<p>The main objective of this thesis is to use available knowledge about a process and combine this with measurement data from the same process to extract more information about the process. The combination of knowledge and measurement data is referred to as Multi Sensor Data Fusion, MSDF. This added information is then used to control the process towards a specified goal.</p><p>The process studied in this thesis is the process of drilling wells in a petroleum reservoir, while the oil is flowing from the reservoir. In the petroleum industry, this is defined as underbalanced drilling (UBD), where the bottom hole pressure (BHP) in the well is below the pore pressure in the reservoir.</p><p>Detailed knowledge of the process is of paramount importance when using multi sensor data fusion. Due to this, various process modelling efforts are examined and evaluated, from simple relations between parameters to a finite-element approach of modelling the fluid flow in the well during drilling. Several sensors are used in the various cases, and existing sensors such as pressure sensors and flow sensors are the main data source in the analysis. Future scenario with sensors such as pressure arrays and non-intrusive multiphase flow meters are evaluated. In addition, new positions of existing sensor systems are discussed.</p><p>The methods available for fusing the knowledge of the process represented as models together with the available data is ranging from artificial intelligent methods such as neural networks, to methods incorporating statistical analysis such as various Kalman filters. History matching techniques using gradient techniques are also examined.</p><p>The migration of reservoir fluids into the well during UBD influences the BHP of the well. The results in the thesis show that this reservoir influx can be calculated by estimating some of the important reservoir parameters such as reservoir pore pressure or reservoir permeability. These reservoir parameters can be estimated most efficiently by performing an MSDF using a detailed nonlinear model of the well and reservoir dynamic behaviour together with real-time measurements of the fluid flow parameters such as fluid temperature, fluid pressure and fluid flow rates. The unscented Kalman filter shows the best performance when evaluating both estimation accuracy and computational requirements.</p><p>Regarding available instrumentation for use during UBD, the analysis shows that there is a major potential in introducing new sensors. As new data transmission methods are emerging and making data from sensors distributed along the drillstring available, this can generate a shift in paradigm regarding real-time analysis of reservoir properties during drilling.</p><p>Controlling the process is an important usage of the information gained from the MSDF analysis. Various control methods for controlling the most important process variables are examined and evaluated. The results show that acceptable pressure control can be obtained when using the choke valve opening as the primary control parameter. However, the choke valve operation has to be closely coordinated with drilling fluid flow rate adjustments. The choke valve opening control is able to compensate for pressure variations during the whole drilling operation.</p><p>A suggested nonlinear model predictive control algorithm gives best results when looking at the control accuracy, and can easily be expanded to handle multiple control inputs and system constraints. This control algorithm uses a detailed model of the well and reservoir dynamics. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is used to calculate the optimal future control variables. The main drawback of the control algorithm is computational burden. A linear control algorithm, which also is evaluated, uses less computational resources, but has less control accuracy and is more difficult to expand into a multivariable control system.</p><p>Recommendations for further work are to expand the suggested model predictive control algorithm to handle more control inputs, while reducing the computational burden by incorporating low-order models for describing the future behaviour of the well.</p>

The main objective of this thesis is to use available knowledge about a process and combine this with measurement data from the same process to extract more information about the process. The combination of knowledge and measurement data is referred to as Multi Sensor Data Fusion, MSDF. This added information is then used to control the process towards a specified goal. The process studied in this thesis is the process of drilling wells in a petroleum reservoir, while the oil is flowing from the reservoir. In the petroleum industry, this is defined as underbalanced drilling (UBD), where the bottom hole pressure (BHP) in the well is below the pore pressure in the reservoir. Detailed knowledge of the process is of paramount importance when using multi sensor data fusion. Due to this, various process modelling efforts are examined and evaluated, from simple relations between parameters to a finite-element approach of modelling the fluid flow in the well during drilling. Several sensors are used in the various cases, and existing sensors such as pressure sensors and flow sensors are the main data source in the analysis. Future scenario with sensors such as pressure arrays and non-intrusive multiphase flow meters are evaluated. In addition, new positions of existing sensor systems are discussed. The methods available for fusing the knowledge of the process represented as models together with the available data is ranging from artificial intelligent methods such as neural networks, to methods incorporating statistical analysis such as various Kalman filters. History matching techniques using gradient techniques are also examined. The migration of reservoir fluids into the well during UBD influences the BHP of the well. The results in the thesis show that this reservoir influx can be calculated by estimating some of the important reservoir parameters such as reservoir pore pressure or reservoir permeability. These reservoir parameters can be estimated most efficiently by performing an MSDF using a detailed nonlinear model of the well and reservoir dynamic behaviour together with real-time measurements of the fluid flow parameters such as fluid temperature, fluid pressure and fluid flow rates. The unscented Kalman filter shows the best performance when evaluating both estimation accuracy and computational requirements. Regarding available instrumentation for use during UBD, the analysis shows that there is a major potential in introducing new sensors. As new data transmission methods are emerging and making data from sensors distributed along the drillstring available, this can generate a shift in paradigm regarding real-time analysis of reservoir properties during drilling. Controlling the process is an important usage of the information gained from the MSDF analysis. Various control methods for controlling the most important process variables are examined and evaluated. The results show that acceptable pressure control can be obtained when using the choke valve opening as the primary control parameter. However, the choke valve operation has to be closely coordinated with drilling fluid flow rate adjustments. The choke valve opening control is able to compensate for pressure variations during the whole drilling operation. A suggested nonlinear model predictive control algorithm gives best results when looking at the control accuracy, and can easily be expanded to handle multiple control inputs and system constraints. This control algorithm uses a detailed model of the well and reservoir dynamics. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is used to calculate the optimal future control variables. The main drawback of the control algorithm is computational burden. A linear control algorithm, which also is evaluated, uses less computational resources, but has less control accuracy and is more difficult to expand into a multivariable control system. Recommendations for further work are to expand the suggested model predictive control algorithm to handle more control inputs, while reducing the computational burden by incorporating low-order models for describing the future behaviour of the well.

