TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ulmer, Jessica
A1  - Braun, Sebastian
A1  - Cheng, Chi-Tsun
A1  - Dowey, Steve
A1  - Wollert, Jörg
T1  - A human factors-aware assistance system in manufacturing based on gamification and hardware modularisation
JF  - International Journal of Production Research
N2  - Assistance systems have been widely adopted in the manufacturing sector to facilitate various processes and tasks in production environments. However, existing systems are mostly equipped with rigid functional logic and do not provide individual user experiences or adapt to their capabilities. This work integrates human factors in assistance systems by adjusting the hardware and instruction presented to the workers’ cognitive and physical demands. A modular system architecture is designed accordingly, which allows a flexible component exchange according to the user and the work task. Gamification, the use of game elements in non-gaming contexts, has been further adopted in this work to provide level-based instructions and personalised feedback. The developed framework is validated by applying it to a manual workstation for industrial assembly routines.
KW  - Human factors
KW  - assistance system
KW  - gamification
KW  - adaptive systems
KW  - manufacturing
Y1  - 2023
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2023.2166140
SN  - 0020-7543 (Print)
SN  - 1366-588X (Online)
PB  - Taylor & Francis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schopen, Oliver
A1  - Narayan, Sriram
A1  - Beckmann, Marvin
A1  - Najmi, Aezid-Ul-Hassan
A1  - Esch, Thomas
A1  - Shabani, Bahman
T1  - An EIS approach to quantify the effects of inlet air relative humidity on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: a pathway to developing a novel fault diagnostic method
JF  - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
N2  - In this work, the effect of low air relative humidity on the operation of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is investigated. An innovative method through performing in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is utilised to quantify the effect of inlet air relative humidity at the cathode side on internal ionic resistances and output voltage of the fuel cell. In addition, algorithms are developed to analyse the electrochemical characteristics of the fuel cell. For the specific fuel cell stack used in this study, the membrane resistance drops by over 39 % and the cathode side charge transfer resistance decreases by 23 % after increasing the humidity from 30 % to 85 %, while the results of static operation also show an increase of ∼2.2 % in the voltage output after increasing the relative humidity from 30 % to 85 %. In dynamic operation, visible drying effects occur at < 50 % relative humidity, whereby the increase of the air side stoichiometry increases the drying effects. Furthermore, other parameters, such as hydrogen humidification, internal stack structure, and operating parameters like stoichiometry, pressure, and temperature affect the overall water balance. Therefore, the optimal humidification range must be determined by considering all these parameters to maximise the fuel cell performance and durability. The results of this study are used to develop a health management system to ensure sufficient humidification by continuously monitoring the fuel cell polarisation data and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicators.
KW  - PEM fuel cell
KW  - Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
KW  - Relative air humidity
KW  - Active humidity control
KW  - Impedance analysis
Y1  - 2024
SN  - 0360-3199 (print)
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.01.218
SN  - 1879-3487 (online)
VL  - 58
IS  - 8
SP  - 1302
EP  - 1315
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stiemer, Luc Nicolas
A1  - Thoma, Andreas
A1  - Braun, Carsten
T1  - MBT3D: Deep learning based multi-object tracker for bumblebee 3D flight path estimation
JF  - PLoS ONE
N2  - This work presents the Multi-Bees-Tracker (MBT3D) algorithm, a Python framework implementing a deep association tracker for Tracking-By-Detection, to address the challenging task of tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group. While tracking algorithms for bumblebees exist, they often come with intensive restrictions, such as the need for sufficient lighting, high contrast between the animal and background, absence of occlusion, significant user input, etc. Tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group is challenging. They suddenly adjust movements and change their appearance during different wing beat states while exhibiting significant similarities in their individual appearance. The MBT3D tracker, developed in this research, is an adaptation of an existing ant tracking algorithm for bumblebee tracking. It incorporates an offline trained appearance descriptor along with a Kalman Filter for appearance and motion matching. Different detector architectures for upstream detections (You Only Look Once (YOLOv5), Faster Region Proposal Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN), and RetinaNet) are investigated in a comparative study to optimize performance. The detection models were trained on a dataset containing 11359 labeled bumblebee images. YOLOv5 reaches an Average Precision of AP = 53, 8%, Faster R-CNN achieves AP = 45, 3% and RetinaNet AP = 38, 4% on the bumblebee validation dataset, which consists of 1323 labeled bumblebee images. The tracker’s appearance model is trained on 144 samples. The tracker (with Faster R-CNN detections) reaches a Multiple Object Tracking Accuracy MOTA = 93, 5% and a Multiple Object Tracking Precision MOTP = 75, 6% on a validation dataset containing 2000 images, competing with state-of-the-art computer vision methods. The framework allows reliable tracking of different bumblebees in the same video stream with rarely occurring identity switches (IDS). MBT3D has much lower IDS than other commonly used algorithms, with one of the lowest false positive rates, competing with state-of-the-art animal tracking algorithms. The developed framework reconstructs the 3-dimensional (3D) flight paths of the bumblebees by triangulation. It also handles and compares two alternative stereo camera pairs if desired.
