We report the detection of a radial velocity companion to SDSS J091709.55+463821.8, the lowest mass white dwarf currently known with M ∼ 0.17M⊙. The radial velocity of the white dwarf shows variations with a semiamplitude of 148.8 ± 6.9 km s and a period of 7.5936 ± 0.0024 hours, which implies a companion mass of M ≥ 0.28M⊙. The lack of evidence of a companion in the optical photometry forces a...

In this paper we integrate a humanoid robot with a powered wheelchair with the aim of lowering the cognitive requirements needed for powered mobility. We propose two roles for this companion: pointing out obstacles and giving directions. We show that children enjoyed driving with the humanoid companion by their side during a field-trial in an uncontrolled environment. Moreover, we present the r...

In 1990 J-L. Krivine introduced the notion of storage operators. They are λ-terms which simulate call-by-value in the call-by-name strategy and they can be used in order to modelize assignment instructions. J-L. Krivine has shown that there is a very simple second order type in AF2 type system for storage operators using Gődel translation of classical to intuitionistic logic. In order to modeli...

Independence in everyday life is a concern of many frail older people. There is a vision that in the near future this group will considerably gain independence and improve their quality of life by relying not only on human caregivers – who cannot grant round-the-clock assistance – but in addition on smart computer-based help capable of imitating human care-giving behaviour. This vision is expre...