Remembering the Office of the Future: The Origins of Word Processing and Office Automation

Word processing entered the American office in 1970 as an idea about reorganizing typists, but its meaning soon shifted to describe computerized text editing. The designers of word processing systems combined existing technologies to exploit the falling costs of interactive computing, creating a new business quite separate from the emerging world of the personal computer.     

Atmospheric correction over case 2 waters with an iterative fitting algorithm

A modular atmospheric correction algorithm is proposed that uses atmospheric and water contents models to predict the visible and near-infrared reflectances observed by a satellite over water. These predicted values are compared with the satellite reflectances at each pixel, and the model parameters changed iteratively with an error minimization algorithm. The default atmospheric model uses single-scattering theory with a correction for multiple scattering based on lookup tables. With this model we used parameters of the proportions of three tropospheric aerosol types. For the default water content model we need the parameters of the concentrations of chlorophyll, inorganic sediment, and gelbstoff. The diffuse attenuation and backscatter coefficients attributed to these constituents are calculated and used to derive the water-leaving reflectance. Products include water-leaving reflectance, concentrations of water constituents, and aerosol optical depth and type. We demonstrate the application of the method to sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor by using model data.     

The ageing process: a challenge for design

Growing interest in the design of products for the over 50s suggests that it is important to assess what we know of older users in relation to product design. An evaluation of the research carried out in this field reveals that changes normally associated with ageing frequently occur in the 30s and 40s. It would appear to make economic sense if products were designed to be used by those with limited abilities as well by as the able-bodied. It is concluded that there are gaps in the research in this area which need to be addressed in order to guide designers in the specifications of products which are functional, efficient, safe and attractive to older and younger users alike.     

A Method of Transformation from Symbolic Transfer Function to Active-RC Circuit by Admittance Matrix Expansion

Active-RC circuits containing 2-terminal linear passive elements and ideal transistors or operational amplifiers are derived from symbolic voltage or current transfer functions by admittance matrix transformations without any prior assumption concerning circuit architecture or topology. Since the method is a reversal of symbolic circuit analysis by Gaussian elimination applied to a circuit nodal admittance matrix, it can generate all circuits using the specified elements that possess a given symbolic transfer function. The method is useful for synthesis of low-order circuits, such as those used for cascade implementation, for deriving alternative circuits with the same transfer function as an existing circuit or for realizing unusual transfer functions, as may arise, for example, where a transfer function is required that contains specific tuning parameters     

Interleaving Planning and Robot Execution for Asynchronous User Requests

ROGUE is an architecture built on a real robot which provides algorithms for the integration of high-level planning, low-level robotic execution, and learning. ROGUE addresses successfully several of the challenges of a dynamic office gopher environment. This article presents the techniques for the integration of planning and execution.ROGUE uses and extends a classical planning algorithm to create plans for multiple interacting goals introduced by asynchronous user requests. ROGUE translates the planner';s actions to robot execution actions and monitors real world execution. ROGUE is currently implemented using the PRODIGY4.0 planner and the Xavier robot. This article describes how plans are created for multiple asynchronous goals, and how task priority and compatibility information are used to achieve appropriate efficient execution. We describe how ROGUE communicates with the planner and the robot to interleave planning with execution so that the planner can replan for failed actions, identify the actual outcome of an action with multiple possible outcomes, and take opportunities from changes in the environment.ROGUE represents a successful integration of a classical artificial intelligence planner with a real mobile robot.     

Comparison of the dynamic responses of monopiles and gravity base foundations for offshore wind turbines in sand using centrifuge modelling

Monopiles and gravity base foundations (GBF) are two of the most commonly used foundations for offshore wind turbines. As resonance can cause damage and even failure of wind turbines, understanding the difference between the dynamic responses of monopiles and GBFs under free vibration is important. However there is little experimental data regarding their natural frequency, especially from model tests carried out at correct stress levels. This paper presents the results of novel monopile and GBF tests using a centrifuge to directly determine the natural frequency (f_n) of the foundation-soil system. The natural frequencies of wind turbine monopiles and GBFs in centrifuge models were measured during harmonic loading using a piezo-actuator, with the results confirming that soil-structure interaction must be considered to obtain the system’s natural frequency as this frequency reduces substantially from fixed-base values. These results will contribute in preventing resonance induced damage in wind-turbines.     

