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Motivated by the problems of flexible manufacturing and parts feeding in sensorless assembly, a flat, level vibrating table is proposed as a means of orienting small parts for assembly. Ideas inspired by academic literature regarding juggling and dynamic manipulation are used to design an oscillatory motion of the table for simple 1 and 3 degree of freedom parts. Passive juggling, in which a part is repeatedly caught and tossed by the table without sensing or feedback, forms the fundamental manipulation strategy. The oscillation is intended to ensure attraction to a predetermined orientation from any initial orientation within a few seconds, without the need for sensing or fixtures. Preliminary simulation results suggest the feasibility of this approach.

Long-term interest rates of small open economies (SOE) correlate strongly with the USA long-term rate. Can central banks in those countries decouple from the United States? An estimated Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for the UK (vis-á-vis the USA) establishes three structural empirical results: (1) Comovement arises due to nominal fluctuations, not through real rates or term premia; (2) the cause of comovement is the central bank of the SOE accommodating foreign inflation trends, rather than systematically curbing them; and (3) SOE may find themselves much more affected by changes in USA inflation trends than the United States itself. All three results are shown to be intuitive and backed by off-model evidence.