Path planning self-learning algorithm for a dynamic chaning environment

Scientific Conference (2015, December)

The relevance of Human Robot Interaction to complement human skills in a manufacturing environment with industrial robots increases the concerns over safety of human and the robot. It is necessary to ... [more ▼]

The relevance of Human Robot Interaction to complement human skills in a manufacturing environment with industrial robots increases the concerns over safety of human and the robot. It is necessary to identify collision risks and avoid them otherwise production stops may cost a huge amount to the industry. A robot working at manufacturing facility should be able to predict potential collisions and must be able to prevent i.e. react automatically for safe detour around obstacle/human. Currently, industrial robots are able to detect collisions after a real contact but the existing proposals for avoiding collisions are either computationally expensive or not very well adapted to human safety. The objective of this paper is to provide intelligence to the industrial robot to predict collision risks and react automatically without stopping the production in a static environment. The proposed approach using Time of Flight (TOF) camera, provides decision regarding trajectory correction and improvement by shifting robot to a secure position. The application presented in this paper is for safe KUKA robot trajectory generation in peg-in-hole assembly process in the laboratory context. [less ▲]

"Funktion der impliziten Leserschaft in fantastischer Kinder- und Jugendliteratur"

Presentation (2015, December)

The Bearing Capacity of Footings on Cohesionless Soils

in The Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (2015), 20

In 1920 Prandtl published an analytical solution for the bearing capacity of a maximum strip load on a weightless infinite half-space. This solution was extended by Reissner in 1924 with a surrounding ... [more ▼]

In 1920 Prandtl published an analytical solution for the bearing capacity of a maximum strip load on a weightless infinite half-space. This solution was extended by Reissner in 1924 with a surrounding surcharge. Keverling Buisman (1940) extended the Prandtl-Reissner formula for the soil weight. It was Terzaghi (1943) who wrote this in the form which is nowadays used. Since then several people proposed equations for the soil-weight bearing capacity factor. In this paper, we show that all those equations assume a Prandtl failure mechanism, while Finite Element Modelling (FEM) of strip footings on cohesion less materials proofs a global failure mechanism. Also these equations result in a higher bearing capacity than found with FEM. This means that the currently used equations for the soil-weight bearing capacity factor, and also the corresponding shape factor, are inaccurate and unsafe. Therefore new equations for the soil-weight bearing capacity factor, the soil-weight shape factor and the surcharge shape factor have been presented in this paper. [less ▲]

Detecting Credit Card Fraud using Periodic Features

in IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (2015, December)

Dissecting the Act of God: An Exploration of the Effect of Religion on Economic Activity

Scientific Conference (2015, December)

This research establishes that religiosity has a persistent effect on economic outcomes. First we use a sample of migrants in the US to establish that religiosity at the country of origin has a long ... [more ▼]

This research establishes that religiosity has a persistent effect on economic outcomes. First we use a sample of migrants in the US to establish that religiosity at the country of origin has a long lasting effect on the religiosity of migrants. Second, exploiting variations in the inherited component of religiosity of migrants, our analysis uncovers the causal effect of religiosity on economic activity using a panel of countries for the period 1935-2000. The empirical findings suggest that i) church attendance has a positive impact on economic outcomes; ii) religious beliefs in the existence of god, hell, heaven and miracles have no systematic effect on economic outcomes, and iii) stronger faith is associated with prosperity. Moreover we extend our analysis to uncover the channels via which religiosity operates. Notably, the positive effect of religious participation and of stronger faith on economic outcomes operates via the creation of social capital and the development of traits, such as hard work and thrift, that are conducive to growth. [less ▲]

Economic recessions and cognitive function in older age. Evidence from SHARE and HRS

Presentation (2015, December)

Impact of Transceiver Impairments on the Capacity of Dual-Hop Relay Massive MIMO Systems

in Proceedings of IEEE Globecom 2015 (2015, December)

