Improving games AI performance using grouped hierarchical level of detail

Computer games are increasingly making use of large environments; however, these are often only sparsely populated with autonomous agents. This is, in part, due to the computational cost of implementing behaviour functions for large numbers of agents. In this paper we present an optimisation based on level of detail which reduces the overhead of modelling group behaviours, and facilitates the population of an expansive game world. We consider an environment which is inhabited by many distinct groups of agents. Each group itself comprises individual agents, which are organised using a hierarchical tree structure. Expanding and collapsing nodes within each tree allows the efficient dynamic abstraction of individuals, depending on their proximity to the player. Each branching level represents a different level of detail, and the system is designed to trade off computational performance against behavioural fidelity in a way which is both efficient and seamless to the player. We have developed an implementation of this technique, and used it to evaluate the associated performance benefits. Our experiments indicate a significant potential reduction in processing time, with the update for the entire AI system taking less than 1% of the time required for the same number of agents without optimisation

Research on approaches to public funding and development of tertiary education within selected OECD nations

No abstract available

A study of project planning on Libyan construction projects

Construction projects are regularly faced by scheduling problems causing the projects to finish beyond their predetermined due date; this is a global phenomenon. The main purpose of this study is to consider the problems associated with project planning generally, with specific reference to construction projects in Libya. This study is unique in two respects. First, despite the recent high volume of infrastructure work in the country, there have been few investigations into construction delays in Libya. Secondly, earlier studies have considered the causes or the effects of project delays, whereas the present aim is to evaluate the potential of applying a planning and scheduling technique that is entirely novel in the Libyan context. The paper reports the results of Phase I of this research

Limit states of composite steel-concrete bridges

Imperial Users onl

Reinventing the New Orleans Public Education System

If we were creating a public education system from scratch, would we organize it as most of our public systems are now organized? Would our classrooms look just as they did before the advent of personal computers and the internet? Would we give teachers lifetime jobs after their second or third years? Would we let schools survive if, year after year, half their students dropped out? Would we send children to school for only eight and a half months a year and six hours a day? Would we assign them to schools by neighborhood, reinforcing racial and economic segregation? Few people would answer yes to such questions. But in real life we don’t usually get to start over; instead, we have to change existing systems. One city did get a chance to start over, however. In 2005, after the third deadliest hurricane in US history, state leaders wiped the slate clean in New Orleans. After Katrina, Louisiana handed all but seventeen of the city’s public schools to the state’s Recovery School District (RSD), created two years earlier to turn around failing schools. Over the next nine years, the RSD gradually turned them all into charter schools—a new form of public school that has emerged over the past quarter century. Charters are public schools operated by independent, mostly nonprofit organizations, free of most state and district rules but held accountable for performance by written charters, which function like performance contracts. Most, but not all, are schools of choice. In 2019, New Orleans’ last traditional schools converted to charter status, and 100 percent of its public school students now attend charters

Young Gay Men and Social Control in Modern Britain, 1967 - 2001

This thesis is an exploration of young gay identity and it argues for a varied experience over time and across place, which was also affected by methods of social control during the era of partial decriminalisation, between 1967 and 2001. These differing experiences have not previously been explored when looking specifically at gay men under the age of 21. It is therefore a much-needed addition to the dearth of historical scholarship on young gay men. The thesis has two focal points. Firstly, it explores the differing experiences of a hidden minority group, looking to uncover their different identities as gay teenagers. The scope is between 1967 and 2001 because it represents the legislative boundaries in place during changes to the age of consent for homosexual relationships. Secondly, it incorporates major mechanisms of social control within the analysis to determine that youth homosexual identity is affected by imposed social restrictions, including the age of consent, Section 28, the AIDS Crisis, and parental control. It argues against previous scholars who have determined that there is an absence of the young gay voice in the available evidence during this period. Using a varied source base, including public and private written documents, oral histories and personal written testimonies it explores young gay identity across three decades

Gaussian process regression for forecasting battery state of health

Accurately predicting the future capacity and remaining useful life of batteries is necessary to ensure reliable system operation and to minimise maintenance costs. The complex nature of battery degradation has meant that mechanistic modelling of capacity fade has thus far remained intractable; however, with the advent of cloud-connected devices, data from cells in various applications is becoming increasingly available, and the feasibility of data-driven methods for battery prognostics is increasing. Here we propose Gaussian process (GP) regression for forecasting battery state of health, and highlight various advantages of GPs over other data-driven and mechanistic approaches. GPs are a type of Bayesian non-parametric method, and hence can model complex systems whilst handling uncertainty in a principled manner. Prior information can be exploited by GPs in a variety of ways: explicit mean functions can be used if the functional form of the underlying degradation model is available, and multiple-output GPs can effectively exploit correlations between data from different cells. We demonstrate the predictive capability of GPs for short-term and long-term (remaining useful life) forecasting on a selection of capacity vs. cycle datasets from lithium-ion cells.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, published in the Journal of Power Sources, 201

Simulation of neutron radiation effects in silicon avalanche photodiodes

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.A new one-dimensional device simulation package developed for the simulation of neutron radiatiol! effects in silicon avalanche photodiodes is described. The software uses a finite difference technique to solve the time-independent semiconductor equations across a user specified structure. Impact ionisation and illumination are included, allowing accurate simulation with minimal assumptions about the device under investigation. The effect of neutron radiation damage is incorporated via the introduction of deep acceptor levels subject to Shockley-Read-Hall statistics. Two models are presented. A reverse reach through model, based on the EG&G C30626E reverse reach through avalanche photo diode originally proposed for use in the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter, and a reach through model, based on widely available commerical devices. A short experimental study on two commercial silicon avalanche photodiodes, a C30719F reverse reach through APD and a C30916E reach through APD, is presented for comparison with the simulation data. To allow full comparison with the simulated predictions, the commercial devices were irradiated at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory's ISIS facility. The simulated data shows good qualitative agreement with the measurements performed on the commercial devices, quantitative predictions would require exact information about the doping profile. The characteristic behaviour of the devices is predicted over a wide range of conditions both before and after neutron irradiation. The effect of ionised deep acceptors in the bulk of the devices is investigated. The simulation package provides a useful tool for the analysis of semiconductor devices, particularly in areas where a non-ionising radiation damage is prevelent e.g. high energy physics, and provides a good basis for further development.This study was funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC)