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27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 3971-3974, To gain experience with the use of grid-tied PV systems in weak grid situations on remote islands in Indonesia, an grid-tied PV system has been installed in Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, by the beginning of 2012. The PV system is delivered with several performance tests and it will be analytically monitored. Due to some delay the monitoring data is still lacking, therefore we present an analysis of the first test measurements in this paper. In addition, a simulation of the BIPV system is carried out to predict the power output. The measurement data, based on manual recordings of the total electricity production of each inverter of the PV system, show results in line with the simulated values. Based on a small amount of test measurements, the PR of the PV system is found to be 85%. The total electricity production between the 18th of June and the 4th of September 2012, is 8.9 MWh. On average this is 114 kWh/day, which is about 11% of the electricity consumption of the building during working days.

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4294-4299, Conventional PV simulation methods are not sufficient to simulate and calculate energy balances for moving objects, such as PV-powered boats or PV-powered racing cars. We are developing a tool which can be used in 3D modeling software Rhinoceros. We want Frisian shipdesigners to help predict PV boat performance in an early stage of the design process. Our tool is based on conventional methods to determine solar positions with relation to an arbitrary oriented PV module. But added to the conventional methods, we integrated the availability of simulating PV energy yields on PV boats for pre-determined trajectories. Furthermore we can determine optimal PV orientation on PV boats for arbitrary times and places. Our tool is in a development stage and momentarily we are able to simulate clear sky situations. In order to prove the functionality of our tool, we’ve simulated 2 cases with 2 scenarios. The first case is a boat on a summer’s day and the second case a boat on a winter’s day in the Frisian Province region. With our tool we show that varying PV orientation on the boat, the energy yield can be increased. We also show that for pre-determined trajectories in summer, horizontal PV module orientation is not always the best choice to achieve the highest energy yields. The accuracy of our model is not yet determined.

27th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4300-4305, In order to understand PV system’s behavior on PV boats, we’ve monitored in 2010 a PV boat during the Frisian Solar Challenge. In 2012 we have monitored a similar PV boat which participated in the same race in 2012. Since these 2 boats share the same configuration, but different installed PV systems, we have analyzed the data of both boats for comparison. Both races followed the same trajectories; however weather conditions varied between sunny with over 900W/m2 irradiation to stormy with very low irradiation under 80W/m2. In general our 2010 boat performed better compared to our 2012 boat. In 2012, average irradiation was lower compared with 2010. In 2010 we could use 14.2kWh to sail a distance of 190km whereas in 2012 we could use 12.3kWh to sail a distance of 212km. This difference is caused by the low irradiation conditions in 2012 compared with 2010. PV system energy losses are higher when irradiation is lower. A lower speed has high impact on the energy balance of a PV boat. Average speed in 2010 was 13.9km/h and in 2012 12.6km/h. Although the boat performance ratio in 2012 has been lower compared to 2010, respectively 0.545 and 0.702, even in bad weather conditions the 2012 PV boat performed as expected.

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4038-4043, In order to evaluate PV boat design parameters, we collected and evaluated the properties of 150 boats for commercial, recreational and private purposes. We evaluated PV boat design problems which lead to recommendations for improved designs of PV integrated boats. Among others, the hull choice may vary for different situations in which a boat is used; therefore a right hull needs to be selected carefully fitting sailing circumstances. From this evaluation followed that PV boats under 10 meters are most feasible to be equipped with preferably low weight PV modules of approximately 2kWp for electric propulsion. From our evaluation followed that most boats are equipped with PV with a surface area between 5m2 and 10m2 (78%). Boat lengths between 4m and 8m are most common (54%). Most boats weigh up to 1000kg (56%). However, a large share of PV boats weighs much more: up to 85 000kg. Best performing PV boats -when considering speed and electrical efficiency- weigh around 250kg. The latter have a weight-to-PV-ratio of around 1:2. In general, we notice under dimensioned PV systems installed on PV powered boats. For good performance, PV boats should have a weight-to-engine-ratio between 1:5 and 3:5 and a length-to-beam-ratio between 5:1 and 5:2. In order to further increase PV boat performance, a multidisciplinary design approach need to be developed which does not only take the PV system’s electrical properties into account, but also others, including the PV system’s physical properties.

