The use of micro controllers in automotive application have exploded during the last half century. What was initially a set of mechanical systems that formed a vehicle have now become a collection of computers on wheels. The reason is quite obvious: micro controllers use several inputs to optimize the performance of systems; for example an engine control or an active safety system.The different inputs and outputs to these electronic units (electronic control unit, ECU) are of interest to other such units thereby justifying the need of inter-ECU communications. The Controller Area Network (CAN) bus has been developed to facilitate this communication. It is a message based protocol and is very resilient. It is however relatively slow and limited in terms of security. Security is assured only by trying to keep the message identification tags confidential and the bus physically separated to other network. A couple of decades ago our society embraced the Information Technology (IT) revolution. It allowed people to have extensive access to information. From a technology point of view, IT is based on the use of the Internet, which has been initially designed by the US military for robust applications. It is fast and its security is sufficiently high that we use it to communicate with our banks where we keep all our life savings.The aim of this thesis has been to combine these technologies such that a vehicle with a CAN bus could offer services (just like a bank does) over the Internet. The goal then is to transform a CAN bus to become a service provider over the Internet. The services are the broadcasted CAN messages made available to authorized interested parties and can post information and actuations to the ECUs connected to the CAN bus. A vehicle in that case becomes a cyber physical system. To make this transformation possible, we use the open source Arrowhead Framework, which is based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The available services are made known via a Service Registry and Orchestration service prosumers. Concretely, the work in this thesis project has been to develop (i.e., to design and implement) a CAN service prosumer that is Arrowhead Framework compliant. It has been successfully tested with another service prosumer, which is an Arrowhead Framework compliant data logger. The driving motivation for the thesis project are construction equipment machines, such as wheel loaders and excavators, which are vehicles with booms or arms. The aspiration is that they not only drive autonomously but also dig autonomously. This ambition shall require large amount of data to be exchanged, something that a CAN bus cannot handle.

Este estudo busca o entendimento da personagem que vem modificando as práticas de consumo na era da informação: o prossumidor. Ao longo desta dissertação foi construída a teorização e adaptação deste termo ­ prossumidor - na busca por um entendimento das relações mantidas entre consumidores, seus hábitos, motivações e características a fim de entender como esta personagem modifica os hábitos de consumo, se enraíza no ritual pré-compra proposto ao longo deste trabalho. Para isso, utilizou-se ferramentas como o ConsumerBarometer, análise de comentários em ambientes de prossumerizacão, questionário e entrevista em profundidade. Além disso, foi feita a comparação da influência da publicidade tradicional e o boca a boca (online e offline) onde os resultados dessa contraposição demonstram a notoriedade adquirida pela prática da prossumerização. / This study threats about the understandment of a new character that has been changing consumption practices in this information age: the prosumer. The Prosumer theorizing and adaptation was built throughout this dissertation to achieve a clear understanding of relationships between consumers, their habits, motivation and characteristics, in order to comprehend how this personage changes the consumer habits and how such a practice is rooted in \"pre-ritual purchase\", proposed in this work. In this regard, were used the tools such as ConsumerBarometer, analysis of comments on prosumption, questionnaire and in-depth interview. Besides, we oppose the range of traditional advertising to realize how their influence can be compared to online or offline word of mouth, and the achieved results of those contraposition proves that this practice is gaining notoriety.

