Trend Toward Open Architecture Control Systems and its Implications for Developing Countries

The article substantiates the directions of informatization of the modern educational process in the institution of general secondary education. The analysis of normative maintenance is carried out and the needs of science, education and culture in informatization of educational process are defined. The purpose of the article: to substantiate the theoretical foundations of informatization of educational institutions. Research methods are used: analysis of scientific developments on the problem and normative sources; generalization and systematization − to identify promising areas of informatization; generalization of semantic characteristics of directions − for formulation of conclusions. The main directions of use of computer and information technologies in the institution of general secondary education are characterized, among which Computer and information technologies as an object of study, computer as a means of teaching various disciplines, as a tool to support subject lessons and other activities, as a means of development and upbringing of the child, the use of computers to perform educational and real tasks and to implement various activities, Information Technology as a means of diagnosing various functional systems of the child's body. The following arguments regarding the use of computer technology in the educational process of the school are emphasized: computer technology contributes to the improvement of teaching and increase the effectiveness of teaching; Computer literacy should be developed as early as possible so that students get used to and can quickly adapt to the constant updating of computer technology; thanks to computer technology, including the Internet, the mobility of the educational process increases, namely: students can communicate with teachers and students of other educational institutions, as well as professionals from both domestic and other countries, without leaving their class; computer technologies promote the development of self-regulation and self-control, teach students to manage their intellectual activity. It is concluded that the advantages of informatization include the following: increased activation of students' learning activities and motivation to learn; the emphasis is shifted to the development of practical skills, the development of creative thinking, memory, etc., the creation of conditions for active cooperation, the development of creativity, to develop communication skills.

Compliance control strategies have been utilised for the ultraprecision polishing process for many years. Most researchers execute active compliance control strategies by employing impedance control law on a robot development platform. However, these methods are limited by the load capacity, positioning accuracy, and repeatability of polishing mechanisms. Moreover, a sophisticated actuator mounted at the end of the end-effector of robots is difficult to maintain in the polishing scenario. In contrast, a hybrid mechanism for polishing that possesses the advantages of serial and parallel mechanisms can mitigate the above problems, especially when an active compliance control strategy is employed. In this research, a high-frequency-impedance robust force control strategy is proposed. It outputs a position adjustment value directly according to a contact pressure adjustment value. An open architecture control system with customised software is developed to respond to external interrupts during the polishing procedure, implementing the active compliance control strategy on a hybrid mechanism. Through this method, the hybrid mechanism can adapt to the external environment with a given contact pressure automatically instead of relying on estimating the environment stiffness. Experimental results show that the proposed strategy adapts the unknown freeform surface without overshooting and improves the surface quality. The average surface roughness value decreases from 0.057 um to 0.027 um.

This paper describes a robot system for automated harvesting cucumber. A cultivation pattern with inclined trellis is proposed, which is not only suitable for cucumber automated harvesting, but also suitable for cucumber getting enough sunlight to grow. A manipulator with 6 DOF (degree of freedom) and its end-effector for cucumber picking were designed and manufactured. Using D-H spatial mechanism description method, link coordinate system and link parameters of harvesting robot are constructed, kinematics equation of harvesting robot is built, and its forward and inverse kinematics solutions are obtained. An open architecture control system with multi-processors is built based on PC and DSP-based motion control card, and control program of cucumber harvesting robot is programmed. Finally, the experiments of robot movement positioning accuracy and cucumber cutting effectiveness of end-effector are conducted in the laboratory environment, with promising results.

This book presents cutting-edge emerging technologies and approaches in the areas of service-oriented architectures, intelligent devices and cloud-based cyber-physical systems. It provides a clear view on their applicability to the management and automation of manufacturing and process industries. It offers a holistic view of future industrial cyber-physical systems and their industrial usage and also depicts technologies and architectures as well as a migration approach and engineering tools based on these. By providing a careful balance between the theory and the practical aspects, this book has been authored by several experts from academia and industry, thereby offering a valuable understanding of the vision, the domain, the processes and the results of the research. It has several illustrations and tables to clearly exemplify the concepts and results examined in the text and these are supported by four real-life case-studies. We are witnessing rapid advances in the industrial automation, mainly driven by business needs towards agility and supported by new disruptive advances both on the software and hardware side, as well as the cross-fertilization of concepts and the amalgamation of information and communication technology-driven approaches in traditional industrial automation and control systems. This book is intended for technology managers, application designers, solution developers, engineers working in industry, as well as researchers, undergraduate and graduate students of industrial automation, industrial informatics and production engineering.

