A home healthcare multi-agent system in a multi-objective environment
- Mutingi, M., Mbohwa, Charles
- Authors: Mutingi, M. , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Home healthcare , Multiagent systems
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/380551 , uj:4974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13075
- Description: Decision making in home care service is complex due to the need to satisfice multi-objective goals such as maximizing customer service quality, minimizing service cost, and maximizing employee satisfaction. With the increasing world-wide need for efficient and effective home healthcare, the increasing elderly population, and the increasing pressure from governments and other stakeholders in various societies, the development of effective novel approaches for home care decisions is imperative. In this paper, we present a multi-agent architecture that facilitates decision making characterised with multiple objectives. The approach integrates the capabilities of a multi-agent system and Web services so as to facilitate effective decisions for home healthcare services. The aim is to provide a multi-agent system based on genetic algorithm, where decisions are based on intelligent agents that provide intelligent alternative decisions in a multiple-objective environment.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mutingi, M. , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Home healthcare , Multiagent systems
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/380551 , uj:4974 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13075
- Description: Decision making in home care service is complex due to the need to satisfice multi-objective goals such as maximizing customer service quality, minimizing service cost, and maximizing employee satisfaction. With the increasing world-wide need for efficient and effective home healthcare, the increasing elderly population, and the increasing pressure from governments and other stakeholders in various societies, the development of effective novel approaches for home care decisions is imperative. In this paper, we present a multi-agent architecture that facilitates decision making characterised with multiple objectives. The approach integrates the capabilities of a multi-agent system and Web services so as to facilitate effective decisions for home healthcare services. The aim is to provide a multi-agent system based on genetic algorithm, where decisions are based on intelligent agents that provide intelligent alternative decisions in a multiple-objective environment.
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Design of an automated grinding media charging system for ball mills
- Rupare, W.F., Nyanga, L., Van der Merwe, A.F., Matope, S., Mhlanga, S.
- Authors: Rupare, W.F. , Nyanga, L. , Van der Merwe, A.F. , Matope, S. , Mhlanga, S.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Mill load , Grinding production ratio
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13019
- Description: The parameters of mill load (ML) not only represent the load of the ball mill, but also determine the grinding production ratio (GPR) of the grinding process. Monitoring and recognition of milling conditions have significant effect on the operating efficiency, product quality, and energy and grinding media consumption for the milling circuit. This paper presents an automated grinding media charging system incorporating a multi-agent system developed in Java Agent Development Environment (JADE). A control logix program is designed to determine the precise quantities of grinding media to be charged in an incremental manner such that shock loading is avoided. The multi-agent system created in JADE monitors the power drawn and the mill load of the ball mill such that proper charging conditions are established. High quality of the regulation process is achieved through utilization of the control logix and the multi-agent system.
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- Authors: Rupare, W.F. , Nyanga, L. , Van der Merwe, A.F. , Matope, S. , Mhlanga, S.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Mill load , Grinding production ratio
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13019
- Description: The parameters of mill load (ML) not only represent the load of the ball mill, but also determine the grinding production ratio (GPR) of the grinding process. Monitoring and recognition of milling conditions have significant effect on the operating efficiency, product quality, and energy and grinding media consumption for the milling circuit. This paper presents an automated grinding media charging system incorporating a multi-agent system developed in Java Agent Development Environment (JADE). A control logix program is designed to determine the precise quantities of grinding media to be charged in an incremental manner such that shock loading is avoided. The multi-agent system created in JADE monitors the power drawn and the mill load of the ball mill such that proper charging conditions are established. High quality of the regulation process is achieved through utilization of the control logix and the multi-agent system.
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Investigation of the effects of lubricant fat content on drawn copper wires
- Chiduwa, A.C., Nyanga, L., Mhlanga, S., Kanyemba, G., Van der Merwe, A.F.
