Automated attendance accounting system

An automated accounting system useful for applying data to a computer from any or all of a multiplicity of data terminals is disclosed. The system essentially includes a preselected number of data terminals which are each adapted to convert data words of decimal form to another form, i.e., binary, usable with the computer. Each data terminal may take the form of a keyboard unit having a number of depressable buttons or switches corresponding to selected data digits and/or function digits. A bank of data buffers, one of which is associated with each data terminal, is provided as a temporary storage. Data from the terminals is applied to the data buffers on a digit by digit basis for transfer via a multiplexer to the computer

Peak acceleration limiter for vibrational tester Patent

Electronic detection system for peak acceleration limits in vibrational testing of spacecraft component

Computer-controlled vibration testing

System features quickly achieved steady state, increased accuracy of spectrum definition, and true Gaussian amplitude distribution of resulting signals. Controlled shock-tests might also be tried with this system

OGSA first impressions: a case study re-engineering a scientific applicationwith the open grid services architecture

We present a case study of our experience re-engineeringa scientific application using the Open Grid Services Architecture(OGSA), a new specification for developing Gridapplications using web service technologies such as WSDLand SOAP. During the last decade, UCL?s Chemistry departmenthas developed a computational approach for predictingthe crystal structures of small molecules. However,each search involves running large iterations of computationallyexpensive calculations and currently takes a fewmonths to perform. Making use of early implementationsof the OGSA specification we have wrapped the Fortranbinaries into OGSI-compliant service interfaces to exposethe existing scientific application as a set of loosely coupledweb services. We show how the OGSA implementationfacilitates the distribution of such applications across alarge network, radically improving performance of the systemthrough parallel CPU capacity, coordinated resourcemanagement and automation of the computational process.We discuss the difficulties that we encountered turning Fortranexecutables into OGSA services and delivering a robust,scalable system. One unusual aspect of our approachis the way we transfer input and output data for the Fortrancodes. Instead of employing a file transfer service wetransform the XML encoded data in the SOAP message tonative file format, where possible using XSLT stylesheets.We also discuss a computational workflow service that enablesusers to distribute and manage parts of the computationalprocess across different clusters and administrativedomains. We examine how our experience re-engineeringthe polymorph prediction application led to this approachand to what extent our efforts have succeeded

A power-spectral-density computer program

Computer program simplifies and clarifies random noise vibration test results. It also varies PSD test specifications, sets up automatic equalization equipment, and calculates an exact accleration level for the random noise prior to the test

Intermittency, scaling and the Fokker-Planck approach to fluctuations of the solar wind bulk plasma parameters as seen by the WIND spacecraft

The solar wind provides a natural laboratory for observations of MHD turbulence over extended temporal scales. Here, we apply a model independent method of differencing and rescaling to identify self-similarity in the Probability Density Functions (PDF) of fluctuations in solar wind bulk plasma parameters as seen by the WIND spacecraft. Whereas the fluctuations of speed v and IMF magnitude B are multi-fractal, we find that the fluctuations in the ion density rho, energy densities B^2 and rho v^2 as well as MHD-approximated Poynting flux vB^2 are mono-scaling on the timescales up to ~26 hours. The single curve, which we find to describe the fluctuations PDF of all these quantities up to this timescale, is non-Gaussian. We model this PDF with two approaches-- Fokker-Planck, for which we derive the transport coefficients and associated Langevin equation, and the Castaing distribution that arises from a model for the intermittent turbulent cascade.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. APS format accepted to be published at PRE. Changes include the discussion of the functional form of tails for rescaled PDFs. Introductions has been modified as well. New figure 7 has been adde