This thesis deals with various aspects of indoor navigationfor mobile robots. For a system that moves around in ahousehold or office environment,two major problems must betackled. First, an appropriate control scheme has to bedesigned in order to navigate the platform. Second, the form ofrepresentations of the environment must be chosen. Behaviour based approaches have become the dominantmethodologies for designing control schemes for robotnavigation. One of them is the dynamical systems approach,which is based on the mathematical theory of nonlineardynamics. It provides a sound theoretical framework for bothbehaviour design and behaviour coordination. In the workpresented in this thesis, the approach has been used for thefirst time to construct a navigation system for realistic tasksin large-scale real-world environments. In particular, thecoordination scheme was exploited in order to combinecontinuous sensory signals and discrete events for decisionmaking processes. In addition, this coordination frameworkassures a continuous control signal at all times and permitsthe robot to deal with unexpected events. In order to act in the real world, the control system makesuse of representations of the environment. On the one hand,local geometrical representations parameterise the behaviours.On the other hand, context information and a predefined worldmodel enable the coordination scheme to switchbetweensubtasks. These representations constitute symbols, on thebasis of which the system makes decisions. These symbols mustbe anchored in the real world, requiring the capability ofrelating to sensory data. A general framework for theseanchoring processes in hybrid deliberative architectures isproposed. A distinction of anchoring on two different levels ofabstraction reduces the complexity of the problemsignificantly. A topological map was chosen as a world model. Through theadvanced behaviour coordination system and a proper choice ofrepresentations,the complexity of this map can be kept at aminimum. This allows the development of simple algorithms forautomatic map acquisition. When the robot is guided through theenvironment, it creates such a map of the area online. Theresulting map is precise enough for subsequent use innavigation. In addition, initial studies on navigation in human-robotinteraction tasks are presented. These kinds of tasks posedifferent constraints on a robotic system than, for example,delivery missions. It is shown that the methods developed inthis thesis can easily be applied to interactive navigation.Results show a personal robot maintaining formations with agroup of persons during social interaction. <b>Keywords:</b>mobile robots, robot navigation, indoornavigation, behaviour based robotics, hybrid deliberativesystems, dynamical systems approach, topological maps, symbolanchoring, autonomous mapping, human-robot interaction

<p>This thesis deals with various aspects of indoor navigationfor mobile robots. For a system that moves around in ahousehold or office environment,two major problems must betackled. First, an appropriate control scheme has to bedesigned in order to navigate the platform. Second, the form ofrepresentations of the environment must be chosen.</p><p>Behaviour based approaches have become the dominantmethodologies for designing control schemes for robotnavigation. One of them is the dynamical systems approach,which is based on the mathematical theory of nonlineardynamics. It provides a sound theoretical framework for bothbehaviour design and behaviour coordination. In the workpresented in this thesis, the approach has been used for thefirst time to construct a navigation system for realistic tasksin large-scale real-world environments. In particular, thecoordination scheme was exploited in order to combinecontinuous sensory signals and discrete events for decisionmaking processes. In addition, this coordination frameworkassures a continuous control signal at all times and permitsthe robot to deal with unexpected events.</p><p>In order to act in the real world, the control system makesuse of representations of the environment. On the one hand,local geometrical representations parameterise the behaviours.On the other hand, context information and a predefined worldmodel enable the coordination scheme to switchbetweensubtasks. These representations constitute symbols, on thebasis of which the system makes decisions. These symbols mustbe anchored in the real world, requiring the capability ofrelating to sensory data. A general framework for theseanchoring processes in hybrid deliberative architectures isproposed. A distinction of anchoring on two different levels ofabstraction reduces the complexity of the problemsignificantly.</p><p>A topological map was chosen as a world model. Through theadvanced behaviour coordination system and a proper choice ofrepresentations,the complexity of this map can be kept at aminimum. This allows the development of simple algorithms forautomatic map acquisition. When the robot is guided through theenvironment, it creates such a map of the area online. Theresulting map is precise enough for subsequent use innavigation.</p><p>In addition, initial studies on navigation in human-robotinteraction tasks are presented. These kinds of tasks posedifferent constraints on a robotic system than, for example,delivery missions. It is shown that the methods developed inthis thesis can easily be applied to interactive navigation.Results show a personal robot maintaining formations with agroup of persons during social interaction.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>mobile robots, robot navigation, indoornavigation, behaviour based robotics, hybrid deliberativesystems, dynamical systems approach, topological maps, symbolanchoring, autonomous mapping, human-robot interaction</p>

