This thesis explores the challenges and potential of technology integration in current ship management practices. While technology advancements were designed to be contributing to minimising task complexity, issues such as fatigue, increased administrative burden and technology assisted accidents still plague the industry. In spite of the clearly recognisable benefits of using modern technology in the management of ships, in practice its application appears lacking by a considerable margin. The main driver of the study was to appreciate the cause of this disparity. The study first reviewed a wide body of literature on issues involving the use of technology which included academic literature with empirical evidences and theoretical explanations of implementation of technology at work. With the help of the extant knowledge this research embarked on providing an explanation to the gap that existed in the application of technology in the shipping industry. By taking a case study approach the thesis looked into the induction and integration of technology in the management and operation of ships that primarily interfaced closely between the ship and its management unit on shore. Three companies with mutually diverse management setup were studied. The fourth case comprised of purposefully selected senior members of ships’ staff. The analysis of the data revealed that the manifestation of the gap in technology implementation is caused by deeper influences at work in the shipping industry. The un-optimised technology integration results in the seafarer, who is the keystone to the technology application, becoming a victim of the circumstances. The technology that was intended to ease operations and burdens ends up in controlling him, even leaving him under-resourced and causing fatigue.This was not an unintended outcome but the result of weak regulatory practices, short-term capital outlook and weakened labour practices in the shipping industry all caused by wider social and economic developments affecting not just this industry but businesses globally. The impact of such influences was however more acute in this industry resulting in such extreme consequence. By bringing to light the limited application of some fundamental principles of human-systems integration, this study has attempted to expand the boundaries of research on the subject and contributed to the holistic understanding of the various underlying factors that influence technology integration in ship management processes.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1994 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / The advance from alphanumeric terminals to displays using new graphics technologies like the X Window System and Microsoft Windows has in many cases failed to tap the full potential of these technologies. Many common telemetry tasks continue to use similar user interfaces based on tabular real-time data displays and menus. This paper will demonstrate the application of new techniques which, when used with emerging graphics technologies, will maximize the effectiveness of telemetry ground station consoles. Advances in visualization and animation have greatly enhanced the information content of current displays and significantly improved their ease of use.

M.Phil. (Engineering Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

by Ko Shui-wing, Anthony, So Hon-luen, Jimmy. / Bibliography: leaves 60-62 / Thesis (M.B.A.) -- Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1983

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Donald L. Grimes. / Ph.D.

The problems associated w i t h the process of educational software design are complex and need to be considered from a number of different perspectives. In this study a number of factors are identified as contributing to difficulties generally experienced by software designers. It is suggested, however, that the factor which underlies all others is ineffective or inefficient communication. As the design of Educational Software Systems is a complex, multidisciplined process, the communication of primary interest is that between between experts from different disciplines. To help focus on such problems and processes most discussion is in terms of two representative experts: a Teacher or Educator, and a Computer Programmer or Systems Analyst. In the first chapter the complexity of the task of categorising and evaluating information about educational software is discussed. A need is recognised for some form of conceptual construct which would allow direction and progress in software design to be determined. The concept of a continuum between the &quoteComputer as Tool&quote and the &quoteComputer as Tutor&quote is introduced as a logical basis for such a construct. In this and several other chapters the focus is on the design of Intelligent Educational Software, while not intending to imply that this is its only useful or desirable form. If, however, the design of Intelligent Educational Software is better understood, the designing of less complex forms of software should become much easier, and will make possible the teaching of Educational Software Design as a topic for formal study. The second chapter addresses the problem of interpersonal communication between experts in different disciplines who have no common technical language. The design of educational software is made more difficult by the fact that teachers find it difficult to describe &quotewhat they do&quote when they teach. The concept of a language of accommodation is introduced and discussed. The general problem of software acquisition, design management, and evaluation is addressed in chapter Three. The interaction between the roles of Educator and System Analyst is considered in relation to the types of software available today. It is suggested that collaborative design between experts from different fields can be described and analysed as a set of complex learning behaviours. The process of design is recognised as a learning process which, if better understood, can be improved and taught. Chapter four considers the problem of human/machine interaction. An operational model, or designer's check list, to aid in the design of a Student/Machine software interface is discussed on the assumption that the student, the computer, and the software interface, can be considered as three independent, but interacting systems. By way of illustration a model is developed which could be used to design software for use in adult education. Chapter Five is in two parts, each part dealing with essentially the same concept - the transmission of knowledge about the process of educational software design. Two major strategies are considered. Firstly, the concept of a Microfactor is introduced as a way in which practitioners in the field of educational software design might communicate about solutions to certain problems. The chapter then proposes and discusses a unit of study for teachers on the topic of Educational Software Design in which practitioners communicate with beginners. The main focus of this unit, to be called &quoteEducational Software Design&quote, is on (1) Need for problem solving skills in educational Software Design; (2) Need for communication skills to facilitate collaboration between experts; (3) Need for a schema which will assist in the structuring of knowledge about educational software design. It is modelled on an existing unit in a BA(TAFE/ADULT) course which has been running for several years. A detailed description of this prototype unit and its design is given in appendix A and B. To conclude the study, Chapter Six considers some of the possible attitudinal barriers which can severely restrict the use of educational software. Even the most expertly designed software will be of no benefit if it is not used.

