A component-based virtual engineering approach to PLC code generation for automation systems

In recent years, the automotive industry has been significantly affected by a number of challenges driven by globalisation, economic fluctuations, environmental awareness and rapid technological developments. As a consequence, product lifecycles are shortening and customer demands are becoming more diverse. To survive in such a business environment, manufacturers are striving to find a costeffective solution for fast and efficient development and reconfiguration of manufacturing systems to satisfy the needs of changing markets without losses in production. Production systems within automotive industry are vastly automated and heavily rely on PLC-based control systems. It has been established that one of the major obstacles in realising reconfigurable manufacturing systems is the fragmented engineering approach to implement control systems. Control engineering starts at a very late stage in the overall system engineering process and remains highly isolated from the mechanical design and build of the system. During this stage, control code is typically written manually in vendor-specific tools in a combination of IEC 61131-3 languages. Writing control code is a complex, time consuming and error-prone process. [Continues.

Product to process lifecycle management in assembly automation systems

Presently, the automotive industry is facing enormous pressure due to global competition and ever changing legislative, economic and customer demands. Product and process development in the automotive manufacturing industry is a challenging task for many reasons. Current product life cycle management (PLM) systems tend to be product-focussed. Though, information about processes and resources are there but mostly linked to the product. Process is an important aspect, especially in assembly automation systems that link products to their manufacturing resources. This paper presents a process-centric approach to improve PLM systems in large-scale manufacturing companies, especially in the powertrain sector of the automotive industry. The idea is to integrate the information related to key engineering chains i.e. products, processes and resources based upon PLM philosophy and shift the trend of product-focussed lifecycle management to process-focussed lifecycle management, the outcome of which is the Product, Process and Resource Lifecycle Management not PLM only

ReDEAP: Recommendations for developing smartphone applications for an ageing population

Context — The increase in the proportion of older adults (OAs) across the globe creates new challenges and opportunities. Technology in the context of smartphone applications has the potential to alleviate some problems of OAs, for example, social isolation and healthcare. Problem — The long-term up take of smartphone applications by OAs is low or unclear. To make smartphone applications useful for older adults, they should address physical and cognitive decline issues that differentiate this group of the population. It appears that developers of smartphone applications for OAs are not cognisant of their specific needs. The limited guidance provided by the current scientific literature to develop usable and accessible smartphone applications lack empirical derivation, validation and reflection on mainstream apps. Existing guidelines are piecemeal, confusing, contradictory, obsolete, incomplete and lack clarity in structure, classification and proper specification. Improvements in reporting format, characterisation and validation might improve adoption of these guidelines and reflection on apps for OAs. There is a need for Usability and Accessibility guidelines for industry, because most of the smartphone applications for OAs developed by them are ignoring these aspects. Objective — The aim of this research is to uncover the needs of OAs, transform them into a set of recommendations and make them available and actionable for developers. This objective is achieved by answering the key research question (RQ) “What do developers of smartphone applications for older adults need to do to make their applications usable and accessible for their target population? Methods — To address the key RQ, I took a mixed method approach. The first phase involved conducting a literature review on smartphone application development for OAs. In the second phase, I conducted an empirical study with a sample of 235 OAs with mixed levels of technical experience. As part of this phase I developed a proof of concept application. In the third phase, I conducted a further data collection based on observation of OAs’ interaction with their smartphones, and on-line forum analysis. To analyse the data, I utilised thematic analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics. Each phase yielded an augmented set of recommendations. The derived themes and recommendations were evaluated through conducting inter–rater reliability tests. In phase four, I transformed these recommendations into design patterns. Results — An initial set of 150 recommendations were derived and synthesized into 66 recommendations for Usability and Accessibility of smartphone applications for OAs. Two key types of recommendations (“Useful” and “Valuable”) for Usability of smartphone applications appeared to be overlooked in the literature. The initial set of recommendations was augmented with the expectations of technically proficient (tech-savvy) older adults. These combined recommendations form the basis for the design patterns, which I named ReDEAP (Recommendations for the Development of Smartphone Applications for the Ageing Population). The set of 44 extracted design patterns is the primary contribution to knowledge. Conclusions — This research produced an empirically derived and evaluated set of recommendations for the design of smartphone applications for OAs. The recommendations have a level of objectivity achieved through conducting inter-rater reliability tests with external researchers. ReDEAP also addresses the problem identified in the literature, that industry needs to take notice of the specific Usability and Accessibility needs of OAs, when designing smartphone applications for this section of the population

