The majority of adults in the Tshwane municipal area have limited or no literacy or numeracy skills. Illiterate adults live mainly in marginalised townships and informal settlements across Tshwane. The relocation of people away from the opportunities offered by the city centre in the past forms part of the reason for the illiteracy problem. Various institutions have started programmes to enhance literacy, but the number of people and the wide distribution of the settlements complicate these efforts (Ministerial Committee on Literacy: 2007). The aim of this dissertation is (among others) to investigate the best possible location for the development of a literacy enhancement centre. Such a centre should be on a major commuter route to ensure that passers-by benefit from the facility and that it is accessible to the general public. The centre should take cognisance of its surrounding location, be approachable in design, both internally and externally, and take into account all factors related to literacy. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

The aim of this thesis is the innovation of the testing device which is located in Institute of Machine and Industrial Design laboratory. The innovation relates to the portal construction design, where will be placed the hydraulic pulsator from the company INOVA Praha Ltd. New portal construction will be designed with respect to specified parameters and requirements and also with regard to the performed tests (damper tests, vibroizolated properties magnetorheological valves tests etc.). The thesis contains detailed analysis of the current tester and detailed analysis of similar machines with focusing on the portal structure and ways of positioning the crossmember. Further parts of the thesis is a detailed description of the design solution, including the computational simulations, attached drawing documentation and experimentally verified functional sample (crossmember).

This thesis deals with the design of external backscatter modulator for RFID tag emulator, which is used in UHF band. This modulator is connected with the Universal Software Radio Peripheral and antenna. Realization of a backscatter modulation contains switching between a matched load and an unmatched load. Impedance of the unmatched load is continuously adjustable. Result of this thesis is function prototype.

How can a textile designer work in an exploratory way to find methods and taking advantage as much of a fabrics surfaces as possible?   This work explores a combination of techniques as laser cutting and transfer printing, how they can be developed and combined to influence each other. The aim of this project is to explore the combined techniques of laser cutting and transfer printing, with a focus on designing adjustable printed textiles.   Through a method in practical working, exploration was carried out in techniques like laser cutting and transfer print, as well as the combined visual expression of several patterns with cut-outs and modularity.   The result of this project is three pieces each representing adjustment in different combinations; One adjustable repeat, modularity, and modularity with cutouts. All three except one consist of two repeated patterns on each side of the fabric. They present examples of how a textile can be changed, the relation between construction and surface print. They all show that a printed textile could be more than just a static surface.   By taking the method of printing two patterns and use laser cutting gives a value for both sides of the fabric and shows how to produce printed textiles with modularity. Additional material or more prints and colors could be investigated further.

This degree work is a project that started out from weaving, which became the founding technique for how a modular textile took its shape, woven together as interlaced parts. Modularity was taken into this work in order to avoid a flat result and give the woven textile playful attributes and multiple functions. By using bold colours and layers in weaving, an investigation of the interactive and playful side of this textile technique was done. The method was based on workshops where geometrical forms were systematically woven into a repetitive pattern according to the plain weave binding. The result were three voluminous textiles with a given hierarchy of colours and material as they were placed at different levels. Practically, it is a textile that can be fitted to different spaces by being either diminished or built out, in order to be interactive. The quantity of elements within the textiles became the essence and the quality in the project and the advantage is that it is a textile that can be made from waste.

Bostadsbristen är idag ett problem i många kommuner. Även om efterfrågan varierar är behovet av prisvärda, mindre bostäder genomgående. Hur efterfrågan på bostadsmarknaden kommer att se ut i framtiden är dock ännu ovisst. Att bygga bostäder som tar hänsyn till inte bara dagens användningsområde utan även behovet i framtiden kan vara en av nycklarna till en framgångsrik bostadsmarknad. Utgångspunkten är gestaltning av en bostadstyp med stor efterfrågan idag, nämligen mindre bostäder (bostäder om högst 35 m2). Målet för dessa är att göra funktionella och trivsamma planlösningar som även ska fungera i ett längre perspektiv. Genom att noga tänka igenom planlösningarna och placering av viktiga nyckeldelar (såsom trapphus, schakt, fönster, m.m.) möjliggörs för fastighetsägaren att i framtiden kunna anpassa huset efter den då rådande bostadsmarknaden. Resultatet är ett antal planritningar där flexibiliteten i planerna redovisas som nya lägenhetstyper. / The housing shortage is currently a problem in many municipalities. Although the demand varies the need for affordable, smaller homes is occurring. How the demand for housing in the future will look is still uncertain. To build housing that takes into account not only current needs but also the needs in the future may be a key to a successful housing market.  The starting point is to designing properties that answer the current demands, namely smaller homes (housing under 35 m2). The goal for these is making them functional and pleasant floor plans that will also serve in a long term perspective. By carefully thinking through layouts and the placement of important key parts (such as stairways, shafts, windows, etc.) it is made possible for the property owners in the future to adapt the house for the then-current housing market.  The result is a number of floor plans where the flexibility of the plans is revised as new apartments.

