bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Spatial grasp synthesis for complex objects using model‐based simulation
Authors: Liu Yanbin , Starr Gregory , Wood John , Lumia Ron 
Published: February 2005

PurposeSelection of an effective grasp of a complex object using a multifingered gripper is a challenging problem because of the many possible grasp positions that are typically available.Design/methodology/approachGiven the geometrical description of the particular object feature to be grasped, all feasible grasps are performed in offline simulation using a geometrically accurate model of the desired gripper. The six‐dimensional convex hull for each grasp is computed and archived. This convex hull indicates the span of forces and torques that the grasp can resist. When a grasp is needed the force/torque due to the total object weight is estimated and the best grasp is selected. The selected grasp has minimum peak contact force consistent with equilibrium.FindingsExperimental trials with several complex object show the method is capable of producing grasps which can support the object and resist external force/torque.Research limitations/implicationsAn accurate geometrical description of the feature to be grasped must be known in advance. This would typically be a cylindrical or prismatic portion of the object.Practical implicationsThere are many environments in which a dexterous multifingered gripper must be used due to the variety of objects which must be grasped. The results indicate that effective grasps can be selected for complex objects from a database of simulated grasps.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of this paper is the use of a database of simulated grasps on simple graspable features to synthesize grasps on complex objects.
Fixture‐based industrial robot calibration for silicon wafer handling
Authors: Tao Zhang Mike , Goldberg Ken 
Published: February 2005

PurposeSemiconductor manufacturing industry requires highly accurate robot operation with short install/setup downtime.Design/methodology/approachWe develop a fast, low cost and easy‐to‐operate calibration system for wafer‐handling robots. The system is defined by a fixture and a simple compensation algorithm. Given robot repeatability, end effector uncertainties, and the tolerance requirements of wafer placement points, we derive fixture design and placement specifications based on a statistical tolerance model.FindingsBy employing the fixture‐based calibration, we successfully relax the tolerance requirement of the end effector by 20 times.Originality/valueSemiconductor manufacturing requires fast and easy‐to‐operate calibration systems for wafer‐handling robots. In this paper, we describe a new methodology to solve this problem using fixtures. We develop fixture design criteria and a simple compensate algorithm to satisfy calibration requirements. We also verify our approach by a physical example.
Tactile sensing in intelligent robotic manipulation – a review
Authors: Tegin Johan , Wikander Jan 
Published: February 2005

PurposeWhen designing hardware and algorithms for robotic manipulation and grasping, sensory information is typically needed to control the grasping process. This paper presents an overview of the major grasping and manipulation approaches and the more common hardware used to obtain the necessary sensory information.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an overview of tactile sensing in intelligent robotic manipulation. The history, the common issues, and applications are reviewed. Sensor performance is briefly discussed and compared to the human tactile sense. Advantages and disadvantages of the most common sensor approaches are discussed. Some examples are given of sensors that are widely available as of today. Eventually, some examples of the state‐of‐the‐art in tactile sensing application are presented.FindingsAlthough many sensor technologies and strong theoretical models have been developed, there is still much left to be done in intelligent grasping and manipulation. This is partly due to the youth of the field and the complex nature of safe control in uncertain environments. Even though there are impressive results when it comes to specific examples of advanced manipulation, there seems to be room for great improvements of hardware and especially algorithms when it comes to more generic everyday domestic tasks.Originality/valueThis paper presents a review of sensor hardware while also giving a glimpse of the major topics in grasping and manipulation. While better hardware of course is desirable, the major challenges seem to lie in the development and application of grasping and manipulation algorithms.
Evaluation of UK car insurance brokers’ web sites: some preliminary findings
Authors: Li Shuliang , Holeckova Klara 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to: determine which criteria of the car insurance brokers' web sites are important or unimportant; establish how well those criteria are presented on the car insurance brokers’ web sites; and find out whether the consumer’s final decision to purchase the product is influenced by the web sites' characteristics, the price, etc.Design/methodology/approachThe evaluation method employed in this study is the extended web assessment method (EWAM), which is an evaluation tool specifically created for the assessment of electronic commerce applications. A double questionnaire survey has been undertaken to collect data from 28 finance advisers in an independent financial advisory firm in the UK.FindingsThe preliminary findings suggest that the majority of the assessed web site criteria fall in the categories of “maintain strategy” and “no immediate improvement necessary” with certain web site features considered as “strategic overkill” or “improvement necessary”. It is also found that the web sites are utilised as a tool for shopping around for quotes but the final purchase would be made by most consumers via the telephone.Research limitations/implicationsIt is important to mention that an empirical study with a sample of 28 insurance advisers in one financial advisory company can only reflect a limited picture of current practice in the UK car insurance brokers market. Therefore, the findings reported in this paper are tentative and preliminary. To test or confirm relevant findings reported here, further evaluation work with a larger number of assessors having different backgrounds may be necessary.Practical implicationsWhile the majority of the assessed web site criteria fall in the “maintain strategy” and “no immediate improvement necessary” fields, efforts should be made by practitioners to improve site maps, site search, and insurers’ details for quotes.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful information for UK car insurance brokers and web sites developers.
Logistics information systems
Authors: Helo Petri , Szekely Bulcsu 
Published: February 2005

