41,876 research outputs found
What does the future hold for drones in security and defence?
No full textAs drones and UAVs continue to permeate ever more sectors of society, Government Europa speaks to Dr Stephen Prior, from the University of Southampton, about the potential applications of drones in security and defence
The uses and abuses of personal UAS
No full textNano UAVs promise much in terms of enhanced personal reconn aissance capabilities. But according to Dr Stephen Prior, there are a number of drawbacks to small multi-rotor aircraft, and the cost of procuring them is still relatively high. Does growing civilian use of these systems hold the key
IMechE UAS Challenge 2016
No full textUniversity of Southampton particaption in IMechE UAS Challenge 2016 headed by Stephen Prio
Revisiting revisitation in computer interaction: organic bookmark management
No full textAccording to Milic-Frayling et al. (2004), there are two general ways of user browsing i.e. search (finding a website where the user has never visited before) and revisitation (returning to a website where the user has visited in the past). The issue of search is relevant to search engine technology, whilst revisitation concerns web usage and browser history mechanisms. The support for revisitation is normally through a set of functional built-in icons e.g. History, Back, Forward and Bookmarks. Nevertheless, for returning web users, they normally find it is easier and faster to re-launch an online search again, rather than spending time to find a particular web site from their personal bookmark and history records. Tauscher and Greenberg (1997) showed that revisiting web pages forms up to 58% of the recurrence rate of web browsing. Cockburn and McKenzie (2001) also stated that 81% of web pages have been previously visited by the user. According to Obendorf et al. (2007), revisitation can be divided into four classifications based on time: short-term (72.6% revisits within an hour), medium-term (12% revisits within a day and 7.8% revisits within a week), and long-term (7.6% revisits longer than a week
The rise of the Micro Air Vehicle
No full textInterview between Jon Excell (Editor) and Stephen Prior.UAVs (Unmanned air vehicles) are now a regular feature of modern warfare. Widely used for reconnaissance, and increasingly deployed in an offensive capacity, the technology is developing fast — with engineers adding ever-increasing levels of autonomy and performance improvements that could soon put UAVs on a par with manned aircraft
Investigating novel applications for small unmanned aerial vehicles
No full textDr. Prior is currently supervising three PhD projects involving novel aspects of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) now referred to as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). The first investigates reconfigurable landing mechanisms for novel perch and stare applications. The other two research projects investigate efficient propulsion systems and Coanda vehicle design involving morphing strategies for small UAS
An electric wheelchair mounted robotic arm - a survey of potential users
No full textThis paper describes the results of a survey which investigated and evaluated the needs and abilities of electric wheelchair users. The results of this survey will be used to develop a low-cost electric wheelchair-mounted robotic arm for use by physically disabled people to facilitate rehabilitation. The survey was undertaken by the author together with staff and students from occupational therapist training colleges, using a four-page questionnaire containing over 110 questions. The questionnaire was developed by the author together with Dr Robin Platts (Director of Orthotics), Mr Ian Bayley (Director of the London Spinal Unit) and senior occupational therapists at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex. After a successful trial the questionnaire was used with 50 severely disabled people from various backgrounds and social circumstances. The results of this survey show that the average electric wheelchair user is 40 years old, single (68%), living at home (58%) with family support (69%) and without any paid employment (79%). The most prevalent disability is spinal cord injury (24%) followed by multiple sclerosis (16%). The survey has identified several tasks which electric wheelchair users find impossible to do, and some of these will form part of the design specification. Finally 84% of the survey subjects would consider buying such a robotic ai
Including design in e-manufacturing
No full textThis paper reviews major issues in the implementation of e-manufacturing, particularly the design aspects. It will examine recent progress, drawing out particular issues that are being addressed. Use will be made of the work by the author and colleagues to devise rule-based design and Internet-based control of machines to illustrate how these developments affect the integrated e-manufacturing environment. A dynamic Simulink model of the way e-manufacture is affected by overall design delays is used to evaluate general solutions for partial and complete e-based companies. These models show how changing to improved designs reduces WI
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