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BCIT Citations Collection

Dynamic plan management in the context of a recognized air picture
This document surveys existing literature on dynamic plan management and describes the development of a prototype Air Force plan management system. The literature survey presents short summaries of a wide range of research papers, as well as a synthesis and analysis of existing approaches. The detailed comparison of existing approaches is used to formulate a specific methodology for the development of software for plan representation, plan forecasting/projection, plan analysis/evaluation and plan monitoring. The proposed methodology involves the development of a precise ontology of plan elements for plan representation. This representation removes ambiguity in the description of plans, facilitates automated analysis of plans, and also permits several different approaches to plan visualization. The implemented prototype software defines an ontology that provides a suitable internal representation of plans, along with basic plan validation capabilities. It also provides a map-based graphical user interface to visualize plans. The use of the software is demonstrated in the context of a combat search and rescue vignette. The findings conclude that the prototype demonstrates the overall utility of the approach, although further development is required to provide more detailed analysis, as well as additional visualization methods., Research report, Published.
The impact of step targeting during normal gait for persons wearing either a SACH or a dynamic-response foot
This study compared dynamic-response feet to SACH feet with respect to factors influencing unilateral transtibial amputee balance and ability to adapt to variable terrains. This was done by measuring ground reaction forces for 30% perturbations of step length during level walking. These perturbations resulted in either a lengthening or a shortening of one step length by 30% of the normal step length. Subjects walked along a 12 metre walkway and across two flush mounter force platforms while forces were recorded for both feet. Three experimental conditions were completed with each foot type: normal step length, short step length (reduced by 30% from normal), and long step length (increased by 30% from normal)., Research report, Published.
Investigation of the moisture buffering potential of magnesium oxide board
Research report submitted to Peter Francis, President, MAGO Building Products Ltd in April 2016. Passive humidity control in buildings can be achieved by incorporating materials with moisture buffering potential in that these materials absorb moisture at peak times and give off the stored up moisture at low moisture production times thereby stabilizing the interior relative humidity. Some of the advantages of this phenomenon include but are not limited to energy savings, improvement of thermal comfort and perceived air quality. As such, it is necessary to investigate different materials for their moisture buffering capabilities. As part of product development, the moisture buffering characteristics of Magnesium oxide board (Magnesia board) is experimentally investigated. Other considerations such as the impact of surface finishing and ventilation are also assessed. The experiment is done by monitoring twin buildings termed the Whole Building Performance Research Laboratory (WBPRL) while measuring the relative humidity evolution in time. One is set as the reference building and finished with gypsum wallboard owing to its wide industry use. The other is set as the reference building and covered with the Magnesia board. Both buildings are first validated under non-hygroscopic conditions to ensure similar hygrothermal loading and operation of both buildings. Next, four tests are conducted to simulate surface treatments, ventilation effects, and occupancy density. For each test run, four cases are created for different surface treatment configurations. From the test, it is found that magnesia board and gypsum demonstrate similar moisture buffering characteristics. In the as-in service case where the gypsum wallboard is painted with latex paint, as it is the current common practice, and magnesia board with the company specified paint, the later demonstrates slightly better moisture buffering due to the high permeability surface treatment., Research report, Published.
Verification and validation
The hygrothermal performance of building envelope systems is dictated by their responses to combined heat, air and moisture fluctuations produced by exterior and interior conditions. Research has focused on both laboratory experimentation and modeling of envelope systems by computer programs (hygrothermal tools). Experimental studies played a crucial role in the development of hygrothermal tools, and continue to offer useful information for their improvement. To be used with confidence, however, hygrothermal tools must be verified and, if possible, validated. To date, no comprehensive schemes for benchmarking hygrothermal tools exist as, for example, exist for energy simulation tools. Three comparisons are typically used to show the practical merits of simulation tools: inter-model, analytical, and empirical. This paper demonstrates how confidence in a 1-dimensional hygrothermal simulation tool can be built by such comparisons, and proposes them as the basis for a verification and validation methodology., Research report, Published.
Which foot? A comparative effectiveness study of subject-generated ankle kinetics as a measure of prosthetic foot function across a range of K levels
This double-blind randomized controlled trial offers evidence that flexible energy storage return (ESR) feet produce lower peak moments during walking and are preferred by trans-tibial amputees., Research report, Published.