Robotics combines machining and artificial intelligence to create real world humanoid models for task automation and industrial applications. We have designed an in-house robot prototype having microprocessor controlled motion. The robot has lasers for eyes and has a position sensor with camera attached. We designed the gear box, track assembly and robot parts and have written software to control the motion of the robot. The robot is good model for Roomba like vacuum cleaner. We create random walls using Monte Carlo simulations and used vector directed motion to control its motion for avoiding these random walls that the robot encounters to simulate real world experience. We have also studied robotic arm kinematics, using matrix algebra and trigonometry to help design a robot arm that we can rotate or translate to any point in three -dimensional space. We study both forward and reverse kinematics and have written software for the arm motion. Our studies provide an elegant educational platform for studies of robot motion along with simulating real-world experience.

It has shown that there are higher death rates with individuals with darker skin types due to lack of diagnosis based on wording of skin sensitivity surveys. In the realm of research and dermatology, the Fitzpatrick Skin Type (FST) scale has been the gold standard of measurement to classify sun sensitivity for human’s skin. More research of the subject is necessary but it is important not to underestimate the impact of UV exposure and exclude a portion of society. It is the scope of Study 3 to reword part of the survey for cultural awareness as well as introduce an objective source of measurement using photospectroscopy. It is important to include these groups that have been discounted in prior studies. Some of the language has been utilized in prior research and it was an attempt of this study to improve on the language used. Participants were asked to complete a brief self-report skin type survey prior to measurement of skin melanin using a reflectance photospectroscopy device. The areas measured were dorsal and ventral wrist area and ventral upper arm area. The results correlate well with the subjective and objective components. Improvement will be paramount to future research in this project as we aim to bring this group to understanding what might be necessary in the future design of this project and how a statistically significant correlation can bring us closer to asking the pertinent questions that help people determine their skin types. We hope to design a replicable and accurate way to categorize skin type which will be able to deliver the most accurate sun exposure behaviors.

The environmental and human health damage associated with industrial waste has been an undeniable concern since the late 20th century environmental disaster at Love Canal, which had devastating effects on birth defect and miscarriage rates. Since this event, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been dedicated to the remediation of toxic waste through the Superfund program. There are Superfund sites across the country, in locations as varied as urban Tacoma, Washington and rural Evansville, Wyoming. Which toxic site should enjoy the advantages of faster cleanup? A range of factors could influence the remediation rate at these sites, yet a striking difference in site characteristics presents itself; These two sites are home to very different population densities. Population density, an emblematic proxy variable, can be used as an effective tool to investigate different aspects of socioeconomic site characteristics. Scholarly models of optimal remediation, however, often focus exclusively on the financial costs and environmental damage of cleanup. This project investigates how Superfund site remediation would change if the EPA were to incorporate specific socioeconomic criteria in its decision to remediate toxic sites. Particularly, it explores various aspects of the Superfund program and focuses on and extends a particular theoretical model for temporal remediation. Population density enters the model through its effects on costs, although other consequences of population density will be investigated. The results of the extension indicate that a higher population density corresponds to a decrease in the optimal toxic waste cleanup rate.