Software Technology
ir. T.J.H. Geelen PDEng
UFE/Océ
Dynamic Loading in a Real-Time System: An Overlaying Technique Using Virtual Memory The Memory Footprint of Embedded Devices The growing amount of software embedded into devices conflicts with the desire to make devices cheaper. We need to do more work with less memory. In the PC world, this is achieved by simulating physical memory (RAM) using slower storage such as a hard disk. When an attempt is made to access a non-present part of this simulated – or virtual – memory, it is loaded into RAM from disk first, overwriting existing data (which is written to disk first, if needed). However, this technique, known as on-demand paging, is not usable in embedded systems. A typical embedded system performs many tasks, most of which need to produce a result before a certain deadline. On-demand paging introduces delays by loading missing data from slow storage at unpredictable times, which are unacceptable.
Another Approach A very predictable approach called overlaying was used before the hardware support for virtual memory systems became common. The programmer divided the software into separate pieces (overlays) that had limited or no interaction with each other. When another piece of the software was needed, the program explicitly loaded this into RAM, overwriting a part that is no longer needed. The drawback is that this requires a lot of manual work, which is costly.
A Solution In this project, an innovative use of the on-demand paging and overlaying techniques was successfully applied to the software of a Philips DVD+RW recorder with hard disk. The software was split into a few overlays based on the different modes of operation it has (see Figure). Other overlays are dynamically loaded into RAM when a switch to another mode is made, which happens at predictable moments. By using the hardware support for virtual memory, the majority of the software can stay unaware of this. The main challenge was to really separate the overlays: virtualized memory parts that are not present in RAM are not loaded on-demand, so references to those parts must not exist.
Results Around 10% of application memory was saved in the recorder, without any significant effect on the system load. This yields a more competitive position, as more functionality can be offered for the same hardware costs.
Design and Technology of Instrumentation
ir. R.W.J. Janssen PDEng
UFE/Océ
New ‘golden’ standard in prostate radiotherapy At the Catharina Hospital Eindhoven (CZE), each year approximately 350 patients are treated for prostate cancer using radiotherapy. It is proven that for these patients local tumor control can be improved by increasing the currently given therapeutic dose of 70Gy to 76/78Gy. However, to prevent nasty complications the dose inherently given to the adjacent rectal part of the bowel may not be increased. Reason enough for clinical introduction of a new state-of-the-art treatment technique called Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) in Eindhoven. While this project covered a lot of IMRT-related aspects like designing and implementing an accurate calibration method for the multi-leaf collimator system, major part of the work was spent on decreasing the margin between the so-called ‘Clinical Target Volume’ and the ‘Planned Target Volume’. This margin is necessary to assure proper dose coverage to the prostate and seminal vesicles taking into account treatment delivery uncertainties. A smaller margin allows dose escalation of the volume to be irradiated without exceeding the critical dose for the sensitive surrounding tissues. By permanently implanting four small (1mm Ø x 5mm) gold markers into the prostate (Figure 1), the actual position of the target can be visualized on so-called EPID-images that are made during treatment (Figure 2). A smart algorithm decides when to adjust the position of the treatment table such that with minimal workload for the operators one of the most important uncertainties–systematic misalignment of the prostate during the total of 35 treatment sessions compared to the pre-treatment reference situation–is controlled. Only after careful research using Monte Carlo simulations, a first group of 45 patients was treated with this new method. As predicted, the statistics for this group justified the clinical introduction of a significant smaller treatment margin—8mm compared to the previously used 10mm. Eindhoven, February 14 2006 - CZE treats their first prostate patients with 78Gy using a thirteen-beam IMRT technique and a treatment margin of just 8mm.
Figure 1. Ultrasound-guided implantation of gold markers into the prostate at CZE.
Figure 2. Pre-treatment reference image (left) and corresponding EPID-image (right) of the pelvic area showing the implanted markers.
