EVALUATION OF DYNAMIC INDICATORS OF SIX-AXLE LOCOMOTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Myamlin

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The paper is devoted to dynamic characteristics evaluation of the locomotive with prospective design and determination the feasibility of its use on the Ukrainian railways. Methodology. The methods of mathematical and computer modeling of the dynamics of railway vehicles, as well as methods for the numerical integration of systems of ordinary nonlinear differential equations were used to solve the problem. Findings. The calculated diagram of a locomotive on three-axle bogies was built to solve the problem, and it is a system of rigid bodies connected by various elements of rheology. The mathematical model of the locomotive movement, allowing studying its spatial vibrations at driving on straight and curved sections of the track with random irregularities in plan and profile was developed with use of this calculated diagram. At compiling the mathematical model took into account both geometric (nonlinearity profile of the wheel roll surface and physical nonlinearity of the system (the work forces of dry friction, nonlinearity characteristics of interaction forces between wheels and rails. The multivariate calculations, which allowed assessing the dynamic qualities of the locomotive at its movement along straight and curved sections of the track, were realized with the use of computer modeling. The smoothness movement indicators of the locomotive in horizontal and vertical planes, frame strength, coefficients of vertical dynamics in the first and second stages of the suspension, the load factor of resistance against the derailment of the wheel from the rail were determined at the period of research. In addition, a comparison of the obtained results with similar characteristics is widely used on the Ukrainian railways in six-axle locomotive TE 116. The influence of speed and technical state of the track on the locomotive traffic safety was determined.Originality. A mathematical model of the spatial movement of a six-axle locomotive with

Research on Standard and Automatic Judgment of Press-fit Curve of Locomotive Wheel-set Based on AAR Standard

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jun; Xiao, Jun; Gao, Dong Jun; Zong, Shu Yu; Li, Zhu

2018-03-01

In the production of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) locomotive wheel-set, the press-fit curve is the most important basis for the reliability of wheel-set assembly. In the past, Most of production enterprises mainly use artificial detection methods to determine the quality of assembly. There are cases of miscarriage of justice appear. For this reason, the research on the standard is carried out. And the automatic judgment of press-fit curve is analysed and designed, so as to provide guidance for the locomotive wheel-set production based on AAR standard.

Advanced robot locomotion.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neely, Jason C.; Sturgis, Beverly Rainwater; Byrne, Raymond Harry; Feddema, John Todd; Spletzer, Barry Louis; Rose, Scott E.; Novick, David Keith; Wilson, David Gerald; Buerger, Stephen P.

2007-01-01

This report contains the results of a research effort on advanced robot locomotion. The majority of this work focuses on walking robots. Walking robot applications include delivery of special payloads to unique locations that require human locomotion to exo-skeleton human assistance applications. A walking robot could step over obstacles and move through narrow openings that a wheeled or tracked vehicle could not overcome. It could pick up and manipulate objects in ways that a standard robot gripper could not. Most importantly, a walking robot would be able to rapidly perform these tasks through an intuitive user interface that mimics natural human motion. The largest obstacle arises in emulating stability and balance control naturally present in humans but needed for bipedal locomotion in a robot. A tracked robot is bulky and limited, but a wide wheel base assures passive stability. Human bipedal motion is so common that it is taken for granted, but bipedal motion requires active balance and stability control for which the analysis is non-trivial. This report contains an extensive literature study on the state-of-the-art of legged robotics, and it additionally provides the analysis, simulation, and hardware verification of two variants of a proto-type leg design.

System Design and Locomotion of Superball, an Untethered Tensegrity Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Sabelhaus, Andrew P.; Bruce, Jonathan; Caluwaerts, Ken; Manovi, Pavlo; Firoozi, Roya Fallah; Dobi, Sarah; Agogino, Alice M.; Sunspiral, Vytas

2015-01-01

The Spherical Underactuated Planetary Exploration Robot ball (SUPERball) is an ongoing project within NASA Ames Research Center's Intelligent Robotics Group and the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab (DTRL). The current SUPERball is the first full prototype of this tensegrity robot platform, eventually destined for space exploration missions. This work, building on prior published discussions of individual components, presents the fully-constructed robot. Various design improvements are discussed, as well as testing results of the sensors and actuators that illustrate system performance. Basic low-level motor position controls are implemented and validated against sensor data, which show SUPERball to be uniquely suited for highly dynamic state trajectory tracking. Finally, SUPERball is shown in a simple example of locomotion. This implementation of a basic motion primitive shows SUPERball in untethered control.

The New Era of Virtual Reality Locomotion: A Systematic Literature Review of Techniques and a Proposed Typology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costas Boletsis

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The latest technical and interaction advancements that took place in the Virtual Reality (VR field have marked a new era, not only for VR, but also for VR locomotion. Although the latest advancements in VR locomotion have raised the interest of both researchers and users in analyzing and experiencing current VR locomotion techniques, the field of research on VR locomotion, in its new era, is still uncharted. In this work, VR locomotion is explored through a systematic literature review investigating empirical studies of VR locomotion techniques from 2014–2017. The review analyzes the VR locomotion techniques that have been studied, their interaction-related characteristics and the research topics that were addressed in these studies. Thirty-six articles were identified as relevant to the literature review, and the analysis of the articles resulted in 73 instances of 11 VR locomotion techniques, such as real-walking, walking-in-place, point and teleport, joystick-based locomotion, and more. Results showed that since the VR revival, the focus of VR locomotion research has been on VR technology and various technological aspects, overshadowing the investigation of user experience. From an interaction perspective, the majority of the utilized and studied VR locomotion techniques were found to be based on physical interaction, exploiting physical motion cues for navigation in VR environments. A significant contribution of the literature review lies in the proposed typology for VR locomotion, introducing four distinct VR locomotion types: motion-based, room scale-based, controller-based and teleportation-based locomotion.

A neurorobotic platform for locomotor prosthetic development in rats and mice

Science.gov (United States)

von Zitzewitz, Joachim; Asboth, Leonie; Fumeaux, Nicolas; Hasse, Alexander; Baud, Laetitia; Vallery, Heike; Courtine, Grégoire

2016-04-01

Objectives. We aimed to develop a robotic interface capable of providing finely-tuned, multidirectional trunk assistance adjusted in real-time during unconstrained locomotion in rats and mice. Approach. We interfaced a large-scale robotic structure actuated in four degrees of freedom to exchangeable attachment modules exhibiting selective compliance along distinct directions. This combination allowed high-precision force and torque control in multiple directions over a large workspace. We next designed a neurorobotic platform wherein real-time kinematics and physiological signals directly adjust robotic actuation and prosthetic actions. We tested the performance of this platform in both rats and mice with spinal cord injury. Main Results. Kinematic analyses showed that the robotic interface did not impede locomotor movements of lightweight mice that walked freely along paths with changing directions and height profiles. Personalized trunk assistance instantly enabled coordinated locomotion in mice and rats with severe hindlimb motor deficits. Closed-loop control of robotic actuation based on ongoing movement features enabled real-time control of electromyographic activity in anti-gravity muscles during locomotion. Significance. This neurorobotic platform will support the study of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of locomotor prosthetics and rehabilitation using high-resolution genetic tools in rodent models.

Problems of locomotive wheel wear in fleet replacement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.P. Lingaytis

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To conduct a research and find out the causes of defects appearing on the wheel thread of freight locomotives 2М62 and SIEMENS ER20CF. Methodology. To find the ways to solve this problem comparing the locomotive designs and their operating conditions. Findings. After examining the nature of the wheel wear the main difference was found: in locomotives of the 2M62 line wears the wheel flange, and in the locomotives SIEMENS ER20CF – the tread surface. After installation on the 2M62 locomotive the lubrication system of flanges their wear rate significantly decreased. On the new freight locomotives SIEMENS ER20CF the flange lubrication systems of the wheel set have been already installed at the factory, however the wheel thread is wearing. As for locomotives 2M62, and on locomotives SIEMENS ER20CF most wear profile skating wheels of the first wheel set. On both locomotive lines the 2М62 and the SIEMENS ER20CF the tread profile of the first wheel set most of all is subject to the wear. After reaching the 170 000 km run, the tread surface of some wheels begins to crumble. There was a suspicion that the reason for crumb formation of the wheel surface may be insufficient or excessive wheel hardness or its chemical composition. In order to confirm or deny this suspicion the following studies were conducted: the examination of the rim surface, the study of the wheel metal hardness and the document analysis of the wheel production and their comparison with the results of wheel hardness measurement. Practical value. The technical condition of locomotives is one of the bases of safety and reliability of the rolling stock. The reduction of the wheel wear significantly reduces the operating costs of railway transport. After study completion it was found that there was no evidence to suggest that the ratio of the wheel-rail hardness could be the cause of the wheel surface crumbling.

Small animal radiotherapy research platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Verhaegen, Frank; Granton, Patrick [Department of Radiation Oncology (MAASTRO), GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht 6201 BN (Netherlands); Tryggestad, Erik, E-mail: frank.verhaegen@maastro.nl [Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21231 (United States)

2011-06-21

Advances in conformal radiation therapy and advancements in pre-clinical radiotherapy research have recently stimulated the development of precise micro-irradiators for small animals such as mice and rats. These devices are often kilovolt x-ray radiation sources combined with high-resolution CT imaging equipment for image guidance, as the latter allows precise and accurate beam positioning. This is similar to modern human radiotherapy practice. These devices are considered a major step forward compared to the current standard of animal experimentation in cancer radiobiology research. The availability of this novel equipment enables a wide variety of pre-clinical experiments on the synergy of radiation with other therapies, complex radiation schemes, sub-target boost studies, hypofractionated radiotherapy, contrast-enhanced radiotherapy and studies of relative biological effectiveness, to name just a few examples. In this review we discuss the required irradiation and imaging capabilities of small animal radiation research platforms. We describe the need for improved small animal radiotherapy research and highlight pioneering efforts, some of which led recently to commercially available prototypes. From this, it will be clear that much further development is still needed, on both the irradiation side and imaging side. We discuss at length the need for improved treatment planning tools for small animal platforms, and the current lack of a standard therein. Finally, we mention some recent experimental work using the early animal radiation research platforms, and the potential they offer for advancing radiobiology research. (topical review)

Small animal radiotherapy research platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Verhaegen, Frank; Granton, Patrick; Tryggestad, Erik

2011-06-01

Advances in conformal radiation therapy and advancements in pre-clinical radiotherapy research have recently stimulated the development of precise micro-irradiators for small animals such as mice and rats. These devices are often kilovolt x-ray radiation sources combined with high-resolution CT imaging equipment for image guidance, as the latter allows precise and accurate beam positioning. This is similar to modern human radiotherapy practice. These devices are considered a major step forward compared to the current standard of animal experimentation in cancer radiobiology research. The availability of this novel equipment enables a wide variety of pre-clinical experiments on the synergy of radiation with other therapies, complex radiation schemes, sub-target boost studies, hypofractionated radiotherapy, contrast-enhanced radiotherapy and studies of relative biological effectiveness, to name just a few examples. In this review we discuss the required irradiation and imaging capabilities of small animal radiation research platforms. We describe the need for improved small animal radiotherapy research and highlight pioneering efforts, some of which led recently to commercially available prototypes. From this, it will be clear that much further development is still needed, on both the irradiation side and imaging side. We discuss at length the need for improved treatment planning tools for small animal platforms, and the current lack of a standard therein. Finally, we mention some recent experimental work using the early animal radiation research platforms, and the potential they offer for advancing radiobiology research.

Small animal radiotherapy research platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verhaegen, Frank; Granton, Patrick; Tryggestad, Erik

2011-01-01

Advances in conformal radiation therapy and advancements in pre-clinical radiotherapy research have recently stimulated the development of precise micro-irradiators for small animals such as mice and rats. These devices are often kilovolt x-ray radiation sources combined with high-resolution CT imaging equipment for image guidance, as the latter allows precise and accurate beam positioning. This is similar to modern human radiotherapy practice. These devices are considered a major step forward compared to the current standard of animal experimentation in cancer radiobiology research. The availability of this novel equipment enables a wide variety of pre-clinical experiments on the synergy of radiation with other therapies, complex radiation schemes, sub-target boost studies, hypofractionated radiotherapy, contrast-enhanced radiotherapy and studies of relative biological effectiveness, to name just a few examples. In this review we discuss the required irradiation and imaging capabilities of small animal radiation research platforms. We describe the need for improved small animal radiotherapy research and highlight pioneering efforts, some of which led recently to commercially available prototypes. From this, it will be clear that much further development is still needed, on both the irradiation side and imaging side. We discuss at length the need for improved treatment planning tools for small animal platforms, and the current lack of a standard therein. Finally, we mention some recent experimental work using the early animal radiation research platforms, and the potential they offer for advancing radiobiology research. (topical review)

INFORMATION-MEASURING TEST SYSTEM OF DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Zhukovytskyy

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article describes the process of developing the information-measuring test system of diesel locomotives hydraulic transmission, which gives the possibility to obtain baseline data to conduct further studies for the determination of the technical condition of diesel locomotives hydraulic transmission. The improvement of factory technology of post-repair tests of hydraulic transmissions by automating the existing hydraulic transmission test stands according to the specifications of the diesel locomotive repair enterprises was analyzed. It is achieved based on a detailed review of existing foreign information-measuring test systems for hydraulic transmission of diesel locomotives, BelAZ earthmover, aircraft tug, slag car, truck, BelAZ wheel dozer, some brands of tractors, etc. The problem for creation the information-measuring test systems for diesel locomotive hydraulic transmission is being solved, starting in the first place from the possibility of automation of the existing test stand of diesel locomotives hydraulic transmission at Dnipropetrovsk Diesel Locomotive Repair Plant "Promteplovoz". Methodology. In the work the researchers proposed the method to create a microprocessor automated system of diesel locomotives hydraulic transmission stand testing in the locomotive plant conditions. It acts by justifying the selection of the necessary sensors, as well as the application of the necessary hardware and software for information-measuring systems. Findings. Based on the conducted analysis there was grounded the necessity of improvement the plant hydraulic transmission stand testing by creating a microprocessor testing system, supported by the experience of developing such systems abroad. Further research should be aimed to improve the accuracy and frequency of data collection by adopting the more modern and reliable sensors in tandem with the use of filtering software for electromagnetic and other interference. Originality. The

Numerical simulation of human biped locomotion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishiguro, Misako; Fujisaki, Masahide

1988-04-01

This report describes the numerical simulation of the motion of human-like robot which is one of the research theme of human acts simulation program (HASP) begun at the Computing Center of JAERI in 1987. The purpose of the theme is to model the human motion using robotics kinematic/kinetic equations and to get the joint angles as the solution. As the first trial, we treat the biped locomotion (walking) which is the most fundamental human motion. We implemented a computer program on FACOM M-780 computer, where the program is originated from the book of M. Vukobratovic in Yugoslavia, and made a graphic program to draw a walking shot sequence. Mainly described here are the mathematical model of the biped locomotion, implementation method of the computer program, input data for basic walking pattern, computed results and its validation, and graphic representation of human walking image. Literature survey on robotics equation and biped locomotion is also included. (author)

40 CFR 92.707 - Notification to locomotive or locomotive engine owners.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... the nonconformity of any such locomotives or locomotive engines which have been, if required by the... affected by the remedy and a general statement of the measures to be taken to correct the nonconformity. (5) A description of the adverse effects, if any, that an uncorrected nonconformity would have on the...

DESIGN IMPROVEMENT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE RUNNING GEARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Myamlin

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To determine the dynamic qualities of the mainline freight locomotives characterizing the safe motion in tangent and curved track sections at all operational speeds, one needs a whole set of studies, which includes a selection of the design scheme, development of the corresponding mathematical model of the locomotive spatial fluctuations, construction of the computer calculation program, conducting of the theoretical and then experimental studies of the new designs. In this case, one should compare the results with existing designs. One of the necessary conditions for the qualitative improvement of the traction rolling stock is to define the parameters of its running gears. Among the issues related to this problem, an important place is occupied by the task of determining the locomotive dynamic properties on the stage of projection, taking into account the selected technical solutions in the running gear design. Methodology. The mathematical modeling studies are carried out by the numerical integration method of the dynamic loading for the mainline locomotive using the software package «Dynamics of Rail Vehicles » («DYNRAIL». Findings. As a result of research for the improvement of locomotive running gear design it can be seen that the creation of the modern locomotive requires from engineers and scientists the realization of scientific and technical solutions. The solutions enhancing design speed with simultaneous improvement of the traction, braking and dynamic qualities to provide a simple and reliable design, especially the running gear, reducing the costs for maintenance and repair, low initial cost and operating costs for the whole service life, high traction force when starting, which is as close as possible to the ultimate force of adhesion, the ability to work in multiple traction mode and sufficient design speed. Practical Value. The generalization of theoretical, scientific and methodological, experimental studies aimed

Researching intimacy through social media: A cross-platform approach

OpenAIRE

Miguel, C

2016-01-01

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of how to study the way people build intimacy and manage privacy through social media interaction. It explores the research design and methodology of a research project based on a multi-sited case study composed of three different social media platforms: Badoo, CouchSurfing, and Facebook. This cross-platform approach is useful to observe how intimacy is often negotiated across different platforms. The research project focuses on the cities of...

Researching intimacy through social media: A cross-platform approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Miguel

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of how to study the way people build intimacy and manage privacy through social media interaction. It explores the research design and methodology of a research project based on a multi-sited case study composed of three different social media platforms: Badoo, CouchSurfing, and Facebook. This cross-platform approach is useful to observe how intimacy is often negotiated across different platforms. The research project focuses on the cities of Leeds (UK and Barcelona (Spain. In particular, this article discusses the methods used to recruit participants and collect data for that study - namely, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and user profiles analysis. This cross-platform approach and multi-method research design is helpful to investigate the nature of intimacy practices facilitated by social media at several levels: online/offline, across different platforms, among different types of relationships, within both new and existing relationships, and in different locations

49 CFR 210.9 - Movement of a noise defective locomotive, rail car, or consist of a locomotive and rail cars.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Movement of a noise defective locomotive, rail car, or consist of a locomotive and rail cars. 210.9 Section 210.9 Transportation Other Regulations... locomotive, rail car, or consist of a locomotive and rail cars. A locomotive, rail car, or consist of a...

Reconcile: A Coreference Resolution Research Platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stoyanov, V; Cardie, C; Gilbert, N; Riloff, E; Buttler, D; Hysom, D

2009-10-29

Despite the availability of standard data sets and metrics, approaches to the problem of noun phrase coreference resolution are hard to compare empirically due to the different evaluation setting stemming, in part, from the lack of comprehensive coreference resolution research platforms. In this tech report we present Reconcile, a coreference resolution research platform that aims to facilitate the implementation of new approaches to coreference resolution as well as the comparison of existing approaches. We discuss Reconcile's architecture and give results of running Reconcile on six data sets using four evaluation metrics, showing that Reconcile's performance is comparable to state-of-the-art systems in coreference resolution.

49 CFR 238.223 - Locomotive fuel tanks.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Locomotive fuel tanks. 238.223 Section 238.223... Equipment § 238.223 Locomotive fuel tanks. Locomotive fuel tanks shall comply with either the following or....21: (a) External fuel tanks. External locomotive fuel tanks shall comply with the requirements...

49 CFR 229.121 - Locomotive cab noise.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Locomotive cab noise. 229.121 Section 229.121... § 229.121 Locomotive cab noise. (a) Performance standards for locomotives. (1) When tested for static noise in accordance with paragraph (a)(3) of this section, all locomotives of each design or model that...

The noise factor in railway locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotter, T

1982-09-01

This article concerns the problem of acoustic work conditions on railway locomotives. The objective results of sonometric surveys in locomotive cabins are compared with subject data received from locomotive crews obtained by means of a specific questionnaire 'The Subjective Estimation of Noise'. The analysis touched 9 type of locomotives; steam, diesel and electric engines. We asked drivers of different age groups and with varying lengths of professional service for their opinions The aim of the investigation was to determine the following points: 1. to analyse the drivers' subjective estimation of the noise in the locomotive cabins; 2. to define length of time for which the driver remains under the influence of the noise after finishing work; 3. to investigate the question of perception and understanding of sounds and vocal signals used in the locomotive. These problems are a small part of the general plan to improve work conditions on the Polish National Railways.

Test requirements of locomotive fuel tank blunt impact tests

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-15

The Federal Railroad Administrations Office of Research : and Development is conducting research into passenger : locomotive fuel tank crashworthiness. A series of impact tests : are planned to measure fuel tank deformation under two types : of dy...

Control method for biped locomotion robots based on ZMP information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kume, Etsuo

1994-01-01

The Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP) started as a ten year program of Computing and Information Systems Center (CISC) at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) in 1987. A mechanical design study of biped locomotion robots for patrol and inspection in nuclear facilities is being performed as an item of the research scope. One of the goals of our research is to design a biped locomotion robot for practical use in nuclear facilities. So far, we have been studying for several dynamic walking patterns. In conventional control methods for biped locomotion robots, the program control is used based on preset walking patterns, so it dose not have the robustness such as a dynamic change of walking pattern. Therefore, a real-time control method based on dynamic information of the robot states is necessary for the high performance of walking. In this study a new control method based on Zero Moment Point (ZMP) information is proposed as one of real-time control methods. The proposed method is discussed and validated based on the numerical simulation. (author)

[Job stress in locomotive attendants in a locomotive depot and related influencing factors].

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, L; Jia, X C; Lu, F; Zhou, W H; Chen, R

2017-10-20

Objective: To investigate the current status of job stress in locomotive attendants in a locomotive depot and related influencing factors. Methods: From 2012 to 2013, cluster sampling was used to select 1500 locomotive attendants in a locomotive depot in Zhengzhou Railway Bureau as respondents.The contents of the investigation included general data and occupational information.A job satisfaction questionnaire was used to investigate the degree of satisfaction, a depression scale was used to investigate the frequency of symptoms, and a daily stress scale was used to investigate the frequency of fatigue and stress. Results: There was a significant difference in depression score between locomotive attendants with different ages, working years, degrees of education, working situations of spouse, total monthly family incomes, numbers of times of attendanceat night, monthly numbers of times of attendance,ormonthly attendance times( P job satisfaction score between locomotive attendants with different ages,working years, degrees of education, working situations of spouse, total monthly family incomes, numbers of times of attendance at night, monthly attendance times,or ways to work( P job satisfaction( β =1.546)and monthly number of times of attendance,working years,attendance time at night,and degree of education were negatively correlated with job satisfaction( β =-0.185,-0.097,-0.020,and -1.106); monthly number of times of attendance andcommute time were positively correlated with depression( β =0.243 and 0.029); attendance time at night,working situation of spouse,commute time,monthly number of times of attendance,degree of education,and working years were positively correlated with daily stress( β =0.006,0.473,0.010,0.043,0.585, and 0.028). Conclusion: Number of times of attendance, attendance time,working years,and spouse are influencing factors for job stress in locomotive attendants. Improvement in work process and care for their personal life help to reduce

Research of Snow-Melt Process on a Heated Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasilyev Gregory P.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article has shown the results of experimental researches of the snow-melt on a heated platform-near building heat-pump snow-melt platform. The near-building (yard heat pump platforms for snow melt with the area up to 10-15 m2 are a basis of the new ideology of organization of the street cleaning of Moscow from snow in the winter period which supposes the creation in the megalopolis of the «distributed snow-melt system» (DSMS using non-traditional energy sources. The results of natural experimental researches are presented for the estimation of efficiency of application in the climatic conditions of Moscow of heat pumps in the snow-melt systems. The researches were conducted on a model sample of the near-building heat-pump platform which uses the low-potential thermal energy of atmospheric air. The conducted researches have confirmed experimentally in the natural conditions the possibility and efficiency of using of atmospheric air as a source of low-potential thermal energy for evaporation of the snow-melt heat pump systems in the climatic conditions of Moscow. The results of laboratory researches of snow-melt process on a heated horizontal platform are presented. The researches have revealed a considerable dependence of efficiency of the snow-melt process on its piling mode (form-building and the organization of the process of its piling mode (form-building and the organization of the process of its (snow mass heat exchange with the surface of the heated platform. In the process of researches the effect of formation of an «ice dome» under the melting snow mass called by the fact that in case of the thickness of snow loaded on the platform more than 10 cm the water formed from the melting snow while the contact with the heating surface don’t spread on it, but soaks into the snow, wets it due to capillary effect and freezes. The formation of «ice dome» leads to a sharp increase of snow-melt period and decreases the operating

Creating a platform for collaborative genomic research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Smithson

2017-04-01

The developed genomics informatics platform provides a step-change in this type of genetic research, accelerating reproducible collaborative research across multiple disparate organisations and data sources, of varying type and complexity.

Full-scale locomotive dynamic collision testing and correlations : offset collisions between a locomotive and a covered hopper car (test 4).

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

This report presents the test results and finite element correlations of a full-scale dynamic collision test with rail vehicles as part of the Federal Railroad Administrations research program on improved crashworthiness of locomotive structures. ...

Bioinspired template-based control of legged locomotion

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Sharbafi, Maziar

2018-01-01

cient and robust locomotion is a crucial condition for the more extensive use of legged robots in real world applications. In that respect, robots can learn from animals, if the principles underlying locomotion in biological legged systems can be transferred to their artificial counterparts. However, legged locomotion in biological systems is a complex and not fully understood problem. A great progress to simplify understanding locomotion dynamics and control was made by introducing simple mo...

Locomotive monitoring system using wireless sensor networks

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Croucamp, PL

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Theft of cables used for powering a locomotive not only stops the train from functioning but also paralyzes the signalling and monitoring system. This means that information on certain locomotive's cannot be passed onto other locomotives which may...

PROSPECTS OF THE PRIVATE LOCOMOTIVES USAGE FOR GOODS TRAFFIC IN THE DIRECTION OF SEA PORTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. M. Kozachenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. At the present time, Ukraine's mainline railway transport is entirely in state ownership. Ukraine has undertaken to implement the European Union Directives providing of non-discriminatory access to the railway infrastructure of independent carriers. A considerable quantity of options significantly affects the working conditions of carriers that do not depend on Ukrzaliznytsia. One of the tasks that arises when performing transportation by independent carriers is the organization of private locomotives operation and their servicing by engine crews. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the technical characteristic of the private locomotives usage in order to perform goods traffic in the direction of sea ports. Methodology. The researches were carried out on the basis of methods for organizing the operational work of railways and methods of traction calculations. Findings. The paper highlights the problem of goods traffic organization to seaports by independent carriers. It determines the requirements for equipment for diesel locomotives and electric locomotives depending on the distance of transportation. Permissible distances that can be served by engine crews in performing the requirements for the duration of their continuous operation were also determined. Schemes of infrastructure objects location for the locomotives and engine crews operation have been developed. It was established that diesel locomotives of independent carriers will be able to serve transportation between loading and unloading stations up to 822 km, and electric locomotives up to 1000 km with the construction of the main part of the locomotive infrastructure at the port station. The performed calculations show the potential coverage of rail transportation to sea ports by independent carriers with the use of its own locomotive infrastructure. To define more exactly the haul length of train servicing by locomotives and locomotives by engine crews, it is necessary

Locomotive fuel tank structural safety testing program : passenger locomotive fuel tank jackknife derailment load test.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

This report presents the results of a passenger locomotive fuel tank load test simulating jackknife derailment (JD) load. The test is based on FRA requirements for locomotive fuel tanks in the Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 238, Ap...

INFLUENCE OF ROLLING STOCK VIBROACOUSTICAL PARAMETERS ON THE CHOICE OF RATIONAL VALUES OF LOCOMOTIVE RUNNING GEAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Zelenko

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose.The success of the traffic on the railways of Ukraine depends on the number and the operational fleet of electric locomotives. Today, the locomotive depot exploit physically and morally outdated locomotives that have low reliability. Modernization of electric locomotives is not economically justified. The aim of this study is to improve the safety of the traction rolling stock by the frequency analysis of dynamical systems, which allows conducting the calculation of the natural (of resonant frequencies of the design and related forms of vibrations.Methodology.The study was conducted by methods of analytical mechanics and mathematical modeling of operating loads of freight locomotive when driving at different speeds on the straight and curved track sections. The theoretical value of the work is the technique of choice of constructive schemes and rational parameters of perspective electric locomotive taking into account the electric inertia ratios and stiffness coefficients of Lagrange second-order equations.Findings. The problems of theoretical research and the development of a mathematical model of the spatial electric vibrations are solved. The theoretical studies of the effect of inertia ratios and stiffness coefficients on the dynamic values and the parameter values of electric locomotive undercarriages are presented.Originality.The set of developed regulations and obtained results is a practical solution to selecting rational parameters of bogies of the freight mainline locomotive for railways of Ukraine. A concept of choice of constructive scheme and rational parameters of perspective locomotive is formulated. It is developed the method of calculation of spatial electric locomotive oscillations to determine its dynamic performance. The software complex for processing the data of experimental studies of dynamic parameters of electric locomotive and comparing the results of the theoretical calculations with the data of full

Modelling of dynamically stable AR-601M robot locomotion in Simulink

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khusainov Ramil

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Humanoid robots will gradually play an important role in our daily lives. Currently, research on anthropomorphic robots and biped locomotion is one of the most important problems in the field of mobile robotics, and the development of reliable control algorithms for them is a challenging task. In this research two algorithms for stable walking of Russian anthropomorphic robot AR-601M with 41 Degrees of Freedom (DoF are investigated. To achieve a human-like dynamically stable locomotion 6 DoF in each robot leg are controlled with Virtual Height Inverted Pendulum and Preview control methods.

Quasi-dynamic walk of a quadruped locomotion robot using optimal tracking control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchida, Hiroaki; Nonami, Kenzo; Chiba, Yasunori; Koyama, Kakutaro.

1994-01-01

Recently, many research works of quadruped locomotion robots, which are considered to be operable on irregular terrain, have been carried out. In the case of realizing ideal motion control of the quadruped locomotion robot, it is assumed that hierarchical cooperative control consisting of decentralized control and centralized control is desirable. In the case that the locomotion robot moves at high speed, it is impossible to follow the desired trajectory because using only the feedback control method includes time delay. It is known that feedforward control input is valid for such motion control. In this paper, decentralized control is realized to apply optimal tracking control using feedforward control input to the quadruped locomotion robot, as the first step. As a result, it is determined that the angle variation of the foot and the stride applying optimal tracking control input are large compared with using only feedback control. It is verified that feedforward control input is useful to control the trajectory of the tip of the foot in high speed locomotion. (author)

Inferring Characteristics of Sensorimotor Behavior by Quantifying Dynamics of Animal Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, KaWai

Locomotion is one of the most well-studied topics in animal behavioral studies. Many fundamental and clinical research make use of the locomotion of an animal model to explore various aspects in sensorimotor behavior. In the past, most of these studies focused on population average of a specific trait due to limitation of data collection and processing power. With recent advance in computer vision and statistical modeling techniques, it is now possible to track and analyze large amounts of behavioral data. In this thesis, I present two projects that aim to infer the characteristics of sensorimotor behavior by quantifying the dynamics of locomotion of nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, shedding light on statistical dependence between sensing and behavior. In the first project, I investigate the possibility of inferring noxious sensory information from the behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans. I develop a statistical model to infer the heat stimulus level perceived by individual animals from their stereotyped escape responses after stimulation by an IR laser. The model allows quantification of analgesic-like effects of chemical agents or genetic mutations in the worm. At the same time, the method is able to differentiate perturbations of locomotion behavior that are beyond affecting the sensory system. With this model I propose experimental designs that allows statistically significant identification of analgesic-like effects. In the second project, I investigate the relationship of energy budget and stability of locomotion in determining the walking speed distribution of Drosophila melanogaster during aging. The locomotion stability at different age groups is estimated from video recordings using Floquet theory. I calculate the power consumption of different locomotion speed using a biomechanics model. In conclusion, the power consumption, not stability, predicts the locomotion speed distribution at different ages.

ServiceNow as a platform – practical research

OpenAIRE

Nechyporenko, Tamara

2015-01-01

In this thesis I am going to cover the main aspects of ServiceNow platform, what is it, and related areas to ServiceNow technologies such as cloud service technologies and ITIL framework, how it is used in ServiceNow. All the definitions and descriptions will be in details and a reader can get the important terms and definitions. The main scope of the thesis is practical research and creation of portal based on that research. The portal will be implemented using ServiceNow platform, Servic...

Locomotive Schedule Optimization for Da-qin Heavy Haul Railway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruiye Su

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The main difference between locomotive schedule of heavy haul railways and that of regular rail transportation is the number of locomotives utilized for one train. One heavy-loaded train usually has more than one locomotive, but a regular train only has one. This paper develops an optimization model for the multilocomotive scheduling problem (MLSP through analyzing the current locomotive schedule of Da-qin Railway. The objective function of our paper is to minimize the total number of utilized locomotives. The MLSP is nondeterministic polynomial (NP hard. Therefore, we convert the multilocomotive traction problem into a single-locomotive traction problem. Then, the single-locomotive traction problem (SLTP can be converted into an assignment problem. The Hungarian algorithm is applied to solve the model and obtain the optimal locomotive schedule. We use the variance of detention time of locomotives at stations to evaluate the stability of locomotive schedule. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization model, case studies for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains on Da-qin Railway are both conducted. Compared to the current schedules, the optimal schedules from the proposed models can save 62 and 47 locomotives for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains, respectively. Therefore, the effectiveness of the proposed model and its solution algorithm are both valid.

Environmental and cow-related factors affect cow locomotion and can cause misclassification in lameness detection systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Nuffel, A; Van De Gucht, T; Saeys, W; Sonck, B; Opsomer, G; Vangeyte, J; Mertens, K C; De Ketelaere, B; Van Weyenberg, S

2016-09-01

To tackle the high prevalence of lameness, techniques to monitor cow locomotion are being developed in order to detect changes in cows' locomotion due to lameness. Obviously, in such lameness detection systems, alerts should only respond to locomotion changes that are related to lameness. However, other environmental or cow factors can contribute to locomotion changes not related to lameness and hence, might cause false alerts. In this study the effects of wet surfaces, dark environment, age, production level, lactation and gestation stage on cow locomotion were investigated. Data was collected at Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research research farm (Melle, Belgium) during a 5-month period. The gait variables of 30 non-lame and healthy Holstein cows were automatically measured every day. In dark environments and on wet walking surfaces cows took shorter, more asymmetrical strides with less step overlap. In general, older cows had a more asymmetrical gait and they walked slower with more abduction. Lactation stage or gestation stage also showed significant association with asymmetrical and shorter gait and less step overlap probably due to the heavy calf in the uterus. Next, two lameness detection algorithms were developed to investigate the added value of environmental and cow data into detection models. One algorithm solely used locomotion variables and a second algorithm used the same locomotion variables and additional environmental and cow data. In the latter algorithm only age and lactation stage together with the locomotion variables were withheld during model building. When comparing the sensitivity for the detection of non-lame cows, sensitivity increased by 10% when the cow data was added in the algorithm (sensitivity was 70% and 80% for the first and second algorithm, respectively). Hence, the number of false alerts for lame cows that were actually non-lame, decreased. This pilot study shows that using knowledge on influencing factors on cow

Experiments on vibration-driven stick-slip locomotion: A sliding bifurcation perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Zhouwei; Fang, Hongbin; Zhan, Xiong; Xu, Jian

2018-05-01

Dry friction appears at the contact interface between two surfaces and is the source of stick-slip vibrations. Instead of being a negative factor, dry friction is essential for vibration-driven locomotion system to take effect. However, the dry-friction-induced stick-slip locomotion has not been fully understood in previous research, especially in terms of experiments. In this paper, we experimentally study the stick-slip dynamics of a vibration-driven locomotion system from a sliding bifurcation perspective. To this end, we first design and build a vibration-driven locomotion prototype based on an internal piezoelectric cantilever. By utilizing the mechanical resonance, the small piezoelectric deformation is significantly amplified to drive the prototype to achieve effective locomotion. Through identifying the stick-slip characteristics in velocity histories, we could categorize the system's locomotion into four types and obtain a stick-slip categorization diagram. In each zone of the diagram the locomotion exhibits qualitatively different stick-slip dynamics. Such categorization diagram is actually a sliding bifurcation diagram; crossing from one stick-slip zone to another corresponds to the triggering of a sliding bifurcation. In addition, a simplified single degree-of-freedom model is established, with the rationality of simplification been explained theoretically and numerically. Based on the equivalent model, a numerical stick-slip categorization is also obtained, which shows good agreement with the experiments both qualitatively and quantitatively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that experimentally generates a sliding bifurcation diagram. The obtained stick-slip categorizations deepen our understanding of stick-slip dynamics in vibration-driven systems and could serve as a base for system design and optimization.

Nuclear platform research and development - 2008-09 highlights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sadhankar, R.R.

2009-08-01

The Nuclear Platform R and D Program has lead responsibility for the maintenance and further development of the CANDU intellectual property covering the safety, licensing and design basis for nuclear facilities. The Nuclear Platform R and D Program is part of the Research and Technology Operation (RTO) unit of AECL and is managed through the Research and Development division, which has responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the knowledge and technology base. The RTO is also responsible for managing AECL's nuclear facilities and infrastructure (including laboratories and R and D facilities), the nuclear waste management program and other legacy liabilities (e.g., decommissioning) to demonstrate and grow shareholder value. The Nuclear Platform also provides the technology base from which new products and services can be developed to meet customer needs (including ACR and commercial products and services). (author)

FIM imaging and FIMtrack: two new tools allowing high-throughput and cost effective locomotion analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Risse, Benjamin; Otto, Nils; Berh, Dimitri; Jiang, Xiaoyi; Klämbt, Christian

2014-12-24

The analysis of neuronal network function requires a reliable measurement of behavioral traits. Since the behavior of freely moving animals is variable to a certain degree, many animals have to be analyzed, to obtain statistically significant data. This in turn requires a computer assisted automated quantification of locomotion patterns. To obtain high contrast images of almost translucent and small moving objects, a novel imaging technique based on frustrated total internal reflection called FIM was developed. In this setup, animals are only illuminated with infrared light at the very specific position of contact with the underlying crawling surface. This methodology results in very high contrast images. Subsequently, these high contrast images are processed using established contour tracking algorithms. Based on this, we developed the FIMTrack software, which serves to extract a number of features needed to quantitatively describe a large variety of locomotion characteristics. During the development of this software package, we focused our efforts on an open source architecture allowing the easy addition of further modules. The program operates platform independent and is accompanied by an intuitive GUI guiding the user through data analysis. All locomotion parameter values are given in form of csv files allowing further data analyses. In addition, a Results Viewer integrated into the tracking software provides the opportunity to interactively review and adjust the output, as might be needed during stimulus integration. The power of FIM and FIMTrack is demonstrated by studying the locomotion of Drosophila larvae.

40 CFR 1033.515 - Discrete-mode steady-state emission tests of locomotives and locomotive engines.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Discrete-mode steady-state emission... Procedures § 1033.515 Discrete-mode steady-state emission tests of locomotives and locomotive engines. This... a warm-up followed by a sequence of nominally steady-state discrete test modes, as described in...

Locomotion Gait Planning of Climber Snake-Like Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Nezaminia

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this article a novel breed of snake-like climber robots has been introduced. Structure and operation of the first generation of snake-like climber robot "Marak I" has been discussed. The gait planning for two dimensional locomotion of a novel snake-like climber robot "Marak I" is presented. The types of locomotion investigated were rectilinear and wheeling gaits. The gaits of locomotion were experimented and their suitability for various applications has been mentioned. Some encountered practical problems plus solutions were addressed. Finally we found out that: the vertical motion was producing more fault than horizontal locomotion, and notably the fastest gait of locomotion was the wheeling gait

In Pipe Robot with Hybrid Locomotion System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Miclauş

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The first part of the paper covers aspects concerning in pipe robots and their components, such as hybrid locomotion systems and the adapting mechanisms used. The second part describes the inspection robot that was developed, which combines tracked and wheeled locomotion (hybrid locomotion. The end of the paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed robot.

Steam Locomotives: a forgotten era

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The boiler was not armoured as the idea was that it was bullet proof. The locomotives were arranged into groups of five and for each group there was an engine as standby. As far as can be ascertained, locomotive No 537 was never armoured, but did work draw trains and freight trains during the Anglo-Boer War too.

Development of quadruped walking locomotion gait generator using a hybrid method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jasni, F; Shafie, A A

2013-01-01

The earth, in many areas is hardly reachable by the wheeled or tracked locomotion system. Thus, walking locomotion system is becoming a favourite option for mobile robot these days. This is because of the ability of walking locomotion to move on the rugged and unlevel terrains. However, to develop a walking locomotion gait for a robot is not a simple task. Central Pattern Generator (CPGs) method is a biological inspired method that is introduced as a method to develop the gait for the walking robot recently to tackle the issue faced by the conventional method of pre-designed trajectory based method. However, research shows that even the CPG method do have some limitations. Thus, in this paper, a hybrid method that combines CPG and the pre-designed trajectory based method is introduced to develop a walking gait for quadruped walking robot. The 3-D foot trajectories and the joint angle trajectories developed using the proposed method are compared with the data obtained via the conventional method of pre-designed trajectory to confirm the performance

Development of a Novel Locomotion Algorithm for Snake Robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, Raisuddin; Billah, Md Masum; Watanabe, Mitsuru; Shafie, A A

2013-01-01

A novel algorithm for snake robot locomotion is developed and analyzed in this paper. Serpentine is one of the renowned locomotion for snake robot in disaster recovery mission to overcome narrow space navigation. Several locomotion for snake navigation, such as concertina or rectilinear may be suitable for narrow spaces, but is highly inefficient if the same type of locomotion is used even in open spaces resulting friction reduction which make difficulties for snake movement. A novel locomotion algorithm has been proposed based on the modification of the multi-link snake robot, the modifications include alterations to the snake segments as well elements that mimic scales on the underside of the snake body. Snake robot can be able to navigate in the narrow space using this developed locomotion algorithm. The developed algorithm surmount the others locomotion limitation in narrow space navigation

Locomotion through Morphosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jørgen Christian

, this is still not the case. One of the reasons for this is that science does still not fully understand the principles of dynamic locomotion which is a requirement for them to move around in our environment with stairs, obstacles etc. In this thesis the focus will be on the creation of the modular robotic...... it have been build. This will hopefully help to identify which parameters that are affecting the locomotive abilities of a legged robot the most. Experiments shows that the system in its current state is able for form legged robots of various kinds, and perform walking gaits where phenomenon’s also seen...

Locomotive Crash Energy Management Coupling Tests

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-18

This paper describes the results of the CEM equipped locomotive coupling tests. In this set of tests, a moving CEM locomotive was coupled to a standing cab car. The primary objective was to demonstrate the robustness of the PBC design and determine t...

Combining Bio-inspired Sensing with Bio-inspired Locomotion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaikh, Danish; Hallam, John; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob

In this paper we present a preliminary Braitenberg vehicle–like approach to combine bio-inspired audition with bio-inspired quadruped locomotion in simulation. Locomotion gaits of the salamander–like robot Salamandra robotica are modified by a lizard’s peripheral auditory system model that modula......In this paper we present a preliminary Braitenberg vehicle–like approach to combine bio-inspired audition with bio-inspired quadruped locomotion in simulation. Locomotion gaits of the salamander–like robot Salamandra robotica are modified by a lizard’s peripheral auditory system model...

Untethered Recyclable Tubular Actuators with Versatile Locomotion for Soft Continuum Robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Xiaojie; Chen, Qiaomei; Yang, Yang; Xu, Yanshuang; Li, Zhen; Wang, Zhenhua; Wu, Yahe; Wei, Yen; Ji, Yan

2018-05-27

Stimuli-responsive materials offer a distinguished platform to build tether-free compact soft robots, which can combine sensing and actuation without a linked power supply. In the past, tubular soft robots have to be made by multiple components with various internal channels or complex cavities assembled together. Moreover, robust processing, complex locomotion, simple structure, and easy recyclability represent major challenges in this area. Here, it is shown that those challenges can be tackled by liquid crystalline elastomers with allyl sulfide functional groups. The light-controlled exchange reaction between allyl sulfide groups allows flexible processing of tubular soft robots/actuators, which does not need any assisting materials. Complex locomotion demonstrated here includes reversible simultaneous bending and elongation; reversible diameter expansion; and omnidirectional bending via remote infrared light control. Different modes of actuation can be programmed into the same tube without the routine assembly of multiple tubes as used in the past. In addition, the exchange reaction also makes it possible to use the same single tube repeatedly to perform different functions by erasing and reprogramming. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

76 FR 2199 - Locomotive Safety Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-12

..., alcohol and drug testing, locomotive engineer certification, and workplace safety. In 1980, FRA issued the...) Association of State Rail Safety Managers (ASRSM) Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET... desirable to minimize the health and safety effects of temperature extremes. Depending upon the workplace...

49 CFR 230.108 - Steam locomotive leading and trailing trucks.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam locomotive leading and trailing trucks. 230... RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STEAM LOCOMOTIVE INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE STANDARDS Steam Locomotives and Tenders Trucks, Frames and Equalizing System § 230.108 Steam locomotive leading...

77 FR 21311 - Locomotive Safety Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-09

... preparedness, alcohol and drug testing, locomotive engineer certification, and workplace safety. In 1980, FRA... Association (ATDA) Amtrak AAR Association of Railway Museums (ARM) Association of State Rail Safety Managers... Administration 49 CFR Parts 229 and 238 Locomotive Safety Standards; Final Rule #0;#0;Federal Register / Vol. 77...

Morphological self stabilization of locomotion gaits: illustration on a few examples from bio-inspired locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Chevallereau, Christine; Boyer, Frédéric; Porez, Mathieu; Mauny, Johan; Aoustin, Yannick

2017-06-20

To a large extent, robotics locomotion can be viewed as cyclic motions, named gaits. Due to the high complexity of the locomotion dynamics, to find the control laws that ensure an expected gait and its stability with respect to external perturbations, is a challenging issue for feedback control. To address this issue, a promising way is to take inspiration from animals that intensively exploit the interactions of the passive degrees of freedom of their body with their physical surroundings, to outsource the high-level exteroceptive feedback control to low-level proprioceptive ones. In this case, passive interactions can ensure most of the expected control goals. In this article, we propose a methodological framework to study the role of morphology in the design of locomotion gaits and their stability. This framework ranges from modelling to control aspects, and is illustrated through three examples from bio-inspired locomotion: a three-dimensional micro air vehicle in hovering flight, a pendular planar climber and a bipedal planar walker. In these three cases, we will see how simple considerations based on the morphology of the body can ensure the existence of passive stable gaits without requiring any high-level control.

Blunt impact tests of retired passenger locomotive fuel tanks

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

The Transportation Technology Center, Inc. conducted impact tests on three locomotive fuel tanks as part of the Federal Railroad Administrations locomotive fuel tank crashworthiness improvement program. Three fuel tanks, two from EMD F40PH locomot...

Development of a Modular Research Platform to Create Medical Observational Studies for Mobile Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Zens, Martin; Grotejohann, Birgit; Tassoni, Adrian; Duttenhoefer, Fabian; Südkamp, Norbert P; Niemeyer, Philipp

2017-05-23

Observational studies have proven to be a valuable resource in medical research, especially when performed on a large scale. Recently, mobile device-based observational studies have been discovered by an increasing number of researchers as a promising new source of information. However, the development and deployment of app-based studies is not trivial and requires profound programming skills. The aim of this project was to develop a modular online research platform that allows researchers to create medical studies for mobile devices without extensive programming skills. The platform approach for a modular research platform consists of three major components. A Web-based platform forms the researchers' main workplace. This platform communicates via a shared database with a platform independent mobile app. Furthermore, a separate Web-based login platform for physicians and other health care professionals is outlined and completes the concept. A prototype of the research platform has been developed and is currently in beta testing. Simple questionnaire studies can be created within minutes and published for testing purposes. Screenshots of an example study are provided, and the general working principle is displayed. In this project, we have created a basis for a novel research platform. The necessity and implications of a modular approach were displayed and an outline for future development given. International researchers are invited and encouraged to participate in this ongoing project. ©Martin Zens, Birgit Grotejohann, Adrian Tassoni, Fabian Duttenhoefer, Norbert P Südkamp, Philipp Niemeyer. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 23.05.2017.

Fluid Flow Simulation and Energetic Analysis of Anomalocarididae Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Mikel-Stites, Maxwell; Staples, Anne

2014-11-01

While an abundance of animal locomotion simulations have been performed modeling the motions of living arthropods and aquatic animals, little quantitative simulation and reconstruction of gait parameters has been done to model the locomotion of extinct animals, many of which bear little physical resemblance to their modern descendants. To that end, this project seeks to analyze potential swimming patterns used by the anomalocaridid family, (specifically Anomalocaris canadensis, a Cambrian Era aquatic predator), and determine the most probable modes of movement. This will serve to either verify or cast into question the current assumed movement patterns and properties of these animals and create a bridge between similar flexible-bodied swimmers and their robotic counterparts. This will be accomplished by particle-based fluid flow simulations of the flow around the fins of the animal, as well as an energy analysis of a variety of sample gaits. The energy analysis will then be compared to the extant information regarding speed/energy use curves in an attempt to determine which modes of swimming were most energy efficient for a given range of speeds. These results will provide a better understanding of how these long-extinct animals moved, possibly allowing an improved understanding of their behavioral patterns, and may also lead to a novel potential platform for bio-inspired underwater autonomous vehicles (UAVs).

Damages and resource of locomotive wheels used under the north operating conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Grigorev

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In operating railway equipment, in particular the elements, such as a wheel and a rail there is damage accumulation of any kind, causing a premature equipment failure. Thus, an analysis of the mechanisms and modeling of damage accumulation and fracture both on the surface and in the bulk material remain a challenge.Data on the defective wheel sets to be subjected to facing has been collected and analyzed to assess the locomotive wheel sets damage of the locomotive fleet company of AK «Yakutia Railways», city of Aldan, The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia. For this purpose, three main locomotives have been examined.The object of research carried out in this paper, is a locomotive wheels tire, which is subjected to cyclic impact (dynamic loads during operation. In this regard, the need arises to determine both the strength of material in response to such shock loads and the quantitative calculation of damage accumulated therein.The accumulated fatigue damage has been attributed to one radial cross section of the wheel coming into contact with the rail once per revolution of the wheel. Consequently, in one revolution a wheel is under one loading cycle. As stated, the average mileage of locomotives to have the unacceptable damages formed on the tread surface is 12 thousand km.Test results establish that along with the high-cycle loading the shock-contact action on rail joints significantly affects the accumulation of damage in the locomotive wheels tire. The number of cycles to failure due to the formation of unacceptable damage in the locomotive wheels tire is N = 2,4×106 and 6×105 cycles, respectively, for fatigue and shock-contact loading.In general, we can say that the problem of higher intensity to form the surface damage is directly related to the operation of the locomotive wheel tire under abnormally low climatic temperatures. With decreasing ambient temperature, this element material rapidly looses its plastic properties, thereby accelerating

The mechanics of slithering locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, David L; Nirody, Jasmine; Scott, Terri; Shelley, Michael J

2009-06-23

In this experimental and theoretical study, we investigate the slithering of snakes on flat surfaces. Previous studies of slithering have rested on the assumption that snakes slither by pushing laterally against rocks and branches. In this study, we develop a theoretical model for slithering locomotion by observing snake motion kinematics and experimentally measuring the friction coefficients of snakeskin. Our predictions of body speed show good agreement with observations, demonstrating that snake propulsion on flat ground, and possibly in general, relies critically on the frictional anisotropy of their scales. We have also highlighted the importance of weight distribution in lateral undulation, previously difficult to visualize and hence assumed uniform. The ability to redistribute weight, clearly of importance when appendages are airborne in limbed locomotion, has a much broader generality, as shown by its role in improving limbless locomotion.

Controlling legs for locomotion-insights from robotics and neurobiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Buschmann, Thomas; Ewald, Alexander; von Twickel, Arndt; Büschges, Ansgar

2015-06-29

Walking is the most common terrestrial form of locomotion in animals. Its great versatility and flexibility has led to many attempts at building walking machines with similar capabilities. The control of walking is an active research area both in neurobiology and robotics, with a large and growing body of work. This paper gives an overview of the current knowledge on the control of legged locomotion in animals and machines and attempts to give walking control researchers from biology and robotics an overview of the current knowledge in both fields. We try to summarize the knowledge on the neurobiological basis of walking control in animals, emphasizing common principles seen in different species. In a section on walking robots, we review common approaches to walking controller design with a slight emphasis on biped walking control. We show where parallels between robotic and neurobiological walking controllers exist and how robotics and biology may benefit from each other. Finally, we discuss where research in the two fields diverges and suggest ways to bridge these gaps.

eTRIKS platform: Conception and operation of a highly scalable cloud-based platform for translational research and applications development.

Science.gov (United States)

Bussery, Justin; Denis, Leslie-Alexandre; Guillon, Benjamin; Liu, Pengfeï; Marchetti, Gino; Rahal, Ghita

2018-04-01

We describe the genesis, design and evolution of a computing platform designed and built to improve the success rate of biomedical translational research. The eTRIKS project platform was developed with the aim of building a platform that can securely host heterogeneous types of data and provide an optimal environment to run tranSMART analytical applications. Many types of data can now be hosted, including multi-OMICS data, preclinical laboratory data and clinical information, including longitudinal data sets. During the last two years, the platform has matured into a robust translational research knowledge management system that is able to host other data mining applications and support the development of new analytical tools. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of a novel magnetic platform for cell manipulation

Science.gov (United States)

Lucarini, Gioia; Iacovacci, Veronica; Gouveia, Pedro J.; Ricotti, Leonardo; Menciassi, Arianna

2018-02-01

Cell manipulation tasks, especially in lab-on-a-chip applications for personalized medicine, could greatly benefit from mobile untethered microdevices able to wirelessly navigate in fluidic environments by means of magnetic fields. In this paper, the design, fabrication and testing of a magnetic platform enabling the controlled locomotion and immersion of microrobots placed at the air/liquid interface is proposed and exploited for cell manipulation. The proposed microrobot consists of a polymeric magnetic thin film that acts as cell transporter and a specific coating strategy, devised to enhance a safe cancer cell adhesion to the magnetic film. Experimental results demonstrated an overall cell viability and a fine control of magnetic microrobot locomotion. The proposed technologies are promising in view of future cell manipulation tasks for personalized medicine applications.

The Human Central Pattern Generator for Locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Minassian, Karen; Hofstoetter, Ursula S; Dzeladini, Florin; Guertin, Pierre A; Ijspeert, Auke

2017-03-01

The ability of dedicated spinal circuits, referred to as central pattern generators (CPGs), to produce the basic rhythm and neural activation patterns underlying locomotion can be demonstrated under specific experimental conditions in reduced animal preparations. The existence of CPGs in humans is a matter of debate. Equally elusive is the contribution of CPGs to normal bipedal locomotion. To address these points, we focus on human studies that utilized spinal cord stimulation or pharmacological neuromodulation to generate rhythmic activity in individuals with spinal cord injury, and on neuromechanical modeling of human locomotion. In the absence of volitional motor control and step-specific sensory feedback, the human lumbar spinal cord can produce rhythmic muscle activation patterns that closely resemble CPG-induced neural activity of the isolated animal spinal cord. In this sense, CPGs in humans can be defined by the activity they produce. During normal locomotion, CPGs could contribute to the activation patterns during specific phases of the step cycle and simplify supraspinal control of step cycle frequency as a feedforward component to achieve a targeted speed. Determining how the human CPGs operate will be essential to advance the theory of neural control of locomotion and develop new locomotor neurorehabilitation paradigms.

