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As one of the tomographic imaging techniques, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is widely used in many industrial applications. While most ECT sensors have electrodes placed around a cylindrical chamber, the planar ECT sensor has been investigated for depth and defect detection. However, the planar ECT sensor has limited height and depth sensing capability due to its single-sided assessment with the use of only a single-plane design. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor design using the 3 × 3 matrix electrode array.

The sensitivity map of dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor was analysed using 3D visualisation, the singular value decomposition and the axial resolution analysis. Then, the sensor was fabricated for performance analysis based on 3D imaging experiments.

The sensitivity map analysis showed that the dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor has enhanced the height sensing capability, and it is less ill-posed in 3D image reconstruction. The dual-plane miniature planar 3D ECT sensor showed a 28% improvement in reconstructed 3D image quality as compared to the single-plane sensor set-up.

The 3 × 3 matrix electrode array has been proposed to use only the necessary electrode pair combinations for image reconstruction. Besides, the increase in number of electrodes from the dual-plane sensor setup improved the height reconstruction of the test sample.

Learning from traditional miniature painting and from recent studies on their modern and creative applications, the purpose of this paper is to identify the key qualifications of miniature and possible ways for using miniature in urban design studios. Following discussions on the pedagogical and professional effects of using miniature in a design studio, the paper introduces De-Urban Design Studio’s philosophy and its experience in employing miniature as a way of representation as the case study.

Different from the urban design’s professional role which materialized in conventional architectural presentation, miniature appears as a representation way in the search for the appropriate media for the de-urban design’s activist model.

Expressing the philosophy of transition design and de-urbanization, and studying some of the miniatures produced in the De-Urban Design studio, this paper sheds light on the possibilities created by the usage of miniature in urban design studio as a communication medium in making the processes of design more inclusiveness, participatory and democratic.

The term miniatecture is used for the first time as a representation technique developed in the De-Urban Design Studio co-instructed by the authors of this paper.

Wall climbing robots' volume is needed to be very small in fields that workspace is limited, such as anti‐terror scouting, industry pipe network inspecting and so on. The purpose of this paper is to design a miniature wall climbing robot with biomechanical suction cups actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators.

Based on characteristics of biologic suction apparatuses, the biomechanical suction cup is designed first. Theory analysis of the suction cup is made considering elastic plate's deflection and SMAs constitutive model. A triangular close linkage locomotion mechanism is chosen for the miniature robot because of its simple structure and control. The robot's gait, kinematics, and control system are all illustrated in this paper.

Experiments indicate that the suction cup can be used as an adhesion mechanism for miniature wall climbing robots, and the miniature robot prototype with biomechanical suction cups can move in straight line and turn with a fixed angle on an inclined glass wall.

This paper describes how a miniature wall climbing robot with biomechanical suction cups actuated by SMA without any air pump is designed.

The purpose of this paper is to found a life model for the single crystal (SC) turbine blade based on the rate‐dependent crystallographic plasticity theory.

This life model has taken into consideration the creep and fatigue damages by the linear accumulation theory. A SC blade was taken from an aero‐engine, which had worked for 1,000 hours, as the illustration to validate the life model.

The crystallographic life model has a good prediction to the life and damage of the SC turbine blade. In the mean time, the micro damage study of the miniature specimens showed that creep damage has more serious influence on the material performance in the blade body but it is fatigue damage in the blade rabbet.

The life model can reflect the crystalline slip and deformation and crystallographic orientation of nickel‐based SC superalloys.

The weld region obtained during friction stir welding (FSW) of metallic materials (including aluminum alloys) contains typically well-defined zones, each characterized by fairly unique microstructure and properties. The purpose of this paper is to carry out combined experimental and numerical investigations of the mechanical properties of materials residing in different weld zones of FSW joints of thick AA2139-T8 plates.

