Assistive robots have the potential to enable persons with motor disabilities to live more independent lives. Object retrieval has been rated a high-priority task for assistive robots. A key challenge in creating effective assistive robots lies in designing control interfaces that enable the human user to control the robot. This thesis builds on prior work that uses a laser pointer to allow the person to intuitively communicate their goals to a robot by creating a `clickable world'. Specifically, this thesis reduces the infrastructure needed for the robot to recognize the user's goal by augmenting the laser pointer with a small camera, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a laser rangefinder to estimate the location of the object to be grasped. The robot then drives to the approximate target location given by input from the laser pointer while using an onboard camera to detect an object near the target location. Local autonomy on the robot is used to visually navigate to the detected object to enable object retrieval. Results show a successful proof of concept in demonstrating reasonable detection of user intent on a 1.23 x 1.83 meters squared test grid. Testing of the estimation of object location in the odometry frame fell within range of successful local autonomy object retrieval for an environment with a single object. Future work includes testing on a wide variety of dropped objects and in cluttered environments which is needed to validate the effectiveness of the system for potential end users.

The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher perceptions on the relationship of technology and student academic behaviors and performance in the blended learning environment across 9th through 12th grade within east Tennessee and to identify the components of blended learning and pedagogical practices that enhance students’ academic behaviors. Specifically, this study is an analysis of how student motivation and student autonomy relate to technology implementation and face-to-face instruction within blended learning environments. The participants of this study were teachers within 2 school districts in East Tennessee. All high school teachers within the participating school districts received an online survey that was distributed from their corresponding principals via email. The online survey used a Likert-type scale that consisted of 40 items focused on teachers’ perceptions of student motivation and student autonomy with the blended learning environment. The analysis of the data was based on the responses of 75 teachers from the 2 participating school districts. Statistical analyses of the data revealed that the amount of teacher technology use, student technology use, learning management system use, and type of professional development did not have a significant relationship with participants’ perspective of student motivation or student autonomy. The research also did not reveal a significant relationship between participants’ age and perception of student motivation. However, this research revealed a significant relationship between participant age and participants’ perception of student autonomy. The study revealed that, as participant age increased, participants’ mean student autonomy scores decreased.

The construction industry has not seen the same growth in productivity as e.g. the manufacturing- and automobile industry. This is largely due to the ease of implementing automation and robotics in the latter mentioned industries. Now more than before when the urbanization rate is increasing, there is a strong need in increasing the efficiency of the construction industry. That is why the research questions of this thesis work involves finding a complementary solution that will help autonomous construction machines operate in a dynamic construction site. The aim is permeated by two visions. The first one being to have autonomous construction machines collaborating with humans in the most remote places in the world. The second vision is that multiple smaller construction machines is more beneficial. Meaning a few machine breakdowns would not halt the entire construction process. During the research work, using the design research methodology and the innovation process, data showed that a construction site is very dynamic and complex. Having a change in factors such as size of construction site, number of involved stakeholders, location of the construction site, and time phase heavily affects the complexity of the site. Throughout the three case studies there were different characteristics, but there was a pattern. All the mentioned factors played a huge role in what needs expressed by the interviewees. The more complex a site was, the more there was a need to organize the material, personnel and machine flow. Therefore, the final solution is to decentralize the information flow of the construction site. Meaning that all humans, machines and material on site is to communicate its information. The suggested solution is the usage of a tag using GPS and Wi-Fi to communicate location and the necessary information. Thus, when attaching the tag onto a material, the workers and the machine will know of its information. The analogy is that when the implementation of autonomous machines is up to pace, the sites need to be prepared with all the errors and issues that might come with it. Since the autonomous construction machines will be collaborating with humans, it means that the issues expressed today will reappear in the future. Also, since the implementation of autonomy and robotics has been slow for the construction industry, there is a clear need of a complementary solution to speed up the process. By decentralizing the construction site and implementing tags on each interesting point, the once complex and changing construction site, will turn into a fully digitized infrastructure. / ME310 2017 Volvo CE

