Stationary PC Research Articles

A Lyapunov based posture controller for a differential drive mobile robot

Driving a vehicle to a desired position and orientation is one of the most important problems that should be solved in most navigation systems. This paper describes a new complete design and hardware implementation of a two-level controller that will enable a differential drive mobile robot to reach any desired posture starting from any initial position. The first or low-level controller consists of a set of two proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controllers, running on an embedded system on board of the robot. These controllers provide the required voltages to the motors to make the left and right wheels of the robot rotate with the angular speeds computed by the second or high-level controller, running on a stationary PC system. This second controller is based on the Lyapunov stability theorem to derive two control laws for the kinematic model, used to transform the linear and angular speeds of the unicycle model in terms of left and right rotational speeds, required by the motors. As will be shown later, this architecture provides a very flexible way not only to tune the main controller parameters but also to get access and record all the system states.

Virtual and augmented reality and other ICT at work: Differences in self-assessed technological characteristics and perceived digital stress.

A main goal in the advancing digitalization is to offer employees support in coping with large amounts of information and to process it context-sensitively and according to their needs. Augmented reality (AR) as an emerging technology has great potential in this regard. The aim of this work is to generally highlight the strengths and weaknesses of various technologies and in particular to point out the potential of AR-based technologies. A comparison of different technologies by assessing various technology characteristics and the level of digital stress caused by the use of these technologies was conducted based on survey data. The results of the conducted study show that technologies such as stationary PC, laptop or smartphone are assessed better in terms of various technology characteristics than AR. Furthermore, digitally induced stress is reported when using AR. AR as a mobile digital assistance system still seems to fall short of its potential for human-centered work design. One reason for this may be the low degree of popularity of AR and the not fully developed technological maturity.

Динамика психических состояний обучающихся, осваивающих дидактические ВР-программы с использованием технологий виртуальной реальности

The article presents the results of studying the mental states of adolescent students involved in the work using didactic VR programs implemented using VR technologies of different levels, demonstrated using different technical means (stationary PC, VIVE helmet), causing immersive experience of different quality. Before and after work, the participants were controlled: activation, excitement, tone, well-being; mood, asthenia, euphoria; the severity of the presence effect. As a result, it was shown that the participants who were involved in the work with the help of a PC experienced a decrease in indicators at the level of reliable statistical significance for the activation parameter. When working with VIVE helmets, reliable increases are shown in terms of activation, arousal, tone, well-being, asthenic state and euphoria. In general, we can talk about the intensive and positive impact of didactic VR programs broadcast with the help of higher level VR technologies on the mental states of students, which can become a source of formation of their stable and productive educational and cognitive motivation.

M-LEARNING КАК ИННОВАЦИОННОЕ СРЕДСТВО В ОБУЧЕНИИ РКИ

Nefedov I.V., Popova K.A. (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation) The article is devoted to the use of mobile technology in education. The importance of mobile devices in education can not be overestimated, as they are often cheaper than desktop PCs, and its functionality and didactic value may even surpass the PC. M-Learning is learning on the move. It allows to break away from the binding of the educational process in the classroom and to organize lectures, tours, seminars where there is free Wi-Fi or mobile network is stable. QR-code can be very useful in conducting such outreach activities. M-learning can be successfully used in the application of the learning process of social networking – an interactive multi-user sites, the content of which is filled with individuals. M-learning, no doubt, can be used quite effectively in the training trials, both within the classroom and extracurricular work. For example, training can be conducted with the help of special applications developed for the training trials. A variety of programs can be downloaded via App Store or Google Play. When planning field trips and during their conduct of greatest interest to the teacher may be such educational potentials of M-learning, as a QR-code and interactive softwarespecific and hardware-independent card. Modern mobile phones and tablets on the technical parameters can replace stationary PC and make the process of acquiring new knowledge fun, bright, dynamic and individual. Before RFL teachers in terms of training in the language environment, new horizons and educational perspectives are opening that can fundamentally change the learning process for the better. Key words: M-learning, mobile technology, mobile learning, mobile application QR-code, role playing, field trip, RCTs

Interactive Near-Field Illumination for Photorealistic Augmented Reality with Varying Materials on Mobile Devices.

At present, photorealistic augmentation is not yet possible since the computational power of mobile devices is insufficient. Even streaming solutions from stationary PCs cause a latency that affects user interactions considerably. Therefore, we introduce a differential rendering method that allows for a consistent illumination of the inserted virtual objects on mobile devices, avoiding delays. The computation effort is shared between a stationary PC and the mobile devices to make use of the capacities available on both sides. The method is designed such that only a minimum amount of data has to be transferred asynchronously between the participants. This allows for an interactive illumination of virtual objects with a consistent appearance under both temporally and spatially varying real illumination conditions. To describe the complex near-field illumination in an indoor scenario, HDR video cameras are used to capture the illumination from multiple directions. In this way, sources of illumination can be considered that are not directly visible to the mobile device because of occlusions and the limited field of view. While our method focuses on Lambertian materials, we also provide some initial approaches to approximate non-diffuse virtual objects and thereby allow for a wider field of application at nearly the same cost.

