bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nanoscale Elastic Recovery of Silicon While Cutting at Different Temperatures: An MD Simulation-Based Study
Authors: Chavoshi Saeed Zare  , Luo Xichun
Published: February 2025

With the aid of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, the current study focuses on analyzing the atomic-scale elastic recovery of single crystal silicon during nanometric cutting at a wide range of workpiece temperatures (300–1500 K). Variation of the local potential energy in the cutting zone and distribution of atomic hydrostatic and shear stresses within the workpiece were monitored in order to qualify the differences in the elastic recovery behavior of silicon at various temperatures. A sharp rise of the potential energy was observed at low temperatures, indicating large elastic deformation at low temperatures. It was inferred that at temperatures of 1173 K and 1500 K, the elastic deformation of the workpiece is virtually eliminated. The state of hydrostatic stress in the machined surface also suggested that material beneath the flank face of the cutting tool exhibits strong elastic recovery at room temperature due to material relaxation under the flank face.
Improving Data Accuracy in Simulation of Flexible Manufacturing Systems
Authors: Rybicka Justyna  , Tiwari Ashutosh  , Enticott Shane
Published: February 2025

Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) provide capabilities to accommodate flexibility requirements in production. Such system due to the levels of flexibility are complex to reconfigure optimally. Simulation is one of the tools that provide a platform for supporting the FMS reconfiguration without breaking optimal production set-up. For the simulation to be successful it is important to appropriately design the simulated environment as well as provide quality data inputs. As FMS are usually driven by production line controllers (PLC), the behaviour of elements in the system can be difficult to be fully understood. The quality of data fed in to the simulation affects the quality of outputs which in consequence translates to the trust that the simulation is reliable source of analysis. This paper presents the approach of data collection from the shop floor aiding FMS simulation in scenarios where it is difficult to understand the system behaviour. Also, case study of a manual handling robot in the FMS is presented to demonstrate obtaining quality data from the production shop floor.
Cognitive Aspects Affecting Human Performance in Manual Assembly
Authors: Brolin Anna  , Case Keith  , Thorvald Peter
Published: February 2025

This paper concerns the handling of information in assembly work environments. Several studies involving both literature reviews, case studies and observations were conducted to find factors that affect human performance in manual assembly. The main experiment with 36 subjects used a mixed method design with a quantitative study, including time and errors as dependant measures, a qualitative study, including workload ratings, and a questionnaire. The experiment involved the assembly of a pedal car and the components were presented using structured kits, unstructured kits and material racks. Assembly information was presented as text & component numbers or photographs, and situations with and without component variation were considered. Among the results it was found that assembly times and workload ratings were lower when using a kit, whereas using a material rack resulted in perceived decreased workflow and increased stress and frustration. Assembly times and workload ratings were lower when using photographs, whereas using text and numbers increased mental workload.
Agile Assembly Planning for Multi-Variant Production Based on 3D PDF
Authors: Kahl Felix  , Rulhoff Stefan  , Stjepandić Josip  , Thatenhorst Klaus
Published: February 2025

Assembly workload and human labor is the main expense factor during the assembly of products. Here, the hours of work by workmen multiplied with a company-specific factor equal the occurring costs. The assembly planning of single productions or short runs is often based on experience or the method of compare and estimate. In this paper an aproach is presented, in which the assembly planning is put into practice based on engineering 3D CAD models translated in 3D PDF and a preplanned library of work steps. Through connected time values multiplied by frequency and under consideration of assembly difficulties, transparent assembly base-times can be calculated and expectable costs can be estimated. Through connected resources the needed tool-use per workstation can be determined. Furthermore, a connection of product, assembly process and resource is implicitly created by the planning process itself, which machine-readable will provide a lot of potential for future automatisms.
Design Optimisation of Passive Humidification Device for Intensive Care Medical Applications
Authors: Shafik Mahmoud  , Lechevretel Anne
Published: February 2025

This paper presents the design optimisation of passive heat and moisture exchange (HME) humidification device for intensive care medical applications. Investigation into the state of the art of the technology in use concludes that there are two main artificial HME humidification devices: active and passive device. The passive HME device is the preferred one, due to the ease of use and low cost. However it is not suitable for more than 24 hour use. This is due to a number of challenges such as: device cavity design, limitations of HME materials performance and overall efficiency. This paper presents the outcomes of the research work carried out to overcome these teething issues and presents an optimised cavity design that could improve the HME material, airflow structure and patterns and HME device overall efficiency.
3D Alignment for Interactive Evolutionary Design
Authors: Retzepi Theodora  , Graham Ian J.  , Goh Yee Mey
Published: February 2025

