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This paper introduces a hardware setup to measure efficiency maps of low-power electric motors and their associated inverters. Here, the power of the device under test (DUT) ranges from some Watts to a few hundred Watts. The torque and speed of the DUT are measured independent of voltage and current in multiple load points. A Matlab-based software approach in combination with an open Texas-Instruments (TI) hardware setup ensures flexibility. Exemplarily, the efficiency field of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine (PMSM) is measured to proof the concept. Brushless-DC (BLDC) motors can be tested as well. The nomenclature in this paper is based on the new European standard DIN EN 50598. Special attention is paid to the calculation of the measurement error.
Nowadays, the most employed devices for recoding videos or capturing images are undoubtedly the smartphones. Our work investigates the application of source camera identification on mobile phones. We present a dataset entirely collected by mobile phones. The dataset contains both still images and videos collected by 67 different smartphones. Part of the images consists in photos of uniform backgrounds, especially collected for the computation of the RSPN. Identifying the source camera given a video is particularly challenging due to the strong video compression. The experiments reported in this paper, show the large variation in performance when testing an highly accurate technique on still images and videos.
Es existieren verschiedenste Arten von Spielen, die versuchen, die Motivation einer Spielsituation in einen ernsten Kontext zu überführen. In diesem Artikel wird der Überbegriff „Competence Developing Games“ definiert und anhand von Beispielen erläutert. Dafür werden Erkennungskriterien vorgestellt, entsprechende Spieltypen erläutert und eine Zuordnung durch-geführt.
Motivation-based Learning: Teaching Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering with an LED Spinning Top
(2018)
To increase pressure to supply all floors of high buildings with water, booster stations, normally consisting of several parallel pumps in the basement, are used. In this work, we demonstrate the potential of a decentralized pump topology regarding energy savings in water supply systems of skyscrapers. We present an approach, based on Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming, that allows to choose an optimal network topology and optimal pumps from a predefined construction kit comprising different pump types. Using domain-specific scaling laws and Latin Hypercube Sampling, we generate different input sets of pump types and compare their impact on the efficiency and cost of the total system design. As a realistic application example, we consider a hotel building with 325 rooms, 12 floors and up to four pressure zones.
The overall energy efficiency of ventilation systems can be improved by considering not only single components, but by considering as well the interplay between every part of the system. With the help of the method "TOR" ("Technical Operations Research"), which was developed at the Chair of Fluid Systems at TU Darmstadt, it is possible to improve the energy efficiency of the whole system by considering all possible design choices programmatically. We show the ability of this systematic design approach with a ventilation system for buildings as a use case example.
Based on a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Program (MINLP) we model the ventilation system. We use binary variables to model the selection of different pipe diameters. Multiple fans are model with the help of scaling laws. The whole system is represented by a graph, where the edges represent the pipes and fans and the nodes represents the source of air for cooling and the sinks, that have to be cooled. At the beginning, the human designer chooses a construction kit of different suitable fans and pipes of different diameters and different load cases. These boundary conditions define a variety of different possible system topologies. It is not possible to consider all topologies by hand. With the help of state of the art solvers, on the other side, it is possible to solve this MINLP.
Next to this, we also consider the effects of malfunctions in different components. Therefore, we show a first approach to measure the resilience of the shown example use case. Further, we compare the conventional approach with designs that are more resilient. These more resilient designs are derived by extending the before mentioned model with further constraints, that consider explicitly the resilience of the overall system. We show that it is possible to design resilient systems with this method already in the early design stage and compare the energy efficiency and resilience of these different system designs.
The UN sets the goal to ensure access to water and sanitation for all people by 2030. To address this goal, we present a multidisciplinary approach for designing water supply networks for slums in large cities by applying mathematical optimization. The problem is modeled as a mixed-integer linear problem (MILP) aiming to find a network describing the optimal supply infrastructure. To illustrate the approach, we apply it on a small slum cluster in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The continuing growth of scientific publications raises the question how research processes can be digitalized and thus realized more productively. Especially in information technology fields, research practice is characterized by a rapidly growing volume of publications. For the search process various information systems exist. However, the analysis of the published content is still a highly manual task. Therefore, we propose a text analytics system that allows a fully digitalized analysis of literature sources. We have realized a prototype by using EBSCO Discovery Service in combination with IBM Watson Explorer and demonstrated the results in real-life research projects. Potential addressees are research institutions, consulting firms, and decision-makers in politics and business practice.
Angesichts des anhaltenden Wachstums wissenschaftlicher Veröffentlichungen werden Instrumente benötigt, um Literaturanalysen durch Digitalisierung produktiver zu gestalten. Dieser Beitrag stellt einen Ansatz vor, der bibliographische Daten aus der Literaturdatenbank EBSCO Discovery Service mithilfe von Text-Analytics-Methoden erschließt. Die Lösung basiert auf dem Textanalysesystem IBM Watson Explorer und eignet sich für explorative Literaturanalysen, um beispielsweise den Status quo emergierender Technologiefelder in der Literatur zu reflektieren. Die generierten Ergebnisse sind in den Kontext der zunehmenden Werkzeugunterstützung des Literaturrechercheprozesses einzuordnen und können für intra- sowie interinstitutionelle Wissenstransferprozesse in Forschungs- und Beratungskontexten genutzt werden.
