Reinforcement and Curriculum Learning for Off-Road Navigation of an UGV with a 3D LiDAR

This paper presents the use of deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) for autonomous navigation of an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) with an onboard three-dimensional (3D) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor in off-road environments. For training, both the robotic simulator Gazebo and the Curriculum Learning paradigm are applied. Furthermore, an Actor–Critic Neural Network (NN) scheme is chosen with a suitable state and a custom reward function. To employ the 3D LiDAR data as part of the input state of the NNs, a virtual two-dimensional (2D) traversability scanner is developed. The resulting Actor NN has been successfully tested in both real and simulated experiments and favorably compared with a previous reactive navigation approach on the same UGV.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Enseñanza de registros de control de medicamentos

Las interfaces gráficas de usuario son la cara visible de los ordenadores y también de otros tipos de dispositivos electrónicos. Ayudan al usuario a interactuar con la máquina, expanden el rango de aplicaciones de una computadora de forma considerable y representan una importante ayuda para el aprendizaje del trabajo con ordenadores. Además no hay que menospreciar la importancia que han tenido en la popularización de la informática fuera de ámbitos corporativos y científicos, al reducir la cantidad de conocimiento acerca de las máquinas necesaria para un uso eficaz, práctico y útil de las mismas. El problema por el cual fue un factor importante para la creación de esta aplicación es que no se llevaba ningún control sobre la dosis que se debe suministrar al paciente, y al momento que había cambio de turnos del personal encargado no sabían a qué hora fue su última dosis de cada medicamento. Esta aplicación se creó para que los trabajadores de centros médicos puedan llevar un mejor control en la dosis que se les suministra a los pacientes, donde se podrá encontrar datos generales, así como la dosis que se le está suministrando. En dicha aplicación se usó el software VISUAL BASIC, ya que es un programa sencillo de usar. Esta aplicación tiene grandes ventajas pero aún se podrá desarrollar un poco más

La regulación de los biocarburantes en Brasil, Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea. Un análisis económico e institucional

[ES]La tesis doctoral presentada es un análisis histórico de la evolución de la regulación de los tres más grandes mercados de biocarburantes a nivel global: Brasil, Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea. La tesis plantea que la evolución de estos mercados responde a unos escenarios de cooperación y conflicto entre los principales actores del mercado: el estado regulador, el sector agroindustrial y los consumidores finales. Los escenarios se encuentran determinados por unos vectores que influyen de forma dinámica en el coste de oportunidad de estos actores en relación con el uso de los biocarburantes como alternativas en el mercado de carburantes para el transporte, generando unos efectos expansivos o contracctivos que dan forma a la evolución del mercado. Entre los principales vectores se encuentra los costes de la dependencia en la importaciones de crudo, la política y el comportameintro de los mercados agrícolas, y la política medioambiental. Los escenarios son contrastados ulteriormente mediante el método econométrico de análisis de series temporales interrumpidas dando resultados coherentes y significativos con las hipótesis planteadas. Se concluye que la evolución de los mercados puede ser explicada válida y coherentemente mediante los escenarios de cooperación y conflicto planteados en el marco teórico y definidos concretamente para cada uno de los mercados analizados, siendo un marco de análisis potencialmente extendible a otras entidades políticas no estudiadas en las presente tesis doctoral

Viejas y nuevas élites: arqueología doméstica en Viejo Sangayaico, Huancavelica (1476 - 1570 d. c.)

Investiga la presencia y permanencia en el tiempo de grupos domésticos de élite en el sector B del sitio arqueológico de Viejo Sangayaico (Huancavelica - Perú), durante los periodos Horizonte Tardío y Colonial Temprano (1476 - 1570 d.C.). Para esto, se vale del análisis concienzudo del registro arquitectónico y artefactual obtenido en las excavaciones de dos residencias domesticas: las estructuras XIX y XII.Tesi

Analysis of the presence of sustainability in Higher Education Degrees of the Spanish university system

This paper analyzes the extent to which sustainability is present in the curricula of the 16 Education Degree programs belonging to the EDINSOST project: 6 Early Childhood Education Degrees, 7 Primary Education Degrees, 2 Pedagogy Degrees and 1 Social Education Degree. The results obtained suggest that sustainability is present in all Degrees, but not uniformly so. A great disparity is observed in the number of subjects that develop sustainability, with an average of 22.63 subjects per Degree. The competency most present is the ‘ Application of ethical principles related to the values of sustainability in personal and professional behaviors, ’ while the least present is ‘ Sustainable use of resources and prevention of negative impacts on the natural and social environment. ’Sustainability is not developed uniformly in the different universities either. Three universities (UAM, UCA and UIC) develop sustainability competencies at 100%, while others such as the USAL do so at only 50

Avaliação das propriedades psicométricas do Questionário de Autorregulação Acadêmica (SRQ-A) em universitários chilenos