3D model alignment (‘Pose Normalization’ in the literature) is investigated as part of wider research into guided evolutionary Computer-Aided Design. CAD technology in development will combine human interaction and geometric optimization, within an evolutionary design system. Evolving shapes will be influenced by simple pre-set geometric fuzzy-constraints – internal voids and external bounding geometry created by users. To compare evolving candidate shapes with these pre-set constraints they must first be aligned (rotated, scaled, and co-located). A shortlist of five promising alignment techniques is described. Benchmark data generated using standard CAD functions (centre of gravity, principle axes etc.) will be presented at the conference.
Design and Manufacturing of a Miniature Insulin Administration Device for Non Compliant Diabetic Patients of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Authors: Manarvi Irfan Anjum  , Matta Nader Maher Kamel
Published: February 2025

Diabetes affects people of all ages regardless of gender and geographical location. A diabetic patient unlike other diseases may appear healthy and living a normal life under medication. Therefore a tendency of being noncompliant with the medicine especially insulin dosage is observed. One of the reasons of such behavior is that patients find it irritating to use syringes or injections (insulin pens). It results into complications in other body functions such as heart, kidneys, liver and loss of immunity. This research was aimed to design and manufacture a miniature (keychain held) insulin administration device so that patients may carry it along all the time. Most of the devices used in market were reviewed during design process. A unique device was then designed and manufactured with same functionality as others but geometrically half the size of insulin pen. It could therefore provide timely availability of insulin and result in improving the noncompliant behavior of patients.
The Hidden Information and Its Potential in Manufacturing Data
Authors: Neat Tom  , Ng Felix
Published: February 2025

With the technological advancement in manufacturing techniques in recent decades, a large amount of manufacturing data has been created. Some OEMs recognised the importance of such data and were able to capture and analyse the data to support their manufacturing planning and processes etc. and the application of lean principles. JCB is one of the world's top three manufacturers of construction equipment and produces a range of over 300 machines from 22 factories across 4 continents. Although a set of standardised manufacturing procedures and lean strategy are in place at all JCB plants throughout the globe, the diversity in people culture, supplier chain infrastructure, demand from the market etc. causes additional data analysis to provide a more substantial and dynamic data driven decision making process to face such challenges. Organizational infrastructure may require to be altered to accommodate the additional elements in data capturing, analysis and sharing with specific people or departments. A case study is presented to explain some of these data analysis techniques and the data management infrastructure currently employed within different JCB facilities across the globe to feed critical information into the decision making processes, such as globalisation, localisation, new product introduction, dynamic manufacturing capacity and capability for turbulent market demand and supply chain stability etc.
Structural Transformations of Polymers Using Laser Irradiation
Authors: Aneli Jimsher N.  , Bakradze Nana V.  , Dumbadze Teimuraz N.  , Batako Andre D.L.
Published: February 2025

Polymers have wide range of applications in all human activities. Recent policies on environment and resource efficient mean that new efficient production and engineering processes need developing. This paper presents a new approach of laser irradiation of polymer aiming at inducing specific conductivity properties. Under the influence of a CO2 laser irradiation of polymers in the air, new macromolecular chemical and physical structures were engendered, which have electrical conductivity and paramagnetic properties. The conductivity of these substances are due to formation of carbon chains with conjugated double bonds and paramagnetic centres due to free radicals and charges localized around the structural defects near the surfaces of polymer sheet. The results show the formation of electrical conducting channels with desirable configuration in very short time without high vacuum, which can be used for production of printed circuits. This isn't achievable by high temperature treatment of polymers in room environment
Lean & Green, How to Encourage Industries to Establish Pro-Environmental Behaviour
Authors: Pawlik Elzbieta  , Gutowska Dagmara  , Horbal Remigiusz  , Maśluszcak Zofia  , Miehe Robert  , Bogdanov Ivan  , Schneider Ralph
Published: February 2025

Research has shown that mangers in the manufacturing industry are not motivated to implement improvement activities aimed at reducing negative impact on the environment. They concentrate their efforts on improving business indicators as they believe that ecological improvement is associated with costly investments. The Eco Lean Compass method that is presented in the paper, allows the identification of those areas of organizational improvement that do not require significant investments although simultaneously supports business and environmental benefits. This paper presents the main components of the method including Eco Orbit View, Eco-A3 Report and Energy Consumption Study, as well as the results achieved during the practical application in polish company.
Manufacturing Supply Chain Demand Study – Profiling UK Manufacturing Performance
Authors: Thomas Andrew  , Rowlands Hefin  , Dorrington Peter  , Costa Filipa  , Francis Mark  , Fisher Ron
Published: February 2025

Manufacturing industry has changed rapidly over the course of the last 20 years. Significant paradigm shifts and technological advancements will continue as UK industry continually adjusts to the opportunities and threats that it faces today and in the future. The emergence of new manufacturing technologies, new management systems, organizational structures, and decision-making methods will lead to new products and processes. The UK Foresight panel report into the Future of Manufacturing 2050 highlight the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and describe the changing nature of the modern manufacturing environment. The report highlights the major technical challenges for manufacturing industry. Through a survey of 50 manufacturing supply chain companies, the objective of this paper is to identify the key challenges and issues faced by supply chain companies in the UK. Direct feedback from industrialists will inform the analysis of how and in what way UK manufacturers can meet these challenges.
Development of Lean Six-Sigma Conceptual Implementation Model for Manufacturing Organisations
Authors: Saad Sameh M.  , Khamkham Mohamed
Published: February 2025

Due to the importance of manufacturing management models in enhancing the process performance and obtaining continuous improvement, it is apparent that both Six-Sigma and Lean management are two continuous improvement methodologies for improving the operation process and achieving high quality performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual Lean six-sigma implementation model (LSS-M) for manufacturing organisations in order to entrench the strategic thinking into long term planning. The paper explores the literature pertinent to the topic and the necessary tools to carry out this research, the study used survey questionnaires to gather practitioners and academic opinion aiming at validating the proposed integrated model, its suitability for manufacturing organisation and identifying the barriers for successful implementation. The results clearly demonstrate that the proposed model is valuable to practitioners and academics and can assist manufacturing organisations to achieve competitive advantage if embedded in their long term strategic thinking.
Do Inspections Really Help?
Authors: Eben Chaime Moshe
Published: February 2025

“The potentially dire consequences of not detecting an electrical fault early during the process have motivated technology managers in the semi-conductor industry to introduce an inspection step after about every ten process steps.”[1] Researchers added that “if new inspection operations are added, the delay to get this measurement result is reduced, and the wafer at risk could thus also be reduced.”[2] Inspections, however, like processes, are imperfect and prone to errors, which have devastating effects. Despite their significance, these effects are rather unnoticed. It turns out that when processes are in-control and perform reasonably well, the consequent costs of inspections may exceed the saving, as demonstrated in this presentation.
The Quality Journey of Greek SMEs
Authors: Sainis G.  , Haritos G.  , Kriemadis Th.  , Fowler M.
Published: February 2025

This paper is focusing on the quality journey of the Greek, ISO certified SMEs. It examines the implementation level of TQM and its structure and critical elements, among different size SMEs. It discusses the findings of quantitative research undertaken earlier with a sample of 178 questionnaires, which were collected and analyzed with emphasis in quality culture, techniques, processes and performance appraisal. A qualitative research was then followed and a triangulation technique was used in analyzing both quantitative and interview results. From the frequency analysis conducted, both research approaches showed that Greek, ISO certified SMEs continue their quality journey. Their effort is concentrated in ensuring their quality certification is achieved, endorsing only those quality elements that minimize the cost of TQM implementation. This study contributes in improving the perception of the role quality plays and its potential benefits, when applied to SMEs operating in a country that is facing an economic crisis and severe trade conditions.
Creating Industrially Relevant Environments for Teaching Lean Manufacturing at Karlstad University
Authors: Jacobsson Lasse  , Wickberg Anders  , De Vin Leo
Published: February 2025

Simulation for training lean manufacturing ranges from simple paper-based or LEGO®-based games to larger scale simulation environments, for instance push car assembly. Whilst such simulations may be suitable for educating students, they are often less suitable for training industry workers. The latter group is more diverse and is more used to intuitive learning than to formal instruction. Thus, it is important that the training environment for this group more realistically represents the work environment; otherwise training transfer will be limited. For this reason, a lean training environment that includes materials processing stations as well as assembly areas was created. The stations exhibit some realistic behaviour such as stochastic breakdowns.
Application of a Multivariate Process Control Technique for Set-Up Dominated Low Volume Operations
Authors: Cox Steven  , Anderson Scott  , Gray Neil  , Vogt Oliver  , Kotsialos Apostolos
Published: February 2025