This paper introduces a Competence Developing Game (CDG) for the purpose of a cybersecurity awareness training for businesses. The target audience will be discussed in detail to understand their requirements. It will be explained why and how a mix of business simulation and serious game meets these stakeholder requirements. It will be shown that a tablet and touchscreen based approach is the most suitable solution. In addition, an empirical study will be briefly presented. The study was carried out to examine how an interaction system for a 3D-tablet based CDG has to be designed, to be manageable for non-game experienced employees. Furthermore, it will be explained which serious content is necessary for a Cybersecurity awareness training CDG and how this content is wrapped in the game
During the development of a Competence Developing Game’s (CDG) story it is indispensable to understand the target audience. Thereby, CDGs stories represent more than just the plot. The Story is about the
Setting, the Characters and the Plot. As a toolkit to support the
development of such a story, this paper introduces the UserFocused Storybuilding (short UFoS) Framework for CDGs. The Framework and its utilization will be explained, followed by a description of its development and derivation, including an empirical study. In addition, to simplify the Framework use regarding the CDG’s target audience, a new concept of Nine Psychographic Player Types will be explained. This concept of Player Types provides an approach to handle the differences in between players during the UFoS Framework use. Thereby,
this article presents a unique approach to the development of
target group-differentiated CDGs stories.
Phase Repeatable Synthesizers as a New Harmonic Phase Standard for Nonlinear Network Analysis
(2018)
In diesem Paper wird die Entwicklung und Evaluation eines grafischen Regeleditors für das Erstellen von „Smart Living Environments“-Services vorgestellt. Dafür werden zunächst die Deduktion und Implementierung des grafischen Regeleditors erläutert. Anschließend wird eine Probandenstudie vorgestellt, in welcher der Mehrwert bezogen auf die Aspekte Zeit, Fehleranfälligkeit und Gebrauchstauglichkeit festgestellt wird.
MedicVR : Acceleration and Enhancement Techniques for Direct Volume Rendering in Virtual Reality
(2019)
Water suppliers are faced with the great challenge of achieving high-quality and, at the same time, low-cost water supply. In practice, the focus is set on the most beneficial maintenance measures and/or capacity adaptations of existing water distribution systems (WDS). Since climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges in the future, the resilience enhancement of WDS, i.e. the enhancement of their capability to withstand and recover from disturbances, has been in particular focus recently. To assess the resilience of WDS, metrics based on graph theory have been proposed. In this study, a promising approach is applied to assess the resilience of the WDS for a district in a major German City. The conducted analysis provides insight into the process of actively influencing the
resilience of WDS
The paper industry is the industry with the third highest energy consumption in the European Union. Using recycled paper instead of fresh fibers for papermaking is less energy consuming and saves resources. However, adhesive contaminants in recycled paper are particularly problematic since they reduce the quality of the resulting paper-product. To remove as many contaminants and at the same time obtain as many valuable fibres as possible, fine screening systems, consisting of multiple interconnected pressure screens, are used. Choosing the best configuration is a non-trivial task: The screens can be interconnected in several ways, and suitable screen designs as well as operational parameters have to be selected. Additionally, one has to face conflicting objectives. In this paper, we present an approach for the multi-criteria optimization of pressure screen systems based on Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming. We specifically focus on a clear representation of the trade-off between different objectives.
The initial idea of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the automation of business processes through the presentation layer of existing application systems. For this simple emulation of user input and output by software robots, no changes of the systems and architecture is required. However, considering strategic aspects of aligning business and technology on an enterprise level as well as the growing capabilities of RPA driven by artificial intelligence, interrelations between RPA and Enterprise Architecture (EA) become visible and pose new questions. In this paper we discuss the relationship between RPA and EA in terms of perspectives and implications. As workin- progress we focus on identifying new questions and research opportunities related to RPA and EA.
Smart-Living-Services nur gegen Daten? Process-Mining als Möglichkeit zur Steigerung der Akzeptanz!
(2019)
Seit Jahren etablieren sich Technologien in unserem Alltag, die mit Hilfe von smarten Komponenten neue Services und Vernetzungsmöglichkeiten schaffen. Dieses Paper beschreibt die Ergebnisse einer Studie, die die Akzeptanz von IoT-gestützten, smarten Services im privaten Umfeld untersucht. Dabei wird eine zentrale Datenverarbeitung mit automatisierter Erstellung smarter Services der dezentralen Datenverarbeitung mit manueller Serviceerstellung in sieben Kategorien gegenübergestellt. Die Auswertung der Studie legt die Forschungsfrage nahe, ob das Nutzerverhalten im Kontext Smart Living nicht auch mit einem
dezentralen Lösungsansatz, und somit unabhängig von großen Unternehmen, analysiert werden kann. Hierfür wird im zweiten Teil des Papers die Anwendbarkeit von Process-Mining im Bereich Smart Living untersucht und prototypisch getestet.
In this paper, an approach to propulsion system modelling for hybrid-electric general aviation aircraft is presented. Because the focus is on general aviation aircraft, only combinations of electric motors and reciprocating combustion engines are explored. Gas turbine hybrids will not be considered. The level of the component's models is appropriate for the conceptual design stage. They are simple and adaptable, so that a wide range of designs with morphologically different propulsive system architectures can be quickly compared. Modelling strategies for both mass and efficiency of each part of the propulsion system (engine, motor, battery and propeller) will be presented.
Design and Development of a Novel Self-Igniting Microwave Plasma Jet for Industrial Applications
(2019)
Obwohl es eine Vielzahl von Einführungskonzepten für ITSM gibt, hat sich bisher keines dieser Konzepte auf breiter Linie durchgesetzt. Das gilt in erhöhtem Maße für ITSM-Einführungskonzepte für KMU, wohl nicht zuletzt aufgrund der Tatsache, dass der Mehrwert von ITSM für KMU aufgrund der geringeren Größe der IT-Organisationen nur entsprechend schwieriger generiert werden kann.
Mit diesem Beitrag wird ein Einführungskonzept für ITSM in KMU systematisch hergeleitet. Dafür wurden zunächst die Treiber und Barrieren von ITSM untersucht, um daraus ein umfassendes Wirkmodell zu entwickeln. Da mit diesem Wirkungsmodell die Einflussfaktoren auf den Erfolg von ITSM in KMU deutlich werden, konnte auf dieser Basis ein Einführungskonzept abgeleitet werden, welches insbesondere die positiven Effekte unterstützt bzw.
verstärkt.
Die steigende Popularität von mobilen Endgeräten im privaten und geschäftlichen Umfeld geht mit einem Anstieg an Sicherheitslücken und somit potentiellen Angriffsflächen einher. Als ein Element der technischen und organisatorischen Maßnahmen zum Schutz eines Netzwerkes können Monitoring-Apps dienen, die unerwünschtes Verhalten und Angriffe erkennen. Die automatisierte Überwachung von Endgeräten ist jedoch rechtlich und ethisch komplex. Dies in Kombination mit einer hohen Sensibilität der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen dieser Geräte in Bezug auf Privatsphäre, kann zu einer geringen Akzeptanz und Compliance führen. Eine datenschutzrechtlich und ethisch einwandfreie Konzeption solcher Apps bereits im Designprozess führt zu höherer Akzeptanz und verbessert so die Effizienz. Diese Analyse beschreibt Möglichkeiten zur Umsetzung.
The field of Cognitive Robotics aims at intelligent decision making of autonomous robots. It has matured over the last 25 or so years quite a bit. That is, a number of high-level control languages and architectures have emerged from the field. One concern in this regard is the action language GOLOG. GOLOG has been used in a rather large number of applications as a high-level control language ranging from intelligent service robots to soccer robots. For the lower level robot software, the Robot Operating System (ROS) has been around for more than a decade now and it has developed into the standard middleware for robot applications. ROS provides a large number of packages for standard tasks in robotics like localisation, navigation, and object recognition. Interestingly enough, only little work within ROS has gone into the high-level control of robots. In this paper, we describe our approach to marry the GOLOG action language with ROS. In particular, we present our architecture on inte grating golog++, which is based on the GOLOG dialect Readylog, with the Robot Operating System. With an example application on the Pepper service robot, we show how primitive actions can be easily mapped to the ROS ActionLib framework and present our control architecture in detail.
With the many achievements of Machine Learning in the past years, it is likely that the sub-area of Deep Learning will continue to deliver major technological breakthroughs [1]. In order to achieve best results, it is important to know the various different Deep Learning frameworks and their respective properties. This paper provides a comparative overview of some of the most popular frameworks. First, the comparison methods and criteria are introduced and described with a focus on computer vision applications: Features and Uses are examined by evaluating papers and articles, Adoption and Popularity is determined by analyzing a data science study. Then, the frameworks TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch and Caffe are compared based on the previously described criteria to highlight properties and differences. Advantages and disadvantages are compared, enabling researchers and developers to choose a framework according to their specific needs.
The development of resilient technical systems is a challenging task, as the system should adapt automatically to unknown disturbances and component failures. To evaluate different approaches for deriving resilient technical system designs, we developed a modular test rig that is based on a pumping system. On the basis of this example
system, we present metrics to quantify resilience and an algorithmic approach to improve resilience. This approach enables the pumping system to automatically react on unknown disturbances and to reduce the impact of component failures. In this case, the system is able to automatically adapt its topology by activating additional valves. This enables the system to still reach a minimum performance, even in case of failures. Furthermore, timedependent disturbances are evaluated continuously, deviations from the original state are automatically detected and anticipated in the future. This allows to reduce the impact of future disturbances and leads to a more resilient
system behaviour.
Water suppliers are faced with the great challenge of achieving high-quality and, at the same time, low-cost water supply. Since climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges in the future, the resilience enhancement of water distribution systems (WDS), i.e. the enhancement of their capability to withstand and recover from disturbances, has been in particular focus recently. To assess the resilience of WDS, graph-theoretical metrics have been proposed. In this study, a promising approach is first physically derived analytically and then applied to assess the resilience of the WDS for a district in a major German City. The topology based resilience index computed for every consumer node takes into consideration the resistance of the best supply path as well as alternative supply paths. This resistance of a supply path is derived to be the dimensionless pressure loss in the pipes making up the path. The conducted analysis of a present WDS provides insight into the process of actively influencing the resilience of WDS locally and globally by adding pipes. The study shows that especially pipes added close to the reservoirs and main branching points in the WDS result in a high resilience enhancement of the overall WDS.
Water distribution systems are an essential supply infrastructure for cities. Given that climatic and demographic influences will pose further challenges for these infrastructures in the future, the resilience of water supply systems, i.e. their ability to withstand and recover from disruptions, has recently become a subject of research. To assess the resilience of a WDS, different graph-theoretical approaches exist. Next to general metrics characterizing the network topology, also hydraulic and technical restrictions have to be taken into account. In this work, the resilience of an exemplary water distribution network of a major German city is assessed, and a Mixed-Integer Program is presented which allows to assess the impact of capacity adaptations on its resilience.
To maximize the travel distances of battery electric vehicles such as cars or buses for a given amount of stored energy, their powertrains are optimized energetically. One key part within optimization models for electric powertrains is the efficiency map of the electric motor. The underlying function is usually highly nonlinear and nonconvex and leads to major challenges within a global optimization process. To enable faster solution times, one possibility is the usage of piecewise linearization techniques to approximate the nonlinear efficiency map with linear constraints. Therefore, we evaluate the influence of different piecewise linearization modeling techniques on the overall solution process and compare the solution time and accuracy for methods with and without explicitly used binary variables.
