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Air Force Institute of Technology

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A Format For Storing And Managing Multiple Level Of Detail Terrain For Simulated Environments, Keith L. Meissner Mar 1994

A Format For Storing And Managing Multiple Level Of Detail Terrain For Simulated Environments, Keith L. Meissner

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated a method of storing, managing and rendering terrain data, while addressing conflicting goals of. rendering speed, display detail and memory usage. A data structure is presented to store terrain data, with an object oriented system to manage the data stored in the structure. The structure stores terrain data in a compact form which is converted into rendering structures in real time. The structure uses levels of detail to maintain display detail. The structure is compared against an existing format for storing terrain data, MultiGen Flight. The system managing the structure is shown to decrease memory usage and …


Dyadic Wavelet Features For Isolated Word Speaker Dependent Speech Recognition, Stephen Ainge Mar 1994

Dyadic Wavelet Features For Isolated Word Speaker Dependent Speech Recognition, Stephen Ainge

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the use of dyadic wavelet features for the recognition of speaker dependent isolated word speech. The features were generated using three different wavelet filters-Daubechies 4 coefficient (Db4), Daubechies 20 coefficient (Db20) and a 31 coefficient cubic spline and three different window lengths-15ms, 8ms and 4ms. The accuracy of the standard and over-sampled dyadic wavelet methods were compared. The over-sampled dyadic wavelet method using the Db4 scaling function, with a maximum accuracy of 65.5, was found to be the most accurate of the wavelet methods tested. The accuracy of this over-sampled dyadic Db4 wavelet method was compared to …


Effective Parallel Algorithm Animation, Paul W. Chase Mar 1994

Effective Parallel Algorithm Animation, Paul W. Chase

Theses and Dissertations

The AFIT Algorithm Animation Research Facility AAARF was developed by the Air Force Institute of Technology AFIT as a teaching aid for data structures and algorithm design. In particular, an extensive set of performance animations has been developed for the Intel iPSC Hypercube parallel processing system. This research focuses in part on developing animation support for discrete event simulation, mission routing, and evolutionary algorithms based on abstract representations of parallel algorithm behavior. The effort also builds extensions to the AAARF system and examines direction for further research. An innovative adaptable application-specific animation construction environment has been designed and implemented. The …


Clustering Techniques In Speaker Recognition, Douglas N. Prescott Mar 1994

Clustering Techniques In Speaker Recognition, Douglas N. Prescott

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a comparison based on identification rate, of three clustering techniques applied to cepstral features for speaker identification. LBG vector quantization as developed by Linde, Buzo and Gray; is used to provide benchmark performance for comparison with Fuzzy clustering (based on the unsupervised fuzzy partition-optimal number of classes, UFP-ONC algorithm by Gath and Geva) and an Artificial Neural Network, the Multilayer Perceptron. Cepstral features from the TIMIT, King and AFIT93 corpus speaker databases are used to produce speaker-identification classifiers using each of the clustering algorithms. The experiment reported evaluates the speaker identification performance using the 20-dimensional cepstral features …


Enlistment Response To Changes In Monetary Incentives: Improving The U. S. Army Enlistment Incentive Review And Allocation Process, Chester A. Char Mar 1994

Enlistment Response To Changes In Monetary Incentives: Improving The U. S. Army Enlistment Incentive Review And Allocation Process, Chester A. Char

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes an analytical approach for assessing efficiency and effectiveness of the Army’s Enlistment Incentive Review and Allocation Process. In this research, the author applies multiple regression- techniques to observations of monthly enlistment contracts for the time period covering October 1987 through July 1993. Bonus contracts, ACF contracts and total contracts were regressed against level of enlistment bonus, availability of the Army College Fund, unemployment rate, and state of U.S. involvement in overseas conflict. The author then used the estimated regression relationships to estimate bonus amounts required to stimulate enlistment and compared performance of true incentive levels against predicted …


An Analysis Of The Effects Of Modeling Brigade Templates In Camex, Douglas A. Hersh Mar 1994

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Modeling Brigade Templates In Camex, Douglas A. Hersh

