Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Adaptable Design'

In today's world, with ever increasing competition, modelling and simulation proves to be a very helpful tool. Many methodologies exist to help build a simulation model from scratch. In terms of adaptability, most current attempts focus on either the operational side, ie the automated integration of data into a model, or the creation of new software. However, very few attempts are being made to improve the adaptability of shelved models built in existing simulation software. As a result, there is a certain reluctance, in some areas, to use simulation to its full potential. Based on these facts, it is obvious that anything, which makes reuse of simulation models easier, can help improve the use and spread of simulation as a valuable tool to maintain a company's competitiveness. In order to find such a solution, the following issues are looked at in this thesis: The changes to a simulation model that constitute the biggest problem, ways to minimise those changes, and possibilities to simplify the implementation of those changes. Those factors are evaluated, first by investigating current practices of building adaptable simulation models via a literature review, then the most difficult changes to implement in a simulation model, and the most frequent types of simulation software, are identified by means of interviews and questionnaire surveys. Next, parameters describing the adaptability of a simulation model are defined. In a further step, two of the most widely used simulation packages are benchmarked against a variety of tasks, reflecting the changes most frequent to models. The benchmarking study also serves to define and test certain elements regarding their suitability for adaptable models. Based on all those steps, model building guidelines for the creation of adaptable simulation models are developed and then validated by means of interviews and a framed field experiment. The interviews and questionnaire reveal that deleting is the easiest task and modifying the most complicated, while handling devices are the most difficult element to modify. The results also show that simulators (eg Arena) are the most widespread type of simulation software. The benchmarking showed that Arena is overall more adaptable than Simul8, and confirms the findings from the user survey. Also, it shows that sequencing is very helpful for modifying models, while the use of sub-models decrease the adaptability. Finally, the validation proves that the model building guidelines substantially increase the adaptability of models.

The thesis contributes a more lucid understanding of the potential for interaction amongst different facets of sustainability in the context of building design, providing evidence that the assimilation of diverse and often seemingly unconnected aspects of sustainability is not the unassuming process implicit in the current sustainability discourse. Working inductively and with a focus on two sustainable principles (the current UK government sponsored sustainability agenda, low carbon design, and an alternative interpretation, adaptable design, whose literature is framed in a sometimes complementary, at others antagonistic fashion to the former), this thesis develops an understanding of interaction in building design processes, using publically available documentary evidence and a comparative case-study approach. The thesis describes and categorises instances of interaction arising in the twenty-three case study building design processes, demonstrating both the empirical existence of interaction and improving the theoretical conceptualisation beyond basic ideas of synergy and conflict. Interaction is noted as arising from both technical incompatibilities and project actors interpretation of the agendas themselves: a socio-technical issue. The thesis distinguishes multiple approaches adopted by design teams to managing the entanglement encountered. Interpreting these interaction strategies in their case context, factors driving the selection of a particular approach are inductively derived and combined to form a tentative conceptual framework. This framework aides a systematic comparison across project cases, facilitated by the crisp set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) technique. Projects are described as configurations of the identified conditions and, by operationalizing interaction in a manner consistent with case study observation and the existing literatures of adaptable and low carbon design, assessed for successfulness in reconciling the agendas. The technique identifies three causal pathways to successful reconciliations of adaptable and low carbon design. Finally, the thesis makes a methodological contribution, through an evaluation of the application of QCA to a novel problem space (socio-technical, project-orientated problems of the built environment). Through the richness of documentary data obtained for study, it also demonstrates the potential effectiveness of documents as primary sources in the field of building design, where they are often relegated to a supporting role.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 42).<br>The following work provides the necessary details to assemble an adaptable enclosure device to protect precision experiments from the influence of outside factors. Through the use of UV resistant, sound resistant, electric resistant acrylic the enclosure provides a simple means of guaranteeing better data acquisition without the requirement of complex protective mechanisms. The acrylic material used for the design resists UV wavelengths up to 500 nm. The design is also dependant on its adaptability and the ease of manufacturing and use. By machining 14 acrylic sheets and applying magnetic strips to the edges, as well as cutting 12 steel beams, 7 different enclosure sizes can be assemble. There is one smaller box that is 6 inches in height, 4 that are 12 inches in height and a wide variety of widths and lengths, and two that are 18 inches in height. Because of the design they can also be changed to a new size any point. The enclosure improves the performance of testing on the nanometer level because small influences on the experiment can greatly affect the data collected. This device protects the experiment and the integrity of the data and improves the values recorded by 40%. The report details the necessary materials, the machining process and the assembly required to create this enclosure device.<br>by Shannon Turner.<br>S.B.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2004.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62).<br>Based on the fact that architecture is, among other things, the crystallization of a mediation among design intentions (function), meaning and contextual constraints (performance), we as designers are obligated to produce morphologically flexible & adaptive design solutions; both during the design process and as a final outcome. In that sense this thesis is an open ended exploration of embedding rational adaptability to object design through computational tools. This thesis will speculate on the advantages of thinking architecture in terms of "adaptation" in an action-reaction fashion, evolving from the seed idea of "motion" in architecture but rather pushing and exploring the potential of digitally designed responsive buildings and the dissection of its methodological approach. Empirically, it will look into some of nature's responsive designs, arguing that buildings can be conceptualized as adaptable living organisms. It will also analyze the role of computational tools and programming languages as meaningful mediums that help designers to better understand, set-up, define and re-define design problems. It will argue that more than an automated provider of an endless number of design solution computers can work as a systematic tool, making us more conscious during the design process.<br>by Alejandro Zulas.<br>S.M.

My PhD research develops production processes incorporating origami folding, shibori, additive printing and fusing techniques to create textiles that sustain three-dimensional, adaptable form with little or no supporting substructure. In these materials the textile surface itself becomes structural. The controlled packing, deployment and structural stability offered by predetermined folds in planar surfaces are extremely beneficial in many situations e.g. engineering, architecture and product design. I have devised transferable templates of folding that can be reinterpreted in a variety of material weights and scales that have potential for application in a number of these areas. The inherent mobility of these structural textiles, combined with the judicious choice of substrate and materials applied through printing and fusing, enables properties such as thermal or sound insulation, electrical conductivity or light transmission to be varied, as the situation demands. The textiles created are not only autonomous physical entities but also speculative design models. Such developments more usually originate from material science, engineering and textile technology contexts. However, by building on research carried out by these disciplines to develop folded structures but emphasising a ‘poetic’, design-orientated outlook I explore the potential for a more intuitive, nonlinear approach to highlight hitherto overlooked elements in the design process.

Thesis (Master of Architecture)--University of Cincinnati, 2009.<br>Advisor: Elizabeth Riordan. Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed July 28, 2009). Includes abstract. Keywords: adaptable; prefab; prefabrication; design for disassembly; Open Building; off-site fabrication; building adaptation. Includes bibliographical references.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO<br>COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR<br>CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO<br>PROGRAMA DE DOUTORADO SANDUÍCHE NO EXTERIOR<br>O potencial de autoconstrução de estruturas adaptáveis de bambu é o foco deste trabalho que visa ampliar a ótica do design como método projetual com ênfase no processo e não no produto final e como produtor de significados, podendo gerar autonomia de grupos em uma produção local pautada na educação ambiental/sustentabilidade. A adaptabilidade destas estruturas é um conceito central onde o objeto e o seu processo construtivo é determinado pelas condições locais de material, mão de obra e demanda de uso. O campo do design se estabeleceu no Brasil de acordo com a ótica do desenho industrial concebido nos países desenvolvidos que prioriza a fabricação, distribuição e comercialização dos objetos em grande escala. Neste contexto a atividade projetual deixa de focar no ser humano para se dedicar ao consumo em massa. Acreditamos que por meio do design é possível formar cidadãos conscientes da problemática ambiental planetária conduzindo-os através de metodologias participativas desenvolvidas no LILD PUC-Rio. O meio acadêmico (universidades e escolas) se apresenta como contexto geográfico favorável para aplicação destas metodologias que se baseiam na autonomia de grupos para a produção de objetos utilitários localmente. A esfera local/ regional é o ponto de partida para a concepção do design do objeto, determinando recursos materiais disponíveis, demandas de uso e aspectos culturais. Destacamos a metodologia de Técnicas & Convivência onde os professores-técnicos orientam os alunos-voluntários na concepção, construção e uso das estruturas adaptáveis de bambu em diversas aplicações. Neste processo os voluntários são coautores e são levados a pensar o objeto a partir de seu ciclo de vida – concepção, fabricação, uso, manutenção e descarte/pós-uso. O bambu representa um material acessível, de grande resistência com versatilidade para ser aplicado em diversos usos e é explorado aqui para fins estruturais. A abordagem transdisciplinar envolvendo os campos do design, arquitetura, engenharia e geografia nos leva a uma analise complexa do processo construtivo e do objeto final, contextualizando a produção no espaço. Em estudos de campo no Brasil e nos EUA concluímos que esta ótica de design com base na produção em esfera local/regional pautada na educação ambiental/sustentabilidade, tem grande acessibilidade e pode ser potencializada a partir da colaboração transdisciplinar para outros usos na sociedade, seja com foco na educação, na autonomia produtiva ou no uso diversificado das estruturas adaptáveis de bambu.<br>The self-building potential of adaptable bamboo structures is the focus of this work that is aiming to enlarge the concept of design as a projetual method with emphasis on the process rather than the end product and as a producer of meanings, which can generate autonomy groups in a local production based in the environmental education / sustainability. The adaptability of these structures is a central concept where the object and its constructive process is determined by local conditions of material, labor and demand of use. The design field was established in Brazil in accordance with the perspective of industrial design in developed countries that prioritizes the production, distribution and marketing of large-scale objects. In this context the projetual activity fails to focus on the human being necessities to devote to mass consumption. We believe that through the design is possible to form citizens aware of global environmental issues leading them through participatory methodologies developed in LILD PUC-Rio. The academia (universities and schools) is presented as favorable geographic context for the application of these methodologies that are based on the autonomy of groups for the production of utilitarian objects locally. The local / regional level is the starting point for the design of object design, determining material resources available, use, social demands and cultural aspects. We are highlighting the methodology of Techniques & Coexistence where technicians-teachers guide the students-volunteers in the design, construction and use of adaptable bamboo structures in various applications. In this process the volunteers are co-authors and are led to think the object starting from his lifecycle - design, manufacture, use, maintenance and disposal / post-use. Bamboo is an accessible material; high strength with versatility to be applied to various uses and is explored here for structural purposes. The transdisciplinary approach involving the fields of design, architecture, engineering and geography leads to a complex analysis of the construction process and the final object, contextualizing the production space. In field studies in Brazil and the United States we concluded that this concept of design based in the local/regional production lined in the environmental education / sustainability, has great accessibility and can be enhanced from the transdisciplinary collaboration to other uses in society and is focusing on education, productive autonomy or diversified use of adaptable structures of bamboo.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 101-103).<br>The cost and time required to develop aircraft have grown strongly over time, to the point where aircraft have become prohibitively expensive and are outpaced by ever-evolving mission needs. To address this problem, this thesis presents and explores an aircraft platform architecture called "Adaptable Aircraft Manufacturing" or "AAM", which features common tooling geometry that enables the creation of any composite aircraft (within a reachable subspace) on demand. To prove the feasibility of this architecture, a family of aircraft was constructed using a single set of AAM tooling. This thesis also optimizes the AAM geometry and quantifies the inefficiencies incurred by its adoption. This family optimization problem is both logically and computationally complex since the constraints AAM places between the variants cannot be prescribed by the designer, but arise as a result of the optimization gradients that exist between variants. A sequential-process framework which clarifies the relations and points of adjustability available in aircraft manufacturing is presented. A signomial-programming (SP) aircraft optimization code that is capable of simulating the inefficiencies generated by the AAM geometry was developed. The SP mathematical structure and the GPkit codebase were selected due to their compatibility with the constraint-heavy geometric rules that describe AAM and for the rapid speed of computation, which is necessary due to the scale of the optimization problem. To quantify the performance of AAM, a series of explorations are conducted whereby the performance of an AAM-family of aircraft is compared against a fleet of Individually-Optimal (IO) aircraft. These explorations are conducted along the axes of payload size, cruise speed, mission scope, and market bias to gain an understanding of how (and by how much) the AAM constraints affect both the performance and the geometry of the aircraft it produces. The results show that, for total-mission-cost-minimizing fleets of three designs each, the AAM fleet is between 10 and 20% more costly, but only require between 30% and 80% the tooling as an 10 fleet.<br>by Tony S. Tao.<br>Ph. D.

An adaptable service system adjusts to the operational-level environments of organisations to enable heterogeneous services. This adaptation is important for sustainability and contextual-value (benefit) creation in a service system. Academics, such as those related to the current service-ecosystem concept, acknowledge the significance of this adaptation. However, little is known about a comprehensive adaptation process and how that integrates within a design for a service system. Also, practitioners are inclined towards this development, as the financial regulator in Pakistan has established an “evolutionary framework”. This framework encourages financial institutions to design Shariah finance services (SFS) which respond and evolve to the emergent market environments. The existing SFS models take benefit from Islamic jurisprudence and economics literatures to provide designs for transactions of financial and physical assets. However, the SFS models de-emphasis the intangible service-elements, where the adaptation is more likely to occur. Currently there is a great need for models that could explain the detailed adaptation process and its placement in an SFS design. The aim of this research is to develop, evaluate and theorise a model for conceptualising a holistic adaptable service-system design. The research aim is achieved through the proposal of a novel deferred service-system design (DSD) model. The DSD conceptualises a service-system design that adapts to the operational-level environments of SFS organisations in Pakistan. The DSD has seven constructs: (i) the service creators apply centrally-planned designs to create a service ii) they adapt these designs to meet the requirements of emergent contexts (iii) the service personnel, customers and aiding parties co-create a service by integrating their (iv) roles and actions, (v) resources and usufructs, (vi) rules and control to generate (vii) value. DSD is based on service-system design (SSD) literature, SFS literature and theory of deferred action (TODA)  a theory of system and organisation design. A multiple case study strategy is employed to evaluate, extend and theorise the DSD developed in phase I. Qualitative data are collected in four SFS organisations: Islamic commercial bank, Islamic life Takaful, Islamic mutual fund, and Islamic leasing organisation. Thirty-two in-depth narrative interviews of SFS personnel are conducted and analysed using a narrative discourse analysis method. The findings are triangulated by adding focus-group discussions, visualisations and service offering documents. The empirical findings are synthesised with the extant literature to develop a novel and comprehensive DSD in phase II. The findings show that the service co-creators apply a centrally-developed planned design typology (PDT). PDT includes different blends of SFS models (e.g., partnerships, sales, leases, agency and endowment), expected varieties (list, range and negative) and addable-deductible modules. The service co-creators and their inclusive systems (e.g., families, societies, markets, regulators and other government agencies) affect the planned service-system design to adapt or migrate. The service co-creators follow a novel six-step deferred adaptation process (DAP): emergence locale, information diffusion, knowledge diffusion, indexation, specifics evaluation and adaptation/migration. The empirical findings advance our understanding of a service-system design by showing how a planned design enables adaptation through PDT. More importantly, how the service co-creators follow a systematic process, DAP, to attain the desired adaptation or migrate off the scene. The findings also broaden the conceptualisation of SFS by showing how it is co-created by the financial institutions, customers and aiding parties. This is due to the SFS being perceived as a product of financial institution alone. This research also makes a contribution to service visualisation method by extending and using the service blueprint as an additional data-collection and analysis tool. This study provided fourteen implications for the practitioners.

L’automatisation de la tâche de conduite s’inscrit dans un contexte de développement d’une mobilité durable. Il s’agit d’une solution prometteuse qui pourrait bien contribuer à la création de nouveaux moyens de transports sûrs et respectueux de l’environnement. Cependant, concevoir un véhicule autonome reste un défi majeur. C’est pour cette raison qu’il incombe aujourd’hui à l’utilisateur de reprendre le contrôle du véhicule à chaque fois que les circonstances s’y prêtent. Il semble pourtant peu judicieux de confier une telle responsabilité à un être humain dont l’implication dans la tâche de conduite est moindre. Les travaux menés dans le cadre de cette thèse portent sur la conception de véhicules autonomes agiles et sûrs. C’est plus précisément le développement d’un système capable de gérer de potentielles défaillances seul, d’élaborer des stratégies de repli par lui-même et de s’adapter à un environnement complexe qui est abordé ici<br>Driving automation is often presented as a viable solution to the prevailing challenges of sustainable mobility. It has the potential to create a paradigm shift in transportation technology, by providing a medium for cleaner, safer and more efficient means of transportation, while providing a better user experience overall. However, designing a dependable Automated Driving System is a challenge in itself. Current systems lack common sense and have trouble behaving in a truly cautionary manner, which is why a fallback-ready user is expected to take over in the event of a performance-relevant system failure affecting the dynamic driving task. Yet it seems unwise to rely on human drivers to act as a safety net for the purpose of offsetting the lack of maturity of Automated Driving Systems, for automation changes their active involvement into a monitoring role and creates new challenges, such as complacency, automation dependency, lack of understanding and misuse. The work places emphasis on the design of dependable and adaptable Automated Driving Systems. In particular, the thesis addresses the problem of designing a new ADS primary subsystem, whose role it is to monitor the state of the ADS, supervise its actions and respond as needed to guarantee the safety of its occupants and of others

Processing power is a key technical challenge holding back the development of a high-performance software defined radio (SDR). Traditionally, SDR has utilized digital signal processors (DSPs), but increasingly complex algorithms, higher data rates, and multi-tasking needs have exceed the processing capabilities of modern DSPs. Reconfigurable computers, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), are popular alternatives because of their performance gains over software for streaming data applications like SDR. However, FPGAs have not yet realized the ideal SDR because architectures have not fully utilized their partial reconfiguration (PR) capabilities to bring needed flexibility. A reconfigurable processor architecture is proposed that utilizes PR in reconfigurable computers to achieve a more sophisticated SDR. The proposed processor contains run-time swappable blocks whose parameters and interconnects are programmable. The architecture is analyzed for performance and flexibility and compared with available alternate technologies. For a sample QPSK algorithm, hardware performance gains of at least 44x are seen over modern desktop processors and DSPs while most of their flexibility and extensibility is maintained.

