Multifocal glasses are a new type of lens that can fit both nearsighted and farsighted vision on ... more Multifocal glasses are a new type of lens that can fit both nearsighted and farsighted vision on the same lens. This property allows the glass to have various curvatures in distinct regions within the glass during the grinding process. However, when the curvature varies irregularly, the glass is prone to optical deformation during imaging. Most of the previous studies on imaging deformation focus on the deformation correction of optical lenses. Consequently, this research uses an automatic deformation defect detection system for multifocal glasses to replace professional assessors. To quantify the grade of deformation of curved multifocal glasses, we first digitally imaged a pattern of concentric circles through a test glass to generate an imaged image of the glass. Second, we preprocess the image to enhance the clarity of the concentric circles’ appearance. A centroid-radius model is used to represent the form variation properties of every circle in the processed image. Third, the ...
With the advances in global position system (GPS), automobile manufacturers have begun to produce... more With the advances in global position system (GPS), automobile manufacturers have begun to produce intelligent transportation systems to assist drivers, such as in-vehicle navigation systems. These navigation systems combine an electronic map (e-map) and permanent roadway signs to inform drivers of their current locations and traffic information visually or aurally. To date, the moving e-map is still the primary medium for navigation or GPS applications; it can’t be completely replaced by voice guidance. An on-road driving experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of e-map format and sub-window on navigation performance and glance behavior while using an in-vehicle navigation system. Twenty participants navigated an urban route using the navigation display under 2D or 3D e-map conditions, and either with a sub-window or not. Driver navigation errors and visual glance data were collected during the trials. Results show that a sub-window reduced navigation errors but increase...
This study tried to quantify qualitative benefits of ergonomics projects. The payment card approa... more This study tried to quantify qualitative benefits of ergonomics projects. The payment card approach of the contingent valuation method was used to quantify qualitative benefits. The operators willing-to-pay for the improvement actions was obtained through the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised questions about understanding of the project, willing-to-pay for the improvement, and socio-economic background of the operators. The return on investment of a previous ergonomics project was assessed by the proposed method in this study. 719 effective responses were obtained from 1000 operators. Total amount of the operators willing to pay per year could be considered as the average benefit per year. On the other hand, total investment cost should be translated into the average cost per year. Finally, the ROI of the studied project was then calculated as 3.41. The results also indicated willing to pay for the improvement was significantly correlated with the family income, satisfact...
International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 2011
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the viewing distance and local illumination effects... more The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the viewing distance and local illumination effects on visual performance while working with a projection screen. Digital projectors have become more popular. However, studies on visual performance using a projection screen are rare. Viewing distance (3, 6, and 9 m) and local illumination (75 and 450 lux) were the independent variables. Each experimental trial took 40 min, including a 10-min proofreading task and a 30-min film watching task. The identification rate for the proofreading task and the attention rate for the film-watching task were collected. The results indicated that viewing distance had a significant effect on the identification rate (p=0.04). A reduced identification rate tendency was found with increasing viewing distance. A significantly higher attention rate (p=0.032) was found at the local illumination of 450 lux compared to that of the 75 lux. We suggest that (a) a shorter viewing distance (correspond to 25~50 min a...
This study discusses how to fuzzify a feedforward neural network (FNN) to generate a fuzzy foreca... more This study discusses how to fuzzify a feedforward neural network (FNN) to generate a fuzzy forecast that contains the actual value, while minimizing the average range of fuzzy forecasts. This topic has rarely been investigated in past studies, but is an essential step to constructing a precise fuzzy FNN (FFNN). Existing methods fuzzify all parameters at the same time, which re-sults in a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem that is not easy to solve. In contrast, in this study, the parameters of a FNN are fuzzified independently. In this way, the optimal values of fuzzy parameters can be derived theoretically. An illustrative example is used to illustrate the ap-plicability of the proposed methodology. According to the experimental results, fuzzifying the thresholds on hidden-layer nodes or the connection weights between input and hidden layers may not guarantee that all fuzzy forecasts contain the corresponding actual values. In contrast, fuzzi-fying the threshold on the output node...
The supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced... more The supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced many manufacturers to look for alternative suppliers. How to choose a suitable alternative supplier in the COVID-19 pandemic has become an important task. To fulfill this task, this research proposes a calibrated fuzzy geometric mean (cFGM)-fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS)-fuzzy weighted intersection (FWI) approach. In the proposed methodology, first, the cFGM method is proposed to accurately derive the priorities of criteria. Subsequently, each expert applies the FTOPSIS method to compare the overall performances of alternative suppliers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The sensitivity of an expert to any change in the overall performance of the alternative supplier is also considered. Finally, the FWI operator is used to aggregate the comparison results by all experts, for which an expert’s authority level is set to a value proportional to the co...
International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 2010
The purpose of this study was to assess the less-tangible benefits of an ergonomics project perfo... more The purpose of this study was to assess the less-tangible benefits of an ergonomics project performed in a 300-mm wafer fabrication in Taiwan. The studied project was aimed at reducing the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) faced by the wafer-handling workers. Firstly, the MSDs checklist was used to identify risk factors for the workers. The ergonomic intervention was then conducted. Subsequently, the willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey of the contingent valuation method was performed to quantify less-tangible benefits. The responded WTP results were analyzed to estimate the return on investment of this project, which was 43.6% and large enough to conclude that this project was cost-effectiveness. The marked decreases in the risk-factor found rate and the self-reported MSD rate in the post-intervention period proved that the intervention was effective in reducing the MSD problems. This paper is shown to be a good example to justify the worth of an ergonomics project.
A layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach is proposed in this study to... more A layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach is proposed in this study to forecast the unit cost of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) product. In the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach, the partial-consensus fuzzy intersection (PCFI) operator is applied instead of the prevalent fuzzy intersection (FI) operator to aggregate the fuzzy forecasts by experts. In this way, some meaningful information, such as the suitable number of experts, can be obtained through observing changes in the PCFI result when the number of experts varies. After applying the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach to a real case, the experimental results revealed that the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach outperformed three existing methods. The most significant advantage was up to 13%.
The usage of digital projectors has increased immensely –both in schools and companies. Compared ... more The usage of digital projectors has increased immensely –both in schools and companies. Compared with the visual display terminals (VDTs), the usage of a projection screen can be simultaneously watched by a large audience from different seats in a room. The use of digital projectors is becoming more popular, but studies about visual performance of digital projector users are rare. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of viewing distance (3, 6, and 9 m) and local illumination (75, 200, 450, and 750 lx) on visual performance of subjects performing visual tasks with a large projection screen. Each experimental trial included three 40-min work sessions. Each work session consisted of a 10-min proofreading task and a 30-min film watching task. Visual performance measures were obtained for 30 subjects. The results indicated that viewing distance had a significant effect on the proofreading and film-watching performances, but local illumination effect was not signific...
Smart backpacks are a prevalent application of smart technologies, with functions such as motion ... more Smart backpacks are a prevalent application of smart technologies, with functions such as motion recording, navigation, and energy harvesting and provision. Selecting a suitable built-in power bank is a critical task for a smart backpack design, which has rarely been investigated in the past. To fulfill this task, an auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach is proposed in this study. When decision makers lack an overall consensus, the auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach specifies decision makers’ authority levels according to the consistency ratios of their judgments. In this way, the consensus among all decision makers can be sought. The auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach has been applied to compare six mobile power banks for a smart backpack design.
A fuzzy collaborative approach is proposed in this study to assess the suitability of a smart hea... more A fuzzy collaborative approach is proposed in this study to assess the suitability of a smart health practice, which is a challenging task, as the participating decision makers may not reach a consensus. In the fuzzy collaborative approach, each decision maker first applies the alpha-cut operations method to derive the fuzzy weights of the criteria. Then, fuzzy intersection is applied to aggregate the fuzzy weights derived by all decision makers to measure the prior consensus among them. The fuzzy intersection results are then presented to the decision makers so that they can subjectively modify the pairwise comparison results to bring them closer to the fuzzy intersection results. Thereafter, the consensus among decision makers is again measured. The collaboration process will stop when no more modifications are made by any decision maker. Finally, the fuzzy weighted mean-centroid defuzzification method is applied to assess the suitability of a smart health practice. The fuzzy coll...
