Effects of Agroforestry on the agro-ecosystem: a study of the crops-soil-climate-biodiversity system in Short Rotation Coppice temperate agro-silvopastoral system

I carried out my internship at the Organic Research Centre in the agroforestry department. I studied the effects of the SRC trees and their age on the agro-ecosystem in the agro-silvopastoral field of the Elm farm. I carried out the assessments of the oats, the weeds, the earthworms, the ground beetles and the soil. I found no significant effects on the oats concerning its cover, the timing of the growth stage. In this study, we have also shown an effect of the trees and the tree row covered by weed, woodchip, dead litter on the population and the richness of earthworms and on the activity, the diversity and the richness of the ground beetles. The study of the community of weeds showed any contamination from the tree row, an effect of the perennial weeds and the interest of the weeds of the tree row for Wildlife. The soil organic matter has been studied in aim to show or not an increase of this level by the tree. In this report, we present the state of the art about Agroforestry where we will focus on the interactions between the trees, the agro-ecosystem and the climate. We will try to give some tools and way of management of these interactions

Die diskursive Konstruktion von Normalitätsgrenzen

Im Beitrag wird gezeigt, wie durch eine Analyse von Normalitätsgrenzen Erkenntnisse über soziale Inklusions- und Exklusionsmechanismen, normale Subjekte und normale soziale Praktiken sowie deren Antagonismen generiert werden können. Durch die Verbindung einer diskursiven Grenzanalyse soll besonders die  topologische Verhaftung symbolischer Grenzen zentral dargestellt werden. Am Beispiel der Diskursivierung von BDSM und Homosexualität wird veranschaulicht, wie diese Grenzzonen zwischen Innen und Außen und Gesagtem und Nicht-Gesagtem abgebildet werden können, wobei sich nicht nur Fragen nach den Funktionen der Grenzziehung, sondern auch nach deren Beschaffenheit und deren diskursive Einbettung stellen

Machbarkeitsstudie zur Vorbereitung einer Evaluation der Regelungen zu Assistenzhunden nach § 12k des Gesetzes zur Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (BGG): Abschlussbericht

Mit Artikel 9 des Teilhabestärkungsgesetzes vom 2. Juni 2021 hat der Gesetzgeber die Regelungen zu den Assistenzhunden ins Gesetz zur Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (BGG) aufgenommen. Ziel dieser Regelungen ist es insbesondere, Zugänge für Menschen mit Behinderungen, die auf einen Assistenzhund angewiesen sind, zu ermöglichen und die Akzeptanz in der Gesellschaft insgesamt zu verbessern. Im Einzelnen wurden mit den §§ 12e bis 12l BGG Vorschriften zur Begleitung, Ausbildung und Prüfung von Assistenzhunden eingeführt, die gemäß § 12k BGG in den Jahren 2021 bis 2024 evaluiert werden sollen. Im Rahmen dieser Machbarkeitsstudie wurde zur Vorbereitung der Evaluation der Regelungen zu Assistenzhunden nach § 12k BGG ein erster wissenschaftlicher Zugang zum diesem Thema in Deutschland geschaffen und auf deren Grundlage Ansätze für ein geeignetes Forschungsdesign entwickelt

Studie zu einem transparenten, nachhaltigen und zukunftsfähigen Entgeltsystem für Menschen mit Behinderungen in Werkstätten für behinderte Menschen und deren Perspektiven auf dem allgemeinen Arbeitsmarkt: Abschlussbericht

Die Studie dient dazu, ein transparentes, nachhaltiges und zukunftsfähiges Entgeltsystem in Werkstätten für behinderte Menschen zu entwickeln. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch untersucht, wie Übergänge auf den allgemeinen Arbeitsmarkt verbessert werden können. Das derzeitige Entgeltsystem wird in der Literatur, der gesellschaftlichen Diskussion und ebenso aus rechtswissenschaftlicher Perspektive kritisch gesehen. In breit angelegten Befragungen von Werkstattleitungen und Werkstattbeschäftigten, von deren Angehörigen und Bezugspersonen sowie von Werkstatträten, Frauenbeauftragten und ehemaligen Beschäftigten werden diese Kritikpunkte konkretisiert und Vorschläge zu möglichen Verbesserungen des Entgeltsystems ebenso wie der Übergangsmöglichkeiten auf den allgemeinen Arbeitsmarkt ermittelt. Für ausgewählte Entgeltalternativen werden die finanziellen Auswirkungen auf die Beschäftigten und die gesellschaftlichen Kosten berechnet. Aus den Forschungsergebnissen werden Handlungsempfehlungen zur Reform des Entgeltsystems und der Übergänge auf den allgemeinen Arbeitsmarkt abgeleitet.The study aims at a transparent, sustainable, and future-proof wage system for German sheltered workshops for people with disabilities who do not have access to the general labour market. In this context, it has also been investigated, how transitions to the general labour market can be improved. The current system has been criticised in literature, societal discussion and from a jurisprudential perspective. In several surveys containing interviews with employers and employees, their relatives, worker's and women's representatives, and former employees, these critical aspects are concretised. Suggestions to improve the payment system and transitions to the general labour market have been identified. For selected alternatives, financial impact on employees as well as societal costs are calculated. From the results of these investigations, recommended procedures are derived

