A GIS-based modeling approach for implementation of sustainable farm management practices

Few agricultural producers utilize the true analytical power of GIS and computer simulation models, partly because the loose linkages developed to-date between GIS and most public-domain modeling software are extremely cumbersome to use. The integrated system (EPIC–View) developed in the study allows the integration of a comprehensive hydrologic–crop management model (EPIC) with a desktop GIS to function as a planning tool aimed at implementing sustainable farm management practices. The use of GIS makes possible the integration of diverse spatial data into a comprehensive spatial database. EPIC–View is applied to simulate nitrogen (N) dynamics under conventional and minimum tillage conditions of a field located in Caddo County, Oklahoma. In general, the overall N balance obtained under minimum tillage is better than the balance obtained under conventional tillage over a 5-year model run. Unexplained losses of N averaged 9.55% and 4.2% of the gain in N under conventional and minimum tillage respectively. The integrated modeling system holds immense potential as a farm management tool. Various components of a sustainable agricultural system including irrigation management, crop management, soil management, and pest management, can be efficiently managed. This approach could make farms more economically viable and ecologically sound.     

Knowledge intensive Petri net framework for concurrent intelligent design of automatic assembly systems

The integration of design and planning of flexible assembly system has been recognized as a tool for achieving efficient assembly in a production environment that demands assembly with a high degree of flexibility. This paper proposes a concurrent intelligent approach and framework for the design of robotic flexible assembly systems. The principle of the proposed approach is based on the knowledge Petri net formalisms, incorporating Petri nets with more general problem-solving strategies in AI using knowledge-based system techniques. The complex assembly systems are modeled and analyzed by adopting a formal representation of the system dynamic behaviors through knowledge Petri net modeling from the specifications and the analysis of those models. A template is first defined for a knowledge Petri net model, and then the models for assembly system individuals are established in the form of instances of the template. The design of assembly systems is implemented through a knowledge Petri net-based function–behavior–structure model. The research results show that the proposed knowledge Petri net approach is applicable for design, simulation, analysis and evaluation, and even layout optimization of the flexible assembly system in an integrated intelligent environment. The integration of assembly design and planning process can help reduce the development time of assembly systems.     

Perception of safe robot idle time in virtual reality and real industrial environments

The main objective of this study was to investigate human perception of safe idle time of an industrial robot in a virtual reality environment. Studying operators' perception of robot operational characteristics such as safe robot idle time can help develop hazard prevention strategies, and ultimately improve robot safety. Results of data collected from 32 participants showed that robot size and speed had significant effects on the perception of safe robot idle time. This study also examined operators' perceived acceptability level for the robot speed, perceived level of hazard of robot motion, perceived chance of error, and self-reported mental workload. Results of this study were compared to the findings of Rahimi, M., Karwowski, W. [1990. Human perception of robot safe speed and idle time. Behaviour & Information Technology 9(5), 381–389], in which their experiment was conducted in a real industrial environment. This study demonstrated the feasibility of testing human perception of dynamic moving objects in a virtual reality environment. The virtual reality technology is believed to be capable of modeling a complex machinery system such as a robotic system.Relevance to industry: Human perception of the operational characteristics of industrial robots is an important concern for robot safety since misperception can cause robot operators to err, which in turn can cause injuries and fatalities. Through this study we (1) understand human perception, safety behavior, and decision making in a robotic system and (2) demonstrate the capability of modeling a complex machinery system using virtual reality technology. Our experiments designed to study human perception of safe robot idle time could lead to safety interventions and guidelines or hazard prevention strategy development.     

A structural equation modeling of the Internet acceptance in Korea

The objective of this study is to develop and test an integrated conceptual model of the Internet acceptance. Based on the two dominant theoretical paradigms – the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) – we propose a model of the Internet acceptance to investigate the relationship between external variables such as individual differences, task characteristics and management support, and individual acceptance of the Internet. The model is tested using data gathered from 374 end users of the Internet in Korean firms and data analysis is conducted using a structural equation modeling with LISREL. Significant relationships are found between experience and usefulness, between experience and ease of use, and between ease of use and usefulness. Organizational support is found to influence usefulness, ease of use and subjective norm. We also observe that actual usage is not influenced by subjective norm, but significantly influenced by experience, usefulness and ease of use. This result implies that individual acceptance of the Internet is significantly related to external factors such as experience, task characteristics and organizational characteristics rather than beliefs.     

