bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Research on a visual weld detection method based on invariant moment features
Authors: Jinle Zeng , Yirong Zou , Dong Du , Baohua Chang , Jiluan Pan 
Published: March 2015

Purpose– This paper aims to develop a feasible visual weld detection method to solve the problems in multi-layer welding detection (e.g. cover pass welding detection) for seam tracking and non-destructive testing. It seeks for an adaptive and accurate way to determine the edge between the seam and the base metal in the grayscale image of weld automatically. This paper tries to contribute to next-generation real-time robotic welding systems for multi-layer welding.Design/methodology/approach– This paper opted for invariant moments to characterize the seam and the base metal for classification purposes. The properties of invariant moments, such as high degree of self-similarity and separation, affine invariance and repetition invariance, were discussed to verify the adaptability of the invariant moment in weld detection. Then, a weld detection method based on invariant moments was proposed to extract the edge between the seam and the base metal, including image division, invariant moment features extraction, K-Means adaptive thresholding, maximum connected domain detection and edge position extraction.Findings– This paper highlights the significance of high degree of self-similarity and separation, affine invariance and repetition invariance of the invariant moment for weld detection. An adaptive, effective and accurate method is proposed to detect the edge between the seam and the base metal based on invariant moments.Research limitations/implications– It is necessary to verify the applicability of the proposed method in variable welding conditions further. Further works will focus on the establishment of a real-time seam tracking system during the whole multi-layer/multi-pass welding process based on such adaptive visual features.Practical implications– This paper includes the implications for development of an adaptive and real-time weld detection method, which is expected to be applied to online seam tracking in multi-layer welding.Originality/value– This paper presents an accurate weld detection method in multi-layer welding, overcoming difficulties in effectiveness, adaptability and efficiency of existing weld detection methods.
A biomimetic chewing robot of redundantly actuated parallel mechanism
Authors: Wang Guifei , Cong Ming , Xu Weiliang , Wen Haiying , Du Jing 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to describe how a novel biomimetic chewing robot was designed, including its motion, force, control and mechanical designs, and shows some initial experiments about motion tracking.

Design/methodology/approach
– According to the biomechanics, the authors modeled the muscles of mastication in six linkages and the temporomandibular joint in higher kinematic pairs of point contact. As a result, the chewing robot was represented in a redundantly actuated parallel mechanism. With reference to literature data on the biological system, the authors specified the motion and force requirements for the robot via inverse kinematics and force analysis. A prototype of the robot was built, which has a position control system and is driven by six linear actuators. Experiments were conducted to show the capability of the robot in reproducing the human chewing motion.

Findings
– A chewing robot was successfully modeled and developed, which is able to simulate the motion of human mastication in a biologically faithful way.

Practical implications
– The chewing robot as a scientific instrument can be used to test dental materials and evaluate food textural properties of chewing.

Originality/value
– Two higher kinematic pairs of point contact are proposed to simulate the two temporomandibular joints. The mechanism of the novel chewing robot is the first of this kind, which has two higher kinematic pairs of point contact and is a redundantly actuated spatial parallel mechanism.
The Pransky interview: Dr Esben Ostergaard, inventor, co-founder and CTO of Universal Robots
Authors: Pransky Joanne 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– This paper, a “Q&A interview” conducted by Joanne Pransky of Industrial Robot Journal, aims to impart the combined technological, business and personal experience of a prominent, robotic industry engineer-turned entrepreneur regarding the evolution, commercialization and challenges of bringing a technological invention to market.

Design/methodology/approach
– The interviewee is Dr Esben H. Ostergaard, inventor, co-founder and chief technology officer of Universal Robots. From building his first robot to solve a local industrial problem at the age of four, to building the world’s first collaborative robot company, Dr Ostergaard shares his lifelong ventures as a robot scientist, inventor and entrepreneur.

Findings
– Dr Ostergaard received degrees in computer science, physics and multimedia at Aarhus University in Denmark, and a PhD in robotics from the University of Southern Denmark. While at Aarhus, Dr Ostergaard pursued his hobby of robot football, and in 1998, his team STATIC became the world champion of the Federation of International Robot-soccer Association (FIRA). Dr Ostergaard held research positions at the University of Southern California (USC) Robotics Labs and at the Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tsukuba/Tokyo. During the years 2001-2005 as a researcher and assistant professor in robotics and user interfaces at University of Southern Denmark, he created the foundation for a reinvention of the industrial robot. This led him to found Universal Robots in 2005 with two of his research colleagues.

