Modelling Taylor Rule Uncertainty

In recent years, one has witnessed a widespread attention on the way monetary policy is conducted and in particular on the role of the so-called monetary policy rules. The conventional approach in the literature consists in estimating reaction functions for a monetary authority (the Federal Reserve, in most cases) in which a nominal interest rate, directly or indirectly controlled by that monetary authority, is adjusted in response to deviations of inflation (current or expected) from target and of output from potential. These reaction functions, usually called Taylor rules, following John Taylor's seminal paper published in 1993, match a number of normative principles set forth in the literature for optimal monetary policy. This provides a good reason for the growing prominence of indications given by Taylor rule estimations in debates about current and prospective monetary policy stance. However, they are usually presented as point estimates for the interest rate, giving a sense of accuracy that can be misleading. Typically, no emphasis is placed on the risks of those estimates and, at least to a certain extent, the reader is encouraged to concentrate on an apparently precise central projection, ignoring the wide degree of uncertainty and operational difficulties surrounding the estimates. As in any forecasting exercise, there is uncertainty regarding both the estimated parameters and the way the explanatory variables evolve during the forecasting horizon. Our work presents a methodology to estimate a probability density function for the interest rate resulting from the application of a Taylor rule (the Taylor interest rate) which acknowledges that not only the explanatory variables but also the parameters of the rule are random variables.

Mechanics and electronics of the footballer autonomous mobile robot

This paper describes an Autonomous Mobile Robot which plays football. This project was developed by three senior students from the Industrial Electronics Engineering course during their probation period. The rules dictated the same structure for every team but then each team would solve, develop and use different electronics, sensory systems, playing algorithms, etc. This robot uses one major sensor which is a vision system with the use of a colour camera. This robot uses also a convex mirror placed on its top looking downwards with the video camera pointing to it. This way, the robot can see both goals, the ball and other robots, all the time. This paper describes the mechanics involved and the electronics. The encoders to detect position and orientation of the robot, the motor and its control, as well as the ball holder mechanics system are described

MINHO robot football team for 2001

This paper describes an autonomous robot football team. The work is being carried out since 1998. It describes the hardware used by the robots, the sensory system and interfaces, as well as the game strategy. Data acquisition for the perception level is carried out by the vision system, and the image processing system is described. Two cameras are used requiring sensorial fu-sion. With this architecture, an attempted is made to make the autonomous ro-bots more real world intelligent. These robots have a kicker with controlled power, which allows passing the ball to a teammate with controlled distance and direction.(undefined

Minho robot football team

Research and development in the robotics field can be greatly improved by attracting people with different challenges. RoboCup consists of a new challenge in which a team of robot players are supposed to play football with similar rules to the human football. This paper describes an Autonomous Mobile Robot Minho team solution. The robots were designed and developed by a group of undergraduate students from the Group of Automation and Robotics from the Industrial Electronics Department of the University of Minho, in Guimarães (Portugal). They were all built (electronics and mechanics) and programmed from scratch with a reduced budget. The main advantage of these robots consists on the image acquisition and processing. It uses a video camera pointing upwards to a convex mirror facing down. With this technique, most of the field is visible, facilitating the strategy of the game

Minho robotic football team

Autonomous mobile robots are ever increasing their number of different applications, even in ludic applications or in sports. In the last few years, several robotic football competitions have been organized with participating teams from all over the world. This paper describes a team of Autonomous Mobile Robots which play football, developed by the Group of Automation and Robotics at the Industrial Electronics department (School of Engineering) of the University of Minho, in Guimarães (Portugal). In these competitions each team is free to use and/or build all the different electronics, sensory systems, playing algorithms, etc. as far as they cope with the rules imposed by the organization. From every team new ideas emerge, sometimes the most incredible ones, but proving in the end that they work. These competitions proved to be very fruitful scientifically as well as very mediatic

Underwater acoustic modem with streaming video capabilities

Oceans have shown tremendous importance and impact on our lives. Thus the need for monitoring and protecting the oceans has grown exponentially in recent years. On the other hand, oceans have economical and industrial potential in areas such as pharmaceutical, oil, minerals and biodiversity. This demand is increasing and the need for high data rate and near real-time communications between submerged agents became of paramount importance. Among the needs for underwater communications, streaming video (e.g. for inspecting risers or hydrothermal vents) can be seen as the top challenge, which when solved will make all the other applications possible. Presently, the only reliable approach for underwater video streaming relies on wired connections or tethers (e.g. from ROVs to the surface) which presents severe operational constraints that makes acoustic links together with AUVs and sensor networks strongly appealing. Using new polymer-based acoustic transducers, which in very recent works have shown to have bandwidth and power efficiency much higher than the usual ceramics, this article proposes the development of a reprogrammable acoustic modem for operating in underwater communications with video streaming capabilities. The results have shown a maximum data-rate of 1Mbps with a simple modulation scheme such as OOK, at a distance of 20 m.FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) in the scope of the project: PEst-OE/EEA/UI04436/2015; Project Scope: PEst-UID/CECI00319/201

Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin

Growing towards disparity: geometric morphometrics reveals sexual and allometric differences in Aparasphenodon brunoi (Anura: Hylidae: Lophyohylinae) head shape

Sexual dimorphism and allometry feature is the main categories of intraspecific variation found in the animal kingdom, and techniques such as Geometric Morphometrics are effective to investigate variations in shape. Considering that many vertebrates exhibit substantial allometry and sexual dimorphism, we test the hypotheses that (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi displays ontogenetic and static allometry; and that (2) there is sexual dimorphism in head shape in this species. We analyzed 75 specimens of A. brunoi from Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba and found significant ontogenetic and static allometries in head shape, as well as sexual dimorphism after size correction. Regarding sexual dimorphism, females tend to have larger heads, besides slightly anteriorly positioned nostrils, smaller eyes, larger canthal ridges, narrower and longer frontoparietal ridges, and larger and laterally shifted squamosal ridges. We discuss the relevance of head morphology variation in the species, as well as the presumed consequences on the species fitness.Dimorfismo sexual e alometria são as principais categorias de variação intraespecífica encontradas em metazoários e técnicas como a Morfometria Geométrica são eficazes para investigar variações na forma. Considerando que muitos vertebrados exibem considerável alometria e dimorfismo sexual, testamos as seguintes hipóteses: (1) Aparasphenodon brunoi exibe alometria ontogenética e estática; e (2) existe dimorfismo sexual na forma da cabeça nesta espécie. Analisamos 75 espécimes de A. brunoi do Parque Nacional da Restinga de Jurubatiba e encontramos alometrias ontogenética e estática significativas na forma da cabeça, além de dimorfismo sexual após a correção do tamanho. Em relação ao dimorfismo sexual, as fêmeas tendem a ter cabeças maiores, além de narinas ligeiramente posicionadas mais anteriormente, olhos menores, cristas cantais maiores, cristas frontoparietais mais estreitas e mais longas e cristas esquamosais maiores e deslocadas lateralmente. Discutimos a relevância da variação da morfologia da cabeça na espécie, bem como as consequências presumidas na aptidão da mesma.Asociación Herpetológica Argentin