1,542 research outputs found
Adaptive self-management of teams of autonomous vehicles
Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly deployed for missions that are deemed dangerous or impractical to perform by humans in many military and disaster scenarios. Collaborating UAVs in a team form a Self- Managed Cell (SMC) with at least one commander. UAVs in an SMC may need to operate independently or in sub- groups, out of contact with the commander and the rest of the team in order to perform specific tasks, but must still be able to eventually synchronise state information. The SMC must also cope with intermittent and permanent communication failures as well permanent UAV failures. This paper describes a failure management scheme that copes with both communication link and UAV failures, which may result in temporary disjoint sub-networks within the SMC. A communication management protocol is proposed to control UAVs performing disconnected individual operations, while maintaining the SMCs structure by trying to ensure that all members of the mission regardless of destination or task, can communicate by moving UAVs to act as relays or by allowing the UAVs to rendezvous at intermittent intervals. Copyright 2008 ACM.Accepted versio
Bayesian Gait Optimization for Bipedal Locomotion
One of the key challenges in robotic bipedal locomotion is finding gait parameters that optimize a desired performance criterion, such as speed, robustness or energy efficiency. Typically, gait optimization requires extensive robot experiments and specific expert knowledge. We propose to apply data-driven machine learning to automate and speed up the process of gait optimization. In particular, we use Bayesian optimization to efficiently find gait parameters that optimize the desired performance metric. As a proof of concept we demonstrate that Bayesian optimization is near-optimal in a classical stochastic optimal control framework. Moreover, we validate our approach to Bayesian gait optimization on a low-cost and fragile real bipedal walker and show that good walking gaits can be efficiently found by Bayesian optimization. © 2014 Springer International Publishing
Feedback Error Learning for Rhythmic Motor Primitives
Abstract — Rhythmic motor primitives can be used to learn a variety of oscillatory behaviors from demonstrations or reward signals, e.g., hopping, walking, running and ball-bouncing. However, frequently, such rhythmic motor primitives lead to failures unless a stabilizing controller ensures their functionality, e.g., a balance controller for a walking gait. As an ideal oscillatory behavior requires the stabilizing controller only for exceptions, e.g., to prevent failures, we devise an online learning approach that reduces the dependence on the stabilizing controller. Inspired by related approaches in model learning, we employ the stabilizing controller’s output as a feedback error learning signal for adapting the gait. We demonstrate the resulting approach in two scenarios: a rhythmic arm’s movements and gait adaptation of an underactuated biped. I
Effect of the Intrinsic Width on the Piezoelectric Force Microscopy of a Single Ferroelectric Domain Wall
Intrinsic domain wall width is a fundamental parameter that reflects bulk
ferroelectric properties and governs the performance of ferroelectric memory
devices. We present closed-form analytical expressions for vertical and lateral
piezoelectric force microscopy (PFM) profiles for the conical and disc models
of the tip, beyond point charge and sphere approximations. The analysis takes
into account the finite intrinsic width of the domain wall, and dielectric
anisotropy of the material. These analytical expressions provide insight into
the mechanisms of PFM image formation and can be used for quantitative analysis
of the PFM domain wall profiles. PFM profile of a realistic domain wall is
shown to be the convolution of its intrinsic profile and resolution function of
PFM.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables, 3 Appendices, To be submitted to J.
Appl. Phy
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High rate of extrapair paternity in a human population demonstrates diversity in human reproductive strategies.
Among nonhuman species, social monogamy is rarely accompanied by complete fidelity. Evolutionary theory predicts that the rate of extrapair paternity (EPP) should vary according to socioecological conditions. In humans, however, geneticists contend that EPP is negligible and relatively invariable. This conclusion is based on a limited set of studies, almost all of which describe European-descent groups. Using a novel, double-blind method designed in collaboration with a community of Himba pastoralists, we find that the rate of EPP in this population is 48%, with 70% of couples having at least one EPP child. Both men and women were very accurate at detecting cases of EPP. These data suggest that the range of variation in EPP across human populations is substantially greater than previously thought. We further show that a high rate of EPP can be accompanied by high paternity confidence, which highlights the importance of disaggregating EPP from the notion of "cuckoldry.
Effect of weight of otter boards on the horizontal opening of trawl nets
The paper gives briefly the experiments carried out to determine the optimum weight of otter board that should be used for a trawl gear for better efficiency
Amino acid imbalance and tryptophanniacin metabolism: I. Effect of excess leucine on the urinary excretion of tryptophan-niacin metabolites in rats
The effect of feeding excess leucine on the urinary excretion of tryptophan-niacin metabolites and nitrogen was studied in young and adult rats. Urinary excretion of quinolinic acid and N'methylnicotinamide was increased in both young and adult rats when L-leucine was added at 1.5% level to a 9% casein diet. Quinolinic acid excretion was more markedly affected in young rats, whereas N'-methylnicotinamide excretion was more affected in adult rats. Isoleucine counteracted the effect of leucine in young rats. Nitrogen excretion increased on leucine feeding in adult rats but not in young rats. Adult rats fed a jowar (Sorghum vulgare) diet tended to excrete relatively more N'-methylnicotinamide and niacin than when fed a wheat diet
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