Method for Classifying Behavior of Livestock on Fenced Temperate Rangeland in Northern China

Different livestock behaviors have distinct effects on grassland degradation. However, because direct observation of livestock behavior is time- and labor-intensive, an automated methodology to classify livestock behavior according to animal position and posture is necessary. We applied the Random Forest algorithm to predict livestock behaviors in the Horqin Sand Land by using Global Positioning System (GPS) and tri-axis accelerometer data and then confirmed the results through field observations. The overall accuracy of GPS models was 85% to 90% when the time interval was greater than 300–800 s, which was approximated to the tri-axis model (96%) and GPS-tri models (96%). In the GPS model, the linear backward or forward distance were the most important determinants of behavior classification, and nongrazing was less than 30% when livestock travelled more than 30–50 m over a 5-min interval. For the tri-axis accelerometer model, the anteroposterior acceleration (–3 m/s2) of neck movement was the most accurate determinant of livestock behavior classification. Using instantaneous acceleration of livestock body movement more precisely classified livestock behaviors than did GPS location-based distance metrics. When a tri-axis model is unavailable, GPS models will yield sufficiently reliable classification accuracy when an appropriate time interval is defined.

Implementation and Validation of a Free Open Source 1D Water Hammer Code

This paper presents a free code for calculating 1D hydraulic transients in liquid-filled piping. The transient of focus is the Water Hammer phenomenon which may arise due to e.g., sudden valve closure, pump start/stop etc. The method of solution of the system of partial differential equations given by the continuity and momentum balance is the Method of Characteristics (MOC). Various friction models ranging from steady-state and quasi steady-state to unsteady friction models including Convolution Based models (CB) as well as an Instantaneous Acceleration Based (IAB) model are implemented. Furthermore, two different models for modelling cavitation/column separation are implemented. Column separation may occur during low pressure pulses if the pressure decreases below the vapour pressure of the fluid. The code implementing the various models are compared to experiments from the literature. All experiments consist of an upstream reservoir, a straight pipe and a downstream valve.

A Novel Parameter Optimization Method for the Driving System of High-Speed Parallel Robots

Driving system parameters optimization, especially the optimal selection of specifications of motor and gearbox, is very important for improving high-speed parallel robots' performance. A very challenging issue is parallel robots' performance evaluation that should be able to illustrate robots' performance accurately and guide driving system parameters optimization effectively. However, this issue is complicated by parallel robots' anisotropic translational and rotational dynamic performance, and the multiparameters of motors and gearboxes. In this paper, by separating the influence of translational and rotational degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) on robots' performance, a new dynamic performance index is proposed to reflect the driving torque in instantaneous acceleration. Then, the influence of driving system's multiparameters on robots' driving torque in instantaneous acceleration and cycle time in continuous motion is investigated. Based on the investigation, an inertia matching index is further derived which is more suitable for minimizing the driving torque of parallel robots with translational and rotational DOFs. A comprehensive parameterized performance atlas is finally established. Based on this atlas, the performance of a high-speed parallel robot developed in this paper can be clearly evaluated, and the optimal combination of motors and gearboxes can be quickly selected to ensure low driving torque and high pick-and-place frequency.

Constraint Tuning of Lightweight Elastomeric Metamaterials for Structural Impact Tolerance

