Localization and sensing applications in the Pushpin Computer Network

Thesis (M. Eng. and S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-124).The utility and purpose of a node in a wireless sensor network is intimately tied to the physical space in which it is distributed. As such, it is advantageous under most circumstances for a sensor node to know its position. In this work, we present two systems for localizing a network of roughly 60 sensor nodes distributed over an area of 1-m2. One is based on a linear lateration technique, while the second approach utilizes non-linear optimization techniques, namely spectral graph drawing and mesh relaxation. In both cases, localization is accomplished by generating distance constraints based on ultrasound time-of-flight measurements to distinct, global sensor stimuli. These distance constraints alone are sufficient to achieve localization; no a priori knowledge of sensor node coordinates or the coordinates of the global sensor events are required. Using this technique, we have achieved a localization error of 2.30-cm and an error standard deviation of 2.36-cm.by Michael Joseph Broxton.M.Eng.and S.B

Sensor network localization based on natural phenomena

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-116).Autonomous localization is crucial for many sensor network applications. The goal of this thesis is to develop a distributed localization algorithm for the PLUG indoor sensor network by analyzing sound and light sensory data from naturally occurring background phenomena as well as synthesized emulations of background transients. Our approach has two main phases: passive and active. The system enters an active mode when, its sensed region stays relatively silent and stable, hence assumed to be unoccupied; otherwise, it stays in the passive mode. In the passive mode, each node looks for sonic transients and compares the timing of its highest sound peak to that of synchronized sound peaks from other nodes in its neighborhood in order to estimate its distance. Passive ranging achieved 50.96cm error and simulated passive localization achieved 103.06cm error with a typical node-spacing of 2m. In addition, the system exploits background transients based on light sensory data to determine room boundaries. In the active mode, each node occasionally generates recorded mimics of natural sonic transients, like pencils dropping or water glasses clinking and manipulates an attached light source. Active acoustic ranging achieved 2.1cm error and simulated active localization achieved 7.97cm error with a typical node-spacing of 2m. In addition, passive location estimation in a real deployment is found to converge as more sensory data is available; range resolutions of 2.5m and localization errors of 20.3cm were obtained after running in passive mode for 20 hours in 7m by 5m dorm hallway. The main features of author's approach are its distributed properties, the lack of any heavy infrastructure, its unobtrusive exploitation of multi-sensory background phenomena, and in active mode, making the sound signal between nodes unobtrusive by mimicking the natural sounds.by Daniel Sang Kim.M.Eng

A flexible high-density sensor network

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-174).This thesis explores building and deploying a scalable electronic sensate skin that was designed as a dense sensor network. Our skin is built from small (1" x 1") rigid circuit boards attached to their neighbors with flexible interconnects. Each boardcontained an embedded processor together with a suite of thirteen sensors, providing dense, multimodal capture of proximate and contact phenomena. In addition to the design of the physical system, this thesis develops protocols for internode communication (both neighbor-neighbor and global), and power-efficient wake-on-phenomena operation. The system was rigorously tested with an array of up to 4x3 nodes subject to a variety of sensor stimuli. Although there were some robustness issues in the final design (particularly in the wired interconnects, which were not the focus of this thesis work), the skin that we developed showed good flexibility for a prototype, ran quickly and efficiently, and could detect and respond to a variety of stimuli.by Behram Farrokh Thomas Mistree.M.Eng

The Use of Multiple Slate Devices to Support Active Reading Activities

Reading activities in the classroom and workplace occur predominantly on paper. Since existing electronic devices do not support these reading activities as well as paper, users have difficulty taking full advantage of the affordances of electronic documents. This dissertation makes three main contributions toward supporting active reading electronically. The first contribution is a comprehensive set of active reading requirements, drawn from three decades of research into reading processes. These requirements explain why existing devices are inadequate for supporting active reading activities. The second contribution is a multi-slate reading system that more completely supports the active reading requirements above. Researchers believe the suitability of paper for active reading is largely due to the fact it distributes content across different sheets of paper, which are capable of displaying information as well as capturing input. The multi-slate approach draws inspiration from the independent reading and writing surfaces that paper provides, to blend the beneficial features of e-book readers, tablets, PCs, and tabletop computers. The development of the multi-slate system began with the Dual-Display E-book, which used two screens to provide richer navigation capabilities than a single-screen device. Following the success of the Dual-Display E-book, the United Slates, a general-purpose reading system consisting of an extensible number of slates, was created. The United Slates consisted of custom slate hardware, specialized interactions that enabled the slates to be used cooperatively, and a cloud-based infrastructure that robustly integrated the slates with users' existing computing devices and workflow. The third contribution is a series of evaluations that characterized reading with multiple slates. A laboratory study with 12 participants compared the relative merits of paper and electronic reading surfaces. One month long in-situ deployments of the United Slates with graduate students in the humanities found the multi-slate configuration to be highly effective for reading. The United Slates system delivered desirable paper-like qualities that included enhanced reading engagement, ease of navigation, and peace-of-mind while also providing superior electronic functionality. The positive feedback suggests that the multi-slate configuration is a desirable method for supporting active reading activities

Human Factors Design Standard for Acquisition of Commercial-off-the-Shelf Subsystems, Non-Developmental Items, and Developmental Systems

The Human Factors Design Standard (HFDS) provides reference information to assist in the selection, analysis, design, development, and evaluation of new and modified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) systems and equipment. This document is based largely on the 1996 Human Factors Design Guide (HFDG) produced by the FAA in 1996. It converts the original guidelines document to a standard and incorporates updated information, including the newly revised chapters on automation and human-computer interface. The updated document includes extensive reorganization of material based on user feedback on how the document has been used in the past. Additional information has been also been added to help the users better understand tradeoffs involved with specific design criteria. This standard covers a broad range of human factors topics that pertain to automation, maintenance, displays and printers, controls and visual indicators, alarms, alerts and voice output, input devices, workplace design, system security, safety, the environment, and anthropometry documentation. This document also includes extensive human-computer interface information

CIMODE 2016: 3º Congresso Internacional de Moda e Design: proceedings

O CIMODE 2016 é o terceiro Congresso Internacional de Moda e Design, a decorrer de 9 a 12 de maio de 2016 na cidade de Buenos Aires, subordinado ao tema : EM--‐TRAMAS. A presente edição é organizada pela Faculdade de Arquitetura, Desenho e Urbanismo da Universidade de Buenos Aires, em conjunto com o Departamento de Engenharia Têxtil da Universidade do Minho e com a ABEPEM – Associação Brasileira de Estudos e Pesquisa em Moda.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio