Organizing Form, Experimentation, and Performance: Innovation in the Nascent Civilian Drone Industry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Bremner ◽  
Kathleen M. Eisenhardt
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Problem Type ◽  
Empirical Comparison ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Modular Software ◽  
Self Selection ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Nascent Markets ◽  
The Many

Our aim is to explore whether the benefits to firms of using community-based innovation extend to nascent markets: uncertain, high-velocity settings with novel, often complex products. Grounded in a rare empirical comparison, we closely track the two ventures (one using community-based innovation and the other firm-based) that pioneered the na2scent civilian drone market. We unpack how each addressed the three major innovations that shaped this setting. Our primary insight is that the firm organizing form for innovation performs best relative to communities in nascent markets. Firms have a coordination advantage that enables quickly and accurately targeting experimentation and problem-solving processes to reduce the many specific uncertainties that characterize these markets. Although communities can help, their task self-selection advantage works best in stable settings such as established markets with simple products (e.g., modular software) and in ambiguous settings in which low-cost randomness pays off. Broadly, we contribute a theoretical framework that identifies how organizing form and problem type jointly shape innovation performance. Most important, uncertainty forms a boundary condition for when firms should rely on firm-based (versus community-based) organizing for innovation.

scholarly journals ATENA–A Novel Rapidly Manufactured Medical Invasive Ventilator Designed as a Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Testing Protocol, Safety, and Performance Validation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Rebelo ◽  
Elizabete Neutel ◽  
Eurico Castro Alves ◽  
Francisco Barros ◽  
Hélder Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Mechanical Ventilator ◽  
Clinical Experiences ◽  
Mechanical Ventilators ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Testing Protocol ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Performance Validation

Background: The urgent need for mechanical ventilators to support respiratory insufficiency due to SARS-CoV-2 led to a worldwide effort to develop low-cost, easily assembled, and locally manufactured ventilators. The ATENA ventilator project was developed in a community-based approach targeting the development, prototyping, testing, and decentralized manufacturing of a new mechanical ventilator.Objective: This article aims to demonstrate ATENA's adequate performance and safety for clinical use.Material: ATENA is a low-cost ventilator that can be rapidly manufactured, easily assembled, and locally produced anywhere in the world. It was developed following the guidelines and requirements provided by European and International Regulatory Authorities (MHRA, ISO 86201) and National Authorities (INFARMED). The device was thoroughly tested using laboratory lung simulators and animal models.Results: The device meets all the regulatory requirements for pandemic ventilators. Additionally, the pre-clinical experiences demonstrated security and adequate ventilation and oxygenation, in vivo.Conclusion: The ATENA ventilator had a good performance in required tests in laboratory scenarios and pre-clinical studies. In a pandemic context, ATENA is perfectly suited for safely treating patients in need of mechanical ventilation.

ICR350: A Turbine Solution for Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicles

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Dewis
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Diesel Engines ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Heavy Duty ◽  
Finish Line ◽  
Battery Chargers ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Many ◽  
Battery Technology ◽  
Heavy Duty Vehicles

This paper briefly reviews automotive gas turbine history, examines the factors that influence engine selection, and introduces the ICR350 intercooled-recuperated gas turbine, an engine designed for Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicles, (MHDV). After turbines successfully displaced reciprocating engines from aircraft in the 1950’s, it was widely believed that they would rapidly penetrate the vehicular market. With the promise of low cost and simplicity all major automotive companies had aggressive turbine programs. But what began as a sprint became a marathon. Of the many that started, just a few managed to reach the finish line, only to be defeated by revised emissions legislation and the unforeseen energy crisis. The DOE continued funding automotive turbine development and transitioned from mechanical to hybrid drivetrain solutions. Ultimately, and somewhat serendipitously, microturbines were developed from range extender engines conceived as battery chargers in the Hybrid Vehicle program. Most recently, the Advanced Microturbine Systems program, AMTS, is responsible for technologies leveraged in ICRTec’s next generation vehicular turbine. Today battery technology has advanced sufficiently for low daily use vehicles and collection or delivery vehicles with regenerative braking. With its low power density, this same technology does not work for MHDV’s, a sector dominated by diesel engines. Emissions compliance is placing heavy cost and performance penalties on incumbent diesel engines, and the recently proposed MHDV efficiency legislation will only exacerbate the situation. After 40 years it appears that externalities, coupled with advances in turbomachinery, now favor a gas turbine solution.

