A cryptographic system based on finite field transforms

In this paper, we develop a cipher system based on finite field transforms. In this system, blocks of the input character-string are enciphered using congruence or modular transformations with respect to either primes or irreducible polynomials over a finite field. The polynomial system is shown to be clearly superior to the prime system for conventional cryptographic work.

GEODERM: geometric shape design system using an entity-relationship model

GEODERM, a microcomputer-based solid modeller, which incorporates the parametric object model, is discussed. The entity-relationship model, which is used to describe the conceptual schema of the geometric database, is also presented. Three of the four modules of GEODERM, which have been implemented are described in some detail. They are the Solid Definition Language (SDL), the Solid Manipulation Language (SML) and the User-System Interface.

An interactive graphics system for 2-D drawing and design

This paper is about a software system, GRASS-Graphic Software System for 2-D drawing and design—which has been implemented on a PDP-11/35 system with RSX-11M operating system. It is a low cost interactive graphics system for the design of two dimensional drawings and uses a minimum of hardware. It provides comprehensive facilities for creating, editing, storing and retrieving pictures. It has been implemented in the language Pascal and has the potential to be used as a powerful data-imputting tool for a design-automation system. The important features of the system are its low cost, software character generation and a user-trainable character recognizer, which has been included.

Internet based spatial data delivery and reporting system for cotton industry

Development of an internet based spatial data delivery and reporting system for the Australian Cotton Industry.

Design and evaluation of a dual-microcomputer shared memory system with a shared I/O bus

The design, implementation and evaluation are described of a dual-microcomputer system based on the concept of shared memory. Shared memory is useful for passing large blocks of data and it also provides a means to hold and work with shared data. In addition to the shared memory, a separate bus between the I/O ports of the microcomputers is provided. This bus is utilized for interprocessor synchronization. Software routines helpful in applying the dual-microcomputer system to realistic problems are presented. Performance evaluation of the system is carried out using benchmarks.

Design and Performance Evaluation of EXMAN: An EXtended MANchester Data Flow Computer

Data flow computers are high-speed machines in which an instruction is executed as soon as all its operands are available. This paper describes the EXtended MANchester (EXMAN) data flow computer which incorporates three major extensions to the basic Manchester machine. As extensions we provide a multiple matching units scheme, an efficient, implementation of array data structure, and a facility to concurrently execute reentrant routines. A simulator for the EXMAN computer has been coded in the discrete event simulation language, SIMULA 67, on the DEC 1090 system. Performance analysis studies have been conducted on the simulated EXMAN computer to study the effectiveness of the proposed extensions. The performance experiments have been carried out using three sample problems: matrix multiplication, Bresenham's line drawing algorithm, and the polygon scan-conversion algorithm.

Autonomous UAVs wildlife detection using thermal imaging, predictive navigation and computer vision

There is an increased interest on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for wildlife and feral animal monitoring around the world. This paper describes a novel system which uses a predictive dynamic application that places the UAV ahead of a user, with a low cost thermal camera, a small onboard computer that identifies heat signatures of a target animal from a predetermined altitude and transmits that target’s GPS coordinates. A map is generated and various data sets and graphs are displayed using a GUI designed for easy use. The paper describes the hardware and software architecture and the probabilistic model for downward facing camera for the detection of an animal. Behavioral dynamics of target movement for the design of a Kalman filter and Markov model based prediction algorithm are used to place the UAV ahead of the user. Geometrical concepts and Haversine formula are applied to the maximum likelihood case in order to make a prediction regarding a future state of the user, thus delivering a new way point for autonomous navigation. Results show that the system is capable of autonomously locating animals from a predetermined height and generate a map showing the location of the animals ahead of the user.

MPC controlled multirotor with suspended slung load: System architecture and visual load detection

There is an increased interest in the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for load transportation from environmental remote sensing to construction and parcel delivery. One of the main challenges is accurate control of the load position and trajectory. This paper presents an assessment of real flight trials for the control of an autonomous multi-rotor with a suspended slung load using only visual feedback to determine the load position. This method uses an onboard camera to take advantage of a common visual marker detection algorithm to robustly detect the load location. The load position is calculated using an onboard processor, and transmitted over a wireless network to a ground station integrating MATLAB/SIMULINK and Robotic Operating System (ROS) and a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) to control both the load and the UAV. To evaluate the system performance, the position of the load determined by the visual detection system in real flight is compared with data received by a motion tracking system. The multi-rotor position tracking performance is also analyzed by conducting flight trials using perfect load position data and data obtained only from the visual system. Results show very accurate estimation of the load position (~5% Offset) using only the visual system and demonstrate that the need for an external motion tracking system is not needed for this task.

