20 research outputs found
MODELING HYPERBARIC CHAMBER ENVIRONMENT AND CONTROL SYSTEM
Deep water activities are essential for many industrial fields, for instance in repairing and
installation of underwater cables, pipes and constructions, marine salvage and rescue opera-
tions. In some cases, these activities must be performed in deep water and hence require
special equipment and prepared and experienced personnel. In some critical situations, re-
motely controlled vehicles (ROVs) can't be used and a human diver intervention is required.
In the last case, divers are required to perform work at high depths, which could be as low
as 300m below the water surface. Usually, this is the limit depth for commercial diving and
when operations must be carried out even deeper, ROVs remain only possibility to perform
them. In the past, the safety regulations were less strict and numerous operations on depth
of 300-350 meters of seawater were conducted. However, in the beginning of the 90s gov-
ernments and companies started to impose limits on depths of operation; for instance, in
Norway maximum operational depth for saturation divers is limited to 180 meters of sea-
water (Imbert et al., 2019).
Obviously, harsh environmental conditions impose various limitations on performed activi-
ties; indeed, low temperature, poor visibility and high pressure make it difficult not only to
operate at depth, but even to achieve the point of intervention.
One of the main problems is related to elevated pressure, which rises for about 1 bar for each
10 meters of water depth and could achieve up to 20-25 bars at required depth, while pressure
inside divers\u2019 atmospheric diving suites must be nearly the same. Considering this, there are
several evident limitations. First is related to the fact that at high atmospheric pressure oxy-
gen becomes poisonous for human body and special breath gas mixtures are required to
avoid health issues. The second one is maximum pressure variation rate which would not
cause damage for the human body; indeed, fast compression or decompression could easily
cause severe damages and even death of divers. Furthermore, surveys found that circa 1/3 of
divers experience headache during decompression which usually last for at least several
hours and up to several days (Imbert et al., 2019). The same study indicates that majority of
the divers experience fatigue after saturation and it lasts on average more than 4 days before
return to normal. Obviously, risk of accidents increases with high number of compression-
decompression cycles.
To address these issues, in commercial deep water diving the common practice is to perform
pressurization only one time before the start of the work activity which typically lasts 20-30
days and consequent depressurization after its end. Hence, divers are living for several weeks
in isolated pressurized environments, typically placed on board of a Dive Support Vessel
(DSV), usually barge or a ship, and go up and down to the workplace using submersible
decompression chamber also known as the bell.
While long-term work shifts provide numerous advantages, there is still necessity to perform
life support supervision of the plant, the bell and the diving suits, which require presence of
well qualified personnel. Currently, most of training activities are performed on empty plant
during idle time, but obviously this approach is low efficient and costly, as well as accom-
panied by the risk to broke equipment.
To address such issues, this research project proposes utilization of simulator of plant and
its life support system, devoted to train future Life-Support Supervisors (LSS), taking into
account gas dynamics, human behaviour and physiology as well as various aspect of opera-
tion of saturation diving plants
SIMULATION AS DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR DISASTER PREVENTION
This paper describes the overall architecture of a simulator developed by Simulation Team and Genova University to address the problem of strategic decision making related to prevention and mitigation of natural disasters risks. The proposed approach combines a Decision Support System for supporting decision makers in strategic planning with interoperable simulation and serious games. The scenario used for the validation in this case focuses with a particular attention on hydrogeology and related risks within urban environments. The authors propose a multilevel and multi resolution simulation able to match the models of the flooding with that one of the population reproducing interest groups as well as single people. Indeed the
population is simulated by intelligent agents (IAs) that include physiological, social and psychological parameters reproducing feelings and emotions that
allow them to live and move inside the virtual city both in normal conditions as well as during the disasters. In facts in normal conditions works devoted to serve as preventive actions devoted to prevent certain events and or mitigate their impact are carried out; vice versa during the crisis, decisions change addressing the identification of convenient operational planning and/or evacuation site. Each time, an action is undertaken by the decision makers, the IAs react dynamically by changing their feelings and their political consensus, so it becomes possible to plan the actions in an effective way by maintaining the consensus and support of the population
HYPERBARIC PLANT SIMULATION FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
Several industrials sectors require to extend underwater capabilities by adopting alternative and multiple solutions both involving human divers as well as robotic technologies such as ROVs & AUVs. In general the main mandate is to improve performance reducing costs and risks. On the other side, new technologies and advancements are enabling to further develop the potential of the above mentioned solutions; for instance the authors propose a new generation of computer based Hyperbaric Plant Simulators that are pretty promising for improving training & education without rising costs of underwater man based operations. This paper proposes an innovative approach in M&S for the Hyperbaric Life Support Supervisors (LSS) as well as other operators active into diving activities
