Closing the Gap is an accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines South Africa’s position been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date

This book is a simple and didactic account of the developments and practical applications of predictive, adaptive predictive, and optimized adaptive control from a perspective of stability, including the latest methodology of adaptive predictive expert (ADEX) control. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems is divided into six parts, with exercises and real-time simulations provided for the reader as appropriate. The text begins with the conceptual and intuitive knowledge of the technology and derives the stability conditions to be verified by the driver block and the adaptive mechanism of the optimized adaptive controller to guaranty the desired control performance. The second and third parts present strategic considerations of predictive control and related adaptive systems necessary for the proper design of driver block and adaptive mechanism and thence their technical realization. The authors then proceed to detail the stability theory that supports predictive, adaptive predictive and optimized adaptive control methodologies. Benchmark applications of these methodologies (distillation column and pulp-factory bleaching plant) are treated next with a focus on practical implementation issues. The final part of the book describes ADEX platforms and illustrates their use in the design and implementation of optimized adaptive control systems to three different challenging-to-control industrial processes: * waste-water treatment;* sulfur recovery; and* temperature control of superheated steam in coal-fired power generation. The presentation is completed by a number of appendices containing technical background associated with the main text including a manual for the ADEX COP platform developed by the first author to exploit the capabilities of adaptive predictive control in real plants. ADEX Optimized Adaptive Control Systems provides practicing process control engineers with a multivariable optimal control solution which is adaptive and resistant to perturbation and the effects of noise. Its pedagogical features also facilitate its use as a teaching tool for formal university and Internet-based open-education-type graduate courses in practical optimal adaptive control and for self-study.

An accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines what South Africa’s position has been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date.

The Future of Creative Work provides a unique overview of the changing nature of creative work, examining how digital developments and the rise of intangible capital are causing an upheaval in the social institutions of work. It offers a profound insight into how this technological and social evolution will affect creative professions. Expert international contributors explore how robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, global digital platforms and autonomous systems will shape the design, production and consumption of culture. Taking a multidisciplinary approach incorporating creative industries studies, business, education and economics, the book analyses the technological drivers of disruption in the world of creative work. Chapters reveal how these changes will create new axes of power and inequality in the global sphere of creative work, predicting that conventional creative professions will be challenged and different species of creative work will evolve as a result. By charting the impact of digital and technological developments, The Future of Creative Work challenges traditional views of creative work, careers and education. This book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers undertaking creative industries studies. Its discussion of the application of creative careers across the economy will also be beneficial for scholars and practitioners interested in business, economics, and advertising and marketing studies.

The integration of electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, control and computer engineering - Mechatronics - lies at the heart of the innumerable gadgets, processes and technology without which modern life would seem impossible. From auto-focus cameras to car engine management systems, and from state-of-the-art robots to the humble washing machine, Mechatronics has a hand in them all.

For courses in Programmable Logic Controllers where the Allen/Bradley programmable logic controller is the controller of choice. This text focuses on the theory and operation of PLC systems with an emphasis on program analysis and development. The book is written in easy-to-read and understandable language with many crisp illustrations and practical examples. It describes the PLC instructions for the Allen-Bradley PLC 5, SLC 500, and Logix processors with an emphasis on the SLC 500 system using numerous figures, tables, and example problems. The text features a new two-column and four-color interior design that improves readability and figure placement. The book's organization also has improved; all the chapter questions and problems are listed in one convenient location in Appendix D with page locations for all chapter references in the questions and problems. This book describes the technology in a clear, concise style that is effective in helping students who have no previous experience in PLCs or discrete and analog system control. For additional resources, visit these web sites: http: //plctext.com/ http: //plcteacher.c

In recent decades, there has been a groundbreaking evolution in technology. Every year, technology not only advances, but it also spreads throughout industries. Many fields such as law, education, business, engineering, and more have adopted these advanced technologies into their toolset. These technologies have a vastly different effect ranging from these different industries. The Handbook of Research on Applying Emerging Technologies Across Multiple Disciplines examines how technologies impact many different areas of knowledge. This book combines a solid theoretical approach with many practical applications of new technologies within many disciplines. Covering topics such as computer-supported collaborative learning, machine learning algorithms, and blockchain, this text is essential for technologists, IT specialists, programmers, computer scientists, engineers, managers, administrators, academicians, students, policymakers, and researchers.

Metrology is part of the essential but largely hidden infrastructure of the modern world. This book concentrates on the infrastructure aspects of metrology. It introduces the underlying concepts: International system of units, traceability and uncertainty; and describes the concepts that are implemented to assure the comparability, reliability and quantifiable trust of measurement results. It is shown what benefits the traditional metrological principles have in fields as medicine or in the evaluation of cyber physical systems.

The monograph provides an overview of the recent developments in modern control systems including new theoretical finding and successful examples of practical implementation of the control theory in different areas of industrial and special applications. Recent Developments in Automatic Control Systems consists of extended versions of the selected papers presented at XXVI International Conference on Automatic Control "Automation 2020" (October 13-15, 2020, Kyiv, Ukraine) which is the main Ukrainian Control Conference organized by Ukrainian Association on Automatic Control (National member organization of IFAC) and National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". This is a third monograph in the River Publishers series in Automation, Control and Robotics, which is publishing based on the selected papers of the Ukrainian Control Conferences "Automation", in particular, first monograph "Control Systems: Theory and Applications (2018) was published based on the "Automation - 2017" and second monograph "Advanced Control Systems: Theory and Applications" - based on the "Automation - 2018". The monograph is divided into three main parts: (a) Advances in Theoretical Research of Control Systems; (b) Advances in Control Systems Application; (c) Recent Developments in Collaborative Automation. The chapters have been structured to provide an easy-to-follow introduction to the topics that are addressed, including the most relevant references, so that anyone interested in this field can get started in the area. This book may be useful for researchers and students who are interesting in recent developments of the modern control systems, robust adaptive systems, optimal control, fuzzy control, motion control, identification, modelling, differential games, evolutionary optimization, reliability control, security control, intelligent robotics and cyber-physical systems.

This practical, student-focused text shows how to focus all of an organization's resources on continuous and simultaneous improvement of quality and productivity - thereby continually improving both performance and competitiveness. QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE: INTRODUCTION TO TOTAL QUALITY, 7/e coherently addresses all elements of quality management, including Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, and many topics that competitive books overlook (e.g., peak performance, partnering, manufacturing networks, culture, and crucial "people" aspects of quality). Direct and straightforward, it links "big picture" theories and principles to detailed real-world strategies and techniques. Throughout, critical thinking activities, discussion assignments, and research links promote deeper thinking and further exploration. This edition adds all-new cases, plus new information on topics ranging from supervision to certification, QFD and SPC to benchmarking and JIT.

This book focuses on transmission systems for pure electric and hybrid vehicles. It first discusses system development and optimization technologies, comprehensively and systematically describing the development trends, structures and technical characteristics, as well as the related technologies and methods. It highlights the principles, implementation process and energy management of the power transmission system based on the pure electric and hybrid mode management method, and examines the reliability and NVH characteristic tests and optimization technologies. Combining research theory and engineering practice, the book is a valuable reference resource for engineering and technical professionals in the field of automobile and related power transmission machinery as well as undergraduate and graduate students.

The book systematically introduces smart power system design and its infrastructure, platform and operating standards. It focuses on multi-objective optimization and illustrates where the intelligence of the system lies. With abundant project data, this book is a practical guideline for engineers and researchers in electrical engineering, as well as power network designers and managers in administration.