In traditional high-volume manufacturing applications, the timing of control adjustments to processes is based on parametric Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods, such as Shewhart X & R charts. In high-value, high-complexity and low-volume industries, where production runs are in the order of tens rather than thousands, traditional SPC approaches are not easily applicable. A manufactured component's complexity, with multiple critical features to monitor, increases the difficulty for a process operator to maintain all of them within their design tolerances. In response to this, this paper presents a framework of nonparametric SPC, called multivariate Set-Up Process Algorithm (mSUPA), for managing control adjustment when required. mSUPA uses a simple to interpret traffic light system for alerting process operators when an adjustment is required. mSUPA is underpinned by multivariate statistics and probability theory for validating a process set up. The case of mSUPA application to a real industry process is discussed.
Remanufacturing H13 Steel Moulds and Dies Using Laser Metal Deposition
Authors: Payne Grant  , Ahmad Abdul  , Fitzpatrick Stephen  , Xirouchakis Paul  , Ion William  , Wilson Michael
Published: February 2025

The exploitation of Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the repair and remanufacture of industrial components, such as moulds and dies, has become an emerging research area due to the expected reduction of replacement cost and the promise of better mechanical and wear resistance properties – moreover, the use of remanufacturing standards ensures a greater than or equal to warranty part quality. Further studies plan to utilize Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) to remanufacture artificially worn H13 Steel samples, allowing benchmarking studies to be conducted in order to compare the mechanical and wear resistance performance of LMD against current welding repair technologies. The specimens will be subjected to an accelerated pressure and elevated temperatures schedule, simulating the loading cycles during the use of the die sets. The effects on the resulting part properties of different process parameters setup, including the type and characteristics of the deposited powder will be studied.
Legal Aspects on Smart House Welfare Technology for Older People in Norway
Authors: Sánchez Veralia Gabriela  , Pfeiffer Carlos F.
Published: February 2025

A Smart House Welfare Technology project to facilitate the independent living of older people at their home is being developed at the University College of South-east Norway (USN). Smart Houses are a promising and cost-effective option of improving access to home care for older people. The project models behavior patterns using sensor information, detects when deviations of these patterns occur, and notify caretakers in case of a potential dangerous situation. In order to implement the project, it is necessary to consider the legal areas related to Smart Houses development. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe existing legal aspects on the deployment of Smart Houses for older people, with emphasis on Norway. The main legal aspects identified were data privacy, data access and management, stakeholders interests , and informed consent.
ICUPRES: To a Standardized Recommendation and Profiling Services for Learning Management Systems
Authors: Oliva Alberto  , Caballero Alberto  , Muñoz Andrés
Published: February 2025

This paper proposes a technological solution to improve the user experience of any Learning Management System (LMS), providing resource recommendation and personalization through user profiling. Because of the different types of Learning Management Systems that are been used nowadays in academic world, we propose a standardized solution able to interact with most of them by using Experience API. Our system combines context information and expert knowledge in order to provide recommendations and personalization services. As a basis for our system we have developed an ontological model aimed at representing Experience API context information. In addition, we provide a standardized common vocabulary about Experience API elements and academic task developed within LMS. Our system also allows inference processes about LMS users' behaviour. Finally, our system uses an expert rule system to provide recommendation and personalization services. This combination of context information and expert knowledge could be easily integrated into any Experience API-based LMS, oriented to achieve interoperability between them. Specifically in this paper we have integrated our proposal with Experience API, creating a system called ICUPRES: Integrated, Customization, User Profiling and Recommendation Engine System. As a result of this integration, ICUPRES is able to generate user profiles in order to customize the use of the Learning Management System elements and recommend educational resources addressed to achieve a benefit for both students and lecturers.
Improving Automatic Speech Recognition for Mobile Learning of Mathematics Through Incremental Parsing
Authors: Isaac Marina  , Pfluegel Eckhard  , Hunter Gordon  , Denholm-Price James  , Attanayake Dilaksha  , Coter Guillaume
Published: February 2025

Knowledge of at least elementary mathematics is essential for success in many areas of study and a large number of careers. However, many people find this subject difficult, partly due to specialised language and notation. These problems tend to be even more marked for people with disabilities, including blindness or impaired vision, and people with limited motor control or use of their hands.
A Comparison of Mobile Learning Platforms in Teaching: Marriott's China Hospitality Education Initiative
Authors: Hauze Sean  , De Lepe Mary  , Olmstead William
Published: February 2025

Marriot's China Hospitality Education Initiative (CHEI) developed two mobile learning delivery prototypes to support their effort to deliver hospitality curriculum to students throughout China, who increasingly rely on mobile devices for Internet access. The two prototypes include one built on WeChat's WeLearn platform and one developed with Adobe Captivate and delivered via a custom mobile responsive website. The prototypes were tested with Chinese hospitality students and instructors, who were asked to complete a series of surveys and interviews designed to determine the technological feasibility, user acceptance, and appropriate instructional design of the online modules. The results of the surveys and interviews indicate a preference for WeChat as an existing and widely accepted method of communication in China. Additionally, based on the array of device preference, device availability, and learning style preference, the survey and interview data indicate CHEI should develop curriculum that is cross compatible with laptop computers, tablets, and mobile phones in order to maximize the adoption of CHEI curriculum among Chinese hospitality students.
Simulating Decision Processes in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Mikulecky Peter  , Cimler Richard
Published: February 2025

Following the concept of ubiquity further on, Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is focused on technologies and approaches for development of intelligent environments aiming at supporting their users. Architectures of these environments are usually modeled by multi-agent systems, facilitating thus investigation of various processes enabling the environments' functionalities. In this scope, it is challenging to study decision processes used by individual components (agents) of the environment in mutual cooperation for creating decisions about ways how and when to support particular users activities adequately. A recent project DEPIES "Decision Processes in Intelligent Environments", supported by the Czech Scientific Foundation in the period of 2015 to 2017, is oriented on investigation of various decision processes that could appear in various types of intelligent environments, modeled by adequate multiagent architectures. This paper aims at presenting information about the project goals, its methodology and approaches used as well as intended to be used in near future. A special part of the paper is devoted to possibilities of modeling and simulation of decision processes using the AnyLogic multimethod simulation tool.
Supervising and Improving Attentiveness in Human Computer Interaction
Authors: Durães Dalila  , Carneiro Davide  , Bajo Javier  , Novais Paulo
Published: February 2025

The collection, storage, management, and anticipation of contextual information about the user to support decision-making constitute some of the key operations in most Ambient Intelligent (AmI) systems. When the instructor has a computer-based class it is often difficult to confirm if the students are working in the proposed activities. In order to mitigate problems that might occur in an environment with learning technologies we suggest an AmI system aimed at capturing, measuring, and supervising the students' level of attentiveness in real scenarios and dynamically provide recommendations to the instructor. With this system it is possible to assess both individual and group attention, in real-time, providing a measure of the level of engagement of each student in the proposed activities and allowing the instructor to better steer teaching methodologies.
Flipping the Automotive Class in a Vocational College
Authors: Şenel Hüseyin Can  , Topçu Abdullah
Published: February 2025

Considering the expectation of today's competitive work-life, higher education organizations are in search of new possibilities to create student-centered and practice-based learning environments. As an answer, flipped or inverted classrooms are drawing great attention as a pragmatic instructional design. Flipped classrooms are getting more and more common since they have ease-use of technologic tools like forums and digital videos. Additionally, they support student centered learning by routing them to prepare at home and come class with pre-knowledge. However, there is limited rigorous research about possible effects of this pedagogy on academic outputs like test scores or course credits of students. To fill this gap and create alternative course design for vocational colleges, we intended to design an automotive technology course (diesel engine technology) using flipped classroom pedagogy. We tried flipped classrooms through six weeks using quasi experimental research methodology. Although they have the same pre-test scores, experiment group outperformed control group in both open-ended exam scores and hand skill based tasks.
3D Tune-In: 3D-Games for TUNing and lEarnINg About Hearing Aids
Authors: Picinali Lorenzo  , D'Cruz Mirabelle  , Simeone Luca  , D Tune-In Project Consortium
Published: February 2025

The EU-funded (Horizon 2020 Grant Agreement No 644051) 3D Tune-In project employs a novel approach using 3D sound, visuals and gamification techniques to support people with hearing aids to understand their many features and how to calibrate them in different real world situations (e.g. at a concert, in a restaurant, on a street, at a train station, in a classroom). 3D Tune-In brings together the relevant stakeholders from traditional gaming industries (Reactify, UK; Vianet, Italy; XTeam, Italy; Nerlaska, Spain); academic institutions (Imperial College London, UK; De Montfort University, UK; the University of Nottingham, UK; University of Malaga, Spain); a large European hearing aid manufacturer (GN Hearing, Italy); and hearing Associations (Extra Care, UK; Hearing Link, UK; Action Deafness, UK; Accesibilidad y Personas Sordas, Spain and Ente Nazionale Sordi, Italy) to create 3D virtual interactive environments and videogames which will greatly improve the quality of life and level of social inclusion of individuals with hearing impairment.
Statistical and Computational Study of the Photomotor Reflex in Diabetic Patients for Recognition of Specific Characteristics
Authors: Gutiérrez Hernández David Asael  , Zamudio Rodríguez Víctor Manuel  , Galván González María Trinidad  , Cárdenas Solís José Gerardo  , López Sergio Uribe  , Ramírez Carlos Lino
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present a study done in a sample of 123 diabetic patients. The photomotor reflex of the patients, as a reaction of an external and well-controlled light stimulation, was digitally measured to acquire variables and characteristics like pupil time of response, pupil diameter over the time and mathematical behavior of the photomotor response. These variables were added into a data base in order to computationally analyze them. Variables like gender, edge, weight, capillary blood glucose (CB) and glycated hemoglobin (GH), which were previously recollected on each patient, were also included in the data base for the analysis.
Intelligent Reports for Group Decision Support Systems
Authors: Carneiro João  , Conceição Luís  , Martinho Diogo  , Marreiros Goreti  , Novais Paulo
Published: February 2025

The topic of Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) is a not a recent one. In fact, it has been studied for the last three decades. In this work, we deal with the topic of Intelligent Reports in GDSS' context. A defective interaction between the system and the decision-maker may lead to the complete failure of the GDSS. However, the study on how and which kind of information should be exposed to decision-makers is almost non-existent. Therefore, it is important to create reports adapted to the specific necessities of each decision-maker so that each one can acknowledge the advantage to use the system and feel motivated to do so. We believe that in this work, we approach important points that require special attention when developing Intelligent Reports. We navigate through all the important factors that affect decision-makers while making a decision. We detail each point and link them to all related questions and to which kind of structure an Intelligent Report should have in order to not compromise the success of the GDSS.
A Conceptual Framework for Occupant-Centered Building Management Decision Support System
Authors: Lazarova-Molnar Sanja  , Shaker Hamid Reza
Published: February 2025

Buildings' energy consumption makes the largest portion of the overall energy consumption. Commercial buildings are specific and their energy efficiency should not be viewed as a standalone issue. On the contrary, it needs to be viewed in function of the goals of the hosted businesses and organizations. The critical factor for achieving these goals are employees, who are also usually occupants of these buildings and, thus, hold one of the keys to reduced energy consumption. It has been shown that energy-conscious behaviour of building occupants presents a significant opportunity to save energy. Human behaviour is, however, very complex and hard to predict, and there needs to be a set of conditions satisfied for occupants to cooperate on the energy efficiency level. Majority of commercial buildings' occupants are not directly affected by their energy-consumption related behaviour due to the non-obvious/-direct incentive to reduce energy use and no access to their levels of consumption. In this paper we present a framework for a building energy management decision support system that is motivated by these findings, and therefore, centres the occupants and motivates them to both achieve business-wise and improve their energy-related behaviour.
Dark Future Precedents: Science Fiction, Futurism and Law
Authors: Bennett Michael  , Johnson Brian David
Published: February 2025

In the next decade a collection of technological and biological advances will enable incredible breakthroughs. These advances will also reveal perils, threats and problems that have yet to be imagined. In the legal domain strategic passivity may be the tradition, but it will only become more expensive. Disruptive global trends in innovation and technological development, increased needs for artificial and natural catastrophe risk management, and more complex domestic and transnational regulatory ecologies make reactivity impractical. Futurism, long term strategic foresight and particularly futurecasting paired with science fiction prototyping are effective tools to model and begin exploring these possible futures and their implications. The intersection of science fiction, futurism and the law gives firms the tools to not only imagine and understand possible futures but also lays out the specific steps that clients need to take to be ready for the complex legal and business realities that are coming.
From Imagination to Innovation: A Creative Development Process
Authors: Wu Hsuan-Yi  , Callaghan Vic
Published: February 2025

This paper is concerned with models of the innovation process. It takes the perspective that innovation is a non-linear process where development paths emerge from the process of ‘imagining’ and ‘doing’, iterating around in evolutionary cycles until a satisfactory innovation emerges. To support this we have developed a model of the innovation process called Creative Innovation Development (CID), which integrates an evolutionary ideation process (an augmented version of science fiction prototyping) with agile development. The paper describes the working of the model and its components. We illustrate the operation of CID by describing how it is being utilised by a start-up company, LivingPattern Technology Inc. Finally, the paper concludes by presenting future directions for our work.
A Formal Model for Event-Condition-Action Rules in Intelligent Environments
Authors: Vannucchi Claudia  , Cacciagrano Diletta Romana  , Corradini Flavio  , Culmone Rosario  , Mostarda Leonardo  , Raimondi Franco  , Tesei Luca
Published: February 2025