Exploiting the beta distribution-based reputation model in recommender system

Reputation systems are employed to measure the quality of items on the Web. Incorporating accurate reputation scores in recommender systems is useful to provide more accurate recommendations as recommenders are agnostic to reputation. The ratings aggregation process is a vital component of a reputation system. Reputation models available do not consider statistical data in the rating aggregation process. This limitation can reduce the accuracy of generated reputation scores. In this paper, we propose a new reputation model that considers previously ignored statistical data. We compare our proposed model against state-of the-art models using top-N recommender system experiment.

Application of ultraspherical polynomials to forced oscillations of a third-order non-linear system

In this paper the method of ultraspherical polynomial approximation is applied to study the steady-state response in forced oscillations of a third-order non-linear system. The non-linear function is expanded in ultraspherical polynomials and the expansion is restricted to the linear term. The equation for the response curve is obtained by using the linearized equation and the results are presented graphically. The agreement between the approximate solution and the analog computer solution is satisfactory. The problem of stability is not dealt with in this paper.

Hybrid Simulation of Queuing-System Dynamics

This paper presents a simple hybrid computer technique to study the transient behaviour of queueing systems. This method is superior to stand-alone analog or digital solution because the hardware requirement is excessive for analog technique whereas computation time is appreciable in the latter case. By using a hybrid computer one can share the analog hardware thus requiring fewer integrators. The digital processor can store the values, play them back at required time instants and change the coefficients of differential equations. By speeding up the integration on the analog computer it is feasible to solve a large number of these equations very fast. Hybrid simulation is even superior to the analytic technique because in the latter case it is difficult to solve time-varying differential equations.

Implementation of placement and routing algorithms for computer aided design of printed circuit boards

The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) layout design is one of the most important and time consuming phases during equipment design process in all electronic industries. This paper is concerned with the development and implementation of a computer aided PCB design package. A set of programs which operate on a description of the circuit supplied by the user in the form of a data file and subsequently design the layout of a double-sided PCB has been developed. The algorithms used for the design of the PCB optimise the board area and the length of copper tracks used for the interconnections. The output of the package is the layout drawing of the PCB, drawn on a CALCOMP hard copy plotter and a Tektronix 4012 storage graphics display terminal. The routing density (the board area required for one component) achieved by this package is typically 0.8 sq. inch per IC. The package is implemented on a DEC 1090 system in Pascal and FORTRAN and SIGN(1) graphics package is used for display generation.

Information Visualization in a Business Decision Support System

Information visualization is a process of constructing a visual presentation of abstract quantitative data. The characteristics of visual perception enable humans to recognize patterns, trends and anomalies inherent in the data with little effort in a visual display. Such properties of the data are likely to be missed in a purely text-based presentation. Visualizations are therefore widely used in contemporary business decision support systems. Visual user interfaces called dashboards are tools for reporting the status of a company and its business environment to facilitate business intelligence (BI) and performance management activities. In this study, we examine the research on the principles of human visual perception and information visualization as well as the application of visualization in a business decision support system. A review of current BI software products reveals that the visualizations included in them are often quite ineffective in communicating important information. Based on the principles of visual perception and information visualization, we summarize a set of design guidelines for creating effective visual reporting interfaces.

A computer study of the miscibility limits of Sb1bTe1bBi

The quaternary system Sb1bTe1bBi1bSe with small amounts of suitable dopants is of interest for the manufacture of thermoelectric modules which exhibit the Peltier and Seebeck effects. This property could be useful in the production of energy from the thermoelectric effect. Other substances are bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and Sb1bTe1bBi and compounds such as ZnIn2Se4. In the present paper the application of computer programs such as MIGAP of Kaufman is used to indicate the stability of the ternary limits of Sb1bTe1bBi within the temperature ranges of interest, namely 273 K to 300 K.