Autonomous Robotic Feature-Based Freeform Fabrication Approach

Robotic additive manufacturing (AM) has gained much attention for its continuous material deposition capability with continuously changeable building orientations, reducing support structure volume and post-processing complexity. However, the current robotic additive process heavily relies on manual geometric reasoning that identifies additive features, related building orientations, tool approach direction, trajectory generation, and sequencing all features in a non-collision manner. In addition, multi-directional material accumulation cannot ensure the nozzle always stays above the building geometry. Thus, the collision between these two becomes a significant issue that needs to be solved. Hence, the common use of a robotic additive is hindered by the lack of fully autonomous tools based on the abovementioned issues. We present a systematic approach to the robotic AM process that can automate the abovementioned planning procedures in the aspect of collision-free. Typically, input models to robotic AM have diverse information contents and data formats, hindering the feature recognition, extraction, and relations to the robotic motion. Our proposed method integrates the collision-avoidance condition to the model decomposition step. Therefore, the decomposed volumes can be associated with additional constraints, such as accessibility, connectivity, and trajectory planning. This generates an entire workspace for the robotic additive building platform, rotatability, and additive features to determine the entire sequence and avoid potential collisions. This approach classifies the uniqueness of autonomous manufacturing on the robotic AM system to build large and complex metal components that are non-achievable through traditional one-directional AM in a computationally effective manner. This approach also paves the path in constructing an in situ monitoring and closed-loop control on robotic AM to control and enhance the build quality of the robotic metal AM process.

Working for the best or bracing for the worst? Approach and avoidance motivation in planning

Even though planning is generally helpful in goal pursuit, people do not always choose to plan. The inclination to plan might depend on whether we focus on what we seek to approach or what we seek to avoid. In two pre-registered experiments, we tested the relative effect of approach versus avoidance motivation on willingness to plan (total N=1349). With outcome framing as the experimental manipulation, participants were randomly assigned to either an approach or an avoidance condition, and then indicated their willingness to plan their study activities before an upcoming exam. Contrary to predictions, the results showed no significant difference in willingness to plan depending on condition in either experiment. There was mixed support for the importance of anticipated affect and perceived distance as process mechanisms: While Experiment 1 showed that participants who experienced the day of the exam as closer in time were more willing to plan their study preparations (regardless of condition), we found no mediational effects through perceived distance or anticipated affect. In Experiment 2, anticipated affect intensity mediated the association between motivation and willingness to plan, where participants induced to approach motivation predicted greater intensity of anticipated affect upon achieving their goals, and thus were more willing to plan than participants induced to avoidance motivation. However, such mediation effects without a main effect remain ambiguous and should be interpreted with caution. Seen as a whole, the results suggest that the effect of different motivation types on the willingness to plan may be different than previously thought: They may not influence this aspect of goal striving.

Working for the Best or Bracing for the Worst? Approach and Avoidance Motivation in Planning

Even though planning is generally helpful in goal pursuit, people do not always choose to plan. The inclination to plan might depend on whether we focus on what we seek to approach or what we seek to avoid. In two pre-registered experiments, we tested the relative effect of approach versus avoidance motivation on willingness to plan (total N=1349). With outcome framing as the experimental manipulation, participants were randomly assigned to either an approach or an avoidance condition, and then indicated their willingness to plan their study activities before an upcoming exam. Contrary to predictions, the results showed no significant difference in willingness to plan depending on condition in either experiment. There was mixed support for the importance of anticipated affect and perceived distance as process mechanisms: While Experiment 1 showed that participants who experienced the day of the exam as closer in time were more willing to plan their study preparations (regardless of condition), we found no mediational effects through perceived distance or anticipated affect. In Experiment 2, anticipated affect intensity mediated the association between motivation and willingness to plan, where participants induced to approach motivation predicted greater intensity of anticipated affect upon achieving their goals, and thus were more willing to plan, than participants induced to avoidance motivation. However, such mediational effects without a main effect remain ambiguous and should be interpreted with caution. Seen as a whole, the results suggest that the effect of different motivation types on the willingness to plan may be different than previously thought: They may not influence this aspect of goal striving.

An energy-time optimal autonomous motion control framework for overhead cranes in the presence of obstacles

This paper focuses on the autonomous motion control of 3-D underactuated overhead cranes in the presence of obstacles, and an “offline motion planning + online trajectory tracking” framework is developed. In the motion planner, to meet the balance between transfer time and energy consumption, the transfer mission is formulated as an energy-time hybrid optimal control problem. And a simple and conservative collision-avoidance condition is derived. To achieve fast and robust calculations, an iterative procedure that determines optimal terminal time based on the secant method is developed. Finally, to realize the high-precision trajectory tracking and fast residual sway suppression, a model predictive controller with a piecewise weighted matrix is designed. Numerical simulation demonstrates that the discussed framework is effective.

Avoiding at all costs? An exploration of avoidance costs in a novel Virtual Reality procedure

Approach-avoidance behaviours play a major role in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders as repeated avoidance behaviours are assumed to prevent fear extinction. Approach-avoidance decisions (Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-avoidance and Unconditioned Stimulus (US)-avoidance) and their effect on fear extinction and renewal were investigated using a Virtual Reality fear conditioning procedure with ecologically relevant avoidance costs (temporal delay and physical effort). Participants had to choose between a safe (low approach incentive, no US) and a risky stimulus (high approach incentive, US in 75%). After differential fear acquisition and avoidance learning, participants were randomized to an Avoidance condition or No Avoidance condition during fear extinction. Fear extinction took place in either the original contingency learning context or in a new context and was followed up by a renewal test. Furthermore, the influence of trait anxiety, distress tolerance, and intolerance of uncertainty on approach-avoidance decisions was investigated. Exploratively, a second experiment with varying avoidance costs was conducted. Results were not indicative of renewal and no robust associations with the individual difference measures were found. However, results showed high (Study 1), but not low (Study 2), avoidance costs resulted in less avoidance behaviour. Even though there were no between-group differences, exploratory comparisons of avoiders and non-avoiders in both studies demonstrated that avoidance behaviours protected from extinction learning, resulting in the maintenance of retrospective US expectancies and a sustained preference for the safe stimulus. These findings provide insight in how avoidance behaviours maintain fear and how treatment might be improved by focusing on avoidance costs.

