Population evolution analysis in collective intelligence design ecosystem

The Collective Intelligent Design Ecosystem is a dynamic ecosystem founded on an online design platform that leverages collective intelligence to support the creation of novel products. The system's primary components are its users and designers. Maintaining the system's sustainability requires expanding the scale of the designer and user populations as it evolves to stabilize. However, the unity of ecological interactions between various populations is fragmented in contemporary studies of population-scale evolution, and the parameterization of evolutionary models is illogical. To overcome this gap, this research provides a population evolution model of collective intelligent design incorporating participants' intra- and interspecific ecological connections. The model's validity is verified by the evolutionary simulation of 110 designers and 5990 users of China's largest collective intelligence design platform, the Zhubajie platform, and illuminating conclusions are in turn drawn from this simulation. First, the designer's influence on the user is greater than the user's impact on the designer. Second, keeping current members engaged is more crucial to the system's viability than luring in new ones. Third, fostering collaboration among designers while retaining user competitiveness can promote system growth. Fourth, decreasing the reliance between particular designers and users might hasten the system's evolution.     

Remembering today tomorrow: Exploring the human-centred design of digital mementos

This paper describes two-part research exploring the context for and human-centred design of ‘digital mementos’, as an example of technology for reflection on personal experience (in this case, autobiographical memories). Field studies into families' use of physical and digital objects for remembering provided a rich understanding of associated user needs and human values, and suggested properties for ‘digital mementos’ such as being ‘not like work’, discoverable and fun. In a subsequent design study, artefacts were devised to express these features and develop the understanding of needs and values further via discussion with groups of potential ‘users’. ‘Critical artefacts’ (the products of Critical Design) were used to enable participants to envisage broader possibilities for social practices and applications of technology in the context of personal remembering, and thus to engage in the design of novel devices and systems relevant to their lives. Reflection was a common theme in the work, being what the digital mementos were designed to afford and the mechanism by which the design activity progressed. Ideas for digital mementos formed the output of this research and expressed the designer's and researcher's understanding of participants' practices and needs, and the human values that underlie them and, in doing so, suggest devices and systems that go beyond usability to support a broader conception of human activity.     

Evaluating the usefulness of design rationale in CASE

Advanced systems development is composed of constant alternation between designing artifacts and debating the designs. This article evaluates the usefulness of the Debate Browser design rationale system in the MetaEdit+ CASE environment in one field setting. This usefulness is evaluated in terms of both the system's utility and usability. The research is composed of coaching, observation, and interviews, and it is supplemented through studying the design output. The evaluation suggests that the usefulness of the system is high. It points to advantages in reading design documents, via improved author-reader communication and the understanding of design solutions. This reduces the possibility of errors in design.     

Semiotic engineering: bringing designers and users together at interaction time

Semiotic engineering is a semiotic theory of human–computer interaction, where interactive computer systems are viewed as one-shot messages sent from designers to users. Through the system's interface, in many direct and indirect ways, designers are telling the users how they can, should, or must interact with the system in order to achieve a particular range of goals anticipated at design time. Designers are thus active interlocutors at human–computer interaction time. Their interactive discourse is delivered implicitly and/or explicitly by the system, which constitutes the designer's deputy. The importance of bringing designers and users together at interaction time springs from the intellectual nature of software artifacts. They are the result of human reasoning, choice and decision, rather than the direct effect of universal or natural laws. An adequate understanding of interactive artifacts depends on apprehending and comprehending the human intellect in action. Hence, in addition to producing interactive artifacts, designers must also introduce them appropriately, as is the case of other intellectual products. In this paper, we show how semiotic engineering can provide substantial theoretic support for viewing and exploring design possibilities brought about by this shift in perspective. We also discuss ontological and epistemological aspects of the theory, and conclude that it can bridge some of the gaps between other fragmented HCI theories and approaches.     

Towards seamless collaboration of humans and high-payload robots: An automotive case study

Despite the ergonomic challenges that large-sized product assemblies underlay for human operators, related processes are deselected from hybrid automation mostly due to the payload limitations of collaborative robots. Driven by industrial requirements for ergonomic and performance improvement, this paper presents the implementation of a human-high payload robot symbiotic workstation and discusses the key enabling technologies for seamless collaboration, namely: a) a multi-modal human-robot interaction pipeline, b) a gesture based contactless manual guidance module, c) fenceless safety monitoring system and logic, and d) an augmented reality-based training application for operator inclusion. An automotive case study is used for validating the complete hybrid system's usability and performance besides improved operator ergonomics and well-being. This work's findings prove that high-payload robots can support operators through intuitive means of interaction and businesses can rely on collaborative systems for improved performance metrics and job openness.     

