Thesis--University College, London. / At head of title: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Kairo. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 858-862).

Thesis--University College, London. / At head of title: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Kairo. Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. 858-862).

Robots working in constrained environments in the industry have achieved great success for a variety of tasks. Future service robots working in unconstrained domains (e.g. home or hospital) will have to cope with unforeseen circumstances, such as not having the usual tool to perform a known task. They will have to assess the affordances of candidate substitute tools and also how best to grasp and orient a tool (tool-pose) for a given task. Everyday tasks in the home often involve using a tool in non-canonical ways, e.g., the handle of a spoon oriented in the right way to retrieve something from a gap; or a bottle of wine used as a rolling pin to roll dough. It is possible to exploit these similarities between different tools and their tool-poses if the robot can learn by trying different tool-poses and also transfer what was learned to assess substitute candidate tools. Learning and dealing with substitute tools comes naturally to humans and is already present in toddlers and in some animals. Research in cognitive science provides insight into a possible mechanism playing an important role in human concept adaptability: projection. Here we provide an application of this cognitive science idea into the real-world domain of computer vision for service robotics. We show both that projection can be made to work in a real-world domain and that our approach can achieve better results than the closest one in the literature. The two main contributions of this dissertation are: 1. A first approach to bringing the idea of projection from cognitive science into a real-world 3D computer vision domain. Instead of a one-pass assessment from sensor data to abstraction and then to score, we have a bottom-up exploration from sensor data to representation and a top-down selection of best alternatives. 2. A semi-automatic framework for assessing tool affordances and tool-pose starting from unsegmented point clouds and including segmentation, simulation, learning and flexible assessment. These contributions enable us to achieve 69% overall accuracy on five different everyday tasks compared to our closest competitor in the literature achieves only 32% on the same four tasks. These results can be obtained when (a) it is possible to create a simulation for the task (b) it is possible to pre-train the system on 5000 different tools. This dissertation demonstrates that it is possible to bring the projection idea into a real-world domain and that combining top-down pressure with bottom-up search and a flexible representation improves accuracy when assessing tool affordances for service robotics.

This project has shown how a ceramic vessel can be used as a metaphor for human emotion and feeling. People are like ceramic vessels because they hold in emotion how vessels hold liquids or solids. Artists that are reviewed in the project are Peter Voulkos, David Leach and Bob Witt. The body of work is made up of a series of teapots that are built of a base, body, spout, lid and handle. Changing the position of any one of these parts can give the teapot a different feeling. / Department of Art

A revision of Diss. - Bonn, 1967. / Includes bibliographical references.

A revision of Diss. - Bonn, 1967. / Includes bibliographical references.

This creative project was a study of combining large-scale ceramics and polymer resin (Brandname: Bondo) vessels. This project came out of an earlier experiment combining metals and resin, and therefore the interest in combining clay and resin was a natural transition for me, since ceramics was my major focus. I had a definite interest in the challenge of marrying two very different materials; clay and resin, and by using this combination I would make vessels that were visually successful and engaged the viewer.The technical basis for all of the ceramic elements of the vessels is wheel throwing. The molds made for the resin parts of the piece were wheel thrown as well. This project was very unique and there was little documented technical information for me to rely on other than personal experimentation and ceramic knowledge.The visual elements of clay with its opaqueness, and resin with its translucent qualities offered great visual contrast. The use of color contrast between warm and cool colors became an important element of the pieces.From an expressive standpoint, I feel the form of the vessels is viewed as solid and confrontational, yet very compelling. The smooth surfaces and the lush vibrant colors compel the viewer to examine the forms. The pieces are commanding in size and strength, so the viewer is somewhat hesitant to view for too long. There is a visual push/pull, a contrast between these simple yet over-scaled layered forms that evokes an emotional push/pull as well. / Department of Art

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Montana, 2008. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Aug. 12, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 31).

This creative project consisted of the artist creating various box forms that were to house treasures that were considered special to the artist or the viewer. His childhood memories and his appreciation of streamline design heavily influenced him. Metal is one of the hardest materials to form and shape but the artist was able to create soft edges and curved forms by using his past experience with the material. He experimented with various surface techniques from patinas to sandblasting and polishing to create the appearance he desired in each piece. By combining wood and metal he created successful works that worked well together forming relationships between the two and were visually stimulating. He was able to create boxes within boxes with hidden compartments that could hide special treasures. This project proved to be a success for the artist, not only did he learn more about the building techniques and develop new surface treatments, but he designed and created the pieces he had envisioned at the beginning artistic career. / Department of Art

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 380-396). Also available on the Internet.