Carl Steidley

Developing a prototype virtual laboratory for distance science and engineering education

Institutions of higher education are actively seeking new methods to complement their science and engineering distance education programs with online experimentation. This paper describes the design and development of a virtual laboratory environment that allows students to perform laboratory experiments from remote locations through a Web browser. A front panel in LabVIEW displays the results and allows storage of acquired data for later processing. A digital camera that provides real time pictures of the monitored equipment is part of the system configuration.

Airborne multicamera system for geo-spatial applications

Airborne remote sensing has many applications that include vegetation detection, oceanography, marine biology, geographical information systems, and environmental coastal science analysis. Remotely sensed images, for example, can be used to study the aftermath of episodic events such as the hurricanes and floods that occur year round in the coastal bend area of Corpus Christi. This paper describes an Airborne Multi-Spectral Imaging System that uses digital cameras to provide high resolution at very high rates. The software is based on Delphi 5.0 and IC Imaging Controls ActiveX controls. Both time and the GPS coordinates are recorded. Three successful test flights have been conducted so far. The paper present flight test results and discusses the issues being addressed to fully develop the system.

Intelligent systems integration for data acquisition and modeling of coastal ecosystems

One of the difficulties of using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to estimate atmospheric temperature is the large number of potential input variables available. In this study, four different feature extraction methods were used to reduce the input vector to train four networks to estimate temperature at different atmospheric levels. The four techniques used were: genetic algorithms (GA), coefficient of determination (CoD), mutual information (MI) and simple neural analysis (SNA). The results demonstrate that of the four methods used for this data set, mutual information and simple neural analysis can generate networks that have a smaller input parameter set, while still maintaining a high degree of accuracy.

Developing a remote controlled vehicle for environmental studies

Water quality data collection in shallow water areas can be a challenging task. Obstacles encountered in such environments include difficulty in covering large territories and the presence of inaccessible areas due to a variety of reasons such as a soft bottom or contamination. There is also a high chance of disturbing the test area while placing the sensors. This paper describes a NASA-funded project, which has had a great deal of student involvement and is currently in the test phase, to develop a remote-controlled, shallow-draft vehicle designed as a supplemental tool for our studies of the South Texas Coastal waters. The system transmits environmental data wirelessly via a radio to a docking and control station in real-time.

A rapid-deployable imaging system for environmental system studies

This paper describes an Airborne Multi-Spectral Imaging System (AMIS) and the development of its system software. This system has been developed so as to be rapidly deployed in response to episodic events such as hurricanes and tropical storms which may occur year round in coastal zones. The system uses digital video cameras to provide high resolution images at a very high collection rate. The system is software controlled so as to provide a minimum distraction for the aircraft pilot by providing for the remote manipulation of the camera and the GPS receiver. The system is viable for many applications that require good resolution at low cost. Such applications include vegetation detection, oceanography, marine biology, and environmental coastal science analysis.

Software development for airborne imaging system

This paper describes software development for an Airborne Multi-Spectral Imaging System that uses digital cameras to provide high resolution images at very high rates. The software controls the camera and the GPS receiver and allows the remote manipulation of various functions, including play, stop, and rewind. The GPS co-ordinates and the corresponding time are simultaneously recorded. The system is viable for many applications that require reasonably good resolution at low cost. Such applications include vegetation detection, oceanography, marine biology, geographical information systems, and environmental coastal science analysis. The paper presents results of two successful flight tests.

Design and development of an airborne multispectral imaging system

Advances in imaging technology and sensors have made airborne remote sensing systems viable for many applications that require reasonably good resolution at low cost. Digital cameras are making their mark on the market by providing high resolution at very high rates. This paper describes an aircraft-mounted imaging system (AMIS) that is being designed and developed at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (A&M-CC) with the support of a grant from NASA. The approach is to first develop and test a one-camera system that will be upgraded into a five-camera system that offers multi-spectral capabilities. AMIS will be low cost, rugged, portable and has its own battery power source. Its immediate use will be to acquire images of the Coastal area in the Gulf of Mexico for a variety of studies covering vast spectra from near ultraviolet region to near infrared region. This paper describes AMIS and its characteristics, discusses the process for selecting the major components, and presents the progress.