Sea Beaver: Design, Construction, and Performance of a Human-Powered Submersible

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 231-237
Author(s):  
Malcolm S. Child ◽  
L. Alberto Cangahuala
Keyword(s):  
Popular Science ◽  
Steering System ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Maximum Diameter ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Human Powered ◽  
Design Construction

This paper reports on the history of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's entry in the 2nd International Human-Powered Submarine Race. The design of this entry was an evolution of the MIT design (named Icarus) from the first competition, held in 1989. Anticipating an increase in competitive entries, the new MIT entry (hereafter referred to as Sea Beaver) was designed to be more reliable and faster than Icarus. Sea Beaver was designed with a maximum diameter four inches smaller than Icarus. This change in cross section forced a change from a rotary to linear pedaling mechanism. The linear pedal motion was transferred to the drive shaft through an innovative arrangement of pulleys and one-way hub bearings. This arrangement allowed the pedals to remain independent from one another, opening up the possibility to experiment with different pedaling cadences. The propeller was designed for efficiency and to minimize the possibility of entanglement with lines along the course. The steering system was arranged to take up the least volume inside the hull as possible. In addition to taking advantage of experience gained in the design of Icarus, the MIT team also made significant advances in construction techniques. The hull, propellers, and nose cones were all fabricated from molds built by team members. Compared with the Icarus construction history, Sea Beaver was completed in less time, at less cost, with more spare parts available during the competition. For the design and construction of the propulsion system, the Sea Beaver team received the 1991 Medal of Engineering Excellence from Popular Science Magazine.

The Philippine Indigenous Outrigger Boat: Scaling Up, Performance and Safety

2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
Glenn D. Aguilar
Keyword(s):  
The Philippines ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Hydrodynamic Characteristics ◽  
Fishing Vessels ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Definite Effect ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Hull Forms ◽  
Passenger Ferry ◽  
Design Construction

The traditional indigenous double outrigger crafts, called banca boats, of the Philippines vary in size from the very small 4 meter single crew paddle boats to large 50 meter fishing vessels and passenger ferry boats. Regardless of size, the same construction techniques are used by native boat builders with wood as the main building material. Many hull forms, particularly economically important fishing boats, have been scaled up, resulting in problems related to the availability of wood for construction, safety at sea, and performance. Model experiments on craft performance show the hydrodynamic characteristics of the double outrigger form and describe characteristics important for design, construction, and operation of the crafts. The presence of outriggers has a definite effect on the heave, pitch, and roll motion of the craft as compared to the hull without an outrigger. Data analyses of maritime incident reports show a high percentage of capsizing by these motorized banca boats, highlighting the need for some regulation of their design and construction. Other concerns related to fisheries as being the main area of use of these boats are further discussed.

Expressive Robotic Guitars: Developments in Musical Robotics for Chordophones

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Murphy ◽  
James McVay ◽  
Paul Mathews ◽  
Dale A. Carnegie ◽  
Ajay Kapur
Keyword(s):  
Prior Work ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
History Of ◽  
Musical Robotics ◽  
Design Construction ◽  
Levels Of Control

This article provides a history of robotic guitars and bass guitars as well as a discussion of the design, construction, and evaluation of two new robotic chordophones, with a focus on different techniques to extend the expressivity of robotic guitars. Swivel and MechBass, two new robots we built, are discussed. Construction techniques likely to interest other musical roboticists are included. These robots use a variety of techniques, both new and inspired by prior work, to afford composers and performers the ability to precisely control pitch and string-picking parameters. Both new robots are evaluated to test their precision, repeatability, and speed. The article closes with a discussion of the compositional and performative implications of such levels of control, and how it might affect humans who wish to interface with the systems.

Sea Urchins and Circuses: The Modernist Natural Histories of Jean Painlevé and Alexander Calder

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-211
Author(s):  
Patricia E. Chu
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Sea Urchins ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Machine Age ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Natural Historian

The Paris avant-garde milieu from which both Cirque Calder/Calder's Circus and Painlevé’s early films emerged was a cultural intersection of art and the twentieth-century life sciences. In turning to the style of current scientific journals, the Paris surrealists can be understood as engaging the (life) sciences not simply as a provider of normative categories of materiality to be dismissed, but as a companion in apprehending the “reality” of a world beneath the surface just as real as the one visible to the naked eye. I will focus in this essay on two modernist practices in new media in the context of the history of the life sciences: Jean Painlevé’s (1902–1989) science films and Alexander Calder's (1898–1976) work in three-dimensional moving art and performance—the Circus. In analyzing Painlevé’s work, I discuss it as exemplary of a moment when life sciences and avant-garde technical methods and philosophies created each other rather than being classified as separate categories of epistemological work. In moving from Painlevé’s films to Alexander Calder's Circus, Painlevé’s cinematography remains at the forefront; I use his film of one of Calder's performances of the Circus, a collaboration the men had taken two decades to complete. Painlevé’s depiction allows us to see the elements of Calder's work that mark it as akin to Painlevé’s own interest in a modern experimental organicism as central to the so-called machine-age. Calder's work can be understood as similarly developing an avant-garde practice along the line between the bestiary of the natural historian and the bestiary of the modern life scientist.

