Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

TRANSFORMING A CIRCULAR ECONOMY INTO A HELICAL ECONOMY FOR ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING

The U.N. projects the world population to reach nearly 10 billion people by 2050, which will cause demand for manufactured goods to reach unforeseen levels. In order for us to produce the goods to support an equitable future, the methods in which we manufacture those goods must radically change. The emerging Circular Economy (CE) concept for production systems has promised to drastically increase economic/business value by significantly reducing the world’s resource consumption and negative environmental impacts. However, CE is inherently limited because of its emphasis on recycling and reuse of materials. CE does not address the holistic changes needed across all of the fundamental elements of manufacturing: products, processes, and systems. Therefore, a paradigm shift is required for moving from sustainment to sustainability to “produce more with less” through smart, innovative and transformative convergent manufacturing approaches rooted in redesigning next generation manufacturing infrastructure. This PhD research proposes the Helical Economy (HE) concept as a novel extension to CE. The proposed HE concepts shift the CE’s status quo paradigm away from post-use recovery for recycling and reuse and towards redesigning manufacturing infrastructure at product, process, and system levels, while leveraging IoT-enabled data infrastructures and an upskilled workforce. This research starts with the conceptual overview and a framework for implementing HE in the discrete product manufacturing domain by establishing the future state vision of the Helical Economy Manufacturing Method (HEMM). The work then analyzes two components of the framework in detail: designing next-generation products and next-generation IoT-enabled data infrastructures. The major research problems that need to be solved in these subcomponents are identified in order to make near-term progress towards the HEMM. The work then proceeds with the development and discussion of initial methods for addressing these challenges. Each method is demonstrated using an illustrative industry example. Collectively, this initial work establishes the foundational body of knowledge for the HE and the HEMM, provides implementation methods at the product and IoT-enabled data infrastructure levels, and it shows a great potential for HE’s ability to create and maximize sustainable value, optimize resource consumption, and ensure continued technological progress with significant economic growth and innovation. This research work then presents an outlook on the future work needed, as well as calls for industry to support the continued refinement and development of the HEMM through relevant prototype development and subsequent applications

Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) Method and Its Applications in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud

The integration of cyber-physical systems and cloud manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize existing manufacturing systems by enabling better accessibility, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a communication method of manufacturing services over the Internet to access and manage physical machines from cloud applications. Most of the existing industrial automation protocols utilize Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN) and are not designed specifically for Internet enabled data transmission. Recently MTConnect has been gaining popularity as a standard for monitoring status of machine tools through RESTful web services and an XML based messaging structure, but it is only designed for data collection and interpretation and lacks remote operation capability. This dissertation presents the design, development, optimization, and applications of a service-oriented Internet-scale communication method named Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) for exchanging manufacturing services in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud (CPMC) to enable manufacturing with heterogeneous physically connected machine tools from geographically distributed locations over the Internet. MTComm uses an agent-adapter based architecture and a semantic ontology to provide both remote monitoring and operation capabilities through RESTful services and XML messages. MTComm was successfully used to develop and implement multi-purpose applications in in a CPMC including remote and collaborative manufacturing, active testing-based and edge-based fault diagnosis and maintenance of machine tools, cross-domain interoperability between Internet-of-things (IoT) devices and supply chain robots etc. To improve MTComm’s overall performance, efficiency, and acceptability in cyber manufacturing, the concept of MTComm’s edge-based middleware was introduced and three optimization strategies for data catching, transmission, and operation execution were developed and adopted at the edge. Finally, a hardware prototype of the middleware was implemented on a System-On-Chip based FPGA device to reduce computational and transmission latency. At every stage of its development, MTComm’s performance and feasibility were evaluated with experiments in a CPMC testbed with three different types of manufacturing machine tools. Experimental results demonstrated MTComm’s excellent feasibility for scalable cyber-physical manufacturing and superior performance over other existing approaches

Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) Method and Its Applications in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud

The integration of cyber-physical systems and cloud manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize existing manufacturing systems by enabling better accessibility, agility, and efficiency. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a communication method of manufacturing services over the Internet to access and manage physical machines from cloud applications. Most of the existing industrial automation protocols utilize Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN) and are not designed specifically for Internet enabled data transmission. Recently MTConnect has been gaining popularity as a standard for monitoring status of machine tools through RESTful web services and an XML based messaging structure, but it is only designed for data collection and interpretation and lacks remote operation capability. This dissertation presents the design, development, optimization, and applications of a service-oriented Internet-scale communication method named Machine Tool Communication (MTComm) for exchanging manufacturing services in a Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Cloud (CPMC) to enable manufacturing with heterogeneous physically connected machine tools from geographically distributed locations over the Internet. MTComm uses an agent-adapter based architecture and a semantic ontology to provide both remote monitoring and operation capabilities through RESTful services and XML messages. MTComm was successfully used to develop and implement multi-purpose applications in in a CPMC including remote and collaborative manufacturing, active testing-based and edge-based fault diagnosis and maintenance of machine tools, cross-domain interoperability between Internet-of-things (IoT) devices and supply chain robots etc. To improve MTComm’s overall performance, efficiency, and acceptability in cyber manufacturing, the concept of MTComm’s edge-based middleware was introduced and three optimization strategies for data catching, transmission, and operation execution were developed and adopted at the edge. Finally, a hardware prototype of the middleware was implemented on a System-On-Chip based FPGA device to reduce computational and transmission latency. At every stage of its development, MTComm’s performance and feasibility were evaluated with experiments in a CPMC testbed with three different types of manufacturing machine tools. Experimental results demonstrated MTComm’s excellent feasibility for scalable cyber-physical manufacturing and superior performance over other existing approaches

Surface engineering by titanium particulate injection mounding

In a recent study a structural hold down component was designed and produced using the particulate injection moulding (PIM) process. The material of choice was titanium due not only to the material properties but also due to the desire to create custom made components for a state-of-the-art marine vessel. On removal from the mould the green parts were seen to have an irregular surface on the top face. The irregular surface presented no through part defects and although the surface irregularities were caused by separation of the two-phases the effect was restricted to the outer surface of the parts. In a more historic study by the author the surface properties of titanium dental implants were modified by the use of adaptive mould inserts during the moulding phase of PIM. These two contrasting studies are considered and have become the basis of a current investigation looking to engineer surface irregularities in an ordered fashion. The application of meso-machining, and additive manufacture are considered and the functionality which may arise are presented

Development of innovative cross-disciplinary engineering showcase

The development of engineering education relies substantially on interactive showcases and practical knowledge. The cross-disciplinary engineering showcase is designed to be fully interactive by having user input, producing a tangible output, and to understand distinct elements from each of the engineering disciplines such as, civil, mechanical and electrical (CME). The showcase operates from the input of mechanical rotational energy by the user pedalling the exercycle. Mechanical energy is then transferred to the pump via a gear train, which converts the user input of 30 rpm to the optimal pump operating speed of 2900 rpm. Further, it is used to pump water from the lower eservoir to the upper reservoir via one of the three flow paths, which the user can select by opening or closing flow valves. Once the water reaches a given height, it then flows back to the lower reservoir via a micro-hydro generator. As a result, it generates electrical energy stored in a power bank that can be used by the user to charge a digital device. Also, the showcase has a QR code to digital media, which will provide an additional explanation/exposition of the presented engineering principles to the user/students. The aim of this project is to develop a cross- disciplinary engineering showcase to enhance student learnings by interpreting the CME engineering principles in schools, institutes, and universities

Development of innovative cross-disciplinary engineering showcase

The development of engineering education relies substantially on interactive showcases and practical knowledge. The cross-disciplinary engineering showcase is designed to be fully interactive by having user input, producing a tangible output, and to understand distinct elements from each of the engineering disciplines such as, civil, mechanical and electrical (CME). The showcase operates from the input of mechanical rotational energy by the user pedalling the exercycle. Mechanical energy is then transferred to the pump via a gear train, which converts the user input of 30 rpm to the optimal pump operating speed of 2900 rpm. Further, it is used to pump water from the lower eservoir to the upper reservoir via one of the three flow paths, which the user can select by opening or closing flow valves. Once the water reaches a given height, it then flows back to the lower reservoir via a micro-hydro generator. As a result, it generates electrical energy stored in a power bank that can be used by the user to charge a digital device. Also, the showcase has a QR code to digital media, which will provide an additional explanation/exposition of the presented engineering principles to the user/students. The aim of this project is to develop a cross- disciplinary engineering showcase to enhance student learnings by interpreting the CME engineering principles in schools, institutes, and universities

An artificial intelligence-based collaboration approach in industrial IoT manufacturing : key concepts, architectural extensions and potential applications

The digitization of manufacturing industry has led to leaner and more efficient production, under the Industry 4.0 concept. Nowadays, datasets collected from shop floor assets and information technology (IT) systems are used in data-driven analytics efforts to support more informed business intelligence decisions. However, these results are currently only used in isolated and dispersed parts of the production process. At the same time, full integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in all parts of manufacturing systems is currently lacking. In this context, the goal of this manuscript is to present a more holistic integration of AI by promoting collaboration. To this end, collaboration is understood as a multi-dimensional conceptual term that covers all important enablers for AI adoption in manufacturing contexts and is promoted in terms of business intelligence optimization, human-in-the-loop and secure federation across manufacturing sites. To address these challenges, the proposed architectural approach builds on three technical pillars: (1) components that extend the functionality of the existing layers in the Reference Architectural Model for Industry 4.0; (2) definition of new layers for collaboration by means of human-in-the-loop and federation; (3) security concerns with AI-powered mechanisms. In addition, system implementation aspects are discussed and potential applications in industrial environments, as well as business impacts, are presented

Digital technologies review for manufacturing processes

It is apparent the industrial processes transformations caused by industry 4.0 are in advance in some countries like China, Japan, Germany and United States. But, in return, the developing countries, as the emergent Brazil, seem like to have a long way to achieve digital era. Considering manufacturing processes as the starting point the rise of industry 4.0, this research aims to show a review about the most important technologies used in smart manufacturing, including the main challenges to implement it at Brazil. The papers were collected from Web of Science (WoS), comprising 114 articles and 2 books to underpin this study. This exploratory research resulted in the presentation of some challenges faced by Brazilian industry to join the new industrial era, such as poor technological infrastructure, besides lack of investment in technologies and training of qualified people. Even though the primary motivation of this research was to present a panorama of smart manufacturing for Brazil, this study results contributes to the most of emergent countries, bringing together general concepts and addressing practical applications developed by several researchers from the international academic community