The Alaska Workers’ Compensation Law: Fact-Finding, Appellate Review, and the Presumption of Compensability

This paper presents a fault handling strategy for electric vehicles with in-wheel motors. The ap-plied control algorithm is based on tyre-force allocation. One complex tyre-force allocation meth-od, which requires non-linear optimization, as well as a simpler tyre force allocation method are developed and applied. A comparison between them is conducted and evaluated against a standard reference vehicle with an Electronic Stability Control (ESC) algorithm. The faults in consideration are electrical faults that can arise in in-wheel motors of permanent-magnet type. The results show for both tyre-force allocation methods an improved re-allocation after a severe fault and thus re-sults in an improved state trajectory recovery. Thereby the proposed fault handling strategy be-comes an important component to improve system dependability and secure vehicle safety.QC 20130611</p

Irreguljära migranters situation på den svenska arbetsmarknaden - Arbetsrättsligt skydd trots illegalt arbete?

Irregular migrant workers are those who work in Sweden without valid permission and they are a vulnerable group in the Swedish labour market. Employers tend to exploit these people and therefore they often work under very bad working conditions and receive worse protection of employment rights. Making use of an already precarious group is unethical and there is a need to highlight the subject. This essay, therefore, aims at identifying in what extent the irregular migrant workers are included in the protection of employment rights, despite their illegal status. Both national and international law are taken into account. The essay thus has a labour law perspective but also touches upon migration law provisions briefly as they are important for investigating the irregular migrant workers' protection and rights in the Swedish labour market. From the investigation that has been made, it has been found that this group of workers in theory receives a certain level of labour protection as they are attributed to the majority of rights through both Swedish legislation and international regulations. On the other hand, it has been found that in practice there are difficulties for irregular migrant workers to take advantage of this protection as the ability to complain to the employer is very small and poses a risk of expulsion. It is therefore important to further improve this opportunity so that this group of people can avail themselves of the labour protection that they are actually attributed to.De irreguljära migrantarbetarna är en utsatt grupp på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Med irreguljära migrantarbetare menas de som arbetar i Sverige utan giltiga tillstånd. Arbetsgivare tenderar att exploatera dessa människor och de arbetar därför ofta under mycket dåliga arbetsförhållanden samt erhåller ett sämre arbetsrättsligt skydd. Att utnyttja en redan så prekär grupp är oetiskt och det finns ett behov av att belysa ämnet. Denna uppsats syftar därför till att reda ut vilket arbetsrättsligt skydd de irreguljär migrantarbetarna erhåller trots deras illegala status. Såväl nationell som internationell rätt beaktas. Uppsatsen har således ett arbetsrättsligt perspektiv men behandlar även migrationsrättsliga bestämmelser i korthet då dessa är av vikt för att kunna utreda de irreguljära migrantarbetarnas skydd och rättigheter på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Av den utredning som har gjorts har det framkommit att denna grupp arbetstagare i teorin erhåller ett visst arbetsrättsligt skydd då de tillskrivs flertalet rättigheter genom både svensk lagstiftning och internationella bestämmelser. Däremot har det konstaterats att det i praktiken råder svårigheter för de irreguljära migrantarbetarna att utnyttja detta skydd då möjligheterna att framföra klagomål gentemot arbetsgivaren är mycket små och innebär risk för utvisning. Det är därför av vikt att vidare förbättra denna möjlighet så att denna grupp människor kan utnyttja det arbetsrättsliga skyddet som de faktiskt tillskrivs

Environmental impact of wind energy:Synthesis and Review

One purpose of wind turbines is to provide pollution-free electric power at a reasonable price in an environmentally sound way. In this focus issue the latest research on the environmental impact of wind farms is presented. Offshore wind farms affect the marine fauna in both positive and negative ways. For example, some farms are safe havens for porpoises while other farms show fewer harbor porpoises even after ten years. Atmospheric computer experiments are carried out to investigate the possible impact and resource of future massive installations of wind turbines. The following questions are treated. What is the global capacity for energy production by the wind? Will the added turbulence and reduced wind speeds generated by massive wind farms cool or heat the surface? Can wind farms affect precipitation? It is also shown through life-cycle analysis how wind energy can reduce the atmospheric emission of eight air pollutants. Finally, noise generation and its impact on humans are studied

