bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the Structural Constraint and Motion of 3-PRS Parallel Kinematic Machines
Authors: Nigatu Hassen , Ho Choi Yun , Kim Doik 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
This paper presents a consistent analytic kinematic formulation of the 3-PRS parallel manipulator (PM) with a parasitic motion by embedding the velocity level structural constraint equation into the motion expression. Inverse rate kinematics (IRK) is solved with a simple constraint compatible velocity profile, which is obtained by projecting the instantaneous restriction space onto the motion space. Moreover, the systematic method to reveal the parasitic motion is introduced. Thus, the parasitic terms are automatically identified from the main motions. Unlike the usual approach, this study does not consider any explicit parasitic motion expression. Consequently, the derivation of constraint compatible input velocity, which comprises the parasitic term, is simplified. To incorporate the parasitic motion into the task velocity, constraint Jacobian of the manipulator is analytically obtained first. The manipulator Jacobian is extended to incorporate the passive joint’s information apart from the active joints and structural constraint. Hence, the dimension of the Jacobian matrix used to solve IRK is 9 × 6. The validity of the IRK is proved by the Bordered Gramian based forward rate kinematics (FRK). Then, an accurate numerical integration, RK4, is applied to the joint velocity of IRK to obtain the manipulator’s joint values. Consequently, the moving plate’s pose is obtained via forward position kinematics computed using integrated active and passive joint values for validation. The projection matrix used to get compatible constraint motion adjusts our input velocity and makes it compatible with the structural constraint policy, and the parasitic motion is embedded easily. Thus, an explicit formulation of the parasitic motion equation is not required, as the usual practice. Finally, the study presented numerical simulations to show the validity of the outlined resolutions. This paper’s result and analysis can be uniformly applied to other parallel manipulators with less than 6 DoFs.
Virtual Reality (VR) for the Support of the Analysis and Operation of a Solar Thermal Tower Power Plant
Authors: Mahboob Kamran , Mahboob Atif , Husung Stephan 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
A substantial part of the global energy mix depends upon fossil fuels that needed to be reduced to overcome the pollution and environment-related challenges. This has directed the world to shift the energy mix towards renewable energy technologies. Among the development in renewable energy technologies, the development of solar tower power plant is an active research topic. Over the past decade, advances in computers and simulation software systems have greatly expanded their use in design and development, which can facilitate the engineering activities of solar tower power plants. However, an important limitation is the visualization of three-dimensional geometrical design data onto two-dimensional computer screens. VR technologies are a great means in the visualization of 3D data. Therefore, this article attempts to illustrate a concept for the application of VR technologies in the development of solar tower power plant and lists down relevant support scenarios. The main focus of the paper is on analyzing the efficiency of the VR technology used in the design of solar tower power plants and learning from the experience gained in this process. A discussion about further scenarios ranging from on-site visualization of solar tower power plant infrastructure, installation and repair, cleaning and maintenance, etc. is included as well as future directions are pointed out. The demonstrator part consists of an Android Smartphone-based VR application and an HMD based VR application. Furthermore, a brief comparison of both the applications as well as of HMD and sVR is also provided.
Integrating User Preference Into Improved Home Appliance Scheduling
Authors: Starks Jacob , Song Li , Allen Janet K. , Mistree Farrokh 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Primary Question – How can smart appliance networks integrate human preference to enhance appliance scheduling?
To deal with user preference variability, where the physical network interacts with human behavior, the most effective method is a flexible Graphical User Interface (GUI), or dashboard. In this work a dashboard is developed to make a more flexible model, this dashboard can account for variability in load preference, goal preference and appliance specifications, allowing consumers to plan loads on their specific network of household appliances in order to schedule a preferred time and evaluate the costs of certain load timing, given the desire to minimize the cost of electricity, avoid exceeding a peak load with minimal deviations from the user preferred schedule. As a result, uncertainty due to users is mitigated, such that only uncertainty in the load cycles themselves had to be managed, and that management could be done with greater robustness and computational efficiency. Consequently, this provides a model for developing more computationally efficient and robust scheduling patterns for household appliances. In this paper, household appliances are treated as an interdependent network to find satisficing solutions for timing loads to minimize electric cost, peak load, and deviation from the preferred time of scheduling.
Influence of Realistic Virtual Environments and Humanlike Avatars on Patients With Social Phobia
Authors: Stefanova Milena , Pillan Margherita , Gallace Alberto 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The practice of treating phobias with Virtual Reality-based therapies is a well-established field. Understanding the level of realism required by the therapy to be most effective is an essential matter of study.
