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1 – 10 of over 36000
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2007

Phillip L. Hunsaker

The purpose of this paper is to describe two social simulations created to assess leadership potential and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. One…

2812

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe two social simulations created to assess leadership potential and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. One is set in the novel environment of a lunar moon colony and the other is a military combat command. The research generated from these simulations for assessing the decision effectiveness of potential leaders with different personality traits and decision styles under varying degrees of information quantity, uncertainty and complexity is summarized. Opportunities and limitations of applying current computer assisted technology to social simulations for assessing and developing leaders' decision effectiveness in turbulent environments is discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

College undergraduates and officer candidates in university ROTC programs made a series of decisions while being subjected to varying degrees of environmental turbulence in social simulations. The decision effectiveness of subjects with different personality characteristics under varying degrees of environmental turbulence was assessed through researcher observations, self‐reports, and peer ratings.

Findings

Social simulations are a cost effective way to assess and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. The results of controlled experiments in social simulations have suggested that leaders with high levels of cognitive complexity and incongruity adaptation are more likely to be successful in highly turbulent environments than leaders with lower levels of incongruity adaptation ability and cognitive complexity who are more effective in more stable and structured situations.

Research limitations/implications

The ease of modifying computer games renders them effective as low‐cost virtual worlds that have relevance in military leadership experimentation. However, the use of computer simulations alone fails to capture the impact that relationships and emotions have on leader decision making, highlighting the continuing need for social simulations that include these interpersonal aspects of decision making.

Practical implications

By participating in realistic social simulations, leaders can experiment with new decision styles without the risk of making real world mistakes that could jeopardize their own and their organization's future. The leaders who are most successful in adapting their decision style to the more complex requirements can be identified for promotion or assignment to appropriate settings.

Originality/value

Both military and civilian organizations are in need of cost effective way to assess and train leaders to make effective decisions in turbulent environments. Social simulations provide a unique approach to meeting these needs and can simultaneously provide a venue for research in associated areas.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 March 2023

Rafael Diaz and Ali Ardalan

Motivated by recent research indicating that the operational performance of an enterprise can be enhanced by building a supporting data-driven environment in which to operate…

Abstract

Purpose

Motivated by recent research indicating that the operational performance of an enterprise can be enhanced by building a supporting data-driven environment in which to operate, this paper presents a simulation framework that enables an examination of the effects of applying smart manufacturing principles to conventional production systems, intending to transition to digital platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

To investigate the extent to which conventional production systems can be transformed into novel data-driven environments, the well-known constant work-in-process (CONWIP) production systems and considered production sequencing assignments in flowshops were studied. As a result, a novel data-driven priority heuristic, Net-CONWIP was designed and studied, based on the ability to collect real-time information about customer demand and work-in-process inventory, which was applied as part of a distributed and decentralised production sequencing analysis. Application of heuristics like the Net-CONWIP is only possible through the ability to collect and use real-time data offered by a data-driven system. A four-stage application framework to assist practitioners in applying the proposed model was created.

Findings

To assess the robustness of the Net-CONWIP heuristic under the simultaneous effects of different levels of demand, its different levels of variability and the presence of bottlenecks, the performance of Net-CONWIP with conventional CONWIP systems that use first come, first served priority rule was compared. The results show that the Net-CONWIP priority rule significantly reduced customer wait time in all cases relative to FCFS.

Originality/value

Previous research suggests there is considerable value in creating data-driven environments. This study provides a simulation framework that guides the construction of a digital transformation environment. The suggested framework facilitates the inclusion and analysis of relevant smart manufacturing principles in production systems and enables the design and testing of new heuristics that employ real-time data to improve operational performance. An approach that can guide the structuring of data-driven environments in production systems is currently lacking. This paper bridges this gap by proposing a framework to facilitate the design of digital transformation activities, explore their impact on production systems and improve their operational performance.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 123 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2013

Luis Emmi, Leonel Paredes‐Madrid, Angela Ribeiro, Gonzalo Pajares and Pablo Gonzalez‐de‐Santos

The purpose of this paper is to propose going one step further in the simulation tools related to agriculture by integrating fleets of mobile robots for the execution of precision…

1545

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose going one step further in the simulation tools related to agriculture by integrating fleets of mobile robots for the execution of precision agriculture techniques. The proposed new simulation environment allows the user to define different mobiles robots and agricultural implements.

