Application of auto-ID in agent-based manufacturing control

Conference Theme: Soft Computing Techniques for Advanced Manufacturing and Service SystemsSession - MA-Ha Manufacturing Technologies 1: cie177hk-1A feasibility study has been established to integrate agent and auto-ID technologies in manufacturing control applications. A multi-agent system (MAS) framework for intelligent manufacturing has been established. The intelligent MAS environment attempts to exploit the potential of Auto-ID (RFID in particular) technology in manufacturing applications. The aim is to evaluate the applications of Auto-ID, especially with RFID technology, in manufacturing control. This involves the establishment of the hardware and software interfaces to enable production and process data to be recorded and written in the Auto-ID devices. Experiments are being conducted to study the working requirements and parameters of the Auto-ID devices in the shopfloor environments. Subsequently, the RFID technology is adopted in a flexible assembly cell (FAC) to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the RFID devices in a multi-agent based manufacturing control system. A MAS infrastructure for FAC control has been developed to incorporate the coordination of the RFID devices.published_or_final_versionThe 40th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE40), Awaji City, Japan, 25-28 July 2010. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, 2010, p. 1-

Coupling-fed frequency agile monopole fluid antenna

A coupling-fed reconfigurable monopole fluid antenna is investigated. The proposed geometry separates the ionized fluid from the feed line to prevent leakage. The preliminary results show that the operating frequency of the antenna can be reconfigurable by changing the length of the ionized fluid through an external pump. The peak efficiency is about 75% antenna can

Pointing-and-Acquisition for Optical Wireless in 6G: From Algorithms to Performance Evaluation

The increasing demand for wireless communication services has led to the development of non-terrestrial networks, which enables various air and space applications. Free-space optical (FSO) communication is considered one of the essential technologies capable of connecting terrestrial and non-terrestrial layers. In this article, we analyze considerations and challenges for FSO communications between gateways and aircraft from a pointing-and-acquisition perspective. Based on the analysis, we first develop a baseline method that utilizes conventional devices and mechanisms. Furthermore, we propose an algorithm that combines angle of arrival (AoA) estimation through supplementary radio frequency (RF) links and beam tracking using retroreflectors. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed method offers superior performance in terms of link acquisition and maintenance

Slow Fluid Antenna Multiple Access

Fluid antennas offer a novel way to achieve massive connectivity by enabling each user to find a ‘port’ in space where the instantaneous interference undergoes a deep null for multiple access. While this unprecedented capability permits hundreds of users to share the same radio channel, each user needs to switch its best port on a symbol-by-symbol basis, which is impractical. Motivated by this, this paper considers the scenario in which the fluid antenna of each user updates its best port only if the fading channel changes. We refer to this approach as slow fluid antenna multiple access (s-FAMA). In this paper, we first investigate the interference immunity of s-FAMA through analyzing the outage probability. Then an outage probability upper bound is obtained, from which we shed light on the achievable multiplexing gain of the system and unpack the impacts of various system parameters on the performance. Numerical results reveal that despite having a weaker multiplexing power than the symbol-based, fast FAMA (i.e., f-FAMA), spatial multiplexing of 4 users or more is possible if the users’ fluid antennas have large numbers of ports

An Internet-Based Intervention to Promote Alcohol-Related Attitudinal and Behavioral Change Among Adolescents: Protocol of a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

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The importance of online resources for parents of children with special needs in Hong Kong: South China's experience

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Population Factors Affecting Initial Diffusion Patterns of H1N1

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Effects of geographic scale on population factors in acute disease diffusion analysis

Objective To explore socio-demographic data of the population as proxies for risk factors in disease transmission modeling at different geographic scales. Methods Patient records of confirmed H1N1 influenza were analyzed at three geographic aggregation levels together with population census statistics. Results The study confirmed that four population factors were related in different degrees to disease incidence, but the results varied according to spatial resolution. The degree of association actually decreased when data of a higher spatial resolution were used. Conclusions We concluded that variables at suitable spatial resolution may be useful in improving the predictive powers of models for disease outbreaks.published_or_final_versio

Pseudolaric acid B as a new class of microtubule destabilizing agent and an effective anti-tumor compound in vivo

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An Early Warning System for Detecting H1N1 Disease Outbreak - A Spatio-temporal Approach

The outbreaks of new and emerging infectious diseases in recent decades have caused widespread social and economic disruptions in the global economy. Various guidelines for pandemic influenza planning are based upon traditional infection control, best practice and evidence. This article describes the development of an early warning system for detecting disease outbreaks in the urban setting of Hong Kong, using 216 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza from 1 May 2009 to 20 June 2009. The prediction model uses two variables – daily influenza cases and population numbers – as input to the spatio-temporal and stochastic SEIR model to forecast impending disease cases. The fairly encouraging forecast accuracy metrics for the 1- and 2-day advance prediction suggest that the number of impending cases could be estimated with some degree of certainty. Much like a weather forecast system, the procedure combines technical and scientific skills using empirical data but the interpretation requires experience and intuitive reasoning.postprin