The Factory of the Future

A brief history of aircraft production techniques is given. A flexible machining cell is then described. It is a computer controlled system capable of performing 4-axis machining part cleaning, dimensional inspection and materials handling functions in an unmanned environment. The cell was designed to: allow processing of similar and dissimilar parts in random order without disrupting production; allow serial (one-shipset-at-a-time) manufacturing; reduce work-in-process inventory; maximize machine utilization through remote set-up; maximize throughput and minimize labor

Investigation of sulphur vapour techniques in exploration geochemistry

Imperial Users onl

Player participation in video game development

The trend of involving players in early game development has increased considerably during recent years. As an alternative for the traditional game creation methods, in player participation, players get to play the game and influence its development direction before the game is finished and published. Similar development methods have been employed already for long in the information systems development context, but in the early game development context, the participation of players is still a relatively unexplored area. This research attempts to fill that gap and provide a more comprehensive understanding of player participation as well as investigate its usefulness in game development. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study. Four Finnish game studios were invited for semi-structured interviews to share their knowledge of involving players in their projects, and 21 players responded to a questionnaire about their experiences with game development projects. Interviews were transcribed and coded along with players’ responses. Player participation is best described as a collaborative game development method characterised by voluntariness, and emphasizing communication and interaction between the player community and the game studio for creating a gameplay experience according to the emerging discourse between game studio’s development vision and players’ desires. In it, a game studio and its player community engage in various community management, communication and testing activities to create a mutually satisfying product. The participation process itself is characterised by voluntariness of participation as well as varying degrees of participation thresholds and levels of commitment towards the project among players. The benefits of player participation are found in the availability of additional resources and more cost-efficient development, validating game design choices with and targeting the gameplay experience for the player community, and developing technically a more robust game as well as the potential for better reception when the game is finished. However, the game studio has to face the challenges in managing the increased workload, potential changes in various work practices, and creating and maintaining the player community, which consists of diverse individuals with each of their varying interests and desires towards the game development project.Pelaajien osallistaminen aikaisessa pelinkehityksessä on lisääntynyt viime vuosina huomattavasti. Vaihtoehtona perinteisille pelinkehitysmenetelmille pelaajien osallistamisessa pelaajat pääsevät pelaamaan ja vaikuttamaan pelin kehityssuuntaan ennen pelin valmistumista ja julkaisua. Vastaavan kaltaisia kehitysmenetelmiä on jo pitkään käytetty tietojärjestelmien kehityksessä, mutta aikaisessa pelinkehityskontekstissa tämä on vielä varsin tutkimatonta aluetta. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii täyttämään tuota tyhjyyttä kirjallisuudessa ja tarjoamaan kokonaisvaltaisempaa ymmärrystä pelaajien osallistamisesta sekä tutkimaan sen hyödyllisyyttä pelinkehityskontekstissa. Tämä tutkimus suoritettiin laadullisena tapaustutkimuksena. Neljä suomalaista pelistudiota kutsuttiin puolistrukturoituihin haastatteluihin jakamaan heidän tietämyksensä pelaajien osallistamisesta heidän projekteissaan, ja 21 pelaajaa vastasi kyselyyn omista kokemuksistaan pelinkehitysprojekteissa. Haastattelut litteroitiin ja koodattiin pelaajien vastausten ohella. Pelaajien osallistamista voi parhaiten kuvata yhteistyökeskeisenä pelienkehitysmetodina, jossa painottuvat vapaaehtoisuus sekä kommunikointi ja vuorovaikutus pelaajayhteisön ja pelistudion välillä, ja jossa pelielämys rakentuu pelistudion vision ja pelaajayhteisön toiveiden välisen vuoropuhelun mukaisesti. Siinä pelistudio ja pelaajayhteisö osallistuvat erilaisiin yhteisönhallinta-, kommunikointi- ja testausaktiviteetteihin luodakseen molempia osapuolia tyydyttävän tuotteen. Osallistumisprosessia luonnehtivat vapaaehtoisuus, sekä pelaajien vaihtelevat osallistumiskynnyksen ja sitoutumisen tasot peliprojektia kohtaan. Pelaajien osallistamisen hyödyt tulevat lisääntyneiden resurssien saatavuudesta ja kustannustehokkaammasta kehityksestä, pelisuunnitteluun liittyvien päätösten hyväksyttämisestä pelaajien kanssa sekä pelikokemuksen kohdentamisesta pelaajille, ja teknisesti toimivamman pelin kehittämisestä sekä mahdollisuudesta parempaan vastaanottoon pelin valmistuttua. Kuitenkin pelistudion täytyy myös kohdata pelaajien osallistamisesta juontavat haasteet, kuten lisääntyneen työmäärän hallitseminen, mahdolliset muutokset eri työkäytännöissä, ja pelaajayhteisön, joka koostuu erilaisista yksilöistä, joista jokaisella on omat eriävät intressit ja toiveet peliprojektia kohtaan, rakentaminen sekä ylläpito

