abstract: Human operators have difficulty driving cranes quickly, accurately, and safely because of the slow response of heavy crane structures, non-intuitive control interfaces, and payload oscillations. Recently, a novel hand-motion crane control system has been proposed to improve performance by coupling an intuitive control interface with an element that reduces the complex oscillatory behavior of the payload. Hand-motion control allows operators to drive a crane by simply moving a hand-held radio-frequency tag through the desired path. Real-time location sensors are used to track the movements of the tag and the tag position is used in a feedback control loop to drive the crane. An input shaper is added to eliminate dangerous payload oscillations. However, tag position measurements are corrupted by noise. It is important to understand the noise properties so that appropriate filters can be designed to mitigate the effects of noise and improve tracking accuracy. This work discusses implementing filtering techniques to address the issue of noise in the operating environment. Five different filters are used on experimentally-acquired tag trajectories to reduce noise. The filtered trajectories are then used to drive crane simulations. Filter performance is evaluated with respect to the energy usage of the crane trolley, the settling time of the crane payload oscillations, and the safety corridor of the crane trajectory. The effects of filter window lengths on these parameters are also investigated. An adaptive filtering technique, namely the Kalman filter, adapts to the noise characteristics of the workspace to minimize the tag tracking error and performs better than the other filtering techniques examined. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Bioengineering 2012

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is revolutionizing business practices across industries worldwide as means for its commercial application continue to be developed. It is surpassing barcoding as the preferred means of product identification due to its’ ability to identify goods at item-level as opposed to batch- or type identification, and with no line-of-sight requirements for item detection. Although many industries have successfully employed the technology and are reaping the rewards, RFID’s adoption in the truck tyre industry is still in its infant stage. A small number of documented cases discuss the limited roll-out and testing of RFID effectiveness in satisfying the demands and expectations associated with this specific application. This study is aimed at evaluating the viability of introducing RFID to the South African market. The market readiness is reflected in the perceptions of Continental Tyre South Africa’s (CTSA’s) customers regarding the perceived benefits of RFID. More importantly, it is revealed in how it affects customers’ buying behaviour and, by implication, the impact on CTSA’s sales. The results of the study also reveal critical aspects unique to the South African truck tyre market which could potentially be addressed through the introduction of RFID. These aspects form the basis of the conclusions and recommendations for future actions by CTSA.

Main goal of graduation theses is analysis possibilities to use logistic technologies in food company Fontea. This analysis is focused on material and informative flows in her logistic chain including analysis of key factors. These factors are important for implementation of chosen technologies. Subsequently were analyzed customer department, sales department, production department, purchasing department and shipping department. There were found several principal problems. Customer department staffs have a problem with finding actual quantity of manufactured finished goods, because up-dating of computer system is provided only once a day. Most of orders are inserted manually in computer system. Staffs are not able to find out charges of manufactured finished goods. Similar problems were discovered also in the next departments. To fix the problem were suggested implementation of Quick Response and automatic identification of barcodes and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-09T12:28:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-12-09Bitstream added on 2015-04-09T12:47:59Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000817267.pdf: 2036490 bytes, checksum: 2a66a1a45fbc89e11bd5d6f636e5887b (MD5) / A tecnologia de Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tornou-se um tema importante desde 2006, quando vários autores começaram a avaliá-la. A aplicação de RFID para processos industriais tem uma abordagem estratégica, objetivando a melhoria da satisfação dos clientes e criar novas oportunidades de negócios, bem como uma abordagem operacional com foco na eficiência operacional e na flexibilidade dos processos. A tecnologia é aplicada na logística e nos demais processos da cadeia de suprimentos com o objetivo do rastreamento dos materiais, aumento de visibilidade, aumento da eficiência operacional, redução dos desvios do processo e aumento da acessibilidade do inventário. Neste cenário, a presente dissertação tem como objetivo a avaliação de projetos logísticos aplicados à indústria aeronáutica brasileira com o uso do AHP - Analytic Hierarchy Process com ratings - passando pela identificação e avaliação das características que motivam e restringem a utilização da tecnologia através de uma revisão da literatura e pesquisa de campo / Research on Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) has become an important issue since 2006 and several authors have begun to assess this technology. The application of RFID to industrial processes has a strategic approach, seeking to improve customer satisfaction and new business opportunities, and has an operational approach focusing on operational efficiency and flexibility of the processes. There is a great application of RFID in logistics, warehouse and supply chain processes seeking tracking materials, increase supply chain visibility, labor savings, shrinkage reduction and inventory visibility. In this scenario, this paper aims to evaluate logistics projects applied to the brazilian aircraft industry using the AHP - Analytic Hierarchy Process with ratings, in addition to the identification and evaluation of the characteristics that motivate and restrict the use of technology through a literature review and a survey

