Browsing by Subject "System"
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Item Data visualization as craft(2011-05) Rowe, Cathryn Elaine; Shields, David, M.F.A.; Hall, Peter, 1965-For my MFA, I have decided to explore data visualization not as an automated technology but as a craft—a systematic and precise practice done entirely by hand. Though the craft-based approach is not appropriate for all types of data creation and visualization, as an investigatory tool it grants a level of access and intimacy lacking in computerized analyses. I discuss the limitations and benefits of this type of approach, as well as provide an overview of key influences and precedents. I have also included select projects developed over the course of my studies that highlight my use of data visualization for a range of subjects and intents, including reading piano sheet music more easily and investigating a photographer’s compositional process. The report concludes by projecting how this craft-based approach for data visualization may be integrated with an automated method.Item Pursuing a child : an interactive qualitative analysis of the infertility treatment experience(2015-08) Burton, Rosalinda Strano; Jacobvitz, Deborah; McCoy, Danny; Anderson, Edward; Hazen, Nancy; McNaughton-Cassill, MaryThe purpose of this exploratory study is to examine and compare the infertility experience of individuals who have difficulty bearing children and/or who undergo fertility treatments. Each year, millions of individuals discover they are unable to bear children. Nearly 15% of the US population is diagnosed with infertility (NIH, 2014). Considered as a serious and unexpected condition, infertility has been linked to psychological and physiological distress, including health complaints, depression, anxiety, and complicated bereavement (Berghuis and Stanton, 2002; van den Akker, 2005). However, little is known about how people experience infertility and infertility treatments. This study aims at exploring how infertile individuals process their medical condition and how they cope with the stress of undergoing treatments. To achieve this goal, this study seeks to identify elements that make up the infertility treatment experience. This study uses the Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) grounded framework (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004) to reconcile quantitative and qualitative data collection. Flyers in medical facilities and infertility support groups in Central Texas were used to recruit fifty individuals. Initially, participants attended focus groups to identify common elements surrounding the infertility experience. Using these elements, the research team developed surveys and a semistructured interview. The interviews provided participants’ rich stories while the surveys measured satisfaction of experiences. Analysis of the infertility treatment experience elements, and their interactions, show that the cost of treatments and running out of time correlate with a more negative experience. In addition, knowledge of the topic and receiving support from individuals who are also experiencing infertility are more positively rated. The findings of this study are useful for identifying problematic aspects surrounding this experience, and for providing an opportunity to develop tools aimed at making the process of undergoing treatments easier.Item Reliability-based Design of Offshore Mooring Systems(2013-02-05) Mousavi, Mir EmadThis study proposes new methods for the reliability-based design of structural systems, with emphasis on offshore mooring systems. After a brief introduction to the mooring systems, two main objectives are discussed in this dissertation. The first objective is the calculation of the probability of failure of a structural system, which is an important input for a reliability-based design or any quantitative risk assessment. Two different methods are proposed for calculation of the probability of failure: a method based on the Monte Carlo simulations and a method based on the basic rules of probability, which is called the Progressive Reliability Method (PRM). Both methods are flexible to the definition of system failure. For example, the probability of a serviceability or ultimate-strength failure can be assessed using any of the two methods. It is shown that the two methods produce similar results, but PRM is preferred because it is exact and usually faster to implement. The second main objective in this dissertation is to develop a method for the optimization of the design of a structural system, given a target probability of failure. In this method, using the structural analysis of a preliminary design, the ratio of the optimal to the preliminary mean capacity of each component, which is called the Optimality Factor, is determined. Two design strategies are considered. First, an optimal design is intended to achieve the maximum system integrity. System integrity is defined as the balanced contribution of system components to its reliability. To quantify the system integrity, the Integrity Index is defined, and its calculation for various systems is discussed. Second, a designated failure scenario is considered, where some components serve as a fuse to protect some other components. This design strategy is especially applicable to mooring systems with drag anchor foundations because normally, if a drag anchor is pulled out from the seabed, it can cause significant damages to nearby subsea facilities. Using the rules of probability, a method is then developed to calculate the optimality factor of each component.Item Seismic retrofit of RC columns with FRP composites and anchorage system(2015-05) Psaros Andriopoulos, Apostolos; Jirsa, J. O. (James Otis); Hrynyk, TrevorResearch on the use of composite materials in structural applications started more than 30 years ago but still remains active. The