Optimal trajectory planning methods that implement convex optimization techniques are applied to the area of satellite rendezvous and proximity operations. This involves the development of linearized relative orbital motion dynamics and constraints for two satellites, where one maintains a near-circular reference orbit. The result is formulated as a convex optimization problem, where the objective is to minimize the amount of fuel required to transfer from a given initial condition to the desired final conditions. A traditional rendezvous and proximity operations scenario is analyzed, which includes examples of initial approach, inspection, final approach, and docking trajectories. This scenario may include trajectory constraints such as maximum allowable control acceleration levels, approach corridors, and spherical keep-out zones. A second scenario that ensures passive safety, in the event of control failures on the maneuvering satellite. The convex optimization problem is ultimately formulated as a second-order cone program. Algorithm CPU and memory requirements are analyzed. Several examples of resulting optimal trajectories are presented for both scenarios, and these trajectories are implemented in a nonlinear simulation.

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Thesis advisor: Marius Stan / This thesis explores America's Opioid addiction crisis through a philosophical lens, arguing for a need to adopt a national mandatory rehabilitative approach for the sake of maintaining our country's cultural ethos grounded in freedom and the subsequent capacity to flourish as a human being. It proceeds in four chapters: the development of our cultural ethos through an analysis of John Locke and J.S. Mill, the history of the opioid addiction crisis and development of the two dominant addiction theories, America's current measures to tackling the crisis, and the proposal of a new approach that recovers addicts' freedom and ability to flourish. The work concludes by arguing for the importance of using philosophical principles and interpretations to guide problem solving and tackling current crises. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Philosophy.

There has been growing interest in the role of motivation in motor learning, and specifically how autonomy, competence, and intrinsic motivation may directly benefit the skill acquisition process. Within the autonomy branch of the motivation pillar in OPTIMAL theory, supporting a learner’s basic psychological need for autonomy contributes to a virtuous cycle that enhances expectancies for success (i.e., perceptions of competence) and in turn facilitates motor performance and learning. Although many experiments have concluded support for OPTIMAL theory, these studies have often relied on small sample sizes, have not been pre-registered, and have consistently failed to include appropriate measures that assess key predictions in the theory. The purpose of this dissertation was to address these methodological limitations and test core predictions in the OPTIMAL theory regarding the direct and causal role of autonomy-supportive practice conditions—control over practice and instructional language—on motor performance and learning. Experiments 1 and 2 (Chapter 2) critically tested between the information-processing and motivation-based (i.e., OPTIMAL theory) explanations of the self-controlled learning advantage by providing participants in choice and yoked groups with error or graded feedback (Experiment 1) and binary feedback (Experiment 2). Results showed no self-controlled learning advantage and exercising choice in practice did not increase perceptions of autonomy, competence, or intrinsic motivation, nor did it improve error estimation accuracy. Although these findings are difficult to reconcile with either explanation, they are consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting self-controlled conditions are not advantageous for motor learning. Experiment 3 addressed a methodological limitation of past self-controlled learning research by including a novel yoked group that was explicitly told they were being denied choice and that their observation schedule was created by another participant. Results showed no self-controlled learning advantage despite finding higher perceptions of autonomy in the choice group. These findings are consistent with Experiments 1 and 2, and further questions the causal role of autonomy-support on motor learning and the robustness of the so-called self-controlled learning advantage. Experiment 4 investigated the influence of different instructional language styles on skill acquisition. Throughout practice participants received task instructions that used either autonomy-supportive or controlling language. Results showed no performance differences in acquisition or retention despite finding higher perceptions of autonomy and competence in the autonomy-supportive group. These findings are inconsistent with key predictions in OPTIMAL theory regarding the role of autonomy in motor learning. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Practice environments that provide learners with autonomy have been argued to be more effective for learning new motor skills compared to more controlling environments. Two techniques that can be used to create autonomy-supportive learning environments are giving learners control over a feature of their practice or the language used when giving task instructions. This dissertation addresses knowledge gaps and several methodological limitations of previous literature by measuring key psychological variables, the use of novel experimental groups, large N studies, modern statistical techniques, and open science practices. Findings showed that under many conditions perceptions of autonomy and competence can be impacted positively; however, these psychological benefits do not reliably translate into superior motor performance or learning. Collectively, results of this dissertation challenge mainstream perspectives regarding a direct and causal role of motivational influences on motor skill acquisition.

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