The chemical industry is one of the most important industrial sectors in Germany in terms of manufacturing revenue. While thermodynamic boundary conditions often restrict the scope for reducing the energy consumption of core processes, secondary processes such as cooling offer scope for energy optimisation. In this contribution, we therefore model and optimise an existing cooling system. The technical boundary conditions of the model are provided by the operators, the German chemical company BASF SE. In order to systematically evaluate different degrees of freedom in topology and operation, we formulate and solve a Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Program (MINLP), and compare our optimisation results with the existing system.
Successful optimization requires an appropriate model of the system under consideration. When selecting a suitable level of detail, one has to consider solution quality as well as the computational and implementation effort. In this paper, we present a MINLP for a pumping system for the drinking water supply of high-rise buildings. We investigate the influence of the granularity of the underlying physical models on the solution quality. Therefore, we model the system with a varying level of detail regarding the friction losses, and conduct an experimental validation of our model on a modular test rig. Furthermore, we investigate the computational effort and show that it can be reduced by the integration of domain-specific knowledge.
Control engineering theory is hard to grasp for undergraduates during the first semesters, as it deals with the dynamical behavior of systems also in combination with control strategies on an abstract level. Therefore, operational amplifier (OpAmp) processes are reasonable and very effective systems to connect mathematical description with actual system’s behavior. In this paper, we present an experiment for a laboratory session in which an embedded system, driven by a LabVIEW human machine interface (HMI) via USB, controls the analog circuits.With this setup we want to show the possibility of firstly, analyzing a first order process and secondly, designing a P-and PI-controller. Thereby, the theory of control engineering is always applied to the empirical results in order to break down the abstract level for the students.
Design and Development of a Hot S-Parameter Measurement System for Plasma and Magnetron Applications
(2020)
This paper presents the design, development and calibration procedures of a novel hot S-parameter measurement system for plasma and magnetron applications with power level up to 6 kW. Based on a vector network analyzer, a power amplifier and two directional couplers, the input matching hotS 11 and transmission hotS 21 of the device under test are measured at 2.45 GHz center frequency and 300MHz bandwidth, while the device is driven by the magnetron. This measurement system opens a new horizon to develop many new industrial applications such as microwave plasma jets, dryer systems, dryers and so forth. Furthermore, the developing, controlling and monitoring a 2kW 2.45GHz plasma jet and a dryer system using the measurement system are presented and explained.
In this paper we report on an architecture for a self-driving car that is based on ROS2. Self-driving cars have to take decisions based on their sensory input in real-time, providing high reliability with a strong demand in functional safety. In principle, self-driving cars are robots. However, typical robot software, in general, and the previous version of the Robot Operating System (ROS), in particular, does not always meet these requirements. With the successor ROS2 the situation has changed and it might be considered as a solution for automated and autonomous driving. Existing robotic software based on ROS was not ready for safety critical applications like self-driving cars. We propose an architecture for using ROS2 for a self-driving car that enables safe and reliable real-time behaviour, but keeping the advantages of ROS such as a distributed architecture and standardised message types. First experiments with an automated real passenger car at lower and higher speed-levels show that our approach seems feasible for autonomous driving under the necessary real-time conditions.
In this paper we present SMART-FACTORY, a setup for a research and teaching facility in industrial robotics that is based on the RoboCup Logistics League. It is driven by the need for developing and applying solutions for digital production. Digitization receives constantly increasing attention in many areas, especially in industry. The common theme is to make things smart by using intelligent computer technology. Especially in the last decade there have been many attempts to improve existing processes in factories, for example, in production logistics, also with deploying cyber-physical systems. An initiative that explores challenges and opportunities for robots in such a setting is the RoboCup Logistics League. Since its foundation in 2012 it is an international effort for research and education in an intra-warehouse logistics scenario. During seven years of competition a lot of knowledge and experience regarding autonomous robots was gained. This knowledge and experience shall provide the basis for further research in challenges of future production. The focus of our SMART-FACTORY is to create a stimulating environment for research on logistics robotics, for teaching activities in computer science and electrical engineering programmes as well as for industrial users to study and explore the feasibility of future technologies. Building on a very successful history in the RoboCup Logistics League we aim to provide stakeholders with a dedicated facility oriented at their individual needs.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, vocational colleges, universities of applied science and technical universities often had to cancel laboratory sessions requiring students’ attendance. These above of all are of decisive importance in order to give learners an understanding of theory through practical work.This paper is a contribution to the implementation of distance learning for laboratory work applicable for several upper secondary educational facilities. Its aim is to provide a paradigm for hybrid teaching to analyze and control a non-linear system depicted by a tank model. For this reason, we redesign a full series of laboratory sessions on the basis of various challenges. Thus, it is suitable to serve different reference levels of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).We present problem-based learning through online platforms to compensate the lack of a laboratory learning environment. With a task deduced from their future profession, we give students the opportunity to develop own solutions in self-defined time intervals. A requirements specification provides the framework conditions in terms of time and content for students having to deal with the challenges of the project in a self-organized manner with regard to inhomogeneous previous knowledge. If the concept of Complete Action is introduced in classes before, they will automatically apply it while executing the project.The goal is to combine students’ scientific understanding with a procedural knowledge. We suggest a series of remote laboratory sessions that combine a problem formulation from the subject area of Measurement, Control and Automation Technology with a project assignment that is common in industry by providing extracts from a requirements specification.
