Robust Agent Control of an Autonomous Robot with Many Sensors and Actuators

This thesis presents methods for implementing robust hexpod locomotion on an autonomous robot with many sensors and actuators. The controller is based on the Subsumption Architecture and is fully distributed over approximately 1500 simple, concurrent processes. The robot, Hannibal, weighs approximately 6 pounds and is equipped with over 100 physical sensors, 19 degrees of freedom, and 8 on board computers. We investigate the following topics in depth: distributed control of a complex robot, insect-inspired locomotion control for gait generation and rough terrain mobility, and fault tolerance. The controller was implemented, debugged, and tested on Hannibal. Through a series of experiments, we examined Hannibal's gait generation, rough terrain locomotion, and fault tolerance performance. These results demonstrate that Hannibal exhibits robust, flexible, real-time locomotion over a variety of terrain and tolerates a multitude of hardware failures.

Many-Valued Logic and Qualitative Modelling of Electrical Circuits

Lee M.H., Many-Valued Logic and Qualitative Modelling of Electrical Circuits, in Proc. QR?2000, 14th Int. Workshop on Qualitative Reasoning, Morelia, Mexico June 3rd - 7th 2000.

Two thousand years of missions before Carey, based upon and embodying many of the earliest extant accounts.

http://www.archive.org/details/twothousandyears014145mbp

Hippocampal Modulation of Recognition, Conditioning, Timing, and Space: Why So Many Functions?

Advanced Research Projects Agency (ONR N00014-92-J-4015); National Science Foundation (IRI-90-24877); Office of Naval Research (N00014-91-J-1309)

Waveguide QED: Many-body bound-state effects in coherent and Fock-state scattering from a two-level system

Strong coupling between a two-level system (TLS) and bosonic modes produces dramatic quantum optics effects. We consider a one-dimensional continuum of bosons coupled to a single localized TLS, a system which may be realized in a variety of plasmonic, photonic, or electronic contexts. We present the exact many-body scattering eigenstate obtained by imposing open boundary conditions. Multiphoton bound states appear in the scattering of two or more photons due to the coupling between the photons and the TLS. Such bound states are shown to have a large effect on scattering of both Fock- and coherent-state wave packets, especially in the intermediate coupling-strength regime. We compare the statistics of the transmitted light with a coherent state having the same mean photon number: as the interaction strength increases, the one-photon probability is suppressed rapidly, and the two- and three-photon probabilities are greatly enhanced due to the many-body bound states. This results in non-Poissonian light. © 2010 The American Physical Society.

The Many Faces of Paul Hindemith

The purpose of this project is to present selected violin pieces by Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) against a backdrop of the diverse styles and traditions that he integrated in his music. For this dissertation project, selected violin sonatas by Hindemith were performed in three recitals alongside pieces by other German and Austro-German composers. These recitals were also recorded for archival purposes. The first recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on December 10, 2005, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park, included Violin Sonata Op.11, No. 1 (1918) by Paul Hindemith, Sonatina in D Major, Op. 137 (1816) by Franz Schubert, and Sonata in E-flat Major, Op.18 (1887) by Richard Strauss. The second recital, performed with pianist David Ballena on May 9, 2006, in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Sonata in E Minor, KV 304 (1778) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata in E (1935) by Paul Hindemith, Romance for Violin and Orchestra No.1 in G Major (1800-1802) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, and Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105 (1851) by Robert Schumann. The third recital, performed with David Ballena and Kai-Ching Chang on November 10, 2006 in Ulrich Recital Hall at the University of Maryland, included Violin Sonata Op.12 No.1 in D Major (1798) by Ludwig Van Beethoven, Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.4 in C Minor BWV 1017 (1720) by J.S. Bach, and Violin Sonata Op.11 No.2 (1918) by Paul Hindemith. For each of my dissertation recitals, I picked a piece by Hindemith as the core of the program then picked pieces by other composers that have similar key, similar texture, same number of movements or similar feeling to complete my program. Although his pieces used some classical methods of composition, he added his own distinct style: extension of chromaticism; his prominent use of interval of the fourth; his chromatic alteration of diatonic scale degrees; and his non-traditional cadences. Hindemith left behind a legacy of multi-dimensional, and innovative music capable of expressing both the old and the new aesthetics.

Accurate localized resolution of identity approach for linear-scaling hybrid density functionals and for many-body perturbation theory

© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.A key component in calculations of exchange and correlation energies is the Coulomb operator, which requires the evaluation of two-electron integrals. For localized basis sets, these four-center integrals are most efficiently evaluated with the resolution of identity (RI) technique, which expands basis-function products in an auxiliary basis. In this work we show the practical applicability of a localized RI-variant ('RI-LVL'), which expands products of basis functions only in the subset of those auxiliary basis functions which are located at the same atoms as the basis functions. We demonstrate the accuracy of RI-LVL for Hartree-Fock calculations, for the PBE0 hybrid density functional, as well as for RPA and MP2 perturbation theory. Molecular test sets used include the S22 set of weakly interacting molecules, the G3 test set, as well as the G2-1 and BH76 test sets, and heavy elements including titanium dioxide, copper and gold clusters. Our RI-LVL implementation paves the way for linear-scaling RI-based hybrid functional calculations for large systems and for all-electron many-body perturbation theory with significantly reduced computational and memory cost.

Can Cooling Technology Save Many-Core Parallel Programming from Its Programming Woes?

An abstract of this work will be presented at the Compiler, Architecture and Tools Conference (CATC), Intel Development Center, Haifa, Israel November 23, 2015.

The many-to-many location-routing problem

In this paper the many to many location routing problem is introduced, and its relationship to various problems in distribution management is emphasised. Useful mathematical formulations which can be easily extended to cater for other related problems are produced. Techniques for tackling this complex distribution problem are also outlined.

How many Coccolithovirus genotypes does it take to terminate an Emiliania huxleyi bloom?

Giant viruses are known to be significant mortality agents of phytoplankton, often being implicated in the terminations of large Emiliania huxleyi blooms. We have previously shown the high temporal variability of E. huxleyi-infecting coccolithoviruses (EhVs) within a Norwegian fjord mesocosm. In the current study we investigated EhV dynamics within a naturally-occurring E. huxleyi bloom in the Western English Channel. Using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and marker gene sequencing, we uncovered a spatially highly dynamic Coccolithovirus population that was associated with a genetically stable E. huxleyi population as revealed by the major capsid protein gene (mcp) and coccolith morphology motif (CMM), respectively. Coccolithoviruses within the bloom were found to be variable with depth and unique virus populations were detected at different stations sampled indicating a complex network of EhV-host infections. This ultimately will have significant implications to the internal structure and longevity of ecologically important E. huxleyi blooms.

A puzzle with many pieces: the genetic structure and diversity of Phaeocystis antarctica Karsten (Prymnesiophyta)

Strong ocean current systems characterize the Southern Ocean. The genetic structure of marine phytoplankton species is believed to depend mainly on currents. Genetic estimates of the relatedness of populations of phytoplankton species therefore should provide a proxy showing to what extent different geographic regions are interconnected by the ocean current systems. In this study, spatial and temporal patterns of genetic diversity were studied in the circumpolar prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis antarctica Karsten using seven nuclear microsatellite loci. Analyses were conducted for 86 P. antarctica isolates sampled around the Antarctic continent between 1982 and2007. The resultsrevealed highgenetic diversity without singlegenotypes recurringeven amongisolateswithin a bloom or originating from the same bucket of water. Populations of P. antarctica were significantly differentiated among the oceanic regions. However, some geographically distant populations were more closely related to each other than they were to other geographically close populations. Temporal haplotype turnover within regions was also suggested by the multilocus fingerprints. Our data suggest that even within blooms of P. antarctica genetic diversity and population sizes are large but exchange between different regions canbe limited. Positive and significant inbreeding coefficients hint at further regional substructure of populations, suggestingthat patches, once isolated from one another, may not reconnect. These data emphasize that even for planktonic species in a marine ecosystem that is influenced by strong currents, significant breaks in geneflow may occur.