HUB:BLE-3 - Session 2 Business and Technology

12th June 2014
Boosting Local Enterprise

FIFTEENS
• A Noisy Experiment for a New Business [pdf]
– Chris Bicknell
• Product design for developing and emerging
economies [pdf]
– Timothy Whitehead
• Apprenticeship Grants for Employers[pdf]
– Sarah Helmore
• There’s a Difference Between Vin and Vout! [pdf]
– Andy Powell
• Evolving New Solutions, Hoping Is Insufficient [pdf]
– Ed Chester

A NOISY EXPERIMENT
FOR A NEW BUSINESS
Chris Bicknell
Cleric Audio

EXPERIMENT
 YOU CAN HELP DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF
THIS BUSINESS IDEA
 IF YOU HAVE A WEB-CONNECTED SMARTPHONE
OR SIMILAR WIDGETRY TO HAND, GET READY TO
VOTE IN THE FOLLOWING EXPERIMENT…

EXPERIMENT
 THERE ARE 3 AUDIO AMPLIFIERS UNDERNEATH THIS
TABLE
(INDICATES TABLE, THEATRICALLY)
 ONE OF THEM IS THE PERCEIVED MARKET LEADER!
 ANOTHER IS THE ‘ROLLS-ROYCE OF AMPS’
 AND THE THIRD WAS BUILD IN HIS SHED
(INDICATES CHRIS, WITH ACCUSING GLARE)

EXPERIMENT
 NOBODY KNOWS WHICH WAY THESE ARE WIRED UP
 DIFFERENT PEOPLE WERE (IR)RESPONSIBLE FOR
EACH END OF THE CONNECTING CABLES!
(EXCITING!)

EXPERIMENT
SIGNAL
SOURCE
AMP B
AMP C
SWITCH
AMP A
AMP A
AMP B
AMP C

“THE QUESTION!”
 IS NEW TECHNOLOGY ALWAYS BETTER?
 WHICH AMP SOUND DO YOU PREFER?
 3 SOUNDS * 3 AMPS * ONE SIGNAL SOURCE = 9 TESTS
CLEAN
CRUNCHY
MONSTROUS
A
B
C

“CLEAN”
 CLOSE EYES IF YOU LIKE. NO SNORING.
 CHOOSE WHICH SOUND (A, B, C) YOU PREFER.

“CLEAN”
http://hubble3.participoll.com/
1A
100%
B C

“CRUNCHY”
1A B
100%
C

“MONSTROUS”
1
100%
A B C

Affinity – personal attachment
Desirability – the aesthetics
Usability – easy of use
Functionality – correct functions
Affordability – initial and on-going costs
Sustainability – environmental impact
Reparability – product maintenance
Durability – the strength of the product
Purely functional products resulted
in lower uptake and a lack of
consistent use, compared with
products which provided an
emotional attachment.
The nature of a global economy
means that users in developing
countries are equally exposed to
the styles, fashion and types of
products seen in the developed
world.
Users come from a wide range of
languages and cultural
backgrounds , this means it is
important to embed usability into
the core design of the product.
Customers are highly demanding
and consequently products need to
be designed to provide the
maximum level of functionality.
Interview data highlighted that the
price of a product is crucial, not
only to the users but also the NGO.
It is important to consider
environmental sustainability in
terms of material choice, end of
product life and overall
environmental costs. Secondly,
product distribution needs to be
sustainable within the existing
economic market.
Products purchased by consumers
represent a significant investment. It
is therefore important that when
failures occur, products can be
repaired or returned.
The hostile nature of developing
countries typically means that wear
rates are higher and products need
to be designed and built with a higher
level of durability and robustness
compared with similar products in the
developed world.

Prahalad (2008) proposes that businesses, governments, and donor
agencies stop thinking of the poor as victims and instead start seeing them
as resilient and creative entrepreneurs as well as value-demanding
consumers.

$12 $22
- Outsold 3/1 straight away
- $5 off it outsells 17/1
- Past 4 years the uptake was 10%
- This increased to 42% (after 8 months)

Although poor customers are not able to afford expensive
products, they do appreciate superior quality and aesthetically
pleasing design. They are willing to pay a premium for better
quality and design if the price range is within their reach.

If we treat the poor
as customers and
develop aspiring,
transformative
products. We can
increase uptake and
use to help alleviate
poverty.
While (maybe)
making a profit….