This research aims to explore the effects of visual realism on the emotional response in subjects with social phobia when exposed to VR-based applications. Social phobias are triggered by the presence of other people, which translated into virtual environments, refers to avatars. Our hypothesis is that patients with social phobia experience different emotional response to humanlike avatars compared to people without social phobia.
To try the hypothesis, a prototype-based survey is conducted. Three types of avatars are implemented with different levels of human likeness: low, medium, and high. The analysis of the collected data suggests that for people with social phobias the anxiety is lowest for avatars with high levels of human likeness. This result is in direct contrast with the uncanny valley effect theory.
The research explores how we should design virtual environments to make them more effective in the treatment of phobias. Moreover, the research produces new knowledge about the perception of humanlike avatars in virtual reality.
Design and Kinematic Analysis of a Novel 2-DoF Closed-Loop Mechanism for the Actuation of Machining Robots
Authors: Ginnante Angelica , Leborne François , Caro Stéphane , Simetti Enrico , Casalino Giuseppe 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The essential characteristics of machining robots are their stiffness and their accuracy. For machining tasks, serial robots have many advantages such as large workspace to footprint ratio, but they often lack the stiffness required for accurately milling hard materials. One way to increase the stiffness of serial manipulators is to make their joints using closed-loop or parallel mechanisms instead of using classical prismatic and revolute joints. This increases the accuracy of a manipulator without reducing its workspace. This paper introduces an innovative two degrees of freedom closed-loop mechanism and shows how it can be used to build serial robots featuring both high stiffness and large workspace. The design of this mechanism is described through its geometric and kinematic models. Then, the kinematic performance of the mechanism is analyzed, and a serial arrangement of several such mechanisms is proposed to obtain a potential design of a machining robot.
Design of Light Weight-Low Cost Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle
Authors: Salah Salah , El Telbany Kareem , Samy Bavly , Khalil Ahmed , El-Ghanzory Karim , Hussein Wessam , Yacoub Mostafa 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROV) currently have been utilized for scientific and commercial applications. Many industries are involved in developing robots in order to reduce human effort as well as increase productivity, efficiency, and monitoring. That said, the need to optimize the cost for design of ROVs became popular. In the present work, a simplified design procedure of a low cost-light-weight ROV is proposed. The design overview includes a description of the three thrusters operated by bilge pump electric motors. The ROV contains only a camera, an IMU and a GPS sensor. The ROV is wired to a control station that is equipped with a screen with a GUI, a joystick and a keyboard to monitor and control the ROV. The design is optimized to achieve a neutral buoyancy force in order to reduce the stabilizing effort during operation, hence reducing energy consumption. The drag force, lift force, drag center, lift center and fluid velocity contours are predicted using a CFD tool. Dynamic analysis including thrust and drag forces in longitudinal, vertical and yaw directions of motion are investigated to facilitate selection of the prime movers. Finally, the control strategy and electrical system description is presented. The proposed methodology proved that a satisfactory performance with an optimized design is achievable. The ROV design presented could be used in quick and low cost inspection of ships.
Health Monitoring Using Acoustic Emission Technique During Fused Filament Fabrication Printing Process
Authors: Xu Ke , Manoochehri Souran 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is one of the most popular additive manufacturing technologies for manufacturing prototypes with various complex geometries. However, current commercial FFF machines have limitations in terms of process reliability and product quality. In order to overcome these limitations and improve the accuracy and reliability of these machines, a real-time monitoring system is needed to make sure that any part defects can be detected during the printing process and printing parameters can be identified that can be modified to resolve the printing anomalies resulting in minimization of waste and improvement of efficiency. In this study, a method for in-situ monitoring of FFF machine conditions is proposed utilizing an acoustic emission (AE) technology. The AE sensor is used to monitor the vibration signals generated during the whole printing process in real-time. The AE signal is then analyzed and processed, and categorized according to the selected objective characteristics. The proposed method can be utilized to identify the abnormal states of machine conditions. The time-domain features of AE hits after post-processing are used as key indicators. Experimental results show that this method has the potential to be used as a non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic tool for FFF machine maintenance and process control.
Orthopedic Bone-Drilling Assessment Through Laplacian-Based Trajectory Noise Characterization
Authors: Mohanty Ronak R. , Vyas Shantanu , Nigam Aman , Tai Bruce L. , Krishnamurthy Vinayak R. 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Assessment techniques for orthopedics training are primarily subjective, and often based on qualitative metrics. In this paper, we propose an analytical approach for the quantitative assessment of orthopedic surgery training, specifically, bone drilling. Our goal in this paper is to help improve orthopedics training by providing a means to assess the resident training progress. To this end, we introduce a novel metric that assigns a unique signature to an individual’s drilling activity based on their drilling trajectory, and we compare it with the signatures of expert surgeons. We conduct a simple bone-drilling experiment with surgeons (experts) and novice users on a hybrid (physical - digital) setup consisting of 3D printed bone surrogates that emulate physical and perceptual properties of a human bone across the young and old age groups. We create expert models using our drilling signature metric to evaluate drilling performance for novice users with respect to expert orthopedic surgeons. Our preliminary analysis of drilling signatures across expert and novice users showcases a perceivable distinction across two different bone types highlighting some fundamental insights on the drilling setup, bone material, and user response to each bone type. Our results indicate that the drilling signature helps capture not only a novice user’s drilling behavior, but also their relative expertise as they progress with training.
Sustainable Creativity: Overcoming the Challenge of Scale When Repurposing Wind-Turbine Blades
Authors: Arabian K. , Shu L. H. 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Increased adoption of wind-energy technology helps address climate change, but also requires disposition of retired wind-turbine blades that are not easily recycled. This pressing environmental problem is used as the prompt in a creativity study, where participants are asked to identify potential reuses in a Wind-turbine-blade Repurposing Task (WRT). In past iterations of this study, participants consistently struggled with correctly incorporating the large physical size of wind-turbine blades in their reuse concepts. The Alternate Uses Task (AUT) is an established measure of creativity and asks participants to identify uses for much smaller objects like bricks and paper clips. The current work explored whether an AUT can be adapted as an intervention to help overcome the scale challenge in the WRT.
Students in a fourth-year undergraduate engineering design course (N = 28) underwent both of two conditions, a scaled-AUT intervention and a control, typical AUT before the WRT. AUT fluency and flexibility (number and categories of ideas) were significantly lower in the scaled AUT than the typical AUT. This result supports that object scale more than unfamiliarity is the main WRT challenge, since the AUT objects were relatively common. Notably, correctly scaled WRT concepts significantly increased after the scaled AUT, supporting the intervention’s effectiveness. Finally, the WRT is proposed as a standard design-study task whose solutions help address a real-world problem.
Influence of Different Representation of Requirements on Idea Generation: An Experimental Study
Authors: Patel Akash , Summers Joshua D. , Karmakar Sourabh 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
The objective of this research is to understand how different representations of requirements influence idea generation in terms of quantity, addressment, sketch detail, novelty, and variety of conceptual sketches. Requirements are statements of need, desires, and wishes of the stakeholders that are used by engineers to frame the problem. Essentially, requirements are the raison d’etre for any engineering project. As the requirements document provides constraints and criteria for a design, it defines and determines the success of a project. While there is research studying the effect of requirements on the conceptual sketch, little study has focused one the impact of different requirement representations on solution development. An experimental study was conducted with 52 fourth year mechanical engineering undergraduate students. Two design problems were formulated with three different representations: a problem statement with embedded requirements, a problem statement and a traditional requirement list, and a problem statement with contextualized scrum stories. Each student was provided each design problems with two different representations of requirements. It was found that the use of contextualized scrum story representations significantly affected the conceptual sketch in the novelty of solution fragments and addressment of requirements, while no significant change in variety, sketch detail, and quantity was seen. Also, the contextualized representation positively affected all metrics but the sketch quantity. Finally, it was found that quantity is not directly related to the number of requirements addressed in the sketches.
Engineering Document Summarization Using Sentence Representations Generated by Bidirectional Language Model
Authors: Qiu Yunjian , Jin Yan 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
In this study, the extractive summarization using sentence embeddings generated by the finetuned BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) models and the K-Means clustering method has been investigated. To show how the BERT model can capture the knowledge in specific domains like engineering design and what it can produce after being finetuned based on domain-specific datasets, several BERT models are trained, and the sentence embeddings extracted from the finetuned models are used to generate summaries of a set of papers. Different evaluation methods are then applied to measure the quality of summarization results. Both the automatic evaluation method like Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation (ROUGE) and the statistical evaluation method are used for the comparison study. The results indicate that the BERT model finetuned with a larger dataset can generate summaries with more domain terminologies than the pretrained BERT model. Moreover, the summaries generated by BERT models have more contents overlapping with original documents than those obtained through other popular non-BERT-based models. It can be concluded that the contextualized representations generated by BERT-based models can capture information in text and have better performance in applications like text summarizations after being trained by domain-specific datasets.