This paper investigates how lean production levelling methods can be better applied in the process industry with support from key enabling technologies from Industry 4.0. To investigate such a topic, a literature study is conducted in three main areas, namely production planning in the process industry, Lean Production, and Industry 4.0. Based on the findings from the literature review, a conceptual framework is developed to illustrate the ability of Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, and the further integration of IT systems to provide increased reliability for materials, processes, equipment, and forecasts that improves the utilization of Heijunka (production levelling) practices in the process industry.

The benefits of integration of Computer and Information Technology into Nigerian secondary school curriculum were identified and discussed. Already, Nigeria is on the wrong side of the international digital and global world of computer technology, as it has not made significant effort to integrate Computer and Information Technology into secondary school curriculum especially State and private owned secondary schools. A great deal of instructional and administrative work in secondary schools in Nigeria is still carried out manually. This paper, therefore, examines the major obstacles militating against the teaching and learning of information Technology, and also the use of computer technology in secondary education in Nigeria. It further identifies the high cost of computer hardware and software resources; weak infrastructure; lack of human skills and knowledge in Computer and Information Technology, as the major stumbling block to the adoption of Information and Communication Technology in secondary school education system in Nigeria. The study recommends that efforts should be made by government to post skillful teachers with knowledge of Computer and Information Technology to teach in the secondary schools so as to impact computer skills to the students, and also stabilize electricity supply in Nigeria for effective teaching and learning process of Computer and Information Technology.

Modern measuring instruments are today softwareoriented and rely entirely on information and computer technologies. Virtual instruments or, to be more precise, microprocessor-based measurement devices usually consist of a general purpose PC or Laptop computer and various types of measuring cards. Measurements are generally reduced to writing programs in different program packages, such as: LabVIEW, Matlab, and the like. For this reason, engineers and scientists are extremely interested in the high level of computer and information technology, as this will ensure that their measuring devices have superior performance. In this paper, methods that enable multithreaded programming in the LabVIEW program have been analysed and compared. Multithread programming allows parallel execution of tasks and significantly accelerates the data acquisition process in measuring applications.

The development of information and computer technology (ICT) leads to a hyper-connected society in which humans and things are connected to one another over networks. Accordingly, information technology (IT) firms are gradually incorporating machine to machine (M2M), the internet of things (IoT) and the internet of everything (IoE). Under these circumstances, IT firms strive to manage uncertainty and rapidly changing environments and optimise performance. The growing IoT industry forces IT firms to innovate to survive. Therefore, this study attempts to identify the main factors facilitating business performance by analysing prior studies. This study demonstrates that IT firms' non-financial performance outweighs their financial performance. In particular, it emphasises that value orientation, adaptive selling behaviour and organisational citizenship behaviour are the key factors influencing the non-financial performance of IT firms. This study reviews the literature on the business performance of IT firms in the IoT industry, which would help researchers studying IoT.

特集 製造業におけるニューコンセプト 未来製造技術をもとめて 重工業におけるニューコンセプト

In recent years, with the advancement of computer technology, the IT industry has seen new opportunities. With the continuous development of information technology, computer technology and information technology are also changing. However, with the development of technology, the needs of users are also changing, which puts forward higher requirements for the development of computer technology. Therefore, how to apply computer technology to big data is an important problem that needs to be solved urgently. In the era of big data, the combination of information technology and people's work and life can greatly improve people's work efficiency and quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary for us to do some in-depth research on how to utilize computer technology to deal with a large amount of data. With the arrival of the big data era, the development of human society is more and more manifested in science and technology and informationization, as well as the mutual integration of information and industry.

