Task-Specific Sensor Planning for Robotic Assembly Tasks

When performing multi-robot tasks, sensory feedback is crucial in reducing uncertainty for correct execution. Yet the utilization of sensors should be planned as an integral part of the task planning, taken into account several factors such as the tolerance of different inferred properties of the scene and interaction with different agents. In this paper we handle this complex problem in a principled, yet efficient way. We use surrogate predictors based on open-loop simulation to estimate and bound the probability of success for specific tasks. We reason about such task-specific uncertainty approximants and their effectiveness. We show how they can be incorporated into a multi-robot planner, and demonstrate results with a team of robots performing assembly tasks

Peningkatan Kemampuan IT Essential pada Siswa SMA Negeri 2 Solok Selatan

Pada zaman sekarang kebutuhan akan teknologi informasi tidak bisa dipungkiri lagi. Kelancaran komunikasi dan transaksi perlu ditunjang oleh kemampuan menggunakan komputer sebagai salah satu alat teknologi informasi. Untuk memastikan hal tersebut, pendidikan mengenai teknologi informasi sangat penting untuk diperhatikan. Di SMAN 2 Solok Selatan, siswa dan siswi belajar komputer pada mata pelajaran TIK. Namun, dengan adanya pandemi Covid-19 menyebabkan kegiatan tatap muka di kelas pratikum komputer tidak bisa dilaksanakan, sehingga kemampuan siswa dan siswi SMAN 2 Solok Selatan dalam mengoperasikan komputer sangat minim. Maka dari itu, pada kegiatan pengabdian masyarakat, Politeknik Negeri Padang kampus Kabupaten Solok Selatan melakukan pelatihan dalam upaya meningkatkan kemampuan siswa dan siswi SMAN 2 Solok Selatan dalam mengoperasikan komputer melalui teori IT essential khususnya pengenalan Hardware dan penggunaan aplikasi Microsoft Office. Dalam pelatihan ini ada tiga tahapan yaitu sesi diskusi, pemaparan materi, dan praktek dengan pendampingan. Melalui kegiatan ini, siswa dan siswi SMAN 2 Solok Selatan diharapkan mampu dan tidak jauh tertinggal atau tidak gagap dengan perkembangan teknologi informasi

Pengrajin tradisional di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh

Tujuan perekaman ini pertama-tama adalah mendeskripsikan keberadaan berbagai perajin dan kerajinan tradisional pada kelompok masyarakat di Daerah lstimewa Aceh. Tujuan berikutnya adalah mengungkapkan ciri-ciri perajin dan kerajinan tradisional itu untuk menemukan kaitannya dengan pembangunan sosial, ekonomi dan budaya di Indonesia, khususnya Daerah lstimewa Aceh. Ruang lingkup perekaman tertulis ini adalah keraj inan tradisional di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh (Peta 1) yang menggunakan berbagai macam bahan dan menghasilkan beberapa jenis barang berguna untuk kehidupan sehari-hari bagi para perajin maupun masyaraka umum. Kerajinan tradisional di Propinsi Daerah Istimewa Aceh dapat dikategorikan berdasarkan bahan bakunya, yakni bahan baku yang berasal dari hew an (khususnya tanduk gading dan kemuning, bahan baku yang berasal dari tumbuh-tumbuhan (khususnya rotan, bambu, bili dan pandan), bahan baku yang berasal dari tanah, pasir, batu (terutama batu gunung), bahan baku yang berasal dari logam (terutama besi), dan bahan baku yang berasal dari serat. Adapun aspek yang akan diungkapkan pada jenis kerajinan tradisional ini adalah perolehan, teknologi dan peralatannya, modal dan tenaga , produksi, distribusi, fungsi dan peranan sosial, ekonomi, maupun budayanya

Micrococcal Nuclease stimulates Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Formation in a Murine Implant Infection Model

Advancements in contemporary medicine have led to an increasing life expectancy which has broadened the application of biomaterial implants. As each implant procedure has an innate risk of infection, the number of biomaterial-associated infections keeps rising. Staphylococcus aureus causes 34% of such infections and is known as a potent biofilm producer. By secreting micrococcal nuclease S. aureus is able to escape neutrophil extracellular traps by cleaving their DNA-backbone. Also, micrococcal nuclease potentially limits biofilm growth and adhesion by cleaving extracellular DNA, an important constituent of biofilms. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of micrococcal nuclease on infection persistence and biofilm formation in a murine biomaterial-associated infection-model with polyvinylidene-fluoride mesh implants inoculated with bioluminescent S. aureus or its isogenic micrococcal nuclease deficient mutant. Supported by results based on in-vivo bioluminescence imaging, ex-vivo colony forming unit counts, and histological analysis it was found that production of micrococcal nuclease enables S. aureus bacteria to evade the immune response around an implant resulting in a persistent infection. As a novel finding, histological analysis provided clear indications that the production of micrococcal nuclease stimulates S. aureus to form biofilms, the presence of which extended neutrophil extracellular trap formation up to 13 days after mesh implantation. Since micrococcal nuclease production appeared vital for the persistence of S. aureus biomaterial-associated infection, targeting its production could be a novel strategy in preventing biomaterial-associated infection

