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Hierarchical Distributed Cluster-based Method for Robotic Swarms
No full textThe growing interest in autonomous systems inspired by nature
has led to a major shift towards swarm robotics. The main characteristics of
swarms are independence from global knowledge, scalability and relatively
low cost. However, the design of a swarm system is still a challenging task.
Most of the existing research focuses on the task-specific solutions, which
are hardly applicable to other solutions. Therefore, in this paper we present
the method that provides a general guideline for the design of the swarm
systems. The approach is verified in the simulation of the letter formation
task
Cognizing Chinese Historic Urban Space by Integrating Morphology and Narrativity. Taking the Mendong Area in Nanjing as an Example
No full textConsidering the rising theoretical trend in cultural heritage preservation has been turning towards also focusing on the intangible dimension, the discussion in the Chinese context could contribute to this issue in that ancient Chinese culture emphasises less tangibility, which results in the impermanence of physical object in architecture. Therefore, a crucial issue in the conservation of the historic city would be how to cognize historic urban space in the condition of physical absence. The Puyu Tang plot in the Mendong Area in Nanjing could be an example to illustrate this issue because the Jiangning Puyu Tang, as the absence in this plot, existed in the late Qing Dynasty then vanished and the buildings of Nanjing Yarn-dyed Fabric Mill in the 1980s was established in the plot as the industrial heritage instead. This paper tries to explore the morphological evolution of the Puyu Tang plot and unfolds the investigation of the cognition of the historical urban space by integrating morphology and narrativity
Evolution of Robotic System Specification Methodology
No full textDesign of robotic systems is a challenging task. More than 30
years ago some members of our team have embarked on a quest to find a
general methodology for the design of any robotic system. Here we present
the results that have been obtained thus far – a Robotic System Specification
Methodology (RSSM). The foundation of RSSM is a metamodel – the scaffolding
of any robotic system. Appropriate definition of the parameters of the
metamodel transforms it into a model of a particular system, thus providing
its specification, which in turn is translated into the control system code
Optimal floor height to estimate building height from the number of storeys considering building use in the Tokyo metropolitan region
No full textPrecise building height is indispensable for evaluating variability in building heights. Conventionally, building height is approximated as the product of the number of storeys and the floor height and is called the approximated building height. However, there is no consensus on how the floor height, a key determinant of the approximated building height, should be set. In Japan, increasingly precise building height data are becoming available as an open 3D urban model. This provides the motivation for answering the following research question in the context of the Tokyo metropolitan region: How should we set the floor height to minimise the difference between the approximated and the precise building height considering the building use? The results show that: (1) the optimal floor height ranges from 3.28 (condominium complexes) to 3.59 (detached housing), 4.14 (office buildings), 4.39 (commercial buildings) and 5.37 metres (supply and disposal service facilities); and (2) the optimal floor height of living space ranges from 1.92 (detached housing) to 3.03 (condominium complexes), 3.96 (commercial buildings) and 4.10 metres (office buildings). The findings of this paper can help urban planners to find the optimal floor height for each building use and understand spatial variations in building and floor heights
The impact of the Three Gorges Project and heritage protection on the form of Shibao Town, China
No full textWith the construction of the Three Gorges Project (TGP), the water level of the Chongqing-Yichang section of the Yangtze River channel has risen, inundating historical towns in the river valley. Therefore, measures are taken to protect heritages and relocate original town dwellers, resulting in drastic changes in the form of historical towns. This paper chooses Shibao Town, located in the inundated area, as a case to reveal the impact of large-scale water conservancy facilities on the town form evolution and heritage protection. We first review the morphological evolution of Shibao town before the construction of TGP, which was shaped by special natural landscape and shipping trade. Then, we discuss the disturbance of the town form caused by TGP from two interweaving systems: the water system including rivers, riparian area, stone hills and the humanistic system including towns, street blocks, and buildings. Finally, we discuss the continuation and reconstruction of lifestyle, scenic attractions, and building types in Shibao town. In summary, large-scale water conservancy facilities could switch the development path of town form, but the inheritance of people and heritage would strike a social and cultural resonation between the inundated town and the new town
‘Cultural Turn’ in Old Delhi – post Metro
No full textPost-liberalization, India has invested heavily in urban mass rapid transportation systems (MRTS aka Metro). Currently, metro systems are operational in 10 cities and under construction or planning in another 22. The impact of mass transportation infrastructure on the local economy is well-researched in the context of North American and European cities. Literature categorizes these impacts as micro (related to land/property values), meso (related to agglomeration of economic activities), and macro (related to overall economic growth).
This paper examines the impact of the metro on Old Delhi (the historic walled city of Delhi) from a cultural economy perspective. Delhi Metro has one of the most extensive networks in the world spread across Delhi as well as neighbouring cities. Seven metro stations are located within the old city or in close vicinity. The impact of the metro on Old Delhi is unique as it is a living settlement with repositories of cultural products/spaces and work/production-based communities that have evolved and assimilated several layers of history. Analysis of responses received from traders and residents during field research, interviews, commuter surveys and spatial documentation conducted for this study point to a turn in the economy of Old Delhi, similar to many post-industrial cities. The paper argues that with improved intra-urban accessibility economic activity is undergoing a transformation from wholesale to retail and that cultural products and ‘experiences’ are getting re-invented and diversified to serve the increased volume and variety of consumers. However, fuelled by this thrust on commerce, residential properties are becoming commercial, built heritage is being lost and at places, structural changes are taking place in the morphology of the historical fabric.
In conclusion, the paper discusses the milieu of contextual conditions (social, economic, and policy) that are working in conjunction with improved accessibility induced by the metro to usher in the ‘Cultural Turn’ in Old Delhi
The multicentric renewal of small cities through public space. The post-earthquake situation of Montorio al Vomano (TE) – Italy
No full textThe pandemic situation pointed out the housing potential of small and medium-sized municipalities, however outlining a gap between the quality potentialities compared with their actual state. This condition intercepts, for several municipalities in Central Italy, the reconstruction needs following the earthquakes of L'Aquila (2009) and Amatrice (2016). The issue is therefore extremely topical, given the possibility for several municipalities to access EU funds to rebuild, and therefore potentially to reinvent, a new condition which starts with reconstruction but aims to the repopulation of historic nuclei. The paper will discuss the case of Montorio al Vomano, emblematic because involved in both earthquakes, and will attempt to draw a strategy for its renewal. The work will concern both the preservation of identity nuclei (the restoration of monuments, the recognition of the morphological invariants, the valorisation of natural heritage), both the renovation of abandoned or marginal areas through the implementation of public and collective spaces. Stated these epicentres, they will be connected by a network of soft mobility, translating on the territory the sense of the city built by parts, in order to create multicentric structures and identify generalizable strategic hypotheses for the revitalization of small and medium-sized villages
One-point Hough Transform with Centred Accumulator
No full textA novel approach for improving the accuracy of the Hough transform
by centering the accumulator in the middle of the image is proposed.
This improves the results in this crucial image region and optimizes the utilization
of the accumulator space. The information on the direction as well
as on the sense of edgels is accumulated, which makes it possible to effectively
group the edgels into meaningful continuous edges
