bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inclusive Informal Campus Spaces through Universal Design India Principles
Authors: Raheja Gaurav  , Suryawanshi Smita
Published: February 2025

This paper is an attempt to focus upon the role of Universal Design (UD) in informal campus spaces as a means to create access and inclusion. It uses the Universal Design India Principles (UDIP) as an applied concept in the interpretation of accessibility planning issues for an educational campus of higher learning in an Indian context. Based upon a recent live project on conducting access audit for an internationally well known Indian university i.e. Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU) at New Delhi, involving the authors as prime consultants, it maps and defines the process employed to guide universal access in educational campus environments. It discusses the various perspectives of contextual relevance of UDIP with diverse users in informal spaces of a typical Indian education context. The paper finds its origin in the belief that universal access in informal spaces on educational campuses would contribute immensely towards an inclusive higher education.
Making Architecture Visible to the Visually Impaired
Authors: Ahmer Carolyn
Published: February 2025

How is architecture experienced? What makes good architecture? These are the key questions for both architectural theorists and practicing architects. Today these questions should be asked in relation to the concept of universal design. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines the term universal design as the design of products, environments, programs, and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Universal design has become part of Norwegian architectural policy. However, the definition of universal design sets no criteria for aesthetic design. This paper discusses why aesthetics (in the sense of integrated quality and sensory experience of architecture) could be a missing link that unites architecture and the concept of universal design. The paper concretizes this in the light of fundamental principles on accessibility for the visually impaired.
Mapping the Common Ground: Inclusive Playscapes for Children in Jerusalem – From Global to Local
Authors: Cohen Anderson Tali
Published: February 2025

Is it possible to create an inclusive playscape that integrates the needs and aptitudes of various children within its design? This paper presents a research design project, the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration between interior design and occupational therapy collaborators, which expands the principles of universal design with a performance approach. By mapping, surveying and analyzing public playscapes with the purpose of understanding the playscapes' “typical profile”, the project proposes a new profile of an “accessible and inclusive playground” that promotes a common ground for the playing activity of children suffering from disabilities together with typical children of the same age. The paper presents new perceptions and spatial concepts based on this profile, which relate to playgrounds as a universal outdoors.
Universal Design as an added value for heritage valorization: the cases of Brazil and Italy
Authors: Duarte Cristiane Rose de Siqueira  , Cohen Regina  , Biocca Luigi
Published: February 2025

Heritage attracts plenty of visitors internationally and plays an active role for cultural valorization. It is a key place where visitors enjoy the beauty and emotions of cultural knowledge and give an indirect boost to the tourism business. The success key is disclosing heritage and knowledge to users with different needs, giving more visibility especially to hidden ‘minor’ monuments.
Can touch substitute vision? An empirical study about how the visually impaired comprehend shapes
Authors: Murugkar Kavita  , Mullick Abir
Published: February 2025

Generally, it is assumed that the visually impaired people are unable to comprehend the make-up of physical environment and its spatial characteristics due to lack of vision. This study aims to reassess the contention that vision limits comprehension of form and examines the relationship vision loss, learning ability and comprehension of form vocabulary. It explores the role of tactual depth perception in shape comprehension and examines how different shape categories are understood by the visually impaired people. The most significant inference is that visual impaired people prefer textual information in relief rather than in recess. Similarly, circular shapes easier to comprehend over angular shapes needs to be tested with larger population of visually impaired people.
Using Technological-Pedagogical-and-Content Knowledge (TPACK) to Support Universal Design for Learning: A Case Study
Authors: McCann Kimble
Published: February 2025

This paper represents a partial report on the design and implementation of a case study based upon a series of observations, interviews, and the analyses of materials that were utilized to discover how a Hawai'i Department of Education (HDOE) teacher utilized TPACK to support UDL in an inclusive instructional environment. A constant comparative methodological and content analyses of data, paired with peer and expert review, and member checking were also utilized to ensure inter-rater reliability and rigor within this research study. Findings suggest that UDL-based instruction requires a combination of time, digital and physical resources, and effort; and, delivering such instruction may be supported by a TPACK that incorporates a range of strategies and materials. Recommendations include the ongoing integration of 21stcentury standards, technologies, and related professional development for educators. Additionally there is also a call for innovations within administrative policies and visions to provide opportunities that further the ongoing development of TPACK, for practitioners in the field, as well as broadening opportunities for research that advance the connections between TPACK and UDL.
WorkStar: Involving young adults to design a serious game for working life integration
Authors: Wallbaum Torben  , Heuten Wilko  , Janssen Catharina  , Boll Susanne
Published: February 2025

