Attention Capture by Direct Gaze is Robust to Context and Task Demands

The final publication is available at Springer via https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10919-011-0128-z.Eye-tracking was used to investigate whether gaze direction would influence the visual scanning of faces, when presented in the context of a full character, in different social settings, and with different task demands. Participants viewed individual computer agents against either a blank background or a bar scene setting, during both a free-viewing task and an attractiveness rating task for each character. Faces with a direct gaze were viewed longer than faces with an averted gaze regardless of body context, social settings, and task demands. Additionally, participants evaluated characters with a direct gaze as more attractive than characters with an averted gaze. These results, obtained with pictures of computer agents rather than real people, suggest that direct gaze is a powerful attention grabbing stimulus that is robust to background context or task demands.103305-1/Canadian Institutes of Health Research89822-1/Canadian Institutes of Health Research103305-1/PHS HHS/United States89822-1/PHS HHS/United State

A Digital Twin Infrastructure for NGC of ROV during Inspection

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) provide practical solutions for a wide range of activities in a particularly challenging domain, despite their dependence on support ships and operators. Recent advancements in AI, machine learning, predictive analytics, control theories, and sensor technologies offer opportunities to make ROVs (semi) autonomous in their operations and to remotely test and monitor their dynamics. This study moves towards that goal by formulating a complete navigation, guidance, and control (NGC) system for a six DoF BlueROV2, offering a solution to the current challenges in the field of marine robotics, particularly in the areas of power supply, communication, stability, operational autonomy, localization, and trajectory planning. The vehicle can operate (semi) autonomously, relying on a sensor acoustic USBL localization system, tethered communication with the surface vessel for power, and a line of sight (LOS) guidance system. This strategy transforms the path control problem into a heading control problem, aligning the vehicle’s movement with a dynamically calculated reference point along the desired path. The control system uses PID controllers implemented in the navigator flight controller board. Additionally, an infrastructure has been developed that synchronizes and communicates between the real ROV and its digital twin within the Unity environment. The digital twin acts as a visual representation of the ROV’s movements and considers hydrodynamic behaviors. This approach combines the physical properties of the ROV with the advanced simulation and analysis capabilities of its digital counterpart. All findings were validated at the Point Rouge port located in Marseille and at the port of Ancona. The NGC implemented has proven positive vehicle stability and trajectory tracking in time despite external interferences. Additionally, the digital part has proven to be a reliable infrastructure for a future bidirectional communication system

Robotics in the Context of Primary and Preschool Education: A Scoping Review

This article presents an overview of educational robotics (ER) in primary and preschool education. As ER seems to be gaining popularity for its effectiveness as a learning tool, more research needs to be done in this area. Recent results from ER pilot projects advocate for the integration of ER in K-12 education curricula. On the other hand, teachers may face various difficulties in carrying out such activities due to lack of experience or knowledge in this field. Previous research has shown that ER is still an open field for exploration. Even though an increasing number of experiences are available for the use of robotic tools in early education, there is not enough empirical evidence on the features they need to present for young learners to perceive them as attractive and easy to use. In addition, the high cost of some tools may prevent educational institutions from using them systematically. To detect possible gaps in the current research, in the context of this work, 21 articles representing ER applications and frameworks were collected and reviewed between 2011 and 2021. The results of this study demonstrate that ER can be a valuable tool for supporting primary and preschool students. However, the review supports that more research is needed on the technical features that a robotic tool must have to be successfully introduced to students of this age. Moreover, future work is needed to develop low-cost ER tools so they can become more accessible to educational institutions

The Model Matching Problem for Max-Plus Linear Systems: a Geometric Approach

Linear systems over the max-plus algebra provide a suitable formalism to model discrete event systems where synchronization, without competition, is involved. In this paper, we consider a formulation of the model matching problem for systems of such class, in which the output of a given system, called the plant, is forced, by a suitable input, to track exactly that of a given model. A necessary and sufficient condition for its solvability is obtained by making a suitable use of geometric methods in the framework of systems over the max-plus algebra

Synchronization and Sub-synchronization Problems for Switching Max-Plus Systems: Structural Solvability Conditions

