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22,349 Research products, page 1 of 2,235

  • Rural Digital Europe
  • Publications
  • Master thesis

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  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Pjević, Damjan;
    Publisher: D. Pjević
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Spanish; Castilian
    Authors: 
    Hurtado Lugo, Eliana;
    Publisher: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
    Country: Colombia

    Ilustraciones, tablas, gráficas Evaluar las funciones ecosistémicas del suelo y los impactos asociados en su uso y manejo es fundamental para el control y monitoreo de la degradación o restauración de este recurso. Actualmente las herramientas desarrolladas para medir la calidad del suelo son complejas, costosas y de difícil acceso para los agricultores, además de que tienen un enfoque limitado porque solo son válidas a escala regional. El objetivo de este estudio es generar un indicador simplificado que permita identificar los impactos ambientales asociados al uso y manejo del suelo. A partir de evaluaciones de la calidad físico química, morfológica y biológica (comunidades de macroinvertebrados) realizadas en China, Francia, Brasil, Perú y, Colombia más una base de datos global de macrofauna; se verificó la posibilidad de diseñar una formula universal y con base en el resultado se construyó una fórmula general que tuviera las variables más representativas de los diferentes aspectos de calidad del suelo. El cálculo del indicador se realizó a través de análisis multivariados y para cada uno de los juegos de datos (siendo estos de tres tipos: fisicoquímico, morfológico y macrofauna) en 9 localidades geográficas. Además, se realizó la aplicación cruzada de las fórmulas de los indicadores obtenidos en cada sitio con cada uno de los otros sitios, para verificar la universalidad de dichos indicadores. Los resultados de los parámetros biológicos del suelo mostraron un índice de correlación superior al 95% entre los valores calculados en cada sitio y valores calculados con fórmulas de los otros sitios. Este resultado muestra que el indicador global de macrofauna del suelo generado a continuación con los datos de los 3694 sitios de la base de datos Macrofauna puede ser aplicado en cualquier parte del mundo. Sin embargo, el intento de construir una fórmula general que involucrara variables fisicoquímicas y morfológicas, no fue posible dada las características específicas de los suelos y la variabilidad que este presenta por condiciones que van desde su génesis hasta el ambiente edafoclimático. Esto quiere decir que a partir de las fórmulas aquí propuestas se podrían generar indicadores limitados a escalas regionales, o a ciertos tipos de suelos homogéneos. (Texto tomado de la fuente) Assessing the ecosystem functions of the soil and the impacts associated with its use and management is essential for the control and monitoring of the degradation or restoration of this resource. Currently the tools developed to measure soil quality are complex, expensive and difficult to access for farmers, in addition to having a limited focus because they are only valid at a regional scale. The objective of this study is to generate a simplified indicator that allows identifying the environmental impacts associated with the use and management of soil in agricultural production systems. From evaluations of the physical, chemical, morphological and biological quality (macroinvertebrate communities) carried out in China, France, Brazil, Peru and Colombia, plus a global database of macrofauna. The possibility of designing a universal formula was verified and based on the result, a general formula was built that had the most representative variables of regarding the different aspects of soil quality. The calculation of the indicator was carried out through multivariate analysis and was mae for each of the data sets (these being of three types: physicochemical, morphological and macrofauna) in 9 geographical locations. In addition to this, the cross-application of the formulas of the indicators obtained in each site with each of the other sites was carried out, to verify the universality of said indicators. The results of the biological parameters of the soil showed a correlation index greater than 95% between the values calculated in each site and the values calculated with formulas from the other sites. This result shows that the global soil macrofauna indicator generated below with data from the 3694 sites in the Macrofauna database can be applied anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the attempt to build a general formula involving physicochemical and morphological variables was not possible given the specific characteristics of the soils and the variability that they present due to conditions ranging from their genesis to the edaphoclimatic environment. This means that, based on the formulas proposed here, indicators limited to regional scales, or to certain types of homogeneous soils, can be generated. Maestría Magíster en Ingeniería - Ingeniería Ambiental Se analizaron 9 juegos de datos de investigaciones realizadas en China, Francia, Brasil, Perú y Colombia con protocolos parecidos. Suman un total de 1,121 puntos de muestreo donde se midieron variables físicas, químicas, morfológicas y biológicas con los mismos métodos. Para el estudio de las variables biológicas, se complementó este análisis con datos recopilados almacenados en la base de datos de macrofauna del suelo en 3,694 sitios distribuidos en 41 países (Lavelle et al., 2022). A partir del procesamiento de la información se usaron los valores obtenidos para crear una formula única de indicador global de calidad del suelo. En cada juego de datos, se analizaron varios tipos de uso del suelo, buscando comparar al medio natural de referencia local (bosque natural o sistema herbáceo) diferentes tipos representando un gradiente de intensificación del uso del suelo. Se diseñaron indicadores globales a partir de estos 9 sitios (más los 3694 de la base de datos para la macrofauna) y se aplicaron a tres sistemas de producción agrícola ubicados en el corregimiento de Robles, perteneciente a la zona sur plana del municipio de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca. Suelos y aguas Ingeniería.Sede Palmira

  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Vončina, Janez;
    Country: Slovenia