Daily business and office operations, which take place within the context of processes, are carried out by staff. These processes form a workflow. A supervisor assigns and coordinates the work, and monitors the workflow to ensure productivity and service quality. These activities are characterized as workflow management. As workflow grows in volume and complexity, so does workflow management. A workflow management system (WFMS) is a proactive management information system that assists the workers to do jobs more efficiently by obtaining information or invoking application programs for them, and supports the managers in monitoring job execution, collecting performance statistics and balancing the workload among workers. As such, a WFMS is a metasystem that oversees and interacts with an existing manual or computer assisted business process. Therefore, a WFMS requires adaptability to work with all kinds of business processes. Different workflows may be governed by different WFMSs. When a workflow needs to interact with another workflow, the involved WFMSs must work together by exchanging information or performing some monitoring functions for its counterpart. This means a WFMS must cope with invocation across (potentially) all platforms and network environments and transfer application or workflow relevant data in a common format. This also means WFMSs require interoperability. The Workflow Management Coalition (WFMC) has published a Workflow Reference Model along with relevant standards and specifications to facilitate the development of interoperable WFMS. The advent of World Wide Web (WWW) and Extensible Markup Language (XML) also offered a great opportunity of expanding WFMS interoperability and enhancing WFMS adaptability. In fact, a recent WFMC standard on Interoperability WF-XML Binding has taken full advantage of this potential. In this dissertation the author presents a two-tier approach based on these technologies to the design of an interoperable and adaptable WFMS. The resulting WFMS is document-centric, transaction-based and event-driven. During the design, the author of this study first observed two typical transaction-based business scenarios and developed a generic business process model. This generic business process model was then represented with a set of Document Type Definitions (DTDs) in XML. Any instantiation of the DTDs is an adaptation to a particular business process. The application programming interfaces were represented in XML considering the WWW environment. The software components of the WFMS were specified in terms of functionality and capability to process XML documents. Metainformation about external applications and databases were also represented in XML. Finally, the WFMS was evaluated in terms of design, adaptability and interoperability. Because of the interoperability and adaptability, the author found that the design concepts in this study are not only applicable to the administrative type of workflow, but also to other types such as production-line workflow, collaborative workflow and ad-hoc workflow.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited<br>Component-based software engineering is an emerging software development approach based on the fundamentals of object-oriented technology. This approach moves programmers' focus from component development to component assembly. Event-based programming is one of the techniques that can be used to assemble software components into applications. In this thesis, a new, generic, highly adaptable and flexible event channel has been designed and implemented. The main product is a Java utility package, called "channel package", which should help Java application developers create or enhance large systems using an event-based programming approach. The new channel design has several demonstrated performance advantages over existing event channel implementations. The flexibility and adaptability of the channel package has also been validated by a successful upgrade of the channel mechanism of the SAAM prototype system.

L'objectif de ces travaux de recherche est l'étude et le développement d'un système ICM embarqué en utilisant la méthodologie de conception conjointe afin de satisfaire ses contraintes spécifiques. Il en a découlé la constitution d'un système ICM complet intégrant un système d'acquisition OpenBCI et un système de traitement à base de FPGA. Ce système pourrait être utilisé dans des contextes variés : médicale (pour les diagnostiques précoces des pathologies), technologique (informatique ubiquitaire), industriel (communication avec des robots), ludique (contrôler un joystick dans les jeux vidéo), etc. Dans notre contexte d’étude, la plateforme ICM proposée a été réalisée pour assister les personnes à mobilité réduite à commander les équipements domestiques. Nous nous sommes intéressés en particulier à l'étude et à l'implémentation des modules de filtrage adaptatif et dynamique, sous forme d'un coprocesseur codé en HDL afin de réduire son temps d'exécution car c'est le bloc le plus critique de la chaine ICM. Quant aux algorithmes d'extraction des caractéristiques et de classification, ils sont exécutés par le processeur Nios-II sous son système d'exploitation en ANSI-C. Le temps de traitement d'un trial par notre système ICM réalisé est de l'ordre de 0.4 s/trial et sa consommation ne dépasse guère 0.7 W<br>The main purpose of this thesis is to study and develop an embedded brain computer interface (BCI) system using HW/SW methodology in order to satisfy the system specifications. A complete BCI system integrated in an acquisition system (OpenBCI) and a hardware platform based on the FPGA were achieved. The proposed system can be used in a variety of contexts: medical (for early diagnosis of pathologies, assisting people with severe disabilities to control home devices system through thought), technological (ubiquitous computing), industrial (communication with Robots), games (control a joystick in video games), etc. In our study, the proposed ICM platform was designed to control home devices through the thought of people with severe disabilities. A particular attention has been given to the study and implementation of the filtering module, adaptive and dynamic filtering, in the form of a coprocessor coded in HDL in order to reduce its execution time as it is the critical block in the returned ICM algorithms. For the feature extraction and classification algorithms, they are executed in the Nios-II processor using ANSI-C language. The prototype operates at 200 MHz and performs a real time classification with an execution delay of 0.4 second per trial. The power consumption of the proposed system is about 0.7 W

The integration of windcatchers in the urban context of hot-arid context of Tehran needs to address two changes in the current utilization: 1) high density context which makes it harder to access to sufficient airflow in the urban context, and 2) sociocultural shifts towards dependencies on modern mechanical air-conditioning systems. Windcatchers are unique tools existing in the hot-arid regions in the Middle East. Windcatcher uses thermal mass, evaporation techniques, and stack effect to deliver human comfort to the residents of the building. Vernacular windcatchers are useful for moderating the indoor air temperature. Yet, using natural ventilation techniques as passive strategies are outdated in recent decades and there are a couple of reasons for that such as maintenance difficulties, lack of urban air filtration methods, decline of cooling efficiency due to modified airflow patterns, habitable space utilization modifications, and dependencies on mechanical cooling systems. On the other hand, tensile structures have the potential to be considered as a tool to upgrade the windcatchers and use them in the modern urban context which will also help reducing energy and reviving local textile industry. This research tries to propose a method that emphasizes on the adaptability of windcatchers and tensile structures, inhabitant control, airflow control and reuse of heavy thermal mass. Also, the proposed model offers improvements for environmental performance of lightweight textiles, such as particulate matter filtration, kinetic energy transformation, and photoresponse for passive shading or natural daylighting strategies. The main goal of this research is to define the parameters required to enhance inhabitant adaptability with the windcatcher and also natural ventilation cooling system. In this research, important characteristics of Sangelaj neighborhood in Tehran are considered such as existing windcatcher dimensions, micro-climate conditions, and urban morphology. Then, different methods are proposed to develop the heat transfer and airflow analysis of the integration between windcatchers and tensile structures. The research suggests methods for adaptation of windcatchers in existing buildings of Tehran using tensile structures. It also proposes methods for the new buildings in the urban context of Sangelaj neighborhood in Tehran.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-12-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:30:47Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gananca_as_me_bauru.pdf: 2038119 bytes, checksum: 255caa1e61b323355f27249e0ca110ce (MD5)<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)<br>O presente estudo apresenta uma alternativa de aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico no projeto e avaliação de uma assento modular com regulagem vertical, buscando prevenir e minimizar os problemas decorrentes do desvio da coluna vertebral do tipo escoliose: uma das principais seqüelas da paralisia cerebral (PC). A revisão bibliográfica abordou as relações entre design, ergonomia e fisioterapia, bem como os procedimentos de reabilitação da pessoa com PC, particularmente os meios tecnológicos de tratamento da escoliose. Os objetivos do estudo envolveram a intervenção projetual com a aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico, e a aplicação e validação de técnicas clínicas e fisioterapêuticas na avaliação da usabilidade de assentos especiais para reabilitação. Aspectos éticos foram considerados na abordagem com 3 indivíduos portadores de PC e escoliose, sendo que um deles utilizou um assento adaptado com regulagem vertical, e os demais fizeram uso de assento comum. Os procedimentos das avaliações envolveram diferentes formas de abordagem e profissionais, com avaliações pré e pós-uso do produto, num intervalo de 90 dias. Os resultados indicaram melhorias psico-sociais, ortopédicas, neurológicas e clínicas do usuário do assento adaptado, sendo que a avaliação da biofotogrametria computadorizada indicou uma melhora significativa (p '< OU =') 0,01) nas condições posturais da coluna vertebral. Tais resultados comprovaram a eficiência da adaptação proposta no produto; uma nova alternativa na avaliação de usabilidade de produtos para a reabilitação; além da conseqüente melhoria na qualidade de vida das pessoas com necessidades especiais.<br>This study presents an alternative application of the principals of ergonomic design, using this project and its evaluation of a vertically regulated modular chair, seeking to prevent and minimize the problems caused by the curvature of the spine such as scoliosis: one of the main consequences of cerebral palsy (CP). The bibliographical sources used approached the relationship between design, ergonomics and physiotherapy, as well as the procedure of rehabilitation of people with CP, particularly the technological methods of treating scoliosis. The objectives of this study involve the intervention of this project with the application of the principals of ergonomic design, and the application and validation of clinical and physiotherapeutic techniques in the evaluation of the use of special seating for rehabilitation. Ethical aspects were considered in the approach used with theree individuals with CP and scoliosis: one of them used the vertically regulated chair and the others the standard chair. The evaluation procedures involved a variety of methods of approach and different professionals, with pre and post use product evaluation, during a period of ninety days. The results showed psychosocial, orthopedic, neurological and clinical improvements to the adapted chair user: Computerized Biophotogrammetry evaluation showed significant improvement (p '< OU =') 0,01) in the spinal posture condition. Such results prove the efficiency of the proposed product adaptation; a new alternative in the evaluation of the use of the product for rehabilitation; and, consequential improvement to the quality of life of people with special needs.

