The current study evaluated whether robotic guidance can influence movement planning and/or the use of online proprioceptive feedback. Participants were divided into three groups wherein they practiced an aiming task unassisted or via a robotic device that led them through a trajectory with an asymmetric or symmetric velocity profile. Baseline performance was measured prior to training and a post-test included control and tendon vibration trials. Temporal, spatial, and kinematic variables were used to assess planning and online control mechanisms. Results indicated that tendon vibration altered the way individuals planned their movements and used online sensory feedback. Robotic-guided groups appeared to use online feedback to a lesser extent than the unassisted group during tendon vibration trials, based on kinematic data. Individuals may become less inclined to use erroneous proprioceptive feedback following robotic guidance, supporting the potential benefit of robotics in neuro-motor rehabilitation for those with proprioceptive deficits.

This satire offers an update of Jane Collier's "An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting," an instruction manual for sadists. It includes directions for the beginning tormentor with specific instructions for tormenting strangers, acquaintances, friends, lovers and relatives.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), together with speech therapy, is known to relieve the symptoms of aphasia. Knowledge about amount of current to apply and stimulation location is needed to ensure the best result possible. Segmented tissues are used in a finite element method (FEM) simulation and by creating a mesh, information to guide the stimulation is gained. Thus, correct segmentation is crucial. Manual segmentation is known to produce the most accurate result, although it is not useful in the clinical setting since it currently takes weeks to manually segment one image volume. Automatic segmentation is faster, although both acute stroke lesions and nectrotic stroke lesions are known to cause problems. Three automatic segmentation routines are evaluated using default settings and two sets of tissue probability maps (TPMs). Two sets of stroke patients are used; one set with acute stroke lesions (which can only be seen as a change in image intensity) and one set with necrotic stroke lesions (which are cleared out and filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)). The original segmentation routine in SPM8 does not produce correct segmentation result having problems with lesion and paralesional areas. Mohamed Seghier’s ALI, an automatic segmentation routine developed to handle lesions as an own tissue class, does not produce satisfactory result. The new segmentation routine in SPM8 produces the best results, especially if Chris Rorden’s (professor at The Georgia Institute of Technology) improved TPMs are used. Unfortunately, the layer of CSF is not continuous. The segmentation result can still be used in a FEM simulation, although the result from the simulatation will not be ideal. Neither of the automatic segmentation routines evaluated produce an acceptable result (see Figure 5.7) for stroke patients. Necrotic stroke lesions does not affect the segmentation result as much as the acute dito, especially if there is only a small amount of scar tissue present at the lesion site. The new segmentation routine in SPM8 has the brightest future, although changes need to be made to ensure anatomically correct segmentation results. Post-processing algorithms, relying on morphological prior constraints, can improve the segmentation result further.

The purpose with a TPM is to ease the workload for both the maintenance organization and the airline. Until today Norwegian has had problems caused by absence of clear directives how the administrative work between the maintenance organization and the airline should go on. Norwegian wants a manual where issues about responsibility distribution, working procedures and the way of business are clearly illustrated and described. In this project we have focused on a couple of chosen procedures as “Technical Log Procedure”, “Work Order Procedure” and “Spare Part Procedure”. We have tried to create an easy-lucid and user-friendly manual as a result of flowcharts and declaring pictures. The work has been performed in Norwegian´s head office at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

This thesis work is an evaluation of journal bearings in manual transmissions in automobiles. Today both journal- and needle bearings can be positioned into the gearboxes and in order to reduce the power loss developed by friction when a relative angular velocity arises, the right type of bearing must be chosen. In order to succeed, this work is aimed to develop a Matlab simulation model, which should be used as a tool in the design process of manual transmissions. The program development is later supposed to be followed by real tests of journal bearings, partly to cover things that can not be covered in the model but also to confirm how well the model reflects the reality. The absence of resources resulted in no performed real test and therefore was a comparison between theoretical-  and practical results not possible. Here the plain journal bearings in full film lubrication will have an disadvantage compared to the needle bearings regarding the power lost. To reduce the drag below the values of the needle bearings a modified journal bearing in the area of boundary lubrication with a very low coefficient of friction may be an option. But problems with wear under this condition could most certainly be devastating and must be further investigated with real tests. Out of a efficiency point of view the most suitable bearing position is the gear in the most frequently used area. Here it is assumed to be the 4th gear. A suitable journal bearing design should have a small sliding surface area in order to minimize the viscous drag. To achieve low friction the boundary lubricated area could be a good idea in cases when wear is not a critical factor. To longer the useful life nitrocarburizing is recommended, which both reduces wear and lower the coefficient of friction, in cases of asperites in contact. In order to work under the full film lubricated condition, with neglected wear, the sliding area needs to be large enough to create the required oil pressure.