Originality/value
– From a young child who played with LEGOs until he got a Commodore 64, Dr Ostergaard has always been interested in robotics. His unique multidisciplinary education and multicultural research experiences helped him to pioneer a new multi-axis, lightweight industrial robot and launch the successful company, Universal Robots, which has grown from its three co-founders to nearly 150 employees, with more than 4,000 collaborative robot applications installed in over 50 countries worldwide. Dr Ostergaard has over 30 patents and has received many awards, including the 2012 IEEE-IFR Invention and Entrepreneurship Award (IERA), the 2013 Japanese Institute Good Design Award, the 2013 Robotics Business Review Game Changer Award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 in Region Funen.
Measuring digital professional development: analytics for the use of web and social media
Authors: Rhode Jason , Richter Stephanie , Gowen Peter , Krishnamurthi Murali 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– As faculty professional development increasingly occurs online and through social media, it becomes challenging to assess the quality of learning and effectiveness of programs and resources, yet it is important to evaluate such initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to explore how one faculty development center experimented with using analytics to answer questions about the use and effectiveness of its web and social media resources.

Design/methodology/approach
– The case study was based on direct observation of the center’s practice and review of selected data generated by the analytic tools.

Findings
– Unfortunately, while some analytics are available from a variety of sources, they are often distributed across tools and services. The center developed an analytics strategy to use data from Google Analytics and social media reporting tools to assess the use of online and social professional development resources. Initial results show that the center’s online and social professional development resources are widely used, both within and outside the university. However, more work is necessary to improve the strength and scope of the available analytics.

Practical implications
– As a result of the analysis, the center has streamlined online resources, targeted social media use, and has begun developing methods to allow faculty to report online resource use as professional development for academic personnel purposes.

Originality/value
– Many faculty development centers have not explored methods of evaluating online and social media resources. This paper outlines a strategic evaluation plan to measure the usage of online resources as well as engagement and interaction through social media.
Learning spaces in virtual worlds: bringing our distance students home
Authors: Gil Ortega Mari Carmen , Falconer Liz 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– Distance learning (DL) programmes are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Overcoming feelings of isolation that may occur due to the reduced support available, the few possibilities of social interaction and the non-existent campus atmosphere in online courses, have become one of the major challenges of designers and instructors of DL programmes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper provides an example of how the authors can create and use virtual world (VW) learning spaces that not only match the face-to-face learning experience, but also enhance it. Innovation@UWE Island in Second Life, home of the MA education in virtual worlds, is an example of pedagogical innovation that capitalises on what VWs have to offer to social aspects of teaching and learning. In this programme the authors use a three-dimensional virtual space to provide postgraduate students – physically located in diverse geographical areas of the world – with a sense of community and connectedness that matches the sense of belonging that often accompanies the on-campus learning experience.

Findings
– The paper provides examples of students engaging in an environment where traditional conceptions of both “teaching” and “learning” do not apply, where the four-walled classroom is not the only setting where learning happens, where everyone in the group can potentially be an instructor or a peer, an expert or a novice, and learn from each other in a meaningful way.

Originality/value
– This paper introduces the rationale behind the choice of architecture of the learning environment as well as the instructional design of the programme to enhance co-presence and place presence, to build a true community of practice and to foster collaboration for reflective learning.
Facilitating professional development of mobile and eTextbook technologies
Authors: deNoyelles Aimee , Seilhamer Ryan 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– While the integration of mobile and eTextbook technologies is rapidly growing throughout higher education learning environments, these technologies are often challenging to implement across the university landscape. Professional development tailored to these fluid and evolving technologies is essential to supporting effective classroom integration. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a special interest group approach to professional development regarding mobile and eTextbook technologies implemented by one university in the USA. Issues such as recruitment of members, selection of face-to-face and online spaces, and curriculum design are addressed.