Several recent maritime accidents suggest that modern technology sometimes can make it difficult for mariners to navigate safely. A review of the literature also indicates that the technological remedies designed to prevent maritime accidents at times can be ineffective or counterproductive. To understand why, problem-oriented ethnography was used to collect and analyse data on how mariners understand their work and their tools. Over 4 years, 15 ships were visited; the ship types studied were small and large archipelago passenger ships and cargo ships. Mariners and others who work in the maritime industry were interviewed. What I found onboard were numerous examples of what I now call integration work. Integration is about co-ordination, co-operation and compromise. When humans and technology have to work together, the human (mostly) has to co-ordinate resources, co-operate with devices and compromise between means and ends. What mariners have to integrate to get work done include representations of data and information; rules, regulations and practice; human and machine work; and learning and practice. Mariners largely have to perform integration work themselves because machines cannot communicate in ways mariners see as useful. What developers and manufacturers choose to integrate into screens or systems is not always what the mariners would choose. There are other kinds of ‘mistakes’ mariners have to adapt to. Basically, they arise from conflicts between global rationality (rules, regulations and legislation) and local rationality (what gets defined as good seamanship at a particular time and place). When technology is used to replace human work this is not necessarily a straightforward or successful process. What it often means is that mariners have to work, sometimes very hard, to ‘construct’ a cooperational human-machine system. Even when technology works ‘as intended’ work of this kind is still required. Even in most ostensibly integrated systems, human operators still must perform integration work. In short, technology alone cannot solve the problems that technology created. Further, trying to fix ‘human error’ by incremental ‘improvements’ in technology or procedure tends to be largely ineffective due to the adaptive compensation by users. A systems view is necessary to make changes to a workplace. Finally, this research illustrates the value problem-oriented ethnography can have when it comes to collecting information on what users ‘mean’ and ‘really do’ and what designers ‘need’ to make technology easier and safer to use.

Human-computer interaction, sometimes referred to as Man-Machine Interaction, is a concept that emerged simultaneously with computers, or more generally machines. The methods by which humans have been interacting with computers have traveled a long way. New designs and technologies appear every day. However, computer systems and complex machines are often only technically successful, and most of the time users may find them confusing to use; thus, such systems are never used efficiently. Therefore, building sophisticated machines and robots is not the only thing someone has to address; in fact, more effort should be put to make these machines simpler for all kind of users, and generic enough to accommodate different types of environments. Thus, designing intelligent human computer interaction modules come to emerge. In this work, we aim to implement a generic framework (referred to as CIMF framework) that allows the user to control the synchronized and coordinated cooperative type of work that a set of robots can perform. Three robots are involved so far: Two manipulators and one mobile robot. The framework should be generic enough to be hardware independent and to allow the easy integration of new entities and modules. We also aim to implement the different building blocks for the intelligent manufacturing cell that communicates with the framework via the most intelligent and advanced human computer interaction techniques. Three techniques shall be addressed: Interface-, audio-, and visual-based type of interaction.

Human-computer interaction, sometimes referred to as Man-Machine Interaction, is a concept that emerged simultaneously with computers, or more generally machines. The methods by which humans have been interacting with computers have traveled a long way. New designs and technologies appear every day. However, computer systems and complex machines are often only technically successful, and most of the time users may find them confusing to use; thus, such systems are never used efficiently. Therefore, building sophisticated machines and robots is not the only thing someone has to address; in fact, more effort should be put to make these machines simpler for all kind of users, and generic enough to accommodate different types of environments. Thus, designing intelligent human computer interaction modules come to emerge. In this work, we aim to implement a generic framework (referred to as CIMF framework) that allows the user to control the synchronized and coordinated cooperative type of work that a set of robots can perform. Three robots are involved so far: Two manipulators and one mobile robot. The framework should be generic enough to be hardware independent and to allow the easy integration of new entities and modules. We also aim to implement the different building blocks for the intelligent manufacturing cell that communicates with the framework via the most intelligent and advanced human computer interaction techniques. Three techniques shall be addressed: Interface-, audio-, and visual-based type of interaction.

The technology of power electronics is used increasingly during recent years, and the electronic power facilities are used more and more in the power system. The non-linear electronic loads produce heavy harmonic currents and could significantly degrade the power quality. Nonlinear loads, including the un-interruptible power supply, motor control and converter, etc, are important equipment in a modern factory, however, these nonlinear loads could lead to power facility malfunction and capacitor damage. The harmonics would eventually cause severe unexpected capital loss. Power quality has become an important study. This thesis proposes the probabilistic neural network (PNN) for power harmonics detection from distorted waves. Originally, Fourier transform is often used to analyze distorted waves in frequency spectrum, and low-pass filter is used to eliminate the fundamental component where characteristic harmonics can be detected. The complicated process is difficult to operate in real time. PNN based processing model with physical harmonic data is used to simplify the process. Computer simulation will show a simplified model and shorter processing time for harmonic detection in the active filter. The Intranet based distributed characteristic harmonic monitoring system.LabVIEW language was used to develop the Human-Machine Interface(HMI) , and DataSocket tool was used to share the information on net.