TORP: The Open Robot Project

The development of robots has shown itself as a very complex interdisciplinary research field. The predominant procedure for these developments in the last decades is based on the assumption that each robot is a fully personalized project, with the direct embedding of hardware and software technologies in robot parts with no level of abstraction. Although this methodology has brought countless benefits to the robotics research, on the other hand, it has imposed major drawbacks: (i) the difficulty to reuse hardware and software parts in new robots or new versions; (ii) the difficulty to compare performance of different robots parts; and (iii) the difficulty to adapt development needs—in hardware and software levels—to local groups expertise. Large advances might be reached, for example, if physical parts of a robot could be reused in a different robot constructed with other technologies by other researcher or group. This paper proposes a framework for robots, TORP (The Open Robot Project), that aims to put forward a standardization in all dimensions (electrical, mechanical and computational) of a robot shared development model. This architecture is based on the dissociation between the robot and its parts, and between the robot parts and their technologies. In this paper, the first specification for a TORP family and the first humanoid robot constructed following the TORP specification set are presented, as well as the advances proposed for their improvement.     

Interactive Visual and Postvisual Processes and Their Roles in Form-Specific Memory.

Effects of depth of encoding on form-specific memory were examined. After viewing words (e.g., "bear") presented centrally during initial encoding, participants completed word stems (e.g., "BEA") presented laterally and pattern masked during subsequent test. When the encoding task was perceptual, letter-case specific memory was not observed, unlike in previous experiments without pattern masking. However, when the encoding task required both perceptual and conceptual processing, letter-case specific memory was observed in direct right-hemisphere, but not in direct left-hemisphere, test presentations, like in previous studies without pattern masking. Results were not influenced by whether stems were completed to form the first words that came to mind or words explicitly retrieved from encoding. Depth of encoding may influence form-specific memory through interactive processing of visual and postvisual information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Narrowband to broadband conversions of land surface albedo: II. Validation

In the first paper of this series, we developed narrowband to broadband albedo conversion formulae for a series of sensors. These formulae were determined based on extensive radiative transfer simulations under different surface and atmospheric conditions. However, it is important to validate the simulation results using independent measurement data. In this paper, the validation results for three broadband albedos (total-shortwave, -visible and -near-IR albedos) using ground measurement of several cover types on five different days at Beltsville, MD are presented. Results show that the conversion formulae in the previous paper are very accurate and the average residual standard errors of the resulting broadband albedos for most sensors are around 0.02, which meets the required accuracy for land surface modeling.     

High‐efficiency phosphorescent OLED technology

Abstract— Universal Display Corp. (UDC), together with its academic partners at Princeton University and the University of Southern California, are developing high‐efficiency electrophosphorescent small‐molecule OLED devices, based on triplet emission. These device systems show good lifetimes, and are well suited for the commercialization of low‐power‐consumption full‐color active‐matrix OLED displays. In this paper we also show how these phosphorescent devices may be driven by low‐cost amorphous‐silicon backplanes, and discuss benefits that could be gained by employing bistable OLED pixels.     

Watermark-Induced High-Density Via Failures in Submicron CMOS Fabrication (May 2006)

High via resistance was detected in the high-density via structure in our 0.15-mum back-end-of-line (BEOL) yield monitoring test vehicle. A localized insulating layer was found on top of the plug in test vehicle causing high via resistance. The failure was attributed to watermark-induced contaminants on top of the W plug. It was shown that the failure could be avoided by eliminating watermark formation on the wafer in the post-chemical-mechanical polishing scrub process.     