As of 2007, U.S. pesticide use stood at 1.1 billion pounds with 80% of all usage in agriculture. Such realities pose a potentially dangerous threat to our surface water bodies. This research provides a detailed analysis of the design, operation and field testing of a prototype water sampler, the Small Volume Autonomous Water Sampler (SVAWS). The research includes a discussion of the design and construction of the SVAWS. Seven USGS employees operated the SVAWS in a number of different states and conditions in order to collect samples for pesticide analysis. Field-testing outcomes of the SVAWS were measured through a Participant Survey Request and a Likert-Scale Assessment. Overall, survey data proved the SVAWS to be an effective device for collecting water samples in different locations and conditions. Users also understood the SVAWS has significant potential for applications other than pesticide studies. While feedback did show a number of alterations or modifications could improve the design, the device proved to be effective across many of its goals, from valid water sampling to reducing costs of sample acquisition. Recommendations for future research include these and other avenues of research. A conclusion addresses the potential future of the SVAWS with respect to water sampling applications.

The topic of this thesis is the design and synthesis of biaryl-based self adaptableligands for asymmetric metal catalysis. The results discussed in papers I-III are covered, together with some unpublished results concerning substrate-adaptable catalysts. A general survey of self-adaptable catalysts is presented first. The second chapter of this thesis starts with a survey of inversion barriers in biphenyl-based ligands and catalysts. Thereafter, the determination of barriers to conformational adaptation in dibenzoazepines and dibenzophosphepines is described. Palladium complexes with a diphosphine ligand or a diamine ligand, as well as the free diamine ligand, were studied. Entropies and enthalpies of activation were determined with variable temperature NMR spectroscopy. The mechanism of conformational change in the metal complexes was elucidated. The third chapter describes the synthesis of semiflexible and rigid phosphinite ligands, as well as their application in rhodium-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation. Modest enantioselectivities (up to 63% ee) were obtained. The semiflexible ligand was found to behave like the most active rigid diastereomer. The fourth chapter describes the behaviour of amine and phosphoramidite ligands in model complexes relevant to the palladium-catalysed asymmetricallylic alkylation of benchmark substrates. Diphosphoramidite and aminephosphoramiditeligands were designed and synthesised. Pd(olefin) complexesof diamine and diphosphoramidite ligands were studied, and their symmetry determined. It was found that both types of ligands are able to adapt their conformation to the substrate.<br>QC20100630

Cette thèse présente la conception et la commande d’une main robotique légère et peu onéreuse pour un robot compagnon humanoïde. La main est conçue pour exprimer des émotions à travers des gestes et pour saisir de petits objets légers. Sa géométrie est définie à l’aide de données anthropométriques. Sa cinématique est simplifiée par rapport à la main humaine pour réduire le nombre d’actionneurs tout en respectant ses exigences fonctionnelles. La main préserve son anthropomorphisme grâce aux nombres et au placement de la base des doigts et à une bonne opposabilité du pouce. La mécatronique de la main repose sur un compromis entre des phalanges couplés, qui permettent de bien connaître la posture des doigts pendant les gestes, et des phalanges capable de s’adapter à la forme des objets pendant la saisie, réunis en une conception hybride unique. Ce compromis est rendu possible grâce à deux systèmes d’actionnement distincts placés en parallèle. Leur coexistence est garantie par une transmission compliante basée sur des barres en élastomère. La solution proposée réduit significativement le poids et la taille de la main en utilisant sept actionneurs de faible puissance pour les gestes et un seul moteur puissant pour la saisie. Le système est conçue pour être embarqué sur Romeo, un robot humanoïde de1.4 [m] produit par Aldebaran. Les systèmes d’actionnements sont dimensionnés pour ouvrir et fermer les doigts en moins de 1 [s] et pour saisir une canette pleine de soda. La main est réalisée et contrôlée pour garantir une interaction sûre avec l’homme mais aussi pour protéger l’intégrité de la mécanique. Un prototype (ALPHA) est réalisé pour valider la conception et ses capacités fonctionnelles<br>This thesis presents the design and control of a low-cost and lightweight robotic hand for a social humanoid robot. The hand is designed to perform expressive hand gestures and to grasp small and light objects. Its geometry follows anthropometric data. Its kinematics simplifies the human hand structure to reduce the number of actuators while ensuring functional requirements. The hand preserves anthropomorphism by properly placing five fingers on the palm and by ensuring an equilibrated thumb opposability. Its mechanical system results from the compromise between fully-coupled phalanges and self-adaptable fingers in a unique hybrid design. This answers the need for known finger postures while gesturing and for finger adaptation to different object shapes while grasping. The design is based on two distinct actuation systems embodied in parallel within the palm and the fingers. Their coexistence is ensured by a compliant transmission based on elastomer bars. The proposed solution significantly reduces the weightand the size of the hand by using seven low-power actuators for gesturing and a single high-power motor for grasping. The overall system is conceived to be embedded on Romeo, a humanoid robot 1.4 [m] tall produced by Aldebaran. Actuation systems are dimensioned to open and close the fingers in less than1 [s] and to grasp a full soda can. The hand is realized and controlled to ensure safe human-robot interaction and to preserve mechanical integrity. A prototype(ALPHA) is realized to validate the design feasibility and its functional capabilities

Orientador: Luis Carlos Paschoarelli<br>Banca: José Carlos Plácido da Silva<br>Banca: Nuno Miguel Lopes de Oliveira<br>Resumo: O presente estudo apresenta uma alternativa de aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico no projeto e avaliação de uma assento modular com regulagem vertical, buscando prevenir e minimizar os problemas decorrentes do desvio da coluna vertebral do tipo escoliose: uma das principais seqüelas da paralisia cerebral (PC). A revisão bibliográfica abordou as relações entre design, ergonomia e fisioterapia, bem como os procedimentos de reabilitação da pessoa com PC, particularmente os meios tecnológicos de tratamento da escoliose. Os objetivos do estudo envolveram a intervenção projetual com a aplicação dos princípios do design ergonômico, e a aplicação e validação de técnicas clínicas e fisioterapêuticas na avaliação da usabilidade de assentos especiais para reabilitação. Aspectos éticos foram considerados na abordagem com 3 indivíduos portadores de PC e escoliose, sendo que um deles utilizou um assento adaptado com regulagem vertical, e os demais fizeram uso de assento comum. Os procedimentos das avaliações envolveram diferentes formas de abordagem e profissionais, com avaliações pré e pós-uso do produto, num intervalo de 90 dias. Os resultados indicaram melhorias psico-sociais, ortopédicas, neurológicas e clínicas do usuário do assento adaptado, sendo que a avaliação da biofotogrametria computadorizada indicou uma melhora significativa (p '< OU =') 0,01) nas condições posturais da coluna vertebral. Tais resultados comprovaram a eficiência da adaptação proposta no produto; uma nova alternativa na avaliação de usabilidade de produtos para a reabilitação; além da conseqüente melhoria na qualidade de vida das pessoas com necessidades especiais.<br>Abstract: This study presents an alternative application of the principals of ergonomic design, using this project and its evaluation of a vertically regulated modular chair, seeking to prevent and minimize the problems caused by the curvature of the spine such as scoliosis: one of the main consequences of cerebral palsy (CP). The bibliographical sources used approached the relationship between design, ergonomics and physiotherapy, as well as the procedure of rehabilitation of people with CP, particularly the technological methods of treating scoliosis. The objectives of this study involve the intervention of this project with the application of the principals of ergonomic design, and the application and validation of clinical and physiotherapeutic techniques in the evaluation of the use of special seating for rehabilitation. Ethical aspects were considered in the approach used with theree individuals with CP and scoliosis: one of them used the vertically regulated chair and the others the standard chair. The evaluation procedures involved a variety of methods of approach and different professionals, with pre and post use product evaluation, during a period of ninety days. The results showed psychosocial, orthopedic, neurological and clinical improvements to the adapted chair user: "Computerized Biophotogrammetry" evaluation showed significant improvement (p '< OU =') 0,01) in the spinal posture condition. Such results prove the efficiency of the proposed product adaptation; a new alternative in the evaluation of the use of the product for rehabilitation; and, consequential improvement to the quality of life of people with special needs.<br>Mestre