Project work and inter disciplinarity are integral parts of today's engineering work. It is therefore important to incorporate these aspects into the curriculum of academic studies of engineering. At the faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology an interdisciplinary project is part of the bachelor program to address these topics. Since the summer term 2020 most courses changed to online mode during the Covid-19 crisis including the interdisciplinary projects. This online mode introduces additional challenges to the execution of the projects, both for the students as well as for the lecture. The challenges, but also the risks and chances of this kind of project courses are subject of this paper, based on five different interdisciplinary projects
The course Physics for Electrical Engineering is part of the curriculum of the bachelor program Electrical Engineering at University of Applied Science Aachen.
Before covid-19 the course was conducted in a rather traditional way with all parts (lecture, exercise and lab) face-to-face. This teaching approach changed fundamentally within a week when the covid-19 limitations forced all courses to distance learning. All parts of the course were transformed to pure distance learning including synchronous and asynchronous parts for the lecture, live online-sessions for the exercises and self-paced labs at home. Using these methods, the course was able to impart the required knowledge and competencies. Taking the teacher’s observations of the student’s learning behaviour and engagement, the formal and informal feedback of the students and the results of the exams into account, the new methods are evaluated with respect to effectiveness, sustainability and suitability for competence transfer. Based on this analysis strong and weak points of the concept and countermeasures to solve the weak points were identified. The analysis further leads to a sustainable teaching approach combining synchronous and asynchronous parts with self-paced learning times that can be used in a very flexible manner for different learning scenarios, pure online, hybrid (mixture of online and presence times) and pure presence teaching.
In this paper we investigate the use of deep neural networks for 3D object detection in uncommon, unstructured environments such as in an open-pit mine. While neural nets are frequently used for object detection in regular autonomous driving applications, more unusual driving scenarios aside street traffic pose additional challenges. For one, the collection of appropriate data sets to train the networks is an issue. For another, testing the performance of trained networks often requires tailored integration with the particular domain as well. While there exist different solutions for these problems in regular autonomous driving, there are only very few approaches that work for special domains just as well. We address both the challenges above in this work. First, we discuss two possible ways of acquiring data for training and evaluation. That is, we evaluate a semi-automated annotation of recorded LIDAR data and we examine synthetic data generation. Using these datasets we train and test different deep neural network for the task of object detection. Second, we propose a possible integration of a ROS2 detector module for an autonomous driving platform. Finally, we present the performance of three state-of-the-art deep neural networks in the domain of 3D object detection on a synthetic dataset and a smaller one containing a characteristic object from an open-pit mine.
The initial idea of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the automation of business processes through a simple emulation of user input and output by software robots. Hence, it can be assumed that no changes of the used software systems and existing Enterprise Architecture (EA) is
required. In this short, practical paper we discuss this assumption based on a real-life implementation project. We show that a successful RPA implementation might require architectural work during analysis, implementation, and migration. As practical paper we focus on exemplary lessons-learned and new questions related to RPA and EA.
Component failures within water supply systems can lead to significant performance losses. One way to address these losses is the explicit anticipation of failures within the design process. We consider a water supply system for high-rise buildings, where pump failures are the most likely failure scenarios. We explicitly consider these failures within an early design stage which leads to a more resilient system, i.e., a system which is able to operate under a predefined number of arbitrary pump failures. We use a mathematical optimization approach to compute such a resilient design. This is based on a multi-stage model for topology optimization, which can be described by a system of nonlinear inequalities and integrality constraints. Such a model has to be both computationally tractable and to represent the real-world system accurately. We therefore validate the algorithmic solutions using experiments on a scaled test rig for high-rise buildings. The test rig allows for an arbitrary connection of pumps to reproduce scaled versions of booster station designs for high-rise buildings. We experimentally verify the applicability of the presented optimization model and that the proposed resilience properties are also fulfilled in real systems.
Communication via serial bus systems, like CAN, plays an important role for all kinds of embedded electronic and mechatronic systems. To cope up with the requirements for functional safety of safety-critical applications, there is a need to enhance the safety features of the communication systems. One measure to achieve a more robust communication is to add redundant data transmission path to the applications. In general, the communication of real-time embedded systems like automotive applications is tethered, and the redundant data transmission lines are also tethered, increasing the size of the wiring harness and the weight of the system. A radio link is preferred as a redundant transmission line as it uses a complementary transmission medium compared to the wired solution and in addition reduces wiring harness size and weight. Standard wireless links like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth cannot meet the requirements for real-time capability with regard to bus communication. Using the new dual-mode radio enables a redundant transmission line meeting all requirements with regard to real-time capability, robustness and transparency for the data bus. In addition, it provides a complementary transmission medium with regard to commonly used tethered links. A CAN bus system is used to demonstrate the redundant data transfer via tethered and wireless CAN.
In this paper we report on CO2 Meter, a do-it-yourself carbon dioxide measuring device for the classroom. Part of the current measures for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is proper ventilation in indoor settings. This is especially important in schools with students coming back to the classroom even with high incidents rates. Static ventilation patterns do not consider the individual situation for a particular class. Influencing factors like the type of activity, the physical structure or the room occupancy are not incorporated. Also, existing devices are rather expensive and often provide only limited information and only locally without any networking. This leaves the potential of analysing the situation across different settings untapped. Carbon dioxide level can be used as an indicator of air quality, in general, and of aerosol load in particular. Since, according to the latest findings, SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted primarily in the form of aerosols, carbon dioxide may be used as a proxy for the risk of a virus infection. Hence, schools could improve the indoor air quality and potentially reduce the infection risk if they actually had measuring devices available in the classroom. Our device supports schools in ventilation and it allows for collecting data over the Internet to enable a detailed data analysis and model generation. First deployments in schools at different levels were received very positively. A pilot installation with a larger data collection and analysis is underway.