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis effort modeled brigade-sized templates within the CAMEX model, and determined the effects of those templates on the direct fire attrition methodology. The model simulated combat between a U.S. brigade from a mechanized or armored division and a Soviet-style motorized rifle regiment. Three different scenarios were used to simulate combat between the forces. The scenarios included a movement to contact, an attack, and a deliberate defense. Each scenario was run using the battalion-sized templates and again with the brigade-sized templates. The results revealed that use of the model with brigade-sized templates will demonstrate similar results to those obtained using …


A Mean Value Analysis Heuristic For Analysis Of Aircraft Sortie Generation, Richard C. Jenkins Mar 1994

A Mean Value Analysis Heuristic For Analysis Of Aircraft Sortie Generation, Richard C. Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to develop an analytical methodology based on the Mean Value Analysis algorithm that approximates the performance characteristics of a queueing network model QNM containing a fork- join queue with probabilistic branching. These performance characteristics are response time, throughput and queue length at each station. The QNM solved contains the essential features of the aircraft sortie generation process. The sensitivity of the methods accuracy to increases in server utilization was determined. The comparisons of the results of the MVA heuristic to the outputs of the Logistics Composite Model LCOM simulation indicate that the heuristics …


A Comparison Of Variable Selection Criteria For Multiple Linear Regression: A Third Simulation Study, Ertem Mutlu Mar 1994

A Comparison Of Variable Selection Criteria For Multiple Linear Regression: A Third Simulation Study, Ertem Mutlu

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis research is to introduce and study a modification of Millers Method which we call the Modified-Millers method MM method, study two step subset selection procedures, these of which apply Millers Method in the first step and employs another method Minimum MSE or Minimum Sp or Minimum Cp in the second step and these of which employ another method Minimum MSE or Minimum Sp or Minimum Cp in the first step and applies Millers Method in the second step. The results of all techniques will be compared including the results of the previous simulation studies done …


A Genetic Algorithm Approach To Automating Satellite Range Scheduling, Donald A. Parish Mar 1994

A Genetic Algorithm Approach To Automating Satellite Range Scheduling, Donald A. Parish

Theses and Dissertations

Satellite range scheduling involves scheduling satellite supports in which a satellite and a specific remote tracking station communicate with each other within a specified time window. As the number of satellite supports continue to increase, more pressure is placed on the current manual system to generate schedules efficiently. Previous research efforts focused on heuristic and mixed-integer programming approaches which may not produce the best results. The objective of this research was to determine if a genetic algorithm approach to automating the generation of 24 hour schedules was competitive with other methods. The goal was to schedule as many supports as …


A Fortran Based Learning System Using Multilayer Back-Propagation Neural Network Techniques, Gregory L. Reinhart Mar 1994

A Fortran Based Learning System Using Multilayer Back-Propagation Neural Network Techniques, Gregory L. Reinhart

Theses and Dissertations

An interactive computer system which allows the researcher to build an optimal neural network structure quickly, is developed and validated. This system assumes a single hidden layer perceptron structure and uses the back- propagation training technique. The software enables the researcher to quickly define a neural network structure, train the neural network, interrupt training at any point to analyze the status of the current network, re-start training at the interrupted point if desired, and analyze the final network using two- dimensional graphs, three-dimensional graphs, confusion matrices and saliency metrics. A technique for training, testing, and validating various network structures and …


Assessing The Vulnerability Of Multi-Commodity Networks With Failing Components, Alan R. Robinson Mar 1994

Assessing The Vulnerability Of Multi-Commodity Networks With Failing Components, Alan R. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes an analytical approach for assessing flow disturbance, or compromise, based on limited sampling of arc flow information in multi-commodity, or multiple origin-destination O-D, networks with failing arcs. There were three objectives established for this research. The first objective was to bound the expected flow, given the arcs fail with certain probabilities, which was accomplished by reviewing current approaches for single-commodity networks and extending the results to the multi-commodity case. The second objective was to determine the best placement of flow monitors to obtain the most accurate estimates of O-D pair volumes. This was accomplished using a multi-criteria …


An Analysis Of Operational Suitability For Test And Evaluation Of Highly Reliable Systems, James N. Serpa Mar 1994

An Analysis Of Operational Suitability For Test And Evaluation Of Highly Reliable Systems, James N. Serpa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a quantitative measure of operational suitability OS and determine its applicability in making the test length decision prior to Initial Operational Test and Evaluation IOTE. The current approach used by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center AFOTEC was presented and used to establish the relationships of the test measures. It was established that OS could be represented by a function of operational availability Ao and built-in test effectiveness BE. BE was defined and measures proposed based on the method of data collection. A proposal for predicting Ao, BE, and OS …


