Design and development of a modular framework to integrate sensors and actuators : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

This thesis details the research and development of a versatile electronic monitoring and control platform, influenced by the Internet of Things (IoT), mass configurability, modularity, expandability and ease of use. The generic framework which has been designed and tested aims to provide a platform to build a wide variety of specialised systems to integrate sensors and actuators. A central processing unit manages modular hardware devices connected by a serial network. Only the required hardware units are chosen to constitute a system for an application. The processing unit uses modular task handlers to manage the system. The web-based user interface provides multi-platform system access using a web browser. The website is dynamically generated from the system configuration. While the framework is generic, for testing its efficacy, it was applied to a seed and fertilizer spreader to monitor and control the application rate. This application requires coordinated control of actuators using inputs from multiple sources, including sensors, machine states, a database, other processing tasks, and the operator. The implementation was successful in achieving reliable control of the seeding rate, based on the tractor ground speed. The practical implementation exhibited a high level of expandability and modularity. The prototype system has also highlighted a few issues which can be addressed in future revisions to improve the versatility and robustness of the framework

Conflict in the East China Sea: would ANZUS apply?

This paper analyses the circumstances under which conflict in the East China Sea could occur and the implications for Australia. Executive summary Tensions between China and Japan have ratcheted up in recent years to the point where their territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea is seen as among the region’s most dangerous flashpoints. The prospect of Sino-Japanese conflict over these islands is one that cannot be taken lightly by Australia. Economically, three of our four leading trading partners are located in Northeast Asia, while sea lanes vital to Australian trade run through the waters of the East China Sea. Strategically and politically, two US allies are based in this region and America retains a strong forward military presence there. This paper starts from the premise that insufficient attention has been given to the potential ramifications for Australia of conflict in the East China Sea, particularly in terms of whether Australia’s alliance obligations with the United States could embroil Canberra in a conflict. The paper is motivated in part by Defence Minister Johnston’s June 2014 remarks stating that the ANZUS alliance would not commit Australia to a conflict where the US had sent forces to support Japan. While reminiscent of remarks made a decade earlier by then-Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in relation to the prospect of Australian involvement via ANZUS in a Taiwan contingency, Johnston’s assessment has not attracted anywhere near the same level of attention and analysis as those made by Downer in August 2004. The purpose of this paper is to begin to fill this gap in Australia’s public and policy debate by analysing the circumstances under which conflict in the East China Sea could occur and the implications thereof for Australia. The paper answers three questions: 1. What does Australia’s alliance relationship with the US commit Canberra to in the event of conflict in the East China Sea? 2. What are the risks that Australia faces as a result of ANZUS and other associated international commitments? 3. What can be done to better understand and manage these risks

On the large-scale instability in interacting dark energy and dark matter fluids

Recently, Valiviita et al. (2008) have reported a large-scale early-time instability in coupled dark energy and dark matter models. We take the same form of energy-momentum exchange and specialise to the case when the interaction rate is proportional to Hubble's parameter and the dark energy density only. Provided the coupling is made small enough for a given equation of state parameter, we show that the instability can be avoided. Expressions are derived for non-adiabatic modes on super-horizon scales in both the radiation and matter dominated regimes. We also examine the growth of dark matter perturbations in the sub-horizon limit. There we find that the coupling has almost no effect upon the growth of structure before dark energy begins to dominate. Once the universe begins to accelerate, the relative dark matter density fluctuations not only cease to grow as in uncoupled models, but actually decay as the universe continues to expand.Comment: Updated to match version published in February edition of Phys.Rev.

The Defence White Paper 2013 and Australia's Strategic Environment

The depiction of Australia�s strategic environment in the 2013 Defence White Paper has been one of its most favourably received elements. This article examines the White Paper�s treatment of China�s rise, and of the US-China relationship, the newly introduced construct known as the �Indo-Pacific strategic arc�, and the White Paper�s renewed focus on defence engagement with Indonesia, and with Southeast Asia more generally, highlighting some of the challenges of this approach. While acknowledging the favourable reception that much of the analysis contained in the 2013 White Paper has received, the article concludes by observing that it may have over-corrected trying to redress the shortcomings of its 2009 predecessor

Burying

When applying for a patent, applicants must provide the examiner with all known material prior art. Those who fail to do so can be charged with inequitable conduct. But applicants can still effectively hide material prior art references by submitting them along with large quantities of immaterial prior art to the examiner. This deceptive practice, known as burying, is generally not considered inequitable conduct. This Essay summarizes the current legal landscape concerning burying, discusses the costs associated with the practice, and suggests ways to deter and punish those who do it

Whose Shared Destiny?

THE ‘COMMUNITY OF SHARED DESTINY’ is not a completely new concept in Chinese foreign policy — the Communist Party first used the term in 2007 in relation to cross Strait relations. But it is one that has gained greater prominence over the past year. A key development during this period was Xi Jinping’s October 2013 keynote speech at the ‘Workshop on Diplomatic Work with Neighbouring Countries’ 周边国家外交工作座谈会, during which he elaborated on the ‘shared destiny’ theme (sometimes translated into English as ‘common destiny’): it was then that the term officially entered the Chinese foreign policy lexicon

A nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia?

Speculation is rife that North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear and ballistic missile programs will spark a dangerous new Northeast Asian arms race. In May of this year, senior officials in United States President Donald Trump’s administration reportedly confided in Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop their fears that such an arms race was “inevitable” should the international community fail to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile advances. During an interview on CNN in October 2017, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed, asserting that “we will now have an arms race–a nuclear arms race in East Asia”. Senior political figures like Minister Bishop and Secretary Clinton have encountered no shortage of strategic analysts willing to substantiate their claims. The prominent American commentator Michael Auslin, for instance, argued recently that “North Korea is ensuring a nuclear arms race”. Similarly, the late Desmond Ball pointed presciently to a predominantly naval Northeast Asian arms race–through one with clear nuclear dimensions–in a paper published just over half a decade ago