Probabilistic consolidation of grasp experience

We present a probabilistic model for joint representation of several sensory modalities and action parameters in a robotic grasping scenario. Our non-linear probabilistic latent variable model encodes relationships between grasp-related parameters, learns the importance of features, and expresses confidence in estimates. The model learns associations between stable and unstable grasps that it experiences during an exploration phase. We demonstrate the applicability of the model for estimating grasp stability, correcting grasps, identifying objects based on tactile imprints and predicting tactile imprints from object-relative gripper poses. We performed experiments on a real platform with both known and novel objects, i.e., objects the robot trained with, and previously unseen objects. Grasp correction had a 75% success rate on known objects, and 73% on new objects. We compared our model to a traditional regression model that succeeded in correcting grasps in only 38% of cases

On the Matter and Intelligence of the Architectural Model: Arthur Schopenhauer’s Psychophysiological Theory of Architecture and Konrad Wachsmann’s Design of a Space Structure

During the last decades of the twentieth century, the modernist concept of ‘space’ in architecture became a subject of inquiry for architectural critics and historians. One curiosity arising within the discourse suggested that the thinking of the nineteenth-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was foundational for the concept of ‘space’ that developed in German aesthetics throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries, eventually informing modernist architectural theory. This essay looks at the way Schopenhauer used architectural models, not only to clarify his understanding of space, but also to demonstrate what was for him the much more important notion of ‘Idea’. It then turns to the German modernist architect Konrad Wachsmann, who was most famous for his seminal book, The Turning Point of Building (1961), which advocated the industrialization of building as a project for architecture. The essay asks if Schopenhauer’s distinction between ‘space’ and ‘Idea’ can illuminate the new ‘understanding of space’ that Wachsmann thought would arise as a consequence of a systematic industrialization of building. Discussion will focus on a particular section of Wachsmann’s book that gives an account of his design of a space structure commissioned by the US Air Force in 1959, taking that project as exemplary of his thinking, working methods and values. It will also take note of the way in which the space structure stimulated the imagination of the American artist, Robert Smithson, who began to envisage the entire planet as encapsulated in an enormous virtual grid – one that was, like a Schopenhauerian ‘Idea’, supposedly constituted out of mind and matter. To end the essay looks briefly at the notion of ‘field,’ which, many architects argued at the time, would supersede ‘space’ as the conceptual mainspring of theory and practice

Bionic hand: A brief review

The hand is one of the most crucial organs in the human body. Hand loss causes the loss of functionality in daily and work life and psychological disorders for the patients. Hand transplantation is best option to gain most of the hand function. However, the applicability of this option is limited since the side effects and the need for tissue compatibility. Electromechanical hand prosthesis also called bionic hand is an alternative option to hand transplantation. This study presents a quick review of bionic hand technology

Examination of Effects of Embedding Formative Assessment in Inquiry-Based Teaching on Conceptual Learning

Scaffolding in learning and teacher guidance during inquiry can be attained by formative assessment, which needs to be built into every stage of inquiry. Investigation of the effects of embedded formative assessment in inquiry-based learning on students’ conceptual understanding was the aim of this study. Mixed method experimental research design including quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used for this study. The participants were 41 students, who were in tenth grade of a suburban public high school. The study reached the following conclusions. First, formative assessment combined with inquiry-based teaching serves as a catalyst for students’ conceptual learning and elevates effects of inquiry. Second, eliciting evidence of learning and feedback may be the primary stages of formative assessment in accelerating student learning and supporting student knowledge development. This study suggests that assessment should be done when teaching continuous and teachers need to adopt formative assessment while performing inquiry-based teaching

Examination of the Effects of STEM Activities in Physics Subjects on Students’ Attitudes and Problem-Solving Skills

 The aim of this study was to examine the effects of STEM activities on students’ attitudes towards STEM and problem-solving skills by taking their components into account. An experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was applied in the study. Quantitative and qualitative data collection tools were used. The participants of the study consisted of students studying in two different branches in the 7th grade of a public school. The implementation of the research was carried out for five weeks within the scope of force, work and energy concepts. In the experimental group, STEM activities developed by taking the science curriculum into account were included in the lessons. In the control group, lessons were taught according to the curriculum. The conclusions drawn based on the results of this study can be listed as follows: First, STEM education, which is carried out within the scope of physics subjects in the science course and which also includes mathematics, engineering and technology related acquisitions, ensures that students’ attitudes towards STEM develop positively. STEM attitudes progress especially in the direction of establishing a relationship between mathematics, science and engineering learning and STEM. Second, STEM education improves students’ problem-solving skills. The increase occurs in all areas of problem-solving skills, including the individual’s confidence in problem-solving skills, willingness to cope with difficult problems encountered, and the feeling that they have mastered the situation. Last, when there is no STEM-oriented activity in the science curriculum, students’ problem-solving skills, especially in the area of confidence, decrease. Considering that STEM is an interdisciplinary subject combining two or more disciplines and is based on authentic contexts; STEM activities provide students for establishing relationships between STEM disciplines and developing problem-solving strategies

