Blekinge Institute of Technology
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Smart Manufacturing in Defense Shipbuilding Industry : A toolbox towards implementation
No full textSmart Manufacturing, a key enabler towards Industry 4.0, has demonstrated significant potential in enhancing production capabilities across various industries. However, research concerning its application within High-Mix-Low-Volume defense shipbuilding industry is in need of strengthening. SAAB Kockums, the collaboration partner company in this thesis, operates in an even more complex environment, defined by the authors of this thesis as Extreme-High-Mix-Low-Volume manufacturing, characterized by a combination of High-mix Low-volume, Engineer-to-Order, and Project-Based Production. To explore the potential adoption of Smart Manufacturing in this context, this thesis develops a tailored SM framework through a Design Research methodology, aimed at supporting the transition towards more digitally integrated operations. The framework is delivered through an interactive, web-based tool that includes both the SM framework and a complementary pretotype, named Shipyard Overview, illustrating a possible integration of smart dashboards and digital twin technologies. Additionally, a Discrete Event Simulation is constructed as a complementary concept for exploring its potential as an experimental tool for evaluating SM implementations in production. Also to demonstrate how Discrete Event Simulation models can assist decision-making in complex manufacturing environments and enhance lead-time estimation.Smart tillverkning (Smart Manufacturing), en nyckelteknologi inom utvecklingen mot Industri 4.0, har visat stor potential i att stärka produktionskapaciteten inom en rad olika branscher. Däremot finns ett behov av ytterligare forskning kring dess tillämpning inom försvarsindustrins skeppsbyggnad med hög produktvariation och låg volym (High-Mix Low-Volume). SAAB Kockums, som är samarbetspartner i detta examensarbete, verkar i en ännu mer komplex miljö som av författarna definieras som extremt hög, låg volym- tillverkning (Extreme High-Mix, Low-Volume). Denna tillverkningsmiljö kännetecknas av en kombination av Hig-Mix, Low-Volume, Engineer-to-Order och projektbaserad produktion (Project-Based Production). För att undersöka möjligheterna till implementering av smart tillverkning i denna extrema produktionsmiljö har detta examensarbete utvecklat ett anpassat smart tillverknings-ramverk genom en Design Research Methodology. Ramverket presenteras genom ett interaktivt, webbaserat verktyg som inkluderar både SM-ramverket och en kompletterande pretotyp, kallad Shipyard Overview. Detta vilket illustrerar en möjlig integration av smart dashboard och digital tvilling. En diskret händelsesimulering (Discrete Event Simulation) har även konstruerats som ett kompletterande koncept för att undersöka dess potential som ett experimentellt verktyg för att utvärdera implementering av smart tillverkning i produktionen. Simuleringen syftar även till att visa hur diskreta händelsesimulerings-modeller kan stödja beslutsfattande i komplexa tillverkningsmiljöer och förbättra ledtidsestimeringar
Knutpunkten – En digital plattform för slöjdlärare
No full textMotivation och engagemang bland elever i slöjdundervisningen har minskat under senare år, samtidigt som digitaliseringens roll i skolan vuxit. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur digitala verktyg används av slöjdlärare idag och hur de kan utvecklas för att bättre stödja undervisningen. En kvantitativ forskningsansats har tillämpats, där data samlades in genom en webbaserad enkät riktad till slöjdlärare, med totalt 65 svarande. Resultatet visar att slöjdlärare i hög grad använder digitala resurser såsom instruktionsfilmer, webbplatser och digitala portfolios, men att det finns ett uttalat behov av fler anpassade digitala resurser och ett strukturerat forum för kollegialt lärande. Studien identifierar också utmaningar såsom tidsbrist och begränsade ekonomiska resurser som hinder för att införa och använda digitala verktyg i slöjdämnet. Som en del av projektet har en prototyp av en digital plattform utvecklats, avsedd att fungera som en mötesplats för inspiration, erfarenhetsutbyte och samarbete mellan slöjdlärare.Student motivation and engagement in craft education have decreased in recent years, while the role of digitalization in schools has increased. This study aims to explore how digital tools are currently used by craft teachers and how they can be developed to better support teaching practices. A quantitative research approach was applied, and data was collected through an online survey targeting craft teachers, with a total of 65 respondents. The results show that craft teachers frequently use digital resources such as instructional videos, websites, and digital portfolios. However, there is a clear need for more tailored digital resources and a structured platform for collegial learning. The study also identifies challenges, including lack of time and limited financial resources, which hinder the implementation and effective use of digital tools in craft education. As part of the project, a prototype of a digital platform was developed to serve as a space for inspiration, experience sharing, and collaboration among craft teachers.
Utvärdering av kodkvalitet i AI-genererade mobilapplikationer : En jämförande studie av React Native- och Kotlin-implementeringar
No full textThe increasing integration of AI-powered tools in software development raises crucial questions about the quality of the code they generate, particularly in rapidly evolving fields like mobile application development. This study addresses the need for up-to-date evaluations of AI-generated code quality in non-native applications, a gap in current research. To investigate this problem, we conducted an experiment where five prominent AI code generation tools– Gemini Code Assist, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Windsurf IDE, and Deepseek– were prompted to generate code for a chess game in two mobile development frameworks: React Native and Kotlin. This resulted in a comparative analysis of ten AI-generated applications. The quality of the generated code was assessed using software quality metrics, informed by a comprehensive literature review. Our analysis revealed a moderate to high degree of variation across the generated applications in key metrics such as cyclomatic complexity, lines of code, and cognitive complexity. However, the observed results did not provide conclusive evidence to definitively identify a single AI tool as consistently producing the highest quality code across both frameworks. While the study provides valuable insights into the variability of code quality among different AI tools, the findings suggest that further research is necessary to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing the quality of AI-generated code. More in-depth investigation is required to draw definitive conclusions regarding the optimal AI tools for specific development contexts and to explore strategies for consistently generating high-quality code with AI assistance
Från styrdokument till odlingslott : en fallstudie om kommuners arbete med urban odling
No full textI takt med att städer förtätas och effekterna av klimatförändringarna blir alltmer påtagliga ställs nya krav på den fysiska planeringen. Urban odling har i forskningen lyfts fram som en naturbaseradlösning som kan bidra till att möta flera av de utmaningar som städerna och planeringen står inför. Bland annat visar forskningen att urban odling bidrar till livsmedelsförsörjning, väsentliga sociala aspekter och ekosystemtjänster. I Sverige saknas det idag nationella riktlinjer och lagstiftningar som reglerar kommuners arbete med urban odling, vilket innebär att det är upp till kommunerna att enskilt bestämma om de vill arbeta med urban odling. Det leder till ett varierande arbete mellan kommuner, där vissa kommuner utvecklat riktlinjer för urban odling, medan andra kommuner inte behandlar urban odling inom planeringen. Mot denna bakgrund väcks frågor om hur urban odling behandlas inom kommunal planering. Därav var syftet med studien att identifiera hur kommuner arbetade med urban odling inom planeringen utifrån ett organisatoriskt perspektiv, samt vilka förutsättningar som begränsade eller möjliggjorde arbetet med urban odling. Syftet var även att undersöka på vilket sätt kommuner ansåg att urban odling bidrog till en hållbar stad. Studien genomfördes som en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie av tre svenska kommuner; Södertälje kommun, Lunds kommun och Göteborgs stad. Empiri samlades in genom dokumentstudier och semistrukturerade expertintervjuer, som sedan analyserades utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk baserat på begreppen hållbar urban utveckling och samverkan. Analysen visade att politiskt stöd, kommunalägd mark, styrdokument, kvantifiering och belysning av odlingens värde och aktiva odlingsföreningar var betydande organisatoriska förutsättningar för arbetet med urban odling. Vidare visade studien att kommunerna ansåg att urbana odlingar bidrog i större utsträckning till social hållbarhet än till ekologisk hållbarhet. I den avslutande diskussionen betonades behovet av nationella riktlinjer för att Sveriges kommuner ska få ett mer enhetligt arbete. Genom att ge kommunerna vägledning på regional och nationell nivå kan urban odling implementeras i Sveriges kommuner för att arbeta mot en långsiktig hållbar utveckling
Improving Cryptocurrency Price Direction Forecasting : Increasing Accuracy by Applying Confidence Score Thresholds to Random Forest Ensemble Predictions
