Toward an Intuitive and Iterative 6D Virtual Guide Programming Framework for Assisted Human–Robot Comanipulation

SUMMARYIn human–robot comanipulation, virtual guides are an important tool used to assist the human worker as they constrain the movement of the robot to improve the task accuracy and to avoid undesirable effects, such as collisions with the environment. Consequently, the physical effort and cognitive overload are reduced during accomplishment of comanipulative tasks. However, the construction of virtual guides often requires expert knowledge and modeling of the task, which restricts the usefulness of virtual guides to scenarios with fixed constraints. Moreover, few approaches have addressed the implementation of virtual guides enforcing orientation constraints and, when done, these approaches have treated translation and orientation separately, and consequently there is no synchronization of the translational and rotational motions. To overcome these challenges and enhance the programming flexibility of virtual guides, we present a new framework that allows the user to create 6D virtual guides through XSplines which we define as a combination of Akima splines for the translation component and spherical cubic interpolation of quaternions for the orientation component. For complex tasks, the user is able to initially define a 3D virtual guide and then use this assistance in translational motion to concentrate only on defining the orientations along the path. It is also possible for the user to modify a particular point or portion of a guide while being assisted by it. We demonstrate in an industrial scenario that these innovations provide an intuitive solution to extend the use of virtual guides to 6 degrees of freedom and increase the human worker’s comfort during the programming phase of these guides in an assisted human–robot comanipulation context.

Texture formation process of 6063-type aluminium alloy during hot extrusion

This study investigated the texture formation process of A6063 alloy hot extruded material using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements. The cube component that becomes the main orientation during hot extrusion was formed near the bearing inflow in the extrusion chamber and grew with continuous recrystallization. The Goss component with the same ED // <100> relationship as the cube component was not formed in the chamber or the bearing but was formed by discontinuous recrystallization after passing through the bearing. The TD // <111> orientation component of the surface layer was formed in the bearing and then grew with discontinuous recrystallization. However, because the internal cube and Goss components expanded preferentially, the surface layer TD // <111> components were replaced by the cube and Goss components after passing through the bearing. The cubic texture formation of extruded aluminium alloys is noted to be analogous to the formation of rolling sheet materials, formed by recovery and recrystallization from a plane strain deformation structure. However, for the A6063 alloy extruded under conditions close to industrial production, the cube components were mainly formed by recovery and continuous recrystallization.

Using a Narrative Tool to Help Quebec English-Speaking Students Produce Personal Histories of Belonging

This article introduces Jörn Rüsen’s concept of narrative competence as a useful pedagogical framework for operationalizing a remedial narrative tool designed to help make room for Quebec’s English-speaking minority in the teaching of school history. Developed through empirical research and representing a schema-like narrative structure, the Narrative Template Tool’s aim is to assist students to produce and validate personal (his)stories of belonging through conducting original historical research. To counter the dangers of indoctrination, the tool moreover employs a feature of the orientation component of narrative competence—use-of-history—as a means of helping students account for their emerging perspectives.

Forms of psycho-pedagogical work to overcome the negative factors in professional self-determination of teenagers with deviant behavior

The article examines the problem of professional orientation of students of adolescence with deviant behavior in secondary school. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding that without psycho-pedagogical assistance to professional orientation component development of "difficult" teenagers is very difficult and often even impossible. These difficulties caused by both objective reasons – the complexity of the process of professional selection in the current socio-economic situation and subjective age and personality characteristics of adolescents with deviant behavior. In this regard, the article describes the main factors affecting the formation of deviant adolescents the ability to professional self-determination, and proposes to the understanding and application of some form of psycho-pedagogical work on overcoming difficulties in professional self-determination of this category of students. The forms were tested in real teaching practice.

Computational Predictions on the Receptive Fields and Organization of V2 for Shape Processing

It has been more than 40 years since the first studies of the secondary visual cortex (V2) were published. However, no concrete hypothesis on how the receptive field of V2 neurons supports general shape processing has been proposed to date. Using a computational model that follows the principle of self-organization, we advance two hypotheses in this letter: (1) typical V2 orientation-selective receptive field contains a primary orientation and a secondary orientation component, forming a corner, a junction, or a cross; and (2) V2 columns with the same primary orientation form contiguous domains, divided into subdomains that prefer different secondary orientations. The first hypothesis is consistent with existing experimental evidence, and both hypotheses can be tested with current techniques in animals. In this manner, computational modeling can be used to provide verifiable predictions that eventually allow us to understand the role of V2 in visual processing.

INNOVATIVE CAPABILITY, INNOVATION STRATEGY AND MARKET ORIENTATION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS IN TURKISH SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

Innovation could be recognised as a key success factor in an increasingly competitive, global economy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relations among market orientation, innovation strategy, innovative capability and innovation success in small and medium-sized business in developing countries. This study builds a model related to the most important factors that influence mostly innovative capability of firms, such as market orientation, technological orientation and innovation strategy. Then it examines the relationships between these factors and the innovative capability. A practical research was carried out in the Turkish software industry. Analysis, futurity and proactiveness dimensions of innovation strategy influence the innovative capability of software firms. Also, only customer orientation component of market orientation influences the innovative capability of the firms. Effects of other factors are not significant. Results of this study could lead to effective management of innovation for the software firms and benefits for the firms' managers.