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1 – 10 of over 2000Abstract
Purpose
Clothing is subject to a dynamic thermal transport process in its routine service in which the apparel and human body together with environment interact with each other. Understanding of the thermal transfer in this case should take the variations of human body and environment together with clothing attributes into consideration. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the purpose-built dynamic thermal and moisture tester, this study focuses on the thermal transfer of fabrics in different rotational motions. The energy consumption and power of the simulated human skin, the temperature and the thermal retention rate were monitored in the process of rotation of the testing platform with gradually increased rotating speed.
Findings
It has been found that the thermal transfer of a rotating fabric is greatly affected by the rotating speed, the angle of the fabric toward the moving direction and the attributes of the fabric such as its thickness, layers, structure and its fiber composition.
Practical implications
This study will benefit the understanding of the dynamic thermal interaction of human with the environment, and the designing of clothing with excellent thermal comfort.
Originality/value
This work reveals the dynamic thermal transfer of fabrics in rotational motions. It provides a platform to study the dynamic thermal behavior of clothing in daily use.
Details
Keywords
Yuanyuan Guo, Xin Wang and Chaoyou Wang
This study examines how the different dimensions of a privacy policy separately influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy, as well as the mediating mechanisms…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines how the different dimensions of a privacy policy separately influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy, as well as the mediating mechanisms behind these effects (i.e. vulnerability, benevolence). In addition, this study considers privacy concern as a significant moderator in the research model, to examine if the relative influences of privacy policy content are contingent upon levels of users' privacy concern.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey experiment was conducted to empirically validate the model. Specifically, three survey experiments and six scenarios were designed to manipulate high and low levels of the three privacy policy dimensions (i.e. transparency, control and protection). The authors totally distributed 450 copies of the questionnaire, of which 407 were valid.
Findings
This paper found that (1) all the three privacy policy dimensions directly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy; (2) all the three privacy policy dimensions indirectly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by enhancing perceived corporate benevolence, whereas control also affects perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by reducing perceived vulnerability; and (3) individuals with high-privacy concern are much more impacted by privacy policy contents than individuals with low-privacy concern.
Practical implications
The findings could provide website managers with guidelines on how to design privacy policy contents by reducing user perceptions of vulnerability and enhancing user perceptions of corporate benevolence. The managers need to focus on customers' perceived vulnerability and corporate benevolence when launching or updating privacy policies. Furthermore, the managers also need to attend to users' privacy concerns, especially for multinational companies or companies with specific consumer groups.
Originality/value
This study extends the current privacy policy literature by articulating the separate influences of the three privacy policy dimensions and their impact mechanisms on perceived effectiveness of privacy policy. It also uncovers privacy concerns as a boundary condition that influence the effects of privacy policy contents on users' privacy perceptions.
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Zeguo Yang, Mantian Li, Fusheng Zha, Xin Wang, Pengfei Wang and Wei Guo
This paper aims to introduce an imitation learning framework for a wheeled mobile manipulator based on dynamical movement primitives (DMPs). A novel mobile manipulator…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce an imitation learning framework for a wheeled mobile manipulator based on dynamical movement primitives (DMPs). A novel mobile manipulator with the capability to learn from demonstration is introduced. Then, this study explains the whole process for a wheeled mobile manipulator to learn a demonstrated task and generalize to new situations. Two visual tracking controllers are designed for recording human demonstrations and monitoring robot operations. The study clarifies how human demonstrations can be learned and generalized to new situations by a wheel mobile manipulator.
Design/methodology/approach
The kinematic model of a mobile manipulator is analyzed. An RGB-D camera is applied to record the demonstration trajectories and observe robot operations. To avoid human demonstration behaviors going out of sight of the camera, a visual tracking controller is designed based on the kinematic model of the mobile manipulator. The demonstration trajectories are then represented by DMPs and learned by the mobile manipulator with corresponding models. Another tracking controller is designed based on the kinematic model of the mobile manipulator to monitor and modify the robot operations.
