Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Today, many different companies are involved in the automotive engineering process. The OEM, subcontractors and suppliers all need to collaborate and access the same data. Specialized applications are used in the process of designing vehicle electrical systems. These applications use proprietary data formats and do not support collaborative engineering. Thus collaboration methods are limited to turn-taking, split-combine and copy-merge. To become application independent and stay future-proof, a new trend is the transformation of data from the proprietary data formats to the Extensible Markup Language (XML). This will allow new ways of viewing, editing and analyzing the data using new and existing applications and tools that use XML as a data model. This paper presents a novel software framework that allows easy enhancement of any such applications with the ability of collaborative real-time editing. Support for heterogeneous applications, a new flexible plug-in architecture and easy application integration are some of its key features.

Three e-learning Master degree studies were introduced at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University since 1999. In order to increase the efficiency and quality of e-learning studies, an Intelligent Tutoring System for Construction and Real Estate Management Master Degree Studies (ITS-CREM) was developed. ITS-CREM consists of six subsystems: Domain Model, Student Model, Tutor and Testing Model, Database of Computer Learning Systems, Decision Support Subsystem and Graphic Interface. ITS-CREM is briefly analyzed in the paper.

Since from the 1980s, computer science and artificial intelligence have focused on environmental planning, with high interest in analysing real and virtual cognitive agents at work. This is true for procedures, long-range planning, operational planning, as well as factors and scenarios of future events, future risks, multi-agent organisation, and resource-based planning.

This long-range, large-scale, strategy-driven interest has generally prevented short-term planning, low-scale and detailed planning from being explored with an intelligent-planning approach. This paper shows a case of small-scale innercity planning for environmental and development issues in an urban context, with a sustainably sound approach.

In this concern, a system architecture has been set up, to support the interaction of local social, economic, financial agents by a web-based geographic interface able to visualize, share, channel substantial information in the planning process with a space-based approach. The details of setup methodologies and results are analyzed, trying to find potentials and critical characters of a georeferenced cooperative work, particularly attentive to the role of spacebased cognitions and discourses in multi-agent interactions.

Through the Facilities Innovation Research Programme, (www. facilitiesinnovation.co.uk) staff at the University of the West of England, Bristol and at Johnson Controls have been investigating systems that have the potential to track collaborative activities in the workplace, capture them, and in real time respond to them. The longer term goal is to develop embedded technologies that provide intelligent feedback in predictable office environments but also address the unpredictable working environments of nomadic knowledge workers and of remote workers engaged in virtual collaboration with those physically present. Some of these systems are relatively close to market and others are less immediately applicable. It is suggested that a heterogeneous mix of such systems is likely to be necessary for some time to come. A prototype real time location system for workers has been developed and is being tested to determine the extent to which it assists in better management of space and support of collaborative activity.

In this article we focus on the meetings that according to different aims are held in organizations. In these work meetings the participants share information, discuss ideas, make decisions and produce documents. Specifically, we approach a type of meeting in which the participants are at distance and make use of mobile devices on wireless networks. Along this line, we have developed a system to support these new kinds of electronic meeting settings. The system design was informed with our observations of real meetings, the analysis of some EMSs and other information collection techniques. The system, called REMO, follows a three-stage model (pre-meeting, meeting and post-meeting) and includes a wide set of collaborative tools. REMO can be used both from a central meeting place, with video-projectors and interactive whiteboards, and from remote locations.

This paper suggests techniques to restrain the convergence time and the combinatorial explosion. IP traceback technique allows a victim to trace the routing path that an attacker has followed to reach his system. It has an effect of deterring future attackers as well as capturing the current one. FMS (Fragment Marking Scheme) is an efficient implementation of IP traceback. Every router participating in FMS leaves its IP information on the passing-through packets, partially and with some probability. The victim, then, can collect the packets and analyze them to reconstruct the attacking path. FMS and similar schemes, however, suffer a long convergence time to build the path when the attack path is lengthy. Also they suffer a combinatorial explosion problem when there are multiple attack paths. The convergence time is reduced considerably by insuring all routers have close-to-equal chance of sending their IP fragments through a distance-weighted sampling technique. The combinatorial explosion is avoided by tagging each IP fragment with the corresponding router’s hashed identifier.

A model of fuzzy Kohonen neural network for fuzzy clustering is presented. It uses fuzzy membership degree to describe approximate degree for input patterns and clusters’ centers, which is represented by learning rate. In addition, in order to extract more useful information from input patterns, a supervised learning, called post-learning phase, is added to adaptive learning. Then the model is applied for a specific clustering’s problem, the result shows it can greatly improve performances of recognition and classification.

In the last years the production of systems supporting learning and work in group has been high. However, the design and development of this kind of systems is difficult, especially due to the multidisciplinarity involved. We propose a design and development process based on the use of several conceptual models. In this process several techniques are used. In this paper we present our proposal of using pattern-based techniques to design groupware systems. We define collaboration patterns for modeling collaborative tasks and protocols of cooperation. These techniques are part of a methodological framework which outlines several stages and notations to describe other aspects of a groupware system.

Modeling, patterns, methodological approach, CSCW, groupware design, interaction design.

This paper shows the development of metrics for evaluate the design of reconfigurable machine tools to process bamboo, which allows the numerical comparison of reconfigurability parameters in the design process, based on a concurrent design methodology to Reconfigurable Machine Tool development. In response, metrics for evaluate the development of this type of machine tools is outlined.

The major problem for investors in construction area is to choose the financially effective construction alternative, most often associated with underestimated actual demand for resources. The lack of information feedback among all participants of the project and the uncertainty treats at the design and construction stages are presented in this paper. Solution is the theoretical 3D building information model, combined with resource demand calculations, comparison of alternatives and determination the duration of all construction project life stages. The software based on this aggregate 4D PLM model can be the mean of effective management of the construction project, embracing planning, design, economic calculations, construction, management, usage and maintenance of the completed building. The paper also describes multiple criteria evaluation software used to identify the most effective construction alternative with presented suggestions of implementation in practice.