We present a formal model for modelling Event-Condition-Action Rules by partitioning a state space and evolution function taking into account the features that are typical of Intelligent Environments. This model allows for a precise definition of formal requirements and for their efficient verification.
Designing Data Visualizations for Intelligent Environments: A Human Factors Primer
Authors: Wong B.L. William
Published: February 2025

Visualization of the information produced by intelligent environments is needed by an operator to control the systems and to use the environment. Poor visualizations can lead the human operator to poor performance and errors. The purpose of this tutorial is to provide (i) a framework for considering how visualizations should be designed so that they are optimized for human sense-making, (ii) a discussion of the key human factors principles that affect visualization design. Topics will include: Representation Design, for controlling complex systems, black boxes, human factors concepts and principles; Cognitive considerations in sense-making, situation awareness, decision making, and task-display compatibility; Applying the principles through a design critique. In view of the time constraints, participants will learn how to apply the concepts and principles by evaluating a concrete design example, and discuss how well the human factors concepts and principles have been implemented.
Design and Research for Advanced Human Augmentation in the Industrial Work Context
Authors: Kymäläinen Tiina  , Koskinen Hanna  , Kaasinen Eija  , Aromaa Susanna
Published: February 2025

Advanced human augmentation provides a human-centred perspective on technology design. It builds upon earlier technological concepts such as ubiquitous computing, wearable computing, augmented- virtual- and mixed realities, autonomous systems and ambient intelligence. This tutorial contemplates advanced human augmentation in the industrial work context, and considers the requirements for a future augmented Superworker and the prerequisites for their advanced augmentation. In this tutorial, it is anticipated that to support the design of new augmenting solutions current human-centred design practices should be reconsidered and enhanced in new directions.
From Raw Data to Agent Perceptions for Simulation, Verification, and Monitoring
Authors: Bottone Michele  , Primiero Giuseppe  , Raimondi Franco  , Rungta Neha
Published: February 2025

In this paper we present a practical solution to the problem of connecting “real world” data exchanged between sensors and actuators with the higher level of abstraction used in frameworks for multiagent systems. In particular, we show how to connect an industry-standard publish-subscribe communication protocol for embedded systems called MQTT with two Belief-Desire-Intention agent modelling and programming languages: Jason/AgentSpeak and Brahms. In the paper we describe the details of our Java implementation and we release all the code open source.
A Risk-Driven Methodology in Developing Ambient Intelligence Healthcare Systems
Authors: Cicotti Giuseppe  , Coronato Antonio
Published: February 2025

Ambient Intelligence Healthcare Systems (AmI-HSs) are increasingly being deployed in hospitals, nursing homes, medical environment with the aim of supporting physicians to manage the complexity of performing varied medical activities. Such systems have to be able to handle multiple medical devices, and human activities in a dynamic environment in which people and things can evolve over time as well as change their position with respect to the operational ambient. Design reliable AmI-HSs is of great importance since such system are considered safety-critical, but no software development life cycle (SDLC) exists that supports a design for reliability approach suited for AmI-HS, which must abide by international regulations to guarantee safety and effectiveness. To fill this gap, in this work a evidence-oriented, risk-driven design methodology is proposed. The novelty of our approach consists of interleaving risk management activities within the SDLC, and by guiding the design using evidence produced via a probabilistic risk assessment approach.
Trending Technologies and Standards Supporting the Development of Quality Collaborative Web Applications: The Case Study of VIRTRAEL
Authors: Rodríguez-Domínguez Carlos  , Carranza-García Francisco  , Guerrero-Contreras Gabriel  , Garrido José Luis
Published: February 2025

The development of collaborative systems has traditionally involved an enormous amount of complexity, due to their distributed nature, the number of interactions between remote users and the need to support optimal persistence and communication mechanisms. Nonetheless, the growing success of the Web 2.0 has increased the interest towards the development of collaborative Web applications. However, Web standards have not supported the required mechanisms to develop efficient and quality collaborative applications until recently. This paper presents the most recent and newest standards and technologies supporting the development of these types of applications. Moreover, the experience of applying those standards and technologies to develop VIRTRAEL is presented. VIRTRAEL is a Web platform supporting the evaluation and intervention of elderly people in a collaborative manner.
Critical Infrastructure Cyber-Attack Through Firmware Exploitation
Authors: Cuozzo Gianni
Published: February 2025

Old and unsupported firmware represents a serious threat to infrastructure security. Infrastructures are very complex scenarios in which hundreds of devices operate. Each hardware device is managed by a firmware that is in charge also of managing communication with the global platform manager. Old and unsupported firmware are easily exploitable and in some cases they can lead to gain access to the platform manager, compromising the entire infrastructure security.
Going Beyond Static Understandings: Resilience Must Be Shared, and It Must Be Projected Forward
Authors: Hamilton Daniel S.
Published: February 2025

