Abstract

International audience; People with disabilities may encounter many communication difficulties. Our main goal is to develop a communication system, called COMMOB, designed to assist people with cerebral palsy in different contexts: at home, at work and in public places. After a brief review of the different categories of as-sistive communication systems, our user-centered design approach is presented. It was tested in a public place in the context of a help request by a cerebral palsy person in a wheelchair. The result concerns particularly the response rate. The assistive power of COMMOB was rated from the respondents' and the user's point of view. The main lesson to be learned is that the most difficult was to attract the attention of people and to engage the interaction. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

A survey was conducted to determine operation and maintenance (O and M)-related materials needs in geothermal power plants and to identify future research and development to address these needs. A total of 44 questionnaires was mailed to geothermal plant operators and industry consultants. The response rate was 54%. The participants were asked to describe type and frequency of materials problems, strategies currently used to mitigate such problems, barriers to using new or alternative materials and technologies, sources of information and give their views on research and development priorities. A wide range of opinions was obtained, reflecting each individual respondent`s perspective and the site-specific nature of some problems. However, the consensus is that corrosion and scaling remain major issues and that components requiring performance improvements include pipelines, well casing, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, valves and cooling towers. It is recommended that appropriate research and development continue to be directed at reducing O and M costs associated with materials failure or inadequate service. There should be a balance between optimizing existing materials through better design and understanding of behavior in geothermal environments and development of new materials. Life extension of existing equipment, service life prediction, education of plant personnel in materials andmore » methods for mitigating corrosion, and improvements in inhibitors and biocides would also be beneficial.« le Document type: Report