    V Industriji 4.0 so brezžične komunikacijske tehnologije bolj prisotne zaradi večjega števila naprav, povezanih v omrežje. V magistrskem delu smo raziskovali značilnosti brezžičnega krmiljenja in sočasnega krmiljenja več robotov. Razvili smo programsko kodo za štiri načine krmiljenja robotov, da delujejo zaporedno ali sočasno, in preizkusili značilnosti nalaganja programov na pomnilnik robota ter določili možne rešitve za neposredno fizično komunikacijo med roboti. Zasnovali smo model proizvodnega modula z dvema robotoma, namenjen graviranju, in napisali programsko opremo. Izmerili smo čase za pridobitev informacije iz robota za dve vrsti podatkov prek tehnologije Wi-Fi in USB-kabla ter rezultate primerjali in izmerili čas zamika pri sočasnem proženju robotov, ki so krmiljeni na različna načina. Za sočasno delovanje dveh robotov je najprimernejše krmiljenje z večnitnim programom, priporočljivo pa je tudi, da zmanjšamo število vrstic v programski kodi med zagonom obeh robotov. Wi-Fi komunikacija v primerjavi s komunikacijo prek USB-kabla poveča latenco in njeno varianco pri pridobivanju podatkov, tip podatkov pa nima bistvenega vpliva. Neposredna komunikacija med robotoma lahko deluje kot varnostni mehanizem pri brezžičnem krmiljenju. Industry 4.0 often includes wireless communication technologies because of increased number of networked devices. In this master thesis we studied the characteristics of wireless control and simultaneous control of multiple robots. We developed software code for 4 ways of controlling two robots working sequentially or simultaneously, tested the characteristics of loading programs to the robot memory and identified possible solutions for direct physical communication between robots. We designed a model of a production module with two robots for engraving and wrote the software. We measured the times to get information from the robot for two data types over Wi-Fi and over USB cable and compared the results, and measured the delay when the robots are run simultaneously and controlled in different ways. For simultaneous operation of two robots, multi-threaded control is preferred, and reduction of the number of lines in the program code during the start-up of both robots is recommended. Wi-Fi communication increases the latency and variance when accessing robot data compared to USB cable communication, while data type has no significant impact. Direct communication between robots can be used as a safety mechanism in wireless control.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Novak, Nika;
    Publisher: N. Novak
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Davidović, Danijel;
    Publisher: D. Davidović
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Vidergar, Ambrož;
    Publisher: A. Vidergar
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Gabrovec, Anja;
    Publisher: A. Gabrovec
    Country: Slovenia

    Internetno glasovanje je bilo za namen volitev do leta 2020 uporabljeno le v nekaj državah. Vendar gre hkrati za volilni mehanizem, ki se vse bolj raziskuje kot sredstvo omogočanja olajšanega dostopa volivcem, ki bi sicer težko prišli na volišče na dan volitev. Sočasno se je poseben potencial takšnega načina glasovanja pokazal v času, ko je svet zajela ena največjih zdravstvenih kriz, pandemija covida-19. Magistrsko delo poglobljeno obdela področje internetnih volitev in v empiričnem delu analizira namero uporabe internetnih volitev na slovenskih tleh. Kljub temu da se pandemija covida-19 umirja, pa je le-ta prebudila zavedanje po pomembnosti digitalne transformacije v razvoju družbe. Moderna in široko prisotna tehnologija namreč že omogoča uvedbo internetnih volitev, vendar takšno glasovanje prinaša številne izzive s področja varnosti, zasebnosti in tajnosti. Vse izzive smo v tem delu želeli celovito obravnavati in preučiti potencial izvedbe internetnih volitev v Sloveniji, v navezavi z obsegom uporabe informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT), sprejemanjem IKT pri storitvah javne uprave pred krizo covida-19 in po njej. V okviru empirične raziskave smo s pomočjo linearne regresije zaznavali šibek vpliv pandemije covida-19 na uporabo IKT v zasebnem življenju državljanov in podobno pri vplivu uporabe IKT ter namero uporabe internetnih volitev v prihodnosti. Hkrati smo s pomočjo Pearsonovega koeficienta korelacije ugotovili, da ni značilnih odstopanj, kadar govorimo o povezavi med indeksi e-participacije in uporabo IKT v izbranem obdobju pandemije. Kljub omejitvam, ki so zaznamovale pandemijo covida-19, le-ta glede na naše rezultate ni prinesla večjih sprememb glede uporabe IKT pri življenju državljanov. Obenem tudi uporaba IKT med državljani ne kaže vpliva na večjo naklonjenost k i-volitvam, kar pomeni, da bi v Sloveniji lahko dobili podporo za izvedbo i-volitev šele, ko bodo izpolnjeni tehnični, politični in družbeni pogoji, ki bodo ljudem dali zaupanje v volilni sistem, politike in ponujene tehnološke rešitve. Rezultati kažejo močno podlago za nadaljnje raziskave, ki bodo naslavljale omenjeni širši kontekst i-volitev. Until 2022, Internet voting has been used for the purpose of elections only in a few countries. It is a voting mechanism that is being researched as an instrument that enables easy access to the voters, which would otherwise find it difficult to get to the polling station. The existence of this type of voting also proved as important when one of the world’s biggest health crises, the pandemic of covid-19, swept the world. The Master’s thesis focuses on the relevance of Internet voting and its intention to use it in Slovenia in the future. The covid-19 pandemic is slowing down, and a powerful digital transformation of society’s development has awakened. The intention to introduce it to the public is based on modern technology, but it also brings several technological challenges in the areas of security, privacy, and secrecy. The thesis focuses on all the challenges in a comprehensive way and examines the state of play of the public and private sectors and i-voting before and after the covid-19 crisis. In the empirical research linear regression was used. The results show a weak correlation between the covid-19 pandemic and the use of ICT in the private life of citizens and between the use of IT and the intention to use Internet voting in the future. Using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, we conclude that there are no major discrepancies when it comes to the relationship between e-participation indices and IT use during the pandemic period. Despite the constraints that characterised the covida-19 pandemic, it did not, according to our results, bring about major changes in the use of ICT in citizens' lives. Simultaneously, the use of ICT among citizens does not indicate any impact on the increased preference of i-elections, which means that Slovenia could only gain support for i-elections when the technical, political, and social conditions are met that will give people confidence in the electoral system, policies and offered technological solutions. The results show a strong basis for further research addressing this broader context of i-elections which can also be used as a platform for further research in the future.

