In this research the performance of the Chen's Improved (Boundary) Moments is carefully compared to that of the traditional (Massive) Moments. To achieve this investigation, the pattern recognition power of the former is thoroughly assessed against that of the latter. The boundary moments are evaluated by two methods, in the first by edge-tracing, in the second method the edge pixels are considered as though they are met when sweeping the image space. It is concluded that the computation of the Boundary Moments by sweeping the image space associates minimum computational complexity to a high enough object classification efficiency, thus they may be used in lieu of the traditional moments.

The total area occupied by equal disks randomly placed in a square region, one after another and without overlapping is investigated by means of Monte Carlo simulation, having as a reference the orderly placement of disks in the same region. It is found that the occupied area ranges from 56% to 65% of the area occupied if the disks were orderly placed.

An attempt to explain the process of machinery breakdown by means of Chaos Theory is presented. Machines carry out repetitive tasks that may be mathematically modelled as combinations of forced oscillatory motions; consequently these are perfect candidates to eventually evolve towards chaos. The exposition is made having as a model the route to chaos in the damped and forced non-linear oscillator.

Highly repetitive mechanical systems like those present in industrial machinery, are prone to undergo chaos. To understand this, engineers responsible for the operation of machinery systems, must be aware of the “Routes to Chaos”. This work presents the results of an investigation carried-out in a Virtual Laboratory, created to investigate the transition to chaos in oscillating (rotating) systems, immersed in a dampening medium (impossible to avoid damping in a non ideal situation), under the action of an applied force (a motor).

An algorithm to carry out segmentation of binary images has been developed and applied to computer synthesized images. The algorithm is based on surrounding image elements with different wrappings or capsules, which afterwards are individually extracted. The proposed algorithm may be used in pattern recognition and also in industrial automatization, for instance, to calculate the area of objects in an image.

An educational Virtual Lab dealing with a mixed gearing of wheels has been created. Gears of wheels are common in Mechanical Engineering applications, like industrial machinery. This Virtual Lab is ideal when teaching and/or learning the relationship between geared wheels having three types of contact: tangent, coaxial, and by a belt. The virtual lab performs simulation based on the mathematical modeling of the gearing and allows the user to visualize the behavior of a mixed gearing of wheels and to get acquainted with the rotation speeds, number of turns and other parameters that appear when a set of wheels are geared

An educational Virtual Lab, a software oriented to teaching and learning, applied to the study of the Thresholded Difference of grey-leveled images has been developed. This intuitively-easy-to-use Virtual Lab allows studying the threshold-controlled difference of two input images. Interesting results emerge when detecting the thresholded difference of pairs of images, like the effect appearing in the case of image subtraction of two completely different images, an effect setting up the basis for Controlled Image Fusion. Image difference algorithms belong to Digital Image Processing, a computer tool with every time more applications in science and in engineering.

Se presenta un algoritmo para seleccionar un conjunto de píxeles por encima de un cierto nivel de gris en una imagen, extraerlo y transferirlo a otra imagen; el resultado es una superposición restringida de imágenes, basada en la técnica de diferencia controlada (modulada) las mismas. En algunas aplicaciones en las que se necesite mezclar imágenes, esta superposición restringida de imágenes podría ser una opción a considerar.

The technique of the Invariant Boundary Moments (IBM) is applied to the automatic classification of two different randomly selected objects, independently of their size, position and orientation. It is shown that if the objects differ only in position and orientation (size is maintained), the power of the IBM is optimum; however when variations in size are included, overlapping results in the IBM show up, placing strong limitations to their use as a classifier tool, in cases like these a predefined margin of tolerance must be introduced.

The Polar Hough Transform has been used to create a system for rotation, translation and sizescaling automatic invariant pattern recognition of polygonal objects, and it has been successfully applied to the invariant recognition of L-shaped metallic corner-fasteners. Since the performance of the developed system is autonomous it may be applied to automatic quality control and automatic classification in the industry.

A Virtual Lab to experiment on controlled fusion of two digital images has been developed. The resulting image has user pre-defined percentages of each contributing image. With the aim on improving the quality of the resulting image in the fusion, the Virtual Lab has been enabled with the option of selecting a color to be ignored during the fusion process, in this way this color is not fussioned. Successful experiments have been executed fusing three images using the same algorithm.

The Hough Transform has been used to develop an algorithm for rotation, translation and size-scaling invariant pattern recognition of polygonal objects. In this research the developed system has been successfully applied to the automatic invariant recognition of rectangular chocolates, including identification of defective samples. Since the entire performance of the resulting system is autonomous, the results may be applied to automatic quality control applications in the industry.

