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    A possible approach to the development of robotic multi-agent systems

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    The design of a an agent system for robotics is a problem that involves aspects coming from many different disciplines (robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, software engineering). The most difficult part of it, often consists in producing and tuning the algorithms that incorporates the robot behavior (planning, obstacle avoidance,. . . ) and abilities (vision, manipulation, navigation,. . . ). Frequently, the reuse of these parts is left to a copy and paste procedure from previous applications to the new one. In so doing many problems could arise. We propose a comprehensive approach for multi-agent systems oriented to robotics applications that uses a complete design methodology supported by a specific design tools and a pattern repository that interacting each other and with the designer allow the production of a coherent design that easily incorporates patterns coming from previously experienced features and automatically produces a large part of the final code © 2003 IEEE

    A goal-oriented approach for representing and using design patterns

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    Design patterns are known as proven solutions to recurring design problems. The role of pattern documentation format is to transfer experience thus making pattern employment a viable technique. This research line proposes a goal-oriented pattern documentation that highlights decision-relevant information. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it presents a semi-structural visual notation that visualizes context, forces, alternative solutions and consequences in a compact format. Second, it introduces a systematic reuse process, in which the use of goal-oriented patterns aids the practitioner in selecting and customizing design patterns. An empirical study has been conducted the results of which supports the hypothesis that the goal-oriented format provides benefits for the practitioner. The experiment revealed a trend in which solutions better address requirements when the subjects are equipped with the new pattern documentation

    From PASSI to agile PASSI: Tailoring a design process to meet new needs

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    From several years we are developing robotic multiagent systems according to well defined design methodologies. These methodologies evolved over time because of the changes in the operating environments (robotic hardware and software platforms) and specific missions accomplished by our robots. In the last four years we used PASSI (Process for Agent Societies Specification and Implementation) obtaining good results but, the growing experience and day by day accelerating changes in requirements suggested us to find a new and more versatile approach. In this context we developed the Agile PASSI methodology discussed in this paper; it is an agile process built up capitalizing all the experiences done with PASSI and its supporting tools some of which have been adapted and reused in the new process. © 2004 IEEE

    Modeling ontologies for robotic environments

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    On the basis of a multiple abstraction levels specification process, we developed a representational model for environmental robotic knowledge through the definition of a set of ontologies using a multi perspective approach. A general ontological model for typical indoor environments has been first developed, followed by its specialization using an implementation perspective. Actual software implementation of the ontology has been obtained via a XML-based markup language, used to build a repository for robotic environmental knowledge. Copyright 2002 ACM

    A model for automatic selection of IoT services in ambient assisted living for the elderly

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    Context: Engineering Ambient Assisted Living applications for the elderly is challenging due to the diversity and rapid changes of both end users' needs and technological environment equipment. Objective: Assistive applications can be provided as combinations of functionalities provided by IoT devices. With the pervasive availability of functionally equivalent IoT devices, they should be selected according to the specific deployment context in terms of user needs and conditions, device availability, and regulations when the operative context dynamic conditions can be set. Such selection is the objective of this work. Methods: We rely on a conceptual framework for self-adaptation as the enabler for a run-time decision-making process. It allows for representing relations among IoT devices, the functionalities they deliver, and the different modalities these functionalities are provided with in terms of goals, devices, and norms. The framework is based on three fundamental principles: (1) high-level abstractions separating the expected functionality, how it can be delivered, and who is responsible for its delivery; (2) AAL applications as the run-time composition of atomic functionalities; (3) centrality of the user in the system. Result: The Device-Goal-Norm framework is proposed to specify diagrams for different AAL applications, together with the semantics to transform these diagrams into run-time models. We also provide a running implementation of a run-time model based on the belief-desire-intention paradigm

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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