  • Open Access Finnish
    Authors: 
    Männistö, Juho;
    Publisher: Itä-Suomen yliopisto
    Country: Finland
  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Karlsson, Samuel;
    Publisher: Luleå tekniska universitet, Signaler och system
    Country: Sweden

    This compilation thesis presents two main contributions in path planning and obstacle avoidance, as well as an integration of the proposed modules with other frameworks to enable resilient robotic missions in complex environments.In general, through different types of robotic missions it is important to have a collision tolerant and reliable system, both regarding potential risks from collisions with dynamic and static obstacles, but also to secure the overall mission success.%Particularly, a common trend in the presented work is safety regarding collisions with dynamic and static obstacles, as well as reliable overall systems that are capable of executing missions. The work included in this thesis presents the risk-aware path planner D$^*_+$ that is capable of planning traversable paths for both ground and aerial robots. D$^*_+$ is developed on top of D$^*$-lite with a risk layer close to occupied space, modeling the unknown areas as a risk, and is implemented with a dynamic map to enable updates and adjustments to a changing environment. The risk layer aids in solving two common challenges with path planning for real robots: a) it creates a safety margin that gives free space between the path and obstacles so that robots with the corresponding size can follow the path, and b) it masks smaller holes in walls that occur when building maps from real data. Using a dynamic map makes it possible to use D$^*_+$ for an exploration mission, it also enables for the re-planning of the path if the environment changes for example, if an obstacle suddenly blocks a path, a new path will be planned. D$^*_+$ have been tested in different real-life experiments with both an Unmanned Areal Vehicle (UAV) and a quadruped-legged robot and shown to produce traversable paths in different application scenarios, such as exploration, return to base, and navigation on known maps. This thesis also presents an obstacle avoidance architecture for velocity objects, structured around an object detection and tracking scheme that is combined with non-linear model predictive controller (NMPC) to plan the avoidance maneuver. %that uses a Convolutional Neural Network to detect obstacles that are tracked so they can be avoided by a non-linear model predictive controller (NMPC).In this case, the detection is done with the Convoluitonal Neural Network (CNN) You Only Lock Once v4 (YOLO) where the most certain human is tracked with a Kalman filter, and the velocity of the human is estimated.The proposed scheme models the object motion as constant velocity, which is utilized from the NMPC to plan control inputs for the robot to avoid the identified obstacle. A merit of the approach is that the avoidance maneuver does not only consider the current identification position, but also considers the motion prediction of the object. This avoidance framework proved to be capable to avoid non-cooperative obstacles, such as humans moving towards it.Due to the fact that the avoidance is starting when a future collision is predicted, the avoidance maneuver is started early enough to avoid obstacles with a higher velocity than a classic ``static obstacle'' radius approach can handle. An additional aim of this thesis is to showcase that the proposed contributions can be applied in full robotic missions/frameworks. Thus, this thesis presents a search and rescue mission with a quadruped-legged robot and a UAV on a partially known map to find the location of survivors and other objects of related interest. In this mission, the quadruped-legged robot carries the UAV to the edge of the known map from where it launches the UAV that then explores and detects any survival and other relevant objects.Also, an autonomy solution, based on Boston dynamics' quadruped-legged robot Spot, for enabling a map-based navigation in confined environments has been developed and tested. This Spot solution enables the robot to navigate to a user-selected point, rotate in the desired direction, and instruct the UAV, in the combined search and rescue mission, to take off.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Gholami, Yashar;
    Publisher: Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem
    Country: Sweden