One central challenge for self-driving cars is a proper path-planning. Once a trajectory has been found, the next challenge is to accurately and safely follow the precalculated path. The model-predictive controller (MPC) is a common approach for the lateral control of autonomous vehicles. The MPC uses a vehicle dynamics model to predict the future states of the vehicle for a given prediction horizon. However, in order to achieve real-time path control, the computational load is usually large, which leads to short prediction horizons. To deal with the computational load, the control algorithm can be parallelized on the graphics processing unit (GPU). In contrast to the widely used stochastic methods, in this paper we propose a deterministic approach based on grid search. Our approach focuses on systematically discovering the search area with different levels of granularity. To achieve this, we split the optimization algorithm into multiple iterations. The best sequence of each iteration is then used as an initial solution to the next iteration. The granularity increases, resulting in smooth and predictable steering angle sequences. We present a novel GPU-based algorithm and show its accuracy and realtime abilities with a number of real-world experiments.
The Robot Operating System (ROS) is the current de-facto standard in robot middlewares. The steadily increasing size of the user base results in a greater demand for training as well. User groups range from students in academia to industry professionals with a broad spectrum of developers in between. To deliver high quality training and education to any of these audiences, educators need to tailor individual curricula for any such training. In this paper, we present an approach to ease compiling curricula for ROS trainings based on a taxonomy of the teaching contents. The instructor can select a set of dedicated learning units and the system will automatically compile the teaching material based on the dependencies of the units selected and a set of parameters for a particular training. We walk through an example training to illustrate our work.
This article introduces a new maritime search and rescue system based on S-band illumination harmonic radar (HR). Passive and active tags have been developed and tested attached to life jackets and a rescue boat. This system was able to detect and range the active tags up to a range of 5800 m in tests on the Baltic Sea with an antenna input power of only 100 W. All electronic GHz components of the system, excluding the S-band power amplifier, were custom developed for this purpose. Special attention is given to the performance and conceptual differences between passive and active tags used in the system and integration with a maritime X-band navigation radar is demonstrated.
In this paper research activities developed within the FutureCom project are presented. The project, funded by the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR), aims at evaluating and characterizing: (i) active devices, (ii) signal- and power integrity of field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuits, (iii) operational performance of electronic circuits in real-world and harsh environments (e.g. below and above ambient temperatures and at different levels of humidity), (iv) passive inter-modulation (PIM) in communication systems considering different values of temperature and humidity corresponding to the typical operating conditions that we can experience in real-world scenarios. An overview of the FutureCom project is provided here, then the research activities are described.
This paper covers the use of the magnetic Wiegand effect to design an innovative incremental encoder. First, a theoretical design is given, followed by an estimation of the achievable accuracy and an optimization in open-loop operation.
Finally, a successful experimental verification is presented. For this purpose, a permanent magnet synchronous machine is controlled in a field-oriented manner, using the angle information of the prototype.
Digital twins enable the modeling and simulation of real-world entities (objects, processes or systems), resulting in improvements in the associated value chains. The emerging field of quantum computing holds tremendous promise forevolving this virtualization towards Quantum (Digital) Twins (QDT) and ultimately Quantum Twins (QT). The quantum (digital) twin concept is not a contradiction in terms - but instead describes a hybrid approach that can be implemented using the technologies available today by combining classicalcomputing and digital twin concepts with quantum processing. This paperpresents the status quo of research and practice on quantum (digital) twins. It alsodiscuses their potential to create competitive advantage through real-timesimulation of highly complex, interconnected entities that helps companies better
address changes in their environment and differentiate their products andservices.
In this article we describe an Internet-of-Things sensing device with a wireless interface which is powered by the oftenoverlooked harvesting method of the Wiegand effect. The sensor can determine position, temperature or other resistively measurable quantities and can transmit the data via an ultra-low power ultra-wideband (UWB) data transmitter. With this approach we can energy-self-sufficiently acquire, process, and wirelessly transmit data in a pulsed operation. A proof-of-concept system was built up to prove the feasibility of the approach. The energy consumption of the system is analyzed and traced back in detail to the individual components, compared to the generated energy and processed to identify further optimization options. Based on the proof-of-concept, an application demonstrator was developed. Finally, we point out possible use cases.
Cybersecurity of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) is an important issue, as ICS incidents may have a direct impact on safety of people or the environment. At the same time the awareness and knowledge about cybersecurity, particularly in the context of ICS, is alarmingly low. Industrial honeypots offer a cheap and easy to implement way to raise cybersecurity awareness and to educate ICS staff about typical attack patterns. When integrated in a productive network, industrial honeypots may not only reveal attackers early but may also distract them from the actual important systems of the network. Implementing multiple honeypots as a honeynet, the systems can be used to emulate or simulate a whole Industrial Control System. This paper describes a network of honeypots emulating HTTP, SNMP, S7communication and the Modbus protocol using Conpot, IMUNES and SNAP7. The nodes mimic SIMATIC S7 programmable logic controllers (PLCs) which are widely used across the globe. The deployed honeypots' features will be compared with the features of real SIMATIC S7 PLCs. Furthermore, the honeynet has been made publicly available for ten days and occurring cyberattacks have been analyzed
Open Data impliziert die freie Zugänglichkeit, Verfügbarkeit und Wiederverwendbarkeit von Datensätzen. Obwohl hochwertige Datensätze öffentlich verfügbar sind, ist der Zugang zu diesen und die Transparenz über die Formate nicht immer gegeben. Dies mindert die optimale Nutzung des Potenzials zur Wertschöpfung, trotz der vorherrschenden Einigkeit über ihre Chancen. Denn Open Data ermöglicht das Vorantreiben von Compliance-Themen wie Transparenz und Rechenschaftspflicht bis hin zur Förderung von Innovationen. Die Nutzung von Open Data erfordert Mut und eine gemeinsame Anstrengung verschiedener Akteure und Branchen. Im Rahmen des vorliegenden Beitrags werden auf Grundlage des Design Science-Ansatzes eine Open Data Capability Map sowie darauf aufbauend eine Datenarchitektur für Open Data in der Luftfahrtindustrie an einem Beispiel entwickelt.