Le Shuttle, the locomotive from Eurotunnel

OpenAIRE

Gabriel MOISA

2002-01-01

This paper present some performances of locomotive ‘Le Shuttle’, so-called locomotive from ‘Eurotunnel’, techniques characteristics of traction motors 6 FHA 7079 and converters witch use it, the principal electric scheme and its function principle and no at last rind the principle scheme of command-control equipment MICAS-S2 with detailed description of its operation mode.

Association of Mode of Locomotion and Independence in Locomotion With Long-Term Outcomes After Spinal Cord Injury

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, James; Carter, Rickey E; Brotherton, Sandra

2009-01-01

Background/Objective: To explore the association of mode of locomotion (ambulation vs wheelchair use) and independence in locomotion (independent vs require assistance) with health, participation, and subjective well-being (SWB) after spinal cord injury (SCI). Research Design: Secondary analysis was conducted on survey data collected from 2 rehabilitation hospitals in the Midwest and a specialty hospital in the southeastern United States. The 1,493 participants were a minimum of 18 years of age and had traumatic SCI of at least 1 year duration at enrollment. Main Outcome Measures: Three sets of outcome measures were used: SWB, participation, and health. SWB was measured by 8 scales and a measure of depressive symptoms, participation by 3 items, health by general health ratings, days in poor health, hospitalizations, and treatments. Results: Small but significant associations were observed between independence in locomotion and every outcome. Ambulation was associated with greater participation but a mixed pattern of favorable and unfavorable health and SWB outcomes. Supplemental analyses were conducted on those who ambulated but who were dependent on others to do so (n = 117), because this group reported poor outcomes in several areas. Individuals who were independent in wheelchair use reported substantially better outcomes than nonwheelchair users and those dependent on others in wheelchair use. Conclusions: Although ambulation is often a recovery goal, individuals with SCI who ambulate do not uniformly report better outcomes than wheelchair users, and those who depend on others for assistance with ambulation may experience a unique set of problems. PMID:19810625

Sustained periodic terrestrial locomotion in air-breathing fishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pace, C M; Gibb, A C

2014-03-01

While emergent behaviours have long been reported for air-breathing osteichthyians, only recently have researchers undertaken quantitative analyses of terrestrial locomotion. This review summarizes studies of sustained periodic terrestrial movements by air-breathing fishes and quantifies the contributions of the paired appendages and the axial body to forward propulsion. Elongate fishes with axial-based locomotion, e.g. the ropefish Erpetoichthys calabaricus, generate an anterior-to-posterior wave of undulation that travels down the axial musculoskeletal system and pushes the body against the substratum at multiple points. In contrast, appendage-based locomotors, e.g. the barred mudskipper Periophthalmus argentilineatus, produce no axial bending during sustained locomotion, but instead use repeated protraction-retraction cycles of the pectoral fins to elevate the centre of mass and propel the entire body anteriorly. Fishes that use an axial-appendage-based mechanism, e.g. walking catfishes Clarias spp., produce side-to-side, whole-body bending in co-ordination with protraction-retraction cycles of the pectoral fins. Once the body is maximally bent to one side, the tail is pressed against the substratum and drawn back through the mid-sagittal plane, which elevates the centre of mass and rotates it about a fulcrum formed by the pectoral fin and the ground. Although appendage-based terrestrial locomotion appears to be rare in osteichthyians, many different species appear to have converged upon functionally similar axial-based and axial-appendage-based movements. Based on common forms observed across divergent taxa, it appears that dorsoventral compression of the body, elongation of the axial skeleton or the presence of robust pectoral fins can facilitate effective terrestrial movement by air-breathing fishes. © 2014 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Multi-donor Research Platform on Social Protection, Financial ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Multi-donor Research Platform on Social Protection, Financial Inclusion and ... There have been some experiments linking a financial inclusion component to CCT programs, ... Universidad de Chile. Institution Country. Chile. Institution Website.

Designing presence for real locomotion in immersive virtual environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turchet, Luca

2015-01-01

This paper describes a framework for designing systems for real locomotion in virtual environments (VEs) in order to achieve an intense sense of presence. The main outcome of the present research is a list of design features that the virtual reality technology should have in order to achieve...

49 CFR 230.101 - Steam locomotive driving journal boxes.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam locomotive driving journal boxes. 230.101... Locomotives and Tenders Running Gear § 230.101 Steam locomotive driving journal boxes. (a) Driving journal boxes. Driving journal boxes shall be maintained in a safe and suitable condition for service. Not more...

Boldness and intermittent locomotion in the bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus

OpenAIRE

Alexander D.M. Wilson; Jean-Guy J. Godin

2009-01-01

Intermittent locomotion, characterized by moves interspersed with pauses, is a common pattern of locomotion in animals, but its ecological and evolutionary significance relative to continuous locomotion remains poorly understood. Although many studies have examined individual differences in both intermittent locomotion and boldness separately, to our knowledge, no study to date has investigated the relationship between these 2 traits. Characterizing and understanding this relationship is impo...

Multi-donor Research Platform on Social Protection, Financial ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Multi-donor Research Platform on Social Protection, Financial Inclusion and ICTs ... been some experiments linking a financial inclusion component to CCT programs, ... Institution. Universidad de Chile. Pays d' institution. Chile. Site internet.

Nonlinear dynamics analysis of the spur gear system for railway locomotive

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Junguo; He, Guangyue; Zhang, Jie; Zhao, Yongxiang; Yao, Yuan

2017-02-01

Considering the factors such as the nonlinearity backlash, static transmission error and time-varying meshing stiffness, a three-degree-of-freedom torsional vibration model of spur gear transmission system for a typical locomotive is developed, in which the wheel/rail adhesion torque is considered as uncertain but bounded parameter. Meantime, the Ishikawa method is used for analysis and calculation of the time-varying mesh stiffness of the gear pair in meshing process. With the help of bifurcation diagrams, phase plane diagrams, Poincaré maps, time domain response diagrams and amplitude-frequency spectrums, the effects of the pinion speed and stiffness on the dynamic behavior of gear transmission system for locomotive are investigated in detail by using the numerical integration method. Numerical examples reveal various types of nonlinear phenomena and dynamic evolution mechanism involving one-period responses, multi-periodic responses, bifurcation and chaotic responses. Some research results present useful information to dynamic design and vibration control of the gear transmission system for railway locomotive.

Le Shuttle, the locomotive from Eurotunnel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel MOISA

2002-12-01

Full Text Available This paper present some performances of locomotive ‘Le Shuttle’, so-called locomotive from ‘Eurotunnel’, techniques characteristics of traction motors 6 FHA 7079 and converters witch use it, the principal electric scheme and its function principle and no at last rind the principle scheme of command-control equipment MICAS-S2 with detailed description of its operation mode.

Lizard locomotion in heterogeneous granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Schiebel, Perrin; Goldman, Daniel

2014-03-01

Locomotion strategies in heterogeneous granular environments (common substrates in deserts), are relatively unexplored. The zebra-tailed lizard (C. draconoides) is a useful model organism for such studies owing to its exceptional ability to navigate a variety of desert habitats at impressive speed (up to 50 body-lengths per second) using both quadrapedal and bidepal gaits. In laboratory experiments, we challenge the lizards to run across a field of boulders (2.54 cm diameter glass spheres or 3.8 cm 3D printed spheres) placed in a lattice pattern and embedded in a loosely packed granular medium of 0.3 mm diameter glass particles. Locomotion kinematics of the lizard are recorded using high speed cameras, with and without the scatterers. The data reveals that unlike the lizard's typical quadrupedal locomotion using a diagonal gait, when scatterers are present the lizard is most successful when using a bipedal gait, with a raised center of mass (CoM). We propose that the kinematics of bipedal running in conjunction with the lizard's long toes and compliant hind foot are the keys to this lizard's successful locomotion in the presence of such obstacles. NSF PoLS

Morphological self stabilization of locomotion gaits: illustration on a few examples from bio-inspired locomotion

OpenAIRE

Chevallereau , Christine; Boyer , Frédéric; Porez , Mathieu; Mauny , Johan; Aoustin , Yannick

2017-01-01

International audience; — To a large extent, robotics locomotion can be viewed as cyclic motions, named gaits. Due to the high complexity of the locomotion dynamics, to find the control laws that ensure an expected gait and its stability with respect to external perturbations, is a challenging issue for feedback control. To address this issue, a promising way is to take inspiration from animals that intensively exploit the interactions of the passive degrees of freedom of their body with thei...

New Tools for New Research in Psychiatry: A Scalable and Customizable Platform to Empower Data Driven Smartphone Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Torous, John; Kiang, Mathew V; Lorme, Jeanette; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka

2016-05-05

A longstanding barrier to progress in psychiatry, both in clinical settings and research trials, has been the persistent difficulty of accurately and reliably quantifying disease phenotypes. Mobile phone technology combined with data science has the potential to offer medicine a wealth of additional information on disease phenotypes, but the large majority of existing smartphone apps are not intended for use as biomedical research platforms and, as such, do not generate research-quality data. Our aim is not the creation of yet another app per se but rather the establishment of a platform to collect research-quality smartphone raw sensor and usage pattern data. Our ultimate goal is to develop statistical, mathematical, and computational methodology to enable us and others to extract biomedical and clinical insights from smartphone data. We report on the development and early testing of Beiwe, a research platform featuring a study portal, smartphone app, database, and data modeling and analysis tools designed and developed specifically for transparent, customizable, and reproducible biomedical research use, in particular for the study of psychiatric and neurological disorders. We also outline a proposed study using the platform for patients with schizophrenia. We demonstrate the passive data capabilities of the Beiwe platform and early results of its analytical capabilities. Smartphone sensors and phone usage patterns, when coupled with appropriate statistical learning tools, are able to capture various social and behavioral manifestations of illnesses, in naturalistic settings, as lived and experienced by patients. The ubiquity of smartphones makes this type of moment-by-moment quantification of disease phenotypes highly scalable and, when integrated within a transparent research platform, presents tremendous opportunities for research, discovery, and patient health.

Architectures of soft robotic locomotion enabled by simple mechanical principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Liangliang; Cao, Yunteng; Liu, Yilun; Yang, Zhe; Chen, Xi

2017-06-28

In nature, a variety of limbless locomotion patterns flourish, from the small or basic life forms (Escherichia coli, amoebae, etc.) to the large or intelligent creatures (e.g., slugs, starfishes, earthworms, octopuses, jellyfishes, and snakes). Many bioinspired soft robots based on locomotion have been developed in the past few decades. In this work, based on the kinematics and dynamics of two representative locomotion modes (i.e., worm-like crawling and snake-like slithering), we propose a broad set of innovative designs for soft mobile robots through simple mechanical principles. Inspired by and going beyond the existing biological systems, these designs include 1-D (dimensional), 2-D, and 3-D robotic locomotion patterns enabled by the simple actuation of continuous beams. We report herein over 20 locomotion modes achieving various locomotion functions, including crawling, rising, running, creeping, squirming, slithering, swimming, jumping, turning, turning over, helix rolling, wheeling, etc. Some are able to reach high speed, high efficiency, and overcome obstacles. All these locomotion strategies and functions can be integrated into a simple beam model. The proposed simple and robust models are adaptive for severe and complex environments. These elegant designs for diverse robotic locomotion patterns are expected to underpin future deployments of soft robots and to inspire a series of advanced designs.

Refraction corrected calibration for aquatic locomotion research: application of Snell's law improves spatial accuracy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Henrion, S.; Spoor, C.W.; Pieters, R.P.M.; Müller, U.K.; Leeuwen, van J.L.

2015-01-01

Images of underwater objects are distorted by refraction at the water–glass–air interfaces and these distortions can lead to substantial errors when reconstructing the objects' position and shape. So far, aquatic locomotion studies have minimized refraction in their experimental setups and used the

The investigation of the locomotive boiler material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tucholski, Z.; Wasiak, J.; Bilous, W.; Hajewska, E.

2006-01-01

In the paper, the history of narrow-gauge railway system is described. The other information about the steam locomotive construction, as well as the technical regulations of its construction and exploitation are also done. The results of the studies of the locomotive boiler material are presented. (authors)

Sexuality of Disabled Athletes Depending on the Form of Locomotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plinta Ryszard

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this study was to determine sexuality of disabled athletes depending on the form of locomotion. The study included 170 disabled athletes, aged between 18 and 45. The entire population was divided into 3 research groups depending on the form of locomotion: moving on wheelchairs (n=52, on crutches (n=29 and unaided (n=89. The research tool was a questionnaire voluntarily and anonymously completed by the respondents of the research groups. The questionnaire was composed of a general part concerning the socio-demographic conditions, medical history, health problems, a part dedicated to physical disability as well as the Polish version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI evaluating sexual life. STATISTICA 10.0 for Windows was used in the statistical analysis. Subjects moving on crutches were significantly older than ones moving on wheelchairs and unaided (34.41 ±11.00 vs. 30.49 ±10.44 and 27.99 ±10.51 years, respectively (p=0.018. Clinically significant erectile dysfunctions were most often diagnosed in athletes moving on wheelchairs (70.27%, followed by athletes moving on crutches and moving unaided (60% and 35.42%, respectively; p=0.048. Clinical sexual dysfunctions were diagnosed on a similar level among all female athletes. It was concluded that the form of locomotion may determine sexuality of disabled men. Males on wheelchair revealed the worst sexual functioning. Female athletes moving on wheelchairs, on crutches and moving unaided were comparable in the aspect of their sexual life.

49 CFR 230.90 - Draw gear between steam locomotive and tender.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Draw gear between steam locomotive and tender. 230... Steam Locomotives and Tenders Draw Gear and Draft Systems § 230.90 Draw gear between steam locomotive and tender. (a) Maintenance and testing. The draw gear between the steam locomotive and tender...

Analysis of fuel cell hybrid locomotives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, Arnold R. [Vehicle Projects LLC, 621, 17th Street, Suite 2131, Denver, CO 80293 (United States); Peters, John; Smith, Brian E. [Transportation Technology Center Inc., 55500 DOT Road, Pueblo, CO 81007 (United States); Velev, Omourtag A. [AeroVironment Inc., 232 West Maple Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016 (United States)

2006-07-03

Led by Vehicle Projects LLC, an international industry-government consortium is developing a 109t, 1.2MW road-switcher locomotive for commercial and military railway applications. As part of the feasibility and conceptual-design analysis, a study has been made of the potential benefits of a hybrid power plant in which fuel cells comprise the prime mover and a battery or flywheel provides auxiliary power. The potential benefits of a hybrid power plant are: (i) enhancement of transient power and hence tractive effort; (ii) regenerative braking; (iii) reduction of capital cost. Generally, the tractive effort of a locomotive at low speed is limited by wheel adhesion and not by available power. Enhanced transient power is therefore unlikely to benefit a switcher locomotive, but could assist applications that require high acceleration, e.g. subway trains with all axles powered. In most cases, the value of regeneration in locomotives is minimal. For low-speed applications such as switchers, the available kinetic energy and the effectiveness of traction motors as generators are both minimal. For high-speed heavy applications such as freight, the ability of the auxiliary power device to absorb a significant portion of the available kinetic energy is low. Moreover, the hybrid power plant suffers a double efficiency penalty, namely, losses occur in both absorbing and then releasing energy from the auxiliary device, which result in a net storage efficiency of no more than 50% for present battery technology. Capital cost in some applications may be reduced. Based on an observed locomotive duty cycle, a cost model shows that a hybrid power plant for a switcher may indeed reduce capital cost. Offsetting this potential benefit are the increased complexity, weight and volume of the power plant, as well as 20-40% increased fuel consumption that results from lower efficiency. Based on this analysis, the consortium has decided to develop a pure fuel cell road-switcher locomotive, that

Locomotive emissions test stand with particulate matter measurement integration : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-01

This project builds upon previous research efforts, in which a complete instruction manual and bill of materials was developed for : a blueprint that allows any organization in the railroad industry to build their own locomotive emissions measurement...

49 CFR 230.106 - Steam locomotive frame.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam locomotive frame. 230.106 Section 230.106... Tenders Trucks, Frames and Equalizing System § 230.106 Steam locomotive frame. (a) Maintenance and inspection. Frames, decks, plates, tailpieces, pedestals, and braces shall be maintained in a safe and...

To solve the specific emissions of locomotive diesel engines. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korhonen, R.; Maeaettaenen, M.

1999-01-01

Ministry of Transport has made a goal to create an uniform system to make it possible to compare emissions of different transport forms. Kymenlaakso Polytechnic was supported by the Mobile Research Programme to measure the specific emissions of locomotive diesel engines. VR Osakeyhtioe has also supported economically the research work. During the research specific emissions of three diesel engines used in locomotives and calculated according to ISO 8178 standard were measured. In all, emissions of 14 engines were measured. For 12 engines measurements were made after the engine shop repair and for two engines before the repairing. Gaseous emissions: nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and total hydrocarbons contents were measured. Based on measured emissions and sulphur contents of the oil the weighted emissions were calculated in units g/kWh and g/kg fuel . Particular emissions were measured with dilution method and specific emissions were calculated in same units as for gaseous emissions

Distribution of spinal neuronal networks controlling forward and backward locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Merkulyeva, Natalia; Veshchitskii, Aleksandr; Gorsky, Oleg; Pavlova, Natalia; Zelenin, Pavel V; Gerasimenko, Yury; Deliagina, Tatiana G; Musienko, Pavel

2018-04-20

Higher vertebrates, including humans, are capable not only of forward (FW) locomotion but also of walking in other directions relative to the body axis [backward (BW), sideways, etc.]. While the neural mechanisms responsible for controlling FW locomotion have been studied in considerable detail, the mechanisms controlling steps in other directions are mostly unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of spinal neuronal networks controlling FW and BW locomotion. First, we applied electrical epidural stimulation (ES) to different segments of the spinal cord from L2 to S2 to reveal zones triggering FW and BW locomotion in decerebrate cats of either sex. Second, to determine the location of spinal neurons activated during FW and BW locomotion, we used c-fos immunostaining. We found that the neuronal networks responsible for FW locomotion were distributed broadly in the lumbosacral spinal cord and could be activated by ES of any segment from L3 to S2. By contrast, networks generating BW locomotion were activated by ES of a limited zone from the caudal part of L5 to the caudal part of L7. In the intermediate part of the gray matter within this zone, a significantly higher number of c- fos -positive interneurons was revealed in BW-stepping cats compared with FW-stepping cats. We suggest that this region of the spinal cord contains the network that determines the BW direction of locomotion. Significance Statement Sequential and single steps in various directions relative to the body axis [forward (FW), backward (BW), sideways, etc.] are used during locomotion and to correct for perturbations, respectively. The mechanisms controlling step direction are unknown. In the present study, for the first time we compared the distributions of spinal neuronal networks controlling FW and BW locomotion. Using a marker to visualize active neurons, we demonstrated that in the intermediate part of the gray matter within L6 and L7 spinal segments

Expression of emotion in the kinematics of locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Barliya, Avi; Omlor, Lars; Giese, Martin A; Berthoz, Alain; Flash, Tamar

2013-03-01

Here, we examine how different emotions-happiness, fear, sadness and anger-affect the kinematics of locomotion. We focus on a compact representation of locomotion properties using the intersegmental law of coordination (Borghese et al. in J Physiol 494(3):863-879, 1996), which states that, during the gait cycle of human locomotion, the elevation angles of the thigh, shank and foot do not evolve independently of each other but form a planar pattern of co-variation. This phenomenon is highly robust and has been extensively studied. The orientation of the plane has been correlated with changes in the speed of locomotion and with reduction in energy expenditure as speed increases. An analytical model explaining the conditions underlying the emergence of this plane and predicting its orientation reveals that it suffices to examine the amplitudes of the elevation angles of the different segments along with the phase shifts between them (Barliya et al. in Exp Brain Res 193:371-385, 2009). We thus investigated the influence of different emotions on the parameters directly determining the orientation of the intersegmental plane and on the angular rotation profiles of the leg segments, examining both the effect of changes in walking speed and effects independent of speed. Subjects were professional actors and naïve subjects with no training in acting. As expected, emotions were found to strongly affect the kinematics of locomotion, particularly walking speed. The intersegmental coordination patterns revealed that emotional expression caused additional modifications to the locomotion patterns that could not be explained solely by a change in speed. For all emotions except sadness, the amplitude of thigh elevation angles changed from those in neutral locomotion. The intersegmental plane was also differently oriented, especially during anger. We suggest that, while speed is the dominant variable allowing discrimination between different emotional gaits, emotion can be

Development of human locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lacquaniti, Francesco; Ivanenko, Yuri P; Zago, Myrka

2012-10-01

Neural control of locomotion in human adults involves the generation of a small set of basic patterned commands directed to the leg muscles. The commands are generated sequentially in time during each step by neural networks located in the spinal cord, called Central Pattern Generators. This review outlines recent advances in understanding how motor commands are expressed at different stages of human development. Similar commands are found in several other vertebrates, indicating that locomotion development follows common principles of organization of the control networks. Movements show a high degree of flexibility at all stages of development, which is instrumental for learning and exploration of variable interactions with the environment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action-research platforms in water and agriculture: Lessons from three programmes in Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Tucker, J

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Stakeholder platforms are popular among agricultural innovation projects. However, there has been limited critical or comparative research on these platforms, exploring what outcomes can be expected and what makes platforms effective or sustainable...

GestuRe and ACtion Exemplar (GRACE) video database: stimuli for research on manners of human locomotion and iconic gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Aussems, Suzanne; Kwok, Natasha; Kita, Sotaro

2018-06-01

Human locomotion is a fundamental class of events, and manners of locomotion (e.g., how the limbs are used to achieve a change of location) are commonly encoded in language and gesture. To our knowledge, there is no openly accessible database containing normed human locomotion stimuli. Therefore, we introduce the GestuRe and ACtion Exemplar (GRACE) video database, which contains 676 videos of actors performing novel manners of human locomotion (i.e., moving from one location to another in an unusual manner) and videos of a female actor producing iconic gestures that represent these actions. The usefulness of the database was demonstrated across four norming experiments. First, our database contains clear matches and mismatches between iconic gesture videos and action videos. Second, the male actors and female actors whose action videos matched the gestures in the best possible way, perform the same actions in very similar manners and different actions in highly distinct manners. Third, all the actions in the database are distinct from each other. Fourth, adult native English speakers were unable to describe the 26 different actions concisely, indicating that the actions are unusual. This normed stimuli set is useful for experimental psychologists working in the language, gesture, visual perception, categorization, memory, and other related domains.

Full-scale locomotive dynamic crash testing and correlations : locomotive consist colliding with steel coil truck at grade crossing (test 3).

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

This report presents the test results and finite element correlations of a full-scale dynamic collision between a locomotive and a highway truck loaded with two heavy steel coils. The locomotive consist was moving at 58 miles per hour before it struc...

Raven-II: an open platform for surgical robotics research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hannaford, Blake; Rosen, Jacob; Friedman, Diana W; King, Hawkeye; Roan, Phillip; Cheng, Lei; Glozman, Daniel; Ma, Ji; Kosari, Sina Nia; White, Lee

2013-04-01

The Raven-II is a platform for collaborative research on advances in surgical robotics. Seven universities have begun research using this platform. The Raven-II system has two 3-DOF spherical positioning mechanisms capable of attaching interchangeable four DOF instruments. The Raven-II software is based on open standards such as Linux and ROS to maximally facilitate software development. The mechanism is robust enough for repeated experiments and animal surgery experiments, but is not engineered to sufficient safety standards for human use. Mechanisms in place for interaction among the user community and dissemination of results include an electronic forum, an online software SVN repository, and meetings and workshops at major robotics conferences.

HoverBots: Precise Locomotion Using Robots That Are Designed for Manufacturability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus P. Nemitz

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Scaling up robot swarms to collectives of hundreds or even thousands without sacrificing sensing, processing, and locomotion capabilities is a challenging problem. Low-cost robots are potentially scalable, but the majority of existing systems have limited capabilities, and these limitations substantially constrain the type of experiments that could be performed by robotics researchers. As an alternative to increasing the quantity of robots by reducing their functionality, we have developed a new technology that delivers increased functionality at low-cost. In this study, we present a comprehensive literature review on the most commonly used locomotion strategies of swarm robotic systems. We introduce a new type of low-friction locomotion—active low-friction locomotion—and we show its first implementation in the HoverBot system. The HoverBot system consists of an air levitation and magnet table, and a HoverBot agent. HoverBot agents are levitating circuit boards that we have equipped with an array of planar coils and a Hall-effect sensor. The HoverBot agent uses its coils to pull itself toward magnetic anchors that are embedded into a levitation table. These robots use active low-friction locomotion; consist of only surface-mount components; circumvent actuator calibration; are capable of odometry by using a single Hall-effect sensor; and perform precise movement. We conducted three hours of experimental evaluation of the HoverBot system in which we observed the system performing more than 10,000 steps. We also demonstrate formation movement, random collision, and straight collisions with two robots. This study demonstrates that active low-friction locomotion is an alternative to wheeled and slip-stick locomotion in the field of swarm robotics.

How animals move: comparative lessons on animal locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaeffer, Paul J; Lindstedt, Stan L

2013-01-01

Comparative physiology often provides unique insights in animal structure and function. It is specifically through this lens that we discuss the fundamental properties of skeletal muscle and animal locomotion, incorporating variation in body size and evolved difference among species. For example, muscle frequencies in vivo are highly constrained by body size, which apparently tunes muscle use to maximize recovery of elastic recoil potential energy. Secondary to this constraint, there is an expected linking of skeletal muscle structural and functional properties. Muscle is relatively simple structurally, but by changing proportions of the few muscle components, a diverse range of functional outputs is possible. Thus, there is a consistent and predictable relation between muscle function and myocyte composition that illuminates animal locomotion. When animals move, the mechanical properties of muscle diverge from the static textbook force-velocity relations described by A. V. Hill, as recovery of elastic potential energy together with force and power enhancement with activation during stretch combine to modulate performance. These relations are best understood through the tool of work loops. Also, when animals move, locomotion is often conveniently categorized energetically. Burst locomotion is typified by high-power outputs and short durations while sustained, cyclic, locomotion engages a smaller fraction of the muscle tissue, yielding lower force and power. However, closer examination reveals that rather than a dichotomy, energetics of locomotion is a continuum. There is a remarkably predictable relationship between duration of activity and peak sustainable performance.

Emotion through locomotion: gender impact.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Krüger

Full Text Available Body language reading is of significance for daily life social cognition and successful social interaction, and constitutes a core component of social competence. Yet it is unclear whether our ability for body language reading is gender specific. In the present work, female and male observers had to visually recognize emotions through point-light human locomotion performed by female and male actors with different emotional expressions. For subtle emotional expressions only, males surpass females in recognition accuracy and readiness to respond to happy walking portrayed by female actors, whereas females exhibit a tendency to be better in recognition of hostile angry locomotion expressed by male actors. In contrast to widespread beliefs about female superiority in social cognition, the findings suggest that gender effects in recognition of emotions from human locomotion are modulated by emotional content of actions and opposite actor gender. In a nutshell, the study makes a further step in elucidation of gender impact on body language reading and on neurodevelopmental and psychiatric deficits in visual social cognition.

The aspect of vector control using the asynchronous traction motor in locomotives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Liudvinavičius

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The article examines curves controlling asynchronous traction motors increasingly used in locomotive electric drives the main task of which is to create a tractive effort-speed curve of an ideal locomotive Fk = f(v, including a hyperbolic area the curve of which will create conditions showing that energy created by the diesel engine of diesel locomotives (electric locomotives and in case of electric trains, electricity taken from the contact network over the entire range of locomotive speed is turned into efficient work. Mechanical power on wheel sets is constant Pk = Fkv = const, the power of the diesel engine is fully used over the entire range of locomotive speed. Tractive effort-speed curve Fk(v shows the dependency of locomotive traction power Fk on movement speed v. The article presents theoretical and practical aspects relevant to creating the structure of locomotive electric drive and selecting optimal control that is especially relevant to creating the structure of locomotive electric drive using ATM (asynchronous traction motor that gains special popularity in traction rolling stock replacing DC traction motors having low reliability. The frequency modes of asynchronous motor speed regulation are examined. To control ATM, the authors suggest the method of vector control presenting the structural schemes of a locomotive with ATM and control algorithm.

49 CFR 230.12 - Movement of non-complying steam locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Movement of non-complying steam locomotives. 230... General General Inspection Requirements § 230.12 Movement of non-complying steam locomotives. (a) General limitations on movement. A steam locomotive with one or more non-complying conditions may be moved only as a...

Health Information Research Platform (HIReP)--an architecture pattern.

Science.gov (United States)

Schreiweis, Björn; Schneider, Gerd; Eichner, Theresia; Bergh, Björn; Heinze, Oliver

2014-01-01

Secondary use or single source is still far from routine in healthcare, although lots of data are available either structured or unstructured. As data are stored in multiple systems, using them for biomedical research is difficult. Clinical data warehouses already help overcoming this issue, but currently they are only used for certain parts of biomedical research. A comprehensive research platform based on a generic architecture pattern could increase the benefits of existing data warehouses for both patient care and research by meeting two objectives: serving as a so called single point-of-truth and acting as a mediator between them strengthening interaction and close collaboration. Another effect is to reduce boundaries for the implementation of data warehouses. Taking further settings into account the architecture of a clinical data warehouse supporting patient care and biomedical research needs to be integrated with biomaterial banks and other sources. This work provides a solution conceptualizing a comprehensive architecture pattern of a Health Information Research Platform (HIReP) derived from use cases of the patient care and biomedical research domain. It serves as single IT infrastructure providing solutions for any type of use case.

Semantic Web-Based Services for Supporting Voluntary Collaboration among Researchers Using an Information Dissemination Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanmin Jung

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Information dissemination platforms for supporting voluntary collaboration among researchers should assure that controllable and verified information is being disseminated. However, previous related studies on this field narrowed their research scopes into information type and information specification. This paper focuses on the verification and the tracing of information using an information dissemination platform and other Semantic Web-based services. Services on our platform include information dissemination services to support reliable information exchange among researchers and knowledge service to provide unrevealed information. The latter is also divided into the two: knowledgization using ontology and inference using a Semantic Web-based inference engine. This paper discusses how this platform supports instant knowledge addition and inference. We demonstrate our approach by constructing an ontology for national R&D reference information using 37,656 RDF triples from about 2,300 KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information outcomes. Three knowledge services including 'Communities of Practice', 'Researcher Tracing,' and 'Research Map' were implemented on our platform using a Jena framework. Our study shows that information dissemination platforms will make a meaningful contribution to the possibility of realizing a practical Semantic Web-based information dissemination platform.

The Role of Adaptation in Body Load-Regulating Mechanisms During Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Ruttley, Tara; Holt, Christopher; Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Bloomberg, Jacob

2010-01-01

Body loading is a fundamental parameter that modulates motor output during locomotion, and is especially important for controlling the generation of stepping patterns, dynamic balance, and termination of locomotion. Load receptors that regulate and control posture and stance in locomotion include the Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles at the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and the Ruffini endings and the Pacinian corpuscles in the soles of the feet. Increased body weight support (BWS) during locomotion results in an immediate reorganization of locomotor control, such as a reduction in stance and double support duration and decreased hip, ankle, and knee angles during the gait cycle. Previous studies on the effect during exposure to increased BWS while walking showed a reduction in lower limb joint angles and gait cycle timing that represents a reorganization of locomotor control. Until now, no studies have investigated how locomotor control responds after a period of exposure to adaptive modification in the body load sensing system. The goal of this research was to determine the adaptive properties of body load-regulating mechanisms in locomotor control during locomotion. We hypothesized that body load-regulating mechanisms contribute to locomotor control, and adaptive changes in these load-regulating mechanisms require reorganization to maintain forward locomotion. Head-torso coordination, lower limb movement patterns, and gait cycle timing were evaluated before and after a 30-minute adaptation session during which subjects walked on a treadmill at 5.4 km/hr with 40% body weight support (BWS). Before and after the adaptation period, head-torso and lower limb 3D kinematic data were obtained while performing a goal directed task during locomotion with 0% BWS using a video-based motion analysis system, and gait cycle timing parameters were collected by foot switches positioned under the heel and toe of the subjects shoes. Subjects showed adaptive modification in

European research platform IPANEMA at the SOLEIL synchrotron for ancient and historical materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertrand, L.; Languille, M.A.; Cohen, S.X.; Robinet, L.; Josse, W.; Gervais, C.; Leroy, S.; Bernard, D.; Le Pennec, E.; Doucet, J.; Schoder, S.

2011-01-01

IPANEMA, a research platform devoted to ancient and historical materials (archaeology, cultural heritage, palaeontology and past environments), is currently being set up at the synchrotron facility SOLEIL (Saint-Aubin, France; SOLEIL opened to users in January 2008). The new platform is open to French, European and international users. The activities of the platform are centred on two main fields: increased support to synchrotron projects on ancient materials and methodological research. The IPANEMA team currently occupies temporary premises at SOLEIL, but the platform comprises construction of a new building that will comply with conservation and environmental standards and of a hard X-ray imaging beamline today in its conceptual design phase, named PUMA. Since 2008, the team has supported synchrotron works at SOLEIL and at European synchrotron facilities on a range of topics including pigment degradation in paintings, composition of musical instrument varnishes, and provenancing of medieval archaeological ferrous artefacts. Once the platform is fully operational, user support will primarily take place within medium-term research projects for 'hosted' scientists, PhDs and post-docs. IPANEMA methodological research is focused on advanced two-dimensional/ three-dimensional imaging and spectroscopy and statistical image analysis, both optimized for ancient materials. (authors)

Hybrid Locomotion Evaluation for a Novel Amphibious Spherical Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiming Xing

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We describe the novel, multiply gaited, vectored water-jet, hybrid locomotion-capable, amphibious spherical robot III (termed ASR-III featuring a wheel-legged, water-jet composite driving system incorporating a lifting and supporting wheel mechanism (LSWM and mechanical legs with a water-jet thruster. The LSWM allows the ASR-III to support the body and slide flexibly on smooth (flat terrain. The composite driving system facilitates two on-land locomotion modes (sliding and walking and underwater locomotion mode with vectored thrusters, improving adaptability to the amphibious environment. Sliding locomotion improves the stability and maneuverability of ASR-III on smooth flat terrain, whereas walking locomotion allows ASR-III to conquer rough terrain. We used both forward and reverse kinematic models to evaluate the walking and sliding gait efficiency. The robot can also realize underwater locomotion with four vectored water-jet thrusters, and is capable of forward motion, heading angle control and depth control. We evaluated LSWM efficiency and the sliding velocities associated with varying extensions of the LSWM. To explore gait stability and mobility, we performed on-land experiments on smooth flat terrain to define the optimal stride length and frequency. We also evaluated the efficacy of waypoint tracking when the sliding gait was employed, using a closed-loop proportional-integral-derivative (PID control mechanism. Moreover, experiments of forward locomotion, heading angle control and depth control were conducted to verify the underwater performance of ASR-III. Comparison of the previous robot and ASR-III demonstrated the ASR-III had better amphibious motion performance.

Towards a general neural controller for quadrupedal locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Maufroy, Christophe; Kimura, Hiroshi; Takase, Kunikatsu

2008-05-01

Our study aims at the design and implementation of a general controller for quadruped locomotion, allowing the robot to use the whole range of quadrupedal gaits (i.e. from low speed walking to fast running). A general legged locomotion controller must integrate both posture control and rhythmic motion control and have the ability to shift continuously from one control method to the other according to locomotion speed. We are developing such a general quadrupedal locomotion controller by using a neural model involving a CPG (Central Pattern Generator) utilizing ground reaction force sensory feedback. We used a biologically faithful musculoskeletal model with a spine and hind legs, and computationally simulated stable stepping motion at various speeds using the neuro-mechanical system combining the neural controller and the musculoskeletal model. We compared the changes of the most important locomotion characteristics (stepping period, duty ratio and support length) according to speed in our simulations with the data on real cat walking. We found similar tendencies for all of them. In particular, the swing period was approximately constant while the stance period decreased with speed, resulting in a decreasing stepping period and duty ratio. Moreover, the support length increased with speed due to the posterior extreme position that shifted progressively caudally, while the anterior extreme position was approximately constant. This indicates that we succeeded in reproducing to some extent the motion of a cat from the kinematical point of view, even though we used a 2D bipedal model. We expect that such computational models will become essential tools for legged locomotion neuroscience in the future.

Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Locomotion on the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

De Witt, J. K.; Fincke, R. S.; Guilliams, M. E.; Ploutz-Snyder, L. L.

2011-01-01

Treadmill locomotion exercise is an important aspect of ISS exercise countermeasures. It is widely believed that an optimized treadmill exercise protocol could offer benefits to cardiovascular and bone health. If training heart rate is high enough, treadmill exercise is expected to lead to improvements in aerobic fitness. If impact or bone loading forces are high enough, treadmill exercise may be expected to contribute to improved bone outcomes. Ground-based research suggests that joint loads increase with increased running speed. However, it is unknown if increases in locomotion speed results in similar increases in joint loads in microgravity. Although data exist regarding the biomechanics of running and walking in microgravity, a majority were collected during parabolic flight or during investigations utilizing a microgravity analog. The Second Generation Treadmill (T2) has been in use on the International Space Station (ISS) and records the ground reaction forces (GRF) produced by crewmembers during exercise. Biomechanical analyses will aid in understanding potential differences in typical gait motion and allow for modeling of the human body to determine joint and muscle forces during exercise. By understanding these mechanisms, more appropriate exercise prescriptions can be developed that address deficiencies. The objective of this evaluation is to collect biomechanical data from crewmembers during treadmill exercise prior to and during flight. The goal is to determine if locomotive biomechanics differ between normal and microgravity environments and to determine how combinations of subject load and speed influence joint loading during in-flight treadmill exercise. Further, the data will be used to characterize any differences in specific bone and muscle loading during locomotion in these two gravitational conditions. This project maps to the HRP Integrated Research Plan risks including Risk of Bone Fracture (Gap B15), Risk of Early Onset Osteoporosis Due to

Design Concepts of Emergency Response Robot Platform K-R2D2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noh, Sun Young; Jeong, Kyungmin [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

From the analysis for various mobile robots competed in DARPA Robotics Challenge, there are some drawbacks in using two or four legs because bipedal locomotion is not yet suitable for maintaining stability and quadrupedal locomotion is difficult to go through narrow aisles. Motivated by the above observations, we propose a K-R2D2 robot platform with three legs arranged in the form of a triangle like as R2-D2 robot which is a fictional robot character in the Star Wars movies. This robot has 3 legs with tracks in each sole of the leg. It is statically stable since there are three contact points to ground. In addition, three legs are also possible to design a structure walking stairs that can expand and contract in the vertical direction. This paper has presented the conceptual design, it is developed on the purpose of quick response instead of emergent workers to the extreme conditions disasters. This robot is emergency response robot platform KR2D2 with three legs, which is statically stable to walk or wheel depending on the terrains and move quickly as possible as on uneven terrain or stairs.

Design Concepts of Emergency Response Robot Platform K-R2D2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noh, Sun Young; Jeong, Kyungmin

2016-01-01

From the analysis for various mobile robots competed in DARPA Robotics Challenge, there are some drawbacks in using two or four legs because bipedal locomotion is not yet suitable for maintaining stability and quadrupedal locomotion is difficult to go through narrow aisles. Motivated by the above observations, we propose a K-R2D2 robot platform with three legs arranged in the form of a triangle like as R2-D2 robot which is a fictional robot character in the Star Wars movies. This robot has 3 legs with tracks in each sole of the leg. It is statically stable since there are three contact points to ground. In addition, three legs are also possible to design a structure walking stairs that can expand and contract in the vertical direction. This paper has presented the conceptual design, it is developed on the purpose of quick response instead of emergent workers to the extreme conditions disasters. This robot is emergency response robot platform KR2D2 with three legs, which is statically stable to walk or wheel depending on the terrains and move quickly as possible as on uneven terrain or stairs

Manual and automatic locomotion scoring systems in dairy cows: A review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schlageter-Tello, A.; Bokkers, E.A.M.; Groot Koerkamp, P.W.G.; Hertem, van T.; Viazzi, S.; Romanini Bites, E.; Halachmi, I.; Bahr, C.; Berckmans, D.; Lokhorst, K.

2014-01-01

The objective of this review was to describe, compare and evaluate agreement, reliability, and validity of manual and automatic locomotion scoring systems (MLSSs and ALSSs, respectively) used in dairy cattle lameness research. There are many different types of MLSSs and ALSSs. Twenty-five MLSSs were

A cloud computing based platform for sleep behavior and chronic diseases collaborative research.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Mu-Hsing; Borycki, Elizabeth; Kushniruk, Andre; Huang, Yueh-Min; Hung, Shu-Hui

2014-01-01

The objective of this study is to propose a Cloud Computing based platform for sleep behavior and chronic disease collaborative research. The platform consists of two main components: (1) a sensing bed sheet with textile sensors to automatically record patient's sleep behaviors and vital signs, and (2) a service-oriented cloud computing architecture (SOCCA) that provides a data repository and allows for sharing and analysis of collected data. Also, we describe our systematic approach to implementing the SOCCA. We believe that the new cloud-based platform can provide nurse and other health professional researchers located in differing geographic locations with a cost effective, flexible, secure and privacy-preserved research environment.

Modular control of limb movements during human locomotion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ivanenko, Yuri P; Cappellini, Germana; Dominici, Nadia; Poppele, Richard E; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2007-01-01

The idea that the CNS may control complex interactions by modular decomposition has received considerable attention. We explored this idea for human locomotion by examining limb kinematics. The coordination of limb segments during human locomotion has been shown to follow a planar law for walking at

Muscle Coordination and Locomotion in Humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Sylos-Labini, Francesca; Zago, Myrka; Guertin, Pierre A; Lacquaniti, Francesco; Ivanenko, Yury P

2017-01-01

Locomotion is a semi-automatic daily task. Several studies show that muscle activity is fairly stereotyped during normal walking. Nevertheless, each human leg contains over 50 muscles and locomotion requires flexibility in order to adapt to different conditions as, for instance, different speeds, gaits, turning, obstacle avoidance, altered gravity levels, etc. Therefore, locomotor control has to deal with a certain level of flexibility and non-linearity. In this review, we describe and discuss different findings dealing with both simplicity and variability of the muscular control, as well as with its maturation during development. Despite complexity and redundancy, muscle activity patterns and spatiotemporal maps of spinal motoneuron output during human locomotion show both stereotypical features as well as functional re-organization. Flexibility and different solutions to adjust motor patterns should be considered when considering new rehabilitation strategies to treat disorders involving deficits in gait. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

49 CFR 232.105 - General requirements for locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... locomotives. (a) The air brake equipment on a locomotive shall be in safe and suitable condition for service... set pressure at any service application with the brakes control valve in the freight position. If such... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION BRAKE SYSTEM SAFETY STANDARDS FOR FREIGHT AND OTHER NON-PASSENGER...

Locomotion of Paramecium in patterned environments

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Eun-Jik; Eddins, Aja; Kim, Junil; Yang, Sung; Jana, Saikat; Jung, Sunghwan

2011-10-01

Ciliary organisms like Paramecium Multimicronucleatum locomote by synchronized beating of cilia that produce metachronal waves over their body. In their natural environments they navigate through a variety of environments especially surfaces with different topology. We study the effects of wavy surfaces patterned on the PDMS channels on the locomotive abilities of Paramecium by characterizing different quantities like velocity amplitude and wavelength of the trajectories traced. We compare this result with the swimming characteristics in straight channels and draw conclusions about the effects of various patterned surfaces.

Operating a locomotive on liquid methane fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stolz, J.L.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that several years ago, Burlington Northern Railroad looked into the feasibility of operating a diesel railroad locomotive to also run on compressed natural gas in a dual-fuel mode. Recognizing the large volume of on-board storage required and other limitations of CNG in the application, a program was begun to fuel a locomotive with liquefied natural gas. Because natural gas composition can vary with source and processing, it was considered desirable to use essentially pure liquid methane as the engine fuel. Initial testing results show the locomotive system achieved full diesel-rated power when operating on liquid methane and with equivalent fuel efficiency. Extended testing, including an American Association of Railroad 500-hour durability test, was undertaken to obtain information on engine life, wear rate and lubrication oil life

Locomotion-learning behavior relationship in Caenorhabditis elegans following γ-ray irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakashita, Tetsuya; Hamada, Nobuyuki; Suzuki, Michiyo; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko; Ikeda, Daisuke D.; Yanase, Sumino; Ishii, Naoaki

2008-01-01

Learning impairment following ionizing radiation (IR) exposure is an important potential risk in manned space missions. We previously reported the modulatory effects of IR on salt chemotaxis learning in Caenorhabditis elegans. However, little is known about the effects of IR on the functional relationship in the nervous system. In the present study, we investigated the effects of γ-ray exposure on the relationship between locomotion and salt chemotaxis learning behavior. We found that effects of pre-learning irradiation on locomotion were significantly correlated with the salt chemotaxis learning performance, whereas locomotion was not directly related to chemotaxis to NaCl. On the other hand, locomotion was positively correlated with salt chemotaxis of animals which were irradiated during learning, and the correlation disappeared with increasing doses. These results suggest an indirect relationship between locomotion and salt chemotaxis learning in C. elegans, and that IR inhibits the innate relationship between locomotion and chemotaxis, which is related to salt chemotaxis learning conditioning of C. elegans. (author)

Spatially Compact Neural Clusters in the Dorsal Striatum Encode Locomotion Relevant Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbera, Giovanni; Liang, Bo; Zhang, Lifeng; Gerfen, Charles R; Culurciello, Eugenio; Chen, Rong; Li, Yun; Lin, Da-Ting

2016-10-05

An influential striatal model postulates that neural activities in the striatal direct and indirect pathways promote and inhibit movement, respectively. Normal behavior requires coordinated activity in the direct pathway to facilitate intended locomotion and indirect pathway to inhibit unwanted locomotion. In this striatal model, neuronal population activity is assumed to encode locomotion relevant information. Here, we propose a novel encoding mechanism for the dorsal striatum. We identified spatially compact neural clusters in both the direct and indirect pathways. Detailed characterization revealed similar cluster organization between the direct and indirect pathways, and cluster activities from both pathways were correlated with mouse locomotion velocities. Using machine-learning algorithms, cluster activities could be used to decode locomotion relevant behavioral states and locomotion velocity. We propose that neural clusters in the dorsal striatum encode locomotion relevant information and that coordinated activities of direct and indirect pathway neural clusters are required for normal striatal controlled behavior. VIDEO ABSTRACT. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Energy-based control for a biologically inspired hexapod robot with rolling locomotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takuma Nemoto

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an approach to control rolling locomotion on the level ground with a biologically inspired hexapod robot. For controlling rolling locomotion, a controller which can compensate energy loss with rolling locomotion of the hexapod robot is designed based on its dynamic model. The dynamic model describes the rolling locomotion which is limited to planar one by an assumption that the hexapod robot does not fall down while rolling and influences due to collision and contact with the ground, and it is applied for computing the mechanical energy of the hexapod robot and a plant for a numerical simulation. The numerical simulation of the rolling locomotion on the level ground verifies the effectiveness of the proposed controller. The simulation results show that the hexapod robot can perform the rolling locomotion with the proposed controller. In conclusion, it is shown that the proposed control approach is effective in achieving the rolling locomotion on the level ground.

Advanced aftertreatment systems for locomotive applications; Moderne Abgasnachbehandlungssysteme fuer Lokomotiven

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Paul [Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (United States); Bruestle, Claus [Emitec Inc., Rochester Hill, MI (United States)

2013-07-15

Tier 4 legislation for locomotives, starting in 2015, will require significant reductions in particulate matter and nitrogen oxide tail pipe emissions. To reduce nitrogen oxide emissions of line-haul locomotives at least to the level of Tier 4, Caterpillar has developed an aftertreatment system. Here, for the first time an SCR system was used for diesel locomotive engines with an urea dosing system. (orig.)

A Novel Interactive Exoskeletal Robot for Overground Locomotion Studies in Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yun Seong; Hogan, Neville

2015-07-01

This paper introduces a newly developed apparatus, Iron Rat, for locomotion research in rodents. Its main purpose is to allow maximal freedom of voluntary overground movement of the animal while providing forceful interaction to the hindlimbs. Advantages and challenges of the proposed exoskeletal apparatus over other existing designs are discussed. Design and implementation challenges are presented and discussed, emphasizing their implications for free, voluntary movement of the animal. A live-animal experiment was conducted to assess the design. Unconstrained natural movement of the animal was compared with its movement with the exoskeletal module attached. The compact design and back-drivable implementation of this apparatus will allow novel experimental manipulations that may include forceful yet compliant dynamic interaction with the animal's overground locomotion.

49 CFR 1242.25 - Locomotive servicing facilities (account XX-19-27).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Locomotive servicing facilities (account XX-19-27... Structures § 1242.25 Locomotive servicing facilities (account XX-19-27). Separate common expenses according to distribution of common expenses in the following accounts: Locomotive Fuel (XX-51-67 and XX-52-67...

Locomotion and basicranial anatomy in primates and marsupials.

Science.gov (United States)

Villamil, Catalina I

2017-10-01

There is ongoing debate in paleoanthropology about whether and how the anatomy of the cranium, and especially the cranial base, is evolving in response to locomotor and postural changes. However, the majority of studies focus on two-dimensional data, which fails to capture the complexity of cranial anatomy. This study tests whether three-dimensional cranial base anatomy is linked to locomotion or to other factors in primates (n = 473) and marsupials (n = 231). Results indicate that although there is a small effect of locomotion on cranial base anatomy in primates, this is not the case in marsupials. Instead, facial anatomy likely drives variation in cranial base anatomy in both primates and marsupials, with additional roles for body size and brain size. Although some changes to foramen magnum position and orientation are phylogenetically useful among the hominoids, they do not necessarily reflect locomotion or positional behavior. The interplay between locomotion, posture, and facial anatomy in primates requires further investigation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proprioceptive Actuation Design for Dynamic Legged locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sangbae; Wensing, Patrick; Biomimetic Robotics Lab Team

Designing an actuator system for highly-dynamic legged locomotion exhibited by animals has been one of the grand challenges in robotics research. Conventional actuators designed for manufacturing applications have difficulty satisfying challenging requirements for high-speed locomotion, such as the need for high torque density and the ability to manage dynamic physical interactions. It is critical to introduce a new actuator design paradigm and provide guidelines for its incorporation in future mobile robots for research and industry. To this end, we suggest a paradigm called proprioceptive actuation, which enables highly- dynamic operation in legged machines. Proprioceptive actuation uses collocated force control at the joints to effectively control contact interactions at the feet under dynamic conditions. In the realm of legged machines, this paradigm provides a unique combination of high torque density, high-bandwidth force control, and the ability to mitigate impacts through backdrivability. Results show that the proposed design provides an impact mitigation factor that is comparable to other quadruped designs with series springs to handle impact. The paradigm is shown to enable the MIT Cheetah to manage the application of contact forces during dynamic bounding, with results given down to contact times of 85ms and peak forces over 450N. As a result, the MIT Cheetah achieves high-speed 3D running up to 13mph and jumping over an 18-inch high obstacle. The project is sponsored by DARPA M3 program.

Axial dynamics during locomotion in vertebrates: lesson from the salamander

OpenAIRE

GOSSARD, JEAN-PIERRE; DUBUC, RÉJEAN; KOLTA, ARLETTE; Cabelguen, Jean-Marie; Ijspeert, Auke; Lamarque, Stéphanie; Ryczko, Dimitri

2010-01-01

Much of what we know about the flexibility of the locomotor networks in vertebrates is derived from studies examining the adaptation of limb movements during stepping in various conditions. However, the body movements play important roles during locomotion: they produce the thrust during undulatory locomotion and they help to increase the stride length during legged locomotion. In this chapter, we review our current knowledge about the flexibility in the neuronal circuits controlling the body...

EPOS Thematic Core Service ANTHROPOGENIC HAZARDS (TCS AH) - development of e-research platform

Science.gov (United States)

Orlecka-Sikora, Beata

2017-04-01

TCS AH is based on IS-EPOS Platform. The Platform facilitates research on anthropogenic hazards and is available online, free of charge https://tcs.ah-epos.eu/. The Platform is a final product of the IS-EPOS project, founded by the national programme - POIG - which was implemented in 2013-2015 (POIG.02.03.00-14-090/13-00). The platform is a result of a joint work of scientific community and industrial partners. Currently, the development of TCS AH is carried under EPOS IP project (H2020-INFRADEV-1-2015-1, INFRADEV-3-2015). Platform is an open virtual access point for researchers and Ph. D. students interested in anthropogenic seismicity and related hazards. This environment is designed to ensure a researcher the maximum possible liberty for experimentation by providing a virtual laboratory, in which the researcher can design own processing streams and process the data integrated on the platform. TCS AH integrates: data and specific high-level services. Data gathered in the so-called "episodes", comprehensively describing a geophysical process, induced or triggered by human technological activity, which, under certain circumstances can become hazardous for people, infrastructure and the environment. 7 sets of seismic, geological and technological data were made available on the Platform. The data come from Poland, Germany, UK and Vietnam, and refer to underground mining, reservoir impoundment, shale gas exploitation and geothermal energy production. The next at least 19 new episodes related to conventional hydrocarbon extraction, reservoir treatment, underground mining and geothermal energy production are being integrated within the framework of EPOS IP project. The heterogeneous multi-disciplinary data (seismic, displacement, geomechanical data, production data etc.) are transformed to unified structures to form integrated and validated datasets. To deal with this various data the problem-oriented services were designed and implemented. The particular attention

SimNEC : research platform for studying human functioning in NCW

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veen, H.A.H.C. van; Graaf, B. de; Essens, P.

2006-01-01

SimNEC is TNOÆs grand scheme for experimentally studying human factors issues related to NEC/NCW. The research platform SimNEC consists of multidisciplinary expert teams, long-term research programmes, and a local network of state-of-the-art simulator modules. SimNEC does not focus on technology,

LSTM-Based Temperature Prediction for Hot-Axles of Locomotives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luo Can

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The reliability of locomotives plays a central role for the smooth operation of railway systems. Hot-axle failures are one of the most commonly found problems leading to locomotive accidents. Since the operating status of the locomotive axle bearings can be distinctly reflected by the axle temperatures, online temperature monitoring has become an essential way to detect hot-axle failures. In this work, we explore the feasibility of predict the hot-axle failures by identifying the temperature from predicted nominal values. We propose a data-driven approach based on the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM network to predict the sensor temperature for axle bearings. The effectiveness of the prediction model was validated with operation data collected from commercial locomotives. With a prediction accuracy is within a few percent, the proposed techniques can be used as a dynamic reference for hot-axle monitoring.

Two-fluid model for locomotion under self-confinement

Science.gov (United States)

Reigh, Shang Yik; Lauga, Eric

2017-09-01

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes ulcers in the stomach of humans by invading mucus layers protecting epithelial cells. It does so by chemically changing the rheological properties of the mucus from a high-viscosity gel to a low-viscosity solution in which it may self-propel. We develop a two-fluid model for this process of swimming under self-generated confinement. We solve exactly for the flow and the locomotion speed of a spherical swimmer located in a spherically symmetric system of two Newtonian fluids whose boundary moves with the swimmer. We also treat separately the special case of an immobile outer fluid. In all cases, we characterize the flow fields, their spatial decay, and the impact of both the viscosity ratio and the degree of confinement on the locomotion speed of the model swimmer. The spatial decay of the flow retains the same power-law decay as for locomotion in a single fluid but with a decreased magnitude. Independent of the assumption chosen to characterize the impact of confinement on the actuation applied by the swimmer, its locomotion speed always decreases with an increase in the degree of confinement. Our modeling results suggest that a low-viscosity region of at least six times the effective swimmer size is required to lead to swimming with speeds similar to locomotion in an infinite fluid, corresponding to a region of size above ≈25 μ m for Helicobacter pylori.

