Search results for "Application"
showing 10 items of 5559 documents
Conceptual representations of actions for autonomous robots
2001
An autonomous robot involved in long and complex missions should be able to generate, update and process its own plans of action. In this perspective, it is not plausible that the meaning of the representations used by the robot is given from outside the system itself. Rather, the meaning of internal symbols must be firmly anchored to the world through the perceptual abilities and the overall activities of the robot. According to these premises, in this paper we present an approach to action representation that is based on a "conceptual" level of representation, acting as an intermediate level between symbols and data coming from sensors. Symbolic representations are interpreted by mapping …
Anchoring symbols to conceptual spaces: the case of dynamic scenarios.
2003
In recent years, there have been several proposals for the realization of models inspired to biological solutions for pattern recognition. In this work we propose a new approach, based on a hierarchical modular structure, to realize a system capable to learn by examples and recognize objects in digital images. The adopted techniques are based on multiresolution image analysis and neural networks. Performance on two different data sets and experimental timings on a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) machine are also reported.
Teaching and Learning School Informatics: A Concept-Based Pedagogical Approach
2009
While informatics is a well-established discipline in higher education around the world, it is not the case in secondary education, with the exception of a few countries. Generally, what is taught is not informatics as a subject with its own methods, concepts, and principles, but some software tools with the goal that the use is sufficient for students to acquire skills. In addition, an analysis of the current situation reveals that the real competencies of teachers and students in informatics are far weaker than might be expected in secondary education. This work proposes a concept-based pedagogical approach to school informatics. The aim is to provide the students with a more thorough und…
More than experience? On the unique opportunities of virtual reality to afford a holistic experiential learning cycle
2021
Virtual reality has been proposed as a promising technology for higher education since the combination of immersive and interactive features enables experiential learning. However, previous studies did not distinguish between the different learning modes of the four-stage experiential learning cycle (i.e., concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation). With our study, we contribute a deeper understanding of how the unique opportunities of virtual reality can afford each of the four experiential learning modes. We conducted three design thinking workshops with interdisciplinary teams of students and lecturers. These workshops resulted in…
libvdwxc: A library for exchange-correlation functionals in the vdW-DF family
2017
We present libvdwxc, a general library for evaluating the energy and potential for the family of vdW-DF exchange--correlation functionals. libvdwxc provides an efficient implementation of the vdW-DF method and can be interfaced with various general-purpose DFT codes. Currently, the GPAW and Octopus codes implement interfaces to libvdwxc. The present implementation emphasizes scalability and parallel performance, and thereby enables \textit{ab initio} calculations of nanometer-scale complexes. The numerical accuracy is benchmarked on the S22 test set whereas parallel performance is benchmarked on ligand-protected gold nanoparticles ($\text{Au}_{144}(\text{SC}_{11}\text{NH}_{25})_{60}$) up to…
Speeding up of microstructure reconstruction: I. Application to labyrinth patterns
2011
Recently, entropic descriptors based the Monte Carlo hybrid reconstruction of the microstructure of a binary/greyscale pattern has been proposed (Piasecki 2011 Proc. R. Soc. A 467 806). We try to speed up this method applied in this instance to the reconstruction of a binary labyrinth target. Instead of a random configuration, we propose to start with a suitable synthetic pattern created by cellular automaton. The occurrence of the characteristic attributes of the target is the key factor for reducing the computational cost that can be measured by the total number of MC steps required. For the same set of basic parameters, we investigated the following simulation scenarios: the biased/rando…
Quantum mechanics-classical molecular dynamics approach to EXAFS
2009
Recently developed approach to the simulation of configuration-averaged EXAFS spectra using the combination of quantum mechanics and classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) methods is presented on the example of the Ti K-edge in SrTiO3 at T = 300 K. The method allows one to significantly reduce the number of fitting parameters required in the EXAFS signal calculation and to account entirely for disorder contributions. We show also that the sensitivity of configuration-averaged EXAFS spectra to the force field model employed in the MD simulations allows one to use them as additional information for the force field parameters fitting.
Parallelization strategies for density matrix renormalization group algorithms on shared-memory systems
2003
Shared-memory parallelization (SMP) strategies for density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithms enable the treatment of complex systems in solid state physics. We present two different approaches by which parallelization of the standard DMRG algorithm can be accomplished in an efficient way. The methods are illustrated with DMRG calculations of the two-dimensional Hubbard model and the one-dimensional Holstein-Hubbard model on contemporary SMP architectures. The parallelized code shows good scalability up to at least eight processors and allows us to solve problems which exceed the capability of sequential DMRG calculations.
Blue luminescence in ZnO single crystals, nanopowders, ceramic
2007
The luminescence spectra and luminescence decay processes were studied in a ZnO single crystal, nanopowders and ceramic at liquid helium and room temperature under VUV synchrotron radiation as well as under pulsed laser excitation. The exciton-exciton and exciton-multiphonon processes were compared in different ZnO nanopowders (commercial powder, powders obtained by vaporization-condensation technique) and ceramic. The possibility of luminescence decay time modification by Al3+ doping was shown.
Spatial dependence of the pairing field calculated with bare and induced interactions
2009
The interaction induced by the exchange of low-lying surface vibrations between pairs of orbitals close to the Fermi surface provides an important contribution to pairing correlations in superfluid nuclei. We study the spatial dependence of the pairing field obtained adding the bare and induced interaction in 120Sn.