Digital Commons Network^™

An Implementation Of Bionomial-Qmf For Subband Coding Of Speech, Feng Chen

Theses

A real-time subband speech codec is implemented by the author on TMS320C25 digital signal processor based hardware for speech compression down to 0.25 bit per sample.

The Binomial Quadrature Mirror Filters (B-QMFs) are employed as the basic block for the hierarchical, dynamic tree, analysis/synthesis filter bank. After the analysis, available bits are optimally allocated among subbands. Band statistics are updated to overcome the nonstationarities of speech signal.

The energy compaction performance of this codec is compared with different subband and DCT in simulations for speech signals and AR(1) source models.

It is shown that the speech codec implemented provides an …

Design And Development Of An Automated Assembly System In A Discrete Manufacturing Environment, Sandeep K. Desai

Theses

This work is dedicated to extend the technology of automated assembly to include small and thin parts, light in weight. As the parts are thin a problem exists in the feeding process and orientation. The objective of project is to overcome this difficulty. The main theme of this thesis is to reduce labor cost and to improve productivity and quality of assembly operations by introducing low cost automation in the companies having discrete manufacturing environment.

An example of assembly involving a thin part has been selected. Two components from an electrical switch assembly are chosen, namely the spring and rivet. …

Design Of An Advanced Control Algorithm For A Nuclear Power Plant Feedwater Control System, Randall C. Ezzo

Theses

Electric power companies with nuclear power plants have been aggressively looking for ways to increase plant safety and availability by increasing the reliability and performance of the plant's control systems. The performance of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Station's feedwater control system can be significantly improved by replacing the proportional-integral compensator with a compensator based on modern control concepts. In response to a -10 inch reactor water level setpoint change, settling time is improved from 107 seconds with 3% overshoot to 34 seconds with no overshoot.

Editing Digital Audio Using A Perceptual Model, J. Mark Goode

Theses

In this paper we describe an intelligent system used to aid an audio recording producer in the selection of edit points in a musical sequence. It is possible to make meaningful recommendations concerning auditory input data without the ability to fully classify that data or interpret all outside goals. Perceptual modeling of the auditory input can allow sufficient reasoning ability for an intelligent system to be of use editing digital audio. To create a perceptual model, the information which can be extracted by the ear is embodied in several expert sections which communicate with a rule based decision maker via …

Advanced Manufacturing Applications Of Cost Estimating Techniques For Metal Cutting Industries, Zubair Hamid

Theses

In this work, different cost estimating techniques in metal cutting industry were studied. A basic understanding of estimation concepts were given. The typical breakdown of total cost was also given and discussed in details. Practical applications of cost estimating is studied. The effect of different parameters which relate to the lot sizes or quantity were discussed. All these results show that total cost is minimum at a point which is called least cost point, after that cost increases because of the addition of extra resources, in terms of man, machine and increase in administrative expenses.

Bridge Deterioration Models, Christopher R.H. Howard

Theses

The deteriorated condition of America's bridges raises the need for a proper and optimal method of bridge management, from the conceptual stage through the construction stage, and throughout the useful life of our bridges. State agencies need to expand their data collection process so as to include additional information pertinent to the formulation of a credible system. This is critical in order to accommodate increased research efforts to investigate the behavioral pattern/s of the nations bridges and to eventually optimize bridge management systems. This thesis looks at the bridge deterioration model as a vital tool in realizing more effective bridge …

Development Of An Expert System For The Safety Of Workers From Electrical Hazards At Work Place, Faizul Islam

Theses

This thesis presents the development of an expert system for the safety of workers from electrical hazards at work place.

The objective of this work is to show how an expert system within the workplace can be used in helping to create an effective safety program.

An effective expert system for electrical safety have been developed for the workers to prevent accidents from electrical hazards using the safety regulations of Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The regulations developed by OSHA have been incorporated in rule based expert system which can be accessed by any non computer professional and the system …

Response Characteristics Of Inelastic Single Degree Of Freedom Systems Subjected To Intraplate Earthquakes, Linda C. Jones

Theses

Within recorded, although not recent, history, there have been several large magnitude earthquakes in the Eastern and Central United States and the need to provide measures to protect from potential damage is recognized by the engineering community. Since there are inherent differences between earthquakes that occur along tectonic plate boundaries, interplate, and those that occur within the plate boundaries, intraplate, it is important to understand how these differences impact structural design. A parametric study of single degree of freedom systems subjected to various recorded and artificial ground motions was performed to identify the variations in response characteristics.

It was found …

Vision-Guided Servoing Robot Arm System, Shing Lee

Theses

This thesis investigate the problem of tracking 2-D circle parts with an eye-in-hand robot arm system. A vision module capable of measuring the motion of a circle is developed. Two algorithms based on the conic equation representation of circle and the symmetric property are developed. The first algorithm approximates the image of the circle as an ellipse. The second algorithm use the arc radius estimator to extract two image points of the circle located at the center of the largest arc. These image points are then used to solve for the inverse perspective transformation. An inverse kinematics solution based on …

Development Of Cellular Manufacturing Systems For Overall Production Efficiency, Srinivas Lokula

Theses

For years the industrial job shop is facing an increase in complexity and decline in productivity due to increase in parts mix, volume of parts, plant size, machine production rates and part complexity. The development of Group Technology and Cellular Manufacturing seeks to eliminate or minimize complexity and to maximize productivity.

Cellular manufacturing is the physical division of job shop's manufacturing machinery into production cells. Each cell is designed to produce parts requiring similar machinery and machine operations. Cellular manufacturing is one of the best manufacturing techniques to support Just In Time manufacturing and Total Quality Management.

This thesis work …

Design For Manufacturability (Computer Aided Optimum Gear Design), Narayan R. Mareddy

Theses

Design for manufacturing has design as the first manufacturing step. It is important to recognize the importance of design clubing with manufacturing to reduce the production, set up time. In this thesis concepts of design, manufacturing and four different ways of bringing design and manufacturing together are discussed in detail.

As there are large number of variables in the gear rating equations, it is very difficult to achieve optimum design by manual methods unless an extensive trial and error process is carried out. An algorithm has been developed which allows rapid convergence to the optimum gear design. The algorithm has …

Computer Aided Design Of A Broadband Microwave Power Divider, Jaideep Mukherjee

Theses

The purpose of this thesis to provide alternative design procedure for a power divider that has broadband characteristics. The Wilkinson power divider consisting of cascaded quarter wave sections is known to increase the bandwidth while maintaining high isolation and good match conditions at individual ports. Resistors placed between the quarter wave sections served to increase isolation. The values of required components were determined using odd and even mode analysis. In this work, the approximate theory developed previously is used as a preliminary design model, and it is extended further by considering optimization techniques and coupling between adjacent arms. This novel …

Study Of A Non-Contact Gaging System Of Inspection, Gordhanbhai Ketan Patel

Theses

The quality control function has traditionally been performed using manual inspection methods and statistical sampling procedures. Manual inspection is generally a time - consuming procedure which involves precise, yet monotonous work. It often requires that parts be removed from the vicinity of the production machines to a separate inspection area. This causes delays and often constitutes a bottleneck in the manufacturing schedule.

As a solution to the above problem a Non - Contact Gaging System developed by Optical Gaging Products, Inc., has been used here to study the feasibility of using an automated inspection system and a procedure of developing …

Implementing Computer Numerical Control Machine Tools In A Job Shop Environment, Rajesh Shah

Theses

Computer Numerical Control is one important phase to overall application of computer on the shopfloor. Today a large variety of CNC machine tools are offered by manufacturer following different standards. This thesis is organized with the purpose of comparing various technical and economical considerations for CNC machine tool purchase and application. The main purpose of study is to mention various features of CNC machine tools and its possible integration which can reduce product lead time and improve quality. General replacement minimum cost model is discussed with case study for economic justification of machine purchase. While discussing technical features emphasis is …

Strength And Fragility Of Concrete, Kang-Qun Shao

Theses

It is known that both strength and fragility are two of the most important properties in concrete. In this research, theories of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, Thermodynamics and Fracture Mechanics are used to study the relationships between the macromechanical behavior of concrete and the microstructure in concrete. The objectives of this research are therefore to find some effective ways to explain theoretically why the concrete is so brittle (fragile) and how to increase its strength or to decrease its fragility. Based on the present studies, an equation is formulated to calculate the coefficient of the fragility (or brittleness) of …

A Synthesis Technique Of General Petri Nets For Flexible Manufacturing And Multi-Rate Digital Signal Processing, Murthy S. Valluri

Theses

General Petri nets are useful for modeling flexible manufacturing system with multiple robots and workstations [KOH 90] and for multi-rate digital signal processing systems [CHA 91].. A problem of using Petri nets for modeling various systems is the large number of states generated. Various synthesis approaches have been proposed. Most of them do not deal with general Petri nets. Koh et. al. [KOH 90] invented a synthesis technique for generalized Petri nets. The purpose of this thesis is to extend their work by modifying the knitting technique by adding the Arc-Ratio rule.

Automated Eeg Analysis And Spike Detection, Walter Vanderschraaf

Theses

EEG analysis of epileptic patients is extremely time consuming. Patients are monitored up to 36 hours at a time. The neurologist must visually review stacks of EEG records to determine whether they contain epileptic or artifactual activity. This process is very subjective and can vary from one neurologist to another based on his or her training and experience. The neurologist is only human and may tire or lose his or her concentration. Automated EEG analysis can efficiently reduce the amount of data and time involved in analysis. It is also more consistent and objective than human analysis.

The main objective …

Extension And Applications Of Knitting Technique For Petri Net Synthesis, Yanzhong Zhang

Theses

Petri nets have been used for modeling and analyzing various systems [1,2,3,4,8]. One approach to Petri net synthesis is a knitting technique [4,5, 6,7]. It was developed for modeling concurrent systems. The Petri net model is incrementally expanded by adding paths of nodes according to rules. To extend the knitting technique to cover synchronized systems, a set of new rules based on synchronic distance concept is presented. The rules penult synchronizing M exclusive processes (M 2) to a synchronic distance of any positive integer N. They can be applied to both exclusive processes and independent processes. The resulting Petri net …

Simulation And Modeling Of Kinetics Of Silicon Oxidation In The Thin Oxide Regime, Tirthankar Dutta

Theses

Thermal oxidation of Silicon in dry O₂, in the thin regime(< 500A) is of vital importance to VLSI device engineers, because thin layers of SiO₂ are exclusively used as gate dielectric for high performance of MOS devices. There exist a number of models to explain the kinetics of oxidation in this thin regime. However there is considerable variance among them and the reported rate constants, which are supposed to describe the oxidation process. Rather than arriving at an alternative model, the present study aims at an extensive study and simulation of existing models of oxidation in dry oxygen, in the thin regime, with a recent set of experimental data and …

Measurement Of The Removal Of Selected Vocs From A Municipal Treatment Plant, Hong Yu

Theses

Industrial wastewater contains a variety of volatile chemical constituents. The large majority of the volatiles are organics. Many of these volatile or¬ganic compounds (VOCs) end up in the effluent to wastewater treatment plants. It is necessary to estimate the emission of the VOCs from sewerage plants in order to study the fate of these volatile organic compounds.