Denna studie är genomförd på en bultsvetsstation med fyra bultsvetsrobotar från ABB som används i den dagliga produktionen i karossfabriken på Saab Automobile i Trollhättan. I dagsläget används off-lineprogrammerade robotprogram från IGRIP i flera robotceller på karossfabriken. IGRIP har under flera år används utan att man har någon metod för att utvärdera för hur kapaciteten i robotcellerna utnyttjas. Begränsningarna hos IGRIP är att det inte automatiskt kan beräkna och generera kollisionsfria banor vilket är mycket tidskrävande. Programmeringen av via-punkterna sker via manuell inmatning i programmet vilket medför att de inte utnyttjar maximal kapacitet i robotcellen. Dessa problem har lett till att Saab ville undersöka potentialen för att frigöra kapacitet i en robotcell med hjälp av en programvara under utveckling, IPS 2.0. Den nyare programvaran utvecklas av FCC och besitter optimerings- och balanseringsfunktioner samt genererar kollisions fria rörelsebanor för robotarna i robotcellen. En optimerad bana och en referensbana har skapats för att kunna utvärdera en procentuell förändring av tiden. Det visade sig att det finns stor potential att frigöra kapacitet i den undersökta cellen med hjälp av IPS 2.0. / This study has been performed on a stud weld station consisting of four stud weld robots from ABB which are used in the daily production at the body plant of Saab Automobile in Trollhättan. Currently, off-line programmed robot programs from IGRIP are used in several robot cells in the body plant. IGRIP has been used for several years without having any evaluation method for how the capacity has been used in the robot cells. The limitations of IGRIP are that it cannot automatically generate collision free paths, which is very time consuming. The input of the via-points is done manually by the programmer which results in less than maximum capacity in the robot cell. These problems have triggered Saab to investigate the potential for making capacity available by using a software under development, IPS 2.0. The software is developed by FCC and has optimization and balancing functions. It can also generate collision free paths for the robots in a robot cell. One optimized path and one reference path have been created in order to evaluate the time reduction in percent. It was shown that there was potential to free up capacity in the robot cell by using IPS 2.0.Date:

Uppskattningsvis 2000 personer lever med diagnosen tetraplegia i Sverige idag. Orsaken till skadan är trauma mot halskotpelaren som resulterar i total förlamning i bålen och de nedre extremiteterna. Ju högre upp skadan är placerad, desto större blir även förlamningen i de övre extremiteterna. Det traditionella sättet, att driva en manuell rullstol framåt med hjälp av drivringen, är med dessa funktionsbortfall, inte optimalt för att ta sig framåt eller över hinder. Ett prototyphjälpmedel, som förändrar rörelsemönstret till att större delen av kraften riktas i tangentiell riktigning framåt, med hjälp av de starkaste kvarvarande musklerna, utvecklades i projektet. Projektet har tillämpat dynamisk produktutveckling, med användarna i fokus, för att få fram en prototyp som uppfyller användarnas krav och som framförallt är användarvänlig. Detta har gjorts genom insamling av data under bland annat studiebesök, marknadsundersökningar och användarträffar. Prototypframtagningen skedde genom kontakt med näringslivet. Resultaten som kom fram vid användartesterna visade att prototypen kunde hjälpa till att öka maxkraften, för en av de två testpersonerna, som krävdes för att ta sig upp över en tröskel. Prototypen gav dock en upplevd försämring av manövreringsförmågan, då inte alla prototypens komponenter fungerad optimalt. Det krävs ytterligare tester och utvecklingsarbete innan produkten kan fungera i större utsträckning och för en större målgrupp. / An estimated 2000 people are today living in Sweden with a diagnosis of tetraplegi. The cause of the injury is trauma towards the cervical spine resulting in paralysis of the trunk as well as the lower limbs. The higher the positioning (i.e. the lower numbering of the vertebrae) of the cervical vertebrae damaged by the trauma, the more functions are lost in the upper extremities. When this happens, the traditional way of wheelchair propulsion with the push rim becomes less convenient. During the project, a prototype aid was developed. With the help of the aid, the users are able to change their pattern of movement when using the wheelchair. The new pattern allows the tetraplegi users to use their power in a tangential direction to the wheel. In addition they will be using mainly their strongest muscles in their arms, optimising their ability to move forward. In the project, dynamic product development was applied, focusing on the users in order to develop a user-friendly prototype which meets their requirements. To achieve this goal the project group collected data from people working with the rehabilitation of tetraplegics as well as people involved in the supply and distribution of rehabilitation aids. This benchmarking as well as meetings with intended users was helpful when gathering information. The prototype was developed with in close cooperation with various companies. User tests showed that the prototype could help increase maximum propulsive force required to climb over a threshold, for one of the two test persons. The prototype gave, however, a decrease in experienced maneuverability, as all of the components of the prototype were not working optimally. Further tests and development are needed before the product can operate for an extended use and for a wider target group.

