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Development of a low energy cooling technology for a mobile satellite ground stationKamanzi, Janvier January 2013 (has links)
Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology:Electrical Engineering
in the Faculty ofEngineering
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Supervisor:Prof MTE KAHN
Bellville
December 2013 / The work presented in this thesis consists of the simulation of a cooling plant for a future mobile satellite ground station in order to minimize the effects of the thermal noise and to maintain comfort temperatures onboard the same station. Thermal problems encountered in mobile satellite ground stations are a source of poor quality signals and also of the premature destruction of the front end microwave amplifiers. In addition, they cause extreme discomfort to the mission operators aboard the mobile station especially in hot seasons. The main concerns of effective satellite system are the quality of the received signal and the lifespan of the front end low noise amplifier (LNA). Although the quality of the signal is affected by different sources of noise observed at various stages of a telecommunication system, thermal noise resulting from thermal agitation of electrons generated within the LNA is the predominant type. This thermal noise is the one that affects the sensitivity of the LNA and can lead to its destruction. Research indicated that this thermal noise can be minimized by using a suitable cooling system. A moveable truck was proposed as the equipment vehicle for a mobile ground station. In the process of the cooling system development, a detailed quantitative study on the effects of thermal noise on the LNA was conducted. To cool the LNA and the truck, a 2 kW solar electric vapor compression system was found the best for its compliance to the IEA standards: clean, human and environment friendly. The principal difficulty in the development of the cooling system was to design a photovoltaic topology that would ensure the solar panels were always exposed to the sun, regardless the situation of the truck. Simulation result suggested that a 3.3 kW three sided pyramid photovoltaic topology would be the most effective to supply the power to the cooling system. A battery system rated 48 V, 41.6 Ah was suggested to be charged by the PV system and then supply the power to the vapor compression system. The project was a success as the objective of this project has been met and the research questions were answered.
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Development of an embedded system actuator node for intergration into an IEC 61850 based substation automation applicationRetonda-Modiya, John-Charly January 2012 (has links)
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology: Electrical Engineering
in the Faculty of Engineering
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / The introduction of the IEC 61850 standard in substations for communication networks and
systems by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 2003 provided the
possibility for communication between devices of different manufacturers. However, the
advent of this standard also brought about many challenges associated with it.
The challenges introduced by this fairly recent standard of communications in Substation
Automation Systems (SAS), and the need for the development of cost effective IEC 61850-
compliant devices, motivated the decision of the Centre for Substation and Energy
Management Systems within the Electrical Engineering Department of the Cape Peninsula
University of Technology to focus on the implementation of the IEC 61850 standard using an
embedded hardware platform.
The development of an IEC 61850 embedded application requires substantial knowledge in
multiple domains such as data networking, software modelling and development of Intelligent
Electronic Devices (IEDs), protection of the electrical system, system simulation and testing
methods, etc. Currently knowledge about the implementation of the IEC 61850 standard
usually resides with vendors and is not in the public domain.
The IEC 61850 standard allows for two groups of communication services between entities
within the substation automation system. One group utilizes a client-server model
accommodating services such as Reporting and Remote Switching. The second group
utilizes a peer-to-peer model for Generic Substation Event (GSE) services associated with
time-critical activities such as fast and reliable communication between Intelligent Electronic
Devices (IEDs) used for protection of the power network.
The messages associated with the GSE services are the Generic Object Oriented Substation
Event (GOOSE) messages. The use of GOOSE messages for protection of the electrical
system is very important in modern substations. Detailed knowledge of the structure of these
messages is important in instances requiring fault diagnosis to determine the cause of mal–
operation or to address interoperability concerns or when developing custom IEC 61850-
compliant devices with limited functionality.
A practical protection application (overcurrent) case study is presented where GOOSE
messages are exchanged between a commercial IED and an IEC 61850-compliant controller
based on an embedded platform. The basic data model and software development of an
actuator node for a circuit breaker is proposed using an IEC 61850 communication stack on
an embedded platform. The performance of the GOOSE messages is confirmed to be as per
the functional behaviour specified, and per the IEC 68150 standard in terms of the temporal
behaviour required.
This thesis document tables the methods, software programs, hardware interfacing and
system integration techniques that allow for the development and implementation of a low
cost IEC 61850-compliant controller unit on an embedded systems platform for the
substation automation system.
The overcurrent case study distributed between a commercial IED (SIEMENS Siprotec
device) and the actuator application developed on an embedded platform for this project
(DK60 board) is in compliance with the IEC 61850 standard and utilizing GOOSE messaging
is successfully completed both in terms of functional and temporal behaviour.
This novel research work contributes not only to the academic community, but to the
international Power Systems community as a whole.
Keywords: IEC 61850 standard, IEDs, GOOSE message, software modelling, software
development, substation automation systems, communication stack, embedded systems,
actuator.
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An investigation of industry expectations on industrial engineering graduates: a case study of development programmes in South African universitiesNgetich, Willy Kiprotich January 2012 (has links)
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree
MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE
in
Quality
Faculty of Engineering
CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2012 / Post apartheid South Africa experienced major economic turbulence with poverty, unemployment and skills shortage, with most manufacturing and other key economic sectors affected by poor productivity and a subsequent downsizing of their labour work force. At the same time, many economic opportunities arose, including the full impact of globalisation, the emergence of China and Africa as economic partners and becoming a full member of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economic development group by the year 2010. The government and business communities at large realised the necessity for skills augmentation in order to expedite economic development and alleviate the scarcity of employment opportunities and growth across the major economic sectors.
The backdrop of the economic upheaval of 2008 and 2009 placed manufacturing firms under pressure to reconsider their current operational strategies by streamlining their organisations and adopting aggressive lean and cost saving approaches in order to
remain competitive. There is a perceived lack of alignment between industry and institutions alike, sometimes resulting in a perception that graduating industrial engineers do not entirely match industry expectations. Thus, it is imperative to explore the articulation and relationship between those industries that rely on the skills of industrial engineering technologists and the graduate industrial engineers with emphasis on the skills expectations as stressed by the national priorities and the academic capacity to meet these skills expectation in today’s competitive professional arena. This perceived lack of alignment between end user requirements and the service provided falls within the ambit of the field of quality management.
This study focuses on two main sample groups within two areas of interest:
• The industrial engineering student community and their respective academic environments; and
• the relevant industrial engineering industry and its working environment.
A self-administered questionnaire coupled with a number of interviews is employed in order to gather the required data. Grouped samples, involve the relevant industry employers, students and academic institutions. The research explores the pertinent roles and responsibilities expected of industrial engineers and industrial engineering technologists on entry into the working environment, as compared to the current level of training offered by various institutional bodies as expressed by the South African qualifications authority (SAQA) and the national qualifications framework (NQF). The validation of the analysis and outcomes of the study culminates through the exploration of the following:
• The influence of skills levels on productivity within the relevant industrial engineering industries.
• The demand and supply of industrial engineering skills.
• Skilling industrial engineering graduates for their required roles and responsibilities.
• Governing bodies responsible for the curriculation of industrial engineering programmes, offered by institutions of higher learning.
The study aims to proffer valuable knowledge by identifying better opportunities for employment in the industrial engineering field, the addition of value towards better industrial engineering schooling and output quality of students emerging from institutions, and lastly superseding earlier misconceived perceptions of industrial engineering.
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Measuring quality management system performance using quantitative analysesSmith, Richard Angus January 2013 (has links)
Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology: Quality
in the Faculty of Engineering
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013 / Many top performing businesses, which achieve superior levels of success
and sustainability, have a sound, implemented, and well maintained,
Quality Management System (QMS). The correlation between business
success and an implemented management system has been shown in
numerous papers. This research, which culminates in a quantitative
measure of QMS performance, was conducted at Eskom’s Koeberg
Nuclear Power Station (KNPS). The power station is the operating leg of
the Koeberg Operating Unit (KOU). The researcher is a QMS lead auditor
in the KNPS Quality Assurance Department.