Architectural Design Management Systems
ir. J. Teunizen PDEng
UFE/Océ
Bouwkosten engineering: regeren is vooruitzien! Het spanningsveld tussen ontwerp, kosten en kwaliteit In het huidige vastgoedontwikkelingsproces wordt kostenkennis nagenoeg altijd reactief ingezet. Andere partijen zijn leidend in het proces, bedenken innovatieve oplossingen en laten deze vervolgens kostentechnisch toetsen. Sturen op kosten-kwaliteitsverhoudingen vindt in de regel alleen aan het einde van een bouwprocesfase plaats. Slechts wanneer er niet binnen het financieel kader is ontworpen, wordt het ontwerp geoptimaliseerd. Ontwerpbeslissingen, welke in de vroege planfasen worden genomen, hebben de meeste invloed op de kosten. Naarmate het ontwerp verankerd raakt, wordt het steeds kostbaarder om veranderingen door te voeren (zie figuur 1a). In het gebied dat wordt omsloten door de kostenlijn, informatielijn en y-as moet op een hoog abstractieniveau worden geadviseerd. Het spanningsveld wordt nog eens aangescherpt door de attitudes van de verschillende ontwerpende partijen. De bouwkostendeskundige wil in een zo vroeg mogelijk stadium zekerheid omtrent de kosten. De architect zoekt juist de ontwerpgrenzen op om tot een esthetisch verantwoord ontwerp te komen (zie figuur 1b). Deze ‘strijd’ moet uiteindelijk leiden tot één marktconforme prijs.
Figuur 1. Relatie tussen kosten, informatie en risico’s.
Herdefiniëren van de rol van bouwkostendeskundige: bouwkosten engineering! Het concept bouwkosten engineering is ontwikkeld aan de hand van twee ‘kaarten’: de TBV-kaart en de competentiekaart voor bouwkosten engineering. De TBV-kaart bepaalt de formele rol van de bouwkostendeskundige. Er ontstaat transparantie met betrekking tot de uit te voeren taken, bevoegdheden en Figuur 2. Ingevulde TBV-kaart voor de definitiefase en structuur verantwoordelijkheden (TBV) en de plaats van de bouwkostendeskundige in ontwerpfase. het ontwerpteam (zie figuur 2). De TBV-kaart dient ook als marketingtool naar opdrachtgevers toe om inzicht te geven in de werkzaamheden van de bouwkostendeskundige. De opdrachtgever krijgt een ‘gevoel’ bij de diensten die worden uitgevoerd. Met behulp van de competentiekaart vindt een optimale afstemming plaats tussen het gewenste competentieprofiel van de bouwkostendeskundige en de uiteindelijke inzet van een bepaalde medewerker. Op deze wijze is Brink Groep niet ‘capacity-driven’, maar ‘quality-driven’. Hier geldt het adagium: “De juiste persoon op de juiste plaats!”
Kosten-kwaliteitsturing in de ontwerpfasen (KKS-O) Vanaf januari 2006 is het concept bouwkosten engineering onder de naam ‘kosten-kwaliteitsturing in de ontwerpfasen’ (KKS-O) door Brink Groep in de markt gezet. De toegevoegde waarde ligt vooral op het gebied van efficiency, kostenreductie en kwaliteitsborging/-maximalisatie van het ontwerp.
Logistics Management Systems
J.M. Vannicola M.Sc PDEng
UFE/Océ
Lead Time Reduction at Fuji Tilburg P3 Reducing Customer Order Lead Times in the Process Industry Many companies strive to reduce their delivery lead times to customers, in the quest for: • Better customer service • Lower stock levels downstream in the supply chain • Shorter Time-to-Market for new products In the Process industry, this is particularly challenging due to its logistical characteristics: large production runs on machines with high utilization levels; divergent product structure; high uncertainty on the output quality; and storage capacity limitations.
Production of aluminum offset plates at Fuji Tilburg Fuji Tilburg produces, among others, aluminum offset plates for a very competitive and dynamic market. The production process consists of two main phases: • Coating line (P3P): a continuous process where aluminum coils are unrolled into a continuous web which is cleaned, brushed, coated with chemicals and finally cut into master sheets. • Finishing line (P3F): a job shop operation where master sheets are cut to final size and packed.
Figure 1. Production Planning and Control structure designed for Fuji Tilburg P3.
The company seeks to reduce the delivery lead time in order to cut down costs in the supply chain without reducing the delivery reliability. To achieve this, a new hierarchical planning and control structure concept was designed. (figure 1). At the higher planning level, the customer order decoupling point (CODP) is defined for each finished product, based on product lifecycle stage and cost reduction opportunities. Based on this, some products will be make-to-stock (A-items), others finished from master sheets (B-items) and some make-to-order (C-items). (figure 2).
Figure 2. Product classification (A, B, C items) and the different logistical concepts.
At the middle planning level, the following decisions are taken: cycle times in the coating line, planned lead times at the finishing line, safety stocks required, and the relationship between finished products and master sheets. All these decisions set constraints for the operational level, which needs to generate replenishments for master sheets and finished products. To test the new system, both an analytical model and a simulation model were developed. Results showed that the new planning and control structure allows Fuji Tilburg to realize the lead time reduction at an acceptable yield loss, without reducing the delivery reliability.
Process and Product Design
UFE/Océ
ir. R.V. Wisman PDEng
Evaluation of a Novel Reactor Concept for the GTL Process Gas-to-Liquid technology (GTL) is currently one of the most exciting topics in the global energy industry. GTL converts natural gas via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis into ultra clean transportation fuels and specialty products. The fuels produced are sulfur-free, low in aromatic content and have superior combustion properties. Instead of natural gas any carbon containing feedstock can be used in the process. By using e.g. associated gas, biomass (BTL) or waste (waste-to-liquids) as feedstock a sustainable contribution could be made to the growing global energy demand.
Objective The objective of the project was to evaluate and conceptually design a novel reactor, to investigate its technical and economical feasibility and to compare it to the current technology on large industrial scale (70.000 bpd).
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis • Very exothermal reactions • Complex and ill defined kinetics • Broad product spectrum, depending on process conditions and type of catalyst The aim is to produce long chain paraffins that are subsequently cracked into the desired products.
Current technology: fixed bed multi-tubular reactor Advantages Easy operation Catalyst separation Catalyst poisoning Food quality products
Disadvantages Capital intensive Heat management Limited operational flexibility Selectivity optimization
Alternative option: Adiabatic Multi-Stage Reactor Concept • Reactor consists of multiple stages • Operational flexibility greatly increased • Allows interstage co-feeding of reactants and removal of products • Enhanced temperature control • Stages operated under adiabatic conditions • Cooling of recycled process liquid performed in external heat exchangers • Size and cost of reactors lowered • Application of coated catalyst on structured packing • Diffusion limitations are virtually eliminated • Increased selectivity • Lowered pressure drop
Conclusions • Very large liquid recycle streams required to take up reaction heat. Liquid recycle pumps increase operational costs. • Large side-equipment required for gas-liquid separation and for ensuring safe process control. This leads to a higher equipment count and higher overall capital investment. • Gas-liquid distribution over structured packing difficult. • Multiple adiabatic stages result in increased operational flexibility at the expense of increased process complexity. • Use of coated structured packing found to be possible and results in lower pressure drops and higher selectivities. • The advantages do not compensate for the increased costs. The novel concept is economically not feasible. • Integrating coated structured packings with current technology might remain an interesting opportunity to improve the current technology.
Acknowledgements H.P. Calis, G.L.M.M. Verbist and Shell Global Solutions Int. G.J. Kramer and the Stan Ackermans Institute, Process and Product Design.
UFE/Océ
Ontwerpprijs
UFE/Océ
Voor het beste ontwerp van het Stan Ackermans Instituut De UFE/Océ Ontwerpprijzen zijn in 1994 ingesteld. Deze prijzen worden jaarlijks uitgereikt aan de beste ontwerpers van het Stan Ackermans Instituut uit het daaraan voorafgaande kalenderjaar. De eerste prijs wordt beschikbaar gesteld door de Stichting Universiteitsfonds Eindhoven (UFE) en bedraagt 5.000 euro. De tweede prijs wordt beschikbaar gesteld door Océ Technologies BV en bedraagt 2.500 euro. De uitreiking vindt jaarlijks plaats. Iedere afgestudeerde ontwerper van een van de tweejarige post-initiële opleidingen van het Stan Ackermans Instituut kan meedingen, mits het technologisch ontwerp tot stand gekomen is in een ontwerpproject. In opdracht van een externe opdrachtgever wordt dit project uitgevoerd ter afsluiting van een van de gecertificeerde ontwerpersopleidingen van het Stan Ackermans Instituut. Er zijn voor dit jaar vijf ontwerpprojecten genomineerd uit vijf ontwerpersopleidingen en uitgevoerd bij verschillende opdrachtgevers.
6 - 23 juni 2006
Bekijken & Bedenken Foto’s van Bart van Overbeeke & Posterpresentatie van de academische prijzen 2006 Locatie: loopbrug hal HG
Prijsuitreiking op 16 juni 2006
Aanvang: 15.00 uur
Mignot Afstudeerprijzen • UFE/Océ Ontwerpprijzen • ASML Promotieprijzen
Locatie: Blauwe Zaal, Auditorium
De muzikale omlijsting is in handen van de Fontys Big Band en het ESMG Quadrivium.