An Efficient Approach To Solving The Optimal Control Of Arrivals Problem, John R. Simeoni Mar 1994

An Efficient Approach To Solving The Optimal Control Of Arrivals Problem, John R. Simeoni

Theses and Dissertations

The optimal control of arrivals problem is one which has many applications in both defense and industry. Simply stated, the problem addresses how to schedule a finite number of customers in a finite number of equal length time slots, where each customers service time comes from a specified probability distribution. There are two cost components, one based on total expected customer waiting time and the other based m the expected amount of time the server stays open beyond its scheduled completion time. Currently, solutions have been developed to the optimal control of arrivals problem, but they are computationally slow and …


The Effective Use Of Animation In Simulation Model Validation, Christopher L. Swider Mar 1994

The Effective Use Of Animation In Simulation Model Validation, Christopher L. Swider

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined two animation displays moving icons, bar graphs at two presentation speeds to determine how each of these factors affected the animations ability to communicate violations of model assumptions. Subjects viewed animation displays individually and in combination at each presentation speed. Eight problem scenarios were presented to evaluate each animations ability to communicate violations of different assumptions. Each animations communication ability was measured subjectively and objectively. Subjective measures in the form of pairwise comparisons were used to calculate normalized preference ratings for each animation. objective measures included problem identification accuracy and problem time. Subjective results indicated that moving …


An Rsm Study Of The Effects Of Simulation Work And Metamodel Specification On The Statistical Quality Of Metamodel Estimates, Michael K. Taylor Mar 1994

An Rsm Study Of The Effects Of Simulation Work And Metamodel Specification On The Statistical Quality Of Metamodel Estimates, Michael K. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the combined influence of simulation work and metamodel specification on the statistical quality of the estimates obtained from the resulting metamodels of the simulation data. A 9 x 2 x 2 experiment consisting of 9 cases of simulation work, 2 levels of metamodel specification, and 2 levels of design fractionation were designed for 8 different configurations of MMk queues. The only observed statistic for this experiment was the average queue length. Simulation estimates for each configurations average queue length were calculated directly from the simulation data. In addition, the metamodels were fit to the simulation data and …


Proactive Monitoring Of Performance In Stochastic Communication Networks, John C. C. Van Hove Mar 1994

Proactive Monitoring Of Performance In Stochastic Communication Networks, John C. C. Van Hove

Theses and Dissertations

This research proposes several models for placing bounds on the expected values of some dynamic performance measures for computer communication networks with failing components. These models provide an understanding of expected network performance that is useful in the process of proactive performance monitoring and also in defining level of service agreements with network users. There were three objectives for this research. The first objective was to extend some existing models of steady-state stochastic network performance to a dynamic network flow representation in order to capture the dynamic nature of proactive monitoring. The second objective was to convert the extended absolute …


Analysis Of Thunder Combat Simulation Model, Timothy S. Webb Mar 1994

Analysis Of Thunder Combat Simulation Model, Timothy S. Webb

Theses and Dissertations

TAC THUNDER, or THUNDER, is a two-sided large scale computer simulation model that simulates air and ground combat, logistics, and limited airlift at the theater level. It is in use by several allied nations, major defense contractors, and various Department of Defense DoD analysis agencies. The objectives of this thesis effort were to examine the overall model variability, examine the model output for possible interrelationships, and examine the model sensitivity to input parameters. A univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to examine the first two objectives. The univariate analysis consisted of an analysis of the confidence intervals and replication requirements …


Optimization Of The Air Apportionment In A Tac Thunder Scenario Using Response Surface Methodology, Steven L. Forsythe Mar 1994

Optimization Of The Air Apportionment In A Tac Thunder Scenario Using Response Surface Methodology, Steven L. Forsythe

Theses and Dissertations

To effectively compare different sets of available aircraft, it is necessary to find the apportionment that maximizes the effectiveness of each set of aircraft. This research effort uses an unclassified TAC THUNDER scenario to show how an analyst can use response surface methodology RSM techniques to estimate the relationship between aircraft apportionment and campaign outcomes. The optimal apportionments for one phase of a hypothetical conflict was found by using a steepest-gradient search of the constrained response surfaces. The results are illustrated by illuminating charts showing the various relationships between the number of aircraft in the theater and measures of effectiveness …


