In Search of an Objective Measure for the Perceptual Quality of Printed Images

This thesis is concerned with the topic of perceptual image quality. Our visual communication is mainly based on images, either natural or synthetic. Humans are able to judge whether an image is a good image. However, for many applications it would be faster and cheaper to estimate the quality of images using a computer. The major goal of this thesis is to find an objective measure for the quality of a printed image that corresponds to perceptual image quality. In addition to this major goal some secondary goals are defined as: 1) improving insight in the complex topic of perceptual quality, 2) determining the relation between perceptual attributes and image quality and 3) developing methods for color image processing. Two different perceptual attributes are investigated: sharpness and color contrast. Measures are developed that can be used to obtain an objective prediction of sharpening, smoothing and sharpness. In the color experiments the color of the images was changed with a gamma manipulation and a chroma scaling. These manipulations had a significant effect on perceptual quality. In the last part of this thesis it was evaluated how the gamut, that is the enveloppe of colors in color space that determine the limitations of the displaying device, can be incorporated into achromatic enhancement of color images and how this affects image quality. In this way, some of the differences between images displayed on a monitor and printed images can be taken into account.Applied Science

Method for transforming a coloured image

The invention relates to a method of transforming a colour image, wherein for each separate pixel a measured level of lightness, a measured chroma and a measured colour is determined, followed by a predetermined adjustment in the three-dimensional level of lightness, chroma and colour, wherein a. for each separate pixel a direction of adjustment is determined by selection of a three-dimensional adjustment level for lightness, chroma and colour change, b. and in that at the three-dimensional adjustment level selected the maximum available lightness change is determined, whereafter c.; for each separate pixel the measured lightness level, the measured chroma and the measured colour is changed in the direction of the selected three-dimensional adjustment level in concurrence with a predetermined function, which at most amounts to the maximum available lightness change at the selected three-dimensional adjustment level.Applied Science

The formation and thermal decomposition of aluminium hydroxide doped with Fe(III) and Cr(III)

Applied Science

Creating Creativity; A study into architectural means to stimulate the creative mind and enhance innovation

Over time everything will be a coffee house People are found everywhere working on their laptops; in parks and public buildings, but mostly in coffee houses. It is a place which many prefer above a regular office. Not only to become more productive, but also to become creative. Surroundings are not seen as a distraction, but used as inspiration. Even when full focus is needed, light sound and movement of others is not seen as an annoying, the brain filters and uses everything to a satisfying amount. Scientists show that people can enter a state of mind, in which everything is subordinated to one specific goal. A personal fascination that enables them to work twenty hours a day, without any problem while experiencing great pleasure. It is about tasks that lie so close to personal interests, that urge and energy are infinite. The brain functions in a happy and non-restraint way, something children experience much more often than adults. Research shows that the skill of creativity is directly linked to the ability of acting like a child. It is about disabling the personal ‘inner critic’, the part in our brain that stops us from acting out of the ordinary. Over the past years, many buildings have been design to bring creativity into the office. Colors, homely furniture and natural elements, to make us more relaxed. Sports fields, unusual art and even slides, to stimulate us to act more like a child. And large open spaces, daylight and flexible diverse work spaces, to make us feel more free. But where these are common tools used within building designs towards creativity, they all look very dissimilar. The most obvious difference between the coffee house and the ‘creative office’, is the presence of facilities. Meeting- and conference rooms, machinery and tools, copy- and print service, fablabs and so on, are sections found in actual work environments. ICT-help, finance- and legal support, and a large network of professionals are other important qualities, which are missing at a coffee house. Where the surrounding of the location is used by many as a ‘hidden office’ full of creative minds, a large coffee house in urban setting, the design is based on adding the missing facilities becoming part of the existing. Many qualities named and visualized by scientists and architects are already present at the location. The actual design is based on the user and consists of a rather simple design in which architecture is made to a mean, creating a place where something can happen. It is about challenging to do something with the given space, using the broad range of facilities. The endless potential to make use of the openness provokes. A building which will get its identity from the user, an always changing identity representing creativity.Explore LabArchitectureArchitecture and The Built Environmen

Utrecht-region under pressure: Development of a mobile strategy to keep the Utrecht region accessible, vital and livable

