Decision support tool for Virtual Power Players: Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization applied to Day-ahead Vehicle-To-Grid Scheduling

This paper presents a decision support tool methodology to help virtual power players (VPPs) in the Smart Grid (SGs) context to solve the day-ahead energy resource scheduling considering the intensive use of Distributed Generation (DG) and Vehicle-To-Grid (V2G). The main focus is the application of a new hybrid method combing a particle swarm approach and a deterministic technique based on mixedinteger linear programming (MILP) to solve the day-ahead scheduling minimizing total operation costs from the aggregator point of view. A realistic mathematical formulation, considering the electric network constraints and V2G charging and discharging efficiencies is presented. Full AC power flow calculation is included in the hybrid method to allow taking into account the network constraints. A case study with a 33-bus distribution network and 1800 V2G resources is used to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.

Assembly Guidance in Augmented Reality Environments Using a Virtual Interactive Tool

The application of augmented reality (AR) technology for assembly guidance is a novel approach in the traditional manufacturing domain. In this paper, we propose an AR approach for assembly guidance using a virtual interactive tool that is intuitive and easy to use. The virtual interactive tool, termed the Virtual Interaction Panel (VirIP), involves two tasks: the design of the VirIPs and the real-time tracking of an interaction pen using a Restricted Coulomb Energy (RCE) neural network. The VirIP includes virtual buttons, which have meaningful assembly information that can be activated by an interaction pen during the assembly process. A visual assembly tree structure (VATS) is used for information management and assembly instructions retrieval in this AR environment. VATS is a hierarchical tree structure that can be easily maintained via a visual interface. This paper describes a typical scenario for assembly guidance using VirIP and VATS. The main characteristic of the proposed AR system is the intuitive way in which an assembly operator can easily step through a pre-defined assembly plan/sequence without the need of any sensor schemes or markers attached on the assembly components.

Multicast application sharing tool - Facilitating the eMinerals virtual organisation

The eMinerals Virtual Organisation consists of a consortium of individuals affiliated to geographically distributed academic institutions. Collaborative tools are essential in order to facilitate cooperative work within this Virtual Organisation. The Access Grid Toolkit has been widely adopted for this purpose, delivering high quality group-to-group video and audio conferencing. We briefly mention this technology and describe the development of a Multicast Application Sharing Tool designed specifically for this environment.

Virtual reality as a visualisation tool: benefits and constraints

The benefits and applications of virtual reality (VR) in the construction industry have been investigated for almost a decade. However, the practical implementation of VR in the construction industry has yet to reach maturity owing to technical constraints. The need for effective information management presents challenges: both transfer of building data to, and organisation of building information within, the virtual environment require consideration. This paper reviews the applications and benefits of VR in the built environment field and reports on a collaboration between Loughborough University and South Bank University to overcome constraints on the use of the overall VR model for whole lifecycle visualisation. The work at each research centre is concerned with an aspect of information management within VR applications for the built environment, and both data transfer and internal data organisation have been investigated. In this paper, similarities and differences between computer-aided design (CAD) and VR packages are first discussed. Three different approaches to the creation of VR models during the design stage are identified and described, with a view to providing sharing understanding across the interdiscipliary groups involved. The suitable organisation of building information within the virtual environment is then further investigated. This work focused on the visualisation of the degradation of a building, through its lifespan, with the view to provide a visual aid for developing an effective and economic project maintenance programme. Finally consideration is given to the potential of emerging standards to facilitate an integrated use of VR. The convergence towards similar data structures in VR and other construction packages may enable visualisation to be better utilised in the overall lifecycle model.

VLMA: a tool for creating, annotating and sharing virtual museum collections

The Virtual Lightbox for Museums and Archives (VLMA) is a tool for collecting and reusing, in a structured fashion, the online contents of museums and archive datasets. It is not restricted to datasets with visual components although VLMA includes a lightbox service that enables comparison and manipulation of visual information. With VLMA, one can browse and search collections, construct personal collections, annotate them, export these collections to XML or Impress (Open Office) presentation format, and share collections with other VLMA users. VLMA was piloted as an e-Learning tool as part of JISC’s e-Learning focus in its first phase (2004-2005) and in its second phase (2005-2006) it has incorporated new partner collections while improving and expanding interfaces and services. This paper concerns its development as a research and teaching tool, especially to teachers using museum collections, and discusses the recent development of VLMA.

Virtual Reality as a Support Tool for Ergonomic-Style Convergence

The competitive industrial context compels companies to speed-up every new product design. In order to keep designing products that meet the needs of the end user, a human centered concurrent product design methodology has been proposed. Its setting up is complicated by the difficulties of collaboration between experts involved inthe design process. In order to ease this collaboration, we propose the use of virtual reality as an intermediate design representation in the form of light and specialized immersive convergence support applications. In this paper, we present the As Soon As Possible (ASAP) methodology making possible the development of these tools while ensuring their usefulness and usability. The relevance oft his approach is validated by an industrial use case through the design of an ergonomic-style convergence support tool.

Integration of Virtual Map Rooms as a support tool in historical and social research

At the present time almost all map libraries on the Internet are image collections generated by the digitization of early maps. This type of graphics files provides researchers with the possibility of accessing and visualizing historical cartographic information keeping in mind that this information has a degree of quality that depends upon elements such as the accuracy of the digitization process and proprietary constraints (e.g. visualization, resolution downloading options, copyright, use constraints). In most cases, access to these map libraries is useful only as a first approach and it is not possible to use those maps for scientific work due to the sparse tools available to measure, match, analyze and/or combine those resources with different kinds of cartography. This paper presents a method to enrich virtual map rooms and provide historians and other professional with a tool that let them to make the most of libraries in the digital era.

Virtual Environments as an Education Tool for Digital Natives

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2013

Virtual Reality as a tool to Assist Learning in Aerospace Assembly

This study examines whether virtual reality (VR) is more superior to paper-based instructions in increasing the speed at which individuals learn a new assembly task. Specifically, the work seeks to quantify any learning benefits when individuals have been given the opportunity and compares the performance of two groups using virtual and hardcopy media types to pre-learn the task. A build experiment based on multiple builds of an aircraft panel showed that a group of people who pre-learned the assembly task using a VR environment completed their builds faster (average build time 29.5% lower). The VR group also made fewer references to instructional materials (average number of references 38% lower) and made fewer errors than a group using more traditional, hard copy instructions. These outcomes were more pronounced during build one with differences in build time and number of references showing limited statistical differences.