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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Xin Li, Jianzhong Shang and Zhuo Wang

The paper aims to promote the development of intelligent materials and the 4D printing technology by introducing recent advances and applications of additive layered manufacturing…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to promote the development of intelligent materials and the 4D printing technology by introducing recent advances and applications of additive layered manufacturing (ALM) technology of intelligent materials and the development of the 4D printing technology. Also, an arm-type ALM technology of shape memory polymer (SMP) with thermosetting polyurethane is briefly introduced.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper begins with an overview of the development and applications of intelligent materials around the world and the 4D printing technology. Then, the authors provide a brief outline of their research on arm-type ALM technology of SMP with thermosetting polyurethane.

Findings

The paper provides the recent developments and applications of intelligent materials and 4D printing technology. Then, it is suggested that intelligent materials mixed with different functional materials will be developed, and these types of materials will be more suitable for 4D printing.

Originality/value

This paper overviews the current developments and applications of intelligent materials and its use in 4D printing technology, and briefly states the authors’ research on arm-type ALM technology of SMP with thermosetting polyurethane.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2018

N.M. Fonseca Ferreira, André Araujo, M.S. Couceiro and David Portugal

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level…

Abstract

This paper describes a two-month summer intensive course designed to introduce participants with a hands-on technical craft on robotics and to acquire experience in the low-level details of embedded systems. Attendants started this course with a brief introduction to robotics; learned to draw, design and create a personalized 3D structure for their mobile robotic platform and developed skills in embedded systems. They were familiarize with the practices used in robotics, learning to connect all sensors and actuator, developing a typical application on differential kinematic using Arduino, exploring ROS features under Raspberry Pi environment and Arduino – Raspberry Pi communication. Different paradigms and some real applications and programming were addressed on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. Throughout the course, participants were introduced to programming languages (including Python and C++), advanced programming concepts such as ROS, basic API development, system concepts such as I2C and UART serial interfaces, PWM motor control and sensor fusion to improve robotic navigation and localization. This paper describes not just the concept, layout and methodology used on RobotCraft 2017 but also presents the participants knowledge background and their overall opinions, leading to focus on lessons learned and suggestions for future editions.

Details

Applied Computing and Informatics, vol. 16 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-1964

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 July 2023

Harry Edelman, Joel Stenroos, Jorge Peña Queralta, David Hästbacka, Jani Oksanen, Tomi Westerlund and Juha Röning

Connecting autonomous drones to ground operations and services is a prerequisite for the adoption of scalable and sustainable drone services in the built environment. Despite the…

Abstract

Purpose

Connecting autonomous drones to ground operations and services is a prerequisite for the adoption of scalable and sustainable drone services in the built environment. Despite the rapid advance in the field of autonomous drones, the development of ground infrastructure has received less attention. Contemporary airport design offers potential solutions for the infrastructure serving autonomous drone services. To that end, this paper aims to construct a framework for connecting air and ground operations for autonomous drone services. Furthermore, the paper defines the minimum facilities needed to support unmanned aerial vehicles for autonomous logistics and the collection of aerial data.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the state-of-the-art in airport design literature as the basis for analysing the guidelines of manned aviation applicable to the development of ground infrastructure for autonomous drone services. Socio-technical system analysis was used for identifying the service needs of drones.

Findings

The key findings are functional modularity based on the principles of airport design applies to micro-airports and modular service functions can be connected efficiently with an autonomous ground handling system in a sustainable manner addressing the concerns on maintenance, reliability and lifecycle.

Research limitations/implications

As the study was limited to the airport design literature findings, the evolution of solutions may provide features supporting deviating approaches. The role of autonomy and cloud-based service processes are quintessentially different from the conventional airport design and are likely to impact real-life solutions as the area of future research.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provided a framework for establishing the connection between the airside and the landside for the operations of autonomous aerial services. The lack of such framework and ground infrastructure has hindered the large-scale adoption and easy-to-use solutions for sustainable logistics and aerial data collection for decision-making in the built environment.

Social implications

The evolution of future autonomous aerial services should be accessible to all users, “democratising” the use of drones. The data collected by drones should comply with the privacy-preserving use of the data. The proposed ground infrastructure can contribute to offloading, storing and handling aerial data to support drone services’ acceptability.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper describes the first design framework for creating a design concept for a modular and autonomous micro-airport system for unmanned aviation based on the applied functions of full-size conventional airports.

Details

Facilities , vol. 41 no. 15/16
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 July 2019

Yitao Pan, Yuan Chen and Lin Li

The purpose of this paper is to propose a two-degrees-of-freedom wire-driven 4SPS/U rigid‒flexible parallel trunk joint mechanism based on spring, in order to improve the robot’s…

1161

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose a two-degrees-of-freedom wire-driven 4SPS/U rigid‒flexible parallel trunk joint mechanism based on spring, in order to improve the robot’s athletic ability, load capacity and rigidity, and to ensure the coordination of multi-modal motion.

Design/methodology/approach

First, based on the rotation transformation matrix and closed-loop constraint equation of the parallel trunk joint mechanism, the mathematical model of its inverse position solution is constructed. Then, the Jacobian matrix of velocity and acceleration is derived by time derivative method. On this basis, the stiffness matrix of the parallel trunk joint mechanism is derived on the basis of the principle of virtual work and combined with the deformation effect of the rope driving pair and the spring elastic restraint pair. Then, the eigenvalue distribution of the stiffness matrix and the global stiffness performance index are used as the stiffness evaluation index of the mechanism. In addition, the performance index of athletic dexterity is analyzed. Finally, the distribution map of kinematic dexterity and stiffness is drawn in the workspace by numerical simulation, and the influence of the introduced spring on the stiffness distribution of the parallel trunk joint mechanism is compared and analyzed. It is concluded that the stiffness in the specific direction of the parallel trunk joint mechanism can be improved, and the stiffness distribution can be improved by adjusting the spring elastic structure parameters of the rope-driven branch chain.

Findings

Studies have shown that the wire-driven 4SPS/U rigid‒flexible parallel trunk joint mechanism based on spring has a great kinematic dexterity, load-carrying capacity and stiffness performance.

Research limitations/implications

The soft-mixed structure is not mature, and there are few new materials for the soft-mixed mixture; the rope and the rigid structure are driven together with a large amount of friction and hindrance factors, etc.

Practical implications

It ensures that the multi-motion mode hexapod mobile robot can meet the requirement of sufficient different stiffness for different motion postures through the parallel trunk joint mechanism, and it ensures that the multi-motion mode hexapod mobile robot in multi-motion mode can meet the performance requirement of global stiffness change at different pose points of different motion postures through the parallel trunk joint mechanism.

Social implications

The trunk structure is a very critical mechanism for animals. Animals in the movement to achieve smooth climbing, overturning and other different postures, such as centipede, starfish, giant salamander and other multi-legged animals, not only rely on the unique leg mechanism, but also must have a unique trunk joint mechanism. Based on the cooperation of these two mechanisms, the animal can achieve a stable, flexible and flexible variety of motion characteristics. Therefore, the trunk joint mechanism has an important significance for the coordinated movement of the whole body of the multi-sport mode mobile robot (Huang Hu-lin, 2016).

Originality/value

In this paper, based on the idea of combining rigid parallel mechanism with wire-driven mechanism, a trunk mechanism is designed, which is composed of four spring-based wire-driven 4SPS/U rigid‒flexible parallel trunk joint mechanism in series. Its spring-based wire-driven 4SPS/U rigid‒flexible parallel trunk joint mechanism can make the multi-motion mode mobile robot have better load capacity, mobility and stiffness performance (Qi-zhi et al., 2018; Cong-hao et al., 2018), thus improving the environmental adaptability and reliability of the multi-motion mode mobile robot.

Details

International Journal of Structural Integrity, vol. 10 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9864

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 April 2022

Liang Wang, Jiaming Wu, Xiaopeng Li, Zhaohui Wu and Lin Zhu

This paper aims to address the longitudinal control problem for person-following robots (PFRs) for the implementation of this technology.

466

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the longitudinal control problem for person-following robots (PFRs) for the implementation of this technology.

Design/methodology/approach

Nine representative car-following models are analyzed from PFRs application and the linear model and optimal velocity model/full velocity difference model are qualified and selected in the PFR control.

Findings

A lab PFR with the bar-laser-perception device is developed and tested in the field, and the results indicate that the proposed models perform well in normal person-following scenarios.

Originality/value

This study fills a gap in the research on PRFs longitudinal control and provides a useful and practical reference on PFRs longitudinal control for the related research.

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Gabriel Dämmer, Hartmut Bauer, Rüdiger Neumann and Zoltan Major

This study aims to investigate the suitability of a multi-step prototyping strategy for producing pneumatic rotary vane actuators (RVAs) for the development of lightweight robots

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the suitability of a multi-step prototyping strategy for producing pneumatic rotary vane actuators (RVAs) for the development of lightweight robots and actuation systems.

Design/methodology/approach

RVAs typically have cast aluminum housings and injection-molded seals that consist of hard thermoplastic cores and soft elastomeric overmolds. Using a combination of additive manufacturing (AM), computer numerical control (CNC) machining and elastomer molding, a conventionally manufactured standard RVA was replicated. The standard housing design was modified, and polymeric replicas were obtained by selective laser sintering (SLS) or PolyJet (PJ) printing and subsequent CNC milling. Using laser-sintered molds, actuator seals were replicated by overmolding laser-sintered polyamide cores with silicone (SIL) and polyurethane (PU) elastomers. The replica RVAs were subjected to a series of leakage, friction and durability experiments.

Findings

The AM-based prototyping strategy described is suitable for producing functional and reliable RVAs for research and product development. In a representative durability experiment, the RVAs in this study endured between 40,000 and 1,000,000 load cycles. Frictional torques were around 0.5 Nm, which is 10% of the theoretical torque at 6 bar and comparable to that of the standard RVA. Models and parameters are provided for describing the velocity-dependent frictional torque. Leakage experiments at 10,000 load cycles and 6 bar differential pressure showed that PJ housings exhibit lower leakage values (6.8 L/min) than laser-sintered housings (15.2 L/min), and PU seals exhibit lower values (8.0 l/min) than SIL seals (14.0 L/min). Combining PU seals with PJ housings led to an initial leakage of 0.4 L/min, which increased to only 1.2 L/min after 10,000 load cycles. Overall, the PU material used was more difficult to process but also more abrasion- and tear-resistant than the SIL elastomer.

