A Planning Framework for Non-Prehensile Manipulation under Clutter and Uncertainty

Robotic manipulation systems suffer from two main problems in unstructured human environments: uncertainty and clutter. We introduce a planning framework addressing these two issues. The framework plans rearrangement of clutter using non-prehensile actions, such as pushing. Pushing actions are also used to manipulate object pose uncertainty. The framework uses an action library that is derived analytically from the mechanics of pushing and is provably conservative. The framework reduces the problem to one of combinatorial search, and demonstrates planning times on the order of seconds. With the extra functionality, our planner succeeds where traditional grasp planners fail, and works under high uncertainty by utilizing the funneling effect of pushing. We demonstrate our results with experiments in simulation and on HERB, a robotic platform developed at the Personal Robotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.     

Samarium Ion-Doped Maghemite Nanoparticles: Synthesis,Microstructural, Optical,and Magnetic Characterizations

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - This paper reports the effects of rare-earth Sm3+ ion substitution on structural, optical, electronic, and magnetic responses of maghemite...     

An adaptive penalty function-based maximin desirability index for close tolerance multiple-response optimization problems

Simultaneous optimization of multiple-quality characteristics and determining the process settings is a critical and difficult task for practitioners. Such types of problems are generally referred to as “multiple-response optimization” problems. To handle high-dimensional multiple-response problems, a popular strategy, using desirability functions, is recommended by various researchers. Various types of desirability index functions are recommended to convert multiple scale-free desirability measures to a single composite desirability (or single objective) value. Thus, the objective is then to maximize the single composite desirability for a specific problem. In this paper, a new adaptive penalty function-based “maximin” desirability index is proposed, which provide superior solution as compared to existing maximin approach, for close (or tight) engineering tolerances of response characteristics. The superiority was proved based on statistical comparison using varied case situations and different swarm intelligent search strategies.     

Sintered 434L ferritic stainless steel-Al2O3 particulate composites containing phosphorus

Sintering of 434£ ferritic stainless steel powder compacts containing 0-8 volume %

cx-AI20 a (1 J.1m size) and 0-4 weight % phosphorus in the form of either FesP or Fe2P was carried out in the temperature range 1150°C-1300°C, and the resultant densification parameters, ultimate compressive strengths and hardnesses were measured. The results reveal that temperatures of 1150°C and 1200°C produced liquid-phase sintering when phosphorus was added in the form of FeaP. With Fe2P additions, a higher sintering temperature of 1300°C densified the composites, and an increase in the phosphorus content to 3% uniformly enhanced the sintered properties: The presence of Al20 a particles at an optimum level only improved the properties of the liquid-phase sintered composites.     

Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 211

The evaluated spectroscopic data are presented for 11 known nuclides of mass 211 (Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Po, At, Rn, Fr, Ra, Ac, Th). The ²¹¹Pa nuclide is included here but its identification remains uncertain. For ²¹¹Hg, ²¹¹Tl, ²¹¹Ac and ²¹¹Th nuclei, only the ground–state information is available. Their decay characteristics are mostly unknown. ²¹¹Fr is suggested to decay partially through ε decay mode, but its decay scheme remains poorly known. While high–spin excitations, including several isomers, are well studied in ²¹¹Pb, ²¹¹Bi, ²¹¹Po, ²¹¹At, ²¹¹Rn and ²¹¹Fr, the particle–transfer data are available for only ²¹¹Po and ²¹¹Bi.This evaluation was carried out as part of joint IAEA–ICTP workshop for Nuclear Structure and Decay Data, organized and hosted by the IAEA, Vienna and ICTP, Trieste, August 6–17, 2012. This work supersedes previous A=211 evaluation (2004Br45) published by E. Browne which covered literature before January 2003.     

