Closing the Gap is an accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines South Africa’s position been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date

An accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines what South Africa’s position has been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date.

How robots will change our world Some fear that robots could do half our jobs and even wipe us out. But is that likely? Smart machines already make our cars and clean our homes. Soon they could drive us about, teach our children, and keep our parents company. While dealing with the ethical concerns about Artificial Intelligence, Bennie Mols and Nieske Vergunst reveal the history, present and future of robots. They show how moving AI could allow the lame to walk again, rescue survivors from collapsed buildings, and boost the global fight against hunger and pollution. Welcome to a vivid view of our robot future. With 60 colour photos. Topics From dolls to industrial workers, a history of robots How robots respond to their surroundings What robots learn about human speech Why self-driving cars are safer and greener The possibilities of robots in education Meet the 'cyborgs' who learn to walk again Why evolution designs the best robots Will rogue robots take over the world? Using robots as weapons and drones What the future holds: 2100, a Robot Odyssey Table of Contents 1 A short history of robots, from dolls to androids Machines as man throughout history Mechanical dolls: forerunners of the robot Enter the working humanoid robots The next step: android robots that look like you Uncanny valley: the problem with creepy robots 2. How do robots see their surroundings? Getting to grips with a new environment Seeing through the eyes of a robot Training robots to recognise objects Robots can see what a person cannot see Feeling with whiskers: sensing the way forward Robots use electronic ears to listen 3. How does a robot brain work? A robot must learn to think like a human Keeping it simple with an insect brain Machine learning is trial and error Robots can learn without supervision The football world cup for robots Developing robot emotional intelligence 4. Giving humans a helping hand Robots suck: doing the dirty jobs at home A robotic arm reaches deep into the supply chain Joseph Engelberger, father of car factory robots Co-bots will work alongside people Coping with variation is Amazon's challenge Building a robot car 5. Learning to speak to people The problem with machine talk SHRDLU! The first experiment in robot conversation Toilets are hidden: translation problems A robotic teacher never runs out of patience 6. Robots get emotional Emotional robots encourage humans to interact with them A robot can work out how you are feeling Why am I afraid? Understanding human emotions Help! My robot looks angry Establishing a bond with a robot 7. Humans need robots and robots need humans Meet the robot psychologists Under-promise and over-deliver performance Silicon Valley utopias vs calm technology What is the best ratio of robots to humans? In the rubble: the search and rescue robot The paradox of robotization 8. Humans need robots and robots need humans Meet the robot psychologists Under-promise and over-deliver performance * Silicon Valley utopias vs calm technology What is the best ratio of robots to humans? In the rubble: the search and rescue robot The paradox of robotization 9. Evolution designs the best robots How robots travel in a bumpy world Robothand has nature's grip A two-legged walking robot The first robot baby Working out the best path through evolution 10. Swarming robots show the wisdom of crowds The power of robots working together A robot swarm without a boss Goal is mapping a building about to collapse Predicting how a robot will behave Robot swarms in the real world A robotic swarm looks for a queen 11. The importance of building ethical robots Isaac Asimov's three rules about rogue robots When robots go wrong Responsible roboticists are planning for the future Robots and the UN's development goals How will robots change the human race? Killing machines: robots in the military 12. 2100 - A Robot Odyssey The future of work in a robotic world Fusing mind and body with soft robotics And then the smart robot became creative Was that move really creative? Will robots really take over the world?

How will artificial intelligence change our world within twenty years?

AI will be the defining development of the twenty-first century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand new forms of communication and entertainment. However, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order and bring new risks in the form of autonomous weapons and smart technology that inherits human bias. AI is at a tipping point, and people need to wake up-both to AI's radiant pathways and its existential perils for life as we know it.

In this provocative, utterly original work of "scientific fiction," Kai-Fu Lee, the former president of Google China and bestselling author of AI Superpowers, joins forces with celebrated novelist Chen Qiufan to imagine our AI world in 2041 in ten gripping short stories.

Gazing toward a not-so-distant horizon, AI 2041 offers urgent insights into our collective future and reminds us that we are the authors of our own destiny.

Discover nontraditional applications of dielectric studies in this exceptionally crafted field reference or text for seniors and graduate students in power engineering tracks. This text contains more than 800 display equations and discusses polarization phenomena in dielectrics, the complex dielectric constant in an alternating electric field, dielectric relaxation and interfacial polarization, the measurement of absorption and desorption currents in time domains, and high field conduction phenomena. Dielectrics in Electric Fields is an interdisciplinary reference and text for professionals and students in electrical and electronics, chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering; physical, surface, and colloid chemistry; materials science; and chemical physics.

Telemetering systems and applications have moved far beyond the space flight telemetry most people have heard of to cutting-edge uses across a broad range of disciplines, including industry, medicine, and meteorology. To fully understand and participate in the acquisition of data this technology makes possible, scientists in these fields along with engineers new to telemetering require some background in the concepts, hardware, and software that makes the technology so valuable.

Introduction to PCM Telemetering Systems, Second Edition summarizes the techniques and terminology used in sending data and control information between users and the instruments that collect and process the data. It gives an overall systems introduction to the relevant topics in three primary areas: system interfaces; data transport, timing, and synchronization; and data transmission techniques. The topics addressed include sensor characteristics, user interface design, data filtering, data framing, statistical analysis, telemetry standards, time code standards, modulation techniques, and radio propagation. To reinforce understanding, each chapter includes exercises.

Rather than focusing on design specifics, which can change so rapidly with evolving technologies, the author centers his discussions on concepts and standards. This edition incorporates the latest standards, LabVIEW-based examples of telemetry and command processing, and simulations using multiSim and Commsim.

Written to cultivate the ability to design and analyze feasible control algorithms for a wide range of engineering applications, this comprehensive text covers the theoretical and practical principles relevant to the design and analysis of control systems. From the development of the mathematical models for dynamic systems, the author shows how they are used to obtain system response and facilitate control, then addresses advanced topics, such as digital control systems, adaptive and robust control, and nonlinear control systems. The feedback control theory presented here provides insight into the fundamental nature of control systems and how to engineer effective controllers.

As the world has entered the era of big data, there is a need to give a semantic perspective to the data to find unseen patterns, derive meaningful information, and make intelligent decisions. This 2-volume handbook set is a unique, comprehensive, and complete presentation of the current progress and future potential explorations in the field of data science and related topics. Handbook of Data Science with Semantic Technologies provides a roadmap for a new trend and future development of data science with semantic technologies. The first volume serves as an important guide towards applications of data science with semantic technologies for the upcoming generation and thus becomes a unique resource for both academic researchers and industry professionals. The second volume provides a roadmap for the deployment of semantic technologies in the field of data science that enables users to create intelligence through these technologies by exploring the opportunities while eradicating the current and future challenges. The set explores the optimal use of these technologies to provide the maximum benefit to the user under one comprehensive source. This set consisting of two separate volumes can be utilized independently or together as an invaluable resource for students, scholars, researchers, professionals, and practitioners in the field.

Artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. It can process information at lightning speed and remain focused on specific tasks without distraction. AI can see into the future, predict outcomes and even use sensors to see around physical and virtual corners. So why does AI frequently get it so wrong and cause harm?

The answer is us: the human beings who write the code and teach AI to mimic our behaviour. Scary Smart explains how to fix the current trajectory now, to make sure that the AI of the future can preserve our species. This book offers a blueprint, pointing the way to what we can do to safeguard ourselves, those we love and the planet itself.

The Future of Creative Work provides a unique overview of the changing nature of creative work, examining how digital developments and the rise of intangible capital are causing an upheaval in the social institutions of work. It offers a profound insight into how this technological and social evolution will affect creative professions. Expert international contributors explore how robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, global digital platforms and autonomous systems will shape the design, production and consumption of culture. Taking a multidisciplinary approach incorporating creative industries studies, business, education and economics, the book analyses the technological drivers of disruption in the world of creative work. Chapters reveal how these changes will create new axes of power and inequality in the global sphere of creative work, predicting that conventional creative professions will be challenged and different species of creative work will evolve as a result. By charting the impact of digital and technological developments, The Future of Creative Work challenges traditional views of creative work, careers and education. This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers undertaking creative industries studies. Its discussion of the application of creative careers across the economy will also be beneficial for scholars and practitioners interested in business, economics, and advertising and marketing studies.

The monograph provides an overview of the recent developments in modern control systems including new theoretical finding and successful examples of practical implementation of the control theory in different areas of industrial and special applications. Recent Developments in Automatic Control Systems consists of extended versions of the selected papers presented at XXVI International Conference on Automatic Control "Automation 2020" (October 13-15, 2020, Kyiv, Ukraine) which is the main Ukrainian Control Conference organized by Ukrainian Association on Automatic Control (National member organization of IFAC) and National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". This is a third monograph in the River Publishers series in Automation, Control and Robotics, which is publishing based on the selected papers of the Ukrainian Control Conferences "Automation", in particular, first monograph "Control Systems: Theory and Applications (2018) was published based on the "Automation - 2017" and second monograph "Advanced Control Systems: Theory and Applications" - based on the "Automation - 2018". The monograph is divided into three main parts: (a) Advances in Theoretical Research of Control Systems; (b) Advances in Control Systems Application; (c) Recent Developments in Collaborative Automation. The chapters have been structured to provide an easy-to-follow introduction to the topics that are addressed, including the most relevant references, so that anyone interested in this field can get started in the area. This book may be useful for researchers and students who are interesting in recent developments of the modern control systems, robust adaptive systems, optimal control, fuzzy control, motion control, identification, modelling, differential games, evolutionary optimization, reliability control, security control, intelligent robotics and cyber-physical systems.

Build 11 awesome LEGO (R) machines! With 58 LEGO (R) elements. This activity kit will have you building 11 machines that whirl, flip, punch and cruise! Including: a gravity-powered car, a boxing robot, a claw, a catapult, a spin-o-vision, a ghost mobile car, a rollin' T-Rex, a whirling fan, a mixing machine, a micro movie maker and a gravity-drop coaster. Make, experiment and play with KLUTZ . What is Klutz? Klutz is a premium brand of book-based activity kits, designed to inspire creativity in every child. Our unique combination of crystal-clear instructions, custom tools and materials, and hearty helpings of humor is 100% guaranteed to kick-start creativity. Super-clear instructions Open-ended Creativity Rewarding Reading Skills to Build On Everything You Need

In the face of today's environmental and economic challenges, doomsayers preach that the only way to stave off disaster is for humans to reverse course: to de-industrialize, re-localize, ban the use of modern energy sources, and forswear prosperity. But in this provocative and optimistic rebuke to the catastrophists, Robert Bryce shows how innovation and the inexorable human desire to make things Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper is providing consumers with Cheaper and more abundant energy, Faster computing, Lighter vehicles, and myriad other goods. That same desire is fostering unprecedented prosperity, greater liberty, and yes, better environmental protection.Utilizing on-the-ground reporting from Ottawa to Panama City and Pittsburgh to Bakersfield, Bryce shows how we have, for centuries, been pushing for Smaller Faster solutions to our problems. From the vacuum tube, mass-produced fertilizer, and the printing press to mobile phones, nanotech, and advanced drill rigs, Bryce demonstrates how cutting-edge companies and breakthrough technologies have created a world in which people are living longer, freer, healthier, lives than at any time in human history.The push toward Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper is happening across multiple sectors. Bryce profiles innovative individuals and companies, from long-established ones like Ford and Intel to upstarts like Aquion Energy and Khan Academy. And he zeroes in on the energy industry, proving that the future belongs to the high power density sources that can provide the enormous quantities of energy the world demands.The tools we need to save the planet aren't to be found in the technologies or lifestyles of the past. Nor must we sacrifice prosperity and human progress to ensure our survival. The catastrophists have been wrong since the days of Thomas Malthus. This is the time to embrace the innovators and businesses all over the world who are making things Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper.