O processo de consumo é complexo e sofre constantes transformações. Em função das novas demandas e ofertas do mercado, o comportamento do consumidor se reorganiza, transformando hábitos em novos rituais e reformulando rituais antigos. Esta tese visa alargar os paradigmas acerca das conexões - especificamente do mundo digital - entre consumidores e seus grupos de referência, entendendo a importância de tais grupos, como acontecem as troca de informações, quais são os fatores dos pontos de conexão que mais impactam na tomada de decisão de consumo e, especialmente, como ocorre a atribuição de confiança. Partindo da bibliografia existente - com aporte na comunicação, psicologia social e algumas áreas das ciências exatas - construiu-se o corpo teórico desta tese que demandou ainda o atrelamento de pesquisa exploratória e de campo tendo em vistas a constante necessidade de observar o fenômeno, suas rápidas e constantes mudanças e, logicamente, da subsequente coleta de dados que qualificaram e deram escopo às análises das observações, corroborando ou dissuadindo as hipóteses levantadas. Os resultados encontrados nos apontam as diferenças entre os perfis dos consumidores e as diferentes formas de interação com os comentários online e as formas particulares como cada tipo de consumidor atribui confiança aos demais consumidores. / The consumption process is complex and undergoes constant transformations. Due to the new demands and offers of the market, the consumer behavior reorganizes and transformes habits into new rituals and restate old rituals. This thesis aims to broaden the paradigms about the connections - specifically of the digital world - between consumers and their reference groups, understanding the importance of such groups, how the network works, which factors oin connection points are most importante to consumer decision-making and, especially, how trust assignment occurs. Based on the existing bibliography - with englobes communication, social psychology and some areas of the exact sciences - the theoretical scope of this thesis was builded, which also demanded the linkage of exploratory and field research by the constant need to observe the phenomena, this fast and constant changes and, of course, the subsequent collection of data that qualified and gave scope to the analyzes of the observations, corroborating or dissuading the hypotheses raised. The results showed us the differences between consumer profiles and the different forms of interaction with online comments and the particular ways in which each type of consumer attributes trust to other consumers

Este estudo busca o entendimento da personagem que vem modificando as práticas de consumo na era da informação: o prossumidor. Ao longo desta dissertação foi construída a teorização e adaptação deste termo ­ prossumidor - na busca por um entendimento das relações mantidas entre consumidores, seus hábitos, motivações e características a fim de entender como esta personagem modifica os hábitos de consumo, se enraíza no ritual pré-compra proposto ao longo deste trabalho. Para isso, utilizou-se ferramentas como o ConsumerBarometer, análise de comentários em ambientes de prossumerizacão, questionário e entrevista em profundidade. Além disso, foi feita a comparação da influência da publicidade tradicional e o boca a boca (online e offline) onde os resultados dessa contraposição demonstram a notoriedade adquirida pela prática da prossumerização. / This study threats about the understandment of a new character that has been changing consumption practices in this information age: the prosumer. The Prosumer theorizing and adaptation was built throughout this dissertation to achieve a clear understanding of relationships between consumers, their habits, motivation and characteristics, in order to comprehend how this personage changes the consumer habits and how such a practice is rooted in \"pre-ritual purchase\", proposed in this work. In this regard, were used the tools such as ConsumerBarometer, analysis of comments on prosumption, questionnaire and in-depth interview. Besides, we oppose the range of traditional advertising to realize how their influence can be compared to online or offline word of mouth, and the achieved results of those contraposition proves that this practice is gaining notoriety.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka effekten av deltagande design och hur metoden påverkar produktionsprocessen i skapandet av en webbshop. Detta gjordes genom att designa två olika prototyper på webbshoparna. För att ta fram dessa prototyperna hölls det två workshops. Den ena tillsammans med marknadsavdelningen och den andra genom deltagande design eftersom marknadsavdelningen gick ihop med två potentiella kunder. Under båda workshoptillfällena fick de en timme på sig och material i form av papper, pennor, utklippta element från andra webbshoppar samt lim och tejp. Utefter dessa pappersprototyper gjordes sedan digitala prototyper för att enklare kunna se resultatet av de två workshoptillfällena. Resultatet visade att deltagande design är en bra metod att använda för att vinna kunden på en hård marknad. Det är även mer tids-, och kostnadseffektivt att ta in kunden i början av designprocessen samt att det som produceras får en annan innebörd och detaljnivå. I detta fall visade det att kunden lägger störst vikt vid att webbshopen ska kännas legitim genom kundrecensioner och information om företagets miljöarbete. Kunden vill inte att det ska vara för svårt att få fram den information de är ute efter. De vill bli inspirerade genom enkla lösningar såsom fler bilder, erbjudande, kundrecensioner, liknande produkter, olika kategorier och ett genomarbetat filtreringsverktyg. Kunden litar även mer på andra kunder än på företaget själva och värderar kundrecensioner högre en företagets egen beskrivning. / The purpose of this study was to study the effect of using participatory design and how the method affects the production process in the making of a webshop. The prototypes for the webshop was made through two workshops. One together with only the marketing team and one through participatory design were the marketing team worked together with two potential customers. During both of the workshops, the participants were given an hour to finish the task and material in form of paper, pens, cut-out elements from other webshops, glue and tape. By following these paper prototypes there were then made digital prototypes to make it easier to see the results of the two workshops. The result showed that participatory design is a preferable method to win the customer on the market. It is also more time-efficient to introduce the customer at the beginning of a design process and the content produced through participatory design has a different meaning and a higher level of detail. The customer, in this case, cares a lot about the legitimacy of the webshop and feels that customer reviews and information about the company environmental work helps with that. They do not want to work too hard to get the information they are looking for. They want to be inspired through simple solutions such as more pictures, offers, customer reviews, similar products, different categories and a good filtering tool. The customer put more trust in other customers than in the company itself when it comes to costumer’s reviews and the company’s own description.

