链式可变形机器人的构形与运动研究

本文的研究内容围绕中国科学院创新基金和GUCAS-BHPB基金资助的项目“可变形机器人的研究”展开，其目的是研制具有较强环境适应能力和高机动性能的可变形移动机器人系统，为我国在灾难救援和特种作业等应用领域提供技术储备。论文首先对可变形机器人的研究现状进行了概述，接下来展开了三个方面的研究工作：平台方面，提出了一种新型可变形链式结构，并进行了结构设计和实验验证；构形方面，提出了基于相似理论的构形研究方法，对链式可变形机器人的构形设计和构形转化方法进行了研究；运动性能方面，通过理论和实验分析了链式可变形履带模块机器人不同构形的转向性能、越障性能和倾翻稳定性能等。各种用于非结构环境的移动机器人机构中，模仿生物蛇原型的链式机构由于具有多于确定空间位置和姿态所需的自由度，能够有效、迅速、可靠地响应许多复杂的作业任务，但是该类系统具有转向半径大和侧向稳定性差等缺点。在非结构环境中，机器人需要通过“以变应变”才能够应对复杂多变的任务和环境。因此，论文基于偏置关节的思想，提出了一种形态和结构均能够变化的新型链式结构。机器人的单个标准模块由模块本体、连接臂和偏置关节等组成。偏置关节避免了模块间的运动干涉，扩大了机器人模块间的相对运动空间。机器人模块的数量可以根据实际需要选择，机器人通过变形可以产生多种构形，同时每种构形又具有多种步态以适应作业任务的需要。根据变形机理，研制了链式可变形机器人样机，并对样机进行了相应的原理验证实验。链式可变形机器人构形的复杂性随着模块数量和构形数量的增加呈指数增长，增加了构形设计和构形控制的难度。针对构形设计和构形转化问题，本文基于相似理论，提出了构形研究的一般分析方法，并将其归纳成为：表达(Expression)、计数(Enumeration)、评价(Evaluation)和有效性(Efficiency)等四个方面的问题(简称“Four-E Problem”)。在构形设计方面，根据模块的物理结构和邻接关系提出了用构形矩阵来表达机器人结构的拓扑信息，并在仿真环境下进行有效的描述；提出了基于组合计数原理的递归算法用于多模块可变形机器人非同构构形的计数、枚举，并根据构形矩阵所表征的拓扑信息对构形进行评价；最后根据仿真结果，给出了可变形机器人的构形设计示例。在构形转化方面，论文利用图论中的基本思想和原理对机器人的构形和构形网络进行了建模，对构形转化的路径进行了计算，对构形转化的最佳路径和中心构形的选择进行了分析；以三模块可变形机器人的构形网络为例，证实了该方法的可行性。履带式移动机器人的运动能力涉及的问题很多，包括接地比压、驱动能力、地面阻力、启动特性、转向能力、越障能力、平顺性和倾翻稳定性等。本文主要研究链式可变形履带模块机器人不同构形的平面转向特性、系统越障性能和倾翻稳定性能等。论文首先对链式可变形履带模块机器人单模块(单履带)的接地比压分布进行了研究，并对接地比压的核心区域进行了分析。在复杂的环境中，机器人运动的路径多由弯曲的道路组成，转向性能是其改变运动方向的一种重要能力。转向形式通常有滑移转向和铰接转向两种，分别适用不同的构形。论文参照杨红旗模型和Kitano模型分别对链式可变形双模块机器人和链式可变形三模块机器人不同构形下的滑移转向和铰接转向进行了理论和实验分析。移动机器人的越障性能是机器人本体和环境相互作用时所产生的一种综合特性。论文分析了链式可变形机器人系统的斜坡爬行性能、沟壑爬行性能、楼梯爬行性能和倾翻稳定性能。考虑到城市环境中，楼梯是最为典型的障碍物之一，论文重点对履带式移动机器人在踢面爬升、踢面翻越和坡度线爬行等阶段的运动条件、运动性能和影响因素进行了分析。在非结构环境中，大多数情况是坎坷不平的地面和复杂的三维地形，机器人的倾翻稳定性(或者说是抗倾翻能力)非常重要。根据Iagnemma和Papadopoulos提出的稳定性分析方法，定义机器人的倾翻稳定锥，对履带式可变形机器人变形过程中的倾翻稳定性进行了综合判定，同时通过仿真比较了机器人三种对称构形在仰俯、倾斜和偏转等组合干扰下的倾翻稳定性。稳定锥方法，为可变形机器人的倾翻问题提供了有效的理论分析手段，同时稳定锥方法还可以适用于其它轮式或腿式移动机器人的稳定性分析。理论分析和实验表明，本文研制的履带驱动链式可变形机器人平台，具有多种构形和步态以适应不同的环境和任务，具有废墟、砾石、草地、沙地、楼梯、坡度和管道等城市或野外环境的通过能力。可变形机器人机构灵巧、结构紧凑、便于携带，它不仅能够用于救援、消防、公安和环保等领域，在星球探测、国防安全等方面也有着潜在的应用前景。

Complex potentials and singular integral equation for curve crack problem in antiplane elasticity

Four types of the fundamental complex potential in antiplane elasticity are introduced: (a) a point dislocation, (b) a concentrated force, (c) a dislocation doublet and (d) a concentrated force doublet. It is proven that if the axis of the concentrated force doublet is perpendicular to the direction of the dislocation doublet, the relevant complex potentials are equivalent. Using the obtained complex potentials, a singular integral equation for the curve crack problem is introduced. Some particular features of the obtained singular integral equation are discussed, and numerical solutions and examples are given.

Enhancement of ultrafast four-wave mixing in a polar molecule medium

We investigate the ultrafast four-wave mixing (FWM) with two-color few-cycle ultrashort pulses propagating in a two-level polar molecule medium. It is found that the enhancement of FWM can be achieved even for low intensity pulses due to the effects of permanent dipole moments (PDM) in polar molecules. Moreover, the conversion efficiency of FWM can be controlled by the carrier-envelope phases (CEP) of two ultrashort pulses. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America

Color centers and charge state change in Ce : YAG crystals grown by temperature gradient techniques

Color centers and impurity defects of Ce:YAG crystals grown in reduction atmosphere by temperature gradient techniques have been investigated by means of gamma irradiation and thermal treatments. Four absorption bands associated with color centers or impurity defects at 235, 255, 294 and 370 nm were observed in as-grown crystals. Changes in optical intensity of the 235 and 370 nm bands after gamma irradiation indicate that they are associated with F+-type color center. Charge state change processes of Fe3+ impurity and Ce3+ ions take place in the irradiation process. The variations of Ce3+ ions concentration clearly indicate that Ce4+ ions exist in Ce:YAG crystals and gamma irradiations could increase the concentration of Ce3+ ions. Annealing treatments and the changes in optical density suggest that a heterovalent impurity ion associated with the 294 nm band seems to be present in the crystals. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Melanocortin-1 receptor gene variants in four Chinese ethnic populations

There is strong relationship between melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene variants and human hair color and skin type. Based on a sequencing study of MC1R gene in 50 individuals from the Uygur, Tibetan, Wa and Dai ethnic populations, we discuss the occurre

Two-photon asymmetric color-locking second-order stochastic correlation of attosecond polarization beats

Based on the phase-conjugation polarization interference between two two-photon processes, we theoretically investigated the attosecond scale asymmetry sum-frequency polarization beat in four-level system (FASPB). The field correlation has weak influence on the FASPB signal when the laser has narrow bandwidth. Conversely, when the laser has broadband linewidth, the FASPB signal shows resonance-nonresonance cross correlation. The two-photon signal exhibits hybrid radiation-matter detuning terahertz; damping oscillation, i.e., when the laser frequency is off resonance from the two-photon transition, the signal exhibits damping oscillation and the profile of the two-photon self-correlation signal also exhibits zero time-delay asymmetry of the maxima. We have also investigated the asymmetry of attosecond polarization beat caused by the shift of the two-photon self-correlation zero time-delay phenomenon, in which the maxima of the two two-photon signals are shifted from zero time-delay point to opposite directions. As an attosecond ultrafast modulation process, FASPB can be intrinsically extended to any level-summation systems of two dipolar forbidden excited states.

Color to Gray: Visual Cue Preservation

Both commercial and scientific applications often need to transform color images into gray-scale images, e. g., to reduce the publication cost in printing color images or to help color blind people see visual cues of color images. However, conventional color to gray algorithms are not ready for practical applications because they encounter the following problems: 1) Visual cues are not well defined so it is unclear how to preserve important cues in the transformed gray-scale images; 2) some algorithms have extremely high time cost for computation; and 3) some require human-computer interactions to have a reasonable transformation. To solve or at least reduce these problems, we propose a new algorithm based on a probabilistic graphical model with the assumption that the image is defined over a Markov random field. Thus, color to gray procedure can be regarded as a labeling process to preserve the newly well-defined visual cues of a color image in the transformed gray-scale image. Visual cues are measurements that can be extracted from a color image by a perceiver. They indicate the state of some properties of the image that the perceiver is interested in perceiving. Different people may perceive different cues from the same color image and three cues are defined in this paper, namely, color spatial consistency, image structure information, and color channel perception priority. We cast color to gray as a visual cue preservation procedure based on a probabilistic graphical model and optimize the model based on an integral minimization problem. We apply the new algorithm to both natural color images and artificial pictures, and demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms representative conventional algorithms in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. In addition, it requires no human-computer interactions.

White Electroluminescence from a Star-Like Polymer with an Orange Emissive Core and Four Blue Emissive Arms

A star-like white light-emitting polymer with an orange emissive core and four blue emissive arms is designed and synthesized. White electroluminescence is observed with simultaneous orange emission from the core and blue emission from the arms. A single-layer device based on this polymer emits white light with CIE coordinates of (0.35, 0.39) and a luminous efficiency of 7.06 cd A(-1).

White electroluminescence from a single-polymer system with simultaneous two-color emission: Polyfluorene as blue host and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivatives as orange dopants on the side chain

Four single polymers with two kinds of attachment of orange chromophore to blue polymer host for white electroluminescence (EL) were designed. The effect of the side-chain attachment and main-chain attachment on the EL efficiencies of the resulting polymers was compared. The side-chain-type single polymers are found to exhibit more efficient white EL than that of the main-chain-type single polymers. Based on the side-chain-type white single polymer with 4-(4-alkyloxy-phenyl)-7-(4-diphenylamino-phenyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles as the orange-dopant unit and polyfluorene as the blue polymer host, white EL with simultaneous orange (lambda(max) = 545 nm) and blue emission (lambda(max) = 432 nm/460 nm) is realised. A single-layer device (indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polymer/Ca/Al) made of these polymers emits white light with the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage coordinates of (0.30,0.40), possesses a turn-on voltage of 3.5 V, luminous efficiency of 10.66 cd A(-1), power efficiency of 6.68 lm W-1, and a maximum brightness of 21240 cd m(-2).

Solving the coastal eutrophication problem by large scale seaweed cultivation

Eutrophication is becoming a serious problem in coastal waters in many parts of the world. It induces the phytoplankton blooms including 'Red Tides', followed by heavy economic losses to extensive aquaculture area. Some cultivated seaweeds have very high productivity and could absorb large quantities of N, P, CO2, produce large amount of O-2 and have excellent effect on decreasing eutrophication. The author believes that seaweed cultivation in large scale should be a good solution to the eutrophication problem in coastal waters. To put this idea into practice, four conditions should be fulfilled: (a) Large-scale cultivation could be conducted within the region experiencing eutrophication. (b) Fundamental scientific and technological problems for cultivation should have been solved. (c) Cultivation should not impose any harmful ecological effects. (d) Cultivation must be economically feasible and profitable. In northern China, large-scale cultivation of Laminaria japonica Aresch. has been encouraged for years to balance the negative effects from scallop cultivation. Preliminary research in recent years has shown that Gracilaria lemaneiformis (Bory) Daws. and Porphyra haitanensis Chang et Zheng are the two best candidates for this purpose along the Chinese southeast to southern coast from Fujian to Guangdong, Guangxi and Hong Kong. Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui Chang et Xia is promising for use in pond culture condition with shrimps and fish.

Deep-sea pontoniines (Decapoda : Palaemonidae) from the philippine "PANGLAO 2005" expedition, with descriptions of four new species

Ten species belonging to three genera of the subfamily Pontoniinae were colleted by the deep-sea expedition "PANGLAO 2005" in the Philippines, including four new species of the genus Periclimenes, i.e., P. boucheti n. sp., P. leptunguis n. sp., P. ngi n. sp., and P. panglaonis sp. nov., and one newly recorded species from the Philippines, Periclimenes laccadivensis. They are reported with color photographs except one species, Plesiopontonia monodi. The possible synonymy of Periclimenes foresti and P. granuloides is discussed.