    This thesis investigates the adoption of digital technologies to improve logistics processes in construction projects. The focus is on the main contractor firms and construction projects, but first-tier suppliers, transportation firms, and technology vendors are also considered. The logistics processes that are studied are order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics. Order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics play a critical role in ensuring the availability of goods for the construction process, in the right amount and time, at the right location, and without damage. Inefficient logistics processes that do not support construction projects with the right resources (materials, tools, and machinery) are one reason for low construction project performance. Inefficient logistics processes cause disruptions to construction projects, such as material stockouts, material surpluses, unavailability, idle waiting and searching time, and waste (e.g., damages). On a larger scale, inefficient logistics processes cause significant project delays and cost overruns. Therefore, improving logistics processes can improve construction project performance. To address the inefficiencies of logistics processes, main contractor firms face increased pressure to adopt digital technologies. It is known that adopting digital technologies can improve communication between project stakeholders, construction automation, and data acquisition, visualization, and analytics. The adoption of digital technologies has also been reported to improve the construction process, such as design, production, logistics, and procurement of materials and services. However, the adoption of digital technologies is a complex and inter-organizational process, and the industry's decentralized, project-driven nature makes many efforts ad hoc and one-of-a-kind endeavors. Moreover, there needs to be more clarity in the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. A knowledge gap in this context has been a lack of actionable recommendations to practitioners, such as main contractor firms. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to formulate recommendations for the adoption of digital technologies that enable the main contractor firms to improve logistics processes. Based on this, the following research questions guide the research: RQ1: What are the drivers and barriers for the adoption of digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective? RQ2: What are the effects on logistics processes when adopting digital technologies in construction projects? RQ3: What are the lessons learnt from the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects? The findings identify drivers and barriers to adopting digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective, the effects of adopting digital technologies, and lessons learnt from adopting digital technologies in construction projects. Furthermore, a successful technology adoption process is driven by identifying the drivers and needs of the project and the stakeholders/individuals involved. It is also found that the effects of adopting digital technologies are: (a) re-designing the order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics and (b) accessibility and monitorability of information. Moreover, this thesis proposes an enhanced understanding of the process undertaken by the main construction firms in adopting digital technologies. The thesis complements the knowledge of digital technology adoption by focusing on construction projects. The thesis fills in a knowledge gap by formulating actionable recommendations to main contractor firms and bringing clarity to the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. Denna avhandling studerar införandet av digital teknik för att förbättra logistikprocesser i byggprojekt. Avhandlingens fokus ligger på byggentreprenören och dess byggprojekt, men även leverantörer, transportföretag och teknikleverantörer beaktas. De logistikprocesser som studeras är order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken. Order-till-leveransprocesser och arbetsplatslogistiken spelar en avgörande roll för att säkerställa tillgången på resurser i produktionsskedet där de behöver levereras i rätt mängd och tid, på rätt plats och utan skador. Produktiviteten i byggprojekt är låg. En orsak till den låga produktiviteten är ineffektiva logistikprocesser som inte förser byggarbetsplatsen med rätt resurser (material, verktyg och maskiner). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser orsakar störningar i byggprojekt till följd av materialbrist, materialöverskott, otillgänglighet, outnyttjad tid (t.ex. vänte- och söktid), samt andra former av slöseri (t.ex. skador på material). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser leder också till betydande förseningar och kostnadsöverskridningar i byggprojekt. Därmed kan förbättrade logistikprocesser bidra till att öka produktivitet i byggprojekt. Samtidigt som att byggentreprenörer behöver ta itu med ineffektiva logistikprocesser står de även inför ett ökat tryck att ta till sig digital teknik. Användning av digital teknik kan förbättra kommunikationen mellan projektintressenter, automatisera byggprocesser samt underlätta datainsamling och visualisering och analys av denna data. Användandet av digital teknik har även rapporterats förbättra hela byggprocessen i termer av projektering, produktion, logistik och upphandling av material och tjänster. Att ta till sig digital teknik är däremot en komplex process som spänner över organisationsgränser. Branschens decentraliserade, projektdrivna karaktär försvårar för byggentreprenörer att ta till sig ny teknik, vilket leder till att insatserna är fragmenterade och görs ad hoc. Dessutom saknas en tydlig bild av för hur byggentreprenörer bör ta till sig ny digital teknik för att öka produktiviteten i byggprojekt. En kunskapslucka i detta sammanhang har varit bristen på praktiska rekommendationer för branschaktörer, till exempel byggentreprenörer. Syftet med denna avhandling att formulera rekommendationer för att ta till sig digital teknik som gör det möjligt för byggentreprenörer att förbättra sina logistikprocesser. Följande forskningsfrågor ska besvaras för att uppfylla avhandlingens syfte: RQ1: Vilka är drivkrafterna och hindren för att införa av digital teknik på projektnivå utifrån byggentreprenörens perspektiv? RQ2: Vilka effekter har införandet av digital teknik på logistikprocesser i byggprojekt? RQ3: Vilka är lärdomarna från att ta till sig av digital teknik i byggprojekt? Resultaten visar på drivkrafter och hinder för att ta till sig digital teknik på i byggprojekt ur ett byggentreprenörsperspektiv, effekterna av att ta till sig digital teknik och lärdomar från att ta till sig digital teknik i byggprojekt. Resultatet visar på att en framgångsrik process för att ta till sig digital teknik kan främjas av att identifiera drivkrafterna och behoven för projektet och de involverade aktörerna/individerna. Det har också visat sig att effekterna av att anta digital teknik är: (a) förändringar av order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken och (b) en förbättrad tillgänglighet och översikt av information. Dessutom bidrar denna avhandling till en ökad förståelse av hur en byggentreprenör tar till sig digital teknik med ett speciellt fokus på kunskap om att ta till sig digital teknik på byggprojekt. Avhandlingen bidrar även genom de praktiska rekommendationer som formulerats för byggentreprenörer och genom att tydliggöra tillvägagångssättet för digital teknikanvändning i syfte att öka byggprojektens produktivitet.

