An approach to model interest for planetary rover through Dezert-Smarandache Theory

In this paper we propose an approach for assigning an interest level to the goals of a planetary rover. Assigning an interest level to goals, allows the rover to autonomously transform and reallocate the goals. The interest level is defined by data-fusing payload and navigation information. The fusion yields an "interest map", that quantifies the level of interest of each area around the rover. In this way, the planner can choose the most interesting scientific objectives to be analyzed, with limited human intervention, and reallocates its goals autonomously. The Dezert-Smarandache Theory of Plausible and Paradoxical Reasoning was used for information fusion: this theory allows dealing with vague and conflicting data. In particular, it allows us to directly model the behaviour of the scientists that have to evaluate the relevance of a particular set of goals. The paper shows an application of the proposed approach to the generation of a reliable interest map

Non-paraxial design and fabrication of a compact OAM sorter in the telecom infrared

A novel optical device is designed and fabricated in order to overcome the limits of the traditional sorter based on log-pol optical transformation for the demultiplexing of optical beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). The proposed configuration simplifies the alignment procedure and significantly improves the compactness and miniaturization level of the optical architecture. Since the device requires to operate beyond the paraxial approximation, a rigorous formulation of transformation optics in the non-paraxial regime has been developed and applied. The sample has been fabricated as 256-level phase-only diffractive optics with high-resolution electron-beam lithography, and tested for the demultiplexing of OAM beams at the telecom wavelength of 1310 nm. The designed sorter can find promising applications in next-generation optical platforms for mode-division multiplexing based on OAM modes both for free-space and multi-mode fiber transmission.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

Nonlinear Uncertainty Propagation in Astrodynamics Using Differential Algebra and Graphics Processing Units

In this paper, two numerical methods for nonlinear uncertainty propagation in astrodynamics are presented and thoroughly compared. Both methods are based on the Monte Carlo idea of evaluating multiple samples of an initial statistical distribution around the nominal state. However, whereas the graphics processing unit implementation aims at increasing the performances of the classical Monte Carlo approach exploiting the massively parallel architecture of modern general-purpose computing on graphics processing units, the method based on differential algebra is aimed at the improvement and generalization of standard linear methods for uncertainty propagation. The two proposed numerical methods are applied to test cases considering both simple two-body dynamics and a full n-body dynamics with accurate ephemeris. The results of the propagation are thoroughly compared with particular emphasis on both accuracy and computational performances

An approach to model interest for planetary rover through Dezert–Smarandache theory

In this paper, we propose an approach for assigning an interest level to the goals of a planetary rover. Assigning an interest level to goals allows the rover autonomously to transform and reallocate the goals. The interest level is defined by data-fusing payload and navigation information. The fusion yields an "interest map" that quantifies the level of interest of each area around the rover. In this way the planner can choose the most interesting scientific objectives to be analyzed, with limited human intervention, and reallocates its goals autonomously. The Dezert-Smarandache Theory of Plausible and Paradoxical Reasoning was used for information fusion: this theory allows dealing with vague and conflicting data. In particular, it allows us directly to model the behavior of the scientists that have to evaluate the relevance of a particular set of goals. The paper shows an application of the proposed approach to the generation of a reliable interest map

Participatory Mapping of Citizens\u2019 Experiences at Public Open Spaces: A Case Study at Bologna Living Lab

In recent years public open spaces (POS) are considered as potential settings for urban regeneration strategies. A POS is successful when it is incorporated into the activities of the citizens, is accessible to people from different social and economic backgrounds, suitable for recreation and also supports people\u2019s security and comfort (Eyles, 2007). Thus, planning process should include citizens\u2019 experiences, opinions and needs. The aim of this paper is to gain insights on the citizens\u2019 experiences and opinions during their presence in POSs by using global positioning systems (gps), geotagging techniques and participatory approaches, while experimenting in the living lab of Bologna established within the framework of the European Union Horizon 2020 project \u201cRegeneration and Optimisation of Cultural heritage in creative and Knowledge cities\u201d (ROCK). For that purpose, a participatory data collection was conducted in Bologna, Italy. The participation of 42 residents was facilitated via Bologna Urban Living Lab (U-Lab). Via Zamboni, Via delle Belle Arti, Via S. Giacomo are the most visited routes in the area. In total 273 subjective experiences were registered, mainly at Via Zamboni, Piazza Verdi and Piazza Scaravilli. 75% of these experiences were associated with positive feelings while 25% were associated with negative. Respondents reported that problems/issues at POSs occurred mainly due to insufficient accessibility and neglect of POSs. U-Lab exploited the results of data collection and organised participatory meetings in order to co-create solutions to transform negatively experienced POSs into positively experienced ones. The paper concludes with the discussion of how this approach can be used as evidence-based design tool for regeneration of POSs

Contact force observer for space robots

In this paper, the problem of estimating a contactwrench at the end-effector for a space robot is addressed. Tothis aim, a generalized force observer based on a base-jointsdynamics is first reviewed. Then, a different formulation isproposed, which is based on a centroidal-joints dynamics. Theproposed observer features interesting decoupling propertiesfrom the base linear velocity that lead to a more practicaland better-performing estimation when limitations in real spacescenarios are considered. The two observers are comparedand the advantage of the proposed one is shown through asimulation example featuring a free-floating robot composed ofa 7 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) arm mounted on a 6DOF movingbase