Search results for " SYSTEMS"
showing 10 items of 9779 documents
A novel clustering-based algorithm for solving spatially-constrained robotic task sequencing problems
2021
The robotic task sequencing problem (RTSP) appears in various forms across many industrial applications and consists of developing an optimal sequence of motions to visit a set of target points defined in a task space. Developing solutions to problems involving complex spatial constraints remains challenging due to the existence of multiple inverse kinematic solutions and the requirements for collision avoidance. So far existing studies have been limited to relaxed RTSPs involving a small number of target points and relatively uncluttered environments. When extending existing methods to problems involving greater spatial constraints and large sets of target points, they either require subst…
Patented intelligence: Cloning human decision models for Industry 4.0
2018
Industry 4.0 is a trend related to smart factories, which are cyber-physical spaces populated and controlled by the collective intelligence for the autonomous and highly flexible manufacturing purposes. Artificial Intelligence (AI) embedded into various planning, production, and management processes in Industry 4.0 must take the initiative and responsibility for making necessary real-time decisions in many cases. In this paper, we suggest the Pi-Mind technology as a compromise between completely human-expert-driven decision-making and AI-driven decision-making. Pi-Mind enables capturing, cloning and patenting essential parameters of the decision models from a particular human expert making …
Engineering multi-agent systems using feedback loops and holarchies
2016
This paper presents a methodological approach for the engineering of Multi-Agent Systems using feedback loops as a first class concept in order to identify organizations. Feedback loops are a way for modeling complex systems that expose emergent behavior by means of a cause-effect loop between two levels called micro and macro levels of the system. The proposed approach principles consist in defining an abstract feedback loop pattern and providing activities and guidelines in order to identify and refine possible candidates for feedback loops during the analysis phase of the Aspecs methodology. This approach is illustrated by using an example drawn from the smart grid field.
Adaptation, coordination, and local interactions via distributed approachability
2017
This paper investigates the relation between cooperation, competition, and local interactions in large distributed multi-agent\ud systems. The main contribution is the game-theoretic problem formulation and solution approach based on the new framework\ud of distributed approachability, and the study of the convergence properties of the resulting game model. Approachability\ud theory is the theory of two-player repeated games with vector payoffs, and distributed approachability is here presented for\ud the first time as an extension to the case where we have a team of agents cooperating against a team of adversaries under local\ud information and interaction structure. The game model turns i…
Design of parallel compensator and stabilizing controller to mitigate non-minimum phase behaviour of the Czochralski Process
2020
Abstract This paper addresses the design of a parallel compensator and a stabilizing controller for the simplified crystal growth dynamics of the Czochralski (CZ) process, i.e., the process for the production of monocrystalline silicon ingots of uniform diameter. The diameter control of the produced ingots is achieved by a CCD camera measurement used to sense the radius of the boundary between the base of the growing crystal and the surrounding glowing meniscus — a raised melt surface connecting the crystal ingot with the flatter melt surface. Due to the intrinsic nature of the process, the bright ring radius measurement signal exhibits a non-minimum phase behaviour. A combination of the pa…
A macroscale FEM-based approach for selective laser sintering of thermoplastics
2017
A numerical approach to model the selective laser sintering (SLS) of polypropylene is proposed. A 3D thermal model was developed and thus enables the prediction of the temperature fields and the extension of the sintered area in the powder bed taking into account the phase change during multiple laser passes. Powderâliquid, liquidâsolid and solidâliquid phase changes were modelled during the SLS and the subsequent cooling processes. Then, a 3D thermomechanically coupled model was set up based on the temperature results of the thermal model in order to predict the distortion of the produced parts after cooling down. Different pre-heating temperatures were considered, highlighting their…
In-process control strategies for friction stir welding of AZ31 sheets with non-uniform thickness
2017
Two different in-process control strategies were developed and compared with the aim to produce AZ31 magnesium alloy joints by friction stir welding on sheet blanks with a non-uniform thickness. To this purpose, sheets with dip or hump zones were welded by either changing the rotational speed or the tool plunging in order to keep constant the value of the vertical force occurring during the welding stage of the process. The influence of the main process parameters on the tool force, the micro- and macromechanical properties, and the joints microstructures in the dip and hump zones were analyzed. The results showed that using the rotational speed change-based approach, the hump zones are sub…
Energy harvesting using piezoelectric transducers for suspension systems
2020
Abstract Energy harvesting by using functional materials in suspension systems bear potential to win-back certain (even if low) amounts of vibrational energy, otherwise dissipated via the conventional (passive) dampers. Piezoelectric (PE) ceramics are functional materials that can be used for transforming mechanical energy into electrical and vice versa. In this paper, we study the capabilities and efficiency of energy harvesting (EH) with PE transducers under two different kinds of external excitation: i) Periodic and ii) stochastic. An appropriate nonlinear lumped parameter electromechanical model (LPEM) is brought into the two-port network notation. Laboratory experiments were conducted …
Decorous combinatorial lower bounds for row layout problems
2020
Abstract In this paper we consider the Double-Row Facility Layout Problem (DRFLP). Given a set of departments and pairwise transport weights between them the DRFLP asks for a non-overlapping arrangement of the departments along both sides of a common path such that the weighted sum of the center-to-center distances between the departments is minimized. Despite its broad applicability in factory planning, only small instances can be solved to optimality in reasonable time. Apart from this even deriving good lower bounds using existing integer programming formulations and branch-and-cut methods is a challenging problem. We focus here on deriving combinatorial lower bounds which can be compute…
Mathematical models for a cutting problem in the glass manufacturing industry
2021
Abstract The glass cutting problem proposed for the ROADEF 2018 challenge is a two-dimensional, three-stage guillotine cutting process, with an additional cut to obtain pieces in some specific situations. However, it is not a standard problem because it includes specific constraints. The sheets produced in the glass manufacturing process have defects that make them different and have to be used in order. The pieces to be cut are grouped into subsets and the pieces from each subset must be cut in order. We approach the problem by developing and solving integer linear models. We start with the basic model, which includes the essential features of the problem, as a classical three-stage cuttin…