Within the experimental investigation, the following has been conducted: first, optical-microscopy characterization of the transverse sections of the FSW joints, in order to help identify and delineate weld zones; second, micro hardness field generation over the same transverse section in order to reconfirm the location and the extent of various weld zones; third, extraction of miniature tensile specimens from different weld zones and their experimental testing; and finally, extraction of a larger size tensile specimen spanning transversely the FSW weld and its testing. Within the computational investigation, an effort was made to: first, validate the mechanical properties obtained using the miniature tensile specimens; and second, demonstrate the need for the use of the miniature tensile specimens.

It is argued that the availability of weld-zone material mechanical properties is critical since: first, these properties are often inferior relative to their base-metal counterparts; second, the width of the weld in thick metallic-armor is often comparable to the armor thickness, and therefore may represent a significant portion of the armor exposed-surface area; and finally, modeling of the weld-material structural response under loading requires the availability of high-fidelity/validated material constitutive models, and the development of such models requires knowledge of the weld-material mechanical properties.

The importance of determining the mechanical properties of the material in different parts of the weld zone with sufficient accuracy is demonstrated.

The inspection and maintenance of small pipes with diameter of 1 in. or below are important tasks given the crucial role of these pipes in various applications, including power plants, nuclear facilities, and underwater systems. Miniature pipe robots (MPRs) are moving vehicles that could take the inspection sensors to the required place inside the pipelines. In this paper, the state‐of‐the‐art researches on MPRs are reviewed. Important design considerations are presented while introducing existing successful designs. The future work of MPRs is also outlined.

For compactness and ease in assembling, a novel miniature size tubular moving magnet linear oscillating actuator (MT-MMLOA) design for miniature linear compressor application is proposed in this paper.

This MT-MMLOA design possesses a modular C-core stator structure having separation at the middle. Axially magnetized tubular permanent magnets are accommodated on the mover. To improve the output parameters of the linear oscillating actuators (LOA), all the design parameters are optimized using a parametric sweep. Finite element analysis of the proposed design is performed to examine the magnetic flux density as well as thrust force under both static and dynamic analysis within the intended stroke range.

Compared to conventional LOA for miniature compressors, the motor constant of the proposed LOA is 37 N/A that is 85% greater while keeping the same size of LOA. Permanent magnet volume used in the investigated topology of LOA is 26% reduced. Additionally, the overall volume of the machine is 10.3% decreased. Furthermore, the proposed topology is simple, inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

Electromagnetic performance comparison with different topologies proposed earlier in literature is carried out to prove the performance superiority of the proposed design.

This paper aims to provide an insight into recent miniaturised robot developments and applications.

Following an introduction, this article discusses the technology and applications of miniature robots and considers swarm robotics, assembly robots, flying robots and their uses in healthcare. It concludes with a brief consideration of the emerging field of nanorobotics.

This shows that all manners of miniaturised terrestrial, airborne and aquatic robots are being developed, but size and weight restraints pose considerable technological challenges, such as power sources, navigation, actuation and control. Prototypes have been developed for military, assembly, medical, environmental and other applications, as well as for furthering the understanding of swarm behaviour. In the longer term, microrobots and nanorobots offer prospects to revolutionise many aspects of healthcare, such as cancer treatment.

This study provides details of a wide-ranging selection of miniaturised robot developments.

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel miniature magnetic climbing robot for industrial inspection. The robot has high mobility with low complexity.

The robot has a miniature cylindrical shape with 28 mm of diameter and 62 mm of width. The robot has two wheels. The adhesion is achieved with an advanced magnetic circuit fixed on the frame of the robot.

From an horizontal sheet, the robot can make transition to almost any intersecting sheet from 10 to 360°. The robot passes inner and outer straight corners in almost any inclination of the gravity.

The novel robot opens new possibilities to use mobile robots in ferromagnetic environments with stringent size limitations, as found in power plants. The new mechanism increases mobility and opens a new avenue for inspection robotics. A patent is pending on this system.

A miniature version of a complete engine test‐bed has been developed specifically for teaching purposes at secondary school and technical college level. The technical college application is, perhaps, an obvious one, but it is particularly significant that a need should be felt for such equipment in grammar, and other schools, where technology is scarcely taught, but where industrial equipment is increasingly used as an aid to science teaching.