Collaborative Robotic Motion Planning

When attempting to plan for an interaction between two robots there are many factors that compound its complexity, including the number of joints each robot has, causes for collision, power usage, placement of the end effectors, and others. These factors compound themselves as the robots involved increase in joints, there is an increase in obstacles, or more robots are added to the system. In an effort to devise an algorithm that provides a fast and effective solution to these types of problems, previous work has been done on Reachable Volumes and Interaction Templates, algorithms that serve to reduce the processing time for high degrees-of-freedom (dof) robots with stringent constraints, and to reduce the processing time for certain interactions between two or more systems of robots, respectively. Reachable Volumes uses the volumes that each joint of the robot can occupy, and by choosing points within these volumes it can solve for a configuration at a given end effector position. This enables a quick way to evaluate a configuration for a high dof robot as well as providing a means of avoiding collisions with obstacles by simply sampling the volumes around the joints in areas not occupied by the obstacles. Additionally, another strength of Reachable Volumes is it provides the ability to precisely place the end effector at a desired location, which other motion planning algorithms struggle with. Interaction Templates can be used to "template" or formulate an interaction such as a handoff that can be applied to a "roadmap" or a collection of points that make up the movements of a manipulator in configuration space. In doing so, Interaction Templates can make complex and processing expensive tasks such as calculating for a handoff interaction much more efficient. The work below begins to integrate elements from the Reachable Volumes algorithm into Interaction Templates, which speeds up several steps on the Interaction Templates Algorithm as well as makes it more effective for high dof robots or situations with a multitude of constraints. It additionally sets up a framework for more robots to be included in the algorithm

A mediating capacity

In this article I seek to develop a conceptual framework for anthropological work on ‘the gut’ by bringing together reflections on ethnographic fieldwork on nutrition and well-being in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, with recent advances in the sciences of the gastroenterological and enteric nervous systems. While new evidence suggests that diet, immune system functioning, memory, and behaviour are shaped by the characteristics and processes of the enteric nervous system, it has also come into the public sphere as an object of intense disputation. Despite an ethnographic archive elaborating the diverse ways in which the gut contributes to well-being, it is still seen as a collection of folk systems incommensurable with scientific knowledge. I suggest that the mutual absorption of the natural and the social in the mediating membrane of the gut requires a more robust concept than either illness narrative or biosociality, and I ask: what would an anthropology of the gut look like

Exploring the promotional advancements for practitioners in British primary school education:‘Gendered micro-promotions’

Men in gender-atypical professions reside in a minority in a field dominated by female practitioners. Within primary school education, one consistent element is the phenomenon that men appear to be on the receiving end of preferential treatment and a fast-tracked career into managerial positions. There are suggestions that rapid career movement is accessible to all males, resulting in positive outcomes for the individual. This thesis makes an original contribution by re-considering the realities of the subtle mechanisms which promote male primary school teachers. It examines the notion that all males are on the receiving end of advantages in gender-atypical professions (Williams, 1992 and 1995), specifically primary school education. Through qualitative individual interviews and mini focus groups, practitioners shared their experiences of positive discrimination and promotion in teaching. Findings reveal that practitioners are caught in a conflict between internal based pedagogical beliefs around collegiality and perceptions of sociocultural expectations around the importance of gender. This thesis argues that gender is still considered and used for the promotion of primary school teachers, albeit in a subtle implicit way through the use of small-scale jobs termed ‘gendered micro-promotions’. Furthermore, this thesis re-evaluates the fast-tracked metaphor of the ‘glass escalator’, in favour of a steadier progression in the form of a new metaphor, the ‘glass travelator’

An initial evaluation framework for responsible tourism in Cape Town : based on a case study of the Cape Care Route

Bibliography: leaves 122-127

A climate of trust : exploring adaptation policy

Bibliography: leaves 24-27.This paper aims to tease out and unpack the different value positions that inhere in the range of discourses and methods that currently permeate the field of climate change. In doing so, I will examine the underlying concepts, methods and their application by various actors and institutions

The Rigging of HMS Invincible.

