Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Naiqian Zhang / Mobile apps are useful tools for many different purposes. In agriculture, apps can be used to check the weather and markets, control irrigation, and monitor machine activity among other uses. This research project is a collaboration between Kansas State University and AGCO and includes the development of two apps, using MIT Application Inventor and Google App Engine. Kansas State University was responsible for developing the apps user interface and functionality while AGCO provide the data needs for the apps through Google App Engine. The first app is called Crop Maturity App and measures Growing Degree Days from a crops planting date. The second app is called Combine Efficiency App and determines the performance of a combine harvesting based on its speed. AGCO provided the server support for these apps from a weather service and their own combines that are connected. This project demonstrates the possibility of an open-source development environment with AGCO machine data.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize current knowledge about electronic trading and to outline the benefits and drawbacks of potential software solutions in electronic trading. This paper is focused not only on theoretical findings and bases, relating to electronic trading, but also on the possibilities of establishing such trading within the confines of the Czech environment. Its goal is to select a suitable open source software solution for electronic trading based on predefined criteria and to warn of potential challenges relating to it. This paper should contemporaneously serve to help an individual interested in establishing electronic trading to decide which solution is the most appropriate, even if he/she selects a product that is not open source. This should serve, in such a case, as a methodical set of instructions that guides the individual to select the correct solution. Among other aspects, this paper should also help an individual interested in electronic trading to decide, whether or not an open source solution is suitable, and if there is any merit in exploring this option.

As the digital transformation and the technological development progresses, the tools, methods and practices of activistsare changing and a unification of engineers and social reformers can be witnessed in contemporary forms of activism.This thesis presents a case study research that explores how practices from the Free and Open Source softwaremovement can lead to a democratisation of technology in the environmental activism project Precious Plastic.Furthermore it analysis the broader societal implications of this democratisation with a focus on human well-being andthe natural environment. By discussing Kelty’s (2008) concept of recursive publics and Haff’s (2018) work on OpenSource as a development model in the context of Feenberg’s (1992) critical theory of technology, central Open Sourcepractices were identified that have the potential to foster a democratisation of technology. This guided a qualitative textanalysis of the development discussions of two phases of Precious Plastic. Two major factors could be identified thatdetermine the extent to which the democratisation of technology through Open Source practices is possible. Theopportunity to contribute to a project and the power of a central gatekeeper. Other aspects, like an increased sense ofbelonging, the discussion of the own infrastructure and the projects future, or the efforts to involve as many actors as pos-sible in the technology, were found to have fostered a deeper and broader discussion among the participants. This studysuggests to extend the term Open Source activism (Aitchison and Peters, 2011), to describe a form of activismthat has the creation of technology at its core and brings together a variety of actors with similar practices who negotiateand shape the aim and the purpose of technology, leading to an increased compatibility of the technology with ournatural and human limits. However, this concept needs to be refined and improved with further studies before it can begenerally applicable.

L'objet de ce travail doctoral en management public porte sur des projets de partage des connaissances des institutions publiques et culturelles avec les citoyens. Ces projets sont menés par l'intermédiaire de coopérations avec des communautés en ligne gérant des plateformes web appelées Commons. Le mouvement de mise à disposition en libre-accès des données publiques, plus connu sous le nom d'open data, est un phénomène qui s'est accru avec la généralisation de l'informatique dans les administrations et la mise en réseau des ordinateurs avec Internet. Bien que les textes légaux prévoyaient dès 1978 la réutilisation de ces données par les citoyens, de nombreux usages innovants restent à expérimenter, parmi lesquels ceux portant sur la réutilisation des données culturelles. L'objectif de cette recherche est d'explorer les modalités de collaboration autour de ces données entre les organisations publiques et les communautés open source et open média afin de dégager des principes d'ingénierie de système qui soient applicables à des projets relevant de cette catégorie et ainsi offrir une « carte de navigation » de ce nouveau champ d'expérimentation aux managers publics. La finalité de cette thèse en sciences de gestion est ainsi l'étude de la constitution de communs culturels numériques à partir de plateformes libres de gestion des communs de la connaissance. / The objective of this research is to understand the logic of collective action which contributes to create value through usage for public intangibles goods like cultural intangible heritage and public data. These informational resources are shared today between public institutions and civil society through innovating and unexplored Public-Private partnerships with open source communities. This doctorate project aims to identify the design principles and governance processes of inter-organizational information systems which enhance cooperation between actors and add a usage value to the intangibles hold by the state.

