b-r-1-d-g-3 w-h-1-s-p-3-r-3-r update

The Pop. Sci. article is now online:

See it here.

My advisor is number 10. The picture is... stunning is the word I'm going to use. Stunning.

They're All Going to Laugh at You

According to a recent press release from my university, Popular Science has named my advisor as one of a group of ten scientists they feature as "brilliant" and who are producing relevant and important work.

While this is pretty cool and all, it also appears that they have dubbed him "t-h-3 b-r-1-d-g-3 w-h-1-s-p-3-r-3-r" (dashes inserted to protect against teh Google), which means I may never be able to look at him again with a straight face.

I can see him now at the abutment of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. The deck starts to vibrate out of control. He stands confidently, points his finger, and goes, "Shhst!"... and all is calm.

More Self-tuning Control, No Blogging

I am currently banging my head on some self-tuning control algorithms.

A popular approach is using recursive, multivariable least-squares (generally ARARX or ARMAX) to update the system parameters then there are a great many different techniques for updating the control feedback gains depending on your computational power and time horizon.

My problem is the recursive, multivariable least-squares algorithm. It's flipping complicated. In the adaptive control references, it tends to presented in pretty much the same manner as "Step 2" in the following (rather ubiquitous) cartoon:

I'll figure it out... (I hope)...

Messages of pity or of disdain are welcome in the comments section.

Uctural-say Elth-Hay onitoring-May on Ind-Way Urbines-Tay

If Google ever learns to translate Pig Latin, by efforts to avoid linking of my "professional" life and my bloggy life will disappear in a uff-pay of oke-sma.

Since I just got back from somewhere in northern Germany on a research related trip, I thought I would share some pictures.

Here's the big picture of what was going on in... uh, picture form:

(Notice the sexy beast in the lower right-hand corner.)


One nerd:



Two nerds (S.W. w/ ATZ a.k.a. TUWotSW):



Biggest Nerd Ever (actually not the Sarcastic Weasel {shock}):

(That's a Segway under his dress, in case you were wondering.)


The future (the things are going offshore):



Some guy in a very sarcastic pose:



A church bombed during some war they had over there. The roof was not replaced and the church is now a memorial. Some jackass is spoiling the shot with his compulsive need to follow lines on the ground:



Finally, a bucolic scene:



Oh noes!

(illustration source: http://www.donquijote.cc/ signed G. A. Harker: composite made in < 1 min using M. S. Visio)

Traveling Again

Very few posts lately.

The Sarcastic Weasel will be traveling for research related purposes again shortly and preparations for the next trip (as well as fallout from the previous trip) consume his time.

This time, the destination is not in Asia (thank the god of jet lag), but Germany. I suppose I'm going to be spending the bulk of my time working on my research rather than getting to do distinctively German things like drinking warm beer and invading Poland.

This trip is largely devoted to burnishing the Sarcastic Weasel's environmental research street cred. The most important part of being "green" is, apparently, flying on a jet very long distances (seems to work for Al Gore).

In the meantime, please amuse yourself by providing additional pseudonyms for the forthcoming Sarcastic Weasel sequel. There are certainly some quality submissions, but a few more suggestions would really help round out a nice looking poll.

Best Energy Harvesting Idea.. Ever

Since my normal research involves the judicious use of wireless sensors for monitoring of infrastructure assets, I do usually pay attention to the developments in the field of energy-scavenging. While not precisely my area of interest/expertise, a breakthrough in that field could lead to very positive results in my field.

Lots of interesting work in scavenging is being done for energy-scavenging in rotating machinery, athletic equipment (bikes and backpacks), and (of course) military applications. The enabling technologies can be anything from wire-coil generators, to piezoelectrics, to nanotechnology (danger, academic buzz word, could mean nearly anything). In these applications, there exists quite a bit of kinetic energy that could be leveraged into electrical energy. The mechanism is highly dependent on the magnitude of the kinetic motion as well as its frequency content. The Sarcastic Weasel happens to know some of the people working on these topics. Neat stuff.

Now, in Slate Magazine of all places, comes the breast possible energy scavenging application that I have ever seen. Screw powering wireless diagnostic sensors from the energy provided by rotating machinery, I want to be able to power an iPod using a smart-bra. I think my shopping for this year's Christmas gift for the Official Wife of the Sarcastic Weasel just got a lot easier!

OMFG

Job Well Done (I hope)

Sorry not to be blogging much lately. I've been traveling in support of the SeaFighter project. Also, I'm dead tired and had a beer on an empty stomach... sorry if I ramble a bit. Just finished 3 1/2 days of instrumentation. It was actually difficult and physical. What the hell, man? I'm supposed to be a squishy engineering grad student nerd, not an active guy climbing around running cables. This project will represent our most ambitious instrumentation project to date (so why was I the only one sent to do it!?!).

Everything is installed though, and just in time, I'm flying home tomorrow (God, I hope it runs well). Got to spend the past few days in Panama City, FL. Don't know what to say about it other than if you've seen one gulf coast city, you've seen then all. Good (fried) seafood. Touristy as hell. Near the naval support facility it's a little seedy. Last time I came down, the hotel conference room was full of Hooters girls and prospective employees. I thought to myself, "Hey, I didn't know Hooters had conferences." Then I thought, "Suddenly the IMAC conference doesn't seem so great." It seems though, that they were just recruiting for a new location adjacent to the hotel. This trip, I happened to arrive on the opening day. What is my adviser thinking? It's currently the off-season for tourists, so things haven't been so crowded... until tonigh anyway when the hotel seems to be hosting a group of extremely young looking Naval cadets as well as a large contingent of gymnasts... seamen and gymnasts... gymnasts and seamen... make your own joke here.

