Browsing by Author "Terk, Michael"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Immersive VE framework for structural engineering applications
    (2002) Rangaraju, Nagaraju; Terk, Michael
    Immersive Virtual Environment (VE) technology has found varying applications in different fields of science and engineering. While there exist several areas in structural engineering that can benefit from the use of Immersive VE technology there is a general lack of these applications in the structural engineering domain. One of the main reasons for this is the high degree of familiarity with a host of low level hardware and software technology required on the part of the designer. In this work we have developed a conceptual framework for developing tools that present Immersive VE designers in the structural engineering domain with a high level interface that hides the low level details. A sample implementation of this framework designed to use the CAVE/ImmersaDesk systems was also developed. Finally the effectiveness and applicability of the implementation was tested by designing two trial implementations.
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    Integrated building analysis and design system using distributed object computing
    (1999) Wang, Zhe; Terk, Michael
    This study describes a new approach to building integrated design using distributed object technology. It identifies a number of issues involved in integrating tools initially developed for stand-alone use into an integrated design environment and shows how this approach can be used to address these issues. The benefits of this approach are illustrated by the description of IBADS, an integrated building analysis and design environment, implemented during this research effort. IBADS uses the proposed approach to integrate commercial off-the-shelf software packages AutoCAD, Etabs and Steeler into an environment for design of 2-D frames.
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    Integrating document control in design drawings
    (2003) Srinivasan, Arun Kumar; Terk, Michael
    In order to manage large construction projects efficiently, the contractor generally splits a project into a group of inter-related design tasks and assigns them to different organizations through sub-contracts. Managing the information about how the components of the design change with time, making sure that none of the constraints created by the interdependency of design components are violated in the final design is a challenging task. As a result, intensive research has been conducted in the area of Document Control to ensure the integrity of the design throughout the duration of the project. Most of the present efforts in Document Control require active participation of the user in informing a server about the design drawings that he uses. This research provides a Version Control mechanism embedded into design drawings and shows how a similar mechanism can improve communication between designers in a project.
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    Problem generator system in Engineering Design Tutor
    (2002) Rui, Yuan; Terk, Michael
    The Internet has provided an ideal environment for engineering education. This thesis describes the development of a new problem generator used in the Engineering Design Tutor (EDT) system to provide multi-step problem generation capability. The EDT system allows the user to specify a set of design concepts from a specific domain, based on which a problem tree is generated. All the possible solution paths in the tree are searched and the most complete and correct path is automatically selected as the shortest path. Using the values obtained from a constraint satisfaction solution for the variables in the shortest path, and the templates provided for the problem description, the system allows the automatic generation of a set of problems all using the same shortest solution path.
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    Prophet: A context-aware framework for construction site applications
    (2004) Singhvi, Vipul; Terk, Michael
    Construction sites are information intensive environments. The timely and satisfactory completion of any project depends on the accessibility of project information to the construction project engineers. Up to now, accessing this information at the point of work, where and when it will be most effective, has been difficult or impossible. This work describes Prophet, a context aware, framework for the development of information system that integrates context-aware applications to provide construction workers with on-site contextual data and services. Prophet is designed to take advantage of off-the-shelf portable computing devices and uses wireless network for communication between the users and servers that host applications and data. Prophet is designed to simplify the creation of systems that use the knowledge of user's context to help in managing the complexity of the construction data. This is accomplished by proactively tracking current resource requirements and proactively obtaining access to context-relevant information and services. This thesis describes the capabilities of the Prophet framework and provides a description of a sample implementation used to demonstrate the benefits of this approach.
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    Steel Design (CIVI 306)
    (Rice University, 2005-08-18) Terk, Michael
    Design of steel members, connections, and assemblies. Behavior of steel members as related to design.