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Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 1229
Kohei Arai
Supriya Kapoor
Rahul Bhatia Editors
Intelligent
Computing
Proceedings of the 2020 Computing
Conference, Volume 2
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
Volume 1229
Series Editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Warsaw, Poland
Advisory Editors
Nikhil R. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
Rafael Bello Perez, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computing,
Universidad Central de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
Emilio S. Corchado, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Hani Hagras, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering,
University of Essex, Colchester, UK
László T. Kóczy, Department of Automation, Széchenyi István University,
Gyor, Hungary
Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas
at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Chin-Teng Lin, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chiao
Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Jie Lu, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology,
University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Patricia Melin, Graduate Program of Computer Science, Tijuana Institute
of Technology, Tijuana, Mexico
Nadia Nedjah, Department of Electronics Engineering, University of Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen , Faculty of Computer Science and Management,
Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland
Jun Wang, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
The series “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” contains publications
on theory, applications, and design methods of Intelligent Systems and Intelligent
Computing. Virtually all disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, computer
and information science, ICT, economics, business, e-commerce, environment,
healthcare, life science are covered. The list of topics spans all the areas of modern
intelligent systems and computing such as: computational intelligence, soft comput-
ing including neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary computing and the fusion
of these paradigms, social intelligence, ambient intelligence, computational neuro-
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The publications within ”Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” are
primarily proceedings of important conferences, symposia and congresses. They
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More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11156

Kohei Arai Supriya Kapoor
• •
Rahul Bhatia
Editors
Intelligent Computing
Proceedings of the 2020 Computing
Conference, Volume 2
123
Editors
Kohei Arai Supriya Kapoor
Faculty of Science and Engineering The Science and Information
Saga University (SAI) Organization
Saga, Japan Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Rahul Bhatia
The Science and Information
(SAI) Organization
Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
ISSN 2194-5357 ISSN 2194-5365 (electronic)

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
ISBN 978-3-030-52245-2 ISBN 978-3-030-52246-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52246-9
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Editor’s Preface
On behalf of the Committee, we welcome you to the Computing Conference 2020.

The aim of this conference is to give a platform to researchers with fundamental
contributions and to be a premier venue for industry practitioners to share and
report on up-to-the-minute innovations and developments, to summarize the state
of the art and to exchange ideas and advances in all aspects of computer sciences
and its applications.
For this edition of the conference, we received 514 submissions from
50+ countries around the world. These submissions underwent a double-blind peer
review process. Of those 514 submissions, 160 submissions (including 15 posters)
have been selected to be included in this proceedings. The published proceedings
has been divided into three volumes covering a wide range of conference tracks,
such as technology trends, computing, intelligent systems, machine vision, security,
communication, electronics and e-learning to name a few. In addition to the con-
tributed papers, the conference program included inspiring keynote talks. Their
talks were anticipated to pique the interest of the entire computing audience by their
thought-provoking claims which were streamed live during the conferences. Also,
the authors had very professionally presented their research papers which were
viewed by a large international audience online. All this digital content engaged
significant contemplation and discussions amongst all participants.
Deep appreciation goes to the keynote speakers for sharing their knowledge and
expertise with us and to all the authors who have spent the time and effort to
contribute significantly to this conference. We are also indebted to the Organizing
Committee for their great efforts in ensuring the successful implementation of the
conference. In particular, we would like to thank the Technical Committee for their
constructive and enlightening reviews on the manuscripts in the limited timescale.
We hope that all the participants and the interested readers benefit scientifically
from this book and find it stimulating in the process. We are pleased to present the
proceedings of this conference as its published record.
v
vi Editor’s Preface
Hope to see you in 2021, in our next Computing Conference, with the same
amplitude, focus and determination.
Kohei Arai
Contents
Urban Mobility Swarms: A Scalable Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Alex Berke, Jason Nawyn, Thomas Sanchez Lengeling,
and Kent Larson
Using AI Simulations to Dynamically Model Multi-agent
Multi-team Energy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
D. Michael Franklin, Philip Irminger, Heather Buckberry,
and Mahabir Bhandari
Prediction of Cumulative Grade Point Average: A Case Study . . . . . . . 33
Anan Sarah, Mohammed Iqbal Hossain Rabbi,
Mahpara Sayema Siddiqua, Shipra Banik, and Mahady Hasan
Warehouse Setup Problem in Logistics: A Truck Transportation
Cost Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Rohit Kumar Sachan and Dharmender Singh Kushwaha
WARDS: Modelling the Worth of Vision
in MOBA’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Alan Pedrassoli Chitayat, Athanasios Kokkinakis, Sagarika Patra,
Simon Demediuk, Justus Robertson, Oluseji Olarewaju, Marian Ursu,
Ben Kirmann, Jonathan Hook, Florian Block, and Anders Drachen
Decomposition Based Multi-objectives Evolutionary Algorithms
Challenges and Circumvention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Sherin M. Omran, Wessam H. El-Behaidy, and Aliaa A. A. Youssif
Learning the Satisfiability of Ł-clausal Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Mohamed El Halaby and Areeg Abdalla
A Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization with Modified Learning
Phases for Continuous Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Onn Ting Chong, Wei Hong Lim, Nor Ashidi Mat Isa,
Koon Meng Ang, Sew Sun Tiang, and Chun Kit Ang
vii
viii Contents
Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

for Personalization Improvement in Developed e-Material
Formatting Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Kristine Mackare, Anita Jansone, and Raivo Mackars
Probabilistic Inference Using Generators:
The Statues Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Pierre Denis
A Q-Learning Based Maximum Power Point Tracking for PV
Array Under Partial Shading Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Roy Chaoming Hsu, Wen-Yen Chen, and Yu-Pi Lin
A Logic-Based Agent Modelling Paradigm for Investment
in Derivatives Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Jonathan Waller and Tarun Goel
An Adaptive Genetic Algorithm Approach for Optimizing Feature
Weights in Multimodal Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Manar Hosny and Sawsan Al-Malak
Extending CNN Classification Capabilities Using a Novel Feature
to Image Transformation (FIT) Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Ammar S. Salman, Odai S. Salman, and Garrett E. Katz
MESRS: Models Ensemble Speech Recognition System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Ben Zagagy and Maya Herman
DeepConAD: Deep and Confidence Prediction for Unsupervised
Anomaly Detection in Time Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Ahmad Idris Tambuwal and Aliyu Muhammad Bello
Reduced Order Modeling Assisted by Convolutional Neural
Network for Thermal Problems with Nonparametrized
Geometrical Variability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Fabien Casenave, Nissrine Akkari, and David Ryckelynck
Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networks Applied
to 2D Incompressible and Unsteady Fluid Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Nissrine Akkari, Fabien Casenave, Marc-Eric Perrin,
and David Ryckelynck
Improving Gate Decision Making Rationality
with Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Mark van der Pas and Niels van der Pas
End-to-End Memory Networks: A Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Raheleh Jafari, Sina Razvarz, and Alexander Gegov
Contents ix
Enhancing Credit Card Fraud Detection Using Deep

Neural Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Souad Larabi Marie-Sainte, Mashael Bin Alamir, Deem Alsaleh,
Ghazal Albakri, and Jalila Zouhair
Non-linear Aggregation of Filters to Improve
Image Denoising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Benjamin Guedj and Juliette Rengot
Comparative Study of Classifiers for Blurred Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Ratiba Gueraichi and Amina Serir
A Raspberry Pi-Based Identity Verification Through Face
Recognition Using Constrained Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Alvin Jason A. Virata and Enrique D. Festijo
An Improved Omega-K SAR Imaging Algorithm Based on Sparse
Signal Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Shuang Wang, Huaping Xu, Jiawei Zhang, and Boyu Wang
A-Type Phased Array Ultrasonic Imaging Testing Method Based
on FRI Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Dai GuangZhi and Wen XiaoJun
A Neural Markovian Multiresolution Image
Labeling Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
John Mashford, Brad Lane, Vic Ciesielski, and Felix Lipkin
Development of a Hardware-Software System for the Assembled
Helicopter-Type UAV Prototype by Applying Optimal
Classification and Pattern Recognition Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Askar Boranbayev, Seilkhan Boranbayev, and Askar Nurbekov
Skin Capacitive Imaging Analysis Using Deep
Learning GoogLeNet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Xu Zhang, Wei Pan, Christos Bontozoglou, Elena Chirikhina,
Daqing Chen, and Perry Xiao
IoT Based Cloud-Integrated Smart Parking
with e-Payment Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Ja Lin Yu, Kwan Hoong Ng, Yu Ling Liong, and Effariza Hanafi
Addressing Copycat Attacks in IPv6-Based Low Power
and Lossy Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Abhishek Verma and Virender Ranga
On the Analysis of Semantic Denial-of-Service Attacks Affecting
Smart Living Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Joseph Bugeja, Andreas Jacobsson, and Romina Spalazzese
x Contents
Energy Efficient Channel Coding Technique for Narrowband

Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Emmanuel Migabo, Karim Djouani, and Anish Kurien
An Internet of Things and Blockchain Based Smart
Campus Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Manal Alkhammash, Natalia Beloff, and Martin White
Towards a Scalable IOTA Tangle-Based Distributed Intelligence
Approach for the Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Tariq Alsboui, Yongrui Qin, Richard Hill, and Hussain Al-Aqrabi
An Architecture for Dynamic Contextual Personalization
of Multimedia Narratives in IoT Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Ricardo R. M. do Carmo and Marco A. Casanova
Emotional Effect of Multimodal Sense Interaction in a Virtual
Reality Space Using Wearable Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
Jiyoung Kang
Genetic Algorithms as a Feature Selection Tool in Heart
Failure Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Asmaa Alabed, Chandrasekhar Kambhampati, and Neil Gordon
Application of Additional Argument Method to Burgers Type
Equation with Integral Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
Talaibek Imanaliev and Elena Burova
Comparison of Dimensionality Reduction Methods for Road
Surface Identification System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
Gonzalo Safont, Addisson Salazar, Alberto Rodríguez,
and Luis Vergara
A Machine Learning Platform in Healthcare with Actor
Model Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Mauro Mazzei
Boundary Detection of Point Clouds on the Images
of Low-Resolution Cameras for the Autonomous
Car Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Istvan Elek
Identification and Classification of Botrytis Disease
in Pomegranate with Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
M. G. Sánchez, Veronica Miramontes-Varo, J. Abel Chocoteco,
and V. Vidal
Rethinking Our Assumptions About Language
Model Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
Nancy Fulda
Contents xi
Women in ISIS Propaganda: A Natural Language Processing

Analysis of Topics and Emotions in a Comparison
with a Mainstream Religious Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Mojtaba Heidarysafa, Kamran Kowsari, Tolu Odukoya, Philip Potter,
Laura E. Barnes, and Donald E. Brown
Improvement of Automatic Extraction of Inventive Information
with Patent Claims Structure Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
Daria Berduygina and Denis Cavallucci
Translate Japanese into Formal Languages with an Enhanced
Generalization Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Kazuaki Kashihara
Authorship Identification for Arabic Texts Using Logistic Model
Tree Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
Safaa Hriez and Arafat Awajan
The Method of Analysis of Data from Social Networks
Using Rapidminer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
Askar Boranbayev, Gabit Shuitenov, and Seilkhan Boranbayev
The Emergence, Advancement and Future of Textual
Answer Triggering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674
Kingsley Nketia Acheampong, Wenhong Tian,
Emmanuel Boateng Sifah, and Kwame Obour-Agyekum Opuni-Boachie
OCR Post Processing Using Support
Vector Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
Jorge Ramón Fonseca Cacho and Kazem Taghva
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715

Urban Mobility Swarms: A Scalable
Implementation
Alex Berke(B) , Jason Nawyn, Thomas Sanchez Lengeling, and Kent Larson
MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

{aberke,nawyn,thomassl,kll}@media.mit.edu
https://www.media.mit.edu/groups/city-science/overview/
Abstract. We present a system to coordinate “urban mobility swarms”

in order to promote the use and safety of lightweight, sustainable tran-
sit, while enhancing the vibrancy and community fabric of cities. This
work draws from behavior exhibited by swarms of nocturnal insects,
such as crickets and fireflies, whereby synchrony unifies individuals in
a decentralized network. Coordination naturally emerges in these cases
and provides a compelling demonstration of “strength in numbers”. Our
work is applied to coordinating lightweight vehicles, such as bicycles,
which are automatically inducted into ad-hoc “swarms”, united by the
synchronous pulsation of light. We model individual riders as nodes in
a decentralized network and synchronize their behavior via a peer-to-
peer message protocol and algorithm, which preserves individual privacy.
Nodes broadcast over radio with a transmission range tuned to localize
swarm membership. Nodes then join or disconnect from others based on
proximity, accommodating the dynamically changing topology of urban
mobility networks. This paper provides a technical description of our sys-
tem, including the protocol and algorithm to coordinate the swarming
behavior that emerges from it. We also demonstrate its implementation
in code, circuity, and hardware, with a system prototype tested on a
city bike-share. In doing so, we evince the scalability of our system. Our
prototype uses low-cost components, and bike-share programs, which
manage bicycle fleets distributed across cities, could deploy the system
at city-scale. Our flexible, decentralized design allows additional bikes to
then connect with the network, enhancing its scale and impact.
Keywords: Cities · Mobility · Swarm behavior · Decentralization ·

Distributed network · Peer-to-peer protocol · Synchronization ·
Algorithms · Privacy
1 Introduction
Cities comprise a variety of mobility networks, from streets and bicycle lanes, to
rail and highways. Increasing the use of the lightweight transit options that navi-
gate these networks, such as bicycles and scooters, can increase the sustainability
of cities and public health [1–3]. However, infrastructure to promote and protect
c Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
K. Arai et al. (Eds.): SAI 2020, AISC 1229, pp. 1–18, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52246-9_1
2 A. Berke et al.
lightweight transit, such as bicycle lanes, are limited, and riders are vulnerable
on streets designed to prioritize the efficient movement of heavier vehicles, such
as cars and trucks.
In this paper we present our design and implementation of a system that
synchronizes lights of nearby bicycles, automatically inducting riders into unified
groups (swarms), to increase their presence and collective safety. Ad-hoc swarms
emerge from our system, in a distributed network that is superimposed on the
physical infrastructure of existing mobility networks. We designed and tested
our system with bicycles, but our work can be extended to unify swarms of the
other lightweight and sustainable transit alternatives present in cities.
As bicycles navigate dark city streets, they are often equipped with lights.
The lights are to make their presence known to cars or other bikers, and make
the hazards of traffic less dangerous. As solitary bikes equipped with our system
come together, their lights begin to softly pulsate, at the same cadence. The
cyclists may not know each other, or may only pass each other briefly, but for
the moments they are together, their lights synchronize. The effect is a visu-
ally united presence, as swarms of bikes illuminate themselves with a gently
breathing, collective light source. As swarms grow, their visual effect and abil-
ity to attract more cyclists is enhanced. The swarming behavior that results
is coordinated by our system technology without effort from cyclists, as they
collaboratively improve their aggregate presence and safety.
We provide a technical description of our light system that includes the design
of a peer-to-peer message protocol, algorithm, and low-cost hardware. We also
present our prototypes that were tested on a city bike-share network. The sys-
tem’s low-cost and the opportunity for bike-share programs to deploy it city-wide
allows the network of swarms to quickly scale. In addition, the decentralized and
flexible nature of our design allows new bikes to join a network, immediately
coordinate with other bikes, and further grow a network of swarms.
Our system is designed for deployment in a city, yet draws inspiration from
nature. Swarms of insects provide rich examples of synchrony unifying groups of
individuals in a decentralized network. We focus on examples particular to the
night.
The sound of crickets in the night is the sound of many individual insects,
chirping in synchrony. A single cricket’s sound is amplified when it joins the
collective whole. The spectacle of thousands of male fireflies gathering in trees
in southeast Asia to flash in unison has long been recorded and studied by
biologists [4,5].
These examples of synchrony emerging via peer-to-peer coordination within
a decentralized network are of interest in our design for urban swarms. They have
also interested biologists, who have studied the coordination mechanisms of these
organisms [6]. Applied mathematicians and physicists have also analyzed these
systems and attempted to model the dynamics of their synchronized behavior
[7,8]. We draw from these prior technical descriptions in order to describe the
coordination of our decentralized bike light system.
Urban Mobility Swarms 3
In doing so, we describe the individual bikes that create and join swarms
as nodes in a distributed network. These nodes are programmed to behave as
oscillators, and their synchronization is coordinated by aligning their phases
of oscillation via exchange of peer-to-peer messages. Our message protocol and
underlying algorithm accommodate the dynamically changing nature of urban
mobility networks. New nodes can join the network, and nodes can drop out, and
yet our system maintains its mechanisms of synchrony. Moreover, our system is
scalable due to its simplicity, flexibility, and features that allow nodes to enter
the swarm network with minimal information and hardware. Namely,
– There is no global clock

– Nodes communicate peer-to-peer via simple radio messages
– Nodes need not be predetermined nor share metadata about their identities
– Nodes can immediately synchronize
Before we provide our technical description and implementation, we first

describe the bicycles, their lights, and their swarming behavior. We then describe
them as nodes in a dynamic, decentralized network of swarms, before presenting
our protocol and algorithm that coordinates their behavior. Lastly, we show
how we prototyped and tested our system with bicycles from a city bike-share
program.
2 Swarm Behavior and Bicycles Lights

Similar to our swarms of bicycles, swarms of nocturnal insects, such as crick-
ets and fireflies, display synchronous behavior within decentralized networks. In
these cases, the recruitment and coordination of individuals in close proxim-
ity emerges from natural processes and provides a compelling demonstration of
“strength in numbers”.
This concept of “strength in numbers” demonstrated in natural environments
can be extended to the concept of “safety in numbers” for urban environments.
“Safety in numbers” is the hypothesis that individuals within groups are less
likely to fall victim to traffic mishaps, and its effect has been well studied and
documented in bicycle safety literature [9,10]. The cyclists within swarms coor-
dinated by our system are safer due to their surrounding numbers, but also
because their presence is pronounced by the visual effect swarms produce with
their synchronized lights.
Unlike insects, the coordination of bikes swarms is due to peer-to-peer radio
messages and software, yet swarms can still form organically when cyclists are in
proximity. The visual display of synchronization is due to the oscillating ampli-
tude of LED lights.
Lights line both sides of the bicycle frame, and a front light illuminates the
path forward (Fig. 1). The lights stay steadily on when a bike is alone. When a
bike is joined by another bike that is equipped with the system, a swarm of two
is formed, and the lights on both bikes begin to gently pulsate. The amplitude
of the lights oscillates from high to low and back to high, in synchrony. As other
4 A. Berke et al.
bikes come in proximity, their lights begin to pulsate synchronously as well,

further growing the swarm and amplifying its visual effect.
Fig. 1. Bicycle with lights.
The system synchronizes swarms as they merge, as well as the momentary

passing of bicycles. When any bike leaves the proximity of others, its lights return
to their steady state.
The effect is a unified pulsation of light, illuminating swarms of bikes as they
move through the darkness. This visual effect enhances their safety as well as
their ability to attract more members to further grow the swarm. Additionally,
as a swarm grows and its perimeter expands, the reach of its radio messages
expands as well, further enhancing its potential for growth.
While this paper focuses on the technical system that enables these swarms,
we note that the swarming behavior that emerges can also be social. Members of
swarms may not know each other, but by riding in proximity, they collaboratively
enhance the swarm’s effects.
3 Technical Description
3.1 A Decentralized Network of Swarms
In order to model swarms, we describe individual bikes as nodes in a decen-
tralized network. We consider swarms to be locally connected portions of the
network, comprised of synchronized nodes.
The nodes synchronize by passing messages peer-to-peer and by running
the same synchronization algorithm. When nodes come within message-passing
range of one another, they are able to connect and synchronize. Two or more
connected and synchronized nodes form a swarm. When a node moves away from
a swarm, and is no longer in range of message passing, it disconnects from that
portion of the network, leaving the swarm.
The network’s topology changes as nodes (bikes) move in or out of message
passing range from one another, and connect or disconnect, and swarms thereby
form, change shape, or dissolve (Fig. 2).
There may be multiple swarms of synchronized bikes in the city, with each
swarm not necessarily in synchrony with another distant swarm. As such, the
network of nodes may have a number of connected portions (swarms) at any
given time, and these swarms may not be connected to one another (Fig. 3).
Our system exploits the transitive nature of synchrony: If node 1 is synchro-
nized with node 2, and node 2 is synchronized with node 3, then node 1 and
Fig. 2. Nodes synchronize when near each other, and fall out of synchrony when they
move apart.
Fig. 3. Examples of network states.
node 3 are synchronized as well. Since all nodes in a connected swarm are in
synchrony with each other, a given node needs only to connect and synchronize
with a single node in a swarm in order to synchronize with the entire swarm
(Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Synchrony of nodes in the network is transitive.
When two synchronized swarms that are not in synchrony with each other
come into proximity and connect for the first time, our message broadcasting
protocol and synchronization algorithm facilitates their merge and transition
towards a mutually synchronized state (Fig. 5).
6 A. Berke et al.
Fig. 5. Two swarms come in proximity with each other and merge as one swarm.
A feature of the message passing and synchronization protocol is that the

nodes in the network need not be predetermined. New nodes can enter this decen-
tralized network at any given time and immediately begin exchanging messages
and synchronizing with pre-existing nodes.
3.2 Nodes as Oscillators
The behavior of the nodes (bikes) that needs be synchronized is the timed pul-
sation of light. We can characterize this behavior by describing a node as an
oscillator, similar to simple oscillators modeled in elementary physics. Nodes
have two states:
1. Synchronized: the node’s behavior is periodic and synchronized with another

node.
2. Out of sync: the node’s behavior remains steady; the node is not in commu-
nication with other nodes.
All nodes share a fixed period, T . When a node is in a state of synchrony,

its behavior transitions over time, t, until t = T , at which point it returns to its
behavior at time t = 0.
We denote the phase of node i at time t as φi (t) such that φi (t) ∈ [0, T ] and
the phases 0 and T are identical. When nodes are in synchrony, their phases are
aligned. Thus for two nodes, node i and node j, to be synchronized, φi (t) = φj (t)
(Fig. 6).
When a node is out of sync (i.e. the bike is not in proximity of another bike
and therefore not exchanging messages with other bikes), then it ceases to act
as an oscillator. When out of the synchronous state, the node’s phase remains
stable at φ = 0.
Fig. 6. Out of sync nodes, and synchronized nodes.
3.3 Phase and Light
The pulsating effect of a bike node’s light is the decay and growth of the light’s
amplitude over the node’s period, T . The amplitude of the light is a function of
the node’s phase: A = fA (φ) (see Fig. 7). We denote the highest amplitude for
the light as HI, and the lowest as LO1 , such that:
fA (0) = fA (T ) = HI
(1)
fA ( T2 ) = LO
Fig. 7. Graph of fA (φ)
When a node is in the synchronized state, and its phase oscillates, φ(t) ∈
[0, T ], the amplitude of its light can be plotted as a function of time, t (Fig. 8).
Note that nodes do not share a globally synchronized clock, so time t is relative
to the node. Without loss of generalization, we plot t = 0 as when the given
node enters a state of synchrony.
When a node is in the out of sync state, the value of its phase φ, is steady
at φ = 0, so its light stays at the HI amplitude. A = HI = fA (0) (Fig. 9).
1
In our implementation, the amplitude of light does not reach as low as 0 (LO > 0).
This decision was made due to our desired aesthetics and user experience.
8 A. Berke et al.
Fig. 8. Amplitude, A, plotted as a function of relative time, t, for a node in the syn-
chronized state.
Fig. 9. Amplitude, A, plotted for a node in the out of sync state.
As soon as an out of sync node encounters another node and enters a state of
synchrony, its phase begins to oscillate and the amplitude of its light transitions
from HI to LO along the fA (φ) path (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10. Amplitude, A, plotted as a function of time, for a node transitioning in to

synchronous state.
Implementation Notes. For our bicycle lighting system we chose period T =

2200 ms and chose fA (θ) as a sinusoidal curve.

cos(φ ∗ 2π) (HI − LO)
fA (φ) = +1 ∗ + LO (2)
T 2
We visually tested a variety of period lengths and functions. We chose the
combination that best produced a gentle rhythmic effect that would be aesthet-
ically pleasing and noticeable, yet not distracting to drivers.
We also considered fA (φ) as a piecewise linear function (Fig. 11). For a

slightly different effect, one might choose any other continuous function such
that Eq. 1 hold. As long as the period, T , is the same as other implementations,
the nodes can synchronize.

HI − k ∗ φ, when φ < T2
fA (φ) = (3)
LO + k ∗ (φ − T2 ), when φ ≥ T2
Fig. 11. Graph of fA (φ) as a piecewise linear function.
4 Message Broadcasting and Synchronization

4.1 Protocol
Nodes maintain anonymity by communicating information pertaining only to
timing over a broadcast and receive protocol. Synchronization is coordinated by
a simple set of rules that govern how nodes handle messages received.
Broadcasting Messages. The messages broadcast by a node are simply inte-

gers representing the node’s phase, φ, at the time of broadcasting, t, i.e. nodes
broadcast φ(t). Nodes in the out of sync state broadcast the message of 0 (zero),
as φ = 0 for out of sync nodes.
Receiving Messages. Nodes update their phase values to match the highest
phase value of nearby nodes. When a message is received by a node out of
the synchronous state, the phase represented in the message, φm , is necessarily
greater than or equal, φm ≥ φ, to the out of sync node’s phase value of φ = 0.
The out of sync node then sets its phase to match the phase in the received
message, φ = φm , and enters a state of synchrony. Its phase then begins to
oscillate from the value of φm , and bike lights pulsate in synchrony.
When a message is received by a node that is already in a state of synchrony,
the node compares its own phase, φ, to the phase represented in the received
10 A. Berke et al.
message, φm . If the node’s phase value is less than the phase value in the received
message, φ < φm , then the node updates its phase to match the received phase,
φ = φm . The node then continues in a state of synchrony, with its phase still
oscillating, but now from the phase value of φm . The node is now in synchrony
with the node that sent the message of φm (see Fig. 12).
Fig. 12. Node updates its phase value to match the phase value received in message.
There is an allowed phase shift, ϕallowed , to accommodate latency in mes-

sage transit and receipt, and to keep nodes from changing phase more often
than necessary (Fig. 13). Nodes do not update their phase to match a greater
phase value if the difference between the phases is less than ϕallowed . For exam-
ple, suppose node 1 has phase value φ1 and node 2 has phase value φ2 , and
φ1 < φ2 . If (φ1 + ϕallowed > φ2 ) or (φ2 + ϕallowed mod T ) > φ1 then node 1
does not update its phase to match φ2 upon receiving a message of φ2 . In our
implementation, ϕallowed is so small that the possible phase shift between the
light pulsations of bike nodes is imperceptible.
Fig. 13. There is an allowed phase shift ϕallowed .
Once a node updates its phase to match a greater phase received in a message,
φm , it then broadcasts its new phase. Nodes in range of this new message may
have been out of range of the original message, but these nearby nodes can now
all synchronize around the new common phase φm . This simple protocol works
as a mechanism for multiple swarms to merge and synchronize.
Moreover, whenever nodes come in proximity of each other’s messages, they
will synchronize. Even when node i with phase value φ receives message φm < φ
from node m, and node i does not updates its phase to match φm , node i and
node m will still synchronize. Since they are in message passing range, node m
will receive the message broadcast by node i of φ > φm , and node m will then
update is own phase to match φ. Fig. 14 illustrates various scenarios for receipt
of the broadcast message.
Once nodes synchronize, minimal messages are required to keep them syn-
chronized, as all nodes share the same period of oscillation, T . When enough
time passes without a node receiving any messages, the node then leaves its syn-
chronous state and returns to the out of sync state where its phase stays steady
at φ = 0 (and its lights cease to pulsate).
Consider the cases of Fig. 14 where nodes come in range of each other’s
messages and synchronize. We let the reader extend these small examples to the
larger network topology of nodes previously provided.
The broadcast messages are minimal, and the synchronization rule set simple,
and we consider this simplicity a feature. We demonstrate its implementation as
an algorithm.
4.2 Algorithm
The implementation of our algorithm used for our working prototype is provided
open source2 .
Nodes execute their logical operations through a continuous loop. Through-
out the loop, they listen for messages, as well as update their phase as time
passes. Algorithm 1 and Algorithm 2 outline the loop operations.
This simple protocol and algorithm offer the following benefits across the
network, with the only requirements being that all nodes in the network run
loops with this same logic, and share the same fixed period.
– Nodes need not share a globally synchronized clock in order to synchronize

their phases. Time can be kept relative to a node.
– Nodes need not share any metadata about their identity, nor need to know any
information about other nodes, in order to synchronize. Unknown nodes can
arbitrarily join or leave the network at any time while the network maintains
its mechanisms for synchrony.
2
https://github.com/aberke/city-science-bike-swarm/tree/master/Arduino/Pulse-
InSync.
12 A. Berke et al.
Fig. 14. Scenarios of nodes receiving broadcast messages and updating their state of
synchrony.
Algorithm 1. Routine to update phase

