Bilateral teleoperation under time-varying delay using wave variables.

Bilateral teleoperation systems submitted to time delay are affected by serious stability problems. It's well known than even a small amount of time delay in a closed-loop control system, if untreated, can cause instability. Anyway stability remains the first requirement for any dynamical system. Wave variables method is an important approach that guarantees stability regardless of the time delay. However this method is able to deal with constant time delays. In the thesis wave variables method is reviewed. Particular attention is focused on bilateral teleoperation schemes under time-varying communication delays. Based on the wave variables framework a method to treat with time-varying delay problems is also developed and systematically analyzed

Designing and implementing of the content of the program of educational practice on the basis of competence approach

Учебная практика способствует формированию у обучающихся умений, приобретение первоначального практического опыта и реализуется в рамках профессиональных модулей программы подготовки специалистов среднего звена по основным видам профессиональной деятельности для освоения общих и профессиональных компетенций по специальности, направлена на закрепление теоретических знаний, полученных в процессе обучения по профессиональному модулю с учетом требований ФГОС.Educational practice contributes to the formation of students ' skills, the acquisition of the initial practical experience and it is realized within the framework of the professional modules of the training program of mid-level specialists on the main types of professional activity for the mastering of general and professional competences in the specialty. This article is also aimed at consolidation of the theoretical knowledge gained in the process of professional learning module subject to the requirements of the GEF

Learning Python with Minecraft computer game

The knowledge of programming languages is becoming more and more prominent over the last decade, so we need to make sure that younger generations meet with this field early on and learn how to think logically. Although in recent years the amount of materials and tasks used for teaching programming in elementary schools has increased, it is still insufficient, or it might not be interesting to children. Because children love computer games, we have prepared a suite of programs and tasks that can teach the Python programming language through the popular Minecraft computer game

confined spaces industrial inspection with micro aerial vehicles and laser range finder localization

This work addresses the problem of semi-automatic inspection and navigation in confined environments. A system that overcomes many challenges at the state of the art is presented. It comprises a mu..

Emotional Working Memory in Alzheimer's Disease Patients

www.karger.com/dee This is an Open Access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License (www.karger.com/OA-license), applicable to the online version of the article only. Distribution for non-commercial purposes only

Computerized spatial delayed recognition span task: a specific tool to assess visuospatial working memory

A new tablet device version (IOS platform) of the Spatial Delayed Recognition Span Task (SDRST) was developed with the aim of investigating visuospatial Working Memory (WM) abilities based on touchscreen technology. This new WM testing application will be available to download for free in Apple Store app (“SDRST app”). In order to verify the feasibility of this computer-based task, we conducted three experiments with different manipulations and groups of participants. We were interested in investigating if (1) the SDRST is sensitive enough to tap into cognitive differences brought by aging and dementia; (2) different experimental manipulations work successfully; (3) cortical brain activations seen in other WM tasks are also demonstrated here; and (4) non-human primates are able to answer the task. Performance (scores and response time) was better for young than older adults and higher for the latter when compared to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. All groups performed better with facial stimuli than with images of scenes and with emotional than with neutral stimuli. Electrophysiology data showed activation on prefrontal and frontal areas of scalp, theta band activity on the midline area, and gamma activity in left temporal area. There are all scalp regions known to be related to attention and WM. Besides those data, our sample of adult captive capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) answered the task above chance level. Taken together, these results corroborate the reliability of this new computer-based SDRST as a measure of visuospatial WM in clinical and non-clinical populations as well as in non-human primates. Its tablet app allows the task to be administered in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, homes, schools, laboratories, universities, and research institutions

Influência da emoção sobre o desempenho de funções executivas em testes neuropsicológicos tradicionais e computadorizados na doença de Alzheimer