印度东部钛磁铁矿的氧化行为和相分析

钛磁铁矿是一种复杂的共生矿石,含有钛铁矿、磁铁矿、铁铝尖晶石和镁铁铝尖晶石等矿物。对从印度东部采集到的钛磁铁矿石进行XRD、WDXRF、SEM和M？ssbauer谱分析。在氧气气氛下,通过TG-DTA分析对矿石的氧化行为进行研究。随后,在氧气和空气气氛下,将样品在不同温度下（873-1473 K）保温不同时间,进行等温氧化实验。观察到在较低的温度下钛铁矿相转变为赤铁矿、氧化钛,而在较高的温度下转变为钛酸亚铁相。将氧化后的矿样与焦炭混合压制成圆柱形球团,在1473 K下进行直接还原,成功地实现了将磁铁矿铁转变为氧化铁和二氧化钛的相变。     

Pulse Reverse Electrodeposition of Cu-SiC Nanocomposite Coating: Effects of Surfactants and Deposition Parameters

Cu-SiC nanocomposite coatings have been deposited from an aqueous sulfate electrolyte using the technique of pulse reverse electrodeposition both in the absence and presence of three different types of surfactants, anionic, cationic, or nonionic. The effects of different electrodeposition parameters on some properties of the coatings have been studied. In all cases, it has been observed that the surface roughness, hardness, and resistivity increase with the increase in cathodic current density. However, they have been observed to decrease with the increase in anodic current density and the anodic current time. The variation in the amount of incorporated reinforcement with different deposition parameters has been observed to be dependent on the nature of the surfactant used. In the presence of cationic and nonionic surfactant, a noticeable increase in the amount of incorporated reinforcement and hardness has been observed. Samples prepared under higher anodic current density have been observed to possess lower stress, but intense texture. An increase in cathodic current density has been observed to decrease the extent of texturing.     

First-principles study of CaCu3B4O12 (B=Co, Rh, Ir)

Employing first-principles density functional theory based calculations we investigated the change in electronic structure of CaCu₃B₄O₁₂ compounds as one moves from 3d (Co) to 4d (Rh) to 5d (Ir) element at B site. Our study sheds light on valences of Cu and B ions as one moves from 3d to 4d to 5d based compounds. The valence of Cu in Co and Rh compound turn out to be that of less known 3+ state, while that in Ir compound turn out to be commonly known 2+ state. Our first-principles study provide microscopic understanding of these different valences of Cu, in terms of changes in the mixing of Cu x ² − y ² and B-a _1g states, driven by changes in the crystal field and spin splitting. The stronger crystal field splitting for 4d and 5d elements compared to 3d at B site drive the low-spin state at Rh and Ir site as opposed to intermediate spin in case of Co.     

Essential oil nanoemulsions: antibacterial activity in contaminated fruit juices

Many human acid tolerant bacterial and fungal pathogens can be transmitted through the consumption of the contaminated fruit juices. We aim to formulate essential oil nanoemulsions (basil, black seed, turmeric, clove & cinnamon), determine their ability to clear contamination by food borne bacterial pathogens from fruit juices. The antibacterial activity of the optimised formulations was tested in the fruit juices against bacterial pathogens causing gastrointestinal tract infections. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of clove emulsions ranged from 15.6 to 25 μL mL⁻¹. Cinnamon oil emulsion had an MBC ranging between 15 and 31 μL mL⁻¹. At MBC, cinnamon oil emulsions caused a 6log₁₀ decrease in viable counts by 8 h and maintained the sterility of fruit juices for 7 days at ambient temperature. Thus, clove and cinnamon microemulsions can be used as juice additives to control food borne bacterial pathogens and maintain the bacterial sterility of fruit juices.     

Probing the influence of superhydrophobicity and mixed wettability on droplet displacement behavior

The importance of fundamental understanding of droplet dynamics and the concomitant implications of wall wettability are critical in the emergent science and technology areas including digital microfluidics and clean energy conversion. In this work, mesoscopic illustration, based on the two-phase lattice Boltzmann model, of droplet dynamics in a microchannel is presented in order to unveil the role of superhydrophobicity and mixed wettability. The impact of critical physicochemical determinants, including capillary number and droplet size, is explored in the context of droplet–wettability interactions. Temporal evolution of wetted length and wetted area for a combination of wettability scenarios is furnished in detail in order to elucidate the droplet displacement dynamics. Capillary number plays an important role with disparate droplet behavioral patterns stemming from superhydrophobic and mixed-wet wall characteristics.