Estimating reliability impact of biometric devices in large scale applications

In the last two decades, there has been a tremendous growth of biometric applications especially in security. Reliability of the biometric devices is extremely important.;This thesis discusses an approach for estimating the reliability of systems, which contain biometric user authentication subsystem. The ECRA (Early Component Based Reliability Assessment) tool utilizes an easy to use interface and employs the Bayesian algorithm to predict the system reliability. This application of the ECRA technique to biometrics is new. Using the UML diagrams and the ECRA tool, the reliability of the system is predicted

Dagstuhl-Workshop MBEES:

modellbasierte automobile Steuergeräteentwicklun

Enriching companion robots with enhanced reminiscence abilities

In this document I will go on discussing a project conceived by Professor Andrea Giovanni Nuzzolese and Alessandro Russo, both researchers and developers of some of the main aspects of project Mario at CNR Rome. MARIO is a robot, part of a robotics company called KOMPAÏ Robotics that deals with the production and management of Robots who take care of elderly people who suffer from dementia or who still need an aid; more generally speaking, there is talk of weak and lonely people within an organization and / or institutions (nursing homes ...) or in their own homes. There are numerous characteristics of MARIO, which ultimately contribute to all those which are the manufacturing objectives of KOMPAÏ Robotics. My project, or rather my contribution to MARIO, is to look for a specific method which let the robot show a specific set of photos to the user according to the expressions, feelings and emotions, the user will reveal. Example: the robot randomly chooses a marriage photo and the user suddenly start to laugh and to express positive feelings with positive words; the robot will try to understand if it’s a good photo for the user or not, and in the first case will continue to show the same kind of pictures while in the second case, will change completely set of photos to be shown. The pleasure of the subject expressed in relation to a photo must be subject to an index of interest between predefined and specified values that may be to show a certain interest in a picture or the subjects within the image or the situation that surrounds them

Model-Driven Design and Development of Flexible Automated Production Control Configurations for Industry 4.0

The continuous changes of the market and customer demands have forced modern automation systems to provide stricter Quality of service (QoS) requirements. This work is centered in automation production system flexibility, understood as the ability to shift from one controller configuration to a different one, in the most quick and cost-effective way, without disrupting its normal operation. In the manufacturing field, this allows to deal with non-functional requirements such as assuring control system availability or workload balancing, even in the case of failure of a machine, components, network or controllers. Concretely, this work focuses on flexible applications at production level, using Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) as primary controllers. The reconfiguration of the control system is not always possible as it depends on the process state. Thus, an analysis of the system state is necessary to make a decision. In this sense, architectures based on industrial Multi Agent Systems (MAS) have been used to provide this support at runtime. Additionally, the introduction of these mechanisms makes the design and the implementation of the control system more complex. This work aims at supporting the design and development of such flexible automation production systems, through the proposed model-based framework. The framework consists of a set of tools that, based on models, automate the generation of control code extensions that add flexibility to the automation production system, according to industry 4.0 paradigm.This work was financed by MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE (grant number RTI2018-096116-B-I00) and by GV/EJ (grant number IT1324-19)

Orccad, a framework for safe robot control design and implementation

International audienceRobotic systems are typical examples of hybrid systems where continuous time aspects, related to control laws, must be carefully merged with discrete-time aspects related to control switches and exception handling. These two aspects interact in real-time to ensure an efficient nominal behaviour of the system together with safe and graceful degradation otherwise. In a mixed synchronous/asynchronous approach, ranging from user's requirements to run-time code, Orccad provides formalised real-time control structures, the coordination of which is specified using the \esterel\ synchronous language. CAD tools have been developed and integrated to help the users along the steps of the design, verification, implementation and exploitation processes

Re-use of tests and arguments for assesing dependable mixed-critically systems

The safety assessment of mixed-criticality systems (MCS) is a challenging activity due to system heterogeneity, design constraints and increasing complexity. The foundation for MCSs is the integrated architecture paradigm, where a compact hardware comprises multiple execution platforms and communication interfaces to implement concurrent functions with different safety requirements. Besides a computing platform providing adequate isolation and fault tolerance mechanism, the development of an MCS application shall also comply with the guidelines defined by the safety standards. A way to lower the overall MCS certification cost is to adopt a platform-based design (PBD) development approach. PBD is a model-based development (MBD) approach, where separate models of logic, hardware and deployment support the analysis of the resulting system properties and behaviour. The PBD development of MCSs benefits from a composition of modular safety properties (e.g. modular safety cases), which support the derivation of mixed-criticality product lines. The validation and verification (V&V) activities claim a substantial effort during the development of programmable electronics for safety-critical applications. As for the MCS dependability assessment, the purpose of the V&V is to provide evidences supporting the safety claims. The model-based development of MCSs adds more V&V tasks, because additional analysis (e.g., simulations) need to be carried out during the design phase. During the MCS integration phase, typically hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) plant simulators support the V&V campaigns, where test automation and fault-injection are the key to test repeatability and thorough exercise of the safety mechanisms. This dissertation proposes several V&V artefacts re-use strategies to perform an early verification at system level for a distributed MCS, artefacts that later would be reused up to the final stages in the development process: a test code re-use to verify the fault-tolerance mechanisms on a functional model of the system combined with a non-intrusive software fault-injection, a model to X-in-the-loop (XiL) and code-to-XiL re-use to provide models of the plant and distributed embedded nodes suited to the HiL simulator, and finally, an argumentation framework to support the automated composition and staged completion of modular safety-cases for dependability assessment, in the context of the platform-based development of mixed-criticality systems relying on the DREAMS harmonized platform.La dificultad para evaluar la seguridad de los sistemas de criticidad mixta (SCM) aumenta con la heterogeneidad del sistema, las restricciones de diseño y una complejidad creciente. Los SCM adoptan el paradigma de arquitectura integrada, donde un hardware embebido compacto comprende múltiples plataformas de ejecución e interfaces de comunicación para implementar funciones concurrentes y con diferentes requisitos de seguridad. Además de una plataforma de computación que provea un aislamiento y mecanismos de tolerancia a fallos adecuados, el desarrollo de una aplicación SCM además debe cumplir con las directrices definidas por las normas de seguridad. Una forma de reducir el coste global de la certificación de un SCM es adoptar un enfoque de desarrollo basado en plataforma (DBP). DBP es un enfoque de desarrollo basado en modelos (DBM), en el que modelos separados de lógica, hardware y despliegue soportan el análisis de las propiedades y el comportamiento emergente del sistema diseñado. El desarrollo DBP de SCMs se beneficia de una composición modular de propiedades de seguridad (por ejemplo, casos de seguridad modulares), que facilitan la definición de líneas de productos de criticidad mixta. Las actividades de verificación y validación (V&V) representan un esfuerzo sustancial durante el desarrollo de aplicaciones basadas en electrónica confiable. En la evaluación de la seguridad de un SCM el propósito de las actividades de V&V es obtener las evidencias que apoyen las aseveraciones de seguridad. El desarrollo basado en modelos de un SCM incrementa las tareas de V&V, porque permite realizar análisis adicionales (por ejemplo, simulaciones) durante la fase de diseño. En las campañas de pruebas de integración de un SCM habitualmente se emplean simuladores de planta hardware-in-the-loop (HiL), en donde la automatización de pruebas y la inyección de faltas son la clave para la repetitividad de las pruebas y para ejercitar completamente los mecanismos de tolerancia a fallos. Esta tesis propone diversas estrategias de reutilización de artefactos de V&V para la verificación temprana de un MCS distribuido, artefactos que se emplearán en ulteriores fases del desarrollo: la reutilización de código de prueba para verificar los mecanismos de tolerancia a fallos sobre un modelo funcional del sistema combinado con una inyección de fallos de software no intrusiva, la reutilización de modelo a X-in-the-loop (XiL) y código a XiL para obtener modelos de planta y nodos distribuidos aptos para el simulador HiL y, finalmente, un marco de argumentación para la composición automatizada y la compleción escalonada de casos de seguridad modulares, en el contexto del desarrollo basado en plataformas de sistemas de criticidad mixta empleando la plataforma armonizada DREAMS.Kritikotasun nahastuko sistemen segurtasun ebaluazioa jarduera neketsua da beraien heterogeneotasuna dela eta. Sistema hauen oinarria arkitektura integratuen paradigman datza, non hardware konpaktu batek exekuzio plataforma eta komunikazio interfaze ugari integratu ahal dituen segurtasun baldintza desberdineko funtzio konkurrenteak inplementatzeko. Konputazio plataformek isolamendu eta akatsen aurkako mekanismo egokiak emateaz gain, segurtasun arauek definituriko jarraibideak jarraitu behar dituzte kritikotasun mistodun aplikazioen garapenean. Sistema hauen zertifikazio prozesuaren kostua murrizteko aukera bat plataformetan oinarritutako garapenean (PBD) datza. Garapen planteamendu hau modeloetan oinarrituriko garapena da (MBD) non modeloaren logika, hardware eta garapen desberdinak sistemaren propietateen eta portaeraren aurka aztertzen diren. Kritikotasun mistodun sistemen PBD garapenak etekina ateratzen dio moduluetan oinarrituriko segurtasun propietateei, adibidez: segurtasun kasu modularrak (MSC). Modulu hauek kritikotasun mistodun produktu-lerroak ere hartzen dituzte kontutan. Berifikazio eta balioztatze (V&V) jarduerek esfortzu kontsideragarria eskatzen dute segurtasun-kiritikoetarako elektronika programagarrien garapenean. Kritikotasun mistodun sistemen konfiantzaren ebaluazioaren eta V&V jardueren helburua segurtasun eskariak jasotzen dituzten frogak proportzionatzea da. Kritikotasun mistodun sistemen modelo bidezko garapenek zeregin gehigarriak atxikitzen dizkio V&V jarduerari, fase honetan analisi gehigarriak (hots, simulazioak) zehazten direlako. Bestalde, kritikotasun mistodun sistemen integrazio fasean, hardware-in-the-loop (Hil) simulazio plantek V&V iniziatibak sostengatzen dituzte non testen automatizazioan eta akatsen txertaketan funtsezko jarduerak diren. Jarduera hauek frogen errepikapena eta segurtasun mekanismoak egiaztzea ahalbidetzen dute. Tesi honek V&V artefaktuen berrerabilpenerako estrategiak proposatzen ditu, kritikotasun mistodun sistemen egiaztatze azkarrerako sistema mailan eta garapen prozesuko azken faseetaraino erabili daitezkeenak. Esate baterako, test kodearen berrabilpena akats aurkako mekanismoak egiaztatzeko, modelotik X-in-the-loop (XiL)-ra eta kodetik XiL-rako konbertsioa HiL simulaziorako eta argumentazio egitura bat DREAMS Europear proiektuan definituriko arkitektura estiloan oinarrituriko segurtasun kasu modularrak automatikoki eta gradualki sortzeko

Automated highway systems : platoons of vehicles viewed as a multiagent system

Tableau d'honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2005-2006La conduite collaborative est un domaine lié aux systèmes de transport intelligents, qui utilise les communications pour guider de façon autonome des véhicules coopératifs sur une autoroute automatisée. Depuis les dernières années, différentes architectures de véhicules automatisés ont été proposées, mais la plupart d’entre elles n’ont pas, ou presque pas, attaqué le problème de communication inter véhicules. À l’intérieur de ce mémoire, nous nous attaquons au problème de la conduite collaborative en utilisant un peloton de voitures conduites par des agents logiciels plus ou moins autonomes, interagissant dans un même environnement multi-agents: une autoroute automatisée. Pour ce faire, nous proposons une architecture hiérarchique d’agents conducteurs de voitures, se basant sur trois couches (couche de guidance, couche de management et couche de contrôle du trafic). Cette architecture peut être utilisée pour développer un peloton centralisé, où un agent conducteur de tête coordonne les autres avec des règles strictes, et un peloton décentralisé, où le peloton est vu comme une équipe d’agents conducteurs ayant le même niveau d’autonomie et essayant de maintenir le peloton stable.Collaborative driving is a growing domain of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that makes use of communications to autonomously guide cooperative vehicles on an Automated Highway System (AHS). For the past decade, different architectures of automated vehicles have been proposed, but most of them did not or barely addressed the inter-vehicle communication problem. In this thesis, we address the collaborative driving problem by using a platoon of cars driven by more or less autonomous software agents interacting in a Multiagent System (MAS) environment: the automated highway. To achieve this, we propose a hierarchical driving agent architecture based on three layers (guidance layer, management layer and traffic control layer). This architecture can be used to develop centralized platoons, where the driving agent of the head vehicle coordinates other driving agents by applying strict rules, and decentralized platoons, where the platoon is considered as a team of driving agents with a similar degree of autonomy, trying to maintain a stable platoon

El Mustang, February 23, 1965

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/studentnewspaper/2199/thumbnail.jp

Conceptual design of deoiling processes : business process reengineering (BPR) and computer support tools

Deoiling of petroleum wastewater is a major concern in petroleum process engineering. The conventional design procedure for deoiling systems consists of nine consecutive stages involving different people or groups. This thesis considers reengineering the conventional procedure, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of the process and productivity of people involved. The thesis then investigates the development of the appropriate computer support tools for the new procedure. The reengineering of the procedure is based on concepts proposed by Hammer (1990). The resulting procedure consists of four stages, where parallelism of the different tasks in the conventional procedure is explicitly considered. A model of the new procedure is described in UML (Unified Modelling Language). The advantage of using UML instead of using just natural language description is that UML uses graphical representation that is easy to use and less prone to ambiguity. Based on the new procedure, a decision support system called CODES (Conceptual DEsign of deoiling Systems) was designed and implemented. CODES supports the stages of wastewater assessment, equipment options at different locations, treatment disposal options and recommendations for final process configuration. Two Case Studies using operating field data are reported. The Case Studies using CODES proved to be straightforward to use and produced appropriate comments on the performance of the existing designs and proposed alternatives to satisfy the design requirements. CODES results agreed with knowledge from previous plant trials. The contribution of this thesis to the deoiling design process is twofold. Firstly, a critical review of the conventional procedure has resulted in a new one, which has potential benefits of improving a company's efficiency by reducing the number of people and activities involved, and shortening the design time. Secondly, the feasibility of applying the new procedure and CODES is successfully demonstrated through the case studies. Limitations and areas of extensions are also identified