China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Strategy and military technology
Published in Adedeji B. Badiru, Cassie B. Barlow, Defense Innovation Handbook, 2018
Other defense experts doubt that the name of an initiative matters very much anyway. Much more important, they argue, is that the underlying ideas are recognized, understood, and supported. There is broad agreement on these underlying themes: Technology is most useful when focused on specific problems in need of solutions.Technology matters, and is an area in which the US has a proven distinctive competence.But technology is not the only thing that matters: The military must have in place the right workforce and the right processes to capitalize on technology as a competitive advantage.Asymmetry must be embraced. The US must look beyond fixing perceived weaknesses, to take advantage of its unique strengths (Johnson, 2016; Hicks, 2017).
Systems engineering
Published in A. Wayne Wymore, Model-Based Systems Engineering, 2018
Systems engineering adopts a point of view unique among the engineering disciplines: the systems engineer approaches, in the requirements development phase, any system design or analysis problem without commitment to any particular technology or solution technique. Systems engineering avoids stating the problem in terms of a preferred solution or class of solutions. The systems engineer tries, rather, to see the problem from a technology-free point of view. The systems engineer tries first to symbolize and then to attack the human problem that the system to be designed or analyzed will exist to solve, not, at the outset, the technological problem. Appropriate technological problems are derived, by systems engineering in the concept development phase, from the statement of the human problem. Systems engineering deals directly with the customer to help to state succinctly the operational need motivating the desire for a system to be designed. In other words, the principal objective of systems engineering in Phase 1 is to state comprehensively, precisely, and consistently the problem of the design of the system as the customer sees it.
An Introduction to Control Systems
Published in Arthur G.O. Mutambara, Design and Analysis of Control Systems, 2017
Control is the process of causing a system variable to conform to some desired value or reference value. A system is any collection of interacting components for which there are cause-and-effect relationships among the variables. The components are connected so as to form a whole entity that has properties that are not present in the separate entities. Within this context, a control system is then defined as an interconnection of interacting components forming a system configuration that will provide a desired system response. Feedback is the process of measuring the controlled variable and using that information to influence the controlled variable. In order to understand the purpose of a control system, it is useful to examine examples of simple control systems. These simple systems incorporate the same ideas of control and feedback that are used in complex and advanced applications. Modern control engineering practice includes the use of control design strategies for improving manufacturing processes, efficient energy use and advanced automobile technology. These control principles are also used in rapid transit systems, advanced robotic systems, and in the emerging fields of mechatronics and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Mechatronics involves the synergistic integration of mechanics, electronics, and computer science to produce optimum products and systems.
Adaptation of Affinity for Technology Interaction Scale to Turkish Culture and Evaluation of Measurement Invariance: ATI-T
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2023
Elif Kübra Demir, Sait Çüm, Tarık Kışla
Today, digital technologies support human beings in every aspect of life. Technology essentially creates new tools that enable human beings to solve current or potential problems and achieve goals more effectively. However, emerging new systems can be a problem for individuals with a low ability to cope with new technologies. In other words, every new technological system requires adaptation and new learning processes from its users. For this reason, an individual must be able to cope with technology in order to adapt to new technological tools and use technology effectively. Therefore, the importance of using technology effectively and coping with technology is increasing for all individuals in society. Two important factors come to the fore in the individuals’ coping with technology. The first of these is systemic features, while the other is individual resources and characteristics.
A novel biomethane (BMP) and composting (CMP) potential framework for determining biogas and composting potential of urban organic waste
Published in Environmental Technology, 2022
Daniella Sarpong, Gordon Amankwaa, Marion Martienssen, Marko Burkhardt
In this work, novel dashboards were utilized to assess the biomethane and composting capabilities. Thus, TBMP concentrations in diverse substrates were estimated to range between 414.4 and 572.41 l CH4/kg VS for banana peels and carrot leaves, respectively. After assuming a biodegradability of 80%, the substrates’ TBMP content was lowered to between 331.52 and 457.93 l CH4/kg VS. When contemplating the possibility of composting. All of the substrates met only one of the four requirements and were therefore unsuitable for direct composting. The unique dashboards used to assess bio-methane and compostability can also be used to assess the bio-methane and compostability of any other organic feed. This enables any user to calculate the bio-methane potential and compost created from a particular feedstock. The chosen criteria were cost effectiveness, lifetime, and the type of waste to be treated, which requires less water than other AD systems. The planned facility is a worthwhile investment because the NPV and BCR are both greater than one and the payback period is 2.2 years. To summarize, an AD plant located at the Bantama market can create electricity and compost for organic waste treatment; provided sufficient markets exist for the AD plant's product, a sizable profit can be realized. As a result, the Ghanaian government and municipalities can promote this technology through policy development and private investment to capture the huge amounts of organic waste created for the production of biogas and compost. In addition to economic benefits, this technology also offers environmental and social benefits.
Examining user engagement and use of fitness tracking technology through the lens of technology affordances
Published in Behaviour & Information Technology, 2022
Xin Zhou, Archana Krishnan, Ersin Dincelli
We develop and utilise technology to solve problems and improve our lives. Therefore, to understand the adoption and use of a given technology, we need to examine it from social (i.e. its users) and technical (i.e. the technology itself) perspectives, as well as the potential sociotechnical linkages between users and the technology. A recent trend in the literature is to apply an interdisciplinary theoretical approach to examine health information technologies (e.g. Ahadzadeh et al. 2015; Tsai 2014). One reason for integrating multiple theories is that most theories cannot fully explain the relationship between technology and its users independently (Budman, Portnoy, and Villapiano 2003) or the underlying mechanism of technology use. This is especially true for emerging multifunctional technologies that foster the entanglement of human and technological activities, such as fitness trackers (Orlikowski 2005). Such technologies blur the line between technology and human, and extend the capabilities of both by creating new affordances. Therefore, to understand the relationships among technology affordances of fitness trackers and subsequent use, we applied the MTM in this study. We selected MTM as it combines technology affordances and user perception.