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Application Development for the Distributed Enterprise (ADDE) is a methodological set that supports design of distributed business processes and ICT systems. ADDE provides a guide, a repository and supporting software tools, an underlying meta‐model, based on UML, that may be used in developing further software tools, or adapting existing tools to work with the ADDE repository. The main principles that have driven the authors’ approach to distributed system design are presented. These principles are the focus on distribution issues, the separation of organisational and technical issues, the emphasis on the design process as a decision process, the notion of technological services and the method independence of the guidance. Following this, the guidance on the definition and planning of the application development will be introduced. A presentation of the guidance on distributed application design, as well as the concepts of macro and micro decisions follows. Finally, the future work of the ADDE project will be outlined.

In this paper, two omni‐directional mobile vehicles are designed and controlled implementing distributed mechatronics controllers. Omni‐directionality is the ability of mobile vehicle to move instantaneously in any direction. It is achieved by implementing Mecanum wheels in one vehicle and conventional wheels in another vehicle. The control requirements for omni‐directionality using the two above‐mentioned methods are that each wheel must be independently driven, and that all the four wheels must be synchronized in order to achieve the desired motion of each vehicle.

Distributed mechatronics controllers implementing Controller Area Network (CAN) modules are used to satisfy the control requirements of the vehicles. In distributed control architectures, failures in other parts of the control system can be compensated by other parts of the system. Three‐layered control architecture is implemented for; time‐critical tasks, event‐based tasks, and task planning. Global variables and broadcast communication is used on CAN bus. Messages are accepted in individual distributed controller modules by subscription.

Increase in the number of distributed modules increases the number of CAN bus messages required to achieve smooth working of the vehicles. This requires development of higher layer to manage the messages on the CAN bus.

The limitation of the research is that analysis of the distributed controllers that were developed is complex, and that there are no universally accepted tool for conducting the analysis. The other limitation is that teh mathematical models of the mobile robot that have been developed need to be verified.

In the design of omni‐directional vehicles, reliability of the vehicle can be improved by modular design of mechanical system and electronic system of the wheel modules and the sensor modules.

The paper tries to show the advantages of distributed controller for omni‐directional vehicles. To the author's knowledge, that is a new concept.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the optimization model of designs for sparse distributed pile foundation based on multi‐goals fuzzy optimization theory, to promote the application of the optimization model into project.

In the designing of sparse distributed pile foundation, there are many feasible design schemes, the selection of designs is a decision making of multi‐goals and factors. Owing to uncertain and imprecise environment in which the designing of sparse distributed pile foundation exists, the theories of fuzzy optimization are chosen as mathematical framework to optimize the design schemes.

Since relative optimal degree is used to judge, the optional result of using fuzzy optimization theories in sparse pile foundation design selection is more rational according to a site project.

The availability of data and precision of index weight selection are the main limitations as to which model will be applied.

A very useful optimal method for the sparse pile foundation design selection.

The new approach of optimal selection for sparse pile foundation design due to fuzzy optimization theories.

Presents a multi‐agent system (MAS) for collaborative design in the construction sector. The system is intended to form a basis for integrating the often distributed cross‐functional activities that characterise collaborative design in construction. The MAS supports interaction and negotiation between the different agents that represent various participants that are usually engaged in a typical collaborative project design. The system is composed of different agents that provide services within the MAS environment. While some of the support services are provided by the agent platform, task agents that represent various functional disciplines undertake the real design activities. Describes details of the MAS, which simulates and demonstrates peer‐to‐peer interaction, communication and negotiation between the design agents in a collaborative design space. Also highlights important issues in MAS development and makes recommendations on how to improve collaborative design in construction using the MAS paradigm.

The purpose of this research is to develop a prototype of agent‐based intelligent workflow system for product design collaboration in a distributed network environment.

This research separates the collaborative workflow enactment mechanisms from the collaborative workflow building tools for flexible workflow management. Applying the XML/RDF (resource description framework) ontology schema, workflow logic is described in a standard representation. Lastly, a case study in collaborative system‐on‐chip (SoC) design is depicted to demonstrate the agent‐based workflow system for the design collaboration on the web.