1: currentTime ← getCurrentTime()
2: if node is inSync then
3: timeDelta ← currentTime - lastTimeCheck
4: phase ← (phase + timeDelta) % period
5: else
6: phase ← 0
7: end if
8: lastTimeCheck ← currentTime
9: return phase
Algorithm 2. Main loop

1: inSync ← FALSE
2: if currentTime − lastReceiveTime < timeToOutOfSync then
3: inSync ← TRUE
4: end if
5: phase ← updatePhase()
6: phaseM ← receive()
7: if phaseM not null then
8: lastReceiveTime ← getCurrentTime()
10: if (phase < phaseM) & (computePhaseShift(phase, phaseM) < allowedPhase-
Shift) then
11: phase ← phaseM + expectedLatency
12: lastTimeCheck ← lastReceiveTime
13: end if
14: end if
15: broadcast(phase)
17: updateLights(phase)
4.3 Addressing Scheme
A requirement of the system is that any two nodes must be able to commu-
nicate upon coming in proximity of one another, without knowing information
about the other beforehand. Moreover, any new node that enters an existing net-
work must be able to immediately begin broadcasting and receiving messages
to synchronize with pre-existing nodes in the network. Thus the challenge is to
accomplish this communication without nodes sharing identities or addresses.
Because these nodes are broadcasting and receiving messages over radio, nodes
cannot simply all broadcast and receive messages on the same channel, or else
their messages will conflict and communication will be lost.
Methods have been developed to facilitate resource sharing among nodes in
a wireless network such as our network of bike nodes (e.g. TDMA implementa-
tions [11]). These methods are designed to avoid the problems of nodes sending
messages on the same channel at conflicting times by coordinating the timing
14 A. Berke et al.
at which messages are sent. The DESYNC algorithm [12] even supports chan-
nel sharing across decentralized networks of nodes that do not share a globally
synchronized clock (such as our network), by nodes monitoring when other mes-
sages are sent, and then self-adjusting the time at which they send messages,
until gradually the nodes send their messages at equally spaced intervals.
These strategies are not as well suited for our network of bike nodes, because
its topology continuously changes (as new bikes join or leave the network, and
as bikes pass each other, or collect at stoplights, or go separate ways), and nodes
need to exchange messages as soon as they enter proximity of each other. In
addition, immediately after a node updates its own phase to match a phase
received in a message, it must broadcast its phase so that other nearby nodes
can resynchronize with it. This immediate resynchronization would be hindered
by a resource sharing algorithm that required a node to wait its turn in order to
broadcast a message.
Bike nodes should be able to continuously listen for messages sent by other
nodes, and be able to broadcast messages at any time. We designed and use
an addressing scheme to handle these requirements. The scheme exploits the
fact that when multiple nodes are in proximity of each other, the messages they
broadcast are often redundant: When nodes are in message passing range, they
synchronize and the messages they then broadcast contain the same information
about their shared phase.
In our addressing scheme, we allocate N predetermined addresses, which we
number as address 1, address 2, address 3, . . . , address N . All nodes in the net-
work know these common addresses in the same way they all know the common
period, T .
We also consider our nodes as numbered:
node 1, node 2, node 3, . . .
Each node uses one of the N addresses to broadcast messages, and listens
for messages on the remaining N − 1 addresses:
– node i broadcasts on address i,

– node i listens on address i + 1 mod N , address i + 2 mod N ,. . . , address
i + (N − 1) mod N
For example, node 1 broadcasts on address 1, while node 2 broadcasts on

address 2. Since node 1 also listens on address 2, and node 2 listens on address
1, the two nodes can exchange messages without conflict.
Nodes determine their own node numbers by randomly drawing from a dis-
crete uniform distribution over {1, 2, 3,. . . , N }, such that node i had a N1 chance
of choosing any i ∈ {1, 2, 3,. . . , N }.
When a node in the out of sync state comes in proximity of another node,
there is a small ( N1 ) probability that the nodes share a node number and therefore
will not be able to exchange messages. To overcome this issue, nodes in the out
of sync state regularly change their node numbers by redrawing from the discrete
uniform distribution and then re-configuring which addresses they broadcast and
listen on based on their node number. This change allows two nearby nodes with
conflicting node numbers and addresses to get out of conflict.
If a node encounters multiple synchronized nodes, it needs only to have a
non-conflicting node number with one of them in order to synchronize with all
of them, since the synchronized nodes share and communicate the same phase
messages.
Discussion of Alternatives. We also considered an alternative synchroniza-

