The DARPA Urban Challenge required robotic vehicles to travel more than 90 km through an urban environment without human intervention and included situations such as stop intersections, traffic merges, parking, and roadblocks. Team VictorTango separated the problem into three parts: base vehicle, perception, and planning. A Ford Escape outfitted with a custom drive-by-wire system and computers formed the basis for Odin. Perception used laser scanners, global positioning system, and a priori knowledge to identify obstacles, cars, and roads. Planning relied on a hybrid deliberative/reactive architecture to Robotics-2008 analyze the situation, select the appropriate behavior, and plan a safe path. All vehicle modules communicated using the JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) standard. The performance of these components in the Urban Challenge is discussed and successes noted. The result of VictorTango's work was successful completion of the Urban Challenge and a third-place finish. C 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phase-change materials (PCMs) are a useful alternative to more traditional methods of thermal management of various applications. PCMs are materials that absorb large amounts of latent heat and undergo solid-to-liquid phase change at near-constant temperature. The goal of the research is to experimentally investigate the thermal properties of a novel shape-stabilized PCM/HDPE composite extruded filament. The extruded filament can then be used in a 3D printer for custom PCM/HDPE shapes. The PCM used in the study is PureTemp PCM 42, which is an organic-based material that melts around 42 °C. Four PCM/HDPE mixtures were investigated (all percentages by mass): 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, and 50/50. Preliminary findings include differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurements of melting temperature and latent heat as well as scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of filament composition.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract