The Wiltshire Wills Feasibility Study

The Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office has nearly ninety thousand wills in its care. These records are neither adequately catalogued nor secured against loss by facsimile microfilm copies. With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund the Record Office has begun to produce suitable finding aids for the material. Beginning with this feasibility study the Record Office is developing a strategy to ensure the that facsimiles to protect the collection against risk of loss or damage and to improve public access are created.<p></p> This feasibility study explores the different methodologies that can be used to assist the preservation and conservation of the collection and improve public access to it. The study aims to produce a strategy that will enable the Record Office to create digital facsimiles of the Wills in its care for access purposes and to also create preservation quality microfilms. The strategy aims to seek the most cost effective and time efficient approach to the problem and identifies ways to optimise the processes by drawing on the experience of other similar projects. This report provides a set of guidelines and recommendations to ensure the best use of the resources available for to provide the most robust preservation strategy and to ensure that future access to the Wills as an information resource can be flexible, both local and remote, and sustainable

Automatic gravure print feature determination at production speeds

This paper describes the development of a non-contact system for measuring the colour of printed material at web speeds, in addition to gravure-printed dot feature recognition. The system proposed uses a non-contact spectrophotometer based on a holographic grating, in conjunction with a conventional monochrome area scan camera, from which colour spectral data are extracted, while a xenon flash is used to illuminate colour samples. Dot features are captured by a magnification lens, in conjunction with a progressive scan camera. Software and hardware details of the system are given, together with the underlying mathematics for colour space conversion and measurement. Conversion equations from X, Y, Z chromaticity coordinates to the RGB system are presented, and also equations to convert from the L*a*b* colour space to X, Y, Z chromaticity coordinates. Experimental results are presented whereby the non-contact spectral system is shown to perform to a colour tolerance exceeding that of conventional colour video systems, and where performance of the dot feature system is comparable with traditional static examination methods using a microscope

Computerized and Electronic Controls in Food Packaging

The focus of food packaging is to contain food in a cost-effective way that satisfies industry requirements and consumer desires, maintains food safety and minimizes environmental impact. Currently, with the increasing demand of the consumers the major concern of food packaging industry is on efficiency of the plant process, productivity, quality as well as safety. It becomes necessary for companies to discover ways to improve their productivity in terms of maintaining safety, using sustainable materials in packaging, implementing flexible and standardized technology, and maintaining good quality of foods. Thus, to achieve the required demands, automation and upgradation of the packaging machinery is necessary and this has been accepted because these changes are robust, flexible, reconfigurable, preserve the quality of the food and are efficient. Due to limitation of feasibility study and research in food packaging, most of the studies focus on trends in food packaging materials (smart packaging). Thus, this review focused on advancement in food packaging machines, involvement of softwares in controlling the working of various machines for example open modular architecture control (OMAC), Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Field bus Technology etc. The automated machines include drive system, sensors, actuators etc. So, the knowledge about these techniques will result in enhancing the efficiency of packaging and productivity of food products

Is technological change really skill biased? Evidence from the introduction of ICTs on the textile sector (1980-2000)

This paper investigates the effects of the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the skills of a workforce. Using micro-data collected from workers in the textile sector, we analyse whether the introduction of ICTs has modified workers’ tasks, so that higher skills and longer training periods than before are necessary. Our survey has shown that ICTs i) have replaced unskilled labour in some cases and skilled labour in others; ii) have changed workers’ tasks in some cases but not in others; and finally, iii) have brought about an increase in skills for only a small number of occupations. This empirical evidence does not confirm the hypothesis that technological change, and in particular change introduced by ICTs, is necessarily skill biasedTechnological change, skill bias, textile industry

