We present here the development of optical pickup for acoustic violin. Unlike other optical pickups, this one works in a reflective mode which is potentially less intrusive. This pickup, aimed principally at pitch tracking, uses a modulation technique to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, and limit artifacts of the ambient light.

This paper concentrates on a new framework for a post-market reassignment of requests in a Collaborative Carrier Network (CCN). While the framework was applied to a pickup and delivery scenario in [BB07] we now use it for the vehicle routing of a carrier network offering LTL pickup services leading to a set of interdependent capacitated traveling salesman tours.

Pickup and delivery problems constitute an important class of vehicle routing problems in which objects or people have to be collected and distributed. This paper introduces a general framework to model a large collection of pickup and delivery problems, as well as a three-field classification scheme for these problems. It surveys the methods used for solving them.

This dissertation is a study on the use of swarm methods for optimization, and is divided into three main parts. In the first part, two novel swarm metaheuristic algorithms—named Survival Sub-swarms Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization (SSS-APSO) and Survival Sub-swarms Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization with velocity-line bouncing (SSS-APSO-vb)—are developed. These new algorithms present sel...

Article history: Received 20 November 2009 Accepted 3 January 2011 Available online 8 January 2011

This thesis considers the Dynamic Pickup and Delivery Problem (DPDP), a dynamic multi-stage vehicle routing problem in which each demand requires two spatially separated services: pickup service at its source location and then delivery service at its destination location. The Dynamic Pickup and Delivery Problem arises in many practical applications, including taxi and courier services, manufact...

The vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery (VRPSPD) is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem which addresses provided service to a set of customers using a homogeneous fleet of capacitated vehicles. The objective is to minimize the distance traveled. The VRPSPD is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. Therefore, practical large-scale instances of VRPSPD...

A new soft x-ray (SXR) T(e) and tomography diagnostic has been developed for MST that can be used for simultaneous SXR spectrum measurement, tomographically reconstructed emissivity, and reconstructed and line-of-sight electron temperature. The diagnostic utilizes high-performance differential transimpedance amplifiers (gain 10(5)-10(9)) to provide fast time response (up to 125 kHz), allowing f...

We describe an automated system for serum lipid extraction and simultaneous determination of cholesterol and triglycerides, with use of continuous-flow equipment. A sample volume of 100 mul of serum is required, and samples are processed at the rate of 20 per hour, which may be increased with slight loss in precision. Time from sample pickup to recorder readout is about 25 min. The system makes...

This paper describes a dataset collected by an autonomous ground vehicle testbed, based upon a modified Ford F-250 pickup truck (Fig 1). The vehicle is outfitted with, a professional (Applanix POS LV) and consumer (Xsens MTI-G) Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU); along with a 3D Velodyne lidar scanner, two push-broom forward looking Riegl lidars, and a Point Grey Ladybug3 omnidirectional camera syst...