Background: The internet of things (IoT) is transforming industries by enabling data-driven decision-making. IoT play a crucial role in the transition to a Circular Economy of businesses. However, the intrinsic features of the IoT, such as centralization, poor interoperability, and privacy and security vulnerabilities, pose several challenges. Blockchain technology offers potential solutions to these challenges and can enhance traceability and information reliability, while also creating new avenues of interactions and value creation. A combination of these technologies is called Blockchain of Things (BCoT). Additionally, technology such as BCoT and assist the adoption of Circular Economy, a paradigm of sustainable and resource-optimization activities.  Purpose: This study aims to explore the potential challenges of adopting Blockchain of Things and Circular Economy practices, and potential barriers of adopting Blockchain of Things for Circular Economy.  Method: The study uses an explorative-qualitative research method where primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews. The data was then transcribed and categorized through the use of the Gioia-method, which was then applied to the TOE-framework.   Result: This study finds several barriers regarding Blockchain of Things and Circular Economy, such as lack of standardization, lack of data & information, lack of knowledge, lack of regulations, and finally, slow mind-shift of decision makers.  Conclusion: The results of the study points toward greater systemic challenges of knowledge and standards. Conclusions that can be derived from this are  that industries are still in the early adoption phase of digitalization, which is the reason for a lack of insight and knowledge regarding new technologies. Additionally, identified challenges of a lack of standards, regulations, and know-how regarding Circular Economy showcases a lack of knowledge and confidence in being able to create competitive, sustainable circular activities. / Bakgrund: "Internet of Things" (IoT) är i skedet av att transformera industrier genom att möjliggöra datadriven  bestlutsfattande. IoT spelar även en stor roll i övergången till en Cirkulär Ekonomi av företag. Men flera av IoTs egenskaper såsom centrialisering, samverkan, integretitet, och säkerhet lägger grunden för flera utmaningar.  Blockchain teknologi och dess inbyggda funktioner medgör potentiella lösningar för dessa utmaningar och kan förbättra spårbarhet och pålitlighet av information, samtidigt som den kan skapa nya tillvägagångssätt och värdeskapande. En kombination av IoT och Blockchain kallas för Blockchain of Things (BCoT) Dessutom kan teknik som BCoT  underlätta integration av cirkulär ekonomi, ett paradigm för hållbara och resursoptimerande aktiviteter/handlingar. Syfte: Denna studie strävar till att undersöka de potentiella utmaningarna med att integrera Blockchain of Things och cirkulära aktiviteter, och potentiella hinder för att integrera Blockchain of Things för cirkulär ekonomi. Metod: Studien använder sig utav en explorativ-kvalitativ forskningsmetod där primärdatan samlades genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Datan transkriberades and kategoriserades med hjälp av Gioia-metoden, som sedan tillämpades till TOE-ramverket.  Resultat: Den här studien finner flera barriärer angående Blockchain of Things och Circular Economy, såsom brist på standardisering, brist på information och data, bristande kunskap, brist på regelverk och slutligen långsam förändrig av tankesätt hos beslutsfattare. Slutsats: Resultaten av studien pekar på större systemiska utmaningar av kunskap och standarder. Slutsatser som kan dras från detta är att industrin fortfarande befinner sig i tidig fas av digitaliseringen, vilket är anledningen till bristande insikt och kunskap om nya teknologier. Dessutom visar de identifierade utmaningar av brist på standarder, regleringar och tillvägagångssätt inom cirkulär ekonomi en brist på kunskap och förtroende för att kunna skapa konkurrenskraftiga, hållbara cirkulära aktiviteter.

