Motion Control of Mobile Robots—From Static Targets to Fast Drives in Moving Crowds

Motion control of vehicles under uncertain, noisy, and discontinuous positioning is essential in autonomous navigation in unknown environments. This article suggests two methods for motion control, where the initial parameters of the on-line control are physically explainable, the resulting trajectory as well as the control parameters are asymptotically converging and glitches in the localization are handled robustly. The differences to a known method based on Lyapunov functions are discussed theoretically as well as in terms of actual motion measurements. Physical experiments with landbound vehicles show the reliability and limitations of these different methods in setups employing static attractors, systematically moving targets and fast, unpredictable moving targets in highly dynamical environments. Mainly due to the physical meaning of the control parameters the adaptation to actual kinematics and dynamics is significantly simplified.     

The Forgotten “Old-Darwinian” Synthesis: The Evolutionary Theory of Ludwig H. Plate (1862–1937)

The German zoologist and geneticist Ludwig Plate was a pupil and successor of the “German Darwin” Ernst Haeckel as the director of the Institute of Zoology at Jena University. Plate campaigned for a revival of the original Darwinism. His research program, which he labelled “old-Darwinism”, proclaimed the synthesis of selectionism with “moderate Lamarckism” and orthogenesis.This article reconstructs and analyses Plate’s “old-Darwinian” synthesis and sheds light on Plate’s controversial biography, especially his conflict with Haeckel. Our research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HO 2143/5–2).     

Untersuchungen zum Kristallabbau bei der Reduktion von Wüstit

Reduktionsversuche an auf Eisen aufoxydiertem Wüstit mit Kohlenmonoxid-Kohlendioxid-Stickstoff- und Wasserstoff-Wasserdampf-Stickstoff-Gasgemischen. Mikroskopische Beobachtung der anreduzierten Wüstitoberfläche. Beeinflussung der Reduktion durch die Oberflächentopographie des Wüstits. Analogie der Wüstitreduktion unter gleichgewichtsnahen Bedingungen zur Kristallverdampfung.     

Glucose quantification in dried-down nanoliter samples using mid-infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy

The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of minimally invasive glucose concentration measurement of a body fluid within the physiologically important range below 100 nL with a number of samples such as interstitial fluid, plasma, or whole blood using mid-infrared spectroscopy, but starting with preliminary measurements on samples of simple aqueous glucose solutions. The Fourier transform infrared spectrometer was equipped with a Golden Gate single reflection diamond attenuated total reflection (ATR) accessory and a room-temperature pyroelectric detector. As the necessary detection limits can be achieved only for dried samples within the spectrometric conditions realized by a commercial instrument, the work focused on the optimization of such ATR measurements. We achieved quantification of samples with volumes as low as 7 nL between 10 and 600 mg/dL. The standard error of prediction (SEP) for the concentration range 10-100 mg/dL is 3.2 mg/dL with full interval data between 1180 and 940 cm(-1). The performance of the prediction is given by a coefficient of variation of prediction (CV(pred) ) of 6.2%. When all samples within the whole concentration range are included, the SEP increases to 20.2 mg/dL, and hence the CV(pred) to 10.6% due to a nonlinear signal dependence on glucose concentration. A detection limit for glucose of 0.7 ng with a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 was obtained.     

Zweiphasige Mischungen aus Polyamid 6 und Polyäthylen

Polymer blends of polyamide 6 and polyethylene are obtained by application of high shearing forces to the two component polymer melt. No formation of block and of graft copolymers occurs. The polymer blend consists of two separate and mutually incompatible phases of both components, determining its bulk properties. To improve the compatibility of both polymers, experiments were performed to graft polyamide 6 onto polyethylene. It could be shown that polyethylene modified with maleic anhydride was especially suited for this purpose. Polyamide 6 chains could be grafted onto this modified polyethylene by anionic polymerization. The mechanical properties of a mixture of the graft copolymer with polyamide 6 are significantly better than those of a mere polyamide-6-polyethylene blend. This improvement is attributed to a greater homogenity of the two phase mixture if the graft copolymer is added.     

Theoretical calculations and performance results of a PZT thin film actuator

High piezoelectric coupling coefficients of PZT-based material systems can be employed for actuator functions in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) offering displacements and forces which outperform standard solutions. This paper presents simulation, fabrication, and development results of a stress-compensated, PZT-coated cantilever concept in which a silicon bulk micromachining process is used in combination with a chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique. Due to an analytical approach and a finite element method (FEM) simulation for a tip displacement of 10 /spl mu/m, the actuator was designed with a cantilever length of 300 /spl mu/m to 1000 /spl mu/m. Special attention was given to the Zr/Ti ratio of the PZT thin films to obtain a high piezoelectric coefficient. For first characterizations X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hysteresis-, current-voltage I(V)and capacitance-voltage C(V)-measurements were carried out.     

Indirect measuring of crack growth by means of a key-curve-method in pre-cracked Charpy specimens made of nodular cast iron

The determination of dynamic crack resistance curves from single specimen fracture tests requires information about the crack advance during the experiment. Here, attention is focused on crack resistance curves for nodular cast iron based on experimental data from instrumented Charpy tests. In order to estimate the actual crack length a key curve method (KCM) is employed. On the other hand, the Charpy impact tests were realized numerically using finite element calculations in conjunction with a continuum damage model (CDM) to simulate ductile crack growth. The parameters of the CDM model were determined from the experimental data of single specimen fracture tests. Equivalence between the experimental and the numerical realization of a fracture test was ensured by validating the predictions of the numerical simulations by means of low blow fracture tests. Comparison between the crack advance predicted by the numerical simulations and the results obtained using the proposed KCM shows a sufficiently well agreement with the actual crack length. Furthermore, crack resistance curves obtained from single specimen tests using either standard estimation schemes in conjunction with the KCM or numerical simulations are compared with the predictions based on low blow fracture tests.     

Systematic pattern selection using pattern language grammars and design space analysis

Software patterns provide reusable solutions to recurring design problems in a particular context. The software architect or designer must find the relevant patterns and pattern languages that need to be considered, and select the appropriate patterns, as well as the best order to apply them. If the patterns and pattern languages are written by multiple pattern authors, it might be necessary to identify interdependencies and overlaps between these patterns and pattern languages first. Out of the possible multitude of patterns and pattern combinations that might provide a solution to a particular design problem, one fitting solution must be selected. This can only be mastered with a sufficient expertise for both the relevant patterns and the domain in which they are applied. To remedy these issues we provide an approach to support the selection of patterns based on desired quality attributes and systematic design decisions based on patterns. We propose to formalize the pattern relationships in a pattern language grammar and to annotate the grammar with effects on quality goals. In a second step, complex design decisions are analyzed further using the design spaces covered by a set of related software patterns. This approach helps to systematically find and categorize the appropriate software patterns—possibly even from different sources. As a case study of our approach, we analyze patterns from a pattern language for distributed object middleware. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.