Engineering Commons^™

An Overview Of Machine Vision, Juan C. Telchi

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to examine new ideas and other useful information on the most recent advances in the robotic vision field. A visual system model was introduced and the basic components of this model were explained. The principal areas in robotic vision were researched. This included two dimension and three dimension vision sensors. Industrial applications and future developments of machine vision systems were addressed. A survey was done to summarize the vision system market and the robot market share worldwide.

Finite Element Analysis Of A Glass Fiber Inclusion, Jeffery R. Southland

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This analysis investigates the micromechanical behavior of a fiber-reinforced composite. Two realistic deviations from the typical set of simplifying assumptions are considered: nonhomogeneous matrix properties and imperfect fiber/matrix bonds. The stress effects due to a soft matrix interlayer at the fiber interface and the loss of a portion of the fiber/matrix interface bond are examined. The analysis is performed with the ANSYS finite element program. The effects of higher order shape functions and different mesh densities are studied. The final results are compared to a previous analysis performed at Florida Technological University (now University of Central Florida) which utilized a …

Polar Spectrum Coding, Daniel Harris Chapman

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Polar Spectrum Coding is a novel speech coding algorithm for narrowband voice communications. A polar Fourier transform of the signal is computed, and the magnitude and phase of the speech spectrum is encoded for transmission. The correlation between frames of speech signals is exploited to minimize the transmission rate required for intelligible speech. At the receiver, the encoded words are decoded and the spectrum reconstructed. An inverse Fourier transform is performed, and the result is the reconstructed speech waveform. Polar Spectrum Coding theory is explained. The sensitivities of various parameters on performance are explored, and performance in the presence of …

Analysis Of Phase Noise In Phase Lock Loop, Diane Marie Pavik

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This research report presents an introduction into phase lock loops (PLL) with a major emphasis on calculating phase noise in frequency synthesizers. A PLL model that incorporates the major sources of noise is presented for the purpose of design analysis. The model can be used to analyze second and fifth order PLLs which allows the accurate calculation of phase noise as a function of independent variable design parameters. The stability of PLLs is also analyzed to show the effects of a marginally stable system on the resultant phase noise. Developing an accurate PLL model which accounts for the major sources …

Axisymmetric Wave Propagation In A Finite Linear Elastic Cylinder, Brian D. Johnson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This work addresses the linear elastic analysis of axisymmetric wave propagation in a finite elastic cylinder. The waves are generated by the Fast Triaxial Device (FTRXD), which fails soil specimens at very rapid rates. The very short duration of the triaxial tests requires the consideration of wave phenomena in the analysis of the test results.

The soil specimens are modeled as linear elastic cylinders which are compressed in the axial direction. The resulting axisymmetric waves are analyzed with the wave equations which are cast in finite difference form, allowing the solution of displacements and stresses throughout the cylinder as a …

Radiant Barriers: A Question And Answer Primer, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Attic radiant barriers made of aluminum foil are becoming a popular way for homeowners to save energy and money in Southern states. They are increasing in popularity for two reasons. First, tests by the Florida Solar Energy Center and other groups show that they work. Second, manufacturers are improving the quality of radiant barrier materials.

To most homeowners, attic radiant barriers are a new energy conservation concept; many of them have questions about how radiant barriers work and how to use them. This Energy Note answers some of the most commonly asked questions. It also recommends ways to install radiant …

Procedures For Calculating Natural Ventilation Airflow Rates In Buildings. 03-87, Florida Solar Energy Center, Subrato Chandra

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This is the final report of ASHRAE research project 448-RP "Building Pressure Distribution for Natural Ventilation" initiated in October 1985. The objective of the research was to review the worldwide data on building pressure coefficient and to assimilate the data for use in hourly calculation of natural ventilation airflow rates in buildings. This report is organized in two parts. Part 1 is written for the user who wants to use the information. Part 2 provides the background and research data analysis which was conducted to come up with the Part 1 information.

Field Data Delivery - Thermal Performance Field Monitoring Of Various Conservation Construction Techniques. Final Report, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Cromer

FSEC Energy Research Center®

No abstract provided.

Heat Pipe Application Program, Florida Solar Energy Center, Mukesh Khattar

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Florida Solar Energy Center has begun a project to develop a high efficiency air conditioner/dehumidifier using heat pipes between the warm return and cold supply air streams. Such systems will save energy in hot, humid climates.

Effect Of Non-Ideal Sampling On The Discrete Fourier Transforms Of An Object Function, Karen Marie Macdougall

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Fourier Series and Fourier Transforms can be used to determine the frequency content of a continuous signal. This paper investigates the situation where a two dimensional object function is sampled by a detector array of a finite size. Continuous Fourier analysis is not applicable to sampled data, so the Discrete Fourier Transform is used. The similarities and differences between the discrete and continuous cases are discussed and consideration is made as to how the spectrum is altered when the normal assumptions of ideal sampling and recovery are not made.

Feasibility Of Pulsed Air Operation In A Fixed Film Biological Reactor, Harry C. Pepper Iii

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

An investigation was made into pulsed air sparging in a downflow, fixed film biological reactor receiving domestic wastewater feed (primary effluent). The pulsed mode of aeration was compared to continuous flow or non-pulsed aeration based on BOD₅ and TSS removals. The reactor utilized 0.19 to 0.20 in. (ES) gravel media with a 5.5 ft. depth. Automatic backwashing was initiated by a high loss of head condition through a programmable controller. Average backwash water-volume as a percent of product water was, under stable operation, 16 to 18%.

