BACKGROUND Sleep deprivation is known to be a common problem in the U.S. Navy and has been documented using wrist-worn actigraphy in various operational studies that typically span 2 to 4 wk in duration. However, sleep patterns over an extended period of time have not been objectively measured. CASE REPORT This 6-mo study used actigraphy and the Fatigue Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST) to qua...

International relations urgently needs theoretical development that takes into the account the power of non-state actors, in particular business. The present paper aims to prepare the ground for such theoretical development by analyzing the political power of business along three dimensions: its instrumental, structural, and discursive power. The paper discusses the extent to which business' po...

An increasing requirement for satellites, space probes and (unmanned) aircraft is that they exhibit robust behaviour without direct human intervention. Autonomous operation is required in spite of incomplete knowledge of an uncertain environment. In particular, embedded equipment that processes sensing data must consider uncertain input parameters while managing its own activities. We show how ...

Sensemaking in the 21 century C2 environment will be critical not only for soldiers but also for autonomous equipment. Sensemaking by humans entails understanding the meaning and import of information, often conveyed via natural human language, about events and objects in the battlespace. Analogous sensemaking in autonomous and semi-autonomous UGVs requires cognitive robotics, i.e. the ability ...

This paper attempts to draw together results from information systems research, linguistic theory, and methodology in order to present a unified framework in which to understand conceptual models. Three different roles of conceptual models (CM's) in the design and use of information systems (IS's) are investigated. The descriptive role of a CM is that it is an abstract representation of the uni...

With advances in robotics, robots can give advice and help using natural language. The field of HRI, however, has not yet developed a communication strategy for giving advice effectively. Drawing on literature in politeness and informal speech, we propose options for a robot’s help-giving speech— using hedges or discourse markers, both of which can mitigate the commanding tone implied in direct...

A procedure to control all six DOF (degrees of freedom) of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) without an external reference system and to enable fully autonomous flight is presented here. For 2D positioning the principle of optical flow is used. Together with the output of height estimation, fusing ultrasonic, infrared and inertial and pressure sensor data, the 3D position of the UAV can be comput...

Each of the descending pathways involved in motor control has a number of anatomical, molecular, pharmacological, and neuroinformatic characteristics. They are differentially involved in motor control, a process that results from operations involving the entire motor network rather than from the brain commanding the spinal cord. A given pathway can have many functional roles. This review explor...

Deep Space One (DS1) will be the rst spacecraft to be controlled by an autonomous closed loop system potentially capable of carrying out a complete mission with minimal commanding from Earth. A major component of the autonomous ight software is an onboard planner/scheduler. Based on generative planning and temporal reasoning technologies, the planner/scheduler transforms abstract goals into det...