Industrial robots are the most widely manufactured and utilized type of robots in industries. Improving the design process of industrial robots would lead to further developments in robotics industries. Consequently, other dependant industries would be benefited. Therefore, there is an effort to make the design process more and more efficient and reliable. The design of industrial robots requires studies in various fields. Engineering softwares are the tools which facilitate and accelerate the robot design processes such as dynamic simulation, structural analysis, optimization, control and so forth. Therefore, designing a framework to automate the robot design process such that different tools interact automatically would be beneficial. In this thesis, the goal is to investigate the feasibility of integrating tools from different domains such as geometry modeling, dynamic simulation, finite element analysis and optimization in order to obtain an industrial robot design and optimization framework. Meanwhile, Meta modeling is used to replace the time consuming design steps. In the optimization step, various optimization algorithms are compared based on their performance and the best suited algorithm is selected. As a result, it is shown that the objectives are achievable in a sense that finite element analysis can be efficiently integrated with the other tools and the results can be optimized during the design process. A holistic framework which can be used for design of robots with several degrees of freedom is introduced at the end.

No description available.

The establishment of a new democracy has created high expectations amongst all the different communities of South Africa. The demand for basic essential services by the previously disadvantaged communities has increased drastically, whilst at the same time, communities from developed areas are expecting and demanding an acceptable level of maintenance and services in their respective areas. Municipalities are in serious distress with regular service delivery protests, huge service delivery and infrastructure backlog challenges (e.g. electricity, roads, housing, water, sanitation, and more), poor financial management and the inability to execute approved strategies, plans and programs. This study focused on the municipalities in the Gauteng Province of South Africa and the main objective was to answer the research problem: “What prevents Gauteng municipalities to successfully execute its strategies and what can be done to address the situation?” The research objectives were firstly, to review the literature and determine the key enablers required for successful strategy execution; secondly, to analyse the findings of the empirical study and to make recommendations towards the improvement of strategy execution within Gauteng municipalities. The third and final objective was to develop an integrated operating framework for strategy execution in Gauteng municipalities. The study concluded by making recommendations and developing an integrated operating framework for municipalities which is based on the key enablers required to execute a municipality’s strategy successfully and produce effective services and customer satisfaction. The key enablers are: leadership and management; organisation, people and skills; systems and technology; policies, processes and procedures; resources and budgeting; and performance management. / Thesis (PhD (Business Administration))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The establishment of a new democracy has created high expectations amongst all the different communities of South Africa. The demand for basic essential services by the previously disadvantaged communities has increased drastically, whilst at the same time, communities from developed areas are expecting and demanding an acceptable level of maintenance and services in their respective areas. Municipalities are in serious distress with regular service delivery protests, huge service delivery and infrastructure backlog challenges (e.g. electricity, roads, housing, water, sanitation, and more), poor financial management and the inability to execute approved strategies, plans and programs. This study focused on the municipalities in the Gauteng Province of South Africa and the main objective was to answer the research problem: “What prevents Gauteng municipalities to successfully execute its strategies and what can be done to address the situation?” The research objectives were firstly, to review the literature and determine the key enablers required for successful strategy execution; secondly, to analyse the findings of the empirical study and to make recommendations towards the improvement of strategy execution within Gauteng municipalities. The third and final objective was to develop an integrated operating framework for strategy execution in Gauteng municipalities. The study concluded by making recommendations and developing an integrated operating framework for municipalities which is based on the key enablers required to execute a municipality’s strategy successfully and produce effective services and customer satisfaction. The key enablers are: leadership and management; organisation, people and skills; systems and technology; policies, processes and procedures; resources and budgeting; and performance management. / Thesis (PhD (Business Administration))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

