Data Collection with Linux in the Undergraduate Physics Lab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramey, R. Dwayne

2004-11-01

Electronic data devices such as photogates can greatly facilitate data collection in the undergraduate physics laboratory. Unfortunately, these devices have several practical drawbacks. While the photogates themselves are not particularly expensive, manufacturers of these devices have created intermediary hardware devices for data buffering and manipulation. These devices, while useful in some contexts, greatly increase the overall price of data collection and, through the use of proprietary software, limit the ability of the enduser to customize the software. As an alternative, I outline the procedure for establishing a computer-based data collection system that consists of opensource software and user constructed connections. The data collection system consists of the wiring needed to connect a data device to a computer and the software needed to collect and manipulate data. Data devices can be connected to a computer through either through the USB port or the gameport of a sound card. Software capable of collecting and manipulating the data from a photogate type device on a Linux system has been developed and will be discrussed. Results for typical undergraduate photogate based experiments will be shown, error limits and data collect rates will be discussed for both the gameport and USB connections.

Fast data transmission in dynamic data acquisition system for plasma diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byszuk, Adrian; Poźniak, Krzysztof; Zabołotny, Wojciech M.; Kasprowicz, Grzegorz; Wojeński, Andrzej; Cieszewski, Radosław; Juszczyk, Bartłomiej; Kolasiński, Piotr; Zienkiewicz, Paweł; Chernyshova, Maryna; Czarski, Tomasz

2014-11-01

This paper describes architecture of a new data acquisition system (DAQ) targeted mainly at plasma diagnostic experiments. Modular architecture, in combination with selected hardware components, allows for straightforward reconfiguration of the whole system, both offline and online. Main emphasis will be put into the implementation of data transmission subsystem in said system. One of the biggest advantages of described system is modular architecture with well defined boundaries between main components: analog frontend (AFE), digital backplane and acquisition/control software. Usage of a FPGA chips allows for a high flexibility in design of analog frontends, including ADC <--> FPGA interface. Data transmission between backplane boards and user software was accomplished with the use of industry-standard PCI Express (PCIe) technology. PCIe implementation includes both FPGA firmware and Linux device driver. High flexibility of PCIe connections was accomplished due to use of configurable PCIe switch. Whenever it's possible, described DAQ system tries to make use of standard off-the-shelf (OTF) components, including typical x86 CPU & motherboard (acting as PCIe controller) and cabling.

I/O performance evaluation of a Linux-based network-attached storage device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhaoyan; Dong, Yonggui; Wu, Jinglian; Jia, Huibo; Feng, Guanping

2002-09-01

In a Local Area Network (LAN), clients are permitted to access the files on high-density optical disks via a network server. But the quality of read service offered by the conventional server is not satisfied because of the multiple functions on the server and the overmuch caller. This paper develops a Linux-based Network-Attached Storage (NAS) server. The Operation System (OS), composed of an optimized kernel and a miniaturized file system, is stored in a flash memory. After initialization, the NAS device is connected into the LAN. The administrator and users could configure the access the server through the web page respectively. In order to enhance the quality of access, the management of buffer cache in file system is optimized. Some benchmark programs are peformed to evaluate the I/O performance of the NAS device. Since data recorded in optical disks are usually for reading accesses, our attention is focused on the reading throughput of the device. The experimental results indicate that the I/O performance of our NAS device is excellent.

Improving Block-level Efficiency with scsi-mq

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Caldwell, Blake A

2015-01-01

Current generation solid-state storage devices are exposing a new bottlenecks in the SCSI and block layers of the Linux kernel, where IO throughput is limited by lock contention, inefficient interrupt handling, and poor memory locality. To address these limitations, the Linux kernel block layer underwent a major rewrite with the blk-mq project to move from a single request queue to a multi-queue model. The Linux SCSI subsystem rework to make use of this new model, known as scsi-mq, has been merged into the Linux kernel and work is underway for dm-multipath support in the upcoming Linux 4.0 kernel. These piecesmore » were necessary to make use of the multi-queue block layer in a Lustre parallel filesystem with high availability requirements. We undertook adding support of the 3.18 kernel to Lustre with scsi-mq and dm-multipath patches to evaluate the potential of these efficiency improvements. In this paper we evaluate the block-level performance of scsi-mq with backing storage hardware representative of a HPC-targerted Lustre filesystem. Our findings show that SCSI write request latency is reduced by as much as 13.6%. Additionally, when profiling the CPU usage of our prototype Lustre filesystem, we found that CPU idle time increased by a factor of 7 with Linux 3.18 and blk-mq as compared to a standard 2.6.32 Linux kernel. Our findings demonstrate increased efficiency of the multi-queue block layer even with disk-based caching storage arrays used in existing parallel filesystems.« less

KNBD: A Remote Kernel Block Server for Linux

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Becker, Jeff

1999-01-01

I am developing a prototype of a Linux remote disk block server whose purpose is to serve as a lower level component of a parallel file system. Parallel file systems are an important component of high performance supercomputers and clusters. Although supercomputer vendors such as SGI and IBM have their own custom solutions, there has been a void and hence a demand for such a system on Beowulf-type PC Clusters. Recently, the Parallel Virtual File System (PVFS) project at Clemson University has begun to address this need (1). Although their system provides much of the functionality of (and indeed was inspired by) the equivalent file systems in the commercial supercomputer market, their system is all in user-space. Migrating their 10 services to the kernel could provide a performance boost, by obviating the need for expensive system calls. Thanks to Pavel Machek, the Linux kernel has provided the network block device (2) with kernels 2.1.101 and later. You can configure this block device to redirect reads and writes to a remote machine's disk. This can be used as a building block for constructing a striped file system across several nodes.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bauer, Gerry; et al.

The DAQ system of the CMS experiment at CERN collects data from more than 600 custom detector Front-End Drivers (FEDs). During 2013 and 2014 the CMS DAQ system will undergo a major upgrade to address the obsolescence of current hardware and the requirements posed by the upgrade of the LHC accelerator and various detector components. For a loss-less data collection from the FEDs a new FPGA based card implementing the TCP/IP protocol suite over 10Gbps Ethernet has been developed. To limit the TCP hardware implementation complexity the DAQ group developed a simplified and unidirectional but RFC 793 compliant version ofmore » the TCP protocol. This allows to use a PC with the standard Linux TCP/IP stack as a receiver. We present the challenges and protocol modifications made to TCP in order to simplify its FPGA implementation. We also describe the interaction between the simplified TCP and Linux TCP/IP stack including the performance measurements.« less

Use of Low-Cost Acquisition Systems with an Embedded Linux Device for Volcanic Monitoring

PubMed Central

Moure, David; Torres, Pedro; Casas, Benito; Toma, Daniel; Blanco, María José; Del Río, Joaquín; Manuel, Antoni

2015-01-01

This paper describes the development of a low-cost multiparameter acquisition system for volcanic monitoring that is applicable to gravimetry and geodesy, as well as to the visual monitoring of volcanic activity. The acquisition system was developed using a System on a Chip (SoC) Broadcom BCM2835 Linux operating system (based on DebianTM) that allows for the construction of a complete monitoring system offering multiple possibilities for storage, data-processing, configuration, and the real-time monitoring of volcanic activity. This multiparametric acquisition system was developed with a software environment, as well as with different hardware modules designed for each parameter to be monitored. The device presented here has been used and validated under different scenarios for monitoring ocean tides, ground deformation, and gravity, as well as for monitoring with images the island of Tenerife and ground deformation on the island of El Hierro. PMID:26295394

Use of Low-Cost Acquisition Systems with an Embedded Linux Device for Volcanic Monitoring.

PubMed

Moure, David; Torres, Pedro; Casas, Benito; Toma, Daniel; Blanco, María José; Del Río, Joaquín; Manuel, Antoni

2015-08-19

This paper describes the development of a low-cost multiparameter acquisition system for volcanic monitoring that is applicable to gravimetry and geodesy, as well as to the visual monitoring of volcanic activity. The acquisition system was developed using a System on a Chip (SoC) Broadcom BCM2835 Linux operating system (based on DebianTM) that allows for the construction of a complete monitoring system offering multiple possibilities for storage, data-processing, configuration, and the real-time monitoring of volcanic activity. This multiparametric acquisition system was developed with a software environment, as well as with different hardware modules designed for each parameter to be monitored. The device presented here has been used and validated under different scenarios for monitoring ocean tides, ground deformation, and gravity, as well as for monitoring with images the island of Tenerife and ground deformation on the island of El Hierro.

Hardware and Software Design of FPGA-based PCIe Gen3 interface for APEnet+ network interconnect system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ammendola, R.; Biagioni, A.; Frezza, O.; Lo Cicero, F.; Lonardo, A.; Martinelli, M.; Paolucci, P. S.; Pastorelli, E.; Rossetti, D.; Simula, F.; Tosoratto, L.; Vicini, P.

2015-12-01

In the attempt to develop an interconnection architecture optimized for hybrid HPC systems dedicated to scientific computing, we designed APEnet+, a point-to-point, low-latency and high-performance network controller supporting 6 fully bidirectional off-board links over a 3D torus topology. The first release of APEnet+ (named V4) was a board based on a 40 nm Altera FPGA, integrating 6 channels at 34 Gbps of raw bandwidth per direction and a PCIe Gen2 x8 host interface. It has been the first-of-its-kind device to implement an RDMA protocol to directly read/write data from/to Fermi and Kepler NVIDIA GPUs using NVIDIA peer-to-peer and GPUDirect RDMA protocols, obtaining real zero-copy GPU-to-GPU transfers over the network. The latest generation of APEnet+ systems (now named V5) implements a PCIe Gen3 x8 host interface on a 28 nm Altera Stratix V FPGA, with multi-standard fast transceivers (up to 14.4 Gbps) and an increased amount of configurable internal resources and hardware IP cores to support main interconnection standard protocols. Herein we present the APEnet+ V5 architecture, the status of its hardware and its system software design. Both its Linux Device Driver and the low-level libraries have been redeveloped to support the PCIe Gen3 protocol, introducing optimizations and solutions based on hardware/software co-design.

Rooting an Android Device

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

Hat Enterprise Linux, version 6.5 • Android Development Tools (ADT), version 22.3.0-887826 • Saferoot1 • Samsung Galaxy S3 • Dell Precision T7400...method used for the Samsung Galaxy S3 is called Saferoot1—a well- known, open- source software. According to the Saferoot website, the process of...is applicable for the Samsung Galaxy S3 as well as many other Android devices, but there are several steps involved in rooting an Android device (as

Remotely Accessible Testbed for Software Defined Radio Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lux, James P.; Lang, Minh; Peters, Kenneth J.; Taylor, Gregory H.

2012-01-01

Previous development testbeds have assumed that the developer was physically present in front of the hardware being used. No provision for remote operation of basic functions (power on/off or reset) was made, because the developer/operator was sitting in front of the hardware, and could just push the button manually. In this innovation, a completely remotely accessible testbed has been created, with all diagnostic equipment and tools set up for remote access, and using standardized interfaces so that failed equipment can be quickly replaced. In this testbed, over 95% of the operating hours were used for testing without the developer being physically present. The testbed includes a pair of personal computers, one running Linux and one running Windows. A variety of peripherals is connected via Ethernet and USB (universal serial bus) interfaces. A private internal Ethernet is used to connect to test instruments and other devices, so that the sole connection to the outside world is via the two PCs. An important design consideration was that all of the instruments and interfaces used stable, long-lived industry standards, such as Ethernet, USB, and GPIB (general purpose interface bus). There are no plug-in cards for the two PCs, so there are no problems with finding replacement computers with matching interfaces, device drivers, and installation. The only thing unique to the two PCs is the locally developed software, which is not specific to computer or operating system version. If a device (including one of the computers) were to fail or become unavailable (e.g., a test instrument needed to be recalibrated), replacing it is a straightforward process with a standard, off-the-shelf device.

Comparison of Driver Yielding for Three Rapid-flashing Patterns Used with Pedestrian Crossing Signs

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-05-01

Flashing traffic control devices can help draw drivers attention to the traffic control device and to the area around the device. An example of a device that has resulted in significant improvements in increasing driver yielding to crossing pedest...

Strong Motion Seismograph Based On MEMS Accelerometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, Y.; Hu, X.

2013-12-01

The MEMS strong motion seismograph we developed used the modularization method to design its software and hardware.It can fit various needs in different application situation.The hardware of the instrument is composed of a MEMS accelerometer,a control processor system,a data-storage system,a wired real-time data transmission system by IP network,a wireless data transmission module by 3G broadband,a GPS calibration module and power supply system with a large-volumn lithium battery in it. Among it,the seismograph's sensor adopted a three-axis with 14-bit high resolution and digital output MEMS accelerometer.Its noise level just reach about 99μg/√Hz and ×2g to ×8g dynamically selectable full-scale.Its output data rates from 1.56Hz to 800Hz. Its maximum current consumption is merely 165μA,and the device is so small that it is available in a 3mm×3mm×1mm QFN package. Furthermore,there is access to both low pass filtered data as well as high pass filtered data,which minimizes the data analysis required for earthquake signal detection. So,the data post-processing can be simplified. Controlling process system adopts a 32-bit low power consumption embedded ARM9 processor-S3C2440 and is based on the Linux operation system.The processor's operating clock at 400MHz.The controlling system's main memory is a 64MB SDRAM with a 256MB flash-memory.Besides,an external high-capacity SD card data memory can be easily added.So the system can meet the requirements for data acquisition,data processing,data transmission,data storage,and so on. Both wired and wireless network can satisfy remote real-time monitoring, data transmission,system maintenance,status monitoring or updating software.Linux was embedded and multi-layer designed conception was used.The code, including sensor hardware driver,the data acquisition,earthquake setting out and so on,was written on medium layer.The hardware driver consist of IIC-Bus interface driver, IO driver and asynchronous notification driver. The application program layer mainly concludes: earthquake parameter module, local database managing module, data transmission module, remote monitoring, FTP service and so on. The application layer adopted multi-thread process. The whole strong motion seismograph was encapsulated in a small aluminum box, which size is 80mm×120mm×55mm. The inner battery can work continuesly more than 24 hours. The MEMS accelerograph uses modular design for its software part and hardware part. It has remote software update function and can meet the following needs: a) Auto picking up the earthquake event; saving the data on wave-event files and hours files; It may be used for monitoring strong earthquake, explosion, bridge and house health. b) Auto calculate the earthquake parameters, and transferring those parameters by 3G wireless broadband network. This kind of seismograph has characteristics of low cost, easy installation. They can be concentrated in the urban region or areas need to specially care. We can set up a ground motion parameters quick report sensor network while large earthquake break out. Then high-resolution-fine shake-map can be easily produced for the need of emergency rescue. c) By loading P-wave detection program modules, it can be used for earthquake early warning for large earthquakes; d) Can easily construct a high-density layout seismic monitoring network owning remote control and modern intelligent earthquake sensor.

Development of EPA Protocol Information Enquiry Service System Based on Embedded ARM Linux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Daogang; Zhang, Hao; Weng, Jiannian; Li, Hui; Xia, Fei

Industrial Ethernet is a new technology for industrial network communications developed in recent years. In the field of industrial automation in China, EPA is the first standard accepted and published by ISO, and has been included in the fourth edition IEC61158 Fieldbus of NO.14 type. According to EPA standard, Field devices such as industrial field controller, actuator and other instruments are all able to realize communication based on the Ethernet standard. The Atmel AT91RM9200 embedded development board and open source embedded Linux are used to develop an information inquiry service system of EPA protocol based on embedded ARM Linux in this paper. The system is capable of designing an EPA Server program for EPA data acquisition procedures, the EPA information inquiry service is available for programs in local or remote host through Socket interface. The EPA client can access data and information of other EPA equipments on the EPA network when it establishes connection with the monitoring port of the server.

Device Driver Safety Through a Reference Validation Mechanism

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-01

microkernels and other research operat- ing systems [2, 9, 21, 24] run device drivers in user space ∗Supported by NICECAP cooperative agreement FA8750...device driver architecture in the Nexus trusted operating system [28], which has many similarities to traditional microkernels , including hardware... microkernel operating sys- tems, every flaw in a device driver is a potential secu- rity hole given the absence of mechanisms to contain the (mis

78 FR 24817 - Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

...The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned about the effects of distraction on motor vehicle safety due to drivers' use of electronic devices. Consequently, NHTSA is issuing nonbinding, voluntary Driver Distraction Guidelines (NHTSA Guidelines) to promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively distracting devices in vehicles. This notice announces the issuance of the final version of the first phase of the NHTSA Guidelines. This first phase applies to original equipment (OE) in-vehicle electronic devices used by the driver to perform secondary tasks (communications, entertainment, information gathering, navigation tasks, etc. are considered secondary tasks) through visual-manual means (i.e., the driver looks at a device, manipulates a device-related control with his or her hand, and/or watches for visual feedback). The NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary tasks believed by the agency to interfere inherently with a driver's ability to safely control the vehicle. The NHTSA Guidelines recommend that in-vehicle devices be designed so that they cannot be used by the driver to perform these inherently distracting secondary tasks while driving. For all other visual-manual secondary tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines specify a test method for measuring eye glance behavior during those tasks. Eye glance metrics are compared to acceptance criteria to evaluate whether a task interferes too much with driver attention, rendering it unsuitable for a driver to perform while driving. If a task does not meet the acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that the task be made inaccessible for performance by the driver while driving. In addition, the NHTSA Guidelines contain several recommendations to limit and reduce the potential for distraction associated with the use of OE in-vehicle electronic devices.

77 FR 11199 - Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-24

...The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is concerned about the effects of distraction due to drivers' use of electronic devices on motor vehicle safety. Consequently, NHTSA is issuing nonbinding, voluntary NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines (NHTSA Guidelines) to promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively distracting devices in vehicles. This notice details the contents of the first phase of the NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines. These NHTSA Guidelines cover original equipment in-vehicle device secondary tasks (communications, entertainment, information gathering, and navigation tasks not required to drive are considered secondary tasks) performed by the driver through visual-manual means (meaning the driver looking at a device, manipulating a device-related control with the driver's hand, and watching for visual feedback). The proposed NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary, non-driving related tasks that, based on NHTSA's research, are believed by the agency to interfere inherently with a driver's ability to safely control the vehicle. The Guidelines recommend that those in-vehicle devices be designed so that they cannot be used by the driver to perform such tasks while the driver is driving. For all other secondary, non-driving-related visual-manual tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines specify a test method for measuring the impact of task performance on driving safety while driving and time-based acceptance criteria for assessing whether a task interferes too much with driver attention to be suitable to perform while driving. If a task does not meet the acceptance criteria, the NHTSA Guidelines recommend that in- vehicle devices be designed so that the task cannot be performed by the driver while driving. In addition to identifying inherently distracting tasks and providing a means for measuring and evaluating the level of distraction associated with other non-driving-related tasks, the NHTSA Guidelines contain several design recommendations for in-vehicle devices in order to minimize their potential for distraction. NHTSA seeks comments on these NHTSA Guidelines and any suggestions for how to improve them so as to better enhance motor vehicle safety.

Texting at the light and other forms of device distraction behind the wheel.

PubMed

Bernstein, James J; Bernstein, Joseph

2015-09-26

Cell phones are a well-known source of distraction for drivers, and owing to the proliferation of text messaging services, web browsers and interactive apps, modern devices provide ever-increasing temptation for drivers to take their eyes off the road. Although it is probably obvious that drivers' manual engagement of a device while their vehicles are in motion is potentially dangerous, it may not be clear that such engagement when the vehicle is at rest (an activity broadly labeled "texting at the light") can also impose risks. For one thing, a distracted driver at rest may fail to respond quickly to sudden changes in road conditions, such as an ambulance passing through. In addition, texting at the light may decrease so-called "situational awareness" and lead to driving errors even after the device is put down. To our knowledge, the direct comparison of the rate of device usage by drivers at rest with the rate of device usage by drivers in motion has not been reported. We collected information on 2000 passenger vehicles by roadside observation. For the first group of 1000 passenger vehicles stopped at a traffic light, device usage ("texting", "talking", "none"), gender of the driver, vehicle type, seatbelt usage and presence of front seat passengers were recorded. For a second set of 1000 vehicles in motion, device usage alone was noted. Statistical significance for differences in rates was assessed with the chi-square test. We found that 3 % of drivers in motion were texting and 5 % were talking. Among the stopped drivers, 14.5 % were texting and 6.3 % were talking. In the stopped-vehicle set, gender and vehicle type were not associated with significant differences in device usage, but having a front seat passenger and using seatbelts were. Device usage is markedly higher among drivers temporarily at rest compared with those in motion, and the presence of a front seat passenger, who may help alleviate boredom or reprimand bad behavior, is associated with lower device usage rates among vehicles stopped at a light. These observations may help identify suitable steps to decrease distracted driving and thereby minimize traffic trauma.

Attitudes of truck drivers and carriers on the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) and harassment : [research brief

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-11-01

Truck drivers and carrier personnel were interviewed on the use of electronic logging devices (ELDs) for keeping track of driving hours and whether these devices were used to harass drivers. This research examined the following issues: : Whether ...

The EPICS-based remote control system for muon beam line devices at J-PARC MUSE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, T. U.; Nakahara, K.; Kawase, M.; Fujimori, H.; Kobayashi, Y.; Higemoto, W.; Miyake, Y.

2010-04-01

The remote control system for muon beam line devices of J-PARC MUSE has been developed with the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The EPICS input/output controller was installed in standard Linux PCs for slow control of the devices. Power supplies for 21 magnetic elements and four slit controllers for the decay-surface muon beam line in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility are now accessible via Ethernet from a graphical user interface which has been composed using the Motif Editor and Display Manger.

Integrated Design and Implementation of Embedded Control Systems with Scilab

PubMed Central

Ma, Longhua; Xia, Feng; Peng, Zhe

2008-01-01

Embedded systems are playing an increasingly important role in control engineering. Despite their popularity, embedded systems are generally subject to resource constraints and it is therefore difficult to build complex control systems on embedded platforms. Traditionally, the design and implementation of control systems are often separated, which causes the development of embedded control systems to be highly time-consuming and costly. To address these problems, this paper presents a low-cost, reusable, reconfigurable platform that enables integrated design and implementation of embedded control systems. To minimize the cost, free and open source software packages such as Linux and Scilab are used. Scilab is ported to the embedded ARM-Linux system. The drivers for interfacing Scilab with several communication protocols including serial, Ethernet, and Modbus are developed. Experiments are conducted to test the developed embedded platform. The use of Scilab enables implementation of complex control algorithms on embedded platforms. With the developed platform, it is possible to perform all phases of the development cycle of embedded control systems in a unified environment, thus facilitating the reduction of development time and cost. PMID:27873827

Integrated Design and Implementation of Embedded Control Systems with Scilab.

PubMed

Ma, Longhua; Xia, Feng; Peng, Zhe

2008-09-05

Embedded systems are playing an increasingly important role in control engineering. Despite their popularity, embedded systems are generally subject to resource constraints and it is therefore difficult to build complex control systems on embedded platforms. Traditionally, the design and implementation of control systems are often separated, which causes the development of embedded control systems to be highly timeconsuming and costly. To address these problems, this paper presents a low-cost, reusable, reconfigurable platform that enables integrated design and implementation of embedded control systems. To minimize the cost, free and open source software packages such as Linux and Scilab are used. Scilab is ported to the embedded ARM-Linux system. The drivers for interfacing Scilab with several communication protocols including serial, Ethernet, and Modbus are developed. Experiments are conducted to test the developed embedded platform. The use of Scilab enables implementation of complex control algorithms on embedded platforms. With the developed platform, it is possible to perform all phases of the development cycle of embedded control systems in a unified environment, thus facilitating the reduction of development time and cost.

Controller and data acquisition system for SIDECAR ASIC driven HAWAII detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramaprakash, Anamparambu; Burse, Mahesh; Chordia, Pravin; Chillal, Kalpesh; Kohok, Abhay; Mestry, Vilas; Punnadi, Sujit; Sinha, Sakya

2010-07-01

SIDECAR is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which can be used for control and data acquisition from near-IR HAWAII detectors offered by Teledyne Imaging Sensors (TIS), USA. The standard interfaces provided by Teledyne are COM API and socket servers running under MS Windows platform. These interfaces communicate to the ASIC (and the detector) through an intermediate card called JWST ASIC Drive Electronics (JADE2). As part of an ongoing programme of several years, for developing astronomical focal plane array (CCDs, CMOS and Hybrid) controllers and data acquisition systems (CDAQs), IUCAA is currently developing the next generation controllers employing Virtex-5 family FPGA devices. We present here the capabilities which are built into these new CDAQs for handling HAWAII detectors. In our system, the computer which hosts the application programme, user interface and device drivers runs on a Linux platform. It communicates through a hot-pluggable USB interface (with an optional optical fibre extender) to the FPGA-based card which replaces the JADE2. The FPGA board in turn, controls the SIDECAR ASIC and through it a HAWAII-2RG detector, both of which are located in a cryogenic test Dewar set up which is liquid nitrogen cooled. The system can acquire data over 1, 4, or 32 readout channels, with or without binning, at different speeds, can define sub-regions for readout, offers various readout schemes like Fowler sampling, up-theramp etc. In this paper, we present the performance results obtained from a prototype system.

BrainPort(Registered trademark) Technology Tongue Interface Characterization

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

22 boards in house. … … … … … Experiment Control Workstation HDA with 2000 to 20,000 electrodes ●●● TCP/IP 10/100 Linux-based Control...Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency HD High Density HDA High Density Array IOD Intra-Oral Device IRB Institutional Review Board Electrode

Implementing Journaling in a Linux Shared Disk File System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Preslan, Kenneth W.; Barry, Andrew; Brassow, Jonathan; Cattelan, Russell; Manthei, Adam; Nygaard, Erling; VanOort, Seth; Teigland, David; Tilstra, Mike; O'Keefe, Matthew;

The PMS project: Poor man's supercomputer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csikor, F.; Fodor, Z.; Hegedüs, P.; Horváth, V. K.; Katz, S. D.; Piróth, A.

2001-02-01

We briefly describe the Poor Man's Supercomputer (PMS) project carried out at Eötvös University, Budapest. The goal was to construct a cost effective, scalable, fast parallel computer to perform numerical calculations of physical problems that can be implemented on a lattice with nearest neighbour interactions. To this end we developed the PMS architecture using PC components and designed a special, low cost communication hardware and the driver software for Linux OS. Our first implementation of PMS includes 32 nodes (PMS1). The performance of PMS1 was tested by Lattice Gauge Theory simulations. Using pure SU(3) gauge theory or the bosonic part of the minimal supersymmetric extention of the standard model (MSSM) on PMS1 we obtained 3 / Mflops and 0.60 / Mflops price-to-sustained performance ratio for double and single precision operations, respectively. The design of the special hardware and the communication driver are freely available upon request for non-profit organizations.

Construct mine environment monitoring system based on wireless mesh network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xin; Ge, Gengyu; Liu, Yinmei; Cheng, Aimin; Wu, Jun; Fu, Jun

2018-04-01

The system uses wireless Mesh network as a network transmission medium, and strive to establish an effective and reliable underground environment monitoring system. The system combines wireless network technology and embedded technology to monitor the internal data collected in the mine and send it to the processing center for analysis and environmental assessment. The system can be divided into two parts: the main control network module and the data acquisition terminal, and the SPI bus technology is used for mutual communication between them. Multi-channel acquisition and control interface design Data acquisition and control terminal in the analog signal acquisition module, digital signal acquisition module, and digital signal output module. The main control network module running Linux operating system, in which the transplant SPI driver, USB card driver and AODV routing protocol. As a result, the internal data collection and reporting of the mine are realized.

A Business Case Study of Open Source Software

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-07-01

LinuxPPC LinuxPPC www.linuxppc.com MandrakeSoft Linux -Mandrake www.linux-mandrake.com/ en / CLE Project CLE cle.linux.org.tw/CLE/e_index.shtml Red Hat... en Coyote Linux www2.vortech.net/coyte/coyte.htm MNIS www.mnis.fr Data-Portal www.data-portal.com Mr O’s Linux Emporium www.ouin.com DLX Linux www.wu...1998 1999 Year S h ip m en ts ( in m ill io n s) Source: IDC, 2000. Figure 11. Worldwide New Linux Shipments (Client and Server) 3.2.2 Market

S-Band POSIX Device Drivers for RTEMS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lux, James P.; Lang, Minh; Peters, Kenneth J.; Taylor, Gregory H.

2011-01-01

This is a set of POSIX device driver level abstractions in the RTEMS RTOS (Real-Time Executive for Multiprocessor Systems real-time operating system) to SBand radio hardware devices that have been instantiated in an FPGA (field-programmable gate array). These include A/D (analog-to-digital) sample capture, D/A (digital-to-analog) sample playback, PLL (phase-locked-loop) tuning, and PWM (pulse-width-modulation)-controlled gain. This software interfaces to Sband radio hardware in an attached Xilinx Virtex-2 FPGA. It uses plug-and-play device discovery to map memory to device IDs. Instead of interacting with hardware devices directly, using direct-memory mapped access at the application level, this driver provides an application programming interface (API) offering that easily uses standard POSIX function calls. This simplifies application programming, enables portability, and offers an additional level of protection to the hardware. There are three separate device drivers included in this package: sband_device (ADC capture and DAC playback), pll_device (RF front end PLL tuning), and pwm_device (RF front end AGC control).

The risk of a safety-critical event associated with mobile device use in specific driving contexts.

PubMed

Fitch, Gregory M; Hanowski, Richard J; Guo, Feng

2015-01-01

We explored drivers' mobile device use and its associated risk of a safety-critical event (SCE) in specific driving contexts. Our premise was that the SCE risk associated with mobile device use increases when the driving task becomes demanding. Data from naturalistic driving studies involving commercial motor vehicle drivers and light vehicle drivers were partitioned into subsets representative of specific driving contexts. The subsets were generated using data set attributes that included level of service and relation to junction. These attributes were selected based on exogenous factors known to alter driving task demands. The subsets were analyzed using a case-cohort approach, which was selected to complement previous investigations of mobile device SCE risk using naturalistic driving data. Both commercial motor vehicle and light vehicle drivers varied as to how much they conversed on a mobile device but did not vary their engagement in visual-manual subtasks. Furthermore, commercial motor vehicle drivers conversed less frequently as the driving task demands increased, whereas light vehicle drivers did not. The risk of an SCE associated with mobile device use was dependent on the subtask performed and the driving context. Only visual-manual subtasks were associated with an increased SCE risk, whereas conversing was associated with a decreased risk in some driving contexts. Drivers' engagement in mobile device subtasks varies by driving context. The SCE risk associated with mobile device use is dependent on the types of subtasks performed and the driving context. The findings of this exploratory study can be applied to the design of driver-vehicle interfaces that mitigate distraction by preventing visual-manual subtasks while driving.

Exploring the impact of signal types and adjacent vehicles on drivers' choices after the onset of yellow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Ji; Chen, Qun; Luo, Dandan; Wu, Yuli; Liang, Zuli

2018-06-01

Drivers' choices at signalized intersections may be made in great uncertainty after the onset of yellow, which creates potential hazards for road safety. These choices are analyzed and modeled based on field observations at three comparable signalized intersections in Changsha, China. The results show that intersections without monitoring devices widen the indecision zone, which can increase the risk of rear-end collisions and the uncertainty of drivers' decision-making. In addition, drivers are more likely to stop during the yellow interval at intersections equipped with a green signal countdown device (GSCD) than at those with a green signal flashing device (GSFD). Subsequently, according to the results of a binary logistic regression model (BLRM), drivers' decision making at the onset of the yellow indication is greatly influenced by the vehicle's spot speed, the distance to the stop line, and signal and monitoring devices. The presence of an adjacent vehicle with a short space headway can particularly motivate the following driver to make a go-decision after the first driver chooses to pass the intersection. However, a stop-decision by a driver in an adjacent lane can also prompt the following driver to stop.

Raspberry Pi: a 35-dollar device for viewing DICOM images.

PubMed

Paiva, Omir Antunes; Moreira, Renata de Oliveira

2014-01-01

Raspberry Pi is a low-cost computer created with educational purposes. It uses Linux and, most of times, freeware applications, particularly a software for viewing DICOM images. With an external monitor, the supported resolution (1920 × 1200 pixels) allows for the set up of simple viewing workstations at a reduced cost.

Raspberry Pi: a 35-dollar device for viewing DICOM images*

PubMed Central

Paiva, Omir Antunes; Moreira, Renata de Oliveira

2014-01-01

Raspberry Pi is a low-cost computer created with educational purposes. It uses Linux and, most of times, freeware applications, particularly a software for viewing DICOM images. With an external monitor, the supported resolution (1920 × 1200 pixels) allows for the set up of simple viewing workstations at a reduced cost. PMID:25741057

Driver electronic device use in 2013.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-04-01

The percentage of drivers text-messaging or visibly manipulating : hand-held devices increased from 1.5 percent in : 2012 to 1.7 percent in 2013; however, this was not a statistically : significant increase. Driver hand-held cell phone : use decrease...

Distributed solid state programmable thermostat/power controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor); Alexander, Jane C. (Inventor); Howard, David E. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A self-contained power controller having a power driver switch, programmable controller, communication port, and environmental parameter measuring device coupled to a controllable device. The self-contained power controller needs only a single voltage source to power discrete devices, analog devices, and the controlled device. The programmable controller has a run mode which, when selected, upon the occurrence of a trigger event changes the state of a power driver switch and wherein the power driver switch is maintained by the programmable controller at the same state until the occurrence of a second event.

A USB 2.0 computer interface for the UCO/Lick CCD cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Mingzhi; Stover, Richard J.

2004-09-01

The new UCO/Lick Observatory CCD camera uses a 200 MHz fiber optic cable to transmit image data and an RS232 serial line for low speed bidirectional command and control. Increasingly RS232 is a legacy interface supported on fewer computers. The fiber optic cable requires either a custom interface board that is plugged into the mainboard of the image acquisition computer to accept the fiber directly or an interface converter that translates the fiber data onto a widely used standard interface. We present here a simple USB 2.0 interface for the UCO/Lick camera. A single USB cable connects to the image acquisition computer and the camera's RS232 serial and fiber optic cables plug into the USB interface. Since most computers now support USB 2.0 the Lick interface makes it possible to use the camera on essentially any modern computer that has the supporting software. No hardware modifications or additions to the computer are needed. The necessary device driver software has been written for the Linux operating system which is now widely used at Lick Observatory. The complete data acquisition software for the Lick CCD camera is running on a variety of PC style computers as well as an HP laptop.

An application of signal detection theory for understanding driver behavior at highway-rail grade crossings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-10-19

We used signal detection theory to examine if grade crossing warning devices were effective because they increased drivers' sensitivity to a train's approach or because they encouraged drivers to stop. We estimated d' and a for eight warning devices ...

Emergency Vehicle Alarm System for Deaf Drivers by Using LEDs and Vibration Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuwahara, Noriaki; Morimoto, Kazunari; Kozuki, Kazumasa; Kawamura, Tomonori

We are developing the emergency vehicle alarm system for deaf drivers by using LEDs and vibration devices. In order to design the alarm for deaf drivers, we have conducted basic experiment in order to evaluate perceptual characteristic on visibility of LED.

How to create successful Open Hardware projects — About White Rabbits and open fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Bij, E.; Arruat, M.; Cattin, M.; Daniluk, G.; Gonzalez Cobas, J. D.; Gousiou, E.; Lewis, J.; Lipinski, M. M.; Serrano, J.; Stana, T.; Voumard, N.; Wlostowski, T.

2013-12-01

CERN's accelerator control group has embraced ''Open Hardware'' (OH) to facilitate peer review, avoid vendor lock-in and make support tasks scalable. A web-based tool for easing collaborative work was set up and the CERN OH Licence was created. New ADC, TDC, fine delay and carrier cards based on VITA and PCI-SIG standards were designed and drivers for Linux were written. Often industry was paid for developments, while quality and documentation was controlled by CERN. An innovative timing network was also developed with the OH paradigm. Industry now sells and supports these designs that find their way into new fields.

Embedded mobile farm robot for identification of diseased plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadistap, S. S.; Botre, B. A.; Pandit, Harshavardhan; Chandrasekhar; Rao, Adesh

2013-07-01

This paper presents the development of a mobile robot used in farms for identification of diseased plants. It puts forth two of the major aspects of robotics namely automated navigation and image processing. The robot navigates on the basis of the GPS (Global Positioning System) location and data obtained from IR (Infrared) sensors to avoid any obstacles in its path. It uses an image processing algorithm to differentiate between diseased and non-diseased plants. A robotic platform consisting of an ARM9 processor, motor drivers, robot mechanical assembly, camera and infrared sensors has been used. Mini2440 microcontroller has been used wherein Embedded linux OS (Operating System) is implemented.

Introduction to LINUX OS for new LINUX users - Basic Information Before Using The Kurucz Codes Under LINUX-.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Çay, M. Taşkin

Recently the ATLAS suite (Kurucz) was ported to LINUX OS (Sbordone et al.). Those users of the suite unfamiliar with LINUX need to know some basic information to use these versions. This paper is a quick overview and introduction to LINUX OS. The reader is highly encouraged to own a book on LINUX OS for comprehensive use. Although the subjects and examples in this paper are for general use, they to help with the installation and running the ATLAS suite.

FTAP: a Linux-based program for tapping and music experiments.

PubMed

Finney, S A

2001-02-01

This paper describes FTAP, a flexible data collection system for tapping and music experiments. FTAP runs on standard PC hardware with the Linux operating system and can process input keystrokes and auditory output with reliable millisecond resolution. It uses standard MIDI devices for input and output and is particularly flexible in the area of auditory feedback manipulation. FTAP can run a wide variety of experiments, including synchronization/continuation tasks (Wing & Kristofferson, 1973), synchronization tasks combined with delayed auditory feedback (Aschersleben & Prinz, 1997), continuation tasks with isolated feedback perturbations (Wing, 1977), and complex alterations of feedback in music performance (Finney, 1997). Such experiments have often been implemented with custom hardware and software systems, but with FTAP they can be specified by a simple ASCII text parameter file. FTAP is available at no cost in source-code form.

Enhancements to the Sentinel Fireball Network Video Software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, Wayne

2009-05-01

The Sentinel Fireball Network that supports meteor imaging of bright meteors (fireballs) has been in existence for over ten years. Nearly five years ago it moved from gathering meteor data with a camera and VCR video tape to a fisheye lens attached to a hardware device, the Sentinel box, which allowed meteor data to be recorded on a PC operating under real-time Linux. In 2006, that software, sentuser, was made available on Apple, Linux, and Window operating systems using the Python computer language. It provides basic video and management functionality and a small amount of analytic software capability. This paper describes the new and attractive future features of the software, and, additionally, it reviews some of the research and networks from the past and present using video equipment to collect and analyze fireball data that have applicability to sentuser.

AIRE-Linux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jianfeng; Xu, Benda; Peng, Chuan; Yang, Yang; Huo, Zhuoxi

2015-08-01

AIRE-Linux is a dedicated Linux system for astronomers. Modern astronomy faces two big challenges: massive observed raw data which covers the whole electromagnetic spectrum, and overmuch professional data processing skill which exceeds personal or even a small team's abilities. AIRE-Linux, which is a specially designed Linux and will be distributed to users by Virtual Machine (VM) images in Open Virtualization Format (OVF), is to help astronomers confront the challenges. Most astronomical software packages, such as IRAF, MIDAS, CASA, Heasoft etc., will be integrated into AIRE-Linux. It is easy for astronomers to configure and customize the system and use what they just need. When incorporated into cloud computing platforms, AIRE-Linux will be able to handle data intensive and computing consuming tasks for astronomers. Currently, a Beta version of AIRE-Linux is ready for download and testing.

Efficient Comparison between Windows and Linux Platform Applicable in a Virtual Architectural Walkthrough Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thubaasini, P.; Rusnida, R.; Rohani, S. M.

This paper describes Linux, an open source platform used to develop and run a virtual architectural walkthrough application. It proposes some qualitative reflections and observations on the nature of Linux in the concept of Virtual Reality (VR) and on the most popular and important claims associated with the open source approach. The ultimate goal of this paper is to measure and evaluate the performance of Linux used to build the virtual architectural walkthrough and develop a proof of concept based on the result obtain through this project. Besides that, this study reveals the benefits of using Linux in the field of virtual reality and reflects a basic comparison and evaluation between Windows and Linux base operating system. Windows platform is use as a baseline to evaluate the performance of Linux. The performance of Linux is measured based on three main criteria which is frame rate, image quality and also mouse motion.

Improved Distance Learning Environment For Marine Forces Reserve

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

keyboard, to 20 form a desktop computer . Laptop computers share similar components but add mobility to the user. If additional desktop computers ...for stationary computing devices such as desktop PCs and laptops include the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux families of OSs 44 (Hopkins...opportunities to all Marines. For active duty Marines, government-provided desktops and laptops (GPDLs) typically support DL T&E or learning resource

Controlador para un Reloj GPS de Referencia en el Protocolo NTP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hauscarriaga, F.; Bareilles, F. A.

The synchronization between computers in a local network plays a very important role on enviroments similar to IAR. Calculations for exact time are needed before, during and after an observation. For this purpose the IAR's GNU/Linux Software Development Team implemented a driver inside NTP protocol (an internet standard for time synchronization of computers) for a GPS receiver acquired a few years ago by IAR, which did not have support in such protocol. Today our Institute has a stable and reliable time base synchronized to atomic clocks on board GPS Satellites according to computers's synchronization standard, offering precise time services to all scientific community and particularly to the University of La Plata. FULL TEXT IN SPANISH

Development of Automatic Live Linux Rebuilding System with Flexibility in Science and Engineering Education and Applying to Information Processing Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sonoda, Jun; Yamaki, Kota

We develop an automatic Live Linux rebuilding system for science and engineering education, such as information processing education, numerical analysis and so on. Our system is enable to easily and automatically rebuild a customized Live Linux from a ISO image of Ubuntu, which is one of the Linux distribution. Also, it is easily possible to install/uninstall packages and to enable/disable init daemons. When we rebuild a Live Linux CD using our system, we show number of the operations is 8, and the rebuilding time is about 33 minutes on CD version and about 50 minutes on DVD version. Moreover, we have applied the rebuilded Live Linux CD in a class of information processing education in our college. As the results of a questionnaires survey from our 43 students who used the Live Linux CD, we obtain that the our Live Linux is useful for about 80 percents of students. From these results, we conclude that our system is able to easily and automatically rebuild a useful Live Linux in short time.

Research on numerical control system based on S3C2410 and MCX314AL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Qiang; Jiang, Tingbiao

2008-10-01

With the rapid development of micro-computer technology, embedded system, CNC technology and integrated circuits, numerical control system with powerful functions can be realized by several high-speed CPU chips and RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) chips which have small size and strong stability. In addition, the real-time operating system also makes the attainment of embedded system possible. Developing the NC system based on embedded technology can overcome some shortcomings of common PC-based CNC system, such as the waste of resources, low control precision, low frequency and low integration. This paper discusses a hardware platform of ENC (Embedded Numerical Control) system based on embedded processor chip ARM (Advanced RISC Machines)-S3C2410 and DSP (Digital Signal Processor)-MCX314AL and introduces the process of developing ENC system software. Finally write the MCX314AL's driver under the embedded Linux operating system. The embedded Linux operating system can deal with multitask well moreover satisfy the real-time and reliability of movement control. NC system has the advantages of best using resources and compact system with embedded technology. It provides a wealth of functions and superior performance with a lower cost. It can be sure that ENC is the direction of the future development.

Evolution of Linux operating system network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Guanping; Zheng, Zheng; Wang, Haoqin

2017-01-01

Linux operating system (LOS) is a sophisticated man-made system and one of the most ubiquitous operating systems. However, there is little research on the structure and functionality evolution of LOS from the prospective of networks. In this paper, we investigate the evolution of the LOS network. 62 major releases of LOS ranging from versions 1.0 to 4.1 are modeled as directed networks in which functions are denoted by nodes and function calls are denoted by edges. It is found that the size of the LOS network grows almost linearly, while clustering coefficient monotonically decays. The degree distributions are almost the same: the out-degree follows an exponential distribution while both in-degree and undirected degree follow power-law distributions. We further explore the functionality evolution of the LOS network. It is observed that the evolution of functional modules is shown as a sequence of seven events (changes) succeeding each other, including continuing, growth, contraction, birth, splitting, death and merging events. By means of a statistical analysis of these events in the top 4 largest components (i.e., arch, drivers, fs and net), it is shown that continuing, growth and contraction events occupy more than 95% events. Our work exemplifies a better understanding and describing of the dynamics of LOS evolution.

IEEE 1588 Time Synchronization Board in MTCA.4 Form Factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabłoński, G.; Makowski, D.; Mielczarek, A.; Orlikowski, M.; Perek, P.; Napieralski, A.; Makijarvi, P.; Simrock, S.

2015-06-01

Distributed data acquisition and control systems in large-scale scientific experiments, like e.g. ITER, require time synchronization with nanosecond precision. A protocol commonly used for that purpose is the Precise Timing Protocol (PTP), also known as IEEE 1588 standard. It uses the standard Ethernet signalling and protocols and allows obtaining timing accuracy of the order of tens of nanoseconds. The MTCA.4 is gradually becoming the platform of choice for building such systems. Currently there is no commercially available implementation of the PTP receiver on that platform. In this paper, we present a module in the MTCA.4 form factor supporting this standard. The module may be used as a timing receiver providing reference clocks in an MTCA.4 chassis, generating a Pulse Per Second (PPS) signal and allowing generation of triggers and timestamping of events on 8 configurable backplane lines and two front panel connectors. The module is based on the Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA and thermally stabilized Voltage Controlled Oscillator controlled by the digital-to-analog converter. The board supports standalone operation, without the support from the host operating system, as the entire control algorithm is run on a Microblaze CPU implemented in the FPGA. The software support for the card includes the low-level API in the form of Linux driver, user-mode library, high-level API: ITER Nominal Device Support and EPICS IOC. The device has been tested in the ITER timing distribution network (TCN) with three cascaded PTP-enabled Hirschmann switches and a GPS reference clock source. An RMS synchronization accuracy, measured by direct comparison of the PPS signals, better than 20 ns has been obtained.

Backup Warning Signals: Driver Perception and Response

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-08-01

This report describes the findings of three experiments that concern driver reaction to acoustic signals that might be used for backup warning devices. Intelligent warning devices are under development that will use vehicle-based sensors to warn back...

Heavy vehicle driver workload assessment : executive summary

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-10-01

This report summarizes a program of research to develop methods, data, and guidelines to conduct heavy vehicle driver-oriented workload assessments of new, high-technology, in-cab devices. Many such devices are being developed and implemented in heav...

Survey of driver aid devices for improved fuel economy.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-11-30

This report presents a brief summarization of available information pertaining to devices offered to aid the driver in improving his driving habits in order to reduce fuel consumption. Principal emphasis is placed on characterizing the available devi...

Preparing a scientific manuscript in Linux: Today's possibilities and limitations.

PubMed

Tchantchaleishvili, Vakhtang; Schmitto, Jan D

2011-10-22

Increasing number of scientists are enthusiastic about using free, open source software for their research purposes. Authors' specific goal was to examine whether a Linux-based operating system with open source software packages would allow to prepare a submission-ready scientific manuscript without the need to use the proprietary software. Preparation and editing of scientific manuscripts is possible using Linux and open source software. This letter to the editor describes key steps for preparation of a publication-ready scientific manuscript in a Linux-based operating system, as well as discusses the necessary software components. This manuscript was created using Linux and open source programs for Linux.

TICK: Transparent Incremental Checkpointing at Kernel Level

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Petrini, Fabrizio; Gioiosa, Roberto

2004-10-25

TICK is a software package implemented in Linux 2.6 that allows the save and restore of user processes, without any change to the user code or binary. With TICK a process can be suspended by the Linux kernel upon receiving an interrupt and saved in a file. This file can be later thawed in another computer running Linux (potentially the same computer). TICK is implemented as a Linux kernel module, in the Linux version 2.6.5

Potential performance bottleneck in Linux TCP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Wenji; Crawford, Matt; /Fermilab

2006-12-01

TCP is the most widely used transport protocol on the Internet today. Over the years, especially recently, due to requirements of high bandwidth transmission, various approaches have been proposed to improve TCP performance. The Linux 2.6 kernel is now preemptible. It can be interrupted mid-task, making the system more responsive and interactive. However, we have noticed that Linux kernel preemption can interact badly with the performance of the networking subsystem. In this paper we investigate the performance bottleneck in Linux TCP. We systematically describe the trip of a TCP packet from its ingress into a Linux network end system tomore » its final delivery to the application; we study the performance bottleneck in Linux TCP through mathematical modeling and practical experiments; finally we propose and test one possible solution to resolve this performance bottleneck in Linux TCP.« less

Preventing road injuries in children by applying feedback devices.

PubMed

Spiegel, Rainer; Farahmand, Parvis; Da Silva, Fábio Anciães; Claassen, Jens; Kalla, Roger

2012-01-01

The objective of this article is to determine how to prevent road injuries in schoolchildren by reducing the prevalence of speeding. On a busy road in the neighborhood of a preschool and two secondary schools in Oberhaching (greater Munich, Germany), a board was mounted next to the road (visible to the drivers as well as the pedestrians). The board consisted of a picture of a smiling child. Underneath the picture, an LED display read "Thank you!" in green blinking letters when the speed limit was adhered to and "Slowly!" in red blinking letters when speeding was detected. The main outcome assessment was the number of drivers adhering to the speed limit in the experimental condition (i.e., facing the device) compared to the number in the control condition (on the same road within the same time period but traveling in the opposite direction; i.e., drivers not facing the device). In the control condition 27.6 percent (230) of drivers adhered to the speed limit compared to 41.1 percent (427) of drivers in the experimental condition, χ(2) = 36.1, P < .0001. Only 12 drivers exceeded the speed limit by more than 20 km per hour in the experimental condition, whereas 34 drivers did so in the control condition, χ(2) = 9.6, P < .01. The display is associated with a significantly lower percentage of speeding drivers but does not seem to be sufficient, because the majority of drivers still did not observe the speed limit in the presence of the display. Additional factors on how speed reduction can be achieved will be discussed in the light of future applications and possible modifications of the device.

Design of a Fatigue Detection System for High-Speed Trains Based on Driver Vigilance Using a Wireless Wearable EEG.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoliang; Li, Jiali; Liu, Yugang; Zhang, Zutao; Wang, Zhuojun; Luo, Dianyuan; Zhou, Xiang; Zhu, Miankuan; Salman, Waleed; Hu, Guangdi; Wang, Chunbai

2017-03-01

The vigilance of the driver is important for railway safety, despite not being included in the safety management system (SMS) for high-speed train safety. In this paper, a novel fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety based on monitoring train driver vigilance using a wireless wearable electroencephalograph (EEG) is presented. This system is designed to detect whether the driver is drowsiness. The proposed system consists of three main parts: (1) a wireless wearable EEG collection; (2) train driver vigilance detection; and (3) early warning device for train driver. In the first part, an 8-channel wireless wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) device acquires the locomotive driver's brain EEG signal comfortably under high-speed train-driving conditions. The recorded data are transmitted to a personal computer (PC) via Bluetooth. In the second step, a support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm is implemented to determine the vigilance level using the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD). In addition, an early warning device begins to work if fatigue is detected. The simulation and test results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety.

Preparing a scientific manuscript in Linux: Today's possibilities and limitations

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Increasing number of scientists are enthusiastic about using free, open source software for their research purposes. Authors' specific goal was to examine whether a Linux-based operating system with open source software packages would allow to prepare a submission-ready scientific manuscript without the need to use the proprietary software. Findings Preparation and editing of scientific manuscripts is possible using Linux and open source software. This letter to the editor describes key steps for preparation of a publication-ready scientific manuscript in a Linux-based operating system, as well as discusses the necessary software components. This manuscript was created using Linux and open source programs for Linux. PMID:22018246

The Linux operating system: An introduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bokhari, Shahid H.

1995-01-01

Linux is a Unix-like operating system for Intel 386/486/Pentium based IBM-PCs and compatibles. The kernel of this operating system was written from scratch by Linus Torvalds and, although copyrighted by the author, may be freely distributed. A world-wide group has collaborated in developing Linux on the Internet. Linux can run the powerful set of compilers and programming tools of the Free Software Foundation, and XFree86, a port of the X Window System from MIT. Most capabilities associated with high performance workstations, such as networking, shared file systems, electronic mail, TeX, LaTeX, etc. are freely available for Linux. It can thus transform cheap IBM-PC compatible machines into Unix workstations with considerable capabilities. The author explains how Linux may be obtained, installed and networked. He also describes some interesting applications for Linux that are freely available. The enormous consumer market for IBM-PC compatible machines continually drives down prices of CPU chips, memory, hard disks, CDROMs, etc. Linux can convert such machines into powerful workstations that can be used for teaching, research and software development. For professionals who use Unix based workstations at work, Linux permits virtually identical working environments on their personal home machines. For cost conscious educational institutions Linux can create world-class computing environments from cheap, easily maintained, PC clones. Finally, for university students, it provides an essentially cost-free path away from DOS into the world of Unix and X Windows.

Using Secure Coprocessors

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-01

can easily envision using a microkernel such as Mach 3.0 [31], the NT executive [20], or QNX [40]. We only need to add a communications server and...of the system software architecture. Both hardware subsytems run the CMU Mach 3.0 microkernel [311: the host has special device drivers to support...in the Mach microkernel and a higher- level driver in the Unix server. The low-level drivers handle interrupts and simple device data transfers to

Monitoring driver fatigue using a single-channel electroencephalographic device: A validation study by gaze-based, driving performance, and subjective data.

PubMed

Morales, José M; Díaz-Piedra, Carolina; Rieiro, Héctor; Roca-González, Joaquín; Romero, Samuel; Catena, Andrés; Fuentes, Luis J; Di Stasi, Leandro L

2017-12-01

Driver fatigue can impair performance as much as alcohol does. It is the most important road safety concern, causing thousands of accidents and fatalities every year. Thanks to technological developments, wearable, single-channel EEG devices are now getting considerable attention as fatigue monitors, as they could help drivers to assess their own levels of fatigue and, therefore, prevent the deterioration of performance. However, the few studies that have used single-channel EEG devices to investigate the physiological effects of driver fatigue have had inconsistent results, and the question of whether we can monitor driver fatigue reliably with these EEG devices remains open. Here, we assessed the validity of a single-channel EEG device (TGAM-based chip) to monitor changes in mental state (from alertness to fatigue). Fifteen drivers performed a 2-h simulated driving task while we recorded, simultaneously, their prefrontal brain activity and saccadic velocity. We used saccadic velocity as the reference index of fatigue. We also collected subjective ratings of alertness and fatigue, as well as driving performance. We found that the power spectra of the delta EEG band showed an inverted U-shaped quadratic trend (EEG power spectra increased for the first hour and half, and decreased during the last thirty minutes), while the power spectra of the beta band linearly increased as the driving session progressed. Coherently, saccadic velocity linearly decreased and speeding time increased, suggesting a clear effect of fatigue. Subjective data corroborated these conclusions. Overall, our results suggest that the TGAM-based chip EEG device is able to detect changes in mental state while performing a complex and dynamic everyday task as driving. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Leveraging accelerated testing of LED drivers to model the reliability of two-stage and multi-channel drivers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, Lynn; Perkins, Curtis; Smith, Aaron

The next wave of LED lighting technology is likely to be tunable white lighting (TWL) devices which can adjust the colour of the emitted light between warm white (~ 2700 K) and cool white (~ 6500 K). This type of lighting system uses LED assemblies of two or more colours each controlled by separate driver channels that independently adjust the current levels to achieve the desired lighting colour. Drivers used in TWL devices are inherently more complex than those found in simple SSL devices, due to the number of electrical components in the driver required to achieve this level ofmore » control. The reliability of such lighting systems can only be studied using accelerated stress tests (AST) that accelerate the aging process to time frames that can be accommodated in laboratory testing. This paper describes AST methods and findings developed from AST data that provide insights into the lifetime of the main components of one-channel and multi-channel LED devices. The use of AST protocols to confirm product reliability is necessary to ensure that the technology can meet the performance and lifetime requirements of the intended application.« less

Abstract of talk for Silicon Valley Linux Users Group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clanton, Sam

2003-01-01

The use of Linux for research at NASA Ames is discussed.Topics include:work with the Atmospheric Physics branch on software for a spectrometer to be used in the CRYSTAL-FACE mission this summer; work on in the Neuroengineering Lab with code IC including an introduction to the extension of the human senses project,advantages with using linux for real-time biological data processing,algorithms utilized on a linux system, goals of the project,slides of people with Neuroscan caps on, and progress that has been made and how linux has helped.

An Improved B+ Tree for Flash File Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Havasi, Ferenc

Nowadays mobile devices such as mobile phones, mp3 players and PDAs are becoming evermore common. Most of them use flash chips as storage. To store data efficiently on flash, it is necessary to adapt ordinary file systems because they are designed for use on hard disks. Most of the file systems use some kind of search tree to store index information, which is very important from a performance aspect. Here we improved the B+ search tree algorithm so as to make flash devices more efficient. Our implementation of this solution saves 98%-99% of the flash operations, and is now the part of the Linux kernel.

Heavy vehicle driver workload assessment. Task 2, standard vehicle configuration/specifications

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

A variety of high technology in-cab devices have been proposed for use in heavy trucks. Many of these devices introduce subsidiary tasks which may compete with the driver's primary task of safely controlling the vehicle at all times. As part of this ...

75 FR 59118 - Limiting the Use of Wireless Communication Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-27

... Texting Prohibition D. Investigations and Studies on Driver Distraction E. Existing Texting Prohibitions...). As a result of the Summit, and based on data from studies on distracted driving, FMCSA is considering... electronic devices in the cab, presumably prohibiting texting. D. Investigations and Studies on Driver...

Scrolling and driving: how an MP3 player and its aftermarket controller affect driving performance and visual behavior.

PubMed

Lee, John D; Roberts, Shannon C; Hoffman, Joshua D; Angell, Linda S

2012-04-01

The aim of this study was to assess how scrolling through playlists on an MP3 player or its aftermarket controller affects driving performance and to examine how drivers adapt device use to driving demands. Drivers use increasingly complex infotainment devices that can undermine driving performance. The goal activation hypothesis suggests that drivers might fail to compensate for these demands, particularly with long tasks and large search set sizes. A total of 50 participants searched for songs in playlists of varying lengths using either an MP3 player or an aftermarket controller while negotiating road segments with traffic and construction in a medium-fidelity driving simulator. Searching through long playlists (580 songs) resulted in poor driving performance and required more long glances (longer than 2 s) to the device compared with other playlist lengths. The aftermarket controller also led to more long glances compared with the MP3 player. Drivers did not adequately adapt their behavior to roadway demand, as evident in their degraded driving performance. No significant performance differences were found between short playlists, the radio-tuning task, and the no-task condition. Selecting songs from long playlists undermined driving performance, and drivers did not sufficiently adapt their use of the device to the roadway demands, consistent with the goal activation hypothesis. The aftermarket controller degraded rather than enhanced performance. Infotainment systems should support drivers in managing distraction. Aftermarket controllers can have the unintended effect of making devices carried into the car less compatible with driving.These results can motivate development of new interfaces as alternatives to scrolling lists.

An easy-to-build, low-budget point-of-care ultrasound simulator: from Linux to a web-based solution.

PubMed

Damjanovic, Domagoj; Goebel, Ulrich; Fischer, Benedikt; Huth, Martin; Breger, Hartmut; Buerkle, Hartmut; Schmutz, Axel

2017-12-01

Hands-on training in point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) should ideally comprise bedside teaching, as well as simulated clinical scenarios. High-fidelity phantoms and portable ultrasound simulation systems are commercially available, however, at considerable costs. This limits their suitability for medical schools. A Linux-based software for Emergency Department Ultrasound Simulation (edus2TM) was developed by Kulyk and Olszynski in 2011. Its feasibility for POC-US education has been well-documented, and shows good acceptance. An important limitation to an even more widespread use of edus2, however, may be due to the need for a virtual machine for WINDOWS ® systems. Our aim was to adapt the original software toward an HTML-based solution, thus making it affordable and applicable in any simulation setting. We created an HTML browser-based ultrasound simulation application, which reads the input of different sensors, triggering an ultrasound video to be displayed on a respective device. RFID tags, NFC tags, and QR Codes™ have been integrated into training phantoms or were attached to standardized patients. The RFID antenna was hidden in a mock ultrasound probe. The application is independent from the respective device. Our application was used successfully with different trigger/scanner combinations and mounted readily into simulated training scenarios. The application runs independently from operating systems or electronic devices. This low-cost, browser-based ultrasound simulator is easy-to-build, very adaptive, and independent from operating systems. It has the potential to facilitate POC-US training throughout the world, especially in resource-limited areas.

A machine vision system for micro-EDM based on linux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Rui; Zhao, Wansheng; Li, Gang; Li, Zhiyong; Zhang, Yong

2006-11-01

Due to the high precision and good surface quality that it can give, Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is potentially an important process for the fabrication of micro-tools and micro-components. However, a number of issues remain unsolved before micro-EDM becomes a reliable process with repeatable results. To deal with the difficulties in micro electrodes on-line fabrication and tool wear compensation, a micro-EDM machine vision system is developed with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera, with an optical resolution of 1.61μm and an overall magnification of 113~729. Based on the Linux operating system, an image capturing program is developed with the V4L2 API, and an image processing program is exploited by using OpenCV. The contour of micro electrodes can be extracted by means of the Canny edge detector. Through the system calibration, the micro electrodes diameter can be measured on-line. Experiments have been carried out to prove its performance, and the reasons of measurement error are also analyzed.

Measuring driver responses at railway level crossings.

PubMed

Tey, Li-Sian; Ferreira, Luis; Wallace, Angela

2011-11-01

Railway level crossings are amongst the most complex of road safety control systems, due to the conflicts between road vehicles and rail infrastructure, trains and train operations. Driver behaviour at railway crossings is the major collision factor. The main objective of the present paper was to evaluate the existing conventional warning devices in relation to driver behaviour. The common conventional warning devices in Australia are a stop sign (passive), flashing lights and a half boom-barrier with flashing lights (active). The data were collected using two approaches, namely: field video recordings at selected sites and a driving simulator in a laboratory. This paper describes and compares the driver response results from both the field survey and the driving simulator. The conclusion drawn is that different types of warning systems resulted in varying driver responses at crossings. The results showed that on average driver responses to passive crossings were poor when compared to active ones. The field results were consistent with the simulator results for the existing conventional warning devices and hence they may be used to calibrate the simulator for further evaluation of alternative warning systems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technological choices for mobile clinical applications.

PubMed

Ehrler, Frederic; Issom, David; Lovis, Christian

2011-01-01

The rise of cheaper and more powerful mobile devices make them a new and attractive platform for clinical applications. The interaction paradigm and portability of the device facilitates bedside human-machine interactions. The better accessibility to information and decision-support anywhere in the hospital improves the efficiency and the safety of care processes. In this study, we attempt to find out what are the most appropriate Operating System (OS) and Software Development Kit (SDK) to support the development of clinical applications on mobile devices. The Android platform is a Linux-based, open source platform that has many advantages. Two main SDKs are available on this platform: the native Android and the Adobe Flex SDK. Both of them have interesting features, but the latter has been preferred due its portability at comparable performance and ease of development.

A validation study comparing self-reported travel diaries and objective data obtained from in-vehicle monitoring devices in older drivers with bilateral cataract.

PubMed

Agramunt, Seraina; Meuleners, Lynn; Chow, Kyle Chi; Ng, Jonathon Q; Morlet, Nigel

2017-09-01

Advances in technology have made it possible to examine real-world driving using naturalistic data obtained from in-vehicle monitoring devices. These devices overcome the weaknesses of self-report methods and can provide comprehensive insights into driving exposure, habits and practices of older drivers. The aim of this study is to compare self-reported and objectively measured driving exposure, habits and practices using a travel diary and an in-vehicle driver monitoring device in older drivers with bilateral cataract. A cross-sectional study was undertaken. Forty seven participants aged 58-89 years old (mean=74.1; S.D.=7.73) were recruited from three eye clinics over a one year period. Data collection consisted of a cognitive test, a researcher-administered questionnaire, a travel diary and an in-vehicle monitoring device. Participants' driving exposure and patterns were recorded for one week using in-vehicle monitoring devices. They also completed a travel diary each time they drove a motor vehicle as the driver. Paired t-tests were used to examine differences/agreement between the two instruments under different driving circumstances. The data from the older drivers' travel diaries significantly underestimated the number of overall trips (p<0.001), weekend trips (p=0.002) and trips during peak hour (p=0.004). The travel diaries also significantly overestimated overall driving duration (p<0.001) and weekend driving duration (p=0.003), compared to the data obtained from the in-vehicle monitoring devices. No significant differences were found between instruments for kilometres travelled under any of the driving circumstances. The results of this study found that relying solely on self-reported travel diaries to assess driving outcomes may not be accurate, particularly for estimates of the number of trips made and duration of trips. The clear advantages of using in-vehicle monitoring devices over travel diaries to monitor driving habits and exposure among an older population are evident. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A flexible microcontroller-based data acquisition device.

PubMed

Hercog, Darko; Gergič, Bojan

2014-06-02

This paper presents a low-cost microcontroller-based data acquisition device. The key component of the presented solution is a configurable microcontroller-based device with an integrated USB transceiver and a 12-bit analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The presented embedded DAQ device contains a preloaded program (firmware) that enables easy acquisition and generation of analogue and digital signals and data transfer between the device and the application running on a PC via USB bus. This device has been developed as a USB human interface device (HID). This USB class is natively supported by most of the operating systems and therefore any installation of additional USB drivers is unnecessary. The input/output peripheral of the presented device is not static but rather flexible, and could be easily configured to customised needs without changing the firmware. When using the developed configuration utility, a majority of chip pins can be configured as analogue input, digital input/output, PWM output or one of the SPI lines. In addition, LabVIEW drivers have been developed for this device. When using the developed drivers, data acquisition and signal processing algorithms as well as graphical user interface (GUI), can easily be developed using a well-known, industry proven, block oriented LabVIEW programming environment.

Building CHAOS: An Operating System for Livermore Linux Clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garlick, J E; Dunlap, C M

2003-02-21

The Livermore Computing (LC) Linux Integration and Development Project (the Linux Project) produces and supports the Clustered High Availability Operating System (CHAOS), a cluster operating environment based on Red Hat Linux. Each CHAOS release begins with a set of requirements and ends with a formally tested, packaged, and documented release suitable for use on LC's production Linux clusters. One characteristic of CHAOS is that component software packages come from different sources under varying degrees of project control. Some are developed by the Linux Project, some are developed by other LC projects, some are external open source projects, and some aremore » commercial software packages. A challenge to the Linux Project is to adhere to release schedules and testing disciplines in a diverse, highly decentralized development environment. Communication channels are maintained for externally developed packages in order to obtain support, influence development decisions, and coordinate/understand release schedules. The Linux Project embraces open source by releasing locally developed packages under open source license, by collaborating with open source projects where mutually beneficial, and by preferring open source over proprietary software. Project members generally use open source development tools. The Linux Project requires system administrators and developers to work together to resolve problems that arise in production. This tight coupling of production and development is a key strategy for making a product that directly addresses LC's production requirements. It is another challenge to balance support and development activities in such a way that one does not overwhelm the other.« less

Development of an Autonomous Navigation Technology Test Vehicle

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-08-01

as an independent thread on processors using the Linux operating system. The computer hardware selected for the nodes that host the MRS threads...communications system design. Linux was chosen as the operating system for all of the single board computers used on the Mule. Linux was specifically...used for system analysis and development. The simple realization of multi-thread processing and inter-process communications in Linux made it a

Observed child restraint use in automobiles

PubMed Central

Williams, A.

1998-01-01

Visual observations were made on restraint use in occupants of 5050 automobiles containing at least one passenger less than 10 years of age, and short interviews were conducted with the drivers. Ninety three per cent of passengers less than 10 years old were not restrained. Eighty nine per cent of passengers 10 or older and 78% of the drivers were not restrained. Sixteen per cent of child motor vehicle restraint devices observed were not used, and 73% of those in use were not used correctly. Use of such devices declined sharply after age one. Although child passengers were more likely to be restrained if the driver was restrained, more than 75% of the children were not restrained when the driver was, even if the driver was the child's parent. PMID:9666374

A Dedicated Computational Platform for Cellular Monte Carlo T-CAD Software Tools

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-14

computer that establishes an encrypted Virtual Private Network ( OpenVPN [44]) based on the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) paradigm. Each user is given a...security certificate for each device used to connect to the computing nodes. Stable OpenVPN clients are available for Linux, Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX...platform is granted by an encrypted connection base on the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol, and implemented in the OpenVPN Virtual Personal Network

Wireless Testbed Bonsai

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-02-01

wireless sensor device network, and a about 200 Stargate nodes higher-tier multi-hop peer- to-peer 802.11b wireless network. Leading up to the full ExScal...deployment, we conducted spatial scaling tests on our higher-tier protocols on a 7 × 7 grid of Stargates nodes 45m and with 90m separations respectively...onW and its scaled version W̃ . III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP Description of Kansei testbed. A stargate is a single board linux-based computer [7]. It uses a

Electrodermal Activity Based Wearable Device for Drowsy Drivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malathi, D.; Dorathi Jayaseeli, JD; Madhuri, S.; Senthilkumar, K.

2018-04-01

Road safety and road accident mortality rate are a serious concern for the government. With rise in fatal road accidents, who’s leading cause is the driver being drowsy behind the wheel, measures to alleviate this problem becomes the prime task. To meet the purpose, methods adopted must be of minimum discomfort for the driver, easy to install, provide good detection accuracy and timely alert to circumvent a probable accident. A good candidate to meet these specifications is EDA. As it detects the level of sweat which directly corresponds to the mental state of the person, using EDA for the purposes of driver safety forms a good option. The novelty of this project lies in making use of EDA as a measure to detect if a person is drowsy or not. Much of the challenge lies in building a device equipped with the necessary sensors and processing the data on real-time. The novelty of this work lies in development of an embedded device interfaced with sensors and actuators to detect and alert a driver when found drowsy using sweat as a parameter.

Why drivers use cell phones and support legislation to restrict this practice.

PubMed

Sanbonmatsu, David M; Strayer, David L; Behrends, Arwen A; Ward, Nathan; Watson, Jason M

2016-07-01

The use of cell phones while driving is ubiquitous, particularly in countries where the practice is legal. However, surveys indicate that most drivers favor legislation to limit the use of mobile devices during the operation of a vehicle. A study was conducted to understand this inconsistency between what drivers do and what they advocate for others. Participants completed a survey about their driving attitudes, abilities, and behaviors. Following previous research, drivers reported using cell phones for benefits such as getting work done. The hypocrisy of using cell phones while advocating restrictions appears to stem from differences in the perceived safety risks of self vs. others' use of cell phones. Many if not most drivers believe they can drive safely while using mobile devices. However, they lack confidence in others' ability to drive safely while distracted and believe that others' use of cell phones is dangerous. The threat to public safety of others' usage of mobile devices was one of the strongest independent predictors of support for legislation to restrict cell phone use. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Integrating a Trusted Computing Base Extension Server and Secure Session Server into the LINUX Operating System

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-09-01

Readily Available Linux has been copyrighted under the terms of the GNU General Public 5 License (GPL)1. This is a license written by the Free...GNOME and KDE . d. Portability Linux is highly compatible with many common operating systems. For...using suitable libraries, Linux is able to run programs written for other operating systems. [Ref. 8] 1 The GNU Project is coordinated by the

Implementation, reliability, and feasibility test of an Open-Source PACS.

PubMed

Valeri, Gianluca; Zuccaccia, Matteo; Badaloni, Andrea; Ciriaci, Damiano; La Riccia, Luigi; Mazzoni, Giovanni; Maggi, Stefania; Giovagnoni, Andrea

2015-12-01

To implement a hardware and software system able to perform the major functions of an Open-Source PACS, and to analyze it in a simulated real-world environment. A small home network was implemented, and the Open-Source operating system Ubuntu 11.10 was installed in a laptop containing the Dcm4chee suite with the software devices needed. The Open-Source PACS implemented is compatible with Linux OS, Microsoft OS, and Mac OS X; furthermore, it was used with operating systems that guarantee the operation in portable devices (smartphone, tablet) Android and iOS. An OSS PACS is useful for making tutorials and workshops on post-processing techniques for educational and training purposes.

Assessment of truck driver distraction problem and research needs

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-05-01

The issue of driver distraction associated with the use of in-vehicle devices in heavy vehicles was explored through interviews with truck drivers and safety regulators. In order to characterize some of the interface designs and better understand the...

Embedded systems for supporting computer accessibility.

PubMed

Mulfari, Davide; Celesti, Antonio; Fazio, Maria; Villari, Massimo; Puliafito, Antonio

2015-01-01

Nowadays, customized AT software solutions allow their users to interact with various kinds of computer systems. Such tools are generally available on personal devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops and so on) commonly used by a person with a disability. In this paper, we investigate a way of using the aforementioned AT equipments in order to access many different devices without assistive preferences. The solution takes advantage of open source hardware and its core component consists of an affordable Linux embedded system: it grabs data coming from the assistive software, which runs on the user's personal device, then, after processing, it generates native keyboard and mouse HID commands for the target computing device controlled by the end user. This process supports any operating system available on the target machine and it requires no specialized software installation; therefore the user with a disability can rely on a single assistive tool to control a wide range of computing platforms, including conventional computers and many kinds of mobile devices, which receive input commands through the USB HID protocol.

The High-efficiency LED Driver for Visible Light Communication Applications.

PubMed

Gong, Cihun-Siyong Alex; Lee, Yu-Chen; Lai, Jyun-Liang; Yu, Chueh-Hao; Huang, Li Ren; Yang, Chia-Yen

2016-08-08

This paper presents a LED driver for VLC. The main purpose is to solve the low data rate problem used to be in switching type LED driver. The GaN power device is proposed to replace the traditional silicon power device of switching LED driver for the purpose of increasing switching frequency of converter, thereby increasing the bandwidth of data transmission. To achieve high efficiency, the diode-connected GaN power transistor is utilized to replace the traditional ultrafast recovery diode used to be in switching type LED driver. This work has been experimentally evaluated on 350-mA output current. The results demonstrate that it supports the data of PWM dimming level encoded in the PPM scheme for VLC application. The experimental results also show that system's efficiency of 80.8% can be achieved at 1-Mb/s data rate.

Design of a Fatigue Detection System for High-Speed Trains Based on Driver Vigilance Using a Wireless Wearable EEG

PubMed Central

Zhang, Xiaoliang; Li, Jiali; Liu, Yugang; Zhang, Zutao; Wang, Zhuojun; Luo, Dianyuan; Zhou, Xiang; Zhu, Miankuan; Salman, Waleed; Hu, Guangdi; Wang, Chunbai

2017-01-01

The vigilance of the driver is important for railway safety, despite not being included in the safety management system (SMS) for high-speed train safety. In this paper, a novel fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety based on monitoring train driver vigilance using a wireless wearable electroencephalograph (EEG) is presented. This system is designed to detect whether the driver is drowsiness. The proposed system consists of three main parts: (1) a wireless wearable EEG collection; (2) train driver vigilance detection; and (3) early warning device for train driver. In the first part, an 8-channel wireless wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) device acquires the locomotive driver’s brain EEG signal comfortably under high-speed train-driving conditions. The recorded data are transmitted to a personal computer (PC) via Bluetooth. In the second step, a support vector machine (SVM) classification algorithm is implemented to determine the vigilance level using the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD). In addition, an early warning device begins to work if fatigue is detected. The simulation and test results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed fatigue detection system for high-speed train safety. PMID:28257073

A Flexible Microcontroller-Based Data Acquisition Device

PubMed Central

Hercog, Darko; Gergič, Bojan

2014-01-01

This paper presents a low-cost microcontroller-based data acquisition device. The key component of the presented solution is a configurable microcontroller-based device with an integrated USB transceiver and a 12-bit analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The presented embedded DAQ device contains a preloaded program (firmware) that enables easy acquisition and generation of analogue and digital signals and data transfer between the device and the application running on a PC via USB bus. This device has been developed as a USB human interface device (HID). This USB class is natively supported by most of the operating systems and therefore any installation of additional USB drivers is unnecessary. The input/output peripheral of the presented device is not static but rather flexible, and could be easily configured to customised needs without changing the firmware. When using the developed configuration utility, a majority of chip pins can be configured as analogue input, digital input/output, PWM output or one of the SPI lines. In addition, LabVIEW drivers have been developed for this device. When using the developed drivers, data acquisition and signal processing algorithms as well as graphical user interface (GUI), can easily be developed using a well-known, industry proven, block oriented LabVIEW programming environment. PMID:24892494

Tuning Linux to meet real time requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herbel, Richard S.; Le, Dang N.

2007-04-01

There is a desire to use Linux in military systems. Customers are requesting contractors to use open source to the maximal possible extent in contracts. Linux is probably the best operating system of choice to meet this need. It is widely used. It is free. It is royalty free, and, best of all, it is completely open source. However, there is a problem. Linux was not originally built to be a real time operating system. There are many places where interrupts can and will be blocked for an indeterminate amount of time. There have been several attempts to bridge this gap. One of them is from RTLinux, which attempts to build a microkernel underneath Linux. The microkernel will handle all interrupts and then pass it up to the Linux operating system. This does insure good interrupt latency; however, it is not free [1]. Another is RTAI, which provides a similar typed interface; however, the PowerPC platform, which is used widely in real time embedded community, was stated as "recovering" [2]. Thus this is not suited for military usage. This paper provides a method for tuning a standard Linux kernel so it can meet the real time requirement of an embedded system.

Open Radio Communications Architecture Core Framework V1.1.0 Volume 1 Software Users Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-02-01

on a PC utilizing the KDE desktop that comes with Red Hat Linux . The default desktop for most Red Hat Linux installations is the GNOME desktop. The...SCA) v2.2. The software was designed for a desktop computer running the Linux operating system (OS). It was developed in C++, uses ACE/TAO for CORBA...middleware, Xerces for the XML parser, and Red Hat Linux for the Operating System. The software is referred to as, Open Radio Communication

APEX 3: a multi-purpose test platform for auditory psychophysical experiments.

PubMed

Francart, Tom; van Wieringen, Astrid; Wouters, Jan

2008-07-30

APEX 3 is a software test platform for auditory behavioral experiments. It provides a generic means of setting up experiments without any programming. The supported output devices include sound cards and cochlear implants from Cochlear Corporation and Advanced Bionics Corporation. Many psychophysical procedures are provided and there is an interface to add custom procedures. Plug-in interfaces are provided for data filters and external controllers. APEX 3 is supported under Linux and Windows and is available free of charge.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Machine: Protecting Privacy with Ephemeral Channels

PubMed Central

Dunn, Alan M.; Lee, Michael Z.; Jana, Suman; Kim, Sangman; Silberstein, Mark; Xu, Yuanzhong; Shmatikov, Vitaly; Witchel, Emmett

2014-01-01

Modern systems keep long memories. As we show in this paper, an adversary who gains access to a Linux system, even one that implements secure deallocation, can recover the contents of applications’ windows, audio buffers, and data remaining in device drivers—long after the applications have terminated. We design and implement Lacuna, a system that allows users to run programs in “private sessions.” After the session is over, all memories of its execution are erased. The key abstraction in Lacuna is an ephemeral channel, which allows the protected program to talk to peripheral devices while making it possible to delete the memories of this communication from the host. Lacuna can run unmodified applications that use graphics, sound, USB input devices, and the network, with only 20 percentage points of additional CPU utilization. PMID:24755709

Evaluation of steering control devices in adapted cars using sled deceleration tests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eixerés, B.; Masiá, J.; Dols, J. F.; Esquerdo, T. V.

2009-11-01

Steering control devices used by disabled drivers can reduce passive safety, interfering with the existing systems of safety in the vehicle or causing injury to the occupants [1]. In this article, the results obtained in different dynamic tests carried out in a crash test simulator are presented. These tests were carried out on the steering devices which interfere the most with the deployment of the driver's airbag and also with the knee airbag in a Citroen C5.

Reproducibility of the spectral components of the electroencephalogram during driver fatigue.

PubMed

Lal, Saroj K L; Craig, Ashley

2005-02-01

To date, no study has tested the reproducibility of EEG changes that occur during driver fatigue. For the EEG changes to be useful in the development of a fatigue countermeasure device the EEG response during each onset period of fatigue in individuals needs to be reproducible. It should be noted that fatigue during driving is not a continuous process but consists of successive episodes of 'microsleeps' where the subject may go in and out of a fatigue state. The aim of the present study was to investigate the reproducibility of fatigue during driving in both professional and non-professional drivers. Thirty five non-professional drivers and twenty professional drivers were tested during two separate sessions of a driver simulator task. EEG, EOG and behavioural measurements of fatigue were obtained during the driving task. The results showed high reproducibility for the delta and theta bands (r>0.95) in both groups of drivers. The results are discussed in light of implications for future studies and for the development of an EEG based fatigue countermeasure device.

Linux thin-client conversion in a large cardiology practice: initial experience.

PubMed

Echt, Martin P; Rosen, Jordan

2004-01-01

Capital Cardiology Associates (CCA) is a single-specialty cardiology practice with offices in New York and Massachusetts. In 2003, CCA converted its IT system from a Microsoft-based network to a Linux network employing Linux thin-client technology with overall positive outcomes.

Special Considerations in Distracted Driving with Teens

PubMed Central

Durbin, Dennis R; McGehee, Daniel V; Fisher, Donald; McCartt, Anne

2014-01-01

Novice teen drivers have long been known to have an increased risk of crashing, as well as increased tendencies toward unsafe and risky driving behaviors. Teens are unique as drivers for several reasons, many of which have implications specifically in the area of distracted driving. This paper reviews several of these features, including the widespread prevalence of mobile device use by teens, their lack of driving experience, the influence of peer passengers as a source of distraction, the role of parents in influencing teens’ attitudes and behaviors relevant to distracted driving and the impact of laws designed to prevent mobile device use by teen drivers. Recommendations for future research include understanding how engagement in a variety of secondary tasks by teen drivers affects their driving performance or crash risk; understanding the respective roles of parents, peers and technology in influencing teen driver behavior; and evaluating the impact of public policy on mitigating teen crash risk related to driver distraction. PMID:24776228

Universal programming interface with concurrent access

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alferov, Oleg

2004-10-07

There exist a number of devices with a positioning nature of operation, such as mechanical linear stages, temperature controllers, or filterwheels with discrete state, and most of them have different programming interfaces. The Universal Positioner software suggests the way to handle all of them is with a single approach, whereby a particular hardware driver is created from the template and by translating the actual commands used by the hardware to and from the universal programming interface. The software contains the universal API module itself, the demo simulation of hardware, and the front-end programs to help developers write their own softwaremore » drivers along with example drivers for actual hardware controllers. The software allows user application programs to call devices simultaneously without race conditions (multitasking and concurrent access). The template suggested in this package permits developers to integrate various devices easily into their applications using the same API. The drivers can be stacked; i.e., they can call each other via the same interface.« less

The High-efficiency LED Driver for Visible Light Communication Applications

PubMed Central

Gong, Cihun-Siyong Alex; Lee, Yu-Chen; Lai, Jyun-Liang; Yu, Chueh-Hao; Huang, Li Ren; Yang, Chia-Yen

2016-01-01

This paper presents a LED driver for VLC. The main purpose is to solve the low data rate problem used to be in switching type LED driver. The GaN power device is proposed to replace the traditional silicon power device of switching LED driver for the purpose of increasing switching frequency of converter, thereby increasing the bandwidth of data transmission. To achieve high efficiency, the diode-connected GaN power transistor is utilized to replace the traditional ultrafast recovery diode used to be in switching type LED driver. This work has been experimentally evaluated on 350-mA output current. The results demonstrate that it supports the data of PWM dimming level encoded in the PPM scheme for VLC application. The experimental results also show that system’s efficiency of 80.8% can be achieved at 1-Mb/s data rate. PMID:27498921

Modeling of Steer-by-Wire System Used in New Braking Handwheel Concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Messaoudène, K.; Oufroukh, N. Ait; Mammar, S.

2008-06-01

The handwheel is one of the primary control mechanisms of automobile thus interaction between the handwheel and the driver is critical to safety. The driver applies forces that direct the vehicle while the handwheel communicates feedback information to the driver of the forces experience by the car within its environment. The handwheel also provides a predictable mechanical feel to the driver to allow smooth and safe control. Many researchers tried to reproduce this feeling by creating steer-by-wire systems. This paper explores this new concept of handwheel and it describes the modeling steps of the components including the restitution mechanism for force feedback and its various links with the vehicle lateral dynamics and the pneumatic contacts. The aim is to explore the possibility to combine a braking device within the steer-by-wire system in order to provide a more suitable and ergonomic device to the driver.

Attitudes of truck drivers and carriers on the use of electronic logging devices and driver harassment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-11-01

The research contained herein is an examination of managerial harassment experienced by drivers, and whether harassment is associated with the method used to log hours of service (HOS). Similar information was gathered from a sample of carriers. : Tr...

U.S. State and Federal Laws Targeting Distracted Driving

PubMed Central

Catherine Chase, J.D.

2014-01-01

Distracted driving has burgeoned with the proliferation of cell phones, global positioning systems and other in-vehicle and personal electronic devices. Annually more than 3,300 people are killed and an additional 400,000 are injured in the United States in distracted driving crashes. The United States (U.S.) federal and state governments have responded to this public health problem with policies and laws; however, a more comprehensive and more effective approach is still needed. Some restrictions on the use of electronic devices while driving by federal employees and some voluntary guidelines and recommendations have been issued. Public opinion polls show support for addressing the issue of distracted driving with state laws. The majority of states have laws banning text messaging while driving and prohibiting the use of an electronic device by teenage or novice drivers. Some states prohibit all drivers from using a hand-held cellphone. Currently no state has a total ban on the use of personal electronic devices while driving. Successful past traffic safety campaigns changing driver behavior have demonstrated the necessity to adopt a “three Es” approach of Enactment of a law, Education of the public about the law, and rigorous Enforcement of the law. Experience reveals that this approach, along with future federal regulation of in-vehicle electronic devices and the employment of technology to limit the use of electronic devices while driving, is needed to alter personal behavior in order to reduce distractions and keep drivers focused on the driving task. PMID:24776229

U.s. State and federal laws targeting distracted driving.

PubMed

Catherine Chase, J D

2014-01-01

Distracted driving has burgeoned with the proliferation of cell phones, global positioning systems and other in-vehicle and personal electronic devices. Annually more than 3,300 people are killed and an additional 400,000 are injured in the United States in distracted driving crashes. The United States (U.S.) federal and state governments have responded to this public health problem with policies and laws; however, a more comprehensive and more effective approach is still needed. Some restrictions on the use of electronic devices while driving by federal employees and some voluntary guidelines and recommendations have been issued. Public opinion polls show support for addressing the issue of distracted driving with state laws. The majority of states have laws banning text messaging while driving and prohibiting the use of an electronic device by teenage or novice drivers. Some states prohibit all drivers from using a hand-held cellphone. Currently no state has a total ban on the use of personal electronic devices while driving. Successful past traffic safety campaigns changing driver behavior have demonstrated the necessity to adopt a "three Es" approach of Enactment of a law, Education of the public about the law, and rigorous Enforcement of the law. Experience reveals that this approach, along with future federal regulation of in-vehicle electronic devices and the employment of technology to limit the use of electronic devices while driving, is needed to alter personal behavior in order to reduce distractions and keep drivers focused on the driving task.

Data Collection and Recording on the Wisconsin/GSFC X-ray Quantum Calorimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Neill, Laura; X-ray Astrophysics Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

2016-01-01

The Wisconsin/GSFC X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) is an astronomical X-ray sounding rocket payload which uses a micro-calorimeter array to detect low (less than1keV) X-rays. Three different devices were evaluated to upgrade XQC's data collection and recording system. The system takes incoming data from XQC's pixel sensors and stores it to a memory card. The upgrade is a much smaller board and much more compact storage device. The Terasic DE0-Nano, Terasic DE0-Nano SoC, and the BeagleBone Black were tested to determine which would suit the needs of XQC best. The device needed to take incoming data, store it to an SD card, and be able to output it through a USB connection. The Terasic DE0-Nano is a simple FPGA, but needed some peripheral additions for an SD card slot and USB readout. The Terasic DE0-Nano SoC was a powerful FPGA and hard processor running Linux combined. It was able to do what was needed, but pulled too much power in the process. The BeagleBone Black had a microcontroller and also ran Linux. This last device ended up being the best choice, as it did not require too much power and had a very easy system already in place for USB readout. The only difficulty to deal with was programming the microcontroller in assembly language. This device is necessary due to the telemetry on XQC not being able to send all of the data down during the flight. It records valuable data about low energy X-rays so that the X-ray Astrophysics Groups at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Goddard Space Flight Center can analyze and resolve the spectrum of the soft X-ray background.Later, using the digital logic on a Terasic DE0-Nano FPGA, a data simulator for the BeagleBone Black data collection and recording device was created. Programmed with Quartus II, the simulator uses basic digital logic components to fabricate trackable data signals and related timing signals to send to the data management device, as well as other timing signals that are asynchronous to the rest of the circuit, a failsafe enable for outputs, and several user feedback components

Network Penetration Testing and Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murphy, Brandon F.

2013-01-01

This paper will focus the on research and testing done on penetrating a network for security purposes. This research will provide the IT security office new methods of attacks across and against a company's network as well as introduce them to new platforms and software that can be used to better assist with protecting against such attacks. Throughout this paper testing and research has been done on two different Linux based operating systems, for attacking and compromising a Windows based host computer. Backtrack 5 and BlackBuntu (Linux based penetration testing operating systems) are two different "attacker'' computers that will attempt to plant viruses and or NASA USRP - Internship Final Report exploits on a host Windows 7 operating system, as well as try to retrieve information from the host. On each Linux OS (Backtrack 5 and BlackBuntu) there is penetration testing software which provides the necessary tools to create exploits that can compromise a windows system as well as other operating systems. This paper will focus on two main methods of deploying exploits 1 onto a host computer in order to retrieve information from a compromised system. One method of deployment for an exploit that was tested is known as a "social engineering" exploit. This type of method requires interaction from unsuspecting user. With this user interaction, a deployed exploit may allow a malicious user to gain access to the unsuspecting user's computer as well as the network that such computer is connected to. Due to more advance security setting and antivirus protection and detection, this method is easily identified and defended against. The second method of exploit deployment is the method mainly focused upon within this paper. This method required extensive research on the best way to compromise a security enabled protected network. Once a network has been compromised, then any and all devices connected to such network has the potential to be compromised as well. With a compromised network, computers and devices can be penetrated through deployed exploits. This paper will illustrate the research done to test ability to penetrate a network without user interaction, in order to retrieve personal information from a targeted host.

Mark 6: A Next-Generation VLBI Data System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitney, A. R.; Lapsley, D. E.; Taveniku, M.

2011-07-01

A new real-time high-data-rate disk-array system based on entirely commercial-off-the-shelf hardware components is being evaluated for possible use as a next-generation VLBI data system. The system, developed by XCube Communications of Nashua, NH, USA was originally developed for the automotive industry for testing/evaluation of autonomous driving systems that require continuous capture of an array of video cameras and automotive sensors at ~8Gbps from multiple 10GigE data links and other data sources. In order to sustain the required recording data rate, the system is designed to account for slow and/or failed disks by shifting the load to other disks as necessary in order to maintain the target data rate. The system is based on a Linux OS with some modifications to memory management and drivers in order to guarantee the timely movement of data, and the hardware/software combination is highly tuned to achieve the target data rate; data are stored in standard Linux files. A kit is also being designed that will allow existing Mark 5 disk modules to be modified to be used with the XCube system (though PATA disks will need to be replaced by SATA disks). Demonstrations of the system at Haystack Observatory and NRAO Socorro have proved very encouraging; some modest software upgrades/revisions are being made by XCube in order to meet VLBI-specific requirements. The system is easily expandable, with sustained 16 Gbps likely to be supported before end CY2011.

Development and Testing of a High-Speed Real-Time Kinematic Precise DGPS Positioning System Between Two Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

work-horse for this thesis. He spent hours writing some of the more tedious code, and as much time helping me learn C++ and Linux . He was always there...compared with C++, and the need to use Linux as the operating system, the filter was coded using C++ and KDevelop [28] in SUSE LINUX Professional 9.2 [42...The driving factor for using Linux was the operating system’s ability to access the serial ports in a reliable fashion. Under the original MATLAB® and

Open discovery: An integrated live Linux platform of Bioinformatics tools.

PubMed

Vetrivel, Umashankar; Pilla, Kalabharath

2008-01-01

Historically, live linux distributions for Bioinformatics have paved way for portability of Bioinformatics workbench in a platform independent manner. Moreover, most of the existing live Linux distributions limit their usage to sequence analysis and basic molecular visualization programs and are devoid of data persistence. Hence, open discovery - a live linux distribution has been developed with the capability to perform complex tasks like molecular modeling, docking and molecular dynamics in a swift manner. Furthermore, it is also equipped with complete sequence analysis environment and is capable of running windows executable programs in Linux environment. Open discovery portrays the advanced customizable configuration of fedora, with data persistency accessible via USB drive or DVD. The Open Discovery is distributed free under Academic Free License (AFL) and can be downloaded from http://www.OpenDiscovery.org.in.

Car drivers' perceptions of electronic stability control (ESC) systems.

PubMed

Vadeby, Anna; Wiklund, Mats; Forward, Sonja

2011-05-01

As a way to reduce the number of car crashes different in-car safety devices are being introduced. In this paper one such application is being investigated, namely the electronic stability control system (ESC). The study used a survey method, including 2000 private car drivers (1000 driving a car with ESC and 1000 driving a car without ESC). The main objective was to investigate the effect of ESC on driver behaviour. Results show that drivers report that they drive even more carelessly when they believe that they have ESC, than when they do not. Men are more risk prone than women and young drivers more than older drivers. Using the theory of planned behaviour the results show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived control explain between 62% and 67% of driver's variation of intentions to take risks. When descriptive norm was added to the model a small but statistically significant increase was found. The study also shows that more than 35% erroneously believe that their car is equipped with an ESC system. These findings may suggest that driver behaviour could reduce the positive effect ESC has on accidents. It also shows that drivers who purchase a new car are not well informed about what kind of safety devices the car is equipped with. These findings highlight the need for more targeted information to drivers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced laser-based tracking device for motor vehicle lane position monitoring and steering assistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachalo, William D.; Inenaga, Andrew; Schuler, Carlos A.

1995-12-01

Aerometrics is developing an innovative laser-diode based device that provides a warning signal when a motor-vehicle deviates from the center of the lane. The device is based on a sensor that scans the roadway on either side of the vehicle and determines the lateral position relative to the existing painted lines marking the lane. No additional markings are required. A warning is used to alert the driver of excessive weaving or unanticipated departure from the center of the lane. The laser beams are at invisible wavelengths to that operation of the device does not pose a distraction to the driver or other motorists: When appropriate markers are not present on the road, the device is capable of detecting this condition and warn the driver. The sensor system is expected to work well irrespective of ambient light levels, fog and rain. This sensor has enormous commercial potential. It could be marketed as an instrument to warn drivers that they are weaving, used as a research tool to monitor driving patterns, be required equipment for those previously convicted of driving under the influence, or used as a backup sensor for vehicle lateral position control. It can also be used in storage plants to guide robotic delivery vehicles. In this paper, the principles of operation of the sensor, and the results of Aerometrics ongoing testing will be presented.

Device and method for redirecting electromagnetic signals

DOEpatents

Garcia, Ernest J.

1999-01-01

A device fabricated to redirect electromagnetic signals, the device including a primary driver adapted to provide a predetermined force, a linkage system coupled to the primary driver, a pusher rod rotationally coupled to the linkage system, a flexible rod element attached to the pusher rod and adapted to buckle upon the application of the predetermined force, and a mirror structure attached to the flexible rod element at one end and to the substrate at another end. When the predetermined force buckles the flexible rod element, the mirror structure and the flexible rod element both move to thereby allow a remotely-located electromagnetic signal directed towards the device to be redirected.

SLURM: Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jette, M; Grondona, M

2002-12-19

Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM) is an open source, fault-tolerant, and highly scalable cluster management and job scheduling system for Linux clusters of thousands of nodes. Components include machine status, partition management, job management, scheduling and stream copy modules. This paper presents an overview of the SLURM architecture and functionality.

SLURM: Simplex Linux Utility for Resource Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jette, M; Grondona, M

2003-04-22

Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM) is an open source, fault-tolerant, and highly scalable cluster management and job scheduling system for Linux clusters of thousands of nodes. Components include machine status, partition management, job management, scheduling, and stream copy modules. This paper presents an overview of the SLURM architecture and functionality.

77 FR 5864 - BluePoint Linux Software Corp., China Bottles Inc., Long-e International, Inc., and Nano...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-06

... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] BluePoint Linux Software Corp., China Bottles Inc., Long-e International, Inc., and Nano Superlattice Technology, Inc.; Order of Suspension of... current and accurate information concerning the securities of BluePoint Linux Software Corp. because it...

Kernel-based Linux emulation for Plan 9.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Minnich, Ronald G.

2010-09-01

CNKemu is a kernel-based system for the 9k variant of the Plan 9 kernel. It is designed to provide transparent binary support for programs compiled for IBM's Compute Node Kernel (CNK) on the Blue Gene series of supercomputers. This support allows users to build applications with the standard Blue Gene toolchain, including C++ and Fortran compilers. While the CNK is not Linux, IBM designed the CNK so that the user interface has much in common with the Linux 2.0 system call interface. The Plan 9 CNK emulator hence provides the foundation of kernel-based Linux system call support on Plan 9.more » In this paper we discuss cnkemu's implementation and some of its more interesting features, such as the ability to easily intermix Plan 9 and Linux system calls.« less

Open discovery: An integrated live Linux platform of Bioinformatics tools

PubMed Central

Vetrivel, Umashankar; Pilla, Kalabharath

2008-01-01

Historically, live linux distributions for Bioinformatics have paved way for portability of Bioinformatics workbench in a platform independent manner. Moreover, most of the existing live Linux distributions limit their usage to sequence analysis and basic molecular visualization programs and are devoid of data persistence. Hence, open discovery ‐ a live linux distribution has been developed with the capability to perform complex tasks like molecular modeling, docking and molecular dynamics in a swift manner. Furthermore, it is also equipped with complete sequence analysis environment and is capable of running windows executable programs in Linux environment. Open discovery portrays the advanced customizable configuration of fedora, with data persistency accessible via USB drive or DVD. Availability The Open Discovery is distributed free under Academic Free License (AFL) and can be downloaded from http://www.OpenDiscovery.org.in PMID:19238235

poRe: an R package for the visualization and analysis of nanopore sequencing data.

PubMed

Watson, Mick; Thomson, Marian; Risse, Judith; Talbot, Richard; Santoyo-Lopez, Javier; Gharbi, Karim; Blaxter, Mark

2015-01-01

The Oxford Nanopore MinION device represents a unique sequencing technology. As a mobile sequencing device powered by the USB port of a laptop, the MinION has huge potential applications. To enable these applications, the bioinformatics community will need to design and build a suite of tools specifically for MinION data. Here we present poRe, a package for R that enables users to manipulate, organize, summarize and visualize MinION nanopore sequencing data. As a package for R, poRe has been tested on Windows, Linux and MacOSX. Crucially, the Windows version allows users to analyse MinION data on the Windows laptop attached to the device. poRe is released as a package for R at http://sourceforge.net/projects/rpore/. A tutorial and further information are available at https://sourceforge.net/p/rpore/wiki/Home/. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

RTS2: a powerful robotic observatory manager

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubánek, Petr; Jelínek, Martin; Vítek, Stanislav; de Ugarte Postigo, Antonio; Nekola, Martin; French, John

2006-06-01

RTS2, or Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version, is an integrated package for remote telescope control under the Linux operating system. It is designed to run in fully autonomous mode, picking targets from a database table, storing image meta data to the database, processing images and storing their WCS coordinates in the database and offering Virtual-Observatory enabled access to them. It is currently running on various telescope setups world-wide. For control of devices from various manufacturers we developed an abstract device layer, enabling control of all possible combinations of mounts, CCDs, photometers, roof and cupola controllers. We describe the evolution of RTS2 from Python-based RTS to C and later C++ based RTS2, focusing on the problems we faced during development. The internal structure of RTS2, focusing on object layering, which is used to uniformly control various devices and provides uniform reporting layer, is also discussed.

T-LECS: The Control Software System for MOIRCS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshikawa, T.; Omata, K.; Konishi, M.; Ichikawa, T.; Suzuki, R.; Tokoku, C.; Katsuno, Y.; Nishimura, T.

2006-07-01

MOIRCS (Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph) is a new instrument for the Subaru Telescope. We present the system design of the control software system for MOIRCS, named T-LECS (Tohoku University - Layered Electronic Control System). T-LECS is a PC-Linux based network distributed system. Two PCs equipped with the focal plane array system operate two HAWAII2 detectors, respectively, and another PC is used for user interfaces and a database server. Moreover, these PCs control various devices for observations distributed on a TCP/IP network. T-LECS has three interfaces; interfaces to the devices and two user interfaces. One of the user interfaces is to the integrated observation control system (Subaru Observation Software System) for observers, and another one provides the system developers the direct access to the devices of MOIRCS. In order to help the communication between these interfaces, we employ an SQL database system.

Intelligent behaviors through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, Richard D.; Sturgeon, Purser; Brown, Mike

2012-06-01

The last decade has seen a significant increase in intelligent safety devices on private automobiles. These devices have both increased and augmented the situational awareness of the driver and in some cases provided automated vehicle responses. To date almost all intelligent safety devices have relied on data directly perceived by the vehicle. This constraint has a direct impact on the types of solutions available to the vehicle. In an effort to improve the safety options available to a vehicle, numerous research laboratories and government agencies are investing time and resources into connecting vehicles to each other and to infrastructure-based devices. This work details several efforts in both the commercial vehicle and the private auto industries to increase vehicle safety and driver situational awareness through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. It will specifically discuss intelligent behaviors being designed to automatically disable non-compliant vehicles, warn tractor trailer vehicles of unsafe lane maneuvers such as lane changes, passing, and merging, and alert drivers to non-line-of-sight emergencies.

The Research on Linux Memory Forensics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jun; Che, ShengBing

2018-03-01

Memory forensics is a branch of computer forensics. It does not depend on the operating system API, and analyzes operating system information from binary memory data. Based on the 64-bit Linux operating system, it analyzes system process and thread information from physical memory data. Using ELF file debugging information and propose a method for locating kernel structure member variable, it can be applied to different versions of the Linux operating system. The experimental results show that the method can successfully obtain the sytem process information from physical memory data, and can be compatible with multiple versions of the Linux kernel.

The effects of text messaging on young drivers.

PubMed

Hosking, Simon G; Young, Kristie L; Regan, Michael A

2009-08-01

This study investigated the effects of using a cell phone to retrieve and send text messages on the driving performance of young novice drivers. Young drivers are particularly susceptible to driver distraction and have an increased risk of distraction-related crashes. Distractions from in-vehicle devices, particularly, those that require manual input, are known to cause decrements in driving performance. Twenty young novice drivers used a cell phone to retrieve and send text messages while driving a simulator. The amount of time that drivers spent not looking at the road when text messaging was up to approximately 400% greater than that recorded in baseline (notext-messaging) conditions. Furthermore, drivers' variability in lane position increased up to approximately 50%, and missed lane changes increased 140%. There was also an increase of up to approximately 150% in drivers' variability in following distances to lead vehicles. Previous research has shown that the risk of crashing while dialing a handheld device, such as when text messaging and driving, is more than double that of conversing on a cell phone. The present study has identified the detrimental effects of text messaging on driving performance that may underlie such increased crash risk. More effective road safety measures are needed to prevent and mitigate the adverse effects on driving performance of using cell phones to retrieve and send text messages.

77 FR 12907 - Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-02

... impact of task performance while driving on driving safety and time-based acceptance criteria for... feedback). The proposed NHTSA Guidelines list certain secondary, non-driving related tasks that, based on... cannot be used by the driver to perform such tasks while the driver is driving. For all other secondary...

Heavy vehicle driver workload assessment. Task 7A, in-cab text message system and cellular phone use by heavy vehicle drivers on road

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

This report covers the seventh in a series of tasks involving the assessment of driver workload in heavy vehicle operation associated with in-cab devices or systems. This report addresses the application of a workload assessment protocol and measurem...

Does wearable device bring distraction closer to drivers? Comparing smartphones and Google Glass.

PubMed

He, Jibo; McCarley, Jason S; Crager, Kirsten; Jadliwala, Murtuza; Hua, Lesheng; Huang, Sheng

2018-07-01

Head-up and wearable displays, such as Google Glass™, are sometimes marketed as safe in-vehicle alternatives to phone-based displays, as they allow drivers to receive messages without eye-off-the-road glances. However, head-up displays can still compromise driver performance (e.g., He et al., 2015b), as the distracting effect of interacting with any device will depend on the user's multitasking strategies. The present experiment examined drivers' interaction with a head-down smartphone display and a wearable head-up display. Participants performed a simulated driving task while receiving and responding to text messages via smartphone or the head-mounted display (HMD) on the Google Glass™. Incoming messages were signaled by an auditory alert, and responses were made vocally. When using Google Glass, participants' responses were quicker than that of smartphone, and the time to engage in a task did not vary according to lane-keeping difficulty. Results suggest that a willingness to engage more readily in distracting tasks may offset the potential safety benefits of wearable devices. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

16 CFR 1507.8 - Wheel devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Wheel devices. 1507.8 Section 1507.8 Commercial Practices CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION FEDERAL HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES ACT REGULATIONS FIREWORKS DEVICES § 1507.8 Wheel devices. Drivers in fireworks devices commonly known as “wheels” shall be...

[Current problems of ophthalmologic examination in automobile drivers].

PubMed

Chernyshova, S G

2002-01-01

The article deals with major aspects of eye examination in automobile drivers, with main drawbacks of occupational selection, absence of efficient diagnostic devices, with various approaches to inspection of color perception.

Real-time data collection in Linux: a case study.

PubMed

Finney, S A

2001-05-01

Multiuser UNIX-like operating systems such as Linux are often considered unsuitable for real-time data collection because of the potential for indeterminate timing latencies resulting from preemptive scheduling. In this paper, Linux is shown to be fully adequate for precisely controlled programming with millisecond resolution or better. The Linux system calls that subserve such timing control are described and tested and then utilized in a MIDI-based program for tapping and music performance experiments. The timing of this program, including data input and output, is shown to be accurate at the millisecond level. This demonstrates that Linux, with proper programming, is suitable for real-time experiment software. In addition, the detailed description and test of both the operating system facilities and the application program itself may serve as a model for publicly documenting programming methods and software performance on other operating systems.

Automatic detection of intoxicated drivers

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1972-01-01

As the evidence of the contribution of : intoxicated drivers to vehicular fatalities : continues to mount, interest has : grown in the development of novel countermeasures. : One approach now being considered : involves the use of a device : installe...

Performance of a 100V Half-Bridge MOSFET Driver, Type MIC4103, Over a Wide Temperature Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Richard L.; Hammoud, Ahmad

2011-01-01

The operation of a high frequency, high voltage MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors) driver was investigated over a wide temperature regime that extended beyond its specified range. The Micrel MIC4103 is a 100V, non-inverting, dual driver that is designed to independently drive both high-side and low-side N-channel MOSFETs. It features fast propagation delay times and can drive 1000 pF load with 10ns rise times and 6 ns fall times [1]. The device consumes very little power, has supply under-voltage protection, and is rated for a -40 C to +125 C junction temperature range. The floating high-side driver of the chip can sustain boost voltages up to 100 V. Table I shows some of the device manufacturer s specification.

SLURM: Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jette, M; Dunlap, C; Garlick, J

2002-07-08

Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM) is an open source, fault-tolerant, and highly scalable cluster management and job scheduling system for Linux clusters of thousands of nodes. Components include machine status, partition management, job management, scheduling and stream copy modules. The design also includes a scalable, general-purpose communication infrastructure. This paper presents a overview of the SLURM architecture and functionality.

Ensuring a C2 Level of Trust and Interoperability in a Networked Windows NT Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-09-01

addition, it should be noted that the device drivers, microkernel , memory manager, and Hardware Abstraction Layer are all hardware dependent. a. The...Executive The executive is further divided into three conceptual layers which are referred to as-the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), the Microkernel , and...Subsystem Executive Subsystems Manager I/O Manager Cache Manager File Systems Microkernel Device Driver Hardware Abstraction Layer F HARDWARE Figure 3

Development of a data acquisition system using a RISC/UNIX TM workstation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeuchi, Y.; Tanimori, T.; Yasu, Y.

1993-05-01

We have developed a compact data acquisition system on RISC/UNIX workstations. A SUN TM SPARCstation TM IPC was used, in which an extension bus "SBus TM" was linked to a VMEbus. The transfer rate achieved was better than 7 Mbyte/s between the VMEbus and the SUN. A device driver for CAMAC was developed in order to realize an interruptive feature in UNIX. In addition, list processing has been incorporated in order to keep the high priority of the data handling process in UNIX. The successful developments of both device driver and list processing have made it possible to realize the good real-time feature on the RISC/UNIX system. Based on this architecture, a portable and versatile data taking system has been developed, which consists of a graphical user interface, I/O handler, user analysis process, process manager and a CAMAC device driver.

A Vision-Based Driver Nighttime Assistance and Surveillance System Based on Intelligent Image Sensing Techniques and a Heterogamous Dual-Core Embedded System Architecture

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study proposes a vision-based intelligent nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system (VIDASS system) implemented by a set of embedded software components and modules, and integrates these modules to accomplish a component-based system framework on an embedded heterogamous dual-core platform. Therefore, this study develops and implements computer vision and sensing techniques of nighttime vehicle detection, collision warning determination, and traffic event recording. The proposed system processes the road-scene frames in front of the host car captured from CCD sensors mounted on the host vehicle. These vision-based sensing and processing technologies are integrated and implemented on an ARM-DSP heterogamous dual-core embedded platform. Peripheral devices, including image grabbing devices, communication modules, and other in-vehicle control devices, are also integrated to form an in-vehicle-embedded vision-based nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system. PMID:22736956

A vision-based driver nighttime assistance and surveillance system based on intelligent image sensing techniques and a heterogamous dual-core embedded system architecture.

PubMed

Chen, Yen-Lin; Chiang, Hsin-Han; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Liu, Chuan-Ming; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Wang, Jenq-Haur

2012-01-01

This study proposes a vision-based intelligent nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system (VIDASS system) implemented by a set of embedded software components and modules, and integrates these modules to accomplish a component-based system framework on an embedded heterogamous dual-core platform. Therefore, this study develops and implements computer vision and sensing techniques of nighttime vehicle detection, collision warning determination, and traffic event recording. The proposed system processes the road-scene frames in front of the host car captured from CCD sensors mounted on the host vehicle. These vision-based sensing and processing technologies are integrated and implemented on an ARM-DSP heterogamous dual-core embedded platform. Peripheral devices, including image grabbing devices, communication modules, and other in-vehicle control devices, are also integrated to form an in-vehicle-embedded vision-based nighttime driver assistance and surveillance system.

MEMS deformable mirror embedded wavefront sensing and control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Owens, Donald; Schoen, Michael; Bush, Keith

2006-01-01

Electrostatic Membrane Deformable Mirror (MDM) technology developed using silicon bulk micro-machining techniques offers the potential of providing low-cost, compact wavefront control systems for diverse optical system applications. Electrostatic mirror construction using bulk micro-machining allows for custom designs to satisfy wavefront control requirements for most optical systems. An electrostatic MDM consists of a thin membrane, generally with a thin metal or multi-layer high-reflectivity coating, suspended over an actuator pad array that is connected to a high-voltage driver. Voltages applied to the array elements deflect the membrane to provide an optical surface capable of correcting for measured optical aberrations in a given system. Electrostatic membrane DM designs are derived from well-known principles of membrane mechanics and electrostatics, the desired optical wavefront control requirements, and the current limitations of mirror fabrication and actuator drive electronics. MDM performance is strongly dependent on mirror diameter and air damping in meeting desired spatial and temporal frequency requirements. In this paper, we present wavefront control results from an embedded wavefront control system developed around a commercially available high-speed camera and an AgilOptics Unifi MDM driver using USB 2.0 communications and the Linux development environment. This new product, ClariFast TM, combines our previous Clarifi TM product offering into a faster more streamlined version dedicated strictly to Hartmann Wavefront sensing.

A dynamic kernel modifier for linux

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Minnich, R. G.

2002-09-03

Dynamic Kernel Modifier, or DKM, is a kernel module for Linux that allows user-mode programs to modify the execution of functions in the kernel without recompiling or modifying the kernel source in any way. Functions may be traced, either function entry only or function entry and exit; nullified; or replaced with some other function. For the tracing case, function execution results in the activation of a watchpoint. When the watchpoint is activated, the address of the function is logged in a FIFO buffer that is readable by external applications. The watchpoints are time-stamped with the resolution of the processor highmore » resolution timers, which on most modem processors are accurate to a single processor tick. DKM is very similar to earlier systems such as the SunOS trace device or Linux TT. Unlike these two systems, and other similar systems, DKM requires no kernel modifications. DKM allows users to do initial probing of the kernel to look for performance problems, or even to resolve potential problems by turning functions off or replacing them. DKM watchpoints are not without cost: it takes about 200 nanoseconds to make a log entry on an 800 Mhz Pentium-Ill. The overhead numbers are actually competitive with other hardware-based trace systems, although it has less 'Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the United States Department of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36. accuracy than an In-Circuit Emulator such as the American Arium. Once the user has zeroed in on a problem, other mechanisms with a higher degree of accuracy can be used.« less

Evaluation of an investigational wearable injector in healthy human volunteers.

PubMed

Torjman, Marc C; Machnicki, Robert; Lessin, Jennifer; Loeum, Channy; Steinberger, Douglas; Mycroft, Sarah; Joseph, Jeffrey I

2017-01-01

Introduction of a wearable device for subcutaneous delivery of larger volume bolus injections would encourage patient compliance and reduce the burden on healthcare services. With one such wearable device commercially available, this study examined the safety and functionality of an investigational device in volunteers. Four devices were applied to the subject's abdomen: 1) Investigational Device, 2) Investigational Device: subject movement, 3) Control Device: FDA-cleared syringe driver with FDA-cleared infusion set, 4) Control Device: FDA-cleared syringe driver attached to investigational device. Three milliliters of saline were infused through the four devices over 3 minutes. 84 devices were applied to 21 subjects. Three milliliters of saline were safely delivered subcutaneously from the investigational and control devices. Two control devices had occlusions and in each case the pump reached its high pressure limit of 12 psi. VAS pain measurements showed minimal pain for all subjects. Pain scores were significantly (p < 0.001) higher than baseline at the end of injection: mean pain level ranged from 2.0-22.0 mm. The investigational device performed as intended with minimal pain during needle insertion and infusion, and no leaking of fluid at the skin puncture site. Two occlusions occurred with the control devices.

Feasibility of new simulation technology to train novice drivers

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-12-01

This project examined the feasibility of using existing simulation and other electronic device technology with the potential for the safety training of novice drivers. Project activities included: a literature review; site visits and telephone inquir...

Teen driver cell phone blocker.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-02-01

This study was a randomized control intervention to measure the effectiveness of a cellular phone control device : that communicates with the vehicles of teen drivers to deny them access to their phone while driving for the : purpose of reducing dist...

Linear transformer driver for pulse generation

DOEpatents

Kim, Alexander A; Mazarakis, Michael G; Sinebryukhov, Vadim A; Volkov, Sergey N; Kondratiev, Sergey S; Alexeenko, Vitaly M; Bayol, Frederic; Demol, Gauthier; Stygar, William A

2015-04-07

A linear transformer driver includes at least one ferrite ring positioned to accept a load. The linear transformer driver also includes a first power delivery module that includes a first charge storage devices and a first switch. The first power delivery module sends a first energy in the form of a first pulse to the load. The linear transformer driver also includes a second power delivery module including a second charge storage device and a second switch. The second power delivery module sends a second energy in the form of a second pulse to the load. The second pulse has a frequency that is approximately three times the frequency of the first pulse. The at least one ferrite ring is positioned to force the first pulse and the second pulse to the load by temporarily isolating the first pulse and the second pulse from an electrical ground.

An Integrated Gate Driver in 4H-SiC for Power Converter Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ericson, Milton Nance; Frank, Steven Shane; Britton, Charles

2014-01-01

A gate driver fabricated in a 2-um 4H silicon carbide (SiC) process is presented. This process was optimized for vertical power MOSFET fabrication but accommodated integration of a few low-voltage device types including N-channel MOSFETs, resistors, and capacitors. The gate driver topology employed incorporates an input level translator, variable power connections, and separate power supply connectivity allowing selection of the output signal drive amplitude. The output stage utilizes a source follower pull-up device that is both overdriven and body source connected to improve rise time behavior. Full characterization of this design driving a SiC power MOSFET is presented including risemore » and fall times, propagation delays, and power consumption. All parameters were measured to elevated temperatures exceeding 300 C. Details of the custom test system hardware and software utilized for gate driver testing are also provided.« less

Architecture for removable media USB-ARM

DOEpatents

Shue, Craig A.; Lamb, Logan M.; Paul, Nathanael R.

2015-07-14

A storage device is coupled to a computing system comprising an operating system and application software. Access to the storage device is blocked by a kernel filter driver, except exclusive access is granted to a first anti-virus engine. The first anti-virus engine is directed to scan the storage device for malicious software and report results. Exclusive access may be granted to one or more other anti-virus engines and they may be directed to scan the storage device and report results. Approval of all or a portion of the information on the storage device is based on the results from the first anti-virus engine and the other anti-virus engines. The storage device is presented to the operating system and access is granted to the approved information. The operating system may be a Microsoft Windows operating system. The kernel filter driver and usage of anti-virus engines may be configurable by a user.

Drunk Driver Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

Systems Technology, Inc. developed a technique to study/measure behavioral changes brought on by long term isolation is now being used in a system for determining whether a driver is too drunk to drive. Device is intended to discourage intoxicated drivers from taking to the road by advising them they are in no condition to operate a vehicle. System is being tested experimentally in California.

Performance of the Fully Digital FPGA-Based Front-End Electronics for the GALILEO Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barrientos, D.; Bellato, M.; Bazzacco, D.; Bortolato, D.; Cocconi, P.; Gadea, A.; González, V.; Gulmini, M.; Isocrate, R.; Mengoni, D.; Pullia, A.; Recchia, F.; Rosso, D.; Sanchis, E.; Toniolo, N.; Ur, C. A.; Valiente-Dobón, J. J.

2015-12-01

In this work we present the architecture and results of a fully digital Front End Electronics (FEE) read out system developed for the GALILEO array. The FEE system, developed in collaboration with the Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) collaboration, is composed of three main blocks: preamplifiers, digitizers and preprocessing electronics. The slow control system contains a custom Linux driver, a dynamic library and a server implementing network services. This work presents the first results of the digital FEE system coupled with a GALILEO germanium detector, which has demonstrated the capability to achieve an energy resolution of 1.530/00 at an energy of 1.33 MeV, similar to the one obtained with a conventional analog system. While keeping a good performance in terms of energy resolution, digital electronics will allow to instrument the full GALILEO array with a versatile system with high integration and low power consumption and costs.

Source Code Analysis Laboratory (SCALe)

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

Versus Flagged Nonconformities (FNC) Software System TP/FNC Ratio Mozilla Firefox version 2.0 6/12 50% Linux kernel version 2.6.15 10/126 8...is inappropriately tuned for analysis of the Linux kernel, which has anomalous results. Customizing SCALe to work with software for a particular...servers support a collection of virtual machines (VMs) that can be configured to support analysis in various environments, such as Windows XP and Linux . A

Real-Time linux dynamic clamp: a fast and flexible way to construct virtual ion channels in living cells.

PubMed

Dorval, A D; Christini, D J; White, J A

2001-10-01

We describe a system for real-time control of biological and other experiments. This device, based around the Real-Time Linux operating system, was tested specifically in the context of dynamic clamping, a demanding real-time task in which a computational system mimics the effects of nonlinear membrane conductances in living cells. The system is fast enough to represent dozens of nonlinear conductances in real time at clock rates well above 10 kHz. Conductances can be represented in deterministic form, or more accurately as discrete collections of stochastically gating ion channels. Tests were performed using a variety of complex models of nonlinear membrane mechanisms in excitable cells, including simulations of spatially extended excitable structures, and multiple interacting cells. Only in extreme cases does the computational load interfere with high-speed "hard" real-time processing (i.e., real-time processing that never falters). Freely available on the worldwide web, this experimental control system combines good performance. immense flexibility, low cost, and reasonable ease of use. It is easily adapted to any task involving real-time control, and excels in particular for applications requiring complex control algorithms that must operate at speeds over 1 kHz.

An analysis of the potential legal constraints on the use of mechanical devices to monitor driving restrictions

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-09-01

An analysis was made of the potential legal constraints on the use of mechanical devices to supervise drinking and driving restrictions. These conceptual devices would be installed on vehicles operated by restricted drivers. Two devices contain psych...

32 CFR 636.21 - Obedience to official traffic control devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Obedience to official traffic control devices... INSTALLATIONS) Fort Stewart, Georgia § 636.21 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (a) All drivers... placed by proper authority. ...

32 CFR 636.21 - Obedience to official traffic control devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Obedience to official traffic control devices... INSTALLATIONS) Fort Stewart, Georgia § 636.21 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (a) All drivers... placed by proper authority. ...

32 CFR 636.21 - Obedience to official traffic control devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Obedience to official traffic control devices... INSTALLATIONS) Fort Stewart, Georgia § 636.21 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (a) All drivers... placed by proper authority. ...

32 CFR 636.21 - Obedience to official traffic control devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2012-07-01 2011-07-01 true Obedience to official traffic control devices... INSTALLATIONS) Fort Stewart, Georgia § 636.21 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (a) All drivers... placed by proper authority. ...

32 CFR 636.21 - Obedience to official traffic control devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Obedience to official traffic control devices... INSTALLATIONS) Fort Stewart, Georgia § 636.21 Obedience to official traffic control devices. (a) All drivers... placed by proper authority. ...

Use of traffic channelization devices at highway-rail grade crossings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-08-31

Traffic channelization devices have found new application at highway-rail grade crossings with active warning devices. Numerous studies conducted at locations where they have been installed show positive changes in unsafe driver behavior as a result ...

Roadside drug testing: An evaluation of the Alere DDS® 2 mobile test system.

PubMed

Rohrig, Timothy P; Moore, Christine M; Stephens, Kimberly; Cooper, Kelsey; Coulter, Cynthia; Baird, Tyson; Garnier, Margaux; Miller, Samuel; Tuyay, James; Osawa, Kei; Chou, Joshua; Nuss, Carson; Collier, Jeff; Wittman, Karen Cudlin

2018-04-01

The number of drivers using drugs has increased over the last few years, and is likely to continue its upward trend. Testing drivers for alcohol use is routine and standardized, but the same is not true for the identification of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). The Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP) was developed to train police officers to recognize the signs and symptoms of recent drug use and remains an invaluable program; however, there are insufficient numbers of these highly trained drug recognition experts (DREs) available to attend every potential drug involved traffic incident. While blood and urine samples are used to test for drugs in a driver, both have disadvantages, particularly as they pertain to the length of time required after a traffic stop to sample collection. Therefore, the development of oral fluid testing devices which can be operated at the roadside and have the potential to assist officers in the identification of drug use is a major advancement in DUID cases. This project evaluated the performance of one instrumental oral fluid roadside testing device (Alere DDS®2) compared to DRE opinion, oral fluid laboratory-based analysis, and routine blood testing. The results showed that there was a good correlation with DRE observations and the device performance was >80% in all drug categories compared to laboratory-based analytical testing, both in oral fluid and blood, with few exceptions. The instrument can be considered a useful tool to assist law enforcement in identifying a drugged driver. Because the device does not test for all potentially impairing drugs, the opinion of the police officer regarding the condition of the driver should still be considered the most important aspect for arrest and further action. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Smartphone-Based Driver Safety Monitoring System Using Data Fusion

PubMed Central

Lee, Boon-Giin; Chung, Wan-Young

2012-01-01

This paper proposes a method for monitoring driver safety levels using a data fusion approach based on several discrete data types: eye features, bio-signal variation, in-vehicle temperature, and vehicle speed. The driver safety monitoring system was developed in practice in the form of an application for an Android-based smartphone device, where measuring safety-related data requires no extra monetary expenditure or equipment. Moreover, the system provides high resolution and flexibility. The safety monitoring process involves the fusion of attributes gathered from different sensors, including video, electrocardiography, photoplethysmography, temperature, and a three-axis accelerometer, that are assigned as input variables to an inference analysis framework. A Fuzzy Bayesian framework is designed to indicate the driver’s capability level and is updated continuously in real-time. The sensory data are transmitted via Bluetooth communication to the smartphone device. A fake incoming call warning service alerts the driver if his or her safety level is suspiciously compromised. Realistic testing of the system demonstrates the practical benefits of multiple features and their fusion in providing a more authentic and effective driver safety monitoring. PMID:23247416

What's the law got to do with it? Legislation regarding in-vehicle technology use and its impact on driver distraction.

PubMed

Parnell, Katie J; Stanton, Neville A; Plant, Katherine L

2017-03-01

Legislation in the road transport domain aims to control safety on the roads. Despite this, a critical issue affecting road safety is that of driver distraction. Although poorly defined, distraction is a significant road safety issue which, in part, is caused by the prevalence of technology within vehicles. Legislation surrounding the use of in-vehicle technologies are explored in this paper from a socio-technical system perspective. This reveals the wider context of the road transport system operating under the current laws using an Accimap analysis. A distinction in the law between the use of hand-held mobile phones, a device that is typically banned for use by drivers worldwide, and the use of other technological devices that are covered by more general laws against 'careless' and/or 'dangerous' driving was found. Historically, individual drivers' have been blamed for distraction, whereas the systems approach shows how current legislation may have created the conditions necessary for driver distraction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Linux Kernel Co-Scheduling and Bulk Synchronous Parallelism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Terry R

2012-01-01

This paper describes a kernel scheduling algorithm that is based on coscheduling principles and that is intended for parallel applications running on 1000 cores or more. Experimental results for a Linux implementation on a Cray XT5 machine are presented. The results indicate that Linux is a suitable operating system for this new scheduling scheme, and that this design provides a dramatic improvement in scaling performance for synchronizing collective operations at scale.

Development and Packaging of Microsystems Using Foundry Services

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-06-01

DEVELOPMENT AND PACKAGING OF MICROSYSTEMS USING FOUNDRY SERVICES Jeffrey T. Butler, BSEE, MSEE Captain, USAF Approved: Paul H . Ostdiek, PhD, Lt...structural polysilicon layers. CMOS Device Area Micromechanical Device Area arsenic-daped epitaxial layer >J1M* ’ MM t° H 0J n-type ailioon...Ö ♦ * ♦ m B 1 —i ft H 035 0.045 0.055 0.065 0.075 Power Applied to Driver (W) (b) Figure 4-4. (a) Driver output loading

Heavy vehicle driver workload assessment. Task 5, workload assessment protocol

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

This report presents a description of a prescriptive workload assessment protocol for use in evaluating in-cab devices in heavy vehicles. The primary objective of this heavy vehicle driver workload assessment protocol is to identify the components an...

An on-road assessment of cognitive distraction: impacts on drivers' visual behavior and braking performance.

PubMed

Harbluk, Joanne L; Noy, Y Ian; Trbovich, Patricia L; Eizenman, Moshe

2007-03-01

In this on-road experiment, drivers performed demanding cognitive tasks while driving in city traffic. All task interactions were carried out in hands-free mode so that the 21 drivers were not required to take their visual attention away from the road or to manually interact with a device inside the vehicle. Visual behavior and vehicle control were assessed while they drove an 8 km city route under three conditions: no additional task, easy cognitive task and difficult cognitive task. Changes in visual behavior were most apparent when performance between the No Task and Difficult Task conditions were compared. When looking outside of the vehicle, drivers spent more time looking centrally ahead and spent less time looking to the areas in the periphery. Drivers also reduced their visual monitoring of the instruments and mirrors, with some drivers abandoning these tasks entirely. When approaching and driving through intersections, drivers made fewer inspection glances to traffic lights compared to the No Task condition and their scanning of intersection areas to the right was also reduced. Vehicle control was also affected; during the most difficult cognitive tasks there were more occurrences of hard braking. Although hands-free designs for telematics devices are intended to reduce or eliminate the distraction arising from manual operation of these units, the potential for cognitive distraction associated with their use must also be considered and appropriately assessed. These changes are captured in measures of drivers' visual behavior.

MCBooster: a library for fast Monte Carlo generation of phase-space decays on massively parallel platforms.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alves Júnior, A. A.; Sokoloff, M. D.

2017-10-01

MCBooster is a header-only, C++11-compliant library that provides routines to generate and perform calculations on large samples of phase space Monte Carlo events. To achieve superior performance, MCBooster is capable to perform most of its calculations in parallel using CUDA- and OpenMP-enabled devices. MCBooster is built on top of the Thrust library and runs on Linux systems. This contribution summarizes the main features of MCBooster. A basic description of the user interface and some examples of applications are provided, along with measurements of performance in a variety of environments

Collaboration rules.

PubMed

Evans, Philip; Wolf, Bob

2005-01-01

Corporate leaders seeking to boost growth, learning, and innovation may find the answer in a surprising place: the Linux open-source software community. Linux is developed by an essentially volunteer, self-organizing community of thousands of programmers. Most leaders would sell their grandmothers for workforces that collaborate as efficiently, frictionlessly, and creatively as the self-styled Linux hackers. But Linux is software, and software is hardly a model for mainstream business. The authors have, nonetheless, found surprising parallels between the anarchistic, caffeinated, hirsute world of Linux hackers and the disciplined, tea-sipping, clean-cut world of Toyota engineering. Specifically, Toyota and Linux operate by rules that blend the self-organizing advantages of markets with the low transaction costs of hierarchies. In place of markets' cash and contracts and hierarchies' authority are rules about how individuals and groups work together (with rigorous discipline); how they communicate (widely and with granularity); and how leaders guide them toward a common goal (through example). Those rules, augmented by simple communication technologies and a lack of legal barriers to sharing information, create rich common knowledge, the ability to organize teams modularly, extraordinary motivation, and high levels of trust, which radically lowers transaction costs. Low transaction costs, in turn, make it profitable for organizations to perform more and smaller transactions--and so increase the pace and flexibility typical of high-performance organizations. Once the system achieves critical mass, it feeds on itself. The larger the system, the more broadly shared the knowledge, language, and work style. The greater individuals' reputational capital, the louder the applause and the stronger the motivation. The success of Linux is evidence of the power of that virtuous circle. Toyota's success is evidence that it is also powerful in conventional companies.

Elan4/SPARC V9 Cross Loader and Dynamic Linker

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

anf Fabien Lebaillif-Delamare, Fabrizio Petrini

2004-10-25

The Elan4/Sparc V9 Croos Loader and Liner is a part of the Linux system software that allows the dynamic loading and linking of user code in the network interface Quadrics QsNETII, also called as Elan4 Quadrics. Elan44 uses a thread processor that is based on the assembly instruction set of the Sparc V9. All this software is integrated as a Linux kernel module in the Linux 2.6.5 release.

Memory Analysis of the KBeast Linux Rootkit: Investigating Publicly Available Linux Rootkit Using the Volatility Memory Analysis Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

examine how a computer forensic investigator/incident handler, without specialised computer memory or software reverse engineering skills , can successfully...memory images and malware, this new series of reports will be directed at those who must analyse Linux malware-infected memory images. The skills ...disable 1287 1000 1000 /usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication- agent-1 1310 1000 1000 /usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/gconf- helper 1350

The case for driver science in motorsport: a review and recommendations.

PubMed

Potkanowicz, Edward S; Mendel, Ronald W

2013-07-01

When discussing sports and the athletes who participate in them, it has long been recognized that fitness is a prerequisite for optimal performance. The goal of training to improve fitness levels in athletes is ultimately to minimize the stress that the body experiences during competition. When it comes to the topic of racecar drivers, however, drivers and their trainers have largely been left to their own devices to figure out the stressors and the areas of specific training focus. Unfortunately, racecar drivers have battled the stereotype that they are not athletes, and with little regard for them as athletes, drivers are seldom the focus of scientific research related to their performance. Like the cars they drive, driver-athletes are complex, but from a physiological perspective. However, unlike the cars they drive, driver-athletes have not been examined, evaluated, and tweaked to the same degree. The purpose of this review is two-fold: first, by examining the available literature, to make the case for new research into the driver's role in the driver-car system (i.e. driver science) and the stresses experienced; second, to make the case for more extensive use of microtechnology in the real-time monitoring of driver-athletes. With the miniaturization of sensors and the advent of portable data storage devices, the prospect of quantifying the stresses unique to the driver are no longer as daunting, and the relative impossibility and difficulties associated with measuring the driver-athlete in real-time no longer need to be as challenging. Using microtechnology in the assessment of the driver-athlete and with a more public discussion and dissemination of information on the topic of driver science, the scientific community has the opportunity to quantify that which has been largely assumed and speculated. The current article will offer the following recommendations: first, rather than examining a singular physiological stressor, to examine the interaction of stressors; second, to examine variables/stressors that are more representative of the changing driver demographics; third, to measure drivers in real-time during actual race events; lastly, to work to develop training programs that more accurately apply to the driver and the stresses experienced. In uncovering this information, there is an opportunity to contribute to racing becoming that much safer, that much more competitive, and that much more comprehensive for the driver, the team, and the sport.

Precision flyer initiator

DOEpatents

Frank, A.M.; Lee, R.S.

1998-05-26

A precision flyer initiator forms a substantially spherical detonation wave in a high explosive (HE) pellet. An explosive driver, such as a detonating cord, a wire bridge circuit or a small explosive, is detonated. A flyer material is sandwiched between the explosive driver and an end of a barrel that contains an inner channel. A projectile or ``flyer`` is sheared from the flyer material by the force of the explosive driver and projected through the inner channel. The flyer than strikes the HE pellet, which is supported above a second end of the barrel by a spacer ring. A gap or shock decoupling material delays the shock wave in the barrel from predetonating the HE pellet before the flyer. A spherical detonation wave is formed in the HE pellet. Thus, a shock wave traveling through the barrel fails to reach the HE pellet before the flyer strikes the HE pellet. The precision flyer initiator can be used in mining devices, well-drilling devices and anti-tank devices. 10 figs.

Precision flyer initiator

DOEpatents

Frank, Alan M.; Lee, Ronald S.

1998-01-01

A precision flyer initiator forms a substantially spherical detonation wave in a high explosive (HE) pellet. An explosive driver, such as a detonating cord, a wire bridge circuit or a small explosive, is detonated. A flyer material is sandwiched between the explosive driver and an end of a barrel that contains an inner channel. A projectile or "flyer" is sheared from the flyer material by the force of the explosive driver and projected through the inner channel. The flyer than strikes the HE pellet, which is supported above a second end of the barrel by a spacer ring. A gap or shock decoupling material delays the shock wave in the barrel from predetonating the HE pellet before the flyer. A spherical detonation wave is formed in the HE pellet. Thus, a shock wave traveling through the barrel fails to reach the HE pellet before the flyer strikes the HE pellet. The precision flyer initiator can be used in mining devices, well-drilling devices and anti-tank devices.

Heavy vehicle driver workload assessment. Task 6, baseline data study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

This report covers the sixth in a series of tasks involving the assessment of driver workload in heavy vehicle operation associated with in-cab devices or systems. A review of the overall study was provided by Tijerina, Kantowitz, Kiger, and Rockwell...

Driver electronic device use in 2008

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-09-01

The 2008 hand-held cell phone use rate translates into 812,000 vehicles being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone at any given daylight moment.1 It also translates into an estimated 11 percent of the vehicles whose drivers were using some ...

75 FR 22578 - Proposed Agency Information Collection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-29

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Proposed Agency Information Collection AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy... information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The In-Vehicle Driver Feedback study... feedback devices can enable drivers to achieve measurable improvements in fuel economy, the information...

Backing warning sensors for tow plows.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-06-01

Backup warning system devices were evaluated to determine if they would alert winter maintenance snow : plow drivers to obstacles directly behind the trailer and out of view of the driver when a unit is backed up. : When the sensors on the back of th...

Seat Belts: Are They the Best Solution to the Real Problem?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Comeau, Lee F.

1985-01-01

More children are killed outside their school buses than inside. To solve this problem, we should improve bus design, provide driver training programs for all school bus drivers, utilize the latest safety devices available, and improve ridership safety curriculum. (MLF)

An integrated genetic data environment (GDE)-based LINUX interface for analysis of HIV-1 and other microbial sequences.

PubMed

De Oliveira, T; Miller, R; Tarin, M; Cassol, S

2003-01-01

Sequence databases encode a wealth of information needed to develop improved vaccination and treatment strategies for the control of HIV and other important pathogens. To facilitate effective utilization of these datasets, we developed a user-friendly GDE-based LINUX interface that reduces input/output file formatting. GDE was adapted to the Linux operating system, bioinformatics tools were integrated with microbe-specific databases, and up-to-date GDE menus were developed for several clinically important viral, bacterial and parasitic genomes. Each microbial interface was designed for local access and contains Genbank, BLAST-formatted and phylogenetic databases. GDE-Linux is available for research purposes by direct application to the corresponding author. Application-specific menus and support files can be downloaded from (http://www.bioafrica.net).

Distractions N' Driving: video game simulation educates young drivers on the dangers of texting while driving.

PubMed

Saqer, Haneen; de Visser, Ewart; Strohl, Jonathan; Parasuraman, Raja

2012-01-01

The proliferation of portable communication and entertainment devices has introduced new dangers to the driving environment, particularly for young and inexperienced drivers. Graduate students from George Mason University illustrate a powerful, practical, and cost-effective program that has been successful in educating these drivers on the dangers of texting while driving, which can easily be adapted and implemented in other communities.

Linux Kernel Co-Scheduling For Bulk Synchronous Parallel Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Terry R

2011-01-01

This paper describes a kernel scheduling algorithm that is based on co-scheduling principles and that is intended for parallel applications running on 1000 cores or more where inter-node scalability is key. Experimental results for a Linux implementation on a Cray XT5 machine are presented.1 The results indicate that Linux is a suitable operating system for this new scheduling scheme, and that this design provides a dramatic improvement in scaling performance for synchronizing collective operations at scale.

Develop, Build, and Test a Virtual Lab to Support a Vulnerability Training System

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

docs.us.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/pe1650/ en /it/index.htm> (20 August 2004) “HOWTO: Installing Web Services with Linux /Tomcat/Apache/Struts...configured as host machines with VMware and VNC running on a Linux RedHat 9 Kernel. An Apache-Tomcat web server was configured as the external interface to...1650, dual processor, blade servers were configured as host machines with VMware and VNC running on a Linux RedHat 9 Kernel. An Apache-Tomcat web

Drunk driving warning system (DDWS). Volume 1, System concept and description

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-11-01

The Drunk Driving Warning System (DDWS) is a vehicle-mounted device for testing driver impairment and activating alarms. The driver must pass a steering competency test in order to drive the car in a normal manner. The emergency flasher system operat...

The effectiveness and safety of traffic and non-traffic related messages presented on changeable message signs : technical summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-08-01

Changeable message signs are electronic devices used along roadways to provide drivers with guidance related to traffic conditions and other events. Displayed messages can suggest that drivers take alternate routes in response to congestion, accident...

Drunk driving warning system (DDWS). Volume 2, Field test evaluation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-12-01

The Drunk Driving Warning System (DDWS) is a vehicle-mounted device for testing driver impairment and activating alarms. The driver must pass a steering competency test (the Critical Tracking Task or CTT) in order to drive the car in a normal manner....

System for memorizing maximum values

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr. (Inventor)

1992-01-01

The invention discloses a system capable of memorizing maximum sensed values. The system includes conditioning circuitry which receives the analog output signal from a sensor transducer. The conditioning circuitry rectifies and filters the analog signal and provides an input signal to a digital driver, which may be either linear or logarithmic. The driver converts the analog signal to discrete digital values, which in turn triggers an output signal on one of a plurality of driver output lines n. The particular output lines selected is dependent on the converted digital value. A microfuse memory device connects across the driver output lines, with n segments. Each segment is associated with one driver output line, and includes a microfuse that is blown when a signal appears on the associated driver output line.

System for memorizing maximum values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1992-08-01

The invention discloses a system capable of memorizing maximum sensed values. The system includes conditioning circuitry which receives the analog output signal from a sensor transducer. The conditioning circuitry rectifies and filters the analog signal and provides an input signal to a digital driver, which may be either linear or logarithmic. The driver converts the analog signal to discrete digital values, which in turn triggers an output signal on one of a plurality of driver output lines n. The particular output lines selected is dependent on the converted digital value. A microfuse memory device connects across the driver output lines, with n segments. Each segment is associated with one driver output line, and includes a microfuse that is blown when a signal appears on the associated driver output line.

System for Memorizing Maximum Values

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr. (Inventor)

1996-01-01

The invention discloses a system capable of memorizing maximum sensed values. The system includes conditioning circuitry which receives the analog output signal from a sensor transducer. The conditioning circuitry rectifies and filters the analog signal and provides an input signal to a digital driver, which may be either liner or logarithmic. The driver converts the analog signal to discrete digital values, which in turn triggers an output signal on one of a plurality of driver output lines n. The particular output lines selected is dependent on the converted digital value. A microfuse memory device connects across the driver output lines, with n segments. Each segment is associated with one driver output line, and includes a microfuse that is blown when a signal appears on the associated driver output line.

Commercial Truck Driver Health and Safety: Exploring Distracted Driving Performance and Self-Reported Driving Skill.

PubMed

Stavrinos, Despina; Heaton, Karen; Welburn, Sharon C; McManus, Benjamin; Griffin, Russell; Fine, Philip R

2016-08-01

Reducing distracters detrimental to commercial truck driving is a critical component of improving the safety performance of commercial drivers, and makes the highways safer for all drivers. This study used a driving simulator to examine effects of cell phone, texting, and email distractions as well as self-reported driver optimism bias on the driving performance of commercial truck drivers. Results revealed that more visually demanding tasks were related to poorer driving performance. However, the cell phone task resulted in less off-the-road eye glances. Drivers reporting being "very skilled" displayed poorer driving performance than those reporting being "skilled." Onboard communication devices provide a practical, yet visually and manually demanding, solution for connecting drivers and dispatchers. Trucking company policies should minimize interaction between dispatchers and drivers when the truck is in motion. Training facilities should integrate driving simulators into the instruction of commercial drivers, targeting over-confident drivers. © 2016 The Author(s).

Processable Data Making in the Remote Server Sent by Android Phone as a GIS Data Collecting Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karaagac, Abdullah; Bostancı, Bulent

2016-04-01

Mobile technologies are improving and getting cheaper everyday. Not only smart phones are improved much but also new types of mobile applications and sensors come with the smart phone together. Maps and navigation applications one of the most popular types of applications on these types. Most of these applications uses location services including GNSS, Wi Fi, cellular data and beacon services. Although these coordinate precision not very high, it is appropriate for many applications to utilize. Android is a mobile operating system based on Linux Kernel. It is compatible for varies mobile devices like smart phones, tablets, smart TV's, wearable technologies etc. Android has large capability for application development by using the open source libraries and device sensors like gyroscope, GNSS etc. Android Studio is the most popular integrated development environment (IDE) for Android devices, mainly developing by Google. It had been announced on May 16, 2013 at Google I/O conference. Android Studio is built upon Gradle architecture which is written in Java language. SQLite is a relational database operating system which has so common usage for mobile devices. It developed by using C programming library. It is mostly used via embedding into a software or application. It supports many operating systems including Android. Remote servers can be in several forms from high complexity to simplicity. For this project we will use a open source quad core board computer named Raspberry Pi 2. This device includes 900 MHz ARMv7 compatible quad core CPU, VideoCore IV GPU and 1 GB RAM. Although Raspberry Pi 2's main operating system is Raspbian, we use Debian which are both Linux based operating systems. Raspberry is compatible for many programming language, however some languages are optimized for this device. These are Python, Java, C, C++, Ruby, Perl and Squeak Smalltalk. In this paper, a mobile application will be developed to send coordinate and string data to a SQL database embedded to a remote server. The application will run on Android Operating System running mobile phone. The application will get the location information from the GNSS and cellular data. The user will enter the other information individually. These information will send by clicking a button to remote server which runs SQLite. All these informations will be convertible to any type of measure like type of coordinates could be converted from WGS 84 to ITRF.

MARTe: A Multiplatform Real-Time Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neto, André C.; Sartori, Filippo; Piccolo, Fabio; Vitelli, Riccardo; De Tommasi, Gianmaria; Zabeo, Luca; Barbalace, Antonio; Fernandes, Horacio; Valcarcel, Daniel F.; Batista, Antonio J. N.

2010-04-01

Development of real-time applications is usually associated with nonportable code targeted at specific real-time operating systems. The boundary between hardware drivers, system services, and user code is commonly not well defined, making the development in the target host significantly difficult. The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a framework built over a multiplatform library that allows the execution of the same code in different operating systems. The framework provides the high-level interfaces with hardware, external configuration programs, and user interfaces, assuring at the same time hard real-time performances. End-users of the framework are required to define and implement algorithms inside a well-defined block of software, named Generic Application Module (GAM), that is executed by the real-time scheduler. Each GAM is reconfigurable with a set of predefined configuration meta-parameters and interchanges information using a set of data pipes that are provided as inputs and required as output. Using these connections, different GAMs can be chained either in series or parallel. GAMs can be developed and debugged in a non-real-time system and, only once the robustness of the code and correctness of the algorithm are verified, deployed to the real-time system. The software also supplies a large set of utilities that greatly ease the interaction and debugging of a running system. Among the most useful are a highly efficient real-time logger, HTTP introspection of real-time objects, and HTTP remote configuration. MARTe is currently being used to successfully drive the plasma vertical stabilization controller on the largest magnetic confinement fusion device in the world, with a control loop cycle of 50 ?s and a jitter under 1 ?s. In this particular project, MARTe is used with the Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI)/Linux operating system exploiting the new ?86 multicore processors technology.

An open-source framework for testing tracking devices using Lego Mindstorms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jomier, Julien; Ibanez, Luis; Enquobahrie, Andinet; Pace, Danielle; Cleary, Kevin

2009-02-01

In this paper, we present an open-source framework for testing tracking devices in surgical navigation applications. At the core of image-guided intervention systems is the tracking interface that handles communication with the tracking device and gathers tracking information. Given that the correctness of tracking information is critical for protecting patient safety and for ensuring the successful execution of an intervention, the tracking software component needs to be thoroughly tested on a regular basis. Furthermore, with widespread use of extreme programming methodology that emphasizes continuous and incremental testing of application components, testing design becomes critical. While it is easy to automate most of the testing process, it is often more difficult to test components that require manual intervention such as tracking device. Our framework consists of a robotic arm built from a set of Lego Mindstorms and an open-source toolkit written in C++ to control the robot movements and assess the accuracy of the tracking devices. The application program interface (API) is cross-platform and runs on Windows, Linux and MacOS. We applied this framework for the continuous testing of the Image-Guided Surgery Toolkit (IGSTK), an open-source toolkit for image-guided surgery and shown that regression testing on tracking devices can be performed at low cost and improve significantly the quality of the software.

HEP Computing

Science.gov Websites

Computing Visitors who do not need a HEP linux account Visitors with laptops can use wireless network HEP linux account Step 1: Click Here for New Account Application After submitting the application, you

Scalability of a Low-Cost Multi-Teraflop Linux Cluster for High-End Classical Atomistic and Quantum Mechanical Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kikuchi, Hideaki; Kalia, Rajiv K.; Nakano, Aiichiro; Vashishta, Priya; Shimojo, Fuyuki; Saini, Subhash

2003-01-01

Scalability of a low-cost, Intel Xeon-based, multi-Teraflop Linux cluster is tested for two high-end scientific applications: Classical atomistic simulation based on the molecular dynamics method and quantum mechanical calculation based on the density functional theory. These scalable parallel applications use space-time multiresolution algorithms and feature computational-space decomposition, wavelet-based adaptive load balancing, and spacefilling-curve-based data compression for scalable I/O. Comparative performance tests are performed on a 1,024-processor Linux cluster and a conventional higher-end parallel supercomputer, 1,184-processor IBM SP4. The results show that the performance of the Linux cluster is comparable to that of the SP4. We also study various effects, such as the sharing of memory and L2 cache among processors, on the performance.

The Development of the Puerto Rico Lightning Detection Network for Meteorological Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Legault, Marc D.; Miranda, Carmelo; Medin, J.; Ojeda, L. J.; Blakeslee, Richard J.

2011-01-01

A land-based Puerto Rico Lightning Detection Network (PR-LDN) dedicated to the academic research of meteorological phenomena has being developed. Five Boltek StormTracker PCI-Receivers with LTS-2 Timestamp Cards with GPS and lightning detectors were integrated to Pentium III PC-workstations running the CentOS linux operating system. The Boltek detector linux driver was compiled under CentOS, modified, and thoroughly tested. These PC-workstations with integrated lightning detectors were installed at five of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) campuses distributed around the island of PR. The PC-workstations are left on permanently in order to monitor lightning activity at all times. Each is networked to their campus network-backbone permitting quasi-instantaneous data transfer to a central server at the UPR-Bayam n campus. Information generated by each lightning detector is managed by a C-program developed by us called the LDN-client. The LDN-client maintains an open connection to the central server operating the LDN-server program where data is sent real-time for analysis and archival. The LDN-client also manages the storing of data on the PC-workstation hard disk. The LDN-server software (also an in-house effort) analyses the data from each client and performs event triangulations. Time-of-arrival (TOA) and related hybrid algorithms, lightning-type and event discriminating routines are also implemented in the LDN-server software. We also have developed software to visually monitor lightning events in real-time from all clients and the triangulated events. We are currently monitoring and studying the spatial, temporal, and type distribution of lightning strikes associated with electrical storms and tropical cyclones in the vicinity of Puerto Rico.

A rugged 650 V SOI-based high-voltage half-bridge IGBT gate driver IC for motor drive applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, Qing; Li, Zehong; Zhang, Bo; Chen, Weizhong; Huang, Xiangjun; Feng, Yuxiang

2015-05-01

This paper proposes a rugged high-voltage N-channel insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) gate driver integrated circuit. The device integrates a high-side and a low-side output stages on a single chip, which is designed specifically for motor drive applications. High-voltage level shift technology enables the high-side stage of this device to operate up to 650 V. The logic inputs are complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)/transistor transistor logic compatible down to 3.3 V. Undervoltage protection functionality with hysteresis characteristic has also been integrated to enhance the device reliability. The device is fabricated in a 1.0 μm, 650 V high-voltage bipolar CMOS double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor (BCD) on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. Deep trench dielectric isolation technology is employed to provide complete electrical isolation with advantages such as reduced parasitic effects, excellent noise immunity and low leakage current. Experimental results show that the isolation voltage of this device can be up to approximately 779 V at 25°C, and the leakage current is only 5 nA at 650 V, which is 15% higher and 67% lower than the conventional ones. In addition, it delivers an excellent thermal stability and needs very low quiescent current and offers a high gate driver capability which is needed to adequately drive IGBTs that have large input capacitances.

RELAP5-3D developmental assessment: Comparison of version 4.2.1i on Linux and Windows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayless, Paul D.

2014-06-01

Figures have been generated comparing the parameters used in the developmental assessment of the RELAP5-3D code, version 4.2i, compiled on Linux and Windows platforms. The figures, which are the same as those used in Volume III of the RELAP5-3D code manual, compare calculations using the semi-implicit solution scheme with available experiment data. These figures provide a quick, visual indication of how the code predictions differ between the Linux and Windows versions.

RELAP5-3D Developmental Assessment. Comparison of Version 4.3.4i on Linux and Windows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayless, Paul David

2015-10-01

Figures have been generated comparing the parameters used in the developmental assessment of the RELAP5-3D code, version 4.3i, compiled on Linux and Windows platforms. The figures, which are the same as those used in Volume III of the RELAP5-3D code manual, compare calculations using the semi-implicit solution scheme with available experiment data. These figures provide a quick, visual indication of how the code predictions differ between the Linux and Windows versions.

Container-Based Clinical Solutions for Portable and Reproducible Image Analysis.

PubMed

Matelsky, Jordan; Kiar, Gregory; Johnson, Erik; Rivera, Corban; Toma, Michael; Gray-Roncal, William

2018-05-08

Medical imaging analysis depends on the reproducibility of complex computation. Linux containers enable the abstraction, installation, and configuration of environments so that software can be both distributed in self-contained images and used repeatably by tool consumers. While several initiatives in neuroimaging have adopted approaches for creating and sharing more reliable scientific methods and findings, Linux containers are not yet mainstream in clinical settings. We explore related technologies and their efficacy in this setting, highlight important shortcomings, demonstrate a simple use-case, and endorse the use of Linux containers for medical image analysis.

Evaluation of portable breath test devices for screening suspected drunken drivers by police in Hennepin County, Minnesota

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1974-06-01

This evaluation report examines use in the field of portable breath test (PBT) devices by police in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Thirteen Brog-Warner J2 and J2A-200 "ALERT" devices were deployed by seven enforcement agencies. This report is presented ...

Low-power integrated-circuit driver for ferrite-memory word lines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Katz, S.

1970-01-01

Composite circuit uses both n-p-n bipolar and p-channel MOS transistors /BIMOS/. The BIMOS driver provides 1/ ease of integrated circuit construction, 2/ low standby power consumption, 3/ bidirectional current pulses, and 4/ current-pulse amplitudes and rise times independent of active device parameters.

Analysis of Truck Drivers' Opinions on Safety and Traffic Control on Highway Work Zones - Volume I - Summary of Findings - Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-12-01

This study was conducted to determine the truck drivers' travel characteristics, concerns about work zone traffic control devices, assessment of work zone features, as well as to determine the location of accidents and bad driving situations based on...

Analysis of Truck Drivers' Opinions on Safety and Traffic Control on Highway Work Zones - Volume II - Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-12-01

This study was conducted to determine the truck drivers' travel characteristics, concerns about work zone traffic control devices, assessment of work zone features, as well as to determine the location of accidents and bad driving situations based on...

Determining the drivers' acceptance of EFTCD in highway work zones.

PubMed

Bai, Yong; Li, Yingfeng

2011-05-01

Traffic safety is a major concern in the temporary one-lane, two-way highway work zones due to the increasing of construction and maintenance operations. To prevent rear-end crashes and to mitigate the severity of these crashes caused by the inattentive driving, the utilization of the Emergency Flasher Traffic Control Device (EFTCD) was under consideration by government agencies, in addition to existing temporary traffic control devices installed in the one-lane, two-way highway work zones. The EFTCD was a newly proposed traffic warning device implemented through the use of vehicles' hazard warning flashers. The primary objective of the research project was to investigate the drivers' acceptance of the proposed EFTCD by measuring the mean speed changes of vehicles with and without EFTCD and by evaluating the drivers' opinions of the EFTCD using the survey method. Field experimental results revealed that the EFTCD effectively reduced the mean vehicle speeds in the upstream of two work zones. A slow speed is more likely to reduce the severity of a crash in work zones. In addition, survey results indicated that 60% of the drivers thought the EFTCD signified a need for speed reduction and 82% of drivers recommended the implementation of the EFTCD in one-lane, two-way work zones. These results provide the necessary scientific justifications for the government agencies to decide if the EFTCD should be implemented in the one-lane, two-way highway work zones to prevent rear-end crashes and to mitigate the severity of these crashes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance and scalability evaluation of "Big Memory" on Blue Gene Linux.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoshii, K.; Iskra, K.; Naik, H.

2011-05-01

We address memory performance issues observed in Blue Gene Linux and discuss the design and implementation of 'Big Memory' - an alternative, transparent memory space introduced to eliminate the memory performance issues. We evaluate the performance of Big Memory using custom memory benchmarks, NAS Parallel Benchmarks, and the Parallel Ocean Program, at a scale of up to 4,096 nodes. We find that Big Memory successfully resolves the performance issues normally encountered in Blue Gene Linux. For the ocean simulation program, we even find that Linux with Big Memory provides better scalability than does the lightweight compute node kernel designed solelymore » for high-performance applications. Originally intended exclusively for compute node tasks, our new memory subsystem dramatically improves the performance of certain I/O node applications as well. We demonstrate this performance using the central processor of the LOw Frequency ARray radio telescope as an example.« less

A General Purpose High Performance Linux Installation Infrastructure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wachsmann, Alf

2002-06-17

With more and more and larger and larger Linux clusters, the question arises how to install them. This paper addresses this question by proposing a solution using only standard software components. This installation infrastructure scales well for a large number of nodes. It is also usable for installing desktop machines or diskless Linux clients, thus, is not designed for cluster installations in particular but is, nevertheless, highly performant. The infrastructure proposed uses PXE as the network boot component on the nodes. It uses DHCP and TFTP servers to get IP addresses and a bootloader to all nodes. It then usesmore » kickstart to install Red Hat Linux over NFS. We have implemented this installation infrastructure at SLAC with our given server hardware and installed a 256 node cluster in 30 minutes. This paper presents the measurements from this installation and discusses the bottlenecks in our installation.« less

Eye-in-Hand Manipulation for Remote Handling: Experimental Setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Longchuan; Suominen, Olli; Aref, Mohammad M.; Mattila, Jouni; Ruiz, Emilio; Esque, Salvador

2018-03-01

A prototype for eye-in-hand manipulation in the context of remote handling in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)1 is presented in this paper. The setup consists of an industrial robot manipulator with a modified open control architecture and equipped with a pair of stereoscopic cameras, a force/torque sensor, and pneumatic tools. It is controlled through a haptic device in a mock-up environment. The industrial robot controller has been replaced by a single industrial PC running Xenomai that has a real-time connection to both the robot controller and another Linux PC running as the controller for the haptic device. The new remote handling control environment enables further development of advanced control schemes for autonomous and semi-autonomous manipulation tasks. This setup benefits from a stereovision system for accurate tracking of the target objects with irregular shapes. The overall environmental setup successfully demonstrates the required robustness and precision that remote handling tasks need.

A combination of Raspberry Pi and SoftEther VPN for controlling research devices via the Internet.

PubMed

Kuroda, Toshikazu

2017-11-01

Remote control over devices for experiments may increase the efficiency of operant research and expand the area where behavior can be studied. This article introduces a combination of Raspberry Pi ® (Pi) and SoftEther VPN ® that allows for such remote control via the Internet. The Pi is a small Linux computer with a great degree of flexibility for customization. Test results indicate that a Pi-based interface meets the requirement for conducting operant research. SoftEther VPN ® allows for establishing an extensive private network on the Internet using a single private Wi-Fi router. Step-by-step instructions are provided in the present article for setting up the Pi along with SoftEther VPN ® . Their potential for improving the way of conducting research is discussed. © 2017 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Low energy switching driver for printed electrochromic displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionescu, Ciprian; Dobre, Robert Alexandru

2016-12-01

This paper continues our investigations in relatively new developed printed electrochromic displays (ECDs). There are some advantages of ECDs that recommend them for specific low end and short time disposable display applications, for instance the ECD devices present low power consumption (they are non-emissive, reflective, i.e. passive) and have a good viewing angle, looking like ink on paper. It is to note that these displays are still in research, and partly present on the market. There are a lot of papers regarding the chemistry and electro-chemistry of the device, but very few about concrete schematics for driving these displays. Due to their low penetration in applications, and due to lack of standardization, there are not yet realized custom drivers in form of integrated circuits. The driving of these circuits is not at all so simple. These are very sensitive devices in what it concerns exceeding the drive pulse duration and voltage level. In order to take full advantage of the low power consumption of this device, a good driver circuitry needs to be realized also in the "low power" class. We propose in this paper an original driving circuit, that has very low consumption and that can be even supplied by a supercapacitor or by a printed battery. The whole structure can be further integrated as a system on foil.

[Study for lung sound acquisition module based on ARM and Linux].

PubMed

Lu, Qiang; Li, Wenfeng; Zhang, Xixue; Li, Junmin; Liu, Longqing

2011-07-01

A acquisition module with ARM and Linux as a core was developed. This paper presents the hardware configuration and the software design. It is shown that the module can extract human lung sound reliably and effectively.

Driver behaviour profiles for road safety analysis.

PubMed

Ellison, Adrian B; Greaves, Stephen P; Bliemer, Michiel C J

2015-03-01

Driver behaviour is a contributing factor in over 90 percent of road crashes. As a consequence, there is significant benefit in identifying drivers who engage in unsafe driving practices. Driver behaviour profiles (DBPs) are introduced here as an approach for evaluating driver behaviour as a function of the risk of a casualty crash. They employ data collected using global positioning system (GPS) devices, supplemented with spatiotemporal information. These profiles are comprised of common risk scores that can be used to compare drivers between each other and across time and space. The paper details the development of these DBPs and demonstrates their use as an input into modelling the factors that influence driver behaviour. The results show that even having controlled for the influence of the road environment, these factors remain the strongest predictors of driver behaviour suggesting different spatiotemporal environments elicit a variety of psychological responses in drivers. The approach and outcomes will be of interest to insurance companies in enhancing the risk-profiling of drivers with on-road driving and government through assessing the impacts of behaviour-change interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards a new Mercator Observatory Control System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pessemier, W.; Raskin, G.; Prins, S.; Saey, P.; Merges, F.; Padilla, J. P.; Van Winckel, H.; Waelkens, C.

2010-07-01

A new control system is currently being developed for the 1.2-meter Mercator Telescope at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain). Formerly based on transputers, the new Mercator Observatory Control System (MOCS) consists of a small network of Linux computers complemented by a central industrial controller and an industrial real-time data communication network. Python is chosen as the high-level language to develop flexible yet powerful supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software for the Linux computers. Specialized applications such as detector control, auto-guiding and middleware management are also integrated in the same Python software package. The industrial controller, on the other hand, is connected to the majority of the field devices and is targeted to run various control loops, some of which are real-time critical. Independently of the Linux distributed control system (DCS), this controller makes sure that high priority tasks such as the telescope motion, mirror support and hydrostatic bearing control are carried out in a reliable and safe way. A comparison is made between different controller technologies including a LabVIEW embedded system, a PROFINET Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and motion controller, and an EtherCAT embedded PC (soft-PLC). As the latter is chosen as the primary platform for the lower level control, a substantial part of the software is being ported to the IEC 61131-3 standard programming languages. Additionally, obsolete hardware is gradually being replaced by standard industrial alternatives with fast EtherCAT communication. The use of Python as a scripting language allows a smooth migration to the final MOCS: finished parts of the new control system can readily be commissioned to replace the corresponding transputer units of the old control system with minimal downtime. In this contribution, we give an overview of the systems design, implementation details and the current status of the project.

Optical design of MOEMS-based micro-mechatronic modules for applications in spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tortschanoff, A.; Kremer, M.; Sandner, T.; Kenda, A.

2014-05-01

One of the important challenges for widespread application of MOEMS devices is to provide a modular interface for easy handling and accurate driving of the MOEMS elements, in order to enable seamless integration in larger spectroscopic system solutions. In this contribution we present in much detail the optical design of MOEMS driver modules comprising optical position sensing together with driver electronics, which can actively control different electrostatically driven MOEMS. Furthermore we will present concepts for compact spectroscopic devices, based on different MOEMS scanner modules with lD and 2D optical elements.

UNIPIC code for simulations of high power microwave devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianguo; Zhang, Dianhui; Liu, Chunliang; Li, Yongdong; Wang, Yue; Wang, Hongguang; Qiao, Hailiang; Li, Xiaoze

2009-03-01

In this paper, UNIPIC code, a new member in the family of fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell (PIC) codes for simulations of high power microwave (HPM) generation, is introduced. In the UNIPIC code, the electromagnetic fields are updated using the second-order, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and the particles are moved using the relativistic Newton-Lorentz force equation. The convolutional perfectly matched layer method is used to truncate the open boundaries of HPM devices. To model curved surfaces and avoid the time step reduction in the conformal-path FDTD method, CP weakly conditional-stable FDTD (WCS FDTD) method which combines the WCS FDTD and CP-FDTD methods, is implemented. UNIPIC is two-and-a-half dimensional, is written in the object-oriented C++ language, and can be run on a variety of platforms including WINDOWS, LINUX, and UNIX. Users can use the graphical user's interface to create the geometric structures of the simulated HPM devices, or input the old structures created before. Numerical experiments on some typical HPM devices by using the UNIPIC code are given. The results are compared to those obtained from some well-known PIC codes, which agree well with each other.

78 FR 43262 - Use of Wireless Mobile Data Devices as Transponders for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Information...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-19

... Data Devices as Transponders for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN...; announcement of policy. SUMMARY: FMCSA announces that Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) network devices... information between the driver and the inspection site as the dedicated short-range communication (DSRC...

76 FR 23923 - Hazardous Materials: Restricting the Use of Cellular Phones by Drivers of Commercial Motor...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-29

... associated with the use of cellular (mobile) phones and electronic devices while operating a commercial motor... mobile communication device that falls under or uses any commercial mobile radio service, as defined in... restricting the use of mobile telephones and other distracting electronic devices by railroad operating...

Development of a compact portable driver for a pneumatic ventricular assist device.

PubMed

Nishinaka, Tomohiro; Taenaka, Yoshiyuki; Tatsumi, Eisuke; Ohnishi, Hiroyuki; Homma, Akihiko; Shioya, Kyoko; Mizuno, Toshihide; Tsukiya, Tomonori; Mushika, Sadahiko; Hashiguchi, Yasuhiro; Suzuki, Akira; Kitamura, Soichiro

2007-01-01

The Toyobo-National Cardiovascular Center pneumatic ventricular assist device (Toyobo-NCVC VAD) is widely used in Japan; however, the current pneumatic drivers have some drawbacks, including their large size, heavy weight, and high power consumption. These issues cause difficulty with mobility and contribute to an unsatisfactory quality of life for patients. Because it is urgently necessary to improve patients' safety and quality of life, we have developed a compact, low-noise, portable VAD driver by utilizing an electrohydraulic actuator consisting of a brushless DC motor and a regenerative pump. This unit can be actuated for as long as 2 h with two rechargeable lightweight batteries as well as with external AC power. It is compact in size (33 x 25 x 43 cm) and light in weight (13 kg), and the unit is carried on a mobile wheeled cart. In vitro testing with a Toyobo-NCVC VAD demonstrated a sufficient pumping capacity of up to 8 l/min. We conclude that this newly-developed compact portable driver can provide a better quality of life and improved safety for patients using protracted pneumatic VAD support.

Use and misuse of automobile child restraint devices.

PubMed

Margolis, L H; Wagenaar, A C; Molnar, L J

1992-03-01

To determine demographic, social, and behavioral characteristics that are associated with correct child restraint device (CRD) use. Cross-sectional. Fast-food restaurant parking lots in southeastern Michigan. Children younger than age 4 years and their drivers. Consecutive sample. None. Seven hundred seventeen child passengers were observed for 11 dimensions of CRD use and 661 of their drivers were interviewed. Three hundred ninety-four (55%) of the children were in CRDs, but 248 (63%) of those children were incorrectly restrained. A 43-point misuse index was constructed based on scores assigned for different types of misuse. Seven variables (ie, age of child, race of parent, driver as a parent, days driving, number of occupants, perceived comfort of CRDs, and belief that the social norm supports CRD use) were highly predictive of CRD use. In contrast, only three factors (ie, age of child, education of the driver, and knowledge of the CRD law) were minimally predictive of correct use. Since correct use of CRDs represents such a complex behavior, the best strategy to address the widespread problem of CRD use may be through the design of less complicated CRDs.

A wide bandgap silicon carbide (SiC) gate driver for high-temperature and high-voltage applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lamichhane, Ranjan; Ericson, Milton Nance; Frank, Steven Shane

2014-01-01

Limitations of silicon (Si) based power electronic devices can be overcome with Silicon Carbide (SiC) because of its remarkable material properties. SiC is a wide bandgap semiconductor material with larger bandgap, lower leakage currents, higher breakdown electric field, and higher thermal conductivity, which promotes higher switching frequencies for high power applications, higher temperature operation, and results in higher power density devices relative to Si [1]. The proposed work is focused on design of a SiC gate driver to drive a SiC power MOSFET, on a Cree SiC process, with rise/fall times (less than 100 ns) suitable for 500 kHz tomore » 1 MHz switching frequency applications. A process optimized gate driver topology design which is significantly different from generic Si circuit design is proposed. The ultimate goal of the project is to integrate this gate driver into a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) charger module. The application of this high frequency charger will result in lighter, smaller, cheaper, and a more efficient power electronics system.« less

PhyLIS: a simple GNU/Linux distribution for phylogenetics and phyloinformatics.

PubMed

Thomson, Robert C

2009-07-30

PhyLIS is a free GNU/Linux distribution that is designed to provide a simple, standardized platform for phylogenetic and phyloinformatic analysis. The operating system incorporates most commonly used phylogenetic software, which has been pre-compiled and pre-configured, allowing for straightforward application of phylogenetic methods and development of phyloinformatic pipelines in a stable Linux environment. The software is distributed as a live CD and can be installed directly or run from the CD without making changes to the computer. PhyLIS is available for free at http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/rcthomson/phylis/.

PhyLIS: A Simple GNU/Linux Distribution for Phylogenetics and Phyloinformatics

PubMed Central

Thomson, Robert C.

2009-01-01

PhyLIS is a free GNU/Linux distribution that is designed to provide a simple, standardized platform for phylogenetic and phyloinformatic analysis. The operating system incorporates most commonly used phylogenetic software, which has been pre-compiled and pre-configured, allowing for straightforward application of phylogenetic methods and development of phyloinformatic pipelines in a stable Linux environment. The software is distributed as a live CD and can be installed directly or run from the CD without making changes to the computer. PhyLIS is available for free at http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/rcthomson/phylis/. PMID:19812729

Analysis of Braking Behavior of Train Drivers to Detect Unusual Driving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marumo, Yoshitaka; Tsunashima, Hitoshi; Kojima, Takashi; Hasegawa, Yasushi

The safety devices for train systems are activated in emergency situations when a risk becomes obvious, and the emergency brake is applied. If such systems are faulty, the drivers' operating errors may cause immediate accidents. So it is necessary to evaluate potential risks by detecting improper driving behavior before overt risks appear. This study analyzes the driving behavior of train drivers using a train-driving simulator. We focus on braking behavior when approaching a station. Two methods for detecting unusual braking operation are examined by giving drivers mental calculation problems as a mental workload. The first is a method monitoring the driver's brake handle operation, and the second is a method measuring vehicle deceleration. These methods make it possible to detect unusual driving.

Enabling cost-effective multimodal trip planners through open transit data : [summary].

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

Electronic navigation systems are now common : and widely used -- via Internet services, handheld : devices, and devices in vehicles -- to guide drivers : using instructions and maps. Next generation : systems will plan trips by other modes, includin...

77 FR 71028 - Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Grant of Exemption for Transecurity LLC...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-28

... Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) currently require antennas, transponders, and similar devices to be... the driver's field of view by devices mounted at the top of the windshield. Antennas, transponders and...

Strategies for reducing driver distraction from in-vehicle telematics devices : a discussion document

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-04-01

"In-Vehicle Telematics" refers to devices incorporating wireless communications technologies in order to provide information services, vehicle automation and other functions. While cellular phones are currently the most common type of telematics devi...

ARCGRAPH SYSTEM - AMES RESEARCH GRAPHICS SYSTEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hibbard, E. A.

1994-01-01

Ames Research Graphics System, ARCGRAPH, is a collection of libraries and utilities which assist researchers in generating, manipulating, and visualizing graphical data. In addition, ARCGRAPH defines a metafile format that contains device independent graphical data. This file format is used with various computer graphics manipulation and animation packages at Ames, including SURF (COSMIC Program ARC-12381) and GAS (COSMIC Program ARC-12379). In its full configuration, the ARCGRAPH system consists of a two stage pipeline which may be used to output graphical primitives. Stage one is associated with the graphical primitives (i.e. moves, draws, color, etc.) along with the creation and manipulation of the metafiles. Five distinct data filters make up stage one. They are: 1) PLO which handles all 2D vector primitives, 2) POL which handles all 3D polygonal primitives, 3) RAS which handles all 2D raster primitives, 4) VEC which handles all 3D raster primitives, and 5) PO2 which handles all 2D polygonal primitives. Stage two is associated with the process of displaying graphical primitives on a device. To generate the various graphical primitives, create and reprocess ARCGRAPH metafiles, and access the device drivers in the VDI (Video Device Interface) library, users link their applications to ARCGRAPH's GRAFIX library routines. Both FORTRAN and C language versions of the GRAFIX and VDI libraries exist for enhanced portability within these respective programming environments. The ARCGRAPH libraries were developed on a VAX running VMS. Minor documented modification of various routines, however, allows the system to run on the following computers: Cray X-MP running COS (no C version); Cray 2 running UNICOS; DEC VAX running BSD 4.3 UNIX, or Ultrix; SGI IRIS Turbo running GL2-W3.5 and GL2-W3.6; Convex C1 running UNIX; Amhdahl 5840 running UTS; Alliant FX8 running UNIX; Sun 3/160 running UNIX (no native device driver); Stellar GS1000 running Stellex (no native device driver); and an SGI IRIS 4D running IRIX (no native device driver). Currently with version 7.0 of ARCGRAPH, the VDI library supports the following output devices: A VT100 terminal with a RETRO-GRAPHICS board installed, a VT240 using the Tektronix 4010 emulation capability, an SGI IRIS turbo using the native GL2 library, a Tektronix 4010, a Tektronix 4105, and the Tektronix 4014. ARCGRAPH version 7.0 was developed in 1988.

Assessing driver's mental representation of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and its possible effects on behavioural adaptations.

PubMed

Piccinini, Giulio Francesco; Simões, Anabela; Rodrigues, Carlos Manuel; Leitão, Miguel

2012-01-01

The introduction of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) could be very helpful for making the longitudinal driving task more comfortable for the drivers and, as a consequence, it could have a global beneficial effect on road safety. However, before or during the usage of the device, due to several reasons, drivers might generate in their mind incomplete or flawed mental representations about the fundamental operation principles of ACC; hence, the resulting usage of the device might be improper, negatively affecting the human-machine interaction and cooperation and, in some cases, leading to negative behavioural adaptations to the system that might neutralise the desirable positive effects on road safety. Within this context, this paper will introduce the methodology which has been developed in order to analyse in detail the topic and foresee, in the future, adequate actions for the recovery of inaccurate mental representations of the system.

78 FR 76702 - Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application for an Exemption From Volvo...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-18

... Regulations (FMCSRs) currently require antennas, transponders, and similar devices to be located not more than... the driver's field of view by devices mounted at the top of the windshield. Antennas, transponders and...

In the eye of the beholder: A simulator study of the impact of Google Glass on driving performance.

PubMed

Young, Kristie L; Stephens, Amanda N; Stephan, Karen L; Stuart, Geoffrey W

2016-01-01

This study examined whether, and to what extent, driving is affected by reading text on Google Glass. Reading text requires a high level of visual resources and can interfere with safe driving. However, it is currently unclear if the impact of reading text on a head-mounted display, such as Google Glass (Glass), will differ from that found with more traditional head-down electronic devices, such as a dash-mounted smartphone. A total of 20 drivers (22-48 years) completed the Lane Change Test while driving undistracted and while reading text on Glass and on a smartphone. Measures of lateral vehicle control and event detection were examined along with subjective workload and secondary task performance. Results revealed that drivers' lane keeping ability was significantly impaired by reading text on both Glass and the smartphone. When using Glass, drivers also failed to detect a greater number of lane change signs compared to when using the phone or driving undistracted. In terms of subjective workload, drivers rated reading on Glass as subjectively easier than on the smartphone, which may possibly encourage greater use of this device while driving. Overall, the results suggest that, despite Glass allowing drivers to better maintain their visual attention on the forward scene, drivers are still not able to effectively divide their cognitive attention across the Glass display and the road environment, resulting in impaired driving performance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Switching the JLab Accelerator Operations Environment from an HP-UX Unix-based to a PC/Linux-based environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mcguckin, Theodore

2008-10-01

The Jefferson Lab Accelerator Controls Environment (ACE) was predominantly based on the HP-UX Unix platform from 1987 through the summer of 2004. During this period the Accelerator Machine Control Center (MCC) underwent a major renovation which included introducing Redhat Enterprise Linux machines, first as specialized process servers and then gradually as general login servers. As computer programs and scripts required to run the accelerator were modified, and inherent problems with the HP-UX platform compounded, more development tools became available for use with Linux and the MCC began to be converted over. In May 2008 the last HP-UX Unix login machinemore » was removed from the MCC, leaving only a few Unix-based remote-login servers still available. This presentation will explore the process of converting an operational Control Room environment from the HP-UX to Linux platform as well as the many hurdles that had to be overcome throughout the transition period (including a discussion of« less

Real Time Linux - The RTOS for Astronomy?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daly, P. N.

The BoF was attended by about 30 participants and a free CD of real time Linux-based upon RedHat 5.2-was available. There was a detailed presentation on the nature of real time Linux and the variants for hard real time: New Mexico Tech's RTL and DIAPM's RTAI. Comparison tables between standard Linux and real time Linux responses to time interval generation and interrupt response latency were presented (see elsewhere in these proceedings). The present recommendations are to use RTL for UP machines running the 2.0.x kernels and RTAI for SMP machines running the 2.2.x kernel. Support, both academically and commercially, is available. Some known limitations were presented and the solutions reported e.g., debugging and hardware support. The features of RTAI (scheduler, fifos, shared memory, semaphores, message queues and RPCs) were described. Typical performance statistics were presented: Pentium-based oneshot tasks running > 30kHz, 486-based oneshot tasks running at ~ 10 kHz, periodic timer tasks running in excess of 90 kHz with average zero jitter peaking to ~ 13 mus (UP) and ~ 30 mus (SMP). Some detail on kernel module programming, including coding examples, were presented showing a typical data acquisition system generating simulated (random) data writing to a shared memory buffer and a fifo buffer to communicate between real time Linux and user space. All coding examples were complete and tested under RTAI v0.6 and the 2.2.12 kernel. Finally, arguments were raised in support of real time Linux: it's open source, free under GPL, enables rapid prototyping, has good support and the ability to have a fully functioning workstation capable of co-existing hard real time performance. The counter weight-the negatives-of lack of platforms (x86 and PowerPC only at present), lack of board support, promiscuous root access and the danger of ignorance of real time programming issues were also discussed. See ftp://orion.tuc.noao.edu/pub/pnd/rtlbof.tgz for the StarOffice overheads for this presentation.

Virtual instrument: remote control and monitoring of an artificial heart driver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, An H.; Farrar, David

1993-07-01

A development of a virtual instrument based on the top-down model approach for an artificial heart driver is presented. Driver parameters and status were being dynamically updated on the virtual system at the remote station. The virtual system allowed the remote operator to interact with the physical heart driver as if he/she were at the local station. Besides use as an effective training tool, the system permits an expert operator to monitor and also control the Thoratec heart driver from a distant location. We believe that the virtual instrument for biomedical devices in general and for the Thoratec heart driver in particular, not only improves system reliability but also opens up a real possibility in reducing medical cost. Utilizing the top-down scheme developed recently for telerobotics, realtime operation in both instrument display and remote communication were possible via a low bandwidth telephone medium.

GPS Usage in a Population of Low-Vision Drivers.

PubMed

Cucuras, Maria; Chun, Robert; Lee, Patrick; Jay, Walter M; Pusateri, Gregg

2017-01-01

We surveyed bioptic and non-bioptic low-vision drivers in Illinois, USA, to determine their usage of global positioning system (GPS) devices. Low-vision patients completed an IRB-approved phone survey regarding driving demographics and usage of GPS while driving. Participants were required to be active drivers with an Illinois driver's license, and met one of the following criteria: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) less than or equal to 20/40, central or significant peripheral visual field defects, or a combination of both. Of 27 low-vision drivers, 10 (37%) used GPS while driving. The average age for GPS users was 54.3 and for non-users was 77.6. All 10 drivers who used GPS while driving reported increased comfort or safety level. Since non-GPS users were significantly older than GPS users, it is likely that older participants would benefit from GPS technology training from their low-vision eye care professionals.

Partitioning of Function in a Distributed Graphics System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

Interface specification ( VDI ) is yet another graphi:s standardization effort of ANSI committee X31133 [7]. As shown in figure 2-2, the Virtual Device... VDI specification could be realized in a real device, or at least a "black box" which the user treats as a hardware device. ’he device drivers would...be written by the manufacturer of the graphics device, instead of the author of the graphics system. Since the VDI specification is precisely defined

Stimulus driver for epilepsy seizure suppression with adaptive loading impedance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ker, Ming-Dou; Lin, Chun-Yu; Chen, Wei-Ling

2011-10-01

A stimulus driver circuit for a micro-stimulator used in an implantable device is presented in this paper. For epileptic seizure control, the target of the driver was to output 30 µA stimulus currents when the electrode impedance varied between 20 and 200 kΩ. The driver, which consisted of the output stage, control block and adaptor, was integrated in a single chip. The averaged power consumption of the stimulus driver was 0.24-0.56 mW at 800 Hz stimulation rate. Fabricated in a 0.35 µm 3.3 V/24 V CMOS process and applied to a closed-loop epileptic seizure monitoring and controlling system, the proposed design has been successfully verified in the experimental results of Long-Evans rats with epileptic seizures.

Field test of on-site drug detection devices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-10-01

This NHTSA-sponsored study reports the findings of a field evaluation of five on-site drug screening devices used by law enforcement to screen for illicit drugs among drivers suspected of driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or other drugs. I...

Effectiveness of traffic light vs. boom barrier controls at road-rail level crossings: a simulator study.

PubMed

Rudin-Brown, Christina M; Lenné, Michael G; Edquist, Jessica; Navarro, Jordan

2012-03-01

Although collisions at level crossings are relatively uncommon occurrences, the potential severity of their consequences make them a top priority among safety authorities. Twenty-five fully-licensed drivers aged between 20 and 50 years participated in a driving simulator study that compared the efficacy, and drivers' subjective perception, of two active level crossing traffic control devices: flashing lights with boom barriers and standard traffic lights. Because of its common usage in most states in Australia, a stop sign-controlled level crossing served as the passive referent. Although crossing violations were less likely at the level crossings controlled by active devices than at those controlled by stop signs, both kinds of active control were associated with a similar number of violations. Further, the majority (72%) of drivers reported preferring flashing lights to traffic lights. Collectively, results indicate that the installation of traffic lights at real-world level crossings would not be likely to offer safety benefits over and above those provided already by flashing lights with boom barriers. Furthermore, the high rate of violations at passively controlled crossings strongly supports the continued practice of upgrading level crossings with active traffic control devices. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creating the environment for driver distraction: A thematic framework of sociotechnical factors.

PubMed

Parnell, Katie J; Stanton, Neville A; Plant, Katherine L

2018-04-01

As modern society becomes more reliant on technology, its use within the vehicle is becoming a concern for road safety due to both portable and built-in devices offering sources of distraction. While the effects of distracting technologies are well documented, little is known about the causal factors that lead to the drivers' engagement with technological devices. The relevance of the sociotechnical system within which the behaviour occurs requires further research. This paper presents two experiments, the first aims to assess the drivers self-reported decision to engage with technological tasks while driving and their reasoning for doing so with respect to the wider sociotechnical system. This utilised a semi-structured interview method, conducted with 30 drivers to initiate a discussion on their likelihood of engaging with 22 different tasks across 7 different road types. Inductive thematic analysis provided a hierarchical thematic framework that detailed the self-reported causal factors that influence the drivers' use of technology whilst driving. The second experiment assessed the relevance of the hierarchical framework to a model of distraction that was established from within the literature on the drivers use of distracting technologies while driving. The findings provide validation for some relationships studied in the literature, as well as providing insights into relationships that require further study. The role of the sociotechnical system in the engagement of distractions while driving is highlighted, with the causal factors reported by drivers suggesting the importance of considering the wider system within which the behaviour is occurring and how it may be creating the conditions for distraction to occur. This supports previous claims made within the literature based model. Recommendations are proposed that encourage a movement away from individual focused countermeasures towards systemic actors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reliability of the Watch-PAT 200 in Detecting Sleep Apnea in Highway Bus Drivers

PubMed Central

Yuceege, Melike; Firat, Hikmet; Demir, Ahmet; Ardic, Sadik

2013-01-01

Objective: To predict the validity of Watch-PAT (WP) device for sleep disordered breathing (SDB) among highway bus drivers. Method: A total number of 90 highway bus drivers have undergone polysomnography (PSG) and Watch-PAT test simultaneously. Routine blood tests and the routine ear-nose-throat (ENT) exams have been done as well. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 89.1%, 76.9%, 82% and 85.7% for RDI > 15, respectively. WRDI, WODI, W < 90% duration and Wmean SaO2 results were well correlated with the PSG results. In the sensitivity and specificity analysis, when diagnosis of sleep apnea was defined for different cut-off values of RDI of 5, 10 and 15, AUC (95%CI) were found as 0.84 (0.74-0.93), 0.87 (95%CI: 0.79-0.94) and 0.91 (95%CI: 0.85-0.97), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between Stage1+2/Wlight and Stage REM/WREM. The percentage of Stage 3 sleep had difference significant statistically from the percentage of Wdeep. Total sleep times in PSG and WP showed no statistically important difference. Total NREM duration and total WNREM duration had no difference either. Conclusion: Watch-PAT device is helpful in detecting SDB with RDI > 15 in highway bus drivers, especially in drivers older than 45 years, but has limited value in drivers younger than 45 years old who have less risk for OSA. Therefore, WP can be used in the former group when PSG is not easily available. Citation: Yuceege M; Firat F; Demir A; Ardic S. Reliability of the Watch-PAT 200 in detecting sleep apnea in highway bus drivers. J Clin Sleep Med 2013;9(4):339-344. PMID:23585749

UWB dual burst transmit driver

DOEpatents

Dallum, Gregory E [Livermore, CA; Pratt, Garth C [Discovery Bay, CA; Haugen, Peter C [Livermore, CA; Zumstein, James M [Livermore, CA; Vigars, Mark L [Livermore, CA; Romero, Carlos E [Livermore, CA

2012-04-17

A dual burst transmitter for ultra-wideband (UWB) communication systems generates a pair of precisely spaced RF bursts from a single trigger event. An input trigger pulse produces two oscillator trigger pulses, an initial pulse and a delayed pulse, in a dual trigger generator. The two oscillator trigger pulses drive a gated RF burst (power output) oscillator. A bias driver circuit gates the RF output oscillator on and off and sets the RF burst packet width. The bias driver also level shifts the drive signal to the level that is required for the RF output device.

Linux Incident Response Volatile Data Analysis Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFadden, Matthew

2013-01-01

Cyber incident response is an emphasized subject area in cybersecurity in information technology with increased need for the protection of data. Due to ongoing threats, cybersecurity imposes many challenges and requires new investigative response techniques. In this study a Linux Incident Response Framework is designed for collecting volatile data…

Onboard Flow Sensing For Downwash Detection and Avoidance On Small Quadrotor Helicopters

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

onboard computers, one for flight stabilization and a Linux computer for sensor integration and control calculations . The Linux computer runs Robot...Hirokawa, D. Kubo , S. Suzuki, J. Meguro, and T. Suzuki. Small uav for immediate hazard map generation. In AIAA Infotech@Aerospace Conf, May 2007. 8F

Cross platform development using Delphi and Kylix

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McDonald, J.L.; Nishimura, H.; Timossi, C.

2002-10-08

A cross platform component for EPICS Simple Channel Access (SCA) has been developed for the use with Delphi on Windows and Kylix on Linux. An EPICS controls GUI application developed on Windows runs on Linux by simply rebuilding it, and vice versa. This paper describes the technical details of the component.

Workstation-Based Avionics Simulator to Support Mars Science Laboratory Flight Software Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Henriquez, David; Canham, Timothy; Chang, Johnny T.; McMahon, Elihu

2008-01-01

The Mars Science Laboratory developed the WorkStation TestSet (WSTS) to support flight software development. The WSTS is the non-real-time flight avionics simulator that is designed to be completely software-based and run on a workstation class Linux PC. This provides flight software developers with their own virtual avionics testbed and allows device-level and functional software testing when hardware testbeds are either not yet available or have limited availability. The WSTS has successfully off-loaded many flight software development activities from the project testbeds. At the writing of this paper, the WSTS has averaged an order of magnitude more usage than the project's hardware testbeds.

Research and embedded implementation of Layer 3 switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Jin; Cheng, Zijing

2009-12-01

In the internetworking world, switches and routers have been deployed for workgroup and enterprise connectivity. In the past, switches mainly operated at Layer 2 (they were extensions of bridges), while routers were clearly Layer3 devices. Recently, the line has blurred and switches operating at Layer 3 are becoming more popular. This paper explains the Linux Bridge, Layer 2 Switches, Virtual LAN (VLAN) and Layer 3 Switches. The flow chart of Layer 3 switches and working routine related to Layer 3 switch technology were investigated in detail. This paper presents a new method to implement layer 3 switching that is entirely accomplished in software and is embedded implemented by code transplanting based on PowerPC 460GT platform.

Low Cost Night Vision System for Intruder Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, Liang S.; Yusoff, Wan Azhar Wan; R, Dhinesh; Sak, J. S.

2016-02-01

The growth in production of Android devices has resulted in greater functionalities as well as lower costs. This has made previously more expensive systems such as night vision affordable for more businesses and end users. We designed and implemented robust and low cost night vision systems based on red-green-blue (RGB) colour histogram for a static camera as well as a camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), using OpenCV library on Intel compatible notebook computers, running Ubuntu Linux operating system, with less than 8GB of RAM. They were tested against human intruders under low light conditions (indoor, outdoor, night time) and were shown to have successfully detected the intruders.

Performance Comparison of EPICS IOC and MARTe in a Hard Real-Time Control Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbalace, Antonio; Manduchi, Gabriele; Neto, A.; De Tommasi, G.; Sartori, F.; Valcarcel, D. F.

2011-12-01

EPICS is used worldwide mostly for controlling accelerators and large experimental physics facilities. Although EPICS is well fit for the design and development of automation systems, which are typically VME or PLC-based systems, and for soft real-time systems, it may present several drawbacks when used to develop hard real-time systems/applications especially when general purpose operating systems as plain Linux are chosen. This is in particular true in fusion research devices typically employing several hard real-time systems, such as the magnetic control systems, that may require strict determinism, and high performance in terms of jitter and latency. Serious deterioration of important plasma parameters may happen otherwise, possibly leading to an abrupt termination of the plasma discharge. The MARTe framework has been recently developed to fulfill the demanding requirements for such real-time systems that are alike to run on general purpose operating systems, possibly integrated with the low-latency real-time preemption patches. MARTe has been adopted to develop a number of real-time systems in different Tokamaks. In this paper, we first summarize differences and similarities between EPICS IOC and MARTe. Then we report on a set of performance measurements executed on an x86 64 bit multicore machine running Linux with an IO control algorithm implemented in an EPICS IOC and in MARTe.

NSTX-U Advances in Real-Time C++11 on Linux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erickson, Keith G.

2015-08-01

Programming languages like C and Ada combined with proprietary embedded operating systems have dominated the real-time application space for decades. The new C++11 standard includes native, language-level support for concurrency, a required feature for any nontrivial event-oriented real-time software. Threads, Locks, and Atomics now exist to provide the necessary tools to build the structures that make up the foundation of a complex real-time system. The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is breaking new ground with the language as applied to the needs of fusion devices. A new Digital Coil Protection System (DCPS) will serve as the main protection mechanism for the magnetic coils, and it is written entirely in C++11 running on Concurrent Computer Corporation's real-time operating system, RedHawk Linux. It runs over 600 algorithms in a 5 kHz control loop that determine whether or not to shut down operations before physical damage occurs. To accomplish this, NSTX-U engineers developed software tools that do not currently exist elsewhere, including real-time atomic synchronization, real-time containers, and a real-time logging framework. Together with a recent (and carefully configured) version of the GCC compiler, these tools enable data acquisition, processing, and output using a conventional operating system to meet a hard real-time deadline (that is, missing one periodic is a failure) of 200 microseconds.

Impacts of LED Brightness, Flash Pattern, and Location for Illuminated Pedestrian Traffic Control Device

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-05-01

Illuminated traffic control devices, such as rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB), have been shown to increase the number of drivers yielding to crossing pedestrians. There is some concern that the brightness of flashes at or contained within si...

Using a Handheld Device for Patient Data Collection: A Pilot for Medical Countermeasures Surveillance.

PubMed

Daley, Matthew F; Goddard, Kristin; McClung, Melissa; Davidson, Arthur; Weiss, Gretchen; Palen, Ted; Nyirenda, Carsie; Platt, Richard; Courtney, Brooke; Reichman, Marsha E

2016-01-01

Medical countermeasures (MCMs) are medical products used during public health emergencies. This study, conducted within the Mini-Sentinel Initiative, sought to develop the patient identification and matching processes necessary to assess safety outcomes for MCMs. A handheld device was used to collect identifying information (e.g., name, birthdate, and sex) from the driver's licenses of 421 individuals presenting for routine care at their primary care medical office. Overall, 374 individuals (88.8%) could be linked to their electronic health data using driver's license information. The device was also pilot-tested at a seasonal influenza immunization clinic: detailed vaccine information (e.g., lot number and manufacturer) was captured with a high degree of accuracy. This investigation demonstrated that a handheld device is a feasible means of collecting patient identity and medical product receipt data. This capacity should be useful for safety surveillance of MCMs, particularly when dispensed in settings outside the traditional health-care delivery system.

Effectiveness of a Program Using a Vehicle Tracking System, Incentives, and Disincentives to Reduce the Speeding Behavior of Drivers with ADHD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markham, Paula T.; Porter, Bryan E.; Ball, J. D.

2013-01-01

Objective: In this article, the authors investigated the effectiveness of a behavior modification program using global positioning system (GPS) vehicle tracking devices with contingency incentives and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD. Method: Using an AB multiple-baseline design, six participants drove a 5-mile…

Extending parental mentoring using an event-triggered video intervention in rural teen drivers.

PubMed

McGehee, Daniel V; Raby, Mireille; Carney, Cher; Lee, John D; Reyes, Michelle L

2007-01-01

Teen drivers are at high risk for car crashes, especially during their first years of licensure. Providing novice teen drivers and their parents with a means of identifying their risky driving maneuvers may help them learn from their mistakes, thereby reducing their crash propensity. During the initial phase of learning, adult or parental supervision often provides such guidance. However, once teens obtain their license, adult supervision is no longer mandated, and teens are left to themselves to continue the learning process. This study is the first of its type to enhance this continued learning process using an event-triggered video device. By pairing this new technology with parental feedback in the form of a weekly video review and graphical report card, we extend parents' ability to teach their teens even after they begin driving independently. Twenty-six 16- to 17-year-old drivers were recruited from a small U.S. Midwestern rural high school. We equipped their vehicles with an event-triggered video device, designed to capture 20-sec clips of the forward and cabin views whenever the vehicle exceeded lateral or forward threshold accelerations. Preliminary findings suggest that combining this emerging technology with parental weekly review of safety-relevant incidents resulted in a significant decrease in events for the more at-risk teen drivers. Implications for how such an intervention could be implemented within GDL are also discussed.

Does Needle Rotation Improve Lesion Targeting?

PubMed Central

Badaan, Shadi; Petrisor, Doru; Kim, Chunwoo; Mozer, Pierre; Mazilu, Dumitru; Gruionu, Lucian; Patriciu, Alex; Cleary, Kevin; Stoianovici, Dan

2011-01-01

Background Image-guided robots are manipulators that operate based on medical images. Perhaps the most common class of image-guided robots are robots for needle interventions. Typically, these robots actively position and/or orient a needle guide, but needle insertion is still done by the physician. While this arrangement may have safety advantages and keep the physician in control of needle insertion, actuated needle drivers can incorporate other useful features. Methods We first present a new needle driver that can actively insert and rotate a needle. With this device we investigate the use of needle rotation in controlled in-vitro experiments performed with a specially developed revolving needle driver. Results These experiments show that needle rotation can improve targeting and may reduce errors by as much as 70%. Conclusion The new needle driver provides a unique kinematic architecture that enables insertion with a compact mechanism. Perhaps the most interesting conclusion of the study is that lesions of soft tissue organs may not be perfectly targeted with a needle without using special techniques, either manually or with a robotic device. The results of this study show that needle rotation may be an effective method of reducing targeting errors. PMID:21360796

LABORATORY PROCESS CONTROLLER USING NATURAL LANGUAGE COMMANDS FROM A PERSONAL COMPUTER

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Will, H.

1994-01-01

The complex environment of the typical research laboratory requires flexible process control. This program provides natural language process control from an IBM PC or compatible machine. Sometimes process control schedules require changes frequently, even several times per day. These changes may include adding, deleting, and rearranging steps in a process. This program sets up a process control system that can either run without an operator, or be run by workers with limited programming skills. The software system includes three programs. Two of the programs, written in FORTRAN77, record data and control research processes. The third program, written in Pascal, generates the FORTRAN subroutines used by the other two programs to identify the user commands with the user-written device drivers. The software system also includes an input data set which allows the user to define the user commands which are to be executed by the computer. To set the system up the operator writes device driver routines for all of the controlled devices. Once set up, this system requires only an input file containing natural language command lines which tell the system what to do and when to do it. The operator can make up custom commands for operating and taking data from external research equipment at any time of the day or night without the operator in attendance. This process control system requires a personal computer operating under MS-DOS with suitable hardware interfaces to all controlled devices. The program requires a FORTRAN77 compiler and user-written device drivers. This program was developed in 1989 and has a memory requirement of about 62 Kbytes.

SLURM: Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jette, M; Dunlap, C; Garlick, J

2002-04-24

Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM) is an open source, fault-tolerant, and highly scalable cluster management and job scheduling system for Linux clusters of thousands of nodes. Components include machine status, partition management, job management, and scheduling modules. The design also includes a scalable, general-purpose communication infrastructure. Development will take place in four phases: Phase I results in a solid infrastructure; Phase II produces a functional but limited interactive job initiation capability without use of the interconnect/switch; Phase III provides switch support and documentation; Phase IV provides job status, fault-tolerance, and job queuing and control through Livermore's Distributed Productionmore » Control System (DPCS), a meta-batch and resource management system.« less

Reliability of the Watch-PAT 200 in detecting sleep apnea in highway bus drivers.

PubMed

Yuceege, Melike; Firat, Hikmet; Demir, Ahmet; Ardic, Sadik

2013-04-15

To predict the validity of Watch-PAT (WP) device for sleep disordered breathing (SDB) among highway bus drivers. A total number of 90 highway bus drivers have undergone polysomnography (PSG) and Watch-PAT test simultaneously. Routine blood tests and the routine ear-nose-throat (ENT) exams have been done as well. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 89.1%, 76.9%, 82% and 85.7% for RDI > 15, respectively. WRDI, WODI, W < 90% duration and Wmean SaO2 results were well correlated with the PSG results. In the sensitivity and specificity analysis, when diagnosis of sleep apnea was defined for different cut-off values of RDI of 5, 10 and 15, AUC (95%CI) were found as 0.84 (0.74-0.93), 0.87 (95%CI: 0.79-0.94) and 0.91 (95%CI: 0.85-0.97), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between Stage1+2/Wlight and Stage REM/WREM. The percentage of Stage 3 sleep had difference significant statistically from the percentage of Wdeep. Total sleep times in PSG and WP showed no statistically important difference. Total NREM duration and total WNREM duration had no difference either. Watch-PAT device is helpful in detecting SDB with RDI > 15 in highway bus drivers, especially in drivers older than 45 years, but has limited value in drivers younger than 45 years old who have less risk for OSA. Therefore, WP can be used in the former group when PSG is not easily available.

Smartphone and Curriculum Opportunities for College Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Migdalski, Scott T.

2017-01-01

The ever-increasing popularity of the smartphone continues to impact many professions. Physicians use the device for medication dosing, professional drivers use the GPS application, mariners use the navigation maps, builders use materials-estimator applications, property appraisers use the camera capability, and students use the device to search…

Linux Adventures on a Laptop. Computers in Small Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Gary

2005-01-01

This article discusses the pros and cons of open source software, such as Linux. It asserts that despite the technical difficulties of installing and maintaining this type of software, ultimately it is helpful in terms of knowledge acquisition and as a beneficial investment librarians can make in themselves, their libraries, and their patrons.…

Drowning in PC Management: Could a Linux Solution Save Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Kathleen A.

2004-01-01

Short on funding and IT staff, a Western Canada library struggled to provide adequate public computing resources. Staff turned to a Linux-based solution that supports up to 10 users from a single computer, and blends Web browsing and productivity applications with session management, Internet filtering, and user authentication. In this article,…

78 FR 57648 - Notice of Issuance of Final Determination Concerning Video Teleconferencing Server

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-19

... the Chinese- origin Video Board and the Filter Board, impart the essential character to the video... includes the codec; a network filter electronic circuit board (``Filter Board''); a housing case; a power... (``Linux software''). The Linux software allows the Filter Board to inspect each Ethernet packet of...

Chicks in Charge: Andrea Baker & Amy Daniels--Airport High School Media Center, Columbia, SC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Library Journal, 2004

2004-01-01

This article briefly discusses two librarians exploration of Linux. Andrea Baker and Amy Daniels were tired of telling their students that new technology items were not in the budget. They explored Linux, which is a program that recycles older computers, installs free operating systems and free software.

Diversifying the Department of Defense Network Enterprise with Linux

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

Cyberspace, Cyberwar, Legacy, Inventory, Acquisition, Competitive Advantage, Coalition Communications, Ubiquitous, Strategic, Centricity, Kaizen , ISO... Kaizen , ISO, Outsource CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified Historically, the United States and its closest allies have grown increasingly reliant...control through the use of continuous improvement processes ( Kaizen )34. In choosing the Linux client operating system, the move encourages open standards

Development of a portable Linux-based ECG measurement and monitoring system.

PubMed

Tan, Tan-Hsu; Chang, Ching-Su; Huang, Yung-Fa; Chen, Yung-Fu; Lee, Cheng

2011-08-01

This work presents a portable Linux-based electrocardiogram (ECG) signals measurement and monitoring system. The proposed system consists of an ECG front end and an embedded Linux platform (ELP). The ECG front end digitizes 12-lead ECG signals acquired from electrodes and then delivers them to the ELP via a universal serial bus (USB) interface for storage, signal processing, and graphic display. The proposed system can be installed anywhere (e.g., offices, homes, healthcare centers and ambulances) to allow people to self-monitor their health conditions at any time. The proposed system also enables remote diagnosis via Internet. Additionally, the system has a 7-in. interactive TFT-LCD touch screen that enables users to execute various functions, such as scaling a single-lead or multiple-lead ECG waveforms. The effectiveness of the proposed system was verified by using a commercial 12-lead ECG signal simulator and in vivo experiments. In addition to its portability, the proposed system is license-free as Linux, an open-source code, is utilized during software development. The cost-effectiveness of the system significantly enhances its practical application for personal healthcare.

