An Archaeological Survey for the Southwest Texas Electric Cooperative in Schleicher and Crockett Counties, Texas

In July 1981, the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio, conducted an archaeological survey of power line right-of-ways in Schleicher and Crockett Counties. The survey was performed for the Southwest Electric Cooperative, Inc. Eight archaeological sites were located during this project. Three sites (41 SL 5, 41 SL 8, and 41 SL 9) are recommended for additional documentation if they are to be additionally disturbed. The other sites found need no further work

Survey and Testing at the Proposed Dos Rios Wastewater Treatment Plant, South Bexar County, Texas. San Antonio 201 Wastewater Treatment Project

In June 1982, the Center for Archaeological Research, The University of Texas at San Antonio (CAR-UTSA), conducted an archaeological survey with subsurface testing at the proposed Dos Rios Wastewater Treatment Plant (previously called the Confluence site) located in Bexar County, Texas. The survey was performed for the City of San Antonio and was conducted under the administration of a joint venture of consulting engineers, acting as the city\u27s representatives. Two archaeological sites (41 BX 124 and 41 BX 567) were examined. No further work is recommended for 41 BX 124. However, 41 BX 567 needs further investigation to determine eligibility for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places

Autonomous Collision Avoidance Tradespace Analysis for High-Speed Vessels

In this work, a tradespace was introduced allowing a weighted combination of a course change and speed change when deviating from the preferred velocity vector in protocol - constrained autonomous collision avoidance algorithms. A novel iterative geometry testing technique was introduced and key evaluation metrics were studied including the introduction of a protocol - compliance metric for collision avoidance scenario s. The performance metric results differ ed for high - speed vessels indicating a need for parameter tuning specific to high - speed vessels before applying collision avoidance algorithms tested on slower vessels

Quantifying protocol evaluation for autonomous collision avoidance

Collision avoidance protocols such as COLREGS are written primarily for human operators resulting in a rule set that is open to some interpretation, difficult to quantify, and challenging to evaluate. Increasing use of autonomous control of vehicles emphasizes the need to more uniformly establish entry and exit criteria for collision avoidance rules, adopt a means to quantitatively evaluate performance, and establish a “road test” for autonomous marine vehicle collision avoidance. This paper presents a means to quantify and subsequently evaluate the otherwise subjective nature of COLREGS thus providing a path toward standardized evaluation and certification of protocol-constrained collision avoidance systems based on admiralty case law and on-water experience. Notional algorithms are presented for evaluation of COLREGS collision avoidance rules to include overtaking, head-on, crossing, give-way, and stand-on rules as well as applicable entry criteria. These rules complement and enable an autonomous collision avoidance road test as a first iteration of algorithm certification prior to vessels operating in human-present environments. Additional COLREGS rules are discussed for future development. Both real-time and post-mission protocol evaluation tools are introduced. While the motivation of these techniques applies to improvement of autonomous marine collision avoidance, the concepts for protocol evaluation and certification extend naturally to human-operated vessels. Evaluation of protocols governing other physical domains may also benefit from adapting these techniques to their cases. Keywords: COLREGS; Autonomous collision avoidance; Human–robot collaboration; Marine navigatio

Quantifying protocol evaluation for autonomous collision avoidance

Collision avoidance protocols such as COLREGS are written primarily for human operators resulting in a rule set that is open to some interpretation, difficult to quantify, and challenging to evaluate. Increasing use of autonomous control of vehicles emphasizes the need to more uniformly establish entry and exit criteria for collision avoidance rules, adopt a means to quantitatively evaluate performance, and establish a “road test” for autonomous marine vehicle collision avoidance. This paper presents a means to quantify and subsequently evaluate the otherwise subjective nature of COLREGS thus providing a path toward standardized evaluation and certification of protocol-constrained collision avoidance systems based on admiralty case law and on-water experience. Notional algorithms are presented for evaluation of COLREGS collision avoidance rules to include overtaking, head-on, crossing, give-way, and stand-on rules as well as applicable entry criteria. These rules complement and enable an autonomous collision avoidance road test as a first iteration of algorithm certification prior to vessels operating in human-present environments. Additional COLREGS rules are discussed for future development. Both real-time and post-mission protocol evaluation tools are introduced. While the motivation of these techniques applies to improvement of autonomous marine collision avoidance, the concepts for protocol evaluation and certification extend naturally to human-operated vessels. Evaluation of protocols governing other physical domains may also benefit from adapting these techniques to their cases. Keywords: COLREGS; Autonomous collision avoidance; Human–robot collaboration; Marine navigatio

Structured polymeric microparticles via aerosol cationic photopolymerization

Production of polymeric microparticles has gone through an exponential development in the last decades. In particular, the creation of particles with non-full structures is interesting in many applications from medicine to environmental treatments. Still, there are some issues related to the use of those techniques, such as emulsion polymerization, that need a burdensome purification in the downstream processes. In our studies we tried to develop a continuous polymerization process that gives us the possibility to obtain dry structured microparticles using neither surfactants nor a liquid medium. This technique was based on an aerosol photo-induced polymerization. A solution containing the reacting monomer dissolved in a mixture of solvents is sprayed and exposed to UV-light. During the reactor passage, both reaction and phase separation occurred inside the single droplet. By adjusting the amounts and ratios of the solvents it was possible to obtain different structures. Porous particles with various tunable pore shapes and dimensions were obtained. Capsules were obtained with the addition of a co-solvent able to participate with the reaction, delaying the gelation of the structure and, thus, allowing the creation of a polymeric shell in the outer layers of the reacting droplet. As to the applications, we encapsulated an active ingredient within our particles, both porous and core-shell. The active ingredient was curcumin, an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant compound. We found that the addition of the active ingredient did not affect the microparticles synthesis; furthermore, the release kinetics investigation showed a slower release in case of porous particles, compared to capsules. However, porous particles were able to release the total amount of curcumin, while capsules released a lower fraction of the active ingredient