No / The current global challenge of climate change has made renewable energy usage very important. There is an ongoing drive for the deployment of renewable energy resource at the domestic level through feed-in tariff, etc. However the intermittent nature of renewable energy has made storage a key priority. In this work, a community having a solar farm with energy storage embedded in the house of the energy consumers is considered. Consumers within the community are aggregated in to a local virtual power plant. Genetic algorithm was used to develop an optimized energy transaction for the virtual power plant. The results shows that it is feasible to have a virtual power plant setup in a local community that involve the use of renewable generation and embedded storage. The result also show that when maximization of battery state of charge is considered as part of an optimization problem in a day ahead market, certain trade-off would have to be made on the profit of the virtual power plant, the incentive of the prosumer, as well as the provision of peak service to the grid.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to find what the drivers of prosumer innovativeness are and how prosumer innovativeness impacts value co-creation. To achieve this purpose, the study aimed to answer the following two research questions: “How does prosumer innovativeness impact value co-creation?” and “What drives prosumer innovativeness?” Method – Through the assessment of already existing literature, a conceptual model was created. The model consists of three different dimensions: intrinsic needs and motivations; individual innovativeness; and value co-creation. Intrinsic needs and motivations consist of the need for achievement, affiliation, power, and autonomy. Individual innovativeness is a unidimensional construct in the model. Value co-creation consists of six different dimensions: knowledge; equity; interaction; experience; personalization; and relationship. Hypotheses were developed to gauge the relationship between each construct in the model. Data was collected through a questionnaire which aimed to measure each construct in the model. A final sample size of 141 respondents was realized. The data was then screened and cleaned in Excel and IBM SPSS before being analyzed in SmartPLS. Results – The results showed that achievement, affiliation, and power are drivers of prosumer innovativeness. Furthermore, it was found that prosumer innovativeness positively affects value co-creation as there was a positive relationship between innovativeness and knowledge, interaction, experience, and relationship. Theoretical contribution – While previous literature has identified different motivations to prosumption, this study went a step further to gauge what the needs behind these motivations are. Hence, it can now be stated that prosumers’ motivations to innovative stems from their needs for achievement, affiliation, and power, as well as that prosumer innovativeness positively affects the co-creation of value. Managerial implications – Organizations should utilize prosumers who have a high need for achievement, affiliation, and power, and who have a personal interest in their product, organization, and industry when conducting innovation co-creation to best promote involvement in co-creation activities. If organizations make participation in innovation co-creation easily accessible, they may find that innovative prosumers who are actively looking for solutions to their problems may get involved without any direct incentive apart from the improved product or service and the personal satisfaction derived from the prosumption itself.