ARTISTIC AND AESTHETIC EDUCATION AND MUSICAL PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A SPECIALIST’S TRAINING

2020 ◽  
Vol 384 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
P. V. Menshikov ◽  
G. K. Kassymova ◽  
R. R. Gasanova ◽  
Y. V. Zaichikov ◽  
V. A. Berezovskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Practice ◽  
Piano Music ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Native Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Many ◽  
Special Meaning

A special role in the development of a pianist as a musician, composer and performer, as shown by the examples of the well-known, included in the history of art, and the most ordinary pianists, their listeners and admirers, lovers of piano music and music in general, are played by moments associated with psychotherapeutic abilities and music features. The purpose of the study is to comprehend the psychotherapeutic aspects of performing activities (using pianists as an example). The research method is a theoretical analysis of the psychotherapeutic aspects of performing activities: the study of the possibilities and functions of musical psychotherapy in the life of a musician as a “(self) psychotherapist” and “patient”. For almost any person, music acts as a way of self-understanding and understanding of the world, a way of self-realization, rethinking and overcoming life's difficulties - internal and external "blockages" of development, a way of saturating life with universal meanings, including a person in the richness of his native culture and universal culture as a whole. Art and, above all, its metaphorical nature help to bring out and realize internal experiences, provide an opportunity to look at one’s own experiences, problems and injuries from another perspective, to see a different meaning in them. In essence, we are talking about art therapy, including the art of writing and performing music - musical psychotherapy. However, for a musician, music has a special meaning, special significance. Musician - produces music, and, therefore, is not only an “object”, but also the subject of musical psychotherapy. The musician’s training includes preparing him as an individual and as a professional to perform functions that can be called psychotherapeutic: in the works of the most famous performers, as well as in the work of ordinary teachers, psychotherapeutic moments sometimes become key. Piano music and performance practice sets a certain “viewing angle” of life, and, in the case of traumatic experiences, a new way of understanding a difficult, traumatic and continuing to excite a person event, changing his attitude towards him. It helps to see something that was hidden in the hustle and bustle of everyday life or in the patterns of relationships familiar to a given culture. At the same time, while playing music or learning to play music, a person teaches to see the hidden and understand the many secrets of the human soul, the relationships of people.

Programmable Integrated Photonics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Capmany ◽  
Daniel Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Circuit ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
External Control ◽  
Integrated Photonics ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Photonic Integrated Circuit ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Application Fields

Programmable Integrated Photonics (PIP) is a new paradigm that aims at designing common integrated optical hardware configurations, which by suitable programming can implement a variety of functionalities that, in turn, can be exploited as basic operations in many application fields. Programmability enables by means of external control signals both chip reconfiguration for multifunction operation as well as chip stabilization against non-ideal operation due to fluctuations in environmental conditions and fabrication errors. Programming also allows activating parts of the chip, which are not essential for the implementation of a given functionality but can be of help in reducing noise levels through the diversion of undesired reflections. After some years where the Application Specific Photonic Integrated Circuit (ASPIC) paradigm has completely dominated the field of integrated optics, there is an increasing interest in PIP justified by the surge of a number of emerging applications that are and will be calling for true flexibility, reconfigurability as well as low-cost, compact and low-power consuming devices. This book aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to this emergent field covering aspects that range from the basic aspects of technologies and building photonic component blocks to the design alternatives and principles of complex programmable photonics circuits, their limiting factors, techniques for characterization and performance monitoring/control and their salient applications both in the classical as well as in the quantum information fields. The book concentrates and focuses mainly on the distinctive features of programmable photonics as compared to more traditional ASPIC approaches.

The Use of Microcomputer Simulations in Undergraduate Neurophysiology Experiments

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Microcomputer System ◽  
Laboratory Equipment ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
Compound Action Potentials ◽  
Experimental Management ◽  
And Performance

Practical classes in neurophysiology reinforce and complement the theoretical background in a number of ways, including demonstration of concepts, practice in planning and performance of experiments, and the production and maintenance of viable neural preparations. The balance of teaching objectives will depend upon the particular group of students involved. A technique is described which allows the embedding of real compound action potentials from one of the most basic introductory neurophysiology experiments—frog sciatic nerve, into interactive programs for student use. These retain all the elements of the “real experiment” in terms of appearance, presentation, experimental management and measurement by the student. Laboratory reports by the students show that the experiments are carefully and enthusiastically performed and the material is well absorbed. Three groups of student derive most benefit from their use. First, students whose future careers will not involve animal experiments do not spend time developing dissecting skills they will not use, but more time fulfilling the other teaching objectives. Second, relatively inexperienced students, struggling to produce viable neural material and master complicated laboratory equipment, who are often left with little time or motivation to take accurate readings or ponder upon neurophysiological concepts. Third, students in institutions where neurophysiology is taught with difficulty because of the high cost of equipment and lack of specific expertise, may well have access to a low cost general purpose microcomputer system.

scholarly journals Experiments with Neural Networks in the Identification and Control of a Magnetic Levitation System Using a Low-Cost Platform