PurposeTo review the development of software applications and their functionalities/benefits in relation to supply chain management and present scenarios on future development.Design/methodology/approachA range of recently published academic and non‐academic pieces of work that can be classified as pertinent to the area in question. These sources employ both theoretical and practical views on the topic of supply chain co‐ordination software and related functionalities and resulted benefits.FindingsThere is a significant overlap regarding the functionalities of software applications and the trend of convergence is about to intensify. At the same time the need for real time information will become crucial, putting emphasis on flexible IT‐systems that can deal with large amounts of data and are easy to interconnect. In turn this will lead to the growing importance of system integration software and the process of creating standards.Research limitations/implicationsAs a result of continuous development and convergence of IT‐solutions and turbulent business environment more applied research will be needed in the area of product configuration, RFID‐technology, standards in relation to interoperability of software applications (EAI technologies). This scrutiny is based only on written resources and no consultants or manager interviews were employed. Therefore the views of companies are not presented on the issues covered.Practical implicationsThe selection of the appropriate software solutions for a company will need more time, expertise and money and the role of suppliers of software packages will become more significant.Originality/valueThis scrutiny stipulates the way the functionalities of software applications evolve with overlap one another and thus helps both researchers and companies to gain a clearer view on the development of supply chain software applications.
Order statistics for some common hazard rate functions with an application
Authors: Pal Surajit 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThe problem is to devise a life‐test acceptance procedure of an electrical item that has a Weibull failure distribution with an increasing hazard rate. The test‐bed facility has some constraints on the number of test samples and testing time.Design/methodology/approachThe life‐test plan is obtained using censoring of experiments and the properties of order statistics. In this article, the author has derived expressions for order statistics and their moments for some commonly used hazard‐rate functions; for example, constant, linearly increasing, exponentially increasing, power function, etc. and the same is used in planning the life‐test acceptance procedure.FindingsResults and findings are discussed in full. It is postulated that further research in this direction will definitely bring some fruitful results that have immense importance in the field of reliability analysis and life‐testing experiments.Originality/valueThe same methodology can be adopted for devising life‐test acceptance procedure using censoring of experiments.
Steady‐state modelling of basic unipolar PWM AC line matrix‐reactance choppers
Authors: Korotyeyev Igor Y. , Fedyczak Zbigniew 
Published: February 2005

