No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: Detector design and characterization; modulation transfer function; digital fluoroscopy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-160).

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Paredis, Chris; Committee Member: McGinnis, Leon; Committee Member: Schaefer, Dirk

A modern power system is composed of many individual entities collaborating with each other to operate the entire system in a secure and economic manner. These entities may have different owners and operators with their own operating rules and policies, and it complicates the decision-making process in the system. In this work, a system of systems (SoS) engineering framework is presented for optimally operating the modern power systems. The proposed SoS framework defines each entity as an independent system with its own regulations, and the communication and process of information exchange between the systems are discussed. Since the independent systems are working in an interconnected system, the operating condition of one may impact the operating condition of others. According to the independent systems’ characteristics and connection between them, an optimization problem is formulated for each independent system. In order to solve the optimization problem of each system and to optimally operate the entire SoS-based power system, a decentralized decision-making algorithm is developed. Using this algorithm, only a limited amount of information is exchanged among different systems, and the operators of independent systems do not need to exchange all the information, which may be commercially sensitive, with each other. In addition, applying chance-constrained stochastic programming, the impact of uncertain variables, such as renewable generation and load demands, is modeled in the proposed SoS-based decision-making algorithm. The proposed SoS-based decision-making algorithm is applied to find the optimal and secure operating point of an active distribution grid (ADG). This SoS framework models the distribution company (DISCO) and microgrids (MGs) as independent systems having the right to work based on their own operating rules and policies, and it coordinates the DISCO and MGs operating condition. The proposed decision-making algorithm is also performed to solve the security-constrained unit commitment incorporating distributed generations (DGs) located in ADGs. The independent system operator (ISO) and DISCO are modeled as self-governing systems, and competition and collaboration between them are explained according to the SoS framework.

La thèse porte sur le contrôle des systèmes de systèmes (SdS) et, sur la manière de construire des SdS adaptables et fiables. Ce travail fait partie du laboratoire d’excellence Labex MS2T sur le développement des SdS technologiques. Les SdS sont des systèmes complexes constitués de plusieurs systèmes indépendants qui fonctionnent ensemble pour atteindre un objectif commun. L’ingénierie des SdS est une approche qui se concentre sur la manière de construire et de concevoir des SdS fiables capables de s’adapter à l’environnement dynamique dans lequel ils évoluent. Compte tenu de l’importance du contrôle des systèmes constituants (SC) pour atteindre les objectifs du SdS , la première partie de cette thèse a consisté en une étude bibliographique sur le sujet du contrôle des SdS. Certaines méthodes de contrôle existent pour les systèmes à grande échelle et les systèmes multi-agents, à savoir, le contrôle hiérarchique, distribué et décentralisé peuvent être utiles et sont utilisés pour contrôler les SdS. Ces méthodes ne conviennent pas pour contrôler un SdS dans sa globalité et son évolution, en raison de l’indépendance de leur SC ; alors que les “frameworks” multi-vues conviennent mieux à cet objectif. Une approche de ”framework” générale est proposée pour modéliser et gérer les interactions entre les SC dans un SdS. La deuxième partie de notre travail a consisté à contribuer aux systèmes de transport intelligent. À cette fin, nous avons proposé le gestionnaire de manœuvres coopératives pour les véhicules autonomes (CMMAV), un “framework” qui guide le développement des applications coopératives dans les véhicules autonomes. Pour valider le CMMAV, nous avons développé le gestionnaire de manœuvres latérales coopératives (CLMM), une application sur les véhicules autonomes qui permet d’échanger des demandes afin de coopérer lors de manœuvres de dépassement sur autoroute. Cette application a été validée par des scénarios formels, des simulations informatiques, et testée sur les véhicules autonomes du projet Robotex au laboratoire Heudiasyc. / This thesis focuses on System of Systems (SoS) control, and how to build adaptable and reliable SoS. This work is part of the Labex MS2T laboratory of excellence on technological SoS development. SoS are complex systems that consist of multiple independent systems that work together to achieve a common goal. SoS Engineering is an approach that focuses on how to build and design reliable SoS that can adapt to the dynamic environment in which they operate. Given the importance of controlling constituent systems (CS) in order to achieve SoS objectives, the first part of this thesis involved a literature study about the subject of SoS control. Some control methods exist for large-scale systems and multi-agent systems, namely, hierarchical, distributed, and decentralized control might be useful and are used to control SoS. These methods are not suitable for controlling SoS in its whole, because of the independence of their CS; whereas, multi-views frameworks are more suitable for this objective. A general framework approach is proposed to model and manage the interactions between CS in a SoS. The second part of our work consisted of contributing to Intelligent Transportation Systems. For this purpose, we have proposed the Cooperative Maneuvers Manager for Autonomous Vehicles (CMMAV), a framework that guides the development of cooperative applications in autonomous vehicles. To validate the CMMAV, we have developed the Cooperative Lateral Maneuvers Manager (CLMM), an application on the autonomous vehicles that enables equipped vehicles to exchange requests in order to cooperate during overtaking maneuvers on highways. It was validated by formal scenarios, computer simulations, and tested on the autonomous vehicles of the Equipex Robotex in Heudiasyc laboratory.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / The Department of Defense looks increasingly towards an interoperable and integrated system-of-systems to provide required military capability. Non-essential software complexity of a system-of-systems can have a greater negative impact in system behavior than a single system. Our current systems-of-systems tend to require a great deal of software maintenance and to be intolerant of even the most minor of changes with respect to negative perturbations in system behavior. In this thesis, we explore the benefits of developing a conceptual framework as the basis for the system-of-systems development. We examine the application of accepted software engineering practices for single-system developments to the more complex problem of system-of-systems development. Using the Ballistic Missile Defense System as a case study, we present an abstract framework from which we can reason about the system-of-systems. We develop a conceptual software architecture that represents a logical organization of proposed software modules. We map the functionality of the system to conceptual software components with coordination and data exchanges handled by conceptual connectors. Finally, we assess our work to determine the feasibility of applying the conceptual framework techniques described in this thesis to system-of-systems acquisitions with the objective of reducing accidental complexity and controlling essential complexity. / Civilian, Missile Defense Agency, Washington, D.C.

The use of terms such as “Engineering Systems”, “System of systems” and others have been coming into greater use over the past decade to denote systems of importance but with implied higher complexity than for the term systems alone. This paper searches for a useful taxonomy or classification scheme for complex Systems. There are two aspects to this problem: 1) distinguishing between Engineering Systems (the term we use) and other Systems, and 2) differentiating among Engineering Systems. Engineering Systems are found to be differentiated from other complex systems by being human-designed and having both significant human complexity as well as significant technical complexity. As far as differentiating among various engineering systems, it is suggested that functional type is the most useful attribute for classification differentiation. Information, energy, value and mass acted upon by various processes are the foundation concepts underlying the technical types. / Engineering Systems Division and Mechanical Engineering, Center for Innovation in Product Development

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Industrial Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.