Findings
To verify the effectiveness of the imitation learning framework, several daily tasks are demonstrated and learned by the mobile manipulator. The results indicate that the presented approach shows good performance for a wheeled mobile manipulator to learn tasks through human demonstrations. The only thing a robot-user needs to do is to provide demonstrations, which highly facilitates the application of mobile manipulators.
Originality/value
The research fulfills the need for a wheeled mobile manipulator to learn tasks via demonstrations instead of manual planning. Similar approaches can be applied to mobile manipulators with different architecture.
Details
Keywords
Wenbin Li, Yunjing Jiang, Peiqing Jiang and Xin Wang
The mass transfer of textiles during movement is complicated as the energy consumption (EC) from skin, surface temperature of fabrics together with environment will work…
Abstract
Purpose
The mass transfer of textiles during movement is complicated as the energy consumption (EC) from skin, surface temperature of fabrics together with environment will work synergistically to determine the sensation and comfort of wearer. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the mass transfer in the human-textile-environment dynamic system.
Design/methodology/approach
With a simulated hotplate mounted on a rotational testing platform, this paper focuses on the dynamic mass transfer of a fabric so as to simulate the real-time mass transfer of clothing in movements.
Findings
It has been found that the EC and surface temperature (T) change against testing time, indicating the convex and concave shapes of the EC–t and T–t curves. The initial moisture regain of the fabric, rotational speed of the platform and the fiber materials of the fabric have shown a great effect on the dynamic mass transfer process.
Practical implications
Understanding the dynamic mass transfer of textiles will benefit the design of clothing with better comfort and will contribute to the well-being of wearers.
Originality/value
This work reveals the dynamic mass transfer of textiles in rotational movements. It contributes a new approach to studying the mass transfer of clothing in real service.
Details
Keywords
Jun Wang, Song Yao, Xin Wang, Pengwen Hou and Qian Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimal operational strategies in a green platform supply chain and provide suggestions on the selection of sales and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimal operational strategies in a green platform supply chain and provide suggestions on the selection of sales and financing modes for the capital-constrained manufacturer.
Design/methodology/approach
This study combines different sales channels with financing modes and investigates three sales-financing modes, i.e. traditional sales-prepayment financing (TSPF), traditional sales-bank financing (TSBF) and online sales e-retailer financing (OSEF). By establishing and comparing Stackelberg game models of these sales-financing modes from the perspectives of economy, environment and social welfare, the optimal strategies of emission reduction, financing, pricing and service improvement are obtained.
Findings
The results suggest that as the commission rate increases to a certain level, a threshold of the cost coefficient of emission reduction can be found such that the manufacturer should choose OSEF below this threshold and TSBF above this threshold. OSEF is Pareto optimal when this cost coefficient is low, and this mode can lead to the highest social welfare when the platform loan interest rate is relatively low. The Pareto areas in TSBF and OSEF enlarge as the default coefficient decreases.
Practical implications
These results can provide operational insights on how to select sales channels and financing modes when manufacturer faces financial constraints in emission reduction.
Originality/value
This paper combines different sales and financing modes to study their comprehensive influence on the decision-makings of chain members and the resulting performance of economy, environment and social welfare.
Details
Keywords
Wei Guo, Shiyin Qiu, Fusheng Zha, Jing Deng, Xin Wang and Fei Chen
This paper aims to propose a novel balance-assistive control strategy for hip exoskeleton robot.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a novel balance-assistive control strategy for hip exoskeleton robot.
Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical balance assistive controller based on the virtual stiffness model of extrapolated center of mass (XCoM) is proposed and tested by exoskeleton balance assistive control experiments.
Findings
Experiment results show that the proposed controller can accelerate the swing foot chasing XCoM and enlarge the margin of stability.
Originality/value
As a proof of concept, this paper shows the potential for exoskeleton to actively assist human regain balance in sagittal plane when human suffers from a forward or backward disturbing force.
