The influence of lanscape on nest preferences and behavior of twig nesting Hymenoptera
The occurrence and behavior of insects is significantly affected by the environment they live in. In this thesis, I dealt with the influence of structure of landscape on nesting preferences of Hymenoptera. For this comparison I had chosen to work with twig-nesting Hymenoptera, for which I have placed artificial nest opportunities into four biotopes – heath, edge of a heath, country lanes between fields and field. The studied location is located south of Znojmo near Podyjí national park. Particularly, I have focused on small carpenter bees of genus Ceratina. My results show that there is a big difference in the species distribution between the habitates of field and heath. The habitats of edge of a heath and country lanes make up a gradient between these two biotopes. The ecosystem of fields was preferred by a sphecid wasp Pemphredon lethifer and Ceratina cyanea. On the other hand, the ecosystem of heath was preferred by Ceratina chalybea, Ceratina nigrolabiata and megachille bee Hoplitis tridentata. I had also found out that in species that are more abundant on heaths, there is higher mortality of offsprings. Heaths were a place of the highest competition between species, as a result of which species with a lower body weight (Ceratina nigrolabiata) have been pushed into narrower twigs by larger species (Ceratina chalybea). I recorded a high number of nests in biparental bee Ceratina nigrolabiata, which were guarded only by mother in fields and country lane habitats. This may indicate that Ceratina nigrolabiata is only facultatively biparental, not strictly biparental as was considered until now.
An Analysis and Optimization of Double Parallelogram Lifting Mechanism
Double Parallelogram Lifting Mechanism (DPLM) is a compact and stable lifting mechanism with a large extension range widely adopted in robot designs. Rubber bands and springs are often installed on the DPLM to lighten the motors' load and maintain its height, yet the installation positions are often obtained through trial and error. This project aims at finding the optimal rubber band installation positions for DPLM using modeling and optimization techniques. A mathematical model which describes the forces and moments acting on all the linkages of DPLM was derived based on the conditions for the static equilibrium and verified with a 3D simulation software. A genetic algorithm (GA) was implemented to optimize rubber band installation positions, which managed to find solutions with the overall root-mean-square- error (RMSE) of the net moment less than 2 for 2 to 6 rubber bands. A further statistical analysis of 50000 random rubber band samples showed that installing rubber bands in triangles is the best solution with the overall lowest RMSE. A test was conducted with a prototype of the DPLM and the results were consistent with our model and optimization. This project derived and verified a mathematical model for the DPLM, and found the optimal way and positions to install rubber bands. The results of this project provides a theoretical basis for controlling DPLM with rubber bands, allowing it to be further adopted in industrial robots that require repetitive lifting and lowering such as inspection robots and aerial work platforms.