tion scheme that would allow all nodes to share one common address to broadcast
and receive messages. In this simpler alternative, nodes only broadcast messages
when their phase is at 0. (Nodes in the out of sync state broadcast at random
intervals). Upon receiving such a message, a node sets its own phase to 0 and
enters a state of synchrony with the message sender. Simplifying the message
protocol in this way circumvents the issue of nodes sending messages over a
shared channel and their messages conflicting. If two nodes do happen to send a
message at the same time, then they must already be synchronized (they share
a phase of 0 at the time of sending). Any other node in proximity that receives
this broadcast will synchronize to phase 0 and then also broadcast its messages
at the same time as the other nodes.
This message passing protocol has been studied and modeled in relation to
pulse-coupled biological oscillators where the oscillation is episodic rather than
smooth [7]. Examples include the flashing of a firefly, or the chirp of a cricket,
where instead of the system interacting throughout the period of oscillation,
there is a single “fire” (e.g. flash or chirp) event that occurs at the end of the
period.
This simplified synchronization scheme works well for discrete episodic events
among oscillators, and while it could work for our bike nodes, we chose not to
use it because our bike nodes have a continuous behavior (Fig. 15). Because
they update the amplitude of their light continually throughout their phase,
synchronizing at phase 0 is as important as synchronizing at any other phase
value. Moreover, this simplified messaging protocol would make the time to
synchronization longer, dependent on the length of the period, T . Two nodes
that come in to proximity for the first time but that are already oscillating with
phases that are out of synchrony with each other would not have the opportunity
to synchronize until one of their phases reaches 0 again.
4.4 Faulty and Malicious Nodes
We note the unlikely case of faulty nodes, which broadcast messages to the bike
swarm network without following the same protocol as other nodes. These faults
may occur because one bike’s system breaks or was badly implemented, or may be
due to malicious actors. These faulty nodes can destabilize the synchronization of
nearby swarms. However, the issue will be spatially isolated to the swarms within
broadcasting range of the faulty node, while the rest of the network continues
to function successfully.
16 A. Berke et al.
Fig. 15. The timing of message broadcasts in our synchronization scheme versus
episodic message broadcasts in the simplified synchronization scheme.
5 Circuitry, Prototype Fabrication, and Tests
Our system design includes an integrated circuit. The circuit connects a low-
cost radio to broadcast and receive the protocol messages, a microcontroller
programmed to run our algorithm, and lights controlled by the microcontroller.
The radio transmission range is limited by design in order to control swarm
membership to only include nearby nodes (bikes).
Our prototypes use nRF24 [13] radio transceivers to broadcast and receive
the protocol messages without necessitating individual nodes to pair. The nRF24
specification allows for software control of transmission range, which is used to
constrain the spatial distance between connected nodes. The Arduino Nano [14]
microcontroller was selected to run the synchronization protocol and algorithm.
The other components in our circuit were used for the management of power
and the pulsation of lights. The circuit schematic and Arduino code are open
source.3
We implemented and tested our system for urban mobility swarms by fabri-
cating a set of 6 prototypes. The prototypes strap on and off bicycles from a city
bike-share program, and we rode throughout our city with them over a series
of three nights. We tested various scenarios of bikes forming, joining, and leav-
ing swarms, as well as swarms passing, and swarms merging, as shown in video
footage that is available online: https://youtu.be/wUl-CHJ6DK0. Also available
online is detailed photographic documentation of the prototype development and
deployment: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/bike-swarm.
6 Conclusion
We designed a system for the urban environment that draws from swarming
behavior exhibited in the natural environment. In this paper we presented urban
3
https://github.com/aberke/city-science-bike-swarm.
mobility swarms as a means to promote the use and safety of lightweight, sustain-
able transit. We described and demonstrated a system for their implementation,
with a radio protocol, synchronization algorithm, and tested prototypes.
The prototypes we designed are specific to synchronizing the lights of nearby
bicycles in the dark. Riders within swarms collaboratively amplify the swarm’s
effect and collective safety, yet coordination and formation of swarms requires no
effort from the riders. The riders are automatically inducted into ad-hoc swarms
when in proximity due to our simple, yet powerful system design.
The system we implemented can be easily extended and applied to transit
options beyond bicycles. More generally, our system treats individual riders as
nodes in a decentralized network, and coordinates swarms as connected portions
of the network, with a peer-to-peer message protocol and algorithm. Our design
accommodates a dynamically changing network topology, as necessitated by the
nature of an urban mobility network in which individuals are constantly mov-
ing, joining the network, or leaving altogether. Furthermore, the features of our
decentralized design afford its flexible and secure implementation. There is no
global clock and nodes communicate with minimal radio messages without shar-
ing metadata, allowing new nodes to immediately coordinate with the system
while maintaining an individual’s privacy.
Moreover, our system can be deployed at scale, which we demonstrated by
implementing it with simple, low-cost circuit and hardware components, and by
testing with bikes from a city bike-share. Bike-share programs manage fleets of
bikes distributed across cities and could deploy the system at city-scale. The
system can be integrated into bicycles, or strapped on and off, as riders typically
do with bike lights. Once deployed, our modular hardware and decentralized
system design allows arbitrary bikes to form or further grow a network with
ease.
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ACM (2005)
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What if—oh, what if the Lord of the vineyard had sent her to that isolated
farmhouse to be the link in the chain of events which he designed to have end
in the saving and fitting for glory of John Morgan's never-dying soul!
Possibly you would have thought it was a sudden descent into the prosaic, if
you could have stepped with her into the low-roofed room. Can I describe to
you its desolation, as it appeared to the eyes of the cultured lady? She
stopped on the threshold, stopped her song, and gazed with a face of dismay!
Bare-floored; the roof on the eastern side sloping down to within three feet of
the floor; one western window, small-paned, curtainless; one wooden-seated
chair, on which stood the inevitable candlestick, and the way in which the wick
of the candle had been permitted to grow long and gutter down into the
grease told a tale of dissipation of some sort indulged in the night before that
would not fail to call out the stern disapproval of the watchful mother. There
was not the slightest attempt at anything like appointments, unless an old-
fashioned, twisted-legged stand that, despite its name, would not "stand"
without being propped, having a ten-inch square glass hung over it, might be
called an attempt. The bundle of very much twisted and tumbled bed-clothes
in the corner, resting on the four-post bedstead, completed every suggestion
of furniture which that long, low, dark room contained!
"Poor fellow!" said Louise, speaking her thoughts aloud, as the scene grew
upon her. "Why shouldn't he 'give his father some troubled hours'? What else
could they expect? How absolutely pitiful it is that this room and that
downstairs kitchen are really the only places where the young man can spend
a leisure hour! How has Lewis submitted to it?"
Yet, even as she spoke that last sentence, she felt the cold eyes, and
remembered the stern mouth, of his mother, and realized that Lewis was
powerless.
At the same moment I shall have to confess to you that the little new-comer
into the home set her lips in a quiet, curious fashion that she had, which read
to those well acquainted with her this sentence: "I shall not be powerless; see
if I will." And, somehow, you couldn't help believing that she would not. She
had a very curious time restoring order to that confused bed. It must be borne
in mind that she had never before made up a chaff bed. The best quality of
hair mattress had to do with all her experience of bed-making. This being the
case, the initiated will not be surprised to hear that she tugged off the red and
brown patchwork coverlet three times before she reduced that bed to the state
of levelness which comported with her ideas. Then the pillows came in for
their share of anxiety. They were so distressingly small! How did John manage
with such inane, characterless affairs? She puffed them, and tossed them,
and patted them, with all the skilled touches which a good bed-maker knows
how to bestow, but to very little purpose. They were shrinking, shame-faced
pillows still. The coarse factory sheet, not yet "bleached," was first made
smooth, and then artistically rolled under the red and brown coverlet; and,
while it looked direfully unlike what Louise would have desired, yet, when the
whole was finished, even with such materials, the bed presented a very
different appearance from what it did after undergoing Dorothy's "spreading
up."
Then, when the sweeping was concluded, Louise stood and thought. What
was to be done with that room? How much would she dare to do? She had
determined to make no sort of change in her own room at present; she would
not even change the position of the great old bedstead, though this was a
sacrifice on her part only to be appreciated by those who are able, on their
first entrance into a room, to see, by a sort of intuition, the exact spot where
every article of furniture should be in order to secure the best effects, and to
whom the ill arrangement is a positive pain. Louise had seen, even on her first
entrance into her room, that the most awkward possible spot for the bedstead
had been chosen; nevertheless she heroically left it there. But she looked with
longing eyes on that twisted table in John's room. How she would have
enjoyed selecting one of those strong, white, serviceable tidies, and
overspreading the marred top with it, and placing there a book or two, and a
perfume bottle, or some delicate knick-knack, to give the room a habitable air.
For fully five minutes she stood shivering in the cold, trying to determine the
important question. Then she resolutely shook her head, and said aloud, "No,
it won't do; I must wait," and went downstairs with her dust-pan.
During her short absence the dishes had been whisked into their places, the
kitchen made clean, and both mother and daughter were seated at their
sewing. Mrs. Morgan eyed the trim figure in sweeping-cap and gloves, a
broom and dust-pan in hand, with no approval in her glance.
"I should think you were a little too much dressed up for such work," she said,
producing at last the thought which had been rankling for two days. This was
Louise's opportunity.
"I am dressed just right for work."
"Oh no," she said pleasantly. "I am dressed just right for ordinary work. Why,
mother, my dress cost less than Dorothy's; hers is part woollen, and mine is
nothing but cotton."
This remark brought Dorothy's eyes from her work; and fixed them in admiring
wonder on the well-dressed lady before her. Being utterly unacquainted with
materials and grades of quality, and judging of dress only by its effects, it was
like a bewildering revelation that the dress which to her looked elegant, cost
less than her own. There flashed just then into her heart the possibility that
some day she too might have something pretty.
Louise did not wait for her revelation to be commented upon, but drew nearer
to the workers. Mrs. Morgan was sewing rapidly on a dingy calico for herself.
"Oh, let me make the button-holes," said, or rather exclaimed, the new
daughter, as though it were to be counted a privilege. "I can make beautiful
ones, and I always made mother's and Estelle's."
Now, it so happened that Mrs. Morgan, with all her deftness with the needle,
and she had considerable, was not skilled in that difficult branch of needle-
work, the making of button-holes. Moreover, though she considered it an
element of weakness, and would by no means have acknowledged it, she
hated the work with an absolute hatred, born of a feeling, strong in such
natures as hers, of aversion toward anything which they cannot do as well, if
not better, than others. The thought of securing well-made button-holes, over
which she had not to struggle, came with a sense of rest to her soul, and she
answered, more kindly than Louise had heard her speak before,—
"Oh, I don't want you to bother with my button-holes."
"I shall not," said Louise brightly. "Button-holes never bother me; I like to work
them as well as some people like to do embroidery."
Then she went to the sink in the kitchen, and washed her hands in the bright
tin basin, and dried them on the coarse, clean family towel. Presently she
came, thimble and needle-case in hand, and established herself on one of the
yellow wooden chairs, to make button-holes in the dingy calico; and, with the
delicate stitches in those button-boles, she worked an entrance-way into her
mother-in-law's heart.
CHAPTER VI.
A NEW SERVICE FOR THE SABBATH.
"AT what hour do you have to start for church?"
This was the question which Louise asked of her husband on Saturday
evening, as she moved about their room making preparations for the next
morning's toilet.
"Well," he said, "it is three miles, you know. We make an effort to get started
by about half-past nine, though sometimes we are late. It makes hurrying work
on Sunday morning, Louise. I don't know how you will like that."
"I shouldn't think there would be room in one carriage for all the family. Is
there?"
"Room for all who go," Lewis said gravely.
"All who go! why, they all go to church, don't they?"
"Why, no; in fact, they never all go at one time; they cannot leave the house,
you know."
Louise's bewildered look proved that she did not know.
"Why not?" she asked, with wonderment in tone and eyes. "What will happen
to the house?"
Despite a desire not to do so, her husband was obliged to laugh.
"Well," he said hesitatingly, "you know they never leave a farmhouse alone
and go to church."
"I didn't know it, I am sure. Why don't they?"
"I declare I don't know," and he laughed again. "Possibly it is a notion; there
are ugly-looking fellows prowling around sometimes, and—well, it's the
custom, anyhow."
"Don't they ever close the house and all go away?"
Then was Lewis Morgan nonplussed. Distinct memories rose before his eyes
of Good Fridays and Christmas days, and gala days of several sorts, when the
house had been closed and darkened, and left to itself from early morning late
into the afternoon. How was he to explain why a thing that was feasible for
holidays became impracticable on the Sabbath?
"I'm not sure but that is one of the things that 'no f-f-fellow can f-f-find out,'" he
said, with a burst of laughter. "Do you know 'Lord Dundreary'?" Then:
"Seriously, Louise, our family has fallen into the custom that obtains of not
closing a farmhouse save on special occasions. I suspect the custom
sometimes grows out of indifference for church. You remember that none of
the family have a real love for the service. It is a source of sorrow to me, as
you may suppose. I hope for better things."
Then the talk drifted away into other channels; but in Louise's heart there
lingered a minor tone of music over the thought that the next day would be the
Sabbath. Shut away, for the first time in her life, from the prayer-meeting, from
the hour of family worship, from constant and pleasant interchange of thought
on religious themes, she felt a hunger for it all such as she had never realized
before, and closed her eyes that night with this refrain in her heart, "To-
morrow I shall go to church."
The first conscious sound the next morning was the dripping of the rain-drops
from the eaves.
"Oh dear!" Lewis said, dismay in his voice. "We are going to have a rainy
day!"
A careful, critical look at the prospect from the eastern window confirmed this
opinion, and he repeated it with a gloomy face, adding,—
"I don't know when the weather has succeeded in disappointing me so much
before."
"Never mind," Louise said cheerily. "It will not make much difference. I don't
mind the rain. I have a rainy day suit, that mamma used to call my coat of
mail. It is impervious to all sorts of weather; and, with your rubber coat, and a
good-sized umbrella, we shall do almost as well as though the sun shone."
But her husband's face did not brighten.
"It is not personal inconvenience that I fear for you," he said gravely, "but
disappointment. The truth is, Louise, I am afraid we can't go to church. This
looks like a persistent storm, and my father has such a love for his horses,
and such a dread of their exposure to these winter storms, that he never
thinks of getting them out in the rain unless it is absolutely necessary; and you
know he doesn't consider church-going an absolutely necessary thing. Could
you bear to be disappointed, and stay at home with me all day?"
"Why, yes," said Louise slowly, trying to smile over those two words, "with
me." "That is, if it is right. But, Lewis, it seems so strange a thing to do, to stay
at home from church all day on account of a little rain that would hardly keep
us from a shopping excursion."
"I know, looking at it from your standpoint it must seem very strange; but all
the education of my home has been so different that I do not suppose it even
seems as strange to me as to you. Still I by no means approve; and, as soon
as I can make arrangements for a horse of my own, we will not be tried in this
way. Indeed, Louise, I can manage it now. Of course, if I insist on it, my father
will yield the point, but he will offer very serious objection. What do you think?
Would it be right to press the question against his will?"
"Certainly not," his wife said hastily. "At least," she added, with a bright smile,
"I don't suppose the command to obey one's parents is exactly annulled by
the marriage service. Anyhow, the 'honour thy father and thy mother' never is."
And she put aside her church toilet, and made her preparations to do that
which was to her an unprecedented thing—stay at home from church in full
health and strength.
The question once settled that, under the circumstances, it was the proper
thing to do, it was by no means a disagreeable way of spending Sabbath
morning. Her husband had been so constantly occupied since their home-
coming in carrying out his father's plans for improvements on the farm, that
Louise had seen but little of him; and when, after breakfast, they returned to
their own room, and he, in dressing-gown and slippers, replenished the
crackling wood fire, and opened the entire front of the old-fashioned stove,
letting the glow from it brighten the room, Louise admitted that the prospect
was most inviting.
She drew in her own little rocker, which had travelled with her from her room
at home, and settled beside him, book in hand, for a delightful two hours of
social communion, such as they had not enjoyed for weeks before.
The reading and the talking that went on in that room, on that rainy Sabbath
morning, were looked back to afterward as pleasant hours to be remembered.
Occasionally the fact that it was Sunday, and she not at church, and a picture
of the dear church at home, and the dear faces in the family pew, and the seat
left vacant in the Sunday school room, would shadow Louise's face for an
instant; but it brightened again. She had chosen her lot, guided, as she
believed, by the hand of her Lord. It was not for a face realizing this to be in
shadow.
It was not until the Sunday dinner had been eaten, and they were back again,
those two, in the brightness of their enjoyed solitude, that the grave,
preoccupied look on Louise's face told that her thoughts were busy with
something outside of their surroundings—something that troubled her.
"Lewis, what shall we do this afternoon?" she asked him, interrupting a
sentence in which he was declaring that a rainy Sunday was, after all, a
blessing.
"Do!" he repeated. "Why, we will have a delightful Sunday afternoon talk, and
a little reading, and a good deal of—well, I don't know just what name to give
it; heart-rest, perhaps, would be a good one. Aren't you enjoying the day,
dear?"
She turned toward him a smiling face.
"Yes, with a thoroughly selfish enjoyment, I am afraid. I was thinking of the

