Experimental validation of docking and capture using space robotics testbeds

This presentation describes the application of robotic and computer vision systems to validate docking and capture operations for space cargo transfer vehicles. Three applications are discussed: (1) air bearing systems in two dimensions that yield high quality free-flying, flexible, and contact dynamics; (2) validation of docking mechanisms with misalignment and target dynamics; and (3) computer vision technology for target location and real-time tracking. All the testbeds are supported by a network of engineering workstations for dynamic and controls analyses. Dynamic simulation of multibody rigid and elastic systems are performed with the TREETOPS code. MATRIXx/System-Build and PRO-MATLAB/Simulab are the tools for control design and analysis using classical and modern techniques such as H-infinity and LQG/LTR. SANDY is a general design tool to optimize numerically a multivariable robust compensator with a user-defined structure. Mathematica and Macsyma are used to derive symbolically dynamic and kinematic equations

Requirements Practices in Software Startups

In a dynamic environment full of uncertainties in software startups, software development practices must be carefully approached. It is vital that startups determine the right time to make advancements and evolve their company to the next level. We will discuss the importance of requirements practices in startups and their impact on company culture, work environments, and product quality

Obamacare: The Birds Still Sing as Freedom Erodes

The article discusses the impact of the U.S. health care bill signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2010. When provisions begin to take effect in 2014, government spending will reportedly increase such that it would expand the deficit and Americans\u27 freedom will be reduced. The new system turns health insurance companies into government agents with the government determining the premiums, benefits and types of policies to be issued

Machine vision based teleoperation aid

When teleoperating a robot using video from a remote camera, it is difficult for the operator to gauge depth and orientation from a single view. In addition, there are situations where a camera mounted for viewing by the teleoperator during a teleoperation task may not be able to see the tool tip, or the viewing angle may not be intuitive (requiring extensive training to reduce the risk of incorrect or dangerous moves by the teleoperator). A machine vision based teleoperator aid is presented which uses the operator's camera view to compute an object's pose (position and orientation), and then overlays onto the operator's screen information on the object's current and desired positions. The operator can choose to display orientation and translation information as graphics and/or text. This aid provides easily assimilated depth and relative orientation information to the teleoperator. The camera may be mounted at any known orientation relative to the tool tip. A preliminary experiment with human operators was conducted and showed that task accuracies were significantly greater with than without this aid

A History of the Czechs in Knox County, Nebraska

When the average person thinks of the Czech settlements of Nebraska, he is apt to have in mind the large numbers of this national group who are located in the comparatively centralized area of Douglas, Saunders, Butler, Saline, and Colfax Counties. Few seem to realize that one of the larger of the Czech settlements of the state is to be found in Knox County, a section considerably removed, and having relatively few contacts with the Czechs in the above-mentioned counties. It is the purpose of this thesis to tell the story of these Knox County Czechs. In it effort will be made to present as clearly and accurately as possible the facts regarding their settlement of Knox County and their early trials and hardships. Along with this, information will be given concerning their economic struggles and accomplishments, and attention will be paid to their religious, fraternal, educational, social, and political activities. Furthermore. an attempt will be made to I show that their contribution to the commonwealth lies not in the greatness of a few individuals but in the persistence and toil of the peasant homesteaders, who, while retaining the peculiarly valuable traits of their own nationality, defied drouth, insect plagues, poverty, and a multitude of other handicaps, and eventually achieved economic independence and Americanization. There are at present approximately four thousand individuals in Knox County who are either Czechs or of Czech descent. These are concentrated pretty largely in the west half of the county, being found chiefly in Verdigre, Bohemia, Western, Sparta, Jefferson, Washington, and Niobrara Townships. Their chief town is Verdigre, a village of 618 people, ninety percent of whom are Czechs. To better understand these settlers and the things that they did, and to a certain extent still do, it is necessary to know a little something about their old country background. Bohemia, as their home land is commonly called, is a strange country. The home of a long-abused people, its love of liberty stretches back into shadowy beginnings. Extremely low at times, it on occasions rose to towering heights in the personalities of such individuals as John Huss. Side by side with this love for liberty went the desire for Czech nationalism and these two ideals, cherished through the centuries, came to be factors in marking the Czechs as different from the other groups of central Europe. Going back into their history we find that the Czechs, influenced by the doctrines of the Reformation and still loyal to their great leader, Huss, were instrumental in bringing on the famous Thirty Years War (1618-1648). This disastrous struggle flared up when the Czechs, feeling that their religious liberties had been violated, revolted against Ferdinand PI of Austria. The struggle proved decidedly uneven and in connection with it the Czechs suffered their crowning disaster in the battle of White Mountain on November 8th, 1620. With this defeat the condition of Bohemia fell to its lowest level. Protestantism received a staggering blow in the form of new orders which drove all of the Protestant clergy from Bohemia, forbade all religious worship, save that of the Roman Catholic Church, and banished all Protestants. The cause of Bohemian kingship was made hereditary in the House of Hapsburgs. As a result of all this 36,000 Protestant families went into exile. Despite these extreme reverses, a certain unquenchable spirit remained and the spark of nationalism continued to glow until three centuries later it brought forth from the chaos of the World War, the present Czecho-Slovakian nation. It was such an inheritance as this that the Czech immigrants brought to America and used to carry them through their discouraging days as pioneer homesteaders

