112 research outputs found
Improving Automated Operations of Heavy-Duty Manipulators with Modular Model-Based Control Design
The rapid development of robotization and automation in mobile working machines aims to increase productivity and safety in many industrial sectors. In heavy-duty applications, hydraulically actuated manipulators are the common solution due to their large power-to-weight ratio. As hydraulic systems can exhibit nonlinear dynamic behavior, automated operations with closed-loop control become challenging. In industrial applications, the dexterity of operations for manipulators is ensured by providing interfaces to equip product variants with different tool attachments. By considering these domain-specific tool attachments for heavy-duty hydraulic manipulators (HHMs), the autonomous robotic operating development for all product variants might be a time-consuming process.
This thesis aims to develop a modular nonlinear model-based (NMB) control method for HHMs to enable systematic NMB model reuse and control system modularity across different HHM product variants with actuators and tool attachments. Equally importantly, the properties of NMB control are used to improve the high-performance control for multi degrees-of-freedom robotic HHMs, as rigorously stability-guaranteed control systems have been shown to provide superior performance. To achieve these objectives, four research problems (RPs) on HHM controls are addressed. The RPs are focused on damping control methods in underactuated tool attachments, compensating for static actuator nonlinearities, and, equally significantly, improving overall control performance. The fourth RP is introduced for hydraulic series elastic actuators (HSEAs) in HHM applications, which can be regarded as supplementing NMB control with the aim of improving force controllability.
Six publications are presented to investigate the RPs in this thesis. The control development focus was on modular NMB control design for HHMs equipped with different actuators and tool attachments consisting of passive and actuated joints. The designed control methods were demonstrated on a full-size HHM and a novel HSEA concept in a heavy-duty experimental setup. The results verified that modular control design for HHM systems can be used to decrease the modifications required to use the manipulator with different tool attachments and floating-base environments
Event generation on quantum computers
The synthesis of high quality simulated data from event generators is essential in the search for new physics at collider experiments. Modern event generator algorithms use Monte Carlo processes to simulate the evolution of an event from the collision of high energy particles to the formation of long-lived particles. One of the major building blocks of the event generation process is the QCD parton shower. However, despite being a key aspect of modern event generation, the core algorithms which simulate the showering process have remained unchanged since the 1980s, and will become a limiting factor as we move to an era of higher energy and higher luminosity experiments.
With the rapid development of quantum computation, dedicated algorithms are required which exploit the potential that quantum computing provides to address problems in high energy physics. In this thesis, we present three novel quantum algorithms for the simulation of a QCD parton shower. The first algorithm provides a proof-of-principle, classical Monte Carlo inspired approach with the ability to simulate two shower steps of a collinear QCD model. By exploiting the compact circuit architecture of the quantum walk, one can drastically reduce the quantum resources required to simulate a shower step. The second algorithm shows that, in this framework, the quantum parton shower can be extended to simulate realistic shower depths whilst using fewer quantum resources. Finally, the third algorithm utilises a discrete QCD approach to parton showering to include kinematics in the shower, simulating a dipole cascade. In this construction, the algorithm has achieved the first data comparison between synthetic data produced using a Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) device, and ``real-life" archival collider data from the Large Electron Positron collider. The three algorithms represent the development of quantum algorithms for the simulation of parton showers, acting as a first step towards a fully quantum simulation of a high energy collision event.Open Acces
PROCEEDINGS 5th PLATE Conference
The 5th international PLATE conference (Product Lifetimes and the Environment) addressed product lifetimes in the context of sustainability. The PLATE conference, which has been running since 2015, has successfully been able to establish a solid network of researchers around its core theme. The topic has come to the forefront of current (political, scientific & societal) debates due to its interconnectedness with a number of recent prominent movements, such as the circular economy, eco-design and collaborative consumption. For the 2023 edition of the conference, we encouraged researchers to propose how to extend, widen or critically re-construct thematic sessions for the PLATE conference, and the paper call was constructed based on these proposals. In this 5th PLATE conference, we had 171 paper presentations and 238 participants from 14 different countries. Beside of paper sessions we organized workshops and REPAIR exhibitions
Sustainable options to improve household solid waste management of Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Das weltweit zunehmende Hausmüllaufkommen erfordert ein neues Systemdenken und neue Methoden der Wissenserweiterung zur Unterstützung der lokalen Akteure (z.B. der Abfallproduzenten, Entscheidungsträger und NGOs) insbesondere im Hinblick auf Themen der Nachhaltigkeit in den Schwellenländern. In den Schwellenländern ist es entscheidend, in den häufig durch schnelles wirtschaftliches Wachstum und extreme soziale Ungerechtigkeiten gekennzeichneten städtischen Regionen lokales Wissen, soziale Werte und Präferenzen mit einem systematischen Verständnis der weltweiten technologischen Entwicklung in der Abfallwirtschaft zu vereinen. Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit den daraus resultierenden komplexen Alltagssituationen, die in einigen Städten bewältigt werden müssen und die in transformativen Ansätzen oft nicht berücksichtigt werden. Die brasilianische Stadt Belo Horizonte ist eine Lernplattform für die Erfassung, Darstellung und Analyse von Daten zu dieser umfassenden Herausforderung.
Belo Horizonte ist eine der Wirtschaftsachsen Brasiliens. Dort landen ca.98% des gesamten Hausmülls unbehandelt auf der Abfalldeponie. Der verbleibende Anteil entspricht dem von Menschen aus der armen Bevölkerung, d. h. von Müllsammlern, sortierten Abfall. Belo Horizonte ist ein verlässlicher Referenzort eines auf der Struktur der Organisation der Müllsammler in Kooperativen basierenden weltweit angewandten sozialen Modells. Dennoch wird die Stadt von vielen Entscheidungsträgern, Investoren und Wiederaufbereitungsunternehmen Stagnation attestiert. Der Fall Belo Horizonte soll als Strategie zur Beantwortung dreier problemorientierter Forschungsfragen im Rahmen dieser Arbeit verwendet werden:
I. Wie kann die Abfallwirtschaft in Belo Horizonte verbessert werden?
II. Stellt das soziale Modell von Belo Horizonte den besten Weg zur Verbesserung der Abfallwirtschaft im globalen Süden dar?
III. Was bezwecken wir in einem Zeitalter des zunehmenden und vernetzten technologischen Wandels mit dem Einbeziehen von Müllsammlern in die Abfallwirtschaft?
Die genannten Forschungsfragen sind bestimmend für den Ansatz dieser Arbeit. Wissenschaftler und Akteure sollen in die Lage versetzt werden, die Aspekte zu verstehen, derentwegen in den Schwellenländern Müllsammler im Sinne des gesellschaftlichen Wandels in die Abfallwirtschaft einbezogen werden sollten. Zur Erweiterung des methodischen Wissens, das mit Hilfe von vier im Zuge dieser Dissertation erarbeiteter Publikationen gewonnenen werden konnte, wurde als wissenschaftliches Instrument der dreiteilige transdisziplinäre Rahmen (Tripartite Tansdisciplinary Framework - TTF) entwickelt. Wie der Name sagt, ist der strukturelle Ansatz des TTF Teil miteinander verbundener Konzepte aus den Sozialwissenschaften und der transdisziplinären Forschung in den Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften, etwa des idealtypischen transdisziplinären Forschungsprozesses, der wertorientierten Gestaltung und der historischen Analogien. Das Instrument des TTF hat dazu beigetragen, das im Laufe der transdisziplinären Forschung akkumulierte Wissen zu extrahieren. Dieses Wissen konnte durch das Aufzeigen von Problemen, das Darstellen der Beziehungen zwischen den Akteuren und das Beleuchten dreier möglicher wesentlicher Auswirkungen auf die soziotechnische Zukunft der Abfallwirtschaft in Belo Horizonte (Forschungsfrage I) gewonnen werden.
TTF lieferte darüber hinaus die zum Verständnis der Resilienz im Zusammenhang mit der Beantwortung von Forschungsfrage II und des grenzüberschreitenden Denkens im Zusammenhang mit der Beantwortung von Forschungsfrage III erforderliche Struktur.
Um die soziotechnische Zukunft der Abfallwirtschaft in Belo Horizonte voranzutreiben, werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit drei Optionen vorgestellt: die individuelle Option, die technologische Option und die Option der Nachhaltigkeit. Die individuelle Option hält fest an den spezifischen sozialen Werten (Respekt, Solidarität, Fairness, Verantwortung und Gegenseitigkeit), d.h. den zur Förderung einer lokalen Kreislaufwirtschaft für bestimmte recyclingfähige Haushaltsabfälle (z.B. Aluminiumdosen und Flaschen aus Polyethylenterephthalat) geschaffenen Nischen. Die durch die Einführung der mechanisch-biologischen Abfallbehandlung gekennzeichnete technologische Option lenkt die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Reduzierung der Deponien und die Minimierung der sozialen Hindernisse, die eine als bahnbrechend für die Abfallwirtschaft geltenden Technologie zu bewältigen hat. Die Nachhaltigkeitsoption berücksichtigt die Vorstellungen der Akteure, u.a. hinsichtlich des sozioökonomischen Nutzens der Verringerung der Armut in der Stadt, der Verbesserung der Materialrückgewinnung und der Bewusstmachung durch direkten Kontakt zur Unterstützung von Änderungen im Sozialverhalten.
Belo Horizonte kann für andere Städte historisch gesehen als beispielhaft in Bezug auf die Kooperativität der Müllsammler betrachtet werden. Der transformative Ansatz beschreibt jedoch die Praxis und nicht die Vollendung des Fortschritts. Die mit Belo Horizonte gemachten Erfahrungen lassen die Müllsammler als Symbol der Bedeutung intragenerationeller Gerechtigkeit erscheinen. Die Müllsammler haben ihre eigenen, an das städtische System angepassten oder nicht angepassten Prinzipien. Im Sinne des Entwickelns von Regeln für eine funktionierende Abfallwirtschaft stellen sie innerhalb der globalen Problematik ein Gefühl des Zusammenhalts und der Einigkeit her. Derartige globalisierte und standardisierte Maßnahmen nehmen der Gesellschaft die Möglichkeit, ein produktives System auf Grundlage ihres Potenzials und ihrer Fähigkeiten zu schaffen. Diese Arbeit vermittelt ein problemorientiertes und theoretisches Verständnis soziotechnischer Ansätze im Hinblick auf Nachhaltigkeitsfragen und legt den Fokus dabei auf bisher nicht berücksichtigte lokale Probleme
2022 geotechnical design manual
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) Geotechnical Design Manual (“Manual”) has been developed to provide uniform design practices for SCDOT and consultant personnel preparing geotechnical reports and contract plans for SCDOT projects. The purpose of this manual is to complement the Mission of SCDOT by providing for safe, economical, effective and efficient geotechnical designs
Annual report for the town of Bedford, New Hampshire for the year two thousand twenty one.
This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire
Adoption of smart and sustainable strategies in the State of Qatar
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.With the increasing importance given to sustainable development nowadays, countries around the world are shifting their focus and efforts to changing the previous unsustainable growth framework that has been ineffective. Therefore, Qatar, following in the footsteps of the rest of the world, decided to introduce a sustainability plan to ensure the population’s prosperity through its Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030). However, little is known about how Qatar organisations are responding to this encouragement. The aim of this research is to investigate how Qatar public sector organisations are embedding smart and sustainable strategies in order to achieve the QNV 2030. Given the relatively new and unexplored nature of the research problem, a qualitative research method was adopted to collect and analyse data. Semi-structured interviews with 56 professionals were used to collect data which was then analysed using content analysis for inference and conclusion.
The study concluded that smart and sustainable issues are complex, dynamic, and multifaceted. A complex mix of government, economic, social and environmental forces drives Qatar organisations to implement smart and sustainable strategies. Overall, the outlook for improved sustainable strategies efforts from the state of Qatar looks quite promising at present. Qatar organisations face significant challenges in taking the first steps towards implementing smart and sustainable strategies. To improve smart and sustainable performance, therefore, leaders have to recognise and better understand the concept of smart development and sustainability. The current study results suggest that, to meet the goals of the QNV2030, the implementation of healthcare strategies is still evolving in the State of Qatar. Therefore, there is a need to re-examine the National Health Strategy to Qatar’s health challenges, aligned to a global shift in thinking towards population health and smarter and more integrated care. The scarcity of knowledge and expertise associated with sustainable strategies is, and will continue to be, a huge challenge for Qatar public sector organisations. Therefore, training programmes related to the management of smart and sustainable related knowledge will help leaders, managers, and change agents better understand how to craft and implement various smart and sustainable strategies to achieve QNV 2030. An innovative business model for the integration of smart and sustainable strategies into day-to-day operational decisions was developed and validated. This model is intended to offer guidance for the successful implementation of smart and sustainable strategies to simultaneously improve environmental, social and economic performance. It is recommended to explore the level of embeddedness of smart and sustainable strategies in the public sector between developed and developing countries.The Amiri Diwan of the State of Qatar
Bedford 2020 annual report.
This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire
Development of Earthwork Ontology and its Application
ABSTRACT
Development of Earthwork Ontology and its Application
Alhusain Mohamed Taher
Concordia University, 2021
In a typical construction project, a significant amount of information is communicated to various stakeholders at different phases of the project lifecycle. The communication of this information tends to be informal and ad-hoc in the majority of the cases, which makes it more susceptible to loss of information or misinterpretation. Earthwork operations, which are one of the main operations of construction projects, also struggle with the challenge of effective information communication. There is an apparent shortcoming regarding the unified structure for data and information exchange in this domain. The existing models and ontologies do not address the explicit semantic representation of earthwork operations. Accordingly, there is a need for a knowledge model to formalize the efficient communication of information. An ontological model can be used to organize the domain knowledge so that it can be utilized and reused by the stakeholders.
The primary purpose of this study is to develop an ontology for the earthwork domain that can be used to create the semantics-based integration method to support the communications between the different disciplines and stakeholders in the earthwork domain. Accordingly, the objectives of this study are: (1) To extract the explicit and tacit knowledge required for the earthwork domain; (2) To formalize the extracted knowledge by developing the Earthwork Ontology (EW-Onto); (3) To develop methods for linking and coupling EW-onto with other existing relevant ontologies in the construction domain to extend its application for safety and productivity; and (4) To evaluate the integrated ontology (IEW-Onto) and apply the ontological model in supporting application development, which is a Multi-Agent System (MAS) in the earthwork domain.
In the proposed framework, the ontology integrates the different components in the domain. The extended earthwork ontology (called Integrated Earthwork Ontology or IEW-Onto) is composed of the concepts, relationships, and axioms in this domain and can represent the semantic values of the entities and the relationships. Each entity is linked with other entities with different types of relationships, such as is-a, part-of, operates, and coordinates. IEW-Onto benefits from the available ontologies in the construction domain, and links with other ontologies, such as sensor and soil ontologies. IEW-Onto is used to build the earthwork operation model as a pattern to represent the operations and processes sequences, which provide a reusable pattern for several applications such as MAS. The developed MAS can cope with the complexity of earthwork operations’ communication at the fleet level and addresses safety issues. In the MAS, every piece of equipment is represented by a dedicated computer agent. This Ontology-based MAS is expected to improve the safety of earthwork operations. Different evaluation methods were used to evaluate EW-Onto and IEW-Onto, including checking consistency, survey, data-driven and application-based validations. The evaluation results show that both ontologies have consistency and provide a high level of clarity, richness, comprehensiveness, interpretability, and effectiveness of the presented knowledge in the earthwork domain
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