Vehicle lead-acid battery state-of-charge meter

We describe a state-of-charge, or “residual-capacity” meter for lead-acid batteries that intelligently synthesizes coulometric and terminal-voltage methods in a new algorithm to provide reliable, continuous readout of remaining capacity. Novel electronic circuit design eliminates the need to install a shunt in the vehicle. The meter learns the characteristics of a battery to which it is attached, removing the need for setup, customisation, programming or calibration at time of installation or battery replacement. The meter can thus be installed by unqualified personnel. Initial measurements suggest the design to be robust and accurate

MOST Space Telescope Photometry of the 2010 January Transit of Extrasolar Planet HD80606b

We present observations of the full January 2010 transit of HD80606b from the Canadian microsatellite, Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST). By employing a space-based telescope, we monitor the entire transit thus limiting systematic errors that result from ground observations. We determine measurements for the planetary radius (R_{p}=0.987\pm0.061R_{Jup}) and inclination (i=89.283^{o}\pm0.024) by constraining our fits with the observed parameters of different groups. Our measured mid-transit time of 2455210.6449\pm0.0034 HJD is consistant with the 2010 Spitzer results and is 20 minutes earlier than predicted by groups who observed the June 2009 transit.Comment: 3 figure

How fast does the stationary distribution of the Markov chain modelling EAs concentrate on the homogeneous populations for small mutation rate?

The state space of the Markov chain modelling an evolutionary algorithm is quite large especially if the population space and the search space are large. I shell introduce an appropriate notion of "coarse graining" for such Markov chains. Indeed, from the mathematical point of view, this can be called a quotient of a Markov chain by an equivalence relation over the state space. The newly obtained Markov chain has a significantly smaller state space and it\u27s stationary distribution is "coherent" with the initial large chain. Although the transition probabilities of the coarse-grained Markov chain are defined in terms of the stationary distribution of the original big chain, in some cases it is possible to deduce interesting information about the stationary distribution of the original chain in terms of the quatient chain. I will demonstrate how this method works. I shell also present some simple results and open questions

A Version of Geiringer-like Theorem for Decision Making in the Environments with Randomness and Incomplete Information

Purpose: In recent years Monte-Carlo sampling methods, such as Monte Carlo tree search, have achieved tremendous success in model free reinforcement learning. A combination of the so called upper confidence bounds policy to preserve the "exploration vs. exploitation" balance to select actions for sample evaluations together with massive computing power to store and to update dynamically a rather large pre-evaluated game tree lead to the development of software that has beaten the top human player in the game of Go on a 9 by 9 board. Much effort in the current research is devoted to widening the range of applicability of the Monte-Carlo sampling methodology to partially observable Markov decision processes with non-immediate payoffs. The main challenge introduced by randomness and incomplete information is to deal with the action evaluation at the chance nodes due to drastic differences in the possible payoffs the same action could lead to. The aim of this article is to establish a version of a theorem that originated from population genetics and has been later adopted in evolutionary computation theory that will lead to novel Monte-Carlo sampling algorithms that provably increase the AI potential. Due to space limitations the actual algorithms themselves will be presented in the sequel papers, however, the current paper provides a solid mathematical foundation for the development of such algorithms and explains why they are so promising.Comment: 53 pages in size. This work has been recently submitted to the IJICC (International Journal on Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics

Distribution of Phoxinus eos, Phoxinus neogaeus, and Their Asexually-Reproducing Hybrids (Pisces: Cyprinidae) in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Hybrid Phoxinus are one of the few asexually reproducing vertebrates species. The distribution of hybrid Phoxinus among lakes in Algonquin Park, Ontario, was evaluated relative to the distribution of parental species and relative to physiochemical lake characteristics. No association between the distribution of hybrids and the distribution of parental species was found, suggesting that the hybrids can successfully coexist with either parental species. In addition, we found no association between hybrid distribution and the physiochemical characteristics of lakes, suggesting that the hybrids are generalists with respect to the ecological niches available in Algonquin Park. There was a difference between the physiochemical characteristics of lakes with and without the parental species P. neogaeus. The lakes containing P. neogaeus were lower elevation than the lakes containing the other parental species, P. eos. The difference in distribution between the parental species may therefore be due to different dispersal abilities, to later arrival following post-glacial dispersal, or to differences in ecology. These results suggest that asexual reproduction is a successful strategy for hybrid Phoxinus in Algonquin Park because these sperm-dependent asexual hybrids are able to survive and persist regardless of which parental species is present, and regardless of the physiochemical characteristics of their habitat