As a consequence of the burgeoning awareness about the degree to which communication and information technologies transformed democratic deliberation, political struggles over disinformation ensued in a number of countries. This master’s Degree Project focuses on the politics of falsehood to answer the following question: to which degree does the theory on post-truth worlds (PTW) explain the main themes articulated by legislators and platform representatives at parliamentary hearings about disinformation in comparison to a MCD-inspired perspective defined as ICT3D? The theoretical framework explains the main concepts in PTW (Farkas &amp; Shou, 2020) and ICT3D, which is defined by this DP as the contentious field concerning the mediation of collective affairs by the intersection of deliberation systems, data politics and development dimensions within and across societies worldwide. The empirical section presents a thematic content analysis of three study cases that are used to compare both approaches, consisting of 15 parliamentary inquiries of digital platforms in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil within the context of right-wing ruling between 2017 and 2020. The results confirm the relevance of PTW as an interpretative key to the meta-deliberation between legislators and platform representatives, but also identify many contents that either go beyond the scope of PTW or present nuances and tensions within PTW-related codes. The findings also provide a number of conclusions on the potential of ICT3D as a theoretical approach: the contentious intertwining of data politics, deliberative systems and development dimensions was demonstrated to be present in meta-deliberation; the wide array of development dimensions raised in all cases shows the pertinence of ICT3D to Comdev; and ICT3D has also proven to be of value in demonstrating the absence of certain themes and contents that should be expected in meta-deliberation from a critical perspective. The discussion elaborates on the explanatory potential and limits of PTW and ICT3D, concluding that they operate at different levels: PTW are specific discursive formations - among others - that articulate themes and contents about ICT3D.

[pt] Esta tese no campo da comunicação política dialoga com as noções de público, de John Dewey (2012[1922]), e esfera pública, de Habermas (1991; 1997; DAHLGREN, 2005; CALHOUN, 1992), com a teoria dos sistemas deliberativos (PARKINSON; MANSBRIDGE, 2012; ELSTUB et al., 2016; HENDRIKS, 2015), bem como com a literatura especializada em consultas públicas online (SHANE, 2012; COLEMAN; SHANE, 2012). O objetivo é analisar a comunicação política que se formou a partir das duas consultas públicas online sobre o Marco Civil da Internet de modo a perceber contribuições epistêmicas desse processo por meio da análise de material midiático e dos discursos dos Deputados e Senadores no Congresso Nacional. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa tem por base duas research questions: (RQ1) de que forma as consultas públicas online do Marco Civil da Internet informaram, do ponto de vista da comunicação política e da deliberação, o sistema deliberativo que se construiu em torno do tema?; e (RQ2) que ganhos epistêmicos e democráticos as consultas públicas online do Marco Civil da Internet podem ter trazido ao sistema deliberativo e ao processo decisório? Com o intuito de entender significados compartilhados a partir das duas consultas públicas online sobre o Marco Civil da Internet, os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados incluíram buscar, pela observação dos comentários dos participantes no momento das consultas, temas e argumentos utilizados para cada grande tema do debate, resultando em 322 indicadores (ou posicionamentos que sustentaram cada tema), divididos no espectro analítico dos direitos e das responsabilidades dos seguintes atores: 1) governo, 2) provedores e empresas prestadoras de serviços de internet; e 3) usuários. Ao fim, enfatiza-se que os significados gerados a partir das duas consultas públicas online para cada tema circularam pelos dois espaços deliberativos analisados - mídia e Congresso Nacional - tanto em termos de diversidade de posicionamentos, quanto em relação à sua ampla utilização, sendo possível perceber uma conexão relevante do sistema deliberativo em torno do Marco Civil da Internet, a partir dos argumentos desenvolvidos nas duas consultas públicas online e utilizados nos espaços deliberativos analisados. / [en] This thesis in the field of political communication discusses Dewey s notions of the public (DEWEY, 2012 [1922]), and Habermas s public sphere (HABERMAS, 1991; 1997; DAHLGREN, 2005; CALHOUN, 1992); the deliberative systems theory (PARKINSON; MANSBRIDGE, 2012; ELSTUB et al., 2016; HENDRIKS, 2015); as well as the specialized literature on online public consultations (SHANE, 2012; COLEMAN; SHANE, 2012). The aim is to analyze the communication developed during the two online public consultations of the Brazilian Internet Law Framework, within the dimensions of deliberative systems, in order to understand if and how there were epistemic contributions for this process with the reproduction of the positions developed during the online public consultations in other deliberative spaces. Through the observation of media material and the speeches of Congressmen and Senators in Parliament, the aim is to analyze which arguments born from the public sphere were repeated on those spaces. There are two main research questions: (RQ1) how did the online public consultations of the Brazilian Internet Law Framework inform, in the light off political communication and deliberation, the deliberative system that was built around the theme? And (RQ2) What were the epistemic and democratic gains that the online public consultations of the Brazilian Internet Law Framework brought to the deliberative system and to the decision-making process? In order to understand the meanings shared from the public consultations of the Brazilian Internet Law Framework, the methodological procedures included the search of comments made available at the time that the online public consultation occurred, aiming to discover the frameworks and arguments used by participants for each major theme, resulting in 322 indicators (or arguments that supported each framework). These were broken down into the analytical spectrum of rights and responsibilities of the following actors: 1) government, 2) internet service providers and companies; and 3) users. Finally, it is emphasized that the arguments generated from the two public consultations for each framingcirculated through the two deliberative spaces - media and parliament - both in terms of diversity of positions and in relation to their wide use, therefore establishing a strong connection to the deliberative system around the Brazilian Internet Law Framework, formed from the arguments developed in the two public consultations and used in the deliberative spaces analyzed, namely, media and parliament.