Requirements for advanced Year 2000 maintenance tools

Y2K tools for many of the languages used to build mission-critical systems are in short supply. Without sufficient support, Y2K conversion will be an unmanageable task. Advanced tools can help reduce the manual effort involved in addressing the Y2K problem. The article describes the general requirements for advanced Y2K maintenance tool support. The article reports what the authors have learned and are learning about the architecture, tools, and process requirements that will enable their tools to be rapidly adapted for Y2K maintenance across multiple languages. While they do not mean to suggest that automated support is a panacea, they do believe that the use of proper tools will save sophisticated organizations significant testing and verification effort. They hope to raise expectations for maintenance tools and thereby alleviate some of the pessimism currently surrounding the subject of Y2K maintenance     

Twelve reasons why people aren't responding to the Y2K challenge

If you haven't heard about it yet, you've got to be a hermit with no outside world contact. The Year 2000 computer problem — dubbed the ‘Y2K crisis’ by the technical community — is a serious security issue deserving significant management attention and a large share of organizational resources. Nonetheless, study after contemporary study indicates that the massive job of fixing computer systems to prevent Y2K problems is being largely ignored and grossly under-funded. This article explores the psychological and structural problems which prevent adequate attention to and funding for the Y2K problem. The following list of hurdles is offered with the hope that it will be used by the technical community to convince management that Y2K remediation efforts are in fact deserving of significantly more attention as well as significantly more organizational resources.     

It Strategies for Migrating to the EURO

In IT circles, converting systems to the euro is considered the next “Y2K.” Whereas Y2K involved correcting a set of dates, euro conversion involves currency regulations of the European Monetary Union (EMU) as well as those of the EMU member countries. Thus, migrating to the euro is far more complex than solving Y2K. To help IT managers cope with the difficulties of converting systems to the euro, the Euro Working Group (EWG) was formed. in this article, the chairman of the EWG presents the group's strategies for switching information systems to the new currency.     

Some strategic Y2K blessings

Y2K showed everyone the importance of systems and software in enterprise success and gave software professionals valuable lessons. The author explains that the IT industry needs to pick itself up from Y2K and exploit the knowledge it gained from upgrading and redesigning its enterprise software systems and practices. If IT professionals want a seat at the strategy-setting table, they need to sustain Y2K-initiated IT house cleaning and software practice improvements as well as learn the real needs of their users: quality, simplicity, reliability, security, flexibility, and profitability     

超精密伺服系统控制与应用

随着智能微纳器件和高性能数字系统的飞速发展,超精密伺服技术已逐步成为信息存储、精密成像、半导体装备等新兴行业的核心技术.本文从微纳操控领域的设计和控制问题着手,首先介绍了超精密伺服系统的设计及分析方法,进而阐述了超精密伺服系统对控制理论提出的诸多挑战.特别针对这类系统中广泛存在的模型不确定性及高阶未建模动态特性,非线性迟滞特性及执行机构饱和非线性,多源复杂干扰并存情况的抗干扰控制问题,以及面向复杂轨迹的高精度跟踪控制问题,给出了具有代表性的控制算法和应用实例.本文最后以高精度直写式真空蒸发系统为例,介绍了超精密伺服技术在现代精密仪器设备中的重要应用.     

Is anything really new in mechatronics education?

Yes, there is something new in the way mechanical engineers are expected to design and in the way professors must now teach design. To illustrate how one institution is helping mechanical engineers to become mechatronics engineers, the article describes the undergraduate program in mechatronics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and in particular, the integration of the theory covered in lectures with the laboratory exercises. The hardware systems used in both courses are described. Also discussed are observations from conducting professional training in mechatronics both in industry and for the ASME Professional Development Program     

Principle of minimum entropy production in applied soft computing for advanced intelligent robotics and mechatronics

A new approach to design of smart intelligent control systems for advanced robotics and mechatronics is developed. The principle of minimum entropy production in a control object motion and a control system as a fitness function for genetic algorithm is used. Simulation results of a smart robust control of non-linear systems described as coupled oscillators are presented.     

Community task forces help mitigate Y2K risks

Several aspects of the Y2K problem are coming into focus. First, not all of the problems will be corrected in all the mission-critical systems. Second, failures could impact commerce, government services, power, communications, transportation, the economy, and other areas. Third, there is a growing concern that Y2K failures may cause havoc in our personal lives. Undoubtedly, millennium anxieties will grow and drive people to act. The issue is whether this action will be constructive or destructive. We have a choice. One perception is that Y2K failures will cause outages, shortages, and a host of other problems. Some people recommend stock-piling food, water, money, and even gold. It is becoming increasingly clear that acting in your own self-interest over the next year will ultimately hurt more than help. For example, each bank carries a small fraction of the cash held by its depositors; a run on banks could cause several to fail. A small percentage of the population buying a couple of weeks' worth of food could clear store shelves. Worst of all, citizens who ignore the Y2K issue until the last minute could panic. Community mobilization offers an alternative to these scenarios     

Help for cyberterrorism: Y2K's silver lining

We have seen numerous concerted efforts to deal with worldwide problems that potentially affected everyone, such as world wars and health hazards. We are now witnessing a different kind of global mobilization to conquer the Y2K problem. To remedy the Y2K problem, IT departments throughout the world have had to direct enormous resources to perform an in-depth analysis of their computers. We have inventoried software, hardware, and applications; fixed code; replaced noncompliant components and embedded chips; and developed contingency plans. Contingency planning is a major endeavor to ensure continuity of operations even if Y2K bugs persist and cause a system failure. In all this planning is 1st January 2000 the ideal time for a terrorist to strike? So now, as we turn the corner on Y2K, I believe we need to focus on this other large problem: terrorism through cyberspace-cyberterrorism. I consider cyberterrorism to be the use of information technology to disrupt critical infrastructure. Y2K can pay dividends by helping us to protect that infrastructure     

Mechatronics in fuel cell systems

Power generation from fuel cells (FCs) requires the integration of chemical, fluid, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and electronic subsystems. This integration presents many challenges and opportunities in the mechatronics field. This paper highlights important design issues and poses problems that require mechatronics solutions. The paper begins by describing the process of designing a toy school bus powered by hydrogen for an undergraduate student project. The project was an effective and rewarding educational activity that revealed complex systems issues associated with FC technology.     

地理信息系统MapInfo中时间函数引起的2000年问题及其解决方法

本文列举了地理信息系统ＭａｐＩｎｆｏ中时间函数引起的２０００年问题，并阐述了解该问题的一个方法，对ＭａｐＩｎｆｏ用户认识和解决应用中的２０００年问题有借鉴意义。     

The science and education of mechatronics engineering

We try to get to the heart of multidisciplinary engineering, of which mechatronics is an excellent example, and point out how the integration of disciplines leads to new degrees of freedom in design and corresponding research directions that otherwise would not have been investigated. This is the major contribution achieved by a multidisciplinary approach to engineering science; it leads to a new important research field and at the same time helps to push research in related fields into new fruitful directions. We point to a number of areas that have benefited from the interdisciplinary perspective and a focus on interactions between disciplines including: engineering curriculum; mechatronics research; control of nonlinear mechanical systems; real time control systems modelling; and time varying control systems     

Surgical and interventional robotics: Part II

A large family of medical interventions can be represented by a model that is analogous to industrial manufacturing systems. If the right information is available, they can be planned ahead of time and executed in a reasonably predictable manner. We, therefore, have classified them as surgical computer-aided design (CAD)-computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems, having three key concepts: 1) surgical CAD, in which medical images, anatomical atlases, and other information are combined preoperatively to model an individual patient; the computer then assists the surgeon in planning and optimizing an appropriate intervention 2) surgical CAM, in which real-time medical images and other sensor data are used to register the preoperative plan to the actual patient and the model and the plan are updated throughout the procedure; the physician performs the actual surgical procedure with the assistance of the computer, using appropriate technology (robotics, mechatronics, optical guidance, perceptual guidance, etc.) for the intervention 3) surgical total quality management (TQM), which reflects the important role that the computer can play in reducing surgical errors and in promoting more consistent and improved execution of procedures. Successful procedures are also included in procedural statistical atlases and fed back into the system for pre- and intraoperative planning. This article, primarily concerned with robotics and mechatronics, concentrates on the surgical action (surgical CAM), although for the sake of completeness, major issues in surgical planning (surgical CAD) and postoperative data analysis (surgical TQM) are also included. This article is the second installment of a three-part series on surgical and interventional robotics.     

Testing for millennium risk management

The Year 2000 conversion is a challenge to the economics of both testing and maintenance, but as a whole we are not responding with balanced priorities. Those looking for Year 2000 solutions typically allocate their first energies and budgets to acquiring automated analysis and conversion deals and services. This disturbing tendency ignores two facts that surface in virtually every analysis of the Year 2000 challenge: fifty percent or more of the effort will be in testing; and despite consuming a wealth of resources each year, current testing practices cannot satisfy the demands of current maintenance unrelated to the Y2K conversion. For the moment, most organizations continue to delay action on the Y2K Test problem while wading through the dozens of available analysis and conversion solutions. As a result, many Y2K projects have started on master plans that will need major revision once the true needs and benefits of testing automation become apparent. A growing number of those projects have already corrected course, revising strategy and reallocating budgets once they appreciated the nature of the Y2K testing challenge. Embarrassment will probably be the least of many worries for those that ignore the challenge much longer     

A visualization tool for Y2K

To facilitate Y2K conversions, Bell Laboratories has developed a Y2K visualization tool. The input to the tool is the output of commercially available Cobol parsing tools that identify lines potentially affected by Y2K. While these tools are extremely useful, their output is daunting. Presenting this output visually increases assessment productivity by as much as 80 percent. Visualization also improves conversion quality by suggesting more-informed and efficient repair strategies. This visualization tool is based on the idea that no one view is sufficient to answer important questions concerning Y2K. It therefore provides a suite of tightly coupled, linked views. Each view is engineered for a particular task, is interactive, and is used for both display and analysis. Linking between views causes interactive operations to propagate instantly in each view. The authors report that the results to date have been promising. In one case, the time required for assessment and conversion strategy development dropped from three weeks to three days     

A resource guide to Year 2000 tools

What tools are necessary and available to handle a Y2K project? This question would normally be answered in the low-profile, pragmatic environment of software maintenance, in which at least 50 percent of the world's software work is performed. But the Y2K problem has tremendous visibility creating a market for specialized tools     

The process of global knowledge integration: a case study of a multinational investment bank's Y2K program

In this paper we examine the phenomenon of Y2K as an example of cross-functional knowledge integration. We start with the observation that although an enormous amount of investment was made for year 2000 (Y2K) readiness, a smooth millennium rollover has ended with widespread debates about the worthiness of the investment. These debates not only reflect a common perception that the Y2K investment has been a waste of money, but also indicate that organisations often fail to learn from what they have done in the past in order to prepare for future actions. A case study of a multinational investment bank's Y2K program was conducted to analyse its main features and conceptualise the underlying cross-functional knowledge integration process. Based on our findings, we identified the following as the main processes involved in knowledge integration: (1) the penetration of different boundaries to obtain required knowledge and support; (2) the expansion of different paradigms to achieve shared understanding; (3) the reconfiguration of organisational memory to create new organisational routines and knowledge.     

Wizcon的Y2K解决方案及应用实例

介绍了解决工控人机界面控制软件ＷｉｚｃｏｎｆｏｒＤＯＳ版本的２０００年问题的具体方案,并列举了几个成功例子,充分表明Ｗｉｚｃｏｎ对Ｙ２Ｋ问题的解决方案的优越性。     

Bracing for zero day [Y2K management]

Your Y2K efforts focus on one goal: ensuring business continuity. Implement the right zero-day strategies to clinch the compliance race. Business continuity planning evolved from contingency planning, which looks at your business operations, imagines what could go wrong, and develops measures for dealing with those emergencies. Ultimately, contingency planning is shortsighted because it focuses on reacting to problems that you could possibly avoid altogether. Further, contingency plans only indirectly address your ultimate goal: ensuring that your business continues to function under any circumstances. By focusing on continuity instead, you work to ensure that events such as power interruptions, vendor dropouts, and systems crashes don't significantly impede your daily operations. If that's not possible, a good continuity plan can still ensure that your operations degrade gracefully. For Y2K, a comprehensive business continuity plan should consist of three components: (i) contingency planning guards against possible failures by putting in place appropriate prevention and mitigation measures; (ii) event management defines the measures to deal with unexpected occurrences like system malfunctions or business problems that arise from computer or software failures; (iii) zero-day strategies are the special actions you take immediately preceding and following the Y2K transition. The author presents guidelines on how to implement these planning strategies     

Distributed control over structured and packet‐dropping networks

In this paper we consider distributed control of n dynamic agents to optimize an overall system performance metric. Due to limited communication resources, there exist structured interconnections among the agents and the interest is placed on synthesizing a suitably distributed control law to provide a given performance level. Based on a Youla–Kucera (Y–K) parameterization approach, the problem of designing a distributed controller to deliver given performance levels for different network topologies is shown to be convex in the Y–K parameter Q. Furthermore, if in addition to structured interconnections, packet drops exist in information transmission among the agents, we provide convex conditions to guarantee mean square (MS) stability and to optimize ℋ︁₂ system performance. The proposed method is also extended to deal with systems of triangular structure. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.