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The purpose of this paper is to introduce a reconfigurable model that is a combination of a schedule model and a queuing system M/M/m/K to reduce the duration of the wind turbine construction project closure phase and reduce the project documentation waiting time in the queue.

This research was implemented in a wind farm project. The schedule model deals with reducing the duration of the turbines closure phase by an activity overlapping technique, and the queuing system deals with reducing the turbine documentation waiting time in the queue, as well as reducing the probability of server idleness during the closure phase.

After the implementation of the model, the obtained results were compared to those of similar previously conducted projects in terms of duration, and the model was found effective.

Project closure is an important and mandatory process in all projects. More often than not, this process is faced with problems including prolonged project duration, disputes, lawsuits, and also in projects like the implementation of wind farms, a queue of documents at closing stage may also cause difficulties in project closure phase.

The contributions of this research are twofold: first, a combination of project management and queuing system is presented, and second, a reconfigurable model is introduced to enhance the performance and productivity of the closure phase of the project through reducing the implementation time and reducing the turbine documentation waiting time in the queue, as well as reducing the probability of server idleness during the closure phase of the wind farm project.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic bibliometric analysis of reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) articles using VOSviewer to identify their research themes and future research trends and investigate their interconnectivity. This paper also aims to identify prominent authors, publishers, organizations, countries and their collaborations in the RMS domain.

In this study, the Scopus database is used to retrieve 454 RMS articles published between 1988 and 2020. These articles are then investigated using VOSviewer to determine their interconnectedness, clusters and citations, as well as to generate a map based on text data. The network visualization diagrams and clusters obtained for documents, authors, sources, organizations and countries are explored to determine the current state and future trends in RMS research.

A bibliometric analysis of selected articles is performed, and current research hotspots in this domain are identified. This work also investigates the current status and future research trends in this domain. The work presented also identifies top researchers, journals, countries and documents in RMS.

This paper can provide academics, researchers and practitioners with additional research insights. At the same time, the research trends identified here can help to direct research and benefit researchers.

The study is the first attempt to review selected documents in the RMS domain using bibliometric analysis tools, and it presents a method for collecting articles, organizing them and analyzing the data.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss an example of modelling with experiments of robot prototype with dependent joint concept, including a full description of related functionalities. Reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine can lead to improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost. The reconfiguration of machines and systems is a key technology for future responsive manufacturing systems. The concept of dependent joints helps to implement much specified sub-workspaces depending on functional needs in the machine.

This is inherently made possible using smart mechanical concepts having embedded sensors and reconfigurable control systems. This paper introduces structural reconfiguration systems and discusses a sample approach to functional reconfiguration.

A successful manipulator design with extended features when considering reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine would lead to specific sub-workspace with improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost.

Reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine can lead not only towards a dedicated functional workspace but also towards improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost.

This paper is of value to engineers and researchers developing robotic manipulators for use in various aspects of industry.

The purpose of this paper is to present an organized review of existing research on reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS). The paper considers majority of the prominent research articles in the domain of RMS published ever since RMS was envisaged in 1997.

The paper systematically reviews, classifies and analyses the published literature on postulations and design of RMSs. The general observations from the literature and research gaps recognized thereon are highlighted at the end of each section/sub-section.

The paper reveals important aspects related to RMS research since its inception. It also recognizes the areas of RMS research requiring more focus. The study also highlights open issues and future directions for further research.

The literature in the domain of RMS has so far been narrow. This paper reviews the prominent research in this field and presents an overview of its conceptual developments and various mathematical models for the RMS design and its optimization so far developed by the researchers. Further, manufacturing advancements and future directions have also been proposed for the efficient execution of RMS paradigm in manufacturing industries.

The paper provides an organized listing of published research work in the field of RMS. This work will provide an insight to the researchers, practitioners and others related directly or indirectly to this field to develop and understand better strategies for supervising and controlling the smooth implementation of RMS.

Knowledge‐based timed colored object‐oriented Petri net (KTCOPN) is presented as a modelling method for a reconfigurable assembly system (RAS) in this paper. Compared to the conventional flexible assembly systems, the configuration of a RAS will allow flexibility not only in assembling a variety of products, but also in changing the system itself. Combining knowledge and object‐oriented methods into timed colored Petri net, allow the characteristic of RAS to be fully expressed. With object‐oriented methods, the whole system can be decomposed into concrete objects explicitly, and their relationship is constructed according to the system assembly requirements. Finally, a simple assembly system modeled by the KTCOPN is given.

The importance of mobile services in our everyday life is growing while at the same time new interoperability issues arise due to hardware and software heterogeneity. Therefore, new architectural paradigms and models are needed to enhance software engineering methodologies with regard to platform independence and interoperability. This paper describes an UML pattern based approach for developing reconfigurable autonomous mobile services. Through the analysis of an mcommerce project, the relevance of our proposed architecture will be explained. Our focus lays on a generic reconfiguration mechanism based on profile matching from software modules. This profiling part will be further described and discussed. Finally, the applicability of our approach is investigated within a project about reconfigurable indoor navigation computers and a project about robot assisted sensor networks.

Examines research work aimed at exploring and developing a new, object‐oriented system design and operation concept, and new system software and hardware design concepts which could be used to design and build an open, flexible and reconfigurable material handling system in a Computer Integrated Manufacturing [CIM] environment that could cope with changes imposed by the market on today’s manufacturing industries. Looks at the design of a reconfigurable and flexible conveyor system and outlines the benefits of using a 3‐D CIM reference model when developing CIM hardware and software control. Concludes that the proposed new conveyor system helps resolves the need for an assembly system which can achieve rapid and flexible responses to meet the challenge set by changing customer requirements.

Presents a model of the machining system selection process that is focused on capital intensive, complex machining systems that are intended to provide service over a long time horizon. This model was developed based on interviews with both machine tool suppliers and buyers. The systems considered here increasingly face potentially conflicting demands such as: the ability to be quickly and inexpensively upgraded and reconfigured in order to have quick new product change‐over and ramp‐up time; and high product variety at close to mass production costs. This new “reconfigurability” capability increases the importance of the supplier‐buyer relationship after the machining system has been selected. We also remark that the selection process can serve as the basis for internal consensus and team building within the buyer firm and for enhancing supplier base quality.

Wheel‐terrain interaction has hardly been taken into consideration in the process of conventional mobile robot design, but its importance has been reflected increasingly towards these categories of mobile robots in rough sandy terrain or obstacle‐dense ground, as the first performance index in this situation is the trafficability of robot whose propulsion is uniquely generated by wheel‐terrain interaction. Consequently, it is valuable to find an optimized design method when the terrain and robot itself are regarded simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel and reasonable design approach to mobile robot in sandy terrain.

Leading to some conflicted performance indices of robot, terramechanics describes the non‐linear characteristics in wheel‐terrain interaction mathematically, therefore, trade‐offs must be implemented to get a proper solution by multi‐objective optimization (MOO). In this paper, a five‐wheeled drive and five‐wheeled steering (5WD5WS) reconfigurable mobile robot is taken as demonstration with taxonomy of total‐symmetrical, partial‐symmetrical and asymmetrical prototypes. After function modeling, the MOO is carried out via iSIGHT‐FD using NCGA (Neighborhood Cultivation Genetic Algorithm) to minimize the mass, wheel resistance and maximize the static stability simultaneously.

After MOO, a compact and light weighted asymmetrical prototype is obtained with better trafficability, and other prototypes can produce diversified configurations to meet specific requirements. Significantly reduced masses (about 17 kg) enhance the grade‐ability when robot is in rough terrain. Performed real‐world experiments have also verified these prototypes.

The paper presents a new design approach for a mobile robot which focuses on both robot and terrain simultaneously with respect to conflicted factors. To unveil the insight relation of these factors, MOO is an effective tool to get a trade‐offs prototype.

This paper aims to present a new method to analyze the robot’s obstacle negotiation based on the terramechanics, where the terrain physical parameters, the sinkage and the slippage of the robot are taken into account, to enhance the robot’s trafficability.

In this paper, terramechanics is used in motion planning for all-terrain obstacle negotiation. First, wheel/track-terrain interaction models are established and used to analyze traction performances in different locomotion modes of the reconfigurable robot. Next, several key steps of obstacle-climbing are reanalyzed and the sinkage, the slippage and the drawbar pull are obtained by the models in these steps. In addition, an obstacle negotiation analysis method on loose soil is proposed. Finally, experiments in different locomotion modes are conducted and the results demonstrate that the model is more suitable for practical applications than the center of gravity (CoG) kinematic model.

Using the traction performance experimental platform, the relationships between the drawbar pull and the slippage in different locomotion modes are obtained, and then the traction performances are obtained. The experimental results show that the relationships obtained by the models are in good agreement with the measured. The obstacle-climbing experiments are carried out to confirm the availability of the method, and the experimental results demonstrate that the model is more suitable for practical applications than the CoG kinematic model.

Comparing with the results without considering Terramechanics, obstacle-negotiation analysis based on the proposed track-terrain interaction model considering Terramechanics is much more accurate than without considering Terramechanics.