Design/methodology/approach
– To evaluate effectiveness, a survey was given to the participants that asked about sense of community, perceived increase in knowledge and teaching practices, and overall satisfaction with the experience.

Findings
– The interrelated factors of sense of community, knowledge, and teaching practices were identified as valuable, along with group organization. Survey results revealed that participants highly valued the opportunity to share best practices with others they typically would not, and benefitted from the expertise of guest speakers. Online spaces were found to serve as a repository of on-demand resources and dissemination of information, while face-to-face meetings capitalized on interactivity and nurtured community. Sharing the work of the members with the university and beyond was critical to incentivizing members to produce, and also built further professional networks. The planning team identified a tension between encouraging active involvement from instructors and offering it in convenient ways given their other commitments.

Originality/value
– Although this is a single case, this analysis suggests generalizable strategies that may create and sustain a community interested in mobile and eTextbook technologies.
The challenges of creating an online undergraduate community of practice
Authors: List Sarah S. , Warland Jane , Smith Colleen 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– With less time spent on campus, students are increasingly forming peer friendship and study groups either face to face or online. Communities of practice (CoP) with academic support in the wings could benefit students, but little is known in the about their use in the undergraduate space, or how best they may be structured and facilitated (Andrew et al., 2008). The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– An online CoP was created in partnership with undergraduate bachelor of midwifery students at the University of South Australia using an action research model. This provided an ongoing ability to continuously plan, act, observe and evaluate all aspects of the community created, so that adjustments could be made during the two cycles of the study.

Findings
– The time paucity of the cohort impacted on their ability to participate fully as partners in the project, and in the community itself. The Facebook community received more visitation than the Weebly community. The student panel reported that despite the online CoP fitting better with their schedules, they would prefer more opportunities to interact face to face with their peers.

Research limitations/implications
– Students who spend limited time on campus may prefer more real life social contact and support, despite the convenience of an online community. A larger cohort, drawing from a non-professional degree would have allowed greater membership and community participation for a prospective study such as this.

Practical implications
– Remote study is a growing phenomenon, and students need to feel socially connected and supported to remain enroled and engaged.

Social implications
– There has been much discussion around the amount of time individuals spend online, and whether support groups formed by students on social media support student learning, or encourage unprofessional behaviours without academic support present.

Originality/value
– This study reports that online communities are not always a logical solution to time poor students, and they may prefer face to face interactions to build their social and professional relationship.
Are blogs still effective to maintain customer relationships?
Authors: Ho Chaang-Iuan , Lee Pie-Chun 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to propose a model investigating the effectiveness of travel blogs as a relationship marketing tool. Specifically, the mediating role of online relationship quality (RQ) dimensions between the attributes of blogs and e-loyalty is modeled. Furthermore, the study investigates the e-loyalty to travel blogs in explaining the reader’s intention to purchase from its online retailer.

Design/methodology/approach
– The subjects of this study were blog readers who had travel blog usage experiences. The online survey was conducted by one of the major portal Web sites in Taiwan. There were 288 usable responses obtained in total. The structural equation modeling approach was used to estimate the research model.

Findings
– The research results indicate that information quality plays a dominant role in influencing online satisfaction and trust. The mediating role of e-satisfaction between e-trust and e-loyalty is identified, and thus the online RQ development process: information quality → e-trust → e-satisfaction → e-loyalty→ intention to buy travel products.

Research limitations/implications
– Travel blogs are still effective to maintain customer relationship. However, they seem to lose interactivity and entertainment to readers.

Practical implications
– Managerial implications lay emphasis on providing a completed circuit by integrating different social media to facilitate tourism information seeking.

Originality/value
– This study is to develop a context-specific model of relationship marketing drivers to the travel blogosphere.
Visitor behaviour and profitability of Turkmenbashi World of Fairytales in Turkmenistan
Authors: Nuryyev Guych , Achyldurdyyeva Jennet 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to discuss visitor behaviour and net present value (NPV) of the only theme park in Turkmenistan – Turkmenbashi World of Fairytales.

Design/methodology/approach
– Visitor behaviour, in terms of allocating time and expenditure to different parts of the theme park, is analysed using time and cost blocks. The data from a questionnaire answered by 317 visitors are employed in the descriptive analysis of visitor behaviour. The data on visitor behaviour are also incorporated into an estimation of the theme park’s net present value, as well as its sensitivity and scenario analyses.

Findings
– The results show that the park is mostly visited by young people, at the time before noon or after 4 p.m. A majority of the visitors do not spend a significant amount in the theme park. Hence, achieving positive NPV may require improved revenue growth.

Originality/value
– Turkmenbashi World of Fairytales is one of few publicly owned theme parks in the world. This provides a unique opportunity to test if positive NPV plays any role in construction of a public theme park.
Nostalgic tourism in Macau
Authors: Leong Aliana Man Wai , Yeh Shih-Shuo , Chang Li-Hui 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of nostalgia in destination image, experiential value and their effect on subsequent behavioral intention. Nostalgic-themed tourism product is becoming popular in many countries.

Design/methodology/approach
– The survey used stratified sampling method to include respondents from all the nearby Asian regions. The sampling is based on the data of inbound tourists provided by the Department of Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) of Government of Macau. The questionnaire consisted of five sections of 5-point Likert scale questions: nostalgia; destination image both before and after experience; expected value; experiential value; and future visit intention. Data were analysed with structural equation modeling.

Findings
– The result indicates that nostalgia plays an important part in forming destination image and experiential value before an individual had a chance to experience the destination. The destination image and experiential value share a bidirectional causal relationship that eventually contributes to future visit intention. The study also discovered that while experiential value is more effective in generating destination image, the later contribute more to future visit intention.

Originality/value
– The research design measures destination image and experiential value before and after respondents had experience the destination. The distinction between destination image and expected/experiential value can be examined because the longitudinal design of research method. It also allows this study to observe how nostalgia translates to future visit intention.
A discussion on the user intention of golfers toward golf GPS navigation
Authors: Huang Jen-Min , Ho Tu-Kuang , Liu Yen-Chun , Lin Yu-Hsiang 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine the user’s willingness of golfers toward the use of GPS navigation based on the technology readiness and acceptance models.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study developed the research structure based on the theory of the technology acceptance and readiness model to address the relationship between technology readiness, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, user’s attitude and behavioral intention. A purposive sampling questionnaire was used in this study to investigate golf participants in Central Taiwan. In all, 245 copies of the questionnaire were issued. About 240 copies were returned and after removing the invalid copies, there were 230 valid questionnaires for a valid response rate of 95.8 per cent.

Findings
– The research results indicated that technology readiness has a significant influence on perceived usefulness, technology readiness has a significant influence on perceived ease of use, perceived ease of use has a significant influence on perceived usefulness, perceived usefulness has no significant influence on user’s attitude, perceived ease of use has a significant influence on user’s attitude, user’s attitude has no significant influence on behavioral intention and perceived usefulness has a significant influence on behavioral intention.

Originality/value
– The technology acceptance model has been widely used to examine user's acceptance and willingness toward computer technology or an information product. This study, hence, is based on this model to investigate the user's willingness of golfers toward golf GPS and shall serve as a reference for future golf sports promotion and device R&D.
i-DEMATEL method for integrated manufacturing technology selection
Authors: Jenab Kouroush , Sarfaraz Ahmad , Weinsier Philip D. , Moeini Asghar , Al-Ahmari A.M.A. 
Published: March 2015

Purpose
– Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) refers the manufacturing concept based on the use of computers to control and exchange information for the entire production process. As a result, manufacturing can be faster and less error-prone. However, managing and implementing technologies in the CIM environment are challenging processes for managements and manufacturing organizations. These processes become complex and tedious when one is dealing with many decision parameters. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study reports an Interval Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (i-DEMATEL) method for evaluating and selecting the CIM technologies that takes into account management objectives. This method can relieve the limitation of the relationship matrix about the assumption of the symmetrical relationship. As a result, it can solve complicated relationship structure problems.

Findings
– Based on a survey on the current technologies in manufacturing institutes, a case study is demonstrated to present the application of the model. The i-DEMATEL approach takes into account all decision parameters for evaluating and implementing CIM technologies and shows CNC/DNC technology is the most suitable for this case study.

Originality/value
– The proposed method mitigates the shortcomings of non-fuzzy and fuzzy methods in pertaining literature.