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The number of use cases for autonomous vehicles is increasing day by day especially in commercial applications. One important application of autonomous vehicles can be found within the parcel delivery section. Here, autonomous cars can massively help to reduce delivery efforts and time by supporting the courier actively. One important component of course is the autonomous vehicle itself. Nevertheless, beside the autonomous vehicle, a flexible and secure communication architecture also is a crucial key component impacting the overall performance of such system since it is required to allow continuous interactions between the vehicle and the other components of the system. The communication system must provide a reliable and secure architecture that is still flexible enough to remain practical and to address several use cases. In this paper, a robust communication architecture for such autonomous fleet-based systems is proposed. The architecture provides a reliable communication between different system entities while keeping those communications secure. The architecture uses different technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), cellular networks and Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) to achieve its goals.
Modeling of Random Variations in a Switched Capacitor Circuit based Physically Unclonable Function
(2020)
The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding to a wide range of fields such as home automation, agriculture, environmental monitoring, industrial applications, and many more. Securing tens of billions of interconnected devices in the near future will be one of the biggest challenges. IoT devices are often constrained in terms of computational performance, area, and power, which demand lightweight security solutions. In this context, hardware-intrinsic security, particularly physically unclonable functions (PUFs), can provide lightweight identification and authentication for such devices. In this paper, random capacitor variations in a switched capacitor PUF circuit are used as a source of entropy to generate unique security keys. Furthermore, a mathematical model based on the ordinary least square method is developed to describe the relationship between random variations in capacitors and the resulting output voltages. The model is used to filter out systematic variations in circuit components to improve the quality of the extracted secrets.
The evolution of cellular networks from its first generation (1G) to its fourth generation (4G) was driven by the demand of user-centric downlink capacity also technically called Mobile Broad-Band (MBB). With its fifth generation (5G), Machine Type Communication (MTC) has been added into the target use cases and the upcoming generation of cellular networks is expected to support them. However, such support requires improvements in the existing technologies in terms of latency, reliability, energy efficiency, data rate, scalability, and capacity.
Originally, MTC was designed for low-bandwidth high-latency applications such as, environmental sensing, smart dustbin, etc. Nowadays there is an additional demand around applications with low-latency requirements. Among other well-known challenges for recent cellular networks such as data rate energy efficiency, reliability etc., latency is also not suitable for mission-critical applications such as real-time control of machines, autonomous driving, tactile Internet etc. Therefore, in the currently deployed cellular networks, there is a necessity to reduce the latency and increase the reliability offered by the networks to support use cases such as, cooperative autonomous driving or factory automation, that are grouped under the denomination Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC).
This thesis is primarily concerned with the latency into the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) of cellular networks. The overall work is divided into five parts. The first part presents the state of the art for cellular networks. The second part contains a detailed overview of URLLC use cases and the requirements that must be fulfilled by the cellular networks to support them. The work in this thesis is done as part of a collaboration project between IRIMAS lab in Université de Haute-Alsace, France and Institute for Reliable Embedded Systems and Communication Electronics (ivESK) in Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The selected use cases of URLLC are part of the research interests of both partner institutes. The third part presents a detailed study and evaluation of user- and control-plane latency mechanisms in current generation of cellular networks. The evaluation and analysis of these latencies, performed with the open-source ns-3 simulator, were conducted by exploring a broad range of parameters that include among others, traffic models, channel access parameters, realistic propagation models, and a broad set of cellular network protocol stack parameters. These simulations were performed with low-power, low-cost, and wide-range devices, commonly called IoT devices, and standardized for cellular networks. These devices use either LTE-M or Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) technologies that are designed for connected things. They differ mainly by the provided bandwidth and other additional characteristics such as coding scheme, device complexity, and so on.
The fourth part of this thesis shows a study, an implementation, and an evaluation of latency reduction techniques that target the different layers of the currently used Long Term Evolution (LTE) network protocol stack. These techniques based on Transmission Time Interval (TTI) reduction and Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) methods are implemented into the ns-3 simulator and are evaluated through realistic simulations performed for a variety of low-latency use cases focused on industry automation and vehicular networking. For testing the proposed latency reduction techniques in cellular networks, since ns-3 does not support NB-IoT in its current release, an NB-IoT extension for LTE module was developed. This makes it possible to explore deployment limitations and issues.
In the last part of this thesis, a flexible deployment framework called Hybrid Scheduling and Flexible TTI for the proposed latency reduction techniques is presented, implemented and evaluated through realistic simulations. With help of the simulation evaluation, it is shown that the improved LTE network proposed and implemented in the simulator can support low-latency applications with low cost, higher range, and narrow bandwidth devices. The work in this thesis points out the potential improvement techniques, their deployment issues and paves the way towards the support for URLLC applications with upcoming cellular networks.
Bei bimodaler Cochlea-Implantat-/Hörgerät-Versorgung kann es aufgrund seitenverschiedener Signalverarbeitung zu einer zeitlich versetzten Stimulation der beiden Modalitäten kommen. Jüngste Studien haben gezeigt, dass durch zeitlichen Abgleich der Modalitäten die Schalllokalisation bei bimodaler Versorgung verbessert werden kann. Um solch einen Abgleich vornehmen zu können, ist die messtechnische Bestimmung der Durchlaufzeit von Hörgeräten erforderlich. Kommerziell verfügbare Hörgerätemessboxen können diese Werte häufig liefern. Die dazu verwendete Signalverarbeitung wird dabei aber oft nicht vollständig offengelegt. In dieser Arbeit wird ein alternativer und nachvollziehbarer Ansatz zum Design eines simplen Messaufbaus basierend auf einem Arduino DUE Mikrocontroller-Board vorgestellt. Hierzu wurde ein Messtisch im 3D-Druck gefertigt, auf welchem Hörgeräte über einen 2-ccm-Kuppler an ein Messmikrofon angeschlossen werden können. Über einen Latenzvergleich mit dem simultan erfassten Signal eines Referenzmikrofons kann die Durchlaufzeit von Hörgeräten bestimmt werden. Frequenzspezifische Durchlaufzeiten werden mittels einer Kreuzkorrelation zwischen Ziel- und Referenzsignal errechnet. Aufnahme, Ausgabe und Speicherung der Signale erfolgt über einen ATMEL SAM3X8E Mikrocontroller, welcher auf dem Arduino DUE-Board verbaut ist. Über eigens entworfene elektronische Schaltungen werden die Mikrofone und der verwendete Lautsprecher angesteuert. Nach Abschluss einer Messung (Messdauer ca. 5 s) werden die Messdaten seriell an einen PC übertragen, auf dem die Datenauswertung mittels MATLAB erfolgt. Erste Validierungen zeigten eine hohe Stabilität der Messergebnisse mit sehr geringen Standardabweichungen im Bereich weniger Mikrosekunden für Pegel zwischen 50 und 75 dB (A). Der Messaufbau wird in laufenden Studien zur Quantifizierung der Durchlaufzeit von Hörgeräten verwendet.
Supporting the COVID-19 response in Asia and the Pacific—The role of the Asian Development Bank.
(2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all countries of the Asia Pacific region over the last few months with far reaching economic, health and social consequences. To counter the impact, governments have accelerated their health spending and announced large macroeconomic stabilization and stimulus policy packages. As with past disasters and crises in the region, the Asian Development Bank has reacted with a number of targeted support interventions since the very early stages of the outbreak. In mid- April 2020, the Bank then put forward a comprehensive COVID-19 Response Package totalling $20 billion to support its member countries which rests on four pillars.
The last few months have proven that multilateral development banks like the Asian Development Bank have the ability to respond quickly and to mobilize significant resources for a global emergency like COVID-19. Whilst this financial supported is urgently needed at this point, attention will need to be paid on how debt sustainability for low- and middle-income countries can be ensured in the coming years. Given the unprecedented scale of and uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, it may offer a window of opportunity to redesign the way developmental finance is coordinated and the way it is delivered. This also includes a chance to “build back better” and to focus on a sustainable, resilient and green recovery.
Experimental Investigation of the Air Exchange Effectiveness of Push-Pull Ventilation Devices
(2020)
The increasing installation numbers of ventilation units in residential buildings are driven by legal objectives to improve their energy efficiency. The dimensioning of a ventilation system for nearly zero energy buildings is usually based on the air flow rate desired by the clients or requested by technical regulations. However, this does not necessarily lead to a system actually able to renew the air volume of the living space effectively. In recent years decentralised systems with an alternating operation mode and fairly good energy efficiencies entered the market and following question was raised: “Does this operation mode allow an efficient air renewal?” This question can be answered experimentally by performing a tracer gas analysis. In the presented study, a total of 15 preliminary tests are carried out in a climatic chamber representing a single room equipped with two push-pull devices. The tests include summer, winter and isothermal supply air conditions since this parameter variation is missing till now for push-pull devices. Further investigations are dedicated to the effect of thermal convection due to human heat dissipation on the room air flow. In dependence on these boundary conditions, the determined air exchange efficiency varies, lagging behind the expected range 0.5 < εa < 1 in almost all cases, indicating insufficient air exchange including short-circuiting. Local air exchange values suggest inhomogeneous air renewal depending on the distance to the indoor apertures as well as the temperature gradients between in- and outdoor. The tested measurement set-up is applicable for field measurements.
Many different methods, such as screen printing, gravure, flexography, inkjet etc., have been employed to print electronic devices. Depending on the type and performance of the devices, processing is done at low or high temperature using precursor- or particle-based inks. As a result of the processing details, devices can be fabricated on flexible or non-flexible substrates, depending on their temperature stability. Furthermore, in order to reduce the operating voltage, printed devices rely on high-capacitance electrolytes rather than on dielectrics. The printing resolution and speed are two of the major challenging parameters for printed electronics. High-resolution printing produces small-size printed devices and high-integration densities with minimum materials consumption. However, most printing methods have resolutions between 20 and 50 μm. Printing resolutions close to 1 μm have also been achieved with optimized process conditions and better printing technology.
The final physical dimensions of the devices pose severe limitations on their performance. For example, the channel lengths being of this dimension affect the operating frequency of the thin-film transistors (TFTs), which is inversely proportional to the square of channel length. Consequently, short channels are favorable not only for high-frequency applications but also for high-density integration. The need to reduce this dimension to substantially smaller sizes than those possible with today’s printers can be fulfilled either by developing alternative printing or stamping techniques, or alternative transistor geometries. The development of a polymer pen lithography technique allows scaling up parallel printing of a large number of devices in one step, including the successive printing of different materials. The introduction of an alternative transistor geometry, namely the vertical Field Effect Transistor (vFET), is based on the idea to use the film thickness as the channel length, instead of the lateral dimensions of the printed structure, thus reducing the channel length by orders of magnitude. The improvements in printing technologies and the possibilities offered by nanotechnological approaches can result in unprecedented opportunities for the Internet of Things (IoT) and many other applications. The vision of printing functional materials, and not only colors as in conventional paper printing, is attractive to many researchers and industries because of the added opportunities when using flexible substrates such as polymers and textiles. Additionally, the reduction of costs opens new markets. The range of processing techniques covers laterally-structured and large-area printing technologies, thermal, laser and UV-annealing, as well as bonding techniques, etc. Materials, such as conducting, semiconducting, dielectric and sensing materials, rigid and flexible substrates, protective coating, organic, inorganic and polymeric substances, energy conversion and energy storage materials constitute an enormous challenge in their integration into complex devices.
Background: This paper presents a novel approach for a hand prosthesis consisting of a flexible, anthropomorphic, 3D-printed replacement hand combined with a commercially available motorized orthosis that allows gripping.
Methods: A 3D light scanner was used to produce a personalized replacement hand. The wrist of the replacement hand was printed of rigid material; the rest of the hand was printed of flexible material. A standard arm liner was used to enable the user’s arm stump to be connected to the replacement hand. With computer-aided design, two different concepts were developed for the scanned hand model: In the first concept, the replacement hand was attached to the arm liner with a screw. The second concept involved attaching with a commercially available fastening system; furthermore, a skeleton was designed that was located within the flexible part of the replacement hand.
Results: 3D-multi-material printing of the two different hands was unproblematic and inexpensive. The printed hands had approximately the weight of the real hand. When testing the replacement hands with the orthosis it was possible to prove a convincing everyday functionality. For example, it was possible to grip and lift a 1-L water bottle. In addition, a pen could be held, making writing possible.
Conclusions: This first proof-of-concept study encourages further testing with users.
Datengetriebenes Targeting
(2020)
Die Coronakrise hat weltweit das Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsleben in bisher ungekannter Weise verändert. Die ohnehin bereits komplexen Herausforderungen in Zeiten des Klimawandels sind damit noch gestiegen. Genossenschaftliche Innovationsökosysteme können Lösungsansätze für die gravierenden Veränderungen im unternehmerischen, kommunalen und gesellschaftlichen Umfeld schaffen.
Infolge des stetigen Wandels auf den Märkten und der heutigen Gesellschaft durch die Digitalisierung verändern sich auch die Maßnahmen im Bereich Marketing (Kaiser 2019). In den Unternehmen befinden sich Marketingaktivitäten stetig in der Umwandlung, um sich den sich verändernden Gegebenheit anzupassen. Die vielfältigen Möglichkeiten, die das Internet heutzutage bietet, sind ein wesentlicher Grund dafür, dass Käufer und Verbraucher der klassischen Werbung immer weniger Vertrauen schenken und stattdessen Empfehlungen von Freunden, Bekannten oder Experte folgen (Kaiser 2019). Diese Entwicklung wird im digitalen Bereich durch die Influencer Kooperationen bedient. Mit der Ausweitung von Onlineangeboten haben sich die Grenzen der Unternehmenskommunikation immer weiter verschoben und umfassen nun neue Kommunikationspartner, die Influencer (Herzmann 2015, S. 9). Influencer sind sogenannte Meinungsführer und Multiplikatoren in den Sozialen Medien. Das Thema der Zusammenarbeit mit Influencern ist schon lange nichts Neues mehr. Wenn man als Unternehmen Aufmerksamkeit erlangen möchte, kann dies mit Hilfe von Meinungsmachern erreicht werden. Denn Influencer haben mehr als nur Reichweite zu bieten, sie haben echte Anhänger und Fans, die auf die Glaubwürdigkeit der Influencer vertrauen, wodurch eine enge Bindung entstehen kann. Infolgedessen, dass es neue Kooperationspartner gibt, müssen die Kommunikationsinhalte und -strukturen im Unternehmen anders aufbereitet werden. Wer sich für Influencer Kooperationen in der Kommunikation entscheidet, muss sich des Stellenwerts erst einmal bewusst werden. Denn insbesondere durch das Beziehungsmanagement zu Influencern kann die digitale Reputation aufgebaut werden und maßgeblich zum Erfolg der Organisation führen (Herzmann 2015, S. 11). Wer sein Produkt oder seine Marke voranbringen will und auf eine genaue Zielgruppe ausrichten möchte, kommt nicht um das Thema Influencer herum. Denn Meinungsmacher haben extrem viele Facetten und kommunizieren über Social Media Kanäle.