This research will catalogue and record the rig of the HMS Invincible at the time of its wrecking and compare and contrast findings with historical, iconographic and other archive records from the time in order to reconstruct the type of rigging it carried. The rigging is the most important part of the ship, allowing it to travel long distances and manoeuvre in battle and coming into port; however, as it is a rare survival in the archaeological record most of the information about rigging in the period has been taken from historical sources and ships models. However, it remains unclear how accurate historical records are, as they have never been tested against physical evidence with regard to these details; being able to compare rigging reconstructed from the rare primary archaeological evidence available from HMS Invincible with that documented historically will allow reconstruction of this crucial element of the ship and also demonstrate the accuracy of historical documents and thus how far archaeologists and historians can rely on these complementary lines of evidence in other contexts. HMS Invincible offers a unique opportunity to validate the historical documents in this way due to the extraordinary preservation of the rigging from this shipwreck. Rigging is a rare survival on shipwrecks with the majority either being washed away in the wrecking process or recovered through contemporary salvage. Where rigging tends to survive it is usually in stores or trapped underneath the main wreck, meaning that most will not be discovered unless there is extensive excavation. Of the 305 Royal Navy wrecks lost between 1670 and 1770 only 24 have been archaeologically investigated, of these 24 of Invincible w.1758 and Dartmouth w.1690 have produced significant rigging collections with most sites producing no rigging or just tropical hardwood sheaves. The Invincible is also of enormous significance as it marks a transition point in ship technology. Invincible’s career dates to an historical period right at the tail end of what can be best described as ‘traditional’ shipbuilding technologies and materials. Indeed, it has been argued that the drive to improve ship-building technology to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace (as well as to protect and defend national interests against competitors via warfare) was a major factor driving industrialization. Increasingly global trade also provided new materials such as tropical hardwoods from the colonies for use in hand-crafting individual rigging elements. Such changes that led to further technological developments, thus ratcheting technological development in this and other arenas. Tropical hardwoods appear in the archaeological records in c.1665 and by 1770 the Royal Navy adopted lighter machine-made blocks, making this period a turning point in shipbuilding technologies. Although various part of the rigging has been individually recorded and described, this material has not been studied as a whole and the accuracy of historical documentation is debatable. This MRes will examine the archaeological evidence, reconstruct the likely configuration of the rigging Invincible carried based on this primary evidence, and compare that with evidence from the historical records for the time, focusing on the periods between the appearance of tropical hardwoods in ship manufacturing technology and the adoption of light machine-made blocks in 1665. The result will be a much greater understanding of the most important part of maritime technology at a critical point in the history of shipbuilding

The Role of State Health Departments in Supporting Community-based Obesity Prevention

Background: Recent national attention to obesity prevention has highlighted the importance of community-based initiatives. State health departments are in a unique position to offer resources and support for local obesity prevention efforts. Community Context: In North Carolina, one-third of children are overweight or obese. North Carolina's Division of Public Health supports community-based obesity prevention by awarding annual grants to local health departments, providing ongoing training and technical assistance, and engaging state-level partners and resources to support local efforts. Methods: The North Carolina Division of Public Health administered grants to 5 counties to implement the Childhood Obesity Prevention Demonstration Project; counties simultaneously carried out interventions in the community, health care organizations, worksites, schools, child care centers, and faith communities. Outcome: The North Carolina Division of Public Health worked with 5 local health departments to implement community-wide policy and environmental changes that support healthful eating and physical activity. The state health department supported this effort by working with state partners to provide technical assistance, additional funding, and evaluation. Interpretation: State health departments are well positioned to coordinate technical assistance and leverage additional support to increase the strength of community-based obesity prevention efforts

Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of self-management among people with poorly controlled Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: the role of illness perceptions and self-efficacy

Self-management is critical if people with diabetes are to minimise their risk of macrovascular and microvascular complications, yet adherence to self-management recommendations is suboptimal. Understanding the predictors of optimal diabetes self-management in specific populations is needed to inform effective interventions. This study investigated the role of demographic and clinical characteristics, illness perceptions, and self-efficacy in explaining adherence to self-management recommendations among people with poorly controlled diabetes in North West of England. Illness perceptions and self-efficacy data were collected using validated questionnaires and clinical data were obtained from hospital records. Correlations were used to investigate bivariate relationships between independent variables and self-management, and multiple regression techniques were used to determine demographic and psychosocial predictors of self-management. Various demographic and clinical characteristics were associated with adherence to self-management recommendations. In particular, employment status explained 11% of the variation in adherence to foot care whilst diabetes treatment category explained 9% of exercise and 21% of the variations in SMBG recommendations. Also, 22% and 8% of the variations in overall self-management were explained by illness perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs, respectively. Illness perceptions and self-efficacy beliefs of people with poorly controlled diabetes are important predictors of their self-management behaviours and could potentially guide effective interventions

The WIC Advisor: A Case Study in Medical Expert System Development

This project provides a good case study of expert system development with untrained experts over a short period of time. We describe the development of a working medical screening and diagnosis expert system for use at the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics in Madison County, Illinois. The system was designed and implemented over the period of four months. A large number of knowledge acquisition techniques were employed, some of them customized in ways that greatly increased their effectiveness. This paper explores the development of THE WIC Advisor, from problem definition through expert system delivery. The knowledge acquisition methods used in creating The WIC Advisor comprise a beneficial case study of several traditional techniques. Protocol analysis, question/answer listing, knowledge acquisition room selection, prototyping, focused interviewing, multiple expert selection, direct questioning, audio-tape transcription, diving the domain, role-playing and teach back were employed [4,5]. Important factors in the success of this expert system were the selection of a limited diagnostic domain, the choice of multiple experts who worked well together, and our continuing efforts to make the experts feel comfortable with the technology and the process. The major benefits of the system include assisting clients between clinic visits, cataloging basic medical data, and providing consistent and verifiable informatio