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The following results are related to Rural Digital Europe. Are you interested to view more results? Visit OpenAIRE - Explore.
22,349 Research products, page 1 of 2,235
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Pjević, Damjan;
    Publisher: D. Pjević
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Spanish; Castilian
    Authors: 
    Hurtado Lugo, Eliana;
    Publisher: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
    Country: Colombia

    Ilustraciones, tablas, gráficas Evaluar las funciones ecosistémicas del suelo y los impactos asociados en su uso y manejo es fundamental para el control y monitoreo de la degradación o restauración de este recurso. Actualmente las herramientas desarrolladas para medir la calidad del suelo son complejas, costosas y de difícil acceso para los agricultores, además de que tienen un enfoque limitado porque solo son válidas a escala regional. El objetivo de este estudio es generar un indicador simplificado que permita identificar los impactos ambientales asociados al uso y manejo del suelo. A partir de evaluaciones de la calidad físico química, morfológica y biológica (comunidades de macroinvertebrados) realizadas en China, Francia, Brasil, Perú y, Colombia más una base de datos global de macrofauna; se verificó la posibilidad de diseñar una formula universal y con base en el resultado se construyó una fórmula general que tuviera las variables más representativas de los diferentes aspectos de calidad del suelo. El cálculo del indicador se realizó a través de análisis multivariados y para cada uno de los juegos de datos (siendo estos de tres tipos: fisicoquímico, morfológico y macrofauna) en 9 localidades geográficas. Además, se realizó la aplicación cruzada de las fórmulas de los indicadores obtenidos en cada sitio con cada uno de los otros sitios, para verificar la universalidad de dichos indicadores. Los resultados de los parámetros biológicos del suelo mostraron un índice de correlación superior al 95% entre los valores calculados en cada sitio y valores calculados con fórmulas de los otros sitios. Este resultado muestra que el indicador global de macrofauna del suelo generado a continuación con los datos de los 3694 sitios de la base de datos Macrofauna puede ser aplicado en cualquier parte del mundo. Sin embargo, el intento de construir una fórmula general que involucrara variables fisicoquímicas y morfológicas, no fue posible dada las características específicas de los suelos y la variabilidad que este presenta por condiciones que van desde su génesis hasta el ambiente edafoclimático. Esto quiere decir que a partir de las fórmulas aquí propuestas se podrían generar indicadores limitados a escalas regionales, o a ciertos tipos de suelos homogéneos. (Texto tomado de la fuente) Assessing the ecosystem functions of the soil and the impacts associated with its use and management is essential for the control and monitoring of the degradation or restoration of this resource. Currently the tools developed to measure soil quality are complex, expensive and difficult to access for farmers, in addition to having a limited focus because they are only valid at a regional scale. The objective of this study is to generate a simplified indicator that allows identifying the environmental impacts associated with the use and management of soil in agricultural production systems. From evaluations of the physical, chemical, morphological and biological quality (macroinvertebrate communities) carried out in China, France, Brazil, Peru and Colombia, plus a global database of macrofauna. The possibility of designing a universal formula was verified and based on the result, a general formula was built that had the most representative variables of regarding the different aspects of soil quality. The calculation of the indicator was carried out through multivariate analysis and was mae for each of the data sets (these being of three types: physicochemical, morphological and macrofauna) in 9 geographical locations. In addition to this, the cross-application of the formulas of the indicators obtained in each site with each of the other sites was carried out, to verify the universality of said indicators. The results of the biological parameters of the soil showed a correlation index greater than 95% between the values calculated in each site and the values calculated with formulas from the other sites. This result shows that the global soil macrofauna indicator generated below with data from the 3694 sites in the Macrofauna database can be applied anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, the attempt to build a general formula involving physicochemical and morphological variables was not possible given the specific characteristics of the soils and the variability that they present due to conditions ranging from their genesis to the edaphoclimatic environment. This means that, based on the formulas proposed here, indicators limited to regional scales, or to certain types of homogeneous soils, can be generated. Maestría Magíster en Ingeniería - Ingeniería Ambiental Se analizaron 9 juegos de datos de investigaciones realizadas en China, Francia, Brasil, Perú y Colombia con protocolos parecidos. Suman un total de 1,121 puntos de muestreo donde se midieron variables físicas, químicas, morfológicas y biológicas con los mismos métodos. Para el estudio de las variables biológicas, se complementó este análisis con datos recopilados almacenados en la base de datos de macrofauna del suelo en 3,694 sitios distribuidos en 41 países (Lavelle et al., 2022). A partir del procesamiento de la información se usaron los valores obtenidos para crear una formula única de indicador global de calidad del suelo. En cada juego de datos, se analizaron varios tipos de uso del suelo, buscando comparar al medio natural de referencia local (bosque natural o sistema herbáceo) diferentes tipos representando un gradiente de intensificación del uso del suelo. Se diseñaron indicadores globales a partir de estos 9 sitios (más los 3694 de la base de datos para la macrofauna) y se aplicaron a tres sistemas de producción agrícola ubicados en el corregimiento de Robles, perteneciente a la zona sur plana del municipio de Jamundí, Valle del Cauca. Suelos y aguas Ingeniería.Sede Palmira

  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Vončina, Janez;
    Country: Slovenia