family downstairs; what can we do to help them, Lewis?"
"Oh!" said her husband, and his face clouded; he seemed to have no other
suggestion to offer.
"They did not look as though they were enjoying the day. I think it must be
dreary for Dorothy and John. I wish we could contribute something to make
the time seem less lonely to them. Suppose we go down, Lewis, and try what
we can do."
Her husband looked as though that was the thing, of all others, which he had
the least desire to do.
"My dear Louise," he began slowly, then stopped, and, finding that she waited,
began again. "The trouble is, wife, I don't know how we can help any of them.
They are not good at talking, and the sort of talk in which John and Dorothy
indulge wouldn't strike you as being suited to the Sabbath day; in fact, I don't
believe you would join in it. They are used to being at home on the Sabbath;
we are always home from church by this time, and the afternoon is the same
to them it always is. I don't believe we can do anything, dear."
Mrs. Morgan did not look in the least convinced.
"The afternoon ought not to be the same to them it always has been, should it,
Lewis? We have come home, a new element in the family. We ought, surely,
to have some influence. Can't we find something to say that will do for the
Sabbath? What have you talked about with the family before I came? How did
you spend Sunday afternoons?"
"Up here, in my room, when it wasn't too cold; and sometimes, when it was, I
went to bed, and did my reading and thinking there. I rarely go downstairs on
Sunday until milking time. You see, Louise, I really don't know my own family
very well. The early age at which I left home, being only back for a few weeks
at a time during vacations; then my exile, with Uncle John, to Australia—all
this has contributed to making me a sort of stranger among them. I doubt
whether John and Dorothy feel much better acquainted with me than they do
with you. They were both little things when I went away; and, during this last
year, I hardly know what is the matter. Perhaps I haven't gone about it in the
right way, but I haven't seemed to make any advances in their direction."
"To be very frank with you, Louise, John is always sullen toward me; and
Dorothy acts as though she were half afraid of me, and her foolish jumpings
and blushings seem so out of place, when one remembers that she is my own
sister, that, I will confess to you, I sometimes feel utterly out of patience with
her. As for my mother and father, while I honour them as true, unselfish,
faithful parents, there are many subjects upon which we do not think alike;
and I am often at a loss to know how to get along without hurting their
feelings. The result is, that I shirk the social a good deal, and devote myself to
myself, or did. Now that I have you to devote myself to, I am willing to be as
social as you please."
The sentence, begun in seriousness, he had purposely allowed to assume a

lighter tone; but Louise held with sweet gravity to her former topic.
"Even Christ pleased not himself," she quoted gently. Then added, "You may
imagine how pleasant it is to me to sit here with you for a whole quiet day.
Nevertheless, Lewis, let us go downstairs to the family, and see if we cannot,
as a family, honour the day together."
She had risen as she spoke, and drawn her little rocker away from the stove,
preparatory to leaving the room. Very slowly her husband followed her
example, reluctance on every line of his face.
"I will go down with you, if you say so; but, honestly, I never dreaded to do
anything more in my life! I can imagine that it seems a very strange thing to
you, but I really and truly don't in the least know what to say when we got
down there—I mean, that will be in keeping with our ideas of the Sabbath, and
will help anybody."
"Neither do I," said Louise quietly. "Since we both feel our unfitness, let us
kneel down before we go, and ask for the Spirit's guidance. Don't you know he
promises: 'Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, This is the way,
walk ye in it'? I cannot help thinking that he points us down to that family
room; why should not we ask him to fill our mouths?"
Without another word, and with a strange sense of solemnity about him, the
young husband turned and dropped upon his knees beside his wife.
A few minutes thereafter they of the kitchen were startled by the unexpected
entrance of the young couple into their midst. Almost any movement would
have startled the quiet that reigned therein.
The kitchen, on a dull day, with its scarcity of windows, was a dark and dingy
spot, the clean and shining stove being the only speck of brightness. The
family group was complete; yet Louise, as she glanced around her, taking in
their occupations, or want of occupations, could not forbear feeling the sense
of dulness which their positions suggested. Farmer Morgan, with his steel-
bowed spectacles mounted on his forehead, winked and blinked over the
columns of the weekly paper. Mrs. Morgan sat bolt upright in her favourite
straight-backed chair, and held in her hands an old-fashioned family Bible, in
which Nellie had dutifully been spelling out the words until her restlessness
had gotten the better of her mother's patience, and she had been sent to the
straight-backed chair in the corner, to sit "until she could learn to stand still,
and not twist around on one foot, and hop up and down when she was
reading!" How long will poor Nellie have to "sit" before she learns that lesson?
Dorothy, without the hopping, was not one whit less restless, and lounged
from one chair to another in an exasperatingly aimless way, calling forth from
her mother, several times, a sharp—
"Dorothy, why can't you sit still when you get a chance? If you worked as hard
as I do all the week, you would be glad enough of a day of rest." But poor
Dorothy was not glad; she hated the stillness and inaction of the Sabbath; she
breathed a sigh of relief when the solemn-voiced clock clanged out another
hour, and looked forward with a sort of satisfaction even to the bustle of the
coming wash-day morning. John was there, as silent and immovable as a
statue, sitting in his favourite corner, behind the stove; in his favourite attitude,
boots raised high to the stove-hearth; slouched hat on, drawn partly over his
eyes; hands in his pockets, and a deeper shade of sullenness on his face. So
it seemed to Louise. "Poor fellow!" she said, in compassionate thought. "It is a
surprise to me that he doesn't do something awfully wicked. He will do it, too; I
can see it in his face; unless—"
But she didn't finish her thought, even to herself. These various persons
glanced up on the entrance of the two, and looked their surprise. Then Farmer
Morgan, seeing that they proposed to take seats, moved his chair a little and
motioned Lewis nearer the stove, with the words—
"A nasty day; fire feels good."
"Yet it hasn't rained much," Lewis said, watching Louise, and finding that she
went over to the unoccupied chair nearest Nellie, he took the proffered seat.
"Rained enough to make mean going for to-morrow; and we've got to go to
town in the morning, rain or shine. I never did see the beat of this winter for
rain and mud; I don't believe it will freeze up before Christmas."
"You can't get started very early for town," remarked Mrs. Morgan. "There was
so much to do yesterday that I didn't get around to fixing the butter, and it will
take quite a little spell in the morning; and Dorothy didn't count over the eggs,
and pack 'em, either. Dorothy's fingers were all thumbs, by the way she
worked yesterday; we didn't get near as much done as common."
"She and John were about a match, I guess," Farmer Morgan said, glancing at
the sullen-browed young man behind the stove. "Yesterday was his unlucky
day. About everything you touched broke, didn't it, John?"
"That's nothing new."
John growled out this contribution to the conversation between lips that
seemed firmly closed. Lewis glanced toward his wife. How would she think
they were getting on? What would she think of butter, and eggs, and accidents
as topics for Sabbath conversation?
But Louise had put an arm around little Nellie, and was holding a whispered
conversation with her, and at this moment broke into the talk.
"Mother, may this little maiden come and sit on my lap, if she will be very good
and quiet? My arms ache for the little girlie who used to climb into them at
about this hour on Sunday."
CHAPTER VII.
A NEW SABBATH CLASS.
"NELLIE is too big to sit on people's laps," her mother said; "but she can get
up, if she wants to, and can keep from squirming about like a wild animal,
instead of acting like a well-behaved little girl."
"Too big" though she was considered, Nellie, poor baby, gladly availed herself
of the permission, and curled in a happy little heap in her new sister's arms;
when commenced a low-toned conversation. Lewis watched her and
struggled with his brain, striving to think of some way of helping.
"Have you got acquainted with Mr. Butler, father?"
Now Mr. Butler was the new minister; and Louise, who had heard his name
mentioned, was interested in the answer. Farmer Morgan laid down his
newspaper, crossed one leg over the other, tilted his chair back a trifle, and
was ready to talk.
"Acquainted with him? No, I can't say that I am; he knows my name, and I
know his; and he says, 'How do you do?' to me when he meets me on the
street, if he isn't in too brown a study to notice me at all. I reckon that as about
as near as I shall get to an acquaintance. I ain't used to any great attention
from ministers, you know."
"I thought possibly he had called during my absence."
"No, he hasn't. When it comes to making a friendly call, we live a good way
out, and the road is bad, and the weather is bad, and it is tremendously
inconvenient."
"We always live a good way out of town, except when there is to be a fair or
festival, or doings of some kind, when they want cream, and butter, and eggs,
and chickens; then we are as handy to get at as anybody in the congregation."
This from his mother.
Lewis could not avoid a slight laugh; the social qualities of the little church in
the village, or at least its degree of social intercourse with its country
neighbours, was so clearly stated by that last sentence.
"Oh, well," he said, "it is a good way out for those who have no horses to
depend on, and many of the church people are in that condition. As for Mr.
Butler, he has been here but a short time; of course he hasn't gotten around
the parish yet."
"No," said his father significantly. "It takes a dreadful long time to get around a
small field, especially when there's no special motive for going. But we don't
care; a body would think, to hear us talk, that we were dreadful anxious for a
call. I don't know what he would call for; 'pears to me it would be a waste of
time."
"You like his preaching, don't you, father?"
The farmer tore little strips from the edge of his paper, and rolled them
thoughtfully between his thumb and finger for a little before he answered.
"Why, his preaching is all well enough, I suppose; I never heard any preaching
that wouldn't do pretty well, considering; it's the practising that I find fault with.
I can't find anybody that seems to be doing what the preachers advise. What
is the use in preaching all the time, if nobody goes and does it?"
This was Farmer Morgan's favourite topic, as indeed it seems to be a favourite

