The purpose of this thesis is to create an indoor rescue scenario with multiple self-localizing robots that are able to collaborate for a victim search. Victims are represented by RFID tags and detecting them combined with an accurate enough location data is considered as a successful finding. This setup is created for use in a laboratory assignment at Linköping University. We consider the indoor localization problem by trying to use as few sensors as possible and implement three indoor localization methods - odometry based, passive RFID based, and our approach by fusing both sensor data with particle filter.The Results show that particle filter based localization performs the best in comparison to the two other implemented methods and satisfies the accuracy requirements stated for the scenario. The victim search problem is solved by an ant mobility (pheromone-based) approach which integrates our localization method and provides a collaborative navigation through the rescue area. The purpose of the pheromone mobility approach is to achieve a high coverage with an acceptable resource consumption.Experiments show that area is covered with approximately 30-40% overhead in traveled distance comparing to an optimal path.

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In this thesis work an intelligent controller based on a gait synthesizer for a hexapod robot used in rescue operations is developed. The gait synthesizer draws decisions from insect-inspired gait patterns to the changing needs of the terrain and that of rescue. It is composed of three modules responsible for selecting a new gait, evaluating the current gait, and modifying the recommended gait according to the internal reinforcements of past time steps. A Fuzzy Logic Controller is implemented in selecting the new gaits.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Benigno E. Aguirre, Dept. of Sociology & Criminal Justice. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1990. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61).

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Erik Jansen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-93). Also available online.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes special report study entitled : Skin and skeleton of a hangar. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 29, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the role and work of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland from a geographical perspective in the period 1908 – c.1975, with especial reference to the historical geographies behind the production of the national inventory of Scotland’s ancient and historic built monuments. The thesis examines the sites of practice where the Commission produced the national inventory to explore the doing of the inventory. Fieldwork is a central concern of the thesis. Attention is paid to the spatial aspects of Commission’s work both in the field “out there” and in the office “in here”. The thesis discusses the methods and technologies which fostered the development of fieldwork practices rooted in the office and in the field. The Commission was always ‘doing fieldwork’ and this thesis brings into focus the relationship between the different spaces and places where the Commission undertook what might be labelled as work in the field. The thesis is comprised of nine chapters. An introduction and literature review are followed by an examination of the history of antiquarianism relevant to the establishment of the Commission. A further two chapters provide an overview of the Commission’s history, arranged chronologically, and its archive, understood in relation to relevant archival theory. Three chapters consider the development of the Commission with particular attention paid to fieldwork techniques and methods, the development of rescue archaeology, and the associated technologies which facilitated the Commission’s work within a rescue paradigm before turning, finally, to examine the Commission’s database, Canmore. Examining the Commission in this manner has drawn attention to the ways in which geographers and others conceive of fieldwork and how the development of the Commission was inherently linked to ways of doing work in the field. Through examining the history and geography of the Commission’s work the concern of this thesis is to study how ‘antiquarian research’ was carried out in the field “in here” and “out there” simultaneously. The thesis suggests that narrow definitions of fieldwork overlook the nuances of how ancient Scotland was revealed through suites of different practice. The thesis argues that more fine-grained approaches to understanding the how of the doing of fieldwork might lead to reconceptualisation of the place of work in the field, recognising that different practices helped constitute both ancient and historical Scotland as the object of the Commission’s work and the Commission itself.

Title: Analysis of activities of the Mountain Rescue Service in selected mountains in the Czech Republic. Objectives: The objective of this thesis is to analyse the activities of areas of the Mountain Rescue Service and then compare the collected information. Another objective is to create a comprehensive overview of the history, activities and areas of the Mountain Rescue Service, and its cooperation with other rescue services. Methods: The methods used in this thesis are content analysis and data collection from available sources. Furthermore, methods of qualitative research, mainly a semistructured interview with chiefs of the Mountain Rescue Service of the Czech Republic. The data obtained are presented through a transcript of interviews and descriptive statistics of interviewed and Mountain Rescue Service statistics. These statistics are processed into tables and graphs that are described, compared and evaluated. Results: The result of this diploma thesis is an overview of the Mountain Rescue Service, its activities, its activities and its powers. Moreover, another result is an analysis of activities in selected areas where the Mountain Rescue Service operates on the basis of interviews with Mountain Rescue Service chiefs. Last but not least, this thesis presents a comparison of intervention...