16767565
Improving supply chain visibility through RFID data
In our work, which is still in progress, we examine the visibility potentials of RFID technology within the context of Supply Chain Management (SCM). This analysis is conducted systematically by matching identified SCM visibility requirements and general RFID visibility potentials. Building on a four-step approach, we show how visibility in supply chains can be improved on the basis of RFID-generated data, and what impact this increase in visibility has on the goals of SCM.
9477654
An Aggregating Discovery Service for the EPCglobal Network
Although the achievements of EPCglobal standardization efforts in the last years are substantial and the diffusion of the EPCglobal network continues, a service to access item-level information stored at potentially unknown supply chain partners is still missing. Without this 'Discovery Service' the EPCglobal network cannot be used with unknown business partners. In this contribution we present a novel Discovery Service approach. In contrast to other Discovery Service approaches we use the Discovery Service to aggregate the data of interest. This eliminates problems other approaches cannot solve, e.g. assuring data ownership, low access control maintenance effort, and minimal complexity for the information requester. We present a requirements model, describe the implementation of our Discovery Service approach, and compare it to existing Discovery Service approaches. Finally we show how to overcome scalability challenges to implement our Discovery Service approach in a real-world environment.
9104094
Generic Web Services - Extending Service Scope While Preserving Backwards Compatibility
An apparatus for sorting blocks made of concrete or concrete-like material, in particular paving slabs, having a vibration arrangement and a sorting arrangement which slopes with respect to the horizontal, has an entry part for the blocks which are to be sorted and a sorting part, which has at least one collecting channel running in the conveying direction. The collecting channel has a central part and two lateral run-on surfaces arranged thereon, the width of the central part corresponding at least approximately to one of the two shorter edge lengths of the blocks which are to be sorted. The run-on surfaces are provided with stop elements, the stop elements on one run-on surface being offset in the longitudinal direction with respect to the stop elements on the other run-on surface.
3419898
Gain in Transparency versus Investment in the EPC Network - Analysis and Results of a Discrete Event Simulation Based on a Case Study in the Fashion Industry
The diffusion rate of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in supply chains is lower than expected. The main reason is the doubtful Return On Investment (ROI) mainly due to high tag prices. In this contribution, we leverage a prototypical RFID implementation in the fashion industry, extend this prototype by a discrete event simulation, and discuss the impact of an Electronic Product Code (EPC)-enabled supply chain concerning higher visibility. Thereby, we illustrate the benefit of the EPC network for Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM). Future researchers are provided with the simulation data which is available online and can be investigated.
45661231
Customizing Enterprise Software as a Service Applications: Back-End Extension in a Multi-tenancy Environment
Since the emerge of Salesforce.com, more and more business applications tend to move towards Software as a Service. In order to target Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, platform providers need to lower their operational costs and establish an ecosystem of partners, customizing their generic solution, to push their products into spot markets. This paper categorizes customization options, identifies cornerstones of a customizable, multi-tenancy aware infrastructure, proposes a framework that encapsulates multi-tenancy, and introduces a technique for partner back-end customizations with regard to a given real-world scenario.
15823454
Improved Monte Carlo localization of autonomous robots through simultaneous estimation of motion model parameters
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in autonomous navigation for lightweight flying robots. With regard to self-localization flying robots have several limitations compared to ground vehicles. Due to their limited payload flying vehicles possess only limited computational resources and are restricted to a few and lightweight sensors. Additionally the kinematics of flying robots is rather complex, which requires sophisticated motion models that are typically hard to calibrate. However, as the sensors provide only a limited amount of information, the motion models need to be highly accurate to reduce the potential increase of uncertainty caused by the movements of the vehicle. In this paper, we present a novel approach to simultaneous localization and estimation of motion model parameters and their adaptation in the context of a particle filter. To deal with sudden changes of parameters, our approach utilizes random sampling augmented by additional damping to avoid oscillations caused by the delayed detection of the changes. As we demonstrate in experiments with a real blimp, our method can deal with very sparse and imprecise sensor information and outperforms a standard Monte Carlo localization approach.
8412425
A probabilistic sonar sensor model for robust localization of a small-size blimp in indoor environments using a particle filter
In recent years, autonomous miniature airships have gained increased interest in the robotics community. This is due to their ability to move safely and hover for extended periods of time. The major constraints of miniature airships come from their limited payload which introduces substantial constraints on their perceptional capabilities. In this paper, we consider the problem of localizing a miniature blimp with lightweight ultrasound sensors. Since the opening angle of the sound cone emitted by a sonar sensor depends on the diameter of the membrane, small-size sonar devices introduce the problem of high uncertainty about which object has been perceived. We present a novel sensor model for ultrasound sensors with large opening angles that allows an autonomous blimp to robustly localize itself in a known environment using Monte Carlo localization. As we demonstrate in experiments with a real blimp, our novel sensor model outperforms a popular sensor model that has in the past been shown to work reliably on wheeled platforms.
11737906
A disk-based parallel implementation for direct condensation of large permutation modules
Through the use of a new disk-based method for enumerating very large orbits, condensation for orbits with tens of billions of elements can be performed. The algorithm is novel in that it offers efficient access to data using distributed disk-based data structures. This provides fast access to hundreds of gigabytes of data,which allows for computing without worrying about memory limitations.
 The new algorithm is demonstrated on one of the long-standing open problems in the Modular Atlas Project [11]: the Brauer tree of the principal 17-block the sporadic simple Fischer group Fi23 The tree is completed by computing three orbit counting matrices for the Fi23 orbit of size 11, 739, 046, 176 acting on vectors of dimension 728 over GF (2). The construction of these matrices requires 3-1/2 days on a cluster of 56 computers,and uses 8 GB of disk storage and 800 MB of memory per machine.
9329311
Intersection Line Length Normalization in CT Projection Data
We present a method to improve the quality of common sinogram restoration algorithms, which are used for metal-artifact reduction in X-ray CT. The presented approach is based on the idea that the intersection length of all beams through the object of interest can approximately be calculated from a preliminary reconstruction of the object. Incorporating this information to the reconstruction allows significant reduction of streak artifacts. Additionally, it is shown that the information about intersection length may also be used to improve the detection of metal shadows within the sinogram.
17041924
Non-equispaced Fourier Transform Vs. Polynomial-Based Metal Artifact Reduction in Computed Tomography
We propose a method, which treats metal artifact reduction in CT by sinogram restoration as a problem of scattered data interpolation. Corrupted sinogram entries are discarded and replaced with artificially generated values. The presented interpolation algorithm is based on the 2D non-equispaced fast Fourier transform (NFFT). Results are compared to two common polynomial interpolation schemes.