Journal off Mechanical Design The Application of Curvature Theory to the Trajectory Generation Problem of Robot Manipulators

This paper illustrates a new application of planar curvature theory to the geometric problem of trajectory generation by a two-link manipulator. The theory yields the instantaneous speed ratio, and the rate of change of the speed ratio, which correspond to the geometry of a desired point trajectory. Separate from the purely geometric speed ratio problem (i.e., the coordination problem) is the time based problem of controlling the joint rates in order to move with the specified path variables. Introduction A rigid body, constrained to move in a plane with N independent degrees of freedom, where 1 < N < 3, is known as a planar TV-parameter motion, denoted by M N . This paper discusses the arm-subassembly of a planar manipulator, whose terminal link is a planar M 2 motion. The purpose is to illustrate a new application of classical curvature theory to the problem of trajectory generation by a multi-degree-of-freedom rigid body system, in this case a planar robot manipulator. Previously, curvature theory has been applied to the dimensional synthesis of planar mechanisms. The new application of the theory illustrated here is a problem of motion synthesis by industrial manipulators

Macro material flow modeling for analyzing solid waste management options

A Macro Material Flow Modeling (MMFM) concept and approach are being adopted to develop a predictive modeling capability. This capability is intended to provide part of the basis for evaluating potential impacts from various solid waste management system configurations and operating scenarios, as well as evaluating the impacts of various policies on solid waste quantities and compositions. The MMFM capability, as part of a broader Solid Waste Initiative at Pacific Northwest Laboratory, is intended to provide an increased understanding of solid waste as a disposal, energy, and resource problem on a national and global scale, particularly over the long term. This model is a macro-level simulation of the flows of the various materials through the solid waste management system, and also through the associated materials production and use system. Inclusion of materials production and use within the modeling context allows a systems approach to be used, providing a much more complete understanding of the origins of the solid waste materials and also of possible options for materials recovery and reuse than if a more traditional end-of-pipe'' view of solid waste is adopted. The MMFM is expected to be useful in evaluating longer-term, broader-ranging solid waste impacts than are traditionally evaluated by decision-makers involved in implementing solutions to local or regional solid waste management problems. This paper discusses the types of questions of interest in evaluating long-term, broad-range impacts from solid waste. It then identifies the basic needs for predictive modeling capabilities like the MMFM, and provides a basic description of the conceptual framework for the model and the associated data. Status of the MMFM implementation is also discussed

A stochastic model for the evolution of the web allowing link deletion

Recently several authors have proposed stochastic evolutionary models for the growth of the web graph and other networks that give rise to power-law distributions. These models are based on the notion of preferential attachment leading to the ``rich get richer'' phenomenon. We present a generalisation of the basic model by allowing deletion of individual links and show that it also gives rise to a power-law distribution. We derive the mean-field equations for this stochastic model and show that by examining a snapshot of the distribution at the steady state of the model, we are able to tell whether any link deletion has taken place and estimate the link deletion probability. Our model enables us to gain some insight into the distribution of inlinks in the web graph, in particular it suggests a power-law exponent of approximately 2.15 rather than the widely published exponent of 2.1

3D buried utility location using a marching-cross-section algorithm for multi-sensor data fusion

We address the problem of accurately locating buried utility segments by fusing data from multiple sensors using a novel Marching-Cross-Section (MCS) algorithm. Five types of sensors are used in this work: Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Passive Magnetic Fields (PMF), Magnetic Gradiometer (MG), Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (LFEM) and Vibro-Acoustics (VA). As part of the MCS algorithm, a novel formulation of the extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is proposed for marching existing utility tracks from a scan cross-section (scs) to the next one; novel rules for initializing utilities based on hypothesized detections on the first scs and for associating predicted utility tracks with hypothesized detections in the following scss are introduced. Algorithms are proposed for generating virtual scan lines based on given hypothesized detections when different sensors do not share common scan lines, or when only the coordinates of the hypothesized detections are provided without any information of the actual survey scan lines. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated with both synthetic data and real data. The experimental results in this work demonstrate that the proposed MCS algorithm can locate multiple buried utility segments simultaneously, including both straight and curved utilities, and can separate intersecting segments. By using the probabilities of a hypothesized detection being a pipe or a cable together with its 3D coordinates, the MCS algorithm is able to discriminate a pipe and a cable close to each other. The MCS algorithm can be used for both post-and on-site processing. When it is used on site, the detected tracks on the current scs can help to determine the location and direction of the next scan line. The proposed “multi-utility multi-sensor” system has no limit to the number of buried utilities or the number of sensors, and the more sensor data used, the more buried utility segments can be detected with more accurate location and orientation.</p

