Scuola superiore di Catania

About: Scuola superiore di Catania is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Complex network & Graphene. The organization has 103 authors who have published 271 publications receiving 16218 citations.

3D visualization technologies for teleguided robots

Abstract: The use of 3D stereoscopic visualization may provide a user with higher comprehension of remote environments in teleoperation when compared to 2D viewing. Works in the literature have demonstrated how stereo vision contributes to improve perception of some depth cues often for abstract tasks, while little can be found about the advantages of stereoscopic visualization in mobile robot teleguide applications. This work investigates stereoscopic robot teleguide under different conditions, including typical navigation scenarios and the use of synthetic and real images. This work also inves-tigates how user performance may vary when employing different display technologies. Results from a set of test trials ran on five vir-tual reality systems emphasized few aspects which represent a base for further investigation as well as a guide when designing specific systems for telepresence.

Full characterization of the loading of a magneto-optical trap from an alkali metal dispenser

Abstract: We present an experimental study of the dynamics of a magneto–optical trap (MOT) loaded from an alkali dispenser current controlled source. In our experimental vacuum conditions and for a low trapping force MOT the trap loading process critically depends on the dispensers working regime. This allows to completely characterize the dispensers–MOT system and to determine the best loading conditions.

Flexible Robot Strategy Design Using Belief-Desire-Intention Model

Abstract: This paper describes PROFETA, a Python framework developed by the authors to write robot strategies by means of the Belief- Desire-Intention (BDI) programming paradigm. This paradigm has been proposed in the field of autonomous agents programming and can be successfully applied also to autonomous robots thanks to their behavioural similarity with software agents. The paper describes the BDI model and AgentSpeak, a formal declarative language suitably designed for BDI agents. Then it introduces PROFETA, which takes inspiration from AgentSpeak and is designed with the objective of adding declarative constructs (needed by a BDI model) to an object-oriented and imperative language like Python. The result is a flexible environment that combines the power of both the classical object-oriented paradigm—useful for algorithm and control loop programming—and declarative approach—useful for AI and strategy programming. A case-study, based on Eurobot 2010 competition, shows such abilities, highlighting the main characteristics and advantages of PROFETA in strategy design.

Effects of motion on epidemic spreading

Abstract: The study of social networks, and in particular those aspects related to disease spreading, has recently attracted considerable attention in the scientific community. In this paper, we investigate the effect of motion on the spread of diseases in dynamical networks of mobile agents. In order to simulate the long distance displacements empirically observed in real human movements, we consider different motion rules, such as random walks with the addition of jumps or Levy flights. We compare the epidemic thresholds found in dynamical networks of mobile agents with the analogous expressions for static networks. We discuss the existing relations between dynamical networks of random walkers with jumps and static small-world networks, and those between systems of Levy walkers and scale-free networks.