近年來，空間機器人被廣泛應用於低地球軌道的空間服務中，其中包括太空船艙內、艙外的活動。因應艙外的活動，空間機器人經常以地面工業用機械臂的形式設計，並擁有相似的關節配置。空間機械臂的關節配置，主要可以分成兩類。第一類是六自由度空間機械臂，例如，太空梭遙控機械手系統SRMS，工程試驗衛星七號RTS-VII '和日本實驗模組遙控器系統JEMRMS 。另一類是七自由度空間機械臂，例如，歐洲機械臂ERA和空間站遠距離機械手系統SSRMS。他們不但能在空間站上完成不同的操作任務，而且能於空間站上進行攀爬。 / 在一個自由飄浮的環境中，空間機械臂的運動會影響太空站的姿態。因此，空間站的姿態穩定對維持太陽能板的接收和系統通訊的信號強度發揮非常重要的作用。大部份太空站姿態穩定的研究都集中於對機械臂的操作運動進行控制。然而，針對機械臂的移動進行優化的研究卻不多。由於空間機械臂的工作空間有限，在空間站上的移動能力是必要的，因此該運動對空間站的影響是無法避免。 / 有見及此，本論文提出一種新型空間站移動技術，從而減低因機械臂移動時對空間站造成的干擾。在維持現有空間機械臂的關節配置下，提出種結合驅動輸和傳統機械手抓優點的新型手抓概念。為了實現這種新型手抓概念，本論文提出了種新型的支架攀爬機械人，名為Frambot' 並在Frambot上實現了新式手抓的設計與應用。Frambot 的設計主要針對不能進行包圍性抓緊的方型析架進行攀爬，手抓的握持力是通過壓縮彈簧而產生，實現低能耗攀爬，提高Ftambot在析架上的工作時間。為了提高Ftambot在析架攀爬時的穩定性，本論文在Ftambot設計了個簡單、不需要傳感器反饋的傾斜修正結構。另外，在Frambot 的平臺上實驗了新式的攀爬運動，從而證明利用驅動輪的原理在析架上進行攀爬的可行性。 / 基於這種新型的手抓，本文為空間機械臂設計出新式空間站移動步履，並分析新式空間站移動步履對空間站造成的干擾。由於傳統的空間機器人系統建模是針對於機械臂的操作運動，因此本文針對機械臂利用驅動輪移動時，對空間站的姿態變化進行建模，並建立一個實驗平臺去對該模型進行驗證。此外，利用空間機械臂的系統模型，對新式的移動步履進行動態運動仿真。透過和傳統的移動步履進行比較，總結出新式的移動步履在空間站的姿態影響和能量需要都是最低的。 / 在一個自由飄浮的環境中，空間機械臂的步履時間越長，對太空站的干擾就越大。另外，空間站的能源是有限的，所以減低空間機臂對空間站的能耗十分重要。本論文考慮到實際的應用，空間機械臂需要移動到空間站上不同的地點完成操作任務，因此提出了空間機械臂在桁架移動時的路徑規規劃方案，目的在於對路徑的總長度和能量需求進行優化。本文提出的路徑規劃演算法，透過利用遺傳演算法，對開型和閉合路徑進行優化。此外，在演算法中引多個新的概念，從而改善遺傳演算法的收斂速度和結果。最後，通過不同類型的仿真，對路徑規劃演算法的性能進行評估。 / The application of space robots has become more popular in performing tasks such as Intra and Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) in Low Earth Orbit. For EVA, space robots were always designed as a chain-like manipulator with a joint configuration similar to on the earth robotic arm. Based on their joint configuration, they can be classified into two main categories. The first one is the six degrees of freedom (DOF) robotic arm including Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), Engineering Test Satellite No. 7 (ETSVII), the Main Arm (MA) and the Small Fine Arm (SFA) of Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). The other group is the seven-DOF space robotic arm which includes European Robotic Arm (ERA) and Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), or Canadarm2. They not only perform manipulation tasks, but also be able to navigate on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). / In a free floating environment, motions of a space robotic arm cause the attitude change of a space station because of their dynamic coupling effect. Hence, the stabilization of the space station attitude is important to maintain the electrical energy generated by the solar panels and the signal strength for communication. Most of research in this area focuses on the motion control of a space manipulator through the study of Generalized Jacobian Matrix. Little research has been conducted specifically on the design of locomotion mechanism of a space manipulator. / This dissertation proposes a novel methodology for the locomotion on a space station which aims to lower the disturbance on a space station. Without modifying the joint configuration of conventional space manipulators, the use of a new gripping mechanism is proposed which combines the advantages of active wheels and conventional grippers. To realize the proposed gripping mechanism, this dissertation also presents the design of a novel frame climbing robot (Frambot) which is equipped with the new gripping mechanism, named movable gripper (MovGrip). It is capable of climbing non-enclosable rectangular trusses and the gripping force is generated by the compression of springs. Therefore, the energy consumption in static gripping is zero which allows itself to stay on a truss for a long time. To enhance the climbing stability, a simple and sensor-free auto-tilting correction mechanism is designed. Based on the robot prototype, novel climbing gaits are designed and realized and this verifies the feasibility of using wheels motion in climbing trusses. / With the use of the proposed gripping mechanism, new gaits are designed for space manipulators and the corresponding disturbance on a space station is analyzed. Since conventional modeling of a space station system focuses on manipulation tasks, this dissertation extends the model to formulate the dynamic coupling effect during wheels navigation. To verify the formulations, an experimental platform is designed and developed. Based on the system model, the proposed gaits are simulated and the results are compared with conventional gaits. From the simulation results, it can be concluded that the proposed gaits are better than conventional gaits in terms of minimum dynamic disturbance and energy demand on a space station. / In a free floating environment, the longer a gait is performed, the greater the disturbance is generated on a space station. Also, the energy source of a space station is limited and the minimization of the energy consumption of a robot is important. Therefore, this dissertation also proposes a path planning algorithm which aims to minimize the total traveling distance and energy demand when a space manipulator is commanded to reach a target position for certain missions. For the proposed algorithm, both closed and open paths are considered and the optimizations are based on the conventional genetic algorithm. To enhance the convergent rate and final solutions, several novel concepts are introduced. Different simulation are performed and the results are presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed path planning algorithm. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Chung, Wing Kwong. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-172). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Related Work --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Motivation of the Dissertation --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.10 / Chapter 2 --- Design Principles of Movable Gripper --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Preliminary Gripper Design --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Static Model: Gripping Force --- p.14 / Chapter 2.3 --- Dynamic Model: Tractive Force --- p.19 / Chapter 2.4 --- Anti-slip Strategy --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Vertical Truss Climbing --- p.24 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Horizontal Truss Climbing --- p.27 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Right-side-up Truss Climbing --- p.29 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Arbitrary gripping orientation analysis --- p.31 / Chapter 3 --- Design of a Novel Frame Climbing Robot --- p.36 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2 --- Mechanical Design --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Gripper Jaw --- p.42 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Parallel Gripping Mechanism --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Rotation Axis of Wheels --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Body Linkage --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3 --- Design of Climbing Gaits --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Motion simulation --- p.48 / Chapter 3.4 --- Experiments and Results --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Grasp’s Contact --- p.52 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Tilting Correction Capability --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Load Carrying Capability --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Performance of Frambot --- p.57 / Chapter 3.5 --- Summary --- p.60 / Chapter 4 --- Modeling Analysis: Robot and Space Station --- p.61 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.61 / Chapter 4.2 --- Modeling of a space station system --- p.62 / Chapter 4.3 --- Kinematics --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4 --- Linear and Angular Momentums --- p.68 / Chapter 4.5 --- Dynamics --- p.69 / Chapter 4.6 --- Modeling Analysis --- p.71 / Chapter 4.7 --- Summary --- p.84 / Chapter 5 --- Modeling Analysis: Disturbance in Space Station --- p.85 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.85 / Chapter 5.2 --- Categories of Locomotion --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Joint Configurations --- p.86 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Linear Locomotion --- p.87 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Turning --- p.88 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Exterior Transition --- p.93 / Chapter 5.3 --- Analysis of Dynamic Disturbance --- p.96 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Linear Locomotion --- p.97 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Turning --- p.103 / Chapter 5.3.3 --- Exterior Transition --- p.107 / Chapter 5.4 --- Analysis of Energy Demand --- p.113 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.117 / Chapter 6 --- Global Path Planning --- p.122 / Chapter 6.1 --- Shortest Distance Path Planning --- p.124 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Problem Description --- p.127 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- The Framework of Genetic Algorithm --- p.128 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Simulation Study and Discussion --- p.135 / Chapter 6.2 --- Minimum Energy Demand Path Planning --- p.144 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Problem Description --- p.147 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- The Framework of Genetic Algorithm --- p.148 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Simulation Study and Discussion --- p.154 / Chapter 6.3 --- Summary --- p.159 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusions --- p.160 / Chapter 7.1 --- Contributions --- p.160 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- Design a New Gripping Mechanism for Truss Climbing Robot --- p.160 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- Design and Develop a Novel Truss Climbing Robot --- p.161 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- Formulate and Analyze the Disturbance on a Space Station Under different Gaits --- p.161 / Chapter 7.1.4 --- Develop a Global Path Planning Algorithm for the Minimization of Total Traveling Distance and Energy Demand --- p.162 / Chapter 7.2 --- Recommendation for Future Research --- p.162 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- Design Optimization --- p.162 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Autonomous Truss Climbing --- p.163 / Chapter 7.2.3 --- Multicriteria Path Planning Algotirhm --- p.163

Chinese firms are experiencing a rapid increase in technological diversification, which is referred to as maintaining their capabilities in multiple technologies. However, the research on the relationship between technological diversification and firm performance is inconclusive. This PhD thesis tries to re-investigate the technological diversification-firm performance relationship from three different perspectives using data on Chinese listed firms from 2003 to 2014. First, the thesis tries to overcome the shortcomings of previous technological diversification research by unpacking technological diversification into explorative and exploitative technological dimensions from the mechanical view and studying their roles in firm performance. The findings suggest that technological diversification that combines explorative and exploitative dimensions is positively related to firm performance. This relationship is conditional on intangible complementary assets and firm type (high or low-tech firms). Second, this thesis tries to investigate the technological diversification-firm