We show insights from a user-centered design process for a serious game together with jobless, young adults. The involvement allows a deep understanding of the users as well as detailed requirements regarding the design of a serious game for working life integration. To collect requirements, identify the context of use and create designs for such a game, several methods like focus group, and paper prototyping were used. Participants also benefit by working on a clear goal and in a structured daily routine together with other young adults. Compared to conventional training-methods the project has a lower rate of drop-outs and participants were motivated to create game content and design game components.
Accessible Service Network – Lauttasaari Case Study
Authors: Verma Ira
Published: February 2025

Inclusive neighborhood design promotes security and participation. The majority of persons at old age want to live in their own home as long as possible. However, the living environment can obstruct independent coping. The goal of this ongoing case study is to promote an accessible local service structure with participation of public, private and third sector service providers. The reachability and accessibility of the environment and the services are assessed with several user driven qualitative methods (workshops, walk through method etc.). The universal design promotes participation and autonomy, which are major components of residential satisfaction among the elderly.
Cinema and theatre: accessible entertainment, with benefits for all
Authors: Knigge Mathias  , Erkau Jörn
Published: February 2025

Audio and visual support systems for cinemas and theatres are generally costly and often impractical for the industry and visitors alike. Solutions which appeal to a wider audience and use innovative technology can create significant economic opportunities. This holistic approach is the basis for a successful implementation of Design for All, benefitting users with and without disabilities.
Elderly People's Opinions on Housing
Authors: Nordlund Marika  , Stenberg Lea  , Intosalmi Hennariikka
Published: February 2025

Most elderly people want to live at home as long as possible. In an ageing world this is both a possibility and a challenge. In this study, we present the results of a survey study on people aged 75 to 80 and argue that accessibility is the key factor in enabling living at home in the old age. Technology can support daily living, but only if it is user friendly, reliable and sufficient support is available. We emphasize that even though relatives and loved ones are an important resource, technological solutions should be designed so that they are easy to use.
Exploring Issues for Indian Elderly through Intense User Centric Design Studio
Authors: Khare Rachna  , Sankat Sandeep  , Arora Sandeep  , Chaurasia Devarshi  , Kar Gourab
Published: February 2025

This short paper presents universal design studio conducted for multidisciplinary design students at National Institute of Design, Ahmadabad, India. The studio was conducted by School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal under an overall theme of inclusive design for elderly. However this short paper presents an overview, the presentation would also include best students' works.
Universal Design in School Competitions
Authors: Houck Leif D.
Published: February 2025

This paper investigates to what degree universal design is assessed in architectural school competitions in Norway.
Developing interactive interfaces for people with developmental disabilities to be used in Snoezelen environments
Authors: Viklund Charlotta  , Svensson Pamela
Published: February 2025

Much of the equipment used in Snoezelen environments today is not interactive, and the equipment that is interactive can be hard for the user to access. By having interactive equipment in Snoezelen environments the user gets to experience and hopefully better understand the concept of cause and effect.
A User-adaptive Reminding Service
Authors: De Benedictis Riccardo  , Cesta Amedeo  , Coraci Luca  , Cortellessa Gabriella  , Orlandini Andrea
Published: February 2025

Applications of innovative technologies for elderly care in the home environment are gaining increasing popularity. A whole area of research investigates how to help older adults to maintain functional capabilities, to enhance their security, to prevent their social isolation and to support them in maintaining the multifunctional network of contacts. Particularly for people affected by a decrease in cognitive performance, cases of poor adherence to medical treatments are not uncommon, yet constitute a significant cause of physical deterioration and treatment failure. Some of the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) tools contain functionalities to remind people to take their medications that are, usually, relatively simple time-based alarm systems that end up being not particularly effective. Their ineffectiveness can be sought in their reduced capacity to adapt to the different dynamic needs of individual users. This paper explores the possibility of designing personalized end-to-end services, giving special attention to user tailored reminding services that continuously adapt to the individual's needs. In particular the paper presents recent results from the GIRAFFPLUS project in which a basic reminding functionality is scaled up to obtain an adaptive version able to personalize the service to single users on the basis of the information continuously provided by a sensor network deployed in the living environment. The basic algorithmic aspects are described and working examples discussed.
Science Fiction Prototyping as a Tool to Turn Patents into Innovative Marketable Products
Authors: Zybura Jan
Published: February 2025

Science Fiction Prototyping (SFP) has a lot of potential as a tool to help turn patents into innovative marketable products. The underlying assumption of this paper is that many patents from research institutions and corporations alike lie idle when it comes to their actual realization and commercialization as real products. The conceptual paper focuses on patents that are already application-centric and constitute a technology prototype. Despite technological foresight and trend analyses gaining increasing momentum and attention in theory and practice, we anticipate a lack of creativity and future context in opportunity identification following invention. Whereas traditional methods focus on product prototypes and technological foresight, context prototypes gain substantially less attention. The paper derives a conceptual framework that addresses this gap and introduces SFP as a tool to foster commercialization efforts and business innovation. Its contribution is threefold: We explore new ways of how to spot new capitalization opportunities on patents, suggest SFP as a strategic tool to provide a more structured way of creative thinking to seize future market opportunities and aim at supporting SFP as an increasingly sophisticated method in technology forecasting and future science.
Micro-Futures
Authors: Callaghan Vic
Published: February 2025

One of humankinds oldest quests has been to find the ‘elixir of life’, a mythical potion that, would grant the drinker immortality (and preferably, eternal youth!). One of the most famous tales of a search for this fabled tonic was that of the first emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang (246 BC. to 210 BC), who, in the latter part of his life, is said to have become preoccupied with finding this illusive concoction. This article is presented at a workshop that is taking place in the heartland of what was Qin Shi Huang's empire (China), and touches on a modern day search for an elixir of life, this time a high-tech approach based on computers and artificial intelligence technology, that goes by the name of ‘The Technological Singularity’. However, as fascinating as a search for an elixir of life may be, the real motivation of this paper is to introduce micro-fiction as a methodology for capturing and communicating visions for scientific, business and societal innovations. To those end, The Technological Singularity is described and used as a means to illustrate the workings of micro SciFi-Prototyping (micro-SFPs).
Adaptive Augmented Reality Serious Game to Foster Problem Solving Skills
Authors: Hodhod Rania  , Fleenor Hillary  , Nabi Syedali
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the design of an adaptive intelligent augmented reality serious game which aims to foster problem solving skills in young learners. Studies show that our students lack computational thinking skills in high school, which raises the need to establish new methods to develop these skills in our younger learners. We believe that problem solving skills are the fundamental skills of computational thinking and are critical for STEM, in addition to a broad range of other fields. Therefore we decided to focus on those meta-cognitive skills acquired to foster problem solving, such as strategic knowledge. The game described in this paper provides a unique adaptive learning environment that aims to develop learners' meta-cognitive skills by utilizing augmented reality technology, believable pedagogical agents and intelligent tutoring modules. It offers a great user experience and entertainment which we hope will encourage learners to invest more time in the learning process. This paper describes the architecture and design of the game from the viewpoint of educational pedagogies and frameworks for serious game design.
Measuring Social Isolation in Older Adults through Ambient Intelligence and Social Networking Sites
Authors: Campos Wilfrido  , Martinez Alicia  , Estrada Hugo  , Castro Noe
Published: February 2025

Early diagnosis of social isolation in older adults can prevent physical and cognitive impairment. This diagnosis usually consists on personal and periodic application of psychological assessment instruments. Unfortunately this is often a tedious process and therefore this is a situation that opens up opportunities in creating new ways of diagnosis. In this context, ambient intelligence and social networking sites are suitable technologies for automatic monitoring of significant changes in social interactions of older adults. However, current instruments that measure social isolation are based on subjective aspects since they only evaluate emotional social support and they do not consider objective aspects. This is the reason why a prediction model based on objective isolation variables is needed in order to measure the social interactions through computing mechanisms. This paper presents the development of a prediction model from the social interaction activities that can be registered through smartphone's sensory capabilities, the personal communications using an online social network and also radio-frequency identification mechanisms. The proposed model will benefit institutions interested in developing technological solutions to detect early stages of social isolation and improve the quality of life of older adults.
Data Acquisition Software for Controlling Serial Ports with Cloud Data Storage
Authors: Asquith Jonathan  , Toll David
Published: February 2025

A common requirement of laboratory and field data collection is for automated data logging software to control instrumentation and report on the results. Large projects may require a range of different instrumentation each with its own preferred method for storing data that increases overheads during analysis. The prototype software described herein attempts to address some of these issues by providing a general framework for controlling any serial port device and organising data centrally in a cloud based data storage solution. The benefits include a fully queryable results database, storage of settings in the cloud allowing for easy relocation of hardware and an advanced serial port controller where nearly any physical system can be described and functions automated with real time feedback to the user.
Artificial Neural Networks Applied to an Earthwork Construction Database
Authors: Parente Manuel  , Gomes Correia António  , Cortez Paulo
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a study based on the application of cascade ANN prediction models to an earthwork construction database. Results show not only a good adjustment to the data, but also the influence of each earthwork construction process on the work rate of the global production line. Furthermore, the obtained results emphasize the importance of optimal resource allocation and management throughout earthwork construction phases. Following this framework, the study concludes with a demonstration of how the developed models can be integrated into a more complex system in order to pursue that purpose.
A New Web-Based Outreach Platform for Classroom Projects: An Application Example in Geoenvironmental Remediation
Authors: Zekkos Dimitrios  , Tsantilas Kostis
Published: February 2025