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2535
Author(s):  
Bruno E. Silva ◽  
Ramiro S. Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Magnetic Levitation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Neural Controllers ◽  
Levitation System ◽  
Internal Model Controller ◽  
Magnetic Levitation System ◽  
And Performance

In this article, we designed and implemented neural controllers to control a nonlinear and unstable magnetic levitation system composed of an electromagnet and a magnetic disk. The objective was to evaluate the implementation and performance of neural control algorithms in a low-cost hardware. In a first phase, we designed two classical controllers with the objective to provide the training data for the neural controllers. After, we identified several neural models of the levitation system using Nonlinear AutoRegressive eXogenous (NARX)-type neural networks that were used to emulate the forward dynamics of the system. Finally, we designed and implemented three neural control structures: the inverse controller, the internal model controller, and the model reference controller for the control of the levitation system. The neural controllers were tested on a low-cost Arduino control platform through MATLAB/Simulink. The experimental results proved the good performance of the neural controllers.

scholarly journals Highly Compact Through-Wire Microstrip to Empty Substrate Integrated Coaxial Line Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6885
Author(s):  
Marcos D. Fernandez ◽  
José A. Ballesteros ◽  
Angel Belenguer
Keyword(s):  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coaxial Line ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Central Layer ◽  
Printed Circuit ◽  
Integrated Technology ◽  
Low Profile ◽  
The Many ◽  
High Degree

Empty substrate integrated coaxial line (ESICL) technology preserves the many advantages of the substrate integrated technology waveguides, such as low cost, low profile, or integration in a printed circuit board (PCB); in addition, ESICL is non-dispersive and has low radiation. To date, only two transitions have been proposed in the literature that connect the ESICL to classical planar lines such as grounded coplanar and microstrip. In both transitions, the feeding planar lines and the ESICL are built in the same substrate layer and they are based on transformed structures in the planar line, which must be in the central layer of the ESICL. These transitions also combine a lot of metallized and non-metallized parts, which increases the complexity of the manufacturing process. In this work, a new through-wire microstrip-to-ESICL transition is proposed. The feeding lines and the ESICL are implemented in different layers, so that the height of the ESICL can be independently chosen. In addition, it is a highly compact transition that does not require a transformer and can be freely rotated in its plane. This simplicity provides a high degree of versatility in the design phase, where there are only four variables that control the performance of the transition.

scholarly journals Fabrication and Compressive Behavior of a Micro-Lattice Composite by High Resolution DLP Stereolithography

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 785
Author(s):  
Chow Shing Shin ◽  
Yu Chia Chang
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Lattice Structure ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Dip Coating ◽  
Unit Cell ◽  
Digital Light Processing ◽  
Unit Cell Size ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Performance

Lattice structures are superior to stochastic foams in mechanical properties and are finding increasing applications. Their properties can be tailored in a wide range through adjusting the design and dimensions of the unit cell, changing the constituent materials as well as forming into hierarchical structures. In order to achieve more levels of hierarchy, the dimensions of the fundamental lattice have to be small enough. Although lattice size of several microns can be fabricated using the two-photon polymerization technique, sophisticated and costly equipment is required. To balance cost and performance, a low-cost high resolution micro-stereolithographic system has been developed in this work based on a commercial digital light processing (DLP) projector. Unit cell lengths as small as 100 μm have been successfully fabricated. Decreasing the unit cell size from 150 to 100 μm increased the compressive stiffness by 26%. Different pretreatments to facilitate the electroless plating of nickel on the lattice structure have been attempted. A pretreatment of dip coating in a graphene suspension is the most successful and increased the strength and stiffness by 5.3 and 3.6 times, respectively. Even a very light and incomplete nickel plating in the interior has increase the structural stiffness and strength by more than twofold.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Role of Government Collaboration in the Perceived Performance of Community-Based Nonprofits: Three Propositions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Nederhand
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Network Ties ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Perceived Performance ◽  
Political Network ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Nonprofit Collaboration ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract The topic of government-nonprofit collaboration continues to be much-discussed in the literature. However, there has been little consensus on whether and how collaborating with government is beneficial for the performance of community-based nonprofits. This article examines three dominant theoretical interpretations of the relationship between collaboration and performance: collaboration is necessary for the performance of nonprofits; the absence of collaboration is necessary for the performance of nonprofits; and the effect of collaboration is contingent on the nonprofits’ bridging and bonding network ties. Building on the ideas of governance, nonprofit, and social capital in their respective literature, this article uses set-theoretic methods (fsQCA) to conceptualize and test their relationship. Results show the pivotal role of the nonprofit’s network ties in mitigating the effects of either collaborating or abstaining from collaborating with government. Particularly, the political network ties of nonprofits are crucial to explaining the relationship between collaboration and performance. The evidence demonstrates the value of studying collaboration processes in context.

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