Magneto-optical trapping of bosonic and fermionic neon isotopes and their mixtures: isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and hyperfine constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21

We have magneto-optically trapped all three stable neon isotopes, including the rare Ne-21, and all two-isotope combinations. The atoms are prepared in the metastable ^3P_2 state and manipulated via laser interaction on the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3} transition at 640.2nm. These cold (T = 1mK) and environmentally decoupled atom samples present ideal objects for precision measurements and the investigation of interactions between cold and ultracold metastable atoms. In this work, we present accurate measurements of the isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and the hyperfine interaction constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21. The determined isotope shifts are (1625.9\pm0.15)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-22, (855.7\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-21, and (770.3\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-21 to Ne-22. The obtained magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine interaction constants are A(^3D_3)= (-142.4\pm0.2)MHz and B(^3D_3)=(-107.7\pm1.1)MHz, respectively. All measurements give a reduction of uncertainty by about one order of magnitude over previous measurements

DiversityGAN: Diversity-Aware Vehicle Motion Prediction via Latent Semantic Sampling

Vehicle trajectory prediction is crucial for autonomous driving and advanced driver assistant systems. While existing approaches may sample from a predicted distribution of vehicle trajectories, they lack the ability to explore it -- a key ability for evaluating safety from a planning and verification perspective. In this work, we devise a novel approach for generating realistic and diverse vehicle trajectories. We extend the generative adversarial network (GAN) framework with a low-dimensional approximate semantic space, and shape that space to capture semantics such as merging and turning. We sample from this space in a way that mimics the predicted distribution, but allows us to control coverage of semantically distinct outcomes. We validate our approach on a publicly available dataset and show results that achieve state-of-the-art prediction performance, while providing improved coverage of the space of predicted trajectory semantics.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

HST Observations of Heavy Elements in Metal-Poor Galactic Halo Stars

We present new abundance determinations of neutron-capture elements Ge, Zr, Os, Ir, and Pt in a sample of 11 metal-poor (-3.1 <= [Fe/H] <= -1.6) Galactic halo giant stars, based on Hubble Space Telescope UV and Keck I optical high-resolution spectroscopy. The stellar sample is dominated by r-process-rich stars such as the well-studied CS 22892-052 and bd+173248, but also includes the r-process-poor, bright giant HD 122563. Our results demonstrate that abundances of the 3rd r-process peak elements Os, Ir and Pt in these metal-poor halo stars are very well-correlated among themselves, and with the abundances of the canonical r-process element Eu (determined in other studies), thus arguing for a common origin or site for r-process nucleosynthesis of heavier (Z>56) elements. However, the large (and correlated) scatters of [Eu,Os,Ir,Pt/Fe] suggests that the heaviest neutron-capture r-process elements are not formed in all supernovae. In contrast, the Ge abundances of all program stars track their Fe abundances, very well. An explosive process on iron-peak nuclei (e.g., the alpha-rich freeze-out in supernovae), rather than neutron capture, appears to have been the dominant synthesis mechanism for this element at low metallicities -- Ge abundances seem completely uncorrelated with Eu.Comment: 35 pages, 5 tables, 7 figures; To appear in the Astrophysical Journa

Finding bichromatic-bidirectional waves with ADVS

The aim of this study is to investigate Bichromatic-Bidirectional waves to characterize the subtractive wave-wave nonlinear interactions, using adaptive techniques rather than traditional spectral techniques. A physical model test in a 3D-wave basin was conducted and measurements were made with two arrays of ultrasonic sensors of free surface and one array of ADVs. The Hilbert-Huang transform, aided by the Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition, was applied to the orbital velocity data and the main characteristics of the infragravity wave (velocity amplitude, period and direction) were extracted with a good precision. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). All rights reserved

Hyperspectral darkfield microscopy of single hollow gold nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Hyperspectral microscopy is a versatile method for simultaneous spatial and spectroscopic characterization of nonfluorescent samples. Here we present a hyperspectral darkfield imaging system for spectral imaging of single nanoparticles over an area of 150 × 150 µm2 and at illumination intensities compatible with live cell imaging. The capabilities of the system are demonstrated using correlated transmission electron microscopy and single-particle optical studies of colloidal hollow gold nanoparticles. The potential of the system for characterizing the interactions between nanoparticles and cells has also been demonstrated. In this case, the spectral information proves a useful improvement to standard darkfield imaging as it enables differentiation between light scattered from nanoparticles and light scattered from other sources in the cellular environment. The combination of low illumination power and fast integration times makes the system highly suitable for nanoparticle tracking and spectroscopy in live-cell experiments