A program of audits is planned based on the KOU quality and safety
manual and the national regulatory licencing requirements. The audit
monitoring program is then implemented over a three year period and
considers all the management system processes which impact on nuclear
safety and business performance. The individual audits each consider ISO
9001 criteria in context of the business area audited. Each major business
area (e.g. design, maintenance, etc.) within the power station adheres to
all generic ISO 9001 QMS clauses and considerations, such as
documentation management, records management, etc. Each process or
business area audit is thus effectively a QMS audit. The audit results,
when combined are therefore a representative measure of the overall
organisational QMS performance.
The potential value to be gained from the audit results and data accrued
over the monitoring period has not been optimised to maximise the return
on investment to Eskom. The research problem statement thus proposes
that the performance measurement capability of the quality management
system at Eskom's Koeberg Power Station is insufficient. This diminishes
management's ability to identify business risk resulting from management
system deficiencies, which impacts negatively on business performance.
The research question seeks to determine how the performance
measurement capability of the QMS can be improved to assist
management in identifying business risk resulting from quality
management system deficiencies in order to improve business
performance.
The research objectives are supported by the literature study, which
identifies the quality management methods currently used in order to
measure and subsequently improve business performance. It also shows
how QMS performance measurement, when deconstructed and analysed
can provide the required insight for supporting management decision
making. The research approach is considered inductive in that a theory is
developed based on the collection and the analysis of that data. Applied
research, will thus serve as the basis of the research methodology as it is
considered the most appropriate research approach, based on the need to
answer practical questions around the measurement of QMS performance
philosophy.
The research shows that by introducing additional theming and severity
data into the secondary audit findings data, it is possible over time to
extract high level strategic direction information when analysing the
additional metadata. The dimensions and value of the QMS Performance
measuring instrument are:
Ø A cause and effect theming philosophy of audit findings providing an
additional context to business improvement advice to management.
Ø The provision of a QMS process deficiency locator / identifier which
targets management action areas for improvement.
Ø The provision of a quantitative measure of the management system
performance, providing a reference from which to improve.
By providing a quantifiable measure of an organisations QMS
performance, a reference point is provided to gauge QMS performance
and also render a definitive measure to enable performance improvement
of the business.
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The adoption and challenges of electronic voting technologies within the South African contextAchieng, Mourine Sarah January 2013 (has links)
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology: in Information Technology
in the Faculty of Informatics and Design
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Supervisor: Dr Ephias Ruhode
Cape Town campus
December 2013 / The use of ICTs such as computers, electronic databases and other technologies have been in use for a number of years within the public sector to organise, manage and disseminate information to the public as well as to facilitate day-to-day communication in government offices. In this context, the value of the use of ICTs has been to assist and streamline government operations. The technological development in South Africa has opened up the possibilities of the use of ICTs in the democratic and governance process. E-democracy has been defined as a tool for abandoning the representative system for one with more direct citizen engagement.
This study sets out to explore the challenges of the current electoral process, and also determine the factors that could influence the adoption and diffusion of e-voting technologies within the South African context. Literature has shown that countries such as Brazil and India have successfully implemented electronic voting systems and other countries are at various piloting stages to address many challenges and problems associated with manual paper based system such as costs of physical ballot paper and other overheads, electoral delays, distribution of electoral materials, and general lack of confidence in the electoral process. It is in this context that the study also seeks to determine whether the South African electoral management body can leverage on the opportunities that e-voting presents. However, with all the benefits that e-voting presents, there are countries such Germany, the Netherlands etc. that have tried and tested e-voting systems and decided to abandon these system to go back to the manual paper ballot voting systems because of various reasons ranging from cost, security and verifiability.
