The Supreme Court As National School Board

A modern industrial robot control system is often only based upon measurements from the motors of the manipulator. To perform good tra-ectory tracking on the arm side of the robot a very accurate description of the system must therefore be used. In the paper a sensor fusion technique is presented to achieve good estimates of the position of the robotusing a very simple model. By using information from an accelerometer at the tool of the robot the effect of unmodelled dynamics can be measured. The estimate of the tool position can be improved to enhance accuracy. We formulate the computation of the position as a Bayesian estimation problem and propose two solutions. The first solution uses the extended Kalman fillter (EKF) as a fast but linearized estimator. The second uses the particle fillter which can solve the Bayesian estimation problem without linearizations or any Gaussian noise assumptions. Since the aim is to use the positions estimates to improve position with an iterative learning control method, no computational constraints arise. The methods are applied to experimental data from an ABB IRB1400 commercial industrialrobot and to data from a simulation of a realistic flexible robot model, showing a significant improvement in position accuracy

Theory of the Arbitration Process

A sensor fusion method for state estimation of a flexible industrial robot is developed. By measuring the acceleration at the end-effector, the accuracy of the arm angular position, as well as the estimated position of the end-effector are improved. The problem is formulated in a Bayesian estimation framework and two solutions are proposed; the extended Kalman filter and the particle filter. In a simulation study on a realistic flexible industrial robot, the angular position performance is shown to be close to the fundamental Cramér-Rao lower bound. The technique is also verified in experiments on an ABB robot, where the dynamic performance of the position for the end-effector is significantly improved.Vinnova Excellence Center LINK-SICSSF project Collaborative Localizatio

Performance of Nordic Stock Assembled ESG Momentum : Comparison to benchmark of MSCI Nordics ESG Universal Index

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of a Nordic stock assembled ESG mo-mentum strategy that incorporates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores in port-folio creation. Three different ESG momentum portfolios are constructed in this study to exam-ine the return characteristics of the portfolios. The returns are analyzed with three different multi-factor portfolio measures to find the best fitting model to explain the returns. The empir-ical part of this study also shows comparison of the returns against the chosen benchmark MSCI Nordics ESG Universal Index. Environmental and social awareness have increased considerably during the 21st century. This increased global awareness has significantly accelerated the global economies to respond accordingly. Relatively new concepts have been invented, corporate be-havior has been changing, stakeholders of companies are requiring continuous sustainability ac-tions from companies, and legislation is changing globally to adjust for modern, more sustaina-ble world. The rapid growth around corporate social responsibility actions have consequently started to increase the amount of socially responsible investments. This study is focusing on one of the most recent socially responsible strategy, the ESG momentum strategy. ESG momentum strategy aims to provide excess returns by buying companies with positive ESG score trend and selling short companies with negative trend. The ESG momentum strategy is modified to ESG context from traditional momentum strategy. Nordic countries are considered to be sustaina-bility leaders in the world, so it could be assumed that the relationship between good ESG per-formance and financial performance would be positive and vice versa especially in the Nordic markets. However, the results of this study do show slightly negative and statistically significant alpha and therefore this study cannot fully support the positive findings of previous studies. The results suggest that ESG ratings alone are not sufficient to predict a company's future financial performance, although the top 10 decile of companies with improved ESG ratings outperformed the benchmark index.Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on arvioida pohjoismaisista osakkeista koostetun ESG-mo-mentum strategian suorituskykyä, portfolion rakentamisessa otetaan huomioon ympäristö-, yh-teiskunta- ja hyvä hallintotapa (ESG). Tässä tutkimuksessa rakennetaan kolme erilaista ESG-mo-mentum portfoliota, joiden tuotto-ominaisuuksia tutkitaan. Tuottoja analysoidaan kolmella eri monifaktori mallilla, jotta löydettäisiin parhaiten tuottoja selittävä malli. Tutkimuksen empiiri-sessä osassa vertaillaan tuottoja myös valittuun vertailuindeksiin MSCI Nordics ESG Universal Indexiin. Ympäristötietoisuus ja sosiaalinen tietoisuus ovat lisääntyneet huomattavasti 2000-lu-vulla. Tämä lisääntynyt maailmanlaajuinen tietoisuus on nopeuttanut merkittävästi maailman-talouden reagointia. Uusia käsitteitä on keksitty, yritysten käyttäytyminen on muuttunut, yritys-ten sidosryhmät vaativat yrityksiltä jatkuvia kestävään kehitykseen liittyviä toimia ja lainsää-däntö muuttuu maailmanlaajuisesti mukautuakseen nykyaikaiseen, kestävämpään maailmaan. Yritysten sosiaalisen vastuun nopea kasvu on alkanut lisätä sosiaalisesti vastuullisten investoin-tien määrää. Tässä tutkimuksessa keskitytään yhteen uusimmista sosiaalisesti vastuullisista stra-tegioista, ESG momentum -strategiaan. ESG momentum -strategialla pyritään tuottamaan yli-tuottoa ostamalla yrityksiä, joiden ESG-pisteet kehittyvät positiivisesti, ja myymällä lyhyeksi yri-tyksiä, joiden ESG-pisteiden suuntaus on negatiivinen. ESG momentum -strategia on muunnettu ESG-kontekstiin perinteisestä momentum strategiasta. Pohjoismaiden katsotaan olevan maail-man johtavia kestävän kehityksen maita, joten voidaan olettaa, että hyvän ESG-tuloksen ja ta-loudellisen tuloksen välinen suhde olisi positiivinen ja päinvastoin erityisesti pohjoismaisilla markkinoilla. Tämän tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat kuitenkin hieman negatiivista ja tilastolli-sesti merkitsevää alfaa, joten tämä tutkimus ei voi täysin tukea aiempien tutkimusten myöntei-siä tuloksia. Tulokset viittaavat siihen, että ESG-luokitukset eivät yksinään riitä ennustamaan yri-tyksen tulevaa taloudellista suorituskykyä, vaikka 10 parasta kymmenesosaa yrityksistä, joiden ESG-luokitukset olivat parantuneet, tuottivatkin paremmin kuin vertailuindeksi