This dissertation presents a study on project management and its effectiveness in a multinational pharmaceutical company (MPC). A mixed qualitative-quantitative method consisting of a case study (33 managers) and a follow-up survey (122 employees) was conducted. The cybernetics theory and its related concepts were used to formulate the social and technical components of projects as a network of task-related social interactions within an organizational context. Interaction was defined as the variety or possible states one node generates for another node, while degree of coordination was defined as the extent to which a recipient node can handle the variety of interrelated nodes. Interaction Effectiveness (IE) was calculated based on the ratio of “helpful” to “not so helpful” behaviors between interrelated nodes. MPC’s average organizational IE ratio of 1.03 was used as a baseline to determine the relative effectiveness of different interactions. The IE ratio also revealed two structural network properties. First, a departmental-level analysis indicated that most network relationships were asymmetrical (76.5%), reflecting a significant discrepancy in perceptions between interrelated nodes. Second, the variability of IE ratios (standard deviation) ranged from 0.10 to 1.28, reflecting the degree of consistency among the relationships of each single node and its interrelated nodes. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between the perceived ranking of a node’s performance and the node’s IE ratio. Multiple regression analysis also indicated a significant relationship between the perceived ranking of a node’s importance and the total of that node’s helpful and not so helpful comments. Finally, the results showed that the IE ratio was almost double for employees’ positive working relationship links compared to links with which they reported negative working relationships. The qualitative findings also provide significant evidence of the method’s sensitivity to capture project management’s most crucial element of “time.” Categorizing the impact of not so helpful comments corresponded mostly to “delays” (68.87%), whereas the impact of helpful comments corresponded mostly to “saving time” (68.14%). Furthermore, categorizing decisions to handle variety revealed the dominance of “adhocracy” mechanisms (62.18%) to handle input variety as opposed to “procedural” variety handling mechanisms (20.63%). Categorizing the comments related to the not so helpful category of “unreasonable expectations” indicated that 51.4% of all comments pertained to “role overload” followed by “role conflict” (36.5%), with only 12.1% of all comments corresponding to “role ambiguity.” The quantitative follow-up survey’s primary objective was to test the research hypotheses regarding the relationship between “variety”-related concepts and different degrees of project complexity (complex versus simple). The survey supported all hypotheses except Hypothesis 7 regarding project management software. Results, limitations, potential improvements to the current study, and future research directions are discussed.

The multi-agent robotics paradigm has attracted much attention due to the variety of pertinent applications that are well-served by the use of a multiplicity of agents (including space robotics, search and rescue, and mobile sensor networks). The use of this paradigm for most applications, however, demands economical, lightweight agent designs for reasons of longer operational life, lower economic cost, faster and easily-verified designs, etc. An important contributing factor to an agent’s cost is its control architecture. Due to the emergence of novel implementation technologies carrying the promise of economical implementation, we consider the development of a technology-independent specification for computational machinery. To that end, the use of cybernetics toolsets (control and dynamical systems theory) is appropriate, enabling a principled specifi- cation of robotic control architectures in mathematical terms that could be mapped directly to diverse implementation substrates. This dissertation, hence, addresses the problem of developing a technologyindependent specification for lightweight control architectures to enable robotic agents to serve in a multi-agent scheme. We present the principled design of static and dynamical regulators that elicit useful behaviors, and integrate these within an overall architecture for both single and multi-agent control. Since the use of control theory can be limited in unstructured environments, a major focus of the work is on the engineering of emergent behavior. The proposed scheme is highly decentralized, requiring only local sensing and no inter-agent communication. Beyond several simulation-based studies, we provide experimental results for a two-agent system, based on a custom implementation employing field-programmable gate arrays.