Introduction: The self-determination theory represents a framework to understand the factors that facilitate academic motivation, a relevant construct for educational contexts. One of the most used instruments to measure the construct is the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SQR-A), but there is a lack of psychometric background on the assessment of this measurement model of the Spanish version. Objective: To assess the factorial structure, internal consistency, and validity of the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SQR-A), in a sample of Chilean university students. Method: The participants were 808 students from two Chilean universities. The measurement model was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The validity and reliability were assessed using mean-variance extracted and composite reliability. Results: The results show that the four-factor measurement model shows adequate levels of fit, in addition to adequate levels of validity and internal consistency. Conclusion: The Spanish version of the SRQ-A is a useful measure to be applied in higher education contexts.Introducción: La teoría de la autodeterminación representa un marco para comprender los factores que facilitan la motivación académica, constructo relevante para los contextos educativos. Uno de los instrumentos más utilizados para medir el constructo es el cuestionario de autorregulación académica (SRQ-A), pero se carece de antecedentes psicométricos sobre la evaluación de este modelo de medida en su versión en español. Objetivo: Evaluar la estructura factorial, consistencia interna y validez del cuestionario de autorregulación académica (SQR-A) en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios chilenos. Método: Los participantes fueron 808 estudiantes de dos universidades chilenas. El modelo de medida se evaluó mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC). La validez y confiabilidad se evaluaron mediante la varianza media extraída y la fiabilidad compuesta. Resultados: Los resultados muestran que el modelo de medida de cuatro factores presenta niveles de ajuste adecuados, además de niveles adecuados de validez y consistencia interna. Conclusión: La versión en español del SQR-A constituye una medida útil para ser aplicada en contextos de educación superior.Introdução: A teoria da autodeterminação representa um marco para compreender os fatores que facilitam a motivação acadêmica, construto relevante para os contextos educacionais. Um dos instrumentos mais utilizados para mensurar o construto é o questionário de autorregulação acadêmica (SRQ-A), mas faltam antecedentes psicométricos sobre a avaliação do modelo de medida da versão em espanhol do instrumento. Objetivo: Avaliar a estrutura fatorial, consistência interna e validade do questionário de autorregulação acadêmica (SQR-A) em uma amostra de estudantes universitários chilenos. Método: Os participantes foram 808 estudantes de duas universidades chilenas. O modelo de medida foi avaliado por meio de análise fatorial confirmatória (AFC). Validade e confiabilidade foram avaliadas por meio da variância média extraída e da confiabilidade composta. Resultados: Os resultados demonstram que o modelo de medida de quatro fatores apresenta níveis adequados de ajuste, bem como níveis adequados de validade e consistência interna. Conclusão: A versão em espanhol do SQR-A constitui uma medida útil para ser aplicada em contextos de ensino superior

Supervised learning of natural-terrain traversability with synthetic 3D laser scans

Autonomous navigation of ground vehicles on natural environments requires looking for traversable terrain continuously. This paper develops traversability classifiers for the three-dimensional (3D) point clouds acquired by the mobile robot Andabata on non-slippery solid ground. To this end, different supervised learning techniques from the Python library Scikit-learn are employed. Training and validation are performed with synthetic 3D laser scans that were labelled point by point automatically with the robotic simulator Gazebo. Good prediction results are obtained for most of the developed classifiers, which have also been tested successfully on real 3D laser scans acquired by Andabata in motion.Andalusian project UMA18-FEDERJA-090 and Spanish project RTI2018-093421-B-I0

Automatic Generation of Labeled 3D Point Clouds of Natural Environments with Gazebo.

https://conferences.ieeeauthorcenter.ieee.org/author-ethics/guidelines-and-policies/post-publication-policies/#preprintProgress in applying supervised learning for nat- ural scene classification is impeded by the lack of appropriate datasets for training. This paper describes the automatic generation of synthetic three-dimensional (3D) scans of natural environments with each point labelled individually with its element class. The developed software employs the robotic simulator Gazebo to obtain range and intensity measurements from a 3D laser rangefinder aboard a ground mobile robot. Precisely, the returned intensity values are used to annotate every 3D point within its corresponding class 100% error free. Several examples are provided to show the utility of the proposed approach

Pure-Pursuit reactive Path Tracking for Nonholonomic Mobile Robots with a 2D Laser Scanner

Due to its simplicity and efficiency, the pure-pursuit path tracking method has been widely employed for planned navigation of nonholonomic ground vehicles. In this paper, we investigate the application of this technique for reactive tracking of paths that are implicitly defined by perceived environmental features. Goal points are obtained through an efficient interpretation of range data from an onboard 2D laser scanner to follow persons, corridors, and walls. Moreover, this formulation allows that a robotic mission can be composed of a combination of different types of path segments. These techniques have been successfully tested in the tracked mobile robot Auriga-α in an indoor environment

Universal temporal features of rankings in competitive sports and games

Many complex phenomena, from the selection of traits in biological systems to hierarchy formation in social and economic entities, show signs of competition and heterogeneous performance in the temporal evolution of their components, which may eventually lead to stratified structures such as the wealth distribution worldwide. However, it is still unclear whether the road to hierarchical complexity is determined by the particularities of each phenomena, or if there are universal mechanisms of stratification common to many systems. Human sports and games, with their (varied but simplified) rules of competition and measures of performance, serve as an ideal test bed to look for universal features of hierarchy formation. With this goal in mind, we analyse here the behaviour of players and team rankings over time for several sports and games. Even though, for a given time, the distribution of performance ranks varies across activities, we find statistical regularities in the dynamics of ranks. Specifically the rank diversity, a measure of the number of elements occupying a given rank over a length of time, has the same functional form in sports and games as in languages, another system where competition is determined by the use or disuse of grammatical structures. Our results support the notion that hierarchical phenomena may be driven by the same underlying mechanisms of rank formation, regardless of the nature of their components. Moreover, such regularities can in principle be used to predict lifetimes of rank occupancy, thus increasing our ability to forecast stratification in the presence of competition