Search Results (8)

The National Research Council Canada (NRC) is actively engaged in the development of an advanced autonomy system for the Bell 412 helicopter. This system’s capabilities extend to the execution of complex missions, such as arctic resupply missions. In an arctic resupply mission, the helicopter autonomously delivers supplies to a remote arctic base. During the mission it performs tasks such as takeoff, navigation, obstacle avoidance, and precise landing at its destination, all while minimizing the need for pilot intervention. The complexity of this autonomy system necessitates the inclusion of a high-level supervisory controller. This controller plays a critical role in monitoring mission progress, interacting with system components, and efficiently allocating resources. Conventionally, supervisory controllers are embedded within monolithic programs, lacking transparent state flows. This causes system modification and testing to be a significant challenge. In our research, we present an innovative approach and methodology to develop supervisory controllers for autonomous aircraft on the example of the NRC Bell 412. Using the Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) formalism and the Cadmium simulation engine, we effectively address the challenges above. We discuss the entire development process for a state-based, event-driven supervisory controller for autonomous rotorcraft using the NRC’s Bell-412 autonomy system as a comprehensive case study. This process includes modeling, implementation, verification, validation, testing, and deployment. It incorporates a simulation phase, in which the supervisor integrates with components within a Digital Twin of the Bell 412, and a real-time operations phase, where the supervisor becomes an integral part of the actual Bell 412 helicopter. Our method outlines the smooth transition between these phases, ensuring a seamless and efficient process. Full article

Background: Logistics and supply chain management are crucial in modern commerce, impacting global competition, and both can directly benefit by using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This case study examines key success factors behind a significant operational transformation in a company in the countryside of Alagoas, Brazil. From this context, two research questions emerge: (a) What are the main success factors that drove a significant operational transformation in logistics and supply chain management, and how did these factors impact the company’s growth? (b) How does digital transformation and adopting an ERP impact the company’s logistics activities? Methods: Data were collected through on-site observations, interviews with supervisors and a manager, and analysis of company-provided documentation. Results: The study identified key processes, stakeholders, and practices, focusing on critical success factors, mission-critical processes, and the integration of core and support functions. Notable changes were observed through key logistics performance indicators, tracking the evolution from pre-implementation to post-implementation and revealing their impact on the company’s growth. Conclusions: Improved decision making between departments significantly enhanced performance and growth. The analyzed company’s success can be attributed to a process-oriented approach, digital transformation in logistics, and investment in information technology. Full article

Reforestation is performed after the final felling as an important and often law-mandated step to ensure that wood production is sustainable. In Sweden alone, over 400 millions seedlings are planted annually. This work is physically demanding and the quality is uneven. Therefore, automatic production systems are under research and development. A necessary effort in this endeavor is presented in this paper: the development and evaluation of a mission supervisor utilized to control the mission and behavior of a full-scale autonomous forest regeneration machine tested in realistic environments. The mission supervisor is implemented in the Robot Operating System framework using a finite state machine package called SMACH. A terrain machine built as a research platform with an added full-scale forwarder crane is used as a base machine. First, we describe the scenario in which planting is conducted, whereupon we develop the composite tasks required as states. A simplified simulator then enables an intermediate step before field experiments. The system is implemented and operated in real time on a full-scale machine. Results show that the developed SMACH mission supervisor can be used as a sound basis for an autonomous forest regeneration machine and the chosen communication solution between different systems works well. The simulations show good agreement with the experiments. The results also show that crane movements take 70% of the machine time, emphasizing the importance of limiting crane movement, improving the actuator movement speed and integrating the composite solutions. Further development with a holistic approach is required before the concept can reach the prototype level. Full article

The masculine image and the notions of manual work and physical strength have resulted in more men workers in forestry. This gender imbalance has influenced the sector’s leadership environment, a critical element in the workplace setting for meeting organizational goals. This study aims to investigate women’s leadership dynamics in Perhutani, the only state-owned enterprise responsible for managing forest resources in Indonesia. Utilizing in-depth interviews with 11 women leaders from middle to top management levels, we found that there is a perceived physical limitation barrier to being a woman leader in Perhutani. To climb the career ladder, a support system from family, colleagues, and supervisors is important. However, family can be two sides of a coin, as it is also acknowledged as an internal constraint to being a woman leader. Our respondents acknowledge leadership labyrinth theory in being able to reach top leadership positions and tokenism theory, pointing out that the benefits of women leadership for Perhutani include the realization of gender equality, referring to the key performance index from the Government of Indonesia. For our respondents, being in a men-dominated sector is considered one of the attractive aspects of being a woman leader. They felt constantly challenged, but in a positive way. With these circumstances, our respondents showcase leadership styles in line with the theories of heart leadership and mother leadership. Heart-led leaders draw on the qualities of empathy, love, and vulnerability, while mother leadership means not only leading with the heart of a mother, but also with the mission, vision, and actions of a mother. Full article

At present, autonomous driving vehicles are designed in an ego-vehicle manner. The vehicles gather information from their on-board sensors, build an environment model from it and plan their movement based on this model. Mobile network connections are used for non-mission-critical tasks and maintenance only. In this paper, we propose a connected autonomous driving system, where self-driving vehicles exchange data with a so-called road supervisor. All vehicles under supervision provide their current position, velocity and other valuable data. Using the received information, the supervisor provides a recommended trajectory for every vehicle, coordinated with all other vehicles. Since the supervisor has a much better overview of the situation on the road, more elaborate decisions, compared to each individual autonomous vehicle planning for itself, are possible. Experiments show that our approach works efficiently and safely when running our road supervisor on top of a popular traffic simulator. Furthermore, we show the feasibility of offloading the trajectory planning task into the network when using ultra-low-latency 5G networks. Full article

Teaching is a specific type of profession with a specific mission. In this study, the motivation level of primary school teachers in Slovakia in the period from 2015 to 2020 was analyzed. A total of 1189 Slovak teachers with a stratified selection were addressed. Cronbach’s Alpha, Tukey’s HSD (honest significant difference), and ANOVA were used to analyze the data obtained. The research results confirm that Slovak teachers are motivated most by relationship and financial factors. Other important motivation factors are atmosphere in the workplace, a good work team, a supervisor’s approach, a fair appraisal system, and a basic salary. The research also confirms that, over the duration of the study, there was a significant change in the average level of motivation factors; however, there was no change in their relative proportion and structure. In relation to gender, significant diachronic differences were confirmed. Research results prove that Slovak teachers have stable requirements in terms of motivation. This study’s findings will further help school management create effective motivation programs for primary school teachers. Regarding the fact that no similar research has been conducted in Slovakia in a long time, the research results presented here are original and unique. Full article

Volunteering has taken on growing significance as a benefit to society and in initiatives to promote sustainability; it is therefore important to understand the factors driving its success. One increasingly studied variable with a positive effect on volunteer behavior and retention is organization identification. The antecedents influencing the organization identification variable, however, have not yet been explored in the volunteer literature. We address this gap by implementing a survey among volunteers at the OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center in Los Angeles and analyzing results via simple and multivariate linear regression analyses. Specifically, we investigate whether or not communication factors affect both organization identification and volunteer intention to continue. We find that specific communication factors, including a relationship with one’s supervisor, internal communication, and external social media postings significantly increase the level of organization identification and retention. Our findings are consistent with the theories of leader-member exchange and absorption capacity. Practitioners and nonprofits can improve the organizational environment of volunteers by optimizing these communication practices. Full article

The value of including a research component in medical students’ training programs has been widely recognized. Nevertheless, examples of how this may be done are rarely found in the literature. The case study reported in this short paper aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating how a group of postgraduate students attached to the Orthopedics Department of a major hospital in China engaged in research for publication. Fourteen students were interviewed, and their “mission lists” were analyzed to reveal the students’ research profiles, the sources of their research ideas, and their data collection activities. The study showed that the students pursued more clinical than basic research topics, their research topics often fell under their immediate supervisors’ larger projects, and the students were actively engaged in the gathering of research data on the wards and at the outpatient clinic. The reported study does not claim generalizability of its findings. More of such reports from various settings in different parts of the world are needed to enhance constructive exchanges and mutual learning. Full article