330 research outputs found
Quality principles for cultural Web sites: a Handbook
No full textprinted and on-line versions, co-author with Eelco Bruinsma, Christophe Dessaux, Ciaran Clissman, Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, David Dawson, Isabelle Dujacquier, Axel Ermert, Pierluigi Feliciati, Fedora Filippi, Muriel Foulonneau,
Antonella Fresa, Monika Hagedorn-Saupe, Annette Kelly, Brian Kelly, Daniel Malbert, Andrea Mulrenin, Stefan Rhode-Enslin, Marius Snyders, Gert Van Tittelboom, Frank von Hage
A Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robot for improving end-users' mobility in an urban environment
No full textIn the near future, the flexibility and safety of robotic systems will allow them to interact directly with a patient without the need for an operator which will, at most, have to switch a system on or off. In this
new scenario, end-users will have more chance of attaining enhanced independence and comfort in their daily life, even in outdoor activities, by using a simple and safe technology. In this paper we propose Cable System for Improving Mobility (CaSIMo), which has been developed with the aim of improving the mobility of end-users in an urban environment as regards traversing architectural barriers like canals or roads, when classical solutions such as bridges cannot be adopted. The cable system has been developed for large-scale handling (or aiding transfer) for applications in urban, civil and naval environments. The main issue of the system proposed, which belongs to the class of Cartesian Cable-Suspended Robots (CCSR), is that it can provide translational motion of the suspended end-effector, and may thus be considered well suited to a number of applications including that proposed herein. In this paper we focus our attention on a spatial version designed to improve the mobility of end-users in an urban environment. In particular, modeling for kinetostatic and dynamic analyses are proposed and discussed. The proposed system does not require structures of large dimensions, and its environmental impact can thus be greatly reduced with regard to other analogous devices. Moreover, it has a low-cost design if compared to other systems such as bridges, and can be installed and removed relatively easily. A laboratory prototype of the planar version has been built for experimental tests. Dynamic simulations of the large-scale spatial version have been reported to show the engineering significance of the
proposed design in both nominal operation and critical conditions, i.e. in the case of a cable breaking
THROO: A Tracked Hybrid Rover to Overpass Obstacles
No full textIn this paper the design, simulation and experimental tests are presented for THROO: a Tracked Hybrid Rover, which has been developed to Overpass Obstacles. The proposed mobile robot has 3-DOFs and it is capable of straight motion, turning ability and two operations, namely rover-like motion with tracks on flat terrain and walking-like motion with track and legs to overpass obstacles on move on uneven terrain. The leg mechanism is composed by a four-bar linkage, which has been synthesized according to desired features. In particular, the Burmester problem, which aims at finding the geometric parameters of a four-bar linkage required for a prescribed set of finitely separated poses is solved for the case understudy. Dynamic simulations have been carried out and a prototype has been built. The proposed results show the hybrid rover ability to overpass obstacles, which size is comparable or greater than the track high
Il ruolo degli ecologi nella realtà ambientale Pisa. Atti del 10° Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Ecologia
No full textErosion de la nature, stratification de l'humain. Tournant ontologique et écologie sémiotique
No full textThe article “Érosion de la nature, stratification de l’humain: Tournant ontologique et écologie sémiotique” by Pierluigi Basso Fossali explores the interplay between ecological thought and semiotics, emphasizing the ontological challenges posed by the relationship between nature and culture. The author critiques the oversimplification of nature as a static regulatory principle, advocating instead for a dynamic semiotic ecology that acknowledges the interdependence of cultures, environments, and symbolic systems. The text highlights the necessity of rethinking environmental discourse through a multi-layered perspective that transcends traditional dichotomies, such as nature versus culture, while embracing the epistemological contributions of diverse civilizations. By integrating the notions of resistance, translation, and intersubjectivity, the article argues for a pluralistic understanding of ecological frameworks as both cultural constructs and practical paradigms for addressing global environmental challenges
Esistenzialismi: filosofie della crisi in Italia a cavallo della Seconda Guerra Mondiale
