In this study, a calibration setup for laser beam positioning systems used in visual inspection applications in industry is designed and manufactured. The laser positioning systems generate movable parallel laser lines on the projection surface. There are several translational and angular error sources affecting the positioning accuracy of the laser lines on the projection surface. Especially, since the laser line positioning error caused by angular error sources increases with the distance between the laser system and the projection surface, angular parameters of the laser sources should be measured and adjusted precisely. The calibration setup developed in this study detects the laser line positions at two different projection distances by means of laser sensing cameras which are positioned precisely along the laser lines and laser positioning axis which is perpendicular to these lines. Cameras detect the positions of the laser lines which are directed to the camera sensors with micrometer repeatability by means of some special imaging algorithms. The precise positioning of the cameras requires a special camera positioning system. For this reason, the disturbances like temperature changes and vibration should be minimized. In order to provide a suitable environment for the calibration system, special tests are conducted and a special calibration room is constituted. Construction inside the room is also made by considering the required ambient parameters. Finally, several verification tests of the calibration system are conducted.

Consumers’ perceptions of their resources in consumption tasks (that is, their abilities and endowments to perform consumption tasks) are many times not accurate. This misjudgement of resources negatively influences their performance in consuming or using products and services. Further, this carries on to influence consumers’ perceived value of products or services. In order to represent this phenomenon, consumer calibration is defined as the agreement between the subjective and objective assessment of consumer resources required in a consumption task. Therefore, it is crucial to discover the role of consumer calibration in the consumption experience. This paper proposes that consumer calibration occurs at two levels: of the task and of the self. Consumer task calibration refers to the extent of error in the task-required resource appraisal, whereas consumer self-calibration is the degree of accuracy in one’s self-perception of abilities. This systematic literature review is conducted to explore the relationships between consumer self and task calibration, on the one hand, and consumer value, on the other hand. After screening 2297 studies, based on their relevance and quality, forty texts in three main academic domains of Marketing, Psychology and Information Systems are selected for analysis and synthesis. The results reveal that subjective and objective assessments of consumer resources and task-required resources influence consumer value through their impact on functional performance and emotional consequences. The findings also suggest that, although a relationship between consumer task and self-calibration exists, their relationship with consumer value and their emotional consequences need further scrutiny. Consequently, a model for the effect of consumer calibration on consumer value is developed, based on the relationships established in the literature reviewed and the interpretation of the findings in the studies reviewed.

This thesis extends and formalizes the energy signature method developed by Wei et al. (1998) for the rapid calibration of cooling and heating energy consumption simulations for commercial buildings. This method is based on the use of "calibration signatures" which characterize the difference between measured and simulated performance. By creating a library of shapes for certain known errors, clues can be provided to the analyst to use in identifying what simulation input errors may be causing the discrepancies. These are referred to as "characteristic signatures". In this thesis, sets of characteristic signatures are produced for the climates typified by Pasadena, Sacramento and Oakland, California for each of the four major system types: single-duct variable-air-volume, single-duct constant-volume, dual-duct variable-air-volume and dual-duct constant-volume. A detailed step-by-step description is given for the proposed methodology, and two examples and a real-world case study serve to illustrate the use of the signature method.

The SNO+ experiment is a multipurpose liquid scintillator detector whose rst goal is to measure neutrinoless double beta decay. This thesis describes two important components: simulations to optimize the time window for the prompt peak of an optical calibration source, the \laserball" and the search for gloves to handle calibration sources while maintaining stringent background conditions. Non-direct light found in laserball runs creates challenges for optical calibration. By changing the time pro le from the standard 4ns to an asymmetric pro le of +2 4 ns this contribution of non-direct light can be reduced up to 45%. Gloves provide an access point to manipulate calibration sources during deployment inside the detector and as barrier to 222Rn, a known background to the experiment. However, typical glove materials are found to permeate large amounts radon. Through a careful selection process the material Silver Shield was chosen for use in SNO+ with a permeation rate of 1:1 10 6 radon atoms/hour.

En imagerie par transmission de rayons X, les mesures effectuées relèvent d'un opérateur intégral : la transformée de Radon en géométrie parallèle et la transformée conique en géométrie divergente. La caractérisation de l'image de ces opérateurs par des conditions de rang permet de quantifier l'incohérence des données mesurées par rapport au modèle intégral. Le premier volet de ce travail de thèse étudie les conditions de rang en géométrie conique~: nous proposons de nouvelles conditions pour une trajectoire planaire et mettons à jour des relations non triviales entre des conditions 2D et des conditions basées sur le théorème de Grangeat. Le second volet porte sur l'auto-étalonnage géométrique des systèmes tomographiques à géométrie conique. L'analyse des conditions de rang couplée au modèle géométrique des projections radiographiques permet la détermination de la géométrie d'acquisition du système. / In X-ray transmission imaging, the collected measurements correspond to an integral operator: the Radon transform in parallel geometry and the divergent beam transform in divergent geometry. The range of these operators is characterized by conditions, which help to quantify the consistency of the measured data with the forward integral model. The first pillar of this PhD work studies range conditions in cone-beam acquisition geometry: we derive new conditions for a planar trajectory and establish a new relation between 2D fanbeam conditions and Grangeat-based conditions. The second pillar is related to the self-calibration of cone-beam systems. The acquisition geometry of the system is determined from range conditions and a parametric model of the projection geometry.

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La mission Gaia de l'Agence Spatiale Européenne (ESA) a pour objectif de cartographier notre galaxie avec une précision astrométrique jamais atteinte auparavant. Il est donc particulièrement important que les données qui seront publiées soient rigoureusement validées afin d'assurer une qualité optimum au Catalogue. Ces validations sont faites par l'une des équipes de l'unité de coordination CU9 du Consortium Gaia DPAC (Data Processing and Analys Consortium) chargé par l'ESA de la production du Catalogue Gaia. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, nous avons mis en place toute l’infrastructure nécessaire à la validation du catalogue Gaia par comparaison avec des catalogues externes. Celle-ci gère toutes les interactions avec l'environnement global des validations et avec la base de données Gaia. Ensuite nous avons développé un ensemble de tests statistiques pour valider les données du premier catalogue Gaia (DR1). Ces tests concernent notamment l’homogénéité des données sur le ciel, la qualité des positions et de la photométrie de l'ensemble des étoiles de DR1 (plus d'un milliard d'étoiles, $V<20$) ainsi que celle des parallaxes et mouvements propres des étoiles de textit{Tycho-Gaia} Astrometric Solution (TGAS), environ deux millions d'étoiles communes aux catalogues Gaia et Tycho-2 ($V<12$). Ces tests statistiques sur la DR1 sont opérationnels et ont déjà été appliqués très récemment sur des données préliminaires. Cela a déjà permis d'améliorer ces données (donc la qualité du catalogue), et d'en caractériser les propriétés statistiques. Cette caractérisation est essentielle à une exploitation scientifique correcte des données. Le premier catalogue Gaia sera publié à la fin de l’été 2016. Parmi les objets observés par Gaia, il y a une population d'étoiles particulièrement intéressantes, les étoiles du Red Clump (RC), très utilisées comme étalons de distance. Nous avons développé et testé deux méthodes pour modéliser les relations couleur-couleur (CC) et température effective - couleur dans toutes les bandes photométriques, de l'ultraviolet au proche-infrarouge. Elles permettront de caractériser le RC dans la bande G de Gaia dès la publication du catalogue: 1. en utilisant des modèles théoriques, et 2. empiriquement, en se basant sur une méthode Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC). Pour cela nous avons très rigoureusement sélectionné des échantillons d'étoiles avec une bonne qualité photométrique, une bonne métallicité, déterminée par spectroscopie, une température effective homogène et une faible extinction interstellaire. À partir de ces calibrations CC et température-couleur, nous avons ensuite développé une méthode par Maximum de Vraisemblance qui permet de déterminer les magnitudes absolues, les températures et les extinctions des étoiles du RC. Les couleurs et extinctions ainsi obtenues ont été testées sur des étoiles avec des températures effectives mesurées spectroscopiquement et une extinction déterminée par la mesure des Bandes Diffuses Interstellaires (DIB). Ces propriétés intrinsèques des étoiles du RC vont permettre de caractériser le Red Clump Gaia et de calibrer, dans la bande Gaia, la magnitude absolue de cet étalon de distance, premier échelon essentiel de la détermination des distances dans l'Univers. / The Gaia mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) aims to map our galaxy with an unprecedented astrometric precision. It is therefore very important that the data that will be published be rigorously validated to ensure an optimal quality in the Catalogue. These validations are done by one of the teams of the coordination unit CU9 of the Gaia DPAC Consortium (Data Processing and Analysis Consortium) commissioned by ESA of the Gaia catalogue production. As part of this thesis, we implemented all the necessary infrastructure to validate the Gaia catalogue by comparison with external catalogues. This last manages all the interactions with the global environment of validations and with the Gaia database. Then we developed a set of statistical tests to validate the data from the first Gaia catalogue (DR1). These tests relate in particular to the homogeneity of data on the sky, the quality of the positions and of photometry of all the stars of DR1 (more than a billion stars, $V <20$) as well as that of the parallaxes and proper motions for textit{Tycho-Gaia} Astrometric Solution (TGAS) stars, around two million stars in common in Gaia and Tycho-2 catalogues ($V <12$).These DR1 statistical tests are operational and were already applied very recently on preliminary data. This has improved the data (thus the quality of the catalog) as well as allowed to characterize the statistical properties. This characterisation is essential for a correct scientific exploitation of the data. The first Gaia catalogue will be released in late summer 2016.Among the objects that Gaia observes, there is a population of stars particularly interesting, the Red Clump (RC) stars, widely used for distance indicators. We developed and tested two methods to model the colour-colour (CC) and effective temperature - colour relations in all photometric bands, from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. They will allow us to characterize the RC in the Gaia G band upon publication of the catalogue: 1. using theoretical models, and 2. empirically, based on a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) method. For this we have very carefully selected samples of stars with a good photometric quality, good metallicity determined by spectroscopy, an homogeneous effective temperature and a low interstellar extinction.From these CC and temperature-colour calibrations, we then developed a Maximum Likelihood method that allows to derive absolute magnitudes, temperatures and extinctions of the RC stars. Estimates of colours and extinctions are tested on stars with spectroscopically measured effective temperatures and an extinction determined by the measurement of Diffuse Interstellar Bands (DIB). These intrinsic properties of RC stars will allow to characterize the Gaia RC and calibrate, within the Gaia G band, the absolute magnitude of this standard candle, first essential step of determining distances in the Univers.