Design/methodology/approach

With this computational tool, the crop field, the fleet of robots and the different sensors and actuators that are incorporated into each robot can be configured by means of two interfaces: a configuration interface and a graphical interface, which interact with each other.

Findings

The system presented in this article unifies two very different areas – robotics and agriculture – to study and evaluate the implementation of precision agriculture techniques in a 3D virtual world. The simulation environment allows the users to represent realistic characteristics from a defined location and to model different variabilities that may affect the task performance accuracy of the fleet of robots.

Originality/value

This simulation environment, the first in incorporating fleets of heterogeneous mobile robots, provides realistic 3D simulations and videos, which grant a good representation and a better understanding of the robot labor in agricultural activities for researchers and engineers from different areas, who could be involved in the design and application of precision agriculture techniques. The environment is available at the internet, which is an added value for its expansion in the agriculture/robotics family.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 40 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 February 2013

Tine Köhler, Iris Fischlmayr, Timo Lainema and Eeli Saarinen

VIBu – Virtual Teams in International Business – is the name of a training concept, which is aimed at familiarizing participants with collaborating in a virtual environment. Based…

Abstract

VIBu – Virtual Teams in International Business – is the name of a training concept, which is aimed at familiarizing participants with collaborating in a virtual environment. Based on the online business simulation RealGame™, participants are assigned to multicultural virtual teams that represent different companies. These companies are either competing with or depending on each other in typical business processes of an internationally operating manufacturing company. Interaction and negotiation are required throughout the whole simulation. All communication takes place via information and communication technology, mainly Skype and Skype chat. The main challenge in the environment is that participants are located in different countries and time zones all over the world. The book chapter first outlines some of the challenges of global teamwork that organizations face. We argue that students need to learn how to navigate in global teams before they leave university as they are bound to become involved in organizational global teamwork sooner rather than later. We draw on frameworks for experiential learning (e.g., Kolb's learning model, Kolb, 1984) and the constructivist learning paradigm (Lainema, 2009) to outline the learning experiences that students need to gather in order to become effective global team members. In addition, we highlight the potential for learner engagement that this approach offers. The chapter concludes by highlighting the key learning and teaching outcomes from incorporating this cutting-edge simulation technology. Furthermore, we direct the reader's attention to ways in which the simulation can be used for research purposes, international inter-university collaborations, and multidisciplinary research on teaching practices and engaged learning.

Details

Increasing Student Engagement and Retention Using Classroom Technologies: Classroom Response Systems and Mediated Discourse Technologies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-512-8

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2010

Tao Zhang, Yi Zhu and Jingyan Song

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the local minima issue encountered in motion planning by the artificial potential field (APF) method, investigate the currently existing…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the local minima issue encountered in motion planning by the artificial potential field (APF) method, investigate the currently existing approaches and analyze four types of previous methods. Based on the conclusions of analysis, this paper presents an improved wall‐following approach for real‐time application in mobile robots.

Design/methodology/approach

In the proposed method, new switching conditions among various behaviors are reasonably designed in order to guarantee the reliability and the generality of the method. In addition, path memory is incorporated in this method to enhance the robot's cognition capability to the environment. Therefore, the new method greatly weakens the blindness of decision making of robot and it is very helpful to select appropriate behaviors facing to the changeable situation. Comparing with the previous methods which are normally considering specific obstacles, the effectiveness of this proposed method for the environment with convex polygon‐shaped obstacles has been theoretically proved. The simulation and experimental results further demonstrate that the proposed method is adaptable for the environment with convex polygon‐shaped obstacles or non‐convex polygon‐shaped obstacles. It has more widely generality and adaptiveness than other existed methods in complicated unknown environment.

Findings

The proposed method can effectively realize real time motion planning with high reliability and generality. The cognition capability of mobile robot to the environment can be improved in order to adapt to the changeable situation. The proposed method can be suitable to more complex unknown environment. It is more applicable for actual environment comparing with other traditional APF methods.

Originality/value

This paper has widely investigated the currently existed approaches and analyzes deeply on four types of traditional APF methods adopted for real time motion planning in unknown environment with simulation works. Based on the conclusions of analysis, this paper presents an improved wall‐following approach. The proposed method can realize real time motion planning considering more complex environment with high reliability and generality. The simulation and experimental results further demonstrate that the proposed method is adaptable for the environment with convex polygon‐shaped obstacles or non‐convex polygon‐shaped obstacles. It has more widely generality and adaptiveness than other existed methods in complicated unknown environment.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2021

Wenchi Shou, Jun Wang and Peng Wu

Simulation has attracted increasing attention in lean production research as a response to address the complexities of the production environment and difficulties of dealing with…

Abstract

Purpose

Simulation has attracted increasing attention in lean production research as a response to address the complexities of the production environment and difficulties of dealing with changes within a system. Considerable growth of using simulation to facilitate lean acceptance and implementation has been observed across different projects and sectors. However, a thorough review of the development and use of simulation in lean production research is limited.

Design/methodology/approach

This study aims to address this gap by reviewing 311 journal papers published in the past two decades on this specific research area and identify the state-of-the-art development and propose future research directions.

Findings

The review shows that current studies related to simulation in lean production research can be categorised into two major research streams, namely, simulation assisted lean facilitation and evaluation, and simulation-based lean education and training. Under the first research stream, a total of 19 application areas have been identified which applied both lean and simulation in their studies. The evolution of the simulation techniques used in these studies has been analysed as well. Meanwhile, four types of simulation games have been identified in the stream of simulation-based lean education and training and the impact and applicability of the different simulation and games have been discussed. A framework for engaging lean and simulation is suggested based on the review of the existing studies. The analysis in both streams also highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement and the utilisation of information technologies for future studies.

Practical implications

The findings of this study are expected to provide useful references for the future development and application of simulation in lean production research.

Originality/value

This paper conducted a broad and extensive review of simulation integrated lean production research. An in-depth examination of the retrieved papers was conducted through a structured and quantitative analysis to understand the current body of knowledge.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 28 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2010

Agus Budiyono, Idris E. Putro, K. Yoon, Gilar B. Raharja and G.B. Kim

The purpose of this paper is to develop a real‐time simulation environment for the validation of controller for an autonomous small‐scale helicopter.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a real‐time simulation environment for the validation of controller for an autonomous small‐scale helicopter.

Design/methodology/approach

The real‐time simulation platform is developed based on the nonlinear model of a series of small‐scale helicopters. Dynamics of small‐scale helicopter is analyzed through simulation. The controller is designed based on the extracted linear model.

Findings

The model‐based linear controller can be effectively designed and tested using real‐time simulation platform. The hover controller is demonstrated to be robust against wind disturbance.

Research limitations/implications

To use the real‐time simulation environment to test and validate controllers for small‐scale helicopters, basic helicopter parameters need to be measured, calculated or estimated.

Practical implications

The real‐time simulation environment can be used generically to test and validate controllers for small‐scale helicopters.

Originality/value

The paper presents the design and development of a low‐cost hardware in the loop simulation environment using xPC target critical for validating controllers for small‐scale helicopters.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 82 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2023

Weiwen Mu, Wenbai Chen, Huaidong Zhou, Naijun Liu, Haobin Shi and Jingchen Li

This paper aim to solve the problem of low assembly success rate for 3c assembly lines designed based on classical control algorithms due to inevitable random disturbances and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aim to solve the problem of low assembly success rate for 3c assembly lines designed based on classical control algorithms due to inevitable random disturbances and other factors,by incorporating intelligent algorithms into the assembly line, the assembly process can be extended to uncertain assembly scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

This work proposes a reinforcement learning framework based on digital twins. First, the authors used Unity3D to build a simulation environment that matches the real scene and achieved data synchronization between the real environment and the simulation environment through the robot operating system. Then, the authors trained the reinforcement learning model in the simulation environment. Finally, by creating a digital twin environment, the authors transferred the skill learned from the simulation to the real environment and achieved stable algorithm deployment in real-world scenarios.

