750 research outputs found
Reflexive obstacle avoidance for kinematically-redundant manipulators
Dexterous telerobots incorporating 17 or more degrees of freedom operating under coordinated, sensor-driven computer control will play important roles in future space operations. They will also be used on Earth in assignments like fire fighting, construction and battlefield support. A real time, reflexive obstacle avoidance system, seen as a functional requirement for such massively redundant manipulators, was developed using arm-mounted proximity sensors to control manipulator pose. The project involved a review and analysis of alternative proximity sensor technologies for space applications, the development of a general-purpose algorithm for synthesizing sensor inputs, and the implementation of a prototypical system for demonstration and testing. A 7 degree of freedom Robotics Research K-2107HR manipulator was outfitted with ultrasonic proximity sensors as a testbed, and Robotics Research's standard redundant motion control algorithm was modified such that an object detected by sensor arrays located at the elbow effectively applies a force to the manipulator elbow, normal to the axis. The arm is repelled by objects detected by the sensors, causing the robot to steer around objects in the workspace automatically while continuing to move its tool along the commanded path without interruption. The mathematical approach formulated for synthesizing sensor inputs can be employed for redundant robots of any kinematic configuration
A 17 degree of freedom anthropomorphic manipulator
A 17 axis anthropomorphic manipulator, providing coordinated control of two seven degree of freedom arms mounted on a three degree of freedom torso-waist assembly, is presented. This massively redundant telerobot, designated the Robotics Research K/B-2017 Dexterous Manipulator, employs a modular mechanism design with joint-mounted actuators based on brushless motors and harmonic drive gear reducers. Direct joint torque control at the servo level causes these high-output joint drives to behave like direct-drive actuators, facilitating the implementation of an effective impedance control scheme. The redundant, but conservative motion control system models the manipulator as a spring-loaded linkage with viscous damping and rotary inertia at each joint. This approach allows for real time, sensor-driven control of manipulator pose using a hierarchy of competing rules, or objective functions, to avoid unplanned collisions with objects in the workplace, to produce energy-efficient, graceful motion, to increase leverage, to control effective impedance at the tool or to favor overloaded joints
A simulational and theoretical study of the spherical electrical double layer for a size-asymmetric electrolyte: the case of big coions
Monte Carlo simulations of a spherical macroion, surrounded by a
size-asymmetric electrolyte in the primitive model, were performed. We
considered 1:1 and 2:2 salts with a size ratio of 2 (i.e., with coions twice
the size of counterions), for several surface charge densities of the
macrosphere. The radial distribution functions, electrostatic potential at the
Helmholtz surfaces, and integrated charge are reported. We compare these
simulational data with original results obtained from the Ornstein-Zernike
integral equation, supplemented by the hypernetted chain/hypernetted chain
(HNC/HNC) and hypernetted chain/mean spherical approximation (HNC/MSA)
closures, and with the corresponding calculations using the modified
Gouy-Chapman and unequal-radius modified Gouy-Chapman theories. The HNC/HNC and
HNC/MSA integral equations formalisms show good concordance with Monte Carlo
"experiments", whereas the notable limitations of point-ion approaches are
evidenced. Most importantly, the simulations confirm our previous theoretical
predictions of the non-dominance of the counterions in the size-asymmetric
spherical electrical double layer [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 034703 (2005)], the
appearance of anomalous curvatures at the outer Helmholtz plane and the
enhancement of charge reversal and screening at high colloidal surface charge
densities due to the ionic size asymmetry.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Design and construction of the Tracking Written Learner Language (TRAWL) Corpus: A longitudinal and multilingual young learner corpus
This article describes the design and construction of the Tracking Written Learner Language (TRAWL) Corpus. The corpus combines several features that are all rare for learner corpora: it is longitudinal, following individual pupils over several years; it has data from young learners from school years 5 to 13 (ages 10–18); it is multilingual, containing learners’ texts in several L3s (French, German and Spanish), L2 English and L1 Norwegian; and it includes teacher comments on a number of the texts. In addition, some of the texts exist in both a first and a second revised version, all tied to a rich set of meta-data. Not only does such a corpus offer new possibilities for research on language acquisition in general; it can also be used to provide valuable insights for teachers, teacher training and policymaking within the national context of Norway. In this article, we describe the design of the TRAWL Corpus and outline its uses and benefits for the research community. We also describe the compilation process in the hope that it may inspire and enable others to build similar corpora for their own national contexts.publishedVersio
Universality in two-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth
We analyze simulations results of a model proposed for etching of a
crystalline solid and results of other discrete models in the 2+1-dimensional
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class. In the steady states, the moments W_n of
orders n=2,3,4 of the heights distribution are estimated. Results for the
etching model, the ballistic deposition (BD) model and the
temperature-dependent body-centered restricted solid-on-solid model (BCSOS)
suggest the universality of the absolute value of the skewness S = W_3 /
(W_2)^(3/2) and of the value of the kurtosis Q = W_4 / (W_2)^2 - 3. The sign of
the skewness is the same of the parameter \lambda of the KPZ equation which
represents the process in the continuum limit. The best numerical estimates,
obtained from the etching model, are |S| = 0.26 +- 0.01 and Q = 0.134 +- 0.015.
