Simultaneous maximum-likelihood calibration of odometry and sensor parameters

For a differential-drive mobile robot equipped with an on-board range sensor, there are six parameters to calibrate: three for the odometry (radii and distance between the wheels), and three for the pose of the sensor with respect to the robot frame. This paper describes a method for calibrating all six parameters at the same time, without the need for external sensors or devices. Moreover, it is not necessary to drive the robot along particular trajectories. The available data are the measures of the angular velocities of the wheels and the range sensor readings. The maximum-likelihood calibration solution is found in a closed form

On the Recognition of Fuzzy Circular Interval Graphs

Fuzzy circular interval graphs are a generalization of proper circular arc graphs and have been recently introduced by Chudnovsky and Seymour as a fundamental subclass of claw-free graphs. In this paper, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for recognizing such graphs, and more importantly for building a suitable representation.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Gait generation via intrinsically stable MPC for a multi-mass humanoid model

We consider the problem of generating a gait with no a priori assigned footsteps while taking into account the contribution of the swinging leg to the total Zero Moment Point (ZMP). This is achieved by considering a multi-mass model of the humanoid and distinguishing between secondary masses with known pre-defined motion and the remaining, primary, masses. In the case of a single primary mass with constant height, it is possible to transform the original gait generation problem for the multi-mass system into a single LIP-like problem. We can then take full advantage of an intrinsically stable MPC framework to generate a gait that takes into account the swinging leg motion

Domination between traffic matrices

A traffic matrix D-1 dominates a traffic matrix D-2 if any capacity reservation supporting D-1 supports D-2 as well. We prove that D-1 dominates D-2 if and only if D-1, considered as a capacity reservation, supports D-2. We show several generalizations of this result

A Bayesian framework for optimal motion planning with uncertainty

Modeling robot motion planning with uncertainty in a Bayesian framework leads to a computationally intractable stochastic control problem. We seek hypotheses that can justify a separate implementation of control, localization and planning. In the end, we reduce the stochastic control problem to path- planning in the extended space of poses x covariances; the transitions between states are modeled through the use of the Fisher information matrix. In this framework, we consider two problems: minimizing the execution time, and minimizing the final covariance, with an upper bound on the execution time. Two correct and complete algorithms are presented. The first is the direct extension of classical graph-search algorithms in the extended space. The second one is a back-projection algorithm: uncertainty constraints are propagated backward from the goal towards the start state

La desregulación del Mercado de Energía y la nueva regulación. La política energética. El caso europeo

Desde principios de los años noventa se ha presenciado un proceso de desregulación de distintos mercados de servicios tradicionalmente conocidos como servicios públicos, entre ellos los energéticos (gas y electricidad), que se ha verificado en diversas partes del mundo y que aún continúa. Este trabajo pretende explicar de una manera simple cuáles son los motivos, los objetivos y los mecanismos que se utilizan para desregular los mercados de energía. El análisis se circunscribirá a los mercados de gas y electricidad, y hará una referencia más precisa al caso europeo. Se cita el ejemplo de la Unión Europea (UE) porque además de la desregulación de los mercados nacionales este bloque pretende también llevar a cabo la integración energética en ese mercado regional. La integración energética no sólo reviste importancia para la desregulación sino también para mejorar la seguridad del suministro. Además, debe tenerse en cuenta que la UE se ampliará en el corto plazo sustancialmente, ya que hay varios países de Europa oriental, central y sur que están ya ingresando a la UE o negociando la accesión, además de algunos otros, como Noruega, que hasta ahora no han querido adherirse pero que podrían querer hacerlo en el mediano o largo plazo. De manera que estamos hablando de una región no sólo importante sino con un peso mundial en crecimiento. No obstante, este trabajo no va a limitarse al análisis de la desregulación y apertura del mercado de energía, sino que va a analizar otras cuestiones importantes de la política energética, en particular, la seguridad del abastecimiento energético y la política ambiental.mercado de energía; abastecimiento energético; política ambiental; servicios públicos