Educational video games – especially for the PC market – do not seem to perform as well commercially as games from other genres. We argue that there is room for independent – ’indie’ – developers to break into the marketplace, by identifying certain niches and innovating on the genre. This would generate commercial value for such actors and knowledge value for the players. Design decisions of high importance made during development of an educational video game demo at the small Swedish company Toleap Consulting AB were analysed in the pursuit of contributing to effective indie development of such games. Three main problems that arose during development were identified, and three design decisions where implemented to combat these respective problems; (1) Interpreted educational game pattern utilising XML, (2) Function-based game views and (3) Community created assets, open source, and no costly dependencies. In our case, the formulated design decisions effectively solved our problems, and we argue that they generalise. If a developer creating a similar game (educational video game) in a similar situation (independent development with limited resources) encounters one or more of these problems, the suggested design decisions may help the developer solve the problems, in turn making more educational video games available on the market, generating the aforementioned commercial and knowledge values.

Nesta tese de doutorado, apresentamos uma abordagem para a observação das métricas de código-fonte, estudando-as através de suas distribuições e associações, além de discutir as relações de causalidade e implicações práticas-gerenciais para monitoramento das mesmas. Em nossos estudos avaliamos a distribuição e correlações dos valores das métricas de 38 projetos de software livre, dentre os com mais contribuidores ativos em seus repositórios. Para tal, coletamos e analisamos os valores para cada métrica em mais de 344.872 classes e módulos dos projetos avaliados. Complementarmente, para mostrarmos a utilidade do monitoramento de métricas, descrevemos uma extensão e adaptação do modelo de causalidade do conceito de atratividade de projetos de software livre, que indica uma relação estatística entre os valores das métricas de código-fonte e a quantidade de downloads, contribuidores e atualizações (commits) nos repositórios dos projetos. Para isso, realizamos estudos empíricos com milhares de projetos de software livre. Do ponto de vista prático, também contribuímos com um conjunto de ferramentas inovador para a automação da avaliação de projetos de software livre, com ênfase nos estudos e na seleção de métricas, o que permite a análise de código-fonte de acordo com a percepção de qualidade das comunidades de software livre. Entre as principais contribuições desta tese está uma análise detalhada, em relação ao comportamento, valores e estudos de caso, de 15 métricas de código-fonte, o que representa um avanço em comparação a literatura relacionada ao ampliar o número de métricas avaliadas e propor uma abordagem que visa diminuir as contradições das análises das métricas. / In this Ph.D dissertation we present an approach about source code metrics tracking. We have researched source code metrics distributions and associations to discuss their causality and management-practices implications. Our studies have assessed distributions and correlations of source code metric values on 38 free software projects, which have a lot of activated contributors in their repositories. We have collected and analyzed metrics from 344,872 classes and modules of about 38 free software projects. Additionally, to show how it is useful to track source code metrics, we have extended the model of free software attractiveness to include source code metrics. Our technical attractiveness model indicates a statistical relationship between source code metrics and number of downloads, contributors, and commits in the analyzed free software repositories. For that, we have conducted empirical studies with 8,450 free software projects. From a practical point of view, we have contributed with a set of innovative tools for automated evaluation of free software projects. Our tool allow the analyses of source code metrics that mirror quality perceptions from the free software communities point of view.