Fast charging of lithium-ion batteries remains one of the most delicate challenges for the automotive industry, being seriously affected by the formation of lithium metal in the negative electrode. Here we present a physicochemical pseudo-3D model that explicitly includes the plating reaction as side reaction running in parallel to the main intercalation reaction. The thermodynamics of the plating reaction are modeled depending on temperature and ion concentration, which differs from the often-used assumption of a constant plating condition of 0 V anode potential. The reaction kinetics are described with an Arrhenius-type rate law parameterized from an extensive literature research. Re-intercalation of plated lithium was modeled to take place either via reverse plating (solution-mediated) or via an explicit interfacial reaction (surface-mediated). At low temperatures not only the main processes (intercalation and solid-state diffusion) become slow, but also the plating reaction itself becomes slower. Using this model, we are able to predict typical macroscopic experimental observables that are indicative of plating, that is, a voltage plateau during discharge and a voltage drop upon temperature increase. A spatiotemporal analysis of the internal cell states allows a quantitative insight into the competition between intercalation and plating. Finally, we calculate operation maps over a wide range of C-rates and temperatures that allow to assess plating propensity as function of operating condition.
Content Marketing und Customer Journey sind die beiden Themenbereiche, mit denen sich diese Arbeit intensiv auseinandersetzt. Die beiden Begriffe werden in der heutigen Zeit oft als Buzzwords bezeichnet. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob diese neumodischen Schlagwörter ihrer besonderen Beachtung gerecht werden. Der Hype, der um diese Begrifflichkeiten im Laufe der Jahre entstanden ist, ist nach Ansicht der Verfasserin auf jeden Fall gerechtfertigt. Diese Meinung vertreten auch zahlreiche Autoren, die sich mit den Themengebieten in ihrer Literatur auseinandersetzen. Sie unterstreichen die große Bedeutung dieser Kernbereiche für Unternehmen und deren Bestehen in der heutigen Zeit. Viele Autoren betonen zudem die große Relevanz der Auseinandersetzung mit Content Marketing und der Customer Journey bzw. dem Content Marketing entlang der Customer Journey. Florian Schauer-Bieche bezeichnet die heutige Zeit sogar als Beginn einer neuen Ära, der „Content-Ära“.
Künstliche Intelligenz gilt immer noch als eine der zukunftsweisenden Technologien, die viele Bereiche wie etwa Medizin, Handel, Verkehr und öffentliche Verwaltung revolutioniert. So scheint es nicht verwunderlich, dass bereits knapp jedes fünfte Unternehmen in Deutschland zurzeit KI-Systeme implementiert oder zumindest ihren Einsatz plant. Besonders hoch im Kurs stehen KI-Projekte, um Daten zu analysieren. Ganze 70 Prozent der Unternehmen sehen hier das größte Potenzial, so die Ergebnisse einer Umfrage von PWC [1]. Dennoch lauern einige Stolpersteine, wollen Unternehmen intelligente Datenprojekte umsetzen. Welche Hürden auftauchen können und wie sich diese meistern lassen, erläutert dieser Artikel anhand eines KI-Projektes zur Analyse von Geschäftspartnerdaten [2].
Der Artikel beschreibt die Herausforderungen für die Kommunikation in Ganztagsschulen im Jahr 2020 als es notwendig war bei einer sehr unbeständigen Organisations- und Kommunikationslage von Seiten der Schulverwaltungen einen Unterrichts- und Ganztagsbetrieb zu organisieren und gegenüber den wesentlichen Stakeholdern zu kommunizieren.
Bei vielen Marketingthemen geht es nicht nur um die Vermittlung eines konkreten Kundennutzens, mit dem aufgezeigt wird, welches Problem mit dem beworbenen Produkt – seien es nun Sachgüter oder Dienstleistungen – gelöst werden kann, sondern um die emotionale Ansprache der Zielgruppen. Dabei ist es keineswegs nur eine Kommunikationsaufgabe, sondern die Produktkonzeption und die Gesamtausrichtung des Marketings verändern sich so, dass eine Teilhabe am Produkt, der Produktentwicklung und der Produktidee möglich wird.
Dieses Buch erklärt, wie Führungskräfte reflektiert und verantwortungsvoll mit ihrer Macht umgehen können, und zeigt die Zusammenhänge zwischen Gestaltungsfeldern der Macht und Führungserfolg auf. Denn Macht ist eine entscheidende Größe, um innerhalb von sozialen Systemen Veränderungen durchzusetzen und Entwicklungen voranzutreiben oder gar erst zu ermöglichen.
Gerade in Unternehmen ist der bewusste und konstruktive Umgang mit Macht oft einer der Erfolgsfaktoren für Entscheider und Führungskräfte. Sie kann dabei nur durch die Menschen ausgeübt werden, denen sie durch andere zugesprochen oder auch zugebilligt wird. Deshalb kommt dem Verständnis von Macht eine entscheidende Bedeutung zu.
Der Autor beschreibt neben den Grundlagen 20 konkrete Anwendungsfelder im Arbeitsalltag von Führungskräften, ergänzt durch Beispiele, Checklisten und Handlungsempfehlungen.
With economic weight shifting toward net zero, now is the time for ECAs, Exim-Banks, and PRIs to lead. Despite previous success, aligning global economic governance to climate goals requires additional activities across export finance and investment insurance institutions. The new research project initiated by Oxford University, ClimateWorks Foundation, and Mission 2020 including other practitioners and academics from institutions such as Atradius DSB, Columbia University, EDC, FMO and Offenburg University focuses on reshaping future trade and investment governance in light of climate action. The idea of a ‘Berne Union Net Zero Club’ is an important item in a potential package of reforms. This can include realigning mandates and corporate strategies, principles of intervention, as well as ECA, Exim-Bank and PRI operating models in order to accelerate net zero transformation. Full transparency regarding Berne Union members’ activities would be an excellent starting point. We invite all interested parties in the sector to come together to chart our own path to net zero
Nowadays, the wide majority of Europeans uses smartphones. However, touch displays are still not accessible by everyone. Individuals with deafblindness, for example, often face difculties in accessing vision-based touchscreens. Moreover, they typically have few fnancial resources which increases the need for customizable, low-cost assistive devices. In this work-in-progress, we present four prototypes made from low-cost, every-day materials, that make modern pattern lock mechanisms more accessible to individuals with vision impairments or even with deafblindness. Two out of four prototypes turned out to be functional tactile overlays for accessing digital 4-by-4 grids that are regularly used to encode dynamic dot patterns. In future work, we will conduct a user study investigating whether these two prototypes can make dot-based pattern lock mechanisms more accessible for individuals with visual impairments or deafblindness.
Prediction of Claims in Export Credit Finance: A Comparison of Four Machine Learning Techniques
(2020)
This study evaluates four machine learning (ML) techniques (Decision Trees (DT), Random Forests (RF), Neural Networks (NN) and Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN)) on their ability to accurately predict export credit insurance claims. Additionally, we compare the performance of the ML techniques against a simple benchmark (BM) heuristic. The analysis is based on the utilisation of a dataset provided by the Berne Union, which is the most comprehensive collection of export credit insurance data and has been used in only two scientific studies so far. All ML techniques performed relatively well in predicting whether or not claims would be incurred, and, with limitations, in predicting the order of magnitude of the claims. No satisfactory results were achieved predicting actual claim ratios. RF performed significantly better than DT, NN and PNN against all prediction tasks, and most reliably carried their validation performance forward to test performance.
