Search results

Walking on inclined ground is an important ability for humanoid robots. In general, conventional strategies for walking on slopes lack technical analysis in, first, the waist posture with respect to actual robot and, second, the landing impact, which weakens the walking stability. The purpose of this paper is to propose a generic method for walking pattern generation considering these issues with the aim of enabling humanoid robot to walk dynamically on a slope.

First, a virtual ground method (VGM) is proposed to give a continuous and intuitive zero-moment point (ZMP) on slopes. Then, the dynamic motion equations are derived based on 2D and 3D models, respectively, by using VGM. Furthermore, the waist posture with respect to the actual robot is analyzed. Finally, a reformative linear inverted pendulum (LIP) named the asymmetric linear inverted pendulum (ALIP) is proposed to achieve stable and dynamical walking in any direction on a slope with lower landing impact.

Simulations and experiments are carried out using the DRC-XT humanoid robot platform with the aim of verifying the validity and feasibility of these new methods. ALIP with consideration of waist posture is practical in extending the ability of walking on slopes for humanoid robots.

A generic method called ALIP for humanoid robots walking on slopes is proposed. ALIP is based on LIP and several changes, including model analysis, motion equations and ZMP functions, are discussed.

Humanoid robots should have the ability of walking in complex environment and overcoming large obstacles in rescue mission. Previous research mainly discusses the problem of humanoid robots stepping over or on/off one obstacle statically or dynamically. As an extreme case, this paper aims to demonstrate how the robots can step over two large obstacles continuously.

The robot model uses linear inverted pendulum (LIP) model. The motion planning procedure includes feasibility analysis with constraints, footprints planning, legs trajectory planning with collision-free constraint, foot trajectory adapter and upper body motion planning.

The motion planning with the motion constraints is a key problem, which can be considered as global optimization issue with collision-free constraint, kinematic limits and balance constraint. With the given obstacles, the robot first needs to determine whether it can achieve stepping over, if feasible, and then the robot gets the motion trajectory for the legs, waist and upper body using consecutive obstacles stepping over planning algorithm which is presented in this paper.

The consecutive stepping over problem is proposed in this paper. First, the paper defines two consecutive stepping over conditions, sparse stepping over (SSO) and tight stepping over (TSO). Then, a novel feasibility analysis method with condition (SSO/TSO) decision criterion is proposed for consecutive obstacles stepping over. The feasibility analysis method’s output is walking parameters with obstacles’ information. Furthermore, a modified legs trajectory planning method with center of mass trajectory compensation using upper body motion is proposed. Finally, simulations and experiments for SSO and TSO are carried out by using the XT-I humanoid robot platform with the aim to verify the validity and feasibility of the novel methods proposed in this paper.

Since China initiated its “go global” policy that promotes its overseas investment, China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) has increased almost twenty times during the last 10 years, reaching $55.9 billion in 2008. The issue of internationalization of Chinese OFDI has attracted increasing attention of researchers from a business perspective. This article systematically reviews the previous studies on overseas investments by Chinese MNEs and discusses the characteristics of Chinese internationalization behavior at both firm level and country level. The internationalization of Chinese companies cannot be understood as a simple game of “catch up” with established MNEs, and more firm‐level empirical studies should be carried out on how these characteristics influence firms’ strategic decisions.

This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action films. Zhang is well known for her acting in action films conducted by renowned directors, such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai. After winning 12 different Best Actress awards for her portrayal of Gong Ruomei in The Grandmaster, Zhang announced that she would no longer perform in any action films to show her highest respect for the superlative character Gong. Tracing Zhang's transformational portrait of a heroine in The Grandmaster alongside her other action roles, this analysis demonstrates how her performance projects the directors' distinctive gender viewpoints. I argue that Zhang's characterisation of Gong remodels heroine-hood in Chinese action films. Inheriting the typical plot of a daughter's use of martial arts for revenge for her father's death, Gong breaks from conventional Chinese action films that highlight romantic love during a woman's adventure and the decisive final battle scene. Beyond the propensity for sensory stimulation, Gong's characterisation enables Zhang to determine that women can really act in action films – demonstrating their inner power and ability to create multi-layered characters – not merely relying upon physical action. This chapter offers a relational perspective of how women transform the action film genre not merely as gender spectacles but as embodied figures that represent emerging female subjectivity.

Based on the weak seismic performance and low ductility of coupled shear walls, engineered cementitious composites (ECC) is utilized to strengthen it to solve the deformation problem in tall buildings more effectively and study its mechanical properties more deeply.

