Post-industrial robotics: the new tendency of digital fabrication for exploring responsive forms and materials through performance

The contribution proposes the experimental results of research on robotics manufacturing issues for the realization of informed architectural organisms on a 1:1 scale. The pavilions Fusta Robotics and Digital Urban Orchard and the technological system In.Flux represent the results of tests in which material, environmental and structural performance inform the computational process and the consequent materialization. The two pavilions, both wooden, constitute the physical implementation of different functional programs realised through a collaboration with industrial partners. Fusta Robotics is the result of a collaboration between industry and universities for the tectonic experimentation derived from the use of local non-engineered material. Digital Urban Orchard is the formal expression of a complex functional program arising from the relationship amongst form (shape), function and context for a new concept of socialization space and food production within the agenda at the self-sufficiency in Barcelona. Finally, through the In.Flux prototype, we investigated the relationship among formal generation, structural analysis and robotic manufacturing for the realization of concrete free-form structures. The analysis of the prototypes opens the debate on the role of IT in the post-digital era when the design process manifest through the control and management of the flow of information affecting the digital computation and fabrication and the material behaviour. The resulting theoretical assumption considers the architectural form as the result of a diagram of forces where the achievement of the performance is the driving parameter for the formal geometric exploration. The continuous variation resulting therefrom is informed by performance parameters that define a new aesthetic which represents together the manifestation of objectively measurable performance parameters and the power of the tool through which the form is generated

Promoting global Internet freedom: policy and technology

This report provides information about US government and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom and a description of Internet freedom legislation and hearings from the 112th Congress. Modern communication tools such as the Internet provide a relatively inexpensive, accessible, easy-entry means of sharing ideas, information, and pictures around the world. In a political and human rights context, in closed societies when the more established, formal news media is denied access to or does not report on specified news events, the Internet has become an alternative source of media, and sometimes a means to organize politically. The openness and the freedom of expression allowed through social networking sites, as well as the blogs, video sharing sites, and other tools of today’s communications technology, have proven to be an unprecedented and often disruptive force in some closed societies. Governments that seek to maintain their authority and control the ideas and information their citizens receive are often caught in a dilemma: they feel that they need access to the Internet to participate in commerce in the global market and for economic growth and technological development, but fear that allowing open access to the Internet potentially weakens their control over their citizens. Internet freedom can be promoted in two ways, through legislation that mandates or prohibits certain activities, or through industry self regulation. Current legislation under consideration by Congress, the Global Online Freedom Act of 2011 (H.R. 3605), would prohibit or require reporting of the sale of Internet technologies and provision of Internet services to “Internetrestricting countries” (as determined by the State Department). Some believe, however, that technology can offer a complementary and, in some cases, better and more easily implemented solution to ensuring Internet freedom. They argue that hardware and Internet services, in and of themselves, are neutral elements of the Internet; it is how they are implemented by various countries that is repressive. Also, Internet services are often tailored for deployment to specific countries; however, such tailoring is done to bring the company in line with the laws of that country, not with the intention of allowing the country to repress and censor its citizenry. In many cases, that tailoring would not raise many questions about free speech and political repression. This report provides information about federal and private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom and a description of Internet freedom legislation and hearings from the 112th Congress. Three appendixes suggest further reading on this topic and describe censorship and circumvention technologies

Application of Multifractal Analysis to Segmentation of Water Bodies in Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellite Images

A method for segmenting water bodies in optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images is proposed. It makes use of the textural features of the different regions in the image for segmentation. The method consists in a multiscale analysis of the images, which allows us to study the images regularity both, locally and globally. As results of the analysis, coarse multifractal spectra of studied images and a group of images that associates each position (pixel) with its corresponding value of local regularity (or singularity) spectrum are obtained. Thresholds are then applied to the multifractal spectra of the images for the classification. These thresholds are selected after studying the characteristics of the spectra under the assumption that water bodies have larger local regularity than other soil types. Classifications obtained by the multifractal method are compared quantitatively with those obtained by neural networks trained to classify the pixels of the images in covered against uncovered by water. In optical images, the classifications are also compared with those derived using the so-called Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI)

Sostenibilità ambientale nell'era dell'Antropocene. Un nuovo paradigma tra ambiente, tecnica ed etica