performance relationship through an institutional view that has hardly been mentioned in the previous literature. Here it is argued that firms try to use technological diversification as a way to gain legitimacy. In order to do so, firms' technological diversification need to be similar to the industrial norms. The results reveal a positive relationship between firms' conformity in technological diversification and their performance. The results further delineate the boundary conditions that influence this relationship. While environmental dynamism strengthens the conformity-performance relationship, environmental munificence reduces it. Finally, this thesis tries to integrate both a mechanical view and an institutional view of technological diversification and find evidence to support the optimal distinctiveness view that firms should reach a balance between these views. The results reveal a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between firms' conformity in technological diversification and their performance. I also test the boundary conditions of this relationship. While firm age strengthens the conformity-performance relationship, state ownership weakens it.

Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Ocean Engineering. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Patricia Susan McCarthy, Barabara Ann Plantholt and Sheila Marie Riordan. / M.S.

This dissertation analyzes problems related to barriers to innovation. In the first chapter, “Delegation and Learning”, I study an agency problem which is common in many contexts involving financing of innovation. Consider the example of an entrepreneur, who has an idea but not the money to implement it, and an investor, who has the money but not the idea. In such a case, how should a financial contract between the investor and the entrepreneur look like? How much money should the investor provide the entrepreneur? How should the surplus be divided between them in case the idea turns out to be profitable? There are certain common elements in situations such as these. First, there is an element of learning. This is because initially it is unknown if the idea is profitable or not and hence the idea has to be tried out in the market and both the investor and entrepreneur learn about the profitability of the idea from observing market outcomes. Second, there is an element of delegation in the above situation. This is because decision rights regarding where and when should the idea be tried out is typically in the hands of the entrepreneur and he knows his idea better than the investor. Finally, the preferences of the investor and the entrepreneur might not be aligned. For instance, the investor may receive private benefits, monetary or reputational, from launching products even when these are not profitable. In such a case, how should a contract that incentivizes the entrepreneur to act in the investor’s interest look like? To study these issues, I develop a model in which a principal contracts with an agent whose ability is uncertain. Ability is learnt from the agent’s performance in projects that the principal finances over time. Success however also depends on the quality of the project at hand, and quality is privately observed by the agent who is biased towards implementation. I characterize the optimal sequence of rewards in a relationship that tolerates an endogenously determined finite number of failures and incentivizes the agent to implement only good projects by specifying rewards for success as a function of past failures. The fact that success becomes less likely over time suggests that rewards for success should increase with past failures. However, this also means that the agent can earn a rent from belief manipulation by deviating and implementing a bad project which is sure to fail. I show that this belief-manipulation rent decreases with past failures and implies that optimal rewards are front-loaded. The optimal contract resembles the arrangements used in venture capital, where entrepreneurs must give up equity share in exchange for further funding following failure. In the second chapter, “Informal Risk Sharing and Index Insurance: Theory with Experimental Evidence”, written with Francis Annan, we study when does informal risk sharing act as barrier or support to the take-up of an innovative index-based weather insurance? We evaluate this substitutability or complementarity interaction by considering the case of an individual who endogenously chooses to join a group and make decisions about index insurance. The presence of an individual in a risk sharing arrangement reduces his risk aversion, termed “Effective Risk Aversion” — a sufficient statistic for index decision making. Our analysis establishes that such reduction in risk aversion can lead to either reduced or increased take up of index insurance. These results provide alternative explanations for two empirical puzzles: unexpectedly low take-up for index insurance and demand being particularly low for the most risk averse. Experimental evidence based on data from a panel of field trials in India, lends support for several testable hypotheses that emerge from our baseline analysis. In the third chapter, “Investment Timing, Moral Hazard and Overconfidence”, I study how overconfidence and financial frictions impact entrepreneurs by shaping their incentives to learn. I consider a real option model in which an entrepreneur learns about the quality of project he has, prior to implementation. Success depends on the quality of the project as well as the unknown ability of the entrepreneur. The possibility of the entrepreneur diverting investor funds to his private uses, creates a moral hazard problem which leads to delayed investment and over-experimentation. An entrepreneur who is overconfident regarding his ability, under-experiments and over invests compared to an entrepreneur who has accurate beliefs regarding his ability. Such overconfidence on behalf of the entrepreneur creates inefficiencies when projects are self financed, but reduces inefficiencies due to moral hazard in case of funding by investors.

