RFID and the internet of things in freight and handling operations

Master in Management and Industrial StrategyRFID technology (Radio Frequency IDentification) is an automatic identification method relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices (RFID tags or transponders) enabling the contactless identification of objects. RFID has been around for decades but only during the last years has become one of the most promising research areas with more and more attention focused on it. The retail sector had been leading the way with logistics applications, followed by some government agencies with identification systems and by different sectors of activity (pharmaceuticals, aircraft manufacturing, etc). Together with the last technological developments, new ideas and concepts are generating new paradigms as the "Internet of Things". The "Internet of Things" can be described as "Things having identities and virtual personalities operating in smart spaces using intelligent interfaces to connect and communicate within social, environmental, and user contexts ".1 Also during the last decades, air transportation has become more and more important for people mobility and goods transportation in the global economy environment. According to IATA , RFID can be used as a way to improve a range of airline business processes while cutting costs. IATA had developed a standard for RFID baggage tags and recommended practices and business cases for the use of RFID in baggage handling. With this study it is planed to analyse the situation in the two main airports in Portugal (Lisbon and Oporto), based in Portway ground handling operations, compare it with some actual developments, the E-Cab Project and IATA proposals and recommendations, and to evaluate scenarios and their feasibility in a near future.A tecnologia RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) é um método de identificação automático de armazenamento e recuperação remota de informação, recorrendo a dispositivos (etiquetas ou transmissores-receptores RFID) que permitem a sua leitura à distância e sem necessidade de qualquer contacto directo com os objectos. Sendo uma tecnologia já com décadas de existência, só durante os últimos anos é que se tem evidenciado como uma das mais promissoras , captando cada vez mais atenção por parte dos diversos actores. O sector de retalho tem vindo a promover a sua divulgação, liderando o desenvolvimento de diversas aplicações logísticas e sendo seguido, durante os últimos anos, por algumas agências governamentais com o desenvolvimento de sistemas de identificação e por diversos outrossectores de actividade (farmacêutica, construção aeronáutica, etc). Em simultâneo com os mais recentes progressos tecnológicos e com o desenvolvimento de conceitos mais inovadores, um novo paradigma tem aparecido com a designação da "Internet dos Objectos". A "Internet dos Objectos" pode ser descrita como "objectos possuindo identidades e personalidades virtuais operando em espaços inteligentes usando interfaces inteligentes para ligar e comunicar em contextos sociais, ambientais e no seio dos utilizadores". Também durante as últimas décadas, o transporte aéreo tem vindo a desempenhar um papel cada vez mais importante para a mobilidade das populações e para o transporte de mercadorias no ambiente da economia global. De acordo com a IATA, as tecnologias RFID poderão vir a ser utilizadas com sucesso, reduzindo custos e melhorando um vasto conjunto de processos correntes no sector, tendo já desenvolvido alguns normativos e recomendações relativas à aplicação de etiquetas RFID na identificação e monitorização de bagagem. Com este trabalho pretende-se analisar a situação nos dois principais aeroportos Portugueses (Lisboa e Porto), baseada nas operações de handling da Portway, comparar os resultados obtidos com os desenvolvimentos actuais resultantes do Projecto E-Cab e com as propostas e recomendações da IATA, avaliando cenários e a possibilidade da sua concretização num futuro próximo

An evaluation methodology for the level of service at the airport landside system

A methodology is proposed for evaluating the level of service within an airport landside system from the passenger's point of view using linguistic service criteria. The new concept of level of service for a transport system, particularly within the airports indicates that there must be strong stimulation in order to proceed with the current stereotyped service standards which are being criticised due to their being based on, either physical capacity/volume or temporal/spatial standards that directly incorporates the perception of passengers, the dominant users. Most service evaluation methodologies have been concentrated on the factors of the time spent and the space provided. These quantitative factors are reasonably simple to measure but represent a narrow approach. Qualitative service level attributes are definitely important factors when evaluating the level of service from a user's point of view. This study has adopted three main evaluation factors: temporal or spatial factors as quantitative measurements and comfort factors and reasonable service factors as qualitative measurements. The service level evaluation involves the passenger's subjective judgement as a perception for service provision. To evaluate the level of service in the airport landside system from the user's perception, this research proposes to apply a multi-decision model using fuzzy set theory, in particular fuzzy approximate reasoning. Fuzzy set theory provides a strict mathematical framework for vague conceptual phenomena and a modelling language for real situations. The multi-decision model was applied to a case study at Kimpo International Airport in Seoul, Korea. Results are presented in terms of passenger satisfaction and dissatisfaction with a variety of different values

Uuden arkkitehtuurin laboratorio : lentokenttäterminaali, Eero Saarinen ja modernin arkkitehtuurin historiografia

In this historiographical study I evaluate the placement of Eero Saarinen s airport terminals in the history of modern architecture. His Trans World Airlines Terminal (1956-62) and Dulles International Airport (1958-63) were the first airport terminals to enter the annals of modern architecture. I hypothesize that the airport terminal was previously excluded as a building type from historiography since it was seen as infrastructure, not architecture. Furthermore, its modernity did not coincide with the aims of historians, who could not utilize an emergent building type to demonstrate how modernism revolutionized architectural vocabularies. Discussing the related histories of aviation and technologies, the typological instability of the airport terminal, and Saarinen s architectural practice, I utilize genealogy, microhistory, and Science and Technology Studies to intervene in the historiography of modern architecture. Specifically, I question the assumption that architecture follows technological developments, the narrow interpretation of modernity dominating the writing of architectural history, and the resulting myopia in the classification of emerging building types. I view Saarinen s architectural practice as one of the many laboratories for a new architecture. Mapping such laboratories reveals a multifaceted view of postwar architecture, where modernism is explained by individual actors laboring at their localized sites to mediate a particular kind of modernity. I argue that Saarinen s engagement with technology and his laboratory-like working methods reconciled the contradictions between modern architecture and its blind spot, the airport terminal. This synthesis allowed the terminal building to transcend its utilitarian-technological nature as transportation infrastructure and led to its inclusion in the history of modern architecture as a building type that has its own history and parameters for design. This study makes three contributions. It outlines the history of the airport terminal emphasizing buildings that could have easily found their place in the canon of modern architecture. It explains the reasons for their exclusion and suggests ways to reduce the canon s myopia towards variants of modernism. More broadly, this study contributes to our understanding of the historiography of modern architecture and its logic of including emergent buildings by acknowledging the airport terminal as an emblematic building type of the twentieth century.Susanna Santalan väitöskirja tarkastelee Eero Saarisen suunnittelemia lentokenttäterminaaleja suhteessa modernin arkkitehtuurin historiankirjoitukseen. Tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on havainto siitä, ettei lentokenttäterminaalia mainita modernin arkkitehtuurin historioissa, vaikka se tyypillisenä 1900-luvun uutena rakennustyyppinä kehittyi samaan aikaan kun moderni arkkitehtuuri institutionalisoitiin. Saarisen Trans World Airlines terminaali (1956-62) ja Dullesin kansainvälinen lentokenttä (1958-63) olivat ensimmäiset modernin arkkitehtuurin historiankirjoituksessa mainitut terminaalirakennukset. Tutkimuksissa ei oltu huomioitu lentokenttäterminaaleja aikaisemmin, koska niiden katsottiin olevan arkkitehtuurin sijaan osa infrastruktuuria. Lentokenttien edustama nykyaikaisuus ei myöskään tukenut historioitsijoiden päämääriä, sillä uuden rakennustyypin avulla ei pystytty osoittamaan, kuinka moderni muotokieli mullisti rakentamista. Tässä tutkimuksessa lentokenttäterminaalin arkkitehtuurihistoriaa käsitellään suhteessa sodan jälkeiseen arkkitehtuurikulttuuriin, sekä ilmailun ja teknologian historioihin, tukeutuen samalla tieteen ja teknologian tutkimuksen sekä historiankirjoituksen metodeihin. Teknologisesti edistyksellinen lentokenttäterminaali muodostaa eräänlaisen sokean pisteen arkkitehtuurihistoriassa. Sen jääminen modernismin kertomuksen ulkopuolelle kyseenalaistaa arkkitehtuurihistoriankirjoitusta hallinneen käsityksen nykyaikaisuudesta sekä uskomuksen teknologian ja arkkitehtuurin yhteneväisistä kehityskaarista. Tutkimuksessa Saarisen toimistoa kuvaillaan uuden arkkitehtuurin laboratoriona. Arkkitehtitoimistojen tarkasteleminen verkostoituneina laboratorioina monipuolistaa käsitystä sodan jälkeisestä arkkitehtuurista, sillä modernismi määrittyy silloin paikallisten, modernin kokemusta tulkitsevien käytäntöjen kautta. Tutkimus osoittaa kuinka Saarisen kiinnostus teknologiaan sekä toimiston laboratoriomainen työskentelytapa lievensivät modernin arkkitehtuurin ja sen sokean pisteen, lentokenttäterminaalin, vastakkainasettelua. Tämän seurauksena lentokenttäterminaalia ei nähty vain liikenteen infrastruktuurina, vaan se huomioitiin historiankirjoituksessa rakennustyyppinä, jolla on oma historiansa ja suunnittelua määrittävät reunaehtonsa. Santalan väitöskirja osallistuu modernismista käytyyn keskusteluun kolmella tavalla. Tutkimuksessa lentokenttäterminaalin historiaa kirjoitetaan korostaen rakennuksia, jotka olisi voitu vaivattomasti sisällyttää modernia arkkitehtuuria määrittävien, merkittävien rakennusten joukkoon. Samalla väitöskirja selventää syitä lentokenttäterminaalin näkymättömyyteen arkkitehtuurihistoriassa ja ehdottaa tapoja, joilla historiankirjoituksen yksiulotteisuutta uusien rakennustyyppien suhteen voitaisiin vähentää. Yleisemmällä tasolla tutkimus auttaa ymmärtämään modernin arkkitehtuurin historiografian rakentumiseen vaikuttavia tekijöitä tarkastelemalla lentokenttäterminaalia 1900-luvun ilmiömäisenä rakennustyyppinä. Määritelmällä on merkitystä esimerkiksi päätökselle Malmin lentokentän tulevaisuudesta. Tässä tutkimuksessa myös Malmin lentokenttä (Dag Englund ja Vera Rosendahl, 1937 38) luetaan osaksi lentokenttäterminaalien arkkitehtuurihistoriaa huomioimalla se harvinaisena, yhä käytössä säilyneenä 1930-luvun lentokenttänä

A combined optimization–simulation approach for modified outside-in boarding under COVID-19 regulations including limited baggage compartment capacities

The timely handling of passengers is critical to efficient airport and airline operations. The pandemic requirements mandate adapted process designs and handling procedures to maintain and improve operational performance. Passenger activities in the confined aircraft cabin must be evaluated to potential virus transmission, and boarding procedures should be designed to minimize the negative impact on passengers and operations. In our approach, we generate an optimized seat allocation that considers passengers’ physical activities when they store their hand luggage items in the overhead compartment. We proposed a mixed-integer programming formulation including the concept of shedding rates to determine and minimize the risk of virus transmission by solving the NP-hard seat assignment problem. We are improving the already efficient outside-in boarding, where passengers in the window seat board first and passengers in the aisle seat board last, taking into account COVID-19 regulations and the limited capacity of overhead compartments. To demonstrate and evaluate the improvements achieved in aircraft boarding, a stochastic agent-based model is used in which three operational scenarios with seat occupancy of 50%, 66%, and 80% are implemented. With our optimization approach, the average boarding time and the transmission risk are significantly reduced already for the general case, i.e., when no specific boarding order is specified (random boarding). If the already efficient outside-in boarding is used as a reference, the boarding time can be reduced by more than 30% by applying our approach, while keeping the transmission risk at the lowest level

A holistic model of emergency evacuations in large, complex, public occupancy buildings

Evacuations are crucial for ensuring the safety of building occupants in the event of an emergency. In large, complex, public occupancy buildings (LCPOBs) these procedures are significantly more complex than the simple withdrawal of people from a building. This thesis has developed a novel, holistic, theoretical model of emergency evacuations in LCPOBs inspired by systems safety theory. LCPOBs are integral components of complex socio-technical systems, and therefore the model describes emergency evacuations as control actions initiated in order to return the building from an unsafe state to a safe state where occupants are not at risk of harm. The emergency evacuation process itself is comprised of four aspects - the movement (of building occupants), planning and management, environmental features, and evacuee behaviour. To demonstrate its utility and applicability, the model has been employed to examine various aspects of evacuation procedures in two example LCPOBs - airport terminals, and sports stadiums. The types of emergency events initiating evacuations in these buildings were identified through a novel hazard analysis procedure, which utilised online news articles to create events databases of previous evacuations. Security and terrorism events, false alarms, and fires were found to be the most common cause of evacuations in these buildings. The management of evacuations was explored through model-based systems engineering techniques, which identified the communication methods and responsibilities of staff members managing these events. Social media posts for an active shooting event were analysed using qualitative and machine learning methods to determine their utility for situational awareness. This data source is likely not informative for this purpose, as few posts detail occupant behaviours. Finally, an experimental study on pedestrian dynamics with movement devices was conducted, which determined that walking speeds during evacuations were unaffected by evacuees dragging luggage, but those pushing pushchairs and wheelchairs will walk significantly slower.Open Acces

Vocal fold vibratory and acoustic features in fatigued Karaoke singers

Session 3aMU - Musical Acoustics and Speech Communication: Singing Voice in Asian CulturesKaraoke is a popular singing entertainment particularly in Asia and is gaining more popularity in the rest of world. In Karaoke, an amateur singer sings with the background music and video (usually guided by the lyric captions on the video screen) played by Karaoke machine, using a microphone and an amplification system. As the Karaoke singers usually have no formal training, they may be more vulnerable to vocal fatigue as they may overuse and/or misuse their voices in the intensive and extensive singing activities. It is unclear whether vocal fatigue is accompanied by any vibration pattern or physiological changes of vocal folds. In this study, 20 participants aged from 18 to 23 years with normal voice were recruited to participate in an prolonged singing task, which induced vocal fatigue. High speed laryngscopic imaging and acoustic signals were recorded before and after the singing task. Images of /i/ phonation were quantitatively analyzed using the High Speed Video Processing (HSVP) program (Yiu, et al. 2010). It was found that the glottis became relatively narrower following fatigue, while the acoustic signals were not sensitive to measure change following fatigue. © 2012 Acoustical Society of Americapublished_or_final_versio

Black Boxes : Airport Space, Liminal Mechanisms, and Systems of Autobiography

Treating the first-person experience of airport space as an ethnographic tool, this thesis examines spatial perception and its breakdown in multiple examples of imagined and real twentieth century spatial constructs. First, it considers examples of failed or redundant mechanisms which function as liminal constructs, either through their presence as physical objects or through use as tools with which to perceive liminal spaces. It emphasizes their function as points of access for narrative and delineates their status as examples of failure in relation to Bruno Latour's use of the term "black box," appropriated from the world of air crash investigation, and to Walter Benjamin's collection and juxtaposition of research in Tbe Arcades Project. Second, it explores the type and sequence of spaces encountered by a traveller in a large contemporary international airport, and those behaviours that are inscribed and prescribed upon people and mechanisms therein. It critiques Marc Auge' s ideas of the "non-place" through explorations of a distinctly airport-specific culture and possible deconstructions of airport space by passenger use and mechanical and architectural functions. Finally, it relates these to narrative space through an examination and practice of systemic approaches to autobiography in works by Georges Perec, Michel Leiris, and Raymond Queneau. It uses the first-person construction of a narrative of airport space-a first-person "silent reading" of public space-to construct a system of research through which twentieth-century liminal space may be inhabited and critiqued from within and on its own terms. Thus the constraint and potential offered by these diverse liminal spaces are deconstructed in terms of the personal narrative, and through use of airport space demonstrate an inhabiting of research through an innovative and revealing method

The Journal of ERW and Mine Action Issue 7.1 (2003)

Research, Development and Technology in Mine Actio

12th EASN International Conference on "Innovation in Aviation & Space for opening New Horizons"

Epoxy resins show a combination of thermal stability, good mechanical performance, and durability, which make these materials suitable for many applications in the Aerospace industry. Different types of curing agents can be utilized for curing epoxy systems. The use of aliphatic amines as curing agent is preferable over the toxic aromatic ones, though their incorporation increases the flammability of the resin. Recently, we have developed different hybrid strategies, where the sol-gel technique has been exploited in combination with two DOPO-based flame retardants and other synergists or the use of humic acid and ammonium polyphosphate to achieve non-dripping V-0 classification in UL 94 vertical flame spread tests, with low phosphorous loadings (e.g., 1-2 wt%). These strategies improved the flame retardancy of the epoxy matrix, without any detrimental impact on the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites. Finally, the formation of a hybrid silica-epoxy network accounted for the establishment of tailored interphases, due to a better dispersion of more polar additives in the hydrophobic resin