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This paper aims to present a hybrid path planning algorithm which is designed for use of autonomous vehicles in indoor environments. The approach mainly contributes the ability of generating a safe and smooth collision avoidance path for attaining a desired position in an unknown and obstructed environment.

The hybrid planner is based on potential field method and Voronoi diagram approach, and it is represented with the ability of concurrent map building and autonomous navigation.

The possibility of controlling the look‐ahead distance allows the mobile robot to smartly control the velocity for creating a smooth trajectory autonomously. The dead‐lock problem is solved by defining necessary sub‐goals between targets on the constructed map.

The system controller (look‐ahead control) with the potential field method allows the robot to generate a smooth and safe path for an expected position. Only essential exploration of unknown environment is performed since the approach constrains the mobile robot to explore a safe and sub‐optimal route towards a destination.

The purpose of this paper is to present the design and implementation of a blended problem-based learning (PBL) teaching model and corresponding teaching materials for a university-level bioinformatics course. The effects of this teaching model on student performance in terms of problem solving and learning attitudes were investigated.

Students in both groups completed assessments of problem-solving attitudes and learning attitudes both one week both before and after experimental instruction. Collected data were analyzed using one-way ANCOVA. Group discussions and student interviews were recorded and treated as part of the data analysis.

The study produced the following findings: the experimental group was found to perform better than the control group in terms of learning attitudes, but the results were not statistically significant; the experimental group was found to outperform the control group in terms of problem-solving attitudes, and the difference was statistically significant; lesson plan contents need to be designed based on problem-based learning theory, and reflect real-world conditions; participants in the experimental group approved of the blended PBL and group discussion approach.

Results are expected to provide a useful reference for educators and researchers. These findings can be applied to relevant instructional fields to enhance learner motivation and engagement, thus improving learning outcomes.

Most existing recommendation systems or technologies are functional-oriented. Recommending services, nevertheless, requires the consideration of service experiences perceived by customers being individually unique and emphasizing the emotional experiences and the co-created value-in-use. This paper aims to present a new recommender system to capture customer emotional needs and address social interactions among service stakeholders.

This paper presents a color imagery-based recommender system (CIRS) capable of capturing customer emotional needs and addressing social interactions among service stakeholders that can collectively co-create the individual value-in-use and beneficial outcomes for customers. Based on the Color Image Scale, the recommender system uses the color imagery format as the uniform representation of customers’ psychological expectations, service providers and the service system, to facilitate the scoring and ranking of recommendations.

This study uses an application context of destination tourism to demonstrate and justify the recommender system’s attempted contributions preliminarily. That is, CIRS can recommend destinations and tour services that meet tourists’ emotional needs with a satisfactory precision of 70 per cent. CIRS can also make stakeholders’ image models evolve over time considering the dynamic interactions among stakeholders. CIRS can also help lesser-known tourism destinations be discovered by tourists who can be emotionally satisfied.

CIRS uses the color imagery as the uniform representation for customers’ expectations, service providers (e.g. small and medium enterprises) and service system (e.g. tourism destinations), considering the continued interactions among the service stakeholders that collectively co-create the individual value-in-use and beneficial outcomes for each customer.