Identification and mapping of amplified fragment length polymorphism markers linked to shell color in bay scallop, Argopecten irradians irradians (Lamarck, 1819)

Amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) were used to study the inheritance of shell color in Argopecten irradians. Two scallops, one with orange and the other with white shells, were used as parents to produce four F-1 families by selfing and outcrossing. Eighty-eight progeny, 37 orange and 51 white, were randomly selected from one of the families for segregation and mapping analysis with AFLP and microsatellite markers. Twenty-five AFLP primer pairs were screened, yielding 1138 fragments, among which 148 (13.0%) were polymorphic in two parents and segregated in progeny. Six AFLP markers showed significant (P < 0.05) association with shell color. All six loci were mapped to one linkage group. One of the markers, F1f335, is completely linked to the gene for orange shell, which we designated as Orange1, without any recombination in the progeny we sampled. The marker was amplified in the orange parent and all orange progeny, but absent in the white parent and all the white progeny. The close linkage between F1f335 and Orange1 was validated using bulk segregation analysis in two natural populations, and all our data indicate that F1f335 is specific for the shell color gene, Orange1. The genomic mapping of a shell color gene in bay scallop improves our understanding of shell color inheritance and may contribute to the breeding of molluscs with desired shell colors.

Summer diet of two sympatric species of raptors Upland Buzzard (Buteo hemilasius) and Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) in alpine meadow: problem of coexistence

Summer diets of two sympatric raptors Upland Buzzards (Buteo hemilasius Temminck et Schlegel) and Eurasian Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo L. subsp. Hemachalana Hume) were studied in an alpine meadow (3250 m a.s.l.) on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Root voles Microtus oeconomus Pallas, plateau pikas Ochotona curzoniae Hodgson, Gansu pikas O. cansus Lyon and plateau zokors Myospalax baileyi Thomas were the main diet components of Upland Buzzards as identified through the pellets analysis with the frequency of 57, 20, 19 and 4%, respectively. The four rodent species also were the main diet components of Eurasian Eagle Owls basing on the pellets and prey leftovers analysis with the frequency of 53, 26, 13 and 5%, respectively. The food niche breadth indexes of Upland Buzzards and Eurasian Eagle Owls were 1.60 and 1.77 respectively (higher value of the index means the food niche of the raptor is broader), and the diet overlap index of the two raptors was larger (C-ue = 0.90) (the index range from 0 - no overlap - to I - complete overlap). It means that the diets of Upland Buzzards and Eurasian Eagle Owls were similar (Two Related Samples Test, Z = -0.752, P = 0.452). The classical resource partitioning theory can not explain the coexistence of Upland Buzzards and Eurasian Eagle Owls in alpine meadows of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, differences in body size, predation mode and activity rhythm between Upland Buzzards and Eurasian Eagle Owls may explain the coexistence of these two sympatric raptors.

Instability of anthocyanin accumulation in Vitis vinifera L. var. Gamay Freaux suspension cultures

The inherent instability of metabolite production in plant cell culture-based bioprocessing is a major problem hindering its commercialization. To understand the extent and causes of this instability, this study was aimed at understanding the variability of anthocyanin accumulation during long-term subcultures, as well as within subculture batches, in Vitis vinifera cell cultures. Therefore, four cell line suspensions of Vitis vinitera L. var. Gamay Freaux, A, B, C and D, originated from the same callus by cell-aggregate cloning, were established with starting anthocyanin contents of 2.73 +/- 0.15, 1.45 +/- 0.04, 0.77 +/- 0.024 and 0.27 +/- 0.04 CV (Color Value)/g-FCW (fresh cell weight), respectively. During weekly subculturing of 33 batches over 8 months, the anthocyanin biosynthetic capacity was gradually lost at various rates, for all four cell lines, regardless of the significant difference in the starting anthocyanin content. Contrary to this general trend, a significant fluctuation in the anthocyanin content was observed, but with an irregular cyclic pattern. The variabilities in the anthocyanin content between the subcultures for the 33 batches, as represented by the variation coefficient (VC), were 58, 57, 54, and 84% for V vinifera cell lines A, B, C and D, respectively. Within one subculture, the VCs from 12 replicate flasks for each of 12 independent subcultures were averaged, and found to be 9.7%, ranging from 4 to 17%. High- and low-producing cell lines, VV05 and VV06, with 1.8-fold differences in their basal anthocyanin contents, exhibited different inducibilities to L-phenylalanine feeding, methyl jasmonate and light irradiation. The low-producing cell line, showed greater potential in enhanced the anthocyanin production.