This study reconsiders cognitive development in planning theory, in order to expose the underlying cognitive framework through which academics communicate in planning literature. A cognitive framework develops over time and through experience within the minds of theorists and readers of planning theory. This framework forms the basis for orientation and interpretation of planning literature by the reader. This is illustrated by describing the various perspectives within planning theory and the connotations they have with different levels of theorising. The different perspectives involve the nature thereof, the history and its political conviction, underpinned by ideology. The different levels of theorising involve a framework which descends from thinking through to implementation and consists of a philosophical–, meta–theoretical– and a technical (tools) level. The problem is that the concept of a developed cognitive framework is rarely discussed in a constructive manner in planning literature. This proves to be the cause of confusion for students and other readers whom have not yet developed their own cognitive framework. An incomplete framework causes misconceptions from existing literature for example: the purpose of Faludi's book Planning Theory (1973). A discussion of this framework by academics could explain unresolved debates such as the substance and procedural debate and the normative theory versus the positive theory debate. The application of this framework proves that the political conflict in planning theory literature such as the more rational perspectives versus the more socio–political perspectives could be more constructive. Therefore this study argues that a cognitive framework could be determined by the general perspectives in planning literature together with different levels of theorising, and should become a constructive part of planning theory (debate) and education. Furthermore this study argues that if all perspectives are allowed to develop fully (non–competitive and attaining all different levels of theorising), connotations could be made on a meta–theoretical level to provide a proper cross range description of planning and provide a proper basis for comparison and would lead to more relevant and constructive debate(s). / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study reconsiders cognitive development in planning theory, in order to expose the underlying cognitive framework through which academics communicate in planning literature. A cognitive framework develops over time and through experience within the minds of theorists and readers of planning theory. This framework forms the basis for orientation and interpretation of planning literature by the reader. This is illustrated by describing the various perspectives within planning theory and the connotations they have with different levels of theorising. The different perspectives involve the nature thereof, the history and its political conviction, underpinned by ideology. The different levels of theorising involve a framework which descends from thinking through to implementation and consists of a philosophical–, meta–theoretical– and a technical (tools) level. The problem is that the concept of a developed cognitive framework is rarely discussed in a constructive manner in planning literature. This proves to be the cause of confusion for students and other readers whom have not yet developed their own cognitive framework. An incomplete framework causes misconceptions from existing literature for example: the purpose of Faludi's book Planning Theory (1973). A discussion of this framework by academics could explain unresolved debates such as the substance and procedural debate and the normative theory versus the positive theory debate. The application of this framework proves that the political conflict in planning theory literature such as the more rational perspectives versus the more socio–political perspectives could be more constructive. Therefore this study argues that a cognitive framework could be determined by the general perspectives in planning literature together with different levels of theorising, and should become a constructive part of planning theory (debate) and education. Furthermore this study argues that if all perspectives are allowed to develop fully (non–competitive and attaining all different levels of theorising), connotations could be made on a meta–theoretical level to provide a proper cross range description of planning and provide a proper basis for comparison and would lead to more relevant and constructive debate(s). / Thesis (M.Art. et Scien. (Town and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This thesis presents and analyses the evaluation of an European wide training programme aimed at engineers working in a large multinational automotive company. The training programme is unique in that it was conceived to address particular operational concerns and involved a multicultural workforce from six European countries. The evaluation of the training, which extends from the pilot stages of the programme through to its full implementation, where Kirkpatrick's four level evaluation framework is used, is the company’s first large scale attempt at systematic training evaluation. The evaluation of the programme is typical in its approach as reflected in the wide body of literature, however the use of meta-evaluation to determine the overall value of the evaluation approach in a commercial context provides originality and the basis for establishing an alternative approach to evaluating vocational training. The main body of the thesis is presented in three parts. Part I provides a critical review of the literature relating to; learning and training; conceptualisations of evaluation; and measurement and evaluation methodology, to establish the foundation for the empirical study. Part II is a detailed analysis of the evaluand, the evaluation methodology employed, and the results and outcomes from the evaluation. Part III provides directions for training evaluation based on a meta-evaluation of the empirical study. The thesis draws conclusions with respect to the role of evaluation in organisational training. The evaluation of training is largely conceptualised in the literature as being concerned with the assessment of value or worth of training to an organisation, which is the prevailing paradigm of Kirkpatrick's training evaluation framework. From the evidence obtained through the empirical study with regard to utility, feasibility, propriety and accuracy, it is concluded that the role of evaluation should be directed towards maximising value or worth of training through the systematic assessment, feedback and optimisation of the identifiable parameters of the training process, with the outcomes of training forming part of an overall evaluation of training framework.

Chemnitz, Techn. Univ., Diplomarb., 2008.

Submitted by Marcos Samuel (msamjunior@gmail.com) on 2017-02-09T11:14:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SOUZA,_T._T._L._Auto-calibração_de_câmeras_de_vídeo-vigilância_por_meio_de_informações_da_cena.pdf: 10046318 bytes, checksum: 33f3dbaacf9de09202957f03329673ab (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vanessa Reis (vanessa.jamile@ufba.br) on 2017-02-09T14:35:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 SOUZA,_T._T._L._Auto-calibração_de_câmeras_de_vídeo-vigilância_por_meio_de_informações_da_cena.pdf: 10046318 bytes, checksum: 33f3dbaacf9de09202957f03329673ab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-09T14:35:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SOUZA,_T._T._L._Auto-calibração_de_câmeras_de_vídeo-vigilância_por_meio_de_informações_da_cena.pdf: 10046318 bytes, checksum: 33f3dbaacf9de09202957f03329673ab (MD5) / A presença de câmeras de vigilância se tornou comum em ambientes públicos e privados. Utilizadas para monitorar cenas, esses equipamentos permitem a automatização da tarefa de vigilância, quando integrados a sistemas inteligentes capazes de aplicar técnicas de reconhecimento de padrões. A calibração de câmera é um recurso que possibilita explorar a geometria 3D da cena observada, possibilitando ao sistema inteligente determinar a posição e tamanho de objetos presentes na cena. Usualmente, ambientes monitorados possuem redes de câmeras de vigilância, as quais são compostas, em sua maioria, por câmeras heterogêneas e estáticas. A forma comum de calibrar câmeras requer intensa intervenção humana, e demanda grande quantidade de tempo quando aplicada a uma rede de câmeras. Neste trabalho é proposto um framework de calibração de câmera automática, não requerendo intervenção humana durante o processo de calibração. O framework proposto utilizará dicas da cena e um conhecimento prévio da distribuição da altura das pessoas para determinar os parâmetros necessários para a calibração da câmera, estimando sua posição, orientação e informações internas da câmera. A avaliação deste framework indica um resultado promissor. As análises mostram que, ao estimar os comprimentos na cena, o framework atinge um erro absoluto médio menor que 5 cm ao definir as alturas das pessoas, e um erro médio menor que 30 cm ao definir distâncias sobre o plano do chão. Quando comparado a trabalhos relacionados encontrados na literatura, o nosso framework apresenta uma eficiência maior ao utilizar até 80% menos dados na convergência dos parâmetros, e uma precisão 40% maior, na estimativa dos parâmetros da câmera.

As comunidades urbanas enfrentam hoje o desafio de dar lugar aos atos urbanos decorrentes da globalização, mobilidade, mudanças e, mais contemporaneamente, a discussão sobre sustentabilidade e a emergente sócio sustentabilidade. Levar essas discussões possibilita uma revisão desses atos urbanos, num contexto de problemáticas urbanas complexas, para novos atos urbanos. Isso requer uma abordagem transdisciplinar, que na presente pesquisa, vinculou urbanismo, administração e economia. Esse novos atos urbanos, requerem que se ultrapassem abordagens que tratem apenas no nível micro ou macro, por isso procurou-se trabalhar na emergência de regras, incluindo-se uma preocupação de nível mesoanalítico, caracterizando-se como uma abordagem multinível, o que permite captar a evolução da comunidade urbana estudada. Nesse contexto de crescente complexidade, foi escolhida a coexistência simultânea ou dialógica da hospitalidade e da hostilidade, juntamente com outros princípios da complexidade moriniana. Isso permite uma ligação para as discussões emergentes sobre sustentabilidade e sócio sustentabilidade urbana, cada vez mais requeridos para o comportamento cívico contemporâneo. Assim, como objetivo geral busca- se analisar como os princípios de hospitalidade e hostilidade podem contribuir para o entendimento e emergência de regras mesoanalíticas nos novos atos urbanos, numa lógica complexa da emergente discussão de desenvolvimento sócio sustentável de uma comunidade urbana. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, utilizando-se análise de natureza qualitativa, utilizando-se dados primários e secundários. O objeto a ser analisado é a Cidade Aberta, um campo de experimentação da arquitetura e design. É uma comunidade urbana de aproximadamente 40 pessoas (e suas famílias) reunidos a partir do ano 1971 na Cooperativa Amereida ( hoje Corporação Cultural Amereida) com a compra de um sitio de 270 ha ao norte do rio Aconcagua, Ritoque, Valparaíso. Chile. A comunidade é composta principalmente de arquitetos, designers e poetas que são professores e alunos da Escola de Arquitetura de Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Valparaíso, Chile. Tendo na sua origem algumas características únicas, para uma comunidade urbana, pois procurou se orientar por uma inspiração poética, criativa e de abertura. Na base de uma crítica ao atual modelo de sócio sustentabilidade da cidade de Vancouver, Canadá, é realizada a análise das regras mesoanalíticas presentes hoje na Cidade Aberta, apresentando-se uma nova representação que pretende contribuir com as problemáticas particulares do contexto de cidades latino-americanas. A proposição é feita à luz da teoria da complexidade, mostrando-se a necessidade de entender os novos atos urbanos, especialmente a dialógica entre os princípios de hospitalidade e hostilidade como primeiro passo das transformações da sociedade civil, por meio de regras que emergem no nível mesoanalítico de relacionamento entre os níveis micro e macro. Nos resultados observou-se a relevância de alguns temas emergentes na distinção de regras mesoanalíticas, tais como: A importância do processo de aprendizagem da Sócio Sustentabilidade para o futuro da comunidade; a inspiração poética da comunidade que permite um olhar complexo e dinâmico de sua cotidianidade; o processo de tomada de decisão próprio deles, em que o consenso determina os passos a serem dados em todos os âmbitos de seu desenvolvimento, em reuniões internas, chamadas de Ágoras, convocadas periodicamente; perda gradativa da buscada abertura e hospitalidade inicial por intermédio de novas regras mesoanalíticas mais estritas. Futuras pesquisas podem verificar a importância na aplicação deste modelo, por exemplo, no desenvolvimento de politicas públicas, e sua adaptabilidade em diferentes comunidades urbanas. / Urban communities today are challenged to make way for urban acts arising from globalization, mobility, change and, more contemporarily, the emerging discussion about sustainability and social sustainability. These discussions provide a review of these urban acts in a context of complex urban issues, to new urban acts. This requires a multidisciplinary approach, which in this study, linked urban planning, administration and economy. These new urban acts, require approaches that exceeds the address only at the micro or macro level, so we tried to work on emergency rules, including a mesoanalitic level of concern, being characterized as a multilevel approach, which allows capture the evolution of the studied urban community. In this context of increasing complexity, simultaneous or dialogical coexistence of hospitality and hostility was chosen, along with other principles of morianian complexity. This allows a connection to emerging discussions on sustainability and social and urban sustainability, increasingly required for contemporary civic behavior. Thus, the general objective get to analyze how the principles of hospitality and hostility may contribute to the understanding and emergency of mesoanalitic rules in the new urban acts in a complex logic of the emerging discussion of sustainable social development of an urban community. This is a case study using qualitative analysis, using primary and secondary data. The object to be analyzed is the Open City, an experimental field of architecture and design. It is an urban community of about 40 people (and their families) gathered from the year 1971 at the Cooperative Amereida (today Cultural Corporation Amereida) with the purchase of a 270 ha site north of the river Aconcagua, Ritoque, Valparaiso. Chile. The community is mainly composed of architects, designers and poets who are teachers and students of the Pontifical School of Architecture and Design of the Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. Having its origin some unique features for an urban community as it sought to be guided by a poetic inspiration, creativity and openness. On the basis of a critique of the current model of social sustainability of the city of Vancouver, Canada, is carried out the analysis of mesoanalitic rules present today in Open City, presenting a new representation that aims to contribute to the particular problems of the context of Latin American cities. The proposition is made in the light of complexity theory, showing the need to understand the new urban acts, especially the dialogue between the principles of hospitality and hostility as the first step of civil society changes through rules that emerge in the mesoanalitic level of relationship between the micro and macro levels. Results show the relevance of some emerging issues in distinguishing mesoanalitic rules such as: The importance of the process of learning social sustainability for the future of the community; poetic inspiration community that allows complex and dynamic look of the daily life; the process of making their own decision, in which consensus determines the steps to be taken in all areas of their development, in internal meetings, called Ágoras, convened periodically; gradual loss of sought openness and initial hospitality through new stricter mesoanalitic rules. Future research can verify the importance of the application of this model, for example, the development of public policies, and its adaptability in different urban communities.