Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of A Portable Microcomputer As A Data Collection Tool To Support Integrated Simulation Support Environments: A Concept, James E. Wilkinson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Advances in simulation methodology, and the computer support systems to implement these methodologies, have led to the development of integrated simulation support environments. These environments, or collection of software tools, seek to aid the analyst in developing models, data management and analysis, and data presentation.

While an integrated simulation environment provides a more organized structure for managing and performing simulation projects, and provides a database management structure for storing, manipulating, and analyzing data, they do not address the actual process of going out and obtaining the data. As a result, many of the common problems associated with poor problem and …

Image Reconstruction After Transform Coding Using Relative Entropy And Maximum Entropy, John S. Bodenschatz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Presented are two new methods based on entropy for reconstructing images compressed with the Discrete Cosine transform. One method is based upon a sequential implementation of the Minimum Relative Entropy Principle; the other is based upon the Maximum Entropy Principle. These will be compared with each other and with the conventional method employing the Inverse Discrete Cosine transform. Chapter 2 describes the traditional use of the Discrete Cosine transform for image compression. Chapter 3 explains the theory and implementation of the entropy-based reconstructions. It introduces a fast algorithm for the Maximum Entropy Principle. Chapter 4 compares the numerical performance of …

Study Of A Terrain Avoidance Algorithm To Be Used In Conjunction With The Lantirn Terrain Following System, Glenda C. Frazier

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes the development of a basic terrain avoidance algorithm which is proposed for use with the terrain following algorithm in the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared System for Night (LANTIRN). The algorithms were modeled in a digital simulation in which an aircraft is flown over a single-obstacle three-dimensional terrain. Vertical acceleration and roll angle commands are generated in the simulation by the algorithms using terrain data collected from the modeled terrain following radar antenna scan. The response of the aircraft to these commands is determined, and the resulting trajectories over the terrain are displayed.

The development of …

Human Factors Compatibility Concerns In The Selection Of Display Technologies For Computer And Data Terminals, Francis C. Westerfield

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Human factors considerations are often overlooked in the selection of electronic computer displays. When cost is used as the only determining factor, the resulting product may not be commercially successful because of an inadequate display.

To help avoid this situation, designers and users should be aware of the various factors involved in proper display selection. These factors were developed by a synthesis of existing scientific and industrial literature on the subject and are explained in this paper.

The first factor is a basic knowledge of the structure, characteristics, and function of the human visual system. The theory of sight, anatomy …

An Experimental And Theoretical Analysis Of A Laser Beam Propagating Through Multiple Phase Screens, Arthur R. Weeks

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

An experimental and a theoretical analysis for a laser beam propagating through multiple phase screens was performed. The theoretical analysis showed that the statistics for the intensity fluctuations, which can be predicted by the HK and the I-K distributions, could be derived from a multiplicative process using statistical distributions derived from Gaussian statistics. For the single phase screen experiment, the experimental normalized moments were compared with the normalized moments of both the HK and I-K distributions . In addition, the intensity data was lowpass filtered to yield moments that are predicted by the gamma distribution. The single phase screen data …

Effect Of Manufacturing Tolerances On The Number Of Load Carrying Fasteners In A Joint Subjected To A Shear Load: A Statistical Approach, Larry John Borkowski

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Within the elastic range, the number of load-carrying fasteners in an interchangeable manufactured joint subjected to a shear load is dependent upon the following characteristics: 1. Material properties of the constituent parts in the shear joint. 2. Geometry of the shear joint. 3. Manufacturing tolerances of the constituent parts in the shear joint. 4. Number of fasteners in the shear joint. 5. Preload on the fasteners in the joint. 6. Static coefficient of friction between the joint surfaces. Neglecting the effects of preload and friction, the number of load-carrying fasteners is determined for a theoretical bolted joint design as a …

The Design Of A Processing Element For The Systolic Array Implementation Of A Kalman Filter, John P. Condorodis

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The Kalman filter is an important component of optimal estimation theory. It has applications in a wide range of high performance control systems including navigational, fire control, and targeting systems. The Kalman filter, however, has not been utilized to its full potential due to the limitations of its inherent computational intensiveness which requires "off-line" processing or allows only low bandwidth real-time applications.

