20 research outputs found
Even Between-Lap Pacing Despite High Within-Lap Variation During Mountain Biking
Purpose: Given the paucity of research on pacing strategies during competitive events, this study examined
changes in dynamic high-resolution performance parameters to analyze pacing profiles during a multiple-lap
mountain-bike race over variable terrain. Methods: A global-positioning-system (GPS) unit (Garmin, Edge
305, USA) recorded velocity (m/s), distance (m), elevation (m), and heart rate at 1 Hz from 6 mountain-bike
riders (mean ± SD age = 27.2 ± 5.0 y, stature = 176.8 ± 8.1 cm, mass = 76.3 ± 11.7 kg, VO2max = 55.1 ± 6.0 mL
· kg–1 . min–1) competing in a multilap race. Lap-by-lap (interlap) pacing was analyzed using a 1-way ANOVA
for mean time and mean velocity. Velocity data were averaged every 100 m and plotted against race distance
and elevation to observe the presence of intralap variation. Results: There was no significant difference in lap times (P = .99) or lap velocity (P = .65) across the 5 laps. Within each lap, a high degree of oscillation in velocity was observed, which broadly reflected changes in terrain, but high-resolution data demonstrated additional
nonmonotonic variation not related to terrain. Conclusion: Participants adopted an even pace strategy across
the 5 laps despite rapid adjustments in velocity during each lap. While topographical and technical variations
of the course accounted for some of the variability in velocity, the additional rapid adjustments in velocity
may be associated with dynamic regulation of self-paced exercise
Military robotics & relationality : criteria for ethical decision-making
In this article, we argue that the implementation of military robots must be preceded by a careful reflection on the ethics of warfare in that warfare must be regarded as a strictly human activity, for which human beings must remain responsible and in control and that ethical decision-making can never be transferred to autonomous robots in the foreseeable future, since these robots are not capable of making ethical decisions. Non-autonomous robots require that humans authorize any decision to use lethal force, i.e., they require a ‘man-in-the-loop’. We propose a model of relationality for the moral attitude that is needed to confront the moral questions and dilemmas that will be faced by future military operations using robots. This model provides two minimal criteria for ethical decision making: non-binary thinking and reflexivity by means of rooting and shifting. In the second part of this article, we apply these criteria to today’s human operators of non-autonomous military robots and secondly, to tomorrow’s autonomous military robots, and ask whether robots are capable of relationality, and to what degree human operators make decisions on the basis of relationality. We then conclude with what we take to be a possible, albeit limited, role for robotics in the military with regard to both the current and the foreseeable future role of military robotics