Mechatronics applied to scale model decoration

The European toy industry is very heavily dependent on manual labour and therefore vulnerable to Far Eastern competitors, who have the advantage of lower labour costs. Automation is Europe's best hope of beating off this oriental challenge. The aim of the project described within this thesis is to investigate the replacement of a traditionally manual series of operations by flexible automation to provide the basis for higher productivity and a greater degree of responsiveness to product change, leading to Just In Time Manufacture with reduced Work In Progress, while still retaining the high quality traditionally associated with the product. This thesis presents one of the first working attempts to this end, represented by a proof-of­concept cell designed and commissioned for investigating the many problems and possibilities associated with the decoration of scale models of cars and trains. The cell was designed using the Mechatronics approach which means that the various mechanical, electrical and electronic and computing possibilities have been taken into account from the start of the design stage. The proof-of-concept cell consists of five stations which provide the necessary means of loading the models in the cell, identifying the models and their orientation, decorating the models, inspecting the decorated models and finally palletising them for assembly. The industrial partners for the project were Hornby Hobbies Limited, J-L Automation and Staubli Unimation. Because this project centres around the present decoration operations at Hornby Hobbies Limited, which is heavily dependant on pad printing, an overview of pad printing is included. This will give the reader a background to the problems faced during the project. Before describing the proof-of-concept cell and its hardware and software components, the present factory based method and the constraints put on the project by Hornby Hobbies Limited are explained so that the reasons for choices within the cell will be more readily understood. A brief history of Scalextric is also included so that the reader may also understand some of the historical problems associated with the product. The result of this mechatronic approach are two fold: a) the efficiency of the cell is improved because the individual parts are working at optimal efficiency b) the cell has a greater degree of flexibility because of the re-programming facilities embedded in each of its component parts. This Mechatronic investigation has led to new concepts for pad printing and assembly operations and these are described in detail in the conclusions

Automated visual inspection for the quality control of pad printing

Pad printing is used to decorate consumer goods largely because of its unique ability to apply graphics to doubly curved surfaces. The Intelpadrint project was conceived to develop a better understanding of the process and new printing pads, inks and printers. The thesis deals primarily with the research of a printer control system including machine vision. At present printing is manually controlled. Operator knowledge was gathered for use by an expert system to control the process. A novel local corner- matching algorithm was conceived to effect image segmentation, and neuro-fuzzy techniques were used to recognise patterns in printing errors. Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of the rubber printing-pad led to a method for pre-distorting artwork so that it would print undistorted on a curved product. A flexible, more automated printer was developed that achieves a higher printing rate. Ultraviolet-cured inks with improved printability were developed. The image normalisation/ error-signalling stage in inspection was proven in isolation, as was the pattern recognition system

Digitally interpreting traditional folk crafts

The cultural heritage preservation requires that objects persist throughout time to continue to communicate an intended meaning. The necessity of computer-based preservation and interpretation of traditional folk crafts is validated by the decreasing number of masters, fading technologies, and crafts losing economic ground. We present a long-term applied research project on the development of a mathematical basis, software tools, and technology for application of desktop or personal fabrication using compact, cheap, and environmentally friendly fabrication devices, including '3D printers', in traditional crafts. We illustrate the properties of this new modeling and fabrication system using several case studies involving the digital capture of traditional objects and craft patterns, which we also reuse in modern designs. The test application areas for the development are traditional crafts from different cultural backgrounds, namely Japanese lacquer ware and Norwegian carvings. Our project includes modeling existing artifacts, Web presentations of the models, automation of the models fabrication, and the experimental manufacturing of new designs and forms

Micro-manufacturing : research, technology outcomes and development issues

Besides continuing effort in developing MEMS-based manufacturing techniques, latest effort in Micro-manufacturing is also in Non-MEMS-based manufacturing. Research and technological development (RTD) in this field is encouraged by the increased demand on micro-components as well as promised development in the scaling down of the traditional macro-manufacturing processes for micro-length-scale manufacturing. This paper highlights some EU funded research activities in micro/nano-manufacturing, and gives examples of the latest development in micro-manufacturing methods/techniques, process chains, hybrid-processes, manufacturing equipment and supporting technologies/device, etc., which is followed by a summary of the achievements of the EU MASMICRO project. Finally, concluding remarks are given, which raise several issues concerning further development in micro-manufacturing

Currency security and forensics: a survey

By its definition, the word currency refers to an agreed medium for exchange, a nation’s currency is the formal medium enforced by the elected governing entity. Throughout history, issuers have faced one common threat: counterfeiting. Despite technological advancements, overcoming counterfeit production remains a distant future. Scientific determination of authenticity requires a deep understanding of the raw materials and manufacturing processes involved. This survey serves as a synthesis of the current literature to understand the technology and the mechanics involved in currency manufacture and security, whilst identifying gaps in the current literature. Ultimately, a robust currency is desire

Machine vision in conjunction with a knowledge-based system for semi-automatic control of a gravure printing process

This paper describes the work carried out to produce an automated print inspection system, which was developed on a gravure printing press within the wall-covering printing industry. The project aim was to produce a system that could continuously monitor the gravure printing process, by examining printed material using machine vision, and then by using a fuzzy knowledgebased system to interpret the machine vision system output and to make recommendations to an operator as to how to correct the process with simple text-based suggestions, avoiding printing of scrap material