Multiple Mobile Robots Controlled by Artificial Neural Networks

Multiple small mobile robots have been created that were controlled by individual artificial neural networks. Each mobile robot was self-contained and capable of independent actions, as determined by the on-board artificial neural network. Information about the environment was collected from sensors mounted on each individual mobile robot chassis. Different sensors were available that were capable of providing information about different aspects of the environment. Currently there were sensors for detecting and following a black line as well as short range distance sensors for detecting and interacting with objects and other mobile robots. The artificial neural networks on the individual mobile robots were all provided with the same training data and a standard back-propagation training algorithm was used. However the randomised component of training the artificial neural networks did mean that there could have been subtle differences in the responses of individual mobile robots to the same sensor data. This effect was eliminated when needed by using an off-line training process and programming all the mobile robots with the same trained ANN. The small group of mobile robots was used to investigate two simple aspects of swarm behaviour; that of flocking and also of follow-my-leader, which are examples where the swarm appeared to operate with more intelligence than the individual members

Study of instabilities in linear Hall current accelerators

Ion and electron conservation equations used in analysis of instability of linear Hall current accelerato

Legal Rights of Transgender Students in Education

Nearly 150,000 school-aged teenagers in the United States identify as transgender, but the population continues to face harassment, bullying, and discrimination from their peers and educators. The most recent battles for bathroom access based on gender identity has led to significant policy debates nationally and statewide. It is critical for school leaders to promote an all-inclusive and safe school environment to help improve the academic experience for transgender students. The purpose of this paper is to outline the current anti-discrimination federal and state laws that protect against sex and gender identity harassment in school, including Title IX, Equal Access Act, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, court cases such as Whitaker v. Kenosha and G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board have helped to set the precedence for equal access to facilities in public schools. This paper will conclude with opportunities for school leaders to cultivate an institution that ensures the success of transgender students

Extension Master Gardeners: Helping the Homeless to Heal

Families with children are the fastest-growing sector of the homeless population. Loss of one\u27s home, the conditions of shelter life, and the physical and sexual abuse that often precipitates homelessness result in psychological trauma and a diminished sense of self-efficacy and self-worth. This article describes the effects of participation in gardening activities led by Extension Master Gardeners on homeless women with children. Results show Master Gardeners can play an important role in helping homeless families mitigate the psychological trauma associated with homelessness and help homeless individuals develop a restored sense of dignity

Designing Near Utilities

This session provides guidelines for designing near water and gas facilities. Utility company representatives will provide their perspective on the most critical issues

Analysis of MPD arcs with nonequilibrium ionization

One dimensional analysis of magnetoplasm dynamic arcs with nonequilibrium ionizatio

Supporting Experimentation via an Evaluation Infrastructure for Semantic Technologies

One of the challenges of the Future Internet is to manage and combine information about dierent digital and real-world entities and the characteristics of these entities, covering related issues such as the trust or provenance of this information. One way to allow an eective representation and integration of this information is to use semantic technologies to correctly manage not just these heterogeneous content and data but also their associated metadata

Chronicles of Oklahoma

Article traces A. J. Smitherman's tumultuous career in the Oklahoma press defending African American causes

A Temporal Algorithm for Satellite Subset Selection in Multi-Constellation GNSS

GNSS receivers convert the measured pseudoranges from the visible GNSS satellites into an estimate of the position and clock offset of the receiver. For various reasons receivers might want to process only a subset of the visible satellites; it would be desired, of course, to use the best subset. In general, selecting the best subset is a combinatorics problem; selecting m objects from a choice of n allows for (n m) potential subsets. And since the typical performance criterion (e.g. Geometric Dilution of Precision) is nonlinear and non-separable in the satellites’ locations in the sky, finding the best subset is a brute force procedure; hence, a number of authors have described sub-optimal algorithms for choosing satellites. This paper revisits this problem, especially in the context of multiple GNSS constellations. The paper begins with a review of the existing subset selection algorithms. We note that all of these algorithms are what might be called “snapshot” in nature, selecting a subset for a single, fixed skyview of satellites. Through an example with the GPS constellation, we examine the time-sequential, or temporal, characteristics of the best subset selection noting: That the best subset at a particular point (snapshot) in time is also the best subset for a significant time interval around that point (typically measured in minutes). That the changes in the best subset over time are primarily, but not always, due to the loss or gain of a satellite crossing the horizon (or, more precisely, the receiver’s mask angle). Based upon these observations this paper develops several time-sequential, or temporal, algorithms that attempt to track the optimum subset of satellites over time at low computational cost. The accuracy and complexity of the algorithms are assessed with GPS constellation data. On a larger scale, these algorithms are then tested on combined GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo constellations with the resulting performance compared to optimal solutions found via exhaustive search

Microwave reflectometer ionization sensor

The development of the Microwave Reflectometer Ionization Sensor (MRIS) Instrument for use on the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) spacecraft is described. The instrument contract was terminated, due to cancellation of the AFE program, subsequent to testing of an engineering development model. The MRIS, a four-frequency reflectometer, was designed for the detection and location of critical electron density levels in spacecraft reentry plasmas. The instrument would sample the relative magnitude and phase of reflected signals at discrete frequency steps across 4 GHz bandwidths centered at four frequencies: 20, 44, 95, and 140 GHz. The sampled data would be stored for later processing to calculate the distance from the spacecraft surface to the critical electron densities versus time. Four stepped PM CW transmitter receivers were located behind the thermal protection system of the spacecraft with horn antennas radiating and receiving through an insulating tile. Techniques were developed to deal with interference, including multiple reflections and resonance effects, resulting from the antenna configuration and operating environment