Economic forces and the OMXS30 - A study of economic variables' ability to predict stock returns on the OMXS30

This paper investigates whether the information from a number of different economic variables have the ability to predict stock returns on the OMXS30. The estimated forecast models are evaluated with a number of standard metrics to find the best performing models. These models are then used in combination with two portfolio strategies and tested over different time periods and forecast horizons, thereby giving an insight into the economic value of the underlying forecast models actual performance. The economic results are then compared with a benchmark model consisting of a simple buy and hold strategy to find the best performing combination of portfolio strategies and forecast models. Generally, none of the used economic variables are found to be a consistent predictor over all time periods, even though a few managed portfolios succeed in outperforming the buy and hold strategy over some specific time periods, only one portfolio (Switch Rec Bivariate OilExch 1 month) outperforms the buy and hold over all time periods. In the end we conclude that our findings are not conclusive enough to verify whether the final outcomes of the successful portfolio management strategies are the case of ‘good’ forecasting, or that of randomness and luck

ATC Airport Builder-A shapefile tool for simulation purposes

Saab supplies the global market with products, services and solutions ranging from military defense to civil security. One of their many offices is located in Helsingborg where a new product for training air traffic controllers (Saab ATC training solution) is developed. This product offers air traffic control students a realistic 3d environment where they may go through a variety of supervised air traffic control scenarios. In order to stay ahead of competitors, Saab strives to continuously improve their products. Today, it is possible to add airports to the Saab ATC training solution; however, this is a tedious process. Another area of improvement is the way in which map information is utilised in the simulator. Currently, the simulator knows very little about airport environments. By utilising existing map data, the simulator can make more intelligent decisions inside airport areas. This thesis describes how map information in existing shapefiles can be used to enhance airport simulation. In addition, this thesis, describe how the existing 3d engine can benefit from shapefile data. A prototype, ATC AirportBuilder, has been created to prepare map information for further use by the Saab ATC training solution. ATC AirportBuilder imports shape file data, adapts and exports it to a database. An analysis has also been conducted where several integration possibilities with the simulator and the 3d engine have been evaluated

Application of the Vagueness Doctrine to Statutes Terminating Parental Rights

The norm-optimal iterative learning control (ilc) algorithm for linear systems is extended to an estimation-based norm-optimal ilc  algorithm where the controlled variables are not directly available as measurements. A separation lemma is presented, stating that if a stationary Kalman filter is used for linear time-invariant systems then the ilc  design is independent of the dynamics in the Kalman filter. Furthermore, the objective function in the optimisation problem is modified to incorporate the full probability density function of the error. Utilising the Kullback–Leibler divergence leads to an automatic and intuitive way of tuning the ilc  algorithm. Finally, the concept is extended to non-linear state space models using linearisation techniques, where it is assumed that the full state vector is estimated and used in the ilc  algorithm. Stability and convergence properties for the proposed scheme are also derived.Vinnova Excellence Center LINK-SICExcellence Center at Linköping-Lund in Information Technology, ELLIITSSF project Collaborative Localizatio

Do Women in Top Management Teams Have an Effect on Company Performance - Evidence from Scandinavia

