Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Software Design (software + design)
Selected AbstractsSimulation of Accuracy Performance for Wireless Sensor-Based Construction Asset TrackingCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2009Miros, aw J. Skibniewski In particular, identifying the location of distributed mobile entities throughout wireless communications becomes the primary task to realize the remote tracking and monitoring of the construction assets. Even though several alternative solutions have been introduced by utilizing recent technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and the global positioning system (GPS), they could not provide a solid direction to accurate and scalable tracking frameworks in large-scale construction domains due to limited capability and inflexible networking architectures. This article introduces a new tracking architecture using wireless sensor modules and shows an accuracy performance using a numerical simulation approach based on the time-of-flight method. By combining radio frequency (RF) and ultrasound (US) signals, the simulation results showed an enhanced accuracy performance over the utilization of an RF signal only. The proposed approach can provide potential guidelines for further exploration of hardware/software design and for experimental analysis to implement the framework of tracking construction assets. [source] JTruss: A CAD-oriented educational open-source software for static analysis of truss-type structuresCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 4 2008Francesco Romeo Abstract A CAD-oriented software (JTruss) for the static analysis of planar and spatial truss-type structures is presented. Developed for educational purposes, JTruss is part of an open-source project and is characterised by complete accessibility (i.e. platform independent) and high software compatibility. CAD methodologies are employed to implement commands for handling graphic models. A student friendly graphical interface, tailored mainly for structural mechanics introductory courses in engineering and architecture programs, is conceived. Accordingly, the standard sequence involved in the software design, namely pre-processing, processing and post-processing, is implemented aiming to improve the structural behaviour interpretation. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 16: 280,288, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae20150 [source] GeoDa: An Introduction to Spatial Data AnalysisGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2006Luc Anselin This article presents an overview of GeoDaÔ, a free software program intended to serve as a user-friendly and graphical introduction to spatial analysis for non-geographic information systems (GIS) specialists. It includes functionality ranging from simple mapping to exploratory data analysis, the visualization of global and local spatial autocorrelation, and spatial regression. A key feature of GeoDa is an interactive environment that combines maps with statistical graphics, using the technology of dynamically linked windows. A brief review of the software design is given, as well as some illustrative examples that highlight distinctive features of the program in applications dealing with public health, economic development, real estate analysis, and criminology. [source] Evaluation of two types of online help for application softwareJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 4 2000S. Dutke Abstract, A recent trend in application software design is to extend online help systems in order to support exploratory and self-paced learning. Two different information formats, lists of action steps that have to be taken to achieve a goal (operative help) and explanations about how a function works (function-oriented help), were evaluated to assess their effects on learning performance. In two experiments, adult computer novices (N = 60 and N = 20) learned to use experimental graphics software by task-based exploration. After one half of the tasks, the type of tasks changed so that the acquired action schema could no longer be applied. Results indicated that participants who had access to function-oriented help were coping more successfully with the schema change than participants who received operative help. The relevance to the design of software training and online help systems is discussed. [source] An affordable modular mobile robotic platform with fuzzy logic control and evolutionary artificial neural networksJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 8 2004Maurice Tedder Autonomous robotics projects encompass the rich nature of integrated systems that includes mechanical, electrical, and computational software components. The availability of smaller and cheaper hardware components has helped make possible a new dimension in operational autonomy. This paper describes a mobile robotic platform consisting of several integrated modules including a laptop computer that serves as the main control module, microcontroller-based motion control module, a vision processing module, a sensor interface module, and a navigation module. The laptop computer module contains the main software development environment with a user interface to access and control all other modules. Programming language independence is achieved by using standard input/output computer interfaces including RS-232 serial port, USB, networking, audio input and output, and parallel port devices. However, with the same hardware technology available to all, the distinguishing factor in most cases for intelligent systems becomes the software design. The software for autonomous robots must intelligently control the hardware so that it functions in unstructured, dynamic, and uncertain environments while maintaining an autonomous adaptability. This paper describes how we introduced fuzzy logic control to one robot platform in order to solve the 2003 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) Autonomous Challenge problem. This paper also describes the introduction of hybrid software design that utilizes Fuzzy Evolutionary Artificial Neural Network techniques. In this design, rather than using a control program that is directly coded, the robot's artificial neural net is first trained with a training data set using evolutionary optimization techniques to adjust weight values between neurons. The trained neural network with a weight average defuzzification method was able to make correct decisions to unseen vision patterns for the IGVC Autonomous Challenge. A comparison of the Lawrence Technological University robot designs and the design of the other competing schools shows that our platforms were the most affordable robot systems to use as tools for computer science and engineering education. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Software verification at Bell Labs: One line of developmentBELL LABS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2000Gerard J. Holzmann Collectors often greet the first report of a new type of minting error for commonly circulating coins with enthusiasm. A coin is a rare example of an object that can increase, rather than decrease, in value when it is faulty. In software design we are not so fortunate. Software faults are often intriguing, but they rarely increase the value of a product. Since the early days of computers, programmers have sought effective ways to defend against software bugs. Software verification techniques are meant to help the user locate possible defects in a software product reliably and, preferably, mechanically. In this paper we examine a line of research that has led to one of the most widely used verification systems for distributed software today. [source] Regression testing with UML software designs: A surveyJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 4 2009Alireza Mahdian Abstract The unified modeling language (UML) designs come in a variety of different notations. UML designs can be quite large and interactions between various notations and the models they define can be difficult to assess. During the design phase, and between successive releases of systems, designs change. The impact of such changes and the resulting effect on behavior can be non-obvious and difficult to assess. This survey article explores techniques for such re-evaluation that can be classified as regression testing and suggests regression testing criteria for designs. These might vary depending on testing objectives and include both selective and regenerative regression testing approaches. The article provides a concise overview of regression testing approaches related to various UML design notations including use cases, class diagrams, sequence diagrams, activity diagrams, and statecharts, as well as combinations of these models. It discusses UML-related techniques involving cost and prioritization during selective regression testing. Finally, it evaluates these techniques with respect to inclusiveness, precision, efficiency, generality, accountability, and safety. An example is used throughout to illustrate how the techniques work. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Pair designing as practice for enforcing and diffusing design knowledgeJOURNAL OF SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND EVOLUTION: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, Issue 6 2005Emilio Bellini Abstract Evolving software's design requires that the members of the team acquire a deep and complete knowledge of the domain, the architectural components, and their integration. Such information is scarcely addressed within the design documentation and it is not trivial to derive it. A strategy for enforcing the consciousness of such hidden aspects of software's design is needed. One of the expected benefits of pair programming is fostering (tacit) knowledge building between the components of the pair and fastening its diffusion within the project's team. We have applied the paradigm of pair programming to the design phase and we have named it ,pair designing'. We have realized an experiment and a replica in order to understand if pair designing can be used as an effective means for diffusing and enforcing the design knowledge while evolving the system's design. The results suggest that pair designing could be a suitable means to disseminate and enforce design knowledge. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||