Safe places for pedestrians: Using cognitive work analysis to consider the relationships between the engineering and urban design of footpaths

Footpaths provide an integral component of our urban environments and have the potential to act as safe places for people and the focus for community life. Despite this, the approach to designing footpaths that are safe while providing this sense of place often occurs in silos. There is often very little consideration given to how designing for sense of place impacts safety and vice versa. The aim of this study was to use a systems analysis and design framework to develop a design template for an ‘ideal’ footpath system that embodies both safety and sense of place. This was achieved through using the first phase of the Cognitive Work Analysis framework, Work Domain Analysis, to specify a model of footpaths as safe places for pedestrians. This model was subsequently used to assess two existing footpath environments to determine the extent to which they meet the design requirements specified. The findings show instances where the existing footpaths both meet and fail to meet the design requirements specified. Through utilising a systems approach for footpaths, this paper has provided a novel design template that can inform new footpath design efforts or be used to evaluate the extent to which existing footpaths achieve their safety and sense of place requirements.     

Assessing the ‘system’ in safe systems-based road designs: Using cognitive work analysis to evaluate intersection designs

While a safe systems approach has long been acknowledged as the underlying philosophy of contemporary road safety strategies, systemic applications are sparse. This article argues that systems-based methods from the discipline of Ergonomics have a key role to play in road transport design and evaluation. To demonstrate, the Cognitive Work Analysis framework was used to evaluate two road designs – a traditional Melbourne intersection and a cut-through design for future intersections based on road safety safe systems principles. The results demonstrate that, although the cut-through intersection appears different in layout from the traditional intersection, system constraints are not markedly different. Furthermore, the analyses demonstrated that redistribution of constraints in the cut-through intersection resulted in emergent behaviour, which was not anticipated and could prove problematic. Further, based on the lack of understanding of emergent behaviour, similar design induced problems are apparent across both intersections. Specifically, incompatibilities between infrastructure, vehicles and different road users were not dealt with by the proposed design changes. The importance of applying systems methods in the design and evaluation of road transport systems is discussed.     

一种放射性物品公路运输系统力学安全性研究

目的 根据所装载的内容物特点以及现有成熟的运输固定方式，进行放射性物品运输容器和配套栓系系统的设计，形成具有良好运输匹配性和操作便捷性的核燃料运输系统，为放射性物品安全运输提供参考。方法 采用试验和仿真计算相结合的方法，其中针对放射性物品运输容器开展贯穿、自由下落、穿刺等验证性试验，针对栓系系统设计开展有限元仿真计算，以验证栓系结构强度。结果 试验结果表明运输容器具有良好的力学安全性能，能够保证在经历正常运输条件和运输事故条件后对内容物的包容性。在规定的加速度载荷下，栓系系统的最大应力均小于材料的屈服强度，能够满足公路运输对栓系系统的强度要求。结论 设计的放射性物品运输容器和配套栓系经过安全分析后，组成的公路运输系统能够满足放射性物品公路运输的安全需求。     

The sociotechnical constitution of cognitive work analysis: roles,affordances and malfunctions

Analysis of everyday work practices in sociotechnical systems for eliciting design/intervention requirements involves appropriate work analysis frameworks. The current article provides an extension to one such framework — Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) — by scrutinising its sociotechnical basis. CWA's forte depends on its ‘design for adaptation’, system related operations, and operators. In contrast, sociotechnical work systems require not only operators and adaptation, but also a significant emphasis on ‘users’ and ‘appropriation’. The current article extends CWA (based on Rasmussen's original concepts) for users; subsequently allowing for system flexibility and possibilities of ‘appropriation’ within acceptable boundaries of the system's correct functioning. To this end, the first phase of Work Domain Analysis is extended by adding a new layer to the abstraction hierarchy (AH), based on Rasmussen's original insights.     

基于人机工程的踏板电动车儿童安全座椅设计

目的 针对近年来儿童乘坐电动自行车频发伤亡事故的现状,研究现有电动车儿童安全座椅不合理的人机关系;从安全性、易用性的角度出发,为儿童安全座椅提供设计依据。方法 采用人机工程学理论,综合分析了儿童安全座椅的人机工程学因素;运用产品设计中人体尺寸的应用原则,对儿童安全座椅进行了安全、合理的人机尺寸设计;使用调查法对儿童安全座椅的使用场景与使用方式进行了调研,得出了儿童安全座椅须符合人机工程学的功能与结构设计要求;依据儿童的生理和心理特征,对造型要素进行了分析。结果 从可调节性、便携性、安全性等方面展开了研究,得出了儿童安全座椅的合理尺寸与结构设计要求,基于儿童的心理与生理特征,得出了安全座椅的造型设计要求。结论 以踏板电动车为例,进行儿童安全座椅的创新设计实践,实现以人为中心,安全、舒适、便携的人机关系。     

