M.S. / Electronics, wearable devices are important in nowadays informationalized lifestyle. One prominent problem with those electronic devices is that almost all of them depend on batteries as power sources, which has become a bottleneck due to the limited life span. Constantly replacing or recharging batteries is inconvenient, burdensome, and sometimes even impossible. This problem is more intractable when the power cannot be accessed conveniently (such as during fieldwork, hiking, and military missions). What’s more, no matter how much energy the battery stores, it will drain eventually. In addition, large battery will add extra weight and occupy space. Substitute power supply that conquer these aforementioned dilemmas are thus highly desirable. Energy harvesting by its nature could be an inexhaustible replacement for batteries. This insight inspires so many energy harvesting researchers tirelessly working and trying to make it happen. Suspended backpack is an effective way to harvest energy from human motions.This study evaluates different energy harvesting backpack configurations and comprehensively assessed the power generation, dynamic interaction and human comfort. Dynamic modelling considering the dynamic interaction between human body and backpack is established to optimize the design. Bench tests and treadmill tests are carried out to evaluate the real performance. Experimental results show that the harvesting energy from human motion via a suspended energy-harvesting backpack could incessantly generate considerable electricity applicable for charging carry-on electronic devices. The potential application scenarios of this technology include solders, field-workers as well as outdoor adventure.

The purpose of this project has been to further develop the ergonomic comfort andextended use of a concept sleigh early in development by Bombardier Recreational Productsin Finland. Their concept already featured a modern looking exterior design with a largewindow, innovative doors that gives of vibes of a modern sports car. The original conceptalso has multifunctional benches that allows storage and a prone position. The goal has beento deliver my final concept in the shape of a 3D-model with the new features. Side goals wasgiven besides the ergonomic improvements, these were to make the sleigh fit on a 3.5-meter trailer along with a snowmobile and see if components from other products producedby BRP Finland, Rovaniemi, would be ergonomically beneficial to the sleigh while notaffecting the dimensions in an undesirable way. The process of this project has been basedon three main phases namely Inspiration, Ideation, and Creation. The first phase focused onexploring the market and the users of similar products with the help of a competitor analysiswith sleighs suggested by the company. During the Inspiration phase an academic study wasmade where relevant knowledge was collected. That was for example to support thisdevelopment with information about how the users and stakeholders should be involvedduring an Industrial design process. Very useful information about ergonomics andanthropology aspects was discovered and applied. A form was sent out to users where it wasshown that the passenger comfort was the most important aspect of a sleigh. The secondphase was focused on development of new ideas that were spawned during two workshopsand sketching methods. The third phase, Creation, finalised the concepts and throughmatrices the best concept was selected based on criteria taken from the user’s interest andother aspects of the sleigh like the side goals of the project. The result of this project wasconcept Virgo, which is a concept based in BRPs original design with features spawned andevaluated during this project. Much research and reiterations has gone into thisdevelopment to arrive at minor improvements to bring great customer value to the sleigh ifimplemented when it becomes available on the market

Carbody tilting is today a mature and inexpensive technology allowing higher speeds in curves and thus reduced travel time. The technology is accepted by most train operators, but a limited set of issues still holding back the full potential of tilting trains. The present study identifies and report on these issues in the first of two parts in this thesis. The second part is dedicated to analysis of some of the identified issues. The first part contains Chapters 2 to 5 and the second Chapters 6 to 12 where also the conclusions of the present study are given. Chapters 2 and 3 are related to the tilting train and the interaction between track and vehicle. Cross-wind stability is identified as critical for high-speed tilting trains. Limitation of the permissible speed in curves at high speed may be needed, reducing the benefit of tilting trains at very high speed. Track shift forces can also be safety critical for tilting vehicles at high speed. An improved track standard must be considered for high speed curving. Chapters 4 and 5 cover motion sickness knowledge, which may be important for the competitiveness of tilting trains. However, reduced risk of motion sickness may be contradictory to comfort in a traditional sense, one aspect can not be considered without also considering the other. One pure motion is not the likely cause to the motion sickness experienced in motion trains. A combination of motions is much more provocative and much more likely the cause. It is also likely that head rotations contribute as these may be performed at much higher motion amplitudes than performed by the train. Chapter 6 deals with services suitable for tilting trains. An analysis shows relations between cant deficiency, top speed, tractive performance and running times for a tilting train. About 9% running time may be gained on the Swedish line Stockholm – Gothenburg (457 km) if cant deficiency, top speed and tractive performance are improved compared with existing tilting trains. One interesting conclusion is that a non-tilting very high-speed train (280 km/h) will have longer running times than a tilting train with today’s maximum speed and tractive power. This statement is independent of top speed and tractive power of the non-tilting vehicle. Chapters 7 to 9 describe motion sickness tests made on-track within the EU-funded research project Fast And Comfortable Trains (FACT). An analysis is made showing correlation between vertical acceleration and motion sickness. However, vertical acceleration could not be pointed out as the cause to motion sickness as the correlation between vertical acceleration and several other motions are strong. Chapter 10 reports on design of track geometry. Guidelines for design of track cant are given optimising the counteracting requirements on comfort in non-tilting trains and risk of motion sickness in tilting trains. The guidelines are finally compared with the applied track cant on the Swedish line Stockholm – Gothenburg. Also transition curves and vertical track geometry are shortly discussed. Chapters 11 and 12 discusses the analysis, draws conclusions on the findings and gives proposals of further research within the present area. / QC 20101119

Здания являются крупными потребителями энергии во всех странах. В неблагоприятных погодных условиях большая часть энергии идет на кондиционирование зданий. Эта нагрузка на кондиционирование воздуха может быть уменьшена многими способами; среди них выделяется правильная конструкция, выбор технологий и их компонентов. Это исследование направлено на изучение особенностей, которые способствуют проектированию жилого комплекса с критериями устойчивости для зон с теплым климатом. экологичные дома, которые способны создать комфортную среду, с инструментами, которые позволяют нам реализовать экономические и комфортные аспекты при вводе в эксплуатацию здания. В этой работе описываются различные подходы и приложения в традиционном и moderna архитектурном дизайне, что приводит к набору параметров и правил, которые следует учитывать при планировании здания. Постулируется, что руководящие принципы проектирования включают принципы здоровой экосистемы и ландшафтного дизайна, превращая их в два момента, которые необходимо правильно понять, потому что они могут быть вектором для создания построенной среды, начиная от простого обслуживания в текущем сценарии и становясь неотъемлемым компонентом интеграции архитектуры и среды. / Buildings are major energy consumers in all countries. In adverse weather conditions, most of the energy goes to the air conditioning of buildings. This load on air conditioning can be reduced in many ways; among them stands out the correct design, the choice of technologies and their components. This study is aimed at studying the features that contribute to the design of a residential complex with sustainability criteria for areas with a warm climate. eco-friendly houses that are able to create a comfortable environment, with tools that allow us to implement economic and comfortable aspects when commissioning a building. This article describes various approaches and applications in traditional and moderna architectural design, which leads to a set of parameters and rules that should be taken into account when planning a building. It is postulated that the design guidelines include the principles of a healthy ecosystem and landscape design, turning them into two points that need to be properly understood, because they can be a vector for creating a built environment, starting from simple maintenance in the current scenario and becoming an integral component of the integration of architecture and environment.