The underrepresentation of women in the information technology (IT) sector has been widely studied in the contexts of western countries such as North American and Western European countries. These studies indicate that the underrepresentation of women in the IT sector is unveiled in multiple perspectives, including IT access, the development, adoption and use of IT, IT education, and the IT workforce in general and within the IT workforce structure itself (e.g., different levels of IT positions) (Cooper & Weaver, 2003; Gürer & Camp, 2002; Hartzel, 2003; Klein, Jiang & Tesch, 2002; Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Rommes, 2002; Trauth, 2002; von Hellens, Neilsen, & Beekhuyzen, 2001; Webster, 1996). Why is it important to study issues related to gender and information technology? First, it is argued that the information technology sector should value and leverage all kinds of diversity (including gender diversity as one dimension) to enhance productivity, to facilitate IT innovation, and to develop IT for a wide variety of people (Avgerou, 2002; Roberts, 2003; Trauth, Huang, Morgan, Quesenberry, & Yeo, 2006). Second, it is also argued that women’s underrepresentation in and exclusion from information technology can be attributed to power and socio-cultural reproduction of inequality through technology development and use, and the historically socialconstruction of technology fields as “masculine” domains, which result in a gendered digital divide (Cockburn, 1985; Kvasny & Trauth, 2002; Kvasny & Truex, 2001; Wajcman, 1991, 2004; Woodfield, 2000). Ignorance or failure to address issues related to gender and IT will further marginalize women’s participation in future economic and social development, and will endanger social equality and social welfare in general (Kvasny & Trauth, 2002). A significant trend of the contemporary information technology industry is towards globalization, which is manifested through a variety of established practices such as IT offshore outsourcing, global software development, and innovation through global R&D (research & design) collaboration (Sahay, Nicholson, & Krishna, 2003; Walsham, 2000, 2001, 2002). Such a globalization trend of the IT industry and market has put forward new challenges to gender and IT research, to incorporate the cross-cultural dimension. Similar to the rationale for studying gender and IT in developed countries (leveraging diversity and improving social inclusion), Hafkin and Taggart (2001) argued that it is imperative to examine the cultural factors while studying gender and IT in developing countries

The underrepresentation of women in the information technology (IT) sector has been widely studied in the contexts of western countries such as North American and Western European countries. These studies indicate that the underrepresentation of women in the IT sector is unveiled in multiple perspectives, including IT access, the development, adoption and use of IT, IT education, and the IT workforce in general and within the IT workforce structure itself (e.g., different levels of IT positions) (Cooper & Weaver, 2003; Gürer & Camp, 2002; Hartzel, 2003; Klein, Jiang & Tesch, 2002; Margolis & Fisher, 2002; Rommes, 2002; Trauth, 2002; von Hellens, Neilsen, & Beekhuyzen, 2001; Webster, 1996). Why is it important to study issues related to gender and information technology? First, it is argued that the information technology sector should value and leverage all kinds of diversity (including gender diversity as one dimension) to enhance productivity, to facilitate IT innovation, and to develop IT for a wide variety of people (Avgerou, 2002; Roberts, 2003; Trauth, Huang, Morgan, Quesenberry, & Yeo, 2006). Second, it is also argued that women’s underrepresentation in and exclusion from information technology can be attributed to power and socio-cultural reproduction of inequality through technology development and use, and the historically socialconstruction of technology fields as “masculine” domains, which result in a gendered digital divide (Cockburn, 1985; Kvasny & Trauth, 2002; Kvasny & Truex, 2001; Wajcman, 1991, 2004; Woodfield, 2000). Ignorance or failure to address issues related to gender and IT will further marginalize women’s participation in future economic and social development, and will endanger social equality and social welfare in general (Kvasny & Trauth, 2002). A significant trend of the contemporary information technology industry is towards globalization, which is manifested through a variety of established practices such as IT offshore outsourcing, global software development, and innovation through global R&D (research & design) collaboration (Sahay, Nicholson, & Krishna, 2003; Walsham, 2000, 2001, 2002). Such a globalization trend of the IT industry and market has put forward new challenges to gender and IT research, to incorporate the cross-cultural dimension. Similar to the rationale for studying gender and IT in developed countries (leveraging diversity and improving social inclusion), Hafkin and Taggart (2001) argued that it is imperative to examine the cultural factors while studying gender and IT in developing countries

Amidst rapid economic growth, large industrial holdings are capitalizing on inorganic growth opportunities to maintain and strengthen their competitive position in both domestic and international markets. At the same time, an increasing number of various advanced digital solutions are emerging to help managers and owners of industrial companies manage the integration of acquired assets more effectively. Competent use of digitalization tools significantly simplifies and speeds up each stage of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals and reduces the cost of maintaining a project office when implementing acquired assets. The article presents the author’s and institutional (official) definition of integration processes for industrial companies. A systematized and structured analysis of the global M&A transactions market was conducted in all industries and specifically in the manufacturing industry in 2020–2024. The economic drivers and prospects for the development of the M&A market are analyzed. Examples of the largest integration deals in the manufacturing industry over the last 10 years are given. The main stages of mergers and acquisitions transactions are considered, and a detailed description of each stage is given. It also presents a list of digital tools and modern technologies that are used at all stages of the integration process of industrial assets. The main emphasis is placed on assessing the impact of digital tools and solutions on each of the considered stages of the integration process. The conclusion about the impact of digitalization on the implementation of integration processes in industry is formulated, as well as in the possible further simplification and acceleration of some stages of integration transactions with advanced digital solutions.

