An Algorithm to Predict E-Bike Power Consumption Based on Planned Routes

E-bikes, i.e., bikes equipped with a small electrical engine, are becoming increasingly widespread, thanks to their positive contribution to mobility and sustainability. A key component of an e-bike is the battery that feeds the drive unit: clearly, the higher the capacity of the battery, the longer the distances that the biker will cover under engine support. On the negative side, the additional weight incurred by the electric components is likely to ruin the riding experience in case the battery runs out of power. For this reason, an integrated hardware-software system that provides accurate information about the remaining range is essential, especially for older or “not-in-shape” bikers. Many e-bikes systems are already equipped with a small control unit that displays useful information, such as speed, instantaneous power consumption, and estimated range as well. Existing approaches rely on machine learning techniques applied to collected data, or even on the remaining battery capacity and the assistance level required by the drive unit. They do not consider crucial aspects of the planned route, in particular the difference in altitude, the combined weight of bike and biker, and road conditions. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model implemented in an application to compute battery consumption, and hence the presumed remaining range, in a more accurate way. Our application relies on external sources to compute the route and the elevation data of a number of intermediate points. We present the mathematical model on which our application is based, we show the implemented application in shape of an app, and we report the results of the experiments

Costs and benefits of orthographic inconsistency in reading:evidence from a cross-linguistic comparison

We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade). However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, a consistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs later and it is less pronounced. This is demonstrated by larger length effects which remain significant even in older children and by larger effects of a global factor (related to speed of orthographic decoding) explaining changes of performance across ages. Our results show the importance of considering not only overall performance, but inter-individual variability and variability between conditions when interpreting cross-linguistic differences

Dutch elementary school children’s attribution of meaning to written pseudowords

Grade two through six elementary school Dutch children were asked to perform a lexical decision task including 90 pseudowords constructed by changing one or two letters in a Dutch word. Subsequently, the children were asked about the meaning of pseudowords they had not crossed out and that they, apparently, had considered to be words. Multiple regression analyses on the lexical decision task showed that the older children were more hindered by the morphemic structure of a pseudoword than by its orthographic neighbors. The younger children, in contrast, were less hindered by the morphemic structure of a pseudoword and more hindered by its orthographic neighbors. Word length was a (small) predictor only for grade 6. Moreover, the answers of the children reflected that in their construction of meanings for the pseudowords they were hindered both by the morphemic structure and by the orthographic neighbors of the pseudowords

Fluidic haptic interface for mechano-tactile feedback

Notable advancements have been achieved in providing amputees with sensation through invasive and non-invasive haptic feedback systems such as mechano-, vibro-, electrotactile and hybrid systems. Purely mechanical-driven feedback approaches, however, have been little explored. In this paper, we now created a haptic feedback system that does not require any external power source (such as batteries) or other electronic components. The system is low-cost, lightweight, adaptable and robust against external impact (such as water). Hence, it will be sustainable in many aspects. We have made use of latest multimaterial 3D printing technology (Stratasys Objet500 Connex3) being able to fabricate a soft sensor and a mechano-tactile feedback actuator made of a rubber (TangoBlack Plus) and plastic (VeroClear) material. When forces are applied to the fingertip sensor, fluidic pressure inside the system acts on the membrane of the feedback actuator resulting in mechano-tactile sensation. We present the design, fabrication and validation of the proposed haptic feedback system. Our ∅7 mm feedback actuator is able to transmit a force range between 0.2 N (the median touch threshold) and 2.1 N (the maximum force transmitted by the feedback actuator at a 3 mm indentation) corresponding to force range exerted to the fingertip sensor of 1.2 − 18.49 N

GreekLex 2: a comprehensive lexical database with part-of-speech, syllabic, phonological, and stress information

Databases containing lexical properties on any given orthography are crucial for psycholinguistic research. In the last ten years, a number of lexical databases have been developed for Greek. However, these lack important part-of-speech information. Furthermore, the need for alternative procedures for calculating syllabic measurements and stress information, as well as combination of several metrics to investigate linguistic properties of the Greek language are highlighted. To address these issues, we present a new extensive lexical database of Modern Greek (GreekLex 2) with part-of-speech information for each word and accurate syllabification and orthographic information predictive of stress, as well as several measurements of word similarity and phonetic information. The addition of detailed statistical information about Greek part-of-speech, syllabification, and stress neighbourhood allowed novel analyses of stress distribution within different grammatical categories and syllabic lengths to be carried out. Results showed that the statistical preponderance of stress position on the pre-final syllable that is reported for Greek language is dependent upon grammatical category. Additionally, analyses showed that a proportion higher than 90% of the tokens in the database would be stressed correctly solely by relying on stress neighbourhood information. The database and the scripts for orthographic and phonological syllabification as well as phonetic transcription are available at http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/greeklex/

HelexKids:a word frequency database for Greek and Cypriot primary school children

In this article, we introduce HelexKids, an online written-word database for Greek-speaking children in primary education (Grades 1 to 6). The database is organized on a grade-by-grade basis, and on a cumulative basis by combining Grade 1 with Grades 2 to 6. It provides values for Zipf, frequency per million, dispersion, estimated word frequency per million, standard word frequency, contextual diversity, orthographic Levenshtein distance, and lemma frequency. These values are derived from 116 textbooks used in primary education in Greece and Cyprus, producing a total of 68,692 different word types. HelexKids was developed to assist researchers in studying language development, educators in selecting age-appropriate items for teaching, as well as writers and authors of educational books for Greek/Cypriot children. The database is open access and can be searched online at www.helexkids.org