    V Industriji 4.0 so brezžične komunikacijske tehnologije bolj prisotne zaradi večjega števila naprav, povezanih v omrežje. V magistrskem delu smo raziskovali značilnosti brezžičnega krmiljenja in sočasnega krmiljenja več robotov. Razvili smo programsko kodo za štiri načine krmiljenja robotov, da delujejo zaporedno ali sočasno, in preizkusili značilnosti nalaganja programov na pomnilnik robota ter določili možne rešitve za neposredno fizično komunikacijo med roboti. Zasnovali smo model proizvodnega modula z dvema robotoma, namenjen graviranju, in napisali programsko opremo. Izmerili smo čase za pridobitev informacije iz robota za dve vrsti podatkov prek tehnologije Wi-Fi in USB-kabla ter rezultate primerjali in izmerili čas zamika pri sočasnem proženju robotov, ki so krmiljeni na različna načina. Za sočasno delovanje dveh robotov je najprimernejše krmiljenje z večnitnim programom, priporočljivo pa je tudi, da zmanjšamo število vrstic v programski kodi med zagonom obeh robotov. Wi-Fi komunikacija v primerjavi s komunikacijo prek USB-kabla poveča latenco in njeno varianco pri pridobivanju podatkov, tip podatkov pa nima bistvenega vpliva. Neposredna komunikacija med robotoma lahko deluje kot varnostni mehanizem pri brezžičnem krmiljenju. Industry 4.0 often includes wireless communication technologies because of increased number of networked devices. In this master thesis we studied the characteristics of wireless control and simultaneous control of multiple robots. We developed software code for 4 ways of controlling two robots working sequentially or simultaneously, tested the characteristics of loading programs to the robot memory and identified possible solutions for direct physical communication between robots. We designed a model of a production module with two robots for engraving and wrote the software. We measured the times to get information from the robot for two data types over Wi-Fi and over USB cable and compared the results, and measured the delay when the robots are run simultaneously and controlled in different ways. For simultaneous operation of two robots, multi-threaded control is preferred, and reduction of the number of lines in the program code during the start-up of both robots is recommended. Wi-Fi communication increases the latency and variance when accessing robot data compared to USB cable communication, while data type has no significant impact. Direct communication between robots can be used as a safety mechanism in wireless control.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Novak, Nika;
    Publisher: N. Novak
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Davidović, Danijel;
    Publisher: D. Davidović
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Vidergar, Ambrož;
    Publisher: A. Vidergar
    Country: Slovenia
  • Open Access Slovenian
    Authors: 
    Gabrovec, Anja;
    Publisher: A. Gabrovec
    Country: Slovenia

    Internetno glasovanje je bilo za namen volitev do leta 2020 uporabljeno le v nekaj državah. Vendar gre hkrati za volilni mehanizem, ki se vse bolj raziskuje kot sredstvo omogočanja olajšanega dostopa volivcem, ki bi sicer težko prišli na volišče na dan volitev. Sočasno se je poseben potencial takšnega načina glasovanja pokazal v času, ko je svet zajela ena največjih zdravstvenih kriz, pandemija covida-19. Magistrsko delo poglobljeno obdela področje internetnih volitev in v empiričnem delu analizira namero uporabe internetnih volitev na slovenskih tleh. Kljub temu da se pandemija covida-19 umirja, pa je le-ta prebudila zavedanje po pomembnosti digitalne transformacije v razvoju družbe. Moderna in široko prisotna tehnologija namreč že omogoča uvedbo internetnih volitev, vendar takšno glasovanje prinaša številne izzive s področja varnosti, zasebnosti in tajnosti. Vse izzive smo v tem delu želeli celovito obravnavati in preučiti potencial izvedbe internetnih volitev v Sloveniji, v navezavi z obsegom uporabe informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT), sprejemanjem IKT pri storitvah javne uprave pred krizo covida-19 in po njej. V okviru empirične raziskave smo s pomočjo linearne regresije zaznavali šibek vpliv pandemije covida-19 na uporabo IKT v zasebnem življenju državljanov in podobno pri vplivu uporabe IKT ter namero uporabe internetnih volitev v prihodnosti. Hkrati smo s pomočjo Pearsonovega koeficienta korelacije ugotovili, da ni značilnih odstopanj, kadar govorimo o povezavi med indeksi e-participacije in uporabo IKT v izbranem obdobju pandemije. Kljub omejitvam, ki so zaznamovale pandemijo covida-19, le-ta glede na naše rezultate ni prinesla večjih sprememb glede uporabe IKT pri življenju državljanov. Obenem tudi uporaba IKT med državljani ne kaže vpliva na večjo naklonjenost k i-volitvam, kar pomeni, da bi v Sloveniji lahko dobili podporo za izvedbo i-volitev šele, ko bodo izpolnjeni tehnični, politični in družbeni pogoji, ki bodo ljudem dali zaupanje v volilni sistem, politike in ponujene tehnološke rešitve. Rezultati kažejo močno podlago za nadaljnje raziskave, ki bodo naslavljale omenjeni širši kontekst i-volitev. Until 2022, Internet voting has been used for the purpose of elections only in a few countries. It is a voting mechanism that is being researched as an instrument that enables easy access to the voters, which would otherwise find it difficult to get to the polling station. The existence of this type of voting also proved as important when one of the world’s biggest health crises, the pandemic of covid-19, swept the world. The Master’s thesis focuses on the relevance of Internet voting and its intention to use it in Slovenia in the future. The covid-19 pandemic is slowing down, and a powerful digital transformation of society’s development has awakened. The intention to introduce it to the public is based on modern technology, but it also brings several technological challenges in the areas of security, privacy, and secrecy. The thesis focuses on all the challenges in a comprehensive way and examines the state of play of the public and private sectors and i-voting before and after the covid-19 crisis. In the empirical research linear regression was used. The results show a weak correlation between the covid-19 pandemic and the use of ICT in the private life of citizens and between the use of IT and the intention to use Internet voting in the future. Using Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, we conclude that there are no major discrepancies when it comes to the relationship between e-participation indices and IT use during the pandemic period. Despite the constraints that characterised the covida-19 pandemic, it did not, according to our results, bring about major changes in the use of ICT in citizens' lives. Simultaneously, the use of ICT among citizens does not indicate any impact on the increased preference of i-elections, which means that Slovenia could only gain support for i-elections when the technical, political, and social conditions are met that will give people confidence in the electoral system, policies and offered technological solutions. The results show a strong basis for further research addressing this broader context of i-elections which can also be used as a platform for further research in the future.

