Weaving Lighthouses and Stitching Stories: Blind and Visually Impaired People Designing E-textiles

We describe our experience of working with blind and visually impaired people to create interactive art objects that are personal to them, through a participatory making process using electronic textiles (e-textiles) and hands-on crafting techniques. The research addresses both the practical considerations about how to structure hands-on making workshops in a way which is accessible to participants of varying experience and abilities, and how effective the approach was in enabling participants to tell their own stories and feel in control of the design and making process. The results of our analysis is the offering of insights in how to run e-textile making sessions in such a way for them to be more accessible and inclusive to a wider community of participants

Qubit Data Structures for Analyzing Computing Systems

Qubit models and methods for improving the performance of software and hardware for analyzing digital devices through increasing the dimension of the data structures and memory are proposed. The basic concepts, terminology and definitions necessary for the implementation of quantum computing when analyzing virtual computers are introduced. The investigation results concerning design and modeling computer systems in a cyberspace based on the use of two-component structure are presented.Comment: 9 pages,4 figures, Proceeding of the Third International Conference on Data Mining & Knowledge Management Process (CDKP 2014

A basic building block approach to CMOS design of analog neuro/fuzzy systems

Outlines a systematic approach to design fuzzy inference systems using analog integrated circuits in standard CMOS VLSI technologies. The proposed circuit building blocks are arranged in a layered neuro/fuzzy architecture composed of 5 layers: fuzzification, T-norm, normalization, consequent, and output. Inference is performed by using Takagi and Sugeno's (1989) IF-THEN rules, particularly where the rule's output contains only a constant term-a singleton. A simple CMOS circuit with tunable bell-like transfer characteristics is used for the fuzzification. The inputs to this circuit are voltages while the outputs are currents. Circuit blocks proposed for the remaining layers operate in the current-mode domain. Innovative circuits are proposed for the T-norm and normalization layers. The other two layers use current mirrors and KCL. All the proposed circuits emphasize simplicity at the circuit level-a prerequisite to increasing system level complexity and operation speed. A 3-input, 4-rule controller has been designed for demonstration purposes in a 1.6 /spl mu/m CMOS single-poly, double-metal technology. We include measurements from prototypes of the membership function block and detailed HSPICE simulations of the whole controller. These results operation speed in the range of 5 MFLIPS (million fuzzy logic inferences per second) with systematic errors below 1%

Analysis and comparison of Scalextric, SCX, and Carrera Digital slot car systems: A mechatronic engineering design case study

Digital slot cars operate by transmitting both power and data over a single pair of wires much like DCC-controlled model railways and some home automation systems. In this manuscript we analyse and compare the cars, track, controllers, and electronic data transmission protocols of the three popular digital slot car systems