The PC plateau [Reflections

Desktop computers are no longer the polestar of the computing firmament, as people have embraced smartphones and tablets by the million. These portable devices have the obvious advantage of being with you wherever you go, but they are also empowered with a multitude of sensors–such as barometers, GPS, and accelerometers–that make no sense in a stationary PC. · Still, when at home or the office, I feel more comfortable interfacing with a physical keyboard, a large display, a powerful processor, and lots of memory. So, bucking the trend, I recently invested in a new PC. My existing PC was four and a half years old and was a packaged system from a large electronics retailer. I assembled the new PC myself from premium components–CPU, motherboard, memory, power supply, case, and so forth. After I got the new PC going, I studied the old and new systems and thought about what the comparison told me about the future of the PC. · My first thought is one of admiration for the design engineers who make heroic efforts to keep up with Moore's Law. Between the construction times of the two systems, Moore's Law predicted there would be three doublings of performance, for a potential gain of a factor of eight. But as we know, raw machine speeds have not been increasing at that rate. In this instance, the older processor clocks at 2.93 gigahertz and the new one at 3.5 GHz. That leaves a lot of ground to be made up through architectural improvements. The new processor has four cores versus two cores in the older one. The new processor uses 22-nanometer lithography, compared with 32 nm in the older. Combined with a considerably larger die size, this means it has about 1.4 billion transistors versus a mere 393 million in the older processor. In addition to processor improvements, significant improvement in peripheral and storage access speeds has been afforded by new standards in USB 3 and SATA 3.

Control and Navigation of an Autonomous Mobile Robot with Dynamic Obstacle Detection and Adaptive Path Finding Algorithm

In this work, a novel approach for navigation, guidance and control of a duo cycle autonomous robot vehicle with dynamic obstacle avoidance and adaptive path finding algorithm is presented. Real time control and simulation of vehicle movements and orientation is made by a stationary computer. In addition, a self developed algorithm is integrated to the system for dynamic obstacle avoidance and adaptive path finding. Sub-optimal paths to the given target point are calculated simultaneously according to dynamic environment with a written algorithm program. Low level control operations are made by microcontroller to minimize time depended errors. Mobile computer is used to collect laser measurement data and provides the communication between vehicle and control station (stationary pc). Laser measurement sensor is used for simultaneous obstacle detection and environment mapping so that an adaptive like path finding can be realized. The simulations and experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed approach for navigation applications with adaptive path finding algorithm.

Contextual effects on the usability dimensions of mobile value-added services: a conceptual framework

The emergence of mobile value-added services has introduced a broad range of new use contexts, which were not faced in the stationary PC environment. Thus, extant usability models need to be modified in order to capture this change. As such, this paper suggests a conceptual mobile usability model, based on Nielsen's (1993) usability definition. The model explores the role of the type of the mobile service and its characteristics in determining the importance of the various usability dimensions. Avenues for validating this framework are then drawn. Overall, this framework forms the foundations for future mobile usability research, and enables stakeholders to focus on relevant mobile usability dimensions.

Design and implementation of Blog Rendering and Accessing INstantly system (BRAINS)

A blog (shortened from ‘weblog’) is a trendy way to share personal journal with others in the cyber world. Traditionally rendering and accessing blogs are normally conducted at a stationary PC. However, such a scheme hinders blog users from writing and reading blogs timely. A short-lived idea came out and passed away suddenly. To facilitate the instant blog updating and retrieving, we combined cellular messaging (SMS/MMS messaging and MMS/WAP push) and open-source software (Blosxom and Apache) to develop a novel system for the Blog Rendering and Accessing INstantly (BRAINS). BRAINS enables blog users to note down their whims and share interests anytime and anywhere. Blog journalists can utilize their mobile phones in hand to compose and deliver blogs to BRAINS by SMS and MMS messaging at their pleasure. Through pre-registering on BRAINS, readers also can get the up-to-date blogs content or the incoming blog notification immediately by MMS push or WAP push. With pervasive networks like the GPRS, 3G, public WLAN (PWLAN) and fixed DSL networks, BRAINS makes mobile blog rendering and accessing more evident.

The impedance of the discharge positive column at medium pressures under different metastable level decay schemes

The impedance of a positive column has been calculated at medium pressures i.e. at the regime of step ionization-ambipolar diffusion. Calculations were carried out for two cases: (a) metastable level decay by electron impact; (b) metastable level decay on the walls as a result of diffusion. In both cases the impedance has generally an inductive character. In the case of metastable level decay by electron impact. the impedance curve starts from the coordinate origin at ω = 0. At low frequencies the PC has a negatron property. while the static volt-ampere characteristics of the stationary PC becomes parallel to the current axis. The module |Z| reaches its maximum value at frequencies of about the order of -1 a α m n 0 . At very high frequencies ω → ∞, the impedance reaches the real value of Z = R 0 . In the case when metastable levels decay as a result of diffusion, the impedance curve starts from the negative real values at ω = 0. The volt-ampere characteristics of the stationary PC drops. The module |Z| reaches its maximum value at frequencies of about the order of -1 a -1 m . At very high frequencies ω → ∞, the impedance reaches the real value of Z = R 0 . In both cases, impedance curves have single structured shapes in spite of existence of several characteristic time scales of different order.