Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Musical Examination

Eleanor of Aquitaine lived from c.1124 to 1204. In that time, she was the wife of two kings, a mother to three kings, a patron of the arts, and the heir to, and perhaps primary ruling force of, an area that is the equivalent to nearly half of modern France. Her life, full of both personal and political intrigue, has been the subject of several artistic works, ranging from poetry to film. While the proliferation of media has been beneficial in maintaining her memory in the intervening centuries, it has also contributed to a wealth of misinformation about her life. This mythologization, though fascinating, has seeped into historical study, influencing both her biographers and those whose research simply encounters her. As media can help create experiences which last in both individual and collective memory, a scholarly creative work focusing on a specific person or event could lead to greater historical understanding by not only those considered scholars, but also the general public. The purpose of this creative project is to exist as a historically-accurate, scholarly narrative of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life, particularly as her background of education, governance, and relationships led her to revolt with her sons against Henry II. This musical work describes her background, focuses specifically on the Revolt of 1173-1174, and ends with an analysis of the importance of Eleanor beyond the period of her life

AN INVESTIGATION INTO ADAPTIVE SEARCH TECHNIQUES FOR THE AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF SOFTWARE TEST DATA

The focus of this thesis is on the use of adaptive search techniques for the automatic generation of software test data. Three adaptive search techniques are used, these are genetic algorithms (GAs), Simulated Amiealing and Tabu search. In addition to these, hybrid search methods have been developed and applied to the problem of test data generation. The adaptive search techniques are compared to random generation to ascertain the effectiveness of adaptive search. The results indicate that GAs and Simulated Annealing outperform random generation in all test programs. Tabu search outperformed random generation in most tests, but it lost its effectiveness as the amount of input data increased. The hybrid techniques have given mixed results. The two best methods, GAs and Simulated Annealing are then compared to random generation on a program written to optimise capital budgeting, both perform better than random generation and Simulated Annealing requires less test data than GAs. Further research highlights a need for research into the control parameters of all the adaptive search methods and attaining test data which covers border conditions

Enhanced thermal performance of garments embedded with encapsulated phase change material

The thermal storage and insulation properties of garments enhanced with phase change material (PCM) will be investigated using a finite difference procedure. A diver dry suit embedded with micro-encapsulated PCM will be shown to enhance thermal protection under extreme temperature conditions. Under conditions of high body heat production a garment embedded with Macro-encapsulated PCM is shown to absorb excess heat while maintaining a relatively constant temperature

Formation Flying and Change Detection for the UNSW Canberra Space ‘M2’ Low Earth Orbit Formation Flying CubeSat Mission

The University of New South Wales, Canberra (UNSW Canberra) embarked on an ambitious CubeSatellite research, development, and education program in 2017 through funding provided by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The program consisted of M1 (Mission 1), M2 Pathfinder, and concludes with the formation flying mission M2. M2 is the final mission comprising two 6U CubeSatellites flying in formation using differential aerodynamic drag control. The M2 satellites were launched in a conjoined 12U form factor on RocketLab’s ‘They Go Up So Fast’ launch in March 2021. On 10th September 2021 the spacecraft divided into two 6U CubeSats (M2-A and M2-B) under the action of a small spring force in their near-circular 550km, 45-degree inclination orbit. The formation is controlled by varying the spacecrafts’ attitude, which creates a large variation in the aerodynamic drag force due to the change in the cross-sectional area from the large, double-deployable, solar arrays located on the zenith face of the spacecraft. This paper presents the outcomes of the Formation Flying and Change Detection primary mission objectives for the mission. The results are generated by collecting and analysing optical and RF (Radio Frequency) space domain awareness sensor data from the ground and validating them against GPS (Global Positioning System) and attitude data downlinked from the spacecraft. The outcomes of the broader mission objectives, which include increasing the Technology Readiness Level for a suite of intelligent on-board optical and RF sensor technologies, will be presented in subsequent publications. The results presented here comprise two major campaigns: 1.) The spacecraft separation campaign when the original 12U form factor deployed following launch split in half to form the M2-A and M2-B satellites, and 2) the demonstration of active formation control of the spacecraft via differential aerodynamic drag. M2-A and M2-B underwent several major configuration changes during the spacecraft separation campaign. The results from ground-based sensors detecting the 12U spacecraft separating into two distinct (6U) objects are presented. The effect of the double-deployable solar arrays deployment on the relative orbital motion of the M2-A and M2-B spacecraft is illustrated and compared to data from optical and RF ground-based measurements taken during this window. The formation control campaign involved actively controlling the spacecraft via differential aerodynamic drag in order to significantly alter the separation distance. The mission demonstrated the capability to switch the leading spacecraft’s position between M2-A and M2-B and to actively control separation distance ranging from 130km down to 1km. Formation control is achieved via open-loop, pre-scheduled, commands issued from the UNSW Canberra Space ground station. A two-stage modelling and simulation process is used to derive the scheduled attitude states. Firstly, a batch least squares orbit determination algorithm is applied to GPS data from a steady-state differential drag actuation period (where one spacecraft is in maximum drag and the other in its minimum drag attitude configuration). The batch least squares orbit determination is conducted out using the NASA General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT), resulting in precise state estimates for each spacecraft and drag coefficient (Cd) estimates for both the maximum and minimum drag configurations. Predictions of trajectory for various attitude profiles can be produced by tailoring the spacecraft’s drag coefficients between the maximum and minimum values generated by the batch least squares state estimation process. Ground-based optical and RF space domain awareness (SDA) sensor measurements collected during the manoeuvre campaign are compared to the spacecraft’s GPS and attitude telemetry data. The SDA sensors are actively seeking to detect changes in the separation distance between the spacecraft. Initial results from an investigation into whether changes observed in photometric light curve signatures can signal the commencement of a differential drag manoeuvre are presented

