Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of South Africa, 2001.

<p>This report is the result of a diploma work made at IMT at US in Linköping. The purpose of this piece of work is to investigate the possibility to design a general program for data-acquisition using LabVIEW, suiting different hardwares and connections. Great importance has been attached to communication with serialport, using bluetooth, because different wireless PPG-instruments has been developed parallel to this project. These PPG-circuits uses this type of serialcommunication. Communication with USB, GPIB and analog connection has also been examined and analog communication has been tested practically. But any serious implementation of these types in the LabVIEW-program has not been made.The paper starts with theory where LabVIEW, bluetooth, PPG, different connections and the different PPG-sensors is described concisely. Theory is followed by a"performance-part"where the course of action and the LabVIEW- program is described.The result of the work is an application in LabVIEW for communication with different PPG-sensors, where interface, protocol and file-standard/format has been designed. The program is adapted to prolonged measurements with full duplex. Measurements can be saved into ascii- or binary format, and signals can be studied carefully in graphs.Since only one PPG-sensor is fully made, a test in measurement and acquisition has been made with that sensor only. Ragarding the other PPG-instruments, the communication has been tested in hyperterminal.</p>

This report is the result of a diploma work made at IMT at US in Linköping. The purpose of this piece of work is to investigate the possibility to design a general program for data-acquisition using LabVIEW, suiting different hardwares and connections. Great importance has been attached to communication with serialport, using bluetooth, because different wireless PPG-instruments has been developed parallel to this project. These PPG-circuits uses this type of serialcommunication. Communication with USB, GPIB and analog connection has also been examined and analog communication has been tested practically. But any serious implementation of these types in the LabVIEW-program has not been made.The paper starts with theory where LabVIEW, bluetooth, PPG, different connections and the different PPG-sensors is described concisely. Theory is followed by a"performance-part"where the course of action and the LabVIEW- program is described.The result of the work is an application in LabVIEW for communication with different PPG-sensors, where interface, protocol and file-standard/format has been designed. The program is adapted to prolonged measurements with full duplex. Measurements can be saved into ascii- or binary format, and signals can be studied carefully in graphs.Since only one PPG-sensor is fully made, a test in measurement and acquisition has been made with that sensor only. Ragarding the other PPG-instruments, the communication has been tested in hyperterminal.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to get acquainted with possibilities of realization of a multifunctional sensor for agricultural purposes. The theoretical work deals with the principles of measurement of environmental variables. Subsequently, sensors are selected which can measure the environmental variables. The thesis discusses the possibilities of wireless communication. Attention is paid to the communication modules of the DIGI® manufacturer. The main part describes the physical implementation of the multifunctional sensor. Here is a detailed breakdown of what components are selected for implementation with adherence to general implementation requirements. At the end of the work is described a program serving multifunctional sensor.

Manufacturing management and operations place heavy emphasis on monitoring and improving production performance. This supervision is accomplished through strategies of manufacturing performance management, a set of measurements and methods used to monitor production conditions. Over the last thirty years the most prevalent measurement of traditional performance management has been overall equipment effectiveness, a percentile summary metric of a machine's utilization. The technologies encapsulated by Industry 4.0 have expanded the ability to gather, process, and store vast quantities of data, creating opportunity to innovate on how performance is measured. A new method of managing manufacturing performance utilizing Industry 4.0 technologies has been proposed by McKinsey & Company and software tools have been developed by PTC Inc. to aid in performing what they both call digital performance management. To evaluate this new approach, the digital performance management tool was deployed on a Festo Cyber-Physical Lab, an educational mock production environment, and compared to a digitally enabled traditional performance management solution. Results from a multi-day production period displayed an increased level of detail in both the data presented to the user and the insights gained from the digital performance management solution as compared to the traditional approach. The time unit measurements presented by digital performance management paint a clear picture of what and where losses are occurring during production and the impact of those losses. This is contrasted by the single summary metric of a traditional performance management approach, which easily obfuscates the constituent data and requires further investigation to determine what and where production losses are occurring.

