Eye gaze tracking and speech recognition for data entry and error recovery : a multimodal approach

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Zeolite-Based Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Ultrafiltration Membrane: Characterization and Molecular Weight Cut-Off Estimation with Support Vector Regression Modelling

Zeolite serves as a promising additive for enhancing the hydrophilicity of polymeric membranes, yet its utilization for bolstering the mechanical strength of the membrane remains limited. In this study, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes were modified by incorporating various concentrations of zeolite (0.5–2 wt%) to improve not only their mechanical properties, but also other features for water filtration. Membranes with and without zeolite incorporation were fabricated via a dry–wet phase inversion technique, followed by the application of a series of characterization techniques in order to study their morphological structure, mechanical strength, and hydrophilicity. The membrane filtration performance for each membrane was evaluated based on pure water flux and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) rejection. Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) images revealed a dense, microvoid-free structure across all of the PVDF membranes, contributing to a high pristine PVDF membrane tensile strength of 14 MPa. The addition of 0.5 wt% zeolite significantly improved the tensile strength up to 19.4 MPa. Additionally, the incorporation of 1 wt% zeolite into PVDF membrane yielded improvements in membrane hydrophilicity (contact angle of 67.84°), pure water flux (63.49% increase), and high BSA rejection (95.76%) compared to pristine PVDF membranes. To further improve the characterization of the zeolite-modified PVDF membranes, the Support Vector Regression (SVR) model was adopted to estimate the molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of the membranes. A coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.855 was obtained, suggesting that the SVR model predicted the MWCO accurately. The findings of this study showed that the utilization of zeolite is promising in enhancing both the mechanical properties and separation performance of PVDF membranes for application in ultrafiltration processes

Can I Help You? - A Spatial Attention System for a Receptionist Robot

Holthaus P, Lütkebohle I, Hanheide M, Wachsmuth S. Can I Help You? - A Spatial Attention System for a Receptionist Robot. In: Ge SS, Li H, Cabibihan J-J, Tan YK, eds. Social Robotics. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol 6414. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2010: 325-334.Social interaction between humans takes place in the spatial dimension on a daily basis. We occupy space for ourselves and respect the dynamics of spaces that are occupied by others. In human-robot interaction, the focus has been on other topics so far. Therefore, this work applies a spatial model to a humanoid robot and implements an attention system that is connected to it. The resulting behaviors have been verified in an on-line video study. The questionnaire revealed that these behaviors are applicable and result in a robot that has been perceived as more interested in the human and shows its attention and intentions to a higher degree

Significant O–H Bond Weakening in CpMn(CO)₂(CH₃OH): Evidence for the Generation of the CpMn(CO)₂(CH₃O) Radical upon H Atom Abstraction by O₂

The UV–visible photolysis of CpMn­(CO)₃ in methanol generates CpMn­(CO)₂(CH₃OH), which upon H atom abstraction using either O₂, dpph, or H₂O₂ gives the CpMn­(CO)₂(CH₃O) radical complex. The radical with a lifetime of 10 to 20 min has been mainly characterized using FTIR and ESR spectroscopy and chemical oxidation studies. Together with density functional theory calculations, it is shown that the O–H bond is significantly weakened in the CpMn­(CO)₂(CH₃OH) complex compared to free methanol. NBO spin density analysis suggests that the bond cleavage is facilitated by the formation of the CpMn­(CO)₂(CH₃O) radical in which the electron spin is localized at the metal center rather than at the oxygen atom

An integrated command and control architecture concept for unmanned systems in the year 2030

U.S. Forces require an integrated Command and Control Architecture that enables operations of a dynamic mix of manned and unmanned systems. The level of autonomous behavior correlates to: 1) the amount of trust with the reporting vehicles, and 2) the multi-spectral perspective of the observations. The intent to illuminate the architectural issues for force protection in 2030 was based on a multi-phased analytical model of High Value Unit (HVU) defense. The results showed that autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles are required to defeat high-speed incoming missiles. To evaluate the level of autonomous behavior required for an integrated combat architecture, geometric distributions were modeled to determine force positioning, based on a scenario driven Detect-to-Engage timeline. Discrete event simulation was used to schedule operations, and a datalink budget assessment of communications to determine the critical failure paths in the the integrated combat architecture. The command and control principles used in the integrated combat architecture were based on Boyd's OODA (Obseve, Orient, Decide, and Act) Loop. A conservative fleet size estimate, given the uncertainties of the coverage overlap and radar detection range, a fleet size of 35 should be anticipated given an UAV detection range of 20km and radar coverage overlap of 4 seconds.http://archive.org/details/anintegratedcomm109455244US Navy (USN) authorsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited