Browsing by Author "Defty, TW"
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- ItemA holonic human cyber-physical system in healthcare(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-11) Defty, TW; Kruger, K; Basson, AH; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The fourth industrial revolution (I4.0) aims to enhance operational performance and promote interconnectivity between system components. Labour-intensive industries which are reliant on humans to perform tasks along with automation and integrated equipment are typically classified as Human Cyber-Physical Systems (HCPSs). Many I4.0 developments within HCPSs lack the appropriate consideration and integration of humans, resulting in performance inefficiencies, quality concerns, and under-utilisation. Healthcare is one such industry, with challenges due to a lack of integration developments which are exacerbated by limited resources and high patient volumes. The objective of this thesis is the development of a holonic HCPS for healthcare. These holonic HCPS developments address challenges in healthcare through the application of Human-System Integration (HSI) principles and requirements. HSI aims to enhance human intelligence and cooperation within digitised environments. HCPSs within this study are defined by human, physical and digital components that interact in a complex manner to achieve overall system goals. An ambulatory clinic case study was selected to study the complex interactions between system components and actors. This thesis presents a Representation-Communication-Interfacing (RCI) framework to better define HSI and guide the development and evaluation of the HSI maturity in HCPSs. A holonic system approach is selected, using the RCI framework, to improve the maturity of HSI developments in healthcare. This thesis presents a structured design process for holonic systems using the Activity-Resource-Type-Instance (ARTI) architecture and the Biography-Attribute-Schedule-Execution (BASE) architecture. The design process is presented in response to a lack of available implementation details expressed in reviewed holonic applications. The developed holonic HCPS is evaluated experimentally, to showcase how the system meets the requirements and enhances the HSI maturity of the ambulatory case study. The evaluation shows that the holonic HCPS effectively integrates humans, resulting in improved operational efficiencies and lower workloads experienced by humans. The RCI framework offers valuable guidance for elevating the human component to the cyber layer, improving the autonomy and cooperability of humans in the system and easing the reconfigurability of the system. The holonic design process guides the system development by standardising the partitioning of system components and interactions into distinct holons. Furthermore, this design process reduces the development complexity and time. The holonic HCPS demonstrates how HSI developments can improve clinic workflow efficiencies, aid decision-making, improve the traceability of activities and reduce the workload for healthcare practitioners.