This paper investigates if a relationship exists between women in TMTs and firm performance for 187 Large- and Mid-Cap firms in Scandinavia for the period 2009-2013. Thereby adding to the scarce international evidence within the gender diversity in TMTs literature. The theoretical simultaneous relationship between performance and gender diversity in TMTs is taken into account and a 2SLS approach is applied. In general, the results from the 2SLS indicate that the inclusion of women in TMTs, as measured by four diversity measures, has a significant impact on firm performance as measured by Tobin’s Q - while having no impact on performance as measured by ROA. Considering the weakness of the instruments employed, panel techniques are also estimated and find no significant effects

Recycling of TiO2 Pigments from Waste Paint: Process Development, Surface Analysis, and Characterization

Pigments are commonly used in paint, plastic and paper products and titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most important white pigment, accounts for approximately 70 % of the total volume of all pigments used today. Minerals containing TiO2 are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust. However, the production of TiO2 is energy intensive and carries a high environmental burden. Therefore, the paint industry is seeking replacements for the virgin TiO2 pigment used extensively in paint formulations today. The research work presented in this thesis was carried out to investigate the possibility to use secondary TiO2 pigments, recycled from waste paint, as an alternative to virgin pigments.Typically, commercial grade pigments are not pure TiO2. Rather, they are surface treated in order to make the pigments more compatible with the paint matrix and to facilitate optimum dispersion. Waste paint feedstock for a recycling process will therefore contain TiO2 pigments having different chemistries due to the variety of surface coatings. In this research three pigments, coated with different combinations of aluminium, silicon, and zirconium oxides were investigated.The TiO2 was recovered from paint in a three-step recycling process. First, the paint was pyrolysed at 500 \ub0C in a nitrogen atmosphere to remove the volatile organic fraction. Next, the inorganic pyrolysed residues were oxidized in air at 500 \ub0C to remove any residual organics and black carbon. After pyrolysis and oxidation the inorganic fraction was found to be contaminated with ionic salt residues from the decomposition of paint components during the recycling process. Therefore, the final step in the recycling process was to wash the residues in the presence of a mixture of ion exchangers yielding a pure secondary TiO2 product.In order to clarify the extent to which the pigment was affected by the recycling process, the characteristics of the recycled pigments were studied using techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and measurement of the dynamic electrophoretic mobility. Of the three pigments studied, it was shown that a pigment coated with a combination of silicon and aluminium oxides was more prone to degradation in the recycling process compared to pigments coated with a combination of aluminium and zirconium oxides or only aluminium oxide.In addition, recycled pigment was used as a replacement for virgin pigment in a paint formulation. Results showed that the paint made from recycled TiO2 had a minor decrease in opacity, and that the effect on whiteness was insignificant when compared to a paint containing virgin pigment. However, surface defects due to poorly dispersed pigments decreased the gloss of the paint film. Even though the performance of the recycled pigment was lower than that of the virgi

Recovery and reuse of TiO2 and other pigments from paint waste

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has numerous applications in our society, most notably as a white pigment in products such as paint, paper and plastic. Since 2010 there has been a sharp increase in the demand for and price of TiO2. As a result new and innovative ways of TiO2 production are needed. One potential source for recovering of TiO2 could be from waste paint. Not only could a recycling or recovery process for paint residues give paint manufacturers a new source of pigment, it would also give the industry a way of handling production waste and leftover paint products. In this work the possibility of replacing virgin pigments with inorganic residues from a waste paint pyrolysis process has been investigated. TiO2 and commonly used extender pigments were characterised using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and specific surface area measurements (BET-N2) before and after the pyrolysis process. The inorganic residues from the pyrolysis were used in two different types of paint formulations as pigment replacement. The properties of the paints based on the pyrolysis residues were compared to the properties of paints based on virgin material.Results showed the crystal structures of the major pigments were left intact following the pyrolysis recovery process. Additionally, the recovery process had a negligible effect on the surface areas of all pigments except TiO2. The paints made from recycled material had acceptable opacity and gloss, but also showed surface defects due to poorly dispersed pigments and a decrease in whiteness

Chalmers University of Technology: Overcoming Resistance and Inertia in Education through the Dynamics of a Matrix Organization Including Student Co-Creation

In this contribution we describe and reflect on the organization of Chalmers University of Technology and how it benefits education development and innovation. Chalmer’s matrix organization with a buyer-supplier management model for education has proven to be a driving force for change and quality enhancement and promotes the agility necessary for implementing educational reforms in response to both internal and external impulses. We exemplify this by describing and analyzing development projects in curriculum design, education for sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and a new transformative model for flexible education