Wide-Area Surveillance System using a UAV Helicopter Interceptor and Sensor Placement Planning Techniques

This project proposes and describes the implementation of a wide-area surveillance system comprised of a sensor/interceptor placement planning and an interceptor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter. Given the 2-D layout of an area, the planning system optimally places perimeter cameras based on maximum coverage and minimal cost. Part of this planning system includes the MATLAB implementation of Erdem and Sclaroff’s Radial Sweep algorithm for visibility polygon generation. Additionally, 2-D camera modeling is proposed for both fixed and PTZ cases. Finally, the interceptor is also placed to minimize shortest-path flight time to any point on the perimeter during a detection event. Secondly, a basic flight control system for the UAV helicopter is designed and implemented. The flight control system’s primary goal is to hover the helicopter in place when a human operator holds an automatic-flight switch. This system represents the first step in a complete waypoint-navigation flight control system. The flight control system is based on an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. This system is implemented using a general-purpose personal computer (GPPC) running Windows XP and other commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. This setup differs from other helicopter control systems which typically use custom embedded solutions or micro-controllers. Experiments demonstrate the sensor placement planning achieving \u3e90% coverage at optimized-cost for several typical areas given multiple camera types and parameters. Furthermore, the helicopter flight control system experiments achieve hovering success over short flight periods. However, the final conclusion is that the COTS IMU is insufficient for high-speed, high-frequency applications such as a helicopter control system

Support of LAVA Integration and Testing

The Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis (LAVA) subsystem is a part of the Regolith and Environment Science & Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Analysis (RESOLVE) Payload that will fly to the lunar pole on the Resource Prospector Mission (RPM) in 2019. The purpose of the mission is to characterize the water on the surface and subsurface of the moon in various locations in order to map the distribution. This characterization of water will help to understand how feasible water is as a resource that can be used for drinking water, breathable air, and propellants in future missions. This paper describes the key support activities performed during a 10 week internship; specifically, troubleshooting the Near Infrared Spectrometer for the Surge Tank (NIRST) instrument count loss, contributing to a clamp to be used in the installation of Resistive Temperature Detectors (RTDs) to tubing, performing a failure analysis of the LAVA Fluid Subsystem (FSS), and finalizing trade studies for release

Kellom Heights Housing Market Report

Mr. Alvin M. Goodwin, Jr., President of the Omaha Economic Development Corporation asked the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to conduct a brief examination of the housing market surrounding the proposed Kellom Heights 42 unit multi-family housing project. This report examines the existing housing conditions and housing needs in the general project area. In conjunction with other relevant information, this report will help determine the feasibility of the expansion of the Kellom Heights housing project

RecDroid: a resource access permission control portal and recommendation service for smartphone users

The rapid growth of the smartphone applications market raises security concerns regarding untrusted applications. Studies have shown that most apps in markets request to collect data irrelevant to the main functions of the apps. Traditional Android permission control design based on one-time decisions on installation has been proven to be ineffective in protecting users’ privacy and poorly utilizes scarce mobile resources (e.g. battery). RecDroid is designed to help protect user data in a market where unauthorized data collection is prevalent in most applications. With RecDroid’s recommendation feature, which is based on expert analysis, the user will be able to avoid unnecessary privacy breach while retaining safe functionalities of many third party applications. RecDroid’s implementation consists of three distinct components: Application, OS modifications, and Recommendation Server. Firstly, RecDroid is exposed to the user as an application that allows them to manage permissions for installed applications and provides recommended permissions for new installations. In order to accomplish this, the Android OS needed to be modified to add two key functions to make our application work: editing the PackageManager class to handle user set permissions and to add a probation installation setting to let RecDroid know what applications to monitor. The last core component required for the RecDroid application is a server that collects participating users’ decisions sent by the application, makes recommendations based on stored decisions, and provides recommendations to the application. When RecDroid is fully implemented and has a sufficient user base, we expect to have a fully functional application that can effectively protect user data from dishonest applications that seek to overstep their essential reach. The server will continuously collect more data and recruit new users, which will correspondingly increase the confidence level and accuracy of RecDroid recommendations.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1034/thumbnail.jp

Role of Single Defects in Electronic Transport through Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors

The influence of defects on electron transport in single-wall carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNFETs) is probed by combined scanning gate microscopy (SGM) and scanning impedance microscopy (SIM). SGM reveals a localized field effect at discrete defects along the CNFET length. The depletion surface potential of individual defects is quantified from the SGM-imaged radius of the defect as a function of tip bias voltage. This provides a measure of the Fermi level at the defect with zero tip voltage, which is as small as 20 meV for the strongest defects. The effect of defects on transport is probed by SIM as a function of backgate and tip-gate voltage. When the backgate voltage is set so the CNFET is "on" (conducting), SIM reveals a uniform potential drop along its length, consistent with diffusive transport. In contrast, when the CNFET is "off", potential steps develop at the position of depleted defects. Finally, high-resolution imaging of a second set of weak defects is achieved in a new "tip-gated" SIM mode.Comment: to appear in Physical Review Letter

Internet Addiction to Child Pornography

During the present age and time, it seems as though people in society have become addicted to nearly anything and everything, whether it be to a substance, an activity or an object. The Internet and pornography is no exception. While commonly thought of as a deviant behavior, many are displaying addictions towards the Internet and pornography. More alarming, however, are those who are viewing, downloading, or trading child pornography and displaying addictive Internet behaviors, for they are spending excessive amounts of time engaging in the proliferation of child pornographic materials. For this reason, addiction to the Internet and usage of child pornography are the main points of the current study. The self-reported survey, which was part of a larger project to fulfill requirements for a Master of Science degree, measured demographics, Internet usage and child pornography usage, to find valuable statistical data and to gain an understanding of those who are engaging in child exploitation on the Internet. The current study proved to measure child pornography usage on the Internet correlated with Internet addiction. While the study is not without limitations, it provides valuable information about those who are engaging in child pornography. The ultimate goal was to gain an understanding of those engaging in child pornography on the Internet, in order to prevent more children from falling victim of these predators. Keywords: child pornography, pornography, addiction, Internet, child exploitatio

The prolongation of life in early modern English literature and culture, with emphasis on Francis Bacon

Drawing upon early modern texts of poetry, theology, and natural philosophy written in England and the continent, this dissertation explores the intellectual traditions inherent in Renaissance discourses addressing the prolongation of life. It is organized around two nodal questions: Can life be prolonged? Should it be prolonged? The project hinges upon Francis Bacon (1561-1626), for whom the prolongation of life in the sense of a longer human lifespan serves as the loftiest goal of modern experimental science. Addressing the first question, Part One illustrates the texture and diversity of early modern theories of senescence and medical treatments against the disease of old age promoted by Galen, Avicenna, medieval theologians, Jean Fernel, Marsilio Ficino, and Paracelsus. Part Two then demonstrates that Bacon's theory of senescence and corresponding therapies nevertheless differ from those of his predecessors and contemporaries in three regards: their attempt to isolate senescence from disease, their postulation of senescence as a process based on universal structures and actions of matter, and their deferral to further experiment for elucidation. Addressing the second question, Part Three situates Bacon within a moral and theological context. It first divulges this context through a close analysis of his most explicit defenses for his project of life extension. Cued by Bacon, who argues that the prolongation of life is the most basic form of Christian charity as well as a natural desire, subsequent chapters engage two sources by which early modern debates about the prolongation of life were fueled, Christian theology and classical philosophy. These inform poems and plays dealing with senescence and human longevity by two English authors whose lives overlapped Bacon's, Edmund Spenser and Ben Jonson. A comparison of their works with passages from the Bible, Seneca, Lucretius, Cicero, and John Calvin discloses tensions resident within early modern culture at large, tensions that arose from a matrix of conflicting beliefs--a natural desire for survival, Stoic and religious injunctions against life for life's sake, optimistic and pessimistic valuations of old age, and contrasting natural and transcendent ideals of human perfection

S4_4 Roberto Carlos' 'Impossible' Free Kick

In the Tournoi de France 1997, Roberto Carlos scored a free kick in a 1-1 draw between France and Brazil. This goal would go on to make headlines and feature in highlight reels for many years to come. Our calculations show the force applied to the football by Carlos to be 320.2 N at an angle of 9.84 degrees from the initial direction of the ball