Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Program Modeling And Control Synthesis For Robotic Manipulators, Ramiz Najib Ballou

Masters Theses

"The control and programming methodology of industrial robots is becoming increasingly important. The speed and accuracy of data generation, and the performance of the robot are considered the most important factors in robotics control.

This paper presents and discusses algorithms that solve for the inverse solution for a given point in space at a very high speed based on the top down abstract method. The algorithms are independent of any specific type of manipulator configuration or programming language. The algorithms were implemented or the IBM-PC using the FORTRAN language to control the Armdroid robot. The program generates 500 sets of …

Ciegen: A System For Testing Knowledge Base Compilation Heuristics On A Microcomputer, Jayne D. Ward

Masters Theses

"The expert system has proven itself to be a valuable aid in diagnosing and treating problems in domains requiring expertise. The commercial world has been alerted to this fact and the thrust is to make the expert system portable and available on small computers.

The goal of this research has been to lay the groundwork for a domain independent expert system builder on a microcomputer. The result of this effort was CIEGEN, a system consisting of a rule compiler, inference engine, and rule generator developed on the IBM PC. It is domain independent, responsible for transforming a knowledge base of …

A Focus Of Attention Algorithm For Expert Systems, Kevin W. Whiting

Masters Theses

"This research is primarily concerned with increasing the performance of expert systems. A refined focus of attention strategy and its affect on performance are discussed. Early expert systems used a brute force approach to process the knowledge base. Each production rule in the knowledge base was evaluated each cycle. More recently, processing efficiency has been increased by focusing the attention of the inference engine on a subset of the rules by "filtering" for further testing, only rules that could possibly fire given the current content of the context base. Focus of attention as developed in this research increases performance over …

The Optimal Trajectory Modelling Of Robot Manipulators, Mary Claire Miller

Masters Theses

"Greater robot capability can be achieved through the use of robot manipulator control systems. Crucial to the success of these control systems is the optimal trajectory modelling of the path traced by the end- effector. To create this optimal path the utilization of B-Spline curve functions will be investigated, and compared to Cubic Spline curve functions"--Abstract, page ii.

The Design And Implementation Of The Programming Language Natural, Alan L. Sparks

Masters Theses

"This paper reports progress on the development of the programming language Natural, currently under design by Dr. Thomas J. Sager at the University of Missouri--Rolla. Natural is a very high-level language with a mathematical flavor, and includes several concepts relatively uncommon in programming language design.

The text also discusses an implementation on the IBM Personal Computer of Mini-Natural, a subset of Natural, and presents examples of programs written in Mini-Natural"--Abstract, page ii.

Survey Of Routing Algorithms For Computer Networks, Lu Yu

Masters Theses

"This thesis gives a general discussion of routing for computer networks, followed by an overview of a number of typical routing algorithms used or reported in the past few years. Attention is mainly focused on distributed adaptive routing algorithms for packet switching (or message switching) networks. Algorithms for major commercial networks (or network architectures) are reviewed as well, for the convenience of comparison"--Abstract, page ii.

Relation Of Bitumen To Ore In The Magmont West Orebody, Southeast Missouri, Mark Alan Marikos

Masters Theses

"Bitumen in the form of oil blebs from the Magmont West orebody of the Viburnum Trend was examined and analysed in an attempt to relate hydrocarbon distribution and origin to ore genesis. Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen percentages were determined by elemental analyses. Trace element composition was determined by emmission spectroscopy and the composition of the bitumen was calculated with respect to aromatic hydrocarbons, saturated hydrocarbons and NSO (nitrogen-sulfur-oxygen) components. The bitumen and kerogen from associated shale samples were evaluated by Rock-Eval pyrolysis and pyrolysis-gas chromatography.

The bitumen was calculated to be approximately 40 to 50 percent aromatic and …

Oil Producing Upper Cherokee And Lower Marmaton (Pennsylvanian) Channel Sandstones Of Jackson And Cass Counties, Missouri, Stephen Thomas Carroll

Masters Theses

"Approximately 240 gamma ray-neutron logs were interpreted and correlated in an attempt to isolate separate channels collectively referred to as "Squirrel" sands in the upper Cherokee and lower Marmaton (Pennsylvanian) rocks of Jackson and Cass counties, Missouri. Isopach maps were prepared for two of the identifiable fluvial sandstones and a structure map was drawn on the laterally extensive Anna Shale.

The term "Squirrel" has been applied to as many as five different sandstone packages, and thus, has been the source of a great deal of confusion. In an attempt to sort out the confusion this thesis recognizes and defines three …

A Graphical Representation Of An Executing Program, Sherry A. Lile

Masters Theses

"This thesis describes the rationale for a computer program used as a teaching aid, as well as, the design, development, and implementation of that computer program. The program is a prototype that displays, line by line, a graphical depiction of a BASIC program being executed. Icons are used to represent FOR-NEXT loops, the contents of variables, I/O, and other programming elements. The internal logic associated with the Arithmetic-Logic Unit is also represented. The purpose is to produce an environment where the student may visualize the processes occurring in memory by viewing a symbolic portrayal of an executing program. The example …

A Simple Method For Organizing Nearly Optimal Binary Search Trees, Joy L. Henderson

Masters Theses

"Improving the efficiency of retrieving information concerns users of computer systems involved in many applications- One way of addressing this concern is to organize a sorted sequence into a binary search tree. Knuth's Algorithm K is a bottom-up organization algorithm that always constructs a binary tree which minimizes average search time. However, the cost of executing Algorithm K is prohibitive for a large tree. The aim of this work is to find a less costly method of organizing sorted sequences into nearly-optimal binary search trees.

We present a top-down organization method which yields better average search times than top-down methods …

An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Modularity On Resource Consumption In Software Development, Alan D. Christiansen

Masters Theses

"Many authors have encouraged the use of modular programming techniques in software development. In fact, there is almost total agreement within industrial and academic circles that modularity is a desirable feature of any software package. Unfortunately, the desirability of modular design is almost always voiced without support from experimental evidence.

This thesis consists of an experiment comparing the resource consumption of programmers based on the modularity practices employed during the design and programming phases of software development. The experiment tests the effectiveness of modularity in reducing psychological complexity of software.

The results of the research show that in some cases …