Scene Understanding for Autonomous Manipulation with Deep Learning

Over the past few years, deep learning techniques have achieved tremendous success in many visual understanding tasks such as object detection, image segmentation, and caption generation. Despite this thriving in computer vision and natural language processing, deep learning has not yet shown signicant impact in robotics. Due to the gap between theory and application, there are many challenges when applying the results of deep learning to the real robotic systems. In this study, our long-term goal is to bridge the gap between computer vision and robotics by developing visual methods that can be used in real robots. In particular, this work tackles two fundamental visual problems for autonomous robotic manipulation: affordance detection and ne-grained action understanding. Theoretically, we propose dierent deep architectures to further improves the state of the art in each problem. Empirically, we show that the outcomes of our proposed methods can be applied in real robots and allow them to perform useful manipulation tasks

A see-saw scenario of an A4A_4 flavour symmetric standard model

A see-saw scenario for an $A_4$ flavour symmetric standard model is presented. The latter, compared with the standard model, has an extended field content adopting now an additional $A_4$ symmetry structure (along with the standard model symmetry). As before, the see-saw mechanism can be realized in several models of different types depending on different ways of neutrino mass generation corresponding to the introduction of new (heavy in general) fields with different symmetry structures. In the present paper, a general description of all these see-saw types is made with a more detailed investigation on type-I models, while for type-II and type-III models a similar strategy can be followed. As within the original see-saw mechanism, the symmetry structure of the standard model fields decides the number and the symmetry structure of the new fields. In a model considered here, the scalar sector consists of three standard-model-Higgs-like iso-doublets ($SU_L(2)$-doublets) forming together an $A_4$-triplet, and three iso-singlets transforming as three singlets (1,$1^{'}$ and $1^{''}$) of $A_4$. In the lepton sector, the three left-handed lepton iso-doublets form an $A_4$-triplet, while the three right-handed charged leptons are either $A_4$-singlets in one version of the model, or components of an $A_4$-triplet in another version. To generate neutrino masses through, say, the type-I see-saw mechanism, it is natural to add four right-handed neutrino multiplets, including one $A_4$-triplet and three $A_4$-singlets. For an interpretation, the model is applied to deriving some physics quantities such as neutrinoless double beta decay effective mass $|\langle m_{ee}\rangle|$, CP violation phase $\delta_{CP}$ and Jarlskog parameter $J_{CP}$, which can be verified experimentally.Comment: LaTeX, 31 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables. V3: some parts modifie

Has the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement Led to Higher FDI into Vietnam?

In December 2001, a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) came into effect that normalized economic relations between the United States and Vietnam. The resulting surge in trade surpassed most expectations. The impact of the BTA on FDI, however, has been less visible, especially with regard to U.S. FDI into Vietnam. This paper uses new data that accounts for FDI by U.S. subsidiaries resident in third counties to show that U.S. firms have been much more aggressive investors in Vietnam than normally reported in typical bilateral FDI data using Balance of Payments definitions of capital flows. While the U.S. is widely reported as the 11th largest investor into Vietnam, the new data shows that U.S.-related FDI exceeded all other countries in 2004. Although a formal model is not developed, descriptive data supports strongly the conclusion that the BTA has had a major impact on FDI into Vietnam, especially with regard to FDI from U.S. multinationals.FDI; Trade Agreement

Innovation and Export of Vietnam’s SME Sector

Innovation has long been considered an important factor for creating and maintaining the competitiveness of nations and firms. The relationship between innovation and exporting has been investigated for many countries. However, there is a paucity of research in Vietnam with respect to this issue. In this paper we examine whether innovation performed by Vietnam’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enhances their exporting likelihood. Using the recently released Vietnam Small and Medium Enterprise Survey 2005, we find that innovation as measured directly by ‘new products’, ‘new production process’ and ‘improvement of existing products’ are important determinants of exports by Vietnamese SMEs.Vietnam; Export; Innovation; Small and Medium Enterprise

Simultaneous state and input estimation with application to a two-link robotic system

This paper addresses the problem of estimating simultaneously the state and input of a nonlinear system with application to a two link robotic manipulator - the Pendubot. The system nonlinearity comprises a Lipschitz function with respect to the state, and a nonlinear term which is a function of both the state and input. It is shown that under some conditions, an observer can be designed to estimate simultaneously the system&rsquo;s state and input. Simulation and experimental results, obtained around the inverted equilibrium position, are presented to demonstrate the validity of the approach.<br /