Graduate level courses commonly include a class project. Typically, these projects involve a report that is corrected by the instructor and may include an oral presentation in the classroom. Recent research studies on education and learning indicate that students learn better when their class projects are reviewed by a broader audience rather than merely the instructor of the course. A web-based platform that allows instructors and students to host student class projects online was developed and is presented. The platform was used in the Winter 2013 semester to support a web-based class project as part of a graduate level course on Geoenvironmental Engineering at the University of Michigan. Students selected a topic on geoenvironmental remediation and submitted their report online using the web-based platform. The student reports were made available to professionals for review. Practitioners as well as experts on geoenvironmental remediation were notified about this initiative and were invited to submit online questions, and comments or request clarifications from the students. Students were required to respond to the technical review comments and make the necessary improvements and clarifications to their final report. On the basis of the comments by visitors and the instructor, students finalized their report and prepared a video that was also made available online. The student reports remain online as technical reference to geoenvironmental engineering professionals. Professionals welcomed the opportunity to become involved in student learning; each class project was visited by 400–1000 practitioners within the two-week review period. The impact of this student-learning experiment was also assessed. Students' self-assessment survey results indicated that students were more motivated to submit a quality project, were excited to receive feedback from practitioners and felt that their work made a greater impact to the Profession compared to submitting a “conventional” class project report to the instructor only.
Response Surface Analysis for Engineering Behavior of Sand-Tire Crumb Mixtures
Authors: Anbazhagan P.  , Manohar D.R.  , Sheikh M. Neaz
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the applicability of concept of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to identify an approximate response surface model from experimental investigations on the engineering properties of sand and sand-tire crumb mixture (STCM). The objective of the present study is to generate an appropriate polynomial functions for output data obtained from the experimental studies through regression analysis for a range of expected variations in the input parameters. A regression model for both individual and interactive effects of selected input parameters has been generated. It has been found that multiple regression models reproduced the results obtained from the experimental studies with reasonable accuracy. The developed model is also checked for model adequacy and hypothesis testing. None of the developed models revealed any model inadequacy ensuring adequate approximation of the engineering behavior of STCM.
Evaluation of Monotonic Ultimate Pull-out Capacity of Plate Anchors in Sand
Authors: Aldaikh Hesham  , Knappett Jonathan  , Brown Michael  , Patra Shantanu
Published: February 2025

Plate anchors are increasingly used in the mooring of offshore floating structures for the recovery and generation of oil, gas and electricity. In this study, Finite Element analyses have been conducted to estimate the ultimate monotonic holding capacity of plate anchors embedded in dense sand subjected to inclined axial pull-out. In the analyses, an advanced constitutive model, the Hardening Soil Model with Small-Strain Stiffness, has been used to simulate the nonlinear behaviour of soil. A set of parametric studies has been conducted to investigate the effect of inclination angle and embedment ratio on the monotonic pull-out behaviour of plate anchors. Analogous Limit State Analysis (LimitState:GEO) modelling has also been carried out to validate the finite element results in terms of ultimate capacity. In addition, the results have been compared with well-established theoretical analyses as available in the literature. Generally, a good agreement has been obtained and some observations have been made on the pull-out behaviour of plate anchors, verifying that the FE analyses can be used to investigate the behaviour of plate anchors up to and including pull-out.
Use of Data Mining in Design of Soil Improvement by Jet Grouting
Authors: Gomes Correia António  , Tinoco Joaquim  , Cortez Paulo
Published: February 2025

This paper addresses one of the main issues related to Jet Grouting (JG) technology, that is, the design of the mechanical properties of the soil-cement mixture. Thus, one of the most powerful Data Mining (DM) algorithms is applied, that is, Support Vector Machine (SVM), towards to the development of a new and more accurate approach for Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) and stiffness prediction of both Jet Grouting Laboratory Formulations (JGLF) and soilcrete mixtures. The obtained results show that SVM algorithm can be used to accurately predict both strength and stiffness of JGLF. Related to soilcrete mixtures, it is shown that the SVM algorithm, despite some of the difficulties found, can give an important contribution for a better understanding of JG technology. Based on a detailed Sensitivity Analysis (SA) some important observations were made, which certainly will contribute for JG technical and economic efficiency improvement.
The Geotechnical Data Journey – How the Way We View Data is Being Transformed
Authors: Child Phil  , Grice Carl  , Chandler Roger
Published: February 2025

