Virtual Coordination Research Articles

Development and Implementation of a “Virtual Team Coordination Application” for Enhanced Remote Work Efficiency

With the contemporary increasingly computerized and distanced workplace, effective group coordination is fundamental for maintaining coherence, productivity, and cooperation. The Virtual Group Coordination Application aims to ease communication, task management, and cooperation between staff using Microsoft PowerApps. This application acts as a central platform in which the clients can design and track errands, monitor progress, and cooperate through open dialogue, thereby dealing with common problems remote teams face. The application comes with some of the powerful features found in PowerApps, delivering a native UI, through which employees are able to navigate through several functionalities, including a task and deadline track as well as the exchange of documents. In addition, it integrates tools to update as well as alerts to ensure that tasks are completed timely, which then fosters accountability and better overall crew performance. The application also highlights information security and client jobs to ensure that all sensitive information is only accessible by an authorized work force. Applying the security job idea of PowerApps, the application ensures that its group information remains intact as it provides a customized adjustable experience tailored to the specific needs of various associations. In general, the Virtual Group Coordination Application is a comprehensive solution designed to promote virtual cooperation, collaborate in the best ways possible, and support productivity in an offsite work environment.

Adaptive virtual team planning and coordination: a mathematical programming approach

Purpose The rise of remote work increasingly requires organizations to coordinate a single large, consolidated talent pool into ad-hoc, short-term project teams on demand. This problem involves many simultaneous considerations including project revenues and rejection costs, conflicting projects and roles, worker assignment costs, worker utilization preferences and limits, worker reassignment costs, and arbitrary role start and end times. Moreover, plans must be continuously updated in response to changing circumstances. This paper addresses the problem of dynamic virtual team planning and coordination. Design/methodology/approach We show this problem is NP-hard and provide a dynamic mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for both optimal initial plan generation as well as continuous plan adjustment and re-optimization. We utilized a factorial experiment design to generate benchmark problems spanning a wide range of characteristics and conducted extensive computational experimentation using a common MILP solver. Findings Exactly optimal solutions to large, realistically sized problems were consistently obtained in short amounts of time. All observed solution times were sufficient to support the operational decision-making requirements of real-world virtual team coordination, demonstrating the viability of this approach. Practical implications The approach developed in this research can enable organizations to optimally coordinate virtual teams on a large scale and continually adjust plans in response to changing circumstances, all in an automated manner. Originality/value This paper addresses a new and complex problem of increasing importance to organizations due to the rise in remote work. We provide a problem formulation and exact approach for optimally solving both the planning and re-planning aspects of this problem.

Frequency stability of new energy power systems based on VSG adaptive energy storage coordinated control strategy

A self-adaptive energy storage coordination control strategy based on virtual synchronous machine technology was studied and designed to address the oscillation problem caused by new energy units. By simulating the characteristics of synchronous generators, the inertia level of the new energy power system was enhanced, and frequency stability optimization was achieved. This strategy is integrated with the frequency response model of the new energy power system to improve the system's frequency regulation capability and achieve more stable and efficient operation. From the results, the damping of the system increased, the oscillation frequency decreased after a duration of about 15 s, and the system stability improved by 76.09%. The proposed strategy based on virtual synchronous generator adaptive energy storage coordination control strategy was improved by 83.25%. In addition, the proposed strategy has improved stability indicators and system completion efficiency by 40.57% and 22.21% respectively, both of which are better than the comparative strategies. As a result, this strategy significantly enhances the frequency regulation capability of the system, which has a positive effect on achieving efficient operation of the new energy power system and maintaining the stability of the power system.

Pricing and revenue allocation mechanisms for regional logistics networks in Cyber-Physical Internet

Cyber-Physical Internet technology links physical and virtual networks, facilitating communication and coordination for logistics stakeholders regarding their operational decisions. However, the optimal pricing within a regional logistics network incorporating Cyber-Physical Internet remains unexplored. To address this issue, this paper develops a Stackelberg game model between a carrier and a group of road operators. We derive and analyze the equilibrium decisions of the carrier’s logistics service fee and road operators’ tolls under distributed and horizontal partnership pricing strategies. Furthermore, we compare these two strategies and design a revenue allocation mechanism for road operators. Our theoretical and numerical analyses yield the following key findings. First, our results debunk the prevailing belief about toll pricing, demonstrating that road operators reduce their toll charges in response to a peer’s toll increase driven by rising unit variable road costs. Second, a collaborative pricing strategy among road operators consistently enhances market demand and profits by minimizing toll charges to the carrier. Third, revenue allocation among road operators is primarily based on unit variable road costs, ensuring fair distribution and encouraging cooperation for long-term benefits. This study enhances our understanding of both theoretical and practical aspects of pricing strategies for carriers and road operators within Cyber-Physical Internet.

Pemanfaatan BIM dalam Integrasi Arsitektur dan MEP Pada Proyek Konstruksi Gedung Lab PUT PNJ

Recent building construction projects increasingly prioritize the integration of architectural (design) and MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) aspects as key elements to achieve effective and sustainable projects. This study aims to explore the close relationship between architecture and MEP in building construction projects and how integrating the two can provide optimal results. This article discusses the important role of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology in supporting the integration of architecture and MEP. BIM enables architecture and MEP professionals to work collaboratively in an integrated virtual environment, facilitating monitoring, coordination, and early identification of design conflicts. The results showed that effective use of BIM can create more efficient projects in terms of planning, execution, and maintenance. In addition, the study explores planning strategies that support the integration of architecture and MEP, including the selection of environmentally friendly materials, optimal spatial design, and energy efficiency. Comprehensive, sustainable planning can reduce environmental impact, reduce energy consumption, and reduce long-term operating costs. Project control in the context of architectural integration and MEP is also the focus of this study, with emphasis on construction quality monitoring, cost control and risk management. The success of a project often depends on careful control of these aspects. Therefore, this research provides insight into the integration of architecture and MEP in building construction projects and shows how this comprehensive approach can improve efficiency, sustainability, and sustainability as well as overall project outcomes.

Investigation of active voltage support control approach of DC distribution networks based on virtual inertia coordination

AbstractDC distribution networks (DCDNs) possess the advantages of high power efficiency, low operation loss, and favourable control flexibility, and are regarded as an essential form of future power distribution systems. In order to increase the voltage transient performance of DCDNs against disturbances, this paper proposes a methodology for realising the active voltage support control of DCDNs based on virtual inertia coordination. Firstly, the impact of the inertia of DCDNs towards the transient voltage change is analysed, and the active voltage support mechanism considering the variable droop inertia control and virtual DC motor inertia (VDCMI) control is explored. Then, a time sequence coordination strategy based on the voltage grading of DCDNs is developed, and an adaptive inertia coefficient is designed to achieve the inertia adjustment in terms of the voltage sag and recovery processes. Using MATLAB/Simulink, a detailed model of the double‐terminal DCDNs is created to check the efficacy of the proposed approach. Different voltage disturbance scenarios are imitated, and the comparative simulations demonstrate that the proposed approach can fully utilise the inertia potential of the DCDNs to suppress the voltage sag and smooth the voltage recovery procedure. The proposed method's validity and feasibility can be well validated.The cover image is based on the Original Article Investigation of active voltage support control approach of DC distribution networks based on virtual inertia coordination by Lei Chen et al., https://doi.org/10.1049/esi2.12123.

Optimal allocation of agricultural water and land resources integrated with virtual water trade: A perspective on spatial virtual water coordination

