Strength and durability of composite concretes using municipal wastes

The influence of different types of polyethylene (PE) substitutions as partial aggregate replacement of micro-steel fiber reinforced self-consolidating concrete (SCC) incorporating incinerator fly ash was investigated. The study focuses on the workability and hardened properties including mechanical, permeability properties, sulfate resistance and microstructure. Regardless of the polyethylene type, PE substitutions slightly decreased the compressive and flexural strength of SSC initially, however, the difference was compensated at later ages. SEM analysis of the interfacial transition zone showed that there was chemical interaction between PE and the matrix. Although PE substitutions increased the permeable porosity and sorptivity, it significantly improved the sulfate resistance of SCC. The influence of PE shape and size on workability and strength was found to be more important than its type. When considering the disposal of PE wastes and saving embodied energy, consuming recycled PE as partial aggregate replacement was more advantageous over virgin PE aggregate replaced concrete

Predictive Robot Vision

Professor Benjamin and I designed and implemented a fast predictive vision system for a mobile robot, as part of a multi-year research project with two other universities: Brigham Young University and Fordham University. The vision system represents the robot\u27s environment with a 3D gaming platform. Our system uses two Firewire cameras mounted in a pan-tilt base. I personally designed and built the pan-tilt mechanism, and wrote driver software in C to control it.The complete description of the system and its components is given online at: https//robotlab.csis.pace.edu/robotlab/wiki/Eyes which includes a short video showing the camera looking around. The development of this inexpensive vision system brings stereo color vision within the budgets of a much larger part of the research community. The project presented many challenges and opportunities that students are not typically exposed to in Pace\u27s computer science curriculum: programming in the C and C++ languages, fabricating and working with computer-controlled hardware, programming and using software libraries in a UNIX environment, and exploring and applying the theory and algorithms of computer vision. C was used to write the driver for the custom pan-tilt unit, and much of the vision code was written in C++ vision libraries such as OpenCV and ERVsion. All development took place on Linux and UNIX systems and much effort was put into configuring a standardized Linux installation that would support research in the robotics lab for years to come. Though not typically a focus of computer science, the opportunity to design and build a low-cost alternative to the expensive stereo vision proudcts currently on the market was a welcome one. With a simple design and commodity parts, a stereo vision solution tailored to our needs, and the needs of other researchers was developed for a fraction of the cost of commercial solutions. During the execution of this project it was necessary to evaluate many commercial and open source computer vision libraries and determine the combination that met the requirements of the project. Systems from Intel, Evolution Robotics, Videre, VXL and others were evaluated in order to find an efficient solution that would provide the required features: image segmentation, stereo disparity, optical flow, and object recognition. The open-source, Intel OpenCV library was chosen to perform the brunt of the vision processing, and the Evolution Robotics vision package was chosen for its object recognition capabilities

Artists' Prints and Multiples

McKibbon discusses the prints in the exhibition, demonstrating how printmaking techniques are modified to fulfill the demands of the artist. Includes a glossary and statements by 10 artists