Dynamic networks for robotic control and behaviour selection in interactive environments

Traditional robotics have the capabilities of the robot hard coded and have the robot function in structured environments (structured environments are those that are predefined for a given task). This approach can limit the functionality of a robot and how they can interact in an environment. Behaviour networks are reactive systems that are able to function in unstructured dynamic environments by selecting behaviours to execute based on the current state of the environment. Behaviour networks are made up of nodes that represent behaviours and these store an activation value to represent the motivation for that behaviour. The nodes receive inputs from a variety of sources and pass proportions of that input to other nodes in the network.Behaviour networks traditionally also have their capabilities predefined. The main aim of this thesis is to expand upon the concepts of traditional robotics by demonstrating the use of distributed behaviours in an environment. This thesis aims to show that distributing object specific data, such as; behaviours and goals, will assist in the task planning for a mobile robot.This thesis explores and tests the traditional behaviour network with a variety of experiments. Each experiment showcases particular features of the behaviour network including flaws that have been identified. Proposed solutions to the found flaws are then presented and explored. The behaviour network is then tested in a simulated environment with distributed behaviours and the dynamic behaviour network is defined. The thesis demonstrates that distributed behaviours can expand the capabilities of a mobile robot using a dynamic behaviour network

Development of a Risk Assessment Model for Global Information Technology Outsourcing

Global Information Technology (IT) outsourcing has been recognized to have important potential benefits. However, researchers and practitioners also recognize potential risks involved in global IT outsourcing, which sometimes lead to undesirable consequences. This paper develops a model to assess risks in global IT outsourcing. Specifically, this paper begins by identifying global IT outsourcing risk factors by considering the national infrastructure, organizational infrastructure, and project environment. Second, a Global IT Outsourcing (GITO) engagement model for risk assessment is developed to logically link all these risk factors together. Third, one quantifiable approach based on a relative-weighted assessment model is presented to demonstrate how the risks in the GITO engagement model can actually be measured and assessed. Such an overall measurement of global IT outsourcing risks establishes a reference point for assessing global IT project outsourcing risks, and will assist managers to enhance global IT outsourcing’s effectiveness and realize its vast potential. This paper will also benefit high-level decision makers including executives, policy planners, and managers working on decisions regarding global IT outsourcing, such as decisions on selecting an outsourcee country with a lower level of risk

The violent frontline: space, ethnicity and confronting the state in Edwardian Spitalfields and 1980s Brixton

This article discusses in comparative terms the relationship between space, ethnic identity, subaltern status and anti-state violence in twentieth century London. It does so by comparing two examples in which the control of the state, as represented by the Metropolitan Police, was challenged by minority groups through physical force. It will examine the Spitalfields riots of 1906, which began as strike action by predominantly Jewish bakers and escalated into a general confrontation between the local population and the police, and the Brixton riots of 1981, a response to endemic police harassment of mainly Caribbean youth and long-term economic discrimination in that area of South London. It will begin by dissecting the association of physical metropolitan space with the diasporic ‘other’ in the Edwardian East End and post-consensus South London, and how this ‘othering’ was influenced both by the state and the anti-migrant far right. It will then interrogate the difficult relationship between the Metropolitan Police and Jewish and Caribbean working class communities, and how this deteriorating relationship exploded into in extreme violence in 1906 and 1981. The article will conclude by assessing how the relationships between space, identity and violence influenced long-term national and communal narratives of Jewish and Caribbean interactions with the British state

The LOCAR hydrogeological infrastructure for the Pang/Lambourn Catchment

This report describes the hydrogeological infrastructure that was installed in the Pang and Lambourn catchments of the Berkshire Downs to support the Lowland Catchment Research (LOCAR) Thematic Research Programme. The objectives of the LOCAR Programme are briefly described as are the management structure that was used to achieve those objectives. This is followed by a description of the Pang and Lambourn catchments and a brief overview of the financial support for the whole LOCAR programme. A discussion of the design of the infrastructure precedes a description of what was actually installed and a summary of data that is available through the LOCAR Data Centre as a result. Finally, there is a list of equipment purchased using LOCAR infrastructure funds for use by the Catchment Service Teams and by the LOCAR research community

The LOCAR hydrogeological infrastructure for the Frome/Piddle Catchment

This report describes the hydrogeological infrastructure that was installed in the Frome and Piddle catchments in Dorset to support the Lowland Catchment Research (LOCAR) Thematic Research Programme. The objectives of the LOCAR Programme are briefly described as are the management structure that was used to achieve those objectives. This is followed by a description of the Frome and Piddle catchments and a brief overview of the financial support for the whole LOCAR programme. A discussion of the design of the infrastructure precedes a description of what was actually installed and a summary of data that is available through the LOCAR Data Centre as a result. Finally, there is a list of equipment purchased using LOCAR infrastructure funds for use by the Catchment Service Teams and by the LOCAR research community

The LOCAR hydrogeological infrastructure in the tern catchment

This report describes the hydrogeological infrastructure that was installed in the Tern catchment in Shropshire to support the Lowland Catchment Research (LOCAR) Thematic Research Programme. The objectives of the LOCAR Programme are briefly described as are the management structure that was used to achieve those objectives. This is followed by a description of the Tern catchment and a brief overview of the financial support for the whole LOCAR programme. A discussion of the design of the infrastructure precedes a description of what was actually installed and a summary of data that is available through the LOCAR Data Centre as a result. Finally, there is a list of equipment purchased using LOCAR infrastructure funds for use by the Catchment Service Teams and by the LOCAR research community

Assessing the Effects of Feedback: Muti-Method and Mutidirections in Multi-Pedagogical Courses

Instructors have frequently been encouraged to provide feedback to students in a timely and meaningful manner. Providing meaningful and useful feedback can be complicated by courses that utilize a variety of pedagogical approaches simultaneously. Students may be doing well in one part of the course and less well in another. In addition, students may become confused about their actual level of achievement and tend to ignore or misinterpret feedback provided by the instructor. This paper describes the results of using an instrument designed to not only provide feedback about student performance, but to also elicit student perceptions about the meaning of the feedback

Avoiding a Bogey: Grading Case Discussions Scientifically

Cases have been established as important pedagogical tools. The level and quality of students’ case discussion is a major objective of the case method, and discussion also provides, frequently, a major measure of student learning. However, little research has been done on appropriate measures of student participation despite the fact that some instructors are uneasy in their evaluation of student-case discussion. This paper proposes a classroom proven approach to methodically capturing data about on-going student participation, and then using the data to enhance further student discussion