Apprenticeship Funding
Sarah Helmore
Client Account Manager
Loughborough College

The future will involve job
opportunities that currently do not
exist, using technologies not yet
invented, solving problems we are
not yet aware of
?51

Top 10 jobs (www.statistics.gov.uk)
Year 2003
1. Accountants
2. Administration Managers
3. Advertising Manager
4. Budget Analyst
5. Claims investigators
6. Computer systems manager
7. Construction Manager
8. Cost Estimator
9. Engineering Manager
10. Farmers
Year 2013
1. Software Developer
2. Accountants
3. Social Media Specialist
4. Computer Analyst
5. Human Resources
6. Network Administrator
7. Web Developers
8. Mechanical Engineers
9. Industrial Engineers
10. Sales Representative

53
This year the government will invest a
record £1.5 billion in Apprenticeships

What is an Apprenticeship?
“Work based training programme designed around the
needs of the employer, which provides a real job
opportunity which leads to nationally recognised
qualifications.”
• Open to anyone aged 16 or over
• Can take 1-4 years to complete
• Is open to new or existing employees

AgricultureDental NursingConstructionAccountingSporting Excellence
Logistics Operations ManagementAnimal CareIT UsersEngineering
Print and Printed PackagingAviation OperationsBeauty Therapy
DesignElectrical and Electronic ServicingCabin CrewGames Testing
Youth WorkCleaning and Support ServicesPlumbingCustomer Service
Food ManufacturePhotographyMarketing and Communications
Creative and Digital MediaFashion and Textiles GoodsRetail
Vehicle Maintenance and RepairFloristrySea FishingBarbering
Hospitality and CateringMetal ProcessingNuclear Decommissioning
Veterinary NursingDry Stone WallingHealth and Social Care
DesignElectrical and Electronic ServicingCabin Crew Games Testing
Vehicle Maintenance and RepairFloristry Sea FishingBarbering
Veterinary Nursing Dry Stone WallingHealth and Social Care
DesignElectrical and Electronic ServicingCabin Crew Games Testing
Vehicle Maintenance and RepairFloristry Sea FishingBarbering
Veterinary Nursing Dry Stone WallingHealth and Social Care
Over 265 types of
Apprenticeships.

Apprenticeship Opportunities
• Accountancy (AAT)
• Business Administration
• Customer Services
• IT & Web Design
• Retail
• Libraries, Archive &
Information
• Team leading &
Management
• Sales & Marketing
• Warehouse & Logistics
• Hospitality & Catering
• Engineering
• Vehicle & Maintenance
• Health & Social Care
• Childcare
• Hairdressing & Beauty
• Laboratory Technicians
• Sports
• Space Engineering

Levels of Apprenticeships
Level 2 - Intermediate Level Apprenticeships
Level 3 - Advanced Level Apprenticeships
Level 4 - Higher Apprenticeships

Employer Responsibilities
• Minimum salary of £2.68 per week
• Average Apprenticeship wage £170 per week
• Contract of Employment
• Minimum working hours 30 per week
• Paid Holidays
• Mentor & Support in the workplace

Funding
• 16 – 18’s will receive 100% funding
• 19+ will receive 50% funding, part employer
contribution

Up to £3000 Apprenticeship Grants (16-24)
Government Grant
£1500
 Employs less than 1000
 Not able to employ an
apprentice without the grant
 Have not previously employed
an apprentice in the past 12
months
 Not in breach of State Aid rules
Leicester Grant
£1500
 Is the apprentice you recruited,
or wish to recruit; a Leicester
city resident?
 Are you a Leicestershire based
employer?
 Is the apprentice aged 16 to 24
on the commencement date of
employment?
 All other grant criteria apply

To find out more….
Visit me in the exhibition area
Log on to:
www.apprenticeships@loucoll.ac.uk

Adventures in Model Hovercraft Control
Andy Powell

Why a Hovercraft?
• Practical Control Problem
• Play with Electronics
• Hovercraft control is easy…
• Thrust and Steer
• Quadcoptor – X,Y,Z,φ,θ,ψ

• RC Hobby parts
• Motors
• Speed Controllers
• Battery
• Transmitter and Receiver
• Skirts are not easy!
• Three fundamental restarts
• Inner tube to bin liner…
• Ten versions
Phase 1 – Build a Hovercraft…