Western countries today are focused on enhancing their own societal resilience – building the capacity of their societies to anticipate, preempt and resolve disruptive challenges to their critical functions. Resilience begins at home and is foremost a task for national governments. Yet growing interdependencies mean that few of the critical infrastructures that sustain the societal functions of open societies are limited to the national borders of a particular society. Moreover, those infrastructures, and the connections they bring with other societies, are susceptible to disruption, whether through natural disasters, potentially catastrophic terrorism, networked threats or disruptive hybrid attacks. This means that traditional notions of territorial security must be supplemented with actions to address flow security – protecting the links that bind societies to one another. These challenges, in turn, will require greater shared resilience. Understanding the need for greater shared resilience also leads to consideration of how countries might be able to project resilience forward to neighboring countries that are weaker or more susceptible to disruptions that can ripple back to their interdependent partners.
OSINT, Big Data & Critical Infrastructures Protection (CIP)
Authors: Camilli Edoardo
Published: February 2025

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) has now begun a common practice for many corporate security departments to gather strategic and operational intelligence for the protection of tangible and intangible assets, as well as for the mitigation of threats. OSINT is now evolving into a new era of real-time processing of enormous amount of heterogeneous data (Big Data) that could provide new valuable tools for the protection of critical infrastructures.
NATO's Frontier Critical Infrastructure Protection Buildup – Discussion on the Romanian Energy Sector Protection Challenges
Authors: Colibasanu Antonia
Published: February 2025

Critical infrastructure protection – the global evolving need when it comes to ensuring security – is perceived differently from one country to another. The difference come from the country's specific development features and its geographic location. While both the EU and NATO focus on developing an integrative approach, impediments to that come from the member states' perceptions pose specific risks and opportunities. This paper offers a case study of Romania's energy sector building up on the critical infrastructure protection, looking at the broad, but key items that the sector considers. Considering the current geopolitical balance in the Central and Eastern European region, Romania's case is showing the pitfalls for securing the Eastern frontier of both NATO of the EU.
“Sweden Under Attack!” Lessons from Past Incidents for Coping with a Comprehensive Synchronized Attack on Critical Energy and Information Infrastructure
Authors: Schmidt-Felzmann Anke
Published: February 2025

This contribution develops a worst case scenario of a synchronized assault on strategic energy and information infrastructure in Sweden. It highlights the need to consider “unthinkable” scenarios in contingency planning to minimize the damage a major comprehensive disruption could cause. The challenge consists in having to handle the simultaneous impact of critical infrastructure disruptions while ensuring the effective flow of information between the state and society. The extreme scenario is developed on the basis of real incidents that have affected Sweden in the past few years.
Identifying and Countering Information Influence Activities Using a Comprehensive Society Approach
Authors: Tofvesson Mikael
Published: February 2025

The threat of influence campaigns and information influence activities cannot be handled with a stove pipe perspective. Certain state actors who conduct influence campaigns have the capacity of their entire society at their disposal. An attack can be directed against any sector of our society. The threat of an attack is only effective if there are vulnerabilities in our society that can be exploited. To protect us from this type of threat, we also need to use a comprehensive society approach – integrate all parts of the society to identify and counter information influence activities.
Strategic Communications and Social Media in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Authors: Lange Ionatamishvili Elina  , Svetoka Sanda
Published: February 2025

This paper focuses on the role of the NATO Strategic Communication Centre of Excellence in countering propaganda in the cyber space. The Russia-Ukraine conflict will be taken as a case study and examples of how to use social media in this framework will be also provided.
OntoIRBR: Ontology for Information Retrieval in Bibliographic Resources
Authors: Marques Demis  , Quingerski Leandro  , Bamberg Callu  , de sá Freire Patricia
Published: February 2025

The advancement of corporate systems and accelerated production data and information using different technologies bring the challenge to managers: the problem of how to integrate and relate the content generated by turning it into knowledge. Alternatives to this are the storage, retrieval systems and organizational content management, leaving the challenge of interoperability and standardized structure of the relationship between the document and its contents and content between different documents. In this context this article presents the proposal of an ontology, conceptual representation for information retrieval in bibliographic resources called OntoIRBR (Ontology for Information Retrieval in Bibliographic Resources). This ontology has structural elements and document management integrators associated with content management in order to enable the classification of information associated with the classification of document types and metadata.