La prolifération des objets communicants fixes et mobiles soulève la question de leur intégration dans les environnements quotidiens, par exemple dans le cadre de la e-santé ou de la domotique. Les principaux défis soulevés relèvent de l’interconnexion et de la gestion de la masse de donnée produite par ces objets intelligents. Notre premier objectif est d’adopter une démarche des couches basses vers les couches hautes pour faciliter l’intégration de ces objets à des services intelligents. Afin de développer celle-ci, il est nécessaire de d’étudier le processus de conception des objets intelligents indépendamment de considérations matérielles et logicielles, au travers de la considération de leur propriétés cyber-physiques. Pour mener à bien la réalisation de services intelligents à partir d’objets connectés, les deux axes de recherche suivant seront développés : la définition d’une méthode de conception orientée service pour les objets connectés intégrant une dimension formelle ainsi de valider le comportement de ceux-ci, l’auto-adaptation intelligente dans un contexte évolutif permettant aux objets de raisonner sur eux même au travers d’un langage déclaratif pour spécifier les stratégies d’adaptation. La validation de ces contributions s’effectuera par le biais du développement et de l’expérimentation à grandeur nature d’un service de diagnostic médical continu basé sur la collecte de données médicales en masse par des réseaux non-intrusifs de capteurs biomédicaux portables sur le corps humain<br>The rapid growth of fixed and mobile smart objects raises the issue of their integration in everyday environment, e.g. in e-health or home-automation contexts. The main challenges of these objects are the interoperability, the handling of the massive amount of data that they generate, and their limited resources. Our goal is to take a bottom-up approach in order to improve the integration of smart devices to smart services. To ensure the efficient development of our approach, we start with the study of the design process of such devices regardless of specific hardware or software through the consideration of their cyber-physical properties. We thus develop two research directions: the specification of a service-oriented design method for smart devices with formal considerations in order to validate their behavior, and the proposal of a self-adaptation framework in order to handle changing operating context through self-reasoning and the definition of a declarative self-adaptation objectives specification language. The testing of these contributions will be realized through the development of a large-scale experimental framework based on a remote diagnostics case-study relying on non-invasive wearable biomedical sensors

Many digital logic applications can take advantage of the reconfiguration capability of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to dynamically patch design flaws, recover from faults, or time-multiplex between functions. Partial reconfiguration is the process by which a user modifies one or more modules residing on the FPGA device independently of the others. Partial Reconfiguration reduces the granularity of reconfiguration to be a set of columns or rectangular region of the device. Decreasing the granularity of reconfiguration results in reduced configuration filesizes and, thus, reduced configuration times. When compared to one bitstream of a non-partial reconfiguration implementation, smaller modules resulting in smaller bitstream filesizes allow an FPGA to implement many more hardware configurations with greater speed under similar storage requirements. To realize the benefits of partial reconfiguration in a wider range of applications, this thesis begins with a survey of FPGA fault-handling methods, which are compared using performance-based metrics. Performance analysis of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) Offline Recovery method is investigated and candidate solutions provided by the GA are partitioned by age to improve its efficiency. Parameters of this aging technique are optimized to increase the occurrence rate of complete repairs. Continuing the discussion of partial reconfiguration, the thesis develops a case-study application that implements one partial reconfiguration module to demonstrate the functionality and benefits of time multiplexing and reveal the improved efficiencies of the latest large-capacity FPGA architectures. The number of active partial reconfiguration modules implemented on a single FPGA device is increased from one to eight to implement a dynamic video-processing architecture for Discrete Cosine Transform and Motion Estimation functions to demonstrate a 55-fold reduction in bitstream storage requirements thus improving partial reconfiguration capability.<br>M.S.Cp.E.<br>School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science<br>Engineering and Computer Science<br>Computer Engineering MSCpE

Many plant species, including Barrel Cacti, have developed long-term evolutionary adaptable traits to survive in extreme climates. The most important trait of cacti in extreme hot dry climates is to reduce water evaporation and increase water storage. The exterior skin of a cactus plays an important role in preventing water evaporation through heat transmission. On the other hand, there have been many passive design strategies applied to the space planning and building design of architecture in hot dry climates. The goal of these passive design strategies is to regulate the penetration of heat into building spaces while creating a strong ventilation system to help bring cool air inside the building. In this paper, adaptations of the Barrel Cactus' exterior skin, along with architectural passive design strategies for hot dry climates (in this caseYazd, Iran) will be discussed and integrated with one another through the concept of Biomimicry. The goal is to design an exterior building skin that is attuned to the environmental conditions of a hot dry climate, based on the successful applicable behaviors demonstrated in the Barrel Cactus. Key architectural features such as natural ventilation and daylight will be informed by the evolutionary cacti adaptations and passive architectural strategies in the design of the building skin in order to increase the possibility of consistent comfort for users of an office building.

The existing buildings in the UK are not designed to be functionally adaptive to fit a spectrum of purposes. Alternatively, scrapping these buildings and building anew does not appear to be an economically viable and environmentally sustainable solution either. Proactive solutions to respond to future potential changes of use are rare in previous and current building designs, which ultimately make these buildings functionally redundant. At present, curiosity about adaptable buildings is spreading among owners, developers and policy makers; however, no detailed investigation has been undertaken to identify the economic costs and benefits of adaptability in new buildings. Thus, the present endeavour was designed to bridge this gap. The research exploited both case studies and survey designs to explore the answers to the above problem. Two case studies were undertaken to establish that building changes occur over time, as well as to assess their economic implications in the current built environment at both macro and micro levels. Three web-based surveys (WBS) were designed and circulated among quantity surveyors and architects of the 100 leading consultancy practices in the UK to identify both the design and economic aspects of adaptability in buildings. The total numbers of respondents to WBS1, WBS2 and WBS3 were 13, 32 and 42, respectively. In addition, data was collected from semi-structured interviews with two policy makers, two structural engineers, a quantity surveyor and a facilities manager. Unstructured interviews with a senior planner, a project manager, two architects and a services engineer were used to clarify the issues of design and planning for adaptability in buildings. The findings were interwoven to develop a conceptual framework to identify the economic considerations for adaptability in new buildings. Two workshops were undertaken with the industry partners for the Adaptable Futures research project to verify the results obtained from the case studies and to test the usability of the developed conceptual framework. The group members had multi-disciplinary backgrounds of architecture, quantity surveying and structural engineering, allowing a robust grounding for verification. The results contribute to the body of knowledge in two ways. Firstly, the developed conceptual framework identifies the economic considerations (costs and benefits) for change of use in buildings within the wider context of adaptability over the lifecycle aspects. This will assist owners/clients and developers in their economic decisions for designing new buildings for potential adaptations. Secondly, the research findings strengthen the reliability of the existing body of knowledge whilst confirming the urgent need for designing new buildings towards potential adaptations. In addition, the findings strongly emphasise plan depth and floor to ceiling height as the most influential design parameters for building change of use, the details of which are not highlighted in the previous literature.