An Integer Solution Heuristic For The Arsenal Exchange Model (Aem), Daniel J. Green Mar 1994

An Integer Solution Heuristic For The Arsenal Exchange Model (Aem), Daniel J. Green

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Studies and Analyses Agency sought a method for converting the continuous solution produced by the Arsenal Exchange Model into a feasible integer solution. The current integerization method leaves weapons unused and targets uncovered and could be improved. In the method developed, the noninteger valued variables in the continuous solution are rounded down to the nearest integer to produce a truncated solution. An integer goal program is then used to reallocate the weapons and targets made available in the rounding process. The truncated solution is then combined with the solution of the integer goal program to produce a …


An Air Mission Planning Algorithm For A Theater Level Combat Model, Brian J. Griggs Mar 1994

An Air Mission Planning Algorithm For A Theater Level Combat Model, Brian J. Griggs

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the development of an air mission planning algorithm for the Joint Staffs Future Theater Level Model FTLM. The overall problem scope was to develop an algorithm to handle major factors bearing on the combat mission planning problem while providing hook-ups for the FTLM architecture. Other aspects of the problem included finding the appropriate level of detail, developing a fast solving technique, and attempting to use existing data. The problem was handled by using some ideas from existing aircraft allocation algorithms and by adding some new techniques. The proposed air mission planning algorithm supplies the optimum degree of …


An Analysis Of Stopping Criteria In Artificial Neural Networks, Bruce Kostal Mar 1994

An Analysis Of Stopping Criteria In Artificial Neural Networks, Bruce Kostal

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to decide when to terminate training of an artificial neural network ANN. In pursuit of this goal, several characteristics of the ANN were monitored throughout ANN training classification error rate of the training set, testing set, or a weighted average of the two moving average classification error rate measurements of the difference between ANN output and desired output error sum of squares, total absolute error. or largest absolute error or ANN weight changes absolute weight change, squared weight change, or relative weight change. Throughout this research, the learning rate was held constant at 0.35. …


An Investigation Of Simulated Annealing Applied To Structural Optimization Problems, Richard C. Mceachin Mar 1994

An Investigation Of Simulated Annealing Applied To Structural Optimization Problems, Richard C. Mceachin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the feasibility of using Simulated Annealing SA in structural optimization problems. The investigation involves solving benchmark structural optimization problems with an SA algorithm, and comparing its solutions to those found by four other optimizers. Overall, the analysis shows that SA has limited applicability in structural optimization. Two primary factors were found to adversely impact the performance of the SA algorithm in these problems. These factors are high dimensionality, and high levels of constraint. The difficulty involved in solving these problems with a random search increases exponentially with the number of dimensions. The number, and non-linearity, of the …


The Use Of L-Moments To Fit The Generalized Lambda Distribution To Sample Data, Robert B. Mohan Mar 1994

The Use Of L-Moments To Fit The Generalized Lambda Distribution To Sample Data, Robert B. Mohan

Theses and Dissertations

The Generalized Lambda Distribution GLD is a four-parameter, continuous probability distribution that is useful for simulation analysis. The strengths of the GLD lie in its abilities to approximate many distributions, represent data when the underlying distribution is unknown, and fit or generate random variates. The method of moments is presently the accepted technique for estimating the parameters of this distribution. However, it is sensitive to extreme observations and subject to large sampling variability as the sample size decreases. L-moments are expectations of certain linear combinations of order statistics. They can be used to estimate parameters and quantiles of probability distributions. …


An Analysis Of Air Force Acquisition Engineering Officer's Perceptions Of The Adequacy Of Their Preparation For Management, Steven E. Woodruff Mar 1994

An Analysis Of Air Force Acquisition Engineering Officer's Perceptions Of The Adequacy Of Their Preparation For Management, Steven E. Woodruff

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how much time Air Force acquisition engineers spend in performing management functions, how those engineers spend in performing management functions, how those engineers perceive their management training, and which types of training contribute the most to managerial competency. The results from surveys of 215 acquisition engineers assigned to ASCEN, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH and their supervisors revealed that engineers do indeed spend substantial amounts of time performing management functions. Slightly more than half the engineers reported spending at least 50 of an average workday performing management functions. Over 53 of engineers responding to …