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, 2012.A análise dos déficits nas funções executivas (FE) é considerada de grande interesse devido às repercussões que elas podem ter nas atividades cotidianas, como já vem sendo sugerido pelas observações clínicas. No entanto, pouco é sabido sobre a associação entre FE e o fator emocional no envelhecimento normal, havendo menor informação sobre essa associação no declínio cognitivo e, em particular, na doença de Alzheimer (DA). Dessa forma, o objetivo principal desse estudo foi avaliar as FE em uma amostra de pacientes com DA, a partir da utilização de testes neuropsicológicos tradicionais e computadorizados. Especificamente, foi investigado se o conteúdo emocional influencia os processos de apoio da memória operacional em pacientes com DA. Foram selecionados 62 sujeitos entre 60 e 80 anos de idade, sendo 40 idosos hígidos voluntários da comunidade e 20 pacientes com provável DA leve, segundo os critérios do NINCDS-ADRDA e do Clinical Dementia Rating – CDR voluntários do Hospital Universitário de Brasília. Inicialmente, os dois grupos foram avaliados mediante uma bateria neuropsicológica para obter maior compreensão do funcionamento cognitivo de cada um dos participantes e como critério de seleção da amostra. Posteriormente, foram admnistrados os testes experimentais computadorizados: Teste de Escolha de Acordo com o Modelo com atraso e Teste de Escolha Diferente do Modelo com atraso (delay machting to sample – DMTS, delay non-machting to sample - DNMTS), e um Teste de Reconhecimento Espacial com atraso (delay recognition spatial test - DRST; único/variado) utilizando estímulos emocionais e neutros e figuras geométricas. De forma geral, os resultados encontrados referentes à acurácia indicaram que os pacientes com DA exibiram desempenho rebaixado na bateria neuropsicológica e em ambos os testes experimentais computadorizados. Considerando a valência emocional dos estímulos não foram encontradas diferenças significativas no desempenho entre os grupos nos testes DMTS/DNMTS. No entanto, ambos os grupos recordaram maior número de figuras negativas do que positivas e neutras no teste DRST único. Esses resultados sugerem que os pacientes com DA exibem uma relativa preservação da memória operacional para informação emocional, particularmente para estímulos negativos. Assim, embora a amígdala seja uma estrutura implicada no início do curso da doença, mudanças no sistema límbico não afetariam a habilidade de detectar emoção e, conseqüentemente, os pacientes exibiriam um benefício da emoção em testes envolvendo a memória operacional igual ao grupo controle. Futuros estudos, utilizando outros instrumentos neuropsicológicos, assim como uma amostra maior, serão necessários para confirmar essa hipótese. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTThe analysis of deficits in executive functions (EF) is considered of great interest because of repercussions that they can have in daily life activities, as has been suggested by clinical observations. However, little is known about the association between EF and the emotional factor in normal aging, there is less information about this relationship in mild cognitive impairment, and particularly, in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Therefore, the main goal of this study was the EF assessment in an Alzheimer’s disease sample, through the use of traditional and computerized neuropsychological tests. Specifically, it was investigated whether emotional content affects processes supporting working memory in AD patients. Sixty-two subjects were selected ranging in age from 60 to 80 yearls old, 40 normal elderly community volunteers and 22 with the suspicion of mild AD, according to NINCDS-ADRDA and Clinical Dementia Rating criterion, volunteers of the University Hospital of Brasilia. First, both groups were assessed with a neuropsychological battery to obtain a wide understanding of the cognitive functioning of each participant, as criteria of selection of the sample. Then, computerized experimental tests were administered: delayed matching and non-matching to sample task (DMTS/DNMTS), and a spatial-delayed recognition span task (DRST; unique/varied) using emotional stimuli and geometric figures. In general, the results for accuracy indicated that AD patients showed decreased performance in the neuropsychological battery and both computerized experimental tests. With regard to the valence of the stimuli (computerized experimental tests), we did not observe significant performance differences between groups in the DMTS/DNMTS. However, both groups remembered a larger number of negative than positive or neutral pictures on unique DRST. Therefore, the results suggest that AD patients show a relative perseveration of working memory for emotional information, particularly for negative stimuli. Thus, although the amygdala is a structure involved early in the course of the disease, changes in the limbic system would not affect the ability to detect emotion and consequently the patients would exibit an emotion enhancement in tests involving working memory equal to the control group

Towards Autonomous Firefighting UAVs: Online Planners for Obstacle Avoidance and Payload Delivery

Drone technology is advancing rapidly and represents significant benefits during firefighting operations. This paper presents a novel approach for autonomous firefighting missions for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The proposed UAV framework consists of a local planner module that finds an obstacle-free path to guide the vehicle toward a target zone. After detecting the target point, the UAV plans an optimal trajectory to perform a precision ballistic launch of an extinguishing ball, exploiting its kinematics. The generated trajectory minimises the overall traversal time and the final state error while respecting UAV dynamic limits. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated both in simulations and real tests with randomly positioned obstacles and target locations. The proposed framework has been employed in the 2022 UAV Competition of the International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS), where it successfully completed the mission in several runs of increasing difficulty, both in simulation and in real scenarios, achieving third place overall. A video attachment to this paper is available on the website https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hdxX2xXkVQ