Robotic furniture assembly: task abstraction,motion planning,and control

Intelligent Service Robotics - This paper presents a novel framework for the complete assembly of a chair based on assembly instructions. First, the framework utilizes task templates and task...     

Modelling the impacts of grassland to cropland conversion on river flow regimes in Skunk Creek watershed,Upper Midwest United States

Conversion of grassland to cultivated cropland has been linked to downstream alteration of flow regimes. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to construct seven “what if” scenarios for quantifying the impacts of grassland to cropland and vice versa conversion (i.e., replacement of grassland with selected agricultural crops) on river flow regimes in Skunk Creek watershed. The Cropland Data Layer for the year 2011 in conjunction with historical climate data was used to create SWAT models for scenario simulations over 19 years, from 1996 to 2014. The model developed for the historical climate records (baseline) was compared with the scenarios examined using stream flow metrics for a range of flow regimes, including magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing of annual low‐ and high‐flow conditions. The simulation results suggest that grassland conversion to cultivated cropland would generally increase river flows compared with conversion of cultivated cropland to grassland, which may reduce flows in the watershed. Low and moderate flows increased by 2–8% from the baseline scenario with conversion of grass crop and by 1–20% decreases with crop–grass conversion. High flows increased by 3–7% and decreased by 1–18% when grass is converted to crop and crop to grass, respectively. The analysis also suggests that grassland establishment may attenuate the peaks of prolonged small floods and shorter but earlier large floods.     

Top Interface Engineering of Flexible Oxide Thin‐Film Transistors by Splitting Active Layer

The effect of active layer (amorphous indium–gallium–zinc oxide, a‐IGZO) splitting on the performances of back‐channel‐etched (BCE) and etch‐stopper (ES) thin‐film transistors (TFTs) on polyimide substrate is studied. While the performance of BCE TFT is independent of active layer splitting, the performance of ES TFT is improved significantly by splitting the active layer into 2–4 µm width along the channel. The saturation mobility is enhanced from 24.3 to 76.8 cm² V^?1 s^?1 and this improvement is confirmed by the operation of a ring oscillator made of the split TFTs also. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the split a‐IGZO indicates the incorporation of F at the island interface and thus improves the top interface quality, leading to a significant improvement of the top channel TFT mobility from 0.25 to 24.22 cm² V^?1 s^?1. This improvement is correlated with bonding of In with F at the top interface according to XPS results. The bias stability, hysteresis, and mechanical stability of the ES a‐IGZO TFT are also remarkably improved by splitting a‐IGZO active layer.     

Magnetism in dopant-free ZnO nanoplates

It is known that bulk ZnO is a nonmagnetic material. However, the electronic band structure of ZnO is severely distorted when the ZnO is in the shape of a very thin plate with its dimension along the c-axis reduced to a few nanometers while keeping the bulk scale sizes in the other two dimensions. We found that the chemically synthesized ZnO nanoplates exhibit magnetism even at room temperature. First-principles calculations show a growing asymmetry in the spin distribution within the distorted bands formed from Zn (3d) and O (2p) orbitals with the reduction of thickness of the ZnO nanoplates, which is suggested to be responsible for the observed magnetism. In contrast, reducing the dimension along the a- or b-axes of a ZnO crystal does not yield any magnetism for ZnO nanowires that grow along c-axis, suggesting that the internal electric field produced by the large {0001} polar surfaces of the nanoplates may be responsible for the distorted electronic band structures of thin ZnO nanoplates.     

Formation of amino-imidazo-azaarenes and carbolines in fried beef patties and chicken breasts under different cooking conditions in Korea

The effect of cooking temperature and time on amino-imidazo-azaarenes (AIAs) and carbolines in fried ground beef patties and chicken breast under different cooking conditions in Korea was evaluated. Beef patties were fried at different temperatures (150, 180, and 230°C) for 4, 8, 12, and 16 min per each side and then the amount of AIAs and carbolines was evaluated by solid-phase extraction and HPLC-MS analysis. In fried ground beef patties, formations of 9H-pyrido [3,4-b]indole (Norharman) and 1-methyl-9H-pyrido [3,4-b]indole (Harman) were dramatically increased at 230°C for 16 min. Concentrations of Norhanrman and Harman formed at 230°C for 16 min/side were 12 and 40 times greater than level those of Norharman formed at same cooking condition. In fried chicken breasts, 2-amino-3,7,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoxaline (7,8-DiMeIQx) and 2-amino-3,4,7,8-tetramethylimidazo[ 4,5-f]quinoxaline (Tri-MeIQx) were not found at 150 and 180°C. Norhanrman formed at 230°C for 16 min was approximately 4 times higher than fried chicken breasts at 180°C. These results suggest that increase of cooking temperature and time was directly affected on AIAs and carbolines formation in Korean cooked meat.     