Grasp Transfer based on Self-Aligning Implicit Representations of Local Surfaces

Objects we interact with and manipulate often share similar parts, such as handles, that allow us to transfer our actions flexibly due to their shared functionality. This work addresses the problem of transferring a grasp experience or a demonstration to a novel object that shares shape similarities with objects the robot has previously encountered. Existing approaches for solving this problem are typically restricted to a specific object category or a parametric shape. Our approach, however, can transfer grasps associated with implicit models of local surfaces shared across object categories. Specifically, we employ a single expert grasp demonstration to learn an implicit local surface representation model from a small dataset of object meshes. At inference time, this model is used to transfer grasps to novel objects by identifying the most geometrically similar surfaces to the one on which the expert grasp is demonstrated. Our model is trained entirely in simulation and is evaluated on simulated and real-world objects that are not seen during training. Evaluations indicate that grasp transfer to unseen object categories using this approach can be successfully performed both in simulation and real-world experiments. The simulation results also show that the proposed approach leads to better spatial precision and grasp accuracy compared to a baseline approach.Comment: Accepted by IEEE RAL. 8 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Wireless Power Transfer by Using Magnetically Coupled Resonators

In this chapter, a wireless power transmission system based on magnetic resonance coupling circuit was carried out. Mathematical expressions of optimal coupling coefficients were examined with the coupling model. Equivalent circuit parameters were calculated with Maxwell 3D software, and then, the equivalent circuit was solved using MATLAB technical computing software. The transfer efficiency of the system was derived using the electrical parameters of the equivalent circuit. System efficiency was analyzed depending on the different air gap values for various characteristic impedances using PSIM circuit simulation software. Since magnetic resonance coupling involves creating a resonance and transferring the power without the radiation of electromagnetic waves, resonance frequency is a key parameter in system design. The aim of this research was to define the efficiency according to variations of coefficients in wireless power transfer (WPT) system. In order to do that, the calculation procedure of mutual inductance between two self-resonators is performed by Maxwell software. Equivalent circuit is solved in circuit simulator PSIM platform. The calculations show that using the parameters that are obtained by magnetic analysis can be used for the equivalent circuit which has the capability to provide the efficiency using electrical quantities. The chapter discusses the application of this approach to a coil excited by a sinusoidal voltage source and a receiver coil, which receives energy voltage and current. Both could be obtained to calculate the instantaneous power and efficiency. To do so, the waveforms for voltage and current were obtained and computed with the PSIM circuit simulator. As the air gap between the coils increased, the coupling between the coils was weakened. The impedance of the circuit varied as the air gap changed, affecting the power transfer efficiency. In order to determine the differences between the software programs, efficiency values were calculated using three kinds of software. And it is concluded that equivalent circuit analysis by means of numerical computing is proper to obtain the voltage and current waveforms. Correspondingly, transmission efficiency can be calculated using the electrical relations

Examination of pre-service physics teachers' epistemologies of scientific models and their model formation during model-based inquiry process

The purpose of this study was to evaluate pre-service teachers' epistemologies of scientific models and their model formation in a model-based inquiry environment. Theoretical underpinnings of this paper are the following: Pre-service teachers' epistemologies of models are structured as their beliefs, can be reshaped by instructional experiences, and may have relationship with their practice i.e. model building. One group pre-test post-test experimental design using quantitative and qualitative research methods was carried out for the study. Correlational research design was also used. The conclusions drawn from the study are as follows: First, model building and formation in inquiry facilitate changes in students' epistemic reasoning around models and enrich their understanding of what a model is, what it may be used for, and how models are built and changed. Second, instructional focus on scientific models and model based investigations influences students' reconceptualization about models and supports a shift in nature, function and inquiry role of their models. As a result, students can develop models of natural phenomena, test and revise their models and gather evidence for explanations. Finally, modelbased inquiry provides bridging the gap between belief and practice so that students can reflect their epistemologies into their models. © 2018 EdUHK APFSLT

Neural Field Movement Primitives for Joint Modelling of Scenes and Motions

This paper presents a novel Learning from Demonstration (LfD) method that uses neural fields to learn new skills efficiently and accurately. It achieves this by utilizing a shared embedding to learn both scene and motion representations in a generative way. Our method smoothly maps each expert demonstration to a scene-motion embedding and learns to model them without requiring hand-crafted task parameters or large datasets. It achieves data efficiency by enforcing scene and motion generation to be smooth with respect to changes in the embedding space. At inference time, our method can retrieve scene-motion embeddings using test time optimization, and generate precise motion trajectories for novel scenes. The proposed method is versatile and can employ images, 3D shapes, and any other scene representations that can be modeled using neural fields. Additionally, it can generate both end-effector positions and joint angle-based trajectories. Our method is evaluated on tasks that require accurate motion trajectory generation, where the underlying task parametrization is based on object positions and geometric scene changes. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the baseline approaches and generalizes to novel scenes. Furthermore, in real-world experiments, we show that our method can successfully model multi-valued trajectories, it is robust to the distractor objects introduced at inference time, and it can generate 6D motions.Comment: Accepted to IROS 2023. 8 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Project Page: https://fzaero.github.io/NFMP