Orientador: Barbara Stolte Bezerra / Banca: José Souza Rodrigues / Banca: André Luiz Barbosa Nunes da Cunha / Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa consiste em identificar e analisar as variáveis internas e/ou externas que se caracterizam como sendo fatores na adoção da tecnologia RFID no controle de estoques de materiais, especificamente nas áreas denominadas almoxarifados em usinas pertencentes ao setor sucroalcooleiro no atual cenário produtivo e econômico nacional. A escolha de usinas do setor sucroalcooleiro foi devido a relevância econômica que representou no ano de 2013, 2% do PIB nacional, montante este equivalente a US$ 43 bilhões, e tendo o valor bruto movimentado pela cadeia superior a US$ 100 bilhões. Para tanto foram empregados os métodos de revisão bibliográfica e survey. Como principais resultados foi possível observar que em um universo de 32 respondentes com cargos de liderança, 12,5% dos respondentes desconhecem a tecnologia RFID. De um total de 28 respondentes que demonstraram conhecer a tecnologia, 100% retornaram não ter a tecnologia implementada em suas operações, somente 28,6% entendem que a empresa já tenha avaliado em algum momento a possibilidade de implementação, e 60,7% acreditam que a implementação seja uma operação complexa, demonstrando que estes fatores contribuem negativamente para a adoção da tecnologia nas operações de almoxarifados em usinas. / Abstract: The objective of this research is to identify and analyze the internal and/or external variables that are characterized as being factors in the adoption of RFID technology in the control materials inventory, specifically in the areas called stockrooms in plants belonging to the sugarcane sector in the current production scenario and national economic. The choice of plants of this sector was due to the economic importance which represented in 2013, 2% of GDP, this amount equivalent to US $ 43 billion, taking the gross busy the upper chain to $ 100 billion. Therefore, we used the methods of literature review and survey. The main results we observed that in a universe of 32 respondents with leadership positions, 12.5% of respondents are unaware of the RFID technology. A total of 28 respondents who knew about the technology, 100% returned not have the technology implemented in its operations, only 28.6% believe that the company has been evaluated at some point the possibility of implementing, and 60.7% believe that implementation is a complex operation, demonstrating that these factors negatively contribute to the adoption of technology in warehouses operations in plants. / Mestre

Technologies for position sensing and identification are important to have in ubiquitous computing environments. These technologies can be used to track users, devices, and artefacts in the physical milieu, for example, locating the position of a cellular phone in av physical environment. The aim of this thesis was to survey and classify available technologies for location sensing and identification. We have made a literature study on both commercial and research-oriented systems and technologies for use in indoor and outdoor environments. We compared the characteristics of the underlying sensing technologies with respect to physical size, sensing method, cost, and accuracy. We conclude the thesis with a set of recommendations to developers and discuss the requirements on future sensing technologies and their use in mobile devices and environments.

