Automotive modal lock-in: The role of path dependence and large socio-economic regimes in market failure

This paper addresses less recognised factors which influence the diffusion of a particular technology. While an innovation’s attributes and performance are paramount, many fail because of external factors which favour an alternative. This paper, with theoretic input from diffusion, lock-in and path-dependency, presents a qualitative study of external factors that influenced the evolution of transportation in USA. This historical account reveals how one technology and its emergent systems become dominant while other choices are overridden by socio-political, economic and technological interests which include not just the manufacturing and service industries associated with the automobile but also government and market stakeholders. Termed here as a large socio-economic regime (LSER),its power in ensuring lock-in and continued path-dependency is shown to pass through three stages, weakening eventually as awareness improves. The study extends to transport trends in China, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia and they all show the dominant role of an LSER. As transportation policy is increasingly accountable to address both demand and environmental concerns and innovators search for solutions, this paper presents important knowledge for innovators, marketers and policy makers for commercial and societal reasons, especially when negative externalities associated with an incumbent transportation technology may lead to market failure.

First-principle engineering magnetism in low-dimensional boron nitride materials

Nanotubes and nanosheets are low-dimensional nanomaterials with unique properties that can be exploited for numerous applications. This book offers a complete overview of their structure, properties, development, modeling approaches, and practical use. It focuses attention on boron nitride (BN) nanotubes, which have had major interest given their special high-temperature properties, as well as graphene nanosheets, BN nanosheets, and metal oxide nanosheets. Key topics include surface functionalization of nanotubes for composite applications, wetting property changes for biocompatible environments, and graphene for energy storage applications

3D perception for mining robotics

This paper discusses some of the sensing technologies available for guiding robot manipulators for a class of underground mining tasks including drilling jumbos, bolting arms, shotcreters or explosive chargers. Data acquired with such sensors, in the laboratory and underground, is presented.

Intelligent collision avoidance, control and guidance

This paper reviews a variety of advanced signal processing algorithms that have been developed at the University of Southampton as part of the Prometheus (Programme for European traffic flow with highest efficiency and unprecedented safety) programme to achieve an intelligent driver warning system (IDWS). The IDWS includes the detection of road edges, lanes, obstacles and their tracking and identification, estimates of time to collision, and behavioural modelling of drivers for a variety of scenarios. The underlying algorithms are briefly discussed in support of the IDWS.

Driving simulator evaluation of the failure of an audio in-vehicle warning for railway level crossings

It is impracticable to upgrade the 18,900 Australian passive crossings as such crossings are often located in remote areas, where power is lacking and with low road and rail traffic. The rail industry is interested in developing innovative in-vehicle technology interventions to warn motorists of approaching trains directly in their vehicles. The objective of this study was therefore to evaluate the benefits of the introduction of such technology. We evaluated the changes in driver performance once the technology is enabled and functioning correctly, as well as the effects of an unsafe failure of the technology? We conducted a driving simulator study where participants (N=15) were familiarised with an in-vehicle audio warning for an extended period. After being familiarised with the system, the technology started failing, and we tested the reaction of drivers with a train approaching. This study has shown that with the traditional passive crossings with RX2 signage, the majority of drivers complied (70%) and looked for trains on both sides of the rail track. With the introduction of the in-vehicle audio message, drivers did not approach crossings faster, did not reduce their safety margins and did not reduce their gaze towards the rail tracks. However participants’ compliance at the stop sign decreased by 16.5% with the technology installed in the vehicle. The effect of the failure of the in-vehicle audio warning technology showed that most participants did not experience difficulties in detecting the approaching train even though they did not receive any warning message. This showed that participants were still actively looking for trains with the system in their vehicle. However, two participants did not stop and one decided to beat the train when they did not receive the audio message, suggesting potential human factors issues to be considered with such technology.

A comparative study of prognostic model for bearing failure

An effective prognostics program will provide ample lead time for maintenance engineers to schedule a repair and to acquire replacement components before catastrophic failures occur. This paper presents a technique for accurate assessment of the remnant life of machines based on health state probability estimation technique. For comparative study of the proposed model with the proportional hazard model (PHM), experimental bearing failure data from an accelerated bearing test rig were used. The result shows that the proposed prognostic model based on health state probability estimation can provide a more accurate prediction capability than the commonly used PHM in bearing failure case study.

Preparing engineering graduates for the knowledge economy through blended delivery of mathematics

Contemporary higher education institutions are making significant efforts to develop cohesive, meaningful and effective learning experiences for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curricula to prepare graduates for challenges in the modern knowledge economy, thus enhancing their employability (Carnevale et al, 2011). This can inspire innovative redesign of learning experiences embedded in technology-enhanced educational environments and the development of research-informed, pedagogically reliable strategies fostering interactions between various agents of the learning-teaching process. This paper reports on the results of a project aimed at enhancing students’ learning experiences by redesigning a large, first year mathematics unit for Engineering students at a large metropolitan public university. Within the project, the current study investigates the effectiveness of selected, technology-mediated pedagogical approaches used over three semesters. Grounded in user-centred instructional design, the pedagogical approaches explored the opportunities for learning created by designing an environment containing technological, social and educational affordances. A qualitative analysis of mixed-type questionnaires distributed to students indicated important inter-relations between participants’ frames of references of the learning-teaching process and stressed the importance (and difficulty) of creating appropriate functional context. Conclusions drawn from this study may inform instructional design for blended delivery of STEM-focused programs that endeavor to enhance students’ employability by educating work-ready graduates.

Measuring the regional availability of biomass for biofuels and the potential for microalgae

Biomass is an important energy resource for producing bioenergy and growing the global economy whilst minimising greenhouse gas emissions. Many countries, like Australia have a huge amount of biomass with the potential for bioenergy, but non-edible feedstock resources are significantly under-exploited. Hence it is essential to map the availability of these feedstocks to identify the most appropriate bioenergy solution for each region and develop supply chains for biorefineries. Using Australia as a case study,we present the spatial availability and opportunities for second and third generation feedstocks. Considerations included current land use, the presence of existing biomass industries and climatic conditions. Detailed information on the regional availability of biomass was collected from government statistics, technical reports and energy assessments as well as from academic literature. Second generation biofuels have the largest opportunity in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria (NSW, QLD and VIC) and the regions with the highest potential for microalgae are Western Australia and Northern Territory (WA, NT), based on land use opportunity cost and climate. The approach can be used in other countries with a similar climate. More research is needed to overcome key technical and economic hurdles.

Additive tissue manufacturing for breast reconstruction: Combining CAD/CAM with adipose tissue engineering

The primary aim of this multidisciplinary project was to develop a new generation of breast implants. Disrupting the currently prevailing paradigm of silicone implants which permanently introduce a foreign body into mastectomy patients, highly porous implants developed as part of this PhD project are biodegradable by the body and augment the growth of natural tissue. Our technology platform leverages computer-assisted-design which allows us to manufacture fully patient-specific implants based on a personalised medicine approach. Multiple animal studies conducted in this project have shown that the polymeric implant slowly degrades within the body harmlessly while the body's own tissue forms concurrently.

Zombies on the road: A holistic design approach to balancing gamification and safe driving

This paper explores novel driving experiences that make use of gamification and augmented reality in the car. We discuss our design considerations, which are grounded in road safety psychology and video game design theory. We aim to address the tension between safe driving practices and player engagement. Specifically, we propose a holistic, iterative thinking process inspired by game design cognition and share our insights generated through the application of this process. We present preliminary game concepts that blend digital components with physical elements from the driving environment. We further highlight how this design process helped us to iteratively evolve these concepts towards being safer while maintaining fun. These insights and game design cognition itself will be useful to the AutomotiveUI community investigating similar novel driving experiences.

Tissue engineering of a morphologically and functionally intact humanized bone organ for bone metastasis research

The aim of this thesis was to establish an individualized, patient-specific diagnostic and therapeutic preclinical disease model for bone metastasis research. Tissue engineering of humanized bone within mice allowed the development of a humanized immune system in the host animal. This novel platform makes it possible to analyze the growth of human cancer cells in human bone in the presence of human immune cells.

