Well designed path planning algorithms are the key factor for moving robots. This paper describes a novel simple approach based on kinematics. The testing bed is a tiny two-wheeled robot. The robot’s movement is specified by its translatoric velocity vR and its angular velocity ωR. The kinematic approach generates piecewise circular arcs based on a number of possible different sets of boundary ...

This paper studies periodic traveling gravity waves at the free surface of water in a flow of constant vorticity over a flat bed. Using conformal mappings the free-boundary problem is transformed into a quasilinear pseudodifferential equation for a periodic function of one variable. The new formulation leads to a regularity result and, by use of bifurcation theory, to the existence of waves of ...

Optimization of a fixed-bed bioreactor used in wastewater treatment is addressed. The objective of optimization is to maximize the treatment efficiency of the biofilter by manipulating the feed flow rate while satisfying operational constraints. Numerical results indicate that the optimal input is characterized as being on the boundary of the admissible region. Thus, the characterized optimal s...

The objectives of this project for FY98 have been to 1) participate in the analysis and interpretation of the bottom boundary layer field studies; 2) test and apply a 2-dimensional, time-dependent model of shelf sediment transport to investigate the importance of advection and flux divergence to event bed formation and the emplacement of flood deposits; and 3) incorporate flocculation effects i...

Analyzing a free boundary problem for harmonic functions in an infinite planar domain, we prove that in a solitary water wave each particle is transported in the wave direction but slower than the wave speed. As the solitary wave propagates, all particles located ahead of the wave crest are lifted, while those behind it experience a downward motion, with the particle trajectory having asymptoti...

OBJECTIVE To share four Canadian cities' experiences with bed bug infestations and to explore public health roles in managing them. METHODS We summarize presentations from a workshop at the 2010 Canadian Public Health Association Conference which examined the re-emergence of bed bugs in Canada and compared management approaches of municipal and public health authorities in four large Canadian...

Seafloor topographic complexity is ecologically important because it provides habitat structure and alters boundary-layer flow over the bottom. Despite its importance, there is little agreement on how to define and measure surface complexity. The purpose of this investigation was to utilize fractal geometry of vertical cross-section profiles to characterize the surface topography of the soft-bo...