Contemporary city-regions are facing major challenges concerning the relation between mobility and urbanity. A concrete example of this is the phenomenon of urban sprawl, which evolved in the US and also in Western Europe. The car is a very popular mode of transportation. However, the automobile has some serious spatial consequences. It had a major role in the spatial planning practice of our environment the last decades. In fact, the automobile can be named as an unsustainable mode of transportation and its popularity has some major spatial consequences. The planning challenge for the future is therefore to tune the issues of infrastructure, accessibility and spatial developments for the development of sustainable city-regions. However, the development of a sustainable city-region is asking for a package of measures. Spatial planning and strategy is one of the parts that can contribute to the development of sustainable city-regions. A city-region whereby this relation between mobility and urbanity is very specific and urgent is the Utrecht-region. This region functions as an important connecter between the Randstad and the hinterland. The region is under pressure for several reasons. First, there are significant housing shortages in the region. Moreover, these housing shortages are increasing in the future, despite the fact that a lot of new dwellings are being built. Next to this, there are problems in the region concerning its accessibility. Capacity problems in the regional public transport system and congestion problems on the road network are the daily examples. The challenge hereby is to search for a suitable spatial strategy to deal with the relation between mobility and urbanity. For the Utrecht-region, a strategy has to be found to deal with the housing shortages and the accessibility of the region at the same time. The specific goal for the Utrecht-region is to boost the region’s comparative advantages, to maintain its spatial qualities and strengthen the position of the region in the Randstad. A spatial concept that integrates spatial development and public transport is the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). The goals of TOD appear on the regional and the local scale. In this research and design the focus is on the regional goals of TOD. Interactions and movements of people in space mostly occur on this specific scale level. Station areas can be named as nodes of human interactions and are therefore of great importance in spatial planning. In that way station areas are important objects of research. In this project the research of station areas is done with the node-place model of Bertolini. The node-place model addresses the ambivalent character of station areas: a (regional) node in the public transport system and a (local) place in the city. With the application of this model for the Utrecht-region, the potentials and opportunities of all the existing, planned and possible new stations are analyzed. In this way, the node-place model is supporting the design decisions made in the regional design proposal for the Utrecht-region. Every station area is proposed to develop in a certain direction, for the development of the Utrecht-region in a transit oriented way. Both, potentials of station areas and regional design goals were principal in the development of the design and strategy. Simultaneously with the research and design of the station areas, the public transport system of the Randstad is restructured. New layers of public transport are introduced: the e.g. interregional system and an agglomerative system. For a horizontal and vertical integration of public transport it is necessary to switch between different levels of scale. The integration between spatial developments and the (agglomerative) public transport system was hereby an important goal. If the regional design for the Utrecht-region is compared with the current municipal plans some remarkable differences appear. Planned development locations by the different municipalities are often not located near high-quality public transport like, light rail or traditional heavy rail stations. An example is the major extension area of Rijnenburg, located in an area with a very poor access to public transit. In the proposed regional design for the Utrecht-region, spatial developments are mostly concentrated within a 600 meters catchment radius of a traditional station area. The allocation of spatial developments near the station areas will lead to a major reduction of the housing shortages in the Utrecht-region. The development of the different station areas in a certain typology has led to a less dominant position of Utrecht Centraal. It is no longer a matter of Utrecht Centraal, and all the other of the stations without major differences. The concentration of spatial developments around transit as proposed in this research and design will probably lead to a decrease of the demand for mobility of people. The concept of transit-oriented development will lead to less car dependency and a bundling of movements in the Utrecht-region. The application of this concept for the Utrecht-region requires a major effort of the different stakeholders. The BRU could have a facilitating and steering role in this development process. The integration of the different aspects of planning, e.g. regional development, public transport and nature is thereby essential.UrbanismArchitectur

Modelling for eye level composition; design media experiments in an educational setting

Architectur

A screw based methodology for instantaneous dynamic balance

Fast-moving industrial robots exert large varying reaction forces and moments on their base frame, inducing vibrations, wear and accuracy degeneration. These shaking forces and moments can be eliminated by a specific design of the mass distribution of the robot links, resulting in a dynamically balanced mechanism. Obtaining the conditions for dynamic balance proves to be a hurdle even for simple planar parallel mechanisms due to the required inclusion and inspection of the kinematic relations. In this paper, a screw theory based methodology is presented, which gives and solves the necessary instantaneous dynamic balance conditions for planar and spatial mechanisms in an uniform and geometrical manner. Instantaneous dynamic balance yields a pose in which robot accelerations induce no shaking forces and moments. This is interpreted as an intersection point of multiple reactionless paths. This method is applied to a 2-DOF planar mechanism, named the Fuga I, for which it resulted in two perpendicularly intersecting reactionless paths, intersecting in the middle of the workspace. Experiments on this demonstrator validated the instantaneous dynamic balance by showing a reduction of approximately 95% of the peak-to-peak shaking forces and moments over the intersecting reactionless paths.Accepted Author ManuscriptPrecision and Microsystems EngineeringMechatronic Systems Desig