In 1998 ‘the geotechnical data journey’ laid out a workflow to aid the efficiency of the site investigation reporting process. This essentially represented a digital version of a previously paper driven process. However, developments in technology and from elsewhere suggest that a more evolved process is required to suit the current requirements of industry. This paper reviews and refines ‘the geotechnical data journey’ for the present day.
A Method for Identifying Product Improvement Opportunities through Warranty Data
Authors: Bueno Marcio R.  , Borsato Milton
Published: February 2025

Demands imposed by the consumer market and the need to remain competitive have motivated companies to develop products more technologically complex, by adding new functions and continuously seeking to improve manufacturing processes. At the same time that it is vital for a company to innovate and improve its products, the wise use of engineering resources and increasing costs associated with engineering changes, especially the poorly planned ones, have to be considered. The aim of this paper is to propose a decision-making support method for identifying opportunities for product improvement, based on data extracted from warranty records. The method uses field data, which are analyzed under six different perspectives of failure modes. A company in the auto parts industry has partnered in the present research to provide the context for an application example. The proposed method contributes for the effective planning of engineering capacity, by prioritizing engineering changes with customer-driven value and/or correcting product portfolio management based on market input. With more reliable data, the engineering change decision-making process becomes more effective. Furthermore, the method may help: set the right design requirements for delivering improved products into a particular market; plan for resource allocation on different projects; and highlight critical issues to be dealt with.
Semantic Modeling of Dynamic Extended Companies
Authors: Teixeira Kellyn Crhis  , Borsato Milton
Published: February 2025

The scenario of manufacturing is going through intense transformations. Mass manufacturing converged to mass customization, the globalized world now allows a wide repertoire of solutions for the production of goods and services. And in this new environment companies are using new technologies and new non-vertical manufacturing structures. Therefore, companies are increasingly relying on resources controlled by other actors. They must be able to combine resources in new ways, either to access those that are additionally required or those own resources to be made available to third parties. One of the challenges of manufacturing in the twenty-first century is the possibility of forming extended companies, able to respond with agility and adaptability, and which can be created on demand from the achievement of technical and strategic alignment of various actors. The extended enterprise, formed by several partners, needs to be dynamically formed, in order to be agile and adaptable. Such companies would be: (i) made possible through sharing and dissemination of information; (ii) able to, quickly and inexpensively, design, optimize and manufacture products; (iii) responsive to all technical and business determinants; and (iv) assessed and certified for guaranteed performance. This work intends to present a solution to the composition of the extended enterprise, dynamically formed to take advantage of market opportunities quickly and efficiently. The proposed model is constructed and verified in the context of the oil and gas industry. The main deliverables of the present work are: (i) report on the state-of-the-art regarding: supply-chain management, business virtualization, development and approval of suppliers, model-based enterprises (companies based on models), standards for information integration; (ii) designing a model of dynamic supply chain formation; and (iii) verification of the model through its application in a case study in the oil a and gas industry.
Human Expertise as the Critical Challenge in Participative Multidisciplinary Design Optimization – An Empirical Approach
Authors: Dineva Evelina  , Bachmann Arne  , Knodt Uwe  , Nagel Björn
Published: February 2025

Research into future air vehicles incorporating novel technologies is characterized by a high number of interacting disciplines which need to be considered. Despite advances in numeric interfacing techniques for participative Multidisciplinary Design and Optimisation (pMDO), it is not well understood how to build a team of specialists who jointly operate shared tools and gain system level insight. This contribution shifts focus to the human MDO participants and their working environment. Three aspects of collaboration are considered: (a) design of cognitive experiments to measure engineering performance in different settings; (b) integration of prior experience through a Lessons Leaned process; and (c) the application of the above into the enhancement of Integrated Design Laboratory (IDL). The pronunciation of competence and working environment, rather than software tools or data, opens opportunities for attractive use cases.
A Computing Resource Selection Approach Based on Genetic Algorithm for Inter-Cloud Workload Migration
Authors: Nodehi Tahereh  , Ghimire Sudeep  , Jardim-Goncalves Ricardo
Published: February 2025

Cloud computing has been one of the most important topics in IT which aims to assure scalable and reliable on-demand services over the Internet. The expansion of the application scope of cloud services would require cooperation between clouds from different providers that have heterogeneous functionalities. However, current cloud systems do not fully support inter-cloud interoperability and require more research work to provide sufficient functions to enable that seamless collaboration between cloud services. This paper proposes an efficient model for selecting appropriate computing resource from multi-cloud providers that is required to achieve inter-cloud interoperability in a heterogeneous Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud environment. The goal of the model is dispatching the workload on the most effective clouds available at runtime offering the best performance at the least cost. We consider that each job can have six requirements: CPU, memory, network bandwidth, serving time, maximum possible waiting time, and the priority based on the agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA) contract and service price. Additionally, we assume the SLA contract with suitable criteria between cloud-subscriber and multiple IaaS cloud-providers is signed beforehand. This computing resource selection model is based on Genetic Algorithm (GA). The resource selection model is evaluated using agent based model simulation.
Preparation and Evaluation of Physical/Chemical Gradient Bone Scaffold by 3D Bio-printing Technology
Authors: Zhang Yanan  , Liu Yuanyuan  , Chen Haiping  , Jiang Zhenglong  , Hu Qingxi
Published: February 2025

Bone scaffold with fully interconnected pores whose sizes are gradient structured can be prepared by 3-dimensional (3D) printing technology, and has presented important value in tissue engineering. It is known that, in the direction of bone thickness, the composition, structure and performance are continuously varied, and the number and species of related cells distributed in different regions are different. Based on biological 3D printing platform constructed adopting rotary pneumatic multi-nozzle structure and poly-L-lysine (PL) modified matrix materials, and in order to better simulate the spatial morphology of bone tissue and its function and make seed cells rapidly and accurately migrate to the specific region, a novel approach for preparing composite physical/chemical gradient bone scaffold was proposed. Dividing the scaffold into three different regions, the structure property and mechanical performance of different regions were detailedly analyzed. In addition, using adipose derived stem cells (ASCs) as seed cells, their initial adhesion on different regions and corresponding viability analysis were also conducted, respectively. The experiment results show that gradient material can make the cell migrate toward and attatch on specific location and optimizing its physical structure can improve its mechanical properties. Thus the composite gradient scaffold prepared through this approach presents great potential application for in vitro constructing complex tissues and organs.
Modularity: New Trends for Product Platform Strategy Support in Concurrent Engineering
Authors: Ostrosi Egon  , Stjepandić Josip  , Fukuda Shuichi  , Kurth Martin
Published: February 2025

Modularity intersects technical aspects with the business aspects. This paper analyzes modularity from this intersection point of view. It involves design for modularity as well management of modularity. Methods for supporting modular design are analyzed in relationship with technologies and tools for modular design. The current trend is toward usage and integration of different technologies such as advanced CAD systems, product configurators, agent-based systems and PDM systems. Development of intelligent models and intelligent tools as well as the development of intelligent modular products (i.e. intelligent system: model-tool-product), which can communicate and cooperate, demands the design of more intelligent organizations of modular design. Development of intelligent model-tool-product systems needs the development of holistic and concurrent engineering approaches. These approaches can offer the possibility of the design of intelligent self-sustainable models and intelligent self-sustainable products.
Tools and Methods Stimulate Virtual Team Co-operation at Concurrent Engineering
Authors: Tavčar Jože  , Duhovnik Jožef
Published: February 2025

Tools and methods are an important part of product development process. Advantages of different methods are growing with product novelty and complexity. Moderation of product development team meeting is a challenge at face to face meetings. Moderation has to be conducted with additional care at spatially distributed or virtual teams. The workshops or meetings related to different tools and methods are the core of concurrent engineering. Use of different methods stimulate co-operation inside Product Development team and at the end provides better products. The methods give content and structure to communication inside a product development team. An optimal percentage of team work depends on product novelty and complexity. Twenty percentage of activities need to be conducted as different kind of teamwork according to study [1]. There need to be creative dialog, conflicts of ideas and decision making. Team members stimulate each other's creativity. This paper presents what tools and methods are needed in different phases of the product development process. The generalised model of a virtual team workshop with maturity assessment criteria is presented next. On the example of the FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analyses) and customer's complaint workshops it is demonstrated what are specific requests for effective execution of the team workshop in distributed environment.
Stability Analysis and Optimal Design of Super-power Hydraulic Operating System
Authors: Zhang Zenglei  , Wu Shijing  , Zhao Wenqiang  , Lai Qiwei  , Hu Jicai
Published: February 2025