Details
Keywords
Xin Wang, Jie Yan, Dongzhu Feng, Yonghua Fan and Dongsheng Yang
This paper aims to describe a novel hybrid inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion capturing via a new configuration of strategically distributed inertial sensors, and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe a novel hybrid inertial measurement unit (IMU) for motion capturing via a new configuration of strategically distributed inertial sensors, and a calibration approach for the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors mounted in a flight vehicle motion tracker built on the inertial navigation system.
Design/methodology/approach
The hybrid-IMU is designed with five accelerometers and one auxiliary gyroscope instead of the accelerometer and gyroscope triads in the conventional IMU.
Findings
Simulation studies for tracking with both attitude angles and translational movement of a flight vehicle are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Originality/value
The cross-quadratic terms of angular velocity are selected to process the direct measurements of angular velocities of body frame and to avoid the integration of angular acceleration vector compared with gyro-free configuration based on only accelerometers. The inertial sensors are selected from the commercial microelectromechanical system devices to realize its low-cost applications.
Details
Keywords
Xin Wang, Xiaoling Xu, Zuowan Zhou and Jihua Gou
This paper aims to exploit shape memory polymer (SMP) composite as multifunctional coatings for protecting substrates from surface wear and bacterial. The efficiency of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to exploit shape memory polymer (SMP) composite as multifunctional coatings for protecting substrates from surface wear and bacterial. The efficiency of added nano or micro-sized particles in enhancing the properties of SMP was investigated. This study also attempts to use a low-cost and effective spraying approach to fabricate the coatings. The coatings are expected to have good conformability with the substrate and deliver multi-functional performance, such as wrinkle free, wear resistance, thermal stability and antimicrobial property.
Design/methodology/approach
High-performance SMP composite coatings or thin films were fabricated by a home-made continuous spray-deposition system. The morphologies of the coatings were studied using the scanning electron microscope and the transmission electron microscope. The abrasion properties were evaluated by Taber Abraser test, and thermo-gravimetric analysis was carried out to investigate the thermal properties of prepared composites. The antimicrobial property was determined by the inhibition zone method using E. coli. The thermally responsive shape memory effect of the resulting composites was also characterized.
Findings
The morphology analysis indicated that the nanoclay was distributed on the surface of the coating which resulted in a significant improvement of the wear property. The wear resistance of the coatings with nanoclay was improved as much as 40 per cent compared with that of the control sample. The thermo-gravimetric analysis revealed that the weight loss rate of composites with nanoclay was dropped over 40 per cent. The SMP coating with zinc oxide (ZnO) showed excellent antimicrobial effect. The shape recovery effect of SMP/nanoclay and SMP/ZnO composites can be triggered by external heating and the composites can reach a full shape recovery within 60 s.
Research limitations/implications
This study proposed a continuous spray-deposition fabrication of SMP composite coatings, which provides a new avenue to prepare novel multi-functional coatings with low cost.
Originality/value
Most studies have emphasized on the sole property of SMP composites. Herein, a novel SMP composite coating which could deliver multi-functionality such as wrinkle free, wear resistance, thermal stability and antimicrobial property was proposed.
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Keywords
Abstract
Purpose
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique. Based on the unique functions of TMS, it has been widely used in clinical, scientific research and other fields. Nowadays, the robot-assisted automatic TMS has become the trend. In order to simplify the operation procedures of robotic TMS and reduce the costs, the purpose of this paper is to apply the marker-based augmented-reality technology to robotic TMS system.
Design/methodology/approach
By using the marker of ARToolKitPlus library and monocular camera, the patient’s head is positioned in real time. Furthermore, the force control is applied to keep contact between the coil and subject’s head.
Findings
The authors fuse with visual positioning which is based on augmented-reality and force-control technologies to track the movements of the patient’s head, bring the coil closer to the stimulation site and increase treatment effects. Experimental results indicate that the trajectory tracking control of robotic TMS system designed in this paper is practical and flexible.
Originality/value
This paper provides a trajectory tracking control method for the robotic TMS. The marker-based augmented-reality technology is implemented which simplifies the operation procedures of robotic TMS as well as reduce the costs. During the treatment process, the patients would wear an AR glasses, which can help patients relax through virtual scenes and reduce the uncomfortableness produce by treatment.
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