Refractory metal-intermetallic in-situ composites for aircraft engines

There has been substantial progress in the development of properties in high-temperature in-situ composites during the last five years. For example, fracture-toughness values in excess of 20 MPa √m have been reported in silicide-based composites toughened by niobium-based metallic solid solutions. These composites also have oxidation resistances and rupture lives comparable to those of single-crystal superalloys for temperatures up to 1,150°C. In this article, fracture toughness, oxidation characteristics, high-temperature mechanical behavior, and low-temperature fatigue properties of refractory metal-intermetallic composites (RMICs) are described and compared to air-craft-engine fundamental material property goals for the next millennium. Further avenues toward the pursuit of these goals are outlined. Author’s Note: All compositions are presented in atomic percent. B.P. Bewlay earned his Ph.D. in metallurgy and materials science at Oxford University in 1987. He is currently a metallurgist at General Electric Corporate R&D. Dr. Bewlay is also a member of TMS. J.J. Lewandowski earned his Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering and materials science at Carnegie Mellon University in 1983. He is currently director of the Mechanical Characterization Facility and professor of materials science and engineering at Case Western University. Dr. Lewandowski is also a member of TMS. M.R. Jackson earned his Ph.D. in metallurgy and materials engineering at Lehigh University in 1971. He is currently a metallurgist at General Electric Corporate R&D. Dr. Jackson is also a member of TMS.     

Air-Liquid-Interface Differentiated Human Nose Epithelium: A Robust Primary Tissue Culture Model of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

The global urgency to uncover medical countermeasures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has revealed an unmet need for robust tissue culture models that faithfully recapitulate key features of human tissues and disease. Infection of the nose is considered the dominant initial site for SARS-CoV-2 infection and models that replicate this entry portal offer the greatest potential for examining and demonstrating the effectiveness of countermeasures designed to prevent or manage this highly communicable disease. Here, we test an air–liquid-interface (ALI) differentiated human nasal epithelium (HNE) culture system as a model of authentic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Progenitor cells (basal cells) were isolated from nasal turbinate brushings, expanded under conditionally reprogrammed cell (CRC) culture conditions and differentiated at ALI. Differentiated cells were inoculated with different SARS-CoV-2 clinical isolates. Infectious virus release into apical washes was determined by TCID₅₀, while infected cells were visualized by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. We demonstrate robust, reproducible SARS-CoV-2 infection of ALI-HNE established from different donors. Viral entry and release occurred from the apical surface, and infection was primarily observed in ciliated cells. In contrast to the ancestral clinical isolate, the Delta variant caused considerable cell damage. Successful establishment of ALI-HNE is donor dependent. ALI-HNE recapitulate key features of human SARS-CoV-2 infection of the nose and can serve as a pre-clinical model without the need for invasive collection of human respiratory tissue samples.     

Structural load mitigation control for wind turbines: A new performance measure

Structural loads of wind turbines are becoming critical because of the growing size of wind turbines in combination with the required dynamic output demands. Wind turbine tower and blades are therefore affected by structural loads. To mitigate the loads while maintaining other desired conditions such as the optimization of power generated or the regulation of rotor speed, advanced control schemes have been developed during the last decade. However, conflict and trade‐off between structural load reduction capacity of the controllers and other goals arise; when trying to reduce the structural loads, the power production or regulation performance may be also reduced. Suitable measures are needed when designing controllers to evaluate the control performance with respect to the conflicting control goals. Existing measures for structural loads only consider the loads without referring to the relationship between loads and other control performance aspects. In this contribution, the conflicts are clearly defined and expressed to evaluate the effectiveness of control methods by introducing novel measures. New measures considering structural loads, power production, and regulation to prove the control performance and to formulate criteria for controller design are proposed. The proposed measures allow graphical illustration and numerical criteria describing conflicting control goals and the relationship between goals. Two control approaches for wind turbines, PI and observer‐based state feedback, are defined and used to illustrate and to compare the newly introduced measures. The results are obtained by simulation using Fatigue, Aerodynamics, Structures, and Turbulence (FAST) tool, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA.     

Imaging attributes of railway track formation and ballast using ground probing radar

Trial pitting and portable ballast samplers currently provide one means of assessing and monitoring the composition of railway track formations. A technique has been sought in which the lateral continuity of properties observed in these pits and cores can be assessed quickly with a view to characterising sections of the formation or ballast. The technique that is being developed by IMC Geophysics Ltd., in association with Scott Wilson Pavement Engineering, uses Ground Probing Radar (GPR) technology to image attributes of the formation and ballast. Trials have demonstrated that significant horizons can be imaged and that character changes along those horizons can be correlated with quality or structural variations. At sites where the ballast is relatively clean the interface between ballast and subgrade has been clearly imaged. In particular, changes in the quality of the image have correlated well with marked changes observed in trial pits, and with significant changes in track geometry records. From a combination of trial pits, cores, track geometry records and GPR it should be possible to improve the economics of track maintenance.