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To design a reconfigureable flexible fixture for the assembly of a set of sheet metal automotive body parts. Reconfigureable fixturing permits different parts to be grasped for assembly by a fixture without the need to conduct costly redesign and fabrication of hardware fixtures, which is an industry standard in widespread use in industry. While somewhat more complex than fixtures in current use, reconfigureable fixtures provide one solution to the problem of costly redesign of fixtures due to changes in dimensions, or geometry of parts to be assembled.

We propose a novel reconfigureable fixture for robotic assembly of a number of different parts. Motivated by the marine organism, O. vulgaris, commonly referred to as an octopus, which grasps different objects or prey using suction cups, the proposed fixture has three fingers, each equipped with a suction cup, to facilitate the grasping process and increase grasp flexibility. Using this design approach, the fixture is sufficiently general in design to grasp several different parts. To position the suction cups located on the flexible fixture, two linkage‐based mechanisms are employed. Pneumatic cylinders and electric motors are used as actuators. A prototype flexible fixture has been built and experimental results with this prototype confirm the effectiveness of the proposed flexible fixture. Software has been developed to calculate the relative positions and angles in the mechanism as required for reconfiguration.

The proposed reconfigureable fixture, used as an end‐of‐arm tool, permits each of a set of four sheet metal parts to be successfully grasped permitting assembly of these four components, in a robotic assembly work cell.

The proposed flexible fixture is a simple proof‐of‐concept device that is suitable for a laboratory setting. We do not consider part localization of parts when grasped by the reconfigureable fixture.

Assembly operations, in industrial manufacturing operations, are typically heavily reliant on hardware fixtures devices to orient and clamp parts together during assembly operations. While of great importance in such operations, hardware fixtures are very costly to design and build. Further, fixtures are designed for use with parts of specific dimensions and geometry, hence cannot be used to grasp or orient parts with even very small differences in dimensions or geometry. Typically, if parts with different dimensions or geometry are to be assembled, new hardware fixtures must be designed and manufactured to grasp and orient these parts. This lack of flexibility leads to substantial manufacturing costs associated with fixturing. Reconfigureable fixtures permit parts with different geometries to be grasped and oriented for assembly.

Reconfigureable fixtures for use in the automotive manufacturing sector is an important development due to the highly competitive nature of this industry. Rapid introduction of new models of vehicles is greatly facilitated through the use of reconfigureable fixtures which can be reprogrammed to grasp parts of different geometries required for new vehicle models.

The continuous need for change in corporate real estate spaces warrants consideration of flexibility in new space design. To help decision makers invest more effectively in physical infrastructure and its ability to evolve, a formal method of identifying and valuing flexibility is developed. A model, based on real options techniques for valuing managerial flexibility, is constructed to answer the following question: how much is it worth to invest in a space that could be renovated to office space for a specified renovation cost in the future? Decision makers can use the option valuation results to determine whether the initial design and construction costs to achieve flexibility are justifiable. The transparent model is intended to be accessible to design teams in practice. It is an improvement on net present value and first‐cost based decision‐making techniques in that it explicitly accounts for uncertainty and for the ability of managers to make a rational future decision (between renting and renovating). The model considers three sources of uncertainty: the market price of rent for office space (as measured by volatility); date of space need; and amount of space need. Input values and/or probability distributions are needed for these variables. The model is constructed using a binomial lattice technique and Monte Carlo simulation. Results are given in a format that allows for comparison with cost estimates of physical architectural designs. For example, in a case study where current five‐year office‐space leases are estimated at US$98 per square foot and 0.39 annual volatility and the mean amount of space needed in the future is 50 per cent of the total, the real options valuation suggests that it is worth up to US$40 per square foot in initial investment expenses to achieve a space that could be renovated to office space for US$25 per square foot within the next eight years. The concept of addressing risk through ‘flexible design’ and analysing the value of flexibility is pertinent to judicious management of any new building project that is subject to uncertain future conditions.

This paper aims to propose a set of flexible design principles for enhancing the flexibility of street furniture to deal with the diverse and changing urban environment. Flexibility is an important but less considered element of public design (otherwise called public environment and facility design), especially in regard to the street furniture that is encountered in everyday life. Taking Hong Kong as a case study, this paper gives an overview of the concepts of flexibility and flexible design, and identifies the current limitations and problems of the current street furniture design practices with respect to the diverse and changing urban environment.