Anyway, as a follow-up to the survival-at-sea post, I've learned how to survive in port anyway. First of all, when your job inherently involves making the crew's jobs more difficult, you've got a tricky situation. When your job is to place sensitive and fragile electronics on the decks in high traffic areas and then leave them unguarded for a few weeks, you really want to avoid pissing people off. Keeping your work area clean is a big part of that. In my lab, I let mess accumulate, drop wire, insulation, other stuff all over. On the boat, I picked up every last scrap of rubbish I generated. I spent an extra day routing cables as to be out of the way and, generally, look neat. I also taped the living hell out of the cables and wires that ran along the deck. I can't make it good for them; physics and my boss tell me where the sensors must go, but I can make it clear that I'm really willing to pretend that I feel bad about the hassle I cause them (yes, pretend, don't be too weak).

Also, apparently sitting watch in port, involves sitting near the door playing PSP and generally ignoring anything that goes on on-board the ship. Maybe I'm misinterpreting things. The boat is parked in a reasonably secure place though.

Looking forward to the trip though... whenever it happens May be able to visit with the Princess (who doesn't seem to generate new posts without considerable harassment... contact me fo her email address if you want to harass her) and SP#5 too.

How To Survive At Sea (Ish Willing)

Today's post is going to be a pretty lazy one from my point of view, but hopefully interesting as well. I plan to take advantage of Ish's generosity and ego and ask him (when he sees the post) to fill in the bulk of the post in the comments section.

As stated before, the Sarcastic Weasel has a cruise in his future. Obviously not a fun cruise with show girls, all-you-can-eat buffets, and wave pools, but a cruise on an ONR owned vessel to do some vibrational monitoring using wireless sensing devices.

What I am hoping that Ish will provide, is a handy survival guide for someone of no rank or status (i.e. a grad student) who will be on a Merchant Marine run vessel for a week (or slightly longer). There are things I need to know like, what is the hierarchy, who should I definitely not piss off (besides everyone), what sort of bribes the crew are susceptible to (or do bribes make one appear weak), what kind of unwritten rules should I be aware of, what terminology should I brush up on, is scotch allowed on board, and with relatively light duties, just how the hell does one pass the time for 7-9 days in a big metal box?

Depending in Ish's schedule, level of apathy, and computer access, hopefully, the fun part of this post will arrive soon.

PHD Comics: Two Strikes in a Row

The guy has moved on to be an instructor now, why then does it seem like he's still living my life?

It's the Same! Everywhere, It's the Same!

Latest from PHD Comics. I've never quite identified with any fictional universe so much before in my life. So sad. So, so sad.

Little Trip (Maybe)

It seems that the Air Force has been funding structural health monitoring (SHM) projects for quite a few years now and, in general, are pretty much happy with the faculty and universities that they currently employ. The word for the people who have been doing this work is, I believe, "entrenched." The Navy on the other hand, is relatively new to SHM and doesn't have the set preferences for certain groups, thus creating potential openings for younger faculty to move into (that's not to say that the people with Air Force munnies aren't jockeying here too).

Anyway, the upshot of this situation is that my humble research group is involved in a modest project to demonstrate the efficacy of wireless sensing on-board a naval vessel. Can microwave transmitters reliably shuttle data in the marine environment with machinery, bulkheads, seamen, and what-have-you? I think so, which is good because it's my job to demonstrate it convincingly enough that ONR will choose to bestow upon our group more precious fundin... that is, more opportunities for research, growth, and the advancement of human potential. I'm expecting good results.

The vessel that they are interested in monitoring is the experimental Sea Fighter, an all aluminum, twin-hulled behemoth designed to do 40 knots in relatively poor seas (Sea State 5 or 6) and nearly 60 knots in better seas. There's a crap-load of unclassified info about the thing out on the web:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/sea-fighter.htm
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=1200&ct=4
http://www.nicholsboats.com/x-craft.htm



The information in these sites lists the crew as being composed of Navy and Coast Guard personnel, but at this time, I believe that ordinary operation of the vessel is done with a Merchant Marine crew.

Anyway, in case the wireless monitoring system goes awry, I might spend a few days on the boat looking for good data (good data = rough weather). I do love boats and have never been motion sick in my life. Here's hoping my streak continues. Nothing about what I'm working on is classified. I'll be able to comment on and publish anything I do or learn. But I do feel a little odd posting online when and where a military vessel is supposed to be, so I won't. But, since smashing my body to bits on an aluminum bulkhead does sound like the S.W.'s idea of a good time, wish me luck.

Journal Paper

After nearly 4 years and almost two completed Master's degrees, I have just submitted my first journal paper with myself as the first author. Provided that it is accepted (it better be, it's awesome) it's a very significant step toward graduation and a tenure-track position. Yay me... and that guy who advises me (I'll have to come up with some kind of pseudonym for him).

More Signs from Above

There are days that I get the distinct impression that my data is trying to tell me something. This is a histogram of analog-to-digital output by bin. It should only have three bins with non-zero values provided that my circuit is not too noisy.

Instead, there seems to be another message from God.

Maybe I'm paranoid though.

Actual S.W. Meeting Notes

All emails to Jesus must CC Adviser and Tom Brady.

Divine Research Inspiration

We were doing modal testing on a cable-stay bridge in central Taiwan in the middle of the night. The bridge was covered in lights: lights for the street, lights for the cables, but none of them were on.

I was tasked with documenting the work, which was actually impossible given the soul-crushing darkness, but even in such darkness lies the possibility of grace. God his-own-self had an addition to make in the lab notebook.

What did he write, you ask?
"Remember my beloved children: always use an anti-aliasing filter."