Service-Oriented Architecture for Space Exploration Robotic Rover Systems

Currently, industrial sectors are transforming their business processes into e-services and component-based architectures to build flexible, robust, and scalable systems, and reduce integration-related maintenance and development costs. Robotics is yet another promising and fast-growing industry that deals with the creation of machines that operate in an autonomous fashion and serve for various applications including space exploration, weaponry, laboratory research, and manufacturing. It is in space exploration that the most common type of robots is the planetary rover which moves across the surface of a planet and conducts a thorough geological study of the celestial surface. This type of rover system is still ad-hoc in that it incorporates its software into its core hardware making the whole system cohesive, tightly-coupled, more susceptible to shortcomings, less flexible, hard to be scaled and maintained, and impossible to be adapted to other purposes. This paper proposes a service-oriented architecture for space exploration robotic rover systems made out of loosely-coupled and distributed web services. The proposed architecture consists of three elementary tiers: the client tier that corresponds to the actual rover; the server tier that corresponds to the web services; and the middleware tier that corresponds to an Enterprise Service Bus which promotes interoperability between the interconnected entities. The niche of this architecture is that rover's software components are decoupled and isolated from the rover's body and possibly deployed at a distant location. A service-oriented architecture promotes integrate-ability, scalability, reusability, maintainability, and interoperability for client-to-server communication.Comment: LACSC - Lebanese Association for Computational Sciences, http://www.lacsc.org/; International Journal of Science & Emerging Technologies (IJSET), Vol. 3, No. 2, February 201

Dynamic Control of a Robotic Swarm using a Service-Oriented Architecture

The development, deployment, and control of groups of robots is a tedious process even for experienced roboticists. Particularly in heterogeneous systems a high granularity of control and visibility is difficult to achieve. The lack of standardized interfaces and communication protocols to interconnect robots from different manufacturers makes it very difficult to develop flexible robotic applications. We propose an efficient system suited to support heterogeneous robotic swarms that can be used as a toolkit for fast prototyping of robust distributed applications. This system offers a flexible interface allowing external users to remotely control the swarm over the internet by using standardized communication protocols such as Web Services

Model-Based Testing for Composite Web Services in Cloud Brokerage Scenarios

Cloud brokerage is an enabling technology allowing various services to be merged together for providing optimum quality of service for the end-users. Within this collection of composed services, testing is a challenging task which brokers have to take on to ensure quality of service. Most Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) testing has focused on high-level test generation from the functional specification of individual services, with little research into how to achieve sufficient test coverage of composite services. This paper explores the use of model-based testing to achieve testing of composite services, when two individual web services are tested and combined. Two example web services – a login service and a simple shopping service – are combined to give a more realistic shopping cart service. This paper focuses on the test coverage required for testing the component services individually and their composition. The paper highlights the problems of service composition testing, requiring a reworking of the combined specification and regeneration of the tests, rather than a simple composition of the test suites; and concludes by arguing that more work needs to be done in this area

Digital product-service system : a study on the intersection between digitalization and servitization

