Search results for "MEC"
showing 10 items of 15890 documents
Flexible integration of robotics, ultrasonics and metrology for the inspection of aerospace components
2016
The performance of modern robotic manipulators has allowed research in recent years, for the development of fast automated non-destructive testing (NDT) of complex geometries. Contemporary robots are well suited for their accuracy and flexibility when adapting to new tasks. Several robotic inspection prototype systems and a number of commercial products have been created around the world. This paper describes the latest progress of a new phase of the research applied to a composite aerospace component of size 1 by 3 metres. A multi robot flexible inspection cell was used to take the fundamental research and the feasibility studies to higher technology readiness levels, all set for future in…
Industry 4.0 Technologies for Manufacturing Sustainability: A Systematic Review and Future Research Directions
2021
Recent developments in manufacturing processes and automation have led to the new industrial revolution termed “Industry 4.0”. Industry 4.0 can be considered as a broad domain which includes: data management, manufacturing competitiveness, production processes and efficiency. The term Industry 4.0 includes a variety of key enabling technologies i.e., cyber physical systems, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data analytics and digital twins which can be considered as the major contributors to automated and digital manufacturing environments. Sustainability can be considered as the core of business strategy which is highlighted in the United Nations (UN) Sustainability 2030 age…
Industry 4.0: smart test bench for shipbuilding industry
2020
AbstractIndustry 4.0 promises to increase the efficiency of production plants and the quality of the final product. Consequently, companies that implement advanced solutions in production systems will have a competitive advantage in the future. The principles of Industry 4.0 can also be applied to shipyards to transform them into “smart shipyards” (Shipyard 4.0). The aim of this research is to implement an interactive approach by Internet of Things on a closed power-loop test bench equipped with sophisticated sensors that is specifically designed to test high-power thrusters before they are installed on high-speed crafts, which are used in passenger transport. The preliminary results of the…
Mechatronic Design for an Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Machine
2017
3D printers, especially in the implementation of innovative extrusion processes which do not have a long history of development, are often built by adapting mechanical designs, drives and controls previously developed for generic machine tools. This is done through a process of choice and integration which is based principally on empirical criteria and taking into account separately the different aspects and parameters. Hereafter, we present an integrated mechatronic approach which has been adopted to design from the scratch a machine to implement the innovative metal injection moulding (MIM) technology. Its extrusion rate involves the adaptation of the generated trajectories and consequent…
On stability and robustness of Virtual Torsion Sensor (VTS) for flexible joint robots
2016
The so called ‘Virtual Torsion Sensor’ (VTS) has been introduced in pervious works for flexible joint robots without sensing of the joint output states, i.e. link position and velocity. Since VTS is incorporated into the feedback control loop, so as to improve the links' positioning accuracy, the related stability is crucial for the overall control design and robust operation of VTS. In this paper, we analyze the stability of including VTS into the feedback loop while assuming the predicted joint torsion is gained by the proportional term of the underlying motor position feedback control. We start our consideration by an ideal case of the linear joint stiffness, first assuming the measured …
Advances on mechanics, design engineering and manufacturing
2018
The theme of the present editorial is dedicated to the“Advances on Mechanics, Design Engineering and Manufac-turing” that emerge in different engineering and architecturalfields.The theme has been chosen as leitmotiv of a series ofevents that have been organized by three societies operatingin Italy, Spain and France, respectively: ADM (Associ-azione nazionale Disegno e Metodi dell’ingegneria indus-triale), INGEGRAF (Asociación Española de IngenieríaGráfica and AIP-PRIMECA (Ateliers Inter-établissementsde Productique—Pôles de Resources Informatiques pour laMECAnique). Since 2014, a series of JCM conferences havebeen organized. JCM is the acronym of “Joint Conference onMechanics, Design Engin…
Load Torque Estimation Method to Design Electric Drivetrains for Offshore Pipe Handling Equipment
2016
One of the main design objectives for electric drivetrains operating in offshore drilling equipment is to keep them as small, yet as effective, as possible, to minimize space they occupy on drill floor and maximize their performance. However, practical experience shows that typically choices made by design engineers are too conservative due to the lack of enough data characterizing load conditions. This results in too costly and too heavy selected components. Therefore, in the current paper we present a method to estimate required full-scale motor torque using a scaled down experimental setup and its computational model. A gripper arm of an offshore vertical pipe handling machine is selecte…
SHEAR COMPLIANCE AND SELF WEIGHT EFFECTS ON TRACTION BELT MECHANICS
2007
The transverse elastic deflection of a traction belt along the free span depends mainly on the flexural stiffness, but may be significantly influenced by the distributed weight and the shear compliance, which affect together the width of the arc of contact. In particular, the shear compliance yields a virtual decrease of the flexural stiffness, flattens the free span and increases the wound regions, to the advantage of the transmissible torque. Moreover, the tensioning of a given belt may be somewhat larger, in comparison with the ideal circular-straight path with the same centre distance, because of the increased length of the deflected belt trajectory due to gravity. The present paper ad…
Novel concept for stabilising a hydraulic circuit containing counterbalance valve and pressure compensated flow supply
2016
In this paper, a novel concept for stabilising a hydraulic system containing a counterbalance valve and a pressure compensated flow supply is presented. The concept utilizes a secondary circuit where a low-pass filtered value of the load pressure is generated and fed back to the compensator of the flow supply valve. The novel concept has been investigated theoretically and experimentally. A linear model has been developed to verify the improved stability conditions. The novel concept has been implemented on a single boom actuated by a cylinder. The results show that the pressure oscillations in an otherwise unstable system can be suppressed with the novel concept. This happens without any c…
On break-away forces in actuated motion systems with nonlinear friction
2017
The phenomenon of so-called break-away forces, as maximal actuation forces at which a sticking system begins to slide and thus passes over to a steady (macro) motion, is well known from engineering practice but still less understood in its cause-effect relationship. This note analyzes the break-away behavior of systems with nonlinear friction, which is analytically well-described by combining the Coulomb friction law with rate-independent presliding transitions and, when necessary, Stribeck effect of the velocity-weakening steady-state curve. The break-away conditions are harmonized with analytic form of the system description and shown to be in accord with a relationship between the varyin…