Exploring How Lean Product and Process Development Can Promote Industrial Sustainability
Authors: Cooper Daniel R. , Appell Katrina 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Approximately one-third of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from energy and processing are from making products and chemicals. These emissions can be lowered if they are deliberately considered during the design of products. How can lean product and process development (LPPD) be used to build environmental considerations into the product development system? We explore if LPPD is an effective system in delivering sustainable manufacturing. We conducted case studies in the automotive and oil & gas industries in which LPPD was used to deliver significant physical changes to the product and product manufacturing. We completed semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and focused on the motivation for the change, how LPPD was either a help or hindrance, and the delivered cost savings and environmental benefits. Findings from the case studies were used to structure a workshop on LPPD and sustainability held at a leading manufacturing (industry focused) conference. In this workshop, we focused on first identifying the main environmental impacts in each industry, the physical opportunities to reduce those impacts, and how LPPD might help or hinder delivering that change. This article structures the findings from the case studies and workshop. We present a guide (with examples) for how various LPPD methods (e.g., concept papers, value stream mapping, and design guides) might be used to meet sustainability challenges (e.g., reducing the generation of manufacturing scrap). While LPPD is itself agnostic to sustainability, we suggest that it is an effective method of creating an organizational system for promoting sustainable manufacturing particularly in complex environments.
Designing a Stand for Machine Tool Energy Efficiency, With Pump Embodied Energy Tradeoff Case Study
Authors: Garretson Ian C. , Guo Qiuhao , Linke Barbara S. 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Energy consumption of machine tools needs to be investigated and decomposed to determine areas for improvement. Motors are one key area of energy consumption, and the analysis of motors, including pump motors is useful for long term energy saving. The following paper describes the static and dynamic analysis of a machine tool stand and an energy analysis to compare manufacturing the stand against using the pump motor. The stand needed to be designed that would both withstand the static load of the machine and minimize vibrational excitation caused during grinding experiments. A review of life cycle inventories for induction motors was then undertaken to evaluate the manufacturing energy consumption of pump motors. A breakeven time was determined for the energy investment of replacing a coolant pump with a stand to conserve energy via gravity-fed coolant recirculation. The simulations were performed as worst-case scenarios and are not necessarily indicative of regular use. Results indicate that the stand as designed will not transmit any significant harmonic vibrations. Results of the energy comparison identify that fractional horsepower coolant pumps operating continuously can be replaced with a stand and the energy to produce the stand will break even within two to three years depending on operating schedule.
Robotic Manipulation System for Multi-Layer Fabric Stitching
Authors: Lahoud Marcel , Marchello Gabriele , Abidi Haider , D’Imperio Mariapaola , Cannella Ferdinando 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Designing gripping and manipulation systems for soft materials is an interesting but challenging task that has been widely investigated in the robotic field recently. Soft materials require a departure from traditional methodologies proposed for grasping rigid objects. The presented work is step towards manipulating planar soft materials, namely garments. A work-cell to automate the stitching, involving the manipulation of a fabric cloth and a foam pad is described and simulated. The results of the simulation show the feasibility, and speeds comparable to humans. This work is part of SOFTMANBOT project, a cross-sectoral project funded in the EU Horizon 2020 framework.
Efficient Response Amplification of Electrothermally Driven Resonators Using Magnets
Authors: Abuhaimed Ghanimah , Jaber Nizar , Alcheikh Nouha , Younis Mohammad I. 
Published: November 2021

Abstract
Micro/Nano-electromechanical systems, MEMS/NEMS-based resonators are presently an important part of a wide range of applications. However, many of these devices suffer from the low signal-to-noise ratio and the need for a large driving force. Different principles were proposed to enhance the sensitivity and improve their signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), such as bifurcations, jumps and higher-order excitation. However, these methods require special designs and high actuation voltages, which are not always available in the standard function generators and power supplies. Also, it increases the devices’ overall cost and power requirements. Furthermore, parametric excitation is explored as an option to amplify the signal at a lower cost and energy demand. However, this type of excitation requires specific geometrical settings, in addition to very low damping conditions. Electrothermal actuation is investigated to achieve excitation of primary resonance, which can be used for parametric excitation. This type of excitation is desirable due to its simplicity, robustness and ability to create large internal forces at low voltages. However, the time response is limited by the thermal relaxation time. In this work, we demonstrate the use of electromagnetic actuation to significantly amplify the response of electrothermally actuated clamped-clamped resonators at first mode (primary) resonance. At ambient pressure, experimental data show 18 times amplification of the response amplitude compared with electrothermal actuation only. The method is based on introducing a permanent magnetic field to induce an out-of-plane Lorentz-force. The results show the great potential of this technique being used for a variety of sensing and signal processing applications, especially, where a large signal-to-noise ratio is required while using low operational voltages.