In a historical sense, technology has always been used to find practical solutions to certain problems. From the development of heat- and steam engine, to the new revolution of Industry 4.0. Technological advancements are in today’s society becoming more autonomous and automated, with the generation of- and utilization of Big Data. This is mainly the reason for the development of technologies such as “Internet of Things” (IoT) and its adoption and value generation for the manufacturing industry. The technology of IoT, when implemented in an industrial context, are often times refers to as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). As novelty of technology is often times, well researched in a technological sense, the purpose of this thesis has been to extend the understanding of value generation and creation within the context of Industry 4.0 for production focused companies, as well as to find the drivers of adopting IoT into manufacturing. As the thesis is a qualitative study based on prior scientific journals regarding this topic and with data collection from five in-depth interviews, the research framework that has been pursued, has been according to Grounded Theory. The process from raw data, through the creation of 1storder concepts and 2ndorder themes, the resulting findings, has shown that the manufacturing industry finds its value generation and, drivers of adoption within four dimensions that this thesis has concluded: Competitiveness,Optimization, Veracityand Control. From the identified drivers of this thesis, main value are generated through improved data-driven decision-making and meeting future customer demand. Other value generators, are found within optimization of mainly resource and machine optimization within the actual production. Ultimately, where value are being generated with IoT adoption are many, but decreasing risks associated with Supply Chain and transportation are together with above mentioned value generators, where manufacturing firms are find their increased value generation with Industry 4.0 adoption and what drives the manufacturing companies to adopt technologies such as Industrial Internet of Things.

No description available.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are increasingly being used everywhere, from the factory to the hospital to the house to the car. IoT devices typically have limited processing resources, so they must rely on cloud servers to accomplish their tasks. Thus, many obstacles need to be overcome while offloading tasks to the cloud. In reality, an excessive amount of data must be transferred between IoT devices and the cloud, resulting in issues such as slow processing, high latency, and limited bandwidth. As a result, the concept of edge computing was developed to place compute nodes closer to the end users. Because of the limited resources available at the edge nodes, when it comes to meeting the needs of IoT devices, tasks must be optimally scheduled between IoT devices, edge nodes, and cloud nodes.  In this thesis, we model the offloading problem in an edge cloud infrastructure as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem and look for efficient optimization techniques to tackle it, aiming to minimize the total delay of the system after completing all tasks of all services requested by all users. To accomplish this, we use the exact approaches like simplex to find a solution to the MILP problem. Due to the fact that precise techniques, such as simplex, require a large number of processing resources and a considerable amount of time to solve the problem, we propose several heuristics and meta-heuristics methods to solve the problem and use the simplex findings as a benchmark to evaluate these methods. Heuristics are quick and generate workable solutions in certain circumstances, but they cannot guarantee optimal results. Meta-heuristics are slower than heuristics and may require more computations, but they are more generic and capable of handling a variety of problems. In order to solve this issue, we propose two meta-heuristic approaches, one based on a genetic algorithm and the other on simulated annealing. Compared to heuristics algorithms, the genetic algorithm-based method yields a more accurate solution, but it requires more time and resources to solve the MILP, while the simulated annealing-based method is a better fit for the problem since it produces more accurate solutions in less time than the genetics-based method. / Internet of Things (IoT) devices are increasingly being used everywhere. IoT devices typically have limited processing resources, so they must rely on cloud servers to accomplish their tasks. In reality, an excessive amount of data must be transferred between IoT devices and the cloud, resulting in issues such as slow processing, high latency, and limited bandwidth. As a result, the concept of edge computing was developed to place compute nodes closer to the end users. Because of the limited resources available at the edge nodes, when it comes to meeting the needs of IoT devices, tasks must be optimally scheduled between IoT devices, edge nodes, and cloud nodes.  In this thesis, the offloading problem in an edge cloud infrastructure is modeled as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem, and efficient optimization techniques seeking to minimize the total delay of the system are employed to address it. To accomplish this, the exact approaches are used to find a solution to the MILP problem. Due to the fact that precise techniques require a large number of processing resources and a considerable amount of time to solve the problem, several heuristics and meta-heuristics methods are proposed. Heuristics are quick and generate workable solutions in certain circumstances, but they cannot guarantee optimal results while meta-heuristics are slower than heuristics and may require more computations, but they are more generic and capable of handling a variety of problems.

