Anthony S. White

Using personality type differences to form engineering design teams

Abstract This paper argues for the greater use of personality type instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS II), when forming engineering design teams. Considering the importance of teamwork in all aspects of education and industry, it is surprising that few universities in the UK use personality type information when forming design teams. This has led to many courses not getting the best out of their students, and more importantly the students not getting the most out of the teamworking experience. Various team formation methods are discussed and their relative strengths and weaknesses outlined. Normal personality type distributions in base populations are presented and compared with data from recent studies of engineering students, and the link between engineering, design and creativity is discussed. The results of this study have shown that the most important of the type preferences is the Sensing-iNtuitive (S-N) scale, with its proven link to creativity and learning styles. It is concluded that both engineers and designers have much in common, and a methodology of using personality type choice sets to select and form engineering design teams is proposed.

Determinants of manufacturing strategy formulation: a longitudinal study in Hong Kong.

Recent developments of the World Trade Organisation and other international trade agreements have forced industries worldwide to face a new era of intense global competition. Manufacturers will have to compete effectively not only in the local context, but in wider regional and global marketplaces. Global competition has offered numerous opportunities and problems for the manufacturing industry. This paper investigates the determinants of strategy formulation (SF) in manufacturing enterprises and consolidates the empirical findings of a longitudinal study from 1994–2001 in Hong Kong. It also discusses the experiences from some leading Hong Kong manufacturers in managing the competitive pressures and gaining sustainable competitive advantages. The paper attempts to complement the literature base of SF practices with empirical evidence. The findings presented address the identification of success factors and problematic areas that provide manufacturers with guidance and references for formulating viable strategies to meet their business and operations needs.

Measurements and simulation of a pneumatic muscle actuator for a rehabilitation robot

The performance of a pneumatic muscle actuator, invented by Jim Hennequin and used in a prototype wheelchair-mounted robot arm designed by the first author is reported. Experimental measurements were made of the output torque versus rotary motion and internal pressure. The torque available for a muscle of size 60 mm width by 90 mm length ranges from 1 to 15 Nm. The rotary stiffness of this muscle is 0.081 Nm/deg. A theory based on thermodynamic principles indicates that the efficiency of the pneumatic muscle actuator reaches a maximum of 67%. A simulation model of the dynamic behaviour of the muscle attached to the robot arm using one-dimensional flow theory was written in ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language). The resultant simulation gives good agreement to within ± 5% of the experimental values.

Observations on modelling strategies for vendor‐managed inventory

Purpose – This paper sets out to describe transform methods to control vendor‐managed inventory (VMI). It aims to examine the limits of modelling approaches within control‐theoretic models.Design/methodology/approach – Modelling was achieved with the Simulink package using the equations developed by Disney and Towill for a two‐tier VMI system. Discrete and continuous models were considered together with two forms of production delays: a finite delay and the Forrester exponential delay. Standard control engineering analyses of these delay representations were compared to illustrate how the system response and stability depend on their formulation and to determine the permissible gains.Findings – Response by a discrete or continuous model to step inputs in sales rates depends on the type of delay representation but the responses do not differ by more than 5 per cent if the same delay form is used in the models. The prime effect of using a finite delay is to deepen the stock‐out and increase the required ord...

Development of a Novel Platform for Greater Situational Awareness in the Urban Military Terrain

The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and the more recent war in the Gaza Strip have emphasized the need for novel platforms which provide for greater situational awareness in the urban terrain. Without intelligent systems, which can accurately provide real-time information, collateral damage to property will result, together with unnecessary civilian deaths. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that within the next decade 75% of the worlds population will be living in urban areas. This paper outlines the current state of unmanned aerial vehicles throughout the world and presents a novel design of a multiple rotary wing platform which has great potential for both military and civilian application areas.

Actuators for rehabilitation robots

This paper describes the use of pneumatic muscle actuators in rehabilitation robotics. The history and application of this type of actuator is reviewed, and the design of an electric wheelchair mounted rehabilitation robot, utilizing a new form of pneumatic muscle actuator, the flexator, is discussed. The theory of controllable compliance is detailed and experimental results based on the flexator actuator are given to support this theory.

Validation methods for an accessible user interface for a rehabilitation robot

This paper describes the research methods required for the development and validation of a user interface for a wheelchair mounted manipulator for use by severely disabled persons. It explains the construction of the interface using tasks to define the user interface architecture. It outlines the experiments used to evaluate the user responses and draws conclusions about the effectiveness of the whole system. A systematic procedure is defined to obtain numerical estimates of the effectiveness of task analysis for individual use. This approach marries engineering procedures with a consideration of the human interaction. The prototype robot used several gesture recognition systems to achieve a better level of accessibility and usability than other robots used for rehabilitation at this time. Two different approaches to user interfaces were tested with different input devices.

The Middlesex University rehabilitation robot

This paper describes the development of an electrically powered wheelchair-mounted manipulator for use by severely disabled persons. A detailed review is given explaining the specification. It describes the construction of the device and its control architecture. The prototype robot used several gesture recognition and other input systems. The system has been tested on disabled and non-disabled users. They observed that it was easy to use but about 50% slower than comparable systems before design modifications were incorporated. The robot has a payload of greater than 1 kg with a maximum reach of 0.7 – 0.9 m.

A state-space model of a three tier APVIOBPCS supply chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a control engineering-based system model that allows for any value of production delay for a three-tier supply chain with information delays between tiers or systems with epos. Design/methodology/approach – A discrete z transform model of automatic pipeline, variable inventory and order based production control system three-tier supply chain is obtained using a state-space model using a reachable control formulation. This model provides a discrete time state-space model conversion using an exponential production delay with no loss of generality. Findings – This work allows a three-tier supply chain model to be computed via a spreadsheet using any production delay and can be modified to include different sales smoothing procedures. The model is fully controllable and observable. Stability of these models is obtained from the system eigenvalues and agrees with our previously published stability boundaries. Practical implications – The system is described...

A control model of the software requirements process

Purpose – Many project failures can be attributed to changes in requirements as the project progresses. The purpose of this paper is to review several system dynamics models of the requirements process from the literature, especially the model of Andersson and Karlsson. This model addresses the deficiencies in the system dynamics model devised hitherto to create a model than can be used to predict requirements acquisition and staff resources for different levels of project complexity and size.Design/methodology/approach – A new control‐theoretic model of requirements gathering is devised using the Software Test Model of Cangussu as a framework. Conventional control system techniques are then used to compute typical responses.Findings – The results agree with the limited published data. This model can be used to predict an estimate of the possible number of requirements that could be devised for the project. It allows the incorporation of workforce, quality and complexity information to predict the time to...