Detection of fluid level in bores for batch size one assembly automation using convolutional neural network

in Advances in Production Management Systems. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable and Resilient Production Systems. (2021, August 31), 632

Increased customization and shortening product life cycles pose a challenge for automation, especially in assembly. In combination with the nature of assembly tasks, which may require high level of ... [more ▼]

Increased customization and shortening product life cycles pose a challenge for automation, especially in assembly. In combination with the nature of assembly tasks, which may require high level of perception, skill, and logical thinking, these tasks are often conducted manually, especially in certain industries (e.g. furniture, power tools) or small and medium-sized enterprises. One of such tasks is the liquid level monitoring in gluing processes. Existing non-manual solutions are based on conventional and less flexible algorithms to detect the current liquid level. In production environments with highly individualized products, a need for more performant models arises. With artificial intelligence (AI) it is possible to deduct decisions from unknown multidimensional correlations in sensor data, which is a key enabler for assembly automation for products with high degree of customization. In this paper, an AI-based model is proposed to automate a gluing process in a final assembly. Images of a gluing process are taken with a camera and a convolutional neural network is used to extract images features. The features are applied to train a support vector machine classifier to identify the liquid level. The developed model is tested and validated with a Monte-Carlo-simulation and used on a demonstrator to automate a gluing process. The developed model classifies images of liquid levels with over 98% accuracy. Similar results are achieved on the demonstrator. [less ▲]

Functional meta-omics provide critical insights into long- and short-read assemblies

in Briefings in Bioinformatics (2021)

Real-world evaluations of metagenomic reconstructions are challenged by distinguishing reconstruction artifacts from genes and proteins present in situ. Here, we evaluate short-read-only, long-read-only ... [more ▼]

Real-world evaluations of metagenomic reconstructions are challenged by distinguishing reconstruction artifacts from genes and proteins present in situ. Here, we evaluate short-read-only, long-read-only and hybrid assembly approaches on four different metagenomic samples of varying complexity. We demonstrate how different assembly approaches affect gene and protein inference, which is particularly relevant for downstream functional analyses. For a human gut microbiome sample, we use complementary metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic data to assess the metagenomic data-based protein predictions. Our findings pave the way for critical assessments of metagenomic reconstructions. We propose a reference-independent solution, which exploits the synergistic effects of multi-omic data integration for the in situ study of microbiomes using long-read sequencing data. [less ▲]

Beyond the pandemic: Shaping of futures in (even more?) diverse educational settings - Critical discussion of contributions of invited symposium SIG 21

Scientific Conference (2021, August 27)

Looking at SIG 21’s mission statement, the diversity of learning and education (which is / was ?) a granted element in educational research, seems to hail from a post/past century, where not everyone was ... [more ▼]

Looking at SIG 21’s mission statement, the diversity of learning and education (which is / was ?) a granted element in educational research, seems to hail from a post/past century, where not everyone was doing learningonline, remotely via the same tools and devices (i.e. zoom, etc.) Therefore, we wonder ifthe diversity still can be looked at in similar ways, and if so, which other ways of looking at the « new normal » should be developed, both from a practical, empirical research point of view, but also from a theoretical and epistemic perspective, underlying new research (or research into the new normal).Following this first line of thought, which questions could determine future research into education, educational settings and learning as such? This seems of particular interest, as the current ways of looking into education are heavily biased by concerns of technological infrastructure, investment and structural fitness (i.e., teachers as appexperts, networks, online setups, disregarding actual learners). Moreover, other ways of looking into formerly accepted « groups » (i.e., gender, age, background) seem to fall apart and disintegrate, making the issue of heterogeneity even more challenging to grapple with. Finally, when looking at the landscape of educational contexts and their societal anchorage at large (i.e., learning settings, formal/informal settings, mobility, development of professionals …) one aspect seems of particular interest: Is there learning in and from the actual situation ? How sustainable are the developments? Which perspectives can be drawn beyond the short term? [less ▲]

New Estimates of Inequality of Opportunity Across European Cohorts (and Some Insights on the Long-term Impact of Educational Policy)

Scientific Conference (2021, August 25)

This paper provides a set of new estimates of inequality of opportunity (IOp) in Europe, using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Condition (EU-SILC). Unlike previous research, we estimate ... [more ▼]

This paper provides a set of new estimates of inequality of opportunity (IOp) in Europe, using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Condition (EU-SILC). Unlike previous research, we estimate inequality of opportunity within birth cohorts, which we argue is the most appropriate population level for inequality of opportunity analysis. Most IOp measures require estimation of the conditional distribution of the outcome of interest given circumstances. With multiple circumstances and the sample sizes available in EU-SILC, we use distribution regression methods combined with local kernel weighting and show how these can be used to estimate a large set of IOp measures. Endowed with cohort-level estimates of IOp, we finally examine the relationship between educational policy variables measured at the time of parental education and offspring generation inequality of opportunity in adulthood. We find a negative relationship between the duration of compulsory education of the parents and IOp among offspring, but the relationship is not very strong. [less ▲]

Role of higher-order effects in spin-misalignment small-angle neutron scattering of high-pressure torsion nickel

in Physical Review Materials (2021), 5

Distribution of kinks in an Ising ferromagnet after annealing and the generalized Kibble-Zurek mechanism

in Physical Review Research (2021)

We consider the annealing dynamics of a one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet induced by a temperature quench in finite time. In the limit of slow cooling, the asymptotic two-point correlator is analytically ... [more ▼]

