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1 – 10 of over 16000
Article
Publication date: 11 January 2021

Mingyang Li, Zhijiang Du, Xiaoxing Ma, Wei Dong, Yongzhi Wang, Yongzhuo Gao and Wei Chen

This paper aims to propose a robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces, which includes a measurement part and a processing part.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose a robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces, which includes a measurement part and a processing part.

Design/methodology/approach

In the measurement part, to efficiently and accurately realize the three-dimensional camera hand-eye calibration based on a large amount of measurement data, this paper improves the traditional probabilistic method. To solve the problem of time-consuming in the extraction of point cloud features, this paper proposes a point cloud feature extraction method based on seed points. In the processing part, the authors design a new type of chamfering tool. During the process, the robot adopts admittance control to perform compensation according to the feedback of four sensors mounted on the tool.

Findings

Experiments show that the proposed system can make the tool smoothly fit the chamfered edge during processing and the machined chamfer meets the processing requirements of 0.5 × 0.5 to 0.9 × 0.9 mm2.

Practical implications

The proposed design and approach can be applied on many types of special-shaped thin-walled parts. This will give a new solution for the automation integration problem in aerospace manufacturing.

Originality/value

A novel robotic automation system for processing special-shaped thin-walled workpieces is proposed and a new type of chamfering tool is designed. Furthermore, a more accurate probabilistic hand-eye calibration method and a more efficient point cloud extraction method are proposed, which are suitable for this system when comparing with the traditional methods.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2022

Zhao Xu, Yangze Liang, Hongyu Lu, Wenshuo Kong and Gang Wu

Construction schedule delays and quality problems caused by construction errors are common in the field of prefabricated buildings. The effective monitoring of the construction…

Abstract

Purpose

Construction schedule delays and quality problems caused by construction errors are common in the field of prefabricated buildings. The effective monitoring of the construction project process is one of the key factors for the success of a project. How to effectively monitor the construction process of prefabricated building construction projects is an urgent problem to be solved. Aiming at the problems existing in the monitoring of the construction process of prefabricated buildings, this paper proposes a monitoring method based on the feature extraction of point cloud model.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses Trimble X7 3D laser scanner to complete field data collection experiments. The point cloud data are preprocessed, and the prefabricated component segmentation and geometric feature measurement are completed based on the PCL platform. Aiming at the problem of noisy points and large amount of data in the original point cloud data, the preprocessing is completed through the steps of constructing topological relations, thinning, and denoising. According to the spatial position relationship and geometric characteristics of prefabricated frame structure, the segmentation algorithm flow is designed in this paper. By processing the point cloud data of single column and beam members, the quality of precast column and beam members is measured. The as-built model and as-designed model are compared to realize the visual monitoring of construction progress.

Findings

The experimental results show that the dimensional measurement accuracy of beam and column proposed in this paper is more than 95%. This method can effectively detect the quality of prefabricated components. In the aspect of progress monitoring, the visualization of real-time progress monitoring is realized.

Originality/value

This paper proposed a new monitoring method based on feature extraction of the point cloud model, combined with three-dimensional laser scanning technology. This method allows for accurate monitoring of the construction process, rapid detection of construction information, and timely detection of construction quality errors and progress delays. The treatment process based on point cloud data has strong applicability, and the real-time point cloud data transfer treatment can guarantee the timeliness of monitoring.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 January 2024

Mohamed Marzouk and Mohamed Zaher

Facility management gained profound importance due to the increasing complexity of different systems and the cost of operation and maintenance. However, due to the increasing…

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Abstract

Purpose

Facility management gained profound importance due to the increasing complexity of different systems and the cost of operation and maintenance. However, due to the increasing complexity of different systems, facility managers may suffer from a lack of information. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new facility management approach that links segmented assets to the vital data required for managing facilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Automatic point cloud segmentation is one of the most crucial processes required for modelling building facilities. In this research, laser scanning is used for point cloud acquisition. The research utilises region growing algorithm, colour-based region-growing algorithm and Euclidean cluster algorithm.