Findings

In this work, the authors have completed the transfer of skill-learning algorithms from virtual to real environments by establishing a digital twin environment. On the one hand, the experiment proves the progressiveness of the algorithm and the feasibility of the application of digital twins in reinforcement learning transfer. On the other hand, the experimental results also provide reference for the application of digital twins in 3C assembly scenarios.

Originality/value

In this work, the authors designed a new encoder structure in the simulation environment to encode image information, which improved the model’s perception of the environment. At the same time, the authors used the fixed strategy combined with the reinforcement learning strategy to learn skills, which improved the rate of convergence and stability of skills learning. Finally, the authors transferred the learned skills to the physical platform through digital twin technology and realized the safe operation of the flexible printed circuit assembly task.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 July 2019

Zhizhou Wu, Yiming Zhang, Guishan Tan and Jia Hu

Traffic density is one of the most important parameters to consider in the traffic operation field. Owing to limited data sources, traditional methods cannot extract traffic…

1386

Abstract

Purpose

Traffic density is one of the most important parameters to consider in the traffic operation field. Owing to limited data sources, traditional methods cannot extract traffic density directly. In the vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) environment, the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) interaction technologies create better conditions for collecting the whole time-space and refined traffic data, which provides a new approach to solving this problem.

Design/methodology/approach

On that basis, a real-time traffic density extraction method has been proposed, including lane density, segment density and network density. Meanwhile, using SUMO and OMNet++ as traffic simulator and network simulator, respectively, the Veins framework as middleware and the two-way coupling VANET simulation platform was constructed.

Findings

Based on the simulation platform, a simulated intersection in Shanghai was developed to investigate the adaptability of the model.

Originality/value

Most research studies use separate simulation methods, importing trace data obtained by using from the simulation software to the communication simulation software. In this paper, the tight coupling simulation method is applied. Using real-time data and history data, the research focuses on the establishment and validation of the traffic density extraction model.

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2010

Marcelo Cunha de Azambuja, Carlos Fernando Jung, Carla Schwengber ten Caten and Fabiano Passuelo Hessel

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an analytical and experimental research for the development of an innovative product designated RFID environment (RFID‐Env)…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an analytical and experimental research for the development of an innovative product designated RFID environment (RFID‐Env). This software is designed for the use of professionals in computer systems and plant engineering who are engaged in research and development (R&D) of ultra high frequency (UHF) passive radio frequency identification (RFID) systems as applied to the management and operation of logistic supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

The RFID‐Env makes it possible to simulate on computer screens a complete RFID‐Env by processing user data on the technical and physical characteristics of real or virtual RFID‐Envs. Information outputted can include descriptions of the performance to be expected from a given configuration and detailed reports as to whether that particular configuration will succeed in reading all the RFID tags flowing through a defined system.

Findings

The paper shows the models and methods on how these simulations can be performed, and this is the major scientific contribution of this work, i.e. what are the logical and physical models that enable the development of software simulators for RFID‐Envs.

Research limitations/implications

This work will be continued to introduce more consideration of the physical environment, such as the interferences produced by the tagged products themselves by scattering the radio frequency (RF) signals, and the models, positioning and focusing of the antennas. New RF prediction models shall be created along the continuation of this paper, with the purpose to rise the amount of environments that can be simulated.

Practical implications

The product is intended for use by developers in computer sciences, and by engineers doing R&D for the solution of RFID problems, and makes it possible to simulate a complete range of virtual RFID‐Envs so that R&D can proceed in a non‐factory atmosphere.

Originality/value

There are only a few related papers that consider in an isolated form some of the problems approached here, but it was not found models that proposed as an integrated form all the processing to an RFID‐Env simulation like here presented.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 16 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

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