MPC-based humanoid pursuit-evasion in the presence of obstacles

We consider a pursuit-evasion problem between humanoids in the presence of obstacles. In our scenario, the pursuer enters the safety area of the evader headed for collision, while the latter executes a fast evasive motion. Control schemes are designed for both the pursuer and the evader. They are structurally identical, although the objectives are different: the pursuer tries to align its direction of motion with the line- of-sight to the evader, whereas the evader tries to move in a direction orthogonal to the line-of-sight to the pursuer. At the core of the control architecture is a Model Predictive Control scheme for generating a stable gait. This allows for the inclusion of workspace obstacles, which we take into account at two levels: during the determination of the footsteps orientation and as an explicit MPC constraint. We illustrate the results with simulations on NAO humanoids

The Burqa Ban: Legal Precursors for Denmark, American Experiences and Experiments, and Philosophical and Critical Examinations

As the title of the article suggests, “The Burqa Ban”: Legal Precursors for Denmark, American Experiences and Experiments, and Philosophical and Critical Examinations, the authors embark on a factually investigative as well as a reflective response. More precisely, they use The 2018 Danish “Burqa Ban”: Joining a European Trend and Sending a National Message (published as a concurrent but separate article in this issue of INTERNATIONAL STUDIES JOURNAL) as a platform for further analysis and discussion of different perspectives. These include case-law at the international level while focusing attention on recent rulings and judicial reasoning by the ECtHR and the ECJ; critical thought-experiments in religion, morality, human rights, and the democratic public space; a contextualized account of burqa-wearing interventions by federal and state governments and, moreover, various courts in the United States; and philosophical commentary and, in some instances, criticism of the Danish and/or European (French, etc.) approach. The different contributions have different aims. The section on case-law at the international level reports on those central judgments that, in effect, helped to pave the path for the Kingdom of Denmark’s burqa ban. Concerning the concurring judges at the ECtHR, the opinions served to uphold a preexisting ban and to grant a wide margin of appreciation to the national authorities, thereby limiting the Court’s own review. As regards to the ECJ, the legality of company rules that contain a policy of neutrality for the workplace was examined, with a similar outcome. The authors who discuss religion, morality, human rights and the democratic public space are endeavoring to, respectively, appeal to ethics as a testing stone for law and to both challenge and address several forms of “expressivist worry” in connection with face veils. In doing so, the authors ask a number of thought-provoking questions that hopefully will inspire public policymakers to careful analysis. While the section that is devoted to American perspectives highlights a comprehensive survey of political and legal responses to, in particular, full-face veils like the burqa, the relevant author also incorporates public perceptions and, in the course of examining these, draws a parallel to “the fate” of the hoodie. The constitutionality of burqa-wearing in America, so it also appears, is partially an open question, but differentiating between religious, political, or personal reasons is a de jure premise. Given that the Danish legislators who drafted law L 219 to ban burqa-wearing in public places rely on a reference to political Islam, they relegate religious and personal reasons to the private domain, thereby also adopting secularism as a premise. This is explored in the last author response of the article, more precisely, in an account of the underlying materialism that, in turn, is applied to Muslim women. If policymakers and legislators engaged in Thinking Things Through exercises, they could, as a minimum, avoid law-making strategies that are not in the spirit of the theory they themselves invoke, albeit tacitly. While the aim of, as it were, arresting culturally self-contradicting legislators is unique for the section in question, all the authors who contribute to the joint research project have one end-goal in common, namely to inform about important perspectives while at the same time opening up for parameters for (more) fruitful, constructive and (if need be) critical debate in the future. With this in mind, four recommendations are presented by the research director for the project. Legally, politically, socially and culturally, conflict-resolution should not translate the relationship between rulers and the ruled into a separation ideology, an instance of controllers versus the controlled. All things being equal, that is the objective limit for a democratic society