Wheel-running and other non-photic stimuli influence the rest-activity pattern of diurnal and nocturnal mammals. A day to night inversion of phase preference of activity was described among Octodon degus, when exposed to ad-libitum wheel running. We have studied the rest-activity pattern response in presence of ad libitum wheel-running in wild-captured male individuals from two species of genus...

This paper discusses the development of an optimal wheel torque controller for a compliant modular robot. The wheel actuators are the only actively controllable elements in this robot. For this type of robots, wheel-slip could offer a lot of hindrance while traversing on uneven terrains. Therefore, an effective wheel-torque controller is desired that will also improve the wheel-odometry and min...

In this paper, a novel omnidirectional vehicle with anisotropic friction wheels is presented. The proposed wheel has a series of bendable “nodes” on its circumference, each of which is made of two materials with differing friction properties: one material exhibits high friction, and the other exhibits low friction. The high friction section of the node generates a high traction force, while the...

Direct Yaw moment Control systems (DYC) can maintain the vehicle in the driver’s desired path by distributing the asymmetric longitudinal forces and the generation of the Control Yaw Moment (CYM). In order to achieve the superior control performance, intelligent usage of lateral forces is also required. The lateral wheel forces have an indirect effect on the CYM and based upon their directio...

Desiccant wheels are widely used in buildings to control humidity and reduce energy consumption. A model is presented based on transient coupled heat and mass transfer, to model, design and analyze the effects of geometrical characteristics of a honeycombed rotary desiccant wheel and its performance. Governing equations are solved numerically using finite volume method and the model is validate...

In a laboratory population of unstriped Nile grass rats, Arvicanthis niloticus, individuals with two distinctly different patterns of wheel-running exist. One is diurnal and the other is relatively nocturnal. In the first experiment, the authors found that these patterns are strongly influenced by parentage and by sex. Specifically, offspring of two nocturnal parents were significantly more lik...