Running stability of hydraulic operating system with features of fast response, high flow rate and instantaneous super power greatly influences the normal and high effective action of ultra-high voltage circuit breaker. Mechanism of super-power hydraulic operating system in 1100 kV ultra-high voltage circuit breaker was analyzed to build a united simulation model, including multilevel control valves, accumulators, high-speed hydraulic cylinder buffering system and so forth, to investigate response features of control valves, buffering features of high-speed hydraulic cylinder and kinematic features of open and close action. Meanwhile, the accuracy of the model was validated with test data compared with design criterion, founding that there exist an extremely high pressure up to 107 MPa with a tremendous changing process within the hydraulic cylinder, and the velocity of the piston hitting the cushion sleeve at end of the cylinder was about 1.7 m/s which caused great impact on the sleeve. What's more, three optimal schemes for clearance distribution of the benched trunk piston were put forward to obtain a better cushion result reducing peak pressure and end speed of piston to a rate of more than 30%. Research methods, parameter analysis and optimal design results can act as guidance for further study and performance improvement of hydraulic operating system of ultra-high voltage circuit breaker.
Towards Self-evolutionary Cyber Physical Systems
Authors: Ghimire Sudeep  , Luis-Ferriera Fernando  , Jardim-Goncalves Ricardo  , Nodehi Tahereh
Published: February 2025

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are systems that comprises of integration of computation and physical processes. In CPS, computation and communication involves interaction with physical environment to add new capabilities and characteristics to systems. However, the integration of data acquisition systems from physical environment increases the factor for unreliability to the overall system because of the unpredictable behaviors of the physical world. So, it's a vital research challenge to address the design of CPS, which is adaptive to the changes that will occur at runtime based on the uncertainties in the physical world. At the same time making use of the knowledge acquired during operation for is an important aspect for scalable evolutionary systems. This poses an interesting research paradigm for design of CPS to capture process and integrate knowledge from physical world into the digital systems, by taking into consideration of CPS domain specific semantics. Major challenge addressed in this research work is to pave a path towards understanding of evolutionary systems along with reference architecture for evolutionary cyber physical systems.
An FPGA Based Architecture for Concurrent System Design Applied to Human-robot Interaction Applications
Authors: Zhang Lin  , Slaets Peter  , Bruyninckx Herman
Published: February 2025

This paper presents a hardware and software architecture for vision-based human-robot interaction designed for field programmable gate array (FPGA) based embedded system. The configurable logic and memory blocks connected through programmable interconnects on the FPGA permit programmers to create complex systems running multiple processing cores in parallel, which motivated the authors to implement vision algorithms and robot controllers on a single system-on-chip (SoC) board, aiming at low cost, low power consumption and high performance in human-robot interaction for industrial and educational robots. The architecture is a product derived from a component based programming model together with a systematic methodology for concurrent system design proposed by the authors.
A Mass Personalization Methodology Based on Co-creation
Authors: Hsiao Wen-Pin  , Chiu Ming-Chuan
Published: February 2025

Although the mass customization which utilizes modularization to increase product variety, and keep mass production efficiency simultaneously has become a trend, there are some limitations in mass customization. Firstly, the customers do not completely participate in the design phase. Secondly, the possible combinations are predetermined by designers. Thirdly, the concept of mass customization is not necessary to satisfy with individual requirements and not capable of providing personalized services and goods. In an effort to overcome the gaps between mass customization and mass personalization, the proposed method applies service engineering concept to break through the mentioned drawbacks. A web-based platform would be developed to demonstrate the efficiency of mass personalization through customer co-creation. Also, this study will evaluate the customer satisfaction to validate the effectiveness based on SERVQUAL questionnaire.
Stochastic Forecasting of Lumpy-distributed Aircraft Spare Parts Demand
Authors: Verhagen Wim J.C.  , Curran Richard
Published: February 2025

An approach is proposed to forecast lumpy spare parts demand associated with non-routine aircraft maintenance based on a stochastic model. The model assumes demand arrival in the form of a Homogeneous Poisson Process (HPP). The developed model is applied to a dataset from an aircraft maintenance operator consisting of lumpy spare parts demand for nine Line Replacable Units (LRUs) from a shared customer pool of parts, which are associated with significant repair turnaround time delays. To meet the operator's service level requirements and associated stocking strategy, the model is evaluated for its capacity to forecast peak demand, rather than its capacity to minimize forecasting error. Under these terms, the proposed model outperforms the existing company approach.
Automatic Detection of Harmonization Breaking in SOA-based Enterprise Networks
Authors: Raposo Carlos  , Agostinho Carlos  , Ferreira Jose  , Jardim-Goncalves Ricardo
Published: February 2025

