Analysis and Observations from the First Amazon Picking Challenge

This paper presents a overview of the inaugural Amazon Picking Challenge along with a summary of a survey conducted among the 26 participating teams. The challenge goal was to design an autonomous robot to pick items from a warehouse shelf. This task is currently performed by human workers, and there is hope that robots can someday help increase efficiency and throughput while lowering cost. We report on a 28-question survey posed to the teams to learn about each team's background, mechanism design, perception apparatus, planning and control approach. We identify trends in this data, correlate it with each team's success in the competition, and discuss observations and lessons learned based on survey results and the authors' personal experiences during the challenge

Efficiency & sustainability model to design and manage two-stage logistic networks

The distribution and storage efficiency together with the environmental sustainability are mandatory targets to consider when designing and managing modern supply chain (SC) networks. The current literature continuously looks for quantitative multi-perspective strategies and models, including and best balancing such issues that often diverge. This paper presents and applies a bi-objective optimization model to best design and manage two-stage logistic networks looking for the best trade-off between the SC stock level and the building and distribution environmental impact. The existence of good balance confirms the possibility to reduce the average SC stock level without a relevant increase of the emissions due to frequent replenishments

Space Station RT and E Utilization Study

Descriptive information on a set of 241 mission concepts was reviewed to establish preliminary Space Station outfitting needs for technology development missions. The missions studied covered the full range of in-space technology development activities envisioned for early Space Station operations and included both pressurized volume and attached payload requirements. Equipment needs were compared with outfitting plans for the life sciences and microgravity user communities, and a number of potential outfitting additions were identified. Outfitting implementation was addressed by selecting a strawman mission complement for each of seven technical themes, by organizing the missions into flight scenarios, and by assessing the associated outfitting buildup for planning impacts

On the role of Prognostics and Health Management in advanced maintenance systems

The advanced use of the Information and Communication Technologies is evolving the way that systems are managed and maintained. A great number of techniques and methods have emerged in the light of these advances allowing to have an accurate and knowledge about the systems’ condition evolution and remaining useful life. The advances are recognized as outcomes of an innovative discipline, nowadays discussed under the term of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). In order to analyze how maintenance will change by using PHM, a conceptual model is proposed built upon three views. The model highlights: (i) how PHM may impact the definition of maintenance policies; (ii) how PHM fits within the Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and (iii) how PHM can be integrated into Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) programs. The conceptual model is the research finding of this review note and helps to discuss the role of PHM in advanced maintenance systems.EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020, 645733 - Sustain-Owner - H2020-MSCA-RISE-201

Design for safety: theoretical framework of the safety aspect of BIM system to determine the safety index

Despite the safety improvement drive that has been implemented in the construction industry in Singapore for many years, the industry continues to report the highest number of workplace fatalities, compared to other industries. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the theoretical framework of the safety aspect of a proposed BIM System to determine a Safety Index. An online questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain the current workplace safety and health situation in the construction industry and explore how BIM can be used to improve safety performance in the industry. A safety hazard library was developed based on the main contributors to fatal accidents in the construction industry, determined from the formal records and existing literature, and a series of discussions with representatives from the Workplace Safety and Health Institute (WSH Institute) in Singapore. The results from the survey suggested that the majority of the firms have implemented the necessary policies, programmes and procedures on Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) practices. However, BIM is still not widely applied or explored beyond the mandatory requirement that building plans should be submitted to the authorities for approval in BIM format. This paper presents a discussion of the safety aspect of the Intelligent Productivity and Safety System (IPASS) developed in the study. IPASS is an intelligent system incorporating the buildable design concept, theory on the detection, prevention and control of hazards, and the Construction Safety Audit Scoring System (ConSASS). The system is based on the premise that safety should be considered at the design stage, and BIM can be an effective tool to facilitate the efforts to enhance safety performance. IPASS allows users to analyse and monitor key aspects of the safety performance of the project before the project starts and as the project progresses

Adaptation and survival in new businesses: Understanding the moderating effects of (in)dependence and industry.

New ventures as well as new business units experience significant difficulties in finding a viable market application or business model. They often need to adapt their initial business model and this need for adaptation is mainly due to high degrees of uncertainty and ambiguity they are confronted with. This paper hypothesizes that adaptation is crucial for new ventures' and new business units' survival, but that differences exist between the need for adaptation in business units of established companies versus in independent start-ups. According to insights obtained from institutional isomorphism as well as from the resource-based theory of the firm, the effects of adaptation on survival are complex and multifaceted. We test the adaptation-survival hypothesis through a survival analysis of a sample of 117 new ventures and new business units. We find that the main effect of adaptation on survival is negative, but that this effect is moderated and even reversed by the (in) dependence of the new business and by the industry in which it is active.Innovation; Research; Model; Companies; Performance; Startups; Processes; Factors; Effects; Industry; Market; Uncertainty; Theory; Dependence;

Cargo launch vehicles to low earth orbit

There are two primary space transportation capabilities required to support both base programs and expanded mission requirements: earth-to-orbit (ETO) transportation systems and space transfer vehicle systems. Existing and new ETO vehicles required to support mission requirements, and planned robotic missions, along with currently planned ETO vehicles are provided. Lunar outposts, Mars' outposts, base and expanded model, ETO vehicles, advanced avionics technologies, expert systems, network architecture and operations systems, and technology transfer are discussed