TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Jan-Thomas A1 - Kowalski, Julia A1 - Pudasaini, Shiva P. T1 - Topographic curvature effects in applied avalanche modelling JF - Cold Regions Science and Technology N2 - This paper describes the implementation of topographic curvature effects within the RApid Mass MovementS (RAMMS) snow avalanche simulation toolbox. RAMMS is based on a model similar to shallow water equations with a Coulomb friction relation and the velocity dependent Voellmy drag. It is used for snow avalanche risk assessment in Switzerland. The snow avalanche simulation relies on back calculation of observed avalanches. The calibration of the friction parameters depends on characteristics of the avalanche track. The topographic curvature terms are not yet included in the above mentioned classical model. Here, we fundamentally improve this model by mathematically and physically including the topographic curvature effects. By decomposing the velocity dependent friction into a topography dependent term that accounts for a curvature enhancement in the Coulomb friction, and a topography independent contribution similar to the classical Voellmy drag, we construct a general curvature dependent frictional resistance, and thus propose new extended model equations. With three site-specific examples, we compare the apparent frictional resistance of the new approach, which includes topographic curvature effects, to the classical one. Our simulation results demonstrate substantial effects of the curvature on the flow dynamics e.g., the dynamic pressure distribution along the slope. The comparison of resistance coefficients between the two models demonstrates that the physically based extension presents an improvement to the classical approach. Furthermore a practical example highlights its influence on the pressure outline in the run out zone of the avalanche. Snow avalanche dynamics modeling natural terrain curvature centrifugal force friction coefficients. KW - Snow KW - Avalanche Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2012.01.005 SN - 1872-7441 VL - 74-75 SP - 21 EP - 30 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Steinbauer, Gerald A1 - Vassos, Stavros T1 - Action-Based Imperative Programming with YAGI N2 - Many tasks for autonomous agents or robots are best described by a specification of the environment and a specification of the available actions the agent or robot can perform. Combining such a specification with the possibility to imperatively program a robot or agent is what we call the actionbased imperative programming. One of the most successful such approaches is Golog. In this paper, we draft a proposal for a new robot programming language YAGI, which is based on the action-based imperative programming paradigm. Our goal is to design a small, portable stand-alone YAGI interpreter. We combine the benefits of a principled domain specification with a clean, small and simple programming language, which does not exploit any side-effects from the implementation language. We discuss general requirements of action-based programming languages and outline YAGI, our action-based language approach which particularly aims at embeddability. Y1 - 2012 N1 - Cognitive Robotics AAAI Technical Report WS-12-06 SP - 24 EP - 31 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Meyer, Thomas T1 - A Brief Overview of Artificial Intelligence in South Africa JF - AI Magazine N2 - South Africa in recent years is the establishment of a number of research hubs involved in AI activities ranging from mobile robotics and computational intelligence, to knowledge representation and reasoning, and human language technologies. In this survey we take the reader through a quick tour of the research being conducted at these hubs, and touch on an initiative to maintain and extend the current level of interest in AI research in the country. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v33i1.2357 SN - 0738-4602 VL - 33 IS - 1 SP - 99 EP - 101 PB - AAAI CY - Menlo Park ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ferrein, Alexander A1 - Kallweit, Stephan A1 - Lautermann, Mark T1 - Towards an autonomous pilot system for a tunnel boring machine T2 - 5th Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa (ROBMECH) : 26 - 27 November 2012 ; CSIR International Conference Centre Gauteng South Africa Y1 - 2012 SN - 978-1-4673-5183-6 N1 - Robotics and Mechatronics Conference of South Africa <5, 2012, Johannesburg> ; ROBOMECH <5, 2012, Johannesburg> PB - IEEE CY - Piscataway, NJ ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Feldmann, Markus A1 - Pyschny, D. A1 - Döring, Bernd A1 - Kuhnhenne, Markus T1 - Life cycle assessment of steel constructions T2 - Life-cycle and sustainability of civil infrastructure systems : proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE'12) : Vienna, Austria, October 3-6, 2012 Y1 - 2012 SN - 978-0-203-10336-4 SP - 321 PB - Taylor and Francis CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fateri, Miranda