Open Access

Die studentische Fachkonferenz im Rahmen des Seminars im Masterstudiengang Elektrische Systeme in der Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik wird zum sechsten Mal veranstaltet. Alle Studierenden erarbeiten unter dem vorgegebenen Rahmenthema eigene Beiträge, recherchieren, ergänzen, stellen die aktuellen Erkenntnisse zu wissenschaftlichen Publikationen zusammen. Die Energiewende ist seit einigen Jahren ein heiß diskutiertes Thema. Die dezentrale Energieversorgung unter Anwendung erneuerbarer Quellen, insbesondere Wind- und Solarkraft, ist langfristig gesehen die einzige Antwort auf die Ausbeutung der Erde und Zerstörung der Umwelt durch Gewinnung nichtregenerativer Energien, insbesondere Öl, Erdgas und Uran. Allerdings gibt es noch viele Bereiche, die intensive wissenschaftliche und entwicklungstechnische Arbeiten benötigen. Wie aus dem Titel durch Verwendung des Wortes „zur“ anstatt „der“ schon erkennbar, werden in dieser Fachtagung weniger die Techniken betrachtet, die schon zum Einsatz kommen, sondern zukünftige Techniken, die gedanklich auf Papier gebracht wurden, oder inzwischen das Stadium der Machbarkeitsstudie erreicht haben. Das Thema Energiewende beinhaltet ein sehr breites Feld von Techniken. Daher haben sich die Teilnehmer auf nur wenige, wichtige Gebiete konzentriert: Regenerative Energiegewinnung, Elektromobilität, Speichertechnologien und Smart Grid. Durch das intensive Befassen mit diesen Themen haben sich die Studierenden zum ersten Mal richtig mit den Problemen der Energiewende vertraut gemacht. Sie haben dabei erkannt, dass für die Ingenieure der Fachrichtungen Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik überaus vielfältige, spannende und auch aus gesellschaftspolitischer Sicht notwendige und lohnende Aufgaben auf sie warten.

2nd Baden-Württemberg Center of Applied Research Symposium on Information and Communication Systems, SInCom 2015, 13. November 2015 in Konstanz

Classification of point clouds by different types of geometric primitives is an essential part in the reconstruction process of CAD geometry. We use support vector machines (SVM) to label patches in point clouds with the class labels tori, ellipsoids, spheres, cones, cylinders or planes. For the classification features based on different geometric properties like point normals, angles, and principal curvatures are used. These geometric features are estimated in the local neighborhood of a point of the point cloud. Computing these geometric features for a random subset of the point cloud yields a feature distribution. Different features are combined for achieving best classification results. To minimize the time consuming training phase of SVMs, the geometric features are first evaluated using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). LDA and SVM are machine learning approaches that require an initial training phase to allow for a subsequent automatic classification of a new data set. For the training phase point clouds are generated using a simulation of a laser scanning device. Additional noise based on an laser scanner error model is added to the point clouds. The resulting LDA and SVM classifiers are then used to classify geometric primitives in simulated and real laser scanned point clouds. Compared to other approaches, where all known features are used for classification, we explicitly compare novel against known geometric features to prove their effectiveness.

Reconstruction of hand-held laser scanner data is used in industry primarily for reverse engineering. Traditionally, scanning and reconstruction are separate steps. The operator of the laser scanner has no feedback from the reconstruction results. On-line reconstruction of the CAD geometry allows for such an immediate feedback. We propose a method for on-line segmentation and reconstruction of CAD geometry from a stream of point data based on means that are updated on-line. These means are combined to define complex local geometric properties, e.g., to radii and center points of spherical regions. Using means of local scores, planar, cylindrical, and spherical segments are detected and extended robustly with region growing. For the on-line computation of the means we use so-called accumulated means. They allow for on-line insertion and removal of values and merging of means. Our results show that this approach can be performed on-line and is robust to noise. We demonstrate that our method reconstructs spherical, cylindrical, and planar segments on real scan data containing typical errors caused by hand-held laser scanners.