Influence of extra virgin olive oil on the formation of heterocyclic amines in roasted beef steak

In this study, heterocyclic anime (HCA) contents were monitored in commonly consumed pan-fried beefsteak based on the highest level of human exposure. Effect of addition of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on HCAs formation in fried beef steaks was evaluated. After EVOO was spread on the meat surface, the raw beef was cooked at 200°C for 5 min on each side. The HCAs were extracted from the meat samples and purified using a solid-phase extraction method and then analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Among the 15 HCAs, 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido-[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-1), 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido [4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2), 9H-pyrido [3,4-b]indole (Norharman), 1-methyl-9H-pyrido [3, 4-b]indole (Harman), 2-amino-9H-pyrido [2,3-b]indole (AαC), 2-amino-3-methyl-9H-pyrido [2,3-b]indole (MeAαC), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f]-quinoxaline (MeIQx), and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]-pyridine (PhIP) were detected in all of the cooked beefsteaks. HCAs formation was significantly reduced (p<0.05) when the EVOO was added to the beef prior to cooking. The addition of 2 and 4 g of EVOO considerably inhibited HCAs formation in the fried beefsteak. However, adding excess amounts of EVOO promoted some HCAs formation.     

A Spatial Access-Oriented Implementation of a 3-D GIS Topological Data Model for Urban Entities

3-D analysis in GIS is still one of the most challenging topics for research. With the goal being to model possible movement within the built environment, this paper, therefore, proposes a new approach to handling connectivity relationships among 3-D objects in urban environments in order to implement spatial access analyses in 3-D space. To achieve this goal, this paper introduces a 3-D network data model called the geometric network model (GNM), which has been developed by transforming the combinatorial data model (CDM), representing a connectivity relationship among 3-D objects using a dual graph. For the transformation, this paper presents (1) an O(n ²) algorithm for computing a straight medial axis transformation (MAT), (2) the processes for transforming phenomena from 3-D CDM to 3-D GNM, and (3) spatial access algorithms for the 3-D geometric network based upon the Dijkstra algorithm. Using the reconstructed geometric network generated from the transformations, spatial queries based upon the complex connectivity relationships between 3-D urban entities are implemented using Dijkstra algorithm. Finally, the paper presents the results of an experimental implementation of a 3-D network data model (GNM) using GIS data of an area in downtown Columbus, Ohio.     

Switchable Polar Nanotexture in Nanolaminates HfO2-ZrO2 for Ultrafast Logic-in-Memory Operations

Nontrivial topological polar textures in ferroelectric materials, including vortices, skyrmions, and others, have the potential to develop ultrafast, high-density, reliable multilevel memory storage and conceptually innovative processing units, even beyond the limit of binary storage of 180° aligned polar materials. However, the realization of switchable polar textures at room temperature in ferroelectric materials integrated directly into silicon using a straightforward large area fabrication technique and effectively utilizing it to design multilevel programable memory and processing units has not yet been demonstrated. Here, utilizing vector piezoresponse force and conductive atomic force microscopy, microscopic evidence of the electric field switchable polar nanotexture is provided at room temperature in HfO₂-ZrO₂ nanolaminates grown directly onto silicon using an atomic layer deposition technique. Additionally, a two-terminal Au/nanolaminates/Si ferroelectric tunnel junction is designed, which shows ultrafast (≈83 ns) nonvolatile multilevel current switching with high on/off ratio (>10⁶), long-term durability (>4000 s), and giant tunnel electroresistance (10⁸%). Furthermore, 14 Boolean logic operations are tested utilizing a single device as a proof-of-concept for reconfigurable logic-in-memory processing. The results offer a potential approach to “processing with polar textures” and addressing the challenges of developing high-performance multilevel in-memory processing technology by virtue of its fundamentally distinct mechanism of operation.