• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.527-532
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• 2005

The construction industries are facing problems of productivity, quality of work, safety, and the completion of projects in time. In construction industry a worker is exposed to hazardous environment, and has to do more physical work, effecting his health and also productivity. The automation and robotics can offer solution to many problems of the industry. In the past the major barrier to construction automation is the lack of electronic components and systems. This is solved now with the development of information technology, and the current obstacle is the high cost of automated systems, shortage of public money for R&D, and problems of acceptance. The robots employed in construction have followed the same concept as those employed in manufacturing. However, construction industry requires a different kind of robot compared to manufacturing Industry. The robots are stationery and product moves along the assembly line in manufacturing sector, but construction robots have to move about the site because buildings are stationary and of large size. The construction robots must function in adverse weather conditions, including variation in humidity, and temperature and increase the overall construction productivity rate. The major objective of the paper is to review the existing applications of building robots and to assess their implementation in building industry. A case study is considered for the implementation of robots for the painting work of the University Building at Saifabad PG College of Science, Hyderabad, India.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.791-802
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• 2023

The manual inspection of photovoltaic (PV) panels to meet the requirements of inspection work for large-scale PV power plants is challenging. We present a hot spot detection and positioning method to detect hot spots in batches and locate their latitudes and longitudes. First, a network based on the YOLOv3 architecture was utilized to identify hot spots. The innovation is to modify the RU_1 unit in the YOLOv3 model for hot spot detection in the far field of view and add a neural network residual unit for fusion. In addition, because of the misidentification problem in the infrared images of the solar PV panels, the DeepLab v3+ model was adopted to segment the PV panels to filter out the misidentification caused by bright spots on the ground. Finally, the latitude and longitude of the hot spot are calculated according to the geometric positioning method utilizing known information such as the drone's yaw angle, shooting height, and lens field-of-view. The experimental results indicate that the hot spot recognition rate accuracy is above 98%. When keeping the drone 25 m off the ground, the hot spot positioning error is at the decimeter level.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4191-4203
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• 2023

Robotics applications are greatly needed in hazardous locations, e.g., fusion and fission reactors, where robots must perform delicate and complex tasks under ionizing radiation conditions. The drawback is that some robotic parts, such as active electronics, are susceptible to radiation. It can lead to unexpected failures and early termination of the robotic operation. This paper analyses the ionizing radiation effect from 0.09 to 1.5 Gy/s in robotic components (microcontrollers, servo motors and temperature sensors). The first experiment compares the performance of various microcontroller types and their actuators and sensors, where different mitigation strategies are applied, such as using Radiation-Hardened (Rad-Hard) microcontrollers or shielding. The second and third experiments analyze the performance of a 3-Degrees of Freedom (DoF) robotic arm, evaluating its components' responses and trajectory. This study enhances our understanding and expands our knowledge regarding radiation's impact on robotic arms and components, which is useful for defining the best strategies for extending the robots' operational lifespan, especially when performing maintenance or inspection tasks in radiation environments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1913-1924
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• 2024

This paper presents the design and operation of an autonomous robot for pyroprocess automation, which requires unique approaches beyond those used in industrial applications to achieve the desired performance. Maintaining an extremely dry atmosphere is crucial to handle various materials, including chloride, and an autonomous system ensures this dry environment. The drying room dehumidifier was carefully selected and designed to generate dry air, and different types of dry air conditioning performance were evaluated, including assessing worker accessibility inside the mock-up to determine the system's feasibility. Containers used for process materials were modified to fit the gripper system of the gantry robot for automation. The loading and unloading of process materials in each equipment were automatically performed to connect the process equipment with the robotic system. The gantry robot primarily operated through macro motion to approach waypoints containing process materials, eliminating the need for precise approach motion. The robot's tapered jaw design allowed it to grasp the target object even with imperfect positioning. Robot motions were programmed using a robot simulator for initial positioning and motion planning, and real accuracy was tested in a mock-up facility using the OPC platform.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.341-347
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• 2024

Many studies have focused on the optimal design of multi-stage forging molds. For optimal design progress, geometry parameters must be automatically modified, and the updated analysis file delivered. However, existing automation processes set and change parameters at the analysis input file stage, limiting them to simpler tasks like 2D shapes and basic process conditions (e.g., friction, elasticity), making it challenging to handle 3D asymmetric shapes. To address these limitations, an automated program was developed that modifies geometry directly in the CAD model, enabling the automation of complex 3D and asymmetrical shapes. In this process, a 3D mold is generated immediately after the drawing is input, automating the design of both the product and the mold without manual intervention. The program's effectiveness was demonstrated in the design and forging analysis of a multi-stage mold for M10 hex head bolts. This fully automated program reduced preprocessing time by approximately 6.7 times and successfully performed sensitivity analysis without manual input.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.689-701
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• 2008

In this paper, a fully adaptive feedforward feedback synchronized tracking control approach is developed for precision tracking control of 6 degree of freedom (6DOF) Stewart Platform. The proposed controller is designed in decentralized form for implementation simplicity. Interconnections among different subsystems and gravity effect are eliminated by the feedforward control action. Feedback control action guarantees the stability of the system. The gains of the proposed controller can be updated on line without requiring any prior knowledge of Stewart Platform manipulator. Thus the control approach is claimed to be fully adaptive. By employing cross-coupling error technology, the proposed approach can guarantee both of position error and synchronization error converge to zero asymptotically. Because the actuators work in synchronous manner, the tracking performances are improved. The corresponding stability analysis is also presented in this paper. Finally, simulation is demonstrated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2004.11c
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• pp.52-55
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• 2004

Digital communication networks have become a core technology in advanced building automation systems. BACnet(${\underline{B}}uilding$ ${\underline{A}}utomation$ and ${\underline{C}}ontrol$ ${\underline{net}}works$) is a standard data communication protocol designed specifically for building automation and control systems. BACnet adopts Master-Slave/Token-Passing (MS/TP) protocol as one of its field level networks. In this study, we introduce a method of implementing bandwidth allocation scheme in the MS/TP protocol. The bandwidth allocation scheme improves the capability of real-time communication of the original MS/TP protocol. The bandwidth allocation scheme introduced in this paper can be easily implemented in the existing MS/TP protocol with a slight modification. In this study, we actually developed the hardware and firmware of MS/TP module in which bandwidth allocation scheme is implemented.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.38-42
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• 2003

HTS transformer is promising one of HTS power applications to be commercialized in the near future. To realize the applications, insulation technology in the coolant, liquid nitrogen, should be established. So breakdown characteristics should be considered at insulation components; turn-to-turn, layer-to-layer, winding-to-winding, were investigated. Firstly breakdown strengths of Kapton films were compared with Kraft paper these are as turn insulator. And next the characteristics of surface flashover on FRP were measured and the influence on breakdown strength of bubble generated with joule heat was discussed with the shape of cooling channel between layers. Finally barrier effect at winding-to-winding was discussed.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.7 no.7
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• pp.859-866
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• 2006

This study employed the perturbation method, the Edgeworth series, the reliability optimization, the reliability sensitivity technique and the robust design to present a practical and effective approach for the robust reliability design of vehicle components with arbitrary distribution parameters on the condition of known first four moments of original random variables. The theoretical formulae of the robust reliability design for vehicle components with arbitrary distribution parameters are obtained. The reliability sensitivity is added to the reliability optimization design model and the robust reliability design is described as a multi-objection optimization. On the condition of known first four moments of original random variables, the respective program can be used to obtain the robust reliability design parameters of vehicle components with arbitrary distribution parameters accurately and quickly.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.43-46
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• 1999

It has been suggested that the motivation for automation of welding processes ncludes the replacement and extension of the functions of human operators. Among these types of the welding automation, SAW(Submerged Arc Welding) was prevalently used, because it is highly suited to a wide range of application, especially for the high speed welding. A Significant portion of the total manufacturing time for a pipe fabrication process is spent on the welding following primary machining and fit-up processes. To achieve the reliable weld bead appearance, the automatic seam tracking and adaptive control to fill the groove are urgently needed. This paper proposed the mechanical functions of multi-torches welding system, flux supply and recovery system in conjunction with the complex air pulsing method and various types of methodologies. It was shown that the multi-torches welding system revealed the high welding qualities for the circular and rectangular pipes. In conclusion, the multi-torches welding system developed will contribute the advanced welding technology, welding automation and increment of the market in these areas.