Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems

Evaluating the design of flexible manufacturing systems is complex. Developing a measure of performance useful for evaluating alternate designs continues to be interesting. Here, total productivity of the system is proposed as an appropriate measure. Specification of parameters based upon strategic considerations for this measure are discussed. Finally, the usefulness of the measure is demonstrated through an example.     

Equitone Predicate Algebras and Their Applications

Predicates that preserve their values on a larger (extended) body of data are called equitone. An algebra of such predicates is constructed, a system of its generators is specified, and a complete system of transformations of identities is defined. The results obtained are used for construction and investigation of complete classes of compositions of various types and levels of abstractions that are used in logics of partial predicates.     

Web-based systems design: a study of contemporary practices and an explanatory framework based on “method-in-action”

This paper reports the findings of a detailed study of Web-based systems design (WBSD) practices in Ireland based on data collected over a 3-year period (2002–2005), the objectives of which were to (1) contribute towards a richer understanding of the current “real-world” context of WBSD by characterising the profile of a typical project (team size, timeframe, nature of requirements, etc.) and identifying the key challenges, constraints, and imperatives (i.e. “mediating factors”) faced by Web-based system designers, and (2) understand how those contextual parameters and mediating factors influence the activity of WBSD as regards the selection and enactment of whatever design practices are therefore engaged (i.e. the use of methods, procedures, etc.). Data was gathered through a survey which yielded 165 usable responses, and later through a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Using grounded theory, an explanatory conceptual framework is derived, based on an extension of the “method-in-action” model, the application of which to WBSD has not been previously investigated in depth. It is proposed that this framework of WBSD issues is valuable in a number of ways to educators, researchers, practitioners, and method engineers.     

Controlling mechanical systems with backlash—a survey

Backlash is one of the most important non-linearities that limit the performance of speed and position control in industrial, robotics, automotive, automation and other applications. The control of systems with backlash has been the subject of study since the 1940s. This survey reveals that surprisingly few control innovations have been presented since the early path breaking papers that introduced the describing function analysis of systems with backlash. Promising developments are however taking place using adaptive and non-linear control strategies.     

Wiener models of direction-dependent dynamic systems

Analysis of systems with direction-dependent dynamics is currently limited to cases in which the dynamics in the two directions of the output are first order; results for such systems have been published for both pseudo-random maximum-length binary (MLB) and inverse-repeat maximum-length binary (IR-MLB) inputs. These relatively limited analytical results make it useful to examine alternative ways of modelling such systems and in this paper, Wiener models are considered for this purpose. Methods for optimising the Wiener model parameters by matching the system and model cross-correlation functions, outputs, and discrete Fourier transforms of the outputs are considered, and the results are compared. These methods are also applied to a first-order direction-dependent system with a maximum-length ternary (MLT) input, for which no analytical results are currently available, and to a second-order system with an IR-MLB input.     

The State of the Art in Text Filtering

This paper develops a conceptual framework for text filtering practice and research, and reviews present practice in the field. Text filtering is an information seeking process in which documents are selected from a dynamic text stream to satisfy a relatively stable and specific information need. A model of the information seeking process is introduced and specialized to define text filtering. The historical development of text filtering is then reviewed and case studies of recent work are used to highlight important design characteristics of modern text filtering systems. User modeling techniques drawn from information retrieval, recommender systems, machine learning and other fields are described. The paper concludes with observations on the present state of the art and implications for future research on text filtering. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Real-world extensions to scheduling algorithms based on lagrangian relaxation

Recently, efficient scheduling algorithms based on Lagrangian relaxation have been proposed for scheduling parallel machine systems and job shops. In this article, we develop real-world extensions to these scheduling methods. In the first part of the paper, we consider the problem of scheduling single operation jobs on parallel identical machines and extend the methodology to handle multiple classes of jobs, taking into account setup times and setup costs. The proposed methodology uses Lagrangian relaxation and simulated annealing in a hybrid framework. In the second part of the paper, we consider a Lagrangian relaxation based method for scheduling job shops and extend it to obtain a scheduling methodology for a real-world flexible manufacturing system with centralized material handling. This research was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Science and Technology grant N00014-93-1017.     

生物超微弱发光的光子计数成象方法

介绍了我们研制和设计的用于测量生物超微弱发光的光子计数成象系统，包括光子成象头，高帧频ＣＣＤ摄象机，图象采集系统和计算机，可以定量地探测出生物的发光强度分布 ，还能够显示出其发光的图象，确定发光的形状和位置，本系统的信噪比为１０：１，最小探测功率达１０＾－１６Ｗ，灵敏度高，动态范围大。     

CCD应用中的高速图象数据采集技术

介绍了一种可用于精密光学测量的高速线阵ＣＣＤ图象数据采集系统，给出了系统组成、各单元设计考虑和主要技术指标。     

光盘用光学头物镜性能的综合评估

论述了采用波象差均方根、点扩展函数、光学传递函数对高次旋转对称非球面光学头物镜性能进行综合评估的方法。作者在正则坐标理论基础〔１〕上编制了光学头物镜性能综合评估软件。给出了评估实例。