Y1  - 2023
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291415
SN  - 1932-6203
N1  - Corresponding author: Luc Nicolas Stiemer
VL  - 18
IS  - 9
PB  - PLOS
CY  - San Fancisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Elsen, Ingo
A1  - Kraiss, Karl-Friedrich
T1  - System concept and realization of a scalable neurocomputing architecture
JF  - Systems Analysis Modelling Simulation
N2  - This paper describes the realization of a novel neurocomputer which is based on the concepts of a coprocessor. In contrast to existing neurocomputers the main interest was the realization of a scalable, flexible system, which is capable of computing neural networks of arbitrary topology and scale, with full independence of special hardware from the software's point of view. On the other hand, computational power should be added, whenever needed and flexibly adapted to the requirements of the application. Hardware independence is achieved by a run time system which is capable of using all available computing power, including multiple host CPUs and an arbitrary number of neural coprocessors autonomously. The realization of arbitrary neural topologies is provided through the implementation of the elementary operations which can be found in most neural topologies.
Y1  - 1999
SN  - 0232-9298
SN  - 1029-4902
VL  - 35
IS  - 4
SP  - 399
EP  - 419
PB  - Gordon and Breach Science Publishers
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Elsen, Ingo
A1  - Kraiss, Karl-Friedrich
A1  - Krumbiegel, Dirk
A1  - Walter, Peter
A1  - Wickel, Jochen
T1  - Visual information retrieval for 3D product identification: a midterm report
JF  - KI - Künstliche Intelligenz
Y1  - 1999
SN  - 1610-1987
SN  - 0933-1875
VL  - 13
IS  - 1
SP  - 64
EP  - 67
PB  - Springer
CY  - Berlin
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Esch, Thomas
T1  - Trends in commercial vehicle powertrains
JF  - ATZautotechnology
N2  - Low emission zones and truck bans, the rising price of diesel and increases in road tolls: all of these factors are putting serious pressure on the transport industry. Commercial vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers are in the process of identifying new solutions to these challenges as part of their efforts to meet the EEV (enhanced environmentally friendly vehicle) limits, which are currently the most robust European exhaust and emissions standards for trucks and buses.
KW  - European Transient Cycle
KW  - Common Rail Injection System
KW  - Commercial Vehicle
KW  - Selective Catalytic Reduction
KW  - Diesel Engine
Y1  - 2010
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03247185
SN  - 2192-886X
VL  - 2010
IS  - 10
SP  - 26
EP  - 31
PB  - Vieweg & Sohn
CY  - Wiesbaden
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Elsen, Ingo
A1  - Hartung, Frank
A1  - Horn, Uwe
A1  - Kampmann, Markus
A1  - Peters, Liliane
ED  - Voas, Jeffrey
T1  - Streaming technology in 3G mobile communication systems
JF  - Computer : innovative technology for computer professionals
N2  - Third-generation mobile communication systems will combine standardized streaming with a range of unique services to provide high-quality Internet content that meets the specific needs of the rapidly growing mobile market.
Y1  - 2001
SN  - 0018-9162
SN  - 1558-0814
VL  - 34
IS  - 9 Seiten
SP  - 46
EP  - 52
PB  - IEEE
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Funke, Harald
A1  - Esch, Thomas
A1  - Roosen, Petra
T1  - Antriebssystemanpassungen zur Verwendung von LPG als Flugkraftstoff
JF  - Motortechnische Zeitschrift (MTZ)
N2  - Auch in der allgemeinen Luftfahrt wäre es wünschenswert, die bereits vorhandenen Verbrennungsmotoren mit weniger CO₂-trächtigen Kraftstoffen als dem heute weit verbreiteten Avgas 100LL betreiben zu können. Es ist anzunehmen, dass im Vergleich die unter Normalbedingungen gasförmigen Kraftstoffe CNG, LPG oder LNG deutlich weniger Emissionen produzieren. Erforderliche Antriebssystemanpassungen wurden im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojekts an der FH Aachen untersucht.
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s35146-021-0778-2
VL  - 2022
IS  - 83
SP  - 58
EP  - 62
PB  - Springer Nature
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Funke, Harald
A1  - Esch, Thomas
A1  - Roosen, Petra
T1  - Powertrain Adaptions for LPG Usage in General Aviation
JF  - MTZ worldwide
N2  - In general aviation, too, it is desirable to be able to operate existing internal combustion engines with fuels that produce less CO₂ than Avgas 100LL being widely used today It can be assumed that, in comparison, the fuels CNG, LPG or LNG, which are gaseous under normal conditions, produce significantly lower emissions. Necessary propulsion system adaptations were investigated as part of a research project at Aachen University of Applied Sciences.
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s38313-021-0756-6
VL  - 2022
IS  - 83
SP  - 58
EP  - 62
PB  - Springer Nature
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pfaff, Raphael
A1  - Babilon, Katharina
T1  - Railway Challenge - moderne Auflage der Rainhill Trials?