Ces travaux de thèse visent à concevoir et étudier une unité d'échangeur de chaleur air-MCP en tant que solution passive a la problématique du contrôle de confort thermique dans les bâtiments pendant l'été, fournissant des directives de conception et une intégration facile aux bâtiments. Les MCP présentent une grande capacité de stockage par unité de volume, ce qui leur permet de contribuer à la réduction de la consommation d'énergie liée aux applications de rafraîchissement. Bien qu'ils présentent certains inconvénients, en tant que faible conductivité thermique, notamment dans les PCM commerciaux, une conception bien détaillée est nécessaire pour atteindre des performances thermiques adéquates.La première partie de cette thèse examine les systèmes existants à travers une étude bibliographique, mettant en évidence la relation géométrique avec la physique et la performance thermique. Cette recherche a fourni les bases pour le développement d'une conception d'une unité air-MCP, suivant une méthodologie de résolution de problèmes développée par le laboratoire I2M. Une matrice de mots-clés a été obtenue à partir des phénomènes physiques et de l'analyse fonctionnelle de l'unité. A partir de cette matrice, l'analyse des brevets a inspiré la conception qui a abouti à un échangeur de chaleur air-PCM à faisceau tubulaire avec des tubes verticaux alignés perpendiculairement au flux d'air.Le développement d'outils de conception et d'intégration dans les bâtiments a été recherché au moyen d'une modélisation permettant de prédire avec précision les performances thermiques du système. Les modèles simplifiés sont préférés pour cette tâche. Néanmoins, ils peuvent sous-estimer les performances réelles si les phénomènes physiques impliqués ne sont pas correctement comptabilisés. Alors,des approches expérimentales locales et globales ont été utilisées pour parvenir à une compréhension de la physique associée aux cycles de charge et de décharge dans l'unité air-MCP. Pour cela, un banc d'essai a été installé, mesurant la température et le débit d'air dans différentes conditions d'entrée, accompagné d'un suivi visuel à travers des images numériques. Les traitements d'images et des données ont été utilisés pour obtenir des indicateurs de performance thermique et des corrélations équivalentes en utilisant des nombres adimensionnels connus pour les mécanismes de transfert de chaleur convectifs-conducteurs dans le PCM.Ces découvertes ont permis de développer des modèles de résistance thermique et d'enthalpie qui rendent compte de la complexité des phénomènes impliqués dans l'unité pour la prédiction de la performance. Enfin, la performance thermique du système a été testée dans deux applications de bâtiments : en tant qu'unité mobile dans une maison PEH à Gradignan dans un bureau du labo I2M<br>The present work aims to design and study an air-PCM heat exchanger unit as a passive solution for thermal comfort assessment in buildings during summertime, providing tools to ease the design and building integration. The PCM present a large storage capacity per volume unit where by, they can contribute to the reduction of the energy consumption related to cooling applications. Although, theyshow some drawbacks, as a low thermal conductivity in commercial PCM, so a wellthought design of these kind of systems is necessary to achieve adequate thermal performances.The first part of this thesis surveys the existing systems through a literature review,highlighting the geometry relation with the physics and thermal performance. This search provided the bases for the development of an air-PCM unit design, following a problem-solving methodology developed by the I2M laboratory. A keyword matrix was obtained from the physical phenomena and functional analysis of the unit. From this matrix, the patents analysis provided inspiration for the design resulting in a tubebundle air-PCM heat exchanger with vertical tubes aligned perpendicular to the airflow.The development of design and integration in buildings tools was sought through a modeling that can accurately predict the thermal performance of the system.Simplified models are preferred for this task. Nevertheless, they can under predict the actual performance if the physical phenomena involved is not properly accounted. Then, local and global experimental approaches were used to achieve anunderstanding of the physics associated with charging and discharging cycles in theunit. For this, a test bench was installed, measuring temperature and airflow underdifferent in let conditions, accompanied by a visual tracking through digital images.Image and data processing were used to obtain thermal performance indicators and equivalent correlations using known dimensionless numbers for convective conductive heat transfer mechanisms in the PCM.These findings allowed the development of thermal models based on energy balances, that accounted the complexity of phenomena involved in the unit for performance prediction. Finally, the thermal performance of the system was tested intwo buildings applications: as a mobile unit in a PEH house in Gradignan and as anactive façade in a building in Talence<br>El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo diseñar y estudiar una unidad intercambiador de calor aire-PCM como presentan una solución pasiva al conforttérmico en edificios durante el verano, proporcionando herramientas para facilitar el diseño y la integración en edificios. Los PCM una gran capacidad de almacenamiento por unidad de volumen, por lo que pueden contribuir a la reducción del consumo de energía relacionado con las aplicaciones de refrigeración. Estos materiales presentan algunos inconvenientes en cual su uso, como una baja conductividad térmica, típica en PCM comerciales, por lo es necesario un diseño que tome en cuenta esta problemática para lograr rendimientos térmicos adecuados. La primera parte de esta tesis examina los sistemas existentes a través de unarevisión de la literatura, destacando la relación de geometría con los fenómenos físicos y el rendimiento térmico. Esta búsqueda proporcionó las bases para el desarrollo de un diseño de unidad aire-PCM, siguiendo una metodología de resolución de problemas desarrollada por el laboratorio I2M. Se obtuvo una matrizde palabras clave a partir de los fenómenos físicos y el análisis funcional de launidad. A partir de esta matriz, el análisis de patentes proporcionó inspiración para el diseño que dio como resultado un intercambiador de calor PCM de aire y haz detubos verticales alineados perpendicularmente al flujo de aire.El desarrollo del diseño y la integración en herramientas de edificios se buscó através de un modelo que pudiese predecir con precisión el rendimiento térmico delsistema. Los modelos simplificados son los preferidos para esta tarea. Sin embargo,su poder de predicción puede verse afectada si los fenómenos físicos involucradosno se contabilizan adecuadamente. Es por ello que se utilizaron enfoques experimentales locales y globales para lograr una comprensión de la física asociadacon los ciclos de carga y descarga en la unidad. Se realizó una instalación de unbanco de pruebas, que permitió mediciones de temperatura y flujo de aire en diferentes condiciones de entrada, acompañado de un seguimiento visual a travésde imágenes digitales. El procesamiento de imágenes y datos se utilizó para obtener indicadores de rendimiento térmico y correlaciones a partir de números adimensionales relacionados con mecanismos de transferencia de calor porconvección y conducción en el PCM.Estos hallazgos permitieron el desarrollo de modelos térmicos para la predicción delrendimiento, basados en balances de energía de cada volumen de control.Finalmente, el rendimiento térmico del sistema se probó en dos aplicaciones deedificios: como una unidad móvil en una casa PEH en Gradignan y dentro de una oficina del laboratorio I2M

The increasing use of model-driven software development has renewed emphasis on using domain-specific models during application development. More specifically, there has been emphasis on using domain-specific modeling languages (DSMLs) to capture user-specified requirements when creating applications. The current approach to realizing these applications is to translate DSML models into source code using several model-to-model and model-to-code transformations. This approach is still dependent on the underlying source code representation and only raises the level of abstraction during development. Experience has shown that developers will many times be required to manually modify the generated source code, which can be error-prone and time consuming. An alternative to the aforementioned approach involves using an interpreted domain-specific modeling language (i-DSML) whose models can be directly executed using a Domain Specific Virtual Machine (DSVM). Direct execution of i-DSML models require a semantically rich platform that reduces the gap between the application models and the underlying services required to realize the application. One layer in this platform is the domain-specific middleware that is responsible for the management and delivery of services in the specific domain. In this dissertation, we investigated the problem of designing the domain-specific middleware of the DSVM to facilitate the bifurcation of the semantics of the domain and the model of execution (MoE) while supporting runtime adaptation and validation. We approached our investigation by seeking solutions to the following sub-problems: (1) How can the domain-specific knowledge (DSK) semantics be separated from the MoE for a given domain? (2) How do we define a generic model of execution (GMoE) of the middleware so that it is adaptable and realizes DSK operations to support delivery of services? (3) How do we validate the realization of DSK operations at runtime? Our research into the domain-specific middleware was done using an i-DSML for the user-centric communication domain, Communication Modeling Language (CML), and for microgrid energy management domain, Microgrid Modeling Language (MGridML). We have successfully developed a methodology to separate the DSK and GMoE of the middleware of a DSVM that supports specialization for a given domain, and is able to perform adaptation and validation at runtime.