The vehicle manufacturing sector is constantly evolving, and corporations are fully aware of increased consumer expectations for both driver and passenger´s comfort. SCANIA CV AB, as one of the largest Swedish manufacturers of commercial vehicles, has put an emphasis on this area. To guarantee these high-quality standards, several tests are conducted daily. Within this framework, this project aims to gain a better understanding of the phenomena associated with steering wheel vibrations. This project has an experimental focus on recreating sensitive driving conditions and addressing the vibration transfer paths to the main user interface such as the steering wheel. As widely known, the main problems related to vibrations come from resonance excitations. The most obvious solution would be to simply avoid matching any system´s eigenmodes with external excitations. Considering broadband excitations such as bumpy roads or engine vibrations, it is very unlikely that none of the critical frequencies is triggered. A better and more realistic idea would be minimizing the effects of these resonances by structural optimization. However, to do so, the eigenmodes should first be addressed. For this purpose, this project focused on identifying the annoying frequencies triggered while recreating sensitive driving scenarios. These sensitive scenarios were identified by Scania as circumstances in which the steering wheel feel gets altered. Specifically, it was decided to focus on road-induced vibrations, wheel-induced vibrations and engine-induced vibrations. The main findings show that during these tests, some resonances are triggered and interesting features are captured on the steering wheel. / Fordonstillverkningssektorn växer ständigt och företag är fullt medvetna om ökade konsumentförväntningar på både förarens och passagerarnas komfort. SCANIA CV AB, som en av de största svenska tillverkarna av kommersiella fordon, har lagt vikt vid detta område. För att garantera dessa högkvalitativa standarder genomförs flera tester dagligen.Inom denna ram syftar detta projekt till att få en bättre förståelse för de fenomen som är förknippade med rattvibrationer. Detta projekt har ett experimentellt fokus på att återskapa känsliga körförhållanden och adressera vibrationsöverföringsvägarna till huvudanvändargränssnittet, såsom ratten. Som allmänt känt kommer de största problemen relaterade till vibrationer från resonansexcitationer. Den mest uppenbara lösningen skulle vara att helt enkelt undvika att matcha något systems egenmoder med externa excitationer. Med tanke på bredbandsexcitationer som gropiga vägar eller motorvibrationer är det mycket osannolikt att ingen av de kritiska frekvenserna utlöses. En bättre och mer realistisk idé skulle vara att minimera effekterna av dessa resonanser genom strukturell optimering. För att göra det bör egenmoden först behandlas. För detta ändamål fokuserade detta projekt på att identifiera de irriterande frekvenser som triggades samtidigt som känsliga körscenarier återskapades. Dessa känsliga scenarier identifierades av Scania som omständigheter där rattkänslan förändras. Specifikt beslutades att fokusera på väginducerade vibrationer, hjulinducerade vibrationer och motorinducerade vibrationer. Huvudfynden visar att under dessa tester triggas vissa resonanser och intressanta funktioner fångas på ratten.

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As the climate changes, hot regions like La Guajira's semi-desert will become even hotter. It is projected that the average temperature in this region will increase by 2.4 ℃ over the course of this century, with a 20 % reduction in precipitation. To ensure that these areas remain habitable in the future, implementing technical solutions will be necessary to mitigate the impacts on the people living there. A field study assessed the thermal comfort at a school in Manaure, which experiences excessively high temperatures that exceed international standards for good thermal comfort. Through subjective and objective data collection, the field study concluded that the school's thermal climate would negatively impact at least 83 % of the students. The study also found that the surface temperature of desks not exposed to sunlight reached a temperature of 43 ℃. To improve thermal comfort, three potential solutions were explored. Isolating the roof reduces incoming radiation and prevents excess heat from warming the structure. Increasing the ventilation rate helps dissipate hot air, and planting trees creates a cooler supply air temperature. Two of the three measures were implemented, and the tree-planting project is ongoing. Temperatures were measured on the roof, walls, desk and floor during a hot day. Together with a survey to students and teachers to evaluate the absolute temperature and the experienced thermal comfort. The results demonstrated that isolating the roof and installing a solar chimney on the classroom's roof can significantly lower the operative temperature to 36 ℃ and 35 ℃, respectively. These improvements can improve learning by 25 % due to better thermal comfort compared to a classroom that has not been modified. As a bonus, the acoustics were also improved in classrooms, resulting in a lower echo level. Overall, the study demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve the thermal comfort of classrooms in semi-desert regions, even those without access to electricity. An added benefit is that these solutions have a low installation cost and no operational costs. However, further research is needed to determine the impact of heat on children and whether these measures will improve their learning outcomes. / A medida que cambie el clima, las regiones cálidas como el subdesierto de La Guajira se volverán aún más calientes. Se proyecta que la temperatura promedio en esta región aumente 2,4 ℃ en el transcurso de este siglo, con una reducción del 20 % en las precipitaciones. Para garantizar que estas áreas sigan siendo habitables en el futuro, será necesario implementar soluciones técnicas para mitigar los impactos en las personas que viven allí. Un estudio de campo evaluó el confort térmico en una escuela de Manaure, que experimenta temperaturas excesivamente altas que superan los estándares internacionales de buen confort térmico. A través de la recolección de datos subjetivos y objetivos, el estudio de campo concluyó que el clima térmico de la escuela impactaría negativamente al menos al 83 % de los estudiantes. El estudio también encontró que la temperatura de la superficie de los escritorios no expuestos a la luz solar alcanzó una temperatura de 43 ℃. Para mejorar el confort térmico, se exploraron tres posibles soluciones. Aislar el techo reduce la radiación entrante y evita que el exceso de calor caliente la estructura. El aumento de la tasa de ventilación ayuda a disipar el aire caliente y la plantación de árboles crea una temperatura del aire de suministro más fría. Se implementaron dos de las tres medidas y el proyecto de plantación de árboles está en curso. Se midieron las temperaturas en el techo, las paredes, el escritorio y el piso durante un día caluroso. Junto con una encuesta a estudiantes y docentes para evaluar la temperatura absoluta y el confort térmico experimentado. Los resultados demostraron que aislar el techo e instalar una chimenea solar en el techo del aula puede reducir significativamente la temperatura operativa a 36 ℃ y 35 ℃, respectivamente. Estas mejoras pueden mejorar el aprendizaje en un 25 % debido a un mejor confort térmico en comparación con un aula que no ha sido modificada. Como beneficio adicional, también se mejoró la acústica en las aulas, lo que resultó en un nivel de eco más bajo. En general, el estudio demostró que es posible mejorar significativamente el confort térmico de las aulas en las regiones semidesérticas, incluso aquellas sin acceso a la electricidad. Un beneficio adicional es que estas soluciones tienen un bajo costo de instalación y no tienen costos operativos. Sin embargo, se necesita más investigación para determinar el impacto del calor en los niños y si estas medidas mejorarán sus resultados de aprendizaje. / När klimatet förändras kommer redan varma regioner som halvöken i La Guajira, Colombia att bli ännu varmare. Den genomsnittliga temperaturen i regionen förväntas att öka med 2,4 ℃ under det här århundradet, samtidigt som nederbörden minskar med     20 %. För att dessa områden ska vara beboeliga i framtiden kommer det vara nödvändigt att implementera tekniska lösningar för att mildra konsekvenserna för de människor som bor där. En fältstudie genomfördes för att undersöka termisk komfort på en skola i Manaure, som upplever extremt höga temperaturer vilket överskrider internationella standarder inom termisk komfort. Genom subjektiv och objektiv datainsamling konstaterade fältstudien att skolans termiska klimat kommer påverka minst 83% av eleverna negativt. Studien visade också att temperaturen på skrivborden som inte utsatts för solljus nådde 43 ℃. Temperaturer mättes på tak, väggar, skrivbord och golv under en varm dag. Tillsammans med en undersökning till elever och lärare för att utvärdera den absoluta temperaturen och den upplevda termiska komforten. För att förbättra den termiska komforten undersöktes tre olika möjligheter. Att isolera taket minskar den inkommande strålningen och förhindrar att överflödig värme värmer upp konstruktionen. Ökningen av ventilationen hjälper till att avlägsna het luft och sist även plantera träd för att skapa en svalare utomhustemperatur. Av de tre åtgärderna genomfördes två, och projektet med att plantera träd pågår. Resultaten visade att den operativa temperaturen kan sänkas till 36 ℃ om taket isoleras och ytterligare till 35 ℃ om en solskorsten installeras på taket i klassrummen. Sammantaget kan inlärningen förbättras med åtminstone 25 % jämfört med ett klassrum som inte förbättrades. En positiv bieffekt var att akustiken i klassrummen förbättrades genom mindre eko. Sammanfattningsvis visade studien att det är möjligt att betydligt förbättra den termiska komforten i klassrum i halvökenklimat, även i klassrum utan tillgång till el. En annan fördel är att dessa lösningar har en låg installationskostnad och inga driftskostnader. Dock krävs ytterligare undersökningar för att fastställa vilken påverkan värme har på barn och om dessa åtgärder kommer att förbättra deras lärande.

This study delves into the development of a long-term, sustainable housing solution to address the challenges faced during crisis when people are in immediate need of an accommodation. While temporary tents have been traditionally employed as shelters, their inefficiency in colder climates and lack of sustainability necessitate the exploration of alternative options. The proposed solution focuses on the construction of permanent houses equipped with proper insulated floorings, walls, and roofs.  Several crucial factors are taken into consideration throughout this study, including resistance to biological decomposition, exposure to precipitation, breathability, U-value per thickness, storage capabilities, and environmental impact. Therefore, studies and simulations are conducted to evaluate the viability of two organic insulation materials, with the objective of identifying the most suitable option for the project. In the next step energy simulations are conducted using the VIP software, enabling an accurate assessment of the concept building's energy efficiency. Moreover, a detailed model of the housing prototype is constructed using Revit and rendered using Twinmotion, facilitating a comprehensive visualization of the final design. Additionally, the transportation of the developed housing units was investigated and an efficient storage concept for standard shipping container was developed and modelled in SketchUp. With this study a sustainable, lightweight, flexible, adaptable, and easily transportable housing solution that can be constructed without reliance on external forces is to develop. By emphasizing sustainability and resilience, this study provides dignified and long-lasting housing for individuals and communities in need, effectively bridging the gap between temporary shelters and permanent housing structures. The findings and insights obtained from this study contribute to the broader body of knowledge in the field, fostering future advancements in crisis housing and promoting sustainable development practices.

A challenging aspect of modern global development is to provide desired thermal environment for building occupants with optimum consideration of energy and occupants health and satisfaction, both physically and psychologically. The variation of activity level, health condition, needs, clothing habit and staying time of different categories of occupants in hospitals makes it critical where comfort level should be optimized. Now-a-days, tremendous changing on climate makes even more challenging to maintain optimum level of indoor thermal environment at low energy cost. Thermal comfort can be assessed by the well-established PMV- PPD model, and studies on the correlation with AMV ratings from the occupants can help to understand the exact scenario of the thermal comfort. Therefore, this research aims to estimate the thermal comfort level of healthcare occupants, compare PMV-PPD values with AMV for different categories of occupants, and analyze optimum operative temperature for energy savings. A combination of objective measurements and a field study with a semi-structured interview on comfort perception, following ISO-7726, 7730, 8996, 9920, 10551 and ASHARE- 55 regulations, were conducted, where a total number of 56 occupants, including 35 patients, 5 visitors and 16 medical staffs were participated from a health care center of a hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. The data was collected during the summertime. Based on studied thermal environment, both PMV (-1.59 to 1.01) and AMV range (-2 to 1) considering gender, indicated health care center of studied hospital toward slightly cold, where occupants wanted warmer indoor environment. Patients more than 60 years were most sensitive on thermal comfort and overall patients were more sensitive for warm indoor climate than medical staff due to health condition and age. But male respondents were less sensitive than female. PMV and AMV with optimum operative temperature provides the clear idea about optimum thermal environment for the hospitals occupant. Identifying an optimum thermal environment could be a sustainable solution if and only if energy can be reduced.

Uniform lighting in public spaces like study rooms in libraries, is still a common practice. However, uniformly lit spaces are unable to simultaneously meet the needs of multiple users and can create dull environments. The objective of this thesis is to analyze users’ behavior under different lighting conditions in study rooms and investigate whether alternative lighting designs, which step away from uniformity, could be more beneficial than uniform lighting, from a human performance and well-being perspective.A uniformly lit study room in the library of KTH was chosen as the main case study of this investigation and was thoroughly analyzed and evaluated through qualitative and quantitative research. Under the initial hypothesis that the lighting in this study room does not meet its users’ needs and fails to create an inspiring and comfortable environment, three additional study rooms in different Swedish libraries were comparatively analyzed through observations, interviews, and questionnaires, so as to better understand individual users’ needs and lighting preferences in study rooms. The research revealed the existence of various types of users with different personal preferences regarding lighting in order to feel comfortable and alert. A new conceptual lighting proposal is presented for the study room in KTH library, following an uneven lighting approach that utilizes different lighting zones to accommodate individual needs and affect the sense of comfort, alertness, and ultimately, the well-being of multiple types of users.