Search results for "Ability"
showing 10 items of 18559 documents
Hankelet-based action classification for motor intention recognition
2017
Powered lower-limb prostheses require a natural, and an easy-to-use, interface for communicating amputee’s motor intention in order to select the appropriate motor program in any given context, or simply to commute from active (powered) to passive mode of functioning. To be widely accepted, such an interface should not put additional cognitive load at the end-user, it should be reliable and minimally invasive. In this paper we present a one such interface based on a robust method for detecting and recognizing motor actions from a low-cost wearable sensor network mounted on a sound leg providing inertial (accelerometer, gyrometer and magnetometer) data in real-time. We assume that the sensor…
A methodology for evaluating the flexibility potential of domestic air-conditioning systems
2020
The paper presents a methodology for quantifying the electrical flexibility potential of air-conditioning systems (ACS) installed in residential buildings according to the building envelope characteristics and the ACS performance. In order to provide a thorough analysis of the issue, the ACS baseline consumption referred to the indoor temperature of 24°C has been computed for three typical residential buildings built in the South of Italy over different periods. The baseline consumption was used as a reference to estimate the effect of the set point temperature change on the ACS power profile. The results showed that increasing the set-point temperature of ACS by 2°C and 4°C leads to a redu…
Scalability of GPU-Processed 3D Distance Maps for Industrial Environments
2018
This paper contains a benchmark analysis of the open source library GPU-Voxels together with the Robot Operating System (ROS) in large-scale industrial robotics environment. Six sensor nodes with embedded computing generate real-time point cloud data as ROS topics. The overall data from all sensor nodes is processed by a combination of CPU and GPU on a central ROS node. Experimental results demonstrate that the system is able to handle frame rates of 10 and 20 Hz with voxel sizes of 4, 6, 8 and 12 cm without saturation of the CPU or the GPU used by the GPU-Voxels library. The results in this paper show that ROS, in combination with GPU-Voxels, can be used as a viable solution for real-time …
Guidelines to Select Between Self-Contained Electro-Hydraulic and Electro-Mechanical Cylinder
2020
This research paper presents guidelines on how to select between self-contained electro-hydraulic and electromechanical cylinders. An example based on the motion control of a single-boom crane is studied. The sizing process of the different off-the-shelf components is analyzed in terms of design impact when replacing a traditional valve-controlled hydraulic cylinder. The self-contained electro-hydraulic solution is the best choice when a risk for high impact forces is present, when the required output power level lies continuously above 2 kW, or when installation space, weight, and cost are critical design objectives. However, the electro-mechanical solution is expected to show more control…
OMiLAB: A Smart Innovation Environment for Digital Engineers
2020
This position paper introduces a Smart Innovation Environment for experimentation related to digital transformation projects, for the consolidation of a proposed "Digital Engineer" skill profile (with a business-oriented facet labelled as "Digital Innovator"). In the Internet of Things era, this profile implies the ability to perform both digital design and engineering activities, to semantically bridge multiple layers of abstraction and specificity - from business analysis down to cyber-physical engineering. In the paper's proposal, this integration is enabled by conceptual modelling methods and interoperable modelling tools, tailored to support the creation of Digital Twins for innovative…
Multiple Fault Diagnosis of Electric Powertrains Under Variable Speeds Using Convolutional Neural Networks
2018
Electric powertrains are widely used in automotive and renewable energy industries. Reliable diagnosis for defects in the critical components such as bearings, gears and stator windings, is important to prevent failures and enhance the system reliability and power availability. Most of existing fault diagnosis methods are based on specific characteristic frequencies to single faults at constant speed operations. Once multiple faults occur in the system, such a method may not detect the faults effectively and may give false alarms. Furthermore, variable speed operations render a challenge of analysing nonstationary signals. In this work, a deep learning-based fault diagnosis method is propos…
Experimental results on the economic management of a smart microgrid
2020
The aim of this paper is to assess economic benefits deriving from the adoption of a smart microgrid. To this end, a case study consisting of 250 houses connected to the distribution network through a MV/LV transformer substation has been investigated and implemented in the experimental microgrid built at the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy. The analysis has been performed by comparing three different energy providers: the utility grid, the utility grid with the inclusion of non-programmable renewables generators, and the inclusion of such residential loads into a smart microgrid. The obtained results demonstrated that with the adoption of a smart microgrid significant costs savings c…
A Self-Contained Electro-Hydraulic Cylinder with Passive Load-Holding Capability
2019
Self-contained electro-hydraulic cylinders have the potential to replace both conventional hydraulic systems and the electro-mechanical counterparts enhancing energy efficiency, plug-and-play installation, and reduced maintenance. Current commercial solutions of this technology are limited and typically tailor-made, whereas the research emphasis is primarily on cost efficiency and power applications below five [kW]. Therefore, there is the need of developing more flexible systems adaptable to multiple applications. This research paper offers a contribution in this regard. It presents an electro-hydraulic self-contained single-rod cylinder with passive load-holding capability, sealed tank, c…
Classification and Review of Pump-Controlled Differential Cylinder Drives
2019
Pump-controlled hydraulic cylinder drives may offer improved energy efficiency, compactness, and plug-and-play installation compared to conventional valve-controlled hydraulic systems and thus have the potential of replacing conventional hydraulic systems as well as electro-mechanical alternatives. Since the late 1980s, research into how to configure the hydraulic circuit of pump-controlled cylinder drives has been ongoing, especially in terms of compensating the uneven flow requirements required by a differential cylinder. Recently, research has also focused on other aspects such as replacing a vented oil tank with a small-volume pressurized accumulator including the consequences of this i…
Performance Improvement of a Hydraulic Active/Passive Heave Compensation Winch Using Semi Secondary Motor Control: Experimental and Numerical Verific…
2020
In this paper, a newly developed controller for active heave compensated offshore cranes is compared with state-of-the-art control methods. The comparison is divided into a numerical part on stability margins as well as operational windows and an experimental validation of the expected performance improvement based on a full-scale testing on site with a crane rated to 250 metric tons. Such a crane represents the typical target for the new control method using a combination of active and passive hydraulic actuation on the main winch. The active hydraulic actuation is a hydrostatic transmission with variable-displacement pumps and variable-displacement motors. The new controller employs feedf…