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Solving Problems in Robotics and Sensor Networks with Algebraic Topology

posted by n1 on Tuesday July 07 2015, @05:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the a-taurus-is-not-a-torus-but-it-can-make-donuts-in-a-car-park dept.

hellcat writes:

Topology isn't for everyone, but knowing the difference between your coffee cup and a doughnut is an essential workplace skill.

However, algebraic topology may be closer to us than you think. Drones, self-driving cars, and semi-autonomous AI are going to need it. And if you code, you're going to have to understand it. A little.

Unconventional mathematician Robert Ghrist rejects his field's "hippie aesthetic" in favor of suits and ties, loves medieval literature, reversed the usual way of teaching calculus in his popular MOOC, and is using one of mathematics' most abstract disciplines—algebraic topology—to solve real-world problems in robotics and sensor networks.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2015, @02:55PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2015, @02:55PM (#206130)

    But for orbital mechanics, it doesn't matter what happens inside an object. All the planets are outside the sun and outside each other, and also the moons are outside their planets, and so on.

    Now strictly speaking, if what happens inside the object is asymmetric, it does matter; however for the planetary motion, the distance is so much larger than the size that you can neglect even that.

    Now what does matter is that gravitation is not exactly an 1/r² force even outside a perfectly spherical mass. As evidenced by the perihelion precession of Mercury.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 07 2015, @09:36PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 07 2015, @09:36PM (#206231) Journal

    Now what does matter is that gravitation is not exactly an 1/r² force even outside a perfectly spherical mass

    ???? Have some links, please?

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford