Deployment Process Research Articles

Co-Design to Enable User-Friendly Tools to Assess the Impact of Future Mobility Solutions

The design of future mobility solutions and the design of the mobility systems they enable are closely coupled. Indeed, knowledge about the intended service of novel mobility solutions would impact their design and deployment process, whilst insights about their technological development could significantly affect transportation management policies. This requires tools to study such a coupling and co-design mobility systems in terms of different objectives. We present a framework to address such co-design problems, leveraging a mathematical theory of co-design to frame and solve the problem of designing and deploying an intermodal mobility system, whereby autonomous vehicles service travel demands jointly with micromobility solutions and public transit, in terms of fleets sizing, vehicle characteristics, and public transit service frequency. Our framework is modular and compositional, allowing one to describe the design as the interconnection of simple components and to tackle it from a systemic perspective. Moreover, it requires general monotonicity assumptions and naturally handles multiple objectives, delivering rational, actionable solutions for policy makers. We showcase our methodology in a case study of Washington D.C., USA. Our work suggests the possibility to create user-friendly optimization tools to systematically assess costs and benefits of interventions, and to inform policy-making in the future.

A Clinician’s Guide to Running Custom Machine-Learning Models in an Electronic Health Record Environment

We recently brought an internally developed machine-learning model for predicting which patients in the emergency department would require hospital admission into the live electronic health record environment. Doing so involved navigating several engineering challenges that required the expertise of multiple parties across our institution. Our team of physician data scientists developed, validated, and implemented the model. We recognize a broad interest and need to adopt machine-learning models into clinical practice and seek to share our experience to enable other clinician-led initiatives. This Brief Report covers the entire model deployment process, starting once a team has trained and validated a model they wish to deploy in live clinical operations.

Deployment of thick-panel kirigami with dynamic model

Origami- and kirigami-inspired thick-panel deployable structures are wildly used in diverse engineering applications. It is important to study their motion behaviors to accomplish the deployment process. Several kinematic-based methods have been proposed to address this issue, and thick-panel kirigami belongs to one of them. However, the kinematic-based method does not include panel mass, applied force, and energy of system, which cannot reflect the actual movement. In this paper, we propose a dynamic model based on constrained multibody systems that can analyze the complete deployment process of thick-panel kirigami structures. Since the kirigami structure may have bifurcation behavior in the fully deployed configuration, contact-impact process and rebound motion are considered in this model. The versatility of the proposed method is verified through numerically computed kirigami cases with different symmetric characteristics. Physical prototypes and experiments are carried out, which successfully validate our model. The results indicate that the complete deployment process is complex when these nonlinear aspects are involved. Though this paper considers only kirigami structures, the findings can be developed in the other thick-panel origami and kirigami concepts of practical engineering applications in the future.

A Dynamic Adaptive Bio-Inspired Multi-Agent System for Healthcare Task Deployment

The use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare is increasing significantly, bringing high-quality health services, but it still generates massive data with massive energy consumption. Due to the limited resources of fog servers and their impact on limiting the time needed for health data analysis tasks, the need to handle this problem in a fast way has become a necessity. To address this issue, many optimization and IoT-based approaches have been proposed. In this paper, a dynamic and adaptive healthcare service deployment controller using hybrid bio-inspired multi-agents is proposed. This method offers optimal energy costs and maintains the highest possible performance for fog cloud computing. At first, IGWO (Improved Grey Wolf Optimization) is used to initialize the deployment process using the nearest available fog servers. Then, an efficient energy-saving task deployment was achieved through Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to reduce energy consumption, increase rewards across multiple fog servers, and improve task deployment. Finally, to ensure continuous control of underloaded and overloaded servers, the neighborhood multi-agent coordination model is developed to manage healthcare services between the fog servers. The developed approach is implemented in the iFogSim simulator and various evaluation metrics are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested approach. The simulation outcome proved that the suggested technique provides has better performance than other existing approaches.