The properties of reinforced concrete coupled shear wall (RCCSW) and reinforced ECC coupled shear wall (RECSW) have been studied by numerical simulation, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. The reliability of the finite element model is verified. On this basis, a detailed parameter study is carried out, including the strength and reinforcement ratio of longitudinal rebar, the placement height of ECC in the wall limb and the position of ECC connecting beams. The study indexes include failure mode and the skeleton curve.

The results suggest that the bearing capacity of RECSW is significantly affected by the ratio of longitudinal rebar. When the ratio of longitudinal rebar increases from 0.47% to 3.35%, the bearing capacity of RECSW increases from 250 kN to 303 kN, an increase of 21%. The strength of longitudinal rebar has little influence on the bearing capacity of RECSW. When the strength of the longitudinal rebar increases, the bearing capacity of RECSW increases little. The failure mode of RECSW can be improved by lowering the casting height of the ECC beam in a certain range.

In this paper, ECC is used to strengthen the coupled shear wall, and the accuracy of the finite element model is verified from the failure mode and skeleton curve. On this basis, the casting height of the ECC casting wall limb, the strength and reinforcement ratio of longitudinal rebar and the position of the ECC beam are studied in detail.

During the cooperation process between prefabricated building construction enterprises (PBCEs) and Internet platforms (IPs), the sentiments of both parties influence their behavioral strategies. They are the key to improving the informatization and operational efficiency of the prefabricated building industry chain (PBIC).

This paper introduces mental accounting theory and rank-dependent expected utility theory to construct the MA-RDEU game model, exploring the evolutionary mechanism between sentiment and behavioral strategies of PBCEs and IPs.

The study indicates that (1) a mixed strategy equilibrium can be achieved when both parties have no sentiments. (2) PBCEs and IPs are more likely to achieve an optimal equilibrium for cooperation if the latter is optimistic. In contrast, pessimism may lead both parties to prioritize self-interest when only one party has a sentiment. (3) The combined impact of sentiments and behavioral strategies on decision-making is significant: the influence of sentiments from PBCEs or IPs on the optimal strategy for achieving cooperation is contingent upon the behavioral strategies of the other party; different behavioral strategies of IPs or PBCEs can have varying effects on sentiments when both parties have sentiments. (4) The influence of external factors on the sentiments and behavior strategies of PBCEs and IPs is apparent. PBCEs and IPs should concurrently consider the combined influence of external factors and sentiments to contribute to the realization of cooperation between the two parties. Additionally, government supervision is an effective means to restrain “free-riding” behavior.

Finally, based on the above conclusions, the paper proposes measures to improve the construction of service-oriented IPs and establish a mechanism for monitoring and adjusting risk sentiments. Meanwhile, this paper also indicates that under the combined effect of the government, PBCEs and IPs, the influence of external factors on sentiments can be maintained within a controllable scope and the risks of uncertainty can be mitigated.

The performance of behavioral targeting (BT) mainly relies on the effectiveness of user classification since advertisers always want to target their advertisements to the most relevant users. In this paper, the authors frame the BT as a user classification problem and describe a machine learning–based approach for solving it.

To perform such a study, two major research questions are investigated: the first question is how to represent a user’s online behavior. A good representation strategy should be able to effectively classify users based on their online activities. The second question is how different representation strategies affect the targeting performance. The authors propose three user behavior representation methods and compare them empirically using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) as a performance measure.

The experimental results indicate that ad campaign effectiveness can be significantly improved by combining user search queries, clicked URLs and clicked ads as a user profile. In addition, the authors also explore the temporal aspect of user behavior history by investigating the effect of history length on targeting performance. The authors note that an improvement of approximately 6.5% in AUC is achieved when user history is extended from 1 day to 14 days, which is substantial in targeting performance.

This paper confirms the effectiveness of BT on user classification and provides a validation of BT for Internet advertising.

The effect of playfulness climate on employees in firms has been the subject of an increasing number of studies in recent years. Given the growing number of businesses that have incorporated playfulness into their operations, it is possible to enhance the task performance and innovative performance of the younger generation of workers by rationally managing playfulness, particularly when it comes to that aspect of the workplace. Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate how the playfulness climate in organizations influences the change self-efficacy of the millennial workers and how to enhance their task performance and innovation performance.