Based on a review of the current literature and relevant documentation, interviews with government officers and different groups of users (including those with special needs), and field observations in Hong Kong’s urban areas over a period of four years, the policies relating to street furniture design in Hong Kong and its management and implementation were evaluated.

The results indicate that the current street furniture in Hong Kong is unable to adapt to or resist changes, can easily cause safety and management problems and is not adaptable to new developments. This paper proposes six principles for the flexible design of street furniture, namely, custom in use, multifunctional use, responds effectively to changing circumstances, easily and conveniently managed, universal in use and sustainable in use.

It is difficult to understand the diverse needs and preferences of different users in urban environments. The findings in this paper are based on intensive field work and broad industry experience. To deal with the rapid and ongoing urban change, this paper recommends a further long-term and in-depth study of street furniture.

Based on the findings, this paper proposes six flexible design principles for designing street furniture that is sufficiently flexible to meet the rapid and ongoing urban change and diverse users’ needs.

Different societies and urban areas faced different types and levels of changes. Therefore, a flexible approach to street furniture design is important and necessary.

The findings of this paper and the proposed six flexible design principles can provide insight and direction for government officials, design and planning professionals, developers, utility and management companies and communities on how to embed public design (i.e. policy, implementation and management) in the future.

The recent shift towards accommodating flexibility in manufacturing companies and the complexity resulting from product variety highlight the significance of flexible assembly systems and designing products for them. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the requirements of a flexible assembly system for product design from the assembly system’s standpoint.

To fulfil the purpose of the paper, a literature review and a case study were performed. The case study was conducted with an interactive research approach in a global market leader company within the heavy vehicle manufacturing industry.

The findings indicate that common assembly sequence, similar assembly interfaces, and common parts are the main requirements of a flexible assembly system for product design which reduce complexity and facilitate various flexibility dimensions. Accordingly, a model is proposed to broaden the understanding of these requirements from the assembly system’s standpoint.

This study contributes to the overlapping research area of flexible assembly systems and product design.

The proposed model is largely based on practical data and clarifies the role of product design in facilitating flexibility in an assembly system. It can be used by assembly managers, assembly engineers, and product designers.

The key originality of this paper compared to the previous studies lies in presenting a novel assembly-oriented design model. The model enhances understanding of a flexible assembly system’s requirements for product design with regard to reducing complexity and managing variation in a flexible assembly system. These requirements can be applied to product design across various product families within a company’s product portfolio.

With strategies including flexible work practices, tenants are increasingly seeking flexibility in their physical office space and layouts. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent investors address tenants’ changing demand for office space with reference to layouts in new and existing office buildings.

A qualitative study comprising in-depth individual interviews with senior portfolio managers of all listed property trusts investing in the office sector in New Zealand was undertaken.

The findings confirmed property investors incorporate several adaptive and flexible space design and specifications in their modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These include adaptive building structures, efficient floor plates, flexible building services, advanced IT networking, high-quality building amenities and modern building materials. Building structures and layouts are designed to be modified quickly and cost effectively to address tenants’ changing needs. Implications affecting tenant demand for flexible spaces on their lease contracts were also identified.

The findings from this research have implications for management of office space. Although the data were sourced with reference to buildings located in New Zealand only, the findings are applicable to office buildings in other countries.

The study provides an insight into design strategies adopted in modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These findings are of practical application to professionals involved in the design, development, investment and valuation of modern office buildings.

The paper provides in-depth insights into how investors meet tenants’ changing demand for physical space which is linked to delivering improved and stable market-driven returns to investors.

Adaptive bump inlet can adaptively change the shape of inlet bump surface according to the flight speed of aircraft, ensuring that the inlet has good inlet-engine match performance in a wide speed range. This paper aims to use a composite flexible skin reinforced by shape memory alloy (SMA) fiber as the deformable structure at bump surface to realize the adjustable bump surface of adaptive bump inlet.

According to the deformation and load-bearing requirements of adaptive bump, SMA is applied to the design of adaptive bump inlet due to its characteristic of super-elasticity. A kind of SMA fiber is studied. A composite flexible skin reinforced by SMA is proposed, and its mechanical properties are analyzed. On this basis, an adaptive bump inlet is designed in which the composite flexible skin reinforced by SMA is used as bump surface, and the shape of the bump surface is adjusted by way of pressuring. The design scheme and specific parameters of the adaptive bump are given.

An adaptive bump surface that meets the design requirements of the inlet is designed, which can effectively adjust the inlet throat area with a throat area change rate of 20%.

An adaptive bump inlet with composite flexible skin as a deformable structure at bump surface is designed, and SMA is applied as the reinforcing fiber.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a variable distance pneumatic gripper with embedded flexible sensors, which can effectively grasp fragile and flexible objects.

Based on the motion principle of the three-jaw chuck and the pneumatic “fast pneumatic network” (FPN), a variable distance pneumatic holder embedded with a flexible sensor is designed. A structural design plan and preparation process of a soft driver is proposed, using carbon nanotubes as filler in a polyurethane (PU) sponge. A flexible bending sensor based on carbon nanotube materials was produced. A static model of the soft driver cavity was established, and a bending simulation was performed. Based on the designed variable distance soft pneumatic gripper, a real-time monitoring and control system was developed. Combined with the developed pneumatic control system, gripping experiments on objects of different shapes and easily deformable and fragile objects were conducted.

In this paper, a variable-distance pneumatic gripper embedded with a flexible sensor was designed, and a control system for real-time monitoring and multi-terminal input was developed. Combined with the developed pneumatic control system, a measure was carried out to measure the relationship between the bending angle, output force and air pressure of the soft driver. Flexible bending sensor performance test. The gripper diameter and gripping weight were tested, and the maximum gripping diameter was determined to be 182 mm, the maximum gripping weight was approximately 900 g and the average measurement error of the bending sensor was 5.91%. Objects of different shapes and easily deformable and fragile objects were tested.

Based on the motion principle of the three-jaw chuck and the pneumatic FPN, a variable distance pneumatic gripper with embedded flexible sensors is proposed by using the method of layered and step-by-step preparation. The authors studied the gripper structure design, simulation analysis, prototype preparation, control system construction and experimental testing. The results show that the designed flexible pneumatic gripper with variable distance can grasp common objects.

Public housing delivered in the Canadian Arctic has been ill-adapted to the social and cultural realities of Inuit communities and to northern climate. Inadequate consultation has resulted in dwellings that fails to adapt to the needs of growing families, impedes the ability of residents to engage in land-based activities, and is inappropriate for local climate. This paper examines how a user-led, flexible approach can help tailor the design of new public homes to the needs of the local housing authority and future occupants. Flexibility is incorporated into the pre-occupancy, post-occupancy and refurbishment stages of the units life-cycle, ensuring that they can be easily adapted over time. A menu of interior and exterior design components has been developed for selection by all stakeholders. The redevelopment of Widow's Row, in Iqaluit, Nunavut demonstrates how appropriate design can play a pivotal role in addressing the housing crisis.

The paper aims to present a new thought for design of a thrown robot based on flexible structures. The aim of the design is to reduce the weight and improve the anti-impact capability for mini thrown robot.

A mass-spring wheeled robot model is proposed and an impact analysis is given in this paper. Some principia were derived for configuration design and material choice to get a light and robust thrown reconnaissance robot. Based on the theoretical analysis, flexible elements like flexure hinges or rubber shell were utilized to build two generation of robots that both showed excellent performances of anti-impact ability.

A second-generation thrown robot (2,050 g) was developed, which could survive dropping from the height of 6 m more than 10 times without apparent damage.

The method based on the flexible structure provides the thrown robot with high survivability from impact, as well as light weight. It can be used in the design of the mini thrown reconnaissance robot at low cost.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of fused filament fabrication (FFF) of a compliant gripper (CG) using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material. The paper studies the applicability of different CG designs and the efficiency of some design parameters.

After reviewing a number of different papers, two designs were selected for a number of exploratory experiments. Using design of experiments (DOE) techniques to identify important design parameters. Finally, the efficiency of the parts was investigated.

The research finds that a simpler design sacrifices some effectiveness in exchange for a remarkable decrease in production cost. Decreasing infill percentage of previous designs and 3D printing them, out of TPU, experimenting with different parameters yields functional products. Moreover, the paper identified some key parameters for further optimization attempts of such prototypes.

The cost of conducting FFF experiments for TPU increases dramatically with product size, number of parameters studied and the number of experiments. Therefore, all three of these factors had to be kept at a minimum. Further confirmatory experiments encouraged.

This paper addresses an identified need to investigate applications of FFF and TPU in manufacturing functional efficient flexible mechanisms, grippers specifically. While most research focused on designing for increased performance, some research lacks discussion on design philosophy, as well as manufacturing issues. As the needs for flexible grippers vary from high-performance grippers to lower performance grippers created for specific functions/conditions, some effectiveness can be sacrificed to reduce cost, reduce complexity and improve applicability in different robotic assemblies and environments.