Checkerboard artifacts free convolutional neural networks

It is well-known that a number of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) generate checkerboard artifacts in both of two processes: forward-propagation of upsampling layers and backpropagation of convolutional layers. A condition for avoiding the artifacts is proposed in this paper. So far, these artifacts have been studied mainly for linear multirate systems, but the conventional condition for avoiding them cannot be applied to CNNs due to the non-linearity of CNNs. We extend the avoidance condition for CNNs and apply the proposed structure to typical CNNs to confirm whether the novel structure is effective. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed structure can perfectly avoid generating checkerboard artifacts while keeping the excellent properties that CNNs have.

BUSINESS PURPOSE AS A TAX AVOIDANCE CONDITION IN CORPORATE REORGANIZATIONS

With the approval of the general norm of tax avoidance in the national tax laws, there are several judgments of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals – Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais (CARF), which have used a tax avoidance institute of comparative law to consider specific practices resulting from companies’ mergers, splits or amalgamation as abusive tax planning. It is known as the “business purpose doctrine”, which has been running the Counselours of the CARF to establish limits on the exercise of business activity, but still little discussed by the Brazilian doctrine. In summary, this new approach seeks to prevent that corporate transactions of this kind are carried out with the purpose of building a diverse legal reality of the factual, under the cover of legal formalism. The legality in corporate reorganizations focusing on the business purpose theory has been subject of compliance with three basic requirements: the temporality of business, the interdependence of the parties and the normality of the operation. In spite of the controversies regarding the legitimacy of the institute, it is noted that adopting a business purpose test seems plausible, once the institute is identified with the cause of the legal business.

BUSINESS PURPOSE AS A TAX AVOIDANCE CONDITION IN CORPORATE REORGANIZATIONS

With the approval of the general norm of tax avoidance in the national tax laws, there are several judgments of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals – Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais (CARF), which have used a tax avoidance institute of comparative law to consider specific practices resulting from companies’ mergers, splits or amalgamation as abusive tax planning. It is known as the “business purpose doctrine”, which has been running the Counselours of the CARF to establish limits on the exercise of business activity, but still little discussed by the Brazilian doctrine. In summary, this new approach seeks to prevent that corporate transactions of this kind are carried out with the purpose of building a diverse legal reality of the factual, under the cover of legal formalism. The legality in corporate reorganizations focusing on the business purpose theory has been subject of compliance with three basic requirements: the temporality of business, the interdependence of the parties and the normality of the operation. In spite of the controversies regarding the legitimacy of the institute, it is noted that adopting a business purpose test seems plausible, once the institute is identified with the cause of the legal business.

BUSINESS PURPOSE AS A TAX AVOIDANCE CONDITION IN CORPORATE REORGANIZATIONS

With the approval of the general norm of tax avoidance in the national tax laws, there are several judgments of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals – Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais (CARF), which have used a tax avoidance institute of comparative law to consider specific practices resulting from companies’ mergers, splits or amalgamation as abusive tax planning. It is known as the “business purpose doctrine”, which has been running the Counselours of the CARF to establish limits on the exercise of business activity, but still little discussed by the Brazilian doctrine. In summary, this new approach seeks to prevent that corporate transactions of this kind are carried out with the purpose of building a diverse legal reality of the factual, under the cover of legal formalism. The legality in corporate reorganizations focusing on the business purpose theory has been subject of compliance with three basic requirements: the temporality of business, the interdependence of the parties and the normality of the operation. In spite of the controversies regarding the legitimacy of the institute, it is noted that adopting a business purpose test seems plausible, once the institute is identified with the cause of the legal business.

The Causal Effects of Relational Security and Insecurity on Condom Use Attitudes and Acquisition Behavior

Research on attachment and condom use has been limited to correlational studies of self-report measures, yielding inconsistent results. Here, we examined the causal effects of attachment priming on self-reported condom use attitudes and an observational measure of condom acquisition behavior. In three experiments, participants were exposed to one of three attachment primes (security, anxiety, or avoidance) or a control prime. For Study 1, participants in the security and anxiety conditions preferred condom non-use to a greater extent, compared to participants in the avoidance condition. This effect was replicated in Study 2, and was mediated by perceptions of sexual health threat. In Study 3, the effect of security priming on condom acquisition behavior was eliminated through the use of a framing manipulation, though, the effect of primed attachment on condom use attitudes was not significant. A Meta-Analysis, however, revealed that the predicted effects of attachment priming were consistent across the three studies, supporting the role of attachment in evaluations of condom use. Priming attachment security or anxiety lead participants to perceive their sexual partners as less of a sexual health threat, resulting in a devaluation of condom use. Primed security also reduced condom acquisition behavior, though this negative effect eliminated by framing condoms as protecting a partner’s sexual health. Overall, these studies suggest that relational factors, such as attachment, require greater consideration when studying sexual health and designing interventions.