Motion Planning for Relocatable Robots Performing On-Orbit Locomotion and Manipulation Tasks

In-space assembly is a key technology for the future development of large infrastructures in space, from space stations and telescopes, to solar power plants or planetary bases. Such structures are much larger than cargo areas in current launchers, therefore they must be sent in separate pieces that are assembled in situ, typically using relocatable robotic manipulators. The efficient exploitation of the locomotion and manipulation (loco-manipulation) abilities for such robotic systems requires suitable planning tools. In this paper, we present a motion planning approach for exploiting loco-manipulation abilities of self-relocatable space robots, assuming that they move over specific interconnects that provide the required mechanical, power and data connectivity. The proposed approach consists of three planning layers: a high-level planning for obtaining the contact sequence, a low-level planning for the joint trajectories, and a validation layer. The motion planner provides plans for single locomotion and manipulation tasks, as well as combined loco-manipulation tasks. The approach is illustrated with examples for two robotic systems: MOSAR-WM, a relocatable walking manipulator, and a multi-arm robot (MAR) equipped with two arms attached to a central tors

Design and Development of a Relocatable Robotic Arm for Servicing On-Orbit Modular Spacecraft

The raise of orbital robotics opens a new horizon of possibilities for upcoming space missions. In the context of a global space sustainability, this paper deals with the design, development and testing of a new generation of robotic manipulator for on-orbit maintenance and servicing. This device tackles especially modular missions related to assembly and reconfiguration of modular satellites, coupled with the paradigm of standardization of spacecraft featuring standard interconnects. This robotic system benefits from an innovative multidisciplinary design for performing manipulation and relocation tasks over compatible spacecraft structures. The proposed robotic manipulator is experimentally evaluated on a representative ground demonstrator in a laboratory environment

MOSAR : Modular spacecraft assembly and reconfiguration demonstrator

With rapid development of space systems in recent years and their limited lives, it is imperative that a sustainable space development approach is developed to support more affordable access to space for all stakeholders. The European Commission hence funded the MOSAR project which aims to create a new paradigm technology to address this increasing challenge. This paper provides an overview of this technology’s preliminary development to enable on-orbit servicing. Building on five successful projects which collectively created all required common building blocks for both planetary explorations and in-orbit missions, a novel architecture is proposed to create a walking manipulator to demonstrate its unique capability in both space system assembly and on-orbit servicing. Preliminary design concepts of a walking manipulator and spacecraft modules are shown. A dedicated simulator is also developed to evaluate the proposed novel architecture for these targeted applications

Design and Integration of a Multi-arm Installation Robot Demonstrator for orbital large Assembly

Space facilities for orbital exploitation and exploration missions are increasingly requiring larger structure to extend their capabilities. Dimensions of future scientific outposts, solar stations and telescopes undoubtedly matter to expand our horizons, power our planet or explore the universe. Due to the foreseen large structures for such applications, a single self-deploying piece contained in standard launcher fairings might become inadequate. Another approach is that large structures could be broken down into standard modules that will be built in-orbit. Assembling large structure in space is particularly challenging but the raise of key enablers as standard interconnects and advanced robotics opens a new horizon for such applications. It is assumed here that the large spacecraft structure and modules are equipped with standard interconnects (SI) that allow them to be mated to each other and to the robot system for manipulation/transport/installation, or to allow the robot system to move across them. This paper introduces the concept of a novel Multi-Arm Robot (MAR) dedicated to on-orbit large telescope assembly, its ground equivalent laboratory demonstrator design and preliminary hardware integration. The MAR is a modular robot composed of three robotic subsystems - a torso and two symmetrical 7-degree of freedom (DOF) anthropomorphic arms with non-spherical wrists - that are functionally independent and can be connected by the means of Standard Interconnects. The modular approach of the MAR reduces the complexity of the different robotic appendages and offers a set of robotic configuration that extends the range of possible operations and provides an intrinsic system redundancy that reduces the overall mission risk. To assess the MAR concept, a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 ground demonstrator, has been designed to provide a framework that allows the multi-arm robot to execute its overall scope of operations in a ground laboratory environment. It comprises a testbed (dummy spacecraft structure, home base, storage area and mobile payloads) offering a space representative environment, a mission control center (computer, simulator and electrical/data support equipment) supervising the MAR's tasks, and a gravity compensation system (gantry crane and offloading system) for supporting the robot under 1-g

Demonstrator Design of a Modular Multi-arm Robot for On-orbit Large Telescope Assembly

The development of building blocks, and standard interconnects in particular, enables promising perspectives for the assembly of large structures on-orbit. By coupling these standard interconnects with dexterous arms, it is now possible to imagine orbital robots assembling, in-situ, modular structures to emancipate from launcher constraints. Such a mission scenario and related concept of operations are proposed within the ESA MIRROR project. It involves a modular multi-arm installation robot to address this challenge. This paper deals with the design of a fully representative breadboard for this innovative robot in order to prove its concept and abilities. This demonstrator features a ground equivalent robotic system, a testbed and necessary ground support equipments