Obstacle Avoidance by Means of an Operant Conditioning Model

This paper describes the application of a model of operant conditioning to the problem of obstacle avoidance with a wheeled mobile robot. The main characteristic of the applied model is that the robot learns to avoid obstacles through a learning-by-doing cycle without external supervision. A series of ultrasonic sensors act as Conditioned Stimuli (CS), while collisions act as an Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS). By experiencing a series of movements in a cluttered environment, the robot learns to avoid sensor activation patterns that predict collisions, thereby learning to avoid obstacles. Learning generalizes to arbitrary cluttered environments. In this work we describe our initial implementation using a computer simulation

Modular AWG-based Optical Shuffle Network

This paper proposes an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) based wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) shuffle network. Compared with previous optical shuffle networks, our proposal is compact, easy to implement, highly scalable, and cost effective

Electronic equalization for advanced modulation formats in dispersion-limited systems

We investigate in this letter the use of electronic equalization on dispersion limited systems for different modulation formats. Besides analyzing equalization on standard NRZ intensity modulation as a reference, we focus on two advanced modulation formats, Duobinary and Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) which are recently gaining large attention. We demonstrate that the introduction of an electronic equalizer strongly improves standard NRZ performance, whereas it has a limited effect on Duobinary and DPSK formats. Moreover, we give rules for the optimal choice of the equalizer transversal filter parameters, i.e., the number of taps and the delay between taps

L’integrità della persona in campo medico e biologico

Biomedicine issues provoke, within the European countries, a persistent divergence of attitudes, in particular when the debate implicates a discussion on the use of human embryos in the medical and scientific research, due to the therapeutic characteristics of staminal cells. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union mirrors this contrast and intentionally does not bring any relevant modification to the compromise achieved with the previous Treatise of Oviedo. Within the bioethical debate - in particular as for the one concerning the so called “therapeutic cloning” (Somatic Cells Nuclear Transplant) - intrinsically different positions come to a confrontation. In such a situation the jurist may find a specific role. His duty should be that of underlining the existence of any possible conflict of interest and of analysing the practical relapses of the normative systems involved by the different ethical attitudes, thus revealing the consequences – which in no case can be considered neutral – that would derive from the transformation of certain ethical/religious options into effective normative systems