NASA's Platform for Cross-Disciplinary Microchannel Research

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Sang Young; Spearing, Scott; Allen, Jeffrey; Monaco, Lisa A.

2003-01-01

A team from the Structural Biology group located at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is developing a platform suitable for cross-disciplinary microchannel research. The original objective of this engineering development effort was to deliver a multi-user flight-certified facility for iterative investigations of protein crystal growth; that is, Iterative Biological Crystallization (IBC). However, the unique capabilities of this facility are not limited to the low-gravity structural biology research community. Microchannel-based research in a number of other areas may be greatly accelerated through use of this facility. In particular, the potential for gas-liquid flow investigations and cellular biological research utilizing the exceptional pressure control and simplified coupling to macroscale diagnostics inherent in the IBC facility will be discussed. In conclusion, the opportunities for research-specific modifications to the microchannel configuration, control, and diagnostics will be discussed.

West African Platform for HIV Intervention Research (WAPHIR ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

West African Platform for HIV Intervention Research (WAPHIR) : plateforme de recherche interventionnelle en matière de VIH en Afrique de l'Ouest. Grâce à cette subvention, on appuiera l'établissement d'un partenariat dirigé par des Africains de l'Ouest, en collaboration avec des partenaires canadiens et européens, afin ...

49 CFR 223.17 - Identification of equipped locomotives, passenger cars and cabooses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... cars and cabooses. 223.17 Section 223.17 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation...-LOCOMOTIVES, PASSENGER CARS AND CABOOSES Specific Requirements § 223.17 Identification of equipped locomotives, passenger cars and cabooses. Each locomotive, passenger car and caboose that is fully equipped with glazing...

[Platforms are needed for innovative basic research in ophthalmology].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-qiang

2012-07-01

Basic research poses the cornerstone of technical innovation in all lines including medical sciences. Currently, there are shortages of professional scientists as well as technical supporting teams and facilities in the field of basic research of ophthalmology and visual science in China. Evaluation system and personnel policies are not supportive for innovative but high-risk-of-failure research projects. Discussion of reasons and possible solutions are given here to address these problems, aiming at promoting buildup of platforms hosting novel and important basic research in eye science in this country.

49 CFR 236.1006 - Equipping locomotives operating in PTC territory.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 31, 2015, a train controlled by a locomotive with an onboard PTC apparatus that has failed en route... III railroad, including a tourist or excursion railroad, and controlled by a locomotive not equipped...

Locomotion of inchworm-inspired robot made of smart soft composite (SSC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei; Lee, Jang-Yeob; Rodrigue, Hugo; Song, Sung-Hyuk; Ahn, Sung-Hoon; Chu, Won-Shik

2014-01-01

A soft-bodied robot made of smart soft composite with inchworm-inspired locomotion capable of both two-way linear and turning movement has been proposed, developed, and tested. The robot was divided into three functional parts based on the different functions of the inchworm: the body, the back foot, and the front foot. Shape memory alloy wires were embedded longitudinally in a soft polymer to imitate the longitudinal muscle fibers that control the abdominal contractions of the inchworm during locomotion. Each foot of the robot has three segments with different friction coefficients to implement the anchor and sliding movement. Then, utilizing actuation patterns between the body and feet based on the looping gait, the robot achieves a biomimetic inchworm gait. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the robot’s locomotive performance for both linear locomotion and turning movement. Results show that the proposed robot’s stride length was nearly one third of its body length, with a maximum linear speed of 3.6 mm s −1 , a linear locomotion efficiency of 96.4%, a maximum turning capability of 4.3 degrees per stride, and a turning locomotion efficiency of 39.7%. (paper)

Locomotive emissions measurements for various blends of biodiesel fuel.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

The objective of this project was to assess the effects of various blends of biodiesel on locomotive engine exhaust emissions. The : emission tests were conducted on two locomotive models, a Tier 2 EMD SD70ACe and a Tier 1 Plus GE Dash9-44CW, using t...

[The concept and definition of locomotive syndrome in a super-aged society].

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Kozo; Yoshimura, Noriko; Akune, Toru; Ogata, Toru; Tanaka, Sakae

2014-10-01

The population of elderly individuals who need nursing care is rapidly increasing in Japan. Locomotive syndrome involves a decrease in mobility due to locomotive organ dysfunction, and increases risk for dependency on nursing care service. Because gait speed and chair stand time are correlated with such risks, patients with locomotive syndrome are assessed using brief methods such as the two-step test, which involves dividing the maximum stride length by the height of the patient, and the stand-up test, which involves standing on one or both legs at different heights. One leg standing and squatting are recommended as beneficial locomotive home exercises. Locomotive syndrome has been recognized widely in Japan, and included in the National Health Promotion Movement (2013-2022).

Passive appendages aid locomotion through symmetry breaking

Science.gov (United States)

Bagheri, Shervin; Lacis, Ugis; Mazzino, Andrea; Kellay, Hamid; Brosse, Nicolas; Lundell, Fredrik; Ingremeau, Francois

2014-11-01

Plants and animals use plumes, barbs, tails, feathers, hairs, fins, and other types of appendages to aid locomotion. Despite their enormous variation, passive appendages may contribute to locomotion by exploiting the same physical mechanism. We present a new mechanism that applies to body appendages surrounded by a separated flow, which often develops behind moving bodies larger than a few millimeters. We use theory, experiments, and numerical simulations to show that bodies with protrusions turn and drift by exploiting a symmetry-breaking instability similar to the instability of an inverted pendulum. Our model explains why the straight position of an appendage in flowing fluid is unstable and how it stabilizes either to the left or right of the incoming fluid flow direction. The discovery suggests a new mechanism of locomotion that may be relevant for certain organisms; for example, how plumed seeds may drift without wind and how motile animals may passively reorient themselves.

Exotendons for assistance of human locomotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van den Bogert Antonie J

2003-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Powered robotic exoskeletons for assistance of human locomotion are currently under development for military and medical applications. The energy requirements for such devices are excessive, and this has become a major obstacle for practical applications. Legged locomotion in many animals, however, is very energy efficient. We propose that poly-articular elastic mechanisms are a major contributor to the economy of locomotion in such specialized animals. Consequently, it should be possible to design unpowered assistive devices that make effective use of similar mechanisms. Methods A passive assistive technology is presented, based on long elastic cords attached to an exoskeleton and guided by pulleys placed at the joints. A general optimization procedure is described for finding the best geometrical arrangement of such "exotendons" for assisting a specific movement. Optimality is defined either as minimal residual joint moment or as minimal residual joint power. Four specific exotendon systems with increasing complexity are considered. Representative human gait data were used to optimize each of these four systems to achieve maximal assistance for normal walking. Results The most complex exotendon system, with twelve pulleys per limb, was able to reduce the joint moments required for normal walking by 71% and joint power by 74%. A simpler system, with only three pulleys per limb, could reduce joint moments by 46% and joint power by 47%. Conclusion It is concluded that unpowered passive elastic devices can substantially reduce the muscle forces and the metabolic energy needed for walking, without requiring a change in movement. When optimally designed, such devices may allow independent locomotion in patients with large deficits in muscle function.

49 CFR 229.9 - Movement of non-complying locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Movement of non-complying locomotives. 229.9... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE SAFETY STANDARDS General § 229.9 Movement of non... restrictions necessary for safely conducting the movement; (2)(i) The engineer in charge of the movement of the...

A Specific Population of Reticulospinal Neurons Controls the Termination of Locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Juvin, Laurent; Grätsch, Swantje; Trillaud-Doppia, Emilie; Gariépy, Jean-François; Büschges, Ansgar; Dubuc, Réjean

2016-06-14

Locomotion requires the proper sequencing of neural activity to start, maintain, and stop it. Recently, brainstem neurons were shown to specifically stop locomotion in mammals. However, the cellular properties of these neurons and their activity during locomotion are still unknown. Here, we took advantage of the lamprey model to characterize the activity of a cell population that we now show to be involved in stopping locomotion. We find that these neurons display a burst of spikes that coincides with the end of swimming activity. Their pharmacological activation ends ongoing swimming, whereas the inactivation of these neurons dramatically impairs the rapid termination of swimming. These neurons are henceforth referred to as stop cells, because they play a crucial role in the termination of locomotion. Our findings contribute to the fundamental understanding of motor control and provide important details about the cellular mechanisms involved in locomotor termination. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

System design of a large fuel cell hybrid locomotive

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, A. R.; Hess, K. S.; Barnes, D. L.; Erickson, T. L.

Fuel cell power for locomotives combines the environmental benefits of a catenary-electric locomotive with the higher overall energy efficiency and lower infrastructure costs of a diesel-electric. A North American consortium, a public-private partnership, is developing a prototype hydrogen-fueled fuel cell-battery hybrid switcher locomotive for urban and military-base rail applications. Switcher locomotives are used in rail yards for assembling and disassembling trains and moving trains from one point to another. At 127 tonnes (280,000 lb), continuous power of 250 kW from its (proton exchange membrane) PEM fuel cell prime mover, and transient power well in excess of 1 MW, the hybrid locomotive will be the heaviest and most powerful fuel cell land vehicle yet. This fast-paced project calls for completion of the vehicle itself near the end of 2007. Several technical challenges not found in the development of smaller vehicles arise when designing and developing such a large fuel cell vehicle. Weight, center of gravity, packaging, and safety were design factors leading to, among other features, the roof location of the lightweight 350 bar compressed hydrogen storage system. Harsh operating conditions, especially shock loads during coupling to railcars, require component mounting systems capable of absorbing high energy. Vehicle scale-up by increasing mass, density, or power presents new challenges primarily related to issues of system layout, hydrogen storage, heat transfer, and shock loads.

SELECTION OF RATIONAL PARAMETERS OF THE NOMINAL MODE OF ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. K. Hetman

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose.The railways of Ukraine have been operated the locomotives, which are both morally and physically obsolete. Therefore, to ensure the competitiveness of rail transport it is necessary to update the locomotive fleet, and first of all the fleet of electric locomotives, because electrified railways provide the greater part of passenger and freight traffic. In this connection it is of special importance to determine the optimum parameters of the nominal mode of electric rolling stock. The purpose of the work is to examine the features of solution of these problems with respect to electric locomotives. Methodology. Assuming that the limit values of traction force are determined by the conditions of wheel-rail grip, then the power of the nominal mode can be represented as the product of rated speed, estimated friction coefficient, train weight and the coefficients that represent the ratio of the estimated (starting value of traction force to value of traction force the nominal mode and the ratio of the mass of the locomotive to the train weight. Since the mass of the train is not a constant value, there is always a surplus power of the locomotive fleet required for the mastering of a predetermined volume of transportations. Reduced overcapacity of the locomotive fleet can be achieved by introduction of the locomotives of different power, designed for driving trains of different weight that will result in increased completeness of the power use but also in difficulty in selecting of locomotives for trains in operation. The paper shows the method of calculating the optimum values of power, speed and traction force of the nominal mode. It presents the mathematical model of the relationship of traction rate, excessive capacity and power of the traction unit. Findings.It is proved that the power of the traction unit, the total fleet power requirement and the excess of power in absolute units are proportional to the speed of the nominal mode. To

Lifestyle factors are significantly associated with the locomotive syndrome: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Akahane, Manabu; Yoshihara, Shingo; Maeyashiki, Akie; Tanaka, Yasuhito; Imamura, Tomoaki

2017-10-18

The Japanese Orthopedic Association first proposed the concept of "locomotive syndrome" in 2007. It refers to circumstances in which elderly people need nursing care services or are at high risk of requiring such services within a short time. Recently, the public health burden of providing nursing care for elderly individuals has increased. Therefore, locomotive syndrome, and the means of preventing it, are a major public health focus in Japan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep duration, and dental health, with locomotive syndrome. We conducted a cross-sectional study using an internet panel survey. The participants comprised 747 individuals aged 30-90 years. Factors related to demographics (age, sex), general health (number of teeth, presence of periodontal disease), and lifestyle (smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep duration) were assessed. We also used the 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale to determine whether each participant had locomotive syndrome. Multivariate analysis was conducted using logistic regression to investigate the independent relationships between locomotive syndrome and lifestyle factors after adjusting for sex and age. A greater proportion of women (17.7%) than men (11.2%) had locomotive syndrome (p syndrome compared with those aged syndrome, whereas sleep duration was not. The frequency of alcohol consumption, except for daily drinking, was also associated with locomotive syndrome. Our study indicates that lifestyle factors, such as smoking and number of existing teeth, may partly affect the prevalence of locomotive syndrome. Hence, lifestyle modifications, such as improving oral hygiene and promoting cessation of smoking, are important means to reduce the risk of locomotive syndrome and should be promoted by public health staff.

ANALYSIS OF THE OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Ursulyak

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To compare the operational characteristics of freight diesel-electric locomotives ER20CF and 2М62м, which are operated with Lithuanian Railways. Important problems on traction calculations are considered in this article. In this article the critical tasks of traction calculations are solved. It is the main computational tool in the rational functioning, planning and development of railways: determination of the estimated weight of the rolling stock, the diagrams construction of specific resultant forces of a train, the permitted speed definition of the train on the slopes, curves of train traffic construction on the section. Methodology. Using the rules and methods of traction calculations the analysis of the basic operational characteristics of the modernized freight diesel-electric locomotive 2М62m and freight passenger dual locomotive 2ER20CF was held. The maximum weight of the train set, the track structure on a high-speed ascent through the use of kinetic energy (with traction and without traction, technical speed, acceleration force and the value of the smallest radius curve are selected as controlled parameters. During the calculations it was considered that the trains were formed of a fully loaded four-axle gondola cars, model 112-119 (feature-606 with axle load of 23.5 t; the motion was carried out on the continuous welded rail track; the front of the train set is a dual locomotive 2ER20CF or two locomotive 2М62м. Longitudinal profile of the road on the route Vilnus–KlF was analyzed for the choice of theoretical rise. Inspection concerning the possibility of overcoming the high-speed rise was performed with an analytical method, based on the use of the kinetic energy accumulated by the overcoming of «light» elements of the profile. Findings. In the calculations, the maximum weight of the train set taking into account theoretical rise was analyzed. The inspection of the theoretical weight of the train set on a reliable

Design of e-Science platform for biomedical imaging research cross multiple academic institutions and hospitals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jianguo; Zhang, Kai; Yang, Yuanyuan; Ling, Tonghui; Wang, Tusheng; Wang, Mingqing; Hu, Haibo; Xu, Xuemin

2012-02-01

More and more image informatics researchers and engineers are considering to re-construct imaging and informatics infrastructure or to build new framework to enable multiple disciplines of medical researchers, clinical physicians and biomedical engineers working together in a secured, efficient, and transparent cooperative environment. In this presentation, we show an outline and our preliminary design work of building an e-Science platform for biomedical imaging and informatics research and application in Shanghai. We will present our consideration and strategy on designing this platform, and preliminary results. We also will discuss some challenges and solutions in building this platform.

A survey report for the turning of biped locomotion robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Ichiro; Takanishi, Atsuo; Kume, Etsuo.

1992-12-01

A mechanical design study of biped locomotion robots is going on at JAERI within the scope of the Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP). The design study at JAERI is of an arbitrarily mobile robot for inspection of nuclear facilities. A survey has been performed for collecting useful information from already existing biped locomotion robots. This is a survey report for the turning of biped locomotion robot: the WL-10R designed and developed at Waseda University. This report includes the control method of turning, machine model and control system. (author)

The G6. A heavy-duty, six-wheeled shunting locomotive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hildebrandt, Tim [Vossloh Locomotives GmbH, Kiel (Germany). Development and Standardisation Group

2010-05-15

Nowadays, railway operating companies need robust, reliable and versatile locomotives. Vossloh has shown one way that future developments are likely to go with its 'G6' six-wheeled shunting locomotive, which features a central driver's cab. (orig.)

基于GIS的井下机车区域定位检测系统%The Regional Positioning Detection System based on GIS for Underground Locomotive

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张阳

2012-01-01

介绍了一种基于GIS的井下机车区域定位检测系统,该系统可有效地改善目前井下机车的使用情况.系统主要包括机车检测器、检测分站和主站计算机3部分.机车检测器测量机车车速,超速报警并将机车的车速、车号和车皮等信息通过无线传输技术发送到检测分站；检测分站通过井下环网将接收到的数据上传到主站计算机；主站计算机根据检测分站上传来的数据,利用GIS软件MapX,以VB为开发平台,实时模拟井下机车运行状况.%A regional positioning detection system based on GIS for the underground locomotive is introduced, which could effectively improve the me of underground locomotive at present. The system mainly includes the locomotive detectors, the testing substations and the hast computer,Of which,the locomotive detector is used to measure speed and make alarm once the locomotive is over speed, and sends such information as speed, train number and carriage to the testing substation via wireless transmission technology. The testing substation then uploads the received data to the host PC through the underground ring network. According to the data, and by using the GIS software MapX and VB for development platform, the PC will realize real-time simulation for the underground locomotive operation condition.

Animal Locomotion in Different Mediums

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

IAS Admin

examine only self-powered animal locomotion. ... At different phases of their life cycle both animals and plants are highly mobile but their ... wind driven transport (Figure C). ..... fins which serve the function of rudimentary limbs, particularly.

THE DYNAMICS AND TRACTION ENERGY METRICS LOCOMOTIVE VL40

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Pylypenko

2008-03-01

Full Text Available In the article the results of dynamic running and traction-energy tests of the electric locomotive VL40U are presented. In accordance with the test results a conclusion about the suitability of electric locomotive of such a type for operation with trains containing up to 15 passenger coaches inclusive is made.

Hybrid magnetic mechanism for active locomotion based on inchworm motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sung Hoon; Hashi, Shuichiro; Ishiyama, Kazushi

2013-01-01

Magnetic robots have been studied in the past. Insect-type micro-robots are used in various biomedical applications; researchers have developed inchworm micro-robots for endoscopic use. A biological inchworm has a looping locomotion gait. However, most inchworm micro-robots depend on a general bending, or bellows, motion. In this paper, we introduce a new robotic mechanism using magnetic force and torque control in a rotating magnetic field for a looping gait. The proposed robot is controlled by the magnetic torque, attractive force, and body mechanisms (two stoppers, flexible body, and different frictional legs). The magnetic torque generates a general bending motion. In addition, the attractive force and body mechanisms produce the robot’s looping motion within a rotating magnetic field and without the use of an algorithm for field control. We verified the device’s performance and analyzed the motion through simulations and various experiments. The robot mechanism can be applied to active locomotion for various medical robots, such as wireless endoscopes. (technical note)

e-Science platform for translational biomedical imaging research: running, statistics, and analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tusheng; Yang, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Kai; Wang, Mingqing; Zhao, Jun; Xu, Lisa; Zhang, Jianguo

2015-03-01

In order to enable multiple disciplines of medical researchers, clinical physicians and biomedical engineers working together in a secured, efficient, and transparent cooperative environment, we had designed an e-Science platform for biomedical imaging research and application cross multiple academic institutions and hospitals in Shanghai and presented this work in SPIE Medical Imaging conference held in San Diego in 2012. In past the two-years, we implemented a biomedical image chain including communication, storage, cooperation and computing based on this e-Science platform. In this presentation, we presented the operating status of this system in supporting biomedical imaging research, analyzed and discussed results of this system in supporting multi-disciplines collaboration cross-multiple institutions.

Towards A Research Agenda on Digital Platform Disruption

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazan, Erol; Tan, Chee-Wee; Lim, Eric T. K.

Digital platforms are disruptive IT artifacts, because they facilitate the quick release of innovative platform derivatives from third parties. This study endeavors to unravel the disruptive potential, caused by distinct designs and configurations of digital platforms on market environments. We...... postulate that the disruptive potential of digital platforms is determined by the degree of alignment among the business, technology and platform profiles. Furthermore, we argue that the design and configuration of the aforementioned three elements dictates the extent to which open innovation is permitted....... To shed light on the disruptive potential of digital platforms, we opted for digital payment platforms as our unit of analysis. Through interviews with experts and payment providers, we seek to gain an in-depth appreciation of how contemporary digital payment platforms are designed and configured...

49 CFR 231.15 - Steam locomotives used in road service.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam locomotives used in road service. 231.15 Section 231.15 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD SAFETY APPLIANCE STANDARDS § 231.15 Steam locomotives used...

The Doktabörse – an innovative online platform for research projects at the medical faculty of the LMU Munich

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolai, Leo

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: One of the most important extracurricular aspects of medical studies in Germany is a research thesis completed by most students. This research project often times conveys relevant competencies for the physician’s role as scientist. Nevertheless, the choice of the right project remains a challenge. Reasons for this are among others, missing structures for a comprehensive overview of research groups and their respective projects.Description of the project: We developed the online platform as an online marketplace for doctoral research projects. The platform enables authorized researchers to create working groups and upload, deactivate and change research projects within their institute. For interested students, a front end with integrated search function displays these projects in a structured and well-arranged way. In parallel, the provides for a comprehensive overview of research at the medical faculty. We evaluated Researchers‘ and students‘ use of the platform. Results: 96,6% of students participating in the evaluation (n=400 were in favor of a centralized research platform at the medical faculty. The platform grew at a steady pace and included 120 research groups in June 2016. The students appreciated the structure and design of the Two thirds of all uploaded projects matched successfully with doctoral students via the platform and over 94% of researchers stated that they did not need technical assistance with uploading projects and handling the platform. Discussion: The represents an innovative and well accepted platform for doctoral research projects. The platform is perceived positively by researchers and students alike. However, students criticized limited extent and timeliness of offered projects.In addition, the platform serves as databank of research at the medical faculty of the LMU Munich. The future potential of this platform is to provide for an integrated management solution of doctoral thesis projects

Issues in offshore platform research - Part 1: Semi-submersibles

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, R.; Kim, Tae-Wan; Sha, O. P.; Misra, S. C.

2010-09-01

Availability of economic and efficient energy resources is crucial to a nation's development. Because of their low cost and advancement in drilling and exploration technologies, oil and gas based energy systems are the most widely used energy source throughout the world. The inexpensive oil and gas based energy systems are used for everything, i.e., from transportation of goods and people to the harvesting of crops for food. As the energy demand continues to rise, there is strong need for inexpensive energy solutions. An offshore platform is a large structure that is used to house workers and machinery needed to drill wells in the ocean bed, extract oil and/or natural gas, process the produced fluids, and ship or pipe them to shore. Depending on the circumstances, the offshore platform can be fixed (to the ocean floor) or can consist of an artificial island or can float. Semi-submersibles are used for various purposes in offshore and marine engineering, e.g. crane vessels, drilling vessels, tourist vessels, production platforms and accommodation facilities, etc. The challenges of deepwater drilling have further motivated the researchers to design optimum choices for semi-submersibles for a chosen operating depth. In our series of eight papers, we discuss the design and production aspects of all the types of offshore platforms. In the present part I, we present an introduction and critical analysis of semi-submersibles.

The Research of China's Civil Aviation Passenger Multi-Channel Service Technology Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Zhibing, Xue; Xinming, Wang

IATA is promoting Simplifying the Business. The traditional passenger services and business process, such as ticketing, airport counters, had a great influence. The airlines have the passenger service and convenience as the next product development requirements. With civil aviation industry and their company's products construction, the authors propose a solution of passenger multi-channel service product platform. The solution is to streamline the business as the breakthrough point, around the convenience of passengers travel services to travelers as the center, using the current mainstream and the latest IT technology to establish passenger service product platform. The solution will promote DCS e-ticketing business development and service channel diversity. In this paper, the research results have been applied in the product platform construction of the authors' company. The practice shows that through traditional business with the latest IT technologies, traditional passenger services into the emerging service model, passenger service product platform has strong advantages and characteristics. Based on the platform, various types of service products is growing rapidly.

Small-scale soft-bodied robot with multimodal locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Wenqi; Lum, Guo Zhan; Mastrangeli, Massimo; Sitti, Metin

2018-02-01

Untethered small-scale (from several millimetres down to a few micrometres in all dimensions) robots that can non-invasively access confined, enclosed spaces may enable applications in microfactories such as the construction of tissue scaffolds by robotic assembly, in bioengineering such as single-cell manipulation and biosensing, and in healthcare such as targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery. Existing small-scale robots, however, have very limited mobility because they are unable to negotiate obstacles and changes in texture or material in unstructured environments. Of these small-scale robots, soft robots have greater potential to realize high mobility via multimodal locomotion, because such machines have higher degrees of freedom than their rigid counterparts. Here we demonstrate magneto-elastic soft millimetre-scale robots that can swim inside and on the surface of liquids, climb liquid menisci, roll and walk on solid surfaces, jump over obstacles, and crawl within narrow tunnels. These robots can transit reversibly between different liquid and solid terrains, as well as switch between locomotive modes. They can additionally execute pick-and-place and cargo-release tasks. We also present theoretical models to explain how the robots move. Like the large-scale robots that can be used to study locomotion, these soft small-scale robots could be used to study soft-bodied locomotion produced by small organisms.

Modeling limbless locomotion using ADAMS software

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Until now, the methods used by probes or humans for locomotion on planetary surfaces have typically been restricted to variations of wheeled motion. As human...

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION TESTS AT LOCOMOTIVE REPAIR PLANT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. E. Bodnar

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In difficult economic conditions, cost reduction of electricity consumption for the needs of production is an urgent task for the country’s industrial enterprises. Technical specifications of enterprises, which repair diesel locomotive hydraulic transmission, recommend conducting a certain amount of evaluation and regulatory tests to monitor their condition after repair. Experience shows that a significant portion of hydraulic transmission defects is revealed by bench tests. The advantages of bench tests include the ability to detect defects after repair, ease of maintenance of the hydraulic transmission and relatively low labour intensity for eliminating defects. The quality of these tests results in the transmission resource and its efficiency. Improvement of the technology of plant post-repairs hydraulic tests in order to reduce electricity consumption while testing. Methodology. The possible options for hydraulic transmission test bench improvement were analysed. There was proposed an energy efficiency method for diesel locomotive hydraulic transmission testing in locomotive repair plant environment. This is achieved by installing additional drive motor which receives power from the load generator. Findings. Based on the conducted analysis the necessity of improving the plant stand testing of hydraulic transmission was proved. The variants of the stand modernization were examined. The test stand modernization analysis was conducted. Originality. The possibility of using electric power load generator to power the stand electric drive motor or the additional drive motor was theoretically substantiated. Practical value. A variant of hydraulic transmission test stand based on the mutual load method was proposed. Using this method increases the hydraulic transmission load range and power consumption by stand remains unchanged. The additional drive motor will increase the speed of the input shaft that in its turn wil allow testing in

Issues in offshore platform research - Part 1: Semi-submersibles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Sharma

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Availability of economic and efficient energy resources is crucial to a nation's development. Because of their low cost and advancement in drilling and exploration technologies, oil and gas based energy systems are the most widely used energy source throughout the world. The inexpensive oil and gas based energy systems are used for everything, i.e., from transportation of goods and people to the harvesting of crops for food. As the energy demand continues to rise, there is strong need for inexpensive energy solutions. An offshore platform is a large structure that is used to house workers and machinery needed to drill wells in the ocean bed, extract oil and/or natural gas, process the produced fluids, and ship or pipe them to shore. Depending on the circumstances, the offshore platform can be fixed (to the ocean floor or can consist of an artificial island or can float. Semi-submersibles are used for various purposes in offshore and marine engineering, e.g. crane vessels, drilling vessels, tourist vessels, production platforms and accommodation facilities, etc. The challenges of deepwater drilling have further motivated the researchers to design optimum choices for semi-submersibles for a chosen operating depth. In our series of eight papers, we discuss the design and production aspects of all the types of offshore platforms. In the present part I, we present an introduction and critical analysis of semi-submersibles.

Lameness Detection in Dairy Cows: Part 1. How to Distinguish between Non-Lame and Lame Cows Based on Differences in Locomotion or Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Van Nuffel, Annelies; Zwertvaegher, Ingrid; Pluym, Liesbet; Van Weyenberg, Stephanie; Thorup, Vivi M.; Pastell, Matti; Sonck, Bart; Saeys, Wouter

2015-01-01

Simple Summary Scoring cattle for lameness based on changes in locomotion or behavior is essential for farmers to find and treat their lame animals. This review discusses the normal locomotion of cows in order to define abnormal locomotion due to lameness. It furthermore provides an overview of various relevant visual locomotion scoring systems that are currently being used as well as practical considerations when assessing lameness on a commercial farm. Abstract Due to its detrimental effect on cow welfare, health and production, lameness in dairy cows has received quite a lot of attention in the last few decades—not only in terms of prevention and treatment of lameness but also in terms of detection, as early treatment might decrease the number of severely lame cows in the herds as well as decrease the direct and indirect costs associated with lameness cases. Generally, lame cows are detected by the herdsman, hoof trimmer or veterinarian based on abnormal locomotion, abnormal behavior or the presence of hoof lesions during routine trimming. In the scientific literature, several guidelines are proposed to detect lame cows based on visual interpretation of the locomotion of individual cows (i.e., locomotion scoring systems). Researchers and the industry have focused on automating such observations to support the farmer in finding the lame cows in their herds, but until now, such automated systems have rarely been used in commercial herds. This review starts with the description of normal locomotion of cows in order to define ‘abnormal’ locomotion caused by lameness. Cow locomotion (gait and posture) and behavioral features that change when a cow becomes lame are described and linked to the existing visual scoring systems. In addition, the lack of information of normal cow gait and a clear description of ‘abnormal’ gait are discussed. Finally, the different set-ups used during locomotion scoring and their influence on the resulting locomotion scores are

DEFINITION OF LOCOMOTIVE TRACTION FORCE WITH REGARD TO UNEVEN LOADING OF WHEEL-MOTOR BLOCK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Ye. Bodnar

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article describes the most common methods for determining the locomotive traction force. Solving the tasks of traction calculations involves determination of the forces influencing the train at every point of the way. When choosing a rational trajectory of the train motion and the development of operational regulations of train driving it is necessary to determine the actual value of the locomotive traction force. Considering various factors, power value of traction electric motor of locomotive may have significant differences. Advancement of the operational definition system of the locomotive traction force during the calculations by electrical parameters of traction electric motor with regard to uneven load of wheel-motor block is the purpose of the article. Methodology. The method of determining the traction force of locomotives and diesel locomotives with electric transmission, which is based on primary data acquisition of traction electric engines of direct current behavior, was proposed. Sensors and their integration into the electrical circuitry of the locomotive in order to get the data in digital form and for operational calculation of the each traction motor mode and the definition of locomotive traction force are presented. Findings. The experimental investigation of the system of locomotive traction force determination with the electric traction motor ED-105 was offered. A comparison of electrical and mechanical power of the electric motor was conducted. Originality. The system of locomotives power operational definition, which takes into account the variable electro-mechanical factors of wheel and motor blocks and increases the accuracy of the calculations, was proposed. Practical value. The system is a part of an onboard complex in definition of energy-efficient regimes for trains movement and provides the definition of accelerating and decelerating forces.

On the rules for aquatic locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Saadat, M.; Fish, F. E.; Domel, A. G.; Di Santo, V.; Lauder, G. V.; Haj-Hariri, H.

2017-08-01

We present unifying rules governing the efficient locomotion of swimming fish and marine mammals. Using scaling and dimensional analysis, supported by new experimental data, we show that efficient locomotion occurs when the values of the Strouhal (St) number St (=f A /U ) and A*(=A /L ) , two nondimensional numbers that relate forward speed U , tail-beat amplitude A , tail-beat frequency f , and the length of the swimmer L are bound to the tight ranges of 0.2-0.4 and 0.1-0.3, respectively. The tight range of 0.2-0.4 for the St number has previously been associated with optimal thrust generation. We show that the St number alone is insufficient to achieve optimal aquatic locomotion, and an additional condition on A* is needed. More importantly, we show that when swimming at minimal power consumption, the Strouhal number of a cruising swimmer is predetermined solely by the shape and drag characteristics of the swimmer. We show that diverse species of fish and cetaceans cruise indeed with the St number and A* predicted by our theory. Our findings provide a physical explanation as to why fast aquatic swimmers cruise with a relatively constant tail-beat amplitude of approximately 20% of the body length, and their swimming speed is nearly proportional to their tail-beat frequency.

Lameness Detection in Dairy Cows: Part 1. How to Distinguish between Non-Lame and Lame Cows Based on Differences in Locomotion or Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annelies Van Nuffel

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Due to its detrimental effect on cow welfare, health and production, lameness in dairy cows has received quite a lot of attention in the last few decades—not only in terms of prevention and treatment of lameness but also in terms of detection, as early treatment might decrease the number of severely lame cows in the herds as well as decrease the direct and indirect costs associated with lameness cases. Generally, lame cows are detected by the herdsman, hoof trimmer or veterinarian based on abnormal locomotion, abnormal behavior or the presence of hoof lesions during routine trimming. In the scientific literature, several guidelines are proposed to detect lame cows based on visual interpretation of the locomotion of individual cows (i.e., locomotion scoring systems. Researchers and the industry have focused on automating such observations to support the farmer in finding the lame cows in their herds, but until now, such automated systems have rarely been used in commercial herds. This review starts with the description of normal locomotion of cows in order to define ‘abnormal’ locomotion caused by lameness. Cow locomotion (gait and posture and behavioral features that change when a cow becomes lame are described and linked to the existing visual scoring systems. In addition, the lack of information of normal cow gait and a clear description of ‘abnormal’ gait are discussed. Finally, the different set-ups used during locomotion scoring and their influence on the resulting locomotion scores are evaluated.

49 CFR 210.29 - Operation standards (moving locomotives and rail cars).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... cars). 210.29 Section 210.29 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued... REGULATIONS Inspection and Testing § 210.29 Operation standards (moving locomotives and rail cars). The operation standards for the noise emission levels of moving locomotives, rail cars, or consists of...

Locomotion of Mexican jumping beans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, Daniel M; K Lal, Ishan; Leamy, Michael J; Hu, David L

2012-01-01

The Mexican jumping bean, Laspeyresia saltitans, consists of a hollow seed housing a moth larva. Heating by the sun induces movements by the larva which appear as rolls, jumps and flips by the bean. In this combined experimental, numerical and robotic study, we investigate this unique means of rolling locomotion. Time-lapse videography is used to record bean trajectories across a series of terrain types, including one-dimensional channels and planar surfaces of varying inclination. We find that the shell encumbers the larva's locomotion, decreasing its speed on flat surfaces by threefold. We also observe that the two-dimensional search algorithm of the bean resembles the run-and-tumble search of bacteria. We test this search algorithm using both an agent-based simulation and a wheeled Scribbler robot. The algorithm succeeds in propelling the robot away from regions of high temperature and may have application in biomimetic micro-scale navigation systems. (paper)

Energetic Extremes in Aquatic Locomotion by Coral Reef Fishes

Science.gov (United States)

Fulton, Christopher J.; Johansen, Jacob L.; Steffensen, John F.

2013-01-01

Underwater locomotion is challenging due to the high friction and resistance imposed on a body moving through water and energy lost in the wake during undulatory propulsion. While aquatic organisms have evolved streamlined shapes to overcome such resistance, underwater locomotion has long been considered a costly exercise. Recent evidence for a range of swimming vertebrates, however, has suggested that flapping paired appendages around a rigid body may be an extremely efficient means of aquatic locomotion. Using intermittent flow-through respirometry, we found exceptional energetic performance in the Bluelined wrasse Stethojulis bandanensis, which maintains tuna-like optimum cruising speeds (up to 1 metre s−1) while using 40% less energy than expected for their body size. Displaying an exceptional aerobic scope (22-fold above resting), streamlined rigid-body posture, and wing-like fins that generate lift-based thrust, S. bandanensis literally flies underwater to efficiently maintain high optimum swimming speeds. Extreme energetic performance may be key to the colonization of highly variable environments, such as the wave-swept habitats where S. bandanensis and other wing-finned species tend to occur. Challenging preconceived notions of how best to power aquatic locomotion, biomimicry of such lift-based fin movements could yield dramatic reductions in the power needed to propel underwater vehicles at high speed. PMID:23326566

Energetic extremes in aquatic locomotion by coral reef fishes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J Fulton

Full Text Available Underwater locomotion is challenging due to the high friction and resistance imposed on a body moving through water and energy lost in the wake during undulatory propulsion. While aquatic organisms have evolved streamlined shapes to overcome such resistance, underwater locomotion has long been considered a costly exercise. Recent evidence for a range of swimming vertebrates, however, has suggested that flapping paired appendages around a rigid body may be an extremely efficient means of aquatic locomotion. Using intermittent flow-through respirometry, we found exceptional energetic performance in the Bluelined wrasse Stethojulis bandanensis, which maintains tuna-like optimum cruising speeds (up to 1 metre s(-1 while using 40% less energy than expected for their body size. Displaying an exceptional aerobic scope (22-fold above resting, streamlined rigid-body posture, and wing-like fins that generate lift-based thrust, S. bandanensis literally flies underwater to efficiently maintain high optimum swimming speeds. Extreme energetic performance may be key to the colonization of highly variable environments, such as the wave-swept habitats where S. bandanensis and other wing-finned species tend to occur. Challenging preconceived notions of how best to power aquatic locomotion, biomimicry of such lift-based fin movements could yield dramatic reductions in the power needed to propel underwater vehicles at high speed.

The Determination of the Asynchronous Traction Motor Characteristics of Locomotive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Grigorievich Kolpakhchyan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the problem of the locomotive asynchronous traction motor control with the AC diesel-electric transmission. The limitations of the torque of the traction motor when powered by the inverter are determined. The recommendations to improve the use of asynchronous traction motor of locomotives with the AC diesel-electric transmission are given.

Neurobiology of Caenorhabditis elegans Locomotion: Where Do We Stand?

OpenAIRE

Gjorgjieva, Julijana; Biron, David; Haspel, Gal

2014-01-01

Animals use a nervous system for locomotion in some stage of their life cycle. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a major animal model for almost all fields of experimental biology, has long been used for detailed studies of genetic and physiological locomotion mechanisms. Of its 959 somatic cells, 302 are neurons that are identifiable by lineage, location, morphology, and neurochemistry in every adult hermaphrodite. Of those, 75 motoneurons innervate body wall muscles that provide the thru...

Open source tracking and analysis of adult Drosophila locomotion in Buridan's paradigm with and without visual targets.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julien Colomb

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Insects have been among the most widely used model systems for studying the control of locomotion by nervous systems. In Drosophila, we implemented a simple test for locomotion: in Buridan's paradigm, flies walk back and forth between two inaccessible visual targets [1]. Until today, the lack of easily accessible tools for tracking the fly position and analyzing its trajectory has probably contributed to the slow acceptance of Buridan's paradigm. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present here a package of open source software designed to track a single animal walking in a homogenous environment (Buritrack and to analyze its trajectory. The Centroid Trajectory Analysis (CeTrAn software is coded in the open source statistics project R. It extracts eleven metrics and includes correlation analyses and a Principal Components Analysis (PCA. It was designed to be easily customized to personal requirements. In combination with inexpensive hardware, these tools can readily be used for teaching and research purposes. We demonstrate the capabilities of our package by measuring the locomotor behavior of adult Drosophila melanogaster (whose wings were clipped, either in the presence or in the absence of visual targets, and comparing the latter to different computer-generated data. The analysis of the trajectories confirms that flies are centrophobic and shows that inaccessible visual targets can alter the orientation of the flies without changing their overall patterns of activity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Using computer generated data, the analysis software was tested, and chance values for some metrics (as well as chance value for their correlation were set. Our results prompt the hypothesis that fixation behavior is observed only if negative phototaxis can overcome the propensity of the flies to avoid the center of the platform. Together with our companion paper, we provide new tools to promote Open Science as well as the collection and

Investigations into dynamics of a draft of mine cars with two locomotives during electric braking

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sikora-Iliew, R; Szklarski, L; Thuc, Thai Duy

1983-03-01

The computerized simulation of electric braking of a draft of GRANBY-5 mine cars and two locomotives (Ld2 locomotives with LDO30 electric series motors) is discussed. The following stages of simulation are analyzed: constructing a mathematical model of the draft of mine cars during electric (dynamic) braking, equations which describe dynamic states of locomotives, mine cars and electric motors during dynamic braking, equations for stability assessment of the draft during dynamic braking. The analog model for simulation of dynamic braking of the draft is given. Simulation results are shown in 10 diagrams. The WAT-1000 hybrid computer is used. Simulation shows that dynamic braking causes occurrence of maximum forces in the couplers between a locomotive and a mine car. When two locomotives are used the maximum force in couplers is lower than in a draft with one locomotive. Braking distance does not depend on position of locomotives in a draft of mine cars. Doubling draft speed causes braking distance to increase by 4 times. Optimum stability conditions of a draft of mine cars are guaranteed when one locomotive is placed at the draft head and a second is separated from the first one by one third of the draft length. 6 references

Physiological aspects of legged terrestrial locomotion the motor and the machine

CERN Document Server

Cavagna, Giovanni

2017-01-01

This book offers a succinct but comprehensive description of the mechanics of muscle contraction and legged terrestrial locomotion. It describes on the one hand how the fundamental properties of muscle tissue affect the mechanics of locomotion, and on the other, how the mechanics of locomotion modify the mechanism of muscle operation under different conditions. Further, the book reports on the design and results of experiments conducted with two goals. The first was to describe the physiological function of muscle tissue (which may be considered as the “motor”) contracting at a constant length, during shortening, during lengthening, and under a condition that occurs most frequently in the back-and-forth movement of the limbs during locomotion, namely the stretch-shortening cycle of the active muscle. The second objective was to analyze the interaction between the motor and the “machine” (the skeletal lever system) during walking and running in different scenarios with respect to speed, step frequency,...

Manual and automatic locomotion scoring systems in dairy cows: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlageter-Tello, Andrés; Bokkers, Eddie A M; Koerkamp, Peter W G Groot; Van Hertem, Tom; Viazzi, Stefano; Romanini, Carlos E B; Halachmi, Ilan; Bahr, Claudia; Berckmans, Daniël; Lokhorst, Kees

2014-09-01

The objective of this review was to describe, compare and evaluate agreement, reliability, and validity of manual and automatic locomotion scoring systems (MLSSs and ALSSs, respectively) used in dairy cattle lameness research. There are many different types of MLSSs and ALSSs. Twenty-five MLSSs were found in 244 articles. MLSSs use different types of scale (ordinal or continuous) and different gait and posture traits need to be observed. The most used MLSS (used in 28% of the references) is based on asymmetric gait, reluctance to bear weight, and arched back, and is scored on a five-level scale. Fifteen ALSSs were found that could be categorized according to three approaches: (a) the kinetic approach measures forces involved in locomotion, (b) the kinematic approach measures time and distance of variables associated to limb movement and some specific posture variables, and (c) the indirect approach uses behavioural variables or production variables as indicators for impaired locomotion. Agreement and reliability estimates were scarcely reported in articles related to MLSSs. When reported, inappropriate statistical methods such as PABAK and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were commonly used. Some of the most frequently used MLSSs were poorly evaluated for agreement and reliability. Agreement and reliability estimates for the original four-, five- or nine-level MLSS, expressed in percentage of agreement, kappa and weighted kappa, showed large ranges among and sometimes also within articles. After the transformation into a two-level scale, agreement and reliability estimates showed acceptable estimates (percentage of agreement ≥ 75%; kappa and weighted kappa ≥ 0.6), but still estimates showed a large variation between articles. Agreement and reliability estimates for ALSSs were not reported in any article. Several ALSSs use MLSSs as a reference for model calibration and validation. However, varying agreement and reliability estimates of MLSSs make a

Identification of a brainstem circuit regulating visual cortical state in parallel with locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, A Moses; Hoy, Jennifer L; Bonci, Antonello; Wilbrecht, Linda; Stryker, Michael P; Niell, Cristopher M

2014-07-16

Sensory processing is dependent upon behavioral state. In mice, locomotion is accompanied by changes in cortical state and enhanced visual responses. Although recent studies have begun to elucidate intrinsic cortical mechanisms underlying this effect, the neural circuits that initially couple locomotion to cortical processing are unknown. The mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) has been shown to be capable of initiating running and is associated with the ascending reticular activating system. Here, we find that optogenetic stimulation of the MLR in awake, head-fixed mice can induce both locomotion and increases in the gain of cortical responses. MLR stimulation below the threshold for overt movement similarly changed cortical processing, revealing that MLR's effects on cortex are dissociable from locomotion. Likewise, stimulation of MLR projections to the basal forebrain also enhanced cortical responses, suggesting a pathway linking the MLR to cortex. These studies demonstrate that the MLR regulates cortical state in parallel with locomotion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Motorneurons dedicated to either forward or backward locomotion in the nematode C. elegans

OpenAIRE

Haspel, Gal; O'Donovan, Michael J.; Hart, Anne C.

2010-01-01

Multifunctional motorneurons and muscles, which are active during forward and backward locomotion and driven by common central pattern generators, are ubiquitous in animal models. However, studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans suggest that some locomotor motorneurons are necessary only for forward locomotion (dorsal B-motorneurons, DB) while others (dorsal A-motorneurons, DA) are necessary only for backward locomotion. We tested this hypothesis directly by recording the activity of t...

Fluid Mechanics of Aquatic Locomotion at Large Reynolds Numbers

OpenAIRE

Govardhan, RN; Arakeri, JH

2011-01-01

Abstract | There exist a huge range of fish species besides other aquatic organisms like squids and salps that locomote in water at large Reynolds numbers, a regime of flow where inertial forces dominate viscous forces. In the present review, we discuss the fluid mechanics governing the locomotion of such organisms. Most fishes propel themselves by periodic undulatory motions of the body and tail, and the typical classification of their swimming modes is based on the fraction of their body...

49 CFR 1242.22 - Shop buildings-locomotives (account XX-19-24).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Shop buildings-locomotives (account XX-19-24... Structures § 1242.22 Shop buildings—locomotives (account XX-19-24). Separate common expenses according to distribution of common expenses in the following accounts: Machinery Repair (XX-26-40) Locomotive—Repair and...

Measurement of black carbon emissions from in-use diesel-electric passenger locomotives in California

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, N. W.; Kirchstetter, T.; Martien, P. T.; Apte, J.

2015-12-01

Black carbon (BC) emission factors were measured for a California commuter rail line fleet of diesel-electric passenger locomotives (Caltrain). The emission factors are based on BC and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the exhaust plumes of passing locomotives, which were measured from pedestrian overpasses using portable analyzers. Each of the 29 locomotives in the fleet was sampled on 4-20 separate occasions at different locations to characterize different driving modes. The average emission factor expressed as g BC emitted per kg diesel consumed was 0.87 ± 0.66 g kg-1 (±1 standard deviation, n = 362 samples). BC emission factors tended to be higher for accelerating locomotives traveling at higher speeds with engines in higher notch settings. Higher fuel-based BC emission factors (g kg-1) were measured for locomotives equipped with separate "head-end" power generators (SEP-HEPs), which power the passenger cars, while higher time-based emission factors (g h-1) were measured for locomotives without SEP-HEPs, whose engines are continuously operated at high speeds to provide both head-end and propulsion power. PM10 emission factors, estimated assuming a BC/PM10 emission ratio of 0.6 and a typical power output-to-fuel consumption ratio, were generally in line with the Environmental Protection Agency's locomotive exhaust emission standards. Per passenger mile, diesel-electric locomotives in this study emit only 20% of the CO2 emitted by typical gasoline-powered light-duty vehicles (i.e., cars). However, the reduction in carbon footprint (expressed in terms of CO2 equivalents) due to CO2 emissions avoidance from a passenger commuting by train rather than car is appreciably offset by the locomotive's higher BC emissions.

Profile and genetic parameters of dairy cattle locomotion score and lameness across lactation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kougioumtzis, A; Valergakis, G E; Oikonomou, G; Arsenos, G; Banos, G

2014-01-01

This study investigated the profile of locomotion score and lameness before the first calving and throughout the first (n=237) and second (n=66) lactation of 303 Holstein cows raised on a commercial farm. Weekly heritability estimates of locomotion score and lameness, and their genetic and phenotypic correlations with milk yield, body condition score, BW and reproduction traits were derived. Daughter future locomotion score and lameness predictions from their sires��� breeding values for conformation traits were also calculated. First-lactation cows were monitored weekly from 6 weeks before calving to the end of lactation. Second-lactation cows were monitored weekly throughout lactation. Cows were locomotion scored on a scale from one (sound) to five (severely lame); a score greater than or equal to two defined presence of lameness. Cows��� weekly body condition score and BW was also recorded. These records were matched to corresponding milk yield records, where the latter were 7-day averages on the week of inspection. The total number of repeated records amounted to 12 221. Data were also matched to the farm���s reproduction database, from which five traits were derived. Statistical analyses were based on uni- and bivariate random regression models. The profile analysis showed that locomotion and lameness problems in first lactation were fewer before and immediately after calving, and increased as lactation progressed. The profile of the two traits remained relatively constant across the second lactation. Highest heritability estimates were observed in the weeks before first calving (0.66 for locomotion score and 0.54 for lameness). Statistically significant genetic correlations were found for first lactation weekly locomotion score and lameness with body condition score, ranging from ���0.31 to ���0.65 and from ���0.44 to ���0.76, respectively, suggesting that cows genetically pre-disposed for high body condition score

FPGA implementation of a configurable neuromorphic CPG-based locomotion controller.

Science.gov (United States)

Barron-Zambrano, Jose Hugo; Torres-Huitzil, Cesar

2013-09-01

Neuromorphic engineering is a discipline devoted to the design and development of computational hardware that mimics the characteristics and capabilities of neuro-biological systems. In recent years, neuromorphic hardware systems have been implemented using a hybrid approach incorporating digital hardware so as to provide flexibility and scalability at the cost of power efficiency and some biological realism. This paper proposes an FPGA-based neuromorphic-like embedded system on a chip to generate locomotion patterns of periodic rhythmic movements inspired by Central Pattern Generators (CPGs). The proposed implementation follows a top-down approach where modularity and hierarchy are two desirable features. The locomotion controller is based on CPG models to produce rhythmic locomotion patterns or gaits for legged robots such as quadrupeds and hexapods. The architecture is configurable and scalable for robots with either different morphologies or different degrees of freedom (DOFs). Experiments performed on a real robot are presented and discussed. The obtained results demonstrate that the CPG-based controller provides the necessary flexibility to generate different rhythmic patterns at run-time suitable for adaptable locomotion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research and application of mobile teaching platform

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ping; Xue, Hongjiao

2017-08-01

The application of mobile technology in university digital campus is ripe. This article mainly introduced the necessity of teaching platform based on mobile Internet in the teaching of higher vocational education, and the key to the construction of the feasibility of mobile learning platform, which is a feasible and effective teaching model under the new situation, worthy of promotion. The design and application of teaching platform based on mobile Internet is the change of educational ideas and working methods, and is the new starting point of Higher Vocational education.

Dynamically Stable Legged Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

1989-09-01

length during overground locomotion: task-specific modulation of the locomotor synergy. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 15(3). Raibert, M. I. 1986...energy conversions that intermediates between combus- tion of a fluid fuel such as gasoline , and the controlled delivery of force and power to the...question of this study: Can the extremely high energy density and rapid response of combustible fluid fuels such as gasoline be harnessed to produce

Experimental investigation into the mechanism of the polygonal wear of electric locomotive wheels

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Gongquan; Wang, Linfeng; Wen, Zefeng; Guan, Qinghua; Jin, Xuesong

2018-06-01

Experiments were conducted at field sites to investigate the mechanism of the polygonal wear of electric locomotive wheels. The polygonal wear rule of electric locomotive wheels was obtained. Moreover, two on-track tests have been carried out to investigate the vibration characteristics of the electric locomotive's key components. The measurement results of wheels out-of-round show that most electric locomotive wheels exhibit polygonal wear. The main centre wavelength in the 1/3 octave bands is 200 mm and/or 160 mm. The test results of vibration characteristics indicate that the dominating frequency of the vertical acceleration measured on the axle box is approximately equal to the passing frequency of a polygonal wheel, and does not vary with the locomotive speed during the acceleration course. The wheelset modal analysis using the finite element method (FEM) indicates that the first bending resonant frequency of the wheelset is quite close to the main vibration frequency of the axle box. The FEM results are verified by the experimental modal analysis of the wheelset. Moreover, different plans were designed to verify whether the braking system and the locomotive's adhesion control have significant influence on the wheel polygon or not. The test results indicate that they are not responsible for the initiation of the wheel polygon. The first bending resonance of the wheelset is easy to be excited in the locomotive operation and it is the root cause of wheel polygon with centre wavelength of 200 mm in the 1/3 octave bands.

Afferent control of central pattern generators: experimental analysis of locomotion in the decerebrate cat.

Science.gov (United States)

Baev, K V; Esipenko, V B; Shimansky YuP

1991-01-01

Changes in the motor activity of the spinal locomotor generator evoked by tonic and phasic peripheral afferent signals during fictitious locomotion of both slow and fast rhythms were analysed in the cat. The tonic afferent inflow was conditioned by the position of the hindlimb. The phasic afferent signals were imitated by electrical stimulation of hindlimb nerves. The correlation between the kinematics of hindlimb locomotor movement and sensory inflow was investigated during actual locomotion. Reliable correlations between motor activity parameters during fictitious locomotion were revealed in cases of both slow and fast "locomotor" rhythms. The main difference between these cases was that correlations "duration-intensity" were positive in the first and negative in the second case. The functional role of "locomotor" pattern dependence on tonic sensory inflow consisted of providing stability for planting the hindlimb on the ground. For any investigated afferent input the phase moments in the "locomotor" cycle were found, in which an afferent signal caused no rearrangement in locomotor generator activity. These moments corresponded to the transitions between "flexion" and "extension" phases and to the bursts of integral afferent activity observed during real locomotion. The data obtained are compared with the results previously described for the scratching generator. The character of changes in "locomotor" activity in response to tonic and phasic sensory signals was similar to that of such changes in "scratching" rhythm in the case of fast "locomotion". Intensification of the "flexion" phase caused by phasic high-intensity stimulation of cutaneous afferents during low "locomotor" rhythm was changed to inhibition (such as observed during "scratching") when this rhythm was fast. It is concluded that the main regularities of peripheral afferent control for both the locomotor and scratching generators are the same. Moreover, these central pattern generators are just

Material Compressing Test of the High Polymer Part Used in Draft Gear of Heavy Load Locomotive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yangang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available According to the actual load cases of heavy load locomotive, the material compressing tests of the high polymer parts used in the locomotive are researched. The relationship between stress and strain during the material compressing are acquired by means of comparing the many results of the material compressing tests under different test condition. The relationship between stress and strain during the material compressing is nonlinear in large range of strain, but the relationship is approximately linear in small range of strain. The material of the high polymer made in China and the material of the high polymer imported are compared through the tests. The results show that the compressing property of the material of the high polymer made in China and the material of the high polymer imported are almost same. The research offers the foundation to study the structure elasticity of the draft gear.

RMS: a platform for managing cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional research project collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jake; Apperson-Hansen, Carolyn; Pelfrey, Clara M; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2014-11-30

Cross-institutional cross-disciplinary collaboration has become a trend as researchers move toward building more productive and innovative teams for scientific research. Research collaboration is significantly changing the organizational structure and strategies used in the clinical and translational science domain. However, due to the obstacles of diverse administrative structures, differences in area of expertise, and communication barriers, establishing and managing a cross-institutional research project is still a challenging task. We address these challenges by creating an integrated informatics platform to reduce the barriers to biomedical research collaboration. The Request Management System (RMS) is an informatics infrastructure designed to transform a patchwork of expertise and resources into an integrated support network. The RMS facilitates investigators' initiation of new collaborative projects and supports the management of the collaboration process. In RMS, experts and their knowledge areas are categorized and managed structurally to provide consistent service. A role-based collaborative workflow is tightly integrated with domain experts and services to streamline and monitor the life-cycle of a research project. The RMS has so far tracked over 1,500 investigators with over 4,800 tasks. The research network based on the data collected in RMS illustrated that the investigators' collaborative projects increased close to 3 times from 2009 to 2012. Our experience with RMS indicates that the platform reduces barriers for cross-institutional collaboration of biomedical research projects. Building a new generation of infrastructure to enhance cross-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration has become an important yet challenging task. In this paper, we share the experience of developing and utilizing a collaborative project management system. The results of this study demonstrate that a web-based integrated informatics platform can facilitate and

A method for establishing a long duration, stratospheric platform for astronomical research

Science.gov (United States)

Fesen, Robert; Brown, Yorke

2015-10-01

During certain times of the year at middle and low latitudes, winds in the upper stratosphere move in nearly the opposite direction than the wind in the lower stratosphere. Here we present a method for maintaining a high-altitude balloon platform in near station-keeping mode that utilizes this stratospheric wind shear. The proposed method places a balloon-borne science platform high in the stratosphere connected by a lightweight, high-strength tether to a tug vehicle located in the lower or middle stratosphere. Using aerodynamic control surfaces, wind-induced aerodynamic forces on the tug can be manipulated to counter the wind drag acting on the higher altitude science vehicle, thus controlling the upper vehicle's geographic location. We describe the general framework of this station-keeping method, some important properties required for the upper stratospheric science payload and lower tug platforms, and compare this station-keeping approach with the capabilities of a high altitude airship and conventional tethered aerostat approaches. We conclude by discussing the advantages of such a platform for a variety of missions with emphasis on astrophysical research.

Relating appendicular skeletal variation of sigmodontine rodents to locomotion modes in a phylogenetic context.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho Coutinho, Ludmilla; Alves de Oliveira, João

2017-10-01

Sigmodontinae rodents constitute the second-largest subfamily among mammals. Alongside the taxonomic diversity, they are also ecologically diverse, exhibiting a wide array of locomotion modes, with semifossorial, terrestrial, semiaquatic, scansorial, arboreal, and saltatorial forms. To understand the ecomorphologic aspects that allow these rodents to display such locomotion diversity, we analyzed 35 qualitative characters of the appendicular skeleton (humerus, ulna, radius, scapula, femur, tibia, ilium, ischium and pubis) in 795 specimens belonging to 64 species, 34 genera and 10 tribes, representing all locomotion modes assigned to this subfamily. We performed a statistical analysis based upon the coefficient of trait differentiation to test the congruence of character states and the different locomotion modes. We also mapped characters states in a molecular phylogeny in order to reconstruct ancestral states and to evaluate how appendicular characters evolved within main lineages of Sigmodontinae radiation under a phylogenetic framework. The statistical analyses revealed six characters related to specific locomotion modes, except terrestrial. The mapping and parsimony ancestral states reconstruction identified two characters with phylogenetical signal and eight characters that are exclusively or more frequently recorded in certain modes of locomotion, four of them also detected by the statistical analysis. Notwithstanding the documented morphological variation, few changes characterize the transition to each of the locomotion modes, at least regarding the appendicular skeleton. This finding corroborates previous results that showed that sigmodontines exhibit an all-purpose appendicular morphology that allows them to use and explore a great variety of habitats. © 2017 Anatomical Society.

Application of flywheel energy storage for heavy haul locomotives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiryagin, Maksym; Wolfs, Peter; Szanto, Frank; Sun, Yan Quan; Cole, Colin; Nielsen, Dwayne

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A novel design for heavy haul locomotive equipped with a flywheel energy storage system is proposed. • The integrated intelligent traction control system was developed. • A flywheel energy storage system has been tested through a simulation process. • The developed hybrid system was verified using an existing heavy haul railway route. • Fuel efficiency analysis confirms advantages of the hybrid design. - Abstract: At the present time, trains in heavy haul operations are typically hauled by several diesel-electric locomotives coupled in a multiple unit. This paper studies the case of a typical consist of three Co–Co diesel-electric locomotives, and considers replacing one unit with an alternative version, with the same design parameters, except that the diesel-electric plant is replaced with flywheel energy storage equipment. The intelligent traction and energy control system installed in this unit is integrated into the multiple-unit control to allow redistribution of the power between all units. In order to verify the proposed design, a three-stage investigation has been performed as described in this paper. The initial stage studies a possible configuration of the flywheel energy storage system by detailed modelling of the proposed intelligent traction and energy control system. The second stage includes the investigation and estimation of possible energy flows using a longitudinal train dynamics simulation. The final stage compares the conventional and the proposed locomotive configurations considering two parameters: fuel efficiency and emissions reduction.

Using Computational and Mechanical Models to Study Animal Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Laura A.; Goldman, Daniel I.; Hedrick, Tyson L.; Tytell, Eric D.; Wang, Z. Jane; Yen, Jeannette; Alben, Silas

2012-01-01

Recent advances in computational methods have made realistic large-scale simulations of animal locomotion possible. This has resulted in numerous mathematical and computational studies of animal movement through fluids and over substrates with the purpose of better understanding organisms’ performance and improving the design of vehicles moving through air and water and on land. This work has also motivated the development of improved numerical methods and modeling techniques for animal locomotion that is characterized by the interactions of fluids, substrates, and structures. Despite the large body of recent work in this area, the application of mathematical and numerical methods to improve our understanding of organisms in the context of their environment and physiology has remained relatively unexplored. Nature has evolved a wide variety of fascinating mechanisms of locomotion that exploit the properties of complex materials and fluids, but only recently are the mathematical, computational, and robotic tools available to rigorously compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of different methods of locomotion in variable environments. Similarly, advances in computational physiology have only recently allowed investigators to explore how changes at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels might lead to changes in performance at the organismal level. In this article, we highlight recent examples of how computational, mathematical, and experimental tools can be combined to ultimately answer the questions posed in one of the grand challenges in organismal biology: “Integrating living and physical systems.” PMID:22988026

A Binaural CI Research Platform for Oticon Medical SP/XP Implants Enabling ITD/ILD and Variable Rate Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Adiloğlu, K.; Herzke, T.

2015-01-01

We present the first portable, binaural, real-time research platform compatible with Oticon Medical SP and XP generation cochlear implants. The platform consists of (a) a pair of behind-the-ear devices, each containing front and rear calibrated microphones, (b) a four-channel USB analog-to-digital converter, (c) real-time PC-based sound processing software called the Master Hearing Aid, and (d) USB-connected hardware and output coils capable of driving two implants simultaneously. The platform is capable of processing signals from the four microphones simultaneously and producing synchronized binaural cochlear implant outputs that drive two (bilaterally implanted) SP or XP implants. Both audio signal preprocessing algorithms (such as binaural beamforming) and novel binaural stimulation strategies (within the implant limitations) can be programmed by researchers. When the whole research platform is combined with Oticon Medical SP implants, interaural electrode timing can be controlled on individual electrodes to within ±1 µs and interaural electrode energy differences can be controlled to within ±2%. Hence, this new platform is particularly well suited to performing experiments related to interaural time differences in combination with interaural level differences in real-time. The platform also supports instantaneously variable stimulation rates and thereby enables investigations such as the effect of changing the stimulation rate on pitch perception. Because the processing can be changed on the fly, researchers can use this platform to study perceptual changes resulting from different processing strategies acutely. PMID:26721923

A Binaural CI Research Platform for Oticon Medical SP/XP Implants Enabling ITD/ILD and Variable Rate Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Backus, B; Adiloğlu, K; Herzke, T

2015-12-30

We present the first portable, binaural, real-time research platform compatible with Oticon Medical SP and XP generation cochlear implants. The platform consists of (a) a pair of behind-the-ear devices, each containing front and rear calibrated microphones, (b) a four-channel USB analog-to-digital converter, (c) real-time PC-based sound processing software called the Master Hearing Aid, and (d) USB-connected hardware and output coils capable of driving two implants simultaneously. The platform is capable of processing signals from the four microphones simultaneously and producing synchronized binaural cochlear implant outputs that drive two (bilaterally implanted) SP or XP implants. Both audio signal preprocessing algorithms (such as binaural beamforming) and novel binaural stimulation strategies (within the implant limitations) can be programmed by researchers. When the whole research platform is combined with Oticon Medical SP implants, interaural electrode timing can be controlled on individual electrodes to within ±1 µs and interaural electrode energy differences can be controlled to within ±2%. Hence, this new platform is particularly well suited to performing experiments related to interaural time differences in combination with interaural level differences in real-time. The platform also supports instantaneously variable stimulation rates and thereby enables investigations such as the effect of changing the stimulation rate on pitch perception. Because the processing can be changed on the fly, researchers can use this platform to study perceptual changes resulting from different processing strategies acutely. © The Author(s) 2015.

Chaotic exploration and learning of locomotion behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Shim, Yoonsik; Husbands, Phil

2012-08-01

We present a general and fully dynamic neural system, which exploits intrinsic chaotic dynamics, for the real-time goal-directed exploration and learning of the possible locomotion patterns of an articulated robot of an arbitrary morphology in an unknown environment. The controller is modeled as a network of neural oscillators that are initially coupled only through physical embodiment, and goal-directed exploration of coordinated motor patterns is achieved by chaotic search using adaptive bifurcation. The phase space of the indirectly coupled neural-body-environment system contains multiple transient or permanent self-organized dynamics, each of which is a candidate for a locomotion behavior. The adaptive bifurcation enables the system orbit to wander through various phase-coordinated states, using its intrinsic chaotic dynamics as a driving force, and stabilizes on to one of the states matching the given goal criteria. In order to improve the sustainability of useful transient patterns, sensory homeostasis has been introduced, which results in an increased diversity of motor outputs, thus achieving multiscale exploration. A rhythmic pattern discovered by this process is memorized and sustained by changing the wiring between initially disconnected oscillators using an adaptive synchronization method. Our results show that the novel neurorobotic system is able to create and learn multiple locomotion behaviors for a wide range of body configurations and physical environments and can readapt in realtime after sustaining damage.

Dynamic processes during monorail locomotive rocking and their impact on draw gear characteristics

OpenAIRE

Viktor GUTAREVICH

2011-01-01

The article discusses the motion of the suspended monorail locomotive, interrelation between the parameters of irregularities false path and lateral rocking monorail locomotive, the values of lateral deviation for the different speeds on the monorail.

A novel controller for bipedal locomotion integrating feed-forward and feedback mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xiong, Xiaofeng; Sartori, Massimo; Dosen, Strahinja; González-Vargas, José; Wörgötter, Florentin; Farina, Dario; Ibanez, J.; González-Vargas, J.; Azorin, J.M.; Akay, M.; Pons, J.L.

2017-01-01

It has been recognized that bipedal locomotion is controlled using feed-forward (e.g., patterned) and feedback (e.g., reflex) control schemes. However, most current controllers fail to integrate the two schemes to simplify speed control of bipedal locomotion. To solve this problem, we here propose a

Platform Performance and Challenges - using Platforms in Lego Company

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk, Lone; Mortensen, Niels Henrik

2009-01-01

needs focus on the incentive of using the platform. This problem lacks attention in literature, as well as industry, where assessment criteria do not cover this aspect. Therefore, we recommend including user incentive in platform assessment criteria to these challenges. Concrete solution elements...... ensuring user incentive in platforms is an object for future research...

49 CFR 230.20 - Alteration and repair report for steam locomotive boilers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... boilers. 230.20 Section 230.20 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued... boilers. (a) Alterations. When an alteration is made to a steam locomotive boiler, the steam locomotive... maintained for the life of the boiler. (See appendix B of this part.) (b) Welded and riveted repairs to...

PARAMO: a PARAllel predictive MOdeling platform for healthcare analytic research using electronic health records.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Kenney; Ghoting, Amol; Steinhubl, Steven R; Stewart, Walter F; Malin, Bradley; Sun, Jimeng

2014-04-01

Healthcare analytics research increasingly involves the construction of predictive models for disease targets across varying patient cohorts using electronic health records (EHRs). To facilitate this process, it is critical to support a pipeline of tasks: (1) cohort construction, (2) feature construction, (3) cross-validation, (4) feature selection, and (5) classification. To develop an appropriate model, it is necessary to compare and refine models derived from a diversity of cohorts, patient-specific features, and statistical frameworks. The goal of this work is to develop and evaluate a predictive modeling platform that can be used to simplify and expedite this process for health data. To support this goal, we developed a PARAllel predictive MOdeling (PARAMO) platform which (1) constructs a dependency graph of tasks from specifications of predictive modeling pipelines, (2) schedules the tasks in a topological ordering of the graph, and (3) executes those tasks in parallel. We implemented this platform using Map-Reduce to enable independent tasks to run in parallel in a cluster computing environment. Different task scheduling preferences are also supported. We assess the performance of PARAMO on various workloads using three datasets derived from the EHR systems in place at Geisinger Health System and Vanderbilt University Medical Center and an anonymous longitudinal claims database. We demonstrate significant gains in computational efficiency against a standard approach. In particular, PARAMO can build 800 different models on a 300,000 patient data set in 3h in parallel compared to 9days if running sequentially. This work demonstrates that an efficient parallel predictive modeling platform can be developed for EHR data. This platform can facilitate large-scale modeling endeavors and speed-up the research workflow and reuse of health information. This platform is only a first step and provides the foundation for our ultimate goal of building analytic pipelines

Dynamic processes during monorail locomotive rocking and their impact on draw gear characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viktor GUTAREVICH

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the motion of the suspended monorail locomotive, interrelation between the parameters of irregularities false path and lateral rocking monorail locomotive, the values of lateral deviation for the different speeds on the monorail.

Platform Constellations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Staykova, Kalina Stefanova; Damsgaard, Jan

2016-01-01

This research paper presents an initial attempt to introduce and explain the emergence of new phenomenon, which we refer to as platform constellations. Functioning as highly modular systems, the platform constellations are collections of highly connected platforms which co-exist in parallel and a......’ acquisition and users’ engagement rates as well as unlock new sources of value creation and diversify revenue streams....

The RUDY study platform – a novel approach to patient driven research in rare musculoskeletal diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. K. Javaid

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Research into rare diseases is becoming more common, with recognition of the significant diagnostic and therapeutic care gaps. Registries are considered a key research methodology to address rare diseases. This report describes the structure of the Rare UK Diseases Study (RUDY platform that aims to improve research processes and address many of the challenges of carrying out rare musculoskeletal disease research. RUDY is an internet-based platform with online registration, initial verbal consent, online capture of patient reported outcome measures and events within a dynamic consent framework. The database structure, security and governance framework are described. Results There have been 380 participants recruited into RUDY with completed questionnaire rates in excess of 50 %. There has been one withdrawal and two participants have amended their consent options. Conclusions The strengths of RUDY include low burden for the clinical team, low research administration costs with high participant recruitment and ease of data collection and access. This platform has the potential to be used as the model for other rare diseases globally.

Locomotion mode identification for lower limbs using neuromuscular and joint kinematic signals.

Science.gov (United States)

Afzal, Taimoor; White, Gannon; Wright, Andrew B; Iqbal, Kamran

2014-01-01

Recent development in lower limb prosthetics has seen an emergence of powered prosthesis that have the capability to operate in different locomotion modes. However, these devices cannot transition seamlessly between modes such as level walking, stair ascent and descent and up slope and down slope walking. They require some form of user input that defines the human intent. The purpose of this study was to develop a locomotion mode detection system and evaluate its performance for different sensor configurations and to study the effect of locomotion mode detection with and without electromyography (EMG) signals while using kinematic data from hip joint of non-dominant/impaired limb and an accelerometer. Data was collected from four able bodied subjects that completed two circuits that contained standing, level-walking, ramp ascent and descent and stair ascent and descent. By using only the kinematic data from the hip joint and accelerometer data the system was able to identify the transitions, stance and swing phases with similar performance as compared to using only EMG and accelerometer data. However, significant improvement in classification error was observed when EMG, kinematic and accelerometer data were used together to identify the locomotion modes. The higher recognition rates when using the kinematic data along with EMG shows that the joint kinematics could be beneficial in intent recognition systems of locomotion modes.

Fictive locomotion in the adult decerebrate and spinal mouse in vivo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meehan, Claire Francesca; Grøndahl, Lillian; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2012-01-01

Recently, transgenic mice have been created with mutations affecting the components of the mammalian spinal central pattern generator (CPG) for locomotion, however, it has currently only been possible to evoke fictive locomotion in mice, using neonatal in vitro preparations. Here, we demonstrate...... organisation and allowing for future results in transgenic mice to be extrapolated to existing knowledge of CPG components and circuitry obtained in larger species....

Research and development of common DAQ platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higuchi, T.; Igarashi, Y.; Nakao, M.; Suzuki, S.Y.; Tanaka, M.; Nagasaka, Y.; Varner, G.

2003-01-01

The upgrade of the KEKB accelerator toward L=10 35 cm -2 s -1 requires an upgrade of the Belle data acquisition system. To match the market trend, we develop a DAQ platform based on the PCI bus that enables fastest DAQ with longer lifetime of the system. The platform is a VME-9U motherboard comprising of four slots for signal digitization modules and three PMC slots to house CPU for data compression. The platform is equipped with event FIFOs for data buffering to minimize the dead-time. A trigger module residing on VME-6U size rear board is connected to the 9U board via PCI-PCI bridge to make an interrupt for the CPU upon the level-1 trigger. (author)

77 FR 75045 - Locomotive Safety Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-19

...; and, locomotive diesel exhaust. In addition to the issues raised in the petitions, FRA has determined... flow method (AFM) indicator calibration date on the Form 6180-49A; the duration of the remote control... in the context of its use. For example, fuel injectors might possibly be considered as providing...

DETERMINATION OF FRAME FORCE FOR ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE VL80 WHEN MOVING IN THE CURVED TRACK SECTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Y. Kuzyshyn

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. When locomotives move in curved sections of the railway track, horizontal forces arise, which lead to pressing the ridge of the wheel pair to the railway track. The article is aimed to develop a method for determining the frame force acting on the bogie from the side of body of the locomotive section using the current methodology of calculating the lateral force. It is also aimed to determine the basic parameters that influence the value of the frame force. It is necessary to construct the dependencies of the frame force on the travel time of electric locomotive in the corresponding curve changing these parameters. Methodology. As is known, the electric locomotive is a multimass mechanical system. We will assume that this system consists of seven bodies: a body, two frames of carriages and four wheel sets. To determine the lateral force acting on the rail from the wheelset one need to solve differential equations of motion of locomotive bogie in curves of small radius. Using the equations of kinetostatics for wheelset one should come to determining the frame force acting on the car bogie from the side of body of the locomotive section. The nominal geometric and mass parameters of parts and components of electric locomotive are taken in the calculations. The curve radius, the length of transition curve, the length of circular curve, the longitudinal slope of railway track and other parameters are fixed values. Findings. There were obtained calculated values of the frame force of electric locomotive VL80 acting on the bogie from the side of body of the locomotive section. Based on the obtained results there were built the dependencies of frame force on the travel time of electric locomotive on the corresponding curve when changing the speed and corresponding elevation of the outer rail. Originality. On the basis of the existing methodology for calculating the lateral force it was developed the method for determining the frame force acting

On designing geometric motion planners to solve regulating and trajectory tracking problems for robotic locomotion systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asnafi, Alireza [Hydro-Aeronautical Research Center, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71348-13668 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mahzoon, Mojtaba [Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 71348-13668 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2011-09-15

Based on a geometric fiber bundle structure, a generalized method to solve both regulation and trajectory tracking problems for locomotion systems is presented. The method is especially applied to two case studies of robotic locomotion systems; a three link articulated fish-like robot as a prototype of locomotion systems with symmetry, and the snakeboard as a prototype of mixed locomotion systems. Our results show that although these motion planners have an open loop structure, due to their generalities, they can steer case studies with negligible errors for almost any complicated path.

On designing geometric motion planners to solve regulating and trajectory tracking problems for robotic locomotion systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asnafi, Alireza; Mahzoon, Mojtaba

2011-01-01

Based on a geometric fiber bundle structure, a generalized method to solve both regulation and trajectory tracking problems for locomotion systems is presented. The method is especially applied to two case studies of robotic locomotion systems; a three link articulated fish-like robot as a prototype of locomotion systems with symmetry, and the snakeboard as a prototype of mixed locomotion systems. Our results show that although these motion planners have an open loop structure, due to their generalities, they can steer case studies with negligible errors for almost any complicated path.

Mechatronic Design of a New Humanoid Robot with Hybrid Parallel Actuation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vítor Santos

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Humanoid robotics is unquestionably a challenging and long-term field of research. Of the numerous and most urgent challenges to tackle, autonomous and efficient locomotion may possibly be the most underdeveloped at present in the research community. Therefore, to pursue studies in relation to autonomy with efficient locomotion, the authors have been developing a new teen-sized humanoid platform with hybrid characteristics. The hybrid nature is clear in the mixed actuation based on common electrical motors and passive actuators attached in parallel to the motors. This paper presents the mechatronic design of the humanoid platform, focusing mainly on the mechanical structure, the design and simulation of the hybrid joints, and the different subsystems implemented. Trying to keep the appropriate human proportions and main degrees of freedom, the developed platform utilizes a distributed control architecture and a rich set of sensing capabilities, both ripe for future development and research.

Acute food deprivation reverses morphine-induced locomotion deficits in M5 muscarinic receptor knockout mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Steidl, Stephan; Lee, Esther; Wasserman, David; Yeomans, John S

2013-09-01

Lesions of the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT), one of two sources of cholinergic input to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), block conditioned place preference (CPP) for morphine in drug-naïve rats. M5 muscarinic cholinergic receptors, expressed by midbrain dopamine neurons, are critical for the ability of morphine to increase nucleus accumbens dopamine levels and locomotion, and for morphine CPP. This suggests that M5-mediated PPT cholinergic inputs to VTA dopamine neurons critically contribute to morphine-induced dopamine activation, reward and locomotion. In the current study we tested whether food deprivation, which reduces PPT contribution to morphine CPP in rats, could also reduce M5 contributions to morphine-induced locomotion in mice. Acute 18-h food deprivation reversed the phenotypic differences usually seen between non-deprived wild-type and M5 knockout mice. That is, food deprivation increased morphine-induced locomotion in M5 knockout mice but reduced morphine-induced locomotion in wild-type mice. Food deprivation increased saline-induced locomotion equally in wild-type and M5 knockout mice. Based on these findings, we suggest that food deprivation reduces the contribution of M5-mediated PPT cholinergic inputs to the VTA in morphine-induced locomotion and increases the contribution of a PPT-independent pathway. The contributions of cholinergic, dopaminergic and GABAergic neurons to the effects of acute food deprivation are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New Tools for New Research in Psychiatry: A Scalable and Customizable Platform to Empower Data Driven Smartphone Research

OpenAIRE

Torous, John; Kiang, Mathew V; Lorme, Jeanette; Onnela, Jukka-Pekka

2016-01-01

Background A longstanding barrier to progress in psychiatry, both in clinical settings and research trials, has been the persistent difficulty of accurately and reliably quantifying disease phenotypes. Mobile phone technology combined with data science has the potential to offer medicine a wealth of additional information on disease phenotypes, but the large majority of existing smartphone apps are not intended for use as biomedical research platforms and, as such, do not generate research-qu...

FORMALIZATION OF LOCOMOTIVE DRIVER ACTIVITY TENSION INDICATOR BASED ON THE ERGONOMIC MODEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. M. Horobchenko

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose. A key factor contributing to the safety and quality of ergatic system "train-driver" is the intensity of the locomotive crew’s work. The aim of this work is formalization of locomotive driver activity tension indicator. Methodology. One of the characteristics of driver activity tension is the difference between the time allotted to complete the task, and the necessary (external reserve or deficiency time. The sets of major and minor operations in the management of the train locomotive in different train situations were identified. Using the methods of fuzzy logic, the concept of "materiality of the operation of the locomotive control" is presented in the form of a set of linguistic variables. To determine the function membership of the elements of the set "the importance of the operation of the locomotive control" the method of expert evaluations was used. Coefficient of temporary tension is presented in the form of fuzzy number L-R-type. Findings. It was found the value of the relative number of operations of locomotive control according to the distribution using the parameter of operation "importance". To determine the most tensioned mode of the driver ranking the traffic condition according to the parameter of relative amounts of the important management operations was conducted. The most difficult modes are the "front hindrance", "movement in unfavorable weather conditions" and "departure from the station to the running line". Originality. The introduction of the value "conventional importance of the operation" allowed us to more accurately describe the terms of train driving. For the first time the work presents determination of tension of the driver’s work in the form of a unimodal fuzzy number, which will make it possible to use the methods of the theory of artificial intelligence to simulate activity of the locomotive driver and develop intelligent control systems. Practical value. There were obtained the opportunity to

When Is Visual Information Used to Control Locomotion When Descending a Kerb?

OpenAIRE

Buckley, John G.; Timmis, Matthew A.; Scally, Andy J.; Elliott, David B.

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND: Descending kerbs during locomotion involves the regulation of appropriate foot placement before the kerb-edge and foot clearance over it. It also involves the modulation of gait output to ensure the body-mass is safely and smoothly lowered to the new level. Previous research has shown that vision is used in such adaptive gait tasks for feedforward planning, with vision from the lower visual field (lvf) used for online updating. The present study determined when lvf information is ...

Design and analysis of an optimal hopper for use in resonance-based locomotion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wanders, Ivor; Folkertsma, Gerrit Adriaan; Stramigioli, Stefano

Quadrupedal running is an efficient form of locomotion found in nature, which serves as an inspiration for robotics. We believe that a resonance-based approach is the path towards energy-efficient legged locomotion and running robots. The first step in working towards this goal is creating an

Swimming at low Reynolds number: a beginners guide to undulatory locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Netta; Boyle, Jordan H.

2010-03-01

Undulatory locomotion is a means of self-propulsion that relies on the generation and propagation of waves along a body. As a mode of locomotion it is primitive and relatively simple, yet can be remarkably robust. No wonder then, that it is so prevalent across a range of biological scales from motile bacteria to gigantic prehistoric snakes. Key to understanding undulatory locomotion is the body's interplay with the physical environment, which the swimmer or crawler will exploit to generate propulsion, and in some cases, even to generate the underlying undulations. This review focuses by and large on undulators in the low Reynolds number regime, where the physics of the environment can be much more tractable. We review some key concepts and theoretical advances, as well as simulation tools and results applied to selected examples of biological swimmers. In particular, we extend the discussion to some simple cases of locomotion in non-Newtonian media as well as to small animals, in which the nervous system, motor control, body properties and the environment must all be considered to understand how undulations are generated and modulated. To conclude, we review recent progress in microrobotic undulators that may one day become commonplace in applications ranging from toxic waste disposal to minimally invasive surgery.

Dynamic simulation platform to verify the performance of the reactor regulating system for a research reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2015-07-01

Digital instrumentation and controls system technique is being introduced in new constructed research reactor or life extension of older research reactor. Digital systems are easy to change and optimize but the validated process for them is required. Also, to reduce project risk or cost, we have to make it sure that configuration and control functions is right before the commissioning phase on research reactor. For this purpose, simulators have been widely used in developing control systems in automotive and aerospace industries. In these literatures, however, very few of these can be found regarding test on the control system of research reactor with simulator. Therefore, this paper proposes a simulation platform to verify the performance of RRS (Reactor Regulating System) for research reactor. This simulation platform consists of the reactor simulation model and the interface module. This simulation platform is applied to I and C upgrade project of TRIGA reactor, and many problems of RRS configuration were found and solved. And it proved that the dynamic performance testing based on simulator enables significant time saving and improves economics and quality for RRS in the system test phase. (authors)

49 CFR 229.129 - Locomotive horn.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

.... The locomotive shall be positioned on straight, level track. (6) Measurements shall be taken only when... between 20 percent and 95 percent inclusively; wind velocity is not more than 12 miles per hour and there..., at an angle no greater than 20 degrees from the center line of the track, and oriented with respect...

Equilibrium Condition during Locomotion and Gait in Broiler Chickens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MCF Alves

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The experiment was carried out with the objective of evaluating a methodology to estimate the angulation and equilibrium condition, relating them to gait score and the main diseases of the locomotion system in males and females of commercial broiler strains. A completely randomized experimental design in a factorial arrangement (2x2 was applied, consisting of two sexes and two genetic strains, with five replicates of 53 chickens each. The following characteristics related to broiler locomotion were studied: gait score (GS; incidence of Valgus (VAL and Varus (VAR deformities and of pododermatitis (POD; body angle relative the ground (ANG; equilibrium condition (EC; body weight (BW and breast weight (BrW; and incidence of femoral degeneration (FD, tibial dyschondroplasia (TD and spondylolisthesis (SPO. GS, and VAL and VAR were assessed inside a broiler house. Birds were then photographed to estimate ANG and EC. Birds were sacrificed at 42 days of age and analyzed for FD, TD, and SPO. Breast percentage was not influenced by sex or strain. Males showed better ANG than females, regardless of strain. Overall, the strains studied showed prostrated EC. The correlation between GS and the evaluated traits was low. There was a moderate to high association between EC and ANG both in males and females. GS showed low correlation with locomotion problems, and therefore, it is a poor indicator of skeletal diseases. On the other hand, the moderate to high correlations of ANG and EC with locomotion problems make them better indicators of bone diseases than gait score, which is possibly more related to EC and body posture than to bone pathologies.

Dynamic Locomotion With Four and Six-Legged Robots

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Buehler, M; Saranli, U; Papadopoulos, D; Koditschek, D

2000-01-01

.... The Scout II quadruped runs on flat ground in a bounding gait, and was motivated by an effort to understand the minimal mechanical design and control complexity for dynamically stable locomotion...

Product Platform Performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munk, Lone

The aim of this research is to improve understanding of platform-based product development by studying platform performance in relation to internal effects in companies. Platform-based product development makes it possible to deliver product variety and at the same time reduce the needed resources...... engaging in platform-based product development. Similarly platform assessment criteria lack empirical verification regarding relevance and sufficiency. The thesis focuses on • the process of identifying and estimating internal effects, • verification of performance of product platforms, (i...... experienced representatives from the different life systems phase systems of the platform products. The effects are estimated and modeled within different scenarios, taking into account financial and real option aspects. The model illustrates and supports estimation and quantification of internal platform...

GIFT-Cloud: A data sharing and collaboration platform for medical imaging research.

Science.gov (United States)

Doel, Tom; Shakir, Dzhoshkun I; Pratt, Rosalind; Aertsen, Michael; Moggridge, James; Bellon, Erwin; David, Anna L; Deprest, Jan; Vercauteren, Tom; Ourselin, Sébastien

2017-02-01

Clinical imaging data are essential for developing research software for computer-aided diagnosis, treatment planning and image-guided surgery, yet existing systems are poorly suited for data sharing between healthcare and academia: research systems rarely provide an integrated approach for data exchange with clinicians; hospital systems are focused towards clinical patient care with limited access for external researchers; and safe haven environments are not well suited to algorithm development. We have established GIFT-Cloud, a data and medical image sharing platform, to meet the needs of GIFT-Surg, an international research collaboration that is developing novel imaging methods for fetal surgery. GIFT-Cloud also has general applicability to other areas of imaging research. GIFT-Cloud builds upon well-established cross-platform technologies. The Server provides secure anonymised data storage, direct web-based data access and a REST API for integrating external software. The Uploader provides automated on-site anonymisation, encryption and data upload. Gateways provide a seamless process for uploading medical data from clinical systems to the research server. GIFT-Cloud has been implemented in a multi-centre study for fetal medicine research. We present a case study of placental segmentation for pre-operative surgical planning, showing how GIFT-Cloud underpins the research and integrates with the clinical workflow. GIFT-Cloud simplifies the transfer of imaging data from clinical to research institutions, facilitating the development and validation of medical research software and the sharing of results back to the clinical partners. GIFT-Cloud supports collaboration between multiple healthcare and research institutions while satisfying the demands of patient confidentiality, data security and data ownership. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Design:Lab as platform in participatory design research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Binder, Thomas; Brandt, Eva

2008-01-01

The notion of laboratory or simply 'lab' has become popular in recent years in areas outside science and technology development. Learning Labs, Innovation Labs, Usability Labs, Media and Communication Labs and even Art Labs designate institutions or fora dedicated to change and experimentation...... as others have frequently used other metaphors like workshop, studio or atelier in design research. In this article we will argue that the laboratory metaphor is particularly suitable and useful for the design:lab, and we will give examples of how we have worked with the design:lab as a platform...

Sharing Health Big Data for Research - A Design by Use Cases: The INSHARE Platform Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouzillé, Guillaume; Westerlynck, Richard; Defossez, Gautier; Bouslimi, Dalel; Bayat, Sahar; Riou, Christine; Busnel, Yann; Le Guillou, Clara; Cauvin, Jean-Michel; Jacquelinet, Christian; Pladys, Patrick; Oger, Emmanuel; Stindel, Eric; Ingrand, Pierre; Coatrieux, Gouenou; Cuggia, Marc

2017-01-01

Sharing and exploiting Health Big Data (HBD) allow tackling challenges: data protection/governance taking into account legal, ethical, and deontological aspects enables trust, transparent and win-win relationship between researchers, citizens, and data providers. Lack of interoperability: compartmentalized and syntactically/semantica heterogeneous data. INSHARE project using experimental proof of concept explores how recent technologies overcome such issues. Using 6 data providers, platform is designed via 3 steps to: (1) analyze use cases, needs, and requirements; (2) define data sharing governance, secure access to platform; and (3) define platform specifications. Three use cases - from 5 studies and 11 data sources - were analyzed for platform design. Governance derived from SCANNER model was adapted to data sharing. Platform architecture integrates: data repository and hosting, semantic integration services, data processing, aggregate computing, data quality and integrity monitoring, Id linking, multisource query builder, visualization and data export services, data governance, study management service and security including data watermarking.

[Possible changes in energy-minimizer mechanisms of locomotion due to chronic low back pain - a literature review].

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de Carvalho, Alberito Rodrigo; Andrade, Alexandro; Peyré-Tartaruga, Leonardo Alexandre

2015-01-01

One goal of the locomotion is to move the body in the space at the most economical way possible. However, little is known about the mechanical and energetic aspects of locomotion that are affected by low back pain. And in case of occurring some damage, little is known about how the mechanical and energetic characteristics of the locomotion are manifested in functional activities, especially with respect to the energy-minimizer mechanisms during locomotion. This study aimed: a) to describe the main energy-minimizer mechanisms of locomotion; b) to check if there are signs of damage on the mechanical and energetic characteristics of the locomotion due to chronic low back pain (CLBP) which may endanger the energy-minimizer mechanisms. This study is characterized as a narrative literature review. The main theory that explains the minimization of energy expenditure during the locomotion is the inverted pendulum mechanism, by which the energy-minimizer mechanism converts kinetic energy into potential energy of the center of mass and vice-versa during the step. This mechanism is strongly influenced by spatio-temporal gait (locomotion) parameters such as step length and preferred walking speed, which, in turn, may be severely altered in patients with chronic low back pain. However, much remains to be understood about the effects of chronic low back pain on the individual's ability to practice an economic locomotion, because functional impairment may compromise the mechanical and energetic characteristics of this type of gait, making it more costly. Thus, there are indications that such changes may compromise the functional energy-minimizer mechanisms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Locomotive energy savings possibilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonas Povilas LINGAITIS

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Economic indicators of electrodynamic braking have not been properly estimated. Vehicles with alternative power trains are transitional stage between development of pollution- free vehicles. According to these aspects the investigation on conventional hybrids drives and their control system is carried out in the article. The equation that allows evaluating effectiveness of regenerative braking for different variants of hybrid drive are given. Presenting different types of locomotive energy savings power systems, which are using regenerative braking energy any form of hybrid traction vehicles systems, circuit diagrams, electrical parameters curves.

Inferring the use of forelimb suspensory locomotion by extinct primate species via shape exploration of the ulna.

Science.gov (United States)

Rein, Thomas R; Harvati, Katerina; Harrison, Terry

2015-01-01

Uncovering links between skeletal morphology and locomotor behavior is an essential component of paleobiology because it allows researchers to infer the locomotor repertoire of extinct species based on preserved fossils. In this study, we explored ulnar shape in anthropoid primates using 3D geometric morphometrics to discover novel aspects of shape variation that correspond to observed differences in the relative amount of forelimb suspensory locomotion performed by species. The ultimate goal of this research was to construct an accurate predictive model that can be applied to infer the significance of these behaviors. We studied ulnar shape variation in extant species using principal component analysis. Species mainly clustered into phylogenetic groups along the first two principal components. Upon closer examination, the results showed that the position of species within each major clade corresponded closely with the proportion of forelimb suspensory locomotion that they have been observed to perform in nature. We used principal component regression to construct a predictive model for the proportion of these behaviors that would be expected to occur in the locomotor repertoire of anthropoid primates. We then applied this regression analysis to Pliopithecus vindobonensis, a stem catarrhine from the Miocene of central Europe, and found strong evidence that this species was adapted to perform a proportion of forelimb suspensory locomotion similar to that observed in the extant woolly monkey, Lagothrix lagothricha. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crucial advantages of tail use in the evolution of vertebrate terrestrial locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Astley, Henry; McInroe, Benjamin; Kawano, Sandy; Blob, Rick; Goldman, Daniel

In the invasion of terrestrial environment, the first tetrapods faced the challenge of locomotion on flowable substrates (e.g. sand and mud), sometimes oriented at inclines. Although the morphology of many early tetrapods is known, robotic studies have revealed that effective locomotion on these substrates also depends strongly upon kinematics; slight differences in movements of the same appendage can lead to success or failure. Using a model organism (the mudskipper) and a robotic physical model, we demonstrate how muscular tails provided critical locomotor advantages on granular substrates that the first invaders of land likely encountered. Mudskippers use their tails for additional propulsion with increasing frequency as the slope of the granular material increases, and the decline in locomotor performance with slope is shallower when the tail is used. Experiments with a robotic model of the mudskipper showed that, while the tail did not always provide a benefit to locomotion, use of the tail made the robot's performance more robust, achieving effective locomotion on a wider range of slopes, limb postures and foot placements. These results suggest that, rather than simply being an inert appendage, the tails of early tetrapods were vital to their first forays into terrestrial habitats.

Standardized analysis and sharing of genome-phenome data for neuromuscular and rare disease research through the RD-Connect platform

OpenAIRE

Thompson, Rachel; Beltran, Sergi; Papakonstantinou, Anastasios; Cañada, Andrés; Fernández, Jose Maria; Thompson, Mark; Kaliyaperumal, Rajaram; Lair, Séverine; Sernadela, Pedro; Girdea, Marta; Brudno, Michael; Blavier, André; Lochmüller, Hanns; Roos, Andreas; Straub, Volker

2016-01-01

Abstract: RD-Connect (rd-connect.eu) is an EU-funded project building an integrated platform to narrow the gaps in rare disease research, where patient populations, clinical expertise and research communities are small in number and highly fragmented. Guided by the needs of rare disease researchers and with neuromuscular and neurodegenerative researchers as its original collaborators, the RD-Connect platform securely integrates multiple types of omics data (genomics, proteomics and transcript...

Emotion through Locomotion: Gender Impact

OpenAIRE

Kr?ger, Samuel; Sokolov, Alexander N.; Enck, Paul; Kr?geloh-Mann, Ingeborg; Pavlova, Marina A.

2013-01-01

Body language reading is of significance for daily life social cognition and successful social interaction, and constitutes a core component of social competence. Yet it is unclear whether our ability for body language reading is gender specific. In the present work, female and male observers had to visually recognize emotions through point-light human locomotion performed by female and male actors with different emotional expressions. For subtle emotional expressions only, males surpass fema...

PSO-SVM-Based Online Locomotion Mode Identification for Rehabilitation Robotic Exoskeletons.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Yi; Du, Zhi-Jiang; Wang, Wei-Dong; Zhao, Guang-Yu; Xu, Guo-Qiang; He, Long; Mao, Xi-Wang; Dong, Wei

2016-09-02

Locomotion mode identification is essential for the control of a robotic rehabilitation exoskeletons. This paper proposes an online support vector machine (SVM) optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO) to identify different locomotion modes to realize a smooth and automatic locomotion transition. A PSO algorithm is used to obtain the optimal parameters of SVM for a better overall performance. Signals measured by the foot pressure sensors integrated in the insoles of wearable shoes and the MEMS-based attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS) attached on the shoes and shanks of leg segments are fused together as the input information of SVM. Based on the chosen window whose size is 200 ms (with sampling frequency of 40 Hz), a three-layer wavelet packet analysis (WPA) is used for feature extraction, after which, the kernel principal component analysis (kPCA) is utilized to reduce the dimension of the feature set to reduce computation cost of the SVM. Since the signals are from two types of different sensors, the normalization is conducted to scale the input into the interval of [0, 1]. Five-fold cross validation is adapted to train the classifier, which prevents the classifier over-fitting. Based on the SVM model obtained offline in MATLAB, an online SVM algorithm is constructed for locomotion mode identification. Experiments are performed for different locomotion modes and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm with an accuracy of 96.00% ± 2.45%. To improve its accuracy, majority vote algorithm (MVA) is used for post-processing, with which the identification accuracy is better than 98.35% ± 1.65%. The proposed algorithm can be extended and employed in the field of robotic rehabilitation and assistance.

PSO-SVM-Based Online Locomotion Mode Identification for Rehabilitation Robotic Exoskeletons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Long

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Locomotion mode identification is essential for the control of a robotic rehabilitation exoskeletons. This paper proposes an online support vector machine (SVM optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO to identify different locomotion modes to realize a smooth and automatic locomotion transition. A PSO algorithm is used to obtain the optimal parameters of SVM for a better overall performance. Signals measured by the foot pressure sensors integrated in the insoles of wearable shoes and the MEMS-based attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS attached on the shoes and shanks of leg segments are fused together as the input information of SVM. Based on the chosen window whose size is 200 ms (with sampling frequency of 40 Hz, a three-layer wavelet packet analysis (WPA is used for feature extraction, after which, the kernel principal component analysis (kPCA is utilized to reduce the dimension of the feature set to reduce computation cost of the SVM. Since the signals are from two types of different sensors, the normalization is conducted to scale the input into the interval of [0, 1]. Five-fold cross validation is adapted to train the classifier, which prevents the classifier over-fitting. Based on the SVM model obtained offline in MATLAB, an online SVM algorithm is constructed for locomotion mode identification. Experiments are performed for different locomotion modes and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm with an accuracy of 96.00% ± 2.45%. To improve its accuracy, majority vote algorithm (MVA is used for post-processing, with which the identification accuracy is better than 98.35% ± 1.65%. The proposed algorithm can be extended and employed in the field of robotic rehabilitation and assistance.

Development of a Web-Based Visualization Platform for Climate Research Using Google Earth

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiaojuan; Shen, Suhung; Leptoukh, Gregory G.; Wang, Panxing; Di, Liping; Lu, Mingyue

2011-01-01

Recently, it has become easier to access climate data from satellites, ground measurements, and models from various data centers, However, searching. accessing, and prc(essing heterogeneous data from different sources are very tim -consuming tasks. There is lack of a comprehensive visual platform to acquire distributed and heterogeneous scientific data and to render processed images from a single accessing point for climate studies. This paper. documents the design and implementation of a Web-based visual, interoperable, and scalable platform that is able to access climatological fields from models, satellites, and ground stations from a number of data sources using Google Earth (GE) as a common graphical interface. The development is based on the TCP/IP protocol and various data sharing open sources, such as OPeNDAP, GDS, Web Processing Service (WPS), and Web Mapping Service (WMS). The visualization capability of integrating various measurements into cE extends dramatically the awareness and visibility of scientific results. Using embedded geographic information in the GE, the designed system improves our understanding of the relationships of different elements in a four dimensional domain. The system enables easy and convenient synergistic research on a virtual platform for professionals and the general public, gr$tly advancing global data sharing and scientific research collaboration.

Hybrid Locomotive for Energy Savings and Reduced Emissions

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) and Pennsylvania State University tested several different battery systems in hybrid locomotives. Advanced lithium-ion battery technology was the only kind that displayed the capacity to perform in heavy switching or...

Performance analysis of jump-gliding locomotion for miniature robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vidyasagar, A; Zufferey, Jean-Christohphe; Floreano, Dario; Kovač, M

2015-03-26

Recent work suggests that jumping locomotion in combination with a gliding phase can be used as an effective mobility principle in robotics. Compared to pure jumping without a gliding phase, the potential benefits of hybrid jump-gliding locomotion includes the ability to extend the distance travelled and reduce the potentially damaging impact forces upon landing. This publication evaluates the performance of jump-gliding locomotion and provides models for the analysis of the relevant dynamics of flight. It also defines a jump-gliding envelope that encompasses the range that can be achieved with jump-gliding robots and that can be used to evaluate the performance and improvement potential of jump-gliding robots. We present first a planar dynamic model and then a simplified closed form model, which allow for quantification of the distance travelled and the impact energy on landing. In order to validate the prediction of these models, we validate the model with experiments using a novel jump-gliding robot, named the 'EPFL jump-glider'. It has a mass of 16.5 g and is able to perform jumps from elevated positions, perform steered gliding flight, land safely and traverse on the ground by repetitive jumping. The experiments indicate that the developed jump-gliding model fits very well with the measured flight data using the EPFL jump-glider, confirming the benefits of jump-gliding locomotion to mobile robotics. The jump-glide envelope considerations indicate that the EPFL jump-glider, when traversing from a 2 m height, reaches 74.3% of optimal jump-gliding distance compared to pure jumping without a gliding phase which only reaches 33.4% of the optimal jump-gliding distance. Methods of further improving flight performance based on the models and inspiration from biological systems are presented providing mechanical design pathways to future jump-gliding robot designs.

Different performances in static and dynamic imagery and real locomotion. An exploratory trial.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Augusto eFusco

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Motor imagery is a mental representation of an action without its physical execution. Recently, the simultaneous movement of the body has been added to the mental simulation. This refers to dynamic motor imagery (dMI. This study was aimed at analyzing the temporal features for static and dMI in different locomotor conditions (natural walking, NW, light running, LR, lateral walking, LW, backward walking, BW, and whether these performances were more related to all the given conditions or present only in walking. We have been also evaluated the steps performed in the dMI in comparison with the ones performed by real locomotion. Twenty healthy participants (29.3 ± 5.1 y. old were asked to move towards a visualized target located at 10mt. In dMI, no significant temporal differences respect the actual locomotion were found for all the given tasks (NW: p=0.058, LR: p=0.636, BW: p=0.096; LW: p=0,487. Significant temporal differences between static imagery and actual movements were found for LR (p<0.001 and LW (p<0.001, due to an underestimation of time needed to achieve the target in imagined locomotion. Significant differences in terms of number of steps among tasks were found for LW (p<0.001 and BW (p=0.036, whereas neither in NW (p=0.124 nor LR (p=0.391 between dMI and real locomotion.Our results confirmed that motor imagery is a task-dependent process, with walking being temporally closer than other locomotor conditions. Moreover, the time records of dynamic motor imagery are nearer to the ones of actual locomotion respect than the ones of static motor imagery. Keywords: Walking, dynamic motor imagery, human locomotion, chronometry.

Using entropy measures to characterize human locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Leverick, Graham; Szturm, Tony; Wu, Christine Q

2014-12-01

Entropy measures have been widely used to quantify the complexity of theoretical and experimental dynamical systems. In this paper, the value of using entropy measures to characterize human locomotion is demonstrated based on their construct validity, predictive validity in a simple model of human walking and convergent validity in an experimental study. Results show that four of the five considered entropy measures increase meaningfully with the increased probability of falling in a simple passive bipedal walker model. The same four entropy measures also experienced statistically significant increases in response to increasing age and gait impairment caused by cognitive interference in an experimental study. Of the considered entropy measures, the proposed quantized dynamical entropy (QDE) and quantization-based approximation of sample entropy (QASE) offered the best combination of sensitivity to changes in gait dynamics and computational efficiency. Based on these results, entropy appears to be a viable candidate for assessing the stability of human locomotion.

Application Platform for Intelligent Mobility – research facility for intelligent mobility services

OpenAIRE

Schnieder, Lars

2012-01-01

Traffic can be seen as a multi-dimensional field of research. Traffic can be best described as a socio-technical system which brings about new challenges for the design of future transportation systems. With its Application Platform for Intelligent Mobility (AIM), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), together with the state of Lower Saxony, the city of Braunschweig and other partners, is creating a unique way of linking up research, development and applications for intelligent transportation an...

Central Vehicle Dynamics Control of the Robotic Research Platform ROboMObil

OpenAIRE

Bünte, Tilman; Ho, Lok Man; Satzger, Clemens; Brembeck, Jonathan

2014-01-01

The ROboMObil is DLR’s space-robotics driven by-wire electro-mobile research platform for mechatronic actuators, vehicle dynamics control, human machine interfaces, and autonomous driving (DLR = German Aerospace Center). Due to its four highly integrated identical Wheel Robots it exhibits an extraordinary manoeuvrability even allowing for driving sideward or rotating on the spot. Topics related to vehicle dynamics control are addressed in this article.

Economic aspects of advanced coal-fired gas turbine locomotives

Science.gov (United States)

Liddle, S. G.; Bonzo, B. B.; Houser, B. C.

1983-01-01

Increases in the price of such conventional fuels as Diesel No. 2, as well as advancements in turbine technology, have prompted the present economic assessment of coal-fired gas turbine locomotive engines. A regenerative open cycle internal combustion gas turbine engine may be used, given the development of ceramic hot section components. Otherwise, an external combustion gas turbine engine appears attractive, since although its thermal efficiency is lower than that of a Diesel engine, its fuel is far less expensive. Attention is given to such a powerplant which will use a fluidized bed coal combustor. A life cycle cost analysis yields figures that are approximately half those typical of present locomotive engines.

The G6 - a heavy-duty six-wheeled shunting locomotive; Dreiachsige Hochleistungsrangierlokomotive G6

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hildebrandt, Tim [Vossloh Locomotives GmbH, Kiel (Germany). Entwicklung und Standardisierung

2009-03-15

With the three-axle shunter G6, exhibited at Innotrans 2008, the renowned producer of rail vehicles Vossloh Locomotives GmbH marks the beginning of a generational change - not only for three-axle but also for four-axle locomotives. In order to replace the type G765C the G6 has been developed in close cooperation with potential customers. Their request concerning robustness and reliability as well as the equipment options set standards for central driver's cab locomotives in general and lead the way for future four-axle replacements within the Vossloh product family. (orig.)

Full-scale locomotive dynamic crash testing and correlations : C-39 type locomotive colliding with a loaded hopper car (test 7).

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

This report presents the results of a locomotive and three loaded hopper car consist traveling at 29 miles per hour colliding with a stationary consist of 35 loaded hopper cars. The details of test instrumentation, LS-DYNA finite element simulation, ...

Dynamic legged locomotion in robots and animals

Science.gov (United States)

Raibert, Marc; Playter, Robert; Ringrose, Robert; Bailey, Dave; Leeser, Karl

1995-01-01

This report documents our study of active legged systems that balance actively and move dynamically. The purpose of this research is to build a foundation of knowledge that can lead both to the construction of useful legged vehicles and to a better understanding of how animal locomotion works. In this report we provide an update on progress during the past year. Here are the topics covered in this report: (1) Is cockroach locomotion dynamic? To address this question we created three models of cockroaches, each abstracted at a different level. We provided each model with a control system and computer simulation. One set of results suggests that 'Groucho Running,' a type of dynamic walking, seems feasible at cockroach scale. (2) How do bipeds shift weight between the legs? We built a simple planar biped robot specifically to explore this question. It shifts its weight from one curved foot to the other, using a toe-off and toe-on strategy, in conjunction with dynamic tipping. (3) 3D biped gymnastics: The 3D biped robot has done front somersaults in the laboratory. The robot changes its leg length in flight to control rotation rate. This in turn provides a mechanism for controlling the landing attitude of the robot once airborne. (4) Passively stabilized layout somersault: We have found that the passive structure of a gymnast, the configuration of masses and compliances, can stabilize inherently unstable maneuvers. This means that body biomechanics could play a larger role in controlling behavior than is generally thought. We used a physical 'doll' model and computer simulation to illustrate the point. (5) Twisting: Some gymnastic maneuvers require twisting. We are studying how to couple the biomechanics of the system to its control to produce efficient, stable twisting maneuvers.

Mobile platform security

CERN Document Server

Asokan, N; Dmitrienko, Alexandra

2013-01-01

Recently, mobile security has garnered considerable interest in both the research community and industry due to the popularity of smartphones. The current smartphone platforms are open systems that allow application development, also for malicious parties. To protect the mobile device, its user, and other mobile ecosystem stakeholders such as network operators, application execution is controlled by a platform security architecture. This book explores how such mobile platform security architectures work. We present a generic model for mobile platform security architectures: the model illustrat

Development of the Research Platform of Small Autonomous Blimp Robot

Science.gov (United States)

Takaya, Toshihiko; Kawamura, Hidenori; Yamamoto, Masahito; Ohuchi, Azuma

A blimp robot is attractive as an small flight robot and can float in the air by buoyancy and realize safe to the crash small flight with low energy and can movement for a long time compared with other flight robots with low energy and can movement for a long time compared with other flight robots. However, control of an airplane robot is difficult for the nonlinear characteristic exposed to inertia by the air flow in response to influence. Therefore, the applied research which carried out the maximum use of such in recent years a blimp robot's feature is prosperous. In this paper, we realized development of blimp robot for research which can be used general-purpose by carrying out clue division of the blimp robot body at a unit, and constituting and building for research of blimp robot, and application development. On the other hand, by developing a general-purpose blimp robot research platform, improvement in the research efficiency of many researchers can be attained, and further, research start of blimp robot becomes easy and contributes to development of research. We performed the experiments for the above-mentioned proof. 1. Checked basic keeping position performance and that various orbital operation was possible. And the unit exchange ease of software unit was checked by the experiment which exchanges the control layer of software for learning control from PID control, and carries out comparison of operation. 2. In order to check the exchange ease of hardware unit, the sensor was exchanged for the microphon from the camera, and control of operation was checked. 3. For the unit addition ease, the microphon which carries out sound detection with the picture detection with a camera was added, and control of operation was verified. 4. The unit exchange was carried out for the check of a function addition and the topological map generation experiment by addition of an ultrasonic sensor was conducted. Developed blimp robot for research mounted the exchange ease

Impact of food restriction and cocaine on locomotion in ghrelin- and ghrelin-receptor knockout mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Clifford, Shane; Zeckler, Rosie Albarran; Buckman, Sam; Thompson, Jeff; Hart, Nigel; Wellman, Paul J; Smith, Roy G

2011-07-01

Food restriction (FR) augments the behavioral and reinforcing effects of psychomotor stimulants such as cocaine or amphetamine; effects that may be related to the capacity of FR to increase plasma levels of ghrelin (GHR), a 28-amino acid orexigenenic peptide linked to activation of brain dopamine systems. The present study used wild-type (WT) mice or mutant mice sustaining knockout of either GHR [GHR((-/-)) ] or of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor [GHS-R((-/-)) ] and subjected to FR or not to evaluate the role of GHR and GHS-R in cocaine-stimulated locomotion. WT, GHR((-/-)) , and GHS-R((-/-)) mice were either restricted to 60% of baseline caloric intake or allowed to free-feed (FF). Mice were treated with 0, 1.25, 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg cocaine on separate test days (in random dose order) and forward locomotion was recorded on each drug day for 45 minutes after drug dosing. Food (and water) was available immediately after (but not during) each activity test. For FF mice, there was no interaction between cocaine and GHR status on locomotion. FR-WT mice treated with saline exhibited significant increases in anticipatory locomotion (relative to FF-WT mice), whereas FR-GHS-R((-/-)) mice did not. Cocaine significantly increased locomotion in FR-GHR((-/-)) and FR-GHS-R((-/-)) mice to the levels noted in FR-WT mice. These results suggest that GHS-R activity, but not GHR activity, is required for FR to augment food-associated anticipatory locomotion, but do not support the contention that GHR pathways are required for the capacity of FR to augment the acute effect of cocaine on locomotion. © 2010 The Authors, Addiction Biology © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Body segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and 3D displacement and the estimation of heat balance during locomotion in hominins.

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Alan; Collard, Mark; Nelson, Andrew

2008-06-18

The conventional method of estimating heat balance during locomotion in humans and other hominins treats the body as an undifferentiated mass. This is problematic because the segments of the body differ with respect to several variables that can affect thermoregulation. Here, we report a study that investigated the impact on heat balance during locomotion of inter-segment differences in three of these variables: surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement. The approach adopted in the study was to generate heat balance estimates with the conventional method and then compare them with heat balance estimates generated with a method that takes into account inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement. We reasoned that, if the hypothesis that inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement affect heat balance during locomotion is correct, the estimates yielded by the two methods should be statistically significantly different. Anthropometric data were collected on seven adult male volunteers. The volunteers then walked on a treadmill at 1.2 m/s while 3D motion capture cameras recorded their movements. Next, the conventional and segmented methods were used to estimate the volunteers' heat balance while walking in four ambient temperatures. Lastly, the estimates produced with the two methods were compared with the paired t-test. The estimates of heat balance during locomotion yielded by the two methods are significantly different. Those yielded by the segmented method are significantly lower than those produced by the conventional method. Accordingly, the study supports the hypothesis that inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement impact heat balance during locomotion. This has important implications not only for current understanding of heat balance during locomotion in hominins but also for how future research on this topic should be approached.

Body segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and 3D displacement and the estimation of heat balance during locomotion in hominins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Cross

Full Text Available The conventional method of estimating heat balance during locomotion in humans and other hominins treats the body as an undifferentiated mass. This is problematic because the segments of the body differ with respect to several variables that can affect thermoregulation. Here, we report a study that investigated the impact on heat balance during locomotion of inter-segment differences in three of these variables: surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement. The approach adopted in the study was to generate heat balance estimates with the conventional method and then compare them with heat balance estimates generated with a method that takes into account inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement. We reasoned that, if the hypothesis that inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement affect heat balance during locomotion is correct, the estimates yielded by the two methods should be statistically significantly different. Anthropometric data were collected on seven adult male volunteers. The volunteers then walked on a treadmill at 1.2 m/s while 3D motion capture cameras recorded their movements. Next, the conventional and segmented methods were used to estimate the volunteers' heat balance while walking in four ambient temperatures. Lastly, the estimates produced with the two methods were compared with the paired t-test. The estimates of heat balance during locomotion yielded by the two methods are significantly different. Those yielded by the segmented method are significantly lower than those produced by the conventional method. Accordingly, the study supports the hypothesis that inter-segment differences in surface area, skin temperature and rate of movement impact heat balance during locomotion. This has important implications not only for current understanding of heat balance during locomotion in hominins but also for how future research on this topic should be

The coal-fired gas turbine locomotive - A new look

Science.gov (United States)

Liddle, S. G.; Bonzo, B. B.; Purohit, G. P.

1983-01-01

Advances in turbomachine technology and novel methods of coal combustion may have made possible the development of a competitive coal fired gas turbine locomotive engine. Of the combustor, thermodynamic cycle, and turbine combinations presently assessed, an external combustion closed cycle regenerative gas turbine with a fluidized bed coal combustor is judged to be the best suited for locomotive requirements. Some merit is also discerned in external combustion open cycle regenerative systems and internal combustion open cycle regenerative gas turbine systems employing a coal gasifier. The choice of an open or closed cycle depends on the selection of a working fluid and the relative advantages of loop pressurization, with air being the most attractive closed cycle working fluid on the basis of cost.

Locomotion of a bioinspired flyer powered by one pair of pitching foils

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiang; He, Guowei; Wang, Shizhao; Zhang, Xing

2018-01-01

We numerically investigate the flight dynamics and aerodynamics of a two-dimensional model for the jellyfishlike ornithopter recently devised by Ristroph and Childress [L. Ristroph and S. Childress, J. R. Soc. Interface 11, 20130992 (2014), 10.1098/rsif.2013.0992]. This simplified model is composed of two rigid thin foils which are forced to pitch in antiphase fashion. The Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid and the dynamics equations for the flyer are solved together in the simulations. We first consider the constrained-flying condition where the flyer model is only allowed to move in the vertical direction. The influences of the control parameters on the hovering performance are studied. With the variations in parameter values, three different locomotion states, i.e., ascending, descending, and approximate hovering, are identified. The wake structures corresponding to these three locomotion states are explored. It is found that the approximate hovering state cannot persist due to the occurrence of wake symmetry breaking after long-time simulation. We then consider the free-flying condition where the motions in three degrees of freedom are allowed. We study the postural stability of a flyer, with its center of gravity located at the geometric center. The responses of the flyer at different locomotion states to physical and numerical perturbations are examined. Our results show that the ascending state is recoverable after the perturbation. The descending state is irrecoverable after the perturbation and a mixed fluttering and tumbling motion which resembles that of a falling card emerges. The approximate hovering state is also irrecoverable and it eventually transits to the ascending state after the perturbation. The research sheds light on the lift-producing mechanism and stability of the flyer and the results are helpful in guiding the design and optimization of the jellyfishlike flying machine.

Three-dimensional Locomotion and Drilling Microrobot Using Electromagnetic Actuation System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Girl; Choi, Hyun Chul; Cha, Kyoung Rae; Jeong, Se Mi; Park, Jong Oh; Park, Suk Ho

2011-01-01

In this study, a novel electromagnetic microrobot system with locomotion and drilling functions in three dimensional space was developed. Because of size limitations, the microrobot does not have actuator, battery, and controller. Therefore, an electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system was used to drive the robot. The proposed EMA system consists of three rectangular Helmholtz coil pairs in x-, y- and z-axes and a Maxwell coil pair in the z-axis. The magnetic field generated in the EMA coil system could be controlled by the input current of the EMA coil. Finally, through various experiments, the locomotion and drilling performances of the proposed EMA microrobot system were verified

Three-dimensional Locomotion and Drilling Microrobot Using Electromagnetic Actuation System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Girl; Choi, Hyun Chul; Cha, Kyoung Rae; Jeong, Se Mi; Park, Jong Oh; Park, Suk Ho [Chonnam National University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2011-12-15

In this study, a novel electromagnetic microrobot system with locomotion and drilling functions in three dimensional space was developed. Because of size limitations, the microrobot does not have actuator, battery, and controller. Therefore, an electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system was used to drive the robot. The proposed EMA system consists of three rectangular Helmholtz coil pairs in x-, y- and z-axes and a Maxwell coil pair in the z-axis. The magnetic field generated in the EMA coil system could be controlled by the input current of the EMA coil. Finally, through various experiments, the locomotion and drilling performances of the proposed EMA microrobot system were verified.

Obstacle traversal and self-righting of bio-inspired robots reveal the physics of multi-modal locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chen; Fearing, Ronald; Full, Robert

Most animals move in nature in a variety of locomotor modes. For example, to traverse obstacles like dense vegetation, cockroaches can climb over, push across, reorient their bodies to maneuver through slits, or even transition among these modes forming diverse locomotor pathways; if flipped over, they can also self-right using wings or legs to generate body pitch or roll. By contrast, most locomotion studies have focused on a single mode such as running, walking, or jumping, and robots are still far from capable of life-like, robust, multi-modal locomotion in the real world. Here, we present two recent studies using bio-inspired robots, together with new locomotion energy landscapes derived from locomotor-environment interaction physics, to begin to understand the physics of multi-modal locomotion. (1) Our experiment of a cockroach-inspired legged robot traversing grass-like beam obstacles reveals that, with a terradynamically ``streamlined'' rounded body like that of the insect, robot traversal becomes more probable by accessing locomotor pathways that overcome lower potential energy barriers. (2) Our experiment of a cockroach-inspired self-righting robot further suggests that body vibrations are crucial for exploring locomotion energy landscapes and reaching lower barrier pathways. Finally, we posit that our new framework of locomotion energy landscapes holds promise to better understand and predict multi-modal biological and robotic movement.

Loss of signal transduction and inhibition of lymphocyte locomotion in a ground-based model of microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Sundaresan, Alamelu; Risin, Diana; Pellis, Neal R.; McIntire, L. V. (Principal Investigator)

2002-01-01

Inflammatory adherence to, and locomotion through the interstitium is an important component of the immune response. Conditions such as microgravity and modeled microgravity (MMG) severely inhibit lymphocyte locomotion in vitro through gelled type I collagen. We used the NASA rotating wall vessel bioreactor or slow-turning lateral vessel as a prototype for MMG in ground-based experiments. Previous experiments from our laboratory revealed that when lymphocytes (human peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs]) were first activated with phytohemaglutinin followed by exposure to MMG, locomotory capacity was not affected. In the present study, MMG inhibits lymphocyte locomotion in a manner similar to that observed in microgravity. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) treatment of PBMCs restored lost locomotory capacity by a maximum of 87%. Augmentation of cellular calcium flux with ionomycin had no restorative effect. Treatment of lymphocytes with mitomycin C prior to exposure to MMG, followed by PMA, restored locomotion to the same extent as when nonmitomycin C-treated lymphocytes were exposed to MMG (80-87%), suggesting that deoxyribonucleic acid replication is not essential for the restoration of locomotion. Thus, direct activation of protein kinase C (PKC) with PMA was effective in restoring locomotion in MMG comparable to the normal levels seen in Ig cultures. Therefore, in MMG, lymphocyte calcium signaling pathways were functional, with defects occurring at either the level of PKC or upstream of PKC.

Multi-Locomotion Robotic Systems New Concepts of Bio-inspired Robotics

CERN Document Server

Fukuda, Toshio; Sekiyama, Kosuke; Aoyama, Tadayoshi

2012-01-01

Nowadays, multiple attention have been paid on a robot working in the human living environment, such as in the field of medical, welfare, entertainment and so on. Various types of researches are being conducted actively in a variety of fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive engineering, sensor- technology, interfaces and motion control. In the future, it is expected to realize super high functional human-like robot by integrating technologies in various fields including these types of researches. The book represents new developments and advances in the field of bio-inspired robotics research introducing the state of the art, the idea of multi-locomotion robotic system to implement the diversity of animal motion. It covers theoretical and computational aspects of Passive Dynamic Autonomous Control (PDAC), robot motion control, multi legged walking and climbing as well as brachiation focusing concrete robot systems, components and applications. In addition, gorilla type robot systems are described as...

Decoding bipedal locomotion from the rat sensorimotor cortex

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rigosa, J.; Panarese, A.; Dominici, N.; Friedli, L.; van den Brand, R.; Carpaneto, J.; DiGiovanna, J.; Courtine, G.; Micera, S.

2015-01-01

Objective. Decoding forelimb movements from the firing activity of cortical neurons has been interfaced with robotic and prosthetic systems to replace lost upper limb functions in humans. Despite the potential of this approach to improve locomotion and facilitate gait rehabilitation, decoding lower

Cross-platform learning: on the nature of children's learning from multiple media platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisch, Shalom M

2013-01-01

It is increasingly common for an educational media project to span several media platforms (e.g., TV, Web, hands-on materials), assuming that the benefits of learning from multiple media extend beyond those gained from one medium alone. Yet research typically has investigated learning from a single medium in isolation. This paper reviews several recent studies to explore cross-platform learning (i.e., learning from combined use of multiple media platforms) and how such learning compares to learning from one medium. The paper discusses unique benefits of cross-platform learning, a theoretical mechanism to explain how these benefits might arise, and questions for future research in this emerging field. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

The effects of ketamine on sexual behavior, anxiety, and locomotion in female rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Guarraci, Fay A; Gonzalez, Chantal M F; Lucero, Devon; Womble, Paige D; Abdel-Rahim, Heba; DeVore, Jennie; Kunkel, Marcela Nicole; Quadlander, Emma; Stinnett, Morgan; Boyette-Davis, Jessica

2018-02-01

The present study characterized the effects of ketamine on sexual behavior and anxiety in female rats. In Experiment 1, female subjects received an injection of ketamine (10.0mg/kg) or saline 30min prior to a sexual partner-preference test during which each female subject was given the opportunity to interact with a female stimulus or a sexually vigorous male stimulus. Immediately afterwards, female subjects were tested for locomotion in an open field test. Ketamine-treated subjects spent significantly more time with the male stimulus than saline-treated subjects. No other measures of mating behavior (i.e., paced mating behavior, lordosis) were affected by ketamine. Ketamine also had no effect on locomotion. In Experiment 2, female subjects received an injection of ketamine (10.0mg/kg), or saline daily for 10days to investigate the possibility that sexual dysfunction emerges only after repeated exposure. Similar to the results of Experiment 1, ketamine-treated subjects spent significantly more time with the male stimulus than saline-treated subjects. Chronic ketamine treatment also decreased the likelihood of leaving the male after mounts, without affecting any other measures of sexual behavior. Chronic ketamine had no effect on locomotion. In Experiment 3, female subjects received an injection of ketamine (10.0mg/kg) or saline and were tested for anxiety in an elevated plus maze test and for locomotion in an open field test. Acute ketamine had no effect on anxiety or locomotion. In Experiment 4, female subjects received an injection of ketamine (10.0mg/kg) or saline daily for 10days to investigate the possibility that anxiety emerges only after repeated exposure. Chronic ketamine exposure had no effect on any measure of anxiety. However, chronic ketamine exposure increased locomotion. The results from these experiments indicate that unlike other medications prescribed for depression, neither acute nor chronic ketamine treatment causes anxiety or disruption of

Launching a virtual decision lab: development and field-testing of a web-based patient decision support research platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Aubri S; Llewellyn-Thomas, Hilary A; Tosteson, Anna N A; O'Connor, Annette M; Volk, Robert J; Tomek, Ivan M; Andrews, Steven B; Bartels, Stephen J

2014-12-12

Over 100 trials show that patient decision aids effectively improve patients' information comprehension and values-based decision making. However, gaps remain in our understanding of several fundamental and applied questions, particularly related to the design of interactive, personalized decision aids. This paper describes an interdisciplinary development process for, and early field testing of, a web-based patient decision support research platform, or virtual decision lab, to address these questions. An interdisciplinary stakeholder panel designed the web-based research platform with three components: a) an introduction to shared decision making, b) a web-based patient decision aid, and c) interactive data collection items. Iterative focus groups provided feedback on paper drafts and online prototypes. A field test assessed a) feasibility for using the research platform, in terms of recruitment, usage, and acceptability; and b) feasibility of using the web-based decision aid component, compared to performance of a videobooklet decision aid in clinical care. This interdisciplinary, theory-based, patient-centered design approach produced a prototype for field-testing in six months. Participants (n = 126) reported that: the decision aid component was easy to use (98%), information was clear (90%), the length was appropriate (100%), it was appropriately detailed (90%), and it held their interest (97%). They spent a mean of 36 minutes using the decision aid and 100% preferred using their home/library computer. Participants scored a mean of 75% correct on the Decision Quality, Knowledge Subscale, and 74 out of 100 on the Preparation for Decision Making Scale. Completing the web-based decision aid reduced mean Decisional Conflict scores from 31.1 to 19.5 (p development of a web-based patient decision support research platform that was feasible for use in research studies in terms of recruitment, acceptability, and usage. Within this platform, the web

Locomotion of bluefish.

Science.gov (United States)

DuBois, A B; Cavagna, G A; Fox, R S

1976-02-01

1. Pressure previously measured on the body surface of swimming bluefish were resolved into their backward vectorial components to allow calculation of profile drag. It was 0.18 kg at a speed of 1.8 m/sec. Tangential drag was calculated as if for a thin plate of an area equal to that of the fish. It was 0.08 kg at 1.8 m/sec. Net drag, 0.26 kg, was the sum of profile and tangential drag. 2. Thrust and drag also were calculated from the changes of acceleration measured during steady swimming, assuming that thrust took place only during the acceleration phase, whereas drag occurred during both acceleration and deceleration. This drag was 0.08 kg at a speed of 1.1 m/sec. It is compatible with the drag of 0.26 at 1.8 m/sec calculated from profile and tangential drag provided drag varies as the square of velocity. 3. The force required to produced maximal acceleration was measured during a scare. It was calculated to be 6.9 kg at a peak acceleration of 3 g. 4. The compression strength of th vertebrae was found to be approximately 20 kg per cm2, or roughly three times the force encountered during maximal acceleration. This safety factor of 3 would be reduced when the back was curved, or if opposing groups of muscles were under tension. 5. The finding that a bluefish can accelerate at 3 g and that the vertebral column is strongg enough to withstand this force indicates that the muscles and body structure of a bluefish would be able to withstand the force of gravity if the fish were otherwise equipped for terrestrial life. This fish may have evolved these strengths simultaneously with land animals. It is speculated that other fish may have evolved some degree of strength to overcome inertia and drag during aquatic locomotion, and this evolution may have been a prelude to terrestrial locomotion.

Use of Web 2.0 Social Media Platforms to Promote Community-Engaged Research Dialogs: A Preliminary Program Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez Soto, Miguel; Bishop, Shawn G; Aase, Lee A; Timimi, Farris K; Montori, Victor M; Patten, Christi A

2016-01-01

Background Community-engaged research is defined by the Institute of Medicine as the process of working collaboratively with groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations with respect to issues affecting their well-being. Traditional face-to-face community-engaged research is limited by geographic location, limited in resources, and/or uses one-way communications. Web 2.0 technologies including social media are novel communication channels for community-engaged research because these tools can reach a broader audience while promoting bidirectional dialogs. Objective This paper reports on a preliminary program evaluation of the use of social media platforms for promoting engagement of researchers and community representatives in dialogs about community-engaged research. Methods For this pilot program evaluation, the Clinical and Translational Science Office for Community Engagement in Research partnered with the Social Media Network at our institution to create a WordPress blog and Twitter account. Both social media platforms were facilitated by a social media manager. We used descriptive analytics for measuring engagement with WordPress and Twitter over an 18-month implementation period during 2014-2016. For the blog, we examined type of user (researcher, community representative, other) and used content analysis to generate the major themes from blog postings. For use of Twitter, we examined selected demographics and impressions among followers. Results There were 76 blog postings observed from researchers (48/76, 64%), community representatives (23/76, 32%) and funders (5/76, 8%). The predominant themes of the blog content were research awareness and dissemination of community-engaged research (35/76, 46%) and best practices (23/76, 30%). For Twitter, we obtained 411 followers at the end of the 18-month evaluation period, with an increase of 42% (from 280 to 411) over the final 6 months. Followers reported varied

Use of Web 2.0 Social Media Platforms to Promote Community-Engaged Research Dialogs: A Preliminary Program Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdez Soto, Miguel; Balls-Berry, Joyce E; Bishop, Shawn G; Aase, Lee A; Timimi, Farris K; Montori, Victor M; Patten, Christi A

2016-09-09

Community-engaged research is defined by the Institute of Medicine as the process of working collaboratively with groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interests, or similar situations with respect to issues affecting their well-being. Traditional face-to-face community-engaged research is limited by geographic location, limited in resources, and/or uses one-way communications. Web 2.0 technologies including social media are novel communication channels for community-engaged research because these tools can reach a broader audience while promoting bidirectional dialogs. This paper reports on a preliminary program evaluation of the use of social media platforms for promoting engagement of researchers and community representatives in dialogs about community-engaged research. For this pilot program evaluation, the Clinical and Translational Science Office for Community Engagement in Research partnered with the Social Media Network at our institution to create a WordPress blog and Twitter account. Both social media platforms were facilitated by a social media manager. We used descriptive analytics for measuring engagement with WordPress and Twitter over an 18-month implementation period during 2014-2016. For the blog, we examined type of user (researcher, community representative, other) and used content analysis to generate the major themes from blog postings. For use of Twitter, we examined selected demographics and impressions among followers. There were 76 blog postings observed from researchers (48/76, 64%), community representatives (23/76, 32%) and funders (5/76, 8%). The predominant themes of the blog content were research awareness and dissemination of community-engaged research (35/76, 46%) and best practices (23/76, 30%). For Twitter, we obtained 411 followers at the end of the 18-month evaluation period, with an increase of 42% (from 280 to 411) over the final 6 months. Followers reported varied geographic location (321/411, 78

A survey report for the biped locomotion model under external force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Ichiro; Takanishi, Atsuo; Kume, Etsuo.

1993-10-01

A mechanical design study of biped locomotion robots is being performed at JAERI within the scope of the Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP). The design study at JAERI is of an arbitrarily mobile robot for inspection of nuclear facilities. We have developed the simulation software which has capability of obtaining several types of stable motions for straight walking in terms of design tools. In addition, we are studying more complex walking patterns such as turning. However, in order to realize the robustness of walking, it is also necessary for the robot to have a capability of walking under external force as a disturbance which is caused by touching an object and so on. A survey has been performed for collecting useful information from already existing biped locomotion robots. This is a survey report for the biped locomotion model under external force: the WL-12RIII/IV designed and developed at Waseda University. This report includes the machine model, control system, control method and results of walking experiments. (author)

Recognizing stationary and locomotion activities using combinational of spectral analysis with statistical descriptors features

Science.gov (United States)

Zainudin, M. N. Shah; Sulaiman, Md Nasir; Mustapha, Norwati; Perumal, Thinagaran

2017-10-01

Prior knowledge in pervasive computing recently garnered a lot of attention due to its high demand in various application domains. Human activity recognition (HAR) considered as the applications that are widely explored by the expertise that provides valuable information to the human. Accelerometer sensor-based approach is utilized as devices to undergo the research in HAR since their small in size and this sensor already build-in in the various type of smartphones. However, the existence of high inter-class similarities among the class tends to degrade the recognition performance. Hence, this work presents the method for activity recognition using our proposed features from combinational of spectral analysis with statistical descriptors that able to tackle the issue of differentiating stationary and locomotion activities. The noise signal is filtered using Fourier Transform before it will be extracted using two different groups of features, spectral frequency analysis, and statistical descriptors. Extracted signal later will be classified using random forest ensemble classifier models. The recognition results show the good accuracy performance for stationary and locomotion activities based on USC HAD datasets.

EURESCOM Services Platform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwenhuis, Lambertus Johannes Maria; van Halteren, Aart

1999-01-01

This paper presents the results of the EURESCOM Project 715. In February 1999, a large team of researchers from six European public network operators completed a two year period of cooperative experiments on a TINA-based environment, called the EURESCOM Services Platform (ESP). This platform

Artificial locomotion control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azevedo, Christine; Poignet, Philippe; Espiau, Bernard

2004-01-01

of postural and walking control; use of evolutive optimization objectives; on-line event handling and environment adaptation and anticipation. This leads to the synthesis of an original control scheme based on non-linear model predictive control: Trajectory Free NMPC. The movement is specified implicitly......This paper concerns the simultaneous synthesis and control of walking gaits for biped robots. The goal is to propose an adaptable and reactive control law for two-legged machines. The problem is addressed with human locomotion as a reference. The starting point of our work is an analysis of human...... walking from descriptive (biomechanics) as well as explicative (neuroscience and physiology) points of view, the objective being to stress the relevant elements for the approach of robot control. The adopted principles are then: no joint trajectory tracking; explicit distinction and integration...

Trading of locomotive NO(sub x) emissions : a potential success story

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaines, L. L.; Biess, L. J.; Diedrich, G. K.

2002-01-01

New US Environmental Protection Agency regulations are forcing locomotive manufacturers and railroads to reduce pollutant emissions from locomotive operation. All new locomotives must meet strict standards when they are built, and existing locomotives must comply when they are rebuilt. Emissions can be reduced either by adjusting combustion parameters, which incurs a fuel penalty, or by turning the diesel engine off when the train is not moving and would otherwise be idling. The latter reduces fuel consumption, but requires installation of a device-such as an auxiliary power unit (APU)-to ensure that the engine can be restarted in cold weather and to supply hotel loads for the crew. Without a financial incentive, capital-short railroads will opt to achieve compliance in the least costly way. However, if they have the option of selling emissions credits from reducing emissions below regulated levels, it would be in their best interest to install additional equipment to minimize emissions. These credits could be purchased by businesses with compliance costs greater than either the cost of the credits or the fines they would have had to pay for non-compliance. The result is a financial benefit for both parties, and a net reduction in emissions, because the seller is emitting below regulated levels, and the buyer is no longer non-compliant. This paper describes a railroad as the potential seller, unable to consummate trades because of uncertainty in the regulatory environment, and estimates financial benefits and reductions in emissions and energy use that could be achieved if the barrier could be removed

MyGeoHub: A Collaborative Geospatial Research and Education Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Kalyanam, R.; Zhao, L.; Biehl, L. L.; Song, C. X.; Merwade, V.; Villoria, N.

2017-12-01

Scientific research is increasingly collaborative and globally distributed; research groups now rely on web-based scientific tools and data management systems to simplify their day-to-day collaborative workflows. However, such tools often lack seamless interfaces, requiring researchers to contend with manual data transfers, annotation and sharing. MyGeoHub is a web platform that supports out-of-the-box, seamless workflows involving data ingestion, metadata extraction, analysis, sharing and publication. MyGeoHub is built on the HUBzero cyberinfrastructure platform and adds general-purpose software building blocks (GABBs), for geospatial data management, visualization and analysis. A data management building block iData, processes geospatial files, extracting metadata for keyword and map-based search while enabling quick previews. iData is pervasive, allowing access through a web interface, scientific tools on MyGeoHub or even mobile field devices via a data service API. GABBs includes a Python map library as well as map widgets that in a few lines of code, generate complete geospatial visualization web interfaces for scientific tools. GABBs also includes powerful tools that can be used with no programming effort. The GeoBuilder tool provides an intuitive wizard for importing multi-variable, geo-located time series data (typical of sensor readings, GPS trackers) to build visualizations supporting data filtering and plotting. MyGeoHub has been used in tutorials at scientific conferences and educational activities for K-12 students. MyGeoHub is also constantly evolving; the recent addition of Jupyter and R Shiny notebook environments enable reproducible, richly interactive geospatial analyses and applications ranging from simple pre-processing to published tools. MyGeoHub is not a monolithic geospatial science gateway, instead it supports diverse needs ranging from just a feature-rich data management system, to complex scientific tools and workflows.

Sensory modulation of movement, posture and locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Saradjian, A H

2015-11-01

During voluntary movement, there exists a well known functional sensory attenuation of afferent inputs, which allows us to discriminate between information related to our own movements and those arising from the external environment. This attenuation or 'gating' prevents some signals from interfering with movement elaboration and production. However, there are situations in which certain task-relevant sensory inputs may not be gated. This review begins by identifying the prevalent findings in the literature with specific regard to the somatosensory modality, and reviews the many cases of classical sensory gating phenomenon accompanying voluntary movement and their neural basis. This review also focuses on the newer axes of research that demonstrate that task-specific sensory information may be disinhibited or even facilitated during engagement in voluntary actions. Finally, a particular emphasis will be placed on postural and/or locomotor tasks involving strong somatosensory demands, especially for the setting of the anticipatory postural adjustments observed prior the initiation of locomotion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

On the Role of the Pedunculopontine Nucleus and Mesencephalic Reticular Formation in Locomotion in Nonhuman Primates.

Science.gov (United States)

Goetz, Laurent; Piallat, Brigitte; Bhattacharjee, Manik; Mathieu, Hervé; David, Olivier; Chabardès, Stéphan

2016-05-04

The mesencephalic reticular formation (MRF) is formed by the pedunculopontine and cuneiform nuclei, two neuronal structures thought to be key elements in the supraspinal control of locomotion, muscle tone, waking, and REM sleep. The role of MRF has also been advocated in modulation of state of arousal leading to transition from wakefulness to sleep and it is further considered to be a main player in the pathophysiology of gait disorders seen in Parkinson's disease. However, the existence of a mesencephalic locomotor region and of an arousal center has not yet been demonstrated in primates. Here, we provide the first extensive electrophysiological mapping of the MRF using extracellular recordings at rest and during locomotion in a nonhuman primate (NHP) (Macaca fascicularis) model of bipedal locomotion. We found different neuronal populations that discharged according to a phasic or a tonic mode in response to locomotion, supporting the existence of a locomotor neuronal circuit within these MRF in behaving primates. Altogether, these data constitute the first electrophysiological characterization of a locomotor neuronal system present within the MRF in behaving NHPs under normal conditions, in accordance with several studies done in different experimental animal models. We provide the first extensive electrophysiological mapping of the two major components of the mesencephalic reticular formation (MRF), namely the pedunculopontine and cuneiform nuclei. We exploited a nonhuman primate (NHP) model of bipedal locomotion with extracellular recordings in behaving NHPs at rest and during locomotion. Different MRF neuronal groups were found to respond to locomotion, with phasic or tonic patterns of response. These data constitute the first electrophysiological evidences of a locomotor neuronal system within the MRF in behaving NHPs. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/364917-13$15.00/0.

Walking like dinosaurs: chickens with artificial tails provide clues about non-avian theropod locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossi, Bruno; Iriarte-Díaz, José; Larach, Omar; Canals, Mauricio; Vásquez, Rodrigo A

2014-01-01

Birds still share many traits with their dinosaur ancestors, making them the best living group to reconstruct certain aspects of non-avian theropod biology. Bipedal, digitigrade locomotion and parasagittal hindlimb movement are some of those inherited traits. Living birds, however, maintain an unusually crouched hindlimb posture and locomotion powered by knee flexion, in contrast to the inferred primitive condition of non-avian theropods: more upright posture and limb movement powered by femur retraction. Such functional differences, which are associated with a gradual, anterior shift of the centre of mass in theropods along the bird line, make the use of extant birds to study non-avian theropod locomotion problematic. Here we show that, by experimentally manipulating the location of the centre of mass in living birds, it is possible to recreate limb posture and kinematics inferred for extinct bipedal dinosaurs. Chickens raised wearing artificial tails, and consequently with more posteriorly located centre of mass, showed a more vertical orientation of the femur during standing and increased femoral displacement during locomotion. Our results support the hypothesis that gradual changes in the location of the centre of mass resulted in more crouched hindlimb postures and a shift from hip-driven to knee-driven limb movements through theropod evolution. This study suggests that, through careful experimental manipulations during the growth phase of ontogeny, extant birds can potentially be used to gain important insights into previously unexplored aspects of bipedal non-avian theropod locomotion.

Walking like dinosaurs: chickens with artificial tails provide clues about non-avian theropod locomotion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Grossi

Full Text Available Birds still share many traits with their dinosaur ancestors, making them the best living group to reconstruct certain aspects of non-avian theropod biology. Bipedal, digitigrade locomotion and parasagittal hindlimb movement are some of those inherited traits. Living birds, however, maintain an unusually crouched hindlimb posture and locomotion powered by knee flexion, in contrast to the inferred primitive condition of non-avian theropods: more upright posture and limb movement powered by femur retraction. Such functional differences, which are associated with a gradual, anterior shift of the centre of mass in theropods along the bird line, make the use of extant birds to study non-avian theropod locomotion problematic. Here we show that, by experimentally manipulating the location of the centre of mass in living birds, it is possible to recreate limb posture and kinematics inferred for extinct bipedal dinosaurs. Chickens raised wearing artificial tails, and consequently with more posteriorly located centre of mass, showed a more vertical orientation of the femur during standing and increased femoral displacement during locomotion. Our results support the hypothesis that gradual changes in the location of the centre of mass resulted in more crouched hindlimb postures and a shift from hip-driven to knee-driven limb movements through theropod evolution. This study suggests that, through careful experimental manipulations during the growth phase of ontogeny, extant birds can potentially be used to gain important insights into previously unexplored aspects of bipedal non-avian theropod locomotion.

The ASSISTments Ecosystem: Building a Platform That Brings Scientists and Teachers Together for Minimally Invasive Research on Human Learning and Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Heffernan, Neil T.; Heffernan, Cristina Lindquist

2014-01-01

The ASSISTments project is an ecosystem of a few hundred teachers, a platform, and researchers working together. Development professionals help train teachers and get teachers to participate in studies. The platform and these teachers help researchers (sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly) simply by using content the teacher selects. The…

MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF THE UNPUT DEVICES IN AUTOMATIC LOCOMOTIVE SIGNALING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. O. Gololobova

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To examine the operation of the automatic locomotive signaling system (ALS, to find out the influence of external factors on the devices operation and the quality of the code information derived from track circuit information, as well as to enable modeling of failure occurrences that may appear during operation. Methodology. To achieve this purpose, the main obstacles in ALS operation and the reasons for their occurrence were considered and the system structure principle was researched. The mathematical model for input equipment of the continuous automatic locomotive signaling system (ALS with the number coding was developed. It was designed taking into account all the types of code signals “R”, “Y”, “RY” and equivalent scheme of replacing the filter with a frequency of 50 Hz. Findings. The operation of ALSN with a signal current frequency of 50 Hz was examined. The adequate mathematical model of input equipment of ALS with a frequency of 50 Hz was developed. Originality. The computer model of input equipment of ALS system in the environment of MATLAB+Simulink was developed. The results of the computer modeling on the outlet of the filter during delivering every type of code combination were given in the article. Practical value. With the use of developed mathematical model of ALS system operation we have an opportunity to study, research and determine behavior of the circuit during the normal operation mode and failure occurrences. Also there is a possibility to develop and apply different scheme decisions in modeling environment MATLAB+Simulink for reducing the influence of obstacles on the functional capability of ALS and to model the occurrence of possible difficulties.

FIMTrack: An open source tracking and locomotion analysis software for small animals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Risse

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Imaging and analyzing the locomotion behavior of small animals such as Drosophila larvae or C. elegans worms has become an integral subject of biological research. In the past we have introduced FIM, a novel imaging system feasible to extract high contrast images. This system in combination with the associated tracking software FIMTrack is already used by many groups all over the world. However, so far there has not been an in-depth discussion of the technical aspects. Here we elaborate on the implementation details of FIMTrack and give an in-depth explanation of the used algorithms. Among others, the software offers several tracking strategies to cover a wide range of different model organisms, locomotion types, and camera properties. Furthermore, the software facilitates stimuli-based analysis in combination with built-in manual tracking and correction functionalities. All features are integrated in an easy-to-use graphical user interface. To demonstrate the potential of FIMTrack we provide an evaluation of its accuracy using manually labeled data. The source code is available under the GNU GPLv3 at https://github.com/i-git/FIMTrack and pre-compiled binaries for Windows and Mac are available at http://fim.uni-muenster.de.

Contact enhancement of locomotion in spreading cell colonies

Science.gov (United States)

D'Alessandro, Joseph; Solon, Alexandre P.; Hayakawa, Yoshinori; Anjard, Christophe; Detcheverry, François; Rieu, Jean-Paul; Rivière, Charlotte

2017-10-01

The dispersal of cells from an initially constrained location is a crucial aspect of many physiological phenomena, ranging from morphogenesis to tumour spreading. In such processes, cell-cell interactions may deeply alter the motion of single cells, and in turn the collective dynamics. While contact phenomena like contact inhibition of locomotion are known to come into play at high densities, here we focus on the little explored case of non-cohesive cells at moderate densities. We fully characterize the spreading of micropatterned colonies of Dictyostelium discoideum cells from the complete set of individual trajectories. From data analysis and simulation of an elementary model, we demonstrate that contact interactions act to speed up the early population spreading by promoting individual cells to a state of higher persistence, which constitutes an as-yet unreported contact enhancement of locomotion. Our findings also suggest that the current modelling paradigm of memoryless active particles may need to be extended to account for the history-dependent internal state of motile cells.

Paper-based Pneumatic Locomotive Robot with Sticky Actuator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Du Xiaohan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Demands for small-scale and low-cost robots have witnessed a great increase in recent years [1–5]. This paper introduces the design and fabrication of a novel, simple, low-cost and designer-friendly locomotive robot. The materials and tools to build the robot originate from everyday life. The robot is pneumatically powered and manually controlled by simply pumping and vacuuming the syringe repeatedly, which realizes reliable locomotion by folding and opening of the planes. In order to realize this complicated motion, a “3D Sticky Actuator” is developed. The motion and force analysis of actuator are then modelled by the numerical method to develop the relations between design parameters. This suggests a systematic and user interactive way of manufacturing various shapes of the actuator, depending on user-defined road condition (e.g. obstacles and slopes and other constraints. One key advantage of the paper-based robot is suggested by its high feasibility.

Designing an Africa-EU research and innovation collaboration platform on climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tostensen, Arne; Monteverde Haakonsen, Jan; Hughes, Mike

Climate change is arguably the most significant of a set of interconnected global challenges threatening water resources and food security. In particular, the relationship between water resources, food systems and climate change is tightly coupled, and improved food security under climate change...... this process more effective by developing a proposition for a platform to strengthen Africa-EU research and innovation collaboration on climate change....

Stationary Charging Station Design for Sustainable Urban Rail Systems: A Case Study at Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heng Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In 2014, more than 43 cities in China were racing to construct their urban rail systems (including metro and light rail systems, recognizing that an urban rail system will be a good solution to the tough problems that they are faced with, including traffic congestion and PM2.5 air pollution. On 22 August 2012, the first electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC energy storage-type rail vehicle in the world was unveiled at Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., China. The EDLC rail system has been considered a promising sustainable urban rail system, which is expected to further improve the energy efficiency and to reduce environmental pollution. The first commercial EDLC tram produced by Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. has been applied at Guangzhou Metro Corp. recently. From the view point of scientific research, the system design and energy management of EDLC rail systems have been extensively studied in the literature, while the stationary charging station design for the EDLC energy storage-type urban rail vehicles has been rarely reported. Thus, the aim of this paper is to report a stationary charging station that has been successfully applied in the EDLC rail system produced by Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co., China.

Perches and elevated platforms in commercial broiler farms: use and effect on walking ability, incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia and bone mineral content.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaukonen, E; Norring, M; Valros, A

2017-05-01

Modern fast-growing broilers spend excessive periods resting and their activity further decreases with age. Inactivity has been suggested to increase impaired gait and the incidence of leg disorders. Tibial dyschondroplasia (TD) is a common leg pathology in broilers. A more complex environment might facilitate more activity and improve leg health. Perches or elevated platforms bring variety to broilers' environment and could motivate more locomotion. This study examined the impact of perches and elevated platforms on walking ability, the occurrence of TD and level of bone ash and mineral contents. The investigation was performed on four commercial broiler farms throughout six consecutive batches with platforms and four to five with perches. On each farm at least two separate houses were included, enabling the comparison of furnished flocks to control flocks during each batch. Plastic slats with ramp access elevated by 30 cm or wooden perches of 10 and 30 cm height were offered in the furnished house. Farmers recorded the platform and perch usage twice a week with a five-point scale. Gait was scored before slaughter on a six-point scale according to the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for poultry. The severity of TD was determined using a four-point scale on farm from all birds gait scored as 3 and at slaughter from 200 birds/flock. Farmers estimated 50% to 100% of the platforms to be occupied in all flocks throughout the entire growing period. Only single birds were perching, thus perch structures were constantly evaluated to be empty. Due to the low use, the perch-equipped houses were excluded when analysing bone content, walking ability and TD. On average, 30% of the tested birds exhibited gait score ⩾3. Younger scoring age resulted in a lower mean gait score and a lower percentage of scores 3 and 4 to 5. Overall, 2.3% of the birds examined at slaughter and 3.5% of the birds with gait score 3 were affected by TD. Leg health was better in birds with access

DSF: A Common Platform for Distributed Systems Research and Development

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Chunqiang

This paper presents Distributed Systems Foundation (DSF), a common platform for distributed systems research and development. It can run a distributed algorithm written in Java under multiple execution modes—simulation, massive multi-tenancy, and real deployment. DSF provides a set of novel features to facilitate testing and debugging, including chaotic timing test and time travel debugging with mutable replay. Unlike existing research prototypes that offer advanced debugging features by hacking programming tools, DSF is written entirely in Java, without modifications to any external tools such as JVM, Java runtime library, compiler, linker, system library, OS, or hypervisor. This simplicity stems from our goal of making DSF not only a research prototype but more importantly a production tool. Experiments show that DSF is efficient and easy to use. DSF's massive multi-tenancy mode can run 4,000 OS-level threads in a single JVM to concurrently execute (as opposed to simulate) 1,000 DHT nodes in real-time.

WiseEye: Next Generation Expandable and Programmable Camera Trap Platform for Wildlife Research.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sajid Nazir

Full Text Available The widespread availability of relatively cheap, reliable and easy to use digital camera traps has led to their extensive use for wildlife research, monitoring and public outreach. Users of these units are, however, often frustrated by the limited options for controlling camera functions, the generation of large numbers of images, and the lack of flexibility to suit different research environments and questions. We describe the development of a user-customisable open source camera trap platform named 'WiseEye', designed to provide flexible camera trap technology for wildlife researchers. The novel platform is based on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer and compatible peripherals that allow the user to control its functions and performance. We introduce the concept of confirmatory sensing, in which the Passive Infrared triggering is confirmed through other modalities (i.e. radar, pixel change to reduce the occurrence of false positives images. This concept, together with user-definable metadata, aided identification of spurious images and greatly reduced post-collection processing time. When tested against a commercial camera trap, WiseEye was found to reduce the incidence of false positive images and false negatives across a range of test conditions. WiseEye represents a step-change in camera trap functionality, greatly increasing the value of this technology for wildlife research and conservation management.

Locomotion training of legged robots using hybrid machine learning techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, William E.; Doerschuk, Peggy I.; Zhang, Wen-Ran; Li, Andrew L.

1995-01-01

In this study artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic are used to control the jumping behavior of a three-link uniped robot. The biped locomotion control problem is an increment of the uniped locomotion control. Study of legged locomotion dynamics indicates that a hierarchical controller is required to control the behavior of a legged robot. A structured control strategy is suggested which includes navigator, motion planner, biped coordinator and uniped controllers. A three-link uniped robot simulation is developed to be used as the plant. Neurocontrollers were trained both online and offline. In the case of on-line training, a reinforcement learning technique was used to train the neurocontroller to make the robot jump to a specified height. After several hundred iterations of training, the plant output achieved an accuracy of 7.4%. However, when jump distance and body angular momentum were also included in the control objectives, training time became impractically long. In the case of off-line training, a three-layered backpropagation (BP) network was first used with three inputs, three outputs and 15 to 40 hidden nodes. Pre-generated data were presented to the network with a learning rate as low as 0.003 in order to reach convergence. The low learning rate required for convergence resulted in a very slow training process which took weeks to learn 460 examples. After training, performance of the neurocontroller was rather poor. Consequently, the BP network was replaced by a Cerebeller Model Articulation Controller (CMAC) network. Subsequent experiments described in this document show that the CMAC network is more suitable to the solution of uniped locomotion control problems in terms of both learning efficiency and performance. A new approach is introduced in this report, viz., a self-organizing multiagent cerebeller model for fuzzy-neural control of uniped locomotion is suggested to improve training efficiency. This is currently being evaluated for a possible

Dynamic Gaming Platform (DGP)

Science.gov (United States)

2009-04-01

GAMING PLATFORM (DGP) Lockheed Martin Corporation...YYYY) APR 09 2. REPORT TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) Jul 07 – Mar 09 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE DYNAMIC GAMING PLATFORM (DGP) 5a...CMU Carnegie Mellon University DGP Dynamic Gaming Platform GA Genetic Algorithm IARPA Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity LM ATL Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories PAINT ProActive INTelligence

Locomotion Dynamics for Bio-inspired Robots with Soft Appendages: Application to Flapping Flight and Passive Swimming

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, Frédéric; Porez, Mathieu; Morsli, Ferhat; Morel, Yannick

2017-08-01

In animal locomotion, either in fish or flying insects, the use of flexible terminal organs or appendages greatly improves the performance of locomotion (thrust and lift). In this article, we propose a general unified framework for modeling and simulating the (bio-inspired) locomotion of robots using soft organs. The proposed approach is based on the model of Mobile Multibody Systems (MMS). The distributed flexibilities are modeled according to two major approaches: the Floating Frame Approach (FFA) and the Geometrically Exact Approach (GEA). Encompassing these two approaches in the Newton-Euler modeling formalism of robotics, this article proposes a unique modeling framework suited to the fast numerical integration of the dynamics of a MMS in both the FFA and the GEA. This general framework is applied on two illustrative examples drawn from bio-inspired locomotion: the passive swimming in von Karman Vortex Street, and the hovering flight with flexible flapping wings.

The effect of locomotion on the mobilization of minerals from the maternal skeleton.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wendy R Hood

Full Text Available Bone is a dynamic tissue from which minerals are deposited or withdrawn according to the body's demand. During late pregnancy and lactation, female mammals mobilize mineral from bone to support the ossification of offspring skeleton(s. Conversely, in response to mechanical loading, minerals are deposited in bone enabling it to develop a stronger architecture. Despite their central importance to reproductive performance and skeletal integrity, the interactions between these potentially opposing forces remains poorly understood. It is possible that inter-individual differences in the loading imposed by different forms of locomotion may alter the amount of mineral mobilized during reproduction. Here, the impact of vertical versus horizontal locomotion on bone mobilization was examined during reproduction in the laboratory mouse. The vertical, or climbing, group had access to a 60-cm tower, increasing strain on their appendicular skeleton. The horizontal, or tunnel, group had access to a 100-cm tunnel, which encouraged movements within the horizontal plane. Form of locomotion did not impact the amount of bone females mobilized during reproduction or the amount of mineral females deposited in the litter, but maternal bone architecture differed between groups. The climbing group displayed more trabeculae than the tunnel group, whereas the tunnel group displayed greater cortical bone mineral density mid-shaft. Interestingly, pups born to mothers in the climbing group had a higher concentration of total body calcium at 16 days than pups of mothers in the tunnel group. As maternal total body calcium composition and the amount of calcium invested in the full litter were not different between groups, the difference in the relative calcium content of pups between groups is not suspected to reflect difference in mineral allocation. Future research should consider the impact of maternal activity on the efficiency of offspring skeletal ossification via

Direct2Experts: a pilot national network to demonstrate interoperability among research-networking platforms

OpenAIRE

Weber, Griffin M; Barnett, William; Conlon, Mike; Eichmann, David; Kibbe, Warren; Falk-Krzesinski, Holly; Halaas, Michael; Johnson, Layne; Meeks, Eric; Mitchell, Donald; Schleyer, Titus; Stallings, Sarah; Warden, Michael; Kahlon, Maninder

2011-01-01

Research-networking tools use data-mining and social networking to enable expertise discovery, matchmaking and collaboration, which are important facets of team science and translational research. Several commercial and academic platforms have been built, and many institutions have deployed these products to help their investigators find local collaborators. Recent studies, though, have shown the growing importance of multiuniversity teams in science. Unfortunately, the lack of a standard dat...

Using online, crowdsourcing platforms for data collection in personality disorder research: The example of Amazon's Mechanical Turk.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Joshua D; Crowe, Michael; Weiss, Brandon; Maples-Keller, Jessica L; Lynam, Donald R

2017-01-01

The use of crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) for data collection in the behavioral sciences has increased substantially in the past several years due in large part to (a) the ability to recruit large samples, (b) the inexpensiveness of data collection, (c) the speed of data collection, and (d) evidence that the data collected are, for the most part, of equal or better quality to that collected in undergraduate research pools. In this review, we first evaluate the strengths and potential limitations of this approach to data collection. Second, we examine how MTurk has been used to date in personality disorder (PD) research and compare the characteristics of such research to PD research conducted in other settings. Third, we compare PD trait data from the Section III trait model of the DSM-5 collected via MTurk to data collected using undergraduate and clinical samples with regard to internal consistency, mean-level differences, and factor structure. Overall, we conclude that platforms such as MTurk have much to offer PD researchers, especially for certain kinds of research (e.g., where large samples are required and there is a need for iterative sampling). Whether MTurk itself remains the predominant model of such platforms is unclear, however, and will largely depend on decisions related to cost effectiveness and the development of alternatives that offer even greater flexibility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Geckos significantly alter foot orientation to facilitate adhesion during downhill locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Birn-Jeffery, Aleksandra V; Higham, Timothy E

2014-10-01

Geckos employ their adhesive system when moving up an incline, but the directionality of the system may limit function on downhill surfaces. Here, we use a generalist gecko to test whether limb modulation occurs on downhill slopes to allow geckos to take advantage of their adhesive system. We examined three-dimensional limb kinematics for geckos moving up and down a 45° slope. Remarkably, the hind limbs were rotated posteriorly on declines, resulting in digit III of the pes facing a more posterior direction (opposite to the direction of travel). No significant changes in limb orientation were found in any other condition. This pes rotation leads to a dramatic shift in foot function that facilitates the use of the adhesive system as a brake/stabilizer during downhill locomotion and, although this rotation is not unique to geckos, it is significant for the deployment of adhesion. Adhesion is not just advantageous for uphill locomotion but can be employed to help deal with the effects of gravity during downhill locomotion, highlighting the incredible multi-functionality of this key innovation. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Characteristics and thermal behavior analysis of lithium-ion batteries for application in hybrid locomotives

Science.gov (United States)

Chatterjee, Krishnashis

The locomotive industry accounts for 2.5 % of the total fuel consumption in the US. Thus the necessity for reducing fuel consumption and emissions led to the development of the concept of hybrid locomotive which is dual powered by the diesel engine and electric motors. But the energy dissipated in braking such a locomotive in a year is enough to power over 9100 average US households over the same period of time. Recovering this energy using regenerative braking system and storing it in a electric battery is of great interest among researchers for improving overall efficiency and reducing consumption of fuels. In the present study, LiFePO4 batteries, a type of the state-of-art lithium-ion batteries, have been tested under different environmental and load conditions. Environmental temperatures were varied to analyze their effects on the charging and discharging patterns of the battery by using the CADEX battery analyzer in order to find the temperature range for optimum battery performance. The fluctuations of temperature of the battery surface were monitored along the length of the tests, using Infra-Red imaging and thermocouple probes at different points on the battery surface. Both battery performance characteristics and the variation of the battery surface temperature were also recorded for different load cycles in order to get a comprehensive picture of the heat generation and its effect on the behavior of the battery under different load conditions. Lastly a practical Load Cycle analysis of the battery has been performed which gave a picture of the heat generated by the battery and also the performance characteristics as it is subjected to a practical Load Cycle.

qPortal: A platform for data-driven biomedical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, Christopher; Friedrich, Andreas; Wojnar, David; Kenar, Erhan; Polatkan, Aydin Can; Codrea, Marius Cosmin; Czemmel, Stefan; Kohlbacher, Oliver; Nahnsen, Sven

2018-01-01

Modern biomedical research aims at drawing biological conclusions from large, highly complex biological datasets. It has become common practice to make extensive use of high-throughput technologies that produce big amounts of heterogeneous data. In addition to the ever-improving accuracy, methods are getting faster and cheaper, resulting in a steadily increasing need for scalable data management and easily accessible means of analysis. We present qPortal, a platform providing users with an intuitive way to manage and analyze quantitative biological data. The backend leverages a variety of concepts and technologies, such as relational databases, data stores, data models and means of data transfer, as well as front-end solutions to give users access to data management and easy-to-use analysis options. Users are empowered to conduct their experiments from the experimental design to the visualization of their results through the platform. Here, we illustrate the feature-rich portal by simulating a biomedical study based on publically available data. We demonstrate the software's strength in supporting the entire project life cycle. The software supports the project design and registration, empowers users to do all-digital project management and finally provides means to perform analysis. We compare our approach to Galaxy, one of the most widely used scientific workflow and analysis platforms in computational biology. Application of both systems to a small case study shows the differences between a data-driven approach (qPortal) and a workflow-driven approach (Galaxy). qPortal, a one-stop-shop solution for biomedical projects offers up-to-date analysis pipelines, quality control workflows, and visualization tools. Through intensive user interactions, appropriate data models have been developed. These models build the foundation of our biological data management system and provide possibilities to annotate data, query metadata for statistics and future re-analysis on

Peristaltic Wave Locomotion and Shape Morphing with a Millipede Inspired System

Science.gov (United States)

Spinello, Davide; Fattahi, Javad S.

2017-08-01

We present the mechanical model of a bio-inspired deformable system, modeled as a Timoshenko beam, which is coupled to a substrate by a system of distributed elements. The locomotion action is inspired by the coordinated motion of coupling elements that mimic the legs of millipedes and centipedes, whose leg-to-ground contact can be described as a peristaltic displacement wave. The multi-legged structure is crucial in providing redundancy and robustness in the interaction with unstructured environments and terrains. A Lagrangian approach is used to derive the governing equations of the system that couple locomotion and shape morphing. Features and limitations of the model are illustrated with numerical simulations.

A light-weight, yet powerful diesel locomotive from Vossloh

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marti, Mariano [Vossloh Rail Vehicles, Albuixech/Valencia (Spain)

2013-05-15

The EUROLIGHT is an eight-wheeled diesel-electric locomotive developed by Vossloh Rail Vehicles for interoperable rail traffic. With its low axle load of less than 20 tonnes, it can be deployed flexibly on both main lines and secondary ones.

A platform for quality management in research institutes (part II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klembalska Agnieszka

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the recent years there has been a particularly strong pressure on changing old structures and management models in research institutes. Contemporary research institutes are scientific units which are commercial in character – almost 80% of funds come from companies and contractual research activity and services. They are the basic sector of science aiming at cooperation with the economy, applied and innovative research. In order to maintain the current and start new cooperation it is necessary to pay particular attention to maintaining, improving and exposing high level of quality of conducted activity. Taking into consideration the necessity of carrying out ever more complex research projects, conducting activity requiring fast reaction to change, risk analysis, which is assessed every year by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education – it seems that it is necessary to apply tools supporting the assessment of quality. In the proposed three-aspect perspective the following scopes of activity are emphasized: implemented quality management systems, area of scientific information and the sphere of cooperation with the client. This article constitutes the continuation of the subjects discussed in the first part – an extension of issues associated with the scope of responsibilities of particular Sections of the proposed Quality Management Platform in research institutes.

