have problems weighing the various factors that influence the need for roof repair. So, how can you do away with these traditional, bulky, tools, while improving service and the ability to train new staff? We devised a PDA-based expert system that uses artificial neural networks to provide a roofing advisor. Roofers might be familiar with a large number of roof types but concentrate on those fo...

This paper presents a scheme for the reconstruction of building models from LIDAR data by using an iterative regularization approach. The proposed scheme comprises three major parts: (1) elevation slicing, (2) boundary regularization, and (3) roof determination. The idea of elevation slicing is similar to the elevation contour map, where each contour line indicates a height level. We select a h...

The aim of this paper is to develop an optimum design method for roof shapes that satisfy both aesthetic and dynamic conditions by using the rough sets theory. This optimum system consists of the KANSEI evaluation system and the shape evaluation system. In the KANSEI evaluation system, the KANSEI questionnaire system is executed first, and the obtained KANSEI evaluation values are used as KANSE...

Youth gangs are on the rise. Today they threaten virtually every major city, many small communities, and even rural areas. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to helping communities overcome this problem, and an essential first step is understanding the factors that contribute to the growth of youth gangs and the relationship of gang membership to deli...

We describe a method to detect buildings and construct 3-D shape descriptions of the buildings from a monocular aerial image of general viewpoint. A grouping process is used to generate 2-D roof hypotheses from fragmented linear features extracted from the input image. Good hypotheses are selected based on 2-D evidence and some local 3-D evidence. These are then verified by searching for 3-D ev...

An easy usable system for the semi automatic acquisition of detailed D building descriptions from a multitude of images is provided This approach tackles robustly and e ciently most of the problems of D building reconstruction namely occlusions inverse mapping and noise The D modeling is based on Con structive Solid Geometry CSG and various automated and supporting tools Our experiences on the ...

The designer of convertible vehicles needs to consider the acoustical properties, quality of the interior environment, fatigue life and the aesthetic integrity of the flexible roof. Each of these concerns is affected, to a greater or lesser extent, by the interaction of the flexible roof material and its supporting structure with the aerodynamic loading on the material. For many convertibles, t...