We consider classes of (Formula presented.)-by-(Formula presented.) sign regular matrices, i.e. of matrices with the property that all their minors of fixed order (Formula presented.) have one specified sign or are allowed also to vanish, (Formula presented.). If the sign is nonpositive for all (Formula presented.), such a matrix is called totally nonpositive. The application of the Cauchon algorithm to nonsingular totally nonpositive matrices is investigated and a new determinantal test for these matrices is derived. Also matrix intervals with respect to the checkerboard ordering are considered. This order is obtained from the usual entry-wise ordering on the set of the (Formula presented.)-by-(Formula presented.) matrices by reversing the inequality sign for each entry in a checkerboard fashion. For some classes of sign regular matrices, it is shown that if the two bound matrices of such a matrix interval are both in the same class then all matrices lying between these two bound matrices are in the same class, too.

Domain-specific modelling is increasingly adopted in the software development industry. While open source metamodels like Ecore have a wide impact, they still have some problems. The independent storage of nodes (classes) and edges (references) is currently only possible with complex, specific solutions. Furthermore the developed models are stored in the extensible markup language (XML) data format, which leads to problems with large models in terms of scaling. In this paper we describe an approach that solves the problem of independent classes and references in metamodels and we store the models in the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data format to support high scalability. First results of our tests show that the developed approach works and classes and references can be defined independently. In addition, our approach reduces the amount of characters per model by a factor of approximately two compared to Ecore. The entire project is made available as open source under the name MoDiGen. This paper focuses on the description of the metamodel definition in terms of scaling.

Technology commercialization is described as the most dreadful challenge for technology-based entrepreneurs. The scarcity of resources and limited managerial experience make it a daunting task, putting in danger the whole firm emergence. Prior research has often build upon the resource-based view to propose that the new firms' performance is dependent on their initial resource endowments and configurations. Nevertheless, little is known on how the early-stage decisions of the entrepreneur might influence on the growth of the firm. Scholars have suggested that both technology and market orientation actions could influence the performance and growth of firms in this context; nevertheless, there is limited empirical evidence of the influence of these different orientations in the context of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). In this study we propose to explore the influence of technology and demand creation actions adopting a demand-side view. We use a longitudinal study on a panel dataset (2004-2007) with 249 U.S. new high-technology firms to test our hypothesis. The results point towards a rather limited influence of initial resource configurations, as well as an unexpected influence of market and technology orientation in the growth dimensions of an NTBF. The research holds implications for the management of new technology-based firms and for those interested in supporting the development of technology entrepreneurship.

The improvement of collision avoidance for vessels in close range encounter situations is an important topic for maritime traffic safety. Typical approaches generate evasive trajectories or optimise the trajectories of all involved vessels. Such a collision avoidance system has to produce evasive manoeuvres that do not confuse other navigators. To achieve this behaviour, a probabilistic obstacle handling based on information from a radar sensor with target tracking, that considers measurement and tracking uncertainties is proposed. A grid based path search algorithm, that takes the information from the probabilistic obstacle handling into account, is then used to generate evasive trajectories. The proposed algorithms have been tested and verified in a simulated environment for inland waters.

Knowing the position of the spool in a solenoid valve, without using costly position sensors, is of considerable interest in a lot of industrial applications. In this paper, the problem of position estimation based on state observers for fast-switching solenoids, with sole use of simple voltage and current measurements, is investigated. Due to the short spool traveling time in fast-switching valves, convergence of the observer errors has to be achieved very fast. Moreover, the observer has to be robust against modeling uncertainties and parameter variations. Therefore, different state observer approaches are investigated, and compared to each other regarding possible uncertainties. The investigation covers a High-Gain-Observer approach, a combined High-Gain Sliding-Mode-Observer approach, both based on extended linearization, and a nonlinear Sliding-Mode-Observer based on equivalent output injection. The results are discussed by means of numerical simulations for all approaches, and finally physical experiments on a valve-mock-up are thoroughly discussed for the nonlinear Sliding-Mode-Observer.

Die dynamische Belastung durch Sprünge von Menschen ist eine der maßgebenden personeninduzierten Einwirkungen bei dem Nachweis der Gebrauchstauglichkeit von Decken mit schwingungsgefährdenden Geräten. Sie kommt beispielsweise in Ganglaboren und anderen Forschungseinrichtungen bei biomechanischen Untersuchungen in der Sprungkraftdiagnostik vor. Die in diesem Zusammenhang typischen Sprungarten, nämlich der Countermovement Jump (beidbeiniger vertikaler Sprung mit Ausholbewegung) und der Drop Jump (Niederhochsprung), wurden anhand von über 200 Kraftverlaufsmessungen analysiert und daraus die dazugehörigen idealisierten Belastungsmodelle ermittelt. Damit wurde ein vereinfachtes Nachweisverfahren zur Abschätzung der Schwingungsantwort einer Decke entwickelt. Als Ergebnis kann die Beschleunigung der Decke in Abhängigkeit von der modalen Masse und den Werten der Eigenformen am Lastangriffspunkt und am Ausgabepunkt angegeben werden.