Unifying Rules for Aquatic Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Saadat, Mehdi; Domel, August; di Santo, Valentina; Lauder, George; Haj-Hariri, Hossein

2016-11-01

Strouhal number, St (=fA/U) , a scaling parameter that relates speed, U, to the tail-beat frequency, f, and tail-beat amplitude, A, has been used many times to describe animal locomotion. It has been observed that swimming animals cruise at 0.2 fish-like swimmer, we show that when cruising at minimum hydrodynamic input power, St is predetermined, and is only a function of the shape, i.e. drag coefficient and area. The narrow range for St, 0.2-0.4, has been previously associated with optimal propulsive efficiency. However, St alone is insufficient for deciding optimal motion. We show that hydrodynamic input power (energy usage to propel over a unit distance) in fish locomotion is minimized at all cruising speeds when A* (= A/L), a scaling parameter that relates tail-beat amplitude, A, to the length of the swimmer, L, is constrained to a narrow range of 0.15-0.25. Our analysis proposes a constraint on A*, in addition to the previously found constraint on St, to fully describe the optimal swimming gait for fast swimmers. A survey of kinematics for dolphin, as well as new data for trout, show that the range of St and A* for fast swimmers indeed are constrained to 0.2-0.4 and 0.15-0.25, respectively. Our findings provide physical explanation as to why fast aquatic swimmers cruise with relatively constant tail-beat amplitude at approximately 20 percent of body length, while their swimming speed is linearly correlated with their tail-beat frequency.

Operations Research Approaches to Asset Management in Freight Rail

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorman, Michael F.; Harrod, Steven

2011-01-01

This article describes operations research methodologies as they apply to asset management in freight rail. We describe state-of-the-art methods for locomotive, crew, railcar, line and yard planning and management. We conclude with emerging areas of research in rail.......This article describes operations research methodologies as they apply to asset management in freight rail. We describe state-of-the-art methods for locomotive, crew, railcar, line and yard planning and management. We conclude with emerging areas of research in rail....

A survey of informatics platforms that enable distributed comparative effectiveness research using multi-institutional heterogeneous clinical data

Science.gov (United States)

Sittig, Dean F.; Hazlehurst, Brian L.; Brown, Jeffrey; Murphy, Shawn; Rosenman, Marc; Tarczy-Hornoch, Peter; Wilcox, Adam B.

2012-01-01

Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) has the potential to transform the current healthcare delivery system by identifying the most effective medical and surgical treatments, diagnostic tests, disease prevention methods and ways to deliver care for specific clinical conditions. To be successful, such research requires the identification, capture, aggregation, integration, and analysis of disparate data sources held by different institutions with diverse representations of the relevant clinical events. In an effort to address these diverse demands, there have been multiple new designs and implementations of informatics platforms that provide access to electronic clinical data and the governance infrastructure required for inter-institutional CER. The goal of this manuscript is to help investigators understand why these informatics platforms are required and to compare and contrast six, large-scale, recently funded, CER-focused informatics platform development efforts. We utilized an 8-dimension, socio-technical model of health information technology use to help guide our work. We identified six generic steps that are necessary in any distributed, multi-institutional CER project: data identification, extraction, modeling, aggregation, analysis, and dissemination. We expect that over the next several years these projects will provide answers to many important, and heretofore unanswerable, clinical research questions. PMID:22692259

A survey of informatics platforms that enable distributed comparative effectiveness research using multi-institutional heterogenous clinical data.

Science.gov (United States)

Sittig, Dean F; Hazlehurst, Brian L; Brown, Jeffrey; Murphy, Shawn; Rosenman, Marc; Tarczy-Hornoch, Peter; Wilcox, Adam B

2012-07-01

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has the potential to transform the current health care delivery system by identifying the most effective medical and surgical treatments, diagnostic tests, disease prevention methods, and ways to deliver care for specific clinical conditions. To be successful, such research requires the identification, capture, aggregation, integration, and analysis of disparate data sources held by different institutions with diverse representations of the relevant clinical events. In an effort to address these diverse demands, there have been multiple new designs and implementations of informatics platforms that provide access to electronic clinical data and the governance infrastructure required for interinstitutional CER. The goal of this manuscript is to help investigators understand why these informatics platforms are required and to compare and contrast 6 large-scale, recently funded, CER-focused informatics platform development efforts. We utilized an 8-dimension, sociotechnical model of health information technology to help guide our work. We identified 6 generic steps that are necessary in any distributed, multi-institutional CER project: data identification, extraction, modeling, aggregation, analysis, and dissemination. We expect that over the next several years these projects will provide answers to many important, and heretofore unanswerable, clinical research questions.

ISS External Payload Platform - a new opportunity for research in the space environment

Science.gov (United States)

Steimle, Christian; Pape, Uwe

The International Space Station (ISS) is a widely accepted platform for research activities in low Earth orbit. To a wide extent these activities are conducted in the pressurised laboratories of the station and less in the outside environment. Suitable locations outside the ISS are rare, existing facilities fully booked for the coming years. To overcome this limitation, an external payload platform accessible for small size payloads on a commercial basis will be launched to the ISS and installed on the Japanese Experiment Module External Facility (JEM-EF) in the third quarter of 2014 and will be ready to be used by the scientific community on a fully commercial basis. The new External Payload Platform (EPP) and its opportunities and constraints assessed regarding future research activities on-board the ISS. The small size platform is realised in a cooperation between the companies NanoRacks, Astrium North America in the United States, and Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. The hardware allows the fully robotic installation and operation of payloads. In the nominal mission scenario payload items are installed not later than one year after the signature of the contract, stay in operation for 15 weeks, and can be returned to the scientist thereafter. Payload items are transported among the pressurised cargo usually delivered to the station with various supply vehicles. Due to the high frequency of flights and the flexibility of the vehicle manifests the risk of a delay in the payload readiness can be mitigated by delaying to the next flight opportunity which on average is available not more than two months later. The mission is extra-ordinarily fast and of low cost in comparison to traditional research conducted on-board the ISS and can fit into short-term funding cycles available on national and multi-national levels. The size of the payload items is limited by handling constraints on-board the ISS. Therefore, the standard experiment payload size is a multiple of a

Highlighting the harmonic regime generated by electric locomotives equipped with DC motors

Science.gov (United States)

Baciu, I.; Cunţan, C. D.

2018-01-01

The paper presents the results of measurements made using the C.A. 8334 power quality analyzer on an electric locomotive equipped with DC motors. We carried out determinations of the current-voltage regime using a locomotive motor. The harmonic regime of the other motors being identical to the analysed one, we could easily deduce the effects caused by the entire locomotive. The data measured with the analyzer were firstly transferred into a computer system using the Qualistar software, followed by data processing in Excel, enabling therefore a graphical representation of the characteristic parameters of power quality. Based on the acquired data, we determined the power factor, as well as the active, reactive and apparent power. The measurements revealed high values of the current harmonics, fact that required some measures to be taken for reducing the values of these harmonics. For this, we ran a simulation using the PSCAD/EMTDC software, by introducing LC filters in tune with the harmonic frequencies. The result was a significant reduction in the harmonic regime, either in the harmonics values or the power factor and reactive power.

A predictive model of muscle excitations based on muscle modularity for a large repertoire of human locomotion conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose eGonzalez-Vargas

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Humans can efficiently walk across a large variety of terrains and locomotion conditions with little or no mental effort. It has been hypothesized that the nervous system simplifies neuromuscular control by using muscle synergies, thus organizing multi-muscle activity into a small number of coordinative co-activation modules. In the present study we investigated how muscle modularity is structured across a large repertoire of locomotion conditions including five different speeds and five different ground elevations. For this we have used the non-negative matrix factorization technique in order to explain EMG experimental data with a low-dimensional set of four motor components. In this context each motor components is composed of a non-negative factor and the associated muscle weightings. Furthermore, we have investigated if the proposed descriptive analysis of muscle modularity could be translated into a predictive model that could: 1 Estimate how motor components modulate across locomotion speeds and ground elevations. This implies not only estimating the non-negative factors temporal characteristics, but also the associated muscle weighting variations. 2 Estimate how the resulting muscle excitations modulate across novel locomotion conditions and subjects.The results showed three major distinctive features of muscle modularity: 1 the number of motor components was preserved across all locomotion conditions, 2 the non-negative factors were consistent in shape and timing across all locomotion conditions, and 3 the muscle weightings were modulated as distinctive functions of locomotion speed and ground elevation. Results also showed that the developed predictive model was able to reproduce well the muscle modularity of un-modeled data, i.e. novel subjects and conditions. Muscle weightings were reconstructed with a cross-correlation factor greater than 70% and a root mean square error less than 0.10. Furthermore, the generated muscle excitations

NEON's Mobile Deployment Platform: A Resource for Community Research

Science.gov (United States)

Sanclements, M.

2015-12-01

Here we provide an update on construction and validation of the NEON Mobile Deployment Platforms (MDPs) as well as a description of the infrastructure and sensors available to researchers in the future. The MDPs will provide the means to observe stochastic or spatially important events, gradients, or quantities that cannot be reliably observed using fixed location sampling (e.g. fires and floods). Due to the transient temporal and spatial nature of such events, the MDPs will be designed to accommodate rapid deployment for time periods up to ~ 1 year. Broadly, the MDPs will be comprised of infrastructure and instrumentation capable of functioning individually or in conjunction with one another to support observations of ecological change, as well as education, training and outreach.

A novel device for studying weight supported, quadrupedal overground locomotion in spinal cord injured rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlin, Marvin; Traughber, Terence; Reinkensmeyer, David J; de Leon, Ray D

2015-05-15

Providing weight support facilitates locomotion in spinal cord injured animals. To control weight support, robotic systems have been developed for treadmill stepping and more recently for overground walking. We developed a novel device, the body weight supported ambulatory rodent trainer (i.e. BART). It has a small pneumatic cylinder that moves along a linear track above the rat. When air is supplied to the cylinder, the rats are lifted as they perform overground walking. We tested the BART device in rats that received a moderate spinal cord contusion injury and in normal rats. Locomotor training with the BART device was not performed. All of the rats learned to walk in the BART device. In the contused rats, significantly greater paw dragging and dorsal stepping occurred in the hindlimbs compared to normal. Providing weight support significantly raised hip position and significantly reduced locomotor deficits. Hindlimb stepping was tightly coupled to forelimb stepping but only when the contused rats stepped without weight support. Three weeks after the contused rats received a complete spinal cord transection, significantly fewer hindlimb steps were performed. Relative to rodent robotic systems, the BART device is a simpler system for studying overground locomotion. The BART device lacks sophisticated control and sensing capability, but it can be assembled relatively easily and cheaply. These findings suggest that the BART device is a useful tool for assessing quadrupedal, overground locomotion which is a more natural form of locomotion relative to treadmill locomotion. Published by Elsevier B.V.

MTU locomotive drive systems for EU emissions stage IIIB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wintruff, Ingo [MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2011-05-15

Emissions limits for diesel locomotives within the European Union are regulated by EU Non-road Directive 97/68/EC which places restrictions on the pollutants NOx, particulate, CO and HC. MTU has developed suitable diesel engines for EU Emissions stage IIIB. (orig.)

SenStick: Comprehensive Sensing Platform with an Ultra Tiny All-In-One Sensor Board for IoT Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yugo Nakamura

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a comprehensive sensing platform called SenStick, which is composed of hardware (ultra tiny all-in-one sensor board, software (iOS, Android, and PC, and 3D case data. The platform aims to allow all the researchers to start IoT research, such as activity recognition and context estimation, easily and efficiently. The most important contribution is the hardware that we have designed. Various sensors often used for research are embedded in an ultra tiny board with the size of 50 mm (W × 10 mm (H × 5 mm (D and weight around 3 g including a battery. Concretely, the following sensors are embedded on this board: acceleration, gyro, magnetic, light, UV, temperature, humidity, and pressure. In addition, this board has BLE (Bluetooth low energy connectivity and capability of a rechargeable battery. By using 110 mAh battery, it can run more than 15 hours. The most different point from other similar boards is that our board has a large flash memory for logging all the data without a smartphone. By using SenStick, all the users can collect various data easily and focus on IoT data analytics. In this paper, we introduce SenStick platform and some case studies. Through the user study, we confirmed the usefulness of our proposed platform.

Performance requirements for locomotive braking systems

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Vermaak, P

2000-02-01

Full Text Available operated “Neutral Brake”. This brake may become active immediately or after a certain time delay when the controller is placed in the neutral position or moved into the neutral position by the “dead-man’s device”. Because this brake will interfere... in testing emergency brake systems due to the inherent braking action of the service brakes and/or locomotive controllers; • Potential problems limitations to braking effort associated with the prime movers and/or hydraulic systems on hydrostatically...

Millipede-inspired locomotion through novel U-shaped piezoelectric motors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avirovik, Dragan; Butenhoff, Bryan; Priya, Shashank

2014-01-01

We report a novel piezoelectric motor that operates at a resonance frequency of 144 Hz, much lower than that of conventional ultrasonic motors, and meets the displacement and gait requirements for designing the locomotion mechanism of a millipede-inspired robot (millibot). The motor structure consists of two piezoelectric bimorphs arranged in a U-shaped configuration. Using the first bending mode for both the piezoelectric bimorphs an elliptical motion was obtained at the tip which led to the successful implementation of millipede inspired locomotion. At an input voltage of 70.7 V rms , the piezoelectric motor operating at resonance frequency was able to generate torque of 0.03 mN m, mechanical power of 0.84 mW and maximum velocity of 62 rad s −1 . Detailed discussion is provided about the principle of operation of the millibot. (technical note)

Review of codes, standards, and regulations for natural gas locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

This report identified, collected, and summarized relevant international codes, standards, and regulations with potential : applicability to the use of natural gas as a locomotive fuel. Few international or country-specific codes, standards, and regu...

Construction of the Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform for the assessment of non-communicable diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jiping; Li, Nan; Gao, Jing; Guo, Yuhe; Hu, Wei; Yang, Jinsheng; Yu, Baocheng; Yu, Jianmin; Du, Wei; Zhang, Wenjun; Cui, Lianqi; Wang, Qingsong; Xia, Xiangnan; Li, Jianjun; Zhou, Peiyi; Zhang, Baohe; Liu, Zhiying; Zhang, Shaogang; Sun, Lanying; Liu, Nan; Deng, Ruixiang; Dai, Wenguang; Yi, Fang; Chen, Wenjun; Zhang, Yongqing; Xue, Shenwu; Cui, Bo; Zhao, Yiming; Wang, Luning

2014-01-01

Based on the excellent medical care and management system for Chinese veterans, as well as the detailed medical documentation available, we aim to construct a Chinese Veteran Clinical Research (CVCR) platform on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and carry out studies of the primary disabling NCDs. The Geriatric Neurology Department of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital and veterans' hospitals serve as the leading and participating units in the platform construction. The fundamental constituents of the platform are veteran communities. Stratified typical cluster sampling is adopted to recruit veteran communities. A cross-sectional study of mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are performed in two stages using screening scale such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal cognitive assessment, followed by systematic neuropsychological assessments to make clinical diagnoses, evaluated disease awareness and care situation. A total of 9 676 among 277 veteran communities from 18 cities are recruited into this platform, yielding a response rate of 83.86%. 8 812 subjects complete the MNS subproject screening and total response rate is 91.70%. The average participant age is (82.01±4.61) years, 69.47% of veterans are 80 years or older. Most participants are male (94.01%), 83.36% of subjects have at least a junior high school degree. The overall health status of veterans is good and stable. The most common NCD are cardiovascular disorders (86.44%), urinary and genital diseases (73.14%), eye and ear problems (66.25%), endocrine (56.56%) and neuro-psychiatric disturbances (50.78%). We first construct a veterans' comprehensive clinical research platform for the study of NCDs that is primarily composed of highly educated Chinese males of advanced age and utilize this platform to complete a cross-sectional national investigation of MNS disorders among veterans. The good and stable health condition of the veterans could facilitate the long

The Perceived Naturalness of Virtual Walking Speeds during WIP Locomotion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nilsson, Niels Chr.; Serafin, Stefania; Nordahl, Rolf

2016-01-01

It is well established that individuals tend to underestimate visually presented walking speeds when relying on treadmills for virtual walking. However, prior to the present studies this perceptual distortion had not been observed in relation to Walking-in-Place (WIP) locomotion, and a number...... to how gait cycle characteristics, visual display properties, and methodological differences affect speed underestimation during treadmill and WIP locomotion. The studies suggested the following: A significant main effect was found for step frequency; both display and geometric field of view were...... inversely proportional to the degree of underestimation; varying degrees of peripheral occlusion and increased HMD weight did not yield significant main effects; and the choice of method (i.e., how the speeds were presented) had a significant effect on the upper and lower bounds of what speeds were...

Storylines as an alternative method to communicate river research via a knowledge platform

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes Arevalo, Juliette; Verbrugge, Laura N. H.; den Haan, Robert Jan; Baart, Fedor; Hulscher, Suzanne J. M. H.; van der Voort, Mascha C.

2017-04-01

Sustainable river management relies on diverse and multi-faceted knowledge from fundamental and applied research. Communicating the context, added value and potential use of river research to actors working in multiple disciplines or organizations is challenging. RiverCare is a research programme studying the mid-term effects of innovative river interventions in the Netherlands. Effective communication between researchers and potential users of scientific information, such as water professionals, requires an interactive, two-way communication approach. As part of the communication strategy, we are designing a knowledge platform to provide access to, explain and gather feedback about the potential use of results from water professionals. The knowledge platform is a combination of online services including: a content management system in which storylines are the main component; a data repository to the underlying research data and; hyperlinks to existing online sites that present our results via short news articles. Storylines engage water professionals via experiences or stories of river management actors to explain research outputs instead of or in addition to more technical means such as scientific papers and reports. The use of storylines enables us to explain research outcomes in a way that is captivating and easily understood by a multi-disciplinary audience. To explore its usefulness as communication approach, we developed a storyline example for research about stakeholder perceptions of a re-landscaping intervention in the Waal river in the Netherlands. The storyline's layout consisted of a menu outline and three tabs: (1) storyline's content; (2) contact details; and (3) links to available resources or related publications. The storyline's content was divided in four sections including subsections to navigate. Each section had a heading statement or question to engage users: "Imagine this!"; "What matters? Places matter to people"; "Surveying people

49 CFR Appendix D to Part 238 - Requirements for External Fuel Tanks on Tier I Locomotives

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Requirements for External Fuel Tanks on Tier I..., App. D Appendix D to Part 238—Requirements for External Fuel Tanks on Tier I Locomotives The... properties of the locomotive fuel tank to reduce the risk of fuel spillage to acceptable levels under...

Perception-Driven Obstacle-Aided Locomotion for Snake Robots: The State of the Art, Challenges and Possibilities †

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filippo Sanfilippo

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In nature, snakes can gracefully traverse a wide range of different and complex environments. Snake robots that can mimic this behaviour could be fitted with sensors and transport tools to hazardous or confined areas that other robots and humans are unable to access. In order to carry out such tasks, snake robots must have a high degree of awareness of their surroundings (i.e., perception-driven locomotion and be capable of efficient obstacle exploitation (i.e., obstacle-aided locomotion to gain propulsion. These aspects are pivotal in order to realise the large variety of possible snake robot applications in real-life operations such as fire-fighting, industrial inspection, search-and-rescue, and more. In this paper, we survey and discuss the state of the art, challenges, and possibilities of perception-driven obstacle-aided locomotion for snake robots. To this end, different levels of autonomy are identified for snake robots and categorised into environmental complexity, mission complexity, and external system independence. From this perspective, we present a step-wise approach on how to increment snake robot abilities within guidance, navigation, and control in order to target the different levels of autonomy. Pertinent to snake robots, we focus on current strategies for snake robot locomotion in the presence of obstacles. Moreover, we put obstacle-aided locomotion into the context of perception and mapping. Finally, we present an overview of relevant key technologies and methods within environment perception, mapping, and representation that constitute important aspects of perception-driven obstacle-aided locomotion.

NEON's Mobile Deployment Platform: A Resource for Community Research

Science.gov (United States)

Sanclements, M.

2017-12-01

Here we provide an update on construction of the five NEON Mobile Deployment Platforms (MDPs) as well as a description of the infrastructure and sensors available to researchers in the near future. Additionally, we include information (i.e. timelines and procedures) on requesting MDPs for PI led projects. The MDPs will provide the means to observe stochastic or spatially important events, gradients, or quantities that cannot be reliably observed using fixed location sampling (e.g. fires and floods). Due to the transient temporal and spatial nature of such events, the MDPs are designed to accommodate rapid deployment for time periods up to 1 year. Broadly, the MDPs are comprised of infrastructure and instrumentation capable of functioning individually or in conjunction with one another to support observations of ecological change, as well as education, training and outreach. More specifically, the MDPs include the capability to make tower based measures of ecosystem exchange, radiation, and precipitation in conjunction with baseline soils data such as CO2 flux, and soil temperature and moisture. An aquatics module is also available with the MDP to facilitate research integrating terrestrial and aquatic processes. Ultimately, the NEON MDPs provide a tool for linking PI led research to the continental scale data sets collected by NEON.

Mobile Phone Cognitive Bias Modification Research Platform for Substance Use Disorders: Protocol for a Feasibility Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Melvyn; Ying, JiangBo; Song, Guo; Fung, Daniel Ss; Smith, Helen

2018-06-12

Cognitive biases refer to automatic attentional and interpretational tendencies, which could be retained by cognitive bias modification interventions. Cristea et al and Jones et al have published reviews (in 2016 and 2017 respectively) on the effectiveness of such interventions. The advancement of technologies such as electronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) has led to them being harnessed for the delivery of cognitive bias modification. To date, at least eight studies have demonstrated the feasibility of mobile technologies for the delivery of cognitive bias modification. Most of the studies are limited to a description of the conventional cognitive bias modification methodology that has been adopted. None of the studies shared the developmental process for the methodology involved, such that future studies could adopt it in the cost-effective replication of such interventions. It is important to have a common platform that could facilitate the design and customization of cognitive bias modification interventions for a variety of psychiatric and addictive disorders. It is the aim of the current research protocol to describe the design of a research platform that allows for customization of cognitive bias modification interventions for addictive disorders. A multidisciplinary team of 2 addiction psychiatrists, a psychologist with expertise in cognitive bias modification, and a computer engineer, were involved in the development of the intervention. The proposed platform would comprise of a mobile phone version of the cognitive bias task which is controlled by a server that could customize the algorithm for the tasks and collate the reaction-time data in realtime. The server would also allow the researcher to program the specific set of images that will be present in the task. The mobile phone app would synchronize with the backend server in real-time. An open-sourced cross-platform gaming software from React Native was used in the current development

The Data Platform for Climate Research and Action: Introducing Climate Watch

Science.gov (United States)

Hennig, R. J.; Ge, M.; Friedrich, J.; Lebling, K.; Carlock, G.; Arcipowska, A.; Mangan, E.; Biru, H.; Tankou, A.; Chaudhury, M.

2017-12-01

The Paris Agreement, adopted through Decision 1/CP.21, brings all nations together to take on ambitious efforts to combat climate change. Open access to climate data supporting climate research, advancing knowledge, and informing decision making is key to encourage and strengthen efforts of stakeholders at all levels to address and respond to effects of climate change. Climate Watch is a robust online data platform developed in response to the urgent needs of knowledge and tools to empower climate research and action, including those of researchers, policy makers, the private sector, civil society, and all other non-state actors. Building on the rapid growing technology of open data and information sharing, Climate Watch is equipped with extensive amount of climate data, informative visualizations, concise yet efficient user interface, and connection to resources users need to gather insightful information on national and global progress towards delivering on the objective of the Convention and the Paris Agreement. Climate Watch brings together hundreds of quantitative and qualitative indicators for easy explore, visualize, compare, download at global, national, and sectoral levels: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for more than 190 countries over the1850-2014 time period, covering all seven Kyoto Gases following IPCC source/sink categories; Structured information on over 150 NDCs facilitating the clarity, understanding and transparency of countries' contributions to address climate change; Over 6500 identified linkages between climate actions in NDCs across the 169 targets of the sustainable development goals (SDG); Over 200 indicators describing low carbon pathways from models and scenarios by integrated assessment models (IAMs) and national sources; and Data on vulnerability and risk, policies, finance, and many more. Climate Watch platform is developed as part of the broader efforts within the World Resources Institute, the NDC Partnership, and in collaboration

Dynamic investigation of a locomotive with effect of gear transmissions under tractive conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zaigang; Zhai, Wanming; Wang, Kaiyun

2017-11-01

Locomotive is used to drag trailers to move or supply the braking forces to slow the running speed of a train. The electromagnetic torque of the motor is always transmitted by the gear transmission system to the wheelset for generation of the tractive or braking forces at the wheel-rail contact interface. Consequently, gear transmission system is significant for power delivery of a locomotive. This paper develops a comprehensive locomotive-track vertical-longitudinal coupled dynamics model with dynamic effect of gear transmissions. This dynamics model enables considering the coupling interactions between the gear transmission motion, the vertical and the longitudinal motions of the vehicle, and the vertical vibration of the track structure. In this study, some complicated dynamic excitations, such as the gear time-varying mesh stiffness, nonlinear gear tooth backlash, the nonlinear wheel-rail normal contact force and creep force, and the rail vertical geometrical irregularity, are considered. Then, the dynamic responses of the locomotive under the tractive conditions are demonstrated by numerical simulations based on the established dynamics model and by experimental test. The developed dynamics model is validated by the good agreement between the experimental and the theoretical results. The calculated results reveal that the gear transmission system has strong dynamic interactions with the wheel-rail contact interface including both the vertical and the longitudinal motions, and it has negligible effect on the vibrations of the bogie frame and carbody.

The MAO-A inhibitor clorgyline reduces ethanol-induced locomotion and its volitional intake in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ledesma, Juan Carlos; Escrig, Miguel Angel; Pastor, Raúl; Aragon, Carlos M G

2014-01-01

Hydrogen peroxide is the co-substrate used by the enzyme catalase to form Compound I (the catalase-H2O2 system), which is the major pathway for the conversion of ethanol (EtOH) into acetaldehyde in the brain. This acetaldehyde has been involved in many of the effects of EtOH. Previous research demonstrated that treatments that change the levels of cerebral H2O2 available to catalase modulate the locomotor-stimulating effects of EtOH and its volitional intake in rodents. However, the source of H2O2 which is used by catalase to form Compound I and mediates the psychoactive actions of EtOH is unknown. One cause of the generation of H2O2 in the brain comes from the deamination of biogenic amines by the activity of MAO-A. Here we explore the consequences of the administration of the MAO-A inhibitor clorgyline on EtOH-induced locomotion and voluntary EtOH drinking. For the locomotor activity tests, we injected Swiss (RjOrl) mice intraperitoneally (IP) with clorgyline (0-10mg/kg) and later (0.5-8h) with EtOH (0-3.75 g/kg; IP). Following these treatments, mice were placed in locomotor activity chambers to measure their locomotion. For the drinking experiments, mice of the C57BL/6J strain were injected IP with clorgyline prior to offering them an EtOH (20%) solution following a drinking-in-the-dark procedure. Additional experiments were performed to assess the selectivity of this compound in altering EtOH-stimulated locomotion and EtOH intake. Moreover, we indirectly tested the ability of clorgyline to reduce brain H2O2 levels. We showed that this treatment selectively reduced EtOH-induced locomotion and its self-administration. Moreover, this compound decreased central H2O2 levels available to catalase. We suggest that H2O2 derived from the deamination of biogenic amines by the activity of MAO-A could determine the formation of brain EtOH-derived acetaldehyde. This centrally-formed acetaldehyde within the neurons of the aminergic system could play a role in the

Comparison of kinematic and dynamic leg trajectory optimization techniques for biped robot locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Khusainov, R.; Klimchik, A.; Magid, E.

2017-01-01

The paper presents comparison analysis of two approaches in defining leg trajectories for biped locomotion. The first one operates only with kinematic limitations of leg joints and finds the maximum possible locomotion speed for given limits. The second approach defines leg trajectories from the dynamic stability point of view and utilizes ZMP criteria. We show that two methods give different trajectories and demonstrate that trajectories based on pure dynamic optimization cannot be realized due to joint limits. Kinematic optimization provides unstable solution which can be balanced by upper body movement.

78 FR 33860 - Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-05

...] Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB... collection requirements contained in the General Industry Standard on Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck cranes... workers from using unsafe cranes and ropes, thereby reducing their risk of death or serious injury caused...

75 FR 20005 - Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-16

...] Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes Standard; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB... Crawler, Locomotive, and Truck Cranes Standard (29 CFR 1910.180). DATES: Comments must be submitted... of each of these requirements is to prevent workers from using unsafe cranes and ropes, thereby...

Neural Control and Adaptive Neural Forward Models for Insect-like, Energy-Efficient, and Adaptable Locomotion of Walking Machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Poramate eManoonpong

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Living creatures, like walking animals, have found fascinating solutions for the problem of locomotion control. Their movements show the impression of elegance including versatile, energy-efficient, and adaptable locomotion. During the last few decades, roboticists have tried to imitate such natural properties with artificial legged locomotion systems by using different approaches including machine learning algorithms, classical engineering control techniques, and biologically-inspired control mechanisms. However, their levels of performance are still far from the natural ones. By contrast, animal locomotion mechanisms seem to largely depend not only on central mechanisms (central pattern generators, CPGs and sensory feedback (afferent-based control but also on internal forward models (efference copies. They are used to a different degree in different animals. Generally, CPGs organize basic rhythmic motions which are shaped by sensory feedback while internal models are used for sensory prediction and state estimations. According to this concept, we present here adaptive neural locomotion control consisting of a CPG mechanism with neuromodulation and local leg control mechanisms based on sensory feedback and adaptive neural forward models with efference copies. This neural closed-loop controller enables a walking machine to perform a multitude of different walking patterns including insect-like leg movements and gaits as well as energy-efficient locomotion. In addition, the forward models allow the machine to autonomously adapt its locomotion to deal with a change of terrain, losing of ground contact during stance phase, stepping on or hitting an obstacle during swing phase, leg damage, and even to promote cockroach-like climbing behavior. Thus, the results presented here show that the employed embodied neural closed-loop system can be a powerful way for developing robust and adaptable machines.

SIMULATION OF DRIVER’S LOCOMOTIVE-HANDLING ACTIVITY USING THE THEORY OF FUZZY GRAPHS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. V. Butko

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The efficiency and safety of locomotive control improving is important and relevant scientific and practical problem. Every driver during the trains-handling bases on his experience and knowledge, that is why the compilation and detection the most efficient ways to control the locomotive-handling is one of the stages of measures development to reduce transportation costs. The purpose of this paper is a formalization process description of locomotive-handling and quality parameters determination of this process. Methodology. In order to achieve this goal the theory of fuzzy probabilistic graphs was used. Vertices of the graph correspond to the events start and end operations at train-handling. The graph arcs describe operations on train-handling. Graph consists of thirteen peaks corresponding to the main control actions of the engine-driver. The weighting factors of transitions between vertices are assigned by fuzzy numbers. Their values were obtained by expert estimates. Fuzzy probabilities and transition time are presented as numbers with trapezoidal membership function. Findings. Using successive merging of parallel arcs, loops and vertices elimination, the equivalent fuzzy graph of train-handling and the corresponding L-matrix were obtained. Equivalent graph takes into account separately activity of the driver during normal operation and during emergency situations. Originality. The theoretical foundations of describing process formalization in driver’s locomotive-handling activity were developed using the fuzzy probabilistic graph. The parameters characterizing the decision-making process of engineer were obtained. Practical value. With the resulting model it is possible to estimate the available reserves for the quality improvement of locomotive-handling. Reduction in the time for decision-making will lead to the approximation the current mode of control to the rational one and decrease costs of hauling operations. And reduction

CHOICE OF THE OPTIMAL PARAMETERS OF MEASURING THE SHAFT ROTATION FREQUENCY OF THE HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION OF THE LOCOMOTIVE USING MICROCONTROLLER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Zhukovytskyy

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article provides for finding solution to the problem of developing and improving the means for measuring tachometric data of the previously created information and measuring system for testing hydraulic locomotive transmission by substantiating the optimal sensor design and signal processing algorithms. At the same time first of all it is necessary to start from the possibility of modifying the already existing test bench for hydraulic locomotive transmissions at the Dnipropetrovsk diesel locomotive repair plant «Promteplovoz». Methodology. In the work, the researchers proposed a methodology for modifying the sensor design and the algorithm for processing its signals. It is grounded on previous developments of tachometric sensor of the optical type on the basis of D-2MMU-2 sensor of the microprocessor automated test bench system of hydraulic locomotive transmission in the locomotive repair plant conditions. Selection of the necessary measurement algorithm and the number of sensor teeth is substantiated by calculating instrumental and methodological errors. Also, the studies aimed at identifying the source of interference in the measurement of rotational speed are described and solution for its elimination has been found. Findings. For the designed rotation speed sensor of the optical type based on the existing D-2MMU-2 sensor, the authors analyzed the dependence of the methodological and instrumental errors. Based on the obtained data more rational variant of the rotation speed calculation algorithm is proposed, and the number of teeth of the sensor disk is justified. Further, the main source of measurement interference was established and a method for improving the hardware of the hydraulic locomotive test bench was proposed. Originality. There were conducted the studies according to the methodological and instrumental errors of the designed rotation speed of sensor. The mechanisms of interference filtering arising from the

VASIR: An Open-Source Research Platform for Advanced Iris Recognition Technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yooyoung; Micheals, Ross J; Filliben, James J; Phillips, P Jonathon

2013-01-01

The performance of iris recognition systems is frequently affected by input image quality, which in turn is vulnerable to less-than-optimal conditions due to illuminations, environments, and subject characteristics (e.g., distance, movement, face/body visibility, blinking, etc.). VASIR (Video-based Automatic System for Iris Recognition) is a state-of-the-art NIST-developed iris recognition software platform designed to systematically address these vulnerabilities. We developed VASIR as a research tool that will not only provide a reference (to assess the relative performance of alternative algorithms) for the biometrics community, but will also advance (via this new emerging iris recognition paradigm) NIST's measurement mission. VASIR is designed to accommodate both ideal (e.g., classical still images) and less-than-ideal images (e.g., face-visible videos). VASIR has three primary modules: 1) Image Acquisition 2) Video Processing, and 3) Iris Recognition. Each module consists of several sub-components that have been optimized by use of rigorous orthogonal experiment design and analysis techniques. We evaluated VASIR performance using the MBGC (Multiple Biometric Grand Challenge) NIR (Near-Infrared) face-visible video dataset and the ICE (Iris Challenge Evaluation) 2005 still-based dataset. The results showed that even though VASIR was primarily developed and optimized for the less-constrained video case, it still achieved high verification rates for the traditional still-image case. For this reason, VASIR may be used as an effective baseline for the biometrics community to evaluate their algorithm performance, and thus serves as a valuable research platform.

Longitudinal Prediction of Quality-of-Life Scores and Locomotion in Individuals With Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiremath, Shivayogi V; Hogaboom, Nathan S; Roscher, Melissa R; Worobey, Lynn A; Oyster, Michelle L; Boninger, Michael L

2017-12-01

To examine (1) differences in quality-of-life scores for groups based on transitions in locomotion status at 1, 5, and 10 years postdischarge in a sample of people with spinal cord injury (SCI); and (2) whether demographic factors and transitions in locomotion status can predict quality-of-life measures at these time points. Retrospective case study of the National SCI Database. Model SCI Systems Centers. Individuals with SCI (N=10,190) from 21 SCI Model Systems Centers, identified through the National SCI Model Systems Centers database between the years 1985 and 2012. Subjects had FIM (locomotion mode) data at discharge and at least 1 of the following: 1, 5, or 10 years postdischarge. Not applicable. FIM-locomotion mode; Severity of Depression Scale; Satisfaction With Life Scale; and Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique. Participants who transitioned from ambulation to wheelchair use reported lower participation and life satisfaction, and higher depression levels (P.05) or life satisfaction (P>.05) compared with those who transitioned from wheelchair to ambulation. Demographic factors and locomotion transitions predicted quality-of-life scores at all time points (P<.05). The results of this study indicate that transitioning from ambulation to wheelchair use can negatively impact psychosocial health 10 years after SCI. Clinicians should be aware of this when deciding on ambulation training. Further work to characterize who may be at risk for these transitions is needed. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global and Local Path Planning Study in a ROS-Based Research Platform for Autonomous Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Marin-Plaza

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is to integrate and analyze the performance of a path planning method based on Time Elastic Bands (TEB in real research platform based on Ackermann model. Moreover, it will be proved that all modules related to the navigation can coexist and work together to achieve the goal point without any collision. The study is done by analyzing the trajectory generated from global and local planners. The software prototyping tool is Robot Operating System (ROS from Open Source Robotics Foundation and the research platform is the iCab (Intelligent Campus Automobile from University Carlos III. This work has been validated from a test inside the campus where the iCab has performed the navigation between the starting point and the goal point without any collision. During the experiment, we proved the low sensitivity of the TEB method to variations of the vehicle model configuration and constraints.

Platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Josko, Deborah

2014-01-01

The advent of DNA sequencing technologies and the various applications that can be performed will have a dramatic effect on medicine and healthcare in the near future. There are several DNA sequencing platforms available on the market for research and clinical use. Based on the medical laboratory scientist or researcher's needs and taking into consideration laboratory space and budget, one can chose which platform will be beneficial to their institution and their patient population. Although some of the instrument costs seem high, diagnosing a patient quickly and accurately will save hospitals money with fewer hospital stays and targeted treatment based on an individual's genetic make-up. By determining the type of disease an individual has, based on the mutations present or having the ability to prescribe the appropriate antimicrobials based on the knowledge of the organism's resistance patterns, the clinician will be better able to treat and diagnose a patient which ultimately will improve patient outcomes and prognosis.

Mutually opposing forces during locomotion can eliminate the tradeoff between maneuverability and stability

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, Noah; Sefati, Shahin; Neveln, Izaak; Roth, Eatai; Mitchell, Terence; Snyder, James; Maciver, Malcolm; Fortune, Eric

A surprising feature of animal locomotion is that organisms typically produce substantial forces in directions other than what is necessary to move the animal through its environment, such as perpendicular to, or counter to, the direction of travel. The effect of these forces has been difficult to observe because they are often mutually opposing and therefore cancel out. Using a combination of robotic physical modeling, computational modeling, and biological experiments, we discovered that these forces serve an important role: to simplify and enhance the control of locomotion. Specifically, we examined a well-suited model system, the glass knifefish Eigenmannia virescens, which produces mutually opposing forces during a hovering behavior. By systematically varying the locomotor parameters of our biomimetic robot, and measuring the resulting forces and kinematics, we demonstrated that the production and differential control of mutually opposing forces is a strategy that generates passive stabilization while simultaneously enhancing maneuverability. Mutually opposing forces during locomotion are widespread across animal taxa, and these results indicate that such forces can eliminate the tradeoff between stability and maneuverability, thereby simplifying robotic and neural control.

Flexible experimental FPGA based platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Karsten Holm; Nymand, Morten

2016-01-01

This paper presents an experimental flexible Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based platform for testing and verifying digital controlled dc-dc converters. The platform supports different types of control strategies, dc-dc converter topologies and switching frequencies. The controller platform...... interface supporting configuration and reading of setup parameters, controller status and the acquisition memory in a simple way. The FPGA based platform, provides an easy way within education or research to use different digital control strategies and different converter topologies controlled by an FPGA...

Biomechanics of gecko locomotion: the patterns of reaction forces on inverted, vertical and horizontal substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Zhouyi; Dai, Zhendong; Ji, Aihong; Xing, Qiang; Ren, Lei; Dai, Liming

2015-01-01

The excellent locomotion ability of geckos on various rough and/or inclined substrates has attracted scientists’ attention for centuries. However, the moving ability of gecko-mimicking robots on various inclined surfaces still lags far behind that of geckos, mainly because our understanding of how geckos govern their locomotion is still very poor. To reveal the fundamental mechanism of gecko locomotion and also to facilitate the design of gecko-mimicking robots, we have measured the reaction forces (RFs) acting on each individual foot of moving geckos on inverted, vertical and horizontal substrates (i.e. ceiling, wall and floor), have associated the RFs with locomotion behaviors by using high-speed camera, and have presented the relationships of the force components with patterns of reaction forces (PRFs). Geckos generate different PRF on ceiling, wall and floor, that is, the PRF is determined by the angles between the direction of gravity and the substrate on which geckos move. On the ceiling, geckos produce reversed shear forces acting on the front and hind feet, which pull away from the body in both lateral and fore-aft directions. They use a very large supporting angle from 21° to 24° to reduce the forces acting on their legs and feet. On the floor, geckos lift their bodies using a supporting angle from 76° to 78°, which not only decreases the RFs but also improves their locomotion ability. On the wall, geckos generate a reliable self-locking attachment by using a supporting angle of 14.8°, which is only about half of the critical angle of detachment. (paper)

USING THE INFORMATION OF ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS IN DETERMINING THE TECHNICAL STATE OF THE LOCOMOTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Ye. Bodnar

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The issues of increase of efficiency of information processing by оn-board systems of diagnostics of locomotives are considered. The examples of information processing by the on-board system of diagnostics of electric locomotives DE1 are presented. The suggestions on improvement of systematization and processing of information by on-board systems of diagnostics are given.

{cross-disciplinary} Data CyberInfrastructure: A Different Approach to Developing Collaborative Earth and Environmental Science Research Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Lenhardt, W. C.; Krishnamurthy, A.; Blanton, B.; Conway, M.; Coposky, J.; Castillo, C.; Idaszak, R.

2017-12-01

An integrated science cyberinfrastructure platform is fast becoming a norm in science, particularly where access to distributed resources, access to compute, data management tools, and collaboration tools are accessible to the end-user scientist without the need to spin up these services on their own. There platforms have various types of labels ranging from data commons to science-as-a-service. They tend to share common features, as outlined above. What tends to distinguish these platforms, however, is their affinity for particular domains, NanoHub - nanomaterials, iPlant - plant biology, Hydroshare - hydrology, and so on. The challenge still remains how to enable these platforms to be more easily adopted for use by other domains. This paper will provide an overview of RENCI's approach to creating a science platform that can be more easily adopted by new communities while also endeavoring to accelerate their research. At RENCI, we started with Hydroshare, but have now worked to generalize the methodology for application to other domains. This new effort is called xDCi, or {cross-disciplinary} Data CyberInfrastructure. We have adopted a broader approach to the challenge of domain adoption and includes two key elements in addition to the technology component. The first of these is how development is operationalized. RENCI implements a DevOps model of continuous development and deployment. This greatly increases the speed by which a new platform can come online and be refined to meet domain needs. DevOps also allows for migration over time, i.e. sustainability. The second element is a concierge model. In addition to the technical elements, and the more responsive development process, RENCI also supports domain adoption of the platform by providing a concierge service— dedicated expertise- in the following areas, Information Technology, Sustainable Software, Data Science, and Sustainability. The success of the RENCI methodology is illustrated by the adoption of the

Disentangling Competition Among Platform Driven Strategic Groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazan, Erol; Tan, Chee-Wee; Lim, Eric

2015-01-01

In platform-driven markets, competitive advantage is derived from superior platform design and configurations. For this reason, platform owners strive to create unique and inimitable platform configurals to maintain and extend their competitiveness within network economies. To disentangle firm...... competition within platform-driven markets, we opted for the UK mobile payment market as our empirical setting. By embracing the theoretical lens of strategic groups and digital platforms, this study supplements prior research by deriving a taxonomy of platform-driven strategic groups that is grounded...

Activation of groups of excitatory neurons in the mammalian spinal cord or hindbrain evokes locomotion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hägglund, Martin; Borgius, Lotta; Dougherty, Kimberly J.

2010-01-01

Central pattern generators (CPGs) are spinal neuronal networks required for locomotion. Glutamatergic neurons have been implicated as being important for intrinsic rhythm generation in the CPG and for the command signal for initiating locomotion, although this has not been demonstrated directly. We...... neurons in the spinal cord are critical for initiating or maintaining the rhythm and that activation of hindbrain areas containing the locomotor command regions is sufficient to directly activate the spinal locomotor network....

Development of generalized dynamic model of oscillations of cylinder case of diesel engine of locomotive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina YUTKINA

2014-03-01

Full Text Available An engineering method of design, worked out by the authors, is considered in the paper. It allows to carry out design of amplitude-frequency specter and vibration loading of cylinder cases of the diesel engine of locomotive with account of cavitation-erosion damage. Offered method of design of parameters of cavitation-erosion damage may be used in design of new structures of diesel engines of locomotives and systems of cooling.

Low metabolic cost of locomotion in ornate box turtles, Terrapene ornata.

Science.gov (United States)

Zani, Peter A; Kram, Rodger

2008-12-01

Evolution has produced a wide range of body plans, but for a given body mass, the energetic cost of transport (COT) of terrestrial animals falls in a relatively narrow range. Previous research indicates that the COT depends on the proficiency of minimizing mechanical work performed, efficiency of performing that work, and cost of generating force to support weight. Turtles are unique in that their protective shell and shoulder-girdle articulation may eliminate the need for the ;muscular sling'. In addition, turtles have slower, more efficient muscles than other vertebrates. However, slow locomotion may raise the COT by confounding mechanical-energy conservation via the inverted-pendulum mechanism. Our goal was to determine the metabolic COT and efficiency of a terrestrial turtle species during locomotion. We studied 18 ornate box turtles, Terrapene ornata. Walking speed was extremely slow (0.07+/-0.005 m s(-1)). The average minimum COT was 8.0+/-0.70 J kg(-1) m(-1) attained at approximately 0.1 m s(-1). Ornate box turtles consume only half the energy predicted by the allometric relationship for all terrestrial animals (15.9+/-0.35 J kg(-1) m(-1)), and, thus, appear to be very economical walkers. When walking up a 24 deg. incline turtles moved significantly slower (0.04+/-0.004 m s(-1)), but performed the extra work required to walk uphill with very high efficiencies (>49%). It appears that the co-evolution of a protective shell, the associated shoulder morphology, and very slow, efficient muscles produce both economical level walking and efficient uphill walking.

Energy Efficiency of Robot Locomotion Increases Proportional to Weight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jørgen Christian; Støy, Kasper

2011-01-01

The task of producing steady, stable and energy efficient locomotion in legged robots with the ability to walk in un- known terrain have for many years been a big challenge in robotics. This work is focusing on how different robots build from the modular robotic system, LocoKit by Larsen et. la [3...

Energy Efficiency of Robot Locomotion Increases Proportional to Weight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, J. C.; Stoy, K.

2011-01-01

The task of producing steady, stable and energy efficient locomotion in legged robots with the ability to walk in unknown terrain have for many years been a big challenge in robotics. This work is focusing on how different robots build from the modular robotic system, LocoKit by Larsen et al. [1...

40 CFR 1042.836 - Marine certification of locomotive remanufacturing systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 32 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Marine certification of locomotive remanufacturing systems. 1042.836 Section 1042.836 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... ENGINES AND VESSELS Special Provisions for Remanufactured Marine Engines § 1042.836 Marine certification...

Research on vehicles and cargos matching model based on virtual logistics platform

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Yufeng; Lu, Jiang; Su, Zhiyuan

2018-04-01

Highway less than truckload (LTL) transportation vehicles and cargos matching problem is a joint optimization problem of typical vehicle routing and loading, which is also a hot issue of operational research. This article based on the demand of virtual logistics platform, for the problem of the highway LTL transportation, the matching model of the idle vehicle and the transportation order is set up and the corresponding genetic algorithm is designed. Then the algorithm is implemented by Java. The simulation results show that the solution is satisfactory.

Flexible Coupling of Respiration and Vocalizations with Locomotion and Head Movements in the Freely Behaving Rat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Andrews Alves

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Quadrupedal mammals typically synchronize their respiration with body movements during rhythmic locomotion. In the rat, fast respiration is coupled to head movements during sniffing behavior, but whether respiration is entrained by stride dynamics is not known. We recorded intranasal pressure, head acceleration, instantaneous speed, and ultrasonic vocalizations from male and female adult rats while freely behaving in a social environment. We used high-speed video recordings of stride to understand how head acceleration signals relate to locomotion and developed techniques to identify episodes of sniffing, walking, trotting, and galloping from the recorded variables. Quantitative analysis of synchrony between respiration and head acceleration rhythms revealed that respiration and locomotion movements were coordinated but with a weaker coupling than expected from previous work in other mammals. We have recently shown that rats behaving in social settings produce high rates of ultrasonic vocalizations during locomotion bouts. Accordingly, rats emitted vocalizations in over half of the respiratory cycles during fast displacements. We present evidence suggesting that emission of these calls disrupts the entrainment of respiration by stride. The coupling between these two variables is thus flexible, such that it can be overridden by other behavioral demands.

Efficient worm-like locomotion: slip and control of soft-bodied peristaltic robots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daltorio, Kathryn A; Horchler, Andrew D; Quinn, Roger D; Boxerbaum, Alexander S; Shaw, Kendrick M; Chiel, Hillel J

2013-01-01

In this work, we present a dynamic simulation of an earthworm-like robot moving in a pipe with radially symmetric Coulomb friction contact. Under these conditions, peristaltic locomotion is efficient if slip is minimized. We characterize ways to reduce slip-related losses in a constant-radius pipe. Using these principles, we can design controllers that can navigate pipes even with a narrowing in radius. We propose a stable heteroclinic channel controller that takes advantage of contact force feedback on each segment. In an example narrowing pipe, this controller loses 40% less energy to slip compared to the best-fit sine wave controller. The peristaltic locomotion with feedback also has greater speed and more consistent forward progress. (paper)

Efficient worm-like locomotion: slip and control of soft-bodied peristaltic robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Daltorio, Kathryn A; Boxerbaum, Alexander S; Horchler, Andrew D; Shaw, Kendrick M; Chiel, Hillel J; Quinn, Roger D

2013-09-01

In this work, we present a dynamic simulation of an earthworm-like robot moving in a pipe with radially symmetric Coulomb friction contact. Under these conditions, peristaltic locomotion is efficient if slip is minimized. We characterize ways to reduce slip-related losses in a constant-radius pipe. Using these principles, we can design controllers that can navigate pipes even with a narrowing in radius. We propose a stable heteroclinic channel controller that takes advantage of contact force feedback on each segment. In an example narrowing pipe, this controller loses 40% less energy to slip compared to the best-fit sine wave controller. The peristaltic locomotion with feedback also has greater speed and more consistent forward progress

Modeling locomotion of a soft-bodied arthropod using inverse dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saunders, Frank; Trimmer, Barry A; Rife, Jason

2011-01-01

Most bio-inspired robots have been based on animals with jointed, stiff skeletons. There is now an increasing interest in mimicking the robust performance of animals in natural environments by incorporating compliant materials into the locomotory system. However, the mechanics of moving, highly conformable structures are particularly difficult to predict. This paper proposes a planar, extensible-link model for the soft-bodied tobacco hornworm caterpillar, Manduca sexta, to provide insight for biologists and engineers studying locomotion by highly deformable animals and caterpillar-like robots. Using inverse dynamics to process experimentally acquired point-tracking data, ground reaction forces and internal forces were determined for a crawling caterpillar. Computed ground reaction forces were compared to experimental data to validate the model. The results show that a system of linked extendable joints can faithfully describe the general form and magnitude of the contact forces produced by a crawling caterpillar. Furthermore, the model can be used to compute internal forces that cannot be measured experimentally. It is predicted that between different body segments in stance phase the body is mostly kept in tension and that compression only occurs during the swing phase when the prolegs release their grip. This finding supports a recently proposed mechanism for locomotion by soft animals in which the substrate transfers compressive forces from one part of the body to another (the environmental skeleton) thereby minimizing the need for hydrostatic stiffening. The model also provides a new means to characterize and test control strategies used in caterpillar crawling and soft robot locomotion.

Animal and robot experiments to discover principles behind the evolution of a minimal locomotor apparatus for robust legged locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

McInroe, Benjamin; Astley, Henry; Kawano, Sandy; Blob, Richard; Goldman, Daniel I.

2015-03-01

In the evolutionary transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment, early walkers adapted to the challenges of locomotion on complex, flowable substrates (e.g. sand and mud). Our previous biological and robotic studies have demonstrated that locomotion on such substrates is sensitive to both limb morphology and kinematics. Although reconstructions of early vertebrate skeletal morphologies exist, the kinematic strategies required for successful locomotion by these organisms have not yet been explored. To gain insight into how early walkers contended with complex substrates, we developed a robotic model with appendage morphology inspired by a model analog organism, the mudskipper. We tested mudskippers and the robot on different substrates, including rigid ground and dry granular media, varying incline angle. The mudskippers moved effectively on all level substrates using a fin-driven gait. But as incline angle increased, the animals used their tails in concert with their fins to generate propulsion. Adding an actuated tail to the robot improved robustness, making possible locomotion on otherwise inaccessible inclines. With these discoveries, we are elucidating a minimal template that may have allowed the early walkers to adapt to locomotion on land. This work was supported by NSF PoLS.

Support afferentation in the posture and locomotion control system

Science.gov (United States)

Grigoriev, Anatoly; Tomilovskaya, Elena; Kozlovskaya, Inesa

Mechanisms of support afferentation contribution in posture and locomotion control, which were uncertain up to now, became the point of intensive studies recently. This became possible since the space flights era started which created the conditions for simulated microgravity experiments under conditions of dry immersion and bedrest. The results of neurophysiological studies performed under the conditions of supportlessness have shown that decline or elimination of support loads is followed by deep and fast developing alterations in postural tonic system, including development of postural muscle atonia, changes of recruitment order of motoneurons innervating the shin muscles, spinal hyperreflexia development etc. (Kozlovskaya I.B. et al., 1987). It has been also shown that application of artificial support stimulation in the regimen of natural locomotion under these conditions decreases significantly or even eliminates the development of mentioned changes. The results of these studies laid down the basis for a new hypothesis on the trigger role of support afferentation in postural tonic system and its role in organization and control of postural synergies (Grigoriev A.I. et al., 2004). According to this hypothesis the muscle reception is considered to be the leading afferent input in the control of locomotion. However the data of recent studies pointed out strongly to the participation of support afferentation in definition of cognitive strategies and motor programs of locomotor movements (Chernikova L.A. et al., 2013) and, consequently, in the processes of their initiation (Gerasimenko Yu.P. et al., 2012). The cortical locomotor reflex composes apparently the basis of these processes. The receptive field of this reflex is located in the support zones of the soles and the central part is located in the posterior parietal areas (IPL) of brain cortex. The study is supported by RFBR grant N 13-04-12091 OFI-m.

The scheme and research of TV series multidimensional comprehensive evaluation on cross-platform

Science.gov (United States)

Chai, Jianping; Bai, Xuesong; Zhou, Hongjun; Yin, Fulian

2016-10-01

As for shortcomings of the comprehensive evaluation system on traditional TV programs such as single data source, ignorance of new media as well as the high time cost and difficulty of making surveys, a new evaluation of TV series is proposed in this paper, which has a perspective in cross-platform multidimensional evaluation after broadcasting. This scheme considers the data directly collected from cable television and the Internet as research objects. It's based on TOPSIS principle, after preprocessing and calculation of the data, they become primary indicators that reflect different profiles of the viewing of TV series. Then after the process of reasonable empowerment and summation by the six methods(PCA, AHP, etc.), the primary indicators form the composite indices on different channels or websites. The scheme avoids the inefficiency and difficulty of survey and marking; At the same time, it not only reflects different dimensions of viewing, but also combines TV media and new media, completing the multidimensional comprehensive evaluation of TV series on cross-platform.