This research is exploratory in nature and adopts qualitative research approach and it is within the interpretivism paradigm. Survey and interview strategies were used to collect data. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants for the survey. To gain an understanding of the views of voters and electoral management body (IEC) about the current electoral process and e-voting technologies, literature was explored, a questionnaire was distributed online to voters and an in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted with the IEC. The study targeted voters who had access to the internet since the survey questionnaire was distributed online.
The analysis is based on thematic analysis and diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory was also used to provide an analytical framework for the study. Through this framework the aims and objectives of the study were conceptualized around three constructs from the theory (relative advantage, compatibility and complexity). The findings of the study revealed that the three constructs from the DoI framework are important factors that may influence the adoption process of e-voting technologies. The findings also revealed other factors such as availability of ICT enable infrastructure and resources, digital divide, trust in technology, awareness of the technology and environment could that also influence the adoption process.
The contributions of this research are anticipated to be a better understanding of the adoption of e-voting technologies in South Africa. For the electoral management bodies, the contribution of this research is that the research to some extent portrays factors that could influence the adoption of e-voting technologies in South Africa. Therefore, findings such as availability of ICT infrastructure and accessibility of these infrastructures should be taken into consideration before introducing e-voting technologies.
Keywords: DoI (diffusion of Innovation), e-voting (electronic voting) technologies, E-governance, e-participation.
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Mobile customer relationship marketing: a tool to create competitive advantage within the licensed liquor industryGrahn, Graeme Aubrey January 2013 (has links)
Master of Technology Marketing Management
in the Faculty of Business
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2013 / The advent of IT technology in particular, mobile technology has forced most of the private
sector to re-evaluate how they interact and communicate with their intermediaries. Since the
early 1990s most businesses have put the intermediary at the centre of their business by
means of business strategies like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
However, the speed at which technology is evolving is forcing businesses to evaluate new
and alternative means of managing intermediary relationships, as intermediaries now drive
the economy, not businesses. The very essence of a good CRM programme is its reliance
on an IT system which is advanced enough to analyse the captured intermediary data,
transform that data into usable knowledge, which is then stored in a centralised, crossfunctional
database or data warehouse.
Most businesses agree that the goal of CRM solutions is to maximise business profits by
maximising the value of interaction with intermediaries. Successful CRM businesses have
strong, clearly defined business strategies that focus on the intermediary and generate a
process-orientated view of the organisation. CRM functionality therefore creates a single
view of the intermediary and the business as well as support to the Marketing, Sales, Order,
Production and Service processes.
This dissertation investigated the CRM functionality within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) wholesale and retail liquor sector of the City of Cape Town, paying particular
attention to the three channels that the liquor industry operate in. These three channels are
segmented as the formal Off-premise consumption, formal On-premise consumption and the
Informal Main market. The formal Off-premise consumption channel consist of the
mainstream convenience and self-service liquor retailers where stock is purchased and
consumed at another location by the end user. The formal On-premise consumption channel
consists of venues where patrons purchase and consume liquor on the spot. The informal
Main market, which is dominated by shebeens and taverns, is a combination of the Off- and
On-premise consumption channels where bottle purchases and consumption occur on site
together. This dissertation investigates one primary and four secondary questions within
these channels. The primary question will establish whether a mobile CRM programme can
be used as a marketing instrument to create a competitive advantage within the B2B
licensed liquor industry of South Africa. The secondary questions establish whether
intermediaries are willing to adopt CRM technology, what barriers exist, what the benefits are
for both intermediary and company and whether there will be a reduction in communication
costs for both parties.
The South African government regulates the South African liquor industry in that only
licensed outlets may trade in liquor. Within the Western Cape region, there are
approximately 4,000 licensed outlets of which approximately 2,000 licences (data obtained
from a leading liquor wholesalers company database) fall within the boundaries of Cape
Town. A leading liquor wholesaler has legal contracts with each one of these accounts,
providing a defined database from which primary research was conducted.
Primary researches, in the form of quantitative interviews with a random sample of 150
intermediaries, across the three identified channels were conducted for this study.