PurposeFocuses on steady state modelling of basic unipolar non‐isolated PWM AC line matrix‐reactance choppers (MRC). Their single‐phase topologies are similar to well‐known basic DC/DC converter ones. The MRC are built up through the adaptation of DC/DC converter topologies, which are based on the substitution of self‐commutated unidirectional switches by bi‐directional ones.Design/methodology/approachPresents an approach to modelling of the MRC with averaging operator different to the one used in averaged modelling of the DC/DC converters. There is running averaging of each switching period in the proposed approach. Following this, there is a demonstration of the solutions convergence of the state space and averaged state space equations for infinitive switching frequency.FindingsThe running averaging of each switching period should be used if averaged state space method is applied to the analysis of presented choppers. A circuit averaged model build‐up procedure of the presented choppers is the same as for the DC/DC ones.Originality/valuePresents a quantitative assessment of accuracy for the averaged models of the presented MRC for finite switching frequency.
Position control of induction motor a new‐bounded fuzzy sliding mode controller
Authors: Senol Ibrahim , Demirtas Metin , Rustemov Sabir , Gumus Bilal 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThe aims of the paper are to improve the dynamic response of an induction motor based position servo system and to remove the chattering problem in the sliding mode control theory by using fuzzy logic principles. The obtained results are also compared with conventional sliding mode controller to show its performance.Design/methodology/approachThe main method used for the research is to form a thin boundary layer neighboring the switching surface by using fuzzy logic. The sliding mode control law is inherently discontinuous naturally. Therefore, there are some difficulties such as so many switches occurring between the control bounds, which cannot be carried out by real controllers. Therefore, fuzzy logic is used in the thin boundary layer to determine the control signal current. Thus, the chattering is eliminated.FindingsThe results show that the designed controller has superior performance. But, there are also some difficulties. It is difficult to obtain fuzzy rules. The rules can be obtained by using genetic algorithms without expert's knowledge. However, sliding surface slope C can be optimized to increase system's dynamic performance.Originality/valueA new boundary layer consisting of the fuzzy rules in the sliding mode control is formed.
Exploring the overall behaviour of solutions of recursive computational models
Authors: Hämäläinen J.S. , Aunola M. , Malm S.R. 
Published: February 2005

PurposeTo determine and/or examine overall behaviour of simulation models with large input using as few parameters as possible. To introduce a methodology describing stability of the partitioning of simulation results and the corresponding parameter space.Design/methodology/approachPartitionings of the parameter space are performed using real‐valued mappings called measures of merit. Tools for examining evolution of partitionings and correlations between different partitionings are developed. These tools are applied in two case studies within the field of electrical engineering.FindingsThe presented approach provides tools for systematic analysis of parametrised models. Since the classification of results is based on measures of merit, a good choice both simplifies the analysis and improves the stability of partitioning. Included case studies highlight these conclusions.Research limitations/implicationsThe present form of the methodology is targeted at recursive simulations. Use of more complex partitioning procedures could be the topic of further research.Originality/valueSolid framework for handling and analysing complex parametrised simulations.
A FEM method for eddy current analysis in laminated media
Authors: Bíró Oszkár , Preis Kurt , Ticar Igor 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThis paper aims at developing a computational technique to take account of the laminated nature of iron cores when computing their eddy current losses.Design/methodology/approachA method is presented to compute three‐dimensional eddy current distributions in laminated media by means of the finite element method. In a first step, the laminated medium is assumed to have an anisotropic conductivity with zero (or very low) value in the direction normal to the laminations. In a second step, the eddy currents within the laminates are computed by solving the quasistatic electromagnetic field individually in each sheet. In these essentially two‐dimensional analyses, the boundary conditions are taken from the three‐dimensional field distribution determined in the first step.FindingsComparisons with results obtained from a finite element model taking account of each laminate prove the validity of the method.Research limitations/implicationsThe method is presented for linear media only. Taking account of nonlinearity is an important future topic.Originality/valueTaking account of the laminations by treating the magnetic field distribution obtained from a homogenised model is a novelty of potential benefit to researchers developing methods of loss computation in laminated media.
The optimisation of induction heating system based on multiquadric function approximation
Authors: Zgraja Jerzy 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThe investigation of the efficiency of optimisation technique based on approximation of objective function by multiquadric (MQ) function, used for induction heating devices was the aim of the paper.Design/methodology/approachThe optimisation package based on Matlab language and using Flux2D commercial program for calculation of electromagnetic and thermal fields was built. It allows the use of different optimisation techniques for induction heating devices, e.g. based on MQ function approximation. In the paper two algorithms of approximated points generating have been tested.FindingsThe efficiency of MQ optimisation method strongly depends on the applied algorithm of approximated point generating. To ensure high efficiency of MQ optimisation method, the stochastic element of the algorithm of approximated point generating should have a significant role.Research limitations/implicationsThe efficiency of elaborated algorithms of MQ function approximated point generating should be proved in other applications.Practical implicationsThe efficient optimisation technique of induction heating devices has been proposed.Originality/valueThe two new algorithms for generation of MQ function approximated points have been proposed. The paper could be useful for designers of induction heating devices.
Taking donations in cyberspace
Authors: Holt Glen E. , Horn George 
Published: February 2005

