Identifying the ejected population from disintegrating multiple systems

Kinematic studies of the Hipparcos catalogue have revealed associations that are best explained as disintegrating multiple systems, presumably resulting from a dynamical encounter between single/multiple systems in the field (Li et al. 2009). In this work we explore the possibility that known ultra-cool dwarfs may be components of disintegrating multiple systems, and consider the implications for the properties of these objects. We will present here the methods/techniques that can be used to search for and identify disintegrating benchmark systems in three database/catalogues: Dwarf Archive, the Hipparcos Main Catalogue, and the Gliese-Jahrei{\ss} Catalogue. Placing distance constraints on objects with parallax or colour-magnitude information from spectrophotometry allowed us to identify common distance associations. Proper motion measurements allowed us to separate common proper motion multiples from our sample of disintegrating candidates. Moreover, proper motion and positional information allowed us to select candidate systems based on relative component positions that were tracked back and projected forward through time. Using this method we identified one candidate disintegrating quadruple association, and two candidate disintegrating binaries, all of them containing one ultra-cool dwarf.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, proceeding of The 19th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Su

Towards the Grounding of Abstract Words: A Neural Network Model for Cognitive Robots

In this paper, a model based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) extends the symbol grounding mechanism toabstract words for cognitive robots. The aim of this work is to obtain a semantic representation of abstract concepts through the grounding in sensorimotor experiences for a humanoid robotic platform. Simulation experiments have been developed on a software environment for the iCub robot. Words that express general actions with a sensorimotor component are first taught to the simulated robot. During the training stage the robot first learns to perform a set of basic action primitives through the mechanism of direct grounding. Subsequently, the grounding of action primitives, acquired via direct sensorimotor experience, is transferred to higher-order words via linguistic descriptions. The idea is that by combining words grounded in sensorimotor experience the simulated robot can acquire more abstract concepts. The experiments aim to teach the robot the meaning of abstract words by making it experience sensorimotor actions. The iCub humanoid robot will be used for testing experiments on a real robotic architecture

Online assessment of negotiation skills through 3D role play simulation

The lack of standardised technological tools to assess psychological characteristics allows traditional tests to be still widely used, though these tests require double processing and expensive procedures. ENACT is both a serious game for a standardised assessment of the user negotiation skills and an Intelligent Tutoring System, which makes use of the data collected during the interaction in order to generate a tailored environment for the user to experience and improve their skills and be guided through learning

Life cycle environmental analysis of a hydrogen-based energy storage system for remote applications

Energy storage systems are required to address the fluctuating behaviour of variable renewable energy sources. The environmental sustainability of energy storage technologies should be carefully assessed, together with their techno-economic feasibility. In this work, an environmental analysis of a renewable hydrogen-based energy storage system has been performed, making use of input parameters made available in the framework of the European REMOTE project. The analysis is applied to the case study of the Froan islands (Norway), which are representative of many other insular microgrid sites in northern Europe. The REMOTE solution is compared with other scenarios based on fossil fuels and submarine connections to the mainland grid. The highest climate impacts are found in the diesel-based configuration (1,090.9 kgCO2eq/MWh), followed by the REMOTE system (148.2 kgCO2eq/MWh) and by the sea cable scenario (113.7 kgCO2eq/MWh). However, the latter is biased by the very low carbon intensity of the Norwegian electricity. A sensitivity analysis is then performed on the length of the sea cable and on the CO2 emission intensity of electricity, showing that local conditions have a strong impact on the results. The REMOTE system is also found to be the most cost-effective solution to provide electricity to the insular community. The in-depth and comparative (with reference to possible alternatives) assessment of the renewable hydrogen-based system aims to provide a comprehensive overview about the effectiveness and sustainability of these innovative solutions as a support for off-grid remote areas

The Gaia Ultra-Cool Dwarf Sample -- II : Structure at the end of the main sequence

© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We identify and investigate known late M, L, and T dwarfs in the Gaia second data release. This sample is being used as a training set in the Gaia data processing chain of the ultracool dwarfs work package. We find 695 objects in the optical spectral range M8–T6 with accurate Gaia coordinates, proper motions, and parallaxes which we combine with published spectral types and photometry from large area optical and infrared sky surveys. We find that 100 objects are in 47 multiple systems, of which 27 systems are published and 20 are new. These will be useful benchmark systems and we discuss the requirements to produce a complete catalogue of multiple systems with an ultracool dwarf component. We examine the magnitudes in the Gaia passbands and find that the G BP magnitudes are unreliable and should not be used for these objects. We examine progressively redder colour–magnitude diagrams and see a notable increase in the main-sequence scatter and a bivariate main sequence for old and young objects. We provide an absolute magnitude – spectral subtype calibration for G and G RP passbands along with linear fits over the range M8–L8 for other passbands.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

'ACCORD' e-Platform: Development and evaluation of an innovative multicultural training for school professionals

The study aims at describing the development, application and evaluation of ACCORD, an innovative e-platform offering a free-accessible tailored multicultural training for school professionals through the application of current ICT research (e-learning, mobility, internet, artificial intelligence). The eplatform provided school professionals with a dedicated Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) and a Serious Game (SG), embedded within it, useful to enhance and (self-)evaluate their intercultural competences and negotiation abilities. Technological, Psychological, and Pedagogical models and approaches underpinned the methodology driving the creation of the e-platform contents. Following a pilot test, the edited version of the e-platform (including the SG, learning materials, lessons, questionnaires) was widely diffused in different languages (English, German, Italian, Flemish, Spanish). Pre- and post-training questionnaires were used to assess the learning experience and the efficacy of the training. Findings provided evidence supporting the learning effectiveness of ACCORD training. The experience with the e-platform has been positively rated by the users concerning both the technological and educational aspects. Overall, the study provided an overview on the creation, implementation and evaluation of a novel multicultural training tool, which has been proven to effectively foster the enhancement of intercultural and interethnic competencies of professionals working in the European educational contexts

Active Vision and Feature Selection in Evolutionary Behavioral Systems

We describe an evolutionary approach to active vision systems for dynamic feature selection. After summarizing recent work on evolution of a simulated active retina for complex shape discrimination, we describe in detail experiments that extend this approach to an all-terrain mobile robot equipped with a mobile camera. We show that evolved robots are capable of selecting simple visual features and actively maintaining them on the same retinal position, which largely simplifies the "recognition'' task, in order to generate efficient navigation trajectories with an extremely simple neural control system. Analysis of evolved solutions indicates that robots develop a simple and yet very efficient version of edge detection and visual looming to detect obstacles and move away from them. Two evolved sensory-motor strategies are described, one where the mobile camera is actively used throughout the entire navigation and one where it is used only at the beginning to point towards relevant environmental features. The relationship between these two strategies are discussed in the context of the underlying visuo-motor mechanisms and of the evolutionary conditions