The reviewing process: validating results

Any scientific publication aims to advance the field of knowledge that it deals with, and therefore the editorial staff will always be seeking the most revolutionary papers among all of those received. On the other hand, the reviewers’ task is usually a much more conservative one, as reviewers are responsible for verifying the realism of the methods proposed and the veracity of the claimed results

Design of a Lightweight, Cost Effective Thimble-Like Sensor for Haptic Applications Based on Contact Force Sensors

This paper describes the design and calibration of a thimble that measures the forces applied by a user during manipulation of virtual and real objects. Haptic devices benefit from force measurement capabilities at their end-point. However, the heavy weight and cost of force sensors prevent their widespread incorporation in these applications. The design of a lightweight, user-adaptable, and cost-effective thimble with four contact force sensors is described in this paper. The sensors are calibrated before being placed in the thimble to provide normal and tangential forces. Normal forces are exerted directly by the fingertip and thus can be properly measured. Tangential forces are estimated by sensors strategically placed in the thimble sides. Two applications are provided in order to facilitate an evaluation of sensorized thimble performance. These applications focus on: (i) force signal edge detection, which determines task segmentation of virtual object manipulation, and (ii) the development of complex object manipulation models, wherein the mechanical features of a real object are obtained and these features are then reproduced for training by means of virtual object manipulation

New control architecturebased on PXI for a 3-finger haptic device applied to virtual manipulation

To perform advanced manipulation of remote environments such as grasping, more than one finger is required implying higher requirements for the control architecture. This paper presents the design and control of a modular 3-finger haptic device that can be used to interact with virtual scenarios or to teleoperate dexterous remote hands. In a modular haptic device, each module allows the interaction with a scenario by using a single finger; hence, multi-finger interaction can be achieved by adding more modules. Control requirements for a multifinger haptic device are analyzed and new hardware/software architecture for these kinds of devices is proposed. The software architecture described in this paper is distributed and the different modules communicate to allow the remote manipulation. Moreover, an application in which this haptic device is used to interact with a virtual scenario is shown

Study of non-uniform light profiles on high concentration III-V solar cells using quasi-3D distributed models

The quasi-3D models based on distributed circuit units are a powerful tool to analyse the performance of a solar cell from the point of view of its electrical behavior. Quite accurate models have been developed in the past that reproduce the experimental data of single-junction solar cells very closely. These models help in the determination of the origin of the peculiarities of the dark and one sun or high concentration experimental I-V curves. They also allow the design of the front grid, the analysis of the impact of the electrical parameters of the solar cell on the performance of the final device, etc. In this work, these models are used to study the effect of non-uniform profiles, generated by the concentrator optics, on the performance of a concentrator solar cell. The design of the front grid is then optimized to minimize the losses introduced by the light distribution, even taking into account the effect of the tracking system misalignment. As an introductory application example of multijunction solar cells analysis with this kind of modeling, the effect of the chromatic aberration on a double junction solar cell is presented

Te doping of GaAs using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy: volatile vs. non volatile

The incorporation of Te into the crystal lattice, when it is used as an n-type dopant for GaAs grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, is studied. For this purpose, several growth temperatures, total pressures, growth rates, and substrate misorientations have been analyzed, from which it is concluded that depending on the substrate misorientation and total pressure used, the Te behaves like a volatile dopant or a nonvolatile dopant as result of the enhancement or minimization of its adsorption onto the growth surface

A GaAs metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy growth process o reduce Ge out-diffusion from the Ge substrate

A barrier based on GaAs for controlling the Ge out diffusion has been developed by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. It is based on a thin GaAs layer (50 nm) grown at a low temperature (≈500 °C) on top of a predeposition layer, showing that GaAs prevents the Ge diffusing when it is grown at a low temperature. Additionally, two different predeposition monolayers have been compared, concluding that when the Ga is deposited first, the diffusions across the GaAsGe heterointerface decrease

Design and evaluation of an educational platform for implementing and testing bilateral control algorithms

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a new platform created in order to improve the learning experience of bilateral control algorithms in teleoperation. This experimental platform, developed at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, is used by the students of the Master on Automation and Robotics in the practices of the subject called “Telerobotics and Teleoperation”. The main objective is to easily implement different control architectures in the developed platform and evaluate them under different conditions to better understand the main advantages and drawbacks of each control scheme. So, the student’s tasks are focused on adjusting the control parameters of the predefined controllers and designing new ones to analyze the changes in the behavior of the whole system. A description of the subject, main topics and the platform constructed are detailed in the paper. Furthermore, the methodology followed in the practices and the bilateral control algorithms are presented. Finally, the results obtained in the experiments with students are also shown

