This letter evaluates the capabilities of a soft robotic pneumatic actuator derived from terrain display haptic device, “Smart Shoe.” The bladder design Smart Shoe is upgraded to include pressure supply and greater output flow capabilities. Forcing characteristics are identified incorporated as feedforward terms in sliding-mode tracking controller provide impedance control. A bench top setup cr...

Open caisson shafts are a widely adopted solution for range of geotechnical applications. An external ‘cutting shoe’ is common construction feature used to reduce the soil frictional resistance acting on during sinking. This forms an annular void encircling which filled with support fluid maintain excavation stability. The primary aim this paper explore influence cutting shoe geometry resulting...

In two experiments we study how redundant size modifiers influence the perceived size of objects. We show that when objects are referred to with overspecified descriptions (for example, using a description like “the large red chair” in a situation where all chairs are equally large but different in color), participants subsequently estimate the object to be larger than when objects are referred...

This paper examines the siting of foreign-owned corporate technological development in European regions. The data used are patents granted in the US to the world's largest firms in the period 1987‘95, identifying the ultimate nationality of ownership and the location of the research facility responsible for each patent. According with the literature on knowledge creation in MNCs and the broader...

Several experimental studies have shown that the human auditory system has a mechanism for extracting speaker-size information, using sufficiently long sounds. This paper investigated influence of vowel duration on the processing for size extraction using short vowels. In a size estimation experiment, listeners subjectively estimated the size (height) of the speaker for isolated vowels. The res...

Antenna design for footwear is an essential part of enabling reliable wireless links with lower-limb sensors used in body centric networks. Sensors can report biomechanical pressure data to analyse kinematic and posture parameters for a range of medical and sporting applications. Consideration is given to antenna shapes, the fit with shoe shapes, the positioning on the shoe and the radiation pa...

BACKGROUND Several footwear design characteristics are known to have detrimental effects on the foot. However, one characteristic that has received relatively little attention is the point where the sole flexes in the sagittal plane. Several footwear assessment forms assume that this should ideally be located directly under the metarsophalangeal joints (MTPJs), but this has not been directly ev...