The recent advances in VLSI circuit technology have created the opportunity to design algorithms and data structures for direct implementation in integrated circuits. A systolic architecture is a concept which allows the construction of massively parallel systems in …

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Communication Simulation System, Mark D. Patz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to develop a fast, dynamic, and menu driven direct sequence spread spectrum communication simulation system for the Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX VMS line of computers. This software breaks the system down into two sections, the transmitter and the receiver. Each of the blocks that comprise the system is user definable in order to program the desired conditions. The input data and spreading data located within the transmitter are generated by a maximal length sequence generator, up to the tenth order. Encoding of the data is achieved by using an (n,k) cyclic code. A level …

A Pc-Based Simulation For Convolutional Codes Using Viterbi Decoding, Mark W. Rossman

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objective of a digital communication system is to provide accurate transmission of information from one location to another. During transmission, the signal is subjected to noise and other distortions that compromise the integrity of the information. Channel encoding techniques can be employed to reduce this loss of integrity. One technique that has become popular in space and satellite communication systems is convolutional coding.

Channel encoding is only practical if it provides substantial improvement over the uncoded signal with a moderate hardware investment. The optimal approach to decoding convolutional codes is the Maximum-Likelihood method. This method compares the received data …

Single Element Controlled Oscillator, Miguel A. Muniz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Oscillator circuits play an important role in the electronics world. The Single Resistance Controlled Oscillator (SRCO) consists of an active stage, a bridge tee feedback network and the control element. The oscillation frequency will change as the control element is adjusted because the point of maximum gain at zero phase shift has been changed. Furthermore, the amplitude should remain constant. In practice, however, it does not. An analysis of the SRCO indicates that the amplitude increase is due to the effect of the pole introduced by the operational amplifier. This paper introduces a compensation that extends the useful range of …

Computerized Flow Process Charting System And Applications, George H. Griffin

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A computerized flow process charting application program of dBase III+ has been developed to aid in resource requirements planning and operations analysis. Traditional flow process charting has used as the following data elements: assembly number, assembly sequence number, distance travelled, time required for the activity and an activity symbol. The computerized system adds several variables to these in order to customize the application at Martin Marietta Electronic Systems. These additional variables include work center identification, machine number identification, lot sizes, set up and run times and manufacturing specifications. Additionally, the circle or operations symbol has been expanded to differentiate between …

The Relationship Between Selected Personality Variables And Compulsive Gamblers In Treatment, Kevin E. Kip

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The empirical contributions of researchers on the personality characteristics associated with the identification and treatment of compulsive gambling have been largely piecemeal. As an active four year veteran of the Gamblers Anonymous program, the author has come to recognize that the vast majority of members comprising Gamblers Anonymous are persons typically not well versed in experimental design or research methodology techniques. Compounding this statement is the fact that it was not until the early 1980's that compulsive gambling (or synonomously stated as pathological gambling) became recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder with explicit diagnostic signs and …

Operations Research In The High Tech Military Environment: A Survey, C. Steven Griffin

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The use of operations research as a technology to solve many of the problems of government and industry has become a major field of study within the very short span of the last fifty years. In the paper entitled, "Operations Research in the High Tech Military Environment: A Survey," the reader is provided with a better understanding of the tenets of operations research through an examination of a representative sample of the latest operations research applications developed for the high tech environment.

Initially, this involves providing the reader with some fundamental insights into what operations research is, what its practitioners …

Rollins College Winter Term 1987 Addendum, Rollins College

Text Materials of Central Florida

Rollins College catalogue with list of faculty and students and courses by department.

Experimental Verification Of Laser Speckle Power Spectral Density, Christopher T. Chiles

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The dependence of laser speckle power spectral density on the autocorrelation of the aperture pupil function was verified using a charge injection device (CID) camera. Speckle patterns acquired by the CID array were processed to compute the power spectral density (PSD). Three aperture shapes were studied. There was good agreement between the theoretical and experimental power spectral density shapes, and the cutoff frequencies agreed within five percent error.