No full textThe essay follows the thread of the question on the reasons for the crisis of Italian existentialism immediately after the Second World War, despite a phase of lively philosophical production on existentialism. It follows the different and intertwining paths of three protagonists of this season: Nicola Abbagnano, Luigi Pareyson and Enrico Castelli. First of all, it is shown that existentialism, especially in Pareyson and Castelli, is closely linked to the historical climate as an age of crisis even if it is problematic that it may represent the solution. Secondly, through the historical placing of existentialism in Pareyson and Abbagnano, the ascendants appear differently conceived, but above all their descriptions lead to question the very notion of existentialism as a lasting and coherent perspective. In conclusion, the different theoretical positions are compared: the central notions of Abbagnano's existentialism outline a theory of the complexity of being as natural and human that prelude, in the definition of "positive existentialism", to the neo-illuministic outcomes of his subsequent thought; Pareyson instead conceives the idea of God as crucial in the definition of existentialism as a philosophy of the finite destined to resolve itself, as a philosophy of choice, in spiritualism. Castelli is finally indicated as the one of the three that remains most problematically linked to the idea of existentialism as the philosophy of the crisis understood as structural
Playing with autism. Encountering Simona Concaro by her music. Vol. 1.1
No full textPlaying with Autism contains twenty-four original pieces for piano, recorded and carefully transcribed in current music notation by Pierluigi Politi and Hanna Shybayeva. Simona Concaro, the author, is a young woman suffering of low-functioning autism. She lives in Cascina Rossago, a farm-community, designed to meet the needs of people with autism, in Oltrepo pavese (Italy).
Since she was three, Simona Concaro has created original compositions on piano, instrument she learned by herself, refusing any kind of musical education. In everyday life, Simona does not use verbal language and has low autonomy. Her music, on the contrary, contains interesting features – melodic, rhythmic and harmonic –, even in the presence of some iterative elements, typical of the autistic spectrum
A simple procedure to calibrate soil parameters for slope stability modelling: the Langhe (1994) case study
No full textShallow landslides triggered by rainfall represent common geotechnical hazards in Italy. In this context, the hundreds of landslides which occurred in the Piedmont Langhe area in November 1994, still identified among the most extensive areal event in the last 30 years in Italy, are investigated.
Exploiting data from the surveys of Campus et al. (1998), here we calibrate simple soil water and mechanical properties (i.e., the saturated permeability and cohesion values) to overcome the large uncertainty affecting the determination of parameters to be used as inputs for physically based soil slip models. This work aims to contribute to the development of reliable soil data inventory that may be of direct interest in slope stability modelling, following Vannocci et al. (2020).
The analysis was conducted on a small number of cases selected from a sample of 238 observed landslides, to which geometries and geotechnical features were attributed from a regional database. The calibration was performed using a simple hydrological model, i.e. that of Rosso et al. (2006), since it allows a reasonable check on the sensitivity of soil parameter values to the instability conditions.
For saturated conductivity, a variation range was obtained, whose upper limit referred to the so-called bucket model. Assuming that part of the rainfall contributes to surface runoff, a lower permeability value was derived using the proportional flow method ψ, consistently with the real dynamics of the processes. Soil cohesion was calibrated by mechanical analysis based on the infinite slope theory, by targeting the Safety Factor SF to assume the value 0.99.
When comparing locally calibrated parameters and the reference ones found in the database some differences arise; in particular, in several cases, based on calibrated values, SFs quite lower than 1 were derived. It must be pointed out that the calibration procedure allowed us to characterize shallow soils, made up of remolded and often vegetated soil, while the regional dataset provide information on undisturbed soil samples, typically collected at depths greater than those of interest.
The possibility of getting reliable soil parameters to be used in physically based modelling of shallow landslides is a complex task. Here we use a calibration method to obtain meaningful saturated hydraulic conductivity and cohesion values, compatible with the observed instabilities.
The implications of the differences found between the calibrated parameters and those published in the regional dataset will lay the foundations for subsequent investigations, as this analysis will be part of the research framework of the RETURN Extended Partnership Project
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