Multifocal glasses are a new type of lens that can fit both nearsighted and farsighted vision on ... more Multifocal glasses are a new type of lens that can fit both nearsighted and farsighted vision on the same lens. This property allows the glass to have various curvatures in distinct regions within the glass during the grinding process. However, when the curvature varies irregularly, the glass is prone to optical deformation during imaging. Most of the previous studies on imaging deformation focus on the deformation correction of optical lenses. Consequently, this research uses an automatic deformation defect detection system for multifocal glasses to replace professional assessors. To quantify the grade of deformation of curved multifocal glasses, we first digitally imaged a pattern of concentric circles through a test glass to generate an imaged image of the glass. Second, we preprocess the image to enhance the clarity of the concentric circles’ appearance. A centroid-radius model is used to represent the form variation properties of every circle in the processed image. Third, the ...
With the advances in global position system (GPS), automobile manufacturers have begun to produce... more With the advances in global position system (GPS), automobile manufacturers have begun to produce intelligent transportation systems to assist drivers, such as in-vehicle navigation systems. These navigation systems combine an electronic map (e-map) and permanent roadway signs to inform drivers of their current locations and traffic information visually or aurally. To date, the moving e-map is still the primary medium for navigation or GPS applications; it can’t be completely replaced by voice guidance. An on-road driving experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of e-map format and sub-window on navigation performance and glance behavior while using an in-vehicle navigation system. Twenty participants navigated an urban route using the navigation display under 2D or 3D e-map conditions, and either with a sub-window or not. Driver navigation errors and visual glance data were collected during the trials. Results show that a sub-window reduced navigation errors but increase...
This study tried to quantify qualitative benefits of ergonomics projects. The payment card approa... more This study tried to quantify qualitative benefits of ergonomics projects. The payment card approach of the contingent valuation method was used to quantify qualitative benefits. The operators willing-to-pay for the improvement actions was obtained through the questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised questions about understanding of the project, willing-to-pay for the improvement, and socio-economic background of the operators. The return on investment of a previous ergonomics project was assessed by the proposed method in this study. 719 effective responses were obtained from 1000 operators. Total amount of the operators willing to pay per year could be considered as the average benefit per year. On the other hand, total investment cost should be translated into the average cost per year. Finally, the ROI of the studied project was then calculated as 3.41. The results also indicated willing to pay for the improvement was significantly correlated with the family income, satisfact...
International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 2011
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the viewing distance and local illumination effects... more The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the viewing distance and local illumination effects on visual performance while working with a projection screen. Digital projectors have become more popular. However, studies on visual performance using a projection screen are rare. Viewing distance (3, 6, and 9 m) and local illumination (75 and 450 lux) were the independent variables. Each experimental trial took 40 min, including a 10-min proofreading task and a 30-min film watching task. The identification rate for the proofreading task and the attention rate for the film-watching task were collected. The results indicated that viewing distance had a significant effect on the identification rate (p=0.04). A reduced identification rate tendency was found with increasing viewing distance. A significantly higher attention rate (p=0.032) was found at the local illumination of 450 lux compared to that of the 75 lux. We suggest that (a) a shorter viewing distance (correspond to 25~50 min a...
This study discusses how to fuzzify a feedforward neural network (FNN) to generate a fuzzy foreca... more This study discusses how to fuzzify a feedforward neural network (FNN) to generate a fuzzy forecast that contains the actual value, while minimizing the average range of fuzzy forecasts. This topic has rarely been investigated in past studies, but is an essential step to constructing a precise fuzzy FNN (FFNN). Existing methods fuzzify all parameters at the same time, which re-sults in a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem that is not easy to solve. In contrast, in this study, the parameters of a FNN are fuzzified independently. In this way, the optimal values of fuzzy parameters can be derived theoretically. An illustrative example is used to illustrate the ap-plicability of the proposed methodology. According to the experimental results, fuzzifying the thresholds on hidden-layer nodes or the connection weights between input and hidden layers may not guarantee that all fuzzy forecasts contain the corresponding actual values. In contrast, fuzzi-fying the threshold on the output node...
The supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced... more The supply chain disruption caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced many manufacturers to look for alternative suppliers. How to choose a suitable alternative supplier in the COVID-19 pandemic has become an important task. To fulfill this task, this research proposes a calibrated fuzzy geometric mean (cFGM)-fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS)-fuzzy weighted intersection (FWI) approach. In the proposed methodology, first, the cFGM method is proposed to accurately derive the priorities of criteria. Subsequently, each expert applies the FTOPSIS method to compare the overall performances of alternative suppliers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The sensitivity of an expert to any change in the overall performance of the alternative supplier is also considered. Finally, the FWI operator is used to aggregate the comparison results by all experts, for which an expert’s authority level is set to a value proportional to the co...
International Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, 2010
The purpose of this study was to assess the less-tangible benefits of an ergonomics project perfo... more The purpose of this study was to assess the less-tangible benefits of an ergonomics project performed in a 300-mm wafer fabrication in Taiwan. The studied project was aimed at reducing the risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) faced by the wafer-handling workers. Firstly, the MSDs checklist was used to identify risk factors for the workers. The ergonomic intervention was then conducted. Subsequently, the willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey of the contingent valuation method was performed to quantify less-tangible benefits. The responded WTP results were analyzed to estimate the return on investment of this project, which was 43.6% and large enough to conclude that this project was cost-effectiveness. The marked decreases in the risk-factor found rate and the self-reported MSD rate in the post-intervention period proved that the intervention was effective in reducing the MSD problems. This paper is shown to be a good example to justify the worth of an ergonomics project.
A layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach is proposed in this study to... more A layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach is proposed in this study to forecast the unit cost of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) product. In the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach, the partial-consensus fuzzy intersection (PCFI) operator is applied instead of the prevalent fuzzy intersection (FI) operator to aggregate the fuzzy forecasts by experts. In this way, some meaningful information, such as the suitable number of experts, can be obtained through observing changes in the PCFI result when the number of experts varies. After applying the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach to a real case, the experimental results revealed that the layered partial-consensus fuzzy collaborative forecasting approach outperformed three existing methods. The most significant advantage was up to 13%.
The usage of digital projectors has increased immensely –both in schools and companies. Compared ... more The usage of digital projectors has increased immensely –both in schools and companies. Compared with the visual display terminals (VDTs), the usage of a projection screen can be simultaneously watched by a large audience from different seats in a room. The use of digital projectors is becoming more popular, but studies about visual performance of digital projector users are rare. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of viewing distance (3, 6, and 9 m) and local illumination (75, 200, 450, and 750 lx) on visual performance of subjects performing visual tasks with a large projection screen. Each experimental trial included three 40-min work sessions. Each work session consisted of a 10-min proofreading task and a 30-min film watching task. Visual performance measures were obtained for 30 subjects. The results indicated that viewing distance had a significant effect on the proofreading and film-watching performances, but local illumination effect was not signific...
Smart backpacks are a prevalent application of smart technologies, with functions such as motion ... more Smart backpacks are a prevalent application of smart technologies, with functions such as motion recording, navigation, and energy harvesting and provision. Selecting a suitable built-in power bank is a critical task for a smart backpack design, which has rarely been investigated in the past. To fulfill this task, an auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach is proposed in this study. When decision makers lack an overall consensus, the auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach specifies decision makers’ authority levels according to the consistency ratios of their judgments. In this way, the consensus among all decision makers can be sought. The auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach has been applied to compare six mobile power banks for a smart backpack design.
A fuzzy collaborative approach is proposed in this study to assess the suitability of a smart hea... more A fuzzy collaborative approach is proposed in this study to assess the suitability of a smart health practice, which is a challenging task, as the participating decision makers may not reach a consensus. In the fuzzy collaborative approach, each decision maker first applies the alpha-cut operations method to derive the fuzzy weights of the criteria. Then, fuzzy intersection is applied to aggregate the fuzzy weights derived by all decision makers to measure the prior consensus among them. The fuzzy intersection results are then presented to the decision makers so that they can subjectively modify the pairwise comparison results to bring them closer to the fuzzy intersection results. Thereafter, the consensus among decision makers is again measured. The collaboration process will stop when no more modifications are made by any decision maker. Finally, the fuzzy weighted mean-centroid defuzzification method is applied to assess the suitability of a smart health practice. The fuzzy coll...
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Papers by Steve Wu