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In modern power systems, renewable energy has become an increasingly popular form of energy generation as a result of all the rules and regulations that are being implemented towards achieving clean energy worldwide. However, clean energy can have drawbacks in several forms. Wind energy, for example can introduce intermittency. In this thesis, we discuss a method to deal with this intermittency. In particular, by shedding some specific amount of load we can avoid a total system breakdown of the entire power plant. The load shedding method discussed in this thesis utilizes a Markov Decision Process with backward policy iteration. This is based on a probabilistic method that chooses the best load-shedding path that minimizes the expected total cost to ensure no power failure. We compare our results with two control policies, a load-balancing policy and a less-load shedding policy. It is shown that the proposed MDP policy outperforms the other control policies and achieves the minimum total expected cost.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / A large selection of hardware and software components are readily available for supporting Internet communication in the ground network environment. These components can be used to construct very powerful and flexible communication systems. The Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) project at NASA/GSFC has been defining and demonstrating ways to use standard Internet technologies for future space communication. Theses concepts and technologies are also applicable to test range telemetry applications. This paper identifies the network equipment and protocols to support end-to-end IP communication from range sensors and spacecraft instruments to end users. After identifying the end-to-end network hardware and software components, the paper discusses which ones are currently available and lists specific examples of each. This includes examples of space missions currently using Internet technology for end-to-end communication. It also lists missing pieces and includes information on their current status. The goal of this paper is also to stimulate thought and discussion on what steps need to be taken to start filling in the remaining missing pieces for end-to-end range and space network connectivity.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 21, 2002 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / This paper presents work being done at NASA/GSFC by the Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI) project to demonstrate the application of Internet communication technologies to space communication. The goal is to provide global addressability and standard network protocols and applications for future space missions. It describes the communication architecture and operations concepts that will be deployed and tested on a Space Shuttle flight in July 2002. This is a NASA Hitchhiker mission called Communication and Navigation Demonstration On Shuttle (CANDOS). The mission will be using a small programmable transceiver mounted in the Shuttle bay that can communicate through NASA’s ground tracking stations as well as NASA’s space relay satellite system. The transceiver includes a processor running the Linux operating system and a standard synchronous serial interface that supports the High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) framing protocol. One of the main goals will be to test the operation of the Mobile IP protocol (RFC 2002) for automatic routing of data as the Shuttle passes from one contact to another. Other protocols to be utilized onboard CANDOS include secure login (SSH), UDP-based reliable file transfer (MDP), and blind commanding using UDP. The paper describes how each of these standard protocols available in the Linux operating system can be used to support communication with a space vehicle. It will discuss how each protocol is suited to support the range of special communication needs of space missions.

Autonomous driving requires tactical decision-making while navigating in a dynamic shared space environment. The complexity and uncertainty in this process arise due to unknown and tightly-coupled interaction among traffic users. This thesis work formulates an unknown navigation problem as a Markov decision process (MDP), supported by models of traffic participants and userspace. Instead of modeling a traditional MDP, this work formulates a Multi-policy decision making (MPDM) in a shared space scenario with pedestrians and vehicles. The employed model enables a unified and robust self-driving of the ego vehicle by selecting a desired policy along the pre-planned path. Obstacle avoidance is coupled within the navigation module performing a detour off the planned path and obtaining a reward on task completion and penalizing for collision with others. In addition to this, the thesis work is further extended by analyzing the real-time constraints of the proposed model. The performance of the implemented framework is evaluated in a simulation environment on a typical construction (quarry) scenario. The effectiveness and efficiency of the elected policy verify the desired behavior of the autonomous vehicle.

O comportamento e o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos em cursos de Engenharia é um campo fértil, interessante e crescente de investigação. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados obtidos na análise estocástica do progresso dos alunos em 15 cursos de graduação das diferentes opções oferecidas pela Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo (EPUSP). Para realizar esta análise, foi desenvolvido um agente de avaliação aplicando-se o Processo de Decisão de Markov (PDM). Esse agente de avaliação extrai observações parciais dos estados atuais das notas dos alunos nas disciplinas cursadas e possibilita a identificação de ações adequadas para modelar autonomamente o comportamento futuro do aluno. O algoritmo aplicado estima o esforço que representa o estado cognitivo do aluno baseado em uma relação de pares estado/ação, calculada com base nas notas obtidas ao longo do período compreendido entre os 2000 e 2010. O período em que um aluno obteve uma nota de aprovação torna possível o estudo temporal desse evento, o que permite a utilização de métodos de agrupamento de dados, como os modelos ocultos de Markov, para a avaliação do comportamento das notas dos alunos durante os cursos de Engenharia. O presente estudo se fundamentou no agrupamento das notas dos alunos em três níveis para a classificação dos comportamentos das notas desses alunos. / The students behavior and academic performance in engineering programs is a fruitful field, interesting and crescent research. This paper presents the results of student progress obtained in stochastic analysis in 15 undergraduate courses of offered by the Escola Politécnica of the São Paulo University (EPUSP). An evaluation agent was developed to perform this analysis, applying the Markov Decision Process (PDM). This evaluation agent extracts partial observations of the current state of students\' grades in courses taken, enabling the identification of appropriate actions to autonomously shape the student future behaviour. The algorithm applied estimates the effort that represents the cognitive state of the student on states/action, based on the grades obtained during the period between 2000 and 2010. The period which a student received a passing grade makes possible the temporal study of this event, allowing the use of data grouping methods, such as hidden Markov models for the evaluation of the behaviours of students\' grades for the courses of engineering. This study is based on students grades at three different levels, classifying the behaviour of the notes.