Edge intelligence-driven digital twin of CNC system: Architecture and deployment

• Propose a theoretical modeling approach based on the hierarchical structure of CNC systems. • Proposes an edge intelligence-driven digital twin architecture for CNC system. • Proposes a generic digital twin modeling method. • Proposes a novel task partitioning method to improve system throughput. • Proposes an adaptive model selection algorithm . In recent years, digital twin (DT) technology has gradually become the primary way to achieve the intelligence of CNC systems. However, with the development of next-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and its wide application in CNC systems, the limitation of computing power and network resources has become one of the urgent problems that must be solved by the DT of CNC systems. To address these problems, a theoretical modeling method for CNC systems based on its hierarchical structure is proposed first, and the edge intelligence (EI) technology is introduced to support the deployment of DT models. Meanwhile, a model partitioning method and a model selection algorithm are proposed to support real-time model response in the model deployment process. In addition, an application case of EI-driven DT of CNC system is given to diagnose and predict the tool wear during machining processes.

Robust adaptive control for rotational deployment of an underactuated tethered satellite system

This paper proposed a novel underactuated control scheme to deal with the rotational deployment of a dual-body tethered satellite system without using tangential force acting on the tether. To describe the spin motion of the system during tether deployment, the parent satellite is modeled as a rigid body. An underactuated robust control framework is developed to govern the rotational deployment of the system in the presence of disturbances and model uncertainty. The adaptation update laws are designed to adjust the gain of the robust term of the controller, thereby improving the anti-interference ability of the system to cope with the perturbations stimulated by the spinning of the parent satellite. The underactuated rotational deployment controller theoretically guarantees the stability of motion of the entire system, that is, the uniformly ultimate boundness of the closed-loop control system can be strictly proven using Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulations are performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. • The rotational deployment strategy for a tethered satellite system considering the spin motion of the parent satellite is investigated. • The underactuated methodology governs the deployment process without resorting to tangential forces. • An adaptive-gain based robust controller improves the anti-interference ability in the presence of periodic perturbations, model uncertainty and disturbances.

Parameter Analysis and Experiment Validation of Deployment Characteristics of a Rectangular Tether-Net

Tether-nets in space applications are flexible capture systems for removing space debris. A new, low-mass, rectangular tether-net deployed by ten towing blocks is proposed in this paper for the purpose of capturing the main body of satellites. The dynamic model of a rectangular tether-net during the deployment process was established. The accuracy of the simulation model was validated by comparing it with on-ground experiments. In addition, the influence of towing block mass and launch speed on the maximum deployment area and the deployment lengths of the long side and short side of the rectangular tether-net were systematically analyzed. The results show that the tether-net configuration and launch distance of the simulations were consistent with those of the experiments, demonstrating the good accuracy of the simulation model. Moreover, with the increase in towing block mass, the maximum deployment area and deployment lengths of both sides of the rectangular tether-net showed a gradually increasing tendence, while the recoil impulse and structural weight increased. When the launch speed of the towing blocks increased, the maximum deployment area and deployment lengths increased significantly and further caused the extension of the shape-preserving distance.

Methodological aspects of designing new settlements (national practice of the XX - beginning of the XXI centuries)

The article is devoted to the synthesis of methodological experience in the design of new settlements and cities in the twentieth century. On the example of the texts of recommendations and guidelines the process of deployment of algorithms for solving planning problems is investigated. The vector of development of professional thought, set by the scientific community in the period of the active urban development on the basis of a retrospective understanding of the practical material, has undergone changes. In the process of transformation of the institution of urban planning the links between scientific and practical echelons of urban planning community weaken, implementation of scientific thought results into the practice of design and understanding between the generations of urban planners becomes more complicated. The paper suggests the trend of growing gap between theoretical concepts and practice of urban planning that has been evolving since 1980-1990s up to the present time. It is argued that without a systematic reflection that takes into account the generalized academic experience and the practice of solving current problems, the qualitative implementation of modern urban planning solutions seems unattainable.

Software-related recalls in computer-assisted hip and knee arthroplasty.

Computer-assisted arthroplasty supports the surgeons in planning, simulating, and performing the replacement procedure, using robotic or navigation technologies. However, the safety of the technology has not been widely ascertained. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database was interrogated about software-related recalls in computer-assisted arthroplasty, aiming to assess: (1) the incidence, (2) the root causes, and (3) the actions taken due to recalls. The Medical Device Recalls database was investigated about software-related recalls in computer-assisted hip and knee arthroplasty surgery, between 2017 and 2022. The incidence of the software-related recalls, the root causes according to FDA and manufacturers, and the corrective actions taken by firms were determined. Eighteen recall numbers could be identified (1.6%), corresponding to 11 recall events. A total of 4634 units were involved. The FDA determined root causes were: software design (66.6%), design change (22.2%), manufacturing deployment (1, 5.6%), and design manufacturing process (5.6%). Among the manufacturers' reasons for recalls, a specific error was declared in 16 cases (88.9%). In seven cases (43.8%), a coding error about lower limb alignment assessment was identified. Seventeen software-related recalls (94.4%) were classified as class 2; only one case was class 3 (5.6%). Return of the device was the main action taken by firms (8, 44.4%), followed by software update (7, 38.9%). Software-related recalls in computer-assisted hip and knee arthroplasty were quite uncommon among all the recalls, deemed non-life threatening and usually due to software design errors. The main actions taken by manufacturers were the return of the device or the software update.

A novel belief-based QFD-AHP model in interval type-2 fuzzy environment for lean after-sales service in automotive industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a novel lean management tool to provide a comprehensive and flexible evaluation model while converting customer voices into technical characteristics in lean implementations.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, the proposed model was constructed by belief space-evaluations, quality function deployment (QFD) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in interval type-2 fuzzy (IT2F) environment. This model involves three phases: determining the linguistic weights and belief-based relations with their IT2F-sets, processing information about IT2F-based belief-evaluations and ranking the technical characteristics using the defuzzified belief-based relative importance values.FindingsThe proposed model was applied to automotive after-sales service in Turkey to demonstrate its use in lean service-decisions. This model was compared with its classical and type-1 fuzzy versions. The ranking-results of the proposed model differed from those of the other versions. The reason is that the IT2F-environment offers a sensitive and flexible evaluation of the model’s linguistic scales.Research limitations/implicationsCalculations in the proposed model may be quite involved for practitioners. An Excel-dashboard was created to simplify the computational complexity.Practical implicationsResearchers/practitioners can apply this model to any lean manufacturing/service implementation.Social implicationsCompany managers/employees/customers can recognize their perception-mechanisms via belief space-evaluations and experience how uncertainty in the perception-mechanism affects their decisions.Originality/valueThe proposed model provides a new lean tool due to the Bayesian model combined with QFD-AHP in IT2F-environment. This model eliminates the ambiguity in conceptual change-based lean decisions.

Design and control analysis of a deployable clustered hyperbolic paraboloid cable net

This paper presents an analytical and experimental design and deployment control analysis of a hyperbolic paraboloid cable net based on clustering actuation strategies. First, the dynamics and statics for clustered tensegrity structures (CTS) are given. Then, we propose the topology design of the deployable hyperbolic paraboloid cable net. The deployability of the cable net is achieved by using clustered cables. It is shown that the clustered cables significantly reduce the number of actuators required for control. The deployment trajectory and actuation prestress in the cables are designed to ensure the tensions are feasible during the deployment process. Then, we compare the deployment analysis's open-loop and closed-loop control strategies. Finally, a lab-scale model is constructed to validate the actuation laws. We test the static performance and deployment process of the experimental model. Results show that the closed-loop control approach is more stable and smoother than the open-loop one in the deployment process. The approaches developed in this paper can also be used for various deployable tensegrity structures.

5G/5G+ network management employing AI-based continuous deployment

Purpose:The paper proposes a novel concept of deployment process dedicated to continuous development, integration, testing, and upgrading the software-defined AI/ML-based functionalities in 5G/5G+ cellular networks, reliable and minimally invasive for network infrastructure, users, and service quality, automating DevOps and performance management towards the zero-touch networks. The idea is demonstrated by the continuous deployment framework, where a virtual cluster of representative cellular network resources coexists synchronously with the operator network serving the thousands-to-millions of end-users. Performance KPIs measured in this twinning subnetwork is the time series exhibiting the complex interrelations governing a temporal state of the whole system. Methods:One of the crucial problems is the detection when the changes of configuration of individual base station impacted its performance, which was realized by change points identification using an enhanced-PELT (e-PELT) algorithm. This yielded a sequence of complex data patterns (between successive change points) into sections of unique waveforms corresponding to stable network conditions. The e-PELT scheme includes a peak removal and an ACPO module for automatic penalty search. Results:e-PELT algorithm, validated against experimental data in comparative studies, outperforms the AMOC, Binary Segmentation, and BOCPD schemes, increasing the F1-score by more than 12% and the Accuracy by 10% over the PELT baseline. Conclusion:The results obtained in a CD cluster with fixed and automated penalty search show that e-PELT provides outstanding results, proving that the proposed approach can be successfully applied to analyze data sequences from different 5G network configurations. The concept of AI/ML-featured Continuous Deployment Framework dedicated to cellular networks can impact the development and integration of new telecommunication features, including possible extension for the role of standardized NWDAF module in customer networks, enhanced with the application of methodology outlined in the paper.

Impact of different guidewires on the implantation depth using the largest self-expandable TAVI device.

The deployment process of the largest self-expandable device (STHV-34) during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) might be challenging due to stabilization issues. Whether the use of different TAVI-guidewires impact the procedural success and outcome is not well-known. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the impact of non-Lunderquist (NLu) vs. the Lunderquist (Lu) guidewires during TAVI using the STHV-34 on the procedural and 30-day outcomes. The primary study endpoint was defined as the final implantation depth (ID) depending on the selected guidewire strategy. Key secondary endpoints included VARC-3-defined complications. The study cohort included 398 patients of four tertiary care institutions, of whom 79.6% (317/398) had undergone TAVI using NLu and 20.4% (81/398) using Lu guidewires. Baseline characteristics did not substantially differ between NLu and Lu patients. The average ID was higher in the Lu cohort (NLu vs. Lu: -5.2 [-7.0-(-3.5)] vs. -4.5 [-6.0-(-3.0)]; p = 0.022*). The optimal ID was reached in 45.0% of patients according to former and only in 20.1% according to nowadays best practice recommendations. There was no impact of the guidewire use on the 30-day outcomes, including conduction disturbances and pacemaker need (NLu vs. Lu: 15.1 vs. 18.5%; p = 0.706). The use of the LunderquistTM guidewire was associated with a higher ID during TAVI with the STHV-34 without measurable benefits in the 30-day course concerning conduction disturbances and associated pacemaker need. Whether using different guidewires might impact the outcome in challenging anatomies should be further investigated in randomized studies under standardized conditions.

Design and optimization of buoy mooring with single-point cable for seafloor observatories

For long-term mooring buoy observatories in the deep sea far from the coasts, we design the hybrid system, named Mooring Buoys Observation System with Benthic Electro-optical-mechanical Cable (MBOSBC). The Electro Optical Mechanical (EOM) cable connects the sea surface buoy, and benthic observation node, as the transmission link of information and power. Different from the traditional buoy mooring, Mooring Buoys Observation System needs to accomplish the energy and data transmission between the seabed and the sea surface. The EOM cable is utilized for mooring, and it is the crucial link to ensure the long-term and effective work of the system and energy / data transmission. EOM cable plays the role of mooring tether of MBOSBC. Since the EOM cable has to experience higher loads under most environmental conditions for long terms. It is often happened that, the EOM cable is not broken, but the power supply core wire and signal wire have broken or failed, while the buoy is subjected to wind, wave and current load. This puts forward the requirements for the design of bearing load and mooring style for the mooring EOM cable. This paper gives the idea of mooring design of buoy, and this paper provide the design criteria of the single point mooring buoy with EOM cable. We compare the dynamics properties and mooring line type under different external environmental load, and the mooring style is optimized. Finally, the dynamic properties and mooring line type during the system deployment process is discussed.

Microservice Deployment

Modern software development requires agile methods to deploy and scale increasingly demanded distributed systems. Practitioners have adopted the microservices architecture to cope with the challenges posed by modern software demands. However, the adoption and deployment of this architecture also creates technical and organizational challenges, potentially slowing down the development and operation teams, which require more time and effort to implement a quality deployment process that allows them to constantly release new features to production. The adoption of a DevOps culture, along with its practices and tools, alleviates some of these new challenges. In this paper we propose a guide for the deployment of systems with a microservices architecture, considering the practices of a DevOps culture, providing practitioners with a base path to start implementing the necessary platform for this architecture. We conducted this work following the Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems (DSRM). In this way, we identified the problem, and also defined the solution objectives through the execution of a Systematic Literature Mapping and a Gray Literature Review, having as a result the proposed guide. This work can be summarized as follows: (I) Identification of practices and technologies that support the deployment of microservices. (II) Identification of recommendations, challenges, and best practices for the deployment process. (III) Modeling of the microservices deployment process using SPEM. (IV) Integration of the knowledge in a guide to deploy microservices by adopting DevOps practices.

Dynamics Modeling and Autonomous Landing for Flexible Parafoil-Vehicle Multibody System

In this paper, the autonomous landing of the parafoil used for aerial vehicles is investigated through the numerical approach. The coupled parafoil-vehicle dynamics model is developed based on the multibody method. The transition process from aircraft flight to parafoil glide is designed in a global system framework. To deal with large flexible deformations during the deployment process, the parafoil canopy is approximated as interacting symmetric subparts using the geometric division method. The pseudo-spectral method is employed to generate a reference trajectory for the landing target. As the system dynamics are introduced into constraint conditions, the generated trajectory is beneficial to improve landing precision. In addition, other optimization objectives, including minimal energy consumption and obstacle avoidance, are considered in trajectory planning. The enhanced proportional integral control is designed to follow the reference trajectory. The neural network inversion model is used to reduce the coupling effect between the longitudinal and the directional control channels. There is a coupling effect that the two controls both are implemented through left and right trailing-edge deflections. An adaptive output allocation method is proposed to ensure that the directional control always is effective in particular when one side reaches saturation. Finally, simulations for autonomous landing under different conditions are carried out to validate the integrated system.

Algorithms and hegemony in the workplace: Negotiating design and values in an Italian television platform

In recent years, several scholars have highlighted the necessity to scrutinize the practices and material settings in which algorithmic models are designed, in order to unpack the working activities and socio-cultural constructs underlying their production and deployment process. Drawing on a multisited ethnography, this paper investigates the practices of tech workers within the corporate environment of an internet television platform, the hierarchical relationships between different professional figures, and how these individuals frame algorithms and contribute to the enactment of these systems with their activities. Findings highlight the hierarchical organization of tech work and the subordination of operative figures to the goals imposed by business clients and to both internal and external forms of control. Specifically, it emerges how the subalternity of tech workers is materially and discursively constructed and forms of causal, dispositional and facilitative power exerted on them. In this environment, frictions, negotiations as well as concealing strategies by tech workers regarding the design and meaning of algorithms emerge, thus showing their cultural, contingent and multiple composition. Within the framework of Giddens’ structure/agency cycle, it is shown how everyday working activities and relationships contribute to the reproduction of hegemonic arrangements in the workplace, and how these hegemonic arrangements are at the core of algorithmic production, thus playing a key role in the framing, construction and enactment of these systems.

«Социальное» и «культурное» в педагогике Сергея Гессена

The article presents an analysis of philosophical ideas of Sergey Iosiphovich Hessen, that set the framework for his anthropological pedagogy and pedagogy of culture. According to Sergey I. Hessen, pedagogy cannot be reduced to a de­scription of teaching techniques and methods. It should be considered as an ap­plied science, the most important section of which is the typology of possible and necessary goals of educational activity. In turn, the definition of goals of pedagogical practice should be based on a complex of representations of hu­man, a certain philosophical and pedagogical anthropology. The being of a hu­man, according to Sergey I. Hessen, can be likened to the geological structure of the Earth’s crust: ontologically, “human” is not only natural (the first level) and social (the second level), but also a cultural being. The laws of cultural and intellectual existence of a human are fundamentally different from biological and social laws. Therefore, the main goal of pedagogical practice is the inclusion of an empirical individual into the processes of transmission and deployment of cultural values. At the same time, culture should be understood as an activity aimed at achieving ultimate, inexhaustible goals, objectives that stand before hu­manity in various fields of practice. In his book The Foundations of Pedagogy, published in 1923, Sergey I. Hessen identifies three types of cultural values: civ­ilization, citizenship, and education. Opposing the cultural level of human exis­tence to the biological and social ones, Sergey I. Hessen formulates a number of cultural tasks for the spheres of economy, politics and education.

Industrial Vision: Rectifying Millimeter-Level Edge Deviation in Industrial Internet of Things With Camera-Based Edge Device

Nowadays, to realize the intelligent manufacturing in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) scenarios, novel approaches in computer vision are in great demand to tackle the new challenges in IIoT environment. These approaches, which we call <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Industrial Vision</i> , are expected to offer customized solutions for intelligent manufacturing in an accurate, time efficient and robust manner. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to industrial vision, called <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Edge-Eye</i> , to rectify the edge deviation automatically for Irradiated Cross-linked Polyethylene Foam (IXPE) production with millimeter-level accuracy. IXPE has been one of the most commonly used materials in industry. During the production process of IXPE sheets, their edges need keep aligned strictly, otherwise, they could quickly get out of the border of the rolling plate and cause the huge economic loss. We deploy a commercial camera with mobile edge node in front of the IXPE sheet to continuously detect and rectify the edge deviation. Particularly, to handle the complex production environment when extracting the edge of IXPE sheet, we deploy a pair of reference bars with high-contrast colors to efficiently differentiate the sheet edge from the background. Then, we propose a <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Bi-direction Edge Tracking method</i> to perform the edge detection from both vertical and horizontal aspects. To realize the rectification using mobile edge nodes with limited computing resources, we reduce the cost of computation by extracting the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Minimized Region of Interest</i> , i.e., the edge area overlapped with the higher contrast reference bar on both sides. We further design a negative feedback control system with multi-stage feedback regulation mechanism, keeping the edge deviation within <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">millimeter-level</i> . We implemented <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Edge-Eye</i> on the ARM64 platform and performed evaluation in the practical IXPE production process. The experimental results show that <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Edge-Eye</i> achieves the average accuracy of 5 mm for the edge deviation rectification, with the average latency of 200 ms for edge deviation detection. During the process of 20-month real deployment for 36 production lines, 66 manpower per day (90% of the overall manpower) has been saved, and the utilization rate of IXPE material increases from 87% to 94%.

China's soft power: three decades of acceptance, deployment, and transformation

Since the Tiananmen incident on June 4, 1989, China has been likely to withdraw a lesson from its failure of using of hard power. In the early 1990s, when “soft power” was first introduced in China, the Chinese Communist Party gradually adopted this concept in order to create the image of a friendly China and a responsible member in international organizations to reassure as well as to lull its neighbors and the U.S. into a peacefully rising China. However, after nearly three decades of being imported and applied in China, the soft power has changed in nature and is no longer identical to the original concept coined by Joseph Nye in 1990. This paper analyzes the process and practice of China's soft power deployment in order to demonstrate that Beijing prefers to integrate elements of hard power into its soft power, thereby examining two new forms of power that have been coined recently to more accurately describe the nature of China’s soft power: smart power and sharp power. The article points out that the strategic motivation for China to exercise the soft power during the first two decades was to conceal its rising ambition as well as in line with the motto of “keeping a low profile” proposed by Deng Xiaoping, and during the latest decade, when having accumulated enough comprehensive national power, China is no longer afraid to reveal its true ambition. The paper uses the research method of synthesizing and analyzing information as well as applies Joseph Nye's power theories.