This thesis is about control and balance stability of leggedlocomotion. It also presents a combination of tools that makesit easier to design controllers for large and complicated robotsystems. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part studies and analyzes how walking machines arecontrolled, examining the literature of over twenty machinesbriefly, and six machines in detail. The goal is to understandhow the controllers work on a level below task and pathplanning, but above actuator control. Analysis and comparisonis done in terms of: i) generation of trunk motion; ii)maintaining balance; iii) generation of leg sequence andsupport patterns; and iv) reflexes. The next part describes WARP1, a four-legged walking robotplatform that has been builtwith the long term goal of walkingin rough terrain. First its modular structure (mechanics,electronics and control) is described, followed by someexperiments demonstrating basic performance. Finally themathematical modeling of the robot’s rigid body model isdescribed. This model is derived symbolically and is general,i.e. not restricted to WARP1. It is easily modified in case ofa different number of legs or joints. During the work with WARP1, tools for model derivation,control design and control implementation have been combined,interfaced and augmented in order to better support design andanalysis. These tools and methods are described in the thirdpart. The tools used to be difficult to combine, especially fora large and complicated system with many signals and parameterssuch as WARP1. Now, models derived symbolically in one tool areeasy to use in another tool for control design, simulation andfinally implementation, as well as for visualization andevaluation—thus going from equation to action. In the last part we go back to“equation”wherethese tools aid the study of balance stability when complianceis considered. It is shown that a legged robot in a“statically balanced”stance may actually beunstable. Furthermore, a criterion is derived that shows when aradially symmetric“statically balanced”stance on acompliant surface is stable. Similar analyses are performed fortwo controllers of legged robots, where it is the controllerthat cause the compliance. <b>Keywords</b>legged locomotion, control, balance, leggedmachines, legged robots, walking robots, walking machines,compliance, platform stability, symbolic modeling

Business has seen tremendous growth through internationalization over the last several decades.  As  one  of  the  strategies  for  companies  to  internationalize,  acquisition  has since then been a well-studied subject. Various steps have to be gone through in order to  acquire  a  company.  Afterwards,  companies  need  to  take  different  measures  to ensure  the  success  of  the  acquisition.  Culture  is  usually  considered  as  the  most important  aspect  which  determines  post-acquisition  success.  The  purpose  of  this master dissertation is to thus investigate company’s internationalization via acquisition regarding    the    pre-acquisition    decision-making    and    post-acquisition    cultural management. The  theoretical  framework  consists  of  literature  of  pre-acquisition  decision-making process and post-acquisition culture management. These theories are put together in an analytical  model  where  possible  connections  are  intended  to  achieve.  It  will  also  be used as a foundation in gathering and analyzing the empirical data.   In  a  qualitative  approach,  the  empirical  data  was  gathered  through  semi-structured interview with the president of Getinge International Group. These findings were also complemented with secondary data such as corporate websites, documents and various scientific articles. The findings of the study show that planning, evaluating, negotiating, making the deal and    integration    are    the    five    essential    steps    concerning    the    process    of internationalization  through  acquisition.  The  authors  find  out  that  identifying  of acquisition  candidates  is  not  necessarily  a  part  of  pre-acquisition  as  the  theory  may suggest.  The  distinction  between  bolt-on  and  platform  acquisition  is  of  critical importance to determine the different criteria and procedure certain company is going to take. This proves to be much more practical, where theoretical support has not been fully established. Both national and corporate cultures are of crucial importance for the success of company’s post-acquisition culture management. According to the finding of this research, two factors seem to link pre and post acquisition process; one is the planning of how future organization is managed; the other is the appropriate choice of managing director.

The importance for companies in knowledge or technology intensive industries to take part in research partnerships has been thoroughly researched, and the gain of collaboration with external parties has been proven. One of these most influential collaboration types is the one between academia and industry, where the US Bayh-Dole Act provided a break-through policy change for the transfer, conversion and commercialization of knowledge and innovations. To counter this, the European Union has implemented a policy around a facilitating, user-centered milieu for innovation called Living Labs. In this article, the purpose is to identify potential collaboration barriers in the university-industry collaboration when implemented in this milieu. This is done by using a multiple case study where the respondents are seven individuals, from three Living Lab entities and two companies. The findings show that the inclusion of users give the setting its advantage, but also gives additional management needs, something that applies to all participants in the setting – the company representatives must have a diverse set of abilities, the researchers should be standalone and independent from the Living Labs management, the management must establish a shared physical context for all parties to interact within and there must be a very clear agreement between all parties what there are expecting from the collaboration regarding outcomes, process and structure.