L’era moderna, definita da Paul Crutzen come “antropocene”, caratterizzata da un forte impatto antropico al quale vengono attribuite le responsabilità maggiori per ciò che riguarda i cambiamenti climatici, territoriali e ambientali ci spinge a rivalutare l’approccio al progetto a tutte le scale. In merito a ciò, l’articolo intende analizzare il nuovo protocollo Living Building Challenge 3.0 (Lbc) e la sua applicazione nel processo progettuale al fine di definire un nuovo paradigma che interessi tutte le fasi del progetto in relazione a un diverso concetto di sostenibilità. Davanti a problematiche sempre più profonde e interdisciplinari, l’architettura si trova ad affrontare una “sfida” sempre più ardua al fine di individuare soluzioni in grado di ridurre l’impatto dell’uomo sull’ambiente costruito e allo stesso tempo restituire un valore culturale ed educativo al progetto architettonico.Modern times, defined by Paul Crutzen as "anthropocene", are characterized by a strong human impact to which are assigned the greater responsibility for climate, territorial and environmental change, this urges us to reevaluate the approach to the project at all scales. About this matter, the article will analyze the new protocol Living Building Challenge (Lbc) 3.0, proposed by the International Living Future Institute, in order to define a new paradigm that interests all phases of the architectural design in relation to a new concept of sustainability. Facing more and more deep and interdisciplinary problems, from energy to social inequity, architecture is dealing with a "challenge" that finds more and more difficult to identify solutions able to reduce the impact of man on built environment and at the same time to give back a cultural and educational value to the architectural project

Post-industrial robotics: esplorazione di architetture informate nell'era post-digitale

The prototypes, made in collaboration with industrial partners, represent the results of transdisciplinary experiments in which environmental, structural and material performances inform the computational process and the robotics manufacturing. Fusta Robotica, is the result of a tectonic exploration deriving from the use of non-engineered material, Digital Urban Orchard is the formal expression of a complex functional program arising from the relationship amongst form (shape), function and context. The analysis of processes, in addition to the definition of the limits and potentialities of the design approach, opens the debate on the role of technological experimentation in the post-digital era, characterized by the process information that includes digital computation, materials and fabrication

U.S. Military Space Programs: An Overview of Appropriations and Current Issues

The 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act specified that military space activities be conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD and the intelligence community manage a broad array of space activities, including launch vehicle development, communications satellites, navigation satellites (the Global Positioning System — GPS), early warning satellites to alert the United States to foreign missile launches, weather satellites, reconnaissance satellites, and developing capabilities to protect U.S. satellite systems and to deny the use of space to adversaries (called “space control” or “counterspace systems”). The 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War is dubbed by some as the first “space war” because support from space displayed great improvement over what was available during the previous major conflict, Vietnam. These systems continue to play significant roles in U.S. military operations. How to organize DOD and the intelligence community to work effectively on space programs has been an issue for many years. Tracking the DOD space budget is extremely difficult since space is not identified as a separate line item in the DOD budget. Additionally, DOD sometimes releases only partial information (omitting funding for classified programs) or will suddenly release without explanation new figures for prior years that are quite different from what was previously reported. Figures provided to CRS show a total (classified and unclassified) DOD space budget of $19.4 billion for FY2003,$20 billion for FY2004, $19.8 billion for FY2005, and a request of$22.5 billion for FY2006. The actual FY2006 and proposed FY2007 budget figures are not yet available. Two DOD space programs that have been particularly controversial are Space Radar (formerly Space-Based Radar — SBR) and TSAT (the transformational communications satellite program). The programs are controversial because their cost estimates are high, and Congress has been skeptical of those estimates and of DOD’s ability to manage the programs successfully based on past program performance. Congress cut DOD’s $226 million FY2006 request for Space Radar by$126 million and its $836 million FY2006 request for TSAT by$400 million. The FY2007 requests for those programs are $266 million for Space Radar and$867 million for TSAT. This report replaces part of CRS Issue Brief IB92011, U.S. Space Programs: Civilian, Military, and Commercial, originally written by Marcia S. Smith. It will be updated as events warrant

