A Laguerre polynomial-based bound on the symbol error probability for adaptive antennas with optimum combining

We derive a simple closed-form upper bound on the symbol error probability for coherent detection of M-ary phase-shift keying using antenna arrays with optimum combining, in the presence of multiple uncorrelated equal-power cochannel interferers and thermal noise in a Rayleigh fading environment. The new bound, based on Laguerre polynomials, is valid for an arbitrary number of antenna elements as well as arbitrary number of interferers, and it is proven to be asymptotically tight. Comparisons with Monte Carlo simulation are also provided, showing that our bound is useful in many cases of interest.     

Towards a Dual-Tip STM Application in Mesoscopic Electron Transport

A new design for a dual-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented. The design is a variation on the mechanically controllable break-junction with two electron beam-induced deposition nano-tips. The new design enables one to scan surfaces simultaneously with two probes having a nano-gap separation. By collecting the lateral current flowing between the tips, the transconductance map can then be compared with the STM images for local characterizations of the electron transport. Since the lateral beam carries the property of the density of states of the surface at momentum space, the dispersion of the electronic structure should give an orientation and position dependence of the local transconductance current. In addition, the reduced terminal separation, on the order of the characteristic mesoscopic length scales, is likely to be sensitive to a variety of typically observed interactions and interference effects.     

Tool wear and chatter detection using the coherence function of two crossed accelerations

Tool wear and chatter have been found to be the main causes of rejects in the machining of super alloys. A novel detection technique to identify both tool wear and chatter in turning a nickel-based super alloy is introduced. It uses the coherence function between two crossed accelerations from the bending vibration of the tool shank. The value of the coherence function at the chatter frequency reaches unity at the onset of chatter. Its values at the first natural frequencies of the tool shank approach unity in the severe tool wear stage. The results are interpreted using the analysis of the coherence function for a single input-two output model. The advantage of using this method is that the thresholds for detecting severe tool wear and chatter can be easily set, since values of coherence function are normalized to a range of between zero and unity, and are also not so susceptible to changing cutting conditions, because the value of the coherence function is close to unity at the onset of chatter and severe tool wear.     

Application of Fuzzy Moving Sliding Surface Approach for Container Cranes

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In this paper, we consider the fuzzy moving sliding surface anti-sway control problem for container cranes. We first introduce the dynamic...     

Interactive Evolutionary Multi-Objective Optimization Algorithm Using Cone Dominance

As the number of objectives increases, the performance of the Pareto dominance-based Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO) algorithms such as NSGA-II, SPEA2 severely deteriorates due to the drastic increase in the Pareto-incomparable solutions. We propose a sorting method which classifies these incomparable solutions into several ordered classes by using the decision maker's (DM) preference information. This is accomplished by designing an interactive evolutionary algorithm and constructing convex cones. This method allows the DMs to drive the search process toward a preferred region of the Pareto optimal front. The performance of the proposed algorithm is assessed for two, three, and four-objective knapsack problems. The results demonstrate the algorithm's ability to converge to the most preferred point. The evaluation and comparison of the results indicate that the proposed approach gives better solutions than that of NSGA-II. In addition, the approach is more efficient compared to NSGA-II in terms of the number of generations required to reach the preferred point.     

A surface blending approach for displacement features on freeform surfaces

Embedding a number of displacement features into a base surface is common in industrial product design and modeling, where displaced surface regions are blended with the unmodified surface region. The cubic Hermite interpolant is usually adopted for surface blending, in which tangent plane smoothness across the boundary curve is achieved. However, the polynomial degree of the tangent field curve obtained symbolically is considerably higher, and the reduction of the degree of a freeform curve is a non-trivial task. In this work, an approximation surface blending approach is proposed to achieve tangential continuity across the boundary curve. The boundary curve is first offset in the tangent field with the user-specified tolerance, after which it is refined to be compatible with the offset curve for surface blending. Since the boundary curve is offset in a three-dimensional (3D) space, the local self-intersection in the offset curve is addressed in a 2D space by approximately mapping the offset vectors in the respective tangent planes to the parameter space of the base surface. The proposed algorithm is validated using examples, and the normal vector deviation along the boundary curve is investigated.     

Registration using natural features for augmented reality systems

Registration is one of the most difficult problems in augmented reality (AR) systems. In this paper, a simple registration method using natural features based on the projective reconstruction technique is proposed. This method consists of two steps: embedding and rendering. Embedding involves specifying four points to build the world coordinate system on which a virtual object will be superimposed. In rendering, the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature tracker is used to track the natural feature correspondences in the live video. The natural features that have been tracked are used to estimate the corresponding projective matrix in the image sequence. Next, the projective reconstruction technique is used to transfer the four specified points to compute the registration matrix for augmentation. This paper also proposes a robust method for estimating the projective matrix, where the natural features that have been tracked are normalized (translation and scaling) and used as the input data. The estimated projective matrix will be used as an initial estimate for a nonlinear optimization method that minimizes the actual residual errors based on the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) minimization method, thus making the results more robust and stable. The proposed registration method has three major advantages: 1) It is simple, as no predefined fiducials or markers are used for registration for either indoor and outdoor AR applications. 2) It is robust, because it remains effective as long as at least six natural features are tracked during the entire augmentation, and the existence of the corresponding projective matrices in the live video is guaranteed. Meanwhile, the robust method to estimate the projective matrix can obtain stable results even when there are some outliers during the tracking process. 3) Virtual objects can still be superimposed on the specified areas, even if some parts of the areas are occluded during the entire process. Some indoor and outdoor experiments have been conducted to validate the performance of this proposed method.     

General Liability Insurance Coverage for Mold Claims

Although humans and mold have coexisted for centuries, the effects of mold on health and property have recently received considerable attention. Members of the construction industry and commercial property owners are, with increasing frequency, finding themselves defending claims of property damage or personal injury due to indoor mold growth. These designers, builders, and property owners frequently turn to their general liability insurance carriers for defense and indemnification without having a full understanding of the protections afforded by their commercial general liability policies. This article provides an introduction to the typical coverages and exclusions applicable to mold related claims submitted for general liability coverage. This article also discusses maximizing the potential for coverage by notifying and cooperating with one’s insurer and provides guidance on the avoidance of indoor mold growth and claims. Questions concerning the meaning and effect of particular insurance policy provisions and the availability of additional or alternative coverages should be directed to one’s insurance professional or coverage attorney.     

SMA-16路面改性沥青压实温度对比研究

施工温度对SMA-16改性沥青混合料路面的性能影响很大。为了给SMA-16沥青路面压实技术在工程中的应用提供有价值的数据和理论依据,采用合格的矿料级配以及油石比、纤石比和粉石比分别为6.1%,0.31%和10%,模拟施工压实温度变异性对SMA-16路面性能的影响,对不同压实温度下沥青混合料的路用性能进行试验分析。结果表明:SMA混合料最佳压实温度为160℃,初始压实温度不该低于150℃。     

Hybrid Approach to Modeling the Process of Convective Radiative Heat and Mass Transfer in Closed Differentially Heated Cavities

Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics - A hybrid model has been developed for the analysis of the process of combined mass and heat transfer in closed rectangular cavities under the...