challenges that accompany those applications are diverse and seem to increase as the variety of applications grows. There are several fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) systems that have been introduced through the years for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Those systems focus on strengthening of slabs, beams and columns. The present study pertains to seismic retrofit of rectangular RC columns. The typical FRP materials used in structural applications are introduced, as well as, how FRP materials become an integral part of the force-resisting system. In addition, analysis work pertaining to a series of strengthened RC columns was conducted and the results were compared to the experimental data. Moreover, deficiencies of typical material models were highlighted. Design guidelines are discussed and recommendations about current design practices are provided. Finally, research gaps and future research recommendations are identified.Item Seismic retrofit of RC columns with FRP composites and anchorage system(2015-05) Psaros Andriopoulos, Apostolos; Jirsa, J. O. (James Otis); Hrynyk, TrevorResearch on the use of composite materials in structural applications started more than 30 years ago but still remains active. The challenges that accompany those applications are diverse and seem to increase as the variety of applications grows. There are several fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) systems that have been introduced through the years for strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Those systems focus on strengthening of slabs, beams and columns. The present study pertains to seismic retrofit of rectangular RC columns. The typical FRP materials used in structural applications are introduced, as well as, how FRP materials become an integral part of the force-resisting system. In addition, analysis work pertaining to a series of strengthened RC columns was conducted and the results were compared to the experimental data. Moreover, deficiencies of typical material models were highlighted. Design guidelines are discussed and recommendations about current design practices are provided. Finally, research gaps and future research recommendations are identified.Item Systems and Algorithms for Automated Collaborative Observation using Networked Robotic Cameras(2011-10-21) Xu, YiliangThe development of telerobotic systems has evolved from Single Operator Single Robot (SOSR) systems to Multiple Operator Multiple Robot (MOMR) systems. The relationship between human operators and robots follows the master-slave control architecture and the requests for controlling robot actuation are completely generated by human operators. Recently, the fast evolving advances in network and computer technologies and decreasing size and cost of sensors and robots enable us to further extend the MOMR system architecture to incorporate heterogeneous components such as humans, robots, sensors, and automated agents. The requests for controlling robot actuation are generated by all the participants. We term it as the MOMR++ system. However, to reach the best potential and performance of the system, there are many technical challenges needing to be addressed. In this dissertation, we address two major challenges in the MOMR++ system development. We first address the robot coordination and planning issue in the application of an autonomous crowd surveillance system. The system consists of multiple robotic pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras assisted with a fixed wide-angle camera. The wide-angle camera provides an overview of the scene and detects moving objects, which are required for close-up views using the PTZ cameras. When applied to the pedestrian surveillance application and compared to a previous work, the system achieves increasing number of observed objects by over 210% in heavy traffic scenarios. The key issue here is given the limited number (e.g., p (p > 0)) of PTZ cameras and many more (e.g., n (n >> p)) observation requests, how to coordinate the cameras to best satisfy all the requests. We formulate this problem as a new camera resource allocation problem. Given p cameras, n observation requests, and [epsilon] being approximation bound, we develop an approximation algorithm running in O(n/[epsilon]? + p?/[epsilon]?) time, and an exact algorithm, when p = 2, running in O(n?) time. We then address the automatic object content analysis and recognition issue in the application of an autonomous rare bird species detection system. We set up the system in the forest near Brinkley, Arkansas. The camera monitors the sky, detects motions, and preserves video data for only those targeted bird species. During the one-year search, the system reduces the raw video data of 29.41TB to only 146.7MB (reduction rate 99.9995%). The key issue here is to automatically recognize the flying bird species. We verify the bird body axis dynamic information by an extended Kalman filter (EKF) and compare the bird dynamic state with the prior knowledge of the targeted bird species. We quantify the uncertainty in recognition due to the measurement uncertainty and develop a novel Probable Observation Data Set (PODS)-based EKF method. In experiments with real video data, the algorithm achieves 95% area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Through the exploration of the two MOMR++ systems, we conclude that the new MOMR++ system architecture enables much wider range of participants, enhances the collaboration and interaction between participants so that information can be exchanged in between, suppresses the chance of any individual bias or mistakes in the observation process, and further frees humans from the control/observation process by providing automatic control/observation. The new MOMR++ system architecture is a promising direction for future telerobtics advances.