Computer integrated testing for the transport refrigeration systems industry.

This is a study of a state of the art implementation of a new computer integrated testing (CIT) facility within a company that designs and manufactures transport refrigeration systems. The aim was to use state of the art hardware, software and planning procedures in the design and implementation of three CIT systems. Typical CIT system components include data acquisition (DAQ) equipment, application and analysis software, communication devices, computer-based instrumentation and computer technology. It is shown that the introduction of computer technology into the area of testing can have a major effect on such issues as efficiency, flexibility, data accuracy, test quality, data integrity and much more. Findings reaffirm how the overall area of computer integration continues to benefit any organisation, but with more recent advances in computer technology, communication methods and software capabilities, less expensive more sophisticated test solutions are now possible. This allows more organisations to benefit from the many advantages associated with CIT. Examples of computer integration test set-ups and the benefits associated with computer integration have been discussed.

Training and development in Irish technology companies

The sustained economic growth that has been experienced in the Irish economy in recent years has relied, to a large extent, on the contribution and performance of those industry sectors that possess the ability to provide high-value-added products and services to domestic and international markets. One such contributor has been the Technology sector. However, the performance of this sector relies upon the availability of the necessary capabilities and competencies for Technology companies to remain competitive. The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs have forecasted future skills shortages in this sector. The purpose of this research has been to examine the extent to which Irish Technology companies are taking measures to meet changing skills requirements, through training and development interventions. Survey research methods (in the form of a mail questionnaire, supported by a Web-based questionnaire) have been used to collect information on the expenditure on, and approach to, training and development in these companies, in addition to the methods, techniques and tools/aids that are used to support the delivery of these activities. The contribution of Government intervention has also been examined. The conclusions have been varied. When the activities of the responding companies are considered in isolation, the picture to emerge is primarily positive. Although the expenditure on training and development is slightly lower than that indicated in previous studies, the results vary by company size. Technical employees are clearly the key focus of training provision, while Senior Managers and Directors, Clerical and Administrative staff and Manual workers are a great deal more neglected in training provision. Expenditure on, and use of, computer-based training methods is high, as is the use of most of the specified techniques for facilitating learning. However, when one considers the extent to which external support (in the form of Government interventions and cooperation with other companies and with education and training providers) is integrated into the overall training practices of these companies, significant gaps in practice are identified. The thesis concludes by providing a framework to guide future training and development practices in the Technology sector.

Development of a data acquisition system to characterise sustainable energy technologies and to support Web-Based learning (DAQ-WBL)

Driven by concerns about rising energy costs, security of supply and climate change a new wave of Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET’s) have been embraced by the Irish consumer. Such systems as solar collectors, heat pumps and biomass boilers have become common due to government backed financial incentives and revisions of the building regulations. However, there is a deficit of knowledge and understanding of how these technologies operate and perform under Ireland’s maritime climate. This AQ-WBL project was designed to address both these needs by developing a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system to monitor the performance of such technologies and a web-based learning environment to disseminate performance characteristics and supplementary information about these systems. A DAQ system consisting of 108 sensors was developed as part of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology’s (GMIT’s) Centre for the Integration of Sustainable EnergyTechnologies (CiSET) in an effort to benchmark the performance of solar thermal collectors and Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP’s) under Irish maritime climate, research new methods of integrating these systems within the built environment and raise awareness of SET’s. It has operated reliably for over 2 years and has acquired over 25 million data points. Raising awareness of these SET’s is carried out through the dissemination of the performance data through an online learning environment. A learning environment was created to provide different user groups with a basic understanding of a SET’s with the support of performance data, through a novel 5 step learning process and two examples were developed for the solar thermal collectors and the weather station which can be viewed at http://www.kdp 1 .aquaculture.ie/index.aspx. This online learning environment has been demonstrated to and well received by different groups of GMIT’s undergraduate students and plans have been made to develop it further to support education, awareness, research and regional development.

Design, development and testing of a CAD integrated design for environment software tool.

The research described in this thesis was developed as part o f the Information Management for Green Design (IMA GREE) Project. The 1MAGREE Project was founded by Enterprise Ireland under a Strategic Research Grant Scheme as a partnership project between Galway Mayo Institute o f Technology and C1MRU University College Galway. The project aimed to develop a CAD integrated software tool to support environmental information management for design, particularly for the electronics-manufacturing sector in Ireland.

Development of an integrated approach to reliability management and operation

The research described in this thesis has been developed as a part of the Reliability and Field Data Management for Multi-component Products (REFIDAM) Project. This project was founded under the Applied Research Grants Scheme administered by Enterprise Ireland. The project was a partnership between Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and Thermo King Europe. The project aimed to develop a system in order to manage the information required for reliability assessment and improvement of multi-component products, by establishing information flows within the company and information exchange with fleet users.

Evaluation of the determinism of the actuator sensor interface (ASI) on programmable logic controllers (PLC), personal computers (PC) and real-time operating systems (RTOS)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the determinism of the AS-lnterface network and the 3 main families of control systems, which may use it, namely PLC, PC and RTOS. During the course of this study the PROFIBUS and Ethernet field level networks were also considered in order to ensure that they would not introduce unacceptable latencies into the overall control system. This research demonstrated that an incorrectly configured Ethernet network introduces unacceptable variable duration latencies into the control system, thus care must be exercised if the determinism of a control system is not to be compromised. This study introduces a new concept of using statistics and process capability metrics in the form of CPk values, to specify how suitable a control system is for a given control task. The PLC systems, which were tested, demonstrated extremely deterministic responses, but when a large number of iterations were introduced in the user program, the mean control system latency was much too great for an AS-I network. Thus the PLC was found to be unsuitable for an AS-I network if a large, complex user program Is required. The PC systems, which were tested were non-deterministic and had latencies of variable duration. These latencies became extremely exaggerated when a graphing ActiveX was included in the control application. These PC systems also exhibited a non-normal frequency distribution of control system latencies, and as such are unsuitable for implementation with an AS-I network. The RTOS system, which was tested, overcame the problems identified with the PLC systems and produced an extremely deterministic response, even when a large number of iterations were introduced in the user program. The RTOS system, which was tested, is capable of providing a suitable deterministic control system response, even when an extremely large, complex user program is required.

Optimisation of a surface mount technology process using a SnAgCu lead-free alloy

The impending introduction of lead-free solder in the manufacture of electrical and electronic products has presented the electronics industry with many challenges. European manufacturers must transfer from a tin-lead process to a lead-free process by July 2006 as a result of the publication of two directives from the European Parliament. Tin-lead solders have been used for mechanical and electrical connections on printed circuit boards for over fifty years and considerable process knowledge has been accumulated. Extensive literature reviews were conducted on the topic and as a result it was found there are many implications to be considered with the introduction of lead-free solder. One particular question that requires answering is; can lead-free solder be used in existing manufacturing processes? The purpose of this research is to conduct a comparative study of a tin-lead solder and a lead-free solder in two key surface mount technology (SMT) processes. The two SMT processes in question were the stencil printing process and the reflow soldering process. Unreplicated fractional factorial experimental designs were used to carry out the studies. The quality of paste deposition in terms of height and volume were the characteristics of interest in the stencil printing process. The quality of solder joints produced in the reflow soldering experiment was assessed using x-ray and cross sectional analysis. This provided qualitative data that was then uniquely scored and weighted using a method developed during the research. Nested experimental design techniques were then used to analyse the resulting quantitative data. Predictive models were developed that allowed for the optimisation of both processes. Results from both experiments show that solder joints of comparable quality to those produced using tin-lead solder can be produced using lead-free solder in current SMT processes.