A identificação de pontos em padrões de calibração é relatada como uma fase trabalhosa nos processos de calibração de câmeras. Essa etapa é sensível à presença de ruídos e geralmente requer a identificação de muitos pontos de controle. A detecção automática de padrões de calibração é fundamental para a automatização desse processo. Os trabalhos existentes são poucos e implementam soluções semi-automáticas ou, quando automáticas, não lidam com imagens distorcidas, com inclinações acentuadas ou exigem a detecção de todos os pontos apresentados pelo padrão de calibração. O presente trabalho vem contribuir com essa área propondo uma metodologia, denominada Chessboard Topological Detection (ChTD), completamente automática, aplicável a imagens com alta distorção, independente da detecção completa do padrão e que apresenta melhor aproveitamento dos pontos e do conjunto de imagens de calibração. A metodologia proposta é baseada em três etapas: a detecção estrutural dos pontos de interesse; triangulação e filtragem dos pontos encontrados com base em regras topológicas; e a propagação e ajuste de coordenadas via conectividade dos pontos vizinhos. A partir dessa metodologia foi implementada uma ferramenta que permite extrair pontos de calibração de um padrão xadrez de forma simples e completamente automática. Na avaliação do método ChTD foi realizada uma comparação com a função findChessBoardCorners da biblioteca OpenCV usando conjuntos de imagens reais e sintéticas. Os testes realizados com imagens reais possibilitaram comparações numéricas da quantidade de pontos e de padrões detectados, e os com imagens sintéticas permitiram avaliar o ChTD diante de inclinações do padrão e ruídos controlados. Pelos resultados obtidos foi possível verificar que o ChTD foi superior ao método do OpenCV, apresentando menor dependência à inclinação do padrão, melhor aproveitamento dos pontos e das imagens de calibração e realizando a detecção em imagens distorcidas. O ChTD é executado em um único passo, diferenciando-se do método do OpenCV que faz transformações sucessivas da imagem. A metodologia desenvolvida é modularizada, possibilitando o uso de outros algoritmos em suas fases intermediárias. / The detection of calibration points is reported as a time consuming task in camera calibration systems. This task is sensitive to noise and usually requires identification of a large set of control points. A methodology of automatic detection of calibration patterns is essential for the automation of this process. Existing works are few and usually implement semi-automatic solutions. Automatic methods do not deal with distorted images, and patterns with high tilt angles or require the detection of all the calibration points. The present work aims to contribute to this area proposing a methodology named Chessboard Topological Detection (ChTD), which is completely automatic, applicable to images with high distortion, making better use of all detected points, avoind calibration frames losses, regardless of the complete detection of the pattern features. The proposed methodology is based on three steps: the structural detection of points of interest, filtering and triangulation of the points based on topological rules and the adjust and coordinate propagation via connectivity of neighboring points inside the mesh. Based on this methodology, was implemented a tool that allows to extract calibration points of a chessboard pattern in a simple and automatic way. For the evaluation of the method ChTD, a comparison was made with the function findChessBoardCorners, which belongs to OpenCV library, using sets of synthetic and real images. Tests performed with real images allowed numerical comparisons of the number of points and detected patterns. The tests with synthetic images allowed to evaluate the ChTD facing the controlled tilt angle of the chessboard pattern and controlled image noise. The obtained results showed that the ChTD method was superior to OpenCV, with less dependence on the tilt angle of the calibration pattern, detecting more points, avoiding calibration images losses and detecting the pattern in distorted images. The ChTD runs in a single step, differing from OpenCV method that makes successive transformations of the image. The developed methodology is modular, enabling the use of different algorithms in its intermediates and some principal stages.

