Search results for " applications."
showing 10 items of 4344 documents
Integrated GNSS/IMU Hub Motion Estimator for Offshore Wind Turbine Blade Installation
2019
Abstract Offshore wind turbines (OWTs) have become increasingly popular for their ability to harvest clean offshore wind energy. Bottom-fixed foundations are the most used foundation type. Because of its large diameter, the foundation is sensitive to wave loads. For typical manually assisted blade-mating operations, the decision to perform the mating operation is based on the relative distance and velocity between the blade root center and the hub, and in accordance with the weather window. Hence, monitoring the hub real-time position and velocity is necessary, whether the blade installation is conducted manually or automatically. In this study, we design a hub motion estimation algorithm f…
Anti-swing control of a hydraulic loader crane with a hanging load
2021
Abstract In this paper, anti-swing control for a hydraulic loader crane is presented. The difference between hydraulic and electric cranes are discussed to show the challenges associated with hydraulic actuation. The hanging load dynamics and relevant kinematics of the crane are derived to create the 2-DOF anti-swing controller. The anti-swing controller is added to the electro-hydraulic motion controller via feedforward. A dynamic simulation model of the crane is made, and the control system is evaluated in simulations with a path controller in actuator space. Simulation results show significant reduction in the load swing angle during motion. Experiments are carried out to verify the perf…
Autonomous 3D geometry reconstruction through robot-manipulated optical sensors
2021
Abstract Many industrial sectors face increasing production demands and need to reduce costs, without compromising the quality. Whereas mass production relies on well-established protocols, small production facilities with small lot sizes struggle to update their highly changeable production at reasonable costs. The use of robotics and automation has grown significantly in recent years, but extremely versatile robotic manipulators are still not commonly used in small factories. Beside of the investments required to enable efficient and profitable use of robot technology, the efforts needed to program robots are only economically viable in case of large lot sizes. Generating robot programs f…
Robust link prediction in criminal networks: A case study of the Sicilian Mafia
2020
Abstract Link prediction exercises may prove particularly challenging with noisy and incomplete networks, such as criminal networks. Also, the link prediction effectiveness may vary across different relations within a social group. We address these issues by assessing the performance of different link prediction algorithms on a mafia organization. The analysis relies on an original dataset manually extracted from the judicial documents of operation “Montagna”, conducted by the Italian law enforcement agencies against individuals affiliated with the Sicilian Mafia. To run our analysis, we extracted two networks: one including meetings and one recording telephone calls among suspects, respect…
Backlash Identification in Two-Mass Systems by Delayed Relay Feedback
2019
Backlash, also known as mechanical play, is a piecewise differentiable nonlinearity which exists in several actuated systems, comprising, e.g., rack-and-pinion drives, shaft couplings, toothed gears, and other machine elements. Generally, the backlash is nested between the moving parts of a complex dynamic system, which handicaps its proper detection and identification. A classical example is the two-mass system which can approximate numerous mechanisms connected by a shaft (or link) with relatively high stiffness and backlash in series. Information about the presence and extent of the backlash is seldom exactly known and is rather conditional upon factors such as wear, fatigue and incipien…
Autonomous ultrasonic inspection using Bayesian optimisation and robust outlier analysis
2020
The use of robotics is beginning to play a key role in automating the data collection process in Non Destructive Testing (NDT). Increasing the use of automation quickly leads to the gathering of large quantities of data, which makes it inefficient, perhaps even infeasible, for a human to parse the information contained in them. This paper presents a solution to this problem by making the process of NDT data acquisition an autonomous one as opposed to an automatic one. In order to achieve this, the robotic data acquisition task is treated as an optimisation problem, where one seeks to find locations with the highest indication of damage. The resulting algorithm combines damage detection tech…
Engineering insights from an anthropocentric cyber-physical system: A case study for an assembly station
2016
Abstract To effectively cope with the complexity of manufacturing control problems the cyber-physical systems are engineered to work in the social space. Therefore the research in the field of cyber-physical systems needs to address social aspects when this concept is adopted in factory automation. The paper argues for an anthropocentric cyber-physical reference model as the basic decomposition unit for the design of distributed manufacturing control systems. The model assimilates all the required components (i.e. physical, computational and human) of a synthetic hybrid system in an integrated way. This is due to the real need to design cyber-physical production systems where the technologi…
Automatic mass spectra recognition for Ultra High Vacuum systems using multilabel classification
2021
Abstract In Ultra High-Vacuum (UHV) systems it is common to find a mixture of many gases originating from surface outgassing, leaks and permeation that contaminate vacuum chambers and cause issues to reach ultimate pressures. The identification of these contaminants is, in general, done manually by trained technicians from the analysis of mass spectra. This task is time consuming and can lead to misinterpretation or partial understanding of issues. The challenge resides in the rapid identification of these contaminants by using some automatic gas identification technique. This paper explores the automatic and simultaneous identification of 80 molecules, including some of the most commonly p…
Simulation Goals and Metrics Identification
2016
Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) is a very useful means for producing high quality models during simulation studies. When ABMS is part of a methodological ap- proach it becomes important to have a method for identifying the objectives of the simulation study in a disciplined fashion. In this work we propose a set of guidelines for properly capturing and representing the goals of the simulations and the metrics, allowing and evaluating the achievement of a simulation objective. We take inspiration from the goal-question-metric approach and with the aid of a specific problem formalization we are able to derive the right questions for relating simulation goals and metrics.
Modular Contact-Free Conveyors for Handling Planar Fragile Objects
2017
Recent studies show that the handling of thin wafers in the photovoltaic industry can lead to unacceptable yields due to cell scratching and breaking. This paper presents the concept and design of a novel modular conveyor that is intended for handling planar fragile objects at a high speed without contact. Each element of the conveyor is a square block that is able to generate tilted air jets that lift and push the object in a single direction. Various handling functions can thus be achieved by the assembly of several blocks. To manage the complexity of assembling systems composed of hundreds of blocks, an automatized design methodology is proposed. This process gives the best topology of t…