In this paper, a sensitivity analysis of a continuous stirred tank bioreactor (CSTBR) was conducted to determine a parametrically sensitive regime. The growth of a lactic acid bacterium, namely, <i>Lactobacillus casei</i>, in a pH-controlled CSTBR was considered as a process model. Normalized objective sensitivities of the minimum pH were determined with respect to input parameters. A generalized ...

Artificial intelligence is an enabling technology for autonomous surface vehicles, with methods such as evolutionary algorithms, artificial potential fields, fast marching methods, and many others becoming increasingly popular for solving problems such as path planning and collision avoidance. However, there currently is no unified way to evaluate the performance of different algorithms, for example ...

Development of snake robots have been motivated by the ability of snakes to move efficiently in unstructured and cluttered environments. A snake robot has the potential to utilise obstacles for generating locomotion, in contrast to wheeled robots which are unable to move efficiently in rough terrain. In this paper, we propose a local path planning algorithm for snake robots based on obstacle-aided ...

This paper presents a three dimensional guidance strategy for fixed-wing UAVs using quaternions. The algorithm is based on constructing two quaternions, one which makes the UAV fly towards the path and one that makes the UAV follow the path. These two quaternions are then blended together such that the path-following objective is reached. The guidance algorithm is applied to a simple kinematic model ...

Vehicular visible light communication (VVLC) has emerged as a promising field of research, garnering considerable attention from scientists and researchers. VVLC offers a potential solution to enable connectivity and communication between travelling vehicles along the road by using their existing headlights (HLs) and taillights (TLs) as wireless transmitters and integrating photodetectors (PDs) ...

The paper deals with a homogenization problem for a nonlocal linear operator with a kernel of convolution type in a medium with a periodic structure. We consider the natural diffusive scaling of this operator and study the limit behavior of the rescaled operators as the scaling parameter tends to 0. More precisely we show that in the topology of resolvent convergence the family of rescaled operators ...

This paper presents ‘expert opinions’ on what should be taught in a first-year linear algebra course at university; the aim is to gain a generic picture and general guiding principles for such a course. Drawing on a Delphi method, 14 university professors—called ‘experts’ in this study—addressed the following questions: What should be on a first-year linear algebra undergraduate course for engineering ...

<i>Background</i>: Procrastination is seen as a severe problem among young people, and many factors have been claimed to be associated with it, playing video games being one of them. One of the reasons why video games might be related to procrastination is their ability to offer instant gratification and feedback, while at the same time offer distractions from less tempting and rewarding tasks. ...

The rapid oxidation of carbon black (CB) is a major drawback for its use as a catalyst support in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Here, we synthesize poly[2,20 -(4,40 -bipyridine)-5,50 -bibenzimidazole] (BiPyPBI) as a conducting polymer and use it to functionalize the surface of CB and homogenously anchor platinum metal nanoparticles (Pt-NPs) on a CB surface. The as-prepared materials were ...

Ventilation, air filtration and disinfection have been found to be the main engineering measures to control the airborne respiratory infection transmission in shared indoor spaces. Wells-Riley model modifications allow to calculate the infection risk probability, but gaps in viral load data, risk control methods and dealing with incomplete mixing have resulted in ventilation recommendations falling ...