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Unika is a prototype robot — the product of work by Unimation in the US and Kawasaki in Japan — which by means of vision can detect the deviation between a taught standard path and the actual welding seam. The robot system can then correct the path taken by the welding gun manipulator.

This paper is part II of an overview of the work of the Pattern and Image Processing group of the Leuven University, presenting some of the industrial applications.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the mediation effect of affective commitment on the relationship between human resource management practices and informal workplace learning.

This paper develops a conceptual framework along with propositions by integrating comprehensive literatures, in the field of human resource management, affective commitment and informal workplace learning. Through the review of detail literature and based on the situated learning theory (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and organizational support theory (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Rhoades and Eisenberger, 2002; – and Eisenberger, 2006), it is proposed that eight human resource practices could affect informal workplace learning. Moreover, it is also argued that affective commitment could mediate the relationship between HRM practices and informal workplace learning.

This paper provides a conceptual framework on human resource management practices and informal workplace learning which is mediated by affective commitment.

None of the models presented in the literature details the mediation of affective commitment on the relationship between human resource management practices and informal workplace learning which is mediated by affective commitment as indeed the most recent research on the subject envisages.

This paper aims to clarify how to develop characters business models by utilizing new business concepts.

The paper examines three cases in Japan to innovate characters business models: Duffy, Hello Kitty and Kumamon.

The paper suggests that utilizing experience-based promotions, open innovation and a royalty-free strategy enhances customer loyalty to characters, expands customer targets and encourages autonomous collaboration of stakeholders.

These case studies clarify how new business models aim to increase customer loyalty to characters and widen customer targets beyond generation, industry and country.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve the trajectory tracking measurement of a moving target based on double position sensitive detectors (PSDs).

In this paper, first, a double PSD-based measurement system including hardware system and software system is built up. Then, the working principle is studied to calculate parameters, and calibration experience is conducted. Finally, this double PSD-based measurement system is used to test angular displacement and axial displacement on the tool magazine and automatic tool changer.

In the experiment, the maximum position error of a space point based on double PSD measurement system is 0.8566 mm, and the average error is 0.4716 mm. These results show that the built double PSD-based measurement system of trajectory tracking of a moving target is reasonable.

Combining the characteristics of the PSD and principles of binocular visual measurement, a non-contact three-dimensional measuring system based on double PSDs is developed. The designed double-based measurement system is quite suitable for measurement of a fast-changing illuminant or in the case that the tracking accuracy is not tight.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a speech and character combined recognition engine (SCCRE) developed for working on personal digital assistants (PDAs) or on mobile devices. Also, the architecture of a distributed recognition system for providing a more convenient user interface is discussed.

In SCCRE, feature extraction for speech and for character is carried out separately, but the recognition is performed in an engine. The client recognition engine essentially employs a continuous hidden Markov model (CHMM) structure and this CHMM structure consists of variable parameter topology in order to minimize the number of model parameters and to reduce recognition time. This model also adopts the proposed successive state and mixture splitting (SSMS) method for generating context independent model. SSMS optimizes the number of mixtures through splitting in mixture domain and the number of states through splitting in time domain.

The recognition results show that the developed engine can reduce the total number of Gaussian up to 40 per cent compared with the fixed parameter models at the same recognition performance when applied to speech recognition for mobile devices. It shows that SSMS can reduce the size of memory for models to 65 per cent and that for processing to 82 per cent. Moreover, the recognition time decreases 17 per cent with the SMS model while maintaining the recognition rate.

The proposed system will be very useful for many on‐line multimodal interfaces such as PDAs and mobile applications.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of mechanical surface treatments on the surface layer properties and the fatigue performance of the aircraft alloys Al 7075‐T73 and Ti‐6Al‐4V

Laser peening without coating (LPwC), shot peening (SP), ultrasonic shot peening (USP) and ball burnishing (BB) were applied and the resulting changes in surface roughness and residual stress‐depth profiles were evaluated. Fatigue performance of both alloys was tested in rotating beam loading (R=−1) on hourglass‐shaped specimens and the results were compared with the electrolytically polished (EP) reference conditions.

All studied mechanical surface treatments led to pronounced increases in fully reversed fatigue lives and fatigue strengths in both Al 7075‐T73 and Ti‐6Al‐4V.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that compares fatigue performance of a wide variety of mechanically surface treated conditions in two aircraft alloys.

Collision avoidance is considered as a crucial issue in mobile robotic navigation to guarantee the safety of robots as well as working surroundings, especially for humans. Therefore, the position and velocity of obstacles appearing in the working space of the self-driving mobile robot should be observed to help the robot predict the collision and choose traversable directions. This paper aims to propose a new approach for obstacle tracking, dubbed MoDeT.

First, all long lines, such as walls, are extracted from the 2D-laser scan and considered as static obstacles (or mapped obstacles). Second, a density-based procedure is implemented to cluster nonwall obstacles. These clusters are then geometrically fitted as ellipses. Finally, the combination of Kalman filter and global nearest-neighbor (GNN) method is used to track obstacles’ position and velocity.

The proposed method (MoDeT) is experimentally verified by using an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) named AMR SR300. The MoDeT is found to provide better performance in comparison with previous methods for self-driving mobile robots.

The robot can only see a part of the object, depending on the light detection and ranging scan view. As a consequence, geometrical features of the obstacle are sometimes changed, especially when the robot is moving fast.

This proposed method is to serve the navigation and path planning for the AMR.

(a) Proposing an extended weighted line extractor, (b) proposing a density-based obstacle detection and (c) implementing a combination of methods [in (a) and (b) constant acceleration Kalman and GNN] to obtain obstacles’ properties.

The governing equations for dynamic transient analysis of a fluid‐saturated two‐phase porous medium model based on the mixture theory are presented. A penalty finite element formulation is derived with the general Galerkin procedure of the finite element method (FEM), and the obtained dynamic system equation can be solved with implicit or explicit time integration method, which is discussed in this paper. Using this method, a porous medium column under impulsive loading is analyzed and the results reveal the phenomena of one‐dimensional wave propagation, which are consistent with analytical solutions. Furthermore, two numerical examples of two‐dimensional problems demonstrate the existence of two body waves, i.e. longitudinal (P‐type) and transverse (S‐type) waves in porous media, and the Rayleigh wave in the vicinity of the surface of porous media.

The purpose of this paper is the proposal of fatigue-life-prediction curve for cast aluminum alloy A356-T6 with different casting defect sizes.

Four kinds of A356-T6 fatigue specimens were sampled from the actual large-scale cast component, where the cooling rates were different. In addition, three kinds of A356 were casted under different casting conditions to simulate different defect sizes in the actual component. Subsequently, rotating bending fatigue tests were conducted using those samples. The maximum sizes of casting defects were quantitatively evaluated through microstructural observation and extreme value statistics. The fatigue limits of all samples were predicted using hardness and defect sizes based on modified Murakami’s equation.

The modified equation for fatigue limit prediction in A356-T6 was proposed. Fatigue limits were successfully predicted using the proposed equation.

Fatigue limit prediction method using hardness and maximum defect size was limited to steels. This paper proposed the modified method for A356-T6 aluminum alloy with lower elastic modulus. The method was valid for A356-T6 with different defect sizes.