Findings

A case study is worked out to test the accuracy of the considered point cloud segmentation algorithms utilising metrics precision, recall and F-score. The results indicate that Euclidean cluster extraction and region growing algorithm revealed high accuracy for segmentation.

Originality/value

The research presents a comparative approach for selecting the most appropriate segmentation approach required for accurate modelling. As such, the segmented assets can be linked easily with the data required for facility management.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 May 2022

Zixin Mu, Zhenhua Cai, Chunnian Zeng, Zifan Li, Xufeng Liang, Fan Yang, Tingyang Chen, Shujuan Dong, Chunming Deng and Shaopeng Niu

During the process of the robotic grinding and polishing operations on aero-engine blades, the key problem of calibration error lies in fixture error and uneven margin. To solve…

Abstract

Purpose

During the process of the robotic grinding and polishing operations on aero-engine blades, the key problem of calibration error lies in fixture error and uneven margin. To solve this problem, this paper aims to propose a novel method to achieve rapid online calibration of the workpiece coordinate system through laser-based measurement techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a calibration strategy based on point cloud registration algorithm. The main principle is presented as follows: aero blade mounted on clamping end-effector is hold by industry robot, the whole device is then scanned by a 3D laser scanner to obtain its surface point cloud, and a fast segmentation method is used to acquire the point cloud of the workpiece. Combining Super4PCS algorithm with trimmed iterative closest point, we can align the key points of the scanned point cloud and the sampled points of the blade model, thus obtaining the translation and rotation matrix for calculating the workpiece coordinate and machining allowance. The proposed calibration strategy is experimentally validated, and the positioning error, as well as the margin distribution, is finally analyzed.

Findings

The experimental results show that the algorithm can well accomplish the task of cross-source, partial data and similar local features of blade point cloud registration with high precision. The total time spent on point cloud alignment of 100,000 order of magnitude blade is about 4.2 s, and meanwhile, the average point cloud alignment error is reduced to below 0.05 mm.

Originality/value

An improved point cloud registration method is proposed and introduced into the calibration process of a robotic system. The online calibration technique improves the accuracy and efficiency of the calibration process and enhances the automation of the robotic grinding and polishing system.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 49 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2020

Siyuan Huang, Limin Liu, Jian Dong, Xiongjun Fu and Leilei Jia

Most of the existing ground filtering algorithms are based on the Cartesian coordinate system, which is not compatible with the working principle of mobile light detection and…

Abstract

Purpose

Most of the existing ground filtering algorithms are based on the Cartesian coordinate system, which is not compatible with the working principle of mobile light detection and ranging and difficult to obtain good filtering accuracy. The purpose of this paper is to improve the accuracy of ground filtering by making full use of the order information between the point and the point in the spherical coordinate.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the cloth simulation (CS) algorithm is modified into a sorting algorithm for scattered point clouds to obtain the adjacent relationship of the point clouds and to generate a matrix containing the adjacent information of the point cloud. Then, according to the adjacent information of the points, a projection distance comparison and local slope analysis are simultaneously performed. These results are integrated to process the point cloud details further and the algorithm is finally used to filter a point cloud in a scene from the KITTI data set.

Findings

The results show that the accuracy of KITTI point cloud sorting is 96.3% and the kappa coefficient of the ground filtering result is 0.7978. Compared with other algorithms applied to the same scene, the proposed algorithm has higher processing accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

Steps of the algorithm are parallel computing, which saves time owing to the small amount of computation. In addition, the generality of the algorithm is improved and it could be used for different data sets from urban streets. However, due to the lack of point clouds from the field environment with labeled ground points, the filtering result of this algorithm in the field environment needs further study.

Originality/value

In this study, the point cloud neighboring information was obtained by a modified CS algorithm. The ground filtering algorithm distinguish ground points and off-ground points according to the flatness, continuity and minimality of ground points in point cloud data. In addition, it has little effect on the algorithm results if thresholds were changed.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2022

Xufeng Liang, Zhenhua Cai, Chunnian Zeng, Zixin Mu, Zifan Li, Fan Yang, Tingyang Chen, Shujuan Dong, Chunming Deng and Shaopeng Niu

The application of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) allows aero-engine blades to operate at higher temperatures with higher efficiency. The preparation of the TBCs increases the…

Abstract

Purpose

The application of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) allows aero-engine blades to operate at higher temperatures with higher efficiency. The preparation of the TBCs increases the surface roughness of the blade, which impacts the thermal cycle life and thermal insulation performance of the coating. To reduce the surface roughness of blades, particularly the blades with small size and complex curvature, this paper aims to propose a method for industrial robot polishing trajectory planning based on on-site measuring point cloud.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose an integrated robotic polishing trajectory planning method using point cloud processing technical. At first, the acquired point cloud is preprocessed, which includes filtering and plane segmentation algorithm, to extract the blade body point cloud. Then, the point cloud slicing algorithm and the intersection method are used to create a preliminary contact point set. Finally, the Douglas–Peucker algorithm and pose frame estimation are applied to extract the tool-tip positions and optimize the tool contact posture, respectively. The resultant trajectory is evaluated by simulation and experiment implementation.

Findings

The target points of trajectory are not evenly distributed on the blade surface but rather fluctuate with surface curvature. The simulated linear and orientation speeds of the robot end could be relatively steady over 98% of the total time within 20% reduction of the rest time. After polishing experiments, the coating roughness on the blade surface is reduced dramatically from Ra 7–8 µm to below Ra 1.0 µm. The removal of the TBCs is less than 100 mg, which is significantly less than the weight of the prepared coatings. The blade surface becomes smoothed to a mirror-like state.

Originality/value

The research on robotic polishing of aero-engine turbine blade TBCs is worthwhile. The real-time trajectory planning based on measuring point cloud can address the problem that there is no standard computer-aided drawing model and the geometry and size of the workpiece to be processed differ. The extraction and optimization of tool contact points based on point cloud features can enhance the smoothness of the robot movement, stability of the polishing speed and performance of the blade surface after polishing.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. 50 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2018

Kinjiro Amano, Eric C.W. Lou and Rodger Edwards

Building information modelling (BIM) is a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a building. Its use offers a range of benefits in terms of…

Abstract

Purpose

Building information modelling (BIM) is a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a building. Its use offers a range of benefits in terms of achieving the efficient design, construction, operation and maintenance of buildings. Applying BIM at the outset of a new build project should be relatively easy. However, it is often problematic to apply BIM techniques to an existing building, for example, as part of a refurbishment project or as a tool supporting the facilities management strategy, because of inadequacies in the previous management of the dataset that characterises the facility in question. These inadequacies may include information on as built geometry and materials of construction. By the application of automated retrospective data gathering for use in BIM, such problems should be largely overcome and significant benefits in terms of efficiency gains and cost savings should be achieved.

Design/methodology/approach

Laser scanning can be used to collect geometrical and spatial information in the form of a 3D point cloud, and this technique is already used. However, as a point cloud representation does not contain any semantic information or geometrical context, such point cloud data must refer to external sources of data, such as building specification and construction materials, to be in used in BIM.

Findings

Hyperspectral imaging techniques can be applied to provide both spectral and spatial information of scenes as a set of high-resolution images. Integrating of a 3D point cloud into hyperspectral images would enable accurate identification and classification of surface materials and would also convert the 3D representation to BIM.

Originality/value

This integrated approach has been applied in other areas, for example, in crop management. The transfer of this approach to facilities management and construction would improve the efficiency and automation of the data transition from building pathology to BIM. In this study, the technological feasibility and advantages of the integration of laser scanning and hyperspectral imaging (the latter not having previously been used in the construction context in its own right) is discussed, and an example of the use of a new integration technique is presented, applied for the first time in the context of buildings.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 August 2009

Maurice Murphy, Eugene McGovern and Sara Pavia

The purpose of this research is to outline in detail the procedure of remote data capture using laser scanning and the subsequent processing required in order to identify a new…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to outline in detail the procedure of remote data capture using laser scanning and the subsequent processing required in order to identify a new methodology for creating full engineering drawings (orthographic and 3D models) from laser scan and image survey data for historic structures.

