Detection of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) using Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect (SZE) surveys is an intriguing possibility, and one that may allow observers to quantify the amount of “missing baryons” in the WHIM phase. We estimate the necessary sensitivity for detecting low density WHIM gas with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck Surveyor for a synthetic 100 square degree sky surve...

A computational framework is presented to evaluate the shape as well as non-shape (parameter) sensitivity of nite thermo-inelastic deformations using the continuum sensitivity method (CSM). Weak sensitivity equations are developed for the large thermo-mechanical deformation of hyperelastic thermoviscoplastic materials that are consistent with the kinematic, constitutive, contact and thermal ana...

The internal space for a molecule, atom, or other n-body system can be conveniently parameterised by 3n − 9 kinematic angles and three kinematic invariants. For a fixed set of kinematic invariants, the kinematic angles parameterise a subspace, called a kinematic orbit, of the n-body internal space. Building on an earlier analysis of the threeand four-body problems, we derive the form of these k...

In recent years, there is an increasing interest in developing geometric algorithms for kinematic computations. The aim of this paper is to present the notion of projective convexity as a key element for a new framework for kinematic geometry, that allows for the development of more elegant and efficient algorithms for geometric computations with kinematic applications. The resulting framework,...

As a robot could be stable statically standing on three or more legs, a six legged walking robot can be highly flexible in movements and perform different missions without dealing with serious kinematic and dynamic problems. An experimental six legged walking robot with 18 degrees of freedom is studied and built in this paper. The kinematic and gait analysis formulations are demonstrated by an e...

This paper outlines the general characteristics of variance-based sensitivity analysis and their advantages with respect to other concepts of sensitivity analysis. The main benefit are qualitative and quantitative correct results independent of the model characteristics. The author focuses on kinematic positioning as required for car navigation, driver assistance systems or machine guidance. Th...

A continuum sensitivity analysis is presented for the computation of the shape sensitivity of ®nite hyperelastic±viscoplastic deformations involving contact with friction using a direct di€erentiation method. Weak shape sensitivity equations are developed that are consistent with the kinematic analysis, constitutive sub-problem as well as the analysis of the contact/friction sub-problem used in...

We present a general method to intuitively create a wide range of locomotion controllers for 3D legged characters. The key of our approach is the assumption that efficient locomotion can exploit the natural vibration modes of the body, where these modes are related to morphological parameters such as the shape, size, mass, and joint stiffness. The vibration modes are computed for a mechanical m...

In this paper, a systematic methodology for enumeration of the kinematic structures of parallel manipulators is presented. Parallel manipulators are classified into planar, spherical, and spatial mechanisms. The classification is followed by an enumeration of the kinematic structures according to the degrees of freedom and connectivity listing. In particular, a class of parallel manipulators wi...