A novel approach to control the Jointed Arm Robot by tracking the position of the moving object on a conveyor using an Integrated Computer Vision system

Computer vision algorithms play a vital role in developing self-sustained autonomous systems. The objective of the present work is to integrate the robotic system with a moving conveyor using a single camera by adopting a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) based background subtraction method. In this work, a simple web camera is placed above the work cell to capture the continuous images of the moving objects on the conveyor along with a jointed arm robot are connected to a microcontroller through the computer. The position of the object with time and its features are extracted from the captured image frames by subtracting its background using the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). The output images of GMM are further processed by image processing techniques to extract the features like shape, color, center coordinates. The extracted coordinates of objects of interest are used as input parameters to the controller to activate the base rotation of a joint arm robot to perform different manipulations. The developed algorithm is evaluated on an indigenously fabricated work cell integrated with a computer vision setup.

Curvilinear Variable Stiffness 3D Printing For Improved Mechanical Performance

<div>Continuous Curvilinear Variable Stiffness (CCVS) is proposed as a novel design technique to generate Variable Stiffness design for improving the performance of composite panels featuring open-hole cut-outs. Compared to existing VS design techniques, CCVS steers the fibers around the cut-out without breaking at the holes using only a single design variable the geometry. The technique utilises a numerical method known as Source Panel method, which is typically utilised in the fluid dynamics world. Utilising this technique, the performance of an open hole ASTM D5766 coupon manufactured using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) was improved 16-38% depending on the ratio of the hole to the width of the specimen. The technique was further</div><div>improved on to allow for arbitrary geometries such as fuselage cut-outs. A fuselage cut-out case was examined, and it was shown that a CCVS design can improve the performance over a QuasiIsotropic design by 57%. To validate CCVS, it is necessary to first manufacture and validate the part. This was done by developing a robotic 3D printing work-cell capable of 5 axis of material deposition of both thermoplastic and pre-impregnated carbon fiber. Finally, an in-process inspection technique was developed using a laser line scanner in the work-cell for the purposes of quality control. </div>

Curvilinear Variable Stiffness 3D Printing For Improved Mechanical Performance

<div>Continuous Curvilinear Variable Stiffness (CCVS) is proposed as a novel design technique to generate Variable Stiffness design for improving the performance of composite panels featuring open-hole cut-outs. Compared to existing VS design techniques, CCVS steers the fibers around the cut-out without breaking at the holes using only a single design variable the geometry. The technique utilises a numerical method known as Source Panel method, which is typically utilised in the fluid dynamics world. Utilising this technique, the performance of an open hole ASTM D5766 coupon manufactured using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) was improved 16-38% depending on the ratio of the hole to the width of the specimen. The technique was further</div><div>improved on to allow for arbitrary geometries such as fuselage cut-outs. A fuselage cut-out case was examined, and it was shown that a CCVS design can improve the performance over a QuasiIsotropic design by 57%. To validate CCVS, it is necessary to first manufacture and validate the part. This was done by developing a robotic 3D printing work-cell capable of 5 axis of material deposition of both thermoplastic and pre-impregnated carbon fiber. Finally, an in-process inspection technique was developed using a laser line scanner in the work-cell for the purposes of quality control. </div>

Robotic Manipulation System for Multi-Layer Fabric Stitching

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.

Multitier Digital Twin Approach for Agile Supply Chain Management

Multitier Digital Twin approach for agile supply chain management validated in the research lab. In the long run, the solution will ultimately help to reduce resources costs in production processes and throughput time of the supply chain. The Digital Twin approach can be applied in the manufacturing company and the supply chain and makes recommendations for making changes to the physical environment to meet the requirements of various specific orders. The Multitier Digital Twin approach is validated by modelling four tiers of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) company: business processes, operations workflow processes and work cells operations. The simulation study is performed to evaluate the achieved results. The guidelines are developed to connect and integrate business process tier models with operations workflow and work cell tiers models. The authors defend that the current research will help to create new digital solutions to increase manufacturing flexibility by moving toward the company’s strategic goals directly from the offer preparation stage. The authors have validated the Digital Twin approach for agile supply chain management in the fields of manufacturing. Nevertheless, the proposed approach is adaptable to other fields also, whereas the focal player or project owner selects the best KPIs that support the implementation of the chosen strategy. The paper includes a feasibility case study for the approval of findings, where small and medium enterprise (SMEs) from the manufacturing field business processes are connected to manufacturing processes and work cell models to achieve a common strategic goal of the company.

Wireless Cyber-Physical System Performance Evaluation Through a Graph Database Approach

Despite the huge efforts to deploy wireless communications technologies in smart manufacturing scenarios, some manufacturing sectors are still slow to massive adoption. This slowness of widespread adoption of wireless technologies in cyber-physical systems (CPSs) is partly due to not fully understanding the detailed impact of wireless deployment on the physical processes especially in the cases that require low latency and high reliability communications. In this article, we introduce an approach to integrate wireless network traffic data and physical processes data to evaluate the impact of wireless communications on the performance of a manufacturing factory work cell. The proposed approach is introduced through the discussion of an engineering use case. A testbed that emulates a robotic manufacturing factory work cell is constructed using two collaborative-grade robot arms, machine emulators, and wireless communication devices. All network traffic data are collected and physical process data, including the robots and machines states and various supervisory control commands, is also collected and synchronized with the network data. The data are then integrated where redundant data are removed and correlated activities are connected in a graph database. A data model is proposed, developed, and elaborated; the database is then populated with events from the testbed, and the resulting graph is presented. Query commands are then presented as a means to examine and analyze network performance and relationships within the components of the network. Moreover, we detail the way by which this approach is used to study the impact of wireless communications on the physical processes and illustrate the impact of various wireless network parameters on the performance of the emulated manufacturing work cell. This approach can be deployed as a building block for various descriptive and predictive wireless analysis tools for CPS.