Convenient human-computer interaction is essential to carry out many exhausting and concentration-demanding activities. One of them is cyber-situational awareness as well as dynamic and static risk analysis. A specific design method for a multimodal human-computer interface (HCI) for cyber-security events visualisation control is presented. The main role of the interface is to support security analysts and network operators in their monitoring activities. The proposed method of designing HCIs is adapted from the methodology of robot control system design. Both kinds of systems act by acquiring information from the environment, and utilise it to drive the devices influencing the environment. In the case of robots the environment is purely physical, while in the case of HCIs it encompasses both the physical ambience and part of the cyber-space. The goal of the designed system is to efficiently support a human operator in the presentation of cyberspace events such as incidents or cyber-attacks. Especially manipulation of graphical information is necessary. As monitoring is a continuous and tiring activity, control of how the data is presented should be exerted in as natural and convenient way as possible. Hence two main visualisation control modalities have been assumed for testing: static and dynamic gesture commands and voice commands, treated as supplementary to the standard interaction. The presented multimodal interface is a component of the Operational Centre, which is a part of the National Cybersecurity Platform. Creation of the interface out of embodied agents proved to be very useful in the specification phase and facilitated the interface implementation.
Magnesium alloys are one of the lightest of all the structural materials. Because of their excellent physical and mechanical properties the
alloys have been used more and more often in various branches of industry. They are cast mainly (over 90%) on cold and hot chamber die
casting machines. One of the byproducts of casting processes is process scrap which amounts to about 40 to 60% of the total weight of a
casting. The process scrap incorporates all the elements of gating systems and fault castings. Proper management of the process scrap is
one of the necessities in term of economic and environmental aspects.
Most foundries use the process scrap, which involves adding it to a melting furnace, in a haphazard way, without any control of its content
in the melt. It can lead to many disadvantageous effects, e.g. the formation of a hard buildup at the bottom of the crucible, which in time
makes casting impossible due to the loss of the alloy rheological properties. The research was undertaken to determine the effect of an
addition of the process scrap on the mechanical properties of AZ91 and AM50 alloys. It has been ascertained that the addition of a specific
amount of process scrap to the melt increases the mechanical properties of the elements cast from AZ91 and AM50 alloys.
The increase in the mechanical properties is caused mainly by compounds which can work as nuclei of crystallization and are introduced
into the scrap from lubricants and anti-adhesive agents. Furthermore carbon, which was detected in the process scrap by means of SEM
examination, is a potent grain modifier in Mg alloys [1-3].
The optimal addition of the process scrap to the melt was determined based on the statistical analysis of the results of studies of the effect
of different process scrap additions on the mean grain size and mechanical properties of the cast parts.