• Credit card sized computer
• Educational Foundation
• General Purpose Input/Output
• Python Programming
Language
• Lessons
• It worked but…
• It’s doing too many other
things
• Too slow to boot
Raspberry Pi

• Microcontoller – designed to
make things work
• ~£7 each
• Good for repetitive loops
• Lessons
• Attaching a battery to the 5V
pin instead of theVin pin
causes smoke!
Arduino

Stop it spinning!
Measure the spin speed - gyroscope
Turn the steering servo until the spin stops
• If you steer the wrong way, the spin gets worse!
Gain*(Desired Spin – Current Spin)
Change the Desired Spin rate to go in circles
Straight Lines…

Better Position Control
• Integration of signals to get position and velocity
Obstacle Detection
• Distance sensors
• What to do when you detect something?
• Hovercraft have no brakes!
Make it pretty!
Next Steps

2014-06-12[ 76 ]
Hoping Is Insufficient
Ed Chester
with thanks to J. Graciano, S. Vilardaga, M. Sorgenfrei

2014-06-12[ 78 ]
Methods
TABU SEARCH
GAME THEORY
SIMULATED ANNEALING
METAHEURISTICS
STOCHASTIC SEARCH
GRADIENT METHODS
MONTE CARLO SIMULATION
EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTING
WHAT
Implementations
DISTRIBUTED
PARALLEL
HANDHELD
INTEGRATED
REUSABLE
FRIENDLY
EXTENSIBLE
VISUAL
• R&D focussed startup, founded in 2010
• Funded through competitive grant @ incubator near Munich
• ‘Technology transfer of optimisation methods and software’

2014-06-12[ 79 ]
OPTIMISATION ENGINES
DESIGN
Tools that explore the system
design space to find
the most robust options.
SCHEDULE
Tools that optimise
task or team schedules
to improve resource usage.
DEVELOP
Tools that find the best trade-off
between conflicting objectives without
violating the constraints.
OPTIMISE
Tools that fine-tune a system
calibration to increase
efficiency and representation quality.
OPTIMISATION
ENGINES

2014-06-12[ 80 ]
APPLICATION AREAS
SCHEDULING
ROUTING / TRAJECTORY
DESIGN
DESIGN
Spacecraft onboard task
executives
Rover path planning Explore tradespaces
Ground segment operations
(multi-s/c, multi-station)
UAV/satellite formation flying Parameter tuning
Resource/Team allocation Dynamic
chase/escape/intercept flight
Pareto optimisation
Logistics / Transportation Rendezvous/berthing control Decision support

2014-06-12[ 81 ]
EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTING
• Bio-inspired population-based algorithms, mimicking natural
selection
• Solutions encoded as parameters (genes) and concatenated into
structured strings (chromosomes)
• Initially random population of solutions evolves in response to
different operators (reproduction selection, crossover, mutation)
• Avoid aggregate functions:
elephants + parachutes  apples + aeroshells

2014-06-12[ 82 ]
Offspring 2* 1101101100110100
Offspring 1* 1100111000011110
Offspring 2 1101100100110110
Offspring 1 1101111000011110
Parent 2 1101111000011110
Parent 1 1101100100110110
CONCEPT

2014-06-12[ 83 ]
DESIGN EXAMPLE
4661A80460062C09241000C501A460D64220000000
320A140750000000F00100227200BC000000000000
000000
Image: Aerodynamics for the Mars Phoenix Entry Capsule, K.T. Edquist, P.N. Desai, M. Schoenenberger, AIAA

2014-06-12[ 85 ]
OUTCOME
• Almost the opposite of Lean Methods
• No involved stakeholder other than ourselves
• No identified clients (and market uncertain)
• Grant funding and hunches will take you so far…
• but hoping is insufficient.

2014-06-12[ 86 ]
CONCLUSIONS
• The purpose of a startup is not to enjoy
doing research…
• …the purpose is to find a
workable/sustainable business model.
• Hoping is insufficient!

www.spaceideashub.com
enquiries@spaceideashub.com
0116 229 7700
Contact us for a FREE 2-day
project, problem evaluation and consulting
@spaceideashubFollow us on
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HUB:BLE-3 - Session 2 Business and Technology

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HUB:BLE-3 - Session 2 Business and Technology