Despite the deleterious effect of hardware impairments on communication systems, most prior works have not investigated their impact on widely used relay systems. Most importantly, the application of ... [more ▼]

Despite the deleterious effect of hardware impairments on communication systems, most prior works have not investigated their impact on widely used relay systems. Most importantly, the application of inexpensive transceivers, being prone to hardware impairments, is the most cost-efficient way for the implementation of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Consequently, the direction of this paper is towards the investigation of the impact of hardware impairments on MIMO relay networks with large number of antennas. Specifically, we obtain the general expression for the ergodic capacity of dual-hop (DH) amplify-and-forward (AF) relay systems. Next, given the advantages of the free probability (FP) theory with comparison to other known techniques in the area of large random matrix theory, we pursue a large limit analysis in terms of number of antennas and users by shedding light to the behavior of relay systems inflicted by hardware impairments. [less ▲]

‘La Grande Guerre et ses chansons.’ „La chanson de Craonne“ und „Quand Madelon“ als Spiegelbilder einer Nation im Krieg

in Militärmusik im Diskurs (2015), 9

Être adulte en sortant de structures d’Aide sociale à l’enfance, le capital social au cœur de la définition de l’autonomie

in Vie sociale (2015), Nouvelle série n°12

While the passage from youth to the age of adulthood is no longer generally signified at a specific age, for young people from child protection services this is not the case as it clearly corresponds to ... [more ▼]

While the passage from youth to the age of adulthood is no longer generally signified at a specific age, for young people from child protection services this is not the case as it clearly corresponds to the age of departure from the placement. Leaving the child protection structure is a crucial step. Professionals’ work involves preparing young people for leaving and thus “helping them towards autonomy”. This article deciphers factors that have an impact on this moment of time and can affect what happens later. It discusses the “injunction to be autonomous” and its’ consequences as signified at a relatively early age compared to other groups of young people. Young people from child protection do not have the benefit of a time period enabling them to live through life experiences and they are not permitted to be “young”. Furthermore, these young people and their families often have no social capital. This article shows how can professionals take theses aspects into account in their work with them. [less ▲]

Seasonal variation in month of diagnosis in children with type 1 diabetes registered in 23 European centers during 1989-2008: little short-term influence of sunshine hours or average temperature

in Pediatric Diabetes (2015), 16(8), 573-580

BACKGROUND: The month of diagnosis in childhood type 1 diabetes shows seasonal variation. OBJECTIVE: We describe the pattern and investigate if year-to-year irregularities are associated with ... [more ▼]

BACKGROUND: The month of diagnosis in childhood type 1 diabetes shows seasonal variation. OBJECTIVE: We describe the pattern and investigate if year-to-year irregularities are associated with meteorological factors using data from 50 000 children diagnosed under the age of 15 yr in 23 population-based European registries during 1989-2008. METHODS: Tests for seasonal variation in monthly counts aggregated over the 20 yr period were performed. Time series regression was used to investigate if sunshine hour and average temperature data were predictive of the 240 monthly diagnosis counts after taking account of seasonality and long term trends. RESULTS: Significant sinusoidal pattern was evident in all but two small centers with peaks in November to February and relative amplitudes ranging from ± 11 to ± 38% (median ± 17%). However, most centers showed significant departures from a sinusoidal pattern. Pooling results over centers, there was significant seasonal variation in each age-group at diagnosis, with least seasonal variation in those under 5 yr. Boys showed greater seasonal variation than girls, particularly those aged 10-14 yr. There were no differences in seasonal pattern between four 5-yr sub-periods. Departures from the sinusoidal trend in monthly diagnoses in the period were significantly associated with deviations from the norm in average temperature (0.8% reduction in diagnoses per 1 °C excess) but not with sunshine hours. CONCLUSIONS: Seasonality was consistently apparent throughout the period in all age-groups and both sexes, but girls and the under 5 s showed less marked variation. Neither sunshine hour nor average temperature data contributed in any substantial way to explaining departures from the sinusoidal pattern. [less ▲]