Mechatronics design of a robot society : a case study of minimalist underwater robots for distributed perception and task execution

This thesis describes the mechatronics design of a cooperative multi-robot system, including systems level design, practical implementation, and testing. Two main subjects are integrated in this research work: the generic concept of a Robot Society as an engineering framework to control an autonomously operating distributed multi-robot system, and the constructed prototype society consisting of several sensor/actuator robots for submerged use in a liquid environment. These novel types of prototype robots, SUBMARs, are targeted for distributed autonomous perception and task execution in the internal, three-dimensional on-line monitoring of various flow-through processes. The Robot Society control architecture implemented into SUBMAR robots supports such features as the autonomous cooperation of the robots, multi-tasking, self-organization, and selfoptimization in task execution. The mechatronics design of the robots has followed a minimalist approach, where the structure of the robot is maximally simplified. As a solution to compensate the obvious limitations derived from minimalism, the multiplicity and the cooperation of the robots have been exploited. On a systems level, this produces fault tolerant, flexible, and cost-effective engineering solutions for application. Altogether over 90 logged experiment runs with physical robots have been completed to elucidate the functioning and reveal the factors affecting the performance of the system. The testing has been performed in a laboratory environment in a special demonstration process. In these experiment series, the searching and destroying of distributed dynamic targets were tested. Furthermore, the meaning of communication in the development of robot consciousness during the mission has also been analyzed. As a result of the research work and systems development, profound knowledge has been gained and new solutions presented for the required technology for a minimalist mobile robot operating in a liquid process environment. SUBMAR Robot Society forms a technological basis for the development of real-world applications in the future.reviewe

Determinants of positive mental health in adolescents : a cross-sectional study on relationships between positive mental health, self-esteem, character strengths and social inclusion

Adolescence is a crucial time period with especial vulnerability for development of mental health problems. Growing interest is focusing on the determinants of positive mental health in order to find the key concepts that could be influenced in the promotion of mental well-being of adolescents. In this study we aim to explore the relations between self-esteem, character strengths and experience of social inclusion as determinants of adolescents’ positive mental health controlled for selected sociodemographic background factors. The study population (n = 195) consisted of comprehensive school students who filled in an electronic questionnaire of adolescent’s mental well-being in Fall 2019. The questionnaire included measures of Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), VIA Youth-measure 96, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Experience of Social Inclusion Scale. The methods included group comparisons and General Linear Model computed by SPSS 24.0. The strongest association was found between positive mental health and self-esteem (β = 0.789, p < 0.001), followed by character strengths of hope and kindness and experience of social inclusion. Interestingly, family’s socioeconomic factors did not associate significantly with positive mental health in the final statistical model. In terms of our results, it seems that self-esteem, character strengths and experience of social inclusion might have stronger association with adolescents’ mental well-being than family’s socioeconomic determinants. Therefore, it should be discussed whether psychological determinants overcome the individual effect of poor socioeconomic status as factors that influence positive mental health. Further studies are needed to establish these results more firmly.publishedVersionPeer reviewe