  • Open Access Finnish
    Authors: 
    Männistö, Juho;
    Publisher: Itä-Suomen yliopisto
    Country: Finland
  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Karlsson, Samuel;
    Publisher: Luleå tekniska universitet, Signaler och system
    Country: Sweden

    This compilation thesis presents two main contributions in path planning and obstacle avoidance, as well as an integration of the proposed modules with other frameworks to enable resilient robotic missions in complex environments.In general, through different types of robotic missions it is important to have a collision tolerant and reliable system, both regarding potential risks from collisions with dynamic and static obstacles, but also to secure the overall mission success.%Particularly, a common trend in the presented work is safety regarding collisions with dynamic and static obstacles, as well as reliable overall systems that are capable of executing missions. The work included in this thesis presents the risk-aware path planner D$^*_+$ that is capable of planning traversable paths for both ground and aerial robots. D$^*_+$ is developed on top of D$^*$-lite with a risk layer close to occupied space, modeling the unknown areas as a risk, and is implemented with a dynamic map to enable updates and adjustments to a changing environment. The risk layer aids in solving two common challenges with path planning for real robots: a) it creates a safety margin that gives free space between the path and obstacles so that robots with the corresponding size can follow the path, and b) it masks smaller holes in walls that occur when building maps from real data. Using a dynamic map makes it possible to use D$^*_+$ for an exploration mission, it also enables for the re-planning of the path if the environment changes for example, if an obstacle suddenly blocks a path, a new path will be planned. D$^*_+$ have been tested in different real-life experiments with both an Unmanned Areal Vehicle (UAV) and a quadruped-legged robot and shown to produce traversable paths in different application scenarios, such as exploration, return to base, and navigation on known maps. This thesis also presents an obstacle avoidance architecture for velocity objects, structured around an object detection and tracking scheme that is combined with non-linear model predictive controller (NMPC) to plan the avoidance maneuver. %that uses a Convolutional Neural Network to detect obstacles that are tracked so they can be avoided by a non-linear model predictive controller (NMPC).In this case, the detection is done with the Convoluitonal Neural Network (CNN) You Only Lock Once v4 (YOLO) where the most certain human is tracked with a Kalman filter, and the velocity of the human is estimated.The proposed scheme models the object motion as constant velocity, which is utilized from the NMPC to plan control inputs for the robot to avoid the identified obstacle. A merit of the approach is that the avoidance maneuver does not only consider the current identification position, but also considers the motion prediction of the object. This avoidance framework proved to be capable to avoid non-cooperative obstacles, such as humans moving towards it.Due to the fact that the avoidance is starting when a future collision is predicted, the avoidance maneuver is started early enough to avoid obstacles with a higher velocity than a classic ``static obstacle'' radius approach can handle. An additional aim of this thesis is to showcase that the proposed contributions can be applied in full robotic missions/frameworks. Thus, this thesis presents a search and rescue mission with a quadruped-legged robot and a UAV on a partially known map to find the location of survivors and other objects of related interest. In this mission, the quadruped-legged robot carries the UAV to the edge of the known map from where it launches the UAV that then explores and detects any survival and other relevant objects.Also, an autonomy solution, based on Boston dynamics' quadruped-legged robot Spot, for enabling a map-based navigation in confined environments has been developed and tested. This Spot solution enables the robot to navigate to a user-selected point, rotate in the desired direction, and instruct the UAV, in the combined search and rescue mission, to take off.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Gholami, Yashar;
    Publisher: Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem
    Country: Sweden