One of the most prominent and potentially transformative trends in society today is machines becoming more human-like, driven by progress in artificial intelligence. How this trend will impact individuals, private and public organizations, and society as a whole is still unknown, and depends largely on how individual consumers choose to adopt and use these technologies. This dissertation focuses on understanding how consumers perceive, adopt, and use technologies that blur the line between human and machine, with two primary goals. First, I build on psychological and philosophical theories of mind perception, anthropomorphism, and dehumanization, and on management research into technology adoption, in order to develop a theoretical understanding of the forces that shape consumer adoption of these technologies. Second, I develop practical marketing interventions that can be used to influence patterns of adoption according to the desired outcome. This dissertation is organized as follows. Essay 1 develops a conceptual framework for understanding what AI is, what it can do, and what are some of the key antecedents and consequences of its’ adoption. The subsequent two Essays test various parts of this framework. Essay 2 explores consumers’ willingness to use algorithms to perform tasks normally done by humans, focusing specifically on how the nature of the task for which algorithms are used and the human-likeness of the algorithm itself impact consumers’ use of the algorithm. Essay 3 focuses on the use of social robots in consumption contexts, specifically addressing the role of robots’ physical and mental human-likeness in shaping consumers’ comfort with and perceived usefulness of such robots. Together, these three Essays offer an empirically supported conceptual structure ¬for marketing researchers and practitioners to understand artificial intelligence and influence the processes through which consumers perceive and adopt it. Artificial intelligence has the potential to create enormous value for consumers, firms, and society, but also poses many profound challenges and risks. A better understanding of how this transformative technology is perceived and used can potentially help to maximize its potential value and minimize its risks.

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This thesis argues for the need for a more comprehensive discussion of biodiversity use in relation to enhancing benefits of this use for biodiverse countries and promoting more equitable sharing of these benefits. The findings from this doctoral research reveal that biodiversity-based innovation is a social shaping process that has resulted in large benefits. The cumulative capability to use species from biodiversity gives meanings that contribute to the species shaping process, with organisations and institutional changes providing direction and increasing the rate of the shaping process. In showing how innovation takes place and how the appropriation of benefits occurs, this research contributes to studies on science policy and innovation in relation, especially, to biodiversity-based innovation. The thesis introduces the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol as representing change to the governance of biodiversity. The theoretical approach draws on evolutionary and institutional economics, both of which inform and extend a question that is central in the sociology of technology: That is how are technology (innovation understood as an output) and social practices shaped collectively? Three cases are used to trace what occurs in the shaping process of species from biodiversity: (i) The Jersey cow is a breed within the species Bos Taurus or modern taurine cattle. The isolated character of Jersey delimited the scope of the breed at a point in time when it was being bred locally and allow us to identify its shaping as a ‘technology', and the broader diffusion of its use. The Jersey cow is used to introduce the theoretical framework and the analysis. (ii) Maca, originally from Peru, is a root crop with nutritional and, allegedly, fertility enhancing properties. It was domesticated in Peru and only a few world regions have conditions favouring its production. Maca is commercialised as flour and used as a raw material. (iii) Quinua has great potential as a staple food crop. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared 2013 to be the International Year of Quinoa on the basis of its unique and nutritious character. Three Andean countries (Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) report exports of quinua grain, although dozens of countries around the world are engaged in performing agronomic testing for its commercial production. A comparative analysis of the three cases helps to identify the science and technology policy issues related to implementation of the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol. The case studies demonstrate the innovation process of species from biodiversity. Benefits arise from the diffusion of the use of the species (via commercialisation), which accrued to individuals or groups. The characterisation of the innovation process highlights how the voices and agency of actors and organisations affected the shaping process. The governance over the goods that emerged from the use of the species defined the appropriation of benefits.