Two-Hand Virtual Object Manipulation Based on Networked Architecture

A setup for bimanual virtual object manipulation is described in this paper. Index and thumb fingers are inserted in the corresponding thimbles in order to perform virtual object manipulations. A gimble, with 3-rotational degrees of freedom, connects each thimble to the corresponding serial-parallel mechanical structure with 3 actuated DoF. As a result, each finger has 6 DoF, movements and forces can be reflected in any direction without any torque component. Scenarios for virtual manipulation are based on distributed architecture where each finger device has its own real-time controller. A computer receives the status of each finger and runs a simulation with the virtual object manipulation. The information of the Scenario is updated at a rate of 200 Hz. The information from the haptic controller is processed at 1 kHz; it provides a good realism for object manipulation

Identificación de las dimensiones conceptual, procedimental y actitudinal de la actividad científica por maestros y maestras en formación

Es importante que los maestros y maestras en formación lleguen a interiorizar las características básicas del trabajo científico, es decir, que la actividad científica no solamente se relaciona con leyes, principios, conceptos (dimensión conceptual)... sino que también contempla otras dimensiones esenciales como son la procedimental y la actitudinal. De lo contrario, en su futuro como docentes no las tendrámn en cuenta, contribuyendo a visiones reduccionists y empobrecidas de la actividad científica. Por ello la presente investigación pretende determinar si los maestros y maestras en formación son capaces de reconocer las tres dimensiones (conceptual, procedimental y actitudinal) de la actividad científica. Para ello se desarrolló un estudio piloto de caracter exploratorio con un diseño transversal, en el que participaron 236 estudiantes de Magisterio. Los resultados obtenidos hasta el momento dejan entrever que los maestros y maestras en formación, en general, tienen dificultades en reconocer las tres dimensiones. La mayoría de los participantes tienen percepciones de la ciencia como una actividad relacionada casi exclusivamente con lo conceptual. Los resultados obtenidos hasta el momento permiten vislumbrar posibles líneas de actuación para diseñar y llevar a cabo propuestas de intervención que contribuyan a la adquisición de visiones de la ciencia más acordes con las características básicas de la actividad científica

Identification of the conceptual, procedural and attitudinaldimensions of scientific activity by trainee teachers

Es importante que los maestros y maestras en formación lleguen a interiorizar las características básicas del trabajo científico, es decir que la actividad científica no solamente se relaciona con leyes, principios, conceptos (dimensión conceptual)... sino que también contempla otras dimensiones esenciales como son la procedimental y la actitudinal. De lo contrario, en su futuro como docentes no las tendrán en cuenta, contribuyendo a visiones reduccionistas y empobrecidas de la actividad científica. Por ello,la presente investigación pretende determinar si los maestros y maestras en formación son capaces de reconocer las tres dimensiones (conceptual, procedimental y actitudinal) de la actividad científica. Para ello se desarrolló un estudio piloto de carácterexploratorio con un diseño transversal, en el que participaron 236 estudiantes de Magisterio. Los resultados obtenidos hasta el momento dejan entrever que los maestros y maestras en formación, en general, tienen dificultades en reconocer las tres dimensiones (conceptual, procedimental y actitudinal). La mayoría de los participantes tienen percepciones de la ciencia como una actividad relacionada casi exclusivamente con lo conceptual. Los resultados obtenidos hasta el momento permiten vislumbrar posibles líneas de actuación para diseñar y llevar a cabo propuestas de intervención que contribuyan a la adquisición de visiones de la ciencia más acordes con las características básicas de la actividad científica.It is important that teachers in training come to internalize the basic characteristics of scientific work, i.e.,that scientific activity is not only related to laws, principles, concepts (conceptual dimension) ... but also includes other essential dimensions such as the procedural and attitudinal. Otherwise, in their future as teachers they will not take them into account, contributing to reductionist and impoverished views of scientific activity. The present research aims to determine the extent to which teachers in training recognize and pay attention to the three dimensions (conceptual, procedural and attitudinal) of science and therefore of their learning. To this end, a pilot study of an exploratory nature was developed with a cross-sectional design, in which 236 teaching students participated. The results obtained so far suggest that teachers in training, in general, have difficulties in recognizing the three dimensions (conceptual, procedural and attitudinal). Most of the participants have perceptions of science as an activity related almost exclusively to the conceptual. The results obtained so far allow to glimpse possible lines of action to design and carry out intervention proposals that contribute to the acquisition of visions of science more in line with the basic characteristics of scientific activity