Requirements elicitation for virtual actors in collaborative learning environments

This paper reports on the elicitation of requirements for Virtual Actors in Collaborative Virtual Learning Environments (CVLEs). The methodological approach followed involves the phased development of a series of learning environments which are observed in use by parents, children and teachers. The focus of study is on the interactivity and social communication issues that arise in the learning situation. The research uses as its case study the work of the Manchester Museum Education Service with children at Key Stage Level 2 (9–11 years old) of the National Curriculum. The particular learning situation is based on senet, an ancient Egyptian board game from the Museum’s collection of artefacts from the pyramid builders’ town of Kahun. Results are presented of the first phase prototype, a single display groupware system where interactions take place face-to-face in the ‘real-world’ external to the environment. Results are also presented of the second phase prototype, a multi-user groupware environment in which the users are remotely located and interaction is mainly internal to the environment. The paper discusses how the results from these two phases are being used to establish requirements for a CVLE to be developed in the third phase of research.     

A computer environment for beginners’ learning of sorting algorithms: Design and pilot evaluation

This paper presents the design, features and pilot evaluation study of a web-based environment -the SORTING environment- for the learning of sorting algorithms by secondary level education students. The design of this environment is based on modeling methodology, taking into account modern constructivist and social theories of learning while at the same time acknowledging the role of hands-on experience, the significance of students’ expressing their previous knowledge, the importance of interlinked multiple representation systems (MRS) and the role of constructive feedback on student learning. Although SORTING supports student learning of typical sorting algorithms such as Bubble-sort, Quick-sort and Selection-sort, it can also be adapted to integrate more sorting algorithms. The analysis of the data emerging from the pilot evaluation study of SORTING has shown that students used all the representation systems (RS) provided and found them attractive and easy to use. On the whole, student interactions within SORTING helped them to become aware of both the intuitive and the typical sorting procedures used, to conceptualize them, to overcome learning difficulties, to correct themselves and to make connections between different representations of the sorting algorithms used.     

Knowledge Representation and Management in ACTIVEMATH

ACTIVEMATH is an open web-based learning environment for mathematics. It dynamically generates interactive mathematical courses adapted to the student's goals, preferences, capabilities, and knowledge. The content authored for ACTIVEMATH is represented in an extended OMDoc which in turn is an extension of the OpenMath XML-language. ACTIVEMATH is the first system that uses OMDoc. It makes use of this knowledge representation in several knowledge management tasks, among them the web-presentation of mathematical text including formulæ, the communication with the integrated mathematical systems, the user-adaptive composition of a course, the dynamic generation of learning suggestions, and the dictionary facility. This article describes the knowledge representation and management in ACTIVEMATH and emphasizes its bias toward mathematics.     

Knowledge-based approach and system for assembly-oriented design,Part II: the system implementation

Assembly is one of the most important stages for product development. Assembly-oriented design (AOD) is a new approach to designing assemblies, which uses a number of design and analysis tools to help the designer plan out and analyze candidate assembly schemes prior to having detailed knowledge of the geometry of the parts. Using this approach, many assembly schemes can be inexpensively evaluated for their ability to deliver the important characteristics of the final product. This research proposes a knowledge-based approach and develops an expert design system to support top-down design for assembled products. The presentation of research report is divided into two parts: the knowledge-based approach (Part I) and the knowledge-based expert design system (Part II). This paper is the second part of the report (Part II). It will focus on the development of knowledge-based expert design system for assembly oriented design. The knowledge-based assembly oriented design system, i.e., the assembly oriented design expert system (AODES) is constructed to integrate assembly modeling and design, assembly planning, assemblability analysis and evaluation within a concurrent engineering environment. This intelligent system is implemented by integrating object-oriented representation, constraint-based modeling, rule-based reasoning, truth maintenance, and interfacing to database management system and CAD module, in which fuzzy logic based knowledge representation and inference technique are also applied to deal with uncertain data and knowledge in the design process. The developed system differs from the existing systems adopting part-first bottom-up modeling technique, in which a comprehensive intelligent framework is used for assembly modeling and design in a top-down manner from the conceptual level to the detailed level. It is able to help obtain better design ideas, provide users with suggestions so as to create and improve a design, and therefore give users the possibility to assess and reduce the total production cost at an early stage during the design process. Through the use of the system, the concurrent engineering knowledge can be effectively incorporated into the assembly design process in an integrated manner. A case assembly design shows that the intelligent modeling and design system is feasible.     