A quantificação da atividade de radionuclídeos emissores de raios gama em amostras medidas por espectrometria gama com detectores HPGe depende da análise dos fotopicos presentes no espectro, especialmente da determinação exata das suas áreas líquidas. Tal análise é geralmente realizada com o auxílio de ferramentas de software proprietário. Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia, descrição de algoritmos e um aplicativo de código aberto, denominado OpenGamma, para a busca e análise de fotopicos a fim de se obter seus parâmetros relevantes e as atividades dos radionuclídeos na amostra. A implementação computacional é distribuída sob licença aberta para o código principal e com o uso de pacotes de software aberto para o projeto da interface e para bibliotecas matemáticas. O procedimento para a busca de picos é realizado em três etapas. Primeiramente, executa-se uma pesquisa preliminar com o método da segunda diferença, que consiste na geração de um espectro derivado para a busca de picos candidatos. Na segunda etapa, calculam-se as larguras experimentais dos picos, dos quais escolhem-se aqueles bem formados e isolados para a obtenção da função de ajuste da largura vs. canal, por meio do método de Levenberg-Marquardt para ajustes não-lineares. Por fim, regiões do espectro com picos agrupados são delimitadas e novo ajuste não-linear é aplicado a cada região para a obtenção dos termos da linha de base e dos fotopicos. A partir destes termos, são calculadas as áreas líquidas dos picos. Para a determinação da atividade, curvas de calibração de eficiência previamente obtidas, bem como dados de transições gama dos radionuclídeos, são incorporadas ao código e aplicadas. O código foi escrito em linguagem C++ e a interface foi desenvolvida com a ferramenta Qt. Para as funções matemáticas e procedimentos de ajuste, foi usada a biblioteca científica GNU (GSL). A validação de código foi feita por meio da análise de: 1) espectros sintéticos de teste da AIEA, especialmente desenhados para a avaliação de desempenho de software; 2) espectros obtidos com amostras de exercícios de intercomparação e 3) espectros da rotina de trabalho do Laboratório de Radiometria Ambiental (LRA) do IPEN e analisados com o aplicativo comercial InterWinner. Os resultados obtidos são consistentes com os valores de referência e com aqueles obtidos pelo aplicativo citado, sugerindo que o código OpenGamma pode ser utilizado com segurança na espectrometria de raios gama de uso geral. / Radioactivity quantification of gamma-ray emitter radionuclides in samples measured by HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry relies on the analysis of the photopeaks present in the spectra, especially on the accurate determination of their net areas. Such a task is usually performed with the aid of proprietary software tools. This work presents a methodology, algorithm descriptions and an open source application, called OpenGamma, for the peak search and analysis in order to obtain the relevant peaks parameters and radionuclides activities. The computational implementation is released entirely in open-source license for the main code and with the use of open software packages for interface design and mathematical libraries. The procedure for the peak search is performed on a three step approach. Firstly a preliminary search is done by using the second-difference method, consisting in the generation of a derived spectrum in order to find candidate peaks. In the second step, the experimental peaks widths are assessed and well formed and isolated ones are chosen to obtain a FWHM vs. channel relationship, by application of the Levenberg-Marquardt minimization method for non-linear fitting. Lastly, regions of the spectrum with grouped peaks are marked and a non-linear fit is again applied to each region to obtain baseline and photopeaks terms; from these terms, peaks net areas are then assessed. For the activity determination, previously obtained efficiency calibration curves, as well as nuclides gamma-ray data, are incorporated in the code and applied. The code was developed in C++ language and the interface was developed with Qt GUI software toolkit. GNU scientific library, GSL, was employed to perform fitting procedures as needed. Validation of code was done by analyzing: 1) synthetic test spectra from IAEA, especially designed for software performance evaluation; 2) spectra obtained from samples of intercomparison exercises and 3) spectra from routine activities of the Environmental Radiometric Laboratory (LRA) at IPEN and analyzed with the commercial software package InterWinner. Results obtained are consistent with the reference values and with those obtained by the aforementioned package. The results suggest that the OpenGamma code could be safely used in general-purpose gamma-ray spectrometry.

Based on a study of the engagement process between humans, I have developed models for four types of connection events involving gesture and speech: directed gaze, mutual facial gaze, adjacency pairs and backchannels. I have developed and validated a reusable Robot Operating System (ROS) module that supports engagement between a human and a humanoid robot by generating appropriate connection events. The module implements policies for adding gaze and pointing gestures to referring phrases (including deictic and anaphoric references), performing end-of-turn gazes, responding to human-initiated connection events and maintaining engagement. The module also provides an abstract interface for receiving information from a collaboration manager using the Behavior Markup Language (BML) and exchanges information with a previously developed engagement recognition module. This thesis also describes a Behavior Markup Language (BML) realizer that has been developed for use in robotic applications. Instead of the existing fixed-timing algorithms used with virtual agents, this realizer uses an event-driven architecture, based on Petri nets, to ensure each behavior is synchronized in the presence of unpredictable variability in robot motor systems. The implementation is robot independent, open-source and uses the Robot Operating System (ROS).

