MOBSY: Integration of vision and dialogue in service robots

Abstract. This contribution introduces MOBSY, a fully integrated, autonomous mobile service robot system. It acts as an automatic dialogue-based receptionist for visitors to our institute. MOBSY incorporates many techniques from different research areas into one working stand-alone system. The techniques involved range from computer vision over speech understanding to classical robotics. Along with the two main aspects of vision and speech, we also focus on the integration aspect, both on the methodological and on the technical level. We describe the task and the techniques involved. Finally, we discuss the experiences that we gained with MOBSY during a live performance at our institute.     

延长测井电缆使用寿命的方法探讨

由于对测井电缆机械性能缺乏了解,使用不规范,使测井电缆使用寿命降低.通过对测井电缆结构、制造工艺进行分析,进一步掌握其性能,提出通过正确安装、使用前需进行稳定化处理、在使用中注意控制起下速度、日常清洁润滑、定期对电缆进行维护保养等方法维持铠装层正常状态,减少层间摩擦力,不扭曲,缆芯通断良好等方法,从而延长电缆的使用寿命.     

温度应力、自收缩对高性能混凝土早期开裂的影响

根据高性混凝土的水化特性、物理力学特性及自收缩特性，分析了高性能混凝土早期开裂机理和影响早期开裂的主要因素．并结合工程实例，借助混凝土温度和应力有限元仿真计算方法分析研究了表面适度保温和水管冷却技术在高性能混凝土温控防裂中的应用效果．研究结果表明，表面适度保温与水管冷却相结合能有效降低混凝土的内外温差，减小混凝土早期表面拉应力与后期内部拉应力，防裂效果明显，对类似的工程具有借鉴作用．     

圆盘锯机性能提升途径

圆盘锯机在线材厂投入使用时不能满足生产的需要：锯切周期太长，锯片使用性能差，经过对设备进行技术改造和对设备操作规程进行优化，以及在操作上加强管理，使之关键指标大幅度提升，为圆盘锯机的使用改善提供了新的思路。     

Hydrothermal Reaction Mechanism and Pathway for the Formation of K2Ti6O13 Nanowires

Calculations and detailed first principle and thermodynamic analyses have been performed to understand the formation mechanism of K₂Ti₆O₁₃ nanowires (NWs) by a hydrothermal reaction between bulk Na₂Ti₃O₇ crystals and a KOH solution. It is found that direct ion exchange between K⁺ and Na⁺ plus H⁺ interactions with [TiO₆] octahedra in Na₂Ti₃O₇ promote the formation of an intermediate H₂K₂Ti₆O₁₄ phase. The large lattice mismatch between this intermediate phase and the bulk Na₂Ti₃O₇ structure, and the large energy reduction associated with the formation of this intermediate phase, drive the splitting of the bulk crystal into H₂K₂Ti₆O₁₄ NWs. However, these NWs are not stable because of large [TiO₆] octahedra distortion and are subject to a dehydration process, which results in uniform K₂Ti₆O₁₃ NWs with narrowly distributed diameters of around 10 nm.     

A highly efficient novel azimuthal heliotrope

A new type of a single-axis azimuthal tracker is presented. The novel feature of this tracker is the ability to move the collector’s plane in two directions through a special support structure. This structure consists of a sliding mechanism on the central axis and a curved window on the cylindrical surface coaxial to the central axis. Consequently, the proposed novel heliotrope behaves similarly to a two-axis tracker. Two different windows designed on the cylindrical surface may be used to provide very high efficiencies throughout a year. Several performance measurements have been conducted on this novel tracker, a polar tracker and the reference two-axis tracker. Pyranometers, appropriately calibrated, were installed on all three systems to record the global incoming irradiance on the collector’s plane. It is shown that the new tracker system can be very efficient since its plane intercepts, at least, 98% of the insolation with respect to a two-axis tracker. The proposed system can be utilized in solar-related applications (photovoltaic or thermal).     

Finite sample properties of estimators of spatial autoregressive models with autoregressive disturbances

The article investigates the finite sample properties of estimators for spatial autoregressive models where the disturbance terms may follow a spatial autoregressive process. In particular we investigate the finite sample behavior of the feasible generalized spatial two-stage least squares (FGS2SLS) estimator introduced by Kelejian and Prucha (1998), the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator, as well as that of several other estimators. We find that the FGS2SLS estimator is virtually as efficient as the ML estimator. This is important because the ML estimator is computationally burdensome, and may even be forbidding in large samples, while the FGS2SLS estimator remains computationally feasible in large samples. Received: 20 January 2001 / Accepted: 31 August 2001     

Highly oriented star-like patterns observed on GaSe epilayers grown on Si(111)

Epitaxial lamellar gallium selenide (GaSe) semiconductors have been grown on trench-patterned silicon (Si) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. An intriguing star-like patterned morphology was identified by atomic force microscopy on these epilayers. This non-trivial feature can be correlated with the accumulation of stacking faults of two concurrent epitaxial domains around self-oriented triangular pits developed earlier on the Si(111) surface by the chemical etching. Crystallographic considerations show how the stars can be formed.     

Results of a User Study on 2D Hurricane Visualization

We present the results from a user study looking at the ability of observers to mentally integrate wind direction and magnitude over a vector field. The data set chosen for the study is an MM5 (PSU/NCAR Mesoscale Model) simulation of Hurricane Lili over the Gulf of Mexico as it approaches the southeastern United States. Nine observers participated in the study. This study investigates the effect of layering on the observer's ability to determine the magnitude and direction of a vector field. We found a tendency for observers to underestimate the magnitude of the vectors and a counter‐clockwise bias when determining the average direction of a vector field. We completed an additional study with two observers to try to uncover the source of the counter‐clockwise bias. These results have direct implications to atmospheric scientists, but may also be able to be applied to other fields that use 2D vector fields.