Many of today’s factors make software development more and more complex, such as time pressure, new technologies, IT security risks, et cetera. Thus, a good preparation of current as well as future software developers in terms of a good software engineering education becomes progressively important. As current research shows, Competence Developing Games (CDGs) and Serious Games can offer a potential solution.
This paper identifies the necessary requirements for CDGs to be conducive in principle, but especially in software engineering (SE) education. For this purpose, the current state of research was summarized in the context of a literature review. Afterwards, some of the identified requirements as well as some additional requirements were evaluated by a survey in terms of subjective relevance.
Clinical assessment of newly developed sensors is important for ensuring their validity. Comparing recordings of emerging electrocardiography (ECG) systems to a reference ECG system requires accurate synchronization of data from both devices. Current methods can be inefficient and prone to errors. To address this issue, three algorithms are presented to synchronize two ECG time series from different recording systems: Binned R-peak Correlation, R-R Interval Correlation, and Average R-peak Distance. These algorithms reduce ECG data to their cyclic features, mitigating inefficiencies and minimizing discrepancies between different recording systems. We evaluate the performance of these algorithms using high-quality data and then assess their robustness after manipulating the R-peaks. Our results show that R-R Interval Correlation was the most efficient, whereas the Average R-peak Distance and Binned R-peak Correlation were more robust against noisy data.
Due to the decarbonization of the energy sector, the electric distribution grids are undergoing a major transformation, which is expected to increase the load on the operating resources due to new electrical loads and distributed energy resources. Therefore, grid operators need to gradually move to active grid management in order to ensure safe and reliable grid operation. However, this requires knowledge of key grid variables, such as node voltages, which is why the mass integration of measurement technology (smart meters) is necessary. Another problem is the fact that a large part of the topology of the distribution grids is not sufficiently digitized and models are partly faulty, which means that active grid operation management today has to be carried out largely blindly. It is therefore part of current research to develop methods for determining unknown grid topologies based on measurement data. In this paper, different clustering algorithms are presented and their performance of topology detection of low voltage grids is compared. Furthermore, the influence of measurement uncertainties is investigated in the form of a sensitivity analysis.
Modern implementations of driver assistance systems are evolving from a pure driver assistance to a independently acting automation system. Still these systems are not covering the full vehicle usage range, also called operational design domain, which require the human driver as fall-back mechanism. Transition of control and potential minimum risk manoeuvres are currently research topics and will bridge the gap until full autonomous vehicles are available. The authors showed in a demonstration that the transition of control mechanisms can be further improved by usage of communication technology. Receiving the incident type and position information by usage of standardised vehicle to everything (V2X) messages can improve the driver safety and comfort level. The connected and automated vehicle’s software framework can take this information to plan areas where the driver should take back control by initiating a transition of control which can be followed by a minimum risk manoeuvre in case of an unresponsive driver. This transition of control has been implemented in a test vehicle and was presented to the public during the IEEE IV2022 (IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium) in Aachen, Germany.
Due to the increasing complexity of software projects, software development is becoming more and more dependent on teams. The quality of this teamwork can vary depending on the team composition, as teams are always a combination of different skills and personality types. This paper aims to answer the question of how to describe a software development team and what influence the personality of the team members has on the team dynamics. For this purpose, a systematic literature review (n=48) and a literature search with the AI research assistant Elicit (n=20) were conducted. Result: A person’s personality significantly shapes his or her thinking and actions, which in turn influences his or her behavior in software development teams. It has been shown that team performance and satisfaction can be strongly influenced by personality. The quality of communication and the likelihood of conflict can also be attributed to personality.
Autonomous agents require rich environment models for fulfilling their missions. High-definition maps are a well-established map format which allows for representing semantic information besides the usual geometric information of the environment. These are, for instance, road shapes, road markings, traffic signs or barriers. The geometric resolution of HD maps can be as precise as of centimetre level. In this paper, we report on our approach of using HD maps as a map representation for autonomous load-haul-dump vehicles in open-pit mining operations. As the mine undergoes constant change, we also need to constantly update the map. Therefore, we follow a lifelong mapping approach for updating the HD maps based on camera-based object detection and GPS data. We show our mapping algorithm based on the Lanelet 2 map format and show our integration with the navigation stack of the Robot Operating System. We present experimental results on our lifelong mapping approach from a real open-pit mine.
The RoboCup Logistics League (RCLL) is a robotics competition in a production logistics scenario in the context of a Smart Factory. In the competition, a team of three robots needs to assemble products to fulfill various orders that are requested online during the game. This year, the Carologistics team was able to win the competition with a new approach to multi-agent coordination as well as significant changes to the robot’s perception unit and a pragmatic network setup using the cellular network instead of WiFi. In this paper, we describe the major components of our approach with a focus on the changes compared to the last physical competition in 2019.
The work in modern open-pit and underground mines requires the transportation of large amounts of resources between fixed points. The navigation to these fixed points is a repetitive task that can be automated. The challenge in automating the navigation of vehicles commonly used in mines is the systemic properties of such vehicles. Many mining vehicles, such as the one we have used in the research for this paper, use steering systems with an articulated joint bending the vehicle’s drive axis to change its course and a hydraulic drive system to actuate axial drive components or the movements of tippers if available. To address the difficulties of controlling such a vehicle, we present a model-predictive approach for controlling the vehicle. While the control optimisation based on a parallel error minimisation of the predicted state has already been established in the past, we provide insight into the design and implementation of an MPC for an articulated mining vehicle and show the results of real-world experiments in an open-pit mine environment.
