Category: Free Essays

Evolution and history of social media:

Social media could be depicted as “types of electronic interchanges (Web sites for social systems administration and blogging) through which clients make online groups to impart data, plans, particular messages, and other substance (as features).” The same source characterizes organizing as “the trade of data or administrations around people, aggregations, or foundations; particularly: the growth of profitable connections for job or business.” (Edosomwan & Seymour, 2011)

There are numerous thoughts regarding the first event of social media. All around much of mankind’s history, people created innovations that make it less demanding for him to correspond with one another. In the late 1800s, the radio and phone were utilized for social connection, though restricted with the radio (Rimskii, 2011)

Social networks have developed through the years to the present day assortment which utilizes advanced media. Be that as it may, the social media isn’t that new. Furthermore, it didn’t begin with the workstation yet rather the phone. Throughout the 1950s, telephone phreaking, the term utilized for the rebel seeking of the phone system, started. This methodology was achieved through the utilization of custom made electronic gadgets that encouraged unapproved access to the phone framework to make free calls. Phreaks could discover phone organization test lines and gathering circuits to finish their assignment. Brett Borders expressed phreaks could hack into corporate unused voice post boxes to have the first websites and podcasts (Borders, 2009)

The public, During the 1960s, saw the advent of email (Borders, 2009). Nonetheless, the web was not accessible to general society until 1991. Email was initially a system to trade messages starting with one PC then onto the next; however both Pcs were obliged to be on the web. Today, email servers will acknowledge and store messages which permit beneficiaries to get to the email whenever it seems best. In 1969, ARPANET, made by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a U.S. government organization, was created. ARPANET was an “early system of time-imparting machines that shaped the support of the web.” CompuServe, the third improvement of the 1960s, was likewise made in 1969 with a mission to give time-offering administrations by leasing time on its Pcs. With high charges, this administration was excessively unreasonable for some (Rimskii, 2011) (Ritholz)

Computer Technologies

Social media was further created throughout the 1970s. MUD, initially known as Multi-User Dungeon, Multi-User Dimension, or Multi-User Domain, was a constant virtual world with pretending recreations, intelligent fiction, and online talk. MUD is basically content based which obliges clients to sort summons utilizing a common dialect. BBS was made in 1978, that year as MUD. BBS is an equivalent word for release board framework. Clients log into the framework to transfer and download programming, read news, or trade messages with others. In the early years, release loads up were gotten to through a modem through a phone line by one man at once. At an early stage, notice sheets finished not have colour or design. Release sheets were the antecedents of the World Wide Web. Imagined in 1979 and secured in 1980, the Usenet is like a BBS. Usenet is a framework to post articles or news. The contrast from a BBS is that Usenet does not have a focal server or dedicated overseer messages are sent to different servers by means of news sustains (Ritholz)

Numerous social networking sites were made in the 1990s. A few illustrations incorporate Sixdegrees, Blackplanet, Asian Avenue, and Moveon. These are, or have been, online corner social locales where individuals can connect, including destinations for open approach promotion and a social system dependent upon a web of contacts model. Likewise, blogging administrations, for example, Blogger and Epinions were made. Epinions is a site where buyers can read or make audits of items. Thirdvoice and Napster were two product provisions made in the 90s that have since been evacuated from the business sector. Thirdvoice was a free module that permitted clients to post remarks on pages. Adversaries of the product contended that remarks were frequently obscene or offensive. Napster was a product provision that permitted shared record offering. Clients were permitted to impart music documents bypassing ordinary dispersion techniques, which at last was dead set to be a violation of copyright laws (Edosomwan & Seymour, 2011)

In 2000 social media accepted an incredible support with the seeing of numerous social networking sites springing up. This exceedingly supported and converted the cooperation of people and associations who offer basic enthusiasm toward music, training, films, and fellowship, taking into account social networking. Around those that were propelled included LunarStorm, six degrees, cyworld, ryze, and Wikipedia. In 2001, fotolog, sky online journal and Friendster were propelled, and in 2003, MySpace, LinkedIn, last FM, tribe.net, Hi5 and so forth. In 2004, prominent names like Facebook Harvard, Dogster and Mixi developed. Throughout 2005, enormous names like Yahoo!360, YouTube, cyword, and Black planet all developed (Junco, R, Heibergert, G, & Loken, E, 2011)

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website propelled in February 2004, and it is secretly worked by Facebook, Inc. Facebook was established by Mark ZuckerBerg and others when he was an understudy at Harvard; however when the site was at first propelled, it was limited to Harvard people just. Later the benefit was reached out to secondary school people and later to everybody that is 13 years or more established (Boyd, 2007).

Starting July 2010, Facebook has more than 500 million dynamic clients. In January 2009, Facebook was positioned as the most utilized social system around the world. Additionally, in May 2010, Google advertised that more individuals went to Facebook than whatever possible website on the planet. It announces that this was uncovered from discoveries on 1,000 sites over the world (TIMES, 2010).

Clients may make an individual profile; include different clients as companions, and trade messages, including programmed warnings, photographs and remarks when they overhaul their profile. Furthermore, Facebook clients may join basic investment client aggregations, composed by work environment, school, school, or different aspects. Facebook permits any individual who is no less than 13 years of age to turn into an enrolled client of the website. Once a day, activity to Facebook system is on the ascent. Facebook likewise turned into the top social system over eight unique markets in Asia, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Vietnam. On October 24, 2007, Microsoft reported that it had acquired a 1.6% offer of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook an aggregate intimated worth of around $15 billion. Microsoft’s buy included rights to place global ads on Facebook; different organizations have similarly stuck to this same pattern (STONE, 2007)

The overall status of Facebook
Egypt:

With 16 million clients, Egypt is positioned first around the Arab locale nations that utilization Facebook, and seventeenth worldwide regarding crowd size, as stated by an as of late issued report. This speaks to 1.4% of worldwide Facebook clients (DailyNews Egypt, 2013 ).

As stated by the e-marketing Egypt Online Competitiveness Intelligence report, Egypt’s Facebook group saw something like 41% development contrasted with a year ago, the amount of clients in 21 July 2012 being 11.3 million. This implies that the current number of clients is 18.84% of Egypt’s populace.

Starting 21 July 2013, there are 61 million Facebook clients in the Arab world, 26% them are Egyptian. The report read: “48.11% of web clients in Egypt are Facebook clients.”

The report, distributed in August 2013, expressed that 12 million of Egyptian Facebook clients are underneath 30 years of age. The sex dispersion Facebook clients in Egypt has demonstrated that female clients are of much more youthful ages, with females under 30 years of age speaking to 81% of aggregate female clients in Egypt. The amount of male clients is something like 10 million, speaking to about 63% of aggregate clients (DailyNews Egypt, 2013 ).

Hong Kong:

Another review has uncovered that Hong kongers are investing more of a chance perusing and composing online journals, and on social media sites, for example, Facebook and YouTube, than different markets around the globe, including the US. Whether over a home broadband administration or a cell phone Hong kongers are investing an expanding measure of time viewing feature, gaming, shopping and offering on the web (Ketchum, 2011)

On a week by week groundwork, 77% of Hong kongers studied were perusing websites, 52% were composing websites and 92% were locked in on Facebook demonstrating a fundamentally more elevated amount of online cooperation than different markets studied around the globe.

Social media is assuming a part in tending to tests to work-life adjust in Hong Kong a spot well known for its buckle down play hard lifestyle. 68% of those overviewed invest the same or more of an opportunity with companions online than they do in individual. Social networking sites are likewise as powerful on acquiring choices as universal media. Half of respondents had made a buy dependent upon web journal suggestions (Ketchum, 2011).

India:

The report gauges 243 million web clients in the nation by June 2014, overwhelming the US as the world’s second biggest web base after China (Times of India, 2013).

Indians principally utilize the web for correspondence, generally as email; social media is likewise a vital driver of web use in India. This aspect of the IMAI report might be authenticated with information from different sources, for example, Facebook, as stated by which India had 82 million month to month dynamic clients by June 30, 2013, the second biggest land district for Facebook after the US and Canada. Facebook does not work in China.

Web infiltration in India is determined to a great extent by cell telephones, with a portion of the least expensive and most essential hand-sets today offering access to the web. India has 110 million portable web clients of which 25 million are in rustic India. The development of web infiltration in provincial India is determined to a great extent by the cellular telephone; 70% of country India’s animated web populace get to the web by means of cell telephones (Times of India, 2013)

Ukraine:

Overall status of Facebook in Ukraine can be judged from the protests happened throughout in Ukraine. The principal eminent pattern is that Facebook is, no doubt utilized considerably more eagerly than Twitter. The authority EuroMaidan Facebook page, began on Nov. 21, now has in excess of 126,000 preferences. Very nearly the sum of the data on this page is in Ukrainian, proposing that the data is outfitted to locals instead of the universal group, and there is confirmation of vibrant association. A gander at the most prevalent Facebook posts on this page affirm this instinct: numerous posts give news redesigns that create serious dialogs; however the page is additionally used to give paramount logistical data to protestors. There are, for instance, posts with maps of spots to get free tea and access to warm spaces, exhortation on the best way to abstain from being incited by government executors, flyers to print and disseminate around the city, and also data on where dissidents will be assembling (Barbera & Metzger, 2013).

Strategy for Facebook going forward

Considering the above situations in selected countries it can be concluded that Facebook is very famous and its user are increasing day by day. By looking into the situation of Egypt and Ukraine, it can be noticed that Facebook played a vital role in revolutions and movements. Strategy for these two countries should be made very carefully, so that Facebook Inc. may not get involved in any political matter. However strategy for India and Hong Kong may be the same. In both countries this social website is providing services for business and social need in positive way. All these countries are very populated and number of users is large so Facebook can make a handsome profit by ad displaying business. Its strategy for mobile users is a real issue for Facebook. Large number of users is due to mobile and internet facility on mobiles, but problem is format of display is different in different mobiles hence there is problem in ad displaying (Cho, 2013 ).

ABSTRACT

This study deals with the comparison of the two types of sensors which are widely used in civil engineering, namely, conventional sensors and optical fiber sensors. Temperature and displacement are the two principal parameters which are measured with the aid of Fiber optic sensors. Bragg Grating, Interferometric, Intensity Sensors, and optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) are some of the techniques which are used for sensing. In this study, various case studies have been undertaken and have been analyzed. With the aid of these case studies, a detailed analysis and comparison of the sensors is carried out.

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

In the last two decades, the world has witnessed a revolution in the sectors of optoelectronics and fiber optic communications. Various products such as laser printers and bar code scanners which have become a part of our daily usage, are a result of this technical revolution only. The reasons for the phenomenal growth of the fiber optics are many. The most conspicuous reason being the ability of the fiber optics to provide high performance and highly reliable communication links and that too at a very low bandwidth cost. As we see that optoelectronic and fiber communications industry has progressed a lot, and along with these industries fiber optic sensors have also benefited a lot from these developments. Due to the mass production in these industries, availability of fiber optic sensors at a low cost has been made possible in recent years. With their availability at affordable costs, fiber optic sensors have been able to enter the domain which was otherwise being ruled by the traditional sensors.

In recent years, the demand for the development of new materials to strengthen, upgrade and retrofit existing aged and deteriorated concrete structures has increased rapidly. The continuing deterioration and functional deficiency of existing civil infrastructure elements represents one of the most significance challenges facing the world’s construction and civil engineers. Deficiencies in existing concrete structures caused by initial flawed design due to insufficient detailing at the time of construction, aggressive chemical attacks and ageing of structural elements enhance an urgent need of finding an effective means to improve the performance of these structures without additionally increasing the overall weight, maintenance cost and time. In the last 50 years, a large number of civil concrete structures have been built; many of these structures, particularly in off-shore regions have now deteriorated and require repair in a short period of time.

Moreover, the increase of traffic volume and population in many developing countries is causing the demand to upgrade existing concrete structures to increase. The damage of reinforced concrete (RC) structures through reinforcement corrosion and residual capacity are the most important issues that concern engineers. These problems occur not only in constructed concrete structures but also in structures strengthened by externally bonded steel reinforcements.

In the past, the external steel plate bonding method has been used to improve strength in the tensile region of concrete structures with an epoxy adhesive and has proved to be successful over a period of 20 years. However, the use of steel reinforced plates and bars has its disadvantages including high corrosion rates, which could adversely affect the bond strength and cause surface spalling of the concrete, due to volumetric

change in the corroded steel reinforcements. Since the early 1980s, fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) materials have been used as a replacement for conventional steel materials for concrete strengthening applications. In recent years, the interest in utilizing FRP materials in the civil concrete industry in forms of rods, plates, grid and jacket has grown increasingly. When an FRP plate with high tensile strength properties bonds on the concrete surface, it can strengthen the structure with minimum changes to its weight and

dimensions. FRP offers substantial improvement in solving many practical problems that conventional materials cannot solve to provide a satisfactory service life of the structure. Unlike the conventional steel materials, FRP is corrosion resistant. The beneficial characteristics of using the FRP in concrete construction include its high strength-to-weight ratio, low labour requirement, ease of application, reduced traffic interruption during repair, cost reductions in both transportation and in situ maintenance for a long-term strategy. Its high damping characteristic also attracts more structural engineers to use these materials for seismic retrofitting. Due to the increasing use of FRP-plate bonding techniques in strengthening civil concrete structures, the interest in finding a suitable means of monitoring the structural health conditions of these strengthened structures has therefore increased substantially. Since strengthened structures are covered by the FRP plates, the mechanical properties of the concrete may not be measured or detected easily through conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods, such as strain measurements using surface mounted strain gauges or extensometers, radiography, thermography and acoustic emission methods, particularly in areas with microcracks

and debonds underneath the externally-bonded plate. Besides, these structural inspection technologies, in certain cases, require special surface preparations or a high degree of flatness in the concrete surface. These requirements may be hard to achieve, particularly

for an area that is exposed to a harsh environment. During the 1990s, a multi-disciplinary field of engineering known as ‘Smart Structures’ has developed as one of the most important research topics in the field.The structure is formed by a marriage of engineering materials with structurally-integrated sensor systems. The system is capable of assessing damage and warning of impending weakness in the structural integrity of

the structure. Fibre-optic sensor technology is a most attractive device currently used in the aerospace and aircraft industry for on-line monitoring of large-scale FRP structures. The development of distributed fibreoptic sensors, which provides information on a large

number of continuously distribution parameters such as strain and temperature is of great interest in most engineering applications.11,12 The sensors are embedded into a structure to form a novel self-strainmonitoring system, i.e. the system can self-detect its

health status and send response signals to operators during any marginal situation during service. The embedding sensor, due to its extremely small physical size, can provide the information to a high accuracy and resolution without influencing the dimension and

mechanical properties of the structure. Fibre-optic sensors present a number of advantages over the conventional strain measuring devices: (a) providing an absolute measurement that is sensitive to fluctuation in irradiance of the illuminating source; (b) enabling the measurement of the strain in different locations in only one single optical fibre by using multiplexing techniques;(c) having a low manufacturing cost for mass

production; and (d) its ability to be embedded inside a structure without influencing the mechanical properties of the host material.

A new development of ‘Smart materials and structures’ was driven by a strong demand for high performance over recent years. A system integrated into structures and being able to monitor its host’s physical and mechanical properties such as temperature and

strain, during service is appreciated as a ‘Smart structural health monitoring system’. The term smart material and structure is widely used to describe the unique marriage of material and structural engineering by using fibre-optic sensors and actuation control technology. The smart structure is constructed of materials that can continuously monitor their own mechanical and physical properties, and thereby, be capable of assessing damage and warning of impending weakness in structural integrity. This design concept results in improved safety and economic concerns regarding the weight saving and avoidance of over-designing of the structure in the long run. In Fig. 1, a schematic illustration of the structure’s possibilities created by the confluence of the four disciplines is shown. In the figure, a structure invested with actuating, sensing and neutral networking systems to form a new class of adaptive structures is shown. A structure with integrated sensor or actuator systems is able to provide a self-structural health monitoring or actuating response, respectively. If both systems are integrated together into a structure, the sensor and actuators can act as nervous and muscular systems, like a human body, to sense the conditions such as mechanical strain and temperature of the structure

(a smart structure) and to provide control of such changes of stiffness, shape and vibration mode (a controlled structure). The combination of these two systems

into one structure is called a ‘Smart adaptive structure’. This structure with a built-in neural networking system, like a brain, is then able to self evaluate the conditions, which are based on changes of structural parameters, thermal conditions and ambient environments to give an appropriate mechanical adjustment. This structure is commonly called an ‘Intelligent adaptive structure’.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There has been an unprecedented development in the fields of optoelectronics and fiber optic communications. This in turn, has brought about a revolution in the sectors of telecommunication and various other industries. This has been made possible with the aid of high performance and reliable telecommunication links which have low bandwidth cost.

Optical fibers have numerous advantages and some disadvantages. The advantages include their small size, resistance to electromagnetic interference and high sensitivity. On the other hand, some of its disadvantages are their high cost and unfamiliarity to the end user. But its great advantages completely overshadow its minor disadvantages. So, in this study an attempt is being made to compare the modern age fiber optic sensors with the conventional sensors. Also, with the aid of the case studies, the impact of fiber optic sensor technology on monitoring of civil structures is studied (McKinley and Boswell 2002).

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

In the past various kinds of sensors have been used in civil engineering for measuring temperature, pressure, stress, strain etc. And as the optical fiber sensors spread their wings, the civil engineering is bound to gain a lot from these modern sensors.

Presently, there exist a number of problems with the existing civil infrastructures. These civil infrastructures such as bridges etc. have a pretty long service period which may amount to several decades or maybe even hundred years. Thus, during this time period, these structures suffer from corrosion, fatigue and extreme loading. Since concrete is used mostly in these civil infrastructures, it degradation is a major issue all over the world.

The amount of degradation and the time when the degradation starts depends on various factors and is inevitable and unavoidable. Thus, in order to keep these civil structures in good condition, it becomes necessary that their condition be monitored and adequate steps be taken. Thus, we need sensors which can monitor these structures throughout the life of these structures. Thus, in this study the impact of fiber optic sensors is studied on civil structures.

1.3 OBJECTIVES

There are a few objectives that are planned to be achieved at the end of this project, these are:

A general discussion on the present state of structural monitoring and the need of fiber optic sensors in this field

A general study on Comparison between Conventional Sensors and Optical Fiber Sensors

Review of Case Studies on Fiber Optic Sensors application in Civil Engineering Structures

1.4 WORK PLAN

Discussion, reading and observation

Problem identification through reading, discussion and observation of the area studied

Understand and identify the background of problem

Studying feasibility and needs to carry out the investigation

Identification of the Title for the project

Identify the aim, objective and scope of the project

Literature Review

Understanding the background of the problem

Understanding the history of the sensor technology in structural monitoring

Carrying out literature survey on generic technologies of sensors for concrete structures

Identify the types of sensor involved in monitoring the structural in civil engineering

Identify the technique used and the working principle for each type of sensors (in particular optical fiber sensors)

Case Study

Choose the relevant and related case study for discussion

Describe important aspects of case study

Analyze the use of sensors in the case study

Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations

Discuss the similarities and differences

Discuss the technical facets of sensor application

Draw the overall conclusion for this project

Give some recommendation for future

Chapter 2: APPLICATIONS

These days the fiber optic sensors are being used for a variety of applications, the most prominent of them being:

Measurement of rotation and acceleration of bodies

Measurement of electric and magnetic fields

Measurement of temperature and pressure of bodies

Measurement of acoustics and vibrations of various bodies

Measurement of strain, viscosity and chemical properties of materials

Measurement of surface condition and tactile sensing

Measurement of sound , speed and proximity of bodies

Determination of color and weight of different objects

Measurement of linear and angular positions and this is widely utilized in civil engineering structures

2.1 ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

Like with any other technology, there are both advantages and disadvantages using fiber optic sensors. The prominent advantages being:

Fiber optic sensors are lightweight and this is of great importance in case of engineered structures

Fiber optic sensors are of smaller size as compared to the traditional sensors

Also, fiber optic sensors consume less power as compared to the traditional sensors

Along with this, these sensors show high resistance to electromagnetic interference as compared to the traditional sensors

On top of this, fiber optic sensors have enjoy high bandwidth and high sensitivity as compared to their traditional counterparts

Fiber optic sensors are usually embedded in objects and due to this, these sensors can gain access to areas which till date remain inaccessible with the aid of traditional sensors

Also, these sensors are accurate over a greater dynamic range as compared to the traditional sensors

Fiber optic sensors are also capable of being multiplexed which again is a further advantage over their traditional counterparts

Also, fiber optic sensors are capable of distributed measurements which gives them an edge over and above the traditional sensors

Last but not the least, they also show greater environmental ruggedness as compared to the traditional sensors

2.2 DISADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

But all this is just one side of the coin. Though on seeing these advantages, it might appear that fiber optic sensors are way too advanced as compared to the traditional ones, but it is not exactly true. These fiber optic sensors also have some disadvantages due to which their advancement in today’s world has been somewhat curtailed. The major disadvantages of fiber optic sensors are:

Fiber optic sensors are quite costly as compared to the traditional sensors. Due to this, many people still consider traditional sensors to be a better option in cases where cost is a major consideration.

Secondly, these sensors have come into prominence only in the last two decades. Due to this, people appear to be somewhat less educated regarding their usage and operations. And this unfamiliarity with the usage of these sensors, has proved to be a major hurdle in being able to capture the whole market.

Also, these sensors are considered to be more fragile as compared to the traditional sensors which raises a question over their adaptability in extreme conditions

Also with the fiber optic sensors there exists the inherit ingress/egress difficulty

Fiber optic sensors usually have a non-linear output which is a cause for concern in some applications

From the above discussion, we can see that as is the case with any other new technology, there are both merits and demerits of fiber optic sensors. But, what is worth considering here is that the advantages of this technology are much more than its disadvantages and are able to outweigh them. Also, from the demerits which are mentioned here, it is clear that these demerits are bound to wither away as this technology develops and gains more prominence.

2.3 APPLICATIONS IN CIVIL ENGINEERING

Now we come to the discussion of the need and applications of the fiber optic sensors in the field of civil engineering structures. The monitoring of civil structures has a great significance in today’s world. Today, we not only need to construct reliable and strong civil structures, but we also need to monitor these structures in order to ensure their proper functioning and their safety. Also, with the aid of the monitoring of various parameters of the structures, we can get knowledge about state of the building and by using this data, we can in turn plan the maintenance schedule for the structure (Mckinley, 2000). Also, this data can give us an insight into the real behavior of the structure and can thus take make important decisions regarding the optimization of similar structures which are to b e constructed in future.

The maintenance of the structures can be approached in one of the two ways, namely:

Material point of view- In this approach, monitoring is concentrated on local properties of the materials which are used in the construction. In this approach, we observe the behavior of the construction materials under the conditions of load, temperature etc. In this approach, short base length sensors are usually utilized. Also, it is possible to get the information about the whole structure with the aid of extrapolation of the data obtained from these sensors.

Structural point of view- In this approach of measurement, the structure is viewed from a geometrical point of view. In this approach, long gauge length sensors appear to be the ideal choice. In this approach, we will be able to detect material degradation only if this material degradation has an impact on the form of the structure.

In the recent years most of the research work which has been carried out in field of optic sensors has been in the field of material monitoring rather than structural monitoring. It is also worth mentioning here that, more sensors are required in the case of material monitoring as compared to structural monitoring.

We know that civil engineering requires sensors that can be embedded in the concrete, mortars, steel, rocks, soil, road pavements etc. and can measure various parameters reliably. Also what should be taken into account is that these sensors should be easy to install and should not hamper the construction work or the properties of the structure in any derogatory manner. Also, it is common knowledge that at the sites of civil engineering, there exist the unavoidable conditions of dust, pollution, electromagnetic disturbances and of unskilled labor. Thus, the sensors to be used in these cases need to be rugged, should be inert to harsh environment conditions and should be easy to install and their installation could be carried out by unskilled labor. Along with all these things, it is imperative that these sensors are able to survive a period of at least ten years so that they can allow for a constant monitoring of the aging of the structure. Thus, we see that the fiber optic sensors can prove to be quite handful in civil engineering applications and structures. In the past various kinds of sensors have been used in civil engineering for measuring temperature, pressure, stress, strain etc. And as the optical fiber sensors spread their wings, the civil engineering is bound to gain a lot from these modern sensors (Vurpillot et al., 1998).

Chapter 3: LITERATURE REVIEW ON FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

Fiber optic sensors are of many kinds, but they can be broadly classified into two types, namely, extrinsic fiber optic sensors and intrinsic fiber optic sensors. There is a great deal of difference between these two types of fiber optic sensors and this difference is discussed in detail below.

3.1 EXTRINSIC FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

This type of fiber optic sensor is also known as hybrid fiber optic sensor.

As we can see in the figure above that there is a black box and an input fiber enters into this black box. And from this input fiber, information is impressed upon light beam. There can be various ways by which the information can be impressed upon. Usually this information is impressed upon the light beam in terms of frequency or polarization. This light which then posses the information is carried away by the optical fiber. The optical fiber now goes to an electronic processor. (Vurpillot et al., 1998) Here, in the electronic processor the information which is brought along by the fiber is processed. Though we can have separate input fiber and output fiber, but in some cases it is preferred to have the same fiber as the input fiber and the output fiber.

3.2 INTRINSIC FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

The other type of optic fiber sensors is the intrinsic fiber sensors. An example of an intrinsic fiber sensor is shown in the figure below. The working of the intrinsic fiber sensors is somewhat different from the working of the extrinsic fiber sensors. In the intrinsic fiber sensors, the light beam is modulated and we rely on this modulation in the fiber in order to carry out the measurement.

In the figure above, we can see an intrinsic fiber sensor or what is also known as all fiber sensor.

Intrinsic fiber optic sensors

Extrinsic fiber optic sensors

In this sensor, the fiber itself acts as the sensor medium

In this sensor, the fiber does not act as the sensor medium. It merely acts as a light delivery and collection system

In this fiber optic sensor, the light never leaves the medium and always stays inside the medium

In this fiber optic sensor, the light leaves the medium, then it is altered in some way and is collected by another fiber.

3.3 INTENSITY BASED FIBER OPTIC SENSORS

While there exist various kinds of fiber optic sensors today, but the most common of these sensors is the hybrid type fiber optic sensor which depends upon intensity modulation in order to carry out the measurements (Zako et al., 1995)

In the figure below, we can see a vibration sensor. In this vibration sensor, there exist two optical fibers.

The functioning of this fiber optic sensor is quite simple. In this fiber optic sensor, light enters from one side. And when this light exits from the other side, it exits in the form of a cone and the angle of this cone depends on two parameters. The two parameters upon which the angle of this cone depends are:

Firstly, it depends on the index of refraction of the core

Secondly, it depends on the cladding of the optical fiber

Also, the amount of light captured by the second optic fiber depends on a number of factors.

The prominent factors on which the amount of light captured depend are:

It depends on the acceptance angle

It also depends on the distance “d” between the optical fibers

Another type of fiber optic sensor is the flexible mounted mirror sensor. The important characteristics of this sensor are:

In this case, a mirror is mounted which is used to respond to external parameters such as pressure.

The modulation in intensity is caused the shifts in the mirror position.

These sensors are used in a variety of applications such as door closures. In a door closure, a reflective strip is used.

These sensors are used to measure small variations and displacements

3.4 LINEAR POSITION SENSORS

In today’s world, linear position sensors have become widely applicable. They are being used for various purposes (Zako et al., 1995). In many of the linear positioning sensors, wavelength division multiplexing is used. An illustration of the linear position sensor is shown in the figure below.

The various components of this linear position sensor are:

It consists of a broadband light source

It consists of various detectors as shown in the figure above

It also consists of wavelength division multiplexing element which acts as the principal component of this instrument.

It also consists of an encoder card

In the example above, a broadband light source is utilized. The light from this broadband source is carried to a wavelength division multiplexing system with the aid of a single optic fiber. The wavelength division multiplexing system is used to determine the linear position.

Another linear motion sensing method which is very widely used today and is quite similar to the method discussed above is known as the time division multiplexing method. This method is illustrated with the aid of a figure shown below.

In this method instead of a broadband light source a light pulse is used. Here, the combination of the returned signals takes place. As a result of this combination of the returned signals, the net signal which is produced moves onto the position of the encoder card.

The main areas in which these intensity based fiber optic sensors have found application are:

In commercial aircrafts

In military aircrafts

In these applications these modern sensors have performed quite well and are at par with the performance of the conventional sensors. But, because of the various advantages these sensors enjoy over and above the conventional sensors, these modern sensors are bound to replace the conventional sensors in the years to come.

3.5 LIQUID LEVEL SENSORS

This is another type of intensity based fiber optic sensor. In the functioning of this sensor, the principle of total internal reflection is utilized. Thus, in these sensors the refraction index of the glass and the fiber occupy the pivotal role.

These sensors can be utilized for a variety of purposes. The most prominent of its applications are:

Measurement of pressure changes in gels

Measurement of pressure changes in various liquids

Measurement of refractive index changes in gels

Measurement of refractive index changes in different types of liquids

Measurement of the level of a liquid in a vessel and this application is utilized in various industries to measure liquid levels

These sensors have an accuracy of about 5 percent and are gaining importance in various industries for their usefulness.

3.6 SOFO SENSORS

These are fiber optic sensors which are utilized for strain measurement. These sensors have become quite popular owing to their innate merits. Out of all the fiber optic sensors, these sensors are the ones which are being used most extensively today. These sensors are being used to measure curvature and various other parameters in giant civil structures. These sensors form a part of the interferometric system (Vurpillot et al., 1998). Also, these sensors have the ability of measuring the parameters in an absolute manner using low-coherent light. The important properties of these sensors are:

These fiber optic sensors enjoy a high resolution. The resolution of these sensors is 2 µm

These sensors can be of varied lengths. Their length can be as small as 0.2m or can be as large as 20m.

Also, these sensors have the property of being temperature compensated

The SOFO system setup consists of a number of equipments. The main components of the SOFO system setup are:

It consists of a fiber optic sensor which forms the crux of this monitoring system. It is the most important component of the monitoring system. It consists of a sensor chain with partial reflectors.

One terminal of this sensor is connected to the coupler

Another terminal of the sensor chain with partial reflectors is connected to the LED.

The coupler in turn is connected to the photo diode and a mobile mirror.

This whole portable reading unit is connected to portable computer terminal. This ensures that that the whole monitoring system can be taken to the location and can be directly used at site.

These sensors can be utilized in two ways. They can either be embedded in the structure at the time of the construction of the structure. Or, they can used to measure the various parameters externally.

Though in both the cases, that is, in case of embedding or in the case of external anchoring, the performance of the sensors remains the same, but still, in modern smart structures, embedding is preferred (Perez 2001).

This is because, in the case of embedded sensors, the sensors continuously measure the parameters and are easy to manage. Whereas in the older structures, where embedding is not preferred, external anchoring is used.

Chapter 4: CASE STUDIES
Case study 1: Monitoring of San Giorgio pier

San Giorgio pier is a massive concrete structure. Its length is about 400metres. It

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to explain the innovation and evaluate the innovations’ benefits in a particular industry. The subject of my assignment is the company of Research In Motion (RIM) and RIM’s product which is called Blackberry in cell phones industry. All industries need to creative new products or improve their products to satisfy the costumers. By this reason innovation is very important issue in today’s competitive business world.

The RIM produce innovate the e-mail wireless system and in this point Blackberries are one of the best smart phones in cell phones sector. This assignment also makes some estimates about Blackberry and its position in the cell phones sector.

THE HISTORY OF CELL PHONES INDUSTRY

In the past centuries, nowadays’ communication technology was only a dream. Cell phones, internet chat, e-mail were very extreme machines or system for the people. However depend on the improving of communication technology all these dreams has been becoming real. (M. Woods – 2005).

During the 1940’s, the radio technology was developed and this was constituted the first step of cell phones’ history. The beginning of cell phones was based on the innovation of radio communication which was used especially in taxi caps, police cars and other means of transportations to provide two ways communicate one to another or communicate only the central base. And also individual radios help to improving cell phone communication technology with patching into a phone line via live operator to make a phone call. Swedish police used the first official mobile phone in 1946. There was a link between telephone network and the new technology and the new system was very different from two way radio system. But it was not sufficient enough, only 6 phone calls were done before the battery was finished.

The modern cell phones technology was created by the same time with creation of hexagonal cells in 1947. Moreover the development of cell phone technologies naturally has been following the improving of technologies and first electronics cell phone developed during the 1960’s. The problem of these cell phones is; the user had to stay one cell area because cell areas which were serviced by a base station were unable to hand off cellular phone calls from one base station to another. While you could make a phone call, you weren’t able to continue the call after you reached a set range. This problem was solved by A. E. Joel in 1970, call handoff system was built up and this system provides the user carrying on the phone call from one place to another without switching off the phone. Following decades the cell phones technologies continue the improving. The cell phones can be classified with three groups; first, second and third generations.

First Generation Cell Phones: In 1983, the first portable cell phone was presented to world by Motorola and the name of this product was Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. The cost of research to improve the cell phone was over 100 million dollars and it took about 15 years to prepare it for market. It looked like brick and it weighed about 28 ounces. Until the beginning of the 1990’s the popularity of cell phones increase due to innovations in cellular networks. However, most common style of using was in car like a car phone because of its dimension.

Second Generation Cell Phones: During the 1990’s, due to new system such as GSM,IS-136 and IS-95 cell phones skipped the second generation (2G). The new digital mobile phones started to use in the United State in 1990 and in Europe by 1991. 2G mobile phones enabled to get network signal faster, the quality of calls was better and the amount of dropped calls decrease by the digital system. The size of 2G phones absolutely smaller than the “brick” phones which were produced former decade. 2G phones were usually in the range of 100 to 200 grams; in addition, most of them did not need large batteries. With these innovations also provided remarkable increase the amount of cell phone user.

Third Generation Cell Phones: The most common name of third generation is 3G and these phones available today. Only few years after 2G, 3G phones were improved. Due to many innovations in technology and services, standards for 3G are usually different depending on the network. Today’s cell phones are not only using for handle text messages and such contacts book. The new cell phones include GPS, Wi-Fi connectivity and motion sensors. These phones are able to get the e-mails, connect the computers and provide the videophone. According to Andy Jones, head of information security research at British Telecommunications, “Mobile phones are becoming a bigger part of our lives”.

“RESEARCH IN MOTION” AND BLACKBERRY

The History of Research in Motion: In 1984, a pair of engineering students, one each from the Universities of Waterloo and of Windsor found the Research in Motion. The technology of RIM created the most common Blackberry mobile communication tool. RIM was the first wireless data technology developer in North America and created several wireless products, including wireless Point-of-Sale devices, radio modems, and the first two-way messaging pager. In 1998, the small portable wireless handheld was produced by RIM and the name of the machine was RIM 950. RIM 950 handled e-mails contacts and calendaring with a fitted QWERTY keyboard. The first Blackberry two-way was produced in 1999 but the opportunity of pushing e-mail and SMS was allowed on the world in 2002 with 5810. Businesses soon saw the power of the QWERTY keypad handsets as an office tool, and haven’t looked back since, with the first colour models in 2003 and first packing Wi-Fi in 2004.

Today, the Blackberry phone is one of the leading cell phones in the market and the popularity of the Blackberry has been increasing day by day. The user of Blackberry phones take significantly advantages, especially business who needs an advanced phone to communicate with their office when staying outside. The blackberry earned the many professionals’ confidence by the way of answering their needs. Also business world not only one market which Blackberry sold, many people interest in using smart phones to connect internet or GPS, take and share photos with the phone.

INNOVATION

According to management expert Peter Drucker, innovation is change that creates a new dimension of performance. One of the most important things is creativity for innovation. The foundation of innovation is new ideas and new criteria and also personal success. The source of creativity is statement of new ideas and new solutions. In addition, innovation get agreement from the others to be successful and the idea of innovation influence the other people ideas’. All industries need innovation every time to improve their influence areas and to reach their target. Customers always have some future expectations and organizations want to answer these demands with new innovations. To make a successful innovation, recognize and estimate the new opportunities is playing significant role. Creativity involves transformation such as dramatic change in form, structure, process, appearance or character of a person, a product, or an environment. In other words, creativity involves the making change from present situation to future for greater returns. Form creativity new life begins in business world. (Marci Segal – 2003).

The results of innovation are hard to measure. It is so complicated to understand. There are many sorts of dimension that include a diversity of activities. The main point of innovation is about product, it should be new. Moreover it may also be a new process of production, alternatives of a cheaper material, include improvement for this issue and uncovered product, open for the improvement and have a easy way to developed more innovations. The transformation process to provide technological and economic consideration from innovation is also complex. (R. Landau, N. Rosenberg – 1986).

INNOVATION OF BLACKBERRY

The innovation of Blackberry maybe creates a question about is it radical innovation or a step-change innovation. Although the e-mails are sent by computer, it is significant to note that blackberry provide an opportunity to send and receive e-mails while moving or out of office. Also the size of blackberry is very small it is exactly a smart phone and obtains important advantages to users. As a result, blackberry is a radical innovation for those corporate executives, government officials and emergency driven professionals for whom doing business has changed.

Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO state an opinion about importance of time. If the blackberry had represented earlier, it may not have been very popular because e-mails did not use very common. “It was the right time for us to do that because the offering and the market opportunity and the value proposition and uniqueness stood on its own merit. We did it at the time and we certainly have no regrets. It appears, in hindsight, to have been a very wise strategy,” he says.

The benefits of blackberry against laptop and the mobile phone are a little bit complicated. The position of Blackberry lie between laptop and mobile phone in other words the value of Blackberry is in the middle of these two devices. However the security of data being directly erasable if the Blackberry is lost and the management of sophisticated images are more than for the laptop and mobile phone. Moreover, time is very important in today’s competitive business world. Blackberry considers using time more efficiently with providing business to check e-mails and complete their transaction out of the office without computer. (Swastik Nigam – 2007).

It is certain that Blackberry is one of the most powerful devices which bring the wireless technology to daily life use. The person who is carrying this extreme machine will never become out of contact. The Research In Motion (RIM), the producer of Blackberry, after the first device which called Interactive Pagers hit the market in the summer of 1998 has been becoming of a phenomena in market.

THE REPORT OF RIM AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS

As I mentioned before the first RIM product hit the market at 1998. After that producing Blackberries models was followed this improvement. In a short time, Blackberry have came a popular and also RIM sales have increased sharply. The RIM started to sell the Blackberry firstly in USA and after a time period the Blackberry spread all over the world.

2009 Market

2008 Market

Company

Shares

Sales (%)

Shares

Sales (%)

Nokia

14,911.2

42,1

14,588.6

45,1

Research in Motion

7,233.6

19,9

4,311.8

13,3

Apple

3,938.8

10,8

1,725.3

5,3

HTC

1,957.3

5,4

1,276.9

4

Fujitsu

1,387

3,8

1,317.5

4,1

Others

6,896.4

18,8

9,094.8

28,1

The table above indicates that the smart phone sales increased from first quarter of 2008 to first quarter of 2009. Garther analysts illustrate the significant success in Research in

Motion and Apple sales. “Much of the smart phone growth during the first quarter of 2009 was driven by touch screen products, both in midtier and high-end devices,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. Touch screen is not only one reason for this increasing, people all over the world wants mobile e-mail, music service and also internet from their phone with depending on the technological development in smart phone industry. (Stamford, Conn., May 20, 2009)

Comparison with Apple: The major competitor of Research in Motion is Apple iPhone. The cost of latest version Blackberry smart phone, which is called Blackberry Storm, has a higher production cost than iPhone 3G. According to iSuppli, a research firm in electronics market, one unit of Blackberry Storm cost is $ 202.89 although an iPhone cost is $174.33.

Despite the cost difference and popularity of Apple’s best-selling device, RIM still tops the league of smart phone sales. RIM said that it shipped 4.4 million Blackberry handsets in the fourth quarter alone, bumping up total numbers to about 14 million for the 2008 fiscal year, and more than doubling sales of 6.4 million for fiscal 2007. By comparison, Apple has said that it sold 2.3 million iPhones in the three months to December 29, and a total of about 4 million in the six months since the device’s US launch. Blackberry accounted for 41 per cent of all smart phones sold in the US in the fourth quarter, compared with the iPhone’s 28 per cent share, according to the Reading-based researcher Canalys. With this successful year RIM recently started targeting to become a leader in consumer market. The RIM’s chief executive Jim Balsilie added that despite of the global credit crunch they goals the increase the revenue and they will make more profit from the Blackberry sells. (Times Online, April 03, 2008).

The Blackberry producer Research in Motion declared that they beat the analysts’ expectations in forth quarter of 2009. RIM made a $ 518.3 million profit in the forth quarter and a 26 percent increase from the same period last year. The revenue for the forth quarter of 2009 was $ 3.46bn, up 84 percent from a year ago. According to co-chief executive at RIM Jim Balsillie, the company is very happy about their success of Blackberry products’ sales in forth quarter of 2009. (Tom Young Computing, 03 April 2009).

Future Plans of Research in Motion: Additionally, RIM also has some future plans to improve their products and reach their target. The company wants to add some new facilities to Blackberry. The company will add application of Java and Adobe Reader to provide the costumer better smart phone especially in internet world. With these applications consumers, who are using the Blackberry could access all information easily. The format of data will not be a problem for the Blackberry’s owners. The most effective innovation might be occur in the future is; RIM thinking to do a deal with T-mobile to provide costumers better service. Although the credit crunch, according to co-chief of RIM they will try to not lose their market position and continue the improvement of their products.

CONCLUSION

Today, Research In Motion Limited’s Blackberry is the leading product of representing wireless e-mail for the smart phone. The Blackberry are sold across North America and Europe and nowadays it is taken root the Asia Pacific. The Blackberry is a big innovation for the cell phone industry by provides the easiest way to connect e-mail with wireless to the costumers.

As far I am concerned that innovation should include some new ideas and creativity. Although wireless technology was being used by computers, the RIM’s Blackberry meets the wireless to the smart phones at first time. Now, all smart phones’ user expects from the phones to connect internet and want to check their e-mail while buying a new one.

RIM was founded in 1984 by two engineering student. The firm started to produce Blackberry in 1998 and sharply became popular in the smart phones’ market. Also RIM’s Blackberry has some competitor in today’s rivalry market such as Nokia and iPhone but the target of company is to become a leader in this sector.

These days, the RIM is looking for new innovations to improve the Blackberry. All industries need to develop and create new innovation to answer costumers’ expectations. Following the improvement in technology products has been becoming more and better and if an organization wants to reach top or to increase the sales, they innovate new products.

References

1. Michael Woods. “The History Of Communication”, Lerner Publication, First Edition – 2005

2. http://www.tech-faq.com/history-of-cell-phones.shtml

3. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427301.100-the-pocket-spy-will-your-smartphone-rat-you-out.html?full=true

4. http://www.brighthub.com/office/collaboration/articles/8041.aspx

5. http://experts.thelink.co.uk/2008/12/19/a-brief-history-of-blackberry/

6. Kathryn Vercillo. “History of Major Blackberry Models from RIM 96”, available at: http://hubpages.com/hub/History-of-Major-Blackberry-Models-from-RIM

7. Marci Segal. “Quick Guide to the Four Temperaments and Creativity: A Psychological Understanding of Innovation”, Telos Publication, 2003.

8. Ralph Landau, Nathan Rosenberg, National Academy of Engineering. “The Positive sum strategy: harnessing technology for economic growth”, Conference publication, 1986.

9. Swastik Nigam, “Understanding New Product Innovation: Research in Motion’s Blackberry” ,available at: http://insightory.com/view/231//understanding_new_product_innovation:_research_in_motion%27s_blackberry

10. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/apr2008/id2008044_416784.htm

11. Tom Young Computing, “Blackberry maker sees strong profit growth”, 03 April 2009, available at: http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2239782/blackberry-maker-sees-strong

12. Stamford, Con., “Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Declined 8.6 Per Cent and Smartphones Grew 12.7 Per Cent in First Quarter of 2009”, available at: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=985912

13. http://laptopcom.blogspot.com/2009/01/apple-iphones-are-less-costly-to.htm

14. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article3676963.ece

Patricia Ferreras

Table of Contents (Jump to)

What is CAD?

AutoCAD and MicroStation History

Research

2D Design Features

3D Design Features

Interoperability

Conclusion

Bibliography

What is CAD?

CAD is an abbreviation of Computer Aided Design, and refers to software used to create detailed, precise drawings and technical illustrations. CAD software is capable of creating two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) models. (WhatIs.com, 2011)

AutoCAD and MicroStation History:

AutoCAD was introduced in 1982 as a desktop application. Since 2010, it has evolved into a mobile web and cloud based application, currently marketed as AutoCAD 360. (Wikipedia, 2014)

MicroStation was introduced early in 1987 with the capacity to write to design files with the extension “.DGN”. In its early days, it had simple modification abilities, and it was capable of displaying each element in their intermediate states during placement. MicroStation V8i (SELECTseries 2)- July 2010 added integrated point cloud support. (Bentley, 2014)

Research

The scope of my research is to compare the two leaders software packages in design, both of them are used by a wide range of professionals, mainly in the fileds of Engineering, Architecture and Industrial Design.

Different people have different needs or preferences, but I want to keep my research as objective as possible, that is why I going to focus is three key aspects of the software, 2D, 3D and interoperability.

2D Design Features:

The comparison is based in the latest versions of each program, and on the available functions and tools for managing 2D designs that a CAD software provides. (Chief, 2012)

AutoCAD 2013

MicroStation V8i

In 2D Designing, what makes users happy are the features and tools that AutoCAD provides, such as:

The Sketch tool which allows 2D Drafts to be intuitively drawn
A customizable tool palette, color palette and command log
Tape Measure Tool, text Box and Snap to grid functionalities,
From 3D models generates 2D Drawings

Even though MicroStation provides many useful tools, it is lacking some key features for 2D Designing. Its available features include:

An advanced sketch tool
Color palette, tool palettes and command logs, all of which are customizable
From 3D Models, could generate 2D Drawings

3D Design Features:

These features include Simulation, 3D Modeling and animation using features provided by the CAD software. (Chief, 2012) (enggcyclopedia, 2012)

AutoCAD 2013

MicroStation V8i

AutoCAD 2013 include the following features and tools needed for the 3D Modeling, Rendering and Animation:

Has parametric Modeling Tools
Material changes as they occur, so it could be viewed in real time
Extrude 3D Models from 2D Drawings
Photorealistic models could be created.
Basic animation projects are enable through its animation features
AutoCAD is recognized as a business-oriented design tool, and is regarded as following industry standards.

MicroStation provides more of a thorough platform for 3D Modeling and Animation. It is more advanced than AutoCAD in some respects:

Parametric modeling tools and features
Real time modifications can be previewed as they are implemented
Microstation can “extrude” 3D Models from 2D Drawings with 3D geometric surfaces
Photorealistic models can be achieved
3D Printing is supported
MicroStation claims to respect its users by providing them with a CAD environment built to cater for all their needs.

Interoperability:

This factor relates to collaboration functionality with other CAD Applications, the ability for more than one designer to work simultaneously on one platform, cloud features, and a number of other functions. (Chief, 2012) (Alvarez, 2006)

AutoCAD 2013

MicroStation V8i

AutoCAD 2013’s full-featured user-interface and interoperability features include the following:

Support for readable and writable file formats such as: DWG, PDF, 3DS, DWF
The Autodesk Cloud Feature, Autodesk 360 allows designers on the CAD Software Workspace to work away from the office. It provides each user with roughly 3 GB of space, and this figure can be increased to cater for file sharing.
Integration of Google Mapping
The users felt that the re-design introduced with Land Development was very different from the previous applications such as CivilCAD and Softdesk.

MicroStation is an application with total integration of other applications within Bentley or external applications that develop in a MicroStation environment . It wins the war of interoperability. The main features include the following:

It supports readable and writeable file formats including: Sketchup, DWF, Revit, PDF,DWG
An AutoCAD interoperability function which allow designers to work with all of Autodesk’s CAD Versions
Geo-location is supported by providing designers with coordinates for actual real-life buildings. It allows integration of Google Maps, and allows for sharing and networking between designers.
Designer’s work is protected from intellectual theft via a digital signature feature
The users find quite easy to use the different applications of MicroStation, is very similar design.

Conclusion

Which one is better? Well, from a personal point of view, AutoCAD is a clear winner when it comes to 2D Design. This is possibly because it was the first CAD software that I learned how to use, and the one that I have used more often. But I am not the only one that thinks this: many professionals that use AutoCAD agreed that “AutoCAD still trumps the MicroStation with its advanced 2D Drafting capabilities” (Chief, 2012)

When it comes to 3D support, I have to give this to MicroStation. I lost count of how many coffees I had while the computer was rendering a 3D Design. It takes practically forever, so the best thing to do was to let the machine to do the magic and take a break. (Alvarez, 2006)

In conclusion, both CAD tools provide features which classify them as advanced drafting tools. These tools can be used by CAD designers to draw and design both 2D and 3D Designs, independent of their complexity. (Prakoso, 2011)

In summary, I would regard AutoCAD as a better drafting tool, but MicroStation as a better CAD platform.

Bibliography

History of MicroStation – MicroStation – Wiki – MicroStation – Be Communities by Bentley. 2014. History of MicroStation – MicroStation – Wiki – MicroStation – Be Communities by Bentley. [ONLINE] Available at: http://communities.bentley.com/products/microstation/w/microstation__wiki/3164.history-of-microstation.aspx. [Accessed 10 March 2014].

Autodesk – Company. 2014. Autodesk – Company. [ONLINE] Available at: http://usa.autodesk.com/company/. [Accessed 10 March 2014].

AutoCAD – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. AutoCAD – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoCAD. [Accessed 15 March 2014].

BE Magazine En Espanol – Volume 1-Issue 12. 2014. BE Magazine En Espanol – Volume 1-Issue 12. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nxtbook.com/fx/books/bemagazine/vol1issue1spanmexico/index.php?startpage=12. [Accessed 15 March 2014].

MicroStation® vs. AutoCAD® – which is better. 2014. MicroStation® vs. AutoCAD® – which is better. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.indiacadworks.com/blog/microstation-vs-autocad-comparing-features/. [Accessed 15 March 2014].

What’s the Difference Between AutoCAD and Other 3D programs?. 2014. What’s the Difference Between AutoCAD and Other 3D programs?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://animation.about.com/od/faqs/f/Whats-The-Difference-Between-Autocad-And-Other-3d-Programs.htm. [Accessed 15 March 2014].

Microstation or Revit..what to choose? | Forum | Archinect. 2014. Microstation or Revit..what to choose? | Forum | Archinect. [ONLINE] Available at: http://archinect.com/forum/thread/96142/microstation-or-revit-what-to-choose. [Accessed 18 March 2014].

AutoCAD versus MicroStation, which one is the best? | CAD Notes. 2014. AutoCAD versus MicroStation, which one is the best? | CAD Notes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cad-notes.com/autocad-versus-microstation-which-one-is-the-best/. [Accessed 21 March 2014].

. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CF0QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcad-software.findthebest.com%2Fcompare%2F5-19%2FAutoCAD-vs-MicroStation-V8i&ei=So4sU5j-MqWI7AaL5YGgBg&usg=AFQjCNHRN8j20Fq52oVzAW6c2-7ihTQpNQ&bvm=bv.62922401,d.ZGU. [Accessed 21 March 2014].

Augmented Reality (AR)

ASOS.com & MIS RELATED ISSUES

aˆ?aˆ?Despite the spectacular dot-com bust a few years ago, the Internet has markedly changed the way we do business.” (Reynolds, 2004, 78)

Conducting business in the digital economy refers to the use of Web-based systems, on the Internet and other electronic networks, to accomplish some form of e-commerce. Networked computing is helping some companies excel and is helping others simply to survive. Generally, the collection of computing systems used by an organization is defined as Information Technology (IT). In the developed countries, almost all medium and large organizations use information technologies, including e-commerce, to support their operations. IT, in its narrow definition, refers to the technological side of an Information System (IS); it includes the hardware, software, databases, networks, etc. An IS collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose. It processes the inputs (data, instructions) by using IT and produces outputs (reports, calculations). It includes people, procedures, facilities and it operates within an environment.

MIS refers to the management of IS’s and it raises a lot of concerns, such as global, e-commerce, software system choices, ethical, social and operation strategy issues. (Turban et al, 2001)

The aim of this paper is to examine five selected MIS topics and analyze specifically one or two of the occurring issues of each topic; then, connect these issues to the ASOS.com enterprise.

The paper begins with a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com. Initially, the selected topics and issues, derived from relevant literature, will be described. Next, a discussion of whether each issue is a problem for ASOS.com or not is presented. Furthermore, a reflective paragraph follows. The paper ends with the conclusion section and the references.

ASOS.com

Asos.com, is the UK’s largest online-only fashion and beauty store, attracting over one million visitors a week. Its name stands for aˆ?As Seen On Screen’ and it was chosen to show the brand’s intention, to supply the public with outfits similar to the styles of celebrities. Asos.com targets 16 to 34 year olds; it offers women’s fashion, menswear, accessories, jewelry and beauty products. It provides potential customers browsing its content, with a number of unique features. For example, individual catwalk model videos of most clothing items on the site, and a fashion blog, which is frequently updated with articles relating to celebrity and entertainment.

Asos.com is greatly admired for its large variety of fashion and beauty goods and for the speed at which it keeps up with the latest fashion trends. (http://www.asos.com/)

Asos.com’s headquarters are located in Camden Town, in North London. The company was launched by Nick Robertson in 2000. Since then, the online company has seen significant growth. Over Christmas season of 2008, it reported a 100% increase in sales and for the financial year ending 31 March 2009, it reported a revenue of ?165,395,000.

Asos.com is being run by a board of three directors and two non-executive directors.

It is a PLC, quoted on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) part of the London Stock Exchange. AIM is not as strict in its rules as the main market; it therefore, helps smaller companies to raise capital through the sale of shares.

Asos.com chose to use the web channel, since researches have shown that online sales have been increasing faster than any other sector. It has targeted young people, for these represent around 60% of online shoppers. To attract them, it offers a diverse range of brands and products. Above all, it offers a pleasurable shopping experience, by ensuring that the website provides much more than a customer would expect from a shop. The site, also, provides more choices, competitive prices, new styles and, above all, convenience.

While growing, Asos.com has developed a more complex structure. It has worked hard to keep up with changes in technology. The website is being kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines.

Moreover, Asos.com uses other communication channels to drive growth. These include a monthly magazine of 116 pages and an e-mail newsletter that is being sent to 1.8 million users each week. In addition, it distributes PR pieces in other publications and encourages word-of-mouth recommendation. (http://www.asos.com/)

GLOBAL MIS/RISKS
Designing websites for a global audience

The designing of successful web-sites that present information about products and services is a relatively recent occupation, which introduced new issues and challenges that designers were called to face.

It is well-known that some web-sites seem to be more efficient than others. They are more often visited and more purchases occur. Very little is reported in the literature on web design and the evaluation of the factors that formulate a successful web-site. However, many studies have been made, in order to empirically test the features, often mentioned by trade journals and vendors, as being critical to design a successful web site.

The roles of a web-site are many and important; some of them are: marketing research, marketing tool, public relation machine and means of payment. Web sites are basically an interface between the costumer and the firm.

The web sites are being designed in order to facilitate organizations, to carry out business’ activities by using Internet technology. On their web sites, each organization promotes and sells its products or services, provides catalogs, technical support and obtains useful feedback from its consumers. (Udo and Marquis, 2001/2)

According to Udo and Marquis, there are eight factors that contribute to the design of an effective web site:

* Download Time (response time)

* Navigation

* Graphics Usage

* Interactivity

* Cohesion

* Consistency

* Use of Frames

* Amount of Advertisements

(Udo and Marquis, 2001/2)

According to Tilson, R. principles like simplicity, satisfaction (feedback) and versatility (flexibility) are also very important in designing e-commerce sites.

In fact, Tilson describes eight factors, with which the designer achieves the following:

* Simplicity: doesn’t compromise usability for function.

* Support: user is in control with proactive assistance.

* Obviousness: makes objects and their controls visible and intuitive.

* Encouragement: makes actions predictable and reversible.

* Satisfaction (feedback): creates a feeling of progress and achievement.

* Accessibility: makes all objects accessible at all times.

* Versatility (flexibility): supports alternate interaction techniques.

* Personalization: allows users to customize.

(Tilson et al, 1998)

Asos.com has very successfully designed its website for a global audience.

As already mentioned, the website offers to potential customers a large variety of unique features, such as catwalk videos, a fashion blog, a diverse range of brands and products, a pleasurable shopping experience, competitive prices, new styles and convenience, in order to attract more users and set itself apart from other similar websites. The company tries to keep up with changes in technology by frequently updating the website, which is also kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines, according to the latest fashion trends.

Its global success has been recognized through many awards such as:

% Sep 2002: E-commerce awards aˆ“ Highly commended

% Feb 2005: More Magazine Fashion Awards aˆ“ Most Addictive Online Shopping

% Oct 2008: Aim Awards aˆ“ Company of the Year

% Nov 2008: Company High Street Awards aˆ“ Best Online Shopping

% Mar 2009: Cosmopolitan Online Fashion Awards aˆ“ Best Online Retailer

(http://www.asos.com/)

E-COMMERCE AND ITS ISSUES

aˆ?Electronic commerce is taking off both in terms of the number of users shopping, as well as, the total amount of people, who are spending via Internet based transactionsaˆ?.

(Tilson et al, 1998)

E-commerce is gaining importance rapidly, in today’s business environment. The practice of e-commerce has been in existence since 1965 and has attracted the interest of many pundits. Most companies accepted and adopted the e-commerce technology faster than any other technology in the history of mankind. The reason is that the benefits are plenty; by creating a web site they can be seen all around the world, reach out to new customers, have lower transaction costs, meet their customers’ expectations and needs, provide new services and products and therefore, remain competitive.

(Khan, 2008)

E-commerce presents enormous opportunities for both consumers and businesses in the world. The self-service enabled by it, allows consumers to conduct a wide-range of activities. They can access thousands of online sites and purchase anything, from groceries to books, cars, credit-cards and loans. As Mark Hurst stated: aˆ?It’s ease of use, it’s ease of use. Why doesn’t the industry get that?aˆ? (Andrews, 1998)

Legal and Ethical issues in E-Business

Internet technology has posed new challenges for the protection of individual privacy.

Computer information, regarding Internet users, is generated every day through credit card purchases, telephone calls, magazine subscriptions, video rentals, mail-order purchases, banking records and local/state/federal government records. If this information is put together and minded properly, it could reveal a user’s credit information, driving habits, tastes, associations, political interests and much more.

It is possible to record many online activities, including which websites a user has visited, which newsgroups or files he has accessed and what items he has purchased over the Web. Some organizations use this information to better target their offerings. Others monitor the Internet usage of their employees to see how they are using company network resources.

A new data analysis technology called NORA (non-obvious-relationship-awareness) offers even more powerful profiling capabilities to the government and the private sector. NORA can take information about people from sources like employment applications, telephone records, customer listings and aˆ?wanted’ lists, and correlate relationships to find obscure hidden connections that might help identify criminals or terrorists.

Cookies are another noteworthy issue. Cookies are tiny files deposited on a computer hard drive, when a user visits certain websites. Cookies identify the visitor’s Web-browser software and track visits to the website. When the visitor returns to the site, the website software will search the visitor’s computer, find the cookie and know what that person has done in the past. Then the site can customize its contents for each visitor’s interests.

There are several more ethical/legal concerns occurring from the use of IT. For example, another issue is the protection of intellectual property such as software, digital books, digital music, or digitized video. It is extremely difficult to protect intellectual property, when it can so easily be copied and distributed. In addition, there is the matter of the aˆ?spam’ messages and the computer theft/fraud (stealing personal credit card information). (Laudon and Laudon, 2005)

Asos.com guarantees privacy and security over credit card purchases for the website visitors. There have been strong movements from the political view to protect the Web users’ privacy and security. Additionally, the online industry has preferred self-regulation to privacy legislation for protecting consumers. In 1998, the online industry formed the Online Privacy Alliance to encourage self-regulation to develop a set of privacy guidelines for its members. The group promotes the use of online seals, like TRUSTe, certifying websites adhering to certain privacy principles. There has also been created an additional industry association called Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to develop its own privacy policies to help consumers opt out of advertising network programs and provide consumers redress from abuses.

On top of the legislation, new technologies are available to protect user privacy during interactions with websites. Many of these tools are used for encrypting e-mail, making surfing and e-mail activities appear anonymous, preventing client computers from accepting cookies etc. Asos.com plans to use such activities in the short-run, to ensure its visitors privacy. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005)

SOFTWARE SYSTEM CHOICES
To buy off-the-shelf packages or develop from scratch

The acquisition of new software and hardware can bring dramatic applications that will change an organization. Managers must be prepared to make risky acquisitions that will have a significant impact on the firm. There has been some movement towards outsourcing and strategic alliances to reduce the time required to develop vital applications. Buying instead of making is one strategy to bring change more quickly in the firm. However, the purchase decision is one that usually warrants advice from systems professionals. Software can be bought from a large number of companies. Manufacturers of large computers often sell proprietary software for them, especially operating systems. Companies like Computer Associates sell a great deal of software for large-scale computers.

The main attraction of buying of-the-shelf packages is to avoid having to develop a custom system. Custom programming is expensive and time-consuming; therefore, when a package is available, it should be considered.

The major advantage of using a package is cost savings. The package developer expects to sell a number of packages to recover the investment in developing it. The cost is thus amortized over a number of users. The cost to the developer though is usually higher than the development of a single application would be, since the package must be general enough to be used by a number of customers. This increased generality makes the package larger, more complex and often less efficient to operate than an application specifically developed for a single application. (Henry and Lucas, 2000)

The aˆ?make or buy’ decision is always a difficult one for management. The availability of new technologies in the marketplace and a movement by firms to get back to their core competencies, have led many companies to select the aˆ?buy’ option.

Because of the high cost and long time required to develop software, most managers look first at whether they can buy existing software and modify it, if necessary, to avoid programming an application from scratch. (Henry and Lucas, 2000)

(Henry and Lucas, 2000)

Asos.com’s managers had to face all these difficulties in order to make a decision of whether to develop their own custom system or buy existing software and modify it, according to their needs. They could have depended upon outsourcing to develop and operate their applications, or choose to retain part of their IT functions and to partially outsource some activities, which I believe would be the best decision for the company. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information in the Asos.com website of how the organization’s software systems were developed.

ETHICS / SOCIAL ISSUES

Information ethics relates to standards of right and wrong in information processing practices. Organizations must deal with ethical issues relating to their employees, customers and suppliers. Ethical issues are of high importance, for they have the power to damage the image of an organization and to destroy the morale of the employees.

Ethics is a complicated area, since ethical issues are not cut-and-tried; they vary between people, cultures and countries. What may be regarded as ethical by one person may be regarded as unethical by another. (Turban et al, 2001)

Displacement of employees with Information Technology

IT offers many benefits to the organizations. A key benefit of IT is for example, the reengineering of work; it provides operations with many benefits such as elimination of production waste and reduction of operating costs. On the other hand, redesigning business processes could cause millions of employees to lose their jobs.

As Rifkin (1993) said:

aˆ?aˆ?We will create a society run by a small high-tech elite of corporate professionals [aˆ¦] in a nation of the permanently unemployed. ” (Laudon and Laudon, 2005)

Some argue that relieving bright, educated workers from reengineered jobs will result in their replacement to better jobs in fast-growth industries. However this does not apply to unskilled, blue-collar workers and less well-educated, old managers.

Consequently, IT has created new ethical dilemmas, in which one set of interests is pitted against another. For example, many of the large telephone companies in the USA are using IT to reduce the sizes of their workforces. Voice recognition software reduces the need for human operators by enabling computers to recognize a customer’s responses to a series of computerized questions. Competing values at work are, therefore, developed and groups are lined on either side of a debate. Companies argue that displacing employees with IT is ethical, since they have the right to use IS’s to increase their productivity and reduce the size of their workforce, in order to lower expenses and remain in business. The employees that are being displaced argue that their employers have responsibilities against their welfare and that their displacement with IT is unethical. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005)

Asos.com, as an online corporation, occupies much less personnel than traditional fashion and beauty industries. The company hires high-educated, IT experts to run the operating software and keep the company’s website updated with the most innovative features. Displacement of employees with IT is not an issue for Asos.com, although, the latest movement of businesses moving into the digital economy, could be an issue for less and less workers are needed.

STRATEGY AND IS / INITIATIVES

aˆ?aˆ?Competitive Advantage is at the core of a firm’s success or failure.” (Turban et al, 2001)

Ensure continued, powerful Competitive Advantage

Computer-based IS’s have been enhancing competitiveness and creating strategic advantage for several decades.

A competitive strategy is defined as a broad-based formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be and what plans or policies will be required to carry out those goals. Through its competitive strategy, an organization seeks a competitive advantage in an industry.

A Competitive Advantage represents an advantage over competitors in some measure such as cost, quality, or speed. A strategic IS can assist an organization to gain a competitive advantage through contribution to its strategic goals and the ability to considerably increase performance and productivity. (Turban et al, 2001)

M. Porter’s competitive forces model is the most popular framework for analyzing competitiveness. It is used to develop strategies for organizations, with the purpose of increasing their competitive edge. Porter’s model identifies five major forces that could endanger an organization’s position in a given industry.

These forces are:

1. The threat of entry of new competitors

2. The bargaining power of suppliers

3. The bargaining power of customers

4. The threat of substitute products or services

5. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry (Turban et al, 2001)

Asos.com is an online-only corporation; this fact alone provides the company with a

strong competitive advantage over its (traditional-clothing-stores) competitors. Asos.com possesses a competitive advantage, mainly, in a matter of cost/expenses, since it doesn’t own stores and doesn’t occupy vendors and other kinds of staff (cleaning staff, security, etc.) For Asos.com, Internet technologies offer very powerful tools that can increase success through traditional sources of competitive advantage. For example, apart from low cost, Asos.com has an excellent customer service and superior supply chain management. Low costs contribute to more advantages such as competitive prices and supreme quality for the company’s products.

Consider and Decide IT Strategy: be a leader, a follower or an experimenter

Strategic management refers to the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives.

IT contributes to strategic management in many ways. For example, it can contribute through innovative applications, competitive weapons, changes in processes, links with business partners, cost reductions, relationships with suppliers and customers, new products and competitive intelligence.

Porter’s model identifies the forces that influence competitive advantage in the marketplace. Managers are interested in the development of a strategy that aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against these five forces. To accomplish this, a company needs to develop a strategy of performing activities differently from a competitor.

There are many different strategies that managers can choose, according to which copes best with their operation. Some of them are the following:

Cost Leadership Strategy: Produce products at the lowest cost in the industry. A firm achieves cost-leadership in its industry by thrifty buying practices, efficient business processes, forcing up the prices paid by competitors and helping customers/suppliers reduce their costs.

Differentiation Strategy: Offer different products, services, or product features. By offering different-better products companies can charge higher prices, sell more, or both.

Niche Strategy: Select a narrow-scope segment (niche market) and be the best in quality, speed or cost in that market.

Innovation Strategy: Introduce new products and services, put new features in existing ones, or develop new ways to produce them.

There are many other strategies such as Growth, Alliance, Operational Effectiveness, Time Strategy, etc. (Turban et al, 2001)

Asos.com has tried to implement Niche strategies. It has chosen a relatively small

market segment (it targets consumers aged 16 to 34) in the clothing/fashion and beauty industry and it has tried to be the best in cost, quality, and speed of the deliveries (same day delivery service through the use of MetaPack delivery management software and CitySprint’s SameDay Courier solution). Given that it is an online enterprise, and it can therefore keep expenses low, it demonstrates very competitive prices and a very wide range of products and brands. It also maintains high standards of quality for its products. (http://www.asos.com/)

REFLECTIVE PARAGRAPH

I believe that the main lesson learnt here is that the use of IT has many benefits, but also many drawbacks. IT and the use of information systems can bring rapid change to organizations, enhance productivity and reduce costs. A firm established on the World Wide Web has countless advantages, which is why most medium and large organizations and even small ones create a website. In contrast, numerous concerns derive from the exploit of IT. Global, software system choices, e-commerce, strategy and IS initiatives, and ethical, social and political, are only some of the subjects that raise a great deal of issues. However, there are many options to be considered for the use of IT and most of the matters can be resolved.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com has been given. The five selected MIS topics have been examined and the occurring issues have been analyzed. Moreover, a discussion of whether each described issue is a problem or not for ASOS.com has been presented. Finally, my reflective thoughts have been outlined, in the reflective paragraph.

Last of all, mentioning that in the 21st century we find ourselves living in the age of computerization, is essential. There is plenty room for future development of IT and IS. Information and Communication Technologies for Development, for example, refers to the application of Information and Communication Technologies within the field of socioeconomic development or international development and its concept is intimately associated with applications in the developing nations. It is concerned with the direct application of IT approaches to poverty reduction. Information and communication technologies can be applied either in a direct (their use directly benefits the disadvantaged population) or in an indirect sense (facilitates the improvement of general socio-economic conditions). In many indigent regions of the world, legislative and political measures are required to facilitate or enable application of information and communication technologies.

References

Andrews, W. (1998) aˆ?At Far Too Many Sites aˆ?Buyer Be Lost’ Appliesaˆ?, Internet World, Vol. 98, Issue 6

Henry, C. and Lucas, Jr. (2000) Information Technology for Management, McGraw-Hill, 7th edition, Ch. 15-17

Khan, K. M. (2008) Managing Web Service Quality: Measuring Outcomes and Effectiveness, Information Science Reference, Ch. 1,3

Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2005) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Prentice Hall, 9th edition, Ch. 5

Reynolds, Janice (2004) The Complete E-commerce Book: Design, Build and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business, CMP, 2nd edition, p.76-79

Tilson, R., Dong, J., Martins, S. and Kieke, E. (1998) aˆ?Factors and Principles Affecting the Usability of Four E-commerce Sites’, Proc. Of the 4th Conference on Human Factors and the Web

Turban, E., McLean, E., Wetherbe, J. (2001) Information Technology for Management: Transforming Business in the Digital Economy, Wiley, 3rd edition, Ch. 1, 2

Udo, Godwin J. and Marquis, Gerald P. (2001/2), aˆ?Factors Affecting E-commerce Web Site Effectiveness’, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 42, Issue 2, 10-17

The ASOS.com web-site: http://www.asos.com/

ABSTRACT:

Voice User Interface (VUI) is the interface which works on the user’s demand in the form of speech. The speech engine recognizes the keyword from many ambiguous words in the surroundings and works on the user demand. The basic VUI is constructed by the XML Language.

The keyword has to be recorded in the speech engine at the time of construction. The basic security of the VUI is given by the confidentiality of the keyword for the specific work. The keyword refers to the password which is separate for each work that has to be performed by the system.

The new thing according to me is to make the system to understand our commands and work according to it with the same perfection. But the only difference is that we have not to store any keywords in the time of initialization.

The voice tester attached to the speech engine gives the security which tests the voice frequency of the user and allows only the authorized user to access the engine. This gave high security and which cannot be broken easily.

For that, have to include three different things in the library functions of the XML Language. The three things are:

User Language,
Translator,
Phonetics.

The user language is set according to the user and it should be included in the library function.

The user has option to give the command in different language and the translator converts it to the machine language.

The phonetics is the language of pronunciation. It includes all the pronunciations that have to be pronounced by the user. But the pronunciations by the user should be accurate.

The security of this VUI is high and it should be initialized. The user has to give the authorized voice that can only access the system. If the user wants to increase, the security, the voice modulation along with some keyword can also be stored in the system. This increases the security level in the system. The user can specify the no of users through that they can also be access the system with the specific key word.

The VUI has finds many applications in voice mailings, Home appliances, entertainment, etc.,

Kinect is the special device used to sense the voice of the user. The VUI finds its applications in cheaper and perfect manner. By, connecting this VUI to the speech engine to any of the appliances, we can make it as user-friendly.

By implementing, this concept in appliances and other systems, we can make our work simple, cheaper and quicker. The system connected with the speech engine is very helpful and is very easy to handle.

INTRODUCTION

Voice user Interface (VUI) is an interface which works on the demands of the user which are given in the form of speech.

VUI concept is firstly introduced to make some devices more secure. The voice can be a high secure element and which cannot be hacked easily by the user.

Also, it has main advantage of easy of work and saving the time of working the user has many demands and it can be easily done by the system.

Kinect is the speech device which is used to record the speech from the user and it converts it in to the words.

This device finds an application in the field of VUI to record the voice and send it to the system.

BASIC CONCEPT OF VUI

VUI has the basic concept of recording the voice and convert it to the words and works according to it. The following picture refers to the conversion of speech to words.

WORKING OF BASIC VUI

VUI which is basically word in some user- system interface in which the help of human is not required. For example, it can be used in the field of “Customer Care”, of the mobile companies.

Example

Consider a user calling to the customer care regarding the need of information

The recorded voice of the system welcomes the user and gives the user, to choice and it explains the meaning of the choice.
The user has to process a number according to his need and the system recognizes the number, and connects it to the respective module.

User: – //Calling for Customer Care//

Customer Care:- Welcome Sir,

Your choices are

Security code,
New Schemes,
Sim details
Balance enquiry

User: – //pressing no.2//

Customer Care: – Sir your choice is to know about the new schemes. The call is connected to our secretary.

//Now, the call is connected to the secretary//

In this example the user has to specify a number and it is now processed and it gives details about it. Otherwise, if the demand is not solved by the system then it connects to the call to the Human who can clear all doubts of the user.

Draw backs:-

Pressing the number, is works of time
Suppose, our demand is in the choice 10 we have to wait until the 10^th choice appearance, It is waste of time.

IMPROVEMENT OF VUI

The VUI finds its improvement in the field of its applications. The applications have also improved along with the improvement of VUI.

There are three basic applications in this stage of VUI, they are

Customer Care,
Home appliance,
Mobile applications.
Customer Care:-
The improvement in this stage of VUI is in the saving of time the user has to specify his choice according to his demand instead of pressing the number.

Ex:

User: //calling for customer care//

Customer Care : Welcome Sir, your choices are

1. Security code

2. New schemes

3. Sim details

4. Balance enquiry

User: 2 //It is specified by speech//

Customer Care: Ok Sir, Now your call is connected to our chief.

In this example, the user has to specify his choice through voice not by pressing the number.

Draw backs:-

Here also, the user has to wait by hearing all the choices until his choice appearance. It also wastes the time.

ii) HOME APPLIANCES:

The VUI has found its application in the field of Home appliances. Here, the appliances work according to the user demand through voice.
The vice keyword is to be different for different devices the keyword is to be specified at the time of initialization.

Ex:

If the user have to be on the Fan and off the fan. The keyword for this process is to be specified.

ON – F1

OFF- F2

Now, the user have to say “F1” if he wants to ON the fan, and he have to say “F2” if he wants to OFF the fan.

Like that, he has to more the keyword for each appliance at the time of initialization.

Drawback:

The different key word for devices is difficult to have in the memory.
The security of keyword is only according to our confidential level.

iii) Mobile applications:-

The VUI is used in come mobile applications. There is a mobile app which can react to our questions and it can be a companion to us.

Ex:-

User: Hay

App: Hay

User:what is your name?

App:My name is X

User:Do you like me?

App:Yes, I like you.

In this, example, the mobile interact with the user according to his question.

Draw backs:

The answer, given by the mobile is only stored in the form of templates. The reaction is similar for maximum number of questions by the user.

NEW CONCEPT ABOUT VUI:

My new idea about VUI is to make the system to understand the user’s demand and work according to it with the same perfection.

For that, the Library functions of XML language has to be included with some extra functions.

There are three main functions to be included in the Module: They are:

User Language,
Translator,
Phonetics

i) USER LANGUAGE:

The user can demand in any type of language which he can able to speak.

But only thing is that it is to be included in the Library functions. The user language should be a specific one. If we want to change the user language we have to say the keyword for changing to that language.

The keyword has to be specified at the time of initialization of the speech system.

ii) TRANSLATOR:

Translator can also be called as Convertor. Convertor has main work of converting the speech words into the words which can be understand by the system.

The speech engine records the speech in the form of speaking words and sent it to the computer in the form of words which can be understand by the computer.

This convertor is also included in the library functions of the XML. It does not require any keyword and it can be automatically executed.

iii) PHONETICS:

Phonetics is the representations of speaking words in the form of some special symbols which can also be included in the library functions.

It is very important in this case because this is to specify the pronunciation of words and it meaning.

The meaning of the word differs according to the pronunciation.

Ex: “read”

Is it present tense or past tense?

It is only depends upon the pronunciation of the word by the user.

The speech engine has to record the voice and it should by checked by the pronunciation and it is executed according to the meaning.

For placing a demand to the system, the user has to specify the correct pronouncing. Otherwise, the system responds to the meaning of the pronunciation.

Some of the applications to be implemented with VUI are:

1. CUSTOMER CARE:

In this concept, it is very easy to select our choice in the customer care.
The user has not to wait for the desired choice number. The user has to specify his need and system responds according to the demand.

Calling

Calling

Ex:User: //calling customer care//

Customer Care: Welcome Sir, What do you like to know sir?

User: About balance amount.

Customer Care: wait sir, we will send you the information of your balance via SMS, sir.

Here, there is no job of waiting for the chief to solve the problem.

Advantage:

i) The user has not to wait for the choice to be heard. There is no waste to time.

2. Home appliances:

The VUI has found its applications in Home appliances also. The keyword not necessary in the case of this concept.
The system can understand our demand and respond to it accordingly.
The statement given by the user may be different but the pronunciation and the competency must be accurate.Ex: If the user wants to ON the fan, there are many possibilities.
Switch on the fan (Or)
ON the fan, (or)
Turn on the fan

All the statements are accessed by the systems but the pronunciation matters.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS:
The mobile app that respond to ourselves according to our questions and it cannot be a template function, if, we use this concept in VUI.
The answers given by the mobile app is reasonable and it is a great companion to us.
VEHICLES:
For example, a car can be started by a keyword stored by ourselves. The car can be started only if the voice is identified correctly and high security matters.
The tape (or) FM in the car can be switch on by VUI and the channel of FM can be changed without any physical contact or eye contact and it does not destructs driving.

SECURITY:

The security of this VUI is only depends upon the voice modulation. The frequency of the voice of the user decides the ON/OFF of the device.

The frequency of the voice of user is stored in the system at the time of initialization. The system is accessed by only the authorized user.

For increasing the security. We can also include the passwords, and some special sounds that are only peculiar to ourselves can also be included.

The breaking of all these security is maximum impossible. Thus the system is prevented from Hacking.

CONCLUSION:-

By implementing this concept in the real-life applications, we can do our jobs faster, effective and secure.

By connecting this with the computer, we can make our computer as user-friendly.

By this, we can improve the security of the accessing of device and it enables the user to become smarter to do all the work in short span of time.

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Business functions that can/cannot be automated

INTRODUCTION

Computer systems today are a part of almost all businesses; this is because they provide us, along with the added use of the Internet, with a variety of means that made business operations easier, productivity higher, and communication processes faster. Computers and the programs (or the software applications that are installed on them) along with the robotic systems do a great amount of the tasks that were previously performed by the employees and/or workers themselves. This transformation, towards an automated work environment, saved businesses a lot of unwanted expenses, a lot of time, and caused profits to increase steadily. Computers substituted, in different business structures, classical machines and tools, such as the calculator, the fax, the telephone, the photocopier and many more. The automation of different business functions led many organisations and companies to a higher level in what concerns production and management.

But the point that should be understood is that even though many processes and functions related to businesses and organisations have been automated, there are still many aspects that are not, or that cannot be, automated for a wide range of reasons.

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

The main objective of any business is to achieve success. To be able to reach success, an organisation needs to have an effective structure because any entity depends exclusively on two factors which are management and use of information. An efficient use of information systems can allow an easier and faster access to data that are essential for the workflow and for the quality of that work and, therefore, can assist the management in performing its duties in the best possible manner and in making the right decisions at the right times. In order to achieve such objectives, specific business functions should be established and specific tasks should be performed.

Every kind of business and every organisation, depending on the nature of their operations, the products or services that are provided by them, their geographic location, and depending on the management and production schools that they relate to, have different business functions, but there are certain generic functions that apply to all kinds of businesses all over the world. These functions are usually general management, information management, operations management, marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources.

Lan and Unhelkar (2005) identify the various generic business functions by stating that they are the function of Management and Administration which is the department whose tasks are to “corporate resources, corporate image, quality in all aspects, industrial relations, stakeholders relations, productivity, [and] promotion,” the function of Human Resources that should deal with “job analysis, position classification, employee training, employee selection, employee auditing and promotion” in addition to other related tasks, the function of Finance and Accounts that is responsible for “the capital operations required by the entire enterprise activities… the funds required by management, administration, sales, marketing, human resources, [and] purchasing,” the function of Purchase and Procurement, the function of Sales and Marketing, and the function of Customer Care or Customer Support.

According to another source, “business functions are universal and apply to every type of business. The most essential business functions are marketing, operations (production of goods and services), finance, and human resource management” (Plunkett, Attner, and Allen 2005). Here, we find a view according to which all functions are the same regardless of the type of business.

The main question is to understand whether the above mentioned functions can be in whole or in part automated and/or computerised. In other words, can all the tasks concerning the business functions be transferred to intelligent electronic or robotic agents reaching the level of efficiency and proficiency in which humans are capable of performing them?

AUTOMATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In order to understand if all (or only some) business functions can be automated, it is important to understand the meaning of the concept itself. According to MSN Encarta (2005) automation is a “system of manufacture designed to extend the capacity of machines to perform certain tasks formerly done by humans, and to control sequences of operations without human intervention. The term automation has also been used to describe non-manufacturing systems in which programmed or automatic devices can operate independently or nearly independently of human control. In the fields of communications, aviation, and astronautics, for example, such devices as automatic telephone switching equipment, automatic pilots, and automated guidance and control systems are used to perform various operations much faster or better than could be accomplished by humans.”

For us to reach such a system, a certain computerised aspect should be developed; an aspect which enables machines to execute given tasks according to the desired level. For such an objective, experts and programmers should be able to produce information systems that possess some of the characteristics of intelligence; this is why such systems are referred to as systems of artificial intelligence, or simply intelligent machines; in other words, computerised systems that are pre-programmed to perform a certain mission with the same level of accuracy of a trained human being. It is the science of creating machines that are intelligent, and in a more specific context, intelligent computer software-programs functioning according to the present hardware. It attempts to comprehend the mechanisms in which human intelligence works and then imitates it in the way the prospective intelligent machines should work, avoiding the limitations of biologically related weaknesses.

Bailey (1992) describes his understanding of intelligence as the ability to reason or have a logical thinking, and to have an effect on the environment; this will require a good level of knowledge that should be acquired. To be able to simulate humans, machines should possess the capability of understanding the world. Computers, or intelligent machines, should be knowledgeable on a level that is even deeper and more detailed than we are Depending on knowledge, intelligent machines (or computers or robots) will be in a position to answer any of our questions, they could perform any task efficiently, and they can solve complex and difficult problems much more rapidly.

Bailey also states that another important feature that intelligent machines should have is connectivity to each other all around the world through the use of networks, which will make it even easier for them to gain more knowledge and to communicate it to one another. Then there is another feature that is the ability to establish an effective level of communication between intelligent computers and humans through both written and verbal means and not through commands typed through a keyboard and a screen. Finally Bailey puts the physical qualities, such as vision, hearing, as the final of his desired intelligent computer or robot through the use of visual and auditory sensors similar to, or better than, those of humans.

AUTOMATING BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

The organisational structure is the setting that defines all the departments of the organisation, identifies the responsibilities and duties of each department, regulates the relationship between the various departments and explains how each of them should interact with the others in the way that guarantees the achievement of the desired outcome.

As Clarke and Anderson explain, “an organizational role is defined as a set of functions together with a set of obligations and authorities. The same human or artificial agent can play several roles” [within that specific organisation] (187).

The various tools of Information Technology can assist the company in gathering, elaborating, processing, storing/documenting, and distributing all the information that is needed for planning, decision making, and control. The use of computers and the simplicity they offer are important elements in what concerns the enhancement of all the mentioned processes. This fact explains how information technology influences the way in which organisations tend to arrange the tasks and processes within them. Ross (2003) explains that “information technology (IT) has progressively become key link integrating the business enterprise and its logistics capabilities with its customers and supplies… Simply, the organization’s ability to create, collect, assimilate, access, and transfer information must be in alignment with the velocity of the activities necessary to execute effectively supplier, customer service, logistics and financial processes.”

As mentioned earlier, many aspects related to the various tasks of businesses are now computerised and/or automated. Accounting and financial processes, for example, are not done only on paper as they once used to be; instead complete computer systems that rely on software applications are those that elaborate, document, communicate, and distribute the various pieces of information among different employees working in different departments. Another example is that related to the processes of sales and marketing which depend heavily on the Internet and the means of communication offered by it. “Sales force automation modules in CRM [Customer Relation Management] systems help sales staff increase their productivity by focusing sales efforts on the most profitable customers, those who are good candidates for sales and services. CRM systems provide sales prospect and contact information, product information, product configuration capabilities, and sales quote generation capabilities” (Laudon and Laudon 2006).

For what concerns the accounts and finance function, there are clear indications that many of its tasks have been computerised. “Large and medium-sized businesses are using ASPs [Application Service Providers] for enterprise systems, sales force automation, or financial management, and small businesses are using them for functions such as invoicing, tax calculations, electronic calendars, and accounting” (Laudon and Laudon 2006). Another form of automation in this context is presented by Sanghvi (2007) as he states that “online technologies have enabled payroll services to become a popular way for accounting firms to improve client service, enhance loyalty, and gain incremental business… Many small business owners turn to their accountant for back-office services while they focus on growing their businesses,” and this means that, through online systems, they can provide the external accountants with all the information needed in order to produce their legally accurate and acceptable financial documentation.

Concerning human resources management, there are certain computerised systems that are capable of performing the main parts of the process that are related to that function. Torres-Coronas and Arias-Oliva (2005) refer to what they define as e-recruiting; which consists of the “practices and activities carried on by the organization that utilizes a variety of electronic means to fill open positions effectively and efficiently. The e-recruiting process consists of the following iterative steps: identification of hiring needs; submission of job requisition; approval of the job requisition via a job database; job posting on the Internet; online search of the job database by job seekers, online pre-screening/online self-assessment; submission of applications by applicants directly into an applicant database; online search of the applicant database for candidate selection; online evaluation of resume/application; interviewing by recruiters/hiring managers; online pre-employment screening; and job offer and employment contract”

Another example of a computerised business function, which is auditing, is presented by Caster and Verardo (2007): “The increasing prevalence of complex computer information systems and electronic data interchanges has made most business transactions electronic in nature… Technological advances have altered not only the actual form of evidential matter required to be obtained by auditors, but also the competence of this evidence. Technology has had a significant impact on audit evidence, and existing auditing procedures could be improved in many ways.” The authors indicated that new technologically related regimes of audits have been created to automate the auditing process.

Laudon and Laudon (2006) explain that certain businesses took enormous steps towards the automation of the entire processes related to their core activity: “The management of UPS decided to use automation to increase the ease of sending a package using UPS and of checking its delivery status, thereby reducing delivery costs and increasing sales revenues The technology supporting this system consists of handheld computers, barcode scanners, wired and wireless communications networks, desktop computers, UPS’s central computer, storage technology for the package delivery data, UPS inhouse package tracking software, and software to access the World Wide Web.” The author indicates that the various processes of UPS have improved substantially thanks to the computerisation and inter-connectivity of their functions.

When we study the potentials of automation for what concerns business functions, it should be clearly stated that each function is a separate case with its own factors and qualities, which can allow or limit the possibilities of full computerisation of its different processes and tasks.

Dorf and Kusiak (1994) state that almost every aspect of the manufacturing process can be automated: “Most manufacturing operations can be automated. Given the large number of manufacturing processes and assembly operations used in industry (the number is in the thousands) and the many possible ways in which any given operation can be automated.” The authors give different examples of automated systems, such as the Automated Production Lines (which is “a production system consisting of a series of automated workstations connected by an automatic parts transfer mechanism”), Position and Motion Control Systems (which are required to position “a work head or tool relative to a work part to accomplish a process””), and the Industrial Robotics (which are “general-purpose programmable machine possessing certain anthropomorphic characteristics”).

When the other business functions are examined, we find that almost every single task within the realm of each function can be automated: Information concerning the major issues related to the business as a whole can be produced by computer systems on regular basis, and passed on to management for examination and study before reaching the right decisions in what concerns the survival and progress of their organisation. Accountancy and financial processes can be completely handled by intelligent systems that can, for example, calculate wages according to working hours, process payments to institutions and banks through electronic means over the Internet, can produce invoices and receipts to customers and suppliers, and can also manage shareholder’s issues. In the human resources function, information and requests can be effectuated electronically, but the final step, which is employees selection, cannot be performed by automated systems; because here the human factor and the human inter-activity is, and most probably will always be, the determining point. This is also valid for what concerns sales and marketing, the computerised system can perform all that is needed except the stages related to policy making and to physical delivery of products, as here the human factor is still required.

There are certain missing parts if the desired objective is to reach a total automated business; such parts can be overcome only if (or when) we manage to solve deep and important problems in what concerns artificial intelligence. Creating systems that can ‘think’ as humans and can perform tasks related to the human factor will not be a fast endeavour, as we are still in the beginning of what concerns understanding and imitating intelligence.

CONCLUSION

As mentioned earlier, most of the tasks that are related to virtually all business functions can be computerised and/or automated, but the most important element is still the human factor. At the present level of technology, we are unable to create a fully automated business and we cannot transform an existing business entirely into a computerised one. Some business functions, such as accountancy and information management can be fully automated, some other functions, such as human resources and sales and marketing, can be computerised to a very high level, while other functions, such as general management, cannot be automated.

Another reason, beside the technological limitations of the field of artificial intelligence today, is that people (whether customers or suppliers) are still not accustomed to dealing solely with machines.

Works Cited

Bailey, C. (1992) Truly Intelligent Computers. Coalition for Networked Information [online]. Available from: [cited 13 April 2007].

Caster, P. and Verardo, D. (2007) Technology Changes the Form and Competence of Audit Evidence. The CPA Journal, 77(1), pp. 68-70.

Clarke, R. and Anderson, P. (2001) Information, Organisation, and Technology: Studies in organisational Semiotics. Norwell, Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Dorf, R.C. Kusiak, A. (1994) Handbook of Design, Manufacturing and Automation. Hobokin, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lan, Y.C. and Unhelkar, B. (2005) Global Enterprise Transitions: Managing the Process. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing Inc.

Laudon, J. and Laudon, K. (2006) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm 10^th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Microsoft Encarta 2006. (2005) Automation. [CD-ROM]. Microsoft Corporation.

Plunkett, W. R. Attner, R. F. and Allen, G. (2005) Management: Meeting and Exceeding Customer Expectations. Mason, Ohio: Thomson South-Western – Publisher.

Ross, D. F. (2003) Distribution: Planning and Control 6^th ed. Norwell, Massachusetts: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Sanghvi, A. (2007) Improving Service Through Online Payroll. The CPA Journal, 77(3), pp. 11.

Torres-Coronas, T. and Arias-Oliva, M. (2005) e-Human Resources Management: Managing Knowledge People. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Are computers really intelligent?

Computer Intelligence has been in hot debate since the 1950’s when Alan Turing invented the Turing Test. The argument over the years has taken two forms: strong AI versus weak AI:. That is, strong AI hypothesises that some forms of artificial intelligence can truly reason and solve problems, with computers having an element of self-awareness, but not necessarily exhibiting human-like thought processes. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_AI). While Weak AI argues that computers can only appear to think and are not actually conscious in the same way as human brains are. (http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pom/pom_functionalism_AI.htm).

These areas of thinking cause fundamental questions to arise, such as:

‘Can a man-made artefact be conscious?’ and ‘What constitutes consciousness?’

Turing’s 1948 and 1950 papers followed the construction of universal logical computing machines, introducing the prospect that computers could be programmed to execute tasks which would be called intelligent when performed by humans.(Warner 1994: 118). Turing’s idea was to create an imitation-game on which to base the concept of a computer having its own intelligence. A man(A), and a woman (B), are separated from an interrogator, who has to decipher who is the man and who is the woman. A’s objective is to trick the interrogator, while B tries to help the interrogator in discovering the identities of the other two players.(Goldkind, 1987: 4). Turing asks the question:

‘What will happen when a machine takes the part of A in this game?’ Will the interrogator decide wrongly as often when the game is played like this as he does when the game is played between a man and a woman?’ (Quoted from Goldkind 1987: 4).

Turing’s test offered a simple means test for computer intelligence; one that neatly avoided dealing with the mind-body problem. (Millican, P.J.R., 1996: 11). The fact that Turing’s test did not introduce variables and was conducted in a controlled environment were just some of its shortfalls. Robert French, in his evaluation of the test in 1996, stated the following: ‘The philosophical claim translates elegantly into an operational definition of intelligence: whatever acts sufficiently intelligent is intelligent.’ However, as he perceived, the test failed to explore the fundamental areas of human cognition, and could be passed ‘only by things that have experienced the world as we have experienced it.’ He thus concluded that ‘the Test provides a guarantee not of intelligence but of culturally-oriented human intelligence.’ (Ibid : 12).

Turing postulated that a machine would one day be created to pass his test and would thus be considered intelligent. However, as years of research have explored the complexities of the human brain, the pioneer scientists who promoted the idea of the ‘electronic brain’ have had to re-scale their ideals to create machines which assist human activity rather than challenge or equal our intelligence.

John Searle, in his 1980 Chinese Room experiment argued that a computer could not be attributed with the intelligence of a human brain as the processes were too different. In an interview he describes his original experiment:

Just imagine that you’re the computer, and you’re carrying out the steps in a program for something you don’t understand. I don’t understand Chinese, so I imagine I’m locked in a room shuffling Chinese symbols according to a computer program, and I can give the right answers to the right questions in Chinese, but all the same, I don’t understand Chinese. All I’m doing is shuffling symbols. And now, and this is the crucial point: if I don’t understand Chinese on the basis of implementing the program for understanding Chinese, then neither does any other digital computer on that basis because no computer’s got anything I don’t have. (Free Inquiry 1998: 39).

John Searle does not believe that consciousness can be reproduced to an equivalent of the human capacity. Instead, it is the biological processes which are responsible for our unique make-up. He says that ‘consciousness is a biological phenomenon like any other and ultimately our understanding out it is most likely to come through biological investigation’ (Searle, 1990 :58-59. Quoted from McCarthy, 2001, http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/’). Considered this way it is indeed far fetched to think that the product of millions of years of biological adaptation can be equalled by the product of a few decades of human thinking. John McCarthy, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University advocates the potential for computational systems to reproduce a state of consciousness, viewing the latter as an ‘abstract phenomenon, currently best realized in biology,’ but arguing that consciousness can be realised by ‘causal systems of the right structure.’ (McCarthy, 2001, http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/ )

The famous defeat of Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion, in 1997 by IBM’s computer, Deep Blue, promoted a flurry of debate about whether Deep Blue could be considered as intelligent. When asked for his opinion, Herbert Simon, a Carnegie Mellon psychology professor who helped originate the fields of AI and computer chess in the 1950s, said it depended on the definition of intelligence used. AI uses two definitions for intelligence: “What are the tasks, which when done by humans, lead us to impute intelligence?” and “What are the processes humans use to act intelligently?”

Measured against the first definition, Simon says, Deep Blue “certainly is intelligent. (“http://whyfiles.org/040chess/main3.html). According to the second definition he claims it partly qualifies.(Ibid).

The trouble with the latter definition of intelligence is that scientists don’t as yet know exactly what mechanisms constitute consciousness. John McCarthy, Emeritus professor at Stanford University explains that intelligence is the ‘computational part of the ability to attain goals in the world.’ He emphasises that problems in AI arise as ‘we cannot yet characterise in general what computational procedures we want to call intelligent.’ (McCarthy 2003: 3). To date, computers can perform a good understanding of specific mechanisms through the running of certain programs; what McCarthy deems ‘somewhat intelligent.’ (McCarthy 2004: 3).

Computing language has made leaps and bounds during the last century, from the first machine code to mnemonic ’words’ In the 90’s the so-called high-level languages were the type used for programming, with Fortran being the first compiler language. Considering the rapid progress of computer technology since it first began over a hundred years ago, it is likely that unforeseeable developments will occur over the next decade. A simulation of the human imagination might go a long way to convincing people of computer intelligence.

However, many believe that it is unlikely that a machine will ever equal the intelligence of the being who created it. Arguably it is the way that computers process information and the speed with which they do it that constitutes its intelligence, thus causing computer performance to appear more impressive than it really is. Programs trace pathways at an amazing rate – for example, each move in a game of chess, or each section of a maze can be completed almost instantly. Yet the relatively simple process – of trying each potential path – fails to impress once it’s realised. (Reed, 2003: 09). Thus, the intelligence is not in the computer, but in the program.

For practical purposes, and certainly in the business world, the answer seems to be that if it seems to be intelligent, it doesn’t matter whether it really is. (Reed 2003: 09). However, computational research will have a difficult task to explore simulation of, or emulation of, the areas of human cognition. Research continues into the relationship between the mathematical descriptions of human thought and computer thought, hoping to create an identical form.(Wagman, M., 1991: 2). Yet the limits of computer intelligence are still very much at the surface of the technology. In contrast, the flexibility of the human imagination that creates the computer can have little or no limitations. What does this mean for computer intelligence? It means that scientists need to go beyond the mechanisms of the human psyche, and perhaps beyond programming, if they are to identify a type of machine consciousness that would correlate with that of a human..

References

Goldkind, J., 1987, Machines and Intelligence: A Critique of Arguments against the Possibility of Artificial Intelligence. New York: Greenwood Press Inquiry. Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism. Volume: 18. Issue: 4. . Page Number: 39+.

McCarthy, J., 2001, ‘What is Artificial Intelligence?’ Available online from:

‘http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/’

[Accessed 14/11/06]

Millican, P.J.R., 1996, The Legacy of Alan Turing. (Volume1). Oxford: Clarendon Press

Online Encyclopedia. Available online from:

‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_AI.’

[Accessed 17/11/06]

Reed, F., 2003, ‘Artificial Intellect Really Thinking?’. The Washington Times. May 1, 2003. p. B09

Wagman, M., 1991, Artificial Intelligence and Human Cognition: A Theoretical Intercomparison of Two Realms of Intellect. New York: Prager

Warner, J, 1994, From Writing to Computers. New York: Routledge

URL’S

‘http://www.philosophyonline.co.uk/pom/pom_functionalism_AI.htm’

[Accessed 17/11/06]

‘http://whyfiles.org/040chess/main3.html’

[Accessed 14/11/06]

Further Reading

DeLancey, C., 2002, Passionate Engines: What Emotions Reveal about Mind and Artificial Intelligence. New York: Oxford University Press

Wagman, M., 2000, Scientific Discovery Processes in Humans and Computers: Theory and Research in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence. Westport, CT: Praeger

1.0 Introduction

Nowadays, the global economic of the world is getting increase and improves. All of the countries, nations and citizens are developing in a fast growing trend. Now the manufacturing processes also have to improve to such a way that produce and manufacture a good quality product with lower costs. Therefore a term group technology has been introduced. Group technology actually refers to a kind of technique which classifies the manufacturing part (sometimes named as family part) according to the size, shape, process or length. Some companies may group in according to other criterion such as the product’s function as long as it makes the company’s works easier. Actually, this group technology really can help to reduce the production costs. This is because grouping the part together (group of the part can be known as family part) can help to save the transportation costs, time of production and all this consequently increase the productivity, therefore, group technology definitely will be very useful to many of us.

Actually people start using group technology since the 1920s. People start using group technology in manufacturing process during that moment. We are also able to see the example of group technology in our daily life. For example, when we go to the library in our school, all the book will be classify according to the faculty and the title of the books. This method is not only makes the works of the library staff easier but also enables the students or lecturer to find the books that they need easily.

During the past decades, people normally used group technology to reduce the cost of production in manufacturing process. However, now the situation has changed, group technology has now become an important strategy for most of the manufacturing processes. It is an important aspect to improve the productivity and cause the company to develop in a better way.

2.0 Method to develop family part

In order to use the concept of group technology, the companies have to think of the way to classify the group. The first step will be classifying the part of the products (family parts) according to two different attributes which will be based on the geometric characteristics and production process characteristics.

In geometric characteristics, the products will be classified according to the size, shape and length. However, if the products are being classified according to the operation process, then the machine used for production, method of processing and tools used to hold the products will all being take into consideration. This actually is a method to group the part based on their attributes. Therefore, the company should observe their own product and determine the best way to classify the products.

For example, for those company that actually own a factory that produce screw or bolt nut, the best method of classification will be geometric classification since the products may varies in shape and size. However, if the company is actually a health care company, and they are producing body shampoo, toothpaste and mouthwash then the better way to classify the product will be the operation processing classification. This is because the products produced are actually all the same in term of size and shape, but they may be varying in flavor and smell. This is causing the operation process to be different from each other.

Then, the next step will be determining the method to form part families. Normally, the company will use three different methods to form the part families. The methods include coding and classification, manual visual inspection and production flow analysis. Different product may have different method to form the part families. The company should find the best way to group them and obtain the best result.

2.1 Classification and coding

Classification is a process to group all the related parts into a group and sometimes can be known as part families. Wherease, coding is means that the part families are being assigned with a symbol. People will be able to obtain the information of the particular product based on the code. Each character of the code also carries the information of the previous character. This is the most effective and accurate method to classify group technology among these three methods.

Nowadays, there are almost more than 100 types of classification and coding are available in the world. Besides, the coding system may vary from one company to another company. Many company had hire some experts to improve the coding system but there is no any universal acceptance until now. Some of the people may think that coding is just a simple task and can be easily done. However, it is actually a very difficult complex problem. Many time and energy have to be spent in order to find the best coding system that suitable for the company.

As stated above, there are about 100 kind of coding system available in the world. However, all of the classification and the coding systems are actually can be grouped into three different kind. That will be Hierarchical (monocode), Attribute (polycode) and Hybrid (mixed code).

Hierarchical (monocode)

Hierarchical (monocode) is actually a coding system which the each character being used will need to depend on the meaning and carry along the information of the previous character. This kind of system also will show a tree structure pattern. The benefit of using this coding system will be the coding system is seem to be more apparent and all the information will be able to obtained based on the code itself. Hierarchical (monocode) is very useful in many ways especially when the products are differing in shape, size or other geometric characteristics.

Forming a good hierarchical system can be very difficult. However, there are some hints for those companies who wish to form hierarchical system. When forming the codes, the company should ask themselves some questions. The answers collected from the choices will enable them to form an effective coding system.

The benefits of this kind of coding system will be enables us to obtain many information within a single few digits code. Furthermore, this kind system makes some part of the part can bring along some useful abstracting information to the company. However, the disadvantage will be it is quite impossible to produce a perfect hierarchical system. The other disadvantage will be the existence of sub group can lead to many different sub-sub group, this cause some position having blank code.

The figure above is an example of hierarchical (monocode) system and we can see that there is some imperfection in this system due to there is some empty coding exists. There some researches being done in order to improve and increase the efficiency of this hierarchical system.

Attribute (Polycode)

The attribute code system sometimes can be known as polycode and chain code system. This code is different with the monocode in term of their digits. In this polycode system, the digits within the code are all carrying different information. Each digit represents each different attribute of the part.

The advantage of this attribute (polycode) system will be very easily understood. This is due to each character is independent from one another. The company can know the details exactly after they saw the code. Unlike hierarchical code, the character has to depend on the previous information. Therefore, only the users who are familiar with the process can read the exact details. But this kind of coding system also did show a very significant disadvantage. This will be the code formed will be very long and large.

The figure below will be an example of attribute code system. From this table, we can clearly see that each character actually represent different attitude of the products. For example, if we obtain a product with a code of ‘32123’ that it will represent that this product actually has the characteristics of, boxlike in external shape, center hole in internal shape, do not have any number of hole, the type of hole will be cross and the gear teeth is actually an external spur.

Digit

Class of feature

Possible value of digits

1

2

3

4

1

External shape

Cylindrical without deviation

Cylindrical with deviation

Boxlike

…

2

Internal shape

None

Center hole

Brind center hole

…

3

Number of holes

0

1-2

3-5

…

4

Type of holes

Axial

Cross

Axial cross

…

5

Gear teeth

Worm

Internal spur

External spur

…

…

..

…

…

…

…

Hybrid (mixed code)

The final category of coding system will be the hybrid (mixed code). This is a kind of code system which most of the company prefer. This system combines the advantage from the Hierarchical (monocode) and Attribute (polycode) system. People may define this is an advanced system code. The example of this code will be ‘A12131B120’. The first alphabet ‘A’ is actually represents the type of part such as gear or screw. The next 5 digit used to represent the attribute of the part. Then the ‘B’ in the code above represents another subgroup such as the material or design. The following digit will be explaining the attitude of the subgroup stated. This clearly shows that this system did rely on the precious digit but also have some digit are independent which are able to show the attribute by itself.

Actually there are also some organizations and company use a special kind of hybrid (mixed code) system. They are known as DCLASS or MICLASS code and contain up to 8-12 digits in a particular code. However, there is only some specific organizations such as (The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research) are using this special kind of hybrid (mixed) code system.

Manual visual inspection

Manual visual inspection will be one of the methods used to classify part families. Actually, this method is not accurate enough compared to coding and production flow analysis. This method is actually classifying the products based on the physical appearance. Sometimes, there will be some companies or organizations are classifying the products only based on the photograph and arrange them based on their feature. Therefore, we can conclude that this is one of the most inaccurate methods of grouping part families.

However, there are actually some organizations are suitable to use this kind of coding system for their group technology. There is one company in United State successfully save their company from being backrub by using this manual visual inspection to classify their group technology. Actually, all of the method will be effective as long as it is suitable for the production of the company.

Production flow analysis

The other method to determine the part families will be the production flow analysis. This kind of classification system will mainly focus on the production process. The products that need to be manufactured by the same working process will be classified as a part families and then being processed by using a single kind of machines. The machines that used to manufacture part families are known as cells. Cellular manufacturing is referring to the manufacturing process when the part families are being manufacture by cell machine. The advantage will be this production flow analysis system need less effort compared to coding and classification system.

When classifying products by using this system, we need to form a matrix. This matrix actually did bring along some special meaning. This actually is a machine-component chart and it is also a M * N matrix where M = number of machines and N = number of parts. The 2 figures below show the production flow analysis. The grouping will be based on the operation process and find the optimum solution for it. For example, there is a duplicate D in production flow analysis. This is because machine D need to produce too many parts. If only single machine to be used, group 1 and group 2 have to be combined but they have too many dissimilar routings,

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

A

1

1

B

1

1

1

C

1

1

1

1

1

1

D

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

E

1

1

F

1

1

1

1

G

1

1

1

1

1

H

1

1

1

1

I

1

1

1

1

1

J

1

1

K

1

1

Figure above is the component machine chart

2

11

1

10

16

18

12

6

3

4

7

8

9

14

15

19

5

13

17

H

1

1

1

1

D

1

1

1

1

1

(Group1)

F

1

1

1

1

A

1

1

B

1

1

1

E

1

1

D

(Group 2)

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

C

1

1

1

1

1

1

I

1

1

1

1

1

G

1

1

1

1

1

J

(Group 3)

1

1

K

1

1

Figure above is the production flow analysis

3.0 Flow Chart in forming group technology

Group Technology

Advantages and disadvantages of group technology

Group technology will play an important role in the future production plants although now it still does not achieve the widespread application. Using group technology strategy is definitely beneficial to all of us. This strategy is not only beneficial to the company but also beneficial to the citizen or users.

The advantages of group technology toward the manufacturing process will be the production process can be improved. For example, the part control can become tighter, the physical layout of the machine group can be improved and the ordering tied toward the production also can be improved when group technology is being used. The other advantage will be a more systematic design and redesign can be produced. This will consequently lead to reducing on the planning time of the process and the setup time. The other advantage toward the manufacturing process will be the purchasing cost of the material can be reduced due to the materials are purchase in a very large quantity. This can also improve the accuracy of cost estimation of a certain companies or organizations. All these will definitely bring to an improvement toward the company and causes company or organizations to develop faster.

The improvement also can be clear seen on the product itself when group technology is being used. We can clearly see the quality of the products being improved. This is because the number of completely new design can be reduced and this causes the workers more familiar with the part. This leads to a production of better quality products.

The advantage that brings to the customer or users is the cost of the product is reduced when group technology being introduced. This is because the transportation fee to tr