Imagery is a Virtual Lab for computer-assisted traning on Digital Image Processing(DIP), currently including 37 modules. Thhis software allows the user in the effects on real images; it may be used in the classroom, in the laboratory or at home. Imagery not only operates on images included by its creator(the author of this report), but also on those provided by the user. Some supporting theory is incluyed in Imagery, which may be used as a complement to specialized textbooks or classes.

The development of a Virtual Lab to perform experiments on histogram-based binarization of grey-leveled images is reported. With the aim of automatizing the binarization process, a Heuristic Binarization Threshold is introduced. Once the histogram of a grayscale input image is obtained, the module calculates a Heuristic Threshold by taking the weighted average of the foreground grey levels of the image. Next those pixels in input image whose grey levels are above this threshold are highlighted. Although still not experimentally optimum, this heuristic threshold provides a first approximation towards automatic binarization of greyscale images.

Usually the machinery used in engineering applications, especially those implicating cyclic processes make use of oscillating systems that include components vibrating each one with a particular frequency, in a medium with continuously changing muffling, temperature, etc. As a consequence these vibrations may eventually break the harmony of the common oscillation and experiment chaos. Hence some Chaos notions are critical in this type of applications. This work reports the results of a chaos research in a very frequently applied oscillating system. It is found that chaos is an eventual occurrence. After the system undergoes chaos, it returns to its oscillating stage under the conditions imposed by the medium (muffling, temperature, frequency, etc.) at the moment of leaving chaos. This leads to considering the eventual design of chaos surviving machinery

En algunas aplicaciones asociadas a la visualización de imágenes, por ojo humano o mediante visión automatizada por computadora, es necesario poder visualizar exclusivamente las siluetas de los elementos que aparecen en las imágenes, ya sea para emitir un diagnostico o para continuar con otros algoritmos de procesamiento digital de imágenes. En este documento se reporta el desarrollo de un Laboratorio Virtual, esto es, un módulo de software interactivo e integrado para llevar a cabo extracción de bordes, basada en histogramas, de imágenes fusionadas. El modulo incluye la generación automática de un umbral heurístico de binarizacion en la etapa previa a la extracción de siluetas, una característica que conduce a la eventual automatización de todo el proceso.

Las publicaciones sobre caos generalmente exhiben una imagen de un único evento caótico, truncado y siempre en expansión, del sistema en el que el caos se está divulgando. Esto genera la impresión de que los eventos caóticos son únicos y una vez que comienzan, aumentan su intensidad ad infinitum, tomando eventualmente el control del sistema y permaneciendo para siempre. Con el objetivo de averiguar si es exacto el panorama descrito, se llevó a cabo una investigación con el oscilador no lineal amortiguado y forzado (ONLAF). Se encontró una diversidad de eventos caóticos y, que los mismos tienen un inicio y un final, es decir, son temporales. Se descubrió además que los eventos caóticos generan inicialmente una serie de bifurcaciones del periodo, incrementando su intensidad y, luego mediante colapsos de las mencionadas bifurcaciones, su intensidad disminuye gradualmente, hast...

A Virtual Lab to run educational computer simulations of a vibrating membrane has been created. This educational virtual lab may be used to support some courses in the vibration engineering career. The module solves the 2D wave equation for a rectangular membrane which is shown on computer-screen vibrating according to data supplied by the user. The Virtual Lab makes the computations and renders on screen a 3D view of the vibrating membrane, which displays the normal modes of oscillation. A short theory is shown on screen while the simulation takes place, in this way the learning is fostered because the user verifies the theory with the simulation. Details on how to develop the simulation program are included, so that interested readers may create their own simulators. Some comments about the advantages of using computer simulation in education are included.

A Virtual Lab to study the Transition to Chaos in second order non-linear differential equations has been developed and successfully applied to the search for chaotic behavior in the damped and forced non-linear oscillator. This simulation and visualization software evaluates the equation under investigation at up to one million time-steps, generating in real-time and on the screen, plots like amplitude of oscillation, phase diagram, amplitude oscillation peaks and an animation of an oscillator governed by the problem equation. In this way the investigator not only gets important behavior graphs but he or she also gets a physical visualization of the system under investigation. Visualizing an animation

The Selective Dynamics Releasing Frame (SDRF) algorithm was created sorne time ago by the author ofthis paper to speed-up the computer simulations of stochastic aggrcgation of diffusing particles and to reduce the number of preferred directions of growth anomaly resulting when these símulations are executed with the traditional DLA algorithm. In this papera detailed study ofthe SDRF, carried out to become acquaintcd thoroughly with thc cffects ofits number of arc-segments (frame.s) on the morphology of the resulting aggregates, is reported. The reduction power of the SRDF conceming the number of preferred directions of growth in the rcsulting aggregates is investigated. Simulations of 250 stochastic aggregations of diffusing particles were carried out varying the number of frames in the SDRF. The resulting average fractal dimensions, densitíes and radíí of the aggregates are analysed...