This paper presents an approach for reducing the cognitive load for humans working in quality control (QC) for production processes that adhere to the 6σ -methodology. While 100% QC requires every part to be inspected, this task can be reduced when a human-in-the-loop QC process gets supported by an anomaly detection system that only presents those parts for manual inspection that have a significant likelihood of being defective. This approach shows good results when applied to image-based QC for metal textile products.
Existing residential buildings have an average lifetime of 100 years. Many of these buildings will exist for at least another 50 years. To increase the efficiency of these buildings while keeping costs at reasonable rates, they can be retrofitted with sensors that deliver information to central control units for heating, ventilation and electricity. This retrofitting process should happen with minimal intervention into existing infrastructure and requires new approaches for sensor design and data transmission. At FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences, students of different disciplines work together to learn how to design, build, deploy and operate such sensors. The presented teaching project already created a low power design for a combined CO2, temperature and humidity measurement device that can be easily integrated into most home automation systems
Digital forensics of smartphones is of utmost importance in many criminal cases. As modern smartphones store chats, photos, videos etc. that can be relevant for investigations and as they can have storage capacities of hundreds of gigabytes, they are a primary target for forensic investigators. However, it is exactly this large amount of data that is causing problems: extracting and examining the data from multiple phones seized in the context of a case is taking more and more time. This bears the risk of wasting a lot of time with irrelevant phones while there is not enough time left to analyze a phone which is worth examination. Forensic triage can help in this case: Such a triage is a preselection step based on a subset of data and is performed before fully extracting all the data from the smartphone. Triage can accelerate subsequent investigations and is especially useful in cases where time is essential. The aim of this paper is to determine which and how much data from an Android smartphone can be made directly accessible to the forensic investigator – without tedious investigations. For this purpose, an app has been developed that can be used with extremely limited storage of data in the handset and which outputs the extracted data immediately to the forensic workstation in a human- and machine-readable format.
This paper describes the potential for developing a digital twin of society- a dynamic model that can be used to observe, analyze, and predict the evolution of various societal aspects. Such a digital twin can help governmental agencies and policy makers in interpreting trends, understanding challenges, and making decisions regarding investments or policies necessary to support societal development and ensure future prosperity. The paper reviews related work regarding the digital twin paradigm and its applications. The paper presents a motivating case study- an analysis of opportunities and challenges faced by the German federal employment agency, Bundesagentur f¨ur Arbeit (BA), proposes solutions using digital twins, and describes initial proofs of concept for such solutions.
In order to reduce energy consumption of homes, it is important to make transparent which devices consume how much energy. However, power consumption is often only monitored aggregated at the house energy meter. Disaggregating this power consumption into the contributions of individual devices can be achieved using Machine Learning. Our work aims at making state of the art disaggregation algorithms accessibe for users of the open source home automation platform Home Assistant.
In addition to the technical content, modern courses at university should also teach professional skills to enhance the competencies of students towards their future work. The competency driven approach including technical as well as professional skills makes it necessary to find a suitable way for the integration into the corresponding module in a scalable and flexible manner. Agile development, for example, is essential for the development of modern systems and applications and makes use of dedicated professional skills of the team members, like structured group dynamics and communication, to enable the fast and reliable development. This paper presents an easy to integrate and flexible approach to integrate Scrum, an agile development method, into the lab of an existing module. Due to the different role models of Scrum the students have an individual learning success, gain valuable insight into modern system development and strengthen their communication and organization skills. The approach is implemented and evaluated in the module Vehicle Systems, but it can be transferred easily to other technical courses as well. The evaluation of the implementation considers feedback of all stakeholders, students, supervisor and lecturers, and monitors the observations during project lifetime.
Die potenziellen Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf die Lehre sind seit langem Gegenstand ausführlicher Diskussionen innerhalb der Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI) (z. B. in Auth et al. 2021, Barton et al. 2019, Klotz et al. 2019). Nicht zuletzt der in nahezu allen Wirtschaftszweigen bestehende Mangel an qualifizierten Fachkräften lenkt den Diskurs auf einen verbesserten Zugang zu Bildung und gleichen Bildungschancen. Aus dieser Vision heraus und dem Schub der Digitalisierung entstehen Bildungskonzepte wie Open Educational Resources (OER), die gesellschaftlichen Problemen, wie dem des Fachkräftemangels, entgegenwirken sollen. Im Rahmen dieses Kurzbeitrags wird das Projekt WiLMo - "Wirtschaftsinformatik Lehr- und Lernmodule" vorgestellt. WiLMo wird im Rahmen von OERContent.nrw unter Beteiligung von sechs Hochschulen entwickelt und gefördert. Alle Projektbeteiligten arbeiten gemeinsam daran, einheitliche digitale Lehr- und Lernmaterialien im OER-Format für die Kernmodule der Wirtschaftsinformatik zu entwickeln und in garantiert hoher Qualität zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 requires global collaboration between different stakeholders. Industry, and in particular engineers who shape industrial developments, have a special role to play as they are confronted with the responsibility to holistically reflect sustainability in industrial processes. This means that, in addition to the technical specifications, engineers must also question the effects of their own actions on an ecological, economic and social level in order to ensure sustainable action and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. However, this requires competencies that enable engineers to apply all three pillars of sustainability to their own field of activity and to understand the global impact of industrial processes. In this context, it is relevant to understand how industry already reflects sustainability and to identify competences needed for sustainable development.