To alleviate wave and vibration transmission in automotive, aerospace, and civil engineering fields, researchers have investigated periodic metamaterials with especially architected internal topologies. Yet, these solutions employ heavy materials and narrowband, resonant phenomena that are unsuitable for the many applications where broadband frequency vibration energy is a concern, such as that injected by impact forces, and weight is a performance penalty. To overcome these limitations, a new idea for lightweight, elastomeric metamaterials constrained near critical points is recently being explored, such that improved shock and vibration damping is achieved using reduced mass than conventional periodic metamaterials. On the other hand, the internal architectures of these metamaterials have not been explored beyond classical circular designs whereas numerous engineering structures involve square or rectangular geometries that may challenge the ability to realize critical point constraints due to the lack of rotational symmetry. The objectives of this research are to undertake a first study of square cross-section elastomeric metamaterials and to assess the impact tolerance of structures into which these metamaterials are embedded and constrained. Finite element simulations guide attention to design parameters for the metamaterial architectures, while experimental efforts quantify the advantages of constraints on enhancing impact tolerance metrics for engineering structures. It is seen that although the architected metamaterial leads to slightly greater instantaneous acceleration amplitude immediately after impact, it more rapidly attenuates the injected energy when compared to the solid and heavier elastomer mass from which the metamaterial is derived.

Decisions in motion: passive body acceleration modulates hand choice

In everyday life, we frequently have to decide which hand to use for a certain action. It has been suggested that for this decision the brain calculates expected costs based on action values, such as expected biomechanical costs, expected success rate, handedness, and skillfulness. Although these conclusions were based on experiments in stationary subjects, we often act while the body is in motion. We investigated how hand choice is affected by passive body motion, which directly affects the biomechanical costs of the arm movement due to its inertia. With the use of a linear motion platform, 12 right-handed subjects were sinusoidally translated (0.625 and 0.5 Hz). At 8 possible motion phases, they had to reach, using either their left or right hand, to a target presented at 1 of 11 possible locations. We predicted hand choice by calculating the expected biomechanical costs under different assumptions about the future acceleration involved in these computations, being the forthcoming acceleration during the reach, the instantaneous acceleration at target onset, or zero acceleration as if the body were stationary. Although hand choice was generally biased to use of the dominant hand, it also modulated sinusoidally with the motion, with the amplitude of the bias depending on the motion’s peak acceleration. The phase of hand choice modulation was consistent with the cost model that took the instantaneous acceleration signal at target onset. This suggests that the brain relies on the bottom-up acceleration signals, and not on predictions about future accelerations, when deciding on hand choice during passive whole body motion. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Decisions of hand choice are a fundamental aspect of human behavior. Whereas these decisions are typically studied in stationary subjects, this study examines hand choice while subjects are in motion. We show that accelerations of the body, which differentially modulate the biomechanical costs of left and right hand movements, are also taken into account when deciding which hand to use for a reach, possibly based on bottom-up processing of the otolith signal.

On the Accuracy of a Method of Moments Approach for Displacement Decomposition into Elementary Movements

In a previous work, we proposed a Method of Moments (MoM) approach for decomposition of a complex displacement into elementary movements. We found a good agreement between our results, based on application of the proposed approach on data from an inertial navigation system, and the results obtained by simply integrating the instantaneous acceleration. In this paper, we assess the accuracy of our method, in order to evaluate the impact of the number of the basis functions.

Mechanical Analysis: Solutions to Instantaneous Acceleration and Cushioning Time of Accelerometer’s Collision

A novel and simplified method, which is useful in calibrating instantaneous acceleration and cushioning time of accelerometers after impacted by an object under different parameters’ condition, is proposed in this paper. An investigation on cushioning time, which is usually difficult to be quantified during the process of collision, has also been conducted. Firstly, by mathematical inference on a physical model, we obtained two formula conclusions. Next, numerical simulation suggests that the instantaneous acceleration and cushioning time, to different extent, are sensitive to six factors. Then, influences produced by each of them are studied one by one. By analyzing these influences, the method and results are proved to be correct and practical.

A treatment of the twin paradox based on the assumption of an instantaneous acceleration

We investigate the twin paradox assuming the acceleration acts instantaneously on one of the twins and that its effect is just to revert the relative movement of the twins keeping the same relative speed. The relative motion of the twins is then split in two stages: one where they move away and another when they approach each other. Each stage is described by specific Lorentz transformations that obey certain boundary conditions related to the reversion of motion. We then show how the paradox arises from the particular form of the Lorentz transformation describing the approaching movement of the twins.