For this model, the roughness exponent \alpha = 0.383 +- 0.008 is obtained,
accounting for a constant correction term (intrinsic width) in the scaling of
the squared interface width. This value is slightly below previous estimates of
extensive simulations and rules out the proposal of the exact value \alpha=2/5.
The conclusion is supported by results for the ballistic deposition model.
Independent estimates of the dynamical exponent and of the growth exponent are
1.605 <= z <= 1.64 and \beta = 0.229 +- 0.005, respectively, which are
consistent with the relations \alpha + z = 2 and z = \alpha / \beta.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Crossover effects in a discrete deposition model with Kardar-Parisi-Zhang scaling
We simulated a growth model in 1+1 dimensions in which particles are
aggregated according to the rules of ballistic deposition with probability p or
according to the rules of random deposition with surface relaxation (Family
model) with probability 1-p. For any p>0, this system is in the
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, but it presents a slow crossover
from the Edwards-Wilkinson class (EW) for small p. From the scaling of the
growth velocity, the parameter p is connected to the coefficient of the
nonlinear term of the KPZ equation, lambda, giving lambda ~ p^gamma, with gamma
= 2.1 +- 0.2. Our numerical results confirm the interface width scaling in the
growth regime as W ~ lambda^beta t^beta, and the scaling of the saturation time
as tau ~ lambda^(-1) L^z, with the expected exponents beta =1/3 and z=3/2 and
strong corrections to scaling for small lambda. This picture is consistent with
a crossover time from EW to KPZ growth in the form t_c ~ lambda^(-4) ~ p^(-8),
in agreement with scaling theories and renormalization group analysis. Some
consequences of the slow crossover in this problem are discussed and may help
investigations of more complex models.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
An Anisotropic Ballistic Deposition Model with Links to the Ulam Problem and the Tracy-Widom Distribution
We compute exactly the asymptotic distribution of scaled height in a
(1+1)--dimensional anisotropic ballistic deposition model by mapping it to the
Ulam problem of finding the longest nondecreasing subsequence in a random
sequence of integers. Using the known results for the Ulam problem, we show
that the scaled height in our model has the Tracy-Widom distribution appearing
in the theory of random matrices near the edges of the spectrum. Our result
supports the hypothesis that various growth models in dimensions that
belong to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class perhaps all share the same
universal Tracy-Widom distribution for the suitably scaled height variables.Comment: 5 pages Revtex, 3 .eps figures included, new references adde
The Parallel Complexity of Growth Models
This paper investigates the parallel complexity of several non-equilibrium
growth models. Invasion percolation, Eden growth, ballistic deposition and
solid-on-solid growth are all seemingly highly sequential processes that yield
self-similar or self-affine random clusters. Nonetheless, we present fast
parallel randomized algorithms for generating these clusters. The running times
of the algorithms scale as , where is the system size, and the
number of processors required scale as a polynomial in . The algorithms are
based on fast parallel procedures for finding minimum weight paths; they
illuminate the close connection between growth models and self-avoiding paths
in random environments. In addition to their potential practical value, our
algorithms serve to classify these growth models as less complex than other
growth models, such as diffusion-limited aggregation, for which fast parallel
algorithms probably do not exist.Comment: 20 pages, latex, submitted to J. Stat. Phys., UNH-TR94-0
Abrupt grain boundary melting in ice
The effect of impurities on the grain boundary melting of ice is investigated
through an extension of Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory, in which we
include retarded potential effects in a calculation of the full frequency
dependent van der Waals and Coulombic interactions within a grain boundary. At
high dopant concentrations the classical solutal effect dominates the melting
behavior. However, depending on the amount of impurity and the surface charge
density, as temperature decreases, the attractive tail of the dispersion force
interaction begins to compete effectively with the repulsive screened Coulomb
interaction. This leads to a film-thickness/temperature curve that changes
depending on the relative strengths of these interactions and exhibits a
decrease in the film thickness with increasing impurity level. More striking is
the fact that at very large film thicknesses, the repulsive Coulomb interaction
can be effectively screened leading to an abrupt reduction to zero film
thickness.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
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