title: 3D-printed robotic gripper fingers with lattice structures for kiwifruit harvesting

authors: Dhanotra, Karan

abstract: With the growing demand for agricultural automation due to labour shortages and rising costs,
the robotics industry must develop effective and sustainable solutions. Soft robotics has
emerged as a transformative approach, offering flexibility and safety for handling delicate
objects. Advancements in 3D printing technology further enable innovative gripper designs
tailored for specific applications. This research focuses on developing 3D-printed soft robotic
gripper fingers for kiwifruit harvesting, aiming to overcome challenges such as fruit damage,
slippage, and inefficiencies in automated processes.
The study investigates enhancing the coefficient of friction through textured surfaces and
optimising bulk stiffness using lattice structures with varying wall thicknesses to maximise
contact area and grip stability. Using 3D printing, multiple testing samples were designed with
various textured surfaces and advanced lattice configurations, including gyroid, honeycomb,
and Schwarz primitive structures, to improve grasping performance while optimising stiffness.
Experimental results revealed that textured surfaces increased the coefficient of friction by 8–
10%, while gyroid infill patterns nearly doubled the contact surface area compared to rigid
designs, significantly improving grip stability and reducing pressure on the fruit. Rubber was
identified as the most effective material for soft gripper fingers, offering a high coefficient of
friction, flexibility, and the ability to conform to the irregular shapes of kiwifruit. Conversely,
silicone and nylon were less effective, with silicone providing inadequate friction and nylon
exhibiting rigidity that risked fruit damage. Among the tested lattice structures, gyroid patterns
demonstrated superior mechanical properties, outperforming other designs that exhibited
failure modes, such as buckling under compressive loads.
Overall, this research highlights the potential of 3D-printed soft robotic gripper fingers in
horticultural automation by integrating advanced materials, textures, and lattice structures to
improve performance. The findings provide critical insights into design principles for
developing durable, adaptable, and effective grippers for delicate agricultural applications.
While the results are promising, further research is required to address challenges such as
scalability, extensive field testing, and seamless integration with automated harvesting
systems.

text: 3D-printed robotic gripper fingers with lattice structures for kiwifruit harvesting With the growing demand for agricultural automation due to labour shortages and rising costs,
the robotics industry must develop effective and sustainable solutions. Soft robotics has
emerged as a transformative approach, offering flexibility and safety for handling delicate
objects. Advancements in 3D printing technology further enable innovative gripper designs
tailored for specific applications. This research focuses on developing 3D-printed soft robotic
gripper fingers for kiwifruit harvesting, aiming to overcome challenges such as fruit damage,
slippage, and inefficiencies in automated processes.
The study investigates enhancing the coefficient of friction through textured surfaces and
optimising bulk stiffness using lattice structures with varying wall thicknesses to maximise
contact area and grip stability. Using 3D printing, multiple testing samples were designed with
various textured surfaces and advanced lattice configurations, including gyroid, honeycomb,
and Schwarz primitive structures, to improve grasping performance while optimising stiffness.
Experimental results revealed that textured surfaces increased the coefficient of friction by 8–
10%, while gyroid infill patterns nearly doubled the contact surface area compared to rigid
designs, significantly improving grip stability and reducing pressure on the fruit. Rubber was
identified as the most effective material for soft gripper fingers, offering a high coefficient of
friction, flexibility, and the ability to conform to the irregular shapes of kiwifruit. Conversely,
silicone and nylon were less effective, with silicone providing inadequate friction and nylon
exhibiting rigidity that risked fruit damage. Among the tested lattice structures, gyroid patterns
demonstrated superior mechanical properties, outperforming other designs that exhibited
failure modes, such as buckling under compressive loads.
Overall, this research highlights the potential of 3D-printed soft robotic gripper fingers in
horticultural automation by integrating advanced materials, textures, and lattice structures to
improve performance. The findings provide critical insights into design principles for
developing durable, adaptable, and effective grippers for delicate agricultural applications.
While the results are promising, further research is required to address challenges such as
scalability, extensive field testing, and seamless integration with automated harvesting
systems.

year: 2024

title: Men Without Limits: Exploring the subversive potential of hypermasculinity in transgressive fiction

authors: Bond, Mark Wayne

subjects: Masculinities

abstract: (Hyper)masculinity is a universal and ostensibly rewarding concept, but only when performed within cultural limits. If these limits are violated, hypermasculine performances cease to be rewarding and instead begin to subvert the norms they are designed to uphold. Such destabilising performances are found in transgressive fiction, a genre that seeks to contravene cultural norms and taboos via extremely violent or sexual performances. While transgressive fictions often incorporate various physical and sexual behaviours that code conventional representations of masculinity, they derive much of their narrative energy from the subversion of those very conventions. 
Using Hubert Selby Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1957), Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory (1984), Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991), and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) as examples, this thesis will argue that the conjunction of transgression and (hyper)masculinity has the potential to expose and satirise sociocultural structures of meaning. Firstly, this thesis will demonstrate how transgressive texts subvert language by challenging the signifying power of (hyper)masculine speech; secondly, it will discuss the purpose of rituals in affirming masculine norms, and show how transgressive fictions undermine this purpose by stripping ritualistic performances of their legitimising potential; thirdly, it will demonstrate how representations of transgressive hypermasculinity foreground heterosexual masculinity as mimesis while simultaneously exposing its futile suppression of homosocial or conventionally feminine drives. Finally, it will show how transgressive narratives prompt a reading of masculinity as inherently problematic by detaching (hyper)masculine performances from conventional rewards and resolutions.