Supporting collaborative design activity in a multi-user digital design ecology

Across a broad range of design professions, there has been extensive research on design practices and considerable progress in creating new computer-based systems that support design work. Our research is focused on educational/instructional design for students' learning. In this sub-field, progress has been more limited. In particular, neither research nor systems development have paid much attention to the fact that design is becoming a more collaborative endeavor. This paper reports the latest research outcomes from R&D in the Educational Design Studio (EDS), a facility developed iteratively over four years to support and understand collaborative, real-time, co-present design work. The EDS serves to (i) enhance our scientific understanding of design processes and design cognition and (ii) provide insights into how designers' work can be improved through appropriate technological support. In the study presented here, we introduced a complex, multi-user, digital design tool into the existing ecology of tools and resources available in the EDS. We analysed the activity of four pairs of ‘teacher-designers’ during a design task. We identified different behaviors - in reconfiguring the task, the working methods and toolset usage. Our data provide new insights about the affordances of different digital and analogue design surfaces used in the Studio.     

The role of domain knowledge in software design

Abstract

If effective knowledge-based support is to be provided for software designers, the process of software design, and the classes of knowledge used by designers must be understood more clearly. It has been shown that a software designer's experience of designing software in the current application domain has a significant effect on the production of a quality design. However, in gaining experience of designing software, a designer gains knowledge in various distinct areas, including software design and the application domain. It is currently unclear which elements of this experience are important. In particular, the role of application domain knowledge that is independent of software design is of great significance for builders of intelligent software design support systems, since the overheads involved in providing application domain knowledge for a variety of application domains in such systems would be huge. This paper reports on a study that has been carried out to gain insights into this question, based around the structured techniques of DeMarco (1979) and Yourdon and Constantine (1979). From this preliminary investigation it would appear that a designer's general knowledge of the application domain does not affect the quality of a design produced for a system in this domain; this runs contrary to current popular beliefs.     

An application-oriented,optimization-based methodology for interactive design of engineering systems†

Motivated by a control system example, a new methodology is proposed for tackling optimal design of engineering systems. This methodology emphasizes designer's intuition and man-machine interaction. It includes a classification of specifications into various types and a scaling of specification space and parameter spaces based on the designer's knowledge of the particular application. An algorithm is proposed for solving the resulting constrained ‘minimax’ optimization problem and its convergence is proved. Finally, an application-oriented user front-end is presented. The methodology discussed in this paper has been implemented in the DELIGHT system and has been successfully used in various types of applications.     

Research on an active knowledge push service based on collaborative intent capture

The quality of a knowledge service influences the quality, efficiency and innovation of product conceptual design. Existing approaches lack intelligence and individuation when providing a knowledge retrieval service via rules and cases. In this paper, we propose a framework of an active knowledge service based on collaborative intent capture to assist product conceptual design. First, a collaborative intent capture model is constructed through the study of the expression and capture of collaborative intent; second, a framework and a process of active knowledge push based on collaborative intent capture are designed after analyzing the method of knowledge resources acquisition based on the constraint satisfaction theory. Finally, match algorithms for text content are studied. Based on the above research achievements, a prototype system of a collaborative design and active knowledge service platform (C-AKSP) has been developed for providing a knowledge service and assisting product conceptual design. An example, the conceptual design of a machine tool spindle system, is used to validate the proposed theories for the model, the framework and the algorithm. As a result, C-AKSP can provide a superior knowledge service that meets the designer's knowledge needs.     

Digital twins for collaborative robots: A case study in human-robot interaction

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) can expand the level of automation in areas that have conventionally been difficult to automate such as assembly. However, the need of adaptability and the dynamics of human presence are keeping the full potential of human-robot collaborative systems difficult to achieve. This paper explores the opportunities of using a digital twin to address the complexity of collaborative production systems through an industrial case and a demonstrator. A digital twin, as a virtual counterpart of a physical human-robot assembly system, is built as a ‘front-runner’ for validation and control throughout its design, build and operation. The forms of digital twins along system's life cycle, its building blocks and the potential advantages are presented and discussed. Recommendations for future research and practice in the use of digital twins in the field of cobotics are given.     

基于系数图法的多输入多输出系统控制器设计方法

多输入多输出系统的交互作用会限制适用于单输入单输出系统的多种先进设计方法的使用,且多数关于多输入多输出系统控制研究只重视消除交互作用的影响,忽略系统控制问题,这样不但弱化系统的鲁棒性,且设计过程复杂,解耦后系统阶次也较高.鉴于此,提出一种基于系数图法的多入多出系统的控制器设计方法,将多输入多输出系统解耦问题转化为参数优化问题.首先,给出目标函数和两个线性约束条件,通过在频域基于粒子群算法优化目标函数,从而设计补偿器实现解耦;其次,基于系数图法确定控制器结构及参数整定,兼顾系统的稳定性和鲁棒性;最后,通过仿真实验验证所提出方法的有效性.     

Integrating probabilistic design and rare‐event simulation into the requirements engineering process for high‐reliability systems

Early in a program, engineers must determine requirements for system reliability and availability. We suggest that existing techniques gathered from diverse fields can be incorporated within the framework of systems engineering methodology to accomplish this. Specifically, adopting probabilistic (Monte Carlo) design techniques allows the designer to incorporate uncertainty explicitly into the design process and to improve the designer's understanding of the root causes of failures and how often these might realistically occur. In high‐reliability systems in which failure occurs infrequently, rare‐event simulation techniques can reduce the computational burden of achieving this understanding. This paper provides an introductory survey of the literature on systems engineering, requirements engineering, Monte Carlo simulation, probabilistic design, and rare‐event simulation with the aim of assessing the degree to which these have been integrated in systems design for reliability. This leads naturally to a proposed framework for the fusion of these techniques.     

Representing situation awareness in collaborative systems: A case study in the energy distribution domain

The concept of distributed situation awareness (DSA) is currently receiving increasing attention from the human factors community. This article investigates DSA in a collaborative real-world industrial setting by discussing the results derived from a recent naturalistic study undertaken within the UK energy distribution domain. The results describe the DSA-related information used by the networks of agents involved in the scenarios analysed, the sharing of this information between the agents and the salience of different information elements used. Thus, the structure, quality and content of each network's DSA is discussed, along with the implications for DSA theory. The findings reinforce the notion that when viewing situation awareness (SA) in collaborative systems, it is useful to focus on the coordinated behaviour of the system itself, rather than on the individual as the unit of analysis and suggest that the findings from such assessments can potentially be used to inform system, procedure and training design. SA is a critical commodity for teams working in industrial systems and systems, procedures and training programmes should be designed to facilitate efficient system SA acquisition and maintenance. This article presents approaches for describing and understanding SA during real-world collaborative tasks, the outputs from which can potentially be used to inform system, training programmes and procedure design.     

嵌入式系统发展综述

IT产业高度发达,嵌入式系统功不可没,以至于无处不见嵌入式系统。嵌入式系统家族庞大,涵盖内容广泛,涉及学科多样,了解其家族成员及发展历史,正确理解其概念体系及发展趋势,对于今后的“智慧地球”具有重大意义。总结了国内外的相关文献,概述了嵌入式系统的体系结构,分析了所面临的挑战,讨论了与相关技术的关系,最后展望了发展前景。     

Survey of collaborative drawing support tools

Along with recent experiments in the design of communication or computer tools for supporting various kinds of group working, the development ofcollaborative drawing systems has emerged as a notable research area within the field of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. This paper reports a survey of the experiments in collaborative drawing support tools with an objective of reviewing how the issues of supportingcollaborative design have been addressed by the research prototypes. The survey is presented in three parts: (1) findings from the observations of group interaction in drawing and design activities, (2) a framework for classifying the design issues experimented with by prototypes developers, and (3) a categorisation of the current prototype systems by interrelating the patterns of group use observed with the system features classified. The survey indicates that there are currently at least three different strategies of developing collaborative drawing support tools, which reflect the existence of diversified understanding and technological responses to what and how human collaboration in design may be supported.     

人机协作的用户故事场景提取与迭代演进

敏捷软件开发中常用用户故事表达需求：用户故事讲述了具体的用户角色希望软件完成的功能.系统新版本的需求常常来自多个用户故事的整合.随着版本的迭代,不断会有新的用户故事出现.用户故事的迭代式管理和整合是敏捷开发成功的关键.为帮助开发者掌握项目的用户故事需求,提出人机协作的用户故事理解、整合和管理方法,支持需求的迭代更新.具体而言,提出用户故事元模型和带场景细粒度描述的用户故事表示,从故事描述、功能特征属性以及场景3个维度表达用户故事.便于开发者理解用户故事所表达的功能需求.提出基于元模型的用户故事理解,以及用户故事表达元素的自动提取方法.提出人机协同式用户故事整合方法,使用功能场景图辅助开发者确定用户故事间的关联关系.提出基于功能场景图的用户故事迭代更新方法.案例研究展示了方法的可行性.     

A taxonomy of political processes in systems development

Significant resources invested in information system development (ISD) are wasted due to political manoeuvres. Prior research on ISD politics has contributed mainly through theoretical development and case studies. This has enhanced understanding of relevant concepts, political tactics and conditions facilitating politics. However, there is limited understanding of the different processes through which politics unfold. This paper uses 89 ISD projects to develop a taxonomy of political processes in ISD. The taxonomy includes three distinct processes: Tug of War, wherein multiple parties strive to gain project control; Obstacle Race, which involves efforts to resist and pursue the project; and Empire Building, wherein the project is used as an instrument to enhance political or resource bases. The taxonomy is explained using the non‐proponents' view of the project and the balance of power between system's proponents and non‐proponents. We also discuss the emergent taxonomy's implications for how politics can be managed and studied.     

An Exploratory Study: Supporting Collaborative Multimedia Systems Design

Multimedia systems design generally requires a collaborative effort from a group of designers with a variety of backgrounds and tasks, such as content experts, instructional designers, media specialists, users, and so forth. However, currently available design tools on the market are mainly designed for a single user. Tools intended to support a collaborative design process should coordinate independent activities of individual designers.This research investigated support for work groups engaged in designing multimedia systems. Specifically, it discussed a new collaborative design environment, called the KMS (Knowledge Management System)-based design environment, in which multimedia designers could share their design knowledge freely. Through two experimental groups, the research investigated impacts of the KMS-based design environment on their collaborative design activities (knowledge creating, knowledge securing, knowledge distributing, and knowledge retrieving activities). The research findings showed that the KMS-based design environment was a promising environment for collaborative multimedia systems design. More specifically, the research findings indicated that the KMS-based design environment supported creating, securing, and retrieving knowledge, but it did not support distributing knowledge. In addition, the research found that the social interactions between group members played important roles in the success of the collaborative multimedia systems design and that the KMS-based design environment did not support the socialization of group members. Furthermore, the research found that the inability of the KMS-based design environment to support the socialization was linked to its low performance level in supporting the knowledge distributing activity. The research explored the desired features of a collaborative support tool for multimedia systems design.     

The design and realization of CoViD: a system for collaborative virtual 3D design

Many important decisions in the design process are made during fairly early on, after designers have presented initial concepts. In many domains, these concepts are already realized as 3D digital models. Then, in a meeting, the stakeholders for the project get together and evaluate these potential solutions. Frequently, the participants in this meeting want to interactively modify the proposed 3D designs to explore the design space better. Today’s systems and tools do not support this, as computer systems typically support only a single user and computer-aided design tools require significant training. This paper presents the design of a new system to facilitate a collaborative 3D design process. First, we discuss a set of guidelines which have been introduced by others and that are relevant to collaborative 3D design systems. Then, we introduce the new system, which consists of two main parts. The first part is an easy-to-use conceptual 3D design tool that can be used productively even by naive users. The tool provides novel interaction techniques that support important properties of conceptual design. The user interface is non-obtrusive, easy-to-learn, and supports rapid creation and modification of 3D models. The second part is a novel infrastructure for collaborative work, which offers an interactive table and several large interactive displays in a semi-immersive setup. It is designed to support multiple users working together. This infrastructure also includes novel pointing devices that work both as a stylus and a remote pointing device. The combination of the (modified) design tool with the collaborative infrastructure forms a new platform for collaborative virtual 3D design. Then, we present an evaluation of the system against the guidelines for collaborative 3D design. Finally, we present results of a preliminary user study, which asked naive users to collaborate in a 3D design task on the new system.