Presented at the 11th International Conference on ICT in Education, Research and Industrial Applications: Integration, Harmonization and Knowledge Transfer Lviv, Ukraine, May 14-16, 2015. Author supplied: Abstract. User requirements and low-cost small quantity production are new challenges for the modern manufacturing industry. This means that small batch sizes or even the manufacturing of one single product should be affordable. To make such a system cost-effective it should be capable to use the available production resources for many different products in parallel. This paper gives a description of the requirements and architecture of an end-user driven production system. The end-user communicates with the production system by a web interface, so this manufacturing system can be characterized in terms of cloud comput- ing as the implementation of manufacturing as a service, abbreviated to MaaS.
Presented at the 11th International Conference on ICT in Education, Research and Industrial Applications: Integration, Harmonization and Knowledge Transfer Lviv, Ukraine, May 14-16, 2015. Author supplied: Abstract. User requirements and low-cost small quantity production are new challenges for the modern manufacturing industry. This means that small batch sizes or even the manufacturing of one single product should be affordable. To make such a system cost-effective it should be capable to use the available production resources for many different products in parallel. This paper gives a description of the requirements and architecture of an end-user driven production system. The end-user communicates with the production system by a web interface, so this manufacturing system can be characterized in terms of cloud comput- ing as the implementation of manufacturing as a service, abbreviated to MaaS.
Industrial Symbiosis Networks (ISNs) consist of firms that exchange residual materials and energy locally, in order to gain economic, environmental and/or social advantages. In practice, ISNs regularly fail when partners leave and the recovery of residual streams ends. Regarding the current societal need for a shift towards sustainability, it is undesirable that ISNs should fail. Failures of ISNs may be caused by actor behaviour that leads to unanticipated economic losses. In this paper, we explore the effect of these behaviours on ISN robustness by using an agent-based model (ABM). The constructed model is based on insights from both literature and participatory modelling in three real-world cases. It simulates the implementation of synergies for local waste exchange and compost production. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to model agent behaviour in time-dependent bilateral negotiations and synergy evaluation processes. We explored model behaviour with and without TPB logic across a range of possible TPB input variables. The simulation results show how the modelled planned behaviour affects the cash flow outcomes of the social agents and the robustness of the network. The study contributes to the theoretical development of industrial symbiosis research by providing a quantitative model of all ISN implementation stages, in which various behavioural patterns of entrepreneurs are included. It also contributes to practice by offering insights on how network dynamics and robustness outcomes are not only related to context and ISN design, but also to actor behaviour.
-Chatbots are being used at an increasing rate, for instance, for simple Q&A conversations, flight reservations, online shopping and news aggregation. However, users expect to be served as effective and reliable as they were with human-based systems and are unforgiving once the system fails to understand them, engage them or show them human empathy. This problem is more prominent when the technology is used in domains such as health care, where empathy and the ability to give emotional support are most essential during interaction with the person. Empathy, however, is a unique human skill, and conversational agents such as chatbots cannot yet express empathy in nuanced ways to account for its complex nature and quality. This project focuses on designing emotionally supportive conversational agents within the mental health domain. We take a user-centered co-creation approach to focus on the mental health problems of sexual assault victims. This group is chosen specifically, because of the high rate of the sexual assault incidents and its lifetime destructive effects on the victim and the fact that although early intervention and treatment is necessary to prevent future mental health problems, these incidents largely go unreported due to the stigma attached to sexual assault. On the other hand, research shows that people feel more comfortable talking to chatbots about intimate topics since they feel no fear of judgment. We think an emotionally supportive and empathic chatbot specifically designed to encourage self-disclosure among sexual assault victims could help those who remain silent in fear of negative evaluation and empower them to process their experience better and take the necessary steps towards treatment early on.
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (ZUYD) and partners will develop photoflow chemistry reaction set-ups that will be powered with light as sustainable energy source, and as such contribute to the transition of the current chemical industry to a climate neutral one. To develop these reaction set-ups, a consortium of partners from the Dutch, Belgian and German chemical and high-tech ecosystems will cover all aspects related to required hardware, e.g. transparent reactors and energy-efficient light sources, automation and multiphase reactions. The mix of partners from academia (University of Amsterdam: the Noël group), an applied research organization (TNO), Center of Expertise CHILL, ZUYD, the Brightlands Chemelot Campus and multiple companies (Beartree Automation, Chemtrix, Creaflow, Ecosynth, De Heer, Innosyn, Mettler-Toledo, Peschl Ultraviolet and Swagelok Nederland) ensures an efficient and integrated development along technology readiness levels (TRL) ranging from two/three to five/six. Together we will answer the overarching question: With which advanced reaction set-up(s) can we efficiently perform and further optimize multiphase solution-based photochemical reactions that require gas and/or solid reagents, and efficiently showcase our capabilities? The development of the advanced reaction set-ups will allow us to answer our research question: How far can we extend the applicability of photoflow transformations beyond the current commercial state-of-the-art by the use of advanced reaction set-ups? Dissemination of several demonstrator transformations using our advanced set-ups will showcase capabilities of Light-Up partners and speed up the uptake of photoflow chemistry in industry. We will develop the next generation of advanced reaction set-ups for photoflow chemistry by combining the knowledge of the chemical and high-tech sectors, and facilitating knowledge exchange between sectors, to contribute to a climate neutral industry.
Due to the exponential growth of ecommerce, the need for automated Inventory management is crucial to have, among others, up-to-date information. There have been recent developments in using drones equipped with RGB cameras for scanning and counting inventories in warehouse. Due to their unlimited reach, agility and speed, drones can speed up the inventory process and keep it actual. To benefit from this drone technology, warehouse owners and inventory service providers are actively exploring ways for maximizing the utilization of this technology through extending its capability in long-term autonomy, collaboration and operation in night and weekends. This feasibility study is aimed at investigating the possibility of developing a robust, reliable and resilient group of aerial robots with long-term autonomy as part of effectively automating warehouse inventory system to have competitive advantage in highly dynamic and competitive market. To that end, the main research question is, “Which technologies need to be further developed to enable collaborative drones with long-term autonomy to conduct warehouse inventory at night and in the weekends?” This research focusses on user requirement analysis, complete system architecting including functional decomposition, concept development, technology selection, proof-of-concept demonstrator development and compiling a follow-up projects.