The pilot plan was operated for a period of three and one-half months. …

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 …

Amplification Of Video Signal Conditioner Circuit Design, Phuoc K. Nguyen

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Charge Injection Device (CID) has recently become a popular imaging device due to its versatility and high performance. The UCF's Electro-Optics Laboratory currently uses the TN 2505A, a General Electric solid state CID surveillance camera as an imager in an image processing system. The model offers two useful amplification techniques for video signal under low light condition: electronic gain boost and extended integration. This report describes the design and implementation of an external interface circuit that enables utilization of these two amplification techniques on the TN 2505A.

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 …

Design For Conversion Of Ucf's Supersonic Wind Tunnel To A Wind Tunnel With Hypersonic Capability, Huseyin S. Sivasligil

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A supersonic wind tunnel, currently in existence at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, is examined to determine feasibility for conversion to a wind tunnel with hypersonic capability. Computational data are presented, and the determination is made that the existing wind tunnel can be converted if alterations and additions are made. These changes include replacement of the existing two dimensional nozzle with a two dimensional nozzle specifically designed for operation at Mach number 7, and the addition of a vacuum tank and heater. The use of an axisymmetric nozzle design is recommended for conversion to Mach numbers higher …

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 …

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 …

Capacity Planning In A Discrete Item Manufacturing Environment, Ali M. Alsebaiee

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Capacity planning is a medium-to-long- term production planning tool that enables management to better understand how the demand of its customers have and will affect the available capacity planning. For a successful production and planning control system, management needs to consider the availability of not only the materials and component, but also the required manufacturing capacity. Several capacity planning techniques that deal with capacity planning in a discrete item manufacturing (job shop environment) are discussed in this report. These are Resource Requirement Planning, Rough Cut Capacity Planning, Capacity Requirement Planning, Operation Sequence, Input Output, and Simulation. A computerized capacity planning …

Continuous Statistical Distribution Curve Fitting And Analysis Tool, Gerald Robie

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This paper reports on the implementation and utilization of a micro-computer based simulation modeling verification and validation tool. The interactive software tool, written in BASIC, computes and displays the frequency distribution of a given set of input data, computes appropriate parameters for a continuous statistical distribution which the user selects as likely to represent the population from which the input data sample was obtained, performs several goodness-of-fit analyses on the resultant distribution and provides sensitivity analysis capability on the input data, distribution type selection and distribution parameters.

Implementation Of A Parallel Ynet Architecture, Julie Nadeau Leblanc

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A simulation of an alternate implementation of a redundant busing network based on the Teradata Ynet architecture is presented. An overview of the Teradata DBC/1012 data base parallel processing computer including the Ynet, an active logic busing network, is given. Other multiprocessor busing networks are examined and compared to the standard Ynet and the alternate Ynet.

In the standard Ynet system, two networks, called Ynets, process message packets concurrently. When one of the Ynet paths fails, the system is reset. The remaining Ynet path restarts using the previously interrupted packets and processing continues without the aid of the failed Ynet. …

Integration Of Computer Generated Images With Ntsc Video, Keith E. Lorenz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

From the growing field of computer graphics comes the need to combine the computer graphics with video from other sources. Combining video from separate sources creates a problem since both sources are synchronous to each other. The objective of this research report is to present a hardware design approach that will combine two asynchronous video sources to produce one video picture. The combining of two video sources is called “overlaying.” The hardware design described in this report will overlay video from a Digital Equipment Computer PRO-350 with the video from an RS-170 video source. The design approach presented includes system …

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.

A Simulation Study Of A Limited Sensing Random Access Algorithm For A Local Area Network With Voice Users, Robert M. Spillers

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the perfonnance of a limited sensing random access algorithm in a local area network with voice users. Random access algorithms have proven to be very efficient in local area network environments with data users. However, in contrast to data packets, voice packets cannot be allowed to experience long delays, because of the requirement that a voice "data stream" must be played out at the receiver. If a voice packet does exceed its established maximum delay, it is discarded. This simulation study finds the number of voice users that a network can support, …

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 …

Evaluation Of Concrete Pavement Performance With Related Cracking And/Or Voids Under I-10 Concrete Pavement, Cecil R. Henderson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Under existing concrete highway payments there are voids that develop because of the pumping action of the slabs. The presence of free water, curled slabs from temperature and moisture gradients, and heavy wheel loads combine to provide this problem. The result is pumping and erosion of the base material, nonuniform support of the pavement slab, and eventual breakup of the concrete slabs. Two methods of voids detection were utilized in this study to compare one against the other. The first method used the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) and the second method used the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) unit. Deflection readings …

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 …

Extending The Power Bandwidth Of A Piezoelectric Bender Actuator, Jerrold Pavlinko

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Scanning mirrors are a control element used in electrooptical systems. A scanning mirror system is a position control system that directs an image to an optical receiver or projects the output of an optical source to a target. A scanning mirror, as part of an infrared image generation system, could be used to scan an array of infrared detectors with a television camera to produce a raster image. Conversely, a scanning mirror could be part of a laser engraving system where the mirror moves the laser beam across the surface of a material to engrave characters, drawings in the material.

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 …