Bandwidth limits of luminescent solar concentrators as detectors in free-space optical communication systems

Luminescent solar concentrators(LSCs)have recently emerged as a promising receiver technology in free-space optical communications due to their inherent ability to collect light from a wide field-of-view and concentrate it into small areas,thus leading to high optical gains.Several high-speed communication systems integrating LSCs in their detector blocks have already been demonstrated,with the majority of efforts so far being devoted to maximising the received optical power and the system's field-of-view.However,LSCs may pose a severe bottleneck on the bandwidth of such communication channels due to the comparably slow timescale of the fluorescence events involved,a situation further aggravated by the inherent reabsorption in these systems,and yet,an in-depth study into such dynamic effects remains absent in the field.To fill this gap,we have developed a comprehensive analytical solution that delineates the fundamental bandwidth limits of LSCs as optical detectors in arbitrary free-space optical links,and establishes their equivalence with simple RC low-pass electrical circuits.Furthermore,we demonstrate a time-domain Monte Carlo simulation platform,an indispensable tool in the multiparameter optimisation of LSC-based receiver systems.Our work offers vital insight into LSC system dynamic behaviour and paves the way to evaluate the technology for a wide range of applications,including visible light communications,high-speed video recording,and real-time biological imaging,to name a few.     

Variable toroidal ferrite phase shifter

Careful design of the magnetic bias circuit used in ferrite phase shifters can help to reduce space, weight and energy consumption. Low reluctance circuits must avoid air-gaps and this can be achieved using toroidal-shaped ferrite inserts positioned inside a rectangular waveguide. Here, these ferrite inserts are fabricated using a viscous plastic processing method that avoids machining and produces a continuous magnetic circuit. Finite-element methods are used to initially model the magnetostatic solution for the bias circuit before being used to analyse the microwave performance of a double toroid phase shifter. A closedform technique is introduced to model the dielectric slab waveguide impedance transformer. The final insertion loss was ,1 dB over the 9.5?10.3 GHz band and return loss of 20 dB was achievable. The phase shift calculation agrees to within 10% of the measured values.     

Secondary ionization of chemical warfare agent simulants: atmospheric pressure ion mobility time-of-flight mass spectrometry

For the first time, the use of a traditional ionization source for ion mobility spectrometry (radioactive nickel ((63)Ni) beta emission ionization) and three alternative ionization sources (electrospray ionization (ESI), secondary electrospray ionization (SESI), and electrical discharge (corona) ionization (CI)) were employed with an atmospheric pressure ion mobility orthogonal reflector time-of-flight mass spectrometer (IM(tof)MS) to detect chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants from both aqueous- and gas-phase samples. For liquid-phase samples, ESI was used as the sample introduction and ionization method. For the secondary ionization (SESI, CI, and traditional (63)Ni ionization) of vapor-phase samples, two modes of sample volatilization (heated capillary and thermal desorption chamber) were investigated. Simulant reference materials, which closely mimic the characteristic chemical structures of CWA as defined and described by Schedule 1, 2, or 3 of the Chemical Warfare Convention treaty verification, were used in this study. A mixture of four G/V-type nerve simulants (dimethyl methylphosphonate, pinacolyl methylphosphonate, diethyl phosphoramidate, and 2-(butylamino)ethanethiol) and one S-type vesicant simulant (2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide) were found in each case (sample ionization and introduction methods) to be clearly resolved using the IM(tof)MS method. In many cases, reduced mobility constants (K(o)) were determined for the first time. Ion mobility drift times, flight times, relative signal intensities, and fragmentation product signatures for each of the CWA simulants are reported for each of the methods investigated.