Die Erfindung betrifft eine Schaltungsanordnung (10) für ein Kraftfahrzeug, mit einer Hochvolt-Batterie (12) zum Speichern von elektrischer Energie, mit wenigstens einer elektrischen Maschine (14) zum Antreiben des Kraftfahrzeugs, mit einem Stromrichter (16), mittels welchem von der Hochvolt-Batterie (12) bereitstellbare Hochvolt-Gleichspannung in Hochvolt-Wechselspannung zum Betreiben der elektrischen Maschine (14) umwandelbar ist, und mit einem Ladeanschluss (20) zum Bereitstellen von elektrischer Energie zum Laden der Hochvolt-Batterie (12), wobei der Stromrichter (16) als ein Drei-Stufen-Stromrichter ausgebildet ist und wenigstens eine einer Phase (u) der elektrischen Maschine (14) zugeordnete Schaltereinheit (46) aufweist, welche zwei in Reihe geschaltete Schaltergruppen (52, 54) umfasst, die jeweils zwei in Reihe geschaltete IGBTs (T11, T12, T13, T14) aufweisen, wobei zwischen den IGBTs (T11, T12) einer der Schaltergruppen (52, 54) ein Anschluss (64) angeordnet ist, welcher direkt mit einer Leitung (34) des Ladeanschlusses (20) elektrisch verbunden ist.
Electrolyte-gated thin-film transistors (EGTs) with indium oxide channel, and expected lifetime of three months, enable low-voltage operation (~1 V) in the field of printed electronics (PEs). The channel width of our printed EGTs is varied between 200 and 1000 μm, whereas a channel length between 10 and 100 μm is used. Due to the lack of uniform performance p-type metal oxide semiconductors, n-type EGTs and passive elements are used to design circuits. For logic gates, transistor-resistor logic has been employed so far, but depletion and enhancement-mode EGTs in a transistor-transistor logic boost the circuit performance in terms of delay and signal swing. In this article, the threshold voltage of the EGT, which determines the operation mode, is tuned through sizing of the EGTs channel geometry. The feasibility of both transistor operation modes is demonstrated for logic gates and ring oscillators. An inverter operating at a supply voltage of 1 V shows a maximum gain of 9.6 and a propagation delay time of 0.7 ms, which represents an improvement of ~ 2x for the gain and oscillation frequency, in comparison with the resistor-transistor logic design. Moreover, the power consumption is reduced by 6x.
Oxide semiconductors have the potential to increase the performance of inkjet printed microelectronic devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs), due to their high electron mobilities. Typical metal oxides are n-type semiconductors, while p-type oxides, although realizable, exhibit lower carriermobilities. Therefore, the circuit design based on oxide semiconductors is mostly in n-type logic only. Here we present an inkjet printed pn-diode based on p- and n-type oxide semiconductors.Copper oxide or nickel oxide is used as p-typesemiconductor whereas n-typesemiconductor is realized with indium oxide. Themeasurements show that the pn-diodes operate in the voltage window typical for printed electronics and the emission coefficient is 1.505 and 2.199 for the copper oxide based and nickel oxidebased pn-diode, respectively.Furthermore, a pn-diode model is developed and integrable into a circuit simulator.
Astronomical phenomena fascinate people from the very beginning of mankind up to today. In this paper the authors will present their experience with photography of astronomical events. The main focus will be on aurora borealis, comet Neowise, total lunar eclipses and how mobile devices open up new possibilities to observe the green flash. Our efforts were motivated by the great impact and high number of viewers of these events. Visitors from over a hundred countries watched our live broadcasts.
Furthermore, we report on our experiences with the photography of optical phenomena such as polar lights Fig. 1, comet Neowise with a Delta Aquariids meteor Fig. 11, and lunar eclipses Fig. 12.
PHOTOPUR hat die Entwicklung eines photokatalytischen Prozesses zur Beseitigung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln (PSM) aus dem Reinigungswasser von Spritzgeräten zum Ziel. Am INES wurde eine Energieversorgung für die photokatalytische Reinigung in zwei Bachelorarbeiten entwickelt und als Demosystem aufgebaut. Das Gesamtsystem ist nun als mobile Einheit verfügbar und wurde zuletzt um das Reaktormodul für den photokatalytischen Prozeß erweitert und den Partnern für intensive Tests übergeben.
The PHOTOPUR project aims to develop a photocatalytic process as a type of AOPs (Advanced Oxidation Processes) for the elimination of plant protection products (PPP) of the cleaning water used to wash sprayers. At INES a PV based energy supply for the photocatalytic cleaning system was developed within the framework of two bachelor theses and assembled as a demonstration unit. Then the system was step by step extended with further process automation features and pushed to a remote operating device. The final system is now available as a mobile unit mounted on a lab table. The latest step was the photocatalytic reactor module which completed the first PHOTOPUR prototype. The system is actually undergoing an intensive testing phase with performance checks at the consortium partners. First results give an overview about the successful operation.
In this work a method for the estimation of current slopes induced by inverters operating interior permanent magnet synchronous machines is presented. After the derivation of the estimation algorithm, the requirements for a suitable sensor setup in terms of accuracy, dynamic and electromagnetic interference are discussed. The boundary conditions for the estimation algorithm are presented with respect to application within high power traction systems. The estimation algorithm is implemented on a field programmable gateway array. This moving least-square algorithm offers the advantage that it is not dependent on vectors and therefore not every measured value has to be stored. The summation of all measured values leads to a significant reduction of the required storage units and thus decreases the hardware requirements. The algorithm is designed to be calculated within the dead time of the inverter. Appropriate countermeasures for disturbances and hardware restrictions are implemented. The results are discussed afterwards.
Generative adversarial networks (GANs) provide state-of-the-art results in image generation. However, despite being so powerful, they still remain very challenging to train. This is in particular caused by their highly non-convex optimization space leading to a number of instabilities. Among them, mode collapse stands out as one of the most daunting ones. This undesirable event occurs when the model can only fit a few modes of the data distribution, while ignoring the majority of them. In this work, we combat mode collapse using second-order gradient information. To do so, we analyse the loss surface through its Hessian eigenvalues, and show that mode collapse is related to the convergence towards sharp minima. In particular, we observe how the eigenvalues of the G are directly correlated with the occurrence of mode collapse. Finally, motivated by these findings, we design a new optimization algorithm called nudged-Adam (NuGAN) that uses spectral information to overcome mode collapse, leading to empirically more stable convergence properties.
Generative adversarial networks are the state of the art approach towards learned synthetic image generation. Although early successes were mostly unsupervised, bit by bit, this trend has been superseded by approaches based on labelled data. These supervised methods allow a much finer-grained control of the output image, offering more flexibility and stability. Nevertheless, the main drawback of such models is the necessity of annotated data. In this work, we introduce an novel framework that benefits from two popular learning techniques, adversarial training and representation learning, and takes a step towards unsupervised conditional GANs. In particular, our approach exploits the structure of a latent space (learned by the representation learning) and employs it to condition the generative model. In this way, we break the traditional dependency between condition and label, substituting the latter by unsupervised features coming from the latent space. Finally, we show that this new technique is able to produce samples on demand keeping the quality of its supervised counterpart.
Generative convolutional deep neural networks, e.g. popular GAN architectures, are relying on convolution based up-sampling methods to produce non-scalar outputs like images or video sequences. In this paper, we show that common up-sampling methods, i.e. known as up-convolution or transposed convolution, are causing the inability of such models to reproduce spectral distributions of natural training data correctly. This effect is independent of the underlying architecture and we show that it can be used to easily detect generated data like deepfakes with up to 100% accuracy on public benchmarks. To overcome this drawback of current generative models, we propose to add a novel spectral regularization term to the training optimization objective. We show that this approach not only allows to train spectral consistent GANs that are avoiding high frequency errors. Also, we show that a correct approximation of the frequency spectrum has positive effects on the training stability and output quality of generative networks.
The term attribute transfer refers to the tasks of altering images in such a way, that the semantic interpretation of a given input image is shifted towards an intended direction, which is quantified by semantic attributes. Prominent example applications are photo realistic changes of facial features and expressions, like changing the hair color, adding a smile, enlarging the nose or altering the entire context of a scene, like transforming a summer landscape into a winter panorama. Recent advances in attribute transfer are mostly based on generative deep neural networks, using various techniques to manipulate images in the latent space of the generator.
