A graphical, rule based robotic interface system

The ability of a human to take control of a robotic system is essential in any use of robots in space in order to handle unforeseen changes in the robot's work environment or scheduled tasks. But in cases in which the work environment is known, a human controlling a robot's every move by remote control is both time consuming and frustrating. A system is needed in which the user can give the robotic system commands to perform tasks but need not tell the system how. To be useful, this system should be able to plan and perform the tasks faster than a telerobotic system. The interface between the user and the robot system must be natural and meaningful to the user. A high level user interface program under development at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, is described. A graphical interface is proposed in which the user selects objects to be manipulated by selecting representations of the object on projections of a 3-D model of the work environment. The user may move in the work environment by changing the viewpoint of the projections. The interface uses a rule based program to transform user selection of items on a graphics display of the robot's work environment into commands for the robot. The program first determines if the desired task is possible given the abilities of the robot and any constraints on the object. If the task is possible, the program determines what movements the robot needs to make to perform the task. The movements are transformed into commands for the robot. The information defining the robot, the work environment, and how objects may be moved is stored in a set of data bases accessible to the program and displayable to the user

Do Individuals Comply on Income Not Reported by Their Employer

Individuals (e.g., the self-employed and those earning casual wages such as tips) with income not reported to the tax authority by a third party may be less likely to be detected evading taxes relative to the case in which their income is subject to third-party reporting. However, their compliance responses - to changes in the proportion of income that is reported to the tax authority, to changes in audit and tax rates, and so on - are largely unknown, in part because of the difficulty in obtaining information on individual choices in these situations. We use experimental methods to examine individual income tax compliance in settings where individuals differ in the portion of their income that is "matched" (or reported to the tax authority via third-party information) versus "nonmatched" (or not fully reported to the tax authority). Our results indicate that individuals who have relatively more non-matched income exhibit significantly lower tax compliance rates than individuals who earn relatively less non-matched income. Our results also indicate that higher income levels, higher tax rates, and lower audit rates lead to increased tax evasion, but with responses that vary depending upon the proportion of matched versus non-matched income. Working Paper 07-3

A geophysical study of microearthquake activity near Bowman, South Carolina

M.S.Leland T. Lon