Agent technology can overcome the difficulty of interoperability in cross‐platform, distributed environment with standard RDF data schema. Control and update of workflow functions become flexible and versatile by simply modifying agent reasoning and behaviors.

When business partners want to collaborate, how to integrate agents in different workflows becomes a critical issues.

Agent technology can facilitate design cooperation and teamwork communication in a collaborative, transparent product development environment.

This research establishes generalized flow logic RDF models and an agent‐based intelligent workflow management system, called AWfMS, based on the RDF schema of workflow definition. AWfMS minimizes barriers in the distributed design process and hence increases design cooperations among partners.

This paper aims to investigate the distributed formation control problem for a multi-quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle system without linear velocity feedbacks.

A nonlinear controller is proposed based on the orthogonal group SE(3) to obviate singularities and ambiguities of the traditional parameterized attitude representations. A cascade structure is applied in the distributed controller design. The inner loop is responsible for attitude control, and the outer loop is responsible for translational dynamics. To ensure a linear-velocity-free characteristic, some auxiliary variables are introduced to construct virtual signals in distributed controller design. The stability analysis of the proposed distributed control method by the Lyapunov function is provided as well.

A group of four quadrotors with constant reference linear velocity and a group of six quadrotors with varying reference linear velocity are adopted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

This is a new innovation for multi-robot formation control method to improve assembly automation.

Introduces a way to design geographically distributed virtual prototyping, a new Internet technology, in order to facilitate designer‐customer communication in the product development of small electronic devices, such as mobile telephones. First, we will present our research in the concept design domain with a set of requirements focusing on communication between the designer and the customer. Second, a technique called “smart virtual prototyping” will be presented to elaborate on the virtual prototyping techniques to be used over the World Wide Web. Third, we will present the main ideas, architecture and selected software techniques of WebShaman, which is an application built to demonstrate how a distributed virtual prototyping system could support geographically distant designer‐customer communication. Finally, we discuss the possible impact of the distributed virtual prototyping approach on the WWW community.

This paper reviews the changing nature of construction design and the potential for e‐procurement to respond to these changes. With the emphasis shifting from supply‐driven to demand‐driven product design the trading relationships within the industry must become more complex. This paper hypothesizes an electronic market in design and supply capability to exploit distributed design knowledge within the supply chain. In their current form, e‐commerce and brokering systems are too immature to support such relationships, but many elements of a technical solution are available. However, how they will reshape working practices is uncertain and this poses architectural and human organization problems for information systems (IS) developers. They must anticipate and address changes in working practices across a whole group of industries competing within a complex market place. We postulate a development approach that uses simulation models supported by soft systems methods to explore these process re‐engineering options and human issues. The simulation of new business processes, combined with prototype IS designs, offers a powerful mechanism for evaluating the effects of proposed architectures for “design transactions” in e‐procurement. The open learning that occurs in simulation experiments is also a key element in helping the management of the individual organizations in understanding how to shape their particular contribution to the new collaborative process. A major barrier to enhancing construction industry performance in this way is the defensive nature of existing contracts and lack of trust between parties; we therefore propose the use of COLA process in parallel with the simulation work to engender trust and improved working relationships between the collaborating organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to chronicle new user experience (UX) design approaches being pioneered in an international, multi‐institution, multi‐sector, cross‐project initiative called the Fluid Project, covering the strengths and shortcomings of these approaches and the lessons learned about design and development in distributed communities.

Open source and community source software development projects have not fulfilled their promise of innovation and natively optimized tools and applications in large part due to a lack of integrated UX design and development processes. Fluid has developed a UX approach that aims to address the need to accommodate the huge diversity of users and contexts in academic communities as well as the critical need to improve the user experience.

It has been found that the Fluid approach challenges common or traditional notions integral to teaching in higher education, software design, user interaction design methods, usability research and accessibility strategies. It proposes greater individual control over the UX than most users may be ready to assume despite obvious benefits. An unexpected UX challenge is creating tools and applications that prompt and support users in configuring their systems to their personal needs and contexts.

Fluid has designed and prototyped new UX design methods, pedagogical practices, and usability and accessibility approaches to suit the context of distributed academic communities and open source development, while at the same time producing a UX system of benefit to the mashup or integration of any set of disparate tools.