The case of Golden Jubilants: using a prototype to support healthcare technology research

This case study paper describes the development and evaluation of a prototype, Golden Jubilants, a smartphone app. Golden Jubilants was built within a software engineering in healthcare project, ReDEAP, that aimed to identify a set of recommendations for the design of smartphone apps for older adults aged over 50. Prototype development and evaluation is a recognized way to elicit meaningful feedback from any user group. This tangible artifact was interactive and provided fruitful engagement for us as researchers, and for the older adults who participated. This short paper presents the prototype evaluation process, and techniques used to ensure older adult involvement. To conclude, we discuss four key recommendations for consideration by software engineering in healthcare researchers who are using prototypes in their research – develop the research project through public and patient involvement, harness the potential of established evaluation and testing standards, develop a needed and tangible prototype, and involve an external group to evaluate findings

Older adults’ interaction with mobile devices in Ireland: a survey

Mobile Devices can be beneficial for older adults (OAs) if used effectively. Yet current research suggests a low level of take-up. We investigated the extent to which OAs use mobile devices to identify their likes, dislikes and expectations in order to find new ways to increase their interaction. We conducted a survey with 202 OAs (aged 50-86). Many OAs are using mobile phones for communication and information seeking technology. However, without asking a direct question, privacy concerns were raised as a potential barrier towards adoption. When designing mobile apps, privacy must be a primary consideration and built in feature

The Spatial Pattern and Interactions of Woody Plants on the Temperate Savanna of Inner Mongolia, China: The Effects of Alternating Seasonal Grazing-Mowing Regimes

<div><p><i>Ulmus pumila</i> tree-dominated temperate savanna, which is distributed widely throughout the forest-steppe ecotone on the Mongolian Plateau, is a relatively stable woody-herbaceous complex ecosystem in northern China. Relatively more attention has been paid to the degradation of typical steppe areas, whereas less focus has been placed on the succession of this typical temperate savanna under the present management regime. In this study, we established 3 sample plots 100 m×100 m in size along a gradient of fixed distances from one herder’s stationary site and then surveyed all the woody plants in these plots. A spatial point pattern analysis was employed to clarify the spatial distribution and interaction of these woody plants. The results indicated that old <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> trees (DBH ≥ 20 cm) showed a random distribution and that medium <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> trees (5 cm ≤ DBH < 20 cm) showed an aggregated distribution at a smaller scale and a random distribution at a larger scale; few or no juvenile trees (DBH < 5 cm) were present, and seedlings (without DBH) formed aggregations in all 3 plots. These findings can be explained by an alternate seasonal grazing-mowing regime (exclosure in summer, mowing in autumn and grazing in winter and spring); the shrubs in all 3 plots exist along a grazing gradient that harbors xerophytic and mesophytic shrubs. Of these shrubs, xerophytic shrubs show significant aggregation at a smaller scale (0-5.5 m), whereas mesophytic shrubs show significant aggregation at a larger scale (0-25 m), which may be the result of the dual effects of grazing pressure and climate change. Medium trees and seedlings significantly facilitate the distributions of xerophytic shrubs and compete significantly with mesophytic shrubs due to differences in water use strategies. We conclude that the implementation of an alternative grazing-mowing regime results in xerophytic shrub encroachment or existence, breaking the chain of normal succession in a <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> tree community in this typical temperate savanna ecosystem. This might eventually result in the degradation of the original tree-dominated savanna to a xerophytic shrub-dominated savanna.</p></div

Map of the Otindag Sandy Land and the location site of the study region.

<p>Map of the Otindag Sandy Land and the location site of the study region.</p

Bivariate spatial association between <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> trees and mesophytic shrubs in plot 2 and plot 3 with the independent null model.

<p>Bivariate spatial association between <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> trees and mesophytic shrubs in plot 2 and plot 3 with the independent null model.</p

The proportion of different age-class categories of a <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> tree.

<p>The proportion of different age-class categories of a <i>U</i>. <i>pumila</i> tree.</p

Distribution map of the woody plants in three surveyed plots.

<p>● U. pumila-old trees,○U. pumila-medium trees,▼ U. pumila-juvenile trees, △ U. pumila-seedlings, ■ xerophytic shrubs, and □ mesophytic shrubs.</p