Thesis--Universität Bern, 1908.

Thèse--Nancy.

Note:

Note:

My thesis describes a tool which creates speed-lines automatically in 3D computer animations. Speed-lines are usually used in comic books to express fast motions in a still image. They are also used in 2D animations. Although animations don't need speed-lines for motions, they are interesting graphic elements and give more sense of speed to the audience. However, speed-lines are not used in the 3D computer animation, so I have implemented the graphic element into the 3D computer animation. The combination of the 2D-looking speed-lines and the 3D computer animations makes a unique look that some animators might want. In addition, making speed-lines based on motions of moving objects or cameras, this tool can make 3D speed-lines which are very difficult to draw by hand.

Scheduling is concerned with the process of deciding how to commit resources between a variety of possible tasks with the aim of optimizing some performance criterion. Efficient scheduling is a vital tool in successful decision-making. To date, an enormous amount of research has been done on scheduling problems arising from various disciplines. Major attention has so far been dedicated to off-line (usually deterministic) scheduling problems. Off-line deterministic scheduling deals with perfect information. That is, all information with regard to a problem is known prior to any decision. However, this perfect information assumption violates the nature of many realistic issues with uncertainties, for example, a situation where the knowledge of problem instances is revealed over time, or a scenario in which processing tasks are temporarily disrupted or cancelled. To better formulate this sort of problem with high uncertainties, a new concept of on-line scheduling was introduced. On-line approaches have become increasingly important and are frequently encountered when only partial knowledge is available but instant or very fast solution methods are required and should nevertheless result in good outcomes. In on-line scheduling, a decision maker allocates resources between tasks as the information is gradually released. Obviously, given the same scheduling environment and problem instance, the result produced by an on-line scheduler cannot be better than that by the optimal off-line scheduler; but the on-line scheduling technique immunizes schedules from future disruptions and uncertainties. / This thesis extends the study of some scheduling problems derived from various industrial and computing situations to on-line scheduling environments, specifically the on-line-list and the on-line-time paradigms. The six topics studied are classified in two parts in this thesis. Part I consists of three machine scheduling problems taking into account various types of setup considerations. Part II includes the other three scheduling problems which are closely related to issues arising in the management of shipping containers and wind energy. / The effort is focused on constructing effective and efficient (on-line) decision-making strategies with the purpose of optimizing certain objective measures in those uncertain scheduling environments. The performance of the proposed heuristics as well as some existing on-line algorithms is evaluated and compared via competitive analysis. For some cases, empirical studies are also carried out to assess their average performance.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) technology is used to provide high speed Internet access and, more recently, video services over twisted pair lines. Telephone lines have impairments that hinder DSL transmission, and some examples are coils and bridge taps that were introduced to aid voice telephony. Other faults are caused by physical damage that results in open circuits, short circuits or water in the line. Telephone companies have to locate and repair these faults to enable high-speed data services. It is also useful to qualify lines for future DSL service so that a new customer can be promptly informed whether high-speed service can be supplied. <p>This thesis proposes a novel technique called Wideband frequency domain reflectometry (W-FDR) to accurately locate impairments in telephone lines and estimate the reflection magnitude caused by faults. The measurement produces a result similar to the well-known time domain reflectometer (TDR), however, digital signal processing techniques are now applied to provide enhanced resolution and range. In addition to magnitude, the new technique is able to measure reflection angle which can help to determine the nature of the fault (wire in the cable, broken wires, etc). <p>The measurement technique consists of energizing the line with a sinusoid that increases from 50 kHz to 1300 kHz in discrete frequency steps after coherent detection. The amplitude of the reflected signal is recorded as a function of frequency for 2500 equally spaced frequencies. The Fourier transform and some signal processing are then used to estimate the complex reflection coefficient location of the faults in the telephone line. Lines with up to 4 reflection points have been accurately analyzed. <p>Results show distance measurement accuracy better than 1% and phase measurement accuracy better than 10 degrees for line lengths up to 5 km. These measurements exceed the performance of currently available TDR instruments.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) technology is used to provide high speed Internet access and, more recently, video services over twisted pair lines. Telephone lines have impairments that hinder DSL transmission, and some examples are coils and bridge taps that were introduced to aid voice telephony. Other faults are caused by physical damage that results in open circuits, short circuits or water in the line. Telephone companies have to locate and repair these faults to enable high-speed data services. It is also useful to qualify lines for future DSL service so that a new customer can be promptly informed whether high-speed service can be supplied. <p>This thesis proposes a novel technique called Wideband frequency domain reflectometry (W-FDR) to accurately locate impairments in telephone lines and estimate the reflection magnitude caused by faults. The measurement produces a result similar to the well-known time domain reflectometer (TDR), however, digital signal processing techniques are now applied to provide enhanced resolution and range. In addition to magnitude, the new technique is able to measure reflection angle which can help to determine the nature of the fault (wire in the cable, broken wires, etc). <p>The measurement technique consists of energizing the line with a sinusoid that increases from 50 kHz to 1300 kHz in discrete frequency steps after coherent detection. The amplitude of the reflected signal is recorded as a function of frequency for 2500 equally spaced frequencies. The Fourier transform and some signal processing are then used to estimate the complex reflection coefficient location of the faults in the telephone line. Lines with up to 4 reflection points have been accurately analyzed. <p>Results show distance measurement accuracy better than 1% and phase measurement accuracy better than 10 degrees for line lengths up to 5 km. These measurements exceed the performance of currently available TDR instruments.

The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological response of an in-line submaximal skate on two surfaces using two wheel types and two bearing types. The variables measured were V0$ sb2$ and HR. Ten male varsity hockey players volunteered as subjects. The subjects, after being assigned one of two wheel types with varying durometers, skated the submaximal test twice for each surface (concrete and asphalt) using a different type of bearing (precision and semi-precision) each time. These results were compared to a similar on-ice submaximal skating test session. / Results revealed no significant difference between in-line skating with wheels of 78 and 82 Shore A durometers (p $<$.05) with both V0$ sb2$ and HR as markers. A significant difference was found between in-line skating with precision and semi-precision bearings with V0$ sb2$ as a marker (p $<$.05), however, not with HR as a marker (p = 0.31). On-ice skating was significantly different from in-line skating on concrete and asphalt surfaces for both physiological markers. In-line skating on asphalt and concrete surfaces resulted in similar physiological responses. It was concluded that hockey players training with in-line skates obtain the same training benefits using either wheel durometers, but will have greater oxygen costs when training with semi-precision bearings than training with precision bearings.

Ph.D thesis 1970 from the Dept. of Computing Science, University of Adelaide / 134 leaves : ill., graphs, appendices / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.