JF  - Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau : ETR ; Impulsgeber für das System Bahn
N2  - Die IMechE Railway Challenge wird jährlich in Stapleford, Großbritannien ausgetragen. Im Rahmen der Challenge entwickeln und bauen Studierende eine Lokomotive und vergleichen sich in verschiedenen Disziplinen, darunter eine automatisierte Zielbremsung, optimale Energierückgewinnung beim Bremsen und minimale Geräuschemissionen. Neben diesen und weiteren technischen Wettbewerbsdisziplinen treten die Fahrzeuge und die Teams auch in nicht-technischen Disziplinen wie einer Business Case Challenge an.
Y1  - 2023
SN  - 0013-2845
N1  - Homepageveröffentlichung unbefristet genehmigt für Fachhochschule Aachen / Rechte für einzelne Downloads und Ausdrucke für Besucher der Seiten genehmigt / © DVV Media Group GmbH
VL  - 2023
IS  - 4
SP  - 55
EP  - 58
PB  - DVV Media Group
CY  - Hamburg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Thomessen, Karolin
A1  - Thoma, Andreas
A1  - Braun, Carsten
T1  - Bio-inspired altitude changing extension to the 3DVFH* local obstacle avoidance algorithm
JF  - CEAS Aeronautical Journal
N2  - Obstacle avoidance is critical for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating autonomously. Obstacle avoidance algorithms either rely on global environment data or local sensor data. Local path planners react to unforeseen objects and plan purely on local sensor information. Similarly, animals need to find feasible paths based on local information about their surroundings. Therefore, their behavior is a valuable source of inspiration for path planning. Bumblebees tend to fly vertically over far-away obstacles and horizontally around close ones, implying two zones for different flight strategies depending on the distance to obstacles. This work enhances the local path planner 3DVFH* with this bio-inspired strategy. The algorithm alters the goal-driven function of the 3DVFH* to climb-preferring if obstacles are far away. Prior experiments with bumblebees led to two definitions of flight zone limits depending on the distance to obstacles, leading to two algorithm variants. Both variants reduce the probability of not reaching the goal of a 3DVFH* implementation in Matlab/Simulink. The best variant, 3DVFH*b-b, reduces this probability from 70.7 to 18.6% in city-like worlds using a strong vertical evasion strategy. Energy consumption is higher, and flight paths are longer compared to the algorithm version with pronounced horizontal evasion tendency. A parameter study analyzes the effect of different weighting factors in the cost function. The best parameter combination shows a failure probability of 6.9% in city-like worlds and reduces energy consumption by 28%. Our findings demonstrate the potential of bio-inspired approaches for improving the performance of local path planning algorithms for UAV.
KW  - UAV
KW  - Obstacle avoidance
KW  - Autonomy
KW  - Local path planning
Y1  - 2023
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-023-00691-w
SN  - 1869-5590 (Online)
SN  - 1869-5582 (Print)
N1  - Corresponding author: Karolin Thomessen
PB  - Springer
CY  - Wien
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Thoma, Andreas
A1  - Gardi, Alessandro
A1  - Fisher, Alex
A1  - Braun, Carsten
T1  - Improving local path planning for UAV flight in challenging environments by refining cost function weights
JF  - CEAS Aeronautical Journal
N2  - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) constantly gain in versatility. However, more reliable path planning algorithms are required until full autonomous UAV operation is possible. This work investigates the algorithm 3DVFH* and analyses its dependency on its cost function weights in 2400 environments. The analysis shows that the 3DVFH* can find a suitable path in every environment. However, a particular type of environment requires a specific choice of cost function weights. For minimal failure, probability interdependencies between the weights of the cost function have to be considered. This dependency reduces the number of control parameters and simplifies the usage of the 3DVFH*. Weights for costs associated with vertical evasion (pitch cost) and vicinity to obstacles (obstacle cost) have the highest influence on the failure probability of the local path planner. Environments with mainly very tall buildings (like large American city centres) require a preference for horizontal avoidance manoeuvres (achieved with high pitch cost weights). In contrast, environments with medium-to-low buildings (like European city centres) benefit from vertical avoidance manoeuvres (achieved with low pitch cost weights). The cost of the vicinity to obstacles also plays an essential role and must be chosen adequately for the environment. Choosing these two weights ideal is sufficient to reduce the failure probability below 10%.
KW  - Bio-inspired systems
KW  - Path planning
KW  - Obstacle avoidance
KW  - Unmanned aerial vehicles
Y1  - 2024
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13272-024-00741-x
SN  - 1869-5590 (eISSN)
SN  - 1869-5582
N1  - Corresponding author: Andreas Thoma
PB  - Springer
CY  - Wien
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schückhaus, Ulrich
T1  - Die SkyCab-Erfinder im WFMG-Interview
JF  - Business in MG
Y1  - 2020
N1  - Interview von WFMG – Wirtschaftsförderung Mönchengladbach GmbH, vertreten durch Dr. Ulrich Schückhaus
IS  - 1
SP  - 6
EP  - 7
ER  -