Universitätsbibliothek
Weimar Open Access

Modern immersive telepresence systems enable people at different locations to meet in virtual environments using realistic three-dimensional representations of their bodies. For the realization of such a three-dimensional version of a video conferencing system, each user is continuously recorded in 3D. These 3D recordings are exchanged over the network between remote sites. At each site, the remote recordings of the users, referred to as 3D video avatars, are seamlessly integrated into a shared virtual scenery and displayed in stereoscopic 3D for each user from his or her perspective. This thesis reports on algorithmic and technical contributions to modern immersive telepresence systems and presents the design, implementation and evaluation of the first immersive group-to-group telepresence system in which each user is represented as realistic life-size 3D video avatar. The system enabled two remote user groups to meet and collaborate in a consistent shared virtual environment. The system relied on novel methods for the precise calibration and registration of color- and depth- sensors (RGBD) into the coordinate system of the application as well as an advanced distributed processing pipeline that reconstructs realistic 3D video avatars in real-time. During the course of this thesis, the calibration of 3D capturing systems was greatly improved. While the first development focused on precisely calibrating individual RGBD-sensors, the second stage presents a new method for calibrating and registering multiple color and depth sensors at a very high precision throughout a large 3D capturing volume. This method was further refined by a novel automatic optimization process that significantly speeds up the manual operation and yields similarly high accuracy. A core benefit of the new calibration method is its high runtime efficiency by directly mapping from raw depth sensor measurements into an application coordinate system and to the coordinates of its associated color sensor. As a result, the calibration method is an efficient solution in terms of precision and applicability in virtual reality and immersive telepresence applications. In addition to the core contributions, the results of two case studies which address 3D reconstruction and data streaming lead to the final conclusion of this thesis and to directions of future work in the rapidly advancing field of immersive telepresence research.

Identifying cable force with vibration-based methods has become widely used in engineering practice due to simplicity of application. The string taut theory provides a simple definition of the relationship between natural frequencies and the tension force of a cable. However, this theory assumes a perfectly flexible non-sagging cable pinned at its ends. These assumptions do not reflect all cases, especially when the cable is short, under low tension forces or the supports are partially flexible. Extradosed bridges, which are distinguished from cable-stayed bridges by their low pylon height, have shorter cables. Therefore the application of the conventional string taut theory to identify cable forces on extradosed bridge cables might be inadequate to identify cable forces. In this work, numerical modelling of an extradosed bridge cable saddled on a circular deviator at pylon is conducted. The model is validated with the catenary analytical solution and its static and dynamic behaviours are studied. The effect of a saddle support is found to positively affect the cable stiffness by geometric means; longer saddle radius increases the cable stiffness by suppressing the deformations near the saddle. Further, accounting the effects of bending stiffness in the numerical model by using beam elements show considerable deviation from models with truss elements (i.e. zero bending stiffness). This deviation is manifested when comparing the static and dynamic properties. This motivates a more thorough study of bending stiffness effects on short cables. Bending stiffness effects are studied using two rods connected with several springs along their length. Under bending moments, the springs resist the rods' relative axial displacement by the springs' transverse component. This concept is used to identify bending stiffness values by utilizing the parallel axis theorem to quantify ratios of the second moment of area. These ratios are calculated based on the setup of the springs (e.g. number of springs per unit length, transverse stiffness, etc...). The numerical model based on this concept agrees well with the theoretical values computed using upper and lower bounds of the parallel axis theorem. The proposed concept of quantifying ratios of the second moment of area using springs as connection between cable rods is applied on an actual extradosed bridge geometry. The model is examined by comparison to the previously validated global numerical model. The two models showed good correlation under various changing parameters. This allowed further study of the effects of stick/slip behaviour between cable rods on an actual bridge geometry.

The proceedings at hand are the result of the International Master Course Module: "Nonlinear Analysis of Structures: Wind Induced Vibrations" held at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany in the summer semester 2019 (April - August). This material summarizes the results of the project work done throughout the semester, provides an overview of the topic, as well as impressions from the accompanying programme. Wind Engineering is a particular field of Civil Engineering that evaluates the resistance of structures caused by wind loads. Bridges, high-rise buildings, chimneys and telecommunication towers might be susceptible to wind vibrations due to their increased flexibility, therefore a special design is carried for this aspect. Advancement in technology and scientific studies permit us doing research at small scale for more accurate analyses. Therefore scaled models of real structures are built and tested for various construction scenarios. These models are placed in wind tunnels where experiments are conducted to determine parameters such as: critical wind speeds for bridge decks, static wind coefficients and forces for buildings or bridges. The objective of the course was to offer insight to the students into the assessment of long-span cable-supported bridges and high-rise buildings under wind excitation. The participating students worked in interdisciplinary teams to increase their knowledge in the understanding and influences on the behaviour of wind-sensitive structures.

The design of engineering structures takes place today and in the past on the basis of static calculations. The consideration of uncertainties in the model quality becomes more and more important with the development of new construction methods and design requirements. In addition to the traditional forced-based approaches, experiences and observations about the deformation behavior of components and the overall structure under different exposure conditions allow the introduction of novel detection and evaluation criteria. The proceedings at hand are the result from the Bauhaus Summer School Course: Forecast Engineering held at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2017. It summarizes the results of the conducted project work, provides the abstracts of the contributions by the participants, as well as impressions from the accompanying programme and organized cultural activities. The special character of this course is in the combination of basic disciplines of structural engineering with applied research projects in the areas of steel and reinforced concrete structures, earthquake and wind engineering as well as informatics and linking them to mathematical methods and modern tools of visualization. Its innovative character results from the ambitious engineering tasks and advanced modeling demands.

Scalarization methods are a category of multiobjective optimization (MOO) methods. These methods allow the usage of conventional single objective optimization algorithms, as scalarization methods reformulate the MOO problem into a single objective optimization problem. The scalarization methods analysed within this thesis are the Weighted Sum (WS), the Epsilon-Constraint (EC), and the MinMax (MM) method. After explaining the approach of each method, the WS, EC and MM are applied, a-posteriori, to three different examples: to the Kursawe function; to the ten bar truss, a common benchmark problem in structural optimization; and to the metamodel of an aero engine exit module. The aim is to evaluate and compare the performance of each scalarization method that is examined within this thesis. The evaluation is conducted using performance metrics, such as the hypervolume and the generational distance, as well as using visual comparison. The application to the three examples gives insight into the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and provides further understanding of an adequate application of the methods concerning high dimensional optimization problems.