This study focuses on the estimation and comparison of the emission of 28 volatile organic compounds from the water and air in four operation units of Linden Roselle Sewerage Authority (LRSA) wastewater treatment plant. The removal rates of these target compounds have been …

Analytical Methodology For Atm Control Panel Design, Donald C. Johnson

Theses

This thesis presents a methodology for control panel design and layout along with a case study of an automated teller machine (ATM). A predictive model of human endurance and fatigue is developed from anthropometric, biomechanical and kinematics research. The layout problem is formulated to assign controls to locations to minimize the fatigue imposed on an operator performing a known set of tasks. A family of optimal and near-optimal layouts are found using conventional algorithms. The final hardware design refinements are suggested by human factors concerns. Ergonomic guidelines are also proposed for software aspects of the design. The methods and guidelines …

A Study In Systems Integration Architecture, Sashidhar M. Prasad

Theses

This Thesis studies the two architectures OSCA and ANSA which support the ODPSE principle in the first two parts. In the third part the framework for integrating these two architectures is described. The idea of integration architectures in relation to open architectures is studied using the enabling technologies.

Computer-Aided Process Planning (Capp) Sorich, Sohail Pirzada

Theses

The last two decades have witnessed the increasing role of the computer in the process planning function. This has been further enhanced by the advent of the knowledge based expert system, and its impact on Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). CAPP has emerged as a strategic link between design and manufacture. This thesis discusses the various methods used in the process planning function. Group Technology (GT) plays a pivotal role in establishing CAPP. The utilization of Artificial Intelligence techniques in CAPP is listed. This study also presents an Interactive Software adaptive to product/part configuration variables.

Redesign Of Parts And Simulation Of Flexible Assembly Cell For Safety Water Shower Assembly, Balraj Y. Gardilla

Theses

A Design for Assembly (DSA) method is used to analyze the safety water shower assembly and to redesign the components with emphasis on meeting the criteria of allowing for flexible Assembly Cell (FAS). An Expert System is developed to select the right Assembly using VP-Expert. This thesis contrasts the old and new safety water shower assembly designs and describes the design of a final Flexible Assembly Cell. A PUMA 550 robot was investigated for use in the cell design. The flexible Assembly cell is simulated on silicon graphics using the IGRIP software. The economics of each part presentation method is …

Error Detection And Correction In Compressed Data, Nadir Sezgin

Theses

Encoded data is very sensitive to the channel errors. Especially if the data is compressed by Arithmetic Encoding procedure, then the error propagation is very high. The error propagation in Arithmetic Coding is studied. Exploiting the high error propagation property when compressing data by Arithmetic encoding procedure, two different algorithms have been proposed for error detection and correction. Under certain conditions these algorithms detect and with a very high probability correct the errors introduced to the compressed data.

The Biological Basis Of Schizophrenia, Franz Sugarman

Theses

None provided.

Conscious Conscience, Michael B. Easley

Theses

None provided.

Pendulum: Controlling An Inverted Pendulum Using Fuzzy Logic, Scott Houchin J.

Theses

None provided.

Contextual Trappings: A Strategy Of Contradiction, Richard Metzgar

Theses

The focus of this thesis is to examine a multiplicity of ideas in which the presence of contradiction is the unifying component. This "process" of examination has been decidedly "expansive." I am emphasizing process and expansive because these terms could best describe the underlying philosophical attitude driving this body of work; process in relation to both conceptual as well as material considerations. Conceptually, I have given myself the opportunity to examine a broad range of issues, understanding the realization that all levels of worldly stimuli become raw material for an artistic statement. Similarly, in regards to material approaches, selecting the …

Investigation Of Observer Variability Using A New Method For Determining Color Matching Functions, Amy D. North

Theses

The Munsell Color Science Laboratory has developed a new method for determining color matching functions. It relies on a mathematical model that expresses color matching functions as the product of linear transforms of the cone action spectra and variable transmittances of the lens and macula for each observer. With this model, the full spectral tristimulus functions can be computed from a minimum of five visual matches. A visual colorimeter was designed to implement the MCSL model. The current instrument utilizes CRT primaries and seven interference filters to make matches to simulated daylight in a 2 bipartite field. The system was …