Usefulness of heart measures in flight simulation

The results of three studies performed at the NASA Langley Research Center are presented to indicate the areas in which heart measures are useful for detecting differences in the workload state of subjects. Tasks that involve the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, such as landing approaches, were excellent candidates for the use of average heart-rate and/or the increase in heart-rate during a task. The latter of these two measures was the better parameter because it removed the effects of diurnal variations in heart-rate and some of the intersubject variability. Tasks which differ in the amount of mental resources required are excellent candidates for heart-rate variability measures. Heart-rate variability measures based upon power spectral density techniques were responsive to the changing task demands of landing approach tasks, approach guidance options, and 2 versus 20 second interstimulus-intervals of a monitoring task. Heart-rate variability measures were especially sensitive to time-on-task when the task was characterized by minimal novelty, complexity, and uncertainty (i.e., heart-rate variability increases as a function of the subjects boredom)

Governance of national parks at the crossroads: New Zealand’s silent reform

New Zealand’s national parks are major attractions for tourism and recreation, while hosting other commercial activities considered compatible with that primary role, like grazing, commercial filming and renewable electricity production. Commercial activities can only be carried out according to the terms of legal documents referred to as ‘concessions’ (typically, permits, licences and leases). There are currently 14 national parks, all managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Most of the country’s native birds, reptiles, frogs, bats and plants are unique in the world, but highly vulnerable to introduced predators and human activities. DOC has argued frequently that its conservation activities are ‘heavily weighted towards the trapping and poisoning of ... introduced animals’. However, ‘less than 25% of conservation land receives interventions on key threats, with around 8% receiving possum, rat and stoat control’ The limited availability of financial resources is an important obstacle to implementing the department’s statutory biodiversity protection responsibilities. In the recent past DOC’s budgetary allocations have increased slightly every year. However, Treasury documents show that since 2013 there has been a reduction

Applications of living systems theory to life in space

The conceptual system and methodology of living systems theory appear to be of value to research on life in isolated environments. A space station, which must provide suitable conditions for human life in a stressful environment that meets none of the basic needs of life, is an extreme example of such isolation. A space station would include living systems at levels of individual human beings, groups of people engaged in a variety of activities, and the entire space crew as an organization. It could also carry living systems of other species, such as other animals and plants. Using the subsystem analysis of living systems theory, planners of a station, either in space or on a celestial body, would make sure that all the requirements for survival at all these levels had been considered. Attention would be given not only to the necessary matter and energy, but also the essential information flows that integrate and control living systems. Many variables for each subsystem could be monitored and kept in steady states. Use of living systems process analysis of the five flows of matter energy and information would assure that all members of the crew received what they needed

From 2D to 3D Mixed Reality Human-Robot Interface in Hazardous Robotic Interventions with the Use of Redundant Mobile Manipulator

Part de la conferència: ICINCO 2021: 18th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (juliol 2021)3D Mixed Reality (MR) Human-Robot Interfaces (HRI) show promise for robotic operators to complete tasks more quickly, safely and with less training. The objective of this study is to assess the use of 3D MR HRI environment in comparison with a standard 2D Graphical User Interface (GUI) in order to control a redundant mobile manipulator. The experimental data was taken during operation with a 9 DOF manipulator mounted in a robotized train, CERN Train Inspection Monorail (TIM), used for the Beam Loss Monitor robotic measurement task in a complex hazardous intervention scenario at CERN. The efficiency and workload of an operator were compared with the use of both types of interfaces with NASA TLX method. The usage of heart rate and Galvanic Skin Response parameters for operator condition and stress monitoring was tested. The results show that teleoperation with 3D MR HRI mitigates cognitive fatigue and stress by improving the operators understanding of both the robot’s pose and the surr ounding environment or scene

Evaluation of monorail haulage systems in metalliferous underground mining

The decline is a major excavation in metalliferous mining since it provides the main means of access to the underground and serves as a haulage route for underground trucks. However, conventional mining of the decline to access the ore body poses economic and technical challenges that require innovative responses. The average cross-sectional area of mine declines in Australia is 5m wide x 5m high. The large excavations associated with current underground mining practices are economically and geotechnically inappropriate, especially for narrow vein mining conditions. The decline gradient of 1 in 7 (8[superscript]o) designed to accommodate truck haulage results in a significantly longer decline compared to a decline mined at a steeper gradient. Further, the current drill-blast-load-haul cycle does not allow rapid development of the decline to access the ore body since the cycle is made up of discontinuous segments. The use of diesel equipment poses health risks and increases ventilation requirements. The heat load and air borne exhaust contaminants emitted by large diesel engines create heavy demand on mine ventilation, sometimes resulting in substandard working conditions. As mines get deeper, there is a tendency to increase the truck and loader fleet – which results in traffic congestion in the decline. Metal prices in the recent boom may have helped to offset some of the shortcomings of current practices, and although the good times may continue, a down-turn could find many operations exposed. Federal government emissions trading scheme encourage mining companies to reduce carbon emissions in their operations.This study was prompted by the need to investigate the potential of the monorail haulage system in metalliferous mining, particularly in decline development and main haulage in view of shortcomings of the current practices. Monorail systems are being used in mines around the world for material transport and man-riding but their utility in rock transport has not been fully investigated. Hence, it is proposed to replace non-shaft component of the mine haulage system with roof/back mounted monorail technology using continuous conductor technology to provide competitive haulage rates in substantially smaller excavations at steeper gradient than is currently achievable. It is proposed that a suite of equipment can be adapted or modified to enable development of the decline supported by the monorail system.To this end, a drill system mounted on the monorail accompanied by a pneumatic system for loading rock into monorail containers is proposed. The proposed decline gradient for the monorail decline is 1 in 3 (or 20[superscript]0) with a cross-sectional area of 4m wide x 4m high. Decline dimensions of size 4.0m x 4.0m (minimum opening for monorail system is 3m x 3m) are used in this design in order to leave enough working space (underneath and on the sidewalls) and to accommodate other mine services, such as, ventilation tubing, air and water pipes and cables. Systems analysis, engineering economics and computer simulation are used to evaluate the feasibility of the monorail mining system for decline development. Technical data relating to the operation of monorail systems in underground mining was obtained from Solutions for Mining Transport (SMT) – Scharf, of Germany, a company that manufactures monorail systems. Monorail haulage has definite advantages over conventional haulage; these include the use of electrical power instead of diesel, steeper gradients (up to 36[superscript]0), smaller excavations, tighter horizontal and vertical turning radii and potential for automation. The concepts are applied to a narrow vein ore deposit with results indicating that the monorail system delivers significant savings in terms of time and cost of decline development in this specific application.Stability of the monorail drilling system is critical in ensuring high performance of the drilling system. Stabilisation of the system requires determination of the horizontal, vertical and lateral forces of the system. According to the findings, these forces depend on the vector position of the two drilling booms that will be mounted onto the monorail train. Therefore, the research provides minimum and maximum monorail system reaction forces in horizontal and vertical stabilisers that will stabilise the system during drilling operations. Because of the configuration and positioning of the monorail drilling system, the research has also shown that with appropriate swing angles and lifting angles that will enable the system to reach the whole drill face during drilling operations.Since pneumatic or suction system is used during loading process, the research has revealed that the density of rock fragments, rock fragmentation, conveying air velocity and the negative pressure of the system would greatly influence the loading time and power consumption of the system. Therefore, the study has determined optimum fragmentation of the pneumatic system for various conveying air velocities. Additionally, for the efficient operations of the system, a range of conveying air velocities that give optimal mass flow rate (mass flow rate that give shorter loading time) and optimal power consumption have been determined at maximum negative pressure of 60kPa (0.6 bars).Since the monorail drilling and loading systems move on the rail/monorail installed in the roof of the decline and supported by roof bolts, suspension chains and steel supports, the strength of the support system is critical. To avoid system failure, it is imperative that the force in each roof bolt, suspension chain and steel support capable of suspending the weight of the heaviest component of the system is determined. Through the models developed, this study has determined the minimum required strength of roof bolts, suspension chains and steel supports that can suspend and support the components of the drilling and loading systems.To increase the efficiency and improve the safety of the two systems, the automation design for monorail drilling and loading systems’ processes have been developed. The proposed automation system would increase productivity by improving operator performance through control of the two systems’ processes. It is hoped that automation of the monorail drilling and loading systems will reduce the total drill-load-haul cycle time hence improving the efficiency of the systems.The application of simulation techniques was deemed useful to determine the performance of the monorail system in mining operations. During modelling, a simulation programme was written using General Purpose Simulation System (GPSS/H) software and results of the simulation study were viewed and examined in PROOF animation software. According to simulation results, the monorail system will have the same advance rate as conventional method since both systems have one blast per shift. However, the total drill-blast-load-haul cycle time for the monorail system is lower than for conventional method.Since the monorail system poses health and safety challenges during operations, through risk analysis, this study has identified root factors that have the potential to cause monorail system risk and hazard failure. The research has revealed that lack of maintenance of the monorail system and the monorail installations, production pressure and insufficient training of personnel on monorail system use are the major root factors that have the potential to cause risk and hazard failure. In order to improve the health and safety of the system, the study has suggested risk and hazard control strategies which are aimed at reducing the level of risk by directing corrective measures at potential root causes as opposed to addressing the immediate obvious symptoms such as monorail falling from support system, monorail running out of control, and others.A mine design case study using a monorail technology was conducted using one of ‘South Deeps’ gold deposits of Jundee mine operations (owned by Newmont Mining Corporations). Nexus deposit, one of ‘South Deeps’ deposits, was selected as case study area. The case study indicates that development of decline access to Nexus deposits using monorail technology is feasible. Compared with conventional decline development, results have shown that the monorail system has the potential of reducing the decline length to Nexus deposits by over 62.6% and decline costs by 63% (i.e., spiral decline and straight incline from the portal only). Furthermore, the study indicates that with the monorail system, there is a potential of reducing the total capital development costs to Nexus deposit by 22% (i.e., cost of developing the spiral decline, straight incline from the portal, crosscuts, ventilation network and installation and purchase of monorail train). Also, due to shorter decline length coupled with smaller decline openings, the duration of decline development reduces by 71.8%