Research limitations/implications

More work is needed to understand individual cause–effect relationships between specific design features and system behavior.

Originality/value

To date, pneumatic RVAs have been manufactured by large-scale production technologies. The absence of suitable prototyping strategies has limited the available range to fixed sizes and has thus complicated the use of RVAs in research and product development. This paper proves that functional pneumatic RVAs can be produced by using more accessible manufacturing technologies and provides the tools for prototyping of application-specific RVAs.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 April 2022

Shuanggao Li, Zhichao Huang, Qi Zeng and Xiang Huang

Aircraft assembly is the crucial part of aircraft manufacturing, and to meet the high-precision and high-efficiency requirements, cooperative measurement consisting of multiple…

Abstract

Purpose

Aircraft assembly is the crucial part of aircraft manufacturing, and to meet the high-precision and high-efficiency requirements, cooperative measurement consisting of multiple measurement instruments and automatic assisted devices is being adopted. To achieve the complete data of all assembly features, measurement devices need to be placed at different positions, and the flexible and efficient transfer relies on Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and robots in the large-size space and close range. This paper aims to improve the automatic station transfer in accuracy and flexibility.

Design/methodology/approach

A transferring system with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and markers is established. The map coupling for navigation is optimized. Markers are distributed according to the accumulated uncertainties. The path planning method applied to the collaborative measurement is proposed for better accuracy. The motion planning method is optimized for better positioning accuracy.

Findings

A transferring system is constructed and the system is verified in the laboratory. Experimental results show that the proposed system effectively improves positioning accuracy and efficiency, which improves the station transfer for the cooperative measurement.

Originality/value

A Transferring system for collaborative measurement is proposed. The optimized navigation method extends the application of visual markers. With this system, AGV is capable of the cooperative measurement of large aircraft structural parts.

Details

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and Special Equipment, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-6596

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 May 2022

Lucas Conde Stocco, Luciana Oranges Cezarino, Lara Bartocci Liboni and V.G. Venkatesh

This paper aims to analyse systematically previous literature that sought to understand the formation of circular supply chains (CSCs) and propose a research agenda for…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse systematically previous literature that sought to understand the formation of circular supply chains (CSCs) and propose a research agenda for implementing circular economy 4.0 in the wholesale industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on a systematic literature review.

Findings

There is a prevalence of research related to manufacturing and how industrial complexes can establish practices linked to the circular economy. The reviewed papers in this study can be classified into three perspectives: systemic analysis, institutional perspective and operational perspective. Considering these categories and the wholesaler perspective, there is a scope to explore Industry 4.0 technologies applications with wholesale distributors and their contributions to the reverse flow of waste along the CSC. In addition, it is interesting to examine the interpretation of wholesale distributors on circularity, and how these members can contribute to filling the information gaps between industries and retailers based on the concepts of circular economy and Industry 4.0, and how they can contribute to establishing public policies for proper waste recycling methods.

Originality/value

First, this research considers the wholesaler the exclusive supply chain member under the influence of Industry 4.0 and highlights its importance in firms' circular operations. Second, it provides an inclusive plan for the other stakeholders to interact with the wholesaler echelon to design and operate under 4.0 technologies to consolidate effective CSCs.

Details

Modern Supply Chain Research and Applications, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3871

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 September 2021

Qun Lim, Yi Lim, Hafiz Muhammad, Dylan Wei Ming Tan and U-Xuan Tan

The purpose of this paper is to develop a proof-of-concept (POC) Forward Collision Warning (FWC) system for the motorcyclist, which determines a potential clash based on…

1332

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a proof-of-concept (POC) Forward Collision Warning (FWC) system for the motorcyclist, which determines a potential clash based on time-to-collision and trajectory of both the detected and ego vehicle (motorcycle).

Design/methodology/approach

This comes in three approaches. First, time-to-collision value is to be calculated based on low-cost camera video input. Second, the trajectory of the detected vehicle is predicted based on video data in the 2 D pixel coordinate. Third, the trajectory of the ego vehicle is predicted via the lean direction of the motorcycle from a low-cost inertial measurement unit sensor.

Findings

This encompasses a comprehensive Advanced FWC system which is an amalgamation of the three approaches mentioned above. First, to predict time-to-collision, nested Kalman filter and vehicle detection is used to convert image pixel matrix to relative distance, velocity and time-to-collision data. Next, for trajectory prediction of detected vehicles, a few algorithms were compared, and it was found that long short-term memory performs the best on the data set. The last finding is that to determine the leaning direction of the ego vehicle, it is better to use lean angle measurement compared to riding pattern classification.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is that it provides a POC FWC system that considers time-to-collision and trajectory of both detected and ego vehicle (motorcycle).

Details

Journal of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-9802

Keywords

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