    This thesis investigates the adoption of digital technologies to improve logistics processes in construction projects. The focus is on the main contractor firms and construction projects, but first-tier suppliers, transportation firms, and technology vendors are also considered. The logistics processes that are studied are order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics. Order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics play a critical role in ensuring the availability of goods for the construction process, in the right amount and time, at the right location, and without damage. Inefficient logistics processes that do not support construction projects with the right resources (materials, tools, and machinery) are one reason for low construction project performance. Inefficient logistics processes cause disruptions to construction projects, such as material stockouts, material surpluses, unavailability, idle waiting and searching time, and waste (e.g., damages). On a larger scale, inefficient logistics processes cause significant project delays and cost overruns. Therefore, improving logistics processes can improve construction project performance. To address the inefficiencies of logistics processes, main contractor firms face increased pressure to adopt digital technologies. It is known that adopting digital technologies can improve communication between project stakeholders, construction automation, and data acquisition, visualization, and analytics. The adoption of digital technologies has also been reported to improve the construction process, such as design, production, logistics, and procurement of materials and services. However, the adoption of digital technologies is a complex and inter-organizational process, and the industry's decentralized, project-driven nature makes many efforts ad hoc and one-of-a-kind endeavors. Moreover, there needs to be more clarity in the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. A knowledge gap in this context has been a lack of actionable recommendations to practitioners, such as main contractor firms. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to formulate recommendations for the adoption of digital technologies that enable the main contractor firms to improve logistics processes. Based on this, the following research questions guide the research: RQ1: What are the drivers and barriers for the adoption of digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective? RQ2: What are the effects on logistics processes when adopting digital technologies in construction projects? RQ3: What are the lessons learnt from the adoption of digital technologies in construction projects? The findings identify drivers and barriers to adopting digital technologies at the project level from a main contractor perspective, the effects of adopting digital technologies, and lessons learnt from adopting digital technologies in construction projects. Furthermore, a successful technology adoption process is driven by identifying the drivers and needs of the project and the stakeholders/individuals involved. It is also found that the effects of adopting digital technologies are: (a) re-designing the order-to-delivery processes and on-site logistics and (b) accessibility and monitorability of information. Moreover, this thesis proposes an enhanced understanding of the process undertaken by the main construction firms in adopting digital technologies. The thesis complements the knowledge of digital technology adoption by focusing on construction projects. The thesis fills in a knowledge gap by formulating actionable recommendations to main contractor firms and bringing clarity to the path of digital technology adoption for increasing construction project performance. Denna avhandling studerar införandet av digital teknik för att förbättra logistikprocesser i byggprojekt. Avhandlingens fokus ligger på byggentreprenören och dess byggprojekt, men även leverantörer, transportföretag och teknikleverantörer beaktas. De logistikprocesser som studeras är order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken. Order-till-leveransprocesser och arbetsplatslogistiken spelar en avgörande roll för att säkerställa tillgången på resurser i produktionsskedet där de behöver levereras i rätt mängd och tid, på rätt plats och utan skador. Produktiviteten i byggprojekt är låg. En orsak till den låga produktiviteten är ineffektiva logistikprocesser som inte förser byggarbetsplatsen med rätt resurser (material, verktyg och maskiner). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser orsakar störningar i byggprojekt till följd av materialbrist, materialöverskott, otillgänglighet, outnyttjad tid (t.ex. vänte- och söktid), samt andra former av slöseri (t.ex. skador på material). Ineffektiva logistikprocesser leder också till betydande förseningar och kostnadsöverskridningar i byggprojekt. Därmed kan förbättrade logistikprocesser bidra till att öka produktivitet i byggprojekt. Samtidigt som att byggentreprenörer behöver ta itu med ineffektiva logistikprocesser står de även inför ett ökat tryck att ta till sig digital teknik. Användning av digital teknik kan förbättra kommunikationen mellan projektintressenter, automatisera byggprocesser samt underlätta datainsamling och visualisering och analys av denna data. Användandet av digital teknik har även rapporterats förbättra hela byggprocessen i termer av projektering, produktion, logistik och upphandling av material och tjänster. Att ta till sig digital teknik är däremot en komplex process som spänner över organisationsgränser. Branschens decentraliserade, projektdrivna karaktär försvårar för byggentreprenörer att ta till sig ny teknik, vilket leder till att insatserna är fragmenterade och görs ad hoc. Dessutom saknas en tydlig bild av för hur byggentreprenörer bör ta till sig ny digital teknik för att öka produktiviteten i byggprojekt. En kunskapslucka i detta sammanhang har varit bristen på praktiska rekommendationer för branschaktörer, till exempel byggentreprenörer. Syftet med denna avhandling att formulera rekommendationer för att ta till sig digital teknik som gör det möjligt för byggentreprenörer att förbättra sina logistikprocesser. Följande forskningsfrågor ska besvaras för att uppfylla avhandlingens syfte: RQ1: Vilka är drivkrafterna och hindren för att införa av digital teknik på projektnivå utifrån byggentreprenörens perspektiv? RQ2: Vilka effekter har införandet av digital teknik på logistikprocesser i byggprojekt? RQ3: Vilka är lärdomarna från att ta till sig av digital teknik i byggprojekt? Resultaten visar på drivkrafter och hinder för att ta till sig digital teknik på i byggprojekt ur ett byggentreprenörsperspektiv, effekterna av att ta till sig digital teknik och lärdomar från att ta till sig digital teknik i byggprojekt. Resultatet visar på att en framgångsrik process för att ta till sig digital teknik kan främjas av att identifiera drivkrafterna och behoven för projektet och de involverade aktörerna/individerna. Det har också visat sig att effekterna av att anta digital teknik är: (a) förändringar av order-till-leveransprocessen och arbetsplatslogistiken och (b) en förbättrad tillgänglighet och översikt av information. Dessutom bidrar denna avhandling till en ökad förståelse av hur en byggentreprenör tar till sig digital teknik med ett speciellt fokus på kunskap om att ta till sig digital teknik på byggprojekt. Avhandlingen bidrar även genom de praktiska rekommendationer som formulerats för byggentreprenörer och genom att tydliggöra tillvägagångssättet för digital teknikanvändning i syfte att öka byggprojektens produktivitet.