Baseline Data from Servo Motors in a Robotic Arm for Autonomous Machine Fault Diagnosis

Fault diagnosis can prolong the life of machines if potential sources of failure are discovered and corrected before they occur. Supervised machine learning, or the use of training data to enable machines to discover these faults on their own, makes failure prevention much easier. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of creating datasets of various faults at both the component and system level for a servomotor and a compatible robotic arm, such that this data can be used in machine learning algorithms for fault diagnosis. The faults induced at the component level in different servomotors include: low lubrication, no lubrication, two gears chipped, and four gears chipped. Each fault was also examined at 180, 135, 90, and 45-degree swings of the servo arm. Component level data was obtained using an Arduino microcontroller and a feedback wire in each servomotor to obtain the actual position of the servo arm, which allowed for the calculation of the difference in actual and theoretical position and the speed of the servo arm at the various faults. System level data was obtained using OptiTrack’s motion tracking software, Motive, to track the position of two reflective markers on the hand of the robotic arm. At the component level, the low lubrication and no lubrication faults did not exhibit a large difference from the normal servomotor, whereas the servomotors with the gears chipped exhibited significant differences when compared to the normal servomotor. When evaluating the difference in position and speed of the servo arm at larger degree sweeps it was more evident that failure occurred, as opposed to the data at smaller degree sweeps. At the system level, the error was not as visible in the data as there wasn’t much distinction between the speeds of the robotic arm’s hand when the servomotors with faults were placed in it. The results of this work indicate that servomotors can be used to create fault behavior datasets at the component and system level that are usable for machine learning

Evaluating Adopt-ability of Open Source Tools for Problem Solving in Specific Design Tasks in Industrial Design Education

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the adoptability of Open Source Tools (OST) as a learning strategy in undergraduate Industrial Design (ID) education. OST has the potential for students to overcome certain difficulties in specific tasks, such as design presentation,design research, design decision, concept generation and design documentation. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to develop the research. As the first step of the research, quantitative methodology is employed, using a survey method to collect data from students. The survey investigates industrial product design students’ perceptions of difficult tasks and their reasons, as well as their awareness of OST. In the second phase of the study, qualitative methodology is followed to acquire feedback on the proposal regarding Open Source (OS) use in an ID studio course using case studies. The simulation follows qualitative methodology, using primarily observations and obtaining verbal feedback. The results indicated that students were willing to adopt OST as an effective design tool and to overcome difficulties in the design process

Individual upcycling practice: exploring the possible determinants of upcycling based on a literature review

Individual upcycling – the creation or creative modification of any product out of used materials in an attempt to generate a product of higher quality or value than the compositional elements – has recently been advocated by many as a means to reduce waste, yet is still marginal. Considering the implied benefit to sustainable production and consumption, the most relevant question at this point may be how to scale up this marginal practice into mainstream practice to make a bigger impact in society and environment. In order to generate effective scaling-up strategies for change, it is essential to understand the determinants of upcycling (i.e. what drives and facilitates it). This paper reviews relevant contemporary literature and identifies a set of determinants. The synthesized result, despite its partiality, shows possible examples of design and policy implications for scaling-up, and leads to future research suggestions

From 0 to 20: An evolutionary analysis of Open Design and Open Manufacturing

The paper presents an analysis of the evolution of Open Design and Open Manufacturing from 2000 to 2020. The two phenomena are examined by taking into account real experiences in these fields in order to track the most relevant developments. The first step of the research consisted in the identification of the best-known and most often-cited experiences, which have been collected into four different subsets, according to their type, and organised into a chronological visualization.  The second step of the research involved the identification and description of three case studies, one for each of the main types: Instructables, OpenStructures and Precious Plastics. Finally, the paper identifies three main time frames, and expresses the constructive and the critical aspects of the two open processes, concluding with a speculation on three possible futures

