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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Unified Behavior Framework For Reactive Robot Control In Real-Time Systems, Brian G. Woolley
Unified Behavior Framework For Reactive Robot Control In Real-Time Systems, Brian G. Woolley
Theses and Dissertations
Endeavors in mobile robotics focus on developing autonomous vehicles that operate in dynamic and uncertain environments. By reducing the need for human-in- the-loop control, unmanned vehicles are utilized to achieve tasks considered dull or dangerous by humans. Because unexpected latency can adversely affect the quality of an autonomous system's operations, which in turn can affect lives and property in the real-world, their ability to detect and handle external events is paramount to providing safe and dependable operation. Behavior-based systems form the basis of autonomous control for many robots. This thesis presents the unified behavior framework, a new and novel approach …
Visual Debugging Of Object-Oriented Systems With The Unified Modeling Language, Wendell E. Fox
Visual Debugging Of Object-Oriented Systems With The Unified Modeling Language, Wendell E. Fox
Theses and Dissertations
The Department of Defense (DoD) is developing a Joint Battlespace Infosphere, linking a large number of data sources and user applications. Debugging and analysis tools are required to aid in this process. Debugging of large object-oriented systems is a difficult cognitive process that requires understanding of both the overall and detailed behavior of the application. In addition, many such applications linked through a distributed system add to this complexity. Standard debuggers do not utilize visualization techniques, focusing mainly on information extracted directly from the source code. To overcome this deficiency, this research designs and implements a methodology that enables developers …
Using A Distributed Object-Oriented Database Management System In Support Of A High-Speed Network Intrusion Detection System Data Repository, Phillip W. Polk
Using A Distributed Object-Oriented Database Management System In Support Of A High-Speed Network Intrusion Detection System Data Repository, Phillip W. Polk
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force has multiple initiatives to develop data repositories for high-speed network intrusion detection systems (IDS). All of the developed systems utilize a relational database management system (RDBMS) as the primary data storage mechanism. The purpose of this thesis is to replace the RDBMS in one such system developed by AFRL, the Automated Intrusion Detection Environment (AIDE), with a distributed object-oriented database management system (DOODBMS) and observe a number of areas: its performance against the RDBMS in terms of IDS event insertion and retrieval, the distributed aspects of the new system, and the resulting object-oriented architecture. The resulting system, …
Selecting A Software Engineering Methodology Using Multiobjective Decision Analysis, Scott A. O'Malley
Selecting A Software Engineering Methodology Using Multiobjective Decision Analysis, Scott A. O'Malley
Theses and Dissertations
With the emergence of agent-oriented software engineering methodologies, software developers have a new set of tools to solve complex software requirements. One problem software developers face is to determine which methodology is the best approach to take to developing a solution. A number of factors go into the decision process. This thesis defines a decision making process that can be used by a software engineer to determine whether or not a software engineering approach is an appropriate system development strategy. This decision analysis process allows the software engineer to classify and evaluate a set of methodologies while specifically considering the …
An Improved Algorithm For Translating Relational Schemas Into An Object Model, Joseph C. Pearson
An Improved Algorithm For Translating Relational Schemas Into An Object Model, Joseph C. Pearson
Theses and Dissertations
Today's war fighter is inundated with data from numerous Command, Control, Communications and Computers and Intelligence systems. Integration of these systems is desirable, yet integration results in a static solution to a dynamic problem-by the time a global schema can be devised, it is out of date. Automating schema integration will mitigate this problem, but data model disparity must be addressed via translation to a common data model prior to integration. To address this requirement, this thesis presents an improved, relational to object-oriented schema translation algorithm, which is derived from a base algorithm proposed by another research effort. The improved …
Explicitly Modeling Hierarchically Heterogeneous Software Architectures In An Object-Oriented Formal Transformation System, Darin L. Williams
Explicitly Modeling Hierarchically Heterogeneous Software Architectures In An Object-Oriented Formal Transformation System, Darin L. Williams
Theses and Dissertations
Formal software transformation systems are software development environments typified by the semi-automated application of a series of correctness-preserving transformations to formal data models. The range of software architectures such systems are capable of producing is often restricted by the limited ability to accept high-level design inputs as constraints on the transformation process. When architectural inputs are acceptable, often the modeling language excludes the explicit representation of architectural constructs and provides, at best, an extremely limited architectural analysis capability. This research defines a high-level taxonomy of software architectures and proposes a way to explicitly model a broad class of architectures by …
Elicitation Of Formal Software Specifications From An Object-Oriented Domain Model, Timothy Karagias
Elicitation Of Formal Software Specifications From An Object-Oriented Domain Model, Timothy Karagias
Theses and Dissertations
The ability to provide automated support for the generation of formal software specifications would lead to decreased software development time. By eliciting the needed information from a software developer and harvesting the proper parts of a domain model, a software specifications document could be created. This research establishes the feasibility of producing customized software specifications based on an object-oriented domain model. The research was conducted in three phases. The first phase was to define the requirements for the Elicitor Harvester. Those requirements were balanced between the capabilities of the existing Knowledge Based Software Engineering (KBSE) software used at AFIT and …
An Object-Oriented, Formal Methods Approach To Organizational Process Modeling, Vincent S. Hibdon
An Object-Oriented, Formal Methods Approach To Organizational Process Modeling, Vincent S. Hibdon
Theses and Dissertations
This document presents a methodology for developing an organizational process model which is based on the principles of object oriented design and formal software engineering methods. The methodology begins with the development of an object oriented Rumbaugh model (27). The Rumbaugh model is then formally specified in Z (Zed) schemas. Finally, the Z specifications are translated into an executable model in the Software Refinery Environment(TM). This model is described based on the AF wing domain and developed in this domain. The proposed methodology is then shown to produce a very general model which is extendable across almost any domain. The …
Design And Analysis Of Parallel Hierarchical Battlefield Simulation, Conrad P. Masshardt
Design And Analysis Of Parallel Hierarchical Battlefield Simulation, Conrad P. Masshardt
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research is to determine if hierarchically partitioning a discrete event battlefield simulation reduces runtime and, if reduction exists, to characterize the run time reduction given any particular partition configuration. A hierarchical discrete event simulation of a main battle tank was constructed. Implementations were built for both a single processor and a multiprocessing machine. The implementations used the Message Passing Interface to increase portability to other parallel and distributed configurations. Three test cases were generated and run on three parallel and distributed environments, a network of Sun SparcStation 20's, a Silicon Graphics Power Challenge, and a Paragon …
Transforming Algebraically-Based Object Models Into A Canonical Form For Design Refinement, Charles G. Beem
Transforming Algebraically-Based Object Models Into A Canonical Form For Design Refinement, Charles G. Beem
Theses and Dissertations
The understandability of object-oriented design techniques and the rigor of formal methods have improved the state of software development; however, both ideas have limitations. Object-oriented techniques, which are semi-formal, can still result in incorrect designs, while formal methods are complex and require an extensive mathematical background. The two approaches can be coupled, however, to produce designs that are both understandable and verifiable, and to produce executable code. This research proposes an approach where object-oriented models are first represented algebraically in a formal specification language such as LARCH and then transformed into a canonical form suitable for design refinement. In the …
Unification Of Larch And Z-Based Object Models To Support Algebraically-Based Design Refinement: The Z Perspective, Kathleen M. Wabiszewski
Unification Of Larch And Z-Based Object Models To Support Algebraically-Based Design Refinement: The Z Perspective, Kathleen M. Wabiszewski
Theses and Dissertations
This research established a foundation for formalizing the evolution of based object models to theories, part of a dual approach for formally extending object-oriented analysis models using the Z and LARCH languages. For the initial phase, a comprehensive, consistent, and correct Z language parser was implemented within the SOFTWARE REFINERY™ Programming Environment. The Z parser produced abstract syntax trees (ASTs) of objects, thereby forming the basis for analyzing the similarities and differences between the based and LARCH-based object representations. The second phase used the analysis of the two languages to identify fundamental core constructs that consisted of similar syntactic and …
Unification Of Larch And Z-Based Object Models To Support Algebraically-Based Design Refinement: The Larch Perspective, Catherine J. Lin
Unification Of Larch And Z-Based Object Models To Support Algebraically-Based Design Refinement: The Larch Perspective, Catherine J. Lin
Theses and Dissertations
This research describes the feasibility of developing object-oriented LARCH specifications, part of a dual approach for formally extending object-oriented analysis models using LARCH and Z. The first phase consisted of two steps establishing a set of transformation heuristics for algebraically representing object models and implementing a robust LARCH parser. The LARCH parser produced abstract syntax trees ASTs of objects forming the basis for analyzing the similarities and differences between Z-based and LARCH-based object representations. The second phase used the analysis of LARCH and Z to identify fundamental core constructs in the languages and abstract syntax trees. These core constructs consisted …
Modeiing Operational Task Assignment In Air Force Wing Command And Control, Robert J. Hunt
Modeiing Operational Task Assignment In Air Force Wing Command And Control, Robert J. Hunt
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigated the feasibility of applying software engineering technology to the Air Force wing command and control (C2) domain. As part of this research, domain analysis and object-oriented techniques were investigated and a specific approach was chosen to analyze the domain. Analysis of the domain resulted in an object-oriented domain model that captured the key objects, operations, and associations, and behavior of wing C2. The domain model was used to design and implement a prototype software tool that enables wing decision makers to assign resources to mission tasks and to make assessments about automation's impact on wing C2 operations.
Modeling Workload Effectiveness And Efficiency Of Air Force Wing Command And Control, Michael D. Sarchet
Modeling Workload Effectiveness And Efficiency Of Air Force Wing Command And Control, Michael D. Sarchet
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigated the feasibility of applying software engineering technology to the Air Force wing command and control (C2) domain. As part of this research, domain analysis and object-oriented techniques were investigated and a specific approach was chosen to analyze the domain. Analysis of the domain resulted in an object-oriented domain model that captured the key objects, operations, and associations of wing C2. The domain model was used to design and implement a prototype software tool that enables wing decision makers to make assessments about automation's impact on wing C2 operations.
Object Interaction In A Parallel Object-Oriented Discrete-Event Simulation, Walter G. Trachsel
Object Interaction In A Parallel Object-Oriented Discrete-Event Simulation, Walter G. Trachsel
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis investigates object interaction issues involved in developing an object-oriented parallel discrete-event simulation and develops a simulation model that provides object interaction capabilities. The research covers issues in object representation, object interaction, object management. discrete-event simulation, and parallel simulation. There are three primary types of objects that the research discusses. The first type is a basic simulation object, whose size and behavior is insignificant compared to the size of the simulation as a whole. The second type is an aggregate object which consists of smaller component objects that interact and affect the performance of the larger object as a …
Objectsim - A Reusable Object Oriented Dis Visual Simulation, Mark I. Snyder
Objectsim - A Reusable Object Oriented Dis Visual Simulation, Mark I. Snyder
Theses and Dissertations
This research designed and implemented a reusable Distributed Interactive Simulation DIS visual simulation architecture for Silicon Graphics platforms. The goal was to research software architecture technologies and to create a design and implementation using these ideas. The architecture was designed using object oriented techniques to provide the ability to customize it via inheritance extension. The resulting design was implemented using C and applied to several DIS visual simulation projects in the Graphics Lab at AFIT. The architecture, named ObjectSim, was successful in its goal of providing a reusable core for the DIS visual simulation projects in the Graphics Lab at …
Graphical Tools For Situational Awareness Assistance For Large Battle Spaces, Brian B. Soltz
Graphical Tools For Situational Awareness Assistance For Large Battle Spaces, Brian B. Soltz
Theses and Dissertations
As virtual environments grow in complexity and size, users are increasingly challenged in assessing situations in large-scale virtual environment. This occurs because of the difficulty in determining where to focus attention and assimilating and assessing the information as it floods in. One technique for providing this type of assistance is to provide the user with a first-person, immersive, synthetic environment observation post, that permits unobtrusive observation of the environment without interfering with the activity in the environment. However, for large, complex synthetic environments, this type of support is not sufficient because the portrayal of raw, unanalyzed data in the virtual …
Object-Oriented Design And Implementation Of A Parallel Ada Simulation System, James T. Belford
Object-Oriented Design And Implementation Of A Parallel Ada Simulation System, James T. Belford
Theses and Dissertations
Simulations which model the behavior real world entities are often large and complex, and require frequent changes to the configuration. This research effort examines the benefits of using object-oriented techniques to develop a distributed simulation environment which supports modularity, modifiability, and portability. The components of the Parallel Discrete Event Simulation PDES environment are identified and modeled using the Rumbaugh modeling technique. From the model, a prototype implementation of a Parallel Ada Simulation Environment PASE is accomplished using Classic Ada. A system interface for the Intel ipsc2 Hypercube was developed to illustrate the concepts of modularity and portability. In addition, the …
On The Automation Of Object-Oriented Requirements Analysis, Nancy L. Crowley
On The Automation Of Object-Oriented Requirements Analysis, Nancy L. Crowley
Theses and Dissertations
The research investigated the possibility that an object-oriented requirements analysis (OORA) specification model can be represented in a computer system and used as a basis for the elicitation of the information necessary for the development of an object-oriented specification for a particular problem. The proof-of-concept system developed is called the OORA automated Knowledge System (OAKS). OAKS contains a generic domain model that is modified to satisfy a particular problem in the domain. The core of OAKS is a reusable domain model, which represents a domain of interest. The domain model is used as a basis for user changes that are …
Development Of A Visual System Interface To Support A Domain-Oriented Application Composition System, Timothy L. Weide
Development Of A Visual System Interface To Support A Domain-Oriented Application Composition System, Timothy L. Weide
Theses and Dissertations
This research designed and prototyped a visual system interface to generate, display, and modify domain-oriented application specifications. A visual system interface, called the Architect Visual System Interface (AVSI), supplements a text-based environment, called Architect, previously developed by two other students. Using canonical formal specifications of domain objects, Architect rapidly composes these specifications into a software application and executes a prototype of that application as a means to demonstrate its correctness before any programming language specific code is generated. This thesis investigates visual techniques for populating, manipulating, viewing, and composing these software application specifications within the formal object base scheme required …
Creating And Manipulating A Domain-Specific Formal Object Base To Support A Domain-Oriented Application Composition System, Mary Anne Randour
Creating And Manipulating A Domain-Specific Formal Object Base To Support A Domain-Oriented Application Composition System, Mary Anne Randour
Theses and Dissertations
This research investigated technology which enables sophisticated users to specify, generate, and maintain application software in domain-oriented terms. To realize this new technology, a development environment, called Architect, was designed and implemented. Using canonical formal specifications of domain objects, Architect rapidly composes these specifications into a software application and executes a prototype of that application as a means to demonstrate is correctness before any programming language specific code is generated. This thesis investigated populating and manipulating the formal object base required by Architect. This object base is built using a domain- specific language (DSL) which serves as an interface between …
An Object-Oriented Computer Aided Design Program For Traditional Control Systems Analysis, Wayne E. Bell
An Object-Oriented Computer Aided Design Program For Traditional Control Systems Analysis, Wayne E. Bell
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis is a continuation of the ICECAP-PC research project conducted under Prof. Gary B. Lamont at the Air Force Institute of Technology. It is an ongoing development of a public domain Computer Aided Design package for Control Engineering and Digital Signal Processing students, faculty and practitioners with a special emphasis on education. This investigation begins with the software maintenance task of restructuring, debugging, and testing the functional version of ICECAP-PC 9.0. The continuous, traditional portions are then ported to a new object-oriented program structure which is the primary focus of this effort. New interactive graphics capabilities are then added …
Ada Implementation Of An Object Data Repository, Stephen P. Perucca
Ada Implementation Of An Object Data Repository, Stephen P. Perucca
Theses and Dissertations
The many benefits of object-oriented software development such as encapsulation and extendibility have inspired numerous models of the object- oriented paradigm. Rumbaugh's Object Modeling Technique (OMT) is an object- oriented model that uses three submodels. The object, dynamic, and functional submodels of the OMT describe the data, behavioral, and processing aspects of a system by using entity-relationship, state-transition, and data flow models. Cross-links relate how the three submodels tie together. Two metamodels (models of models) of the OMT are developed using the OMT methodology and notation. The essential data elements of the OMT are abstracted into a data metamodel, and …
A Formal Definition Of The Object-Oriented Paradigm For Requirements Analysis, Andrew D. Boyd
A Formal Definition Of The Object-Oriented Paradigm For Requirements Analysis, Andrew D. Boyd
Theses and Dissertations
This paper develops a formal definition of the Object-Oriented paradigm for requirements analysis. The literature was surveyed for both formal and informal methods for conducting an Object-Oriented Requirements Analysis (OORA). The informal methods reviewed are: Bailin's, Shlaer and Mellor's, Booch's, and Coad and Yourdon's. The formal methods reviewed are: Bralick's, Z, and REFINE. None of the methods were found to be adequate for doing an OORA. A formal definition of an OORA, based on the concept of classes, is developed. The definition itself is presented as set and relation theory. A supporting graphical representation is also developed and presented. The …
An Application Of The Object-Oriented Paradigm To A Flight Simulator, Dennis J. Simpson
An Application Of The Object-Oriented Paradigm To A Flight Simulator, Dennis J. Simpson
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis describes the object-oriented software development techniques that were used to analyze, design and implement a flight simulator. The objective of this thesis was to present a comprehensive object-oriented software development methodology and show how it was used in constructing an actual application. An extensive review of current object-oriented practices is presented along with the methods that were used to take the flight simulator from analysis to design and through to implementation. The description of the methodology concentrates upon the design and implementation phases of the object-oriented software lifecycle. Examples from the design of the flight simulator demonstrate how …
Object-Oriented Analysis And Design Of The Saber Wargame, Christine M. Sherry
Object-Oriented Analysis And Design Of The Saber Wargame, Christine M. Sherry
Theses and Dissertations
This thesis presents an object-oriented analysis and design of Saber, a theater-level computerized wargame, for the Air Force Wargaming Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The analysis and design is based on a recently developed conceptual model, and existing land battle, and additional research. This thesis also begins the implementation process. The design was accomplished using an iterative, five step design process. Objects and operations were chosen and then encapsulated in Ada packages. This thesis also makes necessary changes to the land battle as described by the conceptual model and as the result of additional research. Sound software engineering principles were used …