Bias Optimization For Noise Reduction In Focal Plane Arrays, Kirk B. Reiff

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A gain enhanced common gate transresistance circuit is typically used as the coupling circuit between detector and multiplexer in a focal plane array. At an operating temperature of 77 degrees Kelvin, the dominant noises in the system are shot noise and 1/f noise. The 1/f noise corner frequency of the CMOS amplifiers used in focal plane arrays can .be as high as 10 kHz. In this paper it is shown that the 1/f noise corner frequency contributed to the system noise by the amplifier is a function of the bias voltage applied to the photodiode detector. Specifically, as the reverse …

Crummer Graduate School, Rollins College

Text Materials of Central Florida

Rollins College catalogue with list of faculty and students and courses by department.

Rollins College Catalogue, 1987-1988, Rollins College

Text Materials of Central Florida

Rollins College catalogue 1987-1988 with list of faculty and students and courses by department.

Rollins College Winter Term 1987, Rollins College

Text Materials of Central Florida

Rollins College catalogue with list of faculty and students and courses by department.

Mathematical Modeling Of Continuous Dynamic Systems, Harold H. Klee

Faculty Bibliography 1980s

Mathematical models of physical systems assume several forms depending on their intended use. This paper illustrates the use of a nonlinear and linear model to describe the dynamic response of a particular physical system. A block oriented simulation program, TUTSIM, is presented as the vehicle for obtaining approximate solutions of the nonlinear model. Analytical solution of the small signal linear model is compared to the nonlinear simulation results.

Maximum Entropy Reconstruction Of Moment Coded Images, Nicolaos S. Tzannes, Peter A. Jonnard

Faculty Bibliography 1980s

The maximum entropy principle (MEP) is applied to the problem of reconstructing an image from knowledge of a finite set of its moments. This new approach is compared to the existing method of moments approach and is shown to have a clear edge in performance in all of the applications attempted. Compression ratios more than twice as high as those previously achieved are possible with the new MEP method.

Preparation Of Geminal Diflourodienes, Antonio Landavazo

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This report discusses research involving the preparation of germinal difluorodienes. Free radical addition of dibromodifluoromethane to 1-hexene and cyclohexene was performed, followed by a double dehydrohalogenation to yield 1,1-difluoro-1,3-heptadiene and 3-(difluoromethylene)cyclohexene, respectively. NMR, IR, and mass spectral data were obtained and presented as groundwork for further research. A study comparing the free radical initiators, benzoyl peroxide and 2,2’-azobis-(2-methyl)proprionitrile (AIBN) was included, showing neither as ideal initiators for the free radical additions performed. The relative stabilities of the bromodifluoromethyl and the difluoroiodomethyl radicals were approximated. A Diels-Alder reaction of 1,1-difluoro-1,3-heptadiene with 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione produced the expected [4 + 2] cycloadduct in good …

Hydration Of Propylene To Isopropanol, Nehemiah Diala

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The hydration of propylene to isopropanol was investigated. The first part of this study concerned the direct hydration reaction in various liquid phase systems in the presence of sulfuric acid or p-toluenesulfonic acid. The second part in a two-stage process in which propylene was contacted with excess acetic acid to form isopropyl acetate; the ester was then hydrolyzed to isopropyl alcohol and acetic acid.

The Reaction Of 2-Arylprop-1-En-3-Yltrimethylammonium Iodides With Sulfur Nucleophiles And Useful Synthetic Applications Of These Adducts, Steven J. Duranceau

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This report discusses research involving the reactions of 2-arylprop-1-en-3-yltrimethyl ammonium iodides with sulfur nucleophiles and the useful synthetic applications of the adducts formed. The present work may be subdivided into four sections: 1) reactions of several 2-arylprop-1-en-3-yltrimethylammonium iodides with benzenethiol; 2) reactions of several 2-arylprop-1-en-3-yltrimethylammonium iodides with the sodium salt of benzenesulfinic acid; 3) reactions of several 2-arylprop-1-en-3-yltrimethylammonium iodides with 2-mercapto-1-methyl imidazole; and 4) oxidation of 2-aryl-3-phenylthio-1-propenes and 2-aryl-3-phenylsulfonyl-1-propenes using sodium perborate. This report outlines the experimental conditions and procedures responsible for the synthesis of these products; in addition, this report describes the physical properties, NMR and IR spectra of …