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Les TBH SiGe sont parmi les composants les plus rapides et sont utilisés pour les applications millimétriques. Des systèmes fonctionnent à 820GHz avec ces composants ont été déjà mis en œuvre. Afin de concevoir des circuits fonctionnant à ces fréquences très élevées, une analyse détaillée du comportement intrinsèque doit être effectuée. L’objectif principal de cette thèse est la caractérisation de la partie intrinsèque de ces composants. Une bonne précision de mesure dans la gamme de fréquences ondes millimétriques représente un vrai challenge, puisque les grandeurs intrinsèques du dispositifs ont beaucoup plus faibles que les données brutes de mesure auxquelles est associée la partie extrinsèque du composant. Afin de corriger la partie extrinsèque, des techniques de de-embedding spécifiques sont mises au point pour obtenir ces caractéristiques intrinsèques réelles. De plus, une technique de calibration directement sur la puce, sans utiliser de calkit, a été élaborée. Ceci permet de s’affranchir des effets de couplage entre la surface du standard de calibrage et les pointes de test hyperfréquences. L’ensemble a été validé par des simulations de type électromagnétique. / SiGe HBTs have proven their capability to support large bandwidth and high data ratesfor high-speed communication systems. Systems operating at 820GHz with these componentshave already been implemented. To design circuits operating at high frequencies, adetailed analysis of the intrinsic behavior should be performed. The main objective of thisthesis is the characterization of the intrinsic part of these components. Good accuracy inthe millimeter wave frequency range represents a real challenge, since the intrinsic deviceparameters are much lower than the raw data measurement that is associated with theextrinsic part of the component. However, existing on-wafer de-embedding techniquesare known to be inadequate to remove completely the parasitic effects and to get thereal intrinsic characteristics. In addition, an on-wafer calibration technique has beendeveloped. This overcomes the effects of coupling between the surface of the standard calibrationand RF probe tips. The set has been validated by an electromagnetic simulation.