Automation Of Formation Flight Control, Vincent P. Reyna Jan 1994

Automation Of Formation Flight Control, Vincent P. Reyna

Theses and Dissertations

The research contained in this thesis explores the concepts of Automated Formation Flight Control documented in three previous AFIT theses. The generic formation analyzed consists of a Leader and Wingman, with the Wingman referencing its maneuvers off of Leader maneuvers. Specifically, planar formation flight control concerning only heading and velocity changes is considered. Next, the vertical separation constraint is relaxed to allow wing maneuvers outside of the flight plane of the lead in order to minimize the energy expended by the wing in a maneuver. Analysis of the two forms of formation flight control investigated in this thesis reveals the …


Evaluation Of Air Force And Navy Demand Forecasting Systems, Christian J. Dussault Jan 1994

Evaluation Of Air Force And Navy Demand Forecasting Systems, Christian J. Dussault

Theses and Dissertations

In March 1993, the JLSC selected the Navys Statistical Demand Forecasting System as the standard DOD forecasting system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the performance and accuracy of the Navy Statistical Demand Forecasting system, relative to the Air Force Requirements Data Bank forecasting system in an Air Force environment. To compare the performance of each forecasting system, the research used three different approaches. The first approach looked at time series components and evaluated how each forecasting system reacted to different data patterns. From this approach, it was found that under the presence of a trending …


Optical Wavelet Transform For Fingerprint Identification, Robert P. Macdonald Dec 1993

Optical Wavelet Transform For Fingerprint Identification, Robert P. Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI has recently sanctioned a wavelet fingerprint image compression algorithm developed for reducing storage requirements of digitized fingerprints. This research implements an optical wavelet transform of a fingerprint image, as the first step in an optical fingerprint identification process. Wavelet filters are created from computer generated holograms of biorthogonal wavelets, the same wavelets implemented in the FBI algorithm. Using a detour phase holographic technique, a complex binary filter mask is created with both symmetry and linear phase. The wavelet transform is implemented with continuous shift using an optical correlation between binarized fingerprints written on a …


Human Visual System Enhancement Of Reconstructed Satellite Images, James E. Treleaven Dec 1993

Human Visual System Enhancement Of Reconstructed Satellite Images, James E. Treleaven

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the enhancement of satellite images. The goal was to develop and test a suite of image enhancement software routines to improve the quality of reconstructed images for the human visual system. The primary focus was to enhance satellite features. Enhancement was accomplished in both the spatial domain and the frequency domain. In the spatial domain, routines were developed to enhance image contrast and edges. In the frequency domain, a routine was developed using research into the human visual system. The transfer function of the human visual system was used to develop a filter for frequency domain enhancement. …


Development Of Computer Software To Aid Environmental Decision Makers In The Education And Training Of Air Force Remedial Project Managers, Roger R. Ouellette, Bruce K. Lyman Dec 1993

Development Of Computer Software To Aid Environmental Decision Makers In The Education And Training Of Air Force Remedial Project Managers, Roger R. Ouellette, Bruce K. Lyman

Theses and Dissertations

By the end of Fiscal Year 1991, the Air Force had identified 4,354 contaminated sites. Much like the 177 toxic sites at McClellan AFB, bases across the country and throughput the world are filled with chrome, lead, paint solvents and many other toxics that are rendering water supplies unusable and endangering the health of millions of people living in and around these bases. Air Force officials continue to identify contaminated sites with no end in sight. Since the cleanup of these toxic materials involves diverse, complex activities, the Air Force created the duty position of Remedial Project Manager to manage …


Simultaneous Design Of Active Vibration Control And Passive Damping, Michele Lynn Devereaux Gaudreault Dec 1993

Simultaneous Design Of Active Vibration Control And Passive Damping, Michele Lynn Devereaux Gaudreault

Theses and Dissertations

A modified form of the standard linear quadratic regulator LQR cost functional is used to optimally blend active vibration control and passive structural damping, whether viscous or viscoelastic. Viscoelastic damping is first modelled by a standard linear model, and then by a fractional derivative model. For the viscous damping case and the classically modelled viscoelastic damping case, a sub-optimal closed form solution is derived that is independent of the initial conditions. An iterative technique that minimizes the average value of the cost functional and one that minimizes the maximum value are developed. Both techniques are applicable to viscous and viscoelastic …