scholarly journals Waiter Robots Conveying Drinks

Technologies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Ash Yaw Sang Wan ◽  
Yi De Soong ◽  
Edwin Foo ◽  
Wai Leong Eugene Wong ◽  
Wai Shing Michael Lau
Keyword(s):  
New Ventures ◽  
Service Operations ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Machine Design ◽  
System Response ◽  
Velocity Control ◽  
Service Robotics ◽  
Robot Operating System ◽  
The World ◽  
Physical Challenge

Robots have been reportedly seen serving food in several restaurants in many parts of the world. New ventures have been deploying mechanical partners which promote the growth in service robotics. However, robots are considerably incompetent when it comes to beverage and soup delivery. The physical challenge behind the clumsy motion of these machines is found to be its jerky motion control. Jerk control solutions are widely studied in a constrained environment but not well introduced in dynamic environments. In this paper, we will begin by examining developed kinematics solutions, open-source packages from Robot Operating System and the constraints of motion planning. The proposed solution in this paper provides a quick system response with jerk limits using spline velocity profiles. The solution will introduce the concepts of a state machine design that enables the robot to behave and move reactively; effectively balancing its desired velocity and position without spilling a drop of customer satisfaction. Experiments have proven that robots can move at higher velocity without any crashing, spilling, or docking issues. The smooth velocity control proposed will improve the capabilities of waiter robot and service operations in restaurants.

Entrepreneurship as worship: A Malay Muslim perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 698-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhana Sidek ◽  
Kathryn Pavlovich ◽  
Jenny Gibb
Keyword(s):  
New Ventures ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Central Values ◽  
Entrepreneurial Opportunities ◽  
The World

AbstractWhile Islam is the second largest religion in the world with 1.6 billion Muslims, there are variations in the interpretations of that law (i.e., Sharia). This diversity and variation may hold the key in explaining the different behaviours among Muslim entrepreneurs because of their views on the concept of work as worship. In this study, we examine how Malay entrepreneurs are guided in their sourcing and shaping of entrepreneurial opportunities through Shafii practice. Our contributions include identifying five central values that guided the participant’s sourcing of opportunities: Fardhu Kifayah (communal obligation), Wasatiyyah (balanced), Dakwah1 (the call of joining the good and forbidding the bad), Amanah (trust), and Barakah (blessings). We also contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating how these macro-level values of worship gave the entrepreneurs confidence in creating their new ventures.

The categorization of geometric objects in 3D and 2D contexts depends on invariant referents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Stephan ◽  
Sarah Placì ◽  
Michael R. Waldmann ◽  
Giorgio Vallortigara
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Object Categorization ◽  
Geometrical Configuration ◽  
Geometrical Features ◽  
Geometric Objects ◽  
The World ◽  
Treat All

The categorization of geometric objects is one of the most fundamental problems all intelligent systems have to deal with in dynamic environments in which objects' geometrical configuration constantly changes. Animals, including humans, do not treat all geometrical differences equally: they ignore some geometrical features when it comes to generalization but not others. So far, no theory has been presented that explains this cognitive phenomenon. We here propose and empirically test such a theory. The theory identifies and relies on the invariant referents existing in 3D (i.e., gravity) and 2D (e.g., any 2D frame) environments to predict the geometrical differences reasoners consider as important or irrelevant for object categorization. We test and confirm a novel central prediction of the theory, namely that human reasoners categorize objects differently in 3D and 2D environments. These findings cast new light on core cognitive abilities that minds use to make sense of the world.

scholarly journals A Cost-Effective Person-Following System for Assistive Unmanned Vehicles with Deep Learning at the Edge

Machines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Anna Boschi ◽  
Francesco Salvetti ◽  
Vittorio Mazzia ◽  
Marcello Chiaberge
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Unmanned Vehicles ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
World Population ◽  
Service Robotics ◽  
Power Efficient ◽  
Person Following ◽  
The World

