Development of preliminary design concept for a multifunction display and control system for the Orbiter crew station. Task 4: Design concept recommendation

Application of multifunction display and control systems to the NASA Orbiter spacecraft offers the potential for reducing crew workload and improving the presentation of system status and operational data to the crew. A design concept is presented for the application of a multifunction display and control system (MFDCS) to the Orbital Maneuvering System and Electrical Power Distribution and Control System on the Orbiter spacecraft. The MFDCS would provide the capability for automation of procedures, fault prioritization and software reconfiguration of the MFDCS data base. The MFDCS would operate as a stand-alone processor to minimize the impact on the current Orbiter software. Supervisory crew command of all current functions would be retained through the use of several operating modes in the system. Both the design concept and the processes followed in defining the concept are described

Survey of multi-function display and control technology

The NASA orbiter spacecraft incorporates a complex array of systems, displays and controls. The incorporation of discrete dedicated controls into a multi-function display and control system (MFDCS) offers the potential for savings in weight, power, panel space and crew training time. The technology applicable to the development of a MFDCS for orbiter application is surveyed. Technology thought to be applicable presently or in the next five years is highlighted. Areas discussed include display media, data handling and processing, controls and operator interactions and the human factors considerations which are involved in a MFDCS design. Several examples of applicable MFDCS technology are described

JTEC Panel report on electronic manufacturing and packaging in Japan

This report summarizes the status of electronic manufacturing and packaging technology in Japan in comparison to that in the United States, and its impact on competition in electronic manufacturing in general. In addition to electronic manufacturing technologies, the report covers technology and manufacturing infrastructure, electronics manufacturing and assembly, quality assurance and reliability in the Japanese electronics industry, and successful product realization strategies. The panel found that Japan leads the United States in almost every electronics packaging technology. Japan clearly has achieved a strategic advantage in electronics production and process technologies. Panel members believe that Japanese competitors could be leading U.S. firms by as much as a decade in some electronics process technologies

JTEC panel on display technologies in Japan

This report is one in a series of reports that describes research and development efforts in Japan in the area of display technologies. The following are included in this report: flat panel displays (technical findings, liquid crystal display development and production, large flat panel displays (FPD's), electroluminescent displays and plasma panels, infrastructure in Japan's FPD industry, market and projected sales, and new a-Si active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) factory); materials for flat panel displays (liquid crystal materials, and light-emissive display materials); manufacturing and infrastructure of active matrix liquid crystal displays (manufacturing logistics and equipment); passive matrix liquid crystal displays (LCD basics, twisted nematics LCD's, supertwisted nematic LCD's, ferroelectric LCD's, and a comparison of passive matrix LCD technology); active matrix technology (basic active matrix technology, investment environment, amorphous silicon, polysilicon, and commercial products and prototypes); and projection displays (comparison of Japanese and U.S. display research, and technical evaluation of work)

Assessment of vibrations induced in factories by automated guided vehicles

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Design and Build of an Automated Animal Feed Dispenser

This senior project discusses the design, construction, and evaluation of automated animal feed dispenser on a small-scale level. The system consists of three main components with various sub-components. Those three components are the outer-casing, the hardware and circuitry, and lastly the code to make sure the hardware operates properly. System tests have indicated that the feed dispenser is able to provide one week’s worth of feed to the end user with no human interferenc

A Modular Open-Technology Device to Measure and Adjust Concentration of Sperm Samples for Cryopreservation

Repositories for aquatic germplasm can safeguard the genetic diversity of species of interest to aquaculture, research, and conservation. The development of such repositories is impeded by a lack of standardization both within laboratories and across the research community. Protocols for cryopreservation are often developed ad hoc and without close attention to variables, such as sperm concentration, that strongly affect the success and consistency of cryopreservation. The wide dissemination and use of specialized tools and devices can improve processing reliability, provide data logging, produce custom hardware to address unique problems, and save costs, time, and labor. The goal of the present work was to develop a low-cost and open-technology approach to standardize the concentration of sperm samples prior to cryopreservation. The specific objectives were to: 1) fabricate and test a peristaltic pump and optical evaluation module (POEM); 2) fabricate and test a prototype of the modular, open-technology concentration measurement and adjustment system (CMAS), which incorporated the POEM; 3) identify opportunities to extend the CMAS to microliter volumes through low-cost resin 3-D printing, and 4) identify strategies from this work that can be applied to future open fabrication efforts. The POEM and CMAS were prototyped and tested with biological samples. A relationship between optical signal and cell concentration of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) sperm samples was established by linear regression. In a blind trial, cell concentrations were estimated with the POEM and correlated closely to their known concentrations (linear regression R2 = 0.9945) in a range of 1 × 108 to 4 × 109 cells/mL. The CMAS was able to estimate and adjust the concentration of a sample of the marine microalgae Tetraselmis chuii as a preparatory step for cryopreservation. To explore the possible use of the CMAS with microliter sample volumes in future work, evaluation of low-cost resin 3-D printing showed that this technology can approach conventional microfabrication techniques in feature quality and resolution. The development of the CMAS as open technology can provide opportunities for community-level standardization in cryopreservation of aquatic germplasm, invite new users, makers, and developers into the open-technology community, and increase the reach and capabilities of aquatic germplasm repositories

Tool Design for Electronic Product Dismantling

AbstractIn industrialized countries, waste electrical and electronic equipment is mostly processed in shredder-based processes, which are characterized by a low recovery of precious metals, rare earth elements and flame retardant plastics. To increase the recycling efficiency for these materials, a dismantling tool has been developed. The development process of the dismantling tool was guided by in-depth analysis of the required disassembly time for LCD TVs and laptops. The results of practical experiments demonstrate that the use of the dismantling tool enable to reduce the dismantling time for plastic housing components and PWBs with respectively 36% and 45% for LCD TVs

Development of an automated robot vision component handling system

Thesis (M. Tech. (Engineering: Electrical)) -- Central University of technology, Free State, 2013In the industry, automation is used to optimize production, improve product quality and increase profitability. By properly implementing automation systems, the risk of injury to workers can be minimized. Robots are used in many low-level tasks to perform repetitive, undesirable or dangerous work. Robots can perform a task with higher precision and accuracy to lower errors and waste of material. Machine Vision makes use of cameras, lighting and software to do visual inspections that a human would normally do. Machine Vision is useful in application where repeatability, high speed and accuracy are important. This study concentrates on the development of a dedicated robot vision system to automatically place components exiting from a conveyor system onto Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGV). A personal computer (PC) controls the automated system. Software modules were developed to do image processing for the Machine Vision system as well as software to control a Cartesian robot. These modules were integrated to work in a real-time system. The vision system is used to determine the parts‟ position and orientation. The orientation data are used to rotate a gripper and the position data are used by the Cartesian robot to position the gripper over the part. Hardware for the control of the gripper, pneumatics and safety systems were developed. The automated system‟s hardware was integrated by the use of the different communication protocols, namely DeviceNet (Cartesian robot), RS-232 (gripper) and Firewire (camera)