This research investigates how ultrasonic damage monitoring in civil structures can be implemented on a small, battery-powered, self-contained device. The device is intended for the continuous monitoring of surface breaking cracks in steel using Rayleigh waves. This study in detail presents the challenges that are to be considered for the intended ultrasonic monitoring, with the objective to provide a foundation for the future development of a fully autonomously operating device. The study proposes a suitable hardware and software layout, and a prototype device is built using a digital signal processor, a commercial wireless transceiver, and custom amplification circuits. With the help of two narrowband ultrasonic contact transducers in a pitch-catch setup and appropriate contact wedges, the wave field that arises from scattering of an incident tone burst wave at a crack is measured. A data analysis algorithm extracts wave burst signals from the acquired output in order to minimize the data that is to be transmitted. Additional compression of the data and the implementation of a communication protocol allow for a reliable and efficient wireless transmission. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach, measurements of notches in a steel plate with different depths are taken. Measurement results from experiments with commercial ultrasonic equipment are compared to measurements taken with the prototype device. The influence of the sampling distortions on the signals are analyzed. The scope of this study is limited to a qualitative analysis of the experimental results; quantitative methods to determine the dimensions of a crack or notch from the measured data are not included. The research conducted demonstrates that taking ultrasonic measurements with a small, self-contained device is feasible. Comparison of frequency-based to time-based signal analysis methods yields that frequency-based methods are preferable, as they are affected less by sampling effects. The experimental results show that the intended ultrasonic examination technique can be used for qualitative damage assessment. The knowledge gained in this study contributes to improving the safety of civil infrastructure. Continuous local damage monitoring as proposed helps to detect critical conditions in-time, and to take countermeasures to avoid catastrophic failures.

This work deals with the creation of several interactive web applets for education of vector graphics. Described is the image signal, his discretization, vector and bitmap types of image record. Further they describe selected vector curves, their properties, algorithms for their construction and usage. The principles of rasterization of basic vector objects are explained. Using the Figma tool, graphical user interfaces for each applet are designed. These applets are implemented using HTML and Javascript. The implemented applets are placed on web pages that are used in computer graphics education.

This project looks at the future of play. Technology currently dominates kid’s leisure time. Digital distractions contribute to decreasing playtime, emphasizing passive media consumption over active engagement in play. The project proposes integrating digital interactivity into physical toys to enhance active play. Doing so by expanding play possibilities and inspiring purpose. Simultaneously it is addressing the challenges of designing toys for diverse preferences by designing adaptive play elements. This project is exploring what is important for a regulating entity in Digi-physical play experiences. Calling for a conceptual solution named a Play agent. The report dives into various prototypes exploring what a play agent could be, what its roles are and what aspects could make them successful in creating sustained play patterns. It proposes two play types synced to the use of a play agent.

Digital platforms in healthcare have become an increasingly implemented tool to facilitate and streamline daily care work in hospitals and health centers. In parallel with the new digitized era, this digital transformation has had a major impact on individuals' ways of working in healthcare. It is thus significant that digital competence is prioritized to achieve the intended goals regarding streamlining patient management. The qualitative study sheds light on how digi-physical care affects everyday care work and the patient journey. The study also intends to conclude how digital care platforms affect everyday care work, what advantages and disadvantages can be distinguished. The main purpose of the study is to investigate how digital platforms can be implemented to streamline healthcare and thereby investigate such care platforms from an informatics perspective. The research question refers to, how digital platforms can be applied to streamline patient management, is framed from a supplier perspective of such care platforms. The methodology includes an online survey with 10 questions that 11 respondents answered. The survey is supplemented with three in-depth interviews. These in-depth interviews are conducted via the digital tool Microsoft Teams. These respondents are carefully selected to generate relevant first-hand information about the research topic. Based on the respondents' answers, it can be stated that all respondents considered that there are many positive advantages of using digital platforms in healthcare. These positive effects are achieved by implementing digital platforms in a well-thought-out and structured way. Respondents also then pointed out that care providers must be given the right conditions to adequately use the digital care platforms as part of their works. The extensive criticism that digital care providers have received has been encountered in the study. The main criticism is then that digital care providers more easily prioritize more manageable matters such as easier physical ailments especially for patients with higher socioeconomic status. Based on the survey, the importance of implementing digital care platforms from an equal opportunity perspective is emphasized. In the future, digital platforms need to be implemented and developed with the common goal of increasing accessibility for patients and offering more patient-centered healthcare. / Digitala plattformar inom hälso- och sjukvården implementeras allt mer med syfte att underlätta samt effektivisera det vardagliga vårdarbetet på sjukhus och vårdcentraler. Parallellt med den nya digitaliserade eran har denna digitala transformation haft en stor påverkan på individers arbetssätt inom hälso- och sjukvården. Det är därmed signifikant att den digitala kompetensen prioriteras för att uppnå de avsedda målen gällande effektivisering av patienthantering. Den kvalitativa undersökningen belyser hur den digifysiska vården påverkar det vardagliga vårdarbetet samt patienthantering. Studien ämnar även att dra slutsatser kring hur digitala vårdplattformar påverkar det vardagliga vårdarbetet, vilka för och nackdelar som går att urskilja. Syftet med studien är att undersöka på vilket sätt digitala plattformar kan implementeras för att effektivisera sjukvården och därmed bidra med ett forskningsbidrag till informatikämnet. Forskningsfrågan avser hur digitala plattformar kan tillämpas för att effektivisera patienthantering, ur ett leverantörsperspektiv. Datainsamlingen innefattar en online enkät i form av Google formulär med 10 frågor som 11 respondenter fick besvara. Detta kompletteras med tre intervjuer som utförs via det digitala kommunikationsverktyget Microsoft teams. Dessa respondenter är noggrant utvalda för att generera relevant kunskap kring forskningsämnet. Baserat på respondenternas svar går det att konstatera att samtliga respondenter ansåg att det finns många positiva fördelar med tillämpning av digitala plattformar inom hälso- och sjukvård. Positiva effekter uppnås genom att implementeringen av digitala plattformar sker på ett väl genomtänkt och strukturerat sätt. Merparten av respondenterna poängterade att det är viktigt att vårdgivarna ges rätt förutsättningar för att kunna arbeta utifrån den digitala plattformen. Den omfattande kritiken som digitala vårdgivare har fått påvisas i studien. Den främsta kritiken är att digitala vårdgivare prioriterar mer lätthanterliga ärenden såsom lättare fysiska åkommor för dem som har högre socioekonomisk status. Baserat på undersökningen poängteras vikten av att implementera digitala vårdplattformar ur ett jämställdhetsperspektiv. Framöver behöver digitala plattformar implementeras och utvecklas med den gemensamma målsättningen att öka tillgängligheten för patienter och erbjuda en mer patientcentrerad vård.

Text in English / Born at a time of abundance of technology, including new media, e-teens have their lives woven around the use of new media technologies to the extent that they virtually do everything with the aid of these technologies, including learning, playing, socialising and communicating. E-teens, besides, demonstrate marked expertise in the use of these technologies. Although there have been various studies done on this group of users supported by models and theories on the use, gratifications and appropriation of new media technologies, the premise of this study was on two assumptions. First, there are limited studies that have been conducted in the sub-Saharan African context, especially, Ghana. Second, most available theories and models that guide the study of e-teens’ use, appropriation and the use of new media technologies are generalized and do not sufficiently highlight the unique attributes and gratification needs that are tied to their developmental stage. In light of these assumptions, the study was undertaken to provide empirical evidence on the types of new media e-teens have access to; the types of new media used by e-teens in their scheme of things and e-teens’ purposes for using new media. It also sought to find out the gratifications sought and obtained from the use of new media technologies by e-teens; the key features of new media appropriation and experience among e-teens and to identify the features of new media technologies which are most appealing to e-teens. The other objective, which serves as the main contribution of this study, was to develop a conceptual model representing new media use and appropriation among e-teens, thereby filling the theoretical or conceptual gap that exists in this context. The study adopted a quantitative approach whereby data was collected using close-5ended questionnaires. The target population were teens from age 13 to 19 in senior high schools in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, selected using a simple random sampling. The results of the study show that, overall, the most popular new media technology that e-teens had access to and owned was the smartphone. Leading among the apps that e-teens found to be appealing were educational, entertainment and information/news, with communicative and participatory features of new media technologies appealing to e-teens highly. Also, educational, sociability and social inclusion, respectively, were the most popular gratifications sought and obtained by e-teens. It is submitted that social inclusion, educational and sociability gratifications are considered to be directly in line with the unique developmental needs of e-teens. However, it is recommended, among other things, that educational use of new media, which was one of the strong points for new media use, should be further encouraged as new media provides borderless opportunities forlearning. The researcher believes that the conceptual model for e-teen use and appropriation of new media technologies provide a firm ground for further research on topics related to this subject matter. To provide support and substance to the e-teen model, other researchers are encouraged to test and extend it where necessary. In conclusion, the findings provide evidence that new media technologies are highly appropriated by e-teens because the technologies help them meet their unique gratification needs. Therefore, the study recommends that, although new media use among e-teens can be encouraged, it is important to ensure proper usage, which will not be detrimental to them. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)