Interfacing Low-cost Air Quality Sensors with Apple Watch: A Self-Quantified Approach to Raising Awareness of Air Pollution
Fellow: Vince Nguyen
Supervisors: Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Joerg Blumtritt
The objective of this design study is to explore the possibilities and examine the effectiveness of wearable devices in promoting air pollution awareness and behavior change among users.
Leveraging the Apple Watch’s rising popularity as a personal wearable healthcare device, this study will design a smartwatch user interface that notifies users of air quality in real-time using data obtained from a portable air quality monitor wirelessly connected to the watch. By transforming raw measurements into exploratory visualizations, the interface will encourage users to take actions to lower their exposure to air pollution through a knowledge-is-empowering approach.
A usability study with semi-structured interviews will be conducted to qualitatively assess the impact of this ubiquitous computing system on promoting awareness and behavioral change among adopters.
Optimization for Drone-truck Combined Operations Routing Synchronization Problem
Fellow: Sungmin Sohn
Supervisor: Ali Diabat
Through an increasing number of deliveries and the rising demand for contact-free deliveries, drones have emerged as the unique composition of the delivery system. However, drones have two main limitations: carrying capacity and short travel range. Therefore, researchers started to study the logistics of the delivery system that utilizes truck with the drone to supplement each other’s limitations.
The purpose of the fellowship research on Drone-Truck Combined Operations (DTCO) is to investigate an optimal synchronized routing between a drone and a truck in delivery operations. The formulation of the synchronized DTCO model will base its concept on the basic scenario introduced by Murray and Chu in 2015. The drone departs from the truck, carries out the task assigned, then returns to the truck.
After formulating the problem with relevant constraints, GAMS (a commercial solver) will be used to find optimal synchronized routing in DTCO delivery systems. The optimal routing will further be studied through case studies so that the benefits of the proposed solution can be numerically illustrated.
2021/2022 CITIES Post-Graduation Research Fellows – Future Plans
Vince Nguyen has been admitted to the Erasmus Mundus MSc program Software Engineers For Green Deal. He is forever grateful for the fellowship that allowed him to master his design research skills while opening doors for more exciting opportunities ahead. Sungmin Sohn will be heading to UC Berkeley for the MS program in Transportation Engineering.