In this paper, we present a novel method for the common sub-task of local attribute transfers, where only parts of a face have to be altered in order to achieve semantic changes (e.g. removing a mustache). In contrast to previous methods, where such local changes have been implemented by generating new (global) images, we propose to formulate local attribute transfers as an inpainting problem. Removing and regenerating only parts of images, our Attribute Transfer Inpainting Generative Adversarial Network (ATI-GAN) is able to utilize local context information to focus on the attributes while keeping the background unmodified resulting in visually sound results.
Wireless communication technologies play a major role to enable megatrends like Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0. The Narrowband Wireless WAN (NBWWAN) introduced to meet the long range and low power requirements of spatially distributed wireless communication use cases. These networks introduce additional challenges in testing because the network topology and RF characteristics become particularly complex and thus a multitude of different scenarios must be tested. This paper describes the infrastructure for automated testing of radio communication and for systematic measurements of the network performance of NBWWAN.
One of the main requirements of spatially distributed Internet of Things (IoT) solutions is to have networks with wider coverage to connect many low-power devices. Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN) and Cellular IoT(cIOT) networks are promising candidates in this space. LPWAN approaches are based on enhanced physical layer (PHY) implementations to achieve long range such as LoRaWAN, SigFox, MIOTY. Narrowband versions of cellular network offer reduced bandwidth and, simplified node and network management mechanisms, such as Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) and Long-Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M). Since the underlying use cases come with various requirements it is essential to perform a comparative analysis of competing technologies. This article provides systematic performance measurement and comparison of LPWAN and NB-IoT technologies in a unified testbed, also discusses the necessity of future fifth generation (5G) LPWAN solutions.
Internet-Auktionsvertrag
(2020)
Anmerkung zu ArbG Düsseldorf v. 5.3.2020 – 9 Ca 6557/18 – nicht rechtskräftig
Das ArbG Düsseldorf hat einem ehemaligen Arbeitnehmer einen immateriellen Schadensersatz von 5 000 Euro wegen einer verspäteten und teilweise unrichtigen datenschutzrechtlichen Auskunft seitens seines vormaligen Arbeitgebers zugesprochen. Der Beitrag setzt sich mit dieser Entscheidung grundsätzlich auseinander.
Beinahe jeder Online-Anbieter wünscht sich ausgiebiges Feedback, also möglichst viele Produktbewertungen, Likes u.Ä. Denn Feedback erzeugt Popularität und diese wiederum bringt neue Kunden. Die lauterkeitsrechtlichen Probleme von Incentives zur Steigerung der Feedback-Rate sind Thema dieses Beitrags.
Am 01.10.2019 beschäftigte sich der EuGH mit der Frage, wann und inwieweit das Setzen von Cookies ohne vorherige Einwilligung des Internet-Nutzers zulässig sein könnte. Das Ergebnis ist für die Werbeindustrie zwar eigentlich nicht überraschend, aber dennoch für diese höchst ärgerlich. Die praktischen Folgen hingegen sind bislang etwas irritierend, hat sich doch die Zahl von Pop-Up-Fenstern immens vervielfacht, was jedoch, wie hier gezeigt wird, zumeist entweder überflüssig oder aber nicht hinreichend ist.
Printed electronics (PE) is a fast-growing field with promising applications in wearables, smart sensors, and smart cards, since it provides mechanical flexibility, and low-cost, on-demand, and customizable fabrication. To secure the operation of these applications, true random number generators (TRNGs) are required to generate unpredictable bits for cryptographic functions and padding. However, since the additive fabrication process of the PE circuits results in high intrinsic variations due to the random dispersion of the printed inks on the substrate, constructing a printed TRNG is challenging. In this article, we exploit the additive customizable fabrication feature of inkjet printing to design a TRNG based on electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors (EGFETs). We also propose a printed resistor tuning flow for the TRNG circuit to mitigate the overall process variation of the TRNG so that the generated bits are mostly based on the random noise in the circuit, providing a true random behavior. The simulation results show that the overall process variation of the TRNGs is mitigated by 110 times, and the generated bitstream of the tuned TRNGs passes the National Institute of Standards and Technology - Statistical Test Suite. For the proof of concept, the proposed TRNG circuit was fabricated and tuned. The characterization results of the tuned TRNGs prove that the TRNGs generate random bitstreams at the supply voltage of down to 0.5 V. Hence, the proposed TRNG design is suitable to secure low-power applications in this domain.
Printed electronics (PE) enables disruptive applications in wearables, smart sensors, and healthcare since it provides mechanical flexibility, low cost, and on-demand fabrication. The progress in PE raises trust issues in the supply chain and vulnerability to reverse engineering (RE) attacks. Recently, RE attacks on PE circuits have been successfully performed, pointing out the need for countermeasures against RE, such as camouflaging. In this article, we propose a printed camouflaged logic cell that can be inserted into PE circuits to thwart RE. The proposed cell is based on three components achieved by changing the fabrication process that exploits the additive manufacturing feature of PE. These components are optically look-alike, while their electrical behaviors are different, functioning as a transistor, short, and open. The properties of the proposed cell and standard PE cells are compared in terms of voltage swing, delay, power consumption, and area. Moreover, the proposed camouflaged cell is fabricated and characterized to prove its functionality. Furthermore, numerous camouflaged components are fabricated, and their (in)distinguishability is assessed to validate their optical similarities based on the recent RE attacks on PE. The results show that the proposed cell is a promising candidate to be utilized in camouflaging PE circuits with negligible overhead.
Advances in printed electronics (PE) enables new applications, particularly in ultra-low-cost domains. However, achieving high-throughput printing processes and manufacturing yield is one of the major challenges in the large-scale integration of PE technology. In this article, we present a programmable printed circuit based on an efficient printed lookup table (pLUT) to address these challenges by combining the advantages of the high-throughput advanced printing and maskless point-of-use final configuration printing. We propose a novel pLUT design which is more efficient in PE realization compared to existing LUT designs. The proposed pLUT design is simulated, fabricated, and programmed as different logic functions with inkjet printed conductive ink to prove that it can realize digital circuit functionality with the use of programmability features. The measurements show that the fabricated LUT design is operable at 1 V.
Partial substitution of Al atoms with Sc in wurtzite AlN crystals increases the piezoelectric constants. This leads to an increased electromechanical coupling, which is required for high bandwidths in piezo-acoustic filters. The crystal bonds in Ah-xScxN (AlScN) are softened as function of Sc atomic percentage x, leading to reduction of phase velocity in the film. Combining high Sc content AlScN films with high velocity substrates favors higher order guided surface acoustic wave (SAW) modes [1]. This study investigates higher order SAW modes in epitaxial AlScN on sapphire (Al2O3). Their dispersion for Pt metallized epitaxial AlScN films on Al2O3was computed for two different propagation directions. Computed phase velocity dispersion branches were experimentally verified by the characterization of fabricated SAW resonators. The results indicated four wave modes for the propagation direction (0°, 0°, 0°), featuring 3D polarized displacement fields. The sensitivity of the wave modes to the elastic constants of AlScN was investigated. It was shown that due to the 3D polarization of the waves, all elastic constants have an influence on the phase velocity and can be measured by suitable weighting functions in material constant extraction procedures.
Rectifiersare vital electronic circuits for signal and power conversion in various smart sensor applications. The ability to process low input voltage levels, for example, from vibrational energy harvesters is a major challenge with existing passive rectifiers in printed electronics, stemming mainly from the built-in potential of the diode's p-njunction. To address this problem, in this work, we design, fabricate, and characterize an inkjet-printed full-wave rectifier using diode-connected electrolyte-gated thin-film transistors (EGTs). Using both experimental and simulation approaches, we investigate how the rectifier can benefit from the near-zero threshold voltage of transistors, which can be enabled by proper channel geometry setting in EGT technology. The presented circuit can be operated at 1-V input voltage, featuring a remarkably small voltage loss of 140 mV and a cutoff frequency of ~300 Hz. Below the cutoff frequency, more than 2.6-μW dc power is obtained over the load resistances ranging from 5 to 20 kQ. Furthermore, experiments show that the circuit can work with an input amplitude down to 500 mV. This feature makes the presented design highly suitable for a variety of energy-harvesting applications.
Das im Rahmen psychosomatischer und neurologischer Grundlagenforschung an der Uniklinik Heidelberg entwickelte Experimentalsystem der „zweigriffigen Baumsäge“ kann als bio-kybernetisches Experimentalsystem erster Stunde bezeichnet werden. Der Psychosomatiker und Philosoph Martin Dornberg und der Medienkünstler Daniel Fetzner diskutieren in einem Gespräch Kontexte und Folgen der um den Heidelberger Psychosomatiker Victor v. Weizsäcker in den 1940/1950er Jahren durchgeführten medizinischen Experimente in den Bereichen von Medizin und Psychotherapie einerseits, aber auch in den Technik- und Medienwissenschaften, der Kybernetik und der Medienkunst. Herausgearbeitet werden Querbezüge zu den von den Autoren durchgeführten künstlerisch-philosophischen Forschungen in Form von Installationen, Performances und interaktiven Webdokumentationen.
DE\GLOBALIZE
(2020)
Die Allgegenwart der elektronischen Hypersphäre weicht das Körperempfinden zunehmend auf. Umhüllt vom Rauschen der Cloud verliert das postmediale Selbst an Kontur, die zeitlichen und räumlichen Topologien des Ich erfahren immer neue Faltungen und Teilungen. Dies ist der Untersuchungsgegenstand von »Inter- corporeal Splits« (2010–2013) eines Zyklus’ von drei Skype-Performances über die Medialität von Stimme, Haut und Rhythmus.
In the past decades, developments in the fields of medicine, new media, and biotechnologies challenged many representations and practices, questioning the understanding of our corporeal limits. Using concrete examples from literary fiction, media studies, philosophy, performance arts, and social sciences, this collection underlines how bodily models and transformations, thought until recently to be only fictional products, have become a part of our reality. The essays provide a spectrum of perspectives on how the body emerges as a transitional environment between fictional and factual elements, a process understood as faction.
JARDIN GLOCAL
(2020)
Learning to Walk With Toes
(2020)
This paper explains how a model-free (with respect to the robot model and the behavior to learn) approach can facilitate learning to walk from scratch. It is applied to a simulated Nao robot with toes. Results show an improvement of 30% in speed compared to a model without toes and also compared to our model-based approach, but with less stability.
Das TMKB-Modell beschreibt einen Weg, den persönlichen und unternehmerischen Erfolg im beruflichen Alltag effizient und nachhaltig zu erreichen. Hierbei steht TMKB für den Transfer von Methoden und Kompetenzen in den Beruf. Dieses Modell beachtet die Theorien der Kompetenzentwicklung im Kontext realer Problemstellungen in Unternehmen. Beispielhaft wird das TMKB-Modell in der ersten Stufe mit dem Schwerpunkt Lean- und Projektmanagement erläutert. Die Zielgruppe dieses Ansatzes lässt sich über die der Auszubildenden bis hin zu Studierenden und Berufserfahrenen erweitern.
Der Komplexitätsbeitrag als Kriterium für Entscheidungen zur Bereinigung technischer Produkte
(2020)
Die Bereinigung der Produktpalette wird meistens anhand des Umsatzanteils und des Deckungsbeitrags im Zuge der Einführung von Nachfolgeprodukten entschieden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird ein Kriterium eingeführt und hergeleitet, das den Beitrag eines Produkts zur Komplexität auf Basis logistikrelevanter Produkteigenschaften quantifiziert. Die Anwendung des Kriteriums wird anhand der Ergebnisse aus einem Praxisbeispiel aufgezeigt.
Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Biomechanik der Halswirbelsäule (HWS) beim Umgang mit dem Smartphone. Die Kräfte, die auf Wirbelkörper, Wirbelgelenke, Bandscheiben, Muskeln und Bänder wirken, werden mit steigendem Flexionswinkel der HWS größer. Die Beschwerden hingegen, welche der Smartphone-Nacken hervorruft, sind meist akut und mit regelmäßiger Bewegung und der Stärkung der Nackenmuskulatur gut zu behandeln. Eine Therapie ist somit auch zur Vorbeugung geeignet. Doch die Langzeitauswirkungen sind nicht außer Acht zu lassen, denn durch die steigenden Nutzungsmöglichkeiten der Smartphones steigt auch der durchschnittliche tägliche Gebrauch stärker an. So wird vor allem die tägliche Bildschirmzeit bei Jugendlichen immer länger. Das aktuell noch akute Krankheitsbild des Smartphone-Nackens, das nur selten einen chronischen Verlauf nimmt und Langzeitschäden verursacht, könnte sich durch fehlende oder zu späte Maßnahmen zu einem größeren chronischen Krankheitsbild entwickeln.
This work compares the performance of Bluetooth Mesh implementations on real chipsets against the ideal implementation of the specification. Measurements are taken in experimental settings and reveal non-idealities in the underlying Bluetooth Low Energy specification in real chipsets and in the implementation of Mesh, which introduces an unruly transmission as well as reception behavior. These effects lead to an impact on transmission rate, reception rate, latency, as well as a more significant impact on the average power consumption.
Deafblindness, a form of dual sensory impairment, signifcantly impacts communication, access to information and mobility. Inde- pendent navigation and wayfnding are main challenges faced by individuals living with combined hearing and visual impairments. We developed a haptic wearable that provides sensory substitution and navigational cues for users with deafblindness by conveying vibrotactile signals onto the body. Vibrotactile signals on the waist area convey directional and proximity information collected via a fisheye camera attached to the garment, while semantic informa- tion is provided with a tapping system on the shoulders. A playful scenario called “Keep Your Distance” was designed to test the navigation system: individuals with deafblindness were “secret agents” that needed to follow a “suspect”, but they should keep an opti- mal distance of 1.5 meters from the other person to win the game. Preliminary fndings suggest that individuals with deafblindness enjoyed the experience and were generally able to follow the directional cues.
Die Physik des Fahrrades
(2020)
Jeder kann Fahrradfahren, keiner weiß,warum es klappt: Anders als beim Reiten, Laufen oder Skifahren muss man sich mit dem Fahrrad immer vorwärtsbewegen, um nicht umzufallen. Prof. Giel von der Hochschule Offenburg erklärt dieses und andere Geheimnisse des Radfahrens. Zum Beispiel, ob man mit der Fahrradpumpe auch Autoreifen aufpumpen kann, warum normale Fahrradfahrer die Marathon-Distanz schneller als die weltbesten Läufer zurücklegen und welche legalen Tuning-Methoden das eigene Fahrrad noch schneller machen.
Unternehmerische Entscheidungen sind im Regelfall riskant. Um das Ausmaß des Risikos deutlich zu machen, hat sich in der Praxis die Anfertigung von Szenarioanalysen durchgesetzt. Damit jedoch werden vorliegende Risiken systematisch unterschätzt. Bei wichtigen Entscheidungen sollte besser eine Sensitivitätsanalyse oder eine Simulation durchgeführt werden.
Der Titel „Organisatorische Entscheidungen treffen!“ führt in grundlegende Fragen der Organisation ein. Erläutert wird, woraus eine Organisation besteht und wie man sie durch gezielte Entscheidungen an die Bedürfnisse des Unternehmens anpasst. Die allgemeingültigen Aussagen werden durch zahlreiche konkrete Beispiele illustriert.
Das Buch konzentriert sich auf die wichtigsten Aspekte der organisatorischen Gestaltung. Es möchte daher nicht mit den Grundlagenwerken der Organisationslehre konkurrieren, vielmehr begleitet es eine Lehrveranstaltung, deren Stil sich ständig zwischen Vorlesung und Übung abwechselt. Die Übungsaufgaben, die im Unterricht behandelt werden, stehen auch online zur Verfügung und sind dort um Musterlösungen ergänzt. Darüber hinaus gibt es in der Online-Lernumgebung eine Musterklausur, die der zielgerichteten Prüfungsvorbereitung dient.
Wer das Buch sorgfältig durcharbeitet, den Lehrstoff auf die Übungsaufgaben anwendet und die Probeklausur besteht, erwirbt ein solides Grundlagenwissen und ist damit gut vorbereitet, organisatorische Fragen zu analysieren und entsprechende Entscheidungen vorzubereiten.
Lenkung von Innovationen
(2020)
Im Februar 2018 meldet das Manager Magazin, das sich immer mehr Manager von fragwürdigen Digitalisierungsexperten beraten lassen und viel Geld damit verbrennen. Geht es um das große Zukunftsthema, sitzt das Portemonnaie augenscheinlich locker. „Wenn Sie ein Budget durchdrücken wollen, schreiben Sie einfach ‚digital‘ an Ihr Projekt“, sagt Bayer-Vorstandschef Werner Baumann und macht indirekt deutlich, welche Defizite es vielerorts bei der Lenkung von Innovationen gibt.
Mit der zunehmenden Verbreitung des Internets und beginnenden Digitalisierung wurde es für Unternehmen einfacher, sich für Innovationen nach außen zu öffnen. Der Gedanke der Open Innovation erhielt in immer mehr Unternehmen Einzug. Dies auch vor dem Hintergrund, dass es immer schwieriger wird, einem Kunden das richtige Produkt, das seinen Wünschen entspricht, anzubieten und sich dabei noch von der Konkurrenz abzugrenzen.
Sollen soziale Roboter Teil unserer Gesellschaft werden?
Eingebettet in eine spannende Kriminalgeschichte vermittelt der Wissenschaftscomic von Oliver Korn und Jonas Grund den aktuellen Stand und Ausblick der Wissenschaft auf Social Robots.
Die Geschichte spielt in der nahen Zukunft: In einem internationalen Projekt erforschen Wissenschaftler die Anforderungen an soziale Roboter für den Gesundheitsbereich. Kurz bevor der Prototyp eines Pflegeroboters in einer Feldstudie zum Einsatz kommt, verschwindet er spurlos. In ihrem ersten großen Fall begibt sich die junge Kommissarin Kira auf eine Reise in die Welt der Wissenschaft. Dabei lernt sie viel über soziale Roboter, KI und die Welt internationaler wissenschaftlicher Kooperationen. Immer wieder kommen kritische Stimmen zu Wort: Anti-Roboter-Aktivisten protestieren gegen Automatisierung und ein Schwinden von Menschlichkeit und Empathie. Selbst in der Familie der Kommissarin wird die mögliche Pflege älterer Menschen durch Roboter kontrovers diskutiert.
Übergreifendes Ziel ist es, über alle Altersstufen hinweg Wissen aufzubauen, damit die Vor- und Nachteile dieser neuen Technologien kontrovers, aber kenntnisreich diskutiert werden können. „Soziale Roboter – ein Science Comic“ ist ein Beitrag zu einer informierten Diskussion in den Feldern Robotik, künstliche Intelligenz, Ethik und Politik und damit auch als Lehr- und Lernmittel geeignet.
Der Comic wurde für Jugendliche und Erwachsene konzipiert und gestaltet. Insbesondere aber für jene, die bisher kaum in Berührung mit sozialen Robotern und künstlicher Intelligenz gekommen sind. Eine weitere Zielgruppe sind im Gesundheitswesen tätige Personen, denn die Betreuung und Pflege älterer Menschen gelten als einer der zukünftig wichtigsten Anwendungsbereiche für soziale Roboter.
DINA4 Hochformat, Hardcover Fadenheftung, erschienen in Deutsch und Englisch. Herausgegeben im Selbstverlag Affective & Cognitive Institute (ACI), Hochschule Offenburg
Should social robots become part of our society?
Embedded in an exciting crime story, the science comic by Oliver Korn and Jonas Grund conveys the current state and outlook of science on social robots.
The story takes place in the near future: In an international project, scientists are researching the requirements for social robots for the health sector. Shortly before the prototype of a nursing robot is used in a field study, it disappears without a trace. In her first major case, the young inspector Kira embarks on a journey into the world of science. In the process, she learns a lot about social robots, AI and the world of international scientific cooperation. Again and again, critical voices are heard: anti-robot activists protest against automation and a dwindling of humanity and empathy. Even in the Commissioner's family, the possible care of elderly people by robots is controversially discussed.
The overarching goal is to build knowledge across all age groups so that the advantages and disadvantages of these new technologies can be discussed controversially but knowledgeably. "Social Robots - a Science Comic" is a contribution to an informed discussion in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, ethics and politics and is thus also suitable as a teaching and learning tool.
The comic was conceived and designed for young people and adults. In particular, however, for those who have hardly come into contact with social robots and artificial intelligence so far. Another target group are people working in the health care sector, because the care and nursing of elderly people are considered to be one of the most important areas of application for social robots in the future.
DINA4 portrait format, hardcover thread stitching, published in German and English. Self-published by the Affective & Cognitive Institute (ACI), Offenburg University.
A Gamified and Adaptive Learning System for Neurodivergent Workers in Electronic Assembling Tasks
(2020)
Learning and work-oriented assistive systems are often designed to fit the workflow of neurotypical workers. Neurodivergent workers and individuals with learning disabilities often present cognitive and sensorimotor characteristics that are better accommodated with personalized learning and working processes. Therefore, we designed an adaptive learning system that combines an augmented interaction space with user-sensitive virtual assistance to support step-by-step guidance for neurodivergent workers in electronic assembling tasks. Gamified learning elements were also included in the interface to provide self-motivation and praise whenever users progress in their learning and work achievements.
We introduce an open source python framework named PHS-Parallel Hyperparameter Search to enable hyperparameter optimization on numerous compute instances of any arbitrary python function. This is achieved with minimal modifications inside the target function. Possible applications appear in expensive to evaluate numerical computations which strongly depend on hyperparameters such as machine learning. Bayesian optimization is chosen as a sample efficient method to propose the next query set of parameters.
Machine learning (ML) has become highly relevant in applications across all industries, and specialists in the field are sought urgently. As it is a highly interdisciplinary field, requiring knowledge in computer science, statistics and the relevant application domain, experts are hard to find. Large corporations can sweep the job market by offering high salaries, which makes the situation for small and medium enterprises (SME) even worse, as they usually lack the capacities both for attracting specialists and for qualifying their own personnel. In order to meet the enormous demand in ML specialists, universities now teach ML in specifically designed degree programs as well as within established programs in science and engineering. While the teaching almost always uses practical examples, these are somewhat artificial or outdated, as real data from real companies is usually not available. The approach reported in this contribution aims to tackle the above challenges in an integrated course, combining three independent aspects: first, teaching key ML concepts to graduate students from a variety of existing degree programs; second, qualifying working professionals from SME for ML; and third, applying ML to real-world problems faced by those SME. The course was carried out in two trial periods within a government-funded project at a university of applied sciences in south-west Germany. The region is dominated by SME many of which are world leaders in their industries. Participants were students from different graduate programs as well as working professionals from several SME based in the region. The first phase of the course (one semester) consists of the fundamental concepts of ML, such as exploratory data analysis, regression, classification, clustering, and deep learning. In this phase, student participants and working professionals were taught in separate tracks. Students attended regular classes and lab sessions (but were also given access to e-learning materials), whereas the professionals learned exclusively in a flipped classroom scenario: they were given access to e-learning units (video lectures and accompanying quizzes) for preparation, while face-to-face sessions were dominated by lab experiments applying the concepts. Prior to the start of the second phase, participating companies were invited to submit real-world problems that they wanted to solve with the help of ML. The second phase consisted of practical ML projects, each tackling one of the problems and worked on by a mixed team of both students and professionals for the period of one semester. The teams were self-organized in the ways they preferred to work (e.g. remote vs. face-to-face collaboration), but also coached by one of the teaching staff. In several plenary meetings, the teams reported on their status as well as challenges and solutions. In both periods, the course was monitored and extensive surveys were carried out. We report on the findings as well as the lessons learned. For instance, while the program was very well-received, professional participants wished for more detailed coverage of theoretical concepts. A challenge faced by several teams during the second phase was a dropout of student members due to upcoming exams in other subjects.
