Rob Wray

Java software was developed to read laser-based distance information that measures pre-pressed mats' height before being compressed into panels. The software identified the boundaries of mats and determined how consistently material is distributed. Roughly 100,000 measurements are taken per mat in the mat-forming line before pressing into 4x8 foot panels.

A 2D FFT is used in real-time to determine the macroscopic waves and create a key performance index (KPI) for waviness. Images and statistical information are created and display to control room staff so that changes to forming can be adjusted as part of the 24 hours, seven days a week manufacturing process.

Statistical information for each panel is then sent to MS SQL Server or MySQL, where it can be accessed by other mill staff using other software. The software allows continual feedback on impacts of actions mill staff take to improve panel consistency and reduce waste by reducing the sanding needed per panel. Significant shifts in panel statistics can set off alarms to control room staff to alert them to unexpected changes such as material bridging or equipment failure.

Developed a roughly 30,000-line .NET 4.0 program with real-time graphing, monitoring, dashboard, internationalization, and archival solution for data collected by pressure, temperature, and distance sensors. Created native connections to Alley-Bradley and Siemens PLC as well as any Modbus capable PLC. A task manager was developed to help ensure responsiveness when polling. Unit conversions were handled as a part of all in-program specified calculations. Microsoft Prism 4 was used with WPF to separate model, view, and view model program aspects. Unity was used for the dependency injection container. Adding and removing modules with different functionality could be done with few code changes and little impact on other modules' functionality. All data could be exported to MS Excel or image format. Previously defined settings and data could be read and written in a forward and backward compatible manner. Internationalization was completed for English, French, and German by using an XML translation file for each module and language combination. In this way, future translators only need one XML file to create further translations that could be done in a regular text editor. All session state was saved to XML.

Developed a small Java program to read serial information from an undocumented BK H500-ND RGB Analyzer. Information was read using RS-232 through a serial connection on the handheld colorimeter. We used JUnit 4 and code from the Hamcrest website (www.hamcrest.org) to test and simplify the application. Running averages and standard deviations were calculated for the RGB samples and HSL values. Values could be saved to a file for later analyses. A GUI was developed for user interaction.

Developed a Java program that took images from a video feed and then segmented the images based on the ideas presented in the paper Image Segmentation Using Local Variation by P. Felzenszwalb and D. Huttenlocher (1998). Recognizable shapes were then determined for use in tracking object movement or assisting with the motion of the vehicle to which the video camera was attached.

Developed Java code using existing Fortran code and NAFTA requirements to update water flow calculation and use between Canada and the United States. Hydrological measurements and human water use were utilized to calculate the net amount of water transferred to the United States.

Developed a Java application to simulate the Lyocell manufacturing process for pulling a wood cellulose mixture into solid fibers. The temperature, density, thread tension, thread speed, heat conductivity, drag coefficient, drag force, kinematic viscosity, shear viscosity, elongation viscosity, NMMO concentration, aperture diameter, and filament phase were varied to help determine if filaments would form without breaking and if so, what the expected filament diameter would be.