A inovação é um meio utilizado pelas empresas para se manterem no mercado, crescerem economicamente e gerarem vantagens competitivas. Seja a inovação referente a processo, produto, ou melhorias incrementais ou radicais, é importante estabelecer os fatores que devem ser levados em consideração no processo de adoção. Contudo, os gestores enfrentam dificuldades neste processo, dada a carência de ferramentas ou modelos que possam auxiliálos, oferecendo-lhes uma abordagem sistêmica dos fatores envolvidos. Desse modo, os objetivos desta pesquisa são identificar e analisar: 1) os fatores que devem ser levados em consideração na decisão de adotar-se a tecnologia RFID, Radio Frequency Identification, nas empresas e 2) as barreiras e facilitadores à implantação da tecnologia RFID na manufatura. Descoberta em 1935, pelo físico escocês Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, esta tecnologia foi utilizada inicialmente na Segunda Guerra Mundial para identificação de aviões inimigos. Entretanto, também pode ser empregada para rastreamento na cadeia de suprimentos, monitoramento de pessoas, verificação de autenticidade, identificação de pessoas em áreas de segurança e controle eletrônico, entre outros. O modelo apresenta quatro fatores (ambiente externo, ambiente interno, redes de inovação e tecnologia), todos passíveis de desdobramento em subfatores. Esta pesquisa limitou-se a apenas um grupo de subfatores, tendo partido da revisão bibliográfica sobre inovação tecnológica, adoção de inovação, tecnologia RFID, redes de inovação e manufatura. Na etapa seguinte, foram elaborados um questionário e um roteiro de entrevista para coleta de dados e informações. Para validá-los, foram realizados pré-testes e em seguida as modificações sugeridas pelo teste, chegando-se ao modelo conceitual final. Este foi aplicado com base na metodologia de estudos de casos múltiplos em um grupo de quatro empresas, duas das quais localizadas nos EUA e as demais no Brasil. O estudo demonstrou a utilidade dos modelos na decisão da adoção da tecnologia RFID e para a identificação das barreiras e facilitadores à sua implantação na manufatura. Por se tratar de uma tecnologia nova e dada a escassez de estudos já completados nesta área de gestão, sugere-se pesquisar elementos adicionais aos abordados nesta pesquisa. Estes incluem fatores relativos à especialidade ocupacional do indivíduo que irá operar a tecnologia, perfil, cultura e porte da empresa, influência do processo de comunicação e mensuração do retorno do investimento, bem como nível de centralização e modelo de gestão da empresa, além de outros fatores envolvidos nas redes de inovação, como governança, desenvolvimento de competências, tipo de relacionamento entre os integrantes e a sua influência no processo de internacionalização de empresas. A metodologia adotada não permite a generalização das conclusões. / Innovation is one of the means companies resort to, in order to safeguard their market position, grow financially and gain competitive advantages. Regardless of whether the innovation concerns process, product, and incremental or radical improvements, it is important to establish the factors that must be taken into account in the process of adopting it. Managers, however, have difficulty in this process, because of the lack of tools or models capable of helping them and of providing a systemic approach to the factors involved. Thus, the objectives of this research study are to identify and analyze (1) the factors that must be taken into account when deciding whether to adopt the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology within a firm and (2) the barriers and facilitating elements for the implementation of RFID in manufacturing. Discovered in 1935 by the Scottish physicists Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, this technology was first used during World War II, to identify enemy aircraft. However, it can also be used to track the elements of a supply chain, monitor individuals, verify authenticity, identify people in security areas, or conduct electronic control, among other possibilities. Our model presents four factors (external environment, internal environment, innovation networks and technology), all of which can be broken down into sub-factors. This study focused on one sub-factors group. The research starting point was a bibliographical review of technological innovation, innovation adoption, RFID technology, innovation networks and manufacturing. The next stage consisted of developing a questionnaire and interview guidelines for data and information collection. These tools were then pretested for validation, which led to their adjustment and to the final conceptual model. This was then applied, based on the multiple case studies methodology, to a group of four enterprises, two of which were in the USA and the other in Brazil. The study showed the usefulness of the models for the decision of adopting RFID technology and for the identification of the barriers and facilitators connected with the implementation of RFID in manufacturing. Because it is a new technology, and given the scarcity of completed studies in this management area, we suggest researching other elements besides those addressed in our research, including those that concern the occupational specialization of the individual that will operate the technology, the profile, culture and size of the firm, the influence of the communication process and the return on investment metrics, as well as the enterprises level of centralization and management model, in addition to other factors involved in innovation networks, such as governance, development of competencies, type of relations among the network members and influence on the enterprises internationalization process. The methodology used, however, does not allow one to generalize the studys conclusions.