- Authors: Chiduwa, A.C. , Nyanga, L. , Mhlanga, S. , Kanyemba, G. , Van der Merwe, A.F.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Cable manufacturing , Lubricant fat content , Lean manufacturing , Copper wire manufacturing
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13064
- Description: The Lean Manufacturing goal of reducing waste and increasing productivity has made it a necessity to produce good quality products in manufacturing industries at a low cost. In the cable manufacturing companies this can be achieved by optimising the wire drawing process. One way to meet the desired quality of the drawn wires is to improve lubricant efficiency through installation of an automatic, continuous lubricant fat content control system on the drawing machine. The paper shows a method of finding the optimum lubricant concentration for producing good quality copper wires using Taguchi experiments. Taguchi experiments are employed to analyse the effects of different lubricant fat content levels on the tensile strength and lubricant temperature. The results from the experiments indicated that the tensile strength of the wire is affected by low lubricant fat content. The lower the lubricant fat content: the lower the tensile strength drawing lubricant resulting in numerous wire breakages that affect the quality of the final product, namely the cable.
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- Authors: Chiduwa, A.C. , Nyanga, L. , Mhlanga, S. , Kanyemba, G. , Van der Merwe, A.F.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Cable manufacturing , Lubricant fat content , Lean manufacturing , Copper wire manufacturing
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13064
- Description: The Lean Manufacturing goal of reducing waste and increasing productivity has made it a necessity to produce good quality products in manufacturing industries at a low cost. In the cable manufacturing companies this can be achieved by optimising the wire drawing process. One way to meet the desired quality of the drawn wires is to improve lubricant efficiency through installation of an automatic, continuous lubricant fat content control system on the drawing machine. The paper shows a method of finding the optimum lubricant concentration for producing good quality copper wires using Taguchi experiments. Taguchi experiments are employed to analyse the effects of different lubricant fat content levels on the tensile strength and lubricant temperature. The results from the experiments indicated that the tensile strength of the wire is affected by low lubricant fat content. The lower the lubricant fat content: the lower the tensile strength drawing lubricant resulting in numerous wire breakages that affect the quality of the final product, namely the cable.
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Managing transition from a small to a large business - the case of a drill rod manufacturer
- Authors: Muyengwa, G. , Dube, P.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Drill rod manufacturers , Transition management
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4960 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13061
- Description: Transitioning from a small entrepreneurial company to a larger, “structured”, organisation presents both organisational and management challenges to the founding entrepreneur and stakeholders. Various theories have been put forward that have studied the behaviour of the entrepreneur. However the dynamics that evolve with the change process from the behaviour and decisions of the entrepreneurial founder and managerial structures that emerge have not been well researched. Through a case study research this paper reports a longitudinal study done over three years on a company that is into manufacturing of drilling rods. Theory of organisation transition and a framework for longitudinal researching of entrepreneurial organisations making transition into structured organisations was used. The change process was studied through a conceptual framework that has five informational factors. New management systems and structures were put in place; a new manufacturing strategy and business model were developed. The “verbal culture”, of small companies was replaced by written instructions and proper records keeping, the manufacturing process was documented and standardised through the implementation of Total Quality Management. This paper contributes to the understanding of how an entrepreneurial company transition to a structured one and strengthens our ability to assist entrepreneurs in achieving sustainable growth.
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- Authors: Muyengwa, G. , Dube, P.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Drill rod manufacturers , Transition management
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4960 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13061
- Description: Transitioning from a small entrepreneurial company to a larger, “structured”, organisation presents both organisational and management challenges to the founding entrepreneur and stakeholders. Various theories have been put forward that have studied the behaviour of the entrepreneur. However the dynamics that evolve with the change process from the behaviour and decisions of the entrepreneurial founder and managerial structures that emerge have not been well researched. Through a case study research this paper reports a longitudinal study done over three years on a company that is into manufacturing of drilling rods. Theory of organisation transition and a framework for longitudinal researching of entrepreneurial organisations making transition into structured organisations was used. The change process was studied through a conceptual framework that has five informational factors. New management systems and structures were put in place; a new manufacturing strategy and business model were developed. The “verbal culture”, of small companies was replaced by written instructions and proper records keeping, the manufacturing process was documented and standardised through the implementation of Total Quality Management. This paper contributes to the understanding of how an entrepreneurial company transition to a structured one and strengthens our ability to assist entrepreneurs in achieving sustainable growth.