U.S. Military Space Programs: An Overview of Appropriations and Current Issues

The 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act specified that military space activities be conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD and the intelligence community manage a broad array of space activities, including launch vehicle development, communications satellites, navigation satellites (the Global Positioning System — GPS), early warning satellites to alert the United States to foreign missile launches, weather satellites, reconnaissance satellites, and developing capabilities to protect U.S. satellite systems and to deny the use of space to adversaries (called “space control” or “counterspace systems”). The 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War is dubbed by some as the first “space war” because support from space displayed great improvement over what was available during the previous major conflict, Vietnam. These systems continue to play significant roles in U.S. military operations. How to organize DOD and the intelligence community to work effectively on space programs has been an issue for many years. Tracking the DOD space budget is extremely difficult since space is not identified as a separate line item in the DOD budget. Additionally, DOD sometimes releases only partial information (omitting funding for classified programs) or will suddenly release without explanation new figures for prior years that are quite different from what was previously reported. Figures provided to CRS show a total (classified and unclassified) DOD space budget of $19.4 billion for FY2003,$20 billion for FY2004, $19.8 billion for FY2005, and a request of$22.5 billion for FY2006. The actual FY2006 and proposed FY2007 budget figures are not yet available. Two DOD space programs that have been particularly controversial are Space Radar (formerly Space-Based Radar — SBR) and TSAT (the transformational communications satellite program). The programs are controversial because their cost estimates are high, and Congress has been skeptical of those estimates and of DOD’s ability to manage the programs successfully based on past program performance. Congress cut DOD’s $226 million FY2006 request for Space Radar by$126 million and its $836 million FY2006 request for TSAT by$400 million. The FY2007 requests for those programs are $266 million for Space Radar and$867 million for TSAT. This report replaces part of CRS Issue Brief IB92011, U.S. Space Programs: Civilian, Military, and Commercial, originally written by Marcia S. Smith. It will be updated as events warrant

Adaptive building and skin: An innovative computational workflow to design energy efficient buildings in different climate zones

This research aims at developing an innovative methodology and the related computational workflow to design energy efficient buildings equipped with climate responsive building skins able to respond dynamically to environmental conditions changing over the time. This methodology, called Adaptive Building and Skin (AB&S), is applicable in different climate zones and consists of a computational form-finding method, which supports architects and engineers in the buildings’ design process resulting in buildings with optimized energy performance and a high level of indoor and outdoor comfort under changing environmental conditions. The innovative-ness of AB&S lies in the fact that it includes the entire design process and considers several internal and external inputs to find the best solutions at all scales of a project: starting from the micro urban-scale with the design of the site and of the building shape, down to the building-scale and finally the skin-scale. Applicability and functionality of AB&S has been tested and improved in the design of office buildings located in specific cities located in different climate zones (cold, temperate, tropical and subtropical). Results of the application in Berlin, Germany, are presented in detail in this paper

Post-industrial robotics: exploring informed architectures in the post-digital era

The prototypes, made in collaboration with industrial partners, represent the results of transdisciplinary experiments in which environmental, structural and material performances inform the computational process and the robotics manufacturing. Fusta Robotica, is the result of a tectonic exploration deriving from the use of non-engineered material, Digital Urban Orchard is the formal expression of a complex functional program arising from the relationship amongst form (shape), function and context. The analysis of processes, in addition to the definition of the limits and potentialities of the design approach, opens the debate on the role of technological experimentation in the post-digital era, characterized by the process information that includes digital computation, materials and fabrication

[FeFe]-Hydrogenase synthetic mimics based on peri-substituted dichalcogenides

[FeFe]-hydrogenase plays an important role in the microbial energy metabolism, catalysing the reduction of protons into molecular hydrogen. Herein the synthesis and the spectroscopic analysis (NMR, IR, UV/vis) of [FeFe]-complexes based on the naphtho[1,8-cd][1,2]dithiole, naphtho[1,8-cd][1,2]diselenole and naphtho[1,8-cd][1,2]thiaselenole backbone, which incorporate substituents in position 2 of the naphthalene ring (OMe, tBu) are described. Additionally, dichalcogenide-based [FeFe]-complexes, containing the rigid aromatic phenanthrene and fluorene backbones are discussed. Cyclic voltammetry was applied in order to investigate the electrochemical properties of these new [FeFe]-hydrogenase synthetic analogues. Titration with pTsOH was monitored by cyclic voltammetry and showed that these [FeFe]-complexes are catalysts for proton reduction. After having studied these promising systems for proton reduction catalysis, the functionalization of naphthalene-1,8-dithiolate and diselenolate-based [FeFe]-complexes by insertion of aromatic and alkyl amino and imino groups is described. Spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques were applied to confirm protonation of the nitrogen, upon acid addition, and the effect on proton reduction catalysis, which was remarkably improved. Following these results, the synthesis of a molecular dyad containing zinc tetraphenylporphyrin, covalently linked to naphthalene-1,8-dithiolate-based [FeFe]-complex, via amino group, is reported. The initial investigations (UV/vis and emission spectroscopy) showed catalytic photo-induced hydrogen production, which was monitored by gas chromatography