Questionnaires were used to establish how a competitive B2B mobile CRM programme can
be implemented, while possible barriers and facilitators to mobile CRM were also considered.
The findings produced two results: one result was expected but the second result was not
expected by the researcher. The first results were that 57.5% of respondents, across all
business channels, indicated their willingness to receiving a mCRM programme on their
mobile devices. The unexpected finding was that 57.3% of respondents across all business
channels had no idea or did not know what a CRM programme was. From these findings
several recommendations are discussed namely: the implementation of a six month tactical
marketing campaign which would expose intermediaries to the concepts and ideas of a CRM
programme; the establishment of a comprehensively updated intermediary database; welltrained
field sales staff who would support the CRM programme once implemented; a simple,
easy to use and navigate mCRM programme to begin with. This programme would have to
have the ability and capability to progress in the future as intermediaries become more
familiar with the system; and a complete company philosophy, with a clear, holistic and
coherent business strategy, that would embrace the mCRM concept to drive future growth
opportunities.
Key Words: business-to-business; customer relationship management; electronic customer
relationship management; Information Technology and mobile customer relationship
management.
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E-trust: a building block for developing valuable online platforms in Higher EducationVan Wyk, Byron Jay January 2013 (has links)
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology Design
in the Faculty of Informatics and Design
at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Supervisor: Prof J Messeter
Cape Town, 2013 / The aim of this research project was to provide an answer to the question: “How can an understanding of online trust be used to build valuable online applications in Higher Education?”
In order to present an answer to this question, a literature survey was conducted to establish:
• An understanding of the phenomenon of online trust
• What the factors are that influence a loss of trust in the online environment
The literature survey highlighted several factors that influence a loss of trust in the online environment, called trust cues. These factors, however, were often tested within the E-commerce environment, and not in organization-specific contexts, such as online platforms in use in Higher Education.
In order to determine whether or not these factors would influence the development of trust in context-specific environments, the author of this research grouped the indentified trust factors into three focus areas, i.e. content, ease of use, and navigation. These factors were then incorporated into a series of nine different prototypes. These prototypes were different versions of a particular online platform currently in use at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
The prototypes were tested over a three week period, with certain staff members at the institution in question recruited as test participants. During each week of user observations, a different focus area was targeted, in order to establish the impact that it would have on the perceived trustworthiness of the platform in question. User observations were conducted while test participants completed a standard process using the various prototypes. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted while participants completed the specific process. Participants were asked to evaluate each screen in the process according to its perceived trust worthiness, by assigning a trust level score. At the completion of the three rounds of user observations, in-depth interviews were conducted with test participants.
The participants’ trust level scores for each prototype were captured and graphed. A detailed description for the score given for a particular screen was presented on each graph. These scores were combined to provide an analysis of the focus area tested during the specific round. After the three rounds of user observations were completed, an analysis of all the trust factors tested were done. Data captured during interviews were transcribed, combined with feedback received from questionnaires, and analysed.
An interpretation of the results showed that not all trust factors had a similar influence in the development of trust in the online platform under investigation. Trust cues such as content organization, clear instructions and useful content were by far the most significant trust factors, while others such as good visual design elements, professional images of products, and freedom from grammatical and typographical errors had little or no impact in the overall trustworthiness of the platform under investigation. From the analysis done it was clear that the development of trust in organization-specific contexts is significantly different than developing trust in an E-commerce environment and that factors that influence the development of trust in one context might not always be significant in another.
In conclusion, it is recommended that when software applications are developed in organization-specific contexts, such as Higher Education, that trust factors such as good content organization, clear instructions and useful content be considered as the most salient. Organization-specific contexts differ quite significantly in that the users of these systems often convey a certain degree of trust toward the online platforms that they work with on a daily basis. Trust factors that are geared toward developing an initial or basic trust in a particular platform, which is often the case with first time users engaging in an E-commerce platform, would therefore not be as significant in the development of a more developed level of trust, which is what is needed within the development of organization-specific online platforms.
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