A LIN inspired optical bus for signal isolation in multilevel or modular power electronic converters

Proposed in this paper is a low-cost, half-duplex optical communication bus for control signal isolation in modular or multilevel power electronic converters. The concept is inspired by the Local Interconnect Network (LIN) serial network protocol as used in the automotive industry. The proposed communications bus utilises readily available optical transceivers and is suitable for use with low-cost microcontrollers for distributed control of multilevel converters. As a signal isolation concept, the proposed optical bus enables very high cell count modular multilevel cascaded converters (MMCCs) for high-bandwidth, high-voltage and high-power applications. Prototype hardware is developed and the optical bus concept is validated experimentally in a 33-level MMCC converter operating at 120 Vrms and 60 Hz.

Is comfort important for optimal use of child restraints?

Suboptimal restraint use, particularly the incorrect use of restraints, is a significant and widespread problem among child vehicle occupants, and increases the risk of injury. Previous research has identified comfort as a potential factor influencing suboptimal restraint use. Both the real comfort experienced by the child and the parent’s perception of the child’s comfort are reported to influence the optimal use of restraints. Problems with real comfort may lead the child to misuse the restraint in their attempt to achieve better comfort whilst parent-perceived discomfort has been reported as a driver for premature graduation and inappropriate restraint choice. However, this work has largely been qualitative. There has been no research that objectively studies either the association between real and parental perceived comfort, or any association between comfort and suboptimal restraint use. One barrier to such studies is the absence of validated tools for quantifying real comfort in children. We aimed to develop methods to examine both real and parent-perceived comfort and examine their effects on suboptimal restraint use. We conducted online parent surveys (n=470) to explore what drives parental perceptions of their child’s comfort in restraint systems (study 1) and used data from field observation studies (n=497) to examine parent-perceived comfort and its relationship with observed restraint use (study 2). We developed methods to measure comfort in children in a laboratory setting (n=14) using video analysis to estimate a Discomfort Avoidance Behaviour (DAB) score, pressure mapping and adapted survey tools to differentiate between comfortable and induced discomfort conditions (study 3). Preliminary analysis of our recent online survey of Australian parents (study 1) indicates that 23% of parents report comfort as a consideration when making a decision to change restraints. Logistic regression modelling of data collected during the field observation study (study 2) revealed that parent-perceived discomfort was not significantly associated with premature graduation. Contrary to expectation, children of parents who reported that their child was comfortable were almost twice as likely to have been incorrectly restrained (p<0.01, 95% CI 1.24 - 2.77). In the laboratory study (study 3) we found our adapted survey tools did not provide a reliable measurement of real comfort among children. However our DAB score was able to differentiate between comfortable and induced discomfort conditions and correlated well with pressure mapping. Our results suggest that while some parents report concern about their child’s comfort, parent-reported comfort levels were not associated with restraint choice. If comfort is important for optimal restraint use, it is likely to be the real comfort of the child rather than that reported by the parent. The method we have developed for studying real comfort can be used in naturalistic studies involving child occupants to further understand this relationship. This work will be of interest to vehicle and child restraint manufacturers interested in improving restraint design for young occupants as well as researchers and other stakeholders interested in reducing the incidence of restraint misuse among children.

Engaging a multiple-track approach to building capacity for 21st Century engineering, opportunities and challenges for rapid curriculum renewal

‘Complexity’ is a term that is increasingly prevalent in conversations about building capacity for 21st Century professional engineers. Society is grappling with the urgent and challenging reality of accommodating seven billion people, meeting needs and innovating lifestyle improvements in ways that do not destroy atmospheric, biological and oceanic systems critical to life. Over the last two decades in particular, engineering educators have been active in attempting to build capacity amongst professionals to deliver ‘sustainable development’ in this rapidly changing global context. However curriculum literature clearly points to a lack of significant progress, with efforts best described as ad hoc and highly varied. Given the limited timeframes for action to curb environmental degradation proposed by scientists and intergovernmental agencies, the authors of this paper propose it is imperative that curriculum renewal towards education for sustainable development proceeds rapidly, systemically, and in a transformational manner. Within this context, the paper discusses the need to consider a multiple track approach to building capacity for 21st Century engineering, including priorities and timeframes for undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum renewal. The paper begins with a contextual discussion of the term complexity and how it relates to life in the 21st Century. The authors then present a whole of system approach for planning and implementing rapid curriculum renewal that addresses the critical roles of several generations of engineering professionals over the next three decades. The paper concludes with observations regarding engaging with this approach in the context of emerging accreditation requirements and existing curriculum renewal frameworks.