The vital statistics of the last century highlight a sharp increment of the average age of the world population with a consequent growth of the number of older people. Service robotics applications have the potentiality to provide systems and tools to support the autonomous and self-sufficient older adults in their houses in everyday life, thereby avoiding the task of monitoring them with third parties. In this context, we propose a cost-effective modular solution to detect and follow a person in an indoor, domestic environment. We exploited the latest advancements in deep learning optimization techniques, and we compared different neural network accelerators to provide a robust and flexible person-following system at the edge. Our proposed cost-effective and power-efficient solution is fully-integrable with pre-existing navigation stacks and creates the foundations for the development of fully-autonomous and self-contained service robotics applications.

scholarly journals Aversion to option loss in a restless bandit task

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Navarro ◽  
Peter Tran ◽  
Nicole Baz
Keyword(s):  
Loss Aversion ◽  
Kalman Filters ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Human Learning ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Full Information ◽  
Filter Model ◽  
Restless Bandit ◽  
Thompson Sampling ◽  
The World

In everyday life people need to make choices without full information about the environment, which poses an explore-exploit dilemma in which one needs to balance the need to learn about the world and the need to obtain rewards from it. The explore-exploit dilemma is often studied using the multi-armed restless bandit task, in which people repeatedly select from multiple options, and human behaviour is modelled as a form of reinforcement learning via Kalman filters. Inspired by work in the judgment and decision-making literature, we present two experiments using multi- armed bandit tasks in both static and dynamic environments, in situations where options can become unviable and vanish if they are not pursued. A Kalman filter model using Thompson sampling provides an excellent account of human learning in a standard restless bandit task, but there are systematic departures in the vanishing bandit task. We estimate the structure of this loss aversion signal and consider theoretical explanations for the results.

scholarly journals Funding acquisition drivers for new venture firms: Diminishing value of human capital signals in early rounds of funding

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snehal Shetty ◽  
Ranjany Sundaram
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
New Venture ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Multiple Factors ◽  
The World ◽  
Empirical Demonstration ◽  
Venture Firms

Multiple factors such as human capital, amount raised in the first round, innovation etc. have an impact on the funding prospect of new ventures. This paper explored the influencing factors that drive multiple rounds of funding for new venture firms and provided a much broader perspective of funding drivers during the early stages of the new venture firm. Using signalling theory and human capital theory, this paper analyzed signals that influence the acquisition of funds in the first round and whether those signals persisted for the second and third rounds of funding when information asymmetries between the investors and new venture firms reduce. This study disentangled the signalling effects of the human capital factors across three funding rounds and proved the diminishing value of signals across each subsequent round of funding. Finding showed that the signal effect from premier institution education was the only human capital signal that persisted across each round of funding, while other signals did not persist beyond the first round of funding. In addition, new venture firms with founders educated from premier educational institutions were able to attract more investors and close more funding rounds. This study also proved that the amount raised in the first round of funding positively impacted the amounts raised in the second and third rounds stressing its importance for new venture firms. Empirical demonstration of the propositions was done with 156 new venture firms in India, the fastest growing and third largest startup ecosystem in the world.

Infrastructure-Based Research Digital Libraries

2013 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Candela ◽  
Donatella Castelli ◽  
Paolo Manghi ◽  
Pasquale Pagano
Keyword(s):  
Digital Library ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Economy Of Scale ◽  
Research Communities ◽  
The World ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Innovative Approaches

Digital Libraries have evolved from a digital counterpart of traditional libraries to highly dynamic environments conceived to provide a community with the data and services needed to accomplish its tasks. This trend is particularly frequent in the context of scientific research communities, whose members are scattered among multiple organizations across the world, with requirements that are very large, multi-disciplinary, and evolving with innovation. The realization of such Research Digital Libraries calls for innovative approaches, capable of handling the inherent complexity of such systems while keeping their realization and maintenance costs under sustainable thresholds. Digital Library Infrastructures have been recently proposed as suitable candidates for the realization of Research Digital Libraries. They build on service-oriented infrastructure technologies to offer an environment where organizations can share and exchange their data and service resources to grow in synergy, exploiting an economy of scale approach. This chapter describes the peculiar challenges that designers, developers, and administrators have to face when realizing Research Digital Libraries, and presents the concepts and technologies of Digital Library Infrastructure as possible solutions to these issues.