Foi desenvolvido um protótipo de hardware de sistema de monitoramento meteorológico como tecnologia aberta e livre e voltado para a ciência cidadã, chamado de Estações Meteorológicas Modulares (EMM). Foram considerados critérios de acessibilidade dos materiais e facilidade de modificação no desenvolvimento do projeto. Todos os programas utilizados no desenvolvimento são softwares livres. Um dos elementos desenvolvidos, a placa de controle das EMM, possibilita medir diferentes parâmetros meteorológicos, além de realizar o registro dados e envio para um servidor. Também possibilita a inclusão de novos sensores. Por todos esses fatores, é considerada satisfatória quanto a sua funcionalidade. A estrutura mecânica das EMM atingiu um patamar de preço acessível a indivíduos e organizações como escolas e associações de moradores de bairro, e apresenta fácil adaptabilidade a diferentes condições de instalação. O custo total do sistema ficou abaixo de alternativas proprietárias amadoras e significativamente abaixo de alternativas proprietárias profissionais. Soluções acessíveis para alguns elementos da EMM ainda requerem testes mais aprofundados. Parte das ferramentas utilizadas na fabricação da placa de controle ainda carece de maior disseminação junto à sociedade para acessibilizar o sistema das EMM. Os registros de desenvolvimento do trabalho foram feitos em forma de documentação aberta por meio de cadernos de laboratório abertos. As atividades de fabricação, montagem e instalação das EMM foram feitas seguindo métodos colaborativos chamados de Encontros de Fabricação Colaborativa e Mutirões das EMM. O resultado deste trabalho, unindo as documentações, os registros dos métodos colaborativos de fabricação, montagem e instalação e as consolidadas oficinas do projeto, é sintetizado no Guia da Comunidade EMM. Este é um roteiro para quem quiser fazer parte e ampliar uma rede de monitoramento ambiental colaborativo com as EMM, e é baseado em atividades educacionais para compreensão dos diferentes elementos da ferramenta e para a emancipação tecnológica. Uma das EMM foi comparada com uma estação automática oficial do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET). Nessas comparações, as medidas de temperatura e pressão atmosférica apresentaram diferenças menores do que a acurácia dos sensores, enquanto a umidade relativa do ar apresentou uma diferença acima da acurácia do sensor. Este foi um primeiro passo de validação das EMM. / It was developed the hardware prototype of a meteorological monitoring system as free and open source hardware with focus on citizen science. The system is called Estações Meteorológicas Modulares (EMM, from Portuguese Modular Meteorological Stations). Affordability and reachability of materials and ease of remix were criteria considered in the development of this project. All the programs used in the development are free software. One of the elements developed, the control board of the EMM, is considered satisfactory in terms of: the parameters it enables to measure, the functionalities of communication and register of data, and the possibility of inclusion of new sensors.. The resulting solution to the mechanical structure of the EMM is low cost, affordable to schools and neighborhood associations, and is easy to adapt to different conditions of installation. The whole cost of the system is lower than proprietary amateur alternatives and significantly lower than proprietary professional solutions. Reachable and affordable solutions to some elements of the EMM still need some deeper testing. Some of the tools used to produce the control board still need a broader dissemination among the society in order to ensure the reachability and affordability of the EMM system. The work development registers were made as open documentation by means of open laboratory notebooks. The EMM fabrication, mounting and installations activities were made as collaborative methods called Encontros de Fabricação Colaborativa (from Portuguese, Collaborative Fabrication Gatherings) and Mutirões of the EMM. The result of this work, merging the documentation, the register of collaborative methods of fabrication, mounting and installations, and the consolidated workshops of the EMM project, are synthesized in the EMM Community Guide. This is a script to the ones who want to make part and expand the collaborative environmental monitoring network with the EMM, and it is based in educational activities to comprehend the different elements of the tool and to promote the technological emancipations. One of the EMM was compared to an official automatic meteorological station from Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET, from Portuguese Meteorology National Institute). In this comparison, the temperature and atmospheric pressure measurements showed differences lower than the accuracy of the sensors used, and the relative air humidity presented a difference higher than the accuracy of the sensor. This was the first step to validate the EMM.

