Focal Spot, Spring 1993

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/focal_spot_archives/1063/thumbnail.jp

Design project 1968/9: management report

1. INTRODUCTION The design of an automatic assembly machine with versatility in application was undertaken as a group project by post-graduate students attending a course in production technology. This report summarises the work clone and conclusions reached during the project. In addition there are available five other reports which describe the designing of different areas of the machine in full detail (refs. 1 to 6). There is also the report of a technical survey which was carried out to investigate industrial requirements for automatic assembly. In order that this report may serve as a guide, a summary of the content of each of the other reports is included

Improved micro-contact resistance model that considers material deformation, electron transport and thin film characteristics

This paper reports on an improved analytic model forpredicting micro-contact resistance needed for designing microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) switches. The originalmodel had two primary considerations: 1) contact materialdeformation (i.e. elastic, plastic, or elastic-plastic) and 2) effectivecontact area radius. The model also assumed that individual aspotswere close together and that their interactions weredependent on each other which led to using the single effective aspotcontact area model. This single effective area model wasused to determine specific electron transport regions (i.e. ballistic,quasi-ballistic, or diffusive) by comparing the effective radius andthe mean free path of an electron. Using this model required thatmicro-switch contact materials be deposited, during devicefabrication, with processes ensuring low surface roughness values(i.e. sputtered films). Sputtered thin film electric contacts,however, do not behave like bulk materials and the effects of thinfilm contacts and spreading resistance must be considered. Theimproved micro-contact resistance model accounts for the twoprimary considerations above, as well as, using thin film,sputtered, electric contact

Predictability of catastrophic events: material rupture, earthquakes, turbulence, financial crashes and human birth

We propose that catastrophic events are "outliers" with statistically different properties than the rest of the population and result from mechanisms involving amplifying critical cascades. Applications and the potential for prediction are discussed in relation to the rupture of composite materials, great earthquakes, turbulence and abrupt changes of weather regimes, financial crashes and human parturition (birth).Comment: Latex document of 22 pages including 6 ps figures, in press in PNA

Top-Down & Bottom-Up Approaches to Robot Design

This thesis presents a study of different engineering design methodologies and demonstrates their effectiveness and limitations in actual robot designs. Some of these methods were blended together with focus on providing an easily interpreted project design flow while implementing more bottom-up, or feedback, elements into the design methodology. Typically design methods are learned through experience, and design taught in academia aims to shape and formalize previous experience. Usually, inexperienced engineers are taught approaches resembling the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) 2221 process. This method presented by the Association of German Engineers in 2006 is regarded as the general system design process. This introductory process is largely left open to interpretation, and it is often unclear when to implement feedback in the design process. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the roles of top-down and bottom-up processes, and how to integrate them in the robot design methodology. The proposed approach utilizes several components from existing design methods. There are three main conditional loops within the proposed approach. The first loop focuses on defining the problem in a top-down manner through logical decomposition, defining technical requirements, researching solutions, and conducting a trade study. These four steps are done iteratively until reaching the bottom of the system, the most primitive components. This is followed by a modeling and analysis loop. This works from the bottom to the top of the design in preparation for manufacturing and validation. The final loop of the proposed approach focuses on validation and verification. The testing and manufacturing involved allows for alterations to the design to fulfill the original technical requirements. These three loops occur until a proof of concept is achieved. The proposed method is intended to be applied iteratively. The first pass of the method results in a proof of concept, while the second results in a preproduction prototype, and the third in a production model. This assembly of design elements provides a project flow that leaves little to be interpreted and is suitable for small design teams while still flexible enough to be applied to diverse robotics projects. This thesis provides three case studies analyzing the application of the hybrid design approach mentioned above to robotic system development. The first study showcases a complicated system design with a small development team. The second case is of simpler construction with a smaller developer team. This simpler case better demonstrates the benefits of this hybrid approach in robotic system development due to the comparatively higher speed at which the system matures. The third case study shows how this same proposed approach can be applied to the design of a bottom-up controlled swarm. These case studies are for future designers to reference as examples of the hybrid design methodology in application, and what can happen when there is a lack of feedback in design. This proposed hybrid design method can encourage design practices in new engineers that translate better to industrial applications, and therefore encourage faster integration of new engineers into established design engineering practices

Automatic assembly design project 1968/9 :|breport of economic planning committee

Investigations into automatic assembly systems have been carried out. The conclusions show the major features to be considered by a company operating the machine to assemble the contact block with regard to machine output and financial aspects. The machine system has been shown to be economically viable for use under suitable conditions, but the contact block is considered to be unsuitable for automatic assembly. Data for machine specification, reliability and maintenance has been provided

Are financial services over-regulated?

As the Equitable Life saga drags on, accounting scandals break over Enron and WorldCom and allegations of self-serving analysts reports swirl around Merrill Lynch and other US investment banks, this may seem an extraordinary question to ask. But this is the very time that one must beware of the ‘dangerous dogs’ reaction1. It is easy to forget in the immediate aftermath of scandals that extra regulation may achieve little beyond satisfying the call for ‘something to be done’ and can cumulatively cost a lot, even perversely increase the chances of future disasters2. With the EU’s Financial Services Action Plan, the DTI’s consultation on Company Law, the Sandler review of savings and the FSA’s review of polarisation, Listing Rules and simplified product selling, the opportunity for radical change, good or bad, is all to apparent. This article seeks to give an overview of the current position and assess the danger of an over-reaction