Codes over quotient rings of Lipschitz integers have recently attracted some attention. This work investigates the performance of Lipschitz integer constellations for transmission over the AWGN channel by means of the constellation figure of merit. A construction of sets of Lipschitz integers is presented that leads to a better constellation figure of merit compared to ordinary Lipschitz integer constellations. In particular, it is demonstrated that the concept of set partitioning can be applied to quotient rings of Lipschitz integers where the number of elements is not a prime number. It is shown that it is always possible to partition such quotient rings into additive subgroups in a manner that the minimum Euclidean distance of each subgroup is strictly larger than in the original set. The resulting signal constellations have a better performance for transmission over an additive white Gaussian noise channel compared to Gaussian integer constellations and to ordinary Lipschitz integer constellations.

This work proposes an efficient hardware Implementation of sequential stack decoding of binary block codes. The decoder can be applied for soft input decoding for generalized concatenated (GC) codes. The GC codes are constructed from inner nested binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes and outer Reed-Solomon (RS) codes. In order to enable soft input decoding for the inner BCH block codes, a sequential stack decoding algorithm is used.

In biomechanics laboratories the ground reaction force time histories of the foot-fall of persons are usually measured using a force plate. The accelerations of the floor, in which the force plate is embedded, have to be limited, as they may influence the accuracy of the force measurements. For the numerical simulation of vibrations induced by humans in biomechanical laboratories, loading scenarios are defined. They include continuous motions of persons (walking, running) as well as jumps, typical for biomechanical investigations on athletes. The modeling of floors has to take into account the influence of floor screed in case of portable force plates. Criteria for the assessment of the measuring error provoked by floor vibrations are given. As an example a floor designed to accommodate a force platform in a biomechanical laboratory of the University Hospital in Tübingen, Germany, has been investi-gated for footfall induced vibrations. The numerical simulation by a finite element analysis has been validated by field measurements. As a result, the measuring error of the force plate installed in the laboratory is obtained for diverse scenarios.

The proposed approach applies current unsupervised clustering approaches in a different dynamic manner. Instead of taking all the data as input and finding clusters among them, the given approach clusters Holter ECG data (long-term electrocardiography data from a holter monitor) on a given interval which enables a dynamic clustering approach (DCA). Therefore advanced clustering techniques based on the well known Dynamic Time Warping algorithm are used. Having clusters e.g. on a daily basis, clusters can be compared by defining cluster shape properties. Doing this gives a measure for variation in unsupervised cluster shapes and may reveal unknown changes in healthiness. Embedding this approach into wearable devices offers advantages over the current techniques. On the one hand users get feedback if their ECG data characteristic changes unforeseeable over time which makes early detection possible. On the other hand cluster properties like biggest or smallest cluster may help a doctor in making diagnoses or observing several patients. Further, on found clusters known processing techniques like stress detection or arrhythmia classification may be applied.

To evaluate the quality of a person's sleep it is essential to identify the sleep stages and their durations. Currently, the gold standard in terms of sleep analysis is overnight polysomnography (PSG), during which several techniques like EEG (eletroencephalogram), EOG (electrooculogram), EMG (electromyogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) and for example respiratory airflow and respiratory effort are recorded. These expensive and complex procedures, applied in sleep laboratories, are invasive and unfamiliar for the subjects and it is a reason why it might have an impact on the recorded data. These are the main reasons why low-cost home diagnostic systems are likely to be advantageous. Their aim is to reach a larger population by reducing the number of parameters recorded. Nowadays, many wearable devices promise to measure sleep quality using only the ECG and body-movement signals. This work presents an android application developed in order to proof the accuracy of an algorithm published in the sleep literature. The algorithm uses ECG and body movement recordings to estimate sleep stages. The pre-recorded signals fed into the algorithm have been taken from physionet1 online database. The obtained results have been compared with those of the standard method used in PSG. The mean agreement ratios between the sleep stages REM, Wake, NREM-1, NREM-2 and NREM-3 were 38.1%, 14%, 16%, 75% and 54.3%.