As the complexity of markets and the dynamicity of systems evolve, the need for interoperable systems capable of strengthening enterprise communication effectiveness increases. This is particularly significant when it comes to collaborative networks, where communication is a central aspect with a direct impact in the outcome of the network. Such is the case of enterprise networks (e.g. manufacturing supply chains), where several companies need to work, communicate, and depend on each other, in order to achieve a specific goal. Once interoperability is achieved, organisations are able to exchange information along a stable environment that follows agreed laws. However, as markets tend to adapt to new requirements and demands, an evolutionary behaviour is triggered giving space to interoperability problems. This disrupts the sustainability of interoperability and raises the need to develop monitoring activities capable of detecting unexpected behaviour in communications between cooperating companies. This paper focuses on monitoring techniques for interoperable SOA-based enterprise networks using web services, focusing mainly on the automatic detection of harmonization breaking during real-time communications. It also proposes an approach to handle the disruption of harmonization with reduced human intervention.
Functional and Ecosystem Requirements to Design Sustainable Product-Service
Authors: Peruzzini Margherita  , Marilungo Eugenia  , Germani Michele
Published: February 2025

Product-Service (P-S) represents an innovative way to create highly sustainable solutions for both large and small enterprises. However, very few works propose structured approaches for P-S ideation and design in manufacturing industry. This paper presents a novel methodology to support ideation and preliminary design of sustainable P-S solutions within industrial chains involving Large Enterprises (LEs) as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It is based on a matrix-based approach and allows defining the P-S functional and ecosystem requirements according to the customer needs and sustainability principles. The research purpose is twofold: to effectively support industrial chains in P-S requirements elicitation, and to verify the benefits of P-S integration from the design stages in developing sustainable solutions. The research study involved an Italian company with its supply chains of SMEs, distributed in Europe, and aims at developing a new P-S idea in the white goods sector by exploiting Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Intelligent and Concurrent Analytic Platform for Renewable Energy Policy Assessment Using Open Data Resources
Authors: Wang Danny Y.C.  , Trappey Amy J.C.  , Trappey Charles V.  , Li S.J.
Published: February 2025

Renewable, clean and economically viable energy sources are needed as alternatives to fossil fueled energy in order to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Often, the facilities installation costs for generating renewable energy is higher than the cost of traditional power generating facilities. Thus, governments need effective policies, regulations, and incentives to promote the usage of renewable energy. The policies used for promoting specific categories of renewable energies, such as on-shore or off-shore wind farms and solar power plants, vary significantly. These policies’ success depends on the policy goals, regulations, taxation, incentives and promotional schemes, which require careful evaluation and assessment using globally available energy/environment/economic (3E) data. The purpose of this study is to propose an intelligent and concurrent analytic platform for renewable energy policy assessment, which can automatically collect, update, integrate, and harmonize data from pre-authorized websites and online databases for analytic modeling. Further, data mining techniques (e.g., clustering analysis and self-organizing maps – SOM) are adopted to identify types of renewable energies, their attributes, economic factors, projected demands and supplies, and environmental benefits and impacts. The research achieves three outcomes. First, the intelligent and concurrent platform architecture is developed and the prototype system is implemented with data management, decision-support model management, and user interface modules. Second, the dynamic data retrieval technique from authorized online data sources for analytic modeling is depicted. Finally, the SOM intelligent model is built and linked to the database as an analytic tool in the model management module.
Effect of Ground Motions and Tsunami Impact Force on the Performance of a Damaged River Dike
Authors: Hazarika Hemanta  , Hara Tadashi  , Kuroda Shunichi  , Kuribayashi Kentaro  , Nishi Tsuyoshi  , Furuichi Hideo  , Takezawa Koichiro  , Ohsumi Tsuneo
Published: February 2025

Many river dikes and embankments in the coastal region of Tohoku area were damaged due to strong ground motions of the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent attack by the tsunami. This paper analyzes the cause of damage to the Yoshihama river dike located in Ofunato city of Iwate prefecture based on past field investigations and numerical simulations. Analyses revealed that the dike body had low liquefaction resistance and the volume change after liquefaction was rather large. Due to main shock and aftershocks there is likelihood of liquefaction in dike body and the re-liquefaction possibilities are high even under small ground motions. Based on the series of analyses it could be confirmed that even though the dike body was covered with concrete panels, due to liquefaction induced settlement of the embankment, gaps developed between the embankment crown and the concrete covering. These gaps ultimately reduced the tsunami resistant characteristics of the dike, and thus resulting in the collapse of the dike.