Industries are becoming more and more demanding with new technology and trying to improve the productivity of their lines by adding technological methods and thus obtaining greater flexibility and time savings. One of these methods is to train their workers with the new augmented reality technology, which saves training time since the user can learn independently by following the steps indicated on the device. Another method is to add robots to the production line to carry out those tasks that are supposed to be repetitive and tiring for humans. To squeeze more and get the best out of the robot and the human, companies choose to combine their virtues and put them working together hand in hand as a human-robot collaboration.In this project, the demonstrator includes an assembly car process realized in a human-robot collaboration system, where the human and the collaborative robot communicate through an augmented reality device, Hololens2. This demonstrator might be used for user experience studies to evaluate if the human can realize an assembly process following the instructions in a head-mounted device without previous experience and collaborate with a robot. / <p>Program: - (Utbytesstudenter)</p>

Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) are able to combine long range communication with a low energy consumption sacrificing performance in terms of bit rate and message frequency. This thesis presents a general evaluation of the LPWAN characteristics and a description of the LPWAN protocols LoRaWAN, SigFox and NB-IoT. It also covers a method to evaluate if a LPWAN technology would be a suitable choice of communication technology for a certain use case. Lastly, it covers the implementation of LoRaWAN on a connected electromechanical lock and investigates in the real life performance of the lock by using eight nodes in two case studies involving four locations each. The lock was evaluated from how often it was able to send a heartbeat (a status message), how reliable the communication was, what latency a user could expect and how much energy a data transmission required. Two of the eight nodes were placed in a deep indoor environment. One of them, located 0.794 km from a gateway was able transmit every 150th second. The other one located 1.85 km from a gateway was not able to successfully deliver any packets at all. Five nodes were able to transmit most heartbeats within 10 seconds. The Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) was below 90% for all locations except for one. In this location, the node was placed close to a large window and managed to communicate with a gateway 3.22 km away with a PDR of 97% and almost exclusively with less than 10 seconds between transmission. The results in this thesis show the potential in LoRaWAN but highlights how dependent the performance will be of the placement of the lock. / Genom att kombinera låg dataöverföringshastighet och låg meddelandefrekvens kan LPWAN uppnå en kommunikation med lång räckvidd och låg energiförbrukning. Denna uppsats går igenom vad som karaktäriserar LPWAN i stort samt presenterar LPWAN-protokollen LoRaWAN, SigFox och NB-IoT. Den visar även en metod vilken kan användas för att utvärdera hur väl ett use case lämpar sig för LPWAN-tekniken. Slutligen görs en implementering av LoRaWAN i ett uppkopplat lås från ASSA ABLOY för att undersöka vilken prestanda som är möjlig att uppnå för åtta olika noder i två olika fallstudier. Låset utvärderades utfirån hur ofta det kunde skicka statusmeddelanden, hur tillförlitlig kommunikationen var samt hur mycket energi som förbrukades. Två av åtta noder placera-des långt in i sina respektive byggnader, den ena kunde endast skicka statusuppdateringar i intervaller om 150 sekunder och den andra lyckades inte leverera några datapaket alls. Fem noder lyckades skicka de flesta statusuppdateringerna i intervall under tio sekunder. Resultatet visade på en packet delivery ratio under 90% i samtliga fall förutom ett. Där placerades noden nära ett stort fönster och lyckades kommunicera med en gateway 3.22 km bort med en PDR på 97% och mindre än 10 sekunder mellan sändningarna. Detta resultat visar potentialen för LoRaWAN men belyser även hur beroende prestandan kommer att vara av hur låset placeras.

Physical inactivity has increased significantly over the past years, andthe advancement of technology has contributed to it. Paradoxically,domestic IoT shapes human behavior through human interaction. Aseveryday objects become a part of the Internet of Things (IoT), thisthesis aims to investigate how the IoT devices and everyday objects cancollaborate with humans to address growing physical inactivity.Using a speculative and critical design approach, design proposals in theform of physical and video prototypes are constructed and discussed in aseries of workshops. Participation in the workshops moves theparticipants from being passive consumers of technology to citizens thatactively debate and design their own future.The outcomes of the workshops are themes that critically address theimplications of domesticating technology and its future roles andfunctions. Also, a set of characteristics is outlined to illustrate desirable,undesirable, and preferred characteristics of networked technologies thatmay encourage physical activity.

