Closeup exploration of the seafloor with an autonomous underwater helicopter

Closeup exploration of the seafloor requires new forms of underwater vehicles that are capable of taking off and landing on the seafloor and hovering at any attitude and that are equipped with cameras and sensors. Existing underwater vehicles do not provide an adequate platform for closeup in situ observations. This work presents the design, fabrication, control and testing of an autonomous underwater helicopter (AUH) that can perform spin turns, vertical rotation, free landing and take-off, making it the most agile underwater vehicle to date. Acoustic-optical navigation and gyroscopic stabilization systems were implemented to complete missions on a fixed route. With an underwater base station(helipad), the AUH can perform wireless power charging and data transmission. This work builds on previous generations of AUHs that were restricted to horizontal postures and lacked vectoring propulsion. Experimental results gathered from tests show that the AUH can successfully navigate along a preset route at depths ranging from 0 to 100 metres. Furthermore, with multidimensional attitude adjustment and vectoring propulsion, AUH is capable of diving into a rugged seafloor environment. This study advances what is currently achievable using traditional AUVs and ROVs, demonstrating methods that can be used in the future for studying marine science and seafloor exploration.

Multitasking and correction of false information

Research shows that high levels of media multitasking (either situationally induced or chronic) may be associated with a decreased cognitive function. Since cognitive capacity is required for efficient correction of one’s judgment after learning that the judgement base is no longer valid, we expected that high levels of media multitasking would decrease one’s ability to adequately update their beliefs. We ran two studies in which participants were asked to form an impression of a target person based on their online profile from a professional networking site. The profile contained either neutral information (control condition) or negative comment from a former supervisor which was later debunked (false information conditions). We additionally manipulated media multitasking demands (in Study 1) or measured participants’ frequency of media multitasking (Study 2) and tested whether the level of media multitasking is related to the degree to which the initial attitudes were adjusted after learning that the negative comment was false. We found a significant but rather small effect of manipulation in Study 1 indicating that participants in both multitasking conditions had more negative attitudes after correction compared to the baseline, but not to the mono-tasking condition. Crucially, media multitasking demands did not impact attitude adjustment. Results of Study 2 showed that the relationship between media multitasking frequency measured with a scale and attitude adjustment were non-significant. Overall, the current findings suggest that media multitasking, experimentally manipulated or chronic, plays a negligible role in correction after misinformation.

Application of intelligent position and attitude adjustment technology in AIT of the space optical remote sensor

In this paper, we present an intelligent position and attitude adjustment technology to solve the problem that the traditional pose adjustment scheme cannot meet the requirements of AIT, which is one of the most important parts in the manufacture of space optical remote sensor. The problem we have outlined deals largely with the study of a pioneer proposed hybrid pose adjustment strategy and a reanalysed the function of spatial pose adjustment. The strategy is realized as an intelligent position and attitude adjustment platform, and its mechanical analysis and practical statistics in AIT are carried out. The results prove to be encouraging, and it shows that the stiffness of the platform meets the requirements, the complexity of manufacturing the remote sensor is reduced, the total time of a single mission is reduced by nearly 18 times, the total man-time is reduced by 21 times, and the work efficiency is increased by 44 times. This work has resulted in a solution of the manufacturing efficiency and intelligent level of the space optical remote sensor be effectively improved.