Modelling and simulation of paradigms for printed circuit board assembly to support the UK's competency in high reliability electronics

The fundamental requirement of the research reported within this thesis is the provision of physical models to enable model based simulation of mainstream printed circuit assembly (PCA) process discrete events for use within to-be-developed (or under development) software tools which codify cause & effects knowledge for use in product and process design optimisation. To support a national competitive advantage in high reliability electronics UK based producers of aircraft electronic subsystems require advanced simulation tools which offer model based guidance. In turn, maximization of manufacturability and minimization of uncontrolled rework must therefore enhance inservice sustainability for ‘power-by-the-hour’ commercial aircraft operation business models. [Continues.

A planning practitioner’s reflections on managing complex scheduling challenges

This work represents the reflection-on-action of a planning practitioner from the field of aircraft manufacturing who manages between 40 and 50 planners at any one time and who has influenced the development of many others over the last twenty years. This is an industry of considerable scale and complexity that requires an appropriately positioned planning and scheduling response. From the perspective of the head of planning (Wings), the key impact on the practice reflected upon here is on the integrated positioning of planning into a critical community (a centre of competence), where the roles and the interaction provide an appreciative framework for planners to give of their best. The four core themes explored in this work start with the way of working embedded in an integrated planning approach to enable a route into the wider organisation and how the tasks become clarified in this setting in terms of scope; how a cross-team supportive approach is established; how role gaps are anticipated; and how retaining and using experience is thought about, while reinforcing appreciation through continuous improvement activity and professionally maintaining the pool of planners. An integrated approach then supports the spread, sharing, development, accessibility and application of knowledge in more resourceful and relevant ways than if the approach was task-orientated, boundaried and transactional. This is illustrated by examples of why learning curves matter and how they may be interpreted for impact, and why using governance templates to clearly capture planning outcomes is so important. Examples of tools are given that both support and emerge from an integrated planning approach: cardinal rules, red reports, plan-on-a-page and sign-off packs that can secure a professional planning input. All of the above are positioned in an understanding of how complexity builds up during the phases of a major aircraft development programme, before maturing to the series build phase that follows a launch. This critical engagement places these themes in context within both practice and related literature. These reflections have the potential to enrich the body of knowledge in this field, as the role perspectives currently in the public domain are either based on only one or two launch cycles, at best, or have the limitation of only part of the five to seven years it takes to deliver a new aeroplane, from drawing board to market. This reflection-on–action is based on multiple cycles, giving a wider perspective over a longer time. I propose that this exploration into complex planning has the potential to effect significant change in the professional role of a planning practitioner. It does so through recontextualising the planner’s role as both facilitating articulation between different stakeholders and developing a range of practical products and tools that structure and delineate how this re-conception of the planning role operates in complex environments. Of key importance to this is the value of ongoing critical reflection of the role as a form of leadership, based on indicators of trust being maintained

A path to in-space welding and to other in-space metal processing technologies using Space Shuttle small payloads

As we venture into space, it becomes necessary to assemble, expand, and repair space-based structures for our housing, research, and manufacturing. The zero gravity-vacuum of space challenges us to employ construction options which are commonplace on Earth. Rockwell International (RI) has begun to undertake the challenge of space-based construction via numerous options, of which one is welding. As of today, RI divisions have developed appropriate resources and technologies to bring space-based welding within our grasp. Further work, specifically in the area of developing space experiments to test RI technology, is required. RI Space Welding Project's achievements to date, from research and development (R&E) efforts in the areas of microgravity, vacuum, intra- / extra- vehicular activity and spinoff technologies, are reviewed. Special emphasis is given to results for G-169's (Get Away Special) microgravity flights aboard a NASA KC-135. Based on these achievements, a path to actual development of a space welding system is proposed with options to explore spinoff in-space metal processing technologies. This path is constructed by following a series of milestone experiments, of which several are to utilize NASA's Shuttle Small Payload Programs. Conceptual designs of the proposed shuttle payload experiments are discussed with application of lessons learned from G-169's design, development, integration, testing, safety approval process, and KC-135 flights

Technological roadmap on AI planning and scheduling

At the beginning of the new century, Information Technologies had become basic and indispensable constituents of the production and preparation processes for all kinds of goods and services and with that are largely influencing both the working and private life of nearly every citizen. This development will continue and even further grow with the continually increasing use of the Internet in production, business, science, education, and everyday societal and private undertaking. Recent years have shown, however, that a dramatic enhancement of software capabilities is required, when aiming to continuously provide advanced and competitive products and services in all these fast developing sectors. It includes the development of intelligent systems – systems that are more autonomous, flexible, and robust than today’s conventional software. Intelligent Planning and Scheduling is a key enabling technology for intelligent systems. It has been developed and matured over the last three decades and has successfully been employed for a variety of applications in commerce, industry, education, medicine, public transport, defense, and government. This document reviews the state-of-the-art in key application and technical areas of Intelligent Planning and Scheduling. It identifies the most important research, development, and technology transfer efforts required in the coming 3 to 10 years and shows the way forward to meet these challenges in the short-, medium- and longer-term future. The roadmap has been developed under the regime of PLANET – the European Network of Excellence in AI Planning. This network, established by the European Commission in 1998, is the co-ordinating framework for research, development, and technology transfer in the field of Intelligent Planning and Scheduling in Europe. A large number of people have contributed to this document including the members of PLANET non- European international experts, and a number of independent expert peer reviewers. All of them are acknowledged in a separate section of this document. Intelligent Planning and Scheduling is a far-reaching technology. Accepting the challenges and progressing along the directions pointed out in this roadmap will enable a new generation of intelligent application systems in a wide variety of industrial, commercial, public, and private sectors

Scalable BDI-based Multi-Agent System for Digital Design Reviews

The increasing complexity in product development and the lack of knowledge exchange, for example, between development and manufacturing lead to unnecessary iteration loops and high costs. To overcome this situation, an option is the execution of a design review using multi-agent systems to provide designers with a digital assistance system for checking their CAD (computer-aided design) models regarding manufacturability using a milling process. This paper explores how to increase the scalability and robustness of multi-agent systems (MAS) for manufacturability assessment by using runtime-generated BDI (belief-desire-intention) agents and graph-based feature recognition. The applicability and validation of the presented approach is carried out by evaluating different milled part designs

Achieving manufacturing excellence through the integration of enterprise systems and simulation

This paper discusses the significance of the enterprise systems and simulation integration in improving shop floor’s short-term production planning capability. The ultimate objectives are to identify the integration protocols, optimisation parameters and critical design artefacts, thereby identifying key ‘ingredients’ that help in setting out a future research agenda in pursuit of optimum decision-making at the shop floor level. While the integration of enterprise systems and simulation gains a widespread agreement within the existing work, the optimality, scalability and flexibility of the schedules remained unanswered. Furthermore, there seems to be no commonality or pattern as to how many core modules are required to enable such a flexible and scalable integration. Nevertheless, the objective of such integration remains clear, i.e. to achieve an optimum total production time, lead time, cycle time, production release rates and cost. The issues presently faced by existing enterprise systems (ES), if properly addressed, can contribute to the achievement of manufacturing excellence and can help identify the building blocks for the software architectural platform enabling the integration

ReSCon '09, Research Student Conference: Book of Abstracts

The second SED Research Student Conference (ReSCon2009) was hosted over three days, 22-24 June 2009, in the Lecture Centre at Brunel University. The conference consisted of technical presentations, a poster session and social events. The abstracts and presentations were the result of ongoing research by postgraduate research students from the School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University. The conference is held annually, and ReSCon plays a key role in contributing to research and innovations within the School

The Commercial Application of Missile/Space Technology, Parts 1 and 2

This report is concerned with the transfer of technology from missile and space programs to non-missile/space applications in the United States. It presents the findings of a University of Denver Research Institute study sponsored by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) grant awarded in November 1961. Initial stimulation for the unsolicited proposal leading to this study came from a 1960 Brookings Institution report to NASA, Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs

Assessing the Potential of Ubiquitous Computing for Improving Business Process Performance

The term “ubiquitous technology” refers to any technology that extends common objects with data processing capabilities, e.g. RFID systems, wireless sensor networks or networked embedded systems. In this study, we uncover the mechanisms by which these technologies contribute to an increased business process performance. We apply the theory of task-technology fit to establish a model of the impact of ubiquitous technologies on business process performance. Based on expert interviews in a large standard software company, the potential of ubiquitous technologies for enhancing performance in a number of generic business processes is explored. Furthermore, we illustrate how our findings can be applied to identify value-creating ubiquitous computing applications in companies