with a great many people—the inconsistencies of the Christian world. A fruitful
topic, certainly; and it is bitterly to be regretted that there is cause for such
unending sarcasm on that subject. Lewis had heard the same sentiment often
before, and being met—as, unfortunately, so many of us are—by an instant
realization of his own inconsistencies, his mouth had been stopped at once.
To-day he rallied his waning courage, and resolved upon a point-blank
question.
"Well, father, why don't you, who understand so well how a Christian ought to
live, set us an example, and perhaps we will succeed better when we try to
copy you?"
This question astounded Farmer Morgan. Coming from a minister, he would

have considered it pretty sharp; have laughed at it good-naturedly, and turned
it aside. But from his own son, and spoken in such a tone of gravity and
earnestness as left no room for trifling, it startled him. Lewis had never spoken
to him in that direct fashion before. In truth, Lewis had been, during all his
Christian life at home, comforting his heart and excusing his conscience with
the belief that, in order not to prejudice his father against religion, he would do
well to make no personal appeals of any sort. To-day, in the light of the brief
conversation which he had held with his wife, and, more than that, in the light
of the brief prayer in which they had asked the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he
began to conclude that he had been a coward.
"Well," his father said, after a moment of astonished silence, "that is a fair
question, maybe; but then, after all, it is easily answered. There's folks enough
trying at it, and making failures, without me to swell their number. Till I see
somebody who is succeeding a little better than any one I know, I haven't got
the courage to begin."
"Leaving us an example, that ye should fellow His steps," quoted Lewis

Morgan solemnly. "After all, father, the true pattern is certainly perfect; why not
follow that? Who ever asks the school-boy to imitate the scrawl of some
fellow-pupil, so long as the perfect copy is just before his eyes, at the top of
the page?"
His father regarded him meditatively. Was he touched at last—impressed by

the thought of the wonderful life waiting for him to follow? Lewis Morgan's
breath came quickly, and he waited in trembling eagerness for the reply. It was
the first time that he had attempted anything like a personal conversation on
this subject with his father.
Slowly, and with apparent great seriousness, the answer came at last:—
"It is almost a pity that your health didn't hold out; I ain't sure, after all, but you
would have made as good a minister as the rest of them. Sometimes I'm a
trifle afraid that you have got a little too much learning to make a downright
good farmer."
The quick bounds of hope that the son's blood was making receded in dull,
heavy throbs, and he counted his first attempt a failure. He looked over to
Louise. Was not she ready to give up this hopeless attempt at spiritualizing
the tone of the conversation downstairs? He thought he would give almost
anything to hide his sore heart just then in the quiet of their own room, with the
sympathy of her presence to soothe him.
But Louise was telling Nellie a story; and as he listened and watched her, it
became evident to him that both Dorothy and John were listening. Dorothy
had ceased her restless fidgetings, and settled into absolute quiet, her arm
resting on the broad, low window-seat, and her eyes fixed on Louise. John
had drawn his hat lower, so that his eyes were hidden entirely; but something
in the setting of his lips told Lewis that he heard. Very quietly Louise's voice
told the story; very simply chosen were the words.
"Yes, there He was in the wilderness, for forty days, without anything to eat,
and nowhere to rest, and all the time Satan tempting him to do what was
wrong. 'Come,' he said to him; 'if you are the Son of God, why do you stay
here hungry? What good will that do anybody? Why don't you make bread out
of these stones? You can do it—you could make a stone into a loaf of bread in
an instant; why don't you?"
"And could he?" Nellie asked, her eyes large and wondering.
"Oh yes indeed. Why not? Do you suppose it would be any harder to turn a
stone into bread than it would be to make a strawberry, or a potato, or an
apple?"
"Strawberries and apples and potatoes grow," said this advanced little sceptic.
"Yes; but what makes them grow? And why does a strawberry plant always
give us strawberries, and never plums or grapes? It never makes a mistake.
Somebody very wise is taking care of the little plant. It is this same person
whom Satan was trying to coax to make bread out of stones."
"Well, why didn't he do it? I don't think it would have been naughty."
"I'll tell you. It is very hard to be hungry; it was a great temptation; but Jesus
had promised his Father that he would come here and bear everything that
any man could have to—that he would just be a man. Now a man couldn't
make bread out of stones, you know, so Jesus wouldn't be keeping his
promise if he did it; and then, another thing, if he had used his great power
and gotten himself out of this trouble, all the poor hungry boys and girls, who
are tempted to steal, would have said: 'Oh yes, Jesus don't know anything
about how it feels to be hungry; he could turn stones into bread. If we could do
that we wouldn't steal either.' Don't you see?"
"Yes," said Nellie, "I see. Go on, please; he didn't make any bread, did he?"
"Not at that time; he told Satan it was more important that he should show his
trust in God than to show his power by making stones into bread. Then Satan
coaxed him to throw himself down from a great high steeple, so that the
people below would see him, and see that he wasn't hurt at all. He reminded
him of a promise that God made about the angels taking care of him."
"I wish he had done that!" Nellie said, with shining eyes. "Then the people
would all have believed that he was God."
"No, they wouldn't; for afterward he did just as wonderful things as that. He
cured deaf people and blind people, and raised dead people to life, and they
didn't believe in him; instead, some of them were angry with him about these
very things. He told Satan that to put himself in danger, when there was
nothing to be gained by it, was just tempting God. Dear me! How many boys
and girls do that. Then Satan told him that he would give up the whole world
to him if he would just fall down and worship him. I suppose Jesus thought
then all about the weary way that he would have to travel—all the things he
would have to bear."
"Did the world belong to Satan?" Nellie asked; at which question John was
betrayed into a laugh.
"Well, yes, in a sense it did. Don't you see how much power Satan has over
people in this world? They seem to like to work for him. Some of them are
doing all they can to please him, and he is always at work coaxing them to
give themselves entirely to him, promising them such great things if they only
will. I suppose if he had kept that promise to Jesus, and given up leading the
world in the wrong road, it would have been much easier for Jesus."
"But Jesus didn't do it."
"No, indeed. Jesus never would do anything wrong to save himself from
trouble or sorrow. He said, 'Get thee hence.' What a pity that little boys and
girls don't refuse, in that way, to listen to Satan, when he coaxes them and
offers them rewards! Think of believing Satan! Why, the first we ever hear of
him he was telling a lie to Eve in that garden, you know; and he has gone on
cheating people ever since."
"He never cheated me," said Nellie positively.
"Didn't he? Are you sure? Did he never make you think that it would be so
nice to do something that you knew mother wouldn't like? Hasn't he made you
believe that you could have a really happy time if you could only do as you
wanted to? And have you never tried it, and found out what an untrue thing it
was?"
"Yes," said Nellie, drooping her head. "One time I ran away from school and
went to the woods—I thought it would be splendid—and I got my feet wet, and
was sick, and it wasn't nice a single bit."
"Of course not; and that is just the way Satan keeps treating people. Shouldn't
you think, after he had deceived them a great many times, as they grew older
they would decide that he was only trying to ruin them, and would have
nothing more to do with him?"
"Yes," said Nellie, nodding her wise little head, "I should. But, then, maybe
they can't get away from him."
"Oh yes, they can; don't you see how Jesus got away from him? And what do
you think he suffered those temptations for, and then had the story written
down for us? Just that we might see that he knew all about temptations and
about Satan, and was stronger than he, and was able to help all tempted
people. He says he will not let people be tempted more than they can bear,
but will show them how to escape."
"Then why doesn't he?"
"He does, dear, every single time; he has never failed anybody yet, and it is
hundreds and hundreds of years since he made that promise."
"But then I should think that everybody would be good, and never do wrong."
"Ah, but you see, little Nellie, the trouble is, people won't let him help them. I
mean he takes care of all who trust in him to do so. But if you think you are
strong enough to take care of yourself, and won't stay by him, nor obey his
directions, nor ask his help, how can you expect to be kept out of trouble?
When I was a little bit of a girlie I went to walk with my papa. He said: 'Now,
Louise, if you will keep right in this path I will see that nothing hurts you.' We
were going through the woods. For a little while I kept beside him, taking hold
of his hand. Then I said: 'O papa, I'm not afraid; nothing will hurt me.' And
away I ran into the thickest trees, and I got lost, and was in the woods nearly
all night! Do you think that was my papa's fault?"
"No," said Nellie gravely. "But—I wish there wasn't any Satan. Does he ever
bother you?"
Louise's head dropped lower; the talk was becoming very personal.
"Not often now," she said, speaking low. "He comes to me and whispers
thoughts that I don't like, and I say—"
"Oh!" said Nellie, loud-voiced and eager, "I know—you say, 'Get thee behind
me, Satan.'"
"No," said Louise firmly, "not that. I heard a lady say once that she was as
much afraid of having Satan behind her as she was of having him anywhere
else. So am I. Instead, I ask Jesus to send him away. I just say, 'Jesus keep
me;' and at the name of Jesus, Satan goes away. He knows he cannot coax
Jesus to do any wrong. But, oh dear! How hard he fights for those people who
will not have Jesus to help them. He keeps whispering plans in their ears, and
coaxing them, they thinking all the time that the plans are their own, and they
follow them, expecting to have good times, and never having them; and all the
while Satan laughs over their folly. Isn't it strange they will not take the help
that Jesus offers?"
"Yes," said Nellie, slowly and gravely, with intense earnestness in voice and
manner. "I mean to."
Louise drew her closer, rested her head against the golden one, and began to
sing in low, sweet notes:—
"Take the name of Jesus ever