A quantificação da atividade de radionuclídeos emissores de raios gama em amostras medidas por espectrometria gama com detectores HPGe depende da análise dos fotopicos presentes no espectro, especialmente da determinação exata das suas áreas líquidas. Tal análise é geralmente realizada com o auxílio de ferramentas de software proprietário. Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia, descrição de algoritmos e um aplicativo de código aberto, denominado OpenGamma, para a busca e análise de fotopicos a fim de se obter seus parâmetros relevantes e as atividades dos radionuclídeos na amostra. A implementação computacional é distribuída sob licença aberta para o código principal e com o uso de pacotes de software aberto para o projeto da interface e para bibliotecas matemáticas. O procedimento para a busca de picos é realizado em três etapas. Primeiramente, executa-se uma pesquisa preliminar com o método da segunda diferença, que consiste na geração de um espectro derivado para a busca de picos candidatos. Na segunda etapa, calculam-se as larguras experimentais dos picos, dos quais escolhem-se aqueles bem formados e isolados para a obtenção da função de ajuste da largura vs. canal, por meio do método de Levenberg-Marquardt para ajustes não-lineares. Por fim, regiões do espectro com picos agrupados são delimitadas e novo ajuste não-linear é aplicado a cada região para a obtenção dos termos da linha de base e dos fotopicos. A partir destes termos, são calculadas as áreas líquidas dos picos. Para a determinação da atividade, curvas de calibração de eficiência previamente obtidas, bem como dados de transições gama dos radionuclídeos, são incorporadas ao código e aplicadas. O código foi escrito em linguagem C++ e a interface foi desenvolvida com a ferramenta Qt. Para as funções matemáticas e procedimentos de ajuste, foi usada a biblioteca científica GNU (GSL). A validação de código foi feita por meio da análise de: 1) espectros sintéticos de teste da AIEA, especialmente desenhados para a avaliação de desempenho de software; 2) espectros obtidos com amostras de exercícios de intercomparação e 3) espectros da rotina de trabalho do Laboratório de Radiometria Ambiental (LRA) do IPEN e analisados com o aplicativo comercial InterWinner. Os resultados obtidos são consistentes com os valores de referência e com aqueles obtidos pelo aplicativo citado, sugerindo que o código OpenGamma pode ser utilizado com segurança na espectrometria de raios gama de uso geral. / Radioactivity quantification of gamma-ray emitter radionuclides in samples measured by HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry relies on the analysis of the photopeaks present in the spectra, especially on the accurate determination of their net areas. Such a task is usually performed with the aid of proprietary software tools. This work presents a methodology, algorithm descriptions and an open source application, called OpenGamma, for the peak search and analysis in order to obtain the relevant peaks parameters and radionuclides activities. The computational implementation is released entirely in open-source license for the main code and with the use of open software packages for interface design and mathematical libraries. The procedure for the peak search is performed on a three step approach. Firstly a preliminary search is done by using the second-difference method, consisting in the generation of a derived spectrum in order to find candidate peaks. In the second step, the experimental peaks widths are assessed and well formed and isolated ones are chosen to obtain a FWHM vs. channel relationship, by application of the Levenberg-Marquardt minimization method for non-linear fitting. Lastly, regions of the spectrum with grouped peaks are marked and a non-linear fit is again applied to each region to obtain baseline and photopeaks terms; from these terms, peaks net areas are then assessed. For the activity determination, previously obtained efficiency calibration curves, as well as nuclides gamma-ray data, are incorporated in the code and applied. The code was developed in C++ language and the interface was developed with Qt GUI software toolkit. GNU scientific library, GSL, was employed to perform fitting procedures as needed. Validation of code was done by analyzing: 1) synthetic test spectra from IAEA, especially designed for software performance evaluation; 2) spectra obtained from samples of intercomparison exercises and 3) spectra from routine activities of the Environmental Radiometric Laboratory (LRA) at IPEN and analyzed with the commercial software package InterWinner. Results obtained are consistent with the reference values and with those obtained by the aforementioned package. The results suggest that the OpenGamma code could be safely used in general-purpose gamma-ray spectrometry.