Vortex Creep Against Toroidal Flux Lines, Crustal Entrainment, and Pulsar Glitches

A region of toroidally oriented quantized flux lines must exist in the proton superconductor in the core of the neutron star. This region will be a site of vortex pinning and creep. Entrainment of the neutron superfluid with the crustal lattice leads to a requirement of superfluid moment of inertia associated with vortex creep in excess of the available crustal moment of inertia. This will effect constraints on the equation of state. The toroidal flux region provides the moment of inertia necessary to complement the crust superfluid with postglitch relaxation behavior fitting the observations.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letter

Microscopic Vortex Velocity in the Inner Crust and Outer Core of Neutron Stars

Treatment of the vortex motion in the superfluids of the inner crust and the outer core of neutron stars is a key ingredient in modeling a number of pulsar phenomena, including glitches and magnetic field evolution. After recalculating the microscopic vortex velocity in the inner crust, we evaluate the velocity for the vortices in the outer core for the first time. The vortex motion between pinning sites is found to be substantially faster in the inner crust than in the outer core, v_0^{\rm crust} \sim 10^{7}\mbox{\cms} \gg v_0^{\rm core} \sim 1\mbox{\cms}. One immediate result is that vortex creep is always in the nonlinear regime in the outer core in contrast to the inner crust, where both nonlinear and linear regimes of vortex creep are possible. Other implications for pulsar glitches and magnetic field evolution are also presented.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Peculiar Glitch of PSR J1119-6127 and Extension of the Vortex Creep Model

Glitches are sudden changes in rotation frequency and spin-down rate, observed from pulsars of all ages. Standard glitches are characterized by a positive step in angular velocity ($\Delta\Omega$ $>$ $0$) and a negative step in the spin-down rate ($\Delta \dot \Omega$ $<$ $0$) of the pulsar. There are no glitch-associated changes in the electromagnetic signature of rotation-powered pulsars in all cases so far. For the first time, in the last glitch of PSR J1119-6127, there is clear evidence for changing emission properties coincident with the glitch. This glitch is also unusual in its signature. Further, the absolute value of the spin-down rate actually decreases in the long term. This is in contrast to usual glitch behaviour. In this paper we extend the vortex creep model in order to take into account these peculiarities. We propose that a starquake with crustal plate movement towards the rotational poles of the star induces inward vortex motion which causes the unusual glitch signature. The component of the magnetic field perpendicular to the rotation axis will decrease, giving rise to a permanent change in the pulsar external torque.Comment: accepted by MNRAS, 10 pages, 2 figure

A study on technology management process: the parts and components suppliers in the Turkish automotive industry

This paper summarizes part of an empirical study on technology management process in the Turkish automotive parts and components industry. In this study, technology management practices in the Turkish automotive parts and components suppliers' sector are described and evaluated. Practices, techniques, and approaches are proposed to improve the level of technology management so as to turn technology into a competitive weapon. The investigation is organized within the framework of a process model for technology management that consists of technology identification, selection, acquisition, exploitation, protection, and abandonment. A comprehensive questionnaire addressing all phases of this process is developed and the results of 21 companies are presented

An integrated new product development model for the Turkish electronics industry

The aim of this study is to report on an integrated model of new product development (NPD) and the analysis of factors, which have a significant effect on new product development success. First, an integrated NPD model based on past research findings and suggestions of several researchers is built. A three-step model is constructed and is tested through a series of statistical tests and analysis. The data for the testing of the model is provided by an empirical study conducted in the Turkish electronics industry. Some practices for successful NPD are suggested

Using acoustic sensor technologies to create a more terrain capable unmanned ground vehicle

Unmanned Ground Vehicle’s (UGV) have to cope with the most complex range of dynamic and variable obstacles and therefore need to be highly intelligent in order to cope with navigating in such a cluttered environment. When traversing over different terrains (whether it is a UGV or a commercial manned vehicle) different drive styles and configuration settings need to be selected in order to travel successfully over each terrain type. These settings are usually selected by a human operator in manned systems on what they assume the ground conditions to be, but how can an autonomous UGV ‘sense’ these changes in terrain or ground conditions? This paper will investigate noncontact acoustic sensor technologies and how they can be used to detect different terrain types by listening to the interaction between the wheel and the terrain. The results can then be used to create a terrain classification list for the system so in future missions it can use the sensor technology to identify the terrain type it is trying to traverse, which creating a more autonomous and terrain capable vehicle. The technology would also benefit commercial driver assistive technologie

Türk elektronik sanayiinde rekabet ve teknoloji stratejileri ve yeni ürün geliştirme süreci

Bu makalede, Türk elektronik sanayiinde yapılan TÜSİAD/TESİD ve TTGV/TESİD tarafından desteklenen iki ayrı saha çalısmasından elde edilen verilerden hareketle bu sektördeki rekabet ve teknoloji stratejileri ve yeni ürün gelistirme (YÜG) süreçleri değerlendirilmektedir. Birbirinden bağımsız olarak gerçeklestirilen TÜSİAD/TESİD ve TTGV/TESİD çalısmalarında sırası ile 27 ve 28 firma yer almıstır. Türk elektronik sanayiinde rekabet stratejisi, rekabetçi öncelikler, imalatta performans hedefleri ve aksiyon planlarının bir bütünü olarak irdelenmistir. Sektörün rekabet stratejisini ağırlıklı olarak kalite üzerine kurduğu saptanmıstır. Ancak, YÜG ve ürüne yönelik olarak gözlenen yaklasımlar sektörün bu alanlara da öncelik verdiğine isaret etmektedir. Ar-Ge yoğunluğu KOBİ’ler için %3,6, büyük firmalar için %4,0 olarak belirlenmistir. Buna karsın, KOBİ’lerin ve büyük firmaların yeni teknoloji gelistirme yüzdesi oldukça düsük bulunmustur. Bu sonuç, Ar-Ge faaliyetlerinin büyük ölçüde YÜG faaliyetleri olarak gerçeklestirildiğini göstermektedir. Teknoloji stratejisinin olusturulmasında ve teknoloji stratejisinin is stratejisi ile bütünlüğünün sağlanmasında firmaların eksikleri olduğu görülmektedir. YÜG çabası içinde olan firmalarda ise, YÜG'e dayalı strateji eksikliği olduğu anlasılmaktadır. Gerek teknoloji edinmede gerekse teknoloji aktarımında firmaların genelde oldukça kısıtlı kaldığı anlasılmaktadır. Teknoloji, Ar-Ge, YÜG alanlarında etkilesim arayüzlerinin artırılması gerekmektedir. Özellikle; arastırma kurumları ve üniversiteler ile daha yoğun iliskilere gereksinim vardır. Üniversiteler ile iliskiler, bu kurumların sanayiin en çok ihtiyacını çektiği yetismis insangücünün kaynağı olması nedeni ile ayrı bir önem kazanmaktadır. Nitekim gerek KOBİ'ler gerekse büyük firmalar nitelikli eleman bulmanın ve ise almanın güçlüğünü basarının önündeki en önemli ilk bes dıs engel içinde göstermislerdir. KOBİ'ler için, firmada nitelikli eleman eksikliği basarının önündeki engeller arasında en önemli iç faktör olarak gösterilmistir. Makalede, YÜG sürecinin asamaları, firmaların pazara giris ve pazarlama stratejileri ve YÜG projelerinin yönetimi konuları da ayrıntılı olarak incelenmistir

Design and development of a pole climbing surveillance robot

The cost of installing, monitoring and servicing a fixed camera system can be high and not all areas are in need of constant surveying. The increase in crime in urban areas emphasizes the need for a more effective and efficient surveillance system, as a result could lead to fewer crimes. A temporary surveillance unit which is able to climb to gain an elevated view has great potential for both military and civilian application. This paper highlights how the patent pending climbing robotic system (PC-101) was developed to be used by London’s Metropolitan Police Forensic Department for analysing outdoor crime scenes especially that related to car accidents. When cars are involved in accidents in the Metropolitan area, depending on the scale of the incident, the road generally has to be shut off to traffic if there are serious casualties. Elevated images are required for cases which may be taken to court, which then the images are then used as evidence, therefore regulations on the quality and perspectives of the image have to be met. By climbing a range of existing street furniture such as street lamp post, a temporary platform eliminates the use of larger special vehicle which struggles to get to the crime scene as well as cuts down the duration of the road closure. 98% of London street lamps in the Metropolitan area are constructed out of steel structures which make the use of magnetic wheels for locomotion an ideal solution to the climbing problem. Once remote controlled to the top of the lamp post, the PC-101 makes use of its actuated camera arm/gimbal to take the required shot, which can be seen on the ground control unit. A surveillance tool of this sort can be used for many applications which include crowd/riot control, crime scene investigations, monitoring hostile environments and even the monitoring of nature within urban environment

Developing a low-cost beer dispensing robotic system for the service industry

As the prices of commercially available electronic and mechanical components decrease, manufacturers such as Devantech and Revolution Education have made encoded motor controller systems and microcontrollers very accessible to engineers and designers. This has made it possible to design sophisticated robotic and mechatronic systems very rapidly and at relatively low cost. A recent project in the Autonomous Systems Lab at Middlesex University, UK was to design and build a small, automated, robotic bartender based around the 5 litre Heineken 'Draughtkeg' system, which is capable of patrolling a bar and dispensing beer when signalled to by a customer. Because the system was designed as a commercial product, design constraints focused on keeping the build cost down, and so electronic components were sourced from outside companies and interfaced with a bespoke chassis and custom mechanical parts designed and manufactured on site at the University. All the programming was conducted using the proprietary BASIC language, which is freely available from the PicAXE supplier at no cost. This paper will discuss the restrictions involved in building a robot chassis around 'off-theshelf' components, and the issues arising from making the human-machine interaction intuitive whilst only using low-cost ultrasonic sensors. Programming issues will also be discussed, such as the control of accuracy when interfacing a PicAXE microcontroller with a Devantech MD25 Motor Controller board. Public live testing of the system was conducted at the Kinetica Art Fair 2010 event in London and has since been picked up by websites such as Engadget.com and many others. Feedback on the system will be described, as well as the refinements made as a result of these test

Neutron star dynamics under time dependent external torques

The two component model of neutron star dynamics describing the behaviour of the observed crust coupled to the superfluid interior has so far been applied to radio pulsars for which the external torques are constant on dynamical timescales. We recently solved this problem under arbitrary time dependent external torques. Our solutions pertain to internal torques that are linear in the rotation rates, as well as to the extremely non-linear internal torques of the vortex creep model. Two-component models with linear or nonlinear internal torques can now be applied to magnetars and to neutron stars in binary systems, with strong variability and timing noise. Time dependent external torques can be obtained from the observed spin-down (or spin-up)time series