Managing a Real-Time Embedded Linux Platform with Buildroot

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Diamond, J.; Martin, K.

2015-01-01

Developers of real-time embedded software often need to build the operating system, kernel, tools and supporting applications from source to work with the differences in their hardware configuration. The first attempts to introduce Linux-based real-time embedded systems into the Fermilab accelerator controls system used this approach but it was found to be time-consuming, difficult to maintain and difficult to adapt to different hardware configurations. Buildroot is an open source build system with a menu-driven configuration tool (similar to the Linux kernel build system) that automates this process. A customized Buildroot [1] system has been developed for use in the Fermilabmore » accelerator controls system that includes several hardware configuration profiles (including Intel, ARM and PowerPC) and packages for Fermilab support software. A bootable image file is produced containing the Linux kernel, shell and supporting software suite that varies from 3 to 20 megabytes large – ideal for network booting. The result is a platform that is easier to maintain and deploy in diverse hardware configurations« less

SpecPad: device-independent NMR data visualization and processing based on the novel DART programming language and Html5 Web technology.

PubMed

Guigas, Bruno

2017-09-01

SpecPad is a new device-independent software program for the visualization and processing of one-dimensional and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) time domain (FID) and frequency domain (spectrum) data. It is the result of a project to investigate whether the novel programming language DART, in combination with Html5 Web technology, forms a suitable base to write an NMR data evaluation software which runs on modern computing devices such as Android, iOS, and Windows tablets as well as on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X desktop PCs and notebooks. Another topic of interest is whether this technique also effectively supports the required sophisticated graphical and computational algorithms. SpecPad is device-independent because DART's compiled executable code is JavaScript and can, therefore, be run by the browsers of PCs and tablets. Because of Html5 browser cache technology, SpecPad may be operated off-line. Network access is only required during data import or export, e.g. via a Cloud service, or for software updates. A professional and easy to use graphical user interface consistent across all hardware platforms supports touch screen features on mobile devices for zooming and panning and for NMR-related interactive operations such as phasing, integration, peak picking, or atom assignment. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Effectiveness of a program using a vehicle tracking system, incentives, and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD.

PubMed

Markham, Paula T; Porter, Bryan E; Ball, J D

2013-04-01

In this article, the authors investigated the effectiveness of a behavior modification program using global positioning system (GPS) vehicle tracking devices with contingency incentives and disincentives to reduce the speeding behavior of drivers with ADHD. Using an AB multiple-baseline design, six participants drove a 5-mile stable driving route weekly while GPS devices recorded speeds. The dependent variable was percentage of feet speeding. Following an initial baseline period, five participants received treatment. One participant remained at baseline. Visual inspection of individual participant graphs, reductions in mean percentages of speeding from baseline to treatment across participants (M = 82%), C-statistic analyses, and visual graphs with applied binomial formula supported a treatment effect. The between-participant analysis using R n Test of Ranks was significant, R n = 6, p < .01, and complemented a clean multiple-baseline result. Results indicated that this treatment program was effective in reducing speeding by drivers with ADHD and warrants replication.

S2PLOT: Three-dimensional (3D) Plotting Library

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, D. G.; Fluke, C. J.; Bourke, P. D.; Parry, O. T.

2011-03-01

We present a new, three-dimensional (3D) plotting library with advanced features, and support for standard and enhanced display devices. The library - S2PLOT - is written in C and can be used by C, C++ and FORTRAN programs on GNU/Linux and Apple/OSX systems. S2PLOT draws objects in a 3D (x,y,z) Cartesian space and the user interactively controls how this space is rendered at run time. With a PGPLOT inspired interface, S2PLOT provides astronomers with elegant techniques for displaying and exploring 3D data sets directly from their program code, and the potential to use stereoscopic and dome display devices. The S2PLOT architecture supports dynamic geometry and can be used to plot time-evolving data sets, such as might be produced by simulation codes. In this paper, we introduce S2PLOT to the astronomical community, describe its potential applications, and present some example uses of the library.

An Advanced, Three-Dimensional Plotting Library for Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, David G.; Fluke, Christopher J.; Bourke, Paul D.; Parry, Owen T.

2006-07-01

We present a new, three-dimensional (3D) plotting library with advanced features, and support for standard and enhanced display devices. The library - s2plot - is written in c and can be used by c, c++, and fortran programs on GNU/Linux and Apple/OSX systems. s2plot draws objects in a 3D (x,y,z) Cartesian space and the user interactively controls how this space is rendered at run time. With a pgplot-inspired interface, s2plot provides astronomers with elegant techniques for displaying and exploring 3D data sets directly from their program code, and the potential to use stereoscopic and dome display devices. The s2plot architecture supports dynamic geometry and can be used to plot time-evolving data sets, such as might be produced by simulation codes. In this paper, we introduce s2plot to the astronomical community, describe its potential applications, and present some example uses of the library.

Attacking the information access problem with expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ragusa, James M.; Orwig, Gary W.

1991-01-01

The results of applications research directed at finding an improved method of storing and accessing information are presented. Twelve microcomputer-based expert systems shells and five laser-optical formats have been studied, and the general and specific methods of interfacing these technologies are being tested in prototype systems. Shell features and interfacing capabilities are discussed, and results from the study of five laser-optical formats are recounted including the video laser, compact, and WORM disks, and laser cards and film. Interfacing, including laser disk device driver interfacing, is discussed and it is pointed out that in order to control the laser device from within the expert systems application, the expert systems shell must be able to access the device driver software. Potential integrated applications are investigated and an initial list is provided including consumer services, travel, law enforcement, human resources, marketing, and education and training.

49 CFR 395.15 - Automatic on-board recording devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... information concerning on-board system sensor failures and identification of edited data. Such support systems... driving today; (iv) Total hours on duty for the 7 consecutive day period, including today; (v) Total hours...-driver operation; (7) The on-board recording device/system identifies sensor failures and edited data...

49 CFR 392.25 - Flame producing devices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... VEHICLES Stopped Commercial Motor Vehicles § 392.25 Flame producing devices. No driver shall use or permit the use of any flame-producing emergency signal for protecting any commercial motor vehicle transporting Division 1.1, Division 1.2, or Division 1.3 explosives; any cargo tank motor vehicle used for the...

3-D sprag ratcheting tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wade, Michael O. (Inventor); Poland, Jr., James W. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

A ratcheting device comprising a driver head assembly which includes at least two 3-D sprag elements positioned within a first groove within the driver head assembly such that at least one of the 3-D sprag elements may lockingly engage the driver head assembly and a mating hub assembly to allow for rotation of the hub assembly in one direction with respect to the driver head assembly. This arrangement allows the ratcheting tool to impart torque in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction without having to first rotate the ratcheting tool in the direction opposite the direction in which the torque is applied. This arrangement also allows the ratcheting tool to impart torque in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction while in the neutral position.

Head-up and head-down displays integration in automobiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Betancur, J. Alejandro; Osorio-Gómez, Gilberto; Agudelo, J. David

2014-06-01

In automotive industry, the dashboard has been ergonomically developed in order to keep the driver focused on the horizon while driving, but the possibility to access external electronic devices constraints the driver to turn away his face, generating dangerous situations in spite of the short periods of time. Therefore, this work explores the integration of Head-Up Displays and Head-Down Displays in automobiles, proposing configurations that give to drivers the facility to driving focused. In this way, some of the main ergonomic comments about those configurations are proposed; and also, some technical comments regarding the implemented arrangements are given.

BINARY STORAGE ELEMENT

DOEpatents

Chu, J.C.

1958-06-10

A binary storage device is described comprising a toggle provided with associsted improved driver circuits adapted to produce reliable action of the toggle during clearing of the toggle to one of its two states. or transferring information into and out of the toggle. The invention resides in the development of a self-regulating driver circuit to minimize the fluctuation of the driving voltages for the toggle. The disclosed driver circuit produces two pulses in response to an input pulse: a first or ''clear'' pulse beginning nt substantially the same time but endlrg slightly sooner than the second or ''transfer'' output pulse.

Assessment of Driver's Reaction Times in Diverisified Research Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guzek, Marek; Lozia, Zbigniew; Zdanowicz, Piotr; Jurecki, Rafał S.; Stańczyk, Tomasz L.; Pieniążek, Wiesław

2012-06-01

Reaction time is one of the basic parameters that characterize the driver and very important in the analysis of accident situations in road traffic. This paper describes research studies on the reaction time evaluation as conducted in three environments: on a typical device used in the transport psychology labs (the so-called reflexometer), in the driving simulator (autoPW) and on the driving test track (the Kielce Test Track). In all environments, the tests were performed for the same group of drivers. The article presents the characteristics of research in each environment as well as shows and compares exemplary results.

Malware Memory Analysis of the Jynx2 Linux Rootkit (Part 1): Investigating a Publicly Available Linux Rootkit Using the Volatility Memory Analysis Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

indication that not a single scanner was able to detect the rootkit as malicious or infected. SHA256 ...clear indication that not a single scanner was able detect it as malicious, infected or associated to the Jynx2 rootkit. SHA256

Teaching Hands-On Linux Host Computer Security

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shumba, Rose

2006-01-01

In the summer of 2003, a project to augment and improve the teaching of information assurance courses was started at IUP. Thus far, ten hands-on exercises have been developed. The exercises described in this article, and presented in the appendix, are based on actions required to secure a Linux host. Publicly available resources were used to…

A PC parallel port button box provides millisecond response time accuracy under Linux.

PubMed

Stewart, Neil

2006-02-01

For psychologists, it is sometimes necessary to measure people's reaction times to the nearest millisecond. This article describes how to use the PC parallel port to receive signals from a button box to achieve millisecond response time accuracy. The workings of the parallel port, the corresponding port addresses, and a simple Linux program for controlling the port are described. A test of the speed and reliability of button box signal detection is reported. If the reader is moderately familiar with Linux, this article should provide sufficient instruction for him or her to build and test his or her own parallel port button box. This article also describes how the parallel port could be used to control an external apparatus.

Will Your Next Supercomputer Come from Costco?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farber, Rob

2007-04-15

A fun topic for April, one that is not an April fool’s joke, is that you can purchase a commodity 200+ Gflop (single-precision) Linux supercomputer for around $600 from your favorite electronic vendor. Yes, it’s true. Just walk in and ask for a Sony Playstation 3 (PS3), take it home and install Linux on it. IBM has provided an excellent tutorial for installing Linux and building applications at http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/power/library/pa-linuxps3-1. If you want to raise some eyebrows at work, then submit a purchase request for a Sony PS3 game console and watch the reactions as your paperwork wends its way throughmore » the procurement process.« less

Ergonomic work analysis: A case study of bus drivers in the private collective transportation sector.

PubMed

Araújo, Adolfo Vicente; Arcanjo, Gemima Santos; Fernandes, Haroldo; Arcanjo, Georgia Santos

2018-05-03

The collective transportation system is essential to reduce the number of automobiles in the roads. Concerns exist related to quality, comfort and safety of bus driver's workstations. The objective of this study was to improve the driver's workstation in the private collective transportation sector by analyzing ergonomic practices using the Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA). The EWA was chosen because it seeks to evaluate the labor condition as it relates to the psychophysiological conditions of workers, it complies with regulatory standard 17 (NR17). To identify driver concerns, interviews and questionnaires were administered. The workstation and worker routines were observed. The analysis revealed that the largest number of complaints related to noise, display light and location of the passenger identifier device. Drivers reported discomfort in the knees and lower back. Recommendations were made to improve the workstation and change the routine to minimize the discomfort and ergonomic risk factors.

A critical review of the psychophysiology of driver fatigue.

PubMed

Lal, S K; Craig, A

2001-02-01

Driver fatigue is a major cause of road accidents and has implications for road safety. This review discusses the concepts of fatigue and provides a summary on psychophysiological associations with driver fatigue. A variety of psychophysiological parameters have been used in previous research as indicators of fatigue, with electroencephalography perhaps being the most promising. Most research found changes in theta and delta activity to be strongly linked to transition to fatigue. Therefore, monitoring electroencephalography during driver fatigue may be a promising variable for use in fatigue countermeasure devices. The review also identified anxiety and mood states as factors that may possibly affect driver fatigue. Furthermore, personality and temperament may also influence fatigue. Given the above, understanding the psychology of fatigue may lead to better fatigue management. The findings from this review are discussed in the light of directions for future studies and for the development of fatigue countermeasures.

Generic and Automated Data Evaluation in Analytical Measurement.

PubMed

Adam, Martin; Fleischer, Heidi; Thurow, Kerstin

2017-04-01

In the past year, automation has become more and more important in the field of elemental and structural chemical analysis to reduce the high degree of manual operation and processing time as well as human errors. Thus, a high number of data points are generated, which requires fast and automated data evaluation. To handle the preprocessed export data from different analytical devices with software from various vendors offering a standardized solution without any programming knowledge should be preferred. In modern laboratories, multiple users will use this software on multiple personal computers with different operating systems (e.g., Windows, Macintosh, Linux). Also, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have gained growing importance. The developed software, Project Analytical Data Evaluation (ADE), is implemented as a web application. To transmit the preevaluated data from the device software to the Project ADE, the exported XML report files are detected and the included data are imported into the entities database using the Data Upload software. Different calculation types of a sample within one measurement series (e.g., method validation) are identified using information tags inside the sample name. The results are presented in tables and diagrams on different information levels (general, detailed for one analyte or sample).

Considerations on the implementation and modeling of an active mass driver with electric torsional servomotor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ubertini, Filippo; Venanzi, Ilaria; Comanducci, Gabriele

2015-06-01

The current trend in full-scale applications of active mass drivers for mitigating buildings' vibrations is to rely on the use of electric servomotors and low friction transmission devices. While similar full-scale applications have been recently documented, there is still the need for deepening the understanding of the behavior of such active mass drivers, especially as it concerns their reliability in the case of extreme loading events. This paper presents some considerations arisen in the physical implementation of a prototype active mass driver system, fabricated by coupling an electric torsional servomotor with a ball screw transmission device, using state-of-the-art electronics and a high speed digital communication protocol between controller and servomotor drive. The prototype actuator is mounted on top of a scaled-down five-story frame structure, subjected to base excitation provided by a sliding table actuated by an electrodynamic shaker. The equations of motion are rigorously derived, at first, by considering the torque of the servomotor as the control input, in agreement with other literature work. Then, they are extended to the case where the servomotor operates under kinematic control, that is, by commanding its angular velocity instead of its torque, including control-structure-interaction effects. Experiments are carried out by employing an inherently stable collocated skyhook control algorithm, proving, on the one hand, the control effectiveness of the device but also revealing, on the other hand, the possibility of closed-loop system instability at high gains. Theoretical interpretation of the results clarifies that the dynamic behavior of the actuator plays a central role in determining its control effectiveness and is responsible for the observed stability issues, operating similarly to time delay effects. Numerical extension to the case of earthquake excitation confirms the control effectiveness of the device and highlights that different controllers essentially provide similar performances in the mitigation of the structural response.

Operation of a New Half-Bridge Gate Driver for Enhancement - Mode GaN FETs, Type LM5113, Over a Wide Temperature Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Richard; Hammoud, Ahmad

2011-01-01

A new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) gate driver designed to drive both the high-side and the low-side enhancement-mode GaN FETs, National Semiconductor's type LM5113, was evaluated for operation at temperatures beyond its recommended specified limits of -40 C to +125 C. The effects of limited thermal cycling under the extended test temperature, which ranged from -194 C to +150 C, on the operation of this chip as well as restart capability at the extreme cryogenic and hot temperatures were also investigated. The driver circuit was able to maintain good operation throughout the entire test regime between -194 C and +150 C without undergoing any major changes in its outputs signals and characteristics. The limited thermal cycling performed on the device also had no effect on its performance, and the driver chip was able to successfully restart at each of the extreme temperatures of -194 C and +150 C. The plastic packaging of this device was also not affected by either the short extreme temperature exposure or the limited thermal cycling. These preliminary results indicate that this new commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) halfbridge eGaN FET driver integrated circuit has the potential for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperature environments. Further testing is planned under long-term cycling to assess the reliability of these parts and to determine their suitability for extended use in the harsh environments of space.

A magnetorheological haptic cue accelerator for manual transmission vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Young-Min; Noh, Kyung-Wook; Lee, Yang-Sub; Choi, Seung-Bok

2010-07-01

This paper proposes a new haptic cue function for manual transmission vehicles to achieve optimal gear shifting. This function is implemented on the accelerator pedal by utilizing a magnetorheological (MR) brake mechanism. By combining the haptic cue function with the accelerator pedal, the proposed haptic cue device can transmit the optimal moment of gear shifting for manual transmission to a driver without requiring the driver's visual attention. As a first step to achieve this goal, a MR fluid-based haptic device is devised to enable rotary motion of the accelerator pedal. Taking into account spatial limitations, the design parameters are optimally determined using finite element analysis to maximize the relative control torque. The proposed haptic cue device is then manufactured and its field-dependent torque and time response are experimentally evaluated. Then the manufactured MR haptic cue device is integrated with the accelerator pedal. A simple virtual vehicle emulating the operation of the engine of a passenger vehicle is constructed and put into communication with the haptic cue device. A feed-forward torque control algorithm for the haptic cue is formulated and control performances are experimentally evaluated and presented in the time domain.

Performance of an SOI Boot-Strapped Full-Bridge MOSFET Driver, Type CHT-FBDR, under Extreme Temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Richard; Hammoud, Ahmad

2009-01-01

Electronic systems designed for use in deep space and planetary exploration missions are expected to encounter extreme temperatures and wide thermal swings. Silicon-based devices are limited in their wide-temperature capability and usually require extra measures, such as cooling or heating mechanisms, to provide adequate ambient temperature for proper operation. Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology, on the other hand, lately has been gaining wide spread use in applications where high temperatures are encountered. Due to their inherent design, SOI-based integrated circuit chips are able to operate at temperatures higher than those of the silicon devices by virtue of reducing leakage currents, eliminating parasitic junctions, and limiting internal heating. In addition, SOI devices provide faster switching, consume less power, and offer improved radiation-tolerance. Very little data, however, exist on the performance of such devices and circuits under cryogenic temperatures. In this work, the performance of an SOI bootstrapped, full-bridge driver integrated circuit was evaluated under extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to establish a baseline on the functionality and to determine suitability of this device for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperature conditions.

Use of Optical Storage Devices as Shared Resources in Local Area Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

13 3. SERVICE CALLS FOR MS-DOS CD-ROM EXTENSIONS . 14 4. MS-DOS PRIMITIVE GROUPS ....................... 15 5. RAM USAGE FOR VARIOUS LAN...17 2. Service Call Translation to DOS Primitives ............. 19 3. MS-DOS Device Drivers ............................. 21 4. MS-DOS/ROM...directed to I/O devices will be referred to as primitive instruction groups). These primitive instruction groups include keyboard, video, disk, serial

National reported patterns of driver cell phone use in the United States.

PubMed

Braitman, Keli A; McCartt, Anne T

2010-12-01

To obtain detailed information on patterns of driver cell phone use, including how often drivers talk and text, the extent to which they use hands-free devices, and knowledge of and reaction to state cell phone laws. Telephone surveys were conducted with 1219 drivers in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia, using random samples of landline and cell phone numbers. Forty percent of drivers reported talking on phones at least a few times per week. The percentages were highest for males (49%) and drivers ages 25-29 (66%). The percentage of drivers who reported never talking on phones was higher in states with all-driver bans on handheld phone use (44%) than in states without a ban applying to all drivers (30%). The percentage of drivers who talk on phones and always talk hands-free was higher in states with all-driver handheld phone bans (22%) than where such bans are not in effect (13%). Thirteen percent of drivers reported some texting while driving, and this percentage was highest among drivers ages 18-24 (43%). Twelve percent of drivers in states with all-driver texting bans reported texting while driving, compared with 14 percent in states with no texting ban. Among drivers ages 18-24, the percentages were 45 and 48 percent, respectively. Most drivers reported talking on phones while driving, even though earlier surveys have found that most people think this behavior should be banned. Fewer drivers overall reported texting, but the frequency of texting was higher among young drivers. Laws banning handheld phone use seem to discourage some drivers from talking on any type of phone and motivate some drivers to talk hands-free. Laws banning texting while driving have little effect on the reported frequency of texting while driving in any age group.

Material selection indices for design of surgical instruments with long tubular shafts.

PubMed

Nelson, Carl A

2013-02-01

In any medical device design process, material selection plays an important role. For devices which sustain mechanical loading, strength and stiffness requirements can be significant drivers of the design. This paper examines the specific case of minimally invasive surgical instruments, including robotic instruments, having long, tubular shafts. Material properties-based selection indices are derived for achieving high performance of these devices in terms of strength and stiffness, and the use of these indices for informing the medical device design problem is illustrated.

Detecting eye movements in dynamic environments.

PubMed

Reimer, Bryan; Sodhi, Manbir

2006-11-01

To take advantage of the increasing number of in-vehicle devices, automobile drivers must divide their attention between primary (driving) and secondary (operating in-vehicle device) tasks. In dynamic environments such as driving, however, it is not easy to identify and quantify how a driver focuses on the various tasks he/she is simultaneously engaged in, including the distracting tasks. Measures derived from the driver's scan path have been used as correlates of driver attention. This article presents a methodology for analyzing eye positions, which are discrete samples of a subject's scan path, in order to categorize driver eye movements. Previous methods of analyzing eye positions recorded in a dynamic environment have relied completely on the manual identification of the focus of visual attention from a point of regard superimposed on a video of a recorded scene, failing to utilize information regarding movement structure in the raw recorded eye positions. Although effective, these methods are too time consuming to be easily used when the large data sets that would be required to identify subtle differences between drivers, under different road conditions, and with different levels of distraction are processed. The aim of the methods presented in this article are to extend the degree of automation in the processing of eye movement data by proposing a methodology for eye movement analysis that extends automated fixation identification to include smooth and saccadic movements. By identifying eye movements in the recorded eye positions, a method of reducing the analysis of scene video to a finite search space is presented. The implementation of a software tool for the eye movement analysis is described, including an example from an on-road test-driving sample.

Design and Implementation of Real-Time Vehicular Camera for Driver Assistance and Traffic Congestion Estimation

PubMed Central

Son, Sanghyun; Baek, Yunju

2015-01-01

As society has developed, the number of vehicles has increased and road conditions have become complicated, increasing the risk of crashes. Therefore, a service that provides safe vehicle control and various types of information to the driver is urgently needed. In this study, we designed and implemented a real-time traffic information system and a smart camera device for smart driver assistance systems. We selected a commercial device for the smart driver assistance systems, and applied a computer vision algorithm to perform image recognition. For application to the dynamic region of interest, dynamic frame skip methods were implemented to perform parallel processing in order to enable real-time operation. In addition, we designed and implemented a model to estimate congestion by analyzing traffic information. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using images of a real road environment. We found that the processing time improved by 15.4 times when all the proposed methods were applied in the application. Further, we found experimentally that there was little or no change in the recognition accuracy when the proposed method was applied. Using the traffic congestion estimation model, we also found that the average error rate of the proposed model was 5.3%. PMID:26295230

Design and Implementation of Real-Time Vehicular Camera for Driver Assistance and Traffic Congestion Estimation.

PubMed

Son, Sanghyun; Baek, Yunju

2015-08-18

As society has developed, the number of vehicles has increased and road conditions have become complicated, increasing the risk of crashes. Therefore, a service that provides safe vehicle control and various types of information to the driver is urgently needed. In this study, we designed and implemented a real-time traffic information system and a smart camera device for smart driver assistance systems. We selected a commercial device for the smart driver assistance systems, and applied a computer vision algorithm to perform image recognition. For application to the dynamic region of interest, dynamic frame skip methods were implemented to perform parallel processing in order to enable real-time operation. In addition, we designed and implemented a model to estimate congestion by analyzing traffic information. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using images of a real road environment. We found that the processing time improved by 15.4 times when all the proposed methods were applied in the application. Further, we found experimentally that there was little or no change in the recognition accuracy when the proposed method was applied. Using the traffic congestion estimation model, we also found that the average error rate of the proposed model was 5.3%.

Towards Efficient Scientific Data Management Using Cloud Storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Qiming

2013-01-01

A software prototype allows users to backup and restore data to/from both public and private cloud storage such as Amazon's S3 and NASA's Nebula. Unlike other off-the-shelf tools, this software ensures user data security in the cloud (through encryption), and minimizes users operating costs by using space- and bandwidth-efficient compression and incremental backup. Parallel data processing utilities have also been developed by using massively scalable cloud computing in conjunction with cloud storage. One of the innovations in this software is using modified open source components to work with a private cloud like NASA Nebula. Another innovation is porting the complex backup to- cloud software to embedded Linux, running on the home networking devices, in order to benefit more users.

49 CFR 393.48 - Brakes to be operative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... motor vehicle may be equipped with a device to reduce the front wheel braking effort (or in the case of... operable by the driver except upon application of the control that activates the braking system. The device... with air brakes) or 85 percent of the maximum system pressure (for vehicles which are not equipped with...

SiC Integrated Circuits for Power Device Drivers Able to Operate in Harsh Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godignon, P.; Alexandru, M.; Banu, V.; Montserrat, J.; Jorda, X.; Vellvehi, M.; Schmidt, B.; Michel, P.; Millan, J.

2014-08-01

The currently developed SiC electronic devices are more robust to high temperature operation and radiation exposure damage than correspondingly rated Si ones. In order to integrate the existent SiC high power and high temperature electronics into more complex systems, a SiC integrated circuit (IC) technology capable of operation at temperatures substantially above the conventional ones is required. Therefore, this paper is a step towards the development of ICs-control electronics that have to attend the harsh environment power applications. Concretely, we present the development of SiC MESFET-based digital circuitry, able to integrate gate driver for SiC power devices. Furthermore, a planar lateral power MESFET is developed with the aim of its co-integration on the same chip with the previously mentioned SiC digital ICs technology. And finally, experimental results on SiC Schottky-gated devices irradiated with protons and electrons are presented. This development is based on the Tungsten-Schottky interface technology used for the fabrication of stable SiC Schottky diodes for the European Space Agency Mission BepiColombo.

Evaluation of a High Temperature SOI Half-Bridge MOSFET Driver, Type CHT-HYPERION

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patterson, Richard; Hammoud, Ahmad

2010-01-01

Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology utilizes the addition of an insulation layer in its structure to reduce leakage currents and to minimize parasitic junctions. As a result, SOIbased devices exhibit reduced internal heating as compared to the conventional silicon devices, consume less power, and can withstand higher operating temperatures. In addition, SOI electronic integrated circuits display good tolerance to radiation by virtue of introducing barriers or lengthening the path for penetrating particles and/or providing a region for trapping incident ionization. The benefits of these parts make them suitable for use in deep space and planetary exploration missions where extreme temperatures and radiation are encountered. Although designed for high temperatures, very little data exist on the operation of SOI devices and circuits at cryogenic temperatures. In this work, the performance of a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) SOI half-bridge driver integrated circuit was evaluated under extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to establish a baseline on the functionality and to determine suitability of this device for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperature conditions.

A Real-Time Linux for Multicore Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-20

under ARO support) to obtain a fully-functional OS for supporting real-time workloads on multicore platforms. This system, called LITMUS -RT...to be specified as plugin components. LITMUS -RT is open-source software (available at The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report... LITMUS -RT (LInux Testbed for MUltiprocessor Scheduling in Real-Time systems), allows different multiprocessor real-time scheduling and

Linux OS Jitter Measurements at Large Node Counts using a BlueGene/L

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Terry R; Tauferner, Mr. Andrew; Inglett, Mr. Todd

2010-01-01

We present experimental results for a coordinated scheduling implementation of the Linux operating system. Results were collected on an IBM Blue Gene/L machine at scales up to 16K nodes. Our results indicate coordinated scheduling was able to provide a dramatic improvement in scaling performance for two applications characterized as bulk synchronous parallel programs.

Computer-Aided Design of Drugs on Emerging Hybrid High Performance Computers

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

solutions to virtualization include lightweight, user-level implementations on Linux operating systems , but these solutions are often dependent on a...virtualization include lightweight, user-level implementations on Linux operating systems , but these solutions are often dependent on a specific version of...Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA, 22202-4302

Interactivity vs. fairness in networked linux systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Wenji; Crawford, Matt; /Fermilab

In general, the Linux 2.6 scheduler can ensure fairness and provide excellent interactive performance at the same time. However, our experiments and mathematical analysis have shown that the current Linux interactivity mechanism tends to incorrectly categorize non-interactive network applications as interactive, which can lead to serious fairness or starvation issues. In the extreme, a single process can unjustifiably obtain up to 95% of the CPU! The root cause is due to the facts that: (1) network packets arrive at the receiver independently and discretely, and the 'relatively fast' non-interactive network process might frequently sleep to wait for packet arrival. Thoughmore » each sleep lasts for a very short period of time, the wait-for-packet sleeps occur so frequently that they lead to interactive status for the process. (2) The current Linux interactivity mechanism provides the possibility that a non-interactive network process could receive a high CPU share, and at the same time be incorrectly categorized as 'interactive.' In this paper, we propose and test a possible solution to address the interactivity vs. fairness problems. Experiment results have proved the effectiveness of the proposed solution.« less

Background music as a risk factor for distraction among young-novice drivers.

PubMed

Brodsky, Warren; Slor, Zack

2013-10-01

There are countless beliefs about the power of music during driving. The last thing one would think about is: how safe is it to listen or sing to music? Unfortunately, collisions linked to music devices have been known for some time; adjusting the radio controls, swapping tape-cassettes and compact-discs, or searching through MP3 files, are all forms of distraction that can result in a near-crash or crash. While the decrement of vehicular performance can also occur from capacity interference to central attention, whether or not music listening is a contributing factor to distraction is relatively unknown. The current study explored the effects of driver-preferred music on driver behavior. 85 young-novice drivers completed six trips in an instrumented Learners Vehicle. The study found that all participants committed at-least 3 driver deficiencies; 27 needed a verbal warning/command and 17 required a steering or braking intervention to prevent an accident. While there were elevated positive moods and enjoyment for trips with driver-preferred music, this background also produced the most frequent severe driver miscalculations and inaccuracies, violations, and aggressive driving. However, trips with music structurally designed to generate moderate levels of perceptual complexity, improved driver behavior and increased driver safety. The study is the first within-subjects on-road high-dose double-exposure clinical-trial investigation of musical stimuli on driver behavior. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology and teen drivers.

PubMed

Lee, John D

2007-01-01

The rapid evolution of computing, communication, and sensor technology is likely to affect young drivers more than others. The distraction potential of infotainment technology stresses the same vulnerabilities that already lead young drivers to crash more frequently than other drivers. Cell phones, text messaging, MP3 players, and other nomadic devices all present a threat because young drivers may lack the spare attentional capacity for vehicle control and the ability to anticipate and manage hazards. Moreover, young drivers are likely to be the first and most aggressive users of new technology. Fortunately, emerging technology can also support safe driving. Electronic stability control, collision avoidance systems, intelligent speed adaptation, and vehicle tracking systems can all help mitigate the threats to young drivers. However, technology alone is unlikely to make young drivers safer. One promising approach to tailoring technology to teen drivers is to extend proven methods for enhancing young driver safety. The success of graduated drivers license programs (GDL) and the impressive safety benefit of supervised driving suggest ways of tailoring technology to the needs of young drivers. To anticipate the effects of technology on teen driving it may be useful to draw an analogy between the effects of passengers and the effects of technology. Technology can act as a teen passenger and undermine safety or it can act as an adult passenger and enhance safety. Rapidly developing technology may have particularly large effects on teen drivers. To maximize the positive effects and minimize the negative effects will require a broad range of industries to work together. Ideally, vehicle manufacturers would work with infotainment providers, insurance companies, and policy makers to craft new technologies so that they accommodate the needs of young drivers. Without such collaboration young drivers will face even greater challenges to their safety as new technologies emerge.

Evaluation of moving-coil loudspeaker and passive radiator parameters using normal-incidence sound transmission measurements: theoretical developments.

PubMed

Leishman, Timothy W; Anderson, Brian E

2013-07-01

The parameters of moving-coil loudspeaker drivers are typically determined using direct electrical excitation and measurement. However, as electro-mechano-acoustical devices, their parameters should also follow from suitable mechanical or acoustical evaluations. This paper presents the theory of an acoustical method of excitation and measurement using normal-incidence sound transmission through a baffled driver as a plane-wave tube partition. Analogous circuits enable key parameters to be extracted from measurement results in terms of open and closed-circuit driver conditions. Associated tools are presented that facilitate adjacent field decompositions and derivations of sound transmission coefficients (in terms of driver parameters) directly from the circuits. The paper also clarifies the impact of nonanechoic receiving tube terminations and the specific benefits of downstream field decompositions.

SynCardia Portable Freedom Driver: A Single-Center Experience With 11 Patients.

PubMed

Shah, Nilay R; Jaroszewski, Dawn E; Ashfaq, Awais; Schroedl, Lucas A; Staley, Linda L; Pajaro, Octavio E; Kasirajan, Vigneshwar; Arabia, Francisco A

2015-01-01

The portable Freedom Drive (SynCardia Inc, Tucson, AZ USA) for total artificial heart (TAH-t) support was approved for an investigational device exemption study in March 2010. We review our center's experience with the portable driver. A retrospective review was conducted of patients who underwent TAH-t implantation and transfer to portable driver from September 2008 to June 2012, with follow-up through December 2012. A total of 30 patients underwent TAH-t implantation during this time period, with 11 patients successfully transferred to the Freedom Driver. Transfer to Freedom Driver after TAH-t implant was a median of 46 days (range, 225-86 days). Ninety-one percent (10) of 11 patients transferred to Freedom Driver were bridged to transplantation. One patient died on support. Five (45.5%) of 11 patients were discharged home and 5 (45.5%) remained in-patient on the portable driver before transplantation. Four patients (80%) successfully discharged home required at least 1 hospital readmission (range, 1-5 admissions per patient). Six patients (55%) transferred to the portable driver required a return to a main driver console. Two patients were temporarily maintained on the main driver then returned to the Freedom Driver for bridge to transplantation. Patients with TAH-t can be considered for transfer to the portable Freedom Driver while awaiting transplantation. Issues that complicated this patient population included inadequate social support, hemodynamic instability, and concurrent morbidities. The potential benefits of the portable driver are currently undergoing assessment. These may include increased mobility and improved quality of life, opportunity for discharge home, and decreased overall medical costs.

X-LUNA: Extending Free/Open Source Real Time Executive for On-Board Space Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braga, P.; Henriques, L.; Zulianello, M.

2008-08-01

In this paper we present xLuna, a system based on the RTEMS [1] Real-Time Operating System that is able to run on demand a GNU/Linux Operating System [2] as RTEMS' lowest priority task. Linux runs in user-mode and in a different memory partition. This allows running Hard Real-Time tasks and Linux applications on the same system sharing the Hardware resources while keeping a safe isolation and the Real-Time characteristics of RTEMS. Communication between both Systems is possible through a loose coupled mechanism based on message queues. Currently only SPARC LEON2 processor with Memory Management Unit (MMU) is supported. The advantage in having two isolated systems is that non critical components are quickly developed or simply ported reducing time-to-market and budget.

NSTX-U Advances in Real-Time C++11 on Linux

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Erickson, Keith G.

Programming languages like C and Ada combined with proprietary embedded operating systems have dominated the real-time application space for decades. The new C++11standard includes native, language-level support for concurrency, a required feature for any nontrivial event-oriented real-time software. Threads, Locks, and Atomics now exist to provide the necessary tools to build the structures that make up the foundation of a complex real-time system. The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is breaking new ground with the language as applied to the needs of fusion devices. A new Digital Coil Protection System (DCPS) willmore » serve as the main protection mechanism for the magnetic coils, and it is written entirely in C++11 running on Concurrent Computer Corporation's real-time operating system, RedHawk Linux. It runs over 600 algorithms in a 5 kHz control loop that determine whether or not to shut down operations before physical damage occurs. To accomplish this, NSTX-U engineers developed software tools that do not currently exist elsewhere, including real-time atomic synchronization, real-time containers, and a real-time logging framework. Together with a recent (and carefully configured) version of the GCC compiler, these tools enable data acquisition, processing, and output using a conventional operating system to meet a hard real-time deadline (that is, missing one periodic is a failure) of 200 microseconds.« less

NSTX-U Advances in Real-Time C++11 on Linux

DOE PAGES

Erickson, Keith G.

2015-08-14

Programming languages like C and Ada combined with proprietary embedded operating systems have dominated the real-time application space for decades. The new C++11standard includes native, language-level support for concurrency, a required feature for any nontrivial event-oriented real-time software. Threads, Locks, and Atomics now exist to provide the necessary tools to build the structures that make up the foundation of a complex real-time system. The National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is breaking new ground with the language as applied to the needs of fusion devices. A new Digital Coil Protection System (DCPS) willmore » serve as the main protection mechanism for the magnetic coils, and it is written entirely in C++11 running on Concurrent Computer Corporation's real-time operating system, RedHawk Linux. It runs over 600 algorithms in a 5 kHz control loop that determine whether or not to shut down operations before physical damage occurs. To accomplish this, NSTX-U engineers developed software tools that do not currently exist elsewhere, including real-time atomic synchronization, real-time containers, and a real-time logging framework. Together with a recent (and carefully configured) version of the GCC compiler, these tools enable data acquisition, processing, and output using a conventional operating system to meet a hard real-time deadline (that is, missing one periodic is a failure) of 200 microseconds.« less

Cell phone use and traffic crash risk: a culpability analysis.

PubMed

Asbridge, Mark; Brubacher, Jeff R; Chan, Herbert

2013-02-01

The use of a cell phone or communication device while driving is illegal in many jurisdictions, yet evidence evaluating the crash risk associated with cell phone use in naturalistic settings is limited. This article aims to determine whether cell phone use while driving increases motor vehicle crash culpability. Method Drivers involved in crashes where police reported cell phone use (n = 312) and propensity matched drivers (age, sex, suspect alcohol/drug impairment, crash type, date, time of day, geographical location) without cell phone use (n = 936) were drawn from Insurance Corporation of British Columbia Traffic Accident System data. A standardized scoring tool, modified to account for Canadian driving conditions, was used to determine crash culpability from police reports on all drivers from the crashes. The association between crash culpability and cell phone use was determined, with additional subgroup analyses based on crash severity, driver characteristics and type of licence. A comparison of crashes with vs without cell phones revealed an odds ratio of 1.70 (95% confidence interval 1.22-2.36; P = 0.002). This association was consistent after adjustment for matching variables and other covariates. Subgroup analyses demonstrated an association for male drivers, unimpaired drivers, injured and non-injured drivers, and for drivers aged between 26 and 65 years. Crash culpability was found to be significantly associated with cell phone use by drivers, increasing the odds of a culpable crash by 70% compared with drivers who did not use a cell phone. This increased risk was particularly high for middle-aged drivers.

A revolution in preventing fatal craniovertebral junction injuries: lessons learned from the Head and Neck Support device in professional auto racing.

PubMed

Kaul, Anand; Abbas, Ahmed; Smith, Gabriel; Manjila, Sunil; Pace, Jonathan; Steinmetz, Michael

2016-12-01

Fatal craniovertebral junction (CVJ) injuries were the most common cause of death in high-speed motor sports prior to 2001. Following the death of a mutual friend and race car driver, Patrick Jacquemart (1946-1981), biomechanical engineer Dr. Robert Hubbard, along with race car driver and brother-in-law Jim Downing, developed the concept for the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device to prevent flexion-distraction injuries during high-velocity impact. Biomechanical testing showed that neck shear and loading forces experienced during collisions were 3 times the required amount for a catastrophic injury. Crash sled testing with and without the HANS device elucidated reductions in neck tension, neck compression, head acceleration, and chest acceleration experienced by dummies during high-energy crashes. Simultaneously, motor sports accidents such as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s fatal crash in 2001 galvanized public opinion in favor of serious safety reform. Analysis of Earnhardt's accident demonstrated that his car's velocity parallel to the barrier was more than 150 miles per hour (mph), with deceleration upon impact of roughly 43 mph in a total of 0.08 seconds. After careful review, several major racing series such as the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and Championship Auto Racing Team (CART) made major changes to ensure the safety of drivers at the turn of the 21st century. Since the rule requiring the HANS device in professional auto racing series was put in place, there has not been a single reported case of a fatal CVJ injury.

High-pressure portable pneumatic drive unit.

PubMed

Hete, B F; Savage, M; Batur, C; Smith, W A; Golding, L A; Nosé, Y

1989-12-01

The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) is a single-chamber assist pump, driven by a high-pressure pneumatic cylinder. A low-cost, portable driver that will allow cardiac care patients, with a high-pressure pneumatic ventricle assist, more freedom of movement has been developed. The compact and light-weight configuration can provide periods of 2 h of freedom from a fixed position driver and does not use exotic technology.

Increasing Laser Stability with Improved Electronic Instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troxel, Daylin; Bennett, Aaron; Erickson, Christopher J.; Jones, Tyler; Durfee, Dallin S.

2010-03-01

We present several electronic instruments developed to implement an ultra-stable laser lock. These instruments include a high speed, low noise homodyne photo-detector; an ultrahigh stability, low noise current driver with high modulation bandwidth and digital control; a high-speed, low noise PID controller; a low-noise piezo driver; and a laser diode temperature controller. We will present the theory of operation for these instruments, design and construction techniques, and essential characteristics for each device.

Essential Power Systems Workshop - OEM Perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bill Gouse

2001-12-12

In California, idling is largely done for climate control. This suggests that climate control devices alone could be used to reduce idling. Line-haul truck drivers surveyed require an average of 4-6 kW of power for a stereo, CB radio, light, refrigerator, and climate control found in the average truck. More power may likely be necessary for peak power demands. The amount of time line-haul trucks reported to have stopped is between 25 and 30 hours per week. It was not possible to accurately determine from the pilot survey the location, purpose, and duration of idling. Consulting driver logs or electronicallymore » monitoring trucks could yield more accurate data, including seasonal and geographic differences. Truck drivers were receptive to idling alternatives. Two-thirds of truck drivers surveyed support a program to reduce idling. Two-thirds of drivers reported they would purchase idling reduction technologies if the technology yielded a payback period of two years or less. Willingness to purchase auxiliary power units appears to be higher for owner-operators than for company drivers. With a 2-year payback period, 82% of owner- operators would be willing to buy an idle- reducing device, while 63% of company drivers thought their company would do the same. Contact with companies is necessary to discern whether this difference between owner- operators and companies is true or simply due to the perception of the company drivers. Truck stops appear to be a much more attractive option for electrification than rest areas by a 48% to 21% margin. Much of this discrepancy may be due to perceived safety problems with rest areas. This survey did not properly differentiate between using these areas for breaks or overnight. The next, full survey will quantify where the truck drivers are staying overnight, where they go for breaks, and the duration of time they spend at each place. The nationwide survey, which is in progress, will indicate how applicable the results are to the US in general. In addition to the survey, we believe data loggers and focus groups will be necessary to collect the idling duration and location data necessary to compare auxiliary power units to truck stop electrification. Focus groups are recommended to better understand the driver response to APUs and electrification. The appearance and perception of the new systems will need further clarification, which could be accomplished with a demonstration for truck drivers.« less

Linux containers for fun and profit in HPC

DOE PAGES

Priedhorsky, Reid; Randles, Timothy C.

2017-10-01

This article outlines options for user-defined software stacks from an HPC perspective. Here, we argue that a lightweight approach based on Linux containers is most suitable for HPC centers because it provides the best balance between maximizing service of user needs and minimizing risks. We also discuss how containers work and several implementations, including Charliecloud, our own open-source solution developed at Los Alamos.

Linux containers for fun and profit in HPC

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Priedhorsky, Reid; Randles, Timothy C.

This article outlines options for user-defined software stacks from an HPC perspective. Here, we argue that a lightweight approach based on Linux containers is most suitable for HPC centers because it provides the best balance between maximizing service of user needs and minimizing risks. We also discuss how containers work and several implementations, including Charliecloud, our own open-source solution developed at Los Alamos.

Implementation of safety driving system using e-health and telematics technology.

PubMed

Lee, Youngbum; Lee, Myoungho

2008-08-01

This research aimed to develop a safety driving system using e-health and telematics technology. Biosignal sensors were installed in an automobile to check the driver's health status with an automatic diagnosis system providing health information to the driver. Measured data were sent to the e-health center through a telematics device, and a medical doctor analyzed these data, sending diagnosis and prescription information to the driver. This system recognizes the driver's sleeping, drinking impairment, excitability, and fatigue using biosensors. The system initially provides alerts in the automobile. It also controls the driving environment in the car, searches for a highway service area using Global Positioning System (GPS), and provides additional information for safety driving. If a car accident has occurred, it makes an emergency call to the nearest hospital, emergency center, and insurance company. A conceptual and prototype model for an imbedded system is presented with initial data for driver condition. Such a system could prevent car accidents caused by drivers driving while intoxicated and falling asleep at the wheel using the driver's biosignals measured by biosensors. The system can provide various e-health services using a telematics system to enhance the technical compatibility of the automobile.

Design of a steering stabilizer based on CAN bus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhan, Zhaomin; Yan, Yibin

2018-04-01

This design realizes a posture correction device of griping steering wheel based on CAN bus, which is embedded in the steering wheel of vehicles. The system aims to detect the drivers' abnormal griping postures and provides drivers with classification alerts, by combining the recorded griping postures data and the vehicle speed data that are obtained via the CAN bus. The warning information are automatically stored and retained in the device for 12 months. To enhance the alerting effect, the count of this warning message for both the latest month and the last 12 months are displayed on the dashboard panel. In addition to prevent itself from being blocked and self-detect any faults in advance, the appliance also provide a self-test function, which will communicate with the integrated instrument system in vehicle and do simulation test right after the vehicle power on. This appliance can help to urge and ensure drivers to operate the steering wheel correctly, effectively, and timely; prevent some typical incorrect behaviors which commonly happen along with the change of griping postures, such as the using cellphone, and ultimately, reduce the incidence of traffic accidents.

ANLPS. Graphics Driver for PostScript Output

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Engert, D.E.

1987-09-01

ANLPS is a PostScript graphics device driver for use with the proprietary CA TELLAGRAF, CUECHART, and DISSPLA products. The driver allows the user to create and send text and graphics output in the Adobe Systems` PostScript page description language, which is accepted by many print devices. The PostScript output can be generated by TELLAGRAF 6.0 and DISSPLA 10.0. The files containing the PostScript output are sent to PostScript laser printers, such as the Apple LaserWriter. It is not necessary to initialize the printer, as the output for each plot is self-contained. All CA fonts are mapped to PostScript fonts, e.g.more » Swiss-Medium is mapped to Helvetica, and the mapping is easily changed. Hardware shading and hardware characters, area fill, and color are included. Auxiliary routines are provided which allow graphics files containing figures, logos, and diagrams to be merged with text files. The user can then position, scale, and rotate the figures on the output page in the reserved area specified.« less

Control of a haptic gear shifting assistance device utilizing a magnetorheological clutch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Young-Min; Choi, Seung-Bok

2014-10-01

This paper proposes a haptic clutch driven gear shifting assistance device that can help when the driver shifts the gear of a transmission system. In order to achieve this goal, a magnetorheological (MR) fluid-based clutch is devised to be capable of the rotary motion of an accelerator pedal to which the MR clutch is integrated. The proposed MR clutch is then manufactured, and its transmission torque is experimentally evaluated according to the magnetic field intensity. The manufactured MR clutch is integrated with the accelerator pedal to transmit a haptic cue signal to the driver. The impending control issue is to cue the driver to shift the gear via the haptic force. Therefore, a gear-shifting decision algorithm is constructed by considering the vehicle engine speed concerned with engine combustion dynamics, vehicle dynamics and driving resistance. Then, the algorithm is integrated with a compensation strategy for attaining the desired haptic force. In this work, the compensator is also developed and implemented through the discrete version of the inverse hysteretic model. The control performances, such as the haptic force tracking responses and fuel consumption, are experimentally evaluated.

Advancements in medicine from aerospace research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wooten, F. T.

1972-01-01

A program designed to find second applications for space technology in the medical field is described. Illustrative examples and clinical test results are included for prosthetic urethral devices, ear oximeter for monitoring leukemia patients, devices for measuring low level CO effects on automobile drivers, radiation dosimeter probe for detecting radiation levels in cancerous areas, and electromyographic muscle trainer.

Safety Solutions and Differences in Motor Vehicle Drivers Who Use Cellular Telephones

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eidelman, James Andrew

2013-01-01

The purpose of the proposed study was to determine whether there is a correlation between attitudes toward the use of handheld cellular telephone devices while driving and the use of such devices while driving, with particular interest in the role of gender, age, marital status, parental status, age of children, having a disability, level of…

Design and characterization of a high-power ultrasound driver with ultralow-output impedance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, George K.; Olbricht, William L.

2009-11-01

We describe a pocket-sized ultrasound driver with an ultralow-output impedance amplifier circuit (less than 0.05 Ω) that can transfer more than 99% of the voltage from a power supply to the ultrasound transducer with minimal reflections. The device produces high-power acoustical energy waves while operating at lower voltages than conventional ultrasound driving systems because energy losses owing to mismatched impedance are minimized. The peak performance of the driver is measured experimentally with a PZT-4, 1.54 MHz, piezoelectric ceramic, and modeled using an adjusted Mason model over a range of transducer resonant frequencies. The ultrasound driver can deliver a 100 Vpp (peak to peak) square-wave signal across 0-8 MHz ultrasound transducers in 5 ms bursts through continuous wave operation, producing acoustic powers exceeding 130 W. Effects of frequency, output impedance of the driver, and input impedance of the transducer on the maximum acoustic output power of piezoelectric transducers are examined. The small size, high power, and efficiency of the ultrasound driver make this technology useful for research, medical, and industrial ultrasonic applications.

Design and characterization of a high-power ultrasound driver with ultralow-output impedance.

PubMed

Lewis, George K; Olbricht, William L

2009-11-01

We describe a pocket-sized ultrasound driver with an ultralow-output impedance amplifier circuit (less than 0.05 ohms) that can transfer more than 99% of the voltage from a power supply to the ultrasound transducer with minimal reflections. The device produces high-power acoustical energy waves while operating at lower voltages than conventional ultrasound driving systems because energy losses owing to mismatched impedance are minimized. The peak performance of the driver is measured experimentally with a PZT-4, 1.54 MHz, piezoelectric ceramic, and modeled using an adjusted Mason model over a range of transducer resonant frequencies. The ultrasound driver can deliver a 100 V(pp) (peak to peak) square-wave signal across 0-8 MHz ultrasound transducers in 5 ms bursts through continuous wave operation, producing acoustic powers exceeding 130 W. Effects of frequency, output impedance of the driver, and input impedance of the transducer on the maximum acoustic output power of piezoelectric transducers are examined. The small size, high power, and efficiency of the ultrasound driver make this technology useful for research, medical, and industrial ultrasonic applications.