Technology-based ventures provide an important route for successful technology transfer [1], [2]. Their founders are supported in successful technology commercialization by innovation intermediaries [3]. Accordingly, the performance of an innovation system, at least to some extent, depends on the efficiency of these intermediaries in terms of the impact of their scarce resources on the survival and growth of technology-based ventures. To increase their efficiency, intermediaries typically optimize their "intake" by requesting a formal business plan to base their selection on as a hygiene factor [4]-[7]. Thus, some scholars argue that written business plans show significant distortion as being produced only to attract support from innovation intermediaries [6], [8]. Accordingly, they rarely serve for these addressees as a source of information for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of ventures, in order to derive actionable conclusions and more effectively support ventures [9], [10]. Addressees search for different indicators in business plans for their evaluation [11]. The descriptions of these indicators only evince little empirical proof for the performance of technology-based venture's [8], [12]. This gap is herein addressed, in contrast to the lacking empirical insight, as the most frequently produced artifact of early-stage technology ventures is at the same time a written business plan [10], [13]. This paper addresses this gap by conceptualizing transaction relations described in the written business plan as a means for working around the inevitable inaccuracies and uncertainties that delimit the explanatory abilities [14] of the snapshot model [10] presented by a business plan. Using a qualitative content analysis, we derive from the descriptions of transaction relations in a written business plan valid indicators for the maturity of the venture's value-network in different dimensions [15]. To this extent, this paper presents the findings from a pre-study that was conducted based on a sample of forty business plans from an overall population of 800 business plans in a longitudinal sample from one of Europe's most active innovation systems, the regional State of Baden-Württemberg. Such findings may be used by innovation intermediaries to enhance their efficiency, by enabling these to not only derive individual support strategies for business acceleration but also to analyze the impact of support measures by reliably monitoring maturity progress in venture activities.

In this paper an approach towards databased fault diagnosis of linear electromagnetic actuators is presented. Time and time-frequency-domain methods were applied to extract fault related features from current and voltage measurements. The resulting features were transformed to enhance class separability using either Principal Component Analysis (PCA) or Optimal Transformation. Feature selection and dimensionality reduction was performed employing a modified Fisher-ratio. Fault detection was carried out using a Support-Vector-Machine classifier trained with randomly selected data subsets. Results showed, that not only the used feature sets (time-domain/time-frequency-domain) are crucial for fault detection and classification, but also feature pre-processing. PCA transformed time-domain features allow fault detection and classification without misclassification, relying on current and voltage measurements making two sensors necessary to generate the data. Optimal transformed time-frequency-domain features allow a misclassification free result as well, but as they are calculated from current measurements only, a dedicated voltage sensor is not necessary. Using those features is a promising alternative even for detecting purely supply voltage related faults.

This work investigates soft input decoding for generalized concatenated (GC) codes. The GC codes are constructed from inner nested binary Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH)codes and outer Reed-Solomon (RS) codes. In order to enable soft input decoding for the inner BCH block codes, a sequential stack decoding algorithm is used. Ordinary stack decoding of binary block codes requires the complete trellis of the code. In this work a representation of the block codes based on the trellises of supercodes is proposed in order to reduce the memory requirements for the representation of the BCH codes. Results for the decoding performance of the overall GC code are presented. Furthermore, an efficient hardware implementation of the GC decoder is proposed.

Besides energy efficiency, product quality is gaining importance in the design of drying processes for sensitive biological foodstuffs. The influence of drying parameters on the drying kinetics of apples has been extensively investigated; the information about effects on product quality available in literature however, is often contradictory. Furthermore quality changes obtained applying different drying parameters are usually hard to compare. As most quality changes can be expressed as zero, first or second order reactions and mainly depend on drying air temperature and drying time, it would be desirable to cross-check the results in function thereof. This paper introduces a method of quality determination using a new reference value, the cumulated thermal load. It is defined as the time integral of the product surface temperature and improves the comparability of quality changes obtained by different experimental settings in drying of apples and tomatoes. It could be shown that quality parameters like color changes and shrinkage during apple drying and the content of temperature sensitive acids in tomatoes vary linearly with the integral of product temperature over time.