling. The region has become strongly connected to the Oil Sands industries following the demise of its central industries at the turn of the millennium and is now dealing with the impacts that patterns of long-distance labour migration have on local communities and families. Based on multi-sited fieldwork conducted in Industrial Cape Breton and the Oil Sands region, the present dissertation examines this emerging pattern of labour migration as an aspect of the ongoing neoliberalization of the labour force. Through an examination of the political economies of migration and resource extraction, an exploration of the sending and receiving regions involved in these commutes, and use of work-life narratives as a methodological tool to examine the lived experiences of those involved in these mobile labour arrangements, this dissertation argues for attention to the connection of class and migration. Such labour migrations are both cause and consequence of a shift in classed subjectivities among a mobile working class involved in long-distance commute work. The processes that allow for labour migration fall fundamentally within the scopes of a broader neoliberal project yet rest on the foundations formed through the pre-established Fordist project. The promises of Fordism and the Fordist legacy allow for the establishment and continuation of certain forms of neoliberalism and of certain forms of labour migration as workers attempting to re-create Fordist patterns of stable and secure relations to work instead become implicated in insecure and unstable work relations which highlight the neoliberal era

Crisis Management, Tourism and the Three Gorges Dam, China

Within the tourism literature, studies of crisis and disaster management in the tourism industry are relatively numerous. However, not only are most research case studies based on a Western-oriented paradigm, but also relatively few studies pay attention to tourists’ perceptions in relation to tourism crisis management. China has experienced numerous crises related to tourism in recent years and eventually coped with them. However, until the SARS outbreak in 2003 there tended to be a lack of subsequent research of crisis management. Following the completion of the Three Gorges Dam in 2009 and the successful completion of the 175-meter experimental water storage of Three Gorges Reservoir in 2010, the debates surrounding the major negative impacts of the dam on the Three Gorges region have become more intense. The transformation of environment has impacted on tourists’ experiences and perceptions, and even the number of inbound tourists. From a Western perspective, therefore, the Dam has become a ‘self-induced’ crisis for the Three Gorges area in general and for Three Gorges tourism. However, the Chinese government stresses that the Dam provides significant benefits to China’s economic development. The aim of this study is to identify appropriate strategies, within a conceptual framework of crisis management and tourism policy development, for rebuilding Three Gorges tourism in China following the completion of the Dam. Therefore, the research critically reviews the development of the Dam and existing tourism policies as a foundation for the principal research question: what are inbound tourists’ attitudes towards the Dam, and how might these inform strategic responses to the consequences of the Dam on the Three Gorges tourism? Subsequently at Stage One of this study, in addition to the secondary data collection related specifically to tourism in the Three Gorges, scoping research was conducted to elicit primary data regarding both tourism policy and planning for the region and an overview of tourists’ perceptions of the experience of the Three Gorges. Thus, the research at this stage involved two in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the supply-side stakeholders, namely, an expert specializing in Three Gorges tourism research and a high-level official from Chongqing Tourism Bureau, and semi-structured interviews with nine tourists from western countries visiting the Three Gorges. Having elicited the initial data and an overview of tourists’ perceptions of the Three Gorges Dam and the Three Gorges, it became evident that more detailed, rich data were required to inform an analysis of tourists’ perceptions of the Three Gorges and, hence, to underpin recommendations for future policy for Three Gorges tourism Therefore, an additional 17 semi-structured interviews with international tourists were conducted at Stage Two alongside a quantitative survey amongst international tourists who had just completed their trip in the Three Gorges region and were still on a cruise ship. In addition to these, an unstructured-interview with a senior tourist guide, as a supplementary source, was also conducted to further identify the international tourists’ perceptions of the Three Gorges and the Dam. The findings reveal that, from the perspective of Chinese government, the Three Gorges Dam is not considered as a self-induced crisis. Similarly, from the perspective of international tourists, the Dam has no yet caused any perceived tourism crisis. However, international tourists’ perceptions of environmental pollution indicate that water pollution in particular in the Three Gorges region is becoming worse. Such problem, if no controlled effectively, is likely to become a serious water pollution crisis in the future, affecting not only the life of local residents, but also the development of new Three Gorges tourism. Thus, in response to international tourists’ perceptions of the Three Gorges and the Dam, this research makes a number of recommendations for the development of new Three Gorges tourism. Overall, the purpose of this research is to establish a link between strategic responses, Faulkner’s framework of tourism crisis management and tourists’ perceptions of the destination in order to expand present tourism crisis management theory and models. In so doing, it adds an additional dimension to the contemporary crisis management and tourism in China literatures. The research also demonstrates the uniqueness of the case: although the Dam has been thought as a self-induced crisis created by humans, it differs from many crises, as the possible negative consequences brought by the Dam were predicted and predictable