This textbook offers a tutorial introduction to robotics and Computer Vision which is light and easy to absorb. The practice of robotic vision involves the application of computational algorithms to data. Over the fairly recent history of the fields of robotics and computer vision a very large body of algorithms has been developed. However this body of knowledge is something of a barrier for anybody entering the field, or even looking to see if they want to enter the field - What is the right algorithm for a particular problem?, and importantly: How can I try it out without spending days coding and debugging it from the original research papers? The author has maintained two open-source MATLAB Toolboxes for more than 10 years: one for robotics and one for vision. The key strength of the Toolboxes provide a set of tools that allow the user to work with real problems, not trivial examples. For the student the book makes the algorithms accessible, the Toolbox code can be read to gain understanding, and the examples illustrate how it can be used -instant gratification in just a couple of lines of MATLAB code. The code can also be the starting point for new work, for researchers or students, by writing programs based on Toolbox functions, or modifying the Toolbox code itself. The purpose of this book is to expand on the tutorial material provided with the toolboxes, add many more examples, and to weave this into a narrative that covers robotics and computer vision separately and together. The author shows how complex problems can be decomposed and solved using just a few simple lines of code, and hopefully to inspire up and coming researchers. The topics covered are guided by the real problems observed over many years as a practitioner of both robotics and computer vision. It is written in a light but informative style, it is easy to read and absorb, and includes a lot of Matlab examples and figures. The book is a real walk through the fundamentals light and color, camera modelling, image processing, feature extraction and multi-view geometry, and bring it all together in a visual servo system. "An authoritative book, reaching across fields, thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly accomplished Oussama Khatib, Stanford

The second, updated edition of this essential reference book provides a wealth of detail on a wide range of electronic and photonic materials, starting from fundamentals and building up to advanced topics and applications. Its extensive coverage, with clear illustrations and applications, carefully selected chapter sequencing and logical flow, makes it very different from other electronic materials handbooks. It has been written by professionals in the field and instructors who teach the subject at a university or in corporate laboratories. The Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials, second edition, includes practical applications used as examples, details of experimental techniques, useful tables that summarize equations, and, most importantly, properties of various materials, as well as an extensive glossary. Along with significant updates to the content and the references, the second edition includes a number of new chapters such as those covering novel materials and selected applications. This handbook is a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers and practicing professionals working in the area of electronic, optoelectronic and photonic materials.

Written by a team of experts, Advances in Flowmeter Technology surveys the full range of modern flowmeters for product managers, strategic planners, engineers, distributors, and students. The origins, principles of operation,controls and instrumentation, and the relative advantages of each major flowmeter type are thoroughly explained. Extensive coverage of new types that employ cutting-edge technologies - such as coriolis, magnetic, ultrasonic, vortex, thermal flowmeters - is provided. The text includes comparative examples, placing these new types of meters in the context of more traditional ones, such as differential pressure, turbine, and positive displacement flowmeters.

Volume I: A low-dimensional magnet is key to the next-generation of electronic devices. In some aspects, low dimensional magnets refer to nanostructured magnets or single-molecule magnets. They are widely used in biomedicine, technology, industries, and environmental remediation. Emerging Applications of Low Dimensional Magnets covers current state-of-the-art progress in ferromagnetic materials, experimental studies of nanomaterials-based spintronics, and directions for future approaches, applications, and devices. Experts from a variety of areas such as biomedical engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, and electronic engineering have contributed to this handbook making it the most up-to-date and interdisciplinary reference of its kind in the field of low dimensional magnets. Volume II: Low-dimensional magnetic materials find their wide applications in many areas, including spintronics, memory devices, catalysis, biomedical, sensors, electromagnetic shielding, aerospace, and energy. This book provides a comprehensive discussion on magnetic nanomaterials for emerging applications. Fundamentals along with applications of low-dimensional magnetic materials in spintronics, catalysis, memory, biomedicals, toxic waste removal, aerospace, telecommunications, batteries, supercapacitors, flexible electronics, and many more are covered in detail to provide a full spectrum of their advanced applications. This book offers fresh aspects of nanomagnetic materials and innovative directions to scientists, researchers, and students. It will be of particular interest to materials scientists, engineers, physicists, chemists, and researchers in electronic and spintronic industries, and is suitable as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate studies.