A portable device for rapid nondestructive detection of fresh meat quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Wan; Peng, Yankun

2014-05-01

Quality attributes of fresh meat influence nutritional value and consumers' purchasing power. In order to meet the demand of inspection department for portable device, a rapid and nondestructive detection device for fresh meat quality based on ARM (Advanced RISC Machines) processor and VIS/NIR technology was designed. Working principal, hardware composition, software system and functional test were introduced. Hardware system consisted of ARM processing unit, light source unit, detection probe unit, spectral data acquisition unit, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) touch screen display unit, power unit and the cooling unit. Linux operating system and quality parameters acquisition processing application were designed. This system has realized collecting spectral signal, storing, displaying and processing as integration with the weight of 3.5 kg. 40 pieces of beef were used in experiment to validate the stability and reliability. The results indicated that prediction model developed using PLSR method using SNV as pre-processing method had good performance, with the correlation coefficient of 0.90 and root mean square error of 1.56 for validation set for L*, 0.95 and 1.74 for a*，0.94 and 0.59 for b*, 0.88 and 0.13 for pH, 0.79 and 12.46 for tenderness, 0.89 and 0.91 for water content, respectively. The experimental result shows that this device can be a useful tool for detecting quality of meat.

Truck Drivers' Use of the Internet: A Mobile Health Lifeline.

PubMed

Heaton, Karen; Combs, Bryan; Griffin, Russell

2017-06-01

Because of their social isolation, irregular and unpredictable schedules, limited access to health care, and long periods of travel, long-haul truckers may benefit from the use of mobile health applications on Internet-capable devices. The purpose of this study was to determine Internet access and usage among a sample of long-haul truck drivers. In this cross-sectional study, truck drivers completed a pencil and paper survey with questions on demographics, work and health histories, and Internet access and usage for both personal and job reasons. A total of 106 truck drivers were recruited from trucking industry trade shows, by word of mouth, and directly from trucking companies. Overall, the truck drivers' use of the Internet was limited. Their usage for personal and job-related reasons differed. Social connectivity and access to health and wellness information were important during personal usage time. Job-related Internet use was highly practical, and applied to seeking information for directions and maps, fuel stops and pricing, and communicating with employers or transmitting documents. Age and experience were associated with Internet use. Younger, less-experienced drivers used the Internet more than older, experienced drivers. Targeted mobile health messaging may be a useful tool to inform truck drivers of health conditions and plans, and may provide links to primary care providers needing to monitor or notify drivers of diagnostic results or treatment plans.

Monolithic device for modelocking and stabilization of frequency combs.

PubMed

Lee, C-C; Hayashi, Y; Silverman, K L; Feldman, A; Harvey, T; Mirin, R P; Schibli, T R

2015-12-28

We demonstrate a device that integrates a III-V semiconductor saturable absorber mirror with a graphene electro-optic modulator, which provides a monolithic solution to modelocking and noise suppression in a frequency comb. The device offers a pure loss modulation bandwidth exceeding 5 MHz and only requires a low voltage driver. This hybrid device provides not only compactness and simplicity in laser cavity design, but also small insertion loss, compared to the previous metallic-mirror-based modulators. We believe this work paves the way to portable and fieldable phase-coherent frequency combs.

Single-Event Latchup Testing of the Micrel MIC4424 Dual Power MOSFET Driver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellish, J. A.; Boutte, A.; Kim, H.; Phan, A.; Topper, A.

2016-01-01

We conducted 47 exposures of four different MIC4424 devices and did not observe any SEL or high-current events. This included worst-case conditions with a LET of 81 MeV-sq cm/mg, applied voltage of 18.5 V, a case temperature greater than 120 C, and a final fluence of 1x10(exp 7)/sq cm. We also monitored both the outputs for the presence of SETs. While the period of the 1 MHz square wave was slightly altered in some cases, no pulses were added or deleted. 1. Purpose: The purpose of this testing is to characterize the BiCMOS/DMOS Micrel MIC4424 dual, non-inverting MOSFET driver for single-event latchup (SEL) susceptibility. These data will be used for flight lot evaluation purposes. 2. Devices Tested: The MIC4423/4424/4425 family are highly reliable BiCMOS/DMOS buffer/driver MOSFET drivers. They are higher output current versions of the MIC4426/4427/4428. They can survive up to 5V of noise spiking, of either polarity, on the ground pin. They can accept, without either damage or logic upset, up to half an amp of reverse current (either polarity) forced back into their outputs. Primarily intended for driving power MOSFETs, the MIC4423/4424/4425 drivers are suitable for driving other loads (capacitive, resistive, or inductive) which require low-impedance, high peak currents, and fast switching times. Heavily loaded clock lines, coaxial cables, or piezoelectric transducers are some examples. The only known limitation on loading is that total power dissipated in the driver must be kept within the maximum power dissipation limits of the package. Five (5) parts were provided for SEL testing. We prepared four parts for irradiation and reserved one piece as an un-irradiated control. More information about the devices can be found in Table 1. The parts were prepared for testing by removing the lid from the CDIP package to expose the target die. The parts were then soldered to small copper circuit adapter boards for easy handling. These parts are fabricated in a bulk BiCMOS/DMOS technology. Since we do not know the number of overlayers used in the fabrication processes, linear energy transfer calculations are determined based on the top-surface incident ion species and kinetic energy.

Understanding adolescent development: implications for driving safety.

PubMed

Keating, Daniel P

2007-01-01

The implementation of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs has significantly improved the crash and fatality rates of novice teen drivers, but these rates remain unacceptably high. A review of adolescent development research was undertaken to identify potential areas of improvement. Research support for GDL was found to be strong, particularly regarding early acquisition of expertise in driving safety (beyond driving skill), and to limitations that reduce opportunities for distraction. GDL regimes are highly variable, and no US jurisdictions have implemented optimal regimes. Expanding and improving GDL to enhance acquisition of expertise and self-regulation are indicated for implementation and for applied research. Driver training that effectively incorporates safety goals along with driving skill is another target. The insurance industry will benefit from further GDL enhancements. Benefits may accrue to improved driver training, improved simulation devices during training, and automated safety feedback instrumentation.

Driver crash risk factors and prevalence evaluation using naturalistic driving data.

PubMed

Dingus, Thomas A; Guo, Feng; Lee, Suzie; Antin, Jonathan F; Perez, Miguel; Buchanan-King, Mindy; Hankey, Jonathan

2016-03-08

The accurate evaluation of crash causal factors can provide fundamental information for effective transportation policy, vehicle design, and driver education. Naturalistic driving (ND) data collected with multiple onboard video cameras and sensors provide a unique opportunity to evaluate risk factors during the seconds leading up to a crash. This paper uses a National Academy of Sciences-sponsored ND dataset comprising 905 injurious and property damage crash events, the magnitude of which allows the first direct analysis (to our knowledge) of causal factors using crashes only. The results show that crash causation has shifted dramatically in recent years, with driver-related factors (i.e., error, impairment, fatigue, and distraction) present in almost 90% of crashes. The results also definitively show that distraction is detrimental to driver safety, with handheld electronic devices having high use rates and risk.

Driver crash risk factors and prevalence evaluation using naturalistic driving data

PubMed Central

Dingus, Thomas A.; Guo, Feng; Lee, Suzie; Antin, Jonathan F.; Perez, Miguel; Buchanan-King, Mindy; Hankey, Jonathan

2016-01-01

The accurate evaluation of crash causal factors can provide fundamental information for effective transportation policy, vehicle design, and driver education. Naturalistic driving (ND) data collected with multiple onboard video cameras and sensors provide a unique opportunity to evaluate risk factors during the seconds leading up to a crash. This paper uses a National Academy of Sciences-sponsored ND dataset comprising 905 injurious and property damage crash events, the magnitude of which allows the first direct analysis (to our knowledge) of causal factors using crashes only. The results show that crash causation has shifted dramatically in recent years, with driver-related factors (i.e., error, impairment, fatigue, and distraction) present in almost 90% of crashes. The results also definitively show that distraction is detrimental to driver safety, with handheld electronic devices having high use rates and risk. PMID:26903657

The effects of age on crash risk associated with driver distraction.

PubMed

Guo, Feng; Klauer, Sheila G; Fang, Youjia; Hankey, Jonathan M; Antin, Jonathan F; Perez, Miguel A; Lee, Suzanne E; Dingus, Thomas A

2017-02-01

Driver distraction is a major contributing factor to crashes, which are the leading cause of death for the US population under 35 years of age. The prevalence of secondary-task engagement and its impacts on distraction and crashes may vary substantially by driver age. Driving performance and behaviour data were collected continuously using multiple cameras and sensors in situ for 3542 participant drivers recruited for up to 3 years for the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study. Secondary-task engagement at the onset of crashes and during normal driving segments was identified from videos. A case-cohort approach was used to estimate the crash odds ratios associated with, and the prevalence of, secondary tasks for four age groups: 16-20, 21-29, 30-64 and 65-98 years of age. Only severe crashes (property damage and higher severity) were included in the analysis. Secondary-task-induced distraction posed a consistently higher threat for drivers younger than 30 and above 65 when compared with middle-aged drivers, although senior drivers engaged in secondary tasks much less frequently than their younger counterparts. Secondary tasks with high visual-manual demand (e.g. visual-manual tasks performed on cell phones) affected drivers of all ages. Certain secondary tasks, such as operation of in-vehicle devices and talking/singing, increased the risk for only certain age groups. Teenaged, young adult drivers and senior drivers are more adversely impacted by secondary-task engagement than middle-aged drivers. Visual-manual distractions impact drivers of all ages, whereas cognitive distraction may have a larger impact on young drivers. © The Author 2016; all rights reserved. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association

Performance Evaluation of an Automotive-Grade, High Speed Gate Driver for SiC FETs, Type UCC27531, Over a Wide Temperature Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boomer, Kristen; Hammoud, Ahmad

2015-01-01

Silicon carbide (SiC) devices are becoming widely used in electronic power circuits as replacement for conventional silicon parts due to their attractive properties that include low on-state resistance, high temperature tolerance, and high frequency operation. These attributes have a significant impact by reducing system weight, saving board space, and conserving power. In this work, the performance of an automotive-grade high speed gate driver with potential use in controlling SiC FETs (field-Effect Transistors) in converters or motor control applications was evaluated under extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to assess performance and to determine suitability of this device for use in space exploration missions under extreme temperature conditions.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: RefleX : X-ray-tracing code (Paltani+, 2017)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paltani, S.; Ricci, C.

2017-11-01

We provide here the RefleX executable, for both Linux and MacOSX, together with the User Manual and example script file and output file Running (for instance): reflex_linux will produce the file reflex.out Note that the results may differ slightly depending on the OS, because of slight differences in some implementations numerical computations. The difference are scientifically meaningless. (5 data files).

Adaptive Multilevel Middleware for Object Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

the system at the system-call level or using the CORBA-standard Extensible Transport Framework ( ETF ). Transparent insertion is highly desirable from an...often as it needs to. This is remedied by using the real-time scheduling class in a stock Linux kernel. We used schedsetscheduler system call (with...real-time scheduling class (SCHEDFIFO) for all the ML-NFD programs, later experiments with CPU load indicate that a stock Linux kernel is not

NAVO MSRC Navigator. Fall 2006

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

UNIX Manual Pages: xdm (1x). 7. Buddenhagen, Oswald, “The KDM Handbook,” KDE Documentation, http://docs.kde.org/development/ en /kdebase/kdm/. 8... Linux Opteron cluster was recently determined through a series of simulations that employed both fixed and adaptive meshes. The fixed-mesh scalability...approximately eight in the total number of cells in the 3-D simulation. The fixed-mesh and AMR scalability results on the Linux Opteron cluster are

Modeling the injury prevention impact of mandatory alcohol ignition interlock installation in all new US vehicles.

PubMed

Carter, Patrick M; Flannagan, Carol A C; Bingham, C Raymond; Cunningham, Rebecca M; Rupp, Jonathan D

2015-05-01

We estimated the injury prevention impact and cost savings associated with alcohol interlock installation in all new US vehicles. We identified fatal and nonfatal injuries associated with drinking driver vehicle crashes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and National Automotive Sampling System's General Estimates System data sets (2006-2010). We derived the estimated impact of universal interlock installation using an estimate of the proportion of alcohol-related crashes that were preventable in vehicles < 1 year-old. We repeated this analysis for each subsequent year, assuming a 15-year implementation. We applied existing crash-induced injury cost metrics to approximate economic savings, and we used a sensitivity analysis to examine results with varying device effectiveness. Over 15 years, 85% of crash fatalities (> 59 000) and 84% to 88% of nonfatal injuries (> 1.25 million) attributed to drinking drivers would be prevented, saving an estimated $342 billion in injury-related costs, with the greatest injury and cost benefit realized among recently legal drinking drivers. Cost savings outweighed installation costs after 3 years, with the policy remaining cost effective provided device effectiveness remained above approximately 25%. Alcohol interlock installation in all new vehicles is likely a cost-effective primary prevention policy that will substantially reduce alcohol-involved crash fatalities and injuries, especially among young vulnerable drivers.

Modeling the Injury Prevention Impact of Mandatory Alcohol Ignition Interlock Installation in All New US Vehicles

PubMed Central

Flannagan, Carol A. C.; Bingham, C. Raymond; Cunningham, Rebecca M.; Rupp, Jonathan D.

2015-01-01

Objectives. We estimated the injury prevention impact and cost savings associated with alcohol interlock installation in all new US vehicles. Methods. We identified fatal and nonfatal injuries associated with drinking driver vehicle crashes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and National Automotive Sampling System’s General Estimates System data sets (2006–2010). We derived the estimated impact of universal interlock installation using an estimate of the proportion of alcohol-related crashes that were preventable in vehicles < 1 year-old. We repeated this analysis for each subsequent year, assuming a 15-year implementation. We applied existing crash-induced injury cost metrics to approximate economic savings, and we used a sensitivity analysis to examine results with varying device effectiveness. Results. Over 15 years, 85% of crash fatalities (> 59 000) and 84% to 88% of nonfatal injuries (> 1.25 million) attributed to drinking drivers would be prevented, saving an estimated $342 billion in injury-related costs, with the greatest injury and cost benefit realized among recently legal drinking drivers. Cost savings outweighed installation costs after 3 years, with the policy remaining cost effective provided device effectiveness remained above approximately 25%. Conclusions. Alcohol interlock installation in all new vehicles is likely a cost-effective primary prevention policy that will substantially reduce alcohol-involved crash fatalities and injuries, especially among young vulnerable drivers. PMID:25790385

An embedded system developed for hand held assay used in water monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Lin; Wang, Jianwei; Ramakrishna, Bharath; Hsueh, Mingkai; Liu, Jonathan; Wu, Qufei; Wu, Chao-Cheng; Cao, Mang; Chang, Chein-I.; Jensen, Janet L.; Jensen, James O.; Knapp, Harlan; Daniel, Robert; Yin, Ray

2005-11-01

The US Army Joint Service Agent Water Monitor (JSAWM) program is currently interested in an approach that can implement a hardware- designed device in ticket-based hand-held assay (currently being developed) used for chemical/biological agent detection. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the proof of concept. Three components are envisioned to accomplish the task. One is the ticket development which has been undertaken by the ANP, Inc. Another component is the software development which has been carried out by the Remote Sensing Signal and Image Processing Laboratory (RSSIPL) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). A third component is an embedded system development which can be used to drive the UMBC-developed software to analyze the ANP-developed HHA tickets on a small pocket-size device like a PDA. The main focus of this paper is to investigate the third component that is viable and is yet to be explored. In order to facilitate to prove the concept, a flatbed scanner is used to replace a ticket reader to serve as an input device. The Stargate processor board is used as the embedded System with Embedded Linux installed. It is connected to an input device such as scanner as well as output devices such as LCD display or laptop etc. It executes the C-Coded processing program developed for this embedded system and outputs its findings on a display device. The embedded system to be developed and investigated in this paper is the core of a future hardware device. Several issues arising in such an embedded system will be addressed. Finally, the proof-of-concept pilot embedded system will be demonstrated.

STS-57 inflight maintenance (IFM) tool tray at Boeing FEPF bench review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

STS-57 inflight maintenance (IFM) tool tray is displayed on a table top during the bench review at Boeing's Flight Equipment Processing Facility (FEPF) located near JSC. The tool tray will be located on Endeavour's, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105's, middeck in forward locker MF57K and includes modified forceps, L-shaped hex wrenches, jeweler screwdrivers, adjustable wrench, bone saw, combination wrenches, override devices, switch guards, tape measure, torque driver, short screwdriver, long screwdriver, phillips screwdrivers, ratchet wrench, needlenose pliers, torque tips, adapter, universal joint, deepwell sockets, sockets, driver handle, seat adjustment tool, extensions, torque wrench, allen head drivers, hacksaw, and blades. Photo taken by NASA JSC contract photographer Benny Benavides.

Expyriment: a Python library for cognitive and neuroscientific experiments.

PubMed

Krause, Florian; Lindemann, Oliver

2014-06-01

Expyriment is an open-source and platform-independent lightweight Python library for designing and conducting timing-critical behavioral and neuroimaging experiments. The major goal is to provide a well-structured Python library for script-based experiment development, with a high priority being the readability of the resulting program code. Expyriment has been tested extensively under Linux and Windows and is an all-in-one solution, as it handles stimulus presentation, the recording of input/output events, communication with other devices, and the collection and preprocessing of data. Furthermore, it offers a hierarchical design structure, which allows for an intuitive transition from the experimental design to a running program. It is therefore also suited for students, as well as for experimental psychologists and neuroscientists with little programming experience.

Raspberry Pi in-situ network monitoring system of groundwater flow and temperature integrated with OpenGeoSys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Chan-Hee; Lee, Cholwoo

2016-04-01

Raspberry Pi series is a low cost, smaller than credit-card sized computers that various operating systems such as linux and recently even Windows 10 are ported to run on. Thanks to massive production and rapid technology development, the price of various sensors that can be attached to Raspberry Pi has been dropping at an increasing speed. Therefore, the device can be an economic choice as a small portable computer to monitor temporal hydrogeological data in fields. In this study, we present a Raspberry Pi system that measures a flow rate, and temperature of groundwater at sites, stores them into mysql database, and produces interactive figures and tables such as google charts online or bokeh offline for further monitoring and analysis. Since all the data are to be monitored on internet, any computers or mobile devices can be good monitoring tools at convenience. The measured data are further integrated with OpenGeoSys, one of the hydrogeological models that is also ported to the Raspberry Pi series. This leads onsite hydrogeological modeling fed by temporal sensor data to meet various needs.

Performance of an MPI-only semiconductor device simulator on a quad socket/quad core InfiniBand platform.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shadid, John Nicolas; Lin, Paul Tinphone

2009-01-01

This preliminary study considers the scaling and performance of a finite element (FE) semiconductor device simulator on a capacity cluster with 272 compute nodes based on a homogeneous multicore node architecture utilizing 16 cores. The inter-node communication backbone for this Tri-Lab Linux Capacity Cluster (TLCC) machine is comprised of an InfiniBand interconnect. The nonuniform memory access (NUMA) nodes consist of 2.2 GHz quad socket/quad core AMD Opteron processors. The performance results for this study are obtained with a FE semiconductor device simulation code (Charon) that is based on a fully-coupled Newton-Krylov solver with domain decomposition and multilevel preconditioners. Scaling andmore » multicore performance results are presented for large-scale problems of 100+ million unknowns on up to 4096 cores. A parallel scaling comparison is also presented with the Cray XT3/4 Red Storm capability platform. The results indicate that an MPI-only programming model for utilizing the multicore nodes is reasonably efficient on all 16 cores per compute node. However, the results also indicated that the multilevel preconditioner, which is critical for large-scale capability type simulations, scales better on the Red Storm machine than the TLCC machine.« less

A radiograph positioning technique to evaluate prosthetic misfit and bone loss around implants.

PubMed

Lin, Kevin C; Wadhwani, Chandur P K; Sharma, Arun; Finzen, Frederick

2014-02-01

A radiograph positioning device was developed to fit with commercially available film holders and implant systems. The device is indexed to the dental implant body and the adjacent dentition by using an implant placement driver and polyvinyl siloxane occlusal registration material. By fitting the device to a conventional film holder, accurate orthogonal radiographs can monitor changes in bone architecture and prosthetic misfit. Copyright © 2014 Editorial Council for the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Smart Power: New power integrated circuit technologies and their applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuivalainen, Pekka; Pohjonen, Helena; Yli-Pietilae, Timo; Lenkkeri, Jaakko

1992-05-01

Power Integrated Circuits (PIC) is one of the most rapidly growing branches of the semiconductor technology. The PIC markets has been forecast to grow from 660 million dollars in 1990 to 1658 million dollars in 1994. It has even been forecast that at the end of the 1990's the PIC markets would correspond to the value of the whole semiconductor production in 1990. Automotive electronics will play the leading role in the development of the standard PIC's. Integrated motor drivers (36 V/4 A), smart integrated switches (60 V/30 A), solenoid drivers, integrated switch-mode power supplies and regulators are the latest standard devices of the PIC manufactures. ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) PIC solutions are needed for the same reasons as other ASIC devices: there are no proper standard devices, a company has a lot of application knowhow, which should be kept inside the company, the size of the product must be reduced, and assembly costs are wished to be reduced by decreasing the number of discrete devices. During the next few years the most probable ASIC PIC applications in Finland will be integrated solenoid and motor drivers, an integrated electronic lamp ballast circuit and various sensor interface circuits. Application of the PIC technologies to machines and actuators will strongly be increased all over the world. This means that various PIC's, either standard PIC's or full custom ASIC circuits, will appear in many products which compete with the corresponding Finnish products. Therefore the development of the PIC technologies must be followed carefully in order to immediately be able to apply the latest development in the smart power technologies and their design methods.

Obesity and trauma mortality: Sizing up the risks in motor vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Joseph, Bellal; Hadeed, Steven; Haider, Ansab A; Ditillo, Michael; Joseph, Aly; Pandit, Viraj; Kulvatunyou, Narong; Tang, Andrew; Latifi, Rifat; Rhee, Peter

Protective effects of safety devices in obese motorists in motor vehicle collisions (MVC) remain unclear. Aim of our study is to assess the association between morbid obesity and mortality in MVC, and to determine the efficacy of protective devices. We hypothesised that patients with morbid obesity will be at greater risk of death after MVC. A retrospective analysis of MVC patients (age ≥16 y.o.) was performed using the National Trauma Data Bank from 2007 to 2010. Patients with recorded comorbidity of morbid obesity (BMI≥40) were identified. Patients dead on arrival, with isolated traumatic brain injury, or incomplete data were excluded. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Multivariate logistic regression was performed. Our sample of 214,306 MVC occupants included 10,260 (4.8%) morbidly obese patients. Mortality risk was greatest among occupants with morbid obesity (OR crude 1.74 [1.54-1.98]). After adjusting for patient demographics, safety device and physiological severity, odds of death was 1.52 [1.33-1.74] times greater in motorists with morbid obesity. Motorists with morbid obesity were at greater risk of death if no restraint (OR 1.84 [1.47-2.31]), seatbelt only (OR 1.48 [1.17-1.86]), or both seatbelt and airbag were present (OR 1.49 [1.13-1.97]). No significant differences in the odds of death exist between drivers with morbid obesity and non-morbidly obese drivers with only airbag deployment (OR 0.99 [0.65-1.51]). Motorists with morbid obesity are at greater risk of MVC. Regardless of safety device use, occupants with morbid obesity remained at greater risk of death. Further research examining the effectiveness of vehicle restraints in drivers with morbid obesity is warranted. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Evaluation of a Commercial Tractor Safety Monitoring System Using a Reverse Engineering Procedure.

PubMed

Casazza, Camilla; Martelli, Roberta; Rondelli, Valda

2016-10-17

There is a high rate of work-related deaths in agriculture. In Italy, despite the obligato-ry installation of ROPS, fatal accidents involving tractors represent more than 40% of work-related deaths in agriculture. As death is often due to an overturn that the driver is incapable of predicting, driver assistance devices that can signal critical stability conditions have been studied and marketed to prevent accidents. These devices measure the working parameters of the tractor through sensors and elaborate the values using an algorithm that, taking into account the geometric characteristics of the tractor, pro-vides a risk index based on models elaborated on a theoretical basis. This research aimed to verify one of these stability indexes in the field, using a commercial driver as-sistance device to monitor five tractors on the University of Bologna experimental farm. The setup of the device involved determining the coordinates of the center of gravity of the tractor and the implement mounted on the tractor. The analysis of the stability in-dex, limited to events with a significant risk level, revealed a clear separation into two groups: events with high values of roll or pitch and low speeds, typical of a tractor when working, and events with low values of roll and pitch and high steering angle and forward speed, typical of travel on the road. The equation for calculating the critical speed when turning provided a significant contribution only for events that were typi-cal of travel rather than field work, suggesting a diversified calculation approach ac-cording to the work phase. Copyright© by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

Source Code Analysis Laboratory (SCALe) for Energy Delivery Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

the software for reevaluation. Once the ree- valuation process is completed, CERT provides the client a report detailing the software’s con - formance...Flagged Nonconformities (FNC) Software System TP/FNC Ratio Mozilla Firefox version 2.0 6/12 50% Linux kernel version 2.6.15 10/126 8% Wine...inappropriately tuned for analysis of the Linux kernel, which has anomalous results. Customizing SCALe to work with energy system software will help

Reactive Aggregate Model Protecting Against Real-Time Threats

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

on the underlying functionality of three core components. • MS SQL server 2008 backend database. • Microsoft IIS running on Windows server 2008...services. The capstone tested a Linux-based Apache web server with the following software implementations: • MySQL as a Linux-based backend server for...malicious compromise. 1. Assumptions • GINA could connect to a backend MS SQL database through proper configuration of DotNetNuke. • GINA had access

Covert Android Rootkit Detection: Evaluating Linux Kernel Level Rootkits on the Android Operating System

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-14

the attacker . Thus, this race condition causes a privilege escalation . 2.2.5 Summary This section reviewed software exploitation of a Linux kernel...has led to increased targeting by malware writers. Android attacks have naturally sparked interest in researching protections for Android . This...release, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. These rootkits focused on covert techniques to hide the presence of data used by an attacker to infect a

The Ubuntu Chat Corpus for Multiparticipant Chat Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. the # LINUX corpus (Elsner and Charniak 2010), and the #IPHONE/#PHYSICS/#PYTHON corpus (Adams 2008). For many...made publicly available, making it difficult to comparatively evaluate dif- ferent techniques. Corpus Description Ubuntu, a Linux -based operating...Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE ) support #ubuntu-devel 2 112 074 12 140 53.7 2004-10-01 Developmental team coordination #ubuntu+1 1 621 680 26 805 52.6 2007-04-04

MVC for Content Management on the Cloud

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Windows, Linux , MacOS, PalmOS and other customized ones (Qiu). Figure 20 illustrates implementation of MVC architecture. Qiu examines a “universal...Listing of Unzipped Text Document (From O’Reilly & Associates, Inc, 2005) Figure 37 shows the results of unzipping this file in Linux . The contents of the...ODF Adoption TC, and the ODF Alliance include members from Adobe, BBC, Bristol City Council, Bull, Corel, EDS, EMC, GNOME, IBM, Intel, KDE , MySQL

[Making a low cost IPSec router on Linux and the assessment for practical use].

PubMed

Amiki, M; Horio, M

2001-09-01

We installed Linux and FreeS/WAN on a PC/AT compatible machine to make an IPSec router. We measured the time of ping/ftp, only in the university, between the university and the external network. Between the university and the external network (the Internet), there were no differences. Therefore, we concluded that CPU load was not remarkable at low speed networks, because packets exchanged via the Internet are small, or compressions of VPN are more effective than encoding and decoding. On the other hand, in the university, the IPSec router performed down about 20-30% compared with normal IP communication, but this is not a serious problem for practical use. Recently, VPN machines are becoming cheaper, but they do not function sufficiently to create a fundamental VPN environment. Therefore, if one wants a fundamental VPN environment at a low cost, we believe you should select a VPN router on Linux.

LXtoo: an integrated live Linux distribution for the bioinformatics community

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Recent advances in high-throughput technologies dramatically increase biological data generation. However, many research groups lack computing facilities and specialists. This is an obstacle that remains to be addressed. Here, we present a Linux distribution, LXtoo, to provide a flexible computing platform for bioinformatics analysis. Findings Unlike most of the existing live Linux distributions for bioinformatics limiting their usage to sequence analysis and protein structure prediction, LXtoo incorporates a comprehensive collection of bioinformatics software, including data mining tools for microarray and proteomics, protein-protein interaction analysis, and computationally complex tasks like molecular dynamics. Moreover, most of the programs have been configured and optimized for high performance computing. Conclusions LXtoo aims to provide well-supported computing environment tailored for bioinformatics research, reducing duplication of efforts in building computing infrastructure. LXtoo is distributed as a Live DVD and freely available at http://bioinformatics.jnu.edu.cn/LXtoo. PMID:22813356

LXtoo: an integrated live Linux distribution for the bioinformatics community.

PubMed

Yu, Guangchuang; Wang, Li-Gen; Meng, Xiao-Hua; He, Qing-Yu

2012-07-19

Recent advances in high-throughput technologies dramatically increase biological data generation. However, many research groups lack computing facilities and specialists. This is an obstacle that remains to be addressed. Here, we present a Linux distribution, LXtoo, to provide a flexible computing platform for bioinformatics analysis. Unlike most of the existing live Linux distributions for bioinformatics limiting their usage to sequence analysis and protein structure prediction, LXtoo incorporates a comprehensive collection of bioinformatics software, including data mining tools for microarray and proteomics, protein-protein interaction analysis, and computationally complex tasks like molecular dynamics. Moreover, most of the programs have been configured and optimized for high performance computing. LXtoo aims to provide well-supported computing environment tailored for bioinformatics research, reducing duplication of efforts in building computing infrastructure. LXtoo is distributed as a Live DVD and freely available at http://bioinformatics.jnu.edu.cn/LXtoo.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sayan Ghosh, Jeff Hammond

OpenSHMEM is a community effort to unifyt and standardize the SHMEM programming model. MPI (Message Passing Interface) is a well-known community standard for parallel programming using distributed memory. The most recen t release of MPI, version 3.0, was designed in part to support programming models like SHMEM.OSHMPI is an implementation of the OpenSHMEM standard using MPI-3 for the Linux operating system. It is the first implementation of SHMEM over MPI one-sided communication and has the potential to be widely adopted due to the portability and widely availability of Linux and MPI-3. OSHMPI has been tested on a variety of systemsmore » and implementations of MPI-3, includingInfiniBand clusters using MVAPICH2 and SGI shared-memory supercomputers using MPICH. Current support is limited to Linux but may be extended to Apple OSX if there is sufficient interest. The code is opensource via https://github.com/jeffhammond/oshmpi« less

Timing characterization and analysis of the Linux-based, closed loop control computer for the Subaru Telescope laser guide star adaptive optics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinkins, Matthew; Colley, Stephen

2008-07-01

Hardware and software specialized for real time control reduce the timing jitter of executables when compared to off-the-shelf hardware and software. However, these specialized environments are costly in both money and development time. While conventional systems have a cost advantage, the jitter in these systems is much larger and potentially problematic. This study analyzes the timing characterstics of a standard Dell server running a fully featured Linux operating system to determine if such a system would be capable of meeting the timing requirements for closed loop operations. Investigations are preformed on the effectiveness of tools designed to make off-the-shelf system performance closer to specialized real time systems. The Gnu Compiler Collection (gcc) is compared to the Intel C Compiler (icc), compiler optimizations are investigated, and real-time extensions to Linux are evaluated.

Web-based Quality Control Tool used to validate CERES products on a cluster of Linux servers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, C.; Sun-Mack, S.; Heckert, E.; Chen, Y.; Mlynczak, P.; Mitrescu, C.; Doelling, D.

2014-12-01

There have been a few popular desktop tools used in the Earth Science community to validate science data. Because of the limitation on the capacity of desktop hardware such as disk space and CPUs, those softwares are not able to display large amount of data from files.This poster will talk about an in-house developed web-based software built on a cluster of Linux servers. That allows users to take advantage of a few Linux servers working in parallel to generate hundreds images in a short period of time. The poster will demonstrate:(1) The hardware and software architecture is used to provide high throughput of images. (2) The software structure that can incorporate new products and new requirement quickly. (3) The user interface about how users can manipulate the data and users can control how the images are displayed.

A linear motor and compact cylinder-piston driver for left ventricular bypass.

PubMed

Qian, K X

1990-01-01

A simple, portable, reliable and noise-free pneumatic driver has been developed. It consists of a linear motor attached to a cylinder piston, in one unit. The motor coil is directly wound on the cylinder, and the permanent magnet is fixed to the piston. As a continuous voltage square wave is applied to the coil, the cylinder reciprocates on the piston periodically, producing air pressure and vacuum alternately. In conjunction with a locally made diaphragm pump, the driver was tested in vitro and in vivo. Results demonstrated that the device could drive the diaphragm pump and so support the circulation of an experimental animal. The driver weighs 12 kg. For 200 mmHg air pressure and -80 mmHg vacuum the power consumed is 30 W. Its noise is about 30 dB, less than that of an artificial valve and pump.

Detection of illicit drugs in impaired driver saliva by a field-usable SERS analyzer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shende, Chetan; Huang, Hermes; Farquharson, Stuart

2014-05-01

One of the greatest dangers of drug use is in combination with driving. According to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies, more than 11% of drivers tested positive for illicit drugs, while 18% of drivers killed in accidents tested positive for illicit, prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Consequently, there is a need for a rapid, noninvasive, roadside drug testing device, similar to the breathalyzers used by law enforcement officials to estimate blood alcohol levels of impaired drivers. In an effort to satisfy this need we have been developing a sampling kit that allows extraction of drugs from 1 mL of saliva and detection by surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy using a portable Raman analyzer. Here we describe the development of the sampling kit and present measurements of diazepam at sub μg/mL concentrations measured in ~15 minutes.

Cross-Sectional Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in Japanese Public Transportation Drivers: Its Prevalence and Association With Pathological Objective Daytime Sleepiness.

PubMed

Sasai-Sakuma, Taeko; Kikuchi, Katsunori; Inoue, Yuichi

2016-05-01

This study investigates obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) prevalence among Japanese occupational drivers and factors associated with a pathological level of objective daytime sleepiness. Portable monitoring device (PMD) screening was applied to 2389 Japanese male public transportation traffic drivers. Nocturnal polysomnography (n-PSG) and multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT) were administered to subjects with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) at least 15 on PMD. In all, 235 subjects were diagnosed as having OSAS (9.8%). AHI on n-PSG at least 40 and Epworth Sleepiness Scale score at least 11 were extracted as factors associated with mean sleep latency on MSLT less than 5 minutes. Prevalence of OSAS in male Japanese public transportation traffic drivers was 9.8% or greater. Individuals aware of excessive daytime sleepiness and with severe OSAS were inferred as exhibiting a pathological level of objective daytime sleepiness.

Older driver failures of attention at intersections: using change blindness methods to assess turn decision accuracy.

PubMed

Caird, Jeff K; Edwards, Christopher J; Creaser, Janet I; Horrey, William J

2005-01-01

A modified version of the flicker technique to induce change blindness was used to examine the effects of time constraints on decision-making accuracy at intersections on a total of 62 young (18-25 years), middle-aged (26-64 years), young-old (65-73 years), and old-old (74+ years) drivers. Thirty-six intersection photographs were manipulated so that one object (i.e., pedestrian, vehicle, sign, or traffic control device) in the scene would change when the images were alternated for either 5 or 8 s using the modified flicker method. Young and middle-aged drivers made significantly more correct decisions than did young-old and old-old drivers. Logistic regression analysis of the data indicated that age and/or time were significant predictors of decision performance in 14 of the 36 intersections. Actual or potential applications of this research include driving assessment and crash investigation.

Flip-chip integrated silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with a 28nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS driver.

PubMed

Yong, Zheng; Shopov, Stefan; Mikkelsen, Jared C; Mallard, Robert; Mak, Jason C C; Voinigescu, Sorin P; Poon, Joyce K S

2017-03-20

We present a silicon electro-optic transmitter consisting of a 28nm ultra-thin body and buried oxide fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (UTBB FD-SOI) CMOS driver flip-chip integrated onto a Mach-Zehnder modulator. The Mach-Zehnder silicon optical modulator was optimized to have a 3dB bandwidth of around 25 GHz at -1V bias and a 50 Ω impedance. The UTBB FD-SOI CMOS driver provided a large output voltage swing around 5 V_pp to enable a high dynamic extinction ratio and a low device insertion loss. At 44 Gbps, the transmitter achieved a high extinction ratio of 6.4 dB at the modulator quadrature operation point. This result shows open eye diagrams at the highest bit rates and with the largest extinction ratios for silicon electro-optic transmitter using a CMOS driver.

Understanding commercial truck drivers' decision-makin process concerning distracted driving.

PubMed

Swedler, David I; Pollack, Keshia M; Gielen, Andrea C

2015-05-01

A concurrent mixed methods design was used to explore personal and workplace factors, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior, that affect truck drivers' decision-making about distracted driving on the job. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews with experts in truck safety and distracted driving, and quantitative data were collected via online survey of truck drivers in the United States. Findings from the interviews illustrated how drivers perceived distractions and the importance of supervisors enforcing organizational distracted driving policies. Survey results found that behavioral intentions were most important in regards to texting and crash and near-crash outcomes, while perceived norms from management best described the correlation between dispatch device use and negative crash-related outcomes. By using a mixed methods design, rather than two separate studies, these findings revealed nuanced differences into the influence of supervisors on distracted driving. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon Nanotube Driver Circuit for 6 × 6 Organic Light Emitting Diode Display

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Jianping; Zhang, Kang; Li, Jingqi; Zhao, Yongbiao; Wang, Yilei; Pillai, Suresh Kumar Raman; Volkan Demir, Hilmi; Sun, Xiaowei; Chan-Park, Mary B.; Zhang, Qing

2015-06-01

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is expected to be a very promising material for flexible and transparent driver circuits for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AM OLED) displays due to its high field-effect mobility, excellent current carrying capacity, optical transparency and mechanical flexibility. Although there have been several publications about SWNT driver circuits, none of them have shown static and dynamic images with the AM OLED displays. Here we report on the first successful chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown SWNT network thin film transistor (TFT) driver circuits for static and dynamic AM OLED displays with 6 × 6 pixels. The high device mobility of ~45 cm2V-1s-1 and the high channel current on/off ratio of ~105 of the SWNT-TFTs fully guarantee the control capability to the OLED pixels. Our results suggest that SWNT-TFTs are promising backplane building blocks for future OLED displays.

Carbon Nanotube Driver Circuit for 6 × 6 Organic Light Emitting Diode Display.

PubMed

Zou, Jianping; Zhang, Kang; Li, Jingqi; Zhao, Yongbiao; Wang, Yilei; Pillai, Suresh Kumar Raman; Volkan Demir, Hilmi; Sun, Xiaowei; Chan-Park, Mary B; Zhang, Qing

2015-06-29

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is expected to be a very promising material for flexible and transparent driver circuits for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AM OLED) displays due to its high field-effect mobility, excellent current carrying capacity, optical transparency and mechanical flexibility. Although there have been several publications about SWNT driver circuits, none of them have shown static and dynamic images with the AM OLED displays. Here we report on the first successful chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown SWNT network thin film transistor (TFT) driver circuits for static and dynamic AM OLED displays with 6 × 6 pixels. The high device mobility of ~45 cm(2)V(-1)s(-1) and the high channel current on/off ratio of ~10(5) of the SWNT-TFTs fully guarantee the control capability to the OLED pixels. Our results suggest that SWNT-TFTs are promising backplane building blocks for future OLED displays.

Function Specifications for the A-7E Function Driver Module.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-27

Computer interface specifications (HEN181). The services and values provided by the Shared Services module are accurately described in the Shared Services Module...None$) FD.7.l.3.1 FD.7.1.7.1 5517a FD.App3 -5 Appendix 3 Event List (Alphabetical) Events Signalled by other Shared Services submodules @F( ABSCI+ip az...the Shared Services and Device Interface modules. Al; Answer this question for each table that appears in the function driver specification being

State laws restricting driver use of mobile communications devices distracted-driving provisions, 1992-2010.

PubMed

Ibrahim, Jennifer K; Anderson, Evan D; Burris, Scott C; Wagenaar, Alexander C

2011-06-01

State laws limiting the use of mobile communications devices (MCDs) by drivers are being enacted at an accelerating pace. Public health law research is needed to test various legislative models and guide future legal innovation. To define the current state of the law, facilitate new multi-state evaluations, and demonstrate the utility of systematic, scientific legal research methods to improve public health services research. Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis were used to create a 50-state, open-source data set of laws restricting the use of any form of MCD while operating a motor vehicle that were in effect between January 1, 1992, and November 1, 2010. Using an iterative process, the search protocol included the following terms: cellphone, cell phone, cellular phone, wireless telephone, mobile telephone, text, hands-free, cell! and text! The text and citations of each law were collected and coded across 22 variables, and a protocol and code book were developed to facilitate future public use of the data set. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have at least one form of restriction on the use of MCDs in effect. The laws vary in the types of communication activities and categories of driver regulated, as well as enforcement mechanisms and punishments. No state completely bans use of MCDs by all drivers. State distracted-driving policy is diverging from evidence on the risks of MCD use by drivers. An updatable data set of laws is now available to researchers conducting multistate evaluations of the impact of laws regulating MCDs by drivers. If this data set is shown to be useful for this public health problem, similar rigorously developed and regularly updated data sets might be developed for other public health issues that are subject to legislative interventions. Copyright © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The smartphone and the driver's cognitive workload: A comparison of Apple, Google, and Microsoft's intelligent personal assistants.

PubMed

Strayer, David L; Cooper, Joel M; Turrill, Jonna; Coleman, James R; Hopman, Rachel J

2017-06-01

The goal of this research was to examine the impact of voice-based interactions using 3 different intelligent personal assistants (Apple's Siri , Google's Google Now for Android phones, and Microsoft's Cortana ) on the cognitive workload of the driver. In 2 experiments using an instrumented vehicle on suburban roadways, we measured the cognitive workload of drivers when they used the voice-based features of each smartphone to place a call, select music, or send text messages. Cognitive workload was derived from primary task performance through video analysis, secondary-task performance using the Detection Response Task (DRT), and subjective mental workload. We found that workload was significantly higher than that measured in the single-task drive. There were also systematic differences between the smartphones: The Google system placed lower cognitive demands on the driver than the Apple and Microsoft systems, which did not differ. Video analysis revealed that the difference in mental workload between the smartphones was associated with the number of system errors, the time to complete an action, and the complexity and intuitiveness of the devices. Finally, surprisingly high levels of cognitive workload were observed when drivers were interacting with the devices: "on-task" workload measures did not systematically differ from that associated with a mentally demanding Operation Span (OSPAN) task. The analysis also found residual costs associated using each of the smartphones that took a significant time to dissipate. The data suggest that caution is warranted in the use of smartphone voice-based technology in the vehicle because of the high levels of cognitive workload associated with these interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Driving with indirect viewing sensors: understanding the visual perception issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Kane, Barbara L.

1996-05-01

Visual perception is one of the most important elements of driving in that it enables the driver to understand and react appropriately to the situation along the path of the vehicle. The visual perception of the driver is enabled to the greatest extent while driving during the day. Noticeable decrements in visual acuity, range of vision, depth of field and color perception occur at night and under certain weather conditions. Indirect viewing sensors, utilizing various technologies and spectral bands, may assist the driver's normal mode of driving. Critical applications in the military as well as other official activities may require driving at night without headlights. In these latter cases, it is critical that the device, being the only source of scene information, provide the required scene cues needed for driving on, and often-times, off road. One can speculate about the scene information that a driver needs, such as road edges, terrain orientation, people and object detection in or near the path of the vehicle, and so on. But the perceptual qualities of the scene that give rise to these perceptions are little known and thus not quantified for evaluation of indirect viewing devices. This paper discusses driving with headlights and compares the scene content with that provided by a thermal system in the 8 - 12 micrometers micron spectral band, which may be used for driving at some time. The benefits and advantages of each are discussed as well as their limitations in providing information useful for the driver who must make rapid and critical decisions based upon the scene content available. General recommendations are made for potential avenues of development to overcome some of these limitations.

Exploiting IoT Technologies and Open Source Components for Smart Seismic Network Instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Germenis, N. G.; Koulamas, C. A.; Foundas, P. N.

2017-12-01

The data collection infrastructure of any seismic network poses a number of requirements and trade-offs related to accuracy, reliability, power autonomy and installation & operational costs. Having the right hardware design at the edge of this infrastructure, embedded software running inside the instruments is the heart of pre-processing and communication services implementation and their integration with the central storage and processing facilities of the seismic network. This work demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of exploiting software components from heterogeneous sources in order to realize a smart seismic data logger, achieving higher reliability, faster integration and less development and testing costs of critical functionality that is in turn responsible for the cost and power efficient operation of the device. The instrument's software builds on top of widely used open source components around the Linux kernel with real-time extensions, the core Debian Linux distribution, the earthworm and seiscomp tooling frameworks, as well as components from the Internet of Things (IoT) world, such as the CoAP and MQTT protocols for the signaling planes, besides the widely used de-facto standards of the application domain at the data plane, such as the SeedLink protocol. By using an innovative integration of features based on lower level GPL components of the seiscomp suite with higher level processing earthworm components, coupled with IoT protocol extensions to the latter, the instrument can implement smart functionality such as network controlled, event triggered data transmission in parallel with edge archiving and on demand, short term historical data retrieval.

Decentralized real-time simulation of forest machines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freund, Eckhard; Adam, Frank; Hoffmann, Katharina; Rossmann, Juergen; Kraemer, Michael; Schluse, Michael

2000-10-01

To develop realistic forest machine simulators is a demanding task. A useful simulator has to provide a close- to-reality simulation of the forest environment as well as the simulation of the physics of the vehicle. Customers demand a highly realistic three dimensional forestry landscape and the realistic simulation of the complex motion of the vehicle even in rough terrain in order to be able to use the simulator for operator training under close-to- reality conditions. The realistic simulation of the vehicle, especially with the driver's seat mounted on a motion platform, greatly improves the effect of immersion into the virtual reality of a simulated forest and the achievable level of education of the driver. Thus, the connection of the real control devices of forest machines to the simulation system has to be supported, i.e. the real control devices like the joysticks or the board computer system to control the crane, the aggregate etc. Beyond, the fusion of the board computer system and the simulation system is realized by means of sensors, i.e. digital and analog signals. The decentralized system structure allows several virtual reality systems to evaluate and visualize the information of the control devices and the sensors. So, while the driver is practicing, the instructor can immerse into the same virtual forest to monitor the session from his own viewpoint. In this paper, we are describing the realized structure as well as the necessary software and hardware components and application experiences.

CATAVIÑA: new infrared camera for OAN-SPM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iriarte, Arturo; Cruz-González, Irene; Martínez, Luis A.; Tinoco, Silvio; Lara, Gerardo; Ruiz, Elfego; Sohn, Erika; Bernal, Abel; Angeles, Fernando; Moreno, Arturo; Murillo, Francisco; Langarica, Rosalía; Luna, Esteban; Salas, Luis; Cajero, Vicente

2006-06-01

CATAVIÑA is a near-infrared camera system to be operated in conjunction with the existing multi-purpose nearinfrared optical bench "CAMALEON" in OAN-SPM. Observing modes include direct imaging, spectroscopy, Fabry- Perot interferometry and polarimetry. This contribution focuses on the optomechanics and detector controller description of CATAVIÑA, which is planned to start operating later in 2006. The camera consists of an 8 inch LN2 dewar containing a 10 filter carousel, a radiation baffle and the detector circuit board mount. The system is based on a Rockwell 1024x1024 HgCdTe (HAWAII-I) FPA, operating in the 1 to 2.5 micron window. The detector controller/readout system was designed and developed at UNAM Instituto de Astronomia. It is based on five Texas Instruments DSK digital signal processor (DSP) modules. One module generates the detector and ADC-system control, while the remaining four are in charge of the acquisition of each of the detector's quadrants. Each DSP has a built-in expanded memory module in order to store more than one image. The detector read-out and signal driver subsystems are mounted onto the dewar in a "back-pack" fashion, each containing four independent pre-amplifiers, converters and signal drivers, that communicate through fiber optics with their respective DSPs. This system has the possibility of programming the offset input voltage and converter gain. The controller software architecture is based on a client/server model. The client sends commands through the TCP/IP protocol and acquires the image. The server consists of a microcomputer with an embedded Linux operating system, which runs the main program that receives the user commands and interacts with the timing and acquisition DSPs. The observer's interface allows for several readout and image processing modes.

Assessing sleepiness and sleep disorders in Australian long-distance commercial vehicle drivers: self-report versus an "at home" monitoring device.

PubMed

Sharwood, Lisa N; Elkington, Jane; Stevenson, Mark; Grunstein, Ronald R; Meuleners, Lynn; Ivers, Rebecca Q; Haworth, Narelle; Norton, Robyn; Wong, Keith K

2012-04-01

As obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with a higher risk of motor vehicle crashes, there is increasing regulatory interest in the identification of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers with this condition. This study aimed to determine the relationship between subjective versus objective assessment of OSA in CMV drivers. Cross-sectional survey. Heavy vehicle truck stops located across the road network of 2 large Australian states. A random sample of long distance commercial vehicle drivers (n = 517). None. Drivers were interviewed regarding their driving experience, personal health, shift schedules, payments, and various questions on sleep and tiredness in order to describe their sleep health across a range of variables. In addition, home recordings using a flow monitor were used during one night of sleep. Only 4.4% of drivers reported a previous diagnosis of sleep apnea, while our at home diagnostic test found a further 41% of long-distance heavy vehicle drivers likely to have sleep apnea. The multivariable apnea prediction index, based on self-report measures, showed poor agreement with the home-monitor detected sleep apnea (AUC 0.58, 95%CI = 0.49-0.62), and only 12% of drivers reported daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale score > 10). Thirty-six percent of drivers were overweight and a further 50% obese; 49% of drivers were cigarette smokers. Sleep apnea remains a significant and unrecognized problem in CMV drivers, who we found to have multiple health risks. Objective testing for this sleep disorder needs to be considered, as symptom reports and self-identification appear insufficient to accurately identify those at risk.

The impact of high-risk drivers and benefits of limiting their driving degree of freedom.

