10,436 research outputs found
Formation control of a group of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs)
Coordinated motion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has been a growing research interest in the last decade. In this paper we propose a coordination model that makes use of virtual springs and dampers to generate reference trajectories for a group of quadrotors. Virtual forces exerted on each vehicle are produced by using projected distances between the quadrotors. Several coordinated task scenarios are presented and the performance of the proposed method is verified by simulations
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The nature of the artificial: augmenting Negrottian artificiality with neo-Whiteheadian naturality
In this paper, a theory of the artificial recently proposed by Negrotti (1999a, 1999b, 2001a, 2001b) is critically examined. First, a brief overview of this theory is presented. It is then argued that despite the merits of this scheme, principal of which are the self-evident simplicity of its conceptual foundations, its internal consistency (or theoretical coherence), and its possible overall correctness, it is, nonetheless, incomplete. This incompleteness is shown to arise as a direct consequence of the explicit affirmation of a number of problematic metaphysical assumptions about the nature (as essence or what-ness) of nature (as 'other' to the artificial). An attempt at resolving the problem of incompleteness by augmenting the Negrottian theory of artificiality with an alternative conception of nature (as 'other') grounded in Whiteheadian panexperientialism is made. It is shown that although panexperientialism provides an adequate framework for the conceptualisation of naturality, it does not provide a corresponding framework for artificiality, principally because it fails to adequately characterise the nature (as essence) of artifacts. In order to address this latter problem, it is argued that conventional Whiteheadian panexperientialism must be supplemented with a phenomenological account of artificing that describes the ontologically distinct manner in which artifacts come to be. An attempt at formulating such a 'neo-Whiteheadian' account grounded in the metaphysical thinking of LadriĂšre, Lee, and others is made. In closing, some implications of this alternative Whiteheadian conception of naturality and the attendant neo-Whiteheadian account of artifactuality for the project of "strong" artificiality (that is, the attempt to artifactually replicate natural phenomena) are briefly considered
Islam Between Inclusion and Exclusion: A (Decolonial) Frame Problem
In this chapter, the 'Frame Problem' in AI is mobilized as a trope in order to engage the 'question' concerning the inclusion and/or exclusion of Islam (and Muslims) from European â and, more broadly, 'Western' â society. Adopting a decolonial perspective, wherein body-political, geo-political and theo-political concerns are centered, the meaning and applicability of categorical dichotomies such as 'religion' and 'politics' and their relationship to the historical entanglement of 'religion' and 'race' in the formation of the modern world are interrogated in the context of understanding the nature of the relationship between Islam and Europe/'the West'. It is argued that the tendency within Western liberal democratic discourses to (1) frame the problem of Islamophobia and 'the Muslim question' in terms of misrepresentation â that is, misinformation, disinformation and 'distortion' of the flow of information â and (2) frame the issue of "Islam and Europe/'the West'" in terms of inclusion and/or exclusion of the members of a 'religious' minority into a post-modern, post- Christian/'secular' polity circumvents disclosure of the violent historically-constituted structural background or 'horizon' against which such 'options' are generated. The essay concludes by sketching some possible decolonial responses to this critical and existentially-problematic state of affairs
Decolonizing Information Narratives: Entangled Apocalyptics, Algorithmic Racism and the Myths of History
In what follows, some contemporary narratives about âthe information societyâ are interrogated from critical race theoretical and decolonial perspectives with a view to constructing a âcounter-narrativeâ purporting to demonstrate the embeddedness of colonialityâthat is, the persistent operation of colonial logicsâin such discourses
Race: the difference that makes a difference
During the last two decades, critical enquiry into the nature of race has begun to enter the philosophical mainstream. The same period has also witnessed the emergence of an increasingly visible discourse about the nature of information within a diverse range of popular and academic settings. What is yet to emerge, however, is engagement at the interface of the two disciplines â critical race theory and the philosophy of information. In this paper, I shall attempt to contribute towards the emergence of such a field of enquiry by using a reflexive hermeneutic (or interpretative) approach to analyze the concept of race from an information-theoretical perspective, while reflexively analyzing the concept of information from a critical race-theoretical perspective. In order to facilitate a more concrete enquiry, the concept of information formulated by cyberneticist Gregory Bateson and the concept of race formulated by philosopher Charles W Mills will be placed at the centre of analysis. Crucially, both concepts can be shown to have a connection to the critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, thereby justifying their selection as topics of examination on critical reflexive hermeneutic grounds
Transhumanism and/as Whiteness
Transhumanism is interrogated from critical race theoretical and decolonial perspectives with a view to establishing its âalgorithmicâ relationship to historical processes of race formation (or racialization) within Euro-American historical experience. Although the Transhumanist project is overdetermined vis-Ă -vis its raison-dâĂȘtre, it is argued that a useful way of thinking about this project is in terms of its relationship to the shifting phenomenon of âwhitenessâ. It is suggested that Transhumanism constitutes a techno-scientific response to the phenomenon of âWhite Crisisâ at least partly prompted by âcriticalâ posthumanist contestation of Eurocentrically-universal humanism
Spectral Singularities in the Surface Modes of a Spherical Gain Medium
We study the surface modes of a homogeneous spherical gain medium and provide
a comprehensive analytic treatment of a special class of these modes that
support spectral singularities. Because the latter have a divergent quality
factor, we call them the singular gallery modes. We show that they can be
excited using arbitrarily small amounts of gain, and as a result, the system
lacks a lasing threshold, effectively. This shows that we can realize spectral
singularities in the surface modes of extremely small spherical samples with
modest amounts of gain. We also examine the possibility of exciting singular
gallery modes with different wavelengths using the same amount of gain. This
corresponds to the situation where the system undergoes simultaneous lasing at
different wavelengths.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Spectral Singularities and Whispering Gallery Modes of a Cylindrical Gain Medium
Complex scattering potentials can admit scattering states that behave exactly
like a zero-width resonance. Their energy is what mathematicians call a
spectral singularity. This phenomenon admits optical realizations in the form
of lasing at the threshold gain, and its time-reversal is responsible for
antilasing. We study spectral singularities and whispering gallery modes (WGMs)
of a cylindrical gain medium. In particular, we introduce a new class of WGMs
that support a spectral singularity and, as a result, have a divergent quality
factor. These singular gallery modes (SGMs) are excited only if the system has
a positive gain coefficient, but typically the required gain is extremely
small. More importantly given any amount of gain, there are SGMs requiring
smaller gain than this amount. This means that, in principle, the system lacks
a lasing threshold. Furthermore, the abundance of these modes allows for
configurations where a particular value of the gain coefficient yields an
effective excitation of two distant SGMs. This induces lasing at two different
wavelengths.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; to appear in Phys. Rev.
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