Special Purpose Municipal Entities and Bankruptcy: The Case of Public Colleges

This Article builds on the municipal bankruptcy literature by showing why the common analogy between corporate shareholders and city residents does not hold in the case of certain special purpose municipal entities. For example, some scholars argue that “local residents” are best situated to avoid municipal financial distress by preventing it ex ante through the political process or remedying it ex post by repaying creditors through increased taxes. But residents’ ability to avoid financial distress is limited when a special purpose municipal entity spans political boundaries or tax jurisdictions because it is not clear who counts as a “local resident” in such cases. These boundary-spanning entities include certain hospitals and institutions of higher education. Instead of residents, this Article concludes that either creditors or the state are better situated to address the financial distress of boundary-spanning special purpose municipal entities, such as public institutions of higher education. This Article also reviews every decision where eligibility for relief under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code was contested and distills a set of definitions for “municipality” that can be used to determine whether an entity must seek relief under chapter 9 (or if chapter 11 is available). Then, this Article applies those definitions to public institutions of higher education and determines that they, unlike private institutions, are eligible for relief only under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. This is the same set of provisions under which Detroit, Michigan and Stockton, California sought relief. But because many states restrict access to chapter 9 entirely, access to the bankruptcy courts may be completely unavailable for public institutions of higher education in those states

Railway Research

This book focuses on selected research problems of contemporary railways. The first chapter is devoted to the prediction of railways development in the nearest future. The second chapter discusses safety and security problems in general, precisely from the system point of view. In the third chapter, both the general approach and a particular case study of a critical incident with regard to railway safety are presented. In the fourth chapter, the question of railway infrastructure studies is presented, which is devoted to track superstructure. In the fifth chapter, the modern system for the technical condition monitoring of railway tracks is discussed. The compact on-board sensing device is presented. The last chapter focuses on modeling railway vehicle dynamics using numerical simulation, where the dynamical models are exploited

Rekabentuk model sistem penjaminan kualiti bagi program pengajian peringkat ijazah yang berasaskan kejuruteraan dan teknologi di sebuah institusi pengajian tinggi

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mewujudkan cadangan rekabentuk model sistem penjaminan kualiti bagi program pengajian peringkat ijazah yang berasaskan kejuruteraan dan teknologi di sebuah Institusi Pengajian Tinggi. Sistem penjaminan kualiti diwujudkan adalah sebagai suatu alat kepastian kualiti yang dapat menjamin graduan yang dilahirkan benar-benar berkualiti dan mampu untuk memegang tugas sebagai seorang jurutera. Ciri-ciri graduan haruslah memenuhi syarat yang telah ditetapkan oleh Institut Jurutera Malaysia yang mana graduan harus berwibawa dalam segala aspek sama ada secara teori, kemahiran mahupun komunikasi. Kajian dilaksanakan dengan mempertimbangkan sistem penjaminan kualiti yang telah diguna pakai di institusi-institusi pengajian tinggi kejuruteraan yang lain. Kajian telah mempertimbangkan sistem penjaminan kualiti Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) yang disesuaikan daripada Total Quality Management (TQM) untuk digunakan di dalam institusi pendidikan. Beberapa item sebagaimana yang dicadangkan di dalam CQI telah diuji untuk melihat kesesuaiannya untuk menjamin kualiti pelajar ijazah kejuruteraan di Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (KUiTTHO). Penilaian dilaksanakan dengan menggunakan instrumen soal selidik, skala Likert, pemprosesan dan analisis data untuk membentuk input kepada cadangan model sistem penjaminan kualiti. Dengan itu kajian ini telah menghasilkan cadangan rekabentuk model sistem penjaminan kualiti yang sesuai untuk dibangunkan bagi memastikan kualiti graduan kejuruteraan di KUiTTHO