PubMed

Habtemichael, Filmon G; de Picado-Santos, Luis

2013-11-01

The perception of drivers regarding risk-taking behaviour is widely varied. High-risk drivers are the segment of drivers who are disproportionately represented in the majority of crashes. This study examines the typologies of drivers in risk-taking behaviour, the common high-risk driving errors (speeding, close following, abrupt lane-changing and impaired driving), their safety consequences and the technological (ITS) devices for their detection and correction. Limiting the driving degree of freedom of high-risk drivers is proposed and its benefits on safety as well as traffic operations are quantified using VISSIM microscopic traffic simulation at various proportions of high-risk drivers; namely, 4%, 8% and 12%. Assessment of the safety benefits was carried out by using the technique of simulated vehicle conflicts which was validated against historic crashes, and reduction in travel time was used to quantify the operational benefits. The findings imply that limiting the freedom of high-risk drivers resulted in a reduction of crashes by 12%, 21% and 27% in congested traffic conditions; 9%, 13% and 18% in lightly congested traffic conditions as well as 9%, 10% and 17% in non-congested traffic conditions for high-risk drivers in proportions of 4%, 8% and 12% respectively. Moreover, the surrogate safety measures indicated that there was a reduction in crash severity levels. The operational benefits amounted to savings of nearly 1% in travel time for all the proportions of high-risk drivers considered. The study concluded that limiting the freedom of high-risk drivers has safety and operational benefits; though there could be social, legal and institutional concerns for its practical implementation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using trip diaries to mitigate route risk and risky driving behavior among older drivers.

PubMed

Payyanadan, Rashmi P; Maus, Adam; Sanchez, Fabrizzio A; Lee, John D; Miossi, Lillian; Abera, Amsale; Melvin, Jacob; Wang, Xufan

2017-09-01

To reduce exposure to risky and challenging driving situations and prolong mobility and independence, older drivers self-regulate their driving behavior. But self-regulation can be challenging because it depends on drivers' ability to assess their limitations. Studies using self-reports, survey data, and hazard and risk perception tests have shown that driving behavior feedback can help older drivers assess their limitations and adjust their driving behavior. But only limited work has been conducted in developing feedback technology interventions tailored to meet the information needs of older drivers, and the impact these interventions have in helping older drivers self-monitor their driving behavior and risk outcomes. The vehicles of 33 drivers 65 years and older were instrumented with OBD2 devices. Older drivers were provided access to customized web-based Trip Diaries that delivered post-trip feedback of the routes driven, low-risk route alternatives, and frequency of their risky driving behaviors. Data were recorded over four months, with baseline driving behavior collected for one month. Generalized linear mixed effects regression models assessed the effects of post-trip feedback on the route risk and driving behaviors of older drivers. Results showed that post-trip feedback reduced the estimated route risk of older drivers by 2.9% per week, and reduced their speeding frequency on average by 0.9% per week. Overall, the Trip Diary feedback reduced the expected crash rate from 1 in 6172 trips to 1 in 7173 trips, and the expected speeding frequency from 46% to 39%. Thus providing older drivers with tailored feedback of their driving behavior and crash risk could help them appropriately self-regulate their driving behavior, and improve their crash risk outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developing and Benchmarking Native Linux Applications on Android

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batyuk, Leonid; Schmidt, Aubrey-Derrick; Schmidt, Hans-Gunther; Camtepe, Ahmet; Albayrak, Sahin

Smartphones get increasingly popular where more and more smartphone platforms emerge. Special attention was gained by the open source platform Android which was presented by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) hosting members like Google, Motorola, and HTC. Android uses a Linux kernel and a stripped-down userland with a custom Java VM set on top. The resulting system joins the advantages of both environments, while third-parties are intended to develop only Java applications at the moment.

System Data Model (SDM) Source Code

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-08-23

CROSS_COMPILE=/opt/gumstix/build_arm_nofpu/staging_dir/bin/arm-linux-uclibcgnueabi- 8 : CC=$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc 9: CXX=$(CROSS_COMPILE)g++ 10 : AR...and flags to pass to it 6: LEX=flex 7: LEXFLAGS=-B 8 : 9: ## The parser generator to invoke and flags to pass to it 10 : YACC=bison 11: YACCFLAGS...5: # Point to default PetaLinux root directory 6: ifndef ROOTDIR 7: ROOTDIR=$(PETALINUX)/software/petalinux-dist 8 : endif 9: 10 : PATH:=$(PATH

The database design of LAMOST based on MYSQL/LINUX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hui-Xian, Sang, Jian; Wang, Sha; Luo, A.-Li

2006-03-01

The Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) will be set up in the coming years. A fully automated software system for reducing and analyzing the spectra has to be developed with the telescope. This database system is an important part of the software system. The requirements for the database of the LAMOST, the design of the LAMOST database system based on MYSQL/LINUX and performance tests of this system are described in this paper.

Navigation/Prop Software Suite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruchmiller, Tomas; Tran, Sanh; Lee, Mathew; Bucker, Scott; Bupane, Catherine; Bennett, Charles; Cantu, Sergio; Kwong, Ping; Propst, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Navigation (Nav)/Prop software is used to support shuttle mission analysis, production, and some operations tasks. The Nav/Prop suite containing configuration items (CIs) resides on IPS/Linux workstations. It features lifecycle documents, and data files used for shuttle navigation and propellant analysis for all flight segments. This suite also includes trajectory server, archive server, and RAT software residing on MCC/Linux workstations. Navigation/Prop represents tool versions established during or after IPS Equipment Rehost-3 or after the MCC Rehost.

Malware Memory Analysis of the IVYL Linux Rootkit: Investigating a Publicly Available Linux Rootkit Using the Volatility Memory Analysis Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-01

report is to examine how a computer forensic investigator/incident handler, without specialised computer memory or software reverse engineering skills ...The skills amassed by incident handlers and investigators alike while using Volatility to examine Windows memory images will be of some help...bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog 1362 1000 1000 nautilus 1366 1000 1000 /usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/gconf- helper 1370 1000 1000 nm-applet

Approaches in highly parameterized inversion—PEST++ Version 3, a Parameter ESTimation and uncertainty analysis software suite optimized for large environmental models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Welter, David E.; White, Jeremy T.; Hunt, Randall J.; Doherty, John E.

2015-09-18

The PEST++ Version 3 software suite can be compiled for Microsoft Windows®4 and Linux®5 operating systems; the source code is available in a Microsoft Visual Studio®6 2013 solution; Linux Makefiles are also provided. PEST++ Version 3 continues to build a foundation for an open-source framework capable of producing robust and efficient parameter estimation tools for large environmental models.

Porting and refurbishment of the WSS TNG control software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caproni, Alessandro; Zacchei, Andrea; Vuerli, Claudio; Pucillo, Mauro

2004-09-01

The Workstation Software Sytem (WSS) is the high level control software of the Italian Galileo Galilei Telescope settled in La Palma Canary Island developed at the beginning of '90 for HP-UX workstations. WSS may be seen as a middle layer software system that manages the communications between the real time systems (VME), different workstations and high level applications providing a uniform distributed environment. The project to port the control software from the HP workstation to Linux environment started at the end of 2001. It is aimed to refurbish the control software introducing some of the new software technologies and languages, available for free in the Linux operating system. The project was realized by gradually substituting each HP workstation with a Linux PC with the goal to avoid main changes in the original software running under HP-UX. Three main phases characterized the project: creation of a simulated control room with several Linux PCs running WSS (to check all the functionality); insertion in the simulated control room of some HPs (to check the mixed environment); substitution of HP workstation in the real control room. From a software point of view, the project introduces some new technologies, like multi-threading, and the possibility to develop high level WSS applications with almost every programming language that implements the Berkley sockets. A library to develop java applications has also been created and tested.

I/O impedance controller

DOEpatents

Ruesch, Rodney; Jenkins, Philip N.; Ma, Nan

2004-03-09

There is disclosed apparatus and apparatus for impedance control to provide for controlling the impedance of a communication circuit using an all-digital impedance control circuit wherein one or more control bits are used to tune the output impedance. In one example embodiment, the impedance control circuit is fabricated using circuit components found in a standard macro library of a computer aided design system. According to another example embodiment, there is provided a control for an output driver on an integrated circuit ("IC") device to provide for forming a resistor divider network with the output driver and a resistor off the IC device so that the divider network produces an output voltage, comparing the output voltage of the divider network with a reference voltage, and adjusting the output impedance of the output driver to attempt to match the output voltage of the divider network and the reference voltage. Also disclosed is over-sampling the divider network voltage, storing the results of the over sampling, repeating the over-sampling and storing, averaging the results of multiple over sampling operations, controlling the impedance with a plurality of bits forming a word, and updating the value of the word by only one least significant bit at a time.

Driver electronics design and control for a total artificial heart linear motor.

PubMed

Unthan, Kristin; Cuenca-Navalon, Elena; Pelletier, Benedikt; Finocchiaro, Thomas; Steinseifer, Ulrich

2018-01-27

For any implantable device size and efficiency are critical properties. Thus, a linear motor for a Total Artificial Heart was optimized with focus on driver electronics and control strategies. Hardware requirements were defined from power supply and motor setup. Four full bridges were chosen for the power electronics. Shunt resistors were set up for current measurement. Unipolar and bipolar switching for power electronics control were compared regarding current ripple and power losses. Here, unipolar switching showed smaller current ripple and required less power to create the necessary motor forces. Based on calculations for minimal power losses Lorentz force was distributed to the actor's four coils. The distribution was determined as ratio of effective magnetic flux through each coil, which was captured by a force test rig. Static and dynamic measurements under physiological conditions analyzed interaction of control and hardware and all efficiencies were over 89%. In conclusion, the designed electronics, optimized control strategy and applied current distribution create the required motor force and perform optimal under physiological conditions. The developed driver electronics and control offer optimized size and efficiency for any implantable or portable device with multiple independent motor coils. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Development of an algorithm for an EEG-based driver fatigue countermeasure.

PubMed

Lal, Saroj K L; Craig, Ashley; Boord, Peter; Kirkup, Les; Nguyen, Hung

2003-01-01

Fatigue affects a driver's ability to proceed safely. Driver-related fatigue and/or sleepiness are a significant cause of traffic accidents, which makes this an area of great socioeconomic concern. Monitoring physiological signals while driving provides the possibility of detecting and warning of fatigue. The aim of this paper is to describe an EEG-based fatigue countermeasure algorithm and to report its reliability. Changes in all major EEG bands during fatigue were used to develop the algorithm for detecting different levels of fatigue. The software was shown to be capable of detecting fatigue accurately in 10 subjects tested. The percentage of time the subjects were detected to be in a fatigue state was significantly different than the alert phase (P<.01). This is the first countermeasure software described that has shown to detect fatigue based on EEG changes in all frequency bands. Field research is required to evaluate the fatigue software in order to produce a robust and reliable fatigue countermeasure system. The development of the fatigue countermeasure algorithm forms the basis of a future fatigue countermeasure device. Implementation of electronic devices for fatigue detection is crucial for reducing fatigue-related road accidents and their associated costs.

Remotely accessible laboratory for MEMS testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivakumar, Ganapathy; Mulsow, Matthew; Melinger, Aaron; Lacouture, Shelby; Dallas, Tim E.

2010-02-01

We report on the construction of a remotely accessible and interactive laboratory for testing microdevices (aka: MicroElectroMechancial Systems - MEMS). Enabling expanded utilization of microdevices for research, commercial, and educational purposes is very important for driving the creation of future MEMS devices and applications. Unfortunately, the relatively high costs associated with MEMS devices and testing infrastructure makes widespread access to the world of MEMS difficult. The creation of a virtual lab to control and actuate MEMS devices over the internet helps spread knowledge to a larger audience. A host laboratory has been established that contains a digital microscope, microdevices, controllers, and computers that can be logged into through the internet. The overall layout of the tele-operated MEMS laboratory system can be divided into two major parts: the server side and the client side. The server-side is present at Texas Tech University, and hosts a server machine that runs the Linux operating system and is used for interfacing the MEMS lab with the outside world via internet. The controls from the clients are transferred to the lab side through the server interface. The server interacts with the electronics required to drive the MEMS devices using a range of National Instruments hardware and LabView Virtual Instruments. An optical microscope (100 ×) with a CCD video camera is used to capture images of the operating MEMS. The server broadcasts the live video stream over the internet to the clients through the website. When the button is pressed on the website, the MEMS device responds and the video stream shows the movement in close to real time.

Applications of a new mass-driver concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oneill, G. K.

1981-01-01

A description of the operating principles and requirements of a novel mass-driver concept is presented. The design obtains acceleration of payload bucket coils by means of transverse focussing from strong, off-axis restoring forces that are produced by drive coils operating in a 'pull-only' mode. The concept offers the unprecedented possibility of operating high-performance mass-drivers entirely within the limitations of existing commercial switching devices, such as silicon-controlled rectifiers, spark gaps, vacuum-triggered arcs or vacuum mechanical switches. Representative applications of the concept described are: (1) a large-diameter magnetic lunar launcher for payloads having autonomous maneuvering; (2) an intermediate-diameter launcher with long operational life; and (3) a reaction engine for orbit transfer of large, massive objects.

Apparatus for stopping a vehicle

DOEpatents

Wattenburg, Willard H [Walnut Creek, CA; McCallen, David B [Livermore, CA

2007-03-20

An apparatus for externally controlling one or more brakes on a vehicle having a pressurized fluid braking system. The apparatus can include a pressurizable vessel that is adapted for fluid-tight coupling to the braking system. Impact to the rear of the vehicle by a pursuit vehicle, shooting a target mounted on the vehicle or sending a signal from a remote control can all result in the fluid pressures in the braking system of the vehicle being modified so that the vehicle is stopped and rendered temporarily inoperable. A control device can also be provided in the driver's compartment of the vehicle for similarly rendering the vehicle inoperable. A driver or hijacker of the vehicle preferably cannot overcome the stopping action from the driver's compartment.

Towards a Teleoperated Needle Driver Robot with Haptic Feedback for RFA of Breast Tumors under Continuous MRI1

PubMed Central

Kokes, Rebecca; Lister, Kevin; Gullapalli, Rao; Zhang, Bao; MacMillan, Alan; Richard, Howard; Desai, Jaydev P.

2009-01-01

Objective The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of developing a MRI-compatible needle driver system for radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of breast tumors under continuous MRI imaging while being teleoperated by a haptic feedback device from outside the scanning room. The developed needle driver prototype was designed and tested for both tumor targeting capability as well as RFA. Methods The single degree-of-freedom (DOF) prototype was interfaced with a PHANToM haptic device controlled from outside the scanning room. Experiments were performed to demonstrate MRI-compatibility and position control accuracy with hydraulic actuation, along with an experiment to determine the PHANToM’s ability to guide the RFA tool to a tumor nodule within a phantom breast tissue model while continuously imaging within the MRI and receiving force feedback from the RFA tool. Results Hydraulic actuation is shown to be a feasible actuation technique for operation in an MRI environment. The design is MRI-compatible in all aspects except for force sensing in the directions perpendicular to the direction of motion. Experiments confirm that the user is able to detect healthy vs. cancerous tissue in a phantom model when provided with both visual (imaging) feedback and haptic feedback. Conclusion The teleoperated 1-DOF needle driver system presented in this paper demonstrates the feasibility of implementing a MRI-compatible robot for RFA of breast tumors with haptic feedback capability. PMID:19303805

Safety-critical event risk associated with cell phone tasks as measured in naturalistic driving studies: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Simmons, Sarah M; Hicks, Anne; Caird, Jeff K

2016-02-01

A systematic review and meta-analysis of naturalistic driving studies involving estimates of safety-critical event risk associated with handheld device use while driving is described. Fifty-seven studies identified from targeted databases, journals and websites were reviewed in depth, and six were ultimately included. These six studies, published between 2006 and 2014, encompass seven sets of naturalistic driver data and describe original research that utilized naturalistic methods to assess the effects of distracting behaviors. Four studies involved non-commercial drivers of light vehicles and two studies involved commercial drivers of trucks and buses. Odds ratios quantifying safety-critical event (SCE) risk associated with talking, dialing, locating or answering, and texting or browsing were extracted. Stratified meta-analysis of pooled odds ratios was used to estimate SCE risk by distraction type; meta-regression was used to test for sources of heterogeneity. The results indicate that tasks that require drivers to take their eyes off the road, such as dialing, locating a phone and texting, increase SCE risk to a greater extent than tasks that do not require eyes off the road such as talking. Although talking on a handheld device did not increase SCE risk, further research is required to determine whether it indirectly influences SCE risk (e.g., by encouraging other cell phone activities). In addition, a number of study biases and quality issues of naturalistic driving studies are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thin-Layer Composite Unimorph Ferroelectric Driver Sensor Properties

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mossi, Karla M.; Selby, Gregory V.; Bryant, Robert G.

1998-01-01

Tests were conducted on 13 different configurations of a new class of piezoelectric devices called THUNDER (thin layer composite unimorph ferroelectric driver and sensor). These configurations consisted of a combination of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 layers of 25.4 micron thick aluminium as a backing material, with and without a top layer of 25.4 micrometer aluminum. All of these configurations used the same piezoelectric ceramic wafer (PZT-5A) with dimensions of 5.08 x 3.81 x 0.018 cm. The above configurations were tested at two stages of the manufacturing process: before and after repoling. The parameters measured included frequency, driving voltage. displacement, capacitance, and radius of curvature. An optic sensor recorded the displacement at a fixed voltage(100 - 400 V peak to peak) over a predetermined frequency range (1 - 1000 Hz). These displacement measurements were performed using a computer that controlled the process of activating and measuring the displacement of the device. A parameter alpha was defined which can be used to predict the which configuration will produce the most displacement for a free standing device.

Technology-design-manufacturing co-optimization for advanced mobile SoCs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Da; Gan, Chock; Chidambaram, P. R.; Nallapadi, Giri; Zhu, John; Song, S. C.; Xu, Jeff; Yeap, Geoffrey

2014-03-01

How to maintain the Moore's Law scaling beyond the 193 immersion resolution limit is the key question semiconductor industry needs to answer in the near future. Process complexity will undoubtfully increase for 14nm node and beyond, which brings both challenges and opportunities for technology development. A vertically integrated design-technologymanufacturing co-optimization flow is desired to better address the complicated issues new process changes bring. In recent years smart mobile wireless devices have been the fastest growing consumer electronics market. Advanced mobile devices such as smartphones are complex systems with the overriding objective of providing the best userexperience value by harnessing all the technology innovations. Most critical system drivers are better system performance/power efficiency, cost effectiveness, and smaller form factors, which, in turns, drive the need of system design and solution with More-than-Moore innovations. Mobile system-on-chips (SoCs) has become the leading driver for semiconductor technology definition and manufacturing. Here we highlight how the co-optimization strategy influenced architecture, device/circuit, process technology and package, in the face of growing process cost/complexity and variability as well as design rule restrictions.

Low-Field and High-Field Characterization of THUNDER Actuators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ounaies, Z.; Mossi, K.; Smith, R.; Bernd, J.; Bushnell, Dennis M. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

THUNDER (THin UNimorph DrivER) actuators are pre-stressed piezoelectric devices developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) that exhibit enhanced strain capabilities. As a result, they are of interest in a variety of aerospace applications. Characterization of their performance as a function of electric field, temperature and frequency is needed in order to optimize their operation. Towards that end, a number of THUNDER devices were obtained from FACE International Co. with a stainless steel substrate varying in thickness from 1 mil to 20 mils. The various devices were evaluated to determine low-field and high-field displacement its well as the polarization hysteresis loops. The thermal stability of these drivers was evaluated by two different methods. First, the samples were thermally cycled under electric field by systematically increasing the maximum temperature from 25 C to 200 C while the displacement was being measured. Second, the samples were isothermally aged at 0 C, 50 C, 100 C. and 150 C in air, and the isothermal decay of the displacement was measured at room temperature as a function of time.

An introduction to the Micrel Micropump MP Daily portable syringe driver.

PubMed

Groves, Karen E

2003-11-01

In this article the author describes the Micrel Micropump MP Daily (MP Daily) portable syringe driver. This follows the author's experience of a 4-month pilot of the device by an inpatient palliative care unit. Portable syringe drivers are commonly used to deliver continuous subcutaneous infusions in palliative care situations. Those in current use are not without problems and serious adverse events have occasionally been reported, mainly resulting from confusion between models. The MP Daily syringe driver addresses some of these issues while remaining small, lightweight and inexpensive, with a long battery life and fitting into the pocket of a shirt of pyjama jacket. Improvements over current models include an on/off button, the absence of facilities to set a zero rate or change the rate once the syringe driver is running, and the absence of a boost button. In addition, there are improved alarms, a message display system and a configuration menu. Although confusion remains a problem, and the ideal has not yet been reached, the MP Daily goes some considerable way towards reducing risks and opportunities for human error.

The benefits and drawbacks of syringe drivers in palliative care.

PubMed

Costello, John; Nyatanga, Brian; Mula, Carole; Hull, Jenny

2008-03-01

This article will outline the use of continuous subcutaneous infusion pumps, known as syringe drivers, including their benefits and drawbacks in a palliative care context. There have been over 5000 articles published globally describing syringe drivers in the medical and nursing literature within the last decade. Many provide guidance on their use, although much of the data are repetitious, disease or age-group specific, and focused on pragmatic issues to do with clinical application. Several trusts and hospices across the UK are carrying out trials of the recently launched McKinley T34 syringe driver. Therefore, it seems timely to consider their wider use internationally. Globally, practitioners in palliative care are very familiar with their use, although the literature lacks specific guidance and, at times, the information is ambiguous. Having briefly reviewed their benefits, the article considers the limitations of using syringe drivers and comments on some of the lesser known/reported practical and patient-focused drawbacks associated with their use. We conclude by considering why, when so much education and training exists to help practitioners use these devices effectively, so many human errors occur.

Estimation of automobile-driver describing function from highway tests using the double steering wheel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delp, P.; Crossman, E. R. F. W.; Szostak, H.

1972-01-01

The automobile-driver describing function for lateral position control was estimated for three subjects from frequency response analysis of straight road test results. The measurement procedure employed an instrumented full size sedan with known steering response characteristics, and equipped with a lateral lane position measuring device based on video detection of white stripe lane markings. Forcing functions were inserted through a servo driven double steering wheel coupling the driver to the steering system proper. Random appearing, Gaussian, and transient time functions were used. The quasi-linear models fitted to the random appearing input frequency response characterized the driver as compensating for lateral position error in a proportional, derivative, and integral manner. Similar parameters were fitted to the Gabor transformed frequency response of the driver to transient functions. A fourth term corresponding to response to lateral acceleration was determined by matching the time response histories of the model to the experimental results. The time histories show evidence of pulse-like nonlinear behavior during extended response to step transients which appear as high frequency remnant power.

Impacts of Fog Characteristics, Forward Illumination, and Warning Beacon Intensity Distribution on Roadway Hazard Visibility

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Warning beacons are critical for the safety of transportation, construction, and utility workers. These devices need to produce sufficient luminous intensity to be visible without creating glare to drivers. Published standards for the photometric performance of warning beacons do not address their performance in conditions of reduced visibility such as fog. Under such conditions light emitted in directions other than toward approaching drivers can create scattered light that makes workers and other hazards less visible. Simulations of visibility of hazards under varying conditions of fog density, forward vehicle lighting, warning beacon luminous intensity, and intensity distribution were performed to assess their impacts on visual performance by drivers. Each of these factors can influence the ability of drivers to detect and identify workers and hazards along the roadway in work zones. Based on the results, it would be reasonable to specify maximum limits on the luminous intensity of warning beacons in directions that are unlikely to be seen by drivers along the roadway, limits which are not included in published performance specifications. PMID:27314058

The effects of using a portable music player on simulated driving performance and task-sharing strategies.

PubMed

Young, Kristie L; Mitsopoulos-Rubens, Eve; Rudin-Brown, Christina M; Lenné, Michael G

2012-07-01

This study examined the effects of performing scrollable music selection tasks using a portable music player (iPod Touch™) on simulated driving performance and task-sharing strategies, as evidenced through eye glance behaviour and secondary task performance. A total of 37 drivers (18-48 yrs) completed the PC-based MUARC Driver Distraction Test (DDT) while performing music selection tasks on an iPod Touch. Drivers' eye glance behaviour was examined using faceLAB eye tracking equipment. Results revealed that performing music search tasks while driving increased the amount of time that drivers spent with their eyes off the roadway and decreased their ability to maintain a constant lane position and time headway from a lead vehicle. There was also evidence, however, that drivers attempted to regulate their behaviour when distracted by decreasing their speed and taking a large number of short glances towards the device. Overall, results suggest that performing music search tasks while driving is problematic and steps to prohibit this activity should be taken. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Cloud BioLinux: pre-configured and on-demand bioinformatics computing for the genomics community.

PubMed

Krampis, Konstantinos; Booth, Tim; Chapman, Brad; Tiwari, Bela; Bicak, Mesude; Field, Dawn; Nelson, Karen E

2012-03-19

A steep drop in the cost of next-generation sequencing during recent years has made the technology affordable to the majority of researchers, but downstream bioinformatic analysis still poses a resource bottleneck for smaller laboratories and institutes that do not have access to substantial computational resources. Sequencing instruments are typically bundled with only the minimal processing and storage capacity required for data capture during sequencing runs. Given the scale of sequence datasets, scientific value cannot be obtained from acquiring a sequencer unless it is accompanied by an equal investment in informatics infrastructure. Cloud BioLinux is a publicly accessible Virtual Machine (VM) that enables scientists to quickly provision on-demand infrastructures for high-performance bioinformatics computing using cloud platforms. Users have instant access to a range of pre-configured command line and graphical software applications, including a full-featured desktop interface, documentation and over 135 bioinformatics packages for applications including sequence alignment, clustering, assembly, display, editing, and phylogeny. Each tool's functionality is fully described in the documentation directly accessible from the graphical interface of the VM. Besides the Amazon EC2 cloud, we have started instances of Cloud BioLinux on a private Eucalyptus cloud installed at the J. Craig Venter Institute, and demonstrated access to the bioinformatic tools interface through a remote connection to EC2 instances from a local desktop computer. Documentation for using Cloud BioLinux on EC2 is available from our project website, while a Eucalyptus cloud image and VirtualBox Appliance is also publicly available for download and use by researchers with access to private clouds. Cloud BioLinux provides a platform for developing bioinformatics infrastructures on the cloud. An automated and configurable process builds Virtual Machines, allowing the development of highly customized versions from a shared code base. This shared community toolkit enables application specific analysis platforms on the cloud by minimizing the effort required to prepare and maintain them.

Cloud BioLinux: pre-configured and on-demand bioinformatics computing for the genomics community

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A steep drop in the cost of next-generation sequencing during recent years has made the technology affordable to the majority of researchers, but downstream bioinformatic analysis still poses a resource bottleneck for smaller laboratories and institutes that do not have access to substantial computational resources. Sequencing instruments are typically bundled with only the minimal processing and storage capacity required for data capture during sequencing runs. Given the scale of sequence datasets, scientific value cannot be obtained from acquiring a sequencer unless it is accompanied by an equal investment in informatics infrastructure. Results Cloud BioLinux is a publicly accessible Virtual Machine (VM) that enables scientists to quickly provision on-demand infrastructures for high-performance bioinformatics computing using cloud platforms. Users have instant access to a range of pre-configured command line and graphical software applications, including a full-featured desktop interface, documentation and over 135 bioinformatics packages for applications including sequence alignment, clustering, assembly, display, editing, and phylogeny. Each tool's functionality is fully described in the documentation directly accessible from the graphical interface of the VM. Besides the Amazon EC2 cloud, we have started instances of Cloud BioLinux on a private Eucalyptus cloud installed at the J. Craig Venter Institute, and demonstrated access to the bioinformatic tools interface through a remote connection to EC2 instances from a local desktop computer. Documentation for using Cloud BioLinux on EC2 is available from our project website, while a Eucalyptus cloud image and VirtualBox Appliance is also publicly available for download and use by researchers with access to private clouds. Conclusions Cloud BioLinux provides a platform for developing bioinformatics infrastructures on the cloud. An automated and configurable process builds Virtual Machines, allowing the development of highly customized versions from a shared code base. This shared community toolkit enables application specific analysis platforms on the cloud by minimizing the effort required to prepare and maintain them. PMID:22429538

Raman accumulator as a fusion laser driver

DOEpatents

George, E. Victor; Swingle, James C.

1985-01-01

Apparatus for simultaneous laser pulse amplification and compression, using multiple pass Raman scattering in one Raman cell and pulse switchout from the optical cavity through use of a dichroic device associated with the Raman cell.

Raman accumulator as a fusion laser driver

DOEpatents

George, E.V.; Swingle, J.C.

1982-03-31

Apparatus for simultaneous laser pulse amplification and compression, using multiple pass Raman scattering in one Raman cell and pulse switchout from the optical cavity through use of a dichroic device associated with the Raman cell.

Multi-modal vehicle display design and analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-10-01

It is now evident from anecdotal evidence and preliminary research that distractions can : hinder the task of operating a vehicle, and consequently reduce driver safety. However with : increasing wireless connectivity and the mobility of office devic...

Microprocessor-controlled, wide-range streak camera

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amy E. Lewis, Craig Hollabaugh

Bechtel Nevada/NSTec recently announced deployment of their fifth generation streak camera. This camera incorporates many advanced features beyond those currently available for streak cameras. The arc-resistant driver includes a trigger lockout mechanism, actively monitors input trigger levels, and incorporates a high-voltage fault interrupter for user safety and tube protection. The camera is completely modular and may deflect over a variable full-sweep time of 15 nanoseconds to 500 microseconds. The camera design is compatible with both large- and small-format commercial tubes from several vendors. The embedded microprocessor offers Ethernet connectivity, and XML [extensible markup language]-based configuration management with non-volatile parameter storagemore » using flash-based storage media. The camera’s user interface is platform-independent (Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux, Macintosh OSX) and is accessible using an AJAX [asynchronous Javascript and XML]-equipped modem browser, such as Internet Explorer 6, Firefox, or Safari. User interface operation requires no installation of client software or browser plug-in technology. Automation software can also access the camera configuration and control using HTTP [hypertext transfer protocol]. The software architecture supports multiple-simultaneous clients, multiple cameras, and multiple module access with a standard browser. The entire user interface can be customized.« less

Microprocessor-controlled wide-range streak camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, Amy E.; Hollabaugh, Craig

2006-08-01

Bechtel Nevada/NSTec recently announced deployment of their fifth generation streak camera. This camera incorporates many advanced features beyond those currently available for streak cameras. The arc-resistant driver includes a trigger lockout mechanism, actively monitors input trigger levels, and incorporates a high-voltage fault interrupter for user safety and tube protection. The camera is completely modular and may deflect over a variable full-sweep time of 15 nanoseconds to 500 microseconds. The camera design is compatible with both large- and small-format commercial tubes from several vendors. The embedded microprocessor offers Ethernet connectivity, and XML [extensible markup language]-based configuration management with non-volatile parameter storage using flash-based storage media. The camera's user interface is platform-independent (Microsoft Windows, Unix, Linux, Macintosh OSX) and is accessible using an AJAX [asynchronous Javascript and XML]-equipped modem browser, such as Internet Explorer 6, Firefox, or Safari. User interface operation requires no installation of client software or browser plug-in technology. Automation software can also access the camera configuration and control using HTTP [hypertext transfer protocol]. The software architecture supports multiple-simultaneous clients, multiple cameras, and multiple module access with a standard browser. The entire user interface can be customized.

Management software for a universal device communication controller: application to monitoring and computerized infusions.

PubMed

Coussaert, E J; Cantraine, F R

1996-11-01

We designed a virtual device for a local area network observing, operating and connecting devices to a personal computer. To keep the widest field of application, we proceeded by using abstraction and specification rules of software engineering in the design and implementation of the hardware and software for the Infusion Monitor. We specially built a box of hardware to interface multiple medical instruments with different communication protocols to a PC via a single serial port. We called that box the Universal Device Communication Controller (UDCC). The use of the virtual device driver is illustrated by the Infusion Monitor implemented for the anaesthesia and intensive care workstation.

genepop'007: a complete re-implementation of the genepop software for Windows and Linux.

PubMed

Rousset, François

2008-01-01

This note summarizes developments of the genepop software since its first description in 1995, and in particular those new to version 4.0: an extended input format, several estimators of neighbourhood size under isolation by distance, new estimators and confidence intervals for null allele frequency, and less important extensions to previous options. genepop now runs under Linux as well as under Windows, and can be entirely controlled by batch calls. © 2007 The Author.

Empirical tests of Zipf's law mechanism in open source Linux distribution.

PubMed

Maillart, T; Sornette, D; Spaeth, S; von Krogh, G

2008-11-21

Zipf's power law is a ubiquitous empirical regularity found in many systems, thought to result from proportional growth. Here, we establish empirically the usually assumed ingredients of stochastic growth models that have been previously conjectured to be at the origin of Zipf's law. We use exceptionally detailed data on the evolution of open source software projects in Linux distributions, which offer a remarkable example of a growing complex self-organizing adaptive system, exhibiting Zipf's law over four full decades.

A Framework for Automated Digital Forensic Reporting

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

provide a simple way to extract local accounts from a full system image. Unix, Linux and the BSD variants store user accounts in the /etc/ passwd file...with hashes of the user passwords in the /etc/shadow file for linux or /etc/master.passwd for BSD. /etc/ passwd also contains mappings from usernames to... passwd file may not map directly to real-world names, it can be a crucial link in this eventual mapping. Following are two examples where it could prove

Development of a Low-Latency, High Data Rate, Differential GPS Relative Positioning System for UAV Formation Flight Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

spiral development cycle involved transporting the software processes from a Windows XP / MATLAB environment to a Linux / C++ environment. This...tested on. Additionally, in the case of the GUMSTIX PC boards, the LINUX operating system is burned into the read-only memory. Lastly, both PC-104 and...both the real-time environment and the post-processed en - vironment. When the system operates in real-time mode, an output file is generated which

MONO FOR CROSS-PLATFORM CONTROL SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nishimura, Hiroshi; Timossi, Chris

2006-10-19

Mono is an independent implementation of the .NET Frameworkby Novell that runs on multiple operating systems (including Windows,Linux and Macintosh) and allows any .NET compatible application to rununmodified. For instance Mono can run programs with graphical userinterfaces (GUI) developed with the C# language on Windows with VisualStudio (a full port of WinForm for Mono is in progress). We present theresults of tests we performed to evaluate the portability of our controlssystem .NET applications from MS Windows to Linux.

Behind the Wheel: Predictors of Driving Exposure in Older Drivers.

PubMed

Coxon, Kristy; Chevalier, Anna; Lo, Serigne; Ivers, Rebecca; Brown, Julie; Keay, Lisa

2015-06-01

To explore and deepen understanding of factors influencing driving exposure for older drivers. Cross-sectional. Baseline data on function and driving exposure from 1 week of driving were evaluated. A convenience sample of 380 drivers aged 75 and older, residing in northwest Sydney, was recruited. Participants were required to be the primary drivers of their own vehicle. Driver function was evaluated using the DriveSafe and DriveAware clinic-based assessments to measure visual attention to the driving environment and awareness of driving ability. Demographic information was obtained through interview. An in-vehicle monitoring device with data logger and GPS receiver, was used to measure driving exposure in 362 of 380 participants' vehicles. Driving exposure outcomes were total distance driven, furthest distance traveled from home, and average trip length. Factors influencing these exposure outcomes were analyzed using generalized linear regression. Drivers typically drove 100 km in local and surrounding areas during the week. Function was predictive of all driving exposure outcomes. Drivers with lower levels of function drove fewer kilometers and took shorter trips closer to home. Age, health status, and personal circumstance (e.g., rural residence) also influenced exposure, but sex did not. Using objective measures, this study provides evidence that function, age, health status, and personal circumstance influence driving exposure of older drivers. Understanding how older people use driving to preserve their independence is important for exploring safe driving strategies for older people. © 2015, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2015, The American Geriatrics Society.

Latent class analysis of accident risks in usage-based insurance: Evidence from Beijing.

PubMed

Jin, Wen; Deng, Yinglu; Jiang, Hai; Xie, Qianyan; Shen, Wei; Han, Weijian

2018-06-01

Car insurance is quickly becoming a big data industry, with usage-based insurance (UBI) poised to potentially change the business of insurance. Telematics data, which are transmitted from wireless devices in car, are widely used in UBI to obtain individual-level travel and driving characteristics. While most existing studies have introduced telematics data into car insurance pricing, the telematics-related characteristics are directly obtained from the raw data. In this study, we propose to quantify drivers' familiarity with their driving routes and develop models to quantify drivers' accident risks using the telematics data. In addition, we build a latent class model to study the heterogeneity in travel and driving styles based on the telematics data, which has not been investigated in literature. Our main results include: (1) the improvement to the model fit is statistically significant by adding telematics-related characteristics; (2) drivers' familiarity with their driving trips is critical to identify high risk drivers, and the relationship between drivers' familiarity and accident risks is non-linear; (3) the drivers can be classified into two classes, where the first class is the low risk class with 0.54% of its drivers reporting accidents, and the second class is the high risk class with 20.66% of its drivers reporting accidents; and (4) for the low risk class, drivers with high probability of reporting accidents can be identified by travel-behavior-related characteristics, while for the high risk class, they can be identified by driving-behavior-related characteristics. The driver's familiarity will affect the probability of reporting accidents for both classes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Short-term effects of a teenage driver cell phone restriction.

PubMed

Foss, Robert D; Goodwin, Arthur H; McCartt, Anne T; Hellinga, Laurie A

2009-05-01

On December 1, 2006, North Carolina began prohibiting use of any mobile communication device by drivers younger than 18. The current study examined the effects of the law on teenage drivers' cell phone use. Teenage drivers were observed at high schools in North Carolina 1-2 months before and approximately 5 months after the law took effect. The proportion of teenagers using cell phones did not change significantly (11.0% before the law took effect, 11.8% after). Cell phone use among teenage drivers at high schools in South Carolina, an adjacent state without a teenage driver phone ban, was stable at about 13%. Interviews were conducted with parents and teenagers in North Carolina both before and after the law took effect. In post-law interviews, teenagers were more likely than parents to say they knew about the cell phone restriction (64% vs. 39%), but support for the ban was greater among parents (95% vs. 74%). Only 22% of teenagers and 13% of parents believed the law was being enforced fairly often or a lot. Although the proportion of teenagers who reported using phones while driving declined somewhat following the law, about half admitted they used their phones, if they had driven, on the day prior to the interview. Overall, the findings suggest that North Carolina's cell phone restriction had little to no effect on teenage drivers' use of cell phones shortly after the law took effect.

Factors associated with civilian drivers involved in crashes with emergency vehicles.

PubMed

Drucker, Christopher; Gerberich, Susan G; Manser, Michael P; Alexander, Bruce H; Church, Timothy R; Ryan, Andrew D; Becic, Ensar

2013-06-01

Motor vehicle crashes involving civilian and emergency vehicles (EVs) have been a known problem that contributes to fatal and nonfatal injuries; however, characteristics associated with civilian drivers have not been examined adequately. This study used data from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System to identify driver, roadway, environmental, and crash factors, and consequences for civilian drivers involved in fatal and nonfatal crashes with in-use and in-transport EVs. In general, drivers involved in emergency-civilian crashes (ECCs) were more often driving: straight through intersections (vs. same direction) of four-points or more (vs. not at intersection); where traffic signals were present (vs. no traffic control device); and at night (vs. midday). For nonfatal ECCs, drivers were more often driving: distracted (vs. not distracted); with vision obstructed by external objects (vs. no obstruction); on dark but lighted roads (vs. daylight); and in opposite directions (vs. same directions) of the EVs. Consequences included increased risk of injury (vs. no injury) and receiving traffic violations (vs. no violation). Fatal ECCs were associated with driving on urban roads (vs. rural), although these types of crashes were less likely to occur on dark roads (vs. daylight). The findings of this study suggest drivers may have difficulties in visually detecting EVs in different environments. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

77 FR 51104 - Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation; Application for an Exemption From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-23

... vehicles (CMVs). The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) currently require antennas... the driver's field of view by devices mounted at the top of the windshield. Antennas, transponders and...

Strategic drivers of contract manufacturing: Part I, The theory.

PubMed

Tomlinson, Geoff; Geimer, Harald

2002-12-01

Medical device manufacturers and diagnostics companies have significantly increased their use of contract manufacturers to outsource production of components. This, the first of a two-part article, reviews strategic benefits and best practices in outsourcing.

Use of auxiliary external alerting devices to improve locomotive conspicuity

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-07-01

Historically, highway-railroad grade crossings have represented a major hazard to motor vehicle drivers. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has initiated a comprehensive research program to address gr...

Shifting attention across near and far spaces: implications for the use of hands-free cell phones while driving.

PubMed

Ferlazzo, Fabio; Fagioli, Sabrina; Di Nocera, Francesco; Sdoia, Stefano

2008-11-01

In three experiments, participants performed two tasks concurrently during driving. In the peripheral detection task, they responded manually to visual stimuli delivered through a LED placed on the internal rear mirror; in the conversation task, they were engaged in a conversation with a passenger, or through earphone-operated, loudspeaker-operated, or hand-held cell phones. Results showed that drivers were slower at responding to the visual stimuli when conversing through a hand-held cell phone or an earphone-operated cell phone than when conversing through a loudspeaker-operated cell phone or with a passenger. These results suggest that due to the brain coding the space into multiple representations, devices that make phone conversations taking place in the near, personal space make drivers slower at responding to visual stimuli, compared to devices that make the conversation occurring in a far space.

Modular Robotic Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borroni-Bird, Christopher E. (Inventor); Lapp, Anthony Joseph (Inventor); Vitale, Robert L. (Inventor); Lee, Chunhao J. (Inventor); Bluethmann, William J. (Inventor); Ridley, Justin S. (Inventor); Junkin, Lucien Q. (Inventor); Ambrose, Robert O. (Inventor); Lutz, Jonathan J. (Inventor); Guo, Raymond (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A modular robotic vehicle includes a chassis, driver input devices, an energy storage system (ESS), a power electronics module (PEM), modular electronic assemblies (eModules) connected to the ESS via the PEM, one or more master controllers, and various embedded controllers. Each eModule includes a drive wheel containing a propulsion-braking module, and a housing containing propulsion and braking control assemblies with respective embedded propulsion and brake controllers, and a mounting bracket covering a steering control assembly with embedded steering controllers. The master controller, which is in communication with each eModule and with the driver input devices, communicates with and independently controls each eModule, by-wire, via the embedded controllers to establish a desired operating mode. Modes may include a two-wheel, four-wheel, diamond, and omni-directional steering modes as well as a park mode. A bumper may enable docking with another vehicle, with shared control over the eModules of the vehicles.

Unsteady, Cooled Turbine Simulation Using a PC-Linux Analysis System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

List, Michael G.; Turner, Mark G.; Chen, Jen-Pimg; Remotigue, Michael G.; Veres, Joseph P.

2004-01-01

The fist stage of the high-pressure turbine (HPT) of the GE90 engine was simulated with a three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Sokes solver, MSU Turbo, which uses source terms to simulate the cooling flows. In addition to the solver, its pre-processor, GUMBO, and a post-processing and visualization tool, Turbomachinery Visual3 (TV3) were run in a Linux environment to carry out the simulation and analysis. The solver was run both with and without cooling. The introduction of cooling flow on the blade surfaces, case, and hub and its effects on both rotor-vane interaction as well the effects on the blades themselves were the principle motivations for this study. The studies of the cooling flow show the large amount of unsteadiness in the turbine and the corresponding hot streak migration phenomenon. This research on the GE90 turbomachinery has also led to a procedure for running unsteady, cooled turbine analysis on commodity PC's running the Linux operating system.

BigWig and BigBed: enabling browsing of large distributed datasets.

PubMed

Kent, W J; Zweig, A S; Barber, G; Hinrichs, A S; Karolchik, D

2010-09-01

BigWig and BigBed files are compressed binary indexed files containing data at several resolutions that allow the high-performance display of next-generation sequencing experiment results in the UCSC Genome Browser. The visualization is implemented using a multi-layered software approach that takes advantage of specific capabilities of web-based protocols and Linux and UNIX operating systems files, R trees and various indexing and compression tricks. As a result, only the data needed to support the current browser view is transmitted rather than the entire file, enabling fast remote access to large distributed data sets. Binaries for the BigWig and BigBed creation and parsing utilities may be downloaded at http://hgdownload.cse.ucsc.edu/admin/exe/linux.x86_64/. Source code for the creation and visualization software is freely available for non-commercial use at http://hgdownload.cse.ucsc.edu/admin/jksrc.zip, implemented in C and supported on Linux. The UCSC Genome Browser is available at http://genome.ucsc.edu.

Application of the Linux cluster for exhaustive window haplotype analysis using the FBAT and Unphased programs.

PubMed

Mishima, Hiroyuki; Lidral, Andrew C; Ni, Jun

2008-05-28

Genetic association studies have been used to map disease-causing genes. A newly introduced statistical method, called exhaustive haplotype association study, analyzes genetic information consisting of different numbers and combinations of DNA sequence variations along a chromosome. Such studies involve a large number of statistical calculations and subsequently high computing power. It is possible to develop parallel algorithms and codes to perform the calculations on a high performance computing (HPC) system. However, most existing commonly-used statistic packages for genetic studies are non-parallel versions. Alternatively, one may use the cutting-edge technology of grid computing and its packages to conduct non-parallel genetic statistical packages on a centralized HPC system or distributed computing systems. In this paper, we report the utilization of a queuing scheduler built on the Grid Engine and run on a Rocks Linux cluster for our genetic statistical studies. Analysis of both consecutive and combinational window haplotypes was conducted by the FBAT (Laird et al., 2000) and Unphased (Dudbridge, 2003) programs. The dataset consisted of 26 loci from 277 extended families (1484 persons). Using the Rocks Linux cluster with 22 compute-nodes, FBAT jobs performed about 14.4-15.9 times faster, while Unphased jobs performed 1.1-18.6 times faster compared to the accumulated computation duration. Execution of exhaustive haplotype analysis using non-parallel software packages on a Linux-based system is an effective and efficient approach in terms of cost and performance.

Application of the Linux cluster for exhaustive window haplotype analysis using the FBAT and Unphased programs

PubMed Central

Mishima, Hiroyuki; Lidral, Andrew C; Ni, Jun

2008-01-01

Background Genetic association studies have been used to map disease-causing genes. A newly introduced statistical method, called exhaustive haplotype association study, analyzes genetic information consisting of different numbers and combinations of DNA sequence variations along a chromosome. Such studies involve a large number of statistical calculations and subsequently high computing power. It is possible to develop parallel algorithms and codes to perform the calculations on a high performance computing (HPC) system. However, most existing commonly-used statistic packages for genetic studies are non-parallel versions. Alternatively, one may use the cutting-edge technology of grid computing and its packages to conduct non-parallel genetic statistical packages on a centralized HPC system or distributed computing systems. In this paper, we report the utilization of a queuing scheduler built on the Grid Engine and run on a Rocks Linux cluster for our genetic statistical studies. Results Analysis of both consecutive and combinational window haplotypes was conducted by the FBAT (Laird et al., 2000) and Unphased (Dudbridge, 2003) programs. The dataset consisted of 26 loci from 277 extended families (1484 persons). Using the Rocks Linux cluster with 22 compute-nodes, FBAT jobs performed about 14.4–15.9 times faster, while Unphased jobs performed 1.1–18.6 times faster compared to the accumulated computation duration. Conclusion Execution of exhaustive haplotype analysis using non-parallel software packages on a Linux-based system is an effective and efficient approach in terms of cost and performance. PMID:18541045

Evaluation of the effectiveness of toe board energy-absorbing material for foot, ankle, and lower leg injury reduction.

PubMed

Patalak, John P; Stitzel, Joel D

2018-02-17

Since 2000, numerous improvements have been made to the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Incorporated (NASCAR®) driver restraint system, resulting in improved crash protection for motorsports drivers. Advancements have included seats, head and neck restraints (HNRs), seat belt restraint systems, driver helmets, and others. These enhancements have increased protection for drivers from severe crash loading. Extending protection to the driver's extremities remains challenging. Though the drivers' legs are well contained for lateral and vertical crashes, they remain largely unrestrained in frontal and frontal oblique crashes. Sled testing was conducted for the evaluation of an energy-absorbing (EA) toe board material to be used as a countermeasure for leg and foot injuries. Testing included baseline rigid toe boards, tests with EA material-covered toe boards, and pretest positioning of the 50th percentile male frontal Hybrid III anthropomorphic test device (ATD) lower extremities. ATD leg and foot instrumentation included foot acceleration and tibia forces and moments. The sled test data were evaluated using established injury criteria for tibial plateau fractures, leg shaft fractures, and calcaneus, talus, ankle, and midfoot fractures. A polyurethane EA foam was found to be effective in limiting axial tibia force and foot accelerations when subjected to frontal impacts using the NASCAR motorsport restraint system.

A programmable CCD driver circuit for multiphase CCD operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ewin, Audrey J.; Reed, Kenneth V.

1989-01-01

A programmable CCD (charge-coupled device) driver circuit was designed to drive CCDs in multiphased modes. The purpose of the drive electronics is to operate developmental CCD imaging arrays for NASA's tiltable moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS-T). Five objectives for the driver were considered during its design: (1) the circuit drives CCD electrode voltages between 0 V and +30 V to produce reasonable potential wells, (2) the driving sequence is started with one input signal, (3) the driving sequence is started with one input signal, (4) the circuit allows programming of frame sequences required by arrays of any size, (5) it produces interfacing signals for the CCD and the DTF (detector test facility). Simulation of the driver verified its function with the master clock running up to 10 MHz. This suggests a maximum rate of 400,000 pixels/s. Timing and packaging parameters were verified. The design uses 54 TTL (transistor-transistor logic) chips. Two versions of hardware were fabricated: wirewrap and printed circuit board. Both were verified functionally with a logic analyzer.

Carbon Nanotube Driver Circuit for 6 × 6 Organic Light Emitting Diode Display

PubMed Central

Zou, Jianping; Zhang, Kang; Li, Jingqi; Zhao, Yongbiao; Wang, Yilei; Pillai, Suresh Kumar Raman; Volkan Demir, Hilmi; Sun, Xiaowei; Chan-Park, Mary B.; Zhang, Qing

2015-01-01

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) is expected to be a very promising material for flexible and transparent driver circuits for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AM OLED) displays due to its high field-effect mobility, excellent current carrying capacity, optical transparency and mechanical flexibility. Although there have been several publications about SWNT driver circuits, none of them have shown static and dynamic images with the AM OLED displays. Here we report on the first successful chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown SWNT network thin film transistor (TFT) driver circuits for static and dynamic AM OLED displays with 6 × 6 pixels. The high device mobility of ~45 cm2V−1s−1 and the high channel current on/off ratio of ~105 of the SWNT-TFTs fully guarantee the control capability to the OLED pixels. Our results suggest that SWNT-TFTs are promising backplane building blocks for future OLED displays. PMID:26119218

Liquid Crystal on Silicon Wavefront Corrector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pouch, John; Miranda, Felix; Wang, Xinghua; Bos, Philip, J.