High‐Safety Nonaqueous Electrolytes and Interphases for Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Rapidly developed Na‐ion batteries are highly attractive for grid energy storage. Nevertheless, the safety issues of Na‐ion batteries are still a bottleneck for large‐scale applications. Similar to Li‐ion batteries (LIBs), the safety of Na‐ion batteries is considered to be tightly associated with the electrolyte and electrode/electrolyte interphase. Although the knowledge obtained from LIBs is helpful, designing safe electrolytes and obtaining stable interphases in Na‐ion batteries is still a huge challenge. Therefore, it is of significance to investigate the key factors and develop new strategies for the development of high‐safety Na‐ion batteries. This comprehensive review introduces the recent efforts from nonaqueous electrolytes and interphase aspects of Na‐ion batteries, proposes their design strategies and requirements for improving safety characteristics, and discusses the potential issues for practical applications. The insight to formulate safe electrolytes and design the stable interphase for Na‐ion batteries with high safety is intended to be provided herein.     

Cognitive Work Analysis for safe and efficient driving

Both the environmental and safety costs of road transport are considered to be unacceptably high. The ‘Foot-LITE’ project aims to encourage drivers to adopt greener and safer driving practices, with real-time feedback being given in-vehicle (during driving) and retrospective feedback off-line (pre- and post-driving). This article focuses on the early concept development of the Foot-LITE system, for which a Cognitive Work Analysis methodology was adopted. Presented are results from a Work Domain Analysis (WDA) conducted to scope the relevant driving domain and to identify the constraints on the system. Besides establishing a common framework and language for the project, the process will ultimately contribute to the design of the in-vehicle interface. This article also suggests an extension to the WDA framework to include novel methods for assessing the priority of lower level nodes and contributions of these nodes to the high-level objectives of the system.     

弹药外包装箱标志的探讨

目的探讨我国弹药外包装箱标志的设计方案,使弹药外包装箱标志满足国际民用航空运输要求。方法在保留现有弹药包装文字标志、军用物资图示标志、储运图示标志、危险物资图示标志以及弹药特殊标志的基础上,按照国际民航组织制定的《危险品航空安全运输技术细则》,融入关于爆炸品的基本标记、附加标记、UN规格包装标记和危险性标签、操作标签的设计要求。结果将弹药外包装箱正面布局为军用标志区,背面布局为民航运输标记与标签区,左、右端面为军用与民航共用标志区的设计,实现了在一个包装箱上集成军用与民航所要求的所有信息。结论经过重新布局的弹药包装箱标志与标签,既符合了国家军用标准的要求,也满足了国际民航安全运输的要求。     

Experimental‐numerical research on the seismic performance of URM buildings made of lightweight AAC blocks / Experimentell‐numerische Untersuchung zum seismischen Verhalten von unbewehrten Mauerwerksgebäuden aus Porenbetonblöcken

Masonry walls constructed with lightweight AAC blocks and thin‐layer mortar meet the increasingly strict requirements of energy efficiency and sustainability. In this sense, they represent an excellent solution for modern buildings, not only for external cladding but also as loadbearing elements. Despite the possible advantages of using lightweight AAC masonry, a specific assessment of its seismic performance is mandatory in order to set design recommendations allowing to reach safety levels consistent with those required for other masonry types complying with EN 1998 standard requirements. A comprehensive study on the seismic performance of unreinforced masonry buildings made of lightweight AAC was carried out in an integrated experimental‐numerical approach. The experimental campaign provided the necessary information to setup a reliable numerical model to be extensively used to assess the seismic performance of a number of prototype AAC masonry buildings with different characteristics, by means of both linear and nonlinear static (pushover) analysis. The results of this systematic numerical assessment were eventually used to draft design recommendations, to set parameters (behaviour factors) to be used in linear analysis and to calibrate rules for simple buildings.     

Knowledge-based functional design of industrial robots

This paper presents an expert functional design model and software modeling environment for designing the architecture of industrial robots. The modeling environment comprises an integrated knowledge base, an inference engine, a working memory, and an explanation unit and is implemented in CLIPS. The functional design model is based on the authors’ behaviour-driven, function-environment-structure (B-FES) formalism, which has been tailored to meet the special requirements of industrial robot design. A universal robot template has been created and a library of typical components of a robot has been compiled. Nine customized templates were generated from the universal template. Web links to the websites of manufacturers/suppliers provide easy access to data on robot components. The architectural design solutions are assessed by a set of user-defined performance criteria, such as precision, flexibility and short cycle time. Application of the approach is demonstrated through a case study of the functional design of a printed circuit board assembly robot. The authors argue that this approach is new for configuring robots and can significantly reduce the time, effort and number of errors made.     

Designing winning robots by careful design of their development process

We present a comprehensive robot development process and its evaluation. We designed this process in the context of a robotics course in high schools. The motivation for designing this new process was improving the robustness and reliability of robots developed by students and preparing students for becoming better designers. The newly designed process proved to be highly successful in designing top quality robots. In the process design, we explored and adapted existing design tools and methods to the specific designers, the nature of the product, the environment, the product needs, and the design context goals. At the end of this thorough design, we selected a synergetic integration of six tools and methods to compose the new comprehensive development process for this product context: conceptual design, fault-tolerant design, atomic requirements, fuzzy logic for control, creative thinking, and microprogramming-based design. The design skills of the students that learned the design process and the performance of robots they designed and participated in an international robotics contest were examined. The high school teams that studied the proposed process won the first places in an international contest. The robots developed by the students had better performance than robots built by engineers and faculty teams. Professional experts rated the robots’ designs as excellent. The students that studied the process demonstrated high level of diverse design skills including creativity and design management capabilities. Additionally, they improved their science subject grades and their attitude toward engineering. Both the results obtained by the study and the authors’ experience in teaching robotics demonstrate that the proposed robot development process could be taught successfully in high school and that it leads to superior robotic products. Our experience also indicates that this process could serve industry design by improving the robustness of robots operating in uncertain environments and supporting fast change management practices.     

A framework for designing supply chain disruptions management considering productive systems and carrier viewpoints

With the advent of the global and digital world, the number of geographically dispersed firms throughout the world has increased and the problem of Supply Chain (SC) disruption appeared as a main concern to many industries. In such context, designing disruptions management strategies for a robust SC has become a critical worldwide issue that is still under-explored. Since its design phase, this class of robust and global SC must integrate technologies and agents of production. However, the existing works only consider the Productive Systems (PSs) and the carrier viewpoint must also be considered since goods should be produced and distributed at the right quantity, at the right place and at the right time. In this complex task of designing disruptions management, a formal method must be used to integrate technologies ensuring the compliance of certain requirements, such as: developing collaborative and autonomous models, allowing reuse templates, considering analysis/simulation abilities and facilitating the interaction among engineering practitioners. Therefore, this paper presents a framework to model, analyse, control and monitor the robust and global SC, designing and integrating models with Petri Net, agent-based model techniques for disruptions management and considering both PSs and carrier viewpoints. A case study is investigated and the findings demonstrated the proposed solution supports decisions making for solving problems of design, analysis and control.     

基于城市独居老人需求的卫浴产品创新设计

目的 研究用户体验与安全需求下的城市独居老人卫浴产品的设计方法,改善城市独居老人在使用卫浴产品过程中,无法安全与正常的盥洗、洗浴问题。方法 从城市独居老人生理特征和城市独居环境下的心理特征出发,分析使用卫浴产品存在的问题,研究城市独居老人对于卫浴产品的安全需求以及本能层次、行为层次、反思层次的用户体验需求,针对3个层次的体验与安全需求,提出相应的城市独居老人卫浴产品创新设计策略,并应用于老人浴缸改良设计,提高产品的用户体验与安全性。结论 提出城市独居老人卫浴产品创新设计应遵循本能、行为、反思层次的体验需求,将安全与关怀设计理念融入卫浴产品并进行实践设计,关心城市独居老人生活,满足城市独居老人的卫浴安全需求,为其带来良好的身心体验。     

All at Sea with User Interfaces: From Evolutionary to Ecological Design for Submarine Combat Systems

The quickening pace of technological advancement will require submarine command teams of the future to process greater volumes of data, potentially with fewer operators. User interfaces (UIs) have evolved to meet current requirements, but this iterative process has propagated legacy design paradigms that may be unsuitable for future system specifications. To understand where improvements may be made, a review of current submarine control room operation is presented, using a sociotechnical systems approach. The social (command team: work, structure, and communication) and technical (combat systems) components are presented for context. An emphasis is placed on Sonar and Target Motion Analysis due to their prevalence within the control room. It was found that current UIs place increased cognitive requirements on operators due to the complexity and quantity of information presented. It is proposed that adopting an Ecological Interface Design (EID) approach could reduce such issues, facilitating effective resource allocation to manage increased data volumes. EID has been demonstrated to be effective across many domains, however, its exploitation in submarine control rooms is limited. Advances in modern submarine combat systems have promoted greater flexibility, providing an opportunity to utilise contemporary design philosophies for designing intuitive interfaces to maintain effective control room performance.     

Use of Cognitive Work Analysis for exploration of safety management in the operation of motorcycles and scooters

The risk of accident, injury and death is disproportionately higher for motorcycle riders than for motorists. In this paper, we investigate strategies of safety management associated with operation of powered two-wheel vehicles (motorcycles and scooters). Accident prevention is most often driven by an epidemiological approach that investigates the risk factors associated with accidents. By focusing on risk factors, these types of studies fail to examine the strengths of the system in any depth. In this paper we employ an ethnographic approach structured by reference to the framework of Cognitive Work Analysis, to identify how riders of powered two-wheel vehicles manage their own safety and the safety of others. We anticipate that this research will open up a rich, relatively untapped, area for exploration of safety interventions.     

设计元素在家具设计中的运用研究

探讨了家具设计中如何寻找、筛选、运用元素,分析了设计元素来源于感动和启迪的素材,提出素材并不能直接运用于设计中,要根据设计主题和潮流趋势来筛选,提炼真正有用的设计元素。进而分析了在家具设计中通过同构联想,从视觉、心理、经验及认知上找到元素和设计作品之间的共同点,灵活运用"形态同构"和"感觉同构"2类方式帮助设计元素与家具作品相结合。     

Design of safety-critical systems using the complementarities of success and failure domains with a case study

A safety-critical system has to qualify the performance-related requirements and the safety-related requirements simultaneously. Conceptually, design processes should consider both of them simultaneously but the practices do not and/or cannot follow such a theoretical approach due to the limitation of design resources. From our experience, we found that safety-related functions must be simultaneously resolved with the development of performance-related functions, particularly, in case of safety-critical systems. Since, success and failure domain analyses are essential for the investigation of performance-related and safety-related requirements, respectively, we articulated our perception to Axiomatic Design (AD), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and TRIZ. A design evolution procedure considering feedbacks from AD to identify functional couplings, TRIZ methodology to explore uncoupling solutions and FTA to improve reliability in a systematic way is presented here. A case study regarding design of safety injection tank installed in a nuclear power plant is also included to illustrate the proposed framework. It is expected that several iterations between AD-TRIZ-FTA would result into an optimized design which could be tested against the desired performance and safety criteria.     

Thermal–hydraulic passive system reliability-based design approach

In order to enhance the safety of new advanced reactors, optimization of the design of the implemented passive systems is required. Therefore, a reliability-based approach to the design of a thermal–hydraulic passive system is being considered, and a limit state function (LSF)-based approach elicited from mechanical reliability is developed. The concept of functional failure, i.e., the possibility that the load will exceed the capacity in a reliability physics framework, in terms of performance parameter is introduced here for the reliability evaluation of a natural circulation passive system, designed for decay heat removal of innovative light water reactors. Water flow rate circulating through the system is selected as passive system performance characteristic parameter and the related limit state or performance function is defined. The probability of failure of the system is assessed in terms of safety margin, corresponding to the LSF. Results help the designer to determine the allowable limits or set the safety margin for the system operation parameters, to meet the safety and reliability requirements.     

基于社会福祉的广场舞机器人服务系统设计

目的在促进社会福祉发展的背景下,研究服务设计思维导入服务机器人之后产生的新思路。方法采用深度访谈、现场观察等调研方法获取设计方向,确认设计方向之后采用相同方法进行二次调研。在二次调研的基础上,采用服务设计的方法及工具推导出服务系统设计定位及产品功能定位。结论服务设计的优势在于可以构建一个由"事"与"物"构成的系统,在该系统中,"物"存在的价值是为了达成某件"事"。在此认知之下,将服务设计思维导入服务机器人的设计开发之中,不仅将"物"的设计上升为系统设计,而且通过打造不同的"事",以满足都市老年人进行广场舞活动时在社交、娱乐、健身方面的需求,从而在某种程度上实现社会福祉的发展诉求。     

Managing engineering data for complex products

In this article we propose a design framework that integrates many application programs and manages the enormous quantity and variety of data generated while designing a complex product. Our discipline-independent framework provides data management services, such as version control and configuration management, needed by many engineering disciplines. This discipline-independent framework may be extended to satisfy the particular needs of specific engineering disciplines. The framework supports a message passing system and a flexible formula language, which facilitate the integration of design data from multiple disciplines.Our framework also includes powerful features for designing products with customer selectable options. First, we provide constructs, called option variables and option restrictions, for indicating what options are to be offered. Then, our option language allows designers to specify the product parametrically as a function of the option variables. Finally, we provide features for verifying that the design satisfies specified constraints for all combinations of options to be offered.