We consider the annealing dynamics of a one-dimensional Ising ferromagnet induced by a temperature quench in finite time. In the limit of slow cooling, the asymptotic two-point correlator is analytically found under Glauber dynamics, and the distribution of the number of kinks in the final state is shown to be consistent with a Poissonian distribution. The mean kink number, the variance, and the third centered moment take the same value and obey a universal power-law scaling with the quench time in which the temperature is varied. The universal power-law scaling of cumulants is corroborated by numerical simulations based on Glauber dynamics for moderate cooling times away from the asymptotic limit, when the kink-number distribution takes a binomial form. We analyze the relation of these results to physics beyond the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for critical dynamics, using the kink-number distribution to assess adiabaticity and its breakdown.We consider linear, nonlinear, and exponential cooling schedules, among which the last provides the most efficient shortcuts to cooling in a given quench time. The nonthermal behavior of the final state is established by considering the trace norm distance to a canonical Gibbs state. [less ▲]

„Raum für Mehrsprachigkeit geben!“

in Die Grundschulzeitschrift (2021)

Autour des possessions luxembourgeoises dans le comté de Hainaut sous le règne de Jean, roi de Bohême et comte de Luxembourg (1310-1346)

Scientific Conference (2021, August 20)

The purpose of this contribution is to open what appeared at first sight to be a small dossier, devoted to the heritage held in the county of Hainaut for several decades at the beginning of the 14th ... [more ▼]

The purpose of this contribution is to open what appeared at first sight to be a small dossier, devoted to the heritage held in the county of Hainaut for several decades at the beginning of the 14th century between 1304 and 1343, and even afterwards, by the counts of the Luxembourg dynasty (Henry VII and his son John the Blind, King of Bohemia), of which I have presented the main items and the interest that their study (and publication) could bring. This file is interesting in more than one way: It is- on the Luxembourg side at least, little known - even if important documents have been published and available for a long time - these 'outlying' possessions have not been much taken into consideration by researchers working on the territorialisation of the principality or on the 'finances' of John of Bohemia. It also concerns a period during which documentary writing developed in the management of the possessions of the principalities of the Low Countries - including, of course, Hainaut (in union with Zealand Holland), which has been very well studied by Valeria Van Camp. In Luxembourg, a first cartulary, currently called liber foeodorum, was drawn up in 1308-1309, and subsequently completed; a second in 1343, and also a censary (or Urbar) noting the revenues of the various components of the possessions of the Luxembourgs by provostship, land, and castellany in the years 1306-1317, subsequently completed in the years 1322-1327. This file raises questions about the practical management of such possessions, which were quite remote, beyond the administrative organisation of the county. [less ▲]

Optimal Motion Planning and Control with Safety Guarantees for Aerial Robots

Doctoral thesis (2021)

Autonomous aerial robots are expected to revolutionize many industries, such as construction, transportation or even space exploration. However, to target an industry where different robots and humans are ... [more ▼]

Autonomous aerial robots are expected to revolutionize many industries, such as construction, transportation or even space exploration. However, to target an industry where different robots and humans are meant to share the same space our algorithms need to provide safety and efficiency guarantees. Navigating autonomously in these kind of environments poses a great challenge. We may face a significant number of obstacles, and we can only estimate where they are and where they are expected to be, but not exactly. Dealing with these uncertainties is a challenging problem in most robotics applications, including motion planning and control. During the last decade, major contributions have established the theoretical basis upon which optimal motion planning and control with safety guarantees can be achieved. However, they involve a high computational cost that scales exponentially with the number of obstacles, rendering a limited domain of robotic applications. The main contribution of this thesis provides an efficient, scalable and safe approximation to this problem, allowing its application to embedded systems with fast dynamics such as aerial robots. This thesis also includes an additional contribution that allow these methods to plan longer trajectories with a minimal computational footprint, allowing to better anticipate evasive maneuvers. These contributions have been validated mathematically, in simulation and in real-time operation on aerial robots, handling uncertain dynamic obstacles such as pedestrians. [less ▲]

National and transnational family and friendship networks and their role for subjective well-being of older migrants compared to non-migrants in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2021, August 18)

Creating new bonds in the receiving country constitutes an important developmental task for migrants. Nonetheless, migrants often have smaller social networks in the receiving countries compared to non ... [more ▼]

Creating new bonds in the receiving country constitutes an important developmental task for migrants. Nonetheless, migrants often have smaller social networks in the receiving countries compared to non-migrants, while they stay connected with left behind family members in their countries of origin. The role of transnational ties can thereby be twofold – on the one hand, transnational relations might provide support for migrants from a distance, on the other hand feelings of loneliness might arise when network partners are living far away. The present study is part of the project PAN-VAL on active ageing in Luxembourg, financed by the Ministry of Family and Integration, which focusses on social embeddedness vs. social isolation of migrants and non-migrants living in the multicultural context of Luxembourg. A national sample of N=1000 migrants and non-migrants 50+ living in Luxembourg were asked about their family and friendship networks, their satisfaction with family, friends and life as a whole as well as their feelings of loneliness. Further, N = 20 qualitative interviews with older migrants and non-migrants in four selected municipalities were carried out to explore social networks in more depth. First analyses revealed smaller national family and friendship networks of migrants compared to non-migrants and people with double nationality, whereas migrants reported more transnational bonds. Migrants also reported a lower satisfaction with family and friendship networks compared to non-migrants and people with double nationality, whereas no differences were found between migrants and non-migrants with regard to feelings of loneliness. However, people with double nationality felt less lonely compared to both other groups. Results will be discussed in a life-span perspective, considering the role of national family and friendship networks to create a sense belonging as a fundamental need of human beings. [less ▲]