2004-01-01

A low cost, high resolution, liquid crystal on silicon, spatial light modulator has been developed for the correction of huge aberrations in an optical system where the polarization dependence and the chromatic nature are tolerated. However, the overall system performance suggests that this device is also suitable for real time correction of aberration in human eyes. This device has a resolution of 1024 x 768, and is driven by an XGA display driver. The effective stroke length of the device is 700 nm and 2000 nm for the visible and IR regions of the device, respectively. The response speeds are 50 Hz and 5 Hz, respectively, which are fast enough for real time adaptive optics for aberrations in human eyes. By modulating a wavefront of 2 pi, this device can correct for arbitrary high order wavefront aberrations since the 2-D pixel array is independently controlled by the driver. The high resolution and high accuracy of the device allow for diffraction limited correction of the tip and tilt or defocus without an additional correction loop. We have shown that for every wave of aberration, an 8 step blazed grating is required to achieve high diffraction efficiency around 80%. In light of this, up to 125 waves peak to valley of tip and tilt can be corrected if we choose the simplest aberration. Corrections of 34 waves of aberration, including high order Zernicke terms in a high magnification telescope, to diffraction limited performance (residual wavefront aberration less than 1/30 lambda at 632.8 nm) have been observed at high efficiency.

Estimating the Cost of Early Infant Male Circumcision in Zimbabwe: Results From a Randomized Noninferiority Trial of AccuCirc Device Versus Mogen Clamp.

PubMed

Mangenah, Collin; Mavhu, Webster; Hatzold, Karin; Biddle, Andrea K; Madidi, Ngonidzashe; Ncube, Getrude; Mugurungi, Owen; Ticklay, Ismail; Cowan, Frances M; Thirumurthy, Harsha

2015-08-15

Safe and cost-effective programs for implementing early infant male circumcision (EIMC) in Africa need to be piloted. We present results on a relative cost analysis within a randomized noninferiority trial of EIMC comparing the AccuCirc device with Mogen clamp in Zimbabwe. Between January and June 2013, male infants who met inclusion criteria were randomized to EIMC through either AccuCirc or Mogen clamp conducted by a doctor, using a 2:1 allocation ratio. We evaluated the overall unit cost plus the key cost drivers of EIMC using both AccuCirc and Mogen clamp. Direct costs included consumable and nonconsumable supplies, device, personnel, associated staff training, and environmental costs. Indirect costs comprised capital and support personnel costs. In 1-way sensitivity analyses, we assessed potential changes in unit costs due to variations in main parameters, one at a time, holding all other values constant. The unit costs of EIMC using AccuCirc and Mogen clamp were $49.53 and $55.93, respectively. Key cost drivers were consumable supplies, capacity utilization, personnel costs, and device price. Unit prices are likely to be lowest at full capacity utilization and increase as capacity utilization decreases. Unit prices also fall with lower personnel salaries and increase with higher device prices. EIMC has a lower unit cost when using AccuCirc compared with Mogen clamp. To minimize unit costs, countries planning to scale-up EIMC using AccuCirc need to control costs of consumables and personnel. There is also need to negotiate a reasonable device price and maximize capacity utilization.

Effects of in-vehicle monitoring on the driving behavior of teenagers.

PubMed

Farmer, Charles M; Kirley, Bevan B; McCartt, Anne T

2010-02-01

The objective was to determine if teenage driving behavior improves when a monitoring and feedback device is installed in the teen's vehicle. Vehicles of 85 teenage drivers were fit with a device that detected all instances of sudden braking/acceleration, speeding, and nonuse of seat belts. Drivers were assigned randomly to one of four research groups, differing in whether or not an alert sounded in the vehicle and whether or not parents were given access to websites containing notification records. Time trends in event rates per mile traveled were compared using Poisson regression. Seat belt use improved when violations were reported to the parent websites, and improved even more when in-vehicle alerts were activated. Consistent reductions in speeding were achieved only when teenagers received alerts about their speeding behavior, believed their speeding behavior would not be reported to parents if corrected, and when parents were being notified of such behavior by report cards. Electronic monitoring of teenage drivers can reduce the incidence of risky behavior, especially seat belt nonuse. More complicated behavior is more difficult to change, however. Parent participation is key to successful behavioral modification, but it is yet to be determined how best to encourage such participation. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speed behaviour in work zone crossovers. A driving simulator study.

PubMed

Domenichini, Lorenzo; La Torre, Francesca; Branzi, Valentina; Nocentini, Alessandro

2017-01-01

Reductions in speed and, more critically, in speed variability between vehicles are considered an important factor to reduce crash risk in work zones. This study was designed to evaluate in a virtual environment the drivers' behaviour in response to nine different configurations of a motorway crossover work zone. Specifically, the speed behaviour through a typical crossover layout, designed in accordance with the Italian Ministerial Decree 10 July 2002, was compared with that of eight alternative configurations which differ in some characteristics such as the sequence of speed limits, the median opening width and the lane width. The influence of variable message signs, of channelizing devices and of perceptual treatments based on Human Factor principles were also tested. Forty-two participants drove in driving simulator scenarios while data on their speeds and decelerations were collected. The results indicated that drivers' speeds are always higher than the temporary posted speed limits for all configurations and that speeds decreases significantly only within the by-passes. However the implementation of higher speed limits, together with a wider median opening and taller channelization devices led to a greater homogeneity of the speeds adopted by the drivers. The presence of perceptual measures generally induced both the greatest homogenization of speeds and the largest reductions in mean speed values. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Design of an embedded stroke rehabilitation apparatus system based on Linux computer engineering].

PubMed

Zhuang, Pengfei; Tian, XueLong; Zhu, Lin

2014-04-01

A realizaton project of electrical stimulator aimed at motor dysfunction of stroke is proposed in this paper. Based on neurophysiological biofeedback, this system, using an ARM9 S3C2440 as the core processor, integrates collection and display of surface electromyography (sEMG) signal, as well as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) into one system. By embedding Linux system, the project is able to use Qt/Embedded as a graphical interface design tool to accomplish the design of stroke rehabilitation apparatus. Experiments showed that this system worked well.

Evaluation of haematological, hepatic and renal functions of petroleum tanker drivers in Lagos, Nigeria.

PubMed

Awodele, Olufunsho; Sulayman, Ademola A; Akintonwa, Alade

2014-03-01

Hydrocarbons which are among the major components of petroleum products are considered toxic and have been implicated in a number of human diseases. Tanker drivers are continuously exposed to hydrocarbons by inhalation and most of these drivers do not use protective devices to prevent inhalation of petroleum products; nor do they visit hospital regularly for routine check-up. In view of this occupational hazard, we investigated the haematological, renal and hepatic functions of workers of petroleum tankers drivers in Lagos, Nigeria. Twenty-five tanker drivers' and fifteen control subjects were randomly selected based on the selection criteria of not smoking and working for minimum of 5 years as petroleum tanker driver. The liver, renal and haematological parameters were analyzed using automated clinical and haematological analyzers while the lipid peroxidation and antioxidant level tests were assayed using standard methods. There were significant (p ≤ 0.05) increases in the levels of serum alanine amino transferase (31.14±13.72; 22.38±9.89), albumin (42.50±4.69; 45.36±1.74) and alkaline phosphatase (84.04±21.89; 62.04±23.33) of petroleum tanker drivers compared with the controls. A significant (p≤0.05) increase in the levels of creatinine, urea and white blood cells of the tanker drivers, compared with the controls, were also obtained. The results have enormous health implications of continuous exposure to petroleum products reflected hepatic and renal damage of petroleum tanker drivers. Therefore, there is need for this group of workers to be sensitized on the importance of protective devises, regular medical checkup and management.

Google glass: a driver distraction cause or cure?

PubMed

Sawyer, Ben D; Finomore, Victor S; Calvo, Andres A; Hancock, P A

2014-11-01

We assess the driving distraction potential of texting with Google Glass (Glass), a mobile wearable platform capable of receiving and sending short-message-service and other messaging formats. A known roadway danger, texting while driving has been targeted by legislation and widely banned. Supporters of Glass claim the head-mounted wearable computer is designed to deliver information without concurrent distraction. Existing literature supports the supposition that design decisions incorporated in Glass might facilitate messaging for drivers. We asked drivers in a simulator to drive and use either Glass or a smartphone-based messaging interface, then interrupted them with an emergency brake event. Both the response event and subsequent recovery were analyzed. Glass-delivered messages served to moderate but did not eliminate distracting cognitive demands. A potential passive cost to drivers merely wearing Glass was also observed. Messaging using either device impaired driving as compared to driving without multitasking. Glass in not a panacea as some supporters claim, but it does point the way to design interventions that effect reduced load in multitasking. Discussions of these identified benefits are framed within the potential of new in-vehicle systems that bring both novel forms of distraction and tools for mitigation into the driver's seat.

Ergonomic evaluation of a wheelchair transportation securement system.

PubMed

Ahmed, Madiha; Campbell-Kyureghyan, Naira; Frost, Karen; Bertocci, Gina

2012-01-01

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifies guidelines covering the securement system and environment for wheeled mobility device (WhMD) passengers on the public bus system in the United States, referred to as the wheelchair tiedown and occupant restraint system (WTORS). The misuse or disuse of the WTORS system can be a source of injury for WhMD passengers riding the buses. The purpose of this study was to quantify the risks posed to the bus driver while performing the WTORS procedure using traditional ergonomic analysis methods. Four bus drivers completed the WTORS procedure for a representative passenger seated in three different WhMDs: manual wheelchair (MWC), scooter (SCTR), and power wheelchair (PWC). Potential work-related risks were identified using the four most applicable ergonomic assessment tools: PLIBEL, RULA, REBA, and iLMM. Task evaluation results revealed high levels of risk to be present to drivers during the WTORS procedure. The securement station space design and equipment layout were identified as contributing factors forcing drivers to adopt awkward postures while performing the WTORS task. These risk factors are known contributors to injury and the drivers could opt to improperly secure the passengers to avoid that risk.

77 FR 15452 - Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

... proposed NHTSA Guidelines are meant to promote safety by discouraging the introduction of excessively... your statement or other material (e.g., film clips and slides) so that it can be placed into the docket...

Radio tuning effects on visual and driving performance measures : simulator and test track studies.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-05-01

Existing driver distraction guidelines for visual-manual device interface operation specify traditional : manual radio tuning as a reference task. This project evaluated the radio tuning reference task through two activities. : The first activity con...

Presenting hazard warning information to drivers using an advanced traveler information system

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-02-01

Although Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) devices have the potential to improve travel safety, efficiency, and comfort, they represent a new frontier in ground transportation. In order to realize this potential, they must be designed in a ...

An investigation of the safety implications of wireless communications in vehicles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-11-01

The extensive growth in the wireless communications industry over the past ten years has been accompanied by growing concern for the potential hazards of drivers using wireless communication devices from moving vehicles. Given the National Highway Tr...

77 FR 24764 - Visual-Manual NHTSA Driver Distraction Guidelines for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-25

... provided a 60-day comment period. We received a petition from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers...). We provided a 60-day comment period. In a petition dated March 9, 2012,\\1\\ the Alliance of Automobile...

Optimal pressure regulation of the pneumatic ventricular assist device with bellows-type driver.

PubMed

Lee, Jung Joo; Kim, Bum Soo; Choi, Jaesoon; Choi, Hyuk; Ahn, Chi Bum; Nam, Kyoung Won; Jeong, Gi Seok; Lim, Choon Hak; Son, Ho Sung; Sun, Kyung

2009-08-01

The bellows-type pneumatic ventricular assist device (VAD) generates pneumatic pressure with compression of bellows instead of using an air compressor. This VAD driver has a small volume that is suitable for portable devices. However, improper pneumatic pressure setup can not only cause a lack of adequate flow generation, but also cause durability problems. In this study, a pneumatic pressure regulation system for optimal operation of the bellows-type VAD has been developed. The optimal pneumatic pressure conditions according to various afterload conditions aiming for optimal flow rates were investigated, and an afterload estimation algorithm was developed. The developed regulation system, which consists of a pressure sensor and a two-way solenoid valve, estimates the current afterload and regulates the pneumatic pressure to the optimal point for the current afterload condition. Experiments were performed in a mock circulation system. The afterload estimation algorithm showed sufficient performance with the standard deviation of error, 8.8 mm Hg. The flow rate could be stably regulated with a developed system under various afterload conditions. The shortcoming of a bellows-type VAD could be handled with this simple pressure regulation system.

Architecture for Control of the K9 Rover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bresina, John L.; Bualat, maria; Fair, Michael; Wright, Anne; Washington, Richard

2006-01-01

Software featuring a multilevel architecture is used to control the hardware on the K9 Rover, which is a mobile robot used in research on robots for scientific exploration and autonomous operation in general. The software consists of five types of modules: Device Drivers - These modules, at the lowest level of the architecture, directly control motors, cameras, data buses, and other hardware devices. Resource Managers - Each of these modules controls several device drivers. Resource managers can be commanded by either a remote operator or the pilot or conditional-executive modules described below. Behaviors and Data Processors - These modules perform computations for such functions as planning paths, avoiding obstacles, visual tracking, and stereoscopy. These modules can be commanded only by the pilot. Pilot - The pilot receives a possibly complex command from the remote operator or the conditional executive, then decomposes the command into (1) more-specific commands to the resource managers and (2) requests for information from the behaviors and data processors. Conditional Executive - This highest-level module interprets a command plan sent by the remote operator, determines whether resources required for execution of the plan are available, monitors execution, and, if necessary, selects an alternate branch of the plan.

Influence of Steering Control Devices Mounted in Cars for the Disabled on Passive Safety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masiá, J.; Eixerés, B.; Dols, J. F.; Colomina, F. J.

2009-11-01

The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of steering control devices for disabled people on passive safety. It is based on the advances made in the modelling and simulation of the driver position and in the suit verification test. The influence of these devices is studied through airbag deployment and/or its influence on driver safety. We characterize the different adaptations that are used in adapted cars that can be found mounted in vehicles in order to generating models that are verified by experimental test. A three dimensional design software package was used to develop the model. The simulations were generated using a dynamic simulation program employing LSDYNA finite elements. This program plots the geometry and assigns materials. The airbag is shaped, meshed and folded just as it is mounted in current vehicles. The thermodynamic model of expansion of gases is assigned and the contact interfaces are defined. Static tests were carried out on deployment of the airbag to contrast with and to validate the computational models and to measure the behaviour of the airbag when there are steering adaptations mounted in the vehicle.

List-mode PET image reconstruction for motion correction using the Intel XEON PHI co-processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryder, W. J.; Angelis, G. I.; Bashar, R.; Gillam, J. E.; Fulton, R.; Meikle, S.

2014-03-01

List-mode image reconstruction with motion correction is computationally expensive, as it requires projection of hundreds of millions of rays through a 3D array. To decrease reconstruction time it is possible to use symmetric multiprocessing computers or graphics processing units. The former can have high financial costs, while the latter can require refactoring of algorithms. The Xeon Phi is a new co-processor card with a Many Integrated Core architecture that can run 4 multiple-instruction, multiple data threads per core with each thread having a 512-bit single instruction, multiple data vector register. Thus, it is possible to run in the region of 220 threads simultaneously. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Xeon Phi co-processor card is a viable alternative to an x86 Linux server for accelerating List-mode PET image reconstruction for motion correction. An existing list-mode image reconstruction algorithm with motion correction was ported to run on the Xeon Phi coprocessor with the multi-threading implemented using pthreads. There were no differences between images reconstructed using the Phi co-processor card and images reconstructed using the same algorithm run on a Linux server. However, it was found that the reconstruction runtimes were 3 times greater for the Phi than the server. A new version of the image reconstruction algorithm was developed in C++ using OpenMP for mutli-threading and the Phi runtimes decreased to 1.67 times that of the host Linux server. Data transfer from the host to co-processor card was found to be a rate-limiting step; this needs to be carefully considered in order to maximize runtime speeds. When considering the purchase price of a Linux workstation with Xeon Phi co-processor card and top of the range Linux server, the former is a cost-effective computation resource for list-mode image reconstruction. A multi-Phi workstation could be a viable alternative to cluster computers at a lower cost for medical imaging applications.

Wireless alerting system using vibration for vehicles dashboard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raj, Sweta; Rai, Shweta; Magaramagara, Wilbert; Sivacoumar, R.

2017-11-01

This paper aims at improving the engine life of any vehicle through a continuous measurement and monitoring of vital engine operational parameters and providing an effective alerting to drivers for any abnormality. Vehicles currently are using audio and visible alerting signals through alarms and light as a warning to the driver but these are not effective in noisy environments and during daylight. Through the use of the sense of feeling a driver can be alerted effectively. The need to no other vehicle parameter needs to be aided through the mobile display (phone).Thus a system is designed and implements to measure engine temperature, RPM, Oil level and Coolant level using appropriate sensors and a wireless communication (Bluetooth) is established to actuate a portable vibration control device and to read the different vehicle sensor readings through an android application for display and diagnosis.

Drowsy driver mobile application: Development of a novel scleral-area detection method.

PubMed

Mohammad, Faisal; Mahadas, Kausalendra; Hung, George K

2017-10-01

A reliable and practical app for mobile devices was developed to detect driver drowsiness. It consisted of two main components: a Haar cascade classifier, provided by a computer vision framework called OpenCV, for face/eye detection; and a dedicated JAVA software code for image processing that was applied over a masked region circumscribing the eye. A binary threshold was performed over the masked region to provide a quantitative measure of the number of white pixels in the sclera, which represented the state of eye opening. A continuously low white-pixel count would indicate drowsiness, thereby triggering an alarm to alert the driver. This system was successfully implemented on: (1) a static face image, (2) two subjects under laboratory conditions, and (3) a subject in a vehicle environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects Of A Seatbelt-gearshift Delay Prompt On The Seatbelt Use Of Motorists Who Do Not Regularly Wear Seatbelts

PubMed Central

Malenfant, J.E. Louis; Austin, John; Lebbon, Angie

2005-01-01

A seatbelt-gearshift delay was evaluated in two U.S. and three Canadian vehicles using a reversal design. The seatbelt-gearshift delay required unbelted drivers either to buckle their seatbelts or to wait a specified time before they could put the vehicle in gear. After collecting behavioral prebaseline data, a data logger was installed in all five vehicles to collect automated data on seatbelt use. Next the seatbelt-gearshift delay was introduced. The results showed that the delay increased all 5 drivers' seatbelt use, and that the duration of the delay that produced relatively consistent seatbelt use varied across drivers from 5 to 20 s. When the device was deactivated in four of the five vehicles, behavior returned to baseline levels. PMID:16033166

Laboratory process control using natural language commands from a personal computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Will, Herbert A.; Mackin, Michael A.

1989-01-01

PC software is described which provides flexible natural language process control capability with an IBM PC or compatible machine. Hardware requirements include the PC, and suitable hardware interfaces to all controlled devices. Software required includes the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) operating system, a PC-based FORTRAN-77 compiler, and user-written device drivers. Instructions for use of the software are given as well as a description of an application of the system.

An algorithm of a real time image tracking system using a camera with pan/tilt motors on an embedded system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hie-Sik; Nam, Chul; Ha, Kwan-Yong; Ayurzana, Odgeral; Kwon, Jong-Won

2005-12-01

The embedded systems have been applied to many fields, including households and industrial sites. The user interface technology with simple display on the screen was implemented more and more. The user demands are increasing and the system has more various applicable fields due to a high penetration rate of the Internet. Therefore, the demand for embedded system is tend to rise. An embedded system for image tracking was implemented. This system is used a fixed IP for the reliable server operation on TCP/IP networks. Using an USB camera on the embedded Linux system developed a real time broadcasting of video image on the Internet. The digital camera is connected at the USB host port of the embedded board. All input images from the video camera are continuously stored as a compressed JPEG file in a directory at the Linux web-server. And each frame image data from web camera is compared for measurement of displacement Vector. That used Block matching algorithm and edge detection algorithm for past speed. And the displacement vector is used at pan/tilt motor control through RS232 serial cable. The embedded board utilized the S3C2410 MPU, which used the ARM 920T core form Samsung. The operating system was ported to embedded Linux kernel and mounted of root file system. And the stored images are sent to the client PC through the web browser. It used the network function of Linux and it developed a program with protocol of the TCP/IP.

Geospatial Authentication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyle, Stacey D.

2009-01-01

A software package that has been designed to allow authentication for determining if the rover(s) is/are within a set of boundaries or a specific area to access critical geospatial information by using GPS signal structures as a means to authenticate mobile devices into a network wirelessly and in real-time has been developed. The advantage lies in that the system only allows those with designated geospatial boundaries or areas into the server. The Geospatial Authentication software has two parts Server and Client. The server software is a virtual private network (VPN) developed in Linux operating system using Perl programming language. The server can be a stand-alone VPN server or can be combined with other applications and services. The client software is a GUI Windows CE software, or Mobile Graphical Software, that allows users to authenticate into a network. The purpose of the client software is to pass the needed satellite information to the server for authentication.

Engine balance apparatus and accessory drive device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brogdon, James William (Inventor); Gill, David Keith (Inventor)

2000-01-01

A balancing mechanism for an engine that has a rotating crankshaft and reciprocating pistons such as those engines used in automobiles, aircrafts, boats, piston-driven compressors, piston-driven slider crank mechanisms, etc. The present balancing mechanism may comprise a first balance mass non-rotatably affixed to the crankshaft and a second balance mass rotatably supported on the crankshaft. A driver assembly is affixed to crankshaft to cause the second balance mass to rotate in a direction that is opposite to the direction in which the crank shaft is rotating. The driver assembly may include auxiliary gears configured to transport rotary power to auxiliary components.

Adaptive controller for regenerative and friction braking system

DOEpatents

Davis, R.I.

1990-10-16

A regenerative and friction braking system for a vehicle having one or more road wheels driven by an electric traction motor includes a driver responsive device for producing a brake demand signal having a magnitude corresponding to the level of braking force selected by the driver and friction and regenerative brakes operatively connected with the road wheels of the vehicle. A system according to this invention further includes control means for operating the friction and regenerative braking subsystems so that maximum brake torques sustainable by the road wheels of the vehicle without skidding or slipping will not be exceeded. 8 figs.

Subcutaneous drug infusions: a review of problems and solutions.

PubMed

Mitten, T

2001-02-01

Subcutaneous drug infusion using a portable syringe driver has had a significant impact on patient comfort in palliative care. It permits the continuous delivery of a range of drug therapies, so bypassing problems of dysphagia, weakness and the inability of many patients in the terminal phase to take oral medication. The devices are not problem-free, however. Mechanical problems, reactions at the infusion site and difficulties with the mixing of drugs in the syringe are all widely recognized. This article reviews some general issues with the operation of portable syringe drivers, and discusses a range of potential problems and their solutions.

Adaptive controller for regenerative and friction braking system

DOEpatents

Davis, Roy I.

1990-01-01

A regenerative and friction braking system for a vehicle having one or more roadwheels driven by an electric traction motor includes a driver responsive device for producing a brake demand signal having a magnitude corresponding to the level of braking force selected by the driver and friction and regenerative brakes operatively connected with the roadwheels of the vehicle. A system according to this invention further includes control means for operating the friction and regenerative braking subsystems so that maximum brake torques sustainable by the roadwheels of the vehicle without skidding or slipping will not be exceeded.

49 CFR 501.2 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

.... (2) Chapter 303—National Driver Register. (3) Chapter 305—National Automobile Title Information.... (7) Chapter 327—Odometers. (8) Chapter 329—Automobile Fuel Economy. (9) Chapter 331—Theft Prevention... and maintenance, traffic control devices, identification and surveillance of accident locations, and...

49 CFR 501.2 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

.... (2) Chapter 303—National Driver Register. (3) Chapter 305—National Automobile Title Information.... (7) Chapter 327—Odometers. (8) Chapter 329—Automobile Fuel Economy. (9) Chapter 331—Theft Prevention... and maintenance, traffic control devices, identification and surveillance of accident locations, and...

Bus Driver Fatigue and Stress Issues Study. Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-04-01

The study has determined the safety effectiveness of various types of motorist warning devices in reducing accidents at rail-highway crossings. The study was based on analysis of data included in the DOT-AAR Rail-Highway Crossing Inventory and the FR...

Effects of New Jersey's cell phone and text ban.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

Since March 1, 2008 there has been a ban on wireless telephone and electronic : communication devices in New Jersey while operating a motor vehicle. But from general : observation on any roadway, it appears that there are still drivers who are talkin...

Safety of highway-railroad grade crossings : use of auxiliary external alerting devices to improve locomotive conspicuity.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-07-31

Historically, highway-railroad grade crossings have represented a major hazard to motor vehicle drivers. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has initiated a comprehensive research program to address gr...

Berkeley lab checkpoint/restart (BLCR) for Linux clusters

DOE PAGES

Hargrove, Paul H.; Duell, Jason C.

2006-09-01

This article describes the motivation, design and implementation of Berkeley Lab Checkpoint/Restart (BLCR), a system-level checkpoint/restart implementation for Linux clusters that targets the space of typical High Performance Computing applications, including MPI. Application-level solutions, including both checkpointing and fault-tolerant algorithms, are recognized as more time and space efficient than system-level checkpoints, which cannot make use of any application-specific knowledge. However, system-level checkpointing allows for preemption, making it suitable for responding to fault precursors (for instance, elevated error rates from ECC memory or network CRCs, or elevated temperature from sensors). Preemption can also increase the efficiency of batch scheduling; for instancemore » reducing idle cycles (by allowing for shutdown without any queue draining period or reallocation of resources to eliminate idle nodes when better fitting jobs are queued), and reducing the average queued time (by limiting large jobs to running during off-peak hours, without the need to limit the length of such jobs). Each of these potential uses makes BLCR a valuable tool for efficient resource management in Linux clusters. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.« less

The LINC-NIRVANA fringe and flexure tracker: Linux real-time solutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yeping; Bertram, Thomas; Straubmeier, Christian; Rost, Steffen; Eckart, Andreas

2006-06-01

The correction of atmospheric differential piston and instrumental flexure effects is mandatory for optimum interferometric performance of the LBT NIR interferometric imaging camera LINC-NIRVANA. The task of the Fringe and Flexure Tracking System (FFTS) is to detect and correct these effects in a real-time closed loop. On a timescale of milliseconds, image data of the order of 4K bytes has to be retrieved from the FFTS detector, analyzed, and the results have to be sent to the control system. The need for a reliable communication between several processes within a confined period of time calls for solutions with good real-time performance. We investigated two soft real-time options for the Linux platform. The design we present takes advantage of several features that follow the POSIX standard with improved real-time performance, which were implemented in the new Linux kernel (2.6.12). Several concepts, such as synchronization, shared memory, and preemptive scheduling are considered and the performance of the most time-critical parts of the FFTS software is tested.

Mobile device use while driving--United States and seven European countries, 2011.

PubMed

2013-03-15

Road traffic crashes are a global public health problem, contributing to an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually. Known risk factors for road traffic crashes and related injuries and deaths include speed, alcohol, nonuse of restraints, and nonuse of helmets. More recently, driver distraction has become an emerging concern. To assess the prevalence of mobile device use while driving in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States, CDC analyzed data from the 2011 EuroPNStyles and HealthStyles surveys. Prevalence estimates for self-reported talking on a cell phone while driving and reading or sending text or e-mail messages while driving were calculated. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, among drivers ages 18-64 years, the prevalence of talking on a cell phone while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 21% in the UK to 69% in the United States, and the prevalence of drivers who had read or sent text or e-mail messages while driving at least once in the past 30 days ranged from 15% in Spain to 31% in Portugal and the United States. Lessons learned from successful road safety efforts aimed at reducing other risky driving behaviors, such as seat belt nonuse and alcohol-impaired driving, could be helpful to the United States and other countries in addressing this issue. Strategies such as legislation combined with high-visibility enforcement and public education campaigns deserve further research to determine their effectiveness in reducing mobile device use while driving. Additionally, the role of emerging vehicle and mobile communication technologies in reducing distracted driving-related crashes should be explored.

Reliability of solid-state lighting electrical drivers subjected to WHTOL accelerated aging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lall, Pradeep; Sakalauku, Peter; Davis, Lynn

An investigation of a solid-state lighting (SSL) luminaire with the focus on the electronic driver which has been exposed to a standard wet hot temperature operating life (WHTOL) of 85% RH and 85°C in order to assess reliability of prolonged exposer to a harsh environment has been conducted. SSL luminaires are beginning introduced as head lamps in some of today's luxury automobiles and may also be fulfilling a variety of important outdoor applications such as overhead street lamps, traffic signals and landscape lighting. SSL luminaires in these environments are almost certain to encounter excessive moisture from humidity and high temperaturesmore » for a persistent period of time. The lack of accelerated test methods for LEDs to assess long-term reliability prior to introduction into the marketplace, a need for SSL physics based PHM modeling indicators for assessment and prediction of LED life, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy's R&D roadmap to replace todays lighting with SSL luminaires makes it important to increase the understanding of the reliability of SSL devices, specifically, in harsh environment applications. In this work, a set of SSL electrical drivers were investigated to determine failure mechanisms that occur during prolonged harsh environment applications. Each driver consists of four aluminum electrolytic capacitors (AECs) of three different types and was considered the weakest component inside the SSL electrical driver. The reliability of the electrical driver was assessed by monitoring the change in capacitance and the change in equivalent series resistance for each AEC, as well as monitoring the luminous flux of the SSL luminaire or the output of the electrical driver. The luminous flux of a pristine SSL electrical driver was also monitored in order to detect minute changes in the electrical drivers output and to aid in the investigation of the SSL luminaires reliability. The failure mechanisms of the electrical drivers have been determined and are presented in this paper.« less

Estimating the Cost of Early Infant Male Circumcision in Zimbabwe: Results From a Randomized Noninferiority Trial of AccuCirc Device Versus Mogen Clamp

PubMed Central

Mavhu, Webster; Hatzold, Karin; Biddle, Andrea K.; Madidi, Ngonidzashe; Ncube, Getrude; Mugurungi, Owen; Ticklay, Ismail; Cowan, Frances M.; Thirumurthy, Harsha

2015-01-01

Background: Safe and cost-effective programs for implementing early infant male circumcision (EIMC) in Africa need to be piloted. We present results on a relative cost analysis within a randomized noninferiority trial of EIMC comparing the AccuCirc device with Mogen clamp in Zimbabwe. Methods: Between January and June 2013, male infants who met inclusion criteria were randomized to EIMC through either AccuCirc or Mogen clamp conducted by a doctor, using a 2:1 allocation ratio. We evaluated the overall unit cost plus the key cost drivers of EIMC using both AccuCirc and Mogen clamp. Direct costs included consumable and nonconsumable supplies, device, personnel, associated staff training, and environmental costs. Indirect costs comprised capital and support personnel costs. In 1-way sensitivity analyses, we assessed potential changes in unit costs due to variations in main parameters, one at a time, holding all other values constant. Results: The unit costs of EIMC using AccuCirc and Mogen clamp were $49.53 and $55.93, respectively. Key cost drivers were consumable supplies, capacity utilization, personnel costs, and device price. Unit prices are likely to be lowest at full capacity utilization and increase as capacity utilization decreases. Unit prices also fall with lower personnel salaries and increase with higher device prices. Conclusions: EIMC has a lower unit cost when using AccuCirc compared with Mogen clamp. To minimize unit costs, countries planning to scale-up EIMC using AccuCirc need to control costs of consumables and personnel. There is also need to negotiate a reasonable device price and maximize capacity utilization. PMID:26017658

Age differences in the takeover of vehicle control and engagement in non-driving-related activities in simulated driving with conditional automation.

PubMed

Clark, Hallie; Feng, Jing

2017-09-01

High-level vehicle automation has been proposed as a valuable means to enhance the mobility of older drivers, as older drivers experience age-related declines in many cognitive functions that are vital for safe driving. Recent research attempted to examine age differences in how engagement in non-driving-related activities impact driving performance, by instructing drivers to engage in mandatory pre-designed activities. While the mandatory engagement method allows a precise control of the timing and mental workload of the non-driving-related activities, it is different from how a driver would naturally engage in these activities. This study allowed younger (age 18-35, mean age=19.9years) and older drivers (age 62-81, mean age=70.4years) to freely decide when and how to engage in voluntarily chosen non-driving-related activities during simulated driving with conditional automation. We coded video recordings of participants' engagement in non-driving-related activities. We examined the effect of age, level of activity-engagement and takeover notification interval on vehicle control performance during the takeover, by comparing between the high and low engagement groups in younger and older drivers, across two takeover notification interval conditions. We found that both younger and older drivers engaged in various non-driving-related activities during the automated driving portion, with distinct preferences on the type of activity for each age group (i.e., while younger drivers mostly used an electronic device, older drivers tended to converse). There were also significant differences between the two age groups and between the two notification intervals on various driving performance measures. Older drivers benefited more than younger drivers from the longer interval in terms of response time to notifications. Voluntary engagement in non-driving-related activities did not impair takeover performance in general, although there was a trend of older drivers who were more engaged in non-driving-related activities braking harder than those with low activity-engagement during the takeover. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Testing Task Schedulers on Linux System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jelenković, Leonardo; Groš, Stjepan; Jakobović, Domagoj

Testing task schedulers on Linux operating system proves to be a challenging task. There are two main problems. The first one is to identify which properties of the scheduler to test. The second problem is how to perform it, e.g., which API to use that is sufficiently precise and in the same time supported on most platforms. This paper discusses the problems in realizing test framework for testing task schedulers and presents one potential solution. Observed behavior of the scheduler is the one used for “normal” task scheduling (SCHED_OTHER), unlike one used for real-time tasks (SCHED_FIFO, SCHED_RR).

Comparative Analysis of Active and Passive Mapping Techniques in an Internet-Based Local Area Network

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-03-01

PIII/500 (K) 512 A11 3C905 Honeynet PIII/1000 (C) 512 A11 3C905 Generator PIII/800 (C) 256 A11 3C905 Each system is running Debian GNU / Linux “unstable...Network,” September 2000. http://www.issues.af.mil/notams/notam00-5.html; accessed January 16, 2004. 5. “Debian GNU / Linux 3.0 Released,” Debian News...interact with those servers. 1.5 Summary The remainder of this document is organized into four chapters. Chapter 2 con - tains the literature review where

Dataset for forensic analysis of B-tree file system.

PubMed

Wani, Mohamad Ahtisham; Bhat, Wasim Ahmad

2018-06-01

Since B-tree file system (Btrfs) is set to become de facto standard file system on Linux (and Linux based) operating systems, Btrfs dataset for forensic analysis is of great interest and immense value to forensic community. This article presents a novel dataset for forensic analysis of Btrfs that was collected using a proposed data-recovery procedure. The dataset identifies various generalized and common file system layouts and operations, specific node-balancing mechanisms triggered, logical addresses of various data structures, on-disk records, recovered-data as directory entries and extent data from leaf and internal nodes, and percentage of data recovered.

Motorist Comprehension of Florida's School Bus Stop Law and School Bus Signalization Devices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-06-01

In May 1995, the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) conducted a study on behalf of the Florida Department of Education (DOE) that investigated the frequency and extent with which drivers in Florida were illegally passing stopped school b...

Telematics Options and Capabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hodge, Cabell

This presentation describes the data tracking and analytical capabilities of telematics devices. Federal fleet managers can use the systems to keep their drivers safe, maintain a fuel efficient fleet, ease their reporting burden, and save money. The presentation includes an example of how much these capabilities can save fleets.

Effectiveness of the Ohio vehicle action and administrative license suspension laws

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

Author's abstract: This report presents a study of the effectiveness of two laws in the State of Ohio, one of which provided for the impounding and immobilization (with a "club" device) of the vehicles of multiple drunk driving offenders and drivers ...

Rotating fiber array molecular driver and molecular momentum transfer device constructed therewith

DOEpatents

Milleron, Norman

1983-01-01

A rotating fiber array molecular driver is disclosed which includes a magnetically suspended and rotated central hub to which is attached a plurality of elongated fibers extending radially therefrom. The hub is rotated so as to straighten and axially extend the fibers and to provide the fibers with a tip speed which exceeds the average molecular velocity of fluid molecules entering between the fibers. Molecules colliding with the sides of the rotating fibers are accelerated to the tip speed of the fiber and given a momentum having a directional orientation within a relatively narrow distribution angle at a point radially outward of the hub, which is centered and peaks at the normal to the fiber sides in the direction of fiber rotation. The rotating fiber array may be used with other like fiber arrays or with other stationary structures to form molecular momentum transfer devices such as vacuum pumps, molecular separators, molecular coaters, or molecular reactors.

Deal or no deal: can incentives encourage widespread adoption of intelligent speed adaptation devices?

PubMed

Chorlton, Kathryn; Hess, Stephane; Jamson, Samantha; Wardman, Mark

2012-09-01

Given the burden of injury, economic, environmental and social consequences associated with speeding, reducing road traffic speed remains a major priority. Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) is a promising but controversial new in-vehicle system that provides drivers with support on the speed-control task. In order to model potential system uptake, this paper explores drivers' preferences for two different types of ISA given a number of alternative fiscal incentives and non-fiscal measures, using a stated preference approach. As would be expected with such a contentious issue, the analysis revealed the presence of significant variations in sensitivities and preferences in the sample. While a non-negligible part of the sample population has such strong opposition to ISA that no reasonable discounts or incentives would lead to them buying or accepting such a system, there is also a large part of the population that, if given the right incentives, would be willing or even keen to equip their vehicle with an ISA device. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A short-pulse mode for the SPHINX LTD Z-pinch driver

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Almeida, Thierry; Lassalle, Francis; Zucchini, Frederic; Loyen, Arnaud; Morell, Alain; Chuvatin, Alexander

2015-11-01

The SPHINX machine is a 6MA, 1 μs, LTD Z-pinch driver at CEA Gramat (France) and primarily used for studying radiation effects. Different power amplification concepts were examined in order to reduce the current rise time without modifying the generator discharge scheme, including the Dynamic Load Current Multiplier (DLCM) proposed by Chuvatin. A DLCM device, capable of shaping the current pulse without reducing the rise time, was developed at CEA. This device proved valuable for isentropic compression experiments in cylindrical geometry. Recently, we achieved a short pulse operation mode by inserting a vacuum closing switch between the DLCM and the load. The current rise time was reduced to ~300 ns. We explored the use of a reduced-height wire array for the Dynamic Flux Extruder in order to improve the wire array compression rate and increase the efficiency of the current transfer to the load. These developments are presented. Potential benefits of these developments for future Z pinch experiments are discussed.

Validation of an electronic device for measuring driving exposure.

PubMed

Huebner, Kyla D; Porter, Michelle M; Marshall, Shawn C

2006-03-01

This study sought to evaluate an on-board diagnostic system (CarChip) for collecting driving exposure data in older drivers. Drivers (N = 20) aged 60 to 86 years from Winnipeg and surrounding communities participated. Information on driving exposure was obtained via the CarChip and global positioning system (GPS) technology on a driving course, and obtained via the CarChip and surveys over a week of driving. Velocities and distances were measured over the road course to validate the accuracy of the CarChip compared to GPS for those parameters. The results show that the CarChip does provide valid distance measurements and slightly lower maximum velocities than GPS measures. From the results obtained in this study, it was determined that retrospective self-reports of weekly driving distances are inaccurate. Therefore, an on-board diagnostic system (OBDII) electronic device like the CarChip can provide valid and detailed information about driving exposure that would be useful for studies of crash rates or driving behavior.

The driver vigilance telemetric control system (DVTCS): investigating sensitivity to experimentally induced sleep loss and fatigue.

PubMed

Dorrian, Jillian; Lamond, Nicole; Kozuchowski, Karolina; Dawson, Drew

2008-11-01

Vigilance technologies are used in the Australian rail industry to address the risks associated with driver sleepiness and fatigue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a new device, designed to detect lowered states of arousal using electrodermal activity (EDA), would be sensitive to experimentally induced sleepiness and fatigue. Fifteen individuals (7 of them female, 9 male; 18-32 years of age) spent 3 consecutive days in the laboratory, which included 1 night of sustained wakefulness (28 h). The participants completed a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and fatigue and sleepiness ratings every 2 h, and a 30-min driving simulator every 4 h. As was expected, simulated driving, PVT, and subjective ratings indicated increasing levels of sleepiness and fatigue during sustained wakefulness. The EDA device output did not coincide with these findings. The results indicated that the EDA indicator was not sensitive to increased sleepiness and fatigue at the levels produced in the present study.

Efficacy of the EZ-IO needle driver for out-of-hospital intraosseous access--a preliminary, observational, multicenter study.

PubMed

Schalk, Richard; Schweigkofler, Uwe; Lotz, Gösta; Zacharowski, Kai; Latasch, Leo; Byhahn, Christian

2011-10-26

Intraosseous (IO) access represents a reliable alternative to intravenous vascular access and is explicitly recommended in the current guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council when intravenous access is difficult or impossible. We therefore aimed to study the efficacy of the intraosseous needle driver EZ-IO in the prehospital setting. During a 24-month period, all cases of prehospital IO access using the EZ-IO needle driver within three operational areas of emergency medical services were prospectively recorded by a standardized questionnaire that needed to be filled out by the rescuer immediately after the mission and sent to the primary investigator. We determined the rate of successful insertion of the IO needle, the time required, immediate procedure-related complications, the level of previous experience with IO access, and operator's subjective satisfaction with the device. 77 IO needle insertions were performed in 69 adults and five infants and children by emergency physicians (n = 72 applications) and paramedics (n = 5 applications). Needle placement was successful at the first attempt in all but 2 adults (one patient with unrecognized total knee arthroplasty, one case of needle obstruction after placement). The majority of users (92%) were relative novices with less than five previous IO needle placements. Of 22 responsive patients, 18 reported pain upon fluid administration via the needle. The rescuers' subjective rating regarding handling of the device and ease of needle insertion, as described by means of an analogue scale (0 = entirely unsatisfied, 10 = most satisfied), provided a median score of 10 (range 1-10). The EZ-IO needle driver was an efficient alternative to establish immediate out-of-hospital vascular access. However, significant pain upon intramedullary infusion was observed in the majority of responsive patients.

Polysilicon for everything?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, M. C. L.; McNie, Mark E.; Bunyan, Robert J.; King, David O.; Carline, Roger T.; Wilson, Rebecca; Gillham, J. P.

1998-09-01

We review some of the attractive attributes of microengineering and relate them to features of the highly successful silicon microelectronics industry. We highlight the need for cost effective functionality rather than ultimate performance as a driver for success and review key examples of polysilicon devices from this point of view. The effective exploitation of the data generated by the cost effective polysilicon sensors is also considered and we conclude that `non traditional' data analysis will need to be exploited if full use is to be made of polysilicon devices.

Analysis and simulation of a magnetic bearing suspension system for a laboratory model annular momentum control device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Groom, N. J.; Woolley, C. T.; Joshi, S. M.

1981-01-01

A linear analysis and the results of a nonlinear simulation of a magnetic bearing suspension system which uses permanent magnet flux biasing are presented. The magnetic bearing suspension is part of a 4068 N-m-s (3000 lb-ft-sec) laboratory model annular momentum control device (AMCD). The simulation includes rigid body rim dynamics, linear and nonlinear axial actuators, linear radial actuators, axial and radial rim warp, and power supply and power driver current limits.

How does a collision warning system shape driver's brake response time? The influence of expectancy and automation complacency on real-life emergency braking.

PubMed

Ruscio, Daniele; Ciceri, Maria Rita; Biassoni, Federica

2015-04-01

Brake Reaction Time (BRT) is an important parameter for road safety. Previous research has shown that drivers' expectations can impact RT when facing hazardous situations, but driving with advanced driver assistance systems, can change the way BRT are considered. The interaction with a collision warning system can help faster more efficient responses, but at the same time can require a monitoring task and evaluation process that may lead to automation complacency. The aims of the present study are to test in a real-life setting whether automation compliancy can be generated by a collision warning system and what component of expectancy can impact the different tasks involved in an assisted BRT process. More specifically four component of expectancy were investigated: presence/absence of anticipatory information, previous direct experience, reliability of the device, and predictability of the hazard determined by repeated use of the warning system. Results supply indication on perception time and mental elaboration of the collision warning system alerts. In particular reliable warning quickened the decision making process, misleading warnings generated automation complacency slowing visual search for hazard detection, lack of directed experienced slowed the overall response while unexpected failure of the device lead to inattentional blindness and potential pseudo-accidents with surprise obstacle intrusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applications drivers for data parking on the Information Superhighway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Clark E., Jr.; Foeller, Thomas

1994-01-01

As the cost of data storage continues to decline (currently about one-millionth of its cost four decades ago) entirely new applications areas become economically feasible. Many of these new areas involved the extraordinarily high data rates and universal connectivity soon to be provided by the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The commonly held belief is that the main driver for the NII will be entertainment applications. We believe that entertainment applications as currently touted (multi-media, 500 video channels, video-on-demand, etc.) will play an important but far from dominant role in the development of the NII and its data storage components. The most pervasively effective drivers will be medical applications such as telemedicine and remote diagnosis, education and environmental monitoring. These applications have a significant funding base and offer a clearly perceived opportunity to improve the nation's standard of living. The NII's wideband connectivity both nationwide and worldwide requires a broad spectrum of data storage devices with a wide-range of performance capabilities. These storage centers will be dispersed throughout the system. Magnetic recording devices will fill the majority of these new data storage requirements for at least the rest of this century. The storage needs of various application areas and their respective market sizes will be explored. The comparative performance of various magnetic technologies and competitive alternative storage systems will be discussed.

Attitudes towards and perceptions of eco-driving and the role of feedback systems.

PubMed

Harvey, Joan; Thorpe, Neil; Fairchild, Richard

2013-01-01

This paper addresses whether eco-driving may be encouraged by providing drivers with feedback, and how eco-driving attitudes fit with other environmental attitudes. Eight focus groups, including fleet drivers, discussed how feedback and other motives might affect driving behaviour. A survey of 350 respondents investigated attitudes towards saving fuel, the role of incentives and use of eco-friendly products. The focus groups' findings show that the environment is a lower priority than comfort and convenience, that feedback might provide a stimulus to eco-driving and that saving money was less important than saving time. The attitude survey showed that price, convenience, attitudes and eco-driving are not conceptually linked together, that convenience is rated as more important than saving money from fuel efficiency and that although the environment is of concern, it is not a high enough priority to increase fuel efficiency. The findings are discussed in relation to the low level of priority given to environmental concerns and the inability of financial incentives presenting significant challenges in terms of changing the subjective norms of the majority of drivers. This paper, using focus groups and a questionnaire, aims to understand how feedback devices, attitudes and motivation can improve eco-driving behaviours. The incentive to save money by better fuel economy was found to be insufficient, and roles for feedback devices and how information is presented are identified.

Effects of a Driver Cellphone Ban on Overall, Handheld, and Hands-Free Cellphone Use While Driving: New Evidence from Canada.

PubMed

Carpenter, Christopher S; Nguyen, Hai V

2015-11-01

We provide new evidence on the effects of increasingly common driver cellphone bans on self-reported overall, handheld, and hands-free cellphone use while driving by studying Ontario, Canada, which instituted a 3-month education campaign in November 2009 followed by a binding driver cellphone ban in February 2010. Using residents of Alberta as a control group in a difference-in-differences framework, we find visual and regression-based evidence that Ontario's cellphone ban significantly reduced overall and handheld cellphone use. We also find that the policies significantly increased hands-free cellphone use. The reductions in overall and handheld use are driven exclusively by women, whereas the increases in hands-free use are much larger for men. Our results provide the first direct evidence that cellphone bans have the unintended effect of inducing substitution to hands-free devices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mathematical model to predict drivers' reaction speeds.

PubMed

Long, Benjamin L; Gillespie, A Isabella; Tanaka, Martin L

2012-02-01

Mental distractions and physical impairments can increase the risk of accidents by affecting a driver's ability to control the vehicle. In this article, we developed a linear mathematical model that can be used to quantitatively predict drivers' performance over a variety of possible driving conditions. Predictions were not limited only to conditions tested, but also included linear combinations of these tests conditions. Two groups of 12 participants were evaluated using a custom drivers' reaction speed testing device to evaluate the effect of cell phone talking, texting, and a fixed knee brace on the components of drivers' reaction speed. Cognitive reaction time was found to increase by 24% for cell phone talking and 74% for texting. The fixed knee brace increased musculoskeletal reaction time by 24%. These experimental data were used to develop a mathematical model to predict reaction speed for an untested condition, talking on a cell phone with a fixed knee brace. The model was verified by comparing the predicted reaction speed to measured experimental values from an independent test. The model predicted full braking time within 3% of the measured value. Although only a few influential conditions were evaluated, we present a general approach that can be expanded to include other types of distractions, impairments, and environmental conditions.

Design of a 16 gray scales 320 × 240 pixels OLED-on-silicon driving circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ran, Huang; Xiaohui, Wang; Wenbo, Wang; Huan, Du; Zhengsheng, Han

2009-01-01

A 320×240 pixel organic-light-emitting-diode-on-silicon (OLEDoS) driving circuit is implemented using the standard 0.5 μm CMOS process of CSMC. It gives 16 gray scales with integrated 4 bit D/A converters. A three-transistor voltage-programmed OLED pixel driver is proposed, which can realize the very small current driving required for the OLEDoS microdisplay. Both the D/A converter and the pixel driver are implemented with pMOS devices. The pass-transistor and capacitance in the OLED pixel driver can be used to sample the output of the D/A converter. An additional pMOS is added to OLED pixel driver, which is used to control the D/A converter operating only when one row is on. This can reduce the circuit's power consumption. This driving circuit can work properly in a frame frequency of 50 Hz, and the final layout of this circuit is given. The pixel area is 28.4 × 28.4 μm2 and the display area is 10.7 × 8.0 mm2 (the diagonal is about 13 mm). The measured pixel gray scale voltage shows that the function of the driver circuit is correct, and the power consumption of the chip is about 350 mW.

Additional deployment of ocean bottom gravity meter and ocean bottom electro-magnetic meter for the multidisciplinary cabled observation in Sagami Bay, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitsuzawa, K.; Goto, T.; Araki, E.; Watanabe, T.; Sugioka, H.; Kasaya, T.; Sayanagi, K.; Mikada, H.; Fujimoto, H.; Nagao, T.; Koizumi, K.; Asakawa, K.

2005-12-01

Western part of the Sagami Bay central Pacific side of Japan, is known as one of the high active tectonic areas. In this area, Teishi Knoll, volcanic seamount, erupted in 1989 and the earthquake swarms occurs repeatedly every few years in the eastern coast of the Izu Peninsula. The real-time deep sea floor observatory was deployed about 7 km off Hatsushima Island, Sagami Bay, at a depth of 1174 m in 1993 to monitor seismic activities, underwater pressure, water temperature and deep currents. The video camera and lights were also mounted in the observatory to monitor the relations among biological activities associated with the tectonic activities. The observation system including submarine electro-optical cable with a length of 8 km was completely renewed in 2000. The several underwater-mateable connectors are installed in the new observatory for additional observation instruments. A precise pressure sensor, ocean bottom gravity meter and ocean bottom electro-magnetic meter were installed using ROV Hyper-Dolphin in the cruise of R/V Natsushima from January 9 to 14, 2005. We start to operate them at February 10, 2005 after checking those of data qualities. We also installed an underwater internet interface, which is called Linux Box, as a prototype of underwater network system which was operated by Linux operating system. The Linux Box is a key network system for multidisciplinary observation network. It will be able to connect much kind of observation instruments as using internet connection. We put the precise pressure sensor as a sensor of the Linux Box in this experiment.