A key question in conditional planning is: how many, and which of the possible execution failures should be planned for? One cannot, in general, plan for all the failures that can be anticipated: there axe simply too many. But neither can one ignore all the possible failures, or one will fail to produce sufficiently flexible plans. We describe a planning system that attempts to identify the con...

1 Introduction The class imbalance problem is a challenge to machine learning and data mining, and it has attracted significant research recent years. A classifier affected by the class imbalance problem for a specific data set would see strong accuracy overall but very poor performance on the minority class. The imbalance data sets are pervasive in real-world applications. Examples of these ki...

Important design choices in a period batch control planning system are the number of stages N and the length of the period P. We evaluate the effect of varying both the number of stages and the period length and isolate this from the well known effect of a reduction in manufacturing throughput time. Our simulation analysis shows that the selection of values for both N and P has a high impact on...

Computer-assisted optimization of chromatographic separations is still a fruitful activity. In fact, advances in computerized data handling should make the application of systematic optimization strategies much easier. However, in most contemporary applications, the optimization criterion is not considered to be a key issue (Vanbel, J Pharm Biomed, 21:603-610, 1999). In this paper, an update of...

This work analyzes and evaluates state-of-the-art force control strategies for the collaborative multi-arm handling of deformable materials. We exploit and validate the wellknown catenary equation to predict the materials sag and interaction stiffness. The material properties are considered in the manipulator design and coupled system stability is investigated including the dynamics of a first-...

Much of the focus in evolutionary biology has been on the adaptive differentiation among organisms. It is equally important to understand the processes that result in similarities of structure among systems. Here, we discuss examples of similarities occurring at different ecological scales, from predator-prey relations (attack rates and handling times) through communities (food-web structures) ...

In this article we highlight some interesting facts about Bayesian variable selection methods for linear regression models in settings where the design matrix exhibits strong collinearity. We first demonstrate via real data analysis and simulation studies that summaries of the posterior distribution based on marginal and joint distributions may give conflicting results for assessing the importa...

This paper discusses the problem of generic planning and control of Automated Material Handling Systems (AMHSs). The paper illustrates the relevance of this research direction, and then addresses three different market sectors where AMHSs are used. These market sectors are: baggage handling, distribution, and parcel & postal. Research in these sectors is heavily motivated by a collaboration bet...

Human–robot collaborative systems have the potential to dramatically change many aspects of surgery, manufacturing, hazardous-material handling, and other dextrous tasks. We are particularly interested in precise manipulation tasks, which are typically performed under an admittance-control regime, where the controlled velocity of a non-backdrivable robot is proportional to the sensed user-appli...

This paper presents a hybrid cylinder/wire drive parallel arm. Its workspace is analyzed for the application of manipulating heavy materials in construction and ship building industries. The conventional Stewart platform and a multiple wire drive mechanism are compared, and hybrid drive mechanisms are considered in analysis and designing. The total number of cylinder and wire is fixed to seven ...