Designing winning robots by careful design of their development process

We present a comprehensive robot development process and its evaluation. We designed this process in the context of a robotics course in high schools. The motivation for designing this new process was improving the robustness and reliability of robots developed by students and preparing students for becoming better designers. The newly designed process proved to be highly successful in designing top quality robots. In the process design, we explored and adapted existing design tools and methods to the specific designers, the nature of the product, the environment, the product needs, and the design context goals. At the end of this thorough design, we selected a synergetic integration of six tools and methods to compose the new comprehensive development process for this product context: conceptual design, fault-tolerant design, atomic requirements, fuzzy logic for control, creative thinking, and microprogramming-based design. The design skills of the students that learned the design process and the performance of robots they designed and participated in an international robotics contest were examined. The high school teams that studied the proposed process won the first places in an international contest. The robots developed by the students had better performance than robots built by engineers and faculty teams. Professional experts rated the robots’ designs as excellent. The students that studied the process demonstrated high level of diverse design skills including creativity and design management capabilities. Additionally, they improved their science subject grades and their attitude toward engineering. Both the results obtained by the study and the authors’ experience in teaching robotics demonstrate that the proposed robot development process could be taught successfully in high school and that it leads to superior robotic products. Our experience also indicates that this process could serve industry design by improving the robustness of robots operating in uncertain environments and supporting fast change management practices.     

A method for measuring small-amplitude waves on a water surface

A device for measuring the water level using a resistive sensor is described. The measurement accuracy is ±0.01 mm. The characteristics of the device and the example of its use for measuring waves on a water surface are presented.     

Compound-specific chlorine isotope analysis: a comparison of gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/quadrupole mass spectrometry methods in an interlaboratory study

Chlorine isotope analysis of chlorinated hydrocarbons like trichloroethylene (TCE) is of emerging demand because these species are important environmental pollutants. Continuous flow analysis of noncombusted TCE molecules, either by gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/IRMS) or by GC/quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC/qMS), was recently brought forward as innovative analytical solution. Despite early implementations, a benchmark for routine applications has been missing. This study systematically compared the performance of GC/qMS versus GC/IRMS in six laboratories involving eight different instruments (GC/IRMS, Isoprime and Thermo MAT-253; GC/qMS, Agilent 5973N, two Agilent 5975C, two Thermo DSQII, and one Thermo DSQI). Calibrations of (37)Cl/(35)Cl instrument data against the international SMOC scale (Standard Mean Ocean Chloride) deviated between instruments and over time. Therefore, at least two calibration standards are required to obtain true differences between samples. Amount dependency of δ(37)Cl was pronounced for some instruments, but could be eliminated by corrections, or by adjusting amplitudes of standards and samples. Precision decreased in the order GC/IRMS (1σ ≈ 0.1‰), to GC/qMS (1σ ≈ 0.2-0.5‰ for Agilent GC/qMS and 1σ ≈ 0.2-0.9‰ for Thermo GC/qMS). Nonetheless, δ(37)Cl values between laboratories showed good agreement when the same external standards were used. These results lend confidence to the methods and may serve as a benchmark for future applications.     

Compensation of irradiation in a wide frequency range

Variants of application of the compensation method in a wide frequency range are considered. The method enables one to reduce the irradiation of a human organism and create a low-intensity field region (dark spot) in the near zone of an antenna. Structures with identical antennas, antennas equally spaced from the compensation point, and antennas with planar reflectors are proposed and analyzed.     

A review of Takayasu's arteritis in children in Gauteng, South Africa

We have reviewed 31 patients with Takayasu's arteritis followed at two pediatric nephrology units in Gauteng, South Africa over a 15-year period. There were 25 black patients, 4 white, and 2 of mixed race. The mean age at diagnosis was 8.42+/-3.59 (range 2.4-14.5, median 8) years. The most common presenting sign was hypertension, followed by cardiac failure, bruits, and absent pulses. The Mantoux test was strongly positive in 27 patients (90%, control population 5%). Markers of activity included a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (23 patients) or Gallium single photon emission tomography (positive in 12 of 16 patients). Angiography revealed type II (abdominal aorta) and III (arch plus abdominal aorta) lesions to be most common (11 in each group). All patients received antituberculous therapy and most low-dose aspirin for its antithromboxane effect. Corticosteroids and further immunosuppression were used to control disease activity. We added total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) or cyclophosphamide. Twenty-six patients in all received further immunosuppression, with 13 patients in each group. Results were similar in the two groups, with similar pre- and posttherapy systolic blood pressures and creatinine clearances. Two patients in each group relapsed, 3 died in the TLI group and 2 in the cyclophosphamide group. Surgical intervention, usually in the quiescent phase, consisted mainly of renal autotransplantation. Because of the problems with TLI and 2 patients with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid with long-term follow-up, we no longer use TLI. We have shown that with active medical and surgical intervention the aggressive course of this disease in children can be modified.     

Poetry in Engineering Education

An important element of integrating disciplines and enhancing creativity in Drexel University's engineering curriculum is an assignment which combines poetry and engineering. For this assignment, students choose an artifact, research it, create a one-page annotated visual explaining how it works, and then write an original poem about it. Although the poetry instruction, based on a transactional model, takes place in the Humanities classroom, student poems become a component of a concurrent engineering assignment and are read aloud in an engineering lecture, attended by humanities faculty, designated as the “Poetry Reading.” Short in length and having a distinct design on the page, poetry is a particularly suitable literary medium for engineering students to explore. Students relinquish stereotypes about engineers when they see their engineering professor endorse poetry. They also begin to broaden their educational and professional goals.     

Suprascapular neuropathy after distal clavicle excision

Two cases of suprascapular neuropathy after excision of the distal clavicle are reported. Both patients were treated successfully with neurolysis of the suprascapular nerve starting at the upper trunk of the brachial plexus. Anatomic dissections revealed that the suprascapular nerve is quite close (<1.4 cm) to the posterior aspect of the distal clavicle, within 2 to 3 cm of the acromioclavicular joint. To avoid the complication of suprascapular neuropathy that could be associated with this close relationship, it is recommended that no more than 1 cm of the distal clavicle be removed posteriorly. It is also recommended that minimal periosteal elevation should be performed on the posteroinferior border of the distal clavicle.     

Academic medical centers and the care of underserved populations

As the number of Americans at risk of being underserved continues to rise, a better understanding of safety-net providers of health care is needed to help ensure continuing care for the underserved. In this article, the authors have begun the process of defining the role of academic medical centers (AMCs) as a group in the care of those persons most at risk of being underserved--the medically indigent and members of minority and poor populations--by quantifying the amount of inpatient care that AMCs provide to these individuals. The study went beyond previous work by using nationally representative sources of data (from 1989 to 1994) and by examining more than one underserved population rather than only the medically indigent. The study focused on AMCs and other hospitals in urban areas and excluded hospitals in rural areas. The detailed findings confirm previous observations that urban AMCs of all types provide a large and disproportionate share of care for the medically indigent and the underserved members of minority and poor populations and that members of these populations constituted the majority of patients cared for in many AMCs in recent years. The findings show that the proportion of patients from underserved groups admitted to all urban hospitals is rising and that this growth is faster among AMCs than other hospitals. The authors comment that AMCs, because of their prominent and historical role in caring for the underserved, have the opportunity to lead efforts to continue such service through innovative approaches to health care and the prevention of illness. Whether AMCs can seize this opportunity when confronted by price competition and government policies that reduce AMCs' capacity to care for the underserved remains to be seen.