The Repurposing of Abandoned Buildings in Gary, Indiana with Sustainable Design: The Revitalization of a Distressed City

Abandonment has been a major problem plaguing the city of Gary, Indiana. The city saw its peak in the 1960’s and has since been the site of pollution due to the steel mill, a general lack of investment, and seedy behavior in empty buildings. Based on information gathered, such as the Broken Windows Theory, citizen testimonials, expert interviews, government initiatives, and revitalization plans of other cities, restoring abandoned buildings will prove socially and economically beneficial to the city of Gary. This research provides suggestions for how to mitigate the abandoned building problems, suggestions for possible funding of the abandoned building revitalization plan, and reasons for hope in this urban area

Exploring the Lived Experiences of South Carolina Foster Parents Within Spartanburg County Public Schools: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe foster parents’ experiences with high schools in the Spartanburg, South Carolina area. The study utilized phenomenological methods of gathering information by way of interviews and focus groups. The study explored the lived experiences of foster parents across the state of South Carolina most specifically about the enrollment process of new placements and the overall academic success and support those foster parents perceived that the foster youth in their homes received from the school system. The researcher sought to answer the following questions: 1. How do foster parents feel they are viewed within the South Carolina school system in which their foster child(ren) is/are enrolled?, 2. How do foster parents describe the biggest barriers when interacting on behalf of a foster placement’s educational experiences?, 3. How do foster parents describe inequities perceived regarding students in foster care versus those not in foster care? Limitations were addressed as also areas for future study

Technical Report on: Tripedal Dynamic Gaits for a Quadruped Robot

A vast number of applications for legged robots entail tasks in complex, dynamic environments. But these environments put legged robots at high risk for limb damage. This paper presents an empirical study of fault tolerant dynamic gaits designed for a quadrupedal robot suffering from a single, known ``missing'' limb. Preliminary data suggests that the featured gait controller successfully anchors a previously developed planar monopedal hopping template in the three-legged spatial machine. This compositional approach offers a useful and generalizable guide to the development of a wider range of tripedal recovery gaits for damaged quadrupedal machines.Comment: Updated *increased font size on figures 2-6 *added a legend, replaced text with colors in figure 5a and 6a *made variables representing vectors boldface in equations 8-10 *expanded on calculations in equations 8-10 by adding additional lines *added a missing "2" to equation 8 (typo) *added mass of the robot to tables II and III *increased the width of figures 1 and

Task-Based Control and Design of a BLDC Actuator for Robotics

This paper proposes a new multi-input brushless DC motor current control policy aimed at robotics applications. The controller achieves empirical improvements in steady-state torque and power-production abilities relative to conventional controllers, while retaining similarly good torque-tracking and stability characteristics. Simulations show that non-conventional motor design optimizations whose feasibility is established by scaling model extrapolations from existing motor catalogues can vastly amplify the effectiveness of this new control-strategy

Reimagining Robotic Walkers For Real-World Outdoor Play Environments With Insights From Legged Robots: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE For children with mobility impairments, without cognitive delays, who want to participate in outdoor activities, existing assistive technology (AT) to support their needs is limited. In this review, we investigate the control and design of a selection of robotic walkers while exploring a selection of legged robots to develop solutions that address this gap in robotic AT. METHOD We performed a comprehensive literature search from four main databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore. The keywords used in the search were the following: “walker”, “rollator”, “smart walker”, “robotic walker”, “robotic rollator”. Studies were required to discuss the control or design of robotic walkers to be considered. A total of 159 papers were analyzed. RESULTS From the 159 papers, 127 were excluded since they failed to meet our inclusion criteria. The total number of papers analyzed included publications that utilized the same device, therefore we classified the remaining 32 studies into groups based on the type of robotic walker used. This paper reviewed 15 different types of robotic walkers. CONCLUSIONS The ability of many-legged robots to negotiate and transition between a range of unstructured substrates suggests several avenues of future consideration whose pursuit could benefit robotic AT, particularly regarding the present limitations of wheeled paediatric robotic walkers for children’s daily outside use. For more information: Kod*lab (link to kodlab.seas.upenn.edu

Flame synthesis of carbon nanotubes and metallic nanomaterials

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, 2003.Includes bibliographical references.Carbon nanotubes are a remarkable material with many appealing properties. Despite the appeal of this material, there are few synthesis techniques capable of producing nanotubes in large quantities at low-cost. The broad objective of this study was to examine the potential of a premixed flame for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes with the view that flame synthesis may prove a means of continuous production at low-cost. The specific approach focused on the formation of metallic nanoparticles in flames; identification of nanotube formation zones, time scales, and transition conditions; characterization of material properties; and the development of a formation mechanism and associated flame-model. Carbon nanotube formation requires a source of carbon, a source of heat and the presence of metal particles. A fuel-rich flame is a high-temperature, carbon-rich environment and addition of metal is likely to give conditions suitable for nanotube growth. This study considered a premixed acetylene/oxygen/15 mol% argon flame doped with iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)₅) vapor (typically 6100 ppm), operated at 50 Torr pressure and 30 cm/s cold gas feed velocity. The flame was investigated with regard to the growth of metal particles and subsequent formation and growth of carbon nanotubes. Thermophoretic samples were extracted from the flame at various heights above burner (HAB) and analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). HAB is representative of residence time in the flame. Size distribution and number density data were extracted from TEM images using a quantitative image analysis technique. The mean particle size for a precursor concentration of 6100 ppm was observed to increase from around 2 to 4 nm between 20 and 75 mm HAB.(cont.) The particle number density results showed a decreasing number density with increasing HAB, giving a complementary picture of the particle dynamics in the flame. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were also observed to form in the premixed flame. Thermophoretic sampling and TEM analysis gave insight into nanotube formation dynamics. Nanotube structures were observed to form as early as 30 mm HAB (20 ms) with growth proceeding rapidly within the next 10 to 20 mm HAB. The growth-rate for the nanotubes in this interval is estimated to be between 10 and 100 ptm per second. The upper region of the flame (50 to 70 mm HAB; 35 to 53 ms) is dominated by tangled web structures formed via the coalescence of individual nanotubes formed earlier in the flame. The nanotube structures are exclusively single-walled with no multi-walled nanotubes observed in any of the flame samples. The effect of carbon availability on nanotube formation was tested by collecting samples over a range of fuel equivalence ratios at fixed HAB. The morphology of the collected material revealed a nanotube formation 'window' of 1.5 < < 1.9, with lower dominated by discrete particles and higher favoring soot-like structures. These results were also verified using Raman spectroscopy. A clear trend of improved nanotube quality (number and length of nanotubes) is observed at lower . More filaments were observed with increasing concentration, however the length (and quality) of the nanotubes appeared higher at lower concentrations ...by Murray John Height.Ph.D

Heterogeneity of respiratory disease in children and young adults with sickle cell disease

To detect and characterise different phenotypes of respiratory disease in children and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD), 11 lung function and haematological biomarkers were analysed using k-means cluster analysis in a cohort of 114 subjects with SCD aged between 5 and 27 years. Three clusters were detected: cluster 1 had elevated pulmonary capillary blood volume, mixed obstructive/restrictive lung disease, hypoxia and moderately severe anaemia; cluster 2 were older patients with restrictive lung disease; and cluster 3 were younger patients with obstructive lung disease, elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase and bronchodilator reversibility. These results may inform more personalised management strategies to improve outcomes.</p