Despite the abundance of supporting tools and methods engineers have at their disposal nowadays, the early stages of design processes are still not extensively supported. Strikingly, the whole of design aids is characterized by mono-disciplinarity, scattered availability and the fact that the majority aims to support the later design stages. We believe that the next step in design engineering is to support the early design stages with a method that integrates the available aids and allows stakeholders to experience the consequences of the design decisions they make. This can be done by composing Synthetic Environments (SE). In companies, Synthetic Environments will be used as dedicated work environments that support specific product design activities. By simulating the in-context behaviour of products that do not yet exist they support the performance of selected design activities. Representation of different product life-cycle scenarios in Mixed Reality situations will help human actors perceive the product behaviour sufficiently realistic to perform real-world design tasks (e.g. brainstorming, concept assessment, end-user evaluation) on a virtual product. We aim to demonstrate how and under which circumstances companies will be able to benefit from SE in the near future. In close cooperation with three industrial partners (Indes, Thales and PANalytical), we define a method for identifying plausible application situations in a product evolution trajectory.

This paper explains the possible uses of scenarios in product design. A scenario classification is proposed as a framework to create, use and reuse different types of scenarios in a product design process. Our aims are three-fold: (1) to obtain a better view on the extent to which scenarios can be useful to a product design process, (2) to identify in which specific areas of scenario-based design a support in scenario generation is needed in practice and (3) to build a foundation for the succeeding framework of scenario generation research.

When dealing with complex systems, it is essential that designers and system architects have a clear understanding of the system as a whole. The main ‘tool’ for this is the so-called ‘system architecture description’ or ‘reference architecture’. Although the concept of system architecture description and what should it include is still open for discussion, its utility and potential benefits have largely been proved and supported by manifold papers and experts. Overviews of the system and its environment are the core of this system architecture description. However, HOW to create those overviews of complex systems is uncertain. Even more difficult is to keep those overviews up-to-date to be continually used. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach to create a ‘living’ overview of a complex system in order to support system designers and architects in the creation of products. An example based on previous work conducted at Philips Medical Systems with a real complex system (MRI scanner) will be described.

This publication discusses domain integration of various engineering disciplines as an effective methodology to design new and innovative products. A case study illustrates how this approach is applied to the design process of a high performance electronic product. A novel and improved method for the cooling of electronic packages is presented. Standard package types, as for instance ball grid arrays, are equipped with directly injected cooling. The developed design is a very cost effective solution, as fewer productions steps and fewer procured parts are required compared to traditional cooling. The new design is also easily scalable, as multiple components on an electronic product can be cooled both uniformly and simultaneously. This allows for more overall design flexibility, which can result in a more integrated product design with advantages in terms of performance, volume, weight and production efficiency.

This paper aims to improve the way synthesis tools can be built by formalizing: 1) the design artefact, 2) related knowledge and 3) an algorithm to generate solutions. This paper focuses on well-defined parametric engineering design, ranging from machine elements to industrial products. A design artefact is formalized in terms of parameters and topology elements. The knowledge is classified in three types: resolving rules to determine parameter values, constraining rules to restrict parameter values and expansion rules to add elements to the topology. A synthesis algorithm, based on an opportunistic design strategy, is described and tested for three design cases.

VREST (Virtual Reality Educational Surgical Tools) is developing a universal and autonomous simulation platform which can be used for training and assessment of medical students and for continuing education of physicians. A workstation consisting of two haptic devices and a 3D vision system is part of the VREST platform. Another part of the platform is a generic software environment in which lessons can be built by the teacher and performed by their students. Using the platform one can see, feel and decide as in reality. With the assessment tool the progress and skills of the students can be supervised. The first lesson build on the VREST platform is an inguinal hernia repair according to Lichtenstein. This is an open surgery procedure. The VREST platform is used prior to the first operating room surgery of the resident. Interactive models and case dependant feedback is used to enlarge the residents’ cognition. This should reduce the training time in the operating room.

This paper discusses the application of the TTRS method for tolerance specification in a company which designs and manufactures industrial cooling water pumps. The TTRS method has been applied by the engineering department of this company for cooling water pumps that are part of certain product families. No explicit use was made of commercial computer aided tolerancing tools since the company used Pro/Engineer as their CAD system for which the TTRS method is not yet commercially available. Only a spreadsheet program (for tolerance analysis) and a CAD system for generating drawings with tolerance specifications were used. Applying the TTRS approach gives a better insight in which faces are truly functional and which tolerances should (and should not) be specified. The trial showed that after a training in the basic concepts of the TTRS method, engineers were enthusiastic about the new method. In fact, the TTRS method has been adopted by the company as their internal standard tolerance specification methodology. Nevertheless, there are still some issues regarding the TTRS theory that came up during the industrial trial and that need to be solved. One of the most important problems is that tolerance value specification is not yet supported, especially in combination with complex shaped surfaces. The paper discusses these issues.