Mechanical systems in the quantum regime

Mechanical systems are ideal candidates for studying quantumbehavior of macroscopic objects. To this end, a mechanical resonator has to be cooled to its ground state and its position has to be measured with great accuracy. Currently, various routes to reach these goals are being explored. In this review, we discuss different techniques for sensitive position detection and we give an overview of the cooling techniques that are being employed. The latter include sideband cooling and active feedback cooling. The basic concepts that are important when measuring on mechanical systems with high accuracy and/or at very low temperatures, such as thermal and quantum noise, linear response theory, and backaction, are explained. From this, the quantum limit on linear position detection is obtained and the sensitivities that have been achieved in recent opto and nanoelectromechanical experiments are compared to this limit. The mechanical resonators that are used in the experiments range from meter-sized gravitational wave detectors to nanomechanical systems that can only be read out using mesoscopic devices such as single-electron transistors or superconducting quantum interference devices. A special class of nanomechanical systems are bottom-up fabricated carbon-based devices, which have very high frequencies and yet a large zero-point motion, making them ideal for reaching the quantum regime. The mechanics of some of the different mechanical systems at the nanoscale is studied. We conclude this review with an outlook of how state-of-the-art mechanical resonators can be improved to study quantum {\it mechanics}.Comment: To appear in Phys. Re

Effect of surface stress and thermal loads on the stiffness of cantilever beams and plates

© 2013 Dr. Michael J. LachutNanomechanical doubly-clamped beams and cantilever plates are often used to sense a host of environmental processes, including biomolecular interactions, mass measurements and responses to chemical stimuli. Understanding the effects of surface stress on the stiffness of such nanoscale devices is essential for proper analysis of experimental data. In this thesis, we present a rigorous theoretical treatment of this problem, and explore both linear and nonlinear effects. In Chapter 2, we begin by examining effects of surface stress on the stiffness of cantilever plates and doubly-clamped beams, in the linear stiffness regime. The relative physical mechanisms causing a stiffness change in each case is explored. Specifically, Poisson's ratio is found to exert a dramatically different effect in cantilevers than in doubly-clamped beams, and here we explain why. The relationship between the change in spring constants and resonant frequency is also discussed. The relative change in effective spring constant is also examined, and its connection to the relative frequency shift is presented. Interestingly, this differs from what is naively expected from elementary mechanics. A discussion of the practical implications of our theoretical findings is provided, which includes an assessment of available experimental results and potential future measurements on nanoscale devices. Buckling of elastic structures can occur for loads well within the proportionality limit of their constituent materials. Given the ubiquity of beams and plates in engineering design and application, their buckling behaviour has been widely studied. However, buckling of a cantilever plate is yet to be investigated, despite the widespread use of cantilevers in modern technological developments. In chapter 3, a theoretical study into the buckling behaviour of a cantilever plate that is uniformly loaded in its plane is presented. Applications of this fundamental problem include loading due to uniform temperature and surface stress changes. This is achieved using a scaling analysis and full three-dimensional numerical solution, leading to explicit formulas for the buckling loads. Unusually, we observe buckling for both tensile and compressive loads, the physical mechanisms for which are explored. We also examine the practical implications of these results to modern developments in ultra sensitive micro- and nano-cantilever sensors, such as those composed of silicon nitride and graphene. In chapter 4, the influence of the cantilever geometry is investigated and shown to play a critical role, with V-shaped cantilevers displaying greatly enhanced sensitivity to surface stress in comparison to rectangular cantilevers. The physical mechanisms controlling the effect on V-shaped cantilever stiffness are discussed. We also investigate the buckling behaviour of V-shaped cantilevers and demonstrate that they too can buckle under tensile and compressive loads. The analysis concludes with an assessment of the stiffness and stability of V-shaped cantilevers made of silicon and graphene, under surface stress loads

A Comprehensive View of Home Energy Management

Sensing, networking, and computing are becoming more pervasive, providing the potential to revolutionize our approach to residential energy consumption by assisting energy conservation and increasing the sustainability of energy use to improve users’ quality of life. There are many ways to approach the implementation of home energy management infrastructure. This dissertation builds a comprehensive picture of such a system that combines a network of consumer-grade home automation components with sophisticated data analytics to manage home energy and contrasts it with a specifically targeted approach based on a custom sensor package. The comprehensive system takes input from various sensors and user input to detect activity, predict home energy consumption, and help the user understand his energy use. The custom sensor eschews the large sensing infrastructure as it helps the user hunt down sources of wasted energy. The projects use in-home hardware and software, a mobile component for user interaction, and a back-end for coordination and computation. These projects exemplify the use of emerging technologies for data collection, user feedback, and data analysis in a residential setting. By contrasting prototypes of a compre- hensive and a specialized system, building energy management infrastructure is explored from multiple directions