Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 282-294).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliography.

With an increasing emphasis on personal privacy, security, and convenience, the security of identification system is an important issue nowadays. In this thesis, two intelligent identification systems, laser speckle image identification system and laser-based finger biometric system, are proposed to perform superior solutions for identification applications. In laser speckle image identification system, we investigated the characteristics of laser speckle as well as proposed an appropriate algorithm to establish this system. The proposed algorithm is a coarse-to-fine process which identifies laser speckle images systematically. In laser-based finger biometric system, a new biometric approach is described to proceed personal identification using a scanner with a low power laser scans across the surface of the finger and continuously recording the reflected intensity at a fixed position. Experimental results show that the recognition rates of the proposed system are both 100%.

Automatic identification system is a prominent technology used in warehouses to give managers real time information of their products and assistance to warehouse employees in keeping an accurate inventory record. This kind of assistance is needed as an inaccurate inventory leads to profit loss due to misplacement or other mistakes. This project cooperated with an organization called Stora Enso specifically one of their forest nursery to find a solution to improve their inventory management system. Their current inventory system is a manual process which leads to mistakes occurring that affects the inventory accuracy. This thesis project evaluates automatic identification systems to observe if the technology is a possible solution and aims to answer the research question ”What are the significant impacts an automatic identification system has on an inventory management system?”. From the automatic identification evaluation one system is picked for further evaluation and due to its advantages radio frequency identification (RFID) is picked. To evaluate RFID in a warehouse setting a discrete-event simulation was created that simulates the forest nursery’s warehouse. The simulation is then used to evaluate the impact of different RFID implementations and their respective cost. The simulation results show that just a simple RFID implementation can improve inventory accuracy and remove some of the mistakes a manual system has with a relatively low direct cost. It also shows that a full RFID implementation that gives full visibility of a warehouse can almost remove inventory mistakes however the cost analysis shows that it requires a large investment.

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This document reports on a hands-on project aimed at learning and experiencing the concept of system-of-systems. The motivation behind this project is to study and implement the concept of System of Systems in the generation of a RF-based communication and control complex system. The goal of this project is to develop a multi-level integrated and complete system in which the vehicles that belong to a same network can become aware of their location, communicate with nearby vehicles (sometimes with no visible line of sight), be notified of the presence of different objects located in their immediate vicinity (obstacles, such as abundant vehicles), and generate a two dimensional representation of the vehicles’ location for a remote user. In addition, this system will be able to transmit back messages from the remote user to a specific or to all local vehicles. The end result is a demonstration of a complex, functional, and robust system built and tested for other projects to use and learn from. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Levels of underwater noise in the open ocean have been increasing since at least the 1960s due to growth in global shipping traffic and the speed and propulsion power of vessels. This rise in noise levels reduces the range over which vocal marine species can communicate, and can induce physiological stress and behavioural responses, which may ultimately have population-level consequences. Although long-term noise trends have been studied at some open-ocean sites, in shallower coastal regions the high spatiotemporal variability of noise levels presents a substantial methodological challenge, and trends in these areas are poorly understood. This thesis addresses this challenge by introducing new techniques which combine multiple data sources for ship noise assessment in coastal waters. These data include Automatic Identification System (AIS) ship-tracking data, shore-based time-lapse footage, meteorological data, and tidal data. Two studies are presented: in the first, AIS data and acoustic recordings from Falmouth Bay in the western English Channel are combined using an adaptive threshold, which separates ship passages from background noise in the acoustic data. These passages are then cross-referenced with AIS vessel tracks, and the noise exposure associated with shipping activity is then determined. The second study, at a site in the Moray Firth, Scotland, expanded the method to include shore-based time-lapse footage, which enables visual corroboration of vessel identifications and the production of videos integrating the various data sources. Two further studies examine and enhance basic analysis techniques for ambient noise monitoring. The first study examines averaging metrics and their applicability to the assessment of noise from shipping. Long-term data from the VENUS observatory are empirically assessed for different averaging times and in the presence of outliers. It is concluded that the mean sound pressure level averaged in linear space is most appropriate, in terms of both standardization and relevance to impacts on marine fauna. In the second study, a new technique for the statistical analysis of long-term passive acoustic datasets, termed spectral probability density (SPD), is introduced. It is shown that the SPD can reveal characteristics such as multimodality, outlier influence, and persistent self-noise, which are not apparent using conventional techniques. This helps to interpret long-term datasets, and can indicate whether an instrument’s dynamic range is appropriate to field conditions. Taken together, the contributions presented in this thesis help to establish a stronger methodological basis for the assessment of shipping noise. These methods can help to inform emerging policy initiatives, efforts to standardise underwater noise measurements, and investigation into the effects of shipping noise on marine life.

<p>An ethnographic study loosely informed by the theoretical framework of distributed cognition was carried out in order to describe how mariners have adopted the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in their work practice, or"made the technology their own". AIS is a transponder-based identification and communication system that allows ships to automatically identify and track each other. In addition to facilitating the identification and tracking of ships, objectives behind the introduction of AIS are to"simplify informational exchange", and"provide additional information to assist situation awareness". Participant observation and interviews were made at four different ships, as well as at two shore stations. A focus group was also held at a maritime conference. The study gave some interesting results. For example, a Problem of Public Information Loss was identified. It is tentatively suggested that this problem has been overlooked partly because of a widespread but impoverished model of communication which does not account for the role of side-participants in a conversation. It is concluded that more research needs to be done on maritime work and the use of new bridge technology.</p>

Kaohsiung Harbor is one of the major commercial ports in Taiwan, located at the hub of northeastern and southeastern Asia shipping lanes. Therefore there are a considerable number of commercial shipping channels distributed around Kaohsiung Harbor. The security of Kaohsiung Harbor becomes more difficult to defense than others due to the complexity of channels. In this study, Automatic Identification System (AIS) system is used to collect the ships information from June 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The collected AIS data were decoded, converted, corrected, integrated and analyzed systematically, which will become the base of future database. The information of the AIS includes Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI), latitude and longitude, heading, course, speed, and others. The activities of ships can be monitored by AIS, so the density and distribution of ships on each major channel can be obtained by grid computing. By the results of one-year AIS data, three major shipping channels of Kaohsiung Harbor can be identified, which are north-western, north-southern, and east-western. Based on this kind of long term shipping statistics, possible novel harbor security defense may be founded. Although the AIS was designed to monitor the ship activities, but it can be viciously shut down, or signal is out of range sometimes, then it will become the possible security breach. Nevertheless, ships at sea will generate certain kind of noises, such as from engine and propeller. With efficient propagation of sound waves in water, acoustic technology may compensate the limitations of AIS, to be a feasible method of detecting unknown ships. In this study, acoustic modeling code ¡§Acoustic Module for Sea-surface Noise¡¨ (AMSN) is applied by using the ship position information from AIS, to calculate the related underwater noise sound field of Kaohsiung Harbor. Discussions were made on the dependence of noise level variation with ship density. As a conclusion, with sufficient understanding of sound field statistics of harbor, any anomaly of noise level can be an indication of hostile intrusion, thus harbor security can be further assured.

The purpose of this study was to determine awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) among college students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. Since the issue of a governmentsponsored electronic national identification system for livestock is relatively new, many pros and cons exist regarding increased biosecurity and increased surveillance by the government. While many adult producer groups have expressed their concerns over the implications of the proposed identification system, little attention has been focused on future producers—youth and college students. This study investigated how college students gathered information about livestock industry issues from mass media or other resources, and how the students’ awareness and knowledge of the identification system influenced their perceptions of the NAIS. The sample population consisted of students enrolled in courses related to animal agriculture and production during the spring 2007 semester at Texas A&M University. Stratified random sampling was used to determine participants, and a total of 92 students responded to the survey. The strata were animal science majors and non-animal science majors, and upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. An online, self-administered survey was used to collect data from the participants. The survey consisted of close-ended and open-ended questions; a pilot study of students with similar majors and classification as the sample established face validity of the instrument. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and one-way ANOVA were used to examine the data. Major findings were that as a group, students were somewhat aware of the NAIS, and were knowledgeable of general NAIS concepts. Students disagreed with the statement that they are well-informed about the NAIS. Students’ perceptions of the NAIS were positively associated with their awareness of the NAIS. Livestock leadership experiences (4-H or FFA membership, livestock show team member, exhibitor experience, and youth livestock organization member) had positive moderate correlations with NAIS awareness. Livestock exhibitor experience had a moderate correlation with perception of the NAIS. University professors, Internet, and family members were preferred information sources. Opinion leaders’ influence as information sources affected students’ awareness and perceptions of the NAIS. Cooperative Extension, private organizations, and university professors were all moderately correlated with students’ awareness of the NAIS. University professors had a positive, yet low correlation with students’ perceptions of the NAIS.