Es gibt kaum etwas, worauf unsere Zivilisation stolzer ist als auf die Eindämmung von Säuglingssterblichkeit, Infektionen und Seuchen. Die modernen medizinischen Bemühungen scheinen für das Leben des einzelnen ein Segen zu sein. Beziehen wir größere Zeiträume ein, so müssen wir feststellen, daß auf die Dauer als einziges Resultat dieser Bemühungen das übrigbleibt, was wir zur Zeit als den größten Schock dieses Jahrhunderts erleben: das explosionsartige Anwachsen der Menschheit. Mit den damit zusammenhängenden Problemen beschäftigen sich mehr oder weniger alle Kapitel dieses Buches. (aus dem Text)

The human being may no longer be reduced to the bounds of organic matter. An organism – a life form constructed from interdependent components that maintain various vital processes – may now reach beyond the limits of biological materials. Beyond the skin, thumbs, eyes, and organs of the average human being, we may notice the mutually dependent system of parts, functioning simultaneously as autonomous and interconnected components. These organic systems are now capable of fusing with foreign systems that help maintain the vitality of the macroscopic system – the human. Between human and machine, recent advancements in technology and prosthetic designs have enabled humans to graft with mechanized and computerized systems, challenging the preconception of what it is to be human. The advanced prosthesis has become an integrated extension of the human body. This realization begs the question: how intimate can architecture become? Pros+Tithenai analyzes the body’s imposition on space - transforming, manipulating, conforming to the void – and the equivalent imposition of space on the body. Pros+Tithenai examines how the human body unfolds in the creases between architecture, biology, engineering, cybernetics, psychology, and emerges reassembled.

This dissertation presents a study on project management and its effectiveness in a multinational pharmaceutical company (MPC). A mixed qualitative-quantitative method consisting of a case study (33 managers) and a follow-up survey (122 employees) was conducted. The cybernetics theory and its related concepts were used to formulate the social and technical components of projects as a network of task-related social interactions within an organizational context. Interaction was defined as the variety or possible states one node generates for another node, while degree of coordination was defined as the extent to which a recipient node can handle the variety of interrelated nodes. Interaction Effectiveness (IE) was calculated based on the ratio of “helpful” to “not so helpful” behaviors between interrelated nodes. MPC’s average organizational IE ratio of 1.03 was used as a baseline to determine the relative effectiveness of different interactions. The IE ratio also revealed two structural network properties. First, a departmental-level analysis indicated that most network relationships were asymmetrical (76.5%), reflecting a significant discrepancy in perceptions between interrelated nodes. Second, the variability of IE ratios (standard deviation) ranged from 0.10 to 1.28, reflecting the degree of consistency among the relationships of each single node and its interrelated nodes. The results of a multiple regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between the perceived ranking of a node’s performance and the node’s IE ratio. Multiple regression analysis also indicated a significant relationship between the perceived ranking of a node’s importance and the total of that node’s helpful and not so helpful comments. Finally, the results showed that the IE ratio was almost double for employees’ positive working relationship links compared to links with which they reported negative working relationships. The qualitative findings also provide significant evidence of the method’s sensitivity to capture project management’s most crucial element of “time.” Categorizing the impact of not so helpful comments corresponded mostly to “delays” (68.87%), whereas the impact of helpful comments corresponded mostly to “saving time” (68.14%). Furthermore, categorizing decisions to handle variety revealed the dominance of “adhocracy” mechanisms (62.18%) to handle input variety as opposed to “procedural” variety handling mechanisms (20.63%). Categorizing the comments related to the not so helpful category of “unreasonable expectations” indicated that 51.4% of all comments pertained to “role overload” followed by “role conflict” (36.5%), with only 12.1% of all comments corresponding to “role ambiguity.” The quantitative follow-up survey’s primary objective was to test the research hypotheses regarding the relationship between “variety”-related concepts and different degrees of project complexity (complex versus simple). The survey supported all hypotheses except Hypothesis 7 regarding project management software. Results, limitations, potential improvements to the current study, and future research directions are discussed.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-146).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1994. / Includes tables. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Robert O. McCIintock. Dissertation Committee: Rene V. Arcilla. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-155).

Thesis--Free University of Amsterdam. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [315]-331).