Application research of cloud computing in emergency system platform of nuclear accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yan; Yue Huiguo; Lin Quanyi; Yue Feng

2013-01-01

This paper described the key technology of the concept of cloud computing, service type and implementation methods. Combined with the upgrade demand of nuclear accident emergency system platform, the paper also proposed the application design of private cloud computing platform, analyzed safety of cloud platform and the characteristics of cloud disaster recovery. (authors)

Research and Development of Target Recognition and Location Crawling Platform based on Binocular Vision

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Weidong; Lei, Zhu; Yuan, Zhang; Gao, Zhenqing

2018-03-01

The application of visual recognition technology in industrial robot crawling and placing operation is one of the key tasks in the field of robot research. In order to improve the efficiency and intelligence of the material sorting in the production line, especially to realize the sorting of the scattered items, the robot target recognition and positioning crawling platform based on binocular vision is researched and developed. The images were collected by binocular camera, and the images were pretreated. Harris operator was used to identify the corners of the images. The Canny operator was used to identify the images. Hough-chain code recognition was used to identify the images. The target image in the image, obtain the coordinates of each vertex of the image, calculate the spatial position and posture of the target item, and determine the information needed to capture the movement and transmit it to the robot control crawling operation. Finally, In this paper, we use this method to experiment the wrapping problem in the express sorting process The experimental results show that the platform can effectively solve the problem of sorting of loose parts, so as to achieve the purpose of efficient and intelligent sorting.

A review on locomotion robophysics: the study of movement at the intersection of robotics, soft matter and dynamical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, Jeffrey; Zhang, Tingnan; Qian, Feifei; Kingsbury, Mark; McInroe, Benjamin; Mazouchova, Nicole; Li, Chen; Maladen, Ryan; Gong, Chaohui; Travers, Matt; Hatton, Ross L.; Choset, Howie; Umbanhowar, Paul B.; Goldman, Daniel I.

2016-11-01

Discovery of fundamental principles which govern and limit effective locomotion (self-propulsion) is of intellectual interest and practical importance. Human technology has created robotic moving systems that excel in movement on and within environments of societal interest: paved roads, open air and water. However, such devices cannot yet robustly and efficiently navigate (as animals do) the enormous diversity of natural environments which might be of future interest for autonomous robots; examples include vertical surfaces like trees and cliffs, heterogeneous ground like desert rubble and brush, turbulent flows found near seashores, and deformable/flowable substrates like sand, mud and soil. In this review we argue for the creation of a physics of moving systems—a ‘locomotion robophysics’—which we define as the pursuit of principles of self-generated motion. Robophysics can provide an important intellectual complement to the discipline of robotics, largely the domain of researchers from engineering and computer science. The essential idea is that we must complement the study of complex robots in complex situations with systematic study of simplified robotic devices in controlled laboratory settings and in simplified theoretical models. We must thus use the methods of physics to examine both locomotor successes and failures using parameter space exploration, systematic control, and techniques from dynamical systems. Using examples from our and others’ research, we will discuss how such robophysical studies have begun to aid engineers in the creation of devices that have begun to achieve life-like locomotor abilities on and within complex environments, have inspired interesting physics questions in low dimensional dynamical systems, geometric mechanics and soft matter physics, and have been useful to develop models for biological locomotion in complex terrain. The rapidly decreasing cost of constructing robot models with easy access to significant

Cognitive impairment associated with locomotive syndrome in community-dwelling elderly women in Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nakamura M

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Misa Nakamura,1 Fumie Tazaki,1 Kazuki Nomura,1 Taeko Takano,1 Masashi Hashimoto,1 Hiroshi Hashizume,2 Ichiro Kamei1 1Department of Rehabilitation, Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University, Kaizuka, Osaka, Japan; 2Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan Abstract: In our worldwide aging society, elderly people should maintain cognitive and physical function to help avoid health problems. Dementia is a major brain disease among elderly people, and is caused by cognitive impairment. The locomotive syndrome (LS refers to a condition in which people require healthcare services because of problems associated with locomotion. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between cognitive impairment and LS. Study participants were 142 healthy elderly female volunteers living in a rural area in Japan. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE. A score of ≤26 points on the MMSE was used to indicate categorically defined poor cognitive performance (cognitive impairment. The LS was defined by a score ≥16 points, and non-LS as <16 points, on the 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25. Twenty-one participants (14.8% had an MMSE score ≤26, and 19.0% were found to have LS. Compared with the MMSE >26 group, the ≤26 group was significantly older, had a higher percentage of body fat, and a higher GLFS-25 score. Those with LS were significantly older, had a higher body mass index, a higher percentage of body fat, and a lower MMSE score. Participants in the LS group had higher odds of cognitive impairment than those without LS [odds ratio (OR =3.08] by logistic regression analysis adjusted for age. Furthermore, participants with GLFS-25 scores ≥6 had higher odds of cognitive impairment than those with a GLFS-25 score <6 by logistic regression analysis adjusted for both age (OR =4.44, and age and percent body fat (OR =4.12. These findings

49 CFR 231.16 - Steam locomotives used in switching service.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steam locomotives used in switching service. 231... RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD SAFETY APPLIANCE STANDARDS § 231.16 Steam..., buffer block, footboard, brake pipe, signal pipe, steam-heat pipe or arms of uncoupling lever shall...

49 CFR 222.21 - When must a locomotive horn be used?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... or lead cab car shall be sounded when such locomotive or lead cab car is approaching a public highway... equipped with automatic flashing lights and gates and the gates are fully lowered; or (2) There are no...

Caterpillar locomotion-inspired valveless pneumatic micropump using a single teardrop-shaped elastomeric membrane

KAUST Repository

So, Hongyun; Pisano, Albert P.; Seo, Young Ho

2014-01-01

This paper presents a microfluidic pump operated by an asymmetrically deformed membrane, which was inspired by caterpillar locomotion. Almost all mechanical micropumps consist of two major components of fluid halting and fluid pushing parts, whereas the proposed caterpillar locomotion-inspired micropump has only a single, bilaterally symmetric membrane-like teardrop shape. A teardrop-shaped elastomeric membrane was asymmetrically deformed and then consecutively touched down to the bottom of the chamber in response to pneumatic pressure, thus achieving fluid pushing. Consecutive touchdown motions of the teardrop-shaped membrane mimicked the propagation of a caterpillar's hump during its locomotory gait. The initial touchdown motion of the teardrop-shaped membrane at the centroid worked as a valve that blocked the inlet channel, and then, the consecutive touchdown motions pushed fluid in the chamber toward the tail of the chamber connected to the outlet channel. The propagation of the touchdown motion of the teardrop-shaped membrane was investigated using computational analysis as well as experimental studies. This caterpillar locomotion-inspired micropump composed of only a single membrane can provide new opportunities for simple integration of microfluidic systems. © the Partner Organisations 2014.

Caterpillar locomotion-inspired valveless pneumatic micropump using a single teardrop-shaped elastomeric membrane

KAUST Repository

So, Hongyun

2014-01-01

This paper presents a microfluidic pump operated by an asymmetrically deformed membrane, which was inspired by caterpillar locomotion. Almost all mechanical micropumps consist of two major components of fluid halting and fluid pushing parts, whereas the proposed caterpillar locomotion-inspired micropump has only a single, bilaterally symmetric membrane-like teardrop shape. A teardrop-shaped elastomeric membrane was asymmetrically deformed and then consecutively touched down to the bottom of the chamber in response to pneumatic pressure, thus achieving fluid pushing. Consecutive touchdown motions of the teardrop-shaped membrane mimicked the propagation of a caterpillar\\'s hump during its locomotory gait. The initial touchdown motion of the teardrop-shaped membrane at the centroid worked as a valve that blocked the inlet channel, and then, the consecutive touchdown motions pushed fluid in the chamber toward the tail of the chamber connected to the outlet channel. The propagation of the touchdown motion of the teardrop-shaped membrane was investigated using computational analysis as well as experimental studies. This caterpillar locomotion-inspired micropump composed of only a single membrane can provide new opportunities for simple integration of microfluidic systems. © the Partner Organisations 2014.

Minimally Actuated Walking: Identifying Core Challenges to Economical Legged Locomotion Reveals Novel Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan T Schroeder

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Terrestrial organisms adept at locomotion employ strut-like legs for economical and robust movement across the substrate. Although it is relatively easy to observe and analyze details of the solutions these organic systems have arrived at, it is not as easy to identify the problems these movement strategies have solved. As such, it is useful to investigate fundamental challenges that effective legged locomotion overcomes in order to understand why the mechanisms employed by biological systems provide viable solutions to these challenges. Such insight can inform the design and development of legged robots that may eventually match or exceed animal performance. In the context of human walking, we apply control optimization as a design strategy for simple bipedal walking machines with minimal actuation. This approach is used to discuss key facilitators of energetically efficient locomotion in simple bipedal walkers. Furthermore, we extrapolate the approach to a novel application—a theoretical exoskeleton attached to the trunk of a human walker—to demonstrate how coordinated efforts between bipedal actuation and a machine oscillator can potentially alleviate a meaningful portion of energetic exertion associated with leg function during human walking.

Cellullar insights into cerebral cortical development: focusing on the locomotion mode of neuronal migration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takeshi eKawauchi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The mammalian brain consists of numerous compartments that are closely connected with each other via neural networks, comprising the basis of higher order brain functions. The highly specialized structure originates from simple pseudostratified neuroepithelium-derived neural progenitors located near the ventricle. A long journey by neurons from the ventricular side is essential for the formation of a sophisticated brain structure, including a mammalian-specific six-layered cerebral cortex. Neuronal migration consists of several contiguous steps, but the locomotion mode comprises a large part of the migration. The locomoting neurons exhibit unique features; a radial glial fiber-dependent migration requiring the endocytic recycling of N-cadherin and a neuron-specific migration mode with dilation/swelling formation that requires the actin and microtubule organization possibly regulated by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5, Dcx, p27kip1, Rac1 and POSH. Here I will introduce the roles of various cellular events, such as cytoskeletal organization, cell adhesion and membrane trafficking, in the regulation of the neuronal migration, with particular focus on the locomotion mode.

Reciprocal locomotion of dense swimmers in Stokes flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Rodriguez, David; Lauga, Eric

2009-01-01

Due to the kinematic reversibility of Stokes flow, a body executing a reciprocal motion (a motion in which the sequence of body configurations remains identical under time reversal) cannot propel itself in a viscous fluid in the limit of negligible inertia; this result is known as Purcell's scallop theorem. In this limit, the Reynolds numbers based on the fluid inertia and on the body inertia are all zero. Previous studies characterized the breakdown of the scallop theorem with fluid inertia. In this paper we show that, even in the absence of fluid inertia, certain dense bodies undergoing reciprocal motion are able to swim. Using Lorentz's reciprocal theorem, we first derive the general differential equations that govern the locomotion kinematics of a dense swimmer. We demonstrate that no reciprocal swimming is possible if the body motion consists only of tangential surface deformation (squirming). We then apply our general formulation to compute the locomotion of four simple swimmers, each with a different spatial asymmetry, that perform normal surface deformations. We show that the resulting swimming speeds (or rotation rates) scale as the first power of a properly defined 'swimmer Reynolds number', demonstrating thereby a continuous breakdown of the scallop theorem with body inertia.

49 CFR 231.17 - Specifications common to all steam locomotives.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... shall be securely fastened with bolts, rivets, or studs. (ii) Locomotives having Wootten type boilers... inches above outside edge of running boards, securely fastened with bolts, rivets, or studs. (c... inches in height, measured from the top of end sill, and securely fastened with bolts or rivets. (f...

Vestibular-Somatosensory Convergence in Head Movement Control During Locomotion after Long-Duration Space Flight

Science.gov (United States)

Mulavara, Ajitkumar; Ruttley, Tara; Cohen, Helen; Peters, Brian; Miller, Chris; Brady, Rachel; Merkle, Lauren; Bloomberg, Jacob

2010-01-01

Exposure to the microgravity conditions of space flight induces adaptive modification in the control of vestibular-mediated reflexive head movement during locomotion after space flight. Space flight causes astronauts to be exposed to somatosensory adaptation in both the vestibular and body load-sensing (BLS) systems. The goal of these studies was to examine the contributions of vestibular and BLS-mediated somatosensory influences on head movement control during locomotion after long-duration space flight. Subjects were asked to walk on a treadmill driven at 1.8 m/s while performing a visual acuity task. Data were collected using the same testing protocol from three independent subject groups; 1) normal subjects before and after exposure to 30 minutes of 40% bodyweight unloaded treadmill walking, 2) bilateral labyrinthine deficient (LD) patients and 3) astronauts who performed the protocol before and after long duration space flight. Motion data from head and trunk segmental motion data were obtained to calculate the angular head pitch (HP) movements during walking trials while subjects performed the visual task, to estimate the contributions of vestibular reflexive mechanisms in HP movements. Results showed that exposure to unloaded locomotion caused a significant increase in HP movements, whereas in the LD patients the HP movements were significantly decreased. Astronaut subjects results showed a heterogeneous response of both increases and decreases in the amplitude of HP movement. We infer that BLS-mediated somatosensory input centrally modulates vestibular input and can adaptively modify head-movement control during locomotion. Thus, space flight may cause a central adaptation mediated by the converging vestibular and body load-sensing somatosensory systems.

Scaling in Theropod Dinosaurs: Femoral Bone Strength and Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Scott

2015-01-01

In our first article on scaling in theropod dinosaurs, the longitudinal stress in the leg bones due to supporting the weight of the animal was studied and found not to control the dimensions of the femur. As a continuation of our study of elasticity in dinosaur bones, we now examine the transverse stress in the femur due to locomotion and find…

Assessing locomotion deficiency in broiler chicken Medida de deficiência locomotora em frango de corte

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irenilza de Alencar Nääs

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Locomotion deficiencies in broiler production cause poor welfare and lead to change in drinking and feeding behavior with consequent loss in weight gain. This research aimed to assess locomotion deficiencies in broiler chicken by analyzing the vertical peak force on both feet during walk. A chamber was built with an inlet ramp, a horizontal walkway in the middle and an outlet ramp. In the walkway a thin mat with piezoelectric crystal sensors was placed to record the step vertical peak force of the feet while walking on the force platform. The measurement system consisted of a mat with electronic sensors and software that allowed real time recording of the forces and the processing and analysis of data. Footage was taken from two digital video cameras and used for gait scoring. Forty male broilers were chosen at random, grown under similar rearing conditions and farms, with age varying from 49 to 28 days (ten birds of same age to be used in the trial. Measurement consisted of inducing the bird to walk on the force platform which automatically registered the peak vertical force of the steps. Results showed that the gait score increased with the weight and age of the birds. Peak force asymmetry was found for each foot, independent of age or gait score. Although not identified visually in the broilers, the peak vertical force values differed in both right and left feet leading to slow and uneven walking. Walking deficiency was more severe in older birds.Deficiência em locomoção é hoje um dos problemas mais importantes na produção de frangos de corte. É causa de baixo bem-estar e leva a alteração no comportamento de bebida e alimentação, com conseqüente perda de ganho de peso. Mediram-se deficiências locomotoras em frango de corte por meio da análise do pico de força plantar vertical em ambas as patas, durante a caminhada. Foi construída uma câmara com uma rampa de entrada, uma área horizontal de passagem e uma rampa de saída. Na

Simulating spinal border cells and cerebellar granule cells under locomotion--a case study of spinocerebellar information processing.

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Anton Spanne

Full Text Available The spinocerebellar systems are essential for the brain in the performance of coordinated movements, but our knowledge about the spinocerebellar interactions is very limited. Recently, several crucial pieces of information have been acquired for the spinal border cell (SBC component of the ventral spinocerebellar tract (VSCT, as well as the effects of SBC mossy fiber activation in granule cells of the cerebellar cortex. SBCs receive monosynaptic input from the reticulospinal tract (RST, which is an important driving system under locomotion, and disynaptic inhibition from Ib muscle afferents. The patterns of activity of RST neurons and Ib afferents under locomotion are known. The activity of VSCT neurons under fictive locomotion, i.e. without sensory feedback, is also known, but there is little information on how these neurons behave under actual locomotion and for cerebellar granule cells receiving SBC input this is completely unknown. But the available information makes it possible to simulate the interactions between the spinal and cerebellar neuronal circuitries with a relatively large set of biological constraints. Using a model of the various neuronal elements and the network they compose, we simulated the modulation of the SBCs and their target granule cells under locomotion and hence generated testable predictions of their general pattern of modulation under this condition. This particular system offers a unique opportunity to simulate these interactions with a limited number of assumptions, which helps making the model biologically plausible. Similar principles of information processing may be expected to apply to all spinocerebellar systems.

CONCENTRATION OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES REDUCING IN SURFACE LAYER OF ATMOSPHERE AT RHEOSTAT LOCOMOTIVE TESTS

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E. A. Bondar

2010-06-01

Full Text Available It is shown that at present an acceptable way of reducing the concentration of harmful substances in the surface layer of the atmosphere at rheostat tests of locomotives is their dispersion in a large volume of air. Channels, installed above an exhaust pipe of diesel locomotive with a break at the gas flow, work as ejectors. We have solved jointly the equation of aerodynamic characteristics of the ejector device and the equation of diffusion of gases; as a result the calculated dependence for determining the necessary height of ejector device has been obtained.

The Relationship between Locomotive Syndrome and Depression in Community-Dwelling Elderly People

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Misa Nakamura

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Locomotive syndrome (LS is a concept that refers to the condition of people requiring healthcare services because of problems associated with locomotion. Depression is a major psychiatric disease among the elderly, in addition to dementia. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between LS and depression. The study participants were 224 healthy elderly volunteers living in a rural area in Japan. LS was defined as scores ≥ 16 on the 25-question Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25. Depression was defined as scores ≥ 5 on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15. Height and body weight were measured. The prevalence of LS and depression was 13.9% and 24.2%, respectively. Compared with the non-LS group, the LS group was older, was shorter, had a higher BMI, and had higher GDS-15 scores. Logistic regression analysis showed that participants with GDS-15 scores ≥ 6 had higher odds for LS than those with GDS-15 scores < 6 (odds ratio [OR] = 4.22. Conversely, the depression group had higher GLFS-25 scores than the nondepression group. Participants with GLFS-25 scores ≥ 5 had higher odds for depression than those with GLFS-25 scores < 5 (OR = 4.53. These findings suggest that there is a close relationship between LS and depression.

Sustained Treatment with Insulin Detemir in Mice Alters Brain Activity and Locomotion.

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Tina Sartorius

Full Text Available Recent studies have identified unique brain effects of insulin detemir (Levemir®. Due to its pharmacologic properties, insulin detemir may reach higher concentrations in the brain than regular insulin. This might explain the observed increased brain stimulation after acute insulin detemir application but it remained unclear whether chronic insulin detemir treatment causes alterations in brain activity as a consequence of overstimulation.In mice, we examined insulin detemir's prolonged brain exposure by continuous subcutaneous (s.c. application using either micro-osmotic pumps or daily s.c. injections and performed continuous radiotelemetric electrocorticography and locomotion recordings.Acute intracerebroventricular injection of insulin detemir activated cortical and locomotor activity significantly more than regular insulin in equimolar doses (0.94 and 5.63 mU in total, suggesting an enhanced acute impact on brain networks. However, given continuously s.c., insulin detemir significantly reduced cortical activity (theta: 21.3±6.1% vs. 73.0±8.1%, P<0.001 and failed to maintain locomotion, while regular insulin resulted in an increase of both parameters.The data suggest that permanently-increased insulin detemir levels in the brain convert its hyperstimulatory effects and finally mediate impairments in brain activity and locomotion. This observation might be considered when human studies with insulin detemir are designed to target the brain in order to optimize treatment regimens.

Human locomotion on ice: the evolution of ice-skating energetics through history.

Science.gov (United States)

Formenti, Federico; Minetti, Alberto E

2007-05-01

More than 3000 years ago, peoples living in the cold North European regions started developing tools such as ice skates that allowed them to travel on frozen lakes. We show here which technical and technological changes determined the main steps in the evolution of ice-skating performance over its long history. An in-depth historical research helped identify the skates displaying significantly different features from previous models and that could consequently determine a better performance in terms of speed and energy demand. Five pairs of ice skates were tested, from the bone-skates, dated about 1800 BC, to modern ones. This paper provides evidence for the fact that the metabolic cost of locomotion on ice decreased dramatically through history, the metabolic cost of modern ice-skating being only 25% of that associated with the use of bone-skates. Moreover, for the same metabolic power, nowadays skaters can achieve speeds four times higher than their ancestors could. In the range of speeds considered, the cost of travelling on ice was speed independent for each skate model, as for running. This latter finding, combined with the accepted relationship between time of exhaustion and the sustainable fraction of metabolic power, gives the opportunity to estimate the maximum skating speed according to the distance travelled. Ice skates were probably the first human powered locomotion tools to take the maximum advantage from the biomechanical properties of the muscular system: even when travelling at relatively high speeds, the skating movement pattern required muscles to shorten slowly so that they could also develop a considerable amount of force.

Coupling of cytoskeleton functions for fibroblast locomotion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Couchman, J R; Lenn, M; Rees, D A

1985-01-01

caused visible protrusions in projected positions at the leading edge. We conclude that fibroblast locomotion may be driven coordinately by a common set of motility mechanisms and that this coordination may be lost as a result of physical or pharmacological disturbance. Taking our evidence with results...... from other Laboratories, we propose the following cytoskeleton functions. (i) Protrusive activity, probably based on solation--gelation cycles of the actin based cytoskeleton and membrane recycling which provides cellular and membrane components for streaming through the cell body to the leading edge...

A new platform for RFID research in Vietnam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tran, Ai Nhan; Nguyen, Son Dat; Thai Pham, Duc Hoang; Nguyen, Thuat Tran; Dang, Chien Mau; Fribourg-Blanc, Eric

2010-01-01

Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID) is a technology that has been emerging for less than a decade as the primary choice to exchange information between objects and their environment. Most of the challenges arise due to the passive nature of the tags placed on objects. The absence of a local power source implies that power management is critical for efficient work of the data exchange link. This paper presents the platform under development at the Laboratory for Nanotechnology to study these challenges. The primary goal of the platform is to implement the complete chain from design and simulation of tags to antenna measurements and field tests of tags through fabrication of real tags on flexible substrates. This structure allows for fundamental and practical studies of new concepts in sensing and wireless networks based on passive tags. A description of the actual achievements is also included

The application of high-speed cinematography for the quantitative analysis of equine locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredricson, I; Drevemo, S; Dalin, G; Hjertën, G; Björne, K

1980-04-01

Locomotive disorders constitute a serious problem in horse racing which will only be rectified by a better understanding of the causative factors associated with disturbances of gait. This study describes a system for the quantitative analysis of the locomotion of horses at speed. The method is based on high-speed cinematography with a semi-automatic system of analysis of the films. The recordings are made with a 16 mm high-speed camera run at 500 frames per second (fps) and the films are analysed by special film-reading equipment and a mini-computer. The time and linear gait variables are presented in tabular form and the angles and trajectories of the joints and body segments are presented graphically.

A Reconfigurable Omnidirectional Soft Robot Based on Caterpillar Locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Jun; Lin, Yangqiao; Ji, Chen; Yang, Huayong

2018-04-01

A pneumatically powered, reconfigurable omnidirectional soft robot based on caterpillar locomotion is described. The robot is composed of nine modules arranged as a three by three matrix and the length of this matrix is 154 mm. The robot propagates a traveling wave inspired by caterpillar locomotion, and it has all three degrees of freedom on a plane (X, Y, and rotation). The speed of the robot is about 18.5 m/h (two body lengths per minute) and it can rotate at a speed of 1.63°/s. The modules have neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets embedded and can be easily replaced or combined into other configurations. Two different configurations are presented to demonstrate the possibilities of the modular structure: (1) by removing some modules, the omnidirectional robot can be reassembled into a form that can crawl in a pipe and (2) two omnidirectional robots can crawl close to each other and be assembled automatically into a bigger omnidirectional robot. Omnidirectional motion is important for soft robots to explore unstructured environments. The modular structure gives the soft robot the ability to cope with the challenges of different environments and tasks.

Left–right coordination from simple to extreme conditions during split‐belt locomotion in the chronic spinal adult cat

Science.gov (United States)

Desrochers, Étienne; Thibaudier, Yann; Hurteau, Marie‐France; Dambreville, Charline

2016-01-01

Key points Coordination between the left and right sides is essential for dynamic stability during locomotion.The immature or neonatal mammalian spinal cord can adjust to differences in speed between the left and right sides during split‐belt locomotion by taking more steps on the fast side.We show that the adult mammalian spinal cord can also adjust its output so that the fast side can take more steps.During split‐belt locomotion, only certain parts of the cycle are modified to adjust left–right coordination, primarily those associated with swing onset.When the fast limb takes more steps than the slow limb, strong left–right interactions persist.Therefore, the adult mammalian spinal cord has a remarkable adaptive capacity for left–right coordination, from simple to extreme conditions. Abstract Although left–right coordination is essential for locomotion, its control is poorly understood, particularly in adult mammals. To investigate the spinal control of left–right coordination, a spinal transection was performed in six adult cats that were then trained to recover hindlimb locomotion. Spinal cats performed tied‐belt locomotion from 0.1 to 1.0 m s−1 and split‐belt locomotion with low to high (1:1.25–10) slow/fast speed ratios. With the left hindlimb stepping at 0.1 m s−1 and the right hindlimb stepping from 0.2 to 1.0 m s−1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5 left–right step relationships could appear. The appearance of 1:2+ relationships was not linearly dependent on the difference in speed between the slow and fast belts. The last step taken by the fast hindlimb displayed longer cycle, stance and swing durations and increased extensor activity, as the slow limb transitioned to swing. During split‐belt locomotion with 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 relationships, the timing of stance onset of the fast limb relative to the slow limb and placement of both limbs at contact were invariant with increasing slow/fast speed ratios. In contrast, the timing of

A systematic review of social networking sites: innovative platforms for health research targeting adolescents and young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Bu Kyung; Calamaro, Christina

2013-09-01

To review the evidence to determine if social networking sites (SNS) are effective tools for health research in the adolescent and young adult populations. Systematic review of published research articles focused on use of SNS for youth health research. Seventeen articles were selected that met the following criteria: used SNS at any stage of study, participants between 13 and 25 years of age, English language, and both international and national studies. Reviewers categorized selected studies based on the way SNS were used. Utilization of SNS for effectively implementing research with adolescents and young adults include (a) recruitment, (b) intervention, and (c) measurement. Four findings about advantages of using SNS apparent in this review are (a) ease of access to youth, (b) cost effectiveness in recruitment, (c) ease of intervention, and (d) reliable screening venue of mental status and high-risk behaviors. Although this literature review showed relatively minimal research to date on the use of SNS for research targeting adolescents and young adults, the impact of using SNS for health research is of considerable importance for researchers as well as participants. With careful focus, SNS can become a valuable platform to access, recruit, and deliver health interventions in a cost-effective manner to youth populations as well as hard-to-reach minority or underserved populations. The evidence demonstrates the usefulness of SNS as innovative platforms for health promotion among adolescents and young adults. © 2013 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Adaptations of Personal Health Record Platform for Medical Research on Chronic Diseases

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A. Krukowski

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article reports on experiences in e-Health platforms and services for supporting medical research into the causes and relationships among physiological parameters and health problems concerning different chronic diseases. The Personal Health Record (PHR is a way of standardizing electronic management of medical information between patients and their physicians, including medical bodies collaborating in providing integrated medical care services. We describe roles and aims behind electronic health records, follow with applicable legal and standardizations frameworks and relevant European activities, leading to the presentation of common commercial and open-source implementations of such systems, concluding with the indication of specific adaptations enabling a use of stored personal health data for scientific research into causes and evaluation of chronic illnesses. We describe ethical and privacy concerns that are relevant to using and exchanging electronic health information.

Research on University Network Teaching Platform (Blackboard in Teaching Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gou Zhao Xia

2016-01-01

Full Text Available With rapid development of online education; teaching platform based on the network, as a new instructional mode has become a hot topic in online teaching. In this paper, the he teaching situation and existing problems on online was analyzed by comparing the difference between network teaching platform and traditional classroom teaching. Then the strategies of network teaching management and the case, which is focusing on the characteristics of Blackboard with the application of network teaching management was presents.

Moving Virtual Research Environments from high maintenance Stovepipes to Multi-purpose Sustainable Service-oriented Science Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Klump, Jens; Fraser, Ryan; Wyborn, Lesley; Friedrich, Carsten; Squire, Geoffrey; Barker, Michelle; Moloney, Glenn

2017-04-01

The researcher of today is likely to be part of a team distributed over multiple sites that will access data from an external repository and then process the data on a public or private cloud or even on a large centralised supercomputer. They are increasingly likely to use a mixture of their own code, third party software and libraries, or even access global community codes. These components will be connected into a Virtual Research Environments (VREs) that will enable members of the research team who are not co-located to actively work together at various scales to share data, models, tools, software, workflows, best practices, infrastructures, etc. Many VRE's are built in isolation: designed to meet a specific research program with components tightly coupled and not capable of being repurposed for other use cases - they are becoming 'stovepipes'. The limited number of users of some VREs also means that the cost of maintenance per researcher can be unacceptably high. The alternative is to develop service-oriented Science Platforms that enable multiple communities to develop specialised solutions for specific research programs. The platforms can offer access to data, software tools and processing infrastructures (cloud, supercomputers) through globally distributed, interconnected modules. In Australia, the Virtual Geophysics Laboratory (VGL) was initially built to enable a specific set of researchers in government agencies access to specific data sets and a limited number of tools, that is now rapidly evolving into a multi-purpose Earth science platform with access to an increased variety of data, a broader range of tools, users from more sectors and a diversity of computational infrastructures. The expansion has been relatively easy, because of the architecture whereby data, tools and compute resources are loosely coupled via interfaces that are built on international standards and accessed as services wherever possible. In recent years, investments in

Differential effects of absent visual feedback control on gait variability during different locomotion speeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Wuehr, M; Schniepp, R; Pradhan, C; Ilmberger, J; Strupp, M; Brandt, T; Jahn, K

2013-01-01

Healthy persons exhibit relatively small temporal and spatial gait variability when walking unimpeded. In contrast, patients with a sensory deficit (e.g., polyneuropathy) show an increased gait variability that depends on speed and is associated with an increased fall risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of vision in gait stabilization by determining the effects of withdrawing visual information (eyes closed) on gait variability at different locomotion speeds. Ten healthy subjects (32.2 ± 7.9 years, 5 women) walked on a treadmill for 5-min periods at their preferred walking speed and at 20, 40, 70, and 80 % of maximal walking speed during the conditions of walking with eyes open (EO) and with eyes closed (EC). The coefficient of variation (CV) and fractal dimension (α) of the fluctuations in stride time, stride length, and base width were computed and analyzed. Withdrawing visual information increased the base width CV for all walking velocities (p < 0.001). The effects of absent visual information on CV and α of stride time and stride length were most pronounced during slow locomotion (p < 0.001) and declined during fast walking speeds. The results indicate that visual feedback control is used to stabilize the medio-lateral (i.e., base width) gait parameters at all speed sections. In contrast, sensory feedback control in the fore-aft direction (i.e., stride time and stride length) depends on speed. Sensory feedback contributes most to fore-aft gait stabilization during slow locomotion, whereas passive biomechanical mechanisms and an automated central pattern generation appear to control fast locomotion.

Identification of platform levels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Niels Henrik

2005-01-01

reduction, ability to launch a wider product portfolio without increasing resources and reduction of complexity within the whole company. To support the multiple product development process, platform based product development has in many companies such as Philips, VW, Ford etc. proven to be a very effective...... product development in one step and therefore the objective of this paper is to identify levels of platform based product development. The structure of this paper is as follows. First the applied terminology for platforms will be briefly explained and then characteristics between single and multi product...... development will be examined. Based on the identification of the above characteristics five platform levels are described. The research presented in this paper is a result of MSc, Ph.D projects at the Technical University of Denmark and consultancy projects within the organisation of Institute of Product...

Chronic low-dose γ-irradiation of Drosophila melanogaster larvae induces gene expression changes and enhances locomotive behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Cha Soon; Lee, Byung Sub; Lee, In Kyung; Yang, Kwang Hee; Kim, Ji-Young; Nam, Seon Young; Seong, Ki Moon

2015-01-01

Although radiation effects have been extensively studied, the biological effects of low-dose radiation (LDR) are controversial. This study investigates LDR-induced alterations in locomotive behavior and gene expression profiles of Drosophila melanogaster. We measured locomotive behavior using larval pupation height and the rapid iterative negative geotaxis (RING) assay after exposure to 0.1 Gy γ-radiation (dose rate of 16.7 mGy/h). We also observed chronic LDR effects on development (pupation and eclosion rates) and longevity (life span). To identify chronic LDR effects on gene expression, we performed whole-genome expression analysis using gene-expression microarrays, and confirmed the results using quantitative real-time PCR. The pupation height of the LDR-treated group at the first larval instar was significantly higher (∼2-fold increase in PHI value, P < 0.05). The locomotive behavior of LDR-treated male flies (∼3 − 5 weeks of age) was significantly increased by 7.7%, 29% and 138%, respectively (P < 0.01), but pupation and eclosion rates and life spans were not significantly altered. Genome-wide expression analysis identified 344 genes that were differentially expressed in irradiated larvae compared with in control larvae. We identified several genes belonging to larval behavior functional groups such as locomotion (1.1%), oxidation reduction (8.0%), and genes involved in conventional functional groups modulated by irradiation such as defense response (4.9%), and sensory and perception (2.5%). Four candidate genes were confirmed as differentially expressed genes in irradiated larvae using qRT-PCR (>2-fold change). These data suggest that LDR stimulates locomotion-related genes, and these genes can be used as potential markers for LDR. (author)

Advancing Translational Space Research Through Biospecimen Sharing: Amplified Impact of Studies Utilizing Analogue Space Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Staten, B.; Moyer, E.; Vizir, V.; Gompf, H.; Hoban-Higgins, T.; Lewis, L.; Ronca, A.; Fuller, C. A.

2016-01-01

Biospecimen Sharing Programs (BSPs) have been organized by NASA Ames Research Center since the 1960s with the goal of maximizing utilization and scientific return from rare, complex and costly spaceflight experiments. BSPs involve acquiring otherwise unused biological specimens from primary space research experiments for distribution to secondary experiments. Here we describe a collaboration leveraging Ames expertise in biospecimen sharing to magnify the scientific impact of research informing astronaut health funded by the NASA Human Research Program (HRP) Human Health Countermeasures (HHC) Element. The concept expands biospecimen sharing to one-off ground-based studies utilizing analogue space platforms (e.g., Hindlimb Unloading (HLU), Artificial Gravity) for rodent experiments, thereby significantly broadening the range of research opportunities with translational relevance for protecting human health in space and on Earth.

Launching platforms for user-generated content

OpenAIRE

Batista, Guilherme Luís Caroço

2015-01-01

Field lab: Entrepreneurial and innovative ventures This paper intends to discuss and absorb the Best Practices employed by successful User- Generated Content (UGC)1 platforms and constitute a guide on how to launch a platform without having a cyclical lack of content and users. Research shows that companies have resorted to integration with mature UGC platforms, and providing content by themselves, in an initial state. I conclude that integration possibilities should be explore...

Scaling in Theropod Dinosaurs: Femoral Bone Strength and Locomotion II

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Scott

2015-01-01

In the second paper of this series, the effect of transverse femoral stresses due to locomotion in theropod dinosaurs of different sizes was examined for the case of an unchanging leg geometry. Students are invariably thrilled to learn about theropod dinosaurs, and this activity applies the concepts of torque and stress to the issue of theropod…

Analysis of emotionality and locomotion in radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation exposed rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Narayanan, Sareesh Naduvil; Kumar, Raju Suresh; Paval, Jaijesh; Kedage, Vivekananda; Bhat, M Shankaranarayana; Nayak, Satheesha; Bhat, P Gopalakrishna

2013-07-01

In the current study the modulatory role of mobile phone radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) on emotionality and locomotion was evaluated in adolescent rats. Male albino Wistar rats (6-8 weeks old) were randomly assigned into the following groups having 12 animals in each group. Group I (Control): they remained in the home cage throughout the experimental period. Group II (Sham exposed): they were exposed to mobile phone in switch-off mode for 28 days, and Group III (RF-EMR exposed): they were exposed to RF-EMR (900 MHz) from an active GSM (Global system for mobile communications) mobile phone with a peak power density of 146.60 μW/cm(2) for 28 days. On 29th day, the animals were tested for emotionality and locomotion. Elevated plus maze (EPM) test revealed that, percentage of entries into the open arm, percentage of time spent on the open arm and distance travelled on the open arm were significantly reduced in the RF-EMR exposed rats. Rearing frequency and grooming frequency were also decreased in the RF-EMR exposed rats. Defecation boli count during the EPM test was more with the RF-EMR group. No statistically significant difference was found in total distance travelled, total arm entries, percentage of closed arm entries and parallelism index in the RF-EMR exposed rats compared to controls. Results indicate that mobile phone radiation could affect the emotionality of rats without affecting the general locomotion.

BiLBIQ A Biologically Inspired Robot with Walking and Rolling Locomotion

CERN Document Server

King, Ralf Simon

2013-01-01

The book ‘BiLBIQ: A biologically inspired Robot with walking and rolling locomotion’ deals with implementing a locomotion behavior observed in the biological archetype Cebrennus villosus to a robot prototype whose structural design needs to be developed.   The biological sample is investigated as far as possible and compared to other evolutional solutions within the framework of nature’s inventions. Current achievements in robotics are examined and evaluated for their relation and relevance to the robot prototype in question. An overview of what is state of the art in actuation ensures the choice of the hardware available and most suitable for this project. Through a constant consideration of the achievement of two fundamentally different ways of locomotion with one and the same structure, a robot design is developed and constructed taking hardware constraints into account. The development of a special leg structure that needs to resemble and replace body elements of the biological archetype is a speci...

Electroencephalography(EEG)-based instinctive brain-control of a quadruped locomotion robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Wenchuan; Huang, Dandan; Luo, Xin; Pu, Huayan; Chen, Xuedong; Bai, Ou

2012-01-01

Artificial intelligence and bionic control have been applied in electroencephalography (EEG)-based robot system, to execute complex brain-control task. Nevertheless, due to technical limitations of the EEG decoding, the brain-computer interface (BCI) protocol is often complex, and the mapping between the EEG signal and the practical instructions lack of logic associated, which restrict the user's actual use. This paper presents a strategy that can be used to control a quadruped locomotion robot by user's instinctive action, based on five kinds of movement related neurophysiological signal. In actual use, the user drives or imagines the limbs/wrists action to generate EEG signal to adjust the real movement of the robot according to his/her own motor reflex of the robot locomotion. This method is easy for real use, as the user generates the brain-control signal through the instinctive reaction. By adopting the behavioral control of learning and evolution based on the proposed strategy, complex movement task may be realized by instinctive brain-control.

Design of a biped locomotion controller based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shieh, M-Y; Chang, K-H [Department of E. E., Southern Taiwan University, 1 Nantai St., YungKang City, Tainan County 71005, Taiwan (China); Lia, Y-S [Executive Director Office, ITRI, Southern Taiwan Innovation Park, Tainan County, Taiwan (China)], E-mail: myshieh@mail.stut.edu.tw

2008-02-15

This paper proposes a method for the design of a biped locomotion controller based on the ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System) inverse learning model. In the model developed here, an integrated ANFIS structure is trained to function as the system identifier for the modeling of the inverse dynamics of a biped robot. The parameters resulting from the modeling process are duplicated and integrated as those of the biped locomotion controller to provide favorable control action. As the simulation results show, the proposed controller is able to generate a stable walking cycle for a biped robot. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed controller is satisfactory under conditions when the robot stands in different postures or moves on a rugged surface.

Design of a biped locomotion controller based on adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shieh, M-Y; Chang, K-H; Lia, Y-S

2008-01-01

This paper proposes a method for the design of a biped locomotion controller based on the ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System) inverse learning model. In the model developed here, an integrated ANFIS structure is trained to function as the system identifier for the modeling of the inverse dynamics of a biped robot. The parameters resulting from the modeling process are duplicated and integrated as those of the biped locomotion controller to provide favorable control action. As the simulation results show, the proposed controller is able to generate a stable walking cycle for a biped robot. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the proposed controller is satisfactory under conditions when the robot stands in different postures or moves on a rugged surface

The role of nucleotides in augmentation of lymphocyte locomotion: Adaptional countermeasure development in microgravity analog environments

Science.gov (United States)

Sundaresan, Alamelu; Kulkarni, Anil D.; Yamauchi, Keiko; Pellis, Neal R.

2006-09-01

Space travel and long-term space residence such as envisaged in the exploration era implicates burdens on the immune system. An optimal immune response is required to countered and with-stand exposure to pathogens. Countermeasure development is an important avenue in space research especially for long-term space exploration. Microgravity exposure causes detrimental effects in lymphocyte functions which may impair immune response. Impaired lymphocyte function can be remedied by bypassing cell membrane events. This is done by using compounds such as Phorbol Myristate Acetate (PMA). Since activation in mouse splenocytes was augmented using nucleotides, it was essential to observe their effects on human lymphocyte locomotion. A nucleotide/nucleoside (NT/NT) mixture from Otsuka Pharmaceuticals (Naruto, Japan) was used at recommended doses. In lymphocytes cultured in modeled microgravity, the NT/NT mixture used orchestrated locomotion recovery by more than 87%, similar to the response documented with PMA in lymphocytes. Both 12µM and 120µM doses worked similarly. These are preliminary results leading to the possible use of the NT/NT mixture to mitigate immune suppression in micro-gravity. More studies in this direction are required to delineate the role of NT/NT on the immune response in microgravity.

Research on acceleration method of reactor physics based on FPGA platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, C.; Yu, G.; Wang, K.

2013-01-01

The physical designs of the new concept reactors which have complex structure, various materials and neutronic energy spectrum, have greatly improved the requirements to the calculation methods and the corresponding computing hardware. Along with the widely used parallel algorithm, heterogeneous platforms architecture has been introduced into numerical computations in reactor physics. Because of the natural parallel characteristics, the CPU-FPGA architecture is often used to accelerate numerical computation. This paper studies the application and features of this kind of heterogeneous platforms used in numerical calculation of reactor physics through practical examples. After the designed neutron diffusion module based on CPU-FPGA architecture achieves a 11.2 speed up factor, it is proved to be feasible to apply this kind of heterogeneous platform into reactor physics. (authors)

A remotely-controlled locomotive IC driven by electrolytic bubbles and wireless powering.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Jian-Yu; Kuo, Po-Hung; Huang, Yi-Chun; Huang, Yu-Jie; Tsai, Rong-Da; Wang, Tao; Chiu, Hung-Wei; Wang, Yao-Hung; Lu, Shey-Shi

2014-12-01

A batteryless remotely-controlled locomotive IC utilizing electrolytic bubbles as propelling force is realized in 0.35 μm CMOS technology. Without any external components, such as magnets and on-board coils, the bare IC is wirelessly powered and controlled by a 10 MHz ASK modulated signal with RS232 control commands to execute movement in four moving directions and with two speeds. The receiving coil and electrolysis electrodes are all integrated on the locomotive chip. The experiment successfully demonstrated that the bare IC moved on the surface of an electrolyte with a speed up to 0.3 mm/s and change moving directions according to the commands. The total power consumptions of the chip are 207.4 μW and 180 μ W while the output electrolysis voltages are 2 V and 1.3 V, respectively.

Using Computational and Mechanical Models to Study Animal Locomotion

OpenAIRE

Miller, Laura A.; Goldman, Daniel I.; Hedrick, Tyson L.; Tytell, Eric D.; Wang, Z. Jane; Yen, Jeannette; Alben, Silas

2012-01-01

Recent advances in computational methods have made realistic large-scale simulations of animal locomotion possible. This has resulted in numerous mathematical and computational studies of animal movement through fluids and over substrates with the purpose of better understanding organisms’ performance and improving the design of vehicles moving through air and water and on land. This work has also motivated the development of improved numerical methods and modeling techniques for animal locom...

Markerless 3D motion capture for animal locomotion studies

OpenAIRE

William Irvin Sellers; Eishi Hirasaki

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Obtaining quantitative data describing the movements of animals is an essential step in understanding their locomotor biology. Outside the laboratory, measuring animal locomotion often relies on video-based approaches and analysis is hampered because of difficulties in calibration and often the limited availability of possible camera positions. It is also usually restricted to two dimensions, which is often an undesirable over-simplification given the essentially three-dimensional na...

The influence of speed and size on avian terrestrial locomotor biomechanics: Predicting locomotion in extinct theropod dinosaurs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P J Bishop

Full Text Available How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs moved is a subject of considerable interest and controversy. A better understanding of non-avian theropod locomotion can be achieved by better understanding terrestrial locomotor biomechanics in their modern descendants, birds. Despite much research on the subject, avian terrestrial locomotion remains little explored in regards to how kinematic and kinetic factors vary together with speed and body size. Here, terrestrial locomotion was investigated in twelve species of ground-dwelling bird, spanning a 1,780-fold range in body mass, across almost their entire speed range. Particular attention was devoted to the ground reaction force (GRF, the force that the feet exert upon the ground. Comparable data for the only other extant obligate, striding biped, humans, were also collected and studied. In birds, all kinematic and kinetic parameters examined changed continuously with increasing speed, while in humans all but one of those same parameters changed abruptly at the walk-run transition. This result supports previous studies that show birds to have a highly continuous locomotor repertoire compared to humans, where discrete 'walking' and 'running' gaits are not easily distinguished based on kinematic patterns alone. The influences of speed and body size on kinematic and kinetic factors in birds are developed into a set of predictive relationships that may be applied to extinct, non-avian theropods. The resulting predictive model is able to explain 79-93% of the observed variation in kinematics and 69-83% of the observed variation in GRFs, and also performs well in extrapolation tests. However, this study also found that the location of the whole-body centre of mass may exert an important influence on the nature of the GRF, and hence some caution is warranted, in lieu of further investigation.

The influence of speed and size on avian terrestrial locomotor biomechanics: Predicting locomotion in extinct theropod dinosaurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, P J; Graham, D F; Lamas, L P; Hutchinson, J R; Rubenson, J; Hancock, J A; Wilson, R S; Hocknull, S A; Barrett, R S; Lloyd, D G; Clemente, C J

2018-01-01

How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs moved is a subject of considerable interest and controversy. A better understanding of non-avian theropod locomotion can be achieved by better understanding terrestrial locomotor biomechanics in their modern descendants, birds. Despite much research on the subject, avian terrestrial locomotion remains little explored in regards to how kinematic and kinetic factors vary together with speed and body size. Here, terrestrial locomotion was investigated in twelve species of ground-dwelling bird, spanning a 1,780-fold range in body mass, across almost their entire speed range. Particular attention was devoted to the ground reaction force (GRF), the force that the feet exert upon the ground. Comparable data for the only other extant obligate, striding biped, humans, were also collected and studied. In birds, all kinematic and kinetic parameters examined changed continuously with increasing speed, while in humans all but one of those same parameters changed abruptly at the walk-run transition. This result supports previous studies that show birds to have a highly continuous locomotor repertoire compared to humans, where discrete 'walking' and 'running' gaits are not easily distinguished based on kinematic patterns alone. The influences of speed and body size on kinematic and kinetic factors in birds are developed into a set of predictive relationships that may be applied to extinct, non-avian theropods. The resulting predictive model is able to explain 79-93% of the observed variation in kinematics and 69-83% of the observed variation in GRFs, and also performs well in extrapolation tests. However, this study also found that the location of the whole-body centre of mass may exert an important influence on the nature of the GRF, and hence some caution is warranted, in lieu of further investigation.

The influence of speed and size on avian terrestrial locomotor biomechanics: Predicting locomotion in extinct theropod dinosaurs

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, D. F.; Lamas, L. P.; Hutchinson, J. R.; Rubenson, J.; Hancock, J. A.; Wilson, R. S.; Hocknull, S. A.; Barrett, R. S.; Lloyd, D. G.; Clemente, C. J.

2018-01-01

How extinct, non-avian theropod dinosaurs moved is a subject of considerable interest and controversy. A better understanding of non-avian theropod locomotion can be achieved by better understanding terrestrial locomotor biomechanics in their modern descendants, birds. Despite much research on the subject, avian terrestrial locomotion remains little explored in regards to how kinematic and kinetic factors vary together with speed and body size. Here, terrestrial locomotion was investigated in twelve species of ground-dwelling bird, spanning a 1,780-fold range in body mass, across almost their entire speed range. Particular attention was devoted to the ground reaction force (GRF), the force that the feet exert upon the ground. Comparable data for the only other extant obligate, striding biped, humans, were also collected and studied. In birds, all kinematic and kinetic parameters examined changed continuously with increasing speed, while in humans all but one of those same parameters changed abruptly at the walk-run transition. This result supports previous studies that show birds to have a highly continuous locomotor repertoire compared to humans, where discrete ‘walking’ and ‘running’ gaits are not easily distinguished based on kinematic patterns alone. The influences of speed and body size on kinematic and kinetic factors in birds are developed into a set of predictive relationships that may be applied to extinct, non-avian theropods. The resulting predictive model is able to explain 79–93% of the observed variation in kinematics and 69–83% of the observed variation in GRFs, and also performs well in extrapolation tests. However, this study also found that the location of the whole-body centre of mass may exert an important influence on the nature of the GRF, and hence some caution is warranted, in lieu of further investigation. PMID:29466362

Neural Control and Adaptive Neural Forward Models for Insect-like, Energy-Efficient, and Adaptable Locomotion of Walking Machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manoonpong, Poramate; Parlitz, Ulrich; Wörgötter, Florentin

2013-01-01

such natural properties with artificial legged locomotion systems by using different approaches including machine learning algorithms, classical engineering control techniques, and biologically-inspired control mechanisms. However, their levels of performance are still far from the natural ones. By contrast...... on sensory feedback and adaptive neural forward models with efference copies. This neural closed-loop controller enables a walking machine to perform a multitude of different walking patterns including insect-like leg movements and gaits as well as energy-efficient locomotion. In addition, the forward models...... allow the machine to autonomously adapt its locomotion to deal with a change of terrain, losing of ground contact during stance phase, stepping on or hitting an obstacle during swing phase, leg damage, and even to promote cockroach-like climbing behavior. Thus, the results presented here show...

The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowak, S.; Aulich, H.; Bal, J.L.; Dimmler, B.; Garnier, A.; Jongerden, G.; Luther, J.; Luque, A.; Milner, A.; Nelson, D.; Pataki, I.; Pearsall, N.; Perezagua, E.; Pietruszko, S.; Rehak, J.; Schellekens, E.; Shanker, A.; Silvestrini, G.; Sinke, W.; Willemsen, H.

2006-05-01

The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform is one of the European Technology Platforms, a new instrument proposed by the European Commission. European Technology Platforms (ETPs) are a mechanism to bring together all interested stakeholders to develop a long-term vision to address a specific challenge, create a coherent, dynamic strategy to achieve that vision and steer the implementation of an action plan to deliver agreed programmes of activities and optimise the benefits for all parties. The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform has recently been established to define, support and accompany the implementation of a coherent and comprehensive strategic plan for photovoltaics. The platform will mobilise all stakeholders sharing a long-term European vision for PV, helping to ensure that Europe maintains and improves its industrial position. The platform will realise a European Strategic Research Agenda for PV for the next decade(s). Guided by a Steering Committee of 20 high level decision-makers representing all relevant European PV Stakeholders, the European PV Technology Platform comprises 4 Working Groups dealing with the subjects policy and instruments; market deployment; science, technology and applications as well as developing countries and is supported by a secretariat

Interactions between posture and locomotion: motor patterns in humans walking with bent posture versus erect posture.

Science.gov (United States)

Grasso, R; Zago, M; Lacquaniti, F

2000-01-01

Human erect locomotion is unique among living primates. Evolution selected specific biomechanical features that make human locomotion mechanically efficient. These features are matched by the motor patterns generated in the CNS. What happens when humans walk with bent postures? Are normal motor patterns of erect locomotion maintained or completely reorganized? Five healthy volunteers walked straight and forward at different speeds in three different postures (regular, knee-flexed, and knee- and trunk-flexed) while their motion, ground reaction forces, and electromyographic (EMG) activity were recorded. The three postures imply large differences in the position of the center of body mass relative to the body segments. The elevation angles of the trunk, pelvis, and lower limb segments relative to the vertical in the sagittal plane, the ground reaction forces and the rectified EMGs were analyzed over the gait cycle. The waveforms of the elevation angles along the gait cycle remained essentially unchanged irrespective of the adopted postures. The first two harmonics of these kinematic waveforms explain >95% of their variance. The phase shift but not the amplitude ratio between the first harmonic of the elevation angle waveforms of adjacent pairs was affected systematically by changes in posture. Thigh, shank, and foot angles covaried close to a plane in all conditions, but the plane orientation was systematically different in bent versus erect locomotion. This was explained by the changes in the temporal coupling among the three segments. For walking speeds >1 m s(-1), the plane orientation of bent locomotion indicates a much lower mechanical efficiency relative to erect locomotion. Ground reaction forces differed prominently in bent versus erect posture displaying characteristics intermediate between those typical of walking and those of running. Mean EMG activity was greater in bent postures for all recorded muscles independent of the functional role. The waveforms

Continuum limbed robots for locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Mutlu, Alper

This thesis focuses on continuum robots based on pneumatic muscle technology. We introduce a novel approach to use these muscles as limbs of lightweight legged robots. The flexibility of the continuum legs of these robots offers the potential to perform some duties that are not possible with classical rigid-link robots. Potential applications are as space robots in low gravity, and as cave explorer robots. The thesis covers the fabrication process of continuum pneumatic muscles and limbs. It also provides some new experimental data on this technology. Afterwards, the designs of two different novel continuum robots - one tripod, one quadruped - are introduced. Experimental data from tests using the robots is provided. The experimental results are the first published example of locomotion with tripod and quadruped continuum legged robots. Finally, discussion of the results and how far this technology can go forward is presented.

