This thesis describes a method to create local maps from an omni-directional vision system (ODVS) mounted on a mobile robot. Range finding is performed by a structure-from-motion method, which recovers the three-dimensional position of objects in the environment from omni-directional images. This leads to map-making, which is accomplished using certainty grids to fuse information from multiple readings into a two-dimensional world model. The system is demonstrated both on noise-free data from a custom-built simulator and on real data from an omni-directional vision system on-board a mobile robot. Finally, to account for the particular error characteristics of a real omni-directional vision sensor, a new sensor model for the certainty grid framework is also created and compared to the traditional sonar sensor model.

The world is dependent on the production of oil and gas, and every day the demand increases. Technologies have to keep up with the demand of this resource to keep the world running. Since hydrocarbons are finite and will eventually run out, the increasing demand of oil and gas is the impetus to search for oil in more difficult and challenging areas. One challenging area is offshore in ultradeep water, with water depths greater than 5000 ft. This is the new arena for drilling technology. Unfortunately with greater challenges there are greater risks of losing control and blowing out a well. A dynamic kill simulator was developed in late 2004 to model initial conditions of a blowout in ultradeep water and to calculate the minimum kill rate required to kill a blowing well using the dynamic kill method. The simulator was simple and efficient, but had limitations; only vertical wells could be simulated. To keep up with technology, modifications were made to the simulator to model directional wells. COMASim (Cherokee, Offshore Technology Research Center, Minerals Management Service, Texas A&M Simulator) is the name of the dynamic kill simulator. The new version, COMASim1.0, has the ability to model almost any type of wellbore geometry when provided the measured and vertical depths of the well. Eighteen models with varying wellbore geometry were simulated to examine the effects of wellbore geometry on the minimum kill rate requirement. The main observation was that lower kill rate requirement was needed in wells with larger measured depth. COMASim 1.0 cannot determine whether the inputs provided by the user are practical; COMASim 1.0 can only determine if the inputs are incorrect, inconsistent or cannot be computed. If unreasonable drilling scenarios are input, unreasonable outputs will result. COMASim1.0 adds greater functionality to the previous version while maintaining the original framework and simplicity of calculations and usage.

Otoliths are stone-like structures in the inner ear of fish that play a crucial role in fish hearing. The original object of this research was to determine if any rocking motion was present in an otolith suspended in tissue phantom when subjected to a plane acoustic wave. Measuring the motion of an actual otolith proved to be beyond the limits of project's resources, so an aluminum hemisphere suspended in water was studied instead. The hemisphere was chosen because it was the easiest shape to measure accurately, had the asymmetry necessary to investigate the relevant physics, and had been the subject of some theoretical modeling. A plane standing wave was generated in a short open ended thick-walled cylindrical-waveguide with the waveguide's axis perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the hemisphere. Measurements were taken along the hemisphere from top to bottom to determine if any rocking actually occurred. The expected vertical vibrational motion and symmetry-forbidden horizontal vibrational motion were also measured. The horizontal displacement of the hemisphere at each point was determined by using an ultrasonic vibrometer. The vertical motion was measured using alternative other sensors and methods, such as an accelerometer and Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). The results from this experiment showed a small amount of rocking, but less than predicted. The vertical motion was around ten times greater in magnitude than the rocking motion at the edge, where it is largest. Additional follow-up experiments were then conducted to determine if any experimental artifacts, such as position in the tank and method of mounting, contributed to the overall result. Additional testing was then done on a series of semicircular cylinders to determine if their motion matched theoretical predictions. In this case, rocking was also present and was found to be on the order of the motion of the hemispheres. This motion was found to be smaller than published theoretical results. These results can ultimately be used to predict and understand the motion of more complex geometries, like otoliths.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Walker, Bruce N.; Committee Member: Corballis, Paul M.; Committee Member: Corso, Gregory M.; Committee Member: Folds, Dennis J.; Committee Member: Houtsma, Adrianus J. M. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 179 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 158-179).

The small carrier wavelength at millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) frequencies allows the possibility of implementing a large number of antennas on a single chip. This work uses the potential of large antenna arrays at these frequencies to develop a low-complexity directional modulation technique: Antenna Subset Modulation (ASM) for point-to-point secure wireless communication. The main idea in ASM is to communicate information by modulating the far-field radiation pattern of the array at the symbol rate. By driving only a subset of antennas and changing the subset used for each symbol transmission the far-field pattern is modulated. Two techniques for implementing antenna subset selection are proposed. The first technique is simple where the antenna subset to be used is selected at random for every symbol transmission. While randomly switching antenna subsets does not affect the symbol modulation for a desired receiver along the main lobe direction, it effectively randomizes the amplitude and phase of the received symbol for an eavesdropper along a sidelobe. Using a simplified statistical model for random antenna subset selection, an expression for the average symbol error rate (SER) is derived as a function of observation angle for linear arrays. To overcome the problem of large peak sidelobe level in random antenna subset switching, an optimized antenna subset selection procedure based on simulated annealing is then discussed. Finally, numerical results comparing the average SER performance of the proposed techniques against conventional array transmission are presented. While both methods produce a narrower information beam-width in the desired direction, the optimized antenna subset selection technique is shown to offer better security and array performance. / text

This Master Thesis was performed in terms of robotic three dimensional friction stir welding with T-butt joint. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid state welding method that achieves the weld temperature by friction of a rotating non-consumable tool with the workpiece. Science and technology fast developing requires for higher seam quality and more complex welding joint geometry like 3D welds. In order to acquire high productivity, capacity and flexibility with acceptable cost, robotic FSW solution have been proposed. Instead of the standard FSW machine, using a robot to perform complicated welds such as, three-dimensional. In this report, a solution for weld a 3D T-butt joint, which located in an aluminium cylinder with 1.5 mm thickness using a robot, was developed. Moreover, two new paths were investigated in order to avoid the use of two welds to perform this type of joint. The paths were tested on 2D and on 3D (with a 5050 curvature radius) geometries. Both paths had good results. What is more, the parameter developing methods of FSW process, which is composed of necessary parameter setting, positional compensation was introduced. Specially,the study demonstrates how complicate geometry can be welded using a robot. Also,it shows that TWT temperature control is able to acquire high quality 3D welds. In addition, an analysis of the 2D welding and 3D welding was performed, which exposed that, keeping exactly the same welding conditions, higher lateral forces on the tool were found during 3D welding. Basis on the special case in this paper, when the tool goes like "climbing" the sample, the suffering force of tool decreasing with increasing the height(Z position); nevertheless, when the tool goes like "downhill", the suffering force of tool decreasing with decreasing the height (Z position). What is more, in 2D weld, increasing the downforce (Fz) results increasing the lateral forces which can be Fx and/or Fy. Finally, the future works suggestions were presented in terms of (1) performing the new paths into a real cylinder, (2) performing tensile test on the paths and comparing it with conventional path which weld twice, (3) researching how the downforce (Fz) influence the Fx and Fy during welding of different 3D geometries, (4) how the cooling rate of backing bar influence the seam quality when it is use the same welding parameters and (5) the effect of performing welds in the same welding temperature achieved with different combination of the tool rotational speed and downforce on the material properties

Polymer-based electro-optical modulators are, generally, applicable to many fields but their applications to analog optical links and silicon photonic integrated circuits are specifically emphasized in this dissertation. This dissertation aims to improve the linearity characteristics of polymer-based electro-optic modulators for their practical application in high speed analog optical links. Domain-inversion technique is employed to linearize a two-section Y-fed directional coupler modulator. The spurious free dynamic range as high as 119dB/Hz2/3 has been demonstrated with 11dB enhancement over the conventional Mach-Zehnder modulator at low frequency. For high speed modulation, a traveling wave electrode with low RF loss and large bandwidth is designed and installed in a linearized Y-fed directional coupler modulator. The spurious free dynamic range has been measured in the range of 110±3dB/Hz2/3 at 2~8GHz frequency. For digital application of polymer-based electro-optic modulators, a hybrid silicon photonic crystal waveguide modulator was investigated with focus on size-reduction and electro-optic efficiency enhancement. The slow group velocity of photonic crystal waveguides promises two orders of magnitude size-reduction in device footprint compared with the conventional strip waveguide. Infiltration of an electro-optic polymer into the slot waveguide can infuse silicon with nonlinear optical properties. To actualize these benefits of a hybrid silicon photonic crystal waveguide modulator, nano-fabrication process was developed and optimized in this work. / text

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We have designed a system suitable for auditory electroencephalographic (EEG) experiments, with the objective of enabling studies of auditory motion. This thesis details the perceptual cues involved in spatial auditory experiments, and compares a number of spatial panning algorithms while examining their suitability to this purpose. A behavioural experiment involving perception of static auditory objects was used in an attempt to differentiate these panning algorithms. This study was used to inform the panner choice used in an auditory EEG experiment. This auditory EEG experiment involved the effects of discontinuity in velocity and position, and their affects on object perception. A new event related potential (ERP) component – the lateralized object related negativity (LORN) – was identified, and we consider its significance. libnetstation, a library for connecting with the NetStation (EEG) system has been developed, and released as open source software. / viii, 61 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm