There is an increasing demand within the humanities and social sciences to use computers to analyze material culture and discover patterns of historical and anthropological significance. Using southern Levantine Iron Age (ca. 1200-500 BCE) ceramics as a test case, the Pottery Informatics Query Database (PIQD) provides a novel solution for constructing regional ceramic typologies. Beyond digitally archiving 2D/3D-scanned ceramics, the PIQD encodes ceramic profiles as mathematical representations. This method of digital preservation enables rapid queries to be conducted in a mathematically grounded approach. In this sense, the queries are similar to online Basic Local Alignment Search Tool searches developed in the field of genetics by rapidly associating large quantities of digital vessel profiles to each other based on similar morphological traits. The PIQD is an open-source online tool that enables scholars and students to test humanities-related hypotheses against ceramic data in ways that conventional publications or other databases cannot provide. Regional spatial patterning of the ceramic data is delivered over a Google Earth-based user interface. In this paper, we present the PIQD as an objective method for developing a comprehensive ceramic typology of an entire region of archaeological study and provide an arena to conduct novel scientific research. We then demonstrate through a case study its analytical capabilities to handle large datasets of 3D scans and digitized 2D ceramic profiles and generate cultural inferences with the ceramic assemblages of the Iron Age II "Edomite" region located in modern southern Jordan. PIQD adds an important methodological tool to the post-excavation cyber-archaeology tool box.

Environments for robotics research and education are usually based on open source code or use proprietary software tools. Open source usually requires a user to know a low level programming language and proprietary software does not provide the environment needed for research and educational activities. In addition to the software, the hardware must be inexpensively and easily fabricated and assembled for teaching and experimentation purposes. In this manuscript, we will present the design and fabrication of a small size two-wheel mobile robotic platform developed for research and education purposes. Subsequently, the software environment for controlling the robot which is based on LabVIEW will be presented. LabVIEW was chosen because it provides many built-in toolboxes, and it is characterized by expandability and ease of interface with external devices. The software allows experienced as well as novice users to develop control code with ease. The robot communicates with control software in LabVIEW through a Bluetooth device. The developed environment is used to control the robot through multiple interfaces, to implement obstacle avoidance algorithms with ease, to implement open and closed loop control algorithms, to easily incorporate and use an inexpensive web camera for vision calibration, and is currently used to implement image processing and voice processing algorithms for robot localization and control both for research and education in both undergraduate and graduate courses.

Traditional forensic analysis of hard disks and external media typically involves a "dead analysis" of a powered down machine. Forensic acquisition of hard drives and external media has traditionally been accomplished by one of several means: standalone forensic duplicator; using a hardware write-blocker or dock attached to a laptop, computer, workstation, etc.; forensic operating systems that live boot from a USB, CD/DVD or virtual machines with preinstalled operating systems. Standalone forensics acquisition and imaging devices generally cost thousands of dollars. In this paper, we propose the use of single board computers as forensic imaging devices. Single board computers can provide a low budget forensic imaging solution that can be used in a lab, remote acquisition, or even be configured as portable imaging devices. This project tests different ARM processor based single board computers and the software available at the present time. The project includes image acquisition using a write-blocker, software write-blockers and without write-blockers to test the various configurations. The final results demonstrate clearly that ARM-based single board computers can serve as effective, low cost and low energy forensic imaging devices.

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SAICThis paper describes an approach to autonomous robotic control that enables cooperative, tactically correct robotic behaviors that human teammates understand. For maximum effectiveness, unmanned systems (UMSs) must be able to support dismounted warfighters in high-intensity, high-operational-tempo (OPTEMPO) situations without becoming a source of distraction. Current models of robotic control require overt human tasking, limiting robotics to low OPTEMPO tasks. The Combat Causal Reasoner (CCR) proposes to change the paradigm of UMS autonomy by enabling UMSs to cooperate with humans without expecting the UMS to perceive the environment as a human would. CCR uses a Playbook approach to generate responses that are consistent with warfighter actions. An experiment demonstrated that a CCRenabled robot measurably increased warfighter effectiveness and resource utilization, with no loss of robot effectiveness when compared to human tele-operation during high-tempo operations.