This Master’s thesis is to delineate a luminaire design which has a flexible functional form, can be controlled by the user, and which creates multidirectional light distribution within an indoor space.  A lighting solution with varied light distributions can change a space’s different spatial experiences, granting a flexibility which is controlled by the user to direct light rays into walls, floors, ceilings or to create variations of these. A flexible luminaire in terms of light distribution allows, vertical and horizontal surfaces to be valued equally, because through a minimal intervention it is possible to shift the focus from one surface to another, providing a holistic interplay in space. The participants, who took part in the evaluation program of the final luminaire, freely introduced their possible activities in the predefined dining room, with different lighting proposals according to personal preferences of spatial experience. The designed luminaire was the only accessible tool to influence the space, and they managed to achieve their ideal atmospheres, and experiences, by the process of adjusting the luminaire with controlled light distribution. The varied results of the patterns of brightness and darkness on the vertical and horizontal surfaces in the predefined real space, prove the flexibility of the final design of the luminaire, MM Lamp. The luminaire fulfills the predefined design objectives of being user adjustable as well as creating varied light distribution.

Sustainable efficient lighting has become as one of the most important issues in the office environment In Sweden, energy demand for lighting corresponds to 20% of the total electricity used in office buildings (1), while It has been estimated that lighting accounts for about 20% of the total power generation of the world (2). This thesis investigates how to make lighting in offices more sustainable and focuses on energy efficiency, to save energy through creating guidelines related to light source technologies, lighting control systems and the user preferences. Then those guidelines are applied to an existing office through suggesting a new lighting design. The existing office in this case is the ÅF company 10th office floor located in Stockholm, Sweden. This investigation methodology consists of two main parts literature review and Project (case) study. In the first part, methods used are a combination of literature review related to saving energy through sustainability in lighting and how light source technology, lighting control systems and the effect of user behavior could help to create more energy efficient lighting systems. In the second part, the methods are qualitative such as surveys, quantitative methods and personal observations. The used methods helped to create guidelines for the new suggested lighting design for ÅF 10 th office floor part. The Results shows that the new suggested lighting design saves energy up to 31.96% more than the current lighting situation.

When working with a complex AI or robotics system in a specific application, users often need to incorporate their special domain knowledge into the autonomous system. Such needs call for the ability to manage autonomy. However, managing autonomy can be a difficult task because the internal mechanisms and algorithms of the autonomous components may be beyond the users' understanding. We propose an approach where users manage autonomy indirectly by managing information provided to the intelligent system hierarchically at three different temporal scales: strategic, between-episodes, and within-episode. Information management tools at multiple temporal scales allow users to influence the autonomous behaviors of the system without the need for tedious direct/manual control. Information fed to the system can be in the forms of areas of focus, representations of task difficulty, and the amount of autonomy desired. We apply this approach to using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to support Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSAR). This dissertation presents autonomous algorithms/components and autonomy management tools/interfaces we designed at different temporal scales, and provides evidence that the approach improves the performance of the human-robot team and the experience of the human partner.

Sustainableefficient lighting is becoming seen as one of the mostimportant issues in the office environment In Sweden, energydemandfor lighting corresponds to 20 of the total electricity use in officebuildings 31 while lighting form on average 33 1 of the electricityconsumption in UK office buildingsThisthesis investigate how to make lighting in offices more sustainableand focus on energy efficiency, to save energy through creating guidelinesrelated to light source technologies lighting control systems and the userbehavior then apply those guidelines to an existing office throughsuggesting a new lighting designTheexisting office in this case is the ÅF company 10 th office floor locatedin Stockholm SwedenThisinvestigation methodology consist of 2 main parts literature review andProject ( study At the first part, methods used are a combination ofliterature review related to saving energy through sustainability in lightingand how light source technology lighting control systems and the effect ofuser behavior could help to create more energy efficient lighting systemsAtthe second part, methods used in the Project study analyzed throughqualitative methods through surveys in addition to quantitative methodthrough and personal observations The used methods helped to createguidelines for the new suggested lighting design for ÅF 10 th office floorpartTheResults shows that the new suggested lighting design saved up to31 96 than the current lighting situation3