Design/methodology/approach

Historic building information modelling (HBIM) is proposed as a new system of modelling historic structures; the HBIM process begins with remote collection of survey data using a terrestrial laser scanner combined with digital cameras. A range of software programs is then used to combine the image and scan data.

Findings

Meshing of the point cloud followed by texturing from the image data creates a framework for the creation of a 3D model. Mapping of BIM objects onto the 3D surface model is the final stage in the reverse engineering process, creating full 2D and 3D models including detail behind the object's surface concerning its methods of construction and material makeup, this new process is described as HBIM.

Originality/value

The future research within this area will concentrate on three main stands. The initial strand is to attempt improve the application of geometric descriptive language to build complex parametric objects. The second stand is the development of a library of parametric based on historic data (from Vitruvius to 18th century architectural pattern books). Finally, while it is possible to plot parametric objects onto the laser scan data, there is need to identify intermediate software platforms to accelerate this stage within the HBIM framework.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2018

Abdul Fatah Firdaus Abu Hanipah and Khairul Nizam Tahar

Laser scanning technique is used to measure and model objects using point cloud data generated laser pulses. Conventional techniques to construct 3D models are time consuming…

Abstract

Purpose

Laser scanning technique is used to measure and model objects using point cloud data generated laser pulses. Conventional techniques to construct 3D models are time consuming, costly and need more manpower. The purpose of this paper is to assess the 3D model of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque’s main dome using a terrestrial laser scanner.

Design/methodology/approach

A laser scanner works through line of sight, which indicates that multiple scans need to be taken from a different view to ensure a complete data set. Targets must spread in all directions, and targets should be placed on fixed structures and flat surfaces for the normal scan and fine scan. After the scanning operation, point cloud data from the laser scanner were cleaned and registered before a 3D model could be developed.

Findings

As a result, the reconstruction of the 3D model was successfully developed. The samples are based on the triangle dimension, curve line, horizontal dimension and vertical dimension at the dome. The standard deviation and accuracy are calculated based on the comparison of the 21 samples taken between the high-resolution and low-resolution scanning data.

Originality/value

There are many ways to develop the 3D model and based on this study, the less complex ways also produce the best result. The authors implement the different types of dimensions for the 3D model assessment, which have not yet been considered in the past.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 January 2022

Ahmad Latifian

Big data has posed problems for businesses, the Information Technology (IT) sector and the science community. The problems posed by big data can be effectively addressed using…

Abstract

Purpose

Big data has posed problems for businesses, the Information Technology (IT) sector and the science community. The problems posed by big data can be effectively addressed using cloud computing and associated distributed computing technology. Cloud computing and big data are two significant past-year problems that allow high-efficiency and competitive computing tools to be delivered as IT services. The paper aims to examine the role of the cloud as a tool for managing big data in various aspects to help businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper delivers solutions in the cloud for storing, compressing, analyzing and processing big data. Hence, articles were divided into four categories: articles on big data storage, articles on big data processing, articles on analyzing and finally, articles on data compression in cloud computing. This article is based on a systematic literature review. Also, it is based on a review of 19 published papers on big data.

Findings

From the results, it can be inferred that cloud computing technology has features that can be useful for big data management. Challenging issues are raised in each section. For example, in storing big data, privacy and security issues are challenging.

Research limitations/implications

There were limitations to this systematic review. The first limitation is that only English articles were reviewed. Also, articles that matched the keywords were used. Finally, in this review, authoritative articles were reviewed, and slides and tutorials were avoided.

Practical implications

The research presents new insight into the business value of cloud computing in interfirm collaborations.

Originality/value

Previous research has often examined other aspects of big data in the cloud. This article takes a new approach to the subject. It allows big data researchers to comprehend the various aspects of big data management in the cloud. In addition, setting an agenda for future research saves time and effort for readers searching for topics within big data.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 51 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 16000