Engineering Commons^™

Click-Through-Based Subspace Learning For Image Search, Yingwei Pan, Ting Yao, Xinmei Tian, Houqiang Li, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

One of the fundamental problems in image search is to rank image documents according to a given textual query. We address two limitations of the existing image search engines in this paper. First, there is no straightforward way of comparing textual keywords with visual image content. Image search engines therefore highly depend on the surrounding texts, which are often noisy or too few to accurately describe the image content. Second, ranking functions are trained on query-image pairs labeled by human labelers, making the annotation intellectually expensive and thus cannot be scaled up. We demonstrate that the above two fundamental challenges …

Vireo @ Trecvid 2014: Instance Search And Semantic Indexing, Wei Zhang, Hao Zhang, Ting Yao, Yijie Lu, Jingjing Chen, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper summarizes the following two tasks participated by VIREO group: instance search and semantic indexing. We will present our approaches and analyze the results obtained in TRECVID 2014 benchmark evaluation

Space Separatism: Degree Of Differentiation, Luke R. Stover, Alan A. Johnson

Faculty Publications

Space is so important that the DOD recognizes it as one of five domains in which US forces operate (the other four are land, sea, air, and information). In 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld designated the Department of the Air Force (DAF) the “Executive Agent for Space for the DOD.” Given the national importance of space activities, the formation of a separate space force has been a topic of persistent discussion in academic and doctrinal circles ever since the United States first entered the space age. Proponents of a separate force argue that because space is an inherently unique …

A Microfluidic Device For Thermal Particle Detection, Ashwin Kumar Vutha, Benyamin Davaji, Chung-Hoon Lee, Glenn M. Walker

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We demonstrate the use of heat to count microscopic particles. A thermal particle detector (TPD) was fabricated by combining a 500-nm-thick silicon nitride membrane containing a thin-film resistive temperature detector with a silicone elastomer microchannel. Particles with diameters of 90 and 200 μm created relative temperature changes of 0.11 and −0.44 K, respectively, as they flowed by the sensor. A first-order lumped thermal model was developed to predict the temperature changes. Multiple particles were counted in series to demonstrate the utility of the TPD as a particle counter.

Gammatone And Mfcc Features In Speaker Recognition, Wison Burgos

Theses and Dissertations

The feature analysis component of an Automated Speaker Recognition (ASR) system plays a crucial role in the overall performance of the system. There are many feature extraction techniques available, but ultimately we want to maximize the performance of these systems. From this point of view, the algorithms developed to compute feature components are analyzed. Current state-of-the-art ASR systems perform quite well in a controlled environment where the speech signal is noise free. The objective of this thesis investigates the results that can be obtained when you combine Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and Gammatone Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (GFCC) as feature components …

Fault Detection For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles With Non-Redundant Sensors, Brandon Jeffrey Cannon

Theses and Dissertations

To operate, autonomous systems of necessity employ a variety of sensors to perceive their environment. Many small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are unable to carry redundant sensors due to size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. Faults in these sensors can cause undesired behavior, including system instability. Thus, detection of faults in these non-redundant sensors is of paramount importance.The problem of detecting sensor faults in non-redundant sensors on board autonomous aircraft is non-trivial. Factors that make development of a solution difficult include both an inability to perfectly characterize systems and sensors as well as the SWaP constraints inherent with small UAV. …

Design Considerations In The Development And Actuation Of Origami-Based Mechanisms, Eric W. Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

Origami-based mechanisms have unique characteristics that make them attractive for engineering applications. However, origami-based design is still a developing area of design. Continued work to increase general understanding of key design parameters specific to origami-based mechanisms will increase the ability of designers to capture the potential benefits of origami-based mechanisms. This thesis presents a fundamental study of origami to assist designers in gaining a stronger understanding of the key parameters and capabilities of origami-based mechanisms. As a starting point a study of fundamental motions in action origami models (those that exhibit motions in their folded state) is presented to explore …

Cama Newsletter - October, 2014, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A seven page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Material | Adventure, Diana Wagner

Masters Theses

With the generous support of the RISD Grad Studies|Grant I traveled to London, England to deepen my thesis research of material libraries. This opportunity allowed me to visit the resources that inspired my enthusiasm for materials and to challenge the questions I posed in my thesis research, How we, artists and designers, learn from materials in the context of the library? The sources explored within this book highlight a growing community of academic and research based material collections in London, along with some exceptional exhibitions of materials and process in the context of the museum and archive.

A Passive Membrane Photobioreactor For The Isolated Cultivation Of Algal Resource Utilizing Selectivity (Icarus), With Wastewater As A Feedstock, Ivy Lea Cormier Drexler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Renewed momentum in the microalgae industry due to commercial interest in biofuels and bioproducts is driving the need to increase the economic competitiveness of large-scale microalgal production. Current knowledge of membrane systems common in other disciplines, such as environmental engineering, marine science, and biomedicine, are relevant to algae production. With pore sizes ranging from microns to angstroms, membranes provide tailored functions for solid/liquid separation (cell retention, biomass concentration and dewatering), gas/liquid separation (gas delivery and removal), and solute/liquid separation (bioproduct recovery, feedstock preparation and effluent recycling) that are problematic or not possible with other technologies. Though membranes have great potential …

Analysis Of Advanced Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Cycles For Concentrated Solar Power Applications, Saeb Mostaghim Besarati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solar power tower technology can achieve higher temperatures than the most common commercial technology using parabolic troughs. In order to take advantage of higher temperatures, new power cycles are needed for generating power at higher efficiencies. Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO₂) power cycle is one of the alternatives that have been proposed for the future concentrated solar power (CSP) plants due to its high efficiency. On the other hand, carbon dioxide can also be a replacement for current heat transfer fluids (HTFs), i.e. oil, molten salt, and steam. The main disadvantages of the current HTFs are maximum operating temperature …

The Santa Clara, 2014-10-30, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Second Semi-Annual Program Progress Performance Report For University Transportation Systems, Florida Solar Energy Center, David L. Block

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Electric Vehicle Transportation Center (EVTC) supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's strategic goal of planning for near-term integration of alternative fuel vehicles as a means to build a sustainable transportation system. The project will evaluate technologies, standards and policies to ensure seamless integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into a complex transportation network and electricity grid. The EVTC will bridge the gap between deployment of electric vehicles and the traditional transportation system.

The EVTC's goals were described in detail in the previous Program Progress Performance Report. These goals have not changed significantly and this report provides updates to each of …

Six Things That Need To Change In Ireland's Rental Market, Lorcan Sirr

Media

No abstract provided.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Magnetic Nanostructures, Kevin Scott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic permalloy nanostructures were fabricated onto a silicon wafer using electron beam lithography and a liftoff process. The lithography was performed with a Hitachi SU-70 SEM retrofitted with a Nabity NPGS lithography conversion kit. PMMA of 950kDa molecular weight was used as the photoresist. Features were either nanowires, nanodots, or elliptical or rectangular nanostructures. The nanowires had dimensions of 15µm x 200nm x 40nm, the nanodots had diameters of 145nm and thickness of 12nm, and the ellipses and rectangles had dimensions of 110nm x 50nm x 13nm. Characterization of the nanostructures was performed using the same Hitachi SEM as well …

Using Embedded Systems To Determine The Configuration Of A Static Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Arm, Daniel Ashley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The calibration of a 9 degree of freedom (DOF) robotic manipulator using multiple three axis accelerometers and an embedded system will be accomplished in this work. The 9-DOF robotic system used in this study is a 7-DOF robotic arm attached to a 2-DOF power wheelchair. Combined they create a Wheelchair Mounted Robotic Arm (WMRA). The problem that will be solved by this thesis is the calibration of the robotic system during start up. The 7 DOF robotic arm is comprised of rotational joints only. These joints have dual channel encoders to determine the joint position, among other useful data. The …

Age And Gender Recognition For Speech Applications Based On Support Vector Machines, Hasan Erokyar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Automatic age and gender recognition for speech applications is very important for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that it can improve human-machine interaction. For example, the advertisements can be specialized based on the age and the gender of the person on the phone. It also can help identify suspects in criminal cases or at least it can minimize the number of suspects. Some other uses of this system can be applied for adaptation of waiting queue music where a different type of music can be played according to the person's age and gender. And also using …

Understanding Orbits: Chapters 4-9, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Understanding Orbits: Chapters 4-9" from October 30, 2014.

A Decision Support Model For Personalized Cancer Treatment, Florentino Antonio Rico-Fontalvo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work is motivated by the need of providing patients with a decision support system that facilitates the selection of the most appropriate treatment strategy in cancer treatment. Treatment options are currently subject to predetermined clinical pathways and medical expertise, but generally, do not consider the individual patient characteristics or preferences. Although genomic patient data are available, this information is rarely used in the clinical setting for real-life patient care. In the area of personalized medicine, the advancement in the fundamental understanding of cancer biology and clinical oncology can promote the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer diseases.

The objectives …

Wastewater Nutrient Recovery Using Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Permeate For Hydroponic Fertigation, Jorge Luis Calabria

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The imbalance between global population growth and resource consumption is indicative of unsustainable practices and foreshadows a grim future of continued resource depletion, food and water scarcity, social inequality, and deteriorating public and environmental health. Meanwhile, the urban centers of the world continue to experience exponential growth resulting in overwhelmed food, water, and sanitation infrastructure. Decentralized and satellite wastewater treatment technologies capable of resource recovery, such as anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR), foster synergistic opportunities to help manage the food, energy, and water sectors of urban environments. Specifically, the nutrient concentration and high effluent quality of permeate produced by AnMBR systems …

Flow Induced Vibration On Piezoelectric Structures: Prediction, Experiment And Applications, Felix Ewere

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Reply To ‘Co2 Emissions From Crop Residue-Derived Biofuels’, Adam Liska, Haishun Yang, Matthew P. Pelton, Andrew E. Suyker

Adam Liska Papers

The soil organic carbon (SOC) model that we used was parameterized with data from arable land under normal farming conditions in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, but the equation is insensitive to changes in tillage, soil texture and moisture. The model has reasonable accuracy, however, in predicting changes in SOC, residue remaining and CO₂ emissions from initial SOC, carbon inputs from residue, and daily temperature; the shoot-to-root ratio used in the geospatial simulation was 0.29 (that is, root carbon is 29% of total aboveground carbon), which did not underestimate carbon input to soil (Supplementary Figure 2 in Ref. …

Design Of A Thrust Stand To Introduce Propulsion Concepts In The Classroom, Ethan Hopping

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Adam Dziubanek

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of An Integrated Uav Imaging System For Agricultural Applications, Nishanth Goli

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Jet Breakup Length On The Acoustic Coupling Of Like-Doublet Injectors, Brian Sweeney

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Simulation Of Aerial Trolley Alternative To The Mighty Eagle, Jerry Sweafford

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Measuring Burning Rate Of Solid Rocket Propellant Using X-Ray Radioscopy, Matthew Denny

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Utilizing Springs To Deploy A Forward Drag Device For The Cansat Competition, Evan Tingley, Evan Unruh

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Balloon Diameter Measurement And Altitude Determination Through Gas And Thermal Properties, Geoff Suiter

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.