Emerging patterns of species richness, diversity, population density, and distribution in the skates (Rajidae) of Alaska

Six years of bottom-trawl survey data, including over 6000 trawls covering over 200 km2 of bottom area throughout Alaska’s subarctic marine waters, were analyzed for patterns in species richness, diversity, density, and distribution of skates. The Bering Sea continental shelf and slope, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska regions were stratified by geographic subregion and depth. Species richness and relative density of skates increased with depth to the shelf break in all regions. The Bering Sea shelf was dominated by the Alaska skate (Bathyraja parmifera), but species richness and diversity were low. On the Bering Sea slope, richness and diversity were higher in the shallow stratum, and relative density appeared higher in subregions dominated by canyons. In the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, species richness and relative density were generally highest in the deepest depth strata. The data and distribution maps presented here are based on species-level data collected throughout the marine waters of Alaska, and this article represents the most comprehensive summary of the skate fauna of the region published to date

Transvaginal Ultrasonography in Ovarian Cancer Screening: Current Perspectives

Transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) is an integral part of all major ovarian cancer screening trials. TVS is accurate in detecting abnormalities in ovarian volume and morphology, but is less reliable in differentiating benign from malignant ovarian tumors. When used as the only screening test, TVS is sensitive, but has a low positive predictive value. Therefore, serum biomarkers and tumor morphology indexing are used together with TVS to identify ovarian tumors at high risk for malignancy. This allows preoperative triage of high-risk cases to major cancer centers for therapy while decreasing unnecessary surgery for benign disease. Ovarian cancer screening has been associated with a decrease in stage at detection in most trials, thereby allowing treatment to be initiated when the disease is most curable

Western North Atlantic Shark-Fishery Management Problems and Informational Requirements

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) has primary responsibility for the development ofihe Western North Atlantic Shark Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Currently, there is a consensus among the five East Coast Councils that an FMP for sharks should be prepared. The current concerns focus on many of the same issues that were germane a decade ago when a shark FMP was initiated and then halted mainly because of inadequate information. These issues include 1) an expanded, nondiscriminant, commercial longline fishery ; (2) an existing and rapidly expanding recreational fishery; (3) concern for the extensive waste which occurs from both recreational and commercial activities (especially the rapidly increasing issue of harvesting sharks for the use ofonly fins); (4) the reproductive strategy (few offspring, late maturation , and slow growth rates) of many species; and (5) realization that increased fishing pressure on specific shark species generally results in overfishing. Essential information for stock assessment is lacking for sharks and thus management is severely handicapped. Critical data needs include: valid growth information, stock delineation, documentation of the catch by species, samples of the population size structure, mortality estimates, independent indices of population abundance through time, and documentation of all (U.S. and other nationals) user groups both recreational and commercial . Data are particularly sparse for foreign fisheries which have expanded outside U .S. controlled waters, and which could be harvesting the same stocks of sharks.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/vimsbooks/1040/thumbnail.jp