Bakgrund: För att vara kostnadseffektiv och utveckla nya bilmodeller i snabb takt använder sig bilföretag av produktplattformar. En produktplattform är ingen fysisk produkt utan varieras med olika komponenter beroende på vilka delar på bilmodellerna som skall vara unika respektive vilka delar som skall vara gemensamma. Nackdelar med flera gemensamma komponenter är att slutprodukterna blir identiska i flera avseenden, vilket försvårar varumärkets arbete med att göra produkterna unika och skilja de från konkurrenternas. En konflikt uppstår således mellan produktplattformens strävan efter gemensamma komponenter och varumärkets arbete med att göra produkten unik. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att utifrån de gjorda fallstudierna på bilmodellerna Volvo XC60 respektive Land Rover Freelander 2 som producerats på en gemensam produktplattform analysera och jämföra varumärkenas och bilmodellernas benägenhet att förmedla vad som är unikt i samband med en reklamkampanj. Genomförande: Uppsatsen är genomförd med en kvalitativ ansats, där intervjuer har genomförts. Den empiriska studien är uppbyggd av två deskriptiva fallstudier och jämförelser har gjorts mellan fallen för att se skillnader. Resultat: Uppsatsen har kommit fram till att varumärket är av stort värde för företag eftersom två identiska produkter producerade på en gemensam produktplattform kan säljas som två unika produkter. Varumärket möjliggör nyttjande av produktplattformar på grund av sin strävan efter att ta fram det unika med produkten. Vid nyttjande av produktplattformar är det viktigt att varumärket är konsekvent och kommunicerar det som är unikt med produkten snarare än det som produkten har gemensamt med andra produkter. Uppsatsen har visat på att attribut av stor betydelse för att kommunicera ett konsekvent budskap. / Background: In order to minimise costs and develop new car models in a timely manner, the car industry uses product platforms. A product platform is not a physical product, but a range of components that can be combined in various ways depending on specific individual product requirements. The disadvantage with using several common components is that the final products can be identical in several aspects, which complicates the brand’s goal of making the product unique and distinct from competitors. Conflict arises between the product platform’s ambition to use common components and the brand’s ambition to make the product unique. Aim: The aim of this master thesis, based on two case studies about the Volvo XC60 and Land Rover Freelander 2, is to analyze and compare the brands and the car models’ ability to mediate the uniqueness in a Swedish marketing campaign, despite the common components at the EUCD-plattform. Completion: The master thesis has been carried out with a qualitative approach, whereby interviews have been performed. The empirical study is built on two descriptive case studies and a comparison has been made between the cases. Result: The thesis has reached the conclusion that a brand is of great importance to a company since two identical products produced on a common platform can be sold as two unique products. The brand makes it possible to use a product platform due to the brand’s ambition to make a product unique. It is important when using a product platform for the brand to be consistent and communicate what is unique about the product rather than what the product has in common with other products. The master thesis has shown that attributes are important in order to communicate a consistent message.

The need for aggregating privacy policies is present in a variety of application areas today. In traditional client/server models, websites host services along with their policies in different private domains. However, in a cloud-computing platform where aggregators can merge multiple services, users often face complex decisions in terms of choosing the right services from service providers. In this computing paradigm, the ability to aggregate policies as well as services will be useful and more effective for users that are privacy conscious regarding their sensitive or personal information. This thesis studies the problems associated with the Platform for Privacy Preference (P3P) language, and the present issues with communicating and understanding the P3P language. Furthermore, it discusses some efficient strategies and algorithms for the matching and the merging processes, and then elaborates on some privacy policy conflicts that may occur after merging policies. Lastly, the thesis presents a tool for matching and merging P3P policies. If successful, the merge produces an aggregate policy that is consistent with the policies of all participating service providers.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis condenses open public space on an urban site in order to create an animated environment for public use. Maximizing use of an open lot in Sao Paulo, Brazil, an elevated concrete plate layers the site into a covered plaza below with sport and recreation program above. By lifting a programmable ground surface above street level, the project maintains the ground plane as an extension of the urban surroundings. The underside of the elevated plate becomes a horizontal elevation, or sixth façade, which is the new public interface of the project. Essentially a double-sided surface that is formally manipulated, the elevated structure both defines and unifies the two zones, mediating between them while creating different conditions and atmospheres, each with their own potential to invite public activity.

The helicopter is a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) system with highly coupled characteristics, which increases the complexity of the system dynamics. In addition, the system dynamics of the helicopter are unstable, referring to its tendency to deviate from an equilibrium when disturbed. Despite the complexity in its modelling and control, the benefit of using a helicopter for unmanned, autonomous applications can be tremendous. One particular application that motivates this research is the use of an unmanned small-scale helicopter in an autonomous survey mission over an area struck by disaster, such as an earthquake. The work presented in this thesis provides a framework for utilizing a platform system for research and development of small-scale helicopter systems. A platform system enables testing and analysis to be performed indoor in a controlled environment. This can provide a more convenient mean for helicopter research since the system is not affected by environmental elements, such as wind, rain or snow condition. However, the presence of the platform linkages poses challenges for analysis and controller design as it alters the helicopter system flight dynamics. Through a six degree-of-freedom (6 DOF) platform model derived in this research, the criteria for matching the trim conditions between the platform system and a stand alone helicopter have been identified. With the matched trim conditions, linearization is applied to perform analysis on the effects that the platform has on the system dynamics. The results of the analysis provide insights into both the limitations and benefits of utilizing the platform system for helicopter research. Finally, a Virtual Joint Control scheme is proposed as an unified control strategy for both the platform and the stand alone helicopter systems. Having a consistent control scheme between the two systems allows for comparisons between simulation and experimental results for the two systems to be made more readily. Furthermore, the Virtual Joint Control scheme represents a novel flight control strategy for stand alone helicopter systems.

Thesis is to Introduce an Intelligent cross platform architecture with Multi-agent system in order to equip the simulation Models with agents, having intelligent behavior, reactive and pro-active nature and rational in decision making.