On the Mitchell similarity measure and its application to pattern recognition

This paper is a response to the similarity measure and pattern recognition problem of Mitchell that was published in Pattern Recognition Letters, 2003. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we reviewed and revised her computation for similarity measures. Second, we proved that the similarity values for the one-norm should be larger than that for the two-norm for her pattern recognition problem. Third, we proposed a more scattered similarity measure to help researchers determine patterns. Our findings may shed light on the ongoing debate between Li and Cheng, 2002, Mitchell, 2003.     

Drivers of change in groundwater resources: a case study of the Indian Punjab

Indian Punjab, a strategically important region from India’s national food security standpoint, is increasingly the focus of attention for academics and policymakers because of serious concerns about over-exploitation of its groundwater resources. Currently, policy makers and agricultural researchers/scientists in India are in a fix to prescribe an alternative, probably more sustainable, crop-mix to farmers that can save water while maintaining farm incomes. Using primary data from 120 farmers, this paper evaluates the current situation of groundwater resources in Punjab, and outlines the major socio-economic factors that have a significant association with the change in the groundwater depth in this region. General ANOVA regression results suggest that groundwater depth varied significantly with respect to agro-climatic regions, crop diversity, and farmer education. Crop diversity had an inverse relationship with groundwater depth whereas the association between farmer education and groundwater depth was non-linear although in the case of Gurdaspur, they showed a direct relationship. In the central zone of Indian Punjab, groundwater level on 92% of the farms had depleted by more than 0.60 m annually between 2000 and 2010, while the current state of groundwater resources in the other two regions was not so serious and are manageable for the time being. However, if the existing policy framework for groundwater resources in the state, which allows the state government to release 0.11 million more connections to farmers, putting much pressure not only on the groundwater resources but also burdening the state exchequer, continues, Punjab may end up losing all its groundwater resources for ever. Considering this alarming situation, one-fifth of the farmers surveyd agreed to delay the sowing of rice by another 2 weeks i.e. up to 30 June which could save the fast depleting groundwater resources in Punjab.     

Arduino-based slider setup for gas–liquid mass transfer investigations: Experiments and CFD simulations

The implementation of traditional sensors is a drawback when investigating mass transfer phenomena within microstructured devices, since they disturb the flow and reactor characteristics. An Arduino based slider setup is developed, which is equipped with a computer-vision system to track gas–liquid slug flow. This setup is combined with an optical analytical method allowing to compare experimental results against CFD simulations and investigate the entire lifetime of a single liquid slug with high spatial and temporal resolution. Volumetric mass transfer coefficients are measured and compared with data from literature and the mass transfer contribution of the liquid film is discussed.     

Increasing the Level of Automation in the Forestry Logging Process with Crane Trajectory Planning and Control

Working with forestry machines requires a great deal of training to be sufficiently skilled to operate forestry cranes. In view of this, it would be desirable within the forestry industry to introduce automated motions, such as those seen in robotic arms, to shorten the training time and make the work of the operator easier. Motivated by this fact, we have developed two experimental platforms for testing control systems and motion‐planning algorithms in real time. They correspond to a laboratory setup and a commercial version of a hydraulic manipulator used in forwarder machines. The aim of this article is to present the results of this development by providing an overview of our trajectory‐planning algorithm and motion‐control method, with a subsequent view of the experimental results. For motion control, we design feedback controllers that are able to track reference trajectories based on sensor measurements. Likewise, we provide arguments to design controllers in an open‐loop for machines that lack sensing devices. Relying on the tracking efficiency of these controllers, we design time‐efficient reference trajectories of motions that correspond to logging tasks. To demonstrate performance, we provide an overview of extensive testing done on these machines.