scholarly journals Making the World a Better Place: How Crowdfunding Increases Consumer Demand for Social-Good Products

2020 ◽  
pp. 002224372097044
Author(s):  
Bonnie Simpson ◽  
Martin Schreier ◽  
Sally Bitterl ◽  
Katherine White
Keyword(s):  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Consumer Demand ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
New Product ◽  
Social Good ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
The World ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative means of financing new ventures wherein a large number of individuals collectively back a project. This research specifically examines reward-based crowdfunding, in which those who take part in the crowdfunding process receive the new product for which funding is sought in return for their financial support. This work illustrates that consumers make fundamentally different decisions when considering whether to contribute their money to crowdfund versus purchase a product. Six studies demonstrate that compared with a traditional purchase, crowdfunding more strongly activates an interdependent mindset and, as a result, increases consumer demand for social-good products (i.e., products with positive social and/or environmental impact). The research further highlights that an active involvement in the crowdfunding process is necessary to increase demand for social-good products: when a previously crowdfunded product is already to market, the effect is eliminated. Finally, it is demonstrated that crowdfunding participants exhibit an increased demand for social-good products only when collective efficacy (i.e., one’s belief in the collective’s ability to bring about change) is high.

Food for Trans-Atlantic Rowers: A Menu Planning Model and Case Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Clark ◽  
Cato Coleman ◽  
Kerri Figure ◽  
Tom Mailhot ◽  
John Zeigler
Keyword(s):  
Endurance Athletes ◽  
Planning Model ◽  
Menu Planning ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
The World ◽  
Food Needs ◽  
Ultra Endurance ◽  
Physical Challenge

Every 4 years, rowers from around the world compete in a 50- to 60-day transAtlantic rowing challenge. These ultra-distance rowers require a diet that provides adequate calories, protein, vitamins, minerals, and fluids so they can perform well day after day, minimize fatigue, and stay healthy. Yet, the rowers are confronted with menu planning challenges. The food needs to be lightweight, compact, sturdy, non-spoiling in tropical temperatures, calorie dense, easy to prepare, quick to cook, and good tasting. Financial concerns commonly add another menu planning challenge. The purpose of this case study is to summarize the rowers’ food experiences and to provide guidance for sports nutrition professionals who work with ultra-endurance athletes embarking on a physical challenge with similar food requirements. The article provides food and nutrition recommendations as well as practical considerations for ultra-distance athletes. We describe an 8,000 calorie per day menu planning model that uses food exchanges based on familiar, tasty, and reasonably priced supermarket foods that provide the required nutrients and help contain financial costs.

scholarly journals The categorization of geometric objects in 3D and 2D contexts depends on invariant referents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Placì ◽  
Simon Stephan ◽  
Michael R. Waldmann ◽  
Giorgio Vallortigara
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Object Categorization ◽  
Geometrical Configuration ◽  
Geometrical Features ◽  
Geometric Objects ◽  
The World ◽  
Treat All

The categorization of geometric objects is one of the most fundamental problems all intelligent systems have to deal with in dynamic environments in which objects’ geometrical configuration constantly changes. Animals, including humans, do not treat all geometrical differences equally: they ignore some geometrical features when it comes to generalization but not others. So far, no theory has been presented that explains this cognitive phenomenon. We here propose and empirically test such a theory. The theory identifies and relies on the invariant referents existing in 3D (i.e., gravity) and 2D (e.g., any 2D frame) environments to predict the geometrical differences reasoners consider as important or irrelevant for object categorization. We test and confirm a novel central prediction of the theory, namely that human reasoners categorize objects differently in 3D and 2D environments. These findings cast new light on core cognitive abilities that minds use to make sense of the world.

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