One of the characteristics of arts-based environmental education is that it encourages participants to be receptive to nature in new and uncommon ways. The participant is encouraged to immerse him or herself in nature, to seek a “deep identification.” In my paper I explore if there could be cases where such immersion may reach – or even go beyond – a point of no return. A point, where the “intertwining” with nature causes the subject to sever the “life lines” to the world which would enable him or her to maintain the psychological, cultural and spiritual integrity of the ego. The dissolving of the ego’s boundaries through artistic practice can be seen as having certain shamanistic qualities, specifically in cases when this transgression involves efforts to connect with other animal species. Such undertakings may constitute – at least in the perception of the shaman-artist – a form of “going native,” becoming “one” with the non-human Others.As relevant cases I discuss the “trespassing” from the world of culture into the world of nature by Joseph Beuys in his famous studio encounter with a coyote and Timothy Treadwell entering the life-world of the grizzly bears in Alaska, for which he ultimately paid the price of death (the tragic story was documented in Werner Herzog’s film “Grizzly Man”).I analyze these phenomena along the distinction between Apollonian versus Dionysian sensibility in cultural activity as articulated by Nietzsche. Finally I discuss some pedagogical implications for teachers and facilitators who encourage an attitude of radical amazement and vulnerability in arts-based environmental education.
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We report on a first field test in which miniaturized sensor motes were used to explore and inspect an operational pipeline by performing in situ measurements. The spherical sensor motes with a diameter of 39 mm were equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) measuring 3-D acceleration, rotation, and magnetic field, as well as an ultrasound emitter. The motes were injected into the pipeline and traversed a 260-m section of it with the flow of water. After the extraction of the motes from the pipeline, the recorded IMU data were read out for the off-line analysis. Unlike dead-reckoning techniques, we analyze the IMU data to reveal structural information about the pipeline and locate pipe components, such as hydrants and junctions. The recorded data show different and distinct patterns that are a result of the fluid dynamics and the interaction with the pipeline. Using the magnetic data, pipe sections made from different materials and pipe components are identified and localized. A preliminary analysis on the motes' interaction with the pipeline shows differences in pipe wall roughness and locates structural anomalies. The results of this field test show that sensor motes can be used as a versatile and cost-effective tool for exploration and inspection of a wide variety of pipelines.
Autonomous driving in public roads requires precise localization within the range of few centimeters. Even the best current precise localization system based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can not always reach this level of precision, especially in an urban environment, where the signal is disturbed by surrounding buildings and artifacts. Laser range finder and stereo vision have been successfully used for obstacle detection, mapping and localization to solve the autonomous driving problem. Unfortunately, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDARs) are very expensive sensors and stereo vision requires powerful dedicated hardware to process the cameras information. In this context, this article presents a low-cost architecture of sensors and data fusion algorithm capable of autonomous driving in narrow two-way roads. Our approach exploits a combination of a short-range visual lane marking detector and a dead reckoning system to build a long and precise perception of the lane markings in the vehicle’s backwards. This information is used to localize the vehicle in a map, that also contains the reference trajectory for autonomous driving. Experimental results show the successful application of the proposed system on a real autonomous driving situation.
De docent/onderzoeker rol is de belangrijkste, echter ook minst goed gefaciliteerde, rol binnen de hogeschool. De docent/onderzoeker moet continue schakelen tussen de onderwijs-urgentie (teamleider) en de langere termijn onderzoeksprioriteit (lector). De docent/onderzoeker heeft praktisch gezien twee werkgevers. Het RAAK-Postdoc project HENC beoogd een pragmatische grondlegger te ontwikkelen voor de duurzame inbedding van PhDs in deze docent/onderzoeker rol. Henk Kortier fungeert hierbij als initiator, (mede) ontwikkelaar en eerste (proef-)persoon. Het onderzoek dat onderdeel vormt van deze aanvraag beoogt de valorisatie van het op 09-feb-2018 afgesloten biomedisch wetenschappelijk PhD onderzoek van Henk Kortier. De modulaire robotica technieken die Henk gaat door ontwikkelen hebben spin-off naar de drie Saxion onderzoek domeinen Area’s & Living (drones), Smart Industry (grondrobots) en Health & Wellbeing (opruimrobot). De onderwijsactiviteiten richten zich op een, nieuw te ontwikkelen, module binnen de opleiding mechatronica, met als doel concrete invulling te geven aan de noodzakelijke vernieuwing en integratie van onderzoek en onderwijs. Met het onderwijs en onderzoeksteam van mechatronica is hierover op 23 april jl. een inventarisatie workshop gehouden, ondersteund door de teamleider onderwijs en lector. Door een matrix-analyse zijn de belangrijkste punten gedefinieerd en worden de belangrijkste redenen voor PhD om als docent/onderzoeker te blijven fungeren ontwikkeld, getest, uitgevoerd en uitgerold. Op deze wijze geeft het project concreet invulling aan het Saxion beleid om PhDs te kunnen laten werken aan het onderzoek en via onderwijsvernieuwing de resultaten naar onderwijs vloeien. Naast de onderwijs-onderzoeks integratie component wordt er binnen de module een lespakket ontwikkeld ter behoeve van het autonoom functionerende robots. Dit pakket wordt ontwikkeld vanuit zowel een operator als engineering oogpunt en zal derhalve de opleiding mechatronica overstijgen. Dit maakt het pakket breed inzetbaar binnen de verschillende opleidingen van de academie Life Science, engineering and Design en Creative Technologievan Saxion maar ook voor hogescholen elders.