Switching linear systems over the max-plus algebra can be used to model production plants where different choices in resource allocation are possible. In such case, internal and external variables represent the time instants at which internal or external events occur. In particular, output variables represent the time instants at which lots of manufactured goods are released to the market. Here, we consider the problems of system synchronization and sub-synchronization, which consist in forcing the output of a system to equal or to anticipate the output of a given model. Their solution in the max-plus framework provides a viable strategy to control a given production plant in such a way to comply with a desired production time schedule. Using structural methods and introducing novel structural notions, necessary and sufficient solvability conditions are given. Practical methods to construct solutions are illustrated and discussed

Implementation and Assessment Methodologies of Teachers' Training Courses for STEM Activities

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Convolutional Neural Networks for Enhancing Detection of Dolphin Whistles in a Dense Acoustic Environment

Latest developments in acoustic research suggest that using surveying methods based on artificial intelligence (AI) could improve the effectiveness of underwater monitoring. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has proven to be a cost-effective approach for gathering information about the acoustic behavior of dolphins and plays a crucial role in studying their vocalizations, particularly whistles. This study investigates the efficiency of a binary convolutional neural network (CNN) in detecting dolphin whistles amidst high-density vocalizations in an aquatic environment. Specifically, this analysis intends to determine whether a properly trained CNN can recognize a single whistle even in challenging condition, including situations where multiple dolphins vocalize simultaneously, resulting in overlapping whistles that may have different shapes and durations. To this aim, experimental trials were conducted at Oltremare marine park, Riccione, Italy, where underwater recordings of seven-dolphin vocalizations were collected over 22 consecutive hours. The CNN was trained on labeled whistle spectrograms. The model, comprising three convolutional layers followed by max pooling layers and rectified linear unit (ReLU) activation functions, was evaluated using a 10-fold cross-validation approach. Confusion matrix and performance metrics indicate that the proposed approach achieves results comparable to those reported in the literature, despite the more challenging working conditions. The study supports the potential of AI models in enhancing passive acoustic monitoring techniques

The Development of a Low-Cost Hydrophone for Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Dolphin’s Vocalizations

Passive acoustics are widely used to monitor the presence of dolphins in the marine environment. This study aims to introduce a low-cost and homemade approach for assembling a complete underwater microphone (i.e., the hydrophone), employing cheap and easy to obtain components. The hydrophone was assembled with two piezo disks connected in a balanced configuration and encased in a plastic container filled with plastic foam. The hydrophone’s performance was validated by direct comparison with the commercially available AS-1 hydrophone (Aquarian Hydrophones, Anacortes, U.S.) on different underwater acoustic signals: artificial acoustic signals (ramp and multitone signals) and various dolphin vocalizations (whistle, echolocation clicks, and burst pulse signals). The sensitivity of the device’s performance to changes in the emission source position was also tested. The results of the validation procedure on both artificial signals and real dolphin vocalizations showed that the significant cost savings associated with cheap technology had a minimal effect on the recording device’s performance within the frequency range of 0–35 kHz. At this stage of experimentation, the global cost of the hydrophone could be estimated at a few euros, making it extremely price competitive when compared to more expensive commercially available models. In the future, this effective and low-cost technology would allow for continuous monitoring of the presence of free-ranging dolphins, significantly lowering the total cost of autonomous monitoring systems. This would permit broadening the monitored areas and creating a network of recorders, thus improving the acquisition of data

Robotics in Primary School: A Realistic Mathematics Approach

This version of the chapter has been accepted for publication, and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19913-5_6[Abstract]: Robots are technological tools of great interest in primary education for many reasons, but mainly for their compatibility with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). However, it is very important to minimize the impact of the technical issues associated to robotics on the teachers, providing simple and functional tools that allow them to focus their attention in the creation of STEM content. To this end, this chapter presents a methodology, based on Realistic Mathematics, for the integration of Educational Robotics in primary schools. This methodology has been tested during one semester in the Sigüeiro Primary School (Spain) in the subject of Mathematics, with students of different ages ranging from seven up to eleven years old. Two different educational robots, with different features, was used to highlight that the methodology is independent of the robotic platform used. Motivation surveys were administered to the students after the classes. Surveys reported highly successful results, which are discussed in the chapter