Integration of IT in building design and technology: a systems engineering framework

Most concepts of systems engineering (SE) offer a systematic approach to the adaptation of procedures, tools, and standards toward an information-oriented problem in order to analyze, to design, to develop, to manage and to finally implement an effective and a pragmatic integrated information technology solution. This paper proposes a systems engineering framework for integrating information technology (IT) in building design and development. The system view is based on SE good practice and corresponding SE standards. All lifecycle for systems development is covered ranging from the operational concept to operation and maintenance and disposal. The paper is focused mainly at the requirement engineering levels and validation verification issues. In addition, this paper involves a case-study with an important setup where the simulated results are obtained within the use of distributed control and building performance simulation software by run-time coupling. The case-study is also developed in an effective way to illustrate the integration of IT in building design

Systems integration using Siemens\u27 PC based automation technology

Manufacturing Systems Integration is the progressive linking and combination of the various components of the system to merge their functional and technical characteristics into a comprehensive interoperable unit. It requires one to work with different hardware and software. There are a number of vendors providing a large number of products. Integrating these varieties of products provides a greater value than the sum of the value provided by the individual products. What hinders the effective integration of these components is the diversity in the design and the use of these products. Systems Integration is eased by well-established standards in data communication, programming languages, application development environments and computer operating systems. Many vendors have attempted to come up with standards that are relatively open. However, when one has to integrate data among multiple vendors\u27 architecture, a new set of challenges emerge. The Siemens\u27 PC-based automation technology is an emerging technology that appears to provide robust architecture for integrating all elements of the manufacturing environment. Applications ranging from simple control to distributed control and full-fledged Manufacturing Execution Systems can be developed using Siemens\u27 architecture. The primary focus of this applied research work is to develop a Manufacturing Execution System to control a flexible manufacturing system using Siemens PC-based automation technology. This technology is implemented in a Flexible Manufacturing cell named the CAMCELL. The CAMCELL consists of two CNC machining centers, assembly robots, and a vision system, all of which are interlinked by a material handling system. The software architecture of the CAMCELL is based on NIST\u27s five level hierarchy, discussed briefly in the report. Specifically it contains functional modules for order entry, scheduling and routing. In addition to these functional modules, there are various support modules such as order entry module, scheduler, router etc, two of which named the Inquire and the Pallet Controller that are implemented in this study. Siemens\u27 Step 7 and WTNCC software are used for the control and monitoring of the cell

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation

Development of Human System Integration at NASA

Human Systems Integration seeks to design systems around the capabilities and limitations of the humans which use and interact with the system, ensuring greater efficiency of use, reduced error rates, and less rework in the design, manufacturing and operational deployment of hardware and software. One of the primary goals of HSI is to get the human factors practitioner involved early in the design process. In doing so, the aim is to reduce future budget costs and resources in redesign and training. By the preliminary design phase of a project nearly 80% of the total cost of the project is locked in. Potential design changes recommended by evaluations past this point will have little effect due to lack of funding or a huge cost in terms of resources to make changes. Three key concepts define an effective HSI program. First, systems are comprised of hardware, software, and the human, all of which operate within an environment. Too often, engineers and developers fail to consider the human capacity or requirements as part of the system. This leads to poor task allocation within the system. To promote ideal task allocation, it is critical that the human element be considered early in system development. Poor design, or designs that do not adequately consider the human component, could negatively affect physical or mental performance, as well as, social behavior. Second, successful HSI depends upon integration and collaboration of all the domains that represent acquisition efforts. Too often, these domains exist as independent disciplines due to the location of expertise within the service structure. Proper implementation of HSI through participation would help to integrate these domains and disciplines to leverage and apply their interdependencies to attain an optimal design. Via this process domain interests can be integrated to perform effective HSI through trade-offs and collaboration. This provides a common basis upon which to make knowledgeable decisions. Finally, HSI must be considered early in the requirements development phase of system design and acquisition. This will provide the best opportunity to maximize return on investment (ROI) and system performance. HSI requirements must be developed in conjunction with capability ]based requirements generation through functional. HSI requirements will drive HSI metrics and embed HSI issues within the system design. After a system is designed, implementation of HSI oversights can be very expensive. An HSI program should be included as an integral part of a total system approach to vehicle and habitat development. This would include, but not limited to, workstation design, D&C development, volumetric analysis, training, operations, and human -robotic interaction. HSI is a necessary process for Human Space Flight programs to meet the Agency Human ]System standards and thus mitigate human risks to acceptable levels. NASA has been involved in HSI planning, procedures development, process, and implementation for many years, and has been building several internal and publicly accessible products to facilitate HSI fs inclusion in the NASA Systems Engineering Lifecycle. Some of these products include: NASA STD 3001 Volumes 1 and 2, Human Integration Design Handbook, NASA HSI Implementation Plan, NASA HSI Implementation Plan Templates, NASA HSI Implementation Handbook, and a 2 ]hour short course on HSI delivered as part of the NASA Space and Life Sciences Directorate Academy. These products have been created leveraging industry best practices and lessons learned from other Federal Government agencies

Investigating the Feasibility of Open Development of Operations Support Solutions

The telecommunications Operations Support Systems supply chain must address many stakeholders: R&D, Product and Requirements Management, Purchasing, Systems Integration, Systems Administration and Users. While the management of next generation networks and services poses significant technical challenges, the present supply chain, market configuration, and business practices of the OSS community are an obstacle to rapid innovation. Forums for open development could potentially provide a medium to shorten this supply chain for the deployment of workable systems. This paper discusses the potential benefits and barriers to the open development of OSS for the telecommunications industry. It proposes the use of action research to execute a feasibility study into the open development of OSS software solutions within an industry wide Open OSS project

Ship product modelling

This paper is a fundamental review of ship product modeling techniques with a focus on determining the state of the art, to identify any shortcomings and propose future directions. The review addresses ship product data representations, product modeling techniques and integration issues, and life phase issues. The most significant development has been the construction of the ship Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP) application protocols. However, difficulty has been observed with respect to the general uptake of the standards, in particular with the application to legacy systems, often resulting in embellishments to the standards and limiting the ability to further exchange the product data. The EXPRESS modeling language is increasingly being superseded by the extensible mark-up language (XML) as a method to map the STEP data, due to its wider support throughout the information technology industry and its more obvious structure and hierarchy. The associated XML files are, however, larger than those produced using the EXPRESS language and make further demands on the already considerable storage required for the ship product model. Seamless integration between legacy applications appears to be difficult to achieve using the current technologies, which often rely on manual interaction for the translation of files. The paper concludes with a discussion of future directions that aim to either solve or alleviate these issues