L’influence des médias et de l’informatique sur les sociétés humaines constitue un des principaux thèmes façonnant les stratégies visuelles et les orientations philosophiques des animes de Oshii Mamoru et Kon Satoshi. L’analyse des Ghost in the Shell et Innocence d’Oshii révèle ainsi que le développement d’une esthétique du sublime cybernétique se trouve simultanément fondé sur un univers hiérarchique et animé par un rêve de transcendance. L’étude des films de Kon, tels Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress et Paprika, dévoile quant à elle une approche très différente des questions de représentation : celle du « miroir virtuel ». Dans ces œuvres, la réalité quotidienne est saturée de portails ressemblant à des miroirs, et menant à des lieux identitaires alternatifs où l’on se prête à des jeux intersubjectifs ; des espaces nonhiérarchiques qui, contrairement à la vision d’Oshii, suggèrent une vue immanente de l’univers.

In this paper, the authors examine the migration and skill level of information technology (IT) engineers and highlight the characteristics of the labor market in the information service industry in provincial regions. The study is based on a questionnaire survey of IT engineers working in Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Kyushu.Hokkaido, Tohoku, and Kyushu each gain IT engineers who have their origin in other regions. Within the regions, prefectures that contain a regional capital obtain an inflow of IT engineers who grew up in prefectures near the regional capital. Some move to regional capitals when they enter a college or university; others do so when they are employed for the first time. Most job changes are occurred within a prefecture, and several respondents returned to their hometown or a regional capital near the hometown after they had experience in working in metropolitan regions. Those who moved from an adjacent prefecture to a regional capital incidental to a job change were few. These findings show that the labor market for job changers is divided into a local labor market corresponding to a prefecture and a national labor market wherein those who once migrated to metropolitan regions return to provincial regions. A comparison of our study with those of the Japan Institute of Labor (2000) reveals that the skill level of IT engineers is lower in provincial areas than in metropolitan regions. The authors thus assume that the spatial feature of one's working career differentiates the skill level of IT engineers; concretely speaking, IT engineers who have once worked in a company located in a metropolitan region have higher skills than those who have not. However, the results of log-linear analysis does not support the authors' assumption. In other words, the skill level of respondents is independent of the spatial feature of one's working career. The skill level of respondents is related to regions where workplaces were located at the time of the survey. Because the industrial structure of Hokkaido is poor in the manufacturing industry, firms in the information service industry can recruit engineers rather easily in Hokkaido. In addition, people of Hokkaido tend to have an attachment to their birthplace. These can be the reasons why IT engineers working in Hokkaido have relatively high skills. Within Hokkaido, Sapporo gains IT engineers from other areas whose skill levels are relatively high, whereas in Tohoku there is no difference in skill level between those who stay in their home prefecture and those who migrate to Miyagi, which is the prefecture containing Sendai, the regional capital of Tohoku. As mentioned above, some respondents moved between metropolitan and provincial regions, but a small number of IT engineers move between provincial regions. Therefore if there is a difference in the skill level of IT engineers among provincial regions, it is likely that regions with highly skilled IT engineers will attract human resources from other regions. The problem lies in migration between metropolitan and provincial regions and in differences in the skill level of IT engineers between two regions. Every year, many IT engineers move from provincial to metropolitan regions when they enter an university/college or when they graduate and are employed immediately after. Some return to provincial regions after some years of working in metropolitan regions, but few act as a vehicle to transfer the higher skills learned from the experience of working in metropolitan regions. It is rather the case that IT engineers who migrate from provincial to metropolitan regions and have acquired higher skills tend to stay in metropolitan regions. In short, selective migration in terms of skill level can sustain or even expand the difference in skill levels of IT engineers between metropolitan and provincial regions.