In Spain the housing refurbishment hasn’t reached the 25% respect new construction, even though more than the half of the house has been built before 1980. Besides, the construction environmental impact is one of the highest between all the industrial activities due to the high consumption of resources (raw materials) and the generation of low value waste in the construction and demolition stage. The way to reduce the sector set environmental impact is to intervene in the built park, optimising the resources and the waste generation. Actually, the refurbishments principal objective use to be reducing the energy consumption of the houses. However, the refurbishment of the housing state should not be limited to just energetic considerations, but ought to consider also architectural, functional and technical aspects. The introduction of a new refurbishment model is considerate necessary, focused in providing and optimising the habitability of the housing state and in reducing the environmental impact, by optimization the resources and the waste generation. The adaptability introduction involve understanding the building as a system in constant technical and functional evolution, being able to incorporate changes or to be upgraded, tailoring to the society and their needs evolution in time. The introduction of a new refurbishment model require the observation of the actually generalised model and the exploration of refurbishment with a special interest, due to the solution peculiarity in regard to the widespread model. In this way, a sample composed by 42 singular refurbishment done in Europe case studies is developed. The objective is to identify which interventions are viable actually, but, on the contrary, are not being considerate in the generalised refurbishment model. The knowledge of the theory linked to the concept objet to be incorporated in the refurbishment is also needed. This learning is elaborated by studying the principal theories that link together the adaptability with the residential building: Open Building, Flexible Housing and Design for Disassembly. The Open Buildings theory recognizes the change like a reality in a built environment, the Flexible Housing theory studies the different ways of achieving a flexible house and, for last, the Design for Disassembly theory seek to manage the end of life of the building materials to reduce the raw materials consumption trough the reuse and/or the recycle. The analysis of the singular refurbishment case study sample and the theoretical study of the adaptability in the residential buildings leads to proposal of the new guidelines that should take into consideration the model of refurbishment proposed and their viability, based on the sample.<br>La rehabilitación de la vivienda no ha llegado a superar el 25% respecto a la obra nueva en España, aun cuando la mitad de las viviendas han sido construidas antes de 1980. Además, el impacto ambiental de la construcción es uno de los más altos de todas las actividades industriales, debido al elevado consumo de recursos y a la generación de residuos de poco valor producidos en las etapas de construcción y demolición. El modo de reducir el impacto ambiental actual del conjunto del sector pasa por intervenir en el parque edificado. En la actualidad, el objetivo principal de la rehabilitación de viviendas existentes suele ser el de reducir el consumo energético de la vivienda. Sin embargo, esta rehabilitación no se debería limitar únicamente a aspectos energéticos, sino que debería considerar aspectos arquitectónicos, funcionales y técnicos. De este modo se considera necesaria la introducción de un nuevo modelo de rehabilitación que incorpore la adaptabilidad como un concepto nuevo, enfocado a mantener y optimizar la habitabilidad del parque edificado y a reducir el impacto ambiental del sector. La introducción de la adaptabilidad implica entender el edificio como un sistema en constante evolución técnica y funcional, capaz de incorporar cambios o mejoras sucesivas, adecuándose así a la evolución de la sociedad y a sus necesidades. La introducción de un nuevo modelo de rehabilitación exige la observación del modelo generalizado actual y la exploración de la existencia de rehabilitaciones que tengan un interés especial, debido a la peculiaridad de su solución respecto a la del modelo generalizado. Así, se elabora una muestra de 42 casos de estudio de rehabilitaciones singulares realizadas en Europa, que son objeto de análisis de esta investigación. Esto permite identificar qué intervenciones son factibles de realizarse actualmente pero que, por el contrario, no se están considerando en el modelo de rehabilitación generalizado. También será necesario el conocimiento de la teoría vinculada al concepto que se quiere incorporar en la rehabilitación: la adaptabilidad. Este aprendizaje se elabora por medio del estudio de las principales teorías que relacionan la adaptabilidad con la edificación residencial: Open Builiding, Flexible Housing y Design for Disassembly. La teoría del Open Building reconoce el cambio como una realidad en el entorno construido, la teoría del Flexible Housing estudia las formas de conseguir una vivienda flexible y, por último, la teoría del Design for Disassembly busca gestionar el fin de la vida útil de los materiales de los edificios para reducir así el consumo de materias primas mediante la reutilización y/o el reciclaje. El análisis de la muestra de casos de estudio de las rehabilitaciones singulares y el estudio teórico de la adaptabilidad en la edificación residencial conducen al planteamiento de los nuevos criterios que deberían de tenerse en consideración en el nuevo modelo de rehabilitación planteado y su viabilidad, en base a la muestra. Estos criterios son catalogados y descritos, para finalmente aportar un sistema de evaluación de las rehabilitaciones realizadas o de las decisiones de proyecto.<br>La rehabilitació de l’habitatge no ha arribat a superar el 25% respecte a l’obra nova a Espanya, tot i que la meitat dels habitatges existents han estat construïts abans del 1980. A més, l’impacte ambiental de la construcció és un dels més alts entre totes les activitats industrials a causa de l’elevat consum de recursos i la generació de residus de poc valor produïts en la fase de construcció i demolició. La manera de reduir l’impacte ambiental actual del conjunt del sector passa per intervenir en el parc edificat, optimitzant els recursos i la generació de residus. En la actualitat, l’objectiu principal de les rehabilitacions d’habitatges plurifamiliars existents és reduir el consum energètic de l’habitatge. No obstant això, aquesta rehabilitació dels edificis existents no es deuria limitar només a aspectes energètics, sinó que hauria de considerar aspectes arquitectònics, funcionals i tècnics. Es considera necessària la introducció d’un nou model de rehabilitació que incorpori l’adaptabilitat com a nou concepte, enfocat a mantenir i optimitzar l’habitabilitat del parc edificat i reduir l’impacte ambiental. La introducció de l’adaptabilitat suposa entendre l’edifici com a un sistema en constant evolució tècnica i funcional, que és capaç d’incorporar canvis i millores sucesius i que li permetin adequar-se a la evolució de la societat i les seves necessitats. La introducció d’un nou model de rehabilitació exigeix l’observació del present model de rehabilitació generalitzat i l’exploració de l’existència de rehabilitacions que tinguin un interès especial per la peculiaritat de les seves solucions respecte al model generalitzat. Finalment, s’elabora una mostra de 42 casos d’estudi de rehabilitacions singulars realitzades a Europa, que son objecte d’anàlisis de la investigació. Això permet identificar quines intervencions son factibles de realitzarse actualment i no estan sent considerades al model de rehabilitació generalitzat. A continuació, es necessari el coneixement de la teoria vinculada al concepte que es vol incorporar a la rehabilitació: l’adaptabilitat. Aquest aprenentatge s’elabora mitjançant l’estudi de les teories principals que posen en relació l’adaptabilitat amb l’edificació residencial: Open Building, Flexible Housing i Design for Disassembly. La teoria Open Building reconeix el canvi com a una realitat a l’entorn construït; la teoria Flexible Housing estudia les formes de assolir un habitatge flexible i, per últim, la teoria Design for Disassembly pretén gestionar el fi de la vida útil dels materials dels edificis per reduir el consum de matèries primes mitjançant la reutilització i/o el reciclatge. L’anàlisi de la mostra de casos d’estudi de rehabilitacions singulars i l’estudi teòric de l’adaptabilitat en l’edificació condueixen al plantejament dels nous criteris que hauria de considerar el nou model de rehabilitació plantejat i la viabilitat de ser desenvolupat en base a la mostra. Aquests criteris son catalogats i descrits, per a finalment, aportar un sistema d’evaluació de rehabilitacions concloses o decisions de projecte.<br>LABURPENA. Espainian, eraikinen birgaitze lanak eraikuntza berrien aldean %25era ere ez dira iristen, nahiz eta etxebizitzen erdiak 1980. urtearen aurretik eraikiak izan diren. Gainera, jarduera industrial guztien artean, eraikuntza da ingurumenean eragin handienetakoa duena, bai eraikuntza prozesuan kontsumitutako baliabide kopuru handiagatik (lehengaiak), baita eraikuntza eta eraisketa prozesuetan sortutako hondakinengatik eta hauen balio baxuagatik. Sektoreak gaur egun duen ingurumen-inpaktu hau murrizteko, eraikitako higiezinetan esku hartu beharra dago, xahututako baliabideak eta hondakinen sorrera optimizatze aldera. Gaur egungo birgaitze lanen helburu nagusia etxebizitzen kontsumo energetikoa murriztea da. Dena den, etxebizitzen birgaitze lanek ez lituzkete faktore energetikoak soilik kontutan izan behar. Horiez gain, aspektu arkitektoniko, funtzional eta teknikoak ere barneratu beharko lituzkete. Hala, ezinbestekoa da birgaitze eredu berri baterantz abiatzea, kontzeptu berri gisa moldakortasuna barneratuko duena; alde batetik, gaur egun eraikiak dauden etxebizitzak mantendu eta optimizatu ahal izateko, eta, bestetik, ingurumen-inpaktua murrizteko. Moldakortasunaren kontzeptuak gaur egungo eraikinarekiko ikuspegia aldaraziko du, eraikina garapen tekniko eta funtzional etengabea duen sistema gisa ulertzera eramango gaituelako; etxebizitzak aldaketak eta hobekuntzak jasateko gaitasuna izan beharko du eta gizartearen behar aldakorrei egokitzeko ahalmena izan. Baina birgaitze eredu berri bat ezartzeak, lehenik, egungo eredu zabalduaren inguruko hausnarketa behar du, eta, bigarrenik, Europa mailan burututako birgaitzeen artean soluzio bereziak izan dituzten kasuen analisia. Analisi horretatik Europan burututako interes bereziko 42 birgaitzez osaturiko lagina eskuratu da, ikerketarako tresna izango dena. Honi esker, gaur egun aplikagarriak diren estrategiak identifikatzen dira, eta aipatutako eredu zabalduak aplikatzen ote dituen aztertzen da. Era berean, birgaitze eredu berrian barneratu nahi den moldakortasunaren kontzeptuaren inguruan existitzen den teoriaren ezagutzan sakondu beharra dago. Ikasketa prozesu honetan, etxebizitza eraikuntza eta moldakortasuna erlazionatzen dituzten teoria nagusiak aztertzen dira: Open Builiding, Flexible Housing eta Design for Disassembly. Open Building teoriak eraikitako ingurunearen errealitate bezala aitortzen du aldaketa; Flexible Housing teoriak, berriz, etxebizitza moldakor bat lortzeko erak aztertzen ditu; eta, azkenik, Design for Disassembly teoriak eraikinen materialen baliobizitzaren amaiera kudeatzea du helburu, lehengaien kontsumoa murriztu ahal izateko berrerabilpenaren edota birziklapenaren bitartez. Balio bereziko birgaitze kasuen laginaren analisitik, eta moldakortasunaren kontzeptua etxebizitza eraikuntzan aplikatzen duten teorien hausnarketatik atera dira birgaitze eredu berriaren oinarri izan beharko liratekeen irizpideak. Honez gain, laginaren bitartez, ereduaren baliagarritasuna konprobatu da. Irizpide berri hauek deskribatu eta sailkatu egin dira, eta, azkenik, burututako birgaitze lanak edota proiektu faseko erabakiak ebaluatu ahal izateko tresna bat eskaintzen da

While environmental and economic sustainability have been driving factors in the movement towards a more resilient built environment, social sustainability is a factor that has received significantly less attention over the years. Federal support for low-income housing has fallen drastically, and the deficit of available, adequate, affordable homes continues to grow. In this thesis, I explore one way that architects can design affordable housing that is intrinsically sustainable. In the past, subsidized low-income housing has been built as if to provide a short-term solution—as if poverty and lack of affordable housing is a short-term problem. However, I argue that adaptable architecture is essential for the design of affordable housing that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. Further, architects must balance affordability, durability, and adaptability to design sustainable solutions that are resistant to obsolescence. I conclude by applying principles and processes of adaptability in the design of Apto Ontario, an adaptable affordable housing development in the low-income historic downtown of Ontario, California (Greater Los Angeles). Along a new Bus Rapid Transit corridor, Apto Ontario would create a diverse, resilient, socially sustainable community in an area threatened by the rise of housing costs.