Applying analytical procedures for performance audit of customs authorities

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1035-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Pankova ◽  
V.V. Popov
Keyword(s):  
Distance Method ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Scientific Hypothesis ◽  
Financial Audit ◽  
Promising Area ◽  
History Of ◽  
Performance Audit ◽  
Analytical Procedures ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Customs Administration

Subject. The article considers the development of a set of methods and indicators of economic analysis, which can be used for performance audit of customs authorities, using the Volga Customs Administration case. Objectives. The aim is to justify the use of analytical procedures to rank the effectiveness of customs payments for the purpose of performance audit of customs authorities. Methods. We employ general scientific methods of research, i.e. dialectical and monographic methods, logical analysis, comparison, as well as the Euclidean distance method. Results. We reviewed works by Russian and foreign scholars on the history of customs audit development and internal financial control of customs authorities, gave scientific credence to attributing the system of customs payment and performance to the indicators of economic activity of customs authorities. Due to the lack of methods for assessing the performance of customs authorities, the use of analytical procedures during the performance audit seems to be a promising area. Conclusions. When verifying the scientific hypothesis put forward in the study, we established that the introduction and development of the ranking system for the performance of customs authorities related to the collection of customs duties can contribute to effective financial audit of customs authorities in general.

From the history of manufacturing Romanian nai at the turn of 20–21 centuries

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-74
Author(s):  
A. Drutsé
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Research Interest ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Music Theater ◽  
Technical Improvement ◽  
Performance Skills ◽  
Doctoral Candidate ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance

The modern world popularity of the nai — a traditional Romanian instrument — has identified interest in writing this article. This problematic constitutes the circle of our research interest as a doctoral candidate, but also as a concert performer, a graduate of the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts. One of the most interesting aspects of the study of nai is its technical improvement since 60s of the 20th century, which led to the acquisition of a number of new, innovative skills and performance skills. In this article we have identified some pages of the modern history of the manufacture of this ancient instrument associated with these processes.

ARTISTIC AND AESTHETIC EDUCATION AND MUSICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A SPECIALIST’S TRAINING

2020 ◽  
Vol 384 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
P. V. Menshikov ◽  
G. K. Kassymova ◽  
R. R. Gasanova ◽  
Y. V. Zaichikov ◽  
V. A. Berezovskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Practice ◽  
Piano Music ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Native Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Many ◽  
Special Meaning

A special role in the development of a pianist as a musician, composer and performer, as shown by the examples of the well-known, included in the history of art, and the most ordinary pianists, their listeners and admirers, lovers of piano music and music in general, are played by moments associated with psychotherapeutic abilities and music features. The purpose of the study is to comprehend the psychotherapeutic aspects of performing activities (using pianists as an example). The research method is a theoretical analysis of the psychotherapeutic aspects of performing activities: the study of the possibilities and functions of musical psychotherapy in the life of a musician as a “(self) psychotherapist” and “patient”. For almost any person, music acts as a way of self-understanding and understanding of the world, a way of self-realization, rethinking and overcoming life's difficulties - internal and external "blockages" of development, a way of saturating life with universal meanings, including a person in the richness of his native culture and universal culture as a whole. Art and, above all, its metaphorical nature help to bring out and realize internal experiences, provide an opportunity to look at one’s own experiences, problems and injuries from another perspective, to see a different meaning in them. In essence, we are talking about art therapy, including the art of writing and performing music - musical psychotherapy. However, for a musician, music has a special meaning, special significance. Musician - produces music, and, therefore, is not only an “object”, but also the subject of musical psychotherapy. The musician’s training includes preparing him as an individual and as a professional to perform functions that can be called psychotherapeutic: in the works of the most famous performers, as well as in the work of ordinary teachers, psychotherapeutic moments sometimes become key. Piano music and performance practice sets a certain “viewing angle” of life, and, in the case of traumatic experiences, a new way of understanding a difficult, traumatic and continuing to excite a person event, changing his attitude towards him. It helps to see something that was hidden in the hustle and bustle of everyday life or in the patterns of relationships familiar to a given culture. At the same time, while playing music or learning to play music, a person teaches to see the hidden and understand the many secrets of the human soul, the relationships of people.

Mind Cure

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wakoh Shannon Hickey
Keyword(s):  
White Male ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Scientific Psychology ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
First Americans ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Political Economic

Mindfulness is widely claimed to improve health and performance, and historians typically say that efforts to promote meditation and yoga therapeutically began in the 1970s. In fact, they began much earlier, and that early history offers important lessons for the present and future. This book traces the history of mind-body medicine from eighteenth-century Mesmerism to the current Mindfulness boom and reveals how religion, race, and gender have shaped events. Many of the first Americans to advocate meditation for healing were women leaders of the Mind Cure movement, which emerged in the late nineteenth century. They believed that by transforming their consciousness, they could also transform oppressive circumstances in which they lived, and some were activists for social reform. Trained by Buddhist and Hindu missionaries, these women promoted meditation through personal networks, religious communities, and publications. Some influenced important African American religious movements, as well. For women and black men, Mind Cure meant not just happiness but liberation in concrete political, economic, and legal terms. The Mind Cure movement exerted enormous pressure on mainstream American religion and medicine, and in response, white, male doctors and clergy with elite academic credentials appropriated some of its methods and channeled them into scientific psychology and medicine. As mental therapeutics became medicalized, individualized, and then commodified, the religious roots of meditation, like the social justice agendas of early Mind Curers, fell away. After tracing how we got from Mind Cure to Mindfulness, this book reveals what got lost in the process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document