The industry of the Internet of Things (IoT) is a burgeoning market. A wide variety of devices now come equipped with the ability to digitally communicate to a wider network and modern electric scooters are one such example of this trend towards a more connected society. With scooter ride-share companies continually expanding in urban areas worldwide these devices are posing a greater attack surface for hackers to take advantage of. In this report we utilize threat modelling to analyse the potential vulnerabilities in a popular electric scooter. Through penetration testing we demonstrate the existence of major security flaws in the device and propose ways in which manufacturers may guard against these exploits in the future. / Internet-of-Things (IoT) växer globalt. Många produkter kommer utrustade med förmågan att digitalt kommunicera med olika nätverk och moderna elektroniska sparkcyklar är ett exempel på denna trend som går mot ett mer uppkopplat och sammankopplat samhälle. I och med att antalet företag som tillhandahåller elsparkcykeltjänster i urbana miljöer över världen växer, så blir dessa produkter ett större mål för hackare att utnyttja. I denna rapport använder vi hotmodellering för att analysera potentiella sårbarheter i en populär elsparkcykelmodell. Genom att penetrationstesta produkten demonstrerar vi allvarliga säkerhetsfel och föreslår förhållningssätt som tillverkare kan ta hänsyn till för att undvika framtida attacker.

This paper presents Cyberbot, a conversational user interface (CUI) designed to be used for information retrieval and interaction with smart Internet of Things (IoT) devices (smart objects), in an office environment. Built through the Research Through Design method, tested together with a selection of smart objects, the artifact was used to explore how CUIs can help office workers in their everyday working activities and the impact they can have on the usability in interaction with IoT, as opposed to more commonplace types of interfaces. Cyberbot was evaluated through user tests, surveys and semi-structured interviews. Results show that Cyberbot can be a welcome addition to an office and is useful for getting quick overviews of information from company intranet websites or smart objects that gather data from its environment, at the expense of more in-depth and detailed information. In general, Cyberbot can be said to be a usable and effective interface for IoT interaction. / Denna studie presenterar Cyberbot, ett konversationsgränssnitt (CUI) desginat för att användas för informationsinhämtning samt interaction med smarta Internet of Things (IoT) föremål (smart objects) i en kontorsmiljö. Byggd medelst forskningsmetoden Research Through Design, testad tillsammans med en utvald selektion av smarta föremål, så användes denna artefakt för att undersöka hur CUIs kan hjälpa kontorsanställda i deras dagliga liv och den påverkan de kan ha på användarvänligheten i interaktion med IoT, till skillnad från mer vanliga typer av gränssnitt. Cyberbot utvärderades genom användartester, enkäter och semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten visar att Cyberbot kan vara ett välkommet tillskott till kontor och är användbar för att få snabba överblickar över information ifrån företags intranätsidor eller smarta föremål som samlar in data från sin omgivning, på bekostnad av mer djuplodande och detaljerad information. Generellt så kan Cyberbot ses som ett användbart och effektivt gränssnitt för IoT-interaktion.

Yes / The paper presents the general requirements and an exemplary design of the RF front-end system that in today's handset is a key consumer of power. The design is required to minimize the carbon footprint in mobile handsets devices, whilst facilitating cooperation, and providing the energy-efficient operation of multi-standards for 5G communications. It provides the basis of hardware solutions for RF front-end integration challenges and offers design features covering energy efficiency for power amplifiers (PAs), Internet of Things (IoT) controlled tunable filters and compact highly isolated multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antennas. An optimum design requires synergetic collaboration between academic institutions and industry in order to satisfy the key requirements of sub-6 GHz energy-efficient 5G transceivers, incorporating energy efficiency, good linearity and the potential for low-cost manufacturing. A highly integrated RF transceiver was designed and implemented to transmit and receive a picture using compact MIMO antennas integrated with efficient tunable filters and high linearity PAs. The proposed system has achieved a bit error rate (BER) of less than 10-10 at a data rate of 600 Mb/s with a wireless communication distance of more than 1 meter and power dissipation of 18-20 mW using hybrid beamforming technology and 64-QAM modulation. / 10.13039/100010665-H2020 Marie Skodowska Curie