PurposeTo illustrate that potential donors often can have difficulty in determining how to give to libraries and offer solutions that libraries can employ to eliminate those barriers.Design/methodology/approachUses real‐life examples to illustrate various ways donors can give to libraries and presents options libraries can use to make giving simple and easy.FindingsLibraries currently under‐use the potential of online donations. This can be overcome by prominently posting donation options on the library's Web home page, and make donating to the library simple and easy.Originality/valueSuggests options for libraries to incorporate that can simplify the online giving process.
International retail divestment activity
Authors: Alexander Nicholas , Quinn Barry , Cairns Patricia 
Published: February 2005

PurposeThe research presented here initiates the process of the detailed analysis of international retail divestment activity through the identification of the volume of global divestment activity and the characteristics of that activity during the timeframe of 1987‐2003.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology followed here is essentially historical in nature and draws on a wide range of contemporary periodicals, reports and other sources.FindingsThe paper reports findings on: the form and extent of divestment activity; the year of divestment; divestment by retail sub‐sector; divested chain size; length of time spent in the market of divestment; divestment by retail sub‐sector; and the market of origin of divesting retailer.Originality/valueThis paper provides an initial indication of the volume and nature of international retail divestment in the period considered. Such material has not been available previously. International retailing research has primarily focused on the internationalisation process rather than retail divestment from international markets. However, divestment from international markets is an issue of increasing importance within the competitive global environment. Previously research into retail divestment has focused on individual company experience. For the first time, the research presented here attempts to build a picture of the scale and dimensions of international retail withdrawal. The paper shows that patterns of international divestment are discernible.
Goals, management practices, and performance of family SMEs
Authors: Kotey Bernice 
Published: February 2005

PurposeTo examine differences between family and non‐family SMEs in business goals, management practices and performance as they grow.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on 233 small non‐family and 362 small family firms. Medium firms comprised 305 family and 341 non‐family firms. Chi‐square tests and t‐tests were used to investigate the hypotheses formulated.FindingsSmall family firms were less likely to pursue growth compared with similar non‐family firms. Although medium family proprietors desired growth, their actual growth was lower than similar non‐family firms. Management practices were less formal in family firms and the gap between family and non‐family firms in this area widened with growth. Small family firms achieved greater profits than their non‐family counterparts, although this disparity disappeared at the medium level. Exports were low for both firms at the small level. However, medium family firms were less likely than similar non‐family firms to export.Research limitations/implicationsFirms in the various size groups examined were independent of one another. A longitudinal investigation of family and non‐family firms as they progress through various growth stages should complement the findings.Practical implicationsThe findings should assist policies makers, advisers, owners and management in designing policies and programs, providing advice and managing the two ownership types. Informal management procedures and the associated flexibility may enhance performance of small family firms but may impede their performance at larger sizes.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates that the relationship between goals, strategies and performance varies between family and non‐family firms and the variations change with firm size.
“It's in the way they talk”
Authors: Rigg Clare 
Published: February 2005

PurposeTo illustrate methodologically and conceptually how understanding of entrepreneurial management can be enhanced through a discourse perspective which focuses on discourse as both noun and verb, encompassing discursive resources and discursive practices.Design/methodology/approachAn ethnographic study of SME managers and their companies, which deployed a discourse perspective to managing, organising and learning. Through two case study companies the paper explores how managers' formal management learning influenced their organisation practice.FindingsDemonstrates how significant communicative acts are to understanding a company. Illustrates how apparent organisation dysfunction might be analysed and sense made of it.Research limitations/implicationsBy differentiating between discursive practice and discursive resource it shows that entrepreneurship research can be enriched through ethnographic study of both the content of communication between organisation members and their communicative practices.Practical implicationsIllustrates a method of gaining insight into dysfunctional organisational processes. Provides new ways of understanding and researching the interconnections between learning, knowledge and management in small enterprises.Originality/valueIn the small firm sector there are still few empirical discursive analyses of organization and managing. Discursive organization studies have also tended to be undervalued as “an obsession with talk” and “an intellectual luxury”. This article addresses both these gaps, both offering evidence of the practical utility of the methodological approach for advancing organisation understanding and providing a rare empirical discursive study of managing in SMEs.