A survey of feature modeling methods: Historical evolution and new development

Initially developed for geometric representation, feature modeling has been applied in product design and manufacturing with great success. With the growth of computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided process planning (CAPP), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and other applications for product engineering, the definitions of features have been mostly application-driven. This survey briefly reviews feature modeling historical evolution first. Subsequently, various approaches to resolving the interoperability issues during product lifecycle management are reviewed. In view of the recent progress of emerging technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data, social manufacturing, and additive manufacturing (AM), the focus of this survey is on the state of the art application of features in the emerging research fields. The interactions among these trending techniques constitute the socio-cyber-physical system (SCPS)-based manufacturing which demands for feature interoperability across heterogeneous domains. Future efforts required to extend feature capability in SCPS-based manufacturing system modeling are discussed at the end of this survey.     

High-performance computing in finance: The last 10 years and the next

Almost two decades ago supercomputers and massively parallel computers promised to revolutionize the landscape of large-scale computing and provide breakthrough solutions in several application domains. Massively parallel processors achieve today terraFLOPS performance – trillion floating point operations per second – and they deliver on their promise. However, the anticipated breakthroughs in application domains have been more subtle and gradual. They came about as a result of combined efforts with novel modeling techniques, algorithmic developments based on innovative mathematical theories, and the use of high-performance computers that vary from top-range workstations, to distributed networks of heterogeneous processors, and to massively parallel computers. An application that benefited substantially from high-performance computing is that of finance and financial planning. The advent of supercomputing coincided with the so-called “age of the quants” in Wall Street, i.e., the mathematization of problems in finance and the strong reliance of financial managers on quantitative analysts. These scientists, aided by mathematical models and computer simulations, aim at a better understanding of the peculiarities of the financial markets and the development of models that deal proactively with the uncertainties prevalent in these markets. In this paper we give a modest synthesis of the developments of high-performance computing in finance. We focus on three major developments: (1) The use of Monte Carlo simulation methods for security pricing and Value-at-Risk (VaR) calculations; (2) the development of integrated financial product management tools and practices – also known as integrative risks management or enterprise-wide risk management, and (3) financial innovation and the computer-aided design of financial products.     

Multiscale fuzzy system identification

One of the biggest challenges in constructing empirical models is the presence of measurement errors in the data. These errors (or noise) can have a drastic effect on the accuracy and prediction of estimated models, and thus need to be removed for improved models accuracy. Multiscale representation of data has shown great noise-removal ability when used in data filtering. In this paper, this advantage of multiscale representation is exploited to improve the accuracy of the nonlinear Takagi–Sugeno (TS) fuzzy models by developing a multiscale fuzzy (MSF) system identification algorithm. The developed algorithm relies on constructing multiple TS fuzzy models at multiple scales using the scaled signal approximations of the input–output data, and then selecting the optimum multiscale model that maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio of the model prediction. The developed algorithm is shown to outperform the time domain fuzzy model, NARMAX model, and fuzzy model estimated from pre-filtered data using an Exponentially weighted Moving Average (EWMA) filter through a simulated shell and tube heat exchanger modeling example. The reason for this improvement is that the developed MSF modeling algorithm improves the model accuracy by integrating modeling and data filtering using a filter bank, from which the optimum filter (for modeling purposes) is selected.     

Metadatabase modeling for enterprise information integration

An underpinning to the notion of computer-integrated enterprises is information integration; that is, the integration of information resources and decision logic across the enterprise to achiete functional synergies. This concept requires certain basic extensions to two previously separate paradigms: information modeling and metadata management. In particular, both paradigms mus consider not only data resources but also contextual knowledge in a unified way; furthermore, they have to converge as a single, integrated method rather than belonging to two distinct stages of a life cycle. Toward this end, a modeling system is developed based on the two-stage entity relationship (TSER) approach [3, 4, 5, 7] and the metadatabase method [5, 6, 8].This paper presents the metadatabase goals and the metadata modeling system, focusing on its basic concepts, design, and current implementation. In addition, the prototype environmental of the metadatabase that this system creates is illustrated through some examples taken from a computer-integrated manufacturing case.A preliminary and shorter version of this paper is presented in:Proceedings 1st International Conference on Systems Integration, IEEE Computer Scociety Press, 1990, pp. 616–624.     