Produktplacering och sponsrat material i sociala medier ökar markant till följd av det digitala landskapets spridning. Det blir allt mer vanligt att blanda kommersiellt innehåll i icke-kommersiella sammanhang, vilket medför förvirring och oro hos konsumenter. Ett exempel på detta är videoplattformstjänsten YouTube. Influencer marketing på YouTube växer för var dag av orsaken att man genom tjänsten kan nå ut till en bredare publik – vilket många företag utnyttjar. Uppsatsen syftar till att bidra med en ökad förståelse för vilka eventuella reaktioner som produktplacering i videoklipp framkallar, eller inte framkallar. Studien undersöker mottagarens attityd till sponsrat material och produktplacering och visar likheter och skillnader mellan producenter och konsumenter. Den undersöker även om konsumenternas reaktioner skiljer sig åt beroende på hur videorna förhåller sig till givna rekommendationer och riktlinjer. Undersökningen har skett genom kvalitativ metod och intervjuer tillsammans med både en konsumentmålgrupp och en producentmålgrupp.Resultatet visar att reaktionerna är många och varierande, de negativa reaktionerna är dock dominerande. Producenternas och konsumenternas åsikter skiljer sig till största del åt och producenterna är mer positivt inställda. Faktorer som varumärkeskännedom, tillit och engagemang har ofta stor betydelse för en framgångsrik marknadsföring genom YouTube.Slutsatsen indikerar att reaktioner så som nyfikenhet, intresse, irritation och avundsjuka är vanliga reaktioner på produktplacering. Konsumenterna tycks också mer positiva till integrerad reklam i videoklipp trots att rekommendationerna talar för det motsatta kring hur de bör framställas. / Product placement and sponsored content through social media is increasing significantly as a result of the digital landscape evolving. It is becoming more common to mix commercial content in non-commercial contexts which leads to confusion and concern amongst consumers. An example of this is the video platform service YouTube. Influencer marketing on YouTube is growing by the day because of the wide audience that companies can can reach out to – thanks to the service. This essay aims to contribute to a better understanding of the possible reactions that product placement in videos provokes or does not provoke. The study examines the viewer’s attitude to sponsored material and product placement and what similarities and differences there is between producers and consumers. It also investigates whether consumer’s responses differ depending on how videos relate to recommendations and guidelines. The survey has been conducted through a qualitative method with interviews in focus along with both a consumer- and a producer target group.The result show that the reactions are numerous and various, but the negative reactions are the dominant. The opinions of producers and consumers differ greatly, as producers are more positive towards product placements. Factors such as brand awareness, trust and dedication are often of great importance for successful marketing through YouTube.The conclusion indicates that reactions such as curiosity, interest, irritation and jealousy are common reactions to product placement. Consumers also seem more positive towards integrated advertising in videos despite the recommendations speak for the opposite.

Yes / Technological advancement on the electricity grid has focused on maximizing its use. This has led to the introduction of energy storage. Energy storage could be used to provide both peak and off-peak services to the grid. Recent work on the use of small units of energy storage like battery has proposed the vehicle to grid system. It is propose in this work to have energy storage device embedded inside the house of the energy consumer. In such a system, consumers with battery energy storage can be aggregated in to a community virtual power plant. In this paper, an optimized energy resource allocation algorithm is presented for a virtual power plant using genetic algorithm. The results show that it is critical to have a pricing scheme that help achieve goals for grid, virtual power plant, and consumers. / Mr. Oghenovo Okpako is grateful to the Niger Delta Development Commission of Nigeria for funding the work. The work has been also supported by the British Council and the UK Department of Business innovations and Skills under the GII funding of the SITARA project.

This thesis contains a qualitative analysis of the Czech children's television program, which the main topic is the presentation of other cultures. The aim is to answer a question, of how other cultures are presented to the children audience within this particular program. The key terms are viewed in the context of the concept of culture and cultural identity as defined by social anthropologists, that is, as a set of meanings and practices that are learned. The findings are also understood and compared to multicultural education, in which a culturally standard approach is seen as the prevailing approach in the researched TV program. Attention is also paid to the representation of children in the media content, and to the structure of children's media content. The qualitative analysis brought the resulting scheme entitled as Strategy of Children's Knowledge, which defines the three phases way in which individual areas and different cultures are presented to the audience. The first introduction is the first step when the viewer gets acquainted with emotionally and ideologically unpainted facts. In the second confrontation phase, the introductory information is further elaborated and related to the main characters, so it is clearly defined as who "we" are and who are "the others". In the final stage,...