The Slicing Extent Technique For Fast Ray Tracing, Sudhanshu Kumar Semwal

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A new technique for image generation using ray tracing is introduced. The “Slicing Extent Technique” (SET) partitions object space with slicing planes perpendicular to all three axes. Planes are divided into two dimensional rectangular cells, which contain pointers to nearby objects. Cell size and the space between slices varies, and is determined by the objects’ locations and orientations. Unlike oct-tree and other space-partitioning methods, SET is not primarily concerned with dividing space into mutually exclusive volume elements (‘voxels’) and identifying objects within each voxel. Instead, SET is based on analysis of projections of objects onto slicing planes. In comparison to …

Design And Performance Analysis Of A Relational Replicated Database Systems, Jon Gregory Hanson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The hardware organization and software structure of a new database system are presented. This system, the relational replicated database system (RRDS), is based on a set of replicated processors operating on a partitioned database. Performance improvements and capacity growth can be obtained by adding more processors to the configuration. Based on designing goals a set of hardware and software design questions were developed. The system then evolved according to a five-phase process, based on simulation and analysis, which addressed and resolved the design questions. Strategies and algorithms were developed for data access, data placement, and directory management for the hardware …

Job Characteristics Model: Test Of A Modified Four-Trait Model At The University Of Central Florida, Gena L. Cox-Jones

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The study examined the number of significant factors in the Hackman and Oldham (1980) job characteristics model. The original factors were: Skill Variety, Task Significance, Task Identity, Autonomy, and Feedback. Scores on these dimensions for 84 employees of the University of Central Florida (21 supervisory and 63 non-supervisory subjects) were used as the basis for this study through a mail administration of the Hackman and Oldham Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and their Job Rating Form (JRF). It was hypothesized that: (a) only four significant job dimensions would emerge from factor analysis of the data; (b) that the motivating potential ratings …

Applications Of Simulation And Animation In Facilities Planning And Design, William Joseph Mattingly

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments of simulation software have made computer simulation and animation popular system problem-solving techniques. One field that has many potential applications for computer simulation and animation is in the area of facilities planning and design. The purpose of this paper is to provide the facilities planner with information to assist in determining when, why, how and what simulation software should be implemented to solve facilities planning and design problems. Also, the usefulness of simulation and animation to the facilities planner is evaluated and areas for improving software for future application in facilities planning and design are identified. TO assist …

A Rapid Acquisition Technique For Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Systems By A Pn Phase Multiplexed Correlator, Greg S. Rawlins

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

With the proliferation of direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) systems in the communications arena, synchronization techniques that offer improved performance and higher speed are of great value to the spread spectrum designer and user. Matched filter approaches have gained momentum in recent years due to SAW filter technology, while sliding correlators have experienced slower development. This paper introduces a unique multi-phase correlator intended to decrease the mean time to acquire synchronization by exploiting properties of Gold codes and other pseudo-noise (PN) sequences. These properties are used to create a novel signal structure for the local correlator. A brief explanation of …

Implementing Path Control, English Motion Commands And Off Line Programming On Minimover-5 Robot, Mark S. Chen

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

According to Alan L. Porter and Frederick A. Rossini (1987), 50,000 robots are expected to be installed by year 2000. This increasing number of robots to be used in industry has lead to the need for skilled robot operators and programmers. However, to train this specific class of personnel using an industrial robot as a training tool can be expensive and dangerous due to the possibility of robot accidents. Therefore, in order to provide a safe, inexpensive, and effective training tool, the use of the Mini-Mover-5 educational robot is proposed. The MiniMover-5 has only a primitive programming capability. A use-friendly …