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of producing a robot component, particularly a gripper, the method being capable of being applied multi-functionally and shortening a mounting time to a robot.
SOLUTION: A method of producing a robot component, particularly a finger 5, applied to robotics by a three-dimensional printing method of this invention comes not to require other production processes such as attachment of a cover, etc. with a separate sensor or a material (soft, in many cases), etc., by simultaneously printing at least one sensor 7 by multi-material printing while printing the robot component.
Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zum 3D-Druck eines Roboterelements, insbesondere eines Fingers 5, zum Einsatz in der Robotik, bei dem mittels Multimaterialdruck wenigstens ein Sensor 7 während des Drucks des Roboterelements mitgedruckt wird. Weiterhin betrifft die Erfindung ein Betätigungs- oder Greifelement, insbesondere Finger 5 für einen Roboter, das durch ein derartiges Verfahren hergestellt wurde.
A method for 3D printing of a robot element, more particularly a finger for use in robotics. At least one sensor is concomitantly printed by means of multi-material printing during the printing of the robot element. A gripping element produced by a method of this kind includes a number of printed layers of robot element material and a concomitantly printed sensor.
Vulnerabilitätsanalyse "Hitzestress und menschliche Gesundheit" am Beispiel der Stadt Reutlingen
(2020)
In diesem Modellprojekt wird das Schutzgut "Menschliche Gesundheit" insbesondere unter dem Gesichtspunkt der im Rahmen des globalen Klimawandels zu erwartenden Überhitzung der Städte ("städtische Hitzeinseln") betrachtet.
In der Großstadt Reutlingen ("Tor zur Schwäbischen Alb/112.500 EW) mit ihrer Pfortenlage am Rande der Schwäbischen Alb und der Höhenlage (400-800 m) sowie der Bebauungsdichte werden bis 2050 bzw. 2100 (Strategie zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel Baden-Württemberg - Vulnerabilitäten und Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen, 2015) die massivsten Auswirkungen bezüglich Aufenthaltsbehaglichkeit und Gesundheitsfolgen in Reutlingen erwartet.
Der Untersuchungsschwerpunkt liegt im Wirkungsbereich Mensch-Siedlung, d.h. in der Betrachtung von empfindlichen Bevölkerungspopulationen (z.B. ältere Menschen) und hitzeempfindlichen Nutzungsstrukturen (z.B. verdichteten städtischen Siedlungsflächen). Insbesondere die bereits in der abgeschlossenen Gesamtstädtischen Klimaanalyse ermittelten überwärmten Areale ("hot spots") und die im Rahmen des Klimawandels für 2020-2050 zukünftig zu erwartende Hitzestressbelastung bei empfindlichen Bevölkerungsgruppen in Stadtquartieren und Funktionsbauten, stehen im Zenit der Untersuchung.
Dabei wird über das Kriterium Empfindlichkeit (Basis sind z.B. quartierbezogene Datenstrukturen von Älteren, Einrichtungen wie Krankenhäuser, Kinderpflegeeinrichtungen, Alten- Behinderten- und Pflegeheime) die zukünftige Hitzestress-Belastung für Reutlingen erarbeitet. Weiteres wichtiges Kriterium ist die Betroffenheit nach Standortsituation (Höhenlage, Durchlüftungsverhältnisse, Bioklima/PMV = Maß für die bioklimatische Behaglichkeit) und die Anzahl hitzestressgeplagter Menschen (Kinder, Kranke, Ältere). Insbesondere für das Szenarium 2020 bis 2050 (s. Strategie zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel Baden-Württemberg - Vulnerabilitäten und Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen, 2015) werden objekt- bzw. einrichtungsbezogen (z.B. Altenpflegeeinrichtungen) sowie quartiersspezifisch (Stadtstrukturtypen) die Auswirkungen bzw. Verwundbarkeiten erarbeitet. Dieser objektspezifische (bauklimatische) Ansatz, die innovative Indikatorenbildung zur situativen kommunalen Anwendbarkeit auch über Reutlingen hinaus sowie der partizipative Ansatz mit Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGO´s) begründet den Modellcharakter ("Reutlinger Modell") dieser Untersuchung. Das Modellprojekt bildet das zweite Modul in einem dreiteiligen Klimaanpassungskonzept für die Stadt Reutlingen.
In the field of neuroprosthetics, the current state-of-the-art method involves controlling the prosthesis with electromyography (EMG) or electrooculography/electroencephalography (EOG/EEG). However, these systems are both expensive and time consuming to calibrate, susceptible to interference, and require a lengthy learning phase by the patient. Therefore, it is an open challenge to design more robust systems that are suitable for everyday use and meet the needs of patients. In this paper, we present a new concept of complete visual control for a prosthesis, an exoskeleton or another end effector using augmented reality (AR) glasses presented for the first time in a proof-of-concept study. By using AR glasses equipped with a monocular camera, a marker attached to the prosthesis is tracked. Minimal relative movements of the head with respect to the prosthesis are registered by tracking and used for control. Two possible control mechanisms including visual feedback are presented and implemented for both a motorized hand orthosis and a motorized hand prosthesis. Since the grasping process is mainly controlled by vision, the proposed approach appears to be natural and intuitive.
Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur Steuerung eines Geräts, insbesondere einer Handprothese oder eines Roboterarms, wobei wenigstens ein an oder im Bezug zu dem Gerät positionierter Marker von einer an einer Bedienperson angeordneten Kamera erkannt wird, wobei ab dem Erkennen des wenigstens einen Markers eine vordefinierte Bewegung der Bedienperson zusammen mit der Kamera erkannt wird und zum Auslösen einer entsprechenden Aktion des Geräts verwendet wird, wobei die vordefinierte Bewegung einer Bedienperson in Form eines Sehstrahls mittels Kamera-Tracking erkannt wird. Weiterhin betrifft die Erfindung eine Anordnung aus einem Gerät, insbesondere einer Handprothese oder eines Roboterarms, und einer AR-Brille zur Durchführung eines derartigen Verfahrens.
Restoring hand motion to people experiencing amputation, paralysis, and stroke is a critical area of research and development. While electrode-based systems that use input from the brain or muscle have proven successful, these systems tend to be expensive and di¨cult to learn. One group of researchers is exploring the use of augmented reality (AR) as a new way of controlling hand prostheses. A camera mounted on eyeglasses tracks LEDs on a prosthetic to execute opening and closing commands using one of two different AR systems. One system uses a rectangular command window to control motion: crossing horizontally signals “open” along one direction and “close” in the opposite direction. The second system uses a circular command window: once control is enabled, gripping strength can be controlled by the direction of head motion. While the visual system remains to be tested with patients, its low cost, ease of use, and lack of electrodes make the device a promising solution for restoring hand motion.