Locomotion and the Cost of Hunting in Large, Stealthy Marine Carnivores.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Terrie M; Fuiman, Lee A; Davis, Randall W

2015-10-01

Foraging by large (>25 kg), mammalian carnivores often entails cryptic tactics to surreptitiously locate and overcome highly mobile prey. Many forms of intermittent locomotion from stroke-and-glide maneuvers by marine mammals to sneak-and-pounce behaviors by terrestrial canids, ursids, and felids are involved. While affording proximity to vigilant prey, these tactics are also associated with unique energetic costs and benefits to the predator. We examined the energetic consequences of intermittent locomotion in mammalian carnivores and assessed the role of these behaviors in overall foraging efficiency. Behaviorally-linked, three-axis accelerometers were calibrated to provide instantaneous locomotor behaviors and associated energetic costs for wild adult Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) diving beneath the Antarctic ice. The results were compared with previously published values for other marine and terrestrial carnivores. We found that intermittent locomotion in the form of extended glides, burst-and-glide swimming, and rollercoaster maneuvers while hunting silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) resulted in a marked energetic savings for the diving seals relative to continuously stroking. The cost of a foraging dive by the seals decreased by 9.2-59.6%, depending on the proportion of time gliding. These energetic savings translated into exceptionally low transport costs during hunting (COTHUNT) for diving mammals. COTHUNT for Weddell seals was nearly six times lower than predicted for large terrestrial carnivores, and demonstrates the importance of turning off the propulsive machinery to facilitate cost-efficient foraging in highly active, air-breathing marine predators. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

AURORA BOREALIS: a polar-dedicated European Research Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Wolff-Boenisch, Bonnie; Egerton, Paul; Thiede, Joern; Roberto, Azzolini; Lembke-Jene, Lester

2010-05-01

Polar research and in particular the properties of northern and southern high latitude oceans are currently a subject of intense scientific debate and investigations, because they are subject to rapid and dramatic climatic variations. Polar regions react more rapidly and intensively to global change than other regions of the earth. A shrinking of the Arctic sea-ice cover, potentially leading to an opening of sea passages to the north of North America and Eurasia, on the long to a "blue" Arctic Ocean would additionally have a strong impact on transport, commerce and tourism bearing potential risk for humans and complex ecosystems in the future. In spite of their critical role processes and feedbacks, especially in winter but not exclusively, are virtually unknown: The Arctic Ocean for example, it is the only basin of the world's oceans that has essentially not been sampled by the drill ships of the Deep-Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) or the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and its long-term environmental history and tectonic structure is therefore poorly known. Exceptions are the ODP Leg 151 and the more recent very successful ACEX-expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) in 2004. To help to address the most pressing questions regarding climate change and related processes, a Pan-European initiative in the field of Earth system science has been put in place: AURORA BOREALIS is the largest environmental research infrastructure on the ESFRI roadmap of the European Community. AURORA BOREALIS is a very powerful research icebreaker, which will enable year-round operations in the Arctic and the Antarctic as well as in the adjacent ocean basins. Equipped with its drilling rig, the vessel is also capable to explore the presently completely unknown Arctic deep-sea floor. Last but not least, the ship is a floating observatory and mobile monitoring platform that permits to measure on a long-term basis comprehensive time series in all research fields relevant to

Trajectory Correction and Locomotion Analysis of a Hexapod Walking Robot with Semi-Round Rigid Feet

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yaguang; Jin, Bo; Wu, Yongsheng; Guo, Tong; Zhao, Xiangmo

2016-01-01

Aimed at solving the misplaced body trajectory problem caused by the rolling of semi-round rigid feet when a robot is walking, a legged kinematic trajectory correction methodology based on the Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) is proposed. The concept of ideal foothold is put forward for the three-dimensional kinematic model modification of a robot leg, and the deviation value between the ideal foothold and real foothold is analyzed. The forward/inverse kinematic solutions between the ideal foothold and joint angular vectors are formulated and the problem of direct/inverse kinematic nonlinear mapping is solved by using the LS-SVM. Compared with the previous approximation method, this correction methodology has better accuracy and faster calculation speed with regards to inverse kinematics solutions. Experiments on a leg platform and a hexapod walking robot are conducted with multi-sensors for the analysis of foot tip trajectory, base joint vibration, contact force impact, direction deviation, and power consumption, respectively. The comparative analysis shows that the trajectory correction methodology can effectively correct the joint trajectory, thus eliminating the contact force influence of semi-round rigid feet, significantly improving the locomotion of the walking robot and reducing the total power consumption of the system. PMID:27589766

An FPGA Scalable Software Defined Radio Platform Design for Educational and Research Purposes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Hervás

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In a digital modem design, the integration of the Analog to Digital Converters (ADC and Digital to Analog Converters (DAC with the core processor is usually a major issue for the designer. In this paper an FPGA scalable Software Defined Radio platform based on a Spartan-6 as a control unit is presented, developed for both educational and research purposes, which can fit the different application requirements in terms of analog front-end performance, processing unit and cost. The resolution and sampling frequency of the analog front-end are its main adjustable parameters. The processing core requirements involve the FPGA and the communication ports. A multidisciplinary working group was required to design a high performance system for both analog front-end and digital processing core in terms of signal integrity and electromagnetic compatibility. The platform has 5 different peripheral ports ranging from 16 kbps to 2.5 Gbps. The communication ports allow our students to develop a high range of applications for both on-site and online courses applying teaching methodology based on learning by doing using a real system to help them to reach other transversal skills.

PROBA-V Mission Exploitation Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erwin Goor

2016-07-01

Full Text Available As an extension of the PROBA-Vegetation (PROBA-V user segment, the European Space Agency (ESA, de Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO, and partners TRASYS and Spacebel developed an operational Mission Exploitation Platform (MEP to drastically improve the exploitation of the PROBA-V Earth Observation (EO data archive, the archive from the historical SPOT-VEGETATION mission, and derived products by researchers, service providers, and thematic users. The analysis of the time series of data (petabyte range is addressed, as well as the large scale on-demand processing of the complete archive, including near real-time data. The platform consists of a private cloud environment, a Hadoop-based processing environment and a data manager. Several applications are released to the users, e.g., a full resolution viewing service, a time series viewer, pre-defined on-demand processing chains, and virtual machines with powerful tools and access to the data. After an initial release in January 2016 a research platform was deployed gradually, allowing users to design, debug, and test applications on the platform. From the PROBA-V MEP, access to, e.g., Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 data will be addressed as well.

Gaze Strategies in Skateboard Trick Jumps: Spatiotemporal Constraints in Complex Locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Klostermann, André; Küng, Philip

2017-01-01

Purpose: This study aimed to further the knowledge on gaze behavior in locomotion by studying gaze strategies in skateboard jumps of different difficulty that had to be performed either with or without an obstacle. Method: Nine experienced skateboarders performed "Ollie" and "Kickflip" jumps either over an obstacle or over a…

Disentangling Competition Among Platform Driven Strategic Groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazan, Erol; Tan, Chee-Wee; Lim, Eric T. K.

2018-01-01

for the mobile payment market in the United Kingdom as our empirical setting. By conceptualizing digital platforms as layered modular architectures and embracing the theoretical lens of strategic groups, this study supplements prior research by deriving a taxonomy of platform profiles that is grounded...... delivery architecture. The preceding attributes of value creation architecture and value delivery architecture aided us in identifying six profiles associated with mobile payment platforms, which in turn led us to advance three competitive strategies that could be pursued by digital platforms in network...

Development of a Modular Robotic Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudiu Ioan Cirebea

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper a modular robotic platform is presented, for students and researchers laboratory work based on the Matlab-Simulink and dSpace real time control platform. The goal of this combination is to stimulate and to experiment with real time hardware and software in courses where mobile robotics is adopted as a motivating platform to introduce mechatronics competencies. Its many possibilities for modifications and extensions make experiments very easy. We used, for example, an omnidirectional mobile robot configuration with three Swedish wheels, whose kinematic model was simulated using Simulink. For real-time control, of the robot, the developed model has been implemented using DSpace platform DS1103.

Nonlinear control methods for planar carangiform robot fish locomotion

OpenAIRE

Morgansen, Kristi A.; Duindam, Vincent; Mason, Richard J.; Burdick, Joel W.; Murray, Richard M.

2001-01-01

Considers the design of motion control algorithms for robot fish. We present modeling, control design, and experimental trajectory tracking results for an experimental planar robotic fish system that is propelled using carangiform-like locomotion. Our model for the fish's propulsion is based on quasi-steady fluid flow. Using this model, we propose gaits for forward and turning trajectories and analyze system response under such control strategies. Our models and predictions are verified by ex...

Tamoxifen Promotes Axonal Preservation and Gait Locomotion Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury in Cats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Braniff de la Torre Valdovinos

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We performed experiments in cats with a spinal cord penetrating hemisection at T13-L1 level, with and without tamoxifen treatment. The results showed that the numbers of the ipsilateral and contralateral ventral horn neurons were reduced to less than half in the nontreated animals compared with the treated ones. Also, axons myelin sheet was preserved to almost normal values in treated cats. On the contrary, in the untreated animals, their myelin sheet was reduced to 28% at 30 days after injury (DAI, in both the ipsilateral and contralateral regions of the spinal cord. Additionally, we made hindlimb kinematics experiments to study the effects of tamoxifen on cat locomotion after the injury: at 4, 16, and 30 DAI. We observed that the ipsilateral hindlimb angular displacement (AD of the pendulum-like movements (PLM during gait locomotion was recovered to almost normal values in treated cats. Contralateral PLM acquired similar values to those obtained in intact cats. At 4 DAI, untreated animals showed a compensatory increment of PLM occurring in the contralateral hindlimb, which was partially recovered at 30 DAI. Our findings indicate that tamoxifen exerts a neuroprotective effect and preserves or produces myelinated axons, which could benefit the locomotion recovery in injured cats.

The Creative Platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Byrge, Christian; Hansen, Søren

whether you consider thirdgrade teaching, human-resource development, or radical new thinking in product development in a company. The Creative Platform was developed at Aalborg University through a series of research-and-development activities in collaboration with educational institutions and private...

Development of a Historical Hydrological online research and application platform for Switzerland - Historical Hydrological Atlas of Switzerland (HHAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Wetter, Oliver

2017-04-01

It is planned to develop and maintain a historical hydrological online platform for Switzerland, which shall be specially designed for the needs of research and federal, cantonal or private institutions being interested in hydrological risk assessment and protection measures. The aim is on the one hand to facilitate the access to raw data which generally is needed for further historical hydrological reconstruction and quantification, so that future research will be achieved in significantly shorter time. On the other hand, new historical hydrological research results shall be continuously included in order to establish this platform as a useful tool for the assessment of hydrological risk by including the long term experience of reconstructed pre-instrumental hydrological extreme events like floods and droughts. Meteorological parameters that may trigger extreme hydrological events, like monthly or seasonally resolved reconstructions of temperature and precipitation shall be made accessible in this platform as well. The ultimate goal will be to homogenise the reconstructed hydrological extreme events which usually appeared in the pre anthropogenic influence period under different climatological as well as different hydrological regimes and topographical conditions with the present day state. Long term changes of reconstructed small- to extreme flood seasonality, based on municipal accounting records, will be included in the platform as well. This helps - in combination with the before mentioned meteorological parameters - to provide an increased understanding of the major changes in the generally complex overall system that finally causes hydrological extreme events. The goal of my presentation at the Historical Climatology session is to give an overview about the applied historical climatological and historical hydrological methodologies that are applied on the historical raw data (evidence) to reconstruct pre instrumental hydrological events and meteorological

Research progress of anti-icing/deicing technologies for polar ships and offshore platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

XIE Qiang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The polar regions present adverse circumstances of high humidity and strong air-sea exchange. As such, the surfaces of ships and platforms (oil exploiting and drilling platforms serving in polar regions can easily be frozen by ice accretion, which not only affects the operation of the equipment but also threatens safety. This paper summarizes the status of the anti-icing/deicing technologies of both China and abroad for polar ships and offshore platforms, and introduces the various effects of ice accretion on polar ships and offshore platforms, and the resulting safety impacts. It then reviews existing anti-icing/deicing technologies and methods of both China and abroad, including such active deicing methods as electric heating, infrared heating and ultrasonic guided wave deicing, as well as such passive deicing methods as super hydrophobic coating, sacrificial coating, aqueous lubricating layer coating and low cross-link density (with interfacial slippage coating, summarizes their applicability to polar ships and offshore platforms, and finally discusses their advantages/disadvantages.

Life-Cycle Assessment of the Use of Jatropha Biodiesel in Indian Locomotives (Revised)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whitaker, M.; Heath, G.

2009-03-01

With India's transportation sector relying heavily on imported petroleum-based fuels, the Planning Commission of India and the Indian government recommended the increased use of blended biodiesel in transportation fleets, identifying Jatropha as a potentially important biomass feedstock. The Indian Oil Corporation and Indian Railways are collaborating to increase the use of biodiesel blends in Indian locomotives with blends of up to B20, aiming to reduce GHG emissions and decrease petroleum consumption. To help evaluate the potential for Jatropha-based biodiesel in achieving sustainability and energy security goals, this study examines the life cycle, net GHG emission, net energy ratio, and petroleum displacement impacts of integrating Jatropha-based biodiesel into locomotive operations in India. In addition, this study identifies the parameters that have the greatest impact on the sustainability of the system.

MTU engines for locomotives satisfying the EU stage IIIB emission standard; MTU-Lokomotivantriebe fuer die Emissionsstufe EU IIIB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wintruff, Ingo; Reich, Christian; Geiselmann, Wolfgang; Gottschalch, Harald; Jansen, Eddy [MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2011-07-01

The emission limits for diesel locomotives inside the European Union are included within the scope of Directive 97/68/EC, which is sometimes referred to as the ''non-road directive''. The pollutants limited by it are NO{sub x}, particulates, CO and HCs. The aim, through the directive, is to reduce railway emissions by a factor of ten by the year 2020. The EU stage IIIB standard is due to take effect on 1 January 2012. This envisages a further drastic reduction in limit values compared with EU stage IIIA, which is applicable today. For diesel locomotives, EU stage IIIA only came into force as recently as 2009. The manufacturers of engines and locomotives are thus having to face up to the huge challenge of getting the technologies needed for EU stage IIIB ready for the production line within a period of only three years. MTU has succeeded in developing engines for diesel locomotives that comply with the EU stage IIIB emission standard, which appreciably lower emissions compared with engines satisfying EU stage IIIA, thanks to the incorporation of the most modern technologies available, and has even gone as far as preparing them for the EU stage IV, the next one to come into force. (orig.)

Fish locomotion: kinematics and hydrodynamics of flexible foil-like fins

Science.gov (United States)

Lauder, George V.; Madden, Peter G. A.

2007-11-01

The fins of fishes are remarkable propulsive devices that appear at the origin of fishes about 500 million years ago and have been a key feature of fish evolutionary diversification. Most fish species possess both median (midline) dorsal, anal, and caudal fins as well as paired pectoral and pelvic fins. Fish fins are supported by jointed skeletal elements, fin rays, that in turn support a thin collagenous membrane. Muscles at the base of the fin attach to and actuate each fin ray, and fish fins thus generate their own hydrodynamic wake during locomotion, in addition to fluid motion induced by undulation of the body. In bony fishes, the jointed fin rays can be actively deformed and the fin surface can thus actively resist hydrodynamic loading. Fish fins are highly flexible, exhibit considerable deformation during locomotion, and can interact hydrodynamically during both propulsion and maneuvering. For example, the dorsal and anal fins shed a vortex wake that greatly modifies the flow environment experienced by the tail fin. New experimental kinematic and hydrodynamic data are presented for pectoral fin function in bluegill sunfish. The highly flexible sunfish pectoral fin moves in a complex manner with two leading edges, a spanwise wave of bending, and substantial changes in area through the fin beat cycle. Data from scanning particle image velocimetry (PIV) and time-resolved stereo PIV show that the pectoral fin generates thrust throughout the fin beat cycle, and that there is no time of net drag. Continuous thrust production is due to fin flexibility which enables some part of the fin to generate thrust at all times and to smooth out oscillations that might arise at the transition from outstroke to instroke during the movement cycle. Computational fluid dynamic analyses of sunfish pectoral fin function corroborate this conclusion. Future research on fish fin function will benefit considerably from close integration with studies of robotic model fins.

THE SIX-WHEEL FRIGHT TRUCK LOCOMOTIVE OF DOUBLE DELIVERY USES RADIO-FREQUENCY TRANSFER WITH PADDING AND ASYNCHRONIZED TRACTION IMPELLENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. H. Visin

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Our research offers a new perspective loading pattern of the 12-wheel double-feed freight electric locomotive with the asynchronous tractive motor using an adapter transformer with the high-frequency uncoupler. This will make it possible to decrease the traction-feeding transformer mass 2.3 times, to remove the current pulse advancing on the track circuit and therefore the influence on the work of the ALSE and CBS. So the railway traffic safety will be increased considerably.

Association between new indices in the locomotive syndrome risk test and decline in mobility: third survey of the ROAD study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Noriko; Muraki, Shigeyuki; Oka, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Sakae; Ogata, Toru; Kawaguchi, Hiroshi; Akune, Toru; Nakamura, Kozo

2015-09-01

We aimed to clarify the association between new indices in a locomotive syndrome risk test and decline in mobility. In the third survey of the Research on Osteoarthritis/osteoporosis Against Disability (ROAD) study, data on the indices were obtained from 1575 subjects (513 men, 1062 women) of the 1721 participants in mountainous and coastal areas. As outcome measures for decline in mobility, we used the five-times-sit-to-stand test (FTSST) and walking speed with cutoff values of 12 s and 0.8 m/s, respectively. We first estimated the prevalence of the indices in locomotive syndrome risk test stage 1, including two-step test score syndrome risk test stage 2, including two-step test score immobility. Finally, we clarified the risk of immobility according to an increasing number of indices in both stages 1 and 2 and found that the odds ratio for both slow FTSST time and slow walking speed increased exponentially. We found that the three indices independently predicted immobility and that accumulation of indices increased the risk of immobility exponentially.

Effects of shell morphology on mechanics of zebra and quagga mussel locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Peyer, Suzanne M; Hermanson, John C; Lee, Carol Eunmi

2011-07-01

Although zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) initially colonized shallow habitats within the North American Great Lakes, quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) are becoming dominant in both shallow- and deep-water habitats. Shell morphology differs among zebra, shallow quagga and deep quagga mussels but functional consequences of such differences are unknown. We examined effects of shell morphology on locomotion for the three morphotypes on hard (typical of shallow habitats) and soft (characteristic of deep habitats) sedimentary substrates. We quantified morphology using the polar moment of inertia, a parameter used in calculating kinetic energy that describes shell area distribution and resistance to rotation. We quantified mussel locomotion by determining the ratio of rotational (K(rot)) to translational kinetic energy (K(trans)). On hard substrate, K(rot):K(trans) of deep quagga mussels was fourfold greater than for the other morphotypes, indicating greater energy expenditure in rotation relative to translation. On soft substrate, K(rot):K(trans) of deep quagga mussels was approximately one-third of that on hard substrate, indicating lower energy expenditure in rotation on soft substrate. Overall, our study demonstrates that shell morphology correlates with differences in locomotion (i.e. K(rot):K(trans)) among morphotypes. Although deep quagga mussels were similar to zebra and shallow quagga mussels in terms of energy expenditure on sedimentary substrate, their morphology was energetically maladaptive for linear movement on hard substrate. As quagga mussels can possess two distinct morphotypes (i.e. shallow and deep morphs), they might more effectively utilize a broader range of substrates than zebra mussels, potentially enhancing their ability to colonize a wider range of habitats.

Authorized Limits for the Release of a 25 Ton Locomotive, Serial Number 21547, at the Area 25 Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly Facility, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gwin, Jeremy; Frenette, Douglas

2010-01-01

This document contains process knowledge and radiological data and analysis to support approval for release of the 25-ton locomotive, Serial Number 21547, at the Area 25 Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (EMAD) Facility, located on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The 25-ton locomotive is a small, one-of-a-kind locomotive used to move railcars in support of the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application project. This locomotive was identified as having significant historical value by the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nevada, where it will be used as a display piece. A substantial effort to characterize the radiological conditions of the locomotive was undertaken by the NTS Management and Operations Contractor, National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec). During this characterization process, seven small areas on the locomotive had contamination levels that exceeded the NTS release criteria (limits consistent with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order DOE O 5400.5, 'Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment'). The decision was made to perform radiological decontamination of these known accessible impacted areas to further the release process. On February 9, 2010, NSTec personnel completed decontamination of these seven areas to within the NTS release criteria. Although all accessible areas of the locomotive had been successfully decontaminated to within NTS release criteria, it was plausible that inaccessible areas of the locomotive (i.e., those areas on the locomotive where it was not possible to perform radiological surveys) could potentially have contamination above unrestricted release limits. To access the majority of these inaccessible areas, the locomotive would have to be disassembled. A complete disassembly for a full radiological survey could have permanently destroyed parts and would have ruined the historical value of the locomotive. Complete disassembly would also add an unreasonable financial burden for the

How scientific visions matter: insights from three long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) platforms under construction in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mauz, I.; Peltola, T.; Granjou, C.; Bommel, van S.; Buijs, A.E.

2012-01-01

Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) has been introduced to change the current approach to ecology and turn it into a big science. LTSER Platforms are currently being created across Europe. They are expected to enhance ecology's capacity to produce useful knowledge for facing global

Contrasting platform thinking and product modularization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boer, Henrike Engele Elisabeth; Persson, Magnus

2015-01-01

Product modularization and platform thinking are both practices that seek to alleviate the negative impact of product customization and variety on internal operations by relying on economies of substitution. Through the use of a standardized pool of components and interfaces, these practices aim...... to create a broad spectrum of product choices. At first sight, product modularization and platform thinking are very similar. The difference between these practices can, however, be found in the manner in which they employ standardization. Where product modularization focuses on creating standardized...... variants. There is a general lack of research addressing the contingency factors that dictate the appropriateness of the use of product modularization and platform thinking in different contexts. To our knowledge, no large-scale empirical research has been reported in which the two concepts, contextual...

Development of Independent Locomotion in Children with a Severe Visual Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Hallemans, Ann; Ortibus, Els; Truijen, Steven; Meire, Francoise

2011-01-01

Locomotion of children and adults with a visual impairment (ages 1-44, n = 28) was compared to that of age-related individuals with normal vision (n = 60). Participants walked barefoot at preferred speed while their gait was recorded by a Vicon[R] system. Walking speed, heading angle, step frequency, stride length, step width, stance phase…

Do mature innovation platforms make a difference in agricultural research for development? a meta-analysis of case studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schut, Marc; Cadilhon, Jean-Joseph; Misiko, Michael; Dror, Iddo

2018-01-01

Innovation Platforms (IPs) have become a popular vehicle in agricultural research for development (AR4D). The IP promise is that integrating scientific and local knowledge results in innovations that can have impact at scale. Many studies have uncovered how IPs work in various countries, value

The role of vortices in animal locomotion in fluids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dvořák R.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to show the significance of vortices in animal locomotion in fluids on two deliberately chosen examples. The first example concerns lift generation by bird and insect wings, the second example briefly mentiones swimming and walking on water. In all the examples, the vortices generated by the moving animal impart the necessary momentum to the surrounding fluid, the reaction to which is the force moving or lifting the animal.

Improved Usability of Locomotion Devices Using Human-Centric Taxonomy

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

the classification of interaction devices by the limbs used in the interaction rather than by arbitrary classifications, such as “ wand ”, or “glove...ABILITY REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS USING F-JAS In Tables 5 through 8, we took the results of a sample HAR analysis done by Cockayne and Darken [13] comparing...point less than natural locomotion in all categories except for explosive strength, in which it receives 2 less points. 2. Decelerate from Walk or Jog

Distributed Recurrent Neural Forward Models with Neural Control for Complex Locomotion in Walking Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dasgupta, Sakyasingha; Goldschmidt, Dennis; Wörgötter, Florentin

2015-01-01

here, an artificial bio-inspired walking system which effectively combines biomechanics (in terms of the body and leg structures) with the underlying neural mechanisms. The neural mechanisms consist of (1) central pattern generator based control for generating basic rhythmic patterns and coordinated......Walking animals, like stick insects, cockroaches or ants, demonstrate a fascinating range of locomotive abilities and complex behaviors. The locomotive behaviors can consist of a variety of walking patterns along with adaptation that allow the animals to deal with changes in environmental...... conditions, like uneven terrains, gaps, obstacles etc. Biological study has revealed that such complex behaviors are a result of a combination of biomechanics and neural mechanism thus representing the true nature of embodied interactions. While the biomechanics helps maintain flexibility and sustain...

tranSMART: An Open Source and Community-Driven Informatics and Data Sharing Platform for Clinical and Translational Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Athey, Brian D; Braxenthaler, Michael; Haas, Magali; Guo, Yike

2013-01-01

tranSMART is an emerging global open source public private partnership community developing a comprehensive informatics-based analysis and data-sharing cloud platform for clinical and translational research. The tranSMART consortium includes pharmaceutical and other companies, not-for-profits, academic entities, patient advocacy groups, and government stakeholders. The tranSMART value proposition relies on the concept that the global community of users, developers, and stakeholders are the best source of innovation for applications and for useful data. Continued development and use of the tranSMART platform will create a means to enable "pre-competitive" data sharing broadly, saving money and, potentially accelerating research translation to cures. Significant transformative effects of tranSMART includes 1) allowing for all its user community to benefit from experts globally, 2) capturing the best of innovation in analytic tools, 3) a growing 'big data' resource, 4) convergent standards, and 5) new informatics-enabled translational science in the pharma, academic, and not-for-profit sectors.

Design and Research of Service Platform for Protection and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage Resources of The Silk Road in the Territory of China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, L.; Zhang, W.; Zeng, S. J.; Na, W.; Yang, H.; Huang, J.; Tan, X. D.; Sun, Z. J.

2015-08-01

The Silk Road, a major traffic route across the Eurasia continent, has been a convergence for the exchange, communication and dissemination of various cultures such as nations, materials, religions and arts for more than two thousand years. And the cultural heritage along the long and complicate route has been also attractive. In recent years, the Silk Road - the Road Network along the Chang'an-Tianshan Mountain has been listed in the Directory of World Cultural Heritage. The rare and rich cultural resources along the Silk Road, especially those in the territory of China, have attracted attentions of the world. This article describes the research ideas, methods, processes and results of the planning design on the internet-based dissemination services platform system for cultural heritage resources. First of all, it has defined the targeting for dissemination services and the research methods applied for the Silk Road heritage resources, based on scientific and objective spatial measurement and research on history and geography, to carry on the excavation of values of cultural resource for the target users. Then, with the front-end art exhibit by means of innovative IT, time and space maps of cultural heritage resources, interactive graphics display, panoramic three-dimensional virtual tour, and the Silk Road topics as the main features, a comprehensive and multi-angle cultural resources dissemination services platform is built. The research core of the platform is a demand-oriented system design on the basis of cultural resources and features as the fundamental, the value of contemporary manifestation as the foundation, and cultural dissemination and service as a starting point. This platform has achieved, temporal context generalization, interest profiles extension, online and offline adaptation, and other prominent innovations. On the basis of routes heritage resource protection and dissemination services with complex relationship between time and space, and the

Demand forecasting and information platform in tourism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yue

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Information asymmetry and the bullwhip effect have been serious problems in the tourism supply chain. Based on platform theory, this paper established a mathematical model to explore the inner mechanism of a platform’s influence on stakeholders’ ability to forecast demand in tourism. Results showed that the variance of stakeholders’ demand predictions with a platform was smaller than the variance without a platform, which meant that a platform would improve predictions of demand for stakeholders. The higher information-processing ability of the platform also had other effects on demand forecasting. Research on the inner logic of the platform’s influence on stakeholders has important theoretical and realistic value. This area is worthy of further study.

TECHNICAL AND ENERGY PARAMETERS IMPROVEMENT OF DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES THROUGH THE INTRODUCTION OF AUTOMATED CONTROL SYSTEMS OF A DIESEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. I. Kapitsa

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Today the issue, connected with diesel traction remains relevant for the majority of industrial enterprises and Ukrainian railways and diesel engine continues to be the subject of extensive research and improvements. Despite the intensive process of electrification, which accompanies Railway Transport of Ukraine the last few years, diesel traction continues to play an important role both in the main and in the industrial railway traction rolling stock. Anyway, all kinds of maneuvering and chores are for locomotives, they are improved and upgraded relentlessly and hourly. This paper is focused on finding the opportunities to improve technical and energy parameters of diesels due to the development of modern control method of the fuel equipment in the diesel engine. Methodology. The proposed method increases the power of locomotives diesel engines in the range of crankshaft rotation (from idle running to maximum one. It was based on approach of mixture ignition timing up to the top «dead» center of piston position. Findings. The paper provides a brief historical background of research in the area of operating cycle in the internal combustion engine (ICE. The factors affecting the process of mixing and its quality were analyzed. The requirements for fuel feed system in to the cylinder and the «weak points» of the process were presented. A variant of the modification the fuel pump drive, which allows approaching to the regulation of fuel feed system from the other hand and to improve it was proposed. Represents a variant of embodiment of the complex system with specification of mechanical features and control circuits. The algorithm of the system operation was presented and its impact on the performance of diesel was made. Originality. The angle regulating system of fuel supply allows automating the process of fuel injection advance angle into the cylinder. Practical value. At implementation the angle regulating system of fuel supply

Collaborative and cognitive network platforms : Vision and research challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Onur, E.; Durmus, Y.; Hawas, M.G.; Heemstra de Groot, S.M.; Niemegeers, I.G.M.M.

2011-01-01

In this paper, we present a visionary concept referred to as Collaborative and Cognitive Network Platforms (CCNPs) as a future-proof solution for creating a dependable, self-organizing and self-managing communication substrate for effective ICT solutions to societal problems. CCNP creates a

Rolling towards a cleaner future: the development of Canadian locomotive emissions regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-12-01

In 2006, the Government of Canada published a notice of intent that it would develop regulations aimed at reducing anthropogenic criteria air contaminants and greenhouse gas emissions. The Government now intends to develop railway emissions regulations for criteria air contaminants under the Railway Safety Act. The Railway Safety Act not only provides the legislative basis for developing regulations governing railways, it also gives the authority for developing the rules governing federally regulated railroads to the Minister of Transport. For the future, Transport Canada will be responsible for developing regulations governing the rail sector. The transportation sector is a substantial emitter of criteria air contaminants, so rail transportation is a key element of the current work. This paper seeks to give a framework for consultations with stakeholders and facilitate dialogue. It collects feedback from stakeholders on the design of a Canadian regulatory regime for locomotive-generated criteria air contaminant emissions. Canadian railways have managed locomotive air contaminant emissions since 1995.

Autonomous undulatory serpentine locomotion utilizing body dynamics of a fluidic soft robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onal, Cagdas D; Rus, Daniela

2013-01-01

Soft robotics offers the unique promise of creating inherently safe and adaptive systems. These systems bring man-made machines closer to the natural capabilities of biological systems. An important requirement to enable self-contained soft mobile robots is an on-board power source. In this paper, we present an approach to create a bio-inspired soft robotic snake that can undulate in a similar way to its biological counterpart using pressure for actuation power, without human intervention. With this approach, we develop an autonomous soft snake robot with on-board actuation, power, computation and control capabilities. The robot consists of four bidirectional fluidic elastomer actuators in series to create a traveling curvature wave from head to tail along its body. Passive wheels between segments generate the necessary frictional anisotropy for forward locomotion. It takes 14 h to build the soft robotic snake, which can attain an average locomotion speed of 19 mm s −1 . (paper)

The coordination between mechanical and chemical subsystems initiates locomotion of Physarum plasmodial fragments

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shun; Guy, Robert; Del Alamo, Juan Carlos

2017-11-01

Physarum polycephalum is a multinucleated slime mold whose endoplasm flows periodically driven by the contraction of its ectoplasm, a dense shell of F-actin cross-linked by myosin molecular motors and attached to the cell membrane. We find that physarum fragments smaller than 100 microns remain round and stay in place. However, larger fragments break symmetry leading to sustained forward locomotion, in process that is reminiscent of an interfacial instability that seems to settle around two different limit cycles (traveling waves and standing waves). We use both theory and experiments to study how coordination emerges between the different mechanical and chemical subsystems of the fragment to initiate locomotion. The role of many involved factors, such as fragment size, substratum adhesiveness, rheological properties, actin polymerization and traction stresses are investigated, and we find they agree well with our predictive model.

E-Sourcing platforms as reasonable marketing tools for suppliers

OpenAIRE

Göbl, Martin; Greiter, Thomas

2014-01-01

Research questions: E-sourcing platforms offer purchasing organisations often easy access to a high number of relevant suppliers, their goods and services and the accord-ing prices. For the suppliers, e-sourcing platforms are a good and easy pos-sibility to present their products and services to the relevant buyers and to get in contact with potential customers. Subject of this research will be the question, whether e-sourcing platforms are also a reasonable marketing tool for suppliers in or...

The National Cohort of Dairy Farms--a data collection platform for mastitis research in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyher, K K; Dufour, S; Barkema, H W; Des Côteaux, L; Devries, T J; Dohoo, I R; Keefe, G P; Roy, J-P; Scholl, D T

2011-03-01

Costs and feasibility of extensive sample collection and processing are major obstacles to mastitis epidemiology research. Studies are often consequentially limited, and fundamental mastitis researchers rarely have the opportunity to conduct their work in epidemiologically valid populations. To mitigate these limitations, the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network has optimized research funds by creating a data collection platform to provide epidemiologically meaningful data for several simultaneous research endeavors. This platform consists of a National Cohort of Dairy Farms (NCDF), Mastitis Laboratory Network, and Mastitis Pathogen Culture Collection. This paper describes the implementation and operation of the NCDF, explains its sampling protocols and data collection, and documents characteristics, strengths and limitations of these data for current and potential users. The NCDF comprises 91 commercial dairy farms in 6 provinces sampled over a 2-yr period. Primarily Holstein-Friesian herds participating in Dairy Herd Improvement milk recording were selected in order to achieve a uniform distribution among 3 strata of bulk tank somatic cell counts and to reflect regional proportions of freestall housing systems. Standardized protocols were implemented for repeated milk samplings on clinical mastitis cases, fresh and randomly selected lactating cows, and cows at dry-off and after calving. Just fewer than 133,000 milk samples were collected. Demographic and production data were recorded at individual cow and farm levels. Health management data are documented and extensive questionnaire data detailing farm management and cleanliness information are also captured. The Laboratory Network represents coordinated regional mastitis bacteriology laboratories using standardized procedures. The Culture Collection archives isolates recovered from intramammary infections of cows in the NCDF and contains over 16,500 isolates, all epidemiologically cross-referenced between

MO-E-18C-05: Global Health Catalyst: A Novel Platform for Enhancing Access to Medical Physics Education and Research Excellence (AMPERE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngwa, W; Moreau, M; Asana, L

2014-01-01

Purpose: To develop a platform for catalyzing collaborative global Cancer Care Education and Research (CaRE), with a prime focus on enhancing Access to Medical Physics Education and Research Excellence (AMPERE) Methods: An analysis of over 50 global health collaborations between partners in the U.S. and low and middle income countries (LMIC) in Africa was carried out to assess the models of collaborations in Education and Research and relative success. A survey was carried out with questions including: the nature of the collaboration, how it was initiated, impact of culture and other factors, and recommendations for catalyzing/enhancing such collaborations. An online platform called Global Health Catalyst was developed for enhancing AMPERE. Results: The analysis yielded three main models for global health collaborations with survey providing key recommendations on how to enhance such collaborations. Based on this, the platform was developed, and customized to allow Medical Physicists and other Radiation oncology (RadOnc) professionals interested in participating in Global health to readily do so e.g. teach an online course module, participate in training Medical Physicists or other RadOnc health professionals in LMIC, co-mentor students, residents or postdocs, etc. The growing list of features on the platform also include: a feature to enable people to easily find each other, form teams, operate more effectively as partners from different disciplines, institutions, nations and cultural backgrounds, share tools and technologies, obtain seed funding to develop curricula and/or embark upon new areas of investigation, and participate in humanitarian outreach: remote treatment planning assistance, and participation in virtual Chart Rounds, etc. Conclusion: The developed Global Health Catalyst platform could enable any Medical Physicist or RadoOnc professional interested in global health to readily participate in the Education/training of next generation Rad

MO-E-18C-05: Global Health Catalyst: A Novel Platform for Enhancing Access to Medical Physics Education and Research Excellence (AMPERE)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ngwa, W [Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts (United States); Moreau, M [University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts (United States); Asana, L [African Renaissance Ambassador Corp, Orlando, FL (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: To develop a platform for catalyzing collaborative global Cancer Care Education and Research (CaRE), with a prime focus on enhancing Access to Medical Physics Education and Research Excellence (AMPERE) Methods: An analysis of over 50 global health collaborations between partners in the U.S. and low and middle income countries (LMIC) in Africa was carried out to assess the models of collaborations in Education and Research and relative success. A survey was carried out with questions including: the nature of the collaboration, how it was initiated, impact of culture and other factors, and recommendations for catalyzing/enhancing such collaborations. An online platform called Global Health Catalyst was developed for enhancing AMPERE. Results: The analysis yielded three main models for global health collaborations with survey providing key recommendations on how to enhance such collaborations. Based on this, the platform was developed, and customized to allow Medical Physicists and other Radiation oncology (RadOnc) professionals interested in participating in Global health to readily do so e.g. teach an online course module, participate in training Medical Physicists or other RadOnc health professionals in LMIC, co-mentor students, residents or postdocs, etc. The growing list of features on the platform also include: a feature to enable people to easily find each other, form teams, operate more effectively as partners from different disciplines, institutions, nations and cultural backgrounds, share tools and technologies, obtain seed funding to develop curricula and/or embark upon new areas of investigation, and participate in humanitarian outreach: remote treatment planning assistance, and participation in virtual Chart Rounds, etc. Conclusion: The developed Global Health Catalyst platform could enable any Medical Physicist or RadoOnc professional interested in global health to readily participate in the Education/training of next generation Rad

When is visual information used to control locomotion when descending a kerb?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John G Buckley

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Descending kerbs during locomotion involves the regulation of appropriate foot placement before the kerb-edge and foot clearance over it. It also involves the modulation of gait output to ensure the body-mass is safely and smoothly lowered to the new level. Previous research has shown that vision is used in such adaptive gait tasks for feedforward planning, with vision from the lower visual field (lvf used for online updating. The present study determined when lvf information is used to control/update locomotion when stepping from a kerb. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 12 young adults stepped down a kerb during ongoing gait. Force sensitive resistors (attached to participants' feet interfaced with an high-speed PDLC 'smart glass' sheet, allowed the lvf to be unpredictably occluded at either heel-contact of the penultimate or final step before the kerb-edge up to contact with the lower level. Analysis focussed on determining changes in foot placement distance before the kerb-edge, clearance over it, and in kinematic measures of the step down. Lvf occlusion from the instant of final step contact had no significant effect on any dependant variable (p>0.09. Occlusion of the lvf from the instant of penultimate step contact had a significant effect on foot clearance and on several kinematic measures, with findings consistent with participants becoming uncertain regarding relative horizontal location of the kerb-edge. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest concurrent feedback of the lower limb, kerb-edge, and/or floor area immediately in front/below the kerb is not used when stepping from a kerb during ongoing gait. Instead heel-clearance and pre-landing-kinematic parameters are determined/planned using lvf information acquired in the penultimate step during the approach to the kerb-edge, with information related to foot placement before the kerb-edge being the most salient.

When is visual information used to control locomotion when descending a kerb?

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, John G; Timmis, Matthew A; Scally, Andy J; Elliott, David B

2011-04-18

Descending kerbs during locomotion involves the regulation of appropriate foot placement before the kerb-edge and foot clearance over it. It also involves the modulation of gait output to ensure the body-mass is safely and smoothly lowered to the new level. Previous research has shown that vision is used in such adaptive gait tasks for feedforward planning, with vision from the lower visual field (lvf) used for online updating. The present study determined when lvf information is used to control/update locomotion when stepping from a kerb. 12 young adults stepped down a kerb during ongoing gait. Force sensitive resistors (attached to participants' feet) interfaced with an high-speed PDLC 'smart glass' sheet, allowed the lvf to be unpredictably occluded at either heel-contact of the penultimate or final step before the kerb-edge up to contact with the lower level. Analysis focussed on determining changes in foot placement distance before the kerb-edge, clearance over it, and in kinematic measures of the step down. Lvf occlusion from the instant of final step contact had no significant effect on any dependant variable (p>0.09). Occlusion of the lvf from the instant of penultimate step contact had a significant effect on foot clearance and on several kinematic measures, with findings consistent with participants becoming uncertain regarding relative horizontal location of the kerb-edge. These findings suggest concurrent feedback of the lower limb, kerb-edge, and/or floor area immediately in front/below the kerb is not used when stepping from a kerb during ongoing gait. Instead heel-clearance and pre-landing-kinematic parameters are determined/planned using lvf information acquired in the penultimate step during the approach to the kerb-edge, with information related to foot placement before the kerb-edge being the most salient.

Unraveling Platform Strategies: A Review from an Organizational Ambidexterity Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Wan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Platform strategies, which highlight the interdependence in and evolution of business ecosystems, are increasingly relevant for sustainable business models in the digital era. So far, platform research has existed as a fragmented body of insights from different fields, but an integrated theoretical perspective can lead to a more coherent understanding of the research overall. Organizational ambidexterity emphasizes the balance between exploration and exploitation, which is particularly conducive to understanding the sustainability of a firm. Using an organizational ambidexterity perspective, the authors analyze five platform strategies: pricing, openness, integration, differentiation, and envelopment. This paper provides a systematic review of the theoretical and empirical studies in leading management, economics, and information systems journals from 2000 to 2016. The findings show that platform strategies can help platform owners achieve ambidexterity by domain, temporal, and organizational separation. Finally, this paper proposes an agenda for future research.

Locomotion of bacteria in liquid flow and the boundary layer effect on bacterial attachment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Chao; Liao, Qiang; Chen, Rong; Zhu, Xun

2015-01-01

The formation of biofilm greatly affects the performance of biological reactors, which highly depends on bacterial swimming and attachment that usually takes place in liquid flow. Therefore, bacterial swimming and attachment on flat and circular surfaces with the consideration of flow was studied experimentally. Besides, a mathematical model comprehensively combining bacterial swimming and motion with flow is proposed for the simulation of bacterial locomotion and attachment in flow. Both experimental and theoretical results revealed that attached bacteria density increases with decreasing boundary layer thickness on both flat and circular surfaces, the consequence of which is inherently related to the competition between bacterial swimming and the non-slip motion with flow evaluated by the Péclet number. In the boundary layer, where the Péclet number is relatively higher, bacterial locomotion mainly depends on bacterial swimming. Thinner boundary layer promotes bacterial swimming towards the surface, leading to higher attachment density. To enhance the performance of biofilm reactors, it is effective to reduce the boundary layer thickness on desired surfaces. - Highlights: • Study of bacterial locomotion in flow as an early stage in biofilm formation. • Mathematical model combining bacterial swimming and the motion with flow. • Boundary layer plays a key role in bacterial attachment under flow condition. • The competition between bacterial swimming and the motion with flow is evaluated

Locomotion of bacteria in liquid flow and the boundary layer effect on bacterial attachment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Chao, E-mail: zhangchao@cqu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030 (China); Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Liao, Qiang, E-mail: lqzx@cqu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030 (China); Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Chen, Rong, E-mail: rchen@cqu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030 (China); Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China); Zhu, Xun, E-mail: zhuxun@cqu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030 (China); Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030 (China)

2015-06-12

The formation of biofilm greatly affects the performance of biological reactors, which highly depends on bacterial swimming and attachment that usually takes place in liquid flow. Therefore, bacterial swimming and attachment on flat and circular surfaces with the consideration of flow was studied experimentally. Besides, a mathematical model comprehensively combining bacterial swimming and motion with flow is proposed for the simulation of bacterial locomotion and attachment in flow. Both experimental and theoretical results revealed that attached bacteria density increases with decreasing boundary layer thickness on both flat and circular surfaces, the consequence of which is inherently related to the competition between bacterial swimming and the non-slip motion with flow evaluated by the Péclet number. In the boundary layer, where the Péclet number is relatively higher, bacterial locomotion mainly depends on bacterial swimming. Thinner boundary layer promotes bacterial swimming towards the surface, leading to higher attachment density. To enhance the performance of biofilm reactors, it is effective to reduce the boundary layer thickness on desired surfaces. - Highlights: • Study of bacterial locomotion in flow as an early stage in biofilm formation. • Mathematical model combining bacterial swimming and the motion with flow. • Boundary layer plays a key role in bacterial attachment under flow condition. • The competition between bacterial swimming and the motion with flow is evaluated.

CyberTORCS: An Intelligent Vehicles Simulation Platform for Cooperative Driving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Yang

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Simulation platforms play an important role in helping intelligent vehicle research, especially for the research of cooperative driving due to the high cost and risk of the real experiments. In order to ease and bring more convenience for cooperative driving tests, we introduce an intelligent vehicle simulation platform, called CyberTORCS, for the research in cooperative driving. Details of the simulator modules including vehicle body control, vehicle visualization modeling and track visualization modeling are presented. Two simulation examples are given to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed simulation platform.

Space Science Cloud: a Virtual Space Science Research Platform Based on Cloud Model

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiaoyan; Tong, Jizhou; Zou, Ziming

Through independent and co-operational science missions, Strategic Pioneer Program (SPP) on Space Science, the new initiative of space science program in China which was approved by CAS and implemented by National Space Science Center (NSSC), dedicates to seek new discoveries and new breakthroughs in space science, thus deepen the understanding of universe and planet earth. In the framework of this program, in order to support the operations of space science missions and satisfy the demand of related research activities for e-Science, NSSC is developing a virtual space science research platform based on cloud model, namely the Space Science Cloud (SSC). In order to support mission demonstration, SSC integrates interactive satellite orbit design tool, satellite structure and payloads layout design tool, payload observation coverage analysis tool, etc., to help scientists analyze and verify space science mission designs. Another important function of SSC is supporting the mission operations, which runs through the space satellite data pipelines. Mission operators can acquire and process observation data, then distribute the data products to other systems or issue the data and archives with the services of SSC. In addition, SSC provides useful data, tools and models for space researchers. Several databases in the field of space science are integrated and an efficient retrieve system is developing. Common tools for data visualization, deep processing (e.g., smoothing and filtering tools), analysis (e.g., FFT analysis tool and minimum variance analysis tool) and mining (e.g., proton event correlation analysis tool) are also integrated to help the researchers to better utilize the data. The space weather models on SSC include magnetic storm forecast model, multi-station middle and upper atmospheric climate model, solar energetic particle propagation model and so on. All the services above-mentioned are based on the e-Science infrastructures of CAS e.g. cloud storage and

The impact of the type of operation on the parameters of a shunting diesel locomotive with hybrid power plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Falendysh Anatoliy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In designing a traction vehicle it is necessary to take into account the type of field operation it is meant for. It was found out that during shunting operation a ChME3 diesel locomotive is in idling mode for almost half of its general running time. That is why, the introduction of a less powerful engine along with an energy storage device for shunting operations at a shunting diesel locomotive is appropriate. The calculations were made using a modernized shunting diesel locomotive ChME3 with hybrid transmission of power as an example. The dependences of the general running time of a diesel locomotive on the position of the engine driver controller under performing shunting, transportation and hump operation were given in percentages. For every operation mode there was calculated the optimum power of a diesel-generator plant and the optimum energy capacity of an energy storage system taking into account the above-mentioned dependences. It was found out that due to the introduction of a hybrid drive for the section discussed above and the corresponding mass of a train the aggregate fuel consumption will be reduced by 25% and the efficiency of travel will increase by one third.

Association between new indices in the locomotive syndrome risk test and decline in mobility: third survey of the ROAD study

OpenAIRE

Yoshimura, Noriko; Muraki, Shigeyuki; Oka, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Sakae; Ogata, Toru; Kawaguchi, Hiroshi; Akune, Toru; Nakamura, Kozo

2015-01-01

Background We aimed to clarify the association between new indices in a locomotive syndrome risk test and decline in mobility. Methods In the third survey of the Research on Osteoarthritis/osteoporosis Against Disability (ROAD) study, data on the indices were obtained from 1575 subjects (513 men, 1062 women) of the 1721 participants in mountainous and coastal areas. As outcome measures for decline in mobility, we used the five-times-sit-to-stand test (FTSST) and walking speed with cutoff valu...

The Effects of Natural Locomotion on Maneuvering Task Performance in Virtual and Real Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Unguder, Eray

2001-01-01

... treadmill. The motivation for the development of locomotion devices thus far has been driven by the assumption that a The "perfect" device will result in human performance levels comparable to the real world...

Evaluation of Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems Performance on Oak Ridge National Laboratory s Flexible Research Platform: Part 3 Simulation Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Im, Piljae [ORNL; Cho, Heejin [Mississippi State University (MSU); Kim, Dongsu [Mississippi State University (MSU); Cox, Sam [Mississippi State University (MSU)

2016-08-01

This report provides second-year project simulation results for the multi-year project titled “Evaluation of Variable Refrigeration Flow (VRF) system on Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)’s Flexible Research Platform (FRP).”

Design and research on the platform of network manufacture product electronic trading

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zude; Liu, Quan; Jiang, Xuemei

2003-09-01

With the rapid globalization of market and business, E-trading affects every manufacture enterprise. However, the security of network manufacturing products of transmission on Internet is very important. In this paper we discussed the protocol of fair exchange and platform for network manufacture products E-trading based on fair exchange protocol and digital watermarking techniques. The platform realized reliable and copyright protection.

Influence of AC system design on the realisation of tractive efforts by high adhesion locomotives

Science.gov (United States)

Spiryagin, Maksym; Wolfs, Peter; Cole, Colin; Stichel, Sebastian; Berg, Mats; Manfred, Plöchl

2017-08-01

The main task for heavy haul railway operators is to reduce the cost of exported minerals and enhance the long-term viability of rail transport operations through increasing productivity by running longer and heavier trains. The common opinion is that this is achievable by means of implementation of high adhesion locomotives with advanced AC traction technologies. Modern AC high adhesion locomotives are very complex mechatronic systems and can be designed with two alternative traction topologies of either bogie or individual axle controls. This paper describes a modelling approach for these two types of AC traction systems with the application of an advanced co-simulation methodology, where an electrical system and a traction algorithm are modelled in Matlab/Simulink, and a mechanical system is modelled in a multibody software package. Although the paper concentrates on the analysis of the functioning for these two types of traction control systems, the choice of reference slip values also has an influence on the performance of both systems. All these design variations and issues have been simulated for various adhesion conditions at the wheel-rail interface and their influence on the high traction performance of a locomotive equipped with two three-axle bogies has been discussed.

Experimental platforms for behavioral experiments on social-ecological systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco A. Janssen

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Recently, there has been an increased interest in using behavioral experiments to study hypotheses on the governance of social-ecological systems. A diversity of software tools are used to implement such experiments. We evaluated various publicly available platforms that could be used in research and education on the governance of social-ecological systems. The aims of the various platforms are distinct, and this is noticeable in the differences in their user-friendliness and their adaptability to novel research questions. The more easily accessible platforms are useful for prototyping experiments and for educational purposes to illustrate theoretical concepts. To advance novel research aims, more elaborate programming experience is required to either implement an experiment from scratch or adjust existing experimental software. There is no ideal platform best suited for all possible use cases, but we have provided a menu of options and their associated trade-offs.

Locomotion and Grasping impairment in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Fulceri

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate expressiveness of motor impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD and its correlation with developmental and clinical features of ASD. Method: Thirty-five male preschoolers with ASD completed the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2; Folio and Fewell, 2000 and underwent a multidisciplinary assessment including medical examination, standardized assessment of cognitive abilities, administration of Autism_Diagnostic_Observation_Schedule (ADOS and a parent interview about adaptive skills. Results: Results revealed a substantial impairment in locomotion and grasping skills. Both fine and gross motor skills were significantly correlated with non verbal IQ and adaptive behaviours (p<0.01 but not with chronological age or ADOS scores. Children with weaker motor skills have greater cognitive and adaptive behaviours deficits. Conclusions: Motor development in ASD can be detected at preschool age and locomotion and grasping skills are substantially the most impaired area. These findings support the need to assess motor skills in preschoolers with ASD in addition to other developmental skill areas. Along with the increasingly acknowledged importance of motor skills for subsequent social, cognitive, and communicative development our findings support the need to consider motor intervention as a key area in therapeutic program to improve outcome in preschoolers with ASD.

Kinematically stable bipedal locomotion using ionic polymer–metal composite actuators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosseinipour, Milad; Elahinia, Mohammad

2013-01-01

Ionic conducting polymer–metal composites (abbreviated as IPMCs) are interesting actuators that can act as artificial muscles in robotic and microelectromechanical systems. Various black or gray box models have modeled the electrochemical–mechanical behavior of these materials. In this study, the governing partial differential equation of the behavior of IPMCs is solved using finite element methods to find the critical actuation parameters, such as strain distribution, maximum strain, and response time. One-dimensional results of the FEM solution are then extended to 2D to find the tip displacement of a flap actuator and experimentally verified. A model of a seven-degree-of-freedom biped robot, actuated by IPMC flaps, is then introduced. The possibility of fast and stable bipedal locomotion using IPMC artificial muscles is the main motivation of this study. Considering the actuator limits, joint path trajectories are generated to achieve a fast and smooth motion. The stability of the proposed gait is then evaluated using the ZMP criterion and motion simulation. The fabrication parameters of each actuator, such as length, platinum plating thickness and installation angle, are then determined using the generated trajectories. A discussion on future studies on force–torque generation of IPMCs for biped locomotion concludes this paper. (paper)

Effects of wearing lower leg compression sleeves on locomotion economy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurz, Eduard; Anders, Christoph

2018-09-01

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effect of compression sleeves on muscle activation cost during locomotion. Twenty-two recreationally active men (age: 25 ± 3 years) ran on a treadmill at four different speeds (ordered sequence of 2.8, 3.3, 2.2, and 3.9 m/s). The tests were performed without (control situation, CON) and while wearing specially designed lower leg compression sleeves (SL). Myoelectric activity of five lower leg muscles (tibialis anterior, fibularis longus, lateral and medial head of gastrocnemius, and soleus) was captured using Surface EMG. To assess muscle activation cost, the cumulative muscle activity per distance travelled (CMAPD) of the CON and SL situations was determined. Repeated measures analyses of variance were performed separately for each muscle. The analyses revealed a reduced lower leg muscle activation cost with respect to test situation for SL for all muscles (p  0.18). The respective significant reductions of CMAPD values during SL ranged between 4% and 16% and were largest at 2.8 m/s. The findings presented point towards an improved muscle activation cost while wearing lower leg compression sleeves during locomotion that have potential to postpone muscle fatigue.

An evaluation of the use of mobile source emissions trading: Locomotive case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, W.R.; Brazell, M.M.

1993-01-01

There are many proposals for generating mobil source credits for use by stationary and other sources. This paper examines the benefits and practicality of including locomotive rail emissions in proposed emissions trading programs in california. In particular, this paper examines (1) if trading of locomotive rail emissions will result in lower compliance costs for railroads than traditional open-quotes command and controlclose quotes approaches, and (2) if emissions trading programs provide large enough incentives to entice railroads to seek to meet or exceed expected emissions reduction open-quotes command and controlclose quotes targets. The paper also examines under what circumstances stationary sources would be willing to purchase mobile source credits from railroads, in order to offset some of the stationary source's emissions reductions requirements. Stated simply, this analysis examines whether proposed trading programs offer enough benefits to both trading partners to warrant their use

Design for game based learning platforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Birgitte Holm; Meyer, Bente

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on the challenges related to the design of game based learning platforms for formal learning contexts that are inspired by the pupil's leisure time related use of web 2.0. The paper is based on the project Serious Games on a Global Market Place (2007-2011) founded by the Danish...... of web 2.0 and integrates theories of learning, didactics, games, play, communication, multimodality and different pedagogical approaches. In relation to the introduced model the teacher role is discussed.......This paper focuses on the challenges related to the design of game based learning platforms for formal learning contexts that are inspired by the pupil's leisure time related use of web 2.0. The paper is based on the project Serious Games on a Global Market Place (2007-2011) founded by the Danish...... Council for Strategic Research, in which an online game-based platform for English as a foreign language in primary school is studied. The paper presents a model for designing for game based learning platforms. This design is based on cultural and ethnographic based research on children's leisure time use...

Innovative and applied research on big data platforms of smart heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, J.; Li, J.; Sun, H.

2015-08-01

Big data has huge commercial value and potential. Under the background of big data, a heritage site is faced with a number of questions and challenges such as, how to accelerate industrial innovation, benign competition and the creation of new business value. Based on the analysis of service data from the national archaeological site and park, Yuan Ming Yuan, this paper investigates the common problems of site management operations such as, inappropriate cultural interpretation, insufficient consumer demand and so on. In order to solve these operational problems, a new service system called the "one platform - three systems" was put forward. This system includes the smart heritage platform and three management systems: the smart heritage management system, the 3-O (Online-Offline-Onsite) service system and the digital explanation system. Combined with the 3-O marketing operation, the platform can realize bidirectional interaction between heritage site management units and tourists, which can also benefit visitors to the heritage site by explaining the culture and history of the heritage site, bring about more demand for cultural information and expand the social and economic benefits.