As a shield for every snare;
When temptations round you gather,
Breathe that holy name in prayer."
All conversation, or attempts at conversation, had ceased in the room long

before the singing. Some spell about the old, simply-told story of temptation
and struggle and victory had seemed to hold all the group as listeners. John's
face, as much of it as could be seen under his hat and shading hand, worked
strangely. Was the blessed Holy Spirit, whose presence and aid had been
invoked, using the story told the child to flash before this young man a
revelation of the name of the leader he had been so faithfully following, so
steadily serving, all the years of his young life? Did he begin to have a dim
realization of the fact that his unsatisfying plans, his shattered hopes, were but
the mockery of his false-hearted guide? Whatever he thought he kept it to
himself, and rose abruptly in the midst of the singing and went out.
"Come," said Farmer Morgan, breaking the hush following the last line, "it is
milking time, and time for a bit of supper, too, I guess. The afternoon has been
uncommon short."
He tried to speak as usual, but his voice was a trifle husky. He could argue,
but the story told his child had somehow subdued him. Who shall say that the
Spirit did not knock loudly, that Sabbath afternoon, at the door of each heart in
that room? Who shall say that he did not use Louise Morgan's simple efforts
to honour the day in stirring the rust that had gathered about the hinges of
those long-bolted doors?
CHAPTER VIII.
NEW LIGHT.
THE little, old-fashioned square "stand" was drawn up in front of the stove,
which last was opened to let a glow of brightness reach across the room, and
beside it were Lewis and Louise Morgan, seated for an evening of good cheer.
She had a bit of needle-work, in which she was taking careful stitches; and
her husband held in his hand, open to a previously set mark, a handsomely
bound copy of Shakespeare. He was one of those rare persons—a good
reader of Shakespeare; and, in the old days at home, Louise had delighted to
sit, work in hand, and listen to the music of his voice in the rendering.
He had not commenced the regular reading, but was dipping into bits here
and there, while he waited for her to "settle," as he called the bringing of her
small work-basket, and the searching out her work. Now, although she was
"settled," and looking apparently thoughtful enough for the saddest scenes
from the great writer, he still continued his glancings from page to page,
breaking out presently with—
"Louise, do you remember this?"
"'I never did repent for doing good,

Nor shall not now; for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must be needs a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit.'"
"Do you remember what a suggestive shrug of her shoulders Estelle gave
over the line—"
"'That do converse and waste the time together'?"
"I suspect she thought it fitted us precisely."
"Yes," Louise said, smiling in a most preoccupied way. That her thoughts were
not all on Shakespeare, nor even on that fairer object, Estelle, she presently
evinced by a question.
"Lewis, how far did Dorothy get in her studies?"
"Dorothy?" repeated her husband, looking up in surprise, and with difficulty

coming back from Shakespeare; "I don't know, I am sure. As far, I remember
hearing, as the teachers in our district school could take her. That is not
saying much, to be sure; though, by the way, I hear they have an exceptionally
good one this winter. Poor Dorothy didn't have half a chance; I tried to
manage it, but I couldn't. Hear this, Louise,—"
"'How he glistens through my rust!

And how his piety does my deeds make the blacker!'"
"Isn't that a simile for you?"
"Very," said Louise; and her husband glanced at her curiously. What was she
thinking of, and how did that brief "very" fit in with Leontes' wonderful simile?
"Well," he said, "are your thimbles and pins and things all ready, wife? Shall I
commence?"
"Not just yet, dear; I want to talk. What do you think about it; was she
disappointed at not having better opportunities?"
"Who? Oh, Dorothy! I thought you were talking about Hermione; she fainted,
you know. Yes, Dorothy was disappointed. She wanted to go to the academy
in town, and she ought to have had the opportunity, but we couldn't bring it to
pass. I was at home but a few weeks, or I might have accomplished more.
What is the trouble, Louise dear? How does it happen that you find poor
Dorothy more interesting than Shakespeare to-night?"

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Intelligent Computing Proceedings of

the 2020 Computing Conference

Intelligent Computing Proceedings of the 2020 Computing

Intelligent Computing Proceedings of the 2020 Computing

Intelligent Computing: Proceedings of the 2018

Intelligent Systems and Applications: Proceedings of

Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC)

Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference FTC

Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference FTC

Smart Intelligent Computing and Applications

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11156

ISSN 2194-5357 ISSN 2194-5365 (electronic)

On behalf of the Committee, we welcome you to the Computing Conference 2020.

Urban Mobility Swarms: A Scalable Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Use of Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Enhancing Credit Card Fraud Detection Using Deep

Energy Efﬁcient Channel Coding Technique for Narrowband

Women in ISIS Propaganda: A Natural Language Processing

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715

MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Abstract. We present a system to coordinate “urban mobility swarms”

Keywords: Cities · Mobility · Swarm behavior · Decentralization ·

– There is no global clock

Before we provide our technical description and implementation, we ﬁrst

2 Swarm Behavior and Bicycles Lights

bikes come in proximity, their lights begin to pulsate synchronously as well,

Fig. 1. Bicycle with lights.

The system synchronizes swarms as they merge, as well as the momentary

Fig. 3. Examples of network states.

Fig. 4. Synchrony of nodes in the network is transitive.

A feature of the message passing and synchronization protocol is that the

3.2 Nodes as Oscillators

1. Synchronized: the node’s behavior is periodic and synchronized with another

All nodes share a ﬁxed period, T . When a node is in a state of synchrony,

Fig. 6. Out of sync nodes, and synchronized nodes.

3.3 Phase and Light

Fig. 7. Graph of fA (φ)

Fig. 9. Amplitude, A, plotted for a node in the out of sync state.

Fig. 10. Amplitude, A, plotted as a function of time, for a node transitioning in to

Implementation Notes. For our bicycle lighting system we chose period T =

We also considered fA (φ) as a piecewise linear function (Fig. 11). For a

Fig. 11. Graph of fA (φ) as a piecewise linear function.

4 Message Broadcasting and Synchronization

Broadcasting Messages. The messages broadcast by a node are simply inte-

There is an allowed phase shift, ϕallowed , to accommodate latency in mes-

Fig. 13. There is an allowed phase shift ϕallowed .

– Nodes need not share a globally synchronized clock in order to synchronize

Algorithm 1. Routine to update phase

Algorithm 2. Main loop

4.3 Addressing Scheme

– node i broadcasts on address i,

For example, node 1 broadcasts on address 1, while node 2 broadcasts on

Discussion of Alternatives. We also considered an alternative synchroniza-

4.4 Faulty and Malicious Nodes

5 Circuitry, Prototype Fabrication, and Tests

"Oh, I don't want you to bother with my button-holes."

"AT what hour do you have to start for church?"

"Room for all who go," Lewis said gravely.