Two decades of genetic profiling yields first evidence of natal philopatry and long-term fidelity to parturition sites in sharks

Sharks are a globally threatened group of marine fishes that often breed in their natal region of origin. There has even been speculation that female sharks return to their exact birthplace to breed ('natal philopatry'), which would have important conservation implications. Genetic profiling of lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) from 20 consecutive cohorts (1993-2012) at Bimini, Bahamas, showed that certain females faithfully gave birth at this site for nearly two decades. At least six females born in the 1993-1997 cohorts returned to give birth 14-17 years later, providing the first direct evidence of natal philopatry in the chondrichthyans. Long-term fidelity to specific nursery sites coupled with natal philopatry highlights the merits of emerging spatial and local conservation efforts for these threatened predators. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Motion modelling and control strategies of over-actuated vehicles

With the growing concern for environmental change and uncertain oil resources, the development of new vehicle concepts will in many cases include full or partial electric propulsion. The introduction of more advanced powertrains enables vehicles that can be controlled with a variety of electric actuators, such as wheel hub motors and individual steering. With these actuators, the chassis can be enabled to adjust its properties depending on the driving situation. Manoeuvring of the vehicle, using for example electric propulsion, braking, suspension, steering and camber control may also allow a variety of combinations which, if properly utilised, can increase the outer limits of vehicle performance and safety. The fact that the vehicle has a greater number of actuators than required to control a certain number of degrees of freedom is called over-actuation. Since there is a great need for energy optimised vehicles, energy efficient control is also required. For this reason, this work is about the allocation of wheel forces can improve safety, performance and energy efficiency in future electrified vehicles in different driving situations. Studies of optimally controlled vehicles show that performance, safety and efficiency can be improved by utilising available actuators in over-actuated vehicles. Path tracking and optimal actuator control signals are evaluated in evasive manoeuvres at low and high friction surfaces. The results show how the forces are distributed differently among the wheels, even though the resulting global forces on the vehicle are similar. Optimal control of camber angles and active suspension show that vehicle performance and safety can be greatly improved. The limits of tyre forces can be increased and better utilised in a way that a passive system is unable to achieve. Actuator performance is also shown to be important, however even low actuator performance is shown to be sufficient to improve vehicle performance considerably. Energy efficiency is also improved as unnecessary vehicle motions are minimised during normal driving and wheel forces are used in a better way. Simplified algorithms to control available actuators, such as wheel angles, vertical actuation and propulsion torques, have been developed, based on the analysis of the results of the optimisation studies. Analyses of the impact of these simplifications have been made. For the cases studied, it has been shown that it is possible to get significantly better performance at reasonable levels of actuator performance and control complexity. This helps to simplify the introduction of this technology in electrified vehicles. Control allocation is a method that distributes the wheel forces to produce the desired response of the vehicle. Simplified control allocation algorithms are proposed that allocate wheel forces in a way that resembles the behaviour of the optimisation solutions. To be able to evaluate the applicability of this methodology for implementation in vehicles, a small-scale prototype vehicle with force allocation control possibilities has been designed and built. The vehicle is equipped with autonomous corner module functionality that enables individual control of all wheels regarding steering, camber, propulsion/braking and vertical loads. Straight-line braking tests show that force allocation can be used in a real vehicle and will enhance performance and stability even at a very basic level, using few sensors with only the actual braking forces as feedback. In summary, this work has contributed to a better understanding of how the allocation of wheel forces can improve vehicle safety, performance and energy efficiency. Moreover, it has contributed to increased understanding of how vehicle motions should be modelled and simulated, and how control strategies for over-actuated vehicles can be made more suitable for implementation in future electrified vehicles.Finansierat av SHC, Swedish Hybrid Vehicle Centre. QC 20141114Generic vehicle motion modelling and control for enhanced driving dynamics and energy managemen