This master thesis tells about Aptivia, what it contains and how i works (inluding a manual). As well as problems with it. It also consists of an evaluation of a Place and Route tool, telling the discovered problems with it and ideas for solving them.There is also several different descriptions of the code that implements the Place and Route tool.

<p>Larminstruktioner används av väktare då de ska åka på larmutryckning. En larminstruktion är ett papper innehållande information som kan vara viktigt för väktaren vid en larmutryckning, exempelvis kundens adress, koder och vägbeskrivning. Det är viktigt att dessa är lätta att förstå eftersom väktaren bör infinna sig på platsen så fort som möjligt efter att ett larm utlöst. Rapporten beskriver hur studien av företaget Securitas larminstruktioner har gått till för att som slutligt mål ta fram en ny mall för larminstruktionerna. Undersökningen gjordes utifrån ett kognitivt och människa-dator interaktions (MDI) perspektiv och metoder som användes var heuristisk utvärdering och intervju. Utifrån resultatet på intervjuerna och med hjälp av riktlinjer inom MDI:n togs en ny mall fram.</p>

Abstract Purpose: To characterize physical activity of people using manual wheelchairs with spinal cord injury in Manitoba. Methods: An observational study of manual wheelchairs users with spinal cord injury. Participants completed surveys related to self-efficacy for exercise, physical activity participation, and shoulder pain. Accelerometers were worn for 7 days on the wrist and trunk (GT3X, 100 Hz, 5 s epochs) and completed an activity log concurrently. Individual specific thresholds were determined for moderate intensity during a pace graded wheeling trial. Physical activity and sedentary time were characterized using various derived variables. Results: Twenty five participants (12 tetra:13 para, 21M:4F) demonstrated excellent accelerometer adherence achieving an average of 6.2 days worn for over 13 hours per day. A total of 74.6 min (all activity) and 115 min (contiguous bouts of activity) were achieved over time worn (6.2 days), corresponding to 11.8 and 18.5 min/day respectively. The participants substantially exceeded the published SCI guidelines (40 min/week, P<0.01) but were under the able bodied threshold of 150 min/week (P<0.01). No relationships were observed between surveys and objectively measured PA. Characterization of PA bouts revealed few participants (n=7) exhibiting single bout durations greater than 10 minutes, with an average contiguous bout duration of 30 s. A new functional classification scheme revealed positive correlations to PA variables and wheeling performance. Sedentary times ranged from 6.25 to 8.4 hours per day depending upon accelerometer placement. Conclusion: Arm based accelerometry can be used to determine PA and sedentary characteristics of manual wheelchair users with individual specific moderate intensity thresholds. Participants exceeded the SCI specific activity guidelines in terms of time per week, and failed to reach bout durations of 20 min. This study supports the use of able-bodied PA guidelines as a target. A new functional classification scheme was derived based upon wheeling dependent muscle innervation that had enhanced prediction of PA relative to standard anatomical classification / October 2015