POPULATION BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL NETWORKS, TRANSPORTATIONS, INFRASTRUCTURES, INDUSTRIAL AND URBAN SIMULATION
Crisis prevention and management are critical tasks for a public administration. In facts, a complex system such as a city could be difficult to keep under control, even in regular conditions, while respect emergencies it is very hard to finalize good preventive and operational plans. In order to succeed in such tasks, it is necessary to have proper support tools, capable to evaluate alternatives and predict effect of decisions in different conditions. To address such issues, the authors developed PONTUS (Population Behavior, social Networks, Transportations, Infrastructures and Industrial & Urban Simulation) which combines ability to model natural disasters with advanced human behaviors of the population
AGILE SOLUTIONS & DATA ANALITICS FOR LOGISTICS PROVIDERS BASED ON SIMULATION
The current advances are enabling the development of new solutions in data analytics and decision making in many fields; it is quite interesting to analyze the impact of this approach on logistics providers; this paper proposes examples of these challenges in this context as well as an example of a simulation based solution able to interconnect the different information sources and to fuse the data in order to analyze the logistics processes and support decisions. The proposed solution is based on web services and web application that are adopting the MSaaS concept (Modeling & Simulation as a Service) by using stochastic models
DESIGN OF CRUCIAL ELEMENTS FOR INDUSTRIAL PLANTS, OFFSHORE PLATFORMS AND UNDERWATER FACILITIES
The paper proposes some specific models to be used in design of crucial elements for Industrial Plants that previously were not easy to be addressed by simulation due their functional complexity. As examples of these kinds of elements are proposed autonomous systems for fire fighting and/or emergencies for on-shore and off shore plants as well as equipment for underwater operations. The paper proposes use of MS2G Simulation Paradigm (Modeling, interoperable Simulation and Serious Games) as solution in these specific cases to test concepts and capabilities
A STRATEGIC SERIOUS GAME ADDRESSING SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Serious Games are currently extending their capabilities to strategic Education and Training by innovative approaches and new technological solutions. In this paper, the authors propose a new Serious Game devoted to address such aspects with special focus on System of Systems Engineering (SoSE). The proposed case uses a challenging framework related to the development of an innovative System of Systems for defense and homeland security that could be used by users to acquire the fundamental concepts of SoSE. The scenario allows to investigate alternative interoperable solutions among different platforms, sensors, infrastructures and doctrines respect evolving threats in relation to an air defense solution based on airborne radars
MACHINE LEARNING TO SUPPORT INDUSTRIAL DIGITALIZATION AND BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
This paper addresses use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and in particular Intelligent Agents (IA) in order to evaluate efficiency of information exchange and awareness in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), with particular attention to digital transformation. To perform required experimentation, the authors have developed a Serious Game (SG) named JANUS, in which the player interacts with intelligent agents
representing a virtual company and its actions aim to acquire as much as possible data about the organization
Interoperable Simulation and Serious Games for creating an Open Cyber Range
The paper proposes an open architecture to support the creation of a synthetic environment devoted to simulate complex scenarios related to the protection of cyber-physical systems. The proposed approach is based on applying the combination of interoperable simulation and serious games to develop a framework where different models, as well as real equipment, could interoperate based on High Level Architecture standard. By this approach, it becomes possible to create a federation reproducing a scenario including multiple physical and cyber layers interacting dynamically and reproducing complex situations. The authors propose an example of specific case study conceptually developed to apply this approach
IMMERSIVE, INTEROPERABLE AND INTUITIVE MIXED REALITY FOR SERVICE IN INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
The authors propose an innovative Mixed Reality solution representing an immersive intuitive and interoperable environment to support service in
industrial plants. These methodologies are related to concepts of Industry 4.0. Solutions based on a mix of VR and AR (Virtual and Augmented Reality ) with special attention to the maintenance of industrial machines; indeed the authors propose an overview of this approach and other synergistic techniques. Moreover, alternative instruments are presented and their specific advantages and disadvantages are described. Particularly, the approach is based on the SPIDER, an advanced interoperable interactive CAVE developed by the authors which supports cooperative work of several users involved in training, troubleshooting and supervision are proposed. Last but not least, an overview of projects using same techniques in other fields, such as construction, risk assessment, Virtual Prototyping and Simulation Based Design is presented