Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Effects Of A Selected Wheel Design And Caster Fixture Design On Pushing Force When Pushing Four Wheeled Industrial Carts, David Wein

Theses and Dissertations

Manual material handlings tasks, many of which require pushing and pulling are common in almost all industrial and service sector environments. These tasks expose workers to musculoskeletal stresses as well as other related slipping and tripping hazards. The company sponsor of this study sought to lower the risk of injury from manually pushing and pulling carts. The company wanted to evaluate a newer style of split wheel and also an offset pivot dual orbital caster, which the manufacturer states will reduce pushing and pulling force. A total of eight participants (4 male, 4 female) were included in the study. Participants …

Development And Usability Evaluation Of Low-Cost Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Games For Patients With Upper Limb Impairment, Jayashree Arunkumar

Theses and Dissertations

Stroke is one of the primary causes of long-term disability in adults in the United States which leads to mild to severe sensorimotor impairments. Long-term continuous rehabilitation therapies are needed to facilitate sensorimotor recovery and empower patients in performing daily living activities. Currently, the opportunity of receiving post stroke rehabilitation in the chronic stage (> 6 months post stroke) is limited due to a lack of insurance and the high cost of therapy. Low-cost virtual rehabilitation games with motion tracking devices have tremendous potential to assist physical rehabilitation. Motion tracking devices such as Kinect (Microsoft, Redmond, CA; $100) and P5 …

A Decision Support System To Analyze, Predict, And Evaluate Solar Energy System Performance: Pvsysco (Photovoltaic System Comparison), Lisa Bosman

Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the SunShot Initiative, which aims to reduce the total installation cost of solar technologies by 75% between 2010 and 2020. This implies that solar energy is a top priority in the U.S. and many other countries. The purpose of this dissertation research is focused on creating a model to better understand the performance and reliability of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems over time. The model will be used to analyze, predict, and evaluate the performance of PV systems, taking into consideration technological and geographical location attributes. The overall research goal is to build …

Optimizing The Synchronization Of Multiple Bus Routes At Multiple Transfer Points Assuming Stochastic Bus Journey Times, Jirapa Sorussa

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we develop a discrete event simulation model of a generic bus transit system in which transfers of passengers between bus routes are considered at all bus stops in the network. The model considers several real-world aspects including stochastic passenger demand and stochastic bus travel times. Transfers of individual passengers between bus routes are explicitly modeled. The model shows how different values for the decision variables - the route assigned to each bus and the timetable for each bus - affect the time an average passenger spends in the system and other performance measures. In the experiments, we …

System Theoretic Analysis Of Battery Equalization Systems, Haoqi Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Battery equalizers are widely used in multi-battery systems to maintain balanced charge among individual battery cells. While the research on the hardware realization of battery equalizers has received significant attention, rigorous analysis of battery equalization from the system's point of view remains largely unexplored. In this research, we study three types of battery equalization system structures: series-based, layer-based, and module-based. Specifically, we develop mathematical models that describe the system-level behavior of the battery equalization processes under these equalization structures. Then, based on the mathematical models, analytical methods are derived to evaluate the performance of the equalization processes. We also carry …

An Innovation Formula For Privately Held Mid-Sized Companies, Jennifer Brusso

Theses and Dissertations

The principal objective of this paper is to create an innovation formula that streamlines and optimizes the innovation process in mid-sized privately held companies. Research included case studies of three privately held mid-sized companies. A comparison and analysis was completed on how each of the companies innovate, the success of methods used, and their ability to adapt to adversity. To address the increasing demand for innovative products and services that privately held mid-sized companies need to deliver on, information taken from the case studies was utilized to derive an innovation formula that focuses on customer engagement, professional affiliations, and open …

Operations Research Modeling Of Cyclic Train Timetabling, Cyclic Train Platforming, And Bus Routing Problems, Mojtaba Heydar

Theses and Dissertations

Public transportation or mass transit involves the movement of large numbers of people between a given numbers of locations. The services provided by this system can be classified into three groups: (i) short haul: a low-speed service within small areas with high population; (ii) city transit: transporting people within a city; and (iii) long haul: a service with long trips, few stops, and high speed (Khisty and Lall, 2003). It can be also classified based on local and express services. The public transportation planning includes five consecutive steps: (i) the network design and route design; (ii) the setting frequencies or …

Production Systems With Deteriorating Product Quality : System-Theoretic Approach, Raed Ahmad Naebulharam

Theses and Dissertations

Manufacturing systems with perishable products are widely seen in practice (e.g., food, metal processing, etc.). In such systems, the quality of a part is highly dependent on its residence time within the system. However, the behavior and properties of these systems have not been studied systematically, and, therefore, is carried out in this dissertation. Specifically, it was assumed that the probability that each unfinished part is of good quality is a decreasing function of its residence time in the preceding buffer. Then, in the framework of serial production lines with machines having Bernoulli and geometric reliability models, closed-form formulas for …

Understanding The Electricity-Water-Climate Change Nexus Using A Stochastic Optimization Approach, Ivan Saavedra Antolinez

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change has been shown to cause droughts (among other

catastrophic weather events) and it is shown to be exacerbated by the

increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet. In May 2013, CO₂ daily average concentration over the Pacific Ocean at Mauna Loa Observatory reached a dangerous milestone of 400 ppm, which has not been experienced in thousands of years in the earth's climate. These levels were attributed to the ever-increasing human activity over the last 5-6 decades. Electric power generators are documented by the U.S. Department of Energy to be the largest users of ground and …

Real-Time Analysis And Control Of Serial Production Lines For Energy Efficient Manufacturing, Guorong Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Productivity analysis, operation control and energy consumption reduction

have been the central topics in manufacturing research and practice. They are closely related to each other. Control of production operations is considered as one of the most economical methods to improve energy efficiency in manufacturing systems, while system performance analysis serves as the base of production control. On the other hand, effective operation control can result to energy efficiency in manufacturing.

Steady state analysis has been investigated extensively; however, transient analysis remained largely unexplored. Our research focuses on system modeling, performance analysis, and real-time operation control of serial production lines with …