A1 - Hötter, Jan-Steffen A1 - Gebhardt, Andreas T1 - Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Buckling Deformation of Fabricated Objects by Selective Laser Melting JF - Physics Procedia N2 - Although Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process is an innovative manufacturing method, there are challenges such as inferior mechanical properties of fabricated objects. Regarding this, buckling deformation which is caused by thermal stress is one of the undesired mechanical properties which must be alleviated. As buckling deformation is more observable in hard to process materials, silver is selected to be studied theoretically and experimentally for this paper. Different scanning strategies are utilized and a Finite Element Method (FEM) is applied to calculate the temperature gradient in order to determine its effect on the buckling deformation of the objects from experiments. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2012.10.062 SN - 1875-3892 N1 - Part of special issue "Laser Assisted Net shape Engineering 7 (LANE 2012)" VL - 39 SP - 464 EP - 470 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Engels, Elmar A1 - Schnabel, Holger T1 - Rapid-control-prototyping of industrial drives for the sercos automation bus T2 - 13th International Workshop on Mechatronics (MECATRONICS), 2012 9th France-Japan & 7th Europe-Asia Congress on and Research and Education in Mechatronics (REM) N2 - This article describes the functionality of a MATLAB® library that can be used to develop motion-logic applications in MATLAB programming language for industrial drive and control systems using the well known sercos automation bus. Therewith MATLAB's functionality is extended to designing automation applications from single axis machines up to multi-kinematic robots. KW - MATLAB , MLPI , Motion control , Open Core , industrial drives , rapid control prototypin , sercos automation bus Y1 - 2012 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MECATRONICS.2012.6451005 SN - 978-1-4673-4771-6 SP - 177 EP - 181 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eilmann, Britta A1 - Rigling, Andreas ED - Abrams, Marc T1 - Tree-growth analyses to estimate tree species' drought tolerance JF - Tree Physiology N2 - Climate change is challenging forestry management and practices. Among other things, tree species with the ability to cope with more extreme climate conditions have to be identified. However, while environmental factors may severely limit tree growth or even cause tree death, assessing a tree species' potential for surviving future aggravated environmental conditions is rather demanding. The aim of this study was to find a tree-ring-based method suitable for identifying very drought-tolerant species, particularly potential substitute species for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Valais. In this inner-Alpine valley, Scots pine used to be the dominating species for dry forests, but today it suffers from high drought-induced mortality. We investigate the growth response of two native tree species, Scots pine and European larch (Larix decidua Mill.), and two non-native species, black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Mirb. var. menziesii), to drought. This involved analysing how the radial increment of these species responded to increasing water shortage (abandonment of irrigation) and to increasingly frequent drought years. Black pine and Douglas fir are able to cope with drought better than Scots pine and larch, as they show relatively high radial growth even after irrigation has been stopped and a plastic growth response to drought years. European larch does not seem to be able to cope with these dry conditions as it lacks the ability to recover from drought years. The analysis of trees' short-term response to extreme climate events seems to be the most promising and suitable method for detecting how tolerant a tree species is towards drought. However, combining all the methods used in this study provides a complete picture of how water shortage could limit species. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tps004 SN - 0829-318X (Print) SN - 1758-4469 (Online) VL - 32 IS - 2 SP - 178 EP - 187 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Duong, Minh Tuan A1 - Nguyen, Nhu Huynh A1 - Staat, Manfred ED - Eberhardsteiner, J. T1 - Numerical stability enhancement of modeling hyperelastic materials T2 - Proceedings European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering (ECCOMAS 2012) Y1 - 2012 N1 - 6th European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering (ECCOMAS 2012) Vienna, Austria, September 10-14, 2012 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Duong, Minh Tuan A1 - Nguyen, Nhu Hunyh A1 - Staat, Manfred T1 - Finite Element Implementation of a 3D Fung-type Model T2 - ESMC-2012 - 8th European Solid Mechanics Conference, Graz, Austria, July 9-13, 2012 Y1 - 2012 SN - 978-3-85125-223-1 PB - Verlag d. Technischen Universität Graz CY - Graz ER -