The authors used a quantitative approach to test the relationship between the hypotheses. The survey population for this study consisted of the millennial workers in the computer sector who are involved in research and development in China. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the built mediation model empirically over the course of the study's three rounds of data collection, each separated by one month. Through the collection of paired questions for leadership and their subordinates, 424 valid questionnaires were obtained.

The examination of the questionnaire results supports the study's theoretical hypothesis, which states that when millennial workers sense a more playfulness work environment, it will encourage them to develop a sense of change self-efficacy. Additionally, they will be better able to handle work-related responsibilities and come up with innovative ideas as a result of change self-efficacy, which would eventually enhance the task performance and innovation performance of millennial employees.

By introducing the mediation of change self-efficacy, this study expands on the application of the conservation of resources theory. The research on the performance of millennial employees is complemented and enhanced by investigating the relationship between the playfulness climate and employees' task performance and innovation performance from the perspective of their sense of change self-efficacy. This study also reveals that managers should foster a positive and playfulness environment in their workplaces in order to manage the performance of millennial employees.

Prefabricated building (PB) has been a pivotal force in advancing global building industrialization and sustainability. However, the PB supply chain operation faces significant challenges of exhausting negotiations, poor communication and imperfect information, representing high transaction costs (TCs). Existing literature inadequately addresses governance behaviors to mitigate TCs. This study aims to explore PB supply chain inefficiencies through the lens of TC theory, examining the nuanced relationships between hybrid governance behaviors and TCs and exploring effective governance strategies.

Based on the theoretical frameworks of governance behavior and TCs, this study employed semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys with PB experts in Anhui, China. Subsequently, integrated backpropagation neural network and ordered logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify critical governance behaviors and explore boundaries for TCs reduction.

TCs of the PB supply chain are elevated (1) from communication and coordination; (2) during the construction and approval stages. Investigation of how governance behaviors influence the TCs indicated that (1) enterprises exert more influence than local governments; (2) governance effectiveness in the transaction and transaction environment dimensions outweighs stakeholder influence and (3) functional TCs exist in PB, associated with component manufacturing, PB contract negotiation and learning cost.

This study extends understanding of TCs in PB by providing nuanced insights into the nature and timing of TCs and elucidates how governance structures shape TCs. Functional TCs intrinsic to PB were identified when exploring the optimization boundaries. These insights equip local governments and enterprises with actionable knowledge to prioritize effective governance behaviors and measures.

Exploring open value, cultivating digital capability (DC) and driving business model innovation (BMI) have become an inevitable choice for enterprises to meet market demand and adapt to environmental changes. However, as one of the situational variables of BMI, the positive or negative influence of openness has not been proved and the path mechanism between DC and BMI is not clear. Based on the dynamic capability theory, this paper takes manufacturing enterprises as an example to explore the internal impact mechanisms of organizational openness on BMI. It extends the analysis by introducing DC as a mediating variable and introducing manufacturing enterprise type (high-tech and non-high-tech) as a moderating variable.

A questionnaire survey was conducted using data collected in China, data from 355 manufacturing enterprises were collected to carry out empirical research. Participants were mainly middle and senior managers with a comprehensive grasp of their firms’ information. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to test the reliability and validity of the sample data, and negative binomial regression analysis was used to test hypothesis relationships.

The authors find an inverted U-shaped relationship between openness and BMI, and explain that excessive openness may lead to low resource utilization, organizational inertia, cooperation distrust, which will have a negative impact on BMI. DC includes digital resource capability (DRC), digital management capability (DMC) and digital collaboration capability (DCC), which promote BMI and play a mediating role between openness and BMI. Enterprise type has a moderating effect on the relationship between DC and BMI.

The results of this paper summarize the opportunities and threats of open innovation, help enterprises fully understand the double-edged sword impact of openness, guide manufacturing enterprises to be sensitive to openness and achieve sustainable innovation. By analyzing the path of DRC, DMC and DCC to BMI, managers can improve their understanding of digital-driven value creation process and improve the competitive advantage of enterprises.

This paper presents the relationships among openness, DC and BMI. We find the non-linear effects of openness on DC and BMI, bridging the inconsistent view of positive or negative relationship between openness and organizational change in previous studies. The introduction of DC extends the theory of dynamic capability in the digital age, and opens the “black box” from opening to BMI from the process perspective of DRC, DMC and DCC. From the perspective of enterprise type, this paper provides different choices of capability upgrading and strategic innovation based on openness for high-tech and non-high-tech manufacturing enterprises.