Gapet mellan större och mindre lokala aktörer på transportmarknaden ökar vilket leder till krav på kostnadseffektiva och differentierade verksamheter. Detta bidrar i allt högre grad till effektivisering och automatisering av verk­samhetens processer. Ett problem för verksamheter i logistiska samman­hang kan vara att lastbärare försvinner i leveransflödet vilket kan vara både kostsamt och reducera kundnöjdheten. RFID, Radio Frequency Identificat­ion är en teknik som kan användas i logistikprocesser för att ge en ökad synlighet på både lager-och logistik­aktiviteter i flödet från leverantör till kund. För att kunna driftsätta en sådan lösning och få tillgång till den tänkta nyttan bör de invol­verade aktörerna engageras i ett gemensamt system som kräver uppsättningen av en lämplig infrastruktur.  Brunskoggruppen AB är ett mindre logistikföretag beläget i Ljungby som upplever ökade kostnader för förlorade lastbärare i leveransflödet och ett be­hov av effektivisering av informationsflödet gällande densamma. Syftet med denna studie var att genom litteraturstudier, intervjuer och inslag av aktionsforskning undersöka och ge ett exempel på hur Brunskoggruppen AB kan införa en automatiserad lösning för spårbarhet på lastbärare. Under­sök­ningen skulle även visa vilka motiv som fanns för ett införande av RFID, vilka framgångskritiska faktorer som kan påverka ett införande och vilka förändringar som kan åstadkommas jämfört med dagens system i verksamheten.Resultatet visar hur förväntningar och motiv kan påverka att en teknik antas och hur den införs i verksamheten. Motiv för införande är en ökad effekti­vitet vid automatisering av de interna processerna tillsammans med att tek­niken skapar affärsmöjligheter för unika kundlösningar. De riktlinjer som tagits fram för införandeprocessen på Brunskoggruppen AB sammanfattas i åtta steg.

Master of Science / Department of Animal Sciences and Industry / Dale A. Blasi / Low-frequency (LF) radio frequency identification (RFID) transponders (n = 1,993) representing both full-duplex and half duplex air interface technologies were evaluated. Transponders representing five manufacturers and seven types were evaluated for read distance (RD), resonance frequency (RF) and voltage response (VR). LF RFID transceivers (n = 24) were also evaluated for performance and variance as tested by read distance. Transponders were sorted into four categories based on RD performance on three transceivers, “Top 25%,” “Middle 50%,” “Bottom 25%,” and “No Read.” These categories were used for evaluation of transponders and transceivers in experiments one and two, respectively. In experiment one, the mean RF of the “Top 25%” transponders were closer to 134.2 kHz (P < 0.05) within a transponder type (TT). TT and mean RD performance category interacted to affect the VR of transponders (P < 0.05); transponders with lower VR tended to have longer RD within a TT. In experiment two, sixty transponders from the “Middle 50%” were used to evaluate transceivers. Transceivers represented five manufacturers and five transceivers per manufacturer; one transceiver was eliminated from testing due to mechanical problems. There was a significant interaction (P < 0.0001) for TT and transceiver manufacturer. This indicated that transceiver performance was greatly dependant on TT being interrogated. TT and transceiver manufacturer interacted to affect RD variance (P < 0.05) demonstrating that transceiver RD will vary depending on TT being interrogated. In the final study, electromagnetic interference (EMI) was evaluated in fourteen livestock auction markets, four feedlots and five cattle abattoirs. The presence of EMI is known to impair the performance of RFID equipment. However, this phenomenon in livestock management settings has not been quantified in the scientific literature. EMI (134.2 + 25 kHz) was observed in all abattoirs. However, the extent and duration of EMI varied depending on individual abattoir. The processing, load and unload areas were evaluated in commercial feedlots. The most EMI was observed in the processing area. Finally, EMI was observed at the sale ring exit at two livestock auction markets. EMI exists in livestock management settings and may negatively impact the performance of LF RFID.

Millimeter-wave Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology presents itself as the most viable solution for the development of RF systems. It is a cost-e ective solution, suitable for mass production of such systems. Like planar circuits, SIW structures are compact, light weight and easy to fabricate. They also preserve some of the major advantages of metallic waveguides, namely, low loss, high quality factor and high power handling capabilities. In RF systems, rectangular waveguide horns have found various applications due to their exceptional radiation properties. From their simple construction, ease of ex- citation, usefulness and high gain, they are readily used as feed component in various RF systems, they also aid as the standardization for calibration and gain measure- ments of other high gain antennas. We are aware that, in an H-plane horn antenna, the rectangular waveguide is flared in the direction of the H-field. A large aperture in the H-plane presents the narrower half power beamwidth whereas a small aperture in the E-plane gives a wider beamwidth. In this research, the design of a SIW H- plane horn antenna with approximately symmetric half power beamwidths in both the E- and H-planes is proposed, using the commercially available electromagnetic field solver CST Microwave Studio to design and simulate proposed antenna characteristics and performance. Also, radiation patterns are analyzed and in order to validate the simulation results, measurements are performed on a fabricated prototype antenna. / Graduate