Research and technological development processes increasingly entail inter-organisational collaboration for the access and integration of external complementary knowledge, especially within emergent technological innovation systems and small developing countries. Collaborative efforts aggregate capabilities of individual actors into system-level innovation capacity, fostering technological and innovation outcomes from both individual organisations and the technological system as a whole. Significant understanding of these interactive processes has been achieved by previous research on innovation systems, inter-organisational collaboration and networks, and studies of interdisciplinary scientific research. Nevertheless, further knowledge is required on how and why organisations may differ in their ability to collaboratively exploit potential complementarities. Consequently, this thesis examines institutional and organisational factors that influence the actual extent of knowledge integration achieved by public research organisations through collaborative research endeavours, within the agri-biotechnology innovation system in Uruguay. The research followed a mixed empirical method. Exploratory interviews with members of public R&D groups and firms were conducted in order to reach a preliminary understanding of the main forces affecting collaboration and knowledge integration. Quantitative indicators of the degree of knowledge-integration achieved by R&D groups' collaborative links were designed and computed using data gathered through a survey of R&D group members. Indicators were also developed to statistically assess how the extent of collaborative knowledge-integration achieved by an R&D group is influenced by system-level incentive institutions, by the absorptive and relational capacities of the group, and by the compliance of the group with local scientific assessment and reward mechanisms. This thesis makes various theoretical contributions and draws relevant policy implications. The results show that members of R&D groups may exert differing levels of influence on knowledge-integration. Specifically, postgraduate students were found to play a relevant bridging role, enhancing the ability of the group to access knowledge from complementary disciplines. The study also found consistent evidence of a negative relation between an R&D group's compliance with local scientific incentives, and the group's ability to collaboratively integrate complementary knowledge-assets. Therefore, formal incentive institutions are presumably affecting the exploitation of potential synergies among local knowledge resources and hence the learning and innovation capabilities and the cohesion of the entire agri-biotechnology innovation system. As a methodological contribution, this thesis develops novel indicators to assess the degree of inter-organisational complementarity that go beyond those used in previous research.

There is large body of research that has investigated inter-firm technology transfer and technological learning within direct producer-user relationships within the context of developing countries. However, due to the growth in the technology transfer market, there has also been an increasing tendency for users to become isolated from producers, as new actors have emerged, which have been named technology intermediaries. The motivation for this thesis is driven by the absence of both theoretical and empirical studies examining technology transfer and learning through intermediaries, particularly in emerging nation contexts, what factors influence the functions of intermediaries along the process, and how those factors influence the recipients' learning. By learning from the technology transfer experiences of the two main users of technologies in the Omani oil and gas sector, namely Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), and Oman Liquefied Natural Gas (OLNG), this research tries to address this theoretical and empirical gap. Through semi-structured interviews, this study explored technological learning during the technology transfer through intermediaries from the perspective of 48 employees (Omani and expatriates) at different levels of hierarchy (managers, section heads/team leaders, site engineers) and from different departments across the two firms. The perspectives of those employees are supplemented by data such as annual reports, which also serves as important triangulation instruments to validate the data collected from respondents. Within-cases and cross-cases qualitative and interpretive content analysis was employed to analyse the empirical data gathered from the two firms. The empirical evidence identified five main factors that influence the functions of intermediaries along the transfer process. These are the proximity of intermediaries with users (geographical and cognitive), specialization of intermediaries (industrial or technological), characteristics of technologies (tacitness, complexity, newness), recipient firm's absorptive capacity, and recipients firm's technology strategy. A good understanding of these factors can increase the ability of firms to reap the maximum potential of inward technology transfer for local learning through intermediaries.