No full textThe intersection of econometrics, statistics, and corporate finance has led to significant advancements in algorithmic trading in the cryptocurrency markets. While machine learning has been widely applied to predict price movements, most research focus solely on directional classification without considering the possibility to use the prediction confidence score of the models as a mean to increase the accuracy of the predictions further. This thesis investigates whether incorporating the confidence scores from machine learning classifiers can improve the prospect of positive trading outcomes in algorithmic cryptocurrency trading. As a result, it contributes to both academic understanding of market efficiency and serve as a basis for future algorithmic trading strategies. We employ an ensemble of two Random Forest models to predict the directional movement of cryptocurrency prices, increasing the accuracy by filtering out low-confidence predictions. The approach is benchmarked against Chen et al. (2020) using the same historical Bitcoin market dataset and further validated on ten cryptocurrencies from January 2022 to December 2023 with 5-minute trading data samples from the ByBit exchange. The results demonstrate that strategies incorporating confidence thresholds yield higher prediction accuracy than those that do not, though they produce fewer trade signals. Our method outperforms the top results achieved in the benchmark study with an accuracy of 72%, while maintaining 44% of the output samples, and with further increasing levels of accuracy for higher confidence score thresholds. Thus, indicating that confidence-based filtering can enhance both prediction accuracy and in extension also trading performance. In conclusion, combining two Random Forest models in an ensemble and incorporating confidence score thresholds significantly improve the accuracy of cryptocurrency price movement predictions compared to individual models. The method outperforms previous research for higher confidence thresholds and provides algorithmic traders with a tool to further increase prediction accuracy, however at the cost of decreasing number of trading opportunities for increasing accuracy. It thus demonstrates a shortcoming in the Efficient Market Hypothesis (Fama, 1970) and provides support for a more evolutionary approach to understanding markets – especially those that are less mature – such as the Adaptive Market Hypothesis (Lo, 2004). Future research could extend this work by investigating other prediction windows to further increase accuracy and output size detention, and by extending the method to also predict the level of magnitude of price changes, enabling more advanced trading strategies and enhanced risk management
Assessing the Impact of Intellectual Capital on Financial Performance : A Case Study of Kuehne + Nagel in the Freight Forwarding Industry
No full textThis thesis examines the role of Intellectual Capital (IC) - specifically human, structural, and capital employed - in influencing the financial performance of third-party logistics providers, with a focus on Kuehne + Nagel and a comparative analysis involving DHL and DSV. In the context of a knowledge driven economy, where logistics firms increasingly depend on intangible assets such as expertise, innovation, and customer relationships, the study employs the Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) method to assess IC efficiency using eight years of financial data (2017–2024). The findings reveal that Human Capital Efficiency (HCE) is the most significant contributor to profitability, while Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE) lags across all firms. The research concludes that IC - particularly human capital - is a key driver of competitive advantage in logistics, and recommends that future research extends the time frame and sample scope, while incorporating more granular IC data to better capture intangible value creation dynamics
Virtual Reality Heavy Equipment Training : Evaluating Gamification’s Effect on Engagement
No full textHeavy-equipment operation demands extensive hands-on practice, yetaccess to real machinery and high-fidelity simulators is costly andlogistically constrained. Virtual-reality (VR) training offers a scalablealternative, but sustaining learner engagement over repeated sessionsremains a challenge. This master’s thesis investigates whether, andwhich, gamification elements can raise user engagement in a VRexcavator simulator without undermining training value. A baseline “plain” simulator and an otherwise identical “gamified”variant were developed in Unity with AGX Dynamics. The gamifiedversion layered lightweight, goal-oriented mechanics identified in theliterature, score feedback, collectible gold and gems convertible toin-game currency, a collectible treasure display-case, cosmetic andutility upgrades, ambient audio, and a penalty-based damage system,onto the core excavation task. Six volunteer participants (students andstaff) completed both versions in a counter-balanced within-subjectsdesign. Engagement was measured with the 12-item User EngagementScale – Short Form (UES-SF) and by behavioral logs (play duration,excavated volume, collision count, excavation activity). Results show that gamification markedly increased the FocusedAttention dimension of engagement (median ∆ = +2 on a 5-pointscale; 5 / 6 participants), while Aesthetic Appeal and Reward rosemodestly (median ∆ = +0.5). Perceived Usability was unchanged.Behaviorally, four participants played longer in the gamified condition(median +77 s). Qualitative feedback credited the currency–upgradeloop, buried treasures, and a music player with making the taskmore motivating and easier to focus on, supporting Hypothesis H1(gamification raises engagement) and indicating that goal-orientedfeatures (H2) were the primary drivers. The study concludes that carefully selected gamification canboost short-term engagement in VR heavy-equipment trainingwithout degrading operational performance, and may even accelerateskill familiarization. Recommendations for industry simulatorsinclude profession-relevant reward systems and configurable sensoryenhancements to accommodate individual preferences
The contributions of sustainability definitions to sustainability science
No full textHumanity is facing an environmental and social crisis that threatens our survival. It has become clear that planning tool able to induce transformative changes is urgently needed. The backcasting methodology could be a good candidate to meet this challenge by enabling planning from a vision. This vision needs however to be defined and described. But definitions of sustainability are numerous, diverse, and none seems to be recognized as the one and only. With its systematic, rigorous, ethical and sceptical pursuit of truth, sustainability science seems to be an important strategic ally to move towards sustainability. While sustainability definitions have been studied in sustainability science, their contributions to it remained not studied a priori. That is precisely what was studied in this thesis. I have identified definitions of sustainable states that can strengthen sustainability science in different ways: by contributing to its transdisciplinarity, its consideration for complexity, its participatory potential, and its process orientation. Other contributions have been identified but were not investigated here. Interestingly, no definition capable of contributing in all four ways at the same time has been identified. However, this conclusion needs to be confirmed by further studies, some of which are suggested in this thesis
Who Controls the View, Controls the Narrative : Visualizations as Vectors of Power in Remote Collaboration
No full textThe Prevalence of Code Review Guidelines for GUI-Based Testing in Open-Source
No full textContext: Code review has become a core practice in collaborative software engineering, helping ensure code quality, detecting potential bugs, and supporting communication among developers. Prior research has shown that code review practices differ between production and test code, suggesting that established code review guidelines may fall short in the context of test and GUI-based test code. Particularly, GUI-based testing lacks adequate support during the code review process. To address this, we proposed a set of code review guidelines specifically designed for reviewing GUI-based test files, which, however, have not yet been empirically evaluated, limiting their practical relevance. Objective: This study empirically assesses the extent to which code review comments on GUI-based tests align (explicitly or implicitly) with the concerns captured by the proposed guidelines, and uses the findings to refine the guideline set. Method: To achieve this, we sampled code review comments discussing GUI-based test files across 100 open-source projects and manually analyzed 1000 pull requests to determine to what extent the reviewers' comments align with the proposed guidelines. Results: Review comments aligned with the proposed guidelines in 808 of 1000 pull requests. We found empirical evidence for 25 of the 33 guidelines. The most frequently observed guideline concerns the correct use of testing techniques and exception handling, particularly regarding locators, explicit waits, and timeout behavior. Conclusion: The observed alignment suggests that the proposed guidelines capture concerns articulated in practice, indicating practical relevance for GUI-based test reviews. This represents an initial step towards providing empirical validation of the proposed guidelines, highlighting their potential value in enhancing the quality of GUI-based test reviews