Dual-Arm Construction Robot for Automatic Fixation of Structural Parts to Concrete Surfaces in Narrow Environments

Fixation of structural parts to concrete is a repetitive, heavy-duty, and time-consuming task that requires automation due to the lack of skilled construction workers. Previously developed automation techniques have not achieved the complete fixation of structural parts and are difficult to implement in narrow construction environments. In this study, we propose a construction robot system that enables the complete installation of structural parts to concrete and can be easily introduced to unstructured and narrow construction environments. The system includes two arms that simultaneously position and fix the structural parts, and custom tools that reduce the reaction force applied to the robots so that smaller robots can be used with lower payloads. Due to the modular design of the proposed system, it can be transported in parts for easy introduction to the construction environment. We also propose a procedure for fixing structural parts. Experimental results demonstrate that the custom tools make it possible to use smaller robots without moment overload in the robot joints. Moreover, the results show that the proposed robot system and fixation procedure enable automatic fixation of a structural part to concrete.Comment: Published in 2023 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII) on 17 January 202

Opinion Survey and Econometric Analysis of the Benefit of Public Spending and the National Burden (Japanese)

Japan's fiscal conditions are the most severe of any industrialized nation, moreover, the aging of Japanese society will continue, and an increase in the national burden is inevitable. In part because of the view that the burden of taxes and of social security has a negative impact on the incentive to work and thereby impedes the vitalization of the economy, reforms of public spending and the social security system are being implemented continuously for the purpose of avoiding increases in the national burden rate (or potential national burden rate) as much as possible. That notwithstanding, the fact remains that people derive certain benefits from aspects of the social security system, such as health care, pensions, and nursing care, and there exists social capital beneficial to both current and future generations. Consequently, when discussing the optimal level of the national burden rate, it is also important to consider the benefits received from public spending and the social security system. We conducted a survey from this perspective, and considered the results of the survey through the use of principal component analysis and other methods. From this examination of the survey findings, we found that people hold high expectations of the social security system, but on the other hand they also consider public services to be inefficient. We were also able to infer that people place greater importance on avoiding aging-related risks and the risk of illness than on avoiding the risk of fluctuations in their income and assets by means of redistribution measures. From the principal component analysis, we found that men are more concerned about insurance than are women, and also place a higher value on non-insurance aspects of the social security system. We also found that men are negative toward the contraction of the social security system, and that they desire the development of social capital to be reduced and made more efficient. Women, on the other hand, are more inclined toward small government, and tend to want, among other things, a social security system in which benefits and burdens are brought in line with each other rather than a system redistributionist in character. Nevertheless, we also observed a tendency to desire greater government spending on education and the environment. With regard to annual household income, we also discerned that the lower people's incomes, the more negative they are toward small government. The analysis also showed that, the higher the level of people's academic attainment the more positive they tend to be toward big government, though they desire government services to be reduced and their efficiency enhanced.

Estimation of the shear force in transverse dynamic force microscopy using a sliding mode observer

Open access journalIn this paper, the problem of estimating the shear force affecting the tip of the cantilever in a Transverse Dynamic Force Microscope (TDFM) using a real-time implementable sliding mode observer is addressed. The behaviour of a vertically oriented oscillated cantilever, in close proximity to a specimen surface, facilitates the imaging of the specimen at nano-metre scale. Distance changes between the cantilever tip and the specimen can be inferred from the oscillation amplitudes, but also from the shear force acting at the tip. Thus, the problem of accurately estimating the shear force is of significance when specimen images and mechanical properties need to be obtained at submolecular precision. A low order dynamic model of the cantilever is derived using the method of lines, for the purpose of estimating the shear force. Based on this model, an estimator using sliding mode techniques is presented to reconstruct the unknown shear force, from only tip position measurements and knowledge of the excitation signal applied to the top of the cantilever. Comparisons to methods assuming a quasi-static harmonic balance are made.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Serum and urinary ferritin levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The serum and urinary ferritin levels in 52 RA patients were measured by the 2-site immunoradiometric assay method. Serum ferritin levels in RA patients correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) but not with serum iron levels and hemoglobin concentrations, although they were within the normal range. High serum ferritin levels were associated with sera with hyper gamma-globulin and rheumatoid factors. In sequential studies, serum ferritin changed in parallel with ESR, CRP and disease activity in a majority of the patients. The urinary ferritin levels and u/s ratios in some RA patients were higher than control values. Higher values were found particularly in the group of patients under gold therapy but not in groups under other treatments.</p

The Optimal Funding Method for the Social Security System (Japanese)

Using an overlapping, multigenerational, dynamic, general equilibrium model incorporating a benefit assessment of government expenditure, this paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of funding methods for public health insurance and nursing insurance. In addition, in regard to the parameters that must be laid down exogenously in order to conduct simulation computations, we did not conform blindly to previous research but instead attempted to redefine core elements after detailed reconsideration. As a result of analyses through a model derived from the development and extension of existing research in this way, we conclude that the optimal funding method for medical and nursing benefits is consumption tax rather than social insurance premiums and interest tax. This conclusion arises from the fact that the disruptive effect of consumption tax is the weakest from the perspective of obstructing the accumulation of capital, and that it is in conformity with the findings of a considerable body of prior research and standard macroeconomic theory. However, the extent to which consumption tax is superior depends heavily on the setting of the parameters, and we cannot exclude the possibility that the measurements conducted in previous research were excessive regarding the advantage attributed to consumption tax. We also focused on the degree of aging of society, in which a comparison of the stationary state in 2005 and the stationary state in 2050 showed that the degree of improvement in social welfare caused by a shift of the revenue source to consumption tax was markedly greater in 2050. In view of this, it is possible to conclude that although care should be taken in setting the parameters, in a society that has aged to an advanced degree, a shift from social insurance premiums and interest tax to consumption tax is more desirable.