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mre11 is a high-affinity G4 DNA-binding protein and a G-rich DNA-specific endonuclease: implications for replication of telomeric DNA

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Mre11p/Rad50p/Xrs2p (MRX) complex plays a vital role in several nuclear processes including cellular response to DNA damage, telomere length maintenance, cell cycle checkpoint control and meiotic recombination. Telomeres are comprised of tandem repeats of G-rich DNA and are incorporated into non-nucleosomal chromatin. Although the structure of the yeast telomeric DNA is poorly understood, it has been suggested that the G-rich sequences can fold into G4 DNA, which has been shown to inhibit DNA synthesis by telomerase. However, little is known about the factors and mechanistic aspects of the generation of appropriate termini for DNA synthesis by telomerase. Here, we show that S.cerevisiae Mre11 protein (ScMre11p) possesses substantially higher binding affinity for G4 DNA, over single- or double-stranded DNA, and binding was inhibited by poly(dG) or porphyrin. Binding of ScMre11p to G4 DNA was most robust, compared with G2′ DNA and the resulting protein–DNA complexes were strikingly very resistant to dissociation by NaCl. Remarkably, binding of ScMre11p to G4 DNA and G-rich single-stranded DNA was accompanied by the endonucleolytic cleavage at sites flanking the array of G residues and G-quartets in Mn(2+)-dependent manner. Collectively, these results suggest that ScMre11p is likely to play a major role in generating appropriate substrates for DNA synthesis by telomerase and telomere-binding proteins. We discuss the implications of these findings with regard to telomere length maintenance by telomerase-dependent and independent mechanisms

Path Following for Mobile Manipulators

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Robotics Research. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60916-4_30This paper presents a framework of path following via set stabilization for mobile manipulator systems. The mobile manipulator is modelled as a single redundant dynamic system. The mobile base considered belongs to a large class of wheeled ground vehicles, including those with nonholonomic constraints. Kinematic redundancies are resolved by designing a controller that solves a suitably defined constrained quadratic optimization problem, which can be easily tuned by the designer to achieve various desired poses. By employing partial feedback linearization, the proposed path following controller has a clear physical meaning. The desired path to be followed is a spline in the output space of the system. The controller simultaneously controls the manipulator and mobile base. The result is a unified path following controller without any trajectory planning performed on the mobile base. The approach is experimentally verified on a 4-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) manipulator mounted on a differential drive mobile platfor

Genetic Deletion of the Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ Receptor in the Rat Confers Resilience to the Development of Drug Addiction

The nociceptin (NOP) receptor is a G-protein-coupled receptor whose natural ligand is the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) peptide. Evidence from pharmacological studies suggests that the N/OFQ system is implicated in the regulation of several addiction-related phenomena, such as drug intake, withdrawal and relapse. Here, to further explore the role of NOP system in addiction, we used NOP (-/-) rats to study the motivation for cocaine, heroin and alcohol self-administration in the absence of N/OFQ function. Conditioned place preference (CPP) and saccharin (0.2% w/v) self-administration were also investigated. Results showed that NOP (-/-) rats self-administer less cocaine (0.25, 0.125 or 0.5 mg/infusion) both under a Fixed Ratio 1 and a Progressive Ratio schedule of reinforcement compared to wild type (Wt) controls. Consistently, cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) was able to induce CPP in Wt but not in NOP (-/-). When NOP (-/-) rats were tested for heroin (20 μg/infusion) and ethanol (10% v/v) self-administration, they showeda significantly lower drug intake compared to Wt. Conversely, saccharin self-administration was not affected by NOP deletion, excluding the possibility of nonspecific learning deficits or generalized disruption of reward mechanisms in NOP (-/-) rats. These findings were confirmed with pharmacological experiments using two selective NOP antagonists, SB-612111 and LY2817412. Both drugs attenuated alcohol self-administration in Wt rats but not in NOP (-/-) rats. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that genetic deletion of NOP receptors confers resilience to drug abuse and support a role for NOP receptor antagonism as a potential treatment option for drug addiction.Neuropsychopharmacology accepted article preview online, 26 August 2016. doi:10.1038/npp.2016.171