Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design
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Browsing Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design by Department "Mathematics"
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Item A Low Cost, Edge Computing, All-Sky Imager for Cloud Tracking and Intra-Hour Irradiance Forecasting(2017-03-23) Richardson, Walter; Krishnaswami, Hariharan; Vega, Rolando; Cervantes, MichaelWith increasing use of photovoltaic (PV) power generation by utilities and their residential customers, the need for accurate intra-hour and day-ahead solar irradiance forecasting has become critical. This paper details the development of a low cost all-sky imaging system and an intra-hour cloud motion prediction methodology that produces minutes-ahead irradiance forecasts. The SkyImager is designed around a Raspberry Pi single board computer (SBC) with a fully programmable, high resolution Pi Camera, housed in a durable all-weather enclosure. Our software is written in Python 2.7 and utilizes the open source computer vision package OpenCV. The SkyImager can be configured for different operational environments and network designs, from a standalone edge computing model to a fully integrated node in a distributed, cloud-computing based micro-grid. Preliminary results are presented using the imager on site at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO, USA during the fall of 2015 under a variety of cloud conditions.Item A Multimodal Appraisal of Zaha Hadid's Glasgow Riverside Museum—Criticism, Performance Evaluation, and Habitability(2023-01-09) Salama, Ashraf M.; Salingaros, Nikos A.; MacLean, LauraHigh-profile projects promoted by governments, local municipalities, and the media do not always meet program requirements or user expectations. The Riverside Museum in Glasgow by Zaha Hadid Architects, which has generated significant discussion in the media, is used to test this claim. A multimodal inquiry adopts three factors: criticism, performance evaluation, and habitability. Results from this method are then correlated with visual attention scans using software from 3M Corporation to map unconscious user engagement. A wide spectrum of tools is employed, including a walking tour assessment procedure, contemplation of selected settings, navigational mapping, and assessing user emotional experiences. Key aspects of the design and spatial qualities of this museum are compared with an analysis of critical writings on how the project was portrayed in the media. Further, we examine socio-spatial practices, selected behavioral phenomena, and the emotional experiences that ensue from users' interaction with the building and its immediate context. The findings suggest design shortcomings and, more worrisome, that spatial qualities relevant to users' experiences do not seem to have been met. In going beyond the usual method of analysis, we apply new techniques of eye-tracking simulations, which verify results obtained by more traditional means. An in-depth analysis suggests the need for better compatibility between the imagined design ideas and the actual spatial environments in use.Item Defense against Adversarial Swarms with Parameter Uncertainty(2022-06-24) Walton, Claire; Kaminer, Isaac; Gong, Qi; Clark, Abram H.; Tsatsanifos, TheodorosThis paper addresses the problem of optimal defense of a high-value unit (HVU) against a large-scale swarm attack. We discuss multiple models for intra-swarm cooperation strategies and provide a framework for combining these cooperative models with HVU tracking and adversarial interaction forces. We show that the problem of defending against a swarm attack can be cast in the framework of uncertain parameter optimal control. We discuss numerical solution methods, then derive a consistency result for the dual problem of this framework, providing a tool for verifying computational results. We also show that the dual conditions can be computed numerically, providing further computational utility. Finally, we apply these numerical results to derive optimal defender strategies against a 100-agent swarm attack.Item Experiences in Delivering Online CS Teacher Professional Development(Association for Computing Machinery, 2024-03-07) Wilde, Jina; Beltran, Emiliano; Zawatski, Michael J.; Fernandez, Amanda S.; Prasad, Priya V.; Yuen, Timothy T.This paper describes our team's experience in designing and delivering the online teacher professional development (PD) program, Computer Science for San Antonio (CS4SA), aimed at empowering educators with computer science (CS) knowledge to increase Latinx participation in CS and STEM education within a large, urban predominantly Latinx school district in South Texas. This paper highlights the successes, challenges, and lessons learned while facilitating two cohorts of the CS PD through online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this program, participants recognized the importance of integrating CS into their classroom and becoming advocates for the discipline at the high school level. Additionally, teachers, investigators, and other personnel learned important lessons for enhancing the program's impact through collaboration with district administrators and refinement of the online learning experience.Item Multicomplex Taylor Series Expansion for Computing High-Order Derivatives(Academic Publications, 2014) Millwater, Harry; Shirinkam, SaraMulticomplex Taylor series expansion (MCTSE) is a numerical method for calculating higher-order partial derivatives of a multivariable real-valued and complex-valued analytic function based on Taylor series expansion without subtraction cancelation errors. The implementation has been facilitated using Cauchy-Riemann matrix representation of multicomplex variables. In this paper, we show steps for finding these matrices and, in addition, that the number of appearances of the k-th derivatives follows the Pascal's triangle. Also, the situations where the MCTSE is not applicable is determined. Finally, we investigate the application of the method for complex-valued functions.Item Spontaneous Cities: Lessons to Improve Planning for Housing(MDPI, 2021-05-19) Salingaros, Nikos A.The world can learn two key lessons from spontaneous settlements: (i) design so as to adapt to human biology; and (ii) design to save energy. Timeless processes of urban growth and sustainability have forced societies to conserve energy. Yet, nowadays, a profession focused on design ideology and short-term profit discredits many economical and effective long-term design methods. Decision-makers, politicians, and urbanists talk of energy conservation while continuing to use failed notions of industrial urbanity in place of documented solutions that work. Most damaging is the myopic academic elite’s fixation on an unsustainable industrial-modernist visual vocabulary of minimalist forms. By promoting typologies based on images dating from the 1920s, instead of using scientific analysis, the industry serves extractive global imperialism rather than satisfying the world’s population needs. We should instead learn from how self-builders adapt form, geometry, materials, surfaces, and ornament to maximize the user’s emotional experience in an otherwise extremely challenging environment.Item The Importance of Domestic Space in the Times of COVID-19(2021-10-19) Aresta, Marco; Salingaros, Nikos A.This essay discusses a deep malaise of contemporary architecture, made more obvious by experiencing COVID-19 lockdowns for several months. Evidence-based arguments urge society to improve human health and well-being by re-considering the design of interior and exterior spaces. So far, predictions of how design will “improve” after COVID-19 just continue business-as-usual, ignoring accumulated evidence. Yet, the negative emotional experience of families cooped up during the pandemic reveals the failure of the standard approach to designing spaces. An architecture that adapts to human biology and psychology starts with the relatively new understanding of people interacting unconsciously with their environment and broadens it. A traditional design toolkit, augmented by the latest technology, can generate healing spaces as judged by their ability to enhance users’ subjective well-being. We recommend implementing specific design innovations to achieve this goal—replacing industrial-minimalism with biophilic and neuro-based design and using documented patterns that trigger feelings of happiness in users.