From 0 to 20: An evolutionary analysis of Open Design and Open Manufacturing

The paper presents an analysis of the evolution of Open Design and Open Manufacturing from 2000 to 2020. The two phenomena are examined by taking into account real experiences in these fields in order to track the most relevant developments. The first step of the research consisted in the identification of the best-known and most often-cited experiences, which have been collected into four different subsets, according to their type, and organised into a chronological visualization.  The second step of the research involved the identification and description of three case studies, one for each of the main types: Instructables, OpenStructures and Precious Plastics. Finally, the paper identifies three main time frames, and expresses the constructive and the critical aspects of the two open processes, concluding with a speculation on three possible futures

Documented: Embedding and Retrieving Information from 3D Printed Objects

Documentation is an essential aspect of building interactive physical objects. For makers, documentation serves as a record that can be shared with others to demonstrate a project’s building (what and how) and decision-making (why) process. A documentation’s end-users (i.e., the makers themselves or people interested in rebuilding or learning about the project) can then self-refect on these records and take away their own lessons regarding the project. However, in the case of physical objects, we think that refecting on their documentation can be challenging since the documentation and the object are two separate artifacts. We explore this assumption in this thesis. Specifcally, we asked if embedding the documentation into the object being made will promote self-refection and whether this facilitates a deeper understanding of the object and its design process. We took three main steps to address our questions: (1) we used artifact analysis to identify the strengths and limitations of current documentation styles (i.e., text, picture, and video-based documentations) that makers typically use; (2) we conducted interviews and brainstorming sessions with professional and hobbyist makers, and asked them to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their current documentation techniques, and the improvements they envision regarding the connection between their documentation and the built object; (3) informed by our artifact analysis and interview sessions, we proposed a prototype that provides a new method to interact with an object’s documentation, which allows people to embed and retrieve documentation-related data into and from the object, respectively

Instructables.com as a tool to improve student outcomes and promote community engagement (Work-in-progress)

Project-based Learning (PBL) has become a popular pedagogical tool in Engineering. Projects force students to put theory learned in lecture into practice, exposes students to some of the nonidealities of real systems (imperfect instruments, uncooperative systems, etc.) that are difficult to convey in lecture or homework, and ideally motivates students by showing how course material is related real-world engineering problems. This work discusses my preliminary and ongoing research into using Instructables.com—a user-content generated website of “Do It Yourself” tutorials—as a tool to help amplify the benefits students derive from PBL. Specifically, I require students to document their projects in an Instructable in lieu of a final report, and I encourage students to post their Instructable to Instructables.com. This work discusses three ways in which the use of instructables.com may improve PBL outcomes. First, instructables.com may improve students’ motivation for pursuing further study in the field of engineering. This belief is rooted in the framework of Self Determination Theory, which stresses the importance of a task’s “Relatedness” for developing intrinsic motivation. By using instructables.com as a motivation for project ideas and as a publication venue for project results, students can see how their work relates to work being done outside of academia. Second, by requiring students to write a step-bystep tutorial of their final project, the use of the “Instructable” format encourages students to reflect on their designs and design decisions, potentially improving student outcomes. Finally, this work briefly touches on how encouraging students to document their designs on instructables.com may lead to more interaction between the “maker” and engineering communities, thereby enhancing public awareness of the Engineering Profession

Documenting Downloadable Assistive Technologies

This major research project explores Downloadable Assistive Technologies (DAT) and the possibilities as well as the limitations of publishing and fabricating DAT through online 3D printing communities. A design probe was used for this research within the context of Thingiverse, in the form of a 3D printed dog wheelchair design probe – the FiGO Dog Wheelchair. FiGO enabled an exploration of issues of design and communication of DAT. Through research involving both end users as well as a health professional, as well as interactions within the FiGO project page on Thingiverse, criteria for communicating DAT published on Thingiverse were developed, and a second FiGO project page reflecting these criteria was prototyped and evaluated. It is concluded that DAT could potentially benefit most greatly from a structured set of guidelines of use and communication of risks in the form of a design brief, and that there are specific considerations to developing a meaningful design brief for DAT including: 1) Tell the story of the design, 2) Do not make assumptions about the end user, 3) Clear instruction about the design use, 4) Inclusion of source files to enable user participation and extension of the design