An Investigation into the Feasibility of Remote Object Manipulation Using Consumer Virtual Reality Hardware and Decoupled Mapping Control

With the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many health workers in hospitals, nursing homes and quarantine facilities were put at increased health risk in their workplace. One effective solution to reduce this risk is to use Telerobotics which enables health workers to carry out their tasks remotely. Such a system must be able to perform a wide range of tasks in an unpredictable environment. This research paper will focus on the pick and place of small objects, which is one of the most common tasks in health care settings. This research designs a prototype telerobotic system using an innovative and new control method to remotely pick and place small objects and will perform the following test: An operator will use a virtual reality headset to remotely control a robot arm located more than 44 kilometres away from the operator and pick several common everyday objects and place them into a container. By developing this proof of concept prototype, this research will help to accelerate the adoption of telerobotic technologies in health care and other industries

Assessing Differentiating Aspects of Karaj Citizens' Orientation to Buy from Fruits and Vegetables Market and Its Parallel Market

The main objective of the present study is to assess distinct aspects of citizens' intention to buy fruits and vegetables from municipal markets and its parallel markets within Karaj city. The required data was collected by completing 150 questionnaires from Karaj citizens in 2013. Using the multi-Group discriminant analysis, analysis ofthe study results within the three groups including buyers from municipal markets, local shops and fruit pickups show that possibility for non-cash payment, presenting printed purchase receipts, a higher quality of product, degree of fruit importance in the household basket, seller’s behaviour, more openning hours, use the benefit of the more familiar seller, and length of time allocated to buy fruit play the greatest role in making a distinction between two groups of buyers including buyers from local shops and buyers from municipal markets against buyers from fruit pickups. In addition, the results of this study indicate that monthly household expenditures, number of monthly fruit purchase, possibility for customers to select his desired items , a reasonable price comapared to the product’s quality, appropriate packing, education, how often a household buy fruits in a month a wide variety of products, trust to the offered prices, distance to the market play the greatest role in making a distinction between two groups of buyers from local shops and buyers from municipal markets, respectively. Ultimately, it is suggested to train sellers how to behave properly withcustomers. In addition, it should be paid more attention to appropriate packing and to make it possible for the citizens to select their desired items themselves

Artificial neural network modeling of flow stress in hot rolling

In this study, an artificial neural network model is proposed to predict the flow stress variations during the hot rolling process. Optimization of the proposed neural network with respect to number of neurons within the hidden layer, different training methods and transfer functions of the neural network is performed. The results of the optimal network were compared with those of the conventional analytic method and it is shown that using an optimal neural network the mean calculated error is drastically reduced

Analysis of the Farmers Economic Behavior to Reduce the Environmental Effects of Agricultural Chemical Inputs (a Case Study of Kashaf- Rood Basin in Mashhad)

The purpose of this study is the analysis of the farmers economic behavior to reduce the adverse environmental effects of agricultural chemical inputs by using contingent valuation approach and Tobit model by Heckman's two stage. To achieve the desired goal, 100 questionnaires collected by a random sampling from farmers of Kashaf- rood basin in Mashhad city in 2013. Results showed that variables of age, education, type of agricultural activity, index 2 (farmers agree with the adverse effects of overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, index 5 (farmers agree with investments to protect the soil and water), Sex, number of households employed in agriculture, experience in the use of soil and water conservation practices, total area under cultivation and index 4 (farmers agree with well being of available soil and water) have a significant impact on the farmers financial participation to reduce the adverse environmental effects of chemical fertilizers. also, variables of age, education, total amount annual consumption of chemical pesticides per year, sex, main job, number of households employed in agriculture, type of agricultural activity, net savings of agriculture, land ownership status, total amount annual consumption of fertilizer per year, index 1 (farmers agree with benefits of preventing soil washing), index 4 (farmers agree with well being of available soil and water) and index 5 (farmers agree with investments to protect the soil and water) have a significant impact on the farmers financial participation to reduce the adverse environmental effects of chemical pesticides. According to the study results, Suggestions is presented for reducing the adverse environmental impacts of chemical inputs