Search results for "usa"

Renewable energy growth and the financial performance of electric utilities: A panel data study

2017

Electric utilities are under pressure to increase clean energy production. Although the adoption of renewable energy can improve the utilities' environmental performance, a fundamental question is if it also pays in economic terms. Building on the natural-resource-based view of the firm, we answer this question using two data analysis methods. First, we carry out a regression analysis of panel data from 66 large electric utilities covering the period 2005–2014, applying both a fixed and random effects estimator. Subsequently, we use the Granger causality test to explore possible causality links. Our results show a negative correlation at the firm level between renewable energy increase and …

Teleoperation of industrial robot manipulators based on augmented reality

2020

[EN] This research develops a novel teleoperation for robot manipulators based on augmented reality. The proposed interface is equipped with full capabilities in order to replace the classical teach pendant of the robot for carrying out teleoperation tasks. The proposed interface is based on an augmented reality headset for projecting computer-generated graphics onto the real environment and a gamepad to interact with the computer-generated graphics and provide robot commands. In order to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed method, several usability tests were conducted using a 6R industrial robot manipulator in order to compare the proposed interface and the conventional teach pendant…

Haptic and Visual Feedback Assistance for Dual-Arm Robot Teleoperation in Surface Conditioning Tasks

2020

Contact driven tasks, such as surface conditioning operations (wiping, polishing, sanding, etc.), are difficult to program in advance to be performed autonomously by a robotic system, specially when the objects involved are moving. In many applications, human-robot physical interaction can be used for the teaching, specially in learning from demonstrations frameworks, but this solution is not always available. Robot teleoperation is very useful when user and robot cannot share the same workspace due to hazardous environments, inaccessible locations, or because of ergonomic issues. In this sense, this article introduces a novel dual-arm teleoperation architecture with haptic and visual feedb…

Security Assessment of a Distributed, Modbus-based Building Automation System

2017

Building automation systems were designed in an era when security was not a concern as the systems were closed from outside access. However, multiple benefits can be found in connecting such systems over the Internet and controlling a number of buildings from a single location. Security breaches towards building automation systems are increasing and may cause direct or indirect damages to the target organization or even the residents of the building. This work presents an approach to apply a method of data flow recognition and environment analysis to building automation through a case study on a distributed building automation system utilizing the Modbus protocol at the sites and presents s…

Patented intelligence: Cloning human decision models for Industry 4.0

2018

Industry 4.0 is a trend related to smart factories, which are cyber-physical spaces populated and controlled by the collective intelligence for the autonomous and highly flexible manufacturing purposes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) embedded into various planning, production, and management processes in Industry 4.0 must take the initiative and responsibility for making necessary real-time decisions in many cases. In this paper, we suggest the Pi-Mind technology as a compromise between completely human-expert-driven decision-making and AI-driven decision-making. Pi-Mind enables capturing, cloning and patenting essential parameters of the decision models from a particular human expert making …

Using Inverse Reinforcement Learning with Real Trajectories to Get More Trustworthy Pedestrian Simulations

2020

Reinforcement learning is one of the most promising machine learning techniques to get intelligent behaviors for embodied agents in simulations. The output of the classic Temporal Difference family of Reinforcement Learning algorithms adopts the form of a value function expressed as a numeric table or a function approximator. The learned behavior is then derived using a greedy policy with respect to this value function. Nevertheless, sometimes the learned policy does not meet expectations, and the task of authoring is difficult and unsafe because the modification of one value or parameter in the learned value function has unpredictable consequences in the space of the policies it represents…

Fusta de les serres ibériques (1750-1790) : L'impacte de la demanda per a la construcció fluvial a Cartagena

2014

Connecting theories of cascading disasters and disaster diplomacy

2018

Abstract Disaster diplomacy examines how and why disaster-related activities (disaster risk reduction and post-disaster actions) do and do not influence peace and conflict processes, especially whether or not a causal chain can be established between dealing with disaster risk or a disaster and outcomes in peace or conflict. Cascading disasters might provide a useful theoretical framing for mapping out causal pathways for disaster diplomacy. In conceptually exploring the intersection between disaster diplomacy and cascading disasters, this paper concludes that both disaster diplomacy and cascading disasters have limitations because they try to develop focused causal chains which, when exami…

A VR-based serious game to regulate joy in adolescents: A comparison of different devices

2016

Adolescence is a crucial period to learn Emotional Regulation (ER) strategies to prevent future psychological problems. This work is aimed to test the efficacy of GameTeen System (GT-System), a serious game that teaches ER strategies to regulate joy (VAS scale) and perceived arousal (FAS scale) in a non-clinical sample of adolescents. We conducted a between-participants experiment in which participants (N = 63) played a joy induction game, and then an ER game using one of three types of devices (computer, smartphone, and RGB-D camera). Results revealed that GT-System was only effective in increase perceived arousal after the joy induction game and decrease after the ER game. Statistically s…

Detecting differences with magnetoencephalography of somatosensory processing after tactile and electrical stimuli.

2018

Abstract Background Deviant stimuli within a standard, frequent stimulus train induce a cortical somatosensory mismatch response (SMMR). The SMMR reflects the brain’s automatic mechanism for the detection of change in a somatosensory domain. It is usually elicited by electrical stimulation, which activates nerve fibers and receptors in superficial and deep skin layers, whereas tactile stimulation is closer to natural stimulation and activates uniform fiber types. We recorded SMMRs after electrical and tactile stimuli. Method 306-channel magnetoencephalography recordings were made with 16 healthy adults under two conditions: electrical (eSMMR) and tactile (tSMMR) stimulations. The SMMR proto…