Kaffemaskinen

We live in fast pace. Faster than our human bodies have ever done during our entire existence. Slowness is a quality that is hard to come by in our modern urbanized world which is dominated by speed and fast consumption.    We are extremely busy. We no longer follow processes. Our patience does not extend to ‘slow’ and ‘difficult’.  Things must be easy and complete. This sort of behavior can be translated into how we consume, how we treat relationships and how we practice our work. We have become impatient, and we demand that everything should always be within reach. And yet, even when things are presented to us in this way, we are not satisfied.     The privilege of choice has not made us more free but rather more paralyzed – not happier but increased our dissatisfaction. In translation, this means that a lot of qualities of everyday life is lost due to our fast pace. That slowing down could make us discover this, question the way we value things and thereby change how we consume.     This is a manifestation of slow stimuli addressing our senses. The projects explores if the inclusion of a consumer in producing a product could be important in the perceived value of a product and how that could affect consumer patterns. This will be stated through a proposal hosting analogue machines, demanding the user to invest time as they themselves produce a cup of coffee whist enjoying the sensual qualities the process provides. It uses coffee as a vechicle for doing so, and the use of coffee should therefore be taken metaphorically.   (Slowness is luxury. This proposal encourages you to take your time and experience processes. Enjoy the attention and care. And through this, celebrate everyday experiences and enjoy your coffee.

Kaffemaskinen

We live in fast pace. Faster than our human bodies have ever done during our entire existence. Slowness is a quality that is hard to come by in our modern urbanized world which is dominated by speed and fast consumption.    We are extremely busy. We no longer follow processes. Our patience does not extend to ‘slow’ and ‘difficult’.  Things must be easy and complete. This sort of behavior can be translated into how we consume, how we treat relationships and how we practice our work. We have become impatient, and we demand that everything should always be within reach. And yet, even when things are presented to us in this way, we are not satisfied.     The privilege of choice has not made us more free but rather more paralyzed – not happier but increased our dissatisfaction. In translation, this means that a lot of qualities of everyday life is lost due to our fast pace. That slowing down could make us discover this, question the way we value things and thereby change how we consume.     This is a manifestation of slow stimuli addressing our senses. The projects explores if the inclusion of a consumer in producing a product could be important in the perceived value of a product and how that could affect consumer patterns. This will be stated through a proposal hosting analogue machines, demanding the user to invest time as they themselves produce a cup of coffee whist enjoying the sensual qualities the process provides. It uses coffee as a vechicle for doing so, and the use of coffee should therefore be taken metaphorically.   (Slowness is luxury. This proposal encourages you to take your time and experience processes. Enjoy the attention and care. And through this, celebrate everyday experiences and enjoy your coffee.

Exploring force allocation control of over actuated vehicles

As the concern for environmental changes and diminishing oil resources grows more and more, the trend of new vehicle concepts now includes full electric or partly electric propulsion systems. The introduction of electric power sources enables more advanced motion control systems due to electrification of the vehicle's actuators, such as individual wheel steering and in wheel hub motors. This can enable a control methodology that uses different chassis control strategies into a system that will be able to fully utilise the vehicle. Due to this, future vehicles can be more optimised with respect to energy consumption, performance and active safety. Force allocation control is a method that distributes the wheel forces to produce the desired response of the vehicle. In order to evaluate if this methodology can be implemented in future series production vehicles, the aim of this work is to explore how force allocation control can be utilised in a real vehicle to improve vehicle dynamics and safety. In order to evaluate different approaches for generic vehicle motion control by optimization, modelling and simulation in combination with real vehicle experiments will be needed to fully understand the more complex system, especially when actuator dynamics and limitations are considered. The use of a scale prototype vehicle represents a compromise between development cost, efficiency and accuracy, as it allows realistic experiments without the cost and complexity of full vehicle test. Moreover since the vehicle is unmanned it allows studies of at-the-limit situations, without the safety risks in full vehicle experiments. A small scale prototype vehicle (Hjulia) has been built and equipped with autonomous corner module functionality that enables individual control of all wheels. A cost effective force allocation control approach has been implemented and evaluated on the prototype vehicle, as well as in vehicle simulation. Results show improvement of stopping distance and vehicle stability of a vehicle during split-m braking. The aspects of vehicle dynamic scaling are also discussed and evaluated, as it is important to know how the control implementation of small scale prototype vehicles compares with full size vehicles. It is shown that there is good comparison between vehicles of different scales, if the vertical gravitational acceleration is adjusted for. In Hjulia, gravity compensation is solved by adding a specific lifting rig. Studies of vehicles considering optimal path tracking and available actuators are also made to evaluate control solutions of evasive manoeuvres at low and high friction surfaces. Results show differences in how the forces are distributed among the wheels, even though the resulting global forces on the vehicle are approximated to be scaled by friction. Also it is shown that actuator limitations are critical in at-the-limit situations, such as an obstacle avoidance manoeuvre. As a consequence these results will provide good insights to what type of control approach to choose to handle a safety critical situation, depending on available actuators. The built prototype vehicle with implemented force allocation control has shown to be a useful tool to investigate the potential of control approaches, and it will be used for future research in exploring the benefits of force allocation control.QC 2011120