Toward a deeper understanding of IT adoption: A multilevel analysis

This study adopts a multilevel perspective and uses cross-level modeling to explore how resistance to change (RTC) influences information technology (IT) adoption behaviors. RTC is conceptualized at two levels of analysis (personal and contextual) and with two levels of specificity (distal and proximal). Data were collected from 258 employees within 25 administrative work units undergoing a new IT initiative. The findings from this study reveal a “maverick effect” wherein pro-initiative employees react in contrast to their workplace contexts. They champion IT adoption when their work units resist the IT initiative and prolong IT adoption when their work units readily embrace the IT initiative. This study introduces a novel interactionist perspective on IT adoption that considers employee dispositions and perceptions, as well as workplace climate and culture, as enablers and inhibitors of IT adoption. Moreover, the study advocates for change management practices that account for multilevel interactions among the personal and contextual influences of IT adoption.     

一种构件化工作流管理系统

工作流管理系统是实现各种信息管理系统工作过程自动化的核心模块。本文提出一种工作流元模型和基于该元模型进行工作流建模的方法,并实现一个构件化的工作流管理系统。该系统支持基于元模型的工作流建模,提供工作流运行的环境,并可以构件的方式集成到外部系统中。     

Integrated modeling within a Hydrologic Information System: An OpenMI based approach

This paper presents a prototype software system for integrated environmental modeling that provides interoperability between the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System (HIS) and the Open Modeling Interface (OpenMI). The primary motivation for making these two systems interoperable is that the CUAHSI HIS has a primary focus on hydrologic data management and visualization while the OpenMI has a primary focus on integrated environmental modeling. By combining the two systems into a single software application, it is possible to create an integrated environmental modeling environment that scientists and engineers can use to understand and manage environmental systems. Using standards to achieve the steps required to find, gather, integrate, and analyze hydrologic data allows for a wide community of groups to participate because it establishes key rules and protocols that must be followed in order to add to the overarching system. The key contribution of this work, therefore, is an investigation of two standards in the community and exploring ways to provide interoperability between them. HydroModeler is a software implementation of our work and provides an OpenMI-compliant modeling environment embedded within the CUAHSI HIS HydroDesktop software system. We describe the design and implementation of this prototype software system, and then present an example application in which evapotranspiration is modeled using OpenMI components that consume HIS time series data for input. Finally, we conclude with a summary of our experience exploring the potential for interoperability between data and modeling systems, and suggest ways in which future development can better facilitate connections between the various subsystems needed within an integrated environmental modeling system.     

Methods for parallel computation of complex flow problems

This paper is an overview of some of the methods developed by the Team for Advanced Flow Simulation and Modeling (TAFSM) [http://www.mems.rice.edu/TAFSM/] to support flow simulation and modeling in a number of “Targeted Challenges”. The “Targeted Challenges” include unsteady flows with interfaces, fluid–object and fluid–structure interactions, airdrop systems, and air circulation and contaminant dispersion. The methods developed include special numerical stabilization methods for compressible and incompressible flows, methods for moving boundaries and interfaces, advanced mesh management methods, and multi-domain computational methods. We include in this paper a number of numerical examples from the simulation of complex flow problems.     

Managing distributed business processes in the virtual enterprise

In this work the supply–chain coordination in the virtual enterprise environment is subject of analysis. The system developed by UFSC-DBPMS—for the management of distributed business process is presented and some basic concepts for its definition and development are detailed. The DBPMS provides means for getting, analyzing, making available and managing the information from and about a virtual enterprise, enabling the enterprises to make their logistics more efficiently by means of an integrated information-based supply-chain management. All the work presented in this paper was developed within the scope of the ESPRIT project PRODNET-II (production planning and management in an extended enterprise).     

Knowledge-based technology for solving complex systems of interrelated problems

The solution of a system of problems is modeled as a search among alternative paths on a semantic network. We consider representation of procedural knowledge and modeling of decision processes by production rules and Petri nets.Translated from Kibernetika, No. 3, pp. 108–111, May–June, 1991.