Steel Catenary Riser with Residual Curvature in Deepwater and Harsh Environment

The exploration and production of oil and gas are still high in demand. With the advancement of subsea technology, it is possible to move into deeper waters and harsher environments. It highlights the importance of finding riser configurations that is suitable but also cost-effective. This thesis aims to find a riser configuration that can handle the large vessel motions of the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) in a remote, deepwater and harsh environment. The conventional Steel Catenary Riser (SCR) has been a favored concept for deep and ultradeep water developments. However, the SCR is very sensitive to large vessel motions, impacting the downward velocity at the hang-off point. This translates to a higher velocity in the Touch Down Zone (TDZ) that can induce excessive levels of stress and fatigue. An alternative that has been considered is the implementation of residual curvature sections in the riser using the Residual Curvature Method (RCM). These sections create a small deformation in the pipe that works as triggers for lateral buckling and aids in absorbing compressive forces generated. A comparison between the conventional SCR and the Residual Curvature Steel Catenary Riser (RCSCR) is performed to evaluate how the residual curvature affects the response in the TDZ. According to previous works, the conventional SCR with a coating is not able to cope with a downward velocity above 2.33 m/s. The implementation of Residual Curvature (RC) to the riser showed that it could cope with downward velocities up to 3.35 m/s at the hang-off point. Moreover, the fatigue performance was analyzed for wave-induced fatigue. Neither the SCR nor the RCSCR had an expected fatigue life above the acceptance criteria of 250 years. Overall, this thesis has shown that the RCSCR improved the strength performance in the TDZ and improved the riser’s ability to cope with large vessel motions. For fatigue performance, the RCSCR did not meet the design requirements and still requires more study. Keywords: Residual Curvature Method, RCM, Steel Catenary Riser, SCR, Extreme Response Analysi

Nicolas Berdyaev: An Intellectual Journey

Nicholas Alexsandrovich Berdyaev, 1874–1948, was part of the historic events that changed the course of Russian history. He lived through them and wrote about them for his entire adult life. Berdyaev not only pondered the agony of Russia\u27s past, but he contemplated the possibilities of Russia\u27s future. Berdyaev was a deeply Russian thinker, and like Russia, he presented the world with a paradox. Outside of Russia he was perhaps the best known and the most widely read of Russian philosophers, but inside of Russia seldom read and little known. The paradox of Berdyaev extended to his life, his writings, and even his significance for intellectual study. He was at various times a political activist, literary expositor and religious philosopher. Although Berdyaev was born a privileged member of the landed gentry, he began his intellectual life as a Marxist Due to his political activism during his days as a university student, he was imprisoned and exiled to Vologda by the Tsarist regime. In the early 1900\u27s he moved away from revolutionary Marxism and became a leader in the intellectual circle that criticized the radicalism of the Bolsheviks. In 1923 he was exiled from Russia by the Soviet government. He never returned to Russia, but for the rest of his life he thought, wrote and dreamed about Russia. There was one great passion in Berdyaev\u27s life. He called it the “the mystery” of individual freedom. Even though Berdyaev said that his thoughts had no consistency, there was a link holding all his ideas together. The link was the theory of “opposition and resistance.” This theory holds that freedom creates, allows, even demands, a struggle between opposing forces. Freedom is a state of resistance to any form of determinism or autocracy. Thus throughout his life Berdyaev rebelled against all forms of authoritarianism, universal systems or utopian ideologies either from the “right” or the “left.” He opposed any authority, including nationalistic movements, which claimed primacy over the freedom of the spirit

An application of ocean wave-current refraction to the Gulf Stream using SEASAT SAR data

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ocean Engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution August 1989When ocean waves in deep water interact with a current, the direction of propagation and characteristics of the waves such as height and length are affected. Swell in the open ocean can undergo significant refraction as it passes through major current systems like the Gulf Stream or Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Remote sensing techniques such as synthetic aperture radars (SAR) have the potential to detect wave systems over a wide geographical area. Combining a model for wave refraction in the presence of currents with SAR measurements, the inverse problem of using the measured wave data can be solved to determine the direction and magnitude of the intervening currents. In this study the behavior of swell measured by SAR on a satellite pass over the Gulf Stream is examined. The refraction predicted by a numerical model under conditions of varying current profiles and velocities is compared to SAR generated wave spectra. By matching the current profile which results in the best correlation of wave refraction to the SAR data, the tomographic problem of measuring the Gulf Stream current is solved. The best correlation between the model and SAR data is obtained when a current is modeled by a top hat velocity profile with a direction of 75° and a current speed of 2 m/s. The direction agrees with that visually observed from the SAR images, and the direction and speeds are close to the Coast Guard estimates for the Gulf Stream at the time of the SEASAT,pass. The current profiles used did not take into account a possible widening of the Gulf Stream at the position of the satellite overpass. There is a great deal of scatter in the SAR data, both before and in the Gulf Stream, so it is difficult to correlate every point with specific current behavior, but the increase in wave length and change in wave angle in the center of the Gulf Stream seem to indicate that there may be a non-uniform feature such as the formation of an eddy or other lateral variability near the current's edge.I was supported by the U. S. Navy