text: Men Without Limits: Exploring the subversive potential of hypermasculinity in transgressive fiction (Hyper)masculinity is a universal and ostensibly rewarding concept, but only when performed within cultural limits. If these limits are violated, hypermasculine performances cease to be rewarding and instead begin to subvert the norms they are designed to uphold. Such destabilising performances are found in transgressive fiction, a genre that seeks to contravene cultural norms and taboos via extremely violent or sexual performances. While transgressive fictions often incorporate various physical and sexual behaviours that code conventional representations of masculinity, they derive much of their narrative energy from the subversion of those very conventions. 
Using Hubert Selby Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1957), Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory (1984), Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991), and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) as examples, this thesis will argue that the conjunction of transgression and (hyper)masculinity has the potential to expose and satirise sociocultural structures of meaning. Firstly, this thesis will demonstrate how transgressive texts subvert language by challenging the signifying power of (hyper)masculine speech; secondly, it will discuss the purpose of rituals in affirming masculine norms, and show how transgressive fictions undermine this purpose by stripping ritualistic performances of their legitimising potential; thirdly, it will demonstrate how representations of transgressive hypermasculinity foreground heterosexual masculinity as mimesis while simultaneously exposing its futile suppression of homosocial or conventionally feminine drives. Finally, it will show how transgressive narratives prompt a reading of masculinity as inherently problematic by detaching (hyper)masculine performances from conventional rewards and resolutions.

year: 2016

title: Ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival in New Zealand: which factors contribute?

authors: Tin Tin, Sandar

subjects: Breast cancer

abstract: Background: New Zealand has major ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival with Maori (indigenous people) and Pacific women (immigrants or descended from immigrants from Pacific Islands) faring much worse than other ethnic groups. This paper identified underlying factors and assessed their relative contribution to this risk differential. 
Methods: This study involved all women who were diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer in two health regions, covering about 40% of the national population, between January 2000 and June 2014. Maori and Pacific patients were compared with other ethnic groups in terms of demographics, mode of diagnosis, disease factors and treatment factors. Cox regression modelling was performed with stepwise adjustments, and hazards of excess mortality from breast cancer for Maori and Pacific patients were assessed. 
Results: Of the 13,657 patients who were included in this analysis, 1281 (9.4%) were Maori, and 897 (6.6%) were Pacific women. Compared to other ethnic groups, they were younger, more likely to reside in deprived neighbourhoods and to have co-morbidities, and less likely to be diagnosed through screening and with early stage cancer, to be treated in a private care facility, to receive timely cancer treatment, and to receive breast conserving surgery. They had a higher risk of excess mortality from breast cancer (age and year of diagnosis adjusted hazard ratio: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.51-2.04 for Maori and 1.97; 95% CI: 1.67-2.32 for Pacific women), of which 75% and 99% respectively were explained by baseline differences. The most important contributor was late stage at diagnosis. Other contributors included neighbourhood deprivation, mode of diagnosis, type of health care facility where primary cancer treatment was undertaken and type of loco-regional therapy. 
Conclusions: Late diagnosis, deprivation and differential access to and quality of cancer care services were the key contributors to ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival in New Zealand. Our findings underscore the need for a greater equity focus along the breast cancer care pathway, with an emphasis on improving access to early diagnosis for Maori and Pacific women.

text: Ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival in New Zealand: which factors contribute? Background: New Zealand has major ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival with Maori (indigenous people) and Pacific women (immigrants or descended from immigrants from Pacific Islands) faring much worse than other ethnic groups. This paper identified underlying factors and assessed their relative contribution to this risk differential. 
Methods: This study involved all women who were diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer in two health regions, covering about 40% of the national population, between January 2000 and June 2014. Maori and Pacific patients were compared with other ethnic groups in terms of demographics, mode of diagnosis, disease factors and treatment factors. Cox regression modelling was performed with stepwise adjustments, and hazards of excess mortality from breast cancer for Maori and Pacific patients were assessed. 
Results: Of the 13,657 patients who were included in this analysis, 1281 (9.4%) were Maori, and 897 (6.6%) were Pacific women. Compared to other ethnic groups, they were younger, more likely to reside in deprived neighbourhoods and to have co-morbidities, and less likely to be diagnosed through screening and with early stage cancer, to be treated in a private care facility, to receive timely cancer treatment, and to receive breast conserving surgery. They had a higher risk of excess mortality from breast cancer (age and year of diagnosis adjusted hazard ratio: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.51-2.04 for Maori and 1.97; 95% CI: 1.67-2.32 for Pacific women), of which 75% and 99% respectively were explained by baseline differences. The most important contributor was late stage at diagnosis. Other contributors included neighbourhood deprivation, mode of diagnosis, type of health care facility where primary cancer treatment was undertaken and type of loco-regional therapy. 
Conclusions: Late diagnosis, deprivation and differential access to and quality of cancer care services were the key contributors to ethnic disparities in breast cancer survival in New Zealand. Our findings underscore the need for a greater equity focus along the breast cancer care pathway, with an emphasis on improving access to early diagnosis for Maori and Pacific women.

year: 2018