The topics of digitization and servitization have been researched in several areas. In this dissertation the focus is on how the interface between the two fields of allows new value propositions. In this sense, the services offered can be impacted by the digitization both in its development and in its final result. Therefore, the first objective of this dissertation is to understand the perceived barriers in each of the two moments. The results show that the most significant barriers are found in the use of digitization for the innovation of the final offer of servitization. Thus, the second objective addressed by this study is to understand how digitization and servitization convergence, named DPSS, deliver value offers and the necessary capabilities for their delivery. The results of the literature review show that the DPSS offers are organized into three levels (basic, intermediary, and advanced), according to the business model offered, risk, service delivered and data usage. It was identified that as the level of DPSS increases, so do the capabilities required for its supply. Finally, based on the identified levels, we sought to understand the drivers and barriers for each level of DPSS. The results demonstrate that the barrier that most hinders the adoption of DPSS is the perception of value by the customer at the lower levels due to the focus of the offer on operational issues. Whereas at more advanced levels the drivers are characterized by the perceived value by the consumer, as this level is characterized by the focus on delivering a customized solution.Os temas digitalização e servitização têm sido pesquisados em diversas áreas. Este trabalho foca-se em analisar como a interface entre os dois campos de pesquisa possibilita novas ofertas de valor. Neste sentido, as ofertas servitizadas podem ser impactadas pela digitalização tanto no seu desenvolvimento quanto no seu resultado final. Portanto o primeiro objetivo desta dissertação é compreender quais as barreiras percebidas para cada um dos dois momentos. Os resultados demonstram que as barreiras mais significativas se encontram no uso da digitalização para a inovação da oferta final da servitização. Assim, o segundo objetivo abordado por este estudo é o de compreender como a digitalização e a servitização compõem ofertas de valor por meio de ofertas combinadas, denominadas DPSS, e quais as capabilidades necessárias para sua entrega. Os resultados da revisão da literatura demonstram que as ofertas de DPSS se organizam em três níveis (básico, intermediário e avançado), que, por sua vez são compostas pelos fatores: modelo de negócios ofertado, risco, serviço entregue e uso dos dados. Identificou-se que conforme cresce o nível de DPSS, crescem também as capabilidades necessárias para a sua oferta. Finalmente, com base nos níveis identificados, buscou-se compreender quais os impulsionadores e as barreiras para cada nível de DPSS. Os resultados demonstram que a barreira mais dificulta a oferta de DPSS é a percepção de valor pelo cliente nos níveis mais baixos, devido ao foco da oferta em questões operacionais. Ao passo que, em níveis mais avançados, os impulsionadores se caracterizam justamente pela oferta de valor percebida pelo consumidor, uma vez que o nível avançado se caracteriza pelo foco na entrega de uma solução customizada

Manutenção 4.0 no contexto da Universidade de Brasília - UnB

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Tecnologia, Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, 2019.Esta pesquisa busca analisar a produção acadêmica internacional relacionada à Manutenção na Indústria 4.0, também conhecida como Smart Maintenance, a fim de compreender a sua evolução ao longo do tempo, além dos artigos mais citados na literatura e ainda a relação entre as palavras chaves mais recorrentes. Os dados utilizados foram coletados nas Bases de Dados Scopus e Web of Science, sendo analisados através de uma pesquisa bibliométrica. Foi possível demonstrar que o campo do conhecimento relacionado à Manutenção 4.0 tem crescido significativamente, especialmente a partir de 2011. Tendo sido constatada que a evolução das palavras chave relacionadas ao tema é compatível com a evolução da Indústria 4.0. Também foi analisado o contexto onde se encontra a manutenção dos equipamentos da UnB, através das percepções dos servidores responsáveis pelos laboratórios e também dos servidores do setor de manutenção de equipamentos, no que tange aos aspectos da manutenção e aquisição de equipamentos, bem como os seus conhecimentos relacionados às Indústria 4.0 e Manutenção 4.0. Foi constatado que mesmo com diferentes graus de conhecimento acerca dos temas Indústria e Manutenção 4.0 tanto os responsáveis pelos laboratórios demonstraram interesse na sua implementação, principalmente nas tecnologias relacionadas ao monitoramento on-line de equipamentos. Além disso, foram identificadas oportunidades de pesquisas posteriores no desenvolvimento de soluções da própria UnB no campo da Manutenção 4.0.This research aim is to analyze the international academic production related to Maintenance in Industry 4.0, also known as Smart Maintenance, in order to understand its evolution along the time, the articles most cited in the literature and also the relation between the most recurrent key words. The data used were collected in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, and analyzed through a bibliometric survey. It was possible to demonstrate that the field of knowledge related to Maintenance 4.0 has grown significantly, especially since 2011. It has been verified that the evolution of the key words related to the theme is compatible with the evolution of the Industry 4.0. It was also analyzed the context where the maintenance of the UnB equipment is, through the perceptions of the servers responsible for the laboratories and also of the workers of the equipment maintenance sector, regarding aspects of equipment maintenance and their acquisition, as well as their knowledge related to Industry 4.0 and Maintenance 4.0. It was found that even with different degrees of knowledge about the subjects Industry and Maintenance 4.0, the responsible for the laboratories showed an interest in their implementation, especially in the technologies related to the online monitoring of equipment. In addition, opportunities for further research on the development of UnB's own solutions in the field of Maintenance 4.0 have been identified