Adapting robot behavior to user's capabilities: a dance instruction study.

The ALIZ-E1 projects goal is to design a robot companion able to maintain affective interactions with young users over a period of time. One of these interactions consists in teaching a dance to hospitalized children according to their capabilities. We propose a methodology for adapting both, the movements used in the dance based on the users cognitive and physical capabilities through a set of metrics, and the robots interaction based on the users personality traits

Evaluation of chemical methods for the determination of atmospheric ozone

Since the concentration of the ozone in the atmosphere near the earth's surface is of the order of 10 gm. per gm. of air, the quantitative determination of this ozone by chemical methods is rather difficult. Therefore, the different methods have been evaluated to determine the best, all conceivable precautions being taken into account. The chemical methods may be classified into two groups --Titer Methods and Spectro-chemical Methods. Among the former, two; namely, the Thiosulphate and Arsenite Methods, have been proposed and used. For the low concentration of ozone in the atmosphere near the earth 's surface, the Thiosulphate Method is found to give unreliable results due to the instability of the thiosulphate solution as well as to various side reactions which could not be controlled. The arsenite solution, however, is much more stable than the thiosulphate solution. Side reactions are very few and can largely be controlled. Reliable results can be obtained by the Arsenite Method when employing proper precautions. The oxidants and other interfering substances in the atmosphere present serious problems. Some oxidants behave like ozone as far as the reactions with the chemical reagents are concerned. Their occurrence in the atmosphere and their effects on the chemical reagents used for the quantitative determination of the atmospheric ozone are discussed in detail. Suggestions are made for their elimination from the atmosphere without affecting the ozone concentration.The research reported in this document has been made possible through support and sponsorship extended by the Geophysics Research Division of the Air Force Research Center, under Contract No. AF 19(604)127.Chapter I Introduction : Titer Methods ; Spectro-Chemical Methods ; General Considerations -- Chapter II Critical Review of Thiosulphate and Arsenite Methods : Importance of ph ; Buffer for Constant ph ; Stability of Thiosulphate Solution ; Stability of Arsenite Solution – Chapter III Determination of End Point During Titration – Chapter IV Experimental Procedures and Results : Preperation of Thiosulphate Solution ; Preperation of Aresenite Solution ; Effect of ph ; Effect of Dilution by Water ; Effect of Exposure in the Room ; Stability of the Solutions in Absence of Light ; Effect of Ultraviolet Light ; Effect of Sunlight ; Effect of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen ; Effect of Dripping over Glass Helices ; Discussion of Results – [Appendix] Effect of Different Constituents of the Polluted Air : Hydrogen Peroxide ; Nitrogen Oxides ; Organic Peroxide ; Oxides of Sulphur ; Other Chemicals ; Suggestions for the Elimination of the Effects of Oxidants in the Determination of Atmospheric Ozone by the Titer MethodYe

Flight Test of Orthogonal Square Wave Inputs for Hybrid-Wing-Body Parameter Estimation

As part of an effort to improve emissions, noise, and performance of next generation aircraft, it is expected that future aircraft will use distributed, multi-objective control effectors in a closed-loop flight control system. Correlation challenges associated with parameter estimation will arise with this expected aircraft configuration. The research presented in this paper focuses on addressing the correlation problem with an appropriate input design technique in order to determine individual control surface effectiveness. This technique was validated through flight-testing an 8.5-percent-scale hybrid-wing-body aircraft demonstrator at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (Edwards, California). An input design technique that uses mutually orthogonal square wave inputs for de-correlation of control surfaces is proposed. Flight-test results are compared with prior flight-test results for a different maneuver style

Data Analytics and Decision Support in the context of ERP and beyond for giving CSIR a Competitive advantage – two case studies from HR (Human Resources) and MM (Materials Management) Modules.

The evolution of data is a natural corollary of the evolution of CSIR as an organization. Big data offers challenges as well as opportunities. ERP is an important milestone as a decision intervention towards transformation of CSIR. It is an integrated, fast and transparent enterprise level solution which overcomes unnecessary duplicity and the problem of silos. It has inbuilt data analytics which leads to decision support. The paper emphasizes upon the need for complementing ERP with other data bases, use of data mining and data analytics to produce Business Intelligence to provide decision support. In today’s cut throat competitive environment, decisions should be based on facts and not on intuitions and beliefs. The paper gives many illustrations and details to processes of GPF and vendor management for developing analytics framework and show how it leads to vital decisions which make an impact

Lateral-Directional Parameter Estimation on the X-48B Aircraft Using an Abstracted, Multi-Objective Effector Model

The problem of parameter estimation on hybrid-wing-body aircraft is complicated by the fact that many design candidates for such aircraft involve a large number of aerodynamic control effectors that act in coplanar motion. This adds to the complexity already present in the parameter estimation problem for any aircraft with a closed-loop control system. Decorrelation of flight and simulation data must be performed in order to ascertain individual surface derivatives with any sort of mathematical confidence. Non-standard control surface configurations, such as clamshell surfaces and drag-rudder modes, further complicate the modeling task. In this paper, time-decorrelation techniques are applied to a model structure selected through stepwise regression for simulated and flight-generated lateral-directional parameter estimation data. A virtual effector model that uses mathematical abstractions to describe the multi-axis effects of clamshell surfaces is developed and applied. Comparisons are made between time history reconstructions and observed data in order to assess the accuracy of the regression model. The Cram r-Rao lower bounds of the estimated parameters are used to assess the uncertainty of the regression model relative to alternative models. Stepwise regression was found to be a useful technique for lateral-directional model design for hybrid-wing-body aircraft, as suggested by available flight data. Based on the results of this study, linear regression parameter estimation methods using abstracted effectors are expected to perform well for hybrid-wing-body aircraft properly equipped for the task

Multi-Axis Identifiability Using Single-Surface Parameter Estimation Maneuvers on the X-48B Blended Wing Body

The problem of parameter estimation on hybrid-wing-body type aircraft is complicated by the fact that many design candidates for such aircraft involve a large number of aero- dynamic control effectors that act in coplanar motion. This fact adds to the complexity already present in the parameter estimation problem for any aircraft with a closed-loop control system. Decorrelation of system inputs must be performed in order to ascertain individual surface derivatives with any sort of mathematical confidence. Non-standard control surface configurations, such as clamshell surfaces and drag-rudder modes, further complicate the modeling task. In this paper, asymmetric, single-surface maneuvers are used to excite multiple axes of aircraft motion simultaneously. Time history reconstructions of the moment coefficients computed by the solved regression models are then compared to each other in order to assess relative model accuracy. The reduced flight-test time required for inner surface parameter estimation using multi-axis methods was found to come at the cost of slightly reduced accuracy and statistical confidence for linear regression methods. Since the multi-axis maneuvers captured parameter estimates similar to both longitudinal and lateral-directional maneuvers combined, the number of test points required for the inner, aileron-like surfaces could in theory have been reduced by 50%. While trends were similar, however, individual parameters as estimated by a multi-axis model were typically different by an average absolute difference of roughly 15-20%, with decreased statistical significance, than those estimated by a single-axis model. The multi-axis model exhibited an increase in overall fit error of roughly 1-5% for the linear regression estimates with respect to the single-axis model, when applied to flight data designed for each, respectively

Observation of asymmetric spectrum broadening induced by silver nanoparticles in a heavy-metal oxide glass

We demonstrate experimentally and support by a theoretical analysis an effect of asymmetric spectrum broadening, which results from doping of silver nanoparticles into a heavy-glass matrix, 90(0.5WO3-0.3SbPO4-0.2PbO)-10AgCl. The strong dispersion of the effective nonlinear coefficient of the composite significantly influences the spectral broadening via the self-phase modulation, and leads to a blue upshift of the spectrum. Further extension of the spectrum towards shorter wavelengths is suppressed by a growing loss caused by the plasmon resonance in the silver particles. The red-edge spectral broadening is dominated by the stimulated Raman Scattering.Comment: Accepted for publishing epl13477; EPL Journal 201