Agricultural production consumes the majority of global freshwater resources. The worsening water scarcity has imposed significant stress on agricultural production when regions seek food self-sufficiency. To seek optimal allocation of spatial agricultural water and land resources in each water function zone of the objective region, a multi-objective optimization model was developed to tackle the trade-offs between the water-saving objective and the economic benefit objective considering virtual water trade (VWT). The cultivated area of each crop in each water function zone was taken into account as the decision variable, while a set of strong constraints were used to restrict land resources and water availability. Then, a decomposition-simplex method aggregation algorithm (DSMA) was proposed to solve this nonlinear, bounding-constrained, and multi-objective optimization model. Based on the quantitative analysis of the spatial blue and green virtual water in each agricultural product, the proposed methodology was applied to a real-world, provincial-scale region in China (i.e., Jiangsu Province). The optimized results provided 18 Pareto solutions to reallocate the land resources in the 21 IV-level water function zones of Jiangsu Province, considering four major rainy-season crops and two dry-season crops. Compared to the actual scenario, the superior scheme increased by 7.95% (5.6 × 109 RMB) for economic trade and decreased by 1.77% (2.0 × 109 m3) for agricultural water consumption. It was mainly because the potential of spatial blue and green virtual water in Jiangsu was fully exploited by improving spatial land resource allocation. The food security of Jiangsu could be guaranteed by achieving self-sufficiency in the superior scheme, and the total VWT in the optimal scheme was 2.2 times more than the actual scenario. The results provided a systematic decision-support methodology from the perspective of spatial virtual water coordination, yet, the methodology is widely applicable.

Virtual inertia coordination control strategy of DFIG-based wind turbine for improved grid frequency response ability

The capability of the inertia response of the Double fed induction generator (DFIG) is mainly achieved at the cost of its economic benefits. As such, this study proposes a coordinated control strategy with frequency modulated inertia layered optimization while considering the inertia response of DFIG direct current (DC) side capacitor. According to the disturbance size of the system, the inertia control task is dynamically assigned to the DFIG DC capacitor and speed inertia control module to reduce the startup times of speed control and improve the operation economy. On this basis, we propose a dynamic recovery of DC capacitor voltage based on State of charge (SOC) self-recovery to solve the problem of voltage clamping after the inertia response of DFIG DC capacitor at its stable operating boundary and thus cannot participate in subsequent inertia control. Aiming at the frequency secondary disturbance caused by DFIG speed recovery, a variable coefficient droop control method based on logistic regression function is proposed to realize the dynamic ordered recovery of DFIG speed. Simulation results show that, compared with the traditional synchronous control with the simulation time sequence of 280 s, the proposed timing optimization coordinated control strategy reduces the rotor start times by 12 times, and the wind energy capture increases by 3.6%.

Cooperation and Coordination Transportation for Nonholonomic Mobile Manipulators: A Distributed Model Predictive Control Approach

This article addresses the problem of cooperation and coordination transportation for decoupling nonholonomic mobile manipulators (NMMs) in a workspace with obstacles. We propose a distributed model predictive control (MPC) approach for a team of NMMs to transport a target object while satisfying significant constraints and limitations, such as the feasible state and control input constraints, parameter synchronization constraints, and obstacles within the workspace. First, under the framework of the decoupling dynamics, an auxiliary dynamics model for task-space end-effectors and null-space mobile bases is obtained by the nonlinear feedback technique based on the Euler–Lagrange description of the NMMs. Using the modified virtual structure method, the cooperation and coordination transportation problem for NMMs is simplified as two independent synchronization tracking control problems for task-space end-effectors and null-space mobile bases. A distributed constrained optimization problem is established by taking the parameter synchronization and system constraints into the cost function. A general projection neural network (GPNN) approach is employed to solve the optimization problem and obtain the optimal control input. Moreover, a sufficient condition that guarantees the stability of the closed-loop system is further developed. Simulation results show that the proposed cooperation and coordination transportation strategy is feasible and effective.

Care Coordination of Older Adults With Diabetes: A Scoping Review

ObjectivesCare coordination is a common intervention to support older adults with diabetes and their caregivers, and provides individualized, integrated health and social care. However, the optimal approach of care coordination is not well described. In this scoping review we synthesized evidence regarding the implementation of traditional and virtual care coordination for older adults with diabetes to inform future research and best practices. MethodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods were used. A systematic search was conducted in CINAHL, Embase, EmCare, and Medline, as well as a targeted grey literature search, and a hand-search of reference lists. Screening and data extraction were completed by 3 independent reviewers. ResultsForty-two articles were included in the synthesis. Included studies operationalized care coordination in different ways. The most commonly implemented elements of care coordination were regular communication and monitoring. In contrast, coordination between health-care teams and the community, individualized planning, and caregiver involvement were less often reported. Outcomes to evaluate the impact of care coordination were predominantly diabetes-centric, and less often person-centred. In addition, evidence indicates that older adults value a trusting relationship with their care coordinator. ConclusionsStudies assessing care coordination for older adults with diabetes have shown positive outcomes. To inform best practices, future intervention research for this population should focus on evaluating the impact of comprehensive care planning, system navigation across the health and social care sectors, the care coordinator and patient relationship and caregiver support.

Care Coordination for Older Adults With Diabetes: A Scoping Review

Care coordination is a widely used intervention to support older adults and their caregivers to provide individualized, integrated health and social care. However, the optimal approach to care coordination for older adults with diabetes is not well understood. This scoping review synthesized evidence regarding the implementation of traditional and virtual care coordination for older adults with diabetes.

Implementing the COVID-19 Virtual Observation Unit in Emergency Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed hospitals to deliver care outside of their four walls. To successfully scale virtual care delivery, it is important to understand how its implementation impacts frontline employees. We conducted in-depth interviews of 17 clinicians and staff involved with the COVID-19 Virtual Observation Unit (CVOU) in the emergency department of an academic hospital. The program leveraged remote patient monitoring and mobile integrated healthcare. Implementing the CVOU resulted in increased frequency and scope of interactions among clinicians and staff, increased patient participation in care delivery, increased attention to non-medical factors, and expanded role of coordinators and paramedics in patient care, compared to the in-person care provided in the emergency department. These changes led to care team cohesion, professional job satisfaction, and positive attitudes towards virtual care. Our findings advance scholarly and practical understanding regarding reconfiguration of professional roles following technology implementation, virtual work interactions and coordination, and at-home care delivery.

An Integrated Remote Control-Based Human-Robot Interface for Education Application

Portable interfaced robot arms equipped with mobile user interactions are significantly being utilized in modern world. The application of teaching robotics is being used in challenging pandemic situation but it is still challenging due to mathematical formulation. This article utilizes the augmented reality (AR) concept for remote control-based human-robot interaction using the Bluetooth correspondence. The proposed framework incorporates different modules like a robot arm control, a regulator module and a distant portable smartphone application for envisioning the robot arm points for its real-time relevance. This novel approach fuses AR innovation into portable application which permit the continuous virtual coordination with actual physical platform. The simulation yields effective outcomes with 96.94% accuracy for testing stage while maintaining error and loss values of 0.194 and 0.183 respectively. The proposed interface gives consistent results for teaching application in real time changing environment by outperforming existing methods with an accuracy improvement of 13.4

Effectiveness of Cooperation in Virtual Teams

Technological development has led to the emergence of cooperation separately both geographically and in time zone in an organization in the form of a virtual organization. PT XYZ's Microsoft Solution and Service (DMSS) Department is one of the departments that provides digital services in the form of One-Stop-Solutions on Digital Services, both in on-premise and cloud infrastructure models with products and solutions based on Microsoft products for customers. In his service during the Covid-19 pandemic, this department implements virtual team coordination so that product development can continue as planned. However, on the other hand, the effectiveness of performance in implementing virtual organizations is still a challenge for the company. This is the focus of research to find out what factors influence the effectiveness of cooperation in the application of virtual organizations at PT XYZ in general and specifically in the Microsoft Solution and Service Department. This study conducted an analysis of seven factors by surveying 40 respondents at PT. XYZ. The results obtained are three factors consisting of depth of communication, technology, and training which have an influence on the effectiveness of the application of virtual organizations at PT. XYZ, while four other factors such as trust, shared understanding of knowledge, commitment, and leadership have no significant effect on the effectiveness of virtual organizations.

Far field acoustic radiation and vibration analysis of combined shells submerged at finite depth from free surface

A completely submerged underwater vehicle is modeled as a conical-cylindrical-spherical combined shell, the vibro-acoustic response near free surface of which is rarely analyzed in existing studies. In this paper, a Ritz-Legendre spectral method is proposed to analyze the vibro-acoustic response of combined shells under different submerged depths from the free surface. A theoretical structural model is established based on the Love shell theory, virtual spring technology and coordination relationship between displacements and rotation angle of adjacent subshells. The half-space external acoustic field model with the free surface is formulated by the Legendre spectral method, image method and Kirchhoff–Helmholtz boundary integral equation. The unified displacement admissible function of each subshell is expanded as Legendre orthogonal polynomial along generatrix direction and Fourier series along circumferential direction. The free surface treated as an ideal infinite acoustic soft boundary is substituted into acoustic wave equation and the half-space Green's function is obtained. The key technology to construct final coupled governing equation is how to expand the half-space Green's function with two-dimensional Fourier transform. Computed results are compared with those of the references and finite element method. The convergence, applicability, and correctness of the present method are verified. Influence of the free surface on the vibration and far-field acoustic radiation of combined shells under different submerged depths is analyzed, providing engineering significance for predicting external acoustic radiation of complicated combined shells with free surface.

Path Planning and Impedance Control of a Soft Modular Exoskeleton for Coordinated Upper Limb Rehabilitation.

The coordinated rehabilitation of the upper limb is important for the recovery of the daily living abilities of stroke patients. However, the guidance of the joint coordination model is generally lacking in the current robot-assisted rehabilitation. Modular robots with soft joints can assist patients to perform coordinated training with safety and compliance. In this study, a novel coordinated path planning and impedance control method is proposed for the modular exoskeleton elbow–wrist rehabilitation robot driven by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). A convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) model is established to describe the coordination relationship of the upper limb joints, so as to generate adaptive trajectories conformed to the coordination laws. Guided by the planned trajectory, an impedance adjustment strategy is proposed to realize active training within a virtual coordinated tunnel to achieve the robot-assisted upper limb coordinated training. The experimental results showed that the CNN-LSTM hybrid neural network can effectively quantify the coordinated relationship between the upper limb joints, and the impedance control method ensures that the robotic assistance path is always in the virtual coordination tunnel, which can improve the movement coordination of the patient and enhance the rehabilitation effectiveness.

Research on Mobile User Interface for Robot Arm Remote Control in Industrial Application

The mobile interfaced robot arms are majorly being used nowadays in order to provide the remote-control applicability for various industrial and manufacturing applications. This article proposes a robotic arm platform for controlling the industrial application. The proposed system includes various modules like a robot arm, a controller module and a remote mobile operating application for visualizing the robot arm angles having real time applicability. Augmented reality (AR) is utilized for robot control WIFI communication and the robot angle information is obtained for varying real time environment. This novel approach incorporated the AR technology into mobile application which allow the real time virtual coordination with physical platform. The feasible trajectories are generated using the proposed methodology and a comparison is made between the desired and real trajectory paths. The simulation results are obtained for various assessment indicators and effectual outcomes are achieved with 98.03% accuracy value and 0.185, 0.180 of error and loss values for training phase. The accuracy value of 97.65% is achieved for testing phase with corresponding 0.209 and 0.190 minimum error and loss values. The proposed platform provides the feasible and reliable outcomes in the real time environment for real time manufacturing industry applications.

The Bioinformatics Virtual Coordination Network: An Open-Source and Interactive Learning Environment

Lockdowns and “stay-at-home” orders, starting in March 2020, shuttered bench and field dependent research across the world as a consequence of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic continues to have an impact on research progress and career development, especially for graduate students and early career researchers, as strict social distance limitations stifle ongoing research and impede in-person educational programs. The goal of the Bioinformatics Virtual Coordination Network (BVCN) was to reduce some of these impacts by helping research biologists learn new skills and initiate computational projects as alternative ways to carry out their research. The BVCN was founded in April 2020, at the peak of initial shutdowns, by an international group of early-career microbiology researchers with expertise in bioinformatics and computational biology. The BVCN instructors identified several foundational bioinformatic topics and organized hands-on tutorials through cloud-based platforms that had minimal hardware requirements (in order to maximize accessibility) such as RStudio Cloud and MyBinder. The major topics included the Unix terminal interface, R and Python programming languages, amplicon analysis, metagenomics, functional protein annotation, transcriptome analysis, network science, and population genetics and comparative genomics. The BVCN was structured as an open-access resource with a central hub providing access to all lesson content and hands-on tutorials (https://biovcnet.github.io/). As laboratories reopened and participants returned to previous commitments, the BVCN evolved: while the platform continues to enable “a la carte” lessons for learning computational skills, new and ongoing collaborative projects were initiated among instructors and participants, including a virtual, open-access bioinformatics conference in June 2021. In this manuscript we discuss the history, successes, and challenges of the BVCN initiative, highlighting how the lessons learned and strategies implemented may be applicable to the development and planning of future courses, workshops, and training programs.

Design, development and implementation of the virtual, coordination, access, referral and escalation service in western New South Wales.

People in rural and remote New South Wales experience avoidable admissions, limited access to skilled clinicians and commonly travel >400km to access specialist services within the district and >700km for tertiary services outside. Iterative use of New South Wales Health redesign methodology in the period 2015-2020. Western New South Wales Local Health District is geographically the largest Health District within New South Wales and includes disadvantaged communities. Virtual Coordination Access Referral Escalation is an audio-visually enabled transport, patient flow and clinical advice unit established in 2006 to support patients and clinicians at 35 small, rural and remote hospitals. Right care, right place and right time by the right team the first time. Care delivery close to home and 'on country'. Safe and cost-effective transport. Performance measures to support quality, safety and clinical outcomes. Improving the human experience. Cycles of strategic planning, innovation, productive partnerships, change management and human systems development. Virtual Coordination Access Referral Escalation critical care telehealth more effectively supports rural and remote health care across large distances. Improvements include expanded/redefined management and nursing roles, integration of dedicated critical care emergency medicine specialists within the service, delegated authority to accept transfers, upgraded technology, 24-hour service provision and a central 'Virtual Support' proactive outreach model.

Cultivating Resilience in the Biodiversity Heritage Library During the Global Pandemic: Improving access to existing content

The events of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice demonstrations around the world, helped the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) refocus our priorities for implementing our 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, which was adopted in April 2020. BHL’s natural ecosystem relies on virtual coordination across our global community. For this reason, much of the work of the consortium could continue during lockdowns and telework mandates at many of our partner institutions. Though most digitization projects were placed on hold, staff were able to shift priority to metadata enhancements to improve access and discoverability of existing content. Long-planned improvements in the use of persistent identifiers were pushed to the forefront of technical development. Improvements to the data model and user interface to better support born-digital content and articles were also prioritized in the 2021 Technical Priorities. Back-end improvements to the BHL website, currently under development, will also facilitate easier metadata import and updates, making it faster and easier to add article-level metadata, which will improve search and discoverability for articles within the collection. These technical improvements will continue to define BHL as a tool to connect biodiversity data. Part of our collaborative resilience is our ability to adapt and adjust to changing priorities. Over the past year, BHL has been working to review and update our Collection Development Policy. Social justice movements and discussions concerning the harmful content in BHL’s collection are helping to inform the review of our collection development policy in ways we wouldn’t have anticipated prior to 2020. Our review now includes strategies to identify gaps in and improve representation of biodiversity information from underrepresented regions, languages, cultures, and perspectives. We are also working with colleagues to support larger efforts within the library profession to improve and broaden metadata such as subject headings. We will continue to address the problematic historical legacy of natural history collections through actions defined in our strategic plan. The isolation and work from home orders of 2020 and early 2021 provided opportunities for some to expand into deep research and contribute to collaborative projects as work assignments became digital and thus more versatile. For example, transcription projects were accelerated because staff had more time to contribute to these resource-intensive activities. One result of this work is that more handwritten materials such as field notes and correspondence are now available for full-text searching and taxonomic name recognition within BHL. Another strategic goal of BHL is to grow consortial partnerships and alliances to foster cross-institutional collaboration. BHL sought new partnerships that would integrate BHL data into existing and emerging biodiversity projects. This cross-institutional collaboration is another way to cultivate resilience and sow the seeds of sustainability. In this talk, we will describe how BHL shifted its focus to reflect on and respond to global events of 2020. We will share discussions around acknowledging and addressing the harmful legacy content in BHL collections, new technical developments, and examples of collaborative telework projects.