Så mycket tid, så lite att göra - En kvalitativ studie om upplevelsen och hanteringen av permittering under coronakrisen

Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur människor som är permitterade till följd av coronakrisen upplever och hanterar väntan och osäkerhet i en av de största kriserna Sverige ställts inför i modern tid. Frågeställningarna lyder: Hur upplever permitterade till följd av coronakrisen förändring av tidigare tidsstrukturer? Hur hanterar permitterade till följd av coronakrisen de nya omständigheterna? Hur ser permitterade till följd av coronakrisen på framtiden? Metod och material: Kvalitativ metod med en fenomenologisk ansats. Det empiriska materialet för studien har samlats in genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer. Huvudresultat: Studien har bidragit med en förståelse om hur plötsligt avbrott av tidigare tidsstrukturer upplevs och hanteras på olika sätt beroende på hur föreställningar om framtiden påverkas. Utifrån det empiriska materialet kan det förstås att den socialt organiserade och kontrollerade tiden inger känslor av förutsägbarhet för framtiden, stabilitet i nuet, och även ger värde åt den individuellt organiserade och kontrollerade tiden. Sociala jämförelser, förväntningar och hopp om framtiden har effekter på hur respondenterna upplever sin levnadsstandard under krisen. Så länge som väntan upplevs som meningsfull är respondenterna i studien villiga att vänta på en framtid som de än inte vet hur den kommer se ut

Exploring force allocation control of over actuated vehicles

As the concern for environmental changes and diminishing oil resources grows more and more, the trend of new vehicle concepts now includes full electric or partly electric propulsion systems. The introduction of electric power sources enables more advanced motion control systems due to electrification of the vehicle's actuators, such as individual wheel steering and in wheel hub motors. This can enable a control methodology that uses different chassis control strategies into a system that will be able to fully utilise the vehicle. Due to this, future vehicles can be more optimised with respect to energy consumption, performance and active safety. Force allocation control is a method that distributes the wheel forces to produce the desired response of the vehicle. In order to evaluate if this methodology can be implemented in future series production vehicles, the aim of this work is to explore how force allocation control can be utilised in a real vehicle to improve vehicle dynamics and safety. In order to evaluate different approaches for generic vehicle motion control by optimization, modelling and simulation in combination with real vehicle experiments will be needed to fully understand the more complex system, especially when actuator dynamics and limitations are considered. The use of a scale prototype vehicle represents a compromise between development cost, efficiency and accuracy, as it allows realistic experiments without the cost and complexity of full vehicle test. Moreover since the vehicle is unmanned it allows studies of at-the-limit situations, without the safety risks in full vehicle experiments. A small scale prototype vehicle (Hjulia) has been built and equipped with autonomous corner module functionality that enables individual control of all wheels. A cost effective force allocation control approach has been implemented and evaluated on the prototype vehicle, as well as in vehicle simulation. Results show improvement of stopping distance and vehicle stability of a vehicle during split-m braking. The aspects of vehicle dynamic scaling are also discussed and evaluated, as it is important to know how the control implementation of small scale prototype vehicles compares with full size vehicles. It is shown that there is good comparison between vehicles of different scales, if the vertical gravitational acceleration is adjusted for. In Hjulia, gravity compensation is solved by adding a specific lifting rig. Studies of vehicles considering optimal path tracking and available actuators are also made to evaluate control solutions of evasive manoeuvres at low and high friction surfaces. Results show differences in how the forces are distributed among the wheels, even though the resulting global forces on the vehicle are approximated to be scaled by friction. Also it is shown that actuator limitations are critical in at-the-limit situations, such as an obstacle avoidance manoeuvre. As a consequence these results will provide good insights to what type of control approach to choose to handle a safety critical situation, depending on available actuators. The built prototype vehicle with implemented force allocation control has shown to be a useful tool to investigate the potential of control approaches, and it will be used for future research in exploring the benefits of force allocation control.QC 2011120