Internet and websites are today one of the most important communication channels of almost all companies. They offer a simple, fast and effective way of communication, which is also available worldwide in a few seconds. With the globalization of market, more and more companies try to expand their business beyond the territory of the home state. In the current time of start-ups is the Internet also often a medium that allows formation of new spheres of business for which the website is absolutely essential channel. This type of business is internet based and has very often international ambitions from the very beginning. Given that each country (or region) can be seen as distinctive culture, it is advisable to locate websites for the needs of the foreign country. This is exactly the theme of this thesis. The concrete objective of this thesis is to offer a methodology for website localization in terms of webdesign. The basic building block is the delimitation of a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that examines the concept of culture and extensive literature review allowing current insight into the linking of website and culture, i.e. cultural website localization. Suitable method for gripping such a complex concept as a culture emerge from a theoretical framework as well. As the most appropriate method were determined Hofstedes cultural dimensions, which are then used for the analysis of cultural determination of web elements. Data collection for the purpose of analysis of web elements cultural determination is performed using a content analysis of websites from nine different countries. The results of the analysis are compared and synthesized with the findings stemming from a literature review. The final artifact of this thesis, a methodology for website localization from the perspective of web design, is based on this ground. Validation of the proposed methodology is done on the basis of assessment of the methodology for a domain of web design. This assessment is based on interviews with experts from different countries as well as presentation of concrete example of methodology use within a midsize website.

Ngan Yuk Kei.<br>"Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2009-2010, design report."<br>"May 2010."<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>Chapter 01 --- background & objective<br>Chapter 02 --- Street Life Research<br>Chapter 03 --- Streetscape Parameters Identification<br>Chapter 04 --- Billboard to Billbox<br>Chapter 05 --- Activity Field Implication<br>Chapter 06 --- Parametric Exploration on hybrid potential<br>Chapter 07 --- Adapting Method in Micro Scale<br>Chapter 08 --- Exploration & Adapting Process<br>Chapter 09 --- From Micro to Urban Scale<br>Chapter 10 --- Evaluation<br>Chapter 11 --- Appendix

This interior design practicum is the design of three floating houses located on Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia. They are spatially efficient and aid in human-nature connections through the manipulation of thresholds. The adaptation of small spaces is best accomplished through the use of multifunctional space, efficient storage, and manipulation of views. Linking of spaces and the blurring of thresholds is best accomplished through the use of implied axial linkage to the exterior and through the addition of ornament. The human-nature connection, or biophilic design, is best accomplished through the integration of direct, indirect, and symbolic experiences with the natural environment. This is accomplished through the variation of ceiling heights, linking internal and external views, integration of natural light, and use of natural materials that vary in texture and reflectance value.

This thesis presents an adaptive and reconfigurable mobile robot: the Dual Mobile Robot (DMR). It is driven by two adaptive track-wheel driving modules that combine wheels and tracks to allow real-time interchangeability according to terrain condition. The DMR can automatically convert from a wheel-based robot into a track-based robot by rotating the track-wheel driving modules by 90 degrees, either only tracks or wheels contact with the ground without any interference. It can be driven as a wheel-based robot when operating over a paved road to achieve higher speed and low energy consumption, and as a track-based robot over uneven terrain. In addition, unlike most state-of-the-art mobile robot designs that have an integrated architecture, this design provides a modular architecture which allows modifications and upgrades to be performed via simple replacements or local changes of modules. To establish the modular architecture, this research utilized a unique design paradigm, “Design for product adaptability”. A function-based design process for product adaptability has been conducted in the conceptual design stage. By following the design process, two types of design alternatives of the DMR have been created. After the best product configuration was chosen through evaluation and prioritization, the selected configuration has been implemented by detail design. The DMR prototype was developed and tested to demonstrate its adaptability and advanced mobility functions in real-world environments. The experimental results successfully validated the hypothesis of the proposed robot with its track-wheel interchangeable ability, significantly exceeding the capability of other existing systems.

Yuen Hin Yu, Echo.<br>"Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2007-2008, design report."<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>Includes Chinese characters.<br>Chapter 1.0 --- Title<br>Chapter 1.1 --- Thesis Statement<br>Chapter 1.2 --- Synopsis<br>Chapter 2.0 --- Definition - Eco-tourism<br>Chapter 2.1 --- Facts<br>Chapter 3.0 --- Issues<br>Chapter 3.1 --- Tourism branding 一 Green Labeling<br>Chapter 3.2 --- Locality and Greenwash<br>Chapter 4.0 --- Observations 一 Guangxi Chongzuo Bio-Park<br>Chapter 4.1 --- Transition of use<br>Chapter 4.2 --- Fragmentation<br>Chapter 5.0 --- Critique on current situation<br>Chapter 5.1 --- Disjuncture<br>Chapter 5.2 --- Energy Resource Dependency<br>Chapter 6.0 --- Design Strategies<br>Chapter 6.1 --- Implementation of Tourist Control<br>Chapter 6.2 --- Technique - Handmadeness<br>Chapter 6.3 --- Process<br>Chapter 6.4 --- The Design

碩士<br>國立臺灣科技大學<br>電子工程系<br>98<br>DVR (Digital Video Recorder) is one of the major products in surveillance industry. In addition to using hard disk as storage media, the major difference between DVR and conventional recording system is the application of network protocol. It also provides the possibility of remote monitoring. No matter how many network protocols have been used in DVR products, it is for sure that some problems will occur during development. This thesis mentions a serious problem DVR could meet if it integrates DDNS function. When DVR is located in a LAN environment and rely on a router to communicate with Internet, DVR may have no way to get router’s external IP address. Since DVR needs to know the correct external IP address to determine when it needs to send DDNS update packet, it may not be able to send DDNS update packet at correct time if DVR does not notice the change of router’s external IP address. This could generate inconsistency issue between IP address and the domain name that user retrieved from DDNS provider. If DVR could detect the change of router&apos;s external IP, and send DDNS update packet to DDNS server at correct timing, then this self-adaptive function can keep consistency between domain name and external IP address. In addition to discussing the problem with DDNS update mechanism with DVR, the thesis also provides two possible methods to solve this issue, and compares the advantage/disadvantage with both ways. DVR related products are also introduced in this thesis, with brief discussion for compress technology and network protocols that DVR related products will use. Some of the real cases when developing DVR products with network protocols are also mentioned and described.

Yes<br>Adapting dashboard design to different contexts of use is an open question in visualisation research. Dashboard designers often seek to strike a balance between dashboard adaptability and ease-of-use, and in hospitals challenges arise from the vast diversity of key metrics, data models and users involved at different organizational levels. In this design study, we present QualDash, a dashboard generation engine that allows for the dynamic configuration and deployment of visualisation dashboards for healthcare quality improvement (QI). We present a rigorous task analysis based on interviews with healthcare professionals, a co-design workshop and a series of one-on-one meetings with front line analysts. From these activities we define a metric card metaphor as a unit of visual analysis in healthcare QI, using this concept as a building block for generating highly adaptable dashboards, and leading to the design of a Metric Specification Structure (MSS). Each MSS is a JSON structure which enables dashboard authors to concisely configure unit-specific variants of a metric card, while offloading common patterns that are shared across cards to be preset by the engine. We reflect on deploying and iterating the design of QualDash in cardiology wards and pediatric intensive care units of five NHS hospitals. Finally, we report evaluation results that demonstrate the adaptability, ease-of-use and usefulness of QualDash in a real-world scenario.

碩士<br>國立臺北大學<br>資訊管理研究所<br>100<br>The web crawling function is an essential component of any automatic information extraction system, which needs to trawl web sites for up-to-date information. Researches have tried different way to develop a flexible and adaptable web crawler that is capable of parsing web pages following a set of pre-defined web syntax rules, and these rules may be learned and derived from the target web sites. A universal solution is elusive since the markup language used by web sites is often loose and syntactically incomplete. This research designed, developed, and validated a supervised adaptable web crawler, which is capable of derive extraction rules from a web page segment selected by the user. The derived rules are used by the web crawler to extract the desired information from the website. This supervised rule learning and application scenario makes the information component easier to maintain when the syntax of web pages from a target web site changed. A working web page syntax rule extracting and crawling system written in Java was implemented and tested against two popular citation data web sites. The syntax rule is extracted by highlighting a portion of web pages that the user is interested in. The XML-based web syntax rules are generated by the system. These rules are then used by the crawler to extract the desired citation information from the target web sites. In case of the syntax of the web pages in the target web site changed, the system is capable of detecting the change and re-generates most of the correct rules for the crawler to use.

碩士<br>大同大學<br>電機工程學系(所)<br>93<br>This thesis describes a PLL (center frequency: 480MHz applied in USB2.0) with programmable frequency synthesis (frequency range: 245.6MHz~551.12MHz). An adaptable loop filter is employed to tune the damping factor and to stabilize the loop. First, the stability of PLL is discussed. Then, we describe how to implement the frequency synthesis with programmable counter in detail. To solve the problem of the long settling time and unstable, we present the concept of the adaptable loop filter design flow. The digital decoders control the transistors to select the proper resistor value to avoid to the PLL under unstable situation. Both HSPICE and MATLAB are used to verify the performance of the PLL in circuit and behavioral levels. Finally, we describe the layout issues for the PLL, including noise coupling and parasitic effects. The PLL will be implemented by TSMC 0.35um 1P4M process, and the layout area is 207.925*305.225(um2). The post-simulation result shows that the locking time of the PLL is about 32us, and the power dissipation is 14.6494mW for a 3.3V supply.