Formation control of a group of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs)

Coordinated motion of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has been a growing research interest in the last decade. In this paper we propose a coordination model that makes use of virtual springs and dampers to generate reference trajectories for a group of quadrotors. Virtual forces exerted on each vehicle are produced by using projected distances between the quadrotors. Several coordinated task scenarios are presented and the performance of the proposed method is verified by simulations

Death anxiety in outdoor-adventure recreation: study of demographic variables and experience

This study investigated the death anxiety (DA) scores of participants in outdoor-adventure recreational (OAR) activities, and the relationship of the DA scores to several demographic features and experience of DA. The study included 589 individuals with various leisure-time OAR experience levels (131 women, 458 men; Mage=29.79±9.64). Their sports included climbing (n=200), scuba diving (n=142), and paragliding (n=247). DA was measured by the Thorson-Powell Death Anxiety Scale. Overall, the DA scores were low, with no significant differences between OAR activities. However, the DA scores were affected by age and gender, and length of OAR experience. More specifically, the DA scores were highest for 18-28-year-old participants, women, and participants with 4-6 years of middle-level OAR experience. Previous negative DA experiences did not increase the DA scores

A new coordination framework for multi-UAV formation control

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become very popular in the last few decades. Nowadays these vehicles are used for both civilian and military applications which are dull, dirty and dangerous for humans. The remarkable advances in materials, electronics, sensors, actuators and batteries enable researchers to design more durable, capable, smart and cheaper UAVs. Consequently, a significant amount of research effort has been devoted to the design of UAVs with intelligent navigation and control systems. There are certain applications where a single UAV can not perform adequately. However, carrying out such tasks with a fleet of UAVs in some geometric pattern or formation can be more powerful and more efficient. This thesis focuses on a new coordination scheme that enables formation control of quadrotor type UAVs. Coordination of quadrotors is achieved using a virtual structure approach where orthogonal projections of quadrotors on a virtual plane are utilized to define coordination forces. This plane implies planar spring forces acting between the vehicles. Virtual springs are also augmented with dampers to suppress oscillatory motions. While the coordination among the aerial vehicles is achieved on a virtual plane, altitude control for each vehicle is designed independently. This increases maneuvering capability of each quadrotor along the vertical direction. Due to their robustness to the external disturbances such as wind gusts, integral backstepping controllers are designed to control attitude and position dynamics of individual quadrotors. Several coordinated task scenarios are presented and the performance of the proposed formation control technique is assessed by several simulations where three and five quadrotors are employed. Simulation results are quite promising

A modular software architecture for UAVs

There have been several attempts to create scalable and hardware independent software architectures for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). In this work, we propose an onboard architecture for UAVs where hardware abstraction, data storage and communication between modules are efficiently maintained. All processing and software development is done on the UAV while state and mission status of the UAV is monitored from a ground station. The architecture also allows rapid development of mission-specific third party applications on the vehicle with the help of the core module

The relationship between emotional autonomy, social support and subjective well-being in adolescents