O comportamento e o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos em cursos de Engenharia é um campo fértil, interessante e crescente de investigação. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados obtidos na análise estocástica do progresso dos alunos em 15 cursos de graduação das diferentes opções oferecidas pela Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo (EPUSP). Para realizar esta análise, foi desenvolvido um agente de avaliação aplicando-se o Processo de Decisão de Markov (PDM). Esse agente de avaliação extrai observações parciais dos estados atuais das notas dos alunos nas disciplinas cursadas e possibilita a identificação de ações adequadas para modelar autonomamente o comportamento futuro do aluno. O algoritmo aplicado estima o esforço que representa o estado cognitivo do aluno baseado em uma relação de pares estado/ação, calculada com base nas notas obtidas ao longo do período compreendido entre os 2000 e 2010. O período em que um aluno obteve uma nota de aprovação torna possível o estudo temporal desse evento, o que permite a utilização de métodos de agrupamento de dados, como os modelos ocultos de Markov, para a avaliação do comportamento das notas dos alunos durante os cursos de Engenharia. O presente estudo se fundamentou no agrupamento das notas dos alunos em três níveis para a classificação dos comportamentos das notas desses alunos. / The students behavior and academic performance in engineering programs is a fruitful field, interesting and crescent research. This paper presents the results of student progress obtained in stochastic analysis in 15 undergraduate courses of offered by the Escola Politécnica of the São Paulo University (EPUSP). An evaluation agent was developed to perform this analysis, applying the Markov Decision Process (PDM). This evaluation agent extracts partial observations of the current state of students\' grades in courses taken, enabling the identification of appropriate actions to autonomously shape the student future behaviour. The algorithm applied estimates the effort that represents the cognitive state of the student on states/action, based on the grades obtained during the period between 2000 and 2010. The period which a student received a passing grade makes possible the temporal study of this event, allowing the use of data grouping methods, such as hidden Markov models for the evaluation of the behaviours of students\' grades for the courses of engineering. This study is based on students grades at three different levels, classifying the behaviour of the notes.

Cette recherche se caractérise, premièrement, par une discussion théorique sur le concept d'agent autonome, basée sur des éléments issus des paradigmes de l'Intelligence Artificielle Située et de l'Intelligence Artificielle Affective. Ensuite, cette thèse présente le problème de l'apprentissage de modèles du monde, en passant en revue la littérature concernant les travaux qui s'y rapportent. À partir de ces discussions, l'architecture CAES et le mécanisme CALM sont présentés. CAES (Coupled Agent-Environment System) constitue une architecture pour décrire des systèmes basés sur la dichotomie agent-environnement. Il définit l'agent et l'environnement comme deux systèmes partiellement ouverts, en couplage dynamique. L'agent, à son tour, est composé de deux sous-systèmes, l'esprit et le corps, suivant les principes de la situativité et de la motivation intrinsèque. CALM (Constructivist Anticipatory Learning Mechanism) est un mécanisme d'apprentissage fondé sur l'approche constructiviste de l'Intelligence Artificielle. Il permet à un agent situé de construire un modèle du monde dans des environnements partiellement observables et partiellement déterministes, sous la forme d'un processus de décision markovien partiellement observable et factorisé (FPOMDP). Le modèle du monde construit est ensuite utilisé pour que l'agent puisse définir une politique d'action visant à améliorer sa propre performance.

<p>Uppsatsen innehåller en studie av hur etiska regler, vilka framför allt återfinns inom advokatyrket, påverkar konkurrensen och de konflikter som uppstår mellan de svenska och europeiska konkurrensreglerna och dessa etiska regler. Mer specfikt identifieras vilka konkurrenshämmande effekter dessa regler medför, och vilka alternativ som finns för att kombinera etiska regler och konkurrensregler på ett sådant sätt att minsta möjliga skada uppstår för konsumenterna av advokattjänster. Resultatet av uppsatsen är att vissa etiska regler bör elimineras eller modifieras, eftersom de påverkar marknaden på ett negativt sätt utan att medföra motsvarande vinster annorstädes. The essay contains a studie on how ethical rules, here represented by the rules for the law profession, influence the competition. Furthermore are the conflicts that appear between the ethical rules and the Swedish and European competition rules identified and analysed. Different solutions are discussed with the purpose of reducing consumer damage on the law service market to a minimum. The conclusion of the essay is that some of the ethical rules that presently exist on the law service market are partly or fully useless, and/or bring about unnecessary restrictions without positive effects on other parts of the economy.</p>

Uppsatsen innehåller en studie av hur etiska regler, vilka framför allt återfinns inom advokatyrket, påverkar konkurrensen och de konflikter som uppstår mellan de svenska och europeiska konkurrensreglerna och dessa etiska regler. Mer specfikt identifieras vilka konkurrenshämmande effekter dessa regler medför, och vilka alternativ som finns för att kombinera etiska regler och konkurrensregler på ett sådant sätt att minsta möjliga skada uppstår för konsumenterna av advokattjänster. Resultatet av uppsatsen är att vissa etiska regler bör elimineras eller modifieras, eftersom de påverkar marknaden på ett negativt sätt utan att medföra motsvarande vinster annorstädes. The essay contains a studie on how ethical rules, here represented by the rules for the law profession, influence the competition. Furthermore are the conflicts that appear between the ethical rules and the Swedish and European competition rules identified and analysed. Different solutions are discussed with the purpose of reducing consumer damage on the law service market to a minimum. The conclusion of the essay is that some of the ethical rules that presently exist on the law service market are partly or fully useless, and/or bring about unnecessary restrictions without positive effects on other parts of the economy.