A gripping look at the rise of the microchip and the British tech company caught in the middle of the global battle for dominance.

One tiny device lies at the heart of the world's relentless technological advance: the microchip. Today, these slivers of silicon are essential to running just about any machine, from household devices and factory production lines to smartphones and cutting-edge weaponry. At the centre of billions of these chips is a blueprint created and nurtured by a single company: Arm.

Founded in Cambridge in 1990, Arm's designs have been used an astonishing 250 billion times and counting. The UK's high-tech crown jewel is an indispensable part of a global supply chain driven by American brains and Asian manufacturing brawn that has become the source of rising geopolitical tension.

With exclusive interviews and exhaustive research, The Everything Blueprint tells the story of Arm, from humble beginnings to its pivotal role in the mobile phone revolution and now supplying data centres, cars and the supercomputers that harness artificial intelligence.

It explores the company's enduring relationship with Apple and numerous other tech titans, plus its multi-billion-pound sale to the one-time richest man in the world, Japan's Masayoshi Son.

The Everything Blueprint details the titanic power struggle for control of the microchip, through the eyes of a unique British enterprise that has found itself in the middle of that battle.

For readers of Robot Building for Beginner (Apress, 2002 and 2009), welcome to the next level. Intermediate Robot Building, Second Edition offers you the kind of real-world knowledge that only renowned author David Cook can offer. In this book, you'll learn the value of a robot heartbeat and the purpose of the wavy lines in photocells. You'll find out what electronic part you should sand. You'll discover how a well-placed switch can help a robot avoid obstacles better than a pair of feelers. And you'll avoid mistakes that can cause a capacitor to explode. Want a robot that can explore rooms, follow lines, or battle opponents in mini-sumo? This book presents step-by-step instructions and circuit and part descriptions so that you can build the robot featured in the book or apply the modules to your own robot designs. Finally, you'll find the complete schematics for Roundabout, a room explorer that requires no programming and uses only off-the-shelf electronics. With Roundabout, you'll use many of the same techniques used by professional robotics engineers, and you'll experience many of the same challenges and joys they feel when a robot "comes to life."

Practical and up-to-date, TECHNICIAN'S GUIDE TO PROGRAMMABLE CONTROLLERS, Seventh Edition, provides you with the most comprehensive introduction to programmable logic controllers (PLCs) available on the market today. Written by professionals with experience in industrial automation, the text covers each topic in a way that makes even complex material easy to understand and apply, while all-new color figures, step-by-step programming information and detailed examples provide valuable practical insights. Theory, hardware, instructions, programming, installation, startup and troubleshooting are discussed in detail, and programming examples using PLC instructions from the text help you understand the various instructions and how they can be used to create simple yet effective control logic solutions for today's world. This thorough guide will give you a solid understanding of PLC and industrial automation fundamentals, helping you prepare for success in the classroom and your future career.

The Renewable Energy Systems: Fundamentals and Source Characteristics is a set book coming in two volumes. The first volume is named "Fundamentals and Source Characteristics of Renewable Energy Systems". It will cover electric energy from alternative energy sources including solar, wind, water, hydropower, geothermal and ocean energy. This textbook is intended for an audience with little or no power engineering or renewable energy background. The second volume is called "Energy Storage, Grid Integration, Energy Economics and the Environment". This book will cover energy storage systems, bioenergy and hydrogen economy, grid integration of the renewable energy systems, distributed generation, economic analysis and environmental impacts of renewable energy systems. Solutions manual and Power Point slides are also included for instructors.