Yüksek Lisans TeziBu araştırmanın amacı ergenlerde duygusal özerklik, sosyal destek ve öznel iyi oluşları arasında ilişki olup olmadığını belirlemektir. Araştırmada genel tarama modellerinden ilişkisel tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma evrenini, 2014-2015 Eğitim-Öğretim yılında Konya ili Meram ilçesinde bulunan devlet ortaöğretim kurumlarında eğitim gören ergenlerden oluştururken, örneklemi ise eğitim görmekte olan öğrencilerden tesadüfi küme örnekleme yöntemi ile seçilmiştir. Bu araştırmanın çalışma grubu, 284'ü erkek, 246'sı kız olmak üzere toplam 530 lise öğrencisinden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada Steinberg ve Silverberg tarafından 1986'da geliştirilen ve Deniz (2010) tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanarak geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması yapılan Duygusal Özerklik Ölçeği, Yıldırım'ın (1997 ve 2004) geliştirdiği Algılanan Sosyal Destek Ölçeği ve Tuzgöl Dost (2004) tarafından geliştirilen Öznel İyi Oluş Ölçekleri kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca öğrencilerin özlük nitelikleriyle ilgili bilgileri elde etmek için kişisel bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde t-testi, Tek Yönlü Varyans Analizi, Pearson Momentler Çarpım Korelasyon ve Regresyon Tekniği kullanılmıştır. Verilerin istatistik analizi SPSS programı ile yapılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre ergenlerin öznel iyi oluş ve algılanan aile desteğinin duygusal özerkliğin alt boyutlarının tamamına (idealleştirmeme, bağımsızlık ve bireyleşme) katkısı varken; öznel iyi oluş ve algılanan öğretmen desteğinin sadece iki boyutta (idealleştirmeme, bağımsızlık) katkısının olduğu bulunmuştur. Bunların yanın da öznel iyi oluş ve algılanan arkadaş desteğinin bu alt boyutlara katkısı görülmemiştir. Bu çalışmanın insan hayatının en kritik dönemlerinden birisi olan ergenlik dönemini anlama ve anlamlandırmaya katkıda bulunacağı düşünülmektedir.The aim of the present study is to determine a relationship between emotional autonomy, social support, and subjective well-being in adolescents. Relational survey model among the general survey models were employed in the present study. Whereas the universe of the present study is made of adolescents enrolled at state secondary education schools within Meram district of Konya during 2014-2015 academic year, the sample of students within the same universe selected randomly. A total of 530 high school students, 284 male and 246 female, made up the study group of the present study. The Emotional Autonomy Scale developed by Steinberg and Silverberg 1986 and translated into Turkish by Deniz (2010), Scale of Perceived Social Support developed by Yıldırım (1997 and 2004) and Subjective Well-Being Scales developed by Tuzgöl Dost (2004) were the scales used. Moreover, a personal information form was also employed to obtain demographic information. SPSS program was used for data analysis in particular t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson Moments Product Correlation and Regression Technique. According to the findings, whereas a contribution of subjective well-being to perceived emotional autonomy was determined in all the sub-dimensions (idealization, autonomy, and individualization) was determined, perceived teacher support had a contribution to only two sub-dimensions (idealization, autonomy). However, no contribution of subjective well-being to perceived emotional autonomy peer support was determined in any of the subdimensions. The present study is considered to have a significant contribution to understanding adolescence, a critical period with a lasting impact in any human being

Why Do So Few Local People Visit National Parks? Examining Constraints to Antalya’s National Parks, Turkey

National parks are significant tourism and recreational areas that are widely used in many countries. Although such areas are widespread in Turkey, their resource value is underestimated. For this reason, this research aims to identify the constraints regarding local people’s use of national parks and investigate the effects of demographic features on these constraints. This research conducted in Antalya, which is the city with the most national park areas in Turkey. Mixed method approach was applied in this study. In the first stage, a sample of 100 people in Antalya were interviewed. In the second stage, a questionnaire was given to 2,367 people. The three-dimensional leisure constraints model was used as the study’s theoretical framework. The findings showed that lack of information/facilities (structural) was the main restriction on local people’s use of national parks, followed by accessibility/finance (structural), maintenance (structural), social (interpersonal) and individual/ psychological (intrapersonal) factors. Use of national parks was also affected by demographic features of sex, age, marital status, having a child, income and education level. In conclusion, the existence of structural constraints as dominant national park use is advantageous in constraint management. The Turkish national parks and the tourism authorities should therefore change their management strategies regarding this issue

Premenstrual syndrome and fibromyalgia: the frequency of the coexistence and their effects on quality of life

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), to assess common symptoms and quality of life (QOL) of them.Methods: Patients with PMS formed the PMS group and age-matched healthy normal controls were included in the control group. The diagnosis of the FMS and PMS were based on new American College of Rheumatology FMS criteria and DSM-IV PMS criteria. FMS-related symptoms assessed by visual analog scale and number of tender points (TePs) were analyzed. QOL, PMS severity and FMS severity were assessed with SF-36, fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) and premenstrual assessment form (PAF), respectively. Patients with PMS were divided into two subgroups according to coexistence of FMS or not.Results: The frequency of FMS in PMS and control group were 20 and 0%, respectively (p=0.002). FMS-related symptoms, number of TePs in the PMS group were higher than those in the control group. The mean mental component summary (MCS) score of SF-36 was low in the PMS group. The mean PAF score in PMS with FMS subgroup was higher than those in without FMS subgroup. The mean physical component summary of SF-36 was low in the PMS patient with FMS. There was correlation between PAF score and FIQ score (r=0.476, p<0.001).Conclusion: FMS was common among the patients with PMS and frequently seen in the PMS patients having severe premenstrual complaints. Mental QOL was distressed in the patients with PMS but while FMS accompanied to PMS, the physical QOL was decreased