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Task assignment in home health care : a fuzzy group genetic algorithm approach
- Mutingi, M., Mbohwa, Charles
- Authors: Mutingi, M. , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Home-based care needs , Health services - Job satisfaction
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4829 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12422
- Description: The assignment of home care tasks to nursing staff is a complex problem for decision makers concerned with optimizing home healthcare operations scheduling and logistics. Motivated by the ever-increasing home-based care needs, the design of high quality task assignments is highly essential for maintaining or improving worker moral, job satisfaction, service efficiency, service quality, and to ensure that business competitiveness remains momentous. To achieve high quality task assignments, the assigned workloads should be balanced or fair among the care givers. Therefore, the desired goal is to balance the workload of care givers while avoiding long distance travels in visiting the patients. However, the desired goal is often subjective as it involves the care givers, the management, and the patients. As such, the goal tends to be imprecise in the real world. This paper develops a fuzzy group genetic algorithm (FGGA) for task assignment in home healthcare services. The FGGA approach uses fuzzy evaluation based on fuzzy set theory. Results from illustrative examples show that the approach is promising.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mutingi, M. , Mbohwa, Charles
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Home-based care needs , Health services - Job satisfaction
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4829 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/12422
- Description: The assignment of home care tasks to nursing staff is a complex problem for decision makers concerned with optimizing home healthcare operations scheduling and logistics. Motivated by the ever-increasing home-based care needs, the design of high quality task assignments is highly essential for maintaining or improving worker moral, job satisfaction, service efficiency, service quality, and to ensure that business competitiveness remains momentous. To achieve high quality task assignments, the assigned workloads should be balanced or fair among the care givers. Therefore, the desired goal is to balance the workload of care givers while avoiding long distance travels in visiting the patients. However, the desired goal is often subjective as it involves the care givers, the management, and the patients. As such, the goal tends to be imprecise in the real world. This paper develops a fuzzy group genetic algorithm (FGGA) for task assignment in home healthcare services. The FGGA approach uses fuzzy evaluation based on fuzzy set theory. Results from illustrative examples show that the approach is promising.
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Telemetric data logger and monitor for mining vehicles
- Gunda, Lovemore, Nkiwane, Fredrick, Mhlanga, Samson, Nyanga, Lungile, Nyathi, Zedekaih M.
- Authors: Gunda, Lovemore , Nkiwane, Fredrick , Mhlanga, Samson , Nyanga, Lungile , Nyathi, Zedekaih M.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Telemetry , Peripheral Interface Controller , Mining vehicles , Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13065
- Description: Telemetry is the technology that allows data measurement at a distance. It uses data loggers which record data over time or in relation to location, either with built-in instruments or through instruments and sensors. The system discussed in the paper is based on a Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC18F4550), a series of sensors, a Radio Frequency (RF) link and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed using Visual Basic (VB). The system was designed to monitor mining vehicles by measuring engine temperature, transmission temperature, hydraulic oil temperature and hydraulic pressure in pumps and hoist cylinders. The data measured by the sensors in the mining vehicles (the plant) is transmitted to the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System (SCADA) through the RF link. The RF link uses a transmission frequency of 433.95 Mega Hertz (MHz) to enable flawless communication between the plant and the SCADA. The developed prototype was simulated using small pressurized containers and heating systems and the results were displayed on the GUI. The whole system development process was a multi-discipline project and it showed that RF communications are very reliable in data transmission.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Gunda, Lovemore , Nkiwane, Fredrick , Mhlanga, Samson , Nyanga, Lungile , Nyathi, Zedekaih M.
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Telemetry , Peripheral Interface Controller , Mining vehicles , Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:4964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13065
- Description: Telemetry is the technology that allows data measurement at a distance. It uses data loggers which record data over time or in relation to location, either with built-in instruments or through instruments and sensors. The system discussed in the paper is based on a Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC18F4550), a series of sensors, a Radio Frequency (RF) link and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed using Visual Basic (VB). The system was designed to monitor mining vehicles by measuring engine temperature, transmission temperature, hydraulic oil temperature and hydraulic pressure in pumps and hoist cylinders. The data measured by the sensors in the mining vehicles (the plant) is transmitted to the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System (SCADA) through the RF link. The RF link uses a transmission frequency of 433